Chapter 5
The girl seemed a bit shaken, but it had probably been her first experience with teleportation, so it was understandable. They had landed right outside the Lab. Apparently Dr. Light had the barriers up, which kept anything from just appearing inside the lab.
Makes sense, Mega Man thought, I doubt Dr. Light want's any unwelcome guests right now. Mega Man turned to the girl. "Are you ok?"
"That was a rather strange experience, but I am functional. Is this our desired destination?"
This girl has a strange way of speaking to people, then again, it's probably not her first language. "Yeah, this is Dr. Light's lab, he's my creator. Follow me, and I'll take you to him, then we can talk." Mega Man led the way into the Lab, the girl followed silently. As they continued into the lab, Mega Man tried to engage the girl in small talk hoping he might learn something. "So, where do you live?"
"I do not have a residing place," the girl responded.
That just brings up another question, Mega Man thought, why would that thing want a homeless girl?
Back in the lab it appeared to Mega Man that little had changed. Dr. Light and Dr. Wily were off to one side discussing something between themselves. Dr Light was working on his external radar as well. "...and all this time I thought my radar was going bad," he said.
"I noticed the same reaction with my own sensors, I didn't have the time to look further into it, though." Wily looked up as Mega Man entered the room. "Where's Shadow Man?" he asked.
"He's probably behind me, we ran into another of your annoying creations at the mall, but he'll need to hear from you before he decides to do anything. I left before Shadow Man, so he may have stayed to explain."
"Bass? He's never around when needed. I need to go over his programming again."
Shadow Man entered the room. "All's well and accounted for, Dr. Wily, but Bass isn't happy with things, and I don't think I really reached him."
"Surprise, Surprise. Well, we don't have time to worry about that now, we'll have to take care of it some other time."
Dr. Light came out from under the console he had been working on. "Mega Man! What on earth happened? It looks like you've just gone through another of Wily's fortresses!" Wily decided to take it as a complement. "Your practically torn apart, and your arms are nearly black! What did you do to yourself?"
Mega Man looked down and for the first time noticed that his forearms and hands were scarred black. He also began to notice that they had both started to sting. Shadow Man decided to intervene.
"He single handedly took down a rather nasty opponent in, uh... one shot."
Dr. Light was already at work setting up a scanner to look over Mega Man. Mega Man complied without even being asked. As the scanner fired up, Dr. Light gave Mega Man a concerned look. "It's as if immense concentrations of energy had been channeled through your cannons. What did you do?"
"Let's just say that that 'one shot' bit wasn't technically true, though it was simultaneously."
Dr. Light's eyebrows shot up as the realization hit him. "You fired both cannons?"
"Yeah, I've never done that before. I guess I charged too much power into my arms."
Dr. Light simply nodded. Mega Man was unaware that he very nearly blew his own arms off, but Dr. Light didn't want to give Wily any ideas. "Well, you're going to have to rest for a while, you're not going to be a very efficient fighter for a time, but you're body will repair itself."
"I may not have a choice," Mega Man replied. He then turned to the girl, who had so far been ignored, but was nonetheless looking extremely nervous. "So, why exactly was that thing hunting you?"
"Is it safe to speak?" she asked.
"If Dr. Light's lab isn't safe, there's no place on Earth that is."
"Very well. I was wanted for interrogation that my creators may learn more about how some of us are able to break from their programming and rebel against them. I had managed to escape to the surface of your planet without being detected, but I was unable to remain hidden. I was hoping my masters wished to be more discreet about their appearance to the people of your planet, but it is apparent that they no longer feel the need to do so."
Mega Man was aghast. "You.... you mean......... you're one of them!" he stammered.
"Dr. Light, do you think this could be a trick?" Proto Man ventured.
"Don't be so quick, Proto Man, let's hear what she has to say."
The girl continued. "Yes, I am a one of the beings that has attacked your planet, and destroyed your base of operations," she motioned to Wily. "My masters saw the site as the area which contained the most probable resistance and wished that it be removed."
"A sleight oversight on their part." Wily grumbled, casting a quick glance at Mega Man.
The girl went on. "According to your measurement of time, it has been many centuries from the time that my masters overtook our planet and enslaved its people. They arrived in the form of a virus that infected the processing and mechanical devices of our planet. It caused our machines to revolt, and as a result, the people and even the very animals were captured and turned into ruthless machines and cyborgs of war to be used in the conquest of other planets. The entire population of my planet was enslaved, and even I myself was captured."
"How old are you?" Mega Man couldn't help but ask.
"I am not sure. Under my master's influence, I was unable to maintain an accurate estimation of time passed since then." The girl continued, "On my planet, before it was invaded, our population was divided into many classes, each bred for specific duties. These skills were integrated into our new forms. I was once a healer, given the power to heal any minor wounds, and the knowledge to treat and cure all manner of ailments." The girl walked towards Mega Man and extended her arm over his sore arms. The pain had steadily grown worse. The girl closed her eyes and seemed to concentrate. After a minute, Mega Man noticed that the pain in his arms seemed to lessen, and then it disappeared entirely. Dr. Light went back to his computer and ran another scan. When the printout came up, he stared wide-eyed.
"I don't believe it," he said. "It's as if nothing had happened."
Mega Man's arms were still black, but he had somehow been internally healed, and the pain was gone.
The girl continued, "When my masters changed me, my form was given the ability to heal even mechanical systems as well as organic."
"What other 'classes' were prevalent on your planet?" Dr. Light asked.
"The protectors of the planet were specifically bred warriors, though they were unable to resist the conquest, they have become formidable adversaries. It was one such that you had fought in my rescue." She motioned to Mega Man.
"I sure hope they don't have too many more of those guys."
"You will not encounter them as much anymore, our masters had extensive use for them in the conquest of the last planet, and they need time to further fabricate more of the warriors. They feel that their inferior forces will be sufficient to overwhelm this planet."
"Well, we'll just have to prove them wrong now won't we." Dr. Wily commented.
"What more can you tell us of the capabilities of the fighters?" Dr. Light asked.
"I know not their fighting abilities, but I do know that there is a weak spot in all warriors. Should the warriors turn their backs to the fight, you will have more success in their destruction. My masters cared not for retreat and so our warriors are more heavily guarded to a frontal attack. It is also used as punishment for being foolish enough to have one's back to the enemy."
"Yeah, it's a good thing too. I don't know if I could have lived through an encounter with your friend if I hadn't discovered that."
"How did you escape your masters' programming?" Proto Man asked.
"I am not sure, it is difficult to describe and I fear I would not be of help in doing so."
Dr. Light turned to Dr. Wily, "This is apparently a bigger problem than either of us anticipated, Albert. I'm afraid that your robots are correct in that we must work together in order to prevent a disaster. You mentioned that you had data concerning these creatures, we must recover it at all costs, if it still exists.
Wily sighed, "Very well Thomas. The data can be found in my second location, I will go to retrieve it if I can."
"Mega Man, go with Wily to get the data will you?"
"I'm perfectly capable of managing on my own Thomas!"
"Wily, I'm perfectly sure that you are, but I feel much safer having one of my own go with you, because I have another request. I want control of my original six robots, Wily. I cannot have you control all the forces of our planet's defense."
"Absolutely not! You can't make me..." Wily saw the look on Dr. Light's face. "Oh, very well Thomas, but that is all. You can have your original six back."
"Good, I want Mega Man to go with you and retrieve them, I know that you have replications somewhere."
"What, I don't have a say in this!?" Mega Man interjected.
"Mega Man, we don't have time to argue about this, I need them back, and you're the one that I want to get them. Desperate times call for desperate measures."
"Oh, all right, but don't expect me to be happy about it."
"I didn't expect you to be happy about it, but I need this done." Dr. Light turned around and began to walk into the next room.
"What are you going to do, Dr. Light?" Mega Man asked.
"Me? I have a feeling that we alone are no match for whatever awaits us, I'm going to contact a friend, he'll want to know about this."