Chapter Text
In the year 20XX, with the advancements of technology, scientists across the world had developed the ultimate artificial intelligence of robots. With this newfound intelligence, scientists were able to produce the closest thing to human adaptability and thought – nearly capable of creating the equivalent of a ‘human soul’. The two doctors who had conceived this “formula” were Thomas Light and Albert Wily. However, Light had gotten most of the praise from their revelations about robotic AIs, leaving Wily in the dust. Frustrated with jealousy, Wily had reprogrammed Dr. Light’s industrial Robot Masters for world domination. What Wily did not know, however, was that Dr. Light had a super fighting robot named “Mega Man” (as the media perceived to be the case), ready to fight against Wily’s nefarious schemes time and time again.
Ever since that fateful day, Wily has made 7 attempts at world domination - all of them failing at the hands of Mega Man time and time again.
It had been 2 years since Wily’s 7 th invasion, with not a trace of him spotted at all. Due to this, many cities all around the world had integrated a new “type” of robot, based solely to enforce justice, just like how Mega Man was “programmed”. The new generation of robots labelled as RoboCops (RoCo for short) to help prevent disasters like Wily’s invasions in the new era of robotics. The RoCos’ coding allowed them to process information and draw conclusions to serve their functions with highly sensitive sensors by themselves; however, this was not without its own setbacks. Their purpose was to apprehend any human being with any thoughts or actions of malicious intent. This caused civilians across the globe to get wrongly accused of crimes because they thought of even one malicious thing.
The public outcry was enormous as civilians took to the street to protest against the robots, deeming them “soulless phonies of justice”. As the years passed, more and more protests occurred across the globe; the people believed that “Mega Man” himself was the only robot that could truly fight for humans, not against them. As a result, people had stopped trusting robots except for the Robot Masters created by Dr. Light, even going as far to breaking the RoCo in retaliation.
As for Dr. Light’s comments on the outcry, he had insisted that he did not participate in this project from the Government at all.
“As long as Mega Man is still alive, mankind will have nothing to worry about.” He stated firmly in an interview. “Mega Man will continue to fight for everlasting peace, for as long as it takes.”
When will the “war” between humans and robots finally end? When will humans and robots finally be able to coexist amongst each other? Perhaps, humanity creating an AI so like themselves was a bad idea, and they would only suffer from their mistakes in the long run.
Only time will tell...
(The Outskirts of Mega City)
Crickets chirped loudly as the streetlights glimmered slightly. Flies and moths approached the beaming lamppost, attracted to and engrossed by the light. A gentle breeze was pushed through the air as trees rustled, against the sudden rush of cars. Bright, red, flashing lights illuminated the bright orange construction sign. The construction site was formed on a narrow highway that lead to one of the largest cities in the world: Mega City. Cranes (and some other construction site stuff idk lmao) flooded the site, not so much for renovation, but rather, an investigation. It was seemingly quiet, until…
“Hey Greg!” A voice echoed. “Are you packing up for the night?”
“Not yet, Andy.” The softer voice yelled back; from the sound of the echo, he must have been at the very bottom of the construction site. “You can go home if you need to; it’s getting pretty late...”
“Hell no!” The other voice shouted. He cleared his throat and approached the cliff of the construction site. “Remember, you owe me drinks tonight!”
“Okay, okay!” Greg responded, which caused Andy to grin in return (not like Greg could see Andy from such a distance, of course.) Greg looked off to the side, squinting at a dimly lit hole to his right. “Wanna help me out a bit before that? I think I found something!”
“Hah! Is it our little treasure that we’re lookin’ for?” Andy replied.
“Maybe! That’s why I need your help!” Greg pressed on. “If it’s not what we’re lookin’ for, I’ll buy you a couple extra drinks, sound good?”
Andy erupted in laughter: a sound so loud, all the people in Mega City could probably hear it. “I’m on my way, my boy!”
The older man climbed down the long, wooden ladder, heading deeper and deeper inside the construction site. The construction worker himself was rather large, but what made him so ‘big’ was his love for his family and friends (or so he said). He had been working in the construction industry for over 10 years now, with each year bringing its own experiences and stories waiting to be told. However, this year, the objective was a little bit different; in fact, this “objective” was issued straight from the mayor of Mega City himself.
According to the mayor and nearby residents, there had been multiple complaints regarding an agonizing, monotone beeping noise heard near the highway at night. It had only occurred during the dead of night, and only recently at that. The mayor in response had requested the only people courageous enough to investigate the matter: construction workers.
All for a generous pay this year, of course.
“Heh!” Andy thought to himself. “Generous pay my ass.”
When the older reached the base of the site, he glanced around the desolate facility in hopes of finding his partner.
“Greg? Greg!” Andy called out. “Where are ye hidin’?” He sighed, stroking his white beard in frustration. “That alcohol sounds mighty fine right about now…”
“Over here, chief!” Greg called out, Andy turned to see the younger man gesturing towards the dark hole. In terms of physique, Greg didn’t seem like much. The thinner man seemed no older than 30 years old, with slim arms and legs. If anything, he seemed to be more of an athlete than a construction worker, Andy thought, but what he lacked in physique, he made up in intelligence. “I think I might’ve found the loud noise everyone’s talkin’ about!”
“Well, I’ll be damned boy!” Andy responded as he approached his younger colleague. “Hope you’re not pullin’ anyone’s tongues here-you might have the potential for a raise on the horizon!”
Greg chuckled, pushing his hair bangs back (which ultimately fell on his forehead once more, causing him to huff) in response to the older man’s joke, unaware that he may or may not be serious about the matter. He always enjoyed Andy’s strange sense of humor, and in a way, he felt like a father figure to Greg.
“No jokes this time, Chief.” He replied. “I’m positive that sound is coming from there. I know it.”
“Heh, got a good feelin’ about this one?”
“Absolutely.”
“Well, let’s not waste any more time then, shall we? Our beer is waitin’ for us!”
As the two entered the cave, they pulled out their flashlights, navigating through the area. “Y’know, you could’ve gotten apprehended for sayin’ something like that.” Greg spoke up. “Don’t those RoCo bots hate mention of alcohol?”
“Yeah? Well those ‘RoCo’ bots really need to live a little, if that’s even possible.” Andy huffed. “They remind me of my damn teachers from school.”
“I hear ya.” Greg nodded. “Thank God we don’t have any RoCo bots working in our division. Except for that one robot, the one created by that one famous doctor?”
“Ah, that Guts Man fellow?”
“Yeah!” Greg beamed. “Why isn’t he helpin’ us out?”
Andy shrugged. “He said he wanted to ‘go for karaoke’ tonight, whatever that means for a robot. Guess he never got the memo on the new situation.”
“Huh.That’s odd...” Greg answered. “I guess, in a way, that makes us not obsolete yet, huh?”
Greg snickered. “Don’t give the good doctor any more ideas, now.”
Two hours had passed since the two had begun to progress through the cave. The ringing noise was shrouded against the workers boots’ as they brushed against the uneven dirt within the darkness.
“Mother of Light, I can’t see a damn thing in here…” Greg groaned loudly, surveying the area with his flashlight. “It’s the same terrain over and over. I think we might be lost.”
“Don’t think that’s the case, sonny. Can you stop for a second?” Andy responded. Greg nodded, as he firmly kept his feet on the ground. “Hear that? The ringing is getting closer for sure.”
“I sure hope you’re right,” Greg replied with a sigh.
As the two traveled further and further, the ringing noise got louder and louder with each step, until…
“Oh my God…”
The workers had found themselves at the center of the commotion, where they were greeted by a large, green, glowing boulder.
Andy smirked at the revelation, placing one hand on his hip. “See? Told you; now you owe me big time!”
“Chief, this is huge news!” The younger man replied, spinning around to see Greg. “We’re the ones who found it! We’ve made history!”
“Yeah, whatever the hell this is.” The older of the two responded, pressing his hand against the gigantic rock. “We really ought to call the authorities about this.”
“Y-Yeah, and we got to get the hell outta here too, but hooo man, we’re getting extra drinks for ourselves toni-”
An abrupt, brash, rumbling noise could be heard behind them, as the rubble above slowly began to disintegrate above them.
“We’re going under! Let’s get out of h-”
Crack!
In that moment, Andy could barely see; with the rock debris forming clouds of dust, his vision had become partially impaired. However, nothing could ever erase the sight of a petrified Greg as he sprinted away from the boulder.
As suddenly as the collapse of the ceiling, a long wet-looking tentacle shot from the rock and knotted itself tightly around Greg’s torso. The man gave a loud, petrified scream of fear and pain, hands scrabbling to gain purchase where there was none. It’s jaws had opened wide, with teeth gnashed and bones cracked - Greg’s last tortured, gurgling cries, swallowed with the rest of his distorted, mangled body.
Andy collapsed to the ground, appalled by the grisly murder he had just witnessed. More abrupt rumbling could be heard as the large boulder cracked even deeper, emitting a bright neon green light. A shadow emerged from the rock, stepping out of it. Its body was rather large, with long, dark green hair swaying from side to side. Bright green eyes glowed menacingly as it continued to walk towards the human figure before him.
“So, this is ‘Earth’, hm?” The alien cooed, humming a tuneless song. He took a good look at Andy’s petrified face, standing before him in all of his crimson-splashed glory, and smiled at the sight. Sharp pearlescent fangs winked down at the human from what seemed like miles above his supine figure. Andy pushed his hands behind himself, struggling to get on his feet and make a run from the abomination in front of him.
“Don’t move.” The alien commanded, his voice deep and stern, sending chills down Andy’s spine. “If you want to live, that is.” The man immediately froze up on the spot, his feet like blocks of ice against the floor.
One wrong move, and he might shatter.
“I will tell you this,” the alien stated. “Go, and run for now, but tell your warriors, heroes, and gods this. Make sure that everyone knows of their impending doom.
The stardroids are coming.”
Andy couldn’t respond; he had just nodded rapidly, as if his life depended on it. He struggled to get up as he broke out into a sprint, running as fast as he could, away from this being, no, alien, no… God.
The stardroids are coming, the voice echoed once more.
The stardroids are coming…
In the center of the cave, the green-haired form erupted in a fit of laughter with a laugh so loud, the entirety of Mega City could be shaken by it. He stroked his own chin as his smile turned into a sinister grin.
“This is our revolution.We will take over this planet,” he said to himself, “and the game has merely just begun.”