Lamenting his Fate by @TheDevilCat (Caitlin Wilt)

Well. THIS is certainly a class apart from all the stuff I’ve posted up until now. That’s what I get for listening to love songs at 1 in the morning last night while I sketched, instead of going to bed.

Well, let me explain how I got this, because I feel like explaining. And if you don’t know the Megaman Battle Network game or Rockman.EXE anime, turn away now, because you’ll be confused.

If you saw the image I posted yesterday, you’ll know that the guy there is Vector, a Navi. The girl in his arms is his human operator, who needs a name. And poor Vector has a problem. He’s in love with her. Of course, since she’s a human and he’s just a program, he’ll never tell her how he feels.

Ever have a mini-story pop into your head as you draw? Here’s what I mind-wrote for this one.

A few years in the future of the Rockman.EXE universe, a mass-produced virtual reality system is invented to let operators join their Navis in the virtual world. This virtual reality system is extremely realistic. Think Piers Anthony’s Killobyte, if you know the story. In this virtual reality, the players are completely cut off from their physical body. Their mind is completely in the game. They even feel pain if their VR avatar is injured (although their real body won’t take any injuries).

While Vector's operator is using this VR system, some viruses break through her firewall. An electric-type virus sneaks up on her from behind, zaps her, and the electricity renders her unconscious. Vector deletes the rest of the viruses, then takes her in his arms to support her until she comes to again (otherwise she’d just be prone on the floor, which wouldn’t exactly be comfortable).

While holding her, Vector becomes rather melancholy. After all, he’s loved this girl for about two years, and this is the first time he’s touched her, much less had her in his arms. Then he starts cursing his existence as a Navi and stuff, hence the text on the left side of the image.

I’m so mean. I love impossible romances. ^_^ I do it to so many of my characters.

Artwork © Copyright 2003 Caitlin Wilt