Gray Matter

Alliances

"He's gone!"

Dr Wiley was the first one awake that morning, and he was the first one to notice that Proto Man had escaped in the night.

"Perhaps," Dr Hikari said, speaking his thoughts as he looked over the android's blueprints, "If we had used a human, instead of building from scratch, then he would not have short circuited..."

Wiley turned to look at Hikari.

"Short circuiting? An android that looks and acts like a human being that shorts out when it is introduced to menial human activities escapes from the lab and all you can think about is SHORT CIRCUITING?! Thomas, he could hurt thousands!"

Hikari looked at Wiley.

"Then go find it." Hikari said in a low tone. For a moment, the men stared at each other.

"I'm not coming back." Wiley finally said. "And if I do, it will be to destroy you."

Hikari took a step back in shock and anger.

"How dare you speak to me like that!" Dr Hikari thundered. "We are partners!"

"Not any more!" Dr Wiley proclaimed. "You're a mad man Thomas Hikari, all of your creations are weapons of mass destruction! You need to be stopped, and I'll be the one to do it!"

"You designed those robots with me!" Hikari shouted in rebuttal.

"But I didn't give them weapons!" Wiley thundered back before taking his leave. Hikari stood where he was, fuming in anger and hatred. If this was how it was going to be, fine. Two could play at this game...

- - -

Getting as far away as he could from the laboratory was the only agenda on his mind. He had also found it rather lucky that he was given normal clothes, so that the humans did not cringe to see him in what they called 'nude.' He still had his sunglasses on too, so no one had to see that he was essentially eyeless.

By sunrise, he was in a new town. But he didn't stop going though. Eventually, though, he did slow down and looked to see where he had wandered. He found that he had entered a housing development. In the distance, Proto could hear the sounds of some kids playing. Curious, Proto Man started to get closer to the sounds of the kids playing. There he saw them; a boy and a girl on their bikes, simply cruising down to the end of their street while exchanging some rather casual dialog. Cautiously, Proto started to get closer.

With a better look at the two, Proto Man could see that the boy had spiky brown hair, a light skin tone, and dark blue eyes. The girl, on the other hand, had neat, flat blonde hair held up in a ponytail, a similar skin tone to the boy's, and light blue eyes. Proto tried to move his body in such a way so that he could see both of them better, but he lost his balance, making his presence known quickly and abruptly. Both the boy and girl stopped their ride and looked at him as his face grew red in embarrassment.

"Hey!" the girl said getting off of her bike casually, as if she was unfazed by Proto Man's sudden appearance. "Hey you!"

Slowly, Proto stood up, and was about to run away, but the girl called him again.

"Come here, I wanna talk to you!"

Finding no other way out, Proto turned around and started to walk toward the boy and girl.

"I've never seen you around here before." the girl said, looking Proto up and down, head to toe. "What were you doing in Miss Bonne's box bushes? She doesn't like it when people mess up her gardening."

"Well... I..." Proto tried to say, but wasn't sure of what to say. Thinking possible scenarios through, he figured the truth wouldn't be a bad way to start.

"I ran away from home." he told the boy and girl.

"What made you do that?" the boy asked, getting off of his bike as well, and moved close toward the girl in a subconscious act of protecting her if he needed to.

To this, Proto Man didn't know how to respond. The girl continued to look at him. Something about her made Proto Man feel... weird. Like he was being probed or something.  It felt odd, but something about it made it seem... normal?

"Do you want to ride with us?" the girl finally asked in a curious tone, tilting her head to the side in a wondering sort of way. Proto looked at her, wary of how open she was with him. Couldn't she see that he wasn't human? He looked at her and the boy that was with her, hoping that maybe her friend would say something. He didn't though, and it began to make Proto nervous. The looks that boy was giving him...

"You only have two bikes." Proto pointed out. For a moment, the girl thought about it and frowned. But she quickly got an idea.

"I have a pair of roller skates in my backpack." she told him, "I can use those and you can borrow my bike. What'cha think Roch?"

To this statement, the attention was given to the boy.

"I don't mind Nico." the boy admitted, although his facial expression suggested something else. "I just think it would be nice if we got to where we're going before we have to turn around again to come home."

Proto suddenly felt very happy. These kids didn't see a difference between him and one of their own. It meant he could belong. It meant he could make friends.

"But before you come with us, we need to ask you one question." the girl told him.

"What?" Proto asked, a sudden pit fall in his stomach overwhelming him.

"What's your name?" the boy and girl asked at the same time. Proto smiled, happy it wasn't something about his true nature.

"I'm Pro..." he started to say, then reconsidered it, "My name is Landiao."

"That's a nice name." the girl said, smiling sweetly at him. Proto smiled back as well, she was kind of cute when she smiled... for a human, that is.