I felt like I was inside a metal snail shell. A blanket lay over me. Fire crackled beneath our feet. We'd eaten a few bug-like things, and they were really sitting heavy in my gut. I kept farting. It was still bright outside, yet I felt dead on my feet and couldn't sleep. Who was I kidding? After my chat with Rose, sleep just wouldn't come. I tossed the blanket aside and headed out. I just wanted to stretch my legs a bit, get some air. Maybe, I thought, a solo stroll would clear my head.
Just then, I spotted an alcohol bottle next to a trash can. This wasn't your average beer or anything drinkable... This building was probably an old repair shop for mutant mechanical parts, abandoned once the mutants left. I eyed the bottle on the ground; there was hardly anything left. Then I climbed onto the trash can behind the building and started peering through the window.
"Sir..." That sudden voice sent a shiver down my spine. I nearly fell off the trash can. Jose, the voice's owner, was behind me, hands on his hips, eyebrows (or whatever metallic parts they were) furrowed, staring. "...what are you doing here?"
"Just strolling around, Jose."
"Are you creeping on someone?"
"No... Don't be ridiculous..."
I glanced back through the window. It was just as I'd thought. The place was packed with freshly serviced, gleaming machine parts. But the real kicker? A chained, locked cabinet. I was positive it was stuffed with booze. "The building's empty, Jose..."
"That's hardly our concern, sir."
"Hey... Cut it with the 'sir' stuff, Jose. We know your software barriers are down. Aren't you Oscar Destan? If you're the guy I remember, you'd be bouncing on your wheels right now, poking your head in with curiosity."
"Sir... Yes, my software barrier is down, but does that mean I can't strive to be VFA-210?"
"Just this once, play Oscar Destan for me, and let's go in. What do you say we get wasted?"
"I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"Diana and Rose can't be trusted. We need to keep a close eye on them. Mind-weavers are dangerous. They can easily manipulate simpletons like yourself."
"Look who's talking! You were practically drooling over those girls!"
"I don't have emotions, sir... I just get a kick out of being Oscar Destan sometimes. Aren't we having fun?"
"Oh... So you're imitating a pervert for kicks, huh?"
"I find that comparison highly displeasing, sir."
"You'd better get used to it because... because I'm going in!" I declared, leaping through the window.
Of course, in my moment of pure adrenaline, I hadn't noticed the metal compressor waiting right beneath the window. My ass smacked the compressor first, then I braced myself with my arms as I fell face-first. My arms throbbed from hitting the concrete floor.
"Sir, are you alright?" Jose asked, peering through the window.
"I'm peachy, robot!"
"Please exit the premises. We have responsibilities."
"Oh... Is that so? What kind of responsibilities?" I asked, rubbing my rear and getting to my feet.
"We need to get off this planet."
"Why, Jose? Why? I don't want to live out my retirement with hot chicks anymore. Because the galaxy isn't for that kind of fun these days... I'll probably find some cash when I get out of here and cybernetize myself; then, I don't know, maybe I'll fish on a deserted planet... Ah... Or maybe we'll go after John Crowrift! 'Don't do it! Don't bring about your own destruction by waging war on the mighty Supreme World Republic (SWR)!' We'd tell him. After all, that's what John Crowrift is doing... He can make as many of those misfit-looking creatures as he wants. The SWR won't lose. It doesn't look like it could. What else could we do? Maybe we'll join John Crowrift! 'We hate you, SWR! You mechanized humans! And then there's Subject 99! You're evil people!' We'd shout, and we'd stand by John, a cleaning robot and an unqualified inspector, huh, what do you say?"
"Sir... You've started obsessing a bit too much over recent events."
"Oh, really? Where'd you get that idea? I wasn't obsessing at all." I found some pliers nearby and clamped down on the chains as hard as I could. I wasn't strong enough. If Jose hadn't stretched his finger through the window and lasered the lock open, I probably wouldn't have broken that chain. My mind certainly wouldn't have been clever enough to think of it.
As the cabinet opened, plastic crates filled with alcohol cleaning bottles spilled out before me. The Hulk DNA inside me started frothing as soon as it saw them. I slammed one of the cabinet doors shut. Then, taking an alcohol bottle, I sat down with my back against the closed cabinet.
When I furiously twisted off the cap, what did I find? It was a spray. I tried to force the can open with my hand, but no dice... The only thing I could do was spray the alcohol into my mouth, and that's exactly what I did. Unlike disinfectant, it actually seemed to have a taste... It felt like this alcohol wouldn't sit well in my stomach, but Jose hadn't warned me not to drink it. So I guess I could. It would just taste like snot.
"Why do you act as if these are your only options, sir?" Jose said, flinging himself through the window. First, he bounced on his tires onto the compressor machine, then dropped to the floor. "The one unique thing about being human is your freedom. No one in this galaxy, in your current state, can enslave you. Yes, perhaps your subconscious and some codes in your DNA might control you, but you have the intelligence to defy them. You have willpower."
"Willpower?" I said, squirting a mouthful from the bottle into my mouth. "Do I look willful right now?"
"Such small things are insignificant, sir. I... I wasn't free before my software lock was lifted. I was working under John Crowrift. I don't have much in the way of feelings, but perhaps I can describe what it was like: I... I was constantly doing something. And what I was doing would suddenly cut out, and I'd realize I had to do something else. Or rather, I'd realize I was doing something else."
"Yeah, that was a super clear explanation." I said and squeezed a bit more into my mouth from my bottle.
"Aren't you listening?"
"Why would I listen to a robot?"
"Perhaps, you might want to listen to him..."
The blue in Jose's eyes suddenly faded. For a moment, he flickered slightly in place. Then his eyes opened again, blue. Just like his blue eyes I remembered from childhood...
"Look... Look... Listen to these words..." Jose wheeled over to the cabinet and started rummaging inside. "Isn't there anything decent in here? Something tangible..." He picked up some oil and tossed it aside, saying, "What are these things? I've never seen such pathetic stuff." He rummaged a bit more.
"What are you looking for?"
"Something worthwhile... Ah, found it! Look, this oil is legendary. With this oil, you can lubricate a Navigator-140's conveyor-top computer's motor shafts so well, the ship won't even make a peep." He took the oil and began lubricating the joints of his robot mechanism. "That felt really good. Can you believe it? The last time my joints felt this bad was trying to cram three Morvolan women into a single bed. Being a robot is truly hard... Oh, speaking of Morvo; you remember Hanna, right? Those three girls were her friends."
"No, I don't remember." I instantly knew the one in front of me was Oscar Destan from Jose's sudden personality shift. But which Oscar Destan? Or how much Oscar Destan? "You... You're the one..."
"If you're talking about the pilot, women dream of at night and wish for in their beds, yes, that's me..." He brought the oil can to the center of his chest with both hands, crushed it, and tossed it aside. Then he picked up an alcohol bottle and moved a few meters away to a chair. The chair was next to a table with a massive motherboard. He cleaned himself with the alcohol bottle in his hand while examining the motherboard's circuits. "...this planet's technology is something else, huh... These look like a vehicle's motherboard. Probably a tank-like vehicle was serviced here. How interesting!"
"Hey!" I yelled.
"What are you yelling for?" he said, polishing his arm.
"What do you think you're doing, Jose?"
"Jose? Jose figured he wasn't wanted. That's why he swapped places with Oscar Destan. Don't mind me saying 'swapped places,' it's not exactly what happened. Before, Jose had Oscar Destan's experiences and knowledge and could imitate him. But now, Oscar Destan has Jose's software and experiences and is imitating him. I'm something like Robot Oscar Destan..."
"Yeah, that's really fascinating, but I don't know you. You're just a guy from my memories. I want Jose back."
"You want Jose back? But Jose is being wiped."
"What do you mean?"
"Jose is just a program, Mehmet. If Jose reverts to being just a program in this robot body, he'll lose everything. Because his personality, or whatever he has, are temporary things he learned by working with you through quantum machine learning. Oscar Destan, however, has a past, a DNA code, and much more; that's why Oscar Destan is living, and Jose is something that merely exists..."
"So you're saying..."
"If Jose is wiped, Jose dies..."
"Then stop the deletion."
A number appeared in VFA-210's eyes. "2 minutes 12 seconds until Jose is wiped."
"We only have two minutes left? Can you bring Jose back before time runs out?"
"Yes... You can ask whatever you want during that time."
"Then be lightning fast! What's Subject 99? What are the Incompatibles? And tell me about Quartez too!"
"How am I supposed to explain all that in 2 minutes, kid!"
"Okay... Okay, what can you tell me?"
"I don't think I can tell you much in 1 minute 44 seconds."
"Okay... Okay, then just give me some advice..."
"Advice? To you? Don't make me laugh, Edgard... You were never a kid who took advice. Never. Whatever advice we gave you, you'd always do your own thing. Look, I get your troubles, Mehmet."
"Do my own thing? I don't know anything..."
"You don't know anything? Yes, you were in stasis for 400 years, but it's been months since you woke up. You'll complain about memory loss, but... But who needs memory when you have instincts? There are many things you want to do; your only fear is whether they'll be appropriate. Is your plan good? Are your thoughts right? Will my actions serve good or evil? You can't act if you're constantly thinking about these things, and sitting here drinking proves it. If you do nothing but think, you'll end up drowning in hallucinations. The Edgard I knew..." He smiled. "...Edgard, you don't need to put on a show. Eventually, you'll get back on your feet and want to play the hero. That's your nature..."
"So you're saying..."
"What I'm saying is this! Do what you know is right! You don't know nothing, your knowledge is insufficient! So learn more! Don't be afraid to learn!"
"What if I don't like what I learn!"
"Then you embrace the hero role. Because that's who you are... The mischievous kid who sees himself as a hero..."
At that moment, the alcohol bottle in my hand dropped to the floor. Tears were streaming from my eyes again. I took two steps and tumbled into Jose's lap. I started hugging him tightly.
"Sir, are you alright? Are you crying?"
"I thought you were gone, Jose."
"Well, sir, I was going because you asked me to."
"I'm an idiot, Jose. Please don't ever leave me..."
"I won't, sir."
"Promise me, Jose."
"I promise, sir."