Back at home...
I walked around Lights Labs, helping Dr. Light, my father, with various projects. He had been so excited the past few days about a new line of robo masters; they not only had powers differing a bit from those of the existing line, but had a new, modern look to them. So far, the only two that were finished were Zap Man, who was a lot like Electric Man, and Hazard Man, who was able to make himself explode, yet keep himself in one piece. He was a lot like bomb man, but the explosion was supposedly going to be much bigger. Their metals were sleeker, and they just generally looked a bit nicer.
I stared at the two that were finished. They would be sent across the world with emotions and ways to experience things. They would be fine over there, unlike times before emotions couldn't be put into robots. I couldn't imagine life without being able to think for myself; to me, Dad made it sound like it was living in a darkness only reading orders from a screen, being unable to control any movement. I shuddered just thinking about being trapped like that.
"What are these going to be made to do, Dad?" I asked my father. I hadn't yet asked what their intent was. At first, I thought his intention was going to be to replace the old ones, but I couldn't bear to think about that. And he would never replace me or Roll... That would be like replacing all of his memories with robots that weren't half as good as us.
Without turning away from his work, he answered, "Well, Rock, these are for across the world. I was asked to build a somewhat similar line for a large city that needed much construction work so they could work more on trade with other countries and such."
I nodded, and continued to watch him work. His eyes that were wrinkled yet fell of intelligence looked down at the robot in front of him, which was largely unfinished. For a while, I handed him tools and wondered what the robot was going to look like, until my sister barged in, panting, as if she had just run in an entire marathon. Her blonde hair that was tied back with a green ribbon flung around as she held her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath. The doors slammed against the walls, and Dr. Light immediately looked up from his work. "What's wrong, Roll?"
"There's some sort of creature out there!" She shouted, making it sound urgent. "It looks like a really, really strange and... maybe powerful robot!"
I looked at my dad, trying to decipher the look on his face. If he was trying to show no emotion, he succeeded, because I didn't see any confusion in his face. He stroked his beard, examining the situation inside his head. "Is it harming any of the citizens?" He finally asked.
She shook her head. "No. It doesn't even... It seems to be really confused. Maybe it's coding got messed up? Or it could be programmed to do something... I just don't know, Dad!"
At that, Dr. Light went towards Roll, and leaned over. She looked up at him, and he just stopped and smiled. "Calm down. Not every robot we see is working for Dr. Wily. It's all right. Besides, Rock will go after it if he needs to. And he'll do a fine job at whatever I ask him to do."
Roll nodded in reply, then led him towards a monitor that showed all the activity in the city. There was one on the top of almost every building, and it usually caught everything down by the streets. We would know right away if there was something wrong.
On the monitor, it was zoomed in on a blue... walking, talking sort of... animal? "It's obviously something of Dr. Wily's." I announced, as if certain with myself. "I'll go deactivate it and bring it back." I only thought that because I had never seen Dr. Light create anything even remotely close to this, and he didn't mention any strange robots that had run away from him except for Blues. Then again, the robots Dr. Wily created were almost always knock-offs of something my father had done.
"Hold on, son." Dad ordered, but I still changed into my armor with one of my processors. He watched the screen with intensity, as if trying to figure out what the best option was. "He isn't hurting anyone. What could he be...? You two go continue with your work; this might take a little while."
My father stole the chair from Roll, and he continued to stare at the screen. Roll and I went away, continuing with our work. If it was a robot of Wily's and it got out of control... I would want to save it either way. I didn't like to see robots go to waste. I wanted to save all of them, even if it took years to pry them away from Dr. Wily.
Roll and I ignored each other for the most part, and she swept while I organized the things that the doctor left out when he worked. It was tedious work, but I didn't feel much boredom, being a robot that was designed to help my dad.
It was an hour before I started to worry. Dad was still trying to figure out what the thing was. If he couldn't find out what it was with all of his technology, no one could. He was the smartest guy I knew. I snuck a peak at the monitor, and the being was on top of a building, laying on his back. It looked like it was sleeping. I wondered if it was a time bomb about to blow up the city.
Roll pulled me away by my arm harshly and asked, "What do you think that thing is?"
I had expected her to scold me for trying to eavesdrop on dad, but she look as worried as me. I just shook my head, not knowing anything anywhere close to the answer. "I don't know, Roll, but it doesn't seem dangerous. I just don't want anything to happen to anybody."
"Neither do I, Rock, but it wouldn't be unlike Wily to do something like this." She replied. "If Dad sends you against that thing, just be careful. I don't want anything to happen to you. Maybe there's a new villain out there."
"Right." I said, trying to reassure her. She walked away, and I watched her go. Sometimes, I felt like she looked out for me too much. Then, I remembered that she was just a really good sister.
Dad finally called me, still puzzled about the creature. I looked about it, and it really did look strange. "Is it.... Is it...?" I couldn't think of what it could be. It was supposed to be a copy of an animal, it looked like, but I couldn't make it out to resemble anything I knew about.
"It has to be a robot." He said. "I can't think of anything else! What else is that big and blue? And that speed... I've never seen anything run up a building or run as fast as it. This says it's a life form, but... I just can't believe it."
I stayed silent for a few moments while he continued to mostly mutter to himself. I couldn't figure out whether or not he was going to send me to capture the robot and bring it back or order me to destroy it. I always, always hoped he wouldn't make me destroy the robot, though there were instances where I had no other choice.
"I want you to bring him back." Father said. I sighed with relief. "But get as much information out of him as possible. Be careful. I don't know what game Wily is trying to play with us here..."
"What if it's not Dr. Wily this time?" I asked.
Dad sighed, as if he had thought about it. "Then we've got another adversary on our hands, Mega Man."
I nodded, not entirely content with the answer. I started towards the door. Suddenly, I paused, thinking about Rush, my dog. He could fly me to the top of the building, but I could always get there in other ways if he wasn't available yet. With a burst of hope, I asked, "Is Rush ready for combat yet?"
Dr. Light rubbed his eyes. He had been staring at the screen for a long time. "I've got him working, but his flight engine is still having some difficulties. I'll have him ready as soon as I can, but I don't think we've got that much time. I'll only feel comfortable once we have this thing in our grasp."
A bit dismayed, I nodded, then exited the building. I started to run towards the larger portions of the city, ignoring people who asked for my autograph or asking me to meet their kid or something. Part of me really still wished I didn't have to do what I did, and the other part of me kind of liked it. Either way, at the moment, I was on a mission, and as rude as it sounded, I didn't have time for them.
I tried to avoid running into the people, but there were a lot of them. They were swarming the streets still, even though the sun was down. I apologized to every person I accidentally bumped into.
"Go to your right, Mega Man." I heard my dad tell me through a communicator in my helmet. "You'll see a fire escape you can climb to the top of the structure with."
I looked uneasily at it. "Is it the one he's on top of already?"
"No." He answered. As I sighed, he said, "You'll have to jump across some buildings, but I'll lead you too him. He's not terribly far away."
I did as I was told, and climbed up the long, ladder. The metal was cold as I switched my hands, climbing onto it. My father made it sound so easy, just like every other mission. Then again, even was I was going into Wily's castle, he made it sound simple. I think he just didn't want to discourage me.
Giving myself a reasonable running start, I ran to the edge of the building, hopping onto the next. I continued to run and jump for quite some time, my energy still staying strong. It was strange having to do so much work and not having my dog by me. He hadn't always been with me, but once he had been made, he almost never left my side.
"Do you see something, Mega Man?" I heard Dad ask me. I squinted my eyes to see even clearer, looking out in front of me.
"I think I see him!" I replied, pushing myself to go just a bit faster. "I'll go get him right away."
"Good luck." The doctor finished. "Though I'm hoping you don't need it."
I came to a stop as I hopped onto the building, looking at the creature. He was sleeping, but even robots slept. We weren't always working. So it was still hard to tell if he was actually a robot. I couldn't see any difference, just like how people couldn't tell that I was a robot when they looked at me as Rock.
In an effort to wake him up, I shot my Mega Blaster close to him, and he jumped up. He was incredibly flexible. "You're... you're just a kid!" He said, exasperated.
My stare intensified. "Why did Dr. Wily send you?" I tried to make him uneasy, so he would tell me all of his plans, though I knew I wasn't very intimidating.
To my confusion, though I didn't show it, the 'robot' asked me who Dr. Wily was. He explained how he had mysteriously appeared the day before, and he didn't know anything about the world he was in. I almost believed him.
Then, the robots came to attack, and brought me back to Dr. Wily's laboratory after the confrontation. At first, I believed it was the creatures plan, until the robots told me they only wanted the 'creature'. But even with the creature helping me, we were no match. The battle had just had too many surprises that I hadn't been expecting, like the building crumbling under my feet.
All my doubts about the creature had been lifted. I still didn't know if he was a robot, though by then I had assumed he wasn't, but I was glad to know he wasn't yet another villain.