Uncertain Heart [Open]

[upupatomway]

Soldiers take stock of weapons and ammunition, mechanics are in and out of the armor workshop, all in anticipation of the movement on Vindess that leaders are discussing. Atom had finished reading another magic book and in practice at the target range, he leaves targets quickly fried to a crisp by electricity. He had faced monsters here, he had faced other monsters and robots at home. Logically, he is ready to join the battle.

He had never attacked a human though. At home, it was against the law for a robot to seriously harm or kill a human, even in self-defense. He had always been under the watchful eye of the public as a representative of the robot race, and labeled a hero after saving people from accidents. He delayed the bad humans until the police arrived. There are definitely parallels between the slavery in the Empire and the slavery of robots, but this is a different world with different rules, and he is aware of what participating in battle might mean.

He isn't sure what the right thing to do is.

He decides to seek out someone who might have more battle experience to give him perspective. The Vault has a few possible candidates, but he also makes a point of visiting Flotsam where there are warriors abound. Atom approaches an individual at lunchtime, with a drink or food in hand to offer them.

"Excuse me. Do you have some time to have lunch and talk? I might be assigned to the front in the next battle, and I could use some advice from someone more experienced facing the Imperials." He asks politely.

Comments

[testygirl]

"Aliens, mostly. Nasty evil aliens that are always messing with us."

That feels almost embarrassing to say, so she's quick to follow up with more context.

"It sounds pretty ridiculous, I know, but they're bad news. My friends and I had to fight off a whole invasion."

[upupatomway]

He shakes his head. He does have rockets in his feet. "Not ridiculous at all! Space travel within our solar system is regular where I'm from, and I've been to space for scientific research. It's really impressive you and your friends could stop an entire invasion! Do you all have special powers to help you?"

He's imagining something superhero-esque with humans in cool costumes. Forget his version, flying in his casual or school clothes.

"I've met aliens before and fought with them. More often though, one of the human explorers upsets an alien by trying to steal from them, and I try calming everyone down. I wish rich investors didn't insist on coming along on some of the space missions." He gives an uneasy, lopsided smile at the memory. Why were the people with the most money always the greediest ones?

dandadan spoilers for the arc that starts around chapter 65 or so!

[testygirl]

Aira's expression sours. "More annoying adults making trouble for you, huh? Ugh, god."

Just to get that frustration out first. Anyway, she figured he'd be understanding about the whole evil alien thing, but she also tries too hard to seem extra mature around Atom. It's a big sister impulse.

"On the planet Earth where I came from, there are these powerful spirits called yokai. They're born sometimes after people die with really intense regrets or grudges, so they linger in the world instead of passing on, and they can curse or possess people. It's... a long story, but one of them ended up giving her power to me, so that's what I use to fight. A few of my friends use their powers, too."

Aira glances up, then sounds a bit resigned as she continues. "I guess I gotta admit that we didn't stop the whole invasion ourselves. There was a ridiculously powerful yokai that was stalking one of my friends, and she basically took out their whole fleet with one attack. That's how much of a threat yokai can be."

[upupatomway]

Atom chuckles at her mutter. She's not exactly wrong. Entitled human adults were serious trouble.

"What you've been through sounds like something out of a movie," he can't help commenting. Says the anime robot. "It sounds like it's no wonder you fended off aliens- the yokai alone must be very dangerous at times. It's good you have some on your side! I can't say I've ever met something similar to that or a ghost. I don't know if they exist in my world."

[testygirl]

"Yeah? You're probably better off without having them around."

Though, truthfully, she doesn't sound quite so sure of that. Through her delusional phase, it had been elating to believe that seeing spirits made her special. But then there was the rather miserable fiasco surrounding the Evil Eye, and the danger that comes from having yokai powers—the intense fighting, getting targeted by aliens, etc.

But throughout it all, she got to know Takakura, and Momo, and the rest. That, and she's become a much stronger person beyond just having powers. It's actually kind of rough for her to think back on the type of girl she used to be.

"... Or who knows?" She smiles a little. "If they do exit in your world, I hope they aren't as nasty as most of ours. I mean, jeez. Even compared to stupid adults, they can be such a serious pain."

[upupatomway]

"We have ghost stories. My human friends from school tried to hunt them down a couple times, but we didn't have any success finding the real thing. But maybe the stories exist for a reason. I kind of like the idea of some things being mysterious and hard to explain..." He trails off, giving it some thought, then laughs. "Maybe ghost hunting was a warmup for the space missions and alien encounters."

And on second thought about those aliens. "So far all the aliens have been nice. Only attacking because they were disturbed, like wildlife on Earth would. So I guess we lucked out with friendly aliens, at least."

He circles back around to the original topic at hand. "It sounds like you've seen some really intense battles before you came here, even if you're more of a... volunteer for safety than a soldier."