The Kingdom
Steel Quasar takes a moment to admire his city and celebrate with his inner circle.
It was perfect, the fluorescent city below him, the neon lights, the hardwood in his office, and especially the artificial intelligence that greeted him every day upon his arrival. Yes, this empire, no, this Industrate was quite possibly the best thing he ever created. Â Yes, this was âSteel Quasarâsâ best work, and itâs always a sight to behold when waiting for the regular duo to enter meeting area.
âIs there sssomething out there thatâsss caught your eye, Quasssar-dono?â Â The voice hissed, its source being a reptilian humanoid clad in what was traditionally recognized as âsamuraiâ armor. Â The plated being stood there, without helmet, awaiting the response from Steel Quasar.
âThe whole thing, Yemegrabe, the entirety of the city below.â  The man gestured to the window in front of him, sweeping across the landscape that lay below them, âThrough the help of the three of you⌠Iâve created this kingdom.â
Yemegrabe could only nod, he knew how much this city had meant to his new master, and the new beginning it was to him and others. Â His small moment of concentration was broken by a knock at the door, opening right after with no regard for a response.
âSonan, you know you donât need to, like, knock on the door if heâs expecting us,â The first voice of the two filled the room, it could best be described as⌠preppy in some way, âHe called us to his office first, if he isnât ready he wouldnât have messaged us.â
The steel frame of the woman is what entered the room after, she was what they all considered to be the first success, a cybernetically enhanced woman whoâs more robot than human at this point, but still human beneath the skin. Â Her clothing reflecting her personality, her coat only masking the ridiculous t-shirt she wore beneath, jeans completing her outfit underneath that. Â Her black hair, still with a blonde streak up front, was let completely let down just above her shoulders.
âJessica!â Her name was called out afterwards, presumably by Sonan.
âWhaaaat?â Jessica responded, rather annoyed.
âJust because heâs called us does not mean we have to, to skip out on these formalities! Â He is our lord, after all, you cannot simply just barge wherever you like!â Â The more professionally dressed Sonan retorted.
His outfit also reflected his own personality, a vest over an ironed shirt, a tie wrapped around his neck and neat, black slacks finishing off his own outfit. Â Sonanâs own hair neatly braided into a ponytail, draped just over his shoulder as he glared over at Jessica. Â His demeanor softened and rested in a neutral expression as he turned back to Steel Quasar afterwards.
âMy lord, I am sorry for Jessicaâs tomfoolery, I tried to tell her to be much more respectful of you on the way over.â Â Sonan being the suck up he usually was.
This always entertained Quasar, Sonan being as flustered as he was with Jessica just helped to ground Sonan in a way. Â It helped Sonan realize that, despite being a cog in this machine, you were still a person. As much as that might annoy Sonan, it was necessary in a way. Â Though, Quasar would never tell Sonan this, just allowing Sonan to continue to suck up to him.
âNyeh, nyeh, Iâm Sonan and I have to suck up to Jack every time Iâm in a meeting with him and Jessica.â She punctuated this statement by sticking her tongue out at Sonan.
This really did show off how human Jessica still was, despite her own body being primarily metal and cybernetic, she still had her emotions and easily acted annoyed, flabbergasted, excited, just about every range of emotion one could consider was able to be displayed by Jessica thanks to her human mind. Â Despite being her own experiment, Quasar couldnât help but consider her a friend in a way, it also helped that she was consistent and reliable in all the missions he sent her out on. Â So she got slaps on the wrists most the time, unless she really made him angry. That was never the case most the time, it was mainly Sonanâs bad end that she got on.
âI do not sound like that, Jessica!â Always the clever one Sonan was.
âI dunno, couldâve fooled me.â Jessica retorted.
It would have continued like this were it not for Quasar clearing his throat, he wasnât going to allow this to go on for much longer.
âAh! Iâm sorry, sir!â Sonan bowed almost immediately.
âYeah, uh, sorry Jack.â Jessica awkwardly rubbed the back of her head.
âIf I could, Iâd like to tell you why I called you here.â Quasarâs tone was no nonsense as always.
Sonan gulped, Jessica fidgeted a bit in place, they didnât know what was so urgent that he needed the both of them there. Â It was a rare occasion that this happened, and usually, it wasnât good. Â Jessica ran through her memory, what the heck happened recently that could cause Quasar to call them into the office. Â Sonanâs own mind was running as fast as Jessicaâs processes, he didnât know, was it something he did, was it a project he could have turned in earlier, it was probably something that Jessicaâs tomfoolery resulted in, whatever it was he didnât know.
âMeri, I have something to request of you.â Quasar said aloud.
In almost an instant, a projector turned on displaying the image of a green-skinned, yellow-eyed humanoid figure antennae hanging from her head as she wore what could best be described as an outfit a pop idol would wear.
âYes, Mr. Quasar, sir! I am here to do anything you need!â Meri exclaimed before doing a little bow.
âTell the two others what Iâve marked today as.â Quasar was quick with his command.
âHmmâŚâ  She was quiet for a moment, pulling up a calendar from hammerspace, âYou wrote down âAnniversaryâ here in the calendar, sir.â
With that Quasar began to do a small clap, a smile spread across his face which was met with confusion from the Samsaran and the Human.
âWhat? Anniversary?â Sonan trailed off as he began to think again.
âAnniversary for what?â Jessica asked turning to face Quasar.
âFor the four of us finally meeting one another!â Quasar continued with a small smile, âWithout the four of us, this Industrate would never have lifted itself up off the ground after all, so I thought it would be reason for a small celebration.â
âSir, with all due respect, I really should be going back to work. Â This is may be a monumental occasion but I cannot fall too far behind on my current wor-â Sonan was interrupted before he could finish.
âSonan, I know youâre at least two weeks ahead on your project. Â A small celebration that would take maybe 15-30 minutes will hardly put a dent on that.â Quasar quickly shut down the argument.
âI-uh, yes sir.â
The defeated Samsaran looked down for a moment, before his sulking was quickly interrupted by the jovial tone of Jessica. Â She was bouncing up and down excitedly hardly finding a way to keep still whatsoever.
âOh my gosh, I didnât know you kept track of that! Â How are we gonna celebrate? Oh, Yemegrabe you should celebrate too!â Jessica walked over to Yemegrabe, circling him energetically like a puppy.
âPleassse Jesssica, hold ssstill, youâre making thisss a far bigger deal than it actually isss.â Â He hissed beneath his helmet.
âYemegrabe, please do join us, thereâs enough for everyone.â Â Quasar motioned to a tray in front of him, several glasses of scotch lay on his desk.
âSir, you know I donât, erm, drink.â Â Sonan continued to look down dejectedly.
âItâs only one drink, and itâs really not that much.  After all, it is a very expensive and very fine bottle of scotch I used for this occasion.â  Quasar looked over at Sonan, flashing a smile that showed of his⌠immaculate teeth.
âAh, o-of course, sir.â Sonan hesitantly lifted a glass off the tray.
Soon the remaining three did the same, each taking their own unique glass to celebrate with.
âTo fresh starts and new beginnings.â Â Quasar lifted his glass up first for a toast.
âTo fresh starts and new beginnings!â The rest followed, clinking their glass with his.
They each took a sip of their glass soon after, Sonan wincing heavily as he sipped his, but it leads to a happy sight from all four.  It was these four that lead to the creation of this Industrate, each playing their own important role to the foundation.  It would be these four that would be the pillars of this empire for years to come, and it was up to these four to ensure that this empire⌠remained as an Industrate.















