Dreamer In Moonlight
Chapter 2
Blues
WARNINGS: Uh, I've never written sci-fi before last year as opposed to 8 years of fantasy and it probably shows in this chapter? What, I think that deserves fair warning.
_B_
When Rock first informed him, years ago, that Dr. Light was, "Making a baby brother for us!" Blues hadn't been surprised or thrilled. The doctor manufactured new "little brothers" at a constant rate; younger units who would work tirelessly and eagerly at their designations before the government decided they had outlived their usefulness and had become targets for Wily, and then they would be retired and scrapped like DLNs…. some number of his brethren he'd rather not compute. Something must have caught Rock's attention with this one. Maybe it was cute, or Light had let him help design it, it didn't matter.
As years and DLNs went past Blues kept brushing off mentions of baby brothers. Didn't he realize they were all going to die? Still, some concern for Rock had led him here, to this place of memories and deceptive warmth. Rock wasn't in the lab, nor was the Doctor, but there was an unsealed capsule here. And inside it was what he felt, beyond doubt, was the object of Rock's frequent attention.
Despite common sense and wariness warning him away from the capsule, and the lab itself, Blues stepped closer. He supposed he could understand Rock's fascination with it…
The thing in the capsule was on its side. Blues felt a quiver of concern that it might be defective, or had very intricate systems, and that was why production had persisted so long. The placement was not a natural position for the average Robot Master, given the placement of armor and sockets. Yet had Rock not said it was awake and functional not even a week ago? Perhaps it had met some end down here, or there was some wound at its back. It wouldn't surprise him if Light had sent a newbuilt out to fight and the bot had nearly gotten itself killed due to lack of sense.
A quick examination of its back showed it to be untouched.
The thing startled him more by stretching and yawning and then looking at him with huge green eyes. Blues opened his mind superficially to greet the younger unit and establish his dominance as the eldest Robot Master. To his surprise the neural functions of the newbuilt felt bizarre, alien, and he wasn't immediately responded to. The consciousness on the other end of the link was light and fluttery, unlike any other Robot Master he'd ever met.
Blues shrugged off his confusion and began examining the newbuilt's systems.
Light had finally reached senility, this poor little bot was evidence of it. A single processor that obviously wasn't designed to manage multiple external systems for extended periods; a small fusion generator that mimicked the human heart so well that it couldn't be distinguished by shape or sound alone; there was a solar generator in stand behind an awkward primary core that wired into another apparently useless system. How much power did one domestic robot need to accumulate? There was no logical explanation for that design other than Light's senility.
The composition of the robot was excellent: Light-weight, titanium-based, extremely durable, he saw nothing detrimental in it—except that the newbuilt could easily be destroyed if caught out of armor. The external appearance was a rare humanoid. Very humanoid. Undersized, harmless male, attractive—if you went by what humans found attractive—, between the ages of fourteen and eighteen roughly (he wasn't well-versed in human young, especially the males). All findings were pointing to an occupation more befitting a DWN: Infiltration.
Blues almost frowned, but moved on to other systems. The weapons systems were impressive; weapons copy, dangerous, highly adaptable. Blues searched for the unit's specifications and purpose and found the slots blank. Why were they blank? Light really was insane if he thought a Robot Master with free-floating bits of coding in its processor was complete and execution ready.
He would have grumbled had he been human; but he wasn't, so instead he stewed behind his visor and scanned sullenly.
Even the neural wiring on the child was awkward—strangely human and distinctly male. So Light had finally created a defined gender in artificial life, but what was the point in that? There wouldn't be any other male companions for him with the exception of Light and Light was….different from a normal human companion. Wouldn't it feel isolated being the only gendered AI?
Perhaps Blues was thinking too much, it—he, probably wouldn't care. But didn't gendered beings usually seek individuals of the opposite gender? Blues couldn't imagine a robot becoming involved with a human female—at the very least, it would end badly, possibly with death. Or lawsuits. There wouldn't be any "female" AIs for it to pursue—unless Light had this one's "Eve" hidden away in the lab somewhere—because the doctor would probably be dead before he finished its frame. He was getting old and getting slower. Rock lamented it often but Blues saw it as nothing but inevitability: Humans died and they died often.
Plus, there was the issue of incest.
Ah, infiltration or communications, that could be it? He applauded Light's backbone in creating the unit, but this Robot Master smacked of Wily. Blues' weapon systems twitched to high alert as something warm landed on his right hand. He looked down and saw clumsy fingers picking at his glove. The newbuilt seemed fascinated by these unarmored coverings.
Blues watched it, pawing and staring, without moving. Was it examining him or simply playing? Without higher connectivity functions this Robot Master would rely on other senses, much like a human, so it was likely. Perhaps it was not as harmless and uncoordinated as he'd first thought: Now it knew he was unarmored, vulnerable. But no, he was giving too much credit to the child.
How were its Three Laws coded? He'd been interrupted before he'd gotten that deep into its programming. He finished his scan of the newbuilt and froze at the designation. This was worse than he'd speculated.
DLN-X. ROCKMAN X.
DLN-X? Light had built numbers with letters in their serials before; they were usually experimental units. And where Oil did not have any fearsome powers, he was efficient. However Time's untested abilities posed a threat so real he'd debated eliminating the unit before slotting him in with the other DLNs under him. Time (and Flash) could be controlled if their power proved to be too dangerous, but this Number didn't seem to even register Blues' presence beyond the physical, and fluttered awkwardly in response to his queries.
Perhaps when it matured it would stabilize into a more tractable Robot Master, right now it was just a child. Still, that designation disturbed him: "Rockman X". Was it supposed to be Rock's successor should he become incapacitated, or was he meant to be Rock's partner?
In his experience with humans, "X" usually did not have friendly connotations. Was this newbuilt meant to replace Rock entirely?
Blues! Came an ecstatic cry, followed by the sound of footsteps pounding down the stairs.
And with that, he knew Rock had found him.
—
AN: Really sorry this is so late. I'm finally feeling better, but I've been un-inclined to write of late—probably due to college. The title is some obscure reference to poetry or some quote I've forgotten….I've been thinking about changing the title, but I'm not certain. Reviews are appreciated.