A/n- Honestly I didn't give much thought to Echo Zane after S6, but a conversation with RubyRed883 on Wattpad made me wonder what did happen once time was reset? I've read stories about him becoming Mr. E (which if I've researched correctly was the initial plan of the production team but they didn't 'officially' go through with it) but that's not exactly how I see things playing out...
Tap. Tap. Tap.
The incessant noise and pressure eventually toggled something inside him, causing his rusty eyelids to open. 'Where am I?' Everything before that moment was a blank to his memory processors. 'Who am I?'
Tap. Tap. Tap.
'And what is that?' Puzzled, the automaton looked down to see a small rectangular robot, barely the height of his knee, running repeatedly into his leg. The little robot made a few distressed beeps but continued hitting him.
He watched for a few more moments before leaning down for a closer look. From here he could see a couple wires sparking where the robot's neck connected to its head. 'Ahh.' Gently he picked up the robot, whose wheels continued rolling even once it was in the air, and turned it around to get a better angle to see the problem.
Three wires had frayed and were touching each other causing sparks to shoot out in all directions. Shaking his head in sympathy, the android clicked a button on his arm. A small multi-tool popped up and he carefully began repairing the damage.
In only a minute he had the wires cauterized and wrapped, and the hatch tightly resealed. The little robot's eyes flashed green and its wheels stopped rolling. It let out an appreciative beep and he gently set the robot back on the ground. Immediately it rolled to a miniature feather duster and began cleaning the room.
The automaton's eyes trailed the little robot then scanned the room. It appeared to be a workroom of some sort. Boxes of metal bits, schematics, and assorted tools lay scattered about the chipped wooden tables.
He started to walk over to the nearest table but lost his balance and fell to the floor. Taken by surprise, he looked back to see what caused his, less than graceful, faceplant. Resting patiently, where it had been before he took a step, stood his left leg. 'Oops.' He pushed himself onto his hands and functioning knee and carefully scooted backward. Grasping the leg he slid it back into its socket and cautiously tested his weight on it. This time the leg stayed in place.
With his extremities back in their proper place, he walked over to the closest table and examined the papers on it. They were his own schematics. A designation had been scrawled across the top.
'Zane.'
That felt familiar, yet still wrong somehow. However, he didn't need to look at the papers to know his directive. That he could feel pulsing within his processors.
He was built to protect those who couldn't protect themselves.
The android's eyes turned back to the cleaning bot. While he felt a measure of satisfaction at being able to have just helped him, there was a smidge of jealousy that the little guy could continue its directive easily when his own sensors couldn't pick up another life form in the building.
Speaking of the building... He looked up to see a set of stairs leading out of the stone room. Even if no one else was around he still wanted to explore. Maybe something would help trigger the memories that were just out of reach.
The rickety stairs led to an open common room. A large table filled the middle of the square room while desks and assorted gizmos lined the walls. Gulls perched on open windows while more of their brethren could be heard emitting cries that echoed against the rocks outside.
Echo.
Echo.
He frowned. Why did that sound familiar? Again he searched his memory processors, but beyond sensing a- for lack of a better word- 'blip' right before waking, his internal wiring was too corrupted to make any sense of.
Echo.
Echo.
Looking around the room, his eyes caught on a photograph of an older gentleman holding a screwdriver. He couldn't place the name, but the man's image invoked feelings of happiness and a longing that he couldn't explain.
Echo.
Echo.
The word continued to haunt the android's thoughts. Eventually he shrugged. His memory wasn't going to fix itself right now, so there was no point in worrying about it.
Continuing to explore the room he quickly realized this was a single tower in the middle of the ocean. What on earth could be the purpose of such a place? Solitude from the world? A vacation getaway? Or perhaps something... more sinister?
Even with the little robot's obvious efforts, it was plain that no living being (besides the birds) had been here in a long time. So why was he here? Though he had just helped the smaller robot, it didn't seem like he'd be able to fulfill his directive very well here.
As if on cue a plaintive cry came from behind him. Turning around he saw a juvenile seagull standing on one of the windowsills. The bird squawked again and flapped her wings. Well more accurately tried to flap her wings. Only her left one moved while the right one remained bent at an awkward angle.
"I'm sorry." Hearing his own voice surprised him. From the way his tone moved up and down of its own accord he figured his voice box needed attention. That could wait though. "Let me see if I can help you."
The android accessed his databanks for information on veterinary care. After finding what he needed he took a cautious step forward. The bird shrieked and flapped her wing frantically. Quickly stopping to avoid the bird further distress, he started speaking softly to her.
"It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you." The bird slowly stilled and cocked her head at the automaton. "That's it. It's okay."
Continuing to speak gently he took a step closer, than another. The bird allowed him to approach without showing any further signs of distress.
"Let's take care of that wing." The bird tensed when he reached toward her, but didn't try to flap away. "That's it. Good girl."
Cross checking his actions with the images and information in his database, he carefully wrapped the gull's wing. When he finished the seagull nuzzled his hand.
"That wasn't so bad was it?"
But now what to do with her? The room was three stories above the ground, and, even if it wasn't, she couldn't fly to find food or take care of herself. He frowned and looked around the room. A wooden box rested on one of the desks with a stack of weathered papers in it.
'Maybe...'
It only took a few seconds to situate the box into a suitable bed for the seagull. She settled in immediately but continued to watch the automaton with keen interest.
"You can stay here until you're ready to fly. You'll be safe."
A sudden beeping came from his feet. He looked down to see the cleaning robot shaking its stubby arms in dismay before starting to clean up stray pieces of paper the bird had knocked to the floor. Kneeling down, he helped the smaller robot return the room to its former clean-ish-ness.
"I'll take care of her, don't worry."
The robot gave him a suspicious once over, but emitted an affirmative sequence. It rolled off to find something else to clean and the autotamaton turned his attention back to the seagull. She had nestled further into the papers but was watching other seagulls flying outside.
"It's alright. You'll be out there soon enough showing them what you can do." He gently stroked her head.
His own gaze trailed toward the window and to the endless waves filling the horizon. Maybe the older gentleman would come back for him to help him do good for others. A small squawk made him look back at the bird. She was looking up at him with- what could only be described as- an adoring expression on her face. The android felt himself smile appreciatively. Well, even if the man didn't, it appeared there was a way to fulfill his directive.
And he could live with that.
A/n- Kind of short. Kind of bittersweet, but in all honesty I can see him sort of being forgotten about in all the craziness. I can also see Jay and Nya wanting to put the whole Nadakhan thing behind them and unintentionally forgetting about Echo in the process...