The Mega Man: Legend

Ch. 28 Heat Stroke Part 2

Fire Man and I looked carefully ahead, trying to determine the best way to get out of the situation.

"I still think we should just jump and hope we live." Fire Man told me, as he leaped up to destroy an approaching robot.

"But seriously, there has to be a pattern!" I replied. "I copy abilities, I'm really good at picking up on these things."

We stared forward at the strange wall in front of us, with two strange blocks which seemed to blink in and out of existence, offering the only way up the wall, and a fiery pit of death below.

"Well, whatever the case, I'm really startin' to hate the way Wily thinks." Fire Man grumbled.

"Aren't we all..." I muttered. I continued to focus on the blocks for a while, trying to piece together the required timing.

I almost had it when Fire Man grabbed me by the back and jumped for the top platform.

"WAIT WAIT-" I yelled, but unfortunately he couldn't stop himself. The top block disappeared, and we slammed into the wall above. Instinctively, I grabbed at the top of the wall, and managed to get a hold. Swinging myself a little, I worked up the momentum to throw Fire Man over.

As I climbed up, I gave him a look that made it very plain how I felt about that. "Next time, let's just figure out what we have to do BEFORE we jump."

He shrugged. "Sometimes, you gotta let the flames in your soul guide you."

I blinked. "That makes almost no sense."

He hopped down to the next platform. "They can't all be winners."

---

Dr. Light wasn't sure how to begin. He hadn't expected to get to the point of why he had come for a while. He went over several possible ways to start their conversation, but came up with various reasons why each wouldn't work.

Thankfully for him, Dr. Lalinde choose to start the conversation first. "How did you find out?" She asked plainly.

He took a breath. "...Mega Man knew her. When the EMP hit the city, she was at my building with him. That's how we learned that-"

"She was a robot." Lalinde finished.

"Why?" Dr. Light asked, "why make her, and then not tell her who she is?"

"Please, I don't..."

"Listen," Dr. Light interrupted, "I'm sure that this is difficult for you, but you must understand that we only want to help. We care about her, Mega Man especially."

Dr. Lalinde swallowed and gave a slight nod before continuing. "I've always possessed an intrigue in the world of Robotics, ever since I was young. However, I wasn't able to find all the opportunities necessary to pursue it as a career. Nevertheless, I studied furiously, and managed to give myself a substantial knowledge of the science. When you unveiled your Robot Masters, I thought I might have found a chance to show what I had been working on- a special archeological robot design able to use drills and study earth conditions on order to effectively uncover dog sites in record time."

She frowned. "Shortly after you made your presentation of your robots, I presented mine to a group of private investors. Unfortunately, during the trial, a small malfunction caused the her to be buried under a large amount of rubble. She was so shaken, and I didn't have enough parenting or robotics knowledge to help her get over it. So...I removed it from her memory."

Light set down his drink. "Along with who she was?"

"Yes. This test...this was her purpose. Without it, I didn't see how she could have continued functioning. By making her something else, I thought she could find her own purpose. I thought...maybe I could forget about it too."