9.29 – The New 03

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The New 03

Slow, heavy steps filled the hallway, one continuous sound despite two people walking side by side, their pace synchronized without either of them trying for it.

Mechs stood at three-meter intervals down the corridor, unmoving as statues, weapons raised, attention raised further still. White light ran the length of white walls, a long red carpet stitched through with gold running over deep black flooring, the signature finish of every Elysium government building.

Reaper walked beside Xidia, both of them working through a stack of open screens, regional reports, mayoral requests, problems flagged by district leaders and lined up for review. Reaper moved through them in silence, nodding at intervals.

"Automa is nearly complete. The largest project we've undertaken to date." He expanded a screen showing the city's full schematic. "I understand now why humans historically avoided building entire cities in a single push. The resource draw has slowed every other initiative we're running."

"Agreed." Xidia kept her eyes moving between the schematic and Reaper's face. "We're heading toward a housing shortage at the current arrival rate, Theria's construction pace hasn't kept up. And Behemoth won't formally hand Frostholm over until he's confirmed every human resident has been relocated."

"I don't dislike the caution behind that, particularly given the recent attacks from within our own population, let alone the ongoing tension with humans." Reaper paused for a moment. "But even once the handover happens, the city needs a full rebuild from the ground up. The Altean government abandoned it, along with the entire western region."

"We still need housing regardless." Xidia kept her voice gentle as they turned a corner together. "Perhaps we encourage the newer arrivals to hold off on requesting permanent housing for now. They'll understand. It's not as though they have a functional need for shelter the way humans do."

Mechs saluted in sequence as Reaper passed each post.

"They need housing to feel like this is actually their country. To feel like Elysium is home rather than a temporary posting." Reaper turned to her. "That's not something I'll compromise on. I'll visit Automa myself soon and push the construction timeline directly. In the meantime—when Obsidian returns, tell him to prioritize new arrivals for construction roles, even where the fit isn't perfect."

"Excellent thinking." Xidia caught herself a beat too late. "I mean… yes, that should work well, my king. Though I am curious what happens to the ones who remain unemployed."

They stopped outside Shelly's door. Reaper's tone cooled slightly. "I'd rather not find out. Our population has a strong aversion to seeing unemployed robots contribute nothing to the whole, that kind of resentment pushes people toward extreme decisions, and we already have enough extremism to manage without adding an economic driver to it."

"If you mean the terrorist activity, that's stopped entirely since the carnival attack." Xidia looked at the frosted glass door with visible annoyance. "Metis flagged something about a connection to 02's case. And something about a parting gift from 11."

"Chrome will verify before it reaches me formally. I'll look into 11's gift once it's confirmed." Reaper stepped through as the door slid open. "But first."

Xidia followed him in and took a slow, deliberate breath before entering, even when she didn’t need to.

Reaper stopped dead in the doorway.

He crossed to where Shelly sat, still and smiling on the bed, and studied her, the head, the eyes, before turning to Xidia. "Do you see what I'm seeing?"

Xidia leaned in and ran her own scan from multiple angles. She stopped at Shelly's face, smirking. "I don't see anything wrong with this particular gremlin."

"Her horns are gone. Her eyes are blue instead of green." Reaper opened the terminal and began entering the release sequence. "Xidia, the mechs in the corridor won't fit through this doorway. Get the security director. Now."

"On it." Xidia collapsed her screens and shot out of the room at speed.

Reaper entered the final line. The moment he pressed confirm, Shelly snapped out of the frozen state and grabbed her own head, shaking it as if trying to dislodge something.

"Brother! you will not believe this. So much happened at once, I cannot process the order of it. The crystal, the phone, the tall robot, 11… they took things—"

Reaper raised a hand, pulled a floating chair over, and sat facing her. "One thing at a time. I've already scanned the room and I have a working theory. Don't leave out any detail, no matter how small it seems."

Shelly settled back onto the bed and crossed her legs. "Start with the crystal, it's the most shocking part. I was sitting here frozen, working through my HUD, when 11 walked in and just stood there facing me. For a long time. Like she was deciding something." Her eyes went wide again at the memory. "Since I have no terminal access anymore, I couldn't even ask her what she wanted."

"And then?"

"She reached into my hoodie, opened the energy brace chamber, and took the green crystal out. I assumed she needed it for something at Metro Robotics. Then she apologized, said she wanted her captain's trust back and that this was what it took."

Shelly slapped both palms against her own face. "What does that even mean? Is that a standard offering now, every returning E-UNIT hands over a crystal so their captain approves of them?"

Reaper looked at her hornless head again, then back to the blue eyes. "You're aware we brought 02 to our side to fight against Remidican forces. The moment she landed in Elysium, 11 didn't leave her proximity. I noticed the loyalty shift and let her go rather than force the issue."

"Why my crystal specifically? Is that the going tribute now?" Shelly stood and started pacing the room fast. "I have no power left. I can't be useful to you anymore. I don't want this at all, what do I do, what do I do, what do I—"

"Calm down. I'm not removing you from the castle for having a smaller function here."

"But everyone else will start looking at me the way they look at anyone not contributing." She kept circling, faster now. "What do I do, what do I do—"

"We're already making progress on crystal manufacturing." Reaper caught her arm on her third pass and sat her back down. "We can produce versions at a tenth of full output that, with the right processing layered in, read as nearly equivalent in practice. Second topic."

"Right!" She clapped once. "A tall, matte-finish android walked in, looked exactly like Obsidian. I assumed at first he was here to prep my task list before the release. Something about him was off, though."

"Obsidian is on diplomatic leave in Belmora." Reaper held his chin. "That's not possible."

"That explains the behavior, then!" She was on her feet again, bouncing slightly off the mattress. "He took father's old phone. Looked at me. And his eyes, the same sharp green Obsidian has—switched briefly to a number in digital display. Zero-three. Just for a second, like he wanted me to see it specifically. Then he left without a word."

"Why does everyone entering your room leave with something." Reaper looked toward the window, the sea moving gently against the glass, the calm outside doing nothing to soften what she'd just described. “No, these aren't random visitors. Either they're duplicating members of the Golden Circle, or they're defectors using existing access. Like 11."

"Do you have anything about that analog-display android in your memory? He was almost an exact copy of Obsidian, but different in ways I couldn't articulate." Shelly placed both palms on Reaper's knees and settled her most persuasive expression into place. "This is what you get for leaving your sister defenseless and frozen for two weeks."

Reaper gently moved her hands off his knees. "No room for that particular tactic right now. I need to secure the capital properly. It's embarrassing that a country built on the promise of protecting robots from humans can't secure its own people from each other." A pause. "02's proposal wasn't as unreasonable as I initially assessed."

Shelly's eyes narrowed. "Which proposal?"

"A dedicated police force, built on fast, overwhelmingly strong mech models." Reaper turned toward the doorway, already tracking movement approaching. "But first…"

Xidia returned with a robot bearing a strong resemblance to Chrome, the same polished, reflective face, formally dressed. An orange line ran across where his eyes should be, functioning as the visual sensor array. He scanned the room and stopped in front of Reaper with a short bow.

His voice came out calm and gentle, with a faintly human inflection running underneath the robotic register, something close to operatic in its cadence. "You simply summoned me, my lord?"

"Yes. A robot resembling Obsidian entered this room and removed a valuable object. Explain how that happened."

"I don't mean to be dismissive, my lord, but our access systems are fully automated and they simply do not open for unregistered individuals." The security director opened one arm, the other staying clasped behind his back. "If Shelly's account is accurate, that robot would need to share Obsidian's exact registry permissions, which is simply not something our current architecture allows."

He turned toward Xidia. "The registry requirement is straightforward, you're either a direct creation of Dr. Nicholas Rivera, or you've been manually added to the access list, which requires my signature. Take Xidia as the example. She is not a Rivera creation, so I added her personally to the registry so she could simply move through restricted doors."

Reaper nodded slowly. "Which leaves one working theory. If he isn't on your list, he's a Rivera creation that predates the registry, but father is dead, and to my knowledge he never built a second model in Obsidian's line. Tamer never wanted Obsidian in the first place, which is the entire reason I exist instead."

"That is simply accurate." The security director turned to Shelly. "Would you accompany me? I'd like to cross-reference your memory against our security footage, simply to identify this individual properly."

Shelly looked at Reaper, eyes wide, already fully in the register she used exclusively on him. "But I wanted a day with my brother…" Her voice dropped, deliberately softened.

Reaper tapped the top of her head. "Go with him for now. Tomorrow is yours, fully. I still have work to finish tonight."

"Yessss!" She grabbed the security director's hand and pulled him toward the door. "Come on already, let's finish the boss referee thing!"

"You mean cross-reference…" Their voices faded together down the hallway.

Reaper finally turned his full attention to Xidia. "You know what comes next."

Xidia smiled. "Yes, my king. We simply go get the old E-Police station outside the capital ready. Who would have guessed we'd need that building again."

Reaper laughed briefly, at her deliberate emphasis on the word. "Don't be unkind, Xidia. It was father's project. Everything he built tends to come back useful eventually, and tends to survive long enough to prove it."

"Even the green crystal got taken today, apparently. I'd assume they'll need to rebuild Green Alpha and Red Beta from scratch again." Xidia looked at Reaper's mismatched eyes, one red, one green. "But I still have mine."