The Scramble [Complete]

[Proto Man]

They were ignoring him.

It appeared that the hodgepodge of mostly human-looking individuals was too busy being caught up in the situation to pay much attention to Proto Man, who was content to lean against the fountain, his armaments at the ready incase anything happened. As he stood there, he scoped the crowd, and his HUD processed the various individuals. For what it was worth, no one seemed too out of the ordinary, at least to the point where the robot felt unnerved. There was a green human with an angry face and jagged teeth, and on the opposite end of the spectrum was another human in a metal suit.

Proto Man watched as a brunette with a stick said some things that went unheeded by the rest of the group, which seemed to be concerning itself more with events on the periphery. From eavesdropping, the android knew they were debating amongst themselves whether or not to investigate individuals they had noticed on the horizon. It seemed like the green woman was trying to assume the role of alpha dog, which would undoubtedly put her at odds with someone.

Common behavior. The android noted as he observed how suspicious a lot of them looked. It was times like this where he was glad he didn’t have the guise of someone older, because then he’d be obligated to insert himself into awkward social situations like these. Human adults were constantly vying to subjugate their peers, whether physically, socially, or academically, and even in what appeared to be a strange new world, the same tropes were materializing before the red robot’s eyes.

“What are you thinking?”

Proto Man turned his visor-covered eyes toward the sound of the voice. They came from the woman who had formed a staff around her floating red ball. If he had to guess, he would have said she was probably around her late twenties, judging from her physique and her face. Then again, she could easily be a two-year-old robot masquerading as a young adult for all he knew. Despite repeated attempts to reboot the system, the scanners were only giving him superficial information.

“Are you going to talk?” She repeated, which indicated that he couldn’t drive her away with silence. The smile she wore on her face seemed to show that she was genuine in her effort to interact with him.

“They’re ignoring that other group,” Proto Man said, gesturing with his thumb toward another set of dots on the horizon. The woman (or did she still qualify as a girl?) followed his digit and nodded as if she was already aware of the slowly approaching precence.

“I’m Nanoha Takamachi…who are you?”

The red robot furrowed his brow—a pointless gesture since he was the only one who knew he was making it. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had asked him who he was…that little girl in New York, perhaps? Before that particular memory could distract him, he flashed the closest thing to a smile he could muster. “I’m Proto Man.”

He watched as she twisted up her lip and furrowed her own brow. “That’s a pretty weird name.”

“Then call me Blues, it doesn’t really matter to me either way.” He suppressed a scowl, realizing that he probably shouldn’t alienate himself toward the only person who had acknowledged his existence in Fountain Land. When he spoke again, it was with a far less terse tone. “But seriously, it’s your call, my fathers had their preferences, and either of them are preferable to DLN Zero.”