Chapter 2: You Work Sixteen Microchips, And What Do You Get?

"I don't like it." Rock fumed. The doctors had both gone to sleep, and the two robotic siblings were talking. "I don't like it one bit."

"What, him being freed?" Roll inquired. "Well, yeah, I don't either. But there's not much we can do about it now, is there?"

"I'm not talking about that." Rock growled. "I'm talking about how Dr. Light invited him back HERE! I thought I could live with it if he kept clean and I almost never saw him. But to have him in the same house... imagine if he's faking. He could kill all of us in our sleep-or stasis-and then go on another rampage without us to stop him." He sighed. "Maybe I'm just paranoid. I should go into stasis. Here's an idea... one of us should watch him at all times."

"We can't exactly go into his room when he's sleeping, you know." Roll retorted. "Not unless you want Dr. Light to chain you to the couch for ten hours of Miss Manners again." Rock shuddered, remembering the last time that had happened.

"No, thank you. We'll have Eddie do it then; Wily won't notice him, and even if he did, Light didn't program manners into the little guy." Roll nodded, agreeing with the plan.

"Slick. I'll take care of it; you go hit the stasis capsule." As her brother walked upstairs, she smiled and whistled for the robotic suitcase. From the second floor came a clattering of small mechanical feet, followed by a familiar scream. A few seconds later, Rock and Eddie tumbled down the stairs, bounced across the floor and slammed into a wall. Roll laughed as her brother growled and got to his feet.

"You'll pay for that one, Roll..." Still muttering to himself, he stomped back upstairs as the still-giggling Roll began explaining to Eddie.

As Rock walked down the stairs, at first he thought he was seeing things.

"Good morning!" Dr. Wily called cheerfully from his place over at the stove. He was wearing a large, muffin-shaped chef's hat as well as a "Kiss The Cook" apron. "How are you? Did you have any good dreams?"

"No... none..." Rock responded slowly, still confused. On the stove was a skillet filled with eggs, cheese and several different kinds of meat. His eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Hey... how'd you know about how I have dreams?"

"Light told me, of course." Wily said as he placed the lid on the skillet. "It's the kind of thing one tends to remember... robots don't usually have dreams. It seems I missed out on a lot while I was bats."

"We noticed." Roll said dryly as she walked down the staircase. "Cooking, eh? Been a while since you've done that."

"I noticed." Wily threw Roll's own comment back in her face. "Trust me... prison food has made me want to do a lot more of it. If you ever go there, I suggest you particularly avoid the creamed corn." He shuddered. "Where's Tom?"

"Still asleep, looks like. Hey, Eddie!" The little brown suitcase walked over to Roll. "Go wake up Dr. Light. Use this." From a cabinet she produced a large horn which she put into Eddie's mouth. The little robot wobbled and fell over under the weight, bouncing down the staircase. Wily laughed as he dizzily got back up and dragged the horn up the stairs.

"You might want to consider checking his legs, Roll. His balance seems a little off."

"She can't right now." Rock smiled, preparing a pot of coffee. "Roll and Dr. Light are working on some secret project they won't let me see."

"A secret project, eh?" Wily mused. "I wonder if-" The doctor was cut off in mid-sentence by the blast of sound announcing Eddie's arrival, followed by the sound of Dr. Light yowling in surprise and falling out of bed, which was in turn followed by liberal amounts of cursing. Rock raised an eyebrow at some of the imprecations he heard.

"I didn't know he spoke Dutch."

"Next he'll probably try to learn those binary swear words you two keep using." Wily joked. A few moments later, Dr. Light clomped down the stairs in a blue bathrobe and immediately crossed to the coffee pot. "Morning, Tom."

"Yeghburble..." Dr. Light grumbled as he poured his hot caffeine into what looked more like a beer stein than a coffee cup. As soon as it was full he took a big drink, and when he looked up he was smiling.

"Aah... morning, Al. Rock, Roll. Which one of you sent Eddie?" Rock & Wily immediately pointed at Roll, who mumbled "Snitches."

"Well, then, Roll, I'll have to think of something sufficiently nasty in retaliation. However, in the meantime breakfast is looking very attractive. Al, are you perchance making an omelette? I haven't had a good one in years!"

"What?" Wily asked. "Aren't Rock & Roll good cooks?" Light scoffed.

"Are you kidding? Roll can set something on fire just by looking at it, and Rock... it's best just not to ask."

"Well, then it's a good thing I came around." Wily commented. "You were no great shakes at cooking either... as I recall, your burritos were what made Blues break the second law."

"Those were YOUR burritos!" Light protested.

"Yours!"

"Yours!"

"Yours!"

"Yours!"

"Look at them..." Roll murmured to her brother as they watched the two doctors squabble. "It's almost like old times..."

"Yeah." Rock growled. "I still don't know, though. Let's still keep an eye on him... he could still be faking."

"Meh." Roll said noncomittally. "Hey, you two! That omelette's going to burn if you keep this up!" Dr. Wily paled.

"D'OH!" Yanking off the lid, the doctor breathed a sigh of relief upon discovering that his breakfast was uncharocoalized. "I think it's ready, Tom. Could one of you get the paper? It's been a while since I've read it."

"I'll get it." Roll volunteered, walking outside. A moment later, she returned and gave it to Dr. Wily, who sat down and began eating.

"Come on, Roll. Let's go see what's on the TV." Rock suggested, and the two robots walked out. Dr. Ligh took a portion of the omelette, and the two doctors ate in silence for several minutes.

"Ho!" Dr. Wily suddenly leapt to his feet, pounding on the newspaper with his fist. Light looked up over his plate of omelette.

"What is it, Al?"

"You didn't tell me about what was happening to Sennet Robotics!" Wily chortled. "Just look at that stock drop! I know it's usually considered bad manners to laugh at the failures of one's opponents... but I just got out of prison, so right now I don't care! HA!"

"It certainly looks bad for them." Light agreed. "They probably won't be making any more Robot Masters."

"Good thing, too." Wily said through a mouthful of eggs as he read on. "What is this? 'Spinstrike Model'? It looks like some kind of child's toy!" He looked up. "By the way, is Lighttech still manufacturing the Achilles, Icarus, Orpheus, Helios, Hephaestus and Heracles models?"

"No, we stopped making them after the Rebellion." Light said gloomily. "However, the ones that were already in existence weren't destroyed, so there's still some floating around out there." The two doctors finished their meal in silence, pierced only by occasional snorts of mirth as Wily continued reading the news. Light was the first to stand.

"Well, I guess I'll go get dressed, and then me and Roll will get back to work."

"Ah, yes, the 'secret project.'" Wily realized. "Would you mind if I took a look?" Light thought about it for a minute, then shook his head.

"Not at all, as long as you promise not to tell Rock."

"Deal."

"Pass me that servomoter, will you, Roll?" Dr. Light said, picking up a wrench. "I think it's time to put it in."

"Are we that close to being done?" Roll asked, a bit surprised as she gave the doctor the requested piece of machinery. "I thought it would take a week more, at least."

"Not at all." Dr. Light responded as he bent over the project lying on the table in front of him. "In fact, with luck, we may even get it done today. Let's see... check the readout, Roll."

"Sections 2-4 and 7 at full completion... section 5 near completion, that should change once you install the servo... Sections 1 and 6 are the only thing left. Once we're done, we can put the armor on and he'll be complete."

"Right." Dr. Light said as he installed the servomotor. "I want to install the main power source last, so once this is done we'll work on the brain. You've got all the correct research done, right?"

"Everything's compiled." Roll nodded. "We should be able to transfer the behavioral patterns easily. Where's Rock?"

"He's at the grocery store. What with Wily's omelette this morning and your watermelon accident on Tuesday, we were running a little low."

"Don't remind me." She moaned. "And Wily?"

"Taking a shower. He should be in soon to help us-"

"Now?" Wily said, opening the door. "Wow, Tom, you were absolutely correct in guessing when I'd come in! Amazing! Incredible!"

"Oh, shut up." Dr. Light grumbled, chucking a wrench at his friend, who jumped aside and blew a raspberry. "Roll, does the readout show that the leg is finished?"

"Ayuuuup." She nodded. "It's done."

"So this is the secret project..." Wily observed, walking over. "Very cute. You've got most of the internals completed and the synthskin on, but you've yet to finish the brain, power core or armor."

"Yes, that's right." Dr. Light said, a little surprised at how quickly his friend had analyzed their work. "We're finishing up the brain now... Roll, start putting the behavioral patterns in, okay?"

"Right." Roll took a CD off a shelf and tried to insert it, but failed. "Oh, come on you piece of junk... NOW what? Go IN, damn your metal hide!" She glared over at Wily, who was laughing. "WHAT!"

"Well, for starters, maybe there's another CD already in there." The scientist chortled. Roll beat her head against the wall a few times, then checked.

"Yeah, that's it all right... it's a music CD... what the hell? The Runaway Five?" She looked up at Dr. Light. "Since when did you like groups from more than fifty years ago?" The doctor glared at her.

"You're a robot, Roll, not a music critic. Get moving."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..." She grumbled, bringing up the program. Wily watched over her shoulder.

"I see you've compiled all the behavioral patterns of the real animal. Is that all you'll be putting in?"

"No." Roll said as she typed. "Later on, we'll want to put in additional functions allowing him to transform in different ways. But those will require additional power, and there's no current way to do it. So we're leaving some 'blank space' for them. We're also putting in the basic knowledge of self for robots, including how to work his teleporter."

"You're giving him a teleporter?" Wily asked, surprised.

"Yes. If any more Rebellions arise, he'll be able to help Rock out. And then there's the Laws of Robotics, of course."

"Of course." Wily watched as the data transfer finished, and Roll began typing in the Laws.

PRIORITY ONE: THE THREE RULES

FIRST LAW: A ROBOT MUST NOT HARM, OR THROUGH INACTION, ALLOW HARM TO COME TO A HUMAN BEING.

SECOND LAW: A ROBOT MUST OBEY ALL ORDERS GIVEN BY A HUMAN, UNLESS SUCH AN ACTION CONFLICTS WITH THE FIRST LAW.

THIRD LAW: A ROBOT MUST ACT TO PRESERVE ITS OWN LIFE, UNLESS SUCH AN ACTION WOULD CONFLICT WITH THE FIRST TWO LAWS.

FOURTH LAW: YOU MUST ALWAYS USE LIGHT'S BED, WILY'S BED OR ROCK'S STASIS CAPSULE TO-

"HEY!" Wily yelled. Roll giggled, erasing the "fourth law".

"Just kidding! Now we just have to make them binding." She started typing again as Dr. Light walked over.

"Everything looks good, Roll." An affirmative "Mmm." was his only reply. Neither doctor spoke for a few moments, watching Roll type. Wily was the first to break the silence.

"So, how long do you think it'll take him to break the third law?" He said, only half joking.

"I'm not sure." Light replied. "Rock did it right before the first Rebellion..." Wily flinched. "And Roll did closely before the second."

"Eddie hasn't yet." Roll spoke up. "Although he came damned close when you got drunk and ordered him to come over and let you throw up in him."

"I did THAT?" Light was shocked. Roll started laughing.

"Yeah... it was on New Year's. Eddie was NOT happy... I could see his eyes twitching as he tried to fight it. I think the next time you try a stunt like that, he'll make it." The computer beeped. "It's done." Roll took the newly-constructed chip from the machine and gave them to Light, who walked back over to the project and began putting them in. After a moment, he began swearing loudly.

"What's wrong, Tom?" Wily asked.

"Won't fit." The other scientist grunted.

"Here, let me take a look." Wily offered, bending over the project. "Hmm... let's see here... well, no wonder! Look at this mess of wiring here! And what is this? Several of these pieces are redundant!" He began furiously working, and when he was done the chip slipped perfectly into its space. "Presto."

"Very good." Light said, fixing a patch of synthskin over it. "You always were better at designing the bodies. Now, on to the last part... oh, how could I forget? Roll, pass me that spring!" Wily stared at the metal tube that she gave him, which was at least three feet in diameter.

"What do you want THAT for?"

"Got everything, Rock?" The grocer said, smiling. Rock smiled back.

"Yeah, I'm done, Mr. Kearson." The Light family were common patrons of this store, and Mr. Kearson knew them all by sight.

"Nothing personal, but I still find it hard to believe." The old grocer chatted as he helped Rock take the groceries out. "A robot with a driver's license!"

"You should have seen the DMV people." Rock laughed. "I think the only thing that persuaded them was how the manager was one of the people I saved from Fire Man."

"Must've been fun." Mr. Kelly chortled as the last of the food was piled into the car. "Take care, Rock!"

The drive home was uneventful, save for an incident with a berserk ice cream vendor, which Rock carefully avoided. Parking outside, he stepped up to the house. "Hey, guys, help me bring in the groceries, will you?" No response. He frowned and tried again. "Hellloooo? Anybody home?" His ears were suddenly drawn to a clattering commotion that came from the second floor, accompanied by the sounds of both doctors as well as his sister cursing. "What the-AUGH!" Suddenly, a red blur filled his vision, and then he was staring up at the sky, flat on his back.

"Ruff ruff!" Standing on Rock's chest was the "blur". It was a bright red, robotic DOG, and it was licking Rock's face. Groaning, he pushed the canine off and got to his feet, then looked down at his new acquaintance, who was sitting still and panting. The dog was clearly a robot; most of its body was covered in red and pink armor, save for the face and paws. It did not look like any particular breed; apparently it was a "mutt". As it stopped to scratch at a nonexistent flea, Rock smiled; he couldn't help the involuntary wave of happiness that coursed through him. He liked the dog.

"Hey, boy. I'm guessing you're the secret project the others have been working on, huh?" An affirmative yip. "Where are they, anyways?"

"Whew... sorry, Rock. He got away from us." Dr. Light stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. Dr. Wily stood behind him, and Roll was nowhere to be seen. Rock starting scratching the dog's head as he talked.

"Sa'right. I'm not TOO damaged. Where's Roll?"

"She was walking up the stairs when doggy heard you." Wily answered. "Took a bit of a tumble when he rushed down. I think her head's stuck in the heating vent."

"Well, then I suppose that makes us even for the spill she had Eddie send me on last night." Rock decided. "Let's go inside and you can tell me all about this pooch."

"So he should behave perfectly like a live dog?" Rock asked, scratching his new friend's head again. His sister nodded.

"Yuuup. All except for the doggie doo. I don't think anybody will mind."

"Ah... no. So, does he have a name?"

"We thought we'd leave that up to you." Roll told him. He thought a minute.

"Hmm... a name. Well, I haven't known him for very long... I only met him a few minutes ago, when he rushed me. Hey, that's it! I'll call him Rush!"

"Hmmm..." Roll thought. "Cute, uncomplicated, and it matched our names. I like it."

"All right then, Rush it is." Rock looked at the canine. "You're Rush now, okay, boy?" The dog woofed happily. "Good, I'm glad you like it. Anyways... does he have any special capabilities?"

"Ahem..." Dr. Light cleared his throat. "Yes. He has a teleporter, of course, and currently is capable of using a large spring to launch heavy objects. He's also capable of transforming his body into different shapes; unfortunately, he doesn't have the power for it right now."

"Huh?" Rock was confused. "Why did you put those in?"

"Well..." Wily spoke up. "It's because... if you ever have to fight off a Robot Rebellion again, he'd be able to help you out."

"Oh?" Rock growled, suddenly angry. "Not feeling too well, Wily? Is Dr. Froid's treatment starting to wear off?"

"Of course not, you robotic imbecile!" Dr. Wily yelled back, his temper also rising. "But do you think I'm the only man in the world who would do something like that?"

"Yes, I do!" Rock responded. "MOST people aren't insane maniacs! MOST people don't want to conquer the world in a reign of terror!"

"And just where have you been looking for your analysis, hmmm? Happy little families with children who dance around in flower fields all day and cute cuddly animals?" Wily said contemptuously. "News flash, bolt brain! There are a lot of people out there in this world who are just as bad as I was; worse, even! And all we need is for ONE of them to have the neccessary skill, and bingo! A Third Robot Rebellion!"

"So, when that happens we just send out Mega Man, right?" Rock snorted. "Mega Man, champion of the world! HA! Nobody ever thought that maybe Mega Man doesn't LIKE fighting! Nobody ever thought that maybe Mega Man is getting sick of saving the world! But Mega Man's a hero, and heroes don't get to decide those things, right?" Rock stood up and stomped off, followed by a whining Rush. Dr. Light sighed and watched Wily sit back down, while Roll also excused herself.

"Easy, Al. Don't give yourself a heart attack."

"Robotic fool..." Wily whispered, half to himself. "Does he really think I was the only source of evil in the human race?"

"I'm not sure, Al." Dr. Light frowned. "I think he's just tired of fighting. He wasn't built to be a warrior, remember."

"I know!" Dr. Wily slammed his fist onto the table. "But the Rebellions WILL come, regardless of whether he wants or not! And if he doesn't fight them, who will?"

"Roll suggested building a new robot." Dr. Light said. "A robot built solely for keeping the peace."

"An ultimate peace-keeping robot?" Dr. Wily wondered. "A robot built for nothing but stopping Rebellions? Could we actually do such a thing?"

"It couldn't be self-aware, of course..." Light mused. "Too much danger of it deciding it likes fighting, and turning on us... no, it would have to be low-intelligence..."

"The power we'd need to operate it would be astronomical..." Wily talked slowly. "We'd never be able to do it with the current energy mechanisms."

"...True." Dr. Light said. "So there's no real point in talking about this right now."

"Right." Dr. Wily looked at a nearby clock. "Hmmph... it's later than I thought. Time flies when you're building robots. I'd better start dinner."

After eating, both doctors said they were tired, and decided to turn in. But neither of them fell asleep right away; they were too busy with thoughts of a great peace-keeper, striding across the land.

"WHOA!" Roll shouted from the front porch. A moment later, she ran in, waving a newspaper. Dr. Wily looked up from his coffee and raised an eyebrow.

"Tell me, Roll, what's so astonishing that you have to wake everybody in the neighborhood to share it?"

"This!" She tossed him the newspaper. Wily caught and glanced, and his eyes grew wide moments before performing a classic spit-take.

"No. No way. NO WAY. I am NOT seeing this. They were dead. They were DEAD! Those idiots! Those damned lucky IDIOTS!"

"Hm?" Rock walked over and looked over the doctor's shoulder at the headline.

SENNET ROBOTICS DISCOVERS ASTONISHING NEW ENERGY SOURCE!

Last evening, Sennet Robotics, a robot-producing company on the brink of collapse, unveiled a startling new discovery which they had apparently been keeping quiet for several months. They have discovered a remarkable new mineral known as Energen Crystal, which they claim can store astonishing amounts of energy, far beyond any type of battery in the world today. Unfortunately, Energen is extremely rare; only seven locations are known on the earth, all of which are controlled by Sennet Robotics. An eighth source had been located on the moon, and Sennet is in the process of obtaining permission to mine there as well. Each mine of Energen seems to produce a different type of crystal; the exact differences are not known yet. With this amazing discovery, all of the robots previously built by Sennet Robotics are being set to mine the Energen, including their eight lines of Robot Masters (Magnus, Ripwood, Gemini, Serpos, Smashbody, Zapplug, Pinhead, Spinstrike). Excavation is proceeding very well, and

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"Whoa." Rock said, sitting back down. "Talk about your last-minute saves. Looks like Sennet Robotics ain't done yet... those Energen Crystals are going to be worth a lot."

"Yeah..." Said Dr. Light, also reading. Neither doctor said a word, but they both quickly finished their meals and went to the lab.

"Hee hee hee..." A darkness-shrouded figure giggled like a small child as it bent over a table. "Come on... come on... yes!" The wire fit into place. "It's done, it's done, it's done!" The figure danced around the table that held his little toy. The project could have easily been made by a machine, but the figure insisted on assembling it with his own hands. Gave it a more... personal touch.

"Now, I just wait until they order something, then... BOOOOM! Hahahahahaha!" Laughing insanely, the figure capered off into the shadows, his project momentarily forgotten. After a few minutes of dancing, it stopped and sat down at a computer.

"Plan A... Plan A, Plan A, ready, I say! Hahahahaha!" Its laughter stopped suddenly. "Still... Plan A may fail. I shoud review the others... Plan B, Plan B, revenge for me! Plan C, Plan C, it's all fun, wheee! Hahahahaha... huh?" The figure glared up at a wall clock. "Argh! I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date! Idiot, idiot, idiot..." Cursing itself, the figure danced out the door.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" Roll grumbled impatiently as the doorbell rang repeatedly. Swinging open the door, she smiled at who it was. "Dr. Froid! Mr. Richolds, come in, please!"

"Thank you, Roll." Dr. Froid said, smiling back. "I don't believe you've met my friend? Donald, this is Roll. Roll, Donald."

"Nice to meet you." Donald Richolds said, shaking her hand. "We're here to talk with Albert... is he in?"

"Yeah, he's up in the lab." The female robot said. "I'll go get him." She walked upstairs and went in to discover the lab was deserted; everything was very messy, with papers and tools everywhere. "Huh. Wonder where they went." Instead of leaving to go look, she just gazed around the room. "Look at this place..." Roll growled. "Haven't those doctors ever heard of cleaning up after themselves?" Muttering, she began putting things away. After a few minutes, she found a strange folder. "Huh? What's this?" Roll picked it up and started reading through it, and her eyes grew wide. "This... this is... amazing! Incredible! I've got to tell Rock..." She ran off, leaving the folder where it was. A single paper fluttered out, with only two words written on it.

PROJECT GAMMA