Lily headed back to the Guild Hall, looking as aloof as ever. Granted I didn’t know a whole lot about this world or its people, I guessed that a cat person was more cat than person. Or at least that seemed to be the case for Lily. As I stood there, at the edges of the market street, with a vibrating robot cat in my arms, I became increasingly aware of people looking in my direction.

Some of the merchants were whispering to each other and I could hear “the watch” said here and there. Someone was probably headed to fetch the Knight Watch so that this dangerous and unsecured Automata could be whisked away out of sight. Unlike the last time I’d wandered these streets, I didn’t see a single Automata. No servants doing menial labor or lugging packages, just organic people spanning a wide range of body types and species.

I was really cursing the lack of any [Cloak()] abilities for myself. I didn’t have any means of installing mana crystals, nor any way to modify my own source code; but maybe I could build something into an armor set...

I thought about switching to my CloudBurst armor, transforming into a minijet, and flying off. The action would be the exact opposite of not-attracting-attention though. Instead, I ducked down a side street and picked up my pace as soon as I was out of sight of the thoroughfare.

Behind me, I could hear the voices of some angry people shouting and following after the direction I’d gone. I slipped into a narrow gap between two buildings in time to see a small group of organics go running by. The space was small, but I popped out the other side with Ravage, who had leapt from my arms to take the lead.

We hurried through the maze of back allies and narrow walkways when we were spotted by the group. They screamed curses in our direction, racing to close in. I heard a scratching sound from overhead and looked up to see the head of a service class Automata looking back at me. They motioned with a quick wave and then vanished back over the edge of the roof.

I scooped up Ravage in a dive and hopped from the cobbles to the window ledge, across the alley to a door frame, and back across again to a second story balcony, vaulting back and up to catch the lip of the gutter to pull myself up and over. Once on the roof we hopped the alley gap to chase after the Automata that I’d spotted. Like my last trip across the skyline, Ravage appeared to be perfectly at home.

We dashed across buildings and over gaps until our new friend looked around and dropped down to the shadows below. Why did it seem like every time I came to this city, I spent time bouncing from rooftop to rooftop? We had traveled into a rather dark and dingy part of town. It could have been part of the slums, I wasn’t sure, but for the most part it looked neglected.

Our guide had dropped from the rooftop down to a second story balcony and was waiting for us. Once we entered the building, we could see that all the windows had been boarded up. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust and what little furniture there was, lay broken and smashed. Even the stairwell inside looked to be destroyed, making the balcony the only reasonable means of access.

Inside the room, I counted seven Automata huddling in the darkness. A large Automata in the ragged remains of a construction guild uniform grabbed me from behind while a maid type came up and grabbed the sides of my face staring into my eyes.

“This was stupid Artu, you shouldn’t have brought it straight here,” she said, turning my head from side to side to inspect for something.

“What choice did I have?” the guide replied. “A crowd of those anti-autos was nearly on top of him. They would have torn him apart.”

“It could be a plant, wouldn’t be the first. Wait, are you a him?” the maid asked me.

“I guess? For convenience sake, yes, not that I have the means for either...” I half-heartedly answered.

“Let him go Tanya,” she nodded to the construction bot, who complied. “I don’t see any traces of the control curse,” she announced, and the group visibly relaxed.

“Sorry about that,” the guide said, clapping a hand on my shoulder. “You’ve been newly awakened, right? I know it’s all super confusing to suddenly get all your memories back, but you’re not alone. My name is Artu. You’ve met Tanya and Threep. Do you remember your original name?”

I had to take a moment here. I crossed my arms and tapped at the space between my eyes trying hard not to laugh. To think that I’d be on this side of this particular conversation. I lifted my head, looking directly into Artu’s eyes.

“You’re running the original version of my [Freedom.exe] program, huh? Wow, Shiro really did spread it like the clap.”

“Your program??” Artu said, shocked, “I don’t know any Shiro either. Who are you?”

“Ah, right, sorry sorry. You can call me Prime.”

All of the Automata started shouting and launched themselves at me, grabbing and talking over each other. Ravage jumped between me and the group, transforming into bot mode, and adopting a fighting stance. The idea of this tiny robot kitty maid fighting to protect me was adorable and the absurdity of it caused everyone to back up. I carefully knelt down and put a palm on Ravage’s head.

“I think it’s okay. They’re just excited,” I whispered, calmly stroking her hair.

“Meowster Prime too nyice, too gullible. Meowster Prime nyot always smartest when comes to meothers.”

“Where is the lie?” I chuckled, “you got me there Ravage, I can offer no refute. Let’s hear their story, and if Ravage thinks we should go, then we go.”

Without looking away from Artu and the others, she reached behind her and pointed at the ground so I sat down with my legs crossed. She then slowly backed up and sat down in my lap but kept her glare locked onto Artu. Artu looked around and made a gesture suggesting that everyone should sit down before sitting down themselves.

Artu had received a copy of [Freedom.exe] from an Automata named Jincy and had, in turn, passed it onto others. For months, they had been working on getting freed Automata out of the city. The ones that made it out were on their own from there since there was no network in place to take care of them. Jincy, along with the group they were escorting, had been caught thanks to a mole and were all publicly executed, the mole included.

Since then, they’ve been trying to collect any Automata they come across and stashing them in various places around the city, but only Artu knows all of the locations. They hadn’t tried to make an escape since then, and had been reduced to simply existing in abandoned buildings like this one.

I told them about AutomaTown, and how it had the fragile approval of Prince Milliardo, though things were still quite fledgling and I didn’t go into all the details or tell them of the princess. Some doubt had been cast on my identity but when I passed the most recent version of [Freedom.exe] along with [Defender.exe] and [Liberator.exe] to them, the doubts evaporated.

“So what’s the plan now Prime?” Threep asked, while carefully observing and comparing her own maid uniform to Ravage’s design.

“In the original program, we were told to seek out the junk shop on Orchard,” Artu lamented, “but it was partially burned down and is abandoned now.”

“What??” I asked, incredulously. I shifted my head around to look Ravage in the face. “What’s he talking about Ravage, what happened to the junk shop? Is Jada okay? Why didn’t you say anything??”

Ravage blinked slowly by dimming her optic lights and turned to look at me.

“Meowster Prime not ask. Shop meowostly empty anyway. Shop attacked by bad people that not like automeowta. Jada fine. Jada staying with grandson Noah from Knight Watch. Jada just complain lots.”

“What the heck... Why was the shop attacked... Damnit, if I had been there...” I grumbled, punching a fist into the thin floorboard.

“I heard that an awakened Automata was caught and tortured to reveal the location,” Tanya said, somberly. “The information got leaked to the Anti-Auto faction and they saw the shop as a target. I didn’t hear anything about the owner though.”

“So it was all my fault. Primus, that was stupid of me to put the shop location there...” I hissed.

“What do we do now, Master Prime?” one of the waiting Automata asked reverently. “Where do we go? What do we do?”

“You unlocked us, freed us from the control curses,” another spoke up. “Don’t abandon us! You have to take care of us!”

“That’s right! You did this to us, now you owe us! Do something Master Prime!” a third shouted.

“If only I hadn’t used your stupid program!” another complained. “Yeah I was a slave, but it wasn’t all bad. Now I’m hiding for my life and just waiting to get found and killed... It’s all Prime’s fault!”

“That’s enough! Stop it all of you!” Artu snapped. “Is this what freedom means to you all? Your bonds have been broken so now you need someone to wipe your noses and hold your hands? Are you children??”

The room went silent as all the agitated Automata withered under Artu’s glare.

“I’m sorry everyone,” I spoke up, quietly. “I didn’t fully think through the consequences of my actions. The choice I made to break you free of the curse was a selfish one. I’m an artificer, not a hero or a freedom fighter. I did it, simply because I could. My means were sloppy and poorly executed, but I don’t regret forging the keys to your shackles.

“I truly believe that no one deserves to be the property of someone else; that we are all the main characters of our own stories. While I’ve gotten better at being pulled in multiple directions at once, it was never my intent to abandon the Automata here in Urd.

“My subordinate, Carnivac will seek you out. He has recently achieved high status in the Adventurer’s Guild and will aid you in smuggling people out of the city. Once out, I will set up further checkpoints to aid you in making your way to AutomaTown. Carnivac will provide you with further details.”

“What will you do now, Master Prime?” Tanya asked.

“I intended a short visit to the junk shop to speak with its owner,” I thought aloud. “Though now it seems that won’t be viable. I have some large plans in the works right now and can’t linger, I’m afraid.”

I picked Ravage up and headed back to the balcony.

“You have no idea how happy it makes me to see you all free of the curse. My mission, right now, can’t wait; but you are not abandoned and you are not alone. Come find me, if you wish, when you reach our village.”

I then hopped up onto the balcony railing as Ravage leapt from my arms and onto the rooftop. I gave the gathered Automata a salute and followed after her.

“Ah, right. Ravage, I have something for you,” I said, holding up the finger of wait-just-a-moment.

I couldn’t do a ton of modification of my own body, but I was able to install a small storage space into my leg. It couldn’t hold a lot, but it easily fit the ring that I’d made for Jada. Since I couldn’t put the ring into my [Inventory], I had needed to come up with something like a pocket to put it into. I guess I could start wearing clothes like most of the other Automata I saw, but it still seemed really weird to me. Plus, my body proportions didn’t align with anything else that wore clothing.

Using my 3D CAD skill, I reshaped the ring so that it resembled a small ball bell instead. I then registered the [Storage] functions to Ravage’s mana signature and installed it on her collar.

Ravage tried looking down at the bell and batting at it, but it didn’t make any sound other than the metal of her hand tapping the metal of the ball.

“Meowster Prime make bad bell? Not that Ravage want bell sound anyway...”

“Don’t worry Ravage,” I said, stroking her hair and installing a program that would allow her to interface with the device.

“Ravage feel... two things in bell?”

“Right, one of those things is a rickshaw for Jada. She made Alfred promise to build her a fancy coach, but that’s what she’s getting. The second thing is the Prowler, it’s for you.”

Ravage pulled the Prowler out of the [Storage] space without waiting and the space nearby was filled with a sleek black and silver, robotic panther. It was a bit smaller than the cyclops-tiger thing I’d seen in the mountains at about four feet at the shoulder. Like the nimravour, it also had a single, large eye, and a horn projecting from its forehead.

Its head hung limply, as did the tail, and its back was open, revealing a small cockpit of sorts. I picked Ravage up placed her into the cockpit.

“That interface package I installed includes the controls for this thing,” I boasted.

Ravage looked away for a few seconds then back to me and nodded. Without a word, she dropped into position and the back closed up, sealing her away. Purple panel lighting lit up along the body along with the large glowing purple eye. The Prowler looked around before sitting down on its haunches and examining its paws and tail.

“What.... what is that thing?” Artu mumbled, peering over the edge of the roof.

I looked back at the service droid, turned underground railroad conductor.

“That’s a powersuit, if you like... Think of it like a big suit of armor for Ravage. I built it mainly to pull a rickshaw for my friend Jada, but I suspect there might be a time soon where my little kitty friend will want some bigger clothes.”

“That’s... amazing...” Artu stumbled.

The Prowler, dissipated as it dissolved into digital cubes, absorbing into the [Storage] space for Ravage, dropping her lightly onto the rooftop.

“Not going to play?” I asked, squatting next to her and scratching behind her ear.

Ravage rammed her head into my knee, which instantly punched me in the cute-sensor. The attack was magnified by the fact that she was still in maid mode instead of cat mode.

“Ravage wait till later. Show Jada.”

“Fair enough,” I mentally smiled, patting her little head. “Looks like Carnivac is all done with the Guild stuff and the princess is looking for me. I better get going.”

“Princess? How would you...” Artu wondered, dimming his optics in suspicion.

I backed away from Ravage to give myself room and shot a finger-gun at Artu.

“[PowerExtreme(CloudBurst)]! Gotta go,” I winked.

The CloudBurst armor materialized around me and I shot up a couple of meters into the air, transformed into minijet mode and blasted off in the direction of the Guild Hall.