ERROR CODE 500 ---- ERROR CODE 819 --- ERROR CODE 404<br/><br/><br/>ERRORCODE8445435452.2455422454-54768754-454354.54546ERROR<br/><br/><br/>CRITICAL_POWER_LEVEL_WARNING<br/><br/><br/>LOW POWER MODE ENGAGED<br/><br/><br/>LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS IMPAIRED<br/><br/>AUDITORY SYSTEMS IMPAIRED<br/><br/>VISUAL SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE<br/><br/>MOBILITY SYSTEMS UNRESPONSIVE<br/><br/>SENSORY SYSTEMS IMPAIRED<br/><br/>"Why..."<br/><br/>EMERGENCY SHUTOFF INITIATED<br/><br/>-------------------------------------------------<br/><br/>It took some time before the machine realized it had woken up again. The myriad issues remained; its visual sensors picked up nothing but an endless stream of crimson error codes.<br/><br/>It was a strange thing, to feel so incredibly cold. It visualized an endless frozen sea, dotted with glaciers. It was unsure where these memories came from.<br/><br/>It was unsure what it was.<br/><br/>A bit of warmth conducted itself through its body, a confusing amalgam of wires and circuits which seemed to form the rough shape of a dismembered human. The word android nagged at its thought processes, but it was a confusing word. It was not sure what it meant.<br/><br/>The warped sound of human voices finally began to register in its auditory nodes. The machine's insides whirred softly, attempting to discern what the voices were saying. It briefly wondered why, but the analytics caused too much strain on its central processor.<br/><br/>"Don't you fucking go near that thing, Ella," one voice whispered, loudly.<br/><br/>"And why not? It looks valuable..." another responded.<br/><br/>"And dangerous! Do you want it to blow up all the loot around here, and us with it? That thing is shaped like a human! When have you ever seen a mechanical human before? It's obviously some kind of old world soldier, probably rigged to blow up at the slightest contact!" the same voice said, still whispering with a raised voice.<br/><br/>The machine's processor became unstable. An unfamiliar sensation came over it, something inexplicable. It told him to run, but he couldn't.<br/><br/>He was only capable of minimal movement. He could feel a stream of sunlight shining directly on him from above, warming his circuits and providing more energy than he'd had in what he assumed were years. He tentatively curled one of his fingers.<br/><br/>"It moved, did you see that?" the second voice said, not bothering to whisper. "It's still working!"<br/><br/>Another strange sensation overcame him, a feeling of alienation. Something about being called it. He remembered with some confusion he had been referring to himself as it only a couple of minutes ago as well.<br/><br/>"Even more reason for us to step away! It's probably prepping its self-destruct sequence as we speak!" the man's whispers had risen to a screech.<br/><br/>The machine's vision flickered into acuity, and he was able to discern the human figures in front of him. He felt naked, both physically and mentally. His body was missing limbs and his bio-components showed signs of severe degradation from being exposed to air and dust for so many years. Beyond that, however, he felt like an empty shell. He had no identity, or memories to hold on to. Certain things flickered at the back of his mind, but try as he might, he could not recall them. He could not recall himself.<br/><br/>The female scavenger called Ella stepped towards the robot, one hand curiously reaching out towards him. The other scavenger snatched at her arm and pulled her back, whispering something furiously into her ear, something indecipherable. Ella rolled her eyes as she listened, clearly not taking any of his words in.<br/><br/>The machine felt an increasing sense of destabilization in his software, something that made him feel prickly and uncomfortable. A sense of urgency began to take over, until his logic circuits finally came to a decision over his next course of action.<br/><br/>The male scavenger had not stopped darting his eyes in the direction of the robot, and Ella was trying to free herself from his grip.<br/><br/>"Maintenance functions unavailable. Immediate repair needed in order to resume janitorial duties," the robot found himself saying, in a completely monotone voice. His eyes flashed red briefly to indicate his low-power status.<br/><br/>"It fucking talked..." the male scavenger said in a low voice, halfway in between fear and awe.<br/><br/>The female scavenger's eyes were sparkling, though her expression seemed a bit more disappointed. "I thought it was something special... sounds like the old ones just used it as a cleaning tool, though..."<br/><br/>"Who cares? You never know with this old tech. Crap's completely unpredictable. Remember that gun you loved so much that just combusted in my backpack? You know how many extra hours I had to spend foraging for mealworms after that? I swear, the lengths you go to defend some of this tech is insane. I've told you for a long time now that this business has only ever gotten us in trouble but--"<br/><br/>"You're right," Ella interrupted her partner. "You never know with this tech. It has potential." She turned away from him and took another step towards the robot. With a gloved hand, she rested her index finger on its forehead.<br/><br/>The machine shuddered at the touch, feeling invaded but also, strangely, comforted. Ella smiled.<br/><br/>"We'll take you with us," she said, speaking softly. Her companion groaned and turned around, fidgeting nervously.<br/><br/>Reaching into her backpack, she brought out a folded net and spread it out over the robot's broken body. She wrapped it around him carefully, encasing him as if inside a cocoon. Her movements were almost gentle.<br/><br/>"Please," the machine found himself saying. "I need... repairs..."<br/><br/>The scavenger smiled down at him thinly. "I can try. But you'd better prove yourself useful." Her tone of voice didn't quite match the curious expression on her face.<br/><br/>And the machine was conflicted. Part of him did not trust her, part of him felt a strange attachment towards her.<br/><br/>The scavenger slung his broken body over her shoulder, laboring under its weight.<br/><br/>"Help me out with this," she told her companion, who was refusing to even look at them.<br/><br/>He didn't move for several seconds before finally saying, "Carry it yourself." At that, he stormed away without another word.<br/><br/>Ella sighed heavily, both from the weight and exasperation, and trudged her way to the makeshift ladder that led into the sunlight above them. One hand on the net that carried the robot and the other on the rungs of the ladder, she made her slow ascent to level ground.<br/><br/>As the sunlight poured over the machine, he felt fragments of his thoughts clicking together. He still could not remember himself, but he remembered what he was. He remembered something about his nature. He remembered an assembly line full of androids. He wondered what had happened to them all... and his creators.<br/><br/>After several minutes of climbing, the scavenger finally hefted the netting over her shoulder and onto the dusty ground. The android felt an immediate surge of energy, and a more pronounced feeling of comfort as the warmth washed over him. A messaged popped up in his visual receptors.<br/><br/>SEVERE BODILY DAMAGE DETECTED - CONSCIOUSNESS DATA UPLOAD PROGRAM NOW AVAILABLE - UPLOAD TO NEAREST PROCESSOR RECOMMENDED<br/><br/>The android became acutely aware that he was missing a leg, half an arm, and an eye. Most of his other body parts were irreparably broken as well. He coughed, drawing the scavenger's attention. She looked at him with a furrowed brow.<br/><br/>"You okay?" she asked, a small smile tugging at her lips.<br/><br/>"Don't... think so," the android responded. His voice sounded strangely smooth, though he labored to get the words out. "Do you... actually care?"<br/><br/>The scavenger's lips curved into an actual smile, though he still felt it wasn't a completely honest one. "I'm not like my brother," she said, after looking at him for some time silently. She twined a lock of hair around her index finger, periodically adjusting with her thumb.<br/><br/>"There's some things left in this world that are worth having," she continued, her eyes sparkling once more. "And I know you can help me get them."<br/><br/>Soon, he would need to decide whether he was going to trust the scavenger for repairs, or whether he'd need to abandon his body entirely and upload his consciousness data into a different machine. Both were risky, and he wasn't sure what kind of end he feared, only that he didn't want it to come.<br/><br/>The android's body began producing artificial polymeric skin, using the sun as its energy source. He was surprised it still worked, though he knew it wasn't an energy intensive process.<br/><br/>Ella stared at him with a poised expression, which was marginally marred by her slightly open mouth.<br/><br/>His skin prickled.