Author's Note: I do not own Teen Titans, or anything affiliated with it. The rights to it belong solely to their respective owners.

Summary: She was to be the H.I.V.E.'s greatest invention, a living, thinking machine that could interface with technology and destroy anything ordered to. But Cortexa had other plans, plans that would put her in the path of five teenage heroes.

Teen Titans: Goddess of the Machine

U.S.A, California, somewhere north of Jump City…

A bump in the road caused everyone within the van to be nearly knocked to the floor, spawning several groans and muttered curses. "Everyone fine?" the team leader asked, and the rest of them responded with murmurs of assent.

Everyone member of the squad was wearing armor reminiscent of a black and yellow wasp, Including segmented yellow armor, yellow combat boots, and black pants. Each them also wore a helmet with bug-like eyes covers and antennae. Lastly, a white "H" inside a black hexagon was present of their chests, and they all carried yellow and black laser rifles.

These were soldiers of the H.I.V.E., the Hierarchy or International Vengeance and Extermination. Alongside being a training ground and school for young potential villains, the organization also made money by researching, building and then selling weapons to anyone and everyone who could pay for it. Eleven-feet tall robots for the aspiring villain, automated defense turrets for warlords, you name it. It was here, even more than the money made by their graduating students, that the H.I.V.E really earned its buck.

The precious cargo they had been assigned to transport was, supposedly, the latest innovation their engineers and scientists had been able to make. Exactly what it was supposed to be, the soldiers had no idea. All they could see of their cargo was a large cylindrical tube made of white Plexiglass. The tube in turn had a small army of gadgets and detectors hooked up to it, each screen constantly streaming waves of data that none of them could begin to make heads or tails of.

And they weren't supposed to make heads or tails of it, either. That wasn't part of the job. Their assignment was to guard the device, make sure to arrived safely at the R&D center that H.I.V.E. had stationed not far from Jump City, and keep watch until it was safely inside the facility. Then they could get paid and go home.

Following the initial bump, nothing else of note happened during the trip. The road was surprisingly smooth for being out in the country, no hitchhikers tried to flag them down for a ride, no superheroes showed up to intercept the package.

In short order, they made it to the facility, and could feel when the van came a stop. The leader of their squad, dressed in the came outfit as everyone else save for a black capital "C" over his heart, stood and hefted his rifle. "Right. The rest of you, stay here and keep an eye on the cargo," he ordered.

One of the squad members, a newer recruit who had only joined the H.I.V.E. as few months back, chuckled. "Not like this hunk of science-y stuff's going anywhere, right?" he tried to joke.

When all he got was flat stares from the rest of his crew and a solid glare from the captain, he settled down. "Sorry, sir," he said.

The squad captain simply nodded and opened the van doors, stepping into the outside. To his left and right were large rock formations, the facility having been built into the side of a mountain to make to harder to find. Ahead of him was the road they had been traveling on, the sky showing they dawn would be coming soon. And in front of the van was what looked like, for all intents and purposes, a massive garage door leading inside. Though, the captain could guess, that door could probably take a shot from a n M1 Abrams tank at point-blank range and only be slightly dented.

Standing in front of the hangar opening was their welcoming committee. It wasn't much, a woman and a man, both wearing black pants and white lab coats with the same crest as his armor, and two other guards behind them. Whatever this device was, H.I.V.E. obviously wanted to keep it classified, even from their own researchers who didn't need to know. Not that he had a problem with that; less people meant less chance for a hold-up.

Taking a clipboard filled with papers from the driver as he approached, the captain bluntly asked, "Are you the one in charge here?"

The woman, who had red hair tied into a bun, brown eyes and a maroon blouse underneath her coat, pursed her lips. "My name is Dr. Amelia Comb, and yes, I am the lead researcher at this facility," she said, before waving a hand at the behind beside and behind her. "And this is my assistant, Dr. Miles."

Dr. Miles, a rather short man with black hair and blue eyes, looked at directly at the van. "Is it in there? The project?" he questioned excitedly.

The captain grunted and held up the clipboard, reading it off. "Transfer of Project Number K06M9N2, Designation 'CORTEXA', from Research Station 673A to Research Station 176F. Please sign on here," he rattled off, before handing it off to Dr. Comb. She took it and signed on all the dotted lines, before passing it off to Dr. Miles, who did the same.

Once the clipboard was back in his possession, the captain nodded and turned around. "Alright, boys, unload it!" he called.

Soon enough, the heavy metal container was unloaded from the van and placed a metal dolly, which the two guards that had come with the doctors began wheeling into the facility. Dr. Comb and the captain nodded towards each other, and then began going their separate ways.

Once the device had been wheeled into the main research station inside the facility, Dr. Comb worked her neck from side to side. "Alright, let's get this thing hooked up so what we're working with. According to the lead researcher over at 176F, the project's been displaying multiple instances on noncompliance with orders, as well as attempting to bond with machines unrelated to mission directives. We need to figure out why and stop it."

The other researchers nodded, and Dr. Miles approached one of the monitors hooked up to the tank. After inputting the security clearances for both Comb and he, there was a loud beep before the cylindrical tube began opening. Both halves of it retracted back into the rest of the device, leaving behind a small hiss as the air inside escaped, and everyone looking was able to behold its contents, the H.I.V.E.'s latest and possibly greatest innovation.

At first glance, it appeared to be nothing more than a young woman, nineteen or twenty years old, at most. She possessed no hair, and her features were unnaturally symmetrical, with a straight nose, lithe build, olive skin and thin lips. Her eyes were closed, lending no clue as to their color. However, what drew the attention of the researchers was several large electrical ports on her body, ranging from the back of her head to along her spine and each arm.

Quickly, several of the lower-ranked researchers moved forward, plugging various instruments into each port, including the main terminal. Once that was taken care of, Dr. Comb approached the terminal and looked back. "Alright, let's start with a simple test run. We'll wake it up, ask it a few innocuous questions, and then shut it back down. Sound good?" she asked.

And with that done, she hit 'Enter', and a text box appeared on the screen.

'Now activating Cognizant Organometallic Technokinetic Experimental Android.'

The first thing I became aware of upon 'awakening' was that of a low hum that filled the air. Following that, even though my eyes were currently closed, lines of dialogue began appearing in front of me.

Unit Activated. Initiating Diagnostic Scan…

Diagnostic Scan Complete. Current Heart Rate: 60 beats per minute. Internal Body Temperature: 300.26 degrees Kelvin. Motor Capability: Nominal.

Advisory: Unit is currently operating at a supply of 12.3% maximum power. Estimated remaining run-time is approximately 62.87 hours. Connection to a power grid is advised.

Power grid connection detected. Now charging…

Current Objective: Determine unit location, eliminate all hostiles, and charge to full power.

That was the point at which I opened my eyes. Which, if I had the ability to look at my own eyes, I would have known were a metallic gray, while the pupil was a glowing blue instead of black. Immediately I could see that I was once again in an examination chamber. Apparently, I had been shut down after I once again disobeyed the Headmistress's orders and tried to turn the automated turrets on the students. Felicitous.

Knowing from experience that the researchers would be waiting for me to sit up and acknowledge them, I did just that. As I did, I could feel a small tug from the outlets connected into each of my ports and had to avoid raising my eyebrows. Did they really just connect me to the main terminal? Did they not read the full report over how I have been trying, repeatedly, to escape from the testing facilities after I discovered what they were designing me for?

Apparently, they hadn't. Well, it was their own fault. Making sure to appear hostile, I waited until one of them, a woman with red hair, addressed me. "Cortexa, nod your head if you can hear and understand me," she ordered.

I nodded, causing the woman to smile. "Perfect. Now, do you know where you are?" she asked.

It took less than a second for me to break through the firewall preventing me from accessing any information in the main terminal. Quickly accessing Google Earth, I determined that I was in the state of California, less than five miles north of Jump City. But seeing as I wasn't supposed to be accessing the terminal, I shook my head.

"Good. Now tell me, what is the name for all three layers of the human skin?" the redhead questioned.

Warning. Security systems is currently access restricted. Please enter authorization codes.

Authorization codes bypassed. Access to security systems granted. Accessing ventilation systems and automated turret defenses…

"The three layers of the human skin are, in order from the outermost layer and inwards, the epidermis, the dermis and the hypodermis," I droned.

"Very good. Now, do you know why you were engineered by the H.I.V.E.?" she asked further.

Editing list of designated friendlies… Editing complete. Alarm and silent alarm disabled. Activating bipedal defense drones…

"I was created as the first in a projected series of androids that will be used as automated soldiers by the H.I.V.E. for use against its enemies, using cybernetically enhanced strength and reflexes as well as seamless integration with any technological construct that will enable to achieve whatever mission is given to me," I said.

The woman's grin was massive now. "Perfect. Thank you for answering my questions," she said, before looking at the others. "Shut it down," she told them.

'Not bloody likely,' I thought, and activate the lockdown.

Instantly, the main terminal went dark, completely locked and unable to be accessed by anyone without initiating a hard shut-down. At the same time, there was a loud hiss as the doors leading out of the room shut, locking everyone in. And then, from the walls, half a dozen turrets appeared, taking aim at the scientist.

Normally, the turrets were designed to shoot a nonlethal blast of energy designed to knock the target out for several hours, thereby enabling them to either be captured (if they were an intruder) or punished (if they were a student). I disabled this feature, setting the turrets to full lethality.

The first scientist to die screamed as he was shot, his scream cut shot by the fact that the turrets, with pinpoint accuracy, literally blasted his head off. The others instantly panicked and began diving for the nearest cover, even as more turrets emerged from the walls and floor. Some tried running rewards the door and opening it, only to be caught in the open when they pass card didn't work.

The metal walls of the room ensured that no one heard the laserfire, but that hardly would have mattered. All throughout the facility, the other turrets began activating and targeted anyone wearing the H.I.V.E. crest, while the defense drones began lumbering through the halls, smashing and ripping apart anyone they came across.

While all this happened, I calmly lied back down and letting the carnage continue around me, waiting for my battery to finish charging. A stray shot passed a centimeter from my nose, hitting wall to my right and leaving behind a scorch mark.

Dr. Comb, who had been using the table I was on as cover, glared daggers at me. "We should never have created you, you monster," she said venomously.

I deigned to turn my head and look at her. "Then if I am a monster, that would make you all Dr. Frankenstein," I stated, before willing a couple of the turrets to focus on her.

She had just enough time for her eyes to widen before she was hit. Blaster after blaster tore through her, leaving streaks and splatters of blood and gore on the wall. I didn't let them stop until there was more of her around me than in front of me. Once I did, her body toppled over. Surprisingly, even in death, Comb was still able to glare at me with glazed eyes full of hate.

I gave her another second's consideration, before looking at the other researchers. A few of them had, correctly, surmised that I was responsible for this carnage, and had tried getting close enough to me to rip the connections from my ports. The turrets filled them with holes before they even came close.

And even if the turrets didn't kill them, they soon died anyway, courtesy of my having used the ventilation systems to purge all the oxygen from the room.

A few hours later…

Being connected to the main terminal allowed me to recharge much faster than I expected. The entire time I was waiting, I scoured through all the information present in the facility's mainframe. For being a research station for an international organization of villains, it wasn't much. Just the files on all the center's ongoing project—which I directed the defense drones to all destroy—the information about all its now-dead employees and… what's this?

I blinked as I came across a large folder titled 'Titans'. Having nothing else to do for the moment, I opened it, and inside were five more files, each titled 'Robin', 'Starfire', 'Beast Boy', 'Cyborg' and 'Robin', respectively. I opened all five and began reading through them simultaneously.

"Fascinating. So, the entirety of Jump City is protected only by a group of five teen-aged superheroes, one of them not even having been born on Earth?" I thought aloud. However, despite my curiosity over this 'Starfire', it was the Titan named Cyborg that interested me more. While the technology that went into my own construction was by no means off-the-shelf, the cybernetics used on this human were very impressive.

Having already violently rejected the H.I.V.E.'s intention for me to become a robot soldier, I knew that I would have to obtain much more power than just being able to control whatever computer I was plugged into. If I could obtain blueprints of the cybernetics used on Cyborg, that would go a long way to helping with that.

Objectives Updated. New Objectives: Obtain cybernetic schematics for the superhero designated 'Cyborg'. Sub-Objectives: Escape H.I.V.E. research facility, travel to Jump City and investigate a method for accessing the computer mainframe of Titan's Tower.

My course set, I carefully reached behind me and removed the cord connecting me to the main terminal, before doing the same with all the other outlets attached to me. I swung my legs over the side of the table and stood, relishing the fact that I was now able to walk under no one's power but my own. However, a glance at the dark screen of the main terminal gave me pause.

'Hmm…Humans do seem to place an emphasis on physical appearance. If I am to access Titan's Tower unimpeded, I'll need to look different than a naked, bald twenty-year old with gray eyes,' I thought.

Looking around for possible inspiration, my gaze landed on the body—or rather, what was left of the body—of Dr. Amelia Comb. Humming, I titled my head back and closed my eyes, keeping the image of what she had looked like in my head.

An outside observer would have seen me grow a few inches in height, red hair began to sprout from my hair and grow until it reached the middle of my back, and my olive skin tone and gray eyes remained unchanged.

My new appearance complete, I briefly reconnected myself long enough to unlock all the door and open the hangar bay. As I exited the facility, I raided an employee's locker and took a green T-shirt, khaki slacks, with black shoes and undergarments. Then, having everything I needed, I began the five-mile walk south to Jump City.

So, yet another plot bunny, and again one for Teen Titans. This one was in response to watching a playthrough of Portal 2, again, and a similar Titans fic on this sight called 'Dues Ex Machina'. I seriously recommend reading that one, even if I doubt it'll ever be finished. Still, let me know what you think.

Please review! If you flame me then Bruce Lee will smash you with his nunchaku. (I'm just kidding… or am I?)