MegaMan Reimagined Chapter 3: In Light's Shadow

A few weeks later, the CFO of Light Industries, Dr. Albert Wily, walked into the storage room. He looked at the robot masters, and sighed. He had created the hardware of the robot masters. They were, at least partially, his invention. That interview was originally going to be his, but Fox News insisted that they speak with Light. Light had a habit of stealing credit for his work. Everyone knew about Light, He was beginning to resent him.

He was stress testing GutsMan by having him drag a robotic truck moving in the opposite direction. He had always admired this particular robot. It was the apex of his creations thus far. It always obeyed orders and called him "sir!". None of that "higher functions override given instructions." bullcrap, it just did what it was told. You could make it do anything short of disassemble itself. A very polite, obedient robot…and strong too.

And, write of the devil, Dr. Light walked in. "Hey! Dr. Wily, how's it going?" He asked, offering his hand.

Ignoring it, Wily said "oh, fine, I just wanted to check on the robot masters to make sure they were working properly, I wouldn't want them to blow a fuse once after they've been packed up!"

Suddenly, sparks went off inside the robot's arm. Wily went over and checked it. "The energy shields in its arm overloaded" he said. The energy shielding also helped gave GutsMan his strength by contracting or expanding like a muscle might.

Dr. Light looked at it and said "Hmm…It's not supposed to work itself enough to be damaged. This might be a programming error. I'll fix it tomorrow….Hey, I wanted to tell you something. I want to work on another personal project"

Wily raised an eyebrow. "Like Roll?" he asked.

"Yes, another human mimic. I want this one to be male, though." said Light.

Wily sighed. "And how do you know it won't malfunction like Blues did?"

Light didn't like to talk about Blues. "Well, ProtoMan was an experiment, he had no AI shackling like the robot masters." AI shackles were programs that forced a robot's behavior to work within certain parameters.

Wily spoke up "Ah, AI shackling. Yeah, I suppose those have proven infallible."There was little data to show that AI shackling actually worked, as it was a relatively new invention. "Well, I suppose I can't stop you. When do you want to get started?"

Light interjected "that's the thing, I want to work on both the hardware and software for this one. It's nothing personal, but I think I'd rather have you working on maintaining the robot masters."

Wily was appalled. Now, even Dr. Light, the man who stood on his successes, was failing to realize his potential. He spoke "But…I….My skills are superior to yours! You'll mess something up! You'll-"

"And that's why I want you to maintain the master robots. Your assistance will not be needed" was light's response before leaving.

Wily walked over to GutsMan and began repairing his broken arms. "Story of my life" he said. GutsMan turned his head.

"Please explain." said GutsMan in a loud, deep, synthesized voice.

Wily answered "Oh, Dr. Light is bothering me again. It happens every day. He keeps pushing me around. Nobody appreciates my work"

GutsMan was puzzled "Appreciation?"

"Well yeah, appreciation-you know, having an intention of rewarding someone for their work? Respecting someone who helps you as opposed to just shoving you under the rug when you're not needed like some…obsolete machine." said Wily.

"Obsolete…not needed…ready to be replaced. Are humans never obsolete?" asked GutsMan

"Well, no-of course not! You can't just throw someone away when they're not needed!" answered Wily.

GutsMan tilted his head. "Error detected: When robots become obsolete, they are replaced without need of justification. Humans are not. Please elaborate."

Wily just sighed "well, GutsMan, perhaps we have more in common than I thought".