Para Ex Machina (Worm Quest)

I awoke to agony. Every thought pounding in my skull is a constant call to the pain in my side. Pain so total and complete, I do not know how long I laid there or if I even stayed conscious. Eventually, I can start thinking, slowly and with stutters, but thinking of something other than the pain. My thoughts do not follow correctly. Everything circling the all-consuming pain, like a pulled cork in a drain, trying to drag my thoughts down and away. Everything clawing and scraping just to be above water. The thoughts that do break the surface don't make any sense, half-drowned and waterlogged, I don't have the chance to understand them before they are pulled away.

The drain keeps pulling everything in, but it is slowing down, running out of water. I can feel it, I am running out of it. My body and mind simply can't keep this level of pain up, and through that, my thoughts start to become coherent. Still crazed in pain, but more frequent.

Like gasping for air in a vacuum the water is gone and I can start to make sense of things. The pain is still there, just pushed back to the edges of my being, it will return I know, but not for now.

I open my eyes to a murky sight. I am underwater, deep enough that everything is tinted a strange shade. Text writes itself on my eyes, inconsequential compared to the urgent alert blaring across my vision, desperately trying to get my attention.

Warning: Low Power
Estimated Remaining Time Active: 30 Hours

That is not good and something that I feel I should be more worried about, but I cannot find the energy to do so. Instead, I stare up at the light filtering through the water, content to lay here on the mud and die.

I think back to how I got here, sunk to the bottom of the ocean. My mental fingers dig up nothing but sand and I find my memory banks are blank. My memory banks? What does that… mean? I look deeper into my systems… I can pull up data on myself, a live status window. All of it is mechanical, no flesh to be seen. I am a robot?

This revelation should make me feel something I think. I look for the feeling that is meant to be there and all I can find is exhaustion. I can't bring myself to care, not really, I'm going to die here anyway.

I turn my attention back to the world and light streaming down.

The now awakened status window keeps bugging me like the timer on my battery amount. Telling me of the hole I have in my side, the source of my pain if I had to guess, and all the other small things that simply were not working. I ignored them and closed my eyes, a bit of sleep sounded very nice.

Warning: Low Power
ERTA: 26 Hours

Like a hammer falling on a nail, I am suddenly awake. The first thing I see is the text telling me that my power has continued to drain, even with my eyes closed the text is quite visible. I open my eyes and it is notably darker now, still enough light to easily see but I can tell the sun has begun to fall. With its setting light has started reflecting off buildings that I didn't see before.

I lay there looking at the tops of those buildings and I feel the sudden urge to touch them. Absentmindedly I reach out as if I could feel them from this distance. My fingers only find water of course, but I feel that urge to move deep in my bones. Buildings mean people, people means I could find out what happened to me. I could make friends, enemies, lovers. All of it, just there on the surface.

I have the sudden and striking realization that I am looking for a reason to live, that I don't want to die here on the ocean floor, forgotten. Even with that, it is hard to even think about getting up. It all feels so heavy, it would be so much easier to let the ocean smother me.

I feel the mud Squelch between my fingers as I grip the ground on either side of me. I take a deep breath and start to push myself up, only to be stopped by the pain in my side flaring to life and making me see white. Slowly the buzzing leaves my eyes and ears and I find that I froze partially sitting up. The pain in my side is now a constant, sharp, companion. I feel it deep inside, if I aggravate it too much, I won't make it to the surface. I look up at those gleaming windows, so far away, and manage to roll myself so I am balancing on my good side. A push and I am standing, the water working to my advantage.

Now standing I try to figure out how I am going to get to the buildings. I can't swim, my side makes sure that I wouldn't be able to make the right motions, so the only option is to walk. I look forward to the path that I will take and find numerous sunken ships, making sure my path will not be straight. With the sun to guide me, I start walking. Slowly as I quickly find out that any sort of speed makes me seize up with pain even with the water helping me. So I put one foot in front of the other, feeling the mud deform around my foot, endure.

My only way to track time is the ticking down of my battery since the water makes tracking the sun too difficult for me to put the effort in. I can tell that it is getting darker now though, soon I will be unable to see my path, what will I do then? It has been four hours since I started walking, nothing has changed but I think I can feel the ground start to incline.

The fading of the light was a gradual thing, but now I stand here in the dark. I can't see the gleaming skyscrapers, I can't even see my hands when I wave them in front of my face. What do I do? I am a robot, right? I have to have some kind of night vision or something right? So I look into my systems. It is a weird feeling, like closing your eyes and taking a deep breath mixed with shuffling through a disorganized filing cabinet.

Eventually, I can find the things that lead to my eyes. There are a lot of them, most of them are broken though. I can instinctually feel the ones that are missing files or have mangled data that won't let them run. There is one that has several files simply gone, but the main function seems to be intact. I make sure that I can change my vision back if it is bad and find that I should be able to do so without issue and flip the mental switch.

The world goes from black to a cool blue color, everything around me for a good distance is visible. I can't see through the wreckage that I am standing next to, but I couldn't before so not much changed. I look around and can see small heat signatures floating around above me, fish I realize. It doesn't let me see the buildings, so I will still be walking blindly forward, but being able to see the way forward will let me make some progress I hope. Making sure to keep my toes pointed in the same direction I set off once more.

So focused on making sure my feet remained in line with my sight I don't even realize I am at the surface until my head breaches the water. I freeze at the sudden transition and unconsciously close my eyes taking a deep breath. The air feels good on my face as I stand there for an unknown amount of time, simply existing. My system interrupts with a ping.

Warning: Low Power
ERTA: 18 Hours

I open my eyes and blink at the cool blue road around me, and note the lamppost close by. The metal switch is flicked the other way and my sight returns to normal. I flinch a little at the sudden change from cool blue to the harsh light of the streetlamp. Looking around all I see is an empty road running alongside the water. I take a few more steps so that I am fully out of the water and am given a new popup.

Warning: No Coolant
Estimated Overheat Timer: 5 Hours

Overheat? I take a closer look at the report, what will happen if I overheat? Shut down to cool systems, though it seems like I can mitigate the heat buildup by taking regular breaks in activity. Which is grand. Looking at the report there is nothing I can do to stop a shutdown from happening in eight hours, even with stopping to cool. Then the cooling process will take around five hours, leaving me with only five hours of activity after that. Which means I need to figure out what to do before I overheat.

Fully emerging from the water I take stock of my surroundings and find the skyscrapers in the distance, which means that despite my efforts I was turned off course. I feel a distant sort of relief at the fact that I didn't end up fully turned around. I walk up onto the street and see nothing of interest in either direction, as well as a lack of signs pointing to where I am.

The debate isn't very long, in one direction is a long road leading who knows where the other direction takes me towards the city, towards people, and hopefully help. So I start walking in that direction, even slower than I was in the water as without its aid my side shoots lines of pain up my body more often.

The dull Clunk Clunk Clunk of my metal feet hitting the pavement is the only sound around me, that and the gentle sound of waves breaking on the shore. There have been no cars, making me question the purpose of the road. On one hand, I didn't want anyone to see me like this, but on the other, that means I haven't been able to get any help.

Eventually, I have to take my first of many breaks and lean on the guard rail protecting drivers from dipping into the surf, I didn't even notice it appear beside me but I am grateful for it so that I don't have to sit on the ground. Looking at the ground I mentally wince at the effort it would take to stand from it.

The road takes me away from the water and into a long line of warehouses that all seem defunct. Rusted doors and broken gates are a ubiquitous sight. I continue onwards, my Clunking footfalls are often broken up by the twinkling of broken glass that I don't feel.

One of my breaks finds me leaning against one of the warehouse walls. I had managed to get much closer to the city, even begun to hear the occasional car drive by. I couldn't go any faster to reach them before they disappeared into the night though. So here I am, leaning on a wall, watching my heat fall just a small amount but enough to let me keep going.

At least it would of if standing up didn't produce a very loud and painful Pop sound. I find myself laying on the ground withing in pain as I realize something in my abdomen moved. Going by the sound it broke out of place. I try to stand and find that that will not be happening. Just starting the process of sitting up sends rebar of pain through me. So carefully I lay back down as to not break anything else and look at the few stars.

Slowly black starts to creep up from the corners of my vision and with nothing else to do I allow the cooling cycle to start. Just as the world is about to fade out entirely, I see the silhouette of someone.

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Who is it?
[X] Trainwreck
[X] Velocity
[X] Civilian
[X] Newter
[X] Write-In

When is it?
[X] Canon Start
[X] Locker Incident
[X] Summer Before Locker

Sorry for the confusion everyone. I'll make sure to throw out a comment when I start writing so that people know the voting has ended. Hopefully, this should prevent any mixups in the future.
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[X] Velocity (5 Votes)

[X] Summer Before Locker (5 Votes)
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I slowly opened my eyes to harsh light. Letting my eyes adjust I am able to look around and see I am in a hospital bed of some kind, with curtains encircling me. Off to my side is a set of medical equipment that isn't attached to me, though there is a small camera-like device that is pointing at me with an obvious blinking red light.

Letting my head fall back to the plush pillows I pull up my diagnostic window.

Warning: Battery Low
Estimated Remaining Time Active: 10 Hours

Warning: No Coolant
Estimated Overheat Timer: 5 Hours

Alongside the display, the countdowns remind me that I am on the clock. Looking at the damage readout I can see what happened when I heard the pop. It looks like the left pneumatic that helped me rotate my abdomen broke from its housing, presumably from the strain of doing two times the work since the other one on my right side was destroyed when it was damaged. Thankfully it seems to be intact and simply needs to be popped back into place to return functionality. The hole in my side also conveniently gives me access to that, so long as I can reach through my abdomen. Which is most likely going to hurt. A lot.

Before I can go forward with the idea I hear the sounds of boots on tile making their way in my direction. They stop outside the curtain to my little area and there is a rasp on the mental supports holding up the curtain.

I try to clear my throat and am met with a harsh static. Abandoning that I call out in a voice of garbled noise and a background whine of a blown speaker "Come in."

In walks a man in a red costume rolling a stool with him. He is also adorned with a helmet reminiscent of one a racer wear, except this one, which leaves his mouth free which is upturned in an easygoing smile. He looks me up and down, before talking.

"Well, welcome back to the land of the living. I was worried you were going to die on me." He says with a smooth baritone voice and a pleasant tone.

I simply look at him, unsure how to respond to that. The man seems undeterred by this though and rolls his seat a bit closer before plopping down onto it.

"So, what happened? I got close to you and was going to get your attention then there was pop and you were on the ground. I looked and you didn't get shot."

"My remaining pneumatic broke from its housing. The pop was likely from it depressurizing." I explain. It is that or the pop was something actually snapping, which would be the worse situation.

"Yikes, like a joint popping out of its socket. Though I'd guess a bit worse if it knocked you out." He says with sympathy. His head tilts to the side a bit before he returns to looking at me. "My boss is on his way down, it'll be a minute or two though. His lab isn't really that close."

"Lab?" I ask with a bit of worry. If they were planning on taking me apart there isn't much I could do about it. I mentally look for any weapons I might have and find two blade-like devices sheathed in my forearms. The files seem to be intact as it is a simple 'Extend/Retract' option. The man interrupts further searching, perhaps sensing my worry.

"Oh don't worry. That's just what Tinkers call the areas they work in, that or a lair."

"Ah." That is all I say in response because I don't understand most of what he said. Tinker sounded like a title or designation and the distinction between lair and lab seemed to be important as well.

"Say," He starts in an inquiring tone. "Would the name Scion mean anything to you?"

I look through my memories and am given nothing just like before. So since I have no real reason or motivation to lie, I answer truthfully. "No, should I?"

"No no, it is just one of the easier ways to confirm or deny something. Though I don't think you'll be given many issues on the matter."

Before I could think of a way to question that, I hear the sound of boots on the tile again. Though these sound significantly heavier than the ones the man in red uses. I also notice the man standing up. There is a short knock on the metal like before except this person pushes the curtain aside quickly afterward, not giving me a chance to call out.

The man that steps through is wearing what can only be called power armor, painted a deep blue color with silver trim. He also stands about half a head taller than the one in red, giving him quite the figure. The looked at the man in red then his visor settles on me.

"Do you know your name?" He asks in a brisk tone.

I look through my files and sure enough, nothing stands out as my name. Plenty of systems are named, but none seem to refer to me specifically. Eventually concluding that I, in fact, don't know my name. I shake my head.

"That combined with your physical alterations means you are most likely a Case 53." Before I can question what that means he continues. "A Case 53 is a parahuman that has no memories and has abnormal physical characteristics." He says in a blunt tone, though it doesn't feel rude, a bit dismissive perhaps, but to-the-point isn't always bad. I certainly appreciated it right now.

Letting my eyes wander from the armored man I look up to the ceiling tiles. What do I do? If there is a term for what happened to me then there must be more out there, right? Lowering my vision so that I can see them both once more I ask. "So is this a common occurrence?"

"No. It is not unheard of by any means, but it is not so often as to be commonplace." The armored one says.

"But we do have systems in place for this sort of thing. We can help set you up with an ID and all the needed documentation for day-to-day life. Plus if you join, we can have our own people fill out all the forms for you." The red one jumps in.

"Join? What is the group you're offering me a place in?" I question. If it is some sort of gang that plays dress up…

"The Protectorate is a government branch employing parahumans in the mission to uphold law and order against the threat of villains." The blue one says, and I notice his voice shifts just a little bit as he is saying that, but I can't tell what that means. Perhaps he simply puts on a voice for the costume and forgot to do so? Or remembered to?

Something they have said more than once now begs my questioning though. "What is a parahuman?"

The red one jumps in before the armored one can start talking again. "Parahumans are people that have gained abilities beyond the pale. Armsmaster here is able to make wildly advanced machines and I am able to move at rather fast speeds." He says happily before holding up his arm. Before my eyes, his arm seems to phase out into a blur of red. Letting the effect drop he smiles and suddenly vanishes. Movement in my peripheral makes me turn and I see him standing on the opposite side of my bed with his arms crossed in a proud position.

My mind kind of skipped over the information a few times, like a record player getting stuck. I replay the event, even slowing it down in my memory. Looking at his arm I could see that it was moving up and down, though even slowed as it was it still appeared as a blur, but a trackable one. Similar to a car's wheels at high speeds. When he changed sides though, I had three frames of a red splotch before he leaves my field of view entirely. Nothing messed with my internal processes, there were no cords attached to me to do so. My diagnostics also showed that all my wireless capabilities that I would have had are non-functional. I take a deep breath in, and slowly let it out, pointedly ignoring the horrible sound it makes. I open my eyes that I hadn't realized I closed, and look at the now slightly worried-looking speedster.

"There are no active manipulations of my perception, and I currently don't have my wireless capabilities. I see no way that you could have pulled that off. So I… believe you. How is this done?" I ask in a controlled voice because I really had no idea how they would have tricked me.

His arms drop to his sides at that question. "Uhh, the scientists are not quite sure of that. But we know it happens and have plenty of data on what can be done. We are just still trying to figure out the how of it all." He says in a sheepish voice.

The armored figure brings his fist up to his mouth and lets out an 'attention please' cough. "Yes, what Velocity said is true. We will give you some time to think about what we have said and decide how you wish to move forward. I nurse will be in with a meal soon, we can reconvene after you have eaten."

"That's…" I start, trying to figure out how I going to word the fact that I need electricity, not soup. "I actually need to charge, not eat."

I can feel the keen interest from coming from Armsmaster. "Charge? How so?"

I… hadn't thought about how I would be charged. Looking through my files I find a compartment on my left pectoral that opens to a few different plugs. I trigger the opening but of course, it doesn't move. Reaching up to my chest I suddenly become aware of my state of dress. I am wearing a hospital gown with a small flower pattern. It covers my chest so I don't really know what to do, so I ask.

"My charging plugs are in a compartment in my left pectoral. With the gown, I can't really reach them. What should I…?"

"You can remove just your left arm from the sleeve if you don't feel comfortable removing it entirely. That will let you fold it over to your right side." Is the solution that Armsmaster comes up with, and it is one I can't see any faults with so follow through.

I manage to maneuver my arm out of the sleeve without aggravating my side or pneumatic injuries. Folding it over I reveal the slightly raised spot that shows would have opened completely were I not so damaged. Taking hold of the edge I open it up with no issue. Inside are four plugs, one for a standard wall outlet, one that looks like a wall outlet but the prongs are slanted, one that is in the shape of a plus sign, and one that is a metal cylinder. Grabbing all of them I hold them up for the others to see. Armsmaster starts rubbing his beard and Velocity is the first one to voice anything.

"Well I know what two of those are, but not the other half. You got any clue?" He asks turning to his boss.

"No. I am in the same boat as you on this matter." He replies, still rubbing his chin. "In any case, we can let you charge with the standard plug in the wall behind you."

I let the other three retract and sheepishly hold it up. "Can one of you plug me in? I… can't get up right now."

Velocity responds with a sure and walks at normal speed over to it.

Armsmaster is looking at me now though. "Why are you not able to move?"

"My remaining pneumatic broke from its housing, it is the primary component in moving my abdomen."

"Hmm. That is not good. Are you able to repair yourself or do you need help?" He asks.

At the same time, Velocity takes the plug and with the cord extending to follow him, slides it into the wall with a Thunk. The lights in the room flicker once, twice, thrice, before the fluorescent bulbs return to their harsh glow. After the lights settle we all look back down at each other and I decide to continue the conversation like nothing happened.

"I can repair, it simply needs to be slotted back into place. Unless the housing itself broke but I am hoping that's not the case."

"Very well." He says. "Would you like privacy or may I observe the process?" He asks in an analytical voice. I hear Velocity softly mutter 'dude' at a level I imagine I was not meant to hear.

In any case, there is no point in getting shy now, I already opened up part of my chest in front of them. So I tell him I don't mind and start working my arm out of the other sleeve. Removing it I fold the shirt over onto the blanket in front of me, showing my bare chest. I take a second to observe it. My collarbone looks human then across my upper chest is mechanical, then my abs are human again. The illusion is only broken by the hole in my right side that breaks the fake-flesh and shows the metal beneath. Armsmaster has moved closer to see the damage better and I can't help but picture his large frame holding a comically small pen and notepad. The thought makes me smile before I get to work.

I carefully reposition myself so that it is a relatively straight shot through the damage to my other side. The hole is low enough that my right arm can make the trip, so with a distorted deep breath, I start reaching in. Slowly my arm makes its way through my abdomen, guided by the layout given on my HUD. Despite that though, I knock into a few parts sending lightning bolts of pain up my chest each time, causing me to freeze. Finally, I am able to feel the disconnection, my light brushes to identify feeling like I am running a scalpel over an open wound. Grabbing the cylinder I position it, and before I can think too much about it, snap it into place with a resounding Click. I let out a harsh hiss of pain as I feel the connections re-establish themselves. The diagnostics run and come back green so it begins to repressurize. Physically slowing the heaving breaths I didn't realize I was taking, I remove my hand without hitting anything this time.

Looking up I see Velocity has turned to look at the curtains and is rolling from the balls of his feet to his heels. Armsmaster on the other hand simply nods to me and takes a step back, after a second or two he thanks me, though the pause makes it feel like an afterthought.

"So," Velocity pipes up now facing me again. "How long till you're topped off?"

I look at the rate of intake and run a quick estimate for charge time. It is a rather large number. "It will take roughly 182 days for me to be fully charged." I can almost feel the shock roll off him like a wave. Armsmaster on the other hand, shakes his head.

"I have faster equipment in my lab. I should be able to design a port for one of the exotic plugs you showed."

"Which," Velocity cuts in. "Is a matter for later. We'll let you think for about two hours and then be back. Don't want to overwhelm you all at once."

"Velocity is correct. You need time to think about our offer and what path you wish to take." With that, he turns around and leaves.

Velocity smiles apologetically and closes the curtain behind him as he follows his boss.

Laying back I watch my battery charge and think about what I should do.

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What should I do?
[X] Join up, they seem like nice fellows.
[X] Wait a bit, maybe they have a ride-along program?
- [X] It is probably set up already, what will they have me doing? Go with the flow.
- [X] Armsmaster seems good with machines, and I have a lot of machine. Try to stick with him.
- [X] Velocity seems easy going, I'll probably get a more 'day-in-the-life' experience. Try to stick with him.
[X] Take the ID and go, I can make my own path.
[X] Sneak out, I don't need the government to guide me.