Mega Man: Little Questions

Usually, Dr. Wily didn't call him down.

The few times that he did, it was usually to do some laboratory work. It was rather nice being allowed to do laboratory work, and not have to worry about an uncertain future. His future was a bit uncertain, and he liked to have some sense of knowing. It made him feel safe in the dangerous situation that he was in.

Sometimes, the scientist just wanted to talk to him. It was nice to see a different side of Dr. Wily rather than the kooky old man that just wanted to take over the world. That different side was rather kind and caring, and was genuinely concerned about how he was fitting in to this time period, and whether any of the Robot Masters in the know were giving him trouble. Most of them ignored Quint for the part, others bullied him, others feared him, and others made friends with him.

Bass had been interesting when the other was constructed; instead of constantly challenging him to battles, like Quint had been nervous about, he'd accepted that this version of him was there to stay and that he'd better challenge the younger one. While it irked him a bit that he would never actually defeat him in battle, he did sort of fill the older brother void Quint had had since Proto Man had died in his time.

Well, one of those hardass brothers that tried their best to toughen one up. But Quint was happy to put up with it; he'd finally managed to befriend Bass! Dr. Wily had laughed when he had found out.

"That's my boy, Quint, you don't change much, do you?" he had said, amused.

Sometimes, Quint asked him whether he regretted anything that he had done.

"Truth be told, I do. I sometimes want to go back and retrieve that robot I was building in the future," Dr. Wily had said to the green robot once. "But you already said that I really shouldn't, and looked like you were about to have a mental breakdown when I had considered not listening."

Quint hadn't told him that it was because that robot that Dr. Wily had been building was going to become R-Shadow and would be coming back in time about... two months? At least, he thought it was about two months.

Brooding was quite common during these meetings. Once Dr. Wily had been in a rather down mood with a bottle of strong vodka, and seeing Quint had made it worse.

"Knowing you were still alive for me to bring back here sometimes makes me wonder whether I really did accomplish anything. I'm still alive in your time, and so are you, and Thomas, Mikhail, Noelle, and all those other scientists. Did I ever apologize to Mikhail or his daughter? I want to apologize to the dear girl - she was actually quite polite - but I'm not sure I can approach her without Mikhail or her robot brothers playing a game of Russian Roulette with me."

"Yes Dr. Wily, you did," Quint said, sheepishly, patting the man on the back. "She accepted it too."

This time, though, Quint wasn't sure what to expect. Leaving Sakugarne in his room, he headed on down to where the laboratory was, helmet tucked under his arm. He wasn't sure whether he would be sent somewhere, though at the least he would not be sent to where his younger self was. No, they'd already met twice, and Wily was convinced that Quint had been downgraded in the future.

It helped that he didn't tell Dr. Wily that he still had full control of his Variable Weapons System and every single weapon that he had collected over the years.

"Dr. Wily?" the futurebot called into the laboratory. "I'm here."

"Oh, you are? Excellent!" The scientist beamed, placing an arm around Quint's shoulders. Surprised, he squeaked a bit, though he didn't drop his helmet, and glanced up at him, confusion written all over his features.

Quint glanced around the laboratory. There was no more of a mess than usual, though that was not any indication. "Do you need help with one of the projects, Doctor?" he asked.

"Just one," he said. "It's on that work table over there. How I managed those first few years without a version of you around."

"I don't know either," Quint said truthfully. It was a mystery as to how Dr. Wily had had anything organized before kidnapping him. The green robot set his helmet down and headed over to the work table. "Do you just need these organized?"

"Yes, just that. Try to be quick about it, too, I'm behind as it is."

Quint began filing the papers, something about a "Project Zero", and glanced over at the scientist. "How are you?"

"Just fine, no worse than usual. Have you heard about the new law that they were talking of putting in place?" Dr. Wily asked.

"About the expiration dates on robots?" Quint asked, grimacing.

"Yes, that one," the scientist said, nodding. "Barbaric, that's what it is..." He patted Quint on the shoulder. "Good to know you didn't have one. I wonder whether that means the law was shot down in the future?"

Quint sighed quietly. That had been rough time for him. He'd all but cried when Splash Woman, Jewel Man, and the others had been taken away. His siblings. And then Dr. Wily had saved them. Though no one talked of Dr. Wily's role in it, he mutely wondered what had made the man do it. He felt strongly about it, but would he have come up with the idea.

Maybe he should suggest it to him.

A bit shocked and scared at his own thoughts, Quint shook his head, and buried himself in his work. However, his momentary distraction had been noticed by Dr. Wily.

"What are you thinking about?" Dr. Wily raised his eyebrows, tapping Quint on the head. "The law? Or something else?"

"N-Nothing, just about what's gonna happen," he said, awkwardly, shifting through a piece of paper and staring at it. Dr. Wily noticed.

"Oh, that?" He said, tilting his head at the dinosaur-shaped Wily Machine blueprints. "I wasn't so sure about making that. The concept is nice, but I'm not sure how to have it work."

"Um well..." Quint thought back. "...Why don't you make it hover? The outer shell should be impervious to everything except itself and um... have it attack by either stomping or spitting out eggs with powerful explosions or spitting fire? And the saucer can shoot out electricity or something."

Dr. Wily just stared at him. Quint just gave a sheepish, knowing smile.

"You know, I think I will," the scientist said slowly. "Don't tell me you find a way to destroy it anyways."

"Sorry," Quint said, sounding genuinely apologetic. Dr. Wily just shook his head, patting Quint.

"It can't be helped, I suppose. I do have a question for you, though, and not about the future." At those words, Quint blinked and looked over at the scientist.

"Yes Doctor?" he asked.

"To start off with, you're full of brilliant ideas, and I'm regretting not kidnapping you all those years ago when you were just little Rock," Dr. Wily said. Quint stared at him.

"Thanks?" Quint wasn't sure whether he should feel complimented or not.

"But there's one idea I'm surprised hasn't come to your head yet," Dr. Wily said, crossing his arms and looking very serious. Quint tilted his head.

"Yes...?"

"You need to get yourself a girlfriend."

That completely caught Quint off-guard. "H-Huh?!" His blinked multiple times, unable to get out an intelligent response.

"A girlfriend. You never mentioned a special girl that you showed interest in. Did you show any interest in girls at all?" Dr. Wily prompted. For a moment, Quint thought that the man was joking, but Dr. Wily still seemed quite serious about all of this.

"Um..."

"Maybe I should set you up with a nice robot girl," Dr. Wily said, thoughtfully.

"W-Wait, Dr. Wily-" Quint protested.

"Roll, Hornet Woman, and Splash Woman are your sisters, so they're out. Plum was always more interested in Quick Man. Kalinka's human and now older than you, that would get awkward fast. Medicine Woman is out of the country... and my dear daughter Crystal is terrified of you. Besides, Star, Napalm, and the others would try to kill you, and you're much too valuable. Hm, who to set you up with?" Dr. Wily mused.

"Doctor... please..." Quint stammered, starting to turn a little red. Dr. Wily suddenly snapped his fingers, and grinned.

"Right! Noelle's girl, Tempo or Quake Woman, or whichever name the girl goes by now. She's perfect - your age, quiet like you, is made for digging which you like doing, and you're both green-schemed." Dr. Wily beamed.

"Doctooooor!" Quint whined. Tempo was a nice girl, yes, but he only thought of her as a friend! He hadn't even considered thinking of her in that sort of way!

"You should ask her out one day, Quint," Dr. Wily said. "You two would get along well."

"Until she found out that I'm technically yours," Quint pointed out. Dr. Wily just waved his hand.

"Minor details like that don't matter," the scientist said. "I want you to ask her out. You'd be happy with her. Make no mistake, I'm making your past miserable, you can at least be happy in your future."

"Okay, okay..." Quint said, bright red by now. He wasn't seriously planning to ask Tempo out, but he had agreed to it now to make the man stop pressuring him - especially considering that the man's reasons for setting him up with a date were making him fidget. "J-Just stop, please."

"Hmph, you've become way too shy," Dr. Wily sighed. "I'm sure that's not part of the programming changes I made."

"D-Doctor..." It wasn't, and Quint knew that. Quint also knew that Dr. Wily literally had no control over him, but only thought he did. Right now? Quint was staying with the man out of his own free will. It wasn't as if he had anywhere else to go, considering that he should avoid his original family at all costs.

"Well, you can get back to work, then. I will be reminding you about your future with Tempo later, though." Dr. Wily waggled his finger at him, and Quint just groaned.

"Yes, Dr. Wily..." Quint just shook his head at the scientist, studying some parts that were scattered. Hm, were these the exact parts that the man had used for that one particular invention? It looked like Dr. Wily was planning to scrap them. Better save them just in case. Discreetly, the boy robot put them in the used parts bins.

A door slamming and an irritated Dr. Wily shouting a German expletive Quint had heard multiple times signified exactly who had just walked in. "Bass, how many times do I have to tell you not to slam the door?"

The black-armored robot rolled his eyes as Treble bounded through the door, skidding to a stop in front of Quint. "I was looking for Quint, and that annoying and peppy Gyro Man told me he had seen him coming this way."

Quint had knelt down as Treble had wagged his tail, giving the wolf bot pettings. For all of his fierceness in battle, Treble was just a giant puppy in the body of a wolf. However, he looked up as Bass mentioned he was looking for him. "For me?"

"Yeah, you." And suddenly, Quint found a battered soccer ball tossed into his arms, which he barely managed to catch. "I'm bored, the Seventh Generation is gone, and I'm not talking to the others. Wanna play some soccer with me and Treble?"

Quint looked at Dr. Wily, who just shrugged. Turning back to Bass, the boy nodded. "Sure! The fields, right?" With the fortress in a nice, secluded area, there was plenty of room for sports outdoors without causing someone to call the cops on them. Quint was still wary of that blue-haired policewoman robot that was all set to tackle them. And then there were Ring Man and Fake Man (he was curious as to why Fake Man hadn't been named Police Man, but then he supposed that was too obvious. Besides, it wasn't as if Fire Man was a fireman, was he?).

"Great, come on!" Bass stretched, smirking, and dropped his arm around Quint's shoulder. Quint smiled a bit, and walked out of the laboratory with Treble in tow.

His younger self and the other Lights probably wouldn't understand how, but he, of his own free will, was perfectly content where he was. And that was how it would stay for quite some time.

He just needed to remember to avoid Symphony in two months.