#mask writes

This had to be the longest celebration held within the EDF base. It wasn’t quite unnecessary, as the O.R.T. was finally closed after ten long years. It was just a surprise that it lasted for four days now, about to go to five. Unfortunately, the robot brothers were not partaking in the celebration. Mostly due to the repairs Shiny and Thunder needed after the last battle. Thunder more so as the merging caused some heavy damage to about everything.

Now Shiny could have joined in on the party. His repairs were quicker, leaving only a few clinks to buff out now. But he felt bad leaving Thunder alone to suffer constant diagnosis checks while his big brother partied with the EDF members. And Shiny might have felt bad for thinking his little brother was pranking him twice about serious injuries.

“I still fail to understand your stubborn insistence to remain in the hangar with me.” Thunder informed after the EDF repair crew left. “Your repairs were expeditious, and you are now fully operational enough to join the members of the EDF in their celebration.”

“What, and leave you alone by your lonesome self?” Shiny sang sweetly. “What kind of big brother would I be if I just let my little brother be left out of an awesome party?”

“As I am aware, the ‘awesome party’ seems like a party where my presence would, as you say: dull the mood.”

“What do ya mean?”

“As I have told you before, robots do not have fun. And as you have stated before… The EDF members are not fond of me as much as they are fond of you. Excluding Alex Rose and Colonel Creed.”

Shiny sibilated at that sentence. He completely forgot he dropped that on Thunder during their first road trip. 

“Hey, hey, hey, that’s not completely true.” Shiny tried to reassure. “Not all of the EDF crew don’t like you! There’s some that do like… uh.”

“Again, Alex and Colonel Creed are the only EDF members that appreciate my presence.” Thunder reiterated.

“And me!”

“Well, that is to be expected from you. You are my older brother, so you appreciate my presence no matter the circumstances.”

Shiny gasped, and Thunder immediately recognized his mistake.

“Delete the last minute from your memory banks immediately.” Thunder demanded.

“Nope!” Shiny smiled mischievously. “It’s too late to take it back now, little bro.”

“Shiny, if you spread this accidental slip of my wording—”

“Don’t worry, Thunder. Your secret soft side will be safe with me.”

“I do not have a secret soft side.”

“Suuuuure. Of course you don’t, Thundy.”

Thunder glared at Shiny. Their banter would’ve continued, but it was interrupted by a faint announcement.

[AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL “Alexandra Rose” DEPARTURE FROM HANGAR BASE 123.]

Shiny and Thunder turned their heads. They saw Alex’s shadow for a minute before it disappeared. Curiosity grew inside Shiny as he wondered what that was about. Thunder held a neutral expression though. That wasn’t the first time he heard the announcement, with Alex frequenting that hangar on an irregular schedule he could never track.

“I didn’t know we had another hangar.” Shiny said. “Hey, if there’s two hangars, why do we have to share one?”

“That is because Hangar Base 123 is a restricted area that I, and by extant you, are not allowed access to.” Thunder explained.

“Why is it restricted?”

“Unclear. I have made attempts to query Alex upon this reasoning of prohibition, but she would only respond with repetitive urgency of that information being classified.”

Shiny blinked.

“She won’t tell me.”

“Ohhhhhh.”

Shiny looked back to where the announcement came from. He began to walk towards that direction, causing confusion within Thunder. He called out to Shiny and followed him.

The two swiftly made it to a giant door with the label “HANGAR BASE 123” painted on it. Shiny observed the door and its surroundings. He noticed a key card slot near the bottom, and saw that the light was green. That means the hangar was unlocked.

“Hey, would you look at that.” Shiny pointed out as he began to open the door.

“Shiny, what are you doing?” Thunder immediately stopped his brother.

“What, I’m just gonna take a quick look to see what’s inside.”

“Did I not inform you twenty three seconds ago that this is a restricted area we are not allowed access to?”

“Well yeah, but Alex left it unlocked.”

“She— She left it unlocked?”

“Yeah. See, look, green button on the keycard slider thing means it’s unlocked.” “That is not the correct terminology, and I am aware of the security color codes. But Alex has strictly told me that I am not allowed in here.”

“Buuuuut she didn’t tell me I’m not allowed in here. So, I’m just gonna—”

Shiny proceeded to open the door and enter the hangar. Thunder, perplexed by Shiny’s foolish action, quickly followed. He attempted to dissuade Shiny while angrily scolding him for defying prohibitions. They didn’t pay attention to the door closing behind them, nor did they notice it locking and another announcement being made.

“Shiny, are you aware of the high likelihood of us being reprimanded for disobeying a clear and strict rule?” Thunder asked.

“We’ll be fine.” Shiny reassured with a chill tone. “It’s just gonna be a quick in-and-out, we won’t even be in here for long.”

“That does not bring me comfort of your asinine violation—”

“Listen, if you’re that worried about us getting trouble: you can just tell Alex you tried to stop me and make me… go… back.”

Shiny stopped in his tracks. Thunder looked at what made his brother stop, and what he saw made his anger subside. Three hallways stood in front of the robots. But that wasn’t what made them freeze in shock. A sign was hung above each hallway. To the left, the sign said: “Rose Robot One”. The middle sign said: “Rose Robot Two”. And finally to the right: “Rose Robot Three”. A third Rose Robot?

“This is… unusual.” Thunder finally spoke. “I was not informed of there being a third Rose Type Guardian Class Robot.”

“Yeah, me neither.When did Alex make a third one of us—” Shiny let out a dramatic gasp. “Holy sweet shiz, what if she’s making us a new brother!? Or a new sister?” “I find it hard to find evidence that supports your hypothesis.”

“Come on, what else could it be?”

“... While I am unaware at the moment of what another possibility could be, this area has been restricted since my first day coming online. And Colonel Creed, along with other EDF members and us, would be made aware if Alex was creating another Rose Type Guardian Class Robot. Nor would there be a reasonable motive since the O.R.T. is now closed.”

“Maybe it’s a surprise.”

“Highly unlikely.”

“Well, come on! Let’s go check it out.”

“Shiny, wait—”

“Thunder, you’re worrying waaaay too much. We’re just gonna have a quick look then we’ll leave. I promise.”

“You have already said that. We need to leave right now.”

“And we will! After we check out our new sibling blueprints.”

If Thunder could, he would have let out a very annoyed sigh. He should be leaving and let Shiny be the sole robot to face consequences. Unfortunately, Thunder was also curious about this third Rose Robot. His logical sensors were being overridden by his desire to investigate this sudden surprise. Eventually he gave in and followed Shiny once more, ceasing the attempts of persuasion this time.

The two walked down the third hallway and into a blue room. There were many blueprints hanging upon the walls, drawn by the hand of a tween Alex. Multiple spare parts laid around, some being labelled “prototype test” or “backup materials”. Notes were neatly written and organized on a corkboard to the right.  It definitely seemed like this room was dedicated to a Rose Robot construction… with everything being completely connected to Thunder.

“This is highly unusual.” Thunder noted.

“Aw man, I thought this would be filled with a new sibling project.” Shiny pouted. “Did we go down the wrong hallway?”

“Negative, we went down hallway Rose Robot Three. And again, you do not have enough evidence to support the construction of a new Rose Type Guardian Class Robot.”

“It still could be! Uh, maybe Alex is borrowing your blueprints. She could be making you a twin. I mean, why would you be in hallway three if you’re the second Rose Robot?”

“I do not think you understand what the word ‘twin’ means, and I remain in my opinion that you are delusional in your belief of a new robot.”

“Sounds like someone is worried about losing the baby brother spot.”

“I am not— Wait, what does that say?”

Thunder in his frustration glanced away from Shiny and caught a framed picture in his metal oxide semiconductor. The picture was of him after his first week of being activated. A freshly turned twelve Alex was standing on a platform next to him. There was a little sign beneath that Thunder wasn’t sure he was processing right. 

“What does what say?” Shiny questioned before spotting the picture. “Oh my gosh, is that you? I didn’t know there were pictures of you.”

“This is a picture of my first week post activation, but…”

“Aww, it’s your baby photo too?”

Thunder didn’t react. That surprised Shiny. That’s when he noticed the little sign.

“What’s this?” Shiny squinted. “‘Robot X-K22, Call Sign: Thunder. The third Rose Type Guardian Class Robot’?”

“But that is impossible.” Thunder said with a low voice. “There are no records within the database of…”

“Thunder?”

Okay, Shiny knew something was definitely wrong for sure. Minus the weird third robot mislabelling. Thunder has never been this confused and speechless before. Never in battles with kaiju, never during repairs, and never during downtime. It almost looked like he was… lost.

“Thunder, buddy?” Shiny called out. “Are you alright?”

Thunder didn’t respond. Oh no.

“H-Hey, we can leave now if you want. I’m sure Alex will still surprise us with a new sibling—”

“I retract my urgent request to depart after a short investigation of this hallway.” Thunder said. “I want to investigate the second hallway.”

“Oh. Uh, are you sure? What about being caught?”

“If you are mocking me, I advise you to cease immediately. If you are being genuine, then I have already accepted we will be caught. There are multiple anomalies upon what we have discovered, and I need confirmation of the truth. Are you going to accompany me or finally choose to listen to my newly retracted request of departure?”

Shiny blinked as Thunder left the room. Now the red robot knew something was absolutely definitely wrong. He knows that Thunder, out of ALL people, would never want to break the rules. Not even willingly. He’d be glitched or hacked if that happened. Or intoxicated by mushrooms. 

Shiny followed Thunder promptly, trying to figure out the change of character. Did Thunder realize something that Shiny isn’t seeing? He shouldn't be glitching. Not with all the heavy maintenance going on this week. The mushrooms? No, those were nowhere near base and destroyed (probably). He’s not actually hacked, is he? That alien spy “Vanessa” better not be hacking him. No one can hack Shiny’s baby brother and get away with it.

Oh, Shiny wishes he just knew. There has to be something he’s not seeing. He just hoped it wasn’t something really bad. And he really hoped it wasn’t so bad that it could be too late at any moment.

Then Thunder stopped which made Shiny stop. They were in a purple room similar to the previous one. Blueprints hung on the wall, now drawn by the hand of a kid Alex. Messing handwriting was inked on every paper hung up. There were spare parts that were unfamiliar to both the robots. Where the corkboard in Thunder’s room was, a giant broken whip handle was mounted instead. Thunder gave Shiny a nudge and pointed to a framed picture.

The two robots slowly came closer to the picture. There was a six year old Alex standing on a platform. Next to her was a giant robot. He held a similar physique to both brothers in build. His colors were a saturated purple accented with light greens. There was a siren light sat upon his head and a green diamond resting in his chest. The top part of his face was a screen while the bottom part was metal. 

And just like Thunder’s picture, there was a little sign underneath.

“Robot X-M47, call sign: Zephyr.” Shiny read out loud, “The second Rose Type Guardian Class Robot? Wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to be the second robot?”

“... No.” Thunder spoke. “I am supposedly not. It would appear it is not a new sibling in the way you thought. But rather… a lost sibling.”

Shiny let out an excited gasp: “Lost sibling? I have two little brothers!?”

“There were two Rose Robots before me?”

“Oh my gosh, I can’t believe I’ve had two little brothers this whole time. Or little sister? I know Zephyr can be a gender-neutral name, so I don’t wanna assume they’re a brother immediately. Oh man, I wonder what they’re like.”

“Why didn’t they tell me there were two robots before me?”

Shiny turned his head to Thunder. He looked heartbroken and confused. Shiny put aside his excitement, and held Thunder’s shoulders while speaking softly.

“Thunder, are you okay?” Shiny asked. “Is something wrong?”

“I was never made aware that there were two Rose Type Guardian Class Robots made before me. Not even that one had existed before me.”

“What are you talking about? You knew about me, didn’t you?”

“Only after you return from your ten year disappearance. After you powered down, I was only briefly explained by the EDF of who you were. They only told me that you were the first robot Alex made before disappearing. I never got a further explanation until a few days passed.”

“Wait a minute, what? You didn’t know who I was until I came back?”

“Affirmative. I was unable to ask questions about your existence at that moment as Alex was preoccupied with reactivating you. You were, as you would say, a complete stranger to me since the beginning of my existence.”

“Woah. Thunder, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know—”

“You do not have to apologize for anything. There is nothing in this situation that calls you at fault, as you did not know of this mystery sibling nor your existence being kept classified. But why would the EDF— Alex not tell me? What reason is there that I was not allowed to know of you or this robot?”

“I’m sure there is some kind of explanation—”

“What are you two doing here?” someone shouted.

Thunder and Shiny turned around. They saw an angry Alex and a tired Creed on the floor. Alex had her arms crossed disappointedly while Creed was catching his breath.

“Alex!” Shiny said nervously. “Hey, uh, this isn’t what it looks like.”

“Didn’t I say that this area is strictly prohibited to you two?” Alex glared.

“Well, you only told Thunder that. And he did try to tell me and stop me. But you know me—”

“I believe we have higher ground to ask you questions.” Thunder interrupted, pointing at the robot in the photo. “More precisely: what is the meaning of this?”

Alex changed from anger to shock. Creed looked away with a whistle.

“Thunder, Shiny, this isn’t what it looks like—”

“So this isn’t a second robot you created but rather an error of mislabel and room placement?” Thunder questioned.

“... Then it is how it looks.” Creed cut in. 

Alex elbowed Creed: “I promise you both, I can explain.”

“Please do.” Thunder tried to hide the anger in his voice.

“The best you can, of course.” Shiny chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. “I mean, I’m sure there’s a good reason you didn’t tell us we had another sibling. Right?”

Oh jeez. This didn’t look good. Shiny could tell Alex was nervous. He really really hoped Alex had a good reason for this.

Alex let out a sigh: “Okay, I may have been keeping a secret from you both.”

“A very obvious fact by now I believe.” Thunder gritted.

Shiny elbowed Thunder.

“I didn’t think you two would come in here.” Alex scolded before taking a deep breath. “Not the point though. The truth is… I did make three Rose Robots.”

“So… we do have a lost sibling?” Shiny questioned.

“He’s not lost. He’s… gone.”

Shiny and Thunder widen their eyes. They both looked back at the picture of the robot.

“That robot,” Alex continued, “is Zephyr. I made him three years after you, Shiny, disappeared into the O.R.T.. Technically, he’s your younger brother and Thunder’s older brother.”

“So he is a brother.” Shiny nodded. 

“He was our robot guardian for two years. Until…”

Alex went quiet. Until what?

Creed stepped in, giving Alex a comforting shoulder pat: “Five years ago, we tried to close the O.R.T. ourselves with our satellites. Alex and the other EDF scientists came up with a plan that should’ve shut it down. Of course, we had Zephyr on standby in case something went wrong. However, the attempt to close it went worse than we could’ve ever thought. Somehow, a new O.R.T. had opened much closer to Earth.

“We were immediately overrun by alien plant-life and strange alien animals. It wasn’t quite kaijus, but they were still making a mess on Earth. Zephyr immediately deployed himself and went to take care of the infestation. But it was starting to get too much for him. We sent in the Big One to try and neutralize the threats. It was a messy fight, and the Big One almost landed in the wrong spot.

“Until Zephyr stepped in to make the ultimate sacrifice. He was able to redirect the Big One towards the new O.R.T. and it went off. Somehow it was able to close it and, to an extent, killed everything that came out. At the price of Zephyr being destroyed in the explosion.”

Shiny let out a small gasp as he covered his mouth. Oh shiz, Zephyr is dead.

“After that incident, we began to build Thunder.” Creed added. “Uh, a few years later of course.”

“Poor Zephyr.” Shiny mourned.

“It was a hard day for everyone. Especially Alex, considering… well, you know.”

“And when I was going to be informed of this?” Thunder asked.

Everyone turned to Thunder. Shiny saw his brother’s confusion replaced with seething anger he was trying desperately to hide.

“What?” Alex questioned.

“That is assuming you were planning to tell me this in the future. Unless the EDF purposely chose to keep this a secret.”

“Thunder, what are you talking about?”

“I find it strange that I was only informed of this second robot after I was dragged in here by Shiny. Along with not even knowing who Shiny was until his return to Earth. What is the reasoning that it took two accidental discoveries for me to learn who Shiny and Zephyr were?”

“Uh, I’m sure there’s another good explanation for that.” Shiny cut in. “Let’s be calm and gentle about how we’re asking though, Thundy.”

“I am being calm and gentle!” Thunder snapped before quickly correcting himself. “Correction: I only wish to know the EDF reasoning of this… being classified towards me.”

“Well, uh, it was to avoid repeating the same mistake a third time.” Creed tried to explain.

“What exactly do you mean ‘repeating the same mistake a third time’? What mistake could have been repeated that the EDF decided it would be a detriment for me having this information?”

“The EDF didn’t decide it.” Alex said. “I did.”

Shiny and Thunder stared at Alex in shock.

“Alex, you don’t have to do this.” Creed offered. “I can explain—”

“No, Creed.” Alex put her hand up. “It’s better if it comes from me. Thunder, I want you to know this is nothing against you. Back when I made Shiny, he was… my greatest creation. Not that you aren’t my greatest creation too.”

“Aww, Alex.” Shiny smiled.

“Proceed, please.” Thunder requested.

“Right. But when Shiny went into the O.R.T., I was devastated. I was so terrified of losing another person to it. So when I made Zephyr, I made some big changes. One of those changes you actually have. The O.R.T.A. protocol.”

“Real quick, can I ask what O.R.T.A. means?” Shiny raised his hand.

“Optical Rheometric Tactilis Avoidance protocol.” Thunder answered. “It is a protocol coded within my systems. If I were to get too close to the O.R.T. and refuse to distance from it, an autopilot would activate and I would immediately return to base. That protocol began with Zephyr?”

“Yes.” Alex confirmed. “I thought it would’ve been enough to keep him away from the O.R.T. so it wouldn’t hurt him. But… then I told him about Shiny.”

“Zephyr knew who Shiny was?”

“Because I didn’t think much about it. I thought it’d be harmless if he knew! But then, sometimes I would catch him watching old recordings of Shiny and try to mimic him.”

Shiny thought of a good joke, but he didn’t feel like it was a good time at all. Alex looked more hurt the more she talked, and Thunder was trying harder to hide his emotions. Humor is not gonna make this room’s energy better.

“Zephyr was still his own person, but he looked up to Shiny as. It’s like he hung the sun in the sky. Then when the new O.R.T. came into the picture, the protocol I made to keep Zephyr safe failed. He did everything he could to be a hero like his big brother. And just like Shiny and my parents… I lost Zephyr to the O.R.T.. And even though Shiny was able to come back, Zephyr is never gonna come back. He was destroyed permanently. 

“I thought if you knew about Shiny and Zephyr, you’d end up getting hurt by the O.R.T. too, and we’d lose another person to it again. I couldn’t risk someone else being destroyed by that… stupid kaiju-sending empire. I only wanted to protect you.”

Shiny turned his head once again to Thunder to read his emotions. Oh wow, there were so many emotions now. Hurt, betrayal, anger, sadness, and confusion all laid within not only his face, but the way he stood perfectly still. Yet he still tried to hide it.

“... I see.” Thunder spoke. “My apologies. I was unaware that I was incapable of withstanding information of predecessors robot models before me. I didn’t realize my processor was suboptimal to handle it.”

“Wh— Thunder, that’s not what I’m saying at all.” Alex said.

“If you will excuse me, I must return to my hangar. I will almost be late to my processor examination. I would not want any damage remaining to have the chance to worsen or become irreparable.”

Thunder departed, ignoring Alex calling out to him and asking him to stop. “Alex?” Shiny spoke out. “I think you should leave Thunder alone for a moment.”

“But I don’t think of him like that. I’ve never had! There’s nothing wrong with his processor—”

“I know, Alex. But… this is a lot of information for Thunder. I think he’s feeling hurt, and we just need to give him time to let this sink in. He’ll be back to his old Thunder self, he just needs a moment to be alone.”

“But—”

“Shiny’s right, Alex.” Creed agreed. “We can talk to Thunder again after he’s calmed down. It’s best to let him cool off and think about everything we told him.”

“... But I don’t want him to think that I thought he wasn’t capable enough to know.”

“I’m sure he just needs to recharge on it.” Shiny comforted. “A good night's sleep should be just what he needs. Then you can talk to him when he comes online again.”

Alex nodded sulkingly. Creed gave her another comforting shoulder pat. The three left the room, the humans returning to the party. Shiny returned to the hangar. He saw Thunder standing in his hangar as the EDF repair crew prepared for the processor examination. His screen face was off.

“Hey, Thunder.” Shiny waved. “Um, listen. If you ever need to talk, I’m always here. I know you probably can’t hear me right now, but… I care about you lil bro. And I want you to know it’s okay to feel like this. I’m not gonna judge you. Take as much time as you need.”

There was no response from Thunder. Maybe he was powered off. Shiny let out a small sigh and began to fall asleep himself.

“I love you, little bro.”

It was 3:55 AM. Thunder and Shiny didn’t realize what time it was nor how much time had passed. They only paid attention to the video logs and memory files. They watched… maybe fourteen videos so far. The two did try to be sparse with picking video logs and memories to watch… But they were still on Zephyr’s first year being active. And yet they, or more so Thunder, felt like that wasn’t enough to know about the deceased robot. And now, they could only watch one more log. “Aw man, why does this thing have a watch limit?” Shiny whined. “And low batteries? How do you even recharge this?”

“I am uncertain.” Thunder admitted. “We will have to attempt to solve this problem later. For now we must solve our current dilemma: what will be the last video log we watch?”

Shiny and Thunder thought for a moment. They both looked at the pile of video logs and memory files they chose. 

“Yeesh, this is gonna be a toughie.” Shiny said. “Hmm… Maybe something that’ll tell us— No, we already watch something like that.”

“We have gained some knowledge and insight of Zephyr.” Thunder stated, bringing up a hologram list. “He was reserved except to those he was familiar with. He was very well loved by the staff of EDF, being a robot they turned to for opinions and mediation. He presented a pleasant personality to humans, but he was able to interchange it when battling kaijus for a battle-ready attitude. He covers his mouth whenever he imitates human noises. He hates upgrade day and news reporters. He loves nature and protecting Earth.”

“... Saying all of that sounds like we know a lot about Zephyr already.”

“But we do not. We have only watched fourteen of the selected video logs and memory files that we have chosen. And that is only out of the 362 video logs and 738 memory files in Zephyr’s box. We cannot get a good grasp of who Zephyr is— was with only fourteen self-chosen logs.”

Shiny looked back at the pile. That was a lot of math he didn’t quite understand, but he knew Thunder was right. Turns out there are a lot more video logs and memory files in two years than Shiny realized. Even thinking of those words started to make him feel sick. They’ve been thought and said too many times.

“There are many possibilities of what video log could give us another clue of who Zephyr was.” Thunder noted. “We cannot choose the wrong one.”

Shiny looked back at Thunder. The older brother couldn’t tell if this was helping his younger brother feel better or making him feel worse. Shiny thought back again to when he and Thunder first met. He was a jerkward, that thought didn’t change. But the dismissive part began to grow into more words.

Thunder wasn’t only dismissive. He wanted nothing to do with Shiny. The blue robot kept trying to do things alone most of the time. He wasn’t interested in a new brother at all. He would snap at and disregard Shiny for only trying to help. And again, Thunder did grow out of that. But now… he’s acting like he needs to know who Zephyr is. Like if he doesn’t figure it out, he’ll malfunction.

Shiny’s beginning to wonder why Thunder cares about this so much. Maybe from a little jealousy because Thunder is actively trying to know about his other older brother. Shiny didn’t get that same treatment, but that’s not the point. It was mainly out of concern. He couldn’t tell what was running through Thunder’s head right now, and that was scary. 

“... Or maybe we don’t need a video log to tell us about who he is.” Thunder said. “Not if he’s still active.”

Okay, yeah no. Alarms are going off. Wee-woo, wee-woo. Shiny needs to be the responsible one and reign Thunder back to reality. 

“Uh, Thunder?” Shiny spoke up. “What do you mean still active? Didn’t Creed tell us that Zephyr died in the explosion that closed the second O.R.T.?”

“You and I have faced far worse damage than an explosion from the Big One.” Thunder explained as he dug through Zephyr’s log box. “Zephyr is made from your blueprints and shares some of my features. There is no possible explanation for his termination, but there is one explanation of why he was assumed terminated.”

Shiny’s eyes widen: “Thunder, you’re not thinking—”

“Shiny, you traveled through the O.R.T. before and came back. Albeit you still exhibit amnesia, you were able to survive traveling through it. Plus you entered it before you received upgrades from Dr. Rose and Dr. Rose. If you could enter and leave mostly unscathed, what reason is there to not believe the same for Zephyr?”

“Yeah, but I didn’t have an autopilot protocol like you and Zephyr did! Wouldn’t it have made him go back to the base if he got too close?”

“Not unless he was caught in the explosion or Alex bypassed the O.R.T.A. protocol. And again, the explosion logically shouldn’t have destroyed him.”

“Why would Alex bypass the O.R.T.A protocol?”

“I don’t know, Shiny! I can’t find the logic in her bypassing a protocol she made out of fear. I can’t find the logic of Zephyr being destroyed by the explosion. I can’t find the logic of why Alex would never tell me about—”

Thunder stopped himself. Shiny stared at his little brother in shock and pity.

“I think we need to take a break.” Shiny suggested.

“Negative.” Thunder disagreed. “I apologize for my outburst, Shiny. I did not mean to yell at you. I… I only want to watch one more video log while we still can.”

“Thunder, I don’t mean this to be mean, but you’re not looking good man. You look upset. If this stuff is making you feel sad—”

“I’m not sad. Please, Shiny. Just one more video log. Then I will cease my investigation for the day.”

Shiny looked at Thunder in the eyes. He had a puppy-eye look on his face that Shiny folded into immediately. He knew this was a bad idea, but look at his baby brother! Others would have folded in too.

“Alright, alright, fine.” Shiny agreed. “You’re lucky you have the cutest puppy-eye look. What log do you want to watch?”

Thunder pulled out a video log and showed it to Shiny. It didn’t have a number on it, but it did have a title. One that made Shiny regret folding into Thunder’s puppy-eyes.

“Thunder, that says: Zephyr’s Termination.”

“Correct.”

“Are you sure you want Zephyr's death to be the last video log?”

“Presumed death. I reiterate you survived entering the O.R.T., so Zephyr could have as well.”

“I’m just saying, this feels like a morbid way to finish our sibling history lesson with his death.”

“Shiny.”

“Alright, alright, we’ll watch it. But I just want to make sure you really wanna watch this one.”

“Yes, I really want to watch this one.”

And so, the video log was put into the projector. The time was 4:00 AM.

— — — — —

[Date: 09/22/{ERROR}]

[Time: 07:00]

[Zephyr_Termination]

The EDF were preparing to set up their satellites for plan “Close O.R.T.” happening soon. The organization accidentally stumbled upon an unknown code after a kaiju battle, and immediately recognized it had something to do with the O.R.T.. It’d been a nonstop working cycle since then to get it closed. Alex and the scientists of EDF have been working on this plan for a good few months now.

They were all just finishing inputting the codes, and Alex was going over it with Zephyr. Both were in the hangar with Alex and Creed on the hover craft. She looked tired but excited, but Zephyr seemed displeased with the idea. He made many attempts to talk to Alex about this already, and he was about to try again.

“Alex, can we talk please?” Zephyr began. “I don’t think we should—”

“Zephyr, we talked about this a gazillion times.” Alex groaned. “I’m not postponing the O.R.T. closure date.”

“Alex, I’m suggesting that out of care and concern. You haven’t been the same since you discovered that code. Not to mention a few months isn’t enough time to actually study and discover what this code does—”

“We know enough about it that we can use it to end our problems forever.”

“How certain are you that this is gonna close it?”

“I am one hundred percent certain it will close it, Zephyr. We’ve studied and reran it enough to know this will work.”

“Based on what data? Simulations? Because simulations do not always follow real life—”

“Zephyr, do you know who I am?”

Zephyr flinched in surprise.

“You… You are Alexandra Rose. Head of the EDF—”

“Exactly! I am Alexandra Rose, head of the EDF and the youngest genius in existence. I think I know what I’m doing. I made you, didn’t I?”

Zephyr looked confused and offended.

“Alex, you know that I never argue against you unless I deem it necessary.” Zephyr said. “And right now, I think you need someone to tell you that this is a bad idea.”

“This!? Closing the O.R.T. is a bad idea?”

“Maybe we should calm down—” Creed tried to interrupt.

“You’re trying to close it with a code we still don’t understand.” Zephyr stated. “We found it by accident and found out it was connected to the O.R.T. by accident. And ever since then, you’ve been acting like… forgive me for what I’m about to say, but like a workaholic who explodes in anger if even the tiniest mistake is made. You’re overpushing yourself, and you’re overworking every EDF member here. I am lucky enough to need less time to rest, but you all aren’t. Every single person here is a human being who needs to eat, drink, and sleep. Including you.”

“It’s gonna work!” Alex snapped back. “Would you stop worrying so much? It’s not like you’re gonna be outside with us when it closes.” “... What do you mean outside?”

“You still have the O.R.T.A protocol activated, Zephyr. If you’re close by while we close it, your systems could start glitching. I and other EDF members will be outside to monitor the process while you and Creed are inside the base.”

“You’re going to be outside to close it?”

“Duh.”

“Duh? Duh? There is no ‘duh’, you didn’t tell me you were gonna be outside.”

“You didn’t tell him?” Creed questioned.

“Why does he need to know?” Alex asked.

“Alex, something can still go wrong. If Zephyr thought you were in the base, he wouldn’t realize it until we had to deploy him for emergencies.”

“Oh come on, Creed. The possibility of something going wrong is miniscule.”

“You’re being an overprotective hypocrite.” Zephyr spoke out.

Everyone in the room froze, and Alex turned to Zephyr appalled. He, on the other hand, looked upset.

“What did you just say?” Alex asked.

“You are being an overprotective hypocrite.” Zephyr reaffirmed. “How many times have you told me to never go to the O.R.T.? How many times did you remind me of the O.R.T.A. protocol? How many times have you used an autopilot protocol anyway because you thought I was going to deactivate? You won’t even let me be outside on the Earth’s surface that is miles away from the O.R.T.. Yet you are allowed to be outside to close it?”

“I already said the protocol could cause you to glitch! That’s why you can’t be outside. I need to be outside to monitor it with the other EDF members.”

“And you can’t do that from inside the base? You have to be outside?”

“We get better frequency outside.”

“We are in a government facility, that isn’t enough frequency for you?”

“You are blowing this out of proportion, Zephyr. How many times do I have to tell you it’s gonna be fine? Is your processor broken?”

“My processor? I’m the only one who realizes this is a bad idea and trying to tell you that, but I’m the one with a broken processor?”

“I made you to protect the Earth, not be a wetblanket babysitter.”

“You created me to protect every citizen of Earth, and last I recall: that includes you. You may be head of the EDF, but you are still a human being. Yet you want me to make you the exception? Why would I make you of all people an exception?”

“I can handle myself!” “You don’t have to, Alex! Creed is here to help. I’m here to help!”

“I know how to defend myself, Zephyr!”

“This isn’t about defending yourself!”

“Then what is it about?”

“You’re reacting purely on your emotions! Please listen to me, you are not acting rationally. You start getting jumpy or snappy or even both whenever I’m hurt. You always wave it away as concern, even when I get the tiniest of scratch. But that isn’t your brain speaking, that is your emotions speaking. You are not thinking clearly. You never think clearly when it involves my injuries or the O.R.T.. You act like I’m gonna disappear or go into the O.R.T. on—”

“You’re not going anywhere near the O.R.T. Shiny!”

Zephyr froze. Alex covered her mouth. Everyone but Creed looked away from the two. 

Alex took a deep breath, still looking angry: “Zephyr, you are a Rose Type Guardian Class Robot. I made you to protect Earth. You are not a scientist or an engineer who can question me and my decisions. You are just a robot. You don’t understand anything besides what you were programmed to. You are Robot X-M47, not another Shiny.”

“... Alex—”

“You’re staying in here and that’s final! You’re not going outside!”

Alex flew off with the hover craft, Creed holding on for his life. Zephyr only watched, not saying a word. He looked hurt and sad. He was trying to calculate what he said wrong. Then he tried to calculate if his processor really was broken.

{ERROR:FASTFORWARD>>>}

The EDF was in the middle of the O.R.T. closing process. Creed was inside the base with his side of the EDF staff, monitoring the O.R.T. energy signatures and possible incoming kaijus. Alex was outside with the other EDF staff with the equipment set up. Alex still seemed a little upset since the fight with Zephyr, clutching Squishy close to her chest.

“Creed, we’re almost done with our side.” Alex informed. “Any incoming kaijus?”

“Negative, Dr. Rose.” Creed replied. “But we still have Zephyr on standby and ready to launch. He is currently watching the scene from the hangar.”

“You gave him access to the cameras? Creed, what the heck!”

“I know you’re mad at Zephyr right now, but that doesn’t mean I have to bench him in case of emergencies.”

“Letting him see that I was right is part of not benching him?”

“You do know it was wrong to not tell him, right?”

“Are you seriously taking his side right now?”

“You gotta admit, he has a point. You’ve talked to him a lot about not going near the O.R.T., and now you’re outside while he isn’t allowed to leave. Of course he’s gonna think this is unfair. The EDF and I all know you’re worried, and I know especially you don’t want a repeat of Shiny.”

“What’s your point?”

“You need to ease up on the bot. You keep treating him like he’s gonna run off to the O.R.T. without permission. Sure, he could’ve worded himself better. You probably could’ve too.”

“What was that?”

“What I mean is: he’s worried about you as much as you’re worried about him.”

“Let me guess, he told you that?”

“... Zephyr hasn’t talked since your fight.”

Alex stopped in her tracks. Hasn’t talked? That’s not normal for him.

“He’s been replaying the argument over and over. I’ve been watching him on his monitor screen. He’s trying to pinpoint every mistake he made, nitpicking every word he used, and running multiple self-diagnoses.”

“Why would he do that?” Alex asked.

“Well, that is part of the calculation code in the responsibility part. He’s been using his calculations to try and figure out how to respond to certain conversations since his first real kaiju battle. Right now, it looks like he regrets how he expressed himself.”

“... You got all that from his monitors?”

“I know I’m not a super genius or understand this technology stuff like you do, but I know regret and guilt when I see it. From the way I see it, he wants to apologize. And I think you should apologize too.”

“But I didn’t—”

“Young lady, you have to recognize that you said hurtful things too. Not to mention, you really are being a little unfair to Zephyr about this. Will you just try to talk to him after we close the O.R.T.?”

“... Fine. I’ll talk to him. But just so you know: I’m only mad at him. I don’t hate him.”

“I know you don’t, Alex.”

An error message began to show on Alex’s monitor. She looked confused, typing in a few codes to get rid of the error. But that didn’t work. More error messages began to show up. The machine began to glitch and spout small electric bolts. Alex backed up and looked around. Everyone is having the same problem as her. 

That’s when the emergency alarm went off. The winds blew harshly and the sky turned dark. A strange energy began to pop in and out of existence not too far from the EDF members and Alex.

“Alex, we’re getting two O.R.T. energy signatures!” Creed said over the comms. “What’s going on out there?”

Within a few seconds, a new O.R.T. appeared in front of Alex and her team. Strange plants began to grow out, and weird animals ran out. The team began to scream and scatter as the new alien invaders began to cause destruction.

“Creed, I think we opened a new O.R.T..” Alex said, trying to figure out how this is happening.

“Alex, get back to the base immediately.” Creed ordered. “Team, deploy Zephyr— What do you mean he’s already gone?”

One of the creatures almost pounced on Alex until it was shot out of the way. Zephyr landed and immediately began to act.

“EDF staff, retreat to the vans immediately.” Zephyr ordered.

Rescue vans pulled in shortly after, and the EDF members began making their way to them. Except for Alex. She watched her robot shoot at every creature that came out. Some of them ran at him, and he quickly jumped to dodge. When he landed, he pulled out his spear. A creature ran at him again, and he stabbed it. He lifted it up into the air and tossed it at a group of creatures.

“Alex, this was not a suggestion!” Creed spoke through the comms. “Get back to the base right now! It’s not safe! These aren’t anything like the kaijus we’ve faced. These are… something entirely new!”

One the plants wrapped around Zephyr’s leg as he continued to shoot at the creatures. It tightened its grip and pulled Zephyr to the ground. It grabbed all of his limbs and started to pull him towards the new O.R.T. along with the other broken equipment. Alex watched as Zephyr struggled to cut the plant. He activated the rockets on his feet, attempting to either burn the plants or get enough force to break free. The plants lit aflame, and Zephyr broke away. He was airborne for a second before stumbling to the ground. 

Alex saw Zephyr’s face screen begin to glitch. His entire body was shaking, but he still got back up. Another creature ran into him, but he held it back as best he could. He headbutted the creature and pushed it back. He tried to get distance from the new O.R.T., but everything that came out of it kept pushing him towards it. The glitch in his screen only got worse with every step closer to the new portal.

“Zephyr’s getting hurt!” Alex cried out. She ignored Creed’s pleas and demands to join the rest of her team, running towards her robot creation. “Zephyr! Get out of there! You’re gonna glitch—”

One of the creatures let out a screech and swooped at Alex. It didn’t grab her, but it got a good scratch on her arm. She let out a pained scream as she clutched her arm. Some of her blood spilt on Squishy.

It was that scream that caught Zephyr’s attention. He turned his head to see the injured Alex. She was huddling and crying on the ground. Zephyr widened his digital eyes, realizing Alex was in deep trouble. He tried to calculate what to do. He had to protect Alex, protect the escaping EDF members, fend off the alien creatures, try to keep the plants from dragging him away, and keep a distance to not accidentally activate his O.R.T.A. protocol. His calculation protocol kept thinking and rethinking of ideas, having trouble settling for one. For the first time since activation: Zephyr was panicked and didn’t know what to do.

“Alex!” Zephyr shouted. “Get out of here!”

A creature shoved a claw into Zephyr’s chest and ripped the metal plating out. He stabbed the creature with his spear and pushed it away. His power source was exposed.

“Zephyr!” Alex cried. “Go back home, please! You can’t take any more of this!”

The sound of a plane echoed throughout the chaos. Zephyr looked up and saw a plane going down and an EDF pilot parachuting out of it. He saw the Big One heading towards a city, and the stupidest idea came into his processor. He traded out his spear for his whip, and he started running towards Alex. He activated a button and turned his whip into a lasso, waving it around. He did everything he could to dodge all the creatures and plants trying to ambush him. He barely grabbed the Big One just in time, but he got a hold off it. He started to steer it towards the new O.R.T.. When he got it where it wanted, he let go of the bomb.

“Alex, watch out!” Zephyr shouted, moving Alex out of the way with his hand.

Squishy got caught in Zephyr’s hand as Alex was rolled out of the way. Zephyr looked up and saw the Big One mere seconds from his body. It hit him but carried him all the way to the new O.R.T.. He dropped his whip as the Big One went off.

The explosion was unlike any ever seen before. Alex covered her head as the sound and dust traveled violently across the land. The new O.R.T. began to collapse on itself until there was nothing there. All of the remaining creatures and plants that came out dropped dead to the ground. When all seemed settled, Alex uncovered her head.

She saw multiple corpses of dead alien monsters and wilted space plants. She looked around calling out for Zephyr. She couldn’t hear anything but a loud ringing in her ear, but she still called out to her robot. She couldn’t see him. There were pieces of him scattered about from the fight. Then she saw the now broken whip handle laying on the ground, emulating small sparks of electricity.

Her heart sank and her breath became heavy. She tried to get up, struggling to stand. She screamed and cried for Zephyr to come out. That she was sorry. That she should have never said those words to him, and that she didn’t mean it. She was wrong. She wasn’t mad anymore. She didn’t hate him. Just please come out.

Alex felt someone grab her, and she immediately struggled. She kicked and yelled to be let go. The pain finally set in, but she didn’t care. She wanted Zephyr. She cried harder as her body grew tired. She stopped struggling and fell into whoever was holding her. 

Finally, she heard a voice: “I’m sorry, Alex. Zephyr is gone.”

— — — — —

The time is 4:30 AM. The projector died. Shiny and Thunder stared at the blank wall once holding the video log. Silence was the only sound in that room.

Shiny was shocked yet sad. He didn’t realize that Alex and Zephyr had a fight before his death. That’s the worst last conversation to have with someone you care about. Then he still tried to protect Alex, and she was worried about him going offline. But despite his panic, he was still able to close the new O.R.T. and save her and the EDF team… Zephyr sacrificed himself and died a hero.

Poor guy. Shiny knows he only knows so much about his first little brother, but it didn’t push away the sadness inside. Shiny wondered what it would’ve been like if it didn’t end that way. Of course, he would still call Zephyr his little brother. But it still wandered in the red robot’s head of what could’ve been. Most of all though, he wished Zephyr could’ve seen that they were able to close the O.R.T.. Just like he did. He’d be proud and happy, Shiny thought.

Thunder, on the other hand, still didn’t know how to react. He thought learning more about Zephyr would’ve… fixed whatever was wrong with him. The blue bot thought if he gathered more information, he would make sense of this illogical glitch within his system. But everything he learned did not fix the glitch, rather it made it worse. He thought that perhaps seeing how Zephyr was terminated would finally get rid of this glitch. But it didn’t. His glitch felt like it turned into a system failure.

“... I think I’m broken.” Thunder broke the silence.

Shiny immediately turned to Thunder: “What? Wait— What’s wrong? What do you mean you’re broken? Why didn’t you say anything earlier?”

“Because I thought learning about Zephyr would fix it.”

Shiny’s eyes widened. Thunder’s expression and body language showed that he was hurt, confused, and… heartbroken. Shiny grabbed his little brother’s hand. Thunder leaned his head on his older brother’s shoulder.

“Thunder, you can talk to me.” Shiny spoke gently. “If something is wrong, I’ll help you. You just gotta tell me.”

“... You are more emotional than I am.”

“Okay, not what I was expecting or wanting to hear.”

“I don’t mean that by your immaturity. Despite being a quasi-sentient being with only simulations of emotions and feelings, you… seem to handle them like a fully sentient being. You are more in tune with your emotional reaction. You don’t have trouble expressing how you feel both physically and verbally. But… I do not have the same level of emotional reaction as you.

“While you have the ability to regulate your emotional reactions, my regulation is not as strong. I know I have repeatedly said that we cannot feel emotions since we are robots. Everything that is ‘felt’ is only a simulation input into my code. None of it is truly real, yet…”

“Yet?”

“Ever since the discovery of you and Zephyr, my emotion regulator has been glitching. With learning about you, I thought it was a minor glitch that went away. I had trouble managing my emotions and stress until I found a way to fix it. When I discovered that Zephyr also existed though, it was made clear the glitch never went away. Then knowing the EDF, or more specifically Alex, chose to keep you both a secret from me… the glitch had become some kind of anomaly system failure. I attempted to fix it myself, but nothing I was doing was working.

“I don’t understand what the error is. I am very aware every feeling and emotion is only a simulation code. Nothing I ‘feel’ is real. Yet… every emotion I am experiencing feels real to me. And I don’t know why.”

Shiny thought back to what Thunder said before they came in here.

“I still require your assistance. There may be other obstacles I may not be able to overcome on my own.”

Shiny realized what Thunder actually meant now.

Shiny pulled his little brother in a side-hug: “Do you think you can explain those emotions to me? I know I’m not as smart as you, but maybe we could figure out what this glitch is together.”

Thunder didn’t move, but he did speak, “It was different between learning about you and learning about Zephyr. When I first learned of your existence, I felt… angry and annoyed. When I got very little information about you, I was upset and felt purposely left in the unknown. Having you join me in kaiju battle only worsened my agitation, but I knew my opinion would be unheard. With Alex and Creed being adamant you should be in the field, although for different reasons, my opposition would have been voided.

“Yet I still attempted to voice my dislike of the idea. And as I predicted, my opinion was overruled. Shortly after your G.R.I.T.S. session is when I discovered the glitch. I attempted to find a solution, but neither Alex or the EDF could find an error. I thought I would have issues with my emotion regulator until termination, and I was frustrated… and admittedly I blamed you for my mysterious glitch.

“That is not to say I still hold those same feelings toward you. I learned to realize you were not the cause but instead something else was. I have grown fond of you during our time together… as brothers.”

“Aw, I’m fond of you too lil bro.” Shiny smiled. “And I appreciate you telling me that. But let’s get back to that glitch.”

“Of course.” Thunder nodded. “As I got more adjusted to your existence, I found a way to manage the glitch. I had assumed it disappeared since it didn’t appear as frequently as it used to. Until it came back.”

“When did it come back?”

“The day you insisted on investigating Hangar Base 123. After discovering I was the third Rose Robot and Zephyr was the Rose Robot before me, the glitch came back. It exhibited the same anger I felt when it first came. But I wasn’t annoyed this time, I felt… sadness. I was upset learning both of your existence was purposely hidden. Then without warning, I felt my emotion regulator begin to shut down. It was still active on the monitors, but it did not seem like that. While on the outside I barely responded, there was, figuratively, a hurricane of negativity inside me.

“I tried to get rid of it the way I did before, but it wasn’t working. I thought learning about Zephyr would make it go away. As getting to know you helped with lessen the glitch, I assumed it would work again. But as you can see with this failure of an investigation, it did not work either. And once again, there was no known error the EDF could find.”

“Did you talk to Alex about it?”

“... Negative. I’m unsure why, but I was unable to properly communicate with her. Despite knowing it was detrimental to not talk to her and went against my protocol, it became difficult to discuss anything with her. I’m aware that I’m being unnecessarily difficult. I acted as if I had system failures when there weren’t any detected. I believe some of the words used to describe my behavior were: ‘annoying drama-queen’ and ‘difficult brat’.”

“Whu-Why would you use those words?”

“My audial sensors were not affected, Shiny. I am fully aware of the EDF’s opinion of my unreasonable behavior within the past few days. While it is unpleasant, they are not wrong with their description.”

“You can’t just agree with them!”

“Why not? Is there any error with their reasoning?”

“Of course there is! Maybe you are being a little difficult, but you aren’t being annoying or dramatic or a brat.”

“... Please explain.”

“Thunder, were you upset that you were never supposed to learn about Zephyr?”

“Yes.”

“Were you upset you learned about me only after I came back?”

“Yes.”

“Were you upset that it took me coming back and us exploring a restricted area to know you had two older brothers?”

“Prototypes, but yes. Is there a point to this battery of questions?”

“Absolutely. Were you upset we were both purposely kept a secret?”

“Yes.”

“Were you upset that it was Alex who made that decision?”

“Yes, but—”

“Were you upset that she made you feel like you couldn’t handle knowing about us because you would end up at the O.R.T.?”

“Yes, but that is not logical—”

“Ah-ha! There it is. The problem causing your ‘glitch’.”

Thunder looked at Shiny confused and slightly annoyed: “Would you please explain? Without a battery of questions?”

“Thunder, it’s not a glitch.” Shiny explained.

“What?”

“Your emotion regulator thingy isn’t glitching or having a system failure. It sounds like it’s actually working fine to me.”

“Shiny, you are starting to make me nervous. What do you mean it isn’t glitching? What other possible explanation is there?”

“You’re hurting.”

Thunder blinked. He didn’t respond.

“And I don’t mean the kind of hurt the EDF can repair easily.” Shiny clarified. “The emotional kind of hurt. A very deep emotional kind of hurt. I’ll be honest, I knew that’s what was happening this whole time.”

“You knew that and didn’t inform me?” Thunder questioned.

“I thought you knew as well! I didn’t bring it up because usually you wait for the other person to open up about it. That’s why I’ve been offering to listen to your problems and hang out with you these past few days.”

“... I suppose that is logical. Continue, please. What is this ‘hurt’ feeling I am currently experiencing?”

“Uhh… Well, you’re kinda the only one who can truly answer that. I can make guesses, but I can’t pinpoint where you’re hurting.”

“I am having trouble pinpointing where in my emotion regulator I’m ‘hurting’ myself. Could you guess for me please?”

“Oh— Yeah, I can do that if you think that’ll help.”

“Affirmative.”

Shiny thought back to everything. From first meeting Thunder to all of the kaiju battles. From their merging and closing the O.R.T. to the discovery of Zephyr. The foggy pattern Shiny once had trouble seeing became clearer than freshly cleaned windows.

“I think you’re hurt because you were left in the dark. You felt like you weren’t allowed to know anything, and the reason why was unfair. Because Zephyr and I disappeared into the O.R.T., everyone else thought you would do the same. It sounded like you were told you would’ve acted irrationally if you knew we both existed. Like you’d follow us in our footsteps, so they didn’t tell you. Then when you did learn about us, you felt betrayed. An angry betrayal with me and sad betrayal with Zephyr.

“Angry betrayal with me because you had your life flipped upside down. You had to adjust to not being the only robot, and everyone expected you to be okay with it. Sad betrayal with Zephyr because… well he’s gone. You never got to know him like you got to know me. And everyone was, again, expecting you to be okay with it. But how could you be? You had two older brothers, and no one trusted you to know that.

“Everyone was expecting you to accept it, but you couldn’t. Because no one would talk to you and no one would listen. Maybe you feel hurt because you feel ignored. And that’s not something you can just logic or maintenance repair away.”

Thunder became silent again. Shiny started to panic, worried he either said something wrong or overstepped.

“Again, this is just me guess—”

Thunder interrupted Shiny by pulling him into a full hug. While surprised, he embraced the hug and hugged his little brother tight.

“Will this hurt ever go away?” Thunder asked.

“I don’t think it will.” Shiny answered honestly. “It’s one of those things where it comes and goes.”

“That is suboptimal.”

“Yeah, it is. But hey. In my opinion, you get through it better with family. I’ve had my fair share of feeling hurt moments, and I always find it easing up when I talk with you. Even if it’s an argument, you really help me sort through my hurt feelings.”

“You have moments of feeling hurt?”

“Of course I do. It happens to everyone, even bots like us. Even if it’s a… uh…”

“Simulation.”

“Yes! Even if it’s that, we still feel stuff.”

“... Thank you, Shiny. This has… helped me better understand my emotion regulator.”

“Any time, big lil bro.”

“Thunder? Shiny?” A voice called out.

Thunder and Shiny turned their heads to see Alex and Creed standing at the lecture room’s doorway. The two brothers immediately pushed each other away and straightened up.

“Alex!” Shiny chuckled nervously. “Hey, fancy seeing you here. I can explain—”

“It was my idea.” Thunder admitted. “I had woken up Shiny at midnight—”

“Oh, so now you admit you woke me up?”

“Shush. I was trying to find out how to learn more about Zephyr, and we came upon this lecture room that held his video logs and memory files. I had Shiny accompany me because I wanted his assistance.”

“You guys aren’t in trouble.” Alex said.

“We aren’t?” Shiny and Thunder asked.

“Thunder, I want to apologize to you.”

Thunder blinked in surprise, “That is not necessary, Alex. If anyone, I should be apologizing for my unnecessary defiance towards you.”

“You don’t have to apologize, Thunder. I overheard you and Shiny talking. I’m sorry that I made you feel like you were being ignored. I should have never kept Shiny and Zephyr a secret from you. I was so worried about you getting hurt, I didn’t realize that I was hurting you in the process. Even if I just wanted to protect you from the O.R.T., that doesn’t change how my actions made you feel. You deserve to know these kinds of things, and I promise I will be more open about any Rose Robots.”

“... Will be?”

“Please don’t tell me that tone and phrasing came from one of Zephyr’s logs.”

“We have watched fifteen of his video logs and memory files in total. It is a tone and phrasing I noticed quite frequently. Specifically in moments of you making promises.”

“Of course you did. Okay, how about this? I will try to be more open about any Rose Robots?”

“That sounds more optimal. And… I would like to hear more about Zephyr from you if you are willing.”

Alex gave the two robots a smile, “Of course. But first, let’s get back to the hangar. We still have a scheduled maintenance repair to follow.”

“Then we can have a storytime about Zephyr?” Shiny asked excitedly.

Alex let out a laugh: “Yes, then we can have a storytime about Zephyr.”

“Affirmative.” Thunder said, standing up. “Let us get back to the hangars.”

Shiny looked at Thunder. He was slowly starting to get back to his old Thunder self, and that made Shiny happy. He was glad that they did this. And he was glad Thunder felt safe enough to talk about his feelings with his older brother. Though hopefully next there won’t be anybody eavesdropping.

“By the way, how did you two find this room?” Creed asked. “We have a strict security route at night, and this room has an extremely difficult password system we change every month.”

Thunder covered Shiny’s mouth: “That is classified information locked behind a ‘brother code’.”

“Really? After the whole keeping your brothers a secret escapade, you’re gonna pull that?”

“Let them have this, Creed.” Alex said. “We kinda deserve it anyways.”

“But—”

“Creed, how rare is it for Thunder to use the word ‘brother’ like that? We’re just gonna let it go for now.”

“Alright, fine. But I will find out one way or another.”

Alex and Creed began to walk towards the hangar. Thunder and Shiny followed, but from a distance to have a private conversation.

“Why didn’t you tell them about Zephyr’s invisible ink graffiti?” Shiny whispered.

“Zephyr had worked hard to keep his ‘graffiti’ hidden from the EDF staff, Creed, and Alex.” Thunder explained. “I thought it would be best to respect his wishes and keep it hidden for him.”

“You sneaky weirdo. Told you you have a secret soft side.”

“I have no idea what you are referring to.”

Yep, old Thunder is definitely coming back.

“Sure you don’t.” Shiny smirked before remembering something. “Oh, that reminds me: do you actually think Zephyr is still alive?”

“While I still find anomalies with the Big One bringing his destruction, I may have admittedly been acting from delusion. Looking at the video log, I had assumed he would have had enough time for the O.R.T.A. protocol to activate.”

“Huh, that is a good point. Hey, if he is alive and did make it through that second O.R.T., where do you think he went?”

“Unsure. We don’t know where you went, so there isn’t a location we can truly estimate."

“Yeah, that’s fair.”

— — — — —

On another planet far from the milky way, a campsite was set up in jungle terrain. The camp was filled with Kalaxian Empire soldiers who had one mission: capture the Metallic Plant Monster. For the strange greenhouse mechanoid held the most dangerous yet powerful artifact within its chest. The Kaiju Bloodgem. The camp’s leader, Overlord Admiral, was speaking to Supreme Emperor Tarn, ruler of the Kalaxian Empire. 

“Speak, Admiral.” Emperor Tarn commanded. “What is the progress of Metallic Plant Monster’s capture?”

“Sir, we had another close capture today.” Overlord Admiral informed. “My soldiers were able to catch the creature off guard and subdue it. We attempted to harvest the Kaiju Bloodgem, but the monster grew more vines from its chest cavity—”

Emperor Tarn clutched his hand on his arm rest, leaving scratches: “You attempted to do what?”

“M-My liege, I do not mean to insult or question your orders. I had thought if we removed the Kaiju Bloodgem from its chest, it would be easier to capture it!”

“Overlord Admiral, I have had these conversations with every higher up by now. I care not if you think taking the gem will make him easier to capture. The Kaiju Bloodgem is his power source. If it's removed from his chest, he will be nothing but a corpse. I want that Mechanoid of a Plant Ecosystem alive. Unless you can find a way to replace the Kaiju Bloodgem or have quick enough ships to return him to me, I advise you to leave the gem in his chest upon capture. Do I make myself clear?”

“O-Of course, Supreme Emperor Tarn. I will not let you down.”

“Good. And be weary, Admiral. The pathetic resistant robot and his brother found a way to close the O.R.T. on Earth. Who knows what their next move will be.”

Emperor Tarn ended the transmission, and Overlord Admiral let out a breath of relief. What he didn’t know was that there was a kaiju outside listening to the conversation. 

“Earth closed the portal from the empire?” She gasped. She quickly flew away and deep into the woods.

The kaiju traveled deep, reaching a ruined temple where other kaijus resided. Hidden in the dark was a pair of green eyes with a purple glow below it. The green eyes looked tired though, as if he was just about to rest.

“Axtric?” The green eyed creature spoke. “What’s wrong? Are you alright?”

“The portal has been closed on Earth.” Axtric told the creature. “It’s gone.”

“It is? How?”

“It would seem the resistance had sent two mechanoid brothers on Earth. I’m not sure how the mechanoids did it, but that is what the empire’s emperor said.”

“... So Earth will be alright?”

“Not for long. This is the first time one of the empire’s portals was closed. It will become a target soon.”

The green eyes turned sad. His head turned away.

Axtric stepped closer to the creature: “Look at me, my friend. You mustn’t forget what I promised you. You have done so well so far keeping the Kaiju Bloodgem safe. If you choose to return to Earth, you will still be continuing your trial.”

“But I won’t remember I’m doing the trial.”

“With or without your memory, I know you will prove worthy to the gem. You are correct though. Once you return to Earth, all of your memories regarding it and us will be locked away. That is something we have all accepted by now.”

“It wouldn’t be trouble for you and the others to open another O.R.T.?”

“Of course not. And I can assure you it won’t be like the last time it opened.”

“... If I did go back to Earth, would you be alright leaving me a message? Just so I’m not completely lost.”

“Of course, my friend. Is there a place you would want me to store it?”

The creature reached inside his open chest and pulled something out. Out in the light, a vine-like purple hand presented itself to the kaiju. He held out a worn-out blue squid plush to the kaiju.

“I think this would be the best place to hide it.”

“The strange plush?”

It was very strange to travel through the O.R.T. for Thunder. His programs felt as if they were scattered about and trying to reorganize themselves. He stumbled a bit and tried to regulate his systems. This was not a travel experience he was used to. If he were human, he most likely would describe this as a simulation of "nausea". Shiny, on the other hand, didn’t have it as bad. He only shook his head and was fine right after. Maybe because he technically went through the O.R.T. twice before. “You okay, Thunder?” Shiny asked.

“I am merely readjusting myself.” Thunder said before he stopped wobbling. “It would appear we have arrived.”

Shiny and Thunder looked at their surroundings. They ended up in a jungle-like forest. There were trees, flowers, and bushes that resemble the plantlife on Earth. But they look nothing like the plants the brothers are used to. There wasn’t an ounce of green. Everything was multiple shades of blue, purple, and pink. A few of them were even glowing.

“Wow.” Shiny chuckled nervously. “Talk about a jungle planet. I’m surprised we’re on the ground instead of falling from the sky. You think Zephyr had this luck?”

“I cannot say for certain, but I do think he has been here before.” Thunder said, pointing at a metal chunk by a flower bed.

The two went closer to the bed, stepping carefully as they did. When they got close enough, they were able to get a good look at the metal chunk. It was an extremely rusted green armor plating. One that looked like it could’ve been part of an arm.

Thunder and Shiny looked at each other. They turned back to see if there was anything else. They saw more rusted metal parts spread out around them. Then they spotted a tiny path of metal parts and broken wires. Some of the wires looked like they were either pulled off or cut off. The two followed the path, leading them to a cliffside.

The view revealed an endless ocean of jungle trees and a dark cyan sky. A few kaijus were flying through, each looking like various bugs. One that looked like a mutant dragonfly flew towards and over the brothers.

“Woah.” Shiny gasped. “Really talk about a jungle planet. I don’t think I can see any water. Just… a bunch of trees.”

“A very obvious statement.” Thunder commented.

The two heard a roar in the distance. A small group of trees shook in their view. Then a few giant plant spikes came out puncturing what looked like space tanks. A bright purple light came out shortly after.

“... Is that concerning?” Shiny asked.

“Only if we run into whatever is happening over there.” Thunder said, beginning to move. “Hopefully we won’t have to.”

“Hey, where are you going?”

“Our only trace of Zephyr’s whereabouts are five-year-old broken metal parts and five-year-old torn wires. The path ends here, so we can only estimate where to go next. If we get to the bottom of this cliff, we could find more clues to his whereabouts.”

Shiny followed Thunder, treading through carefully. The two looked at their surroundings to try and find clues. So far, there was no luck. Only the strange plantlife surrounding them. Sometimes they would see kaijus roaming through. They remain hidden but alert, being advised by the EDF to not use their weaponry unless absolutely necessary.

“Thunder?” Shiny spoke. “Do you think Zephyr is okay?”

“I cannot say for certain. “Thunder admitted. “It is alarming to see part of his platings and wires out in the open in such a state. It appears we have forgotten to consider how Zephyr would still be active these past five years.” “What do you mean?”

“He was heavily damaged in his last fight before his disappearance. He would not have an opportunity to receive repairs or recharge. Unless he was able to find a replacement fuel or materials to repair him, I’m not sure how he would survive five years on a jungle planet.”

“Maybe the Metallic Plant Monster helped him.”

“The Metallic Plant Monster?”

“Well they’re part metal, and Zephyr is full robot. And I did say that the voice and Metallic Plant Monster could be the same person.”

“And this is based on what data again?”

“Well, they and Zephyr both crash landed on this planet. Maybe after the Metallic Plant Monster found the Kaiju Bloodgem, they ran into him.”

“I fail to see how that proves your theory that the voice and the Metallic Plant Monster are one in the same. I can understand that perspective from the possibility Zephyr received help from them, but that quite literally has nothing to do with the voice and the Metallic Plant Monster being the same entities.”

“Of course it does! If the voice and Metallic Plant Monster are the same person, then they would both know Zephyr! And if they both know Zephyr, then they’re both the same person.”

“I can think of a few ways to suggest why you would be incorrect.”

“Well I think—”

That’s when they heard something. Thunder pulled out his sword. Shiny prepared his hands to shoot. The two began walking slowly towards the noise.

“Do you think that’s them?” Shiny whispered.

“Unclear.” Thunder whispered back. “While I am detecting life signatures, I am not detecting any Rose Type Guardian Class Robot energy signatures. I am unable to identify what these life signatures could be—”

“Metallic Plant Monster!” A voice shouted.

Thunder and Shiny aimed their weapons to where the shout came from. A decision regretted immediately because they were aiming at three plant-like alien children.

“Sorry!” Shiny apologized, disabling his hand ammo and moving Thunder’s hand down. “Sorry about that. You guys startled us. What are you three little… plant guys doing out here?”

“We advised you to return to your homes immediately.” Thunder advised. “There is a battle happening a few miles away from this location. It is most likely a battle between kaijus, and it is not something to get in the middle of.”

The plant children stared in confusion, a little scared.

“You didn’t tell us it can duplicate and change forms.” the middle one hissed at the taller one.

“Like I knew that?” The tall one glared. “How am I supposed to know how giant metal beings work?”

“Wait, have you seen another metal being here?” Shiny asked. “Like us?”

The shortest one grabbed something out of their bag and wobbled towards the robots. The other plant children tried to tell the little one to come back. But they didn’t listen, offering two seeds to the robots instead.

“Oh!” Shiny said, taking the two seeds. “Is this for us? Thank you, little guy.”

“We're sorry if we disturb you, Mister Metallic Plant Monsters.” The little one apologized. “We just wanna play.” “Huh?”

“The gifts are appreciated, but we must tell you we are not the Metallic Plant Monster.” Thunder explained. “We are from another planet called ‘Earth’, and we are Rose Type Guardian Class Robots.”

The little one tried to say Rose Type Guardian Class Robots, but it sounded like a bunch of babbles. 

“You can call us Rose Robots.” Thunder said. “My name is Thunder, and his name is Shiny.”

“Rose Robots!” the little one giggled. “You’re plants like me! And my sisters and my parents and the neighbors and the Metallic Plant Monster. Is he a Rose Robot too?”

“We are not plants in the way you are and your family are. We are completely made of metal. The Rose part is the family name of our creator.”

“Ooooh. My family name is Apriberry, and—and, my name is Pespear. I’m Pespear Apriberry.”

“That is a very lovely name.”

“Thank you! This is my older sister, Chocotea Apriberry. And that is my older older sister, Menstio Apriberry. We are Juni-pea-tios.”

“Uh, what do you both want exactly?” Menstio asked, pulling Pespear closer. “If you aren’t the Metallic Plant Monster, then why are you here?”

“Hey!” Pespear pouted.

“I can assure you we do not mean harm.” Thunder reassured. “We are looking for—”

“We’re actually looking for the Metallic Plant Monster!” Shiny interrupted.

“Shiny, we are looking for Zephyr.”

“Yeah, but maybe the Metallic Plant Monster knows where Zephyr is.”

“Who is Zephyr?” Chocotea asked.

“Zephyr is our brother.” Shiny explained. “He came here about… five of our Earth years ago, and we’re trying to find him.”

“Why did he come here?” Pespear asked.

“Well it was mostly an accident. A big portal opened on our planet and a lot of scary monsters came out. Zephyr was trying to defeat the monsters and close the portal, but he could only do that by shutting it off on the other side.”

“Like the empire portal?” Pespear pointed at an O.R.T. in the sky. “We have one here, but they don’t attack us a lot. They’ve been trying to kidnap our Kaijus and the Metallic Plant Monster. They said they’ll leave once they get him.”

“Girls?” A voice called out. “Who are you— What in Great Mother’s Bed Below?”

An adult plant alien came out and was shocked to see the two robots. He immediately ran towards the kids and moved them behind him.

“What happened, Metallic Plant Monster? Uh, where are your vines? And how did you duplicate yourself?”

“Dabi, they’re Rose Robots!” Pespear beamed.

“Rose Robots?”

“Yeah! They came from another planet. They aren't the Metallic Plant Monster or plant people. They’re looking for the Metallic Plant Monster and their brother.”

“What do you two want with the Metallic Plant Monster?”

“Are you the parental guardian of these three children?” Thunder asked.

The plant alien pulled out a sword: “They are my daughters, what’s it to you?”

“I assure you that we do not mean harm towards you, your daughters, or the Metallic Plant Monster. My call sign is Thunder, and his call sign is Shiny. We are from the planet Earth, sent by the Extreme Defense Force to retrieve the second Rose Robot: Zephyr. We have no intent to cause trouble to your home nor seek confrontation with the Metallic Plant Monster.”

“Buuuuut, they might know where Zephyr is!” Shiny cut in. “See, our brother Zephyr disappeared five of our Earth years ago and ended up here. But then an O.R.T.—”

“Empire portal.” Thunder corrected.

“Empire portal?”

“Pespear referred to the O.R.T. as the ‘empire portal’. While I assume both terms mean the same, they will not understand us referring to the portal opened by the Kalaxian Empire as the O.R.T..”

“Your planet was invaded by the Kalaxian Empire?” The father asked.

“Affirmative. We were recently successful in closing the one created by the Kalaxian Empire. However, the one that we came through was not opened by them. While it is unknown who, the entity that did appears to know our… brother and opened it for him to leave. We came through to find him and aid in his return home before the empire portal closes. We only have… seventeen hours to find him.”

“Wait, seventeen!?” Shiny exclaimed. “But we’ve only been here for like… thirty minutes!”

“Perhaps the time here is faster than the time on Earth. A suboptimal situation.”

The father lowered his sword completely before speaking, “You both swear you have no ties to the Kalaxian Empire?”

“Other than closing the empire portal they opened on our planet: affirmative.” Thunder said.

“... How does time travel on your planet?”

“Our planet orbits our sun. Each day is twenty four hours.”

“You have a sun orbit planet. I’m afraid you both are on a moon orbit planet.”

“A moon orbit planet?” Thunder and Shiny both said confused.

“Our Mother Moon, Selartico, is what Kimetchu and neighboring planets orbit. And our moon orbits the sun instead. Thus making our time inconsistent with sun orbiting planets. How long a day is depends on the season we are in. If you only have seventeen sun orbit hours to leave—” the father pointed towards the sky, “—then you have until sundown.”

“Oh man, that adds a little pressure to our rescue mission.” Shiny whistles.

“The Kalaxian Empire is not the only one who can create those portals. The kaijus were the ones who created the technique.”

“The kaijus made the O.R.T— uh, the portals first? But they seem so… aggressive and… uh.”

“Our only interactions with kaijus are them being sent to our planet to destroy our villages and cities.” Thunder told the father. “We were created specifically to fight and destroy them to keep the citizens safe.”

“Then perhaps you have only interacted with the kaijus tampered by the Kalaxian Empire. They have been kidnapping kaijus across the universe for their twisted cause. I cannot say for certain what they do, but they have tortured and experimented on the kaijus to create weapons. We coexist with the kaijus here, and they are only hostile if they are given reason to. Your brother could be with them… but I’m not sure how possible that is. The only other metal being that has been here is the Metallic Plant Monster. There has been no other besides you two that we’ve seen.”

“Where’s the Metallic Plant Monster now?”

“I cannot say for certain. He tends to move around a lot and often avoids our villages. Ever since the empire along with other third parties have tried to capture him, he steers away from us to keep us from harm. We only see him now if we are far enough from our homes. Or if an untrusted outsider gets too close to us. The only place I know he could be is the temple that once held the Kaiju Bloodgem.”

“Oh, where is that?”

“It is only a few milistones ahead. Do you promise to not harm him and leave once you find your brother?”

“Affirmative.” Thunder promised. “Our presence will not be too long. Thank you for your assistance.”

“Please don’t make me regret telling you both this. If you’ll excuse us, we must go home now. Come, girls.”

Thunder motioned Shiny to follow where the father pointed.

“Bye Thunder! Bye Shiny!” Pespear waved.

Thunder and Shiny both said their goodbyes to the young plant alien.

“Wow, you were really good back there.” Shiny complimented. “I didn’t know you had that in you.”

“That I could explain our situation and purpose in a clear and understandable manner?” Thunder questioned. “Last I recall, that is an issue you have had and were having.”

“Not that. Also I’m really good at being clear.”

“Oh. Sure you are.”

“I don’t appreciate your tone, young bot”

“Young bot?”

“Well, you know, cause I’m older than you.”

“How many asinine nicknames will you create for me?”

“As many as I can. Also, I was actually talking about the way you handled talking to the little plant girl. You’re surprisingly good with kids.”

“Oh. That. Well, she is what is assumed to be a toddler. Her vocabulary is not as advanced as mine, and she would not know Earth vocabulary as well. Attempting to speak like I usually do would only confuse her. In addition, her older sisters seemed terrified, so it was logical to speak and appear as nonthreatening as possible.”

“Where did this come from?”

“It was during my early days of activation. The EDF thought it would be wise if I knew how to calm and help children. It would be in case I find a lost child during or after a kaiju battle. It is not a skill I use often. Though… Now my CPU is trying to process what the alien father has informed us regarding the kaijus.”

“Hey, don’t shift this conversation around. What do you mean you were taught how to talk to kids?”

“Shiny, I do not think that is of utmost concern at the moment.”

“Fine, but we are gonna come back to this. What about the kaijus don’t you get?”

“The alien father made it seem like the kaijus hold some form of sapience. With the information that they have an ancient artifact and were the ones who originally created the O.R.T., it has made me realize that we never consider they were sapient or sentient.”

“That does seem kinda weird. You know, you’ve been asking a lot of questions lately.”

“Is that an issue?”

“Well you usually know everything. And when you start asking a bunch of questions, I start asking even more questions. Like, I never thought about how Zephyr could’ve been alive or how he stayed alive or if the kaijus were sapient until you started to think about it. A little concerning you don’t know, ya know?”

“... Shiny we are on unfamiliar territory with only the knowledge we have gathered on Earth. Why would I know anything regarding the kaijus sapience and Zephyr’s ability to remain active?”

“I don’t know, you’re smart! You have like… all the newest science junkie stuff.”

“I request you cease your commentary.”

“I—”

“Cease. Your commentary.”

Shiny rolled his eyes. The two continued once again on their rescue mission. The tread with caution started to become boring to Shiny. So far, not much has happened. No plant life has tried to eat them, no kaiju has tried to fight them, and there hasn’t been any sign of the Kalaxian Empire yet. Knowing they were here should make the red robot still act vigilantly, but he was starting to lax off due to nothing happening.

Thunder on the other hand still remained alert and careful. He was also growing tired of their caution, but it was for good reason. Even though nothing has happened yet, it does not mean that it will remain that way. It’s best to be vigilant as to still gain an equal ground or an advantage towards an enemy.

“... Hey Thunder?” Shiny broke the silence.

Thunder let out a sigh, “Yes, Shiny?”

“We’re going in the right direction, right?”

“Affirmative.”

“How long do we have until the O.R.T. close?”

“... sixteen hours and eighteen minutes.”

“Seriously? Aw man, we’re never gonna find Zephyr at this rate. We need to pick up the pace.”

The two heard small gasps. The brothers turned their heads to see a group of more plant aliens. 

“Metallic Plant Monster?” a pink alien said. “Er, monsters?”

“How’d you split yourself up?” Another spoke up, this one a turquoise color. “And why is one of you blue and the other one pink?”

“I’m not pink, I’m red.” Shiny corrected in a confused tone.

“What’s red?”

“I think it’s pink but harsher.” A maroon one said.

“We must inform you that we are not the Metallic Plant Monster.” Thunder told the group. “We are Rose Type Guardian Class Robots sent from Earth by the Extreme Defense Force to retrieve our missing Rose Robot: Zephyr. He was sent here a long time ago to save our planet from aggressive kaijus and plant life.”

The group let out an oh.

“That does explain some things now.” the pink one nodded. “Though, I’m not sure about there being a ‘Rose Robot’ here. At least maybe the Metallic Plant Monster. Are you two and the other Rose Robot related to him?”

“That is a negative.”

“Really? Are you sure? Because you guys look—” the pink alien stopped then turned to the others, “—You guys are seeing this too, right?”

“Yeah, I’m seeing it.” A purple alien said. “Well, the colors are an obvious off, but the shapes. That’s where it’s mostly seen.”

“What’s mostly seen?” Shiny asked. “What about us makes you guys think we’re the Metallic Plant Monster?”

“Shiny, we do not have time for such questions.” Thunder told his brother. “We only have until sundown to find Zephyr and leave.”

“It’s not that hard to explain.” A magenta alien said. “Well, sort of. You’re a little more round than the Metallic Plant Monster. And you’re a little more sharper than the Metallic Plant Monster.”

“You kinda have the same mouth as him, too.” The maroon alien pointed at Shiny. “He doesn’t have cheeks though.”

“Oh, oh!” the turquoise alien joined in, pointing at Thunder. “You have the Metallic Plant Monster’s eyes! Except yours are just circles and blue. He has glowing green eyes that are sharp. When he gets super angry though, his eyes get a weird empty slit. And then he blasts cool kaiju powers out of his mouth!”

A loud horn could be heard from a distance. The group looked to the sky then back at the robots.

“Sorry, we gotta now.” The pink one told the robots. “Good luck on your search!”

And so the group quickly ran off. Thunder and Shiny looked at the direction they ran in.

“That seemed like a chiller talk than our talk with that Dad and his daughters.” Shiny pointed out.

“Perhaps they are also one of the youth of this planet.” Thunder suggested. “That, or they do not hold the same urgency as the father does. Let us continue.”

The two robots continued. They came across more plant aliens that mistook the two for shape shifting duplicates of the Metallic Plant Monster. Some of them were confused when Thunder clarified the robots were not the Metallic Plant Monster. They gathered more information little by little about the monster everyone mistook them for. Regarding Zephyr though, no one knew who that was. Everyone kept telling the brothers there has only been one mechanoid on the planet. None stayed for long to speak further, as they all seemed to be rushing back to their homes. The children, on the other hand, kept giving the two robots seeds.

“Do we really look that much like the Metallic Plant Monster guy?” Shiny questioned, before the craziest thought came to his head. “Do you think the Metallic Plant Monster took some of the broken parts off of Zephyr, and that's why these guys think we look like the monster?”

“Shiny, I am desperately requesting that you cease your asinine theories regarding the connection between Zephyr and the Metallic Plant Monster.” Thunder begged.

“Well, you aren’t thinking of anything!”

“I am ‘thinking’. I’m just choosing to keep it in my processor instead of constantly babbling every calculation I am considering. Something you have never been familiar with, I’m sure.”

“Ohohoho, now you listen here—”

“Mema Plan Monsa!” A tiny voice shouted.

The two robots looked down to see another duo of the plant aliens. One of them was a toddler being held by the other who looked like the mother.

“Uh, I suppose it is, Seedling.” the alien stuttered. “Is it… really you, Metallic Plant Monster?”

“Negative, we are not the Metallic Plant Monster.” Thunder informed.

“Oh. Then what are you both?”

“We are Rose Type Guardian Class Robots. We came here from the planet Earth and were sent by the Extreme Defense Force to retrieve our missing Rose Robot: Zephyr.”

“You are both guardians?”

“Affirmative.”

“... And you aren’t the Metallic Plant Monster?”

“Affirmative. We are not the Metallic Plant Monster.”

“Well, I’m afraid you might be here for no reason. The closest we have to a guardian ‘robot’ is the Metallic Plant Monster.”

“Robow?” the toddler spoke again, tilting his head.

“Yeah, little guy.” Shiny smiled at the toddler. “We’re giant robots. Just big ol’ metal guys with hunks and junks inside us.”

“Juns.”

“Is that what your species is actually called?” The mother asked. “Robots?”

“Affirmative.” Thunder confirmed. “Though us being classified as a species is a heavy debate due to our lack of organic biology.”

“You’ve never heard of robots before?” Shiny asked.

“Well, we’ve only heard tales from outsiders, but they always refer to robots as insentient creations. You both don’t seem like insentient creations though. You seem… alive.”

“We are quasi-sentient.” Thunder informed.

“The Metallic Plant Monster said the same thing about himself.”

“He did?”

“Yes. He was insistent on it during our kind’s first meeting with him. Oh, the poor creature was so terrified and hurt when we first found him. Well, I suppose brought to him is more accurate. Some of the kaijus had taken a few of us to help him.”

“What happened?” Shiny asked.

“I believe it was a few days after he fused to the Kaiju Bloodgem. Some of the kaijus travelled across different villages gathering parents, me being one of them. They brought us to the Metallic Plant Monster because they thought we could help him. He was sobbing so hard and covering his mouth. He was kneeling over a pile of vines and flowers.”

“Did he throw up?”

“It was more than that. The poor boy was sick and didn’t know what to do. He told us this never happened to him before. We tried to tell him that it’s okay because everyone gets sick, but he said he had never been sick like an organic being before. He kept talking about how it shouldn’t have been possible. We could see the fear in his eyes and hear the pain in his voice. He just… looked so overwhelmed.

“The other parents and I worked together to try to help him feel better. It took a few days, but we were able to nurse him back to health. We also tried to figure out where he came from to see if we could get him to his home. But he only looked heartbroken and guilty whenever we asked. When we asked about his family’s whereabouts, he only told us he didn’t have one anymore. They were gone because he failed.”

“Failed?” Thunder questioned.

“He said he was created solely for the purpose of protecting the innocent from monsters. He was a guardian from where he was from. None of us know what happened before his arrival, and we still don’t know. If you take it from me, I think he’s just a lost soul who’s deep in grief and misses his family dearly.”

“Aww, poor guy.” Shiny said sadly. His face turned guilty before speaking again. “A-Are you sure you didn’t see another robot like us though? Not even once?”

“As far as I and everyone else is aware, there isn’t another robot here.”

Shiny looked down defeated.

“Could a description of Zephyr perhaps prove serviceable to see if he might have been seen by someone?” Thunder offered.

“That could work.” The Mother nodded. “If I still don’t know, I could at least ask the others.”

“Yeah, a description!” Shiny beamed, hope returning to his face. “Okay so: he’s purple with a little bit of a green accent, has green glowing eyes with eyebrow thingies, a red siren thingy on his head, and… oh, he should’ve had a giant hole in his chest when he came here.”

“... That sounds almost like the Metallic Plant Monster.”

“It does? That’s weird— Wait, Thunder! What if the Metallic Plant Monster did take some of Zephyr’s spare parts!”

“Issac Newton, you are still going on about that?” Thunder asked, extremely annoyed.

“There’s a connection, Thunder! Zephyr and the Metallic Plant Monster have to know each other!”

“By Arthur C Clarke. Ma’am, may I query you on how long ago the Metallic Plant Monster arrived on your planet?”

“Huh?” Shiny asked.

“When did the Metallic Plant Monster arrive so I can shut my brother up from his insane theories?” Thunder clarified.

“Hey!”

“He’s been here for ten years as far as we’re aware.” the mother answered.

“Ten years?” Thunder asked.

“Yes. Actually, I think today marks the tenth year since his arrival.”

“... I see.”

“And how much is ten years on this planet in Earth years?” Shiny asked.

Another horn echoed throughout.

“Oh dear.” The mother began to look panicked. “I-I’m sorry, I have to go. The Kalaxian Empire is about to do a sweep for Kaiju hunting, and I have to return to my family. Will you two be alright on your own?”

“Kaiju hunting?” Shiny questioned.

“They’ve been going from planet to planet capturing kaijus to experiment on them. The hunting has been happening more than usual, and the Metallic Plant Monster has been fighting them off.”

“Your concern is appreciated, but I can assure you we will be fine.” Thunder said. “We have had our fair share of dealing with the Kalaxian Empire. If we run into them, we will deal with them promptly.”

“Alright, but please do be careful.” The mother warned. “Good luck finding your brother.”

The mother started running off to join the others as the toddler shouted goodbye. 

“... They came here at the same time?” Thunder questioned.

“Huh?” Shiny looked at Thunder.

“Zephyr had been missing for five Earth years. The Metallic Plant Monster has been here for ten of this planet’s years. That voice we heard when the second O.R.T. opened, they mentioned Zephyr had been here for ten years.”

“So… They could know each other?”

Thunder stared at Shiny and walked away, “I give up.”

It has been two weeks since Shiny and Thunder learned of Zephyr's existence. It has been almost a week since the lecture room break-in the robot brothers did. And ever since then, Alex had kept up her promise of talking about Zephyr. From the big kaiju fights to the little moments. Shiny and Thunder were both fascinated by the stories. Shiny would express that very openly, but Thunder kept his fascination in his processor.

Today, it was September 21st. The day before Zephyr’s termination. The EDF crew, along with Shiny and Thunder, were outside. They set up a barbecue area in the old clearing where the second O.R.T. briefly opened and closed. Alex had her hesitations until the brothers brought up creating a memorial for their deceased brother. So it became a celebration party closing the O.R.T., this time involving all of the Rose Robots.

Everyone was talking and eating. Creed was over at the grills with a few others. Alex was putting down a bouquet of red roses, blue carnations, and purple chrysanthemums in front of Zephyr’s memorial. Shiny and Thunder were sitting behind her, admiring the photos and gifts left at it. Shiny was holding Zephyr’s old whip handle. He was trying to figure out a good place to put it.

“I didn’t think the handle was this big.” Shiny hummed. “I can’t find a good spot to put it.”

“It was designed to be handled by a robot of our size.” Thunder pointed out. “I fail to recognize what made you think it would fit by the memorial.”

“Well it seemed like a good idea at the time.”

Alex rolled her eyes and smiled as her robots bickered.

“Alex?” A voice called out. Alex turned her head to see Blorgo. “May I join you?”

“Oh!” Alex said, tucking a hair piece behind her ear. “O-Of course, Blorgo.”

“Thank you.” Blorgo smiled before sitting down next to Alex. “How are you feeling?”

“Eh, you know. Just glad this mess is over with… and kinda missing Zephyr.”

Blorgo looked at the memorial. The photo that once resided in the hallway Rose Robot Two was the centerpiece. He studied the photo, a legend appearing in his head.

“Is that what Zephyr looked like?” Blorgo asked.

“Yep.” Alex sighed. “That was taken after his first week being activated. He was a good bot.”

“He reminds me of a cryptic legend.”

“What?”

“That is not to insult him. It is just his eyes and color scheme remind me of a story about a guardian creature.”

“What guardian creature?” Shiny asked, his interest peaked.

“They call it: the Metallic Plant Monster. It lives on a jungle planet known as Kimetchu.”

“Ooooh, sounds cool. What’s the story of the ‘Metallic Plant Monster’?”

“Some time ago, a portal opened in Kimetchu’s sky. Out of it came a giant metal being that crashed into the lands. It seemed confused and lost, letting out wails of grief every night. No one knew where it came from, nor did they know why. The being traveled the lands as if it was looking for something. Then it came across an old temple. It went inside and found a mystical artifact older than existence itself: the Kaiju Bloodgem.”

“Kaiju Bloodgem?” Thunder questioned. “I did not know Kaijus had ancient artifacts.”

“No one truly knows where the Kaiju Bloodgem came from.” Blorgo informed. “All we know is it was made from the blood of kaijus and has a power beyond imagination. If you found it and passed the gem’s challenge, it would grant you one wish.”

Shiny awed at that information, “What did the metal being do when they found it?”

“The metal being grabbed the Kaiju Bloodgem and put it into its chest.” Blorgo continued the story. “The gem glowed and let out a beacon of purple and green light. It then began to fuse to the metal being. Plants grew out of its body, its teeth became razor sharp, and the eyes glowed a green like none ever seen before. The metal being became an entirely new creature. It was like it became some kind of kaiju hybrid.

“And so the Metallic Plant Monster was born. Since then, it continues to travel the planet. Acting as a guardian to the jungles and the Kaiju Bloodgem. Some say the metal being was purposely sent to be a host. Others say the being and the gem were trying to find each other. If you ever run into the creature, you must offer it a seed. By offering a seed, you show that you don’t intend to harm the jungle or the wildlife. But if it catches you disrespecting the jungle, it will stuff you in a closed log and throw you into space.”

“Woah.” Shiny widened his eyes. “Really?”

“I can’t say for certain. I’ve never been there. It’s only what I’ve heard from the Resistance and locals. I’ve also gotten some of that from when the Resistance tried to steal data from the Kalaxian Empire.”

“The Kalaxian Empire is on Kimetchu?”

“Only recently. Apparently they thought the story was true, so they opened an O.R.T. to the planet. I thought the story was fake to keep explorers out. Until an image of the creature was leaked from the Kalaxian Empire. You can’t tell what it looks like for certain, but you can see the green eyes and purple gem glow. Since then, bounty hunters and relic collectors have been trying to capture it too.”

“Images have been edited or mistaken for cryptic legends for a long time.” Thunder noted. “Most early pictures of Earth’s cryptic legends were accidental, but more recent ones have evidence of being edited to be a tourist trap or cautionary tale.”

“Yeah, but this is another alien planet we’re talking about!” Shiny rebutted. “What are the chances the Metallic Plant Monster isn’t real?”

“Is that a genuine question?”

“Alex!” Creed called out. “Come here, we’re almost done with the tri tip!”

“Coming!” Alex shouted. “You should come with me, Blorgo. You might like tri tip.”

“What exactly is this ‘tri tip’?” Blorgo questioned.

“It’s a triangular beef cut of a sirloin. Specifically the bottom sirloin of a cow. It’s really good, and Victoria makes the best ones in the whole universe. Er, Earth I guess. I-I don’t wanna assume—”

“Don’t worry.” Blorgo interrupted. “I don’t think tri tip or cows are common across the universe. Um, and I would love to try it if that’s okay.”

“Oh, of course it is! You can try as many as you like. Well, they’re all seasoned the same. At least the ones Victoria makes are.”

Alex and Blorgo walked off while acting like flustered teens.

“Ah, young love.” Shiny sighed. He then blinked. “Wait, who’s Victoria?”

“Victoria is Creed’s wife.” Thunder answered.

“Creed is married?”

“You did not know? He has a wedding ring on.”

“I thought that was for show! And isn’t the wedding ring supposed to be on the other hand?”

Thunder stared at Shiny.

“Yes, Creed is married.” Thunder confirmed, pointing at a tall woman wearing a fake abs apron. “Victoria does not work at the EDF. She is a coach for young children, changing between sports depending on the season. Sometimes she will visit the EDF to drop off Colonel Creed’s and/or Alex’s lunch. She is a very lovely woman in my opinion. She appreciates my seriousness for Kaiju Battle and sometimes offers me helpful tips.”

“Oooooh, she looks pretty.” Shiny said. “Do you think we could find someone to marry one day?”

“And that question came from where exactly?”

“I mean if Creed got married, we could probably find someone.”

“Shiny, we are giant robots—”

“What is that!?” someone shouted.

Shiny and Thunder turned around. A strange energy appeared near the boys. It grew bigger and bigger until it turned into a portal. It looked like the exact same one from five years ago.

“The second O.R.T.!” Shiny gasped.

Thunder fell to his knees, clutching his face. His screen was glitching and his body was shaking.

“Thunder! What’s wrong?”

“T-The O.R.T.A. pro-protocol.” Thunder spoke, his voice glitching. “It is— It is trying to a-a-activate. Something—Something is making it malfunc-mal-malfunction-ction. I-I cannot stabilize— I cannot-not-nooot-cannot stabilize-st-st-stabilize.”

“Save your energy, lil bro.” Shiny said, picking Thunder up by the shoulder. “Don’t talk again until I can get you away from it.”

“Boys!” Alex called out. “Head back to base immediately! We need to figure out what’s going on!”

Some of the EDF members began to pack up the food and grills quickly. The rest began to make a perimeter and point guns at the new O.R.T.. Alex and Blorgo were being rushed to Creed’s car.

“We’ll meet you there.” Shiny called out then looked at Thunder. “Let’s get you home, Thunder.”

“I-I can w-w-walk—walk by myself.” Thunder tried to claim.

His leg gave out, and he almost fell to the ground. Luckily Shiny had a good hold.

“Woah, woah!” Shiny exclaimed. “Thunder, you are in bad shape right now. I’m not gonna let you walk home while you’re glitching out this bad.”

“I-I-I do not— do not understand-derst-undersssstand. I haaaave never-ver glitch-glitch-glitch-glitch—”

Shiny smacked Thunder in the head. He looked at his elder brother in a glitchy offended fashion.

“Did-Did you just slaaaaaap me?” Thunder asked.

“I thought that would have made the glitching better.”

“O-On-on-o-on what da-data does that make-make the glitch-glitch-glitch-glitch-glitching better— do not. Sl-sl-slap-sssslap me again.”

“Zephyr.” a voice called out.

Shiny and Thunder stopped. They turned to the portal, but no one was there.

“Can you hear me, Zephyr?” the same voice spoke from the portal.

“You’re hearing that too, right?” Shiny asked.

“A-A-Affirmative—mative.” Thunder answered. “The voice–e is call—calling for… Zephyr? Z-Z-Zzz-Zephyr?”

“But why? How do they even know Zephyr?”

“I opened the portal.” The voice informed.

“Wait a minute, what?”

“Shush—Sh—Shush.” Thunder shushed.

“Yes, I promise nothing will go out to Earth.” The voice promised. “We already made sure to border this from all lifeforms and hide it from the empire. They won’t even know we opened it back to Earth… You are dear to me, why would I ever mind doing this? This is the only option for you to return home quickly and alive.”

“Wait, Zephyr is alive?” Shiny questioned.

“It would only take another few days for me to open one again. I’ll know if you left. Remember, I don’t want to force you to leave. I want you to make the decision yourself… Oh, my friend, please don’t speak lowly of yourself. I know you feel you failed your purpose, but you deserve a chance to properly heal. Kimetchu cannot give you that.”

“Kimetchu? Wait a minute, that’s where that Metallic Plant Monster guy is. Is this voice—”

Thunder slapped a hand on Shiny to shut him up.

“If the EDF clan does not want you back, the Kaiju Bloodgem can send a signal to us. I will come to Earth and find you… No, you’re right. You won’t remember me if you choose to leave. But that is something I’ve already accepted and something we made a plan for. I’m not going to be offended or think lowly of you… Zephyr, please listen to me. Just for a moment.

“I know you’re scared. And I know you have always been hesitant to go back to Earth. We have discussed your conundrum many times. It’s your home and your duty to protect it. Yet you feel like you don’t deserve to go back… It is quite the conflictive feeling to get used to. You only had ten of Kimetchu’s years to get used to it. You may not feel worthy to return, but as I’ve already said: you deserve a chance to heal and find peace… Oh my friend, of course I will.

“Again, I will open the portal another time if I need to. This is only to give you time to think and decide on your own. Just remember the warnings we gave you if you choose to leave, alright? And if you do choose, I want to wish you luck and farewell. I will miss you dearly… You will have 24 Earth hours before it closes… I thought you’d find humor and comfort in me using Earth times.”

Shiny moved Thunder’s hand away from his mouth: “Twenty four hours? That’s only a day to escape!”

Thunder was dragged towards the new O.R.T. by Shiny: “W-Wait! Shiny, my—my O.R.T.A proto-to-to-tocol! SHINY!”

“We can’t just leave Zephyr! He’s probably scared, and only has one—”

“O.R.T.A. protocol activated!” Thunder interrupted with a cheery tone. “I have reached maximum distance and cannot go any further. I must return to base immediately. Activating autopilot control now.”

Shiny and Thunder blasted into the sky. Shiny was screaming while Thunder was wobbling through the air. The EDF crew looked at the robot brothers.

“... Well, I guess that’s one way to get back to base quickly.” Victoria said. “Doesn’t Thunder hate the autopilot thing?”

“We may not have fully explained the O.R.T.A. protocol’s autopilot to Shiny.” Alex remembered.

“Does that bot have an autopilot?”

“Nope.”

“Are you considering it?”

“A little.”

“After seeing how much Zephyr and Thunder loathed it, I advise you don’t.”

XxXxXxXxX

Shiny was still screaming and Thunder was still wobbling in the air.

“What are you doing!?” Shiny screamed.

“You dragged me to the maximum distance I’m allowed near the O.R.T.!” Thunder yelled. “You activated my O.R.T.A. protocol!”

“Well can you stop it!? Or at least fly better or let me go!?”

“It is an autopilot protocol! I’m not allowed to stop until I’m back at the base! And I am flying uncontrollably because the autopilot is in control. I cannot control my body at all, so I cannot rebalance myself. Not to mention I have you hooked onto my arm! I cannot let you go even if I really want to. Again, because of the autopilot that removes my ability to move freely!”

“Why didn’t you warn me?”

“I JUST TRIED TO BEFORE YOU ACTIVATED IT!”

A giant hatch opened in the ground. The two robots flew into and crashed into the repair bay’s floor.

“Woah,” Shiny shook his head as he sat up, “that was the worst flight back to base ever.”

“Can you get off me?” Thunder asked, getting crushed by Shiny.

“Oh! Sorry, Thunder.”

Shiny got off Thunder. He was trying and struggling to get up.

“My movement capabilities appear to still be locked.” Thunder let out an annoyed sigh. “Perfect. The O.R.T.A protocol has never malfunction to this point before. Perhaps because the protocol has never been activated before either.”

“Do you need help?” Shiny offered.

“... Affirmative.”

Shiny picked Thunder up princess style and placed him on a repair bed.

“There we go.” Shiny said. “Don’t you worry, Thunder. Nurse Shiny is here to help you.”

“Do not ever refer to yourself as ‘Nurse Shiny’ ever again.” Thunder said. He pondered for a moment. “I’m aware I was malfunctioning heavily due to the O.R.T.A protocol experiencing difficulties. However, you can confirm you heard the voice as well, correct?”

“Yep,” Shiny sat down on a different repair bed, “I heard it too. And you heard the weird voice call out to Zephyr right?”

“Affirmative.”

“And you heard how it would pause for a minute sometimes and then talk again? Like the voice was actually talking to someone but we couldn’t hear that someone?”

“Affirmative.”

“... Do you think you might have been right about Zephyr surviving the Big One and going through that second O.R.T.? That the someone the weird voice was talking to was actually Zephyr?”

“... I was speaking from a desperate delusion of needing answers, but perhaps my delusional theory could hold grounds. The only question now: how are we going to find out if he is truly alive?”

“Oh that’s easy. We’ll go through the second O.R.T. to find him.” “Alex would literally never allow that.”

“I’m sure we can convince her.”

“That is a task more easily vocalized than executed.”

The repair bay opened, and an EDF cart came zooming in. It halted, and Alex immediately came out of the driver seat. She was followed behind by Blorgo, Creed, and Victoria. The group made it onto a hover lift, and Alex immediately piloted it to Thunder’s side.

“Thunder, are you okay?” Alex asked.

“I am only experiencing a strange heavy malfunction.” Thunder informed “It would appear the O.R.T.A protocol had glitched to the extent that I am still incapable of movement. Even after the autopilot control stopped.”

“Shoot, that’s never happened before.”

“The protocol has never been activated before now as I have never purposely attempted to reach the maximum distance I am allowed near the O.R.T.. But someone decided to carry me closer to it.”

“Wh— Oh come on, you know why!” Shiny pouted.

“We’ll have a talk later, Shiny.” Alex said. “Right now, we need to get this sorted out. Listen up, people!”

And so Alex began to give out orders of what to do. The EDF repair acted immediately. Some of them looked at Thunder’s limbs and took them apart. Others were pulling up screens to look through the codes. Alex was monitoring everything from the screen and going over everything with anyone who notices something. Shiny watched the scene nervously. Thunder’s face glitch for a moment, showing glimpses of pain.

“Oh, sweetspark.” Victoria said in a comforting tone. “Don’t you worry, we’ll be here right by your side as the team gets that malfunction back to function.”

“Oho, now that is clever word play!” Shiny admired. “Oh, I should introduce myself. Hi Victoria, I’m Shiny. Thunder told me about you.”

“Hello, Shiny.” Victoria smiled. “Thunder tell you I’m Cranky Colonel’s wife?”

“He did! How did you two meet?”

“We’ve been friends since elementary and lovers since high school. We actually used to play sports together.”

“Ah, those were the days.” Creed sighed happily.

“Like we still don’t do that at home.” Victoria elbowed Creed with a smile. “Alex has told me lots about you. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Shiny said. “Thunder said you were really cool, and I gotta say you’re really pretty too. I loved the fake abs apron you had earlier.”

“Why thank you, sunnycube! Gotta say Alex, you really know how to program gentle-bots.”

“Aww, thank you.”

“Shiny?” Thunder cut in. “Don’t you have a highly impossible request to convince Alex to agree to?”

“Oh, right!” Shiny turned to Alex. “Alex, Thunder and I need to go into the new O.R.T. to rescue Zephyr.”

“You and Thunder need to do what?” Alex asked, flabbergasted.

“Wow.” Thunder said with an unimpressed tone. “That was such a perfect execution, Shiny. You truly are a master of persuasion.”

“I don’t need your sarcasm, Thunder.” Shiny glared before turning to Alex. “I promise we have a really good reason. When the O.R.T. opened, Thunder and I heard someone talking from it. They sounded like they were talking to someone, and they said Zephyr’s name! They said they opened the O.R.T. so Zephyr could come back home. But he only has a day to escape… ugh, where was he again?”

“Kimetchu.”

“Yes! Kimetchu! Hey, that’s the same planet that Metallic Plant Monster is on. Holy crap, he’s on the same planet as the Metallic Plant Monster! What if that was the person we heard talking? Do you think they both met—”

“I am not letting you or Thunder near that O.R.T., Shiny.” Alex interrupted. 

“What!? But Alex—”

“No. That thing has caused us too many problems for too long. I lost you to that thing and I permanently lost Zephyr to it. I’m not about to let you both become another victim to its stupid Kaiju sending, missing reports making, evil empire invading—.”

“But the voice we heard isn’t with the evil empire! They said it themselves that they hid it from the empire, and they said nothing would come out. They told Zephyr that they opened the O.R.T. so he could escape!”

“They’re probably lying to trick us! The Kalaxian Empire has been sending Kaijus and sent a spy to take us down. You think they wouldn’t stoop that low?”

“But how would they even know about Zephyr? Didn’t you say they didn’t know me and Thunder were here until after Vanessa got in? Anything about Zephyr was kept a secret!”

“I don’t know, Shiny! All I know is there’s no way Zephyr is alive because I saw—”

“Easy, Alex.” Victoria cut in. “Deep breaths.”

Alex stopped herself and tried to breathe deeply. Creed took over talking to Shiny.

“Shiny, I know you’re optimistic,” Creed began, taking his hat off, “but Zephyr is gone. He didn’t survive the Big One when he drove it towards that second O.R.T., and he had no way to get through it even if he did survive.”

“But Thunder and I did hear the voice say his name!” Shiny rebutted. “He has to be alive. How else would the voice know who he is?”

“Shiny— Ugh, Thunder back me up here.”

“Actually, I agree with Shiny.” Thunder said.

Everyone stared at Thunder in shock.

“Ah-ha!” Shiny exclaimed. “See? Even Thunder agrees with me.”

“While I do not agree with Shiny’s method of persuasion, I do agree with his claim that Zephyr is still active.” Thunder clarified. “Mostly due to the fact that I was the one who suggested such a claim.”

“Hang on, you thought Zephyr was still alive first?” Alex asked, not believing what she was hearing.

“Affirmative. I made the hypothesis under delusion and desperation admittedly, but I had sane evidence to support it. Shiny, Zephyr, and I are all Rose Type Guardian Class Robots. While we are all different in… many areas, we were still drafted from the same blueprints and share specific design aspects. Shiny and I were able to recover from the battle against the empire and merging. Albeit it took days for repairs to finish, we were still able to function in the end. It would be illogical to assume a bomb created on Earth would destroy Zephyr if we survived an attack directed by extraterrestrial beings.

“Another point is Zephyr would have been able to withstand surviving a travel through the O.R.T. considering Shiny was able to go in and come back out. He still has issues with his CPU regarding his memory banks, but he survived nonetheless. That should signal as a clear sign that I and Zephyr would have made it through without too much damage. That would be as long as the O.R.T.A. protocol was disabled. Which brings me to another point: the O.R.T.A. protocol did appear to activate.

“After viewing the video log of Zephyr’s termination, there was an irregular delay regarding the O.R.T.A. protocol activation. The autopilot should have taken control before the Big One pushed him directly into the O.R.T.. He would have faced significant damage, but he would have been able to get out of the way before termination. The only weak point to evidence is that you are the only one who can bypass the protocol. Which is something I did not witness in the video log.”

“Of course I’m the only one, I made the protocol.” Alex groaned. “And that should be enough to tell you how crazy you and Shiny are sounding. Especially since I hid bypass code in—”

Alex stopped. The robots could see their creator was running a lot of thoughts in her head. Like she was trying to make sense of a sudden realization. Shiny wasn’t sure what Alex was thinking, but Thunder could tell she found a possible inconsistency. Hopefully that inconsistency would favor the brothers’ request.

“Even if Zephyr is alive,” Alex began, “we can’t just go in there. T-There could be bad guys on the other side. Even worse, Kaijus wanting to crush you both. What if you run into alien locals, and you can’t understand what they’re saying? We’re not gonna be able to keep contact with you if you both go through.”

“Alex, I understand you feel highly uncomfortable with the idea.” Thunder said. “However, there is too much information gathered to not risk it. Along with we now only have 23 hours, 47 minutes, and 16 seconds and counting down until the second O.R.T. close. Zephyr, who is most likely still functioning, may not get a second chance to escape. Please at least allow Shiny and I more time to convince you before you decline our request to travel through the O.R.T. to rescue Zephyr.”

Alex looked at both of the robots while everyone else remained silent.

XxXxXxXxX

It took three hours. Shiny and Thunder spend the first hour and a half trying to persuade Alex. The next hour was spent getting Shiny and Thunder ready for the mission. They had a few alien languages that Blorgo could offer installed, back-up ammo on deck, and the bypass protocol hidden within Thunder’s insides. The last half hour was Alex giving Shiny and Thunder ground rules, that they better come back, and they owe her big time if they’re wrong about Zephyr being alive.

Now the two robots were at the second O.R.T site. EDF staff are still pointing at the portal and keeping a perimeter. Shiny looked at Thunder to make sure he wasn’t glitching out like before. Thankfully, the bypass code was doing its job.

“Alright, you both have 20 hours now to get in, find Zephyr, and get out.” Alex said over the comms. “Make it quick, and immediately get back when the O.R.T. is close to closing.” “We remember, Alex.” Thunder assured. “We will return before the O.R.T. closes.” “And we’ll make sure Zephyr is back with us!” Shiny added. “Don’t worry, Alex. Thunder and I got this. We’ll be fine.”

“... Alright.” Alex sighed. “Just promise to call us as soon as you get back.”

“We will.” Shiny and Thunder promised.

“And you both owe me so much if you guys are wrong.”

“We know.”

Shiny and Thunder looked at the O.R.T., mentally preparing themselves to go through.

“Ready, lil bro?” Shiny turned to Thunder.

“Affirmative.” Thunder nodded. “I only hope the travel will not affect my memory banks.”

“Ah, I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Okay, so, Shiny may have been a wee bit too optimistic. Because Thunder… was not good after a recharge. When he came online again, he was very quiet. He barely responded to anything unless you were asking him about his repairs status. He didn’t even respond to Shiny’s teasing or jokes or clearly saying something so wrong yet so confidently. Not even Alex was getting much of a response. She tried so many times to talk to Thunder about that day. But he… barely cooperated, only giving the minimum effort to converse. Which was definitely not normal.

He wouldn’t even leave the hangar for anything. It was like… there was only a husk where Thunder should’ve been. Shiny felt so bad for his little brother. Thunder was feeling hurt, even if he would never admit it. He said himself that robots don’t have feelings, so why would he? But Shiny knew that wasn’t true.

What didn’t help either was the entire EDF staff now knew that Shiny and Thunder knew about Zephyr. And of course that spread gossip around. The amount of conversations Shiny overheard was way too many to count. It ranged from people talking about how it took long enough to feeling bad for the robot brothers. With a few calling Thunder an annoying and difficult drama-queen. Shiny never acted like this when he knew Thunder existed, immediately calling him brother. So what’s Thunder’s problem?

Shiny may have caused a few ruckuses hearing those comments… but it was one hundred percent deserved. Listen, not everyone can be as easy going as him. Plus at least he found out he had two brothers within a few months. Being gone ten years doesn’t count because he doesn’t remember everything. But Thunder went for… however long he’s been alive for without knowing about his brothers. And it was like that on purpose. Of course Thunder was gonna react differently.

Shiny thought back to how Thunder acted when they first met. Thinking about it, this reaction kinda made sense. The little brother was being a complete jerkwad and dismissive in the beginning, but he came around eventually. Now he was Shiny’s little jerkwad brother who was awesome. But now Thunder is just quiet and giving the bare minimum. Kind of the same reaction but also different. Maybe the difference is Shiny is here and Zephyr isn’t. 

God, Shiny just wishes he knew what he could do. He still stayed in the hangar with Thunder, talking to him to keep him company. But, as said before, Thunder barely responded. If only there was a way to make him feel better… and that way came on a random midnight night.

“Shiny?” Thunder called out. “Shiny, Shiny, Shiny, Shiny, Shiny, Shiny, Shiny, Shiny, Shiny—”

“Whuh— Thunder?” Shiny woke up.

“Perfect, you are alert. As coincidence, it would appear I am alert as well.”

“You literally woke me up. It’s twelve o’clock at night, dude.”

“Correction: you responded to me calling your call sign. But that isn’t what matters. I require your assistance.”

“You need my help?” Shiny questioned, becoming more alert. “Is something wrong? Are you hurt? Feeling sick again? Do I need to get Alex—”

“I do not need assistance with that. My repairs are still going as normal and robots do not get sick. I need your assistance in finding more information about Zephyr.”

Phew, that’s a relief. Wait what?

“Uh, what do you mean by that exactly?” Shiny asked.

“Hangar Base 123 Hallway Rose Robot Two gave us confirmation that Zephyr was constructed and existed.” Thunder began. “But it lacks the information of who he was during his active years. We know very little about his personality matrix and abilities. If I remember correctly, Alex stated he used to watch video recordings of you. By that logic, there should be video recordings of him somewhere within the base.”

“You… want me to help you look for them?”

“Affirmative. I do not know where they could be held, but your assistance will make the search quicker and easier.”

“But why do you wanna find them?”

“... As I have already stated, I wish to know what Zephyr was like before his destruction.”

Do not make a joke, Shiny. Do not make a joke. Thunder is being vulnerable after a good few long days of silence. He is trusting you to help him and needs it more than ever.

“Right, right. Of course. Sorry, Thunder, still waking up. Uh… where should we start?”

“That… I am uncertain of. The only reasonable places they would be held are places only the EDF members could enter due to their size. So we would be unable to reach them. I am still attempting to think of other optimal solutions.”

“Well, I’m sure we’ll think of something—”

Shiny accidentally smacked a loose metal board in his hangar wall. Shiny flinched and Thunder shook his head disappointingly. That’s when a black box fell out and landed on one of the hangar bridges. The two robots looked at each other then at the box. It beeped for a moment before a hologram came out. It made both the robots jump.

The hologram began playing a video… of the hangar from almost seven years ago.

[“Memory card beginning. Greetings, Zephyr who won’t remember this. I am you from the future. Haha, I jest. I’m a memory copy of you at this moment. I am creating this to lessen the risk of Alex discovering my midnight activities. She has shown concern in my strange behaviors that I myself don’t know how they came to be. But I do wish to lessen her stress of my well being.”]

Shiny and Thunder widen their eyes. What were they about to learn about Zephyr?

[“I have come to a solution that might be able to work for her and me. I speak in this way to provide you instructions of what to do. I have discovered an old lecture room that is able to fit my size. The lecture room is technically abandoned and perhaps restricted… but that is the same room that holds video logs of Shiny and copies of his memory bank.”]

[“In theory, this could lessen my strange habits and lessen Alex’s stress levels. It would be an outlet that is forgotten but theoretically minimizes my strange habits. If you wish to find this room, listen closely and only at night between 11:30 PM to 4:30 AM.”]

“Woah, Zephyr was a sneaky guy.” Shiny said.

“Quiet.” Thunder shushed.

[“This is a path you must follow only at night with low activity. You can access it by activating your UV light and reading the hallways. As shown:”]

[Zephyr activates a UV light from his siren and multiple writings appear on the walls.]

[“I have written directions along with security routines in every accessible hallway. There are many instructions for multiple pathways to specific locations. You must follow the directions marked with the upside-down star to reach the lecture room. When you reach it, you will see a passcode guide next to the door. They change the password every month despite no one actually going inside. Do not worry though, the password system was very easy to figure out and it’s not gonna change. All you must remember is the date of today.”]

[“The writings will not be discovered, as they are very high up and the ink is UV Light Sensitive. In human terms, it’s invisible ink. While the EDF does have UV flashlights, the lighting systems do not. When you are finished in the lecture room, do not forget to make a memory card copy and place it within the lecture room. Once you leave, delete the night from your memory bank. And Creed said it was useless for me to know how to make memory copies. Hehehehe.”]

[“Ahem. Uh, back on track. When you finish watching this, return the box to the metal board you found it in. I left it loose enough to not call concern but obvious enough to find. Enjoy the lecture room, Zephyr. May this solution provide positive results. Memory card ending.”]

The hologram ended and went back into the box. Thunder looked at the wall and turned on his UV light. Just as the hologram said, there were directions written on the wall. While worn down, it was still legible.

“Woah-ho-ho.” Shiny said. “Looks like Zephyr was really sneaky. I never noticed this before.”

“That is because we have never had a reason to use UV lights within the base before.” Thunder noted. “Clever. If we follow the directions laid out by Zephyr, we can make our way to the lecture room.”

“Cool. Wait, why are we going to the lecture room?”

“As Zephyr had just stated, the lecture room holds video logs of you. Logically, the room should also contain video logs of Zephyr.”

“Ooooh, of course! Man you’re good at this. You didn’t even need my help.”

“I still require your assistance. There may be other obstacles I may not be able to overcome on my own.”

Shiny watched Thunder as he went to follow the directions. He can say he doesn’t want to be alone. Shiny put the box back and covered the hole it came from. WHen he finished, he quickly caught up with his brother.

The two followed the directions carefully. They felt glad Zephyr left behind security routines, as it helped with not getting caught. Eventually, they made it to the lecture room door. The passcode guide was still there with months, days, and words connected by lines.

“Uhh, this is… a lot.” Shiny said. “Do you know what any of this means?”

“It seems the passcode is connected to a period of time.” Thunder noted. “There are no numbers connected to the date, besides the word even and odd. But even then, they lead to two different systems.”

“And our hint was what the date today is?”

“... Today is September fifteenth. It has thirty days within the calendar, making it have an even amount of days. And September first began… Of course.”

Thunder immediately figured out the passcode. He inserted the password into the security lock, and the door opened.

“You were able to get the answer from what day it is?” Shiny looked at Thunder confused.

“It is a very simple process.” Thunder said. “I can explain it to you later.”

“I think I’d like that. As confused as I am, at least we’re in. So… shall we?”

“We shall.”

The two went inside and the door closed. It was very dusty, but more writings appeared within the room. There were labels everywhere. By the door entrance, there was an arrow pointing down and said “put memory copies here”. They saw another arrow on the other side that said “play recordings here” and a different one pointing to charging cables that said “refuel here”. To the left of the room, there was an arrow pointing at a small case of memory cards. The arrow said “Shiny Video Logs”.

Next to that box was another box. It didn’t have an arrow pointing at it, but it was bigger than the one that did.

“That must be the video logs for Zephyr.” Thunder said as he walked to the box.

“Woah.” Shiny gasped. “That’s gotta be a lot of logs. How are we gonna watch them all in one night?”

“Perhaps we could ‘pick and choose’ video logs that sound best to explain Zephyr. It appears to be divided into recordings created by the EDF and memory files that were downloaded straight from Zephyr.”

“How can you tell?”

“By the shape and design difference that each tape has. And the fact that it’s also labeled.”

“Huh. You know, I never noticed how many labels we have in the EDF until now.”

“We are a government facility. Of course we would have multiple labels. I will search through the recordings while you search in the memory files to find which ones we should start with.”

“Rodrigo that, Thunder.”

And so, the two began to dig through. Thunder chose a few recordings by their dates, log name, and level of possible importance. Shiny grabbed a few memory files that gave him good vibes. Thunder began to set up the projector to play the logs while Shiny fiddled with the charging cables. 

“I am finished.” Thunder said. “Are you ready?”

“Ready as ever!” Shiny beamed, handing a cable to Thunder. “Let’s get this sibling history lesson going.”

Thunder grabbed the charging cable and put it in his chest. He pressed play on the projector, and the brothers began to watch the video logs of Zephyr.

— — — — — [Date: 09/15/{ERROR}]

[Time: 13:06]

[Video_Log_001 / Zephyr_Activation]

“Is it on?” A six year old Alex asked.

“Yes, it’s on Dr. Rose.” Creed confirmed on the other side.

“Perfect! Ahem. Hello future viewers. I am Alexandra Rose, head of the EDF and creator of the Rose Type Guardian Class Robot. Today is a special day because I’m about to activate my second and newest model! Point at him, Creed.”

Creed pointed the camera towards an unactivated giant robot.

“I present to you, Rose Type Guardian Class Robot X-M47. I made him with updated blueprints of Shiny’s old model and the help of the Creed. But that’s because he wouldn’t let me make Robot X-M47 more colorful.”

“Alex, we’ve had this conversation a hundred times. We can’t be making our fighting robot a bright purple and neon green. It’s just not good on the eyes!”

“But he would have been pretty!”

“He’s still pretty and now less of an eyesore. We don’t need the citizens to feel like they need to wear sunglasses while being protected.”

“We didn’t have that issue with Shiny.”

“Because Shiny was already bright. He’s red, orange, and yellow. Purple and green aren’t bright colors.”

“Whatever. Anyways, we’re about to activate him for the very first time.”

Alex’s very excited expression turned sad and nervous.

“Alex?” Creed said.

“I’m a little nervous. What if he ends up disappearing like Shiny?”

“Don’t worry, Alex. We’ve already covered everything so that won’t happen again. You are the only one who can allow Robot X-M47 to go through the O.R.T. if you wanted him to.”

“... But what if he’s just an empty military bot?”

“Then I spent multiple nights trying to figure out how a personality matrix for… valuable learning. I promise, nothing is going to go wrong.”

Alex took a deep breath. She hesitantly held out her hand, and Creed took it. The little girl turned to the robot, taking a deeper and bigger breath.

“Activate Big Mailman Purple Robot.” Alex said loudly.

With those words, the giant robot began activating and booting up. A green loading icon appeared on the screen, replaced by a loading bar. When the loading bar was complete, four green lines appeared. The bottom two lines began to switch back and forth into circles, as if to mimic blinking. The robot looked confused at first, his eyes darting around his surroundings.

“Robot X-M47.” Alex called out.

The robot looked down at Alex. He looked at the young girl with curiosity.

“Can you hear me?” Alex asked.

“Yes— Correction: I mean, confirmed.” The robot stumbled upon his words. “I can hear you.”

Alex looked at Creed excitedly once again.

“Can you see me?” Alex asked.

“Confirm.” The robot answered. “I can see you.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“You are Alexandra Rose. You are head of the Extreme Defense Force and smartest child on Earth. Your title is Dr. Rose but your nickname is ‘Alex’.”

“Do you know who you are?”

“I am Rose Type Guardian Class Robot X-M47. I was created by you to defend the citizens of Earth from the Kaijus that arrive from the Optical Rheometric Tactilis, O.R.T. in acronym form.”

Alex tilted her head and turned to Creed.

“Uh, that was a little more information then we asked for.” Creed told the robot.

“Oh. My apologies Colonel Creed. I had assumed Dr. Rose wished to know if I was aware of my purpose as well.”

“Huh. Must be a small nick with the clarification part. Are we sure I didn’t mess something up with the personality matrix?”

The robot showed nervousness: “Is there an error I have demonstrated from my personality matrix?”

“No, no, you’re fine!” Alex reassured. “It was just a small surprise, and Creed is a dumdum sometimes. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Oh. My apologies, Dr. Rose.”

“You don’t have to apologize. And you can call me Alex.”

“I can?”

“Yeah. Dr. Rose is just a silly thing everyone else calls me. But since you’re my creation, you don’t have to be formal with me. You get to call me by my nickname.”

“... That is noted, Alex.”

Alex smiled widely, and the robot smiled back.

“Okay, now it’s time to do some movement tests.” Alex explained.

“I believe that may prove difficult.” The robot stated.

“Why?”

“Well, my arms and legs are strapped down to the table. I’m not sure how I’m gonna move.”

Alex let out a giggle.

[End of Video_Log_001]

— — — — —

It was 12:26 AM.

— — — — —

[Date: 10/01/{ERROR}]

[Zephyr_Memory_File_017]

I have found it strange the way I compute with myself. I think as if I were a sentient being, but I am aware I am only qausi-sentient. Yet I still process and repeat information as if I’m making a diary entry. However Alex has written it in my personality matrix code that I present human-like behavior. That human-like behavior is then met with a responsibility core provided by Colonel Creed. This was a balance created so that I may be able to do my purpose of a guardian with high success. I take the battle of Kaiju with the required seriousness while I present as a comforting figure to scared citizens.

Now this is the explanation of why I compute and speak in this manner. But I still find myself being surprised by this behavior. Alex has claimed that this is fine, as it is part of the human-like behavior code. While this option does bring benefits, it is this downside that brings me worry of negative side effects. But I do trust Alex in what she says. She created me, so I do not have reason to doubt her. Perhaps this is just another human-like behavior: paranoia.

However, there is another strange behavior I have exhibited and others have pointed out. I have obtained physical human habits as well. There many times I have accidentally mimicked the sounds only humans can make. I can laugh, cry (only mimicking the sound, it’s very rare anyways), gasp, and etcera. I fear this strange display of mine will bring an uncomfortable atmosphere and a feeling of uncanny. However, again being pointed out, I subconsciously and instinctively cover my mouth whenever I mimic human sounds. There is no logical sense I can make of how this entered my personality matrix.

I wonder if Shiny had these problems. I know very little about him, but that is to be expected. I learned about him on my fourteenth day of being activated. To know everything about my predecessor from day fourteen to day seventeen would be highly impossible.

But I am nervous to ask Alex about Shiny. I have noticed a repeated pattern of Alex becoming sad whenever he is mentioned. I do not wish to make her sad. What robot would I be if I made my creator sad?

“Hey 47!”

Ah, speaking of Alex. I assume she is here for a progress report of my training.

“Greetings, Alex. How are you today?”

“I’m doing great. How about you?”

“My systems are working functionally. The only issue is a series of questions making an appearance in my processor.”

“What kind of questions?”

Oh dear.

“I am not certain I should say. I have noticed these types of questions tend to make you sad.”

Alex is looking at me confused: “Why would they make me sad?”

“They are… questions regarding the existence of Shiny.”

Oh no, Alex is expressing sadness.

“You wanna know more about Shiny?” Oh dear, I have definitely ‘screwed’ up.

“I do, but I do not want to make you sad. It’s alright if my questions remain unanswered.”

“Oh, no! You’re not making me sad. I swear.”

“... Alex, you are not good at deception. If talking about Shiny—”

“I’m not sad. I just… get frowny when I think about him and miss him.”

Frowning is often associated with sadness along with other negative emotions. But I fear stating that would only worsen Alex's sadness.

“Why do you wanna know about Shiny?”

“Oh. I supposed…”

Logically, there is no reason of benefit to know who Shiny was. He is the prototype and I am the new model. Why am I curious about Shiny? Is it my lack of knowledge for only knowing about him for three days?

“I… I suppose I am experiencing ‘curiosity’ of who Shiny was after knowing of his existence. I don’t know where the curiosity came from. There is no benefit to me to learn information about Shiny. Again, I do not wish to cause you—”

“I’ll tell you about him.”

Oh. This is a surprising turn of events.

“Really?” I should ask for confirmation to be safe.

“Yeah! Uh, what do you wanna know?”

“Why is Shiny’s robot model called ‘Shiny’ while my robot model is Rose Type Guardian Class Robot X-M47?”

That is the main question that has been repeated in my processor. Shiny is not a robot model title and an elongated jump from his to mine.

Alex is laughing though, “Shiny isn’t his robot model, that’s his name.”

“Name?”

“Well, his call sign. He has a real robot model name, but I called him Shiny because that was a better name for him. Think of it like… how my name is Alexandra but my nickname is Alex. The robot model is his nickname and Shiny is his name.”

“Aren’t nicknames supposed to be a shortened version of the name?”

“Well, yeah. But I like thinking that Shiny is his real name because… well, he’s alive.”

“He was a sentient robot?”

“No, silly. He was quasi-sentient like you.”

Oh. Of course, why would I think otherwise?

However, this mention of names and nicknames is… making me think strange thoughts. Is my robot model my nickname? Do I have a name?

“Do I have a call sign, Alex?”

“Uhhh… Not really.”

Oh.

“May… May I request permission to receive a call sign?”

“You want a name?”

“Confirmed.”

Alex looks to be deep in thought. Oh dear. I hope I meet the requirements that Shiny did to have a name.

“What name would you want?”

Is this a test? Was this part of Shiny’s requirement to gain a name? I must think quickly.

“Well… Perhaps my name could match Shiny’s name. Based on his design, he seems to be associated with the sun. His name also seems to have a connection to the sun, with the prime example: sunshine. So… I could have a weather and/or sky related name.”

I hope that answer was sufficient. I did not realize how stressful acquiring a name would be. This could be the only chance I am given a name, and there’s a 87% chance I failed. That being calculated by Alex’s saddened eyes and deep thinking facial expression. Now her expression is changing into a determined squint.

“By the power invested by me, Alexandra Rose, your new call sign shall be: Zephyr.”

I passed? I passed! I have a name!

Zephyr: west wind, light wind.

Shiny is the sun, and I am the wind. I was right to choose weather related names.

“Zephyr.” I repeat. It sounds wonderful. “I like that call sign. Thank you, Alex.”

Zephyr… I love this new name of mine.

— — — — —

It was  01:53 AM.

— — — — —

[Date: 04/09/{ERROR}]

[Time: 09:37]

[Video_Log_046 / Alaska_Incident]

Cameras were on Zephyr as he fought another kaiju. A harsh snow storm pelted upon the two giants, but neither of them were bothered. The kaiju was covered in fur, had no visible eyes, and bared razor sharp horns. It kept charging at Zephyr, almost hitting him no matter where he dodged. He attempted multiple times to aim, but he could never get a good chance to fire.

“How does this thing keep finding him?” Creed said over the comms. “It doesn’t even have eyes!”

“Theory may suggest he is using other methods to see.” Zephyr suggested. “There are known Earth biological species who went through an evolutionary phase to get rid of their eyesight. The main cause being they are adapting to pitch-black environment.”

“What!? What good is it to get rid of your eyesight like that?”

“As I’ve said Colonel, the main cause for such evolution is a pitch-black environment. Since it is impossible to see in a dark room, it is best to rely on other senses for survival. Examples include touch, smell, hearing—”

The kaiju ran into the left side of Zephyr, grazing a small part of his arm and chest plating. He fell to the ground and clutched his chest.

“Zephyr!” Alex cried out. “Are you okay?”

Zephyr looked at his hand and saw lubricant on it. He looked down to see the block heater was cracked and leaking.

“The kaiju has penetrated my block heater.” Zephyr informed. “I am leaking lubricant oil as we speak.”

The kaiju roared loudly, now moving frantically in circles. It didn’t seem to be paying attention to Zephyr at all.

“Peculiar.” Zephyr whispered.

“Zephyr, you need to head back to base now.” Alex commanded. “You’re losing heat with every second you’re outside, and you have more than enough energy to fly back for repairs. We can deal with the kaiju—”

“The kaiju is not taking the chance to attack me. It’s… running around confused.”

Zephyr looked closer at the kaiju to try and figure out why. He noticed that his lubricant had gotten into the kaiju’s fur. Calculations and possibilities ran through his processor.

The kaiju is blind, that is confirmed. It’s using another way to navigate through this storm. The possibilities of navigation are the three remaining possible senses. Lubricant cannot be heard, as it is a liquid and does not produce sound waves. However, lubricant can be toxic to skin if exposed to it repeatedly. One time exposure doesn’t cause much harm though. That leads to smell. Lubricant is usually odorless… Unless the lubricant needs to be changed due to contamination or age.

“Zephyr, stop trying to figure out how to beat the kaiju and get your butt back to the base!” Alex now demanded.

“Apologies, Alex. But I’m afraid I cannot do that.” Zephyr said.

“What?”

“My mission is clear: defeat the kaiju. Attempts to retreat when I have figured out its weakness would be detrimental to our victory and the safety of the citizens of Alaska.”

“If you do not get back here right now—”

“Alex, if I recall correctly, there is a Pneumatic Hyper-Tube tunnel nearby. Though Alaska is not too far from the base, the tunnel was created in cases of block heater damage. I understand you do not want me to be out here for my health and safety. I must insist though that I make at least one attempt to defeat the kaiju.”

“You matter more than a dumb kaiju though!”

“I only request ten minutes. That should be enough time for me to defeat the kaiju and reach the Pneumatic Hyper-Tube tunnel before my systems start to face damage. If I fail and pass the ten minute mark, I will activate my O.R.T.A. protocol and return to base immediately.”

“... Fine! But you only get ten minutes, Zephyr.”

“Confirmed.”

Zephyr pulled out his auxiliary defense mode weaponry: a spear and an energy-based whip. He flew up into the air, and he flew straight down on top of the kaiju. He quickly stabbed it with his spear, making it roar in pain. It moved even more frantically. Zephyr attempted to stay on top of it, having a death grip on his spear. He activated a button on his whip, and it turned into an electric lasso. He twirled it around and wrangled the kaiju’s neck. 

He began to try and steer the kaiju. He saw a cliff nearby. He scanned it, and found there is fifty feet drop beyond. He scanned the perimeter coordinates to calculate the distance between here and the Pneumatic Hype-Tube tunnel. As fortune would have it, he was only a short 100 feet away. Thanks to whoever set the odds in his favor. He immediately guided the kaiju to the cliff.

He prepared to lift himself off to avoid pummeling to the ground. As soon as the kaiju stumbled off, Zephyr flew away. Unfortunately, the kaiju gave one last strike and tore Zephyr’s left leg off. It threw off his balance incredibly, and he attempted to regain it as fast as possible. While the landing was rough, he was able to only face insignificant damage. But now he was 87 feet away from the tunnel. A longer distance now that he can’t properly fly.

“Hang on, I’m activating an autopilot that’ll bring you to the tunnel immediately.” Alex said.

“Wait, Alex—”

A pop-up that said {AUTOPILOT ENGAGED} appeared on Zephyr's screen. The rockets remaining on his right foot activated and his body began to drift towards the tunnel.

“Alex, Alex! Gentle! Be more gentle with the autopilot please!” Zephyr dropped the serious tone and replaced it with a nervous one.

The Pneumatic Hyper-Tube tunnel opened and presented the Pneumatic Hyper-Tube. The doors opened, and Zephyr rammed against its walls. The doors closed, and the journey back to the EDF base began.

“Alex.” Zephyr sighed, covering his mouth. “I believe I have shared my discomfort of you enacting autopilot with only three to eight seconds of warning.”

“Sorry, Zephyr. I was just… worried you’d freeze in the blizzard.”

“It’d take about ten to twelve hours for me to have faced any serious cold damage. Plus, I would’ve been able to find a way to the tunnel within the ten minute time limit. A time limit that I asked for, by the way.”

“Are you alright, soldier?” Creed asked.

“I’m fine, Creed. What’s the stasis of the kaiju?”

“Dead and gone. Good job, Zephyr. How did you figure out the Kaiju’s weakness?”

“As I will say thrice now: animals have purposely evolved to get rid of their eyes. Something about my spilt lubricant made it upset in the way they navigate. It didn’t see through hearing, the lubricant doesn’t make sounds. It could’ve been touch, but that’s the only time the kaiju had lubricant on its fur. The only option left was it was affected by the smell. And considering my lubricant needs a change, I figured the smell of burnt oil made it blinder than a mole.”

“Then you sneak attacked it on the back! You clever little bot.”

“Thank you. I consider myself very calculated and adaptive, especially when I’m snow close to perceived unavoidable doom.”

“Really?” Alex groaned.

“I won a battle against a kaiju with a broken block heater, a leak, and only lost a leg. I think I deserve to make a celebratory joke. Especially when someone used the autopilot feature without a proper warning for the fourth time since my activation.”

“Well… maybe you should’ve come back to base when I told you to.”

“Alex, I apologize for what I’m about to say. As there is no gentle way to say this: You are being a little overprotective and overdramatic.”

“I am not!”

“Yes you are.”

“Am not!”

“Alex, how long would it take to repair a broken block heater and a lubricant leak?”

Alex was quiet before mumbling how long it would’ve taken.

“That is long enough to give the kaiju a chance to recover and destroy a city. I know you don’t like me continuing to fight while I’m injured, but I already made the calculations. Even if the repair time has been expanded, the ratio of success from continuing my duty versus returning for repairs then continuing was 93% to 21%.”

“... I just don’t want to lose you. Is that so wrong?”

“It’s not wrong, and I appreciate that you don’t want me to experience termination.”

“You don’t need to worry so much, Alex.” Creed cut in. “Zephyr hasn’t faced the worst yet.”

“There’s worse than losing a leg!?” Alex exclaimed.

“You are not helping Creed.” Zephyr said. “What I’m trying to get at, Alex, is that I know you’re worried and scared for my well-being. Your concern is appreciated beyond all the stars in the universe. But… sometimes your worry can make me think you don’t believe in me.”

“What?”

“I know it is unintentional for you to come across that way, but I request you listen for just a moment. I am aware that you are still growing and have already experienced loss within your life. Your reasonings to be overprotective are logical with all that considered. However, it isn’t always reasonable. Sometimes I feel like I am… unable to complete my mission of protecting Earth. That I will eventually fail.”

There was silence over the comms. Zephyr’s face visibly became distressed, worried he said something wrong.

“This is not an attempt of guilt trip. I only wanted to share my—”

“Of course you can protect Earth!” Alex interrupted. “Zephyr, you’re one of my greatest creations. I made you to save the Earth, and you’re really super great at it! I promise! I didn’t mean to make you feel like you couldn’t do it.”

Now it was Zephyr who was quiet. He was thinking of what to say in response.

“... How about when you get back, we can watch nature documentaries while you get repaired. And I promise I will stop using the autopilot protocol.”

“Will stop?” Zephyr joked.

“Okay, I will try to stop. Better?”

“It does sound more believable. And… I would appreciate that. I’m sorry that I scared you. No hard feelings?”

“No hard feelings.”

Zephyr smiled at that. The doors of the Pneumatic Hyper-Tube opened.

[End of Video_Log_046]

— — — — —

It was 02:13 AM.

— — — — —

[Date: 08/04/{ERROR}]

[Zephyr_Memory_File_325]

Is there an event that I don’t know of today? I know that there is a day dedicated to debates: National Speech and Debate Education Day. But that is celebrated on the first Friday of March. It is currently August, and yet I feel like there is a debate or argument forming between all of the staff members. Being in the hangar is, in my opinion, the worst place to hear debates. Especially since I am stuck in diagnosis checks and repairs. I am unable to leave. 

To make matters worse, people are purposely involving me. I’m aware I have a “gifted” talent of settling and mediating debates/arguments, but I prefer not having to do so while currently receiving mechanical attention.

“Zephyr!” There is Sarge with Annabeth behind her. “We need your opinion.”

Oh dear ENIAC, not again. Sending an SOS to Alex immediately. I repeat, sending an SOS to Alex immediately. Save me, Alex. I don’t wanna settle anymore debates.

“Let’s say you were in a hypothetical situation where you ran out of juice. Would it be better to rely on your auxiliary defense weapons or would you want an emergency back-up generator in your systems?”

Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope. This is not a subject I want to touch. I hate upgrade day as is, I don’t want to imply an authorization to schedule a short-notice upgrade day. Alex, please come save me.

“A backup generator is just another thing to refuel and another waste of money in the budget.” Annabeth claimed. “And again, you can’t just upgrade a robot all willy-nilly as if you made him.”

“Oh yeah?” Sarge glared. “Need I remind you of our positions, miss lunch lady?”

“Let’s not get too far ahead, Sarge.” I don’t wanna do this. “Remember, every position within the EDF is an important member. No matter the occupation, they are contributing in every way that helps.”

Sarge and Annabeth are glaring and mumbling. Great, now I gotta make sure this doesn’t escalate into a physical altercation. Why must today be some kind of argument magnet?

“Let’s start from the beginning.” I just want to get this over with. “Starting with looking at the statistics of—”

“Zephyr!” Alex is calling out to me. Oh thank ENIAS, she’s here.

“Greetings, Alex. Is something wrong?”

“Oh don’t think I forgot.”

I shall display an innocent eye expression and guilty smile: “Forgot what? Did I do something wrong recently?”

“Don’t act innocent with me, mister. Or did you have a glitch within a memory bank again and ‘forgot’ that you are scheduled for a one-on-one diagnostic test for that problem?”

“... I was really hoping you would forget.”

“I told you to remind me. It’s part of your upgrade day schedule.”

“In my defense, I hate upgrade day.”

Alex rolled her eyes. But I know she is lying. For starters, that diagnosis had already happened. There was no error within my memory banks, so there is no concern. Secondly, Alex has yet to find out about my memory bank trick.

The memory copy process and memory delete process are not difficult. Any gaps can be relayed to being in recharge. Works well when I do my secret activities between 11:30 PM and 4:30 AM. Not to mention no one has yet to discover my invisible ink graffiti.

I will say, it is strange to have these gaps in my memory. I know they exist and are secured in the multiple boxes scattered about. Yet I do not recall ever doing any of this. I know that I’m active during these gaps, but I get these strange phantom sensations and sometimes feel… whatever nausea is for a robot. The only little information I allow myself to remember adds to the strangeness. But bringing this up will only be a detriment to me, as I will lose access to do my night activities. And they are currently my only outlook to reduce my unnatural human-like behavior.

“And I mean everyone!” Alex shouted. “You can finish your janitor duties when I’m done!”

Oh. It would appear I was “lost in thought” while Alex was clearing the room.

“You alright, Zephyr?” Alex asks me, looking in concern.

“I am now. But I was slowly going crazy earlier. I felt like the entire staff was asking me to settle every debate and argument in existence. I was getting exhausted. Not to say I hate helping people—”

“I get what you mean, Zephyr. You’re just people-tired.” “People-tired?”

“It’s when you socialize so much that you don’t wanna talk to anyone. It happens to everyone, even people whose job is to help.” “Really?”

“Yep. Police, firefighters, doctors, even us! Sometimes we just need a break which is why jobs offer vacation days.”

“And I have yet to see you take a vacation.”

“Puh-lease. I’ll take a vacation when the O.R.T. is closed.”

I’m not sure that is a good wait time for a vacation. Especially for a newly turned seven year old who has been head of the EDF since age three. Oh, Alex is getting a sparkle in her. I’m not gonna share this insight I presume. “Hey, I just realized! You’ve never been on a vacation before!”

That is not what I expected to hear.

“That is indeed correct. Why the sudden realization?” I’m wondering where this is going.

“Well you’ve always been traveling to fight kaijus, but you never travel just for fun.” Alex states which is a true fact.

“That wouldn’t be good for the safety of Earth if I did that.”

“Okay, but that’s why I came up with the best idea. When the O.R.T. is closed, I’m gonna make you go on a mandatory vacation.” “Me? A mandatory vacation?”

“Yep!”

“Not you, Head of the EDF? Not Creed, the colonel who rarely takes time off? The metal robot who isn’t like an organic human and needs less breaks?”

“I’m in charge of this organization, and as your boss and creator: you will have a mandatory vacation when the O.R.T. is closed.”

“Oooh, pulling both of those cards? You really are serious.”

There really is no need for someone like me to go on vacation. The only breaks I need are repairs and refuels. Sometimes breaks from people are nice too. But I don’t believe I need a break to the extent of a vacation. However, Alex has played the “I am the boss” and the “I created you” card, the latter being played very rarely. Arguing about this would be pointless.

“Oh, I should start planning it for you now!” Alex added. “Where would you want to go? I can find the best spots for you and find good gift shops! Souvenirs are very important for a vacation. I’ll have to calculate a budget, but that’s not gonna take long.”

Alex began to ramble on and on about my vacation plans. Despite her unmatched genius and heartbroken grief, she is still a happy child. I appreciate seeing the small moments where she allows herself to be a kid. But it still brings me sadness to recognize those moments are small along with rare. Having learned more about Shiny along with her parents disappearance, it hurts to remember she gave up her childhood. I wish I could do something to help her feel better.

I’m letting myself get off topic. Where would I want to go for a vacation? Calculating all possibilities… Hm, I think I would have the best vacation in a forest. Ironically, I am a robot who has found joy in nature. More specifically plant life. It is so fascinating that flora and vegetation can be just as alive as humans can. And perhaps a little envious as well.

— — — — —

[WARNING: LOW POWER]

[WARNING: REACHING MAXIMUM LIMIT]