09-02-2014, 11:55 AM
Proto Man frowned and set the note down on the ground between his legs. His attention now turned to the puck. Just as he’d expected, it had just the basic layer of encryption, and any Robot Master would have been able to unlock it within ten seconds. I wonder if this was left for anyone in particular. The preteen glanced back to the note as he accessed the files on the device. There were only three—a video file, a massive document, and a very recognizable piece of software designed by Dr. Wily. Ignoring the .exe for the moment, Proto Man opened the video and set the puck on top of the note.
The lens on the top of the handheld device flickered a few times before finally projecting a holographic image of a Robot Master. While the projection had been scaled down to twenty-five percent, Proto Man could easily recognize the individual who had recorded the file. Only one android designed by the good doctors had bark in lieu of armor plates. Despite the fact that the underlying material was reinforced ceramic titanium, the wooden shell gave the robot not only his name but also made him truly unique.
“H-hello,” the projection of Wood Man said with a smile as he squatted down to fiddle with something Proto Man couldn’t see. “My name is Wood Man and my serial number is DWN-016. I am a Robot Master designed by Doctor Albert Wily. My seven brothers and I arrived in this universe together following our death at the hands of DLN-001. In many ways, it was fortunate, because we’ve all been allowed to think on our own with only our own orders to follow.
“My brothers and I have all been analyzing and cataloging the various aspects of the Omniverse since our arrival in Coruscant nearly a year ago. I’m pretty confident that Quick Man and Metal Man are planning something against the men that run Coruscant, but I’m not too worried. I think they’re both just afraid because the only thing they’ve ever really known is trying to hurt people.
“Anyway, I’m in the Tangled Green, because I’m… you know, Wood Man. While Dr. Wily made my primary protocol the destruction of Mega Man, he also programmed me with enough botanical knowledge to bowl over a room of PhDs. And you may laugh at me for being so predictable, but I do genuinely like plants. There’s just something about watching them grow that I find fascinating, so you can bet I wasn’t going to pass up on the chance to explore an entire world dedicated to forests and jungles!”
Proto Man couldn’t help but smile at the other Robot Master’s almost childlike enthusiasm. For the second time, he’d been proven wrong about one of Dr. Wily’s androids. Unfortunately, he also inadvertently thought back to Heat Man’s sacrifice and started to fear what had become of Wood Man if the Robot Master had authored the note on the puck.
“Anyway, I just got here about a week ago, and I’m already pretty excited with my initial findings. I’ve decided to start recording my findings and some videos onto these data pucks, because I feel like I’m going to wind up having a lot of information to sort through when I return home. But I think I’ve wasted enough time for now… Wood Man signing out. Have a nice day.” With a bow, the hologram fizzled out, signaling the end of video.
A quick glance at the document revealed nearly sixteen pages of Wood Man’s manic notations about various plant and animal species he’d encountered within a few hectares. There was a map included, with the area outlined in black, but Proto Man still had a few hours to go before he had his own diagram of the Tangled Green. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so the preteen closed the file and opened up the software.
The executable file was another example of Wily’s programming skill at play. Each .exe was linked up to one or a few others, and whenever you activated one, it would ‘ping’ its matched pairs. While the user would be aware of the location, it didn’t draw enough bandwidth to leave a discernable trace for any prying eyes. It was an extremely simple concept that usually let the Robot Masters relay positions to one another without having to use normal communications. Proto Man wondered what would be waiting on the other side of the signal.
Once he activated the file, it ran silently for two seconds before closing abruptly. A beat later, an indicator popped up on his HUD displaying the location of the next signal. When the coordinates vanished, an arrow remained to point him in the direction.
---
The serpent frowned as he made some notes about the footage he’d just witness from his hiding spot up in the canopy. Snake Man had been waiting weeks for one of Wood Man’s siblings to arrive at the spot. While he had located the puck a while ago, he had been unable to properly execute the program to show him the next location. From what he had surmised, it was encoded only for DWN-Series Robot Masters, but the Prodigal had just waltzed up and utilized it without batting an eye. Snake Man had felt a mild bit of irritation, simply because he’d spent days either trying to hack the program or manually explore the surrounding forests.
You certainly are special, Proto Man. The reptilian robot mused as he launched a Search Snake. “Follow the Prodigal and relay the path he takes back to me.” A blink from the mechanical snake indicated that it knew its purpose, and with that, it slithered down the tree and into the brush.
The lens on the top of the handheld device flickered a few times before finally projecting a holographic image of a Robot Master. While the projection had been scaled down to twenty-five percent, Proto Man could easily recognize the individual who had recorded the file. Only one android designed by the good doctors had bark in lieu of armor plates. Despite the fact that the underlying material was reinforced ceramic titanium, the wooden shell gave the robot not only his name but also made him truly unique.
“H-hello,” the projection of Wood Man said with a smile as he squatted down to fiddle with something Proto Man couldn’t see. “My name is Wood Man and my serial number is DWN-016. I am a Robot Master designed by Doctor Albert Wily. My seven brothers and I arrived in this universe together following our death at the hands of DLN-001. In many ways, it was fortunate, because we’ve all been allowed to think on our own with only our own orders to follow.
“My brothers and I have all been analyzing and cataloging the various aspects of the Omniverse since our arrival in Coruscant nearly a year ago. I’m pretty confident that Quick Man and Metal Man are planning something against the men that run Coruscant, but I’m not too worried. I think they’re both just afraid because the only thing they’ve ever really known is trying to hurt people.
“Anyway, I’m in the Tangled Green, because I’m… you know, Wood Man. While Dr. Wily made my primary protocol the destruction of Mega Man, he also programmed me with enough botanical knowledge to bowl over a room of PhDs. And you may laugh at me for being so predictable, but I do genuinely like plants. There’s just something about watching them grow that I find fascinating, so you can bet I wasn’t going to pass up on the chance to explore an entire world dedicated to forests and jungles!”
Proto Man couldn’t help but smile at the other Robot Master’s almost childlike enthusiasm. For the second time, he’d been proven wrong about one of Dr. Wily’s androids. Unfortunately, he also inadvertently thought back to Heat Man’s sacrifice and started to fear what had become of Wood Man if the Robot Master had authored the note on the puck.
“Anyway, I just got here about a week ago, and I’m already pretty excited with my initial findings. I’ve decided to start recording my findings and some videos onto these data pucks, because I feel like I’m going to wind up having a lot of information to sort through when I return home. But I think I’ve wasted enough time for now… Wood Man signing out. Have a nice day.” With a bow, the hologram fizzled out, signaling the end of video.
A quick glance at the document revealed nearly sixteen pages of Wood Man’s manic notations about various plant and animal species he’d encountered within a few hectares. There was a map included, with the area outlined in black, but Proto Man still had a few hours to go before he had his own diagram of the Tangled Green. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, so the preteen closed the file and opened up the software.
The executable file was another example of Wily’s programming skill at play. Each .exe was linked up to one or a few others, and whenever you activated one, it would ‘ping’ its matched pairs. While the user would be aware of the location, it didn’t draw enough bandwidth to leave a discernable trace for any prying eyes. It was an extremely simple concept that usually let the Robot Masters relay positions to one another without having to use normal communications. Proto Man wondered what would be waiting on the other side of the signal.
Once he activated the file, it ran silently for two seconds before closing abruptly. A beat later, an indicator popped up on his HUD displaying the location of the next signal. When the coordinates vanished, an arrow remained to point him in the direction.
---
The serpent frowned as he made some notes about the footage he’d just witness from his hiding spot up in the canopy. Snake Man had been waiting weeks for one of Wood Man’s siblings to arrive at the spot. While he had located the puck a while ago, he had been unable to properly execute the program to show him the next location. From what he had surmised, it was encoded only for DWN-Series Robot Masters, but the Prodigal had just waltzed up and utilized it without batting an eye. Snake Man had felt a mild bit of irritation, simply because he’d spent days either trying to hack the program or manually explore the surrounding forests.
You certainly are special, Proto Man. The reptilian robot mused as he launched a Search Snake. “Follow the Prodigal and relay the path he takes back to me.” A blink from the mechanical snake indicated that it knew its purpose, and with that, it slithered down the tree and into the brush.
![[Image: proto.jpg]](http://epiqz.com/omni/proto.jpg)
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Dante's Abyss 2015
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