Craig woke with a start, not too much later. A thin, shaking hand was gripped over his heart where the dog tags lie against his skin nearly threw him into a panic before he realized it was his own. Immediately, the counting beads ritual began, not entirely with Craig's conscious permission. Three hundred and sixty-eight, fifty two on the small chain. Alright. His constant was still the same.
He took a deep breath and pulled himself from underneath of the desk he'd sat himself, checking his surroundings in a fit of paranoia. It looked like he was in a lab of some kind; a mechanics lab, robotic parts littered the tables and floor in the dim room. The thick film of dust all over everything suggested it was almost abandoned and the further Craig drew into the room, the less likely he calculated the possibility of being found. There were old computers stacked in one corner and nothing was plugged in except for the fluorescent lights that likely didn't have an off switch, but didn't keep the place very well lit at all.
Nothing in here was going to help him find his missing lover, it seemed. None of the abandoned computers looked modern enough for Craig to figure out, much less assemble correctly; he'd have to go explore if he wanted to even discover where he was. Cautiously, anxiously, he moved further into the lab, pointedly avoiding any large or potentially moveable robotic parts. The eerie calm and layers of dust among the littered metal cases, gears, and circuitry made this place feel quite a lot like a graveyard. The lights flickered above his head, casting a slightly unnerving aura along the room. It was a fairly large room with bigger pieces stacked near the back. All of it lacked a power source, but Craig did not want to take any chances.
Along the left wall, he spotted a glowing light and as he approached it, realized it was a computer monitor that had been left on. Furtively, Craig glanced around him to ensure there was no one there about to come back to their work. He pulled out the chair and sat on the edge, peering at the scientific jargon that was left up on the screen. Given all of his days reading several different texts that had little to nothing related to his profession, it wasn't too hard to decipher the meaning of the document pulled up. It was titled 'Personality Core Initiative' and gave a quick description of what exactly a 'personality core' was.
Craig's pink eyes scanned the lines several times for no other reason aside from the flood of information was calming, soothing in a familiar way. Personality cores were evidently an experiment in building sentient artificial intelligence, which was an interesting concept by itself, much less the attempt. It sounded much better than the previous experiments he'd overheard scientists discussing, much more pleasant, with a far less likelihood of killing someone in a gruesome way.
The further he read, the more the attempts looked like they were failing more and more consistently. It didn't meet their standards, wasn't learning, thinking on its own, all sorts of frustration was subtly poured into the reports and there was a large gap in reports from date to date suddenly. A fairly recent date, not too long ago, just in December of the previous year, they turned more hopeful. The author talked more about a sudden breakthrough when they stopped attempting to build a brand new person and instead did extensive brain mapping on some employees and volunteers. It mentioned working in tandem with another larger project with a similar goal.
Curious that they should mention 'employees and volunteers,' Craig thought to himself, but he continued to reading about how it was a wild success and they had fully functioning personalities that they could mold to fit their needs. It briefly discussed the intended purpose of the project, talking about a greater AI that was made with similar, but more advanced techniques that would require the occasional personality modification due to uncooperative behavior. They looked at attaching this AI to the entire facility to better the efficiency of all projects, including the personality core experiment. Nearing the bottom, Craig found a long list of names, most of which had large blocks of [REDACTED] across them, leaving only their employee number and some basic stats, usually just their department and job title. There was literally everything from janitor to test subject to lead scientific supervisor; it seemed like no one was excluded from the testing. A command prompt was flashing underneath of that with the words /COMMAND RUN flashing.
Craig moved in close enough that he could nearly see his reflection in the screen glass, peering at the command prompt as though it would suddenly begin to tell him what it meant and what exactly it would run. A loud CRASH and a banging of metal behind him made the man jump, hand slamming on the keyboard as he whirled around to see nothing but a heap of metal rolling from a precariously stacked pile of cylinders. A heavy, relieved sigh escaped him as he turned back to the screen to see it suddenly flooded with new, coded information. This sort of language was not one he was familiar with, the codes and programs of a computer, but it eventually stopped printing numbers and command and flashed something he could decipher. 'ADVENTURE CONSTRUCT V.2.3 RUNNING' it read; it looked as though he accidentally switched on one of the constructs. It didn't matter, it likely wasn't in this room—A green light flashed from across the room. Looked like Craig thought far too soon.
The light flashed once or twice before Craig noticed just where the source was. It was in a large box past all of the desks and where most of the space was empty of other parts of robots and machinery. Better to find where it is and shut it off, he reasoned to himself, that way he could keep the amount of attention drawn to himself to a manageable level. Surely someone must've noticed those great horrific beasts disturbed by his presence earlier. Slowly, he rose out of the chair, eyes fixed on the box.
"OI, INTRUDER, I see ya there, y'rotten scum!" a loud voice boomed, making Craig stifled a noise of surprise and duck behind the desk in a hurry.
"Can't go'n hide from me, buddy, I swear I know yer right there!" the voice boomed again, but it sounded much less sure.
In a fit of bravery, Craig peeked over the desk to see the green light flashing around wildly. Was it coming from whatever he had accidentally switched on? He took a quick deep breath in an attempt to even out his heartbeat and climbed out from under the desk, walking nearly on his tiptoes to try to see into the box before he got too close. Unfortunately, the box was too deep and he had to peer inside, shaking out of nerves and anticipation.
"AHA!"
Craig gasped and stumbled away from the box.
"I knew y'were up there, can't hide from me!"
Knowing he hadn't seen a person inside of the box, Craig got over the initial shock with rub to his forehead and looked inside again. The box was only big enough around for the beachball sized metal sphere with a green checked light bulb that seemed to have one big rectangular optic that focused right on his face. The sphere had two handles running across the top and bottom, assumedly to get him out of the deep box if necessary. Craig didn't see it necessary at all, not at all.
"Y'look like one'a them science-y folk," a voice that still came from nowhere said to him, though shutters over the bulb moved animatedly with the sentence, "Pretty damn confusin', y'look damn girly, but y'ain't a girl, are ya?"
Craig tilted his head slightly, ignoring the comment-or mild insult to his masculinity, as it were-in favor of marveling just how human-esque something without any other human traits could be. Literally the only thing that he and this machine shared was one a single eye; it didn't even have two like a person might, nothing in its sphere looked as though it should resemble a face in any way. It was fascinating and uncanny how it accomplished looking as though it were attempting to express emotions it likely shouldn't have.
"Hey kid, 'm talkin' to ya, mind yer damn manners!"
It took him another moment of surreal observation to realize that the voice had to be coming from that sphere. Craig blinked at it, almost wincing as his sensitive pink eyes got a face full of green light, but he managed to maintain the 'eye contact,' or as loose as the term could mean at this point.
"Y'look like a cat's gotcher tongue, boy," the light dimmed, the shutter miming narrowing at him.
He thought about saying something, but speaking with a machine? He had seen some terrible things down here, but not enough to go completely insane just yet. Yes, he'd just read something about sentient technology, but if it was here, didn't that mean it was a failed test?
"Goddammit, I been down here for god knows how long and th'one damn feller I see can't even work up the stones t'say a damn thing," the voice groused, light bulb acting as though it were rolling its 'eye.'
"S'prob'ly 'cause y'heard 'bout me," the sphere said, causing Craig to do a double-take. Had the sphere been aware of what he was looking at?
"Yep, y'must've heard all 'bout th'dangerous Adventure Sphere 'n how many men twice yer damn size I single-handedly kicked the ass of. S'okay, y'don't gotta be all too 'fraid 'less yer tryin' to 'sassinate me. But gotta say, it's a damn shame y'ain't one'a them pretty lady 'sassins y'hear 'bout. Good 'nough I s'pose, but since yer a gent 'sasssin, 'm gonna hafta kill ya if ya try any funny stuff," the sphere went on, making Craig's shoulders relax.
Evidently it didn't know which was simply relieving in the sense that Craig did not like the feeling of being monitored. The entire building gave him enough of that feeling all of the time. Well, time to experiment with just how intelligent this sphere was.
"I'm no assassin," Craig clarified, "I'm not a scientist either."
"Then what'n th'hell are ya? This's some science mumbo-jumbo place, innit? Why're you—OH. I get it, yer a damn SPY!" the sphere suddenly accused.
Craig rolled his own eyes as the single eye brightened threateningly, "No, I'm not a spy. I'm simply here looking for someone."
"Lookin' for yer damn target, y'can't fool me!"
"No! I'm not here to assassinate anyone or steal anything, I'm just looking for my-!" Craig stopped himself, realizing he was yelling at a metal ball for something that it wasn't the culprit. He took a deep breath before continuing, "I'm looking for someone to take them back home. Nothing more."
The green light narrowed at him, the meshed squares disappearing as the single rectangular pupil-like shape regarded him with a severe amount of scrutiny, "Can't tell if yer lyin' or not."
"Apparently I can fool you," Craig huffed, "I'm not lying. I'm looking for my significant other."
Metal pinged together as the core blinked at him, "Significant oth—OH. I gotcha, yer lookin' for a lady, gonna go save yer damsel in distress?" the core puffed up a little, looking more excited about this than a spy.
Craig shut his eyes and rubbed his temples, "Not exactly. In fact, if he knew I was here, he might be upset with me."
That was met with a couple more blinks, "…So you're one'a tho—"
"You say something negative I will feed you to that horrible mantis monster I found a moment ago," Craig snapped, eyes narrowing.
"An' here I thoughtcha were jus' some weak-spined nerd," the core laughed.
That last word let something sink in that Craig had been trying to figure out for a long time now. The voice of the core was bothering him on a very personal level. It sounded familiar, but it didn't, all at once. It was obviously mechanical, computerized just enough to sound vaguely human. That syntax is what suddenly struck him like lightning.
"…Rick?"
"Seems like I gotta reputation 'round these parts!" the core—or Rick as it were, didn't deflate any, still looking like a preening bird.
Craig stepped away with his hand covering his mouth, mind going a mile a minute trying to review the information he'd just read on personality cores. There was talk of brain mapping and using employees; Rick being used to map out a core was entirely possible. Considering the man had a personality that was larger than life, it made Craig even more suspicious that a butchered copy of his boyfriend's mind was stuffed into that strange, back talking core.
His mouth curled into a snarl. Those bastards were not going to keep a damned souvenir when he got Rick out of here and left for good, never to look back. They would have not one scrap of him or Rick in this horrible, fucked up facility. With a growl he barely knew he could make, he gripped both handles on the core and began to haul it out of the box.
"WOAH, hold on there, son, calm down there!" the core cried, optic twisting and moving in a mild amount of confusion, "I know 'm a famous adventurer an' all, but jus' hold yer damn horses!"
With all of the effort Craig was expending to pull Rick from the box, there was no way he could answer him. He fumed and panted with effort, digging his heels into the tile with a jarring screech of his shoes. Rick's core body turned slightly just as Craig grunted with a heavy yank; they both went flying with the collapse of the grey panels of the box. The core's metal clanged on the floor, making Craig jump as he fell on his backside. He threw his arms over his head to try to protect it from flying heavy pieces of metal coming at him, but Rick did nothing but roll, much to his anger.
"Hey! Kid, goddammit, you an' yer damn noodle arms put a dent in me!" he growled, optic spinning around to glare at Craig.
The shouting got him to lower his arms, seeing Rick not too far from him. He sighed in relief, but really wondered if he could carry him through the entire trip to find the real Rick.
"The tough-guy adventurer can't take a hit?" Craig said in a faux-saccharine voice, pulling himself to his feet to stand over the core.
"Yeah, yeah, get me off'a th'damn floor, wouldja?" Rick turned his hands inward in the best imitation of crossing his arms as he could manage.
"You're coming with me," Craig informed him, stooping into a lifting position.
"I didn't volunteer for no search-an'-rescue mission t'go find yer little boyfriend!"
Craig was happy to find that the core was a lot easier to lift from the floor than from the box. Still, he wasn't sure if toting him around was going to be possible. The blond already swore he was going to drag both Rick and this core out of here, so there was no getting around it. Stopping to rest was just going to happen a lot more often. He tucked Rick the Adventure Core under his arm and started for the door before even addressing the core's issue with being basically kidnapped.
"I'm taking you out of here, too," Craig informed him.
The Adventure Core made a sound similar to a frustrated sigh, "Look, son, if y'think yer gonna impress me or summat by extendin' this rescue mission t'me, y'got 'nother thing comin'. Don't why don'tcha do yer pansy-ass a favor an' put me back, yeah?"
Craig scowled but didn't even look down at the core, already starting down the hallway toward a railway that definitely didn't look like it would lead back to the horrible abomination he'd seen earlier. The robotic sphere with him couldn't fight him, just yell insults. So he stayed silent, feeling slightly accomplished no matter how many gay-related or girly-man-related insults the green-eyed robot could think up. Surprisingly, just as they entered the railway into a larger part of the facility, it was silent between them except for the sound of Craig's shoes hitting the metal.
It was peaceful, thankfully. It gave Craig a chance to glance over the rail to see just how high they were. He couldn't see the bottom; with a shiver, he kept his gaze ahead. It was dark, though an eerie blue ambience made it light enough to see where they were walking, plus no matter where the core was looking, his green light still provided some sort of comfort in that Craig knew where he was going to step next. Pipes lined the walls that looked like they were carved out of stone. They were all marked, but it was too dark to make out what they said. Given the information he already had on this terrible place, Craig had a sinking feeling he didn't want to know.
"Look," the Adventure core finally piped up again, making Craig jump, "If y'ain't gonna put me back down, y'mind at least hearin' me th'hell out?"
Thoughts that it was crazy to reason with a machine were long gone from Craig's mind. His arms were already tired and he was all too glad to put the core down so he could rest. The walkway had rails, but he didn't trust it, so instead of setting the green robot down, he sat with it sitting in his lap.
The green light moved several times, the sound of shifting gears were mixed with Craig's breathing, trying to bring his heart rate down.
"Eh, y'mind?" the core piped up, wiggling his handlebars at the arms clutched tightly around his core body.
Craig hadn't even noticed, but he immediately mumbled an apology and moved his hands to rest on the cold metal rail. It was unconscious, but understandable that he'd be clinging to the first sign of Rick he'd come across in over a year, or even just in the time that he'd been here.
Core Rick's optic turned to look at him, "S'alright, kid. Y'look… well, y'look a little worse fer wear, considerin'."
"Remember that mantis monster I was threatening you with? It was making a valiant attempt to eat me," Craig said with a mirthless laugh, rubbing his eyes with his fists.
"A whosa-whatsit?" the core's green eye blinked at him, extending out in simulated disbelief.
"You heard me. It was a, if I had to guess, probably ten-foot tall, flesh-colored insect that thought I was its dinner."
Rick stared, adding to the heavy situation with equally heavy silence for a long moment, "Yer kiddin' me. Skinny britches like you went up 'gainst a big-ass monster like that?"
"I didn't kill it, if that's what you meant. I got away unscathed, thankfully," Craig sighed, not really wishing to recall the horrifying incident.
A piercing whistling sound emitted from the core, "Damn, y'managed all that by yerself, trooper?"
"Do you see anyone but you with me?"
"Hah, got a new kinda respect for ya, then. Little, but tough, looks like."
At that, Craig had to crack a very tiny smile. Earning respect from a machine, yes, but it still cheered him. That is, until he remembered that sounded exactly like something Rick had said to him. Verbatim. God, not the thing he needed to remember right now. He covered his face with both hands to hide the sudden depressed expression.
"Gotta be a lucky guy, seein' as he's got one deceptive fighter lookin' out for him," Rick said suddenly, which made Craig sputter with more genuine laughter.
"Tch! 'm tryin' t'be decent here an' yer laughin' at me!" the Adventure core scoffed and turned away, "See if I try'n be nice t'th'guy draggin' me outta that box for hell knows why."
"No, no, you don't understand," Craig managed, affectionately patting the top of the core's hull, "You wouldn't say that if you knew."
Servos whirred as the core's green optic shifted to focus back on Craig, "Knew what, huh?"
For a moment, the blond regarded the sphere in his lap with a touch of ironic amusement; telling a copy of Rick about well, Rick was kind of strange, as much as they were similar. It acted sentient and as though it had feelings, so Craig felt it had a right to know why he was dragging him along, even if thinking about the real person behind the robot's intelligence squeezed his heart in a very unpleasant way.
Craig reached into his shirt and pulled out Rick's dogtags, holding them up for examination, "These were his. It isn't as though he's a pushover, trust me."
The green optic zoomed in slightly to get a better look, "Army guy, huh? What's that name there… Richard Sargento? Huh?"
"Rick," Craig corrected, his expression a little rueful, "Everyone called him Rick."
The shutters on the Adventure Core's optic narrowed suspiciously, but Craig continued, hiding the tags back under his shirt, "He was honorably discharged a long time ago with a leg injury no one thought he'd get up from. From what he used to tell me, it was a grenade explosion with shrapnel right to the knee."
Talk of explosions and honorable injuries got the core's eye to open wider in obvious wonderment, even on his lack of a face. Craig smiled faintly, amused and appreciative that his new companion was impressed with the man that provided him with a mind. The injury was a touchy subject for Rick back then, but even when Craig insisted he didn't have to spill the story if he didn't want; Rick felt it was important to tell him. It took a long time for him to walk without a limp, even after they were together. It was personal and if this weren't Rick's copy, he wouldn't have mentioned it at all.
"Pf, well I guess it sounds like he checks out for sharin' a name with me," the core decided, "Any less badass than that an' no dice, kiddo."
"Craig."
"Eh?"
"That's my name, it's Craig," the man repeated, shaking his head, "He always had a problem calling me by my first name, too. Though I didn't mind the names he called me so much."
Core Rick turned away a moment, humming thoughtfully, "Y'know. I been thinkin'. I wasn't doin' all too much in that damn box anyway. Guess I ought'a help a stringbean like ya keep from getting' hurt."
Craig rolled his eyes, "Why thank you. I appreciate it."
"Anytime, skinny britches, now getcher ass up and let's find that badass'a yers thatcher missin'!" core Rick piped up cheerily, swinging around to look at Craig with a lifted bottom eye shutter.
The sarcasm in Craig's voice was apparently missed completely, but that look resembled a smile so much that he couldn't help but smile a little in return. Even if things looked bleak, the sphere's enthusiasm was infectious. Craig gripped both of his handles and carefully stood, doing his best to arrange the sphere in his hands in such a way where he could carry him for a while longer without tiring. Eventually, with both arms wrapped around the bottom of his hull, they were on their way walking down the seemingly unending rail.
The sound of dripping water started to fill Craig's ears and he almost wished the prideful sphere in his hands would talk just to get the sound out of mind. The vastness of the chamber and the apparent bottomless drop on either side of them made him endlessly uneasy. For the little time he had spent with his mechanical companion, he was panicking over the thought of accidentally dropping him into the abyss and never hearing from him again. Not only was he the only scrap of Rick he had at the moment, but he was starting to feel responsible for his safety and well-being. As much as it was relieving to have something else to worry about other than Rick's state, it still made his hands shake slightly as they walked.
"Quit rockin' th'boat, wouldja?" the sphere finally piped up.
"I'm sorry, it's not particularly comfortable down here for me," Craig groused, shifting his grip as carefully as he could manage.
"Scared'a small spaces or somethin'?" core Rick sounded curious, but Craig could detect the note of condescension there.
"Scared I might drop you," he huffed, pointedly moving his gaze away from either side of them, keeping it straight ahead.
"We ain't that far from a control station, don't getcher panties in a bunch."
Insult aside, Craig stopped and stared down at the metal ball in his arms, "How do you know that?"
"Eh?" core Rick swung his optic around to stare back, "Oh I 'unno, jus' do. Must be someplace in th'noggin."
With that vague assurance that something must be programmed into him, Craig wasn't sure if he should just trust this instinct. After all, there was plenty reason and likelihood for the robot to guide him into a trap and none whatsoever for him to so willingly offer his assistance to Craig. There wasn't any other choice, though, so he continued forward, hoping that Rick's integrity managed to make it into the ball of gears, bravado, and sass.