Keep friends Close

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When Rock managed to teleport to his hometown, he had to stop to take in Monsteropolis's state. The streets, unlike Astil's hometown, were littered with people. Car doors were open filled with people trying to sleep, and children were huddled with their mothers. Men were discussing about food and medicine, while others were exchanging whatever goods they had. Before he spoke, dozens of people were crowding him.

"Megaman, thank goodness! How are you online?" A disheveled man said.

"Is there going to be any help for us?! Are they going to leave us like this?!" More and more people started to crowd around him. Rock started to get anxious.

"My children are sick and starving! Help has to be coming, right?!" A mother among the crowd proclaimed.

"Wait, please calm down. I can't-" No matter how he asked, no one was listening to his distress and continue to overcrowd. People started to shove each other and demanded answers. Among the bodies came a hand and grabbed Rock's head. He was pulled along the ground, the frantic humans not realizing he was gone. The clashing hands and bodies faded, and Rock saw he was being pulled farther away from the crowd. The person clinging to him soon let go.

"Yo buddy, you alright? Everyone out there really riled you up." They asked.

"I'm fine. Thanks." Rock replied. He took a look at the person who rescued him, and realized it was a robot master. He was a blackish blue color with a red scarf covering the lower part of his face. Certain parts of his body was a light gray with a oil drop planted on the chest.

"Follow me."

The two robots ran through the corridors of the city, avoiding any human that came close. A couple of them awed at him passing by, but they didn't stick long enough to hear their questions. At the final turn, they stopped at the building up front. It was a bizarre structure of cylinder towers connected to a square laboratory. Solar panels replaced tiles of the roofs, and the perimeter was fenced off with warnings to trespassers. Each sign had a logo of a infinity logo with one of the loops as a clock.

"Boss, I have him! Let us in!" The robot shouted, and Rock felt his stomach sink. Was he about to be kidnapped after being saved from being smothered? To his slight relief, a short man approached the locked gates. He pushed his glasses and nodded as the gates opened. Without another word, he was pushed quickly inside the building's doors, and the sound of locks echoed the entrance.

"What is going on? Who are you guys?" Rock spoke nervously. He felt so tiny even with his armor on, and even if he could run, he had no weapons system. The glasses man extended his hand and gave a warm greeting.

"I'm sorry we had to drag you in like this Megaman, but we weren't sure how you would react to the public's situation. Ever since the strange blackout, everyone's ben struggling to keep themselves afloat. My name is Doctor Shou Kouin, and this is Oilman." He said.

"Yo!" Oilman said with a peace sign. Rock felt at ease and noticed all the lights were on, as well as the equipment.

"How are these-?" He trailed off. Kouin picked up his question and gestured to the whole building.

"This is why we needed to close off this area during the blackout. This is the Chronos Institute, a government facility meant to study space and time. Many of these machines are meant to study the existence of tachyon particles and manipulate time on a certain scale. They contain a experimental energy source meant to contain the tachyons, so it provides a small protection from the fields, but not for much longer. They are not quite as lethal since the blackout made some damage, but it can still be dangerous if someone stole any equipment." Kouin said.

"I see. How were you able to find me so quickly?" Rock asked.

"The doc here detected a signal podcast in Brazil a while ago and sent me to the receiving end. Glad I got ya, the public has been desperate lately." Oilman responded to the question.

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