As he threw the frisbee past the fence's perimeter, Rock could only laugh when his robot dog galloped out of view only to return objects nothing similar to the frisbee. The first time he threw the disk Rush had returned with tossed shoes, then unopened packages of circuit boards, and finally objects from his brothers thought to have been gone forever. It was the fifth try that Rush got used to the game and ran back with the actual object. His sister giggled in the background as she dug out dirt throughout the inner perimeter. A question popped in his head as Rush licked his hand for another round.
"Hey Roll. Why are you trying to plant anything? Fall has already begun." He asked. Roll only stared into his eyes before hers widen and cheeks flushed in embarressment. Fall had officially begun three days ago and the leaves were tinted red and gold at the edges. The last flowers and crops slowly wilted on the ground and grass around the fence turned a muted brown. His sister hastily set her tools down with an attempt to shake the dirt off to no avail.
"I didn't realize it was already fall! I made a mess out of the garden!" She said in a exasperated tone.
"Sis it is okay! Dad can always buy more dirt!" Rock laughed before Rush returned with the frisbee again.
"Just like last year too. I have to get better at remembering frost dates." Roll grimaced while scooping dirt into the holes. Rock gently patted Rush and kneeled with his sister. The robot dog's footsteps sounded farther away with each minute, and their hands became filthy of dust and mud.
"It still isn't that big of a deal. You can always help out in the lab." Rock suggested, but he earned a frown from his sister.
"You are better suited for lab work though. I'm usually stuck either cleaning or planting flowers. There is only so much dusting and cleaning I can do before the house becomes bleached." Roll pouted patting the last of the dirt.
"Well I know one thing Roll. You're very determined to help and protect me and Dad, so I'm sure you can find an alternative until Spring comes back." Rock brushed a small bug away from her blonde hair with a smile, and she quickly did the same while wrapping her arms around him. Their hug was short-lived when rapid footsteps were heard from behind, and Rush barrel rolled into their sides. Roll exclaimed in surprise from his licking and happy yips.
"What do you think I should teach him next? Bark on command or treasure hunting?" Rock asked but his sister responded with only a shrug. A rush of footsteps echoed through the door, startling them both with a concerned Doctor Light and Wily staring back. Light's lab coat was half on as he started the car with sweat down his brow.
"Kids! We need to head to Lucy's lab! It's urgent!" He blurted out. Without hesitation, everyone rushed into the car and Light pressed the gas. The car and train ride was eerily quiet aside from the frantic messages Doctor Light received from the other line. The twins held worried faces and clutched to each other's arms, the fenced area of the ISEE Institute approaching closer until the doors lurched open. The doctors walked into the building first and met with Lucy running across the desks, her hair wild and eyes darting wildly before resting on the four people.
"OH THANK GOD YOU COULD MAKE IT! I need help right now!" She said, her voice bordering on stressful laughs and a mental breakdown.
"Lucy, please calm down. Can you explain what happened?" Dr. Light placed his hand on your shoulder only for her to shake it away. Rock glanced at the state of the lab and the little robots working desperately to clean the drowned papers and sparking computers.
"Last night, Magnetman had sent me a progress report on the energy elements. The first report showed they found the remaining elements and were currently excavating them. Then the next report came in showing that they were successfully found and being sent to asteroid Alpha." She said. Her light jacket shook uneasily as she accessed certain files. A app linking to several video recordings enveloped the screen showing the group live film of the asteroid insides. Rock stared in awe at the tunnels extending beyond the camera and the lines of robots marching in place with rock samples. Bigger robots held multiple colored raw crystals leading the smaller robots to the surface.
"This was recorded deep within asteroid Beta shortly after that report was made. Then this happened several minutes later." Lucy's color paled when the recording rushed forward. The footage remained the same with the lines of robots growing thin and less frequent. Suddenly, the footage began to shake and a odd humming made the robots halt the march. One end of the tunnel illuminated a green light and rapidly approached the camera, the robots now spazzing under the sea of light. Doctor Light was horrified by what was being shown and Roll covered her mouth to hide her quivering mouth.
"My god." Light murmured.
"That's not the worst part. Look at the last few seconds of the recording." Lucy said quietly. Rewinding the footage one last time, the visuals caught the ground collapsing and cracking with massive robotic snakes emerging. Giant snakes wrapped every wall and floor, the camera crushed between the tight spaces. The screen crashed and the video cut abruptly.
"Those were..." Dr. Light started but refused to finish the sentence.
"All of the cameras on the other asteroids had similar results to this! I-I knew the energy elements reacted hostile to our ships, but they made it there with no problems! I thought everything was fine! THEY SAID IT WAS FINE! Now I can't contact any of them!" Lucy started to gasp hysterically, grasping the chair to keep steady.
"And then before I lost contact to Alpha, I received this message a few hours ago." Her hands were shaking, clicking on the far right tab. The message had no captions or detailed descriptions, but a bright red screen with a sentence in bold letters. Rock felt his synthetic stomach drop.
CALL MEGAMAN FOR HELP. HE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN.
"This has to be a mistake or a glitch!" Roll tried to make sense of the situation, but instead fell to panic while her brother stared at the sentence. Dr. Wily retreated slightly to rub his chin thoughtfully and Light felt his knees could give out at any moment.
"I've tried everything to reach Magnetman and the others, but none of my signals seem to reach. My boss doesn't know anything yet, but I don't know what to say? Should I say something? He may shut down the program forever!" Lucy couldn't look at them anymore, gripping her head like it would explode. Dr. Light slowly approached and gripped her hands with enough pressure to steady her shaking. Rock noticed how her hyperventilating slowed to steady breaths and the stress in her shoulders released. Light waited until she stood up to let his grip go and turned to the unnerving message, typing a number on his phone.
"Have you contacted any of the authorities about this?" He asked.
"I haven't had the time." Lucy responded.
"Would your boss be able to send any help towards the asteroids?" Light asked again, ceasing his texts.
"He was already insistent on discontinuing the program from the amount of money wasted. If he finds out about the footage and loss of another company's property..." Lucy's face paled and eyebrows furrowed.
"I understand. The message is really concerning though. Why would they call for Megaman specifically?" Light asked. As if he needed to announce his presence, Wily had approached his side and pointed to the message.
"Perhaps it was to make it clear who they wanted to help them. If they said "Rock", I imagine no one would have an idea what they were talking about. Especially if the receivers were having a panic attack." He gestured rudely to Lucy, but she didn't respond.
"But why me?" Rock spoke softly.
"Well they care about you, don't they? You saved them once, so I'm sure they feel like you can save them from whatever this disaster is." Wily smirked playfully.
"That was different though." Rock huffed.
"Is it? It's just like how you destroyed my plans the first two times." Wily pointed out. Rock tried to argue something but Dr. Light turned to him with a almost sorrowful look. Roll had walked to Lucy and hug in reassurance, earning a strained smile from the worker.
"I'm so sorry to ask you of this Rock, but could you travel to the asteroids and see what happened to them? Try to help them fix what happened and hopefully bring Ms. Lavender some peace of mind?" Light asked softly.
Even though he barely moved, Rock felt the room get smaller. His core worked hard against his chest with his fists folding the shirt into clumps. Every attempt to calm down brought visions of his previous fights in his processor. A unfamiliar ache deep in his chest felt suffocating, more than the racing core against his circuits. He hated this feeling, but he couldn't put it to words what it was. Any words out of his creator's mouth was muted. The interactions between his siblings and half-brothers rapidly appeared in his vision. Then he remembered a conversation he had with the two federal agents months ago and his breathing steadied. Dr. Light's eyes were wide with concern with a hand outstretched to his shoulder.
"I met with Krantz and Stern a few months ago." He spoke softly, the roboticist loosening his grip on the shoulder.
"Federal agents Krantz and Stern?" Light repeated.
"Yeah. I was given the order to not engage in anymore fights as Megaman. I need to follow the order Dr. Light. I'm sorry. I am really sorry." Rock's voice was kept at a formal and monotone pace, no signs of emotion or break. Suddenly he felt himself come back and his eyes became dangerously shiny. Dr. Light kept his hands on the robot boy's arms, keeping him steady as fresh tears dripped down the cheeks. Wily got his word out before anyone else was able to.
"Then how were you able to stop Ra Moon? There was no government to uplift that order." He scoffed.
Rock wiped the tears away, the answer to the roboticist's question forming itself. It was true that there was no figure to override the order during the blackout. Regardless of the worldwide technology and government disabled, he was active so the order should have been. He did not recall feeling the order pull him back from donning the armor, nor any failsafe activating as he rushed to the battlefield. When Ra Moon fell, he thought of the consequences of the battle in theory, but nothing came from the order embedded in his brain. And yet here it was reappearing at the worst time, stopping him in his tracks. Had he ignored the order before, or had the order vanished from his mind? Both questions had concerning answers. Rock grew worried from the revelation, but Lucy's pathetic state made him hold his tongue. They did not need to know this information right now.
"It's the first law of robotics. I can not hurt a human, or through inaction, allow a human to be harmed. Everyone would have died if I didn't stop Ra Moon. It must've been enough to override the order." Rock said. It seemed like a good enough answer and Light didn't question him further. Wily's eyes narrowed but didn't say anything. Rock felt the need to solve the current matter was more important than any programming flaw.
Lucy's hyperventilating had dissipated into a empty gaze, letting her grip on Roll loosen. Dr. Light said nothing before typing furiously on his phone. Rock tried to grip his coat but his arms fell limp. None of his limbs obeyed his thoughts but the eyes trailed back to the message repeatedly. He didn't pay attention to the hand that had gripped his shoulder, the world becoming a muted space. The world seemed blurry again, only him and the screen being clear.
Roll had to be right. This had to be a mistake. A signal glitch. His half-brothers were fine. Lucy said they were fine. This couldn't happen again, and certainly not to them. He didn't want it to be the case. He loved them. He needed them to be alright. It needs to be alright. Otherwise he had to do it again. Become the hero again.
But he can't.
The dull ache felt like a fire.
A bit of weight pressed on his thigh and rubbed gently in circles, the blurry vision clearing past the screen. He blinked each time regaining his senses, his fingers flexing against the shirt folds. His eyes trailed towards the red robot dog whining softly, its own blue eyes staring at him worryingly. Rock sighed and kneeled down to Rush, his hand petting him softly in his grip.
Light's voice retreated outside leaving the others to their thoughts, Rock's hands petting the dog like it was on autopilot. After his sister snapped Lucy out of her gaze, they went in a process of calming each other. Deep breaths and small movements like stretching. He had to wonder if it was working like how petting Rush was working. The impatient tapping of Wily's foot directed his attention to the door opening.
"Hate to disrupt you Thomas, but we don't have all-!" To both of their surprise, Light shot a look that demanded silence. Wily stuttered before retreating glumly into his seat. The good roboticist eventually came back and despite the phone pressed against his face, the federal agent's voice was clear through the speaker.
"Are you sure about this Mrs. Krantz?" Light asked pointing the phone to everyone in the room.
"The order given to Megaman was stated to deal with any battles or conflicts under government law. But space isn't under any government's jurisdiction. If the incident is occurring in space, and the company has no way of fixing the problem, then robots should be able to head up regardless of any previous order." Krantz's voice said. Rock felt the words conflict with the order, the buzzing slowly disappearing in the back of his head.
"Thank you Krantz. And sorry for calling so early." Dr. Light finished with a relieved smile.
"I should probably go be Megaman right?" Rock asked under his breath.
"Just to check up on them. Try to get into contact with any of the others and restore the signal. If anything goes wrong, you can message me back here." Light said gripping his shoulder.
"Alpha may be the main site of the project's research, but each asteroid has their own signal tower. Just restoring one could send enough power back here." Lucy added.
"You can do this."
Rock said nothing and nodded at his creator. Rush whined as he stood up, his blue battle armor forming across his body and head.
"Before you go, I'll have to make a few adjustments on Rush just in case. You can wait outside if you'd like." Light whispered. Rock took the advice and left through the door, several worker drones passing by carelessly. The blueprint spread across the outdoor table displayed intricate constellations patterns and the inside of each asteroid. Detailed sketches of tunnels and hypothetical calculations of the energy element's power.
His sister's hand reaches for his own as a plane crossed the sky with a fading smoke trail. Her eyes didn't carry the same amount of panic as the space exploration employee, but her mouth twitched into a small frown. Rock said nothing but gripped her hand tighter.
"Maybe it won't be so bad. Dad might be right." He reassured Roll, but the latter only hummed to the answer. Roll avoided her brother's gaze and instead directed her attention to another passing plane.
"If it was anything bad, Doctor Light would have picked it up first instead of Miss Lavender. She must be panicking so bad because this is important to her, but once I contact the others and reset the signal, she'll calm down." Rock didn't know whether he was comforting his sister or himself, but his rambles continued.
"I hope it is just that. Otherwise the others aren't going to take it well." Roll agreed to the previous statement. Rock's shoulder jolted at the comment, making Roll turn around.
"Do you think Needle, Spark, and Hardman know?" He asked.
"I wouldn't think so yet?" Roll responded with an uneasy look.
"If they ask, could you keep this a secret? I want to make sure it's nothing serious before they panic." Rock looked at the ground, his hands playing with the blueprint edges. Roll nodded without another word. The siblings' shoulders touched one another, a gentle silence accompanied their concerned hums.
"If this is all one cruel prank, I'm going to slap those boys." Roll spoke up and Rock had to suppress a laugh. As horrible as it sounded in his head, he wanted it to be a joke. At least it would prove they are alright and joking around. They are having fun with their functions and not in trouble. He won't have to fight anything with the blaster in his hand.
The doors slid open and Dr. Light wiped his brow with Rush by his side. The red robot dog barked happily nudging into Rock's side. Rock smiled and nuzzled against the dog's back and noticed several markings along the legs and back. He looked towards the roboticist for an explanation, which he thankfully received quickly.
"Since Lucy doesn't want to risk another shuttle exploding, I made a few modifications to Rush to allow you to reach the asteroids. He has three main modes for you to traverse the tunnels. A ship mode for you to travel through space, a jet mode in case you need to get through the tunnels quick, and the back is equipped with a spring to help you get to higher places. You just need to tell Rush exactly what you want. I also stored repair tools and energy drinks for you. Just in case." Rock felt off by the additional statement but quickly moved on. He looked to see Wily and Lucy watching through the door, with a nervous twitch in the latter's eyes. He looked to Rush with a determined look and cleared his throat.
"Rush, jet!" He said.
Rush's ears ears perked and he crouched to the ground until his the legs merged against his belly, his feet turned into landing pads. His sides opened and two powerful thrusters hummed intensely with a high pitched whistle. The back flattened into a plate with magnetic padding, and Rock's feet made an audible clap as he was securely in place. He patted Rush's head and readied himself for takeoff, only to have one more hand grip his shoulder.
"Remember, do not engage unless it is necessary. I don't want you to get hurt." Dr. Light said.
"Thank you for this Megaman." Lucy added from the door.
With one last nod, Rock pointed to the sky and commanded Rush forward. He barely heard his companion bark when powerful jets of wind blasted against his face. Even with his hard armor, Rock could feel the atmosphere quickly turn colder and clouds passed by them. The thrusters on Rush's sides had less power the higher they reached until he no longer felt the intense him on the plate. The two were still going fast without power and almost seem to float.
"We must have left the atmosphere now. Rush, spaceship mode!" Rock commanded. Rush barked in response and Rock crouched to avoid the forming glass barrier. The spaceship mode wasn't too different from the jet mode apart from the thrusters being smaller and the glass dome protecting Rock's body.
He watched the stars go by with Rush soaring through the empty cosmos, the hollow colors unnerving him in his core. The sun bathed the Earth in a bright light, allowing the planet to display its hues of green, blue, and fluffy white clouds. Satellites floated past the dome glass and Rush barely missed a thin piece of space debris. As several hours passed, Rock watched the Earth grow distant along with the moon.
Rock dozed off on the third hour before Rush growled softly. He opened his eyes bewildered at the monstrous sized asteroids, along with the eerie glowing within. Each of their craters glowed a faint colorful light, fading in and out consistently in a pattern. It felt unnatural the closer he got to them, and he felt a faint thought to get away. Readying himself for the unknown, Rock sat up and pointed to the nearest asteroid with determined eyes.
"That one Rush."
He pointed at the asteroid Glimmer.