The Dream Machine
Chapter 4: Empty Reunion
Zero’s new armor was finally completed and installed. That same day, Zero began preparations for his trip to the new coves.
The latest batch of search bots brought back coordinates of several of the nearby coves. Along with this data, the search
bots also brought back news that cases of Reploids gone Maverick has gone up significantly. While no clinical link to the
Zero Virus could be drawn, many scientists speculate that the link exists.
Since Dr. Sky needed the buggy herself, the plan is that Dr. Sky would drive Zero into town and drop him off at one of the
city’s aboveground entrances.
“But wouldn’t everyone panic when they see you?” Dr. Sky asked Zero as she drove. “They think the Zero Virus is
going to be the end of the world. Wouldn’t they be even more petrified when they see you in person?”
“This is why I’m going to keep a low profile until I find X and the Maverick Hunters.” Zero replied.
“No sense in riling people up, but I do need to find the new HQ for myself.”
The drive continued for several hours in silence. Zero had been even quieter since the dream machine incident.
Neither of them brought up the topic. Dr. Sky looked the readings more closely afterwards and confirmed her suspicions
about the dormant program. Zero seemed to already believe what she said the night it happened, so she did not feel
she needed to substantiate the theory to him.
As if he read her thoughts, Zero suddenly brought up the topic near the end of the buggy ride.
“Will you let me use the machine again?”
“What? You actually want to use the machine?” Dr. Sky was surprised. It wasn’t exactly a happy father/son reunion
last time. “But why would you want to talk to Wily again?”
Zero was silent for a moment, and then answered with a voice just a hair above a whisper: “I’ve never been able to
talk to him before. All this time it’s only been him commanding me. I’ve never been able to argue back.” Zero
stared straight ahead. “I think I should try.”
“You don’t want to do as he says, right?”
Zero said nothing, but Dr. Sky understood what Zero meant. It would have to be something for Zero to decide when
he was good and ready. Even if Dr. Sky decided not to let him use the machine, Zero might go Maverick again someday.
At least this way, he would be doing something about it.
“Alright.” Dr. Sky reluctantly agreed. “But I want minimal usage. That means one day a week, with the time
between each use for me to thoroughly analyze the data to make sure nothing is wrong.” Dr. Sky gave Zero a
look that prevented him from arguing on the terms. Zero nodded and sunk deeper into his chair.
“Hee hee!” Dr. Sky chucked. “Of course that also ensures that you have to visit me weekly!”
Zero looked back over and recognized the cat-impression Dr. Sky does whenever she was thinking
happily of an experiment. She was a strange one.
They finally reached one of the entrances to the underground coves. Dr. Sky put on the mask to her air-suit before
Zero opened the door to the buggy to get out.
“How come you’re not dropping into town?” Zero asked.
“The same reason I decided to get the heck out of town in the first place.” Dr. Sky winked and waved goodbye to Zero.
“Don’t forget to bring me a souvenir!” He closed the door and the buggy sped away.
****************
After several hours of searching through the underground waterways, Zero finally found one of the coves.
He brought a large brown cloak with him to wear so he would not be recognized as Zero.
The particular cove that Zero was walking through looked like a bad alleyway at nightfall, except for the metal
ceiling 30 feet above the ground. The streets were lit by mismatched lampposts, probably salvaged ones from the
destroyed cities after the Eurasia incident. Small shops were located at both sides of the sidewalk. The residential
units seemed to be further underground, since there were signs indicating that the subway-like entrances lead to living
quarters.
A fair amount of Reploids and humans were walking around the streets. Zero noticed that the humans’ clothing were
more plain than usual. As for hovercrafts, they were out in significantly reduced numbers, which is probably due
to the fact that the streets were much more narrow in coves than the above ground cities.
After talking with several Reploids and humans, Zero found out the good news that the Maverick Hunters HQ had a
sub-station in this cove, Cove-08. None of the people Zero talked to knew for sure if X was stationed here,
but they guessed that an important Maverick Hunter such as X would certainly be stationed at the main HQ, in Cove-01.
Zero followed the directions to the sub-station. He stood outside the building and studied it for a moment.
Like the coves, the sub-station has also lowered its standards on outward appearance for efficiency sake.
Gone were the stone statues and the bright banners. The only impressive thing about the building was its size;
three stories high. The ceiling of the cove was raised to 50 feet to accommodate this taller building.
While Zero was busy studying the exterior of the substation, someone from behind him called out to him.
“Zero?!” Zero turned to see Alia, the navigator for the 17th unit staring at him with a bewildered expression
on her face. Zero wondered how Alia could have recognized him with his hood on, and then quickly realized the
hood had slipped off while he was looking up at the building.
Alia seemed frozen for a moment, as if she was afraid that any movements from her might make Zero take off and
disappear again. When she collected herself again, she called out to Zero again.
“Zero, is it really you?”
“Alia,” Zero walked towards Alia, “It’s good to see you.”
Alia took a quick, small breath, and immediately sprinted the rest of the way towards Zero. When she got within arms
reach of Zero, she wrapped her arms around Zero in a hug. Zero wanted to say something, but he let Alia speak first.
“Zero! You’re alive!” Alia stammered. “We all thought you were dead! We looked for you! Signas set out squad
after squad to comb the area.” She let go of Zero and studied his face. “Where have you been all this time?!”
“I was hiding myself until my repairs could be done.” Zero half lied. Since he was not sure of Dr. Sky’s reasons
to live in seclusion, he did not want to reveal her existence or location to anyone unless it was absolutely necessary.
Not to mention the fact that he wanted to keep the dream machine experiment a secret. “I had to look for you as well.”
“Zero…” Alia looked deeper into Zero’s eyes. “You’re not Maverick anymore, right?”
“No.” Zero quickly answered. “No, I’m not Maverick anymore.” Now he was slightly confused.
Didn’t X tell Alia what happened at the end of the battle with Sigma? Yes, Zero had turned Maverick
just before the final battle with Sigma, but in the end, Zero had helped X by destroying Sigma. Why didn’t X
tell Alia? Something was very wrong.
“Alia!” Zero grabbed her shoulders. “X! Is he alright?” Alia lowered her eyes and her brows lowered. “Tell me!”
Zero demanded.
“X is alive.” Alia said slowly.
“I know that.” Zero said impatiently, his voice straining. “What’s wrong?! Why aren’t you looking at me?”
“Zero…” Alia looked back up at Zero. “X, he—” Before Alia could finish, a new voice interrupted the conversation.
“So you’re the one called Zero.” A familiar voice said. Zero turned around to see X standing several feet away from them.
X’s eyes looked completely different than Zero remembered.
“…the one called Zero?” Zero repeated. Zero turned back to Alia, who shifted her gaze between Zero and X.
This must be the thing Alia was about to tell him. Something was gravely wrong with X. Zero already had it figured
out when Alia confirmed his suspicions.
“He doesn’t remember you at all.” Alia said softly.
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