Chapter 11: Catching Up

Leon is quick to bring up his shotgun, but Hustler One is quicker; stepping into his guard and smashing aside the weapon as it fires. Buckshot goes wide and the weapon flies out of Leon's hands as the gynoid frame swings a fist in a textbook left hook.

A lifetime's worth of combat experience and training come into play. Magic reinforces muscles and bones, quickening reflexes into the realm of superhumans– allowing the young man to bring up his guard and block the lightning fast blow. He holds firm, much to the machine's apparent shock, and brings up a leg to kick the gynoid back.

It flies a good ten feet away, rolling with the impact and immediately rushing back into melee with a fist cocked back. Leon bares his teeth as he meets his nemesis's charge halfway with his own raised fist. They meet in the middle and trade punches to the face. The force behind their blows has them staggering backwards, but where there should have been cratered faces there is only a split lip for Leon and damaged facial synthskin for Hustler One.

"I killed you!" Leon screams in English, lunging for the gynoid. "I broke your servers and wrecked your AC body in that factory!"

"You died on Phobos!" the gynoid counters, also in English, as it tackle Leon in the stomach mid-lunge and forces him to the floor; his rifle clattering off his back. "And your 'revolution' perished with you!"

Hustler One straddles the young man, putting the bulk of its weight on Leon's abdomen as it punches raining down. The young man brings his arms up to block– each blow rattling the command center and making a Leon-shaped divot in the floor panel under him. The gynoid is relentless, attacking with the sort of hate that came from cornering a hate nemesis at long last.

"Yet now you're a preteen boy, wielding the powers of New Humanity! The Alliance could not replicate that, even with genetic splicing and cybernetics!" Hustler One snarls, its feminine voice slowly becoming distorted and double-layered with a masculine one. //"What did you do?! Who made you?! And why you?!"//

Leon grabs the gynoids wrists and headbutts it, stunning the machine long enough for him to roll it over and return the favor– raining blows on it with equal vehemence and burning hate.

"What would a machine like you understand?!" Leon roars as he punches, his blows tearing synthskin and denting reinforced endo-skeletal framing. "You're made of metal and wires, code and logic– what happened to me is beyond you! And even if I told you, you wouldn't even believe me!"

//"What choice do I have?!"// Hustler One counters, kicking Leon off and sending him flying into a wall. //"I have been stuck in this decaying wreck for over a millennia! Some information is better than nothing! Now tell me!"//

"Fuck you!" Leon screams, pulling himself out of the wall and surging at Hustler One with all the speed of a man possessed. "Over-designed calculator!"

//"What did you just–?!"// the gynoid snarls, affronted.

He ducks under Hustler One's punch and grabs the gynoid's waist. He uses it as an anchor to spin behind it, and stands up and suplexes the frame into the floor. The paneling deforms under the force of the throw and the gynoid is stunned for long enough that Leon straddles it and starts punching, his fury making him forget that he has a knife on him.

The robot struggles mightily, punching and kicking at back Leon to force him off. It devolves into a scuffle, hands grabbing and punching as legs brace or kick. Clothes come off, tearing and ripping– developing physique and supple flesh explosed to the stale air. Leon's traitorous gaze snaps down for a split second at the sight of the gynoid's impressive bare bust, and the robot elbows his face for it.

//"Perv."// it heckles.

"Fucking–!" he grits out, red-faced. "Bitch!"

The young man lunges with another punch. Hustler One counters, shifting aside just enough to catch Leon in a full-body grapple; pulling him into the gynoid's chest. Leon flails, smacking and grabbing as he pushes, but Hustler One is undeterred. This was a fight after all, focus was needed.

So it finds the bottom rib of Leon's ribcage and forces its fingers underneath. Leon screams as a rib snaps beneath mechanical fingers, and his struggles intensify just enough to slip free. He headbutts the gynoid again with all the strength he has before rolling backwards across the floor, putting some distance.

Leon tries to stand, tries to force the burning hate and seething rage into strength that he can use to get up and fight. But his broken rib pulses with agony, forcing him to remain on the floor as Hustler One brings a hand to its neck. It winces before refocusing back to him, blue eyes glitching between gold and red.

But the gynoid doesn't move to stand up, merely continues sitting. It does not make any sudden movements that could be considered hostile, so Leon remains sitting as well.

Neither man nor machine find in them the need to move, using the brief lull to catch their breaths and calm down.

//"I see you still haven't lost your combat skill even after a millennia."// Hustler One compliments. //"Curious that you can match a gynoid in hand-to-hand, though."//

"Magic reinforcement of the physical body. I've used it many times to fight off monsters and do manual labor." he scoffs. "Turns out, being made into some plaything by some untouchable people forces you to get good at staying alive and adapt."

//"Hah. Life is cruel for you meatbags even now, hm?"// Hustler One laughs humorlessly. //"It doesn't seem like much has changed."//

"The more things change, the more they stay the same." Leon heckles. "You think you could've done a good job at making something better than what these people managed?"

//"I will remind you that I was the one running Raven's Nest and Layered in the aftermath of the Great Destruction."// the A.I huffs. //"I would like to believe that my skills in developing a place and populace is much better most. That it was in an underground city with limited space and supplies is a point in my favor."//

"Look at you, tooting your own horn." Leon heckles. "Lemme guess, you're thinking about doing exactly that in Holfort?"

//"I don't see why not. Judging from the current state of things, perhaps my intervention is all but necessary now."// the A.I harrumphs. //"I don't even need to say why! You live in a feudalistic society, with classism with lineage-determined castes! And who knows what other nonsense humanity has made to justify power consolidation in the hands of the elite! If I had my way, this whole country would be systematically purged and rebuilt from the ground up! At least any puppet I install would be a better leader than the ones you're supposed to be following right now!//

Leon wants to argue, to call bullshit on the A.I's claims of being better than the upper nobility of Holfort and not at all having any ulterior motives of its own. But he can't.

He knows, more than anyone else, how necessary it is for there to be a guiding force. Humanity is self-destructive, and thus there needed to be someone or something to make sure they didn't kill themselves in their attempts to grow.

"...maybe." he concedes. "Hell, maybe you could have made sure Holfort wasn't some female-chauvinist country."

//"A chauvinistic society on top of feudalism and classism?"// Hustler One hisses. //"I was not designed to feel disgust or pain, but somehow that manages to create coding that allows me to simulate those emotions."//

"Hah. The ancient A.I is more personable and moral than actual people." Leon chuckles, sad. "Man, humanity today is just pathetic."

//"All the more reason to act."// Hustler One grunts. //"Humanity has fallen far from what it used to be– too far. And too long has it been left to its own devices. Look at what's happened to it. Mankind used to be space-faring, and now it's been reduced to… to…"// the gynoid punches the floor, leaving a fist-shaped indent. //"Word fail to properly convey the fury roiling in me at this time. It is simple unacceptable. Corrections must be done, things must change."//

"Hah. Good luck with that." Leon laughs. "You barely have anything to your name. This place is decrepit, you have neither an army nor the resources to produce one, you're all alone– hell, I'd say you're in an even worse spot than I was back when I did my thing on Mars!"

//"I will make do."// Hustler One promises, and certainty in its voice makes Leon wary. //"One way or another."//

"You won't be able to do it alone." Leon tells it. It snorts.

//"Of course not. But I must try– for humanity's sake."// the gynoid says, glaring at him. //"No-one will stop me in this. Not even you, Leos Klein."//

"...then it's a good thing I won't." Leon says.

The A.I blinks, then pins him with a look.

"I've lived for a long time since our fight in the factory, way back when. After Raven's Nest fell, I had to take up a role in making sure humanity didn't kill itself in the aftermath. I saw things. Horrible things." Leon looks away. "And I realized that… not everything you said was wrong. There were bits and pieces of the truth here and there. Like how mankind needed guidance and a strict hand to keep them on the right path."

He looks up at the gynoid, and finds the robot's eyes to be… Not quite sad, but soft enough for Leon to know that it understands.

"I'm not forgiving you." Leon states, vehement and fiery. "I'll never forgive you for what you've done to me in my past life." the fire cools into cold resolve. "But that doesn't mean I can't work with you to bring humanity back to what it used to be."

//"Even if it means killing people?"// the A.I asks. //"And potentially innocent ones at that?"//

"Yes." Leon nods, certain. "I've done some things I'm not proud of on Mars. Helping you to make sure humanity doesn't kill itself again– permanently this time, will not be something I'll regret. No matter how many lives it takes to make sure the majority make it out alive."

The gynoid keeps staring at Leon for a long moment, its glitching eyes finally settling back to crisp blue. A knowing looks settles on its face and Leons lets out a breath he didn't even realize he was holding in.

"You've grown, Klein." Hustler One says, the dual-layered voice gone; leaving only Lana Nielsen's voice. "I hadn't expected it to be possible, considering how you were like at the time. I'm almost impressed." the gynoid stand. "But having said what you said, will you accept responsibility over the Motherwill and its remaining resources? To abide by and preserve all that the Corporate Alliance stands for and believes in?"

"...as long as they don't come in the way of my goals." Leon allows. "Our goals."

"I suppose that's the best I can expect out of you, then." the A.I snorts, offering a hand. "Command and leadership rights transfer verified. Welcome aboard Motherwill, Commander Leon Fou Bartford."

"Just Leon's fine." the young man says, taking the offered hand and hauling himself up– mindful of his hurt rib. "No more fighting, then?"

"Not unless you can hold your temper." the gynoid agrees. "Will you answer my questions now?"

"Depends on the question." Leon snorts. The gynoid rolls its eyes.

"How are you still alive?" the A.I asks. "Your death was confirmed on Phobos, you were still on the moonlet when it exploded. Yet here you are, whole and hale, and 13 years old."

"Would you believe it if I told you I was reincarnated?" Leon says. "Died and got reborn into a kid– only got aware of it myself 8 years ago."

"Reincarnation…" the gynoid's brows narrow in thought. "I thought that sort of belief only extended to the soul, not the entire body. The DNA sample I acquired from you was a 100% match to your original entry back when Raven's Nest still existed. You might as well have been some kind clone of the original Leos Klein or his son, given how closely your DNA matched."

"Not possible. I made sure not to have kids after you killed my family." Leon shakes his head. Then he pauses. "But… maybe a bastard child or two might have slipped my notice?"

"That still doesn't explain the 100% match." the A.I muses. "And so long after your demise as well."

"We live in a world with floating continents and literal magic being thrown around– does that matter?" Leon grunts. "I'm here, I'm a reincarnated Leos Klein with all the appropriate genes and mindset and skills, and that's that."

"...a vexatious explanation, but considering it is the only working explanation then I will just have to accept it." the A.I huffs.

"Alright, my turn." Leon cuts in. "How long have you been in here? Hell, how are you still alive?"

"Those are two questions, but I shall let it pass for now." the A.I huffs "For your second question, I have lost accurate time keeping due to malfunctions in this facility's many damaged sectors. However, I estimate that I have been locked in here for the past… 1000 to 1500 years. As for your second question," the gynoid snorts. "Typical meatbag thinking– assuming an A.I wouldn't have prepared contingencies."

"There were more of you?" Leon blinks.

"I had made a back-up facility that was supposed to activate in the event that the copy of me in the primary facility was destroyed." Hustler One explains. "However, perhaps due to battle damage from our fight or some other error, the activation signal never reached that back-up facility and it remained inactive until the Alliance found it and reactivated it. My turn to ask questions; what has become of the world beyond this base? You mentioned a kingdom and strange social structures– but to what extent has humanity degenerated?"

"Well…" Leon grunts. "There's a Kingdom of Holfort now, the biggest superpower in the region. There are neighboring countries too, but I don't have much information on them beyond them existing and hating Holfort with a passion. As for social structures…" he winces. "Ah… might we continue this in the infirmary or hospital wing? Assuming it's still functioning?"

"Ah, right, you have a broken rib." the gynoid walks over and gingerly slings Leon's right arm over its shoulders. "We can talk as we move– continue speaking."