Autonomy

The specialist is in the only house I’ve seen so far that isn’t wooden. She resides within a large metal complex. It has railings, bridges, and tons of sheet metal. The metal is preserved, not rusted. Lots of vegetation grew over it, however, so if it didn’t have that shiny coating the wood did, I’m sure it would be rusted through. The place has large windows, breezeways, and long hallways. The sunlight shines in, providing all the light we need. The door is open, and Shield swings it open to let us in. The metal plating in the interior isn’t the same as outside. It’s a mix of random metals, the large square pieces overlapping and forming a visually interesting interior to look at. The floor feels as smooth it looks. We don’t travel for long until we see someone.

“Ah, Claire, is Lucy in?” Shield asks the older woman. The lady smiles at her.

“Hello Sheila,” Claire gives away Shield’s real name, “Yes she is just down the hall.” The nice lady smiled at me and waved. She must have realized that I was new.

“Who’s this young fella?” She approaches me to get a better look, squinting through thin rimmed glasses.

“Hello, my name is Ben,” I told her my real name out of habit and because she didn’t use ‘Shield’ for Sheila. I shook her dainty hand. We continued on down and sure enough, the door was open with someone inside the room. We enter and the figure comes into view. It looks like a tall woman, and has her back to us. When she turns around, I see that she is made of metal. An android, perhaps? Her face has very human expressions, it is gold and cheery. The rest of her body is unclothed, and silver linings runs around her features, accentuating her curves. Her body has smooth, red metal covering it, and her tendons and inner workings are only visible in places that need the mobility, such as the crooks of her arms and the back of her knees. I’m embarrassed to admit that my eyes lingered on her mechanical breasts. In my defense, I was simply wondering why they are there. But as with the red metal, it could simply be stylistic, something the creator envisioned. Of course they aren’t functional like an organic woman’s would be, but it’s still really cute.

Her movements were fluid and she kept working while she looked up. She caught sight of me and I could swear I saw her blush. She emulates expression extremely well.

“Oh, I didn’t know you girls had company…” She sidestepped and took a lab coat off the hanger, slipping it on. It draped over her, covering her chest. I felt the blood rise to my face. I hope she didn’t do that because she caught me looking. She’s probably just modest around people she hasn’t met. Either that or she’s modest around boys. It’s actually really cute that she does that. I can already tell that the android’s personality is just as real as any of us. I’m assuming she’s some sort of artificial intelligence.

She plays off her action by slinging a medical instrument over her shoulders as well. It was obvious she covered up because of me, but now it isn’t as awkward.

“So what did you girls need?” She asks with a smile, the hint of embarrassment had faded.

“Could you please inspect Ben? We think he may be a Crusader with amnesia.” Tiana says, and I detect a hint of concern in her voice. Lucy’s eyes widen. She gestures me to get closer. I do so, putting my trust in this stranger. She loops the instrument off her neck. A deep blue light comes out of it, an aura surrounds the scanner. I can feel it sweep through me. It isn’t unpleasant, just unexpected. It returns a series of beeps and she looks at the display on it. Her brows furrow in concentration.

“Well it’s clear to see that you’re out of power. But there isn’t any indication that you had power either. No traces, I mean…” She pauses, and looks up, “That’s not to say you didn’t have power. It’s just that I’ve never seen someone run completely dry, if it’s true that you’re a Crusader.” She ponders the results.

“As for amnesia, do you remember what happened today?” She looked at me intently, I noticed her irises had very thin pathways, like circuit traces. I acknowledged her and said yes, I remember waking up today and meeting the girls.

“That is good. It rules out Anterograde amnesia… damage to the hippocampus. But for Retrograde, which I’m assuming it is, it could be any brain injury. Let me use The Grid to help, if that is alright with you,” She looks at me for permission. I nod simply, wondering what cool power she will summon.

She opens her hand and starts to summon Yellow. The mist comes from all directions, not at all how it only came from one or two pillars in the outskirts. It came from everywhere, and her metallic hand glowed. Amazing channels of Yellow grid appeared over her exterior, much more intricate than what I’ve seen. It weaved through her arm like circuitry, I could even see it moving towards her palm, flowing like waves. She places her palm to my forehead. It isn’t cool, like metal should be, nor is it hot. It feels like my head is being placed into still water, that is roughly the same temperature as the surface of my skin. As soon as the magic started, it dimmed away. I didn’t know how much the room glowed yellow until she shut off her power.

“No internal bleeding, which is good. If there was any physical damage, it has been healed. The hardest part is finding memories. That isn’t something that I can heal.” The android purses her lips. She looks like a scientist with her lab coat, but I wouldn’t mind seeing her in a nurse outfit. I mean what? My outward expression gives me away, although they have no idea what’s going on in my mind. I feel incredibly embarrassed, especially now that the silly idea has lodged itself into my brain, and my hormones ran away with it. It’s clear to me that I’m just a normal human boy. I may not know why I am in Synthesa, but I know for sure that I may never want to leave if all the girls are this cute.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. It’s completely possible that they will come back with time.” The android felt so human. I meant like emotionally felt. Don’t think of it in another way. Darn hormones. Now I’m thinking of it. If she didn’t cover up, I’m not so sure how well I would handle it. I clearly can’t suppress my thoughts.

“Well, I know my name is Ben, so it can’t be that bad, right?” My smile attempts to make light of a situation that is starting to weigh on my shoulders. Why can’t I remember anything? As soon as I ask that question, it flees my mind. For whatever reason, I’m ok with not remembering. I guess it’s alright, as long as I’m on their good side. Them thinking me a victim is better than a prisoner of war.

“Now that we know you’re in good health, we can address the power problem. There isn’t any hint of what power you use, so we don’t really know what to supply you. And obviously we can’t train you for just anything. We have to make sure you’re compatible to wield it…” She paused at my blank expression. I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Right. Amnesia. So we can channel powers. There are colours like Indigo,” her circuits alight and the deep blue flows to the gadget, “for evaluation, Yellow,” which flows to her other hand, “for healing, and many more. We will show you all of them when we figure out your abilities. Androids, like myself, are compatible with any power, as our creators designed us to be. So we are the ones to train the next generation of Crusaders and Guardians nowadays. Before technology allowed androids to tap into the communal power, you had to find a mentor that had your power. Some went through life and never discovered their potential. The scanner should be able to detect who already has power or has the ability to use power. It’s not impossible to still get power even though the scanner relayed otherwise, like I’ve said.” I’m now very interested in all the other types. I wonder how many powers and colours there are. I hope I’m able to use a really cool one. Heck, I just hope we figure out I’m able to use any power.

“Are there tests to find out? My power, that is,” I wonder aloud. She nods her head, elaborating further, “It’s a little outdated, but since the scanner doesn’t procure anything, it’s our best bet.”

The girls looked like they were ready to go do these tests. They seem like their focus is all on me. Don’t they have to report to somebody about the monster they fought, or about finding me? I don’t even know what their governmental system is like. It’s not bad attention, but I feel like I’m taking everyone’s time. It’s too hard to refuse them, or else I’d put myself in a bad place. Maybe I should just try to make friends and see where this whole ‘power’ thing goes, and see how I fit in to society. I still have a million questions, since I know very little about everything around me.