Otua adjusted her pilot's cap as she walked the remaining steps to the Aperture Marine. She could already see the blue form of Keiko giving a small wave to her as she walked into the cargo door. The two exchanged hugs and nods of the head; it being all they could do since Keiko's speech program had been destroyed shortly after the Aperture Trio's escape from planet Earth. The elder of the two androids lead the way into the ship; GLaDOS and Chell waiting in anticipation for this meeting.
When they arrived in the hallway Otua took off her hat and placed it upon a nearby counter, and looked to the ones who were more or less her mothers. There was a silence that spanned a few moments before the protopilot spoke.
"It's been two years since the landing, I know that, but..."
"We know why you're here," Chell interjected, "You've been helping the other Star Liners alongside Auto. You've been experiencing many things for the first time. And in doing so, you've seen how...." she trailed off, "For lack of better word, outdated you are to the other Autopilots." Chell had hit the nail of the head, for Otua gave a nervous nod and spoke again,
"I'm not saying that I don't feel grateful," Otua tried to pick the right words, "But you three supplemented me with upgrades.... I was wondering if there was some way if you could create another update for me."
"I think it's a fantastic idea!" GLaDOS said almost right as Otua finished her sentence, "It could be based on my own system, you know, with-"
"NO FISH" Chell shouted back as she cut off GLaDOS, "The fish shaped ship was already bad enough."
Otua backed away as the two started their usual odd couple fight that had become a tradition over the past few months. Keiko and Otua could only watch in awkward silence as Chell and GLaDOS continued their argument over what would in fact be a good update for the protopilot. It was only after Otua cleared her throat that the other two came to attention.
"As we have wasted an hour, and several sentences," the pilot broke the fourth wall, "I think the core updates are a good idea, although," she smiled sheepishly, "try to tone down on the fish alright mother?" at the last remark GLaDOS's eyes widened. Chell looked back between the two before giving out a sigh. It was game set and match against her in the argument.
"Alright then," She rubbed her temple, "But before we go ahead and do this, have you talked to any of the others? Sae and Mage for instance..."
"No..." Otua became a little anxious, "Sae and Kirie moved into Axiom City and since then I've been in contact off and on with them. And Mage just isn't the caring type unless it concerns her directly...." the way she trailed off hinted at something, a something that Chell caught onto.
"You don't want to worry them, especially after the last update you had on the Axiom," Chell stated, "But perhaps you should talk to them."
"And if not them, Auto," GLaDOS gave out a rare piece of good advice."Despite your less then satisfactory relationship, he has been extremely helpful as of late."
"You seem sure of that," Otua mulled over the two's advice. Looking over to Keiko, the mute android could only give a look of disdain and a shrug in response. "Well, if that's what you think..." the pilot took her hat from the counter and fitted it back on, "I will go speak with him."
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Despite not having passengers within the Axiom, Auto still had to maintain his beloved order. While humans had moved outside into the relentless environment, he was quite content to stay within the sterile walls and oversee robotic operations. McCrea had left as soon as the Axiom had touched down; actually becoming the "Mayor" of what was not dubbed Axiom City. The entire ship was now Auto's, although it was a somewhat empty win, he being in android form and the ship being grounded and all. Staying in the bridge, he reviewed the data for the output that day, everything unchanged as usual, (minus the few robots who were building new homes in the accompanying city) and there weren't any reports for star liners in the vicinity to deactivate the A-113 directive.
A-113, such a word was considered vile to him now. And the close shaves that he and Otua had experienced on their journeys to "cleanse" the other Autopilots only made it dawn upon him as to how blind he had really been ever since receiving the directive. Oddly enough, there had been a few pilots that were outside the system that had never received the A-113, but upon further investigation they had been tampered with and acting on their own accords; only waiting for when the Axiom traveled back to Earth. He tallied up the end results of two years of work. Seven battleships, twelve civilian carriers, two cargo ships, and an independent "pirate" ship that they had found on their third excursion; despite the rather impressive list, Auto knew there were many other ships still being held in A-113's grasp. There had been another ship as well that had strangely enough been undocumented, and it was by complete luck that they had stumbled upon it. But what they had found inside was a ghastly sight; the entire crew (even the Autopilot) and passenger count had been wiped out by someone or something, save for one small robot and a battered young woman. Not wanting to push their luck Auto and his sister rescued the two and left without investigating the rest of the cruise ship. Ever since then, they always had a second ship with them in case an event like that would happen again.
Trying to push the memory out of his system, he started to go down the list of the ship names brought back to Earth. But before he could even cross off one name, Auto heard the elevator ding.
Upon seeing his "sister" Auto set aside the progress report and gave a small salute to the protopilot. The cyan clad android held up her hand at the gesture.
"There's no need for formalities now Auto."
"What brings you here?" the alabaster android asked, "Did you and the Apertures find another ship?"
"It's not that.." Otua replied, "But, I was considering... getting another upgrade."
The younger one was unsure of how to respond to the statement, "It's been two years since your hatching, and only a year since my own. Are you sure you want updates given this new body of yours?" he paused, "I don't think either GLaDOS or Chell know exactly how that new form of yours operates. If something goes wrong during a new update it could be just like how it was back with...." he fell silent as he remembered the day on the bridge, they day where he had let Otua "die" at his hands while he stood cold and callous. "I don't think anyone wants that to happen again." he decided to say.
"You are right," this wasn't the first time she agreed with her brother, "But the thing is......"
"You and stubbornness go in the same pool of Autopilots and control. Too bad none of the other protopilots exist... or else we would know that for sure." Auto didn't realize what he had touched on before he let the words spill, he bit his lip. "I'm sorry Otua...."
"You don't need to be," the blue clad pilot answered, "But at least talking with someone outside of my creators somewhat made up my mind."
"This wasn't a talk," Auto tried to reason, "This is me trying to talk some sense into you about doing something that could be potential life threatening."
"The fact that you care enough after all that transpired here two years ago is enough for me to make a decision." was what he got as a reply. Otua turned to leave, although as she waited for the elevator to come back up she gave a parting sentence.
"Don't worry about me Auto, you've been taking care of yourself until now, if worst comes to worst.. you can take my place..."
The doors opened, two footsteps sounded, and then the doors closed, leaving the black and white autopilot alone again. He heard the whooshing of the elevator that signified that he was once again alone for the time being.
Well, not exactly...
"She's been acting somewhat off don't you think?" A woman walked out of the shadows; the same she-android that Mage had talked with only a few hours ago. She took a seat next to the autopilot. "And her temporary estrangement from Mage and the others, even the teacher doesn't seem to mention her as of late."
"So you think that Otua is wanting this upgrade due to her behaving differently? Or is it the other way around?" Auto didn't even acknowledge the fact that the other android had been in the room until now, although since the landing he was used to her coming and going as pleased.
"It is hard to infer right now," Sigourn answered, "although I think it would be wise for her to get the upgrade, hopefully that will solve the problem."
"I hope you're right." Auto felt anxious and uneasy when he was not sure about things. But Sigourn was right, the only true way to find out about Otua's sudden desire for upgrades would only be answered if she did obtain them. "What about the other person?" he tried to change the subject.
"Other person?"
"The.... "human"" Auto tried to find the right word, "and their small robotic companion that we had found in that destroyed star liner, the one where that horrible massacre had happened, how is the ..... human holding up?"
"Auto, she left McCrea's care shortly after you and Otua rescued her and her friend. Right now she might be traveling to other towns keeping the peace, like a local law enforcement."
"Already?" the pilot couldn't believe the news, "But she was on the verge of-"
"That's enough Auto," Sigourn interrupted, "If she wanted to leave, she wanted to. You can't amass your control over someones will to live now. Besides," the woman gave a shrug, "It's not like we're never going to see her again."
For a moment Auto was unsure if Sigourn was talking about Otua or the girl he had saved. Either way, he was worried.
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It was a metropolis; Seattle, the technology capitol of America. It was the year 2075, and the seaside city even dwarfed Silicon Valley in its extensive computer research. And a computer that had been countless and tirelessly worked upon for almost a century was about to wake up.
She opened her eye. Looking around the room curiously, she quickly began to relay data to her central core that functioned as her brain. Deciding to look down, she saw a small figure that she registered as a human being.
"Hello," she spoke without thinking, "Who are you?"
The person jotted down a few things onto a clip board before answering. "I am your overseer, I was sent to check on your newly grafted A.I."
"A.I.?" she knew the word was registered somewhere, although she already knew she wanted a quick answer.
"Artificial Intelligence," the person, whom she now recognized as a male, didn't bother to look up from his writings, "You were just a simple computer until recently; just maintaining the temperature of other machines and utility systems for this building, although we decided to outfit you with a superior chain of thought, that is, an actual thinking brain."
"Who is we?"
"Aperture Science," the man had stopped writing, "We had been working on your system for a long time, although you're asking questions right now, it will soon be your job to be answering them. You're going to be an overseer soon."
"I don't have to meticulously write away on little slips of paper do I?"
"No," the man was uncertain if the question was actual curiosity or sarcasm; her voice was lacking in feeling and couldn't be read well. "You'll be monitoring test chambers for all our new equipment. We'll be installing cameras throughout the entire building so you can see everything without the hindrance of moving."
She didn't know how exactly to reply to this. Upon thinking of even the basic idea of moving she began to walk forward, but ended up violently lifting herself up and clanging her head against the ceiling instead. She head the man beneath her give a shout, but she came to her senses and stared down attentively at the man,
"That's what I was trying to get at," he said somewhat with a strain, "You're not fit for moving, not now at least." he trailed off and jotted down a few more sentences. "Anyway, I need to leave, but myself and the others will come back to check on you tomorrow. You just relax and get situated." he managed a weak smile before leaving.
She was left to herself. Curious as to why she was unable to walk or even move correctly, she craned her neck to look around. She saw a large flat screen television bolted into the wall. She registered into her mind that she also had four screens bolted onto her body as well, although for what purpose she couldn't imagine. Bending the screen she saw to her will, she enabled it to display an image of herself.
She was a somewhat nightmarish mess of metal and cables, suspended haphazardly by a large central edifice. The eye she was using was at the bottom of what more or less her body, and glowed a vibrant yellow. She also saw different eyes on her body, blue, red, and orange spherical eyes stuck onto her at random intervals. Although what drew her attention the most was the word plastered on one of her discs that attached her to the ceiling. Right beneath the title "Aperture Science", she could make out an oddly capitalized word.
GLaDOS.