This is Part 2 of the collab between me and RedSpy. Thanks again, man! :D
-------
Zephyrus blinked, speechless for a second. Of all the things he’d expect Light’s new creation to say, “uncle” was not one of them. He hadn’t been considered family like that since . . . Hypotenuse, really. Besides, that was different. He helped build and train her, but Beck was a total stranger. A Lightbot, too.
If there was any sign the Wily Wars were over, this was it. Oceanus broke the silence first.
“Did you see him take down that Guts Dozer with his bare hands, Zeph!? Coolest nephew ever, right?”
A moments hesitation. And then . . . acceptance. “Damn straight we do, little bro. Pleasure to meet you, Beck! Enjoying your combat training?”
Beck’s grin widened. “Heck yeah, I did! You see the way I scrapped those rusty old Sniper Joes? Didn’t stand a chance!”
“Now, now, Beck,” comes the voice of Doctor Light, laughing good-naturedly as the balcony he and the Light-Bot’s parents sat on descended towards the ground. “The tests aren’t over just yet - we still haven’t seen your Blast and Dash modes in action! And remember, in real life you’ll be going up against things far more advanced than Wily’s obsolete robots!”
“Yeah, well…” Beck shuffled his feet, a little embarrassed but undeterred. “65% still ain’t bad, right? Even if you did have to limit me to that!”
Rock chuckled as he patted his son’s head. “Never pays to get too cocky, son. Oh, hey, Zephyrus,” he adds, as if noticing the fan-bot for the first time, “how’s things?” And he sticks out one hand for a handshake.
“Quiet, thankfully,” Zephyrus responded, chuckling a little and returning the handshake. “I can see things’ve been going well for you, too.” Maybe one of these days Zeph would truly start a family of his own. Hell, maybe he already has one. Hypotenuse, Sine, Rock . . . maybe it’d be worth checking out the ZFS next year after all.
“You won’t believe some of the stuff you’ll see in the real world,” Osh added. “Trust me, if you see some of the stuff big bro and I took down, you’d set those limits to 100% ASAP. But hey, if that was your 65 I bet you’ll be unstoppable at full force!”
Beck gave a cocky laugh at this. “Just let me at ‘em,” he crowed, punching the palm of one hand. “I’d turn ‘em to mush in seconds!” Melody merely rolled her eyes at her son’s boisterous behaviour, whilst Rock held back a smile of pride.
Zeph turned to Light, a bit curious. “So, what kind of robotics miracle did you pull off this time?” he asked. “Beck’s chassis sure seems different from most of the ‘bots I’ve seen around the skull fortress.”
“Oh, it wasn’t all my doing.” Light tapped the side of his nose conspiratorially, as if sharing a great secret. “I had a little help from some old colleagues of mine - Doctors White and Blackwell, from the Institute of Higher Robotics. They provided most of the technology Beck runs on, I simply put it all together, wrapped it in ribbons and gave it to Rock and Melody on their wedding day!”
“He said nothing about it all the time he was working,” Rock added, rubbing the back of his head with a grin. “Kind of just sprung it on is out of nowhere - you should have seen the look on James’ face.”
“But still,” finished Melody, “it really was more than we could have asked for.” She gazed down at Rock as she spoke, eyes full of affection, and Rock couldn’t help but smile back. And then, of course, neither of them could resist leaning in and planting a quick peck on each other’s lips.
“Daa-aad,” groaned Beck childishly, and the two older robots couldn’t help but laugh at his embarrassment. Neither could the ro-bros. Poor, poor Beck.
“But in a nutshell,” continued Light, “the basic idea was to eliminate old-fashioned computer chips and create a new, dynamic system that can adapt to any kind of challenge Beck faces. He has an A.I. Core, of course, but that just deals with who he is, memories and things like that. Everything else is managed by a sort of artificial DNA that forms his entire structure - what Blackwell calls “Xel”. And to be brutally honest,” he finished with a sort of sigh, “learning how to create and apply that kind of technology was complicated even for someone of my learning!”
A three-man collab project, huh? Zeph had a feeling that somewhere, Celestia’s science-sense was tingling.
“That’s really impressive, doctor!” the robot remarked, still trying to fully process how all of this functioned. Artificial, highly-adaptive DNA . . . it sounded like Beck would constantly be learning and evolving in new ways.
Osh, meanwhile, figured it was a better adaptive strategy than Zeph’s method of getting beaten up and hitting the repair shop afterwards.
“What kinda stuff can these Xel thingies do?” Osh asked.
Light opened his mouth to answer, but it was Beck who jumped at the chance to demonstrate.
“This,” he said, and held out an arm. Which then split apart like a badly-made Kinder Surprise, the external bands unlocking and dissolving as the internal struts dissolved into a whirlwind of miniature, glowing blue cubes. Within a mere second, these shining particles had merged together again, snapping into place and solidifying as new parts and framework flashed into existence. Where once an arm had been, a very impressive-looking gun was now poised - the sort of gun Duke Nukem himself would be proud to hold at crotch level whilst making dumb pop culture references.
“When Grandad said adaptive,” explained the android, green eyes shining with delight, “he meant adaptive. Just change a few lines of code and I can completely change my shape and function - from a loader on tracks to a gun-toting death machine!” And with a flourish he reversed the whole process, the arm reconstructing itself in yet another whirring flash of energy.
“...basically that,” deadpanned the doctor. “He can also copy code from units that also use Xel, but we’re still testing that.”
Oceanus was left speechless, a dreamy far-off look in his eyes as he imagined the giant, spiked fists one could create for the ultimate facepunch. Truly the next generation of godpunching would be in good hands if these Xels caught on!
His dreaming was interrupted as Zephyrus gently shook him back into reality. “Here’s hoping the testing goes well!” he added, clacking his claw a few times thoughtfully. “You know, I bet Osh and I have a lot of battle data stored in our memory banks. The King of Beasts had a bunch of tough friends and foes alike. Think it’d be of any use for helping test Beck?”
Beck’s eyes seem to gleam with delight at this - the prospect of something that could actually match him for power is like someone dangling an ice-cream in front of his face. Of course, it did not go unnoticed by Light, who was by now more than used to the competitive streak within his “grandson”.
“Why, of course,” he chimed in, “I’m sure that would be very useful indeed! After all, you Kobber fellows seem to attract all manner of trouble, and it’s best to be prepared!”
“Oh, but Father,” cut in Melody, “He’s been in these tests for half the day now, without so much as a break! Don’t you think he’s had enough time in the simulator?”
“I’m not tired, Mom!” It seemed true enough - Beck was bouncing around like he was on a pogo stick. “I could take on five Guts Dozers, if I wanted, and finish off a King Gojulas for afters!”
Rock laughed good-naturedly, but at once took his wife’s side. “We have been at this for a while, dad. And on the subject of afters, it is getting on towards lunch-time!”
There was a pause as Dr. Light considered this, one hand on his chin.
“...Well, now you mention it… Yes, I suppose a break would be in order. Give the Xel some time to cool down after that exertion, so to speak…” He looked down at the Ro-Bros. “Care to join us at all, you two? Or do you have any urgent business to attend to?”
Right. Food. Oceanus knew he forgot something in all this excitement. Shit, the bagel must’ve been cold by now. He turned to his brother, giving him a somewhat pleading look.
“Sounds great to us,” Zephyrus responded. “Thanks for the offer!”
“The pleasure is ours!” retorted Rock with a grin. Beck punched the air with a whoop, apparently more than happy to have relatives over for dinner. Light nodded, also seeming somewhat grateful.
“Come this way, all of you,” he commanded, as eager to see to lunch as anyone else. “I believe Roll may have some of her fruitcake left over from yesterday, and I know the others will be glad to see you two!” And with that, he turned and lead the way towards the living space of the Light household, with Rock and Melody hand-in-hand behind him and Beck following last. The youngest android turned and made a “come on” motion to the Ro-Bros as he went, seeming quite eager indeed.
“Come on, Uncles,” he called. “Maybe you can tell me about all the bad guys whose butts you’ve kicked!” And with that parting remark he turned a corner, following his parents and creator, and vanished.
“Damn straight we will!” Osh replied, pumped to start eating. He turned to Zeph, an optic slightly enlarged as if he was cocking an eyebrow.
“You want back in, don’t you.”
“Hm? What do you mean?” the fanbot replied, a little curious.
“The ZFS life! I saw you checking out Beck’s fighting. Can’t tell me that didn’t spark some memories, bro.”
“. . . I’ll show up for the brawl and then think about it later. Lets just get some food for now.” Zephyrus headed off, Oceanus following behind.
Seems like some things just never change.
