The Suite Life X

9 - Aftermath

With the mentors at pupils back at Hunter Base, the former were reporting the results of their missions. X was currently briefing everyone on himself and Cody's.

"The Maverick outbreaks at Central Highway have been successfully quelled, though Cody has taken damage. Requesting permission to send him to the Repair Bay."

"Granted. In fact," Signas glanced at Axl, who wasn't exactly in the best shape of his life after his own mission. "lead him over there, that is, if you can get there yourself, Axl."

"Fine," he replied.

X continued. "While there, we encountered a giant red scorpion-like mechaniloid."

Zero's figurative ears perked up at that statement. That sounded like something he remembered fighting before. He looked towards the prototype New Generation Reploid, who, despite his condition, was figeting around like a bored child.

Professional as always, Axl...

After getting through with X, it was time for the blonde swordsman's report.

Zero wasn't one to waste words on these reports. "Aside from a few Mavericks here and there, nothing of note was found..."

"Are you—"

He glared at his pupil to silence him. "...that is, until we met an old 'friend'. Vile."

The futuristic Blue Bomber's eyes widened at this. "That lunatic's been brought back again? How?!"

"Beats me. He seemed more interested in playing with us rather than killing us. That, and he seemed to be particularly interested in Zack for some reason..."

The one in question was busy amidst a sea of emotions. He thought back to everything he'd experienced since waking up here. While he was grateful to at least have his brother and friends to share this mess with, that didn't really outweigh the negative emotions he was swimming. To name a few, he was still horrified at the idea that some "Maverick" could destroy a whole floating city full of people just because he wanted a fight with X. Though Zero had said the threat had been dealt with, that didn't lessen the anger he felt deep down inside. And Vile...he shuddered just thinking about that nutcase.

Thankfully, he managed to keep a firm poker face, externally giving none of this internal turmoil away.

Soon it was Axl's turn to give his report. The sharpshooter quickly composed himself and started talking. "We pretty much only found this thing at a clearing at the end of the Site. Giant hunk of junk with some weird eye thing controlling it..."

"Another familiar face..." X mumbled under his breath, recalling the incident where he fought that thing very well. Just what was going on here?

Alia verbalized these thoughts. "Now, I know we've dealt with these enemies before. The question is, why would they resurface, and why is Vile, of all Mavericks, up and running loose?"

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we're going to find out." X shared a meaningful look with his longtime combat buddy.

Whatever this was, it wouldn't be good.

---

Eventually, the meeting concluded and Axl escorted Cody to the Repair Bay. As they walked, the latter tried to take in all that he'd learned. He had been doing so a lot since he got here, he realized. What bothered him the most, however, was how casual the Hunters were about what they'd been doing.

He had his suspicions, but he had to confirm, so he bit the bullet.

"Uh... Axl...?"

"What?" The navy reploid snapped a little too harshly, causing the blonde to flinch before he found the courage to continue.

"So...does this kind of thing happen on a regular basis?"

"Usually," came the matter-of-fact answer. "Most of the time, though, we have to deal with some small-scale incident involving a faulty mechaniloid or something..."

Two words in particular that Cody didn't know the meaning of still remained stuck in his head. "What's a 'Maverick' and what's a 'Mechaniloid'?"

Axl recited an explanation he'd had drilled into his own head many, many times if only due to the sheer amount of times he'd had to spout it himself.

"A Maverick is any Reploid that defies the Laws of Robotics in a way that causes harm to others, be they human or Reploid. A Mechaniloid is a complex machine, but at the same time, is not capable of higher intelligence like a Reploid. When they go haywire, us Hunters step in."

They arrived at their destination right as he finished his explanation. Several empty pods awaited them at the bay, not unlike the one he woke up in in terms of appearance. They hung below computers displaying data likely related to their healing purpose.

"Go ahead and pick a pod. It doesn't matter which."

So he did, while Axl took another one. He felt an odd, warm feeling upon getting in that persisted for about 30 seconds, before hearing a beeping sound. Physically, at least, he felt good as new.

He couldn't help but smile a little as he glanced at the pod. If we had any of this stuff back at home, medical professionals would be out of a job.

---

As for London, she didn't leave the briefing room after the meeting, instead standing in place with a very lost look on her face. Simply put, everything that had been said had gone right over her head. Alia realized this, and tried to pull her aside and explain...to less than encouraging results. Thankfully, Bailey jumped in. Together, the two tried their best to break things down for her.

"As you can probably guess, you're a Reploid, which is basically a highly-advanced robot," the navigator started, making sure to pick her words as carefully as possible.

"Highly ad-what, now?" London asked, not quite getting it, prompting her friend to step in and simplify it further.

"You're not just a robot, but a very smart one."

A beat. Then, the heiress jumped up and down and clapped, "Yay, smart me!"

Alia looked at Bailey. "Does she always do that?"

"Oh, you have no idea..."

The two waited for the golden reploid to settle down before continuing. When they finally got to less cut-and-dry topics such as Mavericks, the rookie navigator had to look to the more seasoned one for understanding, not that Alia herself was the biggest fan of how the government definition of the term was so nebulous and gray.

They settled on calling them the "bad guys" and moved on to Mechaniloids, calling them "overgrown construction tools" (which, in all fairness, wasn't entirely wrong,)

After what seemed like forever, London managed to somewhat grasp the situation, despite still not exactly liking it. The two navigators pointed out her barracks and saw her off.