Defrag: it was a term used for old personal computers to make a system run faster. For Reploids, the meaning came to a… much different exercise. It was a Reploid's form of getting high- to forget the world momentarily in a land of dizzying illusions and heightened emotions. Special tools were needed to achieve a Defrag, very tiny, very precise tools, and the prices placed on them have steadily climbed since the Maverick wars. More Reploids wanted to forget Mavericks, some just wanted an excuse to not be around humans for a few hours. Others just wanted to get the off chance of dabbling in Defrag to kill themselves.
Fighting Fefnir was a frequent practitioner of Defrag. His venture into purposely wrong tune ups started the first time he was commanded to harm a human. Sure, that human was pretty freaking dangerous, 'repurposing' discarded Reploids into machines of vast destruction and all that, but it had been jarring for him at the time. A month and a half before that, Fefnir had just been activated. Even the hardest of war veterans have their share of nightmares, and Fefnir was no exception. Due to his status, however, he didn't have to stoop to lower levels to get what he needed. He only had one source, and she always delivered.
"No." the Mother Elf told Fefnir, her hologram's arms crossed and her foot likely tapping if she had one.
"Oh, come on Mother," Fefnir grinned, sounding so innocent the tone was almost foreign. "I've been a good little Reploid, I deserve a treat."
The Mother Elf's hologram raised an eyebrow. "Who's definition of 'good' are you referring to, lycan? Surely not society's, and I hope it's not by your own either."
"Look," Fefnir retorted looking a bit annoyed now, "If you don't want to do it, then fine- whatever. I can go somewhere else!"
"Then why are you here?" the Mother Elf asked. "If you knew that I would deny you, why did you not choose to see someone else?"
Fefnir's mind raced to think of a good reason, an excuse, or anything to shoot back at her- but nothing came out. The corners of his mouth knit into a tight line as the Mother Elf's hologram looked down on him stoically.
"Come here lycan." she then insisted. "And remove your helmet."
"Yes ma'am." Fefnir quickly agreed, sounding all too eager to be submissive, as he ripped off his helmet and tossed it to the ground. The Mother Elf's hologram looked him over before carefully placing a finger under his chin. The Guardian flinched from the immediate sensation of static from her invisible touch, tilting his head up higher.
"If you want this, you need to hold still." scolded the Mother Elf nonchalantly.
"I want it." Fefnir snarled in agreement. Letting out a little huff of her own, the Mother Elf's hologram slowly slid her hand from the Guardian's chin, tracing his jaw line to his ear and above to mimic the action of combing his hair. A stupid grin slipped across Fefnir's face as the static claimed his electronic brain, sending dulled red alerts throughout his body as it partially disabled. The Mother Elf felt these alarms go off and went ahead to disable them- from there her hologram placed her other hand just below the Guardian's opposite ear. Slowly, tantalizing the poor Reploid, the Mother Elf moved her hologram's hand up to massage the opposite side of his uncovered head.
His brain at this point was almost rendered completely useless. Slow messes of blurry images crossed his eyes, taking on color schemes that helped him understand what they could possibly be, sounds that seemed so far off that he strained to hear but didn't care to hear any way, every emotion that he ever felt rained down on his in revelry, heightening everything. The internal clock placed inside him had stopped coherently marking the moments that went by, who knows how long he had been there letting the Mother Elf invade his thoughts as payment for his weaknesses.
"We have such stupid names." Fefnir snickered. "What the hell possessed you to come up them Mother?"
"You really want to know?" the Mother Elf asked curiously, although her hologram etched a rather bemused smile knowing that he wasn't truly coherent.
"I'm so high right now, I could kill." he affirmed. "And I like your voice- it's like a verbal orgasm."
"Alright then..." the Mother Elf muttered. "Griffins are considered symbols of strength, wisdom, and guardianship of the divine. Like our griffin, classic interpretations see many different facets of appearance. Our dear griffin, as head of your alliance, is a symbol of strength, wisdom, and guardianship to many of the city's denizens. Depending on who he is with and how he feels, effects how he lets us see him. It's rather interesting to see, actually. The choice for our siren should be rather obvious enough, even the Reploid Regulation Committee once considered naming her-"
"What the fuck's a tulpa?" Fefnir abruptly slurred as if a sudden idea came to him.
"A hidden phantom of our own creation." the Mother Elf told him, her hologram giving off a beautiful smile. A child's imaginary friend that exists with them on a physical plane. She looked into it quite a bit after a certain incident. Some things you experience seem so real that you refuse to see them as dreams, but as memories."
"What about me Mother?" Fefnir then cheered gleefully. "Tell me about me!"
"Brash, highly intelligent is all the wrong ways, always ready to start a fight, mental illness… Need I say anymore my love?"
Fighting Fefnir then went into an uncharacteristic giggle that made the Mother Elf end the Defrag immediately. He came down all too soon and it made him vaguely bitter.
"What was that for?" he questioned, sounding more like a child denied dessert than truly angered at her choice.
"These would last longer if you didn't giggle. It doesn't suit you." was the unsatisfying answer.
"Would you prefer I moan instead?" Fefnir smirked.
"I've heard enough Reploids moan to grant me another lifetime of sensual favors, thank you very much." retorted the Mother Elf, her hologram crossing its arms in a disapproving manner.
Fefnir snorted. "I'd fuck you if I had the means. I'd bet you'd get really wet when you're excited."
The Mother's Elf's hologram raised an eyebrow.
"But I guess we'll never know." Fefnir dismissed with a wave of his hand. "Thanks for the trip Mother, same time next week?"
The Mother Elf did not respond, allowing her hologram form to dissipate into nothing.
. . .
Late that night, Fefnir took watch of the outskirts of Neo Arcadia with a few other Reploids designed to protect. If he had taken an understudy already, like his other siblings had, then that understudy would be with him to watch the city. But he took his sweet time with the idea, preferring to work alone.
'I want what he has. Is that so hard to ask for?'
Fefnir bent down as a sudden spike of pain shot through his circuits. Hallucinations? It was a little late for them, his trip with the Mother Elf was hours ago…
'You bastard! Hurting her like some… some toy! She's human, she can't take that kind of abuse the way a Reploid can!'
'Are you implying that if she was a Reploid then I wouldn't be hurting her? That this… situation would be better if she couldn't feel pain?'
'Please…! Please just stop!'
'I want what he has- and nothing will stop me. Nothing will stop me from what is perfectly natural…'
A sudden force in his groin made Fefnir let out a shout of surprise hurt. Nothing had hurt this much before; what on earth was going on? It felt as if some bug was inside him, eating away at his insides- twisting, pulling, destroying everything inside of him.
"Fighting Fefnir, are you alright?" a Reploid asked through the headset.
"Y-yeah..." Fefnir stubbornly agreed. "I'm just seeing stuff. Keep working."
"Yes sir." the Reploid affirmed, sounding more concerned for Fefnir than what the Guardian did for himself.
The Guardian found a wall to stand next to as he braced himself for the next wave of pain. It didn't get any easier, and the sensation… it was almost… no! No, he wasn't going to fathom it for a second. He was being harmed from the inside, the bug would kill him if it kept going up- didn't it realize that? It writhed and twisted its way up further, all sense of attempting to overlook the horrifying pain was gone. Pain. Too much pain. He was going to die. He was going to die right here, alone. He was going to die and when word got around to… to…
"MOTHER!" the Guardian screamed in terror and anguish. Some where, far off in the reaches of reality, a Reploid was trying to get him to respond through the headset. Fefnir didn't respond; couldn't respond to that Reploid, who soon decided to get the other Guardians out to snap their brother out of his trance. The pain -hallucination?- was slowly lifting.
'You… you hurt her! Look, she's… she's bleeding, look at her! My god... My god what have you done?!'
"Fefnir! Fighting Fefnir answer me! Lycan, come on, answer us!"
In a moment of sudden clarity, Fighting Fefnir lunged forward. "Sigma you bastard, I'm going to fucking kill you!" he howled in fury. He then stopped when he realized that he was only standing with his siblings. The red Guardian was so confused, although the concern in his sibling's eyes possibly beat him out of it.
"Lycan, Sigma's been dead for decades." Sage Harpuia calmly said.
"Did you recently see the Mother Elf for a Defrag?" Hidden Phantom inquired, sounding as if he already knew the answer.
"It was easier." Fefnir mumbled under his breath. "Don't wanna spend all that money of tools, you know. Got bills to pay and stuff..."
"Committing a Defrag with the Mother Elf is possibly the single most dangerous thing you could ever do." Phantom told his brother, shaking his head disapprovingly.
"We all know of her history, and you know what Defrag does to Reploid's memory circuits." Fairy Leviathan nagged as well. "Do you understand how lucky you are that you were able to come out of that hallucination?"
"By your looks alone I'd got to say pretty damn lucky, right?" Fefnir smirked. "Don't worry your pretty heads, after this trip, I don't think I'll Defrag for a long time."