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Love Soft
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"Maggie!"
Saisai yells out to her former captain. She turns and Saisai hears her talking to her mind.
What?
Oh wow... That's weird... Do you know if Cid made it out?
The mechanic? He's not really part of the Knights. Unless I'm mistaken he's in the School when he's not working. You can check there. If he's not there then... Well, I'll keep an eye out for him.
Thanks.
Let's hope he's there...
Saisai goes to the School. All around people are crowding the streets and looking at the ruined castle. It makes the trip take a bit longer but eventually she's there. The place is mostly empty but the few that are there help point her to where Cid's workshop in the school is. Saisai steps inside and sees the man himself, working on something. He turns to look at Saisai.
>"Oh hey, it's you again. What's your name?"
"Saisai."
>"Saisai. You're the Knight, right? I'm uh... Really sorry about what happened to the castle. And the King."
I wouldn't be able to tell. The man seems to be acting like nothing happened.
"Yeah. Cid... Do you remember A1?"
>"Of course I- Oh! Did she make it out of the castle!? Is she okay!?" Now he seems very concerned. "I need to find her... Please tell me she's okay!"
He grabs a coat hanging nearby and is about to leave when Saisai grabs him by the sleeve.
"She's... Well she's not fine. But she's alive. I have her."
>"You have her?" He looks at the box. "Is she in there?"
"Yes and... She was cut in half... And she's still alive... And there's wires and junk coming out of her..."
>"......... So.... You know?"
Saisai nods.
>"-Sigh-... I suppose I have some explaining to do?"
"Yes, yes you do."
>"Alright... Set her on the table."
He pulls out a toolbox as Saisai takes A1's body out of the chest. Her eyes are closed now but the steady rhythm of her chest suggests she's still alive. For a moment Saisai wonders why she even needs to breathe.
>"Impressive, huh?"
"..."
Cid rips A1's blouse a bit and ties it behind her. He presses different sections of her torso until part of it pops off. Inside is a mess of flesh colored tubes and wires all connected to a single, massive, gem.
>"My father built her." He pulls out some arcane tools and begins to tap various parts. "Used a gem he said came from across the sea. He wasn't sure what kind of power it was but he knew two things. One, it was almost limitless and two, it was sentient. Or rather, could be sentient. He used it to create a model before Zerlina. However the thing eventually went mad. He won't say why but I think it just didn't like the fact that it was a golem. He destroyed the prototype and went to work creating this one. I didn't see him much during that time and one day he just vanished. He left behind his notes and instructions on how to activate Zerlina. He said 'Don't let her know she's a Golem'. So... I didn't." He pulls out and replaces a few wires. "She didn't even know. Hell, the way she was programmed she would -never- notice. She doesn't have any bodily functions like we do but she can emulate a few of the more basic ones like breathing, sweating, crying, blushing. Stuff like that. Other more complicated ones simply don't happen to her. And the way my father made her she doesn't even notice that she's not like anyone else. But... It seems there was some kind of glitch. Her 'sister' was a golem that wanted nothing more than to be human while she was built to be human and wanted nothing more than to be a golem. I tried to follow my father's wishes but..." He pulls out another small chunk of her and attaches more tubes. He lifts her onto some kind of machine. "I didn't expect her to be this badly damaged... Well, let's pray she turns back on."
With the flip of a switch the machine she's on powers up. Magical energy is pumped from a generator nearby and into A1's ruined body. She opens her eyes and looks around
>"Saisai..? Cid..? What... What happened to me..? Am I dying..?"
>"No A1.. You're not dying. You're actually very hard to kill."
>"But... Where are my legs... And my arm." She seems to be in some kind of shock.
>"The castle collapsed and you lost them. I can build you new ones."
>"Build..?"
>"Yes... A1... You're a robot."
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