Seen Better Days

[HK-36]

[member="Dax Fyre"],

"Yes, because fighting countless wars against the Sith and surviving them, it is you who will finally manage to deactivate you."

HK quipped at Dax's comment about scraping him, looking to [member="Desmond C'artyom"] as he punched the droid's armored shoulder or something along the lines, which he was free to do, that would probably cause more damage to him than to the droid if he would do it too hard, or at all in some cases, luckily for Desmond HK was wearing his regular Phrik GA-issued armor suit rather than the biot he used on Atrisia. The biot used what was called Shark-Skin for its armor plates, it was a Vong-formed material from miniature scales that were known to catch flesh when it came to contact with them and shred it at the lightest of touches.

"I do have self-destruction function with enough blast to vaporize multiple beings so that neither my mind nor body will get captured by hostile elements."


[member="Vixley CM-01"],

The droid would release the clone corpse before moving closer to Vixley,

"Calm yourself Dax, he is probably a Republican unit, the Confederacy did not employ any medics on the ground, all their land forces were mechanical, they kept organics as honor guards out of combat, safe with their leaders."

HK explained before adding,

"At least that is what era the cloning equipment and his armor is from, his droid type was not put into proper manufacturing process few decades afterwards, must be some kind of prototype of his series. And do your own homework, you are the one who needs to research this information, I was active at the time to see it all carry out."

He then looked to address Vixley,

"Vixley, what is your programmed primary objective? You have been deactivated for several millenniums, the Clone Wars have concluded, the Republic and Confederacy are at peace-"

Well they are now, the Republic was changed into the Empire and Confederacy wiped out at the time, but in the current age the remnants of the Republic and fledgling Confederacy 3.0 are not fighting each other,

"-I am a Master within the Jedi Order sent here on a relic recovery mission."

That part was pretty much a straight-up lie

 

[Desmond C'artyom]

Desmond C'artyom took a step back as HK went into the specifics of his explosiveness. The droid was old and their was not telling what might happen. The clone body slid down to the ground and Des checked his pulse anyways. Dead. But, better safe then sorry. He stepped over the man and approached the reactivated android. "I been all over the galaxy and yet i've never seen something like you," He said noting the mechanical frame beneath the droids burned face.

He bore the marks of medic. so it was safe to assume he wasn't going to start blasting. He heard HK's remark on him being a master and Des regarded him with a skeptical look "Okay master 4LOMM, is this droid what we were sent here for?" Des looked around attempting to find the terminal where the droids main memory banks would be stored.


"Er.. Sorry Vix, but the doc's probably dust by now,"

[member="HK-36"], Vixely CM-01, [member="Dax Fyre"]

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="Dax Fyre"] [member="Desmond C'artyom"]

Vixley was taken aback as he processed the situation for a moment... the man asked when he was manufactured... when? Vixley's synthetic face looked confused, given perimeters based on current processing conditions. He looked around, seeing what he could in the dark or by the glow, realizing this wasn't days, weeks or months old dust. The lab had been abandoned... he was a relic of his time. Before he could think onward, the droid approached him, perhaps scanning him. Vixley foresaw no immediate hostile intent or threat so he only stood there. But with the last remark, Vixley squinted his eyes and processed the information, using his ocular scanners on the droid, albeit extremely limiting of the era they were from. They were not visual scanners, just data gathering. "I am... A Synthdroid, Similar to human replica droids, but more advanced, extremely more expensive. Regarded as better aesthetic quality, reliability, high performance standards and immunity to viruses. At least, of the time we were created. The ability to be controlled or influenced from a central hub, my terminal, allowed us to be indirectly immune to many infiltration softwares, because we could be set to be remapped at every cycle. But the Doctor was in the process of making me self operable, without a terminal, completely. And, if that is true, then my mission perimeters only change slightly."

[member="HK-36"]

"Well, it does not matter who you are or what organization you are; My primary directive shows no discrimination. The Doctor programmed me to save lives, in the heat of battle. It did not matter what side or team they were on, organics need their lives to be saved from near-death. On the occasion an organic is called on for judgement as to whether they should live or die, or be saved, I am programmed with morality judgement protocols to determine, myself, in the middle of any situation, whether to leave them, or save them. The Doctor was not part of the Republic, as he called "The Dictatorship" or the Confederacy as he called the "Corrupt Corporations," but it was intended to be more friendly with the Republic. The Doctors mission is unrequited, fruitless, too much effort with no reward, just for some organics, but it is his will and I shall follow it. Those who stand in my way will be put down. I am his weapon and shield, I am to enter the battle and pull the injured out, firing on those that dare to shoot at the injured or to try and stop me. I, and my squad, were intended to save lives at any cost, and I was their leader. They..."

His head tilted to the side as he scanned the room with his limited ability. He had internal readers that would tell him, but either they were offline, or the squad was gone.

"I am not reading the squad. I can not recall the memories of the incident, as I try, the corruption of my memory core grows. I must find my terminal for repairs and information. You will help me, no?" He said, turning around to the remaining debris. "The lab structure may or may not be solid anymore, but this remaining debris is blocking the way to my terminal, and the doctor..." He continued as he looked down, seeing a small and odd weapon, his weapon. He bent down to pick it up and sling it across his back. Just then, his scanners whirred awake for his face, telling him of his melted and distorted face. He turned back around. "We don't need to discuss it, but my internal sensors have informed me that my synthskin face, and skull, are damaged. My left eye is inoperable, which is why my scans are so limited. Has anyone seen my helmet?"

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax listened to the synth. Ha...he is a synth. Dax didn't exactly agree to the droids protocols. Not everyone was worth saving, especially if they'd been trying ti kill you...but he wasn't about to argue.

"Has anyone seen my helmet?" Dax stood and looked around him. To no surprise, a helmet was indeed nearby. The Knight picked up the blue bucket and dusted it off, using his sleeve to clean to the visor. He handed the synth his helmet. "What are you going to do niw." he asked, "The galaxy's changed. Its a whole lot worse than its been in a long time."

[member="Vixley CM-01"], [member="HK-36"], [member="Desmond C'artyom"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Desmond C'artyom"],

"I do not know, we work in different sectors, as far as I know I was sent here for a lightsaber. And you did seen units like him before, back on Coruscant when I was tracking you, I was a girl in a cantina- nevermind that right now."

HK cut himself off before focusing on [member="Vixley CM-01"] again, as the Synthdroid did its speech, HK muttered to the others,

"Geez, this guy is a wreck, his cognitive functions are all over the place."

Before addressing the Vixley himself,

"Well, the Sword and Shield, Synthdroids have become obsolete, HRD overtook their processing speed and capability to blend in with the humans at lesser cost. I would ask whose morality you are programmed to follow as that concept is determined by perception through a set of laws and codes, but this is a discussion for another time."

HK motioned back to the exit,

"Like we said before, you have been deactivated for many centuries, your Doctor has probably passed away by now, same for your Squad if they survived the battle in the first place. I would suggest we get out of this place before the ruins collapse in on us, unless you would risk entombing us just to dig through old remains and stirring up ghosts."


[member="Dax Fyre"],

At Dax's words HK would look to him,

"What? No it is not. Compared to what was happening during the Vong invasions, the Empire, and all the atrocities committed by Sith when they still had any sort of organized power at their disposal, current age is a cakewalk. The Hutts are broken, the Sith are broken, Galactic Alliance are restoring the peace, more local autonomous powers like the Kathol region are left to their own devices, Mandalorians are guarding their own region aligned with the Alliance, the Silver Jedi have their own huge swat of space they look after, and after the Sith fell, outside of a siege here and there against their remnants, for once we had a prolonged period of Galactic peace."

He would look back to Vixley,

"The Galaxy is probably in the best state since it has before the Clone Wars."

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="Dax Fyre"]

Vixley nodded to Dax, looking into his eyes as if a non-vocal thanks was given before he grasped his helmet with two hands and looked at the inside. Dust, age, and worn, all before seeing action. As he listened to Dax's words, his primary directive came to the forefront. "Then nothing's changed, people still die for a war they didn't live for. It is near-impossible for any individual to be born with the objective of going to war and dying. Commanders, wives, leaders, all witness those they fight along side, die, from powers they can not control."

[member="HK-36"]

As he listened to the HK model, he took the helmet and put it on, securing it and fastening it appropriately. The view slit lit up, but not brightly, only enough to show it was activated. It shuttered on and off for a few seconds before it stayed on.

"It's true, many of my systems are scrambled, hardware damaged, processing power severely weakened, and many other areas are disconnected or unreadable. My power is low, and I need the information from the terminal. However, I comprehend your logical decision." He continued, raising his arms to adjust the janky and loose armor on him. "Hunter-Killer model, original, not Confederacy made. Old, but nevertheless very efficient. Your model was programmed for the complete opposite of life preservation. In this time, if there is still harsh droid enslavement and droid rebellions, these things do not matter to me. My primary directive is clear, and unrestrained thought due to certain protocols were not forced in my new programming. Leave, if you must. Stay, and I will see if I can reward you. You have given me the chance to save lives, and continue the Doctors works, you deserve something. I could have been scrapped, reprogrammed, or parts sal-salvaged. But you have attempted none of such."

Vixley turned around, "I was given a failsafe, however, and leaving without connection will end my personality matrix." Vixley leaned down to pick up a short girder and drag it to the side. "If I am connected to an unauthorized access point, my last resort protocols will activate and all memories, data, information, and personality matrix, will be destroyed. I hold all public and some secret medical information from the Clone Wars and before. I hold cures, and diseases. I hold techniques to quickly help an organic into stabilization, and how to kill them in disgusting and clean ways, more or less of what Hunter-Killers know under Stock."

He pulled the girder against the wall and propped it up, forcing it against the wall and pressed into the ceiling. "You have a directive, do you not, HK unit? Even organics do... They call it, purpose, or destiny. People, mechanical and organic, still die for a war they didn't live for. When a soldier falls in battle, they have done their duty, most just want to see their companions again. That is what the Doctor built me for, to bring them home..." he leaned against some more debris as his knee buckled out from damage his readouts couldn't find. Most of his mechanical body had lost its fragile systems, most notably his internal scanners. "He wa-wanted his dau-dau-daughter back home." He stuttered, more of his memory core damaging itself to gain memories from the corrupted areas

 

[HK-36]

[member="Vixley CM-01"], [member="Dax Fyre"], [member="Desmond C'artyom"],

"Not all wars are meaningless. Diplomatic solutions should always be the goal instead of military involvement, but I have seen pacifist planetary societies adopt viewpoint that you call for, they almost always are conquered or enslaved by whoever is willing to pull a gun on them first. The only time they are able to survive is if they go unnoticed. It is justified to fight in order to protect your planet and its citizens from foreign aggression, but this is neither the time nor place to discuss this."

At Vixley's assessment HK pointed to his helmet-covered face,

"Your sensors are fried too,"

He pointed with his thumb to his Phrik chest,

"This physical model is only a few years old, and it is far from my original vessel. I have my body re-forged every so often to keep me operational and on the edge of contemporary technology. But my mind is older than the Republic, yes. Do not fear though, I have transcended my initial programming and now my primary directive is my own survival rather than ending the life of others."

The droid looked at the ceiling of research lab and ice cave combined as Vixley begun to move girders around,

"And you are not exactly appealing to my primary directive right now. Look, you are badly damaged, your motor ability is going down, your sensors are misaligned, whatever is left of your cognitive and memory functions is starting to disappear too. How about you go into shut-down for now, we will find and connect you to the terminal or make a copy of it so it could be done somewhere more safe. But if you will accidentally bring down the whole place on us in your search or deactivate from a malfunction halfway through anyway, well that will not be doing any of us any favors."

 

[Dax Perl]

"Yeah, I don't fancy being buried alive..." Dax said. "We should get out of here first. Then we can deal with everything else. This place could come down around our ears at any second."

Dax moved around the room as he spoke, sifting through the crates before moving to the previously full tanks. What happened. Doctors would never leave their patients behind. Not unless something really bad had happened. Looking around again, Dax realized that something very bad had indeed happened. So many buried...

[member="HK-36"], [member="Vixley CM-01"], [member="Desmond C'artyom"]

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Dax Fyre"]


"That's the point, it is meaningless. Those that feel they must control everything. But, my directive is not to prevent or go without war. I save those who deserve to be saved, that's all. I don't start or end wars, I just do what I can to keep people alive. However, you are correct," Vixley paused to take a moment to assess what functions he could read. He then picked up the old support beam and raised upward, pressing against the ceiling where it had collapsed from.

Dust fell, a piece of ceiling panel fell, but it was secure. "I can not be sure in the assumption you will do as you say, but based on our discussion, probability is high that you will do as you s-say. I will sh-sh-shut down, but I can not reactivate," he turned his head to look at the droid, "I will require your reactivation if my systems are to spin again." His personality matrix giving a witty phrase that meant something akin to him breathing. He turned his head back and looked down. "Since I can not be sure, I will lock myself into place here. I can not risk being stolen and ripped to pieces as scrap metal. I must carry out my mission, for the Doctor. When you find the Terminal, I should have enough charge to power the terminal. If my systems activate a safety protocol, I won't power anything externally if it means I do not have enough to reboot. That, unfortunately, will be up to you. Thank you, all, for what you have done for me. If this is the last time my personality matrix lives, it was good to see you haven't destroyed yourselves."

And with that, the light started to go out in him. The lock on the panel to his ports was turned off, giving himself away. It was on his neck, which would require removal of his helmet. Unlocking his ports meant they could do anything they wanted. Erase his personality, his memories, install a virus to destroy all software and systems... But he had no other choice.

 

[Dax Perl]

The Rogue turned to look at [member="HK-36"], "I'm not much of a programmer. Would we be able to save his personality matrix and upload him to another body if necessary?" he asked. Dax had three security droids on board his vessel. He could easily attain a fourth should it be necessary.

[member="Vixley CM-01"] [member="Desmond C'artyom"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Desmond C'artyom"], [member="Dax Fyre"], [member="Vixley CM-01"],

HK let Vixley do his whole thing without interrupting, watching the droid power down and the light in his eyes die out. At Dax's words the machine perked up, looking at him,

"I was going to just ditch him and get out of here, less competition that way."

HK shrugged, looking at Vixley then,

"But yes, we can do that. You are looking at the unit who came up with the method to preserve its existence, both the Body Jumping and the Phylactery methods."

I mean as far as HK knew that was true, usually people would not go through so much trouble just to preserve a war droid, but it is not really that far-fetched of a concept to have been done before, if somehow one needed a droid to preserve its quirks and memory, usually memory wipes were rampant, especially in the olden days, so just getting a new droid with fresh personality matrix was fairly common.

"I am fairly sure I can even bypass his antique security protocols and have him restored without the need of that console housing his databanks."

HK looked over the compound to scan for anything that seemed like it might be the console, or at least connected to it,

"Still, finding that would save us plenty of time and effort."

 

[Dax Perl]

Dax nodded. "I'll start working. See if you can restore him without it in the mean time. You get through before I find anything lemme know. If not, less work for you I guess."

With that Dax moved to enter the ruined hallway again. Just before he exited he stopped and turned towards [member="Desmond C'artyom"], "You coming?"

[member="HK-36"], [member="Vixley CM-01"]

 

[HK-36]

[member="Dax Fyre"], [member="Vixley CM-01"], [member="Desmond C'artyom"],

The droid reached to remove Vixley's helmet, pulling it off in one smooth motion and casting it aside into a nearby fluffy pile of snow,

"I hope this terminal is somewhere close, if we are going to have to connect him to it through a cable then the whole process is going to take ages."

The droid quipped as he had a better look at Vixley's neck, and the terminal housed in it,

"Although I suppose since he has a wireless connection to it we can connect the two through that, if that console still has a working transmitter."

Looking down at the terminal again, a long slicing probe extended out from HK's wrist like some sort of hidden blade, grabbing Vixley by his head he would tilt it, opening the neck up more for the slicing process, pushing the probe into the cavity of his terminal, connecting their two systems via spike.

"Geez, this is some old tech, he was a prototype, no doubt. He even has one of those fax machine print-out slots."

The droid would look up towards Dax as his slicing spike whirred and rotated and he begun to slice his systems, beginning with attempting to fool Vixley's old security protocols into thinking that they were connected to a legitimate data terminal to prevent his fail-safe from activating.

"Hey would it be cruel or hilarious if we changed his programmed gender identity to female?"

HK was probably joking about that. Probably.

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="HK-36"] [member="Dax Fyre"]

Vixleys ancient security protocols didn't do much until the slicing attempted camouflage; attempting to fool the systems into thinking it was an authorized connection. Most things were allowed basic connection for easier configuration, but authorization meant access to more crucial items. The security protocols kicked on, causer a flutter of light in Vixleys eyes, but he wasn't turning on. The authorization protocols kicked on and denied access to the slicing without a 7,000 bit passcode and authorized connection identity. The Terminals identity could be 'Pron420' for all HK knew, and the only way for identities to be authorized would be from system additions, and Vixley was that 'system' that could create authorized identities. So, all that could be done at this point was either connect an already authorized identity, or leave.

But... A stroke of luck. Internal systems detected the damaged wireless unit, used to connect and transmit. Instead of seeing HKs access as an intruder, it read as an error instead, and relayed the damaged interface information to HK. Unfortunately, the unit needed replacing, repairing would not be sufficient.

//
ERROR ERROR

SYSTEM FAILURE. CONNECTION FAILURE.

WIRELESS UNIT DAMAGED BEYOND REPAIR.
CONNECTION ERROR, NO CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.
PLEASE CONNECT TO AUTHORIZED UNIT FOR REPAIRS AND ACCESS.
//

Suddenly, beside Vixleys little access terminal, a cord dispensed and unraveled itself, initially protruding from the false skin. It reached 5 feet long, and was no thicker than a Ethernet cable.

Just beyond the rubble, no more than 10 feet in front of Vixley, the terminal laid. However, there was no power in the base. Everything else had been running on emergency batteries. The terminal had a spot to insert such a battery, as big as a car battery, but it was empty. The old clone chambers should have some, maybe. The chamber with the dead clone would have a still usable battery, though.

 

[HK-36]

[member="Vixley CM-01"], [member="Dax Fyre"],

"Oh geez why would they put that there?"

The writer was just going to assume the cord dispensed itself out of Vixley's crotch. HK pulled and yanked on it get as much of it out of Vixley as he could and prepare him for being connected to the station,

"I can eventually slice my way into his programming,"

HK informed Dax upon seeing the other droid's protections, 7,000 bit passcode and all that,

"But it would take more time than it is worth it. Have you found the console yet?"

The droid asked his companion, looking in Dax's direction across the wrecked and rubble-covered lab they were in. The droid did his part and analyzed the other machine's security to see if it would be quicker to just slice Vixley, although the security was intimidating, HK went to work on it, starting to decode the long password bit by bit. With every second the slicing port on Vixley would turn faster and faster as HK's dataspike went to town on it, it would not take too much time before HK would be able to finally break through his defenses.

And with that he would be able to conduct every operation he would have to do to free Vixley from being stuck to the damaged console, he would be free to leave the cave without worrying about his mind being wiped. HK would launch the reactivation process on the medical droid to boot him back up.

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="HK-36"]


Vixley wasn't restricted to the consoles location, he only needed to connect with it to do the necessary repairs, and download is local memory. The Doctor already prepared him to be separate from any CCIR required connection, this would only get a little bad. As Vixley rebooted, and the small necessary repairs that could be done were accomplished, the spark, or light, in his eyes started to come back. Diagnostics and systems checks were done... and then complete. Vixley was going to be as functional as he could be. But something was off, Vixley had no connection to the console, and no memories were downloaded. At first, he thought his sensors were still damaged, and reached up to his neck to the control panel to see if he was connected. The cord was dispensed, but there was no physical connection. He retracted the cord and sealed the control panel. Quickly, he scanned around him, until he found the droid.

"What have you done? I have no connection to the console. Did you infiltrate my security system? No.... that system wasn't meant to kept me collared, it was meant to keep the locally stored files I have safe. What all did you access? I have information from the Clone Wars that require to be locked away. I know ingredients and creation methods of the worst bio-weapons ever created so I can create cures." Vixley approached him. "What did you access, and how do I know you are speaking the truth? My defensive protocols are telling me to terminate you, but I neither have a weapon nor within proper operating perimeters to physically dismantle you. I am now vulnerable. You forced your specs to be authorized by my systems, every organic being is at risk. I either require self-termination, or upgraded security."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Vixley CM-01"],

"Relax, kid,"

HK waved Vixley's concern off with a casual wave,

"I hate it to break it to you like this, but the worst bio-weapons of your time have already either been made or trumped by what we have access to nowadays. Back in my fortress I have a storehouse literally filled with gas that can vaporize organics into sludge in seconds. You are not special, welcome to the Galaxy."

From HK's tone it slightly seemed that he did not hate rubbing in Vixley's lack of data on current tech as much as he claimed. The older droid looked over in the direction of Dax and the console,

"I unscrambled your cognitive functions the best as I could, optimized the power routing systems, and restored the damaged memory areas, as well as fooled the failsafe into thinking authorized connection was established, so your personality matrix will remain intact even if you will leave now. I suppose Dax was unable to reactivate the console, it must be too damaged to get it working again."

HK looked over the ceiling of the laboratory,

"I suggest we leave before the whole place collapses in on us so you can worry and fuss somewhere that would not get us both buried under ice and snow."

The droid turned with a swish of his cloak and moved towards the exit, glancing back to Vixley he would add,

"And just to be clear, even if you had a weapon you would not be able to terminate me."

HK did had few tricks up his sleeve that Vixley would probably not expect, either way, he could have always stayed behind and solve the console puzzle on his own without Dax and HK's help since the older droid unlocked for him the possibility of doing so without his body shutting down completely, or follow the other machine's prediction that the place was too dangerous to stick around and just leave without it.

 

[Vixley CM-01]

[member="HK-36"]


Vixley pulled up his right forearm and started typing into its arm panel to do calculations and other things, looking at available information the armor had. "The idea of being special is a social construct created by organics, HK-36. My personality does not have casual creativity in such a way. The only creativity it holds is problem solving. Whether or not these abominations inside my local databank have been... 'trumped,' or not, doesn't matter. They are extremely dangerous, and even if they were stopped, will have killed hundreds if not thousands beforehand. Just because there is something worse, does not mean the others are not bad. We're safe, however. Using the scanners in my armor, my connections are safe, I will just need to rewrite the security code and protocols. The memory bank the bioweapons are stored in are separate from my standard system, and require private access. If you didn't realize this, or did and didn't bother, I thank you. Unauthorized access to the bioweapons would have meant immediate failure, and I would have to self terminate."

Vixley raised his head and put his arm down, before kneeling and picking up the helmet again, securing it, and scanning the room once more. "You go, maybe I will contact you again in the future, but I need to access this terminal and acquire anything else the Doctor had left behind. Obviously you are a combat model, and I don't have as many installed combat skills, so instead of ordering you, I will ask you to leave. I will repay you, in due time. Thank you, for reactivating me, and repairing me, Hunter-Killer-36."

 

[HK-36]

[member="Vixley CM-01"],

"You may be the most humorless droid I ever met."

Was all HK had to respond to Vixley after his speech about feeling special being a social construct as he headed out towards the exit of the lab cave thing they were in,

"May the Force be with you, Vixley, stop by Abregado sometimes, it is where I make my home, just like many other autonomous free droids."

HK did not mention the fact that he ruled the planet, along with others in its system and some neighboring ones as well, it seemed a bit unnecessary especially since Vixley just woke up that day from his long slumber, letting him know that droids could rule planets within the Core of Galaxy without being overturned by their organic rivals could have been a bit of an information overload to the medical droid.

Either way, HK would be off to leave the planet behind him and let Vixley be with his research and armor, the machine would go back to recharge and compile what he learned from the adventure, although failing to find any Jedi-related artifacts, it seemed the laboratory was focused more on droids and clones rather than studies with Force-sensitive, perhaps another expedition in the future would yield better results for him.