Powered Up

Chapter 1 – Blues

The year is 20XX. AI development and robotics research has made major strides thanks to the efforts of Dr Thomas Light and Dr Albert Wily, two scientists at the height of their careers. Following the creation of a new "solar core" allowing machines to power themselves for incredibly long periods of time, the two started a new project to create the worlds first artificial life form.

"Systems all check out Tom." said Dr Wily, his voice tinged with excitement at the great undertaking they were about to accomplish.

"Excellent Albert. Has the solar core been secured into the robots frame?" Dr Light questioned, his voice unsure yet not doubting his colleagues abilities as an engineer.

"Of Course!" Wily snapped. "What kind of amateur do you take me for?"
Light was taken aback by this sudden angry outburst from his friend.

"Careful Albert. We can't have any mistakes today. We're about to create life! Now, I'm going to initiate the core start-up sequence, which should give our little friend here the spark he needs to be born into this world."

Light was trembling with a giddy nervousness only akin to a father witnessing the birth of his first son as he entered the sequence into the computer by the operating table they had been working on.

" Man. I will finally have the son I always wanted."

Lights flickered in the laboratory as the machines connected to Proto Man began to whir and hum, draining copious amounts of energy in order to initiate the single flaring spark in the solar core that would allow it to begin a constant cycle of electrical generation. A small glow began to emerge from the chest unit of the robot, and his fingers began twitching, rather like someone awakening from a deep sleep.

"Come on Proto Man! You can do it!" Light shouted encouragingly, his face dripping with sweat and tears. Wily could only watch in sheer disgust at his colleagues over-enthusiasm for the pathetic hunk of scrap.

"What a fool." He thought to himself, smirking. "Once this pathetic experiment of his is over, I shall finally have the data I need, and then I will be finished with him."

The robot sat up with a loud scraping sound, as never before used joints clicked into action and sensory receivers engaged themselves for the first time. He turned towards Dr Light, and blinked curiously.

"W-who are you?" He asked, a nervous tone to his voice.

"I am Dr Thomas Light, your creator." Dr Light said, putting his hand on Proto Man's shoulder in a fatherly fashion.

"Who am I?" The robot asked, still not trusting this strange man.

"Allow me." Dr Wily interrupted. "You are DLN-000, or Proto Man. The first humanoid robot capable of independent thought and reasoning. You will obey my commands without question."

"WILY!" Light shouted. "THAT WAS NOT THE POINT OF THIS EXPERIMENT!" Lights face was filled with an anger that Dr Wily had never seen in him before.

Light regained his composure before continuing. "We are creating a machine that can think for itself. One that doesn't have to obey orders."

Wily sniffed in disgust and silent acceptance. Light picked up a small diagnostics sheet that the computer had printed out. His face turned pale.

"I-It says here that Proto Mans core is unstable. If we don't fix it now, he may only have 2 years to live at most. I'll have to restart the project from scratch, I cannot afford any errors!"

"NO!" Wily screamed, his face turning purple.

"MY DESIGNS WERE FLAWLESS!" He pulled out a gun, waving it around hysterically.

"You... you sabotaged it didn't you? DIDN'T YOU!"
He was consumed with pure hatred for Dr Light, the man who had always been better than him in every experiment they did, the one who always got the most credit for everything.

"Calm down Albert." Light said, slowly moving towards the button to signal security.

At that moment, Dr Wily had a malicious idea. If his project were to fail, he would take Light with him. "Proto Man!" he shouted. "Light wants to destroy you!" He then ran out of the door and down the hallway, laughing hysterically as he did so. Light turned, seeing the little robot ripping panels off the walls in a terrified mania, screaming about not wanting to die and sobbing loudly.

"Proto Man! Calm down, please!" Light begged him, desperately.

"NO!" the robot screamed. " I won't let you kill me!" He scurried into the air ventilation system, Light, in tears, begging him to come back.

At that moment, the security team arrived in the lab, weapons readied. The scene before them was almost like a war-zone. The lab was in ruins, bits of machinery still sparking hung from the ceiling, and Dr Light, huddled next to the ventilation shaft, quietly crying to himself.
The leader of the team approached Dr Light cautiously.

"Are you ok, Dr?" He asked, unsure about whether to approach him.

Dr Light pulled a handkerchief out of the breast pocket of his lab coat, and wiped the dust off his face.

"I-I'll be okay." He said quietly. "Wily... he went berserk. He took advantage of Proto Mans childish innocence, and turned him against me." He sighed, a deep sense of regret filled him.

"This is all my fault!" He choked. "If I had only spent a few more months finishing the designs of the solar core..." He trailed off, and pondered upon what could have been. The security team called a medical drone to tend to the minor wounds Light had received, and then left to notify the police of Wily's criminal activities.

End of Chapter one.

I must say, the hardest part of writing a story is finding out where to begin. I feel like this is an appropriate beginning, considering Proto Mans creation is one of the major if yet sadly overlooked parts of the Mega Man series. Please review if you enjoyed it, and give me some constructive criticism on how I could improve for next time. Thanks!

Alby