Gray Matter

The Birth of a Cyborg

Nico was going on blind faith at this point. What other choice did she have, really? Although she didn't truly know where the robotic dog had come from, she had a good feeling that it would take Roch to get help. But she did admit to being angry and confused when the dog took them to a white house.

Knowing where to go, the dog went around back and found a cellar door. Knowing that she needed to help the dog, Nico got off and opened the door. Without a moment's hesitation, the dog ran down the stairs, leaving Nico behind. Reacting as quick as she could, Nico raced down the stairs after the dog. When she reached the basement, she stood there in awe.

The dog had led them to a laboratory.

Nico looked around, searching for some sign of life besides herself, her dying friend, and the robotic dog that had helped them. She did find someone, it was an old man that looked a bit like Santa Claus, but was he as friendly?

As the dog put Roch onto an operating table that would not have been out of place for a Frankenstein film, Nico carefully approached the man. He was buried in some design or blueprint, saying things under his breath that Nico wasn't sure whether she wanted to hear or not.

"Sir?" she asked. The man paused, looked up then at her.

"Who are you?" he asked, "And what are you doing in my laboratory?"

"I'm sorry sir," Nico apologized, almost full heartingly, "But my friend was hurt by this robot... thing, and a robotic dog brought us to you. Please sir, can you help Roch? He's going to die soon."

The man looked at Nico, then at the operating table. His eyes grew wide before he looked at Nico again.

"We need to act fast." the man told her, holding her by the shoulders before taking off toward the operating table at a high speed. Nico gave a sigh of relief as the man started to quickly prep the area for something that looked akin to an operation.

"Just one question," the man said, taking a moment to look at her. "You would not mind if he was... part robot, would you?"

"I just don't want him to die." Nico said, her mouth speaking before her mind could consider.

"Perfect." the man said, giving a smile that suddenly sent a chill up her spine.

. . .

For several hours, Nico passed glances at man's progress with Roch. Before he had started, he had told her a little about himself. His name was Doctor Thomas Hikari, a robotist that had one goal; world peace. It seemed decent enough, but a certain air around him made her feel a bit uneasy talking to him.

For the hours she waited, Nico tried not to look at what the robotist was doing to her friend. Biology was not a subject she enjoyed the most. Instead, Nico cautiously looked around the laboratory. She could have tried to make friends with the dog that had brought her and Roch to the lab to begin with, but it was gone without so much a notice that she didn't even realize it had left.

One of the most prominent things Nico noticed were the blueprints of several robots; all created to replace certain human activities, such as log cutting or underwater welding. The ideas seemed rather brilliant to her, and she secretly began to hope that she could see a few of them in action some time. It was in the act of looking of these blueprints that she saw a figure of something familiar. Curious, Nico looked closer at the blueprint. At the top, it was labeled 'Proto Man' but she realized that the figure was Landiao's.

"Proto Man..." she said to herself in thought, "So that's who you are..."

Unconsciously, she smiled as she read over the blueprints, getting to know her friend a little more. Reading the blueprints took some skill, however, she wasn't a robotist on the same level of Hikari, but she could understand a term or two. She found that Landiao, or Proto Man as his blueprints point out, was designed to be a human. An android, in short, even with the ability to age to approximately twenty years old cosmetically. But for now, his aging system starts at fifteen, the same age she and Roch were. That's when Nico spotted something really interesting. But Hikari interrupted her thoughts.

"Come here Roru," he said, using her last name instead of her first, "Your friend will live, but I would like to talk to you first."

Nico took on last look at the blueprints, then went over to the operating table. Roch was almost unrecognizable, if it hadn't been that his face was still in one piece. The rest of his body however... Well, it was easier to say that he looked more robotic than human now.

"What did you do to him?" Nico asked Hikari, not sure whether the be angry right now.

"Roch's body was failing at a rapid pace, so I needed to give him a new one. It was what I had to do to keep him alive, isn't that what you wanted?"

Nico didn't answer. Something about the form of Roch's new body looked so familiar...

"Will he be alright?" she asked Dr. Hikari.

"Yes, he is showing signs of functioning properly." the old man agreed. "But in any case, the world is still too dangerous for two children. I want you to take this."

Nico looked at him with a weird glance as he pulled out a gold bracelet with a single blue aquamarine in the center.

"A bracelet?" she asked, confused and slightly wary.

"Not just any bracelet." Dr. Hikari told her, putting it on her wrist. "Press that jewel there."

Nico looked at him, then cautiously did as she was told. The bracelet made itself tighter around her wrist and started to lengthen to resemble a hand gun that Roch would have, as shown on the blueprints.

"That is the Multiple Weapon Disposal Device," Hikari explained to her, "If your friend ever needs help in battle or is incapable, the device will help you defend him until you two can get to safer ground."

Nico lowered and raised the device, getting a good feel for it. Then she pressed a button that looked like the aquamarine and the weapon retracted back into the bracelet.

"Thank you Doctor." Nico thanked, not sure why he was giving this to her exactly. Hikari simply smiled at her in an ambiguous way that did not help how she was feeling about it right now.

Then, from the operating table, Roch began to stir.

"I'll... I'll be... all right..." Roch said in a sleepy daze, "And I'm... I'm going to die... Both are... both are true..."

"Mega Man, wake up." Hikari ordered in an authoritative tone. Instantly, Roch's eyes flew open, making Nico jump back on shock. The cyborg looked around the room in curiosity, then he looked at Nico and smiled.

"Hey Nico." Roch said, as if nothing had happened. "Remember that Frita's is having a summer sale tomorrow on their ice cream. I know you've waited all school year for it!"

Nico only stared at him.

"Mega Man," Hikari said, "I want you to take your old friend Roru and go have some ice cream, my treat. You need to get used to being in your new body. Understood?"

Roch, now renamed Mega Man, nodded his head.

"Yes sir." the cyborg said without hesitation. Nico only continued to stare.

Well... she got what she wished for...