Revolution Machine

Chapter 1

A month ago, Tech would have never believed that he would have ended up here. Stuck in the Lastation Stockades and being treated like a prisoner... A criminal. What had he done to deserve such... such punishment? Had he not been both loyal to his goddess and up to date with his work? It couldn't have been that he returned a book when it was 3 weeks overdue...

With another huff, Tech sat silently in his cell, praying to whatever deity would listen, that he would get some form of mercy. Sure, the food was fine, he got to bathe and he was one of the only prisoners here at the time, but... He didn't belong in there. There was no reason for him to be in there... He would have been okay with it if there was a reason given, truthful or not. He just wanted to know why.

A month of inner turmoil has taught Tech one thing: That he really did miss Noire. He'd normally talk to Noire about this kind of thing. What was troubling him. Sure, she never gave the best advice, and was sometimes condescending about it, but she still listened, and that was all that mattered to him. Tech still hasn't heard from her in a long while, however, and he wished for nothing but her to come talk to him.

All of this thought was interrupted by the cell gate suddenly sliding open, the automated lock clicking off. Confused, Tech slowly stood up, peeking out of the cell to find nobody, not even the guard that was normally patrolling. Tech exited the cell, once again looking around before wandering about. The cell system was operated by a control panel on the fourth floor of the stockade, but why was his the only one that opened? None of the other prisoners did, then again, the only other prisoners Tech new got released due to good behavior... but not him. Tech shook his head, forging onward. He found the stairs towards the ground floor, beginning his ascent... 

"HALT! BY ORDER OF LADY BLACK HEART, THE HEAD MACHINIST IS NOT PERMITTED TO LEAVE! RETURN TO YOUR CELL OR BE TERMINATED!" A robotic voice bellowed from behind Tech, the machine pursuing Tech up the stairs. With a grunt, Tech began to sprint up the stairs, only to be intercepted by two more guard bots. 

So, this is it, aye? I go meet the Makers up above 'cuz o' some faulty cell lock an' machine I helped create? Well, guess it was a good run...

As Tech braced for his demise, he closed his eyes, wishing once again that Noire was there. She knew how to fight. She taught him some basics, but he had no weapon... and fists do little against steel.

CLANG! CLANG!

Tech opened his eyes slowly, seeing that the machines were... broken. Busted up as if someone smashed them with a sledge hammer. 

"Boy, there sure are a lotta these things, Avy! You'd think that after we beat up all of them on the top floor, they'd scatter!"

"Look, I don't know why they keep coming, but what I do know is that they're real easy to smash, so more won't hurt." 

Tech spun around on his heels, jumping when he saw two people staring back at him. One looked like a generic rockstar. Ripped leather jacket over a shirt that said "Blue Mages". Rather nice looking jeans and some combat boots, it appeared. What stood out to Tech the most, however, was the giant bass guitar resting on his shoulder. One side looked like it was converted into an axe-head, making it both an instrument of destruction and an instrument of rock and roll. The other was a rather young-looking girl. Lilac hair clipped with two white D-Pads, lilac eyes that gave Tech a rather curious look, and a rather fashionable parka dress that matched her D-Pad clips. She had a rather run of the mill sword, but she also seemed to do some damage to the bots... More than Tech did, that's for sure. The Purple-headed one bounced around, pointing at Tech and looking to Avy, who eyed Tech up and down.

"Oh, oh! You think this is the guy that Histy was talking about? He looks like some machine nerd!" Tech gave the purple one a rather confused look, looking to the one she called 'Avy'. The bassist huffed a sigh.

"Sorry, my partner here is quite... Huh, I don't even have a word to describe you. I'm Average, and this is Neptune. We're searching for a guy named Tech Highwind, you heard of him? Said to be the head machinist of Lastation? Went missing about a month ago?" Tech looked even more confused, looking down at his feet. Him? Filed missing? Was... was this some big ploy? No, it had to be a joke. One big, sick joke that he was the butt of. Tech looked to Average, taking a small step back.