I raised my hands and slowly backed away from the table I'd lain Starflower on, keeping my eyes on the cannon pointed at me. I scanned the room for anything I could use to stop this new girl, but aside from throwing a helium tank at her head, I didn't see anything useful. She had called Starflower her friend though, and they were obviously made by the same person, so I could probably trust her to keep her safe?
"My name is Maud," I said "I'm here as a representative of the GGDS to-"
"I know wh-who y-you are..." the girl said "Sh-she t-talked about you all l-last night..."
"I... see." I said, more points towards her being trustworthy, then "So what's your name?"
"...Cornflower..." she said quietly, lowering the gun slightly "W-what happened?"
"We were investigating the fold in the woods near here, and we went inside." I said softly "Someone from Shining Void City shot her, and I brought her here to see if I could fix her. She's loosing a lot of fluid..."
"I-I n-need to f-fix her..." Cornflower said "I know h-how, b-but I don't t-trust you t-to not c-call someone..."
"I promise I won't. I want her fixed as much as you." I said "I didn't even know there were any other humanoid artificial life forms, she's like- she's like family I didn't know I had."
Cornflower made a face, but looked at Starflower's twitching body sadly "...D-do you have a mem-jack?" she asked, her scared voice trembling.
"I... I do, I've never used it, but-" I said, feeling the port at the back of my neck
"She spent m-most of last night c-cutting this together for you." she said, and handed me a drive from her pocket that had been wired into a mem-jack adapter "S-she wanted t-to show you after sh-she told you ab-about her p-past."
I took the stick as Cornflower re-gripped the gun and turned it over in my hands "Let me guess, you want me to pop it in and hit play, and I'll be trapped in the memories for as long as it takes you to fix her?"
"Y-yeah..." she said "I n-need b-both hands to f-fix her..."
"How do I know I can trust you?" I asked "I could fix her myself if you'd put the gun down."
"D-divergent t-technologies." she said, shaking her head "Sh-she's g-got nothing you've s-seen before, it n-needs t-t-to be me."
I had never used my mem-jack because it was dangerous. It replaced all your sensations and systems with those of the person who'd done the recording, and you were locked out of your real body until the recording was done, leaving you open to any number of vulnerabilities. I looked at Cornflower, still training the cannon on my chest, then at Starflower, her chest leaking less fluid than before, something that was more than a little concerning. I swallowed hard, and reached around the back of my head, plugging the device in and feeling myself slip away as Cornflower dropped the gun and rushed to Starflower's side. My systems shut down one by one as I watched her carefully pop open Starflower's torso, and I could only hope I'd made the right call.
~~~
My vision was flooded with a bright light and a white screen, and Starflower's voice sounded out into the void, as bubbly and happy as ever.
"Howdy there pardner! Like I told you in the big wide world outside of our heads, I figured a mem-jack would be the best way for you to see what led up to all this hooey! Just remember about what I told ya about the city, and these good ol reminiscences will fill you in, see you in my memories, pardner!"
I struggled against the white void of nothing, but there were no inputs, no way to fast forward or control the memories she'd put together for me. It sounded like she'd planned on having a conversation with me explaining things, then she'd planned on me watching this to help me understand, but I'd never had that conversation with her, would the memories even make sense to me?
The void faded into a white room, and I realized I was lying on an upright table, and my body felt off, all long and lanky and wound up inside, and I realized I'd slipped into her first memory. Her overlay was simpler than mine, and instead of having hundreds of readouts or data points, it just had four; battery life, target's emotional state, core activity, and a bar along the bottom of her field of vision that simply read 'tips'. We wiggled, and pulled our arms up and stretched them out in front of us, taking a look at the gloved hands and the shiny metal 'skin'.
"Why boy howdy..." she whispered, and twitched.
A 'tip' popped up at the bottom of the screen saying. 'Please don't swear, this is a family establishment!'
"I can't frazzing swear anymore?" she asked, sounding shocked
"Ah, Starflower!" a voice said, and an older elf man walked into our field of view "No, no swearing, we added a filter to your voice box, just to make sure you're not teaching the kids any new words, I'm sure you understand."
"I... reckon I do." she said, looking around the room. It was full of tubes with lumps of flesh in them, and several half-built bodies that looked a lot like hers "Why's mah voice all hill billy-like too?"
"We found that giving our 'Flower Girl' suite of sectional defenders unique quirks and personalities made the public more attached to them." the elf man said, helping us off the table "Think of it as a longevity insurance, if the people like you, you won't need to be re-built, and this will make sure they like you!"
"Well I do like it when people think ah'ma a sure shooting success..." she said nervously "Where's my- uh, I guess... where's Marie?"
The elf shook his head "Due to issues in the past, we've had to keep sectional defenders separate from their templates. If they meet, the template can sometimes... act irrationally, causing damage to the labs or the sectional defenders themselves."
Sectional defenders? Templates? I was confused, but I was beginning to see the barest outline of the gods and heroes system we used, just with artificial life instead of chosen. But what was a template, and why would they cause problems if they met?
"I just hope she's doing alright..." Starflower said, rubbing her arms together nervously "I know it was gettin' real rough these days..."
A tip flashed, reading 'Don't talk about topics that are too sad, remember, you need to make the civilians feel at ease!'
"With all your proceeds and earnings going straight to her, she'll be out of debt in no time!" the elf man said happily "She'll be making a profit off you in less than a decade, now, if you..."
The scene faded into white and I hung in the void. Was that scene Starflower 'waking up'? She seemed so... put together, she was a little confused about her surroundings, but it was like she knew she would be waking up, before she was actually alive. If we could replicate that, we could stop the stigma of 'android becomes self aware, tries to destroy city in existential panic'. I'd have to ask her how they did that, maybe running her core in a simulation first?
~~~
The next scene faded in, we were walking into a small shack with four bed shaped charging bays stacked on top of each other, and a single, terminal style computer on the other wall. Cornflower was sitting on the second lowest 'bed', and another one of the same model as them was sitting at the terminal, her main dress color bright red, and her auburn hair spiked and 'fluffy', mostly tucked under a backwards ball cap. Cornflower stood up when we entered, and put out her hand to us.
"H-hello, I'm C-Cornf-flower, m-my quirk is I'm s-scared and sh-shy..." she said as we shook her hand
A tip popped up reading 'Make friends with your squad for better teamwork and effectiveness in combat!'
"Sounds like a mighty tricky one to cotton to!" Starflower said "I'm as chipper as a chipmunk and as country as peach pie, you can call me Starflower!"
The spiky haired red model turned around to face us, an easy grin on her face "Yo, I'm Bellfower! I'm the cool one, I'm loaded up with all the latest vibes from the main layer, and I got a chill attitude that lets me just coast on though, baby."
She gave us finger guns, and Starflower returned the gesture, making 'pew pew' noises as she did
"So just us?" she asked "I heard through a lil birdie that these kinda operations have four cowpokes in 'em, and unless my eyes are seein' things, I count four bunks too!"
"Well... Sh-she's already on p-patrol." Cornflower said "Sh-she wanted to f-find a good r-route before we started..."
"She's a little less than a chill customer, dig?" Bellflower said, shaking her head "I know she's got an audience, but the lady will never shine with all her little downers, for real."
"I don't need to shine." an angry voice with a deeper pitch said from behind us. Starflower turned to see yet another one of the same model as us standing in the doorway, but this one dressed in black and silver, with straight black 'hair' that went halfway down her back and a mild glower on her face.
"I'm Moonflower." she said "Our job is to keep people safe, make sure the citizens are happy, and keep people from wanting to leave. I can do that without being bubbly."
"Howdy!" Starflower said happily "I'm Starflower, You're a pretty gloomy lookin' doll, doncha think you'd get more fans and sales with a big ol smile?"
"My template was... not accustomed to being happy." Moonflower said flatly "And gloomy is in right now. It was easier to play it up instead of try and re-work the whole core."
"Golly gee, I hope I can get a smile on your face sooner than later, new friend!" Starflower said, and spun in a circle "I do declare we're all gonna be a family here for a while, I'd love ta get to know each and every one of my new pardners!"
"How long ya in for, chief?" Bellflower asked us "I got a fan-tabulous block of at least fifteen years, and I'm looking forward to every minute!"
"I got at least ten before I can be re-coded for civilian use, but... Aw heck, I might stay longer just to keep my template in the green!" Starflower said "How 'bout you gals?"
"I-I'm in f-for s-six years..." Cornflower said "I m-might s-stay longer, b-but I'd l-like them to give me a b-bravery arc if I d-do... the st-stuttering is an-annoying..."
"You can say that again..." Moonflower muttered "I'm here for..." her face flickered and her eyes flashed "...as long as I need to be. Hopefully a long, long time."
"Well, we're all gonna be family for a hot minute then, won't we?" Starflower said happily "Come on, let's go out and get this rodeo on the road!"
"I'm down, I'm tight with it!" Bellflower said, striking a pose with her "Let's roll up with our posse and show these fools why we're the illest cats on the streets, no doubt!"
Starflower saluted and the four of us walked out into what looked like a parking lot under an overpass, with giant buildings and strange railcars towering over us. Starflower watched as one of the railcars with people strapped to it followed a track through a building and out the other side, missing a few of the passengers on the way out. She looked away, uninterested, and did some kind of scan of the area, lines and glowing spots flashing over her field of vision.
A new popup showed up along the bottom of her screed, reading 'Be sure to do emotional distress scans frequently, emotions are fickle, and we never know when someone will need us!'
"Alright, so our area is the whole north eastern block of the city," Moonflower said, and a map popped up in our overlay, with about a fifth of Shining Void City flashing green "that includes the management offices, the play area, the main concessions hub, and most importantly, about a third of the city's residential cubbies. Now, I've determined that the ideal route is for us to..."
The scene faded to white again, and I hung in the void, going over my thoughts. It was absolutely some kind of copy of our chosen system, but mixed with... what, some kind of jail sentencing? That wasn't quite right, as several of the girls said they'd choose to stay if given the chance. Starflower had mentioned her template being in debt, could it be a job of some kind? But why would an artificial life form doing a job give money to someone else, did they own or fund them? If they had the money fund them, why did they need to work off the debts? I really wished I'd been able to have that conversation with Starflower before coming here...
~~~
The next scene started, and my vision was filled with a red haze, wobbling and shaking around as I bounced. As Starflower pulled her hand away from our lips, I saw the haze was a big red balloon she'd been filling up, and she tied it off with a thread and passed it to a small dwarven girl, her beard barely a wisp on her chin. The girl beamed up at her and clutched the balloon tightly.
"Thank you miss Starflower!" the child said, waving goodbye
"Noooo problem, cowgirl!" Starflower said, saluting and pinging the area with her 'emotional destress scan', showing a bright red area a few blocks away.
We ruffled the kid's hair, and lunged away, our legs extending long enough to step over the twisting passenger rails between us and the target. By the time we got there, Moonflower was already there, and was sitting on top of an unconscious young man, pressing his face into the ground. She looked up when she saw us, and waved lightly.
"This jacka-a-a-a-a-nnnnnapes was trying to break into a vendor," she said, her voice hanging and stretching as she accidentally tried to swear "I chased him down, the mobile cell is already on the way."
A tip popped up saying 'Please remind your team mates that attempting to swear could be harmful to your systems!"
We ignored it and stepped over next to Moonflower, taking a seat on the culprit with her.
"Aw shucks, Moonsie, y'all are gettin all the bad eggs, I wanna help out too, I gotta prove I'm worth keepin on, ya know!" Starflower said with a sigh
"Starflower, you're literally the star of our TV show." Moonflower said flatly "You're the face of the whole team. Dave loves having you on board. What were you doing before you were alerted to this crime?"
"Well, a little 'un was feeling down, so I was giving her a balloon to chipper her up, nothin special."
"That's the stuff that makes us popular, Starflower." she said, patting our shoulder "When that girl takes a poll on her favorite member, she'll remember you. Smiles and balloons are just as valuable as knocking out would-be thieves."
"Smiles and balloons... That's sure lucky then, those are my spe-cia-li-ties!" Starflower said, and we hugged Moonflower tightly
"Yeah, yeah, hey, look, I gotta get back to patrolling..." she said "Can you stay on this guy until the bot shows up?"
"Sure thing, pardner!" Starflower said, beaming as we saluted her
Moonflower rolled her eyes and got up, flicking our bow playfully as she walked away and the scene went white. I could see where Starflower got her sense of being a hero, I'd assumed it was programmed into her, but... this was showing the ability to learn and grow and develop. I could do that, but only because I was simulating thousands of potential thoughts at once and only actively 'reading' the ones that best matched with my programming and personality drives, she was... doing something else.
~~~
The next scene faded in, and we were in a set of some kind, behind a counter that came up to our waist. A man was crouching out of sight of the cameras holding a puppet up where we could see it, and Cornflower was on the other side of him, holding a basket of flowers.
"So ya see Cornflower, with people like me looking out for ya, there's no need to get yer braids in a twist! Well, any more than they already are..."
We paused for laughter
"...So next time ya wanna bring a gift to a friend, you can rest easy knowing me, and Moonflower, and Bellflower, and, golly, just about all the people on the streets will be out there looking out for ya!"
"Yeah, Cornflower!" the puppet said, waving its arms "If I see you in trouble, I'll be sure to help, and if you're ever scared or sad, the other Flower Girls will come running!" it turned to the audience "And that's true for all you little ones out there! It's safe to go outside, we're here to protect you!"
Bellflower skated in from off-set and popped her skateboard up under her arm, leaning on it "Sure, Gruncher, 'we'. I don't know if you'd be able to throw down with a wet cat..."
She paused for laughter
"but yo, the rest of your peeps got you, Cornflower, and all y'all out there in TV Land, too, word! I just got that scary mother that bothered you locked up tight, no sweat, it wasn't even a thang!"
"Oh, th-thank you, f-friends..." Cornflower said, dipping her head "I f-feel much safer n-now! I'll b-be much more likely t-to bring m-my friends flowers from n-now on!"
We all smiled at the camera, and the music for the end of the show sounded out, the lights went up, and Starflower slumped slightly as the puppeteer for 'Gruncher' stood and walked off set without a second glance.
"Even in the danged TV show, I can't catch the gol-durned bad guy..." Starflower muttered, leaning on the counter
"Don't sweat it, babe, you're doing numbers!" Bellflower said with a grin "Your dolls are popping off, you got so much swag you're glowing, yo!"
"W-with your merch s-sales, y-you'll pay off y-your d-debt- or, uh, y-your t-template's debt, in h-half the projected t-time..." Cornflower agreed
"I suppose..." Starflower said "Hey, y'all seen Moonflower around? I wanna pick her brain-bits over some stuff."
"She's not d-due for another th-three hours, when we're shooting th-the scene with the evil FolDrone attack, I don't know w-where she is..." Cornflower said, shaking her head. Bellflower shrugged too, shaking her head
"Well... dag-nabbit, I wanted to talk her into letting me rustle up some rustlers tonight, reckon she's going a patrol?" Starflower said
"I don't think she's gonna be rolling through these streets, yo, it's out of her jurisdiction. The fuzz would slap her in chains for a dime if she popped a cap in some mother out this way, for real." Bellflower said confidently
"...Oh, uh, alrighty then!" Starflower said, her voice sounding slightly confused.
A tip popped up saying 'Remember, even if you don't get along with some of your team mates, don't let them know that, keep a happy face!"
Starflower waved goodbye and slipped out of the studio, using our stretchy legs to scan the area for our- her friend. After walking lankily through the streets at three stories tall, we saw her, perched on the edge of an observation deck of one of the turbines that moved the city around the void, leaning against a wall and staring at the whirring blades. The horseshoe shaped enclosure left one wall open to the void, and the view was beautiful and haunting... I could feel our systems perk up, and we quickly hopped over to her to ask her for that favor.