[Exemplary] Family of Steel - Carved from the Blighted Oak

[Proto Man]

The preteen android paused and looked down at his maimed appendage. He’d stopped limping recently, but his wounded hand was still nonfunctioning. Despite the continued setback, he now had a purpose--he’d picked up on a wireless transmission somewhere close. Whoever it was,they wanted to be found, and better yet, Proto Man recognized the coding on the signal. All the Robot Masters used similar encoding methods when they relayed transmissions through public channels.

After nearly another half hour, Proto Man came to a nondescript tree. Based on his readings, the wireless signal was coming from somewhere inside the tree. Furrowing his brow behind his sunglasses, the preteen walked up and placed his good hand on the bark. He then proceeded to drag his fingers around the circumference of the tree until they bumped against something that certainly wasn’t wood.

Hinges… Proto Man thought to himself as he found a finger-sized groove in the bark’s surface and pulled open the hatch to reveal a tiny container filled with a seemingly nondescript device that looked like little more than a large hockey puck with a glass top. The red robot recognized the tiny apparatus for what it really was--a communication device designed by Doctors Light and Wily. The little machine allowed for two-way communication via holograms, and it could also be used to record and store video like a very high tech diary.

With a smile, Proto Man collected the device from the tree and closed the hatch. As he turned it over in his hands to examine it, he noticed a piece of paper folded into a neat square and taped to the bottom. Dropping down to his haunches, the machine placed the puck upside down and gently removed the note. Using his teeth and his one good hand, he gingerly unfolded it, trying his hardest not to drool all over it. Once he was finished, he removed it from his mouth and read the scraggly, half-legible words beneath his breath.

“Tell my brothers I love them, and I am so sorry that I wasn’t strong enough.”