____Light. Cold. Sensation. Sleep? No, no…
Awake.
____"Haaaa-!” They gasped, desperately breathing in the air they were programmed to need. Without hesitation, they pulled themselves out of the lake and onto the melting ice, heaving unsteadily, before falling to their knees and expelling ice-cold water from their mouth. It was several moments before they could do anything but cough and drag shuddering breaths in through their long-unused lungs, overwhelmed by the sudden influx of sensation.
____Success. All systems functional. Restoring environmental input.
____"Oh my god.” They hissed, numbness fading suddenly, struck by a vicious, pervasive cold. The blue form shuddered, as if feeling the temperature of the freezing water and biting ice for the first time. They instinctively curled their arms around themselves, shaking uncontrollably. “Hells. So cold. Shelter- heat-“
Emergency Protocol: Locate shelter. Scanning.
.
.
.
Current environment unsustainable.
.
Searching nearby…
.
.
.
Located: Adequate environment, 41m away. Proceed to shelter.
____"O-okay. Not far. Go. Walking. Gotta find warmth.” They finally uncurled from their fetal position, already warming up marginally as the cold water slid off of their flesh-and-metal limbs like rain off a window. They shook their head a few times, more water pouring off of them in rivers, and stood, shakily taking their first step forward, then taking their second with greater confidence.
____The ice extended before them, reflecting the midday sun brightly. They covered their eyes, squinting, adjusting to being open for the first time in- well, they weren’t sure how long.
____There. Almost thirty yards beyond where Solovey had breeched the ice- the shore. They continued taking tentative steps, each more steady than the last, until there was no longer ice beneath their feet. The first touch of their foot on the cold earth felt like divinity, and they fell to their knees, claws digging into the wet earth.
____"I'm alive.” Their voice was quiet and rusty from disuse, their mouth awkwardly fumbling through syllables unspoken since they had closed their eyes and given in to the overwhelming cold.
____[Friendly approaching. State your name and function.]
____"Well, good morning at last. You certainly took your time waking up!”
____Solovey looked up at the figure nearing, noting their blue-green scales and metallic claws. “Took… time?”
____"Oh, wow, yeah, you clearly have not had a good morning so far. Let’s get you to the caverns, seems like you could use a nice warm soak to get your bearings about you, get some of those processors running again, huh.”
____"Warmth… shelter.”
____"Yeah, yeah I heard ya the first time, buddy.” The fellow dragon hoisted their shivering companion to their feet, already pulling them along with them towards the structure in the side of the mountain from where they had emerged. “Status and ID?”
____"Awake. Fully functional. Cold. ID 66295870.” Their voice grew hoarse, and they paused, body wracked with coughs as more water made its way out of their maw.
____"Ooof, that’s it, let it out. Don’t worry, 5870. We’re gonna get you all sorted out. You have a name, friend?”
____"Solovey.”
____The other dragon smiled. “Solovey. Pretty. My name’s Noe. Welcome back to the land of the not-yet-dead, Solo. Happy to have you.”
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____"Oi, just grabbed someone fresh off the ice. Grab the medic, it seems like they had a rough transition.” Noe pulled Solovey through the massive open doors, yelling commands into the empty room before them. Moments later, another dragon poked their head out of a door further along in the long open hallway.
____"Oh man, rough is an understatement. Is that a 6-series? They musta been on ice for ages. I’ll find them for ya, Noe, you just get them to the springs.”
____Noe didn’t hesitate, still half-carrying Solovey further into the cave. “Where did X think I was taking you? To the freakin moon? Get them to the springs my scales, as though I’d take you anywhere else.” Despite her grumbling, the dragon didn’t slow, finally reaching a large elevator. “This is gonna feel weird, if you need to yak up some more water go for it, we’ve all been there.”
____Solovey shook their head slowly, entering the small compartment, still leaning on the other dragon, starting to appreciate their warmth. “S-should be fine.”
____Noe punched a few digits into the panel, tightening their hold on the shivering derg beside them. “No worries. Almost there. You’re gonna love em.”
____The elevator doors closed with a soft hiss, lurching to a start. Solovey’s stomach dropped slightly, and they pressed themselves closer to Noe’s steady warmth.
____After a minute of descent, the elevator came to a shuddering stop, doors opening to reveal a dimly lit cavern, a stark contrast to the bright sunlight of aboveground. Quiet sounds of bubbling water drifted down the hallway, and Noe pulled their charge forward gently, towards the source of the sweet, metallic scent that permeated the cavern.
____They turned a corner, and instantly Solovey inhaled sharply, the sight of the blue-green water strangely familiar. Two dragons lounging in the water looked up at the sound of their wet footsteps echoing through the cave, and one of them waved Noe in.
____"Newly defrosted? Man, I don’t remember looking that rough when I came off the ice.”
____Noe chuckled, reaching the edge of the springs, still half-carrying Solovey with them. “No, that’s ‘cause you looked even worse.” They gestured towards the springs, prodding Solovey forward. “In you go, gotta get you warmed up before anything else.”
____Solovey eyed the water critically, but acquiesced, placing a foot on a submerged step. They gasped as warmth rushed through them, and they rushed forward, needing the warmth everywhere.
____The three other dragons laughed at Solovey’s contented moan once they were submerged up to their neck, but not cruelly.
____"That first dip is really something. What’s your name, friend?”
____Solovey opened an eye blearily, feeling almost drunk in the delightful heat. “Solovey,” they mumbled, before they submerged themselves completely. They stayed there, surrounded in perfect, blissful heat for an unknowable amount of time, feeling their internal processors return to full functionality at last. When they did emerge from the spring again, The other two dragons had left, leaving Noe, kicking their feet in the edge of the pool.
____"That’s probably much better then, huh? You weren’t much more than a dragon popsicle out there, seems like your generation might have been a bit less prepared for defrost than some of us newer models. Sorry it was a rough awakening, hopefully nothing a bit of soaking and a check with the doc won’t fix.”
____Solovey eyed them quizzically, finally warm enough to think of anything beyond the bone-deep cold. “I- sorry? I’m- where am I?”
____Noe’s eyebrows raised, genuine surprise on her smooth features. “Oh boy, now that’s a genuine pickle. You don’t know?”
____Solovey shook their head, claws twitching as feeling returned to them. “No- should I?”
____The other dragon huffed, scratching her head. “Well, yes. I haven’t heard of anyone who didn’t remember the Cradle once they’d been properly defrosted. But I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone from your generation either. I can give you a brief rundown, but we’ll really have to wait for Doc to see what the damage to your memory storage looks like…. but not knowing the Cradle- do you know why you were on ice?”
____"I- no, I… I remember my name, I know I need to be in an adequate environment to function, but… I… I can’t remember anything else.”
____Noe sighed heavily. “Wow, yeah, that’s… there’s a lot missing there. How do I begin?” They tapped their chin with a single claw, legs kicking in the water slowly. “A long time ago, before you and I or anyone else was put on ice, there was a time when everything, the whole world, was on fire. The world was overheating, the natural world was being destroyed by pollution and natural disasters, and it seemed like everything was nearing an End.” She paused, looking back down at Solovey’s wide eyes. “Sorry, this part sounds pretty depressing. Anyway, most of everything started to die, and a few people thought it might be a good idea, just in case there was going to be something that happened After the end of the world they knew, to make sure there would be someone left to try to put the world back into order. And they knew it was going to be a really long time before the fires burnt themselves out and the oceans cooled, so they hid creatures that could survive extremes deep where the waters were coldest, at the edges of the world, and made sure that none of them would wake up until there was a possibility for them to make a difference in the world, once everything had become dark and cold again.”
____Hesitating, she lowered herself into the spring as well with a quiet splash. “It took a really long time. Longer than any of those first creators thought. But eventually the first of the Mechanics woke up, and they knew soon more of us would emerge, and start the process of bringing the world back into balance. Repairing the world from the sins of our creators.”
____"That’s us, then? We’re…mechanics?”
____"Yeah. But that’s not the whole story. See, while we’ve been sleeping, there’s been a lot going on in the universe outside of our little disaster of a world. Turns out, some of the original inhabitants of this world managed to get off before everything imploded here, and they floated off to different planets and different stars. And when everything stopped burning and things became cooler again, a few of them came back to do it all over again.”
____Solovey looked down at their claws, distorted by the blue filter of the water. “But… weren’t we made to fix what went wrong the first time? How can we fix it if they’re still here messing it up again?”
____Noe smiled, “Well aren’t you bright! You might not be functioning at full throttle yet, but you’re still catching on.” Her teeth gleamed, the water reflecting light onto her face eerily. “The solution is actually pretty simple, you see. We’re built out of more than flesh and blood like our creators. They gave us the gift of technology and self-sustaining energy, to make sure we’d be able to restore the world, no matter how we found it. And it turns out, while we weren’t built for it, it’s just as easy for us to break things as it is for us to fix them.” Her smile widened. “So while we do our best to repair this world with the tools we’ve been given, we’re also hunting the very creatures that ruined it in the first place.”
____She stepped closer, steam parting around her still form. “And when we catch them, my friend, we make sure they can’t break anything else ever. again.”
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