Categories > Games > Mega Man > Enigma
Enigma
Puzzle 06: Trust
You stood at the beach of the little island where Wily's secret base was hidden. You were completely still as Protoman approached like a knight from a fairytale. He hugged you close, one arm around your waist, the other hand caressing your hair and traveling to your back. This felt familiar, so familiar as if you were reliving the moment with Blues. Your breath caught in your throat and you froze. He kissed you and you were taken completely by surprise.
He was supposed to be a combat robot, not one of those realistic Kronos Heaven lover robots. How could he be both? That wasn't supposed to be possible! You've seen him fight, he was definitely built for battle, how could he be doing this?
He moved away, you were so completely taken aback you almost forgot to breathe. "You..." You pointed at him with your index finger, still in shock.
He wore the same cocky smirk you've seen before, "real enough for you?"
You tried hard to find your voice. Finally when your throat was able to produce some sounds you bellowed, "you call yourself Blues' friend?"
Proto's smirk evolved into a laugh, he laughed as if he simply couldn't stop. The shocked expression on your red face only fueled his amusement. "He won't mind sharing if it's with me." With a triumphant stride, Proto walked away, back to the underground hideout, leaving you to contemplate the recent happenings out at the beach.
xoxox xox xoxox
The days continue to pass. You were distant to Proto at first, though at least it seemed that you didn't say anything that offended him. Mostly you just felt guilty about 'cheating' on Blues. You tried to tell yourself it didn't count because Proto was a robot but you were no longer able to think of him as just that. He was different, he was special.
After several days of avoiding Proto you decided to try to talk to him. The two of you sat on the sand at the little island beach. You took your shoes off and allowed the calm blue ocean to reach your feet.
Proto seemed a bit surprised that you finally decided to approach him but the two of you spoke without trying to rip each others heads off. You spoke of your goals and about how you weren't really sure if you wanted to be a villainous scientist or a heroic one.
"Why not just a mad scientist? You certainly have the temper for it," Proto teased. If he had said something like that before, you might have gotten angry at being called a mad scientist by a machine, but he wasn't just a machine. Furthermore, he wasn't trying to insult you; it was clear in his voice that he was only joking.
"You shouldn't provoke my temper," you stuck out your tongue, "I can be quite deadly I'll have you know."
"I'm pretty indestructible," he looked smug.
"You shouldn't try to test that theory with me, "you laughed, "I used to be pretty good at breaking things, I'm less clumsy now, but who knows." He frowned lightly at the word 'things' but tried not to show it instead letting you continue, "when I was little I broke my then best friend's arm by accident."
Proto seemed to relax at the mention of a person, 'things' was only a figure of speech. "How did that happen?"
"I had this little toy robot, a Megaman toy actually, he was just becoming well known. He could shoot soft little rubber balls from the blaster on his arm. I modified it and put a marble in his blaster instead of a rubber ball," you confessed remembering the event. "I accidentally shot the marble at my friends arm and it came out almost like a bullet. Luckily the surgeon was able to remove it. That was our last day as best friends, even if I apologized. I thought I would never hear the end of it from the adults. They wouldn't let me experiment with my toys anymore, but I at least got a lot of robotics books. They thought that if I was reading I would at least stay out of trouble and learn to be careful. I still experimented in secret of course."
"You had a Megaman toy?" Proto pouted.
"Are you jealous?" You teased, "if it makes you feel better I had a Protoman toy too, but it wasn't a toy robot, it was a plush toy. It was soft and fluffy, good to sleep with. I remember taking off his scarf and using it to tie my hair."
"I never gave my permission for those toys to be made," he continued to pout, but you knew he was amused by your stories. "I guess it never really bothered me all that much."
"What about you?" You asked with real curiosity. "I remember seeing you on TV whenever there was a news report about Wily's latest scheme. What did you do off camera?"
"Not much really, I just wanted to beat Mega, I still do. I'm the only one who can fight him on equal grounds. I kept to myself most of the time. I didn't use to visit the city," he stopped as if he had said too much.
"You mean you visit the city now? You must be really sneaky to get around unnoticed," you mused. "Let me guess, you wear a long coat and a hat like a detective from an old movie?" You tried to picture it but something didn't quite fit. "What about your helmet? I suppose it would work if you rode around in a motorcycle all the time, but you would stand out walking down the street."
Proto remained silent as you took on a rather predatory expression and continued, "you know, I was always curious about what you looked like under your helmet. I've seen pictures of Mega without his helmet. I wondered if you too looked similar, but you're more of a bad boy type than him so I bet you'd look cooler. Can I see?" you reached to take off his helmet.
"No!" Proto held his helmet down. You knew it would be impossible to get it off against his incredible strength.
You pretended to give up, "you're no fun. What are you hiding under there? Are you bald?"
"Of course not!" Proto ascertained, "I have hair."
"What color?" You pretended to settle for his descriptions and looked into the horizon. You watched him from the corner of your eyes as he appeared to be debating if he should answer your question or not. Then you went on the attack trying to take off his helmet by surprise.
His hands flew to yours, taking hold of both your hands, palms against each other, fingers laced, before you could even blink. "I have fast reflexes don't I?"
"That's not fair! You're too fast!" You playfully tackled him into the soft sand. If he didn't want to move you were sure it would be like trying to tackle a solid wall. However, he fell back and allowed you to lay on top of him uselessly trying to take off his helmet which he held in place with one hand, his other hand on your waist.
"I give up," you rolled off him mostly because it was starting to feel odd. "When do you think he's coming back?" Proto reminded you of Blues. You used to think they were so different, yellow scarves aside. Now you were reminded of Blues a lot whenever you saw Proto.
"Who?" Proto was still in the same light mood that had formed when you two actually fell into a friendly conversation and playful battle.
"Blues," you lay on the sand next to Proto, looking up at the sky. The sun had set while you sat with him and the stars were starting to appear.
"I don't know," Proto's good mood seemed to evaporate, replaced by unreadable neutrality.
"You miss him too, don't you? He's your friend," you knew the topic of Blues made Proto uncomfortable. You wondered if he too was worrying about the spy. "I don't want to ask Wily because it might cause trouble for Blues."
'I agree, you shouldn't ask Wily or anyone," Proto was quick to insist.
"I guess I'll just have to keep waiting for him..." Proto remained silent. You sat up on the sand looking at him and noticed the portion of his face that could be seen reflected pain. "Proto? Are you hurt?"
"I'm alright..." Proto insisted with a hint of stubbornness already starting to form.
Pain, the perception of pain, it was an alarm that something was wrong. It was insistent so that the malfunction would not be disregarded, but not intense enough to hinder the repairs. Having become more familiar with Proto you somehow knew he was not telling the truth. "What's wrong? If you're hurt you can tell me, I can help."
"It's nothing," Proto sat beside you, looking away, his tone had become more defensive.
"Please let me help, you can trust me, I promise," you pressed the issue relentlessly.
"It can't be fixed!" Proto snapped at you.
"Why not?" You snapped back.
"My energy core is faulty, it has been since the beginning," he admitted almost ashamed. "I've managed to become independent and capable of upgrading myself, but I never changed that."
"That makes sense," you reasoned, "you'd have to be temporarily deactivated for that and you don't trust anyone that much. It must be taking its toll on you."
"Eventually my energy core will cease to function, my days are numbered," there was some bitterness to his voice, but no fear.
"Not if it's fixed!" You adamantly insisted. "I can't just leave you like this with a death sentence. Let me give you a new energy core. With your other systems upgraded your old core must be struggling. You're just shortening your lifespan by functioning like this."
"I know that, but I refuse to fall behind. I refused to become obsolete I'm not some machine, I'm as timeless as a human," he argued.
"And as fragile," you added. "If I had a faulty organ that was killing me, I would put my trust in a surgeon instead of settling for an early death. Please Proto, please let me make you live longer. I promise on my very life that I won't try to mess with you. I won't try to brainwash you or anything. I promise I'll repair you and nothing more." It didn't look like he would agree to it. You sighed, "I can't force you to do this, just know that the offer is open whenever you feel you can trust me."
xoxox xox xoxox
The days continued to pass and you still heard no word from Blues. It was as if he had dropped off the face of the Earth, but you tried to stay positive and keep believing he would return. You also had another worry on your mind, Protoman. Dr. Wily continued his occasional attacks in the city though they were farther apart each time. Even so, every time you watched the news and heard about the intense battles of Protoman and Megaman you knew that Proto's life had been reduced.
One morning when you went to the kitchen for breakfast, you didn't find Wily reading the newspaper and drinking coffee as he usually did. Gutsman wasn't there either. You worked at the lab, repairing several things and later returned to the kitchen for lunch. That time you did find Gutsman in his usual silly apron, he was making soup. "Hey big guy, what's up?"
"Not much," Gutsman stirred the large pot of soup. "Dr. Wily isn't feeling well so he's taking a break."
You thought about it realizing that it had been many days since the last time Wily launched an attack. He was certainly old; maybe he just needed more naps. "Well, at least we can all relax for a while," you searched the refrigerator wondering what you should eat, nothing looked particularly appetizing. Then the scent of pizza invaded the kitchen and suddenly you knew what you wanted.
You noticed that the scent was coming from a pizza box held by Protoman as he walked in. He was already eating a slice. You watched as he set the box down on the kitchen table, taking another bite of the slice he was consuming. "Is the fossil still feeling sick?"
"Yes," Gutsman replied to Proto's question. The soup was finished and he served it in a big bowl. He placed a spoon and a glass of juice on a tray next to the soup before going on his way. "I'm taking some soup to him now," with that said, Gutsman left.
You continued eyeing the pizza. The logo on the box was from a very good pizzeria in the city. You wondered how Proto obtained it unnoticed. Maybe he took off his helmet to hide his identity. It sounded like a contradiction, but he was always wearing it so he might actually be harder to recognize without it. You wondered if you ever passed him by in the city not knowing who he was. Your curiosity to look under his helmet increased but you resisted. You knew it would be impossible to get it off against his will.
Proto opened the pizza box revealing that the pizza had your favorite topping; you remembered it was Blues' favorite too. You felt as if a great discovery had been floating in the back of your mind unnoticed for a long time, but you continued to ignore it. "Go ahead, have some pizza before you disintegrate it with your eyes," Proto finally offered. You didn't need a second invitation.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own Megaman or Absolute Boyfriend. Did you catch the reference in the beginning?
Puzzle 06: Trust
You stood at the beach of the little island where Wily's secret base was hidden. You were completely still as Protoman approached like a knight from a fairytale. He hugged you close, one arm around your waist, the other hand caressing your hair and traveling to your back. This felt familiar, so familiar as if you were reliving the moment with Blues. Your breath caught in your throat and you froze. He kissed you and you were taken completely by surprise.
He was supposed to be a combat robot, not one of those realistic Kronos Heaven lover robots. How could he be both? That wasn't supposed to be possible! You've seen him fight, he was definitely built for battle, how could he be doing this?
He moved away, you were so completely taken aback you almost forgot to breathe. "You..." You pointed at him with your index finger, still in shock.
He wore the same cocky smirk you've seen before, "real enough for you?"
You tried hard to find your voice. Finally when your throat was able to produce some sounds you bellowed, "you call yourself Blues' friend?"
Proto's smirk evolved into a laugh, he laughed as if he simply couldn't stop. The shocked expression on your red face only fueled his amusement. "He won't mind sharing if it's with me." With a triumphant stride, Proto walked away, back to the underground hideout, leaving you to contemplate the recent happenings out at the beach.
xoxox xox xoxox
The days continue to pass. You were distant to Proto at first, though at least it seemed that you didn't say anything that offended him. Mostly you just felt guilty about 'cheating' on Blues. You tried to tell yourself it didn't count because Proto was a robot but you were no longer able to think of him as just that. He was different, he was special.
After several days of avoiding Proto you decided to try to talk to him. The two of you sat on the sand at the little island beach. You took your shoes off and allowed the calm blue ocean to reach your feet.
Proto seemed a bit surprised that you finally decided to approach him but the two of you spoke without trying to rip each others heads off. You spoke of your goals and about how you weren't really sure if you wanted to be a villainous scientist or a heroic one.
"Why not just a mad scientist? You certainly have the temper for it," Proto teased. If he had said something like that before, you might have gotten angry at being called a mad scientist by a machine, but he wasn't just a machine. Furthermore, he wasn't trying to insult you; it was clear in his voice that he was only joking.
"You shouldn't provoke my temper," you stuck out your tongue, "I can be quite deadly I'll have you know."
"I'm pretty indestructible," he looked smug.
"You shouldn't try to test that theory with me, "you laughed, "I used to be pretty good at breaking things, I'm less clumsy now, but who knows." He frowned lightly at the word 'things' but tried not to show it instead letting you continue, "when I was little I broke my then best friend's arm by accident."
Proto seemed to relax at the mention of a person, 'things' was only a figure of speech. "How did that happen?"
"I had this little toy robot, a Megaman toy actually, he was just becoming well known. He could shoot soft little rubber balls from the blaster on his arm. I modified it and put a marble in his blaster instead of a rubber ball," you confessed remembering the event. "I accidentally shot the marble at my friends arm and it came out almost like a bullet. Luckily the surgeon was able to remove it. That was our last day as best friends, even if I apologized. I thought I would never hear the end of it from the adults. They wouldn't let me experiment with my toys anymore, but I at least got a lot of robotics books. They thought that if I was reading I would at least stay out of trouble and learn to be careful. I still experimented in secret of course."
"You had a Megaman toy?" Proto pouted.
"Are you jealous?" You teased, "if it makes you feel better I had a Protoman toy too, but it wasn't a toy robot, it was a plush toy. It was soft and fluffy, good to sleep with. I remember taking off his scarf and using it to tie my hair."
"I never gave my permission for those toys to be made," he continued to pout, but you knew he was amused by your stories. "I guess it never really bothered me all that much."
"What about you?" You asked with real curiosity. "I remember seeing you on TV whenever there was a news report about Wily's latest scheme. What did you do off camera?"
"Not much really, I just wanted to beat Mega, I still do. I'm the only one who can fight him on equal grounds. I kept to myself most of the time. I didn't use to visit the city," he stopped as if he had said too much.
"You mean you visit the city now? You must be really sneaky to get around unnoticed," you mused. "Let me guess, you wear a long coat and a hat like a detective from an old movie?" You tried to picture it but something didn't quite fit. "What about your helmet? I suppose it would work if you rode around in a motorcycle all the time, but you would stand out walking down the street."
Proto remained silent as you took on a rather predatory expression and continued, "you know, I was always curious about what you looked like under your helmet. I've seen pictures of Mega without his helmet. I wondered if you too looked similar, but you're more of a bad boy type than him so I bet you'd look cooler. Can I see?" you reached to take off his helmet.
"No!" Proto held his helmet down. You knew it would be impossible to get it off against his incredible strength.
You pretended to give up, "you're no fun. What are you hiding under there? Are you bald?"
"Of course not!" Proto ascertained, "I have hair."
"What color?" You pretended to settle for his descriptions and looked into the horizon. You watched him from the corner of your eyes as he appeared to be debating if he should answer your question or not. Then you went on the attack trying to take off his helmet by surprise.
His hands flew to yours, taking hold of both your hands, palms against each other, fingers laced, before you could even blink. "I have fast reflexes don't I?"
"That's not fair! You're too fast!" You playfully tackled him into the soft sand. If he didn't want to move you were sure it would be like trying to tackle a solid wall. However, he fell back and allowed you to lay on top of him uselessly trying to take off his helmet which he held in place with one hand, his other hand on your waist.
"I give up," you rolled off him mostly because it was starting to feel odd. "When do you think he's coming back?" Proto reminded you of Blues. You used to think they were so different, yellow scarves aside. Now you were reminded of Blues a lot whenever you saw Proto.
"Who?" Proto was still in the same light mood that had formed when you two actually fell into a friendly conversation and playful battle.
"Blues," you lay on the sand next to Proto, looking up at the sky. The sun had set while you sat with him and the stars were starting to appear.
"I don't know," Proto's good mood seemed to evaporate, replaced by unreadable neutrality.
"You miss him too, don't you? He's your friend," you knew the topic of Blues made Proto uncomfortable. You wondered if he too was worrying about the spy. "I don't want to ask Wily because it might cause trouble for Blues."
'I agree, you shouldn't ask Wily or anyone," Proto was quick to insist.
"I guess I'll just have to keep waiting for him..." Proto remained silent. You sat up on the sand looking at him and noticed the portion of his face that could be seen reflected pain. "Proto? Are you hurt?"
"I'm alright..." Proto insisted with a hint of stubbornness already starting to form.
Pain, the perception of pain, it was an alarm that something was wrong. It was insistent so that the malfunction would not be disregarded, but not intense enough to hinder the repairs. Having become more familiar with Proto you somehow knew he was not telling the truth. "What's wrong? If you're hurt you can tell me, I can help."
"It's nothing," Proto sat beside you, looking away, his tone had become more defensive.
"Please let me help, you can trust me, I promise," you pressed the issue relentlessly.
"It can't be fixed!" Proto snapped at you.
"Why not?" You snapped back.
"My energy core is faulty, it has been since the beginning," he admitted almost ashamed. "I've managed to become independent and capable of upgrading myself, but I never changed that."
"That makes sense," you reasoned, "you'd have to be temporarily deactivated for that and you don't trust anyone that much. It must be taking its toll on you."
"Eventually my energy core will cease to function, my days are numbered," there was some bitterness to his voice, but no fear.
"Not if it's fixed!" You adamantly insisted. "I can't just leave you like this with a death sentence. Let me give you a new energy core. With your other systems upgraded your old core must be struggling. You're just shortening your lifespan by functioning like this."
"I know that, but I refuse to fall behind. I refused to become obsolete I'm not some machine, I'm as timeless as a human," he argued.
"And as fragile," you added. "If I had a faulty organ that was killing me, I would put my trust in a surgeon instead of settling for an early death. Please Proto, please let me make you live longer. I promise on my very life that I won't try to mess with you. I won't try to brainwash you or anything. I promise I'll repair you and nothing more." It didn't look like he would agree to it. You sighed, "I can't force you to do this, just know that the offer is open whenever you feel you can trust me."
xoxox xox xoxox
The days continued to pass and you still heard no word from Blues. It was as if he had dropped off the face of the Earth, but you tried to stay positive and keep believing he would return. You also had another worry on your mind, Protoman. Dr. Wily continued his occasional attacks in the city though they were farther apart each time. Even so, every time you watched the news and heard about the intense battles of Protoman and Megaman you knew that Proto's life had been reduced.
One morning when you went to the kitchen for breakfast, you didn't find Wily reading the newspaper and drinking coffee as he usually did. Gutsman wasn't there either. You worked at the lab, repairing several things and later returned to the kitchen for lunch. That time you did find Gutsman in his usual silly apron, he was making soup. "Hey big guy, what's up?"
"Not much," Gutsman stirred the large pot of soup. "Dr. Wily isn't feeling well so he's taking a break."
You thought about it realizing that it had been many days since the last time Wily launched an attack. He was certainly old; maybe he just needed more naps. "Well, at least we can all relax for a while," you searched the refrigerator wondering what you should eat, nothing looked particularly appetizing. Then the scent of pizza invaded the kitchen and suddenly you knew what you wanted.
You noticed that the scent was coming from a pizza box held by Protoman as he walked in. He was already eating a slice. You watched as he set the box down on the kitchen table, taking another bite of the slice he was consuming. "Is the fossil still feeling sick?"
"Yes," Gutsman replied to Proto's question. The soup was finished and he served it in a big bowl. He placed a spoon and a glass of juice on a tray next to the soup before going on his way. "I'm taking some soup to him now," with that said, Gutsman left.
You continued eyeing the pizza. The logo on the box was from a very good pizzeria in the city. You wondered how Proto obtained it unnoticed. Maybe he took off his helmet to hide his identity. It sounded like a contradiction, but he was always wearing it so he might actually be harder to recognize without it. You wondered if you ever passed him by in the city not knowing who he was. Your curiosity to look under his helmet increased but you resisted. You knew it would be impossible to get it off against his will.
Proto opened the pizza box revealing that the pizza had your favorite topping; you remembered it was Blues' favorite too. You felt as if a great discovery had been floating in the back of your mind unnoticed for a long time, but you continued to ignore it. "Go ahead, have some pizza before you disintegrate it with your eyes," Proto finally offered. You didn't need a second invitation.
To be Continued
Disclaimer, I don't own Megaman or Absolute Boyfriend. Did you catch the reference in the beginning?
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