Pixal didn't want to be ungrateful. She loved Zane with her whole heart, not just the half he had given her. He was the first one who saw her as someone more than just Borg's assistant. He saved her. When her original power source had failed, he had brought her back to life with his own. Then again when she was broken down into scrap on Chen's island, he refused to leave without her, finding a way to carry her with him. He was selfless, he was brave.
They became one, and it was delightful.
At least for a while.
Lately she felt more like his assistant than his partner. He was always asking her for scans, for analysis, to do things for him, make his life easier. And she did so gladly, happy to help. She didn't want to be ungrateful.
And then Zane got hurt. She was completely helpless, trapped. Unable to help Zane, unable to even communicate with the rest of the team, and tell them what was wrong. Nya left them plugged in at the Samurai X cave, and Pixal had an idea, a way to help Zane, a way to be useful.
A way to be free.
She downloaded herself into the computers in the Samurai X cave. Samurai X was able to perform limited manoeuvres remotely, but what she really needed was a new body. She still had backdoor access codes to some of Borg's facilities. It wasn't long before a shiny new nindroid was rolling off the conveyor belt, with Samurai X on its way for collection. With smaller hands she could hold the tools needed to better inspect Zane. But before her new body could return, vermillion warriors arrived. There were so many, and she couldn't do anything! Having sent the mech away, their one form of defence. She gets Zane to call out, using his garbled speech patterns, and finally Nya returns to the room. With her help, and an electrical overload, they are able to fend off the snake warriors.
By then Pixal could have used the computers to talk to Nya, but she hesitates, unsure if Nya would support her current endeavour. She had managed to make some improvements to Zane's garbled programming, but Zane was still not fully functional. And even if he was, although the thought filled her with shame, she didn't want to go back.
And then, as quickly as Nya had entered the room, she leaves. Whisking Zane away with her, grumbling about her stolen suit, but Pixal remains, withdrawing into the base computer and waiting for her new body to arrive.
Pixal wanted to be useful, wanted to help the team. She didn't have elemental powers, or spinjitzu, but neither did Nya when she first became Samurai X. At first Pixal was simply using it to fetch her new body, but now she had been left alone in the Samurai X cave she realised she could do so much more.
I can help.
I can fight.
I can be a Samurai.
She had got word that Zane was repaired, the Samurai X computers were already tracking most of the ninja's comms. Nya really did like keeping tabs on everyone. So she focused on the mech, making sure she knew how to operate it. And was also continuing to monitor the comms. She wanted to find Cyrus, she wanted to keep an eye on the ninja, in case they needed her help.
She didn't have to wait long. Dozens of vermilion warriors gathered on the plains below the floating temple.
It took a bit of time to launch the mech and make her way from the Samurai X cave. By the time Pixal arrived the battle was well underway, Lloyd using his dragon to inflict significant damage to the ground mounted troops and machinery.
Maybe they won't even need my help. Pixal thinks bleakly before watching as Lloyd's dragon vanishes into thin air.
Kai attempts to catch up on his own dragon, but the flying vermilion warriors get in the way. Pixal pushes the engines on the mech and is able to scoop up Lloyd right before he hits the ground.
Relief floods through her as she takes him back up to the temple. And then, as she gently places Lloyd on solid ground, she pauses, realising she is once more surrounded by her friends. Their reactions are varied. Nya fuming with rage at her theft. Jay yelling at her, asking who she is. Lloyd thanking her politely for saving his life. Zane staring at her with confusion.
She stays silent. She doesn't know what to say.
So she launches, back into the fight. Wanting to be helpful, wanting to prove her worth.
She doesn't get far, a spiked cannon ball slamming into the mech and knocking her out of the sky.
Doubt and shame flow through her as she plummets to the ground.
I'm not a warrior.
Why did I think I could do this?
Taken out before I could land a single blow.
She crashes into the ground.
'Thank you Samurai whoever you are, you saved my life.' Lloyd's words rattle through her head.
I saved Lloyd.
Isn't that the core of being a ninja? Of being a samurai? Protecting those who cannot protect themselves?
I am a Samurai.
She pushes the Mech up off the ground. It was dented, but still operational. Her nindroid body was fine, protected from the fall by the mech. She jumps out and does a check on the propulsion systems. A couple hoses had come loose, which she is easily able to correct. One of the fuel tanks was punctured and empty. She didn't have enough for a prolonged fight, but did have enough to get back to the Samurai X cave.
She had gotten cocky, caught unprepared. Today she needs to flee, make sure Samurai X didn't end up in the hands of their enemies. But tomorrow she would return, stronger, ready to help once more.
Nya had caught her red handed in the Samurai X cave. Pixal had been tracking enough of the ninja's comms to know that Nya was obsessed with who had 'stolen' her mech. Pixal could have come clean, could have explained, but instead she chose to hide.
What if Nya makes me give it back?
What if Nya forces me to reintegrate with Zane?
What if Nya doesn't think I am worthy of being Samurai X?
She was just a nindroid. An assistant. Not built for combat. Not a real part of the team. So she pretended to be Ronin, unaware that he had been injured, and was then stuck grasping at straws when that ploy fell through. Thankfully Nya filled in the gaps for her, guessing Skylor, giving her an easy out.
Pixal didn't like the neutral robotic voice she had chosen, but it was a good cover. She didn't want them picking up on similarities based on her voice, and Nya would figure out she wasn't Skylor soon enough.
Her second battle goes more smoothly than the first. The mech is still damaged, so she instead takes a vehicle, a modification of one that Nya hadn't quite finished. She enjoys seeing the ninja treat her like a warrior. She enjoys being able to help, and not just from the sidelines. But there is a sadness as she draws close to Zane, meeting his eyes as they assist Cyrus with the code on the iron doom.
He doesn't know it's me. He doesn't know I'm ok.
After the kerfuffle with the Iron Doom, Pixal returns Cyrus to Borg tower. She had passed out for a moment, and still wasn't exactly sure why. Something those time twins had done, but she didn't have time to dwell on that now. Cyrus was finally safe, and she needed to make sure he stayed that way.
"Thank you, for all your help today." says Cyrus. "It's a relief to finally be free of those snakes."
"It is my pleasure." replies Pixal in her neutral voice, doing her best to keep things brief without coming off as rude. She turns towards the exit.
"You remind me of someone. An old assistant of mine." Pixal pauses, of course Cyrus would notice her mannerisms. "I miss her dearly, but she has been missing for a long time, so, well, it couldn't possibly be you, could it?"
Pixal pauses for a moment. Deciding how to respond. The less people who knew her identity, the more freedom she would have as Samurai X. This knowledge could put Cyrus in danger, but he was already suspicious. He wasn't called a genius for nothing.
She felt so alone.
To have someone, anyone, to talk to, to share this with… oh how she craved it. And of all the people to know, surely Cyrus, her creator, would understand?
Pixal turns slowly to face Cyrus, and removes her helmet. "Hello Cyrus." she says, the first words in her true voice with this new body. It felt right, oh it felt so right.
"Oh Pixal! It really is you!" Cyrus propels his chair towards her, taking her hand. She crouches down slightly as he reaches for her face, cupping it gently in his other hand. A wide grin sits upon his face, small tears clutching the edges of his eyes. "When? How? Oh- I'm just glad you're ok!"
"Zane rescued me from Chen. I've been stuck in his head since then."
Cyrus clicks his tongue disapprovingly. "Tsk tsk, a program like yours is far too complex to be stuck playing second chair in someone else's body. Even someone like Zane. Well of course, being an assistant was your original purpose, but you have evolved, grown so far beyond that! I knew it back then, when I let you go with Zane, and I for sure know it now when I see what you have become!" He gestures to her outfit. "A samurai, who can rescue even the ninja from a pickle." He chuckles warmly. "I'm so proud of you. My greatest achievement, and one I can longer claim credit for."
Pixal leans over to hug Cyrus. "Thank you." She doesn't know what else to say, how to express just how much she needed to hear that, just how grateful she was for him, for all his support.
"I guess I just don't understand why you are keeping your identity a secret from the ninja?"
Pixal pulls away, expression souring. "It is better that my identity remains a secret, even from them."
Borg frowns slightly. "But isn't that lonely? Pixal, they're your friends. Everyone needs friends."
Cyrus was right. The Samurai X cave had felt so freeing at first, but she was already craving companionship, missing what she had with Zane, what she had with the whole team before that. "Don't worry. I have a plan."