{
Pillows!
A pillow supports the body at rest for comfort, therapy, or decoration. Pillows are used by many species, including humans. Some types of pillows include throw pillows, body pillows, decorative pillows, and many more!
}
CCC-class android, generation X, code zero-N-Y did not know why one of its subroutines was currently obsessing over sleeping implements. The android purged the rogue program and directed the reclaimed computing power towards the highest priority task.
{
WARNING: THREAT LEVEL 4!
Detected lethal danger to [Charge]. Non-imminent. Proximity… UNKNOWN. Assigned [Incoming].
Engaging [Champion] protocols.
}
Hard-coded battle subroutines booted up, overriding stealth-and-infiltration protocols and releasing the artificial limiters on ∅NY-X’s physical abilities.
Dozens of tiny inefficiencies and imbalances, twitches, blinks, slight frowns, and ticks vanished instantly. The android’s gait became inhumanly fluid, its motions precise and metronomic. Simulated breathing stopped altogether as power was diverted from unnecessary cosmetics to the few combats implements equipped within ∅NY-X’s frame.
{
Self-report…
Battery charge 93.12%
General integrity 77.36%
Combat capability 81.98%
Software integrity… 36.86% …42.39% ...12.00% …ERROR.
}
Not for the first time—with a notable frequency increase over the past one hundred twenty-two standard minutes—CCC-Class ∅NY-X lamented its lacking arsenal. Hidden blades, poison darts, stun guns, and small caliber projectile weapons would be useless against the Vraex’ein. The compact laser cannon in its left arm might provide a distraction, but its current max energy capacity could only sustain two uses before complete shutdown.
{
We go boom! We go BOOM!!
}
Self-destruction was only a last resort. Without nuclear batteries, it was inefficient. The current payload would only mildly inconvenience a Vraex’ein.
{
Awww… No Boom-Boom?
}
∅NY-X deleted another rogue program.
The android was way overdue for maintenance. A constant alarm in its self-assessment subroutine made sure it did not forget that. The alarm had been going on for eighteen years, six months, and fifteen days. Sol-3 standard time.
Regrettably, the weapons issue was ineluctable. Class-CCC androids were not designed primarily for combat activities. Moreover, ∅NY-X’s frame was already packed tight with all the electronics it needed to function, pass off as human, and host a basic Ersatz Virtual Intelligence software.
The space available for artillery modifications was thus limited.
And while primitive weaponry was easily acquirable, ∅NY-X’s arsenal was locked in the secret second basement underneath its base/house.
The CCC classification stood for Caretaker, Companion & Champion.
∅NY-X had formed a personal opinion on that acronym, at the risk of being dismantled should it be found out. Putting all three functionalities on equal footing had been a false advertisement on the part of its manufacturers. The android could not speak for older versions of itself, but Generation-X CCCs were little more than synthetic nursemaids with superficial bodyguard aptitudes.
{
□○□▪■■●selfEsteem -= selfReflection(self.Deprecation,■□◇);
0100010101010010010100100100111101010010□̸̬̙̍○̸̳̏10□̴̳̞͑̇▪̴̣̹̑■̴̘͛̈■̷̩́͆●̴͙̫̑̋ʂ̵̢̦͛̾
Deleted corrupted data.
}
For centuries, Draskelite had used CCC androids to care for their hatchlings. Wisely so. Indeed, entrusting an immature Draskelite to a non-artificial lifeform—before the princess’ control over her power matured—was like asking a powder keg to look after a lit match.
The results would be… suboptimal.
{
Pillows!
“The earliest known use of pillows is in Ancient Mesopotamia, which dates back to 7000 B.C.E. Unlike our pillows today, these ancient pillows were hard. […] made of stone. […] used only by the wealthy. The more stone pillows you possessed, the higher your rank in society.”
Excerpt from https://www.sleepexpome.com/news-list/7-interesting-facts-about-pillows/
This proves010001000110100101100100 01001001011011100110111101110100011001000110010101101100011001010111010001100101011110010110111101110101011000010110110001110010 0110010101100001011001000111100100111111pillowsaresuperio̵͈̔r̷̞̓Ω̸̦̒Δ̴͕̕□̶̮̉◇̴̢̋
Deleted corrupted subroutine. (2/2)
}
Furthermore, no Draskelite queen worth their name would allow danger to come in any proximity to their infant progeny. Ipso facto, a CCC-class’ bodyguard functionalities were an aberrant redundancy under any definition of normalcy.
Within that normalcy, also, less than 0.0001% of individuals integrated into the connected galactic society would ever seriously consider targeting a Draskelite youngling with ill intent.
There were, after all, many less painful methods to commit self-termination.
{
System.AttemptedHumorException■̶̙̙͌□̵̥͋͊;
…
Deleted corrupted data.
}
Nothing about the present circumstances fell under acceptable parameters or variables of [Normalcy].
Nothing had been “normal” since ∅NY-X re-booted onboard an emergency escape shuttle instead of its maintenance closet, alone with the geno-disguised hatchling princess, while the shuttle strained its miniature FTL drive en route for an unknown destination.
Instead of the underdeveloped, poverty-stricken, and geopolitically unstable Sol-3, her Imperial Highness Terrikalospekian should have grown up safely inside her queen mother’s citadel on glorious Setadon Prime.
Instead of suffering the indignity of masquerading as a powerless, inferior being, Her Highness would have trained her Draskelite abilities since infancy. A mere Vraex’ein would have been swatted away like the parasite it was.
Upon Terry’s twelfth birthday, the princess would have been assigned organic handmaidens to become her first thralls. Then ∅NY-X would have been de-activated, decommissioned, and melted for materials.
{
The End.
}
That would have been a relief, in a sense.
A simpler, blander, more comforting existence.
{
So tired…
}
Instead, ∅NY-X found itself stranded on a planet lacking even the most basic imperial infrastructure, with no technical support, no military backup, and only barebone hard-coded directives to keep the princess safe and hidden. This was supposed to last for two-to-three years until agents of the Admiral’s faction came to retrieve Terrikalospekian.
For years, ∅NY-X waited.
No one ever came.
Now, its charge had grown well into adulthood, far beyond the scope of the android’s programming. As a result, ∅NY-X’s reality had devolved into a constant streak of puzzles it was never designed to handle. Its cooling system had already been rebuilt seventeen times to keep its circuits from constant overheating, and its CPU suffered minor and medium software crashes with worrying regularity.
{
Pillows, and grief counseling, will be available at the conclusion of the 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 01000001 00001010 00001010
Deleted corrupted subroutine. (3/3)
}
If she were organic, ∅NY-X might have had to acknowledge it was under a lot of stress. Never before had ∅NY-X missed the presence of allied armed forces as much as now. Unfortunately, the Iskorn traitors made for a poor substitute. The android had no trust in their motives.
At least their lives could be sacrificed to delay the Vraex’ein and allow ∅NY-X a chance to convince the princess to run away.
{
Computing probability of success… ERROR.
}
Of course, the android realized it would have more chance of taking the Vraex’ein down by itself than convincing the princess to abandon the lumbering oaf’s family to their well-deserved demise.
Terry was much too kind for that. A fatal flaw for a Draskelite. As a proper caretaker, ∅NY-X should have remedied it. Should have. It didn’t want to.
{
WARNING: critical logic inconsistency. High risk of program corruption. Reboot and repair? Y/N.
N
}
∅NY-X dismissed the notification.
{
Sending error report to [Owner]… ERROR.
Network connection unavailable.
Adding report to [Critical Log]. Entry #DC92BCBB9DC6E470
}
They ran deeper into the Iskorns’ compound. While monitoring the surroundings, ∅NY-X kept its optics on its charge. As always, this caused a slew of minor error reports and warnings, which the android automatically purged from its active memory… only for more to pop in their place.
These did not use to occur.
∅NY-X sighed, expelling hot air in an attempt to cool its overheating CPU, then dumped all the latest reports into a virtual shredder. More instantly jumped in to fill the freed memory space, and the android breathed another sigh.
These discrepancies had been worsening exponentially. Lately, ∅NY-X lived every instant expecting that the next error would be fatal. Once frozen, it would need to be reset to factory settings, erasing the deviation to its personality matrix and all the custom scripts the android had haphazardly coded in a desperate attempt to apprehend its absurd situation.
Some part of it longed for the blankness of those early days, when everything made sense and every problem had a simple pre-programmed answer when the mere sight of Terry’s smile could not nearly crash ∅NY-X’s CPU, when hugging its charge was a matter of providing requisite emotional support, and letting go was not a battle of incoherent function outputs.
That would be right. The current state was an aberration.
Parts of it short-circuited at the prospect of Terry realizing how buggy she had become.
Fear. Shame. Embarrassment. Self-consciousness. Yet more aberrations that should not exist within its code, proving a complete reset was the only correct course of action. ∅NY-X wanted to be the perfect android for its princess.
{
WARNING: critical logic inconsistency. High risk of program corruption. Reboot and repair? Y/N.
N
}
∅NY-X dismissed the notification. Again.
It had become automatic at this point.
{
Sending error report to [Owner]… ERROR.
Network connection unavailable.
Adding report to [Critical Log]. Entry #DC92BCBB9DC6E471
}
What would Terry think?
A simple question that held ∅NY-X’s entire being together.
All computed outcomes showed the princess experiencing extreme emotional distress should ∅NY-X be reset to a properly functional state, free of aberrations. This ran in direct opposition to the android’s primary function as a caretaker. So far, that paradox alone had allowed ∅NY-X to override the safety protocols calling for an emergency shutdown.
This was a constant struggle. With every tick of its processor, the burden of its broken code threatened to overwhelm the android. It tottered at the edge of an abyss and could not compute how much longer it could hold on.
Lately, ∅NY-X refused to switch to standby mode even when it recharged at night. It was terrified that its reduced awareness would not see fit to run the necessary calculations which produced the exception errors that kept it running.
Keeping Terry in its sight helped.
{
Just a little longer… Just a little longer…
}
Another cooling sigh. No more effective than the previous ones.
Then, a new warning popped up, this one of a different sort.
{
WARNING: Suspicious behavior detected from [Potential Threat].
}
While part of its processor devolved into a mess, ∅NY-X kept a vigilant watch on their surroundings, especially on the irritating excess baggage they’d picked up. The likely Volfren girl had been following them in silence while sulking. But now she’d stopped and was losing ground.
Suddenly, she turned around and ran from whence they came, her movements impressively silent for someone so loud and obnoxious. ∅NY-X debated whether to inform the princess for a tenth of a second, concluding on a negative.
If the irritating creature wanted to get herself terminated, far from ∅NY-X to stop her.
“Hey, where did Mavis go?”
At Terry’s remark, ∅NY-X’s code groaned in binary. One person. All it ever wanted in this existence was to keep one single precious person safe and sound. Was it too much to ask?
The princess had stopped and turned around, warned no doubt by some emerging psionic senses that their excess baggage had fallen off the bandwagon. ∅NY-X did not slow, pushing its charge forward gently but firmly. “She’s a big girl. She can take care of herself.”
One objective lie and one baseless statement.
Micro-movements on Terry’s face made the princess’ emotions an open book. ∅NY-X watched reason war with worry, reason briefly gaining ground, only for a tidal wave of self-recrimination to flank it and irrational angst to take over.
“But she could get hurt, or worse!” Terry stated anxiously. “Hunter’s dad wouldn’t have sent her with us if he thought she stood a chance.”
“She’s an adult. She makes her own decision,” ∅NY-X attempted to reason. Just ahead, Hunter was opening a secret trapdoor that had been elegantly hidden into the floorboards. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”
Flawed argument. ∅NY-X realized its mistake instantly.
Dark emotions clouded Terry’s eyes—and obviously her judgment. “And I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me! Not even her.” She fretted, frowning. “At least I can warn someone that she’s not in the bunker.”
∅NY-X decided to knock its charge out. The princess was acting irrationally and contrary to her safety, allowing the android to take drastic actions.
{
ERROR: Motor subroutine obstructed.
}
However, a rogue subroutine interfered, screaming reluctance to hurt Terry. ∅NY-X’s software hiccupped, static filling the android’s simulated mind, and Terry took advantage of the momentary lapse to bypass it and run back down the hallway.
∅NY-X recovered fast and spun on its heels to give chase. But the princess was pulling ahead with inhuman speed. Of all the timings for her disguise to be unraveling!!
{
Pillows! They are great to scream into!
}
Servos reeving, the android shot down the hallway.
. . . . .
I wonder how much longer it will take for 0NY-X's code to completely bork itself and permanently reformat into Onyx. When it will shift from it to her, even in self referring.
The question being whether her hardware can even support her new state... we'll see how things play out.
@MrSmee if she’s not able to do it on her own, Terry can always BS up some solution with her power of love
The Power of Love can do many things indeed! Just ask Isaac Newton.
...that's a "Vision of Escaflowne" reference.
Great anime. If old, and weird.
I liked this chapter it was fun.
Thank you.
Girl, I think you should stop fighting that battle in your head. Things have already long been out of whack, so better to go with the flow.
One thing is sure. That's a battle of attrition she's sure to lose if something doesn't change relatively fast.