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Chapter 2 - Before His Eyes
It was already well into the next day as the life returned to the city. The park where the young android temporarily hibernated was no exception. He had considered leaving the trees to try and rejoin the crowd, but he reconsidered. Due to the fact that he was probably considered to be a runaway android, it was best to just stay out of sight completely. With the freedom to do whatever he wanted, he could've just lived in the sea of Oak and Maple for the rest of his life. He spent his time on top the heavy branch of a tree, no more than two rows into the woods staring outward into the world he ran away from.
The walkways were congested with families enjoying the climate of the midsummer day. Among the people were indeed robots, most of them there merely for assistance. He could see them rolling carriages, walking dogs, even playing with children. They could talk, but they couldn't speak, because their minds were incapable of doing so. They were made with a purpose, and lived only to fulfill that purpose. The nameless android stared at them, to him it didn't seem like they were truly alive, at least not like he was. They were man-made endentured servants, they weren't constructed with the option of doing anything other than what they were meant to do. Most importantly, they weren't designed to choose whether or not they would do what they were told.
However, even though they weren't created with choice, and they performed their tasks without question, they were still living, and functioning in a society that needed them. Perhaps that was what made them truly alive? Was purpose the essential element that created life? He couldn't help but wonder what that said about himself. The red and gray being could only stare from the outside subjectively. Was living and watching the same thing? If all he could do was watch the world like it rolled off a projector screen onto the wall, how could he be one of its characters?
He hadn't make much movement if any at all. The number of people declined as the day grew older, and the wrinkled now dark reddish orange sun submitted to its old age. As easy as he could construct philosophical inquiry within the recesses of his mind, he was still unable to find any option other than leaving his new home. He felt a bit more at ease in where he stood, now that the night was out, it draped over him like his own personal security blanket. He stepped outside the trees, onto the open fields. The blades of grass crushed under his heavy titanium steps, and the wind graced his body with the most gentle of kisses. The robot told himself he had taken these first difficult steps, the rest shouldn't seem so hard now.
xxxx
From a distance, no farther than two hundred yards, Neon and Gallium arrived upon the scene. They would have shown up sooner, as early as the night before, but Dr. Torres wanted to make sure he had prepared for every scenario. By the time daylight broke into the city, he concluded this operation would best be carried out under the guise of night. There was no communication between the two, for there was no reason. They had been given their orders, and all they had to do was to carry them out.
The two androids contrasted each other physically, as if the sun and moon stood side by side. A medium sized robot, Neon was far from intimidating. He stood well under two meters with an ivory colored body, but had orange colored gauntlets as well as the same colored leg armors, which carried all the way down to his feet. His counterpart Gallium on the other hand, was a towering presence that stood high enough where grown men had to lean their heads back to grab a gaze. His enormous body was completely enveloped in a terribly dark green. The color was so heavy his face was camoflagued underneath. His eyes were seperate glass cases that sheltered no signs of emotion within them. Together they were a paradox with attention undivided from the figure of scarlet grey that stood in front of them.
Without hesitation they fled into conflict.
xxxx
There was no time for comprehension, nor the time for reaction. The second he was able to feel of the gust of wind slash against his face, before he could even hear the devastation that shook the earth beneath him, the defenseless robot was swept off his feet by an unspeakable force. He plowed into the ground face first tumbling repeatedly. Despite the shock of being smashed into the ground, his initial reaction was to stand up as fast as possible. Although slightly dazed, he quickly rose to his feet to see the small pocket of dust clear to reveal two robots.
"The target -Protoman- has been confirmed. Commence operation."
The words that came from the tall ugly robot were completely monotone. The speech carried no emotion or personality.
"What do you want from me?" His question barely squeezed out of his stammering mouth, every inch of his body became immobile in a defensive helplessness. He wanted to run, but something kept him from acting on his instincts. It wasn't fear, but a dangerous curiosity that weighed him to the ground. They were here for him, that meant they knew who he was. Protoman?
"You know who I am don't you?" He stared down the robots that attacked him waiting for an answer. Instead of receiving a response, a blur of orange and white tore in his direction, and he got a flying kick in the gut. Instead of hitting the soft field of a grass like last time, his body flew aimlessly into the pavement. Shards of asphalt scattered in every direction, and his titanium body tumbled several times before coming to a painful halt. Every inch of his body was sore from the heavy impact he inflicted from the fall, but it was the robot's attack that disoriented him badly.
This wasn't the time, and defenitely not the right people to find any answers from. It wasn't hard for the nameless android to realize that they wanted him either destroyed, or at least pretty badly messed up. His back was against the ground, and a part of him just wanted to lay there motionless in hopes that the pain would somehow go away. He also knew that it would go away, because they would beat the life out of him. If these mindless robots knew who he was, then there were defenitely other people that had the same answers. With that in mind, he forced even further discomfot upon himself by getting back on his feet, knowing that he had to survive today in order to find anything at all.
As he stood up the second time, his eyes picked up the indistinct image of the massive sized android heading in his direction. The large android swung his monstrous fist in a downard motion, the blow would have hammered the already tender android into the earth had he not barely dodged it. Though he was stil in pain from the smaller robot's attack, he had regained his senses. For his large size, he was defenitely quick on his feet. Right after his missed initial attacked, he leapt with both hands out in front, most likely aimed to the neck of his target. His hands were intercepted by his opponent, and they found themselves in a power struggle.
The red and grey robot knew he was at a distinct disadvantage in this disposition. Surprisingly enough, he felt that his own strength was holding up, possibly even matching his much larger counterpart. Locked in place, both of their grips were hard enough to break through solid stone, but this got both of them nowhere. But before the red android could think of any good way out of the situation, he felt a terribly sharp pain in the center of his back. It was the feeling of a knee being drilled into his him. The attack had caused him to lose complete function of his limbs, but before he could drop to the ground, his arm was grabbed, and he was swung into the patch of woods he once called his home.
Now he couldn't move, things had gotten really bad. He couldn't find the strength to stand up, let alone win a fight between two robots. He had only enough power in his legs to push himself against a tree. His right arm was completely immobile, and fighting back was no longer an option. He could feel his vision slowly phasing in and out of conciousness. He wasn't sure if it were death he was experiencing, or merely passing out from the pain. None of that mattered however, his life was in their hands, and their hands wanted to do nothing more than break him in two. As the two robots drew closer to him, he was certain these images would be the last things he saw before he ceased to function. His eyes began to close forever, but before they could, a blinding flash of yellow completely overcame his senses. In that same instant, the flash faded into images of familiarity.
xxxx
"So you've almost completed him?"
What's going on here?
"That's right. This project will revolutionize the way that we as a civilization perceive robots."
Who's this fat, bush-beard hovering over me?
"You really think you did it, didn't you?"
What's that irritating voice?
"Not just me, we both did it. We've created true artificial intelligence. This robot will be capable of making his own choices in life. It's just up to us to show him the right way."
Why can't I move? I wanna get out of here.
"Have you given him a name?"
Are they talking about me?
"I've named him Protoman. A fitting name if I do say so myself."
Why won't they just shut up!
"I'm telling you Xavier. The names of Dr. Light, and Dr. Wily will be remembered forever as the two who changed the world forever."
They can't even hear me.
"You just may be right."
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I'm doing my best to tie in to the original Mega Man story, whilst at the same time bringing my own original plot ideas into the mix. I think I'm doing not half bad at it so far. As you could guess, I don't use the name Rockman, or Blues or whatever. It's just that I grew up with these names so that's how I kept them American.
This chapter took me about four to five days to write. I just tore through the final action sequence and the final dialogue. I apologize if it gets hard to understand whose who when all three confront each other. I kept this story third person limited, so it wouldn't be right for Protoman to just all of a sudden know the names of the two robots attacking him, just identifying them as the small one and the large one.
Not much dialogue yet, but then again there wasn't much to say, they were tryin to kill the poor guy. I'm just gonna spend these last few minutes on thinking of a good chapter name... heh.
If you couldn't guess from before, I like to end each part with my favorite line of the chapter. Kinda weird I guess, it was somewhat inspired by the Fullmetal Alchemist anime.
If all he could do was watch the world like it rolled off a projector screen onto the wall, how could he be one of its characters?