CHAPTER FOUR
Foreign Lands
"So X is really...?"
"It's possible he's a Light-bot..." Rock said, as they passed a woman carrying a stack of papers. "It makes sense, doesn't it? All these robots look so advanced, it's likely our parents had something to do with it."
Bass made a small noise of disgust. "You may call your old fogey your father, rockhead, but Wily certainly isn't mine." He stalked ahead, and Rock had to duck under another robot's bat wings to keep up.
"Bass, what are we going to do?" he asked, pulling abreast. "We can't stay here!"
"Well, duh," the black armored boy replied. "But seeing as we have no clue how we got here in the first place, and I doubt your little brother X can locate people across space-time, we're pretty much stuck."
"Stuck?" said Rock, alarmed.
"Until your doc and Proto Man find a way to reverse the time-travel, anyway," Bass replied.
"But they might not even realize that's what happened..."
Bass shrugged. "Your dad's intelligent, if nothing else. I don't doubt he can figure it out. Reversing it is another matter, though. It's possible this was a one-way ride."
"He'll get us home," Rock said confidently.
"Just keep believing that," Bass sighed.
Rock sidestepped a man pushing a cart of what looked like practice weaponry. "But... what are we going to do about X?"
"He's your brother, you figure it out," Bass said. "We should probably avoid mentioning time-travel for as long as possible, though."
"Right," Rock said. He looked ahead at X, who had stopped walking, waiting for them to catch up.
"You two okay?" he asked as they approached. Rock nodded. "Right, then." Motioning for them to follow, the Hunter commander stepped up to the long semi-circular information counter just below the giant map. A young woman with blonde hair sat at a computer behind the barrier. She wore a maroon bodysuit and light pink and white armor. Her hands moved over the keyboard far faster than was humanly possible, so Rock knew that she, too, must be a robot.
She looked up when X leaned on the counter. "Ah!" she said, sounding somewhat relieved. "X, I'm glad you're here... I hate front desk duty." She grimaced, looking out at the crowds milling about the room. "I wasn't built to be a receptionist."
"Yeah, I was surprised to see you down here, Alia," X said. "Slow day?"
"Pretty much," she replied, pulling off her headset so her hair hung freely. "Signas said we were shorthanded down here, so I agreed to help. Seems like everyone's decided to hang out at HQ today… But I heard you and the 17th had some excitement?"
"Just a small group that got past the defense perimeter," X sighed. "Caused by a burnt out control panel in the security system, they said... it's just fortunate no one was badly hurt." Then he brightened, and waved towards Bass and Rock. "Actually, it's mostly due to these two that they weren't."
"X!"
Everyone turned as another person approached the counter. He was a young-looking robot, with dark grey and red armor and spiky brown hair that jutted out the back of his helmet. Two large blue jewels adorned his helmet and his chestplate, and white ribbons streamed out behind him as he ran. Most striking, though, was the large, x-shaped scar that ran across the bridge of his nose. Rock wondered what could have happened to give a robot a permanent injury like that.
"Hey, Axl," X greeted the young man.
"Have you seen Zero?" Axl asked, skidding to a stop and looking around as though checking if the person in question was standing nearby.
X shook his head. "Not since breakfast."
Axl scowled. "I can't find him anywhere."
"He's probably off blowing something up, I wouldn't worry too much," Alia said dryly.
Axl sighed. "Probably. Oh well, I'll go look in the training rooms again. Thanks anyway." Then he blinked, noticing Bass and Rock. "Don't think I've seen you two before..."
"Yes, I was just introducing them to Alia," X said. "This is Rock, and this is Forte." He indicated them each in turn. Rock waved.
"Nice to meet you," Axl said, offering his hand for Rock to shake. "My name's Axl." He blinked, and peered closely at the boy's face. "Hey, are you some kind of fan of X here? You dress a lot like him..."
"Now that you mention it, we do look a little alike..." X said, frowning.
"...It's just a coincidence," Rock said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Well, either way, blue suits you," Axl said cheerily. "So where'd you run into them, X?"
X laughed. "I found them fighting off a squad of Mavericks all by themselves."
"Really?" said Axl. "That's pretty impressive, especially for civilians."
"I'm beginning to get offended," Rock muttered to Bass, while X described their meeting to Alia and Axl.
"I'm just plain offended," Bass replied.
"Not so loud, 'Forte'."
"...So they've gotten separated from their brother, and I offered to help," X finished.
Alia smiled at them. "Don't worry, then. We'll have you found in no time at all."
"What's your brother's name?" Axl asked. "And what does he look like?"
"His name is Blues," Rock said. "He's taller than me, with red and grey armor, and a dark visor. He always wears a yellow scarf, too."
"Fairly distinctive, then," X nodded. "Alia, can you put in a request for anyone who spots someone of that description to contact me?"
"Of course," Alia replied, and her fingers buzzed over the keyboard again.
"It probably won't be too long, especially if he's looking for you," X said, smiling kindly at Rock.
Rock frowned. "He'd better be..."
"Well, I know I'd be out searching frantically if I had missing brothers," X replied.
"Yeah..." murmured Rock.
"Don't worry!" said Axl cheerfully. "If anyone can find him, it's the Maverick Hunters."
"But that being said, it'd be smart for you to stay around here until we can find him," said X. "I'm assuming you don't live nearby?"
"Yeah," said Rock, thinking fast. "We're just visiting this city... we weren't supposed to stay longer than today, but... well, things happened."
"They usually do," said Alia, slightly amused. "Well, then... I don't think it would be a problem for them to hang around here until their brother arrives, do you, X?"
"That's probably the best option," X said, nodding. "I don't think Signas would object. They can stay with me, if they end up having to spend the night."
"Thank you, X," said Rock, very relieved.
"Not a problem!" said X, smiling. "It's no trouble at all."
"They've got some time to kill, then," said Axl. "Why don't we show them around Headquarters? I bet you've never been inside someplace this big before, huh?"
"No, we haven't," said Rock truthfully.
"Good idea," X said, but then frowned and looked up at the giant clock. "But, the 17th is probably back by now... Could you give them the tour on your own, Axl? I need to go debrief my unit and get cleaned up."
"Of course," said Axl, nodding. "Maybe we'll run into Zero on the way, too. For such a distinctive guy, he certainly can hide well..."
"That's certainly true," X chuckled. "I'll meet up with you at my quarters later, then. That is, if your brother doesn't reappear sooner."
"Right," said Rock. "See you, X."
X nodded, said goodbye to Axl and Alia, and started back across the lobby towards one of the far doors. His blue armor was soon lost in the crowd.
"Well, then," said Axl, putting his hands on his hips, "let's begin the grand tour! We're standing in the lobby, as you can tell..." He started walking across the room, Rock and Bass hurrying to follow. "This is where all the Hunters congregate when they're not on missions. It's packed today 'cause it's the weekend and we're in peacetime, but it thins out on weekdays and during Maverick uprisings. On your left is the central fountain, installed here just a few years ago..."
He continued relating bits of trivia about the Hunter organization as they headed to the elevator and rode to another floor. Rock learned that the mission of the Hunters was to protect humans from malfunctioning robots, called Mavericks. This city was their main headquarters, but they had outposts all over the world, monitoring for enemy activity. Axl walked them past the medical wing, the training rooms (where they found no trace of the mysterious missing Zero), and several floors of dormitories. The Hunters lived and worked in their base.
"As you're probably aware, the Maverick Hunter organization is the largest in the world that employs only reploids," Axl said, his arms behind his head as he walked down the corridor. "It's pretty much the only place where we're allowed to hold any real power, too. I mean, we do have to answer to the humans at the U.N., but for the most part, we're self-governing."
"So there are no humans working here at all?" Rock asked, looking around at the many people wandering the corridors. "Only... reploids?" So that's what they call themselves, he thought. They probably felt that 'robot' was too general a term, especially for beings as advanced as they obviously were...
"Well, there are some in non-combat areas," Axl amended, "but, all the fighting units are entirely reploid. It's safer that way, you know. What with the frequency we lose limbs, human Hunters would not be practical at all."
"Yeah, I can imagine," said Bass.
Axl nodded. "But, there aren't any humans in the upper levels of the organization, not since Dr. Cain died, anyway. Everything's run by Signas, now... General Signas, I guess you'd call him. He rarely uses his title, though, especially 'cause of the connotations from the fourth war... but I'm rambling now." He ran a hand through his hair, forcing it to spike even more sharply. "Anyway, it's Signas, then X and Zero, and Alia, and the other unit commanders... then me." He grinned. "I may not look like it, but I'm a S-class Hunter! The only one around besides X and Zero, you know. Of course, I'm not anywhere nearly as good as they are, but I'll get there someday!"
"You like to talk, don't you?" Bass said dryly.
"I guess you could say that," Axl said, grinning and shrugging off the comment. "I just love being here, and being a Hunter. I get to hang out with lots of awesome reploids and blow stuff up on a regular basis."
"But you also have to kill people," Rock said.
Axl looked at him sideways. "You sound like X, you know. He's always lecturing me... It's true, we do have to kill. But, they're Mavericks. They're gonna hurt themselves and everyone around them if they aren't stopped. There's no other choice, unfortunately."
"I suppose not..."
Axl shrugged. "It's the way things are, you know? I wish I could fix everything, but that unfortunately may never happen... But until then, we just have to do what we can. And what I can is be a Hunter and protect people."
"That's very admirable, Axl," said Rock.
Axl nodded, but was interrupted by a sudden soft beeping. He scrunched his nose in annoyance, making his scar stretch. "Excuse me for a moment, I've got a call..."
He closed one eye and tapped the side of his helmet. "Axl here."
Rock stifled a laugh as Axl's face began cycling through an array of emotions, from startled to angry to exasperated to amused. "Yes, I... what? Since when? ...I haven't been able to find you all day, you know! ...Yeah, well, forget you too. I'll be down there as soon as I can. Don't get your ponytail in a twist. Seeya in a few, Zero."
He turned back to the pair. "I'm sorry, guys, but my illustrious commanding officer has apparently decided to tell his unit we have a mission after it's already supposed to have begun. Do you think you can find your way to X's room without my help? It's on the third floor, room C323. Take the elevator at the end of the hall and go left. I'll send him a message so he'll actually let you in when you knock..."
"Um... I guess so," said Rock.
Axl smiled. "Great. Well, I'll probably see you guys later. If not, well, it was a pleasure meeting you!" He sped off down the corridor while waving goodbye, aided by the dash thrusters in his boots.
"Well, then..." Rock shook his head. "Guess we go find that elevator...?"
---
The pair made it to the third floor with a minimum of difficulties, and soon stood outside X's door. Besides the small label with the room number, there was a keypad and a brass nameplate reading "Commander Mega Man X, 17th." Seeing no doorknob or doorbell, Rock rapped his knuckles on the metal portal.
"Coming!" came a voice. A moment later, the door slid aside, revealing a smiling, green-eyed boy in a long sleeve T-shirt and slacks. His jet black hair was slightly damp, and there was a towel hanging around his neck.
"Come on in," X told them, stepping aside to allow them passage. "Axl told me he'd ditched you."
"Well, I wouldn't put it that way," said Rock.
X laughed. "I know, but still. You had good timing, though, I just got out of the shower. Come on, don't just stand there. Make yourselves at home."
The two tentatively entered the living room as X finished drying his hair and tossed the towel in the laundry hamper. It was a neat, compact apartment. X seemed to have inherited Roll's cleanliness, Rock thought dryly, looking around at the tidy living space. It didn't look like he took cleaning to the compulsive heights she did, but there was clearly a vacuum in the dwelling and it was brought out with some frequency. There was a small kitchen to the right of the entrance hallway, with a closet to the left. The kitchen held a fridge, a tiny oven and a microwave, as well as a counter with a few stools. Beyond was the living room, which held a couch, a chair, a coffee table, a television set, and as many bookcases as could be squashed along the right wall. These were packed to overflowing with hardbound volumes, and well dusted.
"Nice place," Bass commented grudgingly, looking around. On the left hand wall of the living room was another door, open and leading into the bedroom. Visible inside were a bed and a computer desk. There was another closed door beside the bedroom, and the rest of the wall was covered in framed pictures.
Rock wandered over to look at them. Most appeared to be snapshots of X and various people, sometimes in humorous situations. There were several with Axl, and a number of others containing Alia. Figuring most prominently, and appearing in nearly all of the pictures, was a tall male reploid with immensely long, blonde hair. He also seemed to be the one most often in an awkward pose when the camera went off.
"I see you're admiring Zero's antics," X said, walking up behind Rock. The boy nodded, guessing he must be referring to the blonde.
X smiled, and pointed to a snapshot of a very irate Zero, fuming while sporting his hair in two long, pink-ribbon adorned pigtails. Behind him were several highly amused women, including Alia.
"He always tries to destroy that one when he comes over, but I've got plenty of copies," he said, with a sly grin.
"Can't blame him," said Rock, with a small smile of his own.
He moved down the row, looking at the different moments from X's life. He seemed happy in most, which reassured Rock, though he knew images of hard times wouldn't have made it on the wall. At the very end, Rock saw a picture that made his heart soar and plummet at the same instant. It was a reproduction of an older image, looking grainy and faded as though it had been taken from a newspaper.
"I see you've met my father, too," X said softly, removing the picture of Dr. Light from the wall and handing it to Rock. The boy stared down into the scientist's face, dulled by all the intervening years.
Well, now there was no doubt. X was his little brother, designed and built by the same creative mind. Now the question was... why? When did his father build him? What was his purpose? And most importantly, why didn't X recognize Rock?
"That's one of the few decent pictures I could find," X said, tapping the glass. "For such an important man, he's very difficult to track down."
"Oh, really?" said Rock, trying to sound casual. Bass watched them curiously from across the room.
"Yeah..." X sighed. "I just wish... I knew more about him. Most everything related to him has vanished. All he really left behind was... well, me."
"That's it?" Rock asked. "You... don't know anything about his life? His work... before you?"
X shrugged. "If the records exist, I certainly haven't found them. And believe me, I've looked... I know he worked on other projects before me, and that he was well known in his field... but what those projects were, or anything related to his prior research, is gone. There've been a few mentions of some other sort of reploid-like robot he had, but nothing conclusive. Any other creations of his have been lost to time..."
You don't know how literal that statement is, Rock thought.
X put the picture back on the wall. "Still, I'm luckier than most reploids. At least I had a father at one point, even if I've never truly met him. That is, if he even really considered me his son... I don't know."
"I'm sure he did," Rock replied firmly.
X chuckled. "Thank you, Rock. I appreciate your confidence."
Rock shrugged. "Just stating truth."
---
X was called away a few minutes later, to attend to something in the main control room. He summoned his armor and headed to the door, promising to contact them if there were any news of Blues. Then the two were left alone in the apartment, with several more hours left before sleep could be considered.
"So, um..." Rock said. Bass just gave him a blank, red eyed stare, and picked up the television remote. Rock sighed and turned away. The Wily-bot was obviously intent on ignoring him.
Instead, the blue robot went to examine the rest of X's apartment. The bedroom was as neat as the other rooms, containing a tidy double bed with a quilted bedspread, the computer desk with a closed laptop, and a recharge capsule in the corner. Rock examined it. The outer design was different from the ones Dr. Light used, but the basic principles appeared to have remained unchanged. Recharge capsules could be used in place of sleeping, when energy levels had dropped too low or the robot wanted to run diagnostics or repairs. They were not very comfortable, as the occupant was totally unconscious and vulnerable while using it, but they were useful after especially taxing battles had depleted energy reserves.
Rock wandered back into the living room and pulled open the other door, revealing a small bathroom. The boy noted that X had a blue shower curtain, blue towels, and a blue toothbrush. Shaking his head, he closed the door and continued his tour. The kitchen was well-stocked with food—mostly of the healthy kind, though robots had no issues with weight gain—and there were many cans of fruit drink in the refrigerator door. Rock assumed they must be a favorite. There was a grocery list pinned to the freezer door and dirty dishes in the dishwasher. It looked like X cooked for himself, and judging by the absence of burnt mess caked to the stovetop, he was considerably better at it than Rock.
The boy moved back into the living room, heading for the bookshelves. X seemed to be very fond of reading. Rock had never taken much to it himself, preferring video games, but he did enjoy a good novel now and then. He scanned the titles. Some were difficult scientific tomes, many appearing to be very old. Others were classic novels with familiar titles- Treasure Island, Huckleberry Finn, and others Dr. Light owned copies of himself. There were newer books as well, written within the past few years. Rock pulled down one that looked interesting, titled "Maverick Mine". It turned out to be an action-thriller about a human man whose Reploid girlfriend was kidnapped by Mavericks and forced to aid them. It was moderately engaging, although many of the place names and references were completely unfamiliar, but he became involved with the story easily enough.
Rock was startled when X walked in the door and he realized that several hours had passed. It was now after nine-o'clock at night, and the sky outside the holographic window on the wall was completely dark. Bass switched off the television.
"Sorry to keep you so long," said X, walking over. "That took longer than I thought."
"Any news?" Rock asked.
As he expected, X shook his head. "No... I'm sorry. Guess you're stuck with me tonight."
"That's not a bad thing," said Rock. "You're very nice."
X laughed. "Well, thank you, Rock. I'm glad you think so. Now...I suppose you two don't have spare clothes."
Rock shook his head. "No... we weren't... intending to stay this long."
"Understandable," X said. "Well, I have some things you can borrow, when you're ready to turn in."
"Thanks, X," Rock said.
"Like I said before, it's not a problem at all." X smiled. "It's not often I have visitors who aren't Hunters, anyway."
He headed into the kitchen, opening the refrigerator. "Are either of you hungry? It's a bit late, but I could make something..."
"I'm all right," said Rock. Bass just grunted.
"Guess not, then," X said, chuckling. He pulled out three cans of fruit drink and tossed one to Rock. "Have one of these, anyway, they're good. And you can take off your helmet, you know... it must be uncomfortable lugging it around."
Rock froze. That would probably not be a good idea. Judging from his brother's appearance, without his helmet the two would look far too similar. Add that to the blue color scheme, and well... he didn't want to risk it. "I'm fine," he said, shrugging off the question. X raised an eyebrow, but didn't push the issue.
"Well, let's pull out the bed, then..." he said, walking towards the couch. "I'm sure both of you are exhausted after everything."
Rock helped X move the coffee table against the wall and the blue Hunter pressed a small button on the side of the couch. It unfolded into a double bed. X headed to the closet and pulled out some sheets, and the three worked quickly to make it.
"There," X said, stepping back and admiring their handiwork. "That should be all right for tonight. Hold on, I'll get you some pajamas." He ducked into his bedroom and emerged with two sets of shorts and T-shirts, which weren't blue, surprisingly enough.
"Thanks," Rock said, taking the clothing.
"Welcome. Now, I've got a little work to do and then I'm turning in myself... Just call if you need anything."
Rock nodded. "See you in the morning, X."
"Goodnight," Bass said, grudgingly.
"See you, too," said X, and disappeared into the bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Rock handed one set of clothes to Bass, and seeing that the black robot was still not in the mood for talking, headed into the bathroom to change. This time he noticed that X had somehow managed to find blue toilet paper and blue soap.
Rock pulled off his helmet and set it down on the lid of the toilet. A human might have considered this fixture odd, but it was actually a necessary item. Reploid and robot systems were far more efficient than human bodies, so there was not much waste, but every so often purging was necessary, especially if the robot ate frequently. All robots had to ingest some form of nutrients in order to keep their auto-repair systems functioning, whether it was actual food or simply supplement tablets. The tiny nanites that ran the system were not constructed of metal, but of elements normally considered organic, although they were not actually alive. The miniature machines were thus able to use the elements in food to repair and multiply themselves. Food was also broken down for use as fuel, helping to boost the reploid's generator throughout the day. Though an undamaged robot could run for several years without eating or taking supplemental tablets, their immune system would not be in great shape, and they would probably feel constantly fatigued.
Rock reached up and brushed a few locks of black hair from his eyes, staring into the mirror. Looking back at him was the face that, if he were human, in a few years would grow identical to the one belonging to the boy inside the bedroom. Aside from the eye color and age difference, Rock and X were identical.
What was he going to do? They couldn't keep up this charade forever. They knew too little about this world, and Rock resembled his brother too strongly for it to remain secret in close quarters for very long. And deep within, his heart was screaming at him to tell X. He'd noticed the well hidden, but undeniably strong loneliness in his brother's eyes when he'd spoken about Dr. Light. Rock couldn't imagine living without his father and his family. X had known nothing else. He at least deserved to know what his life could have been like, if things had worked out differently...
But living alone in this broken future had hardened his brother, forcing him to become a realist. Rock doubted that X would believe him if he said he was a time-traveler. X might even become angry or upset, thinking Rock, or whoever had created him, was trying to toy with his emotions.
He couldn't tell X, but he couldn't not tell him, either. Rock sighed. The situation was worsening by the moment. He could only hope that Blues and his father could find a way to bring him home...
Rock changed into the pajamas, carrying his armor with him back into the living room. Bass had apparently changed as well, as he was curled up in an impenetrable bundle on the left side of the bed. Nothing but his nose could be seen from beneath the blankets. A barrier of covers separated his side from Rock's.
"As friendly as ever, I see," Rock sighed, walking to the wall and flipping the light switch. He climbed into bed himself, as Bass pointedly shifted himself so his back was to the blue bomber.
"Bass?" Rock whispered, staring at the mound of sheets separating the two. It was illuminated by the dim light shed by the holographic window and the crack beneath X's bedroom door. "Are you all right?"
"Oh yes, I'm just peachy," Bass drawled back, but in a similar low tone. "I'm just stuck in some freaky future with you and your sickeningly self-righteous little brother, with no way of knowing if I can get home."
"They'll find us, Bass..." Rock said. "Father and Blues won't give up easily..." He suddenly frowned. "That is, if Blues didn't get caught in the distortion, as well."
"I doubt it," said Bass, shaking his head. "I was closer to you than him, and he would've been nearby when we woke up."
"Then we'll be fine," Rock said confidently. "Blues'll tell Father what happened and he'll come and rescue us."
"Aren't you the optimist..." Bass muttered.
"It's better than panicking over everything," Rock defended. "Besides... this is an adventure! We get to see the future... meet all sorts of new people..."
"You can call it an adventure if you want, rockhead," Bass muttered, burrowing further into the blankets. "I call it a nightmare."
"Well... have it your way, then, Bass," Rock sighed. "Goodnight..."
"Yeah, whatever. Just shut up and let me sleep."
------
Morning broke, light slowly creeping over the rooftops in the holographic window. Rock had instructed his internal clock to wake him at a time he hoped was earlier than X, so he could be back in armor before his brother awoke.
He reached over the divide and poked Bass in the back. "Hey, you awake?"
"Don't touch me," came the grumpy reply. A hand snaked out from beneath the covers, snatching the yellow and black helmet from the floor. A few moments later Bass pulled back the covers and sat up with it securely fastened on his head.
"Good morning to you too," Rock said, gathering his own armor and heading for the bathroom.
A half hour later, X emerged from his bedroom to find the two boys dressed and the couch put away. Rock was finishing the book.
"Do you like that one?" X asked, reading the title. "I thought it was pretty good, if a bit cliche sometimes."
"It's good," said Rock. "Very exciting. They mentioned you in here, too."
"I know." X grinned. "That's one of the perks of being well known, you get all sorts of cameos."
"I can imagine," said Rock.
"Well, I have to head to a morning meeting, unfortunately," said X, looking at the clock on the wall. "Will you two be all right by yourselves? I feel bad just leaving you here, but..."
"We'll be fine," Rock assured him.
"All right. See you later, then."
The morning continued relatively peacefully, Rock continuing to read and Bass flipping through the channels on the television. Programming in the future seemed to be similar to that in their own era, only with the addition of reploids to the plots of the show. Currently there was some sort of sitcom going on, about an office of some large company that employed humans and robots. Rock didn't find it very interesting, and by the look on his face, neither did Bass, but there wasn't anything better on.
Rock finished the book around noon, after the human hero destroyed the Maverick general with a captured armored transport vehicle and rescued his girlfriend. He was just about to choose another novel when X entered the room again.
"Hey, guys," he said, looking around. "You doing all right?"
"If you call dying of boredom all right," Bass muttered.
X chuckled. "Guess not, then... I'm sorry, my apartment's not really all that entertaining. What do you say we—"
He was interrupted by a beeping, heralding a radio message. "Hang on..."
He tapped the side of his helmet. "X here." He listened for a moment, then smiled. "You did? That's great! Tell him to wait, I'll bring them down."
He cut the connection and turned back to Rock. "It seems your brother's been found. He came in asking about you."
"Really?" said Rock, his heart leaping.
"That's good news," said Bass, also looking relieved.
"He's downstairs right now," said X. "I'll escort you... Are you ready to go?"
"Very much so," said Rock, and followed his brother out the door.
The group reentered the lobby, which was much less crowded than it had been the previous day. Alia was at the information desk again, looking none too pleased. Standing before her, though, was a very familiar person.
"Blues!" Rock shouted happily, racing towards the elder boy.
The red armored robot with the bright yellow scarf turned at the sound of his brother's voice, taking a few steps forward to help close the distance. "Rock!" he answered, the slightest trace of relief creeping into the face visible below the visor. "Good to see you. Are you all right?"
"Forte and I are fine," Rock said, trying to give Blues as much information as possible. "Mega Man X here has been helping us."
Blues looked at X, the only sign of recognition being a slight twitch of his left hand. "Thank you, then."
"You're welcome," X replied. "The Maverick Hunters are here to serve, after all."
"I'm glad everything worked out," said Alia. "Though... X, can you please see about getting someone else transferred down here? I can't believe that all the greeters are on leave today..."
"Can do, Alia," said X, smiling.
"Thank you again for helping them," Blues said, putting a hand on Rock's shoulder. "They have a real knack for getting into trouble."
"So do you, brother," Rock shot back, grinning.
"Like I said, it's no problem," X replied. "I'm just glad you found each other. If you ever need anything else, don't hesitate to come ask."
"We'll remember that," Blues replied. He shook X's hand. "Now, I'd better be taking these two home... It's nice meeting you, X. I hope our paths will cross again."
"Bye, X!" Rock said. "Thank you for everything. It was wonderful meeting you!"
"And the same for you, Rock," said X. "Be sure to stop by if you're ever in the area again, all right?"
"Uh... of course!" said Rock, silently wishing that were possible.
"Well, let's get going," Blues said. "The doc's worried sick."
He nudged Rock's shoulder gently, leading him towards the door. Bass nodded to X and Alia and followed. The three exited the building, Rock waving goodbye as the doors slid shut.
---
"Mega Man X?" Blues questioned, once they had cleared the Hunter compound.
"Yeah," said Rock, softly. "He's... he's our brother, Blues..."
"I guessed," Blues said, emotions unreadable beneath the visor. "I suppose he's the project the Doc's been muttering about..."
"What?"
Blues glanced at him. "Haven't you been paying any attention lately? He's been holing himself away in his lab for the past six months. I'm never home and even I could tell he's hiding something."
"Wait, so he's not making an upgrade for me?" Rock said, disappointed.
Blues sighed. "No, Rocky, he's not."
"Hah!" Bass laughed. "Little blueberry is being replaced. This is almost too good for words!"
"Shut it, Bass!" Rock snapped. "Father would never replace me!"
Bass just scoffed.
"How did you find us, anyway, Blues?" Rock said, ignoring the black robot. "Were you caught by Bass' weapon, too?"
"No, I wasn't," Blues replied. He lowered his voice as they halted at a crosswalk, waiting for a large hovertruck to pass. "When I saw you two disappear, I went back to the lab and told Dr. Light. It's only thanks to Bass telling us the name of his weapon that we were able to figure out what happened to you."
The walk light turned green and the three continued their journey, Blues still explaining in low tones. Few passerby gave them more than a cursory glance. "I'm sure you remember Flash Man, Rock. Wily seems to have upgraded his old weapon and shoved it in Bass." Bass nodded. "But the design wasn't sufficient to handle that much power. That, or Wily installed it incorrectly."
"How'd I know he'd find some way to screw all of this up?" Bass sighed.
"The beating we gave you," Blues said to Bass, with a hint of a smile, "plus Rock's final charged shot, overloaded the TimeStopper and caused a massive temporal flux, flinging you both through time."
"But how did you get here?" Rock asked. "And how'd you find us at Maverick Hunter Headquarters once you arrived?"
"One question at a time, Rocky," Blues said. "Once Dr. Light analyzed the anomaly and discovered its cause, he built a device to simulate the event exactly as it happened. He then developed a way to reverse the effect, so I could travel here and rescue you. As for finding you..." Blues smirked. "The doc stuck an emergency tracking signal in you long ago. He gave me this," he pulled a small device from a pocket sewn inside his belt, "so that even if our communicators and teleporters didn't work here in the future, which they don't since the satellites we use for them are probably long gone, I'd be able to locate you."
"So we can go home?" Rock said, excitedly.
"As soon as we get back to the time machine," Blues answered. "It was way too big for me to carry around, unfortunately. The doc was in a bit of a hurry building it."
"Where is it?" Bass asked.
"Back in that run-down district," Blues said. "Hid it in an old warehouse."
"Then let's get back," Bass said, quickening his pace so the others had to speed up as well. "This time-travel stuff is too weird for me."
"But, even once we get back," Rock asked, hesitantly, "Couldn't this happen again? What if Dr. Wily..."
"I'm not going to tell him," said Bass.
Rock looked at him, surprised. "Bass...?"
"The thing malfunctioned," Bass said, still looking straight ahead. "Nothing happened. I got beat by you again. That's all."
"...Thank you, Bass," said Rock quietly.
Bass just rolled his eyes. "Ah, save it, Mega Man. I'm only doing this so I can get some time to play my video games. If Wily found out about time-travel, it'd be nothing but work."
"Hm. Well, enjoy yourself, then," Blues said, his expression unreadable behind his visor.
They continued down the street, passing buildings and businesses. Finally, Rock spoke again.
"What I find troubling is... why didn't we see our future selves here?" The other two didn't answer. "I mean... we saw X, but he didn't recognize me. Or you, Blues."
"...That's something I'd rather not think about," Bass said finally.
"We are a hundred years into the future," Blues said, frowning slightly. "But you're right, it is unnerving."
"Jeez, don't get all fatalistic on me," Bass said, as the mood darkened considerably. "I may be your enemy, but... damn."
"Aww, Bass, you care about what happens to us," Blues teased. "That's sweet."
"No!" Bass exclaimed. "I just... well... Mega Man can't die unless it's me doing the killing!"
"Sure," said Blues.
"We understand," said Rock, smiling.
"I hate you both... so much," Bass muttered.
"Let's just get back," Blues said. "We can finish this later."
"With busters," Bass snapped.
Blues just shook his head and sighed.
---
The three continued walking, slipping past the barricade and into the abandoned district. They traveled in silence, none wanting to further ponder the disturbing future they had glimpsed. They finally reached the area Rock had first appeared in, and Blues turned into a nearby abandoned warehouse. Weak light filtered though gaps in the ceiling, giving interior a misty, ethereal glow.
"Here, this is where I left it," said Blues, his voice magnified by the empty space. Rock looked around.
"I don't see anything."
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Bass asked.
"Yeah," Blues said, pointing to a twisted column of fallen metal. "I remember that. It was right here before..."
"Well, it isn't now," Bass said.
Blues walked over to the column, inspected it carefully, and then growled softly and slammed his fist against the metal. Rock was startled by the open display of frustration. Blues rarely showed more emotion than amusement and mild concern.
"Damn. Something must have taken it," the red robot muttered, leaning his forehead against the column.
"What're we going to do, Blues?" Rock asked hesitantly.
"I honestly have no idea, Rock," Blues answered monotonously, without turning.
"I never thought I'd actually see the day," Bass said. Blues didn't answer.
"Don't beat yourself up about it, Blues," Rock said softly, putting a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder. "We'll be all right."
"This district doesn't exactly seem friendly," Bass said skeptically. "It could be a pile of scrap by now."
"Don't say stuff like that!" Rock said, alarmed.
Bass shrugged. "Well, it'd explain why X didn't know you, wouldn't it? If we couldn't ever get home…"
"Don't say that!" Rock shouted.
Blues sighed, and straightened. "Rock, Bass, don't panic," he said. Rock was relieved to see his normal composure returning. "I caused this, so I'm gonna get us out of it."
"Who's panicking?" Bass sniffed. "I'm certainly not!"
"But what can we do?" Rock asked. "We're all alone… unless we can ask X for help finding our time machine…"
"Getting too involved with him could affect the timeline," Blues warned.
"So? It won't be affecting us," Bass challenged. "And I'm not staying in this… post-apocalyptic waste the rest of my life." He waved his arm, indicating the ruins around him. "Besides, what if this is all somehow part of history and we're supposed to ask for X's help?"
"Time travel is confusing," Rock sighed.
"…I suppose this is our only option right now," Blues said. "Let's head back to X… but we should try to think of some way of getting his help without revealing who we are."
"Well, he doesn't know our full names," Rock said. "We just need an explanation for our machine."
"It could be… a special part we're picking up for our creator," Bass suggested.
"Hopefully, he'll buy that," Blues said, somewhat skeptically.
Bass scoffed. "He's a Light-bot, how intelligent can he be?"
"Funny, Bass," replied Blues dryly. "But it's worth a shot. Let's go."
------
A man staggered into the third floor officer's lounge, lugging a large, rectangular object. He dropped it onto the table, rattling the dirty dishes scattered across its surface. X, who was attempting to clean the sink and making no progress, looked up.
"Hey, Zero," he greeted the newcomer. "Where've you been?"
"Yeah, I haven't seen you since that impromptu mission yesterday," Axl said, switching off the television. Though he was not a commander like X and Zero, as the only other hunter to be awarded Sigma-, or S- Class status, he was entitled to use the lounge. Not like anyone would have bothered to stop him, though. For a military organization, the Maverick Hunters were very lax, and the whole group had become more like a family than an office or soldier unit. It was a family that frequently lost and added members, but a family nonetheless.
"I've been around," said Zero vaguely, brushing golden bangs from his blue eyes. His immensely long hair was pulled back in a five-foot ponytail as usual, and it brushed the ground as he sat in one of the battered metal kitchen chairs to examine the object he'd carted in. X abandoned the sink and walked to stand behind his friend.
"What is that thing?" he asked, staring at the metal box. It was large and rectangular, with various knobs and dials sticking out from the surface at random intervals.
"Dunno." Zero shrugged. "Found it in a warehouse in Sector 6."
"Were you hunting Mavericks by yourself again?" X said, disapproval dropping from every syllable.
Zero rolled his eyes. "Hey, I had to blow off some steam, you know?"
"That's what the training rooms are for."
"Not exciting enough," Zero said. He fiddled with a knob on the side of the box.
"Should you be doing that?" Axl asked, leaving the couch and approaching the two older hunters. "It looks kind of dangerous, don't you think?"
"It could be a bomb, Zero," X said, worried. "Why did you bring it back here?"
"I doubt it," Zero said, with a dismissive wave. "It's not ticking or anything."
"It doesn't have to tick to be a bomb!"
"Don't be so paranoid, X," Axl said. "It's probably nothing."
"But we still don't know what this thing is," X replied.
"It looks rather old," Zero said, examining the dials on the object's face. The thing looked hastily constructed, and the parts were much less streamlined than they were used to.
"I still think you shouldn't be messing with it," X said.
"It hasn't done anything yet," Zero said, with a shrug. "Maybe we should get the tech department to look at it?"
"All right…" X sighed. "Just, if it does anything suspicious…"
"It'll be fine, X," Zero said, grinning at him. "Trust me."
"Why does that not reassure me?" X muttered, as Zero lifted the device and began carrying it out the door, heading to the base's technology development center.
------
The crowds inside Maverick Hunter HQ were still thin when Rock, Bass, and Blues arrived back. They entered without incident and looked around for a familiar face.
"I don't see X anywhere," Bass said, scanning the room.
"Look, Alia's still at the information desk," Rock said, pointing to the blonde girl, who looked very irritated to be still stuck in the lobby. "We can ask her."
Alia looked up as they approached. "Oh, hello again!" she said, smiling. "I didn't expect you'd be back! Is there something the matter?"
"Actually, we need to speak with X, if he's not busy," Rock said. "Something else has come up."
"X is off duty right now, so he's… probably up in his office doing paperwork." She sighed. "He's going to work himself to death one of these days… His office is on the second floor, room B112. Just turn right from the elevator and you can't miss it. I'll page him and tell him you're coming."
"Thank you very much, Miss Alia," Blues said politely.
"It's nothing," she said. "And please just call me Alia."
------
X's office was small and as impeccably neat as his apartment. A faux-wood desk faced the door, the laptop resting on the top along with two trays labeled "out" and "in". There were a large number of papers in the out box, but an even larger amount in the in. Beside the desk was a wastepaper basket, and a couch ran along another wall. There were a few comfortably padded chairs facing X's desk, as well. The window in the back was open, letting the fading afternoon sunlight into the room. The smog of the city made dusk come early.
X sat behind the desk, still in his blue armor, filling out a form of some kind. Axl was also in the room, doing absolutely nothing. Both looked up as the trio entered.
"Hello, again," X greeted them. "Alia said you were coming. Is there a problem?"
"Yes, actually," said Blues. He paused, considering how best to phrase this. "As you may have noted, we aren't from this area… We were sent here by our creator to pick up a device he needs for his research."
"But when we got separated," Rock continued, "Blues had to leave it behind to come look for us, and when we came back… it had disappeared."
"We can't go back home without it," Bass added.
"We're sorry to impose on you like this," Blues apologized, "but we really don't know anyone in the city and didn't know where else to turn."
"It's not a problem at all, Blues," X said, smiling. "I'd be glad to help."
"Me too!" piped up Axl, sitting upright. "Not like I have anything better to do."
"What does this missing device look like?" X asked. "I can send out a request for everyone to be on the lookout for it."
"Well, it's like a very heavy box," Blues said, holding his arms apart to indicate the size. "With knobs and dials on the sides."
X blinked, then looked at Axl. "You don't think..."
"That does sound like it..."
"You know something?" Rock asked, watching them.
"One of our friends brought in something similar a short while ago," X explained. "None of us were able to figure out what it was."
"And where is it now?" Blues asked.
"He took it to the tech department for testing," Axl replied.
"May we have a look at it?"
"Certainly," said X, standing up. "I'll escort you there."
"I'll come too—" Axl began, but X halted him, looking up at the clock.
"Weren't you supposed to meet Signas at 16:30?"
"Yeah..."
"It's 16:45 now."
"...Crap." Axl ran from the office.
X shook his head and laughed. "Well, come on then," he said, motioning for the three time-travelers to follow.
------
X led them down another corridor and through a skywalk that connected the main building with one of the smaller wings. They passed few other Hunters on the way. It seemed this portion of the complex wasn't well traveled.
Rock was rather nervous as they walked. X was his brother, but X didn't know that, and though the Hunter was certainly friendly, there was still a professionalism in his manner that made the little robot feel uneasy and a bit… sad. Rock had fought many battles, but what X was involved in appeared to be far more dangerous. It seemed what he was facing was not a lone madman, but a full-scale insurrection of rogue robots. Rock didn't know what the full situation of this world was, but he was sure his brother had seen far more violence than he deserved.
The group was passing a row of indoor greenhouses, lush plants obscuring the glass windows, when alarms suddenly began blaring, shrill and insistent. Behind them, a door leading to a catwalk slammed shut. A voice flared to life over an intercom.
"Emergency. Emergency. Intruders have been detected in sector 2B. The area is now in automatic shutdown. All available Hunters, please report. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."
"Mavericks in HQ?" X said, startled. "How... 2B... that's this building." He reached for his communicator, but it had already switched on with a burst of static.
"X! There's been a break-in near the tech center," came Alia's voice, blurred by the connection. "Our scanners report you're in the sector."
"That's right, I'm on my way there now," X replied.
"There are Mavericks all over the place," Alia warned, "and there may be a Maverick General around, also. Be on your guard."
"I will."
"Zero reported he's in the area, so try and rendezvous with him. There is a squadron of other hunters on another floor so I'm sending them to secure the auxiliary control room in this building. Your objective should be to find and take out the Maverick General."
"Roger that, Alia."
"Be careful, X."
"I always am. X out." He closed the link, and turned to the trio.
"You three should find someplace to hole up," he said. "I have to go after their leader."
"But we can help!" Rock protested.
X shook his head. "You'll only be in the way. Please. I'm experienced at this."
Bass scowled. "Hey, blue boy, we can handle ourselves in a fight. No way we're sitting around like kitchen appliances while nutcases run around the building. Besides, if the tech center is under attack, our device might get caught in the crossfire. We can't risk getting it destroyed."
"I won't be able to protect you all in a firefight," X said.
"You won't have to," Rock replied.
"Rock..." Blues began, but Rock glared at him, then turned his gaze to X. The blue hunter sighed.
"...I don't have time to argue!" he said, turning to run down the corridor. "Come if you must, just make sure not to get yourselves hurt!"