Chapter 3: MemoryBRBR
"Lets scram!" Andromeda said to Ryou. She glanced at Juno, who already got to his feet, glaring around.BR
"Gah, we can't ditch this guy..." Andromeda said. She grabbed Juno by the wrist and tore off at top speed, literally dragging him along; a feat for anyone not cybernetic or a machine.BRBR
They finally entered Andromeda's shop, and Andy sank to her knees panting, releasing Juno. The beaurocratic model took one look at her before speaking.BR
"You require a recharge." Juno said calmly. Andromeda got up, faking being totally awake.BR
"I AM JUST FINE! Now if you'll excuse me, I will be on the couch." Andromeda said. She then literally flopped onto the couch, and lay on her side. Within moments, she was asleep.BR
"...I beleive I told her she required a recharge." Juno said, looking at Ryou. Ryou stared.
"Uh huh." Ryou said. He then toddled off into the kitchen. Juno sighed then sat next to the couch, mulling over past events.BRBR
"No! You will not deactivate! I forbid it!" Juno said, anxiety in his voice; the first time he expressed and emotion so highly. Medley looked Juno in the face.BR
"I'm.. Sorry.. Juno.. But don't be sad... Keep smiling... Please...?" Medley said quietly. Juno held her closer. BR
"I shall... I promise I shall.. Medley... I..love you..." Juno said quietly. Medley looked at Juno, and smiled weakly.BR
"Juno.. I love you too..." Medley said as she closed her eyes. Seconds later, she went limp. Juno's eyes widened. BR
"Medley! Wake up!!" Juno cried, shaking her gently. When she didn't respond, he held her body tight against him, and, for the first time, he wept.BR
The battle ended several hours later, but Juno felt no sense of victory. He kept in his quarters, still cradling Medley's body. He was aching inside; he would give about anything just to have her back. However, he finally had to get the casualty report for Mother. Silently, Juno placed Medley's body into a small capsulesque storage unit; padded, in case it stored any machine.
Before sealing the unit, Juno took a small red rose out of a storage compartment and clasped her hand around it. Finally, he kissed her lips softly before sealing the unit. A knock came at Juno's door as soon as he finished. Juno opened the door, and down upon the small messenger. The messenger presented him with a feild report and scurried away to it's tasks quickly. Juno unfolded the small peice of paper silently, and began to read. The battle had been won, but many of the humans who had joined in were dead, and the rest, severely injured.
Reading on, Juno stopped. His sister had been reported as missing after the battle. Juno felt his pain worsen; why his sister? Why now? He didn't know. He didn't know if he'd ever find out. Juno silently crushed the slip of paper, and filed the report, but his heart wasn't in his work. He felt empty; lost, and horribly alone. BRBR
IEven after the war, no trace of his sister had been found. It was as if she had vanished. Juno recalled, in desperation, a slight telepathic link the two had shared when they were much younger, a safeguard to prevent their deactivated. In a world littered with death and machines, save one human, whom the entire System had been reconfigured to serve, Juno hoped it still functioned. There had been no use for it
in years; until now. Silently, he tried to focus. He felt another presence, and he knew he had succeeded. However, all he could hear where questions. He felt alarmed; it was as if she was younger all over again, but he remained 'adult'. However, paitently, he answered her questions.
~Who are you?~ A tiny voice asked. Juno responded as gently as he could.
~I am not able to tell you yet.~ Juno responded. He could feel Andromeda's puzzlement.
~Why not?~ The voice asked again. Juno contemplated his word choice before answering.
~It is not time yet. I will tell you at some later date.~ Juno replied gently. There was a breif pause.
~Do you know my name? I can't remember anything, and my head hurts me so badly...~ The little voice said, nerviously. Juno replied promptly.
~Your designation is Andromeda Juno.~ Juno said, calm.
~I can't move... I'm scared...~ The voice said.
~Focus on repairing yourself. Perhaps, we shall meet again.~ Juno said before severing the connection. Juno stared down at his chamber floor. His own sister... Her memory must be damaged. She couldn't recall his existance. He really was alone. First Medley, now his own sister taken from him in a way... The Beaurocratic unit clentched one hand in a fist, forcing himself to smile. There was no use in continuing to keep up functioning. He could hide, hibernate, in a chamber, monitering the island. He would only awaken once, every hundred years, and if the population of the soon forthcoming carbon units exceeded the preset number, he would reinitialize the island.
He had no room for emotion as he functioned. Perhaps, when he ceased, he would be able to express feelings again.BRBR
Juno stared at the younger beaurocratic model before him. Aquamarine hair. Red armor; trimmed in black. And yet, he was consumed with hatred. A hatred deeper then Juno had ever known; a lone desire to annihilate the system; even Elysium itself! Juno held back his rage as he finally knocked the unit into what he hoped was a state inable to function. He almost literally heaved the unit into storage, a capsule.
"Unit Regulus, I now take it as my duty to deliver your final sentance. For you crimes against the system and the Master, I initialize my perogative to terminate your program, and sever your connection to Mother." Juno said. He then added what seemed like a somewhat spiteful tone, breifly more like Medley had. "Goodbye, Regulus."/IBRBR
After this point Juno's memory was choppy due to his times in hibernation, up until his own termination.BRBRI
"Go ahead and shoot me. My backup files are already being stored on Eden. I... ea..ger...ly.. a..wa..i..t my....ne...xt ac.....ti.........va........tion....." Juno whispered, fading out, a smile upon his face. He claimed to await activating as he died, but truly, he felt little reason to survive. He had lost everything long ago; he welcomed death with open arms. He hadn't found out if his sister was dead; and he had lost the only one he every loved. The one joy left he felt at the end was the thought of seeing Medley's smiling face again after he passed on. She would have been proud; he had kept his promise to the end.BRBR
It was only a couple days before Juno realized his spirit wasn't able to move on. It infuriated him; Why wasn't he able to leave? What was worse, he soon learned the injury that had Andromeda in it's grip so long ago hadn't been fatal; but now he was inable to do much but watch. It hurt to watch; a lonely feeling would take him. He decicded to focus on monitering Main Gate, although part of him somehow kept a watch over other places. He knew much of the things occuring in the world. Finally, he noticed someone new, someone in the Gate he wasn't sure he'd seen before; a Purifier unit named Diffusion was was rebuilding him. She had a slightly negative attitude, he didn't know why. However,
she soon came to be able to understand it when he tried to speak, and she made a good conversation partner, except he knew nothing of her past. Still, she'd been an unusually caring sort to him until he had to return to duty....
"Lets scram!" Andromeda said to Ryou. She glanced at Juno, who already got to his feet, glaring around.BR
"Gah, we can't ditch this guy..." Andromeda said. She grabbed Juno by the wrist and tore off at top speed, literally dragging him along; a feat for anyone not cybernetic or a machine.BRBR
They finally entered Andromeda's shop, and Andy sank to her knees panting, releasing Juno. The beaurocratic model took one look at her before speaking.BR
"You require a recharge." Juno said calmly. Andromeda got up, faking being totally awake.BR
"I AM JUST FINE! Now if you'll excuse me, I will be on the couch." Andromeda said. She then literally flopped onto the couch, and lay on her side. Within moments, she was asleep.BR
"...I beleive I told her she required a recharge." Juno said, looking at Ryou. Ryou stared.
"Uh huh." Ryou said. He then toddled off into the kitchen. Juno sighed then sat next to the couch, mulling over past events.BRBR
"No! You will not deactivate! I forbid it!" Juno said, anxiety in his voice; the first time he expressed and emotion so highly. Medley looked Juno in the face.BR
"I'm.. Sorry.. Juno.. But don't be sad... Keep smiling... Please...?" Medley said quietly. Juno held her closer. BR
"I shall... I promise I shall.. Medley... I..love you..." Juno said quietly. Medley looked at Juno, and smiled weakly.BR
"Juno.. I love you too..." Medley said as she closed her eyes. Seconds later, she went limp. Juno's eyes widened. BR
"Medley! Wake up!!" Juno cried, shaking her gently. When she didn't respond, he held her body tight against him, and, for the first time, he wept.BR
The battle ended several hours later, but Juno felt no sense of victory. He kept in his quarters, still cradling Medley's body. He was aching inside; he would give about anything just to have her back. However, he finally had to get the casualty report for Mother. Silently, Juno placed Medley's body into a small capsulesque storage unit; padded, in case it stored any machine.
Before sealing the unit, Juno took a small red rose out of a storage compartment and clasped her hand around it. Finally, he kissed her lips softly before sealing the unit. A knock came at Juno's door as soon as he finished. Juno opened the door, and down upon the small messenger. The messenger presented him with a feild report and scurried away to it's tasks quickly. Juno unfolded the small peice of paper silently, and began to read. The battle had been won, but many of the humans who had joined in were dead, and the rest, severely injured.
Reading on, Juno stopped. His sister had been reported as missing after the battle. Juno felt his pain worsen; why his sister? Why now? He didn't know. He didn't know if he'd ever find out. Juno silently crushed the slip of paper, and filed the report, but his heart wasn't in his work. He felt empty; lost, and horribly alone. BRBR
IEven after the war, no trace of his sister had been found. It was as if she had vanished. Juno recalled, in desperation, a slight telepathic link the two had shared when they were much younger, a safeguard to prevent their deactivated. In a world littered with death and machines, save one human, whom the entire System had been reconfigured to serve, Juno hoped it still functioned. There had been no use for it
in years; until now. Silently, he tried to focus. He felt another presence, and he knew he had succeeded. However, all he could hear where questions. He felt alarmed; it was as if she was younger all over again, but he remained 'adult'. However, paitently, he answered her questions.
~Who are you?~ A tiny voice asked. Juno responded as gently as he could.
~I am not able to tell you yet.~ Juno responded. He could feel Andromeda's puzzlement.
~Why not?~ The voice asked again. Juno contemplated his word choice before answering.
~It is not time yet. I will tell you at some later date.~ Juno replied gently. There was a breif pause.
~Do you know my name? I can't remember anything, and my head hurts me so badly...~ The little voice said, nerviously. Juno replied promptly.
~Your designation is Andromeda Juno.~ Juno said, calm.
~I can't move... I'm scared...~ The voice said.
~Focus on repairing yourself. Perhaps, we shall meet again.~ Juno said before severing the connection. Juno stared down at his chamber floor. His own sister... Her memory must be damaged. She couldn't recall his existance. He really was alone. First Medley, now his own sister taken from him in a way... The Beaurocratic unit clentched one hand in a fist, forcing himself to smile. There was no use in continuing to keep up functioning. He could hide, hibernate, in a chamber, monitering the island. He would only awaken once, every hundred years, and if the population of the soon forthcoming carbon units exceeded the preset number, he would reinitialize the island.
He had no room for emotion as he functioned. Perhaps, when he ceased, he would be able to express feelings again.BRBR
Juno stared at the younger beaurocratic model before him. Aquamarine hair. Red armor; trimmed in black. And yet, he was consumed with hatred. A hatred deeper then Juno had ever known; a lone desire to annihilate the system; even Elysium itself! Juno held back his rage as he finally knocked the unit into what he hoped was a state inable to function. He almost literally heaved the unit into storage, a capsule.
"Unit Regulus, I now take it as my duty to deliver your final sentance. For you crimes against the system and the Master, I initialize my perogative to terminate your program, and sever your connection to Mother." Juno said. He then added what seemed like a somewhat spiteful tone, breifly more like Medley had. "Goodbye, Regulus."/IBRBR
After this point Juno's memory was choppy due to his times in hibernation, up until his own termination.BRBRI
"Go ahead and shoot me. My backup files are already being stored on Eden. I... ea..ger...ly.. a..wa..i..t my....ne...xt ac.....ti.........va........tion....." Juno whispered, fading out, a smile upon his face. He claimed to await activating as he died, but truly, he felt little reason to survive. He had lost everything long ago; he welcomed death with open arms. He hadn't found out if his sister was dead; and he had lost the only one he every loved. The one joy left he felt at the end was the thought of seeing Medley's smiling face again after he passed on. She would have been proud; he had kept his promise to the end.BRBR
It was only a couple days before Juno realized his spirit wasn't able to move on. It infuriated him; Why wasn't he able to leave? What was worse, he soon learned the injury that had Andromeda in it's grip so long ago hadn't been fatal; but now he was inable to do much but watch. It hurt to watch; a lonely feeling would take him. He decicded to focus on monitering Main Gate, although part of him somehow kept a watch over other places. He knew much of the things occuring in the world. Finally, he noticed someone new, someone in the Gate he wasn't sure he'd seen before; a Purifier unit named Diffusion was was rebuilding him. She had a slightly negative attitude, he didn't know why. However,
she soon came to be able to understand it when he tried to speak, and she made a good conversation partner, except he knew nothing of her past. Still, she'd been an unusually caring sort to him until he had to return to duty....