Relic from the seas

by Dr Facer

She was found at the bottom of the ocean, where she slept for over a hundred years. Finding herself in a future where everything she knows and cares about is long gone, Splash Woman must now face the challenge of discovering a new purpose, as well as dealing with the repercussions her awakening has caused to the lives of X and Alia...*On hiatus until I finish my master's degree.

24. Chapter 24

Relic From the Seas

By

Dr Facer

-24-

WARNING!_

All systems under attack by unknown software_

WARNING!_

Unknown software attempting to rewrite all programming in this unit_

WARNING!_

Failure to stop unknown software will result in permanent deactivation of this unit_

Attempt analysis of unknown software? [Y/N]_

Yes_

Analyzing unknown software…_

Unknown software shares many similarities to both the Roboenza and the Dark Energy "Zero" Virus_

No further analysis possible_

WARNING!_

Unknown software has overcome standard anti-virus and defensive measures_

Unknown software will start corrupting all information in this unit in 5 seconds_

Roboenza Protocol is the only defense left against unknown software_

Recommended course of action:

Activate Roboenza Protocol.

This action will require 99% of energy in Power Core to deal with unknown software_

Activate Roboenza Protocol? [Y/N]

Yes_

=0=

Pain.

It coursed through her like electricity, every servomotor inside her screaming in torment and pulling hard at her artificial tendons and muscles, ripping a scream of agony out of her voicebox. For an instant, it seemed as if every circuit inside her would fry but then, the green glow covering her like a cocoon faded and she appeared to finally relax, only for her to arch her back with a new cry of pain. It was then that the Nightmare Virus was finally expelled from her body. The virus exhibited signs of serious damage, and once on the air, shrieked loudly and then exploded.

It was only then that Splash Woman's inert form finally relaxed, and an expression of calmness returned to her face. The Robot Master was sleeping now, resting in peaceful stasis.

"W-what did she do?" Alia asked, still not believing Splash Woman had managed to damage and then expel the Nightmare Virus from her body. She had never seen something like this, never! No reploid infected with the Nightmare Virus had ever survived! Alia just couldn't understand what had happened or how the robot mermaid had conquered, purged and destroyed the Virus. It was impossible!

"I don't know, but whatever it was, it saved her life," X said, kneeling next to the mermaid to take her in his arms. "We'll ask her later when she wakes up, for the time being the best we can do is to get out of this cursed room before more trouble comes our way."

=0=

Alia sat on a dusty chair as X gently placed Splash Woman on the table next to her. The Robot Master seemed stable, and that helped calm X down, but he still wouldn't leave her side. The downcast navigator sighed and leaned back on her seat, looking at the flickering screens around her and trying to ignore the sound of static which filled the laboratory. In her dejected state, it suddenly dawned on her where she was. She had been so busy keeping an eye on Splash Woman and X, and then fighting the Nightmare Virus and the infected High Max, that she had forgotten they were inside his lab.

"Gate…" She thought, sparing a second to remember him. She stood up and started pacing around the lab, looking at the many tools on the floor. The lab and the diagrams that occasionally were displayed on the screens reminded her of his genius and how much she admired him. Alia brought her hands up to her shoulders, feeling suddenly full of guilt. She had often pondered if the dark path Gate decided to take was her fault. Alia recalled how she participated in the conspiracy to retire Gate's creations… but what really made her feel a crippling guilt about that lamentable incident was how she helped cover everything she and the others in the Reploid Research center did, making it look like a series of accidents.

"Is it any wonder he became so twisted… so evil?" Alia wondered, leaning on a broken computer as her remorse threatened to make her inner systems overheat.

She felt then a hand over her shoulder. His hand.

"It was not your fault, Alia."

She turned to look at X, and saw in his eyes that he truly meant what he said. He didn't think it was her fault. "But… after what I did… I… X, I betrayed Gate… he and I…"

Alia finally crumbled and, shaking in defeat, she started crying. "We were lovers, we had so many plans… and then he threw it all away when he became obsessed with analyzing you and Zero… he changed and ended it all with me and then… X… the things I did!"

"You already told me all of it. You did what you had to; Gate's actions are not your responsibility, Alia… he and his men chose the wrong path," Mega Man X told her, his voice calm and reassuring.

"But…"

"It was not your fault," X repeated, holding her to offer her the comfort she needed. "And I don't blame you for anything you did."

Alia did not respond, she instead buried her face in X's chest, letting the tears fall as he held her next to him. She felt stupid for breaking like this in front of him, but she suddenly realized that in all these years she had never allowed herself to cry for Gate's fate or for the things she did. She sobbed in his arms for several minutes, until little by little she was able to regain control.

Taking in a deep breath to reassure herself, Alia discovered that she felt better, much better than she had in years. And it was all thanks to him.

"Look at me," he told her as he reached up and dried her tears with his thumb. "What happened to you and what they forced you do was terrible, and that you can feel guilt and remorse about it is evidence that you have a good heart, that you are a good person, and that's all that matters to me. But if you let your guilt and regrets grow and control you, they will destroy you. And I wouldn't like that because… what would I do without you, Alia?"

"X, do you really… do you really care about me that much?" She asked him, feeling a nice warm sensation expanding all over her body. If this was a dream, she hoped it would never end.

"Of course I care," he smiled, feeling glad that she wasn't crying and in despair anymore. He preferred Alia when she was calm, and he liked her much more when she was happy. "I care a lot."

"Thank you" the navigator smiled and reached up and finally dared to touch his face in a soft caress. "X, I care too, I…"

=0=

"…I feel like I was run over by a Wily Machine…" Splash Woman thought as her systems went back online. She did a quick self-diagnosis before opening her eyes and felt alarmed when she confirmed her power core was at only one percent. "I really need to stop letting my energy go so low… and what was that thing the Nightmare Virus did? It almost destroyed me!"

The Robot Master finally activated her optics and looked to her left, where her RMC field told her X and Alia were. She found them standing together, he holding her close and she touching his face. Splash Woman experienced a strong discomfort at the scene, and decided she did not approve of it. Alia was not, in her opinion, worthy of being so near to Mega Man X. Groaning her displeasure, she managed to sit up.

"Nice to see that you two are getting along," Splash Woman said, managing to hide the displeasure in her voice. "But I'm afraid that's not what the three of us came here for, is it? And if it isn't a bother, I could really use an energy tank."

"Splash Woman!" X said with a relieved smile. "You are awake, I was so worried!"

"We both were," Alia added. "We feared the virus had hurt you."

"Well it didn't," the mermaid stated as she slid off the table and stood on shaky legs. "But whatever that thing tried to do was very unpleasant… if it weren't for the Roboenza Protocol I would have died for sure."

"The… Roboenza Protocol?" Alia asked, searching for that term in her databanks and finding nothing.

"It's the final antivirus made by Doctor Light," Splash Woman explained as she accepted a subtank that X was handing to her. "He created it after the Roboenza virus infected many robots all over the world and drove them crazy. He updated it when a second, stronger virus appeared. All Lightbots had this antivirus installed, it keeps anything that threatens to analyze, control or to tamper with our programming or systems out."

"I guess that explains a few things about X…" Alia guessed.

"His countermeasures are surely more advanced than mine," the mermaid said while using the subtank to recharge. "You don't see him get this weak when he's infected, if he even gets infected at all, do you?"

"True, but…" Alia started, but was interrupted when the few undamaged screens in the laboratory screeched and started broadcasting something.

The transmission, very poor due to the electromagnetic interference, showed the outlines of a reploid who started speaking, saying this:

[Gr**t**gs, p**p*e of… t**… E*r*h... m* n**e *s ******. A***r m*ch… th**ght… I h**e… d*c***d… th*t t**s w**ld… ne*ds to… be… clea**ed… of a** imp*ri**es. W**k h*m**s a*d r*pl**ds m*st be e**m*n**e*d a*d f*r t**s I sh*ll p*r*e t*is p*a**t! A n*w a*e w**l b***n w**h m* a* t*e c***t*r and r**er *f a be***r w***d t**t o**y t** st***g a*d w****y w*ll in***it!]

The screens and overheard lights blew up then with a loud blast of electricity, leaving the room in complete darkness.

"Whoever that was they sure didn't sound friendly," Splash Woman muttered while activating the lantern hidden in her helmet crystal to illuminate the room. "Not friendly at all."

"Could you decipher what they said?" X asked. "The static was so bad I couldn't even record the audio."

"Same for me," Alia answered with a concerned frown. "But I'm willing to bet that person is behind the Nightmare Drive and the incident with Dynamo. We need to go back to HQ; if this was broadcast worldwide as I think it was they surely recorded it."

Notes:

Thanks to Adam for beta reading duties.

It stands to reason that Doctor Wily would try to test how effective the Virus he created for Zero is, meaning that Doctor Light would create an antivirus capable of resisting that or the Roboenza Virus, and it is logical that Dr. Light would upload this antivirus program in all his robots.