63 Days Left

At the Akkala Ancient Tech Lab, Lindhardt and Annette were helping Robbie and Jerrin with a certain project, along with a few other people. Purah and Symin had dropped by. Usanagi was there, as were three other Yiga scientists. Robbie and Jerrin's son Granté had come up to the Lab from his usual shop in Tarrey Town. And Volga, who had gotten his new limbs attached two days prior, was still there due to having been advised to stay at the Lab for a week after the operation.

"I still think having this machine rebuilt was a foolish idea," Volga said, looking at Robbie's newly-built, Malice-free Guardian.

"It's completely void of Malice," Linhardt said. "Ganon can't control it. I don't see why we should consider it a problem. Unless it offends your warrior sensibilities?"

"On its own, it doesn't," Volga said. "Not everyone is meant to take to the field of battle, and those who are not can prove their strength, their resolve, in other ways. If a man like Robbie is prepared to strive to be the best at what he chooses to do with his life, I can respect him for that, whatever that might be. No, what offends me is the idea that Hyrule might make more Guardians again. The idea that warriors with spirit and courage might be replaced with blindly obedient machines."

"Is it not better if no one dies in war?" Linhardt asked.

"I actually have to agree with Volga," Annette said. "It's not the Guardians themselves that are a problem, it's the matter of who would control them. Yes, soldiers can obey an evil king, but they might betray him, or decide to show mercy where he wouldn't. The Guardians don't make choices. They only obey."

Linhardt cringed. "I didn't think of that. Yes, that would be bad, wouldn't it?"

"Don't worry, we won't be mass-producing these," Robbie said. "I didn't even include an artificial brain in this one. It's remote-controlled. I can't go into battle myself anymore, so I'll be piloting this Guardian."

"Meanwhile, I'll be making use of some of Dad's old weaponry," Granté said, wearing a harness with two mechanical arms attached. At the ends of the arms were Ancient Bladesaws, and there were four miniature versions of the Divine Beasts following him.

"I can imagine you'll do a lot of damage with those," Linhardt said. He then looked to Purah and Symin, who were working on something with Robbie's 'computer'. "What are you working on?"

"I'm trying to crack the Guardians' command code," Purah said. "If I can solve it, then get connected to one of the Sheikah Towers, then click, snap, boom! Then the Guardians start blowing up monsters instead of our troops. Or if I can't make them do that, I can make them all self-destruct."

"I imagine that will make things a lot easier," Linhardt agreed. He looked at the screen, trying to see if he could do anything to help, but clearly he still had much to learn in the way of Sheikah technology, because he could barely understand the code.

As he and Annette looked back to Granté, one of the Yiga scientists—her name was Frazier, if Linhardt remembered correctly—was looking over Granté's harness. "If you want extra protection, we could try and incorporate this harness into a suit of Power Armor."

"That...might be nice," Granté agreed. "What did you have in mind?"

"You will have to use one of our older models," another scientist—his name was Finney—said. "Aside from the fact that our best Power Armor is reserved for our men, the older armor is easier for novices to use. We'll use one of the suits we use as a training suit. Don't worry, it should still protect you from anything short of a Stone Talus as long as you guard your neck."

Annette frowned. "There's one thing I don't get. If you have this really nice armor...why did you only use it against us once?"

"The thing about our power armor is, it's strong, but not subtle," the last scientist, Mercy Cantrell, elaborated. "If an assassin tried going out in a suit of it, they would be swarmed by monsters every step of the way. And that's not exactly a benefit for assassins. Not to mention that these suits of power armor are expensive to produce. If a Hinox, Talus, Guardian, or Lynel destroys one, that's an investment of over ten thousand rupees lost, and that's for one of the cheaper models. And even if the suit does make it back, there are still upkeep costs. We found it more efficient to use our armor for defensive battles."

"I see," Annette said.

"Make no mistake, though, had you stormed our lair instead of challenging Master Kohga, we would have used every last suit against you," Usanagi stated matter-of-factly. "I can't say for certain how that would have ended, but it would have been unpleasant for you at least."

"I believe you," Annette said.

Usanagi shrugged. "Master Kohga had many among the Yiga Clan who loved him, but I was not one of them. I have no reason to hope we have to find out how that battle would have ended. Still, it may yet happen. I suppose it depends on what Master Sooga decides he thinks of Princess Zelda's character."

"Are you worried you might be showing us your tech's weaknesses?" Linhardt asked.

"Perhaps that's what I am doing," Usanagi said. "Or perhaps I am showing you just enough of our tricks that you think you know what to expect."

"Good point," Linhardt said, nodding.