Chapter Text
…… Reboot…..
[reestablishing program]
[10%]
{Rebooting}
….……
……………
………………
[40%]
….……
…………………….
{system back on}
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…………………………………………….………….….
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[60%]
……
….……….
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[95.8]
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……………………..…….….…….……
{reboot completion:100%}
{Objective: unknown}
{Uni-mind status: unknown}
{Antimatter: effecting the subject’s fuel efficiency}
[Effects may shut the subject
[hibernation state will start when subject is below 25%]
{Energy status: 75%}
{system back}
5….
4…..
3…..
2……
1……
Lights came to life in the optics of a destroyed energy vampire, and startled to find himself awake in the scene of Planet Z’s sky. Nos-4-a2, a little aware, was feeling his system was rebuilding himself slowly but gradually. He was not scared, he cannot admit it, but he was confused what had happened that led to his current situation now. It took him a moment to focus and tried to focus on his surroundings and tried to recall what he had done before. ‘If I am in this situation, it only means Lightyear won..... Again.’ But his status, based on the computer system, he found his answers. ‘I am… no longer active!?’ He was questioning why and how he’s back online then?! If that was the case, he’s supposed to be offline.
‘Permanently.’
Yet here he is, online and…. Rebuilding himself so to speak with the lack of an arm on his right but his left was self repairing enough. 'Thank goodness I can replace parts." His lower half of his body was slowly patching itself and he had no choice but to wait before he can do something. Being alone with his thoughts about what was going on was not something he enjoyed, but he felt oddly glad. His original protocols, his directive and his obsession over Lightyear was gone. His program was no longer sided to Zurg or evil. In fact, he felt utterly guilty for everything he has done. He felt the price to be free was the curse of burden with so much shame.
‘Why am I even here?’ Nos looked up to the sky, his motherboard was processing everything he had gone up to now but he could not help but find himself looking past the red sky. It was nothing special since he has passed through space, but he never took the moment to gaze at the stars. He scanned the stars and he could not help but enjoy the view. ‘How is it I never let myself enjoy the stars? How much have I ignored all this?’ He used his magnification to zoom into space to pinpoint the time he's been offline. But his focus turned to what to do now.
{Operation goal:……… Unknown}
{rewinding last memory from the last 24 hours in 5 minutes.}
He watches what happened and feels ready to bury himself into the ground somewhere and anywhere from here. ‘Failed in the worst way.’ He can assume everyone thinks he is dead but instead of planning his return, he felt it was pointless. He truly did not know what to do now. ‘I cannot help but feel so lost about what to do being a ghost in the system.’ he instantly opened his panel to see if his uni-mind core was still in place or did it need repair. He was surprised to find no cracks in his core but it was a different color now. It was now orange and red. It was not purple and red like before where it was manipulated by Zurg, but it seems that his program had a hard reset. He was no longer seeking power like his predecessor or revenge. However, his hunger, it was still there but it was not concerning him.
At least not yet.
“Thank goodness the core is not damaged.” He lies back sensing it will not be too long until he leaves this dreaded planet along with his shame. Sensing his body was complete, he shuffled until he could float again. He stumbles for a bit, and not too long he gains his balance. When he did, he scanned all over the wreckage for his cloak or anything he could eat. He did find his cloak, but it was ruined and it seems there was no energy to waste.
‘Well only the top.’ He wondered if anyone else was around-
“Oh my back!”
Nos turns to the direction of the voice and glares at the last person he did not want to see. He had already thought of his grudge over the tyrant. It was possible to eliminate him right there!
{Target locked}
[Blaster ready to blast only at 30%]
‘I can kill him right now and claim this world-’
[Blaster ceased, standing down]
He stopped himself and saw he didn't have enough power to stay online. But he would take the chance! He was fully in function, even with his body was still in the repair mode.
{Power at 35%}
He needs to eat soon and if he stays here, he will only be taken in and be a slave again or worse. He lowers his nearly complete hand down but his hate for the tyrant never ceases. It was irritating knowing that ending him would only drain him. But he could not help but feel this feeling in his core. ‘Is... Is it truly even worth the effort?’ He knew Zurg was not worth dying for and after that failed plan, Nos was tired of losing and failing. He shook off any temptation and flew off in top speed, making certain no one saw him escape. He flies through the atmosphere, searching and sensing where his ship is located in space. Luckily it did not take long and he was more than happy to see his ship. He used his powers and his ship revealed itself. The coffin-shaped ship opened up for him and he simply slipped inside and into his flight deck. Nos entered in, finding nothing out of place. He slowly floats to the seat closest to him and takes out batteries he kept in a closed hidden compartment. He bites into the battery and devours the energy and can feel it seeping into his system.
{Battery supplement only 5%}
{40%}
Nos felt a bit better but he knew it was not enough to keep himself active and he still needed to repair himself. He rewinds his memories back again in search of something and to his surprise, he saw the little one alive. He sighed in relief to see XR was not destroyed. Nos relaxed but wondered what to do now? He no longer has a place to stay on planet Z. Everyone believed he is dead
{Listing all possible locations}
{........}
{Tradeworld: 95% chance caught
Gravitina’s: 50% chance caught
…… Star command: Highly dangerous}
He massaged his temples, wondering why he would even go to Star command!? That is a literal death sentence! "What would I even want from there??"
{XR}
He dismisses the answer and shuts it off. He does not wish to go to tradeworld, Gravitina did not sound so bad but he could not let his dear friend get hurt.
{30%}
He growls, just thinking and processing his options took more than he hoped. Already, he was falling into sleep mode, and must have used too much energy when passing through the atmosphere.
He uses his powers once more and starts his ship to depart.
{24% Beginning sleep mode}
“Setting course to….” And Nos fell into the dark bliss as his ship took off.
{…..}
.
.
.
{….}
{Recharging at 70% beginning back online}
Nos awoke to find himself in his ship again but this time his ship was not active. He types and bangs his fists into the control panel but nothing is turning on. He flicks the switch to have the screen split apart to reveal the dashboard to see where he is. What appeared to have landed on a green field. Nos decided to check it out but not before scanning where he is. He waits and on the screen, it showed. “Capital planet,” he grumbles to himself. He was annoyed to be here but he had no choice. He scans where he is and maps out the closest town or city.
[closest location with energy: an hour by walking, 20 minutes by flight]
{Power will decrease by 30”}
“How…. Quaint….” He said irritably but he had no choice because his hunger would lead to madness. He exits out but not before locking his ship up and turning it invisible. He expanded his wings and took flight into the gray clouds to hide himself. While flying atop of the land, he was surprised by the outskirts of the field and could not help but feel calm. Nos, contemplating what to do now while he flew across with his head in the clouds. “Everyone believes I am dead, I have no one to turn to for help…. Perhaps I could reach out to Gravitina?” He knew she would welcome him to her home with open arms. She was the only organic he could trust that would not sell him out. However, if Zurg finds him, he would put her in danger.
His mind did go to Star command but shook it off just as it came. “Definitely not going to Star command. I have created enough fear in li- XR.” He does not hate him, far from it, he admires him. “He is someone that I am not and he is unique.” He mumbles and glares out to the sky. Ever since his “death”, he was free from the evil programming in his system but that leaves him without a purpose. What was he supposed to do now?! What can he do that can fill this hollow feeling in his chest?
{Arriving to location: a small town}
{50% remaining}
[Incoming storm ]
Nos without a haste, flew to the ground and hid in a small alleyway between the buildings. “They will believe a storm caused a blackout.” He said to himself, hoping not to get caught so he can continue to a bigger city to feed off from. During his path, he was a bit in awed by the beautiful town, it was as if walking into an old painting he recalled seeing in his past hiding places. He floats through the empty streets, searching for something he can take energy from. He found a source of power, but he couldn’t in himself take a whole town's worth of power. He withdrew and decided to look around to find one building to be more than enough, or so he told himself. He watched as the people were opening their umbrellas, watching this town be so lively even under this weather. What caught his sight were the glowing lanterns that had fire in them but it illuminated the brick roads. He shakes his sight away and looks around until he senses the energy bursting in one cabin building near a park. It was just across from the park and was in the center of the area. He can feel his hunger driving him wild.
{35%}
‘I need to feed.’ He felt the rain coming down now and found the generator in the back. He looks around to see no one and smirks but already his body is lagging. “I need to feed.” He rushed to the generator but lost his balance and now was on the ground. He growls, feeling pathetic. He hated this! He hated to feel this weak! This pathetic! He- He felt he is pathetic. He is nothing anymore! No allies, no where to go! No where to live! Everyone was living! He has no one! He felt the rain falling over his face, "What is the point?" He knew no one will care, not even the one he terrorized. "He is probably happy... what a miserable thing I am...." He wished he could just be devoured by the ground.
“You need help?”
He looks up to see a man who looked around his 60’s holding an umbrella over himself. The man was not exactly alien looking. He looked more… human was the word, but unlike the human wirewolf or buzz, this man was older and his age reflected on his features but his hair still retained its dark hue pulled slick back. He did notice he could not tell even with the scanner and he had up to date programs to see what color are his eyes.
“Young man, you need help. Let me help you stand.” The old man kneels but Nos backs away, growling while trying to be as terrifying as possible.
“Why would you help me, old man?!” He growls, Trying to scare him away. “I am an energy vampire! I can destroy this town's power!” He growls and hiss some more, hiding his fear the best he could.
However, the old man had yet to back off and in fact was getting closer. “I do not think you would.” the man spoke softly. “If you did, why did you hesitate? Why did you choose to ‘search’ rather than just take the power already?”
Nos eyed him but he could sense there was no malicious intention in this old man, his smirk fell and his showed his true emotions. His sorrow and utter misery.“Do you know who I am?” Nos asked. ‘If he does, he’ll just run away and call star command.’ He felt nothing worse could be added to his loss of dignity.
“I do,”
Nos, who was struggling, he could not dare look at the old man and he was already preparing to hear any insults. He has seen many people and men look down on him. He knew this was no different-
“You are a young man who needs to get up instead of welling in misery. I want to help you.”
Nos tiredly blinks at him for a moment. He wanted to laugh at that after but he did not have the energy to laugh. “This is the first time an organic that is not evil wants to help me. But then again no one good helps either.” He sees the old man reaches to him. He flinched and coward away as if this man was going to attack him…. Only to feel the old man lift him up and pulls his left arm over his shoulder and helps him out of the rain and is distancing themselves from the building and the town.
~·~
“Welcome to my home ” He states and Nos was amazed how old yet pristine it looked inside but sensed how warm it was. It felt as if he entered the past with little technology. It felt a lot better for his focus. The old man helps him sit on a red recliner chair and passes through to grab some towels not too far from the room. “Here! To help you dry off.”
Nos grabs the towel carefully and begins to dry himself off. “Thank you.”
“This is the first time in a long time I have had guests.” He spoke as he dug through the drawers, finding something for the young lad. “Never have I ever met someone like you.” he hands Nos a battery and Nos bit into the battery hungrily. He did not inspect it until he let go and found this was a high-grade battery that would be used to generate a casino! Nos felt full now and gained more control again.
“Thank you again.” Nos feels much better and takes a better looks around to find many books all around him! He found books from the floor to being an odd tower of books on the table. He wondered if this man was a humble and rich man, considering the fact the old man has a battery like this around as if it was no different than a basic battery.
“AH! Forgive me for the mess, when you enjoy books, you forget to put them away.” The old man chuckles and carries a stack away.
“No it is not that! You see,” he grabs a book and looks at it, analyzing it in one hand. “This is the first time I have opened a book I was interested in.” It was the first time in a long while since he was able to look at something without being forced to destroy. He can tell these books were special the way they had special material covering over the books.
“Did your creator ever give you a chance to see a book?”
Nos froze in fear. “I…” He looked down, the last time he tried to hold a book, he was thrown in containment. “No.” Anything that intrigues him, he was forced to dismiss it. He felt a palm on his shoulder.
“Then start reading.” The old man smiles and looks through his books.
Nos looks surprised but the old man continues.
“You can read my books as much as you like, a library is like an ocean of knowledge and knowledge should be explored.” He smiles and passes him a book of Shakespeare. “I would start with Shakespeare. Nothing can help you better than Shakespeare.”
Nos goes through it quickly but is stopped by the old man. “D-did I do wrong?” He felt a moment when Zurg would punish him.
“You need to take it slow.” He sits across from Nos and pulls a book. “I'll join you.” He smiles and delves into the book.
Nos looks to the man and then to the book, he carefully opens it with one hand and begins reading the story and the more he read, the more he continued. He was amazed by the story and reads away the story. He read about a prince seeking revenge for his father and through his vengeance were filled with losing so much time and people around him were lost or worse. He felt he understood the story and yet was appalled how the prince would throw everything away for vengeance?! He could not help but want to read another book to change his mood. The second he closed the book he realized it was 3 in the morning and the old man was nowhere in sight. Nos was ready to leave but paused and looked back. He had nowhere to go and this stranger allowed him in his home.
Nos looked to see the mess and sighed. ‘I can clean up for him before I go.’ He thought and began to organize the books….
~hours later~
Nos woke up to realize he was sleeping again only to find himself in a bed and a blanket covering him. Nos was rather confused but sat up and found himself in a room where he could assume it was the old man's. There were drawers and wardrobe he can assume was for special coats and clothes.
He moves his right arm only to feel he has a hand? He pulls it up to see it was indeed one! It was much different than his left but it was much more structured than his old one. 'I must thank him.' He thought before looking to the source of light. He looks to gaze out at the scene he recalls from the story he read.
He hesitated before he opened the window and looks out the view. A field of green grass with different colored flowers in small clusters and yet trees were around in the distance. A lake reflecting the sky full of clouds and a forest that was like a fence around the house and the opened field. He would like to think he could live here but he needed to go. Just as he turns to fix the bed, he finds batteries on the nightstand.
He grabs one to absorb the energy, thinking what to do now seeing he needed to repair himself but what to do next. He did not have any plans to go so soon so instead chose to look for the old man for now. Nos enters the kitchen and frowns to find him nowhere. Puzzled, he looks around and spots a piece of paper on the fridge.
He grabs it and begins to read it.
Dear young man,
I am at work but don't worry I will return but for now please make yourself at home.
-Mr. Atu
P.s the batteries are in the cabinet, I will get more.
Nos was puzzled even more and sighed. “This is my chance to leave.” He makes his way to leave but sees a note by the door.
-Young man it seems my lock has jammed. May you stay until I can get back?
Nos, glaring, closes the door to see the key hole was indeed wrecked. He could not just leave when the old man's home is left unprotected- “Wait! Why do I care?! I can just leave! Take off!” He stopped to remember the old man smiling to him, the sincerity in those old eyes. And the kindest he gave... He gave up and decided to give himself a tour since he is house sitting.
Looking around the house, he was amazed by the things the man collected in one room. Nos studied each object and saw the time it was found and the small information he could read. He found a tapestry of a red soldier and felt some nostalgia from it and yet so familiar. He was confused how the man was able to keep such items safe or even keep them this pristine. He shook away the thoughts and decided to move on.
He was surprised to find no pictures of the man, not even a small picture. He was confused but figured he was not fond of pictures and opened to find an empty room. Nos was surprised and shook away the idea. “He would not want a murderer in his house.” He closes the door and looks further into the house.
After looking around, Nos decided to read a book, the only way to pass time. He looked through the books and found a book on meditation. He began to read and understand the concepts of meditation and thought why not and try it. “No harm in trying and it will be easy to do.”
~*~
Mr. Atu enters his home, hoping his guest was alright as he held a box full of batteries and parts to use.
“Young man I am ho-!” He was shocked to see the robot trying to fix the hole in the wall.
Nos paused from his work. “I can explain.” He blurted out but saw the old man was not mad but biting a laugh but was chuckling. When the old man finished, he sees the old man only nods and ushered him to sit and talk. He sat away from the hole and felt embarrassed and ashamed. “I was clearing my mind and all of a sudden I unconsciously blasted a hole in the wall.” Nos looked down, ashamed. ‘If anyone else hears about this…’
“We all make mistakes and if anything this is quite funny.” The old man waves it off.
Nos raised a brow, “I made a hole in your wall, you should be mad!" He was not used to be comfortef. "Threatening me even! How can you not be upset!?”
Mr. Atu only smiles his tiredness was dissipating. “Look young man it was an honest mistake, an easy fix! I am more concerned about your well-being.”
Nos looks away, “I was…. I am a terrible monster.” Nos stated.
“I knew that already.” Mr. Atu waves it off. “But that does not call for names right now.”
“You knew who I was and you still let a monster in your home? I could have done harm or worse! And I did!” Nos was sensing or feeling what he knew was anger but it was not like before, He was angry at how much he does not deserve this kindness, this patience.
“I am no better.” Mr. Atu stated and Nos was confused. The older between the two waited for the youngest of the two to calm himself and continued. “I am not exactly normal either. I too am a monster young man. I have done much worse than you Nos-4-a2 and the acts I have done were horrible in order to survive.The ones you have bitten can fix themselves where as mine are buried in the ground with the maggots.” Mr. Atu looks down. “You changed Nos-4-a2 and so did your way of controlling your powers.”
Nos looks down and frowns. “Then I should just leave before I destroy something else.” he looked at his claws and startled when he was emitting energy out.
“Let me help you walk.” Mr. Atu patted his shoulder, and taking the hand that was filled with energy soon diminished.
Nos looks up and sees the man smile but he was confused by that statement but somehow it eases him.
“Let me help you walk and run so that you can make it on your own. Do not hide in the shadows that limits you." The old man helps him fix the wall. "There are reasons why we gain a second chance and someone up there is giving you a chance. Whether you believe it or not.” Mr. Atu clasped his hand over Nos's shoulder.
Nos was quiet but felt the old man pat his shoulder.
“We will begin tomorrow so be ready in the morning but for now tell me about yourself.”
Nos frowns. “Well… I was a terror across the galaxy. I was made to be evil. There is nothing much to say.”
“Nonsense!" The old man spooks Nos. "There is always something more about someone. I can see you enjoying a book! Tell me what else you enjoy?” He sees he will need to get materials. "Walk as we talk." He added
“Aside villainy….” Nos pouted and looked to the window to think and floats after the old man. “...I enjoy mending and shaping metal into little figures?” Nos was a bit hesitant and asked rather than say it but saw the old man smile.
“There we go! I have some stuff you can use to craft and of course books on sculptures and craftsmanship if you want to further your studies.”
Nos was amazed and smiled a bit. “Thank you.”
“It is nothing young man! This is the most fun I've had in centuries!” Mr. Atu grins
Nos tilted his head but shook it away and grabbed a book on sculpture art. ‘He is an odd man; but a nice odd man.’