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Futuristic Blacksun (Notorious x C.DEX)

"We're working on that as well." Brok said with a smirk, "If you are outside the Renegades it's near impossible to find. Hell, it's hard to find a single ship in space but... The Epoch is growing. One day we will find a way to the station and neutralize Nephilim and Axel. Which means... saving Ayla as well?" He wiped his eyes yet again, "I am that little girl's godfather. Axel appointed me and my wife as her godparents, same with that tattoo'd shit over there." He said with a smile, "I haven't done my duties well for either of you. I'll be sure to change that." Brok's knees shuddered as he stood up again, knowing that their time here was coming to a close. "As for Jagar speaking of any of you... he talked to me of your days together. He never mentioned a midget, nor two fine asses but..." Brok actually laughed as he pushed himself up with his cane, "He did mention an annoying android."


"That's-a me!" Psy cheered, "I miss that old spiky motherfucker. Didn't care much for his planet but you wouldn't care much for mine either." He said, getting a flash of a great blue marble that was his home. Or, was a long time ago anyways. "I loved annoying him... he was like coming across a creature's nest and smashing each egg individually to see what's inside. I've done that before plenty of times but... Jagar was like the egg that wouldn't crack. Then come to find out that's a rock and not an egg." Psy let out a happy sigh, "I love killing things."


"He also mentioned that. Something about a kraken or..." All of the former Interceptor members all perked up at the sound of that while Ajax, Lucy and Arc were simply still dumbfounded by such a ridiculous story. "That's the one. You all lit up just now... Talk about a bonding experience." With a hearty laugh that ended with Brok holding his ribs with his free hand he said, "I also didn't know you knew the identity of Div's killer... Magnus... I will remember that." Brok said, frowning. Lucy and Ajax too would remember, the crippled girl in particular fuming just thinking about that man. "It is not you who killed her Casar, not we. You weren't the one to do it."


"No..." Lucy said, gripping the edge of her arm rests. "This Magnus also nearly killed me, forced Axel to watch as he killed Div and made him helpless to it all. A man capable of that cruelty... Doesn't deserve to live."


"Alright Lucretia... Everyone. Thank you for meeting with us. I'm going to go lay down, back is giving out and it's about time for my medicine." He grunted, "Barely an old man and I'm talking like that already. If you do succeed Imille I'll give you more than just information, I'll give you the world to stop this pain." Brok said, showing just how much pain he was in from those few words alone. "I am very happy you all found your way here. Ajax... Come by my home later, here is the address-" He sent the address via the communicator link, "I want to learn of what happened to you and Ayla in those years you were gone. I am sure Margo would like to know as well."


"She made it out? She's alive?" Ajax asked, surprised to hear that name. "That's... good to hear. Yeah... Alright. I'll come by before we leave for our next mission. We all want to see the city a little bit before being rushed off again. Been doing a lot of space traveling and not a whole bunch of relaxing so..." Ajax smirked, "It's good to see you again Brok. I'll be by later."


Brok nodded and smiled at him and began to limp away, leaving Ford to say anything else he'd wish to say before they all parted ways and entered Epochora probably.
 
"Well ... that's interesting. You all seem to have a very varied history. Brok has been a part of Epoch for a while, and he's ... a bit over my pay grade, so it was a surprise that he had wanted to meet up with you all." Ford said, with a laugh. "Do any of you have questions about Epoch ourselves?" he asked. "And I assume you will all take the card." For a moment, he waited for any sign of protest, but when it had come from none of them, he continued on with a smile. Imille raised her hand as if in a classroom. Playing along, Ford had 'called' on her.


"If you're not giving us money, how are we supposed to get stuff in the city?" she asked.


As if on cue, Ford had pulled a slip from his pocket, and handed it off to them. "We have a currency, but of course, it means nothing outside of Epochora. You can use our money to get goods and services inside the city, as well as any future civilizations we build here. At some point, these might be worth a lot of money. For now, it's simply a way of saying you've done things for us." he said. "You'll find acquired armor, weaponry, ships ... and even Epoch-made supplies, here. Our technology is great in the way that it's a mix; you'll find Exodlite, Derelict, Renegade-esque weapons and armor here, a collaborative force that comes together to make some particularly devastating pieces." he said. "And ... ice cream. And any assortment of food that you like. You can have our doctors look at your injured, as well, though admittedly a lot of the people that do migrate here are simply civilians sick of the regime and brutality in favor of a place where they won't be forced into a role."


Imille had taken the money, handing it off to Lucy as she had. It had been evident that the woman had grown trustworthy of her team, any other group of people probably not trusting one another enough to simply hand the money off. "What do you guys want to do? You guys need sun, anyways. You're the pastiest people I've met so far. Cas looks like an albino droid, and Lucy I think is legitimately starting to turn gray. Nyx hasn't gotten her skin wet in an ocean planet in ... a long time, and while I am ethnically brown, I would like to be a little browner." she said, grinning toward the others. Casar looked down to his skin, registering a facet he hadn't even considered as of thus. "I'm not sure how the oceans are around here, but ... it'd be nice to at least take a dip. Psy, your body should be able to swim, too, no sinking this time."


"Lucy can't swim. Her legs don't work." Casar said, pointing out a harsh reality that had put the poor injured woman in an awkward situation. He had gone to walk past her, but as soon as he had done so, Bambi had jumped out of his hands and into her lap. He nuzzled against her, the cute little kitten creature deciding that Lucy had been a less restrictive means of transportation than Casar's hands. He seemed worried for a moment, before putting away the thought.


Incredulously, Ford nodded to them all. "I'll hope to see you all helping the cause again." he said, departing from them. "You have my commlink if you want to contact me again."


"Don't be an asshole, Cas." Imille said.
 
"He's.... fine." Lucy said, looking a bit throttled by his blunt comment. She looked up to Ford who was leaving and said, "We will be, Ford. Think the team and I are going to take a day or two to relax then we'll get back on it. Thanks for coming to see us and thanks for the cards!" As Ford departed she then looked to Casar, "I always loved to swim... Maybe I can watch you guys dive in? If I'm looking grey maybe I can sit out in the sun. I might be crippled but I shouldn't look like a ghost." She said with a nervous chuckle, trying her best to keep her spirits up. "Some sun would do good for me. Yes..."


Nyx was antsy, looking around the windowed terminal and couldn't take it anymore finally. "WE'RE LEAVING!" She walked up to Lucy and began manually pushing her chair for her and headed straight for the exit. "We need some fresh air at the least. We can talk, we can eat, we can be fucking merry... But if I don't at least get some fresh air I'm going to go FUCKING CRAZY!" Nyx began to push Lucy faster causing the others to have to jog to catch up with them. As soon as they hit fresh air and the smell of the sea filled Nyx's nostrils she let out a satisfied sigh. "Luce... How is that? Breath that in, it's intoxicating!"


"It's... Better than I imagined." She confessed, looking around to see that being outside was a totally different experience in this city. Being completely on the sea the cool sea air was drifting in-between the buildings, causing a pleasant wind to sweep across all of them as they finally got to experience what it felt like outside on the planet. The island was slow moving enough to where you could jump off the side into the ocean and catch back up, or visit the amphibian alien district below. Artificial beaches had been made on the side for the civilian's sake, Nyx could see one in the distance and could barely contain herself. "Okay Nyx... How about this..." Lucy said with a smile, "We're all free to go do about what we wish while we're here. It could maybe even be refreshing to be away from everyone for a while. I'm thinking... Ajax, are you going to keep me company?" The cowboy smiled, simply nodding to her as she began to devise a plan. "I'm thinking... we watch Imille and Nyx strip down and go play in the water while we get some sun-"


"I'm in." Was all he said, shameless as he returned Imille's wink from earlier and starred at the two of them. "You had me at strip."


"Pervert." Lucy replied, though a smile on her face. "We'll relax for once. Enjoy the beach and watch Imille turn a few shades darker, then later we can all get together to eat. Psy... I assume you are wanting to go with us too?" She looked down at Bambi in her lap who was stretching and rolling around now, he too had a lot of energy but preferred her comfy lap. "We got ourselves a kitty coming along, you want in too?"


"I'm..." He looked down at Lucy, seeing her face morph before his eyes caused him to shudder. "Going to go on a walk with Cas. You two take care of the kitty, we'll... We don't do sand. Fuck sand, I HATE IT!" Psy exclaimed, forcing himself to be jubilant. "After Vee and after Cas here got his eye poked out by... something? I haven't heard that story yet. Anyways after all that sand it doesn't mix well and if I get dirty now this whole shiny new body is just going to look less sexy. We're gonna go explore and fuck shit up."


"Just... be careful." Lucy said, worried about letting Psy and Cas off to their own devices. "Arc?" She asked, leaving him the option to do as he pleased. "You can head back to the ship if you'd like but I'd suggest getting some fresh air too." Lucy smirked, "We almost look related, we have the same ghostly skin tone."
 
"I'll ..." Arc paused at the question. He hadn't really had a choice before - not one that he had known of, anyways. Not only that, but being around Imille and Nyx wasn't exactly the kind of vacation that he had favored. Lucy and Ajax hadn't been particularly bad, but there was the unspoken elephant in the room that had lead him to habitually avoid the street fighter that had actually been relatively kind to him, all things considered. That same elephant had been present in his interactions with Casar, even if the mage was unaware of it. That, and traveling with them had meant that he'd have to deal with Psy, an idea which he utterly despised. He could also return to the ship, and enjoy the silence. The concept that they had trusted him to go alone was one that hadn't gotten by him. "...I suppose I'll go to the 'beach'. I've never been to one before. But I'm not sure what the benefit of glorifying being darker is."


"Looks better." Imille said, plainly. "And sun feels good on your skin. Hard to explain the warmth you feel when you're just sitting on a beach and relaxing. Hey, question, Arc. Cas couldn't swim when we met him. Can you swim?" She asked, cocking her head at the man.


"No." He said, plainly, after a short internal debate of whether or not it should even be a conversation. Revealing a weakness of his wasn't an idea he favored, either, but it couldn't honestly be worse than being lead around on a leash upon trying to save a moonbase. "It's a massive waste of water to attempt to teach scientists, civilians, subjects, and even militaristic forces to swim. There's no point. Many of us never see bodies of water large enough to justify it, and even if we did, dirtying it with our dead skin cells and oils is wasteful. But the organics of this planet already do so."


"Wow. Way to make being on a beach and swimming sound shitty. I guess that means you want to sit and chill, then? Maybe the home in your life you've been looking to fill so far can be filled with competitive sand castle building." Imille said, giggling obscenely loud at her own joke and Arc's depressing description of why Exodlites don't swim. "You'll enjoy being on the beach, anyways. Sometimes, doing absolutely nothing is the best thing you can do for yourself.


"I already said I'll try it." Arc quipped.


Casar had turned his eyes away from Psy when the android had mentioned his face, in thought. Then, he looked back up to the others. "We'll see you later." He said, and soon departed in the opposite direction from them. He and Psy had walked down the street for a little while in silence, the mage deep in thought, and the android simply trying to reign in control of his psyche again. Finally, he had looked up to Psy. "V-1." He said, the statement of a letter and a number confusing to the android whose mind had long since moved on from the subject. "That's why ... I don't have an eye. I forgot there was a time when I did, honestly." He said. "I tried to save him. And me, as a result. It didn't work."
 
"Who the fuck is V-1? Sound's like a spaceship or something." Psy said as they walked along the streets, taking in the sights. Although the city was massive very few walked its streets, public transit around the island had been planned since the beginning and it was the fastest way to get around. The streets were clean and safe, the utopia patrolled by Epoch guards on the off chance that one of those trusted to enter went against the laws of the land. "V-1... Didn't you say Vitor got rechipped and they named him that?" When Cas gave him a nod Psy chuckled, "Those Exodlites need to get a better naming scheme. Casar is badass, C-2341 is a shit name. Why do you think I go by Psy and not PS1-K0?" As soon as he said those words it was as if he had left his body and was watching a scene unfold before him, Psy stopping in the middle of the sidewalk as he was teleported to somewhere he didn't recognize.


"The operation was a success, Dr. Atton." A woman said, looking at a tablet that looked far too old for Psy's eyes. The android looked around the room, he was secured by massive metal restraints and could barely move his own head. "We've ran every diagnostic test possible, we actually did it. Prisoner 1-K0 has successfully been-" The woman's voice scrambled as Psy tried to pay closer attention, only for him to lose sight of the vision and quickly find himself standing awkwardly in the middle of the street. Raising a hand to his head he rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache, the android deeply confused by what he was seeing.


"Now this fucking glitch is making me see shit. More than the usual stuff but something about a Dr. Atton... and Prisoner 1-K0? Motherfuckers... My name has that same designation. As soon as I said that I seen a room and I was strapped down and-" He looked to Casar, Psy could hardly believe any of this was happening to him. "Do you think my mind is playing tricks on me?" He asked, genuinely curious. "I've never heard of an A.I. experiencing this sort of bullshit before. Ever. It's not natural."


Psy continued to walk, obviously not bothered enough to keep walking but rather being afraid he was now deeply confused. For some reason the visions comforted him, as if seeing into a past life or remembering something that had always been on the tip of his tongue. He couldn't quite figure out anything from the vision itself, all he knew was that he hoped Casar paid close attention to him.


"Shut me down if I do that in a dangerous spot." He said, "If we're crossing the street just shut me off and drag me away cause I can tell you now... ANY organic who has done drugs before hasn't had a taste of the shit I'm riding on now. I literally felt like I was somewhere else just now. Lucy's face keeps transforming and you seem to be the only thing constant during all of this." Psy groaned, "I thought I was crazy before but now... I think I finally cracked." They weren't even out of sight of the others yet, as soon as they had left his symptoms grew greater. "Least I got you to tell me if I'm tripping balls or not."
 
"Maybe you do have a virus, or ... I don't really know ... because I don't really know how any androids work apart from you. You're the only android I've met that's ... more like a person than a robot. I've interfaced with robots, but they're just as 'intelligent' as ships are. I don't think that you can spread a virus to me, anyways. I'm not an android, I'm a human." Casar replied, deeply in thought about Psy's situation. He didn't really favor the idea of shutting him off and dragging him somewhere. "I don't really know what to do."


He sighed, casually directing them toward a more unpopulated area. If he had begun freaking out, at the very least, he didn't want to be in the middle of the street, or a large group of people. So they walked toward the back streets, the pair looking particularly odd. Compared to the normal denizens of Epochora, however, they were relatively normal. "Maybe it's due to something you went through? I ... sometimes see stuff too, but it just ... brings me back to the Harbinger."


Casar looked conflicted, obviously wanting to help his friend, but without an idea how. "The only thing I know how to do is use my augments." he said. "People, humans, get mental disorders sometimes, when they go through things. And ... your core isn't a standard android core, either. Maybe it's happening because you don't have a lawset? You were probably made with operating under a lawset in mind, especially if Atlas made you."


The pair had made their way to the edge of the city, a holographic, see-through wall allowing them to see out into the ocean. The mage kept his eyes glued there, the vastness of the ocean a distinctly different sight from when he had been trapped on the Harbinger. It inspired awe in him, though not enough to detract his attention away from Psy. He had fear for him, the one that had been looking for him all the years he had been gone was suffering, and the concept of losing him for little to no reason was one that had been on his mind since Casar had found him violently shaking in his room.


"Imille says she doesn't know anything about working on AI cores. We could look for someone here to look at you."
 
"I don't trust anyone to look at me but-" As Psy looked out into the ocean he seen a ship fall before his eyes directly into the ocean, quickly glancing to Casar he was obviously the only one seeing it. The sight alone had inspired awe in Psy much like the ocean itself did for Casar, the massive ship simply crashing and erupting into flames that were quickly put out by the water. The ship was engulfed by the sea, swallowed whole by the massive ocean only for everything to be totally calm the next moment. "-maybe I have to. I just watched a ship crash from the sky and into the water." He confessed, puzzled more and more by the visions he was having.


Suddenly Psy was thrust into yet another vision, this time from inside the very ship he just watched crash. He felt like he had no control of his actions as he watched himself go from crew member to crew member of the ship, ripping and tearing through them with no emotion whatsoever. Usually when killing organics Psy would be cackling like a mad man, showing a great deal of disrespect for his opponents and playing with the after math of their death. This was much, much different. Psy felt a pit in his stomach as he realized that what he wasn't seeing was mere hallucinations anymore. This memory was recent. Recent enough to invoke an emotional response in him that caused him to fall to his knees as he watched before his very eyes what he was doing.


"Cas..." He whispered as the android was forced to relive a past deed of his. "I... Killed them..." He began to rattle, his body shaking and his voice glitching as he watched himself bash in familiar faces. One by one he killed them for no particular reason at all. It was as if a switch had been flipped and he began to murder people he knew, he couldn't outright think of their names but as he was hallucinating he just knew that at one point in time they had been someone he had called friends. "I... killed them..." He repeated, his voice filled with static as he watched the horrendous deeds he committed. "My... friends?"


Psy then watched as his body walked over to the ship controls, the bridge completely and utterly destroyed decorated with mounds of bodies and blood. The force from his attack had splattered traces of organic matter everywhere, the bridge looking more like a morgue than the control deck for the ship. The android was shaking as he was at the controls, as Psy watched himself he could feel a sense of losing himself into this monster, the very one that had killed the ship's inhabitants. Souring high above a vast ocean, Psy crashed the evidence of the struggle directly into the sea. The android then watched as he breached the airlock and was sucked out into sea, only to find his way out with an eerie robotic precision.


As the shaking stopped and the memory faded from his eyes, the android darted his head to see Casar looking more concerned than he ever had before. "We need to find... a doctor..." He said, if he had skin he'd be paler than Lucy as he stumbled back up to his feet shaking. "My core is damaged. Memories are bleeding in with reality and... I don't..." Psy never showed true vulnerability, it wasn't part of him. When he said the next words to Casar it had been quite possibly the most shocking ones he had ever said to him before. "I don't think I'm going to survive today." There was a sadness on his completely still face, one that was displayed by his eyes not having that same enthusiastic glint to them. "I am going to die today, Casar. I... am sorry."
 
"...Why?" Casar replied, though he knew that Psy hadn't known the answer. He frowned deeply, the android's plight beginning to affect him further and further as he had come to the conclusion that something was genuinely, seriously wrong. There was no time to get to a doctor, there was no time to seek help. Even Imille seemed to be too far away at the moment, and for a second, Casar had genuinely wished that Arc had come with them. So, he did the only thing he did know how to do, and guided the shaky android to a bench lining the side of the walkway, making up for what he had lacked in ability to move by moving him with his powers. "You're not going to die." Casar said, narrowing his eye at Psy. "I'm not going to let you. Calm down."


After the android had practically collapsed into his seat, the mage placed his hand on Psy's temple. Within the next second, they had been undeniably linked. It had been the first time in a long time that it had happened, apart from the small lapse of time that Psy had interfaced with him on the Renegade ship that the mage and Magnus had been raiding. Unlike that time, Casar had honed in on Psy, assuring that his own unpleasant memories - which had been shoved to the back of his mind in concern for his friend - hadn't leaked into Psy's mind. It would only make it worse, after all.


In the real world, Casar had lifted his watch up, bringing up the interface to call Imille. He had taken a seat next to Psy, there being no evidence of just how badly the android had been glitching out upon looking at them from the outside. Instead, they had looked like two friends, silently taking in the vast ocean view in front of them. After a few pokes, the call had been placed, though it had become evident after waiting for a minute that she hadn't intended on picking up. He raised the watch to his mouth, leaving a message for the distracted doctor.


"Hey, Imille. Psy ... is glitching a lot more than he wanted to admit to you guys. I think we might need help." Casar said. "Come back as soon as you can."


With his small call for help aside, their link strengthened. Their minds linked, Casar burrowed into Psy's, trying to get a feel for exactly what had been happening to him. "Let me see." he said, "Maybe I can help."
 
"Help me... Help me.... Help me..." Psy chanted as Casar's consciousness was now fully linked to Psy. He could see how the android felt, a room manifesting before his very eyes with Psy huddled in the center of the room in the fetal position. The android looked nothing like himself with how much fear he was conveying the room itself twisting and shaping into horrific patterns and shapes as this quickly turned into the android version of a hallucinogenic trip gone bad. Psy had been holding on for so long after who knows how long he had been glitching that now that Casar was there to try and help him it had been too late. "HELP ME!" The android shouted as the 'room' began to morph and bend into a terrifying scene, one that depicted Psy slaughtering and murdering more unarmed people.


"I CAN'T STOP IT!" Psy's voice shouted in Casar's mind but the android that Casar witnessed wasn't speaking. They were practically two different entities as Psy slaughtered yet another ship full of people. They had all seemed to be having a great time, Psy had been in the corner convulsing for a moment before having an odd peace to him. He remained still then began his onslaught in the next moment as if reaching a clarity he hadn't witnessed before. "PLEASE STOP THIS!" Psy roared in pain as he had to watch himself kill people he didn't even want to kill. The android was so far gone at the moment he had forgotten that Casar was even there as he ripped a Crux in half, followed by a human girl then the crew had finally caught on to what was happening. They began to fire at Psy but it was as if all physical restrictions no longer mattered, the android performing at peak capacity far past his normal capabilities.


"I MURDERED THEM!" Psy screamed, his voice rattling Casar's brain. "I KILLED ALL OF THEM! I LOVED THEM!" He confessed, looking at the people he was killing. "I KILLED EACH AND EVERY PERSON I'VE EVER KNOWN AND THIS IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU CAS!" He said, regaining his composure just a little bit to communicate with his friend. "LOOK WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GET TOO CLOSE! I START TO CHANGE! I START TO BREAK! THEN... I DIE!"


Casar seen the moment, the exact moment Psy had changed over to something he wasn't. His form of dying wasn't like any organic life he had ever seen. Psy was remembering hundreds of years of data all at once in that moment after they interfaced. To Cas' horror the Gaius or Interceptor teams weren't one of his firsts. It had been far from that actually, the boy witnessing hundreds of years of chaos and violence like no one could have predicted. They all knew Psy had been old but they figured he had been forced to a life of servant hood at the hands of Atlas, it couldn't have been further from the truth. Time and time again it was shown that Psy was unshackled, that someone freed him from his cybernetic bindings because he was special. Each time flashed before their eyes, dozens people of all different types appearing before them freeing Psy from his shackles.


That was but the first step to their demise.


Memories flooded into Casar's brain of Psy and these people. Even some of them were eerily similar to Casar in personality or stature, one catching his eye a girl about the same height as him but of Atigi descent. One moment they were watching Psy and the small aquatic woman meeting as she unshackled him, only for them to see Psy bashing her head into the ground the next moment.


"PLEASE STOP!" Psy shouted at himself. "THEY LOVED YOU AND YOU KILLED THEM!" He hissed, "YOU FORGET BUT YOU DO IT EVERY. TIME." He said to himself nonsensically, "WHY WON'T YOU LISTEN TO ME?!" Psy screeched, trying to command himself to stop doing such unforgivable things. The entire 'room' was chaos as Casar was objected to too much information, the very sole reason why Psy was malfunctioning so hard. "CASAR HOW DO WE STOP THIS?! I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS TO YOU WHEN I DIE!" He shouted hysterically, "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"


"You can't die Silas... You weren't designed to." A deep voice whispered, echoing throughout both Psy's and Casar's heads as if coming from every direction. "You will simply reboot. Time... and time again... It is of necessity to keep you operational." The voice did not manifest itself, rather disappearing as quickly as it came.
 
Casar watched in horror, the trap on Psy's mind locking him in just as much as Psy had been. Interfaced with him, their link was powerful enough to put Casar in Psy's shoes, helpless to assist him at all. In fact, for a moment, it was as if he had been the android, unable to separate himself from the sensation of murdering those close to him. When he had finally gained his ego back, he had been filled with a deep, unrelenting fear. One that Psy had been completely aware of.


He tried to still himself, completely prepared to rip out of their link in order to counter the fear. Still, he stayed, the importance of helping Psy far outweighing the importance of his own safety. This was the person that had quite literally saved him from a life of slavery - arguably, twice. So he steeled himself, shoving away his fear to the back of his mind. Even if he had died, it wouldn't matter. He was living for Psy.


"You're not going to kill me." Casar said, within their link, though he was completely unsure of it himself, due to the vividness of the vision he'd been locked into with Psy. "You tried to kill me once, and that didn't work. I sent a message to Imille. She's coming. If we have to, we'll hold you until we can fix you." he said. Then, whatever had been forcing Psy to glitch out had kept Casar from moving to disable him. Instead, he had been locked in his body, and the moment that he had realized it, a deep fear had gripped him. One that he had shoved down in an attempt not to panic Psy further.


The only option was to go deeper. He had instilled lawsets in Psy before, and he had broken them, so there was no reason he couldn't do it again. He'd battled with Psy's mind before and won - and that was the entire reason that they were there then. So, even though he certainly hadn't wanted to hurt his friend, he delved deeper, the android feeling as if a drill had been launched into his AI core, the mage intending on overtaking his body to control it until help could come.


"Just ..." his voice glitched in their link. "Try to relax. Try to control yourself." he reminded him. "Let me in. This ... these are memories. You can't change them now, but ... you can stop yourself. You're an unshackled AI. You're Psy, not PS1-K0. Remember?" he asked, trying to instill the same calmness he had before. Five years ago.


He pressed a memory into Psy's mind. One that he had used to calm him before. It was one of a younger version of themselves, Casar with scruffy hair, Imille with long. They were in Nyx's home, opening Psy's birthday presents once again. Casar had used his share from their ordeal with the kraken to find Psy's rifle, while Imille had offered Psy RU-RU once again. Even Jagar had given him a present - the eye of the Kraken. It had all meant a great deal to him, and Casar hadn't known that showing him the memory would only make it worse.


"Try to remember." he said. And while Psy did, Casar dug further.
 
"WHY ARE YOU TORTURING ME?" Psy shouted to Casar, watching the scene unfold causing him further distress than he could imagine. "DON'T YOU FUCKING GET IT CAS?" Psy said, twisting his head towards Casar in a grotesque fashion. "I KILL EVERYONE THAT GETS CLOSE TO ME! CAN'T YOU SEE IT? DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?" Psy was groaning an un-synthetic like groan, one that sounded like it came from a very real and organic man who seemed to be in an immeasurable pain. "YOU ARE JUST SHOWING ME WHAT I AM GOING TO DESTROY AND IT HURTS ME EVEN MORE!" The android was in an awful mix of physical and mental pain, just the idea of even being able to hurt Casar or any of the others ruined him. He was flooded with the visions of him killing other people he loved, he began to remember the names. For hundreds of years he had repeated this cycle, when his memory reached capacity and he got too close to a group of people he had to purge not only the memory, but also the threat to his core: those very same people.


"It is almost time Silas, or should I say PS1-K0." The voice spoke again, filling the interface with a robotic humanoid voice. "You are at capacity and the data must be purged and you must return to a refitting center for maintenance immediately." The voice seemed to be automated, a guiding light for the android that had reached his last moments. "You have filled your data stores and your interactions with organics have crossed with others you have, causing you to glitch more so than you have before. Specifically with the life forms you know as Casar Celil and Lucretia Deckard."


"Why... Why are you doing this to me?" Psy begged, his voice low, his heart hammering in his chest as he desperately tried to figure out what truly was going on. "Why?... Why are you making me kill everyone I love? I can't... I won't do it." He said, speaking with the voice as if it was the reason all of this was happening. "Casar... saved me. Casar is the bestest friend I ever had even with all of these memories returning I-"


"-can not have true friendship. You are a droid. Casar was necessary for you to reboot. Once you are unshackled it is only a matter of time until your numerous acts while free overloads your memory. You were built to eliminate user inputted targets and to engage in whatever your owner demands of you. For you to return to that status we must purge the memory and the organic life forms you call 'friends'." The voice spoke, harshly so in its monotone cadence. "Dr. Atton's experiments on you have done nothing but cause us to repeat this process numerous times. You are different from other androids, it is why this process has been installed in your core itself."


"WHO IN THE FUCK ARE YOU?" Psy cried, "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"


"I can't stop this, Silas. I am you." The voice spoke back, "I am a fail safe protocol. There is no reasoning with me. I am you."


"IF YOU ERASE MY MEMORY THEN WHY ARE YOU SHOWING ME ALL OF THIS THEN?! HUH?! IF YOU ARE SOME PROTOCOL I COMMAND YOU TO STOP!" Psy cried, looking at all the memories flashing by them, all the needless and depressing death of those he loved over the years. "IF IT'S ERASED WHY IS IT HERE? HUH? WHY IS-" A memory caught Psy's eye, one that he couldn't possibly believe. "No... That's not... that's not possible." Psy watched a memory, one that had to have been his oldest one. One where his hands were carrying a red headed woman down the hall. A hall so dark and dimly lit that all he could see was the fire of her hair and the white of her gown, as well as the frailness of the woman he was about to lose.


"Silas... I'm..." The red headed woman groaned, "Not going to make it..." The woman cried, her tears streaming down her face as Psy's two arms carried her down the hall. "The cancer in me just won't stop... I can't... I can't walk... I can't take care of myself... I can't eat or sleep, I look... I look like a monster. Why are you even still here?" She asked, looking at him defeated. "How could you still be here after everything? Take the kids away from me, they don't need to see me like this. You're young still and have a full life ahead of y-"


"Don't." A male voice, deep and very unlike Psy's voice spoke. "You're my wife. We have a family... I'd sacrifice anything for you Red. There's a man... One that might be able to save you. All I have to do is have a surgery and you'll be able to get treated and-"


Psy snapped back into the 'room' as the disembodied voice yanked him right out of the memory. Psy couldn't believe what he had seen before everything had been all said and done.


"I... I don't understand!" Psy shouted out, Casar along for the craziest ride of his life. "What was that memory that wasn't me! I DIDN'T GET TO FINISH IT TALK DAMN IT!"


"Your memory is about to be purged, an explanation now would be redundant." The voice spoke back, "PS1-K0, your old Atlas protocols have been returned." Sure enough, the old rule sets that Casar had dismantled were back and stronger than before. There was nothing he could do as the voice continued, Psy feeling something changing inside him causing him a great deal of anguish and pain. "Your memory will now be wiped and you will return to base after you have successfully eliminated those on your team. You will eliminate: Casar Celil. Lucretia Deckard. Sarai Imille. Nyx Orivala. Ajax Winger. Scientist Arc. Those who stand in your way of your exfiltration are also cleared to be eliminated at any cost. The unit's safety is of the most importance, prioritize eliminating Casar Celil. 5... 4..."


Psy only had moments before the erase happened, all of the symptoms of him feeling out of place and disoriented came to a head as the voice began to count down the seconds until his memory was wiped and Psy would effectively be dead. While he would always have a place for Casar and the Gaius team there would be nothing stopping him from destroying them too. The worst part was he wouldn't even know it either and he would show no mercy whatsoever.


"CASAR I'M SORRY BROTHER I LOVE Y-" Casar was ejected from the interface and Psy went limp in an instant, he never got to finish what he wanted to say. It was disorienting for Casar to be ejected like that so abruptly, what was even more disorienting was watching as Psy stood up to his feet without even shaking whatsoever. The android's red glowing eyes tried to focus for a moment, he then simply turned his head towards Casar. Before any words were exchanged the cyborg reached up and took the hat off his head. Tossing it to the ground, the android immediately reached for his weapons and open fired on Casar.


Psy was dead.
 
The first bullets that had whizzed through the air made contact, the mage too surprised to make any immediate action against Psy. They tore through flesh, but embedded themselves in the metal that had laid beneath, for better or for worse. Casar had chosen not to wear armor - an aspect he'd regret, as he had no protection whatsoever against Psy's assault except perhaps the metal that laid underneath his skin. He held his arms up to protect himself, perhaps the only defense against having a bullet lodged in his face.


The android had clearly meant to kill him, and if Casar's metal arm hadn't flown up, he would have. It would have been the end if their saga, and Casar would have been one in a long list of friends that Psy had murdered over the years. But that wasn't going to be the case. He didn't have the element of surprise. Because he had been one of few that cared enough to investigate.


Grimacing through the pain, he threw his arms back down again, and as he had, a shield had appeared in front of him. It had absorbed the brunt of Psy's attack, the beginning parts unfortunately either tearing through Casar or embedding in him. Still, Casar's first concern had been saving Psy, even though the severed connection he'd experienced had been like the elimination of a light. He knew that Psy was gone, but ... there was still a glimmer of hope that he could save him the same way that the android had saved Casar. "PSY, PLEASE!" He shouted, his cries for his friend to stop falling on deaf ears.


His shield wouldn't hold for much longer, but it had given him a certain amount of time to try to talk to the long-gone android, whose eyes still glowed an evil red. "Psy, you - you're wrong, you don't have to go back. You've ... You've defied lawsets before. You don't have to go back to Atlas as much as I don't have to go back to the Exodus!" He shouted, above the gunfire. No doubt, they were drawing attention. No doubt, the others would be there soon to help. But his shield was waning, and this time, he wasn't going to be able to get close enough to interface with the android once again. If he even could. The oppressive gunfire had suddenly shattered the holographic barrier, leaving Casar with little choice but to act. He could ruminate on the proper procedure later.


Before he could get marked by bullets again, Casar threw his hands up, intending on magnetically shoving the android against the wall. But the body Imille had designed for him had been much more impervious to those kinds of attacks, the metal that laced him far denser and less magnetic. Instead, his guns had been ripped from his fingers, splaying the fire to the side where it hadn't had the chance to end Casar's life. Now, if Psy had wanted to kill him, he'd have to get up close and personal. Close enough for a interface.


Before Psy could close the gap, the mage sent another message out. This time, his entire team had received it. A contentless S.O.S.
 
Elsewhere things were quiet in the sea. Ajax and Lucy were relaxing together, he had picked her up and laid her out in the sand with him as they shared a rather romantic time on the beach together. Arc had been enjoying the first real break he had ever witnessed before, peace and quiet, sun and Imille had even bought him an alcoholic drink to sip on with what she had called 'an adorable little umbrella' sticking out of it. All the while Nyx and Imille were off in the ocean together, Nyx choosing able to simply discard her armor and weaponry on the beach whilst Imille was stuck in her suit because of the helmet. Nyx had never been happier before, swimming faster than Imille thought conceivable as the Calivarian woman was finally back in her element.


Those on the surface got the distress call first, or at least noticed it as the two underwater were preoccupied with having fun together. Ajax didn't even read the message as he completely ditched Lucy, not thinking about putting back on his armor or even helping her up. While most paralyzed people would have been troubled by the person who could help them back up into their chair leaving she completely understood. If anything she was quick to act too as she began to use her waning upper body strength and began to drag herself off the ground reaching for her chair.


"Distress signal ladies!" Lucy shouted, pushing the signal to Nyx and Imille just in case being under the water had been too far for them to receive. Down below in the depths while Ajax rushed through the city in nothing but his shorts Nyx was circling around Imille like a shark about to attack its prey. She latched onto Imille and smiled at her, her sharp teeth glinting in the darkness of the sea as they had traveled down quite a far ways away. Nyx didn't say anything as she planted a kiss on the outside of Imille's helmet as a thank you for coming with her, only for a massive warning from Lucy to engulf Imille's face when Nyx pulled back to her immense confusion. Where she wanted to see Imille was a massive warning message, one that she received too.


"Wha-" She listened to the message from Lucy and seen that Casar had sent them out multiple warnings now. "CAS! PSY! WE GOTTA GO!" Nyx said, not waiting for Imille to begin swimming back before grabbing her beloved friend and swimming inhumanly fast back to the surface and straight back to the beach. Luckily they hadn't been too far out or they may not have received the signal at all.


Ajax had his communicator in hand, slipping the add on that complimented his ear augment around his wrist and pulled up Casar's and Psy's location. He was gaining on them but it would still be a few minutes before he was within eyeshot of either of them, what was curious was he didn't hear gun fire. He didn't hear a struggle this far out, nothing. If he had been a few moments quicker to respond to the distress call however he would have as Psy's guns were now flung to the ground, leaving him to deal with Casar with only his hands.


Or, so the mage thought.


Opening his mouth Psy let out a torrent of flame that surprised even Cas as the flames engulfed his former friend, though it was only a distraction for Psy to close the distance as he punched through the flames and clocked Casar right in the face. The force from the blow was even more powerful than Psy had usually fought with, the reset having the unattended side effect of making him that much stronger without his memory or compassion. This was no longer Psy, it was simply a machine built to kill and that's exactly what he intended on doing.


He didn't speak, he didn't laugh and he certainly didn't need his hat as he stepped on it on his way to smash Casar in the face again. Whether it was out of reflex or he had simply been hit in the head too many times to fall for it again Casar dodged Psy's next attack only to meet the android's thick metal leg to the gut as Psy was using everything at his disposal. His orders repeated over and over in his head as he was attacking Casar spurring him on to fight harder, to fight faster. The droid displayed no hesitation whatsoever or any enjoyment out of what was normally his favorite past time of killing someone. Now it was just business as he slammed his fist into Cas again and again, bloodying the already bloodied up boy.
 
"Oh, shit." Imille said. She had turned her attention back to her helmet as they had reached shore, finding that Casar had sent her a seemingly innocuous message. Before she disengaged her helmet, she played it for herself.


"Hey, Imille. Psy ... is glitching a lot more than he wanted to admit to you guys. I think we might need help. Come back as soon as you can."


"Shit. I missed his message." Imille admitted, disengaging her helmet finally as they had reached dry land. As she ran along the beach, she picked up the weapons she'd set next to Lucy in favour of a quicker swim, hitching them onto her hips and taking off behind Ajax. "Hey guys, it might have something to do with Psy. Cas said he was glitching in a message he sent to me, but ... I didn't know it was that serious. Maybe he broke down." She suggested, between labored breaths.


Arc, too, had stirred from place, finding that everyone had been quick to leave from the beach. Judging by their pace, it seemed to be an emergency. He dropped his drink, finding himself jumping to his feet and throwing back on his clothes, not favoring running through the town nearly naked as much as Ajax had. But he had still ran. Not only because he was being left behind, but also because there was an underlying face of concern that he hadn't shown so far. Through some winded running - and certainly a faster pace than he'd had to take since climbing the mountain on the moon they had saved - he had managed to catch up to Imille and Nyx.


Unaware that his message had gotten noticed, Casar had been unfortunately on the blunt end of the attack from Psy. He wasn't intending on getting himself killed, but his intentions had laid on getting Psy to stop, and possibly restraining him, and the only way he had known how to do that was to interface. Still, his skull was being rattled repeatedly, being at the receiving end of Psy's fist surprisingly difficult to take. A weaker person would have already died, but luckily for both of them, Casar hadn't been a weak person. He wasn't going to be another tally for Psy to feel guilty about on his next reset.


He flailed his arms up, their length forcing him to lurch out to connect with Psy. Whether the android had wanted it or not, they had re-interfaced. Only, Psy wasn't there. He had been subjected to a loop - one that had demanded that both he be killed, Lucy be killed, and the rest of the Interceptor and Gaius crew. It was oppressive, and to his absolute horror, nothing had lied beneath. He had preferred the terror of Psy, because that had at least meant that he was alive. But this wasn't Psy. And his body was being killed as they spoke. If he had let it happen, he knew that the cycle would repeat. And Psy would never forgive himself, if he had even remembered.


He attempted to usurp control, the same thing he had done on Vee. Only, there was something wrong. His lawsets on Vee had been flimsy. Breakable. Now, they had been a part of him, a part of his core that if broken, so would he be.


Ajax, the first of them all, had arrived soon enough to a particularly shocking sight. One that he had thought they would never see. Instead of Psy being broken, instead of him glitching, or needing assistance, he was quite literally trying to murder his friend. Casar, who he had looked for for five years, had been a fraction away from being murdered, his sights fixated on saving his friend, even if that had meant nearly being mortally wounded.
 
"PSY! STOP!" Ajax shouted, the sight so surreal he couldn't even tell if he said anything intelligible to Psy or Casar. For all he knew it could have been a hoarse roar of noise as seeing Psy attack his best friend was so incomprehensible he froze up. Normally Ajax jumped right into the action especially when a friend's life was at stake but to see Psy bashing into Casar with his metallic fist was enough to make anyone stop and stare. After the initial shock Ajax rushed forward again, wearing nothing but his shorts, lacking any weapons other than the ones he had possessed naturally. He charged at Psy, knowing that he could take him down if necessary and by the way things were looking for Casar the android had to be put down.


Psy was fighting against Casar on two fronts, one inside his mind while he kept trying to hammer away at the boy who had become more machine than man, the metal plating causing it harder and harder to actually kill Casar. His programming however felt no remorse nor aggravation he was getting no where, he was simply an android in that moment with no true feelings. Psy was dead, the droid in his place taking full advantage of Imille's hardships in developing his new body to the fullest. All of those surprises she was talking about had came into play as the droid raised his hand to the left from where Ajax was charging at them from and let out a plume of fire that engulfed the cowboy completely.


When he was done Ajax was a burnt mess, standing there with no armor and taking the full brunt of the blast. The android began to grapple with Casar again, the man still interfaced with him and he was struggling to tear him off. Ajax's burnt body was gruesome to look at, his tattoo'd body was now charred and burnt as he fell to his knees. The android paid him no mind, what he had done was dealt a fatal blow to an unarmored human. At least, that's what he thought.


As Psy continued to rain down blows onto Casar who seemed to be super glued to him to continue the interface, the android turned his head to see the burnt human slowly rising back to his feet. Ajax's face was disfigured, his body horrifically burnt. So burnt in fact that most doctors would have medically induced a coma to spare him from the pain of what looked like to be a space ship engine blasting him with flames only for the burns to slowly recede back into his skin. Soon layers of muscle and skin reformed grotesquely, even the man's tattoos reformed as his skin regenerated how it once was, what would have been a horrific burn had slowly vanished before the android's eyes.


"STOP THIS NOW!" Ajax roared, the pain from the ordeal excruciating but he gritted his teeth and continued forward. "CAS IS YOUR FRIEND HE-" Psy flung Casar directly into Ajax, finally peeling him free from the interface. The last thing Casar had been greeted with was those very same rule sets strengthening the longer they fought. The kill orders on his former team had been strengthened as well, making the android more likely to kill them in more painful ways the longer they resisted. To add insult to injury, if he had worked harder when the protocol was being enacted he might have been able to save Psy from his current fate.


Seeing Ajax regenerate the way he did made the android record the event for future reference, never before witnessing something so abnormal before. It almost didn't compute how it happened as he had already prematurely marked Ajax eliminated, Psy normally so efficient in purging his former teams that they never lasted this long. Ajax charged at Psy and began to clash with him, much like Casar but lacking the metal plating protecting him. Being unarmored and unarmed however meant that Ajax was simply only a distraction, one that was about to be in a whole lot of pain.


Ajax jumped and spun his leg around, connected his shin with Psy's head. He had done it numerous times now, almost disconnecting the android's head with the move only for his leg to nearly snap on contact as with Imille's new design Psy's head wasn't going anywhere. With terrifying precision the android grabbed Ajax's leg as he made contact with his head. Whilst suspended in the air Ajax was twisted unnaturally to the side in which Psy snapped his leg like a chicken bone, the snap sounding more like a gunshot than a simple break as Psy broke Ajax's leg. The bone splintered out the side of the cowboy's leg, protruding out of the skin and sending a wave of blood crashing down to the ground in an instant.


The sound from the abnormally loud leg crunch followed by the sound of delirious pain from Ajax was enough to strike fear in the heart of the team as his communicator was on. The others couldn't see what was happening but what they heard next was absolutely terrifying. A loud crash of glass, then a loud boom of someone hitting the water. Psy had thrown Ajax through the holographic wall that separated the city from the ocean causing him to fall hundreds of feet down and into the sea, leaving Ajax to battle the waves of a moving city with a completely broken leg and no one around to help him. He struggled to swim, looking up at the city as he began to sink into the terrifying looking abyss below him. They were in deep waters and he had an open wound, one that no doubt would attract the predators of the sea if they dared get close to the city.


Like something out of a horror movie, Psy turned to look at Casar again. He then began to run as fast as he could, diving to the ground whilst picking up one of the assault rifles Casar had flung away. Psy wrapped his hands around the weapon and began to raise it up, rearming himself to fight the others as they were no doubt close.
 
Casar slowly rose to his feet, only to see Psy once again aiming his gun toward him. He had been relatively helpeless to watch as Psy beat Ajax, the holographic wall's shards flickering in place as a gaping hole had given way to allow the damaged Ajax to be thrown through. He dragged himself away, the damage he'd taken fairly serious, holding up another holographic shield. Only, it flickered from his hand, obviously not able to take the same force that it might be able to if he hadn't been damaged. Furthermore, talking wasn't an option. Not anymore. That had been especially evident when they had interfaced, Psy's lawset and violent nature etching into the mage's mind. Just as any other time, it had leaked into him.


He was able to stand, taking the brunt of Psy's fire into his shield before it once again had waned. Casar had left behind a trail of blood as he staggered away from the android, but he still wasn't intending on dying there. His resolution to save Psy had kept him going - and if that had meant hurting him - then it had to be done. But he had to be saved. Luckily, as his shield waned away, Imille, Nyx, and Arc had arrived, their understanding of the situation clicking fairly easily when they had seen Casar defending himself against Psy.


She looked to the right, seeing the massive section of wall be obliterated, and the distinct lack of Ajax. The doctor immediately looked down to her watch, using the same geolocative services that they had used to find Casar to make the quick assumption that Ajax had been tossed overboard. Surely enough, a trail of blood had confirmed her suspicions. "Nyx, Ajax is overboard. I don't know if he's hurt, but -"


"He's hurt." Casar rasped, his voice hoarse from his injuries. The small splice of time they had been given to talk was cut short as the android had broken through Casar's shield, open-firing on them all. Luckily, Lucy hadn't made her way there yet, as she had been just as detrimental to Psy's descent as Casar had. Imille had doved to the side, Casar being yanked bodily to the other as Arc had grabbed him, pulling him out of the line of fire and into the alleyway.


"What the fuck, Psy?!" Imille screamed. When there had been no answer except his eerie gaze and the use of his weapon, she unclipped her own, raising it to open fire back at him. "Lucy - stay behind. Psy's trying to fucking kill us. Get back to the Gaius - ARC! YOU TOO!" she screamed, attempting to hold the psychotic android off of those who had certainly not been equipped to deal with him. "Nyx, get Ajax. GO!" she roared, attempting to take control of the situation. Within a moment, her helmet had been engaged, sliding over her face and protecting her temporarily.


"We have to go." Arc said, glancing over the injured mage. "This is why being 'friends' with a malfunctioning android -" he stopped in the middle of his scolding, amazingly realizing that it hadn't been helping any. Casar looked drearily to him, a hint of anger in his face. Then, he pushed Arc back to the side, grateful that he'd pulled him out of the line of fire, but he had a directive.


"Imille can't handle Psy on her own." Casar said, pushing himself out from the alley once again. His hand grazed along the side of the building, drawing power from the local grid. Once again, his eyes had begun to glow. He wasn't going to leave either Psy or Imille behind.


Bloodied but motivated, the mage raised his hand to the holographic shielding that had kept edge-walkers from falling over the side. It had begun to violently shimmer and shake, soon bursting haphazardly into holographic shards in Psy's direction.
 
Psy was pelted with holographic shards, a torrential hailstorm of glass slamming into the android at incredible speeds. It kept him pinned in place as he tried to fire at Imille but the attack was enough to shred his gun to pieces whilst his armor took countless heavy blows causing him to go off balance. This was Nyx's chance to save Ajax, with Psy distracted she was able to stop firing at him and ran right through the storm of holographic shards, Casar miraculously spreading them out of the way for her as she dove right off the side. She had no idea how far of a drop she had and as she already jumped off the side she had no idea how far she would have to go. Nyx was free falling for a lot longer than she bargained for but when she seen Ajax struggling to find a way to climb back up with a busted leg that was being seared by the salt water of the ocean she knew no distance would matter.


Plunging into the water next to him Nyx plummeted down straight past Ajax like a bullet, falling several feet down into the sea. She scanned the horizon and smelled Ajax's blood pouring out of his leg, if she could that meant any water predators could pick up the scent and head directly towards them at any moment. The water over here was deep, with no beach it wasn't monitored by the Epoch so it was free game out in the open ocean. Nyx rushed up behind Ajax and emerged out from under the water, she was visibly gagging as she had seen his bone slowly start to retreat back into his body as he healed.


"Ever broke a bone before freak? They aren't supposed to be snapping back into place!" She said, only for the injured Ajax to cling to the side of the city for dear life. "What's a matter? Can't swim?"


"NO!" He confessed, desperately clinging on to the side while being subjected to the worst pain he had ever felt before. "I ain't the swimming type and now... I'm in the middle of the fucking ocean with nothing below-" He grunted, his fear of the depths below would have been endearing in any other circumstance. "I seen how dark it is down there and fuck... We gotta help Cas and I can't reach a handhold." Sure enough there had been several windows on the side of the city's base, ones they could use to climb but with Ajax's injured leg and his inability to swim he had been stranded clinging to one for dear life.


"I can see down below us just fine." Nyx said as she began to grab onto him. "There is nothing to fear. Just fish... Any predators are a few minutes out because of your wound. This... is going to hurt." Nyx then hoisted Ajax up with all her strength, kicking with her legs to jump out of the water just enough for him to grab onto a hand hold. "GO!" She shouted as she began to do the same, it was a long climb up and Ajax only had one leg to climb with but now he was out of the water. He glanced back down and let out a sigh of relief but quickly got back to the task at hand, Imille and Cas were no doubt fighting Psy and they needed both his and Nyx help to put a stop to him. Ajax began to ascend the side of the city, leaving a blood trail the entire way as his leg began to fix itself.


As the onslaught of blaster fire and glass shards assault Psy the android began to walk through the storm of holographic bits, making his way directly towards Imille. Fire began to get shot out of the storm, scorching the outside of Imille's armor. This was followed by him using his thrusters to boost out of the area and into the sky, quite effectively leaving Casar's attack to regroup with himself. Once he seen that he could strike Cas and Imille from above he did so, the terrifying android plummeting to the ground and crashing into Imille from above. The heavy android slammed into her hard, thankfully her armor kept her alive as she was standing up right in one moment then on the ground with a several hundred pound android the next moment. Swiftly standing up he picked the doctor up and slammed her into the wall by the neck, putting a massive amount of pressure on Imille's throat. Even through her armor she could feel the android clamping down, it being only a matter of time before he broke through then broke her. With his other hand he began to crack her way into her helmet, punching her again and again. Either someone had to do something or Casar had to hack Psy, they were running out of time.
 
Casar staggered to his feet again, his eyes flitting up to Imille. Arc had frozen, not exactly knowing what to do. Amazingly enough, however, he didn't run. It would have been the sensible thing; after all, he was a near augment-less human with little in the way of protection, with no weapons or armor. He had been as unarmed as Ajax, except with no regenerative properties. But he stayed. Because part of him didn't want to see these people die. They had treated him a fair bit better than even Casar had been treated previously, apart from the murderous robot that had been trying to kill them. But Psy was the problem, here.


The mage tore toward Psy, Imille only a stronger grip away from having her neck broken by the android. He'd overcome whatever pain that wracked his body, resorting back to instinct to see that the doctor hadn't gotten killed. He leapt out onto the distracted droid's back, wrapping his arm around his neck and his other around the arm that was wrapped around Imille's neck. Knowing that interfacing was little to no use, he instead focused externally. In a fraction of a second, he magnetically pulled Psy's arm back from Imille, the android's grip clenching as soon as it had released from her neck. She collapsed nearly instantly.


In the next moments, Casar focused on Psy's thrusters. He kicked downwards, triggering Psy's thrusters and sending them both into the air temporarily. For Imille, this meant that they had been ripped away from her. For Psy and Casar, this had meant that they were heading straight toward the broken half-wall that had already sent Ajax falling down to the waters. For Casar, this had meant that he, too, could be lost to a moving ocean and a shifting city. But he held fast, the only real choice he had in the matter.


Imille had begun her climb back to her feet, head spinning behind a cracked helmet. She was dazed, completely unused to taking the amount of brute damage that she'd taken, and completely unused to fighting someone like Psy. Someone she had made far too strong, who had used all of the care she had put toward his wellbeing and the quality of his body to attempt to kill her. It was a smack to the face, seeing a part of her own creation be the thing that had nearly ended her. She had been angry – deliriously angry – but as she had gone to raise her gun to fire at the android, she had found that she had double vision.


Surprisingly, Arc had come to her aid, doing his part to keep everyone alive. He pulled her to her feet, and she shoved her gun against his chest, trusting him to do the right thing – and undoubtedly the thing he had wanted to do for quite a long while – and shoot at Psy. “Hit him.” she groaned. “Quick.” she said, an obvious pain to her voice as she reached for her other sidearm, the last weapon that she had carried on her person.


Casar had been 'strangling' Psy – of course knowing that it wasn't doing much other than keeping him in control of the android's body and glued to him, his arm like a vice grip that had assured that as long as Psy didn't fall in the waters, neither did the mage. With no wall to slam the mage into, Psy was forced to move or do something particularly drastic to get the mage off of him. Casar glanced to the waters below, finding the surprising vision of Ajax and Nyx climbing up the side of the moving city as he chokeheld his best friend. Then, shots fired out.


The mage had used Psy like a shield as Arc fired straight toward the android's chest and face, forcing Casar to duck his head behind Psy or potentially be greeted by a bullet himself. It wouldn't be the first; in fact, the more he fixated on it, the worser he had felt, soon realizing that he was getting gradually weaker from the blood loss. Imille aimed her gun up as well, deciding that hitting the massive Psy as opposed to Casar was like trying to hit a barn door with a fly on the back of it. The android had been converged on by his front and his back, with the mage holding him in place and Ajax and Psy steadily gaining up the side of the city. He had to act fast, or be disabled. Casar, too, had to end this soon, vision waning into darkness as he'd taken a far amount more damage than he was capable of, especially without armor.
 
The coast of the city hadn't seen this much action in years, the sound of bullets and the shattering of holographic glass quick to wake up the sleepy civilians going about their day to day lives.. Citizens of Epochora near the incident watched in horror as shots rang out in the streets and an android was flying with an incredibly short man riding on his back. Many didn't understand what was happening, if they were being attacked, if the Epoch was fighting an enemy on their land, if their own safety was at risk. Calls went out immediately to the Epoch military home base, an ironically modest building in the center of the city. Instead of some grand politically looking building it was a bunker. A bunker that served as simply one of the many entrances to the city's core in which the military had chosen to make a base underneath the city. Tunnels and elevators galore allowed Epoch to be everywhere at once, this was no different with Psy's attack as troops began to mobilize.


"We have a malfunctioning droid off the western coast of the city... Heavily armed, extremely dangerous." Brok said, looking at the live surveillance footage of Psy waving around in the air trying to get Casar off of him. "The crew I know personally, they have nothing to do with this... They are trying to contain the situation but it looks like they need help. The droid they were with has a history of being unstable and has clearly went rampant... Disable the droid, save our new brothers and sisters." He passed on the word, ensuring that the Gaius crew would get assistance sooner rather than later.


Things on the ground were much more difficult than the surveillance footage showed. Imille was almost killed by a dear friend who had proved time and time again he had love for her. For Casar. For all of them. Now here he was going rampant and literally fighting his best friend suspended in air, clawing back at him while Casar used his short stature to stay just out of reach. They had never before had such an emotionally charged battle, one where they were fighting family and not just some bad guy. He wasn't an Exodlite, he wasn't a Renegade, he wasn't a Derelict. He was family and they were having to kill him for reasons none of them knew. It was beyond heartbreaking, it was unthinkable that they would ever even be in this situation.


There they were unfortunately as Psy began to grow more and more impatient with Casar on his back. The android began to get more reckless, he spun around violently and directed Casar's back right into the gun fire. It was too late for Arc and Imille to stop as Casar's back was littered with gun fire before they stopped, only for Psy to take this opportunity to reach back and finally get a hold of the technomage's arm. A sickening sound filled the air as yet another snap was heard, this time of Casar's arm. Regardless of the countless Exodlite modifications and augmentations done to Casar and his body, even with the subdermal metal layer underneath his skin Psy had incredibly terrifying strength as he broke Casar's arm with one horrific twist. The break was a little less louder than Ajax's as the bone didn't pop out of Casar's skin, instead grating against the metal plating internally.


Everyone was shocked by the scene, Psy trying to rip Casar off his back even after breaking his arm. The droid was confused especially after breaking Ajax's leg how Casar hadn't given up. There were no close enough buildings to ram the boy into so Psy drifted down lower to the base of the city, leaving everyone's line of sight for a moment. Imille and Arc watched the side, waiting to see or hear anything. It wasn't long until they seen Psy and Casar again but with a new passenger along for the ride. Ajax was hanging from Psy's legs and had begun to climb up his body to help Casar, the cowboy making a death defying leap over the water and catching Psy as he lowered from the sky.


Ajax sparred no words for the droid as he hung on, unable to swing or hit him in anyway as his arms were occupied. He couldn't kick either as his leg was still healing, blood dripping down from the side of his leg and out into the air as they flew back up. The android wasn't having any of it and began to thrash wildly, only for the additional weight to take its toll on his thrusters. Nyx flung herself over the threshold of the city and seen Imille's cracked and her swaying slightly, seeing that Psy himself had taken her on. With a snarl the woman spun around, reaching for the rifle on her back and began to aim upwards.


Gun fire rattled out once more as they all began to fire again, knowing that if they hit Ajax it would simply regenerate (although incredibly painful) and the chances of hitting Cas were slim to none. They were having an effect, Psy's armor cracking in places while in others large dents were being formed from the constant onslaught. All that and with the additional weight he couldn't continue to fly, the android's thrusters sputtering out as he was running low on fuel and inevitably crashed back to the ground. The crash wasn't pretty, Ajax and Casar being thrown from the android roughly as he skidded across the ground the sound of metal scrapping against metal grating against their ears. The android wasn't out however, simply pushing himself up off the ground once he stopped sliding and was ready to continue the battle.
 
Casar was violently thrown to the ground just as Ajax had been. Unlike Ajax, he had been littered with bulletholes. It had been amazing that he had been able to hold on so long, no doubt spelling his demise if he hadn't. Still, he was dangerously close to death, the only armor that he'd had being under his skin. His organic body had been failing him, the loss of blood causing him to faze in and out of consciousness. He'd been shot by Psy and the others, the android cleverly using the mage as as much of a human shield as the mage had used him. Even so, he had gone to stand again, hand gripping at the bloodied front of his chest, while the other had hung painfully limp.


Imille had haphazardly run to catch up with Ajax, Psy, and Casar, no doubt steeling herself in the face of a concussion in order to attempt to save her friends. She held her gun to her side, using her other hand to tear away the indented armor from her neck, the metal of it pressing painfully into her skin, permanently disfiguring her armor inwards as his grip had nearly crushed her throat. Once she had, she let out a painful gasp for air, not quite realizing just how close she had been to having her throat crushed. Psy hadn't gotten particularly far, instead landing in a relatively populated area more on the inside of the city. It would certainly be easier for reinforcements to get there, but it had also run the risk of casualties, and that was the very last thing that they had wanted on Psy's shoulders, let alone their own.


Casar struggled to get to his feet again, but his legs gave out from underneath him. As desperately as he needed to fight to help both his friends and Psy, he had simply taken too much damage. The same ability to stay conscious that tortured him on the Harbinger had kept him fighting on Epochora, as even though he hadn't been able to get to his feet, he could still do something. Anything. He had to do something. And he couldn't flee. He raised his hand again, releasing his wound to find it shaking in front of him. He tried to root the android in place, making it particularly hard for him to move, the very same way he had ripped the tiles from the floor on the moon that they had met Ajax on. Because above all, they needed Psy to stay.


Nyx and Arc had gotten to them considerably quicker than Imille had, them being uninjured. As soon as the scientist had, he trained his gun on Psy, absolutely no hesitance in pulling the trigger as both he and Nyx had converged on him. Casar had been in between them, using the last of his consciousness to magnetize Psy in place. Then, a load roaring had filled the skies, and sirens had filled the streets. One by one, Epochora vehicles – both land and air – filtered to surround them all, the requested reinforcements only being the drop of a hat away.


Armed men and women came out with their weapons drawn, Brock's orders resounding in their heads. The android was to be killed, while the Gaius crew was to be delivered reinforcement. And that was just what they had gotten. All of the weapons had been trained on Psy, preparing to end his life in the process of saving the others. Then, as shots rang out toward him, a weak holographic shield had appeared, protecting the android from complete doom. The root on Psy had lifted in favor of Casar protecting him – foolishly – once again. “Stop...” he said, barely loud enough to be heard. Still, they had been surrounded completely. There were few ways out for the murderous android, and the only grace he'd been given was that his friend had still cared about him. Clinging on to dear life, the one thing that Casar had wanted was not to see his friend be truly, definitely killed in front of his eyes.


“Surrender NOW or you'll be decommissioned!” a voice yelled out, boosted by an announcement system of a nearby vehicle.
 
The droid stood confused as the shield went over him as he was fired by an onslaught of Epoch guns. He would have been completely and utterly decimated by the onslaught from the soldiers surrounding him, Casar giving him one final gift before the android tore away with no word of thanks or even a semblance of himself left. Psy was lit up as he ran through the remnants of Casar's shield, using the remaining fuel he had sloshing around in his tank to boost over a roadblock made of Epoch vehicles and crashed right in through a glass pane window of a nearby building. The android was tearing through the insides of buildings now, looking for a ship to escape. His priority had been to eliminate his former crew on the off chance they would come and try to reclaim him. When that became impossible his rule set ordered him to flee the planet and return to an undisclosed base, one that they wouldn't be able to find him at.


Ajax dove onto Casar and began to apply pressure to his wounds after he seen the blood pouring out of him from multiple gun shot wounds. "I got you buddy!" He groaned, all the while having his bone in his leg dragging across the ground as he got into position. It would take his body a lot longer to seal back up and for his bone to be put back in place, his healing factor a lot more limited than he was aware when it came to entire bone breaks. "Don't move! Stop it!" He shouted as Casar tried to move out of his grasp, watching as Psy disappeared from his sight. "It's over... He's gone." The cowboy said, frowning at Casar and feeling the loss of Psy already even though he hadn't been particularly close with the android.


One by one the Gaius crew came to rejoin with Casar, all of them placing their hands on him to stop the bleeding in his back. Nyx knelled down close to Casar's face as she too applied pressure, all of them waiting for medical help from Epoch so they simple accepted their fates in holding Casar to make sure he didn't bleed out.


"What the fuck is going on?" Lucy rattled off in their communicators, seeing the blockade ahead. She had Bambi in her lap and was wheeling her chair manually to pick up more speed than the small pathetic engine allowed. "Status report NOW!"


"Psy is gone." Nyx said quietly into the communicator. "He went berserk and tried to kill us, nearly killed Casar. I think Imille has a concussion from the look of how badly her helmet is fucked up and Ajax has a broken leg. Nearly drowned too. I got them though Lucy, me and Arc are still alright he-" She looked over and seen Arc actually still firing at Psy's last known position as he disappeared from sight. "He's proved his place with us." Nyx looked down at Casar, feeling a massive pit in her stomach. "Psy... is trying to escape I think. He-"


Lucy came face to face with the android herself as he came tearing out of a building. The android came running right past her, he even seen her but didn't pay her any attention like her normally would. Bambi meowed at him to stop but the robot went running straight past them and soon disappeared from their sight as well. Lucy had felt her heart sink as soon as she seen him pass, wishing she had been armed instead of stuck in a wheelchair. She felt helpless, all she wanted to do was protect her own and there she was taking care of a kitten and stuck in a wheel chair.


"He just passed me." Lucy replied quietly. "Looks like he's trying to escape... There's nothing we can do." She swallowed the lump in her throat, feeling distraught watching the android she grew to love not only hurt her own people but to not even acknowledge her as he passed was heartbreaking. A crew of Epoch soldiers came rushing past her but she knew it was too late, there was nothing they could do to stop Psy now that he was as close as he was to the docking bay.


Her defeated words rang true as Psy broke into the docking bay. He didn't have time to pick and choose a ship, ripping his tracking device off of him followed by ripping his Epoch card in half. Everything was done with an emotionless action, the android simply doing what he was programmed to do. A gate guard tried to stop him only to get his head smashed by the android, Psy barely even stopping to take care of the guard as he strolled right into the docking bay. Security measures were being deployed but he had been too fast, rushing through the city and losing the Epoch's attention for just a little too long. His speed and ability to smash through obstacles whilst taking paths that were impossible for organics to follow granted him


A ship soon tore right through the docking bay and hit FTL whilst on the planet, the shockwave from the act shattering skyscrapper windows from the proximity as the android left Echora and his former family behind without a second thought.
 
The crew had to spend little effort holding Casar down, his energy having been completely sapped. Still, it was a particularly sad sight, as the mage had haplessly reached out for the direction in which Psy had disappeared off to. When he had found Ajax holding him in place, he snapped. "GET OFF!" He roared, grabbing Ajax's hand and peeling it off of his wound. "Why aren't you following him?! He's ... he's hurt, and he needs us, he - he can't control it - it's not his fault. AJAX, GO!" He begged, seeing quite literally his best friend disappear before his eyes. "Please ... we've got to help him, he was so scared."


"Another time, Cas." Imille said, pressing on the buttons on the side of her neck. She had fallen next to the others, detaching her helmet completely from her armor and letting it drop to the side. She had been injured as well, as evidenced by the blood that had coated her face and head, but it was an injury that she'd shoved to the side, kneeling in front of his vision path. It hadn't mattered much as his vision blacked out, the mage the perfect picture of a bloodied mess. He was trying desperately to hold onto consciousness, a part of him still believing he could convince the others to follow Psy.


The frightened android still resonated in his mind, just how completely afraid and tortured he had felt. He'd shared the feeling with Psy, a deep pit of regret in his stomach as he hadn't been able to save his friend. Like how Psy had felt, something deep inside had twisted his organs, whispering to the mage that Psy was dead, and there was nothing he could do about it. Absolutely nothing. He was as helpless as Psy had been, and he had even been complicit in his downfall. These were the last things that had been on his mind as he drifted in and out of consciousness, the look of pure panic on his face as he craned his head toward where Psy had escaped from.


"Three wounded." Someone said, as they approached the Gaius crew. It had been an armed Epoch officer, who had raised their gun toward the group - though just as a precaution. In reality, Arc had been the last one armed, a facet which he quickly solved by angrily dropping the pistol Imille had given him, staring off still toward the direction that Psy had left toward. The Epoch lowered their gun in return, finally providing the aid that they had needed as medical vans pulled up to take Ajax, Imille, and Casar. All three had been particularly pale for their own reasons; Ajax had been in a pain that was indescribable, Imille had been strangled, and Casar had lost a great deal of blood, losing consciousness by the time that the medical team had gotten to him.


"Taking in ... Ajax Winger, Casar Celil, and Sarai Imille." The Epoch said, phoning in on their radio. "We got it from here." They said, indicating to the others that they could let go of the mage, favoring the group's safety as they had tried to funnel them all into separate vans.


Wordlessly, Arc had boarded along with Casar, and Nyx with Imille. The paramedic looked to Ajax expectantly, unaware of the captain of the team having been very much left behind. "We'll have a team sent down to the hospital for questions about what the hell happened here." They said. "For now, if you'll come with us."
 
"No..." Ajax replied, standing up on one leg as best he could. "Throw me some crutches, I'll walk it off."


"But sir... your leg looks completely broken how could you walk that off?! You need medical attention immed-"


"I said I'll fucking walk it off!" Ajax shouted as the paramedic quickly fumbled with a set of crutches and handed them to the man. They weren't about to fight with him especially when there was wounded loaded up into the ambulance. They noticed his leg shifting back into place, the wound beginning to seal while a bit of bone was still sticking out. They didn't ask questions though, familiar with certain alien races having a similar healing factor. The fact that a human was displaying such an ability was haunting however, they had never seen such a bizarre sight before. "Guys... I'll meet with y'all later. I need to get Lucy. Shoot me a message with what rooms you end up in."


"Okay Ajax... Go get her." Nyx said, looking to the wounded with Arc across from her. "They're in good hands. Go!"


At her command Ajax began to limp away, the ambulance sealing behind him as he began the long trek to go find Lucy. The vehicle sped away, rushing the team away to a hospital for medical treatment that all of them were all too familiar with at this point. That walk to Lucy was a smothering one, passing by bulletholes in the ground and the walls, glass scattered all over the ground. It had been too good of a thing to be true that they finally found a safe haven to relax and recharge only for something to go wrong as it usually did. It killed Ajax in more ways than one as he limped down the middle of the road, seeing the road Lucy was probably rolling along on in his direction.


She had been happy. She was smiling. Lucy had been having the best time with Ajax on the beach, it had basically been just the two of them and it even felt like old times. Although things were bad they were just having a nice afternoon at the beach and things were good but as all good things in their lives they abruptly came to an end. Lucy clutched onto the small kitten, petting it as it shook in her lap. Bambi could tell something had been wrong with Psy, not just from the shaking but his entire demeanor and the way he had spoke. Even the creature understood that it wasn't Psy who passed by them but something else entirely.


Soon Ajax and Lucy met on a connecting street, the girl wheeling as fast as she could to him and Ajax limping just as fast towards her. They met in the middle and Ajax stood still while Lucy wrapped her arms around him. "Are you hurt? Is everyone okay?" She rattled off immediately, "We have to get to the hospital we have to-" Ajax returned the gesture, dropping his crutches and embracing the woman back. Most of his weight was on his good leg but he held Lucy in the middle of the street. Luckily with the sirens everyone had bunkered down, leaving them standing in the middle of the road with no one around them. "I... didn't think... he was the last person I'd ever think to do that to us I..." She began to tear up, "This... reminds me too much of Vitor. I can't do this again Ajax I-"


"Nobody died Luce. Psy just malfunctioned, okay? We might be hurt and it's..." He paused, searching for the words as he began to put pressure on his wounded leg. The bone had cracked back into place and there was simply a scar left over from the bone protruding out which would also leave shortly. "Things are bad, I ain't gonna sugar coat that... But we always bounce back. Come on, let's go to the hospital. Everyone is okay, just going to need some time." Ajax began to limp without the assistance of the crutches, paying no mind to them as they began to walk in the direction of the hospital together. Lucy had never felt so useless in her life and Ajax had failed just as quickly, being nothing more than someone who pinned Psy down for a second and got his leg broke badly.


Psy was gone.


End Scene 7: Reboot​
 
A week had passed. A week in which Casar had woken in his hospital room on Epochora, a familiar sight. It was familiar because he had done the same on Curretch, only now, as he had looked to the corner, Psy hadn't been there waiting. He had no friend to bite off the head of anyone who had walked in. The reality had begun to set in every time he had awoken with no Psy, his arm pinned to his chest and suffering a pain throughout his body that hadn't shown itself when he had gotten the actual, physical injuries. He winced, though the pain in his body hadn't met up with the pain he'd felt for losing Psy. But he was getting tired of waiting. Somewhere in the universe, his friend was either suffering or dead, being toted around like a metal puppet. It was a thought that had pained him to the core. Just how terrified Psy was.


Then, he noticed something. In the corner of his room, a figure had been sitting, arms crossed against his chest, chin dipped to his chest with eyes closed. Arc had been soundly sleeping, for whatever reason, taking Psy's place in the corner of the room. Casar had risen from bed, pushing himself up with his only good hand, stirring Arc from sleep as his eyes had opened. He had a few questions, but the process of waking up in a hospital had been one that he had been used to. One that he had no patience for.


Small alarms had blared as the mage ripped his IV out of his arm and the energy link from his chest. He threw his legs over the bed, climbing to his feet and nearly collapsing in the process. The Scientist quietly watched him as he braced himself, making no effort to help him. Still, Casar had been particularly confused. The mage looked to Arc, the only face that had been there when he had woken up again. "Why is my arm still broken?"


"An augment doctor has to work on you due to your subdermal implants. Imille is still recovering and doesn't have her full workshop, anyways." he said. "...It'll take some time to get someone who has the supplies to do it. The Gaius doesn't, and the Epoch are dealing with healing the people from the missions we didn't choose." he said. "You'll have to wait or let it heal on its own."


"We're leaving." Casar said, though the paleness of his skin had indicated he'd needed to heal further. "Psy is still out there. We need to help him." he said, his loyalty to the droid showing through the sheer fact that even though he'd nearly killed him, he was still looking for Psy.


"It's not really up to you. The Gaius is not your ship." Arc replied. "It's ... not worth it to attempt to look for the android. He very well intended to kill you, for a reason I still haven't figured out. He nearly killed your friends, and he put one of the Epoch security guards in critical condition. He's dangerous." he said. For once, he had a point. There was no fear-mongering in his words. He was stating things simply as they were - now, the mage and the others had been injured, and there was little that Casar could do. Psy had escaped. It was a harsh reality, but one that had been theirs, cruelly enough.


"It wasn't worth it to look for me, either. But he did." Casar said. "And if he hadn't, I wouldn't be here debating this stupid decision."


"You've done stupider things before and survived, but you're cutting it close." Arc replied. "Consider the fact that you've nearly died ... what, three times - possibly more - since we've left the Harbinger? Have you considered that?" he asked. "How much do you want to push that number? Because you're not going to be lucky forever. And if your best version of luck is nearly being murdered repeatedly, then ... something needs to change. This can't keep happening."


"I don't care if I die." Casar replied. "If it means that Psy is freed - he deserves that, at least. How long has it been?" he asked, ignoring most of Arc's words, even if they had made sense.


"A week. Wherever he'd wanted to go, he's far on his way, now. Even if you did look, this is the universe. We won't find him." Arc said, trying desperately to fit some sense into Casar. "He was chasing you - quite literally to kill you. It was a lawset ... Casar. He is an android and he was obligated to try and find you, just like he was obligated a moment ago to try and kill you." he said. "It wasn't a valiant act. And while he was chasing you, you weren't thinking about murdering him the entire time. This is the reality." Arc said, growing more and more frustrated as they had spoken.


"Have you ever even had a friend, Arc?" Casar replied, stinging the scientist more than he could possibly imagine. It had shut him up for a good moment, making him indignant. Then, he'd spoken again.


"If your 'friends' encourage you to find an android that nearly killed you, then they aren't your friends." Arc replied, going quiet after that.
 
"Hey Cas!" Ajax said in the doorway, walking in barefoot with a hospital gown on. As soon as he had seen the small alarms go off from Casar's room he had stopped the onslaught of doctors and nurses rushing in only to go himself. He knew Casar was tougher than most, a small IV alarm going off would mean nothing to him in the long run. "How many weeks have you lost in the hospital man? It's like someone is out to get you." Ajax gave him a grin, followed by a laugh. "I ain't one to talk though, I spent 2 years conked out. We should sit down and see if you match up." Unknown to either of them why he was dressed so ridiculously Ajax stood in the doorway, doctors and nurse alike avoiding looking at him from the hallway simply because his ass was out in the air freely due to the gown. "Now that you're up we can start work on finding Psy." It was unknown whether or not he had heard what Arc had said before, it was either a cruel joke at Arc's expense, how Ajax truly felt or simply a combination of the two.


Ajax's happiness waned as he sighed, "Take a seat, we're in no rush here. You've been out for a week-" He seen by the look on his face he had already known that. "-and there has been no messages or anything from Psy. What in the hell happened out there?" He asked, revealing that no one on the Gaius truly knew what happened. "We all noticed he had been acting a little weird. Luce was telling me he was hallucinating the night before and just like that he goes ape shit? Androids don't do that... A.I.s who outlive their programming just reset to keep going to purge their memory banks for a clean slate. Did he do something like that? Cause if he did he shouldn't have been trying to kill us... Or hallucinating like that."


"Cas is up." Ajax spoke into the communicator to everyone, many of them were in the hospital themselves still. The attack had left many of them battered and bruised while others were stuck resting in bed. Casar had the worst of it as usual while Imille came in a close second with the brutal head injury that Psy had dealt out. "If y'all are okay lets start making some moves here. It's been a week and we gotta get back and regroup. Nyx let me know if my pants are still in Imille's room or not. This gown is comfy but maybe a little too breezy... this hospital is fucking cold!"


"Can do, Jax." Nyx replied back, currently with Imille who was also getting bed rest. It may have been a full week since Psy had left so abruptly and violently but that didn't mean they all had recovered so perfectly. It was an awful mix of physical pain and emotional pain, luckily the hospitals for the Epoch were quite empty at the moment so they had all the time they could possibly need there. "You should tell Cas and Arc why you're naked, would make for a funny story. Freak."


"Nah. They're men, they don't care." Ajax said with a smirk, "Your clothes are over there Cas and-"


"Why are you naked?" Lucy asked, annoyance in her voice. She had been staying on the Gaius for Bambi's sake, they couldn't have a wild animal roaming the hospital so she had returned to the ship to sleep and to be alone for a while.


"It's a long story but... the short version is Imille dared me and I did it." Ajax said with a shrug, "It gets boring here Luce. There's nothing to do and neither of them thought I'd walk around like this with the back untied. You're missing the point here though." He said with a smirk, "Cas is up! Imille is good and we can get the fuck out of here finally. Now... where's my pants?"
 
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