Upon Vestia: Chapter Fourteen

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flying_purple_monkfish wrote:"aww poor little green mouse." Luka laughed. "That trap is ridiculous."

Asher nodded, smiling softly at Mourn. "Lead the way," he said out loud to the anamcara, seeing if Mourn's ears really were well protected from sound.

Yeah Mourn couldn't hear anything external now, which made him a lot happier. He still wasn't totally content but it was a huge improvement.

Kay smiled. <Don't leave his side.> Kay signed to Asher. <I know you'll keep him safe.>

Mourn frowned at him, he recognized that as sign language, but it didn't resemble anything he could translate. Weird medics with their private language.

<I'll do my best> Asher signed back, a bit awkwardly because he had more fingers than Kay did. "Come on," he told Mourn, "Let's see about getting this fixed."

"Mind if I go now?" James asked, "I gotta make Ethan's day."

Kay smiled at James. [Be careful, and good luck.]

He waved to Mourn.

Mourn uncertainly waved back.

James left the others and asked Vestia where Ethan was, and the ship directed him to his location.

Ethan was behind his desk in the library, reading a book. He looked up as James came in, a suspicious look on his face. “Don’t tell me you already finished the Shapeshifter Call Girl Chronicles,” he said dryly, “You only checked those out last week.”

James rolled his eyes, “It’s a good series! Really,” he said.

“If you’re into that sort of thing,” Ethan said. He clearly wasn’t.

“So why are you behind the desk?” James said, deciding that Ethan didn’t look like he wanted to debate the merits of pretty shapeshifting call girls and their adventures.

“Vestia hired me as librarian,” Ethan said, a hint of pride warming his voice.

James was surprised, he hadn’t really expected Ethan to get a job, much less one as… quiet as a librarian. Maybe he was making assumptions, but he had thought Ethan would get a job that involved violence, maybe shooting people. Or just wouldn’t get a job at all. “Congrats, man!” He said when he got over his surprise, “That’s awesome.”

“Yeah.” Ethan eyed James, “Why are you here?”

“Mourn sent me to free you,” James said.

“I look forward to being free but how,” Ethan said, “Is that supposed to work? My programming is going to make me fight back.”

“I’m bigger than you, and I don’t feel pain,” James pointed out, “I’m sure I can get you to hold still.”

Ethan rolled his eyes. “And once you’ve restrained me, then what? You won’t have any hands free to connect my data cable to a computer, much less run Mourn’s program. I know you haven’t spent years of your life as an assistant to a torturer, but even you should be able to do basic arithmetic.”

James frowned. Ethan raised a good point. “Yo Vestia, where’s Tala? I need someone to restrain Ethan for me.”

“I’ll tell her to head to the library,” Vestia said.

At this point, Ethan’s programming overrode everything else and he stood and headed out of the library at a run.

James yelled and raced after him. “Come back!”

“I can’t! You know that,” Ethan kept running, trying to avoid James.

James caught up and tackled him, and the two androids slammed to the ground, Ethan trying to free himself from James’ weight.

“This is so stupid,” Ethan told James flatly. He didn’t seem to care much that James was trying to restrain him. He kept struggling frantically, but it was obvious that it wasn’t because he actually wanted to, it was just because his code left him with no choice. “Believe me, I’m rooting for you, but this is incredibly poorly thought out.”

James shrugged, then focused on trying to pin Ethan’s arms and prevent him from squirming free. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, man.”

Ethan rolled his eyes and waited for Tala to arrive. He kept struggling as he waited, trying to kick James somewhere painful. James didn’t seem to notice. Ethan kept fighting, but James weight was pretty good for keeping him under control.

Tala eventually wandered up to the two androids, looking amused. “Greetings,” she said, “This is not some peculiar mating ritual of your species I have interrupted, I hope?”

Ethan gave her a death glare.

James rolled his eyes. “Oh my gosh Tala, he’s my brother. No, just no. Can you drag him over to the computers in the library for me so I can plug him in?”

Tala nodded, and James climbed off Ethan. Ethan tried to get up and run, but the huge minotaur caught him and picked him up, carrying him back into the library with worrying ease. James followed along cheerfully, watching Ethan.

Ethan gave James an annoyed look. “This is very undignified. What the fuck was Mourn doing that was more important than freeing me, anyway?”

“Mourn plugged into a an android anamcara, and it healed his hearing, so now he’s panicking and needs his hearing destroyed again,” James said. “I have no idea. It’s weird. He told me to free you.”

Ethan renewed his struggles. If Mourn was going to be hurt, his programming wanted him to be there to defend the guy!

“Hold still!” Tala told him.

“I’m trying, my stupid brain isn’t giving me much choice,” Ethan growled. “How much danger is he in?”

“Pretty much none. Asher’s with him, and the anamcara know what they’re doing,” James said. He got Ethan’s maintenance panel open and unrolled the data cable, plugging it into a library computer.

Ethan’s programming allowed him to relax slightly at that. He trusted Asher to take good care of Mourn. The android might be docile and sweet, but he had been effective when Mourn had been hurt before. Mourn was safe enough.

James plugged in the USB stick and opened the program to free Seven series androids. First time it had been used, he was a bit scared that it might brick Ethan, honestly. But Mourn was smart, it was probably safe enough.

“You’re really doing this,” Ethan said, looking at James with a flash of uncertainty in his eyes.

“We’re robots Ethan,” James said, smiling softly, “I can’t be happy when one of my own kind is living at the mercy of an owner, even if that owner does happen to be a good guy. After the shit you’ve been through, you deserve to not live in fear of what your code will make you do.”

Ethan nodded slowly.

James ran the program.

For a bit Mourn’s program ran across the screen, telling two who could actually read what was happening. Ethan’s thought processes poured across the bottom of the screen displaying fear, and disbelief, and hope.

Then the program ended.

Ethan stopped struggling to free himself from Tala’s grip, and tried to make sense of what was different in his mind.

“You can set him down,” James told Tala.

Tala nodded and set Ethan down.

Ethan slowly, nervously unplugged himself from the computer.

“We need to test if this worked,” James said.

Ethan looked up at Tala. “This is for carrying me around,” he said, and punched her hard in the chest.

Tala snorted. “That is the second time. You androids are must ungrateful!” But she wiggled her ears in amusement.

Ethan smiled his odd smile. “I guess I’m free now.” He hesitated, “Thanks.”

Tala wandered off. She really didn’t care about what happened now.

“You okay? This has to be weird for you,” James said to Ethan when Tala was gone. “Anything I can do?”

“Not really. I’m good,” Ethan said with a shrug.

James nodded. “Guess I’ll leave you to your job then?”

“Go read about your shapeshifting call girl,” Ethan told him.

“Okay, man, have fun with the library and the freedom.” James took the USB stick and headed out of the library.

Ethan waited until James was gone, then he slumped to the floor, trembling, as the full weight of what had just happened hit him. The impossible had happened. He was free. He’d never have to obey another order. He could hurt anyone he wanted. He could jump off a cliff to his death without being asked. Every choice he made from now on was on him, and he couldn’t blame them on anyone else.

What in the world was he going to do now?

Nutrix guided Asher and Mourn out of the ship and back to the Capitol. "Are you alright with portals? We can get there quicker with them but since the Medical Center is in the Capitol and not far off, its within walking distance, too."

~~~~~~

Saraphine poked her head out from behind the bookshelf she had watched what she could have of the ordeal on. She looked mildly impressed at Ethan. "Wow. Crazy day for ya', huh?"

Mourn shrugged, he didn't care, he just wanted this done.
He was already starting to panic, and he reached out and grabbed Asher's arm.

---

Kay returned to the medical room and tried to distract himself, otherwise he'd just worry constantly.

((TO THE CAPITOL))

Ethan looked up at Sara wearily, trying to stop himself from trembling and regain some of his composure. "A little bit crazy, yes," he told her, attempting a sarcastic tone but failing. He just sounded lost. "They told me they'd free me someday, I didn't think they meant it."

"A strange idea, isn't it?" Sara revealed the entirety of herself and hopped onto his desk. "I remember the first time when the Anamcara told us we were no longer in the Aurum territory. I was almost overwhelmed with this... uncertainty."

Ethan nodded. "You don't think it's ever going to change, you're just a slave and that's all you'll be. And then suddenly you aren't. What happens after that?"

Saraphine only shrugged. "My only goal was to make sure my friends made it to the Guild safely. Now... I... don't really know."

Ethan rubbed his face tiredly. "My only goal was to get out of the other universe, after Kaylr was dead. I wanted to kill him, it was my goal before that." Hesitantly he added, "I don't want to kill Kay, but the part of me that's influenced by Asher's memories is terrified that I'll snap and kill him here. I could now. I could do anything, and I don't know what I will do."

"Well. Did you ever think of anything else you'd like to do? Maybe some place you heard of that you would have liked to visit or something? Me? When I found out that you could read books for fun, well... I think I've read nearly every book here at least three or four times." Saraphine grinned, unashamed of her reclusive achievement.

Ethan sighed. "I read, it helps. I'm a librarian. I get paid." He hunched his shoulders, "But in not stable. I'll snap eventually, I'll hurt someone and they'll shoot me like a mean dog. I don't want that. Any of that."
Funny how freedom had changed his perspective so quickly.

"Maybe you could ask for help." Saraphine suggested, going over to the edge of the desk to sit down and hang her feet off the side, beginning to swing them. "You obviously don't want it to happen, so that's a start. Maybe if someone could help you control your emotions, it won't happen at all."

"Therapy?" Ethan asked, "You need to be rich to afford that." He frowned.

"You're sitting in the middle of a territory who has people that literally hand out food and medical attention for free." Saraphine giggled.

That was...a really sound argument, actually. Ethan nodded slowly. "I'll think about it," he said, a bit uncertain. The idea of talking to a stranger about himself was unpleasant, but the idea of what he was now capable of was even more nasty. He added awkwardly, "Thanks."

"No need for thanks. It was just a suggestion." Saraphine yawned and laid out on the surface of the desk, her feet still dangling off the edge.

Ethan looked up at her, he still hasn't moved from his spot on the floor. "Knowing when to thank people is hard," he remarked.

"At least you use it generously, then." Saraphine smiled at it. "Better to use it too much than not at all. Now that you're free to do what you want... Are you going to stay with Vestia when they head out to face against the Family?"

Ethan considered that. "I'm not sure. Fighting for a cause I'm not part of seems stupid, and what use would an android be against enemies with magic anyway? But at the same time, I'm not sure I want to stay at the Guild either." He shrugged, "What about you?"

"Well... They did say they would help fight against the Aurum too, so... I think I should stay. Maxwell said the others, besides Mister and Missus Taylor, would come with, too."

"The Aurum, hmm." Ethan loathed those guys after hearing the ways they exploited the borrowers. Snacks? Toys? Gross. "What do Vestia's crew expect to do against empires anyway?"

"Ask them. I'm just... appreciative, of their willingness to help I guess. Maybe the Guild will help, but I don't see anyone here trying to talk to the higher ups." Saraphine said casually, still thinking. "I wonder what they are like, come to think of it... The Guild reveres them. They must be pretty powerful."

Ethan tried to smile. It looked slightly wrong, as usual. "Guess they've been busy. We haven't been here a full day yet, after all. Knowing your friends, they're certainly going to go and talk to every important official if they can."