Chapter 2: Some Backstory

Despite the events of this morning, things return to normal within Light's lab and home. He and all of his creations continue on unaware of the coming danger. Megaman is currently out in the city in the hopes of finding Protoman again and looking to see how he's doing. Just as the older bot predicted, the first place Megaman went to look was the old theater. He isn't surprised not to find him there. Before leaving, he sits down on the stage and really takes in the crumbling and sad scene around him. How could Protoman truly want to live in a place like this more than a home waiting for him?

Before Protoman went to sleep he considered going back to said theater to retrieve his few meager belongings but decided against it in the end, believing that they would be safe where they were hidden. However, if Megaman happens to tread across a certain board...

At some point Rock stands back up and decides he's seen enough of this place. He walks across the stage to hop off...

-creeeeak-

The board squeaks under his tread, making a very different sound from the rest. There's a hollow thunk as he bumps it.

"Huh?"

Curious, Megaman kneels down to have a look at it and tries to pry it off.

The board comes up very easily and slides back, revealing a compartment underneath. Inside are several dusty items, the nearest of which is a large crumpled up piece of paper.

"Hm...?"

Megaman begins picking up each item to inspect.

When he picks up the paper it falls open, revealing a schematic. A smaller piece of paper that was paper-clipped inside of it falls out and lands a short distance away on the ground. Upon further inspection, the blueprints are Protoman's, detailing his original design.

Huh...? Protoman had these? What for?

The other items under the board include an old yellow kodak disposable camera (all the film used up as indicated by the zero on the dial), a small pouch containing less than $20 in bills and coins, a water damaged notepad, a plastic ball point pen with a baseball on the end, and a small glittering red marble.

Megaman can't quite tell what purpose any of these have to Protoman...but he quickly decides that these must be important to him. It's unlikely that Protoman will come back, even to get these, so just to be sure, he decides he'll take these back with him to give to Protoman whenever he finds him again.

With all the stuff safe in his hands, Megaman almost leaves before he spots the last tiny paper. He puts everything down to pick it up and have a look.

When he flips it over it turns out to be a photo of three people standing side by side. In the middle is a young man with long brown hair styled into a spiky up-do. He wears dark sunshades and a smile. On either side of him are two men in white coats, both familiar and also smiling. On closer inspection, Megaman realizes that the one on the right is a younger version of Dr. Light.

Rock gasps when he recognizes his creator. He definitely has to ask about this when he gets home.

The doctor is tinkering in his lab when his affable son returns. "Ah... Rock... did you have any luck while you were out?"

"No...but I found some stuff of his."

Light frowns, remembering the confrontation with Protoman from earlier. "Ah... you did? What did you find?" The doctor gets up from his desk and comes to inspect the pile of things Megaman brings in.

"Not much...but he had his schematics...and a picture."

"H-his..." The doctor gets immediately choked up as he stares towards the papers Megaman motions to and picks them up with shaky hands while he fumbles to open them.

"I... I don't believe it... I... I always thought these had been...lost in the fire..."

"Really...? Looks like he took them instead..."

Light nods. "Oh... I can't believe he had them all this time... And in such good condition... not a scratch..."

He hugs the schematics to his chest, a tear coming to his eyes.

"But there's something else..."

Light gulps, trying to stifle the flood of emotions overcoming him. "Oh?"

Rock holds the picture in front of his creator. "I can tell...one of these people is you, isn't it?"

If the schematics made him emotional, the picture shocks him into a stupor. It takes him a moment to remember how to move his hands to reach for the photograph.

"D...doctor?"

"I forgot about this photo... We... We took this the day Blues was born."

"What?! You mean that's..."

The doctor nods. "Blues... or as you know him, Protoman. And there to his left... that's Doctor Wily."

"What?!"

The doctor looks away from his son, cheeks colored red with shame.

"Dr. Light...I don't understand..."

"I... I'm sorry my son... I've told you the story of your own creation... but I've never told you of your older brother's... or explained to you the origin of his feelings towards me..."

"That's right...I could never understand why he'd ever...hate you so much..."

"You see... before you and your sister were created... Dr. Wily and I worked together as a team..."

"You did?"

"Yes... despite the man you now know, Wily was at one point just a brilliant man with great potential... We were going to change the world together... for the better. Our goal was to create a group of robots who could think and feel as humans do and who would assist mankind. On the day that picture was taken... we achieved our first great success. A prototype robotic man... Protoman. Or as I affectionately christened him, Blues..."

"You and Wily made Protoman together...?" Rock asks again, still trying to process this.

"Yes... yes we did. ...He was a scientific marvel... the first of his kind-fully sentient and, at least we initially thought... self-sustaining."

"What happened...?"

"For a while we lived together... running tests on him to keep track of his mental and emotional development, as well as his physical operation. When Wily and I presented our results to the scientific community there was a great commotion... I in particular was praised for my work in artificial intelligence and reusable energy sources... I should have taken notice then that Albert wasn't getting the same affirmation for his work... But I was younger and in the spotlight... I was blinded, I suppose, to what was happening around me. One day Albert and I had a spat. He packed up and left. I thought that was the end of our relationship. It was just me and Blues after that...

And then one day... while we were running a simulation, I discovered a flaw with my design. It was a small flaw... but not necessarily simple to fix. And it had consequences. I discovered that the instability in Protoman's core would eventually lead it to fail.

…I was callous and unthinking that day. And I said something horrible."

"What did you say...?"

"...Blues has always valued his independence above all else. Even back then when he was young he was rebellious…. rambunctious. He reveled in his ability to chose which commands he did and did not want to obey, and actively exercised his free will to cause mischief. I was never really upset with him for that. I made him so he would have the freedom to behave that way. But when I realized the flaw in my design... I also realized that to fix that flaw would mean shutting down a core part of Protoman's brain... and in doing so... it might cause alterations to his personality. Alterations that could be subtle or drastic... I had and still have no way of knowing. That day I spoke to one of my colleages about the problem over the phone... At the time I didn't know that he was nearby... he must have overheard me... It was some stupid loosehanded comment I made that maybe a change to his personality wouldn't be such a bad thing... I joked that a less rebellious Protoman could be a good thing for everyone... Oh my boy... My poor Blues... it must have hurt him to hear those words from his creator..."

Rock frowns as he finally understands. "Dad...you didn't mean it..."

"I didn't! I certainly did not... but how was he to know? When I was preparing to make the repairs to him, he confronted me about it... and when I tried to explain away what was said he wouldn't have it... I let him know the consequences of the flaw-that it could kill him-but he ran away in spite of that. I had hoped that he would forgive me and return... I waited for him to come back... searched for him... Then one day the fire happened... many of my designs, including his schematics, I had thought, were lost in the blaze...

I waited for him to return… I mourned his loss… And eventually... I had to give up. It had been so long since there had been any sight of him that I knew he must be dead. The loss of my son shattered my heart and left a great void that needed filling... For a time I continued my life's work…. I started designing my robot masters…

And then one day... I began working to make you and your sister.

I... I have endeavored to be a better parent for you and Roll than I was able to be for Blues... I made many mistakes the first time around that I've striven to correct... But I still... I still want to make peace with my prodigal son..."

"I can tell...you've tried so hard, but...but he just won't listen to you..."

Light sighs.

Rock puts his hand over his father's.

Light smiles slightly at the gesture, then frowns. "Pain and solitude have twisted him... but I believe in redemption for him... I must."

He gives Rock's hand a squeeze back.

"Thank you, my son..."

Rock smiles and nods before returning his attention to the other items. "Say...do you recognize any of those other things?"

"Hm?"

Light looks over the other four items on the table-the camera, the notepad, the pen, and the marble. "Oh... no, I can't say that I do... and you found these with the schematics?"

He picks up the small, glimmering marble in his hand and holds it up to the light to survey the colors that bounce out of it. "My this is pretty..."

The pen Light clicks and attempts to write with on a nearby piece of paper. "It writes okay... only a bit spotty..."

"Yeah. They were all stored together in the building I found him in yesterday. I didn't think he'd come back for them, so I thought I should take them back to make sure they'd get back to him..."

"Oh? My that was thoughtful of you..."

Light begins to flip through the little notepad, his eyes widening in surprise. "Oh my... how marvelously cute."

"Huh? What is it? I didn't know there was anything written in there."

Light keeps flipping through the pages. "This seems to be a collection of doodles... perhaps Blues's work?"

He holds some of them up for Rock to see. "Look here, isn't this your helmet?"

"Really? Lemme see! Ooooh…. It is! Why would he draw my helmet?"

"I couldn't say m'boy... ooh look at these."

They flip through several pages. There are pictures of cartoonish animals, dinosaurs, and other robots—including the robot masters and Rock.

"Aww! Cats! I didn't know he liked cats."

Light keeps flipping through the notepad as he finds more and more little scraps of his creation's work, getting emotional all the while.

"Wow...he draws even more than I do..." Rock comments.

"It would seem so, my son."

"Well...I guess we better find a safe place for all this stuff."

"Yes yes... Hm... but now I must admit myself curious as to what is on that camera... I do have a machine for developing photographs. Perhaps I ought to develop the film."

"Oh yeah? Good idea! I wanna see the pictures too!"

When Protoman finishes his comfortable nap he decides it's time to venture out. Leaving his new boarded up home he leaps across the rooftops to return to the old one to reclaim his things.

Meanwhile, Megaman is currently following Dr. Light to see the results of the the pictures he's developing from Protoman's camera.

"Are they done yet, Dad?"

"Yes it looks that way. Mmm... Let's see what we have here."

Rock bounces at his father's side, eager to see the pictures.

The 30 pictures tell a small story. The first three are innocent enough-pictures from the local children's museum. In one the picture is of a glass display. The photographer's reflection comes into view-a young girl and the camera's apparent original owner. The next two pictures are slightly less innocent. They are somewhat blurred but the smudges can be made out as red opticked sniper joes. The children and their teacher can be seen huddled over in the corner as hostages from the camera peripherals.

"Wh-what...?" Rock says, alarmed as he continues to look through them.

The next three pictures are all red blurs, but the ninth picture is clear. Protoman is in it, and so is the little girl from the reflection before, her arms wrapped around his neck as she smiles for the camera he holds, taking a selfie of the two of them. There's an almost imperceptible smile on his lips.

The next several pictures all follow a pattern. They're selfies of Protoman again, this time he is standing over fallen robot after fallen robot. Cutsman, Gutsman, Iceman, Bombman, Fireman, Elecman, Bubbleman... one after another are pictures of them unconscious… and Protoman standing over their frames flashing the peace sign while taking a picture of himself.

But after about the seventeenth picture the images become somewhat more random. The next picture is rainy and it's night time but if one looks closely they can make out the shape of a kitten huddled in a cardboard box. The next picture is sunny and bright. It's a spring day at the local park. There are no people in the picture. It seems just to be a scenery shot. The twentieth picture is of protoman again. He seems to be lying in the seat of the car Megaman found him in, holding the camera up above his face as he takes the shot. He isn't smiling, just staring up at the camera boredly... perhaps somberly. The next picture has another picture of the kitten from before, this time closer up, sniffing at food Protoman's hand holds out.

"Is...is that all of them...?" Rock asks as he finishes that.

"No no. There's more." Light answers. He holds out the rest.

Picture 22: A recognizable slightly older girl from the earlier pictures holds the kitten in her arms, nuzzling it. The kitten seems to be healthy and well fed now and they both look happy on the porch of her home.

Picture 23: A large orange fish floats just under the surface of almost clear water

Picture 24: It's blurred. Nothing is distinguishable.

Picture 25 is of particular interest. There's an unrecognizable figure in it-obviously a robot but one Megaman and Light have never seen before. There are yellow fins on his head. His predominant colors seem to be black and yellow. This picture is like the previous ones, where Protoman stands over his unconscious frame gloating in victory.

"What's that...?" Rock asks. "Or I mean… who?"

"I don't know... it seems to be a robot master, but it is not one of my creations... one of Wily's perhaps?"

"A new one..? Hm… Are there any other photos of him?"

"Perhaps so... let's look through the last few."

Picture 26: A high up shot of a carnival that Rock remembers from this past autumn, several months ago.

Picture 27: Another selfie of Protoman and a human girl. The same one from earlier. She seems to be propped up in a hospital bed. There are tubes in her nose. She smiles and leans her cheek on his shoulder.

Picture 28: There's a tall white church steeple against a blue sky.

Picture 29: Snow is piled on top of everything in a winter landscape. The whole park seems to be white

Picture 30: It's a picture of a bird. A small red bird, perched on top of a marble slab of some sort, its wings flared out wide as it lands.

...And that seems to be all of them.

"..."

Megaman looks rather down now.

"...What's wrong my son?"

"Some of those are just...sad..."

Light frowns.

"P...Proto's gonna want these prints. We better keep them safe."

"Of course... you'll keep them safe, won't you?" His father prompts him.

"Yeah. We can find an envelope for them and put it with everything else in a box."

"Of course. That's very thoughtful. We can put it in my safety locker."

The doctor goes and opens up the heavy duty locker where he keeps all of his valuable research. Rock starts to smile again and follows his father.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Protoman wails.

He slams his fist against the dusty boards of the stage, shattering a crater into the floor. "D...dammit... how did they..."

It's gone. It's all gone. His blueprints, his

marble, his camera... not even his sketchbook survived the looting.

He punches a couple more craters into the stage before blasting it in a rage. There's no need to guess at who did it. There could only be one person.

Megaman.

"Doctor Light...why do you think he needed his schematics?"

"I... I honestly couldn't tell you, my son. In truth I'm glad that he took them and preserved them... it's wonderful that they weren't lost in that fire. Having a copy could allow one to recreate his construction or aid in his repairs... It is possible that he took them to prevent another version of himself from being made, but also possible that he took them so that he could bring them to someone to ask for help repairing him if he ever needed it... I'm afraid we can't know for sure what Blues's motives were unless we ask him ourselves."

"Yeah...I guess we better make a copy for both of you."

Light chuckles. "That would not necessarily be a bad idea. However... I think we should hold off on that for now."

"Why's that?"

"Well... I value those schematics greatly and I would certainly love to reclaim them for my own... for sentimental purposes as much as anything... But seeing as he kept them all this time, kept them hidden and safe... perhaps it would not be right of us to take a copy without his permission. After all the work he's done to preserve this copy... I'm afraid it just wouldn't be right to take without permission. After all... if he hadn't preserved them, they wouldn't still exist for the taking..."

The doctor tucks the schematics into his safe before locking it back up tight.

"Ah...alright, Dad. You're right."

He pets Rock on the head with a smile. "I appreciate that you think so. Even though it's tempting and it seems as though only good can come from it, taking what's not rightfully yours is stealing. Protoman may not be appreciative that we didn't take it when we had the chance, but right is right."

Just then there's a loud knock from the front door.

"I'll get it!" Roll chirps. Her footsteps are heard clacking down the hall and opening the door. As soon as it opens, she shrieks.

"Daddy, help!"

"Roll!" Megaman immediately rushes out of the room and to the entrance of the lab.

She stands near the doorway of their home, supporting a collapsed figure leaking fuel all over the floor. The familiar face looks up and meets Megaman's gaze with intense eyes.

"...Help..." Bass, the black robot from the pictures, gasps.

End of Chapter