Say, would you abandon a heartbeat even clearer than the blue sky?
Ashitaka worked feverishly to repair Protoman's wounds. She was unfamiliar with his systems, but she gave her best effort. He seemed rather oddly designed, as if the plans had not been quite thought out. She couldn't figure out for the life of her how some of his systems functioned at all. She had no idea how to repair his eyes without blinding him, though. She was better with biological systems than mechanical, but she still had considerable skill.
She finished with him after four hours of work. She started the autorevive process, then went to check on Sarah and Lorelei.
Sarah Martello had been Ashitaka's best friend since their freshman year in high school. Sarah, with her slight, muscular build and messy brown hair tied back in a ponytail, did not appear to be the type to know about robotics. Ashitaka had been surprised. Sarah was an athlete, good at any physical activity. She was also extremely intelligent, being a natural at sciences and mathematics. Ashitaka had been relieved to find another who shared her interest in cybernetics.
Lorelei was different. Dark-skinned, ageless, and beautiful, the young gypsy seemed out of place in the modern world. She dressed in loud, bright colors, proud of her Romani heritage. She wore her messy black hair tied back with a blood red scarf, a single gold hoop adorning one ear. Ashitaka met her purely by accident, running into her on the street one day. Lorelei hadn't trusted her at first, but Ashitaka's kind nature won her over. Lorelei wasn't into robotics like Sarah and Ashitaka, but she believed in a robot's right to a life of its own. For obvious reasons, she took the side of the oppressed.
Sarah was busy with what had once been Quick Man. He was looking better, but still in pieces. Lorelei was busy with the armor, applying a coat of crimson paint to the charred parts. Although Lorelei had no mechanical skill, she had many other talents.
"Hey, Ashitaka. How's it going?" Sarah asked, not looking up.
"I finished with Protoman," she said. "How's Quick Man?"
"A lot simpler than Protoman, I bet," Sarah said. "One thing about Wily designs, they're pretty straightforward."
"You would not BELIEVE how convoluted Protoman's design is," Ashitaka said, wandering over to look at the remains of Air Man. "I'm amazed he functions."
"I'm amazed most robots function," Lorelei commented.
"I know," Ashitaka said. "Protoman… it just seems like Dr. Light was guessing when he built him."
"Probably was. He was the first, wasn't he?" asked Lorelei.
"Yeah…" Ashitaka sighed. "He didn't even give him any armor. The remains of that shirt? That's what I gave him three years ago."
Lorelei looked up from her work. "Is that the only clothing he owns?"
"Probably. My uncle… well, he's different with Rockman. He treats him and Roll like his children. I never hear anything about Protoman."
Lorelei snorted. "Probably a throwaway like that big purple bastard."
"It's not Ballade's fault, you'd be bitter too if your master threw you away for failure," Sarah said, not looking up. "Ah, dammit. Ashitaka, you got some WD-40?"
"Sure, look up for a minute and I'll give it to you." She handed Sarah the can, grimacing slightly at Sarah's oil-covered hands. Sarah never cared about getting dirty.
"Oh, you're such a girl, Ashitaka," Sarah complained. "So what are you wearing to the prom?"
Lorelei laughed. "Sarah, only you."
"Oh, I don't know," Ashitaka said with a smile. "I doubt I'll go."
"Not go? Perish the thought," Sarah said, attention back on Quick Man."
"It's not like anyone asked me."
"I'm going with Lorelei," Sarah said. "You know, a date isn't mandatory."
"Yes, it is, were you not paying attention in class?"
"Am I ever?"
"And Sister Mary Andrew is going to freak out when you show up with a girl."
"Hey, nobody ever specified what gender your date had to be."
"She has a point," Lorelei said.
Ashitaka shook her head. "Well, good luck to you. I'm staying home."
"You can't just stay home all your life, you know."
"Why not? All I want to do is work with robots anyway."
"Ashitaka Noyana, do you want to turn into your uncle?"
She bit her lip. "Point."
"Sorry to go there, but you know…"
"Yeah, yeah…"
Meanwhile, Protoman was standing in the doorway, listening to their every word. He kept himself out of sight as much as he could, as he planned his next move. He noticed his ruined shirt had been replaced, which he was grateful for. Still, he did not care for confinement. He slipped away, unnoticed… he thought.
Once outside, he decided the first thing he needed to do was get armor and a weapon. If he was going to compete with Ballade, he needed some way to defend himself. The robot junkyard was the only place he could think of to get materials. He headed in that direction, trying to think of a way to get past the behemoth. He was unaware of his shadow, who made her way silently behind him.
He caught sight of Ballade a good distance away. It was then that his shadow announced herself.
"Ashitaka will be upset if she has to rebuild you again."
Protoman jumped and whirled to find Lorelei behind him. "How long have you been following me?"
"Ever since you unwisely decided to desert us."
"I don't want to be confined. I just gained my freedom, after all."
Lorelei grinned. "I do understand. That's why I didn't stop you. However, there are a few things you need to know about living out here. For one, you've got to learn to be a little less obvious." She looked over at Ballade. "Lesson 1- the roof is your friend."
Lorelei walked behind a nearby building, looking around to make sure they were alone. Then, to his amazement, she began to run up the wall. Lorelei paused halfway up. "You use the fire escape," she said. "You can make the jump."
Protoman easily leapt onto the fire escape and ran to meet Lorelei on the roof. She tapped a jewel on one of her bracelets. "Gravity shoes," she explained. "My brother is good with cybernetics, just like Ashitaka."
"Does she know?"
"No. Romani never tell all their secrets." She moved to the edge to survey their surroundings. "There's another building we can jump to. We'll take that way and drop down behind Ballade. He never ventures too far from the entrance."
"How do you know?"
"I've done this before." She took a few steps back. "You ready?"
"I guess."
Lorelei took a running start and sprang off the roof. To his amazement, she landed safely on the other side. Protoman took a running leap as well, and landed ungracefully beside her.
Lorelei couldn't help but grin. "We have to work on your style, boy."
"Right…" He rose. "Now what?"
"This way." She ran over to the edge and slid down the side of the building. Protoman, figuring he was tough enough to take such a fall, just jumped. He crashed, hearing his left leg snap on impact. A diagnostic revealed that his metallic skeleton had degraded during his inactivity. A section of his leg had been corroded, and the impact had broken the weak metal.
Protoman cursed, once again overcome by physical pain. And once again, he could not keep from crying. Lorelei was shocked.
"Are… you all right?" she asked.
"My leg is broken."
"I didn't think that was possible."
"I spent two years decomposing in a closet," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm not in great shape."
"How… is it you're crying?"
"It hurts, dammit!"
"Right, right… can you walk?"
"I don't know. OW!"
"I take that as a no. Dammit," she spat.
"Well well. What have we here," Ballade's voice sneered. "Oh, how sweet, Red. You found yourself a friend. Too bad she's street trash."
"I'll show you street trash, you cocky son of a bitch," Lorelei snapped. From a hidden pocket, she withdrew a cylinder. With a twist, she was holding an energy blade. Protoman was mildly surprised- such weapons were rather hard to come by. "Protoman, get back."
Having no desire for further ass-kicking, Protoman limped back toward the building. Lorelei let out a battle cry and charged. Ballade easily dodged, but she turned and clipped him with a backhanded strike. It sliced through his armor easily. Ballade yelped, unused to being injured. Lorelei jumped back before he could strike her.
"You'd better be careful who you attack, Ballade," she sneered. "Rockman's here, and he's going to make you a permanent part of the junkyard."
Protoman and Ballade both looked around in shock, finding indeed the blue boy heading in their direction. Lorelei took advantage of his distraction to grab Protoman and run. He limped as fast as he could, ignoring the pain in his useless leg. She led him down a back alley, to an unmarked door. She knocked three times and said a word he didn't recognize. The door opened, and a large dark-skinned man ushered them in. He easily picked up the amazed Protoman and took him to a small room full of machinery. Another gypsy man was inside, fiddling with a half-dissected Hat Demon (Metool).
"Hi, uncle Clopin," Lorelei said. "My friend here was injured. Can you fix him?"
"I'll see." He set aside the Hat Demon and moved to Protoman. "What's your name, boy?"
"Protoman."
"Can't be! You're supposed to be dead!"
"Well, I'm not, to my creator's great disappointment," he said dryly.
Clopin shook his head. "Well, let's have a look at you anyway." He began scanning, occasionally shaking his head in disbelief at what he saw, but not saying much.
Protoman turned his attention to Lorelei. "How is is you saw Rockman before either of us robots?"
"Because I put him there," she answered. "He was an illusion. It's a talent of mine."
"Talent?"
"All of us here have a special ability. My uncle is a mechanical genius. My gift is illusions," she said. "And no, Ashitaka doesn't know that either."
"Then why are you telling me?"
"It was necessary to save your life. And you asked. It's not like I wouldn't tell them if they asked. That's the first rule of survival as one of us: don't volunteer information."
Protoman nodded. "I don't plan to, but if I don't get some armor or weapons, it's not going to matter much."
"I think I can help you out, boy," Clopin said. "Granted, I understand very little about your systems or why you're even functional now after all this time, but I think I can give you some sort of weapon capability. Armor is no problem."
"Why?" he asked suspiciously. "Why help me?"
"Because, dear boy, you are an outcast. We outcasts have to stick together if we're going to survive."
Protoman looked to Lorelei, whose expression was blank. She seemed to be waiting for his reaction. "I… suppose so. You'll forgive me if I'm not exactly trusting of humans."
"Granted, I don't understand why, but all right. I'm sure a levelheaded
boy like yourself has his reasons," Clopin said. "Besides, a bit of paranoia
will do you good out here."
For the next week, Protoman stayed with the gypsies. Clopin upgraded his systems as much as he could. Lorelei managed to steal enough scrapped parts from Ballade to make body armor for Protoman. She also taught him the fine art of stealth, which was admittedly hard for someone with blood red hair. Still, Protoman caught on rather quickly. She also taught him other fine arts, like sleight of hand and petty thievery. Lorelei was rather resourceful and quick-witted, which had saved her from many a tight spot.
Protoman for his part appreciated all the help he could get. While Lorelei taught him survival, he absorbed all he could from Clopin about his own systems and how to repair others. He knew he wouldn't be with the gypsies forever, and he'd eventually have to take care of himself. He was planning to leave on his own soon anyway. Human company, while not as unpleasant as Dr. Light, still grated his nerves a bit. There was a part of him that always longed for solitude.
Meanwhile, Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were working together once more, this time to build a giant peacekeeping robot. He heard through Lorelei that Sarah had been asked to help, but she had laughed in their faces and refused. Ashitaka similarly declined. Rockman was being sent out to retrieve parts from "rogue" androids. Sarah said if they were truly independent rogues, then her name was Sailor Venus. Protoman failed to understand, but had learned by now not to ask.
He found himself thinking more and more about Ashitaka. It was always on the tip of his tongue to ask Lorelei about her, but he always held back, waiting for her to bring up the subject in her own time. Although he knew Light was a lying bastard, part of him still feared he'd been right about Ashitaka forgetting him. He wasn't ready to face her yet.
Ashitaka for her part was upset that Protoman had vanished. Lorelei told her that she and her people were watching him, and that they'd make sure he was okay. She left out the part about Ballade and the broken leg, figuring it best not to worry the poor girl. She assured Ashitaka that Protoman was functioning fine, and that her uncle could fix him if something went wrong. Still, Ashitaka worried.
She was in her lab, dressed in a jumpsuit she couldn't remember the original color of on the day of the prom. Her latest project, Ice Man, lay half finished on the table before her. She didn't notice Quick Man's arrival.
"Mistress Ashitaka?"
She jumped. "Quick Man, you don't have to call me that."
"I know, Mistress. May I say… you seem rather distracted today."
"I'm worried about Protoman," she said. "I mean… what must he be going through out there, listening to all this crap about how great Rockman is."
"I admit that Rockman is far from my favorite person, but I don't understand why Protoman would have a reason to hate him. Was he also destroyed by Rockman?"
"No… not physically. Rockman was his replacement. If I know my uncle, he probably just forgot about Protoman."
"Hm. He seems a rather cruel man to just forget one of his own creations. Then again, Wily did send us all out to die, resurrect us, and have us die again."
"It sucks to be a robot," she said tiredly.
"If you believe that, then why do you revive us?"
"I… want you to at least have a chance to live. It's not right to bring a life into the world and then expect to control it forever."
"I agree."
"Protoman… I've never forgotten about him. My uncle always had excuses to keep me out of his lab. He even gave me my own lab so I'd stop pestering him to visit. But he didn't understand, it was because I wanted to see Protoman again." She sighed. "He probably thinks I don't care about him."
"How long has it been since you saw Protoman, Mistress?"
"Three years," she said. "According to my uncle, he wasn't supposed to live this long."
"Is that why you are concerned?"
"Partly. Partly I just want to apologize for never visiting. And partly because I worry about him."
"Why do you worry about him?"
"Because… I know my uncle hasn't been kind to him. I worry about the poor boy's psychological state."
"Robots do not have psychological states, Mistress."
"Don't start with me, Quick Man, I'm not in the mood."
"Precisely," came Lorelei's voice from the door. "Ashitaka, why aren't you dressed?"
"We've been through this before, Ashitaka. I-"
"Don't have a choice," Lorelei finished for her. "I asked a friend to do me a favor, and now you have a date."
"What? Who?"
"Let's just say you won't be disappointed. Let me guess, you don't even have a dress."
"Do I look like I own a dress?"
Lorelei sighed. "Dear God, you are female, you know."
Blank stare.
"Fine… if you insist, we'll do this the hard way."
Protoman waited impatiently as Clopin and Michael, another gypsy friend of Lorelei's, dressed him in a rather uncomfortable suit. Protoman complained the entire time until Clopin threatened to put him in a dress. That shut Protoman up rather quickly, but he was still disgruntled. He sat in a corner and sulked until Lorelei returned.
She was dressed in crimson, in defiance of the nuns at Sarah and Lorelei's school. She made sure she looked as gypsy-ish as possible, for extra effect. Sarah wore a suit, for pretty much the same reason.
"Come on, Protoman," Lorelei said, ignoring his belligerent look. "She's waiting for you."
Protoman rose grudgingly. "I still don't understand what I'm supposed to do at this stupid thing."
"Don't worry, neither does she," Lorelei said. "Now go get in the car, they're waiting."
Lorelei practically shoved him out to the car, where Sarah was waiting behind the wheel. In the backseat, staring out the opposite window, was a cleaned-up Ashitaka in a very simple blue dress. Protoman felt conflicting emotions, not all of which he understood. On the one hand, he was glad to see her. But he worried that she hadn't seen him in so long because she forgot him. He was unsure of how to react to seeing her again, especially since she had changed quite a bit since he'd last seen her. She looked… like a woman. He felt something else, something so strange he couldn't place it. He found himself wanting to be with her, even though he felt so confused about her.
"She doesn't bite, you know," Lorelei said. "Now go on, get in!" She gave him a push toward the door. Hesitantly, he opened it.
"Hello, Ashitaka," he said uncertainly.
Ashitaka jumped at the sound of his voice. She looked surprised for a moment, but it faded quickly. Her face became unreadable. "Protoman. It's been a while."
"Come on, get in already!" Sarah said from the front. "We're gonna be
late!"
The nuns were sufficiently scandalized by Lorelei and Sarah. They didn't say anything to Ashitaka and Protoman, not recognizing Protoman as a robot. While Sarah and Lorelei socialized and danced, Ashitaka and Protoman sat in uncomfortable silence most of the night.
Toward midnight, Ashitaka began to get restless. Protoman noticed. "You… want to leave?" he asked.
"I wanted to leave three hours ago," she said. "But Sarah has the car keys."
"Well, I don't need a car to travel… but I'm sure you're tired, I could carry you if you wanted. Not that I'm trying to be rude or anything-"
"I'm sorry," she said suddenly.
"Huh?"
"I'm sorry I never came back." She looked extremely uncomfortable, staring ahead of her without looking at Protoman. "I… I didn't forget about you, I just never could come back. My uncle would keep making excuses… it's like he wanted to keep me from you."
Protoman crossed his arms. His expression was deliberately blank. "I see."
"Please, you have to believe me. I never wanted to leave you there with them. I knew they'd be cruel to you."
"You were right." Flat, emotionless tone. "Perhaps we should talk about this somewhere else?"
"I… Well, we could go back to my lab."
"That's fine. Where is it?"
She told him. Without saying goodbye to Lorelei or Sarah (like they would notice), they left. Protoman used the tops of buildings to make his way there, much more sure of himself now that he'd had practice (and now that he was slightly better constructed). They made it to Ashitaka's lab in ten minutes.
"I hope you don't mind, but I want to change out of this before we do anything," she said when they arrived.
He shrugged. "Suit yourself." Two minutes later, Ashitaka emerged dressed like he remembered. He couldn't help but grin.
"No, my fashion sense hasn't changed at all since back then," she said. "I doubt it ever will."
"I don't understand fashion anyway."
A moment of uncomfortable silence. "Well… how is it that you came to be free?" she finally asked.
"The good doctor put me in a closet for two years and forgot about me," he said, bitterness clear in his voice. "One of his new robots found me and let me out. I decided not to stick around."
"My God," she said, shaking her head. "I had no idea… If I had, I certainly would have rescued you."
Protoman said nothing.
"It must really hurt you, the way he treats Rockman."
He shrugged. "I don't care. I don't want the old bastard's attention."
"What do you want, then?"
"I want to keep on living free."
She nodded. "I'm sure… Lorelei can help you with that."
"She taught me how to get along."
"Well… if you ever need to be fixed…"
"Clopin's fixed me up rather nicely."
"Oh," she said quietly. "Well, I guess you don't need me at all."
Protoman said nothing once more, this time because for the life of him he didn't know what to say, it was a true statement, but somehow he felt saying it would be the wrong thing to do.
"That's okay, I have my work here," she said, indicating Iceman. "You can recharge here if you like."
"Actually, I don't need to recharge, really," he said.
"How is that?"
"I put myself into stasis at regular intervals to rebuild my energy."
"You sleep," she said, sounding amazed. "You really are something else, Protoman. Well, you can stay here tonight instead of out there in the cold. If you get bored, Quick Man and Enker should be around here somewhere. I'm going to sleep… if you don't mind."
Protoman shrugged. "Whatever you want."
"I see… well, good night."
Protoman nodded, and headed to a spare table. Oblivious to Ashitaka, he stretched out and went into stasis.
Ashitaka, feeling defeated and rather useless, went back to her room and climbed into bed. She'd failed to protect Protoman in the beginning, and now there was absolutely nothing she could do for him. She resigned herself to the very likely fact that she would never see him again. Damn her uncle, he'd managed to take him away from her again.
She did not sleep that night.
The next morning, she rose at about seven or so, unrested and feeling rather depressed. She didn't bother to change. When she went back to the room where she'd left Iceman, she saw Protoman and Quickman watching the news. It seemed that Rockman was in trouble, Wily having shown his true colors and used the peacekeeping robot for evil ends.
"Good morning, Mistress Ashitaka," Quickman said. "Mistress Sarah hasn't arrived yet."
"I wouldn't expect her today, and you don't have to call me that, Quickman."
"I know, Mistress."
On the screen, a massive robot fist slammed into little Rockman, who became suddenly embedded in a building. Quickman was unreadable as usual, Protoman smirked. Despite the number of robots she'd had to repair because of that boy, she felt sorry for him. He was undoubtedly going to be killed.
"Quickman, Protoman, maybe you ought to help him," she suggested.
Protoman looked at her and laughed. "You've got to be out of your mind."
"Protoman, that boy is going to die out there."
"So? Better there than in a closet."
"Has he ever done anything to you?"
Silence.
"Look, I know my uncle was cruel to you, and I know you have a reason to hate Rockman. But just because my uncle hurt you, does that mean you can let that boy be horribly killed?"
"Yes."
"Fine," she snapped. "If you two won't go, then I'll have to do it."
"No!" Protoman said sharply. "Don't be silly, you'll be killed."
"Well, someone has to do it. And if you won't, then I guess it's got to be me."
Steel gray met ice blue in a lethal staring match. Finally, Protoman sighed in resignation. "All right, all right. I'll help him if you promise to stay here where it's safe."
She nodded. "Agreed."
Without another word, he walked out the door. Leaping to the roof, he began running back to his part of the gypsies' hideaway, where his armor was stored. He donned it as quickly as possible and readied his arm cannon. That foolish human girl, what was she thinking? If Rockman died, so what? Not like anyone had cared to save him from the closet. Why should he not just stay here until the blue brat was dust?
But then Ashitaka would go out and try to save him. Try as he might, he couldn't bear the thought of her being crushed by those gargantuan fists, trying to save someone who didn't deserve it. Annoyed with himself and her, he took off at top speed for the location he'd last seen Rockman.
It was not hard to find him. All he needed to do was follow the trail of destruction to an abandoned factory. Rockman, badly injured, was fighting what he must have thought was valiantly against the behemoth, but to the casual observer it looked like he was practicing his double axels without the benefit of ice skates. Protoman shook his head and wondered what possessed Wily to make such a moronic weapon. The saddest thing of all was that this weapon was working. Protoman stood back for a moment, overwhelmed by disbelief at what he was seeing. The moment passed as the behemoth fell, taking many ceiling parts with him.
Protoman darted through the rubble, finding the old scientist and pulling him out first. Granted, he was allegedly the bad guy, but Wily hadn't been so heinously evil to Protoman. He'd never gotten his name right, but at least he'd given him an actual name. Once Wily was free, he turned his attention to the blue brat, who was pinned beneath a large piece of ceiling. Protoman lifted it easily and pulled Rockman out from under it. He dashed out of the collapsing building just in time to avoid his own miserable demise, to face a worse fate: reporters.
"Rockman! Who is this mysterious stranger? Is he Light's new creation?"
"Rockman! Where is Dr. Wily?"
"Rockman! Can I have a statement?"
"What the hell is wrong with you people?" Protoman demanded. "A giant robot was rampaging! A building fell down! Why are you still here?"
"Rockman! Are you interested in appearing on the Jerry Springer show?"
"Screw you guys, I'm going home," Protoman said. He leapt up a fire escape and proceeded to run like he was being chased by the hounds of hell. (Well, close enough)
He arrived with great reluctance at Light's lab. Unfortunately for him, Light answered the door. Protoman tossed the unconscious blue robot at him. "I found this is a collapsing building," he said coldly.
"You… saved him?"
"Yes, what's it to you?"
"I…" The old man looked uneasy. "I never thought you had it in you."
"You never thought a lot of things about me. Like how to fix my eyes, or to let me out of that goddamned closet."
"I promise I'll repair your eyes in return for saving my Rockman," he said.
"Stick in your ear, old man. I don't need your promises." With that, he turned and walked away.
"Fine!" Light called after him. "Suffer then!"
Protoman leapt to the top of a building and was gone. At that point, Rockman was waking.
"Dr… Light?" he said weakly. "Who… was that?"
"That was my first creation," he said distastefully. "A failed experiment."
"What… was his name?"
"It doesn't matter. Come on, we need to fix you up."
From her window, Roll watched the unwanted son walk away into the cold
morning sun.
