Bloody Rose
First: Derivation
by Lady Virgo
"O rose,
How my love
lives in your
bloody depths"
///
He could hear before he could see. A fact that would make most people a bit edgy, but instead, perked his curiosity. Behind closed eyes his maintenance system kicked on, sprawling symbols and words before him.
....
Booting process begin
Systems scan for errors
Clusters scan for errors
Mainframe size check
All systems functional
All clusters functional
Virus scan initiated
Program function:
Left aft booster.... check
Right aft booster.. check
Left ankle joint..... check
Right ankle joint... check
Left base piston.... check
Right base piston..
And so on the words spilled, falling before his closed eyes repeatedly faster and faster. Patiently he watched and read, filing each function and program into his forward memory banks for easy reference. Not yet fully awakened and he already knew his purpose: to fight and to destroy.
Finally, the letters stopped scrolling downwards and words flashed behind his mechanical retina.
Preliminary check complete
Secondary check complete
Mechanical check complete
Data compiled
Ready for execution
And the world exploded before him as a slit of light, barely within his visual range, expanded. His dilated eyes snapped into focus, regulating the amount of light that filtered into his sensors. A large, wrinkled and bald face loomed into view. He vaguely acknowledged it as he continued to view the large, cluttered room around him.
"Glad to see we're up."
He made a glottal, non-committal sound, still not fully looking at him.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Dr. Wily." He said monotonously. "You've programmed that information in me."
Wily gave a slight scowl, but his eyes still held a sort of dark cheer. "Good. Move your arms. Left first." With a bored air, he complied, first his left and then his right, repeating the motions for his legs. Then, as per his orders, he sat up, twisted his torso this way and that, put all four limbs in a variety of movements and rolled his head in a number of directions. The old scientist chortled in delight that his 'creation was fully functional'. As Wily happily jotted down some notes in his book, the 'creation' took the opportunity to look at himself.
Long, thin arms and legs, all pale and ethereal, unmarked and finely sculpted, the perfect balance between hard, synthesized muscled and lean agility. His torso was compact, small and slender waisted, made for power and speed. He made no recognition as his auditory sensors heard the doctor leave, but he raised his hand, placing the back of it next to the opposite ear, listening in dead curiosity as the miniature pistons pulled while the fingers flexed.
It wasn't more than ten minutes later did Dr. Wily return, this time carrying a bundle of long papers- blueprints -and unrolled the lot of them on a spare table. "You...." he said, his bushy brows coming down in reminisce of an angry smile, "you understand what you are, don't you?"
"I am a bioroid." He replied. "I was designed to do your bidding. To destroy, kill if the case maybe, those that attempt to stop you."
"Very good. Very good, indeed." He said with a toothy smile. "Today I will begin creating your armor and your lupinoid. Today is your day of creation, Forte." He stood. "You are my greatest creation, you will succeed where others haven't. Forte.... in honor of your strength, I'll allow you to choose your design." As the new Wily 'bot stepped up to the table, Wily backed away, silently appraising his work. "I'll be back in half an hour. I'm going to check up on your lupinoid."
Forte said nothing, did nothing but study the plans. His critical eye taking in the flaws and strengths of each design and assigning them to his own personal shortcomings.
"A beautiful one, aren't you?"
He turned around, face in a fierce snarl as he searched for the source of the smooth voice.
"Who are you?"
He stood, the too-bright light washing over his naked body as the person came into view, peeling from out of the shadows. The light slipping over the surface of his helmet and armor, swimming on the burgundy wine color. The stranger smiled his enigmatic smile as he watched the sinewy form of Forte, curled like a spring, ready to attack.
"He was really reaching for perfection when he created you, didn't he?" He asked, raising a reddish hued hand to gently trace the curve of high, strong cheekbones, down to the smooth point of the chin. "Really going for the realism, unlike a majority of your predecessors." Suddenly his hand slipped behind Forte's neck, and pulled him close. In that brief moment, Forte realized how much shorter, smaller this strange bioroid was, yet so strong, and could almost imagine sharp eyes watching him from behind the tinted shades. "Never let him touch you. All he can offer you is corruption and death."
Forte narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?" He refused to be moved by the hidden eyes boring into his head, by the hand that trailed down his chest, following the path of a sealed seam, or by the mysterious, almost smug smile on thin lips that hovered above him.
"Persistent and one-track minded. He's hoping that stubbornness will win."
"Who are you?"
He just continued to smile, his armored fingers still tracing aimlessly over the plate. Forte could feel his mechanical heart begin to speed up, sending more fluid through the artificial veins. Pressure began to build around his body as that hand passed over a nipple, thumbing the elastic nub and rubbing it against the sensors beneath it. He clenched his jaw to keep from making a sound.
"Interesting. Far more detailed than any other I've seen. I'll have to keep an eye on you." He stepped back, making as if to leave when he felt Forte tangle a slender hand in the pale yellow scarf, giving a sharp tug.
"Who are you?"
With that same irritating smile, he unhooked the fingers from the cloth, holding them before his face. "I am Blues."
"You weren't created by Wily." It came more as a statement than anything else. It wasn't an obvious detail that gave away the fact, but it seemed to Forte that Wily would never be able to possess the ability to create such a graceful, collected 'bot.
"No. Not completely."
"You're not here to destroy me."
"No. I'm here to observe."
"Observe what?"
"You."
"Why me?"
His smile never wavered as he dropped the pale hand and raised his own to brush through the unruly, lavender hair of the other. "He may get the body right, but at this rate he can never get that will correct." That smile developed an edge of bitterness. "Though I would hate to help, if it's to get my mission done, then I'll take Wily one stepped closer to his goal." He opened a compartment in his wrist brace, revealing a small pillar that opened a small slot, spilling out a tiny chip.
"What is that?"
"This," Blues said, making no move to approach, "is contains an enhancement file. One that increase the abilities of the WILL chip."
"WILL chip?"
"My, he didn't really give you much information on inner workings, did he?" He asked, not unkindly. "A WILL chip is the combination of Wily's Independent chip and Light's Logic chip. It gives the bioroid that ability and desire to think for themselves, but only allowing the bioroid to do actions that fall in the boundaries of the programmed logic. This is easy to remove and bypasses to the main WILL circuit so the pre-programmed logic can be changed at any time. But any change will only be apparent after you've been 'rebooted' so to speak." He pressed the small circle in the middle of Forte's chest, watching as it blossomed open, revealing the inner workings of the 'bot. Blues set to work in putting the chip in place. "Tonight, when you are in suspension, turn your personality matrix off and restart it when you wake up. You should be able to feel the change. It might be a strange feeling, but you should get used to it fairly quickly."
"And why are you giving it to me? Especially since you don't seem too happy about the idea of helping Wily."
Blues' calm air suddenly turned grave. "I'm sure you were programmed with at least a passing history of Wily and Light."
"Yes. They used to be lab partners, now they're rivals."
"Right. They're using bioroids as a means to play their own versions of 'God'. Racing each other to create an artificial human, one with stronger, faster, more adept bodies and a larger brain capacity. They're both aiming for immortality and, indirectly, perfection, trying to master a power that doesn't belong to them."
"Then what are you for?"
"Me?" A dry humor crept in his voice. "I'm trying to expand the awareness on at least a couple of bioroids. You could say, as someone once put it, I'm trying to keep heads above water before the boat sinks."
Forte looked up as Blues finished putting the chip in the slot, looking ahead against a soon to be familiar wall as he dwelled upon the words. "And what should I be doing?"
"You have eyes." The shorter bioroid said, straightening. "The world is there to be seen, not to be told. What you gather from what is around you is for you to treasure alone."
"And you think that this chip will help me think for myself?"
"No. You already have the ability to think for yourself. You just have to over come the other chips that are trying to keep you tied to that guy." He tossed his head in the vague direction of the lab door. "But I have to be going before he comes back. He and I.... don't get along too well." His lips curled in a dark smile. "It would be best if you didn't mention this meeting, either. Who knows, he might try to erase your memory chips, possibly even toss you in the junkyard. He's been known for being a bit.. extreme in certain cases."
Once again, Blues turned to leave. But a voice stopped him.
"Blues."
"Yes?"
"What armor do you think would best suit me?"
Blues turned around fully, a look of surprise on his half-covered face. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would appear. After a pause he began to chuckle. "You caught me off guard on that one. Congratulations, you've earned my respect already." Stepping passed the newly awoken Wily 'bot, Blues skimmed through the blueprints. Halfway through the rather impressive pile, he stopped and smiled- a true, soft smile that made Forte wonder what he had done to receive it and what to do to see it again. "Here. This is the perfect one for you." He held up the blueprint so Forte could see it, but he was no longer interested. Right now all he cared about was the curious bioroid before him.
"Thank you."
"You don't have me to thank. In a way, you could say you were created to wear this," his smile grew fonder, "Cobra." Forte felt the corner of his lips twitch slightly, almost too much for him to quell. Softly Blues reached out and fitted the smooth curve of Forte's cheek in the cup of his palm. "You have beautiful, clear eyes, Forte. Never forget to use them." With no other movement than the mere action of leaving, Blues faded back into the shadowed corners of the lab.
It was with a slight disturbed notion that Forte noted his sensors were unable to follow the elder 'bot out of the lab, but deep within he wasn't surprised. The power readings couldn't be tracked, or more, refused to, but there was no malicious intent behind the shaded visor. As an unspoken agreement, Blues would return and Forte would wait for him. But until then, the latter would have to be satisfied with the 'present' the other had left him.
Forte lifted the partially rolled up blueprint to rub against his cheek, still tingling from the touch. His gold, snake-like eyes narrowed slightly as he gave a fanged smile.
He could wait.
First: Derivation
by Lady Virgo
"O rose,
How my love
lives in your
bloody depths"
///
He could hear before he could see. A fact that would make most people a bit edgy, but instead, perked his curiosity. Behind closed eyes his maintenance system kicked on, sprawling symbols and words before him.
....
Booting process begin
Systems scan for errors
Clusters scan for errors
Mainframe size check
All systems functional
All clusters functional
Virus scan initiated
Program function:
Left aft booster.... check
Right aft booster.. check
Left ankle joint..... check
Right ankle joint... check
Left base piston.... check
Right base piston..
And so on the words spilled, falling before his closed eyes repeatedly faster and faster. Patiently he watched and read, filing each function and program into his forward memory banks for easy reference. Not yet fully awakened and he already knew his purpose: to fight and to destroy.
Finally, the letters stopped scrolling downwards and words flashed behind his mechanical retina.
Preliminary check complete
Secondary check complete
Mechanical check complete
Data compiled
Ready for execution
And the world exploded before him as a slit of light, barely within his visual range, expanded. His dilated eyes snapped into focus, regulating the amount of light that filtered into his sensors. A large, wrinkled and bald face loomed into view. He vaguely acknowledged it as he continued to view the large, cluttered room around him.
"Glad to see we're up."
He made a glottal, non-committal sound, still not fully looking at him.
"Do you know who I am?"
"Dr. Wily." He said monotonously. "You've programmed that information in me."
Wily gave a slight scowl, but his eyes still held a sort of dark cheer. "Good. Move your arms. Left first." With a bored air, he complied, first his left and then his right, repeating the motions for his legs. Then, as per his orders, he sat up, twisted his torso this way and that, put all four limbs in a variety of movements and rolled his head in a number of directions. The old scientist chortled in delight that his 'creation was fully functional'. As Wily happily jotted down some notes in his book, the 'creation' took the opportunity to look at himself.
Long, thin arms and legs, all pale and ethereal, unmarked and finely sculpted, the perfect balance between hard, synthesized muscled and lean agility. His torso was compact, small and slender waisted, made for power and speed. He made no recognition as his auditory sensors heard the doctor leave, but he raised his hand, placing the back of it next to the opposite ear, listening in dead curiosity as the miniature pistons pulled while the fingers flexed.
It wasn't more than ten minutes later did Dr. Wily return, this time carrying a bundle of long papers- blueprints -and unrolled the lot of them on a spare table. "You...." he said, his bushy brows coming down in reminisce of an angry smile, "you understand what you are, don't you?"
"I am a bioroid." He replied. "I was designed to do your bidding. To destroy, kill if the case maybe, those that attempt to stop you."
"Very good. Very good, indeed." He said with a toothy smile. "Today I will begin creating your armor and your lupinoid. Today is your day of creation, Forte." He stood. "You are my greatest creation, you will succeed where others haven't. Forte.... in honor of your strength, I'll allow you to choose your design." As the new Wily 'bot stepped up to the table, Wily backed away, silently appraising his work. "I'll be back in half an hour. I'm going to check up on your lupinoid."
Forte said nothing, did nothing but study the plans. His critical eye taking in the flaws and strengths of each design and assigning them to his own personal shortcomings.
"A beautiful one, aren't you?"
He turned around, face in a fierce snarl as he searched for the source of the smooth voice.
"Who are you?"
He stood, the too-bright light washing over his naked body as the person came into view, peeling from out of the shadows. The light slipping over the surface of his helmet and armor, swimming on the burgundy wine color. The stranger smiled his enigmatic smile as he watched the sinewy form of Forte, curled like a spring, ready to attack.
"He was really reaching for perfection when he created you, didn't he?" He asked, raising a reddish hued hand to gently trace the curve of high, strong cheekbones, down to the smooth point of the chin. "Really going for the realism, unlike a majority of your predecessors." Suddenly his hand slipped behind Forte's neck, and pulled him close. In that brief moment, Forte realized how much shorter, smaller this strange bioroid was, yet so strong, and could almost imagine sharp eyes watching him from behind the tinted shades. "Never let him touch you. All he can offer you is corruption and death."
Forte narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?" He refused to be moved by the hidden eyes boring into his head, by the hand that trailed down his chest, following the path of a sealed seam, or by the mysterious, almost smug smile on thin lips that hovered above him.
"Persistent and one-track minded. He's hoping that stubbornness will win."
"Who are you?"
He just continued to smile, his armored fingers still tracing aimlessly over the plate. Forte could feel his mechanical heart begin to speed up, sending more fluid through the artificial veins. Pressure began to build around his body as that hand passed over a nipple, thumbing the elastic nub and rubbing it against the sensors beneath it. He clenched his jaw to keep from making a sound.
"Interesting. Far more detailed than any other I've seen. I'll have to keep an eye on you." He stepped back, making as if to leave when he felt Forte tangle a slender hand in the pale yellow scarf, giving a sharp tug.
"Who are you?"
With that same irritating smile, he unhooked the fingers from the cloth, holding them before his face. "I am Blues."
"You weren't created by Wily." It came more as a statement than anything else. It wasn't an obvious detail that gave away the fact, but it seemed to Forte that Wily would never be able to possess the ability to create such a graceful, collected 'bot.
"No. Not completely."
"You're not here to destroy me."
"No. I'm here to observe."
"Observe what?"
"You."
"Why me?"
His smile never wavered as he dropped the pale hand and raised his own to brush through the unruly, lavender hair of the other. "He may get the body right, but at this rate he can never get that will correct." That smile developed an edge of bitterness. "Though I would hate to help, if it's to get my mission done, then I'll take Wily one stepped closer to his goal." He opened a compartment in his wrist brace, revealing a small pillar that opened a small slot, spilling out a tiny chip.
"What is that?"
"This," Blues said, making no move to approach, "is contains an enhancement file. One that increase the abilities of the WILL chip."
"WILL chip?"
"My, he didn't really give you much information on inner workings, did he?" He asked, not unkindly. "A WILL chip is the combination of Wily's Independent chip and Light's Logic chip. It gives the bioroid that ability and desire to think for themselves, but only allowing the bioroid to do actions that fall in the boundaries of the programmed logic. This is easy to remove and bypasses to the main WILL circuit so the pre-programmed logic can be changed at any time. But any change will only be apparent after you've been 'rebooted' so to speak." He pressed the small circle in the middle of Forte's chest, watching as it blossomed open, revealing the inner workings of the 'bot. Blues set to work in putting the chip in place. "Tonight, when you are in suspension, turn your personality matrix off and restart it when you wake up. You should be able to feel the change. It might be a strange feeling, but you should get used to it fairly quickly."
"And why are you giving it to me? Especially since you don't seem too happy about the idea of helping Wily."
Blues' calm air suddenly turned grave. "I'm sure you were programmed with at least a passing history of Wily and Light."
"Yes. They used to be lab partners, now they're rivals."
"Right. They're using bioroids as a means to play their own versions of 'God'. Racing each other to create an artificial human, one with stronger, faster, more adept bodies and a larger brain capacity. They're both aiming for immortality and, indirectly, perfection, trying to master a power that doesn't belong to them."
"Then what are you for?"
"Me?" A dry humor crept in his voice. "I'm trying to expand the awareness on at least a couple of bioroids. You could say, as someone once put it, I'm trying to keep heads above water before the boat sinks."
Forte looked up as Blues finished putting the chip in the slot, looking ahead against a soon to be familiar wall as he dwelled upon the words. "And what should I be doing?"
"You have eyes." The shorter bioroid said, straightening. "The world is there to be seen, not to be told. What you gather from what is around you is for you to treasure alone."
"And you think that this chip will help me think for myself?"
"No. You already have the ability to think for yourself. You just have to over come the other chips that are trying to keep you tied to that guy." He tossed his head in the vague direction of the lab door. "But I have to be going before he comes back. He and I.... don't get along too well." His lips curled in a dark smile. "It would be best if you didn't mention this meeting, either. Who knows, he might try to erase your memory chips, possibly even toss you in the junkyard. He's been known for being a bit.. extreme in certain cases."
Once again, Blues turned to leave. But a voice stopped him.
"Blues."
"Yes?"
"What armor do you think would best suit me?"
Blues turned around fully, a look of surprise on his half-covered face. He opened his mouth to speak, but no words would appear. After a pause he began to chuckle. "You caught me off guard on that one. Congratulations, you've earned my respect already." Stepping passed the newly awoken Wily 'bot, Blues skimmed through the blueprints. Halfway through the rather impressive pile, he stopped and smiled- a true, soft smile that made Forte wonder what he had done to receive it and what to do to see it again. "Here. This is the perfect one for you." He held up the blueprint so Forte could see it, but he was no longer interested. Right now all he cared about was the curious bioroid before him.
"Thank you."
"You don't have me to thank. In a way, you could say you were created to wear this," his smile grew fonder, "Cobra." Forte felt the corner of his lips twitch slightly, almost too much for him to quell. Softly Blues reached out and fitted the smooth curve of Forte's cheek in the cup of his palm. "You have beautiful, clear eyes, Forte. Never forget to use them." With no other movement than the mere action of leaving, Blues faded back into the shadowed corners of the lab.
It was with a slight disturbed notion that Forte noted his sensors were unable to follow the elder 'bot out of the lab, but deep within he wasn't surprised. The power readings couldn't be tracked, or more, refused to, but there was no malicious intent behind the shaded visor. As an unspoken agreement, Blues would return and Forte would wait for him. But until then, the latter would have to be satisfied with the 'present' the other had left him.
Forte lifted the partially rolled up blueprint to rub against his cheek, still tingling from the touch. His gold, snake-like eyes narrowed slightly as he gave a fanged smile.
He could wait.
