"If I cried out loud
Over sorrows I've known
And the secrets I've heard
It would ease my mind
Someone sharing the load
But I won't breathe a word"
-Silence and I The Alan Parsons Project
It was true that he was nervous. Nervous due to the fact that he was about to move to his new home and finally live the life he was intended to live. However, part of his nervousness was exaggerated due to circumstances of his sensual abilities. The circumstances had sharpened one sense and had one sense another. Above all, his sense of hearing was acute and his voice absent destroyed due to the injuries he sustained. Because of his hearing, he heard all things in the heaven and in the earth and heard many things in hell.
He wanted to tell his friends that he was nervous, but he couldn't speak like the other occupants of the vehicle that he was in.
He could still have people understand him, thanks to a tablet that dictated his thoughts, but having a sound come out of his own mouth was impossible.
The reason this silent being was nervous was due to the fact that he was leaving the enclosure that he was so used to for the past few months. Now, at the assistance of one his friends, he was moving into an apartment in the middle of the city.
To be honest, one particular friend of his was more of an acquaintance due to a unpleasant encounter they had years ago. That acquaintance was jealous of what the other one was, and that current acquaintance entombed the now nervous figure to die, resulting in the loss of his voice but the strengthening of his hearing.
You might be wondering how a person could survive such immurement, but the truth his that the entombed being was a robot.
The robot's name was Rhythm, and had abilities that deviated from the norm for robots. He had increased strength, an arm cannon, and other attributes common to robots that have existed alongside him, but he was programmed with Love, Sympathy, Imagination, and Creativity.
These abilities shaped the robot to not be a destroyer, but a changer.
His ability to change others started with his revival, which was caused by a powerful lightning storm and allowed him to escape his dark prison. Rhythm was then found by a robot that many would categorize as malevolent. This robot, and his creator, were known for their maliciousness and attempts to dominate. But when this robot found Rhythm, he decided to take him to his master.
The robot that found Rhythm was known as Bass, and his creator was Dr. Wily.
At the time of Rhythm's discovery, the Dr. Wily and Bass had narrowly escaped detainment. Bass became angry, Dr. Wily became depressed, and they both became bitter to the facts of their numerous failures at their goals. If it wasn't for a departure on Bass's account due to his emotional state, Rhythm would have never been found.
During the repair of Rhythm, the disabled robot inquired about the goals and desires of his repairmen. This caused realizations and transformations in their thinkings.
And if it weren't for the pair of them, and the help of a few others, Rhythm wouldn't have be traveling to his new home.
Rhythm sat in the backseat of the hover car as rain pattered on the metal and glass. Dr. Wily drove while Bass sat in the passenger's seat. Dr. Wily was tense and Bass was both concerned for Rhythm and bored of the journey.
"Are we sure that this is safe?" Bass asked "If you're spotted, we're done for"
"Dont shake in your circuitry Bass!" Dr. Wily snapped "no one is going to expect to see me in the city. And besides, I've altered my appearance"
It was true, for the white lab coat and red tie that the scientist usually wore were missing, and a green raincoat was donned due to the weather conditions that they were traveling in.
Bass groaned and turned to Rhythm "How are you doing back there?"
Rhythm had a tablet attached to his torso, his method for communicating with others. It spoke in the voice that was almost like that of a child.
I'm doing well, thank you.
"Not losing power?"
The rain is a benefit, but any sound prevents my issues.
Due to Rhythm's immurement and the fact that by some fluke of circumstance, electricity flowed to his location when lightning struck and was he was conditioned to fear silence. This was exacerbated due to the fact that he couldn't make sounds of his own due to his vocal abilities being sabotaged. So when ever Rhythm found himself in absolute silence, he entered a panic state and lost power rapidly. Things like rainfall, static, or music in general kept him from panicking.
The silent Rhythm carried a Walkman that Bass found back at Wily's place. It was so that Rhythm could prevent these panic states by listening to music. He only had a few tapes with him in the car, because most of his music and other belongings were already at the apartment. Rhythm had only his own body when he exuded from his alcove, but Dr. Wily had a large scrap room that was intended for salvaging parts for new robots. The room contained many old electronics such as music players, video game systems, a few typewriters, smartphones, tablets, computers, and even irreparable prototype robots stolen from various colleges.
"How long before we get there?" Bass inquired.
"We're just about to enter the city"
Rhythm perked up as it was the first time he had ever gone to the city and wanted to see what it looked like. The buildings we're obviously made out of a glistening metal, but weather and the elements tarnished the structures and turned the shiny silver into an dull grey. The silent robot thought the city looked bleak, but he told himself that what it looked like didn't necessarily reflect whatever the city contained. As they traveled deeper inside, Rhythm noticed the city streets were quite wide. People walked along the sidewalks and cars drove on the streets at a rather relaxed pace. Also underneath and above Rhythm were more hover cars.
"I think I see the parking structure" Bass pointed out. He then reached under his seat and procured a light brown overcoat. "I'm a little more recognizable with this armor on" The black and yellow robot explained.
"Leave your helmet here, it will make you less conspicuous" Dr. Wily commented as the car approached the entrance of the parking structure at the top of the building. He grabbed a ticket, and they parked in the first space they could find on the top floor. The roof was a grated sheet of metal, with holes allowing the light and rain to come through but preventing the cars from escaping.
Dr. Wily exited the vehicle first, helped Rhythm out, and then Bass exited. Rhythm placed his belongings, like his Walkman, notebook, and such into a shoulder bag that Dr. Wily provided and placed his tablet into a waterproof case. He then reached in the bag and removed his collapsable walking stick due to his circuitry being delicate.
"You had to park on the top floor, didn't you Dr. Wily?" Bass complained.
"At least we were able to find a space!" Dr. Wily replied "Now lets make our way to the elevator"
The trio traveled to a group of four elevators that were at the top of the structure, entered them, and traveled downwards.
"The others should already be at the apartment, right?" Bass inquired as the elevator descended.
"That is correct, and we shouldn't have to walk far"
The elevator stopped at the bottom floor, and the three exited onto the street. Rhythm was amazed at the mass of people.
For Rhythm, traveling to the city was a new experience for him. He had fractured memories of his creator promising him that they would go to the city, but due to the incident he was involved in, this was the very first time.
Many people, and several robots, were bustling through the streets. They were talking to their companions, in person or on a phone, walking pets, some were bicycling, and food vendors were scattered here and there.
The color scheme of the city appeared bleak in contrast to the bliss of the citizens. All colors were of a dark hue, yellows were much like dijon mustard, blues were in the shades of navy, reds were crimson, and greens were like the needles of a pine tree.
As the three traveled to the apartment building, Rhythm expressionlessly marveled at the tall buildings and many shops that lined the streets.
Food stores were plentiful, and so were electronic and clothing shops, banks, pharmacies, and police kiosks.
But what amazed Rhythm was the fact that there were a number of bookshops and music stores. Being created in the digital age, he never thought that he could be able to get analog technology.
This is a rather nice place.
"Really?" Dr. Wily asked "well here in the middle of the city, most of the prosperous live here. Near the outskirts however, people are less prosperous but are still happy"
The trio stopped from crossing the street at the request of a traffic cop robot and cars of older and newer makes traveled past. The cars then stopped and the three continued.
A towering steel building that consisted of two separated towers with stark slanted lines came up ahead, and a awning that allowed cars to unload with protection from the rain bore the name of the building.
THE ROTWANG HOTEL AND APARTMENT COMPLEX
Is that it?
"Yes it is Rhythm" Dr. Wily replied as the three approached the doors.
A robot stood outside the doors, wearing a navy frock coat and pillbox hat. It did not have a skin tone, but was instead a metal plated model with green eyes and slightly unnerving white teeth.
"Welcome to the Rotwang!" The robot greeted.
Dr. Wily and Bass were slightly unnerve, but Rhythm waved as the three entered the building.
In the lobby, luggage carts with belongings were being transported, a maid trolley was seen, people were waiting in line to check in. There was a comfortable seating area with leather chairs, and the interior was a mixture of silvers and blacks. In the seating area were a pair of business men, a young woman who was enjoying a cup of coffee, and man wearing an black trench coat, sunglasses, and a yellow scarf. The man had a brown paper package tucked underneath his arm.
The trench coated man got up from his seat and approached the three "Hello Rhythm"
Hello father.
"Hello there Blues" Bass spoke.
"Hello" Dr. Wily answered "Why are you waiting out here?"
"I wasn't sent the exact room number for Rhythm's apartment, that's why I waited here"
Bass shrugged and the four made their way to the elevator that was for the apartment side of the complex. Dr. Wily pressed a button, and the elevator traveled up to the fiftieth floor.
Blues, better known as Protoman, is the creator of Rhythm. Protoman was a creation to experiment the processes of robots but he needed a reprograming. Afraid for his installed independence, he went AWOL and traveled independently. Using his own body as a model, he made Rhythm as a way to preserve his legacy. Then he lost him, due to Rhythm's immurement. Protoman eventually wandered into the hands of Dr. Wily, and was from the brink of death, at least in the terms of a robot's existence.
The elevator doors opened, and the group traveled to room #5020. Dr. Wily reached into his pants pocket and obtained a key.
"Rhythm, would you do the honors?"
Rhythm smiled as he took the key, inserted it into the lock, and opened the door.
Inside, two robots that he had been making good friends with and the human whose terms had been shaky were inside.
"Welcome to your new home!" The first robot, who appeared as a male, greeted. The robots eyes then turned to Protoman and the others.
"Hello Protoman, hello Bass, hello Dr. Wily" The robot spoke with decreasing enthusiasm.
"Hello Megaman" Bass replied.
The four entered the living room and the coffee table had packages sprawled on top of it. Protoman put his package on top of the already existing ones.
"So what do you think so far?" The second robot, who appeared as a female, asked.
Rhythm began to glance around. In the living room, a sizable HD television was in the room and underneath it was a blu-ray player, a cable box, and a few gaming systems. The couches were soft for Rhythm's delicate circuits. The sleek black coffee table had all the remotes on it, along with the packages. A bookshelf with the same sleekness as the coffee table had the few books that Rhythm found at Wily's.
It's looking wonderful!
"We are all glad you like it" said the man who had remained silent.
Thanks Dr. Light.
Rhythm's relationships with Megaman and Roll were pleasant ones. The two robots repaired Rhythm with Dr. Wily and Bass, a situation that put everyone on edge for pairs of enemies were working on a common project. But with the philosophies of Rhythm, the tensions eased between the groups extensively.
Dr. Light however was a different story for he wasn't one of the few to originally start Rhythm's repairs, due to him being at a conference at the time of Rhythm's discovery. The fact that Dr. Wily betrayed Dr. Light many years ago made the interactions between the two quite tense, and this was exacerbated with the pasts of Dr. Light with Rhythm.
Rhythm's immurement and disabilities were due to Dr. Light's jealousy of Rhythm. The scientist was envious that a robot, who was going to die, was able to make a robot of his own.
So Dr. Light craftily drained Rhythm's power by asking the robot to exhibit his powers, luring the robot downstairs, sabotaging him, enclosing him behind a wall, and leaving the robot to rust.
One would think that Rhythm would hate Dr. Light, but the robot was created with sympathy and pitted the man's jealousy. But with this pity came resistance. Knowing the damage that was done, the relationship between the two was connected by loose threads.
Rhythm did have some appreciation for Dr. Light, for his apartment was mainly Dr. Light's doing. However, he was slightly tensed as he shared the room with Dr. Wily. To be fair, the other scientist was tense for the same reason. Megaman, Protoman, Roll, and Bass kept the two doctors separated to prevent issue.
What exactly are these packages for?
"I talked to Protoman about your activation date," Dr. Wily began "and he told me that even though I had preserved many of the memories I removed, some of the memories about you...are lost for good"
Dr. Light then began to speak "After conversing with both Protoman and Dr. Wily, and I do admit that if it wasn't for your creator's...I'm sorry, your father's presence we wouldn't have been able to even talk to each other"
"So," Protoman began "we decided that we'd make today your birthday"
Rhythm just stood there in shock.
A birthday?...for me?
"That's why we have the packages here on the table for you" Roll explained.
Rhythm created a quivering smile.
Tha...thank you. Thank you all!
"You're welcome" Megaman replied as he slid a chair behind Rhythm.
The robot sat down with a large smile, feeling the happiest he had ever felt in his own memories.