"Home sweet home," Lui told Rock as the two walked across the empty parking lot to the DZ kids center. "Press your face against the window, then go to the back. It keeps the cops off our ass." She walked to the back instantly.
Rock nodded, and did as he was told. He stepped up to the glass. The sounds from inside died down as he stepped up, and looked longingly into the playground. His eyes saw nothing but empty, meaningless tubes and videogames along with plastic and trampoline fabric. His eyes would have watered, knowing children were dying from hunger, sickness, and slaughter instead of ending up here. His breath made fog against the glass. Finally, as if he could no longer stand it, he tore himself away from the picture. He huddled for a minute, and then began to walk to the back.
A swoosh made him stop. His eyes narrowed as Trinity flew down. Her uniform was white. Her helmet had three crystals poking out from it, along with wings at the side. Her shoulder pads mimicked the forehead crystals, and so did the sides of her belt. Her boots did the same as well, and so did her front arm pads. Her gloves were polished so well you thought they were snow. She held a tape measure.
"Come here," she commanded coldly. Rock nodded, and took a step forward. He stared at her. She frowned, and then sighed. "What is it?"
"You're pretty," he responded, not taking another step. Obviously, she had not been expecting the comment, but held her emotions back. She moved her index finger to command him to take another step. He did so, and she instantly jumped on him.
Instead of finding himself in a battle situation, Trinity had his body numb and was measuring his size. "135 centimeters," she responded, recording it in a side panel on her arm. "Blue eyes. Long hair. Got it."
"What's up?" he asked.
She turned, blinking. "Nothing. Go on your merry, happy, and miserable way." She waved him off.
Rock continued to watch her as she typed buttons on her keypad. She growled, but did not fire. Finally, she took off, probably to find more privacy. Rock sighed and continued walking toward the back door.
He knocked on the doorway. A cat jumped out behind him as the door swung open. Everyone stared in shock as he walked in. It was silent, until Charity made a comment from on top of the tall tube slide.
"Good choice, Lui. Not only does Forte guard him, but Trinity leaves him alone after measuring him for a coffin." She waved at him. "Welcome to our personal little hellhole, kid."
The door was closed behind him. A small computer came up. "Voice reconiztion, please," it commanded.
"Um…. Hi."
"Nice to meet you," it beeped, and flew off. Lui came flying down the rollers with a small gun attached to a belt.
"Anyone have a spare shirt? No, wait, stupid question. Anyone have a rag?"
A boy raised up his oldest shirt. It was white, but looked brown from the dirt and had several holes. But it was fitted over Rock as soon as he had handed over the jacket.
Rock thanked the boy who responded with a shrug. Rock around the room. Mainly 7-12 year-olds were around, spare a few teenagers or babies. No adults seemed to be there, not even one of twenty. He blinked. No power, but flashlights hung on every corner. The tubes had different colored stripes painted, and in the plastic viewing bubbles there were sleeping bags or blankets. The roof was torn off, and laundry hung from the top to dry. Plants also stayed outside to gather rain, way, way up top. A five-year-old walked around up there, making sure everything was stable.
Charity spoke again. "He's a bad omen. I'd get rid of him, but he's seen too much already."
Lui spoke. "He's a good kid, Charity. Marie!" she called out. The kids yelled a "yay!" and got back to work, little conversations taking up the emptiness of silence. A small, pig-tailed girl somehow ended up in front of Lui. Lui smiled. "Take Rock around. Show him the ropes."
Marie nodded, then smiled. "I'm Marie," she said, starting to walk around the waiting area. Rock nodded, and was about to say his name, but she continued. "You had us worried there for a minute. Nobody's ever faced Trinity like that. She pointed to the windows. "Never go within six feet of those. They're protected, but you might show up." She continued and then pointed to the food area. "That's where we eat," she responded. "Usually, Joe shows up and cooks us something, but he can't tonight. So we're hungry." They continued walking until they reached the baby section. "The 'marines' live here," she responded. "They're the first ones to defend the base. See all those viewing bubbles? We use those in times of war, if they'd come up."
The two made their way to the big tubes. "And then the tubes are color-coded with stripes. The blue means the ball area, which is used for sleeping with elder kids. The green means the second floor tower, which leads in turn to the trampoline area- also where kids sleep. No stripe means it goes to the very top or third floor- where everyone sleeps. The only way out are either slides or the grappler. Finally, the red stripe means it leads to the meeting room- someplace only for Charity, Lui and Joe." She pointed to the eating table. "That's for education or fun time," she said, "and the Games arena is either another place to sleep or a place to hang." She smiled brightly. "You'll sleep on the third floor, Closed Viewing Bubble 28."
"So much weight," Rock muttered. "It doesn't fall, with, what, a thousand pounds or more?"
"No. The plastic is covering quadruple reinforced titanium. The cost was so great, the place couldn't afford the crap and was forced out of business." Marie smiled. "See ya around," she responded.
"You too," Rock said, staring up once again in awe.
Rocks eyes were once again drawn to the moon. He remembered Trinity, and he remembered the voices in darkness. He remembered Lui's warning to wake up, and he remembered the burning of his arm seeing people die. He remembered the words of Forte. "I'm your biggest rival, I blow things up, I destroyed Light's lab, I have the annoying little wolf…." And he had even called Rock Megaman. Rock tried to focus on the name, but he got dizzy and his vision was blurry. He thought he had seen Forte before, but he didn't know where.
He sighed and silently wished he had a video camera. He hugged his knees in the bubble, and flexed his arm. As he did so, a small panel opened. Like that. On his arm, there was a panel. A panel was on his arm. His eyes grew wide as he tried to back away from his own arm.
Go away, he thought, shutting his eyes. Go away. He peeked one eye open. It was gone.
Had he just imagined it? He tried to mentally open the panel again. It did so. Freaking out, he mentally tried to close it again. It also did so. What does this mean? He wondered silently. Am I…not human?
He stared at his other arm, his right arm- the one that had been burning before. He tried to concentrate on the burning feeling, but nothing happened. No panels opened, no arm gun appeared. He shivered as he fell asleep, to exhausted to do anymore.
"Lui, that kid is going to get you killed." Charity sat back, sighing. "Stupid thing is, you can't even see it."
"You don't understand, Charity," Lui replied. "Well, there was a cover-up that wasn't done properly, judged by the conversation Trinity had with Yamagatchi as I lay huddled in the shaft. As Rock and I went through the escape vent, Joe spoke about 'No robot here'. I think it's a link. Rock's a robot that wasn't destroyed."
Charity's eyes narrowed. "The information could have been planted, like him."
"He was too weak to even move at first, Charity. He's good in my book."
"Yes, but not in mine. Too much luck. Even Trinity left him alone." She waited for an excuse.
Lui gave her one. "He was being measured for height."
"And he didn't fit, did he? Why not? He's not who you think he is!" Charity banged her fist on the table. Marie walked in, caring drinks. She was amazingly short enough to do this, while Charity crawled out in disgust.
Lui sighed. "Charity……."
Charity lay on top of the entire building complex. The group had actually destroyed most of the roof, but it was there in case somebody fell off. But, as the children found out, if you were to fall, the ceiling would just crumble and crack with you. She sighed as she fiddled with her scarf.
"Once upon a time," she said to herself, "there was a singer who fell in love. Then Yamagatchi came to power and the love of her life was called to serve him. The love died. The end." She gave a rueful smile. "I was never good at stories."
Rock was awakened the next morning from Marie sitting in the bubble. She was watching him with rounded eyes. He opened his, and stretched. "What's up?"
"You feel sick?" she asked. "There's a virus going around. Kids are puking all over."
"I'm not cleaning up," he muttered, "but I feel fine enough." He shrugged to Marie.
Marie grinned. "Great. You can help us weld." She took off through the tunnels at amazing speed. Rock tried to follow, but his skill was only so limited. He constantly was slipping and falling down; often she was waiting for him. They crossed bridges and went through all sorts of tubes- even ones someone had been sick in.
As the two reached a viewing glass, a ten-year old stopped them. "Order of business?" he asked, bored.
"Welding. Both of us." She pointed to Rock, who was looking outside the broken viewing glass. The ten-year-old nodded and Marie pulled Rock through.
The balance was hard to find. The morning dew made the tubes slippery, and Rock's huge feet didn't help him any. Marie even slipped a few times, but swung around on the poles gracefully and got back to where she was. As Rock crawled upwards to where the crew was, he asked Marie a question.
"Has anyone ever fallen?" he asked, looking down twenty feet below.
"Sure," Marie responded. "And they died, too. But we have enough crap melded together to break someone's fall- if they're smart enough. And luckily, when the Hawks fly over, the building, even though the roof is open, don't see it. They only see a holographic image produced by Terne- that's the computer that asked for your voice." The two were at the crew sight now. "Hey guys!" Marie called. "You're gonna slip carrying that!"
A member nodded, and the tube was placed down. Rock saw the tube was part of a slide- but handholds had been burned in it, and viewing bubbles were up, but not connected. He shakily stood up and looked around for something to grab. There was nothing.
"Hey, new kid," someone told him. "Do you weld, or do you hold?"
"He holds," Marie responded. "Come on. We've got to get this finished before sundown if the teens want a place to sleep." Before the welder could say anything, she added, "And they want a place to sleep, Brandon."
Brandon shrugged. "Start holding kid," he said, putting on his goggles. Marie disappeared to do her job. Rock shrugged and picked up the tube the kids had been struggling with. It wasn't too big, but it was bulky. As he struggled to find a good foothold, the two other kids helped balance the tube out. Soon, the tube was fit in place, but Rock still stood beneath it, lest it fall. The two holders held a support beam in place, about a meter tall. As the welder sealed the last of the metal onto the plastic, Rock's eyes fizzed themselves upon the fire. He somehow saw the energy efficiency, and saw the strength of the support beam.
"It's not going to work well. You need to dig it in deeper," he said, releasing the tube and trying to force the beam into the titanium. The titanium gave a bit, and the welder's eyes got big. The heat from the effort caused the beam to hold up, and the tube was still in tact. As Rock let go, the three boys applauded him.
"Nice job," Brandon told him. "You're strong, kid." Rock shrugged and began to lift another tube.
"Wait!" Brandon cried. Rock spun around, losing his footing. He waved his arms frantically to get on balance, and the welder held a pole in front of Rock's face. Rock held on to it, and the three struggled to pull him up. Rock helped, and soon, the four of them were working harder than ever.
As the day passed on, the group's morale became much higher. Terry, one of the lifters, had summed all their happiness into a phrase. "When the day started out, I wouldn't have thought we'd get this finished. But now, I think we'll get even more done!" He repeated this several times, but finally realized his own stupidity and shut up. Larry, the other kid, was quiet but smiled at Rock a bunch of times.
When the group was all done, Brandon smiled. "Let's take a breather," he told them. The group spread out on the newly welded playtubes. Rock had the biggest smile of all. In the background, puking could be heard.
"Ah, the poor souls never seeing this miracle," Terry said, sighing. "They were all sick, but us. We'd had it several days before. And our team is the yellow team. Welcome aboard, Rock. Unless you get sick."
"Just us, by ourselves," Larry said, also sighing. Rock joined in the sighing fest and, well, sighed.
Brandon's eyes were upward in thought. "Hey, Rock, how'd you get so strong? No kid can even do that."
"I don't know," Rock told them. He would have shared what he thought, that he thought that he was a robot, but he refrained. "Always been that way," he told them truthfully.
"Here comes Marie," Brandon said, sighing. The other three sighed. Marie walked up, amazed.
"Jeez! What have you guys done? It's finished! So fast!"
"New kid," the three responded. Rock shrugged. "I helped out," he answered modestly.
"I'll say." Marie placed her hands on her hips. "Well, you guys certainly earned a break. Seeing as you've taken it, you're all done for the day. Everyone's dry urping now, so cleanup crew isn't up to their heads in varmit."
Rock's mind had another flashback.
A blond female was standing there, holding a sick old man who was hunched over. Rock was watching quietly, worried. This man meant something to him. A robotic red dog gave a whine while a bird was perched on Rock's shoulder.
"Chaos told me ice and saltine crackers should do it," the blond said. Rock knew she was a robot, but didn't know how he knew.
The memory faded and Rock was left speechless. Marie, Brandon, Terry, and Larry were staring at him. Marie spoke. "You okay? You just zoned out really bad as a Hawk flew by."
Rock blinked. "Did I? I'm sorry. I just had a flashback." He smiled. "I've had amnesia for as long as I can remember. But it told me what do about your urping problem. Ice and crackers usually does it."
Marie blinked. "Thanks!" she said, and raced down the tubes, now dry from the mid-day sun. Rock shrugged and turned, but something made his head snap around. Marie had disappeared, but Brandon was yelling out her name. She had fallen.
"Marie!" Rock cried, diving off the tubes to save her. How he attempted to save her in mid air was anyone's guess, but he caught up to her, the tubes passing them by. He held her in one arm as the other grabbed on to a vertically placed support beam. The two were suspended in the air.
"I've got her!" Rock shouted. "We're three levels below!" he looked at Marie, who had passed out. "She's fainted!"
Brandon's voice found them. "You've got five levels left, kid. Try to lower yourself down on a tube. We'll take the slide to greet you."
Rock nodded, and looked around. Besides dropping several feet, there had to have been another option. The beam was giving, and Rock didn't want to bend it. There was a net a few levels below, blocking the ballpen. But it was far to the west, and Rock didn't think he could make it.
As the beam gave a shudder, he realized he had no other choice. No one was in the ball pen, and he gave a leap, hugging Marie and going back-first into the ball pen to protect her.
There were no witnesses- if there had, many would have seen a miracle. Rock didn't make it to the ball pen. As he hit the ground hard, his body gave off a blue aura and he slid into the pen.
He opened his eyes to make sure Marie was alright. When she was, he checked himself over. The sliding had quit, but he didn't want to try again. His heart was beating furiously, and his mind was racing. He sat there in shock as Brandon and Lui made their way through the multi-colored balls. As Brandon reached Marie, he gave a sigh of realif. "She's alive and okay."
"She fainted in my arms," Rock said quietly. "We were suspended, really high… and the beam was giving. We'll have to redo the beam." Rock was quivering. Lui walked over to him. "What's wrong, Rock?"
"I slid," he said, almost crying. "I slid."
Lui gave him a hug. "It's okay, Rock. You're okay now." He nodded but did not move.
As Brandon and Lui pulled Marie's body in a sitting position, Brandon asked what that was all about.
"I'm not sure," Lui said quietly. "And I wish I was."