New NSR

April Fools Day (April 1) is one week away. To that end, I just want it known now, well before the day, that this blog will NOT be posting any jump scares, fake announcements, freak-out posts, fake hackings, fake emergencies, fake news, and “gotcha!” stuff on April Fools Day. We’re staying safe and chill around here.

For a minute, J can tell that at least one of the boys wanted to protest, but there was an internal spark that made them all shudder in pain. They really had no choice in the matter - especially not if they wanted to live. The sewers were too far at this point, and even if they somehow made it back in time they wouldn’t have the ability to stand at the desk to use the tools.

“Okay. But be careful…” Rin warned, “We’re technically criminals. If you get spot carrying us… You might get arrested or worse. Sorry, that’s my fault, partially.” Rin trails off, but Zimelu continues having the same amount of grace and tact as a bull in in a china shop.

Another spark, slightly more intense than before. The shudder shakes some rust lose from their joints, revealing holes in the metal. “Hurry, please… this hurts a lot…”

Time was of the essence that much was certain. He carefully, but quickly closes up the android to prepare him for the journey. He would have gone in there to at least help ease their pain by stopping power from flowing in their pain/touch receptors, but there’s no time.

“I’m not afraid. I can handle myself if need be. If I become a criminal in this world for trying to save my children, then so fucking be it. It’ll be a brand I’ll wear proudly.”

Once he deems they have enough power to make the journey, he disconnects the cable and lets it retract into the back of his monitor.

“Now… I’m going to need you boys to try and stay silent and try to stay as still as possible okay? … I’m sorry if this hurts…”

That’s when the war vet picks up the damaged android as gently as he can. He doesn’t want to put any weight on those damaged limbs so he has to set them up piggy back style. That way most of the weight is distributed on their torso against his back and soft well kept fluff of his jacket.

He usually doesn’t set his radar up to ping when any moving entity is within range, but in this case it would be ideal. The overflow of information will be worth it if it means he can avoid detection. He analyses his possible routes and picks not the quickest one, but the safest option he has.

Even with the sparks that surged through their system now and again, sending their nerves into overdrive with pain, there was a sort of comfort in this sort of situation. The fluff of the jacket in their face was familiar - there was more fluff on this jacket, but that made it better in their opinion. The five of them couldn't help but rest the side of their face that still had synthetic skin against the fluff. It was softer than they remembered.

This felt safe. Familiar. They allowed themselves to relax while being held like this. They all missed this.

“The CEO question is a lot less complicated to answer. After Mayday and Zuke won, they were wondering what to do next. As much as I had my gripes with that… woman-” there was a slight snarl in his voice that betrayed his emotions and deep-rooted rage; just for a moment, “-I agreed with her on one thing: they had no idea how to run NSR. Fortunately for both of them I kept up with all the ignored issues that were plaguing Vinyl City.”

He takes a moment to sip his coffee before continuing, “We made an agreement - they would be the figureheads and I would be the CEO. They had the power to fight back against people who would threaten what they fought for, I had the knowledge in how to run a nation. It was just a natural evolution of our symbiotic relationship.”

“As for… my Neon J. He’s out fighting wars again, especially what happened to his 1010…” he sighed, tsk-ing a little bit while shaking his head, “To put it simply and spare you the beurocracy, people outside of 1010’s fanbase were starting to have concerns over robots. How much they cost to maintain, loss of jobs - don’t even get me started on the ‘debate’ between pro- and anti-robot relationships.”

Another sip of his coffee. Already this was starting to sound awful… Though he was being completely neutral in tone and mannerisms, the way he talked was chilling. It would only get worse and worse the longer he talked. He was too sterile, too removed from the situation.

“Things were starting to get a little chaotic and violent, so I had to enforce restrictions to keep the peace. Of course, your soldiers back then were at the forefront of protests against these regulations. Peaceful protests… mostly.”

He had been staring at the screen to not make Neon J any more nervous, but at these next words he stared right into the camera, “The night the law passed - this was some six months ago from now - I went to go visit my Neon J to discuss options on what to do with his soldiers. It seemed the red one - Zimelu, I think was its designation - had a grevious error in its programming. It attacked me, riiiiiight here-” He leaned forwards, emphasizing his point by tracing the scar, jaw to hairline, “-and nearly split my head in half with its saw weapon.”

He pauses a moment to let that fact sink in, leaning back in his seat. “Needless to say, NSR-approved robots were on the scene in minutes as those five fled. I don’t know fully what happened after that, I was carted off to a hospital for my wounds. But from what I understood through the corporate grapevine, he’d found the five of them scrapped in the junkyard.”

“Shortly after that, J left Vinyl City, went back to being a navel man.” Sip, finishing off the last if his coffee, “He hasn’t officially quit yet, but while he’s gone we assigned a new charter to Metro Division. She’s a real doll - Swingin’ Sally is her stage name. I think you’d find the division a lot more homely. She’s so busy with her new post that she can’t leave herself for these buisness trips. So here I am!”

He’s surprised to hear B2J were even okay being figureheads for what essentially was a new NSR. The very thing they fought against. He wonders what could have been slightly different for them to decide to keep going with it. To not go against the grain once again like what happened in his own world.

He groans a little, his way of letting the other man know he’d be frowning if he could. “It’s good that you’re tackling the issues we’re having difficulty managing,but.. nothing is that simple. everything has pros and cons when it comes to plans. surely something else is being neglected now… But it is not my place to lecture you on such things. I manage 1010, not NSR… I mean I do what I can for the citizens of Vinyl city, but.. I’m just 1 man.”

Then the story of what happened to this other world’s Neon J was told and what happened to his troops… His hands were hidden under the table, and good thing too… They were balled into tighter and tighter fists the more he listened to the man tell his story. He was going to break something if he didn’t stop to calm down.

He mention of Zimelu attacking Kliff and causing that damage managed to calm him down a little and the cyborg let out a small breathy chuckle. “Good.” he thought to himself with pride. There was no error in his programming, not at all. Though sure, for the most part they had to follow the laws of robotics.. J gave them the choice to not follow it if they felt threatened to such a degree that they needed to harm a human to save themselves or a larger amount of lives. They usually knew better than to use lethal force, but in this case… Zimelu did the right thing. Getting rid of this Kliff would have brought on another revolution.

“I… See… I can understand why he chose to return to the navy. After what happened to 1010 and the general populace distance for robots… Humph. after everything robotics have done to help make life easier.. this is what they do?..”

He’s clearly uncomfortable. He doesn’t want this Kliff poisoning the minds of the residents here against robots. He doesn’t want him messing with anything around here, really. And he better stay well clear from his boys.

“Tis a shame the boys were destroyed… I could have taken them in.”

The talk of the replacement charter and what had become of the Metro division leaves him uneasy. He\s never met the woman, so he shouldn’t and won’t hold ill will towards her. she’s just doing her best for Vinyl city.

“As for the people, well, surely even here there’s some disagreement with what is considered good, however minor it might be. Ignorance is the first problem, the second being abusing the privilege of freedom, and the third being stubbornness. In short, human nature is bound to come into paradoxical conflict with itself. That’s how conflicts start.”

sayu: mr J, why were you screaming? :3c

neon j: a lot of things every day…

hm

The robot before him was in horrible condition… It looked like his boys but it was wrong, falling apart, in poor condition- and they seemed afraid, afraid of being dismantled. He could never do that, for parts or otherwise. This was clearly not his own, he would never let any of them get this bad- He had heard of a variation of them out there, this must be them… His tone was soft when he finally spoke

They had a white frog mask on their head, which they slid down over their face. It was among one of the cleaner masks they had, though it was nonetheless worn down. What was once gold leaf decorated the mask was flaking off. Dirt and grime that stained the plastic was smeared across its face, giving a speckled appearance. The eyes had been cut out so that they could see through the mask, but due to the fact that their eyes did indeed glow, it gave off an unsettling, uncanny valley vibe.

“I guess it’s good that we ran into another you instead of anyone else.” he said, throwing the hood of their salvaged jacket over their head to cover the glowing hair. They reached down and grabbed a bucket filled with scaveneged resources, “At least we know we can trust you to not report us!”

Kliff… Of course this was his doing. Could that bastard do anything good? Apparently not. In what twisted world was it okay to allow this to happen? This one apparently…. Oh he would LOVE to have a a few words with the man on the matter…

He paused, taking note of the bucket. Was that- to repair themselves? Oh no that simply would not do. This calls for direct and immediate action. He makes a motion towards the bucket.

“Is that supposed to be for repairs? I simply cannot allow this to go on. No, I am going to take it upon myself to fix you up”

“Understood, sir.” Rin spoke, putting the bucket down, “But do you know how you got here? We have a workshop back at the sewers we’ve made our base if you can’t find your way back.”

The robot before him was in horrible condition... It looked like his boys but it was wrong, falling apart, in poor condition- and they seemed afraid, afraid of being dismantled. He could never do that, for parts or otherwise. This was clearly not his own, he would never let any of them get this bad- He had heard of a variation of them out there, this must be them... His tone was soft when he finally spoke

They had a white frog mask on their head, which they slid down over their face. It was among one of the cleaner masks they had, though it was nonetheless worn down. What was once gold leaf decorated the mask was flaking off. Dirt and grime that stained the plastic was smeared across its face, giving a speckled appearance. The eyes had been cut out so that they could see through the mask, but due to the fact that their eyes did indeed glow, it gave off an unsettling, uncanny valley vibe.

"I guess it's good that we ran into another you instead of anyone else." he said, throwing the hood of their salvaged jacket over their head to cover the glowing hair. They reached down and grabbed a bucket filled with scaveneged resources, "At least we know we can trust you to not report us!"

Eve: What if you woke up one day and Yinu was taller than you?

DJSS: