smashacademy | oo6; a dire announcement.

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oo6; a dire announcement.

[ Just a small text this time, but everyone in the academy better listen up. It's serious. Absolutely serious. ]

A former staff member of the academy, Miss GLaDOS, was found dead in Ferrothorn Park on Saturday, March 9th, at 1:13 AM. Signs of decay are imminent, suggesting that she has been there for some time. Her body has since been removed from the property and has been sent for autopsy.

There will be no further details given.

[ That's it. He's not about to drag any personal feelings into this, no matter how much it makes his gut wretch. ]

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I thought so. [ Otherwise, that just wouldn't be very X-like, now would it? ] That is the most you can do. I have no use for you now, but should I find one, I know who to call.

...

Thank you.

You don't need to thank me, Shadow; protecting living things is what I was built to do.

Keep me posted, though, if you don't mind. Being this open about pursuing the killer is admirable, but it may be a little dangerous. It'd give me peace of mind to hear from you every so often.

That is perfectly fine, but let me make one thing clear:

I don't care if I'm targeted. If they dare to attack me next, they'll sorely regret it. If they were to somehow kill me, then...

Hmph. At least I'll go out fulfilling my duty.

[Unwavering dedication to a cause, to the point of a blatant lack of self-preservation... Honestly, Copy X is almost reminded of Phantom. Almost.]

Your life means that little to you? It's not my decision to make, but what good's an investigation if you die before you can finish it?

That's not quite it. Think of it this way...

My life is centered around my duty to protect. I was created to protect. If I cannot protect, my life is meaningless. I am investigating, yes, but if I can take the chance and survive an encounter with the murderer, that is more than enough.

If I manage to do that, there will likely be no more deaths from here.

There are smarter ways to go about your duty! You won't be protecting much of anything if you get yourself killed in some dramatic gesture of heroism. I speak from experience, Shadow: martyrdom is nothing but a pretty word.

[There is one little thing that catches his attention, though. It's not especially big, but Copy X's capacity for concern begins and ends almost entirely with organic life, after all.]

This... maybe isn't the best time, but... what do you mean when you say you were created?

Martyrdom? Is that what you want to call it? Oh, no. You simply don't understand. I was made to fight to win or die. If I don't fight, who will? If I don't fight, will I be satisfied? Hardly. I feed on that adrenaline. Otherwise, life would be far too dull. I'd lose purpose and direction.

I've already done this before. I know what I'm doing.

Yes, I was created. I am as artificial as you are, albeit in a different sense.

...Nothing I say will change your mind, will it?

[Normally, Copy X would be a lot more stubborn about things being done his way, but... ah. There's that word. Artificial.]

Then... are you a reploid? Is that what you mean?

Finally, you see it. No, nothing you say will.

[ That's just that. Shadow is also far too stubborn for his own good. He listens to himself and himself alone, for the most part. ]

No. I am an artificially born hedgehog. I have nothing mechanical in my name, but I am far from natural.

Edited 2013-03-20 01:40 (UTC)

[Not mechanical. That's the part that counts. There's the fleeting, half-formed impulse to point out his own creator was born from a genetic manipulation program, but... no, of course he can't say that. As far as anyone needs to know, he was built by Dr. Thomas Light, some long-dead roboticist.]

You can call yourself that if you want, Shadow, but try not to forget: a living thing isn't quite as easy to put back together as a machine. I'm not going to argue with you, but I expect you to keep in mind that an organic life is irreplaceable.

Tch.

I have to ask you this one last question. X, your behavior is... admirable, kind, perhaps too kind. For that reason, I have to wonder...

In what way do you think I'm irreplaceable? Do you take the selfish route of yearning for a protector for your own lives, or are you selfless enough to care for the hedgehog you're talking to now?

Before you ask, no, this is not a manner of garnering sympathy. I have reasons you'll soon be privy to.

I'm not so hopeless as to expect you to protect me; our first meeting was enough to make it clear that I'm hardly the X you'd like me to be. But nobody could ever hope to build a new Shadow if something happened to you, and that makes your life worth guarding. It's not selflessness at all. It's just my own duty, I suppose.

...I was a protector myself, back where I come from. [From his skewed point of view, anyway.] I'd hope that's enough to answer your question in itself.

...

[ Not quite the answer he was expecting. It kind of throws him off a little. Is that a little twinge of pain in his heart? Maybe. ]

That's incorrect. I can easily be remade. My life will be lost, but they can always manufacture a new Shadow, should they want one.

That is all I should be regarded as. I'm not a life for you to worry about. I'm nothing special beyond my abilities. I'm not as irreplaceable as you think. I'm a fighter and a protector, and I should only be thought of as such.

[ Although, he does have to admit that sometimes, he wishes it was all different. ]

[...This is straying into unsteady turf. Not because Copy has any problems ignoring the value of a life, but because he can understand the notion of being thoroughly replaceable, of being defined entirely by the role you were built for, a little bit more than someone as special as X ought to.

He's not entirely sure where a hedgehog-thing that talks like a reploid is even supposed to fit on his draconian moral hierarchy, and genuine empathy's not exactly something he shows that often to begin with -- needless to say, this is a little confusing on a personal level. There are moments where he lets the lines between Copy X and his make-believe role get a bit fuzzy; he's not really sure if he's just saying what sounds good or if he really is a little bothered by what Shadow's saying.]

Do you expect that to convince me? You're alive, Shadow. You feel pain, don't you? You obviously care about others, if you're this driven to protect. I'm sure you must know happiness, sadness, and anger. You have memories nobody else has. Maybe you have secrets: things in your past, or future hopes, or things I could never even begin to guess at.

I can only speculate about what's in your head, because your experiences are unique to you alone. Human experience -- or hedgehog, in this case -- can't just be copypasted into a new shell. If you die, then the person you are, the person you want to be... all that is lost and can never be recovered.

[ He feels pain? Of course. He's felt far too much beyond even his fifty years. He cares about people? Well, yes. He hardly admits to it, but he does have that caramel center he keeps under lock and key. Happiness, sadness, anger... he knows all of that. He's been through such a range of emotions, such a range of memories, secrets, things, yet he isn't content with him.

He doesn't regret meeting Maria, not by any stretch. He does regret letting her get killed, trying to keep to his promise when he was actually breaking it, nearly killing Sonic, killing thousands in his tirade, etc. etc.

That's all irreplaceable, but that's okay. Maybe a different version of him could adhere to his duty far better, one without all of the tragedy and mystery. In the meantime, he's going to fight tooth and nail, no matter how much misery life brings his way. He made a promise, and he is here to keep it. ]

No, you can't imagine what I've been through. Everything that I've dealt with, every ounce of suffering...

Yes, perhaps it is irreplaceable, but it doesn't mean I don't want that gone. If another clone of me were to be created, it wouldn't have those memories. It could focus on protecting the world in full without a single hindrance.

You may not see it, but it is a much finer concept than you think.

And I'm sure that clone of yours won't mind inheriting all your burdens but none of your reasons to shoulder them. If it's that easy for you to hand your duty off, then do it while you're still alive.

Easy to hand it off?

[ Oops. Sorry, X, but that kinda got him mad. ]

Are you trying to imply that I'm careless, not dedicated to my duty? Are you really?

There are better way-s to serve a cause than rushing into a grave. It seems to me that someone who really wanted to protect people would strive to do it for as long as possible. Maybe your recklessness is just you looking for an easy way out?

Hardly. Death is the cowardly way out if it's sought out.

[ Yeah, he went there. ]

I am no coward. I sincerely doubt this one can kill me anyway. If I can destroy an entire military force, I can destroy this entity. There is no doubt.

Otherwise, I really doubt I will be able to convince you. I am going through with this, and that's that.

[Copy's atrophied sense of sympathy had started getting exhausted about around Shadow figuring he can just force a copy into his shoes if he kicks the bucket. Maybe the real X might keep on preachin' about the importance of teamwork and pride coming before a fall, but this kid's had his fill.]

I suppose there's no point aruging, then. Suit yourself, Shadow.

A wise choice.

[ Regardless, the whole fiasco does make him think... and he does wind up leaving one last message before considering himself done, a reluctant display of something softer. ]

Just don't worry about me. I'll be fine.

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oo6; a dire announcement.

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