What Am I Supposed to Be?: When it Rains...

    As they braced themselves for a sudden temperature shift, System Error 123 stepped through the portal into Pavia. However, no bracing heat assaulted the grey and blue protogen as they arrived in the desert guild hall. Torrents of rain falling outside the windows informed Systor that they had arrived at the desert planet during the cooler wet season. With a sigh of relief, the blue visored protogen looked around the room to see if anyone they knew was there, but the place looked empty. Red lights on their black armored chest and legs flickered with disappointment as Systor had hoped there would be someone here to help them.

    “You here to help look for the kids,” a red and orange lizardfolk asked, emerging from a side room and pulling a rain cloak on. “Nice of them to send someone with some tech to help out.”

    “Missing children,” Systor inquired before a migraine-like pain shot through their head. Why did this feel familiar? Had this happened before? A secret compartment opened on the protogen’s leg armor, revealing syringes full of a silvery liquid. Quickly, Systor grabbed one and injected the nutrient booster into their side.

    “Yeah, six kids have gone missing over the last few days,” the reptile person answered, looking suddenly concerned. They moved closer while still maintaining a little distance. “Are you okay?”

    “I’ll be fine,” the protogen insisted, waving them off. They found a nearby trash can and disposed of the empty syringe. “Where should I start looking?”

    “Outside the door is the search captain. They’ll give you a quadrant and if you need rain gear there’s spares in the closet,” the lizardfolk informed Systor before heading out into the storm.

    The migraine pain subsided as the nutrient injection soaked into System Error 123’s organic parts. Checking the closet, they found an old brown, tattered cloak that looked like it had been there for a while and no one would immediately miss. Slipping it on, Systor went outside to get their search area. The brown and yellow lizardfolk heading up the search gave the black armored protogen a search area on the outskirts of the town. Using the X-ray and infrared vision built into their visor, Systor searched their quadrant. Even with the hood from the cloak, they found themself wiping rain off their face every few minutes.

    Hours passed as Systor reached the edge of their search territory without finding any signs of the missing kids. Looking out into the distance, the black armored protogen spotted a cave in a rock face. Pushing their x-ray vision to the limit, System Error 123 barely made out several small childlike shapes and one rather large one. Deciding it was worth a shot, they went through the rain to the cavern opening. Taking their hood down, Systor noted that it was a pleasant, comfortable temperature. Following a whimpering noise, the protogen found a large artificially carved room with a cell built into the far wall with the missing kids inside. Around the room were all kinds of computers and various pieces of tech that Systor’s visor indicated were made by Dr. Mal. At the center of the room was a large, wide, sparkling green Chlorosaur augmented with various cybernetic upgrades.

    “I don’t suppose you’re friendly,” Systor weerily asked as they smiled awkwardly.  As the chlorosaur lifted its head, the gleam of red augmented eyes was hard to miss. Growling, it started to stomp forward, its new metal claws scraping on the floor.

    “Usually it is but I did order it to kill any one that came in without proper IFF,” a nearby computer console emitted from the speaker as a grey and blue canine face appeared on the screen. They looked like the one in the locket! Exactly like how Systor looked before the transition to protogen! “Gamma, do us all a favor and give up already. Your crusade was a failure. Become one with the machine already.”

    “Who are you? What happened to me? Who was I,” Systor tried to inquire, but the face on the screen disappeared. 

    The augmented green chlorosaur charged as the blue visored protogen was distracted, knocking them into the wall. A gasp went up from the cage of kids as they started shouting. Carefully, Systor picked themself back up and summoned their Support Gauntlets. The protogen blocked a bite from the augmented beast’s new hydraulic metal jaw using the black metal gloves. System Errror 123 wasn’t running hot enough yet to make enough steam to blast the chlorosaur. Metal front claws came up and managed to cut Systor’s side, leaving a deep gash. The black armored protogen quickly used Support Gauntlets to dig into the augmented beast’s flesh and lifted it off the ground. Jet Boosters flared out of Systor’s back and ignited, lifting them into the air. Disoriented, the chlorosaurus lashed out wildly, landing hits with its metal claws and metal spiked tail on the protogen’s fleshy parts. Systor slammed its green-scaled opponent into the cavern’s ceiling with one last jet burst. A beep from the blue visor indicated the need for steam venting. 

    “I’m sorry to the being you used to be but I need to save those kids,” System Error 123 apologized as the vents on the Support Gauntlets opened up. A loud hiss sounded as high-pressure steam sliced through the augmented green chlorosaur. Machine parts and visceral rained from the cavern ceiling as Systor landed injured. Looking around, they saw a repair pod and stumble into it, bleeding heavily.

    Once the doors to the medical capsule shut, the protogen blacked out. They came to in another memory. Systor was waking up strapped to a medical table. Everything about their body felt foreign. Blue lights flickered across their silver armor as their visor slowly calibrated and began showing live data feeds.

    “Good. You’re awake,” Dr. Mal coldly remarked as the cross fox walked into view. “Was worried you weren’t strong enough to survive. I couldn’t use a standard power core on you because your body kept rejecting them. You have an older liquid-cooled system that might need occasional venting but I managed to engineer an advanced heat sink temperature control system.”

    “What is my support role,” Systor heard themself ask as the straps holding them to the table clicked open.

    “Gamma, you’ll be hunting down high priority targets and disposing of them to cripple the AI’s advance,” Dr. Mal explained as a grin spread across her face. “In short, you were built to kill.”

    Fists pounding on the repair pod brought Systor back to the present. A readout on the visor indicated that all damage to organic parts repaired, and the Temperature System showed full functionality. Pushing the doors open, the blue-visored protogen found that the kids had managed to escape their cell when the doors opened. Unfortunately, all the computers and various techs had self-destructed, causing an inferno in the cave. Panicking System Error 123 started to shut down, thinking about losing the kids and it being their fault. An idea struck them as the fires closed in around them. Using their repair temperature controls, the black armored protogen cooled their system down to keep the water in their body liquid. Opening their steam vents, Systor drenched everything and everyone in the cave, putting the fires out.

    Upon returning to town, the locals tried to hail Systor as a hero, but they didn’t stop to participate in the celebration. Pulling the cloak hood over their head, the protogen found a guild room and locked themself in. There was no way that Dr. Mal built them to kill. These newly recovered memories weighed heavily on them. Dr. Mal had called them Gamma, just like Argenti and the face on the screen had. Was it their twin who appeared on the computer and sent the Chlorosaur after them? This news was all too much to process alone, but who could they turn to that wouldn’t turn them away now that Systor’s purpose had been revealed?