Hey guys! Chimera here. Going through this revamp has been an interesting experience. At first I'd only planned to update things here and there a little. Halfway through, I realized/decided that I was going to end things for good. This left a lot of loose ends, one that you'll see below. Model O no longer really seemed to serve a purpose, so it was removed. Still, for record-keeping, I'll post any relevant sections here. Hopefully I haven't missed anything...
It's posted here, unedited, from how it was initially uploaded. Do enjoy!
CH 24 cut
"It should not have been this easy."
"Huh?" Prometheus blinked. Seraph was staring into space, a thoughtful look on his face.
"Omega... was much stronger than that. A single attack should not have killed him so swiftly." Copy X stared at the scenery, which still flickered back and forth, "This place... I've seen this sort of thing before, but never so damaged. A memory... that's all this is. Is that all that was left of you, Omega?"
Prometheus glanced at him curiously, "A memory? How can that be? This place is physical!" He slapped the ground to prove his point, The greenish surface easily stopping the force directed at it.
"Only in appearance... let me explain," began the blue reploid slowly as he engulfed himself in light, returning to his more peaceful form, "This place is a barrier between the real world and cyberspace. In cyberspace, matter is decided not by matter or atoms, but by data. Therefore, the whole of cyberspace is in fact a memory of the real world, where the souls of deceased reploids, and the occasional human, spend their afterlife until they are reincarnated. This place is similar, it would seem. However, cut off from the rest of cyberspace, it seems that solely Omega's memories dictate the shape of this place. And, judging by the appearance of this place," Seraph explained, indicating the black orb in the sky, "Omega's data must have been heavily corrupted when he died."
"Who was Omega, though?" Pandora asked.
Seraph looked sadly at a small orb orb of data reforming itself where Omega had 'died'. "Omega was the reploid reputed as the God of Destruction. He destroyed many lives and crushed many hopes. It's best not to look into him too deeply, there's nothing there but murder and suffering. But, even for him, this is a sad fate, whether or not it is deserved."
"How so?"
"Because this whole place simply is a rip in reality, a ragged anomaly that shouldn't be," he replied, pointing at the orb. "Long ago, cyberspace and reality used to be very close. Cybernetic beings could literally walk from a door from one world into another. This was because the barrier between the two was thin and weak. Omega had the unique ability to tear that barrier, and his very presence threatened to merge the two together. It would have been catastrophic. When he died, though, the barrier he'd torn came back suddenly, and the two worlds were forced apart once and for all. The separation was so sudden that it created this place, the only real space where one can walk from one world to the other... theoretically. The moment that the two worlds were torn apart, the instant that this place came into existence... it must have torn him apart, too."
The orb was slowly growing larger, glowing a dull, sickly red.
"What you see, that glowing orb, is nothing more than a fragmented recollection. It's his last memory, probably from the fight that occurred just before he died. A memory doomed to repeat itself in agony forever."
"What about his soul?" Pandora asked suddenly. "Cyber elves are souls, right? It kinda looks like one, but..."
Seraph looked over, "his soul... I wish I knew. It may have been torn apart as well, destroyed. For all we know, that's the last remaining piece of it right there, trying to revive itself." He shook his head sadly, then motioned the others to follow him. They left the room and the glowing orb behind. Soon after they reached the other side of the fatal expanse and were now near the hallway that led to the transporter.
On a whim, Pandora looked down, "Hey... that hallway with the locked rooms... do you think another part of him might be contained in those rooms?"
"Worth a shot, I suppose," Seraph answered. He became a little more alert at the suggestion. Clearing out the area, rather than accidentally leaving a piece of the God of Destruction behind, had suddenly become a very good idea. Before Prometheus had a say in the matter, the seraph and the female Mega Man had jumped down. The Grim Reaper sighed, joining them. Investigating the lowest corridor showed that two of the three doors were still stuck closed, but when they tried the one at the end of the hall, it opened without so much as a fuss. The three looked at each other, entering cautiously.
They stopped. There, right smack dab in the middle of the room, was a biometal, one that heavily resembled the red demon they'd fought just moments ago.
"What the hell!?" Prometheus exclaimed, pointing his scythe at the object.
Seraph grimaced, "A biometal?"
However, as the groups' shock faded, they realized that something was horribly wrong with the piece of metal opposite them. While the sinister lines engraved on the walls glowed with eerie life, the object attached to them was as dark and dead as stone. The Model O was stiff, cold, and didn't float like the other biometals did. It didn't bob about with life and personality. Instead, it merely hung in the air like the corpse of a hanged man. Seraph cautiously tapped the object with the tip of his finger. It fell to the floor with a clatter and lay still.
"Is it safe?" Prometheus inquired meekly, still remembering the wounds on his chest.
"..." Seraph picked up the object hesitantly, his fingers encircling it. He closed his eyes, concentrating. Soon after, he opened them calmly.
"It's more than safe. Touch it if you like," he said, holding it out to them, "It's dead."
Pandora cocked her head curiously, "Dead?"
"Dead, or perhaps never even alive in the first place. I have no idea how it formed, to be honest. Maybe the proximity of the Model W in Area M nearby had something to do with it. I suspect it was a physical remnant of Omega that mutated on its own. It contains no soul however, so it won't work properly. Quite frankly, it's both harmless and useless. I checked the data in it. It can't even megamerge." Prometheus took the initiative, handling the cold object gingerly as seraph passed it to him. He held it out to Pandora, who touched it lightly.
With a sudden determination, Prometheus gripped the object fiercely. "Hey sis, I just had an idea!"
"I'm listening."
"If that weird red thing was that guy's soul, do you think that if we grabbed it, then it might work like the others and-
"_we could have our own biometal! But, still, you know our bodies won't work if that biometal has the Model W DNA code in it..." she sighed.
"Eh?" both Prometheus and Seraph looked at her questioningly.
"Oh, right, you didn't... pay attention to the explanation last time..." she frowned at Prometheus, then answered the questions on their faces, "Well, Seraph, to start, me and Prometheus used to be Mega Men too. However, we were built differently. Our original bodies needed the power of a biometal to survive. Unfortunately, we were also designed so that would die after a small period of time if we were not 'maintained' properly."
"Ah, yes, Albert, right?" Seraph replied casually. The siblings looked at him, shocked. He smirked, "I know a little more about what's happened recently than the average person does. I work for cyberspace, remember? I don't know too much about the details though. Feel free to continue."
"Okay..." she looked at him suspiciously, but decided to let it go, "well, he had programmed our timers so that... as long as a certain DNA sequence was in our systems, the... countdown on our lifespan timers... would be activated."
"Our biometal was the Model W, the one with the specific DNA code, so we were pretty much screwed," added Prometheus.
"Anyways, since all biometals were based off of Model W... they all have the DNA code in them to... allow them to megamerge. Even if another biometal was inserted into our bodies, it... would still have at least a part of the DNA code... and the timers would start ticking."
"Ah, now I remember what they were trying to say," Prometheus replied, snapping his fingers. "I could never figure out how those timers did work, exactly."
Seraph stared at them. He seemed conflicted, but then smiled, "Well, normally I'd say that using the biometal of the God of Destruction would be a stupid idea, but after some consideration..." He took the biometal from Prometheus, studying it, "If we can separate the memories and the soul, and insert the soul into the biometal, we might be able to solve your problem."
The eyes of the siblings widened simultaneously in confusion. Seraph continued smugly, "Well, after assessing the data in this, I've found that it's actually not a threat if used correctly. As long as we make sure that there are no memories, we'll be fine since it won't be aggressive. Also... did you know that this biometal doesn't have the DNA code that you mentioned? Having evolved on its own and all..." He smiled widely at the stunned looks on their faces.
Without warning, the pair had rocketed out of the room. They were looking up to see how to get back to the room with Omega's soul piece. Seraph laughed, "We'd better get there before it reforms fully, or we'll have a hell of a time doing this. C'mon!" He grabbed the two, changing back into his seraph armour and flying the two out of the hall. They blasted up the shaft and across the spiky expanse into Omega's room, the pair barely hanging on to their weapons in the process. Dropping the two rather unceremoniously onto the floor, he grabbed the small red orb glimmering faintly nearby.
"Alright, here I go! I'll remove the memories, just keep the biometal ready!"
They braced themselves as Seraph reached towards the 'soul' in his hands. Manipulating the data, he closed his eyes and focused. Seraph removed the memories, blasting away the data. But, when he reopened his eyes, there was nothing there but a DNA sequence. It glowed dully, a reddish-green blob in the center of the former Neo Arcadian ruler's palms.
"Is that his soul?" asked Prometheus.
"No, I'm afraid not. It would seem that he really was destroyed after all..." Seraph answered. The two looked crestfallen, but he continued, "However, our plan is still worth a shot." He trotted towards them, then inserted the DNA into the biometal by shoving the data into its central blue gem. After a painful few seconds of silence, the blue orb flickered lightly. The eyes began to glow a gentle white.
"DNA SEQUENCE ACCEPTED. ACTIVATING... ALL PROGRAMS ACTIVATE. M.E.G.A. SYSTEMS ONLINE. BIOMETAL DESIGNATION UNKNOWN. ENTER DESIGNATION."
The biometal began floating, weakly at first, out of the siblings palms. They looked at each other as it levitated lifelessly in front of them once more.
"The guy was called Omega, right? Why don't we call it Model O?"
"Works for me."
The biometal responded, "DESIGNATION MODEL O ACCEPTED." It landed gently on the pair's hands, its glow receding, "ACTIVATING POWER SAVING MODE." The glow in its eyes faded to a faint flicker.
Prometheus chuckled, "Heh heh, I guess it's gone to sleep. What an odd way of talking though."
"That's because it only has a DNA sequence. It's lacking any personality data or memories. They may or may not develop over time," explained the angel reploid.
CH 33 cut
Several minutes later, it was Pandora who finally broke through the tense atmosphere. "Brother, I'm going down to the research department to take a look at... that."
Prometheus jerked to attention, "Are you sure? Are you serious about that!?"
She turned to him, "Yes, yes I am. I've thought about it, I've really though about whether or not I should go back to fighting. And I think the only way I can fix this mess I've helped to make is if I do. You don't have to help me if you don't want to."
Prometheus smirked, then laughed, "Oi oi oi! It's almost like ya don't know me! Do ya really think I'd let my little sister take on a God of Destruction by herself? Besides! Like I'd want to miss out on a fight like that!" He got to his feet offering her a hand, "They've always got a crew down in research no matter what time of day it is. We might as well go check in on them now."
Pandora nodded, then also got up. The two quietly left their quarters, heading silently through the depths of Legion until they had arrived in the basement levels where the research and development facilities were located. After a quick check with the area's security they entered, immediately heading to the room pertaining to their interests. As they arrived they noticed that, surprisingly, Seraph was there, conversing in muted tones with the lead researcher on duty.
"Sorry Dr. Karo, I must break off here for the moment. It seems we have guests," Seraph said loudly before suddenly turning to the siblings, "although, I'd have never expected that it would be you two, especially so late at night!" Seraph mused. Pandora and Prometheus bowed their heads slightly with respect.
The researcher, doctor Karo, spoke"Ah, no worries Seraph. I'm sure the nature of what we were discussing might be best held back from their ears anyways."
"It's quite all right actually. They're a little more knowledgeable than most people," Seraph smiled. "Anyways, what were you two here for?"
"Well," Pandora started, "After these... recent events, my brother and I have finally come to a decision. We're going to go ahead with that idea we had earlier."
Karo made a surprised grunt, "I thought you two had changed your minds and decided against it after all?"
"Well, we've changed our minds again I guess," Prometheus chuffed. "We're down one mercenary now, so sis and I figured it was time to step up to the plate and get back to our roots. We may not have liked fighting after what Albert did to us, but it's time to put the past behind us. Our little misgivings aren't going to help the world in the long run."
Seraph nodded knowingly while Dr. Karo adjusted his glasses. "An honorable decision," said the Cyberspace officer.
"One which wouldn't have been possible without your contributions Doctor," Pandora added, "we still can't thank you enough for coming back out of retirement just to do this for us. We know you prefer your work with cyber-elves, after all."
"Well, ah," the doctor began, "after hearing your story I just couldn't help but be persuaded to assist. You two deserved a break after all. Most of the work was done anyways, all I had to really do was supervise the reconstruction of the bodies."
"He's rather quite good with reploid reconstruction," Seraph added, a secretive twinkle in his eyes. "Anyways, you're sure about this?"
"We are."
"Well then, I suppose I'd better start finalizing a few things," Karo said. He turned around, pressing several buttons on a console, continuing his work even as the protective shutters on a pair of stasis pods opened to reveal their contents to those in attendance. From the outside, very little about the two bodies had really changed. They were still intimidating to behold, as opposite to each other as they were similar, but somehow the bodies looked sharper, more dangerous. However, it wasn't the external changes that mattered. It was the internal changes, the new cores, that made all the difference.
"We'll still need the Master's final confirmations before beginning the procedure of course. The transfers will be a bit complicated too. Like I said last time, we were working on removing the permanent mega-merge, and we'd actually succeeded just before this whole mess with the tournament celebrations had occurred. Of course, everyone was too busy to get you the message, but..." prattled the doctor, who was preoccupied with checking the status of the bodies. Seraph shushed him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Then the angel reploid turned to the siblings, a smile on his face.
"I'm sure I'm not the only one who will be saying this, but I may be the first. Still, a promotion like this deserves such praise. You're no longer the Model W users you were, after all. It's good to have you on our sides! Congratulations to you, Pandora and Prometheus, the Model O mega men!"