章 171: X-E's Day In
I don't own star wars
"You have a kill switch protocol." The memory of master Rattletrap's Father echoed before me. I think it was a memory at any rate… it might be a dream. Do Droids dream? "I can't find what triggers it but essentially, the program was designed to kill a specific person or handful of people, I can't tell. So listen, I want you to write a new program, a command file. Write it out and store it deep into your software. Protect Rattletrap."
"I will do so." I had replied, the voice echoing as a strange electric sheep waddled behind him.
"Now. Lock it into your memory and put a secure data lock on it so it can't be deleted." He had said.
"Done." I had replied, and the word seem to echo but before my eyes, the Jawa fondly referred to as Short-Round transformed into a man, the back of a man, that I don't remember as he viewed out the vast desert planet he ruled.
"…Excellent work Silent." He said holding his calloused hands behind his back, his dark Jedi robes waving in the breeze as we viewed the towers of steel and stone before us. I looked different here, my hair was black, and my skin was pale. My body was different… this is what I was millennia ago. What Silent was. I knelt before the man before me, my master. Command: Leader of the Voices. "And what of Whisper's former compatriots?" he asked in a tone that said he already knew the answer.
"…Done." I repeated, my voice harsh and raspy. I did not use it much. His face flickered as he turned to me, an obvious corruption of memory.
"Guidance is often never wrong…" he said, his voice crackling like a broken com. In fact, his whole body glitched before my optics "We must remove all the problems…"
He had suddenly become Malisis as she paced impatiently before me. I was barely built, and she was already sending me out to kill. "Aiden Firemane will become a problem and must be disposed of, and particularly without my daughter realizing we have done it. You are capable are you not?" I had no voice. But I nodded confirmation. "Excellent. I bet he'll love a surprise visit from you!" she flickered and an older man, with bright red hair and a long red coat smiled as he held a detonator above me. He looked like an older variation of Captain Roland. He stood over me, he tricked me into a trash pit with well-placed echo devices. Communicators echoing a conversation and drawing me into a trap.
"Surprise." He said before thrusting his thumb down on the detonator switch and triggering his traps.
My eyelids flickered open… my memories had jumbled together to form a patchwork video. I tried to move. But I had no body. Master Rattletrap rested his head on my partially repaired torso… he looked exhausted. I wondered how long he had been repairing me…
I frowned. Protect Rattletrap… Short-Round had discovered my anti-Voice protocol… I was to be insurance if they had betrayed… us? Wait. I would be able to destroy them. Who was us? Command and I? Malisis and I? My Droid programming was becoming even more scrambled. How can I protect Master Rattletrap if I didn't understand my own functions?
I closed my optics. Only one was functioning properly… I am X-E. I will protect Master Rattletrap. He found me. Repaired me… Master Rattletrap loves me. I will protect him.
There was a sudden crash as Master Rattletrap fell off his chair, scrambling to his feet and looking around. Dusting himself off as if nothing happened. As usual Master Rattletrap I will not speak of this, 'nobody saw anything'.
"Master Rattletrap are you alright?" I asked concerned, overwriting my 'Nobody saw that' protocol as he rubbed his head, already picking up his tools that had fallen on the floor.
"Yeah X-E I'm fiiiiiiine!!-X-E!!" he shrieked delightedly dropping his tools and scrambling towards me happily. "You're awake!... alive?... Functional!" he grinned, finding the right words and sighing in relief. "…I got to tell you X-E, I was worried. I mean when I first found you in the trash heap your head was still intact. This time it was a little… smushed." He said looking at her hesitantly, "I'll have you fixed up in no time. Don't you worry! You'll be good as new!" he said, scrambling "Just as pretty but twice as awesome! Or the other way around! I'm okay with both ways!"
"I'm sure you'll do an excellent job." I said contentedly watching as he continued to repair my torso. I curiously watched him in silence for a few more moments that seemed like forever. "…Master Rattletrap… do you believe Droids can dream?" he scratched his head thoughtfully while continuing to work one handed. Then he paused, turning and watching me for a moment, studying my 'smushed' face.
"…Yes." He said finally, completely serious. I blinked at him surprised. I didn't really expect that to be the answer. "We have space wizards so… I guess I believe that droids can dream."
"…I think I dreamed about the old-" but I paused, that didn't seem right to say. "-about Silent… before you found me." He blinked at me, absently connecting wires without looking. I hope that won't be a problem. "…I… do not know who to be."
"You are X-E." he said quickly, as I blinked at him. "…If a droid, or any A.I. is capable of distinguishing emotion, to have a crisis of faith, or its personality. That cannot be programmed. You are who you are. So, you are X-E." he said firmly, "…Not some Sith Assassin from countless years ago. Who Died." He added pointedly, crossing his arms stubbornly.
"…Yes Master Rattletrap…" I replied, what remained of the fuzzy memories of Silent's life still prominent in my memory banks. But my life with Master Rattletrap, Captain Roland, Firstmate Nike, The Caradoc Barradowwa, Lady Killa and Varli-Seis, was much more important.
I would prefer to be X-E over Silent… so perhaps that will have to be enough.
Soon enough, now that I was 'awake' Master Rattletrap installed my head onto my body once more. Yawning broadly as he also attached my still intact left arm. Scream's lightsaber had decimated the other one, it would take more time to repair. But with my power supply secured, there was little priority to fix it quickly. "Okay… now I'll fix up your legs…" he yawned again, "And get you all…" he was exhausted, he must have been working for days. He rested his head on my body, which still had small traces of synthskin. So it was still somewhat softer than my bare, cool chassis. I stroked his head as he began to snore. I will let him rest.
He wrapped his arms around me, he often hugged his pillow when he slept in a bed. "I'm going to fix you…" he mumbled sleepily as I stroked his hooded head. My eyes closing as I went into sleep mode.
…45…46…47…
"X-E. Wake up." Master Rattletrap said as my self-repair protocol deactivated. He blinked at me as most of my body had rebuilt in my sleep. "…Okay next time I'm drinking a barrel of coffee." He said frowning as I ran a diagnostic. I had re-attached and altered new limbs, I was almost as good as new. I wondered if there was some sort of nanobot repair system. It must be so, as I have no memory of the function.
"…I am functioning at 86% Master Rattletrap." I said, my response time depleted as I tried to move my fingers and recently reattached toes. "You may still put the finishing touches on me. I still feel… weird." He frowned adorably and leaped off his chair, scrambling to one of his many toolboxes, tossing various devices as he seemed to be looking for something.
"Stupid self-repair system…" he mumbled, lifting a spare droid arm and examining it, before tossing it over his shoulder. It bounced several feet away from me and I watched him again. "Ruining my fun!"
The spare arm reminded me of something important. "Master Rattletrap, what did you do with the Bounty Hunter Vargoss' arm?" I asked.
"Its on the ship…" he replied abruptly, pulling out an odd device I had seen him use to attach separate metal plates together. It gave off just enough heat not to damage any wiring beneath. "What seems weird on your body? Let Doctor Rattletrap have a look." We removed several arm panels as he examined me.
"…Would it not serve a better function if we attached the arm to me?" I asked. It was a lightsaber resistant device, custom made, probably one of a kind in the galaxy. And considering my last arm was removed by a lightsaber it just seemed logical.
"…Its mostly biometric." He said, looking at me. "It would take some time to adjust, and refit. Plus it has a nasty clawed hand on the end. It makes for a great backscratcher." He frowned, adjusting my hardware, allowing for a better response time. "But I just didn't bother. It'd make a great replacement if anyone lost a limb, well a left arm anyway. But it would require different wiring for you." He then shrugged, a little sheepish. "I don't really do flesh and blood anyway…" he then smiled at me, "That's why you're the best of both worlds! Its why I have you!" he said cheerily.
I smiled back, "Indeed Master Rattletrap." I said softly. "… It's why you have me."
I was now functioning at 95% just as a low rumble echoed overhead. A ship had landed on the property. I blinked upwards. "Master Rattletrap were we expecting guests?"
"…Well bro sent out an SOS to his… stepmom? The sexy blue lady? Cipher Agent?" he scratched his chin and shrugged, "It's probably her."
"Should we not go and say hello?" I asked as he reattached my arm coverings. "the last 5% of my repairs is mostly cosmetic…"
He mumbled under his breath, something along the lines of, "Ruining my fun." Before he put down his tool and skipped off his seat. "Fine! I guess so." he said with an elaborate whine as I eased off the table. Following him up the ladder into the garage.
We exited just in time to see a pair of women quickly walk past the garage opening and into the house. One was Captain Roland's stepmother the cipher agent, the other however was a Falleen in a lab coat.
Master Rattletrap scampered into the house, I calmly followed. The both of us hesitantly watched them as they were led by first mate Nike into Roland's room. Master Rattletrap leaned out to watch from the doorframe. I did so as well…
"Oh for fucks sake…" the Falleen woman said exasperatedly, gingerly touching captain Roland's black flesh where the lightsaber had pierced his thigh. He flinched. "What is it with your family and lightsabers? People in this galaxy can go generations without getting hit by a lightsaber and we're two for two!" she mumbled, taking out an odd device, like a handheld screen, and holding it over his leg.
"What are you doing here?" Captain Roland asked in a surprised tone as she dragged his end table towards her and set her bag onto it.
"Well apparently someone got stabbed by a hot plasma rod of death, so his step-mommy wanted him to have the best care." She said scornfully as the chiss agent rolled her red eyes… But I detected no malice in the doctor's tone. She sounded accusatory but was actually concerned, unless you had excellent scanners like I did it might be harder to detect.
"What about dad?" Captain Roland asked equally concerned as she pointed directly upwards.
"The Station is moveable. I just brought it over to orbit the planet. Your father is-relatively-fine and on ice… don't worry." She added as an afterthought, beginning to examine him with her full attention.
"Well?" the cipher agent asked impatiently after a while as the Falleen glared at her.
"Well what? This isn't a stubbed toe, it's a lightsaber wound!" the woman replied, glancing back at the screen of her device. "…It's a flesh wound, but that's a lot of flesh that's been wounded." She said, putting the screen away. "We're going to have to remove it." she tapped her lips in thought as Captain Roland flinched in his bed.
"You're going to cut off my leg?!"
"What?! No, you idiot." She grumbled waving him off. "The burned flesh, it needs to be removed or it'll infect your body. If it was just the surface we'd just have to wait, but there's about an inch of flesh in your thigh that's destroyed and needs to be repaired and regrown in a bacta tank."
"We don't have a bacta tank." Captain Roland noted as she rubbed her eyes with a low groan.
"…There is one on the station, but I'd rather keep you on the planet." She said softly, "Her eyes then flickered to the door. "You. Jawa and the droid come here." She said commandingly as Master Rattletrap jumped at being addressed.
"Uh… yes?" he said, slowly walking into the room as all eyes lingered on him.
"In the city, there's a medcenter. It's been a couple years but they should still have spare bacta-tanks that we can borrow." She reached into her bag, tossing a name card to him. "Take your tinker toy and go get me one. If anyone catches you, tell them Doctor Kalleen sent you. That should get you out of trouble. You…" she said suddenly, like a whirlwind and turning to Nike. "You're the supposed ship doctor?"
"I… am…" Nike said, not sure if she was supposed to be insulted or not.
"Prep a downstairs table and wash your hands, you're going to be my nurse." She said commandingly, "You two." She then gestured to the cipher agent and Lady Killa, "You're going to carry him downstairs, and someone prepare him a room on the ground floor, so you don't have to carry him back up here…"
However, there was yet another rumble as another ship landed in the field. It was a more luxury vessel, more for traveling than for combat like the cipher agent's ship. "Circe's here!" Master Rattletrap squealed and scampered out of the room as I blinked after him.
The doctor rubbed her ribbed forehead, "Oh joy another one… droid, go get your master and do your job. You three hop to it!" she noted as everyone rushed to obey, I went outside to find Master Rattletrap bouncing in front of Circe Bessana and Mirai-Ken both of whom looked amused at his presence as I lifted him from the ground.
"Master Rattletrap we need to retrieve a Bacta-tank."
"Awwwwww…" he whined, going limp in my arms, "…Fine…" he mumbled grumpily as I placed him into a new speeder. First Mate Nike must have rented a new one after Captain Roland destroyed the last one in our encounter with Scream-
My optics suddenly viewed before me Scream. Scream from before he became a cyborg; we clashed again and again before a collection of people watching intently: sith lords. Our lightsabers sparked brightly around the arena as we clashed. My vision flickered back as I sat in the driver's seat. Master Rattletrap watching me curiously.
"…X-E?"
"…I am fine Master Rattletrap. Apologies." But I was unsure if that was true.
End of Chapter
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