Large decorated doors stood high in front of the small robot; it seemed as though Thanatos designed everything within the Citadel to dwarf all that walks its halls. The depiction on the doors was of a hooded figure holding a globe with both hands; within the globe, an image of the galaxy could clearly be seen. It gave the notion that he had control over everything contained within the globe. However, it was clear that the hooded figure was Thanatos himself; Diggix wondered if Thanatos commissioned something like that to be displayed on the doors or perhaps someone else who admired him.
He had been summoned once again to Thanatos. It’s been the first time in days since his last audience. Diggix had spent time with the other DG units and some of the monks, learning and observing what they do around the Citadel. He has been treated with kindness from them, not found with Thanatos and Izzar.
The recording sessions with Izzar also seemed to be only something happening once in a while, seemingly to catch Izzar off guard and keep him on his toes. Though Diggix had not been doing any recording sessions with the boy, he still saw him each and every day; he had to observe his training amongst the monks and learn his routines.
The revelation of the internal revolution sparked by himself was still a mystery to him. He could not find any fault or hint; it was not in him to rebel, let alone drag everyone in the Citadel down with him to stand against their master. He was compelled to report this to Thanatos, but something deep within his circuitry stopped him.
The doors swung open, a cold breeze came forth from beyond. Diggix could see his frail master meditating in the middle of the room, surrounding himself in darkness so nothing could disrupt his intense concentration. There was an eariness to the scene, black smoke lingered, but as soon as Diggix entered the room, it disappeared. Slowly Thanatos stood to his feet, struggling with his cane in hand; it was an effort Diggix found to be out of place.
“Diggix, I was expecting you earlier. I need to speak with you.”
The casual conversation was still foreign to Diggix; he never understood why humans required it. Speech, to Diggix, was only a tool to relay tasks to one another. If the conversation did not bear any fruit at the end, he would deem that conversation a waste of time.
“Can you remember why I sent you into the forest?”
Diggix could not recall; in fact, he was not entirely sure what the forest even looked like. So he remained to stare at Thanatos, waiting for an answer; he did not think it essential to answer a question he had no answer for.
“Before I sent you on that mission, I believed you were the best and most loyal companion I’ve ever had.”
Thanatos walked closer to Diggix with an agonizing limp, he waved his hand, and the door behind the little robot closed.
“I never expected betrayal would come from you.”
The room was pitch dark, Diggix could not see, but he could hear the old master move around the room. It was a nervous pace that seemed to move around him; from one side to the other, he listened and kept his attention on his master’s voice.
“News had reached me that you were planning to kill me; now I knew you weren’t programmatically capable of doing such a thing, but it still alarmed me.”
Something within Diggix’s code made some functions dysfunctional, his audio and visual receptors kept bouncing, and the hydraulics within his limbs stiffened. Something within him was fighting his urge to report on the still existing plot; he needed to tell Thanatos but couldn’t.
“You’ve opened my eyes to the dangers of this world, the dangers lurking within these walls. If it was not for Tomal reporting on you, I would have never discovered the plot.”
Every line of code, function, and ability froze within Diggix, that monk was still plotting, yet he was the one to report Diggix; it did not make logical sense. The urge to tell Thanatos grew stronger.
“I don’t believe you were working alone; I suspect many of the monks. Though I cannot move against anyone without concrete evidence, the Monks of the Ipsimus are a sacred institution, and killing or exiling even one of them would cause more problems than I need right now. I believe you still don’t remember anything from before your mission into the jungle?”
“No, Master Epismus Thanatos.” He replied without hesitation; it was true after all.
“Good, so we can turn over a new page in our relationship.”
Relief came over Diggix, his limbs loosened, and his visual and audio receptors calmed down. He could once again search functions without error.
“I have called you here today to correct my errors from the past. I thought after almost three hundred years, your programming would have been perfect, but I was wrong.”
The urge to inform Thanatos about the planned insurrection faded quickly; his thought prosses no longer lingered on the disobedient monk and his fellow DG6 units who wished to see their old master removed.
Thanatos seemed to make a gesture; lights within the chamber lit everywhere on the sealing revealing the room around them. Thanatos slowly walked towards a console on the far end of the room; he browsed through many screens, searching for something particular; it had taken longer than Thanatos had hoped but finally reached the information he was looking for.
“Ilgo informed me that your biochip is no longer present in your mainframe; it was that very chip that caused your malfunction.”
From the ceiling of the room, an opening appeared and a chair lowered to the ground. Diggix had a hard time processing everything that was going on. First, Thanatos confronts him of his treason, then hears his biochip was removed when he was told it wasn’t. Finally, Thanatos gestured to Diggix to sit down, he complied.
“No amount of information makes anyone loyal, not even us humans. The more we know of our masters, the less we identify with them, and thus rebellion is born. Humans can not be programmed to be loyal and obey; such is the weakness of the monks. Even though they are part of this Grand Order, they are still separate. Even I, the Epsimus, must fight for their loyalty and approval each and every day.”
Thanatos connected a wire in each finger on Diggix’s hands; he could feel the rush of current flowing from them. Then, finally, he joined a larger cable within an opening on the side of the little robot’s head.
“Ilgo had come up with new functions that will enable you to execute your duties more efficiently; the upgrades will make you into the robot you were designed to be. Rebellion will no longer plague your operation system; you will once more be my right hand.”
Somehow Diggix knew what the programming entailed. He was not entirely sure what kind of functions it would be. Though deep within his core processors, he knew it was nothing good; it was programming formulated to control him, to take away his consciousness and turn him into exactly what Thanatos wants, a mindless robot. Though what other purpose did Diggix serve? He realized that he was only a robot, and for Thanatos to take away his ability to think freely would help him fulfill his primary function. The little robot did not resist.
“The first function to be incorporated is an obedience function. It will allow you to carry out tasks without question; above that, you will only be obedient towards me and no one else.”
Diggix thought hard; his processors must have confused the urge to serve Thanatos with something else other than obedience. The very definition of the word describing what he was doing by sitting on the chair was obedience; how much more obedience does Thanatos want from him?
Electric current pulsed through his small metal body, a diagnostics message appeared within his vision. Incoming wireless transmission: The sender requests to alter your systems. Diggix hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should open the connection. This apprehension made him realize that he was indeed not as obedient as he thought. Thanatos looked at the robot with a slight frown.
“Why the apprehension?”
Diggix remained silent. To avoid angering Thanatos, he quickly accepted the transmission. Thanatos continued to stare at him for a while longer; he was clearly thinking about the slight hesitation on Diggix’s part. He then turned to the console and began the sequence to upload the new function.
Strange currents flowed through Diggix; it felt different from the ones he experienced moments ago. Thanatos looked back at him and smiled; it indicated that the function had been uploaded on his console. Not even a moment later, Diggix could process that all his thermal sensors were reading an increase of system temperature, his backup cooling system kicked in, helping him to cool down.
“How do you feel?” Thanatos asked after a moment.
“Feel?” Diggix asked, not grasping the meaning of his question.
“To feel is to experience the inner workings of your programming, to comprehend the meaning of heat, smell, touch, and sight. Of course, there are many definitions for the word feel. At this moment, I need you to explain to me if you feel anything different from before within your body.”
Diggix thought for a moment; he ran diagnostics on his systems, thinking it was what Thanatos asked him to do. Then, almost involuntarily, Diggix gave an answer he didn’t even think about answering.
“My systems are overheating, and there is a strange current flowing through my circuitry.”
Thanatos smiled.
“That will be all for today then. When you walked into this room, you were silent, you did not respond to me, and there was a familiar glow in your eyes. That glow is gone, and you are now speaking. The new function is working as expected. Though overheating is most likely an effect from your system trying to reject the programming, your body might still be thinking it’s human.”
Flashing on the console made Thanatos turn to the screen in wonder, scanning through the data displayed in the console; after a long moment, it was revealed to him what was actually making the little robot overheat.
