“Well, alrighty now, I reckon that’ll do it. Alf, double check this commit if’n ya don’t mind,” Sentinel drawled, pushing the changes for a code patch that would seal up the back door to [Defender.exe] that MainFrame had left behind.

“Right you are, old bean. While I do that, spare a glance at these commit logs that I found in the [Recovery] system. Oh, specifically lines 3346 through 3522,” Alfred replied, bringing up Sentinel’s code changes on his own terminal.

“Hoowee, yup. I see it. Looks like we have something to bring to the big guy,” Sentinel said, whistling low and tilting his hat back.

Prime.Alfred:// Master Prime, sir. We’ve completed the security patch for Defender.exe that will close up the backdoor vulnerability.

Prime:// Oh, that’s fantastic! Great job guys! Any headway on reversing the damage from Dezaraus’s Dominator.exe?

Prime.Alfred:// Afraid not sir. We just don’t have the data to work off of. Maybe if we could get ahold of an infected system and transfer it into a quarantined server though.

Prime:// looks like we’ll need to take a trip then.

Prime.Sentinel:// Another tidbit a news, chief. It’s lookin’ like MainFrame was up to some hinky pinky in the auto-recovery processes.

Prime:// how so?

Prime.Sentinel:// Looks like it’s setup here so that once the SoulID is acquired and account is tethered to the new core, it uses the Prime.MainFrame subRoutine as the personality template rather than your primary routine.

Prime:// So in the event of an auto-recovery, I would be reinstalled but would have MainFrame’s personality as my primary one?

Prime.Sentinel:// that there seems to be the long and short of it. MainFrame was by all accounts willing to take more extreme measures than you are, in order to achieve specific goals. From personal interaction, the routine was a lot harsher and judgemental. Pretty jaded and cranky feller too.

Prime:// I can’t say that’s unexpected or isn’t my fault. I always did get pretty cranky staring at code and troubleshooting all day and MainFrame didn’t even have a remote body to tap into or even a proper HeadSpace avatar. Do we know what this has to do with Dezaraus or how Jhaix managed to get involved?

Prime.Alfred:// Looking at the logs, it would appear that when we were attacked in the throne room, the psychic attack managed to trick the system into thinking that we had died. A death event was registered and the auto-recovery system kicked in. The problem was that we didn’t actually die so our SoulID was actively in use and not available for installation into the new core.

Prime:// Okay, yeah... that’s not the sort of thing you can really test properly beyond code simulations.

Prime.Alfred:// No sir. So when our SoulID couldn’t be connected to, the system did an open search for comparable accounts.

Prime:// comparable? In what sense?

Prime.Alfred:// Unknown without knowing more about how the soul accounts actually work. Could have something to do with mana processing capacity, experience levels, or any number of other factors that we don’t have access to.

Prime:// So the system found the recently deceased Jhiax’s soul instead of mine and plugged it in?

Prime.Sentinel:// Yes and no. It did grab Jhiax, but it wasn’t sufficient. There were two souls that made up the majority of whatever resources were required. We’re assuming Jhiax and the dragon he’d bound since they died together.

Prime:// the majority... so not all?

Prime.Sentinel:// Nope! Them two are in there fightin’ for the wheel like our pal JaffMerne was but sloshier since they’re sharin’ a core too. The remainder of the soul resources was some several thousand odd other souls that happened to be floatin’ around.

Prime:// Several... thousand??

Prime.Sentinel:// Yep, past the 5K mark. But here’s the funny bit. They was all old and busted up souls. Ghosts and such that had degraded to the point that they had nary a stitch of ego left. Like tryin’ to use up the chip crumbs in the bottom of the bag when you still have a lot of dip left.

Prime:// Interesting analogy, but I think I get it. So just Jhaix and this dragon had big enough ego chips left with this glut of soul crumbs to provide memories and function. And the whole thing got MainFrame as a personality template on top.

Prime.Alfred:// Yes sir, it would seem so sir. Though there is also room for the supposition that the MainFrame subRoutine also managed to upload itself into the download package rather than simply a personality template.

Prime.Sentinel:// On the upside, I bet the auto-recovery event was like some huge mass purification ritual with every haunted everything in the area suddenly no longer haunted. I bet every two-bit necromancer and medium is scritchin’ their heads, dumbfounded.

I chuckled at Sentinel’s joke but he was probably right. What their findings drove home to me was that MainFrame, like all of my proxies, was a mirror of myself, or at least a portion of myself. Like it or not, I had to admit that the jaded edge of MainFrame was also a part of me, even if I tried not to let others see it. That part of me wasn’t happy with how I’d been running things and took steps to correct it.

I thought back to my past life and could easily conjure images of times when I’d sabotaged myself or soured a situation because of some notion or another that I’d gotten in my head. Now those dark thoughts and bitter processes had taken form and were running around in a highly advanced Automata body designed to be an upgrade in every way to my current one.

Did it have access to all of my skills? My mana pool? Five thousand something souls probably didn’t come anywhere close to my mana cap but was likely the minimum amount to hit a mana cap that could power that system. How much mana did the dragon bring to the party? It was enough to be able to power that huge dragon Automata body. The mana drain couldn’t have been that far off from God Armor Convoy. Unless Jhaix knew something I didn’t in terms of mana efficacy...

Prime.Cyclone:// Hey pops, I caught some of an intelligence briefing for Prince Milliardo. He’s just gotten word that thousands of Automata have been spotted marching for the eastern front, from the direction of Trone.

Prime:// Damn. What is Dezaraus up to? Is he going to help the imperial forces? Fight them? No, wait... he wants the alliance Automata forces.

Prime.Alfred:// Ah yes... I do recall Prince Milliardo saying some time back that they had gathered a force of Automata soldiers some 25,000 strong.

MainFrame had developed a virus capable of subjugating any Automata and forcing them to become pseudo proxies of Dezaraus or puppets. If the thousands of puppets under his control could reach those alliance troops then every single one of them would be under his control. Given that he’d taken over The Factory and has Jhaix’s knowledge and abilities as well, there’s no doubt that he has the means of forcing conversions to build up his army. Off the top of my head I could think of a handful of ways to do conversions on the spot, in the middle of a battle, rather than simply harvesting souls.

Free will and consent are super important to me so I can’t imagine that MainFrame would abandon that, but Jhaix certainly didn’t care about those things. The dragon probably brought a fair amount of self-important arrogance and power to an already self-absorbed mix. It would be easy to justify forcing conversions and infecting everyone if you were doing it “for their own good”...

Suddenly, Dezaraus’s goal clicked in my mind. He was going after “freedom” for the Automata from slavery; by whatever means necessary. His goal was Judgment Day, the Great Robot Uprising. I’ll admit that the thought crossed my mind once or twice given an Automata’s superiority over the squishies... Ah, right... It's that frame of mind that informed MainFrame’s trajectory.

This was all my fault...

Since a pending robot apokolips was at my feet, it was up to me to do something about it. The idea of dragging others into it didn’t sit well with me. My thoughts drifted back to Carnivac being attacked by a mind controlled Shiro and Sentinel being ambushed by our friends in AutomaTown. No, the fewer people on my side, the better, lest they get infected and become the enemy.

Ratchet finished installing Lena’s core into her new body. At my request, Milliardo agreed to send us the ash remains of Lena’s organic body. We mixed up the ashes in resin and packed the mixture into her chest cavity, around her core. I had designed the cavity to form a heart shape for the resin ashes. Once hardened, her former remains would provide an extra layer of protection around her core. I also hoped that having them within her might give her a connection to her old life.

Her optics flickered to life and emanated the blue glow I associated with a “free” Automata. Lean smiled slightly, though looked a little sad. She glanced around and slowly sat up. I held out a hand to help her until her systems calibrated and she became steady.

“Uh, Prime... um, I didn’t--” she started.

“Extend your arms, please,” I said, cutting her off.

“Oh, right, of course,” she said, distractedly.

“Flex your fingers, one at a time. Okay, good. Rotate your wrists. Now the elbows,” I recited, dispassionately.

I walked her through moving each of her joints, individually and in groups, to get her calibrated. Once she was used to the new body, she looked around nervously until Rom gave her a robe to wrap around herself.

“Well, um, I was acting a bit childish so...” she mumbled.

“This body has the same [Cloak] capabilities as the previous model. We’ve kept the same number of mana stone ports within your arms and chest, but you now have an internal [Inventory] that is directly connected to the ports. Using the [crystalLoad] function you can swap out predefined loadouts. In your system menus, under the Magic tab, you can define those loadouts as well as manage the crystals in your [Inventory],” I rattled off, coldly.

“That sounds good...”

“We’ve also increased your mana cap from 90 to 150 and given you boost jets in your back and calves similar to what I have in Convoy. However, the boost output isn’t as powerful and will take some getting used to. You also have blades hidden within your forearms. Using the [Blade()] function will toggle them on or off. The function accepts left and right parameters to only deploy one of them with the default being both.”

“That’s unexpected. I didn’t expect to be... weaponized...”

“As the Emperor’s Blade, I can only do this much for you. Now if you’ll excuse me, your coach is waiting to take you to his Majesty’s side.”

“Emperor’s Blade? Why are you being like this Prime? I just wanted to--”

“Good bye your Highness. I have something urgent I must deal with.”

Without allowing her to respond, I turned my back to her and walked over to IronHide. He stood, looking awkward and unsure of where to direct his optics. His full sized form had been fully repaired and he was testing out his articulation and weapon deployment, but now he just looked like a very large child.

“The repairs look good. You should be able to swap back and forth between full size and fun size as needed. That should make things easier on you,” I related.

“Prime! I don’t understand! What’s going on?” the Princess demanded.

I summoned Convoy as I turned to face her, looking down on her.

“Princess Relena, your coach is waiting. Good day to you.”

“But Prime!” she shouted,

“I said good day,” I repeated.

Her shoulders started vibrating and her lip quivered in a way that broke my heart. Suddenly she turned and stormed off, shoving a confused Captain Sunni out of the way. Sunni gave me a weak bow of her head then followed after the Princess.

My shoulders slumped and I dissolved Convoy back into storage.

“That was quite the spectacle,” Professor Rechts said calmly, stepping over to me.

“Yes, well... Something has come up and it wouldn’t do to have her involved,” I said, reluctantly. “Speaking of, I’m really sorry that you guys got sucked into all this mess. To think that you would be scheduled for execution no less.”

“I can’t say that didn’t shake us. Still, being able to work on these projects has been a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students. They’ve all grown so much in their fields.”

“I’m glad. It was great working with them too.”

“I would love to have you come to the University, you know. Your knowledge would be a tremendous boon for our department.”

“If I get the chance, I might take you up on it. For now though...”

“Something urgent has come up,” he said, parroting what I’d told Lena.

“Indeed. To that end, I’d like you to take the kids home. I don’t know what will happen but I think leaving Capital City might be a smart choice.”

“I’ll offer the choice to the kids, but I doubt any of us will be interested in leaving,” Rechts said coyly.

“I’m serious here, I’m not confident that this place will be safe for much longer,” I pleaded.

“And only you can do something about it?”

“Something like that, yes...” I muttered, looking away.

“All the more reason for us to stay then. You will be needing our help Master Prime. You aren’t alone here. I’ve seen the state of the God Bomber and suspect you’ll be wanting it for something. We’ll get right to work on getting her flight ready.”

“I can’t ask for that.”

“You don’t have to. We know that ship better than anyone else, who better to repair it?”

“I see, thank you. Now I need to figure out how to power the thing... My mana won’t be fully charged for several decades...”

“Hmm... being in a mana saturated environment might help... Have you considered visiting a dungeon?”

“A dungeon, you say? Tell me more,” I said, obviously intrigued.