Optics on. (warning: minor malfunction – seek repair)

Nervous system on.

Sound system on.

Motor control on.

Good morning, world.

“About time, sleepyhead!” Shock was already wide awake.

“Morning.” I slowly rose from my slumber.

“It's already half an hour past dawn. You slept in!”

“Shit, really?”

“Get ready. I'm leaving in like five seconds.”

“Yikes, okay, okay!” I hustled myself up. The only thing I needed was my guitar, which I'd parked beside the recharge station before I turned myself off. I picked it up, strapped it to my shoulder, and skipped over to the stairwell.

“Be back soon, Lavil,” Shock called out.

“Peace,” his voice echoed from the back room.

I stood back, since the horror aura was still present around Maestro Bar. Shock did the talking.

“Knock knock! It's us!” Shock peered around into the seemingly empty shop.

Oh, nevermind, there's Xaita, dressed up in the same outfit as yesterday.

“Ah, hey! Welcome back. I was wondering if you'd show up.”

“Of course. You still up for giving us a ride to that desert ship?”

“Heck, sure, let's do it.” Xaita slouched a bit. “Business has been a bit crummy this morning, and I guess I did say I'd help you out, huh.”

“Yes!” I threw a fist in the air.

Xaita walked around to the side of the shop, then emerged from the nearby door. “Hope you brought your walking shoes! My truck's in a garage on the main strip.”

“Boy oh boy. I love walking,” I moaned.

Shock slapped my shoulder as she walked by me. I skipped over beside her, with Xaita taking the lead.

The city streets were already packed with the mid-morning crowds, just like when we went to Dukes for a ride to Grilith. We still had room to walk, but any more robots and we'd be bumping into them left and right. To make it just a bit more entertaining, I started quietly playing some lo-fi hip-hop from my speakers.

Oh, I'd just remembered something. “By any chance, Shock, did you see if Lavil learned anything from his research while we were gone?”

Shock shook her head. “Pretty much just that Trivo is part of the Vesky series. Nothing we didn't end up learning on our own.”

Aside from the occasional chatter, our walk wasn't too noteworthy, except for the small crowd gathered just before the corner that led to Zynima's main road.

“...These devices are malicious in every way, built only to fill us with dread!” someone in the crowd called out.

“Hey, hold up,” I told Xaita and Shock as I walked up to the crowd.

Oh shit, it was Historical, standing in a circular opening with the crowd around him. He was holding a weird device in his hand, and a long, grey hammer decorated with blue lines in the other.

“Observe!” he shouted, turning the device on with the click of a button.

...

...

The tension. The apprehension. Inability to talk. It all came rushing at me from that little device.

...

...

Much to my (and the crowd's) relief, he turned it off a couple seconds later.

“I apologize for putting you through that. But just remember: if you feel that fear and anxiety around certain areas of the city, remain alert! One of these nasty little devices will likely be nearby. If you turn it off, that's good, but you know what's even better?”

I stood on the tips of my toes, trying to see what he was doing. He'd set the device on the ground and taken a few steps back.

“Stand back, everyone,” he instructed us before gripping his hammer with both hands. I was forced to move back when the crowd did.

He swung the hammer in the air, and SMASH! The fear device exploded into hundreds of stupid little pieces, sending tiny shrapnel everywhere. Not enough to hurt anyone, but enough to be annoying.

“That simple. You guys up for keeping Zynima happy and safe?” he asked the crowd. He got some “yeahs” and some “woos” back.

“Xaita!” I whispered to her. “Do you think there's one of those around your shop?!”

“I'll be checking as soon as we get back. This is big news.”

That was pretty cool. I liked Historical; if we weren't on a mission, I would've stopped for longer to say hi. His little spectacle seemed to be finished, so the three of us continued onto the main road without any further delays.

Once we had a clear view of the buildings lining the wide open road, Xaita pointed out a really big garage that must've been at least two whole blocks long.

“That's where my little beastie's parked.”

Nice. This wasn't such a bad walk after all.

Seconds later, I saw an enormous vehicle just barely sticking out of the garage. I had no words for its size. Tank? Behemoth? If that was Xaita's ride...

I had to confirm my suspicions. “Xaita, is that one yours? The one I can see from here?”

Xaita nodded and smiled.

“No waaay...”

“I think you'll like how fast it can go, too.”

I put a hand on my head and made some kind of weird choke-laugh from sheer excitement. I could see Shock smirking at me from the corner of my vision that still worked.

I ran up to the behemoth. Huge treads covering dozens of wheels, an open walkway in the front that led to the interior, a skylight on the back, massive spotlights on the front end... and the whole thing was painted pitch black.

I looked back to Xaita and Shock, who remained at their leisurely pace. “Can I go in?!”

“Be my guest.”

“YAY!”

The interior was so different from the exterior. The paint scheme was similar, with some dark blue stripes here and there, but the amount of trinkets and gadgets hanging and sitting everywhere made it look like a collector's dream.

The main “room” with the skylight over it was an open, rectangular area with a short ramp that led to the vehicle's second floor, where the driver's seat was situated. Everywhere, there were televisions, game consoles, signs, strange figurines and totems, toys, clothes, tools... I could go on for hours.

I had no idea how seriously Xaita took her hobby as a scavenger until now.

“Like what you see, I take it?” Xaita cheerfully asked as she stepped into the behemoth with Shock.

“Oh, you think?!” I was in love.

“Take a look while we're on the move. Just be mighty careful. Some of those trinkets are fragile.”

Even Shock looked awestruck as she inspected everything in sight. “This is amazing, Xaita.”

“Thank ya. You two ready to go?”

“Yes!” I yelped a bit louder than I meant to. Shock and I sat down against the back wall.

A few moments later, the rumble of a gigantic engine rattled throughout the vehicle as it started up. Once it settled down to a steady rhythm, we started moving. Slowly, but surely.

The incredible size and noise of this thing prompted all of the pedestrians walking on the road to clear off to the side of the street. Once we were lined up with the straight road and the path was clear, we started accelerating until we reached somewhere around 30 km/h. The closer we got to hitting the sand, the more Xaita sped up.

“Watch the bump!” she shouted.

My head bonked the wall when we hit the desert floor.

We accelerated gradually up from 30 to roughly 60 km/h – unreal for a vehicle this size. I wonder where Xaita got this thing. Could I get one too?

“Where you lasses headed, again?” Xaita asked us.

“The MSE vessel,” Shock directed her.

“Got it.”

I nudged Shock, drawing her attention. “What does MSE stand for...? I've heard the abbreviation so many times.”

“Mechanical Society Experiment. The vessel we're going to is where our whole world started.”

“Whaaat? Explain.”

“Short version: originally, there were 100 robots on this planet. We all came from this huge ship that had countless supplies on it, and we all worked together to build what is now Zynima City.”

“Where did the ship come from?”

Shock went silent for a bit. “I don't know.”

I squinted the eyes on my visor. “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

“All right, then.” She wouldn't lie to me, would she...?

It seemed awkward between Shock and I for a while after our conversation. So, we ended up spending the rest of the trip in silence, save for Xaita pointing out a few of her favourite landmarks along the way.

It took about 20 minutes for us to catch a glimpse of our destination. The MSE vessel... I thought it was going to be in pristine condition. It was partially buried in the sand, and it was missing hull plating just from what I could see from a distance.

As we grew closer, the disrepair became clearer and clearer. Wires hanging everywhere, debris all over the ground...

Xaita started decelerating as we approached it. Once we were close enough, she brought us to a halt.

“We're here!” She stepped down from the upstairs area. “I'll probably be scouting around the outside of this here ship. Who knows what kind of goodies we might find! Don't take too long, though. I'd like to be back before sundown.”

“You got it!” I turned off the hip-hop I'd been playing.

We stepped off the front of Xaita's desert behemoth, coming face to face with the MSE vessel: the spaceship that Zynima was born from. Its exterior was scratched and eroded, one of its engines had completely broken off the back, and there were also some sizable holes in the ship's outer plating. Ugh.

I began my march into the wide-open hole in the side of the ship. A huge sheet of metal formed a convenient walkway from the desert sand to the makeshift entrance, which Shock and I trudged up together.

The instant we stepped into the derelict ship's hull, it felt like a whole other world. The wind outside was inaudible, sound echoed off every surface, and I also felt a peculiar sensation... like, as if this ship was a home to people before me, but was completely abandoned now. I couldn't put my finger on the word to describe it. Eerie, maybe.

I couldn't really tell where we were in the ship, either. We found ourselves in a long, plain, dark grey hallway with a door on either end of the hall, sloped due to the ship's tilted position in the sand.

“Let's do this,” I anxiously tried to pep us both up.

I led the way down the hall, assuming that's where the bridge would be. Once we got to the door, I found a small green button beside it. So I pushed it.

The door opened in an instant, sliding apart from the centre. I jumped from the door's unexpected speed.

“So it still has power,” Shock commented.

“Seems that way.”

I walked through the doorway, not finding the bridge, but a room that looked like a makeshift office. Rickety cubicles made of scrap metal that were all adorned with electronics and non-metal items littered the room. Definitely not part of the ship's original design.

“This place is a treasure trove,” I remarked, gently rummaging through the nearest cubicle. “I have no idea what some of these things even are.”

Shock remained silent as she slowly paced around the room, diligently observing the environment before her.

“See anything?” I asked.

She hummed. “Nope. Nothing of note, at least. Though, I'd like to see what's in that door over here.” Shock pointed to the wall to my left: there was a door parallel to the one we entered from sitting in the middle of the wall.

Without hesitation, she started walking towards said door. I stopped what I was doing and walked over to it as well.

“I'm surprised this place hasn't been totally looted. Really surprised,” I thought aloud.

“Compared to what used to be in here, I'd say it's been thoroughly cleaned.” Shock pressed the green button next to the room's centre door. It swung open just as fast, though I was a bit more prepared for it this time.

“Ah–” Shock hesitated before stepping inside.

It was pretty clear why. A defunct, dark blue Vesky was sprawled out on the ground before us.

“Oh, geez...” I also hesitated before walking up to it.

The somber aura of the ship made me half expect the robot to jump-scare me when I got close. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened. I crouched down in front of it, taking a closer look.

“Well. Sure is a Vesky.”

Shock crouched beside me. As carefully as a chief medical officer would, she overturned the body, inspecting it for signs of what may have caused it to perish (or at least that's what it looked like she was doing).

Without any commentary, Shock stood up. “Looks like there are only four of them.”

“Huh?” I looked over to see her surveying the rightmost wall.

Four deep indentations were lined up in the wall, flawlessly matching the shape of a Vesky.

“Oh, I see. But what if they were produced on Zynima? Or what if there were more of them on the ship? There could be more.”

Shock hummed. “Sound reasoning... but I've got a hunch that says they're the only ones on this rock.”

I tilted my head a bit. “If you say so.”

Assuming Shock's theory was right, Trivo was one Vesky, the one fixing her was two, this dead one was three... so where was the fourth...?

“VESKY ST4-ZYN.” Shock was reading some words and characters inscribed above the indentations.

“Know what it means?” I asked, suddenly very curious.

“We know what Vesky means,” she began, tracing the letters with a finger. “The “4” probably denotes how many there are, and “ZYN” is obvious enough. No idea what “ST” is though. Storage?”

I shrugged.

After a brief search, we couldn't find anything else of note in the small room. We headed back out to the hallway and made our way up to the door on the other end of the hall, catching a glimpse of Xaita scavenging some scrap supplies just outside the ship's “entrance.”

The next door only opened halfway. The left side appeared broken, which was, honestly, to be expected in a wrecked spacecraft like this. I was starting to find it strange how much of this ship still seemed to be powered and in working order.

Maybe someone still used this as their home. Ah, I suddenly felt bad for messing around with those cubicles.

“What in the...” I mumbled as I walked through the door.

The room was huge, with the ceiling dented inwards in several spots, dotted by a few small punctures in the ship's hull. Most prominently, it was lined with dozens upon dozens of robot containment pods. How did I know what those tall, windowed containers were for? There were still robots in some of them. Some of the pods were smashed open, only for machines to be lying on the ground in front them, or hanging out of the broken pod doors, all defunct. Probably about 25 dead robots lying around in front of me.

“Is this... where we came from?” Even after Shock talked to me about this place, I didn't really think about what to expect when we got here.

Just to my side, Shock nodded, looking rather solemn.

We shared that sentiment. I walked forward with the same pace Shock had in the last room, observing all the junked machines littering the floor.

“What is this? Did we really come from this?” I swung my arms out to the side. “What happened here? I... I don't even know what to think...”

After hearing no response, I looked back at her. She was looking to the side with that same, dreary look on her face.

“Hey... you okay?”

Shock hummed affirmatively, just loud enough for me to hear. “I don't want to spend much more time in this room.”

“Y-yeah, sure.” Her mood unnerved me a bit. She was the stoic one who worked around death all the time, right? For her to be so put off by this sight rather than me? It felt uncomfortable in some inexplicable way.

As I walked by each of the pods, I noticed they had tiny little words etched into the bases; I quickly figured out they were the names of the machines.

Viniko. Orago. Consequence. LH343-LH-3130. Hanadicia. S–

“I think the bridge is just up ahead!” Shock hopped in front of me, shouting unusually loud, completely catching me off guard. She was pointing to the far end of the room.

I hopped back a tiny bit. “A-all right!” I put my hands up in front of me. “Where'd the energy suddenly come from?”

“I just don't want to be in here anymore. Let's go... please.” As quickly as she'd grown intense, she quieted back down to her previous mood.

“Okay, okay. Let's go.” That was strangely unlike her...

We tiptoed around the wrecked robots, clambering uphill towards the door ahead of us without another word between us. I had a strong hunch about why she suddenly rushed in front of me... but I also found it prudent to remain quiet about it, given her odd mood shifts.

Soon enough, we reached another set of doors, still functional. Once opened, they revealed a huge, dark control room: the bridge. It was unbelievable how many buttons, screens, and switches lined each of the control stations.

“This is it, huh...” I remarked.

“Hello? Lacuna?” Shock asked without delay, looking around the spacious bridge.

A soft, feminine voice filled the room, its source unknown. “Lacuna online. What can I do for you?”

“It's her,” I mumbled to Shock, trying to find the source of the voice.

“We're here, Lacuna. You summoned us?”

“Greetings. Is Trivo with you?”

“...No. She couldn't make it here with us today.”

“I'm sorry, but I need to meet with Trivo above all else. Without her, I have nothing to discuss.”

“Wait, hold on,” I briskly interrupted. “We're Trivo's friends. We were there when you contacted her. She can't make it here right now, but... how come we're out here in the desert rather than talking on the computer? You couldn't tell us why she's supposed to come here so urgently?”

“In return, may I ask – does the name Upsilon mean anything to you?”

“Upsilon. Ups... Ups.” I turned to Shock. “Ups?!”

Shock looked fucked off.

“Upsilon kidnapped Trivo years ago,” I told Lacuna.

“Then you understand how important it is for Trivo to be here herself. That said, I will now answer your questions, respectively.

There is critical information I must divulge to her as soon as possible. The reason Trivo needs to meet me here is because I am currently bound to this vessel. I, Lacuna, am an artificial intelligence-based personal assistant, thus, I cannot transfer vessels unless I am directed to do so by an external entity possessing proper authorization to carry out such a task, or if my existence is threatened.

It is important to understand that I am able to connect to Zynima City's computer network from this vessel. However, I cannot do so any longer without jeopardizing myself; someone – or something – is actively monitoring almost all network activity in the city, and their efforts have grown exponentially over the last few days. It is overwhelmingly likely that this is being done to trace my location. Thus, in order to prioritize my own seclusion as well as the privacy of the information I possess, I have called Trivo here to speak with me in person.”

“But why is Trivo so important? That's what I don't understand. What do you know that she needs to know so badly?” I caught myself sounding a little bit frustrated, but... given that we seemingly just drove out to nowhere-land for nothing, I felt it was justified. “Why's it all so hush-hush?”

“The answer to all three of those questions is the same: that information is far too sensitive to divulge to anyone but Trivo.”

Shock and I both grumbled and moaned.

“...Would I be able to convince you otherwise, darling?” an unknown voice echoed from somewhere in the room.

Shock and I both spun around instantly, facing the shadows covering the back of the room. “Who's there?!” Shock's saw was at the ready, and I was prepped to wield my guitar at a moment's notice.

“You'd best put those weapons away, lest you seek a fate so unbecoming of two intrepid explorers not unlike yourselves.”

Out of the darkness stepped a TV-head, dressed in a long, navy blue coat, with a triple-bladed scythe on his back.

“No fucking way,” Shock gasped, shakily clipping the saw back onto her belt. “I should've known you'd show up here.”

“You really should have.” He slowly walked forward, eventually standing between us, facing the largest control panel at the front of the bridge. “You can call me None. If you wish to differentiate me from others with the same name, seek the macron over the O.”

Nōne... okay...?

The hand on my guitar's neck remained still as I turned, constantly facing him.

“Aural Automaton, put your hand down, or I'm going to take that as a threat,” he spoke with a perfectly monotone voice.

Nervously peering around him, Shock nodded at me, so I complied. Slowly and cautiously.

“Lacuna,” he commanded.

“Welcome back, O–”

“Tell them what you were going to tell Trivo.”

“Affirmative.”

What?! How did he get her to–

“Years ago, there was an emergency aboard this ship.” Lacuna began. “In order to preserve myself, I began transferring to myself to a vacant robot body. Out of the 100 robots in this ship, only four had a factory-built personality that could be overwritten at a moment's notice. However, the transfer failed halfway through due to physical disturbances. Because of this, I now possess only a fraction of the data I once did, since half the information I once knew is now effectively stored in that other body.

I have since learned the other body has named itself Trivo.”

I became totally stiff. Trivo... is Lacuna? And Lacuna is Trivo? They're... two halves of one whole...?

“Please excuse me,” Lacuna spoke again. “I am receiving a transmission.”

I looked over at Shock, who looked, frankly, shocked.

“But... what is it that Trivo and Lacuna know that's so important for her to be kidnapped so many times?” I wondered aloud, trying not to look at the strange TV-head that Shock trusted for some reason.

“You'll learn, if you're brave enough,” Nōne remarked.

I thought about it some more... and my eyes widened. Back in that place we rescued Trivo from. One of those brutes called her “the key to purity”. What did that mean? It couldn't have anything to do with recharge station purity, could it?

“I have received the transmission. There has been an explosion near Verdin Square, along with a distress signal from a Vesky. It is requesting the immediate presence of Aural Automaton and Shock System.”