"Beck, just promise me you'll come back, that you'll come home."

"I've got this, don't worry."

Rock started, bolting upright in his bed. Blinking away the disorientation, he took a few slow, deep breaths.

"That dream again." He mumbled. Deciding he wasn't getting back to sleep, he got out of bed and wandered down the hall to the lab. The door was open, Roll standing there watching something in the lit room. "Good morning, Roll, is Dr. Light up already?"

"Already? He hasn't gone to bed yet!"

Rock double checked the time. "But it's nearly four in the morning!"

Roll gave him a look that indicated that she clearly knew this and Rock had better do something about it.

"Alright, alright. I'll go talk to him. Would you mind making some tea? That usually distracts him enough to get him to relax."

"Fine, but don't take your eyes off him. He's already dropped something on his foot, which only woke him up more." Roll waited for Rock to nod and left for the kitchen.

Rock turned back to the lab, spotting the scientist hunkered over one of the tables, buried in some project.

"Good morning, Dr. Light." Rock repeated his greeting as he walked in, causing the scientist to jump.

"Ah, Rock! Good... morning?" He sounded unsure, like he'd been caught with his hand in a cookie jar. In a metaphorical way, he had.

Rock smiled, amused. "Do I have to ask you to go to bed, or are you willing to go without a prompt?"

Dr. Light smiled back with a sigh, pushing a bit away from the table. "It seems that working on a project like this with a deadline has gotten me back into a bad habit I gained in college." He held up his hands in a defeated gesture. "But I don't think I could sleep right now. There is too much going on in my head."

"Let's talk about something else then." It sometimes worked.

"I'm fine with that, but what would you suggest? I've only this," he waved his hand at the table, "on mind, and that's the topic to avoid."

Rock paused, unsure. Coming up with a new subject wasn't hard, but there was already something that he did want to discuss.

"You look troubled." Dr. Light observed.

"Not troubled, exactly, but I've been having some weird dreams lately." Rock confessed.

Dr. Light looked interested. Rock having dreams wasn't unusual, but they normally didn't bother him. He motioned and said to, "Go on."

"It's mostly voices, but not. More like I'm reading words and I have to put the voices, tones, pitch, and volume to them. Like a comic strip, and there's never been an audio, so I have to imagine what they sound like."

"Mm, hm." He was following so far.

"I only ever see one person in them, and he looks like a robot, but not one I've ever seen before. I feel sad when I see him, but happy too. It's like I'm feeling what someone else is feeling. That leaves me feeling conflicted because sometimes, it's like they're thinking of me too and I'm lost to them. "

Roll arrived to deliver a mug and left as soon as she unloaded, seeming satisfied that Dr. Light had turned away from the project.

Rock continued once the scientist had a cup in his hand. "I think this is how people who lose someone and are trying to move on feel. I know people shouldn't tie themselves to things unreachable, and should make new friends."

"So your conflict comes from sadness that they are as equally lost to you as you to them, while happy that they are happy?"

"I guess."

"Then cheer them on."

"Huh?"

"One of my friends in college was single father who loved his little boy with a rare devotion. The boy was six years old when something happened. I never did get the full details, but the mother came for the boy. She was," he grimaced, and settled with, "spoiled. She'd helped raise him, but in a very detached and distant manner, and her family wealth won her full custody. Less than a year after that mess, she up and moved. Broke all contact between father and son."

"How did it end?"

"I don't know. We both graduated and went our separate ways. We avoided the topic anytime we did communicate. The letter sort of anchored it."

"Letter?"

"The boy left a note for his father; 'Dear Dad and Mom, I miss you, take care of each other and any brother or sister I might have.' See, the father was engaged to another student, and the boy had taken to calling her 'Mom,' which may have had a part in starting the conflict, now that I think about it."
Rock looked puzzled. "I'm not sure how this relates to my dream."

"Perhaps I'm over thinking it. Or under thinking, which would mean I'm about ready for bed." He smiled.

"I'd call that an accomplishment." Rock took the now-empty cup from Dr. Light's hands.

"The point I'm trying to make is that even though the son was lost, he was not forgotten, and the message was encouragement and understanding from the son. I know my friend didn't stop looking for his son, but he didn't let it stop him from living. The letter saw to both."

As Rock shooed the tired man towards bed, he thought on the dream, on what his father said, and about his own brother. He decided that, the next time the dream happened, he'd cheer the other robot on, then maybe the feelings would be less sad. But he hoped they'd never forget what they'd lost, or stop fighting for it.

"Rock?"

"Hm?" Rock waited, having trailed Dr. Light to his room.

"When I get up, if you would, remind me to give my friend a call."

"Sure." Rock grinned.

Rock, Roll, and Dr. Light are property of Capcom, Beck is Keiji Inafune-san and Comcepts.

Go! Mighty No. 9!