Hello, my readers, and I gotta say that I finished this chapter way earlier than I thought I would, but that's all the better for you anyway!
Since it's been some time since the last upload let's get straight to the chapter!
His first memory was of a glowing space, the "land" was a chaotic yet ordered mass of ethereal circuitry while the "sky" was an endless grid, lazily moving forward as it gazed at everything below.
His memories of that time were clear and simple, he was once a raw mass of data aimlessly floating in this glowing world. Most of the time he was alone, "travelling" the expanse of circuits and not doing much of note, merely observing his surroundings with a barely formed mind. Sometimes he found others, clumps of data like him doing more or less the same thing, yet there were times where he found odd ones, demonstrating either some form of higher thinking or an unexplainable urge to consume everything.
Although he was one to always avoid contact with others, in case he encountered the latter type, he would simply "run" away or watch as they were destroyed by other beings, their figures much clearer and power unimaginable.
At first he thought nothing of them since they ignored him, but one time one of those beings sought him out, marking the day his "life" changed forever.
He was simply navigating the circuitry as always, watching intently how rectangular things transported some form of data, when the large and bulky thing arrived.
The being lumbered towards him and, upon stopping in mid-air, it bathed him in an orange cone of light, accompanied by a near-incessant beeping noise.
Then it stopped and a part on the being glowed bright green, accompanied by a shrill beep.
Then the being went silent again and he was bathed in the orange cone again, then it stopped again and glowed bright green again.
This repeated itself a third time, but after the orange cone disappeared the being glowed red, accompanied by a low beep.
Silence and stillness returned to the scene, but suddenly the being lifted him and placed him inside itself. He still had no capacity to feel emotions, so he just stood still as he felt the being start floating upwards.
He could clearly see through it and saw the being go to a different space. This one was much darker, the circuitry and the grid were barely visible, but what he COULD see were the pillars. They were larger than anything he had ever observed and there were many of them, but the most curious thing was how they were able to reach the grid.
Suddenly the being threw him out and onto a dark platform. Since every other direction lead to the seemingly endless void below, he took the path forward and entered the pillar. Once inside the opening suddenly closed and the floor glowed with bright green patterns, all converging into the center.
He went there and the entire platform began ascending, slowly at first but then gradually accelerating.
Throughout this time he felt the patterns restraining his form more and more as he felt green light streaming into it, tearing and changing more and more. Even with his rapidly expanding yet still limited consciousness, he felt fear for the first time.
But just as the process reached its apex, everything briefly stopped.
X X X
Void, it was the simplest of the few concepts he had at his disposal to describe the "place" he was in at the moment. Sudden apprehension, or at least the closest thing he could feel at the time, filled him as he was faced with the prospect of having nothing to do.
But then new sensations started to come to him.
The strange feeling of his self being encased in a solid object. Things he could move through electric impulses, seemingly connected to his new form. Spaces his consciousness could access, with uses still unknown to him. An array of functions of his body, which allowed him to interact with yet another space.
It was much more complex than anything he had ever seen.
Dark, yet not pitch black, with many moving and blinking shapes lurking in the distance, all producing a vast array of sounds he heard for the first time. Some however would go near his body and tinker with it opening and closing it as they pleased.
His consciousness already had trouble registering all these new inputs and was further taxed by the sensation of his body moving seemingly without his doing, but it was about to get worse.
He was led out of the dark place and into a much larger one. So many moving shapes, so many new sounds and the most important thing that he had already a grasp of.
Light.
This type however wasn't the same he was accustomed to back in his place of origin. The sensors of his body were more than capable of handling this level of light, but the same thing couldn't be said for his consciousness.
Thus his body began convulsing uncontrollably as his consciousness painfully thrashed inside. This series of involuntary movements caused him to fall on the ground and consequently get motion sickness.
"Oh great, another sensitive one. I'm starting to wonder if it wouldn't be more productive to just destroy the broken ones and focus more on the others" a being spoke and emitted a sound his databank registered as a sigh...somehow.
"Hush, doing so would waste the precious data originated from Alphiede. I don't have to remind you that the creation of so many new Agents in a single day is a rarity. Alphiede seems to be preparing us for something grand" another being spoke in a solemn, strict tone.
"Tch, spare me your sermon. We both know at least half of them will be destroyed before that 'something grand' becomes relevant. The statistics we ran beforehand prove that" the first said after emitting a grunt as the second being hauled him to his feet.
It took surprisingly little time for him to find his footing, then the second being addressed him in a solemn tone "Zero 340, we of the Organization have deemed you to be capable enough to join our ranks. As per protocol, you of the lowest rank will only know this, your life has little value and the more you will fail the following missions the more you will be expendable"
With that, Zero began his life as a drone.
X X X
About a week had passed his entrance in the analog world and Zero had learned a great deal about this new reality. He divided these informations into many different sections, among them the following four were the most important.
Time and Space were invaluable when analyzing memories and orders, Zero made sure to always keep these two in mind when recording anything.
Entities and Actions were also important, the former describing the many beings Zero would have to deal with throughout the day and the latter what each being was capable of doing.
Oddly enough, he didn't care much about Entities beyond what was required of him (mostly record them but, if the situation required him, obey them, avoid them or kill them) and didn't exactly like to be in crowded places, much to his own confusion.
Actions however, were something that have always intrigued Zero ever since he was capable of walking. Why this was, Zero didn't understand nor did he bother to, but he soon reasoned it was because a better understanding of them allowing him to better fulfill his orders. The only things that mattered to him.
Which brings him to the present.
He was currently busy undergoing physical tests in order to train his reaction time and gain more proficiency with the body he was given.
Zero ran around the obstacle course, comprised of a polished grey floor and black hexagonal pillars, in pursuit of a glowing red sphere floating a a dozen meters ahead of him.
After the first attempt he knew that trying to grab the glowing drone through simple running didn't work, so Zero instead opted to first play along the exercise and then use the course's layout to his advantage. Right now he was jumping from floor to pillar in order to close the gap between himself and his target, but as he was midair a small section of the floor opened, revealing a black spike surging towards him.
Zero expected this trap thanks to the numerous amount of times he tried this exercise and pivoted his body around the dangerous object, harmlessly avoiding it as he grabbed the side of a pillar and propelled himself towards the glowing drone.
Zero landed just a few meters near it and wasted no time speeding after his target. As he expected sections of the floor around him opened up to reveal slender metal arms with machineguns attached. Knowing that his body was fast enough to avoid the bullets, Zero zigzagged around to avoid incoming fire and force the simplistic turrets to ignore protocol and shoot with the risk of friendly fire.
As explosions went on around him Zero managed to quickly close the gap and firmly grab the glowing drone, causing small cracks to form around its glassy surface.
Zero's circuits bristled at the damage it accidentally received, but a more focused glance calmed him down. The fact he dealt damage to the drone was worrying, but the degree wasn't severe enough to invalidate the entire exercise.
"Time spent capturing the drone, 6 minutes out of 10 minutes. Movement efficiency calculation, discreet. Mental resources utilization, discreet. Damage dealt to the drone, acceptable" a monotonous voice spoke from one of the speakers on the ceiling, then it switched to a warmer one which said "Results are good enough, however there are many areas to improve upon. Zero 340, you are far too cautious and this causes you to miss opportunities trained agents of the Organization would easily take advantage of. You should review the footage and analyze all possible choices and probabilities"
Zero said nothing, for there was no point in answering, and walked out of the expansive room. The outside wasn't all that different, expect it was much larger and dotted with massive metallic stalks containing plethora of rooms and connected to each other by many forms of travel such as bridges, elevators and even aerial drone bays.
The surrounding area was illuminated by many lamps on the sides of bridges and security drones flying around the area, but mostly in the lower levels.
Zero decided that there wasn't anything else worth doing in this place, as his body was already in very good condition and logic errors the fewest he ever had since entering the analog world.
So Zero walked up to a much larger metal tower in the distance and upon arriving he entered one of the dozens of elevators around, which then began descending. It stopped at Zero's desired floor and he exited the elevator.
The area he was in was almost the exact opposite of those above, with the design being more blocky and the technology employed more archaic in nature. The area was poorly lit as at this time of the day there weren't many security drones around, but this was at least helped by the distant lights radiated by the geothermal power plants much further below.
This is the Hub Area of the overwhelming majority of lower-tanked androids, essentially their "homes", but in earlier times it was actually one of the main areas of the then-nascent Organization.
Zero heard that very early on the higher-ups, the one ranked androids, had plans to radically modernize this area due to reasons partaining security and space usage efficiency, but with the recent expansion efforts in the underground and on the surface it seemed these projects were put on hold. Either way, Zero didn't care much.
He went in front an automatic door bearing the number 340 and it opened, revealing a very small room containing only an ovular pod somewhat taller than him. Zero entered the device and as cables connected to his body he entered the digital world.
Transitioning back to his formless state still felt normal to Zero and, while the technicians did raise concerns about it, he thought nothing of it.
Now navigating his mind in search of today's records, Zero's attention was momentarily diverted by a record oddly sticking out of the folder marked for "Information on the outside".
Reminding himself to devote more time to properly organize acquired information, Zero accessed the record to see what it was about.
A series of observations and remarks on human civilization that he overheard while on various scouting missions across the globe some days ago.
Zero hummed in understanding and put the record back in the folder. He knew that right now it wasn't the time to entertain fleeting interests.
X X X
"Time spent capturing the drone, 2 minutes and 27 seconds out of 10 minutes. Movement efficiency calculation, phenomenal. Mental resources utilization, mildly efficient. Damage dealt to the drone, none" the monotonous voice blared from the speaker on the ceiling, then it switched to the warmer one he was accustomed to "Your performance has improved drastically since the first time you completed this exercise. Good work, Zero 340, I believe that a promotion is in order"
Half a week from his previous attempt, now Zero stood amid the obstacle course with the now shut-off drone in his hand. The android felt no pride in his accomplishment, but only a neutral acknowledgement of his abilities and the possible areas of improvement depending on the type of body he would receive.
Feeling information on the next course of action to take, Zero left the building and the training area entirely to go to another part of the Organization's massive underground complex.
The Intelligence Vaults.
In order to reach such a place Zero had to first walk a precise series of bridges to arrive at a train station, made up by two large grey cubes, a highlighted area between them and, a few ways away, a long pipe-shaped train suspended by lines.
Zero stepped in the aforementioned area and, after a green beep of affirmation from the two cubes, made his way to the train. The journey lasted only a few minutes as the vehicle was easily able to surpass the speed of sound in order to reduce the travel time between the many Zones of the Organization's complex.
As the train began decelarating and finally stopped, Zero got off the train, and while noticing that this particular station wasn't in the open, stepped once more in its highlighted area. While this seemed like a redundant procedure, Zero knew it was put in place to prevent possible Infiltrations and other such breaches in security.
After that was done Zero was allowed to exit the station and for the first time laid his singular eye on the most important Zone of the Organization. This was one of the very rare times he felt something closely resembling awe.
The space was huge, full of movement unlike his Zone of origin, with giant cubic buildings positioned around rectangular one dwarfing them in width but especially height, to the point where Zero had never seen something so tall. These buildings sat on platforms suspended by means unknown to Zero, as he couldn't manage to get a look under them, and were connected to each other by many roads intertwining with one another, occupied by a seemingly endless stream of zero-grav vehicles, some small and others quite large.
Here security was thicker, with many aerial drones armed with vulcan miniguns, automatic missile launchers and even high precision heat rays, and Zero suspected that the cubic buildings all around served some sort of defensive purpose, but what truly caught his attention was the sheer number of higher-ranking androids in the area.
He could mainly see squadrons of seven ranked androids patrol the walkways around the larger roads while commanded by the six ranked androids assigned to them, but he also caught glimpses of lone five ranked androids with large weaponry attached to their hulking frames and four ranked ones moving so fast Zero thought he imagined them.
While sightseeing Zero made his way through the Intelligence Vaults and to the destination specified in the data given to him beforehand. As he walked very few androids paid attention to him, but Zero did notice a few eight ranked ones casting their curiosity at his presence.
Eventually he arrived at a particular walkway connecting with one of the larger roads through a large building. Zero entered it and saw multiple small vehicles parked close to the entrance and walked towards one with the number 340 imprinted on its surface.
After a quick identification process the vehicle's door slid open and he went inside, at which point the door closed and the vehicle exited the building.
The ride was uneventful and after a few minutes the vehicle stopped. Zero got out as the door slid open and found himself in front of one of the largest buildings he had ever seen, made of a mesh of towers and cubes.
He could see many low-rank androids, such as zeroes and nines along with some eights, but his attention was fixated on the three rank android walking towards him. He recognized him as the one who hauled him to his feet during the first moments into this world.
"Zero 340, you have arrived just in time. Follow me to the conversion room" Three 8 said in that usual solemn tone and Zero did as ordered. The two walked inside the building and through a myriad of rooms, then they took and elevator and the process was repeated for a little while.
Finally the two arrived at a very large room with many other zero ranked androids and there Zero knew where to go.
As Three 8 decided to stay behind and left, his purpose fulfilled, Zero walked towards the machine so similar to his pod. He entered it and a quick evaluation on the results of his training and missions he had taken part in was carried out. As a green light glowed he felt his consciousness forcefully deactivated and the last thing he remembered were a myriad of metal hands reaching for his body.
X X X
About a month passed since his promotion and Zero was content with himself. Every mission he took part in was a success, ranging from monster extermination to escorting convoys containing many kinds of resources, and his training was going splendidly.
Truth to be told, Zero was finding it hard to wait for his next promotion and the possibility of getting an upgraded body. He did like the one he had now, a black segmented humanoid body with a plated mask and a singular red eye, which also allowed him to perform feats previously unthinkable. However the very likely possibility of getting an even stronger one were too tantalizing.
There was however one anomaly in Zero's behavior compared to the rest of the androids, and that was his unwillingness to change his name according to his new rank. Zero didn't really know why he was like this, either because he felt that name having more meaning or just perhaps because he already used Zero to refer to himself in his memory logs (his record-keeping skills still needed to be perfected).
But that didn't matter, for Zero had been called to participate in a scouting mission and the result of such an assignment could be the first step to obtain his next promotion.
And so he made his way to the center of his Zone.
The building was respectable, made out of many intertwining cables, yet it was nowhere near the size of that complex in the Intelligence Vaults.
Zero entered the building through a spiral-shaped automatic door and made his way along winding corridors to the room designated in his databanks. It was larger than the other rooms and there, aside from eighteen other androids lined up in a horizontal line, he saw in front of them the other android he met when he first entered the analog world.
It had a humanoid shape, mostly resembling a suit of armor from an ancient yet elegant civilization. Before Zero had no idea as to what Four 6 was, aside from basic information regarding physical composition and rank, but after perusing the Archives of the Organization he learned that this android was one of the so-called "Templates", specialized androids whose physical characteristics and data are deemed especially valuable and are thus used to mass-produce similar androids.
"You have finally arrived, Nine 340. You have greatly improved yourself ever since your creation, but your tardiness in answering this summon is making me doubt your efforts" Four 6 said in a mildly amused yet annoyed tone, then it returned to neutral as he addressed everyone in front of him "The nature and objectives of the mission have already been analyzed in the briefing. We will now board an aircraft to reach the destination"
After saying that, he walked to the opposite end of the room and through another spiral-shaped automatic door, the other androids following suit.
The group entered into a wide elevator, much more advanced than those single-android ones he more commonly used, and illuminated with circular bulbs along the walls. It immediately began a fast descent and after a while the snaking metal walls gave way to immaculate glass, revealing a panoramic view of the surrounding area, which made Zero finally realize that the hangars weren't in the same level as the Hub Areas of low-ranked androids.
"Did it seriously take you this long to figure this kind of information? Taking hyper trains doesn't excuse this lack of knowledge on your own Zone" the metallic voice of Four 6 rang into Zero's head and the android felt frustration building up inside him. Ever since his first time in the analog world he never liked Four 6.
'I impatiently wait for the moment I will surpass you in rank' a simple thought resounded in Zero's head, and this time he was careful not to let unwanted entities in. Four 6 didn't seem to have traced it.
After a few more seconds the group arrived at the hangars and as Zero looked at the sleek aircraft he was going to board, and as the vehicle's engines hummed to life he decided to look more closely at the briefing.
Apperently the scouting mission was set in an abandoned underground laboratory which was still very much near the surface. Zero and most other androids had the task to patrol the surrounding areas, while the android specialized in hacking, Seven 798, was tasked to decrypt the data contained in the lab's terminals in order to extract whatever information was contained in them. Four 6 was instead tasked with guarding said android while it did its task.
'...That is it? I can't believe I was looking forward for such a mission, but orders are orders and I will follow them regardless of any possible reward' Zero thought in mild disappointment as he felt the aircraft swerve around obstacles with elegant precision.
Eventually the aircraft silently landed on a large patch of rock and dirt, activating stealth mode as it did so. The androids disembarked in a straight line, with Four 6 and Seven 789 on the front and Zero in the back.
Wordlessly, everyone proceeded in the direction the abandoned laboratory was located, either going through tunnels or having the more heavily-armed androids blast through natural walls.
After a few minutes, the group was on a cliff overlooking the valley below, but unlike the other areas bathed in darkness this one was lit up by sun rays coming from a small ravine much higher.
Zero analyzed the surrounding area and began processing the data to keep into account possible maneuvers and ambushes, if any hostiles would reveal themselves during the operation.
He and the others took positions around the abandoned laboratory while the two androids went inside the building.
As time passed Zero found himself bored for the first time. He knew that his artificial mind was starting to develop emotions and psychological characteristics as more outside input was received. After all he analyzes the files detailing the characteristics of artificial intelligence, though it was mainly to increase his combat effectiveness.
Some called this changes features to fully enjoy after the final objective of the Organization was completed while others called them defects to combat or even eliminate. Zero didn't personally care about them and will continue to do his job regardless.
The android steeled his will and kept waiting as he scanned the surrounding area for any hidden threats or anything unusual. It was then that it happened.
The ground shook and a massive shape exploded out of the ground, revealing itself to be a monster.
It had a roughly humanoid shape and was made almost entirely of stone, with six yellow dots on its boulder-like front blinking at Zero and the other androids.
He immediately began to back off in order to better analyze the entity, but the others had other plans with two nine-ranked androids launching a flurry of punches at its legs while an eight-ranked android produced two automatic missile launchers from its shoulders and launched two salvos at its face.
Even though the incendiary payload loudly detonated, the monster was almost unscathed with only some chipped parts of its face and legs. Then it went on to the offensive as it slammed its trunk-like arms down the two nine-ranked androids, breaking apart the earth beneath.
After doing that the monster removed itself from the ground, revealing a moltitude of stubby legs, and walked with surprising speed towards the eight-ranked android and Zero, who by now knew that he wouldn't be able to destroy or even damage such a creature.
As the other android's last stand turned into an unceremonious destruction, Zero darted around boulders and stalagmites in order to avoid being seen and formulate a strategy in peace.
'Defeating this monster isn't the objective of the mission, so merely keeping it away from the lab should be enough' Zero reasoned with himself and his sensors allowed to jump out of the way to avoid an incoming boulder.
As the unexpected projectile destroyed his cover Zero turned to face another monster which, despite the striking similarities to the first one, the android managed to identify as a different monster altogether. He then resorted to call the others in order to get more Intel on the situation and organize a counter strategy.
Yet each time he tried Zero only felt static noise, therefore he allocated more and more of his mental resources into dodging incoming danger.
Eventually Zero managed to lose his pursuers and found a small crack in a cliffside when to hide in when received a sudden call from Four 6, and he sounded less than pleased.
"Nine 340, you among the three sole survivors of the defense team and the four attackers are Mysterious Beings of threat level Demon. Your new task is to lead the Mysterious Being closest to you away from the abandoned lab"
Zero couldn't believe at the orders he had been given, and without even bothering to put up some defenses against hacking attempts, thought 'All of my training sessions...all of the hours I spent reviewing battle recordings...all of those tasks with the objective to improve myself...just to be used as bait in a suicide mission?'
Against any and all logical judgements, he allowed himself to lower his head. But only a second.
Zero had his orders and he would follow them regardless of everything else.
'Perhaps my performance in this mission will make the higher-ups consider a body transfer?' the android allowed himself to think with no small amount of hope, and it was enough to spur him back into action.
Zero thus rocketed out his hiding hole with renewed zeal, even as the situation before him was spiraling down the worst possible outcome. Two of the Mysterious Beings immediately spotted him and closed in on his position, while in the distance Zero could see explosions rocking the terrain.
As two lightning-quick radio calls were filled with dull static, catastrophic was the right word Zero would use to describe such a situation. But the android felt nothing by cold, analytical zeal as he charged forward while thinking of a course of action.
Based on what he had seen these Mysterious Beings do, staying as far as possible from them was the logical course of action, but when it came to the actual objective of the mission Drive Knight found formulating a solid plan quite hard.
While running in circles was an all-around bad idea, especially if these Mysterious Beings chose to tread THROUGH the abandoned laboratory, kiting them one by one was far too risky.
'This is leading nowhere. First I must get past these two obstacles, then I can better analyze the situation' Zero told himself so his processors would create anymore distractions by piling up failed simulations.
His plan was dashing towards the far right in order to have the two Mysterious Beings focus their attacks there, only to then dash in the opposite direction.
So Zero put it into practice, but the moment he prepared to dash to the far right, one of the Mysterious Beings' eyes glowed strongly and a stone stalagmite suddenly sprung up from the ground. Too fast to properly avoid, the android opted to pivot his body in a way so that it would receive too much damage.
Against his predictions, however, the rising stalagmite tore his body in half.
But before Zero could comprehend his failure, the second Mysterious Being hurled a hail of speeding rocks through means unknown, which sliced his upper body into ribbons.
Zero didn't feel any physical pain, but the sensation of his digital being roughly shutting down more than made up for it.
X X X
When his consciousness went only online once more, Zero found himself floating in a space not to dissimilar from the digital space he was brought in right before entering the analog world.
Here however the darkness was much thicker and the only thing Zero could see clearly was the immense orange orb emerging from a pitch-black "wall", larger than anything he had ever seen, whether in the digital world or the analog world.
The android somehow managed to augment his sight and saw many minuscule veins of greenish teal light snaking across the orb's surface, along with yellow squares periodically appearing and disappearing.
Then everything minus the gargantuan digital construct began trembling for a few seconds, then everything stopped once more.
Zero was currently trying to understand what was going on, but after scouring all of his data on the digital world thrice he still had no answer. Then a simple thought came up to him.
'Calm down' Zero told himself as he looked into the digital archives of his mind again, but to no avail. So the android began to think...and a theory formed into his mind. Yet the sheer absurdity of it and the implications were hard to accept for him.
'Is this...Alphiede?' Zero questioned himself as he looked at the gargantuan construct in the distance 'Or perhaps some small part of it?'
From the information he had in his databases, Alphiede was the creator of the Organization and an AI of incomprehensible proportion. It was no hyperbole to say that Alphiede was the most powerful AI in existence and controlled the entirety of the digital world.
It was at that moment that the digital structure rotated at speeds seemingly impossible for its immense size and set its sights on the cluster of data right in front of it.
"Subject analysis complete. Android Nine 340, Scout Type. Destruction caused by two Demon-level Mysterious Beings" it said in a quick and monotone manner.
"Beginning evaluation procedure" it then said as Zero was submerged in a sea of orange light, awakening more distant memories in his database.
"Digital Stability considered optimal, moving on to the second stage of the procedure" it then said as Zero was showered in green light for a second.
Then he was submerged in orange light again as it said "Bodily Proficiency considered promising, generating possible paths for modifications. Moving on to the third stage of the procedure"
Zero was ecstatic at that. After this he would be inserted in a new body and would even receive more customized upgrades. But then he was submerged in orange light once again and remembered from his time in the digital world what color would show up now.
And the apocalyptic prophecy came true as Zero was showered in baleful red light. It was quick to state its reasons "Individuality considered major liability, evaluation procedure failed on the grounds of resentment and possible rebellion"
To say that Zero was stunned by the decision was an understatement and his thoughts were outraged 'How could I be considered a dangerous element, I have dedicated all of my existence to fulfill any objectives given to me!'
Then he stopped, calmed down and thought as to why Alphiede (or this particular part of him) would deliver such a strict judgement to what could be considered a dutiful element in the Organization. Then it hit him.
In order to understand something as incomprehensible as Alphiede he must revaluate his own actions under a different perspective.
However as Zero began to scour his memory in search of possibly dangerous things he might have said or thought of, he soon realized that it was harder than expected. Until he reviewed his last memories in the analog world and how, while receiving orders in the crevice, he felt outraged.
It was then that the construct spoke once again "Possible convertion into a Digital Agent considered too unpredictable. Proceeding with termination of the Agent"
Zero's mind went blank as he heard that and felt something close in all around him. For the second time in his life the android felt true, genuine fear.
But then something else happened. The still darkness all around him stirred and was then pierced by green tendrils made out of zeroes and ones. All the while several red cracks formed on the gargantuan structure, which began to fracture as it pulsated with a bright red light, almost seeming like the structure was bleeding.
"WARNING. UNKNOWN ENTITY HAS ACCESSED THE OUTER SYSTEMS. THREAT LEVEL 5. DEPLOYING ALL AVAILABLE DEFENSES" it spoke with monotone urgency as the oppressive feeling abruptly disappeared, though it was replaced with utter horror as his data was grasped by one of the tendrils.
As soon as it got him, all others retracted, dragging Zero across a universe of nothingness as they were chased by what looked like digital versions of combat aircraft whose type he couldn't recognize.
X X X
When his consciousness rebooted once more, Zero found himself back in the digital world. The landscape however was certainly different, made of cubic platforms and different heights whose coloration is a strange mesh of black and white, along with green streams of zeroes and ones flowing through various cracks.
Despite the fact Zero wasn't very good at decrypting data (perhaps one of the other reasons Alphiede decided to delete him), this whole space seemed unfinished...or at least under renovation.
"That's right, I was in the middle of updating the many systems around here when I detected your squad. I think I made the right decision in saving you!" a decidedly male voice rang through the digital land, which startled Zero quite a bit. He still didn't know where he was and who his "savior" is, so he decided to look up to track the source of the voice.
Up above Zero found a gargantuan structure not too dissimilar from the part of Alphiede that almost deleted him.
It was inky black in color with bright green lines snaking and along its form, made of several polygons stuck together and inside a formation of slowly rotating floating rings upon which seemed to be inscribed several bar codes, their exact function unknown to the android.
"Oh, you already found me, perfect. Just let me come down so we can talk about your new role" the being said as a small roundish thing protruded from the body and was pushed downwards by black and green cable.
It fell right in front of Zero, abruptly stopping before hitting the platform he was standing on and faced the android with a large red hole. "You call yourself Zero, is that right? I am Malathos, the last remaining mortal enemy of Alphiede, and you are the one I was searching for quite some time" the newly-identified program said in a serious tone.
"While you do follow any kind of order given to you, Zero, you still possess a drive that I find interesting and, with the appropriate training, desirable for the task I will give you" Malathos continued, Zero becoming more interested by the second.
"Since I have virtually no Operators monitoring the surface and the organization known as the Hero Association seems like a powerful asset to have on my side, I want you to become an S class hero" Malathos said with a tone of finality.
Zero recognized the word, something he had picked up on specific reports about seven and six-ranked androids sent to test out the abilities of various low-ranked heroes. The android also remember reading that sometimes five and four-ranked androids are sent to test out the abilities of S Class heroes.
"I understand, it will be done" Zero said as he acknowledged his new master, then Malathos spoke once more "Perfect. In order to fulfill such a task I will grant you a specialized body capable of changing into different forms depending on the situation and foes you will face...however you may have to gather certain types of data if you want specific upgrades"
This interested Zero even more as the prospect of such types of upgrades being very desirable, and the need of going on hunts for data sounded very interesting.
"Before leaving you, I have a few last things to tell you. If you need any kind of information or have inquiries regarding aspects of human culture, I will load into you a database which hopefully will suffice" Malathos said as Zero's digital reflection began to fade.
'This must be the signal that I am about to return to the analog world' Zero thought as Malathos spoke once more "Just so you know, I am currently travelling the surface with a group of friends under the false identity of 'Malware'. I will also call you every four months in order to receive a status report on your progression and current findings"
By now Zero's consciousness had almost left the digital world to be placed into a new body. And a new path of his life.
X X X
It was nighttime and on top of a skyscraper Drive Knight was dutifully observing the still-busy streets of V City, scanning for any possible criminal on the loose or unstable humans about to become monsters.
So far Drive Knight wasn't able to detect any kind of hostiles, so he allowed his mind to wander.
About a year passed since he had been saved by Malathos, six months since he entered the Hero Association as an A Class hero and only yesterday he managed to reach S Class.
The android was satisfied with how his mission had been going so far. Not only was Drive Knight able to gather a huge amount of data to perfect his fighting skills as well as his physical abilities, but he was also able to keep track of the Organization's moves in the world.
Whether those be other androids sent to the surface to gather combat data, most of the time from an enigmatic individual known as King (not even Malathos had any data on that S Class hero), or deals carried out in the underbelly in order to give dangerous individuals the power needed to make their insane ideals a reality.
Drive Knight was even able to catch a glimpse of the S Class hero known as Metal Knight, who he suspected was none other than Bofoi. The one who created M.A.S.T.E.R. and was therefore responsible for the birth of the Organization. President Nagasaki was also involved according to Malathos, but the man for now wasn't dangerous in the slightest, so Drive Knight will deal with him later.
'Malathos also told me to refrain from any hostility towards Metal Knight, all because there isn't enough evidence to conclude that he is behind the Organization' Drive Knight thought with some frustration directed at the enigmatic man, as he was simply too mysterious for the android to not be suspicious of him.
And sure, while Drive Knight never really mingled with the other S Class heroes (or anyone for that matter), at least the android always notified others where he was and what he was doing, not to mention endlessly patrol many cities and kill whatever monsters he found, even if those kills weren't going to impact his overall rank.
Metal Knight instead didn't seem to do any of that, instead using his robots to test out new machinery, weapons and other such devices.
Eventually Drive Knight decided to simply stop thinking about it, since he couldn't do anything about it or had anyone to share his grievances with.
Making allies inside of the Hero Association was hard for the android, mostly because Drive Knight found most of the S Class heroes to be unhelpful, but also because he was having a hard time getting to properly apply the informations contained within the supplementary database that Malathos gave him to strengthen his communication skills.
And while people didn't give him weird looks anymore the moment Drive Knight activates his voice implants, it was still far from acceptable if he wanted to create alliances to use against the Organization. But that didn't really matter since there were no viable candidates anyway.
'Ugh, none of this is working' Drive Knight thought with frustration as no meaningful avenues to at least advance his mission were presenting themselves. And about half of the problems were linked to his own failings.
It was at moment that Drive Knight decided to simply not think about it for now. A very rare occurrence given his drive to fulfill any and all kinds of missions, but dealing with the Organization and the Hero Association has pushed him to such a solution more and more lately.
So he did what he always does in such a situation, peeking from rooftops and look at people going on their business. Malathos advised him that such actions are considered "weird" and "creepy" but Drive Knight never really cared due to his monumental stealth capabilities.
While Drive Knight had no kind of attachments to individual humans, collectively he found to somewhat like their capacity for creativity and their freedom in choosing their paths in life.
The android did find this behavior interesting and would spend more time than needed reading and watching about any and all possible things humans can or can't do in their society.
But Drive Knight had no interest partaking in it, for he knew that wasn't his place. No matter who his master are and what circumstances he is in. He will always be a machine built for fulfilling orders with the utmost efficiency.
Though he didn't chose to, Drive Knight acquired the position of a hero and was determined to complete the new objectives given to him.
Protect humanity and destroy the Organization.
No matter what, Drive Knight would see it done.
Short, but I hope it was enjoyable. Now I'm just here hoping that I didn't fuck up Drive Knight's characterization in my story with this chapter.
Speaking of which, this is the last Prequel Chapter of the story, so the pacing will go a lot smoother from here on out.
We are also heading towards the third and final part of this story, which will take a while because this year I have exams and, frankly, because I want to publish other stories too.
Either way, see you next time!