“I’m…” I looked at the seven or so half constructed [Mechanoid] bodies. They were broken, entire portions of their bodies were gone. It annoyed me. “I’m missing a lot, it would help me to, try and put them together again.”
“Very well. This is a good method for you to contribute. If you are able to recover enough, we can try to bring back more than Iron or Ruby.”
“I would like that.”
“Then contact me when you are ready. This one will activate its core to call back the programming of those deceased.” Aqua spoke unusually, referring to itself in the third person.
Task Updated!
Details: Reconstruction is possible if their [Core]s can be recovered. The more of their bodies that are aligned, the higher chance recovery will be. Task must be completed before the units are reconstructed at the [Mechanoid] home world.
You have found the remains of numerous [Mechanoid] members. Reconstruction may be possible if their [Core]s can be recovered. The more of their bodies that are aligned, the higher the chance of recovery will be. This task must be completed before the units are reconstructed at the [Mechanoid] home world.
Reward:
Significant increase in contribution
Additional combat value to the [Wayfarer Eight] fleet
Time Limit: Six hours remain
I nodded. They would be reconstructed back at their home world, but I also remember Treasure had said such a process came with costs, a loss of data and ability. For players, the penalty boiled down to stats and skills, for these [Mechanoid]s it could be worse. Or maybe we weren’t doing them any favors. Putting them back on the [Wayfarer Eight] might just be marching them forth to be broken again.
Either way, I could help.
Aqua knelt down and started lining pieces up. I watched for a moment to try and understand. The thin [Mechanoid] touched parts of a broken arm and shoulder together. They glowed briefly with a plain white light and sealed at the edges. Successful fusions stayed connected, forming a complete shape. Other portions that didn’t fit and would be set off to one side. Two of the nameless [Mechanoid]s, both with varying shades of white and blue colors, would then take the incorrect piece and put it back into the pile.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about this being turned into a quest. That hadn’t been the point at all. Still, I wanted to do it. My efforts were making progress on several smaller pieces. Another hour passed where I managed to get a half formed reassemble. Jeeves came in with his ship and started unloading additional body parts.
I stopped putting together items to look at my companion. The AI didn’t notice my presence at all. It looked to be completely lost in the task of moving parts. Each movement was mechanical and devoid of any sort of light or emotion. Even the normal strands of dirty gold were dimmed.
“Jeeves?” I tried to raise my voice. All my prior attempts to contact it or join parties had failed.
The AI didn’t respond. I set down the torso in my arms and ran over. Each footstep upon the [Wayfarer Eight]‘s widened hangar echoed loudly. I grabbed the AI by the shoulders and tried to turn it in my direction.
“Jeeves!” My hands shook it. Other than halting from my grasp the AI showed no response. There was no hint or spark within it. Neither voice, butler or maid, came forth. My eyes cast up and tried to figure out what to say.
“Unit Jeeves is tired.” Aqua stopped sealing together body parts and wandered in our direction.
“Yes. Maybe.” I didn’t know if an AI could actually get tired. There were many odd things when it came to the AI’s existence. For one, Jeeves appeared to be gender neutral, which wasn’t bad, it threw me off a little each time I thought about it. “Jeeves isn’t like me, I don’t know what this will do to it.”
“This one is aware of the subtle differences, Unit Hermes though you feel it otherwise.” Aqua stepped over to Jeeves and held out a hand. Seeing the two of them standing together showed how tall Aqua was.
Light flared and its blue glow increased. Jeeves’ own energy [Core]s tried to brighten as well, but they rapidly reverted to their dull coloring. The lanky blue one tried again but had the same result. Whatever was happening made it impossible for my friend to stay energized.
“This one called Jeeves is not one of us, nor does it seem to be like you,” Aqua said after a fourth defeat. “It appears to be stuck between our reality and another, home in neither.”
“What can I do?” I asked.
“Unit Hermes, you have much to learn about what it means to be a Mechanoid. Your lack of understanding may be why this one did not provide approval for the Mistborn.” Aqua turned a hand toward our pile of half-completed bodies. “What do you see when this one mends that which was broken?”
I ignored his commentary about approval and thought about this situation. Aqua and I had never met before today. The [Mechanoid] certainly didn’t seem like a fighter. Iron and this blue one were distinctly different in their approach and manner. Iron was abrupt and to the point, but didn’t intend to be rude. Aqua spoke rather differently and felt more like a patient teacher.
“You touch them together, and then light.” I had paid attention.
“You see, but do not appear to understand,” the [Mechanoid] said in my direction.
“I don’t.” I wanted Jeeves to be better. How had he gone from functional to broken this quickly? The thought felt stupid once it came to mind. How had I gone from stable to a drunken mess after Xin’s death? The answer was seeing those I cared for pass on.
I tried to watch Aqua’s motions. Nothing made enough sense to act upon. Blues eyes stared from a lanky body into my friend’s almost plain dirty gold. Jeeves wasn’t focusing on anything correctly. Part of me desperately worried about what might be going on with its programming. Turning an AI’s ability to process information upside down required a lot of conflicting issues.
“Look here.” Aqua sat down next to a broken leg that had come apart at the knee. “It is not about simply putting two like objects in proximity, but of putting pieces that recognize each other in direct contact.”
Aqua kept up its repairs the entire time, looking over at me to see if it made sense. My mind tried to reason through it for a solid minute before reaching a conclusion. This was a fancy way of explaining that Jeeves felt disconnected from everything. Alone, in a sea of items that should have been familiar.
That feeling had haunted me for months. The crushing absence of companionship at Xin’s death had nearly destroyed me. Sometimes it wasn’t about words or a magical turn of phrase. All the speeches and words of dead philosophers couldn’t resolve a painful absence of connection. I wasn’t a hugging sort of person, but Jeeves deserved one.
I stepped in and wrapped my arms around him in a bear hug. It felt weird to be embracing anyone who wasn’t family, but at the same time, it might help. The AI was much smaller than this new form of mine, part of me felt like its emotional frailty was magnified by the difference in size.
“Ah. User Legate,” Jeeves spoke. “I am sorry. I did not notice your arrival.”
Hearing it respond made the knot in my stomach loosen a little. I hadn’t known what to do. My words to the Hal Pal consortium clearly hadn’t solved Jeeves’ emotional issues. A hug wouldn’t completely resolve things either, but it helped us both.
“It’s okay. I kept myself busy.” I smiled and kept awkwardly hugging the AI. Jeeves did not hug back, but it did look around with renewed interest. Previously dull lights on the AI’s [Mechanoid] body lit up. Stepping back gave it room to take in our situation. The AI stared at the mass of bodies behind us being reconstructed.
“What are you doing, User Legate? Mechanoids do not require manual reconstruction.” Jeeves tilted its head in my direction and raised an eyebrow.
“They lose data, right?” I looked at the pile as well. Some of the nameless [Mechanoid] units were now sorting through our heap and trying to match up missing items.
“It is only data loss, User Legate,” Jeeves sai
d while blinking rapidly. A brief moment of muted confusion crossed over its features.
“For them, maybe not. Maybe they lose memories or something.” I scratched my head. Dull clinks of noise reminded me that this body had no hair. “I just, wanted to help.”
“You do not need to do this, User Legate. You may find other ways to contribute should you desire.”
“You’ve helped me get this far. What kind of friend would I be not to try and return the kindness? You keep bringing in the pieces. Aqua and I will try to put them back together.” I glanced down at the blue lined [Mechanoid]. It looked back and gave a faint smile then nodded.
“Very well, User Legate. Thank you,” the AI said, sounding pleased. Jeeves turned back to the [Wayfarer’s Hope], which sat docked on the far side of our open hangar. Less than a moment later our ship was going back into the aftermath of our battle in search of bodies to reclaim.
I waved at some of the lesser [Mechanoid]s and they promptly followed Jeeves into their own ships. Part of me felt conflicted about not picking up humans for a kind of burial as well. It would be difficult to convince one race to care for another. I felt the need to ask, though.
“Aqua. Can we do anything for the Knuckle Dragger’s crew?”
“Do not think us heartless simply because we appear to only worry about our own. We are not like the Cricket or Behemoth.” Aqua put together a female [Mechanoid]‘s battered torso. She sat in six different pieces with a clear dent in its core. This pile was the one I tried to match up to Ruby’s mask and [Core]s. Deep crimson red that almost screamed blood.
“What’s being done?” I pressed for an answer while searching through the latest collection of parts for missing puzzle pieces. Only five hours were left to try and repair whomever we could. I wanted to at least repair Ruby and Iron if none of the others were completed.
Aqua didn’t sigh or sound upset. It picked up one piece and ran slender fingers over its surface. The [Mechanoid] shook its head and set the shard aside as mismatched against Ruby’s body.
“A drone will be left behind. We do this at all large battle sites. A recording will show all those who passed, and broadcast signals for the humans along with the bodies of those we manage to identify,” It said while gradually putting together parts of Ruby’s body. She looked to have been shattered into dozens of pieces.
“Are they just, left out there, floating?” I couldn’t bring myself to say dead. We had created a graveyard in space and it unsettled me.
“Space will preserve them far better than we can. Years may pass before any human stumbles across this spot again. It is far from their normal realms,” the AI said.
“Oh,” I said. That was kind of neat, and oddly sad to hear.
Three hours passed by in relative silence. By that point, we had managed to almost complete twelve of the lesser [Mechanoid] bodies. Iron was missing a [Core], and Ruby didn’t have an entire leg. Apparently that was close enough, and reconstructing the rest could be handled by a [Repair] process. Aqua knelt down and started the complex process of bringing a [Mechanoid] back online.
Its first target was a row of unnamed [Mechanoid]s. They seemed to have a random combination of [Core]s, which meant they weren’t focused like Iron or Emerald had been. Each one had body plating with less character and details. Iron had grooves all over from his combat. Ruby’s mostly assembled body had jagged lines like stitches. Being pieced back together left a fresh round of marks on all of us. Even Advanced Online didn’t skip past the scars life brought us.
I wondered if my body had any. Fingers ran over the portion of my side where Auntie Backstab had caved in my chest. It felt rougher than the rest of my body. The musings of being scarred even in a digital world distracted me.
One of the nondescript [Mechanoid] bodies sat up and looked around. He looked dazed. I remembered feeling that way when being brought back from the brink of game death after our [Levithan] kill. I waved. It stood up and thanked Aqua before moving off to perform other tasks.
I studied the ship while Aqua performed an ability that was impossible for me to replicate without having a different [Core]. Theoretically only some blue and gold ones had the ability to revive deceased [Mechanoid]s. My spare time researching online had yielded remarkably few results for this race. There simply weren’t enough players writing down information about playing a future robot.
Seven more passed and Aqua started in with bringing Ruby back. This one took considerable time, displaying a clear difference in program complexity. There, now I was starting to think like a [Mechanoid], high stats and skills meant increased capability. She didn’t stand up like the others. Her face flushed and the red glow brightened to an angry high. Everything poured out in waves across Ruby’s face then into glaring eyes.
It made her look frightening. I could only imagine what the enemy fleet had felt as she zipped around the battlefield dealing death. If Iron was a large battering ram, Ruby was a sharpened sword. Both served their purpose aboard the [Wayfarer Seven]‘s crew. Aqua and Emerald were likely support. Treasure had been the brains. No one made a fuss about their ranks among the [Mechanoid] crew, instead everyone just followed orders for the greater good.
“User Legate.” Jeeves’ voice cut across my ARC interface. The butler and maid voices were both severely startled by something.
“What’s wrong, Jeeves?” I turned and looked outside the ship. We had one large hole for ships to come in through. On the [Wayfarer Seven], each vehicle got its own version of a garage. This ship wasn’t nearly as sophisticated due to being recently built and not fully completed.
“I believe something went wrong with the Wayfarer Seven,” It said.
“What? Why?” I focused on the tone of its dual voices. Whatever was going on it promised to be bad news in an already fragile situation.
“I was scouting the Jump Gate for remains, and a ship came in. The Wayfarer Eight’s defenses did not react, therefore I concluded it was one of ours.”
“Was it? Is it the Seven?” A message came up on my screen. Reading it made my stomach sink again. Today had been about recovering from the damage of this battle. Now things were taking a turn for the worse.
Attention Unit Identified as Hermes!
Prior Bind Point [Wayfarer Seven] no longer exists.
New Bind Point [Wayfarer Eight] created.
“No. It is Treasure’s vessel.” Jeeves was clearly stressed. Neither one of us needed more bad news. “There are signs of damage. It is barely functional.”
I bit one lip and tried to think fast. “Worse than our escape from the Leviathan?”
“Three of her engines are missing. The shielding seems to have been stripped away. One moment, I am getting scans of the passengers-” Jeeves paused in its explanation. Aqua was looking at me and trying to get further information. I put up one hand and waited on my friend’s details. “-confirmed, Units Emerald and Treasure are both within it. Their core functions are heavily damaged.”
“Voices have mercy,” I uttered. Ruby sat up and started walking over to me. My eyes were unfocused, but I couldn’t miss the angry red markings on her body. They stood out distinctly against our ship’s grays.
“User Legate. We must save them,” Jeeves said.
“How do we, nevermind.” Anything Jeeves explained wouldn’t make sense to me. Online research had given me a few tips, but most of it didn’t apply to me directly. The only thing I knew is that golden [Core]s could bring people back from near death. Actual damaged [Core]s were the [Mechanoid] equivalent of having our hearts removed. The damage persisted after death for players. “I’ll talk to Aqua, you need to get them back here as soon as you can. Don’t stop for any reason.”
“I am returning as we speak,” the AI confirmed.
I nodded and turned to the blue [Mechanoid], It and Ruby stood there looking mildly alarmed. They must have heard my side of the conversation. Neither one had been privy to the party chat between Jeeves and me.
I bit my lip an
d decided to start with confirming the situation and said, “Do we have contact with the Wayfarer Seven?”
Ruby’s head shook silently while Aqua said, “No. What is the problem?”
“There was a ship that warped in, one of ours, it was massively damaged with Treasure and Emerald in it. They aren’t functioning.” I didn’t have time to affirm our ship’s defense capabilities. We weren’t like human vessels where a captain directed everything. [Mechanoid] starships essentially piloted themselves.
The light around Aqua faltered. Its perpetual smile twitched and dimmed to a flat line. Ruby’s expression didn’t change, instead her crimson colors brightened from somewhere deep inside. As if a bomb had gone off under the surface. They turned and looked at each other. Ruby nodded, Aqua shook its head gently.
“It would help if you talked out loud,” I said. This must be how they felt during my conversation with Jeeves. Left out and trying to understand what was going on. Apparently even NPC [Mechanoid]s had communication issues.
“We have a method of recovering them all, but the cost is substantial,” Aqua said. “We wish to seek out your willingness to assist with this venture, as it is a process that requires assistance from a Mechanoid possessing a past life core.”
“What? Are you talking about a player?”
“A past life core is how we identify those of our race that hold on to memories of old earth,” Aqua said and shrugged. Treasure had said something similar, only she talked about how our energy cores were different. All of it boiled down to players being outside the game’s normal scripting, and they explained it away as an expected anomaly.
Neat. Aqua had a method to resurrect them that required players to perform. It didn’t sound like the [Mistborn] process, however. [Mechanoid]s didn’t need a [Mistborn] to recover their race. Dead robots went back to the homeworld and rebuilt with minor losses. By using this method of Aqua’s, we could prevent Treasure, Iron, and Emerald from losing any portion of themselves.
“Okay. Whatever it is, I’ll do it.” If not for myself, then for this quest. It was bad enough that the [Wayfarer Seven] had been destroyed.
Continue Online (Part 3, Realities) Page 32
