Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was a bit late, and relatively short, but it was kind of a drag. Still, after about a month of no updates, I decided to finish the paragraph I was on and just upload the thing.
Chapter 8
Going Uptown
In the depths of the night, the Gesellschaft hovered above Kattelox Island. A small group of Draches flew out of the bottom and landed near the western docks.
Twelve Servbots disembarked and made for a nearby boathouse. Servbots, when they really put an effort into it, can be quite silent, and silent they were, as they went among the boats, removing their anchors and letting them float out into the lake, where the Gesellschaft waited.
"I betcha the paint job'll cost more money than the machinery installation," Servbot #12 muttered to #10.
"Quiet," said #10. "We gotta keep it down here or we'll get caught."
"Sorry. Anyway, what do we do with that grey one? The one with the cracked Refractor casing?" said #12.
#10 considered this a moment. "Leave it," he said finally. "We've got enough for now."
Rock woke up in an unfamiliar room. It took him a moment to remember that he was in the Spotter's car, and what's more, the Flutter was still entirely unfit for being slept in. He rolled over with the intent of going back to sleep.
He promptly sat up in surprise as Data blew a party noisemaker in his ear. "Rise and shine, MegaMan!" exclaimed the monkey. "Today's another big day!"
Rock said, "You know, Data, I think that would be slightly more effective if you didn't do that every day."
"Hey, it works!" cackled Data. "Now get up. I think Roll's cookin' up something good."
The car had a small kitchenette, and it was here that Rock found Roll. "Good morning, Rock," she said. "Want some eggs and toast?"
"That'll be great," said Rock. "Haven't had something like this in a while."
"I got it from the Jetlag Bakery in Apple Market," said Roll. "They sure know how to make good toasting bread."
"You can say that again," said Rock. "Where's Barrell?"
"He left early," said Roll, serving eggs and toast on one plate for him and another for herself. "I get the feeling he couldn't that big dinner we had last night."
Rock decided as he ate that the fancy restaurant Amelia had treated them to was not an experience he was likely to forget. "I hate to think what they'd have for breakfast," he commented wryly. "By the way, did you find out anything about that spring set?"
Roll put down her fork. "Well, it looks like they should fit around the leg compartments of your armor," she said. "If I install them, you'll be able to jump twice as high as you could before."
"Great," said Rock. "That'll definitely make things easier. So what's in store for today?"
"I dunno," said Roll. "Let's head back to the Cardon ruins and see what other machinery we can scrounge up. After that ... maybe we can look around town some more, maybe go to that Uptown section in the western end."
"Sounds cool," said Rock.
Rock emerged from the ruins with a satchel full of machinery.
"Not sure what we'll be able to do with this," he said, as Roll looked through it, "but knowing you and Barrell it'll go a long way towards fixing the Flutter."
"You bet," said Roll.
After lunch he changed into a white turtleneck and blue jeans, then went for a walk Uptown. He found to his delight that nobody in the town recognized him without his armor, and his walk was free of comments from complete strangers about how he had saved the town and fought off the pirates three times in one day.
Uptown was the location of the hospital and television station, as well as other places whose sole purposes seemed to be for what people did in their spare time. Rock saw a museum and an arcade, among other things.
At the edge of the water, he saw a boathouse. The sign at the top proclaimed, Wily's Boats, as well as a list of rates for renting a boat. Rock thought for a moment that it would be fun to take Roll for a "cruise", and then he remembered overhearing that the entrance to more ruins were on an island in the middle of Lake Jynn.
"Could kill two birds with one stone," he muttered to himself as he approached the boathouse.
But when he entered, the scene was one of palpable tension. An old man -- presumably Wily -- was pacing behind the counter, muttering curses.
"What's up?" Rock asked a girl who was walking towards the exit.
"Someone stole all the boats here," she said. "Now the only one left is an old broken-down one."
Wily noticed him. "Need a boat?" he said. "Normally, you could take your pick, but we don't have any boats right now. Sorry."
"Can I go look?" said Rock.
"Go ahead, but I don't see the point," said Wily. "Someone's gone and stole all my boats! I've only got one left, and it's broken down. If I get my hands on those pirates ..."
"The pirates did it?" exclaimed Rock. "I thought I ... uh, I thought they were beaten off."
Wily looked him straight in the eye. "Well, that may be, boy, but if it was them, I bet they're up to something. If you try and mess with them, you'd better watch your back."
Rock swallowed. "Right," he said, and went out the back door.
Wily had been right: there was only one boat left, and it looked somewhat in disrepair. Two harried-looking workers were making a heroic attempt to look busy.
"Having trouble?" Rock said.
The workers jumped and looked guiltily at him for a moment, and then relaxed into an air of annoyance. "Yes!" one of them said. "Wily's asked us to fix this boat for him, but it's beyond our help! I mean, how'm I supposed to fix something even he can't fix in the first place, anyway?"
"It's not that bad," said the other. "The only thing wrong with this boat is the refractor casing and the power couplings. I bet if I could get my hands on a decent Refractor I could fix this boat."
Rock considered this, smiled slightly to himself, and turned to leave.
He stopped. A Servbot was standing on the dock around the corner, out of sight of the workers. Rock walked over to it and said, "You know someone's stolen all the other boats?"
"Oh, really?" said the Servbot, trying to sound innocent and instead sounding forced. "I wonder why someone would do a thing like that?"
Rock folded his arms. "Really," he said. The two construction workers had noticed this exchange and were now wondering how it would turn out.
The Servbot looked back at him, tried to say something, and then gave up. "It wasn't me! I wasn't even on the -- Uh, nothing!"
Rock merely gave the Servbot a stare. The stare wasn't too heavy; it was simply a look of complete and utter disregard for the lie he was being told.
"Hey, this guy is one of those pirates, isn't he?" said the worker who had commented about the Refractor.
"Yes," said Rock, his gaze not wavering from the Servbot. "No clue why, but they seem to rely on these little guys."
There was a pause. "You're that blue boy who fought them off, aren't you?" said the worker. Both of them joined Rock in staring at the Servbot.
Rock decided that there was no point in denying it. "Yep," he said, still giving the Servbot "the look."
The Servbot decided that it couldn't handle the combined weight of their stares. "No! It was #10's group who took them!" To their surprise, it jumped right off the dock and into the water.
"What the heck ..." said Rock.
And then a submarine surfaced, picked up the swimming Servbot, and went back underwater again.
The first thing Wily heard was a splash. And then he heard the drone of -- What in the world?? -- a boat's motor.
He was almost at the door before Rock walked back in. "It was the pirates," he said.
"Thought it might be," said Wily. "Now what?"
Rock considered this. "I have an idea." Then he left.
About twenty minutes later, he walked back through the shop, followed by Roll, who was carrying a large yellow refractor.
Wily considered this for several long moments.
Roll followed Rock to the dock where the boat was tethered.
"Someone's been taking really good care of this boat," she said, putting down her toolkit and climbing to the top deck -- which was really only big enough for one person to stand on. "There!" she said, opening the top hatchway and jumping in with the Refractor.
"Uh, Roll?" said Rock. "Do you really think you should be doing that?"
She gave a whistle from within. "Wouldja look at that engine!" she exclaimed. "Let's see...All we need to do is fix the transformer and install the Refractor, and it'll be as good as new!"
Wily arrived from the boathouse. "What do you think you're you doing?" he said calmly.
Rock sweatdropped. "Um," he said.
"Rock, could you hand me a size-7 wrench?" said Roll, reaching out from inside the boat.
"Just a second," said Rock, but before he could continue, Wily took a wrench from the toolkit and handed it to Roll.
"Thanks," said Roll, and then saw Wily. "Whoops! I'm sorry ... I don't know what came over me ... I just started fixing the ship, and ..."
Wily said, "You really love machines, don't you? I can tell just by looking at your face."
Roll blinked, and Rock said, "Uh, Roll, your face is covered in grease." Roll blushed.
Wily chuckled. "I'm glad I could get someone as pretty as you to fix my boat for me," he said. "Tell you what: once you're done fixing it, you can use it anytime you want."
"Thank you, Mr. Wily," said Roll, looking much relieved.
"I heard there were some ruins in the middle of the lake," said Rock. "Let me get my armor, and then we can explore them."
"Sounds great," said Roll.