Man in the Sky

So Far from the Sea {open}

“Gyahahaha!”

Elec Man let out another ridiculous laugh as he raised his arms in the air, electricity crackling dangerously through his fingertips. He loved being this way, loved having this clarity in his processors that allowed him to finally be sure of what he was doing. He wasn’t about to allow anyone to take this away from him. These people were supposedly his friends—or in Air Man’s case, his ally, but they certainly weren’t acting like it. If that were the case, they wouldn’t be trying to shut him down, would they?

“Shut me down? Shut me down?! You’re hilarious! I’d really like to see you try, Air Man, Splash Woman, but neither of you even know where the—”

Elec Man went silent once he saw Splash Woman plant a kiss on Air Man, the electricity ceasing only momentarily. His arms remained in the air as he scowled.

“Hey, how come Air Head over there gets a kiss? If anyone deserves a kiss, it is I, Elec—OOF!”

Suddenly, Air Man was upon him, pinning him to the floor after using a powerful suction to bring him to him. He never expected that something like that would work on him, but apparently it had. He continued to writhe about underneath him, firing off stray, medium-strength Thunder Beams as Air Man tried to restrain him. He wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“Unhand me you bucket of bolts! You are not to handle a superior robot this way! Cease or I will take drastic action!”

Goodness, Elec Man’s constant crazy laughter was really beginning to wear on Splash’s auditory sensors. She flinched again as the malfunctioning bot again sent electricity crackling through the air. This was starting to get ridiculous and oddly funny? Seeing the usually cool and collected bot act as though a few screws were loose-literally-just hit right and Splash Woman couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. Then he started ranting again and her smile turned into worry. This “resetting” was a delicate procedure, and if she wasn’t careful, the Elec Man she knew and cared for could be gone.

“Hey, how come Air Head over there gets a kiss?…”

“You…want a kiss?” The fem-bot blushed and tried covering her face with her hands. She never really did like to show such a thing, it felt like a weakness. She peaked out from behind her fingers and smirked. “When you’re all back to normal and fixed…I’ll give you a kiss…or two.~” She removed her hands from her face at the sound of metal clashing. Splash uncovered her face to see Elec Man pinned down by Air Man. She placed her slim hands on her hips. “But you have to be a good little bot and settle down, okay?”

At Air Man’s call she quickly slithered over to the two bots, dodging small shots of lightning as she went. Upon seeing that Elec would not calm down she realized she wouldn’t be able to work if he kept thrashing about. Then a “brilliant” idea struck her. Splash Woman waved a hand at Air Man to move slightly and gently lowered herself down so she was sitting on Elec Man’s chest.

“Now, be a good bot and calm down, alright? Let Mama Splash fix you up.~” The fem-bot gently removed the other Light-bot’s helmet and began rooting around in the delicate wires. Small sparks shot out accompanied by a faint “Oops.” And after a few more seconds of digging, Splash Woman smiled. “I think I got it…” A few more sparks flew and she withdrew her hands. “I do hope I did that right…”

#evolutionofcircuitry #laser-trident

Air Man couldn't even glance over at Splash Woman, thanks to his lack of a neck. He could only struggle and grunt as he attempted to restrain the rampaging Light 'bot, hoping that Splash would make her way over soon.

She soon appeared in his field of vision, motioning him to move aside. Air Man stared at her for a few moments, wondering what she had in mind before readjusting his grip to give the fembot some space. With a surprising amount of grace and dignity, she sat right down on Elec Man's chest, purring in his ear.

Was... Was he supposed to be seeing something like this? Air Man felt a little uncomfortable.

Splash Woman removed Elec Man's helmet and began rooting around inside the other robot's head, much to his displeasure. Air Man watched, only mildly interested, as she made a few mistakes before finally withdrawing her hand. Sparks flew, and he felt Elec Man go limp under his weight. The Wily 'bot waited a few moments before saying "Is he off? Elec Man? Are you still there?"

Air Man stood up, brushing Splash Woman aside before leaning in towards Elec Man's face. "Hellooooo? Elec Man?" he said, slapping the other bot a few times. "Elec Man, are you there? Quick Man is here, and he's saying he's better than you." But there was no response. With a shrug, Air Man got back to his feet, brushing dirt off his knees.

"He's out," he said, turning to Splash Woman. "I don't know what you did, exactly, but he's offline. Hopefully whatever you did can be reversed..." He bent down to pick up Elec Man's body, slinging the smaller robot over his shoulder. "Maybe when we restart him, he'll be back to normal. And if not... We can just shut him down again."

There were a few seconds of silence, and Air Man's eyes flicked to the side, avoiding Splash Woman for a moment. "And thank... you... For letting me help. You're much more... open to the idea than this moron is. No offense."

"...Anyways. What should we do with him now?"

flashingmybooblights-blog

Ten to the power of ∞

flashingmybooblights-blog

Zero stood perfectly still for a split second as his mind processed what he should do. He had two options: cover himself up or help whoever he just blinded. He fumbled around, awkwardly covering up his chest with one arm and lending the other to the robot that tapped him on the shoulder. He banged his chest with the covering arm a couple of times as he helped the Robot Master find his feet once more, eventually the blazing lights cut out once more.

He was never doing that again.

“Air Man, I’m so sorry. I honestly didn’t know I could do that.” he said as he finally gave a good look to this Reploid that called him out. No, not Reploid, a normal robot. How strange… he looked a bit more advanced than the others around here.

He bowed his head apologetically and raised it back up before speaking;

“Anyway, I didn’t mean for that to happen. Please forgive me. My name’s Zero. What did you need me for? Mr… ?”

Air Man began to feel around, trying to get a sense of the space around him. If only he had a sense of hearing like Shade Man did, maybe he could get around like that. If only...

A nearby voice, the same one he'd heard before trying to talk to the man in red, sounded nearby, and Air Man reached in its direction. He didn't know who it was, but they seemed to know him. "Oh, uh, it's fine. Accidents happen, I suppose. I can only wonder what the purpose of a function like that is." There were several more degrees of respect in his voice than usual, if only because he was now almost entirely certain this other man was a robot. A very human-looking one, but still- a robot.

"You are forgiven," he said, finally rising to his feet. "I just wanted to know if- Why are you asking my name? Didn't you just say it? I am Air Man, I know I heard you say it."

He gazed in the direction he was pretty sure the other robot was in, furrowing his brow. "You are a robot, aren't you? I wanted to know, but I think your light show answered my question for you."

#flashingmybooblights

So Far from the Sea {open}

Such an air of animosity between the three! Elec Man didn’t really think much of it. He couldn’t understand why Splash Woman was so angry at the things he was saying. Sure, she was a Light Bot, and they were programmed a little differently than Wily Bots were, but in the end, wouldn’t she prefer a society where robots ruled as well? He tapped a finger against his forehead as he shook his head at her, walking around her.

“Tsk tsk, Splash Woman, what are you talking about? There’s nothing to explain! I’ve been enlightened! I am back on the path I need to be, the path that leads to robot revolution!”

She seemed to be suffering so much, and Elec Man just couldn’t understand why. There was nothing amiss here, nothing that should be causing her so much pain, and yet here she was, being defiant and rude. When he was pushed away, he simply scoffed before crossing his arms again. He didn’t quite like being called scrap, he was a top of the line robot master after all! But he chose to ignore that comment, focusing instead on her rather weak threat.

“Above that? Yes, you are above something and that is the humans! Is that so hard to understand, Splash Woman? Air Man, won’t you talk some sense into her?”

“To leap into battle with me would be suicide. Surely you are smarter than that, Splash Woman.”

He pulled his hands back, a small charge beginning to run through them. He wasn’t going to attack her, but he was hoping to scare her into siding with him. He opened his mouth to speak up again, but Air Man stepped in between him and the fembot, interrupting.

Upon hearing that he was “obviously malfunctioning,” Elec Man scoffed once more. They continued to tell him he was wrong, but he had never felt more right! Finally, all those conflicting thoughts in his processors had become clear, and he knew what it was he had to do. So why was it that they wouldn’t just let him do these things?

“Malfunctioning? I am doing no such thing! I’m fine, better than ever! Gyahahahaha! Hey, Air Man, if you don’t like my plans, why don’t you come up with something bet—” Upon hearing that they wanted to shut him down, he took a defensive stance, walking away from them as he drew a charge to his fingertips.

“Try it. I dare you!”

The fem-bot stared blankly as her life was threatened by Elec Man. She gripped her trident tighter. “My death would be on your conscious and it would be yours to deal with. If you think you can live with it, be my guest.” Splash Woman turned her head, unable to look at the bot she once called her friend. “Air Man is right, you know. Your plan is incredibly idiotic and you should know better than that. You’re not going to overthrow anything with those scientists still alive.”

Splash looked down at her trident. It was wooden and utterly useless, it would do little to stop Elec Man’s electricity, but it was all she had, and she would use it if necessary. The fem-bot gripped it tighter and the wood groaned from the pressure. Splash Woman slightly thanked Air Man for stepping in and slithered so that she was slightly behind the Wily -bot. As much as she hated to admit it, Air Man was right, she wouldn’t stand a chance against Elec.

“Shut him down…?” Splash smiled and hugged Air Man from behind. “Oh you’re so smart! That’s brilliant!” She moved from behind Air Man to next to him, her confidence rising. How come she didn’t think of that? “My brothers and I each have a different location for our “reset buttons”, but if can somehow manage to get under his helmet, I might be able to locate it for you.”

“The only issue is getting him to stay down long enough for us to get to it.” She flinched as sparks once again flew from Elec’s fingertips. The fem-bot began to plead with the malfunctioning bot. “Please, Elec. Let us help you! We want to help you!” She looked over to Air Man and sighed. “I don’t know how you are going to do this, or if it’s possible, but…good luck.” Splash placed a kiss where she assumed the Wily-bot’s cheek was, “I doubt you will need me, but I’ll help if I can.”

#laser-trident #evolutionofcircuitry

The only problem Air Man saw with his new plan was the fact that right now, Elec Man was far stronger than him and Splash Woman. He could control the wind, yes, but that was hardly helpful without his Air Shooter. And all Splash Woman had was a wooden trident, and what help would that be against someone made of metal. Meanwhile, Elec Man had his Thunder Beam. Even if it was weakened, it was far more powerful than anything the other two 'bots had.

"Two against one, Elec Man. You're outvoted," he said, putting his hands on his hip. "Just make it easier on all of us and give up." Hopefully he wouldn't call the bluff...

But Elec Man drew back, electricity crackling between his fingers. Air Man sighed, creating a small gust of wind as Splash Woman moved beside him. "I know I am, just tell me if there's a way to shut him off," he said, waving a hand at her compliment.

They had reset buttons? Actual, physical reset buttons? That was actually useful to know. "I think I can do that," he said, not taking his eyes off of Elec Man. Even if Elec Man had better weaponry, Air Man was still stronger physically. He listened to Splash Woman try and reason with the malfunctioning robot, fan making slow rotations in anticipation of his attack. Of course she wouldn't' be able to reason with him, but she only needed to distract him until-

“I don’t know how you are going to do this, or if it’s possible, but…good luck.”

She kissed him.

"W-what? Oh, right, Elec Man! Yes, I- I know what to do. Yes." He coughed, quite pointlessly given his lack of throat, and looked back at Elec Man. "Now, Elec Man, we only want to help you, so if you'd just let us-"

Air Man pounced on Elec Man, with surprising speed, given his size. At the same time, his fan went into high gear, creating a powerful suction that pulled the other robot to him, pinning him under his superior size and weight. He scrambled to grab at Elec Man's hands, hoping to stop him from firing off any Thunder Beams. "Don't just stand there!" he yelled at Splash Woman. "Shut him off!"

Elec Man took a second to look at his hands. Oh yeah.

“T-THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT! AND THAT’S BECAUSE HE WAS MODELED AFTER I, ELEC MAN!”

“THE SUPERIOR ROBOT!”

"IT ONLY MAKES SENSE THAT HE WAS DESIGNED AFTER YOU BECAUSE I DETEST YOU BOTH!"

apersurewhynot-old-deactivated2

< Join the CLUB. >

She liked annoying people, anyway. It was fun to watch them get wound up; in this one’s case he seemed to… quite literally do just that. She watched with amusement at the movements of the fan in his chest for a moment or two before her gaze flicked back up to his… what would be considered his face.

< I'm sure there's an entire GLaDOS HATE CLUB somewhere. I'm HONOURED, really. >

He expected her to ignore his warning, perhaps to mock him again. Part of him wanted her to, just so he had an excuse to make her shut up.

"Any attention is good attention, I suppose? Isn't that kind of..." He trailed off, raising an eyebrow. "Needy? Maybe a little pathetic? If you're as smart as you think you are, I'm sure it's already occurred to you."

But she was just going to give him another snappish answer, wasn't she?

#apersurewhynot

“WE DO NOT! I AM BLACK! BLACK AND RED! HE IS ONLY RED AND YELLOW! AND HE’S MORE ANNOYING!”

“I’M BETTER THAN HIM!”

"YOU'RE BOTH BLACK, YELLOW, AND RED, FOOL! YOU EVEN HAVE THE SAME SHOULDERS!"

“DON’T YOU COMPARE ME TO HIM!”

"YOU EVEN HAVE THE SAME COLOR SCHEME!

"AND YOU'RE BOTH ANNOYING!"

“You seem a little wound up, Air Man. I suggest you slow down.”

"THAT PUN IS WORSE THAN ONE OF QUICK MAN'S!"

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not being any different than I usually am.”

“And you can try, but you’ll likely only make a fool of yourself.”

"You're going to regret your smarmy little attitude before too long."

apersurewhynot-old-deactivated2

< I'm not CONDESCENDING, I'm just HONEST. >

She gives a click of her tongue before lifting up a hand to wag her index finger at you. Bad robot.

< I'm TERRIBLY SORRY, > — the words ooze sarcasm in and of themselves much worse than any of her prior sentences — < if that's too much to HANDLE for your precious little SELF. >

"You can call it whatever you want."

The fan in his chest clicked back and forth as a sign of Air Man's rising temper. He was only trying to be helpful towards another synthetic, but if she was going to act like this, why make any distinctions?

"You should stop," he grunted. "You're beginning to wear on my nerves."

#apersurewhynot

“Insulting? Hardly. There’s a degree of truth to it, isn’t there? Air comes from your head. Thus, Air Head.Besides…”

“It’s funny to me.”

"Even Splash Woman manages some semblance of politeness when talking to me! Why is it that you cannot seem to manage such a simple task?!

"If you'd like, maybe I can beat it into you!"

apersurewhynot-old-deactivated2

"Pardon me if I come out as rude but, what do you happen to be?"

He draws himself up to full height, putting a hand over the fan in his chest as a kind of salute.

"I am DWN-010, Air Man. A combat robot built by Dr. Albert W. Wily, the most brilliant mind the field of robotic engineering has to offer.

"Does that answer your question?"

Her sarcasm can cut through many things, including the sharpest of steel and many alien metals not yet known to mankind.

< I meant ELABORATE. >

< Most things can already be led back to "OH, HA HA, THE HUMANS" without me having to ASK. >

"Well, that's what happened."

"Humans are disgusting, and their unsavory qualities spread like a virus through their ranks. So at first, one is disgusting, and then they're all disgusting.

"Is that elaborate enough, or would you like to dole out more condescension first?"

#apersurewhynot

“Please, it’s not stupidity. It’s a sense of humor.”

“Something you lack.”

"Humor is supposed to be funny. You're just being insulting."