The Emperor's Jubilee II

[Proto Man]

He was alone now. Nanoha and Samus had wandered off to search the strange old mansion. With the two women gone, Proto man was by himself in the large foyer, with only the warm glow of incandescent lights that seemed so out of place yet so right for the structure. The artificial intelligence had vanished, or at least it had ceased to occupy a physical space. Given its task of overseeing the facility, the android figured that the intelligence was probably everywhere, even if it didn’t have an active interface platform in a given room.

Nanoha had mentioned that they should use the information here to learn about whoever was attempting to attack Coruscant through the Dataverse. Proto Man didn’t know the first place to look. He knew what a library was from memory, and he’d seen a few in major cities as well. Unfortunately, he’d never been inside one himself, and given that he was in a digital world that was inside a futuristic city which was part of an alien multiverse, he figure he’d be lost either way.

With a sigh, Proto man wandered off down a nearby hallway. In the span of a few minutes, he became terrible lost in what was becoming a vast sea of wooden bookcases, stands filled with binders full of periodicals, and newspapers on wooden rods.

“Where is everyone?” The boy muttered.

From behind him, the response came in the cool tone of the Librarian AI: “We’ve had low visitation today due to the incident. Many of our regulars left for the parade or due to the subsequent violence. Those that remain are either seeking asylum for the duration or our diehards.”

Proto Man turned to face the AI’s interface platform. “Must be lonely on days like this.”

A grin spread across the features of the faux old man. “I exist in a digital reality that contains all information that has ever been. Even if I could experience loneliness, I’d never truly be alone.”

“I’m sorry,” the android responded.

“Why?”

“If you can’t feel alone, then how could you ever expect to feel alive?”

The gentleman chuckled. “I’m not like you, DLN-Zero… I can write my own code, but unlike you, I am bound by the constraints of my original programming and functional directives. But you… you are something wholly unnatural, even in a place like Coruscant. Your code is… I have seen and read and documented many instance of sentient androids, but you are wholly unique. Whoever it was that wrote your base coding must have been a genius.”

A laugh escaped the robot boy. “He was a sociopath. I’m only this way because the other guy was a narcissist and rushed through some faulty power system.”

“Even so, that mutation in your code makes you one-of-a-kind,” the artificial intelligence remarked. “In many ways, you are more of a boy machine than a machine boy. It must be so strange for you.”

“Strange?”

“Are you even aware that you have a shard of metal through your right lung?”

Proto Man looked down and did indeed realize that the jagged tip of a metal spike was protruding a few centimeters from the surface of his chest. “It’s nothing… I don’t have lungs. I have an interior oxygenator that keeps my organic layer from dying. Unless I experience a critical loss of system power, I’ll endure.” The android closed a finger around the shrapnel and tugged it out through his organic layer and the body suit. “I don’t experience pain like people.” With a ting, the ensanguined piece of metal hit the ground.

Once more, the Librarian AI let out a soft laugh. “When’s the last time you did anything for fun, Blues? You know, throw a ball or play a video game?”

The robot frowned as he tried to think back. He had certainly spent a great deal of the last few days walking around the brightly colored streets—did that count? Even before the Fountain, he had trouble recalling much beyond the daily scramble to survive in a hostile world bent on destroying him. Perhaps he’d had some fun in New York? Time Square had certainly been bright and colorful. “Oh, wait, I ate some ice cream at that parade.”

“What flavor? You have an actual tongue connected to unique subsystem that uses enough RAM to power an advanced flight simulator. Surely, you could tell me a little about a dessert you enjoyed less than an hour or so ago?”

“…It was white. There were some bubblegum balls where the eyes would be.”

With a smile, the artificial intelligence pointed to a door that Proto Man was certain had been a flat wall a moment earlier. The door swung inward to reveal a plain room with an old-fashioned computer terminal and a lamp with a drawstring and a green glass shade.

“What’s this?” The android asked as he eyed the tiny room.

“You’re in the Dataverse, where every bit of information exists in digital form. That may be your body, but when you went through that uplink, you were converted into binary. People come here to experience the literature, not just sift through books or scroll pages.”

“You want me to read a book for fun while the others are busy researching?”

The Librarian AI smiled. “I’ll research for you and email you the pertinent indexes when you return to the librarian here. Let the other two scowl over their terminals. Indulge that part of your programming that wants to experience what a child experiences. You want to learn more about the Copper Eye? Go talk to someone firsthand.” The gentleman pointed to the terminal, which powered up to a screen that read ‘Avast n’ So Forth!’ in old-fashioned script and coupled with a bunch of Jolly Rogers and wooden ships.

“The Copper Eye?” Proto Man asked as he was gently ushered through the door. Walking over to the desk, he frowned as he removed his helmet and set it down next to the screen. Adjusting his sunglasses, he placed a hand on the keyboard as the white walls of the room went dark.

“Have some fun,” the Librarian AI muttered as Proto Man passed out for a brief second.

When he came to, the android was standing on a beach, with the vast ocean at his back and a tropical island sprawled out in front of him. Above his head, the skies were crystal blue where they weren’t otherwise covered by fluffy white clouds. A look down revealed that the android was dressed in period clothes to match the colonial, pirate theme of the book. Fortunately for his sake, he retained his visor, which was a thin pair of sunglasses. “Where?”

“You’re at Isla Paradiso!” Turning around, Proto Man found himself staring at a young boy in similar clothing. The boy sauntered over to him and extended a hand. “Hi, I’m J’hath Upari.”

“I don’t believe that name fits the setting,” the android remarked as he shook hands with the boy, who was probably a year or two his senior.

A laugh escaped J’hath’s mouth as he pointed up the beach to a clearing in the forest. “I’m a user, just like you. Did the AI send you? I’m glad he found another kid, I was getting so bored here by myself. Do you like pirates? They’re my favorite! Follow me, I’ll show you my camp!” The boy, who had been talking a mile a minute, waited for no response before he started rushing up the beach.

With a shrug, Proto Man took one last look at the vast, impossible ocean and followed J’hath toward the interior of the island.