A. X-5's Story

Sophie would have been delighted at the idea of just causing some anarchy if it wasn't for Aiya standing right there next to her. A small grin that grew at the suggestion was quashed by the steely gaze the woman now leveled at Alex. Sophie grabbed at her arm and gave a small tug. "Yeah, c'mon Aiya, stay out of this..." followed by the whispered promise, "I'll be back later"

Aiya's shoulders rose and fell with her breath as her brain struggled to process everything being said that conflicted with her own fears and emotions. Tossing cars? Dropping buildings?! She was feeling more than a little outclassed. But all it talk was one digital affirmation of support from an unseen friend and Aiya was ready to make her stand. She refused to face Alex just yet, not because she was ignoring him or trying to frustrate him, but because of all the emotions she felt, anger was the one strongest aimed towards him in this moment.

"Sophie... I don't think you should go with your brother," she said voice soft, yet firm.
"But he's my brother."
"He's a machine."
"...I'm a machine, too."
"You're a person."

Sophie was left speechless, either because she understood or didn't and relented as Aiya peeled her hand off of the woman's arm. All of the emotions in her had reached boiling point and one triumphed above the rest; anger. Aiya had never been angry like this before. She had been upset, hurt, annoyed, but not this angry, and a large part of it was driven by the sheer fear that she felt knowing how capable Sophie was and knowing just how dangerous that made her brother.

Fwooh~

Betwixt their very noses a green spherical amalgamation of energy and other searing properties swished by, flicked by Alex's thumb as if he were popping the top off of a bottle. It was both to intimidate and catch attention. A machine? Of course he was a machine. All semblance of his human nature had been peeled off the day some lab coat assholes decided to make him into a tool of war. Since he'd only ever seen the darker side of the human heart. Their vicissitudes brought about by themselves. The trials and struggles to find superiority among one another. Stabbing each other in the back. Luring others into a false sense of security only to pull the rug out from under them, pushing them over the edge, stomping on their fingers even until they finally let go and pull the trigger. He'd seen enough of the world and he, for so many years, had done everything he could do to avoid being human. Instead he acted as an aggressor; wrought punishment onto the vast majority. Innocents and guilty alike. Why the innocent? Because they all, everyone, had the potential to be guilty. Sin lay within their very creation, after all, so the story goes.

It was then, having traveled a vast distance, that the small little sphere struck an obstacle and ignited in a horrendous, explosive, dome that swelled to roughly the size of a single story garage, swallowing everything in its hellish blast radius; visible several stalls down as it brought down a towering pillared archway.

"I'm a machine? Of course I'm a machine, you dull little harlot." He suddenly spat out. "Why would I even think to be otherwise?" He rhetorically inquired, sliding his fingers back through his synthetic locks, only to toss them off to the side with a jerk of his head. "And please don't liken my sister to a pathetic fleshie. True we were both a person at one time, we've since molted from that and have become so much more. Transcendent." With a hand on his hip, an almost egotistical stare, and a sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth, he almost felt a sense of superiority in her statement. That look changed a bit as his eyes seemingly dimmed dark, his brows narrowing dangerously to give him a horrifying look upon his face.

"There is no right and wrong when it comes to machines. We do as we're programmed. I was programmed for conflict; war." The words were cold, almost chillingly silent, and came with a heavy weight to them. As if he was explaining in simple terms why he did what he did. Despite ignoring his actual programming, he was a frightening, walking, cataclysm. Closing a single eye, he extended a hand and offered a gesture that spoke 'come hither' to his younger sister.

"Come on, Sophie. Let's go..." There was no give in his voice, no sense of frailty in that command. No point to interject. No reason to doubt the seriousness. Not even a quiver. Solid, and supreme.

Sophie's footsteps were immediate, not by any sense of obeying a command, but more a 'well he won that argument'. She all but skipped past Aiya, turning to face the woman with a sheepish shrug. "Sorry Aiya, he's right. We're machines, and he's my brother. See ya later." It was punctuated with an almost mischievous little giggle. She was honestly going to enjoy exploding things.

There was a lone nod of acknowledgement from Aiya at again some unseen voice, which was actually the AI she was hooked up to. A silent communication that, yes, she still had full support to engage. She may not have a good leg to stand on, and she may not have been as eloquent with words, but her father was a drill sergeant and had given her a set of lungs that could shake a building down! Metaphorically. And with how much fear, anger and tension she had built up in her it was about time she exploded.

"Transcendent? I've seen more intimidating machines in my kitchen!" she bellowed, her mouth open wide to both inhale large quantities of air and to force it back out of her lungs as words. Her right foot slipped back into a combat stance as her fists were raised at either side, her body sucking in oxygen for the next shout. "What a crappy machine you are if you had to be made by fleshies! You don't even care about Sophie, you just want to take her with you so you can go break stuff, but let's face it, without her-"

Teeth clenched together as Aiya's rage peaked and the last few words were snarled out.

"-YOU'D STILL BE SCRAP!!!"

His eyes never left the girl. She'd been trying his patience all along and by now they'd been worn thread thin. But in this very moment, she was the least of his worries. Some little harlot peon not fit for his attention, nor Sophie's. It made him question why Sophie had even been around the girl to begin with. Aiya's insults fell upon him like feathers on the ground. All she was at this point was a big blow hard, literally. Digging a pinkie finger into his ear only to dig around pseudo-itching, a typical gesture to insult another, he rolled his eyes. "Classic toaster joke. Check." He murmured, citing her comment of kitchen appliances. "You're pretty fuckin' annoying, you know that?" He finally added as he leaned forward with his fists on his hips, almost mockingly looking down upon her from his slight distance.

If he'd wanted, this would have been over already. But, surprisingly, there was still some humanity inside of him and rather than quarrel in front of his sister with...whoever it was she'd been with, a friend; who knew, he'd give her the golden ticket to freedom instead. This combat stance, though, was far more irritating than he'd anticipated. As if she were to really come at him like that. Glancing over at Sophie for a sudden moment, he couldn't help but finally ask. "Who the fuck is this girl and why have you been hanging around her, again? Details, sis..." Hand still on his hip, he hoisted himself back into a rigid stance as he glanced down at her side, expecting an answer.

His eyes slowly flit back onto Aiya, though, flashing a heinous crimson for a moment. Again, an error in programming? Or something far more iniquitous? "I wasn't made. I was reborn. Not by choice, but by those who saw fit to play God." He spoke out, flexing his own fingers. "I was dead once. We both were. So don't you assume I don't care for my sister. I just have a different agenda than you do..." And it must have been truth considering the girl was willing to have a show down with him over his own sister.

Creepy sounds, very creepy sounds, the sounds that are disturbing, and forces you to become alert at all times. This noise however didn't affect the two individual's that wanted to explore this abandon wasteland, the young male with messy blond hair, and witch that has no gender stood besides the young male, the male had beaten him in height by 2 inches.

"What makes you wanna explore this place ariata? says the male, he was quite curios on why these two had wanted to explore this massive play pin for all of the criminals that could do whatever they want, when they want. The male yawned. "Because while I'm here I want to either make an alliance, or just kill people, just for fun." Says ariata while its feet had touched the puddles on the ground.

The male had reached for his lighter, and a cigarette, and lit it up. He places the cig in his mouth, and inhales, and blew the smoke out of his mouth, as they passed a damaged out police car with a dead cop resting by it. "Looks like they don't like the law, huh"

"Obviously, the law is nothing, the law can be easily broken by anybody if their hearts desires it satomi." Ariata says. The two continues to wander, hoping too see anyone, or anything while they are here.

Well that had Sophie stumped. Who was Aiya to her? The question made her lean forward in thought, pondering on the matter. She was... Someone who kept her around. Asked her to not break stuff. A fleshie that fought other fleshies. Someone stupidly determined despite failing, a lot. She made Sophie feel a funny feeling she wasn't used to feeling around Alex; guilt, but it didn't make her dislike Aiya. A smile slowly slid down her face to a frown.

"She's..."
"I'm the one who's been taking care of her while you've been gone," Aiya called out at Alex.

Aiya was actually feeling a lot better. Shouting at him had released a lot of the tension in her body, like a good pre-fight warm up and now her body was standing loose and alert, the weight shifting from boot to boot ready to move at a moments notice. Her confidence was practically booming and nothing he could say or do could take it down a peg. Well, short of beating the shit out of her, but she was so confident right now that she was sure she could take him!

"Yeah yeah, it's never your fault," Aiya answered, practically not listening to a word he said. Or had she...?
"Do you know the real difference between you and me? You're strong and want to put Sophie into danger, while I'm weak and will do everything I can to keep her out of it!" she snarled and stomped one of her boots down, sending a heavy thump into the air and stirring up the dirt and rubble around her, "The difference between you and me is I'm responsible. And if you try to take Sophie away and make her a criminal, I'll make it so you're not responsive."

Sophie touched a finger to her lower lip in curiosity. If it came to it she was sure Alex would wipe the floor with Aiya, so she wasn't worried about the threat. She turned her head to her brother and suddenly hopped up into the air, arms wrapping around his neck like an annoying sibling would.
"Hey can we go?" she asked, her purple eyes peering up at his red-mixed-aqua
"Aiya's fun. She's like a fleshie big sister."
Sophie let go and dropped back to the ground with a happy little smile. "Don't fight her, okay?"

"Don't fight her, okay?"

Such words should have never left his sisters mouth, but they did. Were he truly someone who hadn't cared about his sister, or what she valued, he'd have dismissed such a request in an instant. Instead, he wrapped an arm around her as she held fast to his figure for that moment, savoring at their resurrected bond in that instant. He may have come off as a cold blooded machine...but that was toward anyone who wasn't family. In the end, there was still a goal to be had. First he had to retrieve his memories, or at least figure out what happened. From there, he could pursue his true desire, something that would make both of their lives easy. The easiest way to do that, though, was to have her full support as well. Going against her wishes now would only prove detrimental toward the cause.

"Fine. The golden ticket is hers..." he mockingly exclaimed, flashing Aiya a quick glance. "Prattle on all you like. She's my sister. I'll always protect her. You get a free chance to walk away." He warned, narrowing his brows. "But only because of Sophie."

His attention then fell away, a hand reaching out for Sophie's as he proceeded toward the street as he had before. "Taking care of you while I was gone. As if I could prevent what happened to me..." He chuckled. Then again, it did bother him that there was such a case that he wasn't able to defend himself. Like it or not, a danger such as that would surely pose just as equal a threat to Sophie. It just made him all the more determined to reach their end game, his end game. But his tone swiftly changed somewhat at that point. "A fleshie big sister, though? Gross..."

As Alex eventually found his way upon the crossroads, eyes glancing left and right. Everything he saw seemed vastly unfamiliar save for the various disgusting aroma's that his sensors happened to pick up. That and the unruly crowds that he'd begun to see again. All in all it looked akin to an underworld black market of sorts. Creatures of all shapes and sizes, though that wasn't far from normal, seemingly did their business amongst the stalls whilst others, presumably those who'd been in Sophie and his vicinity, continued their swift escapes. "I can see things haven't really changed, save for our whereabouts. Where the fuck are we, Soph?" He questioned.

"Thanks bro," Sophie answered cheerfully, resuming his side, hovering so she was at shoulder height instead of on the ground. She raised a hand to wave to Aiya. "I'll be back at your place later, okay? Promise!" Her head turned to look at Alex again with a smug smile. "Are we going?" She started to lift off of the ground higher and higher, getting clear of all the trash and knocked down structures so she would have a clear fight path, either towards the exit to through the ceiling.

Aiya stared on in silence, her stance deflating just slightly. "Sophie?" she called out with eyebrows raised in surprise. It seemed like Sophie just didn't want them to fight, and it clicked that even if she could win, she didn't want Sophie to remember her as the one who took apart her brother. She grit her teeth and stood upright, refusing to let this be a defeat. "Don't think I'm letting you leave because I'm scared. I'm doing it for Sophie's benefit. We'll settle this one day in the arena." It was a promise she planned to keep.

"Shut up, you fucking shrew..." He quickly spat back as he kicked off the ground himself, hand still entwined with Sophie's. Of all things he could have gone without in this instant; it wasn't the foul smell of the Undermarket, nor was it the endless droves of putrid looking denizens. It was the damned harpy that wouldn't shut up and go home. If only Sophie had let him go about his business, she'd have been silent moments ago. "You'd be better off just forgetting about me, and Sophie, and going about your damn business. I have scores to settle, and goals to meet. You're just a pathetic fucking hindrance right now." He finished, pinching the bridge of his nose with his other fingers. Even for an android with mild patience, she was infuriating. He'd retained more of his human nature than he obviously should have if she was causing friction to his AI.

Taking off at a quicker pace, hand tugging Sophie along, he glanced upward and around only to spy what appeared to be a lone, strange, manhole with a descending ladder. "I'm going to take a wild guess and say that's our ticket out of here?" He mused aloud, turning his attention to his sister with a sudden visible smile. "Sorry I'm being so harsh..." He spoke out, pulling an eyelid down only to stick out his tongue at her. Even as a machine, he still cared immensely for his sisters well-being, and her demeanor. "But she's a pest! So we're out of here, and away from her." He spoke with a nod. Having reached out with a hand, the manhole cover was blown off by a single burst of Kiai from his palm. What he perceived to be evening light flooded through the hole and he at that point safely assumed it to be the sky of Wing City.

"Me first!" Sophie shouted, jets boosting in her heels to give her an extra oomph to her flight pattern as she shot up the hole and into the city overhead, leaving a small rain of dust in her wake from the force. Everything had really gone her way.

Aiya gave Alex one last steady glare, mouthed something under her breath, then turned away, hurrying to scoop up her bag in her arms and head for a more practical exit where she wouldn't be in such a seedy street. She just wanted to go home and cry a little.

Blown back, initially, from her sudden springboard dash for the exit, Alex slowly shook his head. Though there was a gaping blank area in his memories, she did seem to stay much the same as he could remember, save for some very discernible details regarding her appearance. But that was always a topic for another time. For now, he was awake and not scrap torn apart for others to do whatever with, and he had his sister at his side as it should be. The annoying mite that had been clinging to her could go off and do whatever, for all he cared. A single glance over his shoulder caught her ambling off, earning a mild grin from his lips. "Good. Stay out of the way..." He mused before carrying on through into the city above himself.

Sophie shot off into the air, spinning around and leaving a trail of jet-stream swirling behind her. A huge grin was on her face at how things had been working and she had been thinking of some downright troublesome things! She paused in the air, a small burst of rocket fire to stop her motion, and then she hovered, looking down over the city.

It was quite scenic. An orange glaze coated the city and sky from the slowly settling sun drifting towards the horizon. The city was full of life and this place was no different, Wing City never really stopped. And other than the momentary prettiness of seeing the near-setting sun, it was lost on the android girl who's eyes were on the street below and who's mind was just too distracted.

A distance behind Alex glanced about, taking in the scenery. The buildings in this district were monolithic. Down below the peons appeared as ants, cars appeared as if they were toys, and the grid lines of the city were very evident. It dawned on him that he was actually flying and had forgotten that he wasn't sure if he could; this answered his question obviously. If that were the case, then that meant other things should work just as appropriately. Glancing off to the side, he spotted what appeared to be a news chopper hovering over the growing discord of what seemed to be an office fire in a distant building.

"This is WCTV17 News! What looks to be an office fire has rapidly grown out of control here on the seventy seventh floor of the..."

A quick flicker of his eyes made noticeable the very malefic intentions he had. Hardly a second later and two dual-crimson beams pierced outward from his eyes and struck the back tail of the chopper, the result a cacophonous explosion followed by a quick loss of control by the helicopter.

"Oh Jesus fucking Christ! I think...I think we've been hit! Terrorists! Terrorists!" The man cried out as he was flung about in the cabin of the helicopter. The camera man, having lost his footing, swiftly plunged toward the ground as his camera snagged itself upon one of the helicopter legs. It chronicled the poor mans fall to his death. Meanwhile, the anchorman who'd been swearing and crying out for his life had continued in his panicked shouts and cries but to no avail as the helicopter soon plunged into the side of the building, erupting into flames and smoke. The building itself had certainly seen better days as there was now another fire on floor seventy two...

"Hahaha. Well. Those still work..." he mused to himself before dashing off to speed by Sophie. He could see she'd been momentarily distracted as she glanced around, taking in the sights of below. Spinning circles around her for a moment, he teased her some. "Hey! Sophie! Wanna play vertical darts?" He questioned with a mild grin. "I'll show you how to play!" He added, stopping as he placed his hands on his hips.

Sophie's head and hips cocked when she heard her brothers suggestions, hands on her sides. It was cool to see him having fun. "What's vertical darts? Do we get light posts and throw them at a big target?" she asked, eyes lighting up at the premise. There were an awful lot of fleshies running around down there. And with the flash of bright fires and everything going on, sometimes it was a little hard to make out details.

Sensors in her head tracked each person as they moved, many escaping the smashed buildings. Sophie didn't care about them, but she did have a small mental thought to keep Alex away from certain parts of town. For personal reasons.

Alex rubbed his chin for a moment pondering on what she'd said. That would likely work just as well, too. His idea had been a bit just as brutal, if not more. Turning his attention about and around from the ground to the buildings off to his side, he offered a wry grin. "Well, that could work. I was thinking we could pluck fleshies from their offices and try to nail cars." He spoke with a devilish smirk. Light posts to a target would be neat, but watching fleshies splat into the cabins of moving vehicles would be a riot. "I mean, we could always add bonus points for whoever's human dart causes the biggest accident..." He added with a thumbs up. "And the victor goes the spoils. Which means you get to light up the dartboard with a carpet bomb..." He finished with a matter-of-fact sort of nod.

Why not? Kick his return off with a spectacular bang. Granted, he had even better plans after as he eyed a building that appeared to have upwards of eighty, or so, floors. That might be a spectacle to witness if it just so happened to collapse. Besides. What was Wing City without toppling skyscrapers?

Throwing fleshies about? The idea sounded kind of fun, but at the same time it made her feel a little queasy. Still that wasn't about to stop her from having a good time! "I'm gonna throw a car!" she said, hurtling down for the streets and scooping both hands under a parked and empty vehicle. It creaked and groaned as she hoisted it over her head from the crushing force of her hands grasping the axle beneath, then she rose into the air, leaving bewildered pedestrians watching on.

Once high enough she looked around below her for a good target, for a moment appearing like some sort of childish female superman about to dispense justice. Unfortunately for the people below, that wasn't the case. It fell faster than it rose, flipping several times, smashing into the side of a building and tearing apart windows and concrete in its flight before it crashed into the ground, sending a shower of metal and parts clattering around.

Overall it showed that she hadn't been entirely downgraded.

"Aw," Sophie said with a pout, "I thought it was gonna explode."

Watching Sophie with all the sparkling interest of an older brother helping his younger sibling get into trouble, he could only mimic her actions as he witnessed the vehicle clatter, smash, and not explode. With a frown he slowly hovered over only to pat her atop her head lightly. "Well, there's always next time. Or you can just blow it up yourself for the satisfaction of seeing the fireworks..." He offered with a wry grin. With that, though, he dashed off and scoured the insides of a building. Many had left their work desks to look at the chaos outside their windows. Many were accustomed to things in Wing City, so as a few pointed out Alex, they didn't necessarily flee in panic. Many stared. Some slowly eased away, suspicious.

Ah, he enjoyed the idiots of the bunch.

Closing the distance, he glanced through the glass, slowly placing a palm to it. One woman, obviously oblivious to his intentions, smiled and placed her palm to the glass too. Apparently it was a shared moment between what she assumed was a godly being and a mundane such as herself. Not often did regular folk get to encounter super folk and live. Sadly, she wouldn't either. His hand swiftly exerted enough force to shatter the massive pane of glass and snatch her by her wrist. His other hand snagged her by her collar and he swiftly rose higher and higher until he felt he was at a sufficient altitude. Glancing around, he used all the technological power his processing could accomplish in his partially synthetic mind to map out a perfect scenario.

"Hey! Sophie! Watch this!" He bellowed out, spinning once, twice, thrice, until he loosed her from his grasp. Head first, he watched as the woman speared through the air, hurtling at the ground at such speeds that she'd begun to pick up friction from the air alone. Clothing began to smoke and burn, as did the rest of her. The target? A lone taxi that had stopped, but not been evacuated, from the disaster that had been Sophie's doing. He expected nothing else other than this burning woman to splatter, and crush, the taxi cab's cabin.

Sophie watched on in silence with a grin on her face but the scene made her feel queasy. She really had forgotten what her brother was capable of, and while it was comforting to know he was as strong as ever... Wow. "Cool!" she called out with a mad cackle as her arm opened up, revealing the half a dozen micro-rockets stored within. They launched all together and hurtled around in what looked like a chaotic manner but was exactly precise, some smashing through windows and explode inside buildings, others striking into cars and blowing them open and one flying up into the air and just exploding on its own for the display. Even as her arm began to close, more rockets were materializing inside.

"Hey bro," Sophie called out with a mischievous and teasing tone, "Have you ever thought about getting a guuuurlfriend?" It was followed by another mad cackle. "Maybe we could some scientists to make a girl that would actually like you~"

His eyes lit up the moment the woman splattered upon the cabin of the taxi, crushing it inward to, likely, also end the lives of the inhabitants inside. But they didn't lose their shine, no. Instead, they flit in the direction Sophie's missiles had launched off toward. He took vast pleasure in the carnage that came about, watching each subsequent explosive plume as it came to pass. Buildings were turned into towering torches and monolithic shells of destruction. It would have brought a tear to his eye were he capable of the process. Despite his cruel nature, his sister was something he did cherish. And the time spent with her. Even if it meant ending the lives of fleshies. Someday, though, this would all have to change. There was a goal to attain. And then maybe they could find a place without stupid fleshies to live out their days.

His attention was caught the moment she called out to him, figure slowly hovering over in her direction. "Yeah?" He began, only to fall silent when she began to tease him. His cheeks puffed out as his brows narrowed, arms crossing before his chest. "I...I haven't. Who needs one of those!" He sputtered, turning his back to her. As if in an act of defiance and even obstinance, he loosed a sudden Ki sphere from the palm of his hand in the direction of the building he'd plucked that woman from. As it struck the building, it seemingly scattered into a multitude of smaller, condensed, spheres that lit up the building like a seemingly endless drove of mortar shells. Needless to say the floor weakened and the upper floors began to give way, the top of the building beginning to teeter their way. Yet it did not give way, nor collapse. Not just yet, at least.

Further teased by her with her final comments, he wheeled on her and snorted. "I'll have them make a boyyyyyfriend for you, too, then while they're at it. That way they can smother you in all the icky cooties they possibly can! I'll make sure it's a defining protocol!" He retorted, teasing her in return.

Sophie giggled wildly at her brothers threat as she flew down to hover in front of the teetering building. "No way! If he even tries to get close to me I'll blow him up! Boys are gross and covered in robo-boogers!" she shouted back. Her posture changed as she tilted in the air until it almost looked like she was laying down, then she shot forward, fists pointed for the wobbling structure and smashed straight through it in a clean line, obliterating what stability it might have still had as she emerged from the other side.

She was going to wait for the building to begin, and finish, its descent for the ground so she could talk to Alex without competing with the noise.