Note: Going out of state this Sunday, so I'm going to post this to get something out before I'm potentially too distracted.

Consideration

"You look like you want to say something."

Roll flinched, cursing under her breath upon seeing she had been noticed glancing back and forth at Zero as the two navigated to where they saw the three familiar figures before.

"I'm somewhat ashamed of it," she answered. "But you remind me of some things I thought were long buried or forgotten."

"Such as when you were killed before?" Zero questioned.

Roll nodded. "Although, that's not entirely it," she confessed. "I still don't remember everything from that time, but I'm better able to recognize a few faces," she paused. "Have you heard of a machine by the name of Bass?"

Zero pondered her inquiry, yet ultimately found himself running dry. "Can't say I have."

"Well, I just remembered him recently," she confessed. "And, with him, I'm beginning to better piece together just what happened prior to my…enhancements, so to speak."

The other blonde raised a brow. "You mean before you were upgraded to a Reploid?"

"More or less, even if this body in itself is just based on the old one's appearance," Roll explained. "Yet, before that, I remember that Wily was beginning yet another mad attempt at world domination, having learned nothing from the threat and damage left by the Stardroids," she shut her eyes, the image of the dark-armored robot coming to her mind. "Or rather, he had, but it wasn't for the better."

It was still in fragments, yet she could vaguely recall what occurred: she had been captured by the madman and was ordered to be discarded by Bass. Yet, instead, the black and gold machine saw fit to get her out of the fortress as a whole, yet she could never remember exiting. Come to think of it, she couldn't recall her rescuer leaving either, both of them coming across another machine in question.

A peculiar one.

One that, while she no longer associated the two with each other, the Hunter accompanying her still gave her brief flashes of familiarity, as well as a small sense of danger.

"And then what?" Zero questioned.

"After Bass helped me escape, all I know is that we came across Rock fighting whatever Wily had constructed," the other blonde relayed. "I don't think I left that place intact."

The red Hunter tilted his head. "Do you mean to say you believe…?"

Roll shook her head. "I can't say for sure, but I do know this. Somehow, in some way," she paused, the last image she could discern from that time being her form shoving Rock out of the way of an incoming blast from a charged buster. "That machine is the one that caused what led to me being like this."

Top of the Building

The Thunder Slimer's optics landed on the slowly changing horizon, the sun having yet to peek over and light the world on their end, yet it wouldn't be long before the morning dawn would greet and brighten up the skies in pale yellows and blues. The mechaniloid turned their attention toward X and Ray B., the two machines hoping that this maneuver would perhaps allow them a way to the information they sought, yet the advanced weapon's focus found itself centered on the sole human among them.

"You," The Thunder Slimer began, lifting a tentacle in the young woman's direction. "Who…are you?"

She was uncertain as to whether or not she should answer, yet seeing that she had essentially inserted herself into the scene, perhaps it would just be a price she'd have to pay. Still, from what she had heard regarding this particular machine, she was unsure of what their reaction would be. "My given name is Chiyo," she answered the Thunder Slimer. "But my family name is Fujiwara."

"Fujiwara…" the mechaniloid mused aloud. "There is only one human with that name I know," their optics shifted down to gaze at the sole being made of flesh and organic material. "Do you mean to say that you have relations to my tormentor?"

Chiyo was silent for a few moments, yet ultimately nodded in response. "I'm his child."

The mechaniloid said nothing at first as if they too were unbelieving as to what, or rather, who was before them. Let alone that they had been the one responsible for allowing them access to the world outside, which was steadily growing ready to greet the first light of the day.

"I've given you enough juice to last for a couple of hours," Ray B. explained to the Thunder Slimer. "But the charge won't last forever."

This bit of news appeared to not exactly deter the mechaniloid. "And what? You intend to hold my limited time over my head?"

"On the contrary," X added. "Your cooperation may just earn you the freedom that you were falsely promised before."

The Thunder Slimer wasn't too trusting. "And what guarantee do I have that I will have it now? Truthfully?"

The blue Hunter looked outward at the skies, the sun just about to rise and greet the living creatures that remained trapped here, both organic and metal. "Well, for one thing, has Sigma come back for you yet? Better yet, do you know what he did to the one who guarded this place with you?"


Close.

The footage it had received via hacking the systems with its tail revealed where their quarry was, yet, even more, who else had come here before themselves.

The blue Hunter, X, he was to be left alone, to an extent. While the stalking predator was allowed to display its prowess and strength against any potential threat, that particular Reploid was to be left mostly intact and able to function.

The other two, however, could be dispatched however it saw fit.

In fact, Sigma made sure to add that it was allowed to rip and tear through whatever it wished, whether it be metal or flesh.


Ray B. gazed at the scene taking place, X conversing with the Thunder Slimer to try and wrangle some vital information regarding Sigma's further plans. While unexpected, he found himself somewhat thankful for the Hunter's sudden appearance, if not for the fact that he had gotten further than he possibly would have alone, accustomed to a solitary life as he was.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, the robot turning to see the slightly taller human having been the one to disturb him. "Yes?" he asked, noticing intent in the young woman's dark eyes.

"You know me from Fumiko, don't you?" Chiyo asked. "You're the one that she called me for that one time. Some 'weird' Reploid that looked surprisingly old."

Ray B. grinned at that. "Technically speaking, I am old, although I still have the same body from when I was first made," he then paused. "More or less, to an extent. But you're right," he answered. "I saw you when I made a break for it."

"Why didn't you stay? True, you may be a little different from the rest of your mechanical brethren, but it shouldn't be that hard to figure out."

The machine tilted his head. "Do you even know what I am," he asked. "Let alone who I am?"

"I have a few theories," Chiyo confessed. "But I get the feeling that you don't like people prying into your business." He didn't answer. "I'm the same way, so I won't," she assured him. "But, I am curious," she admitted. "Did Fumiko tell you about me?" she questioned. "Is that how you knew me and Kenichi were…?"

Ray B. kept his face hidden behind a pair of thick shades and a scarf covering the lower half, yet his posture indicated that he was debating on how to answer, or whether he should at all. "I knew of her little brother," he told her. "But I had no idea about you. At first, I thought you were her. Fumiko, I mean." he answered.

Chiyo's expression grew neutral. "Are you disappointed I'm not?"

Ray B. didn't respond to that question. "She saved the boy, didn't she?" he asked. "At the cost of herself."

Chiyo nodded.

"...I'm sorry," he told her. "It's…not easy."

The long-haired young woman looked toward the floor of the top floor exterior. "Even if it's someone like my father."

Outside of the conversation, the blue Hunter was now trying to convince the Thunder Slimer to assist them in their efforts against Sigma. However, the success rate of such a task wasn't looking too bright.

"So, it doesn't matter whether or not Sigma no longer sees any use for you," X said. "You still refuse to help us?"

Thunder Slimer narrowed its optics. "You seem eager to paint him in an unsavory light," they noticed. "What happened to your previous wishes to get through to your former leader?"

The blue Hunter paused, biting his lip. "Virus or not, I've accepted that what comes, comes," he answered. "But I was created first and foremost to bring forth a better future for this world," his green eyes shifted. "That was Dr. Light's dream."

"And yet you are armed with weapons that could kill, that once killed me," Thunder Slimer mentioned. "Weapons you used at the behest of those that Sigma promised to rescue me from."

Rescue? X pondered this for a few moments. "Are you talking about the humans?"

"Who else?" the giant mechaniloid responded. "The same ones that wished to kill you the second they discovered your existence."

"They only did so because they were afraid," X countered. "Yet, even then, not every human was willing to simply terminate me on the spot," he explained, Dr. Cain coming to his mind.

"Yet you are still bound to do what they wish," Thunder Slimer argued. "Even now, you perform tasks that you don't wish to due to the knowledge you possess. Your experience," their optics centered on the human conversing with the robot. "Even with knowing what you do now, how can you still side with them, after all that they've done?"

X was silent for a few moments. Just how was he going to maybe get through to this machine?

They may be afraid, X, but learn with them, X, his creator's voice serenaded, his aged, weary form standing just above his capsule, moments before it was to be sealed. Yet another memory that he wished he could remember in its entirety. Teach them, build with them, and show them the limitless potential that your kind can bring.

He wanted to do that, he wanted nothing more than to do that. And yet, indeed, he had to come to terms with the Thunder Slimer's own rebuttal. For indeed, he couldn't ignore it any longer.

"You're right in that aspect."

The larger mechaniloid looked down at his blue inquisitor. "What did you say?"

"I said, you're right," X repeated. "In a way, I am doing exactly what you would expect of me, blindly obeying those who wished to see me dead," he explained. "And indeed, there are those like Fujiwara and the others that saw fit to cage you," he then paused. "Yet, if they're all worth nothing, then who was it that allowed you to come up here in the first place?"

"There must be some gain the human has in this," the Thunder Slimer protested. "If she's somehow related to that man, then that's even more reason to question anything she or you say!"

"What gain would she have?" X questioned. "She has nothing left to lose as it is in her mind, so this was an act completely out of her own will," he explained to the larger machine. "Besides, she too has tasted more than a little of Fujiwara's neglect."

"Has she been denied the simple pleasure of feeling the natural rays of the sun grace her outer shell?" X was about to respond that she possessed no such thing, yet the mechaniloid didn't give him so much as a second to answer. "Then she knows nothing. And neither do you."

"...no, maybe they don't," a voice spoke up, Ray B. approaching the mechaniloid, the skies slowly growing more and more bright to greet the dawn. "But try me."

"And who exactly are you?"

Ray B. paused for a moment, wondering just how to answer. Indeed, he suspected that this would eventually come up, yet he wasn't willing to divulge anything he didn't wish to. Not yet, anyway. It was far too soon for that. What he could, however, is at least be honest about where exactly he came from and what he had seen.

"I'm one of the few remaining of a world that's long passed, even if it seems like yesterday at times," he answered. "I know what it's like to have to hide, to be forced to dwell away from the sun and the moon, all the while you're being either hunted or confined to some cage in a scrapyard somewhere because they believe that you're potentially dangerous."

The Thunder Slimer didn't respond. Instead, they only continued to listen.

"And, in a sense, they're right. We are dangerous," Ray B. admitted. "But so are they. Yet, where does that come from? What motivates one half of the conflict to hide and the other to seek the perceived danger to snuff it out, no matter what?"

The mechaniloid still said nothing, X and Chiyo too not entirely understanding what the other machine was getting at. Still, while perhaps the human herself admitted that she could've just been on edge given how high they were, she couldn't help but feel that something was amiss.

As if they were being hunted.

"The need to dominate?" the larger of the two conversing parties questioned, although it was more mocking than genuine.

Yet they would receive an answer that would leave with uncertain of what to make of it at first.

"More or less," Ray B. answered. "But what they needed to dominate was not what was outside, but what had just awakened in all of them."

Thunder Slimer was puzzled. "Awakened."

Ray B. nodded. "It awoke in me not long after I was born, and it remained inside for a long while after," he told the mechaniloid. "It clouded my mind and allowed hate and resentment to seep in, and that resulted in disaster for everyone involved."

"And just what was this element that had been stirred from within you?"

The smaller robot adjusted his shades, the ever-brightening skies reflecting off their darkened surface. "Fear."

Lower Levels

"Wait, do you hear that?"

Zero paused, urging Roll to do the same as the noise she heard soon too reached his audio receptors. "Indeed," he answered, drawing out his buster. "We're not alone."

The source of what Roll had heard was but a short distance away, yet it appeared to rest just above their heads, somehow scouring the inner portion of the ceiling. Judging from the ever-constant shift in the cables and wires nestled within, it was indicative that it was moving forward.

"Come on," Zero told the other blonde, keeping her close. "I think what we're looking for is nearby."

Rooftop

"Fear?" Thunder Slimer questioned, not entirely understanding. "I fear nothing, least of all you."

"Maybe not me," Ray B. admitted. "But you feared the humans enough to not retaliate," he noted. "It wasn't until Sigma came to you with an offer of freedom that you decided to take a risk."

The mechaniloid was silent at first. "Once I was alerted that Fujiwara was terminated, then what was there to stop me from fulfilling my end of the bargain?"

"Nothing," Ray B. answered. "Fulfilling your end is the honorable thing to do," he bit his lip from underneath his scarf. "Yet those that are desperate tend to attract those that would exploit it."

"And you say Sigma is one of these exploiters?" Thunder Slimer asked.

"Whether he saw you as his equal or a mere servant, I don't know," the smaller of the two confessed. "Yet I do know that his ambitions will lead to nothing but the destruction of all."

"And yet there is still a semblance of hope in you that there is some part of him worth saving," the mechaniloid noted, turning to X. "Why is this? For what reason do you still seek to redeem one that clearly has no interest in turning back to his previous ways?"

X bit his lip, pondering an answer. "It would be the quickest answer," he admitted. "And, indeed, virus or not, his own will or not, I want all of this to end," he answered. "However, even though I was built with this weapon," he brought out his buster for viewing. "My creator never wanted it used as a means to terrorize or rob the weak of life."

"You found some of the capsules, did you not?" the Thunder Slimer questioned. "Those contained attributes, enhancements to increase your performance. To become a better combatant," they relayed. "And yet you say the one who made you didn't crave violence?"

"He knew it would come, I think," X answered. "But, even then, no, I don't believe that," he said. "And I know that, because of the most recent capsule I found," he paused. "Or rather, it was provided to me by a friend." a friend that was no longer around, having given his own life for the good of his former comrade in the end.

The mechaniloid was still not entirely understanding, yet nonetheless was somewhat intrigued. Indeed, it was as Sigma and, dare they say, Fujiwara said. The first of the Reploids was indeed not like the rest.

"I was expecting perhaps some sort of armor or enhancements to my joints, like before," X explained. "But, instead, Dr. Light provided me with what he called a technique from long ago," he remembered the hologram's words, how oddly warm and inviting it felt despite its digital substance. That was all it was, right? Still, this most recent acquisition courtesy of Dr. Light made him doubt that. "One that came with more than just knowledge about it and its usage. Rather, I saw who had previously used it."


The sun beat down on his muscular form as he treaded through the slums of the South Asian nation, several people selling products or their possessions on the sides of the streets, or outright begging for some extra change to scrape by for just one more day.

He wasn't in much better shape than many of them. Yet, unlike the locals who called this country home, he was just passing through. He was unsure of another journey or destination, yet he did not know where that destination lay.

His sensei's old saying continued to echo within the depths of his consciousness.

"What do you see in front of your fist?"

The traveler in question was a Japanese human male garbed in a tattered white gi with a black belt and a red band tied around his forehead, the only other possessions he carried were what was on his back, possessing no footwear, he walked the Earth, challenging its surface with every step. Although, in his musing, he failed to see what was right in front of him, as his larger form met a smaller one, a dark-skinned shape tumbling over to the ground.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked, having picked up the local language during his time there.

The girl didn't answer, only gazing at the pitcher that was now overturned, pure white liquid now staining the street in a small puddle just inches away from her head.

"Sorry about that," the traveler apologized, then he noticed a woman crouched over in a small hut nearby, having witnessed the whole scene, face forlorn and disappointed. "Ah, I see," he then said, having put the pieces together. "That milk was for your mom, wasn't it?"

Again, the girl didn't answer, yet she made eye contact with the woman in question, tears welling up in her eyes for failing what was supposed to be such a simple task. Then, just as she was about to let her sorrows be expressed openly, she found a bundle of money being presented to her.

"Here," the stranger told her. "It's my fault you dropped it, so I should be the one to pay it back," he placed the money in her uncertain yet outstretched hand, and she rose to her feet with her pitcher and the money. "Go on, get yourself some more milk."

Tears still glistening in her eyes, the child nonetheless smiled wide as she rushed off to do as he suggested, the traveler looking to the woman to see her features had eased into an expression of gratitude that radiated with warmth. Seeing that there was nothing left for him here, the stranger continued on his way, seeking out more challenges, as well as to where the answer to his sensei's question finally lay.


The Thunder Slimer was silent, along with Ray B. and Chiyo, X having just finished what he experienced while receiving the capsule's power. "And what is this retelling of a human's memory supposed to stir in me?" the mechaniloid questioned. "Better yet, how did you come to know such things from a mere upgrade?"

"That, I don't entirely know," X admitted. "In truth, I'm beginning to doubt whether or not the messages I've seen in the capsules themselves are merely pre-recordings, or if they're something more," he paused. "With each one, it almost feels like I'm getting a part of myself back."

The larger mechanical life form wasn't impressed. "And what of this memory? What does it entail? Some sort of pity for those that you have a clear advantage over?" they questioned. "Not to mention, who's to say that, had he encountered our kind, he would not have done the same to us as the humans did to the robots?"

"Dr. Light got the energy within that capsule somehow," X retorted. "Besides, I know next to nothing of that human or who he even was. Perhaps he would've been aggressive against us if he were still here to see what has been happening," he stopped for a moment, looking outward. Almost there, he thought. The sun was almost ready to greet the world. "He would've done what was necessary to protect the weak," he then closed his eyes. "Something that I must do."

"And does Sigma count among those you consider weak? Feeble?" Thunder Slimer questioned. "In need of help?"

The blue Hunter sighed, chest heaving as if he were releasing a great weight from his shoulders. "If he is indeed the victim of some viral infection, then he shall be dealt with," he said. "And, if this is all of his own volition, his own free will," he paused. "Then he shall be dealt with in the same manner."

The Thunder Slimer was quiet for a few moments, optics out observing the horizon. They then turned their gaze toward the sole human among them. "You," he addressed Chiyo. "You are Fujiwara's offspring, yes?" the human nodded. "Then you surely understand why I have trouble understanding your motivations," they relayed. "They are…perplexing."

The dark-haired young woman tilted her head. "How so?" she asked. "You're outside now, aren't you? This is what you wanted."

"Yet why did you give it to me?" the mechaniloid asked. "And with no prompting from either of those similar to myself," they mentioned. "You know nothing of me, let alone what my relationship with your parent was," they stopped for a moment, pondering if they should even continue. "If any being here should hate us, it's you."

Chiyo didn't respond. To do otherwise would be to call them a liar. "I did," she muttered. "At one time. For a while," she bit her lip. "But, if anything, you're sort of his children too, in a sense," she said. "Only, there's no connection of blood or flesh, so he viewed you as something he could merely tinker with as he saw fit."

Thunder Slimer was left stunned by what they had just heard. "You seem to have known him well."

"There wasn't much to know," Chiyo answered. "I think the man was more mechanical than any of you, to be honest," she chuckled, although there was no humor in the memory that came to mind. "Although Sigma proved he was indeed human, just like the rest."

"So why then?" Thunder Slimer repeated. "Why did you see fit to be the one to bring me out here?"

The young woman pondered on just how she was going to answer. True, she had done it mostly to gain answers, yet there were arguably several ways to do that. In retrospect, she had little idea if the plan would even work, it was just the best shot they had at potentially negotiating with the mechaniloid.

It was only as the skies began to brighten did she understand why seeing the sun mattered to the machine, the great orb of fire rising in the sky, gracing Abel City as its gentle, warm rays beat down on the damaged yet still partially standing city. The sun, which was required by all to live, even those that didn't depend on it.

"Because you're alive," Chiyo answered. "Like Patarche, like Fumiko," she paused, turning her attention to the Thunder Slimer. "Like me."

Note: Trying to give the indication that mercy is the answer, but it also must be balanced with maintaining justice. Plus, Chiyo's reason for existence will be revealed next time!

Thank you and I hope you enjoyed!