Title: recover

Characters: Kagerou (rp canon), Toudou, Yuuta, Azuma (that guy I hate), Saejima

Background info because dumb headcanons: Toudou made it a personal project to repair Kagerou's damages after deactivation. Unfortunately, there was not enough backup data to construct a chip, so the body sat around for ages. (if you haven't followed the rp this far) Kagerou's AI was made into a viral format by one of the company's underlings. When the suspect released him, instead of destroying bank computers as was desired, BP 500X instead sought to seek out his original body. He was able to reunite with his frame and this is a day after that takes place. Being turned into a virus, as well as being copied multiple times, has left him with a case of amnesia.

Toudou hadn't expected his project to be walking around on its own, not when he had been working with a lifeless frame for about a year now. Yet, here standing nervously before him was the project in question; BP unit 500X, prototype model Kagerou. The robot had stood up the day before and walked off, but not until after his rampant programming had caused a variety computer problems throughout the city.

Kagerou had walked in because when he had talked to Shadowmaru, the multichanger sensed something very off about him and told him to report to maintenance. Upon arriving there, though, the robot was met with terrified or hateful stares that he didn't understand. All the workers avoided him. When Toudou had walked in they were ignoring the two-story robot in the middle of the room, and he furiously dismissed the lot of them, putting all of his attention on the lost-looking child in front of him. Ignoring the poor thing before had led him to have problems and the last thing they needed was another incident like that one.

"Kagerou, let's start with the basics," the man mused, walking around his creation. "My name is Shunsake Toudou. Do you remember me?"

The mech glanced down at him with his scanner optic, frame still except for his wings flicking. "No," came the once harsh and cocky voice, now much more timid and unsure.

"I helped to create you. I am chief mechanic here." Toudou was met with silence and so he continued. "I helped to create all of you—I know you've met the others. Deckerd. Drill Boy. …Shadowmaru." He didn't flinch when the mech turned to regard him. "Ahah, you react to him—good. The two of you were very close before. I'm sure he will help you."

"That is what he promised…" That unsure voice again. Toudou didn't like it. He didn't like his kids acting uncomfortable.

"I want to run some tests on you—your programming seems unstable, and your memory seems to be very much gone," the man finished, motioning to a repair cradle that lay on the ground. "Tuck your wings and lie down here." Toudou saw the mech flinch and added "I won't hurt you and I won't do anything without telling you first."

Kagerou relaxed visibly, obediently withdrawing his wings and lying down on the berth. He listened as the human explained all of the scans he was administering on him, and gave him access to his systems without much hesitation. Toudou in turn kept the mood light, adding in stories or two of some stupid things the others had done. Kagerou smiled a few times, and Toudou counted it as a victory. As some of the scans finished, he recounted the results to the large mech.

"Interesting," he mused, staring at the screen, and Kagerou's helm turned to look too. Toudou pointed out a line of code. "Your basic coding has remained in tact—the code that originates from Deckerd. This is good—it means you're still you, in the end, and not an imposter. However… that is not altogether possible." He pulled up another window. "Your original chip, though very much dead, is still transmitting its coordinates from the bottom of the sea. And so I am wondering how many times you were copied and reformatted…"

Kagerou blinked, confused. "'Copied?'"

Toudou rest his hands on the console, looking down. "Before I tell you your whole story, let me say that I think your chip is already working to rebuild and retrieve your memory data; and wouldn't that be better constructed without receiving the observations of someone who wasn't there to know you?" he asked, turning to the mech. "Give it time—and really, Shadowmaru would know you better than anyone, excluding yourself. So trust him." He looked over his shoulder at the mech. "He'll tell you when you and he are both ready."

"…Yes sir."

The man smiled reassuringly. "Good mech. Now… about the rest of you." He pointed to another completed scan result, regaining a frown. "This line of coding here is not yours—it is purely viral. This is causing you to have glitches in a few important areas, and is preventing your memory data from reforming and staying. I am going to remove some of it now, and send the rest of the results to a colleague before taking further action. She should be able to determine if you will have lasting damage by forcibly removing the remaining code, or if it will fade on its own with your own processes. "

"Why can't you determine this?" the robot questioned, a hint of agitation in his voice.

"Now now, she's a head programmer—kid really knows her stuff." Toudou patted a large shoulder pad. "It'll be a good idea for her to look at'cha—"

"What about the rest of us?"

Kagerou jumped at the strange voice, rolling over a little to look at a small group walking towards him. Two men and a boy stopped just short of him, all of them with a different expression. The tallest, with a moustache, had a face like a proud parent of sorts. The smallest, the child, looked curious.

The grumpy looking man spoke again. "Well? Can he be trusted to work?" he grumbled, arms over his chest.

Toudou scowled, waving an accusing finger at the other man. "If you were awake for twenty four hours after a year long sleep, I doubt you'd want to have a full time job the next day, Asuma," he grumbled, before turning to his patient. "Kagerou, do you remember any of these men? Or the half-pint?"

Ignoring the indignant sound from the kid, the mech shook his head. "No."

"There you go, gentlemen."

Asuma rolled his eyes before turning. "Can we talk away from the broken mech, then? We have to discuss what to do with him for a while," he muttered. "Public's not exactly going to take well to him."

The man with the mustache shrugged. "Fine, fine. A moment, then—" he paused to nudge the boy forward. "Yuuta, why don't you keep him company while we chat, mm?"

Asuma scoffed, glancing critically at the one eyed mech. "Are we sure he can be trusted, Saejima?"

The man, Saejima, shrugged and looked at Toudou, who nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, kid'll be fine," the engineer grunted, walking around Kagerou to join the other two. "He cannot harm Yuuta."

"Alright then!" Saejima's smile returned and he spun on his heel. "We'll be back in a moment, Yuuta."

The boy looked between the men leaving him and the somewhat terrifying robot before him. He gulped a little, approaching Kagerou slowly. There were still a lot of bad memories behind Shadowmaru's prototype, even though the optic staring him down appeared confused. Yuuta had enough common sense to stand on the side of his helm with the good eye, before squeaking out a very fast "Hello."

Kagerou regarded him steadily, systems humming as the viral data was purged. "… Hello… Yuuta" he mumbled softly, unsure if he had heard the name correctly.

The boy blinked in surprise, before realizing he probably just overheard them all. "Ah, yes—my name is Yuuta Tomonaga," he replied, shyly looking to the side before shaking himself out of it. Kagerou was built from the same chip, even if a little corrupted. Nothing to fear, right?

"Tomonaga… To-mo-na-ga." The name seemed familiar. As when Shadowmaru was mentioned, something sparked deep in his AI.

"And! I'm your boss!" Puffing out his chest a little bravely, Yuuta tried to pose in front of the robot. "But don't worry—I try to be a good boss, and I'll listen if you get worried about stuff. You've been through a lot—but I wanna know you. As a friend." Losing his brave front, he stood still, a hand on the massive shoulder armor in front of him. He continues quietly "Is that okay, Kagerou?"

Blinking his optic, Kagerou gave a small smile, nodding. "Yes, Boss."