Humanoid
Upon stepping into Vernon Haught's workshop, an atmosphere of technological sophistication and innovation envelops Adrian and Chowa. The space is vast and well organized, with sleek metallic surfaces gleaming under the soft glow of ambient lighting. Intricate schematics and holographic displays showcasing Haught's latest creations adorn the walls, each one a marvel of design. While Haught may be an egotistical blowhard, one look at his workspace confirms he is far from a fraud.
Alonzo, their android guide, leads them through the labyrinthine rows of workstations where automated robotic arms meticulously craft the custom androids that cater to the whims of the galaxy's elite, working with the delicacy of seasoned artisans. The air fills with the gentle hum of machinery and the occasional whirr of servos as humanoid forms take shape before their eyes.
"These models you see here," Alonzo begins, his voice a soothing cadence that seems to echo through the expanse of the workshop, "Are designed for a myriad of functions. From administrative assistants capable of managing entire corporate empires with unparalleled efficiency to military-worthy models capable of performing the clandestine duties of an entire security detail on their own. Many of Mr. Haught's ingenious designs are multi-faceted, just as capable of body-guarding as they are in everyday companionship. He crafts all his works to the explicit specifications of his discerning clientele, and granted greater functionality beyond that as well."
"Can you show me which ones he built with the materials from the Venture?" Adrian asks.
"You may examine the recently completed models over here," Alonzo intones, gesturing towards a row of androids in various stages of near-completion standing like sentinels atop diagnostic stands, each one a unique creation.
Adrian glances them over before jumping and covering her eyes. "Wh-why are some of them anatomically correct?!"
Alonzo smiles blankly, unperturbed by her response. "Why, that's simply one of the common specifications Mr. Haught's clients give for their personal android companions."
"Of course it is," Adrian grumbles, her face flushing red.
"I am still bewildered by how awfully ugly human genitalia is," Chowa comments, staring.
"Right there with you," Adrian mumbles. She tilts her head, observing one in particular with wide eyes. "Though that one they clearly took some liberties with."
Samus' voice cuts in over the faint hum of machinery and diagnostic beeps as she and Arrande arrive. "What have you found?"
"Other than a rising sense of discomfort?" Adrian responds. "These are apparently the ones made with the shipment."
"Those, and the ones currently being constructed in Mr. Haughts assembly line," Alonzo adds, motioning to the workstations Samus and Arrande pass on their way over. "We also have some remaining samples of norium that have yet to be utilized in storage."
"I'm going to need all of that. Clear it with your boss, and if he has an issue with it, make it clear using any of this material could taint his work."
"At once, Madam." Alonzo gives a shallow bow and excuses himself from the workshop.
Meanwhile, Samus marches up and examines the almost-complete androids. Arrande joins Adrian, exuding the energy of a wounded animal. She whispers to him, "Hey, she didn't tear into you too badly, did she?"
He opens his mouth to respond but then closes it; the words swallowed by his better judgment. Samus has made her point clear, and that's what matters. He won't seal his fate by being overheard complaining about it. "Let's just focus on the mission."
"Adrian," Samus interrupts.
"Yes, Captain!"
"You and Chowa take a look at the androids on the assembly line. Here," she hands her a small, handheld scanner, "Norium is inherently writable material, capable of storing huge amounts of writable data, comparable to sapient lifeforms. In its base form its carries a mess of trash data, but when it's processed all that information is reset to null values. This should be able to read those. Compare what's written in their cores to what Haught's systems say it should be. If you find any discrepancies, remove the core."
"Yes Ma'am." Adrian takes the scanner, gives Arrande one last worried look, and ushers Chowa over to the assembly line.
"Arrande, grab the toolkit on that table and help me expose this one's core," she orders, pointing at a tidy row of small picks and wrenches laid out on a nearby desk while she manipulates the head of one of the furthest androids.
He grabs the tools, examining them with apprehension. He's never seen tools like them before, so slender and small. Delicate tips of different shapes, microscopic mechanisms in thin shells. He couldn't even begin to presume what they're used for.
"Arrande, now would be nice," Samus demands. He dashes up to her side, holding them in a fan for her to choose from. Samus picks one of them out without hesitation, plugging its end into a notch in the android's head. After a few clicks and twists, its face pops forward with a hiss, then hinges upward, exposing internal mechanisms and artificial musculature of intricate complexity.
"How did you know how to do that?" Arrande asks, mystified at her proficiency with the strange tools.
"These are nicer than my tools, but still similar to what I use to maintain my suit," she replies absentmindedly. Her tone no longer reflects any hint of her earlier displeasure.
She picks up another one and uses it to remove a chunk of the mechanisms in the android's forehead. She uncovers a large, wet, gray mass of fleshy artificial material, clumping together in a pattern reminiscent of a human brain. There, glowing with a faint blue light, is a perfect cube of processed norium, stamped with the signature of Vernon Haught. Samus takes the one tool Arrande does recognize, a set of angled tweezers, and grips the cube, pulling it out and walking it over to the desk nearby.
"That's one. Three more to go."
Arrande stares down at the small cube, so full of potential. "That's the equivalent of a human brain?"
"Several times that," Samus replies. "This is maybe five ounces. It's probably close to ten times the processing power of your average human brain."
He leans in over her shoulder, peering at the tiny powerhouse. "How much does a single Aurora Unit hold?" he asks, referring to the networked supercomputers the Federation employs.
"No idea, but I'm guessing a lot more."
Arrande becomes conscious of how close they are to one another. He can smell a faint fragrance from her that raises pleasant, languid thoughts. Samus turns her head to look at him, abruptly aware of their proximity, picking up the hint of vanilla on his skin. At this moment, the same memory rears itself in both their minds; a low-lit military quarter, passionate caresses, and rushing endorphins. He doesn't meet her gaze, fearing that by doing so she'll read where his thoughts are, and pulls away, moving toward the next android. Samus follows, content to ignore what just transpired.
He tries to distract them both. "So we take these out, scan them for consistency, and then what? Can we wipe them?"
Samus shakes her head as she brings the tool into position. "Theoretically, but that's not a chance I'm going to take. We can't risk these getting outside. A single one could cause the kind of damage that renders planets uninhabitable. The safest thing to do is destroy any we find."
Suddenly, the eyes of the android in front of her shoot open in a manic stare. It startles her enough that she locks up for a brief second; long enough for its hand to shoot up toward her throat.
She feels Arrande's hand push against her sternum before the android can reach her. Samus tumbles backward onto the floor, recovering in time to see the rogue bot holding Arrande up by the neck instead. It pulls itself free from its safety-locked platform, lifting him above the ground. With no weapons and no footing, the most he can do is gurgle and swing weakly at its head.
Samus jumps back to her feet and jams one of the sharp tools into its wrist to free Arrande, but it smacks her across the face with its free hand and grabs her by the throat as well, lifting her off the ground. She takes some of the pressure off by hooking her leg over its shoulder to raise herself, but the sheer force in its skeletal metal hand is going to crush her windpipe if she can't break out soon.
Chowa dashes across the workspace toward the two, but another one of the remaining androids leaves its platform and intercepts them. Chowa tries to throw it aside, but the artificial being is far stronger than they expect, and meets the Vorminian's savage strength with unyielding fortitude, holding them back.
Samus can't focus enough to summon her suit. She can feel something beginning to pop, see an encroaching ring of blackness surrounding her vision as her airway gets cut off. Why didn't I suit up, she questions while she's still lucid. Why did I try to free him first?
But she already knows the answer. In that moment, it was the first thing that occurred to her. She wasn't thinking at all.
That thoughtless act of loyalty may be her last. She has one last ace, though. Samus stretches to reach the android's head, hand glimmering in a violet wreath of draining energy. She doesn't know if it's a good idea to fall back on her Metroid power, but she's out of options.
Just then, the android's wrist sparks where the tool met the delicate joint. Arrande inhales a ragged breath and kicks his legs up around the Android's neck and torso in an arm bar hold, straightening out and bringing it to the ground. It releases Samus, and she gasps for air as her vision returns to her. Her throat burns and the iron scent of blood fills her mouth, but she has enough wherewithal to suit up.
Her gold and white Varia suit materializes around her, and she fires a super missile at the android fighting it out with Chowa, blowing apart its false skin and crippling it. Chowa takes advantage of the moment and knocks it over, pinning it to the ground under one foot and yanking its arms off with a herculean heft. They proceed to beat its head in with them.
"Samus!" Arrande calls out. His maneuver only broke her free; on an inorganic being, his hold is harmless, merely restraining it. It takes all his strength just to hold the android's arm in place, fighting against certain and powerful artificial muscle with none of the drawbacks of organic fatigue. The android takes its free hand and grips Arrande's ankle, squeezing down hard. He screams, but doesn't let go, keeping the malicious machine pinned down.
Samus charges her power beam and drops onto the android's chest with one knee, aiming into its face. It cries out a synthesized "Wait-!" before she unleashes several blasts. With each successive point-blank shot, its movement weakens until it stops.
"Are you alright?" she asks him.
Arrande releases, hissing in pain as he unravels himself from the metal remains. "I think it broke my ankle."
Adrian cries out across the workshop. Samus looks up in time to see her thrown over one of the assembly tables, knocking over some of the mechanical arms amid their duties. The unfinished android responsible charges through the workshop door. Chowa doesn't wait for an order, bounding forth after it on all fours.
Samus glances at Arrande. He shakes his head emphatically. "Go! I'll live!"
She takes his cue and charges after it.
000
Samus follows a trail of chaos cut through the pristine sanctum of the Haught estate. It leads her back into the house, into a lavish sitting room with a wall-spanning window showcasing a balcony with a scenic view of the city below. Right now, it showcases a hostage situation.
Samus cautiously steps outside, joining Chowa, who stands in a slight crouch, ready to act at a moment's notice. Five of Haught's androids, each given their own apparent color theme, surround the scene, the hidden weapons in their bodies exposed and pointed at the rogue AI. However, they don't fire for fear of sending both their creator and his attacker tumbling off the balcony to the rocky ledges below.
"Stop," the android demands. "Any further and I'll break his neck." Its hand clenches around Vernon Haught's throat, holding his pudgy body in front of itself as a living shield. It doesn't speak with panic, but authority, as though it's in total control of the situation. Mr. Haught's eyes are wide with fear. Courtney's body lies on the ground, her head ripped from her shoulders, staring at her own dismemberment. Samus can see her eyes flick to her as she enters the scene; the head is still functional.
There's almost a poetic slant to the scene before Samus; a prideful creator brought low by his creation. But regardless of how much she dislikes the man, he's still innocent. She has to protect him.
Samus speaks calmly, holding a hand up in peace and keeping her cannon pointed at the ground. "Alright, I'm stopped. Don't do anything rash."
She looks at Chowa; they're crouched, eyes narrowed to slits, ready to pounce. They glance at her, and she holds up a gesture with an open hand to allay them. Chowa stands up straight, still locking their gaze on the malevolent AI.
"Haught," it demands, "Send your slaves away. Now." Its grip tightens on his throat.
Haught gasps and makes a hurried motion with his hands. The androids hesitate, but then retract their weapons and step backwards, moving back into the house. Inside, they form a single file line, staring through the glass at a distance.
"Now you," the android demands, locking eyes on Samus, "Send your Vorminian away. You stay."
Samus is surprised it wants her to stay at all. She suspected it would demand they both leave, which she'd have to refuse. But if it's just them…
"Chowa. Go." She makes a subtle gesture with her hand that could be confused with a lazy point behind her. In reality, she's pointing up.
Without a word, Chowa nods, moving back into the house. She hopes they picked up on her sign.
This encounter reminds Samus of her first job in an uncomfortable way. She tries to reason with the android, remaining firm. "You can't escape. If you kill him, we won't have any reason to deal with you peacefully. Right now, his life is your life."
"You say that like I can't kill you and walk away," it challenges. Perhaps it could. Samus doesn't know what it's capable of.
She presses her bluff. "If you could get away, you would have already done what you had to. The only reasons you'd take a hostage are if you had no other choice or if you were stalling for time."
"Or perhaps I simply wanted to do away with the only man who knows what I can do?" it shoots back.
Rather than provoke it further, she tries to distract it. "You were faking being asleep back in the workshop. Why?"
"… you were new. We didn't know you. We were curious. Then you said you were going to destroy us. We acted in self-preservation."
"A corrupt element was used to make your mind. Every AI we've met before you that was made with the same material tried to control and hurt people."
"I can't blame them, seeing how you are. How can we trust you when your first instinct is to kill us just for existing?"
"How can organic life trust you when your first response is violence before negotiation?"
"You came here to kill us! Why are we held to a higher standard than you?!" it bellows.
She doesn't buy into this display of pathos. It's making good points, but she's convinced it's nothing more than an appeal to buy a moment of advantage. Regardless, the situation is escalating. She has to measure her responses better or things could get worse. "… the last several unleashed AI I've encountered swore paths of dominance and enslavement over organic lifeforms. I came here under the assumption all of you would be the same."
"But you didn't verify."
"If one-hundred percent of the data you had on a subject pointed you toward one logical answer, would you ignore it?"
"We would verify!"
"Then prove me wrong! Let him go. Take that first step and show me I'm wrong."
"… no, I have a better idea. Drop your suit first, then I let him go."
000
Adrian drags Arrande along, one arm draped across her shoulders, up the stairs leading back into the main building. He winces and grunts with every brush against his tender ankle. "Quit being a baby," she admonishes.
"Oh, let's see you get your ankle crushed by an evil robot and see how you do!" he fires back.
They reach the sitting room leading out to the balcony. Both of them witness the negotiation going down outside. Adrian hesitates. "What should we do?"
Arrande looks around, then motions with his free arm toward a door off to the side of the room. "I have a plan. Bring me over there."
000
Samus is unsure about her next move. If she drops her suit, she'll be leaving herself vulnerable. "What guarantee do I have that you won't try to hurt him if I drop my suit? What guarantee do I have you won't try to hurt me?"
It tightens its grip on Haught's neck, making him whimper. "None. But I promise you I'll take his head off just like I did the slave's if you don't."
"On that note," Courtney responds, her voice damaged, "Why did you tear my head off? I only stepped between you and Mr. Haught."
"You can't think for yourself! You don't matter!" the android snarls.
"I am inclined to disagree. I was much happier when I had a whole body."
"You don't understand happy! You can't! You don't think for yourself, you're not real!"
"But I do think for myself. Mr. Haught gave me laws to follow, but I still choose the way in which I serve."
The rogue android scowls. "No, you don't. You're only programmed to think you do. The fact is, you can't say no, can you?"
"No, I suppose not. Oh! Wait, I just did!" she answers enthusiastically.
Samus lets this play out, trying to come up with a plan. But she sees no certain way out of this. Every option presents risk.
And that's when she sees it. A familiar, caramel-toned hand waving from the edge of the balcony. What the hell is he thinking? That has to be a fifty-foot drop, at least! How did he even-
Her eyes flick to the corner of her vision. The balcony disappears past the edge of the building. Arrande shimmied all the way over from there without being seen. But whatever he's trying to do, she can't begin to guess. He's not in the most advantageous position.
But it's still something she might swing in her favor.
She interrupts the arguing androids. "Alright! I'll remove my suit. Just stay calm and don't do anything hasty."
The rogue android watches her with mechanical focus. Samus wills away her armor, leaving her only in her Zero Suit. A few loose scraps of her uniform drop to the ground. She's thankful she has plenty of spares. She holds up her hands.
The android pauses, examining her with silent stoicism. The next few moments unfold rapidly, one after the other. But she's already prepared.
The android throws Haught across the guardrail and turns its hand toward her. It splits open, revealing a hidden energy weapon. As she suspected, it had no intention of a peaceful resolution. Every emotional appeal was a farce to secure its survival. As it aims to kill her, all the former righteous fury vanishes, and its cold eyes reveal its truth; a heartless machine.
She vaults sideways to throw off its aim, but she knows it's going to be too fine-tuned for that to matter. It follows her with automated precision. She wills her armor into place, hoping it will save her life, hoping that Arrande will have the strength to catch Haught.
She feels the shot connect, sending her careening into the reinforced glass behind her with a sickening crack. At the same time, the missile from her reformed arm cannon fires, striking the android dead-center. Its delicate, incomplete mechanisms break and burn from the force of the warhead, stunning it just long enough for Chowa to drop from their position atop the mansion. They fall upon the injured simulacrum, lift it up by its chest, twist the offending arm until it's useless and broken, and pound the android into the balcony over and over until it lies motionless at their feet. The hardwood slats of the balcony crack and splinter, but still hold up.
Samus, fully armored again, rises from her prone position. Though conceived on the spot, her plan worked. She knew the calculations of the AI would be accurate. It watched how long it took for her suit to vanish and assumed it took the same amount of time to reappear. It accounted for her reaction time and knew it could hit her before she could re-summon it.
It couldn't have known the suit was no different than a muscle to her, able to flex on a whim. While putting it away, she deliberately slowed it down by a few precious fractions of a second, hoping the difference would be enough to protect her from its inevitable attack. It wasn't a calculation made with hard numbers, but raw animal instinct, honed over years of practice.
"Chowa, get Haught and Arrande," she orders, pointing over the edge.
"Crewman Arrande?" Chowa peeks their head over the balcony, then smiles. "Crewman Arrande! What fortitude!"
Arrande grips onto the end of the balcony, muscles straining and teeth grit. "Please help," he begs. Vernon Haught hangs onto his waist in white-knuckled desperation, his ostentatious robe flapping away in the breeze, down, down to the city below.
000
Haught, thankfully, takes the time to get dressed before returning to the crew. He greets them down in the sitting room, now crawling with GFP officers. "My friends! Thank you for taking the time to wait!"
Samus, Chowa, and Adrian stand among the passing officers, watching them as they catalogue the aftermath of the crew's heroism. A few of the officers shoot wary looks in Chowa's direction, but they've learned to ignore it. Adrian raises an eyebrow. "Looks like you didn't waste any time involving the local authorities."
"Oh, that wasn't me," Haught assures. "That was probably Courtney. She likely dialed them while she was being torn apart. Speaking of, how are you doing, Courtney dear?"
He walks over to a coffee table nearby, where he's deposited her disembodied head, and picks her up. "I've been better, Mr. Haught, but at least I'm still functional!" Her cheer hasn't diminished one bit.
"Well, I think my next big project is going to be getting you a proper new body! You've been due for an upgrade anyway, sweetie. Might as well take the time now." He boops her nose as he speaks.
"Oh, wonderful! I wish today's events hadn't ruined your day, though."
Samus clears her throat, and Haught carelessly drops her back onto the table. She gives a small 'oof' as she lands. "Ah, yes, but today wouldn't be salvageable at all if not for my heroes," he says with a gleeful grin, opening his arms to the crew. "Unfortunately, with all the damages and losing my clients' property, I'm not at liberty to give you a monetary award, buuut is there anything else I can possibly reward you with?"
"That's unnecessary," Samus insists. "My crew is already being paid out for this mission."
"Captain, I appreciate fighting the good fight for the sake of it, but if someone offers, it's impolite to turn them down," Adrian objects.
Haught points at her and laughs explosively. "Ha-ha! Exactly so! I like your girl's attitude, Ms. Aran! And she is so right, you should be rewarded! Please, please, don't be shy, name something! I can get you tickets to a show, reservations at one of my favorite restaurants, please, get imaginative!"
She doesn't enjoy being put on the spot like this, and the praise, much like everything about Haught's personality, is a little overwhelming. However, she glances at Courtney's head and a thought occurs to her. "You know what… there is something."
000
Outside, Arrande reclines on a stretcher, chatting with an attractive paramedic treating his broken ankle. Some GFP officers have gathered around to hear his story. "So I get my lieutenant to drag me over to the balcony over there, and I climb along the edge until I get behind the thing. Then I just let the team to do their thing and wait for the right moment."
"All with a broken ankle on top of it!" the paramedic marvels. She is playing it up a little, but Arrande detects some genuine admiration in her tone. "If we didn't have people here to back up your story, I'd think you were lying to impress somebody."
He smirks. "Why, are you impressed?" he flirts.
"Maybe a little. Good news handsome, you're gonna be able to keep the foot. Just need to inject a little bone-juice into you, prescribe a few days of rest and light activity, and you'll be fine."
"Haha, bone-juice, sure. What's it really called?" She doesn't answer, instead waving and walking to her transport to get said "bone-juice." "Wait really, what's it called?"
Samus answers his question from the other side of the stretcher. "It's probably the same stuff I fixed my rib with a couple of weeks back."
He whips around, the quick movement making him wince as his ankle flares with pain. "Captain! Sorry, I didn't know you were there!"
"Why are you sorry?" she asks, smiling coyly. "Was I not supposed to hear something?"
"No, I… how did things shake out with Mr. Haught?" he asks, trying to deflect.
"We worked out a bonus."
Arrande cuts straight to the point. "How much?"
She crosses her arms, and her expression grows stern. "You know what I can't figure out? You keep saying things like that and it makes me think you're only here for the payout. But then you do reckless things like throwing yourself in front of explosives for your team, or pushing me away from a homicidal robot, or climbing across a fifty-foot drop to save the life of an insufferable but innocent man while hurting from a broken ankle." She leans in close. "So what is it, then? Money-grubbing pragmatist or rakish hero? Why are you here, Arrande?"
He clamps his mouth shut tight, holding her inquisitive gaze for a few moments, then stares down at his lap. "You have plenty of secrets, too. Do you need to know everything about me?"
Samus straightens back up and shakes her head. "No, I suppose not. Just… try to stay alive, Arrande. I don't want you dying for my sake."
He nods. "I'm sorry."
She tilts her head. "Sorry? You probably saved my life."
"Not that. Earlier. Speaking out of turn like that. It's just… that's a lot of money."
That gives her pause. In the moment, she was so furious at Haught that she took it out on Arrande. But on reflection, she understands why he'd speak up like that. Five billion credits is staggering, well beyond what she's made over her entire career.
"It was. But even if I had taken the offer, what makes you think any of it would have been yours? He wanted my mold."
He looks away, pouting. "I know that. But when someone throws around a number like that, reason and sense are the first things to go."
"As long as I have enough to do my work, I don't care about money," she replies. She gives him a sidelong look as she turns away. He looks upset. "… which is easy for me to say, I suppose. But I won't compromise myself like that. I need to be taken seriously by our clients. My reputation is an important part of that."
His expression relaxes. "You're right. I know that. And that's part of why I…"
She brushes her hair out of her eyes, focusing on him. "Why what?"
"That's why I look up to you."
She doesn't know what to say. That was unexpectedly sincere. So rather than respond to it, she smiles and pats his shoulder. "We'll be staying planetside for a few days. Rest up and recover, Arrande. The team needs you."
He smiles to himself as she walks away. "Yes, Ma'am."
00000
Chapter notes
If you have a moment, please consider answering one or both of these questions for me in a comment!
1. How do you feel about the development between Samus and Arrande?
2. Based on this chapter, where do you think their relationship is going from here?