Chapter 8: An Unprofessional Heist
Over the next few weeks, Elec Man began his work in service to the mad scientist Dr. Wily. Though having scrambled memory chips wasn't pleasant, he was glad the secrets of the Syndicate were safe and that he still had some inkling of who he truly was—though he felt helplessly locked into his new obedience protocols.
Elec Man bided his time by paying attention to everything. He could be a sleeper spy, and when he was recaptured (something he felt assured would happen very soon, for no one ever got away with stealing from the Syndicate, especially not a mad scientist) he could report everything about Wily to the Syndicate—though, in Elec Man's opinion, there was nothing valuable to spy on here.
Elec Man's impressions of Wily were delusion and incompetence, his impressions of Proto Man aimlessness and apathy. It appeared Wily just wanted to come up with evil schemes (each more ridiculous and less practical than the last) and Proto Man just wanted to steal things and get into fights. They were like two oars thrashing around in the water, their ship more likely to crash rather than reach any particular destination.
Though Wily was terrified of anything to do with the Syndicate, once he became confident Elec Man couldn't disobey him, he began to warm up to Elec Man in a benevolently patronizing way. Elec Man hated it. He couldn't help but think that, under different circumstances, Wily would be easy to depose or manipulate, but Elec Man could do neither, and was forced to listen to bizarre speeches about improbable conquest preparations that Wily liked to drone on about to his captive subordinates.
It was within the underground hideout that Wily first unveiled to Elec Man his ultimate goal. They were alone in the makeshift space that was his laboratory, Elec Man impatiently waiting for orders while Wily rambled gleefully on, gesturing wildly with his hands and grinning evilly.
"Now with three Robot Masters under my command, I can move forward in my next steps in my glorious work—to take over the world!" he told Elec Man.
Elec Man just stared blankly at Wily and said nothing. There was nothing to say to that, it was the most ludicrous thing he had ever heard of and Wily was nothing short of a melodramatic clown destined for failure. In the background, water dripped steadily into the flooded tracks, and a pair of rats squeaked noisily as they fought over a scrap of food. Wily threw back his head and roared with laughter, his voice echoed all the way down the tunnels and startled the rats, their small feet scurrying away. Elec Man waited for Wily's back to turn to roll his eyes.
But perhaps Wily was more perceptive than Elec Man gave him credit for, for with his back still turned he suddenly burst out, "Don't roll your eyes at me!"
Caught, Elec Man gave a jerk. "Sorry," he said automatically but without really meaning it.
Wily rotated slowly to face him, his blue eyes narrowed into thin slits. "Watch your attitude, young robot, or instead of joining in my glorious campaign, I will have you cleaning June bags from the windshield of the Skullker every day for ten years."
Wily's eyes popped menacingly, his bushy gray eyebrows wiggling up in down.
"Okay." Elec Man felt this, like many of Wily's threats, was laughably empty.
"You will see," Wily muttered, holding up a finger and already picking back up where he left off. "You will all see. I shall conquer this miserable planet, and all of the residents will finally recognize my genius as they cower in fear." Wily began laughing again.
When Wily wasn't ordering Elec Man to go on espionage and covert thieving missions, he put Elec Man in charge of complicated logistics and other important clerical duties that were apparently both beyond Wily's faculty and attention span. While the work was far from difficult for Elec Man, it kept him very busy—for Wily lived in a constant state of chaos and disorganization.
As second-in-command, Proto Man was supposed to be in charge of managing the Robot Masters while Wily focused on 'the Big Picture'. However, Proto Man was extremely aloof, and did not take much interest in anything outside of fighting. He often left the underground hideout alone to engage in huge standoffs against the police, always returning triumphantly and without a scratch.
Elec Man, still disbelieving Proto Man's claim to have been built by Wily, suspected Proto Man was really some top-secret project built for the military, but he couldn't figure out how Proto Man had ended up here. Yet, Proto Man's programming clashed with what was expected from a combat robot. He was laid back and clever, and never without a witty comeback. Even Elec Man found it difficult to shake his overwhelmingly flippant attitude, though he gave it his best effort. Somehow, Elec Man felt there was something crucial he was yet missing…
…For there was definitely something strange about Proto Man. Late at night, Proto Man would retreat into one of the hideout's back storage rooms, where he would remain until around noon the next day, in which he emerged, yawning and stretching. One afternoon Elec Man even spotted him reclined in the parked Skullker's pilot's seat, his chest rising and falling gently beneath the folds of his scarf. Though his eyes were concealed by his visor, he appeared to be napping—or at least, it looked like he was napping, but what robot was programmed to sleep? Especially a combat robot!
The other two Robot Masters in Wily's army, Bomb Man and Fire Man, had strictly destructive jobs. As Elec Man had suspected, Bomb Man was an industrial blast mining robot who had been stolen and reprogrammed from Pfister Mining & Manufacturing, and seemed very puzzled by his new working situation as a criminal lackey. Even Fire Man, who was a rogue pyromaniac robot from the underground, thought Wily was eccentric. Wily's long-winded monologues confused them, infuriated Elec Man, and amused Proto Man. Fire Man validly wondered how they could accomplish World Domination with only four robots, and Bomb Man validly questioned why they spent so much money on purple paint for branding Wily's equipment when they should instead be stockpiling much needed weapons and supplies.
Proto Man brushed off concerns like these with pleasant yet vague promises that Wily definitely knew what he was doing and everything was definitely going according to plan. Bomb Man and Fire Man were generally appeased by this (though still bewildered), Elec Man was not, and eventually Proto Man took Elec Man down one of the subway tunnels for a private talk about his attitude.
They walked side-by-side down the raised ledge. Elec Man kept close to the tunnel wall and did his best to ignore the sound of dripping water coming from the flooded tracks. Proto Man didn't know about his design flaw—and Elec Man hoped to keep it that way.
"So…no back-talking Dr. Wily," warned Proto Man.
"That wasn't back talking, that was honesty."
"Well Dr. Wily is not going to like that. Any more comments like that, you bring them up to me, kay?"
Elec Man didn't care. He wasn't at all afraid of Wily, and being rude was the least he wanted to do to this ridiculous human…still, he was programmed to obey. "I can't believe I have to listen to you two…"
"What difference does it make? You did criminal stuff at your old job, now you'll do criminal stuff for us."
"It's not about what we do, it's about why we do it," Elec Man responded with assured superiority—though exactly what that 'why' was for the Syndicate, he could no longer remember. "This is gross incompetence. I was programmed to weed out criminals like you."
Proto Man didn't appear much shaken by this threat, and said drolly, "Yeah, I know how much you'd enjoy going back to torturing and executing for the Syndicate—"
This touched a nerve. Indignant, Elec Man immediately fired back, "I don't enjoy torturing and executing—"
"Good, because we're not hurting anyone," Proto Man cut in.
Elec Man paused at this, giving Proto Man a long hard look. Proto Man continued to throw him off when he least expected it, and despite himself, his temper cooled. "…Exactly what kind of organization is this?"
"The best one, way better than where you came from, though I won't hold that against you…" Proto Man's voice brightened. "Let me prove it to you. What makes you happy? Go ahead, ask for anything."
"To see you and Wily dead or behind bars."
"'Kay…what's number two on your list?"
"Don't patronize me."
Elec Man still resented Proto Man for talking to him like a peer. It always felt insincere coming from him, and besides—Elec Man was so much better than Proto Man—the fact that Proto Man technically outranked him now was an aberration to the natural order of things, that was all.
Though Elec Man had no intent to be placated, he later cornered Proto Man in the back storage room with the intent to force him to do some of his managerial responsibilities that he so often shirked as second-in-command.
"Here's a list of things I require," he told Proto Man curtly, handing him a sheet detailing the bare essentials he felt entitled to if he was expected to do his job at all in this flooded underground lair (even if he had to work with a mad scientist, he would do so with the full dignity of a Syndicate Robot Master).
Proto Man looked down at the list. "Oh, like more human suits and stuff? Alright, sure. …Wait, These cost how much?"
"Is that an issue for you?" asked Elec Man, knowing full well how expensive his asks were and not feeling the least bit remorseful.
"I suppose not. It'll give me an excuse to rob another bank."
Elec Man wrinkled his nose at this unnecessarily crass plan. "What do you mean rob a bank? Doesn't Wily have money?"
"Nope!" came the proud answer.
Elec Man realized he shouldn't be surprised, and made a note to take a deeper look into Wily's finances.
But Proto Man was undeterred by Elec Man's derision. "Say, you're a smart bot," he began. When Elec Man only glared at him, he continued brightly, "Wily's sending you into the city again to steal all the corporate data being stored at Executive Enterprises, right? I'll tag along. Might learn stuff." Elec Man rolled his eyes, and Proto Man hesitated. "…What?"
"Don't bother. No android can pass as a human as well as a Syndicate android. You'd just be in the way." Elec Man told him coldly, wanting Proto Man to feel just how unimportant he actually was. The suggestion was preposterous. Elec Man didn't need help and preferred working alone, and a combat robot, no matter how well crafted, would not understand the subtleties of acting human nor look the part.
Picking up on his tone, Proto Man smiled, looking amused. For a moment, he seemed to be measuring Elec Man. Then, with the same air of a poker player throwing their cards down on the table, he pulled off his helmet, revealing the rest of his face—copper hair styled in a messy side part, his half-lidded amber eyes flashing toward him as he gave Elec Man his lazy, dimpled smile.
A jolt of surprise shot through Elec Man. He quickly turned his back on Proto Man, unwilling to meet his smug gaze while feeling suddenly inferior as his previous expectations were completely quashed. What. The. Hell. Proto Man was completely indistinguishable from a handsome, college-aged human, the disguise equally as good any Syndicate android.
"Fine, whatever. Not like I can really tell you not to come," he muttered bitterly.
"That's technically true!" Proto Man remarked brightly.
Questioning everything he thought he knew, Elec Man continued to keep his back to Proto Man. But as he listened to Proto Man digging through one of the storage chests for a disguise, he caught sight of an unpleasant cardboard brown out of the corner of his eye. Well, here is something I definitely have over this arrogant android, he thought, rallying himself.
He pointed at the suit Proto Man had just tugged out of the storage chest and was slipping on over his titanium skin like a worn-out potato sack.
"That came from a mall."
Proto Man slid a pair of mirrored aviators of his eyes. "Is that a bad thing?"
"It doesn't fit you."
"What does that matter?"
"You look like a tool. Your creator obviously did not teach you how to dress."
Proto Man smirked at this comment, but said, "Um. Okay. You obviously know what you're talking about. I'll play along, let's make a stop at the suit store or wherever before we break into Executive Enterprises."
It was strange seeing the notoriously aloof Proto Man unmasked. Elec Man realized he must have encountered Proto Man disguised as a human back before he lost his memories, which would explain why Proto Man was comfortable showing him his face now. The disguise would have easily fooled Elec Man, causing him to underestimate him, and evidently became his downfall…
Elec Man brushed these thoughts aside. It was no good ruminating on a past he could not remember. With deep reservations, Elec Man took Proto Man to a tailor shop within the Underground to be fitted for a proper suit.
The tailor-bot was accustomed to suiting mobster clientele and worked quickly and without asking questions. It was possible that the tailor-bot was even more disgusted by the brown suit than Elec Man had been, though he hid it with professional pain, except to give a slight sigh of relief and satisfaction after Proto Man had donned his new charcoal gray suit, like a piano tuner who had fixed a dissonant key on a Steinway.
Proto Man looked sharp, the suit enhancing his looks—though his professionalism was still lacking. He was already loping next to Elec Man with his hands stuck in his pockets as they left the tailor shop, his face bright and excited as he looked forward to the heist.
"Gee, real pockets and everything! How do I look?"
Elec Man, whose hair was combed neatly back and black suit properly accessorized with a silken tie and a pair of stylish rimless glasses (his only possessions from the Syndicate), kneaded his forehead. "Good enough for now. Just don't embarrass me."
Proto Man only smiled, the sun flashing off his aviators. "Aw, Elec Man...I'd never do that."
Elec Man already felt embarrassed. He worried Proto Man was going to attract attention. Proto Man's casual hair and aviators made him look like he was heading fashionably late to a red carpet event in Hollywood than attempting to infiltrate corporate.
As they left the Underground, the heads of human civilians on the streets turned to watch Proto Man with shy interest. They would likewise have done the same for Elec Man had not Elec Man shot them down with harsh looks, but Proto Man was oblivious to their silent admiration. His interest was focused on Elec Man, because Elec Man was showing him how to commit high-stakes crimes—skills that were basic programming to a Syndicate Robot Master, yet seemed completely new and annoyingly novel to Proto Man.
Yes, new and novel…Elec Man thought darkly, covertly paying close attention to Proto Man's behavior. It confirmed a growing suspicion that Proto Man hadn't always been a criminal…nor even a combat robot.
"You shouldn't wear sunglasses indoors, it's not proper dress code," Elec Man muttered in an undertone as they entered the front door of Executive Enterprises.
Proto Man gave him a lazy shrug. "What's it matter next to your good looks? Besides, I don't have your killer stare."
"You might if you tried," Elec Man muttered back, recalling the quick look Proto Man had given earlier, but dropped the subject, feeling Proto Man was going to be stubbornly impossible to work with.
Yet Proto Man surprised Elec Man yet again once they made their way through the office building. He was adept at sneaking, a quick learner, and clearly much smarter than he acted. Though they both preferred to work alone, together they made an effective team—a fact of which Elec Man pointedly ignored, and was glad Proto Man didn't comment on either. Still, Elec Man almost forgot he wasn't working with a Syndicate accomplice—that was until Proto Man began to get restless with the procedural sneaking, started goofing off, baiting security, and otherwise making an unnecessary nuisance. Where Elec Man had planned to leave quietly through the front door like an ordinary human after they had finished stealing, it appeared Proto Man was planning to leave via a chase through the fire escape like a cartoon bandit.
"Hey, you're a good fighter!" Proto Man commented, sounding genuinely impressed as they were forced to engage with patrol after patrol of security drones responding to the intruder alert resounding through the building, which was now on lockdown.
"There is no reason we should be fighting," Elec Man snapped harshly, shocking the security-drones with Thunder Beam.
Proto Man, whose fists had been raised, watched the security-drones clatter to the floor with disappointment. "Spoilsport."
With sirens wailing through the streets, Elec Man and Proto Man ran out into the back alleyway, fled several blocks south, and took refuge in an expensive bar until it was safe to leave.
Elec Man knew based on the damage they had left behind that the police would be looking for robots, and they had nothing to fear—still, he was furious, and for a while wouldn't talk to Proto Man as they sat in the back of a cab meandering through afternoon traffic on its way toward the Underground. Yet he couldn't help stealing looks at Proto Man, a cold sinking feeling growing in his abdomen as he silently processed the sophistication of his human-like programming and his skill at fighting while masquerading as a mad scientist's lackey.
Finally, he said in a soft whisper so that their cab driver wouldn't overhear, "You're not programmed to follow Wily's orders."
He said it mostly to himself, but it caused Proto Man to stir, though Proto Man responded casually. "What are you talking about? I follow his orders."
"But you don't have to. You also sleep, like a human."
Proto Man's tone chilled slightly, as though guessing exactly what Elec Man was beginning to insinuate. "You know what they say, thinking can get you in trouble."
Elec Man's gaze returned to the cab window. "Fine, but don't pretend like I'm an idiot." He watched the tall buildings slide by as the sky began to fade into a dusky twilight. It had begun to dawn on him what, and more importantly who, Proto Man was.