My name Kalinka Cossack. Up until two months ago, the world had finally been at peace. I am the soul survivor of an epidemic that happened three weeks after peace was restored. That epidemic was dubbed "Zero" by Dr. Wily. Father had been working on one, much like Mr. Light had with his "Megaman X". The project I had been allowed to name was dubbed, "Axl," however, was built differently from Zero and Megaman X in strange terms. He was missing a key component, one my father had still not perfected at that time.

Axl was... different... from what Dr. Light had described X, as he called his newest Megaman, and Zero, the thing that killed Earth's hero. But no matter how much I try, I cannot hate the blonde demon. He was just another poor 'bot created by Wily... one that Wily lost control over. The poor 'bot raced around, killing people left and right with its gun barrel, the Z Buster, the designs called it. It killed Mega...

But Axl's differentality was nice. He acted a lot like, well... me, according to Father anyways. I said I wasn't as stubborn as the auburn-haired, free-thinking robot we'd created. He said my childhood told otherwise. Axl and I... we'd grown close those last few months we had had together. The bond we shared was incredible, unbreakable to the point where I had almost sacrificed my life for Axl.

In terms... I had.

System download

Project name: Rebirth

Subject: Kalinka Cossack

Lifeforce download started

Countdown: 199:364:23:59:59

The trio had positioned themselves against a wall, buster, saber, and dual guns ready for action. Going into Maverick Territory as deep as these three had was usually unallowed by normal Hunters and rookies, but these three had stopped Sigma seven times over and were the highest ranking officers in Maverick Hunter history. Even so, these three had been having trouble: bypassing security was not as simple as it sounded. This area had some sort of a magnetic field around it that had-at first-deactivated all three of the reploids' weapons.

But after Alia had managed to shut down the field, the three had had no trouble shooting and slashing down Mavericks after that.

Now, littered, dismantled Maverick parts laid wasted around the three hunters as they crept through the darkened building, the setting sunlight being their guide. "We'll have to head back to HQ before the sun sets," Megaman X, leader of the mission they were on, informed his partners. They nodded, fully serious of the situation at hand.

X glanced down the hall, and signaled his partners to move behind him. He shot a small buster shot at a lone maverick, who started smoking as he clattered to the ground loudly. "Alia, how close are we to the distress signal?" he asked through his ear piece as more Mavericks flooded the hall. He nodded to his two partners and friends, Zero and Axl. They both nodded, Axl giving X a small smile with a thumbs up before moving out to dispose of the Mavericks.

"You're almost there, X," the group's navigator, Alia, stated. "It's directly in front of you." X blinked, focusing on the wall in front of the trio, two hallways going opposite of each other. He frowned as he tried focusing in more. There! he thought, noticing a small line dividing the doors. He grinned to himself as he called, "Zero! Axl! Hold off the Mavericks for a little longer! I think I've found our target!"

The red reploid, Zero, nodded. "We were doing that anyways, X!" he pointed out. X activated his D.A.S.H sequence and sped through the crowd, stopping himself in front of the doors, blocking him from the signal. He tapped it slightly, shooting to his left for a stray Maverick, before pushing at the door. Nothing. He pushed his shoulder into the wall, only to find out the only damage caused was a dent in his armor.

His eyes widen. The only thing that could dent his armor like so was titanium. Nothing again. He glanced up and blinked. A hole. There was a thin strip, big enough for a certain red-haired hunter to be able to fly through. "Axl!" X called, causing the auburn haired reploid to stop for a second and turn. "I'll take over for you! You'll have to get yourself over the doors, they must be locked from the inside! Get the target and we'll move out!"

Axl grinned and ran through the Maverick crowd, activating his hover ability and jumping through the crack. He landed with an "Oof!" on the other side. He glanced around the room, and suddenly felt pain spike his head. He clutched his helmet, biting his lip as to not worry his partners. "What... what is this?" he struggled out in small pants. The pain was becoming unbearable.

"Lifeforce download complete," a voice said from the shadows. "Stasis complete." The pain faded to the far back of Axl's mind as he stared at the opening capsule. He walked over and blinked. Inside was a girl. Human or reploid, he couldn't actually tell. "Axl? What's your status?" X asked through the communication device. Axl blinked again. He'd forgotten about them. "Um, well... I found a capsule that just opened up. There's a girl inside. I think it's safe to assume that's where the distress signal has been coming from," he reported, inspecting both the girl and capsule.

"A capsule? What's that doing here?" Zero asked from his line. Axl glanced around. "I... I think this used to be a research lab, guys. Well anyways, let's get back to HQ. This place is giving me the creeps," Axl replied. He heard Zero scoff. "Don't go chickening out on us buddy. Besides, what if the girl's a Maverick or has been infected?"

Axl shook his head, before remembering they couldn't see him doing it. "I think she's clear, the capsule seems to have a virus filterer, so I think she's fine. Now let's get out of here now," Axl replied. "Sure Axl. It's getting dark out anyways. Now come on, the Mavericks are slowing down a bit, now's the time to move!" X butted in. Axl sighed as he made his way to the capsule.

He grabbed the girl but stopped momentarily. She was warm. If she were a reploid, she couldn't have blood. He shook his head. He'd figure it out later. He slung the girl across his shoulder as he activated his hover again, jumping through the crack and pulling out one of his guns and shooting at the Mavericks. He backed into his partners and grinned.

"Let's get back to HQ, mission complete guys!" X stated telling Alia to bring them back. "Alright X. You're coming in now," Alia confirmed as each of them disappeared in a stream of light.

Ugh... my head hurts...

"So... what's the deal Alia?" someone asked. The reploid girl on the table was starting to wake up, though everything was a bit of a blur. Hearing and her conscience, those was the first things to activate. Who were these voices though? She couldn't figure it out. Her memory was fuzzy, but was slowly piecing together. Something about the number zero...

"I'm not too sure, X," a female voice asked. X... why did it seem so familiar to the reploid? "But the monitor's showing all vitals are okay and that her back-up energy reserve is taking effect. I'm going to take a guess and say that out blonde friend here will be waking up any minute," the female voice relayed. The blonde reploid squeezed her eyes shut before opening them slowly. Her eyes, a dark, hazy green, started to focus as her hands clenched tightly. A small groan escaped her lips as she sat up, holding her head in pain.

"Wh-where am I?" she asked wearily as she sat up. Her eyes came into focus and she observed the three figures in front of her. The first was a girl, with blonde hair, wearing pink armor. The second was a boy with azure armor. Something was horribly familiar about him. It was painful that she couldn't recall what she was missing. The third was a boy as well, with long, ankle-length blonde hair with red and white armor. She wanted to scowl at him, but held it back. The last boy gave her a rush of pure ecstasy. Something about him gave her the feeling of being whole. She smiled softly.

"H-hi..." she mumbled, glancing down. The group smiled. "It's good to see you functioning well," the azure-armored boy commented. She blinked then nodded feebly. Smile and nod... "My name is Megaman-" Something painful struck her as she let out a tiny gasp. Her eyes went fuzzy as the auburn-haired boy asked, "What's wrong!?" Her vision went dark.

"Dr. Light, are you sure you want me here?" a girl asked timidly. An old man-presumably Dr. Light-smiled and nodded. "Yes, I believe it would do X good to meet someone other than myself. Mikhail agrees and thought you'd be perfect, which I agree with," Dr. Light commented. The girl looked about sixteen with wavy blonde hair and bright green eyes. She wore a heavy red coat with black ruffles and was bouncing her leg slightly. Dr. Light chuckled.

"Nervous?"

She nodded as she glanced down. "W-what if he doesn't like me...?" she mumbled. Dr. Light chuckled again. "X will like you; if anything he'll be thrilled to meet you," the doctor answered truthfully. The girl grinned happily.

"Really?!"

"Really."

There. That one wire. "Okay, now be quiet, Kalinka. We don't want to startle him." The girl nodded as the robot on the table stirred. His eyes squeezed shut as he awoke, and the girl-Kalinka-leaned forward. "Doctor?" a timid voice called from the robot. Kalinka gazed. Dr. Light nodded. "Yes, it's good to see you remember, X." The robot-X-nodded slightly as he seemed to wake up. His gaze fell over Kalinka, who smiled softly and waved. "Who's that doctor?" X asked, not turning away from her.

"That is a young girl named Kalinka, a good friend of mine. Her father is also a scientist, and has been working on someone just like you X."

The robot blinked as he turned to his creator. "Like me?" Dr. Light nodded.

"Exactly like you in terms of creation. He too will be able to think and feel on his own."

"But why is she here?"

Kalinka stood up and walked over. She smiled at him. "I'm here just to say to you X. So, hi! My name is Kalinka Cossack, nice to meet you, X!" she introduced as she held her hand out. X stared at it, then glanced at Dr. Light. The man smiled and laughed. "Go ahead, X. Shake her hand," he instructed. X lifted his hand and put it in her's, where she shook it softly. It was a little uncomfortable. He was still laying down so his arm was positioned oddly. As odd as the position, it didn't stop the smile that came to Kalinka's face.

The blonde reploid shot up again, shocking the four reploids in the room, plus a new one. A doctor-looking one. "Kalinka," she muttered breathlessly. They gazed at her. "M-my name... it's Kalinka." After everything she'd just seen, she felt like the was a lot bigger than she originally thought.