Vinyl wriggled somewhat uncomfortably in her chair, the frilly princess dress Kalinka had foisted on her for the day a little uncomfortable. While she didn't really like the idea of being dressed up like this, she was able to tolerate it due to two major things. First, Kalinka's argument that neither of them had gotten much of a chance at these 'super frilly' tea parties with another girl when they were younger was a very valid reasoning to do so now, if only to say they had. The other point that made things much easier to tolerate was Kalinka's insistence that all attendees meet the dress code...and Forte's expression as he fussed with his silver ball gown was priceless. It was only the promise that the successfully completed Bassnium power core meant she could soon begin his upgrades that had him sitting there, and not tearing the dress off and storming out of the room.
Admittedly, Albert, Mikhail, and Protoman were also in frilly medieval dresses, but the two humans were far more sanguine about it, and Protoman somehow managed to still look cool with his shades and scarf, which he refused to take off. What really confused Vinyl was how the scarf continued to blow despite the absence of breeze, but even when it rubbed against the fabric of Protoman's crimson ball gown, the dress didn't so much as ruffle. She made a mental note to use her next break from plotting her conflict with Mega Man to study this 'essence of cool' to see how it worked.
"More tea, Countess?" Kalinka asked, offering the teapot to Protoman.
"Please," Protoman replied, holding his cup out for a refill.
Being brought back to the moment, Vinyl munched on the last 'biscuit' as Typhon - dressed in a butler's outfit - brought a fresh plate out. He then paused as he received a signal. "An incoming teleport request...from Light Labs," he stated firmly. "...signal match to Mega Man, but lower energy."
"What?" Wily demanded, stunned. "How did he know where we are?"
"Because I invited him to the tea party," Vinyl explained readily, sipping her tea.
Everyone turned to stare at her, stunned. Protoman was the first to speak up. "Wasn't the whole point of having this place so that he could never track where your real home base was so that he couldn't arrest Wily again?"
"Well, he can't," Vinyl countered. "We're an independent nation now, not subject to the International Robotics Committee, or any other world authority. Dad also is the country's official ruler, so Mega Man doesn't have the authority to arrest him, or even capture him."
"What if he's sent to arrest me for war crimes?" Albert asked worriedly.
"Do you really think any government down below will want to risk the precedent of giving a robot authority to arrest a world leader?" Vinyl inquired innocently. "The whole reason Sky Lagoon is thriving is because everyone who wants to trust robots as equals to humans are living up here with us." She paused, scratching her chin. "Well, everyone but Dr. Light, anyway..."
"How come he isn't?" Mikhail asked curiously. "I mean, I know you're both still rivals, Albert, but-"
"Punishment for not programming Mega Man to recognize me as human until after it almost destroyed him," Vinyl interrupted, munching another 'biscuit'. "Why are these called biscuits, anyway? They sure look like cookies to me."
"I think it's supposed to sound fancier," Kalinka replied.
Albert stared at Vinyl in shock as Protoman looked away, not meeting anyone's eyes. "H...how did you know-"
"The control room has security cameras," Vinyl explained easily. "I went over the feed while planning my own eight Robot Masters. I know what Mega Man started to do." She sipped from her tea. "I also hacked Light Labs security cameras, and saw what it was doing to Rock, and how hard he had to struggle against what his programming core tried to make him do."
Albert sighed. "I didn't want you to know, because I didn't want to destroy your love of robots and faith in them," he murmured, reaching out to stroke her mane.
Vinyl nuzzled into it, but blew a raspberry. "Dad, I had to scrap Doc Robot's programming three times because he thought the most efficient way to steal the Energy Elements was to shoot Dr. Light in the head, leaving all other robots present locked in a Three Laws logic corruption lockup because they witnessed a robot killing a human. I know how easy it is to make a mistake like that. I'm not going to hold it against Mega Man because Dr. Light was too stupid to run simulations for all possible scenarios before setting him loose with combat upgrades." She threw her hooves in the air in frustration. "I mean, I wasn't even talking complete sentences regularly yet, and I knew better than that! And the simulation program was right there in his lab computer! I didn't even have to make them myself!"
Albert and Mikhail exchanged glances at that. "So...Tom's punishment of never living up here with us...is because he's an idiot?"
"Yup!" Vinyl replied. "But Rock has a code that will let him - but not Mega Man - request a beam-up. It's not fair to punish him for his Dad's mistake when he nearly tore himself apart inside to protect me." She turned to Typhon. "Approve the beam-up, and grab the blue chiffon."
"Yes, Vinyl," Typhon replied, sending the signal and going to the closet for a rather rakish blue chiffon gown.
Rock - in civies, rather than his Mega Man armor - beamed in. "Hey Vinyl!" he greeted warmly. "You invited me for-"
"You must meet the dress code," Typhon proclaimed firmly, holding out the dress.
Rock stared at the dress. "...he's kidding, right?" he begged, looking up at those around the table.
"Nope," Forte replied, shaking his head. "Though seeing you dealing with this might actually make it tolerable."
"Bolt you very much, too," Rock replied, taking the dress into the indicated changing area even as Vinyl clapped happily.
Vinyl, you troll, I freaking love you.
Well then, I have to admit, I am loving this Vinyl.
I so wish I could give a second thumbs up ;_;
"Bolt you very much, too." ... Perfect line XD
Also, I kinda imagine Dr. Light's been beating himself up horrendously for it all too... He'll probably get forgiven after 10 :p
what about Roll doesn't she get an invite too
This chapter made me put it on my 'funny and strange chapters that make you think Wat da fuq?'
7134840 I'm still not entirely sure if Roll's even been in this story yet.
Welp, this put a smile on my face. Congratulations. It's hard to do that when I-
...stopping talking now...
thank you for making this next chapter. Each and every story is just so awesome, and i wish you never stop making these.
7134928 She HAS been mentioned, once in the first chapters when Vinyl's super-sonic screeching messed with her circuitry.
Everyone's looking FABULOUS!!!
You gotta respect Vinyl's outlook on Mega Man; the father is responsible for the sins of his son, after all.
Also, this was adorable as always
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Can we have more robot cuss words please?
7134771 Who doesn't?
7125953 The Phantom Processor?
You know... I'm starting to notice a trend. I mean, I get you have to clue your readers in accordance with the how and why something happens, but it comes across as expository rather than something that flows naturally with the story at times. And you know, I just realized there's a bunch of questions to ask.
In the end, no matter how one tries to sugarcoat this with glitz and glammer, Wily is still trying to take over the world. Even if Light wasn't banned or whatever, why would he wish to live there, especially if they would be in the same general area? It would simply go like
So it wouldn't do much for strategy's sake. Besides that, it's a flying country in the sky. What's there to gain from going there other than curing a fear of heights? This seems more like the case of "the forbidden fruit is always sweetest" than an actual punishment.
Whose decision was it to ban Light in the first place? Was it Wily, and Vinyl just happened to overhear that decision, or was it Vinyl? Adding to that, how would that apply if Sky Lagoon wasn't even conceptualized at the time? Wouldn't a restraining order or something make more sense?
What exactly is the relationship between Wily and Light? Are they friends, rivals, enemies, omitted fourth option? For the story's sake, it seems to be something that needs clarification. Why did Dr. Light just let him go on the basis of "Oh, it's a conflict of ideals, it's not like the fate of the world is in the balance"? Has he deluded himself into thinking that this is just a chess game, is he confident that he'll win in the end, or what?
What's the deal with mortality in this world? Skull Man acts like it's the biggest thing ever, but it's been proven that death (in accordance with robots) has no consequence. It's like Wreck-it-Ralph and how characters are immortal in their own games, or the way the TFS version of Dragon Ball Z puts it... or is he just not aware of others' intentions with a single glance?
And besides any of that, this whole Three Laws parable seems to be ignoring what happened in Mega Man 7. Sure, the thing at the end was mostly contributed by the American localization, but even the original acknowledges that he hesitates in accordance with the possibility of putting a stop to Wily for good. Rather than being a matter of his programming being too simple, wouldn't this be the perfect time for Mega Man to prove that he's more than just a robot, that robots can be more than just lines of spell-checked code and can actually be considered equals?
Anyways, see you later.
7134928 There's not enough Roll play in this fic. Sure there were no opportunities beforehand, but THIS was a perfect time! We could even have a scene where she shows up with the same dress as Protoman, stating the "one of us has to change" scenario.
Vinyl just keeps being awesome. I'm glad she knows what Rock went through and doesn't hold it against him. I can totally see her sending Rock an invitation to her birthday party but a similar envelope addressed to Doctor Light being filled with itching powder and the paper equivalent to a Rick Roll link... like the bottom half is a picture of Vinyl pulling down one eyelid and blowing a raspberry with a speech bubble saying, "You are not invited!". Kind of like this: vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/1/11/Limestone_Pie_introduces_herself_S5E20.png/revision/latest?cb=20151026164703
7135471
It has been minorly addressed a few times in earlier chapters. Hell, the whole thing practically started as an experiment to see who's philosophy was correct (Lagoon proves it to be Willy in my opinion)
That was most fun. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
that's the essence of being a badass
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
7136106 Not necessarily. It's through both their actions that Wily even moved to the north in the first place, thus setting up the events for it to be created. Besides that, making your own country with its own laws and regulations doesn't really have anything to do with taking over the world to force people to accept your opinion. At this point, the whole "take over the world" thing is just a game with no consequence whatsoever.
7136106
7136569
The key argument is "Will humans accept robots as equal by having robots so integrated into society that they are completely indispensible, or will humanity require someone to force them to acknowledge robots as people?" Doctor Thomas Light is a firm believer of the former, while Doctor Albert Wily is convinced the latter is required. Their stances on Robots that almost perfectly matches both Professor Charles Xavier's and Max Eisenhardt's stances on Marvel's Mutants. Even the relationship between Light & Wily is rather similar to the early relationship between Xavier & Eisenhardt.
The problem is that Sky Lagoon doesn't disprove EITHER of the Doctor's theories. While Wily did 'force' the issue by building, and ruling, Sky Lagoon, the humans who live there view robots as people due to their own belief in such things/the fact that robots are completely indispensable to life on Sky Lagoon. That's why there was a mention of it in a previous chapter. Sky Lagoon PROVES that humans and robots can live as equals, but it does NOT prove which of the pair was right in the end.
Personally, I think that it proves that BOTH things were required. While Light's thoughts are idealistic to the point of being naive, there will be humans who naturally accept robots as people. Not everyone is a complete asshole after all. That being said, while Wily's plan is rather extreme, the majority of humanity IS pretty self-centred. Something humanity has proven time and time again all over the world. When given the opportunity to see someone as less than a person so that they can take advantage of them, a LOT of people will do so. Entire cultures are based around the fact that they are 'superior' in some way over others. This allows them to justify, in their own minds, anything from slavery, to outright murder/genocide. Sky Lagoon WAS needed, because someone had to forcibly prove human/robot coexistence worked. But once done, other people will begin to naturally embrace this, and thus the 'Take over the world to force everyone to accept robot equality' isn't needed anymore.
However, after going over all of that, and looking at the Marvel version of the issue, I think I've finally figured out the End Game Tatsuro has planned for this one. He's gone on record saying that it was NOT Zero who caused The Cataclysm, and nor did everyone 'fake their death and move to Acapulco'. However as the beginning of "Melody of the Future " proved, The Cataclysm still happened. Using the Marvel example for a guide, I hate to say this, but I see an Asteroid M/Genosha happening. There will be those that hate/fear robots, and the power they have, enough that eventually someone will try to destroy Sky Lagoon. Sky Lagoon, with all its robots humans, will strike back. While I can't say for certain which side Light has his group will be on, I do see that a war is inevitable. The entire world has been getting front row seats to witness how powerful Mega Man and the Robot Masters are becoming. And there is ALWAYS someone who hates/fears those who have power that they do not.
In light of the whole "The Cataclysm happens anyway" thing, I wonder if intentionally leaving Dr. Light out of the Sky Lagoon experiment is going to turn out to have been a mistake.
I also have to wonder why any more world takeover attempts even need to happen. The Lagoon is providing a perfect demonstration of human/robot cooperation and symbiosis, why push the issue by acting as a threat to world peace?
7137163 Huh, so pretty much a more comprehensive/detailed version of what I said? Cool beans.
7137163 There is one problem I have with it, however. There hasn't really been a precedent to test these philosophies in the first place. Sure, it's true that this can be likened to the Civil Rights Movement, or the whole LGBT thing, and it's often a common trope where robots aren't people, but there wasn't much of anything that suggested there were problems prior to when Wily decided to take over. How are other scientists faring in robotics? Can they make robots complex enough to warrant the question of equality? If so, is it high enough that there's a controversy behind it? If it has, why hasn't anything of that sort appeared in any chapter up to this point?
From what's been presented so far, the issue is somewhat akin to the Rwandan Genocide. Sure, it happened, and it was an incontrovertible tragedy, but it's so off the radar that it'd be difficult to even postulate its causes and effects (not to mention pull people away from their TV dinners) without something big that draws attention to i-
Oh... I guess Wily has a point after all. I mean, it could've been polished a bit more, but yeah, civil disobedience for (part of) the win.
Darn, I'm out of chapters again!
7138404 gah me too!
Is the next chapter almost ready yet? Today is almost over.
With Friends Like These...
7168745 with frienemies like these...the world is a much more confusing place.
Ironically Scorpion and Sub Zero talking over tea was less intense than this tea party held by a unicorn filly with robots in dressed.
... you know from the way things are this should be a good thing, but the seperation of those who wish to be equels with machines and those against might cause issues for them... Or in this case, WILL.