Chapter One
Location: Pandora, Hyperion Wildlife Exploitation Reserve.
Date: Approximated Three Years Before The Awakening Of The Warrior.
Time: 0500
"Sir, you can't expect me to put this… thing into a living person!"
"Up-up-up Sammy, hear that? I think that maybe your wife screaming as she's strapped to an operating table within the hour if you don't continue the experiment!"
"Yes… Sir. Commencing Experiment on subject #525."
"Good girl! Maybe I you're good enough, I might even let you have the letters she's been sending"
"Implanting Liquefied Eridium into the test subjects Bone Marrow now."
"GRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"
"Ah, the sweet sound of potential success! Oh Sammy are you crying?"
"L-layering Thyroid gland with powdered Eridium."
"Hey, where's all the screaming- oh, he passed out"
"I-implanting Shock system into the subjects left ventricle."
"Ah yes, the new obedience insurance… HAHAHA"
"Lowering the subject into Skin-Armour Vat."
"Yes, my own little attack dog! You know 'cuz Wilhelm's the big attack dog? HAHAHA!"
"N-now awaiting for r-results-blergh!"
"Aw, did you just vomit? Anyways, good work Sammy. You can leave now, unless you want to stay and see how solidified plasma can make a great-Ah she left! Well, I'll leave her be for now. Bob! Get me the Phase two teams!"
"It's Blake, Sir."
"Bob, Blake, Bloke, same thing… maybe Bloke? Hm…"
"Bob is a wonderful name, sir! I have the Phase two teams behind me, they are ready to… work."
"Alright Bob~ get them working! And make sure to keep my new pet completely restrained!"
"Yes… sir"
Location: Pandora, Hyperion Wildlife Exploitation Reserve.
Date: Approximated One Year Before The Awakening Of The Warrior.
Time: 1300
"Oh GOD, he's escaped! The Armour/Bindings aren't holding it back anymore!"
"What? What's going on? Somebody give me a Sit-Rep!"
"Sir! You won't believe this… but IT is loose!"
"WHAT! That thing has All of Hyperion's bleeding edge tech shoved into it! If Jack finds out…"
"We're screwed"
"No soldier, we aren't. If we can contain it, we'll survive. If we can't… We'll at least be dead before being a lab for his sick mind. Now go inform the rest of the battalion that I want everything we have deployed, and I mean EVERYTHING! I don't care if we have to make an orbital strike, just do it!"
"Yes, Sir!"
"Now, let's see if Jack's little project can survive a missing head…"
Location: Pandora, Hyperion Wildlife Exploitation Reserve.
Date: Approximated One Year Before The Awakening Of The Warrior.
Time: 1600
"… T-this is a c - captain G-graves of the Hyperion security command speaking. If a-anyone receives this m-message…beware t-the number f-five-two-f…."
Location: Pandora, Wind Shear Wastes.
Date: Approximated Eleven Months Before The Awakening Of The Warrior.
Time: 1000
Gaige groaned as she felt her senses return. The first to return were her hearing, her ears picked up nothing but constant fuzzing, much like how a motor sounded when constantly run. Next were her senses of smell, touch, and taste all at once; she breathed in the air and found that it was both dry and tasteless, she wiggled her fingers and found that they stung a bit. Her eyesight returned last, they opened to reveal only white. An endless stream of white.
It was cold and she was lying out in the open in below-freezing temperatures.
Immediately, she curled up into a fetal position to preserve whatever warmth she had left. She tucker her legs in and wrapped it up with her right arm. Her left arm was metallic, so it leeched the warmth of that area. That was one thing she would need to work on…if she ever got out of this alive.
"Great - another dead Vault Hunter. Handsome Jack's been busy" She heard a voice nearby, it sounded bored but mechanical at the same time. But that should not be possible, machines couldn't express their feelings with the current level of technology available. Even an AI as advanced as her Death Trap could only express aggression and calmness by attacking or going into standby, respectively. Curious as to what was the source of such a sound emanated from, Gaige angled her head away from the warmth of her body to get a better view.
It was vaguely square in shape, with spindly arms easily hefting a shovel half its mass over and over. It made digging motions as it grumbled, the single leg it possessed seemed to be a wheel due to the way it retained its shape as the figure moved. It seemed engrossed in its grisly work, digging up body parts and scraps of metal from the wreckage of the train that had been carrying her earlier. The figure turned around-after clearing up the mangled remains- to get more scraps, it instead met eye contact with her.
No pun intended, but it really did have a single glowing eye. There was only one robot model that had such a design…
"Wait a minute - you're not dead! YES! Now I can get off this glacier! Claptrap, your metaphorical ship has finally come in!"
A Claptrap, one of the most annoying pieces of engineering ever built by man. Their single purpose seemed to simply annoy people within hearing range due to their perpetual one-sided and useless discussions with conversations with any human in range. They would latch onto any form of give and simply talk as they worked on any maintenance or diagnostic issues. The only reason they had been used so commonly was due to their bullet proof-except their eyes- armor, exceptionally high standards of work, easy-to-repair nature with their on-board repair kits and extremely advanced-but very vulnerable- visual sensors.
"Allow me to introduce myself - I am a CL4P-TP steward bot, but my friends call me Claptrap!"
All of their awesome hardware were off-set by their more prominent cons. They were as obviously annoying as hell. They were laughably easy to hack. They ran at the first sight of danger, complete cowards. They were clumsy at moving around. They couldn't hold weapons properly. Finally, they couldn't climb stairs. Nobody would ever put up with one if they weren't so darn good with their jobs.
That was a Claptrap unit. Gaige felt her inner Mechromancer itching to dissect, upgrade and hug the adorably cute little robot all at the same time.
"Or they would, if any of them were still alive. Or had existed in the first place! Oh - I've got something for you."
Apparently, it was also easily distracted. The spindly arms of the robot rummaged through one of the bodies that it had dug up, procuring what seemed like an ECHO device. It held it out for her.
"Here - take this ECHO communicator that I totally didn't loot from one of these corpses! It comes with a class-twelve heads-up display, complete with a minimap! Now – come, come, friend. Let's get you inside."
Naturally, she took the strangely blank device and seamlessly integrated it into her robotic arm. She saw the little robot's glowing, blue eyes lingering at the robotic arm for a second too long. If it were human, she would have called the expression longing or even nostalgia.
(ECHO communicator: BOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED)
(ECHO communicator: INITIALIZING… HEALTH DISPLAY MODULE)
(ECHO communicator: INITIALIZING… EXPERIENCE POINT MODULE)
(ECHO communicator: INITIALIZING… DIGITAL MAP MODULE)
The Three-Dimensional holograms came to life around her head, arranging itself to be perpetually in the corner of her vision, but close enough to be aware of the holographic constructs. Her Health bar was flashing dangerously low.
Immediately, she forced herself into a standing position to get the blood flowing. The little robot apparently took this as a sign that she was ok and began rolling away, rambling as it did so. She had no choice but to follow, not if she wanted to freeze out in the open
"Man, this is great! Now that I've met a mighty Vault Hunter, I can finally join the resistance in Sanctuary, take vengeance against Jack for killing my product line, and repair my central processor so I stop thinking out loud! I wonder what it's like to have a belly button."
She wanted to speak, to tell the claptrap to slow down. Her body felt slow and cumbersome, she'd catch up, eventually. It took all her will power to just keep moving, and finally she felt a dizziness sweeping over her, blurring images into a fuzz until an image remained.
She looked like an angel…
"I'll explain everything soon, but know this – you're alive for a reason, and I… am here to help you."
Her body felt so heavy. Her energy was leaving her tired form rapidly. She could see a misshapen Igloo a few meters up ahead with a metal door and security panel wired to it. That was shelter, which was where the warmth was.
"Well done! Your ability to walk short distances without dying will surely be Handsome Jack's downfall!
The little robot wheeled itself over to the scanner, allowing the security system to identify it as its owner. At the same time Gaige glanced down to her health bar, where only a sliver of the originally tiny amount remained. It decreased a bit more as the door opened.
"Aaaaaand open!"
Finally, she felt a rushing warmth. Smiling, her legs gave and she collapsed in both exhaustion and potential hypothermia from the extreme environment. In her exhaustion, she felt something take hold of her, but she was too tired to care. She just wanted to rest a bit longer.
Gaige was no longer conscious.
"Just a little added security. Gotta keep those Bullymongs at bay, or they'll rip your eyes out!" Claptrap whirled around, expecting to find the Vault hunter rudely barging past him into his home (Brick), toss him aside with a flick (Lilith), use him as a perch and beer table (Blood wing and Mordecai), or a weapons rack (Roland). Instead of an over-powered form Vault hunter he'd assumed he escorted to do just another mission, all he saw was a vulnerable human girl shivering on the ground just outside his doorstep. He gave a heavy sigh, "I guess she's cold"
In a surprising show of strength, Claptrap hefted the human over his flat top and dragged her within the warm confines of the igloo. She was then placed on a couch nearby the roaring fireplace and a particularly thick blanket of Bullymong fur wrapped around her shivering form. His processors concluded that she might feel better if she had company. After all, what human didn't crave companionship? That was its primary programming after all…
"Sorry about the mess. Everything Jack kills, he dumps here – bandits, Vault Hunters, Claptrap units… If I sound pleased about this, it's only because my programmers made this my default tone of voice! I'm actually quite depressed!"
Claptrap knew the human couldn't hear it, she was in a deep sleep. Her heart rate indicated she was near a comatose state, and would've been if he had been even a minute longer in delaying her rescue. Her body temperature was dangerously low and the mechanical arm didn't help much due to its excellent thermal conductivity actually sapping heat away from the main body that actually needed it.
It rambled on as it took the metallic arm out and exposed as much of it to the fireplace without exposing the human's already cold body. Hopefully it would help in restoring her body heat.
"Now, the creatures around here are dangerous, none more so than this Bullymong named Knuckle Dragger – killed everyone I know. Anyhow, I keep a pistol in the cabinet over there for emergencies, but in here, we should be pretty safe!"
Claptrap looked up, where a vision of a solidly built roof of an igloo met its optics. Despite the mess, the walls of the Icy structure were solid after having melted and solidified into its current shape by both the fireplace and the ambient temperatures. It kept things toasty, and it had one individual to thank for it.
It originally wanted to run to Sanctuary upon first discovering its benefactor, but it had silently insisted on staying in the igloo, which had become an impenetrable warm haven after a few weeks of waiting. If it wanted to stay, then so would it. Claptrap models were far too useless in combat currently to properly defend themselves in an event of an attack. Now, the time to leave was nearly there, it could feel something telling its processors to anticipate the arrival of this very specific human.
It would not let this chance slip away.
"We'll need more Bullymong fur." This statement was as final as an order. A large figure lurched from its hiding spot, its long, ragged cloak acting as a worn curtain rather well. The figure went out its own exit, it was far too large for the normal door anyway. As it walked into the undying storm, Claptrap turned to see the familiar Hyperion White-gold of its armored boots crunching through ice outside. Then it was gone, a phantom disappearing into the eternal white outside. The little bot wasn't worried though, the figure had more than proved an asset. The massive store of Bullymong meat at the back proved that much at least.
Now was the hard part.
"I hate waiting"
Gaige felt the world around her returning. Unlike before, however, it was the smell of something cooking as well as something soft wrapped around her kept her very cozy. She wanted a few more minutes, she didn't have to go to school today. It was a weekend right? Yes, that had to be it, the science fair was on Friday, so Saturday was a free day to work on Death Trap on her leisure…
Gaige burst from her comfort zone, the events of the entire episode coming back to her with vengeance like a roaring tsunami. Her body sat up ram-rod straight and stiff, her arms warmed up and ready to- hold on, warm?
She blinked, taking in her surroundings with a deliberate slowness. The walls were made from solid, well-formed ice. The floor had piles of assorted junk lining the edges, from neat lines of off-line Claptraps to iced over-but well preserved-corpses. The Claptrap itself was near the fire place, its spindly arms having trouble stirring the sweet-smelling broth that had awoken her earlier. She noticed that she was laying on a patched up couch while wrapped up an in extremely soft and fuzzy blanket.
"Oh, awesome! You're awake!" The little robot exclaimed as it turned around, taking the spoon it was stirring the broth with on a spin. The hot soup splashed across Gaige's face and she twisted her face in surprise. Her pain tolerance was much too high for something like a scalding drop of soup to trigger any pain. Instead, she licked it off. The little robot seemed sheepish, bowing its body and lowering its tone "Oops, he he?"
"It's good-" She barely croaked out the words before hacking and coughing in pain. Her throat was extremely dry, so much that there was not even saliva in her mouth to swallow. As she continued to cough, the little bot quickly took a wooden bowl and spoon from hammer-space and poured some soup into it before shoving the first volume of fluid down her parched throat. It kept shoveling the soup down her throat until she had enough. "Stop it already, I can feed myself!"
"It's good to know that you can talk again. Please help yourself to the broth, it contains whatever nutrients your body needs in order to recover." The Claptrap placed the spoon into the bowl and into the stunned human's hands. The girl transferred the bowl to her mechanical left arm and felt her neck with the other. She turned to the little bot and smiled.
"Thank you"
Claptrap hid his excitement well as he spoke. In all his years of service, no-one, had ever given him thanks for what he did. She was the first to give him the one thing that the Robo-volution had failed to achieve, it decided she would be put first before its own life. She had given it, the last Claptrap, respect.
It decided it would give its life to her should the time ever come to pass.
"You ok? You froze up for a bit. I can make some upgrades-"
"I'm fine! Never been better" The cheerful inflection in its voice somehow amplified "You should rest though, It's a long way to the Crimson Raiders."
"Crimson Raiders?"
"Yeah, I'll fill you in when you get better. I Promise!"
"Alright! But if you don't…I've got tools I've been dying to test on a Hyperion Robot." The combination of the mischievous glint in her emerald orbs as well as her smooth, malicious tone sent the little bot's survival programs into overdrive.
"Yes!" it squeaked before wheeling off to its hidey hole somewhere within the ice fortress.
Gaige grinned before biting back a yelp from a torn lip. It seemed that she really needed some fluids in her. That wasn't a problem though, a whole lot of the sweet broth awaited to be consumed by her.
"You know, for a clumsy little 'bot it sure knows how to whip up a good meal!"
The human then proceeded to devour the broth, unaware of a massive figure observing her from within the walls of the igloo as she ate.
A/N: This is my new meme! I'm sorry to all of you who followed my SIS or/and SotG stories! I'm on a writers block for them and hope that this will satiate your thirst for story telling. If you are new to my stories, don't be afraid to check out my other stories! Later!
Review Please! It will help me with any problems that I may have missed! Your voice counts!
