Chapter Text
The sun was rising over Ninjago city.
A soft beeping sound was heard and Zane's blue eyes opened wide. He rose stiffly and gently tapped the side of his head to turn his alarm off. Today's date was May thirtieth and the time was approximately five hours fifty-five minutes and five seconds. The android smiled to himself as he always did when he woke up. Zane enjoyed waking up at times with matching numbers, so today was his 'fives' day. He pushed the bright white sheets off himself and checked his systems.
"All sensory applications online, lingo-index updated and hardware is at perfect functionality. Oh! My musical library has gotten a few new additions." Zane was tempted to search through those files but he needed to stick with his routine.
Zane's room was an aesthetic disaster to put it lightly. When he first fully immersed himself in human culture he never looked back. His obsessions ranged far and wide from detective noir, martial arts movies and even psychedelic rock bands from the 60s. Gaudy posters, books, dvds and other memorabilia could be found all around his room. Human culture was just so fascinating! He was shamelessly proud of his decorative skills even if they were objectively horrible. This was truly a space that he could call his own. Zane just wished he could share it with his friends without causing conflict with his father. It always felt so strange to live a double life like this, alas, the status quo must be maintained.
He crouched down and looked through his sizable wardrobe for today's look. Nowadays Zane was a bit more reserved when it came to fashion. Only after having experienced several 'style interventions' from his friends. Who knew that it was considered odd to wear a chartreuse-lavender college jacket paired with a beige sundress? Zane had no real concept of gender-assigned clothing which Nya approved of. However, to prevent Zane from being bullied by half the school, the team said that he should only get experimental with his fashion outside of school hours. So today it was just a baby-blue houndstooth sweater vest, khakis and a pair of cerulean sneakers. Fine by him.
The only places that were untouched by his interests were his bed and his repair station. This didn't mean Zane wouldn't try to sneak a few stickers onto them when he could. Zane's bed was both clinical and extremely futuristic. It even had a built in supercomputer to update and repair his body when he went offline every night. While it would have been more efficient to make his bed into a pod-like chamber. Doctor Julien felt it would help Zane feel like he fit in better if his bed looked as much like a normal bed as he could.
Doctor Julien, Zane's father, still prohibited allowing visitors access to their home. With exception to Cyrus Borg and his android daughter Pixal of course. Those two were long time friends of the Julien household. Doctor Julien and Borg had spent twenty nine years in the best academies that Ninjago had to offer after all. They were closer than Neodymium magnets! It was this friendship that had inspired them both to create the first three androids. Those being Zane, Echo and Pixal of course.
Though their robotic identities are a highly-guarded secret only less than ten people know about. Everyone else in the world still believed that the three androids were just normal human kids thanks to their advanced cloaking technology. Each of them were built to fulfill a certain purpose. Though nothing simple like telling a toaster to toast bread. These were essential purposes meant to help and unite humanity. Zane's purpose being to protect, Echo's purpose being to bring peace and Pixal's purpose being to learn all she could about humans. Each mission was made to be as broadly defined as possible so as not to box them in.
The last thing the two scientists wanted was for their beloved creations to feel like their whole life's purpose was just another solvable equation. That was an existential can of worms no one wanted to open.
Zane and Pixal were around the same age minus a few weeks, with Zane being the older one. Echo was the exception however. The little guy was only seven years old and still a major work in progress. This unfortunately meant he could not attend a public school setting like his brother did. In general he rarely got to leave home because of Dr. Julien's fears of his fragile and unpredictable nature. There were times when Echo would experience major software glitches or even in one case he caught on fire! He was unharmed thanks to his titanium skin but that didn't make it any less frightening for the seventy year old scientist. Who would want to wake up to see their son ablaze?
Walking up to the bathroom mirror, Zane checked his features to make sure everything was up to standard. He combed his white artificial hair with a specially-designed comb. It was a soothing activity that made his morning ritual all the better. In a large drawer underneath the mirror Zane reached in to get the micro-buffer to polish his titanium skin. He wouldn't want to go to school with any scratches would he? Thankfully the bathroom was soundproofed so that he wouldn't awaken his family with the loud sound of the mechanism in operation.
Using the wheels that were built into his heels for faster movement in confined spaces, Zane made his way to complete the next stage of his morning routine. The automatic door to Echo's room opened after thoroughly scanning Zane's form. It was just one of the many security measures that Dr. Julien had installed to prevent home invasions. In general the androids’ father was quite overprotective at times and did tend to go a bit overboard when it came to the security systems.
He knocked on the side of the doorframe. "Good morning, Echo! I am going to commence step four of the morning routine. It is advised that you join us." Zane scanned his brother's room to see if he could find him.
A small figure sprung from the closet to Zane's left. It latched onto Zane's leg with both its hands and feet. The small bronze kid grinned up at his brother triumphantly. At home the two brothers didn’t need to have their cloaking devices on since there was no way for any outsiders to see them. It was nice to just let loose and be themselves without worrying about their identities being discovered by the nosy tabloids. Apparently there were still some ravenous fans of Doctor Julien’s work that lurked around every public appearance he gave. The last thing he wanted was to involve his sons in the madness of being an involuntary celebrity in the science world.
"Well, hey there! Do you want me to carry you to the living room or would you prefer hanging on to my limb like a 'Cebus-Capucinus'? Either option is fine." Zane smiled.
Echo pondered for a moment and shook his head. Echo tended to be a boy of few words so Zane had gotten used to deciphering his body language. This was just one of the many delightful quirks Echo had.
"Understood. Hold on then!" Zane gave his brother an affirming thumbs up.
Holding his brother with one leg he zoomed over to the living room with the other. Echo giggled while Zane tried to maintain his balance. There were so many valuable and fragile things in this household. In the hallway Zane felt his shoulder brush over a framed photograph of their family on the wall. If Zane knocked over anything he would be totally grounded! With precision he maneuvered them both onto the large white couch. Echo was still giggling with glee.
Doctor Julien entered the kitchen that was right behind the living room. "Good morning you two. Zane, I heard you rolling down the hall. You know what I told you about reckless behavior in the house."
The old doctor pressed some buttons on an over-complicated coffee machine. "Commencing coffee production.. Please stand by for approximately sixty seconds." A robotic voice spoke softly.
"I know, father. I just love to make Echo happy. I mean who wouldn't want to please a face like that!" Zane pointed at Echo who poked his head over the couch like a gopher.
Doctor Julien laughed tiredly. "It is good that you care so much for your brother's happiness, Zane. All I ask is that you both stay safe and do not destroy the house before the day has started." The smell of expensive coffee wafted through the kitchen.
Echo reached over to the pile of books on the coffee table and picked up his hand held video game. Despite his young age, he had a knack for extremely detailed and difficult role playing games. Zane put his feet up and turned on the large flat screen television that took up a large space on the wall. A commercial for property insurance was playing and Zane frowned a bit.
Zane looked over to see what kind of progress his brother was making. "So.. have you beaten the Gamma-Brute's galactic dungeon yet?" Echo had been stuck on this particular level for the past twenty four hours. It even got to the point that their father had to limit their video game time because of Echo's obsession.
Echo showed the small screen to Zane. His little pixelated character had gotten some seriously overpowered upgrades since Zane had last seen him. Wait, was that the Legendary sword of the Comet King?
"Woah! You are really going to show the big boss no mercy, huh? Make sure to kick him right in the processor for me!" Zane punched the air comically to mimic what he saw in his latest Karate movie binge.
Echo nodded with determination and sank back into his pillow fort. It was a family tradition to start the day off with the daily news and weather. Echo preferred to listen to the T.V while doing something else, Zane and Doctor Julien were always glued to what was happening on the screen. Doctor Julien sat down in the armchair with his steaming hot cup of coffee. His mug had an ornate falcon decal on it. Just a nice memento from his college days.
"Goooood Morning Ninjago city! I'm Robin Roberts and I'm Michael Strahan! Today there is a thirty-six percent chance of a Garmadon attack! Looks like even Lord Gamardon is taking the day off to enjoy the nice weather, haha! Don’t you think it’s already like summer twenty four-seven inside that volcano that he lives in though? Who knows! Maybe he’s cold-blooded like some kinda lizard and digs it!" The eccentric news hosts announced.
The doctor blew on his hot coffee and sipped on it. "I wonder what fuels someone like Garmadon to continuously attack the city? Time after time he damages countless buildings and facilities without a care for anyone but himself. Sons, promise me you will never become anything like him." He looked over at the two boys expectantly.
"No way!" Echo replied with confidence from the far left side of the couch.
"Of course not. I mean we couldn't even if we wanted- we aren't programmed for evil." Zane quipped.
"Zane.." Doctor Julien adjusted his glasses, the telltale sign of an upcoming lecture.
"What I meant to say is that even if I was granted the opportunity, I would rather be turned into scrap metal than become an instrument to a nefarious dictator!" Zane smiled meekly in the hopes that he avoided the stern talking-to.
"Ding! The quarter cup of steel-cut oatmeal and single whole-grain bagel are now cooked to designated completion. Please return to this facility to accept the completed product before the temperature decreases to unacceptable levels." A kitchen appliance announced from behind them.
Doctor Julien sighed and got up to fetch his breakfast. "Borg-watch, remind me to talk to Zane when he returns home from school." He spoke to his Borg-watch, it was an unreleased prototype model of course.
Zane sank into the couch with a bit of guilt. His friends always told him he couldn't read a room even if his life depended on it. Hurting his dad's feelings was just the worst. He focused on the weather report to try and keep a positive mood.
"Now for today's weather report presented by the one and only Dareth Jones! Take it away Dareth." Zane straightened his back for this part. Dareth always brought a smile to his face even if the popular opinion was that his jokes were cheesier than pizza.
"Well hellooo there gorgeous! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you! Today's forecast is lookin' hot hot hot! Sounds a bit familiar, hey? Anyways.. we are looking at clear blue skies and a high of eighty degrees Fahrenheit at around noon. After around two-PM things will cool down with a nice breeze. Remember to stay hydrated and safe, Ninjago City. This is Dareth Jones signing off." Zane of course clapped after that segment was done. Echo on the other hand snickered quietly to himself.
"Are you sure your friends really need these.. snacks? The nutrition levels in these are so low and they are full of some worrisome chemicals." Doctor Julien looked at Zane's open lunchbox with a raised brow. It was stuffed full of brightly colored plastic wrapped goodies.
Since Zane did not need to eat, he instead stuffed his lunch with snacks for his friends. He was the richest out of the group so he always got them the best stuff. Well, not the best as far as nutrition went. They were teenagers after all, so it was mostly junk food. Expensive junk food. Zane got up off the couch to make sure everything was fine.
"Of course, father. While we can both agree that it isn't the most efficient fuel source, it makes them happy. You should have seen Jay's face when he accidentally consumed Kai's reaper puffs yesterday!" Zane made little skulls in his eyes to exaggerate the reaction.
Doctor Julien blinked in surprise and rubbed the back of his neck in defeat. "Well.. as long as we don't get any calls from their parents. Do try to encourage them to make healthier choices though, okay?"
"If the topic comes up and the context is appropriate of course. By the way, thank you for supplying me with the funds to purchase these, father." Zane hugged him with far less force compared to when he would hug his friends.
The old man laughed and patted his son on the back. "I try my best to give you the best life I can. If that means buying artificially colored candies and corn chips with concerningly high amounts of capsaicin.. then so be it!"
Zane closed the metal box and put it in his school bag. "Does my time in the public education system ever remind you of your past experiences, father?"
Doctor Julien closed his eyes and put a hand to his scruffy chin. "Hmm, well. I wasn't nearly as popular as you. My only friends were the faculty members and Cyrus of course. Back then people were not nearly as open minded. So we.." He looked at his watch and his eyes widened behind his glasses.
"Ah! Look at the time, you should be going off to school now Zane!" Doctor Julien put down his half empty cup of coffee on the marble kitchen island.
Holding Echo's hand, Doctor Julien waited by the door to see Zane off as he always did. Zane straightened his vest and swung his bag over his shoulder.
"Make sure to say hello to Pixal for me!" Doctor Julien called out before Zane entered the car.
The sleek driverless electric car waited in the driveway with its headlights turned on. Zane got inside and waved goodbye to his family as the car left the facility. Despite school not starting until eight, Zane had to leave early for multiple reasons. His home- well more like the giant laboratory that just so happened to contain living quarters, was a mile away from Ninjago city. Secondly, Zane needed to beat the gridlock traffic that Ninjago city was infamous for. Thirdly, Zane just liked the extra time to comb through the library.
Oh and to hang out with the one other person who was crazy enough to get to school as early as he did.