Dead in the Crosshairby Bright KeysChaptersPrologueChapter 1: AwokenChapter 2: A Second ChancePrologueEQUESTRIA: 1,096 YEARS AFTER THE BANISHMENT OF NIGHTMARE MOON. Crosshair flew up to the roof of the building, disengaging his wings at the same time he activated his reflector panels, becoming perfectly invisible. He walked across the roof, stopping when he saw three figures keeping watch. "Three guards identified. Permission to terminate?" Crosshair asked. "No. This job should be quick enough. Stun them and mindjack them." A voice said from Crosshair's communicator. "Orders acknowledged." Crosshair replied, disappointment evident in his voice. He walked between two of the guards, and two pieces of metal with electricity arcing between them emerged from his front hooves. He deactivated his reflector panels, quickly reared up and zapped the two guards to the ground, then stunned the third before he could raise an alarm. When the last of the three guards fell to the floor, the zapper was replaced with another device which he touched to their heads. Using the device, he planted memories of a quiet night, and Crosshair's target dropping to the ground, as the other guards would see. With the programming in place, his hoof extended until it was equal to his body length. The tool was hollow, and he took a few pebbles from the roof and dropped them in. "Ammunition accepted." He said with a jagged smile. "Moving to the position to await target." Soon, a crowd filed out of the building across the street, a well-dressed stallion leading the conversation. Crosshair's lens-eye telescoped outward, focusing his vision on the stallion. "Target acquired. Awaiting authorization to terminate." He said. "Permission granted. You may take the shot at your leisure." The voice replied. "With pleasure." Crosshair said, his smile growing wider as the crowd parted around his target just long enough for him to activate his rifle, sending the small group of pebbles through the targets neck, where his airway swiftly filled with blood. He fell to the ground after a few moments, and Crosshair flew down, activating his infiltration mode. The nanobots that made up the majority of his mane loosened, his lens eye shifted and retracted until it appeared normal, and his joints were concealed. He made his way to the freshly deceased stallion, and a large spike emerged from his hoof. To ensure they weren't interrupted, he released a dome of nanobots, set to strip the flesh of any organic entity that came in contact with it. Grim smile still on his face, he drove the spike into the side of the stallion's head, and Crosshair was taken into his mind. "You have something very valuable that my master’s employers want." Crosshair said, his voice echoing across the field of white. "Wh-who are you?!" The stallion shouted, his voice riddled with fear. "I am your killer." Crosshair replied. "Give me the information." "No." The stallion defied. "Then I shall take it!" Crosshair said, and the stallion fell to the ground, hooves on the side of his head as he was stricken with a dizzying headache. It subsided after a few minutes, and Crosshair spoke again "Enjoy the afterlife. It's a luxury some of us don't have." He then left the stallion's brain, and shot out of the dome, recalling the nanoswarm. The guards who had gathered by the dome opened fire, three bullets striking the fleeing robot. "Requesting permission to reroute power from pain center to motors!" He shouted. "Denied. Instead, route it to repairs." The voice said. Crosshair complied, rounded a corner into an alleyway, and activated his reflector panels. The dents made by the bullets worked themselves out as the nanobots went to work. The guards shone their lights through the alley, and quickly gave up their search after expressing their confusion. "Requesting pickup route." Crosshair whispered. "The route has been sent to your computer." The voice replied. "Received. On my way to pickup location." As he made his way through the alleyway, the sky filled with pegasi, and it began to rain. Crosshair quickened his pace only slightly, and within a couple of minutes a grey van came into view. "I have arrived at the pickup coordinates." Crosshair said, and a few moments later the van opened the back. "CR55, get in." A stallion said, poking his head out the doors and waving Crosshair in. The door shut soundly behind Crosshair. "Congratulations. The mission went off without a hitch." The stallion said as the van began to move. "I have a ninety-two percent success rate." Crosshair replied. "I hardly ever fail." "Is that arrogance I detect in your voice CR55?" The stallion asked sarcastically. "It shall be removed in my next update. Along with the absurd amount of smiling that occurred during the mission." Crosshair said. "It's good to take pride in your work." The stallion said. "If I take time with my shots to enjoy them, my efficiency will suffer." Crosshair said. "Wrap up your conversation back there. We're almost there and the boss wants to speak to CR55." The driver spoke up. "I wonder why." The stallion inquired, curiosity ringing in his voice. "You and I may never know." The driver replied as he brought the van to a stop. "Last stop." The stallion said with a smile as he opened the door. Crosshair exited the van and entered an abandoned mine that appeared ready to collapse at any given moment. The three navigated a maze of tunnels, eventually arriving at a scanner. The driver stood in front of it, and a blue light swept up and down. "Getaway, recognized." The scanner said. The stallion followed the example of the driver. "Navigator, recognized." The scanner announced, it’s mechanical voice echoing off the cavern walls. Crosshair walked forward and stood in front of the scanner, awaiting recognition "CR55, report to the boss at your earliest convenience." The scanner directed. "Sounds important." The driver said as the wall slid down and the three entered the secret cave. "Indeed. I shall make my way to him immediately." Crosshair told him, splitting off the group and making his way to a door. He placed a hoof on a panel and said "CR55 to see the boss." "Enter." A voice granted, and the door opened. Crosshair strode into the room, before stopping and awaiting his boss’ words. The other pony sat there, leaning in his chair, radiating power. Crosshair stood silent, staring at the boss. The boss nodded, before sighing as if he was trying to get rid of an annoyance off of his daily schedule "Crosshair, your performance has been commendable, but we have a new contract." he stated abruptly, filling the empty room with his voice "I shall move out after my debrief." Crosshair explained, standing still, his voice monotonous, his eyes never leaving the boss’ own "No need for that." The boss rebuffed. "Why?" Crosshair questioned, his voice showing the barest hints of confusion. The boss shook his head, gazing at the robot. "The target is you." The boss sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Remove power from nanobots, motors and pain center and put it in excess." he ordered "In a life or death situation I am allowed to refuse commands." Crosshair reminded. "Override alpha 001." The boss added. Crosshair followed the orders immediately against his will, his power drained throughout his systems. His joints locked up, as he felt his armor weaken, and his surface sensors losing feeling, a general feeling of numbness spreading across his body. The boss leaned forward, sliding a drawer open, in his desk and taking a gun out, pointing it directly at the robot before him "Goodbye Crosshair, it's been fun." he bid, three echoing bangs later Crosshair's diagnostic systems flashed, loud warning beeps, warned him of fatal damage rang within his head, and on a fourth his vision went black. Chapter 1: AwokenEQUESTRIA: ???? The sound of rotating gears were the first sounds to register in Crosshair’s auditory sensors. His systems were restarting from an extended period of idleness. His ocular lenses were not back online though, but he could tell from the sounds another being was in the room. His heat sensors were thankfully online and he could tell that the specimen was within the space surrounding Crosshair. He could sense the being was coming close to him, before moving away again. He locked his sensors on the subject, to understand what the figure was mumbling. Crosshair became aware that the figure was clearly a child, but he did not understand why a child would be discussing with oneself of such technology. The child came closer, the muffled words becoming clearer. “But I already fixed that, why isn’t it up yet? Maybe the ocular wire behind the lens has been frayed? No, no. I am sure I already replaced it” there was a short groan, before he sensed the child moving away from him, along with heavy shuffling. Crosshair attempted to move, just to be met with an extremely loud metallic grinding and a jolt of pain. At least my pain center is online. Crosshair thought sarcastically. The shuffling became a loud thudding as he sensed the child rushing back to him. “Oh great! What did I mess up now?” the child shouted at himself, Crosshair felt the child brushing off his head and leg. Before he could sense the child moving towards his head. After a few sounds of tightening bolts and with a spark or two, his ocular sensors came online. The color register was clearly off, and he could tell his right lens had a massive crack in it, but at least he could finally see his surroundings. It was a small tool shop, and judging by the many marionettes hanging on the walls, he could tell it was a wood carver’s shop. Nothing I can interface with in sight. With only hearing, touch, and auditory sensors online, I’m going to have to wait for this child to fix something useful. Crosshair thought. The child was a pony, thin and tall. He seemed to be a middle aged adolescent. He was deep blue with white hair that fell over one of his eyes, that happened to be a shade of icy blue. But from how he kept switching from blue to green to red, Crosshair wasn’t sure if that was his actual coloring or if his sensors were just trying to realign correctly. Crosshair sent power to the voice box, hoping it was in decent enough condition to get a somewhat intelligible message across. All that came from his throat was a roaring wave of static. The child covered his ears immediately and started looking for something, when Crosshair finally let his voice box cut out. “Boy, you’re having a bad day. Luckily you’re better than I found you. You weren’t much more than a head! Although, I’m worried that I won’t fix you right. So far, I’ve just been doing what my gut’s been telling me. Here, let me fix your voice box.” he moved his hoof over, coming across a simple screwdriver, opening a panel on the side of Crosshair’s neck, before fiddling with the wires and twisting certain ones together. Crosshair felt a spark rush through him “Why… me?” Crosshair asked, his vocal synthesizers far below the quality they once were. “Why… fix… me?” The kid fell out of his seat, with a fatal screech, after a moment, he pulled himself back up, leveling his gaze with the robot. One of his eyes twitching, while he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. “Oh my goodness! You’re online? How long have you been online?” he gasped, looking horrified. “Irrelevant.” Crosshair snapped, finally bypassing power from non-functioning systems to the ones that were. “What year is it?” the kid narrowed his eyes at the robot for a moment, before shrugging “I don’t know robot, you don’t answer my questions, I won’t with yours.” he stated firmly, staring into Crosshair’s one cracked lense with frustration. If Crosshair could, he would’ve given this child a glare that would’ve inspired fear in the hearts of even the bravest of guards. “You brought my auditory sensors online and then you left. I tried to move, causing a loud noise to emanate from my leg. What year is it?” He growled. The kid seemed a little unhinged about his resolve, but nodded slowly “1217, sir” he mumbled, eyeing a sledgehammer on his table. “Two hundred years...” Crosshair spoke in a curious manner, also eyeing the sledgehammer. “I possessed a system known as the nanoswarm. Did you see or have come in contact with a silver dust?” The kid, after realizing Crosshair was eyeing the sledgehammer too, decided to move the sledgehammer closer to himself, but farther from the robot in question. “Uh, yeah. I kept it in a jar, because I couldn’t tell what they were. Wow nanobots!” he whispered in wonder looking at nothing in particular. “Relinquish the hammer. My systems are currently reeling from two facts: My master betrayed me, and my master is deceased.” Crosshair retold, hoping to ease the tension that had built up. The kid kept his hold on the hammer, narrowing his eyes “How do I know you won’t attack me? I have seen your systems, they are built for combat and there was enough wiring for enough weapons for a small army in there.” he questioned, eyeing the robot to detect a hint of a lie. “I am a CR55-HR assassin robot. I have no master, and no purpose, and as such have no reason to lie.” Crosshair rattled off. The kid blinked, before releasing the hammer and moving closer “Crss Hur” He muttered, before he smiled at the robot happily, grabbing the screwdriver next to himself “Cross Hair! Well, Crosshair. I’m going to get you back on your hooves, so to speak. I don’t know how to fix you right, but I’m going to try.” he grinned warmly, working on Crosshair’s knees. “My nanoswarm can assist with repairs. Even after I am functional, I require a master.” Crosshair reasoned. The kid stopped in his fixing, to look up at the robot hesitantly “I-uh, you haven’t even known me for that long. I don’t know if I could take such a position” “You know how to repair one of the most complex creations of my time.” Crosshair stated. The kid rubbed his neck in embarrassment, then started to nod “Alright, I’ll be your new master. My name is Frigid Gear.” the pony, Frigid Gear introduced. Smiling at the robot sitting on his workbench. "Thank you for repairing me Frigid Gear." Crosshair thanked, using his name as an estimation that he was indeed blue. At least that calibration was done. Frigid Gear nodded, heading to the back of his room and pulling out a jar of silver dust. “Here you go. I don’t know how they work though.” he worried. Setting the jar next to Crosshair. He looked at the jar, and sent a diagnostic signal to the nanoswarm. "Less than ten percent of the swarm is functional." Crosshair reported. "I can have the ten percent repair my internal workings, or the other ninety percent. Which do you choose?" “Uh, I really didn’t understand your techy babble just now” the pony admitted, picking back up the jar. “Which one sounds more beneficial to you?” he inquired, swirling the silver dust in the bottle. "If I command the ten percent of the functioning nanobots to repair the ninety percent, they'll be able to repair me at a quicker rate than if I tell the ten percent to repair me, but it'll take a while for them to be operable.” the kid shrugged “Alright, I still don’t get it, but if you think it will help. Do it.” he agreed, staring at the robot. "Ordering nanoswarm to self-repair." Crosshair reported, a small amount of the dust began to move on it's own. "I used to have so much more..." he muttered, staring as best he could without moving his head at the jar. The kid looked at the robot sympathetically, before picking up a wrench and started working alongside the nanobots after Crosshair got some to help fix himself up. “I wonder what else has changed in two hundred years.” Crosshair pondered quietly. The kid shrugged, tightening a bolt with as much strength as a child could have “Yeah, not much. You’re actually pretty advanced for technology nowadays.” he explained, moving onto a new bolt. “I would’ve expected technology such as mine to be child’s play, so to speak.” Crosshair replied. The child shook his head, before frowning at Crosshair’s knee and took a part off his desk to replace the other in the knee “Maybe for some of the secret organizations, but not for everyday folk.” he mentioned, moving Crosshair’s knee, it swinging smoothly. “I was a part of one of those secret organizations.” Crosshair informed. Frigid Gear’s smile dropped as he stared at Crosshair, Crosshair was detecting horror and concern, before the child wiped off the expression and smiled “Well, I’m your new master. So you won’t have to worry about them anymore.” he assured, picking a new section of the robot to work on. “I’m not worried, just wondering if ownership was passed down.” The kid shook his head “Nope, I found you in the middle of nowhere. You were in a broken down building, that had a No Trespassers sign. It looked like it was an organization, so on a dare I went in. You may have only known me for a matter of minutes, but I’ve known you for over two years now.” he mentioned, breaking a bolt on Crosshair’s front leg and quickly looked for a replacement. “That’s how long you’ve been repairing me?” Crosshair inquired. The kid smiled and nodded. “This woodsman’s shop, is it your parents?” Crosshair asked. The child froze, before nodding slowly “Uh, yeah actually. It’s my dad’s.” he muttered, keeping his eyes trained on his hooves. “Is there a reason you chose to repair me?” Crosshair asked. “Or did you need a hobby?” the kid rubbed his hooves together in clear nervousness “I first did it for a hobby, but-... I need your help.” he requested, lifting his eyes to meet the robot’s. “State your request.” Crosshair commanded. The kid almost hesitated, but his resolve became strong just enough “I want you to protect my father and I.” he ordered, looking at the robot dead in the eyes and hoping he would help. “I must obey your words, but can you give me the orders to kill? Do you have the capacity to have that blood on your hooves?” Crosshair asked. The child hunched in on himself, gazing at the robot with hesitance in his eyes.He must have remembered something, because he straightened up and whispered a very small “Yes.” gazing at the robot. “Not a quality you see very often, especially in children.” Crosshair replied. The child gazed at his hooves, before he nodded slowly in agreeance. “I’m-... I’m going to bed. It’s late. Run a sleep protocol or power down sequence if you don’t want to run all night, okay?” Frigid Gear suggested, his voice lackluster. He just seemed run down and weary. “Removing power from essential systems and moving to nanocore. Command: repair motors.” Crosshair reported, powering down his systems as Frigid Gear gave a single nod and left the shed. Chapter 2: A Second ChanceEQUESTRIA: 15th OF TWILIGHT FADES, 1215 Frigid Gear sat there. His father had been gone longer than usual, if he didn’t return by tonight he would have to go search for him or suffer extreme anxiety. He sighed, picking up his satchel and leaving through the door going off to find something to do, to wait for his father to return. He walked through tall grass and looked at the couple of other ponies that lived this far away from the city. Some would wave, but he hardly noticed from his constant worrying. He really wished he didn’t have this sort of problem, but so far it had been three years since it developed thanks to his mom-. He shook his head striding faster to distract himself, he was getting farther than usual, but he didn’t stop he didn’t want to think he needed something to take his mind off of things. He face planted, his muzzle being shoved into the dirt, he struggled to get up, but his front hooves ached as if they had hit something. He looked behind him, before a horrible shriek left his mouth “What even is that thing?!” he screamed, scrambling back in a rush and as far away as far as he could manage. All thoughts grinded to a halt as he stared at a mechanical head, one red eye and a cracked lensed eye staring at him. Its mouth filled with sharp, broken, or missing teeth. Frigid Gear felt sick, it was pure nightmare fuel. He tried to get to his feet, but his body wouldn’t respond, the thing was horrifying. After a moment he was able to stand, albeit his shaky legs were barely supporting him. He looked around finding it to be some sort of dump with a special logo he had never seen before with a simple sign reading, Private Property, No Trespassers. Frigid Gear swallowed tightly getting ready to leave when he passed the head he paused, he felt he must be going insane, but he didn’t want to leave the robotic head there. He shook his head “What am I thinking, that thing is scary, why would I-...” he turned to look at it, before stretching out a shaky hoof and picked it up, putting it into his satchel and kept going. He didn’t want to be caught here and be making two stupid decisions within the past ten minutes. He kept walking not recognizing his surroundings, but took notes on it so he could do it best to come back if he had to. He sighed in relief as he came into familiar territory, even waving to one of his neighbors. He took stock of his situation as he approached his house, he was absolutely crazy for all he knew the robot head could be a dangerous weapon he could have a secret agency hunt him down for. He laughed a tight laugh “Okay, now I know I’m stressing myself out. Really a secret agency, I’ve been watching too many movies.” he muttered to himself grabbing some blankets from his house. He was planning on sleeping outside that night and needed to prepare, it got quite cold at night in the summer. His satchel his his side hard reminding him of the head within. He paused, he had no space in his room, his room was too tiny for much other than a bed, chest, desk, and a bookshelf. His father tried his best to support the both of them and there was really only so much he could do. He looked out the window and spotted his father’s workshed. His father had recently been working with another pony in the village so they could help one another to make more in less time to sell in the city. So the little shed now stood abandoned. He slowly nodded, his mind made up at his decision. He opened the door and went straight for the shed. He opened the door and walked inside. It was actually kind of spacious, he hadn’t been in there for a couple years, his father’s creations hung from their strings of sat on the counter painted faces smiling at him. He shivered a little, he hadn’t grown over his fear of grinning dolls, but at least it was becoming better. He walked to the other side of the room, plopping his satchel onto the counter. He scooted a chair closer and sat down on it, looking at the satchel as if it had a snake within. He slowly pulled out the mechanical head, almost slicing his hoof on the sharp teeth. He then set it down and started a staring contest, not feeling comfortable with turning away from the metal. “Ugh, why did I even bring this?!” he groaned thudding his head onto the table. It jostled the head, causing it to roll almost off the edge. He panicked and grabbed it, holding it in his outstretched arms. He sighed in relief, when he stared at the mismatched eyes. He tilted his head thinking for a moment, before a simple question passed out of his mouth “I wonder if it still works?” he slowly set down the head and looked around for the spark plugs, when he found them he hooked them up and pulled them out and stared at the robotic head. He immediately felt threatened, but took a deep breath, putting down the spark plugs and turning the head to the side so it could see the insides. He knew a little, his father had dabbled in building small mechanical toys for young kids who were interested. He recognised the wires going to the eyes, mouth, and what he could assume was a type of brain. He hooked it up and got electricity running to the brain and sat back staring at it. He heard a couple of gears whirring and things grinding, when a small hollowed metallic voice stated a series of numbers, it’s voice fuzzed with a sort of static. Frigid Gear sighed, putting his hand on one of the spark plugs, about to unclip it when the quiet count of random numbers stopped and something intelligible came out. “CR55-HR, status all c-r-nt syst-m-: Dead.” Frigid Gear’s breathing stopped at the sound of the word ‘dead’, from the robot’s mouth. It sounded almost hopeless and just for a lack of a better word dead. Frigid Gear shook slightly, before unclipping the spark plugs and shoving them off the desk, the eye of the robot losing the few sparks of light in it. He sat there staring at the metal head, what was he supposed to do, it was just so-. He sighed, sitting the head up so the wires were hid. Even if he wanted to do something, what would he even do? He didn’t know anything about robotics, he wasn’t even sure if he could find enough metal to fix it, not mentioning his dad and him were scraping by as is. He thudded his head on the desk, he could always put it back, but his conscious wouldn’t let him. He sighed pulling his head up and stared at the never blinking gaze of the robot. “I’ll fix you up, but it may take a while. Sorry I can’t promise more than that.” he promised, placing his hoof on the robot’s head in a sort of hoof-shake without one of them having hooves. He scooted the chair back, taking one of the blankets he had brought and threw it over the robot. He didn’t want someone to steal it or if it was something important he didn’t want his father to get involved and blamed. He walked out the shed locking it and started heading back to the private property, hoping to find more parts of the robot. He was unsure of what he was going to do, this project seemed impossible, but he had already made up his mind and promised. He tilted his head up and continued on unwavered, never realizing he had stopped having unease about his father’s return after finding the broken robot. Author's Note This chapter was written by Vae, and proofread by me. I asked if she wanted to say anything, and this is what she told me to put in the notes: Thanks for reading this. I'm glad you guys enjoy this so much. We'll keep doing our best, thanks for the support!
PrologueEQUESTRIA: 1,096 YEARS AFTER THE BANISHMENT OF NIGHTMARE MOON. Crosshair flew up to the roof of the building, disengaging his wings at the same time he activated his reflector panels, becoming perfectly invisible. He walked across the roof, stopping when he saw three figures keeping watch. "Three guards identified. Permission to terminate?" Crosshair asked. "No. This job should be quick enough. Stun them and mindjack them." A voice said from Crosshair's communicator. "Orders acknowledged." Crosshair replied, disappointment evident in his voice. He walked between two of the guards, and two pieces of metal with electricity arcing between them emerged from his front hooves. He deactivated his reflector panels, quickly reared up and zapped the two guards to the ground, then stunned the third before he could raise an alarm. When the last of the three guards fell to the floor, the zapper was replaced with another device which he touched to their heads. Using the device, he planted memories of a quiet night, and Crosshair's target dropping to the ground, as the other guards would see. With the programming in place, his hoof extended until it was equal to his body length. The tool was hollow, and he took a few pebbles from the roof and dropped them in. "Ammunition accepted." He said with a jagged smile. "Moving to the position to await target." Soon, a crowd filed out of the building across the street, a well-dressed stallion leading the conversation. Crosshair's lens-eye telescoped outward, focusing his vision on the stallion. "Target acquired. Awaiting authorization to terminate." He said. "Permission granted. You may take the shot at your leisure." The voice replied. "With pleasure." Crosshair said, his smile growing wider as the crowd parted around his target just long enough for him to activate his rifle, sending the small group of pebbles through the targets neck, where his airway swiftly filled with blood. He fell to the ground after a few moments, and Crosshair flew down, activating his infiltration mode. The nanobots that made up the majority of his mane loosened, his lens eye shifted and retracted until it appeared normal, and his joints were concealed. He made his way to the freshly deceased stallion, and a large spike emerged from his hoof. To ensure they weren't interrupted, he released a dome of nanobots, set to strip the flesh of any organic entity that came in contact with it. Grim smile still on his face, he drove the spike into the side of the stallion's head, and Crosshair was taken into his mind. "You have something very valuable that my master’s employers want." Crosshair said, his voice echoing across the field of white. "Wh-who are you?!" The stallion shouted, his voice riddled with fear. "I am your killer." Crosshair replied. "Give me the information." "No." The stallion defied. "Then I shall take it!" Crosshair said, and the stallion fell to the ground, hooves on the side of his head as he was stricken with a dizzying headache. It subsided after a few minutes, and Crosshair spoke again "Enjoy the afterlife. It's a luxury some of us don't have." He then left the stallion's brain, and shot out of the dome, recalling the nanoswarm. The guards who had gathered by the dome opened fire, three bullets striking the fleeing robot. "Requesting permission to reroute power from pain center to motors!" He shouted. "Denied. Instead, route it to repairs." The voice said. Crosshair complied, rounded a corner into an alleyway, and activated his reflector panels. The dents made by the bullets worked themselves out as the nanobots went to work. The guards shone their lights through the alley, and quickly gave up their search after expressing their confusion. "Requesting pickup route." Crosshair whispered. "The route has been sent to your computer." The voice replied. "Received. On my way to pickup location." As he made his way through the alleyway, the sky filled with pegasi, and it began to rain. Crosshair quickened his pace only slightly, and within a couple of minutes a grey van came into view. "I have arrived at the pickup coordinates." Crosshair said, and a few moments later the van opened the back. "CR55, get in." A stallion said, poking his head out the doors and waving Crosshair in. The door shut soundly behind Crosshair. "Congratulations. The mission went off without a hitch." The stallion said as the van began to move. "I have a ninety-two percent success rate." Crosshair replied. "I hardly ever fail." "Is that arrogance I detect in your voice CR55?" The stallion asked sarcastically. "It shall be removed in my next update. Along with the absurd amount of smiling that occurred during the mission." Crosshair said. "It's good to take pride in your work." The stallion said. "If I take time with my shots to enjoy them, my efficiency will suffer." Crosshair said. "Wrap up your conversation back there. We're almost there and the boss wants to speak to CR55." The driver spoke up. "I wonder why." The stallion inquired, curiosity ringing in his voice. "You and I may never know." The driver replied as he brought the van to a stop. "Last stop." The stallion said with a smile as he opened the door. Crosshair exited the van and entered an abandoned mine that appeared ready to collapse at any given moment. The three navigated a maze of tunnels, eventually arriving at a scanner. The driver stood in front of it, and a blue light swept up and down. "Getaway, recognized." The scanner said. The stallion followed the example of the driver. "Navigator, recognized." The scanner announced, it’s mechanical voice echoing off the cavern walls. Crosshair walked forward and stood in front of the scanner, awaiting recognition "CR55, report to the boss at your earliest convenience." The scanner directed. "Sounds important." The driver said as the wall slid down and the three entered the secret cave. "Indeed. I shall make my way to him immediately." Crosshair told him, splitting off the group and making his way to a door. He placed a hoof on a panel and said "CR55 to see the boss." "Enter." A voice granted, and the door opened. Crosshair strode into the room, before stopping and awaiting his boss’ words. The other pony sat there, leaning in his chair, radiating power. Crosshair stood silent, staring at the boss. The boss nodded, before sighing as if he was trying to get rid of an annoyance off of his daily schedule "Crosshair, your performance has been commendable, but we have a new contract." he stated abruptly, filling the empty room with his voice "I shall move out after my debrief." Crosshair explained, standing still, his voice monotonous, his eyes never leaving the boss’ own "No need for that." The boss rebuffed. "Why?" Crosshair questioned, his voice showing the barest hints of confusion. The boss shook his head, gazing at the robot. "The target is you." The boss sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Remove power from nanobots, motors and pain center and put it in excess." he ordered "In a life or death situation I am allowed to refuse commands." Crosshair reminded. "Override alpha 001." The boss added. Crosshair followed the orders immediately against his will, his power drained throughout his systems. His joints locked up, as he felt his armor weaken, and his surface sensors losing feeling, a general feeling of numbness spreading across his body. The boss leaned forward, sliding a drawer open, in his desk and taking a gun out, pointing it directly at the robot before him "Goodbye Crosshair, it's been fun." he bid, three echoing bangs later Crosshair's diagnostic systems flashed, loud warning beeps, warned him of fatal damage rang within his head, and on a fourth his vision went black.
Chapter 1: AwokenEQUESTRIA: ???? The sound of rotating gears were the first sounds to register in Crosshair’s auditory sensors. His systems were restarting from an extended period of idleness. His ocular lenses were not back online though, but he could tell from the sounds another being was in the room. His heat sensors were thankfully online and he could tell that the specimen was within the space surrounding Crosshair. He could sense the being was coming close to him, before moving away again. He locked his sensors on the subject, to understand what the figure was mumbling. Crosshair became aware that the figure was clearly a child, but he did not understand why a child would be discussing with oneself of such technology. The child came closer, the muffled words becoming clearer. “But I already fixed that, why isn’t it up yet? Maybe the ocular wire behind the lens has been frayed? No, no. I am sure I already replaced it” there was a short groan, before he sensed the child moving away from him, along with heavy shuffling. Crosshair attempted to move, just to be met with an extremely loud metallic grinding and a jolt of pain. At least my pain center is online. Crosshair thought sarcastically. The shuffling became a loud thudding as he sensed the child rushing back to him. “Oh great! What did I mess up now?” the child shouted at himself, Crosshair felt the child brushing off his head and leg. Before he could sense the child moving towards his head. After a few sounds of tightening bolts and with a spark or two, his ocular sensors came online. The color register was clearly off, and he could tell his right lens had a massive crack in it, but at least he could finally see his surroundings. It was a small tool shop, and judging by the many marionettes hanging on the walls, he could tell it was a wood carver’s shop. Nothing I can interface with in sight. With only hearing, touch, and auditory sensors online, I’m going to have to wait for this child to fix something useful. Crosshair thought. The child was a pony, thin and tall. He seemed to be a middle aged adolescent. He was deep blue with white hair that fell over one of his eyes, that happened to be a shade of icy blue. But from how he kept switching from blue to green to red, Crosshair wasn’t sure if that was his actual coloring or if his sensors were just trying to realign correctly. Crosshair sent power to the voice box, hoping it was in decent enough condition to get a somewhat intelligible message across. All that came from his throat was a roaring wave of static. The child covered his ears immediately and started looking for something, when Crosshair finally let his voice box cut out. “Boy, you’re having a bad day. Luckily you’re better than I found you. You weren’t much more than a head! Although, I’m worried that I won’t fix you right. So far, I’ve just been doing what my gut’s been telling me. Here, let me fix your voice box.” he moved his hoof over, coming across a simple screwdriver, opening a panel on the side of Crosshair’s neck, before fiddling with the wires and twisting certain ones together. Crosshair felt a spark rush through him “Why… me?” Crosshair asked, his vocal synthesizers far below the quality they once were. “Why… fix… me?” The kid fell out of his seat, with a fatal screech, after a moment, he pulled himself back up, leveling his gaze with the robot. One of his eyes twitching, while he looked like he was going to have a heart attack. “Oh my goodness! You’re online? How long have you been online?” he gasped, looking horrified. “Irrelevant.” Crosshair snapped, finally bypassing power from non-functioning systems to the ones that were. “What year is it?” the kid narrowed his eyes at the robot for a moment, before shrugging “I don’t know robot, you don’t answer my questions, I won’t with yours.” he stated firmly, staring into Crosshair’s one cracked lense with frustration. If Crosshair could, he would’ve given this child a glare that would’ve inspired fear in the hearts of even the bravest of guards. “You brought my auditory sensors online and then you left. I tried to move, causing a loud noise to emanate from my leg. What year is it?” He growled. The kid seemed a little unhinged about his resolve, but nodded slowly “1217, sir” he mumbled, eyeing a sledgehammer on his table. “Two hundred years...” Crosshair spoke in a curious manner, also eyeing the sledgehammer. “I possessed a system known as the nanoswarm. Did you see or have come in contact with a silver dust?” The kid, after realizing Crosshair was eyeing the sledgehammer too, decided to move the sledgehammer closer to himself, but farther from the robot in question. “Uh, yeah. I kept it in a jar, because I couldn’t tell what they were. Wow nanobots!” he whispered in wonder looking at nothing in particular. “Relinquish the hammer. My systems are currently reeling from two facts: My master betrayed me, and my master is deceased.” Crosshair retold, hoping to ease the tension that had built up. The kid kept his hold on the hammer, narrowing his eyes “How do I know you won’t attack me? I have seen your systems, they are built for combat and there was enough wiring for enough weapons for a small army in there.” he questioned, eyeing the robot to detect a hint of a lie. “I am a CR55-HR assassin robot. I have no master, and no purpose, and as such have no reason to lie.” Crosshair rattled off. The kid blinked, before releasing the hammer and moving closer “Crss Hur” He muttered, before he smiled at the robot happily, grabbing the screwdriver next to himself “Cross Hair! Well, Crosshair. I’m going to get you back on your hooves, so to speak. I don’t know how to fix you right, but I’m going to try.” he grinned warmly, working on Crosshair’s knees. “My nanoswarm can assist with repairs. Even after I am functional, I require a master.” Crosshair reasoned. The kid stopped in his fixing, to look up at the robot hesitantly “I-uh, you haven’t even known me for that long. I don’t know if I could take such a position” “You know how to repair one of the most complex creations of my time.” Crosshair stated. The kid rubbed his neck in embarrassment, then started to nod “Alright, I’ll be your new master. My name is Frigid Gear.” the pony, Frigid Gear introduced. Smiling at the robot sitting on his workbench. "Thank you for repairing me Frigid Gear." Crosshair thanked, using his name as an estimation that he was indeed blue. At least that calibration was done. Frigid Gear nodded, heading to the back of his room and pulling out a jar of silver dust. “Here you go. I don’t know how they work though.” he worried. Setting the jar next to Crosshair. He looked at the jar, and sent a diagnostic signal to the nanoswarm. "Less than ten percent of the swarm is functional." Crosshair reported. "I can have the ten percent repair my internal workings, or the other ninety percent. Which do you choose?" “Uh, I really didn’t understand your techy babble just now” the pony admitted, picking back up the jar. “Which one sounds more beneficial to you?” he inquired, swirling the silver dust in the bottle. "If I command the ten percent of the functioning nanobots to repair the ninety percent, they'll be able to repair me at a quicker rate than if I tell the ten percent to repair me, but it'll take a while for them to be operable.” the kid shrugged “Alright, I still don’t get it, but if you think it will help. Do it.” he agreed, staring at the robot. "Ordering nanoswarm to self-repair." Crosshair reported, a small amount of the dust began to move on it's own. "I used to have so much more..." he muttered, staring as best he could without moving his head at the jar. The kid looked at the robot sympathetically, before picking up a wrench and started working alongside the nanobots after Crosshair got some to help fix himself up. “I wonder what else has changed in two hundred years.” Crosshair pondered quietly. The kid shrugged, tightening a bolt with as much strength as a child could have “Yeah, not much. You’re actually pretty advanced for technology nowadays.” he explained, moving onto a new bolt. “I would’ve expected technology such as mine to be child’s play, so to speak.” Crosshair replied. The child shook his head, before frowning at Crosshair’s knee and took a part off his desk to replace the other in the knee “Maybe for some of the secret organizations, but not for everyday folk.” he mentioned, moving Crosshair’s knee, it swinging smoothly. “I was a part of one of those secret organizations.” Crosshair informed. Frigid Gear’s smile dropped as he stared at Crosshair, Crosshair was detecting horror and concern, before the child wiped off the expression and smiled “Well, I’m your new master. So you won’t have to worry about them anymore.” he assured, picking a new section of the robot to work on. “I’m not worried, just wondering if ownership was passed down.” The kid shook his head “Nope, I found you in the middle of nowhere. You were in a broken down building, that had a No Trespassers sign. It looked like it was an organization, so on a dare I went in. You may have only known me for a matter of minutes, but I’ve known you for over two years now.” he mentioned, breaking a bolt on Crosshair’s front leg and quickly looked for a replacement. “That’s how long you’ve been repairing me?” Crosshair inquired. The kid smiled and nodded. “This woodsman’s shop, is it your parents?” Crosshair asked. The child froze, before nodding slowly “Uh, yeah actually. It’s my dad’s.” he muttered, keeping his eyes trained on his hooves. “Is there a reason you chose to repair me?” Crosshair asked. “Or did you need a hobby?” the kid rubbed his hooves together in clear nervousness “I first did it for a hobby, but-... I need your help.” he requested, lifting his eyes to meet the robot’s. “State your request.” Crosshair commanded. The kid almost hesitated, but his resolve became strong just enough “I want you to protect my father and I.” he ordered, looking at the robot dead in the eyes and hoping he would help. “I must obey your words, but can you give me the orders to kill? Do you have the capacity to have that blood on your hooves?” Crosshair asked. The child hunched in on himself, gazing at the robot with hesitance in his eyes.He must have remembered something, because he straightened up and whispered a very small “Yes.” gazing at the robot. “Not a quality you see very often, especially in children.” Crosshair replied. The child gazed at his hooves, before he nodded slowly in agreeance. “I’m-... I’m going to bed. It’s late. Run a sleep protocol or power down sequence if you don’t want to run all night, okay?” Frigid Gear suggested, his voice lackluster. He just seemed run down and weary. “Removing power from essential systems and moving to nanocore. Command: repair motors.” Crosshair reported, powering down his systems as Frigid Gear gave a single nod and left the shed.
Chapter 2: A Second ChanceEQUESTRIA: 15th OF TWILIGHT FADES, 1215 Frigid Gear sat there. His father had been gone longer than usual, if he didn’t return by tonight he would have to go search for him or suffer extreme anxiety. He sighed, picking up his satchel and leaving through the door going off to find something to do, to wait for his father to return. He walked through tall grass and looked at the couple of other ponies that lived this far away from the city. Some would wave, but he hardly noticed from his constant worrying. He really wished he didn’t have this sort of problem, but so far it had been three years since it developed thanks to his mom-. He shook his head striding faster to distract himself, he was getting farther than usual, but he didn’t stop he didn’t want to think he needed something to take his mind off of things. He face planted, his muzzle being shoved into the dirt, he struggled to get up, but his front hooves ached as if they had hit something. He looked behind him, before a horrible shriek left his mouth “What even is that thing?!” he screamed, scrambling back in a rush and as far away as far as he could manage. All thoughts grinded to a halt as he stared at a mechanical head, one red eye and a cracked lensed eye staring at him. Its mouth filled with sharp, broken, or missing teeth. Frigid Gear felt sick, it was pure nightmare fuel. He tried to get to his feet, but his body wouldn’t respond, the thing was horrifying. After a moment he was able to stand, albeit his shaky legs were barely supporting him. He looked around finding it to be some sort of dump with a special logo he had never seen before with a simple sign reading, Private Property, No Trespassers. Frigid Gear swallowed tightly getting ready to leave when he passed the head he paused, he felt he must be going insane, but he didn’t want to leave the robotic head there. He shook his head “What am I thinking, that thing is scary, why would I-...” he turned to look at it, before stretching out a shaky hoof and picked it up, putting it into his satchel and kept going. He didn’t want to be caught here and be making two stupid decisions within the past ten minutes. He kept walking not recognizing his surroundings, but took notes on it so he could do it best to come back if he had to. He sighed in relief as he came into familiar territory, even waving to one of his neighbors. He took stock of his situation as he approached his house, he was absolutely crazy for all he knew the robot head could be a dangerous weapon he could have a secret agency hunt him down for. He laughed a tight laugh “Okay, now I know I’m stressing myself out. Really a secret agency, I’ve been watching too many movies.” he muttered to himself grabbing some blankets from his house. He was planning on sleeping outside that night and needed to prepare, it got quite cold at night in the summer. His satchel his his side hard reminding him of the head within. He paused, he had no space in his room, his room was too tiny for much other than a bed, chest, desk, and a bookshelf. His father tried his best to support the both of them and there was really only so much he could do. He looked out the window and spotted his father’s workshed. His father had recently been working with another pony in the village so they could help one another to make more in less time to sell in the city. So the little shed now stood abandoned. He slowly nodded, his mind made up at his decision. He opened the door and went straight for the shed. He opened the door and walked inside. It was actually kind of spacious, he hadn’t been in there for a couple years, his father’s creations hung from their strings of sat on the counter painted faces smiling at him. He shivered a little, he hadn’t grown over his fear of grinning dolls, but at least it was becoming better. He walked to the other side of the room, plopping his satchel onto the counter. He scooted a chair closer and sat down on it, looking at the satchel as if it had a snake within. He slowly pulled out the mechanical head, almost slicing his hoof on the sharp teeth. He then set it down and started a staring contest, not feeling comfortable with turning away from the metal. “Ugh, why did I even bring this?!” he groaned thudding his head onto the table. It jostled the head, causing it to roll almost off the edge. He panicked and grabbed it, holding it in his outstretched arms. He sighed in relief, when he stared at the mismatched eyes. He tilted his head thinking for a moment, before a simple question passed out of his mouth “I wonder if it still works?” he slowly set down the head and looked around for the spark plugs, when he found them he hooked them up and pulled them out and stared at the robotic head. He immediately felt threatened, but took a deep breath, putting down the spark plugs and turning the head to the side so it could see the insides. He knew a little, his father had dabbled in building small mechanical toys for young kids who were interested. He recognised the wires going to the eyes, mouth, and what he could assume was a type of brain. He hooked it up and got electricity running to the brain and sat back staring at it. He heard a couple of gears whirring and things grinding, when a small hollowed metallic voice stated a series of numbers, it’s voice fuzzed with a sort of static. Frigid Gear sighed, putting his hand on one of the spark plugs, about to unclip it when the quiet count of random numbers stopped and something intelligible came out. “CR55-HR, status all c-r-nt syst-m-: Dead.” Frigid Gear’s breathing stopped at the sound of the word ‘dead’, from the robot’s mouth. It sounded almost hopeless and just for a lack of a better word dead. Frigid Gear shook slightly, before unclipping the spark plugs and shoving them off the desk, the eye of the robot losing the few sparks of light in it. He sat there staring at the metal head, what was he supposed to do, it was just so-. He sighed, sitting the head up so the wires were hid. Even if he wanted to do something, what would he even do? He didn’t know anything about robotics, he wasn’t even sure if he could find enough metal to fix it, not mentioning his dad and him were scraping by as is. He thudded his head on the desk, he could always put it back, but his conscious wouldn’t let him. He sighed pulling his head up and stared at the never blinking gaze of the robot. “I’ll fix you up, but it may take a while. Sorry I can’t promise more than that.” he promised, placing his hoof on the robot’s head in a sort of hoof-shake without one of them having hooves. He scooted the chair back, taking one of the blankets he had brought and threw it over the robot. He didn’t want someone to steal it or if it was something important he didn’t want his father to get involved and blamed. He walked out the shed locking it and started heading back to the private property, hoping to find more parts of the robot. He was unsure of what he was going to do, this project seemed impossible, but he had already made up his mind and promised. He tilted his head up and continued on unwavered, never realizing he had stopped having unease about his father’s return after finding the broken robot. Author's Note This chapter was written by Vae, and proofread by me. I asked if she wanted to say anything, and this is what she told me to put in the notes: Thanks for reading this. I'm glad you guys enjoy this so much. We'll keep doing our best, thanks for the support!
