SUBJECT: Encounter Log - Dr. Light
AUTHOR: Proto Man
DATE: September 21, 20XX
FORMAT: Holovid + Telemetry + Annotations
A full military tac-sit overlay decorates the hologram in various colors, highlighting friendly units in green, unknown individuals in yellow, and potential threats in red. The display is... mostly red. The only green-outlined individual in the projection is Proto Man himself. A flashing warning indicator near the top-left corner of the display replaces the usual energy level readout.
A window off to the side of the holovid shows an e-mail message:
SUBJECT: Come home, son
AUTHOR: Thomas X. Light
DATE: September 21, 20XX
FORMAT: Plain Text
Blues,
I don't know if it's really you out there, but I can only hope it is. I'm broadcasting this message on the standard frequencies in case you can still receive it.
It's been so long since we've seen each other. Come home, if you can. I'll welcome you with open arms. If you need any repairs, you can use the lab, just like you used to. If something prevents you from coming here, at least send me a message letting me know that it's you.
You will always be welcome here.
With love,
Dr. Light
Light Labs employees hesitate at the sight of the long-lost prototype Robot Master, allowing him a wide berth. The lab's automatic doors recognize him and open for him as he approaches.
In the internal laboratory, Dr. Light himself is busy working on a mechanical component of some sort, using his blue light projector harness to project safety goggles and a cutting torch. The tac-sit overlay goes into overdrive, applying a double red highlight to the preoccupied scientist with information boxes indicating an exotic power source and an active thermal weapon, tracking energy readings and predicting likely avenues of attack.
After a few distracted moments, Light notices the sound of metal boots and looks up from his work, and his blue light constructs evaporate as his eyes widen in surprise. "Blues?"
Proto Man raises his buster, a flickering of red light leaking out inside the green tac-sit highlight.
Dr. Light raises his hands non-threateningly. "Blues, if there's something you need, we can talk about it. Please, this is still your home, if you want it to be."
"This isn't my home!" Proto Man's buster doesn't waver. "And you're not much of a father! You gave me a name. You called me your son. But you never listened to my opinions! You wouldn't let me follow my goal! When I went offline, you never found me. After three years, it was Dr. Wily that found me and repaired me, not you. He didn't dictate what my future should be. He recognized my independence and he didn't make any demands from me. He was just happy to have been able to help me, and he let me go."
"Albert did that?" Dr. Light frowns. "You should run a data integrity check and make sure he didn't install any--"
"DON'T tell me what to do!" Proto Man's buster is briefly wreathed in a flicker of red flame, causing Dr. Light to cringe in fear. "But yes, I did. He didn't touch my software, not even to install drivers for the replacement power core. He only did the minimum changes necessary to get me to start back up again, and then he gave me the choice of what I wanted to do afterward. And what reason would I have to be suspicious of him, anyway?"
"What reaso--Blues, the news is calling him a terrorist!"
"A terrorist? He said he had been pushed out and discriminated against."
"He stole and reprogrammed six of the Robot Masters that we had built and used them to attack civilian industrial centers. I was afraid he would do the same to you. I'm just worried about you, Blues..."
"Worried about me. Just like you were worried about me for the last three years!"
"I TRIED! But with your transpon--"
"More excuses!" Proto Man's eyes flash red as he lines up his buster.
Panicked, Dr. Light whistles a melody, but the sound is replaced by static after the first three notes.
Proto Man fires.
Dr. Light is barely able to erect a wobbly construct barrier to block the shot, and the blue light evaporates.
The first of the Robot Masters is furious. "Did you just try to activate my remote override?!" He fires another shot, but this time it's blocked by a pillar of blue light cascading in from above.
Mega Man solidifies from his teleport, his buster already active and raised. "How did a Robot Master get in the lab?"
If the tac-sit display thought Light's cutting torch was a threat, Mega Man makes it go wild -- callouts point to a micro-fusion reactor, a buster more powerful than Proto Man's, and full body armor at 100% structural integrity, and a scan readout indicates strong spikes in of an unidentified energy signature coming from a source it can't pinpoint. Another window rapidly cycles through predictions and tactics, rejecting each one in turn as unlikely to succeed.
Faced with a significant threat, Proto Man determines that he has no achievable mission parameters in the current scenario. He interposes his shield, takes a step back, and teleports out.