Here's Chapter 2! In this chapter, Blues is trying to be more human. Note: When Blues talks about how difficult learning human language is and how there are so many characters, he's talking about learning to speak, read, and write Japanese, since Rockman is from Japan; the characters would be speaking Japanese, not English. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 2 - Human Android

It's not easy to be an android trying to be a human in a human's world. There are so many different things - actions, feelings, and whatnot - that can inhibit your progress. For instance, human speech - it was the most difficult thing that I tried to learn. So many sounds, characters.....just trying to write the language was hard enough. There were many instances where I just about gave up. But something drove me to try again and again. Maybe it was Uncle Albert pressing me on, encouraging me. Or maybe it was the fact that my own father didn't believe in me. I wanted to prove him wrong - he thought that I was just a ro-

......android, that wasn't capable of doing the things that humans could do. He was also confused - he could have sworn that he had programmed a human speech module into me, so why wasn't it working? Everyday he would poke and prod at me, trying to find out what the problem was.

Uncle Albert had more common sense than Father did. One day, I was just about in tears because I still couldn't talk, read, and write. I was already two years old, and although I had finally learned to walk, I still couldn't do the other simple things that humans could do; Xavier could speak. He was even learning to read - why couldn't I? Uncle Albert approached and knelt down in front of me. I looked up at him through sorry green optics; he smiled at me and said,

"You are still having trouble, yes?" I nodded.

"Well, I think I can help you with that problem. Okay?" I sniffed and nodded, grateful.

Out of the two of them, Father and Uncle Albert, it was Uncle Albert who was more like my father. Maybe it was because Uncle Albert already had a son, and he knew how to handle children. Father and Mother didn't have children; they couldn't have children because of Father. He was...incapable of having them. So he did the next best thing - created a son. But he surely wasn't treating me as his son, more like what I really was - his creation.

Uncle Albert helped me up, and I followed him into the laboratory, in the basement. He had me sit up on a cold, steel table. I was getting a little nervous, another feeling I had discovered. But Uncle Albert's gentle smile reassured me, and I felt a little less nervous.

"I want you to ask your CPU to do a full system scan. Check for any and all programs and protocols listed," said Uncle Albert. "When the scan is done and you are given a list, read it to me."

I nodded, and said, "Full system scan - subject DRN000."

---INITIATING...---
....................
....................
....................
SCAN COMPLETE. LIST ALL RESULTS?


"No, only .EXE and .PRO."

---LISTING...---
EXECUTABLES
EMOT.EXE
HYPER.EXE
PWRMNGMNT.EXE
STARTUP.EXE
SYSCHK.EXE
SYSSCN.EXE
SHUTDOWN.EXE


PROTOCOLS
EMOT.PRO
HYPER.PRO
PWRMNGMNT.PRO
STARTUP.PRO
SYSCHK.PRO
SYSSCN.PRO
SHUTDOWN.PRO

END LIST


"Well?"

I started to read off the list, and wondered how in the world Uncle Albert could understand me. To him, and any other human for that matter, my speech should have sounded like a bunch of pings. But he understood me. I stopped reciting the list, and looked around. Next to me was some sort of machine. Perplexed, I said another executable. I watched, amazed, as words came up on the small LCD display - human words. Although I could not read the yet, I understood that Uncle Albert could translate my Machine Language to his human tongue! Incredible. I was impressed and grateful.

Uncle Albert chuckled and said, "I'm going to assume that you understand what this machine does, so carry on with the rest of the list, please."

I did just that. After I was finished, Uncle Albert stood in front of me, chin in hand, perplexed.

"Hmmm....I could have sworn that Thomas said he had put in that module. But if the list you just told me is correct, then it looks like he forgot to put it in."

I must have looked angry, because Uncle Albert waved his hands.

"Oh, no, don't take it personally. Your father has a tendency to be rather absent-minded at times. He most likely just did forget to put your language module in, but thought that he did That's all right - we'll just install one for you now."

I nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Uncle Albert!" I said. He smiled and patted me on the head.

"You're quite welcome, little one. That is why your father and I make such a great team - he does most of the creating, and I do most of the programming. I also do what he forgets to do, such as in this situation." He walked over to a tall closet and opened it. Inside were hundreds upon hundreds of different chips, all neatly organized. Uncle Albert searched through the shelves, picked up a chip, and examined it. When he was satisfied, he came back over to me.

"Now then, in order to install this, I'm going to have to deactivate you for a short period. When I reactivate you, you will be able to speak, read, and write in 100 different human languages."

I stared. 100 different human languages?! I couldn't believe there were that many - I had thought there was just one universal language! It seemed that I had a lot more to learn about humans.

Then there was that other word - deactivate. I knew what that word meant - it meant that I would essentially die. But Uncle Albert had said that he would reactivate me...and I trusted him. I looked at him, and lay down on the table, without him ordering me to. Uncle Albert usually didn't have to tell me to do something for him - it was like I somehow knew what he wanted me to do. Once I was situated properly on the table, Uncle Albert opened up a control panel on my right arm, waved at me, and flipped a switch, which ran the "SHUTDOWN.EXE" program.

---SYSTEM SHUTDOWN INITIATING---
READING PWRMNGMNT.PRO
READING SHUTDOWN.PRO
................
................
SHUTTING DOWN EMOT.EXE
SHUTTING DOWN HYPER.EXE
SHUTTING DOWN STARTUP.EXE
SHUTTING DOWN SYSCHK.EXE
SHUTTING DOWN SYSSCN.EXE


After my emotions program was shut down, I lost all sense of emotion. It was strange.

SHUTTING DOWN PWRMNGMNT.EXE

And then the world went black.


---SYSTEM STARTUP INITIATING---
READING PWRMNGMNT.PRO
READING STARTUP.PRO
................
................
LOADING EMOT.EXE
LOADING HYPER.EXE
LOADING SYSCHK.EXE
LOADING SYSSCN.EXE
LOADING SHUTDOWN.EXE

NEW MODULE DETECTED!
LANG.MOD
OPEN?


"Y-yes..."

OPENING LANG.MOD...
LOAD LANG.PRO?


"Yes."

LOAD LANG.EXE?

"Yes."

READ LANG.PRO?

This was it - the moment of truth.

"Yes."

READING LANG.PRO....
...............
...............
RUNNING LANG.EXE


A new sensation overwhelmed me. I could feel the program running, and I couldn't wait to test it. It was giving my CPU all sorts of information. I wanted to say something. I wanted to say something that expressed my gratitude to Uncle Albert. I opened my mouth, and Uncle Albert watched me intently.

"Thank you."

My eyes widened. I had spoken. Uncle Albert smiled widely.
br "You are quite welcome, little one. Let's further test your new program, yes?"

I grinned. "Yes!"

"Good! Now then, I'm going to show you a paper with words on it. I want you to read me the paper, understand?"

I nodded, and Uncle Albert handed me a sheet of paper. It was a poem. I looked at the characters whose meanings had eluded me for so long. They were so easy to understand - how was it that I had thought they were so difficult? I began to read aloud.

"Kokutan no Itten ["Ebony Heaven"]
Watashi no himitsu... [My secret...]
Watashi no kurai no mimoto... [My dark past...]
Hidoi... [Terrible...]
Itami hidoi... [Terrible pain...]
Watashi wa kanashii..." [I am sad...]

This poem...it was so full of sorrow. I looked at the date - circa 1850. An incredibly old poem, considering it was 20XX. No author was listed. Whoever it was that wrote this must have been a tortured soul, I thought. So caught up was I in my own thoughts that I didn't even realize Uncle Albert talking to me.

"Huh? Oh...sorry, Uncle Albert. I was thinking."

"Oh, that's perfectly all right. But you're doing it - you're talking! And you read that poem flawlessly! Wonderful job - now we know for sure that the module is operational. Shall we go and show off to the others?" he grinned.

My grin matched his. "Yeah!"

Together we walked upstairs and into the rec room, where everyone was just lounging around. It was Mother who first saw us.

"Oh...Big Brother, and..." She trailed off; they still hadn't come up with a name for me, in the two years I had been running.

Go figure.

I frowned slightly at this, but then Uncle Albert nudged me.

"Go on," he whispered. "Say something."

I nodded, then looked at everyone in the room - Father, Mother, Aunt Sarah, and my cousin, Xavier.

Xavier and I had become very close after spending two years with each other. He had even given me a nickname, derived from my Mechanic's Code - DRN000.

"Hey, Zero! Wheredja go to?"

I gave a half-smile and said, "Oh, just downstairs to the lab."

The look on everyone's faces was priceless, as were their reactions. Father's mouth was hanging open, Mother had clapped both hands to her mouth, Aunt Sarah had put a hand to her heart, and Xavier grinned widely.

"Hey, wow! You talked!!" I nodded and smiled.

"Yeah - Uncle Albert installed a language module in me." Father approached us.

"A-albert...you...?"

"Yes, Thomas. You forgot to install one in him."

"Oh..." He chuckled. "Absent-mindedness again...sorry," he said to me, with a lop-sided grin. "Well...glad you can talk now!" I nodded.

"And I can write and read, too. In fact, I am able to write, read, and speak in 100 languages, including Chinese, French, Spanish, and English." Xavier gaped. I grinned proudly, and then turned to him. I had given him a nickname as well...in fact, I called him by it every time we were together. But he had never been able to understand me, of course. Now he could.

"Yes, X...pretty neat, huh?"
"X...? Heh...you gave me a nickname, too! Cool!"

"Now we can actually talk to each other," I mused, excited. Xavier grinned.

"Hey, yeah! That'll be neat!" Under the watchful eyes of our family, we sat over near the couch to just talk. X asked me all sorts of questions. We had a nice time just talking, while the adults all sat around us, amazed that I made that quick of a transition from mute and illiterate to android prodigy of language.

I went to bed that night feeling as if I was flying through the air, nothing holding me back.

Ah...sleep. You may wonder, how is that possible? Androids don't sleep. No, we don't, but we do go into an idle state, where we recharge our energy so that we can function properly the next day. It's like sleep in that respect - we put our systems on hiatus until we get a full eight hours worth of recharging.

Anyway.

The next day, I was sitting in the big arm chair in the rec room, when all of a sudden I heard the strangest sound. It was high-pitched, but it didn't sound bad. In fact, it sounded pleasant. Intrigued, I got up and looked for the source. When I got into the hall, I bumped right into Xavier.

"Oof! Oh, hey, Zero! What's up?"

"It...stopped."

"What stopped?"

"That noise...it sounded weird. High-pitched or something."

Xavier looked at me for a moment, scratched his head, and then brightened.

"Oh! Did it sound like this?"

He pursed his lips, and blew air out of them. I heard the noise again - it had Xavier who had been making it. I jumped back, surprised. Xavier stopped and giggled. Confused, I stared at him.

"What was that?" I asked him. He grinned.

"It's called whistling. Pretty nifty, huh? Want me to teach you how?"

"Um...sure."

"Okay! Here's what you do - just put your lips together like this...and then you blow! Simple."

I nodded, and tried. It took me at least 20 minutes, in which Xavier spent laughing hysterically at my face - it must have looked strange, me trying to blow air from my mouth, my cheeks puffed out and lips pursed. An interesting sight, I'm sure.

I was becoming frustrated. Annoyed, I clenched my hands into fists and blew as hard as I could. Scared myself half to deactivation when the shrillest whistle came from me. I jumped and clapped my hands over my mouth. I looked over at Xavier - his eyes were shut tight and his hands were over his ears. When he didn't hear my shrill whistle again, he looked up at me.

"Okay...that was good. Just try and tone the volume down, okay? Try it again."

I did, again and again, until I perfected my whistle.

"Great! Now try and make a tune out of it," Xavier told me. I didn't know the first thing about making music, and I told Xavier this. He thought for a minute, then snapped his fingers.

"I know! We'll put the radio on, and you can listen to some music! Maybe that'll inspire you."

"I hope so, X."

"Don't sweat it; c'mon!" We went into the rec room and sat in front of the radio; Xavier turned it on.

"Now, tell me when to stop," he instructed. I listened to station after station, but I didn't hear one song that I liked. After ten minutes of flipping through stations, Xavier was just about to call it quits.

That's when I heard the most beautiful music.

"X! Stop!!!" I shouted.

"Huh? Oh!" He stopped at the station.

"What kind of music is this?" I asked, bewildered. He listened to the song for a little.

"This? I think it's called blues," he answered. "Why?"

"I like it," I said simply. "It's...calming. It makes me feel good." Suddenly, a tune popped into my head, and I began to whistle it.

There isn't an android nor Reploid activated to this very day that doesn't know that tune. Every time it is heard, I am always thought of. For it is the tune that I whistle whenever I appear to help those who are in danger; it is the tune to let my little brother know that I am nearby. It is my theme song, my trademark.

That song is my very soul...if an Android could ever have a soul.

I didn't even realize until I heard applause that I had attracted an audience. Surprised, I looked up - the entire family had heard me, and had come to see what all the whistling was. By this time, I was used to all the attention; I stared blankly at everyone.

"Was that...you?" asked Father; I nodded. "Amazing...absolutely incredible..." he muttered.

"It sounded like blues," remarked Aunt Sarah.

"Yeah," said Xavier, "he likes blues a lot. We were flipping through radio stations and he made me stop on the blues station."

"Well, it was Xavier who taught me how," I explained.

"Of course," Xavier replied. "That's what friends do."

"F-friends...? What is that?"

"A friend? A friend is somebody who cares about you, somebody you can trust in and tell everything to, and not worry about it 'cause they'll never tell. A friend is someone who you can share stuff with, talk to, and..." he added with a sly smile, "...teach stuff to."

"A friend is all of this?" I asked. "It sounds like a wonderful thing," I added wistfully. "But I guess only humans can have friends...right?" Xavier shook his head.

"No. We're friends, you and me," he said.

"We...are?"

"Of course!" He smiled.

That sentence made me feel more human than I had ever felt by speaking, reading, and writing. It made me feel wanted and loved. It was the best feeling I had ever experienced.

"Hmm...interesting," said Uncle Albert afterwards. "I think I've just come up with a name for our little nameless android here."

"Really?" asked Mother. "What?"

"Blues."