Inbox: Mask or Menace

[megabytes]

"You've reached the comms device of Megaman.EXE. I'm not available at the moment, so please leave a message and I will respond as soon as I am able! Thank you!"

Comments

[megabytes]

And I don't want to make you uncomfortable. If you don't want to do this, then I don't want to make you.

[microbrobotics]

... Promise you'll tell me if I'm asking too much, and I'll promise to let you know if you're making me uncomfortable?

[megabytes]

[He nods, reaching over to try and grab one of Hiro's hands. Mostly he just ends up hooking a couple fingers - not quite a pinky promise, but whatever, close enough.]

Deal. I promise.

[microbrobotics]

[ Eh, close enough. He smiles warmly back over at Megaman. ]

Me too. I promise.

[megabytes]

[He squeezes Hiro's fingers, gently.]

Okay. Ask away.

[microbrobotics]

[ He nods, then, and thinks carefully about what he wants to ask next. ]

Why did your dad tell him? Did something happen?

[megabytes]

Yeah. I, uh, I got damaged pretty bad [A hole in his chest where his crest should be and then everything collapses into error messages] and, well. I can't restore from backup, so dad made this emergency repair file. But using it would change part of my code and give us synchro, so...so dad wanted Lan to know. So Lan could choose what to do. To- to fix me or not.

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro sucks in a sharp little virtual breath. ]

He - he chose to fix you, right?

[megabytes]

[He nods, looking away.]

Yeah, he picked me. He knew what'd happen and he still picked me.

[microbrobotics]

... What would happen? The synchro? What's that?

[megabytes]

Synchro has a...a backfeed. If we're in synchro, and I get hurt...

[microbrobotics]

... He gets hurt too.

[megabytes]

Yeah. That's why dad added an offset to my code at first, so that couldn't happen. But he...he couldn't copy out my code after I went online for the first time, so the only thing he had to make my repair file with was the copy from before he added it.

[microbrobotics]

So you got stuck with it on, huh.

[megabytes]

And it's always there, on some level. Not always bad enough for it to hurt him, but...I don't know how to keep it that way.

[microbrobotics]

... Anything could happen? If you were hurt badly enough, he'd just - collapse?

[megabytes]

It could...it could kill him.

[And because of the differences in how human and navi injuries work, something that that could cause a fatal backfeed might not necessarily be something that could kill Megaman.]

[microbrobotics]

[ He looks appropriately horrified at that thought. If he were linked up wiht his brother - with all the dumb things he's done, and how badly he's been injured - ]

He chose it.

[megabytes]

...sometimes, I wish he hadn't.

[As much as it means to him to know that Lan loves him that much, that he'd take that kind of risk just to keep Megaman alive, knowing that a single mistake in a fight could get Lan injured or even killed is absolutely terrifying. He doesn't want to die, but he doesn't want his baby brother to get hurt either.

And when it comes to a choice like that, Megaman picks Lan every time.]

[microbrobotics]

... Yeah. I think - I understand what you mean.

Would you change it if you could?

[megabytes]

If I could keep myself from getting hurt like that, make it so he wouldn't have to choose...yeah. I would.

[microbrobotics]

And if you could turn it off completely? The synchro, I mean.

[megabytes]

I...I don't know. I don't want him to get hurt, but it...not having it feels wrong.

[He squeezes Hiro's fingers again.]

Hasn't even been a year and I'm already used to it. Stupid.

[microbrobotics]

[ Hiro squeezes back gently. ]

Funny how fast you get used to things. I don't ... I don't know how I'm going to go home without my brother.

[megabytes]

[Megaman looks down at their hands, gently running his thumb back and forth across Hiro's knuckles.]

I think...I think you're a lot stronger than you think you are. I think you're gonna do a lot of amazing things, and you're gonna make a lot of people happy.

And I think you'll be okay, because you just have to remember that you'll have a lot of things to tell him about, after. And he's gonna want to hear about all of it, so he'll know how proud of you to be.