Chapter Text
/// NEW MEMORY LOG ACCESSIBLE ///
/// Accessing available memories ///
/// WARNING: Explosion detected, critical injuries sustained, entering recovery mode, distress signal activated. ///
/// WARNING: Vacuum detected, cannot initiate self-repair protocols. ///
/// Waiting for removal of vacuum… ///
/// … ///
/// ATTENTION: Vacuum no longer detected, beginning recovery. ///
/// 12%... ///
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/// 79%... ///
/// 96%... ///
/// WARNING: Large impact detected, progress impeded, continuing repair, WARNING: matter tanks near empty, repair will take longer than normal ///
/// 98%... ///
/// WARNING: Matter tanks empty, unlocking matter tank intake, please insert materials. ///
/// … ///
/// Materials inserted, completing repairs… ///
/// Basic repairs completed, booting up… ///
/// WARNING: Some damages still detected, please perform self analysis and insert more materials at earliest convenience… ///
/// All primary systems online, beginning visual and audio recording. ///
I was in an unknown location, but that was not unexpected after coming back from recovery mode. I looked around, hoping to identify all possible threats. What I found could either turn out very good or very bad; Standing across from me was an alien of unknown origin, and processors showed the emotion they were most likely to be showing was fear. The chances of being in the care of an unknown species wasn’t as high as only being located by a known one, but this outcome was not unconsidered. Logical processors indicated that this may be the species we had been sent to make contact with, as such I made it a priority to avoid harm to the creature.
It was not armed thankfully, and the creature did not seem to realize I had been awoken, only that I was doing something different. Either that or they were beginning to approach an awake alien creature they (most likely) knew nothing about with no form of protection or weapon. I was confused by this behavior, as it was incredibly illogical. It likely had no idea what I was, and yet it saw its best course of behavior was to approach without any contingencies.
There was a possibility, however, that it did have some form of protection, and since I did not have time to perform a full scan because the creature was now getting closer quicker with unknown intentions and I was unaware of the components necessary for even in working order, worse, they were standing between my location and the exit. Logical processors dictated that the best course of action was to wait for it to get close before delivering a stunning strike and fleeing. It was dangerous, but the alternative was attempting to flee with it in the way or just lying there and playing the closest I could to death.
It got closer and closer, before it reached out a finger in what looked like an attempt to poke me, though it did not get the chance. In a flash I pushed their arm away with my own and delivered a strike to its head. With a yelp it jumped back and clutched its forehead. Seizing the opportunity I made a break for the exit. It was only now that I took the processing power to truly analyze my surroundings. The building I was in seemed to be made of wood and metal, and seemed quite sturdy. Not because it was well engineered, but rather because it had just been jury rigged with random sheet metal so much at almost every possible location. In what could not have been a coincidence, the wood seemed charred where I could see underneath said sheet metal. The layout of the building did not seem to have been planned out, seeming more like it had been randomly added on to rather than planned out from the beginning. It would make sense, since everything else this species seemed to make was quite makeshift.
Racing through the building I found no resistance to my escape, only the sounds of the creature chasing after me, though their steps were quite staggered, which made sense since I had hit them in the head and they likely would need a minute to recover from this blow. I soon managed to find the exit to the building and made my way outside. It seemed to be the middle of the night and I could see a small village, though I could not see any residents of it. It was probable that this species was awake during the day and the creature that I had awoken to failing to be asleep was an outlier. This was fortunate, the less creatures I had to deal with the better. The lack of beings in the vicinity meant an easy escape for me. Then again, it may be advantageous to make allies of this species, I knew next to nothing about them and they may have had something valuable that I was not presently aware of. A plan was created in my processors: I would lure the chasing creature away from the village where I could more easily perform an interrogation and discover what the creatures could offer me. Whether the interrogation was a mere conversation, or a painful endeavor, was up to the creature.
I slowed my pace so that the creature would notice me run into the tree line just as they exited the building, once they began to give chase again I then ran further into the forest, making sure to reduce my speed occasionally as to allow the creature to keep up as it was clear I was magnitudes faster than it. Eventually we came to a small valley which contained many trees and some small boulders. All of it was submerged in a couple inches of water so that it resembled a small natural basin full of foliage. I ran my way over to the opposite side of the clearing and ran a diagnostic on my auto translator. Thankfully, it was up and running. If I could get the creature to talk it would be possible to begin translation and attempt deescalation. Though I was willing to get the information I sought out by force, the other option would take much less time and energy.
I readied my inappropriately named fire whip and waited for the creature to make its appearance. When it did finally make its debut into the clearing it was panting and obviously out of breath. It took a second to regain its composure, though it didn’t take its eyes off of me while it did so. After a couple more moments it began its approach towards me while saying something in its native tongue.
/// ATTENTION: Unknown language detected, beginning auto-translation… ///
/// 4% translated… ///
It was good that it was beginning to talk, but it was bad that it was approaching me. It could still have some sort of defense and I needed to avoid physical conflict. In response to this predicament, I first began to back away before I made a series of random statements in languages it was sure to not understand in hopes that it would understand that I needed it to speak, just as I was doing. I do not know if it got that exact meaning, but it had the desired result; the creature muttered something else, louder this time, seemingly trying to communicate with me.
/// 9% translated… ///
This went on for some time, though the creature had given up on getting closer as I just moved away every time, instead we resorted to circling each other, mirroring each other's movements, the splashes of the water from our steps synced up nigh perfectly. All the while it muttered something at me, I muttered something at it, and that cycle repeated for a while longer.
/// 17% translated… ///
/// 26% translated… ///
/// 41% translated… ///
/// 62% translated… ///
/// 85% translated… ///
/// ATTENTION: Able to process basic sentences, still unable to translate complex thoughts, please continue to acquire new language samples at earliest convenience. ///
Good, at this rate I was going to be able to talk with this creature and discover whether they were worth the effort of befriending within the minute.
/// WARNING: Incoming dangerous weather conditions, analyzing… ///
/// WARNING: Incoming snow storm, temperature will drop to below -60 Celsius in the next 5 minutes, please inform all organic beings not suited for these temperatures. ///
We were still circling each other when the alert came in. I doubted any creature except for those who had spent the utmost time on their evolutionary path adapting to them was able to survive these temperatures, including the one that stood in front of me.
“The, cold, is, coming.” I attempted to warn the creature with the basic language I had processed, however staggered the words came out. The creature was obviously taken aback by my apparent knowledge of their language, and I doubt they even processed what I said.
“How did you-...? Why can I understand you? Where did you even learn- You continue to amaze, don’t you…” I wasn’t 100% sure that this is what it was saying, but I find that it is the most likely of their possible responses. That was good, what wasn’t however, was the fact that they seemed to be ignoring my warning, and so I repeated it.
This second attempt seemed to get the message across. “The… cold? Yeah, I guess it is getting chilly, but why are you telling me that? The first thing you say to an alien species is a weather report, you really are something else, ain't ya?” This creature was right in pointing out that a weather update was an odd thing to begin first contact with, but they failed to understand the gravity of the situation.
/// WARNING: Temperature drop incoming faster than expected, please be indoors in the next: 2 seconds. ///
It was then that we were both hit by a wall of snow, followed shortly thereafter by a sharp nose dive in ambient temperature and the realization that the creature was in a very bad situation. It immediately began running for the entrance to the little valley we were in, though their progress was impeded by the cold both biting at them directly, and beginning to freeze the small layer of water we stood in. It was immediately clear that they were not making it back to their home in any state that could be considered alive, not unless I stepped in. I weighed my options, I could attempt to save the creature, I had already noted a cave nearby that would provide sufficient cover from the cold, one in which I would quickly be able to light a fire. I could also just leave it for dead and abandon this creature. Leaving the creature to die was the obvious choice, as it allowed for me to begin my search for Fre immediately. My logical processors then granted me knowledge of what may happen if I left this creature to the cold. If the creature’s first experience with an alien resulted in the death of one of their own, it would upset them, even my logical processors not designed for social intelligence could see that much, and an upset populace was hard to make peace with. If we were to fail in this mission in such a way that was so easily avoidable, Fre may be demoted from her place at the special operations team and sent to be in the general naval fleet, which in turn had a survival rate I deemed unacceptable. This left me with futures, spend an estimated few days attempting good relations with these creatures before finding Fre, who I was confident could survive at least a month without assistance due to the built in features of the escape pod, there was the chance the rest of the squadron was safe and rescued Fre on their own. I could leave this creature as well, likely causing the relocation of Fre to a much more dangerous location for too long.
I made my choice, the creature would not die today.
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With speed I raced towards the freezing thing and caught it as it started to fall to the ground, arms crossed across itself in a futile attempt to stave off the cold. I then skidded and turned towards the cave I had noted earlier with speed that even species specifically evolved for swiftness would have had trouble replicating. The journey was short, but the blazing snow made it hard for my visual processors to function fully and I had to put some amount of processing power into avoiding loose debris that was on the ground, even some that had dislodged itself due to the high winds and began their descent to the floor, nearly striking me multiple times.
We made it to the cave relatively unharmed, but the creature was beginning to show signs of hypothermia. It was unconscious, but still alive thankfully. The mouth of the cave was not large enough to fit both of us at once, though its interior was more than large enough. To remedy this problem I delivered a swift strike of my fist to some of the stone surrounding the mouth of the cave, causing the opening to expand considerably. I hurried inside and laid the creature down, and after 30 more seconds I had successfully left the cave, gathered a considerable amount of wood, and returned to the sleeping creature. I dropped the wood beside them, and prepared to make a fire. For someone not properly equipped, the process of turning the loose wood into a fire would have been an impossible task; it was frozen over and as cold as ice, though that swiftly changed as I fired the flamethrower mounted upon my wrist, being careful as to not injure the creature. It’s true that the flamethrower likely would have solved the hypothermia, but it would have created numerous worse issues so I was not rushing to wreathe them in flame.
Shortly after the fire’s ignition the area directly surrounding it became warm enough for the survival of most creatures, seemingly including the creature as their vital signs appeared to stabilize from the short scan I performed. These creatures were admittedly quite hardy
/// ATTENTION: Weather update: cold snap will clear in: 4 hours. ///
I sat directly next to the creature as they slept to ensure their safety, something they seemed not to appreciate when they woke up, physically recoiling from the shock of seeing my visual processors so close to their equivalent.
“Stars above!” They exclaimed, clamoring away from me and very nearly into the fire.
“Please limit your movement, you are still weak and require rest.” I explained, attempting to calm the creature, though the attempt was a failure.
“Where are we? Where did you take me?” They shouted, looking around. They attempted to stand up, but their legs betrayed them halfway through the action and they fell back down to the ground.
/// Creature is more scared than is deemed logical in current scenario, checking Terror Emitters for malfunction via unintended activation… ///
/// Terror Emitters at: 0%. No malfunctions detected. ///
“We are inside a cave in order to escape the dangerous weather. Please, remain calm, no harm will come to you.”
They ignored my directions and did not, in fact, remain calm. Their eyes were wide as they stared at me, a mix of fear from the obvious danger I might be, but also amazement from conversing with an alien. After a moment they finally obeyed my instructions and began to calm down. They were still scared of course, but I do not believe I actively sought to harm them.
It attempted communication once more, “Are you… from another world?” It paused, “Sorry, that’s a dumb question, I’m just a bit shaken up right now. Also, you’re not gonna kill me, right?”
“I have already stated you are safe. Killing you would not be logical in my current scenario.” I responded truthfully.
“That doesn’t make me feel any better.” They let out a strained laugh as they inched their way away from me.
We continued to stare at one another for some time. It was obvious they were still suspicious of me, even though I was responsible for saving their life. Their illogical decision making patterns would be something that remained with them for the rest of our time together.
I took the time we spent in silence to perform a full body analysis of the creature. It was covered in teal scales which sparkled under the firelight. Its head was like that you’d find on many species of lizard, only enlarged to be in scale with the rest of its body. Interestingly, it seemed to be somewhat aquatic in nature; It had feature obviously made for water, such its webbed feet and hands and long fin-like tail on its lower back, but it also had more subtle features, such as a lack of eyelids, instead having a small film over its eyes to protect them. Its respiratory organs were also suited for both the air and the water. It had long whisker-like protrusions that dangled from its nose which were used for detecting surroundings in low light conditions. It also had another quirk I had not seen in any intelligent species, that being that it was hermaphroditic; it had no gender or sex. I recorded its anatomy in my memory banks and continued to attempt de-escalation of the situation.
“I understand you are confused, this is logical.” I said, attempting to appear to relate on some level to the creature in front of me. “I may answer some questions if you would like.”
“Okay…” They hesitated, they didn’t seem to trust anything I said or did, even something as innocuous as offering to answer questions. “What’s your name?”
“M.E.U.” I gave three quick taps to the label on my chest.
“Huh… interesting name…” They did what could only be considered their equivalent of a squint. “Does it mean anything?”
“Presumably, but I am unaware of any meaning at the current moment.” I answered honestly. It was unusual, I contained the schematics for my form, in fact, Fre was working on reverse engineering them before our untimely separation, but I contained no directive, no purpose. Not even a clue such as my name was left.
The creature was clearly not impressed with the lack of detail in my answer, but moved on to their next one regardless. “How did you end up here?”
“My ship met its destruction due to an enemy projectile’s impact.”
The creature waited expectantly, before seeing my lack of intention to continue. “You gotta give me more than that, you got shot down while in space and you have nothing to say about it? Gimme some details, what was the ship like? Who were you fighting? What did it feel like, floating in space? I’ll take anything.”
I paused for a moment, not that the creature would be able to tell, it was only a few milliseconds longer than my average pause between my conversational partner stopping and me beginning to talk. I wondered what this creature already knew, and more importantly, whether it was safe to tell them anything. They might have been aligned with the enemy for all I knew, and letting them know their ally was my foe could cause them to become hostile, ruining any chance of success for my current objective. I decided on being as vague as possible, only giving things with a low chance of alerting the creature to the identities of those involved in my past. However, I would be open about the things I deemed capable of improving my standing with the creature.
“I was on a standard cruiser for our mission, nothing of note. I was most likely shot down by ‘The Horde’, with whom we are currently at war” Their name was not actually The Horde of course, that was just a nickname Fre had given them, though when she did address them as such it was usually littered with much more profanity than I care to repeat. The other part of the statement, that we were at war with them, was true however, though I was not sure if they were the ones who shot us down, but considering Bravo-2’s comment about it being a drone, and ‘The Horde’s’ reliance on drones, it was a safe assumption to say it was them. I went on, “I do not feel things. Though it may appear this way sometimes, I can assure you I am incapable of emotion. As such I felt nothing floating in space.” The reason behind this facade of emotion that sometimes shows through is, like most things that are not an entirely logical part of my design, Fre. She insisted I was too dull to be around, and as such managed to jury rig some semblance of emotion into my speech, especially in the memory logs because they were, quote: “So soul-draining boring, like watching the galaxy’s thickest paint dry while being [REST OF QUOTE WIPED FOR PURPOSES OF COMMON DECENCY].”
“You were on a mission?” They inquired.
“Affirmative.” I responded plainly.
The creature gave me another look, not dissimilar to the one they wore when they were so adamant about learning more. They gave out a long sigh, “Once again, you’ve got me hooked, then you make no attempt whatsoever to reel me in with ANY explanation. I need. More. Info.” They completed their small tirade by throwing their hands up in exasperation.
“We were most likely coming to find your kind. We received a signal from what seemed to be an intelligent alien species, and assuming you and your kin are the only ones with such capability on this planet you were our mission objective.”
“To find… us? Are we just that charming?” It asked slyly.
“I am not the proper being to determine your social aptitude," I responded, “I am proficient in measuring physical abilities, but I was not designed to analyze charisma.”
The creature rolled its eyes. “You are not good at this whole conversation thing, are you?”
“It is not what I was designed for, no.” I responded.
We stood there, silent for some time. Said silence was only broken by another question from the creature.
“What are those things, on your hip?” It gestured to the whip and revolver sat at my sides.
“They are weapons, used to greatly increase my combat effectiveness.” I explained.
“Ooh, show me!” The creature suddenly regained the enthusiasm they had slowly been losing through our apparently boring conversation.
With clinical precision I marked my target, a small stalactite protruding from the ceiling of the cave. With trained precision I released the magnetic lock on my whip and swung it so that its trajectory would intersect with the location of the stalactite. When the weapon and stone did meet, the stalactite exploded into a shower of pebbles, littering the ground with small stones.
The creature seemed awestruck, they stared at where the stalactite had once been for a moment before turning back to me.
“You gotta let me try that.” It insisted.
“I do not, you are not proficient with the weapon and as such it would be dangerous for both of us to allow you to use it.” I stated.
“Oh, come on. I need to try that.” It pushed.
“You do not.” I replied. I do not know why it was so insistent on the necessity of its usage of the whip.
The creature continued to ask questions and intermittently attempted to gain access to my revolver. Eventually it became tired and gave into sleep despite its best efforts to stay awake, leaving me to defend the cave in silence. I stood there, arms folded behind my back before I received a notification.
/// WARNING: Anomaly detected at cave entrance. Please investigate and remove at earliest possible convenience. ///
In one motion I snatched the revolver from my hip, switched it to the highest energy setting, and sent a small, yet dense, sliver of metal flying through at mach speeds towards the cave entrance. The air cracked with bang as the air scrambled out of the way of the speeding projectile. The noise caused the sleeping creature in my protection to shoot up with a yell, eyes darting around the room.
/// WARNING: Anomaly no longer detected, though no hit was registered. Source of Anomaly may still be active. ///
“W-What was that?” asked the creature frantically.
“I detected a possible intruder and as such I shot at it.” I said, the revolver still trained on the cave entrance.
“I mean if there’s something out there, we need to get going!” It said, fear in its voice.
“Agreed, I do not have its location, it may have gotten inside, thus this location is compromised. Are you well enough to walk?” I asked, I would have performed a medical scan of the creature if I was not already using the power required to do so on monitoring as many possible angles from which the intruder could ambush us as possible.
“I think so.” It stated, slowly rising to its feet.
“Good, stay behind me and observe our surroundings.” I said, quickly making my way out of the cave.
/// ATTENTION: Entering snowstorm. Conditions are warmer than previously and the current target of protection will survive this temperature, though visibility will be limited. ///
We made our way quickly through the forest in the direction of the village, still wary of our surroundings, though the snow made our attempts to see at any distance rather challenging.
/// WARNING: Previous anomaly detected in the area, unable to pinpoint location, best estimation of location is in trees. ///
I fired five shots into the treetops, startling the creature I was guarding once again.
/// WARNING: No hits registered, anomaly still detected. ///
“Warn me when you’re about to do that next time!” complained the creature who seemed to be getting tired of the extremely loud noises. Despite its complaints I continued to not warn the creature of when I was firing, as it would have also warned any enemies within earshot.
We began sprinting at this point, though our attacker seemed to have no trouble keeping pace. I continued my onslaught of random shots into the trees, though my bullets found only air. It was only when we were about to clear the forest and enter the village when I received another notification.
/// WARNING: Infrared laser point detected on chassis, most likely source: laser sight attached to weapon. Please move out of the way of the laser, failure to dodge may result in death. ///
I dropped to the floor just as I saw a small flash from the treetops ahead of us, attempting to pull the creature down with me, though I was too late. A small contraption whizzed by where my head had once been and struck the creature in the leg. It clamped onto their leg and began administering an electric shock. This attack had one positive however, I now could determine our aggressor’s location from their muzzle flash. I immediately raised my revolver and returned fire.
/// ATTENTION: Hit registered in target’s leg. Nice shootin’ bub! ///
Another thing Fre had implemented into my systems was what she called “a positive reinforcement system” which was designed to help me land more shots through complimenting me whenever I did so successfully. However, results showed that this had no effect on my hit rate.
The last I saw of the assassin that day was a glint of metal, escaping back into the woods.
Turning back to the now convulsing creature, I ripped the electrocution device out of them and disabled it through extreme pressure, turning the once masterfully engineered device into a shower of metal shards and sparks.
“Hit ‘em in the leg, that’s what I call instant karma.” The creature joked weakly from the ground before falling unconscious.
Performing a small medical scan revealed that the creature would survive given time to recover, but they would be incapacitated for the next hour minimum. Hoisting them onto my back I carried them out of the forest, their limp body lightly hitting against my chassis with every step. Occasionally they would wake back up again, say a couple of words that usually meant nothing, then fall back unconscious.
It wasn’t long till we reached the village. Scanning the environment I observed considerable noise coming from the large building I had reactivated inside of as well as smoke coming out of what appeared to be a chimney. Logical processors dictated this would be the safest place for the creature to stay as it likely had many others of their kind and a fire to provide heat inside.
I kicked the door open when I did reach the building as my hands were occupied carrying the creature. This had the effect of making every head immediately inside turn in my direction. I walked inside quickly, shutting the door behind me as many eyes stared straight towards me. I spied a large table at the center of the room and laid the injured creature out on it.
After a moment of stunned silence, one of the creatures began speaking.
“Who- Who who are you?” Their voice seemed scared, though their tone quickly changed with the next thing they said, “And what did you do to Digi?”
Noted: the creature sprawled out on the table is known as Digi.
“Answer me!” It yelled, its tone only becoming more accusatory with every moment.
“I am MEU.” I told them, giving a small bow. I did not know much about social situations, but I did know that bowing can be an effective way to disarm someone’s anger. I quickly learned however, that it did little to calm this creature.
“That doesn’t mean anything!” It screamed, throwing its hands up in the air.
Another creature had come out of the crowd at this point and began to examine Digi, applying rudimentary healing products where they could. The first creature was still continuing their tirade however.
“First, we go to check on Digi and both them and your body are gone, we try to set up a search party but then a cold flash hits. We all think Digi is probably dead at this point and we’re all sitting here worried, but then YOU show up carrying their injured body and throwing it on the dinner table. Can you PLEASE explain that.” exasperation now filled their voice as much as anger did.
“I rebooted, left the building with Digi following me, brought them to a cave when the snowstorm spotted, then ran back here while being pursued by an unknown attacker who managed to successfully deliver an electric payload to Digi.” I explained, my monotone voice not matching that of my interrogator at all.
“Ooo, the plot thickens! There was an ‘unknown attacker’.” They said, their voice no less exasperated, “Are you sure that ‘mystery assassin’ wasn’t just you? Are you trying to cover your ass now?”
“I do not have an ass, and as such cannot cover it. I have a point on my chassis that connects my legs to my torso if that is what you are referring to, but I do not have a sphincter used for the ejection of waste.” I explained.
The creature threw their hands up once more. “What do ya know, we got a smart-no-ass over here.”
It sighed, “I’ve had enough of this, Opun, knock it’s lights out.”
Footsteps quickly approached behind me, likely this Opun person attempting an attack. When they began to swing what turned out to be a large metal bat I stepped out of the way of the blow, and using their own momentum against them, threw them to the ground. They were a large fellow, nearly one and a half times the height of all of their kin and nearly as tall as me.
They landed with a large thud to the surprise of all in the room except me and Digi, as they were too busy lying unconscious. Opun quickly rose to their feet and began to attempt an attack once more, though they were interrupted by a noise on the table.
“Just… leave it… MEU… do what they say… you ain't winning an argument against Vitis, trust me… I’ve tried.” croaked Digi, before falling into sleep once again.
“Affirmative.” I responded, noting both the request and the name of the loud creature yelling at me: Vitis. I raised my arms above my head, the most common form of surrender in the known galaxy, and stood there still.
“Opun, bring this thing to the guest cabin and lock it up.” Vitis commanded. Opun followed the instruction dutifully, but was very cautious as they escorted me to my temporary living quarters.