Gray Matter

Peace is Just a Word

It was so much fun spending time with Nico and Roch. It made Proto feel... human.

Until Nico handed him an ice cream cone. Apparently, the place Nico and Roch wanted to go so badly was a local ice cream shop, who was having a summer sale on their ice cream for a certain amount of time.

"Have some." she said, reminding him of his true nature as if she had pushed him off a cliff. She wasn't aware of that though, and smiled at him sweetly. As much as he enjoyed seeing her smile, it was starting to wear a bit thin as he felt that she was manipulating him. But there was something trusting in that smile, something that assured him that maybe he wouldn't glitch out this time...

"Thank you." he said, smiling back at her.

"No problem." she said back, giving him the ice cream.

For a few moments, Proto looked at the treat, then he finally took a cautious lick. Apparently, Wiley and Hikari had given him a good sensory replacement for taste, because that sugary dessert was so wonderfully sweet that Proto had finished it before Nico or Roch could finish theirs.

"You practically inhaled that ice cream." Roch told Proto, almost admiringly.

"It was really good." Proto replied, not noticing that his words were starting to run faster that usual. Then, suddenly, Proto sparked. Nico and Roch looked at him, not quite sure of what they had just seen. When he realized that they were looking at him, the simulated fear started to seep in as Proto sparked again, this time bigger.

"Are... are you okay Landiao?" Roch asked, reaching over to touch Proto's arm.

"Get back!" Proto demanded, jumping away from Roch as Proto's arm turned into a blaster akin to a bomb cannon. Roch and Nico reacted by jumping back in surprise and fear.

"What... are you?" Nico asked, her voice trembling. Proto looked at her in fear and remorse. Suddenly, he sparked again, this time causing his blaster to fire multiple rounds at once. One of these rounds shot Roch in the heart. Instantly, the human boy was down on the ground, fatally injured. Proto shook his head in despair and fear as Nico bent down to check the status of her friend. Roch, his body in much pain, looked at Nico and smiled.

"You are... my first friend." Roch said, his voice fading away as his life, too, faded, "You... you gave me funny feelings whenever... whenever I saw you. It was like... like caterpillars growing into butterflies, right here, in my stomach... And you know what? It... it felt wonderful."

Proto started to back away, knowing full well that these were Roch's last words. Nico looked up and saw Proto as he ran.

"No!" Nico pleaded, still at Roch side. "Come back Landiao... or whoever you are! You're still our friend!"

For a moment, Proto froze. But as if to prove something, he sparked again.

"I'm sorry Nico, but I never should have been."

And with that, he was gone.

- - -

He would never admit to being old. Ever. But that robotic dog whose software predated that needed to create Proto Man was a lot faster than what Dr Wiley would give credit for. He wasn't old, nah, Rush just ran faster than him, that's all.

It was a good thing, in hindsight, that Rush was given a smelling ability more greater than what a normal dog would have. Following an invisible trail, Rush went the ways Proto Man had gone hours before, leading Dr Wiley to the creation gone rogue. Maybe there should be a new term for such robots, the ones that went against programming or general expectations.

Perhaps 'maverick' would be a good choice; it is a noun defined as 'a person or individual that does not go along with the rules or customs of a group or party.' It sounded fitting enough, yes?

Wiley shook his head. This was no time to give something a new term. Suddenly, to affirm the task at hand, Rush picked up his ears, as if he could hear something Dr Wiley could not and started to run faster. Picking up his own pace, Wiley ran behind Rush as fast as he could, until he saw a sight he hoped to never see again.

A boy was on the ground, fatally injured with blood pooling around him. A girl was bent over him, suppressing the urge to cry. He'd be alright, wouldn't he? Wouldn't he?

Rush continued toward the scene, obeying the Three Laws embedded into him. Wiley stood behind, hiding behind a nearby tree, already knowing what had caused this crisis to occur. Wiley watched as the robotic dog approached the children. The girl looked at the dog, and realized that it could be used for help. Rush then extended its body to act as a stretcher for the girl to place the boy on, and she did so gingerly. Wiley watched as she said something to the boy, but then Rush extended itself a little more for a spot for her. Surprised at this revelation, but rather joyous, the girl carefully positioned herself on this newly extended portion and told the dog to go.

Although Wiley knew that Rush would take the children to a safe place for the boy to either heal or die; a sudden pit entered his stomach when he realized something. Rush was going to take the children to Thomas. The robotist was going to have a human to place into a robotic exoskeleton, perfecting what had gone wrong with Proto Man in a single move. Realizing this, Dr Wiley understood that he should have intervened. But it was too late to change the past now. Quite naturally, it only made Wiley more determined to destroy Hikari.