#crorq

[eway]

I actually think the DOS exclusive robot masters are cool. Wish there was more content for them. I mean, to my knowledge they don’t even have official art! Doesn’t help that a lot of their names got reused in the future for completely separate characters. And the peacekeeping computer Wily hijacked to take control of these bots? Yeah nothing for CRORQ…

Anyway here they are!

[foximator-blog]

Latest Batch of Mega Man DOS redesigns I made for fun, because sometimes I'm never satisfied with them.

In my au these Robots were built by a scientist named Dr Oliver Synth, and they live on a private island.

Sonic Man: An amphibious Search and rescue robot who uses echolocation to track down lost hikers, mountain climbers or divers. While he prefers to fly, the jets in his legs are also capable of propelling him through water.

Dyna Man: In order to earn more funding, Dr Synth made a deal with the military to create Dyna Man. Despite his power Dyna Man wasn't built to partake in combat, but merely to test the power of explosive devices using his advanced electronic fuses. He actually thinks explosions are fun.

Volt Man: A power grid management robot who works at a hydroelectric dam on the island. He's capable of creating powerful electromagnetic fields and detecting fluctuations in power.

Petrol man (DOS Oil): While old fashioned in appearance, Petrol man is an oil refinement robot capable of processing oil quickly but as cleanly as possible. Oil is still oil though and he hates oil spills or harming the environment. He takes his job seriously.

Wharf Man (DOS Wave): a cargo port management robot who maintains cargo ships coming and going from the island. He's like a safety inspector with a few added features to aid in cleaning the ships. To get around the port quicker he can pull his legs into the boat shaped part of his body and float on water.

Razor Man (DOS Blade): When the supercomputer CRORQ was built, Dr Sage built Razor Man to be a stealthy and efficient security robot. Razor man's blades serve as intimidation to human intruders and effective weapons against robots. This ninja-like bot also leads the powerful guard dog robots Dr Synth Designed.

Shark Man: While Razor Man guards the lab on land, Shark Man guards the coastline and oceanic territory of the island. He's a very efficient tracker and while real sharks are quite harmless, he does play into how intimidating they can appear. He greatly admires Dive man and Splash Woman and despises Pirate Man.

Braze Man (Dos Torch): A welding robot who aids in construction projects both on and off the island. His torch arm can superheat metal very fast, reducing the time of welding, but also increasing the margin of error if he's not paying attention. Brazing is just a fancy word for Welding.

Bit Man: a core drilling robot who works mostly in construction, though he can also help in mining. The drill bits on his arms are easy to switch out for various tasks as need be, and his helmet and armor can stand up to any challenges laid before him.

Eco Man: A robot made to clean up hazardous waste and chemical spills. His "Eco Slime" is an absorbent material that spreads out over spills and sucks up the hazardous waste like a sponge. The bio based slime can then safely be cleaned up and disposed of. (Based on the Tox Man enemy, who was originally going to be the protagonist of a parody game before the second DOS game was reskinned into a Mega Man title)

CRORQ: A powerful military grade super computer housed in Dr Synth's Private island. It's Power "Rozner Program" is able to wirelessly defend robot masters connected to it from malicious hacking attempts... But if anyone were to find a way to hack CRORQ directly that could cause issues...

Carp Man: a bonus redesign for fun based on the "Fish Man" enemy from the second Dos game, as he was supposedly going to be a boss in the original "Eco Man" concept. Since we already have Shark man he wouldn't give a weapon, but he'd probably be a secret boss like Cut Man or Wood Man in MM8.

[megamanrecut]

Become the Night part 15: To the Bitter End

Elec Man staggered laboriously to his feet. He looked like he was trying to stand, but his entire figure trembled violently, his breath coming in sharp, uneven gasps.

Proto bolted over to Elec Man's side to help steady him before he collapsed again. Elec Man's face was tight with pain, and as his gaze shifted to Proto, he seemed both disoriented and frightened—not for himself, but for Proto. The look was uncharacteristically emotional for Elec Man, with something complex and deeply rooted buried beneath it.

It was difficult for Proto to process what was happening. They had both been smiling only moments ago, it was the most fun mission of their lives…

"Hey, c'mon, you're going to be okay! D-don't order me to run and save myself," Proto stammered, for he could see Elec Man was struggling to say something. "You don't want to die here, not to CRORQ." Remembering Elec Man couldn't see his face, Proto pulled him in close, pressing the foreheads of their helmets together. He could feel Elec's grip on his arm, painfully tight. "I'll get us out of here, I promise."

Read more on Ao3

[dailyrockman]

0743: CRORQ

[megamanrecut]

Become the Night part 9: The New Enemy

Elec Man stared at the scrapper incredulously. Next to him, Proto had shifted into a fighting stance, his fists raised, his head bowed, his face serious but not scared. Meanwhile, nine more scrappers emerged from the stairwell.

Elec Man attempted to shock them all again with Thunder Beam, the flashes of light blindly white in the dark basement, yet the scrappers were completely unaffected, the merciless glow from their mechanical eyes drawing steadily closer. A couple let out raspy snickers—clearly relishing the idea of tearing apart the Robot Master who for so long had been impossible for any scrapper to so much as scratch.

"Time for plan B, boss," Proto whispered.

"…There is no plan B," Elec Man admitted flatly.

Proto smirked. "Then we'll improvise…" He cocked a head back at the computer, where the message 'You will be terminated. Goodbye.' was still visible in glowing green letters. "What is that thing?"

"I don't know, some sort of outdated A.I.—it's controlling the scrappers."

Apparently, CRORQ had a microphone installed, for it seemed to have overheard them as a new message scrawled across its screen.

Outdated, am I? You are more intelligent than the human criminals, but not as intelligent as I, spanner. You made mistakes.

I analyzed the scrappers you destroyed and deduced you were an electrical-based Robot Master who could disguise as a human. Then I reinforced my scrappers to be resistant to your weapon. I calculate you will not last long.

The scrappers now had them surrounded. Their weapons ranged from blasters, to rotating saws, to clamps, to other weapons that would be crudely effective against two androids dressed in worsted wool suits.

"Maybe the Syndicate and the Collective can work out a deal," Elec Man called to CRORQ. It was a lie, of course—he needed to buy time to think up a strategy.

Unnecessary. I am installed in many mobs. The Syndicate is the only mob I could not infiltrate. But that is inconsequential now. The Syndicate is unaware of my true scope.

There is good news for you, spanner. Your body shall be recycled. Reused in scrappers or a new Robot Master. But the other android is useless. No weapon. No armor. No salvageable parts.

Elec Man tensed. "Proto, run and get help," he ordered.

Proto looked toward the stairwell, but stayed put. "Uh…hate to break it to you, boss, but neither of us are getting out of here alive unless we work together."

Elec Man scanned the scrappers again, then gritted his teeth. "Fine."

As the scrappers lunged at them, Proto charged fearlessly into their midst, taking the scrappers (and Elec Man) off guard. He dodged a sweep from a microwave-sized mallet, a chainsaw narrowly passing over his bare neck, then leaped onto the back of scrapper with two cannon-like blasters—all without his aviators slipping from his face. There, he pried the rusty chestplate off the struggling scrapper, exposing its inner circuitry.

"Try shocking it now, boss," he called over as sprang away again, attracting the attention of two other scrappers.

Elec Man gaped for a moment, then quickly raised his hands. The vulnerable scrapper fell to the ground in a familiar smoldering heap.

It was a dirty fight—Proto darted from scrapper to scrapper, tricking them into striking each other as he tore off their insulated armor so that Thunder Beam could do its work, until finally only one remained, its eyes blazing furiously and it dragged itself toward using it's one remaining limb like a rusting zombie. Behind it, CRORQ had been reduced to a smashed pile of circuit boards.

"Alright, that's enough, let's get out of here," hissed Elec Man, tugging at Proto's sleeve.

They dashed up the stairs, back through the rows of cubicles (despite the commotion, the human workers were still at their stations and hadn't stirred). then out into the sunlight. They did not stop running until they reached an alley several streets away, where Elec Man slumped against the wall behind a dumpster, not caring that the concrete ground was filthy.

"That was stupid," Elec Man admitted to himself.

Proto was hovering in the alley entrance, his fingers twitching, clearly hoping they would be pursued and the fight would continue. He looked over at Elec Man with a small smirk. "But fun?"

A small smile tugged at Elec Man's lips. He quickly stifled it.

Proto took one last glance down the street—but as no scrapper seemed intent on battling them any time soon, he gave a small shrug and then strolled over to join Elec Man. "Didn't think a Syndicate Robot Master could be so easily rattled."

"I wasn't scared."

"Maybe not for yourself."

"You shouldn't be here. This was my fault."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, I…kinda egged you on."

Elec Man shook his head. "Impossible. You're reprogrammed, you could never manipulate me."

Proto gave him an infuriatingly amused smirk. "Have it your way. Either way, we destroyed that A.I."

Elec Man shook his head dismally. "No, just a computer it was installed in. It's networking, probably through the phone lines…" Elec Man trailed off, banging his head back against the graffitied bricks. "I've been compromised. That A.I. knew what I was—built a trap for me. And it would have worked if you hadn't—" Elec Man cut himself off hastily with a swallow. "The Syndicate is in danger. If it really has infiltrated multiple mobs—"

"Lighten up, boss—you had the right idea to investigate, right? That puts the Syndicate a step ahead of where you would have been if you had ignored all this. In reality, you did the Syndicate a favor."

Elec Man sighed. He looked away, but couldn't help but smile. "…Like you care about the Syndicate."

"Eh, so what? I'd like to help you dig yourself out of this hole—on one condition." Proto crouched next to Elec Man, lowering his voice. "..I don't want to be a pencil pusher for Fulmen Financial anymore—I don't want to be 'Smith's' lookout either—I want to be your partner."

...The idea did not seem as ridiculous as it did earlier that day, still, Elec Man responded automatically,"You're not Syndicate, nor a Robot Master."

"Yet I saved our silicon skins back there," Proto countered. "You almost admitted it yourself." He gave a wistful sigh. "Just imagine if I were a Robot Master…"

Elec Man said nothing. No matter how he looked at the situation, he was in deep, deep trouble. Once again, he felt extremely conflicted.

Meanwhile, Proto was in a perfectly cheerful mood, as though the afternoon could not have gone better. He took a seat on the dirty alleyway next to Elec Man "So…what's next, boss?"

"C.R.O.R.Q…" Elec Man murmured, thinking aloud. "That's what the A.I. called itself. But where did it come from? An A.I. must have had a programmer, and it was more advanced than what any mob could have created…"

"Beats me. Certainly wasn't Light or the-human-I'm-not-allowed-to-speak-of."

"I can't think of anyone either…unless…" Elec Man narrowed his eyes. "Its creation was classified…"

To be continued…

[megamanrecut]

Become the Night part 14: The Syndicate’s Asset

Finally, the night had come for the final mission against the Collective: taking down CRORQ. While this was not expected to be any more difficult than any of the previous missions against the Collective, Proto still felt very excited.

Before they set out, Elec Man had instructed Proto to wait for him in one of the rooms within Elec Man's personal quarters.

Like much of Fulmen Financial, Proto had never been to this room before. It looked like a grand walk-in closet—the sort rich humans had in their mansions—but instead of fancy clothing and jewelry, there were cases with various disguises, specialized weaponry, and strange, concealed gadgets. It seemed like the sort of room spies had in movies—an armory of sorts.

Proto looked around with interest, wondering if he'd be issued a new weapon, or even a disguise. As he contemplated a construction worker's welding uniform, the door slid open as a Robot Master with red and black armor stepped inside. Proto did a double take.

Read more on Ao3

[megamanrecut]

Become the Night part 11: Dyna Man and shifting Dynamics

Within the dark, windowless back office of Fulmen Financial, Elec Man pulled the classified documents King had forwarded up on his supercomputer.

"So this A.I.—CRORQ—went evil or something, right?" Proto asked, looking over Elec Man's shoulder.

"It's doing its original directive—peacekeeping—but to an extreme," responded Elec Man dryly as he scanned the file. "It'll start by controlling and eliminating the mobs, then keep going until the world is under martial law."

Proto whistled. "And it's installing copies of itself all over the place…how are we going to ever kill it? Won't it be like playing one giant game of wack-a-mole?"

Elec Man smiled. "Simple—a good anti-virus program should do the trick."

"…This is going to be pretty boring if you can solve all this through computer stuff and hacking."

"Oh it's going to be tedious," Elec Man promised with a sigh, though he glanced back at Proto with a wry smile, "…But you may find it fun."

Read more on Ao3

[megamanrecut]

Become the Night part 10: An Audience with King

"…You're going to squeal to the feds?" Proto whispered to Elec Man. "…Isn't that against mobster code or something?"

It was later that afternoon. They were back in the Underground on their way by foot to meet what Elec Man had described as a 'government contact'. Elec Man was keeping a close look out toward the alley ways in case they were being followed.

"I'm not 'squealing'. I have a hunch on what CRORQ is, or at least, where it came from. Fortunately, one of our contacts was available short notice for an appointment. Keep close…you're safer with me than at Fulmen Financial."

Read more on Ao3, Additional (slight spoiler) notes about this chapter below cut

For Proto’s Syndicate codename—I was between Jones, Brown, and Byrd—I liked Byrd but Proto hasn’t established himself as a pilot in this AU so it made less narrative sense. Brown is equally common to Jones (also refers to his bad suit, also brown = neutral color…) it also doesn’t sound very dangerous so…

…I guess Mr. Gray could have also worked…there’s also Striker, Scott, and Sheilds, which Proto Man uses in the main canon. I dunno, Jones it is for now!

Also, in case it wasn’t obvious, Mr. Dune = Pharaoh Man unless I ever think of a cleverer name