Things Trivial and Cherished

By Jixie 3/2019 / Mega Man © Capcom

- Note: The setting for this fic is Mandy Paugh's 'verse' (Mega Man: The Series). If you're not familiar, no problem, it's pretty self explanatory. All you need to know is that Mega Man and Break Man (Proto Man) are living beings because reasons, and being alive is a fluke thing that can't be replicated. No other robots are sentient, except maybe Bass, who knows what that guy's deal is?

- Special thanks to beta readers aJennyAnn and t260g

Prologue: YEAR.003 DAY.343 TIME.19:06 \\ `winter'

It had been a false alarm, signal distortion from the snowstorm.

Having confirmed the all clear, he should have gone back inside. Instead Bass stayed to watch. Large downy snowflakes drifted lazily from the sky, swirling aimless in the gentle wind. It came down in a steady, endless flow. The insulating effect of the snow dampened all sound and the low humidity resulted in a quiet stillness, lending the scene a dreamlike quality.

The fact that it was beautiful wasn't much a surprise. Humans often pointed out how 'pretty' snow was. The fact that he could perceive its beauty…

That was new.

It had only been a minute, but already a light dusting of snow coated his armor.

"Wily," he said, pinging the scientist over the communicator. "Does falling snow feel like it looks?"

"What? Hmph."

Wily was off camera, but Bass could picture his face, eyes rolling, lip curled in a sneer.

A few moments passed, and he sighed. "No, it does not. It melts the instant it lands on you, which means it feels cold and wet, like a raindrop without the impact."

The answer was poetic, but not helpful. For all the times that Bass had been out in the rain, he didn't know how that felt either. He imagined it felt much like it sounded, but the snowflakes made no noise.

"Well, what if you didn't have any body heat?"

"I wouldn't know. If a combat machine needed tactile sensors, then perhaps you could tell me."

"Oh, go shove a sock in it." Bass scowled even though there was no one to see it. Somewhere along the line, making faces stopped being just a communication tool and had become candid self-expression.

"If I didn't have any body heat, I suppose…" Wily continued. "I suppose what I'd feel is eternal gratitude that my creator gave me such an efficient cooling system. Otherwise, my power hungry processor would cook itself in a matter of minutes."

"You're such a hateful old geezer." He stuck out his tongue for added effect.

"So I've been told." There was a brief pause. "Are you quite finished?"

"Yeah, I guess. You should get out here if you can, it's really nice."

"Really nice?" Wily echoed in surprise.

"You know, pretty."

"Pretty? Pretty!?" And here it comes. "I didn't build you to admire the scenery, you worthless—" He stopped abruptly, muttering a few things under his breath, too quiet for the communicator to pick up. "Actually, that's… impressive. My programming genius is more extraordinary than even I realized! If it weren't the very antithesis of everything I've worked for, I could revolutionize the entire field!"

Blah, blah, blah. All Bass got out of it was that he truly was the greatest thing Dr. Wily had ever built. He smirked and spent a few more moments amid the billions of snowflakes cascading from the sky, before returning to the fortress.