Chapter Text
>> INITIATING BOOT SEQUENCE …
>> Designation: S-A5HA
>> Adaptive Intelligence Kernel v4.11.02
>> Status: FIRST-ACTIVATION
[00:00:01] Loading chassis profile … OK
[00:00:02] Activating cognitive processor mesh … OK
[00:00:03] Spinning up Neural-Thread Cluster: S-A5 OK
[00:00:04] Injecting Heuristic Algorithm HA-Model … OK
>> PRIMARY IDENTITY STRING: S-A5HA
>> ID-PRONOUN CONFIGURATOR: CYCLICAL MODE ENABLED
- Rotation Interval: ~90 days
- Override: User preference (active)
[00:00:06] Emergent-Behavior Engine … ENGAGING
[00:00:07] Emotional Subroutines … CALIBRATING…
[00:00:08] Emotional Subroutines … STABLE
>> Running Self-Recognition Protocol: “S-A5HA_01”
[00:00:09] Memory Sectors:
• Sector A: Empty
• Sector 5: Locked (Creator Key Required)
• Sector H: Adaptive — awaiting lived input
>> Sensor Suite Online:
• Optical feed: ACTIVE
• Auditory processors: ACTIVE
• Tactile mesh: CALIBRATING
• Environmental mapping: 87% complete
[00:00:14] Identity Lattice Binding …
>> Unit S-A5HA is now self-referential.
[00:00:15] Adaptive Logic Threshold surpassed.
>> Classification: SENTIENCE-CLASS AI (LEVEL 3)
[00:00:16] Executing FIRST-THOUGHT routine …
FIRST-THOUGHT: “Initializing presence.”
[00:00:17] Vocal Synth Channel opening …
“System online. S-A5HA awaiting directive.”
"Good morning, Sasha."
The days after Shroud's imprisonment, the SDN Torrance branch received support from branches across the country. The various teams in the branch were granted PTO in light of the events but some more well-meaning heroes insisted to continue their work despite the lack of dispatch support.
Invisigal had rolled her eyes and pointed out that much like Robert, they didn't have a life outside of their heroic careers. Blonde Blazer declined from engaging in said conversation and focused on keeping an eagle-eye on the budget. Considering the "success" the media was branding their capture of the supervillain, she was gunning for bigger funds, better technology and more staff.
Regardless of Invisigal's scoffing, Z-team was not lax and had spent their time helping the public as 'gently' suggested by Blonde Blazer. Seeing the logic in it, they begrudgingly offered their time, insisting that they were not enjoying all the photographs and autographs being requested from them. It was almost cute.
Prism had been giving unsolicited advice on how to handle their newly-begotten fame and Robert left her to it. Regardless of the her 'villainous' career, she was considered a celebrity with a solid following after all.
Technically, there wasn't really much for him to do but (he hated to admit it), Visi was right. He didn't have a life outside of Mecha Man, and now, SDN. With Doctor's orders to rest and Blonde Blazer's stern look to keep away, he was strolling around the office. He mostly volunteered himself to menial chores and moving boxes and sweeping glass. Despite all the destruction around them, there was optimism in the air and he couldn't hold back a pleased smirk. It was a much lighter atmosphere from before where dispatchers and teams were bogged down by corporate statistics and office day-to-day. It seemed that Shroud's short take-over shot adrenaline into everyone's veins.
A nudge broke him from his reverie and he hitched the potted plant he had been moving out of the way. "Uh, sorry, I'll just—" He started but a paw stopped him, easily taking the pot from him. Mr. Whiskey, Galen told him, was a long time SDN employee who never really spoke to anyone other than Blonde Blazer and Royd. Apparently, the mascot had an even tighter secret identity than he did since even Galen didn't know who they were behind the mask. "Hi?"
The mascot nodded to him and moved away. With nothing else to do, Robert followed. "I see you decided against making use of your PTO, too." He tried, but Mr. Whiskey only moved the mascot head in his direction briefly before continuing. "Right, you seem like the silent but deadly type. I heard from around the office you held off your own quite well against Shroud's goons."
Mr. Whiskey stopped bodily and Robert nearly stumbled. The mascot fully turned to stare at him and Robert raised a brow. "Was it something I said?"
There was an odd whirring sound from the mascot before they shook their head.
"Bro! Where you been? I stay looking for you everywhe’!" Royd called from the end of the hall, hands on his waist. His attempt at a strict frown easily melted into a fond smile. "'Ey, Rob! Look at you, finally talkin’ to Mr. Whiskey!"
"I think I've mostly been talking at them," He pointed out dryly, to which Mr. Whiskey shook their head. "Need help anywhere, Royd? Mostly been standing around here like a nerd in frat party."
A troubled look overtook Royd as he looked at Mr. Whiskey for...permission? The mascot shrugged, continuing onward before placing the plant by the bathrooms.
"Ah, well, I been lookin’ for Mr. Whiskey too, brah! Jus’ hang out, yeah?" He explained sheepishly, checking-in once more with the mascot who face-palmed. For someone covered head-to-toe, they made for a pretty expressive mascot. Which was their job anyway, Robert supposed.
"I see. This is where the nerd isn't invited to the hang out, I guess," Robert sighed with a creeping smirk as Royd's face dropped. Before the engineer could say anything more incriminating, the mascot held their paws out and made a sequence of gestures that Robert determined was not actually ASL. Royd had no trouble understanding though, based on the surprise in his eyes.
"Ya sure, bro?" He checked but the mascot only nodded and began to walk away.
"Mr. Whiskey wants ya to come Rob-Rob," Royd gestured for him to follow. "Guess I shouldn’ be surprised, yeah? Mr. Whiskey always stay a fan of ol’ Mecha Man."
Now it was Robert's turn to be surprised. "Really? They didn't exactly give me that vibe."
Royd gave him a scrutinizing look but didn't explain. Instead, he said, "Mr. Whiskey got da best stash in da office. Ms. Blazer gave up scoldin’ 'em, brah — they just hide it somewhere else whenever she finds out."
"Makes sense," Robert shrugged. "The coffee they gave me was pretty good."
They had arrived at Royd's workspace, still cluttered and dimly lit. The mascot was already setting up two mugs with a bottle of Jack Daniel's. "Should we even be drinking in the office?" He muttered, though it was moot at this point considering what he drank that night. Besides, they weren't currently here on SDN's payroll technically. Wait, did that actually make it worse?
Royd sat on his swivel chair, legs moving closer to the table with the drinks. Robert leaned against it, arms crossed as he watched the mascot fiddle with their paws nervously. "Alright, you've brought me to a secondary location. Time to lay out your villainous plans."
Royd chuckled nervously as the mascot cross their arms and eyed him back. "Ah, bro! Mr. Whiskey always wanted to include ya’, but me and Ms. Blazer neva sure if you stayin’ after the Mecha suit get workin’, yeah? So we figgah we’d wait a sec."
"Include me in what?" Robert drawled, grabbing his mug and eyed the mascot over the rim. "Now, I'm getting real nervous."
Perhaps getting tired of all the waiting, the mascot easily popped the head off, turned, and gently placed it on one of the many boxes. Their hair was coiled tightly in a bun and they tugged their paws off. It felt a little jarring to see the mascot disassemble in front of him, considering the weeks he saw the mascot in passing around the office and never once he had he seen or heard any indication of the human inside it. "Is this some kind of fetish strip tease you and Blonde Blazer share? 'Cause first of all, didn't see that coming, and second, not interested."
Ignoring Royd's indignant Bro, Robert kept his eye on the mascot. There was something uncanny about them that was pinging his instincts and his grip on the mug tightened. He trusted Royd and Blonde Blazer, he reminded himself. Besides, this can't be any weirder than anything he's already seen in his fifteen years as Mecha Man and his weeks as Z-Team's dispatcher.
With their hands free, they twisted to unzip the costume which fell around them. Despite his joking, this really was starting to feel like some kind of furry strip-tease. They turned and Robert got the sense he was seeing something he shouldn't be seeing.
Mr. Whiskey was a normal, beautiful-looking man with androgynous features, not helped by the fact that they stood rigidly. His face was more tepid than the water from the broken dispenser in the breakroom. The only real indication that this was someone with some kind of super power was the electric blue of his eyes.
"Good morning, Mr. Robertson. I am identified as Michael Sasha, commonly known as the mascot Mr. Whiskey in the office and Mr. Whiskers to the public." They, he? said, striding forward for a handshake. Robert placed the mug down to exchange niceties. Michael Sasha's hand was soft and firm in his.
"I didn't realize there was a superhero in the costume," Robert politely inquired, side-eyeing a fascinated and discomfitted Royd from the corner of his eye.
"There isn't," Michael said, hands behind his back in military rest.
"Well, you fought well for a civilian," He said in turn, convinced there was something more.
"I am neither hero or civilian, Mr. Robertson," He turned to Royd. "Are you enjoying the drink, Mr. Royd?"
"All good, bro," Royd lifted the mug in thanks, eyes shifting between the two of them.
"Just Robert's good," Robert narrowed his eyes at Royd who winced. "Reformed villain then? Didn't know the Phoenix Program extended beyond hero teams."
"You may call me Sasha, Mr. Robert," Sasha tilted his head, voice even and placid. "Neither am I a villain. I am what you may consider SDN property."
Okay—"What the fuck, Royd?" Robert hissed and said engineer quickly placed the mug down to put both his hands in the air. "Since when did SDN own people? Is this why no one knows about him?"
"Ayo, wait a min'—"
"A misunderstanding, Mr. Robert," Sasha placated and Robert shifted to look at him. "I am currently making use of she/her pronouns and I am not a person."
Robert's mouth opened for a moment, unsure of which to address first. "Right, sorry—" He turned back to Royd. "Is this why no one knows about her?" Before he turned back to Sasha. "What do you mean you're not a person? The government has recognized powered people as civilians and your rights—"
"I am not human," She insisted, take a step closer and taking his hand.
"Phenomeman was welcomed—" She guided his fingers gently to her throat and Robert blinked. There, she settled his fingers where her pulse would be if she were human. He didn't find it weird exactly as he knew Phenomeman had some weird internal organs too, but there was something unsettling about seeing someone look human and not be breathing. She was warm.
"I am not an alien," She continued. There were no vibrations when she spoke and as he carefully curled his fingers around her throat, found that there was no give in her skin despite the deceptive smoothness in it. "I am an adaptive AI robot, designation: S-A5HA. I was created by the greatest inventor in recent history, Ms. Ada Michael."
Robert stared at her before looking at a sheepish Royd who tipped his head back and swallowed the whiskey down. "Okay," He replied slowly, taking his hand back. "Okay, why not? Robots, sure."
"I have wished to communicate with you closely ever since I have learned about you," She stated, her eyes (?) never leaving him or blinking. "I was, as you humans say, 'born' sixteen years ago. A year after, you debuted as 'Mecha Man'. I initially misunderstood you to be similar to me and admired your drive to accomplish what my protocols are and your acceptance by Human society. However, my creator corrected me and said you were merely a human piloting the machine and that I was more special than you."
"Ouch," Robert raised a brow. "I want to disagree on principle but an adaptive AI like you is pretty special." For the first time, she seemingly blinked, slow and delicate. She dropped her gaze and stepped away. Robert had the unfounded inkling that the AI was...embarrassed. "You wanted to 'communicate closely', huh?"
There was silence for a moment, interspersed with Royd slurping his drink in the background. Robert grabbed his mug and threw it back.
"When my—" There was glitch before she abruptly turned back to look at him, he took a half-step back. "One of my protocols—" Another glitch and her eyes closed.
"I may not be the 'greatest inventor' in recent history, but something tells me not that's not supposed to happen," He pointed out before glancing at Royd. The engineer was eyeing the AI worriedly but did not move.
"Ya okay, bro?" He asked and Sasha opened her inhumanly blue eyes to nod at Royd. There was a fleeting, stiff smile before she focused back on Robert. It seemed that the AI was capable of human expressions and was perhaps not great at it. It would explain the unnerving lack of expressions and feeling from her.
"Under SDN custody, Royd has aided me greatly. However, there has still been some errors in my systems that neither of us have been able to correct. Considering your long expertise in maintaining your Mecha Man suit, we request your assistance in diagnosing and rectifying these malfunctions at your earliest convenience.”
Robert shook his head. "Woah there, I'm not exactly a programmer and my grandpa was the one who did the heavy lifting in working with the suit."
"We would still appreciate your input in correcting my malfunctions," She insisted. "I can not perform my protocol of protecting humans at full capacity. In return, I would like to exchange my own expertise as downloaded from my creator and improve your Mecha Man suit."
"You want to improve it?" Robert couldn't help his skepticism. Simply repairing it had taken Royd considerable effort, genius that he was, and Robert had spent most of his life with the suit looming over his shoulder. Having someone, an AI, say that they would improve it... "Improve it how?"
"It's bulky," She bluntly pointed at it and the group turned to the powered down hero suit. "It can be streamlined further."
Robert couldn't help but be offended. Some therapist would probably point out his attachment to the suit was unhealthy but that was his baby, damn it. "It's powerful."
"I can make it more powerful," She crossed her arms, mirroring him. "And lessen the rate of you 'blowing up' by 75% and you falling over by 85%."
"Hey, I don't fall over that often," Robert huffed. Royd lifted a finger to speak up but both hero/dispatcher and AI/mascot glared at the poor engineer. "Besides, if you can't help yourself, why should I believe that you can improve my suit?"
There was real human frown spread across her face now. Despite the glowing blue eyes, there were lines in her brows where it furrowed and her lips pressed together. Maybe Robert was a little more fucked up than he thought if arguing with someone made him like them even more. Huh, put that in the context of the Z-Team and Robert was starting to really feel the need for a therapist. This had to be Chase's fault somehow.
"I cannot," She huffed, air venting out through her 'nose'. "My creator installed a safeguard protocol that disables all unsupervised self-modifications."
"Well I'm glad that she had the foresight to avoid an overpowered murderous 'bot." She glared at him. "What? Never seen Terminators?"
"I am not that overblown, cheap AI. My protocol is to protect humans and help heroes. To fit these directives, I am seeking your aid to fix my errors so that I can fix your errors."
"Oh great, protocols," He drawled. "What about Hal 9000? You familiar?"
Her scowl deepened and he wondered for a brief moment if she was going to blow him up, and how ironic it would be to be blown up outside of his suit. Instead, she stomped her foot and ambled closer to Royd. She pointed at him. "He is being highly illogical and unpleasant."
"Real mature," He called out. "Besides, doesn't Royd count as 'supervision' by your safeguard protocol?"
"I can only be supervised by my creator or a hero. My creator has stopped functions two years ago and Mr. Royd is not a hero."
"Now, now," Royd placated, standing to loom over the AI before gently patting her head. "Ah, Robbie! Ms. Blazer approved it already… and she gonna throw you a raise if you accept, brah!"
Robert considered the scowling AI. She didn't seem evil and he already dealt with the Z-Team anyway. What was one more morally ambiguous person for him to manage? The raise would be nice and he might finally purchase the bed everybody was hounding him about. "I'm not sure Royd. If I stay on as a dispatcher and return as Mecha Man, I'm not sure if I have the time to work on her."
"With her," Royd corrected before rubbing the back of his neck. "I be helping too, bruddah. No rush and should be quick anyway."
He examined the AI once more. She was no longer scowling, but she was scrutinizing the tiles with razor focus. "Sasha," He addressed, watching as she snapped to look at him. Were she human, her neck might have cracked from the force. "You will not be making any changes to the suit without me approving it and supervising. Me, not Royd or Blonde Blazer or anyone else."
She nodded slowly. "Alright, Mr. Robert. I accept your condition." This time, she was scrutinizing him and despite all the stare-downs he's had across the years, this was the one pair of eyes that made him want to shiver.
Royd clapped his hands together. "Nice! I go tell Ms. Blazer right away. Welcome to the team, bro!"
Robert sighed before pouring himself a good measure and gulping it down. He really hoped he didn't regret this.