As Rhythm and the Light family settled in for the evening, Dr. Wily was placing Bass into his car while Protoman was on the phone with someone.

"COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME?" Dr. Light shouted.

"I'M A LITTLE BUSY!" Protoman retorted.

Dr. Wily buckled Bass in and approached Protoman from behind.

"What's so important that you can't help me for just a brief moment?"

Protoman hung up his phone "I said that the robots at Refraction won't ask about Rhythm, didn't I? I just made certain of that. Let's go"

Dr. Wily sighed as he entered the car. Protoman went into the backseat to watch over his Rhythm's "Brother"

"Why do you have to be so unstable?" Protoman asked Bass as Dr. Wily started the engine.

"It gives me a different view on life"

"But you were never THIS kind of insane" Dr. Wily noted "The heartbeat of a dead person setting you off is not your style"

"And why did it not set Rhythm off?" Protoman wondered "If both of you could hear it, both of you should have cracked under the pressure!"

"Well Rhythm and I are different, okay! He's an idealistic optimist, while I'm a cynical one"

"You're an optimist?" Dr. Wily asked "Since when?...oh..."

The car filled with silence as the realization spread.

"i want rhythm with me" Bass whispered.

"I assure you that he'd want to help repair you like you did for him" Protoman consoled "It's just that during these times of transition we need to be delicate with our steps"

The car arrived at Wily Fortress and quietly landed. Both Dr. Wily and Protoman helped Bass out of the car and led him to Dr. Wily's lab.

"You're sleeping here tonight" the scientist explained as he laid Bass down on the operating table "I want to work on your repairs first thing tomorrow morning"

Bass was strapped onto the table by the scientist, but Protoman gave the patient a pillow and blanket to sleep with. His eyes however caught the attention of the door of Wily's secondary workshop, the room where Bass was born.

The lock of the door was on high alert and had a new security camera installed. A sign made with a Sharpie and a piece printer paper was plastered on the metal of the door.

NO ENTRY
WHATSOEVER!
-Dr. W

Dr. Wily tightened the last strap and began to leave the lab.

"What's in the other workshop..." Bass gulped as he prepared to speak "...dad?"

Dr. Wily froze. He sighed heavily and his fists tightened.

"Regret" he quietly replied. Tension hung in the air and then the doctor left silently.

Bass groaned as he tried to relax in his bound up state.

Bup-Bup

Protoman sat in the living room, and on the coffee table there were a large amount of news stories and sketched blueprints. The robot picked up on of the articles and began to read silently to himself.

EOS Corporation Releases New Series Prototype for Police Work

The EOS corporation, a manufacturer of mass produced robots has released the first prototype model of their new Olympus line of specialized robots. The robots in the Olympus line can be compared to the likes of Megaman, but stronger. This weaponized series has not only been created to protect humanity, but to also create a strong bond between humans and robots. The robots in this series are all named in alphabetical order of the Greek alphabet. Alpha, the prototype, has been assigned to the detective forces of the city's police department.

Protoman looked at the photo of Alpha, smiled to himself, and then placed the article back on the coffee table as Dr. Wily walked in.

"You better get some rest Protoman" Dr. Wily spoke with a degree of anguish.

"What's up doc?"

The scientist said nothing as he picked up the news articles and other sketches and left with them. Protoman shrugged and began to curl up on the leather couch.

He twisted the frayed edges of his scarf as he replayed the memories of Bass's damaged body on the floor of his son's new home. He asked himself what terrified Bass so much that he would impose pain onto himself?

Restless slumbers infected the houses of both Wily and Light that night as the dead body haunted their thoughts.

"Now here you go again, you say
You want your freedom
Well who am I to keep you down
It's only right that you should
Play the way you feel it
But listen carefully to the sound
Of your loneliness
Like a heartbeat drives you mad
In the stillness of remembering what you had
And what you lost, and what you had, and what you lost"

The next morning, Rhythm woke up due to the sound of Dr. Light's alarm clock going off at 6:30. The robot groaned as he smacked the snooze button and began to get up. As he entered the living room, he was surprised to see Megaman preparing breakfast for Dr. Light and Roll doing some tidying up. The ascetic was sterile, an OCD wet dream. Roll was frowning while Megaman wore an uneasy smile.

Rhythm was hesitant to enter, but Dr. Light noticed Rhythm.

"Good morning Rhythm!" The scientist spoke jauntily spoke "How did you sleep?"

I slept fine. How about you Megaman?

Megaman made the teetering scale motion and Rhythm nodded in understanding.

"I would say the same" Roll added.

"Well it's good to know you are all feeling well" Dr. Light spoke as he approached Rhythm "Now Rhythm, I have already called the programming therapist to come here. He won't be here for a few hours so I thought we could talk, just you and me"

The scientist placed his hand on Rhythm's shoulder, causing the robot to have a cold shudder run down his spine.

Not right now please.

The robot pushed the scientist's hand off his shoulder with his cane, and traveled to the bathroom with the phone Dr. Wily gave him.

Megaman walked behind Dr. Light "Nemo me impune lacessit" He softly spoke.

Rhythm locked the door to the bathroom and began to call his father.

"Hello Rhythm" Protoman replied.

Hi dad, how's Bass doing?

"He's fine. I'm doing some work on him myself to be honest. Dr. Wily is in the other room, working on something"

"I'LL BE THERE IN A MOMENT!" Dr. Wily exclaimed from the other room.

Could I talk to Bass?

Protoman put his phone by Bass's head "Hey brother, how's the house of the rising Light treating ya?"

To be honest, I like Wily's place a little more. It has more character, more emotion.

"Well the emotions here are of distraught and chaos to be honest" Bass spoke with a chuckle.

Well it the happiness of Dr. Light's place seems forced. Dr. Light seemed happy while Megaman and Roll were put off for some reason.

"Interesting..." Bass commented "Do you think it's because of you?"

I doubt it, I think it may be due to me sharing the the same room with Dr. Light. I don't blame them, for when he touched my shoulder an uneasy shudder came over me...

Bass sighed as uneasiness dominated the line.

It's like he believes I'm completely over what he did to me. He's repaired me, given me a gift that has hurt you more than helped me, acts all nice around me like it will make me forget what he did. His face is now superimposed to the memories those uneasy nights of partial life and my partial death.

"Listen Rhythm, Dr. Light is not going to hurt you any more. But if you can make him understand how you feel, you could probably change him like you changed me"

I understand. I'll talk to you later.

Rhythm hung up the phone and exited the bathroom, and discovered that Dr. Light had left the house and that Megaman and Roll were sitting on the couch.

"He's left to meet up with the authorities who will be investigating your apartment" Roll explained "At least it gives us a reprieve from working"

I noticed that you were feeling...off...as I entered the living room, how come?

"Dr. Light was quite elated to have you here. He said that he wished to talk to you and wanted your advice on some project" Megaman answered "I told him maybe that he should tread lightly around you. He didn't seem to catch my drift"

I understand...but tell me about this project that Dr. Light is working on.

"We don't know!" Roll exclaimed "All we know is that Dr. Light wants to talk to you, and ONLY you, about what he is working on"

Rhythm tightened his fists as he sat down. He sighed heavily.

I just hope his project is to rectify, not reestablish.

The robot's eyes then directed to a bunch of notepads and writing utensils that were placed on top of a bunch of board games. Rhythm picked up a notepad and some pencils, and as an after thought he picked up one of the board games.

Shall we play a game while we wait for Dr. Grey?

Roll and Megaman smiled and began to set up the pieces and start the game. As the activity progressed, Megaman and Roll noticed that Rhythm was writing stuff down on a notepad as he played.

"What are you doing?" Roll asked.

I'm drafting the rules a for a version of The Game of Life.