AN/ Enjoy (Disclaimer I own nothing.)
White. That's what I woke up too. White walls, white roof, white floors. A beeping noise filtered into my hearing. "Stupid machine, the power signals are all frozen." The lab coat noticed my opened eyes and frowned, "Shutdown 34X6". My engines rolled to a stop and my heat sensors shut off.
I woke up to multiple lab coats. That's what I called the scientists. They said it helped to keep me unattached. I didn't know why they bothered. They could just delete my data. Plus, I wasn't given free will. Which was illegal, but the lab coats didn't care.
I wasn't scared, I was a robot. I didn't have feelings, or emotions. I chanted that in my metaphorical head.
"Crap, I cut one of the wires to the power." Another lab coat groaned.
"Dammit John, now we have to reroot the wire through the computer system," grunted the coat in charge of the operation.
"Eh Manny! The radio systems turned on!" A lab coat to the left of me barked.
"Well turn it off, we don't want the police poking their heads in here."Manny roared, re-rooting my power sources.
"Nah, the boss would have our heads if that happened." Called a man in the back.
The world faded to black as my only call for help cut off abruptly .
"Alright listen here, and listen well you piece of metal, at this college, you're not going to say anything to anyone, you're gonna sit tight and keep a look out for the murderer. Our sources say he teaches at that college." The main labcoat, Manny I think his name was, instructs me. I nod at everything he says, letting my recording and data programs do the rest. All I needed to remember was my main priority. Which was find the target and arrest them. It was my job really, I was classified as a law enforcement robot, but I know the lab coats did something to my programing.
"Yes sir" I responded dejectedly. I seated myself in the car seat and set myself into a sleep state. We were driving for a good 8 hours, I didn't want to drain my battery. My eyes rolled back into my head and I felt myself go into a dream like state. If only robots could have dreams.
"Oi! Wake up 34X6! We're here!"
Multiple life forms, all non-lethal. That's what I first noticed when I woke up, not the sunlight straining through the car window or the laughter from the teenagers outside. The normal humans. I wondered what it felt like to be normal, probably terrible, with all the emotions in the way.
"Yes, thank you sir, I can carry the bags up by myself." I replied timidly.
I exited the car and put one foot forward into a new lifestyle. Grabbing the only bit of clothing, I had, and the money I was allotted from the lab coats.
"See ya kid!" Manny hollered at me from the car. Alright, I thought to myself, new life, no more lab coats and no more experiments. The thought of it made my batteries heat up. I felt a smile grow on my face. The stairways to the dorms were just on the left side of the main entrance to the college. Running up the stairs, and feeling emotions running through my circuits, and the feeling of freedom overpowered, all else.
"I'm free! I'm fr-." My face smashed into a body.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" A male voice wailed at me. I looked down at my bright blue hoodie, which was soaked in a liquid, I recall the lab coats drank a lot. Coffee, I think it was. Gazing up at the teenager with disinterest, I saw his body heat spike up, especially around his face.
"Um, I can make it up to you! Lemme just give you my jacket." He pulled off his large grey jacket, and placed it on my shoulders. I tilted my head, I had seen this type of human contact before, with the women who came over to see the lab coats, and in the movies and the paintings the lab coats had shown me.
"Thank you," I said softly.
"C-can I b-buy you a coffee?" He stammered out at me.
Confused, I nodded at him, even as enchanced my intelligence was, I didn't know about basic human interaction. He smiled at me, showing off his pearly white teeth.
"Great! I know a cafe just down the street!" His smile reached his ears, and at that point, I was sure something was wrong with my systems. Because for a second, I felt an emotion. That was impossible, I was a robot, but for a second, I could feel happy...
My first lecture was history. The notorious Prof. Black. He had no criminal charges at all, not even any medical records. William Black was a person of interest. Before he arrived I quickly scanned the lecture hall. Three offenders, one main priority. Young sex offender. The boy was obviously an athlete. A jock that was staring at one of the girls on the other side of the hall. I reminded myself to keep an eye on him as I walked to the back row and sat down. The back row was the only place where I could remain basically invisible to the humans around me. Using a basic cloaking device that wouldn't let the teens notice me unless they were looking for me. The lab coats designed it.
A boy ran into the hall, his curly brown hair bouncing off his sharp pale cheekbones. His green eyes were wide a saucers. His head spun around rapidly, looking for someone until they landed on me. I managed a grin and a wave at his breathless body. He slumped in the seat next to me and pulled out a textbook.
"Hey Jack! What did you last night? I was unpacking!" He whined.
"As was I Hiccup. Also, I wanted to thank you for the coffee last night, that was very tasteful of you." I promptly replied. His grin faltered, and his cheeks lit up again. Concerned, I reached up to poke them with my hands covered in lab grown skin; scanning for any disease. The blush on his cheeks grew to his ears.
"Um Jack?" His voice cracked. After doing a full body scan I saw it was the simple case of an empty stomach. I could fix this. I grabbed my bag beside my desk and started rummaging through it.
"Jack what are you doing! The professor is here! He'll kill you if he catches you!" He sounded terror-stricken. I guess the professor had lived up to his name as the nightmare king. I looked at the professor who had just sauntered into the room. He looked like a Renaissance king looking down at all of us. His eyes were a bright amber, and his black hair was slicked back like a greasers in 'The Outsiders.'
"Mr. Haddock, is there a problem?" His voice was deep, resounding off the walls of the lecture hall. I felt intimidated. Hiccup sputtered.
"U-Uh, n-n-no! No s-sir!" He cried, his arms started shaking like he had the plague. I felt a strong compulse to hug him. Silently, I handed him a chocolate bar from my bag. It would help his desolate stomach. Hiccup's emerald eyes lit up at me as he happily munched on the chocolate bar and Mr. Black turned his attention to myself.
"And you are?" He questioned me, a devilish grin upon his face.
"Jackson Overland, sir." I spewed out condescendingly. His eyes narrowed at me, but then, realizing the scene he was making, relaxed his posture and started the attendance list.
"Jesus Jack, if looks could kill you'd be a burning pile of ash!" Hiccup squeaked, mortified by the entire ordeal. I smirked and leaned back on my chair.
"He's not that scary Hiccup. You just have to say the right things at the right time." I spoke wisely, patting his shoulder as I did.
Mr. Black continued on with the class, which consisted of taking notes, and yelling at anyone who talked.
After history, we had a free period, in which I decided it was a good idea to call the lab coats and put Mr. Black in as a suspect. Unfortunately, Hiccup also thought it was a good idea to show me his friends. So of course I went with the more logical one and followed Hiccup into the cafeteria. His damned forest green eyes did something to my codings.
I started muttering quietly about the stupidity of humans, and the exact possibility of an eye color manipulating my software.
"H-here Jack! These are my friends!" Hiccup announced lamley. Holding out his arms to a group of three people. Which, considering my knowledge of human social classes, was pretty poor. The teenagers didn't fit the average cookie cutter look of a college student. A boy whose dirty blonde hair reached his nonexistent neck. The boy sitting next to him had platinum blonde hair styled into an undercut. He also carried multiple piercings and a visible tattoo coming out from his Christmas themed sweater. Lastly another girl sat opposite of them, sporting a curly mess of ruby red hair that reached her thighs and an extensive green scarf that also reached her thighs.
"Jack this is Merida." He pointed to the red head.
"Why hello my lady." I bowed at the girl. Hiccup frowned a bit and then turned to the pair.
"This is Fishlegs and this is North, and by the way North, where's Bunnymund?" Hiccup titled his head like a lost puppy.
North pouted, crossing his arms like a five-year-old. "The boyfriend's got the flu so he's at home." he drawled, pulling a hand through his crimson locks. Abruptly my phone started vibrating. The lab coats had given me the device when I was leaving, saying they'd use it in case of an emergency. My head shot up, apologizing to Hiccup, I muttered a brief, "gotta take this." Before booking it out of the cafeteria.
"Yes sir?" I anxiously spoke into the speaker.
"Did you find anyone one suspicious?!" Manny hollered at me.
"Why yes sir, actually two. One is a Mr. Snotlout Jorgenson, who is not a suspect but is a young sex offender possibly looking for a new victim. The one I would like to monitor is a Professor Black. He has quite a few interesting things about him; I'm sending both their files to you now." I declared stiffly, squaring my back as I relayed information back and forth. After a good hour of data sharing we had completed.
"Good work sport, I guess I'll talk to you again next term. If anything of importance happens, contact me through this phone. Anything you say or do is confidential." He dictated me.
"Yes sir." I solemnly declared.
With that declaration my life for the next three years had been set. I would spy on the suspect, make notes at anything suspicious and after every four months I would report back to the lab coats. That was it, at least, until one night in my second-year- third-term, I received a call from Hiccup Tyler Haddock. That was when the course of my path changed completely. Perhaps for the better...
Ring Ring
It was twelve o'clock when I got a seemingly random call. Assuming it was the lab coats, I didn't bother to check the caller ID.
"Hello? Jack, is that you?" I was expecting the rough, scratchy voice of Manny, and not the rather adorable crackle of voice pitches which I could recognize as my bestfriends.
"Hiccup Haddock the Third! What are you doing awake at this time!" I scolded playfully. Taking one of my brunette strands and curling it around my pointer finger.
"Alright, Jack, ever since I met you.. E-ever since I met you I felt l-like we had a connection. I'I mean I understand if you don't.. Want to..." He trailed off in his sentence of gibberish.
"Hiccup spit it out." I tried, giving him some confidence.
"Well, I guess the thing is." He breathed deeply. "Jackson Overland, would you like to go on a date with me?"
silence
"Uh.. Jack? You there?" He spoke in a hushed tone.
"Yes."
"What!" He yelped, bewildered. I muffled my giggles with my hand. Jesus what was wrong with me?
"Took you long enough you dork. Of course I said yes! How couldn't I? With your big adorable eyes that make me feel like I'm in a forest. Or your beautiful brown curly hair that looks like swirls of chocolate. Hiccup of course I said yes!" I wanted to reach through the phone and hug him. Yet, no, wait, that was wrong. I was a robot. I wasn't supposed to be able to feel emotions.
"R-really?" He whispered in awe. I really did laugh this time.
"Really, now if you excuse me, I have an exam to study for tomorrow. Goodnight dork." I teased him.
"Okay goodnight, Jack." He enunciated my name. Like it was the last time he'd ever get to say it.
The phone line cut, and I was left with a feeling of warmth and happiness in my circuits. It certainly felt strange, but for once, I was fine with it. My batteries were charging, and all my defense systems were offline. I relaxed, as much as a law enforcement robot could. So for tonight, I paid no attention to the blaring music of a party nearby, or the police sirens in the background. I just focused on the sound of the wind and my circuits fueling up. It was peaceful.
My batteries were full when I arrived at my first class; biology. However, when I got to my last class of the day they were almost completely drained. It was strange, I needed to use my reserved energy. I guessed that it was because of all the emotions I had suddenly started to feel. I recall Manny once blabbering about my systems having an emotional setting, but since I was given free will it was impossible to use. I believe that was one of the main reason why I didn't have free will, the lab coats had said it would drain my batteries too much. Deducting the information I had, this meant that someone, or something had changed my codings. Someone with enough knowledge with robot technology to effectively power my systems down, and change my basic coding in record time. From the two years I had been at this college I knew their was only one person with that skill and intellect to conduct an operation like that.
"Hey Jack, whats up?" A feminine voice materialized. Looking up, I saw the very person I suspected of changing my codings. Narrowing my 'eyes' at her I stepped closer.
"Why Merida? Why did you change my codings now? What benefit does it give you?" I inquired, stepping closer so that our noses were a centimetre apart.
She gazed at me with half-opened eyes, and offered a smile. "That dork finally pulled the question didn't he? I figured it would feel nice to go on a date without having the scientists breathing down your back." She fully smiled and then spun around, to go to her next class. Her head snapped back in my direction, she laughed like a crazed killer and then winked at me. Somehow I got the memo.' You'll thank me later."
I entered my dorm, going immediately to my 'recharge zone'. I guess for humans this is where they would sleep in. I opened up my artifical chest and turned on my charger. My chest was a whirlwind of mechanics moving around at the speed of sound. It was a long day, I decided and put my head in my hands. What was I? I was a robot that had feelings. I felt my heat sensors flare up. A human was near. Suddenly my door flung open.
"Jack! Are you rea-." Hiccup's voice cut off in horror. His green eyes widened in fear and he backed away.
"Y-you're not Jack. Y-you, you're a robot aren't you? WHERE DID YOU TAKE JACK!" He growled, grabbing a textbook from the floor and holding it defensively. I got up slowly and walked towards him.
"Hiccup, I am Jack. This isn't how I wanted you to find out. Believe me Hiccup, I- I think I love you." I pleaded with him, my hand reached out towards his, but he snatches his hand away. As if I was a disease.
"Don't touch me you filthy piece of metal. How long were you going to keep up the facade of being my friend? My boyfriend even. You're a virus Jack. Stay away from me." He thundered, tears in his eyes. He spun around and ran away. Leaving me alone in my dark and empty room. I looked down at my hands.
'Why? What did I do to deserve this?'
I felt like sobbing, I wanted to scream and shout, but I couldn't. I was a robot. I didn't have the physical capabilities to cry. I could feel pain beyond imagination, but I had no outlet. I spent hours just staring at the door, as if I was expecting Hiccup to come running back and apologizing to me with his big viridescent eyes..
Eventually the sun started to rise, and I had to get up. At least for one class. Confidentiality my first class was History, with Mr. Black. I guess now that I wasn't distracted by Hiccup I could get some info off of his computer. I arrived in the lecture hall five minutes late. I stood at the front and gazed over the students sitting in their chair looking at me with annoyance.
Hiccup wasn't there.
There was also a substitute for Mr. Black which was even more odd, considering he'd never been absent before in the two years, I'd been watching him. Had he chosen my one moment of weakness to strike? Surveying the class I saw everyone was present, all but Hiccup. I felt fear grip me. What if something happened to him? Hiccup was a very rash boy. He acted alone on impulse and instinct. I focused on the sound of the sub talking. If I was to find where Hiccup was, I had to remain calm. I noticed Mr. Black's laptop was on his desk, open. I focused red wavelengths towards his laptop, once I had full control I re-opened his last file. From scanning the file I could see it was a conversation. I read through the file, there was nothing noticeably abnormal, until I came to the last message which was added to me, and as frightening as that was I had to stay calm. The message was clear and simple, it read:
Mr. Overland, it appears you and Mr. Haddock have had a falling out. By now, you've noticed he isn't here. Call his number, and find him. Hurry though, I'm not sure how much his poor little heart can bear.
Anger built up inside of me, I stood up and left the class, even as the sub was talking. I needed to find Hiccup.
Ring Ring
Ring Ring
"Jack?!" I heard Hiccup's voice tremble across the phone, as my anger towards William Black fueled my systems.
"Hiccup! Oh god I'm sorry Hiccup, I'm so, so sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. That I didn't trust in you. Hiccup you need to forgive me, but your life is at stake! Mr. Black is an undercover murderer, and I've spent the last two years spying on him to get evidence of his crimes, so we can put him in prison for life! Hiccup if you want to survive you need to tell me where you are." I begged him, frantic and wide-eyed. My systems going haywire.
"Jack, I-I forgive you, and I think I love you too." He was breathing heavily, like he'd been injured. I swore if the Professor laid a hand on Hiccup, he was getting a one way trip to purgatory.
"Mr. Black, he-he punched me out, and then I woke up here. I hear the ocean, I think I'm in a warehouse Jack. Can you find me? Please, I'm scared." He sounded close to tears, his voice was pained and throaty, like he'd been screaming for help before I had called.
"Hiccup, I promise to you, I swear on my heart, I will find you, and you will get out of there alive." I vowed to him. The phone call ended, and I was surrounded by silence. Why the warehouses near the ocean William? Why near the ocean? I ran to the exit and found myself in a dirty alleyway. The warehouses were about an hour and a half away, if I used a car. Although, I needed to get there quickly, so that meant I finally had a reason to use the rocket boosters that were built into my feet. The boosters loaded up, and released a powerful surge, until I was hovering over the ground. By using the cloaking device, I became base-directionally-invisible and I was set. I flew at top speeds to the warehouse.
I watched as the tides went back and forth. The smell of salt filled the air, the moon had arisen. The stars were twinkling. It was all too damn happy. The world should have been grey and empty, because Hiccup wasn't with me.
I used my heat sensors to lock onto Hiccup's body signature. He was curled up in a ball in warehouse number 36. I scanned him for any internal bleeding or major injuries, but found none. I noticed half a dozen heat signatures outside of the warehouse, but I dismissed them as some late-night workers. Regardless, I hoped they wouldn't get hurt from whatever Pitch had planned. I drifted quietly towards the entrance where Hiccup was closest to. At least I had the element of surprise. Hiccup was lying down on the cold cement floor, his hands were shackled and decorated with dry blood.
"Hiccup!" I hystHiccupally spoke, running over to his limping body and breaking the shackles with my sheer strength. His head rolled over to look at me. The corners of his mouth turned upwards and he let out a laugh, which soon turned into a cough. He took hold of both my hands that were desperately shaking around his prone body.
"Jack," he coughed. "Thank you, Jack." His eyes were filled with tears. Suddenly a loud bang was smashed against the metals walls of the warehouse. The door from the opposite side of Hiccup opened up, and with it around half a dozen lab coats spilled it, all immediately looking at me and coming closer. I raised myself from a crouched position near Hiccup, walking over his body to confront the lab coats. They stopped advancing on me, and Manny stepped out.
"What are you doing here, I never send a message for you to come and get the killer, so what are you doing?" I grounded out at him, my fingers curled around into a fist and I started building up a 34 000 volts of electricity. Enough to knock the man of his feet, and burn his skeleton.
"Why hello Jack, it's been so long and this is how you greet us?" His eyes narrowed at me. "We came because we noticed that the robot, that only we could operate on had suddenly been showing signs of emotions." His voice was low, like a tiger ready to pounce.
"We can discuss this later Manny." I spoke out of line. "Just let this innocent go and then we can talk, you can take me back to the lab, whatever, just let Hiccup go." A feeling of dread passed over me as the door opened once more.
"Hello ." A cocky voice resounded through the dark. Hiccup's eyes widened, as he tried to get up and scramble away. I walked over to the professor, as the reality of the situation hit me.
"Mr. Black, and the team of scientists, am I guessing right if I say both of you have been in touch since this whole thing began two years ago?" I looked between Manny and Pitch, who nodded.
"Well now that we have that established, would someone tell me why you would go through all that trouble to create an 'undercover' murderer?" I spoke mockingly. Everyone was silent, but Manny finally spoke.
"You see, project 34X6 was just another law enforcement robot, we wanted to see if we could change you codings to kill. Which we managed, so we needed a target for you to arrest and here was the perfect option, I mean afterall, he is the brains of the operation." Manny mumbled out. I nodded at him, finally, I understood. I raised my arm and shot Pitch Square in the chest with the electricity. He was dead on the spot, then I moved to kill the lab coats.
"Wait! Wait, Jack don't kill them! We're all going to die anyway!" Hiccup shouted from his corner against the door. I spun around to look at him.
"What?" I voiced my confusion. He pointed to a blinking light on the wall, and my metaphorical heart dropped. The light was blinking in morse code. Ten, nine, eight. I screamed for everyone to get out, and turned to Hiccup. His face was sweaty, and his eyes were wider than I'd ever seen them.
"Jack." He whispered. "The doors are locked."
The bomb hit zero and I dived towards Hiccup. The blast blinding us both. It was all over.
Ring ring
Ring ring
"Hello?" A deep, Irish accented voice asked.
"Uh hello? Is this Mr. Stoick Haddock? I'm part of the emergency police department and I was calling to say, we've found your boy and a robot in a warehouse. There was, an explosion and it killed everything near here. There was at least around six people buried in the rubble, but uh, your boy is fine! It seems the boy had a connection of some sort with the robot, because the stinking piece of metal managed to route its power systems around your boys uh, flesh and blood. He's something straight out of science fiction now. A hybrid I guess. Anyway! He's fine so we're taking him to the hospital so he can rest, and the nurses can see up his chest. He probably won't have to go through surgery. The robot set a defensive shield around him, when the uh, explosion happened. So we will call you if there is any progress on the situation!" A young adult spewed out at sonic speeds. It was hard for the older man to take it all in. He understood in the end though. He thanked the man and hung up. Staring out the window thanking the gods for saving his son.
Waking up was strange. It smelled like death. Everything was white. White walls, white roof, white floors. I heard mechanical whirring. My chest was full of metal. I couldn't feel my heart. I didn't feel human. A nurse walked in with a clipboard.
"Where's Jack?" My voice was croaky, and my throat was sore. The nurse looked at me sadly.
"He was the robot right?" Her voice was high, with a tiny lisp. I nodded. She frowned.
"He put his defensive shield on you, hence the.." She gestured to my chest.
"So he's gone." I sounded dead. It was sad to hear myself. She nodded at me, saying something about her apologies and left the room. It was all blurry. The world was on its side. Was I dying? I hoped so. My eyes slid closed and my body turned off.
If reality was bad, then dreams were hellish. I dreamed of Jack's blue eyes. His straight black hair. His olive coloured skin. His smell of pine and the forest. His rare smiles. I dreamed of the dead. I remembered his hatred of food, and his love for cats. I relished in all my memories of him, but in the end. When I came back to reality. Life was just not worth living. I realized more than once that this wasn't what Jack would have wanted. But at that point? I didn't care...
I didn't want to care anymore.
Ring ring
Ring ring
"Hello?" Growled Mr. Haddock.
"Mr. Haddock? I'm the police man that called around a week ago, we said we'd call if anything had changed in the case, but I'm afraid we can't continue any longer." The man spoke sombrely.
"Well, why ever not?" Stoick huffed.
"It appears your son, who was the expert witness, has uh, passed away. The police force wanted to send our condolences." The younger man saddened voice mumbled through the phone.
"Hiccup's passed away?" Stoick spoke incredulous.
"He overdosed on his pain relief pills, the doctors are saying it was intentional." The man said soberly. The phone fell out of the older man's hand. He could hear the police man asking for him. He sounded scared. Stoick Haddock felt himself age 20 years, his boy was dead. The one he raised. The one he taught how to walk. He taught how to drive. His own flesh and blood.
His son was dead.
THE END
AN/ SO this was orginally a school project, but after reading it over I realized I could use it. So if anything weird happened or OOC happened plz let me know, and I'll edit it out. (ALSO I'M SORRY YOU CAN YELL AT ME WITH YOUR REVIEWS)
