A few feet from it’s door, a tower of light shimmered down from the heavens to deliver one of it’s children, and Gary found himself doubled over on his knees, vomiting up his half-digested, under-cooked hamburger meal. Gary remembered immediately why he hated teleporting.

As he rolled over to his side, he was suddenly reminded of his injury suffered from Pulsar. Without his parka or any shirt, he could clearly see the two bullet holes he received, as well as see his humerus jutting out sharply from his shoulder socket. Clutching his arm near his wounded shoulder, Gary staggered to his feet and shuffled a few steps towards the door. Figuring he didn’t need to knock, as he was more like an abroad member of the household, he let the door scan his retina to allow him entry, then continued to drag himself in when the door slid itself open.

“…R-Roll…?”, he began calling out when he noted how dark the inside of his birthplace was. “…Rock?”

Figuring they were probably in the lab, as they often were (at least ten years ago that was the case), he made a beeline towards the large vault-like entrance to the main lab. Again peering into the optical scanner situated to the right of the door, Gary was surprised to hear the computer announce he was denied entry.

“…What the…?”, he wondered aloud. “C-C’mon! I don’t have time for this!”

With his good arm, he began banging loudly on the thick metal door, hoping he’d get someone’s attention. Finally, after what seemed like agonizing days of rapping on the structure, it’s servos hissed and let out a bit of condensed steam, as the room was meant to be airtight. Stepping inside, the heavy door closed noisily behind him, and he let the automated machinery of the cleansing chamber scan and sanitize him. After which, the second vault door hissed open, and he was finally permitted entry into the very room he was “born” in.

The room had changed in the last ten years. New machines, never-completed projects he remembered laying around were finally cleared out, and it was much darker. In fact, some portions of it seemed lit only by computer monitors that were left on auto-calculate, while sterile white lights from the ceiling lighted other parts. Somehow, it was made to be even less inviting than he had last remembered it.

“I hope you’re not trailing blood around my clean floors…”, rang out a voice from the far end of the lab as Gary approached.

Looking down, and then behind him, Gary finally noticed he did indeed leave a trail of his body’s “blood”, which was a translucent orange-red with a heavier weight than that of human blood.

“Hey, c’mon now…Is that any way to acknowledge your favorite little brother after so long, Roll-chan?”

The tall, thin woman dressed in Dr Light’s old lab coat didn’t turn around just yet.

“’Roll-chan’?”, she said dryly. “Even Rock doesn’t call me that anymore.”

“…Guess we’ve all grown up a bit in the last ten years…”, Gary noted.

“Some…more than others.”, Roll countered as she turned around to greet her long-lost sibling with a slight smile.

* * * *

“You think they were after you?”

“Ow!…Yeah. Pulsar definitely went into ‘Get Gary’ mode as soon as it saw me.”, Gary said as a pair of needle-like automated tools continued their work on the bullet wounds in his shoulder. Luckily, the most painful part, the resetting of his shoulder socket, was over.

“’Gary’.” Roll noted. “Hm, strange name for one of the most advanced robots in the world.”

“That’s the point.”, Gary shot back with a grin.

“I suppose so.”, she agreed. “So, who do you think sent that thing?”

“Dunno. It was controlled by two guys inside it’s head, and when I tried to get some answers, their heads blew up.”

“Blew up? As in ‘exploded’?”, Roll questioned with a furrowed brow.

“Yup.”

“Ew. However, that most certainly doesn’t sound like our old friends in the HTF- none of them had any sort of info vital enough that they were willing to die over.”

“Exactly, which is why I think those were government agents.”, Gary theorized.

“Government? You mean as in New Center?”

“Maybe. I do know this; it’s no secret that New Center hasn’t been giving out help to the outside world all that much, but you’d think they’d be concerned when, oh I don’t know, a big goddamn robot starts stomping on a major city.”

“Yeah…But why? What do they have to gain by destroying a crab shack town like Dallas?”

“Nothing. That’s why I think they were after me. Or at least someone like me. Those two pilots were instructed to keep me alive, after all.”

“How odd…”, the blonde robot commented.

As the needle-like robots finished their work on Gary’s shoulder, Gary suddenly realized something had been missing: “Hey, Roll…Where’s Rock? You’d think he’d want to see his brother after so long, huh?”

“Hm hm, unlike you or I, Rock never bothered to grow up. All he does is go out to the field and kick his soccer ball around. And he’s not doing that, he plays video games for days on end and watch more soccer.”

“Ha! Well at least some people haven’t gotten bogged down!”

“I think it’s a bit more troubling than that.”, Roll said with a glum expression. “Ever since Wily died, he’s refused to watch the news or be informed of anything current. It’s as if he’s forcing himself to do nothing but play games to avoid being motivated towards fighting.”

“Who can blame him? If he really knew what it’s like out there…”

“What IS it like out there, Iceman?”, Roll asked out of the blue.

“It’s a lot worse than what you read in the papers or see on TV.”

“I see…How sad. This isn’t the world father had in mind when he created us. Sometimes I wonder if he’d regret making advanced robots or perfecting nanomachines if he knew what it brought us. I wonder if I really should be continuing his work…”

“Dr. Light didn’t bastardize his inventions. Human beings did.”, Gary spat.

“Dr. Light…Father…WAS a man, just like any other. He had his flaws, just as Dr Wily did, or any one else for that matter.”

“Heh, can’t believe you just put Dr. Light on the same level as the trash out there. Even Wily was better than them.”

“You once fought for that ‘trash’.”, Roll retorted.

“Believe me, when you live amongst them, you start to regret mistakes like that.”

“I’m sorry that’s how you feel, Iceman. I know father wouldn’t have liked to hear you say such things.”

“…I have to warn the others.”, was all Gary said in response, hoping to change a sore subject.

“That’s probably a good idea. If someone is out to get you, then they’re probably after the others as well.”

“Can you contact any of them from here?”, Gary asked as he hopped off his repair table.

“You know I can’t. The deal was that only you six would know of each other’s locations, and that each one would know of only one of the other’s exact whereabouts. I don’t know where anyone else is or what they’re doing.”

“Dammit. I was hoping you were secretly keeping tabs on us or something.”

“Sorry to respect your privacy.” Roll smugly stated.

“Well, guess that means I’m going on a proverbial journey. Luckily, I still remember where Gutsman said he was in his last letter, so he’s my first stop.”

“Well then…if you’re going to go, you should probably take your armor with you, as you might run into danger along the way.”, Roll suggested.

“I was thinkin’ the same thing. Too bad I can’t bring Gutsy’s gear with me. It’s just too friggin’ huge. At least my stuff can be squeezed into a backpack.”

“Well, I guess that’ll be just the excuse needed to have him drop by and say hello. I’ve missed him.”

“Alright then…Guess I shouldn’t waste any time.”, Gary said as he tested the movement of his newly repaired shoulder. “Time to get this show on the road…”

________________________________

Chapter 4 Extras: Roll Hikari

Human Identity: Roll Hikari
Original Name: Roll
Serial No: DLNO-RE-002
Specialized In: Electronics and general science
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 121 LBS
Current Location: Light Laboratory, Okayama, Japan

After Dr. Light’s death and the disbanding of the Tetsu Roku, Roll adopted the name “Hikari” and continued to study her father’s work in hopes of rediscovering its secrets. As Dr. Light destroyed his original equipment and notes, he intended to take those secrets of the technology he created to the grave. However, Roll decided her father may have acted in haste in his final days, and now dedicates herself to his science.

However, she is still in the dark in many fields of science he specialized in, namely her own Final Generation body. While she understands it far better than anyone else alive, Roll is still incapable of completely recreating the advanced Robot Master designs. She is, however, able to repair most damage suffered by them and perform routine maintenance.

A bit of a recluse like her brother, Rock, Roll is mostly ignorant to the outside world’s condition. Whether she merely doesn’t grant herself the time to keep up with the news, or if it’s a conscious effort on her part is known only to her at this point. She often justifies her doing so by claiming that cybernetics and sociology are two different fields, and that she prefers to concentrate on one at a time.

Next Chapter

Index