A pale violent, shimmering figure spun on her toe, one leg bent at the knee and arms raised. Her crystal encrusted hair flowed around her and the large prisms on her chest and tucked behind her ears sparkled in the light.
The crowd cheered as waiters wove in between the tables of the pub. The dancer smiled, twisting in a way that would have risked snapping her spine had she been human. The android lifted a leg high, as if attempting to touch the low ceiling with her booted toe.
The audience cheered wildly, appreciating the
performance that a reploid could provide so much more effectively than
a human. The android smiled in response to the cheers, as she was
programmed to do. She obligingly spun again, kicking out to show
off a shapely leg.
This had the effect of drawing a few wolf whistles. Prisma
narrowed her eyes, halting the performance to waggle a stern
finger. "Now now, let's play nice, boys. . ."
The more respectful observers laughed, silencing their less refined
brethren. Prisma beamed contentedly, well accustomed to this sort
of treatment.
This was what she had been built for, after all. To dance for the
humans, and keep them entertained.
"Last orders, please. You can all gawk at Miss
Prisma tomorrow, she'll be here all week." The call came from the
bar. Prisma giggled, smiling for the bartender, then at a signal
from him, spinning into a low curstey and freezing in that
position.
"You can wake up now, Prisma." A matter of
fact voice instructed. With a whir and a soft hum, Prisma
reactivated, rising to bow her head respectfully while noting her new
location, back in the simple home where she stayed with her
creator. "Yes, sir."
The professor who had created Prisma had programmed her to be pleasant
and respectful above all else. No matter how rude a crowd became,
the android could never respond with anything less than perfect
acceptance and amusement.
It gave Prisma a slightly unintelligent appearance when she smiled at
disrespectful comments, but it was preferable to her reacting in a
displeased fashion.
The professor nodded. "You did well today. Did you enjoy
yourself?" Prisma laughed. "Professor, you did not program
me to make myself happy. I am always happy as you know."
The Proffessor laughed back. "Ah yes, so I did." The two
chuckled before the Proffessor cleared his throat. "It is eight
of the clock, Prisma. Time for you to prepare my dinner, and then
I'll be off to bed."
Prisma bowed her head once more. "Yes sir,
your favorite then?" Her definition of "favorite" was the meal
which was most commonly requested. It consisted of ground meat
mixed with herbs, and boiled potatoes and beans. Prisma smiled as
her creator nodded acceptance. "I'll get right on that."
Prisma turned and strode out, heading for the kitchen to begin her food
preparations.
A short while later, Prisma placed a plate on a
table, serving the meatloaf, boiled potatoes, and beans to her
creator. "Here you are sir, I hope it is to your liking."
The proffessor smiled. "It's a shame that you can't join me,
Prisma." Prisma beamed. "I have no use for food, sir.
It is my pleasure to serve you."
The proffessor nodded. "Turn on the television, would you
please?" Prisma nodded, striding across the room to the large
screen television, and switching it on. She blinked. "Oh
proffessor, it seems those robots have been committing crimes again. .
." Prisma walked back to her creator, watching the news report
with him.
On tv, a woman was speaking. "Wily's robots have struck again,
this time a bridge laden with commuters was the target. Wily's
motive in the attack is still unknown, but it is believed to have been
an act of terrorism. Megaman was on the scene earlier where he
managed to rescue the stricken commuters. The famous hero android
declined to comment however, citing a directive to return straight to
his creator, Dr Light."
Prisma blinked, absorbing the information. The
proffessor sighed. "Robots aren't meant to be causing all that
chaos. It would be a far better world if they were more like you,
Prisma."
Prisma blinked in response, her silvery violet eyes wide in
concern. "But sir, if all androids entertained, who would defend
us?"
The proffessor shrugged. "There'd be no need to defend. It
would be a perfect Utopian society." He stretched, rising.
"I've finished eating. Please turn off the television, then clear
the dishes away. After that, you may shut yourself down for the
night." He walked out.
Prisma curtseyed after him. "Yes, sir."
"Prisma, wake up. Time to go."
Prisma reactivated, smiling automatically. "Yes, sir." She
rose and walked outside with the proffessor, heading for the pub.
Once there, Prisma curtseyed formally when the owner and bartender let
them inside. "Good morning, sir." She straightened with a
smile, then turned to take her place on the stage. The glasses on
the shelf behind the bar trembled faintly, causing the three to
look. The owner frowned. "Hm, one of those hotshot
airplanes flying too low again?"
The proffessor shrugged. "No damage done. Just ignore it,
the customers will be here soon. Oh, and is it too early or could
I get my usual?" The owner laughed. "Sure thing, it makes
the rental fee for Prisma more reasonable."
The proffessor laughed back. "My Prisma is what makes your pub
the best, and you know it! Right, Prisma?"
Prisma beamed, twirling. "Yes, sir." She was knocked off of
her feet mid twirl by an explosion outside. Amidst the
shattering of glass, she heard the humans cry out.
Prisma's vision was momentarily scrambled by the
impact with the floor, but her priorities had been activated.
"Reach for me!" She lunged for the two men, seeking to rescue
them as another excplosion rocked the pub. In the resulting dust
as the roof caved in, Prisma heard an order. "P . .
Prisma! Activate your . . . your lights!" Prisma switched
on an internal light source, shining light through the crystals on her
body and showering the room with prismatic rainbows. "Yes
sir!"
With the makeshift light, Prisma was able to locate one of the men
without beint able to identify which. She pulled the man to
safety, thrusting him toward the door. "Danger!
Flee!"
Prisma then turned back, seeking out the second
human. "Sir!" She waited, recieving no response. The
android sought him out, but saw nothing but dust and timbers from the
collapsing roof. "Sir? Sir, respond please!"
Prisma walked through the remains of the pub, never even reacting when
a falling beam caught her square in the back, pinning her. She
attempted unsuccessfully to free herself, intent on her
objective. "Sir! Please respond!"
Outside, faint shouts were heard. "Are you allright, sir?
You shouldn't be here, it's unsafe for humans!" "I am, but
there's someone trapped inside! The android went back for
him!"
Prisma ignored the chatter as unimportant. She wanted a voice
from inside the building, not outside.
"The android'll be destroyed if I don't get them both out! Get to
safety, sir!" Prisma cried out again. "Sir!"
The roof collapsed, striking Prisma hard all
over. She spasmed. "s . . . irsir! fleedangerflee . .
. dang . . .erdanger! Sirrespondplease. . . danger. . . da. .
. nger. . . da. . . ." Her light faded.
A powerful figure ran inside, throwing wood and
plaster aside. "Hey, is anyone in here? A blue arm lifted
Prisma by the waist. "You sure took a beating, poor thing."
He looked around. "Looks like everyone's out. I'll stop
Wily from causing any more trouble today then get you fixed up!"
Prisma failed to hear, the damage to her systems had knocked her
offline.
"So can you bring her back online?" Prisma
could hear voices, but wasn't aware of anything else.
"Well, there was a lot of damage. Fortunately, her operating
system seems to be undamaged, but her mechanical brain was. There
may be some damaged memory files."
Prisma tried to seek out the owners of those voices, failing to see
anything at all.
"This android was in that building trying to rescue the humans
inside. She deserves better. . ." "Yes. She was only
following her program, but I will do what I can. Now let's see. .
."
Prisma winced as vision returned full blast,
revealing two figures peering at her. Her eyes widened in alarm before
a look of concern flashed over her features. "What the. .
.!"
Prisma sat up so abruptly that Megaman and Dr Light had to jump back to
avoid being headbutted. The android raised her hands defensively,
clasping them over her chest. "Where am I? Where is . . .
is . . . ?" She shook her head confusedly. "Input, please.
. ."
Megaman watched. "Looks like she's not very
advanced, even though she seems like a well built android."
Prisma turned to see him. "Be nice, I . . . I'm as advanced as I
need to . . . I'm overwhelmed with input. . ."
Prisma frowned as that was greeted with amused chuckles. Dr Light
smiled. "I see, your operating system was only intended to
respond to commands, not to generate your own statements and actions
like Megaman. When I repaired you, I installed fresh
software. It must be confusing."
Prisma blinked. "So . . . it's an
upgrade? Wow, I'm going to have to get used to talking. .
." She blinked again. "I mean, I spoke before, but not with
my own words. Well, I guess they were my own words, but . . . I'm
confusing myself!"
Megaman grinned. "You'll get used to it. So, do you have a
name?" Prisma stood up, pulling her hair into position. "Of
course I have a name. It's Prisma."
Later, Prisma laughed as she assisted in cleaning
windows. "Look at me, I sound like a regular person! And
you know what's really awesome? No one ordered me to wash
windows, I volunteered!"
Roll rolled her eyes as she carried some garbage outside.
"Believe me, it's not that exciting. . ."
The next morning, Dr Light rose and left his room to
find Prisma standing expectantly just outside. He blinked.
"Prisma? Is something the matter?"
Prisma blinked back. "Good morning, sir. May I serve you
breakfast?" Dr Light smiled reassuringly. "No my dear, Roll
will be serving breakfast. You may relax."
Prisma's eyebrows drew together in an expression of anxiety. "But
. . . but I can't just do nothing!" Dr Light sighed, the
android's need to serve was too strong, and the program was insisting
that now was time for her to serve her new master. It was a pity
that her owner had not been recovered in time.
Dr Light considered. "Well, perhaps I can find something for you
to do. . ."
"Groceries!" Megaman grumbled. "They
have ME buying
groceries! Unbelievable. . "
Prisma smiled, having been ordered to assist Megaman in this vital task
as an excuse to keep her busy. "It's not so bad, I know how to
buy groceries at
least, it's fun!" Megaman sighed at her. "No offense, but
someone needs to tone down your empathy chip."
Prisma frowned. "Hey, that's not fair! You're just
suffering from a little bruised pride, Mr Hero."
Megaman blinked. "Bruised pride? Me? I've taken down
some of the toughest 'bots, a little shopping trip is nothing. .
." Prisma beamed approvingly. "That's the spirit!"
The two robots walked into the store just as an
argument broke out between a worker and a figure in black armor.
"I'm sorry, no pets."
"Treble is NOT a pet, he happens to be my partner!"
"I'm sure he is sir, but our policy is no non therapy dogs."
"I'll put YOU in therapy. . . ."
The worker had quickly realized that it was extremely unwise to
antagonize a tempermental robot with an unhealthy attachment to his
pooch. "P . . . please, sir! I didn't make the rules!"
Bass lunged, catching the teen by his collar. "That's good.
Because you won't be enforcing them anymore. . . " Treble growled
a warning, backing his master up.
MegaMan blinked as he and Prisma stood inside the
store. "Oops! I guess maybe I should have grabbed a
shopping cart! Hang on one minute, I'll go get one. . ."
Prisma smiled. "Okay, hurry back."
Megaman beamed contentedly as he stepped
outside. Prisma's optimism was infectious.
The birds were singing, the skies were clear, Bass was shaking some
human down . . . oh wait, that last one was a bad thing.
The blue robot sighed and ran over. "Drop him, Bass!" Bass
did drop the boy, but only to free his arms for a fight. "Hey,
Megaman, I'm glad you're here! I wanted to wreck
something!"
MegaMan's eyes were sad. "Why does it always have to be like
this, Bass? We don't have to be enemies. . . "
Bass snarled. "How many times are you going to repeat that
dribble! I WANT to fight you! It's nothing personal, I
just can't be happy until I grind your sparking corpse into scrap."
Megaman shrugged helplessly. "I DON'T want to
fight you, Bass. But you're not giving me much choice. . ."
Bass nodded agreement. "That's right. You'll fight or I'll
trash this place, starting with freckles here!" He kicked the
worker, who yelped and would have bolted if not for Treble slamming a
heavy paw down on his foot.
Megaman winced, hoping that the unfortunate human
hadn't been very badly injured. He formed his blaster and fired a
shot that missed Bass by several inches.
Bass in turn sneered and fired a return blast that struck Megaman on
the shoulder as he dove to the side. Megaman yelped, this wasn't
going well. . .
Prisma walked out with a bag of groceries.
"Mega? I waited two minutes but you failed to return within the
designated timeframe. So I. . ." The words died away as she
caught sight of the battle playing out in the parking lot.
Megaman was being attacked by a robot clad all in black with gold trim
and a blue star-like gem on his forehead. A human was cowering
under the watchful eye of a monstrous purple robo dog.
Prisma took all of this in in a matter of seconds, frowning.
The pale violet robot clenched her fists angrily. "Mega you
slacker! You promise to fetch a shopping basket and here I find
you picking fights instead!"
Megaman grunted as Bass lunged, catching him by the
throat. "Prisma . . . work on your priorities a little. .
.!"
Prisma blinked. "What? Oh, you're in trouble!" She
shook her head, switching from scolding to rescue mode. "Okay
then!"
Bass threw Megaman to the ground and turned to face
the newcomer. "What's this, another Lightbot?"
Megaman growled. "No! She's civillian. Leave her
alone, Bass!"
Prisma folded her arms, careful to keep her grip on the bag of
groceries. "Hmph, that doesn't mean I can't defend myself.
Don't act so superior!"
Bass blinked blankly. Megaman shrugged helplessly in
answer.
Prisma walked over, scowling. Bass blinked in surprise before
reaching to grab her. Prisma tucked her hair between her ears,
then clicked on her prismatic lightshow. Rainbows and dazzling
light played over the five figures, overloading Bass' optics. The
black robot stumbled back with a yelp, trying to clear his
vision.
Prisma shut her lights off, setting her bag down long enough to pull
the human worker to his feet and nudge Treble away. She then
reclaimed her bag and turned to grasp Megaman by the arm, leading him
away.
"You can play another time, Dr Light will be expecting us back."
Megaman allowed himself to be propelled away, too dazzled to see more
than a few hazy spots and very confused as to what had just happened.
Bass was furiously rubbing his eyes when he felt
Treble nudging him in concern. He snarled. "That's
it. Mega's new girlfriend is going DOWN!" Treble blinked,
then woofed in agreement.
Later, Dr Light patted Megaman on the back.
"You seem to be allright, fortunately Bass didn't have the chance to
cause any serious damage."
He turned to Prisma. "Prisma, I wonder if you might let me have a
look at you? Megaman tells me that you had activated some sort of
light show to deter Bass."
Prisma bowed her head, programmed to be obediant. "Of course,
sir" She hopped up onto the table that Mega had just vacated,
watching in interest as Dr
Light ran a hand down her arm.
Light blinked. "nteresting. Your costume
seems seamless, yet I can feel countless miniscule components embedded
in it. Something like a disco ball."
Megaman blinked. "A discoball? That was one of those
ancient mirrored chandeliers, wasn't it?" Light nodded.
"Not a chandelier, but a faceted ball that would rotate and reflect
light onto a dance floor below. Prisma here has the same effect,
only she carries her own light source and can activate it at
will."
Prisma blinked. "I was a performer before
Megaman rescued me. My lights were meant to make my performance
more exciting."
Megaman grinned. "That was pretty clever of
you to think to use it as a weapon." he sobered. "But Bass
is dangerous. He's not like us, Bass wouldn't think twice before
trying to waste you."
Prisma huffed. "I'm not afraid of some 'bot with frills on his
head." Megaman grinned. "Prisma, you're not afraid of
anything. You lack emotions, remember?"
Prisma sighed melodramatically. "That makes me sad. . ."
They laughed good naturedly at that.
Dr. Light chuckled. "I'll see if I can help
you replicate emotions if you like, Prisma. And perhaps I can
also give you a way to defend yourself. You're going to need a
defense system if you're to be coming and going, and blinding your
opponents won't always save you."
Prisma blinked, her pale blue/violet eyes sparkling. "I
could express myself like Megaman can?" Megaman blinked at that,
looking to his creator for the answer.
Dr Light shook his head. "Unfortunately, no. You see
Prisma, I'm still not certain what it is that makes Megaman
Megaman. His personality built itself without my assistance and
cannot be replicated."
As Prisma's face fell, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "But I
promise you, I will do my very best. It is admirable that you
want to feel as Mega does."
And so Prisma was powered down after some initial
hesitation. Her accident in the bar had had some psychological
effects.
Dr. Light set to work, gently brushing her hair aside and unhinging a
disguised cap to expose the android's delicate workings beneath.
He frowned in concern. "She's a very simple model, not many
higher brain functions beyond those she needed to perform. She
has excellent balance and hand eye coordination, however. Maybe I
can work with that. . ."
Megaman watched with interest. "I hope that
you can give her some basic emotions, dad. Roll could probably
use another female to talk to."
Dr Light chuckled. "Well, she may be more limited than Roll is,
but I think that the three of you will be able to converse
normally. In time, you may even begin to see Prisma as a second
sister."
Megaman blinked at that. "Another sister, hm? Like one
isn't enough, I get two to reprimand me over how I keep my room and how
much television I watch. . .?"
Dr Light laughed at that. "Roll only
reprimands you because she cares. And if you lived up to her
expectations, you wouldn't be forced to deal with her
disappointment.
Mega groaned. He liked his piles, they helped him find everything
better than a filing system. His thoughts were interrupted by his
creator's voice. "Sorry dad, what'd you say?"
Dr Light smiled affectionately at his robotic
son. "I said why don't you go find something to occupy your time
with?"
Megaman mimicked a yawn. "Aww dad, there's nothing much to do. .
." Dr Light grinned. "Well then you can offer to help Roll
clean the house.
That worked. Megaman was out the door in a flash. "Er, no
thanks dad! Rush needs to be taken out for his walk!"
Dr. Light grinned to himself. Robot or not, Megaman was still a
teenage boy.
Prisma slept on, as oblivious to the conversation as she was to the
changed being made to her body, and her life.
To Be Continued. . .