The Little Girl and the Ottomans

Chapter 17

Even though Jay attacked him earlier, Trousk was not mad. In fact, he was exhilarated by it. He wondered how they've been doing, and this proved that they were as strong as ever. While he was happy he could see them again, he knew in his heart they did not belong there. His work to get them back home would soon begin.

After hanging out for a few hours, an alert came to him through his wrist-computer. His eyebrows furrowed as he read the message.

"Finally."

"What's wrong?" Val asked, tilting her head.

"I've been looking for him for a while. I need to head to the control room," the old man told them. "I recommend you go to the barracks while I figure stuff out."

"Wait, who's this "him?" Is it Sper-" Jay was quickly silenced by Trousk with a mean glare.

"I don't care if you're a friend, do NOT speak that name!" he roared.

"Okay, okay, sheesh," Jay grumbled. He was not expecting him to go after him like that, so he'll drop it. Trousk's face returned to its normal stern one as he directed them to the barracks. He quickly left for the control room, leaving Jay, Val, Owen, and Gem in the room alone. Val was extremely confused, for she didn't know exactly what was going on.

"Should we follow him? Maybe it could be about our friends!" Val asked.

"Considering what happened when you and Jay left by your lonesome the first time we came to this island, I'd rather not try that again," Owen told her. Val would object to this, but both he and Jay were serious this time. She won't be playing with the animals this time.

And, perhaps, that's a good thing.

With each step, Trousk grew ever more serious. His general side is coming right back, as it should. This is something that he needs to be. He has protected this island for so long, if he were to stop, things would go wrong very quickly. That won't happen on his watch.

The metal door parts ways for Trousk as he steps into the highly advanced control room. Giant electric wires flow above the ceiling, with smaller wires coming down to connect with smaller holographic computers and one giant screen. On that screen shows a map of Zlarca, with areas marked with blue, black, purple, and red. According to the legend, the blue represents Zlarca in its free state. The black, purple, and red areas represent "enemy" areas they are trying to retake.

"Does someone want to explain to me what's going on!?" he ordered.

"We got something on our radar. We believe it to be radiating from the Wrutian Mountains. Someone...no, something is trying to break through into this world. What it is, we don't know, but the energy readings match..."

After the robot soldier finished explaining what's happening, a picture appeared next to the dot in the mountains. The picture shows a robot with a menacing grin adorned in metallic feathers and antlers. Trousk's glared at the photo before him.

"Sargon..."

"Yes. We suspect he is behind this, along with the string of Mavericks," the soldier told him. His hands clutched into fists as he grinned.

"Got you now, false king," he growled. "Prepare for an assault immediately. We are to go there now."

"But sir, you need rest. You've been fighting Mavericks all day. You may be superhuman, but you're no robot," the soldier told him.

"I don't need that." He reaches into his shoulder pack and pulls out a baseball-sized berry, to which he ate on the spot. He felt his energy come back to him, and he shuddered at the feeling. He was itching for another fight. "I got what I need."

"I...uh..." the soldier, still flabbergasted that biological life can pull off such strange survival tactics, stood up from his seat.

"Come, Zapper. We shall go fight this menace," Trousk said.

"W-What!? But I'm not ready! I don't know if I can fight him!" the robot told him.

"Hey! If the robots of the past could fight, then you can too! I've trained all of you to the best of my ability, and now time to put it to the test," the general responded in full. Zapper sighed heavily before he joined Trousk as he walked out the doors. Trousk looked down at his wrist computer and activated its voice command.

"Get me an army."

A Few Hours Earlier:

Jenny awoke with a sudden jolt. Two robot soldiers stood at either end. One was holding a taser-like staff. He's probably the one who woke her. She tried moving but found that her arms and legs were connected to the roof and floor via a blue light that acted as a sort of powerful magnet.

"Darn...can't get out this time...unless-"

"I don't recommend trying that, my good friend. They can sense when your non-movement tools activate and will give you a surely nasty controlled shock." Jenny's eyes shot up as a new figure stood before her.

The figure is a tall humanoid robot. His "skin" is brown and she could tell its made of synthetic fibers. The armor she saw on the soldiers is present on this robot as well but covers much more of his body. A long robot reptilian tail covered in synthetic feathers snaked out from behind him, and antlers jutted out from under his white wire-like hair. His presence alone made her feel weak.

"Who are you," she groaned.

"Me? Oh, I'm your new king now," he told her with a grin.

"That didn't answer my ques-"

"You see, robot, I have a plan for this world," the robot began, Jenny realizing she's being ignored. "A world where life can flourish without interference by those meager humans. Their insistence to destroy our planet has led to many areas of the globe becoming destroyed."

"W-What do you mean!?" Jenny inquired. Destroyed areas? Sure, there was Algiers, but she has a feeling he isn't referring to that.

"You should know this since you were once a savior of this world," he growled.

"I still am!"

"Oh please. The moment you became Ottoman your title as a hero was forfeited," he told her with a grin.

"WHAT!?" she yelled. He has to be making that up.

"Yes. You were once a hero of Tremorton, not the Ottomans. Tremorton was a town in America, not the Middle East!" he told her.

"I...wha...I don't understand," she said. "No! It's a lie!"

"The Ottomans changed your memory chip. The original had all the stuff you know from your creation all the way to your eventual deactivation. They, instead, replaced it with one full of Ottoman propaganda as a way to bring your power into their force," he explained.

"Prove it! Prove to me you're not trying to trick me!" she roared.

"Okay." Her optics shuddered when he pulled out a small chip. It looks outdated, but her insignia on it and the date and size of the data in the chip prove it is hers. "You're lucky I have your chip on hand. Found it in the dumpster while looking for robot parts for my body."

"I-Impossible..." she was at an utter loss of words. She scanned the chip and, sure enough, the chip was not fabricated. It was her old memories, all stored on a piece of junk.

"Nothing is impossible, dear. Now let's get you up to shape." He moved quickly, surpassing the detection of her scanners. Appearing behind her, he opened up her head and placed the old chip next to the one provided to her by the people she thought were friends. All the memories came flooding back in. She screamed in agony as they began to sink into her mechanical subconscious. Sargon grinned as he put his back to the wall, letting the chip do all the work for him.

After a few minutes of this, she goes limp, breathing heavily as she reveled at these memories of hers. She remembers everything now. Her life...wasn't like what she thought it was.

The Ottomans...lied to her.

"Excellent I've broken both your body and your spirit...well, whatever counts as a spirit in a robot," he chuckled. "You see, my friend? The humans will do everything in their power to make themselves look like the superior race on this planet, to the point they will destroy life and change the memories of robotic ones. You were a fool to even believe in them."

"..."

"Oh, a loss of words, eh? Well, you don't need them when I'm done with you," he declared. He crossed his arms as the walls opened, revealing the outside world. She found herself on top of a snowy mountain. The wastes expanded far, ending in a forest on the edge of the range. Her metallic skin ran cold as the antler-clad robot stood a few feet away from her.

"You won't get away with this...I know you won't," she yelled. She felt her body slump to the ground. Not knowing who to trust anymore, she narrowed her optics at him. "And if it's me that brings you down...then so be it!"

"And I, Sargon, wouldn't allow that. Begin the Arnis-portal, quickly!"

Her optics widened as a giant wire shot out of the ground, implanting itself into her back. She spat out oil as tinier wires in it slowly crawled through her body, connecting with other wires along with her own. Four more of those large wires attached to her as well, speeding up the process. Sargon laughed as she became limp, stuck on her knees, slowly being taken over from the inside.

"How does it feel knowing you've helped me achieve my goal? My army will appear soon, just you wait...well, you wouldn't be waiting because you'll be offline!" he yelled over the sounds of electricity.

"...I...I'm sorry...Val..." Jenny mumbled through a mouth full of oil.

The last image she saw before everything turned into ones and zeros was of Sargon, grinning maniacally as his plan came into fruition.

Done! I hope you enjoyed this chapter (and if you didn't that's okay). Leave a review, if you wish :)

This is Sporedude135, signing off...