Artemis (aka “Agent 5”) kicked open what remained of the steel door with as much force as she could muster. She grinned as she hopped through, throwing caution to the wind as she shone her Hero Shot-mounted flashlight around.
“Sis, slow down! It might be dangerous!” That was the voice of her younger brother, Orion, also known as Agent 6.
“Relax, we got rid of the Octarians here,” Artemis said as she looked at the abandoned lab around her.
“I’m less worried about the Octarians and more about ancient security systems. Proceed with caution, Agents,” spoke their handler - Marie of the Squid Sisters, also known as Agent 2 of the New Squidbeak Splatoon. “This isn’t an Octarian facility… Maybe it’s… Nevermind, that’s only speculation for now.”
Only days ago had Artemis spotted Marie in Inkopolis Square and chased her into a sewer grate, starstruck, towing poor Orion with her. Next thing they knew, they had found themselves recruited into the New Squidbeak Splatoon and started liberating Zapfish from the clutches of the Octarians.
Sure, after a few close shaves the reality of the fact that they were fighting a war where they could die had sunken in, but despite Marie offering to let them back out, they were resolute to finish what they started.
Right now, they had found an Octarian dig site, and had splatted or chased off all the Octarians, including multiple Ocotoling troopers, which Marie was convinced meant this site was important.
Artemis coughed, shaking her head as she continued to look around, as her footsteps kicked up dust into the air around her. “Ugh, this place is so dusty…”
“Agent 5, look!” Orion said, trembling as he shone his flashlight at something that had spooked him.
Artemis looked, and her eyes widened as she saw the light expose some kind of large stasis capsule of some kind. A person was inside of it. She looked around the walls for some kind of light switch, and saw a button on the wall, which she pressed. “Shot in the dark, but maybe…”
Much to her own surprise, the room lit up. “Oh, cool, there’s still some power in this place…”
Orion stepped up to the capsule, wiping dust away. “Agent 2, you seeing this?”
“This is… Agents, don’t activate anything. I’m coming down to your position, sit tight,” Marie said.
As much as this piqued Artemis’ curiosity, she decided to keep her hands to herself, looking over the capsule. The person inside wore some kind of fancy blue armour, but he didn’t look like an Inkling or Octarian. Is he asleep, or…?
Marie soon arrived, still wearing that kimono of hers, but having put on a bit of agent gear over it in a hurry, along with her own Hero Charger. “Good work securing the area. Now, let’s see…”
She looked at the interface of the capsule itself, before pressing a button. A holographic image of an old man, certainly not of any species Artemis had seen before, appeared in front of the interface. “This is a warning message for anyone who would activate this capsule. My name is Dr. Thomas Light. I am a researcher of robotics, and inside this capsule is perhaps my magnum opus, the robot I call ‘X’.”
“So this is from the human period after all…” Marie muttered, something Artemis barely heard. “Wait… If that’s true, then why is the message in Inkling language…?”
“’X’ is the first of a new generation of robots which contain an innovative new feature - the ability to truly think, feel and make their own decisions by their own free will, completely unrestrained by the boundaries of programming. X, using his conscience, can think, worry and act on his own accord. This means he is also imbued with the same materials necessary to facilitate the evolution of robots in the same manner as life. However, there are great risks to this innovation. If X were to choose to become a threat to the world, to willingly violate the first rule of robotics - ‘A robot must never harm a human being’ - the results would be disastrous, and I fear that no force on Earth could stop him. To that end, I have sealed X away in this stasis capsule for thirty years to run continuous ethical tests on his AI, to ensure his maturity and that he has the proper conscience to act ethically in a complex society.” The hologram started coughing, speaking volumes of the old man’s health.
“Ugh, my head, so much technobabble!” Artemis groaned.
“Artemis, it’s not that hard to understand…” Orion said. “But this is so cool… A real, thinking robot!”
The message continued. “If you are hearing this message, then the tests were successful and he is free to be released. I unfortunately am running out of time as of this recording, and have no one to continue my work. ‘X’ possesses great risks as well as great possibilities. I do not know when exactly X will be released, whether it be on schedule or in some far-flung future, but I hope he will fight valiantly to achieve peace for all people. Yes... I firmly believe that this will come to pass. But, I am not without worry. I fear that X will be swept up in the war we call "progress". I urge the people of the future to remember that X is my... The world's hope.”
The message then faded out, leaving the three stunned silent.
“Marie… Who was that? I mean, he said his name, but that wasn’t an Inkling or Octarian,” Artemis said.
“That was a human,” Orion said. “We learned about them in school, remember?”
Marie nodded, “humans went extinct roughly 12,000 years ago due to rising sea levels and an apocalyptic war, at least, that’s the current consensus on the matter. Historians thought all the robots humans had were destroyed, to think we actually found possibly their most advanced robotic creation intact…”
Orion turned to Marie. “What do we do? I know he said the AI passed the tests, but…”
“It’s an actual robot, bro! It would be a huge shame if we just kept him in storage! It just… Seems so sad, after everything,” Artemis said.
“I think it’s for the best that we activate ‘X’,” Marie said, pressing a different, red button. “The Octarians were digging up this laboratory. They would want to turn X into a weapon, and we can’t let that happen. If that turns out to be a mistake… We’ll take responsibility for that ourselves.”
As the capsule began to hiss, Artemis could only hope that X would be a friend, rather than a foe…
