Chapter 3: Nightmares of a worried android
Talos was made to resemble his creator, but being better according to Hephaestus' ideal self, even if he was a genius like him, there was still some quirks about his own persona…or rather to say, certain lack of something else to make him more human or more likable to human eyes, like his creator, he assists Kamata Tech as student at the same career as Hephaestus, some students asked to Hephaestus to help them with doubts about their projects or worries about other subjects, even with his shy demeanor and speech defects, Hephaestus was reliable to his classmates, but that wasn't the same case with Talos.
Despite shows confidence and certainty, even emotions like happiness or concern, not many students felt able to talk to the android, they considered him awkward in some senses, even others felt some animosity toward Talos, they felt him with no own personality, always submissive to his creator, but they haven't enough courage to tell him those things in his face, Talos get used to this at first, but after he met Jūtarō and he was out of service after protecting his creator, the processor that managed his artificial emotions got a little affected after the Exception's energy burst, after his repairing, he kept hidden this to don't make worry Hephaestus, at least that fact was hidden until now…
Kamata Tech, Crafters Workshop
Talos was laid in his tunning armchair, his chest was open showing his circuits and processors while Hephaestus was adjusting new circuits in his motherboard, monitors showing data about his parts and general state, his left arm was disconnected from the body to connect Talos with the main computer, his legs were disconnected too to refill and purify Talos' fuel, a formula made by the smithing god called Ichor, made upon his own blood, what made Talos' joints to shine and give warmth to his body, while Hephaestus was concentrated in his work.
-Creator…there's something I must tell you…-Talos dared to tell his creator in his usual and unintended robotic coldness but with a hint of concern.
-Ugh...W-What is it, Talos?, I hope isn't something delays your checking now- Hephaestus grunts and answers to his android without take off his eyes from his labor and reattaching Talos' limbs with a slight grumpy humor.
-...during my sleep mode recently, something happens in my processor…,like a some kind of record in my eyes, I was in an empty space looking for you and the others, but the only thing I had found was some kind of unknown figure, it was small at first, but changed its size and shape to mine, I tried to defend myself but that thing paralyzed me to attack me later, during that record, I couldn't recognize what I felt, it felt strange and…sorry Creator, I can't keep going with this, I…I can't describe it-. Talos risen up his head a little to see his creators' reaction and wait for his answer.
-Sounds like you had a bad dream Talos, a n-nightmare...but that's impossible to someone like you, y-you're an advanced robot, but not for that you are capable of dream in sleep mode...it must be an u-unknown error in your emotional recognition program because I checked everything until now, a-and nothing seems off, I'll check you again later, for now get dressed to help Old Amatsumara and Kurogane with the guild's accounts before they get an aneurism with the calculations…- Hephaestus responded about Talos' "record" as he call it.
Talos gets out from Hephaestus' personal underground workshop while he still tries to process his creator's answer, he thinks not only in his experience with that dream, there's something he keeps deeper to himself, for a robot, even the most advanced one, a wish is something a robot cannot have because is something illogical, but Talos was so different from other robot transients, he was almost human-like, his appearance, behavior, and reactions are almost human, but his processors were bound to logical things, at least that was true until he was damaged protecting his creator from a posible Exception coming from their "Mama", since then, his way of think and feel were different, it gave to him another panorama, he started to think in the relationship with his creator, his way to treating him, he felt he wanted this relationship to be better, to make their communication more human and warm between them, to get close to anybody else and be really liked by others, to make Hephaestus happy with him and his guildmates, even with "Mama", he wished in secret to be something else to Hephaestus than just a replacement robot.
During his time helping Amatsumara and Kurogane with the taxes' papers, Talos believed he had listened something, a familiar voice in his head, that voice from the dream he had some nights ago calling him, he was a little worried about that, but he didn't stopped from his tasks, after finishing with the papers, he proceeds to put the desk in order, when he takes an empty glass, he sees the entity of his dream reflected in the glass instead of his own reflection, he feels the same reaction unknown to him and screams letting drop the glass to finally break with the floor, Takemaru hears the glass break and goes to check what happened, he sees Talos picking the broken glass.
-Um…everything Ok, Talos? I heard a scream and something broken…it was you?- the Oni builder asked to his android partner.
-Sorry...I left a glass to fall by accident, my creator must have called me and I drop it without note it, don't worry about that Takemaru- the android answers while he still picks up the shards from the floor.
-Ok...by the way, I will go to get some supplies to my next order, can you tell Heph if he needs something?the Oni carpenter still has some suspicions about what happened, but he had another things to do that day.
-Wait a minute...my creator says he doesn't need anything for now, sorry for the inconveniences- Talos made a call to his creator about Takemaru's errands, and tells Hephaestus' answer to the oni, after this, the carpenter shrugs and goes to get his supplies, after throw the broken glass in trash, Talos then goes to clean the upper rooms, kitchen and bathroom.
While Talos was doing the dishes, he felt a sudden chill in the air, his inner warmth wasn't strong enough to go against that cold environment, during that lapse of time, Talos could feel another thing, that entity was behind Talos glaring at him with its empty eyes, making a distorted noise of Talos' voice, Talos didn't move while that thing was stalking him, the same unknown sensation he felt in his dream was present again in that moment, his processors couldn't recognize it again, his artificial muscles felt hard to move, the entity gets close in a second, Talos is paralyzed completely, leaving that entity take him from behind surrounding Talos' torso and neck with its arms strong and violently.
-You lost everything before you were created…you're just an useless puppet now…a puppet I will use soon…- the entity leaves him that message to the android in his ear.
the entity release Talos and the android then falls on his knees, the unknown feeling makes him cover his ears and teardrops start to run over his cheeks as an instinctive reaction, all this happens while the entity keeps repeating him the same message but with loud voice, Talos tries to concentrate in another things in his program to don't keep listening the thing, his artificial breathe gets faster, suddenly he feels someone touching him in the shoulder and calling him.
-NO!!...DON'T TOUCH ME!...GET AWAY FROM ME!...- he reacts and screams to who was tapping him throwing some blows trying to defend himself, it was Hephaestus who was making him react, his creator sees him with shock because of that abnormal reaction in him.
-Creator!...S-sorry for that, I-it wasn't my intention startle you…- Talos gasps while he sees his creator with concern in his eyes and stutters.
-Talos!, I-I was calling you many times to assist me with the security droids, but you didn't respond, what happened?!- Hephaestus asked him with exasperation and disgust due to his lack of response and the later reaction.
-I…I…I don't know Creator…I don't know what's happening…-the android responds stressful.
-Y-you still with the bad dream thing you had before?!…YOU'RE A ROBOT!, YOU CANNOT DREAM!, now stand up and h-help me with the droids now!-Hephaestus yells and berates Talos while he sprouts fire from his head's scars, Talos stands up and follows his creator to Hephaestus' workshop, Talos keeps in mind the incident in kitchen while his creator mumbles to himself about adjust his android's system and programming again to fix any unnoticed error.
Hephaestus and Talos were making some final adjustments to a new robot platoon sold to an important client, creator and creation were finishing with the last robot until a phone call was ringing in Hephaestus' smartphone, the smithing god answers while Talos was picking up some tools.
-H-hello? … Mama?! …n-no, no, Talos and I were finishing something to a client tomorrow…w-what? … you need me to check something about a thing you obtained r-recently? … well, I'll be busy until Sunday, you can come with me that day…Ok, Sunday at 1:00pm, ok, see you later Mama…- Hephaestus responded to that call, he was surprised and pleased, he was thinking about his appointment with Jūtarō to that Sunday while his face was blushing and smiling, the fire over his right eye turned from its usual orange and red hues to red and pinkish tones, after compose himself from his goofy and happy little moment, he comes back to Talos' side with a lighter mood to tell him about the phone call.
-Talos, M-Mama just called, wants me to analyze something he got recently, he will come by Sunday at afternoon- Hephaestus announces the news to his android.
-will it be...like a date, Creator?...- Talos asks him in a funny way, teasing his creator.
-W-What you're saying?!...a d-date?!...NO!...it's just a business appointment…it's m-merely professional issues!...- Hephaestus blushes again in a deeper red tone than before and tries to negate his feelings into the next appointment, but the blush in his face was the evidence of his feelings toward Jūtarō, Talos sees his creator with amusement about his reaction, but he can't take off from his mind the visions about the entity that is stalking him now.
Later, Hephaestus makes a more exhaustive checking in Talos to find the cause of the sudden reactions and anomalies in the android, but the main computer throws the same response: UNKNOWN ERROR, Hephaestus compiles Talos' main program and subprograms again and again, but the error is still elusive to the computer's compilation and checking capabilities, after use his flame sacred artifact in Talos, he sees something unexpected, a piece of encrypted code in a unknown programming language, the logic behind this is erratic to Hephaestus' standards, the flame in Hephaestus face doesn't consider it an error or impurity in Talos' main system to burn it and eliminate it, the fire god transient dispose to copy that code and save it to decipher later.
-Talos…I-I think I found something that might be the cause of your weird things…- after this final action, Hephaestus tells to his android about the results, the transient crafter points to a monitor at the armchair's side, Talos turn his head to that side and observes the encrypted code.
-That code...is the cause of everything, Creator...?- Talos asks Hephaestus with concern to his creator.
-It's not sure yet, but it might be a hint, the code seems complex, I'll need to create a decoding program to know its logic soon, and know how to null it before it gets more complicated to deal, we will still have to deal with your reactions for now- his creator responds with honesty and tiredness in his voice.
Talos is somewhat uncertain about his situation, Hephaestus proceeds to make the decoding program, but it will take at least the rest of the day to make it and compile it before use it properly, then Hephaestus commands Talos to enter in sleep mode and rest because the erratic reactions caused him a little overdrive in his emotional processor, Talos, still wary about the entity, sleeps quietly and his joint junctions flashes softly.
Another dream
Talos sees himself in the same void space, he walks with caution in case he meets the entity again, but nothing new happens until Talos listen some voices at far distance from his whereabout, he runs toward the voices, when he reaches the source , he finds his guildmates and the young samurai from behind, he gets close to Kurogane and taps him in the shoulder to ask him.
-Oi! Kurogane, have you seen my Creator?... Kurogane, can you hear me?...- the robot asks and taps the youngest crafters' shoulder, but he doesn't answer at first, some seconds later, he turns around to face him, but Kurogane's expression wasn't his usual joyful visage, instead he had a hate expression in his face, the other guildmates turn around to see Talos with the same expression, then Kurogane speaks up one statement pointing to him.
-NO PURPOSE!- it was the statement, then, the other crafters respond the same thing to Talos, they repeat the same phrase emphasizing the hate more and more.
Talos feels shocked but that was just the beginning, their appearance change to look like the entity, their skin color turns pale gray and their eyes become black and void, then Musashi unsheathes two of his swords to attack the android, this Musashi was faster than the real one, Talos avoids his attacks but suddenly Amatsumara throws a blow of his hammer sacred artifact pointing to the android's head, Talos crouches to escape from the hammer, but the oldest crafter backs to attack with his hammer alongside with the little samurai.
Talos then kicks the old man in stomach and takes the samurai from his clothes to throw him against the floor, but suddenly he's restrained by Takemaru from his back in a lock with his arms, Talos tries to undo the lock but sees Kurogane throwing a black smoke breath from his mouth to take it with his right hand shaping it into daggers, he is approaching to them and sharping the blades one against the other, the android stomps the oni's foot to release himself from the lock, the younger crafters tries to plunge one of the daggers in Talos' back but he avoids him catching the blade with his hands and elbowing him in stomach to later hitting him in face, Talos is attacked again by Musashi holding his biggest sword, the robot takes one of his arms and shoots energy balls to the samurai child and vanishes in air, Talos then shoots to the shadow crafters until they are vanished.
the android reattaches his arm while tries to catch some air, then he hears a familiar voice, he turns around and sees his creator's shape kneeling on the floor and back, Talos approaches to Hephaestus to kneel in front of him and watch him face to face, but the smithing god's head was bowed hiding his eyes.
-Creator, what's happening here?!, our guildmates were attacking me a while ago!...Creator?, can you hear me?...Creator?...- the android takes Hephaestus' shoulders and talks to him desperately, but this Hephaestus wasn't responding to his calls.
-...failed...me...ama...,You failed me, you failed Mama…you failed me, you failed Mama…you failed me, you failed Mama…YOU FAILED ME, YOU FAILED MAMA!- the transient crafter utters an unintelligible phrase at first, but with every repeat, Hephaestus voice's was getting aloud.
This Hephaestus grabs Talos' wrists and crushes them, Talos screams from pain to finally see his creator's eyes, it wasn't the soft and sad golden eyes he used to see, it were deep black like the entity's eyes, the robot tries to get up from his position but then he's impaled in tights and legs by Musashi's swords sticking him to the ground, the other shadowy crafters get close to witness it, then Hephaestus takes screwdrivers from his belt, it were imbued with the black flame, all of this happens while Hephaestus repeats again and again the same phrase until he faces Talos, the robot has again the same paralyzing feeling in his body, the shadow Hephaestus stands up before him.
-YOU'RE MY PUPPET NOW!- this dark Hephaestus yells those words to Talos with the entity's creepy voice to finally stabs him with a screwdriver in his neck's right side with a lot of strength making him scream.
Reality
Talos's screams loudly and convulses again like before turning on the alarms of his armchair, this wakes up Hephaestus from his desk and tries again to stop his convulsions, but this were stronger than the last time, the other guildmates come to try to help again but Hephaestus stops them before do anything, with the modified tablet he commands the armchair to restrain Talos and shouts the voice command to turning him off, but it doesn't work this time, Hephaestus then tries another thing, he runs approaching himself to his android trying to keep himself from any possible blow until reaches Talos' temples, he press them to make Talos turn off manually, the creator seats tired in the closest chair and catch some air, his guildmates get close to him and talks with them about the last updates from this situation.
-…He-he has a complex code that surge suddenly, his emotional processor is compromised, I was finishing a decode program and make a vaccine to stop these reactions, but I think I will need some time…- Hephaestus tells this to his partners with vexation.
-Heph, right now we feel some useless in these things, but you still have us to help you, so please, if there's anything we can do, tell us!...we are getting worried for Talos, he's part of this guild, of this family, maybe you think there's nothing we can do but you can't keep going alone with this…- Takemaru replies to him in a hard but worried way, Hephaestus doesn't say anything, but nods sincerely.
-I know you're worried as I for him…but Talos is my responsibility, I'm the only one who can help him with this issue, I thank you for the help…but believe me…I'm the only one who can deal with this problem- the crafter told to his partners.
After this little discussion, they go back to their routine still worried for their robot friend and his creator, Hephaestus gazes to his android with some guilt and shame before comes back to his bedroom taking his laptop with him to continue with the decoding program, the fire god transient pats his creation's head leaving a sad sigh, in a flick of time he swears to have seen a teardrop running in Talos' cheek before leave him and turn off the lights, what he didn't saw after close the door was a dark figure looming to the android in silence humming a tune to then sing a song quietly while he watches to the robot...
~ I've got no strings to hold me down, to make me fret, or make me frown, I had strings, but now I'm free, there are no strings on me…~.