The Cossack bots and Kalika left already, as it was already past her bedtime in local time. When they arrive, Dr. Cossack is already there and they are confused. I thought he was suppsed to come back tomorrow morning, Ring Man thought.
"Where were you three, I was worried about you!" Dr. Cossack said as he was working in his lab. That being said, most of his worry was for Kalinka, his daughter. He'd been raising her alone for years since her mother had gone, but even his own robots helping without them asking them to do so when he could not did not put his mind at ease, he was just too attentive a parent, and constsntly worried about her.
Ring Man and Pharaoh Man were arguine over who to tell when Dr. Cossack noticed some purple sparkle fabric stuck in Tundra Man's joints. He looked as though he was in pain, trying to free himslef from it, which only made the problem worse. Dr. Cossack wondered how that happened. He started to attempt to remove the fabric just with his hands. Tundra Man struggeles as if in pain.
"This is why I keep telling you not to buy cheap clothing from the internet! Last time, you got a scarf stuck in your neck, and I had to extract it from you shoulder. I had to remove polyseter threads that kept clogging up your insides for weeks just to keep you functioning," Dr. Cossack could go on and on.
Tundra Man wonders how he should explain this, but he's too uncomforable to lie. "A lady offered to make me a recital outfit for me because the critics are bored of my armor, and I tried feeling the fabric, only to get it stuck on my wrists."
Dr. Cossack feels annoyed, that someone shoulf be put in danger due to public opinion. He explains, "The critics shouldn't want you to be in danger. Not all robots can wear clothes, and you know that."
Tundra Man knows this, but keeps succumbing to peer pressure. "The lady ran a salon too, so I thought to invite Kalinka."
Dr. Cossack is curious now, What was this salon? Where did they go? He asked out loud, "Where was this salon, and what did Kalinka want done?"
Ring Man was like fine, Ill do it. "Tundra showed us this interdimesntional portal thing on the edge of the citadel, and it appeared to be populated by human-like rodent children. There were a lot of humans, but not at the place we were at. A bunch of Wily's guys were there too."
Dr. Cossack wondered why Wily's creations would go somewhere if they didnt have an evil plan to follow. "What were they up to?"
Ring Man replied, "They offered these kids help and socializing. Gemini Man was getting a moisturizing hand treatment."
Dr. Cossack was suprised. "So no evil things?"
Ring Man confirmed, "Considering that Hard Man apologized for ripping the grass out and Crash Man was digging a garden in that spot with a different lady, I doubt it."
Dr. Cossack wondered something. "Then why did Kalinka come home with you guys an entire day late?"
Pretty much at this point, Pharaoh Man was lucid from the work lights, and Kalinka was fast asleep on the floor where Pharaoh Man accidentally dropped her.
Ring Man explained, "Not very much time passed where we were, and I didn't realize that time passed differently there. The line was too long for Kalinka to get any requests in."
"So, it was close to her bedtime there. Interdimesntional portals don't normally work like normal time zones."
Pharaoh Man had to butt in. "We were on the other side of the international date line, and I didn't think of the time difference. We seemed to be on the Pacific Coast of the United States of America.
Dr. Cossack thought, so they have the same countries in other dimesions? "What money do they use? Politics?
Ring Man replied, recalling his conversation with Brittany, "3 of their currency buys a loaf of bread and is called a dollar.
Pharaoh Man joined in, as he was within earshot. "We have no data on politics, but given how medical bankrupcy was mentioned, likely the same."
Dr. Cossack thought, Of course kids don't talk about politics. "What's the technology like?"
Ring Man stepped up again, explaining what Brittany told him.
Pharaoh Man had to butt in again despite being barely concious the entire time. "There was this robot who claimed to be a from our future, and looked a lot like Rock, but older. There was a kid quite a bit younger than Kalinka, but older than the kids who hosted us, who kept asking for his pet, which appears to be a computer thing. He seems to come from a third unrelated universe, unconnected to the one we were in."
"What do you know about this other world?"
"They use mid-1990s terms specific to the United States of America, but their country is not called that.
"There were multiple people from that world?"
"Sort of, the gentleman kept asking for the pet like it was a friend and it house an entire individual who does a job similar to that of an assistant, in this case acting like an older brother."
Dr. Cossack is facinated and listening intently. "I'll need to learn more about it. Where is Bright Man?"
Ring Man thinks about Brittany's request for a lamp, thinking that he's probably there. "I don't know," he replies.
……………
Notes
This is the first time where I actually refer to classic Mega Man by his non-combat name in my draft, as he barely shows up before this. In future chapters, I will be referring to each by their individual name and not by the title, as there will be three characters present who all have the Mega Man title. I didn't actually use the term "Mega Man" at all in the drafts of the pervious chapters, but indirectly referred to him. If I was including Legends, this first-name strategy would be terrible (both Mega Men are named Rock, no joke. The fanbase calls the one from Legends Volnutt, his last name, to distungush him).
I have gotten four chapters typed in one night, please forgive me if this one seems less energetic and interesing than the last