█ ▌FIRST SON.

“… hi.”

Piano wasn’t sure quite what to do or to say. She wasn’t sure if this was because she was recently activated, or if it was because she was a bit nervous. She had a whole lot of brothers to meet, and apparently they were quite eager to see her.

“N-not at all! Family comes first, and we’ve been waiting for quite some time to meet you. I-it can wait.”

The elder DWN gives his younger sister a shy smile-- Gosh, his sister! How weird that sounded! He just hoped he wasn’t coming across as lame and boring, or intolerable as Reggae so gleefully put it. He was making an effort to connect fully with Forte, so it would be a shame if Piano found she didn’t like him.

The DWN glares daggers up at the bird, debating on whether a little target practice was in order. What better way to get rid of Reggae than to slice him to ribbons? He’d be doing everyone a favour, really... Though knowing the bird, he’d somehow manage to dodge every blade thrown. 

“Pff- don’t worry about it. I know how you tend to follow the old man’s word to the letter.” Even when trying to manipulate her ‘brother’, she refused to call Dr. Wily her father. Or her master. Or anything in-between, really. She was built by a machine and modified on her own time out of her own pocket (… kind of). Dr. Wily was nothing to her. “I don’t hold it against you. Or the others.”

That said, none of the Wilys were so loyal and well-behaved as Alto. Snake Man was the former, but he also sucked at listening and was hilariously misguided in what he thought was right. Plenty of the others were well-behaved, but they tended to work independently of Wily to the point where without their designation number, most would never be able to tell that they were the mad doctor’s. But Alto? Alto practically didn’t exist without his boss, his father.

“I’m set,” she said. “Let’s head off.”

The DWN trails off uncertainly, feeling as though he was coming off as annoying by rambling so much. Socializing outside his own line for anything but business was still foreign to him, and now that one of them actually wanted to connect the last thing he wanted was to drive her away. 

The arm around his shoulder causes Alto to flinch slightly, not having been expecting it, but he manages a sheepish smile and allows Rave to teleport as she wishes. She likely had some sort of activity in mind, which was fine with him-- Alto so rarely got out, he would have been at a loss to what here might be to do in the first place. And that was without factoring his sister’s interests into the equation! (What were they, anyways...? How little he knew the copy was really starting to become apparent, and Alto heavily disliked the feeling.)

...

Downtown Monstropolis, huh? Gosh, it was packed! And no one here -- human or robot -- was going to notice they were actually DWNs? Alto frowns, unsure whether this had been a good idea after all. He knows his siblings went out all the time, but still... The crowd still made the silver-haired robot quite nervous.

 “My energy levels will rise eventually,” he says, hating how tired his voice sounds, even as he dismisses his armor to make himself more comfortable. “Being out of the rain is enough, really.” He doesn’t want Tone’s older brother to get in trouble for helping him out, after all, and it’s not like he won’t be fine anyway - he’s been through this situation often enough and in worse conditions.

It might’ve been years since he’s seen it, but that pompadour is still absolutely ridiculous. Metal can’t help but wonder who gave the kid the idea to style it in such a way... Probably Dr. Light? Though exaggerated to almost comical levels, it does resemble the way Dr. Light wore his hair back in college... At least, as far as he can tell. Dad hadn’t been too happy to see he’d discovered photos from back in the day, but at least he hadn’t gotten in trouble for it... It would make sense, though. Metal’s pretty sure that if he were to lose the shades, the boy would resemble his father and little brother greatly.

At least Blues trusts him enough to armor down around him. Metal knows the DWNs have been giving the kid a pretty raw deal in the time they’ve known each other. The elder robot follows suit, running a hand through silvery hair to try and stave off any helmet-hair. 

“Alright,” he replies, “I’ll hang around here with you until they do. If you change your mind, just let me know. Okay?”

He’s not sure why he feels so fixated on helping the kid-- He’s not about to go and cause trouble should Alto turn his back. Perhaps it’s that in a way he feels an odd sense of kinship with Blues. They were both the first robot their respective creators built, flawed in some way, and older brother to a set of twins. (Well... In progress, in the Wily family’s case. They had one half already.)

… but he couldn’t say no to his favourite son. How could anyone? His boy was the best thing he’d ever built! Though Alto insisted on referring to Wily as ‘Master’ and taking care of him so often, the fact was that Alto would get whatever he wanted the moment Albert knew of it. He built the boy to be too cute! (Which, of course, he attributed to having based his physical appearance off of himself at that age.)

“Bah, alright…” Dr. Wily got up from his chair- and a very audible crack sound came from his back. Ow- come on, he wasn’t that old! …Yet! Nevertheless, the mad scientist was sluggish, “Wouldn’t want her to end up like Forte, eh?” 

Though, by now, he’d realized what had gone wrong with him. Since he hadn’t been able to complete Piano at the time, he had removed the twin coding that would cause Forte to glitch out. Unfortunately, he must’ve removed either too much or too little, because the missing coding resulted in Forte’s violence feedback loop glitch. Probably a misdirection from the coding trying to fix itself… But oh, well. Soprano fixed it and he was better now.

“Gosh, she’s very cute...” He murmurs appreciatively. For a man as lazy as his father (Alto is aware of his father’s flaws, thank you), he really could outdo himself when he tried... Though he knows Piano can’t hear him yet, he can’t help but want to address his baby sister. “Hello, Piano... I hope we can get along when you’re activated. I know Forte’s excited to have you with us after so long-- He’s a good boy. Rough around the edges, but he’s really coming into his own... You’ll love him, I know it--!”

With that, he turns his attention back to his father-- Especially since they’d both mentioned Forte around the same time. “Funny you should mention it, Master Wily; He actually expressed some concern about that, himself. He regrets his actions prior to being repaired... Though it seems he’s afraid of integrating himself fully into the family because of them. I hope Piano will be able to help with that...”

And perhaps now that their dad knew, he... might be able to help... Somehow.

...Okay, probably not. Albert Wily isn’t exactly the most effective of a parent to anyone not named Alto. Still... A direct order to give Forte a chance isn’t something anyone in the fortress can ignore or resist. That on its own would be help enough, wouldn’t it...?

The older robot’s voice is soft, noting how tired the little robot sounds and not wanting to disturb him should he fully drift off to sleep mode. After a moment of deliberating, Metal inputs coordinates and boo-wips away. The fortress he selected is small, large enough to house perhaps one line plus a couple of humans-- The same fortress Proto Man once rescued Kalinka Cossack from years ago. He figures despite its history, it would be the most suitable choice for something like this; It being meant to house a human child meant it would be more comfortable, which is something Metal thinks the little boy in his arms would appreciate.

That, and it has a portable charging unit somewhere that he can hook Proto up to while he rests in the tiny bedroom that used to be Kalinka’s during her ‘stay’.

Upon arrival, Metal moves slowly and carefully, as not to jostle his charge too much. Upon setting the poor kid down in bed, he can’t help but notice some wear and tear on his armor-- How long had it been since he’d had repairs...? Would he even let Metal make the attempt at fixing what had worn? The DWN had nowhere near the skill level in robotics that his elder brother or father did, but he could surely manage this after being what amounted to Dr. Wily’s lab assistant for so long.

...He really seems out of it. Would it really be alright to just drop the kid off somewhere and leave? Sure, Proto Man might deal with this semi-frequently, but it doesn’t mean he needs to every time. Perhaps it’s that the Light prototype is a child Forte’s and Key’s age, or that he actually somewhat knows said child, but Metal doesn’t think he can just leave him like this.

Hm... Bringing him to the fortress proper might be a bad idea, but surely Master Wily wouldn’t mind him using one of the abandoned ones for this purpose? He’s fairly certain some of the old equipment is still functional-- Proto could recharge in safety, thus getting back to doing... Whatever he does in his spare time.

Really, though. What exactly is this flux? If Metal has to guess, it’s something to do with his energy levels. Why else would the smaller robot be lounging about in such heavy rain?

“It does?” The older robot kneels down, contemplating. If he were to get Blues out of the rain, would he get in trouble...? If Forte brought Roll around so often, he doesn’t see the harm in letting Proto stay there until his core fixes itself... Or whatever it does to make him functional again. Then again, Roll isn’t exactly weaponized...

“...I imagine sitting out here in the cold can’t be very comfortable. Woud you like to come in...? Until the rain stops or you feel better, at least...? I-I’m certain Master Wily wouldn’t mind if I brought you inside...”

speaking of rabbits…

“Very well, thank you.” Rave would appreciate the politeness so rarely seen in this house of social and legal rejects if she weren’t planning on taking advantage of it. “Paperwork, huh? Gross. Well, if you want the chance to get out and take a break…”

Initiate sequence, completely lying out of her ass. “Seems like kind of a shame my line and the rest of you don’t talk much, huh? I mean, we live together. Even if Dr. Wily doesn’t wanna see us mere copies as his kids, I think it only seems logical to see you and the rest of the hand-built guys as my brothers, y’know?”

If everything was alright, then what could Rave possibly need? Was something up with her sister? Hm... Perhaps he ought to see what he can do about making the fortress a safer home for the younger robots-- He knows they’re capable of taking care of themselves, but they’re still children... 

“Very gross, but someone needs to do it. And if it frees up time for everyone else, I suppose I don’t mind taking taking one for the team.”

...Oh! He hadn’t been expecting Rave to invite him out... The DWN can’t help the light pink dusting his cheeks; Being asked to spend time with... Well, anyone aside from Key, the rest of their line, or their father is almost unheard of lately. And-- Wait. 

Rave saw the rest of them as family...?

Oh, dear. Alto looks a little troubled now; He’d never given it much thought before, blindly following whatever Dr. Wily decided... As such, he’d never really seen the copy line as siblings. To hear one -- maybe more, for all he knows! -- felt oppositely... Wow. Now he feels like a huge jerk. 

“I apologize for that,” Alto replies after a moment, “And for being ignorant... I wasn’t aware you thought of us as family. If that’s what you want, I’ll gladly call you my sister. If there’s anything you ever need, feel free to just ask for it, alright? I’ll do whatever I can to assist you. As for a break... Ah...”

He’s not really familiar with downtown Monstropolis, but if Rave wants to go surely it’d be alright? She wouldn’t get him lost or anything....

“That sounds good! I'd love to; It’d be nice to have a change of scenery... Ah, let me just--”

He turns around in the chair once more, saving what he was doing and powering his computer down. Once everything is taken care of the DWN rises, crossing his office to properly join the copy-- His sister.

“Yoohoo!~ Hey, Alto, right?”

Copy Robots and the hand-built lines of Wily’s forces generally didn’t interact; that was well-known within these noisy halls and among the constant in-fights. There was an unavoidable disconnect between Wily’s children and the leftover soldiers of previous attempts; stemming from the fact that the Copy line had absolutely never been considered in the former category.

That wasn’t changing, either. Rave’s sudden interest in Wily’s favourite son had nothing to do with a personal desire to interact, or even because she could consider him being worthy of her interest. No- she just wanted the nicknamed ‘nerd bunny’ out of her way, so she could steal her ‘master’s’ extra blueprints and sell them for quick cash.

Alto himself didn’t need to know that, however.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that despite the less than stellar way of getting his attention, the silver-haired robot is delighted to have a distraction. He swivels around in his chair, sitting up straight and and tucking stray hairs out of place. Huh. The copy robots don’t usually bother him unless they need something of him. What could it be this time...? Was Rave looking to have more mods done? He could probably get that arranged for her...

“Hello, Rave. How are you doing today?” He greets her politely, with a pleasant -- if not a little shy -- smile. He might not know the copy robots very well, but he’s going to be cordial at the least-- With how often fights break out, he’s hoping she might appreciate the professionalism. “I-- Ah-- Yes. Erm. Well, I was working on something at the moment, but it’s admittedly rather tedious. I think it’d be an appropriate time to take a break; Was there... Um, was there something I could help you with?”