"...Be careful, Roll! The scans are showing this area to be particularly unstable!" Light called after his daughter, alerts coming through the VR device as a cute little pixelated version of his daughter popped up and began warning him about the instability of the last few tunnels they were clearing out.
The young girl in question simply bounced away ahead of him in her dusty pink mining gear as if the suit and the drill and pump she was carrying weighed next to nothing.
"It'll be
fine, father. You designed me, after all. I can handle myself." his daughter explained, as if being designed by him made her somehow invulnerable to damage or malfunction. "You
did outfit me with a device that allows me to detect these instabilities myself, you know!" she said, teasing him.
"
Besides! After all of these months we finally get to really put that new generator we've been working on through its paces
and check out that weird glitch we found while we were doing all of those scans way back when! Aren't you a little curious about that?" Roll asked, practically vibrating with excitement.
Light wasn't nearly as excited. He couldn't be, not with the dangers he was facing. The worst part about it was he wasn't really there next to his daughter, so if something happened to her and this machine broke down, he wouldn't be able to do anything about it from his side. The machine Roll had built for him through the use of old scrapped parts and a donated mining robot was a work of art and it made him genuinely proud of his daughter, more so than he already was. She was so smart and always curious about her surroundings- quick witted and passionate about both protecting him and her own work as well. She was as close to human as he could currently make and so far had surpassed all of his expectations…
… He just wasn't sure about using the machine. It was undeniably useful, especially during combat with some of the biomonster nests they had found while cleaning the debris. He was stronger, tougher and able to do far more than his physical self. He just… still wanted to be out there, helping his daughter in person.
To make matters worse, his arguments against using the machine were often shut down, usually in ways he could only grumble about rather than find fault in. And yet he was afraid. It made him wonder why he thought he could build a machine to fight Wily in the first place, to worry about their safety as much as he was doing now. He sighed through the connection, trying to put on a smile.
"I am, Roll. But we can get there
while still being careful about this. Besides, we can't start until Taizo's boy Suzumu gets here, so there's no point in rushing there anyway."
Roll shook her head and sighed. "I wonder what's taking him so long. It's not like Network 48 is as much a maze as it used to be, anymore. I told him to be punctual!" she ranted, stamping her feet.
"Now, Roll. I'm certain the Hori family are quite busy people. He'll be here." Light chided softly.
That was an interesting character quirk of his daughter's. The tendency to hold others to strict standards, including her own creations. Those who fell short often regretted it. He'd been worried about it, but found she was equally as motherly to those who followed her, though in a sort of bossy way that made him scratch his head a little.
Roll simply humphed in response, leaning against a brick wall as she kicked a rock and grumbled something the device couldn't pick up on. Chuckling, Light began to set down the final generator and start putting it together. This particular location they'd chosen was a critical junction of the tunnels where the chemical spill had built up, completely blocking the last few tunnels he had left to explore and repair, so this last generator needed to be a bit larger than the other ones and required a pump to use effectively.
Tunnel Network 48 (or Network 48, as the locals called it) had changed quite drastically since Light and his daughter's arrival. Once an abandoned tunnel, its distance from most of the major underground safe zones like the Driller HQ meant that it rarely saw any maintenance; and that was before rumors of driller teams and explorers going missing had started happening. After that, it had become a wreck, full of debris, broken pipes and chemical and gaseous runoff that contained god-only-knew-what dumped there by Albert and the rest of his kind.
Clearing it out had actually taken much less time than anticipated, though was occasionally stymied by the fact that there were biomonster nests further within Network 48's winding maze.
The hardest part wasn't the bodies they'd found after clearing out the nests. Old bones and fresh corpses, some of which were so ruined they could only be identified through their driller equipment or ripped apart personal belongings. In one case, a heartbreaking message scribbled on the back of an incredibly outdated map. No, the hardest part was actually the people Light had made sure to get the bodies back to. He'd tried to make it a point to personally deliver them, but for a few he had to leave to the Driller Commune to deal with as they belonged to The City proper.
As a result, Light often got to witness the expressions of those who knew their family and friends were dead, but still hoped they were out there somewhere to change in various, heartbreaking ways. It drained him, but he always felt it was the only right thing to do.
Roll took it the worst. Light did try to teach her about Death, especially in this new world the two had found themselves in, but he imagined it was a completely different experience actually seeing the bodies. She grew quieter when she found them, more determined and violent with each biomonster nest they cleared.
Eventually, the job was (mostly) finished. People started to use the tunnel network more. At first it was mostly the Driller Commune, but then others too. The worst of the tunnels, the ones that terminated into lone, broken Lemmings half-buried in rubble or the areas deemed too dangerous were walled off and marked. Even the pipes were navigated and marked on a map, officially updating the area map to what the locals called "The Plumber Standard". He gave a copy of these maps to the Driller Commune, of course.
The last real job was the generators, which were completed and placed in places where they'd do the most good, though for this final one the Driller Commune sent out somebody to watch the machine at work.
Almost as if called by his thoughts, a bright pink and blue mining suit had appeared at the end of the tunnel, the smiling face of Suzumu Hori waving energetically as he raced towards the duo. The young man was bright, energetic and was a shining beacon of positivity in a place mostly devoid of it.
"Dr. Light! Dr. Light! I didn't miss the generator, did I?" The young man called, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by the hand of Roll.
"Now, you listen here, Suzumu Hori! I told you to be here
way earlier! Dr. Light and I have been waiting for so long he's even dozed off to sleep!" the girl said angrily, the boy rubbing his helmet sheepishly. Before the boy could say anything, Light stepped in.
"Roll! That's no way to greet somebody, especially somebody who has taken time out of his day to come help with our project." Light scolded her, causing the girl to withdraw with a pout. The boy waved it off.
"Aw, don't worry Dr. Light. I'm sure she has her reasons. 'Sides, I
was late. I just got sidetracked by ninjas! They were fighting with a group of anthro mutant frogs! They went like 'whoosh' with their attacks and some of them even transformed into objects! The big guy even turned into a bat that one with the glasses used to knock like, 50 of them away down a pipe! It was so cool!"
Roll didn't seem convinced. "Now who would believe a weird story like that?" she questioned, her arms folded with a glare.
This the boy seemed a little upset about. "I'm telling the truth! Look!" he said, bringing out a camera device… that was broken. "Oh, no! I must have broken it when I went down that pipe to get away from one of the ninjas!" he cried.
"Uh huh." Roll said, skeptically.
"It's true!"
Light cut in, finally finished with the generators. "Roll! We don't know enough about the underground to say for certain what he saw was true or not. There very well could be mutant anthros down here." he explained.
"Yeah, but why would actual ninjas be down here? That's a little far fetched, isn't it Dr. Light?" She asked.
"There are all sorts out there in the city, Roll. If I recall correctly there are ninjas out in the outlands. Or they could be a gang driven down into the Pipeworks. Or ninja themed couriers for some company above." Light said.
"...I suppose." Roll relented. With a huff, she turned to the boy, who was still fiddling with the broken camera. "I'm sorry. I'm sure what you saw really happened, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven you for being late!" she told the boy. She held out her hand. "Here. I'll fix it. It won't take much and I'll make sure to return it."
Suzumu's eyes brightened. "You really will?!" he asked. Roll rolled her eyes. "Yes. It might take a while, since my father and I are busy. But I'll get it done when I can."
Suzumu hugged her, causing the girl to blush and stammer. "Thank you! Thankyouthankyouthankyo-"
"Errgh! Enough!"
Light chuckled, content to watch the interaction between the two. "Alright! The machine is done!" he said, waving the machine's arms to get their attention. "Suzumu, would you like to do the honors? I'll have Roll explain what it does. Be nice, Roll."
"Yes!" the boy shouted excitedly, rushing over to the machine. Roll, more composed, walked over to the machine.
"Alright. This generator is a device that can run off of geothermal heat, chemicals or in desperation, any nearby biomass you can find in the underground and will convert it into clean energy. This conversion process can even extend to the air with a switch, but consumes a lot of power and generates a lot of heat, so avoid using it for extended periods of time!" Roll began to explain, pushing up a set of glasses she set on her face before she was interrupted by Suzumu with his arm raised.
"What happens if we leave it on too long?" He asked.
"It will overheat and damage the machine- not only that, but the machine will run too hot for humans to safely touch it. Luckily, yours truly put a failsafe that will simply shut it down before that happens!" she preened, her glasses twinkling.
"What's with the pump?"
"Ah! That's how it will suck up chemicals, especially for submerged areas like this. Watch!" she said, pressing a button and turning the machine on. Immediately it came to life, the pump animating with a cartoony sniffing sound before beginning to suck up the nearby chemical pool.
"Ta da!" Roll presented proudly. "When you turn it on it first checks for geothermal heat - it won't find any here because it's pretty cold - but then it goes for chemical waste and then biomass. I even added a little sound effect! So cool, right?" she asked excitedly.
Suzumu didn't share nearly the same amount of excitement, but still had a smile on his face. "Yeah, it's pretty cool! This would actually be super useful, actually!" he said. He turned to Light. "Hey, Dr. Light! Is it okay if you share this with The Driller Commune? I imagine we could do a lot of good with this!"
[ ] Of course! You'd already planned on it in fact. [Give generator schematics to the driller commune.]
[ ] …I'm not sure. Maybe. [Don't give them the schematics, but will unlock an option to do so.]
[ ] …I think I'll just build them some machines, instead. [Don't give the commune the schematics, but will unlock an option to build machines to give to them.]
[ ] … Sorry, but no. [Don't give them schematics. Send Suzumu home disappointed.]
It took two hours before the last of the fluid had been pumped out of the tunnel. Roll had ended up going back to retrieve another pump to make sure to speed up the process and Suzumu had left to get back to his own group. What Light found was interesting. This tunnel was almost perfectly clean- it went from brick stone and packed dirt to what looked to be metal chrome, though it'd been heavily corroded by the chemicals. The tunnel was
just large enough for his machine to fit, but if he got into any fights he would be in trouble.
There were some arguments about who was to go first and in the end it was Roll that was chosen- not only because of her more advanced scanning systems, but she would be much more maneuverable compared to how cramped the machine would be. Light didn't like it, but was appeased when she told him that she'd make sure to stay close.
So down they went. The clock on the device read they had been walking for a good 30 minutes before they came to a door. They were confronted by a logo of a green amoeba with three dots connected by lines on the door, along with what looked like a damaged keypad. Metpharm. This was a Metpharm facility. Light was put on edge, something that even Roll could feel.
"What do you think Metpharm was doing down here?" She asked.
"Nothing good." Light answered.
"...Should we try and investigate?" Roll asked, stepping over to the keypad to investigate.
[ ] "...Yes." [Begins Mission - Stage 1-1: Metpharm Labs.]
[ ] "...Perhaps Later." [Unlocks option for the Metpharm Labs Expedition. You'll still close this area off so people don't wander in.]
[ ] "...No." [Some secrets are better left buried. Closes off the area permanently.]
GM's Note
I Live!
I did update the rules a little and added a whole section for bioroid creation you guys can check out above. I also gave Light an extra personal action to use and buffed his and Roll's character sheets, as well as added the item called The Donner Wels Machine, which affects the stats of whoever uses it. I changed the critical rules to be a little less ridiculous, as well. Other than that it's a bunch of little stuff. A few minor tweaks here and there to make more sense, that sort of thing.
As for the update itself... I still think I suck at character interactions. They feel pretty stilted to me, but maybe that's just me. I hope you guys enjoy it and sorry for the wait!
The vote closes in 24 hours. Let's say an moratorium's an hour. 
