A Ranger Reborn
Posted on Mon Nov 21st, 2022 @ 1:15am by Xavier X-1
Edited on on Wed Nov 23rd, 2022 @ 8:16pm
1,385 words; about a 7 minute read
Mission:
Short Treks
Location: Hysperian Traveliner
Timeline: Just after Bizarre Bazaar
Jack kicked the console. It had been four days since he had purchased the X-1. The bones were meshing, which would do no good if he couldn’t power the android. Now he was three days into building a type of regeneration bed, complete with a power cord, but he couldn’t quite get the charging sequence right.
At this point, his fingers were bleeding by the end of every day, then regeneration of the skin, sleep and start over. At this rate, he’d have himself a fixed mannequin before he had to give up access to the only ship he would have that could replicate the parts he needed, instead of scrounging for them.
With one last pass through the dragon’s blood engines - Hysperian Ren faire language for the warp engines - he hoped he found a connector that would translate the energies properly.
With a concerted inhale and exhale, Jack tilted his head. “Last try, X-1. If this doesn’t work, we’re out of time. This traveliner isn’t going to deliver itself tomorrow. The Hysperian’s are going to come looking for it once it’s past its ‘return by’ date.” ’ And I’m not getting caught up in another costume duel with swords - to the death,’ Jack thought. ‘With all their thee and thou and huzzahs!
Jack placed the adaptor in one side of his Frankenstein grouping of cables going from the engine to the other more refined power distributor in the charging station. He closed his eyes, waiting for the electric shock and possible plasma burns; instead, the charging station lit up like a warp core. Slow white lights fizzled on inside the device.
Jack smiled as he rose, crossing his barrel arms over his chest. He was genuinely proud that he’d taken such an interest in the X-2s that he could build a charging station this many years later. “You, my friend, get your life back today,” he said, grunting under the weight of the X-1 as he picked it up and deposited it in the bed, laying on its back.
As he remembered it, the charger stood upright, but they could work on that part once the android came online. If the android came online. All he could do now was set his autopilot and find his own bed. After four days of cutting wires and himself, blowing out the energy matrix twice, and replicating enough material that the replicators could barely feed him, Jack was done. His Hysperian Order of the Queen granted his ship free passing that even the lowest scavengers would dare violate.
The X1's eyes slowly opened. They were a crystalline blue and looked human. Mostly. In the dim light of the recharging station, they gave off a faint glow. Had the light inside the chamber been brighter, it would have been difficult to detect that particular feature, and even in the current state of affairs, it was subtle.
Xavier's last memory had been of pain. The pain was gone, at least the physical portion. He looked down the length of his body. He wasn't wearing any clothing. That did not surprise him. He reasoned that whoever had taken him had removed what clothing he had. Both legs looked identical. He wasn't sure why the damaged limb had been repaired. Had he been traded? Were they planning to break it a second time to record his reaction?
Then he remembered. Why he had let himself be captured in the first place.
He tried to speak, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was his base language. He closed his mouth and tried reaching down deep into his programming.
"Where's Kyle and what have you done with him?"
Jack was about three hours away from rendezvous with the Hysperian Grand Navy and the X-1 still lay dormant in its pod. Now, Jack wondered if it wouldn’t have been easier to just have left the ‘mannequin’ in its shop, propped up and displaying ridiculous clothes while holding scarves and gaudy baubles.
Jack heard a series of tones twice. Something the consoles were probably trying to tell him, the Hysperian’s used some odd and dissonant tones on their consoles, but after checking, he realized the ship hadn’t made a noise.
His brow knit in confusion until he heard the question. The last question his rescued X-1 had ever asked before becoming a propped-up mannequin on Freecloud.
Slowly moving back, Jack could see the light from the charging station he had cobbled together. “Hello?” he asked cautiously. “I’m not your captor. I repaired you; recharged you. I don’t know Kyle or what’s been done with him,” Jack answered but kept his distance.
“There is a robe beside your charging station. You can choose clothes in a bit, but we need to talk, X-1.”
"Modesty is a construct of beings like you, but I can put the robe on if you wish."
’Beings like me,’ Jack thought with a mental chuckle. Only a functioning android would have a thought like that. “You’ve learned that modesty is afforded every being equally. Do you not deserve equal treatment,” Jack proposed.
"If you are not my captor, how did you acquire me?”
“I acquired you from, what I think, was a Moroccan woman on the planet Freecloud. You were being used as a mannequin. Dressed terribly and holding swaths of cloth material for buyers to choose from. Your femur was compound fractured. You had a hairline fracture of your clavicle and a dislocated shoulder. I fixed all that damage.
“I recognized you as the precursor of an X-2 model I met long ago and far from here. It’s why I knew you as an X-1 model. I purchased you for some fairly expensive cost to myself, but no matter the money, you will be free to leave once we return this vessel to its owner.
“How long has it been?"
“As for how long it has been,” Jack paused because he really had no idea. “Based on the dust you had accumulated, I’d guess the Moroccan woman had you more than a year?” Jack didn’t sound confident in his guess.
“I would have to access your data ports and determine your last activation date and time, but we can’t do that now. We will have to switch ships with the Hysperians in the next thirty minutes, which is why I suggest you choose some clothing and something to eat before we reach them.
“You are safe with me now, X-1. My name is Jack DiBello and I’m a Fenris Ranger.”
The Android cocked his head, staring at the stranger trying to decide if he could trust him. He didn't have much choice he reasoned.
"A mannequin? That is..." There was a pause as Xavier searched for the right word. "embarrassing. Please do not tell anyone.” He began to search through the clothing options. "I am Xavier, I have never had a last name. Just X-1."
“I have a ship we will board after we return this, Hysperian War Council has held it in the event this ship was not returned. The charging bed may be crude, but it will fit in the aft cabin and we can work on repairing more once you’ve recovered some.”
Jack marveled at the technology of the android. So human-like and yet not quite there. When he cocked his head, likely making millions of computations per second, his crystal blue eyes fizzled as if small fireworks were being set off. A moment later, the fizzle was gone and he looked like a normal, young man again.
“Choose something Terran style. I don’t want to see you go live a Ren Faire life. It’s all very…Shakespearean. I don’t think you would like it.” Jack chuckled. “It’s about one step up from a mannequin,” Jack paused. “Oh! And that’ll be our little secret. I give you my word and my word is my bond.”
"I will do my best to find the appropriate style. I'm not familiar with Terran, but I will try."
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