Alrighty so I woke up, got dressed, hygiene, basic morning routine you get the jist. I didn't describe myself so I may as well now. Dark and wavy muted purple hair. Fair skin, borderline pale. Small stature. Average teenager, except for thing-that-shall-not-be-named. I didn't want to look in the mirror anymore. Next thing I knew I was in the lab looking at Epsilon.
“About fourteen minutes remaining.”
Eagle was out of the tube and in a cradle, their eyes were closed in sleep. I guess technically it was birth. As I gazed upon the sculpt of their bones and flesh I got lost in thought. Fourteen minutes was probably a lie, this was complicated. And could very likely take hours or days to complete. But one line took priority, in particular they could help us, with our cause, with mine especially. I could destroy them. I felt the fire start along the edges of my thoughts. With that I snapped out of it, my hand was in a death grip on the robot’s arm. Epsilon was to my left and staring at me.
It was weird, taking my hand off the bucket of bolts, my hand felt like it was molded to the curve of their wrist. Part of my brain wanted to freak out over it, but another didn’t. I looked back at Epsilon, their voice box said,
“Your therapy appointment is in ten minutes, please make your way to the physical therapy building. One of the dogs is to escort you.”
The dogs are security guards for the family, me, Alles, Lueja, and any other members of our guild while on the grounds. Most of the time I am accompanied by Border, a robot that Alles had built for me when I was five years old. I call her BC, it just felt right.
A different dog greeted me in the hall, I got excited over nothing. If I remembered correctly this was Corgi, a short thing, even shorter than me. He said in a chipper voice,
"Good morning, I'm here to get you to the docta'."
I nodded, and we walked. He made for some mildly okay company when silent.
The appointment went smoothly, I did some stretches and some motor control exercises. Corgi gave emotional support. We were done after a couple hours. Next thing in the to-do list was lunch. I forgot about breakfast, so I was a starved man. I needed to know what happened so I tried to arrange a lunch with Alles. I called him first.
"Can we talk about the heist? Over food?"
"Yes, meet me in my office after you get us food."
I hung up and did precisely that. His office was characteristically cold and unwelcoming. It's a sterile kind of unwelcome where this would be a place for people to come and meet with him. This was the cover office, the true office? I forgot what it looked like, it's been a long time.
He was eating, well I say that but it's more he has food that's basically decor, a sandwich of what appears to be a meat and cheese with some veg variety. He didn't look at me, just continued working on his computer. He asked,
"You know why I am here."
I wasn't going to bring up the fact that he already had food in front of him.
"Sure, but what are you going to ask?"
"Uh, I guess tell me how the heist started?"
He turned to fully look at me.
"It first started with you and Lueja coming to me and asking for my help on your job."
He took a bite of his previously untouched sandwich. Stalling.
"Your target was one of the Order's sunglasses. I forget specifically why you wanted them but I digress. We spend weeks planning. You say that for old times sake we should just go, the three of us, no robos. I thought this was dumb but Lueja took your side. On that night you went through the service halls while Lueja waited for me to get to security. Even though I had told you to stay put until I gave an all clear."
"I believe you nearly made it to the target, but there must've been another layer of security I didn't notice because I accidentally triggered the alarms."
I immediately got a flashback.
"Alright you two, you know the plan, I'll take care of video and audio. Mordi, stay here."
I'm not that irresponsible, and I shot daggers into his skull via my eyes. This was bogus and I'm pretty good at stealth so I went on with my part when Lueja wasn't looking.
If I get the glasses then it's smooth sailing. If I don't, probably no harm no foul. I had to be careful with the bots here. They fire with the intent to kill.
It was hard to not think about a brighter future, and what I'd do after this if I was successful. If I did this right then I could be free of everyone. To get that future I had to focus on now, get the glasses and get out.
Then the alarm sounded. And the walls opened. What appeared to be an entire fleet of robots swarmed in front of me, preventing me from my goal. Bleeding witches. I ran, I ran as fast as I could. I was getting pelted by lasers. Then I remembered. I turned back on them, and indulged my defect.
The first went up in a blaze. I kept bringing the heat on them and soon enough the bright green fire caught on the walls, then moved up to the ceiling, and that's when things started to break. The fire wouldn't hurt me but the falling building would. I ran more, more robots came, I melted them to scrap.
Turn, bots, flame, run. The building felt like a labyrinth. Damn the fire because the thing just kept spreading. I found an exit. Unfortunately Alles was out there watching me run out. He had a trail of blood running down his face. I doubted that I looked better. The building suddenly exploded and what happened next was weird.
I felt my body burn, I felt my own fire against it. I felt the building crumble onto me, and disintegrate.
I don't know how long I was there.
Next thing I remembered is waking up in the forest. I remembered thinking that Lueja was acting differently. Then my memory goes to yesterday.
"You okay? You spaced out for a second."
"Yeah, yeah, uh, how did you trigger the system?"
"I'm not quite certain, maybe they had infrared monitoring. It's also likely that they have multiple security rooms."
"Why didn't you know for certain?"
"Because it was you two's forsaken plan. I got roped into it."
"Okay, I see my misunderstanding. You were there as I ran out, what happened while I was gone?"
While he talked I got a weird feeling, nothing inherently bad just like there was something behind a veil.
"When the building exploded Lueja got a brick to the head."
"I could see you running out, but then the building collapsed on you and Lueja wouldn't wake up. I carried her into the forest, then went back for you. You weren't covered in cohesive building pieces, it was ash. But it wasn't just ash, there were also flecks of metal. You managed to break metal into smithereens. I also carried you to Lueja, but when I got there it was like an entirely different person. She attacked me. Nearly killed me…"
Then he pointed to a scar on his neck, it was damn close to an artery.
"… It was a close fight, but I was able to safely knock her out."
I stared at him, Lueja was the best human operative we had, that must've been scary as hell.
"Then I called for help. We got you both into the infirmary and here we are. Now my question is, why did you start the fire?"
"An army of bots started swarming me and I needed to defend myself. I had no weapons so I don't know what you want from me."
"You put us all at risk of death."
"You tripped the alarms!"
He scowled at me, I stared back. After some time I faltered and looked away. He sat back in his chair.
I got up and out of the chair, never taking my eyes off the floor. I debated on whether or not to say anything, I said hesitant,
And then I left with Corgi coming up beside me.
I don't understand why I got so upset but I did. I meant to just say something calm and reasonable but my words came out hard.
And the constant green light I've been seeing since I was little grew brighter. And the area it cast on expanded. Corgi stood there, and for the first time said nothing. My face was so tense, it hurt. He gave a short nod. Then I walked, I didn’t know where, I didn’t really care. I just wanted to have something that wouldn’t remind me of my problems. I went to the main garden.
It was beautiful, a perfect blend of technology and nature. I let my hands trail over the soft foliage, it gave under me like the tides and the sand beneath the waves. Or maybe it wasn’t, I’ve never been to the beach. I found a suitable bench, it was just a block of concrete on supports. Corgi stood beside me as I made myself relax. So many annoyances in such little time. I felt a little tingly sensation of a bug crawling on my skin. I torched it with a yelp. Whoops. I turned to Corgi to find some humor in the situation, but he only met my eyes with a semblance of what looked like fear? In a split second he returned to a stoic face. Something to think about later.
“I’ve never seen your powers in action.”
“Not every day you see a defected, eh?”
He merely shrugged, diverting my question. It was weird seeing the robots act so human. By all accounts Corgi should take that as a literal question, and not for the civil discourse of organic life-forms. Ah, crap I forgot to ask Alles about the robots’ change in demeanor. Add to to-do list.
I sat and watched the plants sway with the breeze. I am calm.
The market is bustling today, colorful awnings and merchandise on tables as far as the streets would allow. Along with the Rachtskah’s day celebratory decorations being built for tomorrow night
My mother trails slightly behind me, she’s a bit slower than I am.
“Wendare, you silly boy, wait for your poor mother.”
“What’s on the list again?”
“Let’s see, we need eggs, cheese, bread, cabbage, and today we can get some beef.”
My smile widens, tomorrow is a special day, Rachtskah’s day, a biannual celebration where the town gets together to feast. It’s a big deal to say the least. Each family does Rachtskah’s day differently, but mine makes food to give to our neighbors. This year is no deviation from the status quo as we’re doing the regular smoked beef and broth.
Hours later we're at home and it's dark out, prepping our meat, vegetables, and dough. Everything is going smoothly. Then a gunshot from far away. To the east. Where the forest starts thickening. Where I've never been allowed to explore. Mother scoffs.
"I'll support your education and career but I draw the line at working for the Kelgerins."
The Kelgerins were a rich family that owned a robot production company. Blandly named Kelgerin Robotics. There were Erna and Siernen, they started the whole thing. Then there were their four children. Lueja, Alles, Kailuen, and Morkla Kelgerin. The reason why I know all of this is because I had to do a presentation on a career field that was important to our society for school. Lueja and Alles took over the business and I couldn't find anything on Morkla and Kailuen beside the fact that they're direct family members. There were rumors of a fifth secret member, but that got stamped out soon after.
I'm honestly surprised that I still remember that stuff, I even remember how I felt. Staring and scrolling through the internet for information on their lives. Not easy when they're private people. Mother thinks they're suspicious. I don't care anymore and I don't want to think about it, I had dreams about that presentation. Like, did you know that Morkla and Kailuen are fraternal twins? And that Alles showed great talent in making robots until he took over the company at fourteen? And that the Kelgerins were founded here in my homeland? Because I want to forget all of that useless information.
On a more relevant topic I helped and finished food preparations. In the mirror of the shared bathroom I did my hygiene ritual. I was short, had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. I am Wendare and I am thirteen years old. I smiled at my reflection, the handsome devil he was. And once I was in bed, I slept with little issues.
After a day of processing Eagle was finished transferring. At first they were a bit disoriented. I can't blame them, dying and then waking in a cyborg body must not have been easy. I should know, becoming defected was not pleasant. With the help of one of our robot training employees, named Johan, I got Eagle functional. Which was no small feat. From my robotic friends I've heard that one difficulty in the beginning is dealing with passage of time. Since they live at high processing speeds, they feel every microsecond if they aren't aware of the processing speed they're at. This isn't an issue for older robots since they've adjusted to perceive reality at the paces needed. Newer robots don't yet have that skill. The biological aspect didn't help either, since we couldn't guarantee how Eagle may handle the idea that they died and are now in a different body. Getting a robot to start actively engaging with reality is difficult enough, one with the experimental properties of Eagle is virtually unpredictable. To combat this I have one of the resident robots accompany them, especially when Johan and I aren't available. We have them doing activities that we can easily supervise and introduce more things in a controlled environment. More robots, more sounds, more things in general. They took to it with stride. Learning the capabilities of their vessel and how to control it was a big part. Eagle got me a few times while trying to control their claws. Johan nearly fainted when the scratches sealed back up in less than a minute. There was one time when Johan started falling and Eagle yanked him back up and off the floor. Then they looked at me and said, "... Oops." Amazing. I had to hold back from bending over in laughter. Each day I feel better about making them. In total, getting Eagle introduced to their new life took about a month and a half. Now they were much more capable and in control. I watched as Eagle ran the obstacle course. They were fast, agile, and powerful; certainly a sight to see. Other progress was that they were well received within the robots when they debuted a week ago. Another step forward in my plan.
They were talking with Wolf about the mistakes and timing of the latest run. We modified the course from other winged robots in order to accommodate for the difference. The whole thing was making it up as we went along.
Eagle wasn't the only thing on my plate though. What happened almost eight months ago did matter. The failed heist was about getting a certain pair of glasses. The value of these glasses is about what group it's a trait of, the Umbral Society. It's an exclusive alliance between powerful beings of Aeswor that is a symbol of status and rank unlike others. So this makes the rare time when they're accepting members crucial to say the least. Not to mention the rumors of what members gain in there.
Naturally we have to have a spot.
Ideally it would be Wolf who would help us, but his talents are needed in administration. Our second best, Fox, will be used instead. I'll have to ask Alles about sending a second operative. Every day my life circles back to him, I'm sick of it.
I've been walking a lot, moving limbs a lot. I've been active in trying not to overwork or exhaust myself but still pushing. Not in any more pain than usual. All these things you tell your therapist. The validity however is debatable. I'm bored with this, I want to just be done with therapy so I can fully get back to work.
I've been called to attend the briefing of Fox's mission. It's early afternoon. Lueja's office. I'm standing in a corner, Lueja is at the desk, Alles is leaning against a bookshelf, and Fox stands straight in the center of the room.
"Here is the building, specific room is here, expect the usual deterrents. We have new equipment for you."
Lueja opens a drawer in her desk and hands over what appears to be a gun.
"We've enchanted this to be silent. Do not wound, if you encounter resistance, kill. Clear?"
This side of Fox wasn't something I saw often. It was cold, lifeless even. A stark contrast to the robot I spent my childhood with. With the same voice box used to comfort me after some of my darker days,
That was all the information she needed to know.
Mission serial number 7057 logs.
Arrive at extraterrestrial port Y/X/X
Infiltrate building A/X/X
Encountered resistance, enemy neutralized
Encountered resistance, enemy neutralized
Encountered resistance, enemy neutralized
Encountered resistance, enemy neutralized
Internal structure has been damaged
Target acquired, falling back
Components missing replacement required
