//------------------------------// // Data // Story: Mega Man: Divine Grid // by Azure Sandora //------------------------------// Trixie and her mother, who she learned was named “Hazel”, had a nice dinner together filled with conversation about the past, catching Trixie up to speed on some of the things she hadn’t figured out on her own. Thanks to Hazel, she now knew when her birthday was, what her star sign was (Pisces, apparently), how long they’d lived in Canterlot, and that the neighborhood their house was in was actually called Ponyville. What funny names for everything. Sadly though, not everything she’d learned was entirely pleasant. As she feared, she and her Mother weren’t exactly close before her amnesia. “Okay, so be honest with me,” Trixie sighed, setting her fork down as she finished dinner, “How much of a bitch was I to you?” “Trixie…?” Hazel asked. “I mean, I was pretty shitty to everyone in school, and from how you reacted when I said I love you over the phone, it’s pretty clear that you weren’t used to hearing that from me,” Trixie continued, unable to meet her Mom’s gaze, “So just, lay it on me, alright? I need to know how badly I fucked things up with us…” “Stop Trixie,” Hazel got up, and moved to sit beside Trixie, wrapping an arm around her, “I don’t want you to be so hard on yourself.” “Why shouldn’t I be?” Trixie asked, crying softly as she leaned into the loving woman beside her, “Everyone at school pretty much thinks I’m a shallow, self absorbed bitch, I apparently bullied Rarity’s younger sister, so she downright hates me, I’m a terrible person…” “That is, far from the truth, and you know why?” “Why…?” “Because a terrible person wouldn’t feel guilt,” Hazel started rubbing Trixie’s arm, “Were you perfect? No. No one is perfect. Did you make mistakes? Quite a few, but that’s the same for everyone. What’s important, is that we learn from those mistakes, and that we always work to improve. To be just a bit better than we were yesterday. “You and I, we had our disagreements, but I always knew you were a good child. Really, you were just, I guess, complicated. After your father… passed away, you grieved in your own way, and coped as best as you could.” “Guess that answers my next question,” Trixie bit her lip thinking about that. She didn’t even remember his face, the sound of his voice, or anything that made him feel real to her. It almost didn’t seem fair to him. “The way I see it, you have a chance to reinvent yourself,” Hazel looked Trixie in the eyes lovingly, “You can’t change the past, but you can control your present moment. You get to decide who Trixie Lulamoon is.” “Who, Trixie Lulamoon, is…” Trixie repeated looking down, “Well, I know who she isn’t anymore. I… I’m going to do something to help people. I don’t know what that will be but, I don’t want to waste my life not being able to help someone, even if its only one person.” as she said that, her thoughts went back to the gymnasium, when she used that weird armor to protect Fluttershy. Knowing she saved her life felt good. If only I knew what that was… Maybe then I could… I don’t know… Hazel smiled, “Then you’ll be fine, honey,” she said, kissing her on the forehead, “Leave the dishes to me tonight, okay? You should get some rest.” “Yeah,” Trixie yawned, “Yeah… I’m exhausted.” Hazel giggled at that, “You remember where your room is?” she asked. She’d given Trixie a brief tour of the house earlier before dinner, so Trixie nodded. “Yep. I remember,” she hugged her Mother again, “I love you, Mom.” “I love you too, Trixie,” Hazel smiled, hugging her back. Trixie went upstairs to the bathroom, deciding to take a shower before heading to bed. There, she let her thoughts wander back to that moment, and everything she knew about what happened to her. According to Twilight, that weird light wasn’t related to Equestrian Magic, and seemed more alien in nature. Also, that weird app on her phone was probably connected to it, but she couldn’t hack into it to find out. That was scary, because Twilight seemed like the sort who could hack into anything. She was so smart. And pretty. And nice. And pretty. Just thinking about her made her heart race. Did she have a crush on Twilight? Was this something new? Or was this something she had even before amnesia? Was there a way to find out? Did it really matter? And, how did she stray so far away from what she was thinking about before? “Geez, get a hold of yourself, Trixie,” she lightly berated as she turned the water off, “It’s too early to be thinking about potential relationships. Besides, she probably has a boyfriend already. Or a girlfriend,” she grabbed her towel and looked at herself in the mirror, “Still, I do wonder if I’m her type…” Her thoughts wandered again, this time picturing those monsters surrounding Twilight. She cry out for help, but no one would be able to come to her rescue. No one, except for Trixie. She’d jump down in that armor, say something super cool like “Get away from her, you foul beasts!” and then begin fighting the monsters, not even getting hit. Twilight would then run into her arms and cry out “Oh, Trixie you brave hero! Thank you for rescuing me!” Trixie had the silliest smile on her face imagining that, proven when she dared to look in the mirror. She blushed, wrapped her towel around her, picked up her clothes and phone, and then rushed off into her room. She didn’t even bother turning the light on. After setting her clothes somewhere she could get to later, she shed her towel and got in the bed. She didn’t know if she slept in the nude before, but she was too lazy and tired to search for pajamas right now. Right as Trixie was about to drift off it seemed though, she noticed something moving in the room. She froze, seeing just how small it was. In the darkness of her room, she could barely make out its appearance, but it had the basic shape of a bunny rabbit wearing a hat. And it was definitely moving. Trixie sat up in her bed, holding her covers over her body as she grabbed her phone on the desk, pointing it at the small creature, “B-back…! Stay back, monster…! I know what you are…!” The tiny creature hopped on the bed and looked at Trixie curiously. It was indeed a white rabbit, only about two feet tall standing upright. It had tiny paws for hands, large white feet perfect for hopping around, its ears fell back behind it, and it wore a tiny blue magician’s blazer, white shirt, bow tie, and had big blue eyes that were currently looking at Trixie intently. Unsure what this thing wanted, but knowing it clearly came from that place in the sky, she backed away frantically, “I h-have weapons, you know…! My phone, it can turn me into a s-s-super hero… so… I’m not someone y-you should mess with…!” The tiny creature snickered, and then fell back on the bed, rolling around and laughing, “Oh man! This is rich!” Trixie frowned at that, unsure of what to make of the fact that A) this little creature was laughing, and B) laughing at her. “Next time, if you wanna threaten someone,” the little rabbit continued through his laughter, sounding like a young boy, “try not to stutter so much!” “What, the actual hell…? You know I’m not playing right? My phone can-” “I know I know,” the little rabbit said, wiping his eyes with his paws, “Calm down, okay? I’m not a Virus. Similar, but fundamentally different.” “Virus…? That’s… what those creatures that attacked the school were…” Trixie said, holding her head, “I remember, that’s the word that came to mind when they were chasing Fluttershy and I.” “Uh huh,” the little rabbit nodded, “That’s right. Me, I’m a Program from the Grid, specifically a Peripheral Memory Storage Unit, made to act as a support program to Mega Men.” “Peripheral… Memory… Grid… Mega… gah! Too much at once!” Trixie fussed. “Alright, let’s start slow. First, what’s my name?” the rabbit said pointing to himself, “Look at me real close, and say the first name that comes to mind.” Trixie sighed, deciding to humor the little rabbit standing on her bed. She looked at him, and oddly, she felt a sense of comfort wash over her. Something within her remembered him. It was both familiar and foreign, just like when she recognized the Viruses and used that armor for the first time. “You’re… Data, right?” Trixie asked after a second. The bunny hopped up and down, beaming in pure delight. “You remembered me! Yes yes yes YES!” the little rabbit, Data apparently, cheered gleefully. Trixie couldn’t help but smile at that, and all of a sudden felt really stupid threatening him. “It’s weird but, I feel like part of me does remember you,” Trixie said, “Did we, know each other before my amnesia?” “That’s… where things get a bit tricky,” Data said, now sitting down on Trixie’s bed, “But I promise, I’ll try to explain everything I can to the best of my knowledge.” “Alright, so first question, what exactly are you? I mean, you said you’re a, um, what was it you called yourself?” “A Peripheral Memory Storage Unit,” Data recited, “Big, fancy words, I know. Essentially, I exist to hold all of the vital information that Mega Men need in order to carry out their missions. Things like their genetic frequency, back ups of their memory, stuff like that. Units like myself also help Mega Men with-” “Hold on. You have memory back ups?” Trixie asked. “Huh? Well yeah,” Data shrugged, “I store information on everything that a Mega Ma- AHH!!!” he was picked up by Trixie, who looked at him intently. “What about mine? Do you have those?” Trixie asked. Data’s eyes wandered lower, and he then looked up, blushing a bit, “Um, first off, you might want to put me down, Miss. You’re showing a lot more than I think you want to…” Trixie looked down, and then yelped, setting Data down and pulling the covers over herself again. “Second of all, I only have the memory of your predecessor,” Data said sadly, “Mega Man Azrael.” “Mega Man, Azrael?” Trixie asked, “What do you mean predecessor? Like, the one who owned that armor before me?” Data nodded, “Yep. Azrael was the Mega Man I was assigned to. Day before yesterday, he was hunting a dangerous rogue Mega Man named Lucifer. He chased Lucifer to the lower regions of the Grid, and fought him close to your school,” Data looked down somberly, “He managed to deal severe damage to Lucifer, enough to reduce him to just formless data, but not before he took a massive blow that knocked him off of the Wave Road,” he pointed to Trixie, “And into you.” Trixie’s eyes widened, starting to piece things together a bit, “So, the blue light that landed on me...” Data nodded, “I’m sorry, Miss.” he took off his hat and looked up at Trixie earnestly, “I wish I could give you a better answer, but all of this, it was a terrible accident. You were really just, at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Trixie looked down, pained hearing this, “Okay, so… what happened next? Why do I have his powers now?” “The impact left you badly hurt,” Data continued, “Azrael, he… he was already beginning to defrag, but he didn’t want you to die. So he asked me to… transfer his Light Code into you, and let it meld with your DNA. Doing this would save your life, and you’d have all of his powers, but…” “At the cost, of my memories being wiped clean…” Trixie sighed, wiping a tear, “Well, I’m alive at least…” “I can’t apologize enough, Miss,” Data said, “All of this… its our fault. We shouldn’t have let Lucifer get so close to your world, nor should we have fought him over your school.” “It’s, fine,” Trixie looked away, “I mean, I guess it really isn’t fine, but it’s not like you meant any harm. And well, you and this Azrael did save my life apparently, so there’s that,” she took Data’s hat and placed it back on his head, “So chin up. You’re too cute to be so sad.” Data chuckled at that, “Thank you. Um, Trixie, right?” Data asked, “I heard a few of your friends call you that.” She nodded, “That’s right. I’m Trixie,” she held out her hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Data.” Data smiled and took her hand with both of his paws, “It’s nice to meet you too, Trixie.” “So, my next question,” Trixie looked to the side, “You keep mentioning this, Grid. What is that?” “That’s something that’s better explained by you seeing it first,” Data said, hopping over to Trixie’s phone, picking it up and handing it to Trixie, “You remember the app from earlier, right?” “The one that activated that weird armor?” Trixie asked taking her phone. “That’s the one. If you wanna enter the Grid, just tap the app on your phone, and then speak into it the following: ID, your full name, logging in,” Data explained. Trixie nodded, turning the app on. She then saw the white orb from before, along with “Standing by” in red letters. She bit her lip nervously, but then brought the phone to her mouth. “ID: Beatrix Lulamoon, logging in.” Identification accepted “Okay, so now wha- whoa!” Trixie looked around, seeing a circle of data spinning around her, “What’s all of this?” “Just relax,” Data smiled, “Let the app handle the rest.” Trixie was about to say something, but she was then engulfed in a bright blue light, vanishing from the room. For Trixie, a bunch of things were happening all at once. She could feel her body changing in a fundamental way, and the short armored dress from before appeared on her body, followed by the armored gauntlets and boots. She then noticed the visor manifesting over her eyes, right before she reappeared sitting in her bed. “Gah! What the?!” Trixie looked at herself, “The armor’s back! And the visor! What in the world?!” she shot up from her bed and ran over to the mirror. Dash was right. The whole look did make her look almost like a magical girl from Cyberspace. The skirt was blue and white, super fancy, and super revealing, cupping and revealing her breasts a bit, and stopping right under her butt almost. There was blue ribbon tied right under her breasts, and another white one tied to her waist behind her, with long ribbons falling behind her. On her shoulders, arms, and legs was blue and white armor that looked somewhat crystalized, with the boots being somewhat bulky with a two inch heel. Around her eyes was a blue visor that seemed to circle around behind her head shut, making Trixie feel almost like it was a part of her body. “What happened to me…?” Trixie said, turning around to examine the armor more thoroughly. “Mega Men have two modes,” Data said, hopping over to stand beside Trixie, “Passive Mode, and Active Mode. Passive Mode is when they’re not engaging in combat related activity, making them look less threatening around the populace.” “Okay, making this what? Active Mode?” Trixie asked, testing if she could remove the visor. Nope. “Exactly. Active Mode turns on all of the Mega Man’s offensive and defensive abilities. In your case, you’re a human possessing a Mega Man’s Light Code, which means you exist in both the real world and the Grid at the same time,” Data explained, “Your human form is being treated as Passive Mode, with Active Mode transferring you into the Grid.” “Does it have to be so revealing though?” Trixie asked, trying to pull the skirt down a bit, “I mean, this is showing a lot of leg…” “I dunno what to tell you,” Data shrugged, “A Mega Man’s armor forms based off of their subconscious, so on some level, you want it to look like this.” “Probably something from before I lost my memory,” Trixie muttered, “Geez… Oh well, at least I look cool.” “That’s the spirit,” Data smiled, “There aren’t a lot of female Mega Men, hence the title.” “So what, would I be a Mega Woman or something?” Trixie asked frowning, “Doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.” “Yeah, the few female Navi’s I know just use the title Mega Man with their code names,” Data shrugged, “Less complicated that way.” Trixie smiled a bit at Data’s almost dismissive tone concerning it. Like he was saying they did this to “cut down on paperwork” or something. Made her wonder what exactly a Mega Man even was. Apparently that’s what I’ve become now, right? A Mega Man? Sounds pretty important. “Anyway, welcome to the Grid,” Data said spreading his arms out. Trixie looked around in confusion. “I’m still in my bedroom,” she said deadpanned, making Data chuckle. “Yes and no. You are in the bedroom, but you’re not a physical entity right now. You’re a Net Navi, existing as sapient virtual information,” Data pointed to the door, “Go on, try to open the door.” Trixie shrugged and walked over to the door, noticing that each step she took made the ground ripple around her feet, almost like it was an illusion of sort. She then reached for the handle, only for her hand to go right through it. “Huh?” she tried it a few more times, “Why can’t I touch it?” “Because again, you’re not in the material world,” Data answered, “Think of the Grid as an invisible space currently overlaying the physical world. A plane of existence, vibrating at a higher frequency than the material world.” “So it’s another dimension, right above the physical world?” Trixie asked. “You got it,” Data said, “Things that exist in the Grid are normally invisible and intangible to humans. You’re an exception to the rule. Now, at least.” “Right, because I exist in both the Grid and the real world,” Trixie said, pushing her hand through the door, going right through it, “Okay, I think I get it. So if that’s the case, then,” Trixie brought her hand back, and then tried to focus on the physical world. She felt her body ripple a bit, and everything around her almost felt more solid. She then tried to grab the doorknob again, this time finding she could touch it, “Thought so.” “Hey, you’re pretty good!” Data hopped up and down happily, “You figured out how to change vibration frequencies all on your own!” “Well, you said I exist in both the Grid and the human world,” Trixie said, focusing on the, Grid, right? Yeah, and felt herself ripple again, “Figured that meant I could just, I dunno, phase back and forth. I take it I can’t do that as a human.” “Nope,” Data shook his head, “Only in Active Mode, where your body is made of data.” “Alright, so what exactly is this Grid?” Trixie asked, now going to sit on her bed, “Has it always been here?” “Not in the way it is now,” Data answered, hopping on the bed to sit beside Trixie, “Until about a month ago, our worlds were complete separated from one another.” “What happened last month then?” Trixie asked with a frown. “No idea,” Data shook his head, “But there was a massive ripple in reality, one that reached all the way to our dimension. When that happened, our two dimensions melded together, with the Grid latching onto the network you humans have, along with another unusual energy that the Mother Computer can’t analyze.” “I take it that’s, odd?” Trixie asked. “The Mother Computer is the very foundation and core of the Grid. She processes and oversees everything in our world, effectively keeping order,” Data explained, “This new energy integrated with the Grid, connecting our world to the human world, but also altering the Mother Computer as well.” “Oh fuck…” Trixie said wide eyed, “She’s okay, right?” “For the most part, yeah she is. But she’s really worried, because she doesn’t understand this new energy,” Data continued, now looking down, “Most of us adjusted pretty quickly, actually working to improve the human network, and just settled into this new way of life. The Mother Computer ordered all Mega Men to be on stand-by, ready to take action if needed, but otherwise to be wary of this new energy.” “Why do I feel like you’re about to tell me something bad…?” Trixie asked. Data groaned, rubbing his eyes with his paws, “One Mega Man felt like this new energy could be used to increase our power directly, to the point where we could subjugate the human world. That Mega Man, was code named Lucifer,” he looked up at Trixie, “When the Mother Computer said no to taking over the human world, Lucifer went rogue, and took in this power for himself.” “What happened after that…?” Trixie asked, afraid of the answer. “Nothing good, I’ll tell you that,” Data frowned, “He turned into, something. It was like a Virus, but worse. No Mega Man could stop him, with Azrael being the only one left. He managed to hurt him, but…” “He died, in the process,” Trixie turned away biting her lip, “This, Mega Man Lucifer, he’s still out there, isn’t he…?” Data closed his eyes, nodding gravely, “I’m afraid so, Trixie. I don’t know where, or if he has a singular form now, but he’s very much alive.” “Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say…” Trixie begged softly. “You have Azrael’s Light Code now,” Data continued, “As such, you’re for all intents and purposes, a Mega Man.” “What that is…?” Trixie asked carefully. “A Mega Man is a special class of Net Navi commissioned by the Mother Computer to hunt down and purify anything that’s infected by Viruses, which come from something called the Dark Code,” Data explained, “Mega Men are made from what’s called Light Code, but Lucifer’s code was corrupted, becoming a Dark Code equivalent.” “What about the other Mega Men?” Trixie asked. “Already fully defragged,” Data shook his head. “I, don’t know all of the terms you’ve been using, but… when you say defragged… that doesn’t mean they’re… dead, does it?” Data closed his eyes sadly as an answer, “Oh God…” “I know this is a lot to take in,” Data said, standing up and taking Trixie’s hand, “Look, the Mother Computer probably wants me to convince you to fight, but nothing has happened yet beyond the virus attack at your school earlier.” “True…” “So I’m not going to force you into anything,” Data assured her, “This was our fault, so you don’t have to feel like you need to fix our problems.” “Considering I’m wearing this armor, it’s kind of my problem too now, isn’t it?” Trixie asked, her heart racing. “Azrael transferred his Light Code into you so you’d live,” Data said, “Whether or not you fight, is up to you.” Trixie wasn’t so sure about that. The dreams she’d been having. That was Azrael’s voice she was hearing more than likely. And in them, she felt like he was asking her to fight. Almost like part of her wanted to… “I, need some time to think,” Trixie said, “This is a lot to process, and… I can’t decide on anything at the moment.” “That’s alright,” Data smiled, “Get some rest for now. I’ll be close by if you need anything, okay?” Trixie nodded with a soft smile, but then looked at her armor, “So, how do I take this off?” “There should be a log out button on your buster arm,” Data said, pointing to Trixie’s left arm, which had a touch screen on it, “Just click that button, and you’ll be sent back to the real world as a human.” “Thanks, um, sorry we don’t have a room for you. I could ask my Mom if you could stay with us, but...” “She wouldn’t be able to see me, so you’d just sound crazy,” Data said, “It’s alright. I’ll just hang out in your phone.” “Um, alright…?” Trixie shrugged, pulling up the log out button and tapping it. Instantly, she felt herself engulfed in a bright blue light again, this time with a slight dropping sensation as she reappeared in her bedroom without the armor. Data’s eyes widened, and he then blushed covering his eyes, just as Trixie covered herself with her arms, also blushing. “Um, g-goodnight, Trixie!” Data muttered, turning into a bright light and shooting into her cellphone. “Y-yeah… goodnight,” Trixie muttered, unsure if he could hear her. She then set the phone on her desk and laid down in her bed, trying to process what Data just told her. If he was telling the truth, then those viruses, what if they were after her? What if this Lucifer wanted to kill any remaining Mega Men out there? And what if Azrael actually wanted her to fight? I said I wanted to do something to help people, yeah… But this? This is too big… What should I do…? She closed her eyes, resolving to just sleep it off for now. Maybe she’d luck out and wake up to find that all of this was just a bad dream.