Ruby's Diner
Hey look, it's Midi! Have a seat, take a load off...
Welcome to Ruby's Diner, a resturaunt that is now almost legendary due to it's usual clientel. It's a small but quaint place, it's walls covered in vintage posters and newspaper clippings from the dawn of the century. For the first timer, one might want to 'gaze' at the walls and check out all the things the staff and regulars have managed to collect for the walls.
The staff is always friendly, if not a tad cynical and blunt at times, but the food is always good and fast, the coffee is always fresh, and Trish always the back of her hand ready for people who act out of line, her favorite target being Maverick Hunter pretty-boy and XO Zero, who has been a regular here since the day it opened. So sit back, relax, and enjoy some conversation. Everyone knows your name around here, and even if they aren't glad you came, they're sure to still have a bit of conversation with you.
Iris [Uniform]
Exit <X> leads to New York - Western Downtown.
The door to Ruby's Diner swings open, and in walks the small form of the UN's hacker. Still in his normal armor, instead of more casual clothes like he'd normally wear when heading out off duty, he walks up the the counter, with a rather slow pace, and takes a seat. "Chocolate Milk please..." Comes an uncharacterisically depressed voice, you'd almost swear he was going to drown his sorrows at a bar.... well... this is close enough for Midi, I suppose.
Iris is at her usual table, sipping tea. As she catches Midi coming in, she waves to him to try to get his attention.
Midi notices Iris' wave after a moment. Taking the glass of chocolate milk with a thanks, he walks on over to her table, though he doesn't seem at all perky or cheerful like normal. "Hi Iris..." comes a somewhat tired voice. Also, oddly, in his other hand is a... pen. Nothing particularly special looking about it, it's just a pen, though it does seem pretty old. He sips the milk slowly.
"What's going on with you?" Iris asks. "You look terrible!"
[RADIO: (B) World] Guts Man transmits, "Who's the guy you love to hate? Guts Man! He'll kick a Stardroid swiftly in the ass because Guts Man is stronger than nerds frooooom space. Guts Man! Everyone would love to be like him, but most can't compare as they're Reploids or twits! GUUUUTS MAN! GUUUUUTS MAN! Yes no one can compare to Guts Man destroyer of nerd from space!"
[RADIO: (B) World] Bass transmits, "Guts Man! In COLOR!"
[RADIO: (B) World] Bass transmits, "(closed captioning, where available.)"
[RADIO: (B) World] Teisel Bonne begins to cough. "Gyah! Guts Man! Don't do that! I nearly choked on my dinner!"
[RADIO: (B) World] Knight Man transmits, "...Excelsior..."
[RADIO: (B) World] Guts Man transmits, "Drats..."
Midi sighs "It's..." He places the pen down on the table, and seems to just gaze at it for a moment "...Dr. Wily." For some reason, he sounds almost sad "You might think I'm crazy for saying this... but... I didn't want him to die..." Midi naivety #1, he actually thinks Wily is dead, #2, he feels sorry for it. "It's kind of a long story..."
[RADIO: (B) World] Teisel Bonne transmits, "Bah! I bet you would have like that."
[RADIO: (B) World] Guts Man transmits, "I sure would!"
Iris nods, and sips her tea. "Well you know...Zero's pretty good at second-guessing these things, and he's convinced that Dr. Wily is still alive. He's sure of it."
Midi headshakes "I dunno... but..." He sighs "It started the night that thing crashed through Starhaven. While I was working in the UN Plaza, Dr. Wily showed up. Since we're all allied and stuff, I didn't call security or anything, he even talked to me. And he was... kind. He said he was looking for a pen he lost in the Magellan shuttle, he said he had it since he was designing Guts Man." Midi shrugs "I found myself saying I'd look for it in the Lost and Found for him. I really didn't expect to find it but..." He gazes at the pen he placed on the table "Then that whole situation started, I opened up the Live News stream on my labtop, and he watched it with me. Then after everything started, he called the Skull Shuttle... and he offered to let me come along to see what would happen. I dunno why I agreed to..." He shakes his head "And then when they all went outside the shuttle, there wasn't a spacesuit to fit me, so he let me ride his Mecha Wily in the cockpit with him. And then...." You'd almost see tears welling in his eyes, slightly "..he died. I saw it all from the cockpit of his ride armor. The Robot Masters brought me back to the UN Plaza without any trouble... I looked in the Lost and Found office, and there was the pen."
Iris ahs, nodding as she listens. "...I can see why you're upset," she says. "You know...before he went crazy, he was probably a really nice man a lot of the time. Did you know that at one time, he was a colleague of Dr. Light and Dr. Cossack?"
Midi sighs "Yeah, I know about all that. All this time I just thought of him like another bad guy... but... he seems more misguided than evil. And his Robot Masters, they're willing to lay down their lives for him, it doesn't seem forced, they look willing. If only he focused his talents differently.... but now it's too late." He looks at the pen again, then back up to Iris "I was thinking about giving it to Dr. Light..."
Iris smiles. "You know, he'd probably appreciate that...if you told him the story that you told me. Dr. Light remembers when he was a nice man, too."
Midi looks back at the pen, then at his glass. "Why does this stuff have to happen? Stardroids threatening us, people dying, people going crazy..." It was so much easier for Midi when the line was neat and clean, there was good guys, and there was bad guys. Now he's not so sure. "Why do people always have to fight... it was bad enough when we couldn't share our own planet... now it seems guys like the Stardroids won't let us share the universe with them..."
Iris shrugs. "Wish I had some answers for you," she says. "By the way...have you had a chance to meet any of these Stardroids yet, or see them?"
Midi headshakes, he takes another sip of his milk. "Nuh-uh... I dunno if I even want to... some of them, like Terra, didn't sound so bad... but I don't wanna meet one like Sunstar or Pluto..." He shudders slightly at the thought of Pluto, that one is just creepy to him.
"I met two of them, they didn't seem so bad," Iris says. "I met one named Pisces, and another one named...Acquarians, or something like that. Pisces looked kind of sick and weak, in fact."
Midi nods "I dunno... maybe? I don't know what I'd say to one of them... I mean... they're Stardroids." He pauses "What did they say? Did they say what they wanted with us?"
Iris says, "They were running from...someone who's pursuing them. I know that sounds awfully simplistic, but that's the best we could get out of them. Someone is chasing them, and is intent on destroying them..."
Midi blinks "But who could...? I mean, they're really powerful right? What could be so threatening to them?" He pauses for a moment, when an even worse realization hits him "...but that means... if they're here, then that thing is going to get here eventually? But... what can /we/ do? If the Stardroid's couldn't beat it?"
Iris says, "It's beginning to look as if these pursuers are going to end up -here-, on Earth, if they haven't reached here already. And the best we can do is try and make peace with them when they do come."
Great, instead of being sad and depressed over Wily's 'death', he's now frightened. "But.. what if they don't want peace? We can't stand a chance! Even if Rock and Colonel and Zero and ProtoMan, and even Sigma and Bass all teamed up, they can't beat something like that!
Iris sighs, and sips her tea. "So if it happens that way, then, it's the end of the world, Midi. Simple as that. But why cry over it? If we have only a short time left, let's at least use it constructively...not panicking, but living each moment the way we should live it...rationally, and giving every chanced for peace our best effort."
Midi looks back down at the glass "End of the World?" No, it can't come to that. Midi doesn't share quite the same outlook Iris does. "But... I haven't... I haven't..." He hasn't got to do a lot of things he wanted to. Design the perfect network defense, fight alongside Rock, eat his weight in sugar, but most importantly... "...I haven't gotten to make peace with Techno..."
Iris glances up from her tea, and across the table at Midi. "Well...why don't you, then? There's no time like the present. In fact...there might not be much time left, period."
Midi blinks. Why not? Well, there's the point that he can't really get in contact him without a LOT of effort, and that Techno is so horribly stubborn, he'd probably refuse to consider the idea, especially now. But even so... "You're right... I should... I have to try... he's my brother..." "He pauses for another minute "But... even so... I don't want the world to end..."...
"Yeah, I don't want it to end, either," Iris says sadly. "It's a scary thought, so...try not to think about it. Try to live each moment of each day as if it were the best day you ever wanted to have. Buy Pixie Sticks. Play the best viedo games the Net has to offer...have FUN...enjoy yourself. Enjoy what it is to be alive."
But he does all that stuff anyway! But still, he gets the point. "Ok..." He says, finally with a hint of cheerfulness returning to his voice. "But first..." He looks at the pen again "I wonder if Dr. Light will have time to talk to me..."
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] RF MSE Prismatic Spider transmits, "Another Stardroid sighting in Russia... Uranus."
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] Rigger transmits, "... One of the main planetary Stardroids. Well. This is surprising. I was begining to think we'd only have those of constellations show."
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] RF MSE Prismatic Spider transmits, "I was wondering the same thing, actually."
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] Iris transmits, "Weird question, but...does he seem 'healthy', in optimum condition...or sick?"
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] Bluegrass Not Serena Gilbert transmits, "Ah don't know, sugah. Ah can check fer ya..."
Iris smiles. "If you don't feel like you know him very well, I could understand you being reluctant. Um...would you like me to ask him for you?"
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] Rigger transmits, "We'll find out soon."
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] RF MSE Prismatic Spider transmits, "Since it's not one of the Zodiac Stardroids, I'm not sure if the comparison would apply. These are older, from what information we have."
[RADIO: (E) UN-Secure] Rigger transmits, "Also one of the ones there were pendants of. At least we don't have to worry about being their replacements, it seems."
Midi pauses, and shakes his head "No, it's ok, thanks. I'll try." He doesn't know a lot of the Hunters too well, but if he mentions to Dr. Light what it's about, he's sure he'll give him time to talk. He pauses for another moment, finishing his chocolate milk. "...you don't think there'll be anything I can do, do you? I mean, all I can do really is defend mainframes. But... I'd like to do SOMETHING to help the Earth, if I can..."
Iris admits, "Well...I think you'll know what to do when the time comes. You'll just -know-."
Hmm, cryptic speech. Sorta. Midi doesn't really follow to well... but he gets the point. "Yeah, you're right, I think. So, all I can really do is just carry on like normal." He needs to talk to Dr. Light, and Techno if he gets the chance. But otherwise, he'll try to be the same ol Midi. "Thanks Iris, you really cheered me up."
Iris gets up, leaving some money for her bill plus a generous tip. She pauses and smiles down at Midi...not in a romantic/mushy sort of way, but in the way that says...I respect you as a friend. "I'm glad I could do that," she says. "Now chin up. And don't think about Doomsday...keep a good attitude. This may all work out in the end." With that, she heads back toward the door.
Online Life is graciously hosted by RPGClassics.