Chapter Text
Zane sat on the floor. He had removed Pixal's neural drive and was currently staring at it, focusing on it intently from its place on the table. He was becoming seriously concerned, she had been exhibiting some worrying signals lately, and he wondered if it was because she was stuck in his head all the time. Jay wandered into the room, waving at Zane with a smile.
"Hey Zane, what's up?" He asked, as he noticed the drive on the table. "Did you and Pixal have a fight?"
"No, I'm just worried about her." Zane sighed.
"Is she okay?"
"I think she is becoming isolated from being constantly stuck in my processor." He said, not taking his eyes off the drive. "I am thinking about asking Mr Borg to rebuild her body."
"That's a great idea," Jay smiled. "maybe you could have it made as a Christmas present."
"I guess I am just nervous." Zane confessed.
"But why?" Jay raised an eyebrow at his companion. "Mr Borg is a nice guy, he'd be glad to rebuild her."
"It is because of me that Pixal got scrapped in the first place," Zane sighed as memories of his time on Chen's island came flooding back. "she was the one who retrieved my blueprints, found a new power source, helped me rebuild myself… and I failed to protect her from Clouse."
Jay fell silent as he recalled the day Zane had told them about how he came to be on the island. His stomach turned at the thought of someone as sweet as Pixal having her arm sawn off so brutally, and he tried to imagine someone as generally calm as Zane going on an icy rampage and practically obliterating every building on Chen's island. Looking back, they had wondered why Chen waited three months to invite them to his tournament; by then the ninja were all so broken by Zane's death that they had gone their separate ways. Little did they know at the time that he was rebuilt within three days of the memorial service they had for him.
"I'm sure Mr Borg wouldn't hold anything against you," Jay attempted to comfort him and patted him on the shoulder. "if it wasn't for you, Pixal wouldn't be here at all, at least you saved her hard drive."
Zane didn't seem convinced, and he continued to stare at the drive on the table.
"Why don't I come with you?" Jay suggested. "You know, for moral support."
"No, I should be able to do this on my own." Zane sighed again.
"What are teammates for, huh?" Jay nudged him cheerfully. "Come on, let's call him and see if he's free this afternoon."
"See if who's free?" Kai asked as he walked in.
"Mr Borg," Jay explained. "Zane wants to ask him to make a new body for Pixal."
"You miss her a lot, don't you?" Kai said, crossing his arms. "Physically I mean."
"Yes, I do." Zane agreed, lifting the neural drive from the table and holding it close to his chest.
"Well, come on then, let's just go see him." Kai insisted.
What started as just Kai and Jay accompanying Zane, quickly turned into a team-building exercise as all six ninja were waiting in the lobby of Borg Industries. They perched themselves on a nearby couch, all decked out in their uniforms as if they were there on official business. Which, they kind of were – they were there to support their fellow ninja as he endeavoured to ask a favour of Mr Borg. Suddenly they were approached by a security officer who looked very familiar to Zane. He pulled down his ninja mask and smiled.
"Mr Hedges," He grinned. "how good to see you again."
"Hello Zander," Hedges responded. "it's been a while."
"Yes, too long." Zane smiled.
"Mr Borg will see you now, if you'd care to follow me." Hedges nodded, gesturing to the elevator.
"I will be back soon." Zane promised his friends.
"Good luck!" Nya said.
"He doesn't need luck, he'll be fine." Jay corrected.
"You'll be alright, tin-head, just stay cool." Cole joked.
"Take deep breaths and don't ramble!" Lloyd warned.
"Stop making him nervous!" Kai slapped his hand to his forehead.
"Thanks guys." Zane replied as he walked away with Hedges.
Once they were a sensible distance from his friends, Zane looked at Hedges with a concerned glance. Hedges looked back at him with a sincere grin and escorted him into the elevator. As the doors closed and the elevator began to ascend the building, Hedges cleared his throat.
"Miss Borg not with you?" Hedges asked.
"Uh, no, she decided to stay behind." Zane replied.
It was a complete lie of course, Pixal's neural drive was tucked safely inside Zane's gi. The favour he was about to ask of Mr Borg was to remain a secret until the very last minute, and as such, Pixal could not be in his head when he was discussing it. The elevator doors opened in Mr Borg's office, and Hedges gestured for Zane to get off here.
"Zane!" Cyrus Borg called out from the other side of his desk. "This is a surprise, I'm so glad to see again!"
With the doors closed behind him, and the elevator safely on its way back down the building, Zane approached the desk silently. Cyrus tilted his head as the ice ninja dropped to the floor and doubled over into a dogeza bow. Such a deep, intentional bow indicated either the need for forgiveness or a favour. Though confused, Cyrus would soon see that Zane required both.
"Mr Borg," He began with his forehead touching the ground. "please accept my sincerest apologies for what happened to Pixal when you entrusted her to my care."
"Zane," Cyrus sighed. "you are not the one who scrapped my dear Pixal, in fact you are the one who saved her from the fate of being left to rot by that awful maniac Chen – I do not blame you for anything."
"Please, forgive me." Zane pleaded.
"There is nothing to forgive; you rescued Pixal and let her share your body," Cyrus wheeled over to him. "as far as I am concerned, you have continued to protect her with such fierce loyalty that if anything you should be rewarded."
Zane sat up from his extreme pose of deference, with tears pricking his eyes. He was so relieved to hear that Mr Borg didn’t blame him for what happened.
"Now we've gotten that out of the way, how can I help you?" Cyrus smiled.
"I love having Pixal with me all the time, but I worry that she is feeling isolated by the confinement," Zane explained. "I wonder if you would allow me to rebuild her here, as she did for me."
"Of course!" Cyrus beamed happily. "I'm sure I have her blueprints around here somewhere."
"I realise that it is rather short notice, but I was hoping to have it ready in time for Christmas," He mentioned as he produced her neural drive from its safe place inside his gi. "I want to surprise her."
"How sweet," Cyrus grinned. "I know you are busy, what with your ninja duties, so if I can offer any assistance, you have only to ask."
"Thank you, I would certainly appreciate your help; you see, I can only leave her neural drive out of my processor for so long before she may become suspicious," Zane bowed again. "so, I will be here every day, but I will be on something of a time-limit."
"I understand, and don't worry; between the two of us I'm sure it will be finished by Christmas," Cyrus sighed, and his expression turned a little nostalgic. "it'll be just like when Pixal rebuilt you here, right down to the element of secrecy."
"Indeed." Zane chuckled.
Meanwhile, the other ninja were starting to get a little antsy. There were chores that needed doing, their daily training session to complete, and if they didn't get back to the temple soon, they'd be up until midnight getting everything finished. Nya couldn't bear just waiting around, so she stood up and pulled her ninja mask down with a frustrated sigh.
"What could be taking him so long?" She asked no one in particular, crossing her arms impatiently.
"Miss Nya, is that you?"
Nya turned around to see Benson, who seemed surprised that she was even here.
"Mr Benson!" She exclaimed, smiling widely at him.
"I didn't expect to see you, how's everything going?" He grinned, offering her a handshake.
"Pretty good, I'm the Master of Water these days," Nya rebuffed the formal greeting and gave him a quick hug instead. "how about you?"
The others had no idea who this guy was, or how Nya even knew him, but the friendly manner in which they approached each other meant that they were, at the very least, strong acquaintances. They didn't know that when Nya made her daily pilgrimage to Borg Industries to check on Pixal, Benson was the one who welcomed her every day.
"Who are you here to see?" Benson wondered. "I could call and find out where they are."
"Actually, we just dropped in, we didn't have an appointment," She explained sheepishly. "Zane is upstairs seeing Mr Borg so we're just waiting for him."
"Is Miss Borg not with you?" He asked, looking at the other ninja who were still sitting on the couch.
"Uh, no, she's with Zane," She muttered. "but I don't believe you've met everyone else yet."
"I haven't had the pleasure, not in person." Benson beamed excitedly.
"Guys, this is Mr Benson, one of Mr Borg's personal security officers," Nya smiled. "this is-"
"Oh, oh, I know!" Benson eagerly approached the ninja and pointed them out one by one. "Lloyd, Cole, Kai and Jay!"
"Nice to meet you." Lloyd smiled.
"You know us by name, are you a fan?" Kai grinned.
"Oh yes, I always hoped I would get to meet you all!" Benson struggled to contain his excitement.
"So how do you know Nya?" Jay questioned with one eyebrow raised.
"She used to come visit Miss Borg," Benson replied, taking Jay's hand and giving a firm, if slightly giddy, handshake. "I must say it is an honour to meet the Master of Lightning!"
"You clearly have good taste in elements." Jay smirked.
Benson continued to fuss over the ninja, asking questions about their elemental power and what it was like to be a ninja, when the ever-stoic Cole suddenly lifted him off the ground. As Kai watched his super strong teammate lift the man using only one arm, he leaned over to his sister.
"Hey sis," Kai whispered. "who's 'Miss Borg'?"
"You idiot, Miss Borg is Pixal," She sighed. "all the employees here call her that."
"It's a bit formal, isn't it?" Kai boldly stated. "It's not like Pixal is Mr Borg's daughter."
"Actually-"
"Jack will be so jealous that I got to meet everyone!" Benson interrupted, nudging Nya and smiling happily. "It really has been wonderful to meet you all, but I must go now – still on the clock you know."
Benson bowed politely and went on his way.
"Who's Jack?" Cole asked Nya once Benson was out of earshot.
"His boyfriend I think," Nya answered. "I overheard him talking with the receptionist the first time I came to see Pixal."
"Hey guys!" Zane yelled across the lobby.
He ran over to his friends, waving like a mad man and smiling from ear to ear. The excitement was clear from his hyperactive demeanour and eager stride; he was almost skipping with joy.
"I take it from that grin on your face that the meeting went well." Cole assumed.
"Yes!" He declared. "Her new body should be ready in time for Christmas!"
"That's great news!" Jay smiled. "See, I told you he'd be okay about it."
"I must ask that you be patient with me, as I will be coming here every day to work on the rebuild," Zane requested. "I promise not to let this interfere with my chores or training however – I do not wish to be a burden, nor do I want to alarm Pixal with any unusual behaviour."
"We'll keep things as normal as possible," Lloyd nodded. "and not a word out loud about the rebuild unless Zane gives us a signal."
"But if you do need someone to cover you, I'd be happy to help in exchange for a batch of your caramel cookies." Cole offered, only half-jokingly.
It was only day three of the rebuild, and despite a number of setbacks, it was off to a good start.
On the first day, Mr Borg had trouble locating Pixal's original blueprints. Once he had found them, some vital parts were missing, so they had to be redrawn based on more recent designs. As for the second day, there was some debate about the type of metal to use for her exoskeleton; Cyrus was not keen on using titanium because, although it would offer greater protection than steel, he feared it would encourage Pixal to take greater risks. Zane wanted to use titanium for the very reason that it would protect her even when he couldn't, and while he did not divulge the awful scene he witnessed on the island – when her arm was severed in front of his very eyes – he was insistent that Pixal be given a significantly hardy body.
Eventually they compromised and settled on chromium.
So, with the blueprints ready, the materials gathered, and the machines ready to go, Zane went about making the circuitry, while Cyrus Borg programmed the computer to begin construction of the exoskeleton. For Zane, there was a certain nostalgia about the whole situation. He and Pixal had built his current body here, and it was completed in just under three days. Her body would take slightly longer, because even though he would be here every day, he could only be here for a couple of hours at a time. He paused and reached into his gi, where her neural drive was being kept during his sessions at Borg Industries, and compulsively tapped on it. Of course, it was still there, he had been intermittently touching the drive since he had taken it out of his head. Such was the paranoia he felt about losing her again.
"I'm sorry that I did not keep her safe." Zane apologised.
"Oh Zane, not this again," Cyrus frowned. "I told you before, I don't blame you for anything that happened."
"I should have left the island as soon as I had Pixal in my arms, but I was so angry, all I could think about was vengeance," Zane put down his soldering iron and looked up at the ceiling. "the tournament, Pixal losing her body, the banishment of Lloyd's father – none of it would have happened if it wasn't for me."
"You cannot continue to berate yourself like this; you made a mistake, everyone makes mistakes," Cyrus approached him and put his hand on Zane's shoulder. "the fact remains that Pixal is still with us thanks to you, and it is only because of your actions that we are here rebuilding her."
"Thank you." Zane smiled.
"Now, let's resolve to move forward, hmm?" Cyrus grinned. "No more sadness, only joy!"
Suddenly, Mr Hedges walked into the lab.
"Sir, forgive the interruption," He bowed politely. "but Mr Abakhan of textile manufacture is outside, he wishes to see you about your custom order."
"Those will be the outfits for this year's fuyu no odori no doubt," Cyrus said as he turned to Zane. "I must go and see them, but I will be back soon."
"Okay." Zane replied.
As Cyrus Borg followed Hedges out of the room, Zane turned his attention back to the circuits he was previously working on. Mr Abakhan… the name sounded familiar. If he remembered correctly, Mr Abakhan was the person Pixal had contacted about making his ninja uniform, not to mention the suit which he wore when Hedges dropped them off at the dock. He wondered what happened to that suit – when he woke up on the island, he wasn't wearing it anymore. Perhaps one of Chen's goons stole it, they had no sense of style though, so maybe it was Clouse.
Clouse… if he ever saw that moustached clown again, there was going to be hell.
Zane rapidly shook his head. Mr Borg was right; he couldn't think that way anymore. It was that sort of thinking that led to him becoming a blizzard of wanton destruction. Clouse and his devious Master Chen had been banished to the Cursed Realm for their actions; that was supposed to be worse than any mortal punishment.
Now was the time for looking forward, not backward. He for one, looked forward to seeing his beloved Pixal in physical form again. Of course he enjoyed having her in his head, she was always there for him and it was always wonderful waking up to her smiling face. But it would be better to wake up to her smiling face and be able to hug her as well. When they were in the cells on Chen's island, she spoke so highly of him. At first, he thought she was just being polite, but as his memories returned, he once again understood the depth of their relationship. He didn't expect anyone else to understand. After all, love at first sight is a rarity even among humans, for droids to experience it was completely unheard of.
"Sorry for the delay," Cyrus apologised as he came back into the room. "the outfits were not quite what I wanted, so I had to suggest some alterations."
"So, this fuyu no odori, does everyone participate?" Zane asked.
"No, usually it's just Pixal and some of the other female employees," Cyrus explained. "but it helps to get everyone up and dancing at the New Year's Eve party."
"I did not know that Pixal could dance." Zane mentioned, looking up from his work and remembering having to teach her some of what he knew.
"She is a beautiful dancer," Cyrus sighed with a paternal smile on his face. "she's mastered the winter dance, but she's never danced any other way before."
"I see." Zane answered.
Now it made sense that she was so unsure of herself when she was dancing with him – she was used to dancing in a group, not with a partner and certainly not in the closed position.
"Now that she is being rebuilt, I was hoping that she will take part this year." Cyrus casually mentioned, inspecting the legs that had been constructed.
"I'm sure she will," Zane said. "it's tradition after all."
"Which reminds me…" Cyrus reached into his jacket and pulled out a pearlescent white envelope, sealed with a wax inkan stamp.
He handed the envelope to Zane and smiled.
"I have always wanted to invite you and your team to one of my celebrations, but you are usually so busy keeping Ninjago safe," He said. "I would be honoured if you all could join the festivities this year."
"Wow, thank you." Zane responded, looking at the fancy invitation before placing it in his gi, next to Pixal's neural drive.
"And I do mean the entire team is invited," Cyrus nodded. "that includes Sensei Wu and Lloyd's mother."
"We would love to come, Jay will be especially pleased, he loves a good party."
Cyrus Borg smiled to himself. With the legs complete, he programmed the computer for the next stage of the build – her torso. He was extremely happy to have his daughter back, even if she would ultimately leave to be with Zane. It was, after all, the nindroid's idea to rebuild her. With the programming finished, and construction started up once more, he turned to Zane, with the warm expression of appreciation.
"I cannot express my gratitude enough," He stated. "not only for saving my dear daughter, but for the lengths you went to, just to keep her safe."
Zane was stunned into silence. He had never heard Mr Borg openly refer to Pixal as his daughter until now. It was just like his relationship with Dr Julien – the man he considered his father. Deep in his memory, there was more than one occasion when the great inventor referred to Zane as his son.
"I love Pixal, more than I ever thought possible," Zane declared. "and it is most heart-warming that you consider her your daughter."
"Who knows? Perhaps one day you will be my son-in-law!" Cyrus chuckled, patting Zane on the back.
He did not answer, just continued soldering as Cyrus went over to the computer and began typing. Was Mr Borg being serious? Zane was certainly not put off by the idea, but he didn't think it was even possible for droids to get married. On the other hand, Cyrus Borg had rebuilt Ninjago City from the ground up after it was destroyed; in a way, he was much like the feudal-era land barons who often held positions of power in government – he could easily make it possible…