Lost

Chapter 10

Stephen's hands traced delicate movements across the metal body of Nova, the android silent and busy analyzing a torrent of data from innumerable sensors that lines his body. He was far from lost in the task, instead donating generous time to contemplating his relationship with the mystical anomaly know as Ark.

He'd been compiling data on the odd organism since he was originally tasked with investigating his regenerative abilities for the military, but Ark had surprised him in ways he had yet to recover from, namely revealing to young Stephen that he was not human, or at least not anymore. Stephen's troop was only partially cybernetic, but he'd been kept in the dark about his entirely mechanized body. The military needed a weapon, and his original body had taken very well to the modification process. They didn't, however, account for the presence of a soul.

That is what Ark insisted was important, and Stephen was still trying to grasp the concept. Furthermore, according to Ark, he was once a very magically inclined being, a Ringed One like Roy and Lore. Stephen wasn't exactly sure on the details, but it was seemingly very important since there were supposedly only twelve other Ringed Ones besides himself.

He'd taken to studying the sand-deity after realizing that he'd be hard-pressed to find true companionship in Ark's current protégé, Roy. He hadn't had the best experience with the military's attitude towards magical anomalies, and Stephen tended to share a mutual respect with the mind-mage, but kept his distance.

He wasn't particularly familiar with Lore, who was often off on errands in exotic lands at Ark's request. He seemed a nice enough person, though a bit uncomfortable around highly advanced technology. Stephen was an extreme example of such overwhelming technology, so he kept his distance.

These cyborg primates, The Hyperforce, were an entirely different class of being. A perfect meld of enhanced cybernetics with integrated tools and weaponry that managed to preserve the mental functions of the host body was nearly unheard of. Stephen's own body may be more advanced, but all organic parts were eventually replaced. They were different, special, and as close to himself as he'd ever encountered. One of them, the second in command Antauri, was actually entirely robotic like himself. Stephen wanted to talk to him, try and discuss the difficulties he felt when dealing with what he was, but he couldn't bring himself to do it, for Antauri was missed when he was gone.

Stephen wasn't sure he mattered enough to be missed. Such a melancholy thought was uncommon for the android, but they had become more frequent.

Nova stirred under his hands as her power supply came back online, Stephen's diligent hands connecting wires at blazing speeds. The polarized visor that made up his face reflected the awakening hero while hiding the circuitry that made up Stephen's mind. Readings danced across the visor's inner surface as his HUD was flooded with data. He inwardly sighed and stood, saluting in a traditionally military manner as Nova sat up quickly, looking at him in an agitated manner as she brought her fists up.

"Ma'am. I-3300 Series, Model B Stephen Oaks reporting for duty." He chirped in the monkey's language, earning a confused look but not a lowered guard from Nova.

"I don't understand."

"You were incapacitated, I have volunteered to aid in repairs for your unit." Stephen replied quietly.

"My unit?" Nova replied, lowering her fists. "Is everyone-"

"No need to worry, ma'am. No one received major injuries. In fact, young Chiro is in your living quarters with Antauri discussing the logistics of a rescue mission." Stephen explained cautiously.

Nova started to reply when a spark shot off her right fist, causing her to grunt in pain.

Stephen cautiously took a step forward. "Ma'am, if it wouldn't offend you, could I have a look?" he asked softly, extending his sleek, armored hand.

Nova kept her eye on him while she placed her wrist in his hand. She tried to read anything from his body posture, but she could only sense shy sincerity. She was brought back to reality by a light clicking sound, and she looked to her wrist to find him working on the circuitry in the back of her hand with extreme calm and dexterity. "How can you talk to me? It's not often that I talk to a human." She queried, noticing the ever slightest flinch in his movements, but again, his visor betrayed nothing.

Stephen's voice was much colder and detached this time. "I am not human, ma'am. I am simply a machine." He explained, closing a panel on her fist and saluting again. "I must attend to the others, if you'll excuse me…" he finished, moving away quickly to wordlessly begin attending to Gibson.

Nova was quiet for a moment before standing and leaving the medical bay, looking back at Stephen while flexing her hand.

She couldn't remember a time when it had felt so natural.

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Roy pinched the bridge of his nose as he slumped back in his chair, a throbbing headache plaguing the young mind-mage. They'd been discussing logistics with Antauri and Chiro for hours now. Granted, significant progress had been made, but Roy's numerous attempts to reach out to Ark had simply ended in either total exhaustion or crippling pain, leaving the young human with one definitive conclusion: something bad had already happened, and he dared not assume the worst.

One only needed to deal with a demon once to learn not to do it again.

Still, Chiro had been exceptionally helpful in translating the conversation so that Roy didn't have to keep up an active mental connection and drain himself further. Roy's relief was apparent when Nova entered, much to Chiro's relief as he nearly flung himself at the yellow monkey and embraced her. Roy suddenly heard Antauri speaking to him mentally.

"I can see you're exhausted, Roy. Why don't you go rest, and Lore as well. We'll be underway shortly anyway, so you'll need to be at your best." He explained, earning a nod from Roy who then explained the idea to Lore, who also agreed readily to such obvious logic. Antauri in turn, ushered both Chiro and Nova from the living area so the two newcomers could get some rest.

As they walked back towards the medical bay, they did their best to fill Nova in on any details that eluded her, eventually again settling on the subject of Stephen.

"So he's just a machine then. That's what he told me, anyway. Kind of life-like for some soulless automaton." Nova wondered aloud, flexing her fist again. "He's a whiz with tech though, my hand has never felt this good." She added, noticing a bit of pensiveness in Antauri's eyes, before she could speak, Chiro spoke up.

"From what I could gather from Roy, he used to be human, but for some weird military purpose he was made into a weapon of war." The boy explained, shrugging. "Roy also explained that Ark takes a particular interest in him lately, constantly insisting that he be treated like a person and not a machine." He finished.

"Lore implied that he has a soul." Antauri said suddenly, almost to himself. Chiro and Nova stopped and looked at him curiously. "But if he was just a machine, how could he have a soul?" Nova asked.

"For all intents and purposes, I am just a machine as well, Nova." Antauri responded, causing Nova to recoil in embarrassment.

"But we're still not exactly sure how your spirit interacts with your new body, Antauri. Monkey-spirit energy definitely had nothing to do with anything in their universe." Chiro replied.

"No, but magic surely did. You've seen what Lore and Roy are capable of, let alone Ark. What's to say something magical didn't affect Stephen?"

The sudden clank of approaching metal footsteps halted their conversation as Stephen rounded the corner with all three other monkeys, locked in technical conversation with Gibson about things that were far over anyone else's head. Still, Nova noticed that his voice was not as kind as it had been when he had spoken to her. She sighed slightly and resolved to make him feel like he was more than some tool.

Chiro stepped forward confidently and extended his hand to Stephen, who was notably taller than the boy. "Stephen, thank you for everything you've done for us, we're happy to have you as a friend." He stated in earnest.

Stephen's stance visibly adjusted and he gingerly took the boy's hand to shake it. "Thank you, sir." He replied. "Do you have any further orders?"

Chiro frowned a little and Antauri spoke up. "Stephen, I'm simply curious as to your perspective on what's happening. You know Ark as well as Roy or Lore, in fact, I suspect better than either of them. Is there anything you think would help with this situation?"

Stephen quirked his head slightly, and his visor glowed a little as his HUD filled with historical files. "Well sir-"

"My name is Antauri, Stephen. We're equals, so feel free to act accordingly." Antauri stated calmly. Stephen shifted nervously again, not as he continued, Nova heard much of the liveliness return to his voice. He almost sounded excited.

"Noted, Antauri. According to intelligence gathered from my own experience, Ark tends to suppress the majority of his magical energy in order to prevent himself from succumbing to the lures of a demon that shares his earthbound form." Stephen explained. "At least that's what he told me, but I have my doubts." He added.

"It seems that Ark instead is very reluctant to use his abilities in any combat situation, and is particularly reluctant to use lethal force. I've noted that between the use of lethal and non-lethal maneuvers, Ark has a point oh-oh-five second hesitation before actually commencing the attack. This doesn't seem like much on an average level, but when it comes to someone who has 'lived a million lifetimes and watched the sun set on a thousand empires' he may as well have waited an eternity." Stephen explained, the glow in his visor fading slightly as he closed various data files. "Further than that, I can only speculate on his mental processes based on psychological trends and my own observations of his mannerisms. Regardless, if his demonic side has chosen to assert itself, we have serious troubles on the horizon. There are few legends that involve fox demons that end favorably."

Antauri nodded, and Sprx was about to speak when an explosion rocked the robot. Roy stumbled into the hallway and looked at the group with a grim visage. "Forget having to go rescue anyone." He stated, but was cut off by Stephen. "He's here, and he's brought plenty of friends."

Chiro scowled as the everyone exited the robot to see the Skeleton King's citadel looming in the sky above, formless pouring from it and coating the desert and city in a shroud of evil beings.

Chiro pointed at the citadel valiantly. "Hyperforce, go!"