I walked beside Trixie the next day in the warm and bustling streets of Manehatten, as the skyscrapers loomed over us in the sunlight, casting shadows great and tall.
“About last night...” Trixie began, looking guiltily at me. I swear she’d give a whimpering puppy a run for its money.
“It’s fine.” I state bluntly, crossing my arms as we continued to walk. What? Just because I go and save her (been three times now, it’s nearly as bad as that companion cube back in the test facility), does not mean I’m in the mood for too many theatrics. I thought this ‘Equestria’ would be a peaceful place. Not that I’m complaining, it gives me plenty of time to test out my abilities and new attachments/weapons/totallynotWMD’s.
“Anyway” I continued “I thought the whole ‘toads’ thing was a good backup plan.” I shrug, smiling at her, causing her to laugh. She had quite a good laugh, in retrospect. Light, but not too giggly.
Great, Now I’m becoming soft.
We continued walking for a little while enjoying what little sunshine that was provided in the shade of the great looming blocks of concrete that were Manehatten’s skyscrapers. That was, until a guard came running up to us, along with two others, spears in their hands and no-nonsense looks on their faces.
“In the name of the Law, Stop Right There!” One yelled, dressed in gold armor. As the other two were dressed in steel plate, I guessed that he was their leader. Commander. Sergeant. Whatever.
“I wonder how annoyed they’d be if I called them piggies.” I mutter to myself, smirking, as Trixie and I turned to face them. My LEDs scanned over them, taking in their features.
All in all they were natural guards; brown and black haired, piercing eyes and fairly muscled bodies. The gold one stood out with his sharp chin and feline facial features, but there was nothing apart from their armor that made them seem out of the ordinary.
Trixie stood there, eyes wide at the prospect of being possibly arrested by guards. I gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze to tell her everything was ok, before speaking.
“Alright, what is it?” I bluntly ask, putting my poker face on. No one could get past my poker face.
“You, metal man, you’re coming with us. Gotta lot of questions to ask you.” The guard in gold states, frowning at me like some sort of criminal. Let me just state now, I never liked guards. Like, ever.
I pondered what he just said for a few moments, taking in what he just said. If I can guess correctly, this meant that the government had become interested in my actions. And that meant that there was possibly going to be money involved. I liked money. Almost as much as I liked pizza.
“Ok, I’ll go with you. On two conditions, however.” I glare at them dangerously, making the two steel plated guards sweat a little.
Gold Guard frowns again under his helmet “Alright, shoot.” He crosses his arms, leaning back a little.
“One; my friend Trixie here comes with us. Two, don’t call me metal-man, that’s Racist against robots. Call me Zero. If you annoy me, I’ll castrate you. Got it?” I announced my conditions, the latter statement making their eyes widen. It didn’t help them that I said it so casually either.
“A-Alright. Come with us. Corporal, Private, you escort the young lady. I’ll keep an eye on M-“I shot him a warning glare “Zero.”
Twenty Minutes Later, Manehatten Guard Station
Trixie and I sat in the Guard Station’s waiting room, awaiting (obviously) the verdict on what was going to happen to me. The tension was slowly building as we waited, until the tension in said room was so thick you could cut it with a knife.
That was, until Gold Guard (look, it’s the name I've dubbed him with ok?) walked in and announced “Zero, the Constable wants to see you. I will escort you to the room where you two will speak.” He betrayed no emotion in his voice, but I could already tell he didn’t like me.
I looked at Trixie, who looked worriedly at me, her lavender tinted eyes betraying the simple emotion of fear. I looked at her and smirked.
“Look, I handled the killer toys and books you threw at me, I’ll be fine.” I rolled my eyes in their cybernetic sockets, giving her a small playful punch on the shoulder.
This warranted a small smile out of her as she looked back at me, reassured.
“Good. Trixie wouldn’t want her performance partner in trouble now, would she?” She said, putting on an air of mock authority. I laughed at this, my first genuine laugh in a long time.
“Ahem, the Constable wants to see you now!” He glared daggers at me as he said this, clearly wanting me out of his hair. I nodded at Trixie, before following him to a room.
Like any other questioning room in a police station, this room was soundproofed, with a single table and two chairs in the middle of the room along with the double mirrored listening screen. What a friendly place.
I sat down at the table to face who I assumed was the Constable, as Gold Guard left the room, locking the door behind him with an audible ‘CA-CHUNK’. The Constable looked like a fair fellow; graying hair, leather armor complete with crossbow and guard insignia, slightly aging features and a kind smile upon his face.
“Now, sonny, you’re probably wondering why you’re here?” He chuckles, stroking the growing stubble on his chin.
“You’re going to ask me some questions. I will answer them, to an extent.” I replied evenly, keeping eye contact with him, my blue LEDs against his soft brown irises.
He looks at me, smiles as if he knows what I’m talking about then continues “Well, as you know, we ain’t seen anything like your kind round here. Mind telling us about yourself?”
I close my eyes and gather all needed information to answer the question before answering “I am a V-68 Servitor and Combat Unit, formerly known as an SCU. I was created on Omega Test Facility, and got put through thousands upon thousands of tests, involving portals, dodging, ducking, fighting, pillow fights, situational awareness tests, speech tests, and many more.” I listed off the tests on my metallic fingers casually as the Constable stared at me wide eyed. I then finished off with “Oh yeah, I’m also a badass robot.”
“Well...” He eyed me cautiously “You’ve led quite the life, kiddo. But I digress. I may have... a proposition for you and your lady friend.”
I was about to stammer at the whole lady friend bit, my processing core having a whole ‘what’ moment, before composing myself and leaning back.
“I’m listening.” I lean back on my chair, my balance perfect and ready to listen to this ‘proposition’.
“Well, you see, there’s this high man coming into Manehatten. Calls himself The Kingpin. He runs a slave trade off the coasts of Baltimare, but knows all of our men, even our private investigators. The bastard’s got spies everywhere, so we can’t even pick our noses without him knowing our position. Of course, he doesn’t know you, or your lady friend sitting in the waiting room. Now, I’m not asking you to kill him or anything, just to take him and his men down and arrest them with some ‘cuffs we can provide you.” He leans forwards “You’re a smart guy- er – robot, Zero. Whaddya say?” He smiles at me, reassured that I will accept.
I simply sit there, pondering on a decision for a few moments, before I lean forward on my chair and reply.
“Alright, as long as the pay’s good, I’m in. Just brief Trixie on it, she’s great with Illusion magic. A good asset.” I nodded, as he grinned at me, nodding as if I’d just gave him a winning lottery ticket.
‘This could be interesting’