hacker_twins | [Backdated, see below]

-I was wondering about that as well. That's why I mentioned a backup plan. A plan of just letting them remember isn't going to work so well unless it all comes back to them at once. And even then, if one does so before another... We need something else.-

-I don't think they realize it, but Lightbot stubbornness beats ours most of the time. You just have to give them something to protect.-

-And Harpuia doesn't just turn into a plane bird thing, he gets possessed by the baby elves which make him fight.-

-X had a lot of time to plan for this, but none of it took the force energy into account. Hell, we didn't even know it could do stuff like that until Giga City, and that was too late. I was also going to ask Gate just how the system he and X came up with works, that way we'll know what to expect there. And we definitely need a backup plan. I'd go with beat them unconscious and drag them back if it wasn't that Phantom blows himself up-

-And definitely glad we missed the Elf Wars the game's babbling about. Wiped out 90% of reploids and 60% of humans, and stuff about the elves being used to control reploids. Weil did enough damage on his own wiping out about 90% of the humans with a virus... Huh, I guess that makes that our world's 'elf-free' version of the same thing.-

-Oh, great. Weil just took remote control of every damned reploid in the base. Why game-me is immune, I don't know...-

The grown ups are being quiet, and Alouette is getting bored. She wriggles where she's sitting, still petting Gospel, and looks around for something to do.

-I was thinking something similar, and we could still do that with all of them besides Phantom. If there was some way to get to the copy without fighting, we could take him and Phantom wouldn't be so quick to blow himself up and leave the copy without rescue. But that's too risky.-

-There's so much elf stuff in this, what if it gets replaced by something as well? The force energy could do it in a lot of places. All the bosses I'm fighting are doing it because of the Dark Elf. I kill them and they snap out of it just before blowing up.-

-Your coding is probably too messy for it to work. Or it's once again proof that those guys are weak and useless.-

Gospel gives her a curious look. Forte wants him to keep her distracted, and it looks like she's bored of just petting. But what would a little girl want to do that wouldn't get her hurt?

-If we could get to the Copy, all four of them might follow. Even if we could just somehow coax him into meeting us in the Nexus, he might bring them as guards... we could get all five at once. But then what? Could we convince them to have the energy removed? If we could do that, and then prove what Weil's done... the Copy thinks he's a hero. He won't listen to someone who wiped out most of the humans on Earth... Or at least version 1.0 won't. 2.0 does whatever Weil says.-

-You're right. It could. And we know Weil's using it, where it doesn't seem to be mentioned in the games... but that means that boss fight is going to be even worse.-

He snerks. -Guess I'm lucky I'm a Wilybot, and too buggy for mind control? ... Elf X just knocked out everyone in the base. Finally he does something. He says he can block Weil controlling just them, but it's taking all his energy. And he knows where Omega and Weil are, so off to fight Omega. And he avoided saying something about Omega again.-

Alouette isn't sure either. She starts to poke around the room, and glances in the box. Hey, that cartoon lady on the box looks like her mom... she starts to reach for it.

"Do you want me to send Emerald for one of your games? I don't think you'll like these much," says Zero. "I know I'm not..."

"Can she get my paints instead? Your wall in here is boring. I want to paint you a picture..."

-We may be able to get them into the Nexus if we keep helping them. That is, if they're as bad as Rockhead is with trusting people. And it might be easier to convince them to get rid of it if they're cut off from your world. I'm can't say if it can jump a gap like that, but it didn't bother me like when I was near a large source. Maybe tell them we're helping because we have a common enemy in the energy? But... Weil could stop them even if they agreed to come.-

-And it could be his version of thinking he can't die. And even the robotic parts. It can hold you together past your breaking point and keep things together that wouldn't normally stay. ....useful when it's not mind warping you.-

-It's the one thing the old man did right. And he probably did it by accident. This X is worse than Blues. And that's saying a lot. But uh... he just died. Or his body did since he's still around later. This whole ghost thing is damned weird.-

-These games need to be hidden once we're done with them. I'd say destroyed, but they could come in handy later.-

Zero will set Emerald to fetching Alouette's paint things. The little girl is thrilled at the chance to paint all over the wall.

-The problem is that, for all that we know he's done, Weil doesn't leave behind a lot of tangible evidence. If we try, and can't convince them of what he is, and they go back... he'll wipe them again or reprogram them. Or kill them and blame it on us. That's pretty much what he does with the game Copy.-

And Zero stiffens at mention of X dying, then quickly convinces himself of something, -Maybe the elf thing is like a backup until he can get rebuilt. I'd agree about the games, but... this is the Nexus. You can probably find copies at the Nexus Mall, or even the Nexus Library.-

-And I don't get the ghost stuff either. I just ran into Phantom. He says he's been haunting cyberspace since he died. Apparently in the game-universe, the 'bot version of the afterlife is getting stuck in the internet.-

-I don't like the idea of only having one chance at this. Especially if it all hangs on something we can't control. What if we stuck to just the energy being the enemy? At least until they remember for themselves.... no, that could backfire as well.- He's trying not to get too irritated with Alouette in the room, but this is frustrating. At least he had a lot of practice in staying calm from when he had the force energy.

-The body was being used as a seal. Don't ask me how that works because I haven't a clue, and I doubt we can seal away the force energy in a similar way. So X won't be a sitting duck for some idiot looking for ultimate power. The elf could be a back up I guess...- He's not so sure about that himself, but better to let Zero believe what he wants.

-I didn't think of that. ....want to see how many pieces you can cut one into before it hits the ground?-

-That sounds like hell. And I mean that literally.-

-Given that it's Weil, we might be lucky to get one chance. If we don't tell them anything Weil doesn't probably know that we know, then maybe he won't wipe them if they don't believe us... just come up with excuses. I don't know. I think we need to run this past Lumine. As for showing the games to Gate... I don't want to risk giving him the idea to make Cyber Elves. It's better if we just tell him the bits we might want him to work on... like some of the weapons.-

He snerks at cutting up one of the games. -Tempting, but we might need them later and this way we don't have to track them down again. Besides, they're Quint's. He can just re-lose them in the back of his closet.-

-Now that would have to be some kind of mistake. What's a Lightbot doing in hell? Other than challenging me to a fight and making more cryptic comments about Omega...-

Luckily, Alouette's attention is completely on her painting for now... well, except for the occasional pause to scritch Gospel.

-Yeah...- He sighs and turns the second game off. X might have told game Zero more this time around, but seeing how much more was going on that was getting ignored, it doesn't help his case in the not helping department. -Would he really do that after seeing what they're used for? They're a race of power ups.-

-I'd say you have more right to them than Quint since you're in them, but hey, if that's what you want."

-Trying to save everyone there? Why does everyone have to be cryptic? There's fate of the world stuff going on and they choose to keep important information to themselves.-

Gospel watches her paint, tilting his head at it. It isn't the usual graffiti he's used to seeing.

-I'd hope not, but Gate... sometimes he does stuff just to see if he can. Reminds me of Light in a way. He'd probably do it to see if it was possible and then just try to eliminate the whole problem of them dying when used.-

-The Baby Elves blew up... more coordinates from X... rematches against the Judges now, so should almost be to Omega... I'm guessing he's the last boss for this one.-

It's actually a pretty scene she's putting on the walls, at least at first glance. The colors are limited and the style is cartoonish, but her sense of proportion is better than a human child's would be.

Forte simply facepalms. Of course, never give a scientist ideas unless you want them to make them reality.

-Must be. The second was some idiot named Elpizo, and too much of his mess revolved around people listening to him when they shouldn't. I think there's enough common sense around here to keep any of that from happening.-

Gospel thinks it's pretty good and makes more sense than normal graffiti.

-Never heard of him, which sounds like it's a good thing.-

Alouette adds more red dots to the hill in the background, around the crater, and says to Gospel, "That's where Weil got blown up. Mum's not looking because of the mess."

-The hell... game-me's a copybot.- Zero is confused now, but there's Omega.. or Zero? to fight anyway. It's only after that that he can piece it together. -No, wait... game-me had to get a new body for some reason, and Omega is game-me's original body with... I guess maybe just the virus and some basic AI because he's a psycho and dumb as a brick. And I guess we can write off him existing at all... unless Weil makes a copybot-me to take his place somehow.-

-Harpuia showed up to help fight him. Leviathan and Fafnir too...-

Forte glances over at the picture and smirks a little. Weil going up in a shower of blood is a nice thought, even if it doesn't quiet work that way.

The private conversation is still toned with irritation. -What? Can no one be who they're suppose to be? What reason would Weil have to copy you?-

-...you're at the end of the game and they show up?- That does not bode well, not when they're not in the last game.

-Hell if I know- Zero responds to the question about Weil copying him.

"I'd try to put all my uncles in the picture, but I think I'd run out of paint," says Alouette to Gospel. "Do you think I should add you and Uncle Forte, though?"

-Omega just exploded. The annoying Dark Elf's trying to get me to wake up, only I think she's not evil any more or something, and X is...-

...

-He just... what the... He's like every other cyber elf in the game, he does one damn thing and he just... he just faded away...- This actually seems to have upset Zero more than the game indicating his own death.

Pulling himself together, he gets to the rest. -Game-me's somehow back on the roof of the resistance base. It looks like the Mother Elf dropped him off after the explosion. There's no sign of any of the kids... and it just went to the credits.-

-Phantom dies, X dies, the other three die, then...- he cuts off rather than mention game-Zero's death. -Hell, does everyone die in this crap? What the hell's left to fight for if everyone dies, 'niisan?- He shuts off the game and tosses it in the box.

Alouette looks over from her painting, and then goes over and climbs in the beanbag next to him and just hugs. "It's just a game..."

Gospel looks to Forte for an answer, but he's trying to get over being called uncle. -You should put who you're closest to.-

And then Zero looks like he's about to have a breakdown of sorts. Being called brother is enough to make Forte want to punch Zero for letting the game get to him like it has.

-I seem to remember another group of 'bots that were suppose to get killed off and are still hanging around. If it can be done once, it can be done again. And if I have to beat you over the head for you to get that, I will. Don't tempt me.-

"She's right. It's just a game."

This gets a lopsided smile from Zero that's only slightly forced. The typical Wilybot 'quit being emo or I'll smack you' was more soothing to him than the usual Lightbot reaction of wanting to talk about it. "Yeah, it's just a game."

"If they're that bad, why did you play them?" asks Alouette.

"They had some interesting weapons we thought we'd tell Gate about," says Zero. Among other things they'd had, but no need to go into that.

Alouette just perks, curious. "What kind of weapons?"

Now that is more like it. Being the voice of reason doesn't sit right with Forte, but he'll happily beat the emo out of anyone who needs it.

"There's an energy shield that can be thrown like a blade and it'll come back to you. And a chain like energy weapon that can be used like a grappling hook." Those are the ones he thinks are the best so far, but he'll have to look into the other two games to find out if there is anything better.

"The third game had a pair of energy tonfa, and still had the shield boomerang. The fourth, though, just expected you to tear things apart by hand."

"Tonfa are fun," says Alouette. "I like the others, too! You should tell Gate, so he can make real ones."

Zero nods. "I also need to remember to make a bet with Axl that I can get Lumine to sit down and play video games... then turn him loose at those. There were some puzzles in them he might like to see." Puzzles being code for Huge Problems, since Alouette was there.

"That's pretty cheep. Nothing wrong with tearing things apart with your hands, but it should still offer you a weapon."

Forte chuckles at the plan to trick Axl into a bet.

"There are a lot of options and stuff so that it's almost like having more weapons than the other game... while still feeling like a total rip off."

"I should go ahead and call Axl, and maybe Gate... we need to get started." -There doesn't seem to be a lot of time between these games, and the failsafe for the kids' memories might put us on an even tighter time limit. We've had our warning... we need to start doing something about it.-

Alouette yawns and snuggles, which is something of a relief. It would be easier to talk if she takes a nap.

Forte wonders what Zero means by that but leaves it for another time. He nods at the rest.

-I could take the games to Lumine while you get to work on some of that. What about her?- He motions to Alouette at the yawn.

-Let me make the bet first- says Zero, with an amused half-smile. -And I think she'll take a nap soon... I'll just wall paint with her or something until then.-

-Bet made. You can take the games to Lumine, and I'll call Gate here. Lumine and Axl are down in the commons somewhere. I'll talk about the weapons until Alouette's asleep and then get to the other stuff.-

-Well hurry it up.-

He gathers up the games once the bet is made and heads out, Gospel following at his heel.

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