Mega Man X and all assorted characters are all copyrighted to Capcom.

Tryne, Miss Maquin, and other assorted extras are all copyright to myself, A.R. Carpenter.

This story is copyrighted 2003 by A.R. Carpenter, reproduction of any part of this story in any medium is prohibited, unless with written permission from the author. Measures will be taken against anyone who alters, copies, distributes, or claims authorship. If you do, I get to send you on a one-way trip to the Threshold of Pain.

This fanfic is dedicated to:

NR – for passing on neat fanfic tips that allowed me to slug through this and finally make it.
OC – for checking this fanfic and reviewing it, as well as giving me tips and support.
Sunstorm - for also checking this fanfic and giving me great feedback.
Shax – for passing on neat writing tips and showing me cool writing techniques.
To the guys at NR's forum – for all your support and not lynching me when I nagged about my ineptness to write.

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Chapter 1: A hundred years waiting.
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Drill droids, all of the same lemon yellow colour, scraped at the earth with various tools – shovels, dills, and pick axes, working continuously to remove the rock. Once an item was found on the scanners, the droids would move back and let the smaller, pink droids come in with their little brushes and brush away the soil carefully to unearth the item, place it in a sealed container and take it off to the green scanner droids. And then the yellow digger droids would move back in, and the process would begin again.

It was quite the marvelous system, really, that he had developed himself. While he majored in archeological sciences, he had the spirited knack for robotics that enabled him to create each and every single droid upon the excavation site, and making him rather famous for the achievement. It certainly made archeological investigations a whole lot easier, but he always had to remind himself that at the end of the day, a human made the big decisions.

And what a bad one he made, he sighed dismally to himself. He'd hoped that the dry desert would preserve some vegetation fossils, but as he checked over the current inventory of discovered items, there were only a few rocks, skeletons, and on one infamous occasion an unexploded land-mine from Jovian War III thirty years ago. That was a heart attack he certainly didn't appreciate.

He grumpily shut off the holographic holopad read-outs, "Well, no point in dragging this on. Might as well go on home – "
A small beeping cut him off, and he pulled up the communications panel to one of his droid teams. The green droid began blandly, "Scanner droid #05A, Team A reporting. Doctor Cain, unusual metal substance detected in sector E-46. Heavy droid units unable to penetrate. Awaiting orders."
Cain blinked once thickly, "…Or maybe not. Droid #05A, instruct your unit to remain on stand-by until I get there."
"Understood."
Cain deftly flicked off the holopad, blinking to himself for a moment before smiling, "Well, what do you know? Maybe there's a chance I'll find something after all!"

He stood up from his seat nestled under a wide shading cloth, walking down a small sand incline to his small scooter resting on it's support frame. Kicking it up and firing up the hover engine, he blithely hopped on before gunning off into the mass of pits.

He drove it forward at a slow pace, moving smoothly across the sand dunes as his holopad map showed the way to sector E-46. The occasional droid skittered out of his way as he weaved through the excavation pits, until he eventually moved in on the sector in question. Shutting off his transport and hopping off, he went over to droid #05A, which was obediently waiting for his arrival.
"This way, Doctor Cain." It said, and led the man over to a nearby pit, where the other droids were peacefully waiting in single file.

Perking a surprised eyebrow, Cain gazed down into the shallow hole that revealed thick metal plating, which gave off a dull clang when he experimentally whacked it with a spare shovel. Reaching into his pocket to get out his records, he skimmed through curiously, "Odd. No records show of any known buildings or land ownership out here. Secret military bunker perhaps?" he paused, before dismissing it, "Bah, I'd be blasted by now if that were true. Droid #05A, just how old do you think this metal is?"
"Scanning indicates metal alloy was manufactured 105.67 years ago."
"…Well, that's interesting," Cain stated lamely, before checking his digging permit, "Hm, … 'if said structure has been abandoned and no party holds ownership then said structure is open for entry'. Fits the bill, I suppose. Droid #05A, give a call for the High-Energy Molecule Beam and Hover- Platform to get over here."
"Acknowledged."

A scant five minutes later, a team of transport droids escorted a large device mounted upon a steady set of hover-treadmills, floating easily up to the edge of the pit and hovering patiently. The large white Hover-Platform floated up nearby, settling down into the ground. Doctor Cain walked up to the holo-panel at the back of the HEMB, programming the path of the beam in a large, neat circle in the metal. Confirming the settings, he stood back and let the laser slowly cut the circle with a blazing pink beam of light. The old metal didn't put up much resistance, and the round cut-off section fell down with an almighty crash. Cain winced at the sound, before programming the HEMB to move back and wait on stand by. Ordering a drone to shine its head-mounted torch down the hole, Cain peered in and saw an empty corridor beneath him. Satisfied with that, he went over the Hover-Platform, using it's own holo-panel to guide it to float above the hole.

"Alrighty boys," he called to the droids, "Scanner droids from #05A to #05F, line up on the hover platform, now!"
Obediently, the six green droids deftly rolled onto the white platform to form a neat line, Cain stepping on beside them. Giving the command, the panel slowly sank down into the corridor below.

-

Cain let out a loud sneeze, his movements stirring dust high into the air, swirling in patterns in front of the beams of light from the droids around him.
"Do you wish to summon a medi-bot?" asked one drone.
"Bah, I'm fine…" Cain wheezed, squinting through the darkness. The re-enforced metal walls were lined with blossoming red rust and thick layers of grime, giving the air a sharp pungent smell. Large pieces of rubble lay cross-crossed across his path, wires hanging dismally from the ceiling as their power had long stopped flowing. As they moved deeper into the maze of the complex, most of the doors were sealed shut from rubble or disrepair, making only a few accessible. There was a very sparse sleeping quarters that contained only three toilette items and a spare change of clothes, and a massive storage area that held only a few large crates of raw materials. He was becoming more and more frustrated over the limited amount of areas he could access at this time, without bringing in a ruin excavation team, but finally he found one final door that seemed accessible.

"Capsule Storage Bay…isn't this interesting?" Cain mused to himself, before analyzing at the door. Just as he wondered how to try opening this one, it gave a sharp click, and neatly slid open for him.
Cain flinched, startled at the sudden movement, confusion forgotten as he surveyed the dark murky room before him as it was quickly lit by his scanner droids. The room seemed to be better re-enforced than the other rooms, as it stayed rather intact with only a fine layer of small rocks and dust coating the floor.
"Sensors indicate power signature." Droned one of the droids, moving diligently off towards it deep within the room. Cain slowly followed; eyeing how very empty the room was for a capsule storage bay, until his eyes lay upon one lonely capsule that the droids were now crowding around curiously. It was the largest Cain had ever seen – 14 feet long and 8 feet wide, and it was giving a gentle metallic hum. It had a thick tri-enforced titanium plating cover with a thin line of glowing green around the seal, and thick data-plugs snaked up into a massive computer console that took up the entire wall of the storage bay.

"Curiouser and curiouser…" Cain drawled as he tapped a button upon the lit console. Screens suddenly flared to life, a sea of data glowing upon the greens in an eerie green light. One screen flashed softly, the words ebbing in an urgent status message, which Cain moved over to read.
"Let's see…diagnostics 100% complete. All stats code green. Diagnostics success – subject declared non-threat. Ready for activation…ho-kay. Hm?" Cain perked his head at the small message cue at the bottom of the status message. Using an input tool he selected it, and the status message vanished for a recorded video to suddenly display. It presented an old man with bushy white hair, his large beard and moustache resting on his round stomach. His slightly round face had mirthful rose cheeks, intelligent blue eyes twinkling sadly at the viewer, smiling weakly as he began;

"Hello. My name is Thomas Xavier Light, expert in robotics and A.I. research. I leave this message to the future generations who shall stumble across this message and the hibernation chamber, and know of the legacy I've left them. Inside the capsule is a not a mere robot but a new evolution in robotics and Artificial Intelligence. His name is Mega Man X. 'X' is the first of a new generation of robots that contain an innovative new feature – the ability to learn but most important the ability to think, feel, and make their own decisions. However this ability could be very dangerous. If 'X' were to break the First Law of Robotics, "A robot must never harm a human being", the results would be disastrous and I fear that no force on Earth could stop him. Approximately 30 years will be required before we can safety confirm his reliability. Unfortunately I will not live to see that day, nor do I have anyone to carry on my work. Therefore, I have decided to seal him in this capsule, which will test his internal systems until his reliability has been confirmed. Please do not disturb the capsule until that time. I hope whoever finds this takes care of 'X', as I have. This legacy I leave to you.

September 18, 20XX T. Light."

"Your jaw is slack, sir. Do you now wish to summon a medi-bot?" a drone finally inquired after the silence.
Cain snapped his mouth shut with a loud clack, his mind considerably numbed by the sheer weight of the situation. Turning around to see the capsule resting behind him and gazing at it for a long moment, he desperately tried to grasp that another Mega Man was waiting to be activated inside it. His curiosity began to burn wildly as more amazing possibilities of what he'd be like drove around in his mind.
"This will drive me mad…" he snorted, before giving a long pause of thought. He finally turned to the lead scanner droid, "Alright, Droid #05A, send out a message to all excavation teams. Tell 'em to begin withdrawal procedures and pack up all equipment and findings immediately. Your team and the holo-panel stay put."
"Acknowledged." The droid chirped, and connected up to the collective communications link to send the message. After a few clicks and whirs, it replied, "Message sent. All requested units are withdrawing."
"Good," Cain nodded, before patting the lid of the titanium capsule, "Can't sleep the millennia away, my boy! Time for you to wake up!"

-

=================

Diagnostics complete.

Status: Code Green.

…

Computer activated

Commencing activation procedures.

Ion battery…confirmed. Code Green.
CPU link up…confirmed. Code Green.

Administering energy pulse…done.

CPU patterns…Code Green.
Circulatory systems…Code Green.
Respiratory intake systems…Code Green.
Integrated nerve network…Code Green.

Activating CPU awareness…

Done.

=================

The capsule slowly warmed up to a gentle hum after the green lights lining the capsule's seal flicked to white, cool wisps of pressurized air hissing out of the air vents. The seal hissed open as the lid of the capsule lifted a little, before sliding down with an elongated hiss before finishing with a snapping click. The mist of the pressurized air began to seep over the edges of the capsule, slowly revealing the sapphire blues of the robot's armour. He was lying solidly upon the cushioned blue interior, a face exactly like a slightly boyish young man around the age of sixteen, features slightly sharp but also seeming somewhat delicate. A helmet was clasped over his head that slightly hid his eyebrows, set upon the forehead with a brilliant red crystal. He slept silently, his breath quickening as he was brought to consciousness, before his emerald green eyes slowly fluttered open. He shifted and moved himself out of his position a little, and gave a gracious yawn, the oxygen boosting his system that allowed his eyes to fully focus.

Tones and colours shifted into focus as he followed the immediate instinct to sit up, head swivelling around as he observed his surroundings, until he saw Doctor Cain. He was an old middle-aged man with a long and fine white beard and moustache with a bald head, a slightly hooked nose with little smile crinkles like cracks around his eyes, a deep hazel as he stared in awe at the robot, who stared right back.
"…Well hello." Cain began, after a long dramatic pause.
"H…" the robot began, mouth slowly wrapping itself around the word, "H-hello."
"Charmed. My name is Doctor Ernest Cain."
"N…n-nice to…m-meet you, Doctor Cain," the robot greeted, but the words seemed rather flat and meaningless, "I am X."
"Well now, I figured that. X, could you tell me what memory clusters you have?" Cain inquired.
After the briefest of pauses X replied candidly, "Memory clusters consist of instructions of verbal speech in five recognised languages, basic movement functions, level 1 general information, and human manners."
Cain arched his eyebrows, "Very sparse, that. I suppose we'll take you back to the porta-home for now. Can you get out of there?"
"Yes." Was the frank reply, and he slowly swung his legs over the edge of the capsule to let them rest on the floor. Bending the knees straight he stood up…for a few seconds, before wobbling sharply, arms flailing akimbo in a spirited attempt to remain upright.

Cain grabbed his arm and held him steady before X fell on his face, "You alright?"
"All systems normal. Balance systems have not yet calibrated."
"Fair enough. Now how would we go about balancing them?"
"Balance systems shall calibrate automatically after testing." X replied.
"Ah…so you've got to practice!" Cain hooked his arm with X's, "Well, I'll help you keep steady while you get the hang of it. Ready to start walking?"
"Yes."
"Righto…off we go!" Cain smiled, slowly walking forward as X wobbled to keep one foot firmly in front of the other. As they transversed across the room his steps slowly began more solid, until they moved into the hallway where he was walking only a slightly unsteady walk. Cain gave a silent sigh of relief to himself that he had the foresight to command his droids to remove most of the heavy rubble – he wouldn't know how X would handle the uneven surfaces and obstacles.
"Doctor Cain?"
Cain snapped to attention to X, as he curiously analyzed the halls around him, "Yes, X?"
"Where are we?"
"Fair question. Well, this is a hidden underground laboratory, which I have discovered a day or so ago. It's very old, and everything is in disrepair…you understand so far?"
"Yes."
"Good. Now, I found that room you were in, and according to the computer read-outs, you were ready to be activated. And so, I did."
"Why?"
Cain faltered in step at the sudden question, "Well… you know what curiosity is, don't you X?"
"An eager desire to know, or inquisitiveness." X stated bluntly.
"Righto. I was very curious of what you were like, so I opened the capsule to find out."
"So you activated me because you were curious about me?" X asked.
"That's right. …Ah, here's the Hover-Platform," Cain noticed as he spotted the white platform resting on the floor and slowly eased X to a stop in front of it, "This is a hover-platform – a platform that can hover, basically. It will take us up to the surface…now, can you step onto it?"
X didn't reply immediately, instead slowly bringing up one knee to step up onto it, wobbling but otherwise fine. Cain smiled as he did the same, "Nice job, X. Now I'll bring this up."
X watched with interest as Cain activated the hover console, before it slowly began to float up. Unprepared for the sudden movement, X gave a startled yelp as he finally fell over onto his behind.
"You alright?" Cain asked.
"Systems normal." X replied.
A smirk wound up on his face, "You could just say 'yes' in response, X."
"Oh. Yes." X agreed, before his eyes averted to widen in awe. Cain looked over to see the wide desert plains he saw before, with the vibrant and cloudless blue sky above. The excavation team was gone, a hover transport waiting nearby. Blinking in confusion, he looked back at X, eyes wide as his mind cataloged and analyzed intense streams of information. New colors and perspective flowed into comprehension. And throughout, X was nothing short of awed.
Cain rubbed his chin, realizing that X had an ability nothing else had – he could experience the simplest yet most amazing things, like seeing a sky or new color for the first time, and actually have the intellect to realize it. Cain dryly mused to himself he was too big for his britches when it came to helping this sort of…being. He needed help.
"X?" Cain ventured finally, allowing X a good few minutes to soak in his surroundings.
X quickly shut off his input to look at Cain, "Yes?"
"Sorry to disturb you, but we can't stay here all day! We're going to see some friends of mine."
X slowly stood up, "Who?"
"Just some other scientists. Now come along, X. You've got a lot to learn in the world, and best we start now!"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cain watched X as he squirmed in his seat, obviously not pleased with his seatbelt. He had complained when he had first been strapped in that it limited the movement of his upper abdominal region, but after Cain explained it was necessary, he didn't say anything else. He still squirmed a bit, but for the most part, he was fiddling with a few various objects. Right now he was concentrating on bending a fork into a circle. It wasn't much, but Cain was thankful he no longer fiddled with the transport controls. Two near heart attacks in one day was not good for his health.

As his findings and robot units flew back to the Archaeological Institute, both Cain and X flew off to Edo, the robotics capital of the world. It was one the home of Doctor Light, the best robotics genius to have ever lived, and as a result everything and anything robotic was created and funded there. Right now Cain was taking X to Light Industries, a famous robot design company founded by Doctor Light himself. He was well known there, signing contracts with them to mass-produce some of his robotic designs. Apart from teaching X everything they could, Cain was intensely curious just what this little robot was capable of – the way he worked and functioned, his mental capabilities, Cain stressed that they use almost every means available to find out how this blue wonder worked. There were no plans in Doctor Light's lab, nothing.

And Cain felt quite a maternal instinct towards X – he had never married, never had children, and now that he was responsible for this innocent newborn robot, he couldn't help but feel protective. He could never have the heart to simply turn X over to someone else and let them tinker with him without his say so – he knew he was dealing with something special here, and he would never let it be squandered by some greedy fools who didn't care about X's child like innocence. All Cain had to do was look at that youthful, pure face and know he had to take care of him.

I hope whoever finds this takes care of Mega Man X, as I have.

Doctor Light sure was trusting. What if some military organization found him instead, or some other group that would only want to take advantage of X? It must have been the purest luck no one else found the lab…or was it? There had been the Jovan Desert War just near there, and Cain doubted it was only luck that the lab wasn't found.

Oh to heck with it. He'd only give himself a migraine if he sat there and asked himself answerless questions.

The hovercraft banked slightly, making X perk his head and whip it around himself in confusion. Air jets under the wings blew out air, acting as flaps to slow the descent of the hover transport as it lowered itself down to the landing pad. Cain took this transport to ensure the ride would be as smooth as possible, but it seemed X's sensors were more sensitive than he thought. He had begun to hawkishly look around in confusion, mind vainly trying to process what was happening and what to do.

"X! X!" Cain bolstered, capturing the robot's attention, "Don't worry, X. Everything's fine."
"What is happening?"
"Just lowering the aircraft down onto the landing pad."
After these words, X settled down almost immediately, settling down into his seat. Cain was quite honestly surprised.

"Right, we're here." Cain smiled, unclipping his seatbelt and standing up. To his total amazement, X had observed what Cain had done and unbuckled his own seatbelt. Well, not exactly – X had tried pressing the release switch, but had ended up crushing the whole buckle in his hand with total ease. The metal buckle, freed from the plastic clasp, whipped through the air and slapped X across the face. The blue robot yelped and clamped his hands to his injured nose, a surprisingly human reflex.
"You alright?"
X took his hands away and sniffed, "All system functions normal. Injury minimal."
A small pause.
"Yes." X finished.
"Ah, brilliant. Come on, X, we've got to go."

The pair walked out of the transport onto the top of a large skyscraper, protected by a retractive dome of blue glass that opened for VIP hover transports. It protected them from the harsh wind, smog, noise, and sun, which Cain was glad for, as he was sure all that would alarm X even more.

Two attendants in dark suits were waiting for him, one of them smiling cordially, "Doctor Cain, nice to see you again."
"Nice to see you too, Renard," Cain returned the smile, "I hope we're not late?"
"Not at all sir," Renard replied, "Miss Maquin is waiting for you now. This way please."

The two men turned on their polished heels sharply and lead Cain with his companion towards the elevator booth on the far side of the landing pad, swiping a key card through an entry panel to open up the doors. They all moved inside the rather spacious elevator carriage, and Renard pressed a button for the 102nd floor. X was looking around at the tiny room with a form of curious puzzlement, and thus quite unprepared when the lift started moving. The hydraulic shock absorbers made the lurch smooth, but the still clumsy X let out a squeak and fell onto the floor.
The two attendants frowned rather sharply in confusion, one asking with good-naturedly, "Urm, is your robot assistant alright?"
"Um, yes," Cain replied, trying to display a dismissive smile, "He has some slight problems with his balancing systems."
"Should have that checked, sir. Something like that could be dangerous." The attendant suggested, watching bemusedly as Cain helped X to his feet.
"Ah, yes, I'll be doing that very soon." Cain affirmed, and was rather relieved when the elevator came to a taut stop, breaking the tension in the tiny space as they moved out. Cain hooked his arm with X's as they went down the hallway, who blinked a few times as he looked back to the elevator, then the corridor, and then the elevator again as his mind tried to process this extremely confusing situation.
"Hey, what's wrong, now?" Cain asked at a low volume.
"…Where are we?" X asked, copying his low tone, "Where is the sky?"
"This is the 102nd level of the building, X," Cain replied "The small room we entered, an elevator, moved downwards from the top of the building to this location."
"Oh." X noted intelligently.
"This is the private conference room, sir. Miss Maquin is already waiting for you." Renard offered, opening the door slightly for him.
"Thank you Renard. Come on, X." Cain called, and the robot filed in behind him.

Inside was a red-carpeted room, adorned with replicated wood panelling – most wood forests were now protected by law – and a large replicated oak wood table surrounded by plush blue chairs. Large tinted windows lined the far wall, casting bright blue light into the room and revealing a vivid view of the city below.
A woman, with short wavy red hair and immaculate attire of a pressed navy dress suit, primly stood from her chair and transversed over the Doctor Cain to shake his hand.
"Ah, Doctor Cain," she acknowledged respectfully, "It's a pleasure to meet you again. I hear you major in archaeology primarily now."
"Indeed, although those droids we had made really came in handy with some of my recent digs." Cain smiled merrily, following the woman to sit down around the conference table. He needed some help from Cain, but X sat down in his chair gracefully enough this time.
"According to your message, you've just recently discovered an invention of Doctor Light's on one of those digs. I'm extremely curious, Doctor Cain." The woman implored. "Right, right," Cain agreed, before leaning back to begin, "I discovered a small laboratory in the middle of the Jovan Desert, that indeed belonged to Doctor Light. Most of it is empty and dilapidated, ruined beyond repair, but I found two very interesting things – a still functioning computer, and an occupied capsule."
Obviously very surprised, her tone was quick when she asked, "Occupied? By a robot?"
"Indeed! Fully functioning, as well! Actually, the robot had undergone diagnostics when I discovered the capsule. Seeing it was complete, I opened the capsule and let the robot out."
"You did? What happened?" She almost demanded.
"Why not ask him yourself?" Cain suggested slyly, a cat-like grin on his face when he turned to X, "X, this is Miss Maquin, CEO of Light Industries. She's rather distantly related to your creator. Miss Maquin, please meet Mega Man X."
"Hello. Nice to meet you." X greeted politely.
Miss Maquin didn't respond. In fact, she was leaning back rather hard in her chair, reeling back as she stared, wide-eyed and mouth speechless, as her mind tried to process the situation. Eventually her staring eyes began to examine X up and down, until she finally half-whispered her dumbfounded realization, "Great Scott you are a Mega Man. I've studied his diagnostics a hundred times and I can simply tell, simply know – " she snapped her mouth shut when she noticed her behaviour, clearing her throat and reaching out a hand, "A pleasure to meet you, Mega Man X."
X recognised the gesture, but shook her hand rather lamely, "Thank you. Doctor Cain calls me X."
"May I call you that?"
"Yes."
"I…" Miss Maquin grasped for the words, "How do you know this was a Mega Man?"
"Ah," Cain smiled knowingly, reaching around in his bag to retrieve a small data-disk, "I managed to record this data-file I found when I discovered X."
Miss Maquin took the offered disk and slid it into a small slot built into the side of the desk, a small round pad in the middle of the desk lit up with a ghostly green light, the shutters upon the windows automatically closing. Doctor Light's hologram message appeared, again reciting his warning about X and his unique AI program, until the message ended and the room was once again light by the sunlight. X seemed rather fascinated by the entire event.
Miss Maquin seemed a few shades paler as she grasped for slowly crumbling composure, "I…I suppose this is rather reasonable evidence."
"The only real evidence I could find, actually," Cain sighed, "Apart from that, there isn't anything that explains anything about X. Which is why I brought him here."
"Oh?" Miss Maquin blinked.
"Well, seeing as this is Light Industries, I figured this would be the best place to bring him. You'd be the most prepared to handle him, and I am rather well known here," Cain explained, "I was wondering if you'd be willing to devise a project to scan X and learn how the little guy works."
"I see. I'm rather glad you came to us, Doctor Cain," Miss Maquin said, "The technology industry is rather cut-throat."
"No kidding," Cain nodded rather grimly, lips becoming a thin line, before turning warmly to X, "I think you'll like it here, X. We'll be able to teach and show you a lot of things here."
"Like what archaeology is?" X queried.
"Ha ha, yes, that and more." Cain laughed merrily.
Miss Maquin's brow furrowed in confusion, "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"X here is very special you see – there's a lot you need to know…"