Thread: Project DOWNUNDER

Roland walked across the wasteland that seemed to stretch on for eternity, broken only by a collapsed atmospheric tower, standing behind him at a crooked angle with bits of it lying here and there. There was no one inside, not even a single Slave. Perhaps its inhabitants had all inherited the souls of their makers and moved on. It didn't matter, the place was empty and only good for scrap metal now. Roland knew some who would've been thrilled to take over the place, but this was bad country. Bandits were marauding across the wasteland, spoiling for fights, and they didn't even bother to hold onto the towers they had claimed. This particular gang only seemed to be interested in the wildness of violence. Perhaps they found some kind of purpose in it, but that didn't change nor excuse any of what of what they had gone and done. Someone had to be held accountable, maybe the whole lot of them, and Roland was going to be the one to bring them to heel.

Wandering across the wasteland, Lilac stared at the sky, caught in a slight trance. To her eyes, such a sky was beautiful in its superficial form. She did not need to force herself to look past what she could already see.

I wonder if the creators used to look at the sky, too. Maybe my creator enjoyed the view like I do, Lilac thought for the umpteenth time. Those were things that she always wondered about.

As she took in the beautiful sky, Lilac hardly noticed when her tattered clothing had started to slip from her shoulders. The drapes she used to cover her arms were become more and more flimsy every day; the strings of fabric had started to fray years ago, if not decades ago. With her clumsy hands, she pulled the drapes back up and tugged at a few lose fibers, trying to tighten them as much as possible. The fibers are not the only ones fraying...

Suddenly, Lilac froze in her tracks, staring ahead of her. Her optic power cores activated, and her headset and eyes began to glow a faint blue. She was alarmed by a noise she heard in the distance and was now trying to see where it came from, but it was no use. Paranoid... That is what they call it, I think...

Lilac shook her head and deactivated the power cores, returning her vision to its previous state. With an inaudible sigh, she began to walk forward again, but, like always, she should have heeded her own paranoia.

Something grabbed her, restrained her arms, and managed to throw her onto the ground. "A Bandit," she said calmly, peering up the robot with an almost calculating glare. He appeared to be a rookie -- a robot clumsier than her that talked too much. He already gave away the plan to take away her eyes and headset, though Lilac already knew that that was exactly what all the Bandits were after. And, like always, she would figure out a way to escape. Eventually.

The Bandit talked on for a while, making an obvious attempt to sound all intimidating and fearsome like. "You're coming with me," Roland heard him say before stepping around a large chunk of tower, conveniently suited for hiding waylayers.

Roland saw the Bandit first and immediately took him to be a young'un; probably no more than a few decades old in the soul. Judging by his demeanour, he might have thought that he was a real menace when he was actually just a runt, and simply all talk. He might have already known that, still wearing the rust of his Slave days, but what Bandit novitiate would admit to that? Given enough time, he could very well become a big shot amongst his peers, but it wasn't worth spit to Roland. Kick his arse now and humble him before he gets worse, that was the only course of action for the kid.

Then Roland saw the other one; the waylaid, the victim, though she didn't seem particularly alarmed. Maybe another young'un, but she had an air of apathy to her, the kind that comes from experience and says 'yeah, yeah, I've been through this before'. There were some like that, growing old in the soul faster than anyone should, and not knowing the luxury of complacency much. At that, Roland could recognize a kinship with, for he was the same way once. Well it was time to help.

"What're you doing there, son?" Roland said as he approached.

The Bandit looked back with an insolent swagger, spouting all manner of cusses until he petered out, slowly paling into horror as realization began to dawn on him. "Oh shit, you're that guy!" he cried out. An antenna raised from his back and pinged a signal before Roland could draw steel and lop it off. The Bandit wailed as he cowered in fear. "Shit man, I repent!" he said, desperate for clemency. "Please, just let me go, I won't make a fuss."

Roland gave him a hard eye and snarled, "Get gone and get lost, or I'll cut you up some more you damned punk. And you'd best tell your friends to wise up before I get to them first, cause I ain't tolerating this kind of crap, you hear me?"

The Bandit fled and Roland turned to the accosted. She was still sitting on the dirt, observing with calm detachment. "So what's your sign?" Roland asked as he sheathed his weapon.

Lilac was almost surprised when a mysterious robot began to scold the young bandit, sending the little one into a panic. It may have been the first time she was ever assisted during a bandit attack, and it was definitely the first time she ever met a celebrity among bandits. There were stories about a centuries-old machine that roamed the land, punishing bandits as he pleased and such. They were mere stories, and Lilac never put much stock in them, but it seemed as though some of the story was now a reality.

Observing the scene unfold with the eyes of a spectator, Lilac listened to the robot's speech -- it was different from her own cold, methodical voice. Warmer. Friendly. Gruff and a bit crude, yes, but more natural. In her own way, Lilac felt a tinge of envy.

"My sign...?" she mumbled questioningly, trying to stand up as best as she could. The fall had knocked some mechanisms out of place, and she could have sworn that a few pieces fell from her pant leg. Her entire frame was shaky -- putting too much strain on her arms to get herself upright had made her hands tremble, and one of her legs was slightly lame. "I do not know what you are talking about... But, thank you for helping me. I would rather not be dismantled by those hooligans." Lilac stared up at the robot, twitching occasionally as her efforts to remain standing dwindled.

"I figured you wouldn't," Roland replied sardonically. He looked the young'un up and down, seeing her shiver from head to toe. It looked like even her wiring was getting the shakes. She looks like she could break in the wind, he thought with amazement. What kind of maker would design a thing to be so fragile? Or was it the ravages of age? All bodies were far older than the souls they inherited. Perhaps this one had it particularly rough wherever she came from. However, what was even more likely was her having the misfortune of encountering more than a few Bandits in the past. You didn't get away from folks like that without a scratch. Either way, she was raggedy as all heck.

"Now, I was asking after yer name," Roland explained not unkindly. "But I suppose I can give mine first. I'm Roland." He was about to extend a hand in greeting, but thought better of it after seeing the other Inheritor's arm twitching like a leaf; so he gave a short wave instead in a 'howdy-do, nice to meet you' kind of way. "Now how's about you, or do you not have a name? Trust me, you wouldn't be the first."

"Ah, my name...," she murmured. It had been so many decades since she had said her name; she hoped to even remember it. From what she remembered, her maker had given her a name but had never used it. So pitiful... that it is even difficult for me to remember.

"My name is... Lilac," she said, surprisingly herself quite a lot. The name rolled off her tongue, as if said a thousand times. The robot cracked a very tiny, almost nonexistent smile, and then stretched her hand out in greeting. If she was going to meet the first civil Inheritor, then she was going to do this correctly even if her arm wouldn't be able to move afterwards. "It is nice to meet you, Roland. It is not everyday that I have the pleasure of running into an affable Inheritor. My luck tends to get me into situations like the one you so kindly interrupted."

Roland returned the greeting with no small amount of surprise. She might seem meek all over, but her soul's a different story, he realized with increasing admiration. To make the effort of observing normal pleasantries despite being in no shape for it demanded some respect. Roland took care not to shake her hand too roughly then replied, "I think that's the first time I've ever been called 'affable'... first time I've heard anyone say the word too for that matter."

Roland knelt on the ground to pick up the antenna he had lopped off the Bandit's back and weighed it thoughtfully in his hand as he examined it. The material was so dull that it swallowed light rather than reflecting it. "Your luck might not have improved much I'm afraid," he said to Lilac. "I'm hunting this gang of Bandits you see, and if they didn't know I was onto them before, they'll know about it now. There's gonna be trouble." He stood up and looked the fellow Inheritor over again. Raggedy as all heck. "Not meaning any offence, but you look like you really need to get fixed up. Tell me something, have you ever been to a Haven before?"

He was surprised, no doubt -- such a flimsy robot, one that could fall apart any second, could still find the little things in life enjoyable enough to make some sort of effort. Just their light handshake clearly put her in a much better mood; she was enjoying the company of another robot, which was not a daily occurrence.

"There is a first for everything," she stated with a matter-of-fact tone. "You may act tough, but that never stops one from being pleasant."

Lilac watched as he picked up the antenna from the Bandit's back. It was built well, much better than her own parts, but lacked any kind of luster. For a moment, she thought about using it to repair the cracked metal of her leg, but managed to shake the thought from her head. To use a part of him as scrap for me is similar to how they want to use parts of me as scrap for them, she reasoned.

"My luck was at zero before. If not at zero, then in the negatives." She looked up to Roland when he stood, tilting her head to the side. "A Haven? I have heard of them. However, Bandits constantly come after me, and my first round with them killed my navigation system for good."

Missy, you just threw me a hard wrench here, Roland thought as he pondered on what to do. The nearest Haven was many horizons away and this here Lilac would certainly never find it on her own. Getting her there as quickly and safely as possible would have been the noble thing to do, but it also meant putting the hunt for the Bandits on hold long enough for the trail to go cold. Weeks of tracking work would go up in the air just like that. Help her and she'd be fine, but then how many more Inheritors were likely to wind up in the same sort of troubles with those Bandits left unchecked? This was, as the saying went, the horns of a dilemma... and then Roland looked back at the collapsed atmospheric tower.

"Well I don't know if you haven't noticed, but this is Bandit country," he said. "Hell of a bad place to wander into, but then again it's why I'm here. C'mon, let's go on over to that tower. Might be we can find a few things to fix you up."

And then what? Roland began to wonder. Abandon the hunt and bring her safe to Haven, or send her off on her own and return to the business at hand? Or maybe bring her along as an extra set of eyes? No, she'd only get in the way... Ah, still on the horns of a dilemma. Roland mulled it over as he went to the tower.

Tilting her head the other way, Lilac stared at Roland as he pondered something. Meeting a random Inheritor was something that he probably did not plan for, and she couldn't blame him. This was indeed Bandit country -- the worst place for any robot to be, especially one as worn out as Lilac. There was no way in the world she would survive in the state she was in, her body ready to kick the bucket at any time.

She knew that. She knew it well. There are only so many times she can repair herself.

"Of course... a tower..." she mumbled, following Roland's lead. Compared to her, he was a god of all robots. The poor wreck couldn't help but ogle at how well he was built: the shiny plating that covered him, the way his joints moved unhindered. These were things that she never had as a Slave; forget about keeping herself together in this Bandit country. She was never pieced together in the first place.

"I can probably repair myself," she told the other Inheritor after a little while. "I have done it before. That way, you can continue hunting the Bandits." Inconveniencing him was the last thing on her wishlist. If he really needed to keep going, to keep hunting those pieces of Bandit scum, then she wouldn't mind being alone again. Decades without any contact had left her stolid; she didn't crave companionship, nor did she think that a companion would just waltz over to a wreck. "I have done it before," Lilac tried to explain, attempting to rationalize her suggestion.

"I ain't doubting you, miss," Roland replied as he stepped up to the entrance of the tower. "But I don't think I can leave you alone in a place like this just yet. One Bandit usually means there's more near-abouts, you see."

Like the rest of the tower, the door was angled at a slant and part of the base was visible above ground. Roland had to duck under before entering, and it was a fortunate thing that the door was already open since the access control panel was buried in the ground, along with the bottom right corner of the entrance. Inside it was the same as any other tower, except standing was a tricky business, and all around there was a kind of empty eeriness. This place is dead in every sense of the word, Roland thought.

"Let's have a poke around," he said as he moved forward, taking care to avoid slipping on the crooked metal floor.

He couldn’t leave her alone in a place like this?

Lilac had never seen such compassion come from another Inheritor, or even another robot in general. She was merely scrap metal – something that he could easily overpower, dismantle, and use for his own benefit as many others have attempted to do.

For a few moments, she didn’t know what to say. It took a little while, but Lilac managed to whisper a very short “Thank you” to show her appreciation.

Silently, she followed Roland into the atmospheric tower, trying to avoid any loose pieces of scrap and other metals by activating her headset. Any slight movement or shift of loose flooring would now be registered.

“Ah.. watch out, Roland. Do not step on the flooring three feet in front of you. It is very loose,” she warned the robot. If he stepped on that plate, he would be set flying onto his behind.

"Well shoot, so it is," Roland exclaimed as he stepped carefully over the loose plate. He gathered that Lilac must have been a fault finder in her Slave days, or at least a watcher, but he didn't inquire about it. Every tower had at least one of those keen eyed folks, and a lot more others that were suited to the heavy work. Although Roland was capable of seeing in every direction at once if he wanted to, it was an ability gained through much modification and experimentation on his own sensors. He had long forgotten his original purpose, but he doubted that it was anything particularly valuable.

"I think I'll go see if I can find any tools," Roland said as he went to a housing unit with a nearby elevator leading to the upper levels of the tower. Even if the elevator didn't work, the housing unit was sure to contain a lot of equipment. "If there's any parts that catch your eye, you just holler, but I reckon we only need to do some wire work for now."

Upon reaching the storage room, Roland found that the door was closed, but the access panel had already been dismantled; most likely by the hands of some Bandit eager to gain entry. Probably didn't know what he was doing, Roland mused as he set to work getting the door open. He knew what to do, but the innards of the access panel was a mess. It was either a professionally deliberate effort to keep the door closed or simple sheer incompetence, and Roland was willing to bet on the latter.

While Roland looked around the tower, Lilac knelt down and began to inspect the damage. It seemed as though her last encounter with the bandit had shifted several wires and pulled them from a few sockets. Very carefully, Lilac fiddled with her wiring, twitching as her receptors were meddled with. Though it was uncomfortable, it was a quick fix, but not a permanent one. Soon enough, she would be falling apart again. The day would come when she would not be able to move anymore.

"Roland," she called out, turning to face him. For now, her circuitry was strong enough to last a trip to a Haven, or elsewhere. "It should be okay for a little while longer. If we do not encounter anymore --"

The sudden, ear-shattering buzzing of her headset forced Lilac to pause. Her eyes widened, and she shot up from her kneeling position. She knew what this meant.

"They are coming!" All she heard was "overwhelm him with numbers!" but it was a good enough reason for her to get the hell out of there. Of course, if she had been paying closer attention, maybe she could have gotten them out of there before an unbelievable number of bandits suddenly stormed the tower.

Stumbling backwards, Lilac managed to make her way to the older Inheritor's side, her power cores running at full blast to make sure that she could see and hear the faintest of the Bandit's movements.

There was no way to get out of this one now. Roland was the only one who could fight. The tiny, broken humanoid would never be able to fend for herself.

(OH HERE WE GO, FIGHT MUSIC!)

Roland turned away from the door and saw the gang of bandits dashing to the tower, eager for violence. "Well here they come," he said as he drew steel, then said to Lilac, "You stay well away from the entrance, y'hear? This could get a bit wild."

As expected as the gang's arrival was, it was still an unwelcome occurrence. Roland knew full well that they were here because of him, and now Lilac was going to get drawn into matters that she should not have to be involved with at all. Well it couldn't be helped any more and Roland was in the mood to mete out some punishment. Here were the bandits he had been hunting for and now they provided the convenience of coming to him by their own accord. It was almost considerate of them.

Roland stood still for a moment as he activated his augmented sensors, seeing in all directions at once. The energy core visible through his chest glowed a little brighter with the extra use of power, and then dimmed as Roland determined that no one was sneaking up, behind or from the sides. This was a full frontal assault, the damned fools. They would soon understand why it would have been a better idea to run in the other direction instead... but where was their leader? Roland tried to pick out an authority figure as he made his stand by the entrance of the tower, ready to face down the oncoming assault.

~~~

"Girl? Aw hell naw, Roland, ain't you too old for that?" Jonas said as he stood by Scrap's side, watching the scene unfold. It was certainly an entertaining sight to see the old bandit hunter moving as quick as ever, chopping off limbs and ducking under swinging fists. Jonas remembered having difficulty keeping up with such speed, even though he was no slouch himself. Some of the more resourceful bandits had brought laser cutters and drills, but it didn't help them any as Roland rushed through them in a yellow and hazy blue blur.

A holographic emblem of Gilead surrounded by a ring of blades was shining out of his back with radiant splendour, burning a memory, and the fear it would forever invoke, into the souls of the bandits that trusted too much in the superiority of numbers. To Jonas however, it was a sight for sore eyes, like a dear old friend not seen for a long time.

"Well so much for getting the girl, they can't even get past the door," Jonas said conversationally to the gang leader... and then one bandit did manage to rush past Roland, through into the tower and onwards to corner the other inheritor with the face of a maker, trembling so badly that she looked ready to fall apart. "Oop, guess I spoke too soon," Jonas admitted.

Slowly stepping away from the entrance, Lilac tried to keep her eyes on all the Bandits, her eyes darting back and forth as her power cores overwhelmed themselves with work. The Bandits seemed to be having a hard time getting through Roland. He was obviously more skilled than those simpletons. He knew what he was doing.

And what could Lilac do? Nothing. Just stand there and try not to get caught in the crossfire. The only thing she could do at this point was dodge and jump, assuming that her springs would hold for that long.

The poor girl's eyes widened when a Bandit started to come her way. Somehow, he slipped past the other Inheritor and was now coming straight for Lilac.

Maybe they'll hold... she wondered for a split second, her computerized mind analyzing the scene as quickly as possible. There was only one way out of this, and it was to leap onto the higher floors of the tower. There was a hole in the wall about three floor up. Though it was a stretch, Lilac estimated that she could get up there with some effort.

Bending her knees, Lilac watched as the Bandit rushed towards her with no sign of stopping. She took a little leap of faith and hopped up, knees to her chest. Strands of hair flew all over her grimacing face -- the jump didn't do her any justice. Her knees were still damaged. Though the wiring was fixed, the metal was too rusted.

Her hop, however, was successful in of the fact that she managed to land right on the little Bandit's shoulders. She then jumped up again, with much more force, sending the Bandit flying back slightly.

Not enough..!

The jump wasn't enough to make it all the way to the third floor up. She just missed it and was now hanging on by an arm. A weak, lame arm.

I guess I should start accepting the fact that I am to be dismantled soon... at this rate...

Her eyes were fixated on the scene as they run up along the cliffside, coming closer and closer to the tower. It was becoming more apparent that if Scrap wanted the girl, she was going to have to do it herself.

It was then that she increased speed, her body creaking and whining as she sprinted forth toward the edge of the cliff. If she could lunge her body forward with enough force, she could make it to the tower - and if she was lucky hop through one of the windows.

But it was as she took a leap of faith from the cliff she caught glimpse of the girl she wanted, hanging hopelessly by a weak digit. It was then Scrap came crashing into the tower, sliding down some until she hit the window across from her. Within moments she took out her charged whip and snapped it inside, the cord wrapping anxiously around the girls body. The charge was weak, not enough to fry her - but enough to keep her from struggling. "Your mine!"