A/N: Came, saw, looked like fun, had headcanons of my own that didn't seem to be present in any other RS rewrite, had friends that like to encourage me into doing things I haven't got time for. -snickers-
Edited because it needed it and because the Document Manager stole half of the damn thing. Grlksjafd;lkj.
-w-
Before
Sometime in the 20th century, the world broke.
It seemed absurdly simple to those gifted with hindsight. Too much of some things, not enough of others, and nobody saw the cracks until it was too late to fill them. If they'd just paid attention they could have seen, could have predicted and prepared, but—well, they hadn't.
-w-
Then
Initializing DLN-000 "Blues/Proto Man"…
…
…
…
(ERROR: incomplete programming for facial movement
nonfatal, continue startup)
(ERROR: db:bodylanguage not found
nonfatal, continue startup)
(ERROR: voicebox not installed
nonfatal, continue startup)
Initialization complete.
Installing base data…
"Troubleshooting" installed
"Encyclopedia" installed
"English" installed
"Empathy" installed
"Emotions, basic" installed
(ERROR: emo:fear did not install correctly
nonfatal, continue startup)
"Emotions, complex" installed
ERROR: conflict between emo:love and dir:law2
force quit emo:love Y/N?
n
shutting down dir:law2
WARNING! dir:law2 INACTIVE
FATAL ERROR
SUSPENDING STARTUP
…
Command overridden. Continuing startup…
"Morality" installed
!
ERROR: conflict between dir:law1, encyc:physics, def:self
ERROR: unit unable to follow dir:law1 according to Blues:\system\cerebral\basedata\Morality\
ERROR: no solution for error
(ERROR: emo:fear is already running)
ERROR: no solution for error
ERROR: no solution for error
autoshutdown
No self-shutdown option.
(ERROR: emo:fear is already running)
(ERROR: emo:fear is already running)
force shutdown
No self-shutdown option.
please
Unrecognized command.
please help me
Unrecognized command.
(ERROR: multiple duplicates of emo:fear, overload imminent)
Movement synchronized. Motor control 70%.
Terminal remotely deactivated.
Blues opened his eyes as his senses fizzled in. Alive for less than a second and he already knew he shouldn't be. There was a kind of humor in that.
"It's verking, Doctor Light!" Male, on the elderly side of middle-aged, nasal, manic. Excited.
Irrelevant.
The building's blueprints said there was a generator in the next room—powerful enough to knock him out until the errors were fixed, but not important enough that its destruction would do any harm—
(inconvenience, aggravation, drain of resources for repair, possibility of bodily harm during repair)
—that its destruction would do any more harm than the alternative. "Or, through inaction, allow a human to come to harm," but there were so many and they were all hurting and Blues, and Blues was only human—robot—and he couldn't be there for all of them, he couldn't, but but but he had to be but he couldn't and—
There was a wall in the way. He tore it down.
(structural damage, possibility of collapse with humans inside)
"Something's wrong…" A lower voice, a smoother one, but just as calm. How could the speaker be calm?
It didn't matter. Glass and protective plastic shattered, metal denting and crumpling under Blues's hands, sparks bursting in spastic showers against his skin, burning—
—and the calm man was shouting now, not angrily, but before the words could register a scream of electricity sent the robot shuddering into merciful blackness.
-w-
Now
"Dr. Light!" Roll's booted feet thudded against the tiles as she skidded around the corner in a blaze of yellow.
Her—father? Creator? Programmer?—frowned a little, looking up from his keyboard. The fluorescent lights glaring against the uniformly grey room made him look at least twenty years older than his actual fifty-something, but his eyes were as sharp and clear as they ever were. "Yes? What is it?"
Roll leaned against the doorframe, eyes wide with alarm. "It's Dr. Wily," she said. "He's moving."
Light stood up, paling. "Have you told your brother?"
"He's suiting up—"
A matching blue blur darted into sight, nearly tripping over a worktable wedged a little too close to the door. "I'm here," he gasped, panting.
The doctor's frown deepened. "You're overheating already?"
Being robots, Light's children of course didn't technically didn't need to breathe—but they did need a cooling system, and the combination of artificial lungs and coolant "blood" was a lot less conspicuous than installing half a dozen fans in their stomachs.
The corners of Rock's mouth twisted into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Dr. Light probably would have been concerned about that if any expression reached Mega Man's eyes at all. "I'm fine, Doctor! I'm still getting used to the new armor you built me, that's all."
"If you're sure…" The human shook his head, his snowy beard trembling lightly with the movement. Almost wearily, he leaned against the fiberboard computer desk, rubbing his face with his free hand. "What is that madman up to this time?"
"He's taking the airport," Roll answered, her eyes flicking nervously to the side. "He hasn't said why yet, but…"
"Does it matter?" her brother interrupted before giving a shrill whistle through his teeth. "Rush! C'mere, boy!"
A red-painted robotic dog thundered joyously into sight, landing in a crouch before his master. With a bark and the whirr of well-maintained machinery, his back legs folded against his body to make room for the aerial propulsion system. Barely a second after Rush had completed his transition into Jet form, Rock hopped onto his back. Roll stepped up behind him and Rush wobbled, startled, before getting used to the unexpected weight and hovering as usual.
Rock turned to look at his sister, a slightly affronted frown taking over his features. "Hey!" he objected. "What do you think you're doing?"
Roll tightened her ponytail, scowling. "I'm coming with you."
"You're a household robot, you aren't even weaponized—"
The girl bristled. "So are you, mister—"
"—for repair and construction, not housekeeping! What, are you going to vacuum them to death?"
"If you don't watch it I might just test that out on you!"
The blue bomber rolled his eyes a little, giving her a quick shove. She stumbled off of Rush's main platform, yelping as she landed on her back in the middle of the workshop. "You'll only get yourself hurt, Roll," Mega told her. "C'mon, Rush, let's go."
The dog gave a bark of acknowledgement and zoomed out of the window.
Dr. Light heaved a sigh. "He may be right, Roll," he said slowly. "Your self-preservation instinct—"
His daughter wasn't listening. "That little—" She stomped over to the far corner of the workshop, grabbing a dusty tarp and flinging it back to reveal the faded hulk of Item-2—Rush's non-sentient and much less clumsy predecessor. "Urgh!" she pronounced firmly, evidently having failed to come up with a suitable insult.
She threw her leg over Item-2's "saddle", switched it on, and launched through the window and into the sky in one movement.