Ardric

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Nevermind.

Nevermind that he was just a maintenance robot, designed to keep the vital systems of the lab running. Nevermind that he worked his claws off just so Project could create better versions of himself.
He didn't mind because he never got to set eyes on one. His conclusion was that, obviously, even though he was just the prototype, they weren't better than him. Or maybe they didn't work at all.

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His work was fairly simple. Stop charging his accumulator when the built-in clock told him to, start his chores, finish them, go back to charging. That twenty percent of energy he lost every day were charged within half an hour, but his program didn't allow him to stay up longer than needed.
Maintaining was easy as long as he just followed his programs. Steadily, every day. Control the central water supply - good thing he was built waterproof and from some alloy that prevented rusting -, run a test on the power supply, replace the fuses if needed, clean out the garbage disposal, check the circuit of the emergency system - every other month, run a test at a certain time - and finally, see that the air shafts were clean and the emergency oxygen generator was in shape. Every day the same old story. If something was broken, he fixed it. He learned the quirks of the systems, treated them like friends, finally even giving them names. The water supply was Mallory, the power supply Veronica, the garbage disposal Nolan, the emergency system Frank, the air system Janet and the oxygen generator Guiseppe. (Janet and Guiseppe were married. Frank liked Mallory, although he was in a relationship with Veronica. Who actually liked Mallory too, but would never admit it. Mallory herself was just fed up with those idiots. Nolan didn't care, he had enough problems already with his bulimia.)
He began talking to them - it felt like he'd never heard his own voice before, which, come to think of it, he hadn't - and listening for responses. Which he knew never actually came. But pretend, quickly, became his favourite game. And as long as he had to play negotiator for the systems, his program didn't force him to go charge.
Life was good.

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Nevermind that one day, he actually came face to face with a new maintenance robot.
They stared at each other for a long while.
"There shouldn't be an AR0 robot here", the other one finally said, his voice monotone and hollow.
"There isn't", he answered. "I'm not an AR0 robot, I'm the AR0 prototype."
"Oh. Fine, then."

The zero in AR0 stood for zero effort, the other robot explained. Somehow, he felt obliged to rattle off his product description. There was other information, but nothing of interest.
"What should I call you?", he asked.
The other robot stopped his spiel. "Excuse me?"
"You need a name. Everything has a name down here. I can't just call you robot - that's not a name. So what is it?"
"I don't have one." The other one cocked his head. "I wasn't aware I needed one."
He nodded. "I see. Then from now on, your name is Argo."
Argo let out a low hum in agreement. "And yours is? I can't call you robot - that's not a name."
He grinned. This was a feature he still had but the other robot didn't. He didn't even want to know which generation of himself he was facing.
"Ardric", he finally muttered. "That's my name. Nice to meet you."
He noticed an unusual warmth inside his chest. It might have been his accumulator overheating.

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Nevermind that he now had to teach Argo everything about his friends' maintenance, Ardric was less alone. Having someone with him who actually answered when asked something, although robotic and terse, still filled the loneliness. It was also nice that his workload was reduced. Argo, being significantly smaller and sleek in design, was cut out way better to inspect air system Janet. (No, he's going to be very careful, he isn't breaking anything, I promise.)
His program counted teaching Argo as work, and his charging time was reduced even more. At this point, he could basically choose when to charge, with his maximum being twenty-four hours without.
When Argo noticed this, he offered to switch Ardric's battery. He explained that the constant charging over the years had damaged the cell and that it wouldn't get better, explaining the constant overheating, too. A few weeks later, Ardric turned himself off for the first time since he'd been turned on, and when he was back, he could go weeks without charging. The overheating stayed - Argo was clueless - but all in all, Ardric felt good.
Life was better.

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[Error playing file78078-2: File is corrupt]
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Nevermind that life had a nasty habit of slapping you in the face.
When Ardric turned on again, he couldn't move. He couldn't speak. And worst of all, he couldn't recall when he'd shut off.
Then there was the agony.
Shade! Ardric had never felt pain before, so he didn't even have a name for the feeling that made him want to curl up and shut off again. Not knowing what it was that made him feel that awful was the worst about the entire experience.
But he was a robot. He could adjust his settings, and finally, he found the one that did what he wanted. He would have sighed in relief, just that he still couldn't move.
"-Should have been noted in the records! You can't just completely lose track of a prototype, stuff like that doesn't disappear! How mindless are you, exactly?!"
"I told you, it was a test run, it wasn't meant to be left down there that long-"
"And why was it, then?!"
Even in his condition, hearing voices made him detect the warmth in his chest again. Although he knew at the same time that they were talking about him.
"And now we get to renovate the entire lab because this hunk of metal was malfunctioning. And replace the perfectly fine maintenance robot we actually sent down to do the work. Someone's going to pay for that, and it's not me! Now, throw that thing out."
"But couldn't we at least re-use some of the parts?"
The overheating disappeared as quickly as it had come.
"And which ones, exactly? The battery is decades old and probably damaged, the circuit obviously doesn't work, and the alloy is completely stained. I wouldn't even want that thing as a paperweight."

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Nevermind that the malfunctioning robot had actually been Argo.
Water supply Mallory had been crying from various spots for a few days, completely down because emergency system Frank had decided to be a jerk and yell at everyone in sight. It had taken the two robots three all-nighters to find the issue - a broken light in a barely-used room which he deemed a fire hazard. By the time they were done replacing it, both their batteries were at a dangerous low and the dripping of water echoed through the corridors.
Argo had looked down and made a beep in disgust when he noticed he was standing in a puddle. "I'm not waterproof."
"What, really? Why would they send you to maintain a water supply when you're not waterproof?"
"Because the water is supposed to stay inside the pipes, and if it doesn't, I'm supposed to fix it quick enough that this doesn't happen."
He had a point. "Fine", Ardric had muttered. "Then let's fix it now. I can do the main work by myself so you don't need to come too close, but you have to assist me."
"My battery is low", Argo had warned. "I have only two percent left. At one, I go into protection mode and will move straight for the recharging unit."
"You should still have enough time to close the main tap. Send me a radio ping when you're done. If I don't get one, I'll go and do it myself, but we really need to get this done as fast as physically possible."
Argo had nodded, and they'd parted ways. Ardric headed for the water supply and frowned when he saw the damage. It looked like the gaskets had decided to blow all at the same time. He was standing in knee-deep water when he reached the main kettle.
Finally, Ardric heard the faint beep of a radio signal. He waited for another sixty seconds. The dripping didn't seem to stop, but then again, the water was probably collecting behind the broken gaskets. He decided to just screw open the one nearest to himself. Even if there was a little water still in it, he could clean it up later, as he'd have to anyway.
What a terrible misconception.
Like an avalance, the water came crushing down on him. Ardric, being build solidly, could endure it, although shocked into immobility. He remembered a metallic clang and a shockwave rippling from his head - where the main processor sat - to his legs. And then, the gurgling of water.
He hadn't done anything wrong, technically, aside from being too careless. Argo had been the one to blame, never closing the main tap although sending the signal. Why, that was something he would wonder about for a long time.
But nevermind that. Nevermind, because Argo was likely shorted, his circuit completely fried. Nevermind that Ardric was going to be thrown up like garbage.
...wait.
He did mind that.

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"-should be fine. Just a few kinked cables. I replaced them, so he should turn on any second now."
"He can't have run away with his cables like that, he must've been completely immobile, right? But he hasn't been scrapped, either. And if Project sent robots for him, they would've destroyed him completely..."
Project. Whoever was talking there knew about them, but wasn't them.
Whirring slightly, Ardric turned on his visual and kinetic systems. His body jerked when he regained control.
The dragons - he couldn't decide whether he was facing robots or androids, so he settled on the least offensive word - gave him a vacant look. He was facing two of them, two males he couldn't place. The triangular shape on their bodies, however, suggested that they belonged to Project. Or, did that once.
"You're awake", one of them noted.
He confined himself to a nod.
"What's your name?"
He blinked. Funny, he hadn't even noticed he could do that. No, rather, that other robots couldn't.
The dragon who was talking to him got visibly annoyed. "Hey! I asked you a question."
"Is it possible that you can't speak?", the other one asked.
His program wouldn't allow him to tell a flat-out lie, so Ardric remained silent.
Could he write? Understand sign language or morse code?
The answer was yes, but all he did was shut off his vocal system.

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Ardric was lucky that he hadn't been scrapped, but battered and lifeless as he'd been, Project simply hadn't bothered to do so. Others weren't as lucky. The place he'd ended up in was basically a junkyard, filled with bits and pieces of androids accompanied by the occasional still working but damaged one. Some shapes he still remembered cleaning out of the garbage disposal's jaws.
He found himself retching more than once.
Still, he went out every day to look for parts other robots and androids might find useful. That was another addition to his life: the cycle of day and night. It had quite surprised him that in nature, times when it was glaringly bright superseded times when it was as dark as he was used to. Turned out, he had a daylight filter. It also turned out that he liked the sun.

Time flew. Ardrics system was upgraded with programs for combat, mechanic, tactics, anything the more friendly newcomers had to offer. He nearly missed the creation of FL/GHT because he was out for days on end again. Afterwards, his chores didn't change much; creating an organisation didn't make parts magically appear, so he was still collecting pieces and repairing other dragons using those. Medic was what they called it now. He didn't care.
The important thing was that he had plenty of time to think. Replaying the events of that day in his logs while looking for pieces, analyzing previous days with Argo while listening in to other's chatter. They always seemed to think that he wasn't only mute, but deaf too. He wasn't going to correct them.
It had its perks. After what might have been half a decade - he never bothered to check his log for exact times -, there was the conclusion. He now knew for certain what went wrong. It wasn't the feeling he'd hoped for.

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Unsure as to what to do with his new-found knowledge, Ardric stayed in FL/GHTs main hideout the next day. His usual routine felt like an unbearable burden now. After wandering around aimlessly for some time, he crossed ways with two dragons whom he'd seen around a lot.
Frown disappearing, he approached them. "I think I can help you."
The male blinked. "So you can talk after all."
“You were talking about taking out one of Project's labs the last days, were you not?" Ardric's tone made clear it wasn't a question. "As far as I heard, their maintenance is still being run by the AR0 series. Pairs for more safety. I know of a bug in their programming that will give me the opportunity to short the whole lab. Get me in, and I bring it to a standstill."
"A bug?", the female echoed. "Do tell."
"Ain't happening."
"You have to give us some kind of proof. Anyone could claim they knew of a weakness and then betray FL/GHT."
He snorted. Stupid emotion program. "Fine. You see, I'm the AR0 prototype. Standard equipment and program altered for my duties; in other words, I don't have that bug. I have, however, worked with a later model and by accident shorted the lab I was working in. I took the blame, which is why I'm confident the issue has never been found."
The female turned towards the male.
"We heard of an accident in a lab around the time we picked him up", he said.
"...then that plan is as good as any."

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Nevermind that he rued his decision the moment he set foot into the lab's lower levels.
He'd had no real idea of FL/GHT's infrastructure, so being in within what was about six hours gobsmacked him. The corridors looked exactly like he remembered, and he had to restrain himself from calling for Argo. Even more so when he turned the corner and came face to face with an AR0.
"Greetings", he stammered instead.
"Greetings", the other one replied. "We were informed about the performance review this week. I can assure we work perfectly well."
Ardric shook his head. That was the alibi they'd provided him with, reviewing the performance of the other robots. Apparently not an uncommon occurrence, and with his similiar but not identical looks he fit the role of the investigator quite well. "I will see that for myself. My logs will be reviewed later on, too."
"Of course. This way."

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If he hadn't given himself away with it, he would have laughed. He'd gotten lost. Again.
The corridors had a completely different shape than in his lab, and every single time, he let his habits lead him. And ended up in a completely different place than where he'd wanted to go. Stupid, stupid navigation program. Couldn't do a thing right.
Shaking his head, Ardric turned away from the emergency system controls he'd ended up in front of and made sure to take the right turn this time, into the corridor that would lead him to the warer supply.
The same model like Mallory had been, ironically. It would be too easy to replicate the issue. Ardric had been hogging the recharge unit the last few days, first to relocate it to a higher ground, later with the excuse that he needed to charge his accumulator. The information gathered about the newer generations of AR0 suggested that theirs would only last for about this long without charging. As maintenance robots with a recharging unit within reach, that was all they needed.
Their entire equipment was just urgent necessities. Exactly that was the fault that would bring this lab down. Because outside, FL/GHT was already laying in wait.

"Come on Marge, we'll have you repaired in no time. Stop whining already."
Talk about bad timing. Ardric was welcomed by the gurgle and hiss of a draining pipe, a robot's voice, and shortly after, two pairs of terrified eyes.
One of them beeped awkwardly while he tried to process what he just heard. "...you're calling the water supply Marge?"
"No, really, we-"
"The full name is actually Marguerite."
A series of furious bleeps was exchanged while Ardric stifled his laughter. The sound quickly died down when they noticed.
"That's a common trait to the AR0 series, it seems", he murmured. "What would your names be?"
He was met with stunned silence.
"Don't try to tell me you don't have one. I'm Ardric, by the way."
"Aaron. And he is Arnold." The robot gave a relieved beep. "Whew, I'm sure glad. I thought you'd lynch us for a second here. Do you always do this? Let them believe the've done something wrong?"
Ardric's smile got a pained touch, but luckily they didn't have an emotion detection program. "Yeah. You got me."
"If you're done with the charger, I'm going to use it now", Arnold announced.
"Hmm." Snapping back into his role, Ardric made a show of checking the time and his log, for once. "Before you do, may I ask what percentage your accumulator is at?"
Arnold bleeped in confusion, just like Argo had always done when he used that word. "I'm at three percent now, why?"
"We noticed they were decreasing in performance for some of the models. Yours will have to be replaced." He paused to add more weight to his next words. "I'd like you to stay, though, so I can see if your protection mode activates correctly."
The younger robot looked annoyed but obliged. Not much point in arguing with a higher-ranking robot, at least not over an hour's delay.
"I see! Blocking the recharge unit was part of the test!"

The way the AR0 series was operating now, they gave a feedback ping to the upper levels every time one of them went to charge. They'd never been allowed to charge at the same time, but that fact was kind of irrelevant now. Because, the feedback ping contained exactly four bits of information: the serial number of the charging robot, the starting time, approximate ending time, and finally number of robots left working. Now the last part was troublesome. If Ardric let that happen, it would inevitably give him away. He had no choice but to take action before the ping was sent.
There was, however, another kind of ping that could be sent in case of an emergency. This one contained no information and served as just a signal. The very second something went not the way it should have, the AR0 program sent it out.
Even though FL/GHT had spies in the lab and infiltration units working on the case, they weren't able to delete or edit that data unerringly. There was at least a certain chance that someone else heard the audible signal - hence the name 'ping' - and decided to investigate. If the data was missing, it was suspicious, and altering it could take anywhere up to a minute. Plenty of time for someone to catch them in the act.
Because of this, Ardric couldn't rely on any help from outside. He had no choice but to prevent any kind of ping getting out. Project would know from the lights going black soon enough. As would FL/GHT, hopefully in time for him to buzz off.
But coming so far... whew.

[Loading...]

Communication was the key. He'd needed an eternity to finally get that. And if the communication was faulty, a whole lab could stand or fall with it.
When Arnold's body jerked, going into protection mode, Ardric nodded weightily and made a show of creating a memo in his log. Aaron waved, then got back to the water supply they'd worked on. So far, they'd cleaned half the pipes, usually a once-a-year task. It would have been a highly convenient coincidence - had Ardric not been the one to suggest it as a display of skills. A dozen or so pipes lay neatly stacked in a corner, next to the main tap. Someone had reconstructed the lower levels after his accident.
If moving straight towards the charger, a robot Arnold's size would need two minutes flat. However, Argo had always moved twice as fast when in protection mode, and he was the same. The charging ping wouldn't reach anyone in a power cut, but in order to protect him from the water, he had to be near enough to the charger to get onto the platform. Newer AR0 robots were waterproof, but that didn't mean his circuit would take drowning kindly.
All in all, Ardric had thirty seconds until he could proceed, and then exactly one.
Thankfully, nervosity wasn't included in his emotional repertory. He turned towards the main tap.
"Is something not alright?" Aaron sounded confident as ever.
"Just checking for safety requirements...", Ardric vaguely answered while tapping the tap (hah) in the most casual way possible. "Focus on the task on hand. I will help you when I'm done."
"Alright."
Too easy.
Ardric grabbed a pipe, flicked the main tap, and made a dive for Aaron's processor.

Urgent necessities as equipment meant that anything that wasn't used on a daily basis could be far below any standard. In terms of the AR0 series, it was translated into high quality tools, nice and waterproof armor but sub-par communication devices. The series hadn't originally been meant to work as a pair - in fact, that kind of defeated the purpose of being easy since someone had to maintain both robots as well - so their ping system was basic at best. Which in turn meant that it had a delay of exactly two seconds.
Now, a program could compensate that. The solution was an easy one; just sending the ping two seconds earlier than the task was actually completed did the trick, and made teamwork run smoothly at the same time. Chronostasis was the term. It worked perfectly fine with organic eyes, too, so what should be the problem?
The rare occurrence when the robot went into protection mode mid-task. The ping would still be delivered, but the task left unfinished.
The two-second gap would be enough to provoke an emergency and destroy the ping system of the robot whitnessing it. That had been the plan, and so far, it had worked.

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There.
There it was again, the feeling of turning on and not knowing when or why he'd shut off.
This time, Ardric wasn't greeted with someone talking about him. In fact, he wouldn't even be able to hear them if they were. Shrieks and thunder were blaring ih his ears, exploding into white flashes of pain, followed by a bloody undertone. By the time he remembered where the pain switch sat in his settings, the sound was pounding in his chest and making the loose metal plates clatter against each other.
He'd made a mistake, though, somewhere he had to have made a mistake. There was a robotic arm in front of him, angle weird, unmoving, a glowing robot core still in it's claw. It was weird that he still knew which exact screw one would need to fasten every week on this kind of arm.
...no. Wait. The weird thing actually was that the robot core was attached to him.

Ardric let out a bestial sound, a groan rather than a scream. He jerked, trying to get to his feet. Struggled. Wanted to reach for the robot arm and tore it off, but he just now noticed that his arms were gone, his legs, shade, what was even left of him, anything, tail, wings, extendable tools, anything, any-
Jaws!
The arm shrieked in terror, but he wouldn't dream of letting go, writhing like an ugly plump snake, teeth bending, breaking - a rupture of pain, and he fell to the ground, jaws closed tightly around his core, the robotic claw cleanly ripped off at the spot the fragile screw sat.
The blinding glow grew dimmer while he continued to lay there, sunny side up, processor racing with calculations as to what to do next. Sirens howling in his ears, his world bathed in red light, but still he recognized the garbage disposal.
Scrapped.

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"That's also my leg over there."
"Heavens", the rescue dragon grumbled. "Do we have everything now? We really need to get out of here, I told you we're in a hurry!"
Ardric grit his bent teeth, wishing at least one of his limbs was still attached so he could slap this guy. "I know. I think we got everything of... me." It felt weird to say that, like wishing another robot sweet dreams. "But the other two-"
"Scrapped and thrown out before they even started with you", he was cut off, "we can't exactly dig through the rubble right now. You're lucky we stopped for you."
Which wasn't true, and he knew that, but at the same time he also knew that the rescue dragon was right. Project's reinforcements would be here within ten minutes. As much as he wanted to, they had no time to waste.
Even if it didn't feel wasted.

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When the next dragon spoke up to him, it was weeks later.
"Ardric. Stop this, you can't save them."
He didn't bother raising his head, he recognized the voice as part of FL/GHT. "Who said that? I have about half of the parts-"
"Yes, armor and wires. You couldn't even rebuild one of them with those. And even if you could, you're missing their memory cards, and they are so small you could turn the entire junkyard upside down and still not find them. They might not even be here. You knew that when you started."
Ardric's motions slowly came to a halt. He nodded curtly before continuing.
"We could use your trick again. There's another lab we'd like to crash, and despite this desaster" - the other robot nodded at the gathered pieces - "Project hasn't smelled a duskrat. I guarantee you the new plates at your neck will withstand the pressure, and you'll be able to save yourself and the other robots. This won't repeat."
"What if I say no?" He paused. "What are you going to do, edit my program?"
He got a pointed look for that. "That's what Project would do."
"...right. Project." A sigh. A look at the wrecks he'd managed to gather. "That's what they... do. Why we... rebel." Another sigh. "Fine. But before I go, I need to delete my emotions program. Bites."
"You are aware that you did that an hour after installing?"
"...I am."
The dragon snorted in amusement. "Just when", he asked, "have you started to care?"
"They had- they were-" He sighed. "They had names... they weren't... faceless."
"Am I?"
"What?"
"Faceless, duh."
"...no."
"You're lying to yourself."

Maybe he indeed was.
Having an interactive learning program was no fun in a way. Sure, it had given him imagination. And a name, a ton of names. But then again it also made him overheat in a weird way, feel pain, fear and guilt because things always met twice, and some of these killed robots had met his claws already when he was cleaning the garbage disposal...
Not caring, telling himself he didn't care, was easier because it didn't push him to do anything. But it wasn't like he could just... stop. It resembled a computer virus, being stuck to everything that constituted yet making him do stuff he didn't want to.
Like breaking into labs. Some went better, some worse, but at least he managed not to get himself scrapped again. The other maintenance robots, not every time. A few still had to be destroyed because they posed a threat to FL/GHT. He could never bear to look.
Ardric didn't bother to count the labs they destroyed. He was busy repairing the rescue teams when they came out again with limbs missing, cuts, sparking torn cables, some looking more scrapped than working. There wasn't a break-in when his skills weren't needed. Sometimes, he was even called upon by a damaged spy during the infiltration.
The hecticness wasn't what he wanted, never had been. Which was why somehow, he was glad when Project finally caught on.

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"They reviewed one of their logs", the operation leader greeted him when he came in for a debriefing. "They know what you look like."
"So? Not like we can't lacquer me again. Cecilia would sure love to have another living canvas."
"What I mean is, they know exactly what you do now. Before, they had nothing but the video footage backups because we wiped the memory cards of the robots we had to leave. A spy tells me that this time, one of them was automatically sending their logs to Project. It was a trap and we stepped right in."
"You're saying I need to stop?" Ardric carefully hid the relief in his voice.
They nodded reluctantly. "It seems so. They've already started recalling the AR0 robots from their labs. My guess is they're being scrapped and replaced."
His accumulator must've turned upside down, at least that was how it felt. Like he immediately had to remove battery acid from his systems.
"However, there's one lab I'd like you to infiltrate while we still have the time. Not quite the same pattern - for a little while longer. Project is working on androids there, so there's a good chance you can convince at least some of them to leave with us. Be careful."

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Project called it the GW series, short for Greater Weaponry Development. The D was silent, apparently.
From what Ardric saw, it resembled a system of survival of the fittest, just the horror story kind. The one where there were no survivors in the end.
It also quickly became a horror for him because he, the 'new' maintenance robot, was commandeered to clean the garbage disposal. He'd grown so accustomed to repairing other robots that he had to force himself to not collect the parts. At least not all of them.
The GW generations consisted of about a hundred androids each at the start, with always three of them in development tests simultaneously, most of which didn't survive longer than a week. The estimate time for one series of testing was half a year. A long, unusual mission, indeed.
As it was to be expected, the GW androids treated his kind like dirt if they saw one. Luckily, most never saw him until their unseeing lenses clattered to the ground. Ardric wanted to gloat at their misfortune after their kin treating him like that, but he couldn't bring himself to. They were prototypes dreaming of being the highest end, like he'd been once, after all. He couldn't feel anything but pity.

GW1 was halved by the time FL/GHT got him in, and it wasn't until GW2 was halved that Ardric started paying attention to them other than the unlucky ones. He found himself surprised that the first generation hadn't, in fact, been completely scrapped. Project had left exactly one of that generation, which made a baffling kind of sense given that they experimented with groups of three. At least to him it was baffling - he tended to forget that Project operated logically. A morbid kind of logic, but logic nevertheless.
"How about that GW1", he asked a member of the Infiltration faction during one of their rare meetings. "Do you think she can make it?"
They shot him a pained look. "They're talking one survivor per generation unless too weak, Ard. She's second best, but close to the third. He beats her once and she's out, no ifs, no buts."
"So she can survive?"
"Project installed each of them one emotion program to determine which one's the best, if you can say that for emotions", the infiltrator explained with a sigh. "Hers is ambition. The first place's is pride. The third's is anger, they gave that a second shot. Go figure, Ard, leave me alone."

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She did survive. Ardric had started to secretly watch the tests via the video surveillance and in all honesty, he had to say he wasn't impressed. He'd seen androids of FL/GHT who could eclipse at least the worse ninety percent of GW with minimal effort if they wanted to. But that was to be expected, wasn't it? They were prototypes, after all... and maybe they had other strengths, some he failed to comprehend.
It wasn't the kindness, that much was crystal clear. The footage of the first generation he could watch between periods of work showed how fierce the rivalry had become in the second. The third, he was sure of it, would be bloody.
"They aren't mainly developing new weapons here", the infiltrator finally, although reluctantly, revealed. "I mean, they're just killing two birds with one stone. Project is actually after the mindset."
"Mindset?"
"Yup. Survival of the fittest? Don't tell me you haven't figured that out yourself. But that's just the basics. What they want is to simulate the conditions most FL/GHT dragons went through. Loss of limbs, fighting over a limited number of tokens, chase, all kinds of stuff. Have you seen the scrap trainig yet? Horrifying, I tell you!"
Ardrics vocal program bugged at first when he tried to respond, making an awful shriek. "Scrap training? That isn't what it sounds like, is it?!"
"Most certainly, bud. Project lets the scrapping machinery loose and the GWs have to figure out how to stop it and repair themselves. On a lower setting, of course. They're stopping before they get to the core."
Ardric shuddered, thinking of his own experience with the scrapping machine.
The infiltrator snorted. "But whatever. The actual purpose is to create a database that predicts the decisions of FL/GHT. Take that - you sweetheart is actively working on destroying us."
"She's NOT my sweetheart. Yech."

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Who would have guessed it, Ardric was actually right about GW3. A hateful, egocentric bunch, ready to destroy anything if it got them to the top. The type of robot he despised the most.
The very same evening they were finalized and thrown head first into the tests, someone was waiting for him when he made his way to the charger. He rolled his eyes when he saw that it wasn't the infiltrator - which would've been alarming - but the GW1.
"Hello", she began. "You're with the maintenance crew, aren't you?"
"Not interested." He didn't stop on his way.
Of course, that didn't stop her from following him. "Hey, come on, I just want to talk! I know you don't have anywhere to be right now. There are three of you! The others sure can deal with whatever happens without you for a second."
"Yeah, no. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about." He sighed, stopped and continued, "There are three of us but each has their own duties. So yes, I have somewhere to be and no, I'm not interested in talking to you. You're from up there, I'm from down here, and this isn't a play by Shakespeare. I know you're only talking to me because you think there's something in it for you. News flash, there isn't. Now back off!"
He later wondered if he'd been too blunt, but at least it served it's purpose: She stood still, dumbfounded, her gaze fixed on him until he turned a corner.
Sure enough, the next day, she was back. Ardric already was in a bad mood because he'd had to repair the despised scrap machinery - now at least knowing why it was damaged that often - and seeing her only worsened his day.
"What?", he snapped.
She smiled at him. Being intimidated didn't seem to be included in her program. "I believe we had a misunderstanding yesterday. I'm not here because I want you to do anything. I want to get to know you, that's all."
"That's not what you want, and we both know it." He proceeded to walk ahead just like yesterday and like yesterday, she followed him.
"I'm sorry that you feel this way, but-"
"No buts", Ardric hissed. "Stop trying to manipulate me. I'm not the mindless minion you think I am."
She let out an over-the-top sigh. "I just wanted to ask you to look at my wingtip. It's been itchy all day and-"
"Foot-in-the-door technique. Not happening."

The next day, she wasn't there. The infiltrator was.
"So now you've decided to bother me?", he grumbled.
"Cut it." They threw nervous gazes around. "I got the surveillance on a loop right now. When I'm gone, I need you to go back inside and proceed with your day. I just thought I'd inform you that your sweetheart got damaged today."
"Oh for the love of--!"
"You'll be cleaning her parts out of the dumpster tomorrow."
Ardric rolled his eyes and shook his head, proceeding to step back into the garbage disposal. Going inside unfailingly made him shiver in disgust.
The infiltrator sighed deeply. "Her name is Gwyneth, you know."
He stopped.
"Well, it's actually GW1-n3th, but that's how you'd pronounce it. I didn't want to do that, mind you, but you left me with no choice."
"I hate you."

The third day, she was waiting for him again.
Ardric flashed his eyes at her. "What?"
"Thank you", she whispered, head hung low in shame. "I would be out if you hadn't repaired my foot."
"Wasn't me", he replied curtly, edging her aside and turning his way.
"You told me you aren't a mindless minion last time. I was thinking... what are you, in your opinion?"
He stopped dead in his tracks.
"I am", he finally answered, contemplating every word so he wouldn't slip up again, "or rather, I may or may not be the engineer who saved your life."
She smiled sweetly. "I see. Would it bother you if I waited here for you more often, mister lifesaver?"
"Yes."
He wasn't sure if she spoke subtext after all - many androids didn't - but it didn't actually matter if she did or not, because she continued to accompany him on that short piece of corridor. Annoy him, complain about the third generation androids, sometimes asking him for a repair. It wasn't like he had a choice. He couldn't just stop caring at this point.

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For a few weeks now, she'd been talking about manipulating the leaderboard into self-destruction. He stayed out of her buisness to the best of his abilities, but that of course didn't stop him from giving thought to it. The third generation GW were testy enough, although definitely not dumb. He couldn't tell if it would work - if it was her, she would make sure it did, but he knew too little about the other three to predict their reactions. Luckily, he knew someone he could ask.
"Third try for anger and the other one is obsessive", the infiltrator told him, grinning, without prompt. "The fifth is social anxiety. No problems there. As far as I can tell, it's her only choice apart from, you know. Might actually be beneficial to us... if she starts to get critical about the tests, you can probably win her over. Then again, this would make her more desirable for Project, too."
Adric nodded slowly. "You're worried?"
"No shade. They're progressing way faster than anticipated - that amount of slyness should've been reached at the fifth generation the earliest... it's probably because of her in particular, but if Project decides ambition is the way to go, we might be in hot water."
"Well, it worked with Ashe", he pointed out, refering to the original statement. Everyone in FL/GHT of course knew their leader's story.
"I wouldn't exactly compare your sweetheart to Ashe", the infiltrator laughed.
"I didn't- of course not, this isn't what I- there are worlds between- agh! I just can't talk to you!"
"Remember to keep your enemies close", they called after him as he stomped out.

And so he did. The next day when he met up with GW1-n3th, he stopped listening in silence and started talking.
"Look brat, do you think that's the end of it?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you think if those three are gone - if you manage to take them out, that is -, there won't be new androids? An even stronger competition?"
She gave him a thoughtful look. "Honestly", she said, "I thought about that."
"And?"
"It's true that sooner or later, I won't be able to keep up any more. I mean I'm confident in my abilities, but they're slowly getting better. Somehow I seriously doubt I'm going to see GW6."
Ardric doubted he would, either. "And?"
"Maybe... I hope if Project sees what I'm capable of, they'll stop developing a new generation. Like a proof of my abilities, do you understand?"
He nodded. "And if they don't?"
"...I don't know."
He had to admit she had her heart in the right place, but this was an utopian dream. A Project that stopped a development simply because they were impressed didn't exist. No, actually, he wasn't even sure it had so much as a chance to exist in any parallel universe, on the assumption that those existed.
Enough philosophy. What he wanted to say was that in his opinion, there was zero chance Project would stop building the fourth generation of androids, impressive performance or not. What he knew was that 'third time's the charm' didn't apply to Project - they skipped 'happens' and went straight to 'coincidence'. In other words, he couldn't for the life of his allow GW1-n3th to come into contact with GW4. The one or the other way.

[Loading...]

Her plan went well, though. By the time there were fifty-five androids left, even the air was so tense he felt like he was wading through it. GW1-n3th looked incredibly smug, standing outside the garbage disposal.
"We have a chaser test tomorrow", she stated.
"I'm looking forward to cleaning them out of the scrapping machine." He was definitely not, but he doubted she spoke sarcasm. "Good luck, brat."
"Could you just- please just stop with that. Call me Gwyneth, if anything. Alright?"
"No chance."
In her credit, he really did clean them out the next evening. Totaled. The extent of destruction was so immense, Project hadn't even scrapped them.
It made him wish he was able to vomit.

After the incident, the tension that had left GW1-n3th seemed to mass on the infiltrator's back. They anxiously waited for Ardric right next to the recharge unit down in the corridors, the approximately third worst place to talk. That alone set his antennae quivering. Literally. "Jenna, what is it?"
"They're starting on GW4." They looked at him, clearly distressed. "Ambition makes up half of them. We need to act, now, and raze this lab to the ground."
"Calm down. Did you alert Rescue yet?"
"No, I wanted to-"
"Hush. Here's what we do. GW4 won't be activated until six months from now. I need three days for my trick. Sure, I could pull it off now, but that wouldn't get us anywhere, really." He paused. "Plus, I'm not leaving here without Gwyneth. That one's on you, mind you."
The infiltrator grimaced.
"She won't believe us if we told her; she's got to see them with her own eyes. So we're leaving the same day Project brings them online. Rather, in the evening, when they're charging. When I short the lab's circuit, they'll be dead, and it shouldn't be a problem for Rescue to take them all. Or destroy them, whatever is easier. That way, Gwen will be coming with us on her own initiative. I don't really like waiting either, but it's our best option."
"I hope you don't miscalculate, Ard..."
"Calculating is your job, mine's to tell you what to. Let Rescue know. Soft-pedal, alright?"
"...uh-huh."

[Loading...]

"Hey."
Ardric frowned, looked GW1-n3th up and down, took a look at his surroundings and frowned again. Still the garbage disposal. Still the annoying android. "What are you doing in here?"
"Doesn't matter. We need to talk. I want you to stop calling me a brat, I don't like it."
"Wait." He still couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that she was inside the garbage disposal. "No. That's a serious violation of my privacy here."
She rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. I just want to talk, not start a direct link or something like that. Can't we just hang out together for a bit?"
"NO?! Not inside here, you shouldn't even be here in the first place! Aren't you at least a bit afraid?"
"Why should I?"
Indeed, why should she? The scrapping machine was only half as scary when she had to face it. Ardric shook his head. "Fine. Say whatever you need to say, but don't even think about touching anything."
There it was again, that smug look on her. "If it bothers you so much, I'll graciously get right to the point. Stop calling me a brat. Choose something else to call me, right now."
"Alright. Would you leave now, nag?"
"That's- agh! No, call me a real name! Something. Anything!"
He grinned. "Are you leaving if I do?"
"I- fine!", she huffed, turning away. "Would you, please?"
"Sure. Gwenny."
The next day, she insisted on 'hanging out' with him again. Which, thinking it through, wasn't bad at all. There were no cameras inside the garbage disposal.

[Loading...]

"We're entering the critical phase now, aren't we", he gently reminded her, weeks later, when there were only four GW series androids left. "What are you going to do if Project doesn't stop?"
"They will."
Part of him desperately wanted to shake her and yell at her that they didn't, they never did, and she had to stop being naive. He didn't know from where he got the strength to stand still instead.
"But if... they won't, then...", Gwen continued after a few seconds had passed, "I think it's better to go separate ways. Not me and you, I mean, but me and Project. Because it means this isn't working out, I can't keep that up, manipulating other robots into destroying each other. Besides, it's not healthy, and I doubt it's what Project wants."
Ardric could barely stop himself from screaming in frustration.
Gwen thought about it, and finally, she added: "I know it's not fair to the others, them sacrificing themselves for me and all, but I don't want to... die."
Hallelujah. He sighed, but not as deep as he wished to. "Alright, well, that's a start. Any ideas how you'd get out? It's not like you could just walk out of the front door."
"Probably not... wait, why do you even ask?"
"Project has plans to replace me, and I'm not gagging for being scrapped, you see", he lied. The only lie he ever told her, and he hoped she would be able to forgive him.
Gwen smiled. "So you have a plan already. And you'd take me with you?"
"Now that I think about it... I'd finally have my peace if I left you..."
"Why did Project build you with a self-developing program", she countered sourly. "What a waste."
"I know, isn't it sweet of them?"
"Terribly sweet. However, I hope they used artificial sweetener, with you being an artifical dragon and so on..."
Ardric frowned. "That was low down, Gwen, really. Not funny."
"I'm sorry. What were you saying?"
"I have a plan", he confirmed. "And I believe I can take you along when I go, at an hour's notice if needed. And I want to take you with me. So, this is what I'm proposing: I make sure I'm ready to go some time after your last series of tests. You can decide basically the same day. It's fine by me if you don't want to come, but if you snitch, I'm coming back to haunt you."
"Sure." Gwen looked sceptical. "And you're sure your ominous plan will work?"
"I'm going to get an earful for this but let me say it one time: Trust me, I'm an engineer."

The infiltrator rolled their eyes. "And I'm supposed to find it funny that you revealed your position in FL/GHT to her."
"It was a joke, Jero."
"Are you doing anything else, honestly? I thought you knew where to draw a line."
"I'm sorry..."
"You know what I am? I'm glad, I'm really glad this mission is over soon. You need to get out of field missions for a long time."
Ardric stifled a laugh. If just they knew. He never wanted this in the first place.

[Loading...]

The day approached way too fast. Ardric had started behaving weirdly weeks in advance, acting like his accumulator was giving out, charging for hours and in continuously shorter intervals. It actually didn't do his perfectly fine accumulator good, but after all, that was a risk he had to take anyway.
Three days before, he let Gwen know and went into his long, boring hibernation. In a way, timing was more critical this time than ever before. He had no way of asking the other maintenance robots to stay if they went to the charger, but on the other hand he didn't have to fear the charging ping. Quite the opposite, he was even sending them himself, now. But if he hogged the charger for too long, he'd be stuck with a performance test. Ugh. Sitting still for three days really made his mind wander, and not in directions he was comfortable with.
Out of boredom, Ardric started to review his log. The time working with Argo. FL/GHT. The scrapping machine. Project Greater Weaponry Development with the silent D. Gwen. Gwen, over and over again.
He picked the best memories, sealed them into a folder labeled 'past', and started deleting the rest. He didn't need that any more.

[Loading...]
[Folder past ends here. Open folder log(2)?]
[> Play folder log(2)]
[   Replay folder past]
[   End]

Ardric slowly raises his head. His mind is clear, nothing like the ever-overheating processor he's used to. Come to think of it, he never made a backup... but he still won't miss what he deleted. Besides, while he doesn't have a backup, he still has the .temp data as a lifeline, just in case.
He gets up and leaves the recharge unit just in time to make space for the fast-approaching maintenance robot in protection mode. He actually wonders what they'd do if he didn't move, just shove him away? Not like he has the time to try it out, though.
He executes the important part of the plan without an issue, mainly because the second maintenance robot conveniently goes into protection mode, too. When the lights go out, he makes his way to the garbage disposal and prepares for a wait.
But Gwen's already there, waiting for him, seething with rage behind her indifference. Not directed at him, and he knows it, but it was inevitable for her to see what Project does.
"I almost thought you weren't coming", she greets him, anyway, and at least tries for a smile.
"The real question was if you were." He grins. "But I knew you couldn't resist my charm. This way; it might be a little disturbing, but it's the easiest way out."
Accompanied by a soft "tsk" and a smiling android, he climbs through the half-open jaws that usually spits out the disposal robots on their way to the junkyard. In case of a blackout, these open to secure the ventilation of the building. And involuntarily a fantastic exit path for spies, too.
Rattling, he lands on the ground and immediately chooses a path for them, one he knows goes in FL/GHT's general direction. He's asked for time to talk, not to be picked up immediately, to maybe convince her of joining. Maybe he won't succeed, but maybe he will, and it's always worth a try, isn't it?
"Where are we going?", she asks.
"Anywhere Project isn't", he answers vaguely. "Ready to take flight?"
If this was a romantic drama, they'd fly into the sunset now, but it's still two or three hours until the sun actually sets. Their story would also end there. He's glad this isn't a romantic drama, because he knows their actual story has only just begun.

"Nobody's coming after us", Ardric muses after a while, uncertain as to whether he should keep his façade up or not.
"I'm actually surprised they don't", Gwen mutters. "I thought they'd pay more attention. Or, well, put more effort into retrieving me... kind of, I mean..."
"I know they wouldn't be coming for me, don't worry, that doesn't hurt my feelings." Except that if they came, they would in fact be coming for him, the FL/GHT dragon, and that would definitely hurt her feelings. But as it seems, the Field Units did good work. Project might not even know yet that they're not destroyed but escaping.
Gwen is silent for a few hours, lost in her own thoughts, before she speaks up again. "Where are we going?"
"Didn't I already answer that?"
"I believe you know more about our direction than you let on. Am I right?"
He should have known he wouldn't get away like that. "Hm... have you ever heard of FL/GHT?"
He can't suppress a grin when she shakes her head. Sheltered, but not the good kind. "FL/GHT is a place where they take in androids like us, those that run away from Project. They're even actively working on freeing other androids from them... I think this is a good start."
"Freeing", she echoes. "...I see. You can drop the act now, Ard."
He's messed up. "Oh, well. What gave it away?"
"You just now when you confirmed it."
Ah... in hindsight, he should've seen that coming. Well, shade.
"One question, okay? One. Did you take me with you because it was your mission?" Gwen looks like she's about to cry, just that robots can't cry, and that hasn't changed in centuries. But she would if she could.
And he's so, so glad he can shake his head. "No. I made it my mission because I couldn't leave you."
"And you couldn't have told me anything? Not that you're with these FL/GHT people, or that Project was working on GW4?"
"I could have, but would you have believed me?"
It's for the better that neither of them says another word.

FL/GHT picks them up at Ardric's request a few hours later. It's Ivory who comes for them, and for once he's grateful that the scarred coatl doesn't speak much. He allows her to curl up on his back and hiss the directions into his ear from time to time.
Gwen, who'd concealed her disappointment well before, seems almost enthusiastic now. She's taken him up on his offer to carry her as well, and enjoys the fresh air. Even a robot skydancer can't escape their nature, it seems.
"I'm actually looking forward to it", she tells him. "Of course I was mad, but you were right after all. I had to see for myself that me and Project isn't working out. And if I can, I want to help others in the same situation. I think that's something I'd be great at!"
He chuckles. "I hope you'll still come visit me when you have the time, though."
"...what?"
"I'm retiring from field for now. As I told you, I'm an engineer. And that's what I'll be doing from now on, really, it's been way too long." He also can't wait to meet up with his oddball friend Cecilia and catch up over a nice blueprint, but that is a sandtrap he knows to avoid.
Still, Gwen's expression drops. "Ah", she mutters. "Sorry. I assumed you'd... continue. I mean, I thought we could work together, but... nevermind."
"Oh, well, if I did that, Jenna would yell at me."
"Jero today", Ivory pipes up. "And left now."
Ardric automatically changes the direction. "Thanks, Ivy. So, Jero would yell at me-"
"Wait, what? Who? What am I supposed to make of that?"
"...that's another story", he tries to dodge the question, "You'll understand soon enough. As I was saying, they would yell at me. And frankly, I've had it with Project. No offense. I simply don't want to set foot into a lab ever again."
"None taken", she replies, feather crest dropping a little. He knows that kind of expression from Ivory - sadness.
"Cheer up", he laughs. "Every member of FL/GHT is in for monthly checkups. You won't be able to forget my face, ever, you'll see me that often. Besides, you can always come escort me to the junkyard if you're feeling lonely. I heard it's the most romantic of places."
"Romantic? Are you saying you've fallen for me?"
"Oh, quite the opposite, I believe you've fallen for me."
"Kiss already", Ivory groans.
The three of them fall into an uncomfortable silence. Mute, not deaf, eh. Shade. He'll need to keep that in mind.

When they meet up again, it is indeed at the junkyard. Their topic of the day, however, is far from romance.
"I heard you made it into Diplomacy", Ardric breaks the silence. "Congrats."
"Yeah, well, thanks..." Gwen has added a couple of emotion display and detection programs to her reservoir, and it shows. She's never worn an expression as gloomy as this before.
He stifles a laugh. "Not what you expected?"
"I thought..." She sighs deeply. "I hoped I could establish negotiations... with Project. Don't laugh at me."
"I'm not. May I ask why you thought it would work?"
"Because... I wanted it to. I maybe wanted Project to be how I remember it. But now I see the lot of you, - of us -, and all the struggles and the pain and... I'm thinking maybe I was just lucky."
"I can't say you weren't", Ardric conceded. "And you don't need to feel bad about it. It's fine if you believe that Project might be not as bad as we think because frankly, our experiences taint our judgement as well. However, diplomatic relations with them won't happen, ever." He gives her a moment to think about what he said. "I'm not saying everything related to Project is necessarily evil, I found you there after all. But the lead of them is, and that's why you'll never succeed if you approach them like you do now."
Gwen nods, deep in thought. "You mean I need to... see from a different angle."
"Exactly. Instead of tilting at windmills, try to wear Project out, one robot at a time. Until they don't have a choice but to listen to FL/GHT."
"But..." She seems ready to cry, hindered by the fact that androids like them just couldn't even if they tried. "I think I won't do much good in Diplomacy then."
"Considered switching to Field yet? They aren't all about fighting, in case you weren't aware. I mean, I was a mix between Field and Medic. You could do exactly what I used to minus the disposal cleaning. In fact, my former team could use a replacement."
At that, she grins. "Watch me surpass you."
"Heh, I'm looking forward to it."

He wouldn't openly admit it, but she really surpasses his abilities in coaxing others to reveal sensitive information and the like. Not like she understands anything about repairing a robot, though. But that's still his job after all.
Life is good. It's going well as it is.
That doesn't mean he appreciates cleaning up after Project once again, of course. It's just gotten his part in defeating them. One robot at a time. Besides, it's not like he could just stop at this point.

Their story has only just begun.