A.N: I am not dead, sadly, uni started kicking my butt and I had an issue with one of my stories that needed to be removed. A Ring for my What will be reposted soon. I will be posting chapters sparringly as I don't have much time for free writing. There is a sequel to Scheduled Maintenance coming up as well as another chapter for this 3 shot. Such fun.

Nevermind that depression, here is that Eve x Eve story.

Remember, R & R.

Restoration

Chapter One: The Birth of Proto

By: Rejected Royal

My name is Princess Apple. I am the 10th royal monarch of the Nasod kingdom. Though we have had few rulers, our race is anything but young. We have lived since the first El spark, seen the first El lady come to power, held audiences with the Salvatorian knights, and seen the beginning of the fight for the spark, which pitted brother against brother, Nasod against Mortals…

… which is when my father conceived the idea of me.

How easy would it be to create a nasod that looked exactly like the opposing race, to be able to walk among them, talk among them, create peace with them?

I hated the idea. But it was far too late. By the time I came into existence with full intelligence, I had been given a human complexion. I asked for it to be removed but it was not meant to be. To remove the soft exoskeleton would be to essentially kill me, and no Nasod would dare kill a noble. No matter how much she begged.

I flinch, feeling the soft bristles of my brush like needles in my synthetic hair as Ophelia gently tore through, finding every snarl and knot. I crossed my arms and sat all the way back in my chair, feeling petulant and looked into the mirror. Was this how they judged beauty? I looked up into my cherry wood framed mirror and, not for the first time, judged myself. On the inside, I knew I was the same as my people, however, that wasn't complacent for me. My exoskeleton, what humans called "skin", was soft, smooth, stretched around metal pounded curves that humans so loved. My eyes betrayed the human look. In my rebellion, I forsook the normal colors of human eyes and had them replaced with cherry red. My hair took my eye color, making it a light pink tone. I sighed, feeling the air leave though engineered lips, feeling the weight of the world placed on my shoulders.

I feel the brush leave my hair and see Ophelia place her face next to mine, feeling a bit of remorse for her and Oberon. They were shaped to be similar to mine in order to make me feel similar, but they didn't have the soft skin like I did. They had beautiful pounded naked metal, lights for eyes, bolts holding her together. Yes, I was jealous of my handmaid, at least she looked like a nasod. I sighed again and looked away from her.

"My princess…"

I turn around to see Charon, standing on the opposite side of the room nearest my bed, his arms crossed and looking at me. "Are you alright?"

I look down to my lap, remaining silent, before saying, "Do I look normal?"

I feel both of their eyes on me, evaluation the question, before Oberon spoke up, "What do you mean, normal?"

I quickly stand up. "You know, I don't look like a Nasod. I feel like I'm not even a part of my own kind…" I walk over to Oberon, past a large pane window and look into his glass visor, "How can I claim to be a ruler of my kind, when I don't even look like them!"

"Don't even fathom that idea, Princess."

I turn to see Ophelia walking to me, "You are smarted then any Nasod conceived. You have the knowledge of your father, the beauty of a human. You are perfect as –"

A knock on the door startles me. Charon walked over to the door quickly and a small metal Nasod came into the room, "My lady, your father, the King, wishes to see you." He bowed quickly.

Both Charon and Ophelia bowed low as I walked out with the Nasod, out my large metal door and down a short hallway before the nasod servant bowed lowed to me and I entered the throne room.

The throne room was one of beauty, glass floors with data lines flowing toward the center of the room, where my Father resided. The minute I stepped onto the glass floor, my father knew I was here.

"There is my dear Apple," His loud booming voice echoed through my ears, and once again I was reminded of my fragile human figure. He couldn't upload data to me like he could to others; all I had was a small port in my ears where my drones, Moby and Remy, could recharge me if necessary. "How are you doing?"

"I am well, Father," I hear a sort of chuckle from him, "I had a bit of an issue but everything is well now"

He brought down his hand, where I quickly climbed up and allowed him to set me on his shoulder. "Now, now, my Apple, I know you better than that. You might be smarter then me, but I can still read you like a book"

I sighed, "I just… why are there none like me"

He was silent except for the power cords running powers, "You are to be a queen, my little Apple, and as such, are held to a higher standard and you will be part of a treaty with the humans..."

"But Father, I would like to have a companion, someone I could be friends with, that could look like me…" I sighed and leaned against his neck, feeling the power from him emanating into me, "I just want a friend…"

"How would you like to create something, my dear?"

I instantly perk up. "You mean –" I try to lean forward and look at my father's face.

I feel another rumble under me, "Yes, if you are lonely, go create a Nasod like you. It should be good practice for later on."

I smile. "Thank you Father, I'll –

"One moment, my little Apple"

I keep quiet, but inwardly I can't control myself. I can create a Nasod, with the same looks as me! Only a reigning royal can create another higher thinking nasod, but for my father to give me permission is such a joy, no, a miracle –

"You will head the battle drone project as a means of creating your Nasod."

Say what?

"There is an ancient code of a legendary warrior race that showed much potential, " Her father started, bring his hand toward me, signaling me to get on again, "that was later destroyed due to its sheer power. It was a dark time, and the three warriors brought much shame to our kind." He brought me infront of his face. "However, I think you can solve this code flaws, my dear. "

I smiled, "You really think I can?"

A slight nod, "I can think of no one better."

I looked down for a second, debating my options. Unleash a new code? One that hadn't been used in eons? I had to, essentially, create a new code. Recoding from ancient text was not easy. Only a noble could do it. He thought I could do it, but did I? I looked in my father's eyes before standing up on his hand and curtsying, a human sign of etiquette, "I thank you, my father, and I shall start as soon as possible."

"Very well." The hand traveled back down and I landed gracefully on the middle glass panel in the center of the throne room. "All extra rolls of the synthetic skin and preformance data will be sent to the lower quarters at your request. Any other extra parts for the warrior code must be found from your own. Do well my daughter. "

I smiled and nodded, "I will not let you down."

"Errg!" I slam my hands into the aluminum desk, scattering disks and wires onto the floor, and nearly screamed in fustration.

A week. I had designed the nasod in a day, acquired the data in a month, and had already made the mold and her primary weapons. The model translation on the data was simple, designing it was easy, and getting my hands on the materials needed was child's play. The internal code, however, was a different story. All my data kept showing that it would show nothing but destruction.

The construction was easy - a nasod knows how itself is created. But I had to follow the ancient text on how the old warriors worked, how they created weapons of mass destructions with so much as just a thought. Guns, electron balls, whips, and chain – all created and destroyed on a whim. It was said in the old data that the warriors used specialized enhancements to improve their own power. It was said that standing in their presence was a hazard. But, the code was faulty, their emotions were overlooked, and they started killing without a second thought.

I had to give it a conscience, somehow. I started typing in new options, running tests to see if the emotion chip would give some help to the code.

Another flash on the screen showed an "unknown result" as its answer. I bite my lip from screaming out and lean back into my chair.

I look over my shoulder to see my creation, floating in a tank, wires connected to her major outports: head, chest, arms, legs, and lower area. It was kinda weird, seeing a creation similar to myself in such a state. Well, there were two major differences. Her hair was unlike my pink, keeping a long pure white version, and her body was a bit thinner. I stared at her nude form, wondering if my father looked at me like this when I was first created, wondering if he was doing the right thing. I look on the left of the tank to see two drones, quite like mine, retrieving data from the sleeping robot.

I look back to the code, running a manicured hand through my head. It shouldn't be this hard. Maybe…

A knock on the metal door startles me, "My Queen?"

I sigh, slightly admiring my guard's determination. "I told you I'm busy, Charon, I'll be out later." I stood up to start cleaning some of the papers and wirers from around my workstation.

Apparently, he wouldn't take no for an answer, "It is time to take a break, your highness. It is quite late."

Again? He was persistant, "I want to finish this code. I'm close, I can feel it."

"You Highness, I must insist –"

"No!" I yelled again, slamming my hands on the desk, "I will finish this! This should not be this hard!"

A beeping noise started echoing throughout the room. I freeze and look toward the screen. "Code Download in Progress" was displayed on the screen.

"Shit!" I grab my chair and quickly try to terminate the process, but the download has already started. To end it now meant I had to restart the process of creation yet again…

… I couldn't do that.

Call me selfish, call me the pampered princess, but I wanted a friend. If father found out I destroyed the first one due to a code malfunction, I might not get another chance, no, I wouldn't get another chance. Father would claim that the code would be unstable and would lock the data back away. Everything had turned out seamless, the lithe body structure, the nanoparticles capable of mass construction from just a single command, down to the drone weapons capable of charging from remote areas, similar to my own. I treated my creation better than I wanted to be treated.

I attempted to reroute the power, tried to limit the code – anything and everything that might help me save my creation. I was so absorbed into my work that I barely registered the pounding on the door and my faithful guard screaming my name.

"Critical level arriving. Code Unstable."

I listen to the computer yell off times til final download, hearing the word "unstable", "critical", and "error" in the background, fearing the worst. I finally realized that it was too late and looked for a place to hide, quickly sliding under a solid steel table. My hands cupped over my neck before I placed my head in my lap, listening to the numbers near one hundred percent.

"Error, Error, Erro –"

A loud eruption blared in my ears and a light peaked through the corner of my eyes. The wild energy pulsed all around me, tearing into everything and everything. Glass shattered, metal decimated- all echoed in my ears but none of that mattered. All I could think about was if I was going to make it out alive…

… and would my creation survive.

Only a minute later, I turned my head out from under the table and felt something akin to heartbreak.

There, in the center of the blast, was my beautiful creation, still and pale, her bare back lying against what was left of the glass tank she was kept in. Wires were cut in random areas and decorated her pale, scarred skin. The two drones? They lay next to her like fallen soldiers, small wires coming out of their under area. The sight was too heartbreaking, too devastating to my only dream. I briefly heard Charon screaming, slamming into the door in an effort to reach me, but I paid no mind. I slowly left my hiding place, clearing out the metal and glass scattered around and walked over to where the failed project was before bending down to looking over the scars.

I did a once over. It was mostly surface damage that could be repaired in no time, but what was horrifying was the frayed strands of wire that the code was delivered in. They were near irreplaceable – it was used in my creation and no on else. It would take years to repair. I look again to my creation, her unmoving chest, the water dripping from her hair…

Suddenly, eyes red as blood snapped open and started at me, "Intruder."

I couldn't respond fast enough before the nasod threw me to the back metal wall, pinning me on the wall by my elbows, preventing me from moving. She stood unmoving, her upper arms like bars on my shoulders, her face just millimeters from mine.

My breath came out in pants as the other nasod studied my features. She stared at my face, my ears, my forehead, before looking downwards. I looked at her and couldn't keep the smile from coming to my face.

I did it

I created a nasod.

"Why do you look like me?"

I snapped out of my thoughts to see the other nasod look at me, "Why do you look like me? My data tells me that you are not one of my code, so you do not belong."

Oh shit. "No no no – " I started, a little too fast for my own good for she narrowed her eyes at me, " I created you with that code. You just awoke. See? Over there are your weapons. "

Her grip tightened, "How can I believe you?" She narrowed her eyes at me.

I gulped, "I do look like you."

She had to believe me as she lessened her grip on my shoulders, allow some relief of pressure but still keeping me there, "Then who am I? What is my directive?"

Oh shoot, a name! I should've thought of one earlier. What was the major part of that code again? Proto something or other… "Proto, you will be fine. Just relax and let me down."

She remained silent for a second that I feared the code crashed. I opened my mouth to caller her makeshift name before she started to fall down. I tried quickly to grab her and prevent her from falling. I succeeded partly – boy was I this heavy too? – and tried to pull her to smooth ground. A bang caught my attention as Charon bolted into the room.

"My lady –"

"Charon, please help me get Proto to my room," I interrupt, looking down to my creation. He seemed to finally notice the nasod in my lap and nearly gasped, "I shall follow behind to see if her drones cannot be fixed."

"Yes, my lady," He bowed before picking up the new creature with the utmost care. I watched as he carried it gently out of the room.

I couldn't help but smile. I did it. Even though I destroyed a lab in the process and scared my guard, I managed to create. I succeeded in creating a new creature, with whom I could spend time with, teach, and feel similar too…

One day at a time, Apple, one day at a time…

Once again, R&R. Your reviews make this hobby of mine worth it.

Edited from 2827 to 2900 words.

-RR