The year was 20XX, and a new technological age had begun to circle the earth. As the first simple robot for labor work was distributed to the public, and the world government had the three laws of robotics legal with every technological company, simple programmed robots had become a part of everyday work and human lives became adjusted to their new cozy lifestyle. Despite its success, the simple robot models were unable to handle jobs requiring complex thinking. Without the necessary upgrades to calculate complicated issues, many robots were destroyed in several job fields.
To help with this problem, a brilliant roboticist named Thomas Light invented the first robot model with advanced artificial intelligence, which he later nicknamed the robot masters. These models would be able to process information given to them, and decide on the best solution or response with what has been provided. As a side effect, the robot masters had the ability to develop a personality from the environment and people they interacted with. As the news of robot masters reached the government, Thomas Light soon gained worldwide fame as the "father of robotics" and creator of second robotic renaissance, promising a new age where the bonds between human and robot would grow stronger.
But his fame would be responsible for the anger of a fellow roboticist, and one little robot master would step up to stop any act of violence against human and robot kind. And that robot's story is bound to create more and change the fate of robots forever...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Far away from the bustling streets of the city Monsteropolis, a white cylinder shaped house stood on a small hill with a thick forest surrounding the back. A white picket fence surrounded its perimeter, a beautiful array of crops and flowers decorating its edges and pathway. The metal garage door was hidden well and doubling the size of the cars. The inside of the house was deceptively large with mostly vacant walls and minimalistic photos, except for a few frames showing a middle aged man with two young children. A large flat screen laid against the wall close to the main kitchen with a oversized couch on the opposite side and a case displaying several awards over it.
The second floor was more decorated compared to the first floor with frames lining the walls and different pattered doors leading to huge rooms. The doors furthest from the stairs were the main bedrooms, one with a comfy bed and a small desk littered in blueprints. The second bedroom had light blue walls with glowing stars in the corners, a bunk bed with different colored blankets right to the window. A little black haired boy laid across the lower bed peacefully, his light blue eyes scanning through the panels of a comic book.
"Hey Rock, come on down! The news is coming on!" A deep voice called out from the first floor. Rock jerked in surprise and falling off the bed, the last page of his comic having become squished. His body made a loud thud against the floor but he managed to straighten up and scurry downstairs.
A middle aged man sat on the couch with a smile, a small smoking pipe trailing with newly puffed smoke. His fluffy white beard reached to the front of his lab coat, his blue eyes gesturing for Rock to come join. On the floor was a little girl the same age as Rock, with her yellow hair tied together with a green ribbon and red dress dusty from cleaning the floor. The little boy sat next to his sister, and the tv's volume raised just enough for all three to hear. On the screen was a tall robot resembling a female teen, her bright pink hair accompanying her reporter attire.
This is Plum, reporting live from Monsteropolis Square, where famous roboticist Doctor Thomas Light is expected to arrive later this afternoon to display his newest set of special programmed robot masters to the open public. As you can from the crowd out here, everyone can hardly contain their excitement to see what the great "father of robotics" has in store for us.
As clips of Rock watched the news as they showed clips of Dr. Light talking with the public, he turned to the man on the couch. He smiled before pointing towards the kitchen. "Is it okay for us to see the others Dr. Light?"
"I don't know Rock. They're still in beta, so it may not be..." The roboticist started, but the little boy looked up with hope. His sister soon started to plead to see the newest robot master models. The man smiled from his defeat of wills and rose from the couch.
"Okay you two. But I can only do this for a few minutes. Understand?" He said. The two children nodded vigorously and followed him to the lab. Heading down in a slope past the kitchen, the main area of the lab expanded over two stories. Across one wall was three extra large screens displaying various plans, emails, and requests from different companies. A table three times as large as a dinner table stood in the center of the lab, a large contraption holding wires, lights, and tools hovering over it. In the far left corner were several box-like platforms with the still bodies of various robot masters.
"Are those your new models Dr. Light?" Rock asked curiously.
"Yes they are Rock. Built within the lab right here, and you and your sister will be the first ones they'll be interacting with. I want you to treat them just as I do with you and your sister. They'll be your new siblings." Dr. Light patted his back.
"Extended family? I like that." Rock muttered to himself with a little smile.
"I'm so excited, I want to see them wake up!" The little girl exclaimed.
"I'll let you exchange a few words, but nothing more. We don't want them to gather viruses or disrupt something important. Rock, will you press the button on each of the tables?" Dr. Light asked the little boy.
"Okay." Rock said. The first button he pressed made the table go up, showing the first robot peacefully shut down. The robot was roughly Rock's height, its body a bright orange and white and a large pair of scissors attached to the top of his round head. Dr. Light moved a chair for the little robot to see.
"This is DLN-003, or you can call him Cutman. He is going to be responsible for managing timber." He explained.
"Timber? But Dr. Light, he doesn't seem to be strong to handle strong trees like the ones in the mountains." The little girl spoke up.
"Not like that Roll, he's responsible for cutting down trees for development, not carry them across. That would be work for the human workers." Dr. Light chuckled.
"What's his personality like?" Rock grabbed the scissors on the immobile robot's head.
"I don't know." The doctor stated. The two robots looked at him confused, and he cleared his throat. "I only programmed him with the necessary stuff. I'm sure his personality will come to him in no time. It will be up to their I.C Chips on what personality they carve for themselves."
"I'm going to activate him." Rock suddenly said. Before anyone could object, he pressed against the robot's chest and a click was heard. A small hatch opened the chest with the core visible. As Rock touched the core gently, it started to beep and spin, a colorful glow erupting from within. He closed the hatch as the fingers started to twitch. A an arm slowly raised and the legs started to bend upwards. Finally, Cutman's eyes flickered open as he looked around him, his eyes finally settling on a gleeful Rock.
"Hello." He quietly said.
"Hello Cutman, do you know who I am?" Light put his hand on Cut's shoulder.
"I...You're Dr. Light, my creator. Where am I...and who is this?" Cutman gestured toward Rock, who seemed to be amused by the new member.
"I'm Rock, and this my sister Roll. Welcome to our home Cutman!"
"Really? Well, I guess it's a pleasure to meet you as well Rock and Roll. Are you human like Dr. Light?" Cutman politely asked. The two children looked at each and giggled slightly, causing the orange timber felling robot to tilt his head. Rock raised his shirt slightly and tapped his chest lightly like he did with Cutman. A small hatch cracked open to show a bright blue core humming softly. Cutman gawked as Rock closed the hatch and lowered his shirt.
"Nope! Me and my sister are both robot masters, just like you and the others!" Rock said.
"Wow. I couldn't tell you are like me." Cutman said.
"I'm sorry to interrupt boys, but we'll have to power down Cutman for now. I promise you all can talk more later." Dr. Light interrupted. Rock watched as Cutman started to lie down, his eyes slowly dimming to indicate power shutdown. He grabbed his hand and shook it to awaken him even with his core slowing down.
"Before you go, do you want to hear a joke?" Rock asked.
"My brother wants to do something nice for you." Roll added. Cut blinked in curiosity and fought his shutdown to hear Rock's suggestion.
"What is it?" He asked.
"Why couldn't Dr. Light wake me up in the garden?" Rock started. Cut's processor ran wild attempting to guess all of the possible answers. His core continued to slow, turning any solutions into partially finished thoughts.
"Uh...I don't know?" He said slightly defeated.
"Because I was in bedrock!" Rock finished. Cut stared at nothing as he started to chuckle a little, slowly developing into a laugh. The last of his power came through when he grinned at Rock.
"Hehehe! That was a 'sharp' joke. Just 'cuts' to the point. Nice one...Rock." Cut laid back against the platform, his eyes peacefully closed.
Rock activated more buttons with three more tables coming up. The first table held a huge muscular looking robot with a square jaw. The second table had a smaller robot roughly half the size as either of the twin robots. He had a similar face to a human covered in a thick blue and white artic coat. Lastly, the third robot was mostly yellow with a red mohawk running from the front to the back of his head.
"DLN-004, 005, and 006. You can call them Gutsman, Iceman, and Bombman. Guts and Bomb are meant for construction work, but little Iceman will be doing artic research for development."
On cue, each one of them woke up slowly, with exception to Iceman. Bombman started sporting a smile while shaking Dr. Light's hand, while Ice covered his face with the hood of his coat. Meanwhile Rock gazed at Gutsman's large build, feeling intimidated by the robot master's giant fists.
"It is nice to meet all of you!" Bomb exclaimed.
"H-Hello." Rock murmured.
"Haha! Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you." Guts said in comfort. He proceeded to pat Rock on the head, but misjudged his strength and wounded up completely knocking him to the ground.
"Sorry little guy." Guts added.
"I guess we still need to work on your strength, huh Guts?" Dr. Light chuckled and put a hand on the giant's shoulder.
"Sure do Pops." Guts confirmed the roboticist's statement. Rock staggered up to notice Roll sitting right next to Iceman, who still covered his face in his coat.
"Yo little Ice, are you going to say something or what?" Bomb shook him a little bit.
"Hey, are you okay?" Roll asked. She reached for his hand and he jolted up. Their eyes locked before he traced his look to her hand.
"Yes." He responded.
"Then why are you hiding your face?" Roll asked again.
"Is it because of our intimidating stature? I'm not that threatening!" Bomb laughed.
"N-No. I...I'm..." Ice stuttered.
"Cold?" Rock interrupted.
"No! I'm...I don't know. I feel...hot? Cold? My insides feel on fire...but I'm cold. Now it's going in reverse, what is going on?" Ice continued to stutter as he let go of Roll's hand, curling himself up to prevent any intense shivering.
"It's alright Ice, you're supposed to handle artic temperatures, so you're just not used to regulated temperatures. I promise it will go away once I fix your systems." Dr. Light said comfortingly.
"O-Okay." Ice looked back at Roll, who had reached for his shoulder instead of his hand.
"After the show, do you want some ice cream?" She asked.
"M-Maybe later." The little ice robot master finally smiled.
All of them were powered shortly afterwards, with Iceman being the last while thanking Roll for her kindness. Dr. Light brought the last two tables of robot masters. The first robot, Fireman, had a light grey and red color scheme with his head shaped to hold a powerful flame. The second one known as Elecman had a body mixed with red, black, and yellow colors. The top half of his face was covered by a yellow mask resembling a lightning bolt. Upon waking up, Elecman generated a static shock that hit both Rock and Roll in the head.
"Ow!!" Roll exclaimed.
"Easy Elecman! You're shocking the electronics!" The doctor gasped, ducking for cover. The other robot, Fireman, was the only one not shocked by the electricity.
"Yikes bud, you could start a fire! And while I would appreciate a nice fire for toasting, I would rather not be in one." Fireman said, who was the only one not shocked.
"Well it's not like I had any control the moment I woke up." Elecman replied with a mild tint of sass.
"On second thought, maybe we should wait after the presentation before talking. The lab could become fried without recalibrations." Light cleared his throat. Fire and Elec looked at each other for a split second before agreeing, much to Rock's disappointment.
"Aw, couldn't we talk just a little bit?" Rock pled.
"It's alright fellas. After all this, we can chat all ya want during a cookout. Ain't that right Elecman?" Fire gave a nudge to the electric robot master.
"Yes, I would rather want to not risk anyone here being blown up. I hope you can understand..." He exchanged looks with Rock, with the latter finally agreeing it was for the best.
"Now get ready you two. I'll be getting all of them ready for the presentation. We leave in a few hours. Elecman, I understand if you want to sleep, but can you give me a hand?" Dr. Light asked.
"Of course."
Excited for the unveil, Rock and Roll headed upstairs and dressed in their attire. With Roll's request, Rock allowed her to mess with his hair. Meanwhile, the robot masters were transported into a car and the group set out for the city.