Mechanical Pulse (DRAMAtical Murder)(ClearxOC)

Chapter 4

I was back out on patrol now. Due to the incident with the citizens, my lock on weapon materializations had been changed. Now I could call them to me without needing my auto-repair in good shape. Apparently they'd thrown a little bomb at the ground next to me, the force shattering my frame beneath the skin of my legs. My auto-repair had just had a malfunction due to the suddenness of the event. I was used to fighting other androids, not so much human-used weapons.

However, my patrol route hasn't been changed. I like this one. As usual, I stop at the same spot and turn my face up to the clear sky. The stars twinkle sadly at me as I watch them in silence. It doesn't surprise me at all when the same group from before shows up. This must be a route to a hang-out of theirs...

Just like before, they stop and watch me, whispering amongst themselves. I don't eavesdrop this time, just turn and watch them. I don't move, they don't either. No one speaks, aside from them to one another. So I do the first thing that comes to mind.

I bow politely, a large holographic screen popping up next to me so I can show them my words.

'Hello again.'

They murmur amongst themselves, then the one with the green hat speaks, ignoring the panicked and wary looks from the others.

"Why do you not speak?"

'Answer. I do not currently have a voice of my own. I am still under development.'

"But you were created years ago, right?"

'Irrelevant. 7 years ago. Constant upgrading and changes.'

"Why did you protect your head last time?"

'Answer. Our brains are irreplaceable. Well, mine specifically.'

"Why?"

'Response. Because they are that of a human's.'

The group seems visibly disgusted, causing a wave of sadness and pain to roll through me. The feeling isn't unfamiliar at all. At times like these I wish I either had a human body or was completely man-made. I hate this limbo state of being part of each.

The man with white hair speaks then, his voice mellow and soft. Yet it holds a very very familiar quality to it. The tiniest little electronic echo. I see now. He, too, is an android.

"You're sad again, aren't you?"

I stare at him for a long moment. I'm not used to speaking of my feelings, as it is simply not something we do. The others are always tuned in to my emotions through the network link we share, and I had no way of communicating them to Master. And I doubt he'd even want to know of them.

'Sadness... I do not understand why you would ask. But yes, I suppose one would call this.. Being sad.'

"Why are you sad?"

'I do not fly here.'

I know my words confuse them, but before I can explain, I feel the familiar tingle run through my body, summoning me to Master's side.

'I must go now.'

I turn, then pause, looking at the other android for one last lingering moment. And then they are lost in the distance as I run off.

>>>>>>>>>>

Back at Aoba's house, the group sits in the living room, talking over what happened. They were collectively disturbed over the revelation of the androids' actual being, so it was one of the main topics amongst them.

"I wonder how they got them..."

"Organ donors most likely."

"Wait, doesn't having a human brain make them human at heart?"

"That depends on if you're talking about humans still retaining their individuality or simply becoming the android."

"But how can you tell?"

"Maybe they remember things from their past lives?"

Noiz was oddly quiet the whole time, typing away at his screens. After a while, he smiled a little, pulling up a few more screens so the others could see them.

"I thought something was off about them."

"Something off...?"

The screens showed a picture of a boy in a hospital gown, looking to be in his late teens or early twenties. He wasn't pale, his skin looking almost bronze. He was unhealthy-looking, thin and bony with deep black bags under his eyes. His hair was a little past the nape of his neck, dusty brown in color, his eyes a similar vivid forest green as Sven, the man known as 'Master' by the androids. Despite his sickly countenance, his eyes were bright, a happy smile on his face.

"This is Montoya Malchik, the former lover of Sven. He died 7 years ago. I tried using his name as the password for that one company, and it worked. The company is basically the entire foundation behind the androids. Including having records of their entire history."

"So what about him? Green Heart or whatever?"

"The one known as Green Heart houses Montoya's brain. Apparently, Montoya spent his entire life building Green Heart, but never completed him. After Montoya's death due to illness, Sven took over the project, his lover's brain continuing living as the thing he'd dedicated so much time to. However, to this day, Green Heart still lacks a voice of his own. It doesn't say why, nor does it explain if the android is Montoya himself or just its own personality."

The conversation fell to silence for a few minutes. Each was processing the information. But instead of answering their curiosity, it only made them more confused. The more they learned of the androids, the more they sounded like puppets on a string rather than the independent fighting machines they were made out to be.

In fact, they each realized, in their own time, that never, not even once, had the android known as Green Heart shown hostility towards them. He'd not struck out against his attackers, he hadn't pulled a weapon, and he didn't ask where they'd been and where they were going. He simply spoke to them like he was no better than they were.

In truth, they were far better than he.