Super Giant Robot Brothers
Title: The Real Second Rose Type Guardian Class Robot
CH: 1/3
- > >>
Word count: 4197
Description: The O.R.T. has been closed for almost a week now. While the EDF has been celebrating, the robot brothers are stuck resting in the hangar for repairs. Then one night, the two robot stumble upon a restricted area. And they discover something they never knew... nor were supposed to know.
Notes: WOOOOOOOOO We're done. The brothers are learning they have another sibling and take it very differently. Shiny's excited while Thunder... Well, let's just say he feels a lil betrayed he wasn't told.
This had to be the longest celebration held within the EDF base. It wasn’t quite unnecessary, as the O.R.T. was finally closed after ten long years. It was just a surprise that it lasted for four days now, about to go to five. Unfortunately, the robot brothers were not partaking in the celebration. Mostly due to the repairs Shiny and Thunder needed after the last battle. Thunder more so as the merging caused some heavy damage to about everything.
Now Shiny could have joined in on the party. His repairs were quicker, leaving only a few clinks to buff out now. But he felt bad leaving Thunder alone to suffer constant diagnosis checks while his big brother partied with the EDF members. And Shiny might have felt bad for thinking his little brother was pranking him twice about serious injuries.
“I still fail to understand your stubborn insistence to remain in the hangar with me.” Thunder informed after the EDF repair crew left. “Your repairs were expeditious, and you are now fully operational enough to join the members of the EDF in their celebration.”
“What, and leave you alone by your lonesome self?” Shiny sang sweetly. “What kind of big brother would I be if I just let my little brother be left out of an awesome party?”
“As I am aware, the ‘awesome party’ seems like a party where my presence would, as you say: dull the mood.”
“What do ya mean?”
“As I have told you before, robots do not have fun. And as you have stated before… The EDF members are not fond of me as much as they are fond of you. Excluding Alex Rose and Colonel Creed.”
Shiny sibilated at that sentence. He completely forgot he dropped that on Thunder during their first road trip.
“Hey, hey, hey, that’s not completely true.” Shiny tried to reassure. “Not all of the EDF crew don’t like you! There’s some that do like… uh.”
“Again, Alex and Colonel Creed are the only EDF members that appreciate my presence.” Thunder reiterated.
“And me!”
“Well, that is to be expected from you. You are my older brother, so you appreciate my presence no matter the circumstances.”
Shiny gasped, and Thunder immediately recognized his mistake.
“Delete the last minute from your memory banks immediately.” Thunder demanded.
“Nope!” Shiny smiled mischievously. “It’s too late to take it back now, little bro.”
“Shiny, if you spread this accidental slip of my wording—”
“Don’t worry, Thunder. Your secret soft side will be safe with me.”
“I do not have a secret soft side.”
“Suuuuure. Of course you don’t, Thundy.”
Thunder glared at Shiny. Their banter would’ve continued, but it was interrupted by a faint announcement.
[AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL “Alexandra Rose” DEPARTURE FROM HANGAR BASE 123.]
Shiny and Thunder turned their heads. They saw Alex’s shadow for a minute before it disappeared. Curiosity grew inside Shiny as he wondered what that was about. Thunder held a neutral expression though. That wasn’t the first time he heard the announcement, with Alex frequenting that hangar on an irregular schedule he could never track.
“I didn’t know we had another hangar.” Shiny said. “Hey, if there’s two hangars, why do we have to share one?”
“That is because Hangar Base 123 is a restricted area that I, and by extant you, are not allowed access to.” Thunder explained.
“Why is it restricted?”
“Unclear. I have made attempts to query Alex upon this reasoning of prohibition, but she would only respond with repetitive urgency of that information being classified.”
Shiny blinked.
“She won’t tell me.”
“Ohhhhhh.”
Shiny looked back to where the announcement came from. He began to walk towards that direction, causing confusion within Thunder. He called out to Shiny and followed him.
The two swiftly made it to a giant door with the label “HANGAR BASE 123” painted on it. Shiny observed the door and its surroundings. He noticed a key card slot near the bottom, and saw that the light was green. That means the hangar was unlocked.
“Hey, would you look at that.” Shiny pointed out as he began to open the door.
“Shiny, what are you doing?” Thunder immediately stopped his brother.
“What, I’m just gonna take a quick look to see what’s inside.”
“Did I not inform you twenty three seconds ago that this is a restricted area we are not allowed access to?”
“Well yeah, but Alex left it unlocked.”
“She— She left it unlocked?”
“Yeah. See, look, green button on the keycard slider thing means it’s unlocked.” “That is not the correct terminology, and I am aware of the security color codes. But Alex has strictly told me that I am not allowed in here.”
“Buuuuut she didn’t tell me I’m not allowed in here. So, I’m just gonna—”
Shiny proceeded to open the door and enter the hangar. Thunder, perplexed by Shiny’s foolish action, quickly followed. He attempted to dissuade Shiny while angrily scolding him for defying prohibitions. They didn’t pay attention to the door closing behind them, nor did they notice it locking and another announcement being made.
“Shiny, are you aware of the high likelihood of us being reprimanded for disobeying a clear and strict rule?” Thunder asked.
“We’ll be fine.” Shiny reassured with a chill tone. “It’s just gonna be a quick in-and-out, we won’t even be in here for long.”
“That does not bring me comfort of your asinine violation—”
“Listen, if you’re that worried about us getting trouble: you can just tell Alex you tried to stop me and make me… go… back.”
Shiny stopped in his tracks. Thunder looked at what made his brother stop, and what he saw made his anger subside. Three hallways stood in front of the robots. But that wasn’t what made them freeze in shock. A sign was hung above each hallway. To the left, the sign said: “Rose Robot One”. The middle sign said: “Rose Robot Two”. And finally to the right: “Rose Robot Three”. A third Rose Robot?
“This is… unusual.” Thunder finally spoke. “I was not informed of there being a third Rose Type Guardian Class Robot.”
“Yeah, me neither.When did Alex make a third one of us—” Shiny let out a dramatic gasp. “Holy sweet shiz, what if she’s making us a new brother!? Or a new sister?” “I find it hard to find evidence that supports your hypothesis.”
“Come on, what else could it be?”
“... While I am unaware at the moment of what another possibility could be, this area has been restricted since my first day coming online. And Colonel Creed, along with other EDF members and us, would be made aware if Alex was creating another Rose Type Guardian Class Robot. Nor would there be a reasonable motive since the O.R.T. is now closed.”
“Maybe it’s a surprise.”
“Highly unlikely.”
“Well, come on! Let’s go check it out.”
“Shiny, wait—”
“Thunder, you’re worrying waaaay too much. We’re just gonna have a quick look then we’ll leave. I promise.”
“You have already said that. We need to leave right now.”
“And we will! After we check out our new sibling blueprints.”
If Thunder could, he would have let out a very annoyed sigh. He should be leaving and let Shiny be the sole robot to face consequences. Unfortunately, Thunder was also curious about this third Rose Robot. His logical sensors were being overridden by his desire to investigate this sudden surprise. Eventually he gave in and followed Shiny once more, ceasing the attempts of persuasion this time.
The two walked down the third hallway and into a blue room. There were many blueprints hanging upon the walls, drawn by the hand of a tween Alex. Multiple spare parts laid around, some being labelled “prototype test” or “backup materials”. Notes were neatly written and organized on a corkboard to the right. It definitely seemed like this room was dedicated to a Rose Robot construction… with everything being completely connected to Thunder.
“This is highly unusual.” Thunder noted.
“Aw man, I thought this would be filled with a new sibling project.” Shiny pouted. “Did we go down the wrong hallway?”
“Negative, we went down hallway Rose Robot Three. And again, you do not have enough evidence to support the construction of a new Rose Type Guardian Class Robot.”
“It still could be! Uh, maybe Alex is borrowing your blueprints. She could be making you a twin. I mean, why would you be in hallway three if you’re the second Rose Robot?”
“I do not think you understand what the word ‘twin’ means, and I remain in my opinion that you are delusional in your belief of a new robot.”
“Sounds like someone is worried about losing the baby brother spot.”
“I am not— Wait, what does that say?”
Thunder in his frustration glanced away from Shiny and caught a framed picture in his metal oxide semiconductor. The picture was of him after his first week of being activated. A freshly turned twelve Alex was standing on a platform next to him. There was a little sign beneath that Thunder wasn’t sure he was processing right.
“What does what say?” Shiny questioned before spotting the picture. “Oh my gosh, is that you? I didn’t know there were pictures of you.”
“This is a picture of my first week post activation, but…”
“Aww, it’s your baby photo too?”
Thunder didn’t react. That surprised Shiny. That’s when he noticed the little sign.
“What’s this?” Shiny squinted. “‘Robot X-K22, Call Sign: Thunder. The third Rose Type Guardian Class Robot’?”
“But that is impossible.” Thunder said with a low voice. “There are no records within the database of…”
“Thunder?”
Okay, Shiny knew something was definitely wrong for sure. Minus the weird third robot mislabelling. Thunder has never been this confused and speechless before. Never in battles with kaiju, never during repairs, and never during downtime. It almost looked like he was… lost.
“Thunder, buddy?” Shiny called out. “Are you alright?”
Thunder didn’t respond. Oh no.
“H-Hey, we can leave now if you want. I’m sure Alex will still surprise us with a new sibling—”
“I retract my urgent request to depart after a short investigation of this hallway.” Thunder said. “I want to investigate the second hallway.”
“Oh. Uh, are you sure? What about being caught?”
“If you are mocking me, I advise you to cease immediately. If you are being genuine, then I have already accepted we will be caught. There are multiple anomalies upon what we have discovered, and I need confirmation of the truth. Are you going to accompany me or finally choose to listen to my newly retracted request of departure?”
Shiny blinked as Thunder left the room. Now the red robot knew something was absolutely definitely wrong. He knows that Thunder, out of ALL people, would never want to break the rules. Not even willingly. He’d be glitched or hacked if that happened. Or intoxicated by mushrooms.
Shiny followed Thunder promptly, trying to figure out the change of character. Did Thunder realize something that Shiny isn’t seeing? He shouldn't be glitching. Not with all the heavy maintenance going on this week. The mushrooms? No, those were nowhere near base and destroyed (probably). He’s not actually hacked, is he? That alien spy “Vanessa” better not be hacking him. No one can hack Shiny’s baby brother and get away with it.
Oh, Shiny wishes he just knew. There has to be something he’s not seeing. He just hoped it wasn’t something really bad. And he really hoped it wasn’t so bad that it could be too late at any moment.
Then Thunder stopped which made Shiny stop. They were in a purple room similar to the previous one. Blueprints hung on the wall, now drawn by the hand of a kid Alex. Messing handwriting was inked on every paper hung up. There were spare parts that were unfamiliar to both the robots. Where the corkboard in Thunder’s room was, a giant broken whip handle was mounted instead. Thunder gave Shiny a nudge and pointed to a framed picture.
The two robots slowly came closer to the picture. There was a six year old Alex standing on a platform. Next to her was a giant robot. He held a similar physique to both brothers in build. His colors were a saturated purple accented with light greens. There was a siren light sat upon his head and a green diamond resting in his chest. The top part of his face was a screen while the bottom part was metal.
And just like Thunder’s picture, there was a little sign underneath.
“Robot X-M47, call sign: Zephyr.” Shiny read out loud, “The second Rose Type Guardian Class Robot? Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be the second robot?”
“... No.” Thunder spoke. “I am supposedly not. It would appear it is not a new sibling in the way you thought. But rather… a lost sibling.”
Shiny let out an excited gasp: “Lost sibling? I have two little brothers!?”
“There were two Rose Robots before me?”
“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’ve had two little brothers this whole time. Or little sister? I know Zephyr can be a gender-neutral name, so I don’t wanna assume they’re a brother immediately. Oh man, I wonder what they’re like.”
“Why didn’t they tell me there were two robots before me?”
Shiny turned his head to Thunder. He looked heartbroken and confused. Shiny put aside his excitement, and held Thunder’s shoulders while speaking softly.
“Thunder, are you okay?” Shiny asked. “Is something wrong?”
“I was never made aware that there were two Rose Type Guardian Class Robots made before me. Not even that one had existed before me.”
“What are you talking about? You knew about me, didn’t you?”
“Only after you return from your ten year disappearance. After you powered down, I was only briefly explained by the EDF of who you were. They only told me that you were the first robot Alex made before disappearing. I never got a further explanation until a few days passed.”
“Wait a minute, what? You didn’t know who I was until I came back?”
“Affirmative. I was unable to ask questions about your existence at that moment as Alex was preoccupied with reactivating you. You were, as you would say, a complete stranger to me since the beginning of my existence.”
“Woah. Thunder, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know—”
“You do not have to apologize for anything. There is nothing in this situation that calls you at fault, as you did not know of this mystery sibling nor your existence being kept classified. But why would the EDF— Alex not tell me? What reason is there that I was not allowed to know of you or this robot?”
“I’m sure there is some kind of explanation—”
“What are you two doing here?” someone shouted.
Thunder and Shiny turned around. They saw an angry Alex and a tired Creed on the floor. Alex had her arms crossed disappointedly while Creed was catching his breath.
“Alex!” Shiny said nervously. “Hey, uh, this isn’t what it looks like.”
“Didn’t I say that this area is strictly prohibited to you two?” Alex glared.
“Well, you only told Thunder that. And he did try to tell me and stop me. But you know me—”
“I believe we have higher ground to ask you questions.” Thunder interrupted, pointing at the robot in the photo. “More precisely: what is the meaning of this?”
Alex changed from anger to shock. Creed looked away with a whistle.
“Thunder, Shiny, this isn’t what it looks like—”
“So this isn’t a second robot you created but rather an error of mislabel and room placement?” Thunder questioned.
“... Then it is how it looks.” Creed cut in.
Alex elbowed Creed: “I promise you both, I can explain.”
“Please do.” Thunder tried to hide the anger in his voice.
“The best you can, of course.” Shiny chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “I mean, I’m sure there’s a good reason you didn’t tell us we had another sibling. Right?”
Oh jeez. This didn’t look good. Shiny could tell Alex was nervous. He really really hoped Alex had a good reason for this.
Alex let out a sigh: “Okay, I may have been keeping a secret from you both.”
“A very obvious fact by now I believe.” Thunder gritted.
Shiny elbowed Thunder.
“I didn’t think you two would come in here.” Alex scolded before taking a deep breath. “Not the point though. The truth is… I did make three Rose Robots.”
“So… we do have a lost sibling?” Shiny questioned.
“He’s not lost. He’s… gone.”
Shiny and Thunder widen their eyes. They both looked back at the picture of the robot.
“That robot,” Alex continued, “is Zephyr. I made him three years after you, Shiny, disappeared into the O.R.T.. Technically, he’s your younger brother and Thunder’s older brother.”
“So he is a brother.” Shiny nodded.
“He was our robot guardian for two years. Until…”
Alex went quiet. Until what?
Creed stepped in, giving Alex a comforting shoulder pat: “Five years ago, we tried to close the O.R.T. ourselves with our satellites. Alex and the other EDF scientists came up with a plan that should’ve shut it down. Of course, we had Zephyr on standby in case something went wrong. However, the attempt to close it went worse than we could’ve ever thought. Somehow, a new O.R.T. had opened much closer to Earth.
“We were immediately overrun by alien plant-life and strange alien animals. It wasn’t quite kaijus, but they were still making a mess on Earth. Zephyr immediately deployed himself and went to take care of the infestation. But it was starting to get too much for him. We sent in the Big One to try and neutralize the threats. It was a messy fight, and the Big One almost landed in the wrong spot.
“Until Zephyr stepped in to make the ultimate sacrifice. He was able to redirect the Big One towards the new O.R.T. and it went off. Somehow it was able to close it and, to an extent, killed everything that came out. At the price of Zephyr being destroyed in the explosion.”
Shiny let out a small gasp as he covered his mouth. Oh shiz, Zephyr is dead.
“After that incident, we began to build Thunder.” Creed added. “Uh, a few years later of course.”
“Poor Zephyr.” Shiny mourned.
“It was a hard day for everyone. Especially Alex, considering… well, you know.”
“And when I was going to be informed of this?” Thunder asked.
Everyone turned to Thunder. Shiny saw his brother’s confusion replaced with seething anger he was trying desperately to hide.
“What?” Alex questioned.
“That is assuming you were planning to tell me this in the future. Unless the EDF purposely chose to keep this a secret.”
“Thunder, what are you talking about?”
“I find it strange that I was only informed of this second robot after I was dragged in here by Shiny. Along with not even knowing who Shiny was until his return to Earth. What is the reasoning that it took two accidental discoveries for me to learn who Shiny and Zephyr were?”
“Uh, I’m sure there’s another good explanation for that.” Shiny cut in. “Let’s be calm and gentle about how we’re asking though, Thundy.”
“I am being calm and gentle!” Thunder snapped before quickly correcting himself. “Correction: I only wish to know the EDF reasoning of this… being classified towards me.”
“Well, uh, it was to avoid repeating the same mistake a third time.” Creed tried to explain.
“What exactly do you mean ‘repeating the same mistake a third time’? What mistake could have been repeated that the EDF decided it would be a detriment for me having this information?”
“The EDF didn’t decide it.” Alex said. “I did.”
Shiny and Thunder stared at Alex in shock.
“Alex, you don’t have to do this.” Creed offered. “I can explain—”
“No, Creed.” Alex put her hand up. “It’s better if it comes from me. Thunder, I want you to know this is nothing against you. Back when I made Shiny, he was… my greatest creation. Not that you aren’t my greatest creation too.”
“Aww, Alex.” Shiny smiled.
“Proceed, please.” Thunder requested.
“Right. But when Shiny went into the O.R.T., I was devastated. I was so terrified of losing another person to it. So when I made Zephyr, I made some big changes. One of those changes you actually have. The O.R.T.A. protocol.”
“Real quick, can I ask what O.R.T.A. means?” Shiny raised his hand.
“Optical Rheometric Tactilis Avoidance protocol.” Thunder answered. “It is a protocol coded within my systems. If I were to get too close to the O.R.T. and refuse to distance from it, an autopilot would activate and I would immediately return to base. That protocol began with Zephyr?”
“Yes.” Alex confirmed. “I thought it would’ve been enough to keep him away from the O.R.T. so it wouldn’t hurt him. But… then I told him about Shiny.”
“Zephyr knew who Shiny was?”
“Because I didn’t think much about it. I thought it’d be harmless if he knew! But then, sometimes I would catch him watching old recordings of Shiny and try to mimic him.”
Shiny thought of a good joke, but he didn’t feel like it was a good time at all. Alex looked more hurt the more she talked, and Thunder was trying harder to hide his emotions. Humor is not gonna make this room’s energy better.
“Zephyr was still his own person, but he looked up to Shiny as. It’s like he hung the sun in the sky. Then when the new O.R.T. came into the picture, the protocol I made to keep Zephyr safe failed. He did everything he could to be a hero like his big brother. And just like Shiny and my parents… I lost Zephyr to the O.R.T.. And even though Shiny was able to come back, Zephyr is never gonna come back. He was destroyed permanently.
“I thought if you knew about Shiny and Zephyr, you’d end up getting hurt by the O.R.T. too, and we’d lose another person to it again. I couldn’t risk someone else being destroyed by that… stupid kaiju-sending empire. I only wanted to protect you.”
Shiny turned his head once again to Thunder to read his emotions. Oh wow, there were so many emotions now. Hurt, betrayal, anger, sadness, and confusion all laid within not only his face, but the way he stood perfectly still. Yet he still tried to hide it.
“... I see.” Thunder spoke. “My apologies. I was unaware that I was incapable of withstanding information of predecessors robot models before me. I didn’t realize my processor was suboptimal to handle it.”
“Wh— Thunder, that’s not what I’m saying at all.” Alex said.
“If you will excuse me, I must return to my hangar. I will almost be late to my processor examination. I would not want any damage remaining to have the chance to worsen or become irreparable.”
Thunder departed, ignoring Alex calling out to him and asking him to stop. “Alex?” Shiny spoke out. “I think you should leave Thunder alone for a moment.”
“But I don’t think of him like that. I’ve never had! There’s nothing wrong with his processor—”
“I know, Alex. But… this is a lot of information for Thunder. I think he’s feeling hurt, and we just need to give him time to let this sink in. He’ll be back to his old Thunder self, he just needs a moment to be alone.”
“But—”
“Shiny’s right, Alex.” Creed agreed. “We can talk to Thunder again after he’s calmed down. It’s best to let him cool off and think about everything we told him.”
“... But I don’t want him to think that I thought he wasn’t capable enough to know.”
“I’m sure he just needs to recharge on it.” Shiny comforted. “A good night's sleep should be just what he needs. Then you can talk to him when he comes online again.”
Alex nodded sulkingly. Creed gave her another comforting shoulder pat. The three left the room, the humans returning to the party. Shiny returned to the hangar. He saw Thunder standing in his hangar as the EDF repair crew prepared for the processor examination. His screen face was off.
“Hey, Thunder.” Shiny waved. “Um, listen. If you ever need to talk, I’m always here. I know you probably can’t hear me right now, but… I care about you lil bro. And I want you to know it’s okay to feel like this. I’m not gonna judge you. Take as much time as you need.”
There was no response from Thunder. Maybe he was powered off. Shiny let out a small sigh and began to fall asleep himself.
“I love you, little bro.”
As Shiny fell asleep, the repair crew looked at each other. Each of them started wondering what the heck all of that was about.
