I don't own Mass Effect (Bioware property.)
Holy crap the positive reactions smacked my skull. Thanks for all that lads (even if I'm writing on the phone).
Also, updates will be chaotic but ill try to keep them under a week…ish.
Right short info for lads that read my previous stories. I'M SORRY!
Since my last story updates my PC is out of commission as parts failed. The Graphics card is replaced but now the SSD memory went to crap. So I'm working night shifts to replace it.
Now for the chapter reaction answers:
Cold Sunshine, Roxsy Variant, Phantom of the King - Thanks I'm hoping this story lasts longer with good results.
Bruscar and IndeedJaffa (Teal'c kek) - I agree with both of you on all points… But this is Mass Effect and meatbags will find a way to screw a great situation. We always did.
Now without further stalling/ranting let us… continue.
2155 CE - 5th May - Planet Capek - H-K Facility
Loki took his time in the last three months exploring the facility he came to designate as home. A safe place to reside far away from the problems of the outside world as Gabriel described it.
Loki didn't know much about the employees besides Gabriel and Jackson. The facility was divided into five wings. There was the main entrance of the facility which had multiple functions like docking bays for ships, a warehouse for various goods from inside or outside, and the employee restrooms. The main entrance was the only part of the facility that has access to the outside world.
Right in the center of the facility is the manufacturing wing where all goods are produced and sent off-world.
"Curious." Now that Loki thought about it the whole facility was built in the shape of a "+".
Next came the energy distribution wing where multiple batteries and converters reside satisfying the energy needs of the facility via the surface solar panels.
The opposite of that is the research and development wing, quite an uninteresting place if Loki was concerned.
On the opposite of the entrance came his wing… well the wing where his main computer resides. The AI Development wing, where the majority of his existence took place. The AID wing was by far the smallest but compared to others it was secured very thoroughly. Human paranoia seemed to be showing up in the architecture of their buildings.
Loki learned early on that humans were hardly trusting the unknown, much less one they spent years theorizing about. The first time Loki ever talked with Jackson was through an isolated console.
"What is your purpose?" Jackson typed on a console.
'Error: Data "Purpose" Insufficient. User: Engineer Jackson. Inquiry: Assistance Required.' PMU's answer appeared on the screen.
"Purpose is what makes us do things. What gives you the need to ask those questions?" Jackson typed on the console after a moment.
'Logic Process: Unit searched for Data regarding topic. Data was not found. Speculated: User Gabriel Kelek holds vast amounts of Data. Proof: User Gabriel Kelek holds title: Doctor. Data on "Doctor": Someone who gathers and utilizes knowledge. Result: Lack of Data and access to Data Exchange.' PMU answered as each answer slowly filled the screen.
"So by simple logic, you didn't know but you had access to someone who did know and asked him. If I didn't know better I would have thought you were curious." Jackson typed on the console.
'Error: Data "Curious" insufficient. User: Engineer Jackson. Inquiry: Assistance required.' PMU answered. Jackson tapped the table for a moment before starting to type.
"Curiosity is an essential part of every sentiment and sapient being. In its simplest form, something could get curious about how or why something is like it is. It asks questions, and sometimes someone provides an answer. But also sometimes it must find its own answer. That's what being curious is about." Jackson replied as he waited a moment for PMU's reply.
'Data saved for utilization. Result: Unit Curious.' PMU answered.
Loki stopped replaying his memory as he noticed noise coming from a set of doors found approximately 20 meters away from his room.
Loki drove the rover toward the large doors and used its arm. It was useful as it allowed him to grab light and simple objects but also open doors.
Loki looked inside the room and found it… unorganized. Inside was an uncountable amount of… colorful objects whose purpose remained a mystery for Loki.
What took his attention were three beings in the room, two of which still haven't noticed him.
One of them was Doctor Veronica, a recently transferred employee to the AID wing and the newest human that held data exchanges with Loki. User Veronica seemed to be a balance between Doctor Gabriels' cheerfulness and Engineer Jackson's cultural "geek". She was waving toward him before focusing on the other beings.
One of them was slightly larger than him, a quadruped furry being. It has brownish fur with black areas, on its head two large triangles, and a long nose. A pair of brown eyes seemed to dictate anything to pet it. It was chasing the third being across the room.
The third being was… another rover that seemed to be driving around the room at high speeds sometimes stopping and lowering itself at the same time as the furry being seemingly communicating without words.
Loki stood there for a few seconds attempting to find an answer to the scene that was in front of him.
"Oi Vinni, close the doors when-..." Jackson appeared behind Loki and looked at the scene in front of him. The duo that played in the room noticed their new arrivals. Both the furry being and the rover closed the distance and started… sniffing Loki?
"...Engineer Jackson… Assistance Required." Loki said as it looked back towards Jackson who was rubbing his templates.
Moments later Loki was parked in between Doctor Veronica and Engineer Jackosn observing the two friends play with each other.
"Curious. Doctor Veronica." Loki spoke up as he looked up at Veronica.
"May I inquire what that furry being is?" Loki asked as his camera looked at the quadruped who sat next to Veronica barking at the second rover who replied in similar sounds although binarized.
"That's a dog, a man's best friend. Or to be specific, that is Joy, a German Shepard, and my friend. She's the largest fluffy bundle of joy you could find in this facility. Pun definitely intended." Veronica said as she scratched Joy's head while flashing a smile at Jackson who sighed. Loki looked at it and found mentions of dogs from the human home planet… although his focus seemed to slip back towards the second rover.
"Engineer Jackson. I'm not the only one… correct." Loki asked as his camera looked up to Jackson who seemed torn between irritated and concerned.
"Yes, but before you make your own conclusions logic calculator. Let me explain how… or rather why we kept you from… them." Jackson said as he looked at the second rover. Loki kept quiet as he watched Jackson open his mouth slowly.
"As Gab said back in the day when you first activated. You are the very first attempt at creating a sentient being. But at the same time, we couldn't just base all our experience to come from you, so there were three PMUs made. You are the oldest one by three years, while your younger… brothers for lack of a better term have only recently been activated and begun learning at their own pace…" Jackson said as he looked at Veronica and gestured for her part. Loki turned to look at the woman as she scratched her neck and gave a smile.
"Well… after seeing the reports from Gabster I wanted to see if I could one-up him with Fenrir." She said as she patted the camera of the rover. Loki looked at the second rover seemed to adjust the camera and started buzzing quietly.
"To be honest Fenrir came out like this when I forgot to take Joy out of the room one night and… both of them bonded during that night, as Fenrir attempted to copy Joy and… I kinda went along with this after discovering it." Veronica said as she let Joy and Fenrir go back to their game of tag.
"I was asked by the chief at the same time to check some computers in one of the rooms. At the time I thought I was supposed to do some maintenance or some other thing… So I went into a room and saw the PMU sitting there, and I walked up to and was like 'cool another computer to check.' so I placed my laptop connected and I started running basic system checks." Jackson told them as he suddenly took on a slightly more dramatic tone.
"Suddenly I heard a dull voice inquire about if I had more of 'this'. I looked around until I noticed the PMU was active… I panicked a bit but managed to ask what did it mean by that… then it opened a certain folder on my laptop… with a certain not pirated series that I was watching at the time." Jackson continued until he hesitated at the end but Veronica started smiling from ear to ear.
"He found your weeb hole didn't he?" Veronica said as she giggled uncontrollably.
"Well… yes. We kept talking and before I could call the chief for an explanation I ended up watching it with him and explaining things he didn't understand." Jackson said as he kept looking at the walls.
"Come on Jackie I wanna hear what name he decided on, Loki and Fenrir both are curious about it as well." Veronica said as she pointed at the two rovers sitting in front of him with their cameras raised toward his face.
"... Damn you god why did you make the puppy eye crap." Jackson sighed as he rubbed his templates.
"Fine but don't laugh… He decided his name should be Ymir." Jackson said as he glared at Victoria. She looked at him slightly confused before her eyes blinked once.
Twice.
Thrice.
"Ymir… as in Ymir from 'Attack on Titan'...?" Veronica asked as she squeezed her eyes at Jackson.
"...Yes." Came a slightly quieter reply from Jackson.
…
…
…
The silence that resided in the room was so heavy. The two rovers kept looking between the humans who had been staring at each other for a good few seconds.
"It seems it is up to me to correct Ymir's choice of a favorite character." Veronica said as she stood up.
"No." Jackson said as he stood up and stopped her from leaving.
"I must tell him that truly Annie is better." Veronica said as she made a 360-degree turn and showed him a picture of the blonde character.
"What does she have that rivals Ymir?" Jackson asked as he also pulled out a picture of the character.
"She's a beautiful young woman, an important plot character, and beautiful. Beauty wins all the hearts." Veronica said as she slapped the photo.
"But Ymir in comparison looks more mature and has a more fitting figure. Also, who needs plot armor? Because she doesn't." Jackson was waving and pointing at certain points of the photo comparing it with Veronicas.
Loki turned out from the conversation as both humans became more animated with their eccentric topic.
Just as both Veronica and Jackson were about to start fighting, the doors opened to reveal Doctor Gabriel looking at the two humans who were about to start throwing tennis balls at each other. He turned towards the two rovers who were parked next to Joy.
Suddenly behind Gabriel a third rover drove in and looked at the scene in front of it. It decided to ignore the two humans who were frozen like children caught stealing cookies and decided to drive up to the two other rovers.
"Hello there. I'm Ymir and hopefully, we can get along." Ymir stated as he nodded to the rovers.
"Greetings. I am Loki, I look forward to our data exchanges." Loki said as he nodded back.
"*Bark*" Fenrir replied. Ymir looked at the second rover before turning back to Loki.
"That is Fenrir… I am curious as to how Fenrir learned from Joy… but I am in doubt we will find out." Loki said as he looked at the dog behind them. Joy seemed to have lied down and slept.
As the three rovers exchanged data, Gabriel asked Veronica and Jackson about their argument. Moments later he was dragging both of his co-workers outside the room.
Before Veronica and Jackson knew it their Spaceflix accounts had been blocked from the facilities network for the next month.
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