Zero

By Kali Gargoyle

***

"It's probably just another rat. Do we really have to come all the way out here just to fix some stupid sensor? I mean, we've got like ten billion of 'em."

Donatello rolled his eyes. "I'm not making you come, Raph. You can go back to the lair if you really think this is a waste of time."

Raphael twirled his sai between his fingers. "Nah, there's nothin' to do back there."

Don shone the flashlight down the tunnel, trying to notice any signs of trespassers. One of the outer perimeter alarms had been tripped a few minutes ago. None of the other alarms had gotten tripped since, so that meant one of two things: That it was a false alarm, or that whoever it was sighted the hidden alarm system and had managed to avoid or disarm it. Also, several of the scanners in the tunnels went haywire at the same time, leading Don to conclude that there was definitely some type of electrical disturbance. He hoped it was something natural.

Raphael was there simply out of boredom. He'd invited himself along, then proceeded to complain the entire time, in true Raphael style. Don almost hoped it was an intruder, so he wouldn't have to listen to his brother complain anymore.

Don paused and looked over his shoulder. "Then can you at least be quiet? The tripped sensor is just around this corner, a block down."

Raphael gave him a silent glare and the two moved on. Don turned the light off and they went the rest of the way in the dark. Of course, with their ninja training and the fact that they'd lived in these tunnels nearly all their lives, the darkness wasn't an obstacle.

Donatello stepped around the corner and stopped in his tracks, causing Raphael to walk into his shell. "Hey, what's the big-" Raphael looked over Don's shoulder. "Whoa. That sure ain't a rat."

Donatello stepped forward slowly. The figure propped up against the wall didn't even budge. It looked like it was human, so pale it stood out easily against the dark background. A few more steps and Don began to worry when he realized that there was no movement at all, not even breathing.

"Great, probably some victim someone dumped down here. Hey, if we hurry I bet we can find 'em."

Don ignored Raphael and knelt down to check on the person. No clothes, more evidence of foul play. He took hold of the thin wrist to see if he could find a pulse. "Hmm... What the..."

Raph looked back, his fingers clenched around the handle of his sai, his body tensed and hopeful for a battle. "So is she dead or not?"

"I'm not sure." Don ran his fingers up the human's arm. The skin was icy cold to the touch, but not quite the texture he was expecting, although it was very familiar. "It feels almost like... metal."

***

"So what is it?" Leonardo stood with his arms crossed, looking down at Donatello's latest acquisition.

"It's an android. I think. A robot designed to look like a human," Don explained. Leo could hear the excitement in his brother's voice as he searched through boxes of equipment. Don always got excited whenever he came across a new bit of technology, and this was definitely more than he usually picked up at the local junk lot.

Michaelangelo poked the android in the shoulder. "How do you turn her on?"

Leo arched an eyebrow at Mike. "How can you tell it's a girl?"

Mike tilted the android's chin upwards. "Just look at this face. Big eyes, tiny nose, and the thin frame screams feminine."

Donnie shook his head. "It's a robot Mike. It doesn't have a gender."

"Data has a gender," Mike shot back.

Leo smirked. "He's got you there, Donnie. Anyway, what do you plan on doing with her?"

Don set some test equipment on his desk. "First I gotta figure out how to turn it on."

"What, you gonna frisk her for an on button?" Raph asked from his place in the corner. He'd been observing quietly, but couldn't resist making the comment.

"Ha, ha." But Don did go over and check around the android's head and neck area, pushing aside a few locks of silvery-white synthetic hair. A minute later he took on a frustrated expression. "Maybe it's remote activated. Or possibly a voice command..."

Raphael yawned. "Happy hacking, Brainiac. Just make sure she doesn't go berserk and wreck the lair or something."

***

"Donnie? Donatello!"

Don woke up with a jerk. "Huh? Wha'? Where?"

Leo pulled his hand away from Don's shoulder. "Don't tell me you were up all night working on that thing?"

Don yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "Guess I was. You know I have a tendency to lose track of time. Especially when I'm working on something. Is it time for practice?"

"It's almost time for lunch," Leo told him, his way of saying that Don'd already missed morning training. He leaned against Don's desk and looked over at the android still sitting in the corner. "Made any progress?"

"None." Don sighed. "I can't find any hookups, nor can I even find out how to turn it on." He walked around his desk and stood in front of the android. "This is more advanced than anything I've had the chance to work with before. But I've rewired our lair, I've built who knows how many computers from scratch, I can do this!"

"Don, she's not a computer."

"It is a computer, Leo. Just in human form." Don rubbed his chin in thought, speaking more to himself than Leo. "I'm starting to think this is just the hardware, with no software installed. If that's the case, it's possible that I can design an operating system for it. I could always take it apart, but I wouldn't even know where to start, the skin layer is seamless."

Leo was both amused and concerned about his brother's obsession with this android. "What would you program her to do? Besides, she didn't just appear down there, she probably belongs to someone."

"Yeah, Leo, you're right." Raphael stood blocking the door Leo was trying to leave through. "We'll get busy right away putting "Lost Android" posters up all over the neighborhood."

Leo grumbled and shoved his way out the door. Raph grinned. "Donnie, reprogrammed her yet?"

Don grabbed his magnifying goggles off his workbench. "Will you guys stop referring to it as "she" and "her", it's distracting."

"Ooh, so sorry." Raph snickered. "I'll take that as a no. Just admit it, you have zero clue what you're doing."

Don was about to snap a comeback at Raphael, but his attention was drawn to the android in the corner. "What a sec... I thought..." He leaned in closer.

This piqued Raphael's curiosity and he walked over to look over Donnie's shoulder. "What, did she blink or somethin'?"

Of course, that second was the exact moment Mike decided to pop his head in as well. "Hey guys, what's up?"

Don shushed him. "I though I heard something." He watched the android for a few seconds but nothing happened. "Hmmm... Raph, repeat what you said before."

"What, did she blink or somethin'?"

"No, before that. 'Just admit it, you have zero clue..." Whrrrrr. "There it is again, did you hear it?"

This time, the android's head lifted up and it stared forward with dark, lifeless eyes. Don was grinning like crazy. "Can you understand me?"

Nothing.

Don frowned. "Maybe... Just. Admit. It. You. Have. Zero." Whrrrrrr.

"Ha!" Don jumped up, nearly knocking Raphael over. "That's it! Zero!"

Raph scratched his head. "So her name's Zero?"

Don hissed through his teeth. "What did I tell you about that? It's more likely the activation codeword." He started pushing Raph out of the room. "Now, leave me alone so I can get to work."

Raph dug his heels into the ground. "Hey, without me you never would have figured that name thing out."

Don gave him and Mike one final shove out the door. "Thank you." Then he shut the door on them. He turned back to his project, rubbing his hands together. He pulled his seat next to the android. "Can you tell me where you came from?"

Again, nothing.

"Zero." Finally, a response, the android turned its head towards him. "Where are you from?"

"Unable to process." The android's voice was monotone but smooth, unlike a few other computer voice programs he'd worked with, which took words from a set vocabulary that rarely melded to sound anything close to natural.

Don furrowed his brow. This was going to take some getting used to. Figuring out the nuances of the voice commands could be difficult. "Who created you?"

There was that whrrrr sound again. "This unit was designed, built, and programmed by Doctor Francis Sung."

Don smiled to himself. "Now we're getting somewhere. Zero, what is your purpose?"

The humming sound was followed by a series of clicks. "Unable to access file."

"What's the problem?"

"Connections between the base program and supplementary files are unable to be made."

Don drummed his fingers. "How would we reconnect those files?"

"Unable to access file."

"Of course." Don sighed. "Zero, is there any way to access your supplementary files directly, without using the base program?"

"Unable to access file."

Don massaged his temples. "Zero, is there any way to physically connect yourself to a secondary computer?"

"Affirmative."

"Finally. How would I make the connection?"

'Zero' brought her hand up to her own temple. There was a click and a small panel was reveled beneath the hairline. Don leaned forward and recognized connection ports. He smiled to himself and started to search for the proper connection cables. Now things were going to get interesting.