The Dream Machine

Chapter 26: Call into Darkness

 

“Sometimes you wonder why you’re born into this world.  What is your mission in life?  What will people say about you after you’ve died?”  X turned to look at the other half of his personality, who stood not far away, looking a bit worse for the wear.  “You, X… once people get over your façade, they will realize that you are nothing but trouble.  Humans looked like they finally settled their differences and could live in peace.  Then you came along and brought a new kind of horror.”

 

“Say whatever you want.”  The tired looking X replied.  “But as long as you’re busy here talking to me you aren’t out there hurting anyone else.”

 

“Oh, I don’t have to do anything else.”  The other X grinned.  “You have done enough already.”  White smoke crept from behind the menacing figure.  The other X stumbled backwards, eyes darting as the smoke surrounded him.  He batted at the smoke, trying furiously to get it away.  “Do you see them looking at you, X?  They’re asking you to spare them.  They’re all dead… well… most of them.”

 

“Zero!”  The frightened looking X shouted, recognizing something in the veil of smoke.  “Stop it!”  The smoke disappeared, leaving the two blue Reploids standing in the darkness, one shivering and one looking very smug.  “It’s not going to work forever…”

 

“But it’ll work long enough for me to get rid of Zero.” 

 

“Shut up!”

 

The other X’s face twisted in anger, but was soon replaced by a relaxed smile.  “I’m going to teach you a lesson, X.”

 

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Dr. Sky was in the middle of dismantling the heater in the room when the door snapped open.  As soon as she realized it was X, she tossed aside the small motor she was working on.  “What do you want?”  Fresh blood was still oozing out of her bandages, and the remains of her lab coat was stained with oil from the machinery. 

                                                                           

“Finally trying to escape?”  X quickly glanced around the parts of the heater strewn around her on the hospital room floor.  It looked like she managed to pry the heater cover off with a broken chair leg.  “Giving up on X, are you?  I see you’re coming to your senses.”

 

“Yes, I am trying to escape, but no, I am not giving up on X…”  She picked up another part and began to work on it again, but X knocked it away and picked her up by what remained of the lab coat. 

 

“You’re as deluded as they come, aren’t you?”  He growled.  “He’s not coming back.  Face it.” 

 

Her own anger flared up and she slugged X with her right fist.  A sore fist and a surprised look on X’s face were her rewards.  “He will be back.  Dr. Cain and I can do it.  So why don’t you shut your face.” 

 

X quickly recovered and narrowed his eyes dangerously.  “Tell me, why do you even believe he’s here at all?  I’ve already crushed him.”

 

“Because Zero still believes he can be saved, so I do, too.  There is nothing you can say to make me change my…”  She managed to cover her mouth before going into a coughing fit.  As quickly as it began, the coughing stopped.  Her body fell limply against X.

 

Is she…

 

“She’s alive, so don’t you worry your pretty head.”  X let go of the lab coat and allowed her to fall to the ground, looking at her with great disgust. 

 

She’ll die if you leave her like this!  You have to help her!

 

“Shut up, X.  I know what I’m doing.”  He took one last look at Dr. Sky before turning to leave.

 

Why are you holding her anyway?  If you were going to use her against Zero, you would have done that by now.  Why do you--

 

“Because she reminds me of you, that’s why!  You both make me sick!  That blind optimism!  All that stupid HOPE.  I want to see what it takes to crush that pathetic--”

 

You!... That’s enough! 

 

The fierce outburst from X startled even the bitter personality, who stopped in his tracks, concentrating on what was going on in his head.  “X… what are you doing?” 

 

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Dr. Sky lifted her hand to bat away whatever was poking her face and disturbing her from sleep.  The annoyance returned, along with soft bleeping noises.  “Darn it, James, let me get some sleep…”  She opened one eye, confirming that it was indeed James, the assistant bot, standing next to her.  In one second she realized she was at her own lab, in her own bed, and in some clean clothes.  Her other eye opened, to delight and utter confusion, at the realization that she was safely back home. 

 

“What… James, how did I get here?”  She bolted straight up in bed, and slightly regretted it since she was sore everywhere. 

 

James turned on the monitor near the bed, showing a brief security footage of X carrying her into the lab.  She leaned back against the pillow and shook her head.

 

“X…brought me back?...”  Words did not come to her, so she simply stared at the screen.  James presented her with a bowl of soup, and told her why he was here.  “X told you to come back here?  But… why?”

 

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“Alia, are you still working on that?  Well, I brought you some coffee.”  Fade set down the hot beverage on a nearby table.  Alia was working intently on her laptop, scrolling through the lines of codes on the view screen. 

 

“Thanks.”  Alia grabbed the cup and took a sip.  “You know, this stuff is just psychological when you’re a Reploid.  It might as well be water, but it does taste good.” 

 

Fade leaned forwards and watched as Alia read through a several hundred more lines.  “Looks like you’re not going to call it a night until this is done, just don’t forget about your other projects.  I’ve been picking up your slack for the last two days you’ve been obsessed with this.”

 

“It’s just that I can’t decode this transmission into the base.”  Alia started to explain, unaware that Fade was already leaving the room.  “It aggravates me!  Someone went through a lot to bury this in junk radio transmissions, but there are sure signs that something is… Fade?”  Finally she realized Fade was already gone and felt slightly embarrassed.  “I hate it when that happens…”  Full concentration back on her work again, she noticed something else out of the ordinary in the codes.  “Bing-O.”  Several keystrokes later, she opened up the encrypted transmission and saw Aya talking with an old man.  When Aya called the other man “Dr. Wily”, Alia gasped.  For a full minute after the end of the video, she shivered in her seat. 

 

Could it really be the same Dr. Wily Signas and the others talk about?  Zero’s creator?  Alive?  On the screen he certainly looked quite alive, but Aya didn’t seem shocked at all by his appearance.  The 13^th unit and Wily…they must all be a part of the virus outbreak!  Taking one last moment to collect herself, Alia soon tried to send the file to Signas and Zero, thinking they should be the first to know about this, but error messages kept popping up.  Fed up with the system, she saved the file to a memory chip and rushed out of the door towards command center 2, where she knew Zero was working. 

 

Around a blind corner, she ran straight into X, sending both Hunters crashing to the ground.  X rubbed the back of his head emphatically as he got up.  “What’s the rush, Alia?”

 

“I’ve got to find Zero.”  Alia leapt back onto her feet and continued running down the hall.  “Excuse me.” 

 

“Hey!”  X called after Alia, but she quickly disappeared around another corner.  Shaking his head as he laughed, he caught a glimpse of something reflective where Alia fell.  A computer chip with no markings drew X’s curiosity.  “Alia must have dropped this.”  He carefully picked the chip up and pocketed it.  “Maybe this will explain why she was in such a rush.  Wouldn’t it be interesting to see, eh, X?”  He paused, waiting for a response from no one standing around him.  “What?  Are you still tired from that charade you pulled on me back at the hospital?  You know you can’t hold me off that long, you being as weak and pathetic as you are.”  X continued to walk as he spoke softly, seemingly to himself.  “Now you’ve just gone and wore yourself out.  I can just go back after her, you know.”

 

Shut…up…A hoarse voice rang in his head. 

 

“Did I hurt your feelings?  Awww…”  The feigned sympathy mercifully ended.  “Well, enough about you.  Let’s see what’s on this chip.”  X punched in the code to his quarters and bee-lined for the console sitting in the back of the living room.  The chip set into the data slot with a click and the file automatically opened.  Both personalities watched intently to what was said on the file.

 

“Just a second, Wily.”  They watched Aya say on the video.  “Tell me, are you still influencing X?”

 

Then Wily wore a smile both of them recognized.  X paused the video.  Striking was the similarity between creator and Reploid.  It was the smile Zero bears when he’s gone Maverick; exuding confidence, insanity, and knowledge of things beyond the imagination of innocents…

 

“Wily.”  X whispered.  “He’s still… I…am just his puppet…No…I won’t be his puppet…”

 

What… no stop!  You can’t!

 

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“Zero!”  Alia called before the doors even opened completely.  “You’ve got to see this!”  She reached into her pocket to pull out the chip, but found nothing inside.  “Gah!  Where is it?”

 

“What is it, Alia?”  Zero set down some folders and walked towards Alia, catching some of Alia’s panic.  “Is it another outbreak?”

 

“I must have dropped it when I ran into X!  Come on!”  Alia was out the door again.  Zero knew that Alia doesn’t lose her cool unless it was something approaching catastrophic measures, so he followed her without hesitation. 

 

Arriving at X’s quarters, Alia hit the doorbell once and fidgeted nervously waiting for an answer. 

 

“X.”  Zero called.  “Are you in there?”  As he reached for the door, it slid open.  “Not locked…”  Zero stepped into the quarters and immediately spotted X lying on the floor, near the active computer terminal.  Alia noticed what Zero was looking at and rushed to X’s side, shaking him.

 

“Wake up!  X. What’s wrong?”  Alia removed X’s helmet to get a better look at his face.  “X!” 

 

Zero recognized the old man on the right side of the screen.  Rewinding to the beginning, he watched the short conversation between Aya and Dr. Wily.  He noted what was said immediately before the part where the video was paused.

 

“He won’t wake up!  I don’t understand!  Just a couple minutes ago he was fine.”  Alia noticed the video Zero was watching.  “That’s what I was trying to tell you about.  Aya called that man Dr. Wily…  I--I don’t understand what happened to X…”

 

Zero clenched in jaw.  Wily.

 

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“Alia.  Alia!”  A firm voice woke Alia from her sleep.  A pair of blue eyes peered just over the side of her bed.  She blinked several times and realized it was one of the assistant bots Zero had been taking care of since Dr. Sky’s disappearance.  Although they’re as non-menacing as things come, she was still slightly started by the proximity, and the fact that it was in her quarters.

 

“Hi…”  Alia’s sat up in bed and tried to fix her hair slightly.  “What are you doing here?”

 

“It’s me, Dr. Sky.”  Startled by the unexpected voice, Alia spun around to find the doctor.  “I’m transmitting through James here.  Please, just listen to me.”  The hunter turned around to look at James again, arching an eyebrow in suspicion.  “I heard X fell into some kind of stasis coma.  I need to know what happened, but I can’t reach Zero…  Of course I can’t just waltz in here and find him myself, and the security at the lab won’t let my assistant bots through without an escort.   Could you call Zero here and let me talk to him?”

 

Considering Sky’s request for a moment, Alia fell silent.  Sky took that as an indication that she doubted her sincerity.

 

“I just want to help X.”  Sky pleaded, more urgently this time.  “Really, I’m not nuts.  Please believe me.  If Zero doesn’t believe me, then he’ll know where to come and arrest me.  But please just give Zero a chance to decide.”

 

Alia nodded.  “Okay, I’ll call him.  You wait here.”  The hunter got out of bed and pulled on a robe over her pajamas before heading to the computer in her room.  “Zero.  It’s Alia.”

 

“What is it?”  Zero’s voice came back over the speakers.

 

“Could you meet me in my quarters in ten minutes?”  Knowing the requested sounded a bit odd, she added: “It’s about X.”

 

“What about him?”  Zero sounded more enthusiastic now.  “Have you found out something important?”

 

“Yes, but I think it’ll be more clear if you come and see this in person.”  Alia looked at James as she said this.  “It’ll be faster to explain.”

 

“Alright, I’ll see you in a bit.”

 

Alia got a chance to dress and serve James with some hot coca before Zero arrived.  The Red Hunter became even more mystified when he saw James sitting at the dinning table enjoying his snack.  He looked from James to Alia, questioning what was going on with the expression on his face. 

 

“Zero, it’s me.”  Dr. Sky’s voice projected from James.  “I…”

 

“Dr. Sky?!”  Zero rushed up to James.  “Where have you been?!  Emma, James… every one of them has been worried sick about you!”

 

“I know, and I’m sorry.”  She paused, waiting for Zero to calm down before continuing.  “But the matter at hand is really X’s condition.  What’s happened to him?”

 

Zero quickly explained about the taped conversation between Aya and Dr. Wily, and how they found X in his quarters.  “We don’t know too much about his coma, so there’s not too much to explain there.  It’s something Wily is up to, though, I’m sure of that.”

 

“Oh…”  Dr. Sky trailed off.

 

“What do you mean ‘oh’?”  Alia demanded.  “What do you know about this?”

 

“I suspected Wily had something to do with him.”  Dr. Sky sighed heavily.  “When I was last with X, he had two personalities.  There’s the X you know, and then there’s his ‘bitter side’, courtesy of Dr. Wily abusing my machine.  His bitter half was controlling X’s actions, ever since the day he got back to HQ.  He came back to destroy you, Zero, but he thought he was doing that on his own accord…seeing that video…he must have realized that he wasn’t so independent after all…your guess is as good as mine to what exactly happened, but the video must have put him in shock.  X might still be trapped in there!  We have to look for him.”

 

“When was the last time you were with X?”  Zero asked. 

 

“Yesterday.”

 

“But what were you doing with X?”  Alia massaged her temple, fitting the pieces of information in her head as they were revealed.  “Did he know where you were all this time?”

 

“I broke out of the medical lab, but I didn’t break out of the base myself.”  Dr. Sky’s tone of voice told the two hunters she did not want to explain the exact reasons behind this.  “But listen, I think there’s a way to find out what’s going on in that head of his.  I need you to bring him to my lab.”

 

“Your lab?  Are you going to use that machine on him again?”  Understandably so, Zero was a little anxious about having anyone near the machine that started all of this trouble in the first place.

 

“It’s our best chance.  If we just got a look at what’s going on, we’ll know how to help him.  You have to get X to my lab!”

 

“But Dr. Cain can--” Alia began.

 

“Yes, I know, but he doesn’t have the technology that I have… and I want to help him.  Please…”

 

Zero considered her words for a moment, then nodded in agreement.  “I’ll meet you there in two hours.”

 

 “But Zero, how will you get him out of that lab without explaining anything?”  Alia asked.

 

“I’d like to see them stop me.”  Zero left Alia’s quarters and rushed to the lab.  To the night staff’s alarm, he stormed in without a word and started to unplug X from the machines.  None of the scientists and guards dared to raise any physical barrier to stop Zero as he marched out of the lab with X slung over his shoulder; that is, until he got to the hatch to the garage, where Doyle stood, waiting for him.

 

“Zero,” Doyle said with a hint of glee, “It’s good to see you, but what do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Out of my way, Doyle.”  Zero thought about how much time it would take to reach for his Z-saber.  “I don’t have time for you.”

 

“Have you gone Maverick again?”  Doyle casually drew his weapon.  “If you have, you know what happens next.”

 

Zero was about to happily slice Doyle into to pieces, but he soon realized several hunters stood watching.  It wouldn’t help X any if he found out Zero killed a couple hunters on the way to save him.  Doyle is one thing… but these others…Damn…

 

“I asked Zero to move X.”  A voice parted the crowd theatrically, revealing a small figure leaning on a cane.  “Really, what’s all this commotion about?” 

 

“Dr. Cain!”  Doyle pursed his lips as the old scientist stepped forwards.  “You do like to keep the rest of us in the dark about what you do, don’t you?  What is so interesting that requires your attention this late in the evening?”

 

“I might ask you the very same things, Doyle.”  After giving Doyle one last look, Dr. Cain turned his attention to Zero.  “Really, though, you could have just said something to the nice attendants at the lab, or should I just program some manners into you?”  Several hunters in the audience giggled at Dr. Cain’s comments.  “Okay everyone!”  Dr. Cain rapped his cane, commanding everyone’s attention.  “Can an old man get on with his work, or does he need everyone’s approval first?”  Convinced they’ve seen the best of the performance, the crowd started to scatter.  Doyle stood for a moment longer, considering Dr. Cain and Zero, before smiling and stepping aside, allowing the two to pass.

 

Once out of Doyle’s earshot, Zero thought it was safe to talk about.  “Dr. Cain…”

 

“I don’t know what you’re doing exactly,” he winked at Zero, “but a little bot told me you might need my help.”  To that, Zero looked down and found James waving at him from behind Dr. Cain.  “I know you have X’s best interest in mind, so I won’t ask too many questions except if I can help on anything else.”

 

“Actually, doctor… you can.”  Zero motioned towards one of the all terrain cycles.  “Are you up for a trip through the surface?”

 

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Flanked by several assistant bots, Dr. Sky entered the garage park to greet Zero.  She stood there, thinking how nice it would be talking to her friend again before a loud rumbling interrupted her thoughts.  Pulling in behind Zero’s bike was someone else on a cycle.

 

“Dr. Cain?!”  Dr. Sky almost fell over in shock when the older scientist pulled off his helmet.  The old man laughed heartily after setting the head gear down. 

 

“Been awhile since I did that!”  Dr. Cain declared loudly, adding some more laughter to his comments.  “They don’t call me Motocross Menace for nothing!”  James could be seen behind Dr. Cain, still hanging on for dear life on the motorbike. 

 

Zero laughed nervously, thinking about how he had to keep turning his head to make sure Dr. Cain didn’t wipe out before they got to Dr. Sky’s lab.  The man might have been Motocross Menace some time ago, but now he was just a menace.  Zero kept the commentary to himself and lifted X’s body from the backside of his bike.  

 

“I want to hear all about what happened to you once we get X settled.”  Zero pointed at Dr. Sky.  “No more of ‘it doesn’t matter now.’  I want to know what’s going on.” 

 

Dr. Sky nodded.  “Let’s get X to the lab.”  As they walked, she explained the plan to both of them.  “I’ve mocked up a second headset for you, Zero, so you can step into X’s sessions on the machine.”  The machine sat silently in the center of the lab as they entered. 

 

“Step into X’s session?”  Zero asked as he set X down in the machine.  “Does that mean what I think it means?”

 

“It’s a long shot, and I don’t know if it’s actually going to work.”  Dr. Sky moved to the console, joined by Dr. Cain, as she set up the session.  “Let’s just see how this goes, then at least we’d have some data to play off of.”  Dr. Cain nods in approval.  “The extra headset is right over there.” 

 

Zero picked up the headset, and it suddenly felt very heavy in his hands.  He took off his helmet, put the headset on, and sat down.

 

“Here we go.”  Dr. Sky said before all the lights went out.  Zero looked around, alarmed by the sudden darkness.  “Don’t worry, Zero, the reason the transition is so rough is because I didn’t have time to fix it.”  The explanation took the edge off a bit. 

 

“It’s pitch black.  I don’t see anything yet.”  Zero reported. 

 

“Why don’t you try calling him?”  She suggested.  “This is his dream, he’s around here somewhere.”

 

“X?”  Zero called, softly at first.  “X?”  Louder this time.  His voice seemed to be drowned out by the abyss, so he stood, trying to think of something else he could do. 

 

“When you call into darkness,” Zero heard Dr. Cain’s voice faintly through Sky’s headset, “should you expect a response?”  

 

“X!”  Zero yelled, ignoring Dr. Cain’s philosophical question and started to run in an arbitrary direction.  “Where are you?!  X!”