MMBN Metadata: Slashman.EXE

METADATA: SLASHMAN.EXE

A Megaman Battle Network fan fiction.

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Prologue: [ INITIATING SLASHMAN.EXE ]

[ CURRENT PROGRESS: DATA COMPILATION IS 100% COMPLETE ]

[ INITIATING SLASHMAN.EXE DATA PROGRAM... ]

[ PASSWORD REQUIRED. ENTER PASSWORD: ]

[ PASSWORD: EDWARD SCISSORHANDS ]

[ ACCESS PERMITTED. INITIATING FINAL DATA CONFIGURATIONS... ]

[ CONFIGURATIONS COMPLETED. ]

[ CLOSING ALL OTHER APPLICATIONS... ]

[ PROGRAM ACTIVATING IN APPROXIMATELY 3 SECONDS... ]

Data File 1: Salutations

...

I'm Slashman. Nice to meet you...

I do wonder why someone like you would be so interested in reading my memory data. Even more surprising is that you knew the password to access my data.

Are you the type of person who is intrigued about me and my past?

…

...If so, very well. I will let you access and read my memories...

Until now there was only one soul who knew anything about me: Pat Fahran, my own Net Operator and my partner.

But now, you shall know all about my history.

Do you intend to share my hidden secrets? I'd prefer that you won't.

It would be better if the secrets were to stay buried in your mind.

At least, that's what I believe...

Data File 2: The Birth

Initially, everything was blank. There was nothing but darkness.

And then my consciousness was activated. I began to feel the table that I was lying on. I began to hear the strange sounds of the computers. I began to smell that quaint, sickly smell of my creator's laboratory.

The only thing left to do was to open my eyes and begin to see.

So I did. My eyes reluctantly opened and were momentarily blinded by the bright lights in my creator's small laboratory. His hunched back was facing towards me as he stared at the large monitor in front of him. When I sat up, he immediately turned around.

He looked like a man in his late 60's. The man had thinning, silver hair that was tied in a long, braided ponytail and wore a white lab coat under his royal blue oriental shirt and pants. A pair of bifocals covered the elderly man's small, failing eyes.

"You have awakened, I see," the man spoke in a hoarse voice. "Although I didn't expect you to be up and running this early."

He smiled and just shrugged. My creator then walked up closer to me. I could almost smell a faint herbal scent on his clothes.

"I'm afraid I haven't had the time to make a pair of hands for you, my child." The man said wistfully.
"Hands...?" I responded quizzically. I looked down and saw that I had a pair of 3-pronged claws. Six individual blades each shaped like a tiger's claws. I then stared at his own pale, gnarled hands that were grasping his cane.

"Who am I...?" I asked.
"You are Slashman.EXE. You are a digital program... A NetNavi. In this world, Navis like you can live in the outside world with humans. Nice to meet you." The man carefully reached out, took my wrist and gently shook it. Then came a moment of silence as the man slowly let go of my wrist and diligently avoided getting cut by my sharp claws.

"So... Who are you...?" I finally asked. The elderly man chuckled in response. He then coughed violently and pounded his chest.
"Why, I'm a scientist. I'm the one who made you, of course. I'm your creator and your father." He answered matter-of-factly.

Though I meant to ask what his name was, either he was oblivious to my question or he didn't want to reveal his name.

My creator then explained to me that he made me to protect him from danger. He told me that a war has raged on in Beyondard for many years. He also said he had lived by himself for a very long time.

"Now that I'm getting well along in my years, I thought I would create you as my bodyguard. I'm a cowardly fool." The man admitted and smiled. He coughed again, thought less violently this time. When my creator recuperated from his coughing fit, he then motioned me to stand on my feet.

"Try to stand and walk," he instructed.

I obeyed and placed my feet on the floor and stood. I realized that with my long arms, the tips of my claws nearly reached the floor. I took a few steps and walk around in my creator's lab. My eyes wandered all over the lab, observing every nook and cranny of the place. I saw a large mirror and walked up to it. It was strange to see myself. I saw my face and my eyes. My face was slightly square, and my eyes were dark and lackluster. I took a quick look on my dark green armor and black pants that were laced with gold designs on the sides. As a whole, I looked lifeless and robotic.

I briskly walked away from the mirror and continued looking around until I noticed a small picture frame on an office desk and took a closer look.

"Who are these people in the picture? I see a man, a woman and a young boy."
"...The man was me when I was much younger. The woman and and the boy are my wife and son."

My creator's face changed from gentle happiness to a somber sadness when he answered my question. I naively asked where his wife and son were now.

"They were killed a long time ago in the war..." My creator said plainly.

I could only stare at the picture. It was no wonder that he was alone.

As I was staring at the picture, I found it strange that the boy was wearing a dark forest green clothing and had quite a long, braided ponytail. His eyes were bright and happy, and he resembled his young father. The boy had a beautiful oriental dagger that was sheathed and strapped onto his right arm.

The young boy seemed to resemble me – only I had cold, steel claws instead of warm, soft hands.

Maybe I was made for more than just serving as my creator's bodyguard. Maybe he also wanted to bring back a piece of his son's spirit whom he loved, but knew that the son would never be able to come back to life...