Disclaimer: I do not own Guilty Gear or its associated characters.
The Search for I
by iD3
Chapter I: And Embers Rise
He was dead. At least that was what he had been told. He was lost, darkness enveloped him and silence consumed him. "Emergency-reboot-complete. Primary-systems-operational. Restoring-secondary-functions," one by one his senses began to return. He heard the dull whizzing and churning of his innermost functions. "Processing... Processing...Processing..." A small, metallic voice rang out from inside him.
"Restoration-incomplete-secondary-systems-operating-at-seventyfour-percent. Rerouting-optical-functions." Suddenly he could see. Everything was dim and blurry at first but as his vision focused, bits of the shattered terrain jumped out at him. Snow lightly dusted the skeleton corpses of shattered buildings and, as he looked down he found himself in a similar state of disrepair. Although his right leg was intact his left was shattered just above the knee, the lower half askew at an odd angle.
"Restoring-trinary-functions," it seemed strange to the iron warrior that this diagnostic-voice, although of himself, sounded subtly different. Its tone, pitch and timbre slightly askew, speaking in a small, brassy voice. Why hadn't he noticed this before? Perhaps it was a result of battle damage?
His right arm was completely missing, shoulder and all, splurging various oils and hydraulic fluids. The sight of the gaping wound alarmed the construct prompting him to touch the oozing wound with his free, undamaged arm. The fluids coated his metallic fingers in inky shades of blacks, blues and greens.
It was in that moment he spotted the reason for his untimely deactivation, the shattered blade of his old weapon. The imitation Thunder seal pinned the clockwork-man to the dull concrete against which he was leaned. "Trinary-functions-restored. Damage-assessment-complete. Operating-at-thirty four-percent-unit-capacity." It seemed strange that he had not noticed the pronounced weapon before but it was, in the end, unimportant. Wasting no time, he wrapped his fingers around the shattered blade and began to draw it from his body. Steely components screeched and whined as the blade made its slow exit from his organs. Although his steel features were immutable he inwardly frowned. His opponent had made sure the makeshift Thunder seal would never see battle again.
"Initializing-metal-base-regeneration-process," chimed the small voice. Although he felt no pain, no fatigue, nor any of the thousand other natural shocks that flesh is heir to he had to heal. He needed to rest, he needed to recharge. This was something he could not do out in the open, he was too vulnerable here. Without a leg, however, his mobility was limited.
Using a combination of his good leg and good arm the wounded construct flopped himself face first into the frozen earth and started to crawl. Needing a temporary leg the metal man gathered components, bits of pipe, metal binding straps, loose bolts and screws he tore from broken hinges and busted doors. As he gathered materials he noticed his missing arm laying several feet away, its cool fingers breaking the surface of the snow. As he retrieved the severed limb he took stock of his growing collection of bits and bolts.
Judging himself to have the appropriate components he began to form the parts using his free arm. Bending pipe, fastening screws, and pinching together odd discarded pieces of metal. He made quick with his work, using unnatural strength and unerring precision to fasten together a make shift crutch.
Severed arm in hand, he proceeded to carefully right himself, using the crutch as support while his good leg carefully pushed himself up into the correct position. Once situated, the clockwork-man took a few measured steps on his makeshift appendage. After several attempts to find the optimal stride and handle for the new limb he returned to his original place of rest.
The strange creature's eyes faintly glowed in the fading light as he eyed the severed leg. Snow had begun to fall and he decided that if he was to retrieve the limb and its shattered components now would be the time. The mechanical man lowered himself to his knees and tore away the extra fabric where the damaged leg had been. He carefully laid out the beaten pant leg like a blanket and began sifting through the snow for the missing pieces. It wasn't long before he had gathered up everything of use. Much of it was crushed beyond repair.
He then proceeded to wrap the damaged limbs and extra parts in the shredded cloth and, using some extra scraps of sheet metal nearby, fashioned the broken garment into a backpack of sorts, bending a metal strap to clamp over his undamaged shoulder.
Now the only question was, where to next? Last he checked he was in northern Germany, and the android was positive he hadn't been moved after the battle. He estimated Hamburg was the closest city to his current location. He would need to be careful. In his current state even the most mundane of people's could be a danger. This was a chance the automaton had to take as he needed the raw materials and time to make more suitable repairs.
Pack in place, and parts retrieved the metal man started off, slow at first, hobbling uncertainly under the extra weight. Slowly, the broken android faded into the snow.
He recorded a 3 day, 11 hour and 17 minute long journey by the time he reached Hamburg. Modern Hamburg, like the rest of the world, was a product of the Crusades. The Holy War ravaged the city, as the Holy Order made their stand against Justice's forces time and time again. Eventually, however, the city was abandoned roughly thirty years into the conflict. The Holy Order did not return to the shattered metropolis until after the end of the Crusades. Although humans once again inhabited the city, Hamburg would never return to its former glory, most choosing to resettle in the capital, Berlin. The few who did return chose to settle on the fringes of the city instead of attempting to deal with unwieldy reconstruction. As such much of the city was left uninhabited and instead a new town was born around the old ruins.
Luckily the battered android had approached Hamburg from the old side of town and, as such entered without detection. Not wishing to deal with any of the town's wandering inhabitants; he quickly made his way into a large brick building. Although the immense structure had seen its share of action it was still structurally sound and would serve its new occupant's purpose. White light filtered through the few remaining window panes, the dirty glass casting a dull glow over the old building. This place confused the mechanical man. What purpose did it serve? Row after row of long wooden benches lined the inside of the building, immense, vaulted windows on either wall. At the front of the structure was an altar although anything of value had long since been destroyed or stripped from the barren framework. The clockwork-man seated himself near the center aisle on one of the benches, lowering himself carefully. The bench creaked and strained under his immense weight. As he shifted his weight to shoulder the crutch, the wooden seat gave out a sorrowful moan. He noticed that his temporarily limb was also starting to deform under the immense strain of his metallic body. A quick survey of the other buildings had revealed some useful scraps of metal that he could use for field repairs but nothing that he could reattach a leg with. Before he left he'd have to reinforce the support.
"Metal-base-regeneration-process-commencing-in-ten-minutes. Full-systems-shutdown-advised," the small, almost alien voice whispered in his mind. Before he shut down, however, the android needed to reattach his arm.
Unlike his predecessors, he had been designed with a prototype form of metal base regeneration. MBR effectively allows internal components to heal by themselves. The process of metal base regeneration is triggered by a low surge of electrical current which causes a specially designed alloy to, in effect, regenerate and repair damage to internal systems. Although this process is only seventeen percent more efficient than its human counterpart the system has proved a positive boon to combat series robots. The nature of MBR compliant alloys however makes them more fragile then other existing metals for this reason only the android's internal components are made of such materials.
Removing his makeshift pack, the mechanical man set about the process of reattaching his severed arm. Although it wouldn't be operable for some time it was necessary to reattach the limb before he began to regenerate. By pinning the severed appendage between the back of the bench and his body, the construct was able to effectively rivet the arm in place with a few salvaged bolts, door hinges and various pieces of scrap metal.
As he settled back his thoughts seemed clearer, as if uncluttered by the thousand processes running inside him. It seemed strange that this place of busted brick and broken glass could confer on him, such clarity of mind. The more he thought about it, however the more it confounded him. There was something churning inside him, something the droid couldn't explain.
It hadn't been this way before. Suddenly his mind was boiling with questions he'd never asked before. Questions he couldn't answer. What had happened? He had been designed to imitate life. To imitate that one man but he had failed? Now what, why did he still exist? Why was he here, in this place? The more he thought about it, the more he ran himself in circles, his robotic brain meticulously attempting to isolate abstract variables. "Metal-base-regeneration-commencing. All-systems-shutting-down," the emotionless voice taunted him. There was something about it... What was it?
As the broken android drifted into darkness the realization dawned on him. That man had done something to him. That man had diverted him from his course. That man had taken everything he was, but given him something he couldn't understand. He realized that on that day, everything had changed...
Author's Note: This is my first fanfic and yes, it is a Robo-Ky fic. I apologize as the first few chapters may be pretty dry but I felt it was necessary to develop the character. I don't have a beta reader so if you see anything weird please feel free to point it out to me so I can fix it.
There will be other, non-robotic characters in this fic but not for a few chapters so be patient. The title of the story as well as all chapter subtitles are song titles. 'The Search for I' comes from the song 'In Search for I' by the band In Flames. 'And Embers Rise' comes from the song of the same name by Killswitch Engaged.
If anyone is interested in beta reading upcoming chapters feel free to contact me at if you want to read one that doesn't obligate you to any further readings however. As soon as I finish proof reading the next couple chapters I'll put them up as soon as possible. Thanks for stopping by.
-iD3
