MEGAMAN X: THE SERIES SEASON ONE: Poles Apart EPISODE TWENTY: "Aucum's Razor" Author's Note: Well, here's another one. I'm noticing a downward trend from a week, to every other week, to every month, to every other month...and so on. Of course I completely accept the blame put by my fanbase...which I have only recently discovered was as big as it is. I never did expect a fanbase for this story and I'm not sure I can handle it given my lack of fic writing over the previous year. Of course I have all sorts of excuses, but I suppose they don't really mean much to you, so I'll just go ahead and let you start reading. Oh, one more thing. You may notice that this fic changes writing styles nearly every episode. That's simply your beginner authour trying to find his footing. ________________________________________________________________________________________ "Truth comes out of error more easily than out of confusion." - Francis Bacon *** The orange and red hues from the sunset flooded the tall windows in the office room. Smoke arose from a small ashtray sitting on the deep brown mahogeny desk. Vile was sitting at his computer, filling out various documents. He was actually in the process of writing invitations to his future guests for the business party he had planned on Venus. The invitations were set for a mere three days from now, but he wasn't worried. All the important people had already been invited and he was simply in the process of filling out the rest of the room with other politicians and CEOs of various, albeit unimportant corporations. He finished writing Anyi's name on the last invitation and saved the individual file. "Ms. Lee, could you handle the last invitation?" asked Vile, after pressing the intercom button. The digitally static voice arose from the other end. Any other businessman would probably have had a view phone. For some odd reason, Vile found them rather uncomfortable. "Yes, sir..." Vile waited for her to read the file he had just sent her. "Sir, is this addressed to that young woman I met at my son's --funeral?" Vile smiled at her slight stutter. She was good at hiding her feelings about the loss of her son. Vile had actually offered her the month off, but she refused to take it. She probably wanted to bury herself in work. Vile understood the feeling all too well. He wondered if Ms. Lee would realize just how much work could consume a person. However, the only thing Vile cared about now was to make sure that his secretary would give Anyi the invitation to come to the office. He had known Anyi would show up at the funeral, as he now knew that she would eventually walk into his building. Humans were so incredibly predictable sometimes. "Yes, that's the one. She'll be in either tonight or tomorrow, so be sure to give this invitation to her personally," replied Vile. "Um...sir, about the Senator?" his secretary seemed a bit worried. "Ah, yes. Send him in now, thank you," Vile released the intercom button. He picked up his cigar from the ashtray. The sun finished setting, leaving a jet black sky. The only blemish in the night would be the full moon, which was already coming over the horizon's edge. It was very late, already. Vile looked at his watch and realized that it was already nearly twenty-one hundred hours. Still, even so late, everything had gone according to plan. "Damnit, Yaven! You kept me waiting for nearly an hour!" Genolt was raging through the front doors of his office. Vile put down the cigar, picked up his bottle of single malt scotch, stood up, and poured two glasses. "Senator Genolt, it's been nearly two weeks, hasn't it?" asked Vile, a thin emptiness in his smile. "It's damn near been three!" Genolt was really mad. Vile couldn't really care less, though. Just like the blue viewscreen; 'Vile do this, Vile do that. Vile, even though you killed Zero and have managed to survive for so long, you're still my bitch. Don't ever forget that.' Damn that blue bastard's smug superiority. 'Well, who's in charge now? I'm still here and I've got a fucking Senator in my office. You're just a bit of code run through a Holostreamer; Sigma, now you're my bitch. Don't ever forget that.' But, still, that damn viewscreen-- "Ah, you're right, it has," Vile handed Genolt a glass, which seemed to at least prevent even more anger. After all, scotch was the Senator's favourite drink. "What seems to be the trouble?" Genolt looked up from his glass, a wicked determination in his eye, "Where are the weapons?" Vile finished off his glass like a shot. He couldn't really care less about how much determination Genolt had. "The latest shipment was packed and shipped over a week ago. In a few more days, they'll arrive." "That's not good enough," Genolt growled. "They need to be there tomorrow at the latest." "Senator, I cannot change the laws of physics," Vile stated smoothly. He poured himself another drink. Genolt huffed and sat down in the chair with his drink. Vile walked over to the window to gaze down towards the full moon which now peaked over the edge. Looking down at the moon was an awe-inspiring activity, which is probably he made sure the office had so many windows. It had been a full moon for nearly three days now, which meant this was probably the last night to catch it in all it's glory. Finally Genolt stood up to make another comment. "How do you expect Cluster Four to win if you keep delaying shipments? This is the second time I've had to come and see you about them! Didn't I make myself clear about the issues of getting paid after we receive the shipments?" Genolt's voice was getting louder. If Vile had heard Genolt, he hadn't visually registered it. He simply could not pull himself away from the window. Instead, he looked at Genolt through his reflection in the faint mirrored glass. The thin emptiness in his smile now spilled over into his eyes, making Genolt sit back down in his chair silently. "And do you understand that I am not interested in the money?" asked Vile. "Cluster Four will succeed, because I wish it to succeed." Vile slowly turned around and finished his second drink. "Honestly," Vile continued. "Sometimes I think I delay these shipments just to watch you scream." Genolt's face was red and contorted with rage at the last remark. Vile simply smiled back at him. The emptiness came back into his eyes; what did Genolt see? 'Vile, never forget that you're my bitch. You have to look up into the viewscreen...' "I never did this for money, in fact you can stop paying me right now," Vile's smile suddenly dropped away. He set his glass down on the table and pressed the button to close the curtains over the window. He was sick of looking at it. He sat down in his chair and looked directly at Genolt. The poor quivering idiot had no idea just how deep of a political hole he had dug. Vile was more than happy to supply the shovels. "I want you at that party, Senator," Vile's voice rang in his ears. Genolt opened his mouth to speak, but instead finished his drink. "Good boy. Senator, don't forget that you and I are in bed together. You are part of the Cluster One council, which means I am a part of the council. You will be a part of the United Terran council...which means I will soon be a much more...influential man. And then," 'Who's on the viewscreen now?' Genolt put the glass down on the table and walked out of the room in silence. "Good day, Senator, I hope to see you at that party. However, if you can't, you may want to call your brother and say hello for me." The door closed behind the defeated senator. Vile shook his head in laughter and poured himself another drink. "Sometimes, I think this is just too easy." *** "...I'm really not sure what to think," Anyi finished telling X and Zero about the events at the Planetarium this morning. X had just finished hearing about the entire destruction of the old lab which was recorded on the memory rod. He was still in disbelief, but it did confirm what they had seen at the excavation site. "What's done is done, I really don't want to talk about it," Zero said, slowly finishing his drink. "Well, that might work for you," X said angrily. "But I definitely want to know more about this. I would go back to that site too, if our jet hadn't been confiscated by the government until further notice." Anyi sat up in surprise, "They took the jet? ...I was thinking about going back to the site too..." "It isn't gonna happen, so we better come up with a new plan," Zero replied slowly. He was right, of course, and X knew that. Going back to the site probably wouldn't provide any more answers to what was going on. Yet something was nagging him in the back of his mind, telling him that the attack on the site, Yaven, and even the destruction of the old lab... everything was related, somehow. "Maybe we can find Protoman?" suggested X. "If I understand correctly, he should still be running around...where the heck did he go?" "It's possible that Roll might know, since I saw Protoman programming her at the last second. --And that's another thing...some of the recording couldn't have been made by Roll." "Maybe Protoman recorded a holographic representation into the memory rod," said Zero. "Yeah, but why would he do that, and for whom?" Anyi thought out loud. 'For us. He did it for us...or more specifically, for me,' the thought came to X like a blow to the head. "Why would he do what?" a voice came from the back of the room. Zinc was standing with Jerry in the front door. The two strode over to their table, which was now filled with empty cups and empty plates from a late dinner. "Hey! Why didn't you two come back to the garage?" asked Zinc. "I wanted to eat too!" "Sorry Zi---Ben, we were only gonna be here for a minute, but we ran into Anyi," said Zero. "Hey boss, you want me to take the two bikes back?" asked Jerry. "Sure Jer, they're out front somewhere," X passed the keys to Jerry. Jerry gave a nod and walked out of the restaurant, leaving the four at the table. The waitress came by and Zinc ordered a coke. "Anyway," Anyi raised an eyebrow at Zinc's 'new' name. "...where did we leave off before we were interrupted?" "We were talking about Protoman's intentions," replied X. He was only half-paying attention; he kept glancing at the clock. It was almost midnight. It was almost time for him to go where the wine label told him to go. "Right! Maybe he was trying to leave evidence so we could find out who did the attack at the lab..." Anyi trailed off. "It's too bad the memory file was corrupted, or else we might know more." "Well, Protoman wasn't an expert with holographic recording," said X. "It's possible that he caused the corruption himself, simply because he didn't really know what he was doing." "Hey X, maybe that's what's going on with you," said Zero. X's face fell slightly at the mention of his flashbacks. This was the last thing he wanted to discuss. "What's going on with him?" asked Anyi and Zinc almost at the same time. X just lowered his head. "...I've been having extremely vivid playbacks of memory files which had been stored in me from Rock's files." "Well, the memory recording I saw would seem to indicate that you have all of Rock's skills, records, and abilities, since they were copied into you by Protoman. However, since Rock's core was destroyed, you don't have his personality or anything that really truly made Rock unique as an individual," Anyi took in another breath to continue her theory. "Right," X interrupted, "I know that. But the memory files were never this incredibly detailed. I think Zero is suggesting that Protoman might have stored these files in my program." "Well, how come you're getting them now?" asked Anyi. "And why the heck didn't you tell me this when you first got them!?" X raised his finger in response, but couldn't think of an adequate excuse. He certainly wasn't going to tell her that he just didn't want to stress her out more. Somehow, he knew that giving such a reason would just make it worse. "I think the more important question is," Zero interrupted. "Are these files gonna corrupt X's program?" The four looked at eachother in silence. The waitress came by and put the bill on the table. Zinc slurped at the empty glass of coke. "X, maybe I should examine you," said Anyi. "...That would be nice, but we no longer have the equipment necessary to do a full analysis on my systems," said X. "Well, where is this equipment?" asked Zinc innocently. He was only starting to catch on to what the problem was, X could tell. Even still, Zinc knew what corrupted files could do to a Reploid. Especially files that were corrupted by a certain special little virus. "It was bought from the UCO by the Athropos AI Institute on Venus," said Anyi. "They were carting it out when I got back into town." "Damn!" muttered Zero. "If it wasn't for this stupid thing with Yaven or whatever, I would suggest we go there...but I don't know how we're gonna get away." "Why not? Nothing's happened in the last three weeks, right?" asked Zinc. "Look everyone, I'll deal with this, so don't worry," X said. "So far, it hasn't compromised any of my systems. I think I'll be okay for awhile." X stood up quickly and laid some money next to the bill. He then turned and walked out. Zero cursed and went after him, and they both disappeared into the streets. Anyi's face was filled with concern for her friend, but knew there was nothing that could be done at the moment. Anyi turned to look at Zinc. "So," started Anyi, her mind wandered across the problem with Roll. "So..." said Zinc, his mind probably wandered across his empty glass. They both sat there in silence, for a few seconds longer. "I think I'm gonna go fix Roll, now that I know the problem," said Anyi to no one in particular. "Right behind you," Zinc set his glass on the table and followed Anyi out. *** They had sat there to watch the moon set and the sun rise and the sun set again. Iris hadn't spoken another word since the last full moon; waiting for more orders from Vile. Her soft purple hair glistened in the new starlight which shone through the high penthouse glass windows. Agile had long since left in order to regenerate his systems. Iris had found lately that her own ability to regenerate quickly no longer ended in nights of longer practice, but rather nights of staring up at the stars. There was something about the stars which reminded her of a better time; the necklace around her neck reminded her of that same time as well. The moon was rising again, marking the passage of nearly a full day. Midnight was drawing near. 'Elysium,' Iris lacked a definition for that word. It served no purpose to her current assignment and yet something inside her yearned for the answer. Something inside her wished it. She couldn't remember ever wishing for something before. "Iris?" the stern voice arose from behind her. Agile had walked back into the room and she hadn't even noticed. It truly was unlike her, but then again she had no knowledge of what was like her. "Agile," Iris sounded out the name as if it were the first time she had heard it. "Agile, are you prepared for our excursion to Venus?" She saw that her voice chilled Agile, just as it always did. The monotones in her voice disturbed him, now more than ever for some reason. "Yes, we're packed and ready to leave within the hour ahead of the boss," Agile replied. His gaze was towards the ground; he was concerned for her again. She could tell that. That's what she liked about him; he was an open book half the time. She didn't understand persons who actually tried to hide what they were feeling. Her boss did it sometimes and even that man with the short red hair did it at the hospital. 'Zero--' Both of those men had the same look in their eye when they spoke. "Agile, why does the boss want us to confront our enemy on Venus, when we have a definite advantage with our resources in Cluster One?" It was a simple question. "I don't know," replied Agile. It was an adequate answer to a question Iris never would have dared asked a few days ago. She wondered what made today different. 'Elysium,' Iris wondered if perhaps she could consult the Netionary upon the plane to determine the origin of the word. "Are you prepared, Iris?" asked Agile. His smile could not hide his concern for her. Iris wondered if such a smile made someone weaker or stronger. Why couldn't she smile like that? "Yes, Agile. Let us proceed with the operations." "Good," Agile turned away. "I will contact the Robot Masters after midnight. I'll see you tomorrow?" "Where are you going?" Iris asked another question which was atypical of her. "Out for a walk." *** The dark tunnel stunk of rancid water which flowed down the grooves in the cement. Zero had hopped down through the subway rubble, ignoring the construction signs. Only a few minutes ago, he was talking with X. They had spent an unmarked time discussing the past, remembering some of Sigma's tricks. They were sure he was dead, and something new was approaching them in the near future. Unfortunately, this new it had very different tactics, if any at all. It annoyed Zero that he couldn't determine what was going on. That was when X suddenly wanted to leave and told Zero that he would meet up with him later. He simply took off and told Zero that he would return. Zero didn't think much of it, since X and himself both enjoyed working alone more than working together. Normally, they would simply split up and meet up again after the fact to exchange clues. That's what Zero was doing right now. Hunting down a clue. 'Hunting...,' Zero hadn't thought of that term in a while. It defined his life in one word. He lived for the hunt, maybe because he was programmed to enjoy it. Since his stay on Venus, he had found something...someone better than the hunt; but she wasn't here right now to take his thoughts away from his old habits. He jumped down from the pipe level and landed with a loud echoing thud on the metal tracks. Immediately he heard a vocal response. It came from behind a slanted slab of rubble, covered in the steam jetting from broken pipes overhead. "H-hello? Is- is there someone here?" asked a pitiful voice from behind the large metal wreckage. This entire place was a mess. Zero moved the metal plates as if they were nothing more than mere styrofoam and saw what it was that caught his attention. After X had left, Zero had the feeling that again someone was looking at him. He had hoped that it would be...no it wasn't her with the necklace, it was something else. But it was still one of his kind. He had backtracked it all this way into the depths of the lower subway. Now he might finally get some answers. "H-hello?" this Reploid said again. Zero was looking straight at this pitiful mockery of a machine. He was covered in tattered rags and sitting on a pile of empty soda cans, some of them bent. Zero wasn't an expert, but he was sure that this Reploid was beyond repair and would be entering the final stages of physical degradation fairly soon. Without an extensive overhaul, this Reploid would be offline in a matter of weeks. Zero entertained the possibility that this bum probably had no sensors left online and was permanently blind. That would explain why Zero hadn't picked up any sorts of major energy signatures. Zero normally scanned for sensors, since they put off the most notable signatures. "You're blind aren't you," Zero stated. It wasn't really a question. Zero picked up the man from the soda cans and sat him up against the wall. The Reploid shook in the darkness, obviously trying so hard to keep warm by other means than a generator. That probably had gone out too. The brief thought that Zero was saved by the government while hundreds of others were living like this Reploid shook through Zero's hands and he let go of the tattered hobo. "--It's f-funny...y-yesterday, I c-could see...B-but th-the last time I used...auxilia-ary..." Zero thought about this. If this Reploid did activate auxiliary power in such a state, he would have burned out his sensors for good. Maybe he activated it to get away from Zero...no that didn't sound right. It was to get away from someone or something else. "Why did you follow me?" asked Zero quietly. Immediately, he got a strong reaction. The hobo tried to stand up to run away; he tried to do anything to avoid whatever it was Zero was going to do. It was true that Zero had come in to this with a plan of action, but never expected to find...this. "Y-Yaven says...he gets it, I can't--watching you...from the shadows, but I have--" the Reploid struggled some more against his own crippling status, but sat down dejected and defeated. Zero sat down next to him. "Hold on now, what's your name?" Zero tried what he could to appear calm and at ease, to avoid scaring this person further into a form of verbal insanity. Still, Zero had this unexplainable urge to simply take this Reploid's harddrive straight from the source, rip the information that he wanted, tearing through the rusted metal and hearing the scream-- "Null...my name is Null. You...are the one he --wants? Or are you the one he wants...to kill?" Zero shook off the random thought of violence to focus on the more important issue. Had this homeless person been following them around to hear their conversations for the past few weeks? If so, this Yaven would know their entire situation; he would know how to exploit it. He certainly had picked a good scout. "Kill whom? Who does this Yaven want to kill?" Zero pushed further. "I don't know," Null gasped for air, his coolant system barely functioning. "I-I, X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X...--" "Yaven wants to kill X?" asked Zero trying to push on. Suddenly the man grabbed onto his face, Zero was forced to stare into the dead black eyes of the decrepit Reploid, "Kill YOUU!!" The man started laughing and slumped over, apparently giving up on living anymore. Zero understood that he had to kill him, just like he would have back in the cavern days. The hunt had to go on past Sigma, but those eyes were incredibly lifeless. He had seen eyes like that before. Those eyes also belonged to the woman with the necklace. Zero stood up, trying to shake off the feelings that had crept over his shoulder. The hobo was slumped over, repeating the same laugh over and over again like a corrupted wavefile. The darkness had finally set into Zero's senses. He turned to leave. *** The tall green office building stood high above all the others. In fact, it probably stood a good eighty storeys in height. It curved towards the top and had small arboretums indenting every other floor further into the background. Anyi admired the marble finish on the walls and pillars, wrinkling her nose at the sight of the brass sign over the door. "Yaven Enterprises" While Zinc and she were walking back to the lab, she recalled that she had promised to meet with Lee's mother. Anyi had bid Zinc farewell and got aboard the Sydney Skyway. She had nearly forgotten about the promise. In fact, the stars were beginning to shine brightly and so it was very possible that the building itself was closed. This fact was confirmed by the eery lack of people on the city streets. She didn't know why she had promised such a silly thing; She had barely even known Lee and probably was not the best person to talk to about him. Yet, how could she refuse the request of a mother who had just lost her son? Anyi walked up the stairs to the revolving door entrance. There, a guard held the way. He was tall, black, and probably from the American colony. Anyi pushed the wrinkles out of her shirt to try and look somewhat presentable in her casual attire. "Um...hello, I'm here to see a Ms. Lee," she said meekly in her thick accent. The black man slowly turned his head to look down at her diminutive presence. "I got a lot of Lees in this building. Care to be specific?" asked the man in a very serious tone. Anyi reached into her purse and fumbled for a bit to find the business card she was given. "Uh-- I have it in here somewhere," Anyi finally managed to pull out the wrinkled rectangle. "Ah ha!" The guard stared at the card and the sequence of numbers written along the bottom. He tipped his hat and pushed the button next to the door. "Have a good day, Miss," the guard bowed slightly. Anyi smiled and walked through the doors which led into the lobby of the first floor. It certainly was grand; polished marble floor with red carpet led paths to the desks, couches, doors, and elevators. It certainly was an impressive building. Windows lead up the side across from the balconies which looked down from higher floors into the main lounge. Anyi passed through a weapons detector and walked out onto the carpet. There were few people working; a janitor was vacuuming around the corner of a hallway. Anyi walked up to the elevator and pushed the button. The card said that Ms. Lee was on the 73rd floor, rather high up. The bell went off and the doors opened in front of her to reveal a wood-panelled elevator with a gold finish. Anyi was surprised that Ms. Lee worked in such a lavish building. Certainly this Yaven character was one of the richest men in Clustor One. Anyi walked in and keyed in the correct floor, noticing that the 73rd floor was the top floor. Was it possible that Ms. Lee worked for Yaven himself? If so, the death of her son may not have been accidental if Yaven Enterprises was as involved as X suggested. Anyi quickly decided that it was not her place to make such bold accusations; she didn't want to upset the old woman further by mentioning such an assumption. Still, it could be that Yaven himself had planned for Anyi to come here. The thought gave Anyi a cold chill, but before she could change her mind, the doors re-opened to show the office of the secretary she sought. The first thing that Anyi noticed out of the office was the incredible age which Ms. Lee's face showed. At the funeral, Anyi never got a clear look because of the veil, but it may have been her face looked so old now because of recent events. Anyi pictured a bright and smiling mother giving her son a hug before he got onto a plane to leave for the Antarctic. It sent a chill down her spine. She walked up to the beaten brown desk; the office managed somehow to look older than Ms. Lee. Anyi wasn't too certain what to say, so she just sat there while the secretary finished doing whatever she was doing on the computer. Finally Ms. Lee looked up, "Oh, hello Ms. Solieu!" it was obvious that the woman was smiling only because it was in her job description. Anyi wasn't too sure how to talk to her. She was always uncomfortable around persons who had lost family. Even when her great grandmother died, though Anyi didn't know her very well, she wasn't certain how to talk to her mother for weeks after that. Anyi had another weird image of her mother getting a hug from her grandmother before getting on the plane to live in Cluster One. "Um, good evening Ms. Lee," Anyi struggled through the sentences. "I was pretty sure you would be off work by now, since it's so late, but I...came anyway just to make sure --because I know you wanted to see me and I wasn't sure why... but I don't really have time anymore so I was hoping you--" "Of course, Ms. Solieu. You know the reason why I asked you here?" "Um...I'm thinking you want to know what happened at the site?" asked Anyi. "Yes!" The old Chinese woman practically stood from her chair. "They aren't telling anyone anything, but I thought since you were there...you could tell me why..." Anyi could see the visible strain in the woman's face to avoid crying. She wasn't certain if she should tell Ms. Lee, but at the same time she was pretty sure she wouldn't be leaving this room without telling her all about it. The story was bridled with a thick accent and the parts about Eugene were left out, as well as what they had been studying at the site. Anyi chose only to tell about the attack which she made sure Ms. Lee believed were terrorists and nothing more. Anyi wasn't certain how to tell Ms. Lee that her boss was a current suspect in the death of her son, so she didn't. She told Ms. Lee of her own exposure to the cold and the need to go to the hospital right after. Really, the only thing Anyi could remember from the hospital was that everytime she woke up, X was sitting on a chair reading a book. She gathered that everyone was probably worried about her condition. Even after three weeks, slight cold winds bothered her much more than they ever did in the past. "Did my son die from the cold, then?" asked Ms. Lee, her face dropping slightly. "Um, no...I, I wouldn't have survived without him. He managed to protect me... and in the process of saving my life; --he got shot. I stayed with him until I passed out from the cold." Somehow, in all the sadness and grief, Ms. Lee managed to gain ten years back with a heartfelt smile. "He died well," Ms. Lee just sat there and stared at the wall behind Anyi. When the experience had first happened at the site, Anyi was in the state of a daydream, as if she was numb from much more than the cold. It was only now that the feelings of terror started to sink in, assaulting her mind. She saw the same image of the plane, although she wasn't sure who was getting the hug this time. It truly was a terrible incident. Although it was strange that she was only really realizing this now. "I want to thank you, Ms. Solieu," said the old woman. She reached into a drawer from her desk and pulled out starport tickets. "There's a Business & Science conference on Venus; I'm allowed to bring any guests of my own. You can, of course, use the tickets with your friends as sort of a vacation getaway. I know that it's terribly short notice, since the ship leaves in only a few days, but I thought you might like to get away from work for awhile..." Anyi's eyes immediately lit up at the tickets. Yaven Enterprises was holding a conference on Venus and now Anyi had tickets to that convention? It didn't sound quite right. Anyi took the tickets and thanked her anyway, not wanting to be rude. Maybe X would know what to do with the questionable tickets. Only a few hours ago were they complaining about Yaven and Venus. Everything they had discussed involved Venus, but how could they leave and still investigate Yaven? ...and now suddenly it was as if it all fell right into their hands. 'Well, of course it doesn't sound right!' Anyi thought worriedly. Still, she waved goodbye and got back into the elevator. She had more important things to worry about now, like fix Roll. *** The moon was the only light overhead. X looked down from the railing; he was 203.7 metres up from the ground. X vaguely remembered this roof, from somewhere. Perhaps it was a small base of operations for the Maverick Hunters back during the War. X couldn't really be too sure. The air was cold and dry, which was slightly unusual for summer weather. The clouds overhead indicated that it would probably rain tomorrow. X came to the conclusion that he was getting tired of waiting. He had been up on this roof for the past hour, waiting for someone or something to show up. This was the right place and the right time that was indicated on that bottle of wine which was left outside of his apartment just yesterday. X had been curious about it ever since, but had told no one about it. First he wanted to see if this 'stranger' would pan out in the information department. X sighed and looked down at the few cars which passed by, their bass too loud; They were probably some late night clubbers getting drunk. "Sorry for the delay," the voice came from behind X. He turned around from the guard rail and saw a man with dark hair. X adjusted his light receivers and immediately the surroundings reflected a more daytime atmosphere. This man looked familiar, just like the roof. Perhaps they had met before. If they had met before, it was probably in battle. It was difficult to recognize Reploids without their armour. Ever since the War ended, all the Reploids were required to uninstall their gear...to pass for being more human. "Do I know you?" asked X. The tall man with black hair took a few steps forward until he was a mere arm's length from X's position. "No, you don't," he replied. X just raised an eyebrow at the man's odd conduct. "Did you call me here for a reason?" asked X, his impatience growing further. "Yes, yes I did," the man replied. They both stared at eachother in silence for the next minute. X couldn't believe how evasive this 'contact' was getting. X spent the time analyzing his databanks. It was clear that the man was waiting for some sort of recognition from X. That was when X realized that he was talking to a very old Maverick indeed. The one that was in charge of rebuilding Zero after the first battle...for the other side. "Agile," X stated simply. "Glad to know you, but watch out: Same model, different core. At least, it's different enough," Agile smiled. "Try not to get me confused with your old friend from the past. Although I assure you that we are very alike indeed." "Yaven sent you," X was starting to realize that Yaven had some very old and probably very useful ( read: dangerous ) connections. "No, but that isn't important," he answered. "What is important is that there is a conference on Venus which I suggest you attend. Genolt will be there and I assure you that he is a much better lead to follow than Yaven. You may find out more about what's happening if you investigate him instead." 'Genolt,' X had heard that name before. He remembered Zero was discussing him only a few days ago. Maybe the Senator really did have something to do with all of this, although X couldn't imagine why. "You want me to be there?" asked X. "Sure, if you want to look at it that way," said Agile. He turned around and started walking away. "In any case, there isn't anything left for you here on Earth except maybe Yaven, but you've spent the last week trying to figure out how he's connected and you've gotten almost nowhere. Genolt is a much easier target. In any case, Yaven will also be on Venus." That was all X needed to hear. The man jumped off the side of the building. X turned around to look down on the waning club traffic. Things were just starting to get interesting. X turned and saw that his bluebird had landed and was now perched on the rail next to him. "Hey Beat, I'm guessing you want something to eat?" asked X. The bird chirped loudly in response. X shook his head and decided to call it a night. *** "Hey...Zero, are you okay?" asked the small Reploid boy. Of course, most of the Reploids were at the age of what humans would call the pre-teen years; he simply was the only one that looked the part. Zinc shook his short black hair back into place after the gust of wind which rode up through Sydney Main. They were currently walking back to the UCO. Anyi had taken off awhile ago and told Zinc to wait for her at the lab. He didn't know what else to do, so he kept on going in that direction. A little while later, Zero had caught up with him; Zinc wasn't sure if Zero had actually tried to catch up though. In fact, he seemed to be mindlessly walking. Zero, on the other hand, was wishing that his walk was mindless. He simply couldn't shake off the previous thoughts which had gripped him. The thoughts had been becoming more noticeable over the past week. It was then that he realized that the thoughts had always been there; for so many years the whisper was in the background. It was what gave him the ability to fight for his friends; it was what gave him the upper edge in the war. Was it something in his program? He couldn't really tell. All he knew was that the whisper had been getting louder ever since he saw that woman with the necklace. 'You could know so much more, just open the hatch on the chest. Take his harddrive, rip it from the port and read it directly. Oh the lovely scream of metal and --' "Zero, you look kinda out of it," Zinc was now tugging on Zero's red silk shirt. "Huh? Oh, hi Zinc," Zero mumbled, as if he had just noticed that the small boy was beside him. "Where are you off to?" Zinc raised an eyebrow as if to indicate that he thought Zero was crazy. "...To the lab," Zinc replied slowly. "Why? Isn't that where you're going?" Zero finally looked at his surroundings after so much walking. He saw the sign in the green hedges next to the highway which slowly unwound into the campus grounds. WELCOME TO THE UNIVERSITY OF CLUSTER ONE "Hmm," Zero shrugged. "Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." *** Author's Comments: Well, this is done. It's very premature and I had planned on it being a lot longer. Unfortunately, something in the back of my brain kept nagging at me to finish it. Therefore, it looks like Season One is gonna have an Episode #21. Kinda out of place, but whatever. I never did get to the part with Roll...ah there were a lot of things I was gonna write. If I ever get my Internet connection back, maybe you'll all see it.