Sinister Six: Answers

by Rich (Bombman) Kassidy

CHAPTER 3

Thomas Light leaned closer to his computer screen, almost leering at the content that filled his monitor. It had been just a week since the “rebirth” of his six original Robot Masters, who had taken to calling themselves “The Sinister Six”. He didn’t really agree with such an almost villainous name, but they were dead set on having it, for whatever reasons. That, however, was far from his current thoughts, as he now had one or more of them to look at even more closely. He checked the internet logs for his lab, and found some unscheduled activity early in the morning.

Upon checking the logs, he found that most of them were search inquiries involving the Scottish Cryogenics Storage Facility and cybernetics. He had anticipated some independent research from at least some of the young minds, but a few of the searches turned back some startling results, even going so far as to give lists of who was kept in there. Obviously, as their human bodies were not kept in that area, as they were being reconstructed in Japan, this would put him in an awkward position when these questions were brought up. He would now have to pick his words very carefully.


Odin sat in his quarters alone, lost in deep thought. He and Ben were both in agreement about this whole mess, and he was beginning to be very wary about Dr Light’s explanations. He still seemed like a nice, likable person, but he seemed to be covering up something dark. You could see it in his eyes as he shifted them about when he answered certain questions. He very well might have good intentions for them, but perhaps his methods were somewhat questionable. In any case, he and Ben made quick allies in the search for the truth.

As for the rest of the group, they were still in amazement with their new abilities, and never wasted a new chance to test out their new superhuman abilities. Gary found his abilities especially useful, as he took a simple joy in being able to eat ice cream without worry of it melting in the oppressive 90-degree heat outside by simply breathing on it. The four now-robots were clearly infatuated with their own powers, and just loved to take advantage of the freedom of movement they now enjoyed. The odd feeling of detachment from the bodies had faded, and they were now more aware of the surroundings than ever before. Their vision had surpassed the former perfect mark of 20/20, and could see what was going on half a mile away, even in thick fog. Even the now diminutive Gary, who suffered a long list of ailments in his former life could run and jump like an Olympian. It was enough to make him forget his past life entirely.

Erik was enjoying his new role as future-protector of the world. He looked forward to what he could do for the Earth, and often thanked Dr Light for the opportunity. Even the immense size of his new Gutsman body didn’t even bother him anymore, as the good far outweighed the bad. He could finally do some good for the world with it, so minor inconveniences were inconsequential.

Fushidane and Britt were now feeling somewhat better about their newfound roles. They felt on the same level as their male counterparts, even if any self-imagined shortcomings still lingered. In fact, gender didn’t really exist anymore, except in mind. Everyone on the team was equal in some way or another, and a true feeling of balance could be felt within the team. They all worked as if they were childhood friends from the beginning; it was more than Light could have hoped for. Even the aloof Ben was working alongside his teammates in the practice drills they were doing several times a day, but he promptly disappeared to his personal quarters to brood on matters unknown to the rest of the team.

Ben had no problem with his newfound teammates. He just felt out of place in his new body. It was surreal to him, especially with the foggy memories that were peeking into his daily thoughts. He could ignore them for the most part, but he still thought about what they meant often. To him, it was proof that Light wasn’t being completely honest with them, and he took everything that he said with a grain of salt. He tried to find the hidden meanings, if any, to what Light might be saying. He just didn’t like being lied to. But still, he couldn’t help but feel cool in his new body. He certainly didn’t have a problem with the power he was given to him. He actually looked forward to his inevitable crime fighting days that lay ahead of him, but you’d never hear him say that.

The now famous super robot Rockman was absent as of late. The reason being that it had seemed that Rock’s brother, Blues, had begun a world take over attempt of his own. Even more noticeable to the Sinister Six was the absence of Dr Light, who had been missing from his laboratory since Blues had made his presence known to the world. This struck the Six as quite strange, as up until then Light was an ever-present force in the steel and plasticky laboratory. When they began to make plans for a search for their newfound mentor, they were quickly shot down by Rock himself, who insisted that they stay and continue their training. He didn’t believe them to be ready for combat just yet, and wasn’t about to put them in any danger. In fact, he couldn’t; despite them having robotic bodies, he still saw them as human, thus his internal programming wouldn’t allow the less-than-experienced crime fighters to be put in any sort of life threatening danger.

Ben and Odin, however, planned on making good use of the good doctor’s absence by further searching for the truth in Light’s personal files. This might be the only chance they have, so they weren’t about to waste it. The two theorized with each other as they traveled down the long hallway that led to Light’s personal study.

“…So…what are your thoughts lately?”, Odin asked the always serious looking Ben.

“Same as always. You know he’s covering something up, and it has to be something big. I just don’t like being lied to.”

“Heh…it’s in their nature to lie.”, Odin chuckled to himself with a sense of over confidence brimming.

Ben stopped him in his tracks upon hearing this.

“Whose nature? Humans? You do realize that you’re still a human being under all of that metal.” Ben growled. He certainly didn’t want to be placed in the same category as a toaster.

“Haha, don’t be so righteous. Don’t you see? We’re so much more now! We have so much more potential than just a mere human being. We’re free from the things we were limited to each and everyday. The norm doesn’t apply to us anymore!”

Ben almost agreed with him on that point, but knew that they might not have the time to philosophize.

“We can talk about this later. Light could return at any moment, so we better get a move on.”

Odin nodded and the two continued forth until they approached the door at the end of the hallway that led to the large study. However, before they made their way into the room, their enhanced hearing picked up unfamiliar voices coming from the other side. The two now crept in slowly to listen in.

“…Nyet, nyet. I cannot allow MY creations to be used in such an unholy manner!”

“But, think of all the good they could do! I think that you’ll change your mind when you see our experiment in action.”

Odin and Ben recognized the second voice as that of Roll’s, sister of Rock. The first voice, which was laced with a thick Russian accent full of anger, was unfamiliar.

“Feh, that abomination that Light has created?! I don’t care how much good they do. They’re still wrong in nature. Human minds were not meant to be used in such an obscene manner, especially when they’re pirated human minds.”

“Pirated…”, Ben whispered to himself.

“How did you know that, Sergei? That’s of the utmost secrecy.”

“I have my methods. But what is even more important is the issue at hand. I will NOT rebuild my Robot Masters to be abused in such a hideous way. If they’re to be rebuilt for such a purpose, my own programming will be the thing that drives them. This playing God with a human mind is wrong on many levels, and I refuse to take part in it.”

“You don’t get it. If you allow them to run around without a human mind to guide them, they’re still subject to Wily reprogramming them again. You don’t want that, do you?”

“…Then they will not be rebuilt. End of story.”

Odin and Ben looked at one another.

“Do you know who that is in there?! That’s Sergei Cossack!” Odin whispered in excitement.

“…And? Should I care?” Ben retorted.

“I should say so. He’s the one that designed and built the Robot Masters that were used in Wily’s last attempt on the world.”

“Hmm”, Ben began to wonder, “What the hell is a criminal like that doing here then?”

“Oh no, he’s no criminal. As it turns out, Wily sort of forced Cossack into the situation by extortion. He must be here as a favor to Light for helping him out.”

“If that’s the case, we may not have to sneak around for answers. He might be more honest with us than Light.” Ben said as he straightened out his back to stand fully upright.

Ben then shoved open the door, causing both Cossack and Roll to jump. Cossack looked at what he considered to be a Frankenstein’s monster, and narrowed his eyes to convey his disapproval. The flame-equipped robot immediately picked up on this cold feeling emitting from the Russian scientist, and knew his hopes of getting answers from him might have gone right out the window. He would have to be very tactful in his approach; something he was not privy to. Luckily for him, Odin sped out in front of him to introduce himself.

“Dr Cossack, I presume? I must say, I’m a big fan of your writings, sir. I’m especially fond of your article on human cloning and what it means to the robot task force!”

Cossack immediately perked up. It wasn’t often that he heard such praise, especially coming from a robot.

“You don’t say? And, what were your thoughts?”

“Well, I really agree with your point about how human cloning, although legal and wide-spread in some areas, isn’t yet big enough to make a big enough dent in the robot task force, as the human rights activists really will fight tooth and nail when they try and use these poor clones to do their work.”

“Ah, yes. I must say, I would expect a robot to agree with me on such a matter.”

“Oh, but I wasn’t always a robot, sir. In fact, I’m kinda new to this whole Robot Master thing.”

Cossack suddenly remembered that he was dealing with something he was arguing with Roll about just minutes prior. He actually began to smirk when he realized this, as if seeing this in action was beginning to have an adverse effect on him. He turned his head to Roll.

“About that little matter we were discussing. I’ll…take it under advisement.” Cossack said with the smile eventually leaving his face. He did, however, turn his attention back to Odin and smiled once again. “Well, unfortunately, I must really get back to a…project I’m working on. Perhaps we can continue this conversation later.”

“Alright sir. Pleasure to meet you.” It was apparent that Odin took some admiration in meeting Cossack in the flesh. He wasn’t lying when he said that he was a fan of his work.

Roll snapped Ben and Odin’s attention as soon as Cossack was out of view.

“Well…since you’re here, I may as well show you guys what we’re working on, even without Dr Light’s supervision currently. Follow me.”

The trio of robots left the study to the hallway Ben and Odin walked through minutes before, only they stopped halfway down the hallway in front of a discrete door that bared no marking. Roll placed her hand on a panel next to the door and uttered a word to some unseen device.


“Breakman.”

With that, the door slid open with a silent hushing noise. The sound of finely tuned machinery greeted them, as well as pitch-blackness. Roll flicked on a light switch to remedy this, and soon the objects that the machines were working on came into view.

“Gentlemen,”, She began, “allow me to introduce to you the second team of crime fighting Robot Masters.”

“But those are…” was all Ben could utter in his disbelief.

“…The series of Robot Masters from Dr Wily’s third take over attempt…”, Odin grimly finished Ben’s thought. “What is Dr Light doing with these monsters?”

It was true. In various stages of repair and upgrading, the second series of Wily’s own Robot Masters awaited completion. From the looks of it, they would be finished in a few weeks time.

“Dr Light has been repairing these particular Robot Masters for nearly two years now, ever since they were recovered from the Gamma incident you’ve no doubt learned about by now. Despite them being Wily’s designs, Dr Light believes they can still be of some service to humanity. If you six do well in your first few weeks of crime prevention and determent, Dr Light has taken into consideration looking for more volunteers to occupy these eight bodies.”

“…Is that what you and Cossack were discussing?” Ben asked bluntly.

“…Why do you ask? What did you hear?” Roll shot back defensively.

“Oh, not much. Just something about the illegal use of human minds.” Ben nonchalantly stated. He figured Roll was just as good as having Cossack in the interrogation room at this point. Maybe she knew more than she was letting on.

“I’m not sure…what he was talking about. You six volunteered.” Roll stared directly at Ben while saying this, her eyes not wavering about like a typical liar. Then again, she wasn’t exactly your typical girl.

“Bull. There’s something rotten about this whole situation. Whether its from you or from somewhere else, I’ll get my answers, so fess up. You know more than you’re letting on.” Ben’s anger level was quickly rising. He had little patience for politics on this scale.

“…Perhaps you should ask Dr Light when he returns. I’m not at liberty to discuss this matter with you.”

“Enough! I won’t play games! I don’t like being kept in the dark, especially on important matters like this!”

Odin then tried to calm his comrade down by standing in between Roll and the now fire-topped Fireman. He sure didn’t want this to boil over into something more than it really was. Ben, however, merely shoved him aside as he pointed right at Roll.

“You know what? Maybe you don’t know the whole story afterall. Maybe you’re in the dark as much as we are. Or maybe your ‘daddy’ hasn’t given you all the facts. In any case, I’ll do as you say and wait for the old man to return from whatever trip he decided to take. In the mean time, you can damn well believe that I’ll be watching you, as well as what goes on here.”

With that, Ben stormed out of the room, knocking over a random cart as he did so. Odin and Roll silently watched him leave, somewhat relieved it didn’t turn into an even uglier situation.

“I’m…sorry about that. We both have been rather…uptight lately. But I do agree with him on some level. If Dr Light is hiding something about ourselves, I’d really appreciate him telling us so. However, I suppose it doesn’t really matter in the long run, as what’s done is done.”

“The answers will come all in due time…but for now, please be patient. Dr Light has his reasons, I assure you.”

“I’ll…trust you, Roll.” Odin turned to walk out the room, “Just don’t betray that trust.”

Now Roll was left alone in the room that contained eight of the world’s deadliest robots. However, she didn’t feel threatened by them at all. She felt threatened by her own family.

“Dr Light…why?”

She sobbed as the truth of the whole matter was played before her in her own mind. She wanted to tell them. She really did. But, she knew it wasn’t her place to do so. All she could do now was hope that Dr Light would be returned to them safely, and that he himself would sort through this whole mess. She wiped the tears from here polymer/glass eyes as she began to clean up the mess that Ben had left in his wake.

“Just…come home safe…okay?”

****