Relic From the Seas
By
Dr Facer
-27-
Signas walked out of the medibay and slowly made his way back to HQ's control room, thinking about the news he had just received from the staff. Prognosis on Pallette was positive; Lifesaver was confident he and his team would have her fixed in less than an hour because, while it was true that Pallette's body was highly customized, they did have the necessary parts to fix the damage she had received with considerable ease, even if most of her body would be slightly different. Axl's diagnosis, on the other hand, was grim. Lifesaver had managed to stabilize the young hunter but since Axl was a prototype, several of his damaged parts, like his copy chip and electronic brain, were unique and nobody in HQ had the ability to replicate or repair them. The best Lifesaver had been able to offer was to keep Axl alive but in stasis until a solution was found.
"This is very problematic," Signas thought as he went through recordings of what X, Alia, Zero and Layer had told him only minutes before. He now had confirmation that Lumine was not lying when he said he visited and activated some machines in Gate's laboratory (which was thankfully currently being purged of any virus activity by a heavily armed, all-human squad), and that he, most likely posing as 'the Doctor', had hired Dynamo to test the Nightmare Drive, which he now planned on selling to desperate reploids once his bombs detonated. That brought him to the nuclear bombs. High Command had showed him the records of the facilities where the nukes were stored. Nothing there indicated any illegal activity; Lumine had been careful enough to extract the nukes in a way that they were never found to be missing. Now, the real problem wasn't that Lumine had those bombs; the true difficulty was the time limit he had established. They had to stop him before then, and Signas was certain it would not be an easy victory.
"We only have thirteen hours left. If we're going to do something, we have to do it quickly. The first thing is to confirm whether Alia and Layer have managed to find where those nukes are so I can send X and Zero to sabotage Lumine's operation," Signas thought, lamenting that his elite team was a member short.
As he walked, Signas tried to think of any new recruits who could invade a hostile area and dispatch a Maverick alone the way Zero and X could. He couldn't think of any and that was bad, since he was certain Lumine had eight generals guarding his bombs; it couldn't be any other way.
"And even if I send X and Zero to different areas, chances are they won't be able to take down the eight Mavericks on time," Signas reflected. "A shame Repliforce or Red Alert aren't here anymore, with their help we could have dealt with this crisis faster…"
And as he evaluated several options to solve the current emergency, Signas resumed his way to control room…
=0=
Zero was not in a good mood. Seeing Axl and Pallette so damaged had infuriated him like few times before, and Lumine's return was only making him feel worse. All he really wanted to do was to go out there and stop that psychotic clown's plan, but without knowing where he had hidden his bombs, there was little he could actually do, so he instead paced around HQ's hallways trying to calm down, hoping Layer and the other navigators would find the location of the nukes soon. He also wondered where X was, as he hadn't seen him since he and Alia were giving their report to Signas.
"I did hear he brought another female reploid to HQ," Zero recalled as his anger subsided now that he could focus on something else. "Knowing X, I bet it was the Robot Master they found in Russia."
Thinking that meeting the mysterious robot was a better use of his time than walking around seething, the crimson hunter went to look for his best friend.
=0=
Where was she? He asked her to wait outside control room while he and Alia gave Signas their report, but when he walked out she was no longer sitting where he'd left her. Normally, X wouldn't leave control room during a mission, but he really couldn't allow Splash Woman to wander around HQ on her own! He feared she could try to join one of the scouting parties that were being sent to look for the nuclear bombs Lumine had planted around the world. That would be disastrous, as he believed Splash Woman was simply too weak to participate in a mission on her own.
And worrying about her whereabouts was something X didn't really need. He already had more than enough to worry about, now that he had seen Lumine's complete message… the blue hunter massaged his neck and sighed, lamenting how it didn't take long for another madman to appear and continue Sigma's war.
"We should have known he would come back," he muttered as he walked towards the stairs leading to the rooftop, the only place he hadn't checked yet. "Hell, Sigma came back eight times, why shouldn't Lumine do the same?"
He heard a note from her harp then. She was on the roof. Good, Splash Woman was still in HQ. X took in a deep breath, feeling calmer now that he knew her location. As he climbed the stairs he listened to her voice, and her song struck a chord in him. Who was she singing about?
He slowed down his ascent and paid attention to her, the lyrics of her song filling him with a strong emotion which almost paralyzed him. What she sang was this:
"Will you ever listen to my hopeless song?
I can live this way no more
Missing your company and love
Knowing that I am all alone, yet…
In my heart you still live, you I'll never forget
You are long gone but I feel you everywhere
Even if I am alone, I know this will not be our end
You are waiting for me, somewhere far, maybe near
We will meet somewhere again
An be together for all eternity
I know my love will take me there…"
That was all X could stand to listen to, the sadness in her voice was driving a nail through his core. What was torturing her so badly? Whose memory it was that haunted her like this? Feeling a strong need to comfort her, he opened the door leading to the rooftop and stepped outside, interrupting her song. It took him a moment to realize she had removed her helmet, and her shoulder length, ultramarine hair, cascading down to her shoulders, framed her face in a way that made her far more alluring. At that point she was like a true mermaid from legend, the kind who could draw you to the depths of the sea with her melancholic beauty alone.
"Are you alright?" He asked, blinking his thoughts on her attractiveness away, replacing them with an honest concern which marked his voice. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you sounded so… sad."
Splash Woman stopped playing and put her harp away before she glanced in X's direction with downcast eyes, not really looking at him. Finally, she took a deep breath and then spoke.
"I'm sorry for worrying you. It's just that… this crisis is just too much for me and I miss him… he was always so calm and collected when bad things happened, so trustworthy and capable. When he arrived we knew things would be alright and… this situation with that Lumine villain, I truly can't understand it, why would he want to kill everyone? How can Lumine be so evil? If… if only he were here… I'm sure he would know what to do, he…"
"Who?" X asked, thinking that perhaps she was talking about the original Mega Man.
"Blues," she said as she turned to look at the city behind her. "Proto Man. I miss him, I miss him so much…"
"Blues. The first one. The one all of us came from," X thought, remembering his oldest brother and feeling pained at seeing the way his absence made her suffer. Listening to her, it was easy to believe Blues had been amazing. Hoping to better find a way to comfort Splash Woman, X summoned all information he had on Proto Man from his memory files and located an image he had filed as DLN-000. He blinked when he saw the red and grey clad Robot Master wore a long yellow scarf. He knew that, of course, but had forgotten the detail. Was that why Splash Woman gave him one? To see if he looked like Blues enough so he could help her remember him?
"I'm… I am afraid, X," she admitted then, pulling him from his thoughts. "Doctor Wily never tried something like this. He was a bad, rotten man but he was not genocidal. I don't even have any records of Wily ever killing anyone. But the monsters you fight now… Sigma and now this Lumine… I can't comprehend their evil, it goes beyond anything I ever had to face and I worry that we're all going to be destroyed. I don't know what to do!"
"Don't be afraid, Splash Woman," X told her. He walked to the robot mermaid and placed his hands on her shoulders, gently guiding her so she was facing him. "Yes. Lumine is insane and very dangerous, but I'll stop him. We'll stop him. We've stopped him before and we'll do it again! Listen, I… I may not be Blues but I promise I won't let him hurt you. I promise he won't hurt anyone again. I swear Zero and I will stop him!"
Whatever Splash Woman was about to answer died in her lips the moment she heard the name 'Zero'. She had read about him, of course, the red hunter who had helped X save the world on multiple occasions, but for some reason, hearing X mention him triggered a reaction in her electronic brain. She analyzed it and found that the mention of Zero linked to something in her database. Something that she could not locate. Was the file missing? Did it get damaged along with the Three Laws of Robotics and her Primary Objectives? She was not sure, all she knew was that listening X mention Zero made her feel uneasy.
"Zero?" She asked, hoping that his answer would help appease her.
"My best friend," X said and smiled. "He's, similar to me in a few ways, you know? He can't be analyzed, but unlike me, we don't know who created him or for what purpose. He's a great hunter, though, and with him on our side we're as strong as an army!"
"Thanks for the praise, but I'm more than just a fighting machine," Zero said from the door, interrupting the conversation. He was smiling however, feeling strangely validated at seeing he had been right, that female robot had to be the Russian Robot Master. "I'm also the one who's always saving you when you jump headfirst into trouble."
X smiled and shook his head. "I guess I can't deny that. Any good news?"
Zero sighed. "No, Axl's condition remains stable and Pallette will be repaired soon… but I'm afraid the Navigator team has not found the nuclear bombs yet."
"That's unfortunate."
"They will find them, I trust them," Zero said, walking to where X and Splash Woman were. The female Robot Master surprised him more than he thought she would. Despite being older than X, her armor didn't look worn out at all. Her face and body were also almost as well made as Alia's or Layer's. Splash Woman was in fact so disturbingly close to reploid level that she could easily pass for one with no trouble at all.
"I guess it makes sense," Zero thought, eyes fixed on Splash Woman. "She's technically only one generation behind X and also one of the last Robot Masters ever built, of course she would resemble us. I wonder how advanced her electronic brain really is? She is also not bad looking… hell, who am I kidding? She's a knock-out! I bet she's the reason why Alia has been in such a strange mood lately."
"You must be Splash Woman," Zero said, nodding politely as he approached. "X told me about you, it must be… difficult to fit in, given the current situation, but if we can help you…"
"Thank you for the offer. I… I must go. I'll go see if I can help Alia, please excuse me!" Splash Woman stammered in a low and trembling voice. Before X or Zero could reply, she picked up her helmet and hurried back into the building.
"She seemed afraid," Zero offered, feeling confused by her behavior.
"Not afraid, terrified" X corrected. "She was terrified. Of you."
"That's odd," the crimson hunter said with a dumbfounded frown. "I mean… why?"
"I honestly don't know," X sighed and walked back into the building, Zero following close behind him. "But I guess that'll have to wait until after we deal with Lumine."
=0=
Splash Woman leaned on the wall and took in a deep breath to cool off her systems. She made a conscious effort and finally managed to stop shivering. She ran a quick self-diagnosis then and found nothing wrong with her, which relaxed her a bit and helped her to recover from the irrational outburst that had forced her to rush back into the building.
"That was horrible." she murmured, reaching up to remove her helmet so she could properly tie her hair in a bun that wouldn't make wearing the head-piece uncomfortable. In her hurry to get away from Zero, she had barely paid attention to that detail.
"X probably thinks I was rude, but…" she shivered again as she remembered the moment Zero got close to her. The closer he was, the stronger the dread she experienced. It was as if her very core identified Zero as a threat so potent she couldn't do anything against it other than being completely repulsed by him. She was so terrified that she almost attacked him, and she couldn't understand why. Splash Woman did another search, and again she found nothing. But she did know there used to be a file in her brain that would explain what she felt. "If only I could restore my memory to its original state, then I am sure I could understand this…"
But there was no way to do that, so after a few seconds more of fruitless doubt, Splash Woman decided she had no other option but to do her best to tolerate Zero's presence until she understood why he sickened her so much.
"I better go to control room like I said I would," she thought as she straightened. "I'm sure helping in any way I can will make me feel better."
=0=
Splash Woman entered control room to find the tall and imposing reploid named Signas facing a large screen. He was talking to Viktor and Nina Cossack. She ignored the questioning glances of the many navigators as she passed them and slowly approached Signas, not sure if she should interrupt him. Going by what she was hearing, though, the conversation involved her, so she decided it would be best if she was there.
"I'm afraid I don't know where she presently is, Doctor Cossack," Signas said. "We are in code red right now and I have other priorities."
"She's behind you," Nina observed with a playful grin.
Signas turned and noticed the mermaid Robot Master was, indeed, standing there. He cleared his throat and looked back at the Cossacks. "Ahem… well, then that's solved. I'll send her to your lab as you requested."
"But I can't go back," Splash Woman declared, staring at the screen and regarding Viktor. "X may need my support."
"Understandable, you can stay there until this is over," Viktor said with a nod. "Very well, is there any way we can help the Maverick Hunters? High Command has already briefed me on the Lumine situation, if there is anything Cossack Laboratories can do…"
"Actually, there is," Signas said. "One of our hunters was hurt in a confrontation with Lumine and we lack the parts to repair him. If you have them, we would appreciate it if you beam them here."
"Who was hurt?" Nina asked
"Axl, the New Generation prototype. His parts are difficult to obtain, so can you help us? I can send you a list of what we need."
Viktor and Nina looked at each other, she nodded, placed a hand on his shoulder and finally, thanks to his wife's support, the scientist spoke. "You don't have to send that list. Just send me a complete damage report and I'll bring enough parts to repair his full body to your base."
"You… will?" the Maverick Hunter Commander was surprised by this development. "I appreciate this, but… how do you know Axl's body that well? Are you sure you don't need a list, Doctor?"
"No. Axl is my creation," Viktor revealed. "I built him when the High Command asked me to create a prototype for a new generation of reploids. But Axl escaped our labs before we finished testing his combat capabilities… it happened after he got a nasty blow to the head that scarred his face. I imagine he has no recollection of his creation, otherwise he would have returned home already."
"But Doctor Cossack, then that means…" Alia began, she and Layer had approached the moment they heard he had created Axl.
"That the New Generations exist because of you," Layer completed.
Viktor lowered his face in shame. "Yes. The High Command took my designs, modified them and included Sigma's last available data on the copy chips and then started production of the New Generation reploids, so in a way all of this is my fault. The Jakob incident, this crisis… all my fault."
"Don't blame yourself doctor," Signas said. "You couldn't know what your designs would be used for. We don't blame you."
"Even if you don't, I still feel responsible," Viktor said. "And for that I wish to help you all as much as I can."
"In that case I'll instruct Lifesaver to offer any assistance you may need," Signas promised.
"Good, I will be there in twenty minutes. Thank you," the scientist concluded and ended communication.
"A Cossackbot," Splash Woman whispered, feeling relief that at least one of them was around. They were always trustworthy allies, and going by what she had read about Axl, that had not changed. Once he was fixed, she trusted Axl would do his best to support X, just as his predecessors had done for Rock when all the Wilybots…
"What do you mean a Cossackbot?" Alia asked.
The marine Robot Master smiled. "A Robot Master made by a Cossack, of course. The first eight of them really helped us Lightbots when we needed it, and I'm glad the tradition continues, even if it's only one of them helping X now."
"Three," Alia corrected with a gentle smile. "Signas and I were designed and built by Sergei Cossack, Viktor's father, so I guess that makes us Cossackbots, too."
"A nice and touching detail indeed," Signas interrupted, "But we don't have time to waste on such sentimentalities, Alia. Return to your post and continue looking for those bombs!"
"Ah… right away, Commander!" Alia stammered and then rushed back to her terminal.
"Can I help?" Splash Woman offered then, looking up at the tall officer.
"Thank you, but it isn't necessary. All our terminals are taken and we can't afford the time it would take teaching you how to use them, so please stay here and wait for Doctor Cossack, I'm sure he'll have something for you to do," Signas recommended, omitting the fact that Splash Woman was unable to interface with their operative systems to avoid embarrassing her. "Now, listen everyone, I have something urgent to do, but I'll be back as soon as I can. Continue working and call me if you find the bombs."
"Y-you're leaving?" An alarmed Layer almost screamed. "In the middle of an emergency?"
"Yes. Don't worry, I will return quickly," Signas promised.
"But…"
Layer didn't have a chance to finish her sentence, for Signas simply teleported out of HQ before she could.
Notes:
Thanks to Adam for beta reading.
In case you're wondering about Axl being a Cossackbot, I figured why not? It's not as if we know anything about him, Capcom has been very secretive about it so I decided to give him a proper origin. You can read a bit more about this in my other story titled "Reploids" which this story is a sequel of.