Relic from the seas
By
Dr Facer
-10-
Viktor Cossack stared at the information on his computer screen, amazed by what he was seeing. In front of him was a full analysis of Splash Woman's current condition, detailing her body status as well as that of her electronic brain. He had gotten it as part of the standard procedure required for putting reploids or mechaniloids in stasis; they all had by law to be connected to a computer that would monitor their functions in order to prevent any accidents. He was going to delete the diagnosis without even looking at it, but fearing that other parts inside her could be about to fail, he decided to read it before deleting it.
He wasn't prepared to see something like this, however.
"But it does explain a lot," he thought, resting his chin on his right hand.
"I brought you the tea you wanted," Nina said as she sat next to her husband, placing a cup of fine smelling tea in front of him. "What are you looking at?"
"Splash Woman's diagnosis," he said.
"You said you were going to erase it."
"And I will, I simply had to read it to make sure all her parts are working correctly."
"And what did you find?" the female reploid asked, looking at the numbers on the screen detailing the efficiency of Splash Woman's weapon system, which was operating at 100% capacity.
"Her body is in perfect conditions now, but I found records in her backup memory indicating something spent sixty years slowly repairing her inner systems, particularly her power core, part of her electronic brain, her sonar and optics. It seems she believes her self-repair system did this, but I believe it wasn't so."
"I see… then what repaired her?"
"The capsule we found her in, I think," Viktor said as he drank a sip of tea. "I analyzed the capsule yesterday. Most of the memory files were damaged, but a few of them indicate that it had to use the parts stored in it as spares to repair something. That would explain why Splash Woman was in such good condition but with only one energy unit left, and also why those parts were in such poor state, the capsule repurposed them."
"Why would it do that?"
"Well, it's quite similar to the one X was sleeping in; and that capsule was programmed to preserve and repair any complete robot stored in it," the scientist said. "I know this because I studied X's capsule when our company bought Cain labs after the fourth Maverick uprising."
"Yes, I remember you mentioned that. You also told me someone stole the capsule from your father's factory at some point," Nina recalled. "Interesting, but it doesn't explain why she's able to disobey orders from a human being, does it?"
"No, but the analysis answered that question," Viktor said with a smile. "And I admit the answer surprised me and made me admire Doctor Light's genius even more."
"Oh? Do explain," she requested.
"Some of her memory files got damaged and as a result she doesn't have the Three Laws," the roboticist stated. "No primary objectives either, at least that's what the analysis says. Ordinarily, no Robot Master would be able to function without the laws."
"And yet she's out there, visiting New Moscow with X," Nina said, recalling how X had promised he'd make sure Splash Woman wouldn't cause any trouble in the city.
"That's because her core programming is incredibly flexible and adaptable," Viktor explained and scrolled back to the first few pages of the report. "Look at this, isn't it amazing?"
Nina read the information, blinked in surprise and then leaned back on her seat. "She's far more advanced than what I expected, her programming is clearly superior to any current mechaniloid's. I can see why she was able to maintain activation even without the Three Laws."
"And you know what that means?"
She nodded. "It means Robot Masters were not as simple as we believed they were."
"Can you imagine how intricate the original Mega Man's programming was, or that of his older brother, Proto Man?" Viktor Cossack was smiling as he considered the possibilities. "Doctor Light and many roboticists of his day were clearly ahead of their time!"
"I wonder if the original eight Cossackbots were this advanced," Nina said, remembering the creations of the company's founder. "It would be interesting to compare them."
"A shame that information is long lost," Viktor said, thoughtful. "Then again…"
Nina was not paying attention to her husband. Instead, she was now contemplating another idea. If Splash Woman was not ruled by the Three Laws of robotics, then she already possessed some sort of free will, and considering how complex her programming actually was… then shouldn't her cognitive abilities be almost as advanced as those of a reploid?
"And if that's the case," Nina thought, "how far from developing real emotions is she?"
=0=
"I'm amazed at how different things are," Splash Woman said, looking at the group of reploids walking out of a store, carrying bags full of merchandise that was clearly made for their kind. "A century ago, no robot was given a salary or could own things… not unless their masters gave it to them or they earned it in a competition that allowed robots to participate and keep the prizes. We were only tools, X, seeing how things have changed is… overwhelming."
"I imagine it's not what you expected," he said. "But this isn't bad."
"No, I guess it isn't," she said, stopping in front of a store, looking at a well-organized display showing a man wearing a grey suit, a yellow scarf and a red hat. The mannequin wore a pair of dark sun glasses as well. Splash Woman smiled and sighed, feeling suddenly melancholic.
"Something wrong?"
"No, nothing," she said, looking at X and wondering how he'd look with the grey suit, the scarf and of course the hat. It probably wouldn't fit.
"Did you want something from the store?" He asked, looking at the shop. "I think they only sell men's clothes here, though."
"Even if I wanted something, I don't have any money," she said.
"I can buy it for you," he offered.
"I couldn't impose, I…"
"But I insist," X said. "Let's enter the shop."
A few minutes later, Splash Woman and X walked out of the store, she carried a small bag, and was wondering if this was fine. It was the first time someone had bought something for her. No. A memory file resurfaced then and she remembered it wasn't the first time. A long time ago he bought her something, too.
"A necklace," she remembered. "But I lost it when… no, it would be unfair to X if I spend my time thinking about someone else, wouldn't it?"
Assuming she was busy processing the changes around her, X walked by her side in silence, simply enjoying the company of another Lightbot. He had always hoped to meet another creation of his maker, and now that wish had come true. It made him feel satisfied and… happy. It was odd, just being close to her changed the way he felt about life. She was a key to his past, a kindred spirit as they shared the same creator, a friend, someone he could talk to about things nobody else could understand, but most important of all, she was… family.
They walked in silence for a few more minutes, X thinking about how nice her company was and Splash Woman taking in the large metropolis, admiring the new and advanced architecture of the intelligent buildings and other structures. They eventually reached a park, and the fountain, made of stone and very old, caught her attention. She stopped and reached for X's hand.
"Can we stop here for a minute?" She asked. "I want to look at that fountain."
He nodded and let her guide him towards the center of the park, noticing how nice her warm hand felt over his.
The fountain was of a very old design, one that X recognized as baroque. In the middle of the fountain were two perfectly sculpted statues. One was of a beautiful woman in an elegant dress and behind her was a knight who held a shield in a protective gesture. Splash Woman located a metallic plate on the side, and saw the plaque had this information carved on it:
[The princess and her knight. Donated to the city by K. C. on the year 20XX]
The marine Robot smiled at the 'coincidence'. She would bet she had a pretty good guess as to who this K. C. who donated the statue was. It seemed she never stopped thinking about him.
"But the knight was never yours, princess," Splash Woman thought, smiling at her own personal secret, wondering briefly if the satisfaction she experienced at the idea was normal or not. "Not in the way you always wanted, at least."
"My scans indicate this statue is made of bronze and brass. No wonder it's still in such a good condition considering it's been here since this was old Moscow. This statue is about as old as both of us," said X as he admired the sculptures. "It's very well made, I bet it was expensive."
"I'm sure the person who donated it had more than enough money to pay for it," Splash Woman said with a wry smile. "Don't you agree?"
"I suppose," he said.
"Sit with me, X," she invited after sitting on the fountain. "I know you have many questions, I think it's time I answer as many as I can."
"… Are you sure?" he said and, after hesitating for an instant, did so. "I thought you would like to spend a few days becoming familiar with our world before talking about the past."
"I'm fine," she assured. "And I do want to talk about it, I…"
A loud beep interrupted her and X stood up immediately, placing his right hand against his helmet.
"X here, what's wrong?" he asked, failing at hiding the concerned tone in his voice.
Splash Woman tried to listen to the transmission X was receiving, but she found that all she could get was static. The frequency he used was impossible for her to detect.
"The Orbital Observatory?" he frowned. "It has been operational for only six months! Who is responsible for the attack?"
The blue armored hunter clenched his fist as he listened to the message.
"Dynamo? But I thought he was dead!" X said feeling frustrated by the return of that old rival. Was having some peace too much to ask? "And he says he wants me and only me to go there for a final duel… fine, I'll go. Alia, tell Douglas I'll need a shuttle. I'll be at HQ as soon as I can."
And with that X ended communication.
"I take it something bad happened," Splash Woman said, standing up and placing a hand over his arm. "Can I help you?"
"No, you can't," he said, gently holding her by the shoulders. "A very dangerous criminal has taken over the Orbital Observatory, he has hostages there and wants to fight me. He says I must go alone or he'll kill his captives."
"Will you be alright?"
"Dynamo has never defeated me in the past," X stated. He then offered her a smile "And I can't let him beat me now, there's no way I'll leave our conversation incomplete… come, I'll take you back to the lab."
"Wait, before you do that…"
"What?"
She reached inside the bag and fished out the yellow scarf, which she wrapped around his neck. She admired him for a moment and smiled. He really resembled him. And the synthetic wool scarf suited him, or at least she thought so.
"But this…"
"Wear it," she requested. "For luck. For me."
He reached up and touched the soft fabric. "Alright. For you."
Note:
Thanks to Adam for beta reading this chapter.