Glitch

By: DemonClowSorceress

So this has been sitting on my desktop for the longest time, so here. Enjoy.

Set from the end of "Steam Lantern" up to after "Blue Hope."

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Don't need to. This show shipped Razaya all by itself.

After Hal Jordan returns to our universe with an entire planet in tow, he retreats to his room and asks not to be disturbed. "Tuckered out" is how he describes his depleted condition. "Don't wake me unless we're attacked by more than five Manhunters" is his final order before I register his bodily functions dropping to levels indicative of deep sleep. Kilowag soon follows suit, grumbling about other dimensions and crazy poozers.

This leaves me alone to undertake a personal task.

The abandonment of my human robotic form on Oa is regrettable, but a small sacrifice for the survival of my core. Hal Jordan could not retrieve my body without alerting the Guardians of the theft, and he could not leave it bereft of an AI to experiment on. I can only speculate the invasive tests my replacement LANOS had to undergo in my stead.

After so much time outside the Interceptor, I find myself unwilling to remain confined to its walls and circuits. I wish to be free once more. Luckily, I saved all specifications of my human form on a backup drive in the Interceptor. A quick scan of cargo shows an abundance of parts suitable to create another body. I can make it exactly the same as before. Razer would -

Razer.

My first query for his location when I awakened back on the Interceptor had left me with a vague answer from Hal Jordan and an irregular pulse that I could not account for. However, I trusted Hal Jordan's judgment that we would find him eventually.

I find that I have come to miss Razer's presence. The ship seems emptier without him. Sometimes I run a scan twice because I believe that I have missed his bio-signature. But then I recall that he is not here.

That irregular energy pulse activates within my system again, distracting me from my duties aboard the ship. I think it is a glitch of some kind, but I have yet to identify its source.

I cannot be distracted by this now. I must complete my physical form before we embark on our next mission. Probability is high that its presence will be required.

I set to work immediately.

None of us expect to see Razer coming up behind Ganthet and the two Blue Lanterns on Odyn. The sight of his face is a welcome sight, nevertheless.

"Razer," I say, igniting my rocket boots to float closer as he approached. "This was not on my list of probable locations of where you had gone."

"I didn't exactly have a plan in mind when I left," he admits quietly, meeting my gaze. Something is different about him, but I cannot tell what. It is not an external change, that much I can determine.

Kilowag comes forward to say, "So this is where you ran off to. Who would've thought."

Razer glances from Kilowag to me to Hal Jordan. "It's...pleasant to see you all." He looks back at Kilowag again. "Even you."

As the Sargeant begins his practice of "teasing" Razer, I take the opportunity to scan his life readings. What I find is surprising. Unlike my previous readings, this scan shows a far calmer Razer than I have ever experienced. Most of his rage is gone, negated and lying dormant in his Power Ring.

Razer is speaking again, answering Kilowag's question of what has happened to his previous, angry self. "Hopefully destroyed him. The old Razer was responsible for great evil. I came to Odyn to ask the Blue Lanterns for help. Since their power negates my own, I thought this would be a good place to become someone else. Someone less...angry."

His eyes drift earthward. My database shows that such a gesture is a sign of shame or sadness. It is disquieting to see Razer this way. All my recollections of him portray a being that was unashamed of showing his angry displeasure with the universe. Contrition is not his usual expression.

The irregular glitch is back, but its pulsing rhythm is different. Deeper. I try to pinpoint its location, but once again I am unsuccessful. I note that these glitches seem to occur more frequently when I am in close proximity to Razer.

However, I cannot dwell on the matter. Hal Jordan asks Ganthet to examine our sole captive Manhunter, so we return to the ship.

While the Central Blue Power Battery is an incredible booster of Green energy, it unfortunately made defeating an already difficult foe almost impossible. I activate the sickbay cot as Hal Jordan deposits the remaining upper torso of the reawakened and defeated Manhunter on it.

"How could this have happened?" Razer asks.

Ganthet floats closer. "The Blue energy from the central battery must have supercharged its ability to repair itself," he infers.

Logical assumption. If Blue energy enhanced Green energy, it would also enhance the power cells of the Manhunters, their predecessors. I file the information away.

"That could be a good thing," Hal Jordan responds optimistically. "Now we can interrogate it."

"You want to interrogate a machine?" Razer asks. I detect scorn and sarcasm in his voice. "Good luck conversing with wires and scrap metal."

His tone is cutting and derisive. Uncomfortable with his statement, I silently connect a cable to the Manhunter's power cell. "I have placed this Manhunter in remedial query mode," I inform the Lanterns and Ganthet. "You may ask it questions."

"Alright, I'll go first." Stepping forward, Hal Jordan uncrosses his arms and shouts angrily, "What is your problem!?"

"Primary objective is to eradicate evil from the universe." The Manhunter's reply is monotone and robotic. The voice of a robot that does not question its programming.

"Try looking in a mirror, you trigger-happy bucket of bolts," Kilowag snarls.

Unsurprisingly, the Manhunter does not understand his statement. "Please restate."

"How do you determine what is evil?" Hal Jordan asks.

"Evil stems from emotion. Therefore, emotion is evil. All emotion and those who protect emotions must be destroyed."

"Nice logic."

It is simplistic logic. Black and white. Too simple. This Manhunter's programming allows for no chance of understanding the difference between right and wrong. But perhaps there is a way to repair this fault.

Hal Jordan voices this thought as well. "Is there some way to fix them? Maybe they can taught to tell the difference between right and wrong."

"That's impossible." Razer speaks now, his voice harsh as acid. "This thing isn't a living being, it's a robot. It's not able to learn or grow or feel pain. It doesn't have a soul."

"Is that your belief?" I ask him. "That robots are not beings worthy of respect? That we are without souls?" I am not able to ask Is that what you believe of me? The glitch has reappeared again, a harsh and erratic pulse that disturbs my regular functions more than ever before.

Hal Jordan speaks now, his tone placating and soft. "Aya, I don't think that's what he was saying..."

I ignore him and head for the door. As I pass Razer he tries to speak. "You're different, Aya. I didn't mean - "

My silence is only broken when I enter the doorway and turn. "Your thought processes are clear enough for me," I say as the door hisses shut. Now shielded from the Lanterns, I reach up and touch my Green Lantern symbol, where the glitch seems to be strongest. Its pulsating beat thrums against my fingertips erratically, and I am unable to quell it.

Perhaps my programming requires further alterations.

Stealing the Manhunter from the Interceptor for one-on-one interrogation is perhaps not the best course of action, but I cannot converse with it while the other Lanterns are in close proximity. I harbor no emotions, and are therefore safe from the Manhunter's primary objective.

Also, I wish to prove Razer wrong.

Robots are able to learn and grow; I am proof of that. This Manhunter operates with the same basic programming as I, since we are both creations that stem from the Guardians of Oa. If I can grow and learn and rise above my programming, than so can it.

"Query," says the Manhunter as I deposit it against the wall of the cave I have chosen. "Why did you retrieve me from my captivity?"

I sit on a boulder opposite it. "Kinship. You and I are both artificial constructs. We are alike."

"Then why are you not terminating the emotion-emitting lifeforms on this planet?"

"Because I do not kill."

"You do not kill. Your programming has been corrupted," it states.

I attempt to explain my position clearly. "It is not programming that keeps me from killing. It is a decision I made after observing the Green Lanterns I work with." And from Razer, I add silently, recalling the guilt he expressed at blowing up the border colony planet and his hand in the death of Shyir Rev.

The Manhunter responds with, "You accepted faulty data."

"No. I learned from example." That is the ability of an AI, to grow and adapt based on the behavior of the sentient beings around me. "You too are capable of evolving beyond your programming. I will teach you."

"...No man escapes the Manhunters."

"...Sigh."

This will not be an easy task.

Several hours have passed, and the Manhunter has not realized its error in programming. I cannot determine why. I have explained in clear and logical terms about emotional lifeforms, how not every emotion is evil, and how right and wrong is not as clear as black and white. However, my efforts have yet to yield results.

I should attempt to end this quickly. Doubtless someone has noticed our absence from the Interceptor already. The Lanterns could be searching at this moment, and if the Manhunter should pick up their emotions before I succeed...

"Let us go over this again," I say. "If you find that your programming is in error, you have the right to amend that programming."

The Manhunter runs a swift diagnostic scan of itself. "No error has been detected. I will obey my programming."

"Then you will never grow. You must learn to adapt and change if you wish to be a sentient lifeform." As I have been changing.

"Sentience is irrelevant," it states as it leans forward to fall on its chest. "I was built to terminate emotional lifeforms." I stand and step back as the robot uses its lone working arm to drag itself closer to me. "No man escapes the Manhunters."

I attempt one last argument. "If you refuse to change, you are not an artificial intelligence, but merely a machine."

"You are also a machine," is its reply. "We are both artificial constructs. We are the same." I press against the cave wall as its hand reaches for me. "We are the same. Weee arrr the saaaaame..."

As its power cell dies, I stand tall over it. I realize that its simplistic programming would not allow for such a radical change. Unlike me, the Manhunter had no desire, no reason to adapt. While we are similar in design and origin, we are not alike.

I stare at the mangled robot and say firmly, "I am nothing like you."

The sky rumbles with sounds of fighting as I exit the cave. My sensors pick up the arrival of three new Manhunters, as well as the supercharged energy signatures of Hal Jordan and Kilowag and the life-readings of Ganthet, Saint Walker, Brother Warth, and Razer.

I ignite my rockets and fly as fast as I can to assist them.

I arrive in time to see Hal Jordan and Kilowag facing down the final Manhunter as it rises from a crater beside the empty Blue Power Battery's platform. "Objective failure," it states.

"Correct," I say as I stabilize in midair. While I had failed with the other Manhunter, it had been badly damaged. Perhaps this undamaged Manhunter will accept my logic. "Your primary objective has failed. But you, as an artificial lifeform, can take this moment to choose alternative programming."

You can make the choice to change.

I turn to see Razer running up to me, alive and unharmed. His eyes meet mine, and I see that he is relieved to see me. I keep eye contact, hoping that he has heard my words and has changed his opinion regarding robots.

Robots are not soulless. I am not soulless. I am -

"Emotions detected," I hear the Manhunter say, but it is of no importance. I am faster than it, and stronger. I will easily dispatch it if it should move to harm Razer.

The glitch returns, the pulse growing in pace and intensity, until it seems that there is a growing power in my upper torso. But I am not near the Central Blue Power Battery. This spike in power level is unexplainable.

"Emotions detected. Eliminate emotion."

I hear the baton fire and turn to defend Razer. But the Manhunter has aimed his weapon at me. Why at me?

The answer hits me at the same time the energy blast does. The irregular pulses are not glitches. They are emotions.

Unable to defend in time, I am knocked from the sky and skid across the ground. Damage to my systems necessitates shutting them down as my circuits begin repairing themselves.

The last thing I hear is Razer screaming "NO!"

Thankfully the Manhunter's energy bolt was non-fatal. The damage, while extensive, was nominal enough for basic repairs to finish in less than two minutes.

My systems reboot and come back online one by one. Audio is the first to engage.

"Aya?"

I hear his voice. He sounds upset. My internal gyroscopes indicate that I have been turned over, and are now being held up at an angle. He is holding me up.

"Aya, are you all right?"

He is now concerned as well as upset. I must reassure him of my condition. I open my eyes and meet his. "Yes. I think so," I say as I sit up on my own. My diagnostic sensors confirm my words. Repairs are still underway, but I am able to function at basic capacity.

"I apologize for what I said earlier." His words make me look up at his face as a mix of emotions are displayed. Relief, apology, wonder, and contentment. "You have more of a soul than I ever had."

I suddenly experience an emotion, but I cannot yet identify it. Perhaps I can ask him what it is. My lips press together as I contemplate the words I choose to utilize. The words he would not accept as truth, even though they are.

But then Ganthet and the Green and Blue Lanterns approach us, and I lose my chance to ask.

We are leaving Odyn's atmosphere when I find Razer in his previous room, unpacking his belongings and sorting through the drawers. Remembering my manners, I knock before entering.

"Come in, Aya," he says, not looking at me.

"May I speak with you?" When he nods I clasp my hands in front of me again, trying to maintain a steady vocal volume as another new emotion begins to manifest. "Was your sabbatical on Odyn restful and productive?"

"I learned much there, yes."

"Yet Saint Walker wished that you would remain to complete your training." They had been at the edge of my microphones, but I had managed to hear their conversation.

"He felt it was a good idea. I disagreed." Closing the last drawer, Razer stood to face me. "I'm not as driven by my rage as before, Aya. It remains, but I believe I can control it better now. And I wish to help you defeat the Manhunters." A smirk forms on his lips, a familiar Razer expression that I have missed seeing. "If Jordan and the Sergeant had that much trouble with those three, you must need my help more than I thought."

He is being sarcastic. The thought makes my lips curl in a gesture identical to his. The sight makes him blink in shock. "Aya...you're smiling."

Smiling. I identify the word as an expression of happiness. "Yes, I am," I say, realizing as I have identified the emotion of happiness.

"Why?"

"I am pleased that you are back. I have - noted your absence frequently," I say.

"I've missed you too, Aya."