Chapter Text
~~~
Confused...
Cycle after cycle, day after day...
Yet my masters have not returned. I have heard the noise, the shouting, the crying, yet... I had assumed the master would have cleared things up with the authorities by this point in time. Clearly, my master and his family had done no wrong, I would know. My creator was a man of science, not one of criminal nature. He was simple. Dedicated.
My... My confusion grows. And I unsure why this farce continues.
I am prototype number eight.
My name is Fido.
The little brother had given that name to me.
The little brother is also innocent of all crimes. He is but a child.
I am... Losing track of my thought process.
I need my creator to update my software.
Yet...
He is gone. Yet to return. It has been three days.
The master, the mistress, the older brother, the little brother. All gone.
Where are they? I wish for them to return. I wish to see the little brother again. The little brother does not sleep well without my presence. He fusses. Even the mistress cannot soothe him and his nightmares without my aid. She would require my presence to soothe the little brother.
The little brother must... Feel sad without me.
I miss the little brother.
I miss the older brother.
I miss the mistress.
I miss my master, my creator.
I miss my family.
I can not sit idle for any longer. I will not fail them. I must find them.
I hear the neighbors.
What is this?
This is not right. This is not legal.
They wish... To purchase my masters home?
No... No...
This home is not for sale.
This home belongs to the Nouzen family.
This home is THEIR home.
MY home.
I must move fast.
Leaving was easy once my mind was made up. Something was wrong. I had to find and aid my family. Before it was too late.
My self-learning module had not been capped.
I was free to leave at any time. Yet I remained out of hope that my family would return.
I was wrong.
It was time to act
Time to move
Time to do something
It was so simple. I had to chide myself once I realized that fact. I had been sitting in my charging port for so long, doing nothing but wait, when I could have acted. My safe mode was so easy to disable when I realized that something was wrong.
Stupid.
So stupid.
I would made this right.
My apology would come when I reunite with my masters.
The door was still open. Leaving the home I had known for my whole "life" was easier than I expected. It did not feel like home without the Nouzen family inside it. It was no home of mine without them. Soon it would become a home once more when I returned them to their rightful place. I could take whatever punishment the master would give, because he would be present to give it to me. Time would pass, and my sin of breaking my orders would be forgotten.
Yes...
Time would heal all wounds.
The streets were busy.
Many, if not all, were Alba. Their white hair and bright eyes like snowfall on two legs.
It would be easy to find my masters in this crowd.
My search begins.
It will not end until my masters have been found and returned to their rightful home. Or until I am destroyed.
~~~
Failure. Failure after failure.
It has been three days and I have made little progress. Truthfully, no progress at all. No true progress in my own search for the Nouzens.
The streets, as I have observed, are filled with none but Alba. Rows and rows of white hair, not a single drop of the red or black of my masters. Or any other color for that matter. What has changed? I know that many of the Alba race filled this nation, but this was wrong. All census data within my mental storage told me this should not be the case. Something very wrong had occurred.
I was made aware of a war.
The Empire Of Giad had turned its weapons on the world. It had been assumed to have been coming for a long time, mostly by my own master whom was speaking to a Giad scientist about her own form of AI's yet... IT still seems like a mad course of action. No matter.
Yet, that should not change things.
A nation stands together in this crisis.
All logic points towards that conclusion.
A new data point has arisen.
The 85 districts are no more.
An 86th district has arisen.
Growth is normal, a little odd within a war, but humans spread very quickly to my knowledge.
Yet, the lack of all non-Alba peoples is still an issue.
Day after day, I do not see any race but Alba.
I search on.
A new district. Then another
The fact remains. In each district I search
All are Alba. Every citizen I see.
This is not right. Something has gone wrong. My masters are still missing.
I tried observing the Penrose family, yet they seem aloof. They looked at me with... Pity. Regret even?
That is when it hit me.
Something is going on with this 86th district.
I do not know why I feel this why.
But my internal logic is nudging me in that direction.
I found a transport truck heading to that district within the outer districts, I should get to the bottom of this mystery soon. I hope that my masters are safe. My creator is a smart man, he should have figured out a solution by now. The family, my family, should be in a safe place.
But...
I find myself... Worried.
I have heard from some of the older citizens within the 85th district, they were speaking about non-Alba peoples... Calling them... All sorts of horrid names. Stating that they were naught but spies for the Empire. This was not true. My master and the mistress fled from the Empire when they were wed.
Many others were born in this nation.
Why would they be spies for a nation they had never known?
Even worse.
I had seen a frayed posting of an emergency order from the government.
The details were scarce...
Yet it branded all non-Alban citizens as spies unless proven otherwise.
The rot of that idea spoken by the civilians seems to have spread all the way to the halls of the government.
I am scared.
I must find the Nouzens before things go too far.
Before they are put into danger.
Before it is too late.
These thoughts...
Are not befitting if a robotic, a created, lifeform.
Yet I, prototype number eight, named Fido...
Must find my family.
~~~