Chapter Thirty-Two: The Same
Axl rolled to the side just as the scythe came down, scattering metal shrapnel in every direction. Red wrenched the weapon free and carelessly flung it in the gunner’s direction—despite the flippant way his wrist flicked, the weapon homed in on Axl with terrifying precision. Axl dove to safety, and the scythe ricocheted off a column, speeding toward him again. With a yelp of disbelief, Axl did the only thing he could think of doing: he raised his guns and fired off a rapid barrage of shots. The force of the volley slowed the flying scythe enough for Axl to dodge again, and Red snarled when the weapon fell to the ground. He snapped his wrist, and it returned to his hand; Axl got back to his feet, both guns drawn and pointed at Red’s head but they were shaking. Axl was afraid, he’ll admit, but he also couldn’t really find the will to fire on the man who found him and cared for him when he needed someone.
So did X and Zero! The Hunters cared for you, and this guy isn’t the Red you know! Shoot him down!
Why did the body never want to listen to the brain? Axl thought it was stupid and cliché each time this happened in an action movie or video game, thinking it was some crazy human thing… but standing here, hesitating as Red laughed at him, he realized it was very much a plausible, real thing, even for Reploids. He was human enough to be affected.
But he was machine enough to turn it off.
Shutting down his emotion chip was risky for a reason, because it’s usually the first line of defense against the Maverick Virus. Although it also made infection worse, it was always the first indicator. If Red was carrying the Virus, and Axl caught it, his systems wouldn’t know until it was far too late. He might not go Maverick, but it’d incubate in him until it could pass on to someone who could. With the chip active, however, Axl knew he wouldn’t have the will to fight… so he had to take the chance. His face now emotionless and all feeling erased, the only thing on Axl’s mind was the last thought he had prior to shutting down the emotional chip: Terminate Red.
That was the second, and the biggest, risk of turning off the chip… Axl might never remember to turn it back on. Without it, he was just a war machine after all, and war machines didn’t need emotional chips to be functional. So long as he was functional, there was no error.
Red seemed to realize what was going on, and he grinned widely. He brought the scythe up in front of him, readying his stance as Axl did his own. They stared, madness to nothing, as the tense seconds ticked by with neither willing to make the first move. The only thing that moved was Axl’s hair in the light breeze, and Red gave in to his impatience within a minute. He charged, scythe spinning into a blur of motion.
Axl dropped low, rolling under the swipe meant to dissect his upper body from his waist. As he rolled under, his guns released a single shot each into Red’s unguarded side, forcing the larger Reploid to stagger back. Axl rolled another few feet before he was back up, not feeling any upset at the fact his shots did not cause any damage.
Red spun as he threw his scythe at Axl again, then launched himself when the gunner dodged to the side. Their bodies collided, the impact making Axl drop one of his guns so he had a free hand to grapple Red with as they rolled dangerously close to the edge. Red had both hands free, and when they ceased rolling he won the top position, giving him the upper advantage; Axl could only hold one hand back as Red’s other closed over his throat, intent on ripping his head off.
Axl brought up his gun and shot point blank into Red’s grinning mouth.
Red staggered off him with an unholy and unfamiliar howl of disbelief and, more importantly, pain. He vainly clapped his hands over his mouth, even as artificial blood and other essential fluids leaked from the hole smoking at the back of his head. Axl leapt to his feet, gun raised for one last, final shot to end it all. Objection was on the verge of completion…
Either Red turned off his sensory parts, or was just that incredible, but he rolled under Axl’s shot and past him. By the time the gunner whirled around a shot he didn’t fire rang out, and he fell back by the sheer force of it. Red tossed aside the once discarded gun, summoning his scythe to his hand as he approached the stunned Axl—emotional chipped off or not, Axl still felt pain, and his systems were still struggling to recover from being hurt by his own gun.
By the time the error message was overwritten, another popped up in its place as Red brought the scythe down; the whistling beam sliced through Axl’s collarbone, diagonally across to the middle of his body. Either by mere luck or fate, the momentum of Red’s strike was suddenly stopped before it could slice Axl’s central core in half by a strange cage-like thing that housed it. Red snarled, wrenched the weapon free and raised it again to strike—he’ll just have to slice the boy to pieces to kill him.
A charging sound drew Red’s attention, and he flipped backwards just in time to avoid a partially charged plasma shot. Snarl still on his face, he whirled around and came face to face with a stealth mech. Although not particularly powerful, and not exactly having great defense either, the stealth mech armor made even a civilian Reploid a decent combatant. The fact the owner could sneak up on him with a damn chargeable gun meant this person knew how to use it.
Red twirled the scythe in his hand, facing off with the new challenger. Axl was down for now, and no stealth mech was going to take him down. Red charged, and although stealth mechs were built for speed, it was no match for Red’s superior combat build. His fist connected with the head of the armor, and for a moment, time slowed as he heard the satisfying crunch of his fist meeting weaker metal.
The mech-user flew back into a column, bringing it down on top of it. When the beam didn’t move, signifying the end of the mech-user, Red scoffed and turned his attention back to Axl. To his surprise, the gunner was slowly getting up out of the pool of blood he had been lying in.
If he hadn’t ruined Red’s head so badly, the man would have made a snide remark. As it was, he smirked and sauntered over to deliver the final blow. Axl’s usefulness ended long ago, and regardless of orders, he had been itching to end the brat.
A screech of metal was Red’s only prior warning to an oncoming attack. He turned back to where the mech-user was, raising an arm as he saw it dash at him. Shock increased when the mech melted into a light-filled silhouette, shrinking into a much smaller and agile body. Red quickly dropped the instinctive defense and readied his scythe for a more punishing blow, yet the dimming body boosted its speed. Red didn’t see the fist slamming into his face, only felt it connect and twist his head hard enough his metal support for his neck snapped. His body vaulted over the edge of the tower and plummeted to the ground as Delia finished her transformation, landing neatly on her feet.
She rubbed her plated fist until that part, too, was enveloped in an odd light and reverted to normal. With a sigh, she snatched at the metal headband holding her hair back and threw it off, letting the emerald locks cascade prettily around her. As the vanity piece clattered on the ground, she turned to Axl, who had frozen from involuntary shut down.
Swinging her hips purposefully, Delia made her way to him. “Oh, Axl,” she purred as she approached. “What would you do without me?”
She put her hand on his forehead, and the two disappeared in twin beams of light.
~*~
“I’m going to dub it, the Nightmare,” Layer announced as Alia ran the simulation on the blue core. The shimmering shell of its previous form made the swordswoman shudder. “Come on. Anything with that many tentacles and worms itself inside machines, including other Reploids,” she shuddered again. That poor man they couldn’t rescue in the Laser Institute… “Is just pure nightmare fuel.”
Alia rolled her eyes. “You’re just fixated on the tentacles.”
“Look at it!” Layer rubbed her forehead with her left hand. Her right was still in the medical unit, and she looked forlornly at the awkward state of her right limb. “I can’t believe that bastard Sheldon took out my hand.”
The blond leaned back in her chair, smirking up at Layer. “You stuck your hand in his shell.”
“Still got his eye,” Layer smirked. “In all seriousness though, what the hell was up with the invisible platforms and weird ass darkness?”
Alia motioned to the tank holding the reconstructed ‘Nightmare’ being, as Layer called it. “Physical possession is just one trick this thing can do,” she said. “It can remotely hack systems, jam signals, scramble data and rewrite it.”
“Sounds like the Sigma Virus.”
“Except it’s not a Virus, or at least, doesn’t read as one, which is why it’s so dangerous. It’s easy to take out, as we demonstrated… but, the insanity it induces is completely irreversible, and it’s not related to Sigma at all.” Alia frowned at the monitor before her. Despite now being considered a Hunter, she still had her Navigator clearance to use the lab like this. Signas wanted her to rest, but… this was huge.
Layer leaned close, and Alia was starting to get used to having that huge bust near her face. The woman had no concept of personal space it seemed. “Not related at all?”
Alia shifted the chair so she could talk to Layer’s face, not her breasts. “I ran some comparisons. There is no data line that’s similar. This is a brand new thing… and I’d bet my license that Gate made it.”
Layer’s face scrunched up. “But he’d have made it from a piece of Sigma, right? That’s what Axl’s report said… so it’d be similar.”
“Unless he has something else, and they knew someone was spying, so they lied.”
Both women turned as Signas strolled into the room. Layer saluted him, but Alia was far too tired for such stupid customs. He joined them on Alia’s other side, and she was starting to feel humanly claustrophobic.
“Unlikely,” Alia muttered. “That was definitely a piece of Sigma. It may be something deeper than basic codes. I’ll—”
“Go rest while Palette gets back in the swing of things by doing this for you,” Signas rumbled. Alia rose to her feet to protest, but the Commander continued on, “That’s an order, Hunter.”
Alia’s mouth shut with a snap, but she nonetheless sighed and left the lab. When the doors shut, Layer glanced at Signas questioningly, “Palette is working now?”
“Yes, actually. If you weren’t cursing so loud, you’d have realized it was she navigating you, not I.”
“That was some freaky darkness and I couldn’t see, even with changing my optic mode,” Layer threw up her hands. “You weren’t there, sir!”
Signas smiled, stunning her. “No, but your vivid descriptions were enough to make me feel as if I were. I wanted to thank you, however, for helping Alia. I’d join her on these missions…”
Layer lost her attitude—she couldn’t keep it up when someone as uptight as Signas was smiling like that. “You’re needed here, sir. Don’t worry; I’ll take care of her.”
“I appreciate it, Layer.”
Layer left Signas at the laboratory, heading toward the medical unit. By now her hand should be finished, and hopefully ready to be replaced back on. It felt way too awkward to only have one hand, although it wasn’t as if she really needed to have both. Of course, that wasn’t an option, because even Layer would admit to being somewhat vain.
Entering the medical bay made her stop in shock, however. First thing she saw was Axl held together by some sort of crane-like contraption so his upper body didn’t slump and snap off from his lower. The first thing she heard, however, was X screaming at the top of his lungs. Given he was a Reploid, that was pretty loud.
“Who did this to Axl?!” X screamed at Delia again, who was trying to secure Axl to the crane. “You bitch, answer me!”
Delia glanced at Zero, who was sitting in his pod quietly and quite calmly. Did they fail to unmerge them? “Quit being a mother hen and help me get him ready for transport, damn!”
X screeched again, but Zero dutifully and still silently came over. Deftly he helped Delia secure Axl to the crane, and with it in place, Lifesaver transported him to the adjacent room. Axl truly did look ready to split apart, and when his body slightly lurched in the crane, X ceased his yelling and suddenly burst into tears.
“Tell me who did it,” He said between clenched teeth and choked sobs. Zero finally showed some sense of emotion by pulling X into his arms.
Delia sighed, looking over her shoulder at him in a condescending manner before facing the two. “I took care of it. But, if you must know, it was Red. I’d wager, he did it on Gate’s orders.”
She didn’t get a ‘thank you’ or even a look of gratitude. Instead, Delia took a careful step away at the pure vengeful look in X’s teary eyes. Zero muttered to him soothingly, but X didn’t seem at all interested in comfort.
Delia cleared her throat. “So, uh, what’re you two doing up?”
X was still thinking some violent thoughts, so Zero decided to speak up. He sounded awkward, as if not used to speaking on his own, but Delia took it as a good sign. “Lifesaver deemed us ‘good enough’ to start a recovery period. He blocked our connection ports. Said he told Signas we’re officially initiated in a recovery program he installed, so we can’t do anything… extensive yet.”
Delia felt a little pride at that. Lifesaver had to be referring to the program she designed to help them recover, and she liked any positive claim to fame. Who else could say they brought Zero and X back from the brink of insanity and death? Well, Lifesaver didn’t count, that was his job after all.
“If all goes well, you’ll be up to speed and back to normal in a few weeks.” She ignored Zero’s look at that. X apparently was still not listening. “What have we learned from this, boys?”
Zero’s look became a glare, and Delia still giggled out, “Too much mental screwing is bad.”
That snapped X out of his reverie and he glared at Delia. “Don’t be a bitch.”
“Don’t be a bastard.” She shot back. However, already bored of egging X on, she turned away again. “Now, excuse me, but I need to help fix Axl up. You two should report in.”
She sauntered down to the other room, leaving Zero and X in their embrace, X boiling with anger. He would have been much calmer if the first thing he saw wasn’t his son in near pieces, and having little information didn’t help. Separated from Zero or not, X’s parental instincts had kicked into overdrive, and he was perfectly in the right to be as angry as he was!
Layer cleared her throat and both men whirled around, separating from their hug. She waved at them with her handless arm just for fun, and they gaped.
“What happened to you?” X asked as Layer approached them, a smirk on her lips.
She was having too much fun with the handless maneuver thing. “Alia and I have been covering your hunting duties,” Layer replied. “We got a new Virus, Gate’s an asshat, and Signas is showing obvious signs of affection for our favorite Navi-gone-Hunter. That about brings you up to date.”
“A new Virus?” Zero looked rightfully alarmed. “What’s it do?”
“Everything the Sigma Virus does except register as a Virus. I coined it the Nightmare, visit the lab if you wanna see the creepy thing.” Again, Layer waved her handless arm, privately enjoying the looks it induced. “But I gotta get my hand back. It’s good to see you two functional again, though.”
She moved on past them, the men watching her disappear into a side room before heading to the laboratory.
~*~
This is very fascinating, Gate thought with a wild grin, his fingers flying over the screen and bringing up menus at amazing speeds for a mere scientist Reploid. Red is a dolt, he has no idea what he brought me…
He pressed his forefinger and thumb against the screen, moving them in a pinching motion to merge the two lines of data. Once overlapped, he tapped the differences, highlighting them then dragging them from the mainstream of data. Once the differences were moved aside, he used both hands to bring the gaps to a close, forming a single stream.
Gate leaned back, analyzing the new stream for several minutes before beginning to combine the differences he had extracted. While compatible, there were too many possible conflictions that could occur…
Gate pulled a line of typical Reploid data, breaking it at certain spaces and inserting the differences into four separate lines. Essentially created four separate Reploids, Gate once more leaned back and scrutinized the new lines along with the merged stream.
“Too many issues…” Gate growled. “But neither is my data pool complete. I may be missing a key component…”
Saving the four streams as separate files, and bringing the merged back to the middle of the screen, Gate once more began to dissect it. He highlighted a particular section, enlarged it, and then pulled another stream from a separate pool onto the work station.
Suddenly the data came to life and Gate jerked his hands from the console, even if he knew he was safe. The new stream attached itself to the highlighted section, wrapped itself around and… either was trying to choke it to death or defend it.
Eyes narrowing, Gate carefully set about dissecting the coiled data. He pulled it apart, bit by bit, until a particular line glared at him.
IF> 0+P.X=LV
THEN> Z_EXC.EXE
ELSE>
<blank>
“A blank else?” Gate was astounded. No Reploid could run off a blank statement! He dissected further, looking for what, exactly, triggered the IF statement to begin with. Or, what these symbols actually meant.
There was no note bank in the compiling screen, no hint to what it all meant. Not even a definition section, and no code could work without definitions. Gate scowled—it must be part of the missing pieces. But then, how could the data react without a source?
“You’re amazing,” Gate murmured as his fingers rapidly flew over the screen. “Just amazing.”
“Isn’t he?”
Gate didn’t bother to glance over, knowing Isoc was there. “I can see your avid interest,” Gate said. “But don’t forget, we have a deal to fulfill.”
“Of course,” Isoc grunted.
“How is High Max?”
“Ninety-nine percent complete. By the end of the day, he’ll be deployable.” Isoc took his place at another terminal, booting the system up.
Gate muttered some sort of affirmation before he began to whisper to himself, once more working on the data he uncovered. “Incredible. How can… aha, I see, so that’s the IF trigger, but what about it… oh… oh, my…”
Isoc knew what that meant, and he eagerly looked at Gate. “What is it, sir?”
Several seconds of silence ticked by, but Isoc knew better than to ask more than once. Gate was always a hair trigger from having a freak out session and ripping a subordinate apart. He had no idea what caused such in the usually calm scientist, but after watching Gate destroy a fair share of fellows, Isoc learned quickly what not to do.
Finally Gate turned to him, smiling in such a wicked way Isoc backed away a bit. “Just the find of the century, my friend,” Gate cackled. “Call Red! I think he and his should know of this…”
“There is no need for that, my friend.”
The two scientists turned in their seats, watching as Red swaggered into the room, followed by another figure.
Red was grinning triumphantly. “Your deal is fulfilled, Mr. Gate. I thank you so very much. And in return, we offer our services so that our end of the deal can be fulfilled.”
~*~
It was dark again, in such a way her night vision was failing her. However, now armed with the knowledge that it was the Nightmare, Alia and Layer were much more prepared than before when it happened at the Laser Institute. What caught her by surprise, however, was the acid rain.
“Are you frickin’ serious?” Layer practically squawked. Just seconds in the rain and both women were already showing signs of damage. “Shit, shit, shit…”
Alia dashed ahead, trying to find some sort of shelter as Signas attempted to scan their immediate area. She tripped over a bit of raised floor, damn the dark, and fell right onto what felt like a platform. She cried out, covering her eyes as light temporarily flashed and blinded her, but suddenly the pain of the acid raid faded. Cautiously Alia peeked over her arm, seeing she was encased in a shimmering shield that not only repelled the rain, but fixed the damage.
Layer jumped into the force field with her, and although it was cramped, they managed to fit all of their limbs inside. “Nice find,” Layer commented after she, too, was repaired. “But…”
// Alia, I got something, // Signas’ voice drowned out the rest of what Layer was saying, and Alia instinctively looked away to indicate she wasn’t listening to her battle partner. // There should be a weather generator near you. It’s gone berserk from the Nightmare, and its control cores for its security field have been scattered. You’ll have to find the cores, destroy them, then destroy the generator. //
Alia sighed. / That’s great, but I can’t see a damn thing. /
// I’ll send you a map of the core locations, but you’ll have to figure out how to get to them. Once I send you a file, the channel will jam til we re-establish it. //
/ All right, send when you’re ready. /
// Understood. You two be careful. //
The file was sent, and as Signas predicted, the channel was found and attacked by jamming waves. She disconnected before she was affected, and shared the map with Layer after explaining what needed to be done. They both marked the safe area on their map files, and resolved to split up and destroy the cores.
On a shared count of three, the girls dashed in different directions out of the safe field. Once they both left it, it deactivated, leaving them in the utter dark again. A sort of panic seized Alia, making her temporarily freeze, but as the pain of acid rain pelting at her registered she managed to shake off the fear and head for the nearest core in her chosen direction.
She was the slower of the two, as by the time she destroyed the last one and went for the generator, the rain stopped and the area temporarily lit up. Layer was already heading for the safe area when Alia finally caught up, and after letting it repair them, the women continued on.
Almost immediately of leaving that sector of the Temple, the rain began and another veil of darkness descended. Thankfully, and bless his cybernetic heart for it, Signas was thoughtful enough to scan the entire Inami Temple and locate all the generators and cores.
The trek through the place was filled with acid rain, cramming into safe areas, killing cores and generators and dodging Nightmare creatures. Alia did not like the sensation of damage, repair, damage, and repair repeated over and over. It was unsettling as it was convenient, but also more than just coincidence. Gate somehow made artificial acid rain without tipping radars… and still had safety areas installed. Something had to give, and maybe Rainy Turtloid had the answer.
She hoped so. Out of all of Gate’s creations, she had gotten along with Rainy the best. He was massive, powerful and intimidating, but as the stereotype goes, a complete sweetheart. Even after the alterations she imposed on him, Rainy was one of the few of Gate’s Reploids that still lived for a while before ‘mysteriously’ being destroyed… or so it was said.
“Think this guy’ll actually help us?” Layer asked when it seemed at last they made it to the end.
“I hope so,” Alia sighed, “I mean, I did disfigure him and lead to him being stigmatized even when he, himself, never did wrong.”
“Hmm, yeah, tough break.”
Layer’s usual nonchalance grated Alia’s nerves, but she kept her comments to herself. Yammark, Shield Sheldon… none of them were sane, all sprouting bogus stories to either lure her into false security so she either could be abducted or destroyed. Would Rainy really be any different?
Alia shoved through the doors, Layer close behind. The second set of doors Alia went through with a vengeance, wanting to make an impressionable entrance on Rainy—it probably worked, seeing as she never shrieked so loudly in her life when there was suddenly no floor on the other side of the door. She landed pretty hard on her ass, but thanks to her, Layer came in all grace and style.
Alia scowled, rising to her feet just as a swooshing sort of noise filled the vast chamber. Spinning as he descended, Rainy Turtloid fell from a hole in the roof, landing on his feet as well—Alia wondered if she just sucked at much at landing—with his massive shell toward them. She knew well his incredible defense, and knew also the seemingly just for decoration jewels were the key to getting through that defense. Provided Gate didn’t tinker with him.
“Alia.” Rainy Turtloid sounded gruff as he looked over his shoulder. “Gate said you’d eventually come looking for me.”
At this, her heart dropped. Alia had secretly hoped that maybe Rainy wasn’t altered by Gate or really in contact with him, but at the same time, she should have known better. Rainy’s loyalty to Gate was the stuff of legends… and she knew this encounter would end badly.
“Please…” she implored. “Just… tell me what he’s doing. Tell me how to get to the lower levels of the lab. Just tell me, I’ll leave you in peace.”
Layer glared at her, but Alia knew she could restrain the swordswoman if Rainy complied. The massive turtle-like Reploid sat down, back still to them, and he looked straight ahead of himself. Alia hoped this relaxed demeanor was a good sign.
“An exchange is in order, I think,” he said. “Tell me why you did this to me, and if I’m satisfied, I’ll tell you what I know.”
Alia thought she’d be reserved in her explanation, but she found herself not needing another prod. She spilled the entire story, every damning detail, to Rainy Turtloid. Why the others wanted to ruin Gate and his creations, why Alia was associated… Alia didn’t even bother trying to fluff her story with excuses or her feelings of guilt and shame. She told it as it was, and when she was finished, she had to wait agonizing minutes of silence for Rainy to decide if it was good enough.
Finally he answered, “Although I’ll never forgive you, Alia, I can’t say my disfigurement had been all without positives. With this shell and the defense with it, I could do what smaller, more fragile Reploids couldn’t. I hoped if I kept myself in seclusion long enough, society would forget about me and I could restart. Maybe water purification; I can survive pretty highly polluted places.”
“I’ll help you,” Alia blurted. “I’ll vouch for you; get you any job you want.”
“You’ll try, which I suppose is supposed to be heart-warming.” Rainy Turtloid kept looking at the wall ahead of him, as if something in it had his attention. “Gate’s creating a new Virus, meant to spread his control much like Sigma’s. However, Sigma’s Virus is too in-tuned to himself, so Gate reworded some of the coding. As you can see, it’s incredible, but Gate has no direct control over it.”
“So the man wants to play god.” Layer summarized.
“I suppose. He wants Zero and X’s data, and supposedly he got some, which is why this Virus is so much more potent than Sigma’s. That’s my theory, I don’t know the details,” Rainy shrugged, shell shifting and making the area rumble. “He’s got two big projects going on, Alia. What they are, I can’t tell you, cause I don’t know. I never been to his inner sanctum, so I won’t be much help there, either. Hell, none of us former Gate Numbers will know, he only lets Isoc and Red in.”
This was too easy, something had to give. “Rainy…” Alia said haltingly. She thought of Yammark, of Sheldon. There was always something. “… You won’t get that job you want, will you?”
Rainy Turtloid grunted. “My insides have been melting since I first refused the order to detain or slay you. Soon I’ll just be a giant husk. This isn’t the Gate I was loyal to, which is why I’ll betray him now. He no longer thinks highly of us, his ‘children,’ and I’ve become nothing but a disposable to him.”
“Rainy…”
“This Temple holds a huge vat of Nightmare,” Rainy said, grunting as he forced himself to stand. “Something of my size exploding would vaporize it. Sorry for the destruction of a cultural area, though.”
Alia stepped forward, but Layer grabbed her arm. “Rainy!” Alia protested. “Don’t! I can…”
“You’ve done enough for me and mine. If you want to do something good, do something about Gate.”
There was a sudden pop sound filling the room and all Alia heard was Layer’s warning cry before they were suddenly gone. The last thing she saw was Rainy Turtloid ramming himself into the wall he had been so fascinated with, and a massive blue orb had swallowed him whole.
~*~
Gate swore, throwing his hands up into the air in frustration. “Rainy, you damn piece of…” he whirled around, eyes blazing. “That’s it. Deploy High Max—I want Alia dead.”
Red tilted his head as Isoc scurried out of the laboratory, and when the doors closed, the man pushed off the wall he was leaning against. “Attacking HQ head on, eh?”
“Best time to do it,” Gate snapped. “Zero and X are out of commission, you claim Axl is also out of the picture…” suddenly the scientist stopped, eyes narrowing. “Speaking of, how’re you alive?”
“The Professor is an amazing man,” Red said smoothly. “He got me back up to speed. But, instead of wasting resources attacking headquarters, why don’t you merely lure your little birdie here?”
Gate frowned, but his anger was diffusing. “Let her enter the inner sanctum?”
“Of course. Who knows what information she has, and if you play your cards right, you could make very good use of her…” Red smirked. “Of course, that’s if you can stomach the idea of killing the woman you loved and enslaving her. Revenge is such a petty reason to lose your morals.”
“I have no morals,” Gate muttered, then pressed the intercom on his console. “Don’t send High Max out, Isoc, but activate him. Get him ready.”
Red snickered and left Gate to his own devices as the scientist placed a transmission to the Maverick Hunters. As the tall Reploid exited, someone was waiting for him beyond the double doors.
“I take it he’s settled down?” the Professor asked.
Red shrugged. “Yeah, he’s fine. No undue risks.” He peered at the figure that so desired to stay shadowed. “You sure about this? We went through all this trouble…”
“As X would say…” the Professor cackled, and even Red thought he sounded just a little too insane, “‘Have faith.’”
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