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Chapter 33: Trigger Warning

The moment it registered to Teisel what it was he'd just revived, he cringed, slapped his hand to his forehead in frustration, and uttered, "Crap."

After a few awkward moments, Trigger commented, "I am unsure as to how many centuries have passed since my last activation, but you Carbons have acquired fascinating introductory rituals since that point in time." He smiled, smacked himself in the forehead in turn, and stated, "Mega Man Trigger. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Crap."

"Th-that's not what I...it wasn't...I didn't mean..." Teisel frantically stammered.

Trigger just kept on smiling and unplugged Data from the Klicke Lafonica. "Forgive my ignorance. I need to consult my peripheral memory storage device to catch up on all of the developments I missed during this most recent period of inactivity."

Teisel could only look on, completely dumbfounded, as Data emitted a series of squeaks that Trigger seemed to have no problem understanding. The longer the monkey prattled on, the more unsettlingly grim the Ancient's expression grew.

"I see," Trigger commented once Data had apparently explained everything. "So my reactivation occurred approximately a quarter of a century ago, but the backup of my memory was never fully processed, and the second body was destroyed after successfully shutting down the Master System. It disturbs me that the Elders' machines have begun what appears to be some sort of reconnaissance, but I am relieved that they have yet to make any hostile motions toward the Carbons. There's still time."

"AHEM!" Teisel loudly cleared his throat. He glared at the android and his monkey. "What the heck are you TALKING about?!" he demanded. "Hostile machines? Master System? Are we all in some kind of mortal peril here?!"

"My apologies, Crap. Allow me to explain..."

"My name is not Crap!" Teisel interjected before Trigger could continue. "It's Teisel!"

"Very well," Trigger replied, "I must say, Teisel is marginally superior to Crap as far as Carbon naming conventions are concerned, but I digress. It would take many of your weeks for me to disclose all of the information regarding the Master System. However, I suppose it couldn't hurt to fill you in on everything pertinent to you and the rest of your kind.

"You see, when I departed for Elysium with Mistress Yuna during my previous activation, I was fulfilling my master's final wish by destroying our race's...command center, if you will. Elysium. The network hub through which we communicated with our satellite units. It had the potential to wipe all life from your planet, should we of the Master System have deemed it necessary to do so. We call your planet Terra. Hundreds of re-initialization units are still in orbit around Terra, but as of the destruction of the Elysian library and all of its data, it is impossible to operate them remotely."

"So if I'm following you, you guys can't destroy everybody in the world, then? Isn't that a good thing?" Teisel skeptically asked. "Do I even dare ask about the hostile machines?"

"The structure through which this network operated was, unfortunately, originally put into effect to protect humankind from the Elders, a powerful race responsible for the creation of this planet's Reaverbots and the mass genocide that nearly obliterated the human race around the time of Elysium's construction." Trigger went on to elaborate. "Once the Master System was established and we launched our initial assault on the Elders, they retreated underground to the deepest of their dwellings, which currently make up a vast majority of what you call Terra's ruin network. Granted, the Master himself appropriated and commissioned a handful of similar constructions, going so far as to manufacture and implement Reaverbots of his own design to ensure that both systems remained inaccessible to Terra's Carbon population. However, those ruins were created primarily to conceal artifacts of ours and serve as surveillance points by which our officers here on Terra could...ensure that your kind didn't overpopulate the various regions."

"Like the Kattelox network, right?" Teisel interrupted. "That's one of yours? We found that Juno fellow down there, and..."

"After we repurposed it to suit our needs, yes." Trigger stated. He gave Teisel an unsettling grin. "The network on the island you call Kattelox served as a buffer to better enable Third Class Bureaucratic Model Mega Man Juno to control that island's population in peace. You must be a truly extraordinary Carbon to have made it to his quarters and survived to tell the tale. Perhaps it would be prudent of me to enlist your assistance in tracking down the Elders and destroying them before they fully realize that Elysium is no longer operational. I am quite fond of the culture the Carbons appear to be developing, and would certainly like to see your kind continue their quest to eke out a living among the remains of our civilization, without interference from the Elders or their Reaverbots."

"ME?!" Teisel balked. "You—you couldn't possibly...I mean, there's nothing special about me! I don't even have a Class A license!"

"Your Digger's Guild regulations are irrelevant." Trigger insisted. "It is doubtful that the Elders have been utilizing a location that the Master System's most advanced units could easily identify as their base of operations. The probability that a group of Carbons, even a particularly adept group, could uncover their base by accident is nonexistent if we couldn't find it when we were deliberately looking for it. However, if you have both met with Bureaucratic Model Juno and managed to access the Klicke Lafonica, then you are indubitably capable of assisting in this mission."

"I don't know about that," Teisel sighed. "I'm smart, sure, but there are a lot of other people up there who are smarter than I am. People who can build amazing machines and understand what Data's saying if they listen long enough. I'm not in great shape, I'm older than most diggers, and I've had a lot of other issues to deal with..." he trailed off. Something told him that bringing up the intimate details of his personal life with a being that very well might have lived more than a thousand years probably wasn't the best way to get out of being dragged around the world in search of its most dangerous ruins. "I guess being able to get myself repeatedly blown up in a mecha crash with no consequences is the only real advantage I've got over everyone else in the world..."

"Wait." Trigger cut him off. He seemed somewhat disturbed by Teisel's explanation. "Are you telling me that you are the only Carbon on Terra who can survive an explosion like that?"

"My brother and sister could do it as well, but they...er...succumbed to other...things...other...hazards..." Teisel stumbled over his wording as he tried to figure out what, exactly, it was that Trigger was getting at, but he trailed off again as he noticed his conversation partner had stepped aside to exchange another heated dialogue with the monkey. The Purifier Unit almost looked worried, with his face strained in an unsettlingly contained fashion that made Teisel's skin crawl under his armor. "Oh COME ON!" Teisel roared impatiently. "WHAT is the MATTER here?!"

"My apologies," Trigger responded with that uncomfortably gentle grin plastered back on his face. "It just appears that The Master might have been...mistaken...about your species and their resilience. You see, before I was deactivated for the first time, all Carbons were capable of surviving damage from extreme blunt force trauma. The fact that your species seems to have evolved to prefer a weaker genetic mutation, leaving you as, potentially, the sole carrier of the stronger genotype is...unsettling, to say the least. I hate to admit it, but perhaps Mistress Sera might have had a more valid reason to act in the way she did than I'd initially believed. The Master may have indeed grown delusional in his final days."

Trigger paced back and forth in front of the Klicke Lafonica and weighed his options. "I suppose it might have been a bit hasty of me to destroy the entire library, even if I have no recollection of doing so," he admitted more to himself than to Data or Teisel. "I suppose I haven't got much of a choice, then. It would be best for the long-term survival of the Carbons that the Master cared about so much if we figured out what went wrong on a subatomic level and start anew."

"Don't tell me you're planning on killing everybody now!" Teisel balked the minute he managed to catch up with Trigger's train of thought. "What ever happened to teaming up and trying to save them from that Elder System down in the ruins? That plan sounds a lot better now! Let's do that instead!"

"Don't be silly, Teisel. I would never completely eradicate the Carbon population," Trigger shook his head. "It isn't what the Master would have wanted. I would have to bring you along so that the researchers onboard EDEN-10 can determine what went wrong and clone new Carbons from your genetic material. You needn't worry about your race going extinct."

"You are COMPLETELY missing the POINT!" Teisel roared as he broke into a cold sweat. "What about all the people you cared about when you were living with us?! Don't you remember any of that?! What about your family!?" he persisted. "Professor Caskett loves you like you're his own son, and Roll spent years trying to bring you back once she figured out there was a way to do it! Don't tell me you want to destroy them all!"

"You make it sound so much more barbaric than it truly is when you look at it in the long term," Trigger brushed it off. "If you'll follow me to the capsule to your right, we can proceed with..."

Even though this was definitely not the Mega Man that Roll had meant for him to revive and bring back to the surface, in the far corners of his mind, Teisel felt horrible even as he unleashed his swords and lunged straight for Trigger. Still, after kicking his comfort zone to the curb for the people he'd grown to love as a second family and fighting his way to the very core of the Klickelan ruins, there was no way he was going to let this stranger go and kill everyone he'd been trying to keep safe.

The Purifier Unit just kept on smiling as he easily sidestepped the attack and pivoted to face his sudden adversary. The motion was so fluid that Teisel could have sworn the android had teleported. "Now, now, Teisel," Trigger chidingly instructed, "You have a most impressive set of weapons. However, it would be reckless for you to initiate combat with an attack unit such as myself. I can't risk harming you, or the entire Carbon population would, unfortunately, be doomed to extinction. Your safest course of action would be to simply follow the instruction as it was given. Now if you will excuse me..."

Despite the obvious discrepancy in their skills, Teisel tried to fake Trigger out and feint to the right before darting over to the Purifier Unit's left and slashing at him with his right arm as quickly as he could. Before Teisel could even get close, Trigger leaped backward and kicked off of the Klicke Lafonica unit itself. The android tucked himself into a flip to reduce his drag while he soared over Teisel's head and landed perfectly behind him. Teisel could scarcely react before his assailant extended his left arm toward him.

The red jewel on Trigger's helmet glowed brightly as his arm transformed into a buster gun that looked all too familiar. "I didn't want to have to resort to force to subdue you, but you leave me with no other choice." Trigger iterated with what seemed like the subtlest hint of frustration he could possibly convey.

Teisel could only get as far as, "W-whaaa...?" before Trigger unleashed a burst of plasma energy that knocked him off his feet and sent him crashing to the ground. He was completely outmatched, but nevertheless, he shook it off and tried to pull himself back up into a standing position. Before he even noticed that Trigger had fired off a second shot, he felt the impact of plasma hitting his armor. He was out before he even hit the ground again, leaving Mega Man Trigger to sling him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes in spite of their noticeable size difference and carry him to the conical structure docked off the sole adjoining path in the chamber.

Back on Volnutt Island, Roll and Max spent that entire time hastily trying and failing to re-establish contact with Teisel from the Flutter. As they worked, Art dozed peacefully in the bedroom he and Roll shared, and Grill's snores from the couch echoed through to the R&D room. Over in the lab, Pic was curled up on the floor downstairs and Aero had tucked herself back into the futon in Teisel's old gaming room. Unbeknownst to any of them, the sun was just peeking out over the horizon, rendering Klickelan Island in stunning shades of gold.

Suddenly, an explosion from far beneath the surface rattled the entire region to its core. The two spotters scrambled up the ladder to the bridge and raced to the window at the airship's helm to see a jet of smoke leading up and out of the two towers of Ghiotte Summit. They watched Pic rush out of the lab down on Volnutt Island and looked on as he stared up into the sky.

"It was a launchpad..." Roll uttered in complete shock as she followed the smoke trail up to where a vaguely missile-shaped projectile soared up through the air. Art burst onto the bridge to join them. "Ghiotte Summit was a launchpad."

Max squinted and pressed his forehead against the window to try and track the vehicle's flight path, leaving a large, greasy smudge behind. "They had their own rocket...? What the heck happened down there?"

"We could've gone up there without any casualties, Max." Roll realized. "Tron wasn't the only one from back then who died for no good reason. The whole rocket project...everything about the rocket project...was a complete waste!"