Mark of Man

Chapter 17

But even quashed rebellions leave us different. Because freedom may be a forbidden fruit in tyrannies, but once tasted, it is unforgettable.

Her two days of rest were the first time she'd been free. Or at least, the closest thing to it that she'd ever really felt. No hunter commanders. No generals. No high irregular high command. Just her, and the badly damaged base. She grew rather… Fond of it in that short time. Sure, the bodies were a reminder of the carnage she had wrought and a spike of pain rose in her heart at the sight but…

There were always the outdoors.
After her call with Sigma the first thing she had done was step out of the complex and look up into the sky and sun. It was beautiful. How had she never noticed it before…? Clear wondrous blue. She didn't notice at first, but tears streamed down her face as she relished it. What must it be like to be able to step outside like this every day…? To just look up and greet the sun…?

Her 'home' for now was little more than the base and the mountain it had been carved out of. A small stream snaked its way down to the forests below, leading away from the mountain's frigid snow capped tip.

Needless to say, it hadn't taken much to convince her to step into the chilled water to wash away the synthetic oil and blood.

Cleaning it out of her hair had been a particularly demanding chore and it had only been due to a full hour of letting the cold water wash over her head and face did it finally release the last fragments that had clung to her.

She stood in the stream, looking out over the biomechanical forest, her face pensive as she considered what lay before her. For once, battle wasn't on her mind. Just… The calm and peace of the forest.

And after all she had done. After all she had been through… Nothing sounded better. Dropping to her knees, she stared at the sight before her before her sensors warned her that something was happening to her left.

Her head snapped to the left, her buster forming and her gaze hardened.

More fighting…? Then, her heart stopped.

Thane.

Her hate rose for a brief moment, but after all that had happened, she was too tired, too fatigued to bring herself to lash out in her rage. Too much had taken place and over far too short a time for her to rage at the dead.

"...What do you want?" She asked as her hand dropped back down to the ground and her buster faded.

"Is it so much to want to talk to my daughter? X, I never created you like this to hurt you."

"Could have fooled me." She replied flatly.

"Rokko… Please… I created you to be like your sister. True, but not to be her replacement. Never that. No one could replace Rokko Chan. Did I hope that you'd be like her? To an extent, sure. But I always wanted you to be your own person. Someone who could choose her own path. Someone that could love, laugh, and cry. Someone that could bring hope to those that need it most."

Rokko let out a brief bark of laughter.

"That's a lot to expect from a maverick. I kill and kill and kill… Then I end up killing again."

The professor's image distorted slightly and he placed his hand on the glass of the capsule that had formed near her.

"Oh Rokko… I'm sorry… I created you to be both human and machine and yet… I hoped you would become more than either. I gave you a heart so that you could love and hope. That you could feel everything we do. I based your mind off of your sister's. A mind that was based off of a human mind. She could think faster, sure, but she wasn't restricted by a limited set of codes because she could access all of her mind in a web instead of databases. It gave her a creative mind, but she couldn't think as fast as other robots. So… I evolved the synthetic mind. Your mind's capacity is a marvel that can constantly evolve and adapt. It takes the best of a human mind and the storage capacity of a computer system and combines it to become something… More."

Rokko forced herself to look up at him, her expression blank.

"I love you with all that I am. Not because of your design or your sister's legacy. But because of you being you. It's that simple. I wanted you, my daughter. I was alone, locked away in a ruined Japan and longing for a loved one to share my last days with. And to leave a legacy with. You are that legacy. Yes, Rokko Chan is a legacy and I do hope she won't be forgotten but now? It's your time X."

She shook her head slowly, feeling a new set of tears try to form and she blinked them away furiously.

"You're wrong."

The professor's head tilted.

"What do you mean?"

"It isn't my time Professor. It'll never be my time. I…" She looked down at the cold gray stone. "I'm… Not free. And… I'm beginning to fear I never will be. I'm just a tool, a plaything for your kind." A few hot tears rolled down her cheeks.

"...Humans fear that which they can't control or the things that have hurt them in the past. I feared that that might come to pass. It… Was admittedly part of the reason I tried to keep you sealed away when I realized that I'd never see you finished in time." His voice sounded so very far away…

"I had hoped that the wounds of the past would have healed by the time you were released from the capsule. But you were found too soon. They awoke you before it was time. Would the added few years have helped? Not much but… I'm so sorry."

For a few moments, silence passed between them and Rokko then looked back up at him as she shifted, letting her hands rest on her raised knees.

"Rokko… You possess a power unlike anything this world has ever seen. I've given you the ability to shape this world as you see fit. You have the power to be a goddess. To rule as the 'goddess of destruction' if you so choose. You could be a tyrant that rules with a bloodied fist over the entire world. In some ways, I wouldn't blame you. You've suffered far too much already. You weren't given the time to undergo the last tests or a chance to develop your own moral fiber. You weren't given a chance to know this world or why it could be loved." The man's hand reached for her again, but was blocked by the glass.

She shook her head faintly at his claim.

"The power of a goddess you say? I don't even know if I can beat Sigma when we go head to head. I'm stronger than I was, sure but… He's on a totally different level. And I don't want to rule this world. I just… I just want to be free." Her hands wrapped around her legs and pulled her knees to her chest.

"I don't want to be used and controlled anymore… I don't want to keep hurting…"

The man nodded solemnly and his holographic image settled down, almost as if he was sitting next to her.

"No one wants to be bound in servitude. Life wasn't meant to be controlled and experience nothing but suffering. It's no wonder you've grown to hate humanity. I won't tell you it's wrong or try to convince you to turn away from it. Not when the pain is so deep. Not when you're being beaten down again and again. It's too raw, too fresh, too real to even consider that."

What did he know about it? Her jaw clenched and her fingers gripped onto her boots a little tighter as she pulled her legs closer.

"I've never suffered quite like you have, no. I've never been a slave in all but name. I can't even begin to imagine how painful that must be. But I have hated. I've allowed myself to let my feelings get the better of me and when the pain is that real, that deep, and that consuming nothing else seems to matter. I remember lashing out in grief and rage at my closest friends, I snapped at them and said terrible things. I lost a great deal that day and it would take years to regain their trust."

Rokko looked down at her feet, her expression lifeless and she poked the ground next to her boots. How could anyone feel like this and live beyond it…? It tore her apart and just consumed her utterly. Her hate was all she had left. How could anyone survive like this? Especially a human?

"Rokko, please, find a friend. Someone to rely on again. You were happiest with one remember?"

Her hand dug into the ground, the stone shattering under the force of her grip and causing it to turn to fine gray-white dust and her eyes teared up again.

"No one can replace him. No one will. Rokko, if your roles were reversed, if you had died and he hadn't, what would you want from him?"

Her mind blanked and she shook faintly as her hand returned to her knee.

"X, just promise me that you'll follow your heart."

It echoed in her mind again and again. If she had died and Cobalt had lived… What would she have asked for…? What would she ask of him…?

"...To let go of my memory and forget I existed." She whispered at last.

To stop hurting because of her death.

"So he could find a new friend, so he could find someone else to share life with?"

She gave a tiny nod and Thane bowed his head.

"Rokko, you'd be in his heart, just as he's in yours. That couldn't change. It's something that you can't do and it's something he couldn't. With time, he might have been able to find a new friend, but you'd always remain in his heart, a living memory of someone precious to him."

She raised her head just long enough to wipe her face clear of the moisture that had pooled and once again returned her head to her knees.

"Just like your sister lives in my heart. Just like you live in my heart."

But… She was still alive.

She forced herself to look at the man and he gave a small smile, tinted with grief.

"When we form a connection, we give them a part of our hearts. It's one of the most precious things that we can do and in that sense, we live within them as well. So… When a loved one dies?"

The answer was clear but she said it anyway.

"...A part of us goes with them."

"In a sense, yes. But a part of them lives within you. Is this backed by science? Of course not. But our hearts are beyond even the scale of technology in some ways. Even though I created your heart it doesn't mean I can fully understand it. No one can. It's yours and yours alone. One of a kind and beautiful." He paused before rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sorry, I got sidetracked. I'm really good at doing that. Anyway X, you carry a part of Cobalt with you now. It's not all of him so it'll never be able to replace him, make no mistake, but regardless of that, you're holding onto his memory now. It hurts, but would you want it to go away?"

She shook her head a little. No… She didn't want Cobalt to go away. Not even the painful part that she still apparently carried.

"Cherish what you have and find those that will stand beside you. Not as soldiers, but as friends. It will always hurt if you lose a friend, yes. But we need people, you, humans, and reploids. We need others."

Needing others? Really? She was able to defeat entire bases, put dents in fleets of warships… Why would he say that she needed another when she was this powerful?

"I'm already one of the most powerful beings on this planet. Why would I need others?"

"I think deep down, you already know. Alone, your heart can't withstand all of the pain and rage. Instead of you controlling yourself, it'll be your anger and hatred. This world would burn under your pain."

"Considering what this world has done maybe it's for the best."

"I don't know. All I do know is that you won't be making that choice yourself at this rate."

...Damn it. He had a point. Falling into the red fog had been far too easy and appealing. It had been simple… And she'd deluded herself into feeling free in the moment. It'd make it hard to resist it should her anger and grief get the best of her again.

"X… Would you be willing to accept a gift? It won't help with your heartache but considering the battle with your enemy is right around the corner it might keep you safer and give you an edge."

She forced herself to look up at the blue capsule again.

"A… Gift?"

Thane grinned at her as he stood, brushing off the 'dust' from his backside.

"I made these capsules to help arm you and give you additional backup after I realized that I wasn't going to be able to see you while I was still alive. Had to keep my mind occupied and hands busy. Plus, I just wanted to give you presents whenever I could. Not that these will be endless gifts. I only have so many stowed away but if they can help…"

She nodded a little and the man smiled a bit more before he straightened.

"Step inside of this capsule X and install an armor coating. It'll help disperse impact further across your body and reduce the damage you'll take by a great degree. What's more, it has a saber resistant property so you'll be able to resist your enemy's blade."

Rokko raised an eyebrow but nodded. He'd clearly specifically chosen this capsule because of what she was going to face next.

"Good luck my beloved daughter. I will always love and support you. No matter what path you may choose. Be it a path of light and creation, or the road of annihilation." His image faded and she wiped away another tear.

The capsule awaited and she stepped in after only a moment of hesitation.

External Access to database.

...

…

…

Download complete. Configuration confirmed. Ablative Combat Coating modification.

Really? Ablation? As in removing tissue or material…? Professor Thane wasn't very good at this naming thing was he? The only thing she could think to maybe justify it was 'removing damage' or something but that was so dumb.

Several moments passed as mechanical arms surrounded her, manipulating her armored plates and reconfiguring her armor with the new 'coating'. Clearly though, it was more than that. The 'coating' was practically being infused through the entirety of her armor. It was more of a nanolevel synthetic fusion of her old metals and whatever the hell this material was.

How had he even thought of this insanity…?

Reconfiguration complete.

The arms fell aside and then, the glass peeled away for her, leaving her free to exit. Once she had, she turned back to the capsule and it flickered to life again, Thane smiling at her as it did.

"This capsule is almost out of power. Upgrading your systems takes a lot of power after all, and unlike you, they don't have micro fusion/fission cores. They're not as well armored as you are, and there's a lot of them."

So, he couldn't justify essentially building miniature nukes and planting them all over the country. Understandable.

"How did you get these capsules all over anyway?" She asked, and the man laughed.

"Who said I did? The old warehouse they took you from had more levels than they knew and trans technology is older than what Eurasia Claims. Almost everything that's relatively advanced they have they stole from you and I." A spike of anger rose in her heart.

"Transfer technology was common in Rokko Chan's day too. But the day of ash destroyed almost all of it," His image flickered, "Well, looks like this capsule's about done. The computer will be sending it back to storage. Goodbye."

With that, the capsule faded in front of her and she dropped back down to her knees, staring at where her… Father had been a moment before.

"Goodbye… F… Father."

AN: I hate FFN formatting. It deletes italics, it doesn't keep formats straight. Ugh. Oh well, A breather chapter after the rough last few. Also, yes, I did update the chapter because the formatting got erased. Sorry, but I've forgotten a few of the FFN stupid things so that might happen a fair bit at first again.