Sophie X-6's Story

The water was making it's way through the path carved by his body. It wouldn't get high enough to drown him, but it was washing a lot of the blood off his body. The dirt would turn to mud and soak him and his clothing. It would stimulate his body, bring him to a slow, but steady pulse. Still, it was not enough to wake him.

Jarkoopi found her on the shore nearby, slightly damp from the plume of mist which had shot up from the lake. How she came down so fast was beyond him, he would ask later about it.

"Well, that was-" he paused to think of what to say, "-fun."

He continued to paddle towards land near Sophie. His neck and wings were the only parts of him above the water. When he got onto the sand and mud of the shore he gently waved his wings to help dry himself and Sophie off and gave her a small smile. He then remembered the humanoid in which had been down here first. The ground and air radiated with his mental power, which only he saw. It appeared as what looked to be a purple smoke or steam drifting across the terrain.

"Ha! Dumb fleshy got knocked out when he fell," Sophie declared proudly as her head turned about to look at the downed form of Esphiroth. She walked towards him until she was just ten feet away, then grinned a naughty smirk. "Do you think he'd get mad if we drew on his face while he was sleeping?" she asked as she looked back towards Jakoopi.

Despite being unconscious, the Force was prying on Esphiroth's mind and body now that the others were close. He knew inside his mind, as if in a dream, that he had visitors. Fact was, he couldn't move or do anything about it. In the mud, his finger tips were moving very little as were his toes. He was no threat, just his body reacting to his mind in a dreamland. The Force was trying to bring the body and mind back together as it tried to sew it's power into his body, trying to save him. The slightest touch of life would wake him, but until that happened, he was still out cold.

Jarkoopi stood at a distance watching the mental energy mist drift around Esphiroth and Sophie. Fleshy? Was she implying that... Her immature question snapped him out of his trance.

"I would not do that," he responded with a serious tone. "I wouldn't want to upset him at this point."

He moved quietly next to Sophie, slightly in front of her and about four feet away from Esphiroth. He out spread his wings fully from his back to cover both of them. The wings flapped and moved slowly and calmly to create a small gust of wind onto Esphiroth in hopes to wake him and blow debris, dust and such off of him.

Sophie pouted. "Aw boo! You suck," she answered. A scuff of her foot sent dirt kicking across the floor towards the downed figure. Unfortunately for Esphiroth, there was no touch of life to come from Sophie. Not just because of her lifeless nature, but also because she didn't want to touch him if it didn't involve sabotaging his appearance.

Aiya in the meantime had been making her way down the Bluff as hastily as she could manage. Her athletic nature was in her favour, but it was still a cliff face. She took the safest and fastest route she could fine, scaling down it with careful calculations and considerations.

There it was, the touch of Life. In the dragons flapping of wings, an unfortunate fish that had been in the water filled trench blew into the air and slapped right against Esphiroth's forehead. Not the usual touch of life, but it was still life.

The moment the fish hit Esphiroth, his body broke into a drenching sweat of blood. The Force stole the fish's tie to life and tied Esphiroth to it. Esphiroth's upper body shot forward as he took a huge breathe of air. It was like he was punched extremely hard by an invisible fist.

Seconds later, Esphiroth noticed the dragon in front of him. Immediately he jerked his hands free from the mud and stuck them outwards. From four different points, four dual-sided Lightsaber handles came barreling to his vicinity, stopping one foot from his hands. The weapons did not activate, but they did hover above the ground.

"Who am I kidding... I don't have a chance.." Esphiroth whispered to himself.

Esphiroth pulled himself from the mud and began moving towards the lake in front of him. He would bypass the dragon, keeping his face hidden in his cloak, hiding the blood he sweating from his bodies reaction to his personal Force. Esphiroth would walk waist deep into the water and begin to rinse himself off. The water around him turned to a muddy, bloody, mess. Moving from this spot, back to the shore, Esphiroth would dip into the water over and over, rinsing off.

Esphiroth would reach into his cloak, pulling out a small leather sack. When he opened the sack, he pulled out a small green bean. He would eat this bean and put the sack back in his cloak. After swallowing this bean, Esphiroth's body began to heal and his power began to rise extremely fast.

Esphiroth moved back to face the dragon. He would lower his cloak to reveal his gold and black face. His head was adorned by seven horns that were four inches in length. His presence was archaic, his powers being of Alchemy and Magnetism, completely separate from his Force powers. His sky blue eyes would stare directly into the dragons.

"I am Esphiroth. I do appreciate what you have done for me. A fish of all things... Last thing I remember was the enemy firing at my ship and in less that two seconds it was over. After that, I was taking my position in the Grand Army of the White Sun, the Force was showing me glimpses of you. Then the fish hit me, the Force worked it's magic, and here I am. I hate that I have to go, but I have business to attend to. As a token of my appreciation, I want you both to take my currency and this... If you ever need help, no matter where or what, if your life is in danger, just whisper in this stone and I will be there." Esphiroth spoke to the two.

Esphiroth pulled out a small sack from his pocket and tossed it to the young girl. Inside the sack was coins made of Rubies, probably eight pounds or so. Following this, he would pull out a small, grey, stone with archaic symbols on it. He tossed it to Sophie.

Esphiroth began to focus energy in both of his hands, pulling whatever rations of metal it could from the surrounding terrain. After a few seconds of pulling can, old bullets, bottle caps, and whatever he could, Esphiroth had created a razor sharp cover for one of Jarkoopi's claws. Once formed, the Archaic symbols printed themselves on claw casing.

Esphiroth would offer the claw to Jarkoopi and speak, "This is your calling card. Wear this on any claw and when you need me, you can reach me anytime. You are gifted beyond her. You and I will be able to communicate freely. I do hope you accept, I will never forget what you have done for me. I would offer for you to come with me, but it is probably best you didn't travel with."

Following this, Esphiroth would begin moving around the lake, aiming for Wing City. He didn't know he was, but this is where his Force was telling him to go when it tugged on his life strings when he was in limbo. Walking along the shoreline to let the sun dry his cloak off. He hated to leave so quickly, but it was necessary.

Sophie X-6 came tailing behind Aiya, and stood at least a foot shorter. She was in overalls and a green shirt and was smiling broadly. "That fight sucked," she said with a shrug, like she was trying to make the other girl feel better, "Magics dumb." She seemed to have a big head on her for someone so small.

Sophie X-6 pouted a little as she climbed up onto the barstool and sat down. "Yeah but... He was using magic. Can I have a soda?"

Sophie X-6 grinned right back, but only for a moment. She jumped a little when Aiya thumped the counter.

Sophie X-6 slipped her finger under the ring, or at least tried to, but the cold wetness of the metal slipped from off of her finger tip letting out a loud tick of metal hitting metal.

Optics.

That was what she remembered they were called. They weren't eyes, they were optics. And right now they were staring almost furiously at a man hawking off metal parts to anyone who gave him to moments notice. It wasn't Orion's databases that called on this information or from online or even a new thought. It was a memory. Her memory. And right now her optics were burning a metaphorical hole in the man that was hawking off metal parts like cheap junk.

There was no better way to describe the Undermarket than a den. It was a horrible, smelly, disgusting place of dirt and darkness and the worst kind of fleshies, the weak and those that preyed on the weak. She could see them watching her even if they didn't know it. The smartest of them kept their heads down but the dumbest ones were plotting and planning fiendish little tricks or ways they could lure her away. But it wasn't going to happen.

The hawker's stall was a frail structure strung up in the course of half an hour made of cheap bamboo poles with a sturdy fabric strung between them to deter thieving hands, not that theft would work except for the exceptionally strong. It was all metal, large pieces, some stolen swords, firearms, hunks of fake gold and what looked like some corrugated iron under all of it that was almost squashed flat. And to top off all of the goods was his pride and joy; a stolen metal man who looked like flesh on the outside that Sophie knew by two names, 'Alex' and 'Brother'.

She approached the stall on feet light for someone who weighed half a tonne or possibly more, intending to get him back. Her brain was all too aware of the irony of being attached to her brothers currently lifeless body by 'blood' when both of them were internally machines. And yet...
"Hey," she called out, loud enough to be heard which grated the hawker's nerves immediately, "That's my brother. Give him to me or else."

There was humour in the mans features and he spoke with an accent she couldn't quite pick, but seemed entirely suiting for such a sullen and lowly place. "And what is it that a little girl has a robotic brother for, eh?"

Machine parts shifted as perfectly aligned flesh opened like a budding rose greeting the sun, except this rose had eight barrels of fast-firing hell fitted perfectly around the inner workings of the machinery that made her fingers twitch. At that point she didn't need to say anything, and if she hadn't been so angry she would have been smug that the people previously watching her for weakness had all turned their attention away or hurried off. The hawker was among them, stepping quickly to the side with his hands raised as Sophie walked on into his bamboo stall and up to her brothers body. And with a palm opened and energy transferred, she had him on in a moment, though she wasn't sure if he would jolt awake or if he would just slowly rise...

An initial crimson glow flickered to life in the very optics of the silent husk that had been Alex's construct...

One flash. Two. Three. Two. Three. One.

Several different protocols were being activated and run simultaneously on the, now old, droids mainframe. In mere seconds those very optics flashed a brilliant aqua-lime before his body whirred to life, different noises and sounds melding into an audible symphony of technological brilliance. But things began to go awry almost immediately following his activation and the green flags for operation. Once all protocols passed his internal memory was instantly accessed. That lead to Alex resuming what he'd been doing before. Both arms swiftly rose, facing left and right respectively. Scanners activated and several targeting reticles appeared within his eyes, reticles that signified he'd locked onto several individuals in the immediate area.

"To hell with you! You ain't shutting me down, you bastards! Do you even know who I am? What I am!?" He hollered out, unleashing five consecutive Ki blasts from his left hand and ten minuscule Ki spheres from his right fingertips. Though the seedy world of the undermarket was dangerous...it was ill prepared for such a violent siege. Explosions rocked the alleyway and several innocent, or not so innocent, individuals were sent flying. Those who'd been struck were either obliterated into fine, charred, powder or were instead blown into visceral pieces. Only when the dust settled did Alex actually calm before turning his attention onto Sophie.

"S-Sophie? What are you doing here?" He questioned, suddenly surveying his surroundings. "How the hell did I wind up here?" He then questioned himself before his brows dipped in frustration. A leering scowl followed before he spoke low. "Something isn't right...What's going on?"

It was evident that all was not as it had been when he last was activated. Unaware of his own shutdown, he swiftly began to run sweeps of possible program alterations and subsequent overrides of his system. In a matter of seconds an anomaly surfaced but with no actual information as to what took place. Perplexed, he quickly ran over his previous memories. All that remained pointed to his last location being somewhere in the business district. "That's right...I was working for that red haired clown..." He finally murmured.

How much time had passed, though? And why was he...here of all places?

When the fireworks started, Sophie's arms had been thrown up in defense, wrists crossed and palms open to absorb any ki thrown in her direction through the revealed shining palms nexus', and it wasn't until her name was said that her eyes opened up, she stopped wincing and her arms slowly lowered. She would have trembled with the different emotions if she were human again, but one unfamiliar emotion sat in her mind. She remembered the associated feelings; sinking stomach, stuck throat and stinging eyes, but not a symptom showed.

"You-" she started, only for another female voice to call out from across the market.

"Sophie? Oh my god Sophie!" cried out a woman, marching right up to Sophie.
The android girl closed up her nexus palms and shut away her gun-parts, sealed back up in her convincing 'skin'. Aiya took Sophie by the wrist and tugged on it, however it was immediately obvious that it was more a plea than actually pulling the girl. "Come on, we have to get out of here, someones attacking..."

Aiya was an oddity. She was a human, squishy as they came, maybe a little short with brown ponytail, freckles, a tank top and kickboxing shorts and a strap of black tape over the back of her neck which pinned down three wires that fed into the base of her skull and connected to a device on her back which a simple scan would reveal to be an AI hooked up to her brain. Her left hand, which did not have a hold of Sophie, had a gauntlet on it, a thick and heavy with five robotic fingers on what could only be described as a 'grabby hand'. Her eyes locked onto Alex for a moment and there was a momentary stare, possibly sympathetic over the fact he was sitting on a bunch of junk in the middle of the exploding underground, and then it was gone as she turned away.

But Sophie didn't budge.

His question went unanswered as he sat on the junk that had been his makeshift bed for who knows how long. Dropping hand onto the tin can skull beneath him, he used it to vault himself onto his feet. An initial wobble set in, signifying his extended disuse but, after a few moments, he managed to steady himself and lift a brow in the direction of the fleshling that was attempting to drag his sister off. "No answers, just questions, huh?" He suddenly mumbled, only to pace around in front of them. "And who are you supposed to be?" He suddenly questioned, looking around. "If anyone else is attacking, they'll get kicked in the teeth..." He threatened, turning his back before pacing further down the alleyway. Nothing seemed too out of place, aside from the viscera littering the ground; it was difficult not to step in it. "Eugh...I forgot how disgusting they can be when squished and splattered all over the place." He continued, stopping to glance back.

It was evident he was beginning to return to his typical, normal, self...attitude and all. Dropping a hand onto his hip, his brows narrowed though as he waited for his answer. The area had become utterly silent and not a soul appeared to stir, so there was plenty of time to answer his questions...so he figured. If anyone saw fit to interrupt, he'd splatter them after all. "As I was asking. What are you doing with my sister?"

Aiya's head turned back around when she heard his voice and when she realized Sophie wasn't going to move. It made her uncomfortable. Sophie was a slightly troubling girl at the worst of times and she didn't really know what she was capable of, so it worried her when she was being stubborn and silent. But at the words of 'sister' there was near panic in Aiya's mind. She took a half-step forwards in front of Sophie and wrapped her arm around the child's shoulder almost protectively as she tossed a momentary glance off to the side where an abandoned sports bag lay some eight meters away, loaded with equipment similar to the gauntlet she wore.

Alex assumed her attention as she grit her teeth just slightly. If she wasn't so frightened, she would have been mad! Fortunately it hadn't yet clicked that Alex was the one who had caused all this damage, or she probably would not be standing so confidently opposing him.

"She's Aiya," Sophie interjected helpfully or unhelpfully, "And I've been staying with her while I looked for you! How'd you get turned off?" A small giggle emerged from her lips, amused by her brothers folly, but then her smile fell away as she looked at him once more, devoid of telling emotions.
"I was waiting for you and you didn't show and... stuff happened."

And that had meant a lot of bodily downgrades she would have to fill him in on.

He paused, studying the one girl as she coiled around his sister. She grated on his nerves almost instantaneously. Just the way she looked at him spoke volumes on how she regarded him. He sized her up swiftly enough as she stood there, distancing him from his own sister. The way she stood between them soured him bringing his eyes to narrow dangerously. It wasn't long a glance, though, as Sophie swiftly caught his attention with her subsequent words. Aiya. A guardian, hm? Well, apparently it couldn't be helped, considering he'd been 'shut off' as she put it. How did he wind up in the scrap heap, anyway? It was hard to tell, really. The more he searched his memory data bank, the more it alluded him. Had the actual shut down protocol and all the memories leading up to it been corrupted? Erased, perhaps? A deep scan revealed nothing and it drove him to bash his closed fist against the side wall of a nearby archway, crumbling brick and mortar with ease. "I'm not sure how, or who, shut me down. It's been erased, or corrupted..." He began, narrowing his eyes dangerously. One more glance around, eyes wicked with spite, and he began to move again, stepping carefully over the broken, battered, bodies that had been maimed, disemboweled, and even blown to minuscule fleshy bits. It sickened him just how much of a mess they could be. Then again, what didn't he hate about humans. No. Not just humans. Sentient kind. Those who held the capacity to subject others to such cruel, unbecoming, fates. The built a monster...he became a devil instead.

"Stuff happened, huh? Like what..." He began, glancing over his shoulder briefly as his feet sought the sweet embrace of what appeared to be alley lanterns on poles down the way. He'd only managed to eviscerate a handful, but the rest of the alley appeared to have cleared out swiftly enough, leaving them to their own devices. He still couldn't quite peg the other little bitch hanging around his sister, but it didn't much matter. He'd likely get answers from her later. His biggest concern at the moment was what had become of her, and who the fuck had crossed him as they had. Last he knew he was running errands for the cocky red haired son of a bitch who had big plans. Plans that likely went no where. What sort of plans ever came to fruition in this fucking hell hole after all? And then a big, gaping, hole where his memories should have been. How much time had been checked out of his data banks? A day? A week? Months?

These questions were making Sophie comfortable, even if she didn't show it. She knew exactly what had happened and didn't want to talk about it. "I um... I got downgraded. There was some trouble... It doesn't matter," she suddenly rushed out in one go, "Now you're back we can do whatever we were s'pose to be doing." There was a small hesitation before she buried the idea of saying 'I missed you'. He wouldn't want to hear it and she didn't need to say it. That was fleshy talk.

Aiya on the other hand felt a different feeling in her stomach, a sinking one. This was the fabled brother she had heard about? It made her knees wobble and her jaw clench all at once. It was definitely him who caused all the damage. The real question was what was going to happen next? It sounded like Sophie was planning on leaving but Aiya just knew that would mean crime, probably violent crime. That wasn't right. Sophie was still a child. But trying to stop her might end up in violence and Aiya wasn't really sure she could handle him.

Besides, she wasn't Sophie's family, he was! It wasn't her job to take care of her!

She cringed for a moment and finally croaked out some words; "I'm going to go get my bag, okay? So you two can have your talk..." and scurried off to get it. It wasn't much, but it would make her feel a lot safer.

"Yeah, you go on and do whatever the hell it is you're gonna do. I don't even know you..." He spat out, glancing over his shoulder as he continued toward the hazed lantern light near the far crossroads, if that even was a road. He wasn't necessarily sure of where he was at the moment. He could always fly...or could he? Whatever. Scanners would likely map out the area for him if he wanted via flight but...he'd just woken up after however many years of lifelessness and from the looks of it, there didn't appear to be much room for flying as he glanced overhead. Starting with the basics was obviously the best, not to mention he was racking his mind searching for an answer to what had happened. Without a second passing, his eyes fell to the forefront of his destination once again and he continued in his stalking stride. When it came to that new girl, Aiya, he couldn't care less about what she'd been up to. He'd settle on the topic of her later.

"Downgraded? Really now..." He spoke out, almost disappointingly so. Downgraded, how the hell did that even work? Had someone targeted him and his sister, then? Rather than support rolling out of his mouth, though, there was only disdain and vehement malice toward everything at the moment. Then again, you try being shut down for four or five years without knowing rhyme or reason as to why. Lose your memories too, while you're at it. It left him more than sour. More than bitter. It left him festering in spite. "If it doesn't matter, though...then I guess it doesn't matter." He followed up in an equally disapproving tone. "Whatever it is we're 's'pose' to be doing, Sophie, is figuring out what the fuck happened to me. And how whoever it is...is going to make it up to me." He explained. "...Even if I have to beat the shit out of each and every person that gets in my way." He added. His eyes, though unseen by her, were horrifically red...not the typical Aquamarine-teal color they were meant to be. Programming perhaps? Or a faulty problem in his system, perhaps? Maybe inexplicable, and mystical, evil properties birthing in his very being.

"I'd say we start with that crimson haired bastard, but I don't think he's someone to mess around with. You've obviously kept up with things. Whatever happened to the ragtag bunch that worked under his sorry ass?" He questioned, finally reaching the bathing light of the overhead flames.

Aiya made it to her bag with her head kept down the entire time, rummaging through it for her equipment, forcing herself to work slowly and patiently to equip it piece by piece, wondering if at any moment that brother thing would be there to snap her neck or decide to just blow her up.

Sophie's own purple eyes met Alex's straight on, mostly because she was trying to be truthful, trying oh so hard but it made her squirm. Internally. Externally she remained still. "I don't know," she admitted, a guilty apology in her tone, "After you disappeared... I had to get fixed and by then I didn't know where you or the red guy were. None of them ever came looking for me. So I guess it was just you they were interested in and I was bonus." One hand quickly reached up to tuck a few loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"Should we make sure you're still working right? I mean, what if that guy got inside of you and played with your body," she added innocently.