A red figure stumbled across the hallway, his steps were uneven, and he used the wall to help support himself. Down the hallway he saw a familiar person in the room up ahead of him. He struggled to make it all the way there but he was too weak, not enough energy, he fell across the floor and closed his eyes for a moment…
'Let me build up my energy and I will get up again…' He thought. He soon heard a familiar voice call his name…
Everything went black.
Two men walked down the hallway of a very small home, one man was dressed in a white lab coat with a cigarette in his mouth while the other man, a tall and well-built man, was dressed in a business suit. They walked at a slow pace.
"I'm excited to meet this Dr. Manley." The well-dressed man spoke in a deep bass voice.
"One of my best colleagues, reminds me of myself."
"You know, Dr. Cain, we could always use you at the university. You would be a great addition to our staff." They both stopped in front of a door.
"I've already told you, Benet, my place is here…not in a class room. But that's why I called you down here; Dr. Manley is very qualified. I'm sure you will find h-"
"Just like your father" Mr. Benet shook his head while interrupting the Doctor.
Dr. Cain started to open the door, "The only difference is he's dead." He smiled and walked into the lab. Mr. Benet stood there for a moment, a little disturbed by the comment. He followed in.
It was bright inside, metal and scraps were scattered all about, and the walls were covered with monitors and different equipment. In the center of the large room stood two people, also in white lab coats. They seemed to be bent over a table…working on something, totally unaware of the two visitors.
"Dr. Manley, Mr. Benet is here to see you." Dr. Cain called while putting his hands in his pocket, his cigarette still in his mouth.
There was a pause, before they both stood up and turned towards them. They both took off their protective glasses and put down their equipment. One was a tall and slender girl with long hair tied in a ponytail and the other was a younger man about the same height with shaggy brown hair. Mr. Benet walks up to the man holding out his hand.
"Dr. Manley…"
"I'm Dr. Manley." The girl stood in front of her assistant and took Mr. Benet's hand and gave a shake. "Lara Manley." She smiled.
Mr. Benet stood there a little speechless and then smiled back. "I apologize…"
"It's all right, it happens quite often actually. Not many women work in robotics nowadays. I'm happy to make your acquaintance…"
"Cory Benet." He let go of her hand and stood up straight.
"I'll be leaving you two." Dr. Cain turned and left.
"You came at a perfect time." She stepped aside so Mr. Benet could see what she was working on.
On the table was a metal skeleton, a robot that was a little bit small when compared to the average human. It had no armor or outer skin yet, only the face which was of a younger looking boy with purple streaks on the cheeks and a blue mark on the chin. Everything else was exposed, a massive knot of wires and cords.
"It looks rather primitive…" Mr. Benet began looking the robot over.
"Yes," She began. "It's based off of the plans of a Class-A robot I found. It's over a 100 years old!"
"Class-A?"
"Robots are classified into 6 categories. Class-E are your stationary robots, Class-D are your remote controlled robots. They can't operate without either a human or an outside computer controlling their every action. Class-C and B would be your mobile single and multi-tasking robots. Class-A are robots with human A.I. And then Class-S would be your robots with human N.I."
"N.I.?"
"Neural Intelligence. Reploids are in that class."
Mr. Benet nodded slowly, he was a little lost but tried not to show it. He looked back down at the Class-A robot.
"So why are you building this then…a Class-A. Why not a Class-S?"
"Well," Lara began. "You are familiar with Dr. Light and his work correct?"
"Oh yes, of course."
"Everyone one of his robots is a Class-A, except for his last one…Megaman X." She blushed a little. "We know a lot about his work-and the robots he designed. Well…last year we discovered someone new. We believed he lived at the same time as Dr. Light and he too, also designed Class-A Robots. We had trouble finding complete records of his designs, we found only one…this one." She set her hand on the shoulder of the robot. "His name is Dr. Wily…and this robot was called Bass. I took the design of Bass and I am constructing this robot from that design. In the end, I plan on giving it an N.I. CPU. But...there is something special about it."
"What is it?"
"The remains of Bass...or...at least what we could find...were damaged beyond any kind of use. Except we found the processor chip! I ran a few tests and I am actually using that...and it seems the the N.I. is accepting it!"
"And..." Benet was lost in all her explinations and terms, it was like a foreign language. He hoped that it would all be summed up in one easy to understand sentance.
"This means that there is a possibility that this robot here...will have some memories of the previous....Bass' memory! Of course it is just a theory of mine...it might not work that way. But even so...if it does! We can learn so much from him!"
Benet let all that absorb in, it made sense now. He looked down at the premature reploid. He thought for a moment then a question appeared in his mind, "Do you know anything about this Dr…Wily…?" The name seemed so strange; he hesitated when pronouncing it.
"No, we only discovered him last year. We have different theories about who he really was. I mean, we found more records on Dr. Light than this man, so that suggests that the overall public respected Dr. Light more. Some people here at the lab believe that he might have been his assistant, which would also explain why not much is known about him…and his design is very similar to what Dr. Light designed." She shook her head. "We don't know anything for sure. That's who I am currently studying and working on right now."
"What do you believe…I mean…who do you think he is from all that you've found so far?"
"Me? Personally I think he worked closely with Dr. Light in some way. Which makes me believe that he designed his own robot with neural intelligence…and I plan on finding that out."
"Zero?"
He opened his eyes and saw his friend standing over him. He was in a bed…and it had been days since he had been awake…
"Are you all right?"
"What happened?" Zero looked around, all he remembered was X calling his name before everything going solid black.
"You tell me." X smiled. "We were trying to locate you for the longest time. I was worried that something happened to you up there…"
Zero just stared blankly at him; X hadn't really answered his question.
"We found you collapsed outside the control room door. You were badly damaged…" X trailed off and Zero nodded, looking down the bed to the front of the empty room. Slowly it was all coming back to Zero…how he was up at final weapon…General destroyed it…letting him escape…but the battle with Sigma almost took everything out of him…he barely escaped from that. Colonel…General…the whole repliforce…he thought about what was going to happen now. Then he thought about Iris. He looked down at his hands and then planted his face into them.
"Zero! Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." He didn't move from his position and then thought to himself, 'I hope.'
"Um…" X began, "There is something I need to tell you…"
Zero looked up slowly. "Not right now."
X left.
"Have you gotten any sleep lately?" Dr. Cain gave a puff from his cigarette.
"No." Dr. Manley was working on her robot…and had been ever since she met with Mr. Benet three days ago. "I want to finish this."
"You should get some sleep."
"I'm almost done."
Dr. Cain walked up next to her and looked the robot over. He had most of his outer shell on now and he was slowly looking more like a human. Only the top of his head and his chest was exposed…but the wires were neatly organized now.
"You have been working hard haven't you?"
"Yes."
"When do expect to be finished."
"I believe sometime tomorrow."
Dr. Cain narrowed his eyes on the face of the robot. "You will run tests right? Before activation?"
"Why would I need to do that?"
Dr. Cain quickly looked over at her, "You know nothing about the design."
"I compared the design to some of our older Class-As and its fine. Quite similar. There is nothing to worry about."
"What about the C.P.U?" He walked over to a glass tank that was filled with a clear pink liquid. Inside, there was something floating…something growing. It looked almost like a mechanical brain.
"What about it?"
"I'm not sure if you are ready to grow your own…have you been mo-"
"Why do you suddenly doubt my skills?"
"What if it turns Maverick?"
"It's not going to turn Maverick..."
"You planeted a foreign object into the processing unit, which can cause a huge number of complications. The longer that thing grows...the better chance a mutation could occur...turning the reploid...Maverick."
"Please. I did run some tests on the chip in the begining. I just think I am on to something here. If everything works out...we can learn so much from this. Listen...the human race never got anywhere without taking chances. I have a good feeling about this.
"I'm just a little edgy. I'm not sure if it's wise to…build any robots with N.I. inside right now…ever since the repliforce had-"
Dr. Manley stopped, stood up and interrupted, "I already know. Cory called me today and told me that I wouldn't be able to teach at the university. Even the students are fighting…they had to fire every professor that deals in robotics and even a one who deals with psychology."
"Psychology?!"
"Yes. Dr. Gouger, he focuses on the human brain and his ending lesson is on the rebloids N.I. in comparison with us."
"Now I understand."
"But there is nothing to worry about Dr. Cain."
"I still have a bad feeling…"
Much of the human population was fighting and protesting against the use of reploids. They feared that another rebellion by them and the religious leaders were taking the opportunity to gather the support that they had lacked for years. It was a war between religion and technology and it was anyone's game.
Zero had finally gotten himself to move around, he had been depressed but now was feeling a little better. He wanted to go find X, find out what he had to say.
He heard some talking over from the lobby and passed on. Beyond that, only silence. He came up to another room, similar to the one he had been resting in, but only this one was a lot larger. It was where fatally damaged reploids were repaired. He glanced into the room as he walked by, but what he saw made him stop suddenly.
On the bed sat a girl, her long hair tied back, her armor was a dress, and she just stared blankly at a wall. It was Iris.
Zero stood there for a moment, not sure if he was dreaming, or if she was really there…alive. Zero took a step forward, wanting to run up to her.
"Zero! Wait!"
Zero looked down the hallway and saw X running up to him, at the same time Iris looked over at Zero a little confused and startled. X stopped next to Zero.
"What is it?" Zero sounded annoyed.
"That's what I needed to tell you…Iris…"
"I understand now…" He smiled, "You broug-"
"No you don't understand. I did bring her back when you told me to leave…but…" He lowered his voice, "She can't remember anything."
"What?" Zero looked over at Iris who was standing up and walking over to them.
"They were able to save her… but she can't remember anything. Only her name."
Zero was still watching Iris, he felt a deep sadness again…
"Hi." Iris smiled as she stopped by the two in the doorway. "I'm Iris." She held out her hand.
"Zero." He took her hand slowly.
Iris could tell that something was bothering him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He said, letting her hand go. She looked over at X then at Zero again.
"I'm sorry."
Zero looked up at her.
"I may not remember anything but…that doesn't mean we can't start over."
"Yes," Zero smiled, "you're right."
The next day, Iris was able to leave her room Zero took her someplace to try and talk to her. X took the chance to go visit Dr. Cain, he had a few questions for him.
"Finally" Dr. Manley stood over her almost completed robot. She turned and walked over towards a counter where the CPU had been growing. She took it out and walked back over to her robot and with the help of her assistant; she placed it into her robot. They connected a few wires together and it was done. They covered the "brain" and then added his helmet.
"Are you sure…this will work?" The nervous assistant stood back.
"Of course."
"What will you call him?"
"His name is Rave."
"Are you sure he wont be dangerous?"
"I based his N.I. CPU off of Megaman. I'm positive nothing will go wrong."
"But you have no control over how the neurons grow…I mean…there could have been a mutation or something. We should have ran some tests over…"
"It will be okay!" She smiled and pushed a button, which slowly moved the table to an upright position. It stopped when Rave was standing up.
"I really don't feel good about this Doctor."
"I've helped build a lot of Class-S robots and none of them have turned out bad. And I've repaired more than a 100 robots of all classes…including X." She blushed a little at his name.
"But you took the plans from someone we know nothing about. Maybe this Dr. Wily was a bad man…"
She looked at him, "I haven't heard this theory. So what do you think?"
"Well," The assistant fidgeted with his hands having been put on the spot, "I just don't understand why Dr. Light put built-in-weaponry into his robots. I mean…they were so far advanced-you wouldn't need such a weapon if he were using his robots against human criminals. I think there were robots designed for…"
She held up her hand, "I see where you are getting at. You think Dr. Wily might have been Dr. Light's…rival?" The assistant nodded and Lara just laughed. "That's cute. I will have to write that one down." The assistant looked down. "I only found one thing wrong with the design and I was able to fix it. Let's just say the original robot was a little on the clumsy side." She stood in front of Rave, looking straight at him. "Now then…let's see what happens."
She reached up and placed her left hand behind his neck. After a moment she put her hand down and took a step back as the robot gave a quick jolt. The assistant took a few nervous steps back as the robot slowly opened his eyes. He blinked for a moment then looked around.
"Hello. I'm Dr. Lara Manley." She held out her hand, the robot took a step forward and took her hand.
"Rave." He said before letting go. He walked around, looking about the room. His eyes stopped on the assistant.
"And that's my assistant, Bryan Alder."
Rave walked up to the nervous boy and backed him up against the wall. Rave tilted his head to the side, their noses almost touching. Bryan was shaking with fear, wanting to turn his eyes away from Rave but for some reason, his gaze was stuck there.
"What's wrong? Are you scared of me?" Rave stood back a little bit to give the boy some room.
"Y-yes." Bryan managed to say, still staring down Rave who gently placed his hand on Bryan's chest.
"I have to apologize, he is a bit nervous…"
"Well," Rave smiled a bit and whispered, "you should be."
'Let me build up my energy and I will get up again…' He thought. He soon heard a familiar voice call his name…
Everything went black.
Two men walked down the hallway of a very small home, one man was dressed in a white lab coat with a cigarette in his mouth while the other man, a tall and well-built man, was dressed in a business suit. They walked at a slow pace.
"I'm excited to meet this Dr. Manley." The well-dressed man spoke in a deep bass voice.
"One of my best colleagues, reminds me of myself."
"You know, Dr. Cain, we could always use you at the university. You would be a great addition to our staff." They both stopped in front of a door.
"I've already told you, Benet, my place is here…not in a class room. But that's why I called you down here; Dr. Manley is very qualified. I'm sure you will find h-"
"Just like your father" Mr. Benet shook his head while interrupting the Doctor.
Dr. Cain started to open the door, "The only difference is he's dead." He smiled and walked into the lab. Mr. Benet stood there for a moment, a little disturbed by the comment. He followed in.
It was bright inside, metal and scraps were scattered all about, and the walls were covered with monitors and different equipment. In the center of the large room stood two people, also in white lab coats. They seemed to be bent over a table…working on something, totally unaware of the two visitors.
"Dr. Manley, Mr. Benet is here to see you." Dr. Cain called while putting his hands in his pocket, his cigarette still in his mouth.
There was a pause, before they both stood up and turned towards them. They both took off their protective glasses and put down their equipment. One was a tall and slender girl with long hair tied in a ponytail and the other was a younger man about the same height with shaggy brown hair. Mr. Benet walks up to the man holding out his hand.
"Dr. Manley…"
"I'm Dr. Manley." The girl stood in front of her assistant and took Mr. Benet's hand and gave a shake. "Lara Manley." She smiled.
Mr. Benet stood there a little speechless and then smiled back. "I apologize…"
"It's all right, it happens quite often actually. Not many women work in robotics nowadays. I'm happy to make your acquaintance…"
"Cory Benet." He let go of her hand and stood up straight.
"I'll be leaving you two." Dr. Cain turned and left.
"You came at a perfect time." She stepped aside so Mr. Benet could see what she was working on.
On the table was a metal skeleton, a robot that was a little bit small when compared to the average human. It had no armor or outer skin yet, only the face which was of a younger looking boy with purple streaks on the cheeks and a blue mark on the chin. Everything else was exposed, a massive knot of wires and cords.
"It looks rather primitive…" Mr. Benet began looking the robot over.
"Yes," She began. "It's based off of the plans of a Class-A robot I found. It's over a 100 years old!"
"Class-A?"
"Robots are classified into 6 categories. Class-E are your stationary robots, Class-D are your remote controlled robots. They can't operate without either a human or an outside computer controlling their every action. Class-C and B would be your mobile single and multi-tasking robots. Class-A are robots with human A.I. And then Class-S would be your robots with human N.I."
"N.I.?"
"Neural Intelligence. Reploids are in that class."
Mr. Benet nodded slowly, he was a little lost but tried not to show it. He looked back down at the Class-A robot.
"So why are you building this then…a Class-A. Why not a Class-S?"
"Well," Lara began. "You are familiar with Dr. Light and his work correct?"
"Oh yes, of course."
"Everyone one of his robots is a Class-A, except for his last one…Megaman X." She blushed a little. "We know a lot about his work-and the robots he designed. Well…last year we discovered someone new. We believed he lived at the same time as Dr. Light and he too, also designed Class-A Robots. We had trouble finding complete records of his designs, we found only one…this one." She set her hand on the shoulder of the robot. "His name is Dr. Wily…and this robot was called Bass. I took the design of Bass and I am constructing this robot from that design. In the end, I plan on giving it an N.I. CPU. But...there is something special about it."
"What is it?"
"The remains of Bass...or...at least what we could find...were damaged beyond any kind of use. Except we found the processor chip! I ran a few tests and I am actually using that...and it seems the the N.I. is accepting it!"
"And..." Benet was lost in all her explinations and terms, it was like a foreign language. He hoped that it would all be summed up in one easy to understand sentance.
"This means that there is a possibility that this robot here...will have some memories of the previous....Bass' memory! Of course it is just a theory of mine...it might not work that way. But even so...if it does! We can learn so much from him!"
Benet let all that absorb in, it made sense now. He looked down at the premature reploid. He thought for a moment then a question appeared in his mind, "Do you know anything about this Dr…Wily…?" The name seemed so strange; he hesitated when pronouncing it.
"No, we only discovered him last year. We have different theories about who he really was. I mean, we found more records on Dr. Light than this man, so that suggests that the overall public respected Dr. Light more. Some people here at the lab believe that he might have been his assistant, which would also explain why not much is known about him…and his design is very similar to what Dr. Light designed." She shook her head. "We don't know anything for sure. That's who I am currently studying and working on right now."
"What do you believe…I mean…who do you think he is from all that you've found so far?"
"Me? Personally I think he worked closely with Dr. Light in some way. Which makes me believe that he designed his own robot with neural intelligence…and I plan on finding that out."
"Zero?"
He opened his eyes and saw his friend standing over him. He was in a bed…and it had been days since he had been awake…
"Are you all right?"
"What happened?" Zero looked around, all he remembered was X calling his name before everything going solid black.
"You tell me." X smiled. "We were trying to locate you for the longest time. I was worried that something happened to you up there…"
Zero just stared blankly at him; X hadn't really answered his question.
"We found you collapsed outside the control room door. You were badly damaged…" X trailed off and Zero nodded, looking down the bed to the front of the empty room. Slowly it was all coming back to Zero…how he was up at final weapon…General destroyed it…letting him escape…but the battle with Sigma almost took everything out of him…he barely escaped from that. Colonel…General…the whole repliforce…he thought about what was going to happen now. Then he thought about Iris. He looked down at his hands and then planted his face into them.
"Zero! Are you okay?"
"I'll be fine." He didn't move from his position and then thought to himself, 'I hope.'
"Um…" X began, "There is something I need to tell you…"
Zero looked up slowly. "Not right now."
X left.
"Have you gotten any sleep lately?" Dr. Cain gave a puff from his cigarette.
"No." Dr. Manley was working on her robot…and had been ever since she met with Mr. Benet three days ago. "I want to finish this."
"You should get some sleep."
"I'm almost done."
Dr. Cain walked up next to her and looked the robot over. He had most of his outer shell on now and he was slowly looking more like a human. Only the top of his head and his chest was exposed…but the wires were neatly organized now.
"You have been working hard haven't you?"
"Yes."
"When do expect to be finished."
"I believe sometime tomorrow."
Dr. Cain narrowed his eyes on the face of the robot. "You will run tests right? Before activation?"
"Why would I need to do that?"
Dr. Cain quickly looked over at her, "You know nothing about the design."
"I compared the design to some of our older Class-As and its fine. Quite similar. There is nothing to worry about."
"What about the C.P.U?" He walked over to a glass tank that was filled with a clear pink liquid. Inside, there was something floating…something growing. It looked almost like a mechanical brain.
"What about it?"
"I'm not sure if you are ready to grow your own…have you been mo-"
"Why do you suddenly doubt my skills?"
"What if it turns Maverick?"
"It's not going to turn Maverick..."
"You planeted a foreign object into the processing unit, which can cause a huge number of complications. The longer that thing grows...the better chance a mutation could occur...turning the reploid...Maverick."
"Please. I did run some tests on the chip in the begining. I just think I am on to something here. If everything works out...we can learn so much from this. Listen...the human race never got anywhere without taking chances. I have a good feeling about this.
"I'm just a little edgy. I'm not sure if it's wise to…build any robots with N.I. inside right now…ever since the repliforce had-"
Dr. Manley stopped, stood up and interrupted, "I already know. Cory called me today and told me that I wouldn't be able to teach at the university. Even the students are fighting…they had to fire every professor that deals in robotics and even a one who deals with psychology."
"Psychology?!"
"Yes. Dr. Gouger, he focuses on the human brain and his ending lesson is on the rebloids N.I. in comparison with us."
"Now I understand."
"But there is nothing to worry about Dr. Cain."
"I still have a bad feeling…"
Much of the human population was fighting and protesting against the use of reploids. They feared that another rebellion by them and the religious leaders were taking the opportunity to gather the support that they had lacked for years. It was a war between religion and technology and it was anyone's game.
Zero had finally gotten himself to move around, he had been depressed but now was feeling a little better. He wanted to go find X, find out what he had to say.
He heard some talking over from the lobby and passed on. Beyond that, only silence. He came up to another room, similar to the one he had been resting in, but only this one was a lot larger. It was where fatally damaged reploids were repaired. He glanced into the room as he walked by, but what he saw made him stop suddenly.
On the bed sat a girl, her long hair tied back, her armor was a dress, and she just stared blankly at a wall. It was Iris.
Zero stood there for a moment, not sure if he was dreaming, or if she was really there…alive. Zero took a step forward, wanting to run up to her.
"Zero! Wait!"
Zero looked down the hallway and saw X running up to him, at the same time Iris looked over at Zero a little confused and startled. X stopped next to Zero.
"What is it?" Zero sounded annoyed.
"That's what I needed to tell you…Iris…"
"I understand now…" He smiled, "You broug-"
"No you don't understand. I did bring her back when you told me to leave…but…" He lowered his voice, "She can't remember anything."
"What?" Zero looked over at Iris who was standing up and walking over to them.
"They were able to save her… but she can't remember anything. Only her name."
Zero was still watching Iris, he felt a deep sadness again…
"Hi." Iris smiled as she stopped by the two in the doorway. "I'm Iris." She held out her hand.
"Zero." He took her hand slowly.
Iris could tell that something was bothering him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." He said, letting her hand go. She looked over at X then at Zero again.
"I'm sorry."
Zero looked up at her.
"I may not remember anything but…that doesn't mean we can't start over."
"Yes," Zero smiled, "you're right."
The next day, Iris was able to leave her room Zero took her someplace to try and talk to her. X took the chance to go visit Dr. Cain, he had a few questions for him.
"Finally" Dr. Manley stood over her almost completed robot. She turned and walked over towards a counter where the CPU had been growing. She took it out and walked back over to her robot and with the help of her assistant; she placed it into her robot. They connected a few wires together and it was done. They covered the "brain" and then added his helmet.
"Are you sure…this will work?" The nervous assistant stood back.
"Of course."
"What will you call him?"
"His name is Rave."
"Are you sure he wont be dangerous?"
"I based his N.I. CPU off of Megaman. I'm positive nothing will go wrong."
"But you have no control over how the neurons grow…I mean…there could have been a mutation or something. We should have ran some tests over…"
"It will be okay!" She smiled and pushed a button, which slowly moved the table to an upright position. It stopped when Rave was standing up.
"I really don't feel good about this Doctor."
"I've helped build a lot of Class-S robots and none of them have turned out bad. And I've repaired more than a 100 robots of all classes…including X." She blushed a little at his name.
"But you took the plans from someone we know nothing about. Maybe this Dr. Wily was a bad man…"
She looked at him, "I haven't heard this theory. So what do you think?"
"Well," The assistant fidgeted with his hands having been put on the spot, "I just don't understand why Dr. Light put built-in-weaponry into his robots. I mean…they were so far advanced-you wouldn't need such a weapon if he were using his robots against human criminals. I think there were robots designed for…"
She held up her hand, "I see where you are getting at. You think Dr. Wily might have been Dr. Light's…rival?" The assistant nodded and Lara just laughed. "That's cute. I will have to write that one down." The assistant looked down. "I only found one thing wrong with the design and I was able to fix it. Let's just say the original robot was a little on the clumsy side." She stood in front of Rave, looking straight at him. "Now then…let's see what happens."
She reached up and placed her left hand behind his neck. After a moment she put her hand down and took a step back as the robot gave a quick jolt. The assistant took a few nervous steps back as the robot slowly opened his eyes. He blinked for a moment then looked around.
"Hello. I'm Dr. Lara Manley." She held out her hand, the robot took a step forward and took her hand.
"Rave." He said before letting go. He walked around, looking about the room. His eyes stopped on the assistant.
"And that's my assistant, Bryan Alder."
Rave walked up to the nervous boy and backed him up against the wall. Rave tilted his head to the side, their noses almost touching. Bryan was shaking with fear, wanting to turn his eyes away from Rave but for some reason, his gaze was stuck there.
"What's wrong? Are you scared of me?" Rave stood back a little bit to give the boy some room.
"Y-yes." Bryan managed to say, still staring down Rave who gently placed his hand on Bryan's chest.
"I have to apologize, he is a bit nervous…"
"Well," Rave smiled a bit and whispered, "you should be."