New Megaman Battle Network

A complete reimagining of the universe and stories of Megaman Battle Network.

Story 5: A World Outside of Time


Chapter 2: The Copybot Factory

One by one, the students of Lan's class exited the school bus, stepping outside into the morning sun. Lan was one of the last to get off, as he usually sat near the back of the bus. He stepped down off of the bus steps and onto the sidewalk, looking up at the large building they all were about to enter, which he had been looking forward to for weeks. He kept studying the building as Ms. Mari walked past all of the students, pointing at them one by one and counting in her head.

"Good, everyone's accounted for," she spoke quietly to herself, before raising her voice. "Alright, is everybody ready to see how Copybots are made?"

Instead of a cheer, a smattering of mumbles greeted her from her students, along with a couple of full-throated approvals; this was good enough for her. She turned and walked up to the doors, holding one of them open and allowing her students to walk through into the lobby, where they were met by a tall old man wearing a white lab coat, his white hair standing up in a wild manner.

"So these are the students we're leading around today, hm?" he wondered aloud, as the children started filing in. "All aspiring scientists, I hope." The teacher smiled in response, turning and waiting for all of the students to filter into the building lobby, before walking over and standing next to the old man.

"Everyone, this is Dr. Arliss Doppler," she announced, gesturing in his direction. "He is the head scientist of this facility, and the inventor of the very first Copybot. He has very generously volunteered to give us all a tour of the factory, so be sure to thank him." A smattering of thank you's issued forth from the children as soon as she said it, causing Dr. Doppler to chuckle.

"Alright, everyone, show of hands: how many of you interact with a Copybot at least once a week?" His eyes scanned the group as every single hand went up, which he had expected, as a number of Copybots were used at every school in Den City.

"Now, how many of you have a Copybot at home?" Lan looked around as fewer students put their hands up, Mayl and Dex among them. His hand stayed by his side. As an Electopian teacher, his mother didn't quite make enough for them to have their own Copybot.

"I see, I see…" Dr. Doppler nodded as he looked over the hands raised in the air. "My dream is to one day have a Copybot in every single home. It may take a little while to get there, but over time, as we improve on the technology and make it more available, I'm sure we'll be able to see it within your lifetimes, if not mine."

"So, before we start, does anyone have any quick questions about Copybots that I can answer?" He watched as a number of enthusiastic hands went up in the air, looking for a child that seemed like they would have a good question. His eyes eventually settled on a girl's hand that was hesitantly raised, and a bit nervous. "Let's start with you. What's your question?"

Mayl lowered her hand, shifting a bit to better meet Dr. Doppler's eyes. "Hi, I was just wondering… right now, there are some Navis who can't use Copybots, because they have bugs or some other issue…"

The scientist nodded. "Yes, that has been a problem… it's one we're working to overcome. Do you have a Navi like that, miss?"

She nodded back in response, her hand resting on top of her PET holstered at her side. "I do… I was worried, I didn't want to try it…"

"Probably for the best," Dr. Doppler replied. "Current Copybots don't handle malfunctioning Navis very well. However, we're working on the next generation right now, and they should be compatible with Navis that have slight malfunctions." He smiled down at her. "Was that the question you had?"

"It was. Thank you, sir." Mayl smiled back at him before looking down, pulling out her PET and looking into the screen, speaking quietly as Dr. Doppler started answering some other questions. "Did you hear that, Roll?"

Inside the PET, a female Navi covered in pink armor, with orange-yellow bands stretching out from her head, grinned excitedly. "I did! I guess I will be able to try a Copybot sometime."

Her operator nodded in response. Roll, Mayl's lifelong Navi companion, was very friendly and outgoing, and skilled in Netbattles as well. However, she had suffered from a persistent memory issues for a long time. Roll had been unable to properly store memories for the past six years, due to an accident that has overloaded Mayl's PET with electricity, damaging it badly. Any memories older than fifty days ended up lost. She didn't let it bother her much, though, and she maintained a cheerful attitude.

Mayl glanced back up as she realized the question period was ending, and watched as Dr. Doppler turned around and walked toward the doors behind him. "Well then, who's ready to see how Copybots are made?" He reached out and pushed them open, revealing the inside of the factory.

The schoolchildren cheered excitedly, able to see some machinery operating behind the doors. He turned back and motioned for them to follow, and Ms. Mari led the children through the doors, following Dr. Doppler into the core of the factory. They looked around in amazement, watching as automated assembly lines shaped various wires, circuits and white materials into arms, legs, torsos and heads. All of these pieces were sent further into the room, to be carefully formed into completed Copybots.

"This is the room where the heavy lifting happens," Dr. Doppler called out, speaking louder so as to be heard over the sound of the machinery. "Here, the Copybots are assembled out of the raw materials, and packaged up to be sold." He turned around, walking backwards to face the children as they moved along. "So, who here knows what the main material of a Copybot is?"

He smirked a bit as he saw the confused faces on the children, trying to think of what the material might be, before he spoke again to answer and end their confusion. "That's a trick question, everyone. It's a special material that isn't used anywhere else, which can change color, shape and density depending on electrical signals. It's kept a very close secret and is exclusively manufactured here. This is why this is the only facility in the entire world that manufactures Copybots."

Walking a bit further into the room, the children were able to see the disparate parts being combined into fully-formed humanoid figures. As each one was moved along, hanging in the air and attached to a moving assembly line above, each one was briefly stopped and connected to a cable. A couple of seconds later, the robot would quickly change shape and color, until it looked exactly like a green generic-issue Navi; it was then disconnected and moved forward to be packed, as another Copybot was tested. The students all watched as several blank Copybots were tested, fascinated by the way they transformed, before they were moved along into another part of the factory, one that was much quieter.

"We're now entering the research area of the facility, where we work on advancing the state of Copybot technology. There are a couple of things in here that I think you all will be quite interested in…" Dr. Doppler led the class through a couple of hallways, mentioning in passing what some of the research rooms were for, before stopping in front of a large window, looking into another room. The class crowded up against the window, trying to see what was inside, seeing only a single Copybot in the middle of an otherwise empty room.

"What's that?" Dex spoke aloud, eyes fixed on the humanoid machine. "It looks just like a normal Copybot!"

"It does, doesn't it?" the doctor responded. "There's one very important difference with this one, however…" He pulled out his own PET and started inputting a variety of commands. The children were initially confused, but then gasped collectively as the Copybot started rising into the air, entirely under its own power.

"What?!" "It can fly!" "How is that possible?!" "That's the coolest thing I ever saw!" "When can I get one?!"

Dr. Doppler chuckled, making the Copybot fly around the room like a superhero, as the children ooh'd and ahh'd. "This is a prototype of something we're working on. It's not going to be ready anytime soon, but it's certainly exciting, isn't it?" He eventually set the flying robot back down, despite the protests of the students who wanted to see it fly more, and gestured for them to follow again. He led them to another window, similar to the last, and they all eagerly pressed up against the window, wanting to see something as amazing as a flying Copybot. Peering inside, they saw two Copybots on either side of a large room, with familiar markings on the floor.

"That looks like a Netbattle arena!" one student exclaimed loudly. Dr. Doppler smirked, knowing that it was inevitable that the room would be recognized.

"Yes, that's on purpose," he started to explain. "Netbattling with Copybots isn't exactly a good idea right now, since they tend to, well, break. But there's been a huge demand for it, so we've been working on a 'Netbattle mode' for Copybots." He plugged his PET into a port on the wall and started typing commands into it again. "The battling Navis won't actually do any real damage, but when attacked, they'll react as though they have, so it all looks the same."

The children watched through the window as one of the two Navis came to life, transforming into what looked like a warrior Navi, sporting a stronger musculature and covered in brown-and-red armor. It quickly got into a battle stance, waiting for its opponent to come to life, as Dr. Doppler turned toward the small crowd of students. "Do we have any skilled Netbattlers here?"

"Ooh! Me! I'll wipe the floor with that Navi!" Dex quickly started moving toward the other end of the window, where another jack-in port was waiting, nudging some of the other students out of his way as he did so. There were several other students who were hoping to try their hand at Netbattling with Copybots, but nobody in the class, save for Mayl, ever really stood up to him. He whipped out his PET and grabbed the cable, practically slamming it into the port.

Dr. Doppler was surprised by his forcefulness, but didn't remark on it, as everyone watched the other Copybot begin to transform. Soon enough, it had turned into a yellow-and-black Navi, with bulging muscles, an overlarge metal jaw, and a more square-shaped head. Dex frowned in disappointment when he saw the result; his Navi, Gutsman, was shaped like a hulking gorilla, but this Copybot had maintained a more humanoid form, unable to transform to such a degree.

The scientist smirked a little bit. "Not what you expected it to look like, hm? Well, there's only so much transformation that can occur, I'm afraid… still, are you ready to fight?"

Dex nodded, resuming his cocky expression. "You bet! Let's go!"

Everyone watched as the two Navis ran toward each other, Gutsman raising his large arm and swinging toward his opponent. The other Navi deftly dodged, forming a Cannon on his arm and placing it against Gutsman's head before firing. The students gasped as Dex's Navi was sent flying, rolling along the floor before crashing into the wall. On his head, people could see a large burn mark, with some deformation.

"The Copybot looks seriously damaged, doesn't it?" the scientist asked, seeing the expressions on everyone's faces. "However, it's all appearances. We transformed the face to look more damaged, and it simulated the recoil of the attack all on its own. In reality, it was hit with the force of a pillow." He could hear a chorus of "wow" from the students watching, all of them amazed. Dex, however, was less amazed, as his pride was on the line, and he wasn't interested in losing. Gutsman quickly got up and charged his foe again, and the two clashed a few more times, as everyone watched.

"Hey, Doc!" Dex called out after a minute or so, glancing toward his opponent. "What happens if I use a Sword chip like this?"

Dr. Doppler grinned wide in response, clearly having fun showing off his new technology. "Why don't you try one and find out?"

"You bet!" Dex smirked and slotted in a Sword, causing his Copybot's arm to quickly reform into the shape of a blade. He ran forward and leaped into the air, bringing the sword down; the opposing Copybot barely moved out of the way, holding up one arm, wanting to show the solution they had come up with.

The crowd of students gasped as the blade sliced right through the Copybot's arm like a hot knife through butter. It fell to the ground, limp and lifeless, as the stump on the Copybot started to spark. Everyone looked toward Dr. Doppler, wanting to see how that worked, but he was looking with wide eyes at the scene in front of him.

"That… was not supposed to happen…" he spoke, stunned for a moment, before coming to his senses a bit. "Well… that's why we call it a prototype, isn't it?" The class offered a few nervous chuckles, as the scientist turned to face the children. "Now, does anyone have any-"

Before he could finish, the entire class jumped as a loud, metallic clang rang out from inside the room. They quickly turned to look, where they saw Dr. Doppler's Copybot standing with its arm outstretched; it had punched Gutsman clear across the room, where it had slammed into the wall and fallen to the floor. This time, the Navi looked legitimately damaged, its head and arm jolted out of place.

"Alright, something's a bit off here. Let's just jack our Navis out…" The doctor pulled his PET cord out of the wall, looking toward Dex, who followed suit. Both of the Copybots transformed again, reverting from their colorful, deliberately-designed states to their basic, all-white forms. Rather than falling inertly to the ground, however, both Navis turned their blank, featureless faces toward the window, causing the students to mumble to themselves in a curious but nervous manner.

The less-damaged Copybot, previously piloted by Dex, suddenly leaped toward the window, causing the class to shriek and back away in shock. It started ramming its fist into the glass, trying to shatter it, as the other Copybot ran up and joined in. The glass was heavily reinforced, but it was clear that it was starting to strain, and even crack, under the force of its two assailants. Dr. Doppler started to usher the students away, immediately concerned for their safety, as he started speaking into his PET.

"We've got a major autonomy bug in the Netbattle room!" he spoke into the device, more forcefully than he intended. "We need EMPs and heavy security, right away!" He put the device down, moving quickly away from the window, when one of the Copybots suddenly stopped punching the glass. Many of the students didn't notice, continuing to run away, but Lan and a few others paused to look. Seconds later, the Copybot tumbled to the ground in four different pieces, revealing another Copybot standing behind it.

This new body was occupied by a Navi of average build and stature, covered head-to-toe in blue armor, with a red-and-black emblem on his chest. He looked down at the foe he had just disassembled, making it difficult to see his face. Hearing the other Copybot ram its fist once again into the glass, the blue Navi quickly turned toward it, raising its arm and firing a Cannon shot; the blast hit its mark cleanly, knocking the Copybot to the ground. The blue Navi leaped into the air, landing on his foe and plunging his sword deep into the Copybot's head. It quickly went limp, its arm no longer sparking.

"Who on Earth is that?" Dr. Doppler spoke aloud, as the Navi quickly dashed toward the nearest door. He slammed into it with his shoulder, easily opening it, and he zipped outside and out of sight. The remaining students watched it disappear, as the scientist spoke once again into his PET. "Change of plans. Be on the lookout for a rogue Copybot in the factory somewhere. I'm not sure it's a threat, but we can't take any chances." He put his PET down, sighing and looking over the mess that had been made of the research room. He turned back to the students, who had stopped running away, but who still looked rather terrified.

"Well… as you can see, the life of a scientist can be rather exciting," he quipped, trying to defuse the tension; the students, as well as Ms. Mari, didn't look any less tense than before. "My deepest apologies, everyone. None of this was supposed to happen. Rest assured, none of you are in danger, but we are going to need to clear out the factory to get this sorted out. I'll lead you all outside." The students nodded, mumbling to each other about what had just happened, as Dr. Doppler ushered them in the direction of the doors. "This is why we sign waivers, everyone… I hope you all liked what you saw today, regardless…"

Lan followed the group of students toward the doors, lagging behind a bit, looking back at the room where the Copybots had all fought. He was captivated with what had just happened, his mind trying to figure out who that blue Navi was, and why the Navi's face looked so similar to his own.


Thirty minutes later, the school bus was pulling back up to the children's school, the doors opening to let them out. The students started slowly filtering out, all of them abuzz with what had just happened. With the danger gone, they were now talking animatedly about everything they had seen, as if they had all watched an exciting movie together.

"Who was that blue Navi?" one student asked aloud to anyone who might be listening. "Has anyone seen them before?"

"It didn't look like any Navi I'd seen before," another responded.

"I've seen someone like that before," Dex spoke up, causing a few children to turn around and look at him curiously.

"You have? Who is it?"

"Well, it's someone who's tiny, weak, dopey face, usually blue…" Dex smirked, reaching forward and clapping his hand onto Lan's shoulder, a foot in front of him. "Obviously, a Navi that pathetic is the spitting image of our boy Lan here!"

Several students laughed, as Lan looked down and pulled away from Dex's grip; the bully smirked and continued on. "It's a good thing Navi-Lan got that lucky shot back there. Might be the only luck the two of them ever get!" Lan tried to quickly move away, wanting to disappear into the ground, but he stopped as a shock of red hair passed in front of his vision, turning and standing angrily in front of his aggressor.

"That's it, Dex! I've had it with you always picking on Lan! You're going to stop it right now!" Mayl glared up at him, hands clenched into fists at her side, clearly having been pushed to her breaking point, her death stare boring a hole into Dex. He laughed, undeterred and unaffected.

"Oh yeah? What are you going to do to stop me?"

"I…" Mayl racked her brain for a moment, searching for a solution, and finding one just a bit too quickly. "I challenge you to a Netbattle! Roll against Gutsman. If I win, you stop picking on Lan and leave him alone, got it?"

"You're going to beat me?" His eyebrows raised, incredulous, before he grinned wide and leaned in. "Alright, sure… but if I win, you have to go on a date with me, wherever I want!" Lan watched with wide eyes as the two stared each other down, flustered at how quickly things had escalated.

"Grr… fine, I accept!" Mayl quickly took a step back. "Today, after school, at the Dencade! You better be there!"

"Oh, don't you worry about that. I never back down from a challenge!" Dex chuckled and walked past the two of them, pushing Lan aside with his elbow as he walked by. Everyone watched as he left, some of them laughing and hooting about what had just gone down. Lan's attention turned toward his friend, and the incensed expression on her face.

"Mayl…" He reached out toward her, to touch her arm, wanting to say something. She pulled away from his touch and stormed off, frustrated with Lan's inability to stand up for himself, forcing her to do it for him. He stood for a few moments and watched as she marched off toward the lunch room, his heart sinking and mind reeling with everything that had happened in the last hour, hating how weak he had let himself become.