Mechanical Maniacs: Life After Life

By Hadrian (Hardman) Howell

CHAPTER 9: Problem

"We've got a problem," the Middleman told us as we all sat down at my table. It was twenty four hours before we set the plan in motion, and they promised to be filled with such instances.

Raijin, SD, 'Constance' and myself all tensed inwardly, unsure which problem he might be talking about.

It was oddly relieving when he produced a small, portable viewscreen, setting it on the table and making sure we could all see it. He didn't turn it on, but instead decided to speak first.

"Our inside sources only just got wind of this today, or I'd have told you about it, made sure you were all prepared to deal with this. In five minutes, Mayor Leomund will be making an announcement to the entire city regarding tomorrow's gathering of worldwide officials. It will NOT make you happy."

This, it turns out, was an understatement.

The viewscreen sprang to life, already set to the Channel 4 News, where the anchor was standing in front of a makeshift stage. Whatever he was saying wasn't important, because the camera almost immediately cut away from him and focused on the Mayor himself as he stepped up to the podium. Raijin was the first to catch sight of the special guest on stage, still seated with a somber expression on his face.

"Oh, christ, it's Dr. Light."

None of us had the time to mull over the implications of that before the Mayor began to speak.

"My fellow citizens, my proud bretheren, and my honored nieghbors, I am happy to be standing before you today. Happy, because as I am sure you know by now, the leaders of the world have decided to congregate here, in our unrivaled city, to discuss, seriously, peace the world over. Gone are the days of tyrant like Albert Wily and the evil machine General Cutman. They are gone, and we remain, and we shall, starting tomorrow, take our first steps toward a united humanity, a united planet, and a united will to keep our planet alive, and at the same time push beyond the boundaries of our terrstrial bonds and step, once more, into the vastness of space."

There was a cheer from the crowd. Hey, he got elected for a reason. Man was an insipiring speaker, and what impressed me most is that he wrote his own speeches.

"But, as with all good intentions, there is no doubt in my mind that there are agencies out there who wish to turn tomorrow's events into a terrifying tragedy. Therefore, security remains our most valuable commodity here in Monsteropolis, and we have always been able to offer it in spades!" He brought his hand down on the podium with a solid sound to emphasize his point. "During the war, we offered shelter to those who sought it, and our fair city refused to fall into enemy hands. We fought back. We were the home of the resistance against the murderous machine army. And we triumphed!"

There was another cheer. "Brave men and women fought in that war, for their continued survival. But I believe we have also forgotten that there were machines who fought alongside us as well! Heroic icons who strode the streets as giants, their powers focused on helping not only humanity, but the greater good. These heroes are more quickly forgotten, and I am sorry that I can say that and it can be true. Our paranoia after the war cause us to drive them away, split them apart. We forced the greatest heroes of our time into an early retirement, simply because we were afraid of them."

I had to stop myself from agreeing with him out loud. Finally, after 20 years of the anti-robot sentiment in government, someone had finally used the words 'machine' and 'heroic' in the same breath.

"I speak of course, of the so called Megaman Teams. An undeniable part of Monsteropolis history, tramped down simply because they were better than us. Many of them have been destroyed, many more were hunted and driven into hiding. Our own sin of pride, our unwillingness to admit that when the night was darkest, we needed them to protect us. Well, I say we need them again."

This was met with another, although much more muted, cheer.

"I have spoken at length with the esteemed Dr. Light. A more brilliant mind does not exist among us today. He, my advisors and I have come upon a solution, to all at once increase security throughout Monsteropolis and to reassure the public that they are now, and forever will be, safe within the walls of our districts. Dr. Light has helped to put together a NEW Megaman Team, a force meant to both protect and inspire, and I would like to introduce them to you now."

The viewscreen fuzzed with static as eight beams of colored light cannoned out of the sky, resolving into eight robots that I had never, ever seen before.

"I am honored to introduce to you the ninth Megaman Team to be sanctioned by our city, the Sterling Sentinels! I will allow their leader to make the formal introductions."

"You HAVE to be kidding-" Raijin started.

"This CAN'T be happening-" SD began at the same time.

"Is that a girl?" Needlegal said simultaneously.

"Holy friggin' crap," was all I could manage.

The Middleman nodded grimly as he switched off the viewscreen. "As you can see, this raises an entirely new batch of problems. We only have the bare minimum of information, and your group collectively has very little experience battling robots. We were hoping Mr. Hadrian would be enough to remove any sort of robotic resistance should the need arise, but this is too much."

I mentally scoffed. 15 years ago, I could probably take two or three of these new guys. Of course, I had no idea who they were or what they could do, but that was besides the point. I was arrogant.

"So who was the girl?" Needlegal asked.

"Splashwoman," the Middleman said. "She exhibits a remarkable control over water, possibly through a similar system that the Scissor Army version of Waveman employed during the war. We don't have nearly enough data on her, except for the fact that she leads the team."

"At least they kept with the alliteration," Topman sighed. "Small blessings, I suppose."

"So what other kinds of powers do they have?"

The Middleman sighed, exhasperated. "We only really know their names, which with these guys is sometimes enough. Aside from Splashwoman, there's also Concreteman, Magmaman, Hornetman, Galaxyman, Plugman, Jewelman, and Tornadoman."

"Hasn't th' 'man' thing gotten old yet?" I wondered aloud, not really asking the question.

"Jewelman? You're serious? What does he do, sparkle at you?"

"Raijin..." Needlegal sighed.

But Raijin kept going. "And Plugman? I don't even want to KNOW what that's about."

"So how does this change the plan?" SD asked the Middleman.

The robot shook his head. "It doesn't. It just raises the stakes. You all have to play your roles perfectly. No screw ups. None at all, got it?"

We nodded collectively. Tomorrow was going to be a very large headache.