Note: Here we are near the conclusion! We get the rest of Kalinka's past here, and we also get to meet the mysterious Robot Master that's been lurking in the shadows the entire time.
Special thanks to the fine folks of the Ruby-Spears server for being the best creative consultants ever! Seriously, you guys rock.
The Tale of Kalinka Cossack Part 2
200X
Russia
"Friends?" Kalinka questioned, unsure of what her father meant.
"Well, somewhat," Dr. Cossack clarified. "These seven units were designed for specific functions all requested by our…lovely government," he had to refrain from letting too much venom seep into his voice. "But, for you, they shall be your friends, as well as your teachers."
"Teachers?"
"Yes," Cossack answered. "You need variety with your homeschooling, so I would say these robots will work out just fine. Although, they are technically working machines, so they won't be around all the time."
Kalinka still didn't entirely understand, but then, all of a sudden, the eyes of the robots opened, all looking down at the far smaller girl before them. "Who…are they?" she asked. They all had appearances drastically different from each other, but none of them looked scary to her.
"Well, perhaps it's best if they tell you themselves," Cossack said, pressing a switch on a device he had in his lab coat. One by one, each of the machine's eyes lit up as their systems activated, bringing them all online and functioning.
"Dr. Cossack?" the robot fashioned after an Egyptian Pharaoh said, speaking on behalf of the others. "Why have you awakened us? I thought we were to do so when we were transported to our designated…" the machine paused, catching the visage of a small form close by. "Who…is this?" he questioned, studying the curly blond-haired child.
"This, Pharaoh Man," Dr. Cossack explained. "Is my daughter," he said. "And, in turn, your sister, in a sense."
"Sister?" the robot with the large bulb on his head questioned. "Well, she's quite a little sister."
"I'm not THAT little!" Kalinka protested. "I'm almost ten!"
"Oh, sorry," the android apologized. "I meant no offense." It was then that the girl started giggling. "Huh? What?"
"Your voice," Kalinka answered. "You sound funny!"
"F-Funny?" the lightbulb-headed robot asked. "I'm funny?"
"Yeah," Kalinka said, directing her peridot eyes to one robot fashioned after a particular hopping amphibian. "You're funny too!"
"In a good or bad way?" the green robot questioned.
"...I don't know how it'd be bad," Kalinka answered. "But why are you a frog?"
"Toad, actually," the robot corrected. "Specifically, Toad Man."
"Toad Man?" Kalinka questioned. "I still think you look more like a frog."
"I believe the young lady is confused," the machine with a ring atop his red helmet interjected. He then stepped forward. "We are Robot Masters developed by the hands of your father, Doctor Mikhail Cossack," he said, gesturing to the bearded man with spectacles. "Each of us was fashioned for a specific purpose, designated by the Russian government."
"Exactly," the one her father called "Pharaoh Man" added. "Such as Toad Man here, who was constructed for tests regarding weather manipulation,"
"Of course, Dr. Cossack's going to send me to a remote village in Africa that's suffering from a drought," the green Robot Master clarified. "It's a reward for a favor, but I'm glad I get to go somewhere with no snow!"
"Africa?" the Russian girl's eyes lit up. "They've got all sorts of frogs and toads there! And lots of other animals!" truth be told, she barely knew this robot, and she was already feeling jealous of him.
"Bright Man was constructed to light up areas during mass blackouts," Pharaoh Man said, directing his attention to the lightbulb-headed robot. "Given our country's rather…tumultuous history with its neighbors, I feel he will be needed most here."
"But things have been rather peaceful, haven't they?" Bright Man asked. "After all, Dr. Cossack is the head of the Science Department of Russia! They haven't asked him to make any weapons yet!"
"No, but he has made me for combat," the robot with the affixed ring said. "Of course, you should introduce our dear companions to the young lady before us," he said to Pharaoh Man. "After all, save the best for last."
"Near last," the royalty-based Robot Master retorted. "But yes," he then gestured to a machine with a large vacuum attached to his back. "Dust Man was designed to clean up debris and hazardous chemicals."
"I'm all about sanitation," Dust Man spoke. "Speaking of, you washed your hands before you came in here, right?" he asked.
"Enough of that," Pharoah Man sighed. "Dive Man was built with the AI functions of a submarine. He is specifically designed to assist the Russian Navy."
The deep-blue Robot Master gave a salute. "Prepared to perform my duties at any time, Captain!" he proclaimed. "Er, Doctor!"
"Yes, yes you are," Pharaoh Man answered with a roll of his eyes. "Drill Man here was designed to work at construction sites, and given that Russia is wishing to expand its technological prowess to other regions of the country, there will be a lot of ground to cover."
"I just hope that there aren't a lot of gas lines where I'm having to dig," Drill Man mentioned, rubbing the back of his namesake head with one of his hand-less arms.
"I shall introduce myself, thank you," the ring-headed robot told Pharaoh Man. "DCN-006, I am Ring Man," he proudly proclaimed. "I was specifically designed for combat, as requested by the Russian Defense Department, yet I have proven to be quite agile and flexible."
"Oooh! Like a ballerina?" Kalinka asked.
Ring Man didn't know how to respond. "What?"
Taking advantage of the other Robot Master's confusion, Pharaoh Man took the opportunity to finally introduce himself. "And I, am DCN-007, Pharaoh Man," he said, puffing out his chest and folding his arms, adding to his regal and royal appearance. "My function is to explore the ruins and ancient structures of the past. I have been granted high resistance to weather conditions, agility, and the adaption of lighting up dark areas," as if to demonstrate, the symbol of the cobra and vulture began to glow. When it ceased, he knelt and took the young girl's hand. "But, now that we have met you, our function is for your protection."
"Protection?" Kalinka asked.
"Yes, we are at your service, Young Miss." the Egyptian-based Robot Master told her.
The other Robot Masters bowed as if she were truly a little Princess. "We are all at your service."
Present
"Wow," Roll said, unsure of how to process what she had just heard. "So, you knew these guys for a long time."
Kalinka nodded. "Since I was in single-digits," she confirmed. "It wasn't long, but…in a way, it kind of makes it worse," she then turned her attention to the red, scissor-headed android serving as her current warden. Then she turned her eyes to her imprisoned companion. "Speaking of, what of Light's robots that were also stolen?" she questioned. "Do you or Mega Man ever think of them?"
"Them?" Roll asked. "You mean like…Cut Man over there?"
"What are you two talking about?" the aforementioned Robot Master inquired, hands on his hips.
"Oh nothing," Roll answered. "Nothing that concerns you."
"If you're trying to find a way to escape, don't bother!" Cut Man retorted, not exactly sure of a witty comeback to use. "There's no way out!"
"Yeah, yeah, we kind of got that already," Roll said. Then, she went back to conversing with Kalinka when the Robot Master's back was turned. "You want to know if we think of them?" Kalinka nodded. "Huh," Roll thought. "You know…I…haven't thought about it."
In truth, while she had thought of Light's stolen Robot Masters, the housekeeper only thought of them as persistent pests that gave her brother and the world grief. They may have been built by her creator's hands, but they were essentially Wily's now. The moment they were built, they were installed and sworn to the mad doctor's side, and since then, they had been nothing but a nuisance. Still, hearing Kalinka's words brought forth thoughts that Roll never had before. Ponderings and questions regarding the six that were originally taken.
For, in truth, both she and Mega, then Rock, could've shared in their fate.
"You hate them, don't you?" Kalinka asked, catching Roll off guard.
"What?" she asked. "Well, yes, but…I don't know about…hating as in, HATING, but…"
"It's fine. I'm not judging you," the Russian/Ukrainian/Swedish human said with a shake of her head. "You've only known them as they are now. How could you do anything but hate them?" she then turned her eyes to Cut Man, who had his back turned, oblivious to the conversation the two were having. "If I had known Papa's robots as they are now, I would've probably grown to hate them too."
Cut Man turned his head. "Are you two talking about me?" he asked.
"Uh, no, why?" the human inquired.
The Robot Master was silent for a moment. "Never mind, just…go back to what you were doing," he ordered. "But no planning escape attempts!"
"Yeah, sure," Roll answered dismissively. "So, Beat came after that?" she asked Kalinka.
"Yes, but he wasn't made until my father started to travel aboard," the other blonde clarified. "Before that, there were only my seven guardians," she said. "My…friends."
200X
Russia
"So, the Prince came upon a hut in the dense, dark forest. But not just any hut, oh no, this hut belonged to a powerful figure of old, long before the land was founded and people began to settle," Toad Man said, book in hand and an entranced Kalinka listening intently to his words. "He called to the hut, 'Little hut, turn you back to the trees and your face to me!' The hut turned to face him, and the door opened, revealing…her."
Kalinka leaned in closer.
"Baba Yaga, the witch of the deep woods, as old as the forest itself, even older if some legends are true. She turned to him, a bony hag with a snag-like nose. 'Russian blood that I have never met before, now I smell at my door. Who are you? Where did you come from? Where are you going to?"
Kalinka listened on as Toad Man detailed how the Prince told the witch how to find his wife, the titular character of the story, the Frog Princess, Vasilisa the Wise. Just one of many young women with that name in the various tales of Russia. She listened to how Baga Yaga told the Prince how his wife was now in the clutches of Koshchei the Deathless, and how he would need a duck's egg that was in a hare that was in a stone casket. Which would somehow lead to a needle destroying Koshchei, and restoring Vasilisa to her human form.
"And then they got married?" Kalinka asked.
"Yep," Toad Man answered. "Now, this is the last story. To bed with you."
"Ok, ok," the blonde girl answered, getting under her sheets. "Лягушачий?" she asked, addressing the Robot Master by his designated pet name. Even if he wasn't a 'froggy' at all. "What's it like, well, doing what you do?" she asked. "Like…well, like Vasilisa, you can make strange things happen like create rain. Do you like doing that?"
Toad Man pondered this question. "Hm, well…" he said. "I just always thought of it as my purpose. What I was made for," he answered. "But I like the fact I get to travel. And, even if I'm a toad, I still love the rain."
"Then maybe Vasilisa should be the Toad Princess instead of Frog," Kalinka suggested. "You're making toads sound cooler."
"Cool?" if he had the ability, Toad Man's cheeks would've been flushed. "Wow…somebody thinks I'm cool…" he then got ahold of himself, realizing what time it was. "Well, guess I better let you get some sleep," he then shut the light off and made his way out of the room. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," Kalinka replied before the door was closed. "You know, even if your looks are a little rough, you could perhaps be somebody's Prince. If you wanted to be."
Present
Roll stared at Kalinka, flabbergasted. "I didn't picture Toad Man to be the type to read bedtime stories," she said.
"He was the only one that put effort into it," Kalinka replied. "Everyone else was so emotionless or couldn't do the characters right," she said. "Even if it was far from what his intended purpose, I think he was a better storyteller than a rain dancer." despite the small jest, the human still appeared sullen.
"Hey," Roll began, trying to divert to a happier subject. "It's December, so it'll be Christmas soon. Got anything on your list?" she asked. "Do you guys even have Santa over here?"
"If you mean Santa Claus, that's a complicated question," she said. "Russia and Christmas have a complicated history, so we usually base it off Swedish traditions, which are more in line with what is recognized as 'Christmas'" she paused. "Like my Mama did when she was young."
200X
It was almost time!
"Ok, is he ready?" Kalinka questioned the others, who nodded in response to her question. "Good, Papa will be here any minute now, so we've got to get this right."
At first, Dr. Cossack was unsure as to why his daughter had requested his robots be present at the house before he arrived from his meeting with the Science Department, but he nonetheless granted it. Upon all seven of Cossack's machines arriving at the house hidden away in the woods, the decorating began. Kalinka had already planned everything, now it was time to put it into action.
"Here he comes now!" the girl whispered, hearing the front door unlock.
Dr. Cossack entered the dark abode, looking for a light switch to not wander blindly through the house. But, he soon found no need to do so, as lights manifested and lit up all around him. Along the walls, doorframes, and even the chandeliers and stairs were lines of lights of all colors, all bright and welcoming. Even more, they seemed to be guiding him toward a destination. He followed the trail of lights up to the den, where an even larger surprise was waiting for him.
"SURPRISE, PAPA!" Kalinka shouted, she and the Robot Masters were all present and surrounding a rather unusual "tree."
Bright Man, wrapped in the green wreath and more lights stood in place of where an evergreen tree would usually stand, a bright, star-shaped bulb in place of his standard one, the star steadily changing from red to green to blue to a golden yellow.
"Merry Christmas!"
Present
"So, Bright Man was your Christmas Tree?" Roll questioned, quite amused by the tale Kalinka had just told.
"Papa told us to choose one from outside, but I thought this was a better idea," the other blonde giggled. "True, Евлампий Михайлович wasn't too thrilled about being decorated, but it was just for one night," she said. "Besides, I did the decorating, so I say he looked divine," she then sighed. "New Year was just as great. Bright Man helped with my Snow Maiden dress, so the snowflakes glowed!" she wondered if that photo was still intact, or if it was another casualty in the destruction of her home.
"Snow Maiden?" Roll asked.
"Yes," Kalinka said. "Given the Soviet Union's ban on religious holidays, the people either celebrated in secret or had to find a substitute. Eventually, those in charge found out a Santa-like figure could spread the joys of communism, so Father Frost became the symbol of winter holidays," she explained. "Of course, I'm not complaining about New Year, it allows me to dress up!"
"When we get out of this, if you could, you should come down to New York for New Year. We don't have a Father Frost, but we Americans know how to celebrate!" Roll grinned.
"When?" Kalinka questioned.
"Yeah," Roll confirmed she hadn't misspoken. "Mega's going to discover Wily's behind this," she assured the human. "The old guy's a mad scientist, but he's not exactly intelligent."
Kalinka stared at the ground. "How are you so sure?"
"Mega always trounces Wily," the robot told the human with confidence. "Nothing bad is going to happen to your father. Trust me, Mega's not that type of guy."
"But he probably has destroyed some of Papa's creations already," Kalinka said. "Or…when this is over, Wily might be the one to destroy them."
Roll was quiet.
"I just remembered something else," Kalinka suddenly said. "It was the day after New Year, so the house was sort of trashed," she recalled. "I had longer hair then, mainly so I could braid it to resemble Vasilisa,"
"The Frog Princess?" Roll asked.
"No, Vasilisa the Beautiful," Kalinka corrected. "There's more than one Vasilisa, like how there's more than one Jack."
"Ah, I see," Roll nodded. "So, what happened?"
200X
Unlike Christmas, Cossack spent New Year out of the home with the higher-ups that kept him in good standing with the government, if he wanted his living conditions to continue. Thus, the house was free to Kalinka and the robots. The girl always insisted that there be a celebration to welcome the New Year, and thus, the house was always a mess the next day. Thus, come morning, Dust Man went to work cleaning up before Dr. Cossack came home a couple of days later.
So far, everyone was still in sleep mode, so he could get to work on the main living area first. Activating his vacuum, Dust Man steadily sucked up the various streamers and bits of glitter that littered the floor. Then, to his surprise, he saw a yellow piece of what he believed to be a rolled-up party streamer go into his vacuum. At first, he thought nothing of it, until he realized that, from underneath the blanket the streamer was sitting on, something was attached to it.
"Huh? What the…AH!"
Scratch that. Make that someone.
"OW! HEY! OW! STOP!"
Dust Man tried to stop the suction, but it was too late: Kalinka was dragged from the couch and into the vacuum itself, her lower half struggling outside of the Robot Master's cleaning device. "Oh no! Oh no!"
"What?!" Pharaoh Man asked, the others following in after him. "What is it?!"
"Get her out! I can't shut it off and get her at the same time!"
Quickly spotting Kalinka in the machine's vacuum, Ring Man swiftly leaped over and grabbed the young girl by the waist, pulling her from the darkened tube and back to the outside world. Dust Man managed to turn the vacuum off, sighing in relief. "Oh, Kalinka, are you ok?"
Kalinka only gave a tired, dizzy look, her head still spinning from the ordeal of getting her head sucked into a super-powered trash collector. "She is fine," Ring Man answered. "Although," he then examined some of her hair, which now had become impossibly tangled and frizzy. "I don't think this part of her is."
Present
"And since then, I've always kept my hair no longer than past my shoulders," Kalinka explained, giving her blonde locks a little bounce.
"Sounds like it hurt." Roll winced.
"I lost some hair that day if you must know," the other blonde explained. "I had a few small bald spots for a few months before they grew back."
"Ouch," still, Roll was getting her to talk about happier things. True, in the grand scheme of things, it did her little good, but the least she could do was make this girl's imprisonment a little more bearable. "So, who else do you remember some good times with?" she asked.
"Well, in the summer, Papa had a pool installed in the house," Kalinka relayed. "It wasn't overly big or anything, and it never went deeper than a meter at most."
Which meant around four feet, Roll told herself, calculating the difference between the American and metric systems. True, Dr. Light used it, and it was technically more accurate, but living in the United States simply made her and Mega more accustomed to their native way of measurement.
"Anyway, the pool wasn't deep, but, well, Papa was kind of paranoid I'd have an accident, so, when Dive Man had some free time, he took it upon himself to give me a few swimming lessons."
200X
"And what do we do when we fall into the ocean without any flotation device?"
"Since when am I ever going to get near an ocean?"
"That's not important. What do we do?"
"We tread water by keeping ourselves calm and making sure that we're buoyant."
The swimming lesson had been over, yet Kalinka was just wanting for it to be over so she could goof off in the water. True, she understood her father's logic behind Dive Man's classes, but when she heard a pool was being installed, she wanted to use it for fun, not survival tips.
"Speaking of the ocean," Kalinka then said, drying herself off. "What's it like?" she asked Dive Man. "See anything interesting?"
"Well, so far, I've mainly been patrolling the waters around the country," the blue, submarine-based Robot Master said. "But, I am scheduled to go to Australia next month."
"Australia?!" Kalinka asked, excitedly. "Are you going to the Great Barrier Reef?"
"I'm not sure," he confessed. "But I can certainly try and get some pictures or footage for you."
"Wow, thanks!" Kalinka chirped. "Still," she then said. "I wish I could go out with you."
Dive Man sighed, sensing where this was going. "Your father just wants nothing more than your safety."
"I know," the blonde girl replied. "But I just wish he could do that without keeping me cooped up in here!"
While Dive Man wouldn't say it aloud, she could tell that, even if he wouldn't admit it, he sympathized with her plight. And, even more, she sensed that he sort of agreed with her. "You know," he then said. "I don't know if I'll be successful," he confessed. "But maybe I can convince him to let you at least go into the city."
"The city?" Kalinka asked.
"Yes," Dive Man answered. "St. Petersburg is where your father usually meets up with his superiors. In a sense, it'd be much more convenient if he had a residence there, and this was just a summer home."
Kalinka thought about that prospect. It was impossible, but there was so much to be gained from it. She could maybe go to a regular school, play with other kids, or even maybe meet some people that worked with her Papa! "I don't know if you'd be able to convince him." she then said solemnly.
"Maybe not," Dive Man admitted. "But," he then added. "Your father isn't unreasonable. Perhaps something could be arranged."
Present
"And, believe it or not, he did it," Kalinka informed Roll. "Papa was convinced, and we purchased a place in the city."
"How'd he do it?" Roll questioned, quite curious.
"Well, it wasn't easy," Kalinka confessed. "It took a lot of going back and forth, as well as input for all of the other robots, but Papa eventually found that I needed some interaction outside of them and himself."
"Well, duh!" Roll agreed. "I'm a mean cleaning machine, but I don't think I could stand being at the lab every hour of every day." she then turned her attention back to Kalinka. "So…what then?"
"I turned a year older, and we all moved to St. Petersburg," Kalinka answered. "And, at first, everything was fantastic," she said. Then, she went silent. "It should've perhaps been a sign that things were too good to be true."
Observation Room
"So, you want me to…?"
"Go down and get my sis," Proto Man told the figure in the doorway. "And I'll let you get a look at the brat."
"The child?" the figure asked.
"Yeah, whatever," Proto answered. What was with this guy? So weird and creepy. "Look, just…go and get her, I need this scarf fixed if-"
"If what?"
"If…" Proto scrambled to think of a fitting response. Or, at least one convincing enough. "If I want to put this thing back together." he lifted up his stapled-together, but falling-apart scarf.
"Very well," the figure answered. "I shall go collect her." with that, he turned to leave, Proto Man once again alone.
"What's your fascination with that brat anyway?" he wondered. "Well, whatever," he said. "The minute sis patches this up, the sooner I get to face my bro," he gazed at his scarf. "Of course, I've got to get past you, first," he thought aloud. "But…we'll burn that bridge once we've crossed it. For now," he lifted up his torn garment, wincing at the shape it was in. "I've got to get this baby patched up, or I'll never be able to face Mega again."
Note: Next part is the finale of Kalinka's tale regarding her robot friends. Speaking of here's hoping I'm not boring you with this, as I want you to be entertained.
Let me know what you think, give your input, and alert me of any errors I may have missed, and I shall see you all later!