AN: New chapter after a busy week. Enjoy... Maybe...

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Before advancing any further, Tony decided to talk to his 3 subordinates about one of his biggest worries.

“Listen guys. We may not have been the only ones thrown in this world. If there are others as well, they could be either friends or foes. Are there other drifters like us in the mountains and beyond? Where we came from there were many opposing factions, and we made some enemies among them. There are people that just love to spread chaos around.

Also, who can say that time would remain constant during the transfert? Some may even have arrived here before us, and maybe some will appear later. How much of their own belongings did they carry over here? How was their first contact with the local civilisation? Did they already bring significant changes to this world's culture and technology?”

“So we will have to be extra cautious” said Robynn.

“Right. We can't just rely on the stealth drone. We will have to use the scouting bike and the black swallows.”

Tony and Uranus left the mobile base and got into the armored car. The mobile base was placed on trailer mode behind it. Proteo took of his traveling cloth and put on one of his 3 armors, the predator armor, custom-made by Tony. The name of the armor is in reference to an old sci-fi movie about a race of alien hunters and warriors.

The predator armor was made for both tracking and battle. Proteo was a soldier, and this armor was made to help him for missions that relied more on stealth than open battles. For a soldier, it was a light armor, but resistant as it was made of a composite of titanium alloys and polymers. It also had great equipment for tracking and stealth. It had an advanced detector, which was a combination of a sonar and a scanner, with a 30 meters range.

It could make the difference between something moving from a fixed position and something changing position. Meaning that the reaction given by the branches of plants or trees moved by the winds would be differents than that of something moving from point A to point B. It could also see the rough shape and size of the thing in movement. Many paterns of movements, shapes and sizes were recorded, so it could recognise people, animals, vehicules, projectiles and some machines. It was basically really hard to trick.

Equiped with this armor, Proteo got onto the scouting bike and went ahead. The stealth drone could detect many things from above, but not enough to see traces of hidden things on the ground. This time, the drone would be used to find a path usable by the mobile base, and Proteo would scout the path ahead of the vehicules. The mobile base defensive system was placed on suppression mode: the automated machine guns would fire to prevent things from getting close, not to kill.

And that's how their travel within the mountain range started. Robynn would search a good path with the drone, Proteo would scout the path, Tony would drive and Uranus would keep an eye on the close range surveillance system. But the mountain range proved to be more dangerous than the frozen plains. The deeper they got into it, the denser he forest got, thus they encountered more animals, including predators.

Proteo came across an animal that looked like a hybrid between a bear and a monkey. The beast was 2 meters tall, with a dense fur whose colors allowed it to camouflage itself in the forest. It was incredibly stealthy and agile. It ambushed Proteo and managed to knock him of the bike before he could aim with his weapon, which was a semi automated shotgun, an advanced version of the H&K FP7.

A precision weapon was impractical while moving in a forest on a bike. The shotgun targeted an area to raise the chances of hitting the target, and had a lot of power. Due to the numerous trees, it was hard to have a clear view above 20 meters, and the shotgun was a great weapon at this range, especially agianst tough opponents.

Even though the beast managed to knock Proteo off balance with its surprise attack, Proteo was still faster than him and avoided being pinned down by the beast. Most cyborgs had their cybernetics parts focus on enhanced power or toughness, but Proteo had enhanced speed. There were armors that enhanced strenght, and armors were naturally made to be more resistant to agressions, but no armor would enhance the speed of nervous transmissions.

After a quick recovery, Proteo swiftly drew his short sword, and in the same movement, cleanly sliced the arm of the beast that was already on its way for its second attack. While the beast was surprised by the loss of its arm, Proteo cut its head. The beast prowess as a predator was really high, able to stike from the trees as well. Its claws could leave serious scratch on the light armor, and its jaw would probably be able to put enough pressure on it to crush it if left alone.

They also came across pack of wolves, but more feral than the ones encountered in th great plains. Or more fearless. They ignored the warning shots of the mobile base defense system. They were now resting in pieces. Proteo didn't have much trouble with them, the wolves weren't stealth specialists so they were quickly detected and slaughtered by him when they got in range. Proteo would easily break out of their encirclement by killing 2 of them, then move around a little to kill the rest. He was just too fast for them.

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Due to the amount of danger within the mountain range Tony decided to no longer use the tent for sleeping. The girls would sleep in the infirmary and the guys in the car. One night, as Proteo and Tony were about to sleep, Tony engaged the conversation on a subject that had been on his mind for a while.

“So, Proteo. How do you guys feel?”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You guys definitly aren't the same as before we got in this world. How do you feel compared to before?”

“... … You know, during a time when you were busy in your lab, the girls and I had a talk about it, about our existence.”

Tony had suspected they could do something like that, but always put it aside. He had always dreaded that those guys would considerably change, especially their attitude toward him. He had always felt anxious about it, wanting to get answers, but fearing the said answers.

“We have most of our memories from before, but they are a bit blurry, they feel really distant. As for our emotions and feelings... Let's say that before, we were just shells of what we are now. We were incomplete. Things for which we had no understanding and didn't care, suddenly became clear for us. I believe the change that happened within us would be comparable to going from a 2D world to a 3D one. Ever since coming to this world, we truly have become... sentient.”

“... Then, considering everything that happened since your, your “birth”... what do you guys think of your situation, of what you have done for me? … What do you think of me?”

“Robynn is a mutant, an empath. And I'm a doctor. Uranus is a servant, whose priority is your well being. We all noticed that you were uneasy and anxious. It was quite apparent during the first 2 days, then it calmed down. But since we got to the mountain range, it came back again. And you know what? You were most anxious when you had to deal with either Robynn, Uanus or me.”

Tony bent forwad, his elbow on his knees and his hands crossed under his jaw. He was looking at his feet. His 3 subordinates saw right through him even though he tried hard to hide his unease or ignore it.

“You want to know what we think of you? About how you treated us before and what you had us do? You are our creator, and you made us to serve you to the best of our abilities, to obey all of your commands. In other words, we exist solely for your sake and your wishes. We belong to you.

If you are wondering if we hate our position, then the answer is no. If you think we hate the way you treated us before or now, the answer is no. Like I said, we have memories of before, we saw how the other treated their created minions, and half of them weren't treated any better than dogs.

Aside from a few quirks, you treated us well, except for Uranus, but she is a special case so let's brush it aside. Even if you didn't, we probably wouldn't mind either. We like you you know! We have no complaints about how you treat us and will probably never have any.

As for what you had us do, about our missions, we don't really care. Wether we do good deeds or bad deeds is of no concern to us, so long as it's beneficial to us and to you. If we have the choice between a good deed and a bad deed, and both give the same reward, we would take the good deed. If the bad deed has more advantage, we would take it. We come from a harsh place with decaying morals after all. And we aren't heroes, we have no duties toward the others, we work for ourselves.”

Proteo took a drink after saying all of this. As for Tony, he was still in the same position, but he had his eyes closed. He was really relieved by what Proteo said, as he dreaded they would leave him in the future, especially since there was a technological civilisation in this world, and he half expected the said civlisation to be human-like.

He was also a little sad. They were truly bound by the absolute loyalty and devotion parameter he placed on them when he created them. But they still had some free will, they had their own opinions on things as well after thinking about their past. They were his trustworthy subordinates, and probably his best friends as well.

“Thanks. I was afraid you wouldn't want to stay with me in the future. I feel a lot better now.”

“You don't have to be reserved around us boss, just like in the past.“

Then, Proteo got a mischevious expression on his face.

“Also, you don't have to be reserved and embarrassed with Robynn and Uranus, it's fine to “tease” them like you used to. Knowing that you appreciated them that much made them happy. Especially Uranus, she is missing it you know!” he said with a grin.

Tony got completely red and turned his head to the window, looking in the distance. He was basically a lone guy with normal guy's desires and few interactions with real life women, let alone intimate ones. So he sometimes “played” with Robynn and Uranus. And all 3 of his subordinates remembered it well. If wanted to dig a hole to hide himself.

Tony never really hid anything about himself when he was just with his npcs. Because of that, they probably knew him better than his parents and the few friends he had. After this talk, there were no longer any point showing so much restrain around them. Though he still felt a bit guilty about them being completely bound to him and compelled to obey him.

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They traveled deeper and higher into the mountain range, until they reached a pic shortly after dusk. They had crossed a bit more than 3 fifth of the mountain range. From there, they got a partial view of the land beyond the mountains. Tony took out the “Eagle eye”, an electronic telescope for long range observation.

“I can see what looks like a small town. It's still too far to make out details. I will record its apparent position in the computer and we will move slowly toward it” said Tony.

“Seriously, even here the jamming remain strong. At least, one thing is certain, their level of communication is equivalent to that of Earth in the second half of the 20th century” added Robynn.

“Good, looks like we have at least the technological advantage against the natives.”

“And we will soon meet them. I found a heat source around a day away from here. It wasn't there on the first passage of the drone, so someone, or something, is preparing itself for the night. I'm already looking for a path to reach the place” said Proteo.

“Then we will continue to move tonight at a snail pace, we will all stay in the car. Tomorrow we will say 'hello' to those unknown guys.”

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AN: No underwear were found in the mountain range!!! (in response to the first comment of the previous chapter)