#acoustikat

((DONE!!! That is a lie. I was going to write something to go with this, but my brain is fried tonight, and I still want to put this up.

Issimo has been putting off a mild emotional crisis since Viking fully took over Black Lake, and Acoustikat took over his own musical career.

He still gets to visit the studio and the arenas, but he feels uneasy watching people who were once a part of himself taking over long-standing routines in his life.

Viking and Acoustikat now have more free time on their hands than either of them know what to do with.

Even after Issimo is cleared (medically and legally) to return to active duty, the 9th unit makes sure to have at least one of them hanging around his immediate vicinity at all times.

They don’t think he’s a danger (quite the opposite), but they’re all a little worried he’s not emotionally ready to be back.

All of Issimo’s remaining Maverick aliases have been indefinitely pulled from the field.

Issimo’s spy work is a lot more “007″ and less “The Bourne Identity” now.

Bark still isn’t used to being called “Commander”, and doesn’t always respond to the title the first time.

Ume declared herself his second-in-command, and nobody argued.

Axiom is interested in rejoining the Hunter organization, but is impatiently waiting out a mandatory medical clearance period to make sure he’s all there after 50+ years in stasis.

Acoustikat has accidentally called Amari Farraday ‘mom’ on several occasions. She’s flattered.

Acoustikat feels conflicted for also thinking of Octavia as a motherly figure, since he never truly existed as ‘himself’ when she was alive.

Viking doesn’t consider anyone else ‘family’ in a close sense, and claims he’s ‘just not built for it’.

In truth, he’s afraid of it, because while he’s been a mentor and a drill instructor many times to many Reploids, he’s never been a sibling.

Remedy and Axiom were surprisingly quick to accept Viking and Acoustikat as part of the family. Issimo was a little bit slower.

Issimo cried when he heard Axiom had been found alive and repaired. Acoustikat had to sit with him for a while.

Viking gets along pretty well with Ume, Bark, and Artemis. He’s a bit stand-offish with Mystic, and doesn’t like Rubble at all. Issimo was a little disappointed.

Azazel donated a small dartboard set to the observation room (once Professor Farraday had cleared it) to help keep the three Reploid’s occupied. Viking scratched Shade Fox’s face into the bullseye.

Literally all of the 9th unit likes Acoustikat, and vice versa.

Ume may or may not have asked Acoustikat to sign her album collection.

Acoustikat is low-key excited at the idea that he can actually ask Jenny the Receptionist on a date now without Issimo having to play along.

Issimo is still Gospel’s favorite, but all three of them give good ear scratches, and Viking sneaks him treats when he thinks no-one else is watching.

Acoustikat and Issimo can both speak Korean, but Viking’s AI got the German language files, instead. None of them can speak French anymore, and even Professor Farraday isn’t sure where the files went.

Issimo’s eyes are still green, Viking’s eyes are blue, and Acoustikat’s eyes are magenta.

Viking’s hair is black, and cropped much shorter than the others. Acoustikat’s is a lighter shade of lavender.

Viking still prefers to wear his mask, as he feels his new face is still ‘too same-y’ to the other two.

After only the first few words of the song, the caninoid’s ears sprang upright, and he leapt up out of the bed he’d been sprawled over to bark along at the top of his proverbial lungs…

….to the dismay of his still-snoozing roommates, unfortunately.

Acoustikat came awake with a strangled squeaking noise as 500lbs of caninoid paw crushed down on his midsection, and Viking’s eyes snapped open in a searing glare at the inexcusably loud ‘singing’. The Reploid sprang up and tried to clamp a hand around Gospel’s muzzle as he bounded overhead, but wasn’t fast enough, and barely managed to grab the caninoid’s collar.

Which, of course, only served to yank him - quite unceremoniously - out of bed entirely, to land face-down in the space between frames.

With one roommate spitting curses into the flooring and another still gasping for breath from a very rude and sudden awakening, Issimo took a slow, deep breath through his nose, and let it out in a long-suffering sigh before picking up his pillow and dropping it over his face. Is this what his life was going to be like from now on? 하나님은 그를 도와주십시오…

“Issimo!” Viking hissed from the floor. “Get your dog to zip it before I zip it for him!”

Professor Faraday has repaired and stabilized Issimo (and Viking, and Acoustikat) after the public betrayal of Shade Fox, and the return of Dark to the criminal scene.

Every member of the 9th (Issimo included) was temporarily suspended from duty, pending a series of internal investigations to determine if any of them were complicit in Shade Fox’s betrayal.

None were, but a number of members voluntarily retired purely in the human sense from service in the unit, and were redistributed to other non-field positions. The unit is down to only its core members+ a small handful of others.

Once he was cleared and reinstated, Bark was temporarily elevated to Commander of the 9th Special Forces. He has very mixed feelings about the promotion.

Viking and Acoustikat have been tested and confirmed for fully realized AIs, and as such, Issac has decided to find a way to remove them, rather than delete them.

BUT.

Viking and Acoustikat have to be classified as new builds if they are to have their own bodies, and legally speaking, that requires undergoing some form of controlled, monitored isolation to ensure that their minds are stable.

“Good. That’s good.” Ume didn’t take it personally when Dr. Farraday’s response came out more disinterested than he’d probably intended. The data pad in his hands held an important puzzle, and he was nothing if not a miraculous multitasker. She couldn’t fault him for splitting his attention.

“So…how is he doing?” She asked as they came to a stop at a locked door, and Issac finally looked up from the data pad to key in the code. “I know you don’t want all eleven of us camping out in the lab, but you’ve been radio silent for three days.” She gave her creator a disapproving look as he walked through the door, avoiding eye contact, and hurried after him into the room beyond.

“We haven’t seen him - let alone spoken to him - since he turned up a broken mess in your lab.” Ume argued as she caught up to the professor. “お父さん, we’re not asking you to put him back on active duty. We’re just asking for some news. Any news.”

“.....” Issac breathed out through his nose. Separating AI that had been deeply intertwined with each other for several decades was a monumental task, and it had taken all of his time and effort to make sure that nothing was lost or corrupted as he painstakingly pulled them apart.

But pull them apart he had...and while he was still holding his breath, the odds of success were getting better and better.

“They’re all stable, for now.” He told Ume. “I’m trying to keep their surroundings controlled to minimize any risks of destabilization, but so long as we keep it restricted to one person at a time...having visitors might be beneficial.” He admitted.

"Thank you.” Ume didn’t smile, but her once-tense posture relaxed. That alone spoke volumes. “Let us know when he-...when they...are ready. We’ll work out who’ll visit first in the meantime.” Without waiting for a response, the Reploid turned and walked away, leaving Issac to his work as he settled down at the cluttered workdesk.