Author's Note: Welcome back to the X storyline. Some people wondered what happened to Roll? Well, this is the chapter for you then. Bear with me, I haven't written anything in a long time and I'm a bit rusty at it.

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"Our life is what our thoughts make it." - Marcus Aurelius.

  

Petersen Apartment Building
Cluster One, Australia
November 18th, 2093
The Present

"...Looks like you already took care of it, thanks Mrs. Petersen," X replied to his landlord as she handed him the brass birdcage containing his pet bluebird. X shuddered and looked around. An intense headache filled his mind and he had trouble concentrating on what was happening. Evelyn was gone, and so was the theatre. But hadn't he left Zero behind? X's memories were momentarily jumbled, causing a lot of confusion for him.

   'What...how did I get here?' thought X. Only a moment ago, he was walking down Sydney Main after giving up his search for Zero. However, he had no recollection of ever actually getting to the Petersen Building.

   "Is something wrong, Mr. Layne?" asked the old landlord, she had her hand up on X's forehead and felt around a bit. "You look a bit ill, I hope you haven't come down with anything."

   X brought his gaze up from the floor and looked at Mrs. Petersen. He was disoriented and only realized that his Credit and Licence both said "Arnold Layne". It was a cover provided by the Australian government to all of the Maverick Hunters, so that they could live out there life without being bothered by their own Reploid existence. Another quick fix provided by the narrow minds that ran Cluster One. It really only served to extend the whole 'Bolt' issue in the media, and X was grateful that he didn't have to explain the false ID to Anyi, who must have got his real identity from Dr. Caine's files.

   "Mr. Layne, perhaps you better come in and lie down," said the old lady again.

   "I...uh, no. Don't worry about it Mrs. Petersen, I'll be fine. But maybe I will rest once I get upstairs to my apartment." he replied.

   "Okay then. I'm sure a young man like yourself has many plans for the weekend," said the landlord with a wink. "I hope the illness doesn't ruin your schedule. Also, don't forget that next rent is in three days." She backed up and closed the door, leaving X standing in the dimly lit green hallway, holding a cage with his bluebird.

   He turned and went up one floor through the cement stairwell to reach the penthouse, 60 storeys above the ground overlooking the vast brightly metallic city. X opened the door to his apartment and walked in. He hadn't used the apartment in over two weeks now. After he came back from the excavation, he watched over Anyi in the hospital after the damage she had taken from the battle at the site. She was in pretty bad condition and X had stayed by her side the whole time online, hoping she would pull through and ignoring his own rapid energy degradation from the amount of time spent without an off-line recovery session. After she had awakened, he never did have the heart to tell her just how bad her condition was, and she never had the courage to ask anyone. She was probably scared to think about it and wanted to put it behind her. X smiled at the hospital memories. Even in such a short time, the two were fast becoming friends. It may have been simply because neither of them had any friends in the area, and Anyi was one of the few persons he knew who could actually get along knowing of his existence as a 'bolt' and not as Arnold Layne.

   'What the hell possessed the government to give me such a stupid name anyway,' thought X as he took his long blue overcoat off and hung it up on the hook attached to the door. He put the birdcage on the hook by the set of couches near the large window. X saw a few hover vehicles fly by. It was after rush hour, so X wouldn't have to put up with too much noise flying past. He could always just draw the curtains, but he preferred having the city to look out onto. It was one of the few things X found peaceful. Perhaps he was more grateful for the city view than most, but that was probably because he had spent the first five years of his life trying to protect it from Sigma's rants of destruction.

   X looked at himself in the full-length mirror just outside his bedroom door. He shrugged and went over to the refrigeration unit hanging from the ceiling in the kitchen.

   'I don't even look like an Arnold to begin with,' he mused as he grabbed a can of soda out of the fridge. He demagnetized the top with his index finger and poured it into a glass. He was annoyed that the bicarbonate had fizzled, leaving it slightly flat. The chemicals had nearly broken down and it was almost useless to bother using it to recharge his secondary outlet coils. He shrugged and took a sip just for the taste of it anyway.

   'I'd say I'm more of a James. Yeah, I could see that,' thought X, glancing back at the mirror above the grey carpet, across the room. He frowned at his chosen name.

   'Well, maybe not. I guess X suits me just fine. Too bad if I ever tried to sign something with an X, they'd probably charge me with illiteracy and request my school PIN. Too bad the government didn't forsee giving us a fake educational background. It's been legally necessary for a few years now, in Cluster One at least. Maybe I should move somewhere like America where it's not illegal. Nah, that'd get way too hot, I should go further north into Mexico...although Greenland is pretty nice in the summer. Well, whatever, it's not important now,' X turned and looked at the clock over the dishwasher sink. He still had another hour before Anyi would probably be done analyzing Roll's memory databanks. He put the empty glass in the sink, where it was immediately de-dredged by the yellow sonic pulses running across the metal sheets. X picked up the glass and hung it back up on the overhead rack.

   'I better think of updating some of the technology in this place, since all I've bought for it so far was the J&J Sink Model 1. Now they're coming out with a Model 2,' X sighed. 'Technology is moving much to fast for my tastes. I remember back when you had to press the button to wash the dishes, and you could do more than one at a time in a bin instead of these sonic sink things. Oh well...hmmm, maybe I should think of automating the curtains for night time as well.'

   X walked over to the couch and looked out the window. The windows made up the entire wall and most of the ceiling in the living room area making a rather large skylight.

   "Okay bird, I guess now that your wing has healed, you probably want to go. I'm sorry you got trapped in my open window in the first place, but I don't have force fields to keep you out like most other people would," X lightly stroked the bluebird's chest. "I live in a pretty old apartment building. Still, I wonder how you escaped the Sydney Habitat Ring. You must be a pretty clever bird indeed."

   X opened the cage to let the bird out. He couldn't remember when he got the cage for the bird, so he assumed it must have been during the time before he went to his Jet. That part of his memory that was still unaccounted for, as well as the time just a few minutes ago. Zero had confirmed that he was acting normally during that time, so the memory lapse must have come just after those strange...flashbacks. He felt that just a few minutes ago, he was laughing with the young Evelyn, before that strange general came in and hauled her off. He could only assume that they must have been Rock's memories, but then how come he had them in such detail if he was never Rock to begin with? He shook his head in confusion and took a few seeds out from the bottom of the cage and put them out on the glass coffee table. He watched as the bird hopped across the couch and onto the table.

   'I hope Anyi can sort it out. She's been under so much stress and seen more than I hoped she'd ever have to see at once. We've got so much work for her to do and she doesn't even have an assistant. Maybe I should try to cheer her up tonight, since I haven't really been with her since that man's funeral, and that's not exactly the best timing for fun.'

   "I dunno, what do you think bird?" asked X. The bird responded by pecking at some of the seeds. X saw that it was putting scratches in the table, and he smacked his forehead.

   "I must really be distracted by all this, I didn't even think about the table!" laughed X. He stood up and went to open the window. He opened the latch at the bottom, and slid the glass up about three feet. Mrs. Petersen had told him that the window needed to be automated if he wanted to open it, since no human would have the strength to slide such a large sheet glass upwards. X wasn't exactly the average tenant.

   "Well, there you go! I hope you can find your way back, since you tore through your E-tag," said X to the bird. The bird just stared at him quizzically and then went back to looking for seeds. It began pecking strands out of the carpet. X waited for it to notice the open window. He knew the bird would notice it on its own, since it had shown cleverness before. The bird must have managed to recognize that the E-tag would give it's keepers a chance to track it since the bird had managed to get this far from the Habitat. That would probably explain why the E-tag wasn't attached to his leg. Still, X hoped that they noticed that the bird was at least gone, just in case it had a family to go back to. Of course, if it had, it may not have tried to get away. X shrugged, he wasn't exactly knowledgeable in the field of bird brains, unless you counted Vile. X smiled at his little joke about his old dead nemesis and watched as the bird noticed the window . It took off immediately and began flying through the clear skies, staying far from any vehicles travelling overhead. X closed the window and went to get his overcoat.

   "It's a nice day, I think I'll go for a walk before seeing if Anyi is done," he whistled with a smile and went to put on a clean shirt. He walked into his bedroom and opened the blue chest drawer. Taking out a white polo shirt, he stood up to take off his other one. He changed into the clean shirt and pulled it over his head. Looking up, he saw the bluebird perched on his windowsill. X was a bit confused at it's fast return as it flew towards X and sat on his left shoulder.

   "I...You....What?" asked X. The bluebird chirped happily. "...You know what bird? I got to start closing that window," X realized that even though he was done with the bird, the bird wasn't done with him quite yet.

   "Uh...welcome aboard little fella," said X with a small shrug as he walked out of his bedroom and went for his apartment door.

   ***

Radio Shack on Main
Cluster One, Australia
November 18th, 2093
The Present

   An electronic chirp came from above Zero's head as he walked through the automated doors. It was a fairly small store, only a few shelves of digital gadgets and equipment, but Zero wanted something pretty common, so this Radio Shack probably carried it. The store was empty except for the cashier, and Zero found himself a bit calmer with no one around. He had just had a rather harrowing experience. He knew he was probably buying these gadgets just to avoid thinking about it, unfortunately his android mind could do more than one thing at a time. He walked towards the back, searching for the device, but he quickly found that even though there were only a few shelves and aisles, the place was densely packed to the point that ROUNDscreen consoles were hanging from the ceiling in a disorganized fashion. Zero wrinkled his nose at the sight of the Internet/Gaming console.

   'Honestly, as if reality isn't enough for humans, they gotta go off and make another one,' thought Zero. He was a bit disgusted that nearly the entire Internet was reduced to the holographic images. If one wanted to use a computer in the form of a two-dimensional screen, they were limited to XML-only pages. And if he did use either the ROUNDscreen or Nintendo console, the games were far too simple to be bothered with, except for The Hunted. But that was because it was nearly 30 opponents as tough as nails against Zero with a knife.

   Still, it couldn't compare. Honestly, the 'shooter' games they had these days were much easier than the Reploid War had ever been. Maybe someone should make a game about that, but the players would need plenty of lives if they were gonna survive. Of course, then again they'd probably make either X or himself a main character in some sort of 'Megaman' game. Now that would probably be an annoying insult to either one's abilities.

   Zero sighed as he walked up and down the aisles. Technology was getting much too complicated for him to pay any attention too, although there was one new interesting gadget he was interested in purchasing. It wasn't anywhere he could scan, unfortunately. Zero glanced up and saw the counter with a freckle-faced teenager behind it. Or maybe it was acne, Zero couldn't really tell even with scanning equipment.

   He began to walk up to ask for some help on where the gadget may be. The sign over the register read, 'Sorry, cash is no longer accepted at this place,' Zero groaned. Was cash really that bad? Admittedly, Zero didn't have any on him since to get cash you had to be extremely lucky or mega-rich. It was more or less printed as a novelty in Australia now. Even New Indonesia didn't print more than around three million dollars last time Zero had heard. Apparently, if anyone got a dollar, they could enter it in a private lottery to win the amount bet in credit. That's potentially three million dollars, since most people who got the bill would enter. Zero found the human fascination with Credit a little disturbing, since he himself preferred and insisted his pension was in cash. But maybe that's why humans created those other realities. They pretty much fucked up this one.

   "May I help you, sir?" the tall kid squeaked. At that moment, two persons walked through the automated doors, followed by that damn chirp. One was tall and lanky with a tweed jacket. Zero hedged a guess that the man was probably in his 30s. The other one, however, followed behind him and pretty much stayed silent. The other one was a kid, fairly short with ruffled black hair. Zero paused at the complexion of the little kid. He had seen that face somewhere before, but couldn't place it in his databanks. That's when he saw the small plastic cap connecting his left elbow to his fore-arm. He was wearing a yellow stripe indicating his true nature. Zero looked up over the door and found "that sign".

   NO BOLTS ALLOWED, UNLESS ACCOMPANIED BY THEIR OWNER.

   Zero did his best to remain calm. After all, he still wanted that gadget.

   "Hey!" said the obviously arrogant man with the tweed jacket, "Do you guys have one of those new fangled ROUNDscreen consoles? I heard that Spectral Magic finally got around to updating the newer version. The games probably ain't as good now that those two crazy owners are dead, but I want to see those new pages with the Internet."

   Zero was mildly annoyed by the interruption in the line. And that was only himself.

   "Sir, do you mean the new 200Ghz Bus?" asked the squeaky kid.

   "Yeah, whatever, that's probably it," the man pulled the little kid down an aisle. "Come on kid I want you to find the best one with that scanner thingy of yours."

   The kid had his eyes to the floor, but he took a moment to glance up at Zero. The kid was puzzled as if he had seen Zero somewhere before. Zero realized that they both recognized eachother, but for probably different reasons.

   "Sorry sir, what would you like?" asked the teenager, turning back to Zero.

   "Do you guys carry those LCD Cels?" asked Zero.

   "Oh, are you interested in the new model? The range on it is about 20,000 kilometres and operates for twenty years before you have to replace the battery. Admittedly it's less powerful than the standard digitals, but the codes are hexadecimal and function more like a radio."

   "Yeah, whatever, I would like four of them," Zero turned and glanced at the two other customers. The kid was rummaging through the consoles over head, and the lanky man looked on with impatience. "I've got a few friends I'd like to keep in touch with."

   "Okay sir, you do understand how to operate them."

   This teenager was asking an android if he could operate a device based on his technology. Zero smirked at this little inflection. Even if technology was moving fast, himself as a 'device' was still far more advanced than any silly ROUNDscreen console.

   "Uh...yeah, I think I can handle it."

   "Alright. You don't need a Celphone plan with a major company, however these phones can only dial other phones like them. In order to contact another one you have to know the ten digit Hexadecimal code."

   Zero realized that this little prepared speech of his would probably take a good five minutes, so he started a game of Pong in his head. It may be simple, but it was far more entertaining than this squeaky teenager with the...acne or whatever the hell it was that occupied his face.

   "...You got all that sir?" asked the teenager after Zero had scored 20 to 0. It wasn't really a fair game, since Zero played both the computer and the player. Zero smiled as he played the recorded visual and audio from the teenager over the last five minutes at thirty-two speed.

   "It's fairly simplistic, how much will they cost?" asked Zero. Suddenly, the lanky man butted in dragging his reploid slave behind him.

   "Alright, I'll take the black uniform," said the lanky man. The kid had his eyes to the floor again. Zero realized that if he could see that little kid's eyes, they would probably be filled with loss. Just as a human would feel, too bad they forget that the earlier reploids are programmed with emotion.

   "Okay sir, just let me handle this customer here," the teenager seemed rather baffled by this sudden intrusion. He obviously hadn't been working behind the counter for very long.

   "Well, hurry it up!"

   Zero just said quietly, "Alright, I would like to have five of these."

   "Sir? But...Okay, here you are," the teenager reached from beneath the counter and pulled out five 'LCD Hexes' as they were called in the teen's speech. Zero found that a phone the size of a credit card and only twice as thick may be a bit awkward. He'd have to remember to get some chains for the cards so that no one would lose them.

   "Wow, neat!" said the kid. He had obviously looked up for a brief second and caught a glimpse of the technology. The man immediately yanked the kid to his side and grumbled something about giving stupid bolts free will. Of course, they didn't build reploids with the same amount of feeling after the Reploid War, so Zero guessed that the kid was at least six years old. The man kept on grumbling about stupid engineering, unfortunately he never managed to finish that sentence.

   The teenager backed up from the counter in surprise, as Zero's right hand fumbled through his wallet for his Visa card, since the place didn't accept cash like most small businesses. The other hand held the lanky man's adam's apple. Zero was also holding the panicked man two feet off the ground. Now instead of complaining about bolts, he was pleading and choking for air which Zero's hand denied him. Without looking up from the counter, Zero began to speak.

   "Geeze, you haven't been working here very long. If you back up from the counter, you let me know that you don't have a silent alarm underneath it to alert the authorities. If I was going to rob you, this information would be extremely useful. Next time, don't move."

   The teenager held his fear, even if it was slightly shaking him. He slowly approached his original position close to the counter. The lanky man, on the other hand, shook his legs in hopes of reaching his original position safely on the ground. Zero suddenly let go, and the man found his original position, on his back. He loudly gasped for the sweet air which began to fill his lungs. Zero put a foot on his back and reached into the pocket of the tweed jacket. He found $3,000 in cash. This man had a reploid and cash, so Zero could finally draw the conclusion that he was one of the annoying and arrogant mega-rich. Killing him would decidedly put a crimp in Zero's lack of media attention, so he stole the money instead and put it on the counter.

   "Uh..sir, we don't accept cash..." started the teenager. Zero just glanced up at him with a calm look.

   "Well then, you can keep it and I'll *take* the phones instead," Zero shook his head at the stupid no-cash rule. Then why the heck did they still have a register with a cash drawer? The lanky man was trying to scream for help, but Zero's foot promptly kept his breath very short and very quiet. The little kid simply kept silent with his eyes on the floor, probably hoping that Zero wouldn't try to kill him. Zero found that a rather sweet sentiment and he watched as the teenager pocketed the money and gave the cards to Zero. Human greed always won out. Zero put the five cards in his front pocket and took the kid's hand.

   They walked out of the store together in silence.

   ***

Sydney Main Street
Cluster One, Australia
November 18th, 2093
The Present

   The kid seemed rather defeated in his look. It was obvious to Zero that the kid thought it was just another day as a slave. They walked through the crowded streets down Sydney Main. Zero waited until he passed 'that' hospital before looking at the young bolt.

   "So, what's your name? Or is it really 'kid'?" asked Zero. The kid seemed rather startled, as if no one had ever bothered to ask him before.

   "Um...it's Zinc. I know how stupid it is, but I guess my creator owned a boat or something."

   "Zinc huh? Nice name, I guess," Zero replied. Zero reached down and tore the yellow strip off Zinc's hand. "You won't need that anymore."

   The kid seemed rather suspicious of all this behaviour. He looked up at Zero with a bit of anxiety. Zero just smiled and looked onward as they walked down the sloping hill past The Red Dragon restaurant.

   "So, what's the name of my new master?" asked the kid.

   "Well, the government would have you believe my name is Veron Lynn." The kid chuckled at the sipidity of the name.

   "Yeah, my thoughts exactly. My real name however, is Zero." Immediately, the kid stopped walking. Zero could tell the kid finally figured out the recognition.

   "You mean...you're...him?" asked the kid, his eyes containing a lot of disbelief.

   "Uh...I don't know, am I?" asked Zero with a smile. "Who are we talking about?"

   The kid immediately leapt in front of Zero's path and started doing martial arts moves and simulated blaster movements with his hand.

   "The guy that could do this! And that!" Zero smirked at the awkward moves as Zero took the kid into an alley. Zero then took his place near the trash bin, a few feet in front of the kid.

   "I think you meant that he could do this," and Zero began moving his hands in a faster succesion than the kid could keep up with. The kid's eyes lit up even further as he realized this really was THE Zero, Lieutenant of the Maverick Hunters, Epsilon-Beta leader of the X squadron. They were legends in Reploid fare. Even if humans knew next to nothing about them, most Reploids either adored the X Squadron as role models because they defeated the tyranny of Sigma or hated them with a passion because they were the main cause of all the Reploid hatred these days. Zero was glad that Zinc was on his side.

   "And he could do this," and with that, Zero's hands began to glow as electricity ran from his chest into his palms. A translucent plasma blade formed outwards and came past Zero's height in the form of a katana. He swung the energy and cleaved the trashbin in half, the energy running across the cracks causing a small explosion to completely blow it apart. Zero immediately straightened up with a mock serious look on his face.

   "Right? That's what he can do?" asked Zero, looking as if he hoped he got it right.

   "W-w-what's with the phone cards?" asked Zinc, obviously looking for the answer that would define a new level in his standards of cool.

   "Well, I figured Anyi and X should have one," Zero replied. The kid jumped up ecstatically as if the answer was exactly what he wanted. This day was turning out to be far different than Zinc ever could have imagined.

   "Oh, and I got a phone card for you," said Zero. Zinc was jumping with excitement. "Woah, calm down a bit there, I'm only bringing you along because I wasn't about to let you stay with that...bastard back there, pardon my language. I'm not sure how long you can stick around."

   "Uh, no problem really! This is soooo cool!" yelled Zinc, his shyness left far, far behind. Zero resumed his journey back to Anyi's lab. He'd probably get there pretty early if he walked really fast, and he had a feeling that Zinc needed to run off some of that excess energy. Zinc didn't say much, he just walked beside Zero attempting to accept the fact that he had run into "one of the greatest heroes of all time" as he put it. Zero thought that was an exaggeration, but only by a bit.

   ***

University of Cluster One - Physics Department
Cluster One, Australia
November 18th, 2093
The Present

   "Wow, where are we going?" asked Zinc anxiously. The two had been walking for the past half hour returning to Anyi's lab. Zero had never mentioned where the two were going, but Zinc didn't mind. As long as he got to be with his idol.

   'Wow, it's really like a dream!' thought Zinc. And this was very true. Ever since Zinc had been brought online, he always stayed "behind the lines" during the Reploid War. True, he was only present in it for the last six months, but he got to be a part of the last and greatest battle between the X Squadron and Sigma. Well, actually he was on weapons detail for the back up squadron in case Zero failed to secure the area. At the time, he was hoping to see some action, but he knew that there was no way his idol would fail. Ever since he was programmed with the history of the Reploid War, he was fascinated by Zero. The mysterious reploid who came into the Maverick Hunter HQ one day and was better than any of the leaders ever were. Well, except maybe X, Zinc wasn't too sure since he wasn't as fascinated with X as he was with Zero. Zero just looked so cool with his long...

   'Hey waitaminute...'

   "Zero?" asked Zinc. Zero turned around in the middle of the hallway. They had just got back to the Physics department of the UCO.

   "Yeah, what is it?" asked Zero, resuming his walk to the basement.

   "What happened to your hair?" asked Zinc. Zero opened the door to the stairwell and started walking down.

   "If I didn't tell X, I don't think I'm going to tell you. Besides, if you like long hair that much, maybe I should show you X after all."

   Zinc was rather confused by this response. 'Geeze, it's just hair,' thought Zinc. Maybe something important happened, Zinc wasn't too interested in finding an answer at the moment. That's when he heard a young woman scream. Zero looked at Zinc for a second before bolting at near sonic speeds down the flight of stairs. Zinc just barely saw the blur.

   "Wow...he is so cool!"

   ***

UCO - Physics Department - Room 003
Cluster One, Australia
November 18th, 2093
The Present

   The door screamed off the hinges and fell with a large metal thud to the ground. A fist imprint was in the middle of it and before it stood Zero, his face covered in the darkness of the hallway. Anyi was backed up against the couch, cowering in a cold sweat. Zero turned and saw Roll smashing the computer terminal. Zero determined quickly that Anyi wasn't in any danger as long as she stayed away from Roll. In fact, Roll didn't even seem to be aware of her surroundings, she was in a blank daze, just throwing her fists and screaming. Anyi turned and noticed Zero, she was much to scared to say anything. The monitor crashed to the floor and Anyi shuddered at the loss of all her precious equipment. Zero walked through the door, a little bit confused as to what to do. He couldn't simply take Roll out using force, and Zero was uncertain of Roll's strength to attempt to subdue her quietly.

   "Zero! Thank God you're here," Anyi finally found her voice. "I don't know what happened, but you have to do something! She broke out of the capsule and just went nuts! I don't know what we can do for her!"

   Zero looked at the capsule and saw the system activation sequence. Apparently her memory had been re-activated, but it looked as if her primary systems weren't completely recharged before she broke out.

   "We have to get her back in the capsule before she hurts herself," said Zero calmly.

   'Those must be some memories if she came back online before the activation sequence. Still, that means she's nowhere near full power and probably operating on auxiliary power,' Zero realized that Roll wouldn't be a threat to him, since she only had the strength of probably merely three or four humans on secondary power. Zero walked up to her and grabbed her shoulder. Roll turned around and Zero could see in her eyes that she wasn't even conscious of her actions. Roll attempted to struggle, but Zero grabbed both her arms with one hand and used the other hand to pick her up and put her back in the capsule. She started wailing and screaming again, as if Zero was the bad guy. Anyi jumped up from the couch quickly and went over to the only functioning control panel.

   "I'm having trouble getting her back in the capsule, she just won't stay still," said Zero, straining to keep her body in place. Roll wriggled an arm free and caught Zero across the jaw. Fortunately, since the strength behind the punch was merely 1,508.7 Newtons, Zero didn't even flinch.

   "Well, here maybe I can help," came the small voice from behind. Zinc stood up on the capsule ramp to help Zero subdue her. Strangely enough, once Roll saw him, she went completely limp as if she had given up. Or maybe she felt safe. Either way, Zero was confused by her sudden submission. Anyi hadn't even looked up, she just kept punching at the control panel, trying to take Roll offline. Slowly, the system power cut out, leaving Roll back in her unconscious state.

   "There, now just to figure out what went wrong," Anyi breathed a sigh of relief. She looked up, "Well, thanks to your friend there Zero--"

   Anyi looked at the black ruffled hair boy with surprise. Her mouth gaped as he took a short bow and smiled.

   "Rock!?" she stuttered in disbelief.

   "Um, no my name is Zinc, although I am based on the original Rock100 model. The model was created as a homage to the original Megaman in hopes of increasing the morale of troops in the Reploid Wars. I think I'm one of the last ones still free of degradation, though I don't know for how long."

   Anyi simply couldn't believe the amazing resemblance, but looking closer she could tell that although the Zinc was similar to Rock, he also had a few differences, such as he had a much more human appearance for one, and his face looked a bit older. Zero on the other hand, just figured out where that recognitive feeling of his came from.

   "No wonder Roll stopped struggling, she probably thought she saw Rock," said Zero. Zero thought the struggle was easy to handle, but fixing Roll may take a lot longer.

   'Well, Zinc just earned his keep for the day,' thought Zero. He was starting to regret bringing Zinc with him after being pelted with all those questions of youth, but it was now obvious that Zinc had some experience that Zero could use on his side after all.

   "Can you fix her?" asked Zero. Anyi just shook her head. She looked around the room and saw the immense damage which had been done. Now without a monitor, she'd have to do everything through the capsule display, which would take time to jury-rig. The network grid was also part of the scrap pile near the back corner underneath the window. Anyi sighed as she realized the damage would take a few days to repair.

   "I...don't know. I don't even know what's wrong with her. I'm going to decode her memory databanks and maybe find the corrupted file. Once it's deleted, she may be fine. My current theory is that something happened to her which was so traumatic, that's why it was de-activated in the first place. Whatever it was, it must have been pretty bad to do this." Anyi motioned to the near destruction of the lab. "I'm going to see if I can get a ROUNDscreen display of her files to figure out the problem. I just can't do it by re-coding the library."

   "Well, so much for the lab I guess," said Zero. Zinc just shook his head in disbelief.

   "This! This is your lab?" asked Zinc. He looked around and saw rusted walls and the leaking pipes next to the fridge which fell over in the skirmish.

   "Yeah, us great heroes don't have a lot to work with these days," Zero mused.

   ***

   Author's Comments: Well, this episode certainly had quite a bit of subtle humour. I wanted to get across the kind of technology that is available and also how the characters deal with it. As for Zinc, well, we've got a new castmember! Don't worry he gets kinda cool, although it does present an interesting problem for both X and Roll to deal with. As for Roll...well, that will probably be resolved in two or three episodes. As for X's problems with his memory and Zero's problems with Iris...well, this is a marathon, so I'm sure to cover it sooner or later.

Michael Raymond Vendittelli (LimousineDriver)