Megan lazily flipped through the channels on the television, she was trying to find something interesting. Her dad came into the room, carrying a bowl of popcorn.
"No movies?" he asked. Megan shook her head.
"Nope, nothing." she said, trying to flip the channel off from the news. It didn't move. Megan looked at the TV remote, it didn't seem broken. Megan looked up at her dad. "Hey, Dad, what's wrong with the remote?" she asked. Her dad didn't move. He was staring intensely at the screen. Megan followed his gaze. Her eyes widened as she watched the screen.
"If anybody remembers the destruction that came during the Wily Wars, they'll certainly surrender to my reign before it gets that bad, and I promise you, especially scientists Cossak, Landine, and Light," Megan gasped, was he talking about her dad? ",If you dare build a Robot Master, I will know, and I'll kill all those dear to you. You can't obtain the materials you need without drawing my attention, you can't hide your families, I'll know it, and you can't possibly make a top notch Robot Master with whatever you have. To the government, no one will dare head to the robot warehouse, if you do, I'll send robots that will reprogram every limited A.I. bot you have in there! No one will dare challenge the rule of Dr. Regis!" a man with jet black hair exclaimed. With dramatic flourish, he pulled a remote from the pocket of his lab coat, and hit a large red button on it. Immediately, eight robots burst out from behind him. Megan gulped, those robots, they looked so much like real people. Dr. Regis laughed before the screen went black. Megan's dad immediately turned the screen off. He looked at the ground.
"Who would think that?" he whispered. Megan had never seen her dad so upset.
"Dad?" she asked quietly. Her dad suddenly hit the wall with his fist,
"I should have seen this about to happen, I should have listened to Blues." he exclaimed. Megan stared at her dad, his fist was clenched so tight, like he was expecting something to happen to it. He looked at his fist, sighed, and unclenched it. Megan carefully approached her dad.
"Dad?" she asked again. Her dad looked back at her.
"There's nothing we can do." he said quietly. Megan found herself clenching her own fists.
"There must be! I'll fight those robots, and stop that doctor myself!" she exclaimed in a flurry. She was honestly surprised that she had that emotion inside her. Megan's dad stared at her.
"Megan, you heard what Dr. Regis said, what he's after, and if I do anything, he'll hurt you." he started saying, taking a glance into the distance. "But, wait, I've got an idea." he said. He quickly ran downstairs. Megan followed very quickly. Rush, attracted by all the excitement, followed them. Megan's dad hurried into the basement, and towards the secret door. He looked very determined.
"Dad, what's your idea?" Megan asked, following her dad into the elevator as it opened. Her dad did something between a smile and a frown.
"You'll see." he said as the elevator hit the bottom and whooshed open. He immediately raced over to the desk, and pressed what looked like an indent in it. The top of the desk slid open, and a screen and a keyboard rose out of it. Megan's eyes went wide, what other types of secrets did the house have? Her dad typed something hastily on the keyboard, and the screen lit up in a soft blue glow. With a couple more clicks of the keyboard, a picture popped onto the screen. Her dad moved aside and motioned for Megan to sit on the chair. Megan nodded and sat down. Her dad clicked one more key, and the picture was revealed to be a video. The words, 'Mega City News Special' scrolled across the screen. A cheery, purple-haired reporter appeared on the screen.
"Hi all you in Mega City, this is Plum, and I'm here to give you a special about Mega City's special celebrity, Mega Man!" Megan breathed in slowly, now she would find out. Plum gestured to a screen behind her, it flashed from black to the image of a child covered in blue armour. Megan stared hard, before realizing that the boy was a robot! A robot like the ones Dr. Regis had!
That has to be Mega Man. Megan thought. Video clips of Mega Man flashed across the screen. The videos were all different camera qualities, but they all had the same thing in mind, Mega Man destroying aggressive, small robots.
"Time and again Mega Man had saved not only our city, but occasionally the entire world from the evil Dr. Wily. How this brave hero came into being, this report will cover it." The video clips ended, showing one last one of Mega Man smiling with his helmet off. Megan stared hard at it, she thought he looked familiar. "We actually have Mega Man's inventor, Dr. Light with us today." Megan started, Dr. Light? As in, her grandfather? The camera pulled away to show that, yes, it was her grandpa. His face was all smiles, just like the pictures of him. His eyes sparkled with kindness.
"It's nice to be here, Plum." he said in his rich, kind voice. Megan smiled, she wished her grandpa was still alive, he seemed so friendly.
"I'm glad you are, now, could I ask you a few questions?"
"Of course."
"When did you get the idea for Mega Man? I mean, before he became a super fighting robot."
"That's easy, the Robot Masters have always been my dream, but Mega Man, he was something else. After I built Blu-, Proto Man, I started to have an idea that he could have a couple of siblings, so I sketched the ideas for them in my mind." Dr. Light sighed. "But after he ran away, I started feeling like it was my fault, that I wouldn't be a good father. My good friend, Dr. Landine, helped me see otherwise, so that's when I started building Mega Man. Of course, I didn't call him that. He and his twin sister I named after music. Rock, and Roll." Megan whipped her head around, her dad nodded. Megan stared at him for a moment, before the report got her attention once again.
"I understand that all three of your 'children' will be joining us later." Plum said.
"Yes, although it was all Roll's doing to get Proto Man in here. I wouldn't expect him to say to much, or would I ask that of him."
"All right. Let's continue with the questions then. Did you ever think of making any more 'children' after Rock and Roll?"
"No, not really. All of them, and I mean all three of them, filled me with so much joy, I knew I didn't need more. So then I started my work on the Robot Masters. Of course this was before Albert decided to become a world conqueror."
"But when he did become the notorious Dr. Wily, what made Rock decide to become Mega Man?"
"His own heart."
"Really?"
"Robot Masters don't simply follow their programming, they have the right to make their own decisions, all within the laws of robotics though."
"Understood." Dr. Light nodded.
"I remember word for word what Rock said when he saw the robots attacking the city. I was so worried because the Robot Masters were so new that no current technology could stand up for them. Then, Rock said. 'You built me the same way as the Robot Masters, I can stand up to them. Turn me into a fighting robot'. I told Rock that it was too dangerous, but what he said next is what really made me believe he could do it. 'I'm the only one who can do it. There's no other way.'" Dr. Light smiled like he was remembering something special. "I could see on Rock's face that he didn't want to be a hero, he frankly looked terrified, but I could tell that nothing would dissuade him. Even Roll couldn't get him to think otherwise. And so, that's where 'Mega Man' came from."
"Wow, that's an amazing story."
"But you have to remember, he's still a child under all that armour."
"Got it. Is it alright if they come in now?"
"Certainly." Dr. Light stood up and gave a nod to somebody off screen. Three children walked in. Megan could hardly believe they were robots, what she couldn't believe more was that they looked just like her dad and his siblings when they were kids. She instantly picked out her dad from the three. He had the same smile, the same hair, and the same nervous gestures. Behind him was a girl that was unmistakably her Aunt Roll. Bright blonde hair done up in a green ribbon, and a smile that spread from ear to ear. Finally, her Uncle Blues. He was wearing sunglasses, so she couldn't see his eyes, but his wild hair was undeniable. He seemed nervous and a little worried, but kept walking. Plum came over and shook each of their hands.
"Hi to all of you, it's great to see you all here." Megan's dad smiled.
"Thank you." he said. Roll stepped forwards.
"It's nice to meet you too." Blues didn't say anything, he seemed to have a hard enough time not frowning. The video clip suddenly ended. Megan looked back towards her dad, he was looking at the ground.
"I've wanted to tell you that for ages, but I couldn't." he whispered. Megan almost felt like yelling.
"Why?" she asked, just barely keeping it in. Her dad came over to the computer and typed a couple more things into it. Another video came onto the screen, but unlike the news report, which was bright and cheery, it was like a storm cloud had rolled in. The words 'Government Announcement' flashed across the screen.
"This happened about three months after that first video." Megan's dad explained. A formal looking government official appeared on the screen.
"The threat of another robot attack has become too much to handle, we are issuing an order that we had never hoped to say. To everyone, turn in your robots. There are very few exceptions to this rule. If a robot has very limited A.I. and has to be controlled directly, you can hang onto it. If they have the same standards but have to be controlled remotely, talk to a government official for guidance. If they have advanced A.I., bring them immediately to the government. They will either destroy or put the robot in storage. To all Robot Masters, either bring yourself in, or have the scientist who built you bring you in. Unfortunately, the Robot Masters must be dismantled. More instructions to follow later." he said before the screen went blank. Megan looked up at her dad, he nearly seemed to be crying.
"What happened?" Megan asked. Her dad didn't look up.
"When that report went through, it was the worst thing I had ever heard. Our family was finally together, and now we would be apart, forever. Dr. Li- Grandpa considered hiding us, but that would have never worked. We were all deciding what to do when Dr. Landine, well, Noele, came with Tempo." he started explaining.
"Tempo? You mean my science teacher?" Megan asked. Megan's dad nodded.
"Right, believe it or not, she used to be a robot too. I for one thought she still was until Dr. Landine revealed that 'dismantling' meant turning the Robot Masters into humans. Roll's face when she noticed that Tempo was human was just the way all of us felt. So, Dr. Light brought us all to the government after all. Blues went first. I was worried that because he was a little different than the other Robot Masters that something would go wrong, but nothing did. When he came out, he was just the same as ever, well, personality at least. Roll went next. While she was in there, I just couldn't stop thinking about it. I had never heard about something like that before, and I was scared. When I told your grandpa that, he gave me a hug and told me that it would be alright, and that nothing would change." Megan's dad gave a strained laugh. "He told me that I would enjoy actual food and that maybe I could become a scientist like him." Megan gave her dad a hug.
"And you did." she whispered, surprise fading.
