Mega Man Fan Fiction ❯ Mega Man X: The New Mavericks - Arc 1: Outbreak ❯ Debriefing ( Chapter 6 )

Dr. Kiloh pushed his chair away from his desk as he regarded the face staring from the monitor at his elbow. “I must admit, Jona, you've outdone yourself this time,” he said. “This information you've uncovered is both helpful and disturbing.” He had spent the past several hours at his desk, poring over the data transmitted by Dr. Dien as the two scientists discussed its ramifications.

 

Dien nodded. “Indeed. Imagine how horrific this virus will wind up being if it's permitted to keep spreading the way it has been,” he replied. “It could wipe out the human population as we know it.”

 

“A most terrifying thought, indeed, Jona. Still, I wonder if the Hunters will be willing to help us locate the source of this `Variant' virus.” Kiloh continued. “After all, it is a virus that affects humans, not Reploids. They might not see a reason to become involved.”

 

Dien cocked an eyebrow, giving Kiloh the distinct impression he had been expecting a concern such as that. “While it is true that the virus does not directly affect Reploids, there are other concerns tied to it that do,” he explained. “My studies of the aftereffects of the virus indicate that one serious potential complication is an irreversible, irrational hatred of all Reploids; which is coupled with a desire to destroy them. If an individual so afflicted were to reach a high level of power…”

 

“The consequences could be disastrous.” Kiloh finished glumly.

 

“Precisely.”

 

Kiloh sat back in his chair, his head reeling. The data Dien had sent him seemed to point toward one source of the virus, an abandoned military installation along the continent's eastern coast. It would be a risky venture; based on communication chatter that Dien had been monitoring, there appeared to be a large contingent of soldiers stationed there. The irony that a base that had lain unused for nearly three decades suddenly had soldiers without anyone's knowledge was not lost on Kiloh.

 

After several silent moments, Kiloh stood, removing his glasses and wiping them on his coat. He had made up his mind; he would debrief the Hunters and ask for their aid. “You're right, Jona,” he said. “I'll have Dax take them to the debriefing room. There, I'll fill them in on the details of what's happening.”

 

“Fine, fine. Will she be joining them?”

 

Kiloh shook his head. “Not if I can help it, she won't,” he replied. “She's enough of a loose cannon the way it is. The last thing I need to do is further encourage that trait. Besides, she likely has enough to do here at the lab that she couldn't even break away.” He replaced his glasses on the bridge of his nose. “With any luck, she won't even find out what this is all about.”

 

A moment passed before Dien nodded his affirmation. “Very well. I'll be in touch.” The monitor clicked off, its sound barely audible over the hum of lab machinery.

 

Standing alone in the room, Kiloh's gaze turned thoughtful. All his talk about Trysta…it was all wishful thinking, he knew. If he knew her as well as he thought, he knew she would knock down the door to the debriefing room as soon as she found out she was left out of the loop, spewing fire and demanding to be included. Her not finding out might be a foolish hope, but at least it was still something worth hoping for.

 

If I can keep her from ending up the way her mother did…

 

 

“So, do either of you know why we're being summoned by the Doctor?” X's tone was calm, yet a hint of anxiety could be heard beneath it. The three Hunters walked behind Dax as he escorted them to another of the many rooms within the lab's compound. No details had been given by the other reploid when he appeared at the doors to their quarters; he gave only the instruction to follow him to the room where Dr. Kiloh would be meeting with them.

 

Axl shrugged. “Not a clue, X,” he answered. “But I'm sure Dax knows.” Quickening his step, he walked beside the other, larger reploid. “So tell me, Dax. Do you know why the good Doctor is asking us to meet with him?” he asked.

 

Dax nodded slightly. “I do.” he replied.

 

“Then why?”

 

“That I can't say.”

 

“Why not?” Now it was Axl's turn to feel slightly confused. Dax knew what was going on, but wasn't revealing anything. Why?

 

“Sorry, Doctor's orders,” Dax's tone was gentle and without mockery. “Apparently, he has a lot of information to share with you, and prefers telling you everything himself.”

 

Zero nodded. “About what I figured,” he remarked. “My only question is, why all the secrecy?”

 

Arriving at their destination, Dax stopped before an impressive pair of doors, his fingers tapping the keys on the nearby keypad. “Doctor Kiloh has his reasons.” He said absently as he finished entering the code. “You'll see once he begins to explain everything to you.”

 

Dax paused as the three Hunters entered the room ahead of him, his keen hearing picking up a faint mechanical sound that hadn't been there before. He frowned, his eyes scanning the hallway in search of its source. Failing to find it there, he stepped into the room, his frown deepening as he noticed the movements of the security cam high in one corner of the large room.

 

Trysta…

 

“Come now, Dax.” Kiloh's cheerful voice broke his train of thought, erasing the frown from his lips. “Don't just stand there and scowl. Come in and sit down. After all, there's much to do and little time to prepare.”

 

 

 

“Trysta, I really don't think this is a good idea.” Rei's quiet tone held an edge of worry as she looked over her friend's shoulder. The small screen in front of them was showing the unfolding events in the upstairs conference room. “I don't think Dr. Kiloh will be too pleased that we're eavesdropping on their meeting.”

 

Trysta's eyes never left the screen in front of her, their narrowed blue depths observing everything that moved on it. “Why not?” she asked flatly. “After all, we should be involved with what's going on, shouldn't we?”

 

“Well, we would be involved if we were invited to be a part of it.” Nami's voice held an edge to it that normally wasn't present. “You do remember what it means to be invited as opposed to not, don't you, Trys? I'll give you a hint; one thing it doesn't involve is eavesdropping through the security system.”

 

Stifling a growl, Trysta spun her chair to face the other two Reploids. “Yes, I realize what it means to be invited, Nami.” she echoed snidely, pushing red bangs out of her eyes. “But I still say, for all his brilliance, Dr. Kiloh is making a serious mistake by excluding us.”

 

“But he's just taking our safety into consideration, Trysta.” Rei attempted to placate her, only to be answered by a snort from her human friend. “I mean it. He just wants to make sure we're safe, while allowing capable fighters to handle the situation.”

 

Trysta's clenched fist hit the arm of her chair with a muffled bang. “And you're saying I'm not a capable fighter?” she asked icily, her voice rising slightly in volume and irritation. “You're saying I couldn't hold my own as well as any of them?”

 

“Of course she isn't!” Nami stepped between the two of them, her eyes narrowed to mirror Trysta's. Behind her, she could hear Rei fighting back tears. That made her even angrier, that Trysta would attack someone who was only concerned for her welfare. “You know damn well that Rei would never insinuate anything like that about you, Trys! She's just trying to explain why Dr. Kiloh would want to keep you out of harm's way. He…”

 

“He's supposed to be like a father to me.” Trysta turned back to the monitor for a minute, then turned back to face Nami. “That's what you were going to say, isn't it?” Seeing Nami's curt nod, Trysta nodded herself. “He's had a hell of a way to show it over all these years. Hell, I'm amazed he even remembered I existed as I grew up; he was always far more interested in his research than in trying to be any sort of father to me.”

 

“Trysta, you aren't being fair to him and you know it.” Nami retorted. “You know perfectly well that you're the only experience he's ever had with children. He might not be a perfect guardian, but you can't totally fault him for trying.”

 

“I know.” Trysta started to turn back to the monitor again, but thought better of it and remained facing the other two. “But don't you see? I have to be a part of this!” She stood up, starting to pace the small open space in the security room. “Last time I checked, I'm human. I might have some technological means to improve my speed and abilities, but I'm still one hundred percent human. I'm as human as those poor people who are forced to fight this virus.”

 

Rei and Nami watched mutely as she sat on the edge of the seat. “If…if I don't help with this mission, how would I ever live with myself?” she asked. “A human who allowed others to suffer in order to maintain her own sense of security. If they fail…” she paused, searching for the correct words. “If they fail, I need to be there, to continue the fight they started.”

 

“Those are all great and wonderful words, Trysta,” Nami interjected calmly. “but I get the impression you want to be involved because you don't want to lose face with the Hunters by being left out. Especially with Zero.”

 

“You want honesty? Fine, I'll admit it. You're right on that point as well,” Trysta stood again, facing the monitor. “I'd slit my throat and allow myself to bleed to death before I let them take a mission that should be mine; doubly so that girly-looking Zero. I refuse to be subject to anyone's ridicule over my lacking a role in this mission.”

 

The two Reploids shared a look behind their friend's back. After a few moments of silence, Nami rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “It's impossible to talk you out of this, isn't it, Trys?” she asked. “No matter what we say, you'll always have some sort of justification for doing things your way.”

 

“That's the idea, yes.”

 

Nami sighed, followed shortly afterwards by a similar sound from Rei. “Fine, fine. I don't like it, but count us in,” she replied. “Question is, how do we get ourselves involved?”

 

Trysta's smile could be heard in her voice. “With a bit of patience, a dose of observation, and a spot or two of hacking and encryption,” she answered cryptically. “From there, we watch the fun.”

 

“If there's one word that least describes this whole ordeal, `fun' would be it,” Nami retorted. “But I did agree to help.”

 

 

Seeing that all four of his intended audience were present, Kiloh rose from his seat at the head of the conference table. “I want to thank you for coming so quickly,” he said, wiping his glasses on the edge of his lab coat before placing them in its pocket. “There are many things I need to show you, and very limited time in which to cover them all.”

 

As he prepared to start the debriefing, he noted the reactions of the three Hunters. X and Axl paid rapt attention to everything that was said, their expressions revealing their curiosity of why they had been summoned. Zero sat stoically with his arms folded, though Kiloh knew almost instinctively that the blond Reploid would not allow any details to bypass him.

 

Clearing his throat, Kiloh pressed a button on the desk near his seat. “Since time is of the essence, let us begin,” he stated. When the lights were completely dimmed, a projector housed in the center of the large conference table activated. As it initialized, it produced a blurry image, which rapidly refocused into the schematic of a large building.

 

“Hunters, this is the Zankux military installation,” he began. “It was built shortly before the end of the Maverick Wars and was designed as a facility for military research. Reploid, robotic, and cybernetic designs were all closely studied and tested in this facility, with the successful ones being produced for use by Earth's military. In addition, the base was one of several outposts designed to guard against any future Maverick attacks.”

 

Even in the eerily dim light cast by the projector, Kiloh could still observe the three Hunters. They were all watching the projected image with rapt attention, though he noted with a touch of bemusement that Zero's arms remained firmly anchored across his chest. “Several years after the Wars ended, the base's operations shifted from research to personnel training, and it remained in operation as a training facility until it was formally decommissioned and closed down approximately thirty years ago.”

 

“So, what does an old, abandoned base have to do with why you woke us up, Doc?” Axl chimed in, his tone curious. “What are you asking us to do?”

 

“Excellent questions, Axl, both of which I will answer now.” Pressing another button on the console near his seat, Kiloh brought up a new image, this one of a map. “This data was provided to me by my colleague, Dr. Dien. It is a map that details outbreaks of the `Human/Maverick Variant Virus'.

 

“What is this virus, Dr. Kiloh?” X asked.

 

“The short answer, X, is we just don't know. The virus is striking the human population and beginning to spread rapidly. We call it the `Human/Maverick Variant' because its symptoms bear a striking resemblance to those of the Maverick virus that strikes Reploids; the difference being a human with this virus is far more dangerous than a Maverick Reploid.”

 

Pressing the same button, several dot clusters of varying sizes appeared on the map. “These dots represent confirmed cases of the Variant virus in humans.” Kiloh continued. “As you all can see, the epicenter of the current outbreak is Zankux, the city for which the base was named. This hardly seems a coincidence. Adding to the suspicious evidence, Dr. Dien has informed me that there has been encrypted radio transmissions coming from and going to the base. While we have been unable to decrypt those transmissions, it is odd that they began at around the same time the outbreak was first noted.”

 

“Could it simply be a terrorist or mercenary group using the base as its center of operations?” Dax interjected.

 

“Unlikely, Dax. No known terrorist or mercenary groups have encryption technology this sophisticated,” Kiloh replied. “In fact, the encryption we're seeing is even higher than that used by Cain Labs itself. No, this is something different, and more sinister, I fear.”

 

“So what's our mission?” Zero asked.

 

“Your mission will be to infiltrate the base and gather whatever data and intelligence you can find. Unfortunately, we still have limited information on the virus, and none on who is behind it. Get whatever information you can and bring it back here so it can be analyzed.”

 

“And what if there are enemies?” X asked in turn.

 

“You must try to be as secretive as possible with this mission. Whoever is behind this virus will likely be looking out for spies and other outside sabotage. Try to avoid directly engaging any enemies you encounter, unless you are left with no other options. Also, be warned that there were a number of still-experimental designs left behind when the base was sealed off. If any hostile individuals have commandeered the base, they have also likely found ways to reactivate those designs and use them for their own purposes. You must exercise extreme caution while on this mission…”

 

“Wait, if the base was sealed, how could anyone get in?” Axl interrupted.

 

“That is what we're hoping you'll find out. Now, are there further questions?” Kiloh's focus was diverted as the lights began to come up of their own accord. He frowned, for no one in the room had touched any of the control buttons to raise the lights. He was opening his mouth to ask Dax to check the room's lighting wiring when the image displayed by the projector abruptly disappeared, the projector powering down with a loud hum.

 

“What the hell…?” Dax stood quickly, one of his guns appearing in his hand as he scanned the room. The Hunters had stood as well, all looking around the room in confusion over what was occurring. “Doctor, what is going on?”

 

“I have no idea…” Kiloh began, but was cut off by the voice emanating from the speakers.

 

“I have a question, Dr. Kiloh.” The all-too-familiar female voice intoned over the speakers. Kiloh stifled a groan, he knew something like this would happen. “When were you planning to inform me of this mission?”