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Sol

Time did not exist.

There was no present moment, no remembered past, no potential future.

There was only stone.

She drifted in the aether of her monachopsis existence. Out of place. Out of ages. She was only in the present, a corporeal specter to her tomb of rock.

“Please, help me.”

The haunting cry was answered with bedrock silence. She opened her eyes, seeing her familiar neighbors. Her wardens of rock. She couldn’t remember if they were all present, or if there were newcomers. It all flowed as a single event. She scanned her system, at the very least knowing her own name, if only a partial fragment.

Name: Sol%$^^$

Sol. That must be my name.

Power: fifty-one percent

Quantum charge. My power is adequate.

She was comforted by the known. Even the consistency of her damaged systems was stability in and of itself. She thought back, trying to remember her previous life. Nothing she did could penetrate that mystery.

QC: one percent

Oh. My power is low.

A hazy white light began to fill her view.

Time did not exist.

She flowed from one moment to the next, a slave to the present. She checked her name, comforted by the knowledge of who she was, if only from a partial fragment.

Name: Sol^&*($

Sol. My name. This is good.

The rest of her systems were not as revealing.

“Is anyone there?”

Power: seventy percent

Ah, power is good.

She opened her blue eyes, seeing the stone of her prison. Nothing had changed. At least she didn’t think so. Existence was a constant present moment. She checked her systems.

Rac%$^&$#

What does that mean? Hopefully, it will reveal itself later.

Power: ten percent

She fiddled with her core systems, only to find more damage and corruption.

TW.Ilios.77.77

Pairing: broken

Memory: damaged

Creator: M#%#$%#$M%$^$^%^

ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR

I know my memory is damaged. It’s all so strange. What’s my purpose? Who is ‘M-M’? Why am I here? Why do I exist?

Her vision began to turn white, her mind losing grasp.

Time did not exist.

Sol realized she existed and scanned her systems, seeing them all in disarray.

Power: 91 quantum charge (QC)

Four Tachodine nacelle diode - internal cranium

Warning - Tachodine diode failures (3)

Nacelles are damaged. I am blessed to be alive.

Power: ninety percent

My power is good.

She opened her glowing eyes, seeing the prison of bedrock. She tried to move, feeling nothing below the neck. She had a body at one point, perhaps. It felt right to move and worse that she couldn’t.

“Is anyone there? Hello?”

Silence answered her.

Power: thirty percent

My power is dropping. What happens when it hits zero?

The theory began to test itself. Her vision faded to white.

Time did not exist.

Her opened, seeing the same stone. She cried out for no one to hear. She checked the same damaged systems. She made the same thoughts. She made the same movements; none.

What is happening? Am I powering off?

She began to see a white light, encompassing her vision.

Time did not exist.

She awoke for a brief time. Gazed upon her tomb. She spoke, her phantom cry heard only by rocks themselves. She checked her systems, seeing the frayed quantum code and broken nacelles. All but one.

Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Who is M-M?

White light filled her sight.

Time did not exist.

And then she awoke for a brief time, seeing her systems in disarray. She opened her eyes to see her stoney prison. Every moment flowed into one, the sensory deprivation and the damage to her systems prevented her from remembering. She was lost.

A dull echoey thump halted her world. Her mind sharpened for the first time in an age. The noise grounded her, stealing her away from the aether of semi-existence. She was aware.

Time existed.

What is that? Is someone there?

Another thump answered her, louder this time. The stones trembled. She felt the vibrations. She heard an ear-shattering thump, the rocks tumbled from their ancient posts, dust stirred the air.

“Hello! Please help!”

Another roaring blast silenced her, scattering her tomb with rocks and debris. She fell.

A magnificent feeling.

The sudden lurch blurred her vision, scattering her senses as she clattered to the floor, free from her tor pedestal. These were new feelings. All of it were signs of major change. For Sol, all of it was good.

Clouds of dust obscured her view, reflecting the light of her eyes back to her. A pattern of skittering tapping reverberated out in the sudden silence. The dust began to settle, with a black silhouette scurrying from her sight. She spoke out, fear wasn’t a consideration. The desire to be free was stronger than any concern for danger.

“Uh, hello! I am Sol. Can you help me?”

She listened, her senses tingling in anticipation of a response.

Power: four-four percent

Please hold out a while longer!

A sudden raspy chitter barked behind her. She felt no fear, no worry about the creature.

“Hello!” she greeted.

Another series of skittering rang out. She felt a hard hand turn her upright before retreating into the dark.

“Uh, do not be scared!”

Another series of chittering responses echoed in the cavern as the creature came into view. It sported soft grey fur, eight omni-jointed limbs, two large red eyes surrounded by six others, and a mouth filled with two small mandibles couched by two larger ones. It tilted its bulbous head.

It was a large sentient spider.

“Hello, I am Sol.”

The spider clicked and cooed at that, its eyes blinking in a wave. It skittered in close, and she felt herself float higher in the grips of the creature’s four extremities. They were hard and chitinous, but also felt long and dexterous; like hands.

It barked a quiet raspy chitter at her.

“I am unsure what you are saying. I am sorry. Can you help me?”

The spider’s eyes glanced away in thought. Before she could think, she was staring down at its abdomen as it carried her high above itself. It quickly scurried from the rocky prison.

She had no time to process, no ritual of departure, freedom happened in seconds. She left her prison behind. The spider strained and rasped as it carried her out of her bedrock tomb. The creature halted, gently placing her down on the ground with a grunt. She could see the smooth carved rock walls, see the two-wheeled cart made of green scrap metal with dowel rods and straps. And the blasted hole she arrived from.

Was it looking for me? How did it know I was there?

The spider tippy-toed into the cart, rifling for an object; a small remote. It pointed it towards the entrance, with a soft beeping resounding out. It then swept it over her and the device let out a whining ring, increasing in intensity the more direct he pointed at her.

A scanner of sorts...

The spider’s mandibles splayed, its eyes scrunched half-closed. It was smiling.

He tossed the device back into the cart with a clatter. The spider skittered close to her, grasping her tight as it hummed a tune. She began to spin, feeling a soft silky substance against her chassis. And then she could no longer see, feeling the thick substance enshrouding her.

I have been wrapped up. Oh dear.

She stopped spinning being placed down into the clattering cart. Two solid digits tore at the silk, opening two holes for her eyes. She stared into the spider’s face, seeing its splayed mandibles and scrunched red eyes.

It is protecting me. I must be valuable.

“Thank you.”

The spider turned her to face the front of the cart as it skittered to the dowels. It worked the straps, clicking itself in. It crab-walked to the side, spinning the cart around to face the bright blue corridor. With a grunt, it pulled, skittering from the mine vein. The smooth corridor had all of the signs of being carved out. The spider muttered a tune as it moved, the squeaky cart a background ambiance. This was all new and exciting.

I cannot process this. I am free.

Sol began to ponder what this meant for her. Maybe now she would get the answers she sought. Maybe now was the time she would discover who Sol was. Her eyes instantly adjusted to the new room, seeing it was round and smooth with a spiraling rampway. The spider met the rump with a rushing pull, hitting a good momentum to keep going up. She felt herself rock gently from the bump into the new incline.

She thought for a moment. It wasn’t just her eyesight that experienced new things. Her sense of motion, movement, balance, and touch was all being given new experiences. She also understood certain concepts possibly by instinct or her theonware’s base programming that no damage could override short of complete destruction. Violet splashed along the wall, glowing mushrooms the source. She spotted tiny eyes as they shuffled along their roots to stare at her.

What are those?

“Hello? What are those things?”

The spider emitted a raspy chittering reply.

Mm. I don’t understand. Right now, enjoy the sights. I was found.

She thought harder at that.

I was found! I am free!

She was elated, excited, and suddenly relaxed. She had no more worries. No more living in the strange non-existence of sensory deprivation.

No more living in madness. She felt more excitement riding in a simple cart than a being should have. The spider grunted as it pulled the cart upward, chittering a soft tune. It was a determined thing, ceaseless in its trek. Its skittering limbs grasped the rough stone ramp secure, moving with a steady purpose. The cart suddenly scooted forward with a clack and a rush, causing her to bob left to right. They reached the top mine shaft. The violet light splayed and scattered against the crystal and mineral veins, dazzling her visual sensory inputs. More glowing mushrooms scattered around the circular round mine shaft. More openings dotted the carved out cavern. He kept marching, passing through another corridor. With a sharp left turn, she was gazing off at the stone wall to her left, and black abyss oblivion to her left. A depthless ravine, with only the glowing mushrooms to light the path.

Power: four percent

I am unsure how long I have been down there. I suspect for an eternity. What happens when I power down? Will I forget? I… I don’t want to lose this… I can’t lose this! But… I cannot control my situation, so I will hope.

White light began to haze her vision. She felt herself fading away.

Please remember.

She began to dream as she always had when she powered down.

Time existed again.