//------------------------------// // CM: Gather the Clues // Story: Melody of the Future // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// It didn't take long to get Ferham back to Central Tower, and Professor Gaudile immediately went to work repairing the damage she'd taken. Massimo hovered over her worriedly. "Is...is she going to be okay?" he asked worriedly. "Still too early to tell," Gaudile responded. "That Key was hooked into several central systems. Ripping it out without disengaging it has sent most of her primary systems into shock and collapse. About the only systems not keyed in - and thus not affected - are her central power core and her Persona Unit. It's taking all my skill to keep the other systems from spiraling down further, as that would cause failure in her remaining systems." He shook his head angrily. "Who would design this as a security system? It means her life if things go wrong!" "I...agreed..." Ferham managed to stammer out. "When...it came time...to secure the Keys, Scarface suggested having each...Cadre keep one. I volunteered...to guard mine with my life. At my request...Epsilon designed the system...so it couldn't be removed by force...without killing me..." "But why would you do that?" Massimo demanded, anger and worry warring on his face. "Because I...believe in Epsilon...and his cause," Ferham answered, struggling against the damage to speak. "And at the time...I had nothing but...the cause to live for..." She managed a smile as Massimo clutched her hand, but it quickly faded. "And now I've...failed Epsilon...you should-" "Don't even start that!" Massimo interrupted fervently. "You did all you could to protect the Key, and it's not your fault Botos ripped it out of you. Your battle systems weren't designed to handle fellow Cadre. You do not deserve to die!" He clutched her hand firmly. "Octavia seems to think Epsilon is good...and if he's good, he won't hold it against you. He won't want you to die for this. He...he'd want you to be happy..." Ferham's smile slowly returned. "M...Massimo..." "Don't worry you two," Gaudile interrupted. "You aren't dying on my watch, Ferham." He extended extra manipulator arms. "I have not yet begun to repair!" "Why not?" Massimo asked in confused concern. "I thought she was running out of time?" Gaudile did not let his developing sweatdrop slow his repair work. Spider twirled his cane happily as he walked back into HQ. "Glad I got that sorted out with Sensei," he said happily. "I was not looking forward to his 'regretti' penance course." As the doors slid open, he called out, "So what did I-" Several busters and other weapons were immediately drawn and pointed in his direction. "...miss?" he asked worriedly, his hands automatically shooting over his head. Axl quickly stepped forward and examined the cane. "...the perma-link hasn't been broken," he spoke up finally. "It's him, and it wasn't him." As weapons were lowered, Spider lowered his arms. "Seriously, what did I miss?" he demanded, a tinge of hysteria in his voice. "A New-Type Reploid DNA copied you and used your form to ground Ferham, letting Botos do serious damage to her," X spoke up. "That copy then killed Botos and made off with the Supra-Force Metal warhead." "...I was only gone 4 hours!" Spider gasped in shock. "Why do all the really important things happen when I'm not here?" "Bad timing," Zero growled out. "Right now, we're running as much damage control as we can." "Professor Gaudile is attempting to repair Ferham as we speak," Nana spoke up as she manned her console. "However, it appears her damaged state triggered a special homing beacon, so we believe we can expect hostile company soon. In an attempt to head that off, Octavia is trying to get into contact with Scarface and Epsilon directly. It's her hope they'll hear her out before Scarface does something precipitous, like charging in on bad data to try and avenge Ferham by killing you, Spider." "Yeah, we definitely wouldn't want that," Spider agreed fervently, only to tense up as he felt something humming behind him. "So how exactly is that 'bad information' I'll be acting on?" Scarface demanded, keeping one end of his plasma lance trained on the small of Spider's back. "The information from the homing beacon indicates the damage Ferham's suffered is a direct result of his weapon. Why shouldn't I avenge her death by destroying him?" "Three reasons," Octavia interrupted irritably as she entered the room behind Scarface. "One, it may have been his weapon that damaged her thrusters and left her helpless, but it was a New-Type copying him that threw it. Two, it was Botos who actually ripped the Key out of her-" "Botos!" Scarface snarled in rage, his lance glowing brighter in response. "That miserable...I'll rip out his circuits and make him eat them!" "Rather difficult, since whoever was copying Spider also killed him," Octavia observed. "Oh, and three, Ferham's not dead. Gaudile's fixing the damage to her as we speak, and he's confident she'll pull through." Scarface stared at Octavia for a time, then slowly lowered his lance. "Epsilon trusts you," he stated as Spider let out a sigh of relief. "I will trust you." Octavia sighed pensively. "Unfortunately, the warhead was captured...which means I'm about to ask a lot of that trust. Can you take us to meet Epsilon?" "My teleporter can only take four others," Scarface pointed out. "And I'm not giving you the coordinates." "Myself, X, Zero, and Axl," Octavia detailed. "That should do it." Scarface nodded. "Once Ferham's stable...whenever you're ready."