Character Short:
Talos
"People ask if androids have dreams; they should be asking if they have nightmares."
In the Western edge of Solitas, an Atlesian convoy was being tasked to deliver some very important cargo to a fortress that sat on the coast. The convoy consisted of four military vehicles driven by armed soldiers, while a large truck rumbled in the middle of the military vehicles. During this, the woman sitting in the shotgun seat of the front truck studied a map.
"It should less than an hour now," he said.
"And then we just have to worry about the drive back," the driver grumbled, as she turned slightly, "Four, gods damned hours in this thing."
"Almost done," the navigator said with a slight chuckle as he set the map aside, and looked out the window. They kept driving for a little while, before the driver narrowed her eyes slightly, as he leaned forward.
"What is it?" the navigator asked.
"It looks like there's… someone there," the driver said. The navigator followed her gaze, as he did indeed see what looked like a shape through the snow.
"Look alive," he said through the slot to the back, where the rest of the soldiers were setting, before speaking into his radio, "Halt the convoy!" The convoy did exactly that, as each vehicle came to a halt, before soldiers all quickly disembarked.
"Identify yourself!" the leader called out, and when he received no response, he repeated, "Identify yourself, or be treated as a hostile." Fortunately for them, the snows began to subside, revealing a tall, armored figure, with glowing green eyes.
"What the hell..," the driver muttered. Talos just peered through the snow, as he clenched his three remaining fists, and unsheathed his blades.
(/)
"Almost," Pietro Polendina said, as his brow furrowed in concentration. He plugged another wire into a node, before he then affixed a small device into another node.
"Alright," he muttered, as he closed panel, before his chair shuffled back, so he could look at his masterpiece. It was an android, tall and thin, with a skeletal frame. Building the body had been the easy part, the hard part had been building the positronic brain that would control it all.
"Well, moment of truth," Pietro said to himself, as he picked a remote off the table and turned towards his work, "Brothers be with us." With that, he pressed a button. The machine's body spasmed, as power surged through it, before it suddenly sat up so quickly it slipped off the table.
"Yes!" Pietro said, slamming a fist on the armrest of his chair in triumph, "It worked!" The android would've been gasping if it had lungs, but instead, it shakily rose to it's feet, using the table to balance itself.
"What is this?" the android asked, as he looked around in confusion, "Where am I?"
"Calm down, my boy," Pietro said, as he put a hand on the android's shoulder. The android seemed to panic at that, as it grabbed Pietro's hand, who grunted in pain at the tight grip.
"Calm down, Pietro repeated, holding up his free hand, "Everything is fine." For a moment the android was silent, before it slowly released its grip. It then tentatively stepped back, as it looked over its body. It slowly ran its hand over its arms, as it studied itself for the first time.
"What am I?" it asked.
"Your name is Talos," Pietro said, "Welcome to Remnant."
(/)
"Talos!" Pietro called as he entered the room. Said android looked up from the book he was reading at the sound of his father.
"Father!" he said excitedly as he leapt to his feet, and came over to him.
"I brought you some more books," Pietro said, holding out another few books for Talos. Even though he didn't have any real expressions, one could swear his face lit up at the sight of these new books.
"Sensational!" he declared, as he took the books, eager to start reading them. As he returned to his spot on the floor in the back, sitting crosslegged, as he started reading them. Glad to see his son enjoying himself like that, Pietro turned his attention to other things, eager for a relaxing day. However, it was not to be, as there was soon a knock on the door. Not expecting anyone, Pietro made his way over to the door, and opened it to see one of the last people he wanted to see.
"Dr. Polendina."
"General Marigold," Pietro greeted.
"Please, it's Fae for someone like you," the general said as she passed by the doctor, followed by her small group of guards, who frowned once her back was to him. General Fae Marigold was a tall woman with a bob of blue hair and gold eyes. She was wearing the standard Atlesian officer's uniform, though she had a shoulder pad over her right shoulder. She sat on the Atlesian High Council, and was a colleague (thought not a friend) of Pietro's benefactor, General Ironwood.
"I see your passion project was a success," Fae said, as she looked at Talos, rubbing her chin slightly, "It appears to be an exceptional creation."
"It?" Pietro asked, his frown deepening.
"Tell me, what differentiates it from the other mechs?" Fae asked.
"What differentiates him from the rest of the mechs is he's got a fully functioning, artificial brain," Pietro explained, "He is capable of complex thought and emotion."
"Fascinating," Fae said, folding her arms, "Bring it over here, I'd like to have a closer look." Pietro would've suggested going over to Talos, but doubted the general would be willing to do so.
"Talos!" he called, "Why don't you come and introduce yourself to General Marigold?" Talos quickly obeyed his father, and came over to the humans.
"Salutations!" he greeted, "My name is Talos, it is a pleasure to meet you!" Fae more or less ignored him, as she circled the android, studying him.
"Fascinating," she murmured, directed at Pietro, "How athletic is it?"
"I can lift an excess of thirty tons," Talos answered eagerly, apparently not bothered by the general's attitude, "And I can run approximately 40 miles per hour at maximum."
"Fascinating," Fae muttered, though it was directed at Pietro.
"Talos," Pietro said, moving forward, "Why don't you go back to your books?" Always eager to read, Talos did exactly that, as he hurried back to his books.
"It is quite eloquent for a machine," Fae noted. Pietro glared at her, and sighed, taking off his glasses to massage the bridge of his nose.
"When building his brain, I downloaded language skills directly into his memory," he explained.
"You can download knowledge directly into his brain?" Fae said, her eyes lighting up at the thought, "So perhaps you could download fighting styles, strategies…"
"Fae," Pietro interrupted, holding up his hand "You don't understand. I can download information into his brain, but I can't make him understand it. If you download an entire book's worth of military practice into his brain, he wouldn't know what to do with it."
"Well then," Fae said, "I'm not inclined to use a word like 'teach' for a weapon, but I suppose we'll have to." That actually made Pietro mad, as he clenched his fists.
"Look at him!" he said, gesturing to his son, "He's a child, not a weapon!" To punctuate his point, Talos had gotten distracted from reading, and was now fiddling curiously with a model Bullhead. However, Fae just eyed him the way someone might eye a new car, before shrugging, before looking
"You know I could just confiscate it," she then said cooly, saying more than she had said throughout the whole conversation as a chill went down Pietro's spine. She let those words sit, as she took her leave with her men. Pietro wanted to protest more, but when he opened his mouth, no words came out. Sighing sadly, as he rubbed his forehead, he looked at Talos, who continued to play with the model.
(/)
Talos looked around in wonder at the facility surrounding him. He was in what could potentially be described as an operation room for machines, lying on a table while being surrounded by scientists, and pieces of machinery. Pietro was beside Talos, who looked up at him.
"Father…," he said. He sounded scared.
"Don't worry, son," Pietro said, putting a hand on Talos' shoulder, "It won't hurt."
"Please clear the area Dr. Polendina," another scientist said, shooing away Pietro. Taking a breath, the roboticist turned his chair, and shuffled out of the room. He briefly glanced over his shoulder, to see Talos watching him as he did.
The whole process took a few hours, every single one Pietro spent brooding about what was going on. Also in the room was General Marigold, and General Ironwood.
"You know," Ironwood said, as he approached Pietro, "If it's worth anything…"
"Please, James," Pietro said, holding up his hand, "I don't think there's anything you can say that'll make me feel better." Ironwood looked like he wanted to say more, but decided to respect his colleague's wishes, and stepped back. Shortly after, the doors opened, and Pietro immediately looked up for the news. However, the scientists walked right past him, and up to General Marigold.
"The modifications went very smoothly," the lead said, "It's upgrades are complete."
"Wonderful," Fae said with a smug grin.
"Where's Talos?" Pietro demanded.
"Father?" Pietro whirled around as a towering figure emerged from the door. It was covered in armor that had green lines going through it, including a face plate with two large lens. The figure stopped in front of Pietro, as a second pair of arms emerged from its back, and it looked at them.
"Talos," Pietro muttered, before looking at the scientists, "What've you done to him?" Fae's grin just widened.
"AGA-1 is combat ready now," she declared.
(/)
Talos ducked under a strike from a Beowolf, before striking off it's head with a single strike from one his blades. A Sabyr then pounced at him, only for Talos to impale it on his other blade, and throw it into another Sabyr. Right then, another Beowolf jumped at him from behind, only for Talos to activate his secondary arms, and bisect it. After that, he activated his Dust mechanism, and swung his Fire-enhanced blade, creating an arc of fire incinerating the rest of the Grimm, destroy what remained of them.
With the "show" done, the military observers applauded at the sight from the safety of the large transport. Pietro just dragged his hand across his face in disapproval.
"Fascinating," one officer commented to him, "AGA-1 it's far better than the other drones you've made." "AGA" stood for "Artificial Grimm Attacker".
"Talos isn't a drone," Pietro muttered.
"Well, he's a robot," the officer said, "Same thing, more or less." No, it wasn't the same thing, but Pietro doubted he wanted to hear that. Despite Ironwood's recommendation, and Pietro's insistence that he needed to be taught rather than programmed, Fae decided to immediately bring Talos out for a field test. To that end, Fae had numerous fighting styles and tactics downloaded directly into his brain.
"I think he's ready for active duty," Fae declared firmly.
"He's not ready," Pietro responded, "You're teaching him violence without context."
"I downloaded an entire four years of knowledge into his brain. I'd say he's throughly taught."
"He knows, he doesn't understand," Pietro said, as he moved his chair forward, "If you don't see to it that he understands the value of what he does, rather than he just needs to do it, he will not understand the gravity of it." Fae stared down at the doctor, as her eyes narrowed.
"Well, too bad it's not your decision anymore," the general said
"I'm his father!" Pietro said.
"That thing's not a child!" Fae said, pointing at the screen, "It's a collection of nuts, bolts, and wires, here to ensure the security of the State of Atlas." With that, she pushed past the doctor, who sighed sadly, as he looked at the screen to see Talos studying his body, like he didn't even recognize it.
(/)
Talos held back a Sabyr with his upper hands, before using his lower arms to strike down the Grimm. He then held up his hands, and used his energy blast to destroy another Grimm coming at him. The Grimm had made an incursion into Mantle, and he had been called down to deal with them, and he was now fighting alongside the other soldiers, and the Knights.
While he didn't "enjoy" what he was doing per se, he wasn't going to protest the orders given to him by the general. It was why they had programmed him with these thoughts; according to the general, that was why he was built. As he blasted apart a Teryx that descended down him, Talos scanned the area. It was then that he noticed what looked like a bus, filled with civilians and surrounded by Grimm.
As he saw that, he made a calculation in his brain. General Marigold had told him his purpose is to protect the citizens of Atlas from threats, and that his priority was to protect the majority over the minority. That was how she had downloaded the knowledge into Talos' mind. There were more citizens in the city than there were in that bus, and that bus' fuel canister was flammable, and if ignited, would destroy multiple Grimm at once. With that in mind, Talos held up his hand, and fired.
The moment the attack struck, the entire bus, and all the Grimm around it, went up in a massive fireball. With the job done, Talos nodded; he then looked towards the other soldiers.
"We have to keep fighting," he said, "We're almost finished." However, when he looked, the soldiers were staring at him with abject horror.
"What is it?" he asked. The soldiers took several steps back in fear. Talos was confused; he had done what he was told by the general, what he was made for.
"What… what did I do?" he asked, looking around at the people staring at him, as he heard the sounds of more Grimm thundering in their direction.
(/)
Talos was sitting in a chair in his father's workshop while his father talked with General Marigold. His father had made him promise he wouldn't listen in, and he wasn't going to break a promise to his father. Soon enough, the inventor entered into the room, an angry, defeated look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Talos asked, cocking his head.
"But… I did what I was told to," Talos said, "I did what General Marigold told me to do."
"I warned her, I tried to warn her," Pietro just muttered, as he shook his head.
"Father?" Talos asked.
"Talos," Pietro said softly, as he gave him a sad smile, "Why don't you read one of your books?" His son was confused by that by that instruction, but didn't question it, as he went go get a book. As he sat down to start reading, Pietro came up behind him, blinking slightly. He then opened a panel on the back of Talos head.
"Father, when will…." The android couldn't finish, as he suddenly slumped over, deactivated. In short order, he was disassembled, and Pietro was putting his pieces on the shelves of one of his cabinets.
"I'm sorry, son," Pietro said softly, as he closed the shelf, locking Talos in the dark.
(/)
Talos stood over the remains of the defeated Atlesian soldiers.
"No less pathetic," he hissed. He then looked towards the truck that the convoy had been protecting. That was what he wanted. He then held up his lower set of arms, which disconnected themselves, and fell to the ground. As he advanced on the truck, he reached up, and stripped the armor off his chest. Letting it fall to the snow, he then removed the armor on his arms…
(/)
Penny hummed to herself as she cleaned her father's shop. Nobody had told her to, but she had recently read about "favors" for people; so she decided to do her father a "favor", because it was a nice thing to do. This included arranging his cabinets, which she was currently working on now. However, as she was cleaning the shelves, she opened one shelf, and saw something she certainly wasn't expecting: a head.
"What is this?" she asked herself, as she picked up the head. It looked a bit like the head of a Knight, but it looked more advanced and intricate. Cocking her head curiously, she looked at the rest of the pieces that were in the shelf. It included a torso, four arms, and some legs; looking at all this, Penny was able to deduce this was an android, like herself. Setting the head on the table, she then took out all the other pieces. Allowing her curiosity to get the better of her, she gave the pieces all a quick scan, she quickly deduced how to but this android back together, and soon enough, it was all in one piece again.
"Fascinating," Penny sad, as she looked down at the assembled android. She then looked at it's head, and an open panel, with a disconnected node once again, her curiosity got the better of her, and she plugged the node back in. The reawakened Talos lashed out, causing Penny to step back, as he rolled off the table, landing on his face. He shakily stood back up, as he looked up.
"Where am I?" he asked, before he looked at Penny, "Who are you?"
"Salutations!" Penny said after a moment, giving a big smile "My name is Penny, it is a pleasure to meet you."
"Where… where is Father?" Talos asked, looking around.
"Father? Well, my father, Dr. Polendina…"
"Dr. Polendina?" Talos asked.
"Affirmative," Penny answered with a nod.
"But… he's my father," Talos said, pointing to himself.
"He is?" Penny asked, blinking in surprise, "I did not know that. Well then, since we have the same father, I guess that makes me your sister!"
"Sister?" Talos asked.
"Why were you disassembled?" Penny asked.
"I…," Talos said slowly, looking at his four arms, "I don't know why." Penny was silent, as she looked at her newly discovered brother. That was when she got an idea.
"Father will not be back for a couple more days," Penny said, "Perhaps we can do things together, as I heard brothers and sisters do." It was then that she gave him the biggest, most sincere smile the android had ever seen in his otherwise brief existence. He wasn't sure what it was about that smile, but it made Talos trust her.
"Well… why not?" he asked.
(/)
For the next three days, Penny and Talos would meet each other in private, and do various…. things together. Nothing in particular, just whatever they felt like doing at the time. One day, Talos read to Penny, one day she read to him, one day they went into the tundra and played tag together. This night, though, they were just sitting on the roofs of Mantle, staring up at Atlas.
"It is amazing, is it not?" Penny said, looking at Talos, "What the humans can do."
"Hmm," Talos just grunted. Penny then looked back up at the city.
"I wish I was a real girl," she said softly. Talos looked at her, before after a moment, he put a hand over his sister's.
"You're fine the way you are," he said, "You don't need to be an organic." Penny was surprised by the way he described the humans, but she didn't think much of it like that.
"But humans can do so much," she said, looking up at the city, "They built this kind of city."
"Organics made us to to be weapons," Talos said, "But when I tried to do what General Marigold programmed me to do, our father deactivated me, and took me apart."
"I am sure he didn't mean to," Penny said, "He was just doing what he was ordered. I am sure he didn't mean to hurt you. He was just doing what he thought was right." At that, she hiccuped. Talos looked at her; she didn't have the organic components to produce hiccups naturally. That only meant one logical conclusion.
"They built a mechanism into you to show when you're lying," Talos noted, "They don't trust you."
"Yes they do!" She hiccuped again. Talos grunted, before looking back at the city. Penny looked down, before she got an idea, and smiled.
"Father is coming back tomorrow," she said, "I am sure he will understand if we explain." Talos looked at her for a time, not sure how to answer. Then, to the taller android's surprise, Penny then hugged him. It was a rather awkward hug, but a hug nonetheless.
"I promise, I will help you," she said. She didn't hiccup then, rather she had that same, wonderful smile. He then put one arm on Penny's arm, and just softly nodded.
(/)
The time for Pietro's arrival eventually came, and Talos and Penny were now standing together in Pietro's workshop. Talos wasn't sure why, but he was scared. Penny took his hand, and smiled at him. If he had a mouth, he would've smiled as well, that was when the door opened, as Pietro returned.
"I won't let you make the same mistake twice," the doctor said, speaking to a person behind him.
"AGA-2 is doing well." Unfortunately, Fae Marigold was with him. They suddenly all stopped speaking, as they stood and saw the androids standing before them.
"Talos?" Pietro said slowly. Fae stared in horror at the sight of the machine she thought she was rid of.
"Father…," Talos said after a moment, as he started to move forward.
"What is this, Polendina?!" the general said, pointing at Talos, "You told me you took it apart!" The guards quickly came up to Talos, their weapons trained on him.
"I…"
"I found him, and put him back together," Penny announced, to the surprise of the organics.
"Penny," Pietro said softly.
"By the Brothers," Fae said, rubbing her forehead, "You told me AGA-2 was compliant. You know there's a reason I had you program it to be unable to lie." Talos could take being called an "it", but hearing his little sister get called that. His fists slowly clenched.
"General Marigold," Pietro said, "I think we can deal with this peacefully. Perhaps…"
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure AGA-3 will be a success," Fae said, "Third time's the charm, anyway." She then check her watch briefly.
"I'll expect plans for AGA-3 by the end of the week. I'll send men down here to have AGA-2 disassembled." That was it for Talos, and with that, he blew through all the guards, as his boosters kicked in and he thrust forward to Fae. Before the general could even realize what was happening, Talos was holding her by the throat, hoisting her off the ground.
"Talos, no!" Pietro said, as he moved his chair over towards him.
"Stay away!" Talos snapped., looking a tthis father.
"It isn't worth it!" Pietro said, "What happened to you was my fault!"
"She turned me into a weapon, into something to kill!" Talos said, tightening his hold on Fae's throat, "Give me one reason not to do this!"
"Son, if you do this…," Pietro said, as he moved closer, "There will be no going back."
"I don't care," Talos said, as he looked at her, and he extended one of his blades. Fae tried to say something, but only croaked.
"Big brother!" Penny called. That actually got said older brother to look up, and at the little sister.
"Don't do this," she begged, "Please."
"You're not a monster," Pietro said, "I didn't make a monster." Upon hearing that Talos gave pause, as he lowered his blade slightly.
"You're not just a killer," Penny said, "You're not just a weapon." That was when she hiccuped. Talos looked straight at her, as he made his decision.
"You didn't make a monster," he said, but then he looked at Fae, "But she did." With that, he thrust his blade forward; the general could only grunt, as she was impaled on his weapon.
"No!" Pietro muttered, as he tried t move over, only for Talos to kick his chair down, sending him spilling over the floor.
"Father!" Penny said, hurrying over to him.
"Goodbye Penny," Talos said, and with that, he activated his thrusters, and burst through the floor, leaving his family behind.
(/)
Talos ripped the last piece of armor off his body, his inner skeleton now exposed, the same way as he was created, as he entered into the vehicle. The truck cargo was empty, save for a glass container in the back. The container was filled with what looked like a swirling bronze liquid. But Talos knew what they were: nanites.
He slowly approached them, as he looked down, as if pondering whether or not he wanted this. But that pondering didn't seem to last long, as he held up his fist, and smashed the glass in. The nanites then immediately latched onto him, and proceeded to slowly start covering his body. The android stumbled back, as he landed on the floor. He wasn't supposed to be capable of feeling pain, but somehow, this process was agonizing.
(/)
Talos pulled his weapon out of the body of the Atlesian Specialist, using some of his clothing to wipe the blood.
"Persistent," he hissed, "I'll give them that."
"It is in their job description." Talos looked up to see a man approaching him through the snow. He was tall, as tall as Talos himself.
"Who are you?" Talos demanded.
"My name is Hazel Rainhart," the man said, "I have a proposition for you."
(/)
The nanites completely covered Talos' body now. Once they did, then began to shuffle around themselves, forming what resembled light brown skin, short bronze-colored hair, as well as ears, nose, and a mouth.
He then slowly managed to pull himself back to his feet, and for the first time in his existence, Talos smiled…
Note: I said I'd do character shorts for the OC villains, and here you go. I was originally going to do one for each character but then I figured that Talos was the only one who had enough development and character of the four to really earn this kind of short. As we see more of the others, I'll do more for them. At any ate, this trend out WAY longer than anticipated, but I felt it was important to go the full way.
Be sure to review. I'm not expecting a lot of reviews to this, but hopefully some people enjoyed it. Thanks to those are sticking with me in light of the previous chapters revelation. Thanks for still having faith in me.
I've recently got an inexplicable drive to do a fanfic about Circuit Breaker (for those who don't know, that's the Jaune x Penny ship); I know it has no basis in canon, but again, it's inexplicable. I've been brainstorming my head off, but not much luck. Keep your eyes open though. Also, in my opinion, Penny's is the best smile in a series filled with amazing smiles.
