Rebooted Valor: Chapters one and two

Chapter 1 - Factory Reset

<Bodily restoration complete.>

<All systems online.>

<Begin memory installation...>

<Enable visual processors...>

Deep, dark black.

The color that enveloped my visor's vision as I tried to look around, every direction I tried to look was nothing but an empty void, like I was free-floating in the vacuum of space. It is then that I hear a feminine voice echoing through my mind, a voice that sounds strangely familiar, as if I have heard it from somewhere.

"Come on Jeb-.. Come back to me-! Please-!"

I find myself awake in the confinements of a small, cylindrical chamber with glass walls. My body appears to be floating in some sort of liquid, and there's a thick cord running from the ceiling above me to the back of my head. Focusing on my own reflection, I note my own body's characteristics- my tail and my snout, namely, a large portion of my snout is a black screen with a pair of glowing eyes (AKA: My 'visor') and my body itself is composed of sleek, synthetic skin. A figure stands behind a computer terminal- a pink-scaled lizard woman wearing a mechanic's jumpsuit- who appeared to be quite relieved to see me, for whatever reason.

The surrounding liquid drains into the floor as the glass walls retract into the ceiling, my legs struggle to support my body for a moment as they quickly get used to the effects of gravity. The lizard woman- overwhelmed with joy- rushes over. She's obviously ecstatic to see me, but she's hesitant in physically touching me.. Did she think I was fragile? Or maybe it was the odd, slimy liquid I was now drenched in.

"Oh my god-.. You're-.. You're alive..! " Her voice is heavy with emotion as she looks up at me. I am unable to respond as I just look down at her, the questions in my mind come too quickly to formulate a proper sentence- who am I? Who are you? Where are we? Something inside me told me not to bombard her with these questions, so I said nothing.

"..Jeb? don't you recognize me?" She asks after a moment, her voice still heavy- now with worry. As far as I was concerned, this was my first time meeting her, so I shook my head. She looks distraught as I do this, "..But.. No, that can't be possible.." She said as she stepped away from me, quickly rushing back to her terminal. " Your memories, where are they? They should be right-... " She stops abruptly, her eyes locked onto the screen in front of her as tears well up in her eyes.

I notice the cord I was strapped to now detached itself from my head, leaving me free to move as it retracted into the ceiling. Finding the strength to move my legs, I move one of my feet onto the floor below, taking slow, deliberate steps over to the woman's side. She wore a devastated expression on her face as I looked at the several screens in front of me- one monitor displayed lines upon lines of code, but one line in particular glows a bright red.

<Error: Source has been corrupted, unable to install memory.>

I only feel more confused as I look back to the lizard standing beside me, who was now avoiding eye contact as she pointed to another monitor, which had several windows open- One seemed to be some sort of autopsy report on a synth pilot, another was a news article with the caption 'Breaking news! One fatally injured in an accident on the runway!' My eyes are drawn to the woman again as she speaks up, wiping the tears that were streaming down her cheeks.

"You... You were a fighter pilot, Jebediah." She said, "You were in an accident-.. We've been working on you for weeks." She spoke as she pointed back to the autopsy report, which indicated that the pilot was found with their left arm, part of their torso, and waist missing. "My name is Pearl.. We.. We used to know each other." Pearl sounds especially saddened as she says this line in particular, it made me wonder how we knew one another- were we friends? Coworkers, perhaps?

I finally work up the courage to speak as my eyes focus on hers, "A.. A pilot?" I ask, the sound of my own voice almost catches me off guard with how unnatural and robotic it sounded, "Was I a good pilot?" Her gaze looks back into mine- I can't help but sense a lingering hint of desire in her eyes, but I still didn't know why. "You were one of our best." She said, her mouth shifting to a slight smile despite her teary eyes.

She sighs softly, wiping the tears away as she types another line of code into the terminal, causing a door behind us to slowly slide open. "Well, Jeb.. The higher-ups will be wanting to see you- you're still in that medical pod, as far as they're concerned." Pearl motions to the chamber I awoke in as she starts towards the open door, I'm quick to follow behind her as we slip out of the room.

The exterior of the room is nearly identical to the interior- a sleek, well lit hallway leading in three directions from where we stood, one in front of us, to our left, and to our right, the only apparent difference being windows to the outside on both walls. Every hallway was identical, but Pearl started down the left hallway as if she knew exactly where to go, "A lot has happened since you've been out, Jeb." She says as I catch up beside her, "It's a bit much for me to summarize alone, but I can say for certain- these next few weeks are going to be a handful for you."

I find myself struggling to pay attention to Pearl as I stare out the window- outside laid a large, blue orb, surrounded by a black void lined with small white dots. My gaze remains locked on the planet, I couldn't help feeling a sense of belonging to it- like it was my home.

Pearl and I walk down more of these hallways for a few more minutes, we eventually approach a pair of tall, heavy doors being guarded by two guards. Behind the doors lies a large, decorated room with about twelve well-dressed figures sitting at a round table, they wear stylish garbs ranging from the hottest, brightest reds to the deepest, richest purples. Up on the wall is a large, blue flag with a pair of six-pointed stars beside each other on it- the Thalian flag, it seemed. The twelve figures watch us carefully as we present ourselves, I begin to feel a little uncomfortable as everyone exchanges quiet looks, as if nobody is sure of what to do.

-That is, until a deep, booming voice rings out, "Jebediah Hardive! By the stars above, you're alive!" Everyone's eyes are drawn to a particularly stocky synth in a blue suit, who was displaying a relieved expression upon his visor- he seems to have broken the ice, as I hear similar remarks from the others sitting at the table. "The council couldn't be more relieved to see him doing so well, Pearl! How are his vitals? Is his main processor okay?" The same synth asks, just as joyful as ever. Pearl seems rather sheepish as she glances between me and him.

"...Well, Ollie.. His vitals are fine, but-.." The council looks on with baited breath as Pearl sighs heavily, "..His... His memory has been completely wiped." The pleasant mood I felt before completely vanished as the room went dead silent. "..Really? He doesn't remember anything..? Serving in the air force? Any of us? The two of you..?" Ollie asked in a concerned tone of voice. I feel like everything he says is information I should know, it feels like I should know what he's talking about, but my mind goes blank- I simply just don't know, all I can do is slowly shake my head.

"...Well.. This certainly complicates things, we hadn't anticipated complete memory loss." Ollie said, "Well then, Jebiediah, allow me to briefly fill you in," A large, flat-screen TV turned on to show the 'Thalian global news channel'. "About two weeks ago, one of our most prominent trading partners- the Exothermal Federation- was ambushed by Artemis, a planet in a neighboring star system." he motions to the TV, which displayed a pale-white ball of ice called 'Exothermis.' Part of me wanted to question if anyone could really even live on a planet like that, but I had a feeling that the council wasn't interested in hearing such thoughts.

"Due to the nature of our relationship, we all agreed to have reinforcements sent in as support- that was little more than a week ago, however, more drastic measures have been deemed necessary since then." The screen now displayed the viewpoint of an external camera, which was focusing on a convoy of ships seen against the pitch-black backdrop of space. "Those vessels are carrying two squadrons worth of jets and enough supplies to make them last six months." I wasn't entirely sure of how many planes were in two squadrons, but it didn't make much difference to me. As far as I was concerned, the council hadn't sent me alone, which was relieving to think about- for both Pearl's sake as well as mine.