Chapter 9
Wily's newest invention is beyond bones now. There's a face and armor, white hands and light brown skin. I've no notion of what he will end up being, but the sharp curves of his armor and the buster at his side make it clear what kind of weapon he is to become. What choices will he have when he wakes? What choices will he think he has that are no choices at all? I can't predict the future. I don't even have an adequate grip on the past.
More lab screens play Dr. Lalinde's lecture. Another fascination of Wily's, unpredictable in its outcome. I should speak to Elec Man, but I know what he wants, and I do not know how to give it to him. I step backward into shadow, and out again to the Cossack Citadel. The shadows want to cling to me, to hold me within, but I shake them off, stepping quietly into the dim.
"Lurking again, Hikari?" Pharaoh Man's eyes glow in the dark of the room. He is more shadow than I am, sitting cross-legging as if expecting me.
"I am not," I reply, frowning. "Do you not sleep?"
"My new brother thinks I should," Pharaoh Man says dryly. "I am not sure I wanted more brothers."
Talking to Pharaoh Man has always seemed like a test, though whatever for eludes me.
"I believe Skull Man's concerns sincere," I say cautiously. "Perhaps you should too."
"Is yours?" the Cossack bot replies.
I still, knowing that question has consequences. "I'd hoped we were still friends," I say finally.
"Can you have friends in such a place?" Pharaoh Man muses. "I don't hear much commotion above. Has Wily quit his pointless plots?"
"I—" Pausing, I tilt my head. "You are not at Skull Fortress any more, Ptolemy."
"No?" Pharaoh Man frowns. "Then why are you here?"
He does not mean for it to hurt, but I flinch nonetheless. "I don't know," I admit.
"Well, that hasn't changed at least." Pharaoh Man closes his eyes, leaning away. "Perhaps I'm not the only one lost after all."
I leave at that, not saying another word. It's not as if he's wrong. There are plenty of places my shadows can drift to, plenty of people to check, but I avoid them. I have no need of more proof that I'm unwanted.
When I step from my shadows, it is into a new lab—yet familiar, all the same. Cleaner than Wily's, more bare than Light's. A similar orderliness to Cossack, but different. The tools are dusty, well-kept but unused. I don't think it over for long, heading to the computer.
To her credit, Dr. Lalinde does not seem to track the progress of her viral fame. Aside from that lecture, her presentation notes seem dispassionate and practical, as any scientist should be. Too practical, actually. Though Wily's plots can be fantastical, I can't find any use he would have for Lalinde's research. It seems straightforward, her industrial designs on par with Light technology. Nothing groundbreaking. No Robot Masters aside from one, designated Quake Woman.
I skin through those files briefly, finding little to be alarmed about. A function similar to Drill Man, a human alternate similar to role. Odd, that humanness, given Lalinde's attitudes about treating robots like people. The last file is password protected, cracked with ease.
I open it.
The Robot Master finds me there—shortly after? Hours? I can't be certain how long I've lingered, rigid with horror.
"You are trespassing," Quake Woman says.
I turn to face her. I don't want to, and meet exactly what I dreaded—dead eyes to go with the flat tone. No more expression than that of a drone, though she was built to be capable of it. Built to be a person, only to have that stripped away.
"What has she done to you?"
Quake Woman does not understand. "You are trespassing," she repeats. "The authorities are on their way."
I want to apologize, but she would not understand that either. She could not remember the accident, or what was done to her to steal her emotions away—and even if she did, she could no longer comprehend what a loss it was.
This is what could become of us. Of Blues, if Wily ever gets his hands on him again.
I step to her, too close, weapon in hand. "Dr. Wily sends his regards," I say coldly, flicking the knife into the computer. She barely blinks as it sparks and dies, and I step to the side and vanish.
It's the only warning I can think to give. I only hope it is enough.