#stagesetting

[bleedingedgehunter]

He was going to be meeting with some members of the new team today. Repliforce, a newly created and almost active counterpart to the Hunters.

Part of him still wondered what difference it would have made if he’d acted differently the last time he’d been in this position. He’d sent his second in command to visit Dopple Town, and Blast Hornet had ended up taken down in the ensuing crisis. Would Zero have been able to prevent anything if he’d gone instead? Would he have been turned? Would it have been better to just not send anyone?

Still, he was determined to be there this time. It would be different: Repliforce was purpose built to help handle mavericks by force, instead of being based on some researcher’s lies and dreams.

He ran over the briefing materials on the ride over. It was a large military organization, with a few key central command units leading loosely specialized branches. Similar to the squadron system the Hunters had used, but scaled up.

The transport stopped. Time to make his introductions.

[rp-repliforce]

Stagesetting...?

((This is only a concept for a scene, but in my X4 storyline, Sigma actually approaches General in a different way than he does in canon (mostly because I couldn’t figure out how to get him to do it without immediately setting off a bunch of alarm bells). When Sigma found out about General after his revival, he mistakenly thought that Repliforce was an underlying maverick organization, and wanted to recruit - then assimilate them - into his ranks. He very carefully tested General by masquerading as a weapon designer, and pretended to try to pitch a fake weapon to him. General was pretty interested in his weapon, and was considering sealing the deal.

During a bit of an off-topic discussion, Sigma put out some feelers to see how receptive General would be to the maverick ideology (the reason why I’ve never written this scene is because I’m not really sure how he would accomplish that without being too conspicuous). To Sigma’s surprise, General became both offended and suspicious. He eventually told him to leave, and right before the door closed in his face, he adds: “...And Mr.[alias]? The deal is off.”

Now, my (hidden) Sigma muse has this certain attitude of “Join us or die.” And after being refused in such a way, he now knew how he was going to deal with Repliforce from now on...))

[bleedingedgehunter]

Zero doesn’t really have much experience with games or competitive recreational activity,

Well, if you don’t count friendly competition in the sparring room or training exercises.

But as far as sport or games, he doesn’t have much actual experience. He still has preferences, even if he hasn’t fully explored them as yet. A physical aspect of some sort helps: while able to think strategically, a purely mental or mind/luck based game is going to lose his interest.

So something like Golf would at least hold his attention more than say, poker. Or maybe tennis would work. Badminton. Croquet. Hockey. Tactical thinking combined with physical prowess.

[bleedingedgehunter]

By this point Zero has seen a number of his former allies turned by the corrupting influence of Sigma, the virus, or their own inbuilt flaws.

Regrettable, but in the circumstances there was nothing else that could be done but to take them down. If anything, those incidents serve as additional motivation, serving as a reminder that if the Maverick threat isn’t stopped for good this will keep happening.

While he allows himself regret that it comes to such measures, Zero’s conviction is strong and he knows that he’s doing the right thing.

[bleedingedgehunter]

Datalog Fragment

My esteemed and overly cautious fool of a colleague Light has a new project.̧̧̕.̀͡-̷̡́̕-̡-̨̡-͠͝͏̧-̷̡-̨̀͠-̕͟͢͜-̢̡-̢͝-̵̀͝͝-̛͏̸͢͢-̷̨̛-҉͢͡͝-҉̧̛́-̵̨̢̡-́̀͠͝…͢-̡́͢͟-̢̕͢͟-̴͜͠͝͡   While I am forced to admit there is some logic to his approach́̕͜͢-̕͜͝-͟҉̡̧-̛-͏̵̡-͏̴͞͞-̡͢-̡̀̕͞-͞͏-̴̨͝-̶̧̕͟-̶̸́́͘-̨͟-̷̨͘͠-̛̕͞-̨͘͢͝-̶̡-̡̧͘͘͡-̶̧̡͡-̴̀-͢-́͘͢-͘͏̶-̡͜-̴̡̕̕͢-͏́͝͞-̧͡-̶́҉̨̛   new hope for the future. Still he-̢̀-̵̛͜-̀͢͢͝-̢͘͜͠-̴  robots as a tool̛ -̴̶̡͢͝-̵̡͝-̴͘҉-͜-̶̢̨̛-̵͠͞-̵͜ humanity.҉͜͝-̷̛̀͟͞-͏̕̕-̷͏̕͜-̴͢͞͏̵-̕͜-̸͡-̢̧̡̕͟-̸̧́҉-̴̸̢̀͠-҉̸̨͝͏-͏̴̢-҉̕-̡̡͘͠-̶̷̀͘͞-̷̸͘͘͞-́̀̕͜-̸̸̧̛͠

I can do better. -̷̛͜͠͡-͘͡-̧́͜͞-͡͏̛͘-̨̀͟,̸̧͞ Zero, will be able to be better than this new Mega Man.͏̢́-̢̡-̵̶̡̢̡-̧̀́͢͡-͜-̨̀͘͡ ͠͏͏d̶̷̨͝e̵҉s͏̡͢t̶̨̢͟r̀͞͠͡o̸̸͢͠y̴̵̧̛̛ ̢͢͡ Mega Man.

-̵̀-̸̢҉-̢́͜-̴̢̡́-̶͝ like adrenaline in a human body, it will serve as a performance enhancement in times of danger. -̛-̴̛-̸̡͜͞-̕͟-̶̨̧̡-̧̛̀͟͜-̷̀͜-̴̴-̛́-̴̛͢-̨͜͡-̴̡͡-̡̕͠-̀͘͜-̸͟͡͡͏backup systems and weapon functions-҉̧͜-͏́͝͡͡-̵̨̛-̧̡͠-̵͜-́-̴̛͟͞-̀́͟͟-̶̷͜-͏̢-҉-̨̕͠-̛͠-͞-̧̀͠-̸̶͜-̨-̸̵̀̕-́͘-̢́̀͝͞-̀̕-͏̸́́-̷̴̵̛-̸̵ small scale repairs-̀͜-̧̨́̕-̴̛͢͡-̵̡̛̀-̸̵̨͝-̕͘̕͞-͏̶͞-̴̸̢̡̧-̶̢͘͏̨

-҉́-̸̴̀͜͞-̷̶̷͜͡-̡͘͞-̴̕͝-̵̷̢͘͘-̸̨̕͢ no compatible parts, obviously, but -̴̸́-҉̸-͢-̵̨̕-̴̛͢͟͞-͢͠-̸̸̢͡-̶̶͘͝-̸-̴̧ based on-̶̷̛͡-̸̀̕͏-̶҉-̶̛̀͢͠-̛-͢҉-̨҉͏-͏̧̛͘͟ future capabilities and technologies. Forward planning-̕͜҉-̵̀͠-̴̵̧͟-̀͡͏́͜-̶̛͘͘-̛͘͜͠-͏͏̴̛ Instead of putting so much on a single -̨̕-̶̵̡-̵̵̸̀-̵̨͞҉-̧̛͝-̷̶̡-̸̶́͟-͝͠a new wave of advanced-҉̵͜-͟͜͞͞-̸̡-̷̡͘-̛͝-̴̶̷̢-́͢-̶̡̢̧͜-̶́́̕͘new heights.

[bleedingedgehunter]

There really hadn’t been much that Zero felt like he needed to buy, so by and large whatever pay he’s received just sat there, accumulating over time. He’s not super filthy rich or anything, but he’s got more spending power than his bare bones lifestyle needs.

So if he were to, say, try and find tickets to an interesting performance of some sort....he could probably spare the expense.

[bleedingedgehunter]

((What's Zero's outlook on... The future of reploidkind?))

In the true long grand scheme of things, Zero isn’t really sure about that.

There’s a certain amount of “Always attack the problem that life places right in front of your face” in Zero’s approach. Right now, that problem is the ever-changing Maverick threat.

That has to be eliminated, as reploidkind has to bear the distrust that arises from every new incident.

Long term thoughts mostly center around a certainty that X will develop into a strong enough hunter that he’ll be able to tip the scales. Until that point Zero will keep fighting and pulling his weight.

It is hard for Zero to really picture what things would be like after that point, as his conscious memory doesn’t contain anything before being in Maverick Hunter HQ after being ‘recovered’. The only time he wasn’t actively fighting or dying for that war was the brief period being observed while they weighed if he’d be worth the risk to field.

That isn’t to say that he despairs at the thought, or that he thinks it is impossible. Far from it: he feels that it is something that can be achieved, a point where peace and trust are restored. While unable to really picture it, he looks forward to the idea and will continue to work alongside those that he feels can picture it more clearly and make more effective progress on that front.

[bleedingedgehunter]

--The more I think about it, the more errors I can see in Light’s reasoning. He’s working on a whole new generation of technology, with the potential to be a lasting impact on the future.....and even if his teaching approach doesn’t backfire and cause cognitive dissonance it, AT BEST, is still going to hold the shaped mind back to keep it in line with our existing systems. Existing rules. All this effort to basically just take his current Mega Man and carbon copy him with a bigger gun.

That isn’t giving the future a gift, that’s stagnation.--