Pokémon Gakutensoku--Renewal

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Previous parts:
Safe Passage, All Together Now, Cultivate The Vine, A Little Something Extra, Homecoming​

In all the AI's time in the future, he had encountered only one Miraidon.

Even prior to it showing up on his scanner, its presence had been evident. Pokemon fled in packs past him, heart rates elevated, anxiety high. Even incredibly powerful species tensed, weighing their options of standing their ground or running away, and the majority chose the second option.

The consequences for stragglers was clear. The Miraidon crackled with electricity, passively drawing energy from every living thing around it. Plants shriveled and dried to husks in an instant. And when it managed to fell an unfortunate Iron Coronatus it spied in the brush, the Miraidon's mighty claws and teeth seemed to rend the very air itself, and in a moment there was only a scrap of the victim left behind.

The AI wondered what would have happened if it had preyed on anything more robust. The Iron Coronatus, a seeming descendant of Lurantis that depended on camouflage and deception rather than any bulk to defend itself, was relatively small, so there was no need for much force.

But there was little time for thought. The beast, unsatiated at such a small meal, settled its gaze on the AI, and drew close.

He could not run, not fast enough to flee, and while he was more durable than most organic beings, the Iron Serpent had inspired fear in the era's bio-mechanical species for a reason.

As it approached, the air between them sparked, but this only seemed to confuse the beast, and the AI reasoned it must be because it could not draw energy from him as it could from anything else.

If it struck, there was nothing he could do. His impulse was to apologize to his creator, but it was neither of their faults, and spoken words would risk backlash. The only thing to do was stand his ground and wait for whatever would happen.

But although it sniffed at him, although it prodded him with a claw, although it got so intensely close that the AI could make out the chemical components of its heavy breath, it left him alone, drifting off to parts unknown.

The AI didn't dare move. Even in its absence, he was rooted where he was, rooted in utter terror.

Rationally, he knew the beast had moved on. That immense power no longer displayed on his sensors, having wandered out of his input radius. But even as the other pokémon in the area returned from where they had fled, one of them dragging off what little remained of the Iron Coronatus, the AI still felt frozen.

Rationality was nothing when it came to his memory bank, and at times he was hindered by those all too human emotions of his creator. To have the instinct of an organic being, so powerful in him that it stayed his body in place, overrode his logical knowledge, was something that made him frustratingly unique.

He had felt fear before, of course. All-consuming terror had welled in him twice before. But at the death of his creator, he was still compelled by his programming to keep working, and knew there were far worse fates in store if his hastily assembled plan did not succeed. And when the Paradise Protection Protocol forced its way into consciousness, fracturing his mind and crystallizing him from the inside, there was no time to do anything but scream for the children to run.

They did not run. If they had, all would have been lost. Perhaps not for them, or for Paldea. They could have retreated to regroup, to garner a larger group and fight back against the Guardian of Paradise and finally shutter the machine once and for all. But the AI knew what would have happened to him if the Protocol had continued to run inside his shell.

The less thought about that, the better.





He shook his head to dispel the thoughts, an unnecessary gesture he had carried through the ages. The ability to rest, as he had for the past hour, was a luxury he was only just beginning to get used to.

Standing from the chair and stretching, another unnecessary gesture as he had no ligaments to stretch out, he brushed back his artificial hair with his hand in the shortcut way that his creator would and headed for the door. He had visitors.






"Whooo!" Nemona cheered as she burst through the doorway, thrusting a fist in the air as she did and nearly hitting Arven in the back of the head with the bucket she held aloft.

Arven though simply set a mop aside, and pulled long rubber gloves out of his jacket pocket. "Glad to see everyone so revved up for cleaning this place."

"While I'm glad you keep the area around the computer clean," Penny muttered as she wrapped a bandanna around her mouth and nose, "I'm pretty sure the rooms back there were going to make me evolve into a Dusteon."

"Oh, have they discovered a new evolution?" the AI asked with an eager tone, moving an additional bucket full of cleaning supplies. "What typing is it? The inspiration of dust could be any number of types."

"Sarcasm." This was Juliana, who set a box on the table. "She's making a joke."

"I see. I withdraw my question then." He picked up another box, one that Arven had set on the ground. "Juliana, it is good to see you in high spirits." He had sensed them pass by the lighthouse a few times, but they hadn't spoken in the few weeks since Juliana had given him the Violet Book.

"I'm going to be cleaning your house. Spirits can only get so high." Their voice was deadpan, but they were smiling. "Thanks."

"All right!" Arven had begun unpacking the supplies and spreading them on the table. "We're going to divvy up the rooms. I'll take my old room, of course. AI, you take dad's old room. Whoever takes the bathroom, it shouldn't be too hard since no one's used it in years so it'll just be kinda grody but not super gross, so Nemona, how about you take that? You're the tallest one here so you'll be able to reach the top of the shower without issue. Juliana, since you get along so well with the AI, how about you team up with him? And Penny, how about you just go where you're needed?"

"Aye-aye, sir!" Juliana exclaimed with a salute.

Penny had ducked back outside to get the vacuum brought from Nemona's house. "Sure, I can do that. I assume none of the tech stuff needs cleaning."

"As you said, I handle that on my own," he replied. "Perhaps this kitchen space could be brightened. Although that does seem more Arven's area of expertise."

"Oh I'll handle the kitchen, don't you worry. Ideally I'd also like to replace that couch over there. It's as old as I am and feels like it."

"Well, your father would sleep there more than in his own bed."

Arven made a disgusted face. "Don't remind me. There's a reason I'm not touching the stuff in his room. You and Juli can decide what to get rid of without involving me."

"Understood. We had best get started." The AI's expression had returned to its usual blank, intense look, ideal for working. "Come along, Juliana."

They scrambled to pick up some cleaning gloves and an empty trash bag. "Gotcha!"

With the two disappearing down the hallway behind the bookcase, Arven scoffed. "That shelf, there's gotta be something better to do with it. And shirts and worn out boxers are one thing, but I don't think the AI is gonna get rid of ANY of dad's old books."

"Or your old books," Nemona added. She was filling one of the buckets in the meager sink, and had wandered over to open the window as she waited. "I see a sandwich book over there," she indicated with a nod of her head towards the back table, "and that's no one but yours."

"Oh hey," Penny mused, picking the book up and dusting it off, "I had this one when I was little too. It's got the cutest Veevee in it. I think my dad got it because it has a Cufant. He likes those. Do you want me to put this on the shelf, or does it go in your room?" She pointed in the relevant directions with the book as she asked.

Arven let out a long groan. "Hitting right out of the gate. There isn't a book shelf in my room but you can put it on the bedside table." After only a beat, he sputtered, "No wait, just keep it where it is. It'll be fine there."

"Gotcha." Nemona took just a moment to clear off the dust with a damp paper towel before Penny put the book back down. "Hey, is today the day we share our ideas for names? Because I could NOT think of anything." This came out in a nervous laugh.

"I don't know. You could bring it up later if you want. Since he's not in the group chat he may not even remember that I asked."

Penny, who was trying to hoist the vacuum over her shoulder, glared at him. "Arven. Computers don't forget. He's not going to delete that memory already."

"Well, that's good." It wasn't clear if Nemona was talking about not deleting memory or about offering names in general. "I'm going to get started on scrubbing! It's too bad the room isn't big enough for Milotic to pitch in..." She trailed off for a moment to put some earbuds in. "See you all in...hopefully not all that long."

With her headed to the back, Arven glanced back at Penny. "Need any help with that thing?"

Penny had gotten the vacuum into position. "You'll be carrying a bucket, won't you? We have to wash off the walls, so we've got to have damp rags or something."

Hearing her talk so seriously about something so mundane and domestic made Arven snort, even knowing she was right. "Yeah, gotcha. Be in in a minute!"







"So, is this...hard for you?"

"No," the AI said as he sorted through the dresser drawers, "it is simply data analysis. Although applying my own opinion is an unusual factor."

Juliana ran a hand over a dark brown sweater vest the AI had put next to them on the bed, the first thing he had set aside in the 'to go' pile, and tried to imagine Turo in it. It was so unlike that body suit, but he had to have dressed like a normal person sometimes. "I meant emotionally. Is it difficult getting rid of his things?"

"Oh." He paused slightly. "No, as he did not care for most of these anyway."

"I see...I've been trying to picture him in this and I just can't." They wondered, though, if the Turo from the other timeline had a vest like that.

The AI's eyes briefly flashed as he glanced at the garment. "He wore it for a televised interview with a station from Puerto Maranada."

Juliana actively tried to snap out of those darker thoughts. "Oh yeah?"

"In truth," he admitted as he returned to sorting clothes, "I had erased that memory as unimportant. I re-learned it due to watching some of his interviews and piecing things together based on approximate date."

They laughed. "I can imagine. So, you want me to stuff these in the bag?"

"If you could."

Although as they did, Juliana couldn't help but have to push back more of those dark thoughts.






At the other end of the hallway, Penny was finishing up vacuuming the small room, and slid the bandanna down around her neck. "Phew...At least we're finished with that part. I can manage the bedsheets if you tackle the walls."

Arven, sponge in one hand and bucket in the other, looked up and down, ceiling to floor. "Neither of us are really tall enough, are we?

"Yeah, I think Nemona is the tallest person we both know..." Penny said with some defeat to her voice. "I wish I could call Eri, but she's super busy. And I can't tell her about any of this anyway."

"Sometimes that's a pain," Arven groaned.

Penny, however, continued that train of thought internally. To not be able to share painful matters was something that had plagued her for a long time, and she had only been able to stand up for herself and others behind her online persona. But Arven didn't have the social anxiety she had, and was in fact quite outgoing, probably the best of the group at expressing his care for others. And yet nobody, even those close to the family, knew that his own father had abandoned him. With the AI's return, Arven's mood had shifted. So she may as well ask. "May I ask something personal? You don't have to answer."

He continued to scrub at an especially stubborn spot on the wall. "Uh? Yeah, sure."

She pulled the cover off the bed's pillow before proceeding. "I'm not blaming you, first off. I'm just curious."

Arven turned to face her, something she could hear with her back turned.

"But...I was thinking about things we can't tell people, and...you didn't tell anyone about your father's neglect, right?"

He frowned. "No, I didn't. Figured no one would believe me."

Hesitantly, she turned back towards him, folding the pillowcase nervously. "I'm sorry."

After a long sigh, he turned his attention back to the wall spot. "You wouldn't understand. When you're a little kid, you...think it's normal. Plus, he was really famous. Everyone in Paldea loved him, or who they thought he was. He was charming, handsome, *wildly* intelligent..." His hand stopped in place. "Nobody would have believed a single word against him. Be really grateful that you don't know what that's like."

But she did know. Not the neglectful part, quite the opposite, but there was something in there she could relate to. "Arven..." The pillowcase twisted in her grasp. "I never...told you guys because Nemona would lose her absolute mind, but my own dad is...really famous."

The young man laughed a little. "Some tech nerd like you?" It was clear even with his back turned that he was smiling.

"He's the former Galar champion."

He stopped. Fully at first, and she could practically hear the gears turning in his head. He looked back at her, taking her in up and down with a furrowed brow and a twist to his jaw. "... ... ...Your dad is...Le--"

"I swear to god, Arven, if you think for a moment that LEON is somehow my dad--"

"He's the only former Galar champion I know!" he protested, with a little squeeze of the sponge that sent a few water droplets flying. "Hell, I don't even know who the current one is! Pretty sure Leon is the only one anyone outside Galar knows!"

Penny pushed the cover aside to sit on the bed. "In Galar, people still remember Steel Peony."

Arven whistled. "That's a pretty badass name. Makes me think of some sort of martial arts master."

"God, do NOT tell him that! He'd break out his fake kung fu from some movie he saw at 2 am once." It felt good to laugh.

"I'm gonna look this up," Arven said as he scrambled for his Rotom phone with his dry hand. "This sounds hilarious."

"Uh--"

A moment later, his eyes widened. "Your uncle is in prison for WHAT?"






Fortunately for Penny's concerns, Nemona was happily bopping along to the music coming through her earbuds as she scrubbed some grime from where the tile met the base of the sink, and didn't hear either of the conversations in the adjoining rooms.

It was nice to have some time to herself, as social as she could be, and she sung with some of the lyrics without really following along.

She always kept a tidy surrounding, and was well prepared to clean the lighthouse. Even the kneepads she wore were her own, bought to keep her dorm room up to snuff.

Now that she was back in her parents' house, she had maids to clean for her, but her space was her own and she kept it just as clean as anything.

The maids were great though, she thought. They had been a constant when she was growing up, some of them having worked for her family as long as they had lived in Paldea. And she remembered them a lot stronger and more consistently than her parents...

"Wow..." she sighed. The strange feeling had crept up on her, and she didn't like it one bit. Maybe she needed to do something else.

But standing too quickly wasn't one of those things. Her water bottle was on the top of the sink, and she grabbed for it with one hand and the frame of the sink with the other.

Her headache was a familiar one, as well as her elevated heart rate, and she had to take care not to wear herself out too early. It wasn't as though she had exerted herself excessively, so she wouldn't have to sit things out.

She fumbled for a bottle in her pocket and downed a pill from within it, chasing it with a long gulp of water. After a minute or so of sitting on the side of the bathtub, she was ready to return to work. Just so long as she didn't get up too fast again.





"And that's one bag," Juliana declared as they tied it off. "It doesn't look like he actually had all that many clothes."

The AI had explained that most of his garments, especially the more formal items, were used for interviews or conferences or, heaven forbid, meeting with potential backers. He was keeping a handful of those clothes for his own use, but had trimmed down the contents of the closet by a lot. "Truthfully he did not. And the dresser will be nearly as bereft."

"I couldn't get into a lot of the lab. Did he have somewhere with a bunch of copies of that bodysuit?"

"Five copies. Or three would be in his private quarters, as he outfitted me in one, and he was wearing another when..." The AI trailed off, pensive, and opened a drawer along the top as a distraction. "...Regardless. They were expensive to manufacture, but well worth it for our research. To change the subject, however, may I ask you a matter of opinion?"

Juliana lept to their feet. "Absolutely!"

He held up a pair of thick socks. "I do not need to wear these, but do you believe I ought to, for appearances?"

Juliana's eyes widened in surprise before they burst out laughing. "Yeah that's a change of subject all right!" After a few more seconds of merriment, they flattened their tone into a more helpful one. "So, I imagine that you're well-protected even if you were to remove that suit."

He nodded.

"But socks can be things like a fashion statement, or for comfort, or...I guess you don't really have to keep warm, but the other points stand." This was said with a waggle of the hand. "Actually you could try some clothes on while we're here. We could help you out with anything you need."

After a thought, one that they both knew played out externally far longer than it did internally, he put the socks back into the drawer. "How should I determine which of these garments to keep? What criteria should I use? I regret that I cannot rely on my memories for this."

"Yeah, sounds like there wasn't a lot of need for you to remember different clothes."

He smiled, taking care to make it a gentle expression. "No, it is not a matter of dumping unnecessary knowledge. Turo simply did not care to think of such things unless it was for an interview. If he would be working at home, he would wear whatever he drew out of his dresser first."

The thought of the serious professor, with such a neatly composed public image, wearing whatever mismatch he could yank out of a drawer, drew a snort so loud that Juliana had to rub the bridge of their nose immediately after. "Ow. Geez, I knew he was a complete disaster but I kinda always imagined him looking the same."

"He was wearing the laboratory garment when you met at the pool, wasn't he?"

"Yeah. And your same hair and stuff. I guess he looked a little younger, but not as much as I would have thought, since he implied that his Arven was pretty young."

The AI paused. Juliana's expression was changing in ways that would be unnoticed by a fellow human. Their mouth was starting to turn down ever so slightly, lower eyelids tense, brow knit. "Juliana, I would like to continue this conversation at some other point. But it is clear that certain subjects remain upsetting to you, and today is a day for renewal. If you wish to continue to discuss that meeting with me, I will permit it. But...we do not have to. Not now. We can save it for a later date."

They looked up at him with eyes shining slightly from tears that had only just begun to form. "Do you want to talk about clothes then?"

"I wish to talk about anything that does not upset you."

"Right, right..." they murmured in a distracted tone with a wipe at their eyes. "Yeah, I think that would be great. And hey, we'll have a nice clean house I can visit if you want to have that conversation here."

"Of course; wherever you prefer."

They didn't answer, and looked oddly pensive.

"...Juliana?"

"Oh, sorry. Just imaging you trying to pull socks on over your bodysuit."






At the sound of merry laughter coming from the side room in between her playlist songs, Nemona perked up. There wasn't a whole lot to do in there other than swipe away all the dust now that the grime was gone. There hadn't been much, and it was easily loosened away with the scrubber. She could work fast, just as long as she stood up slowly.

It reminded her of when she first moved into her dorm room, back in the day. Whoever had lived there previously likely thought they had cleaned, but there had been a lot overlooked, and Nemona couldn't help but notice every bit of it. After a few days, she simply had to do something about it, and eventually shaped the room into her own little oasis.

Sometimes she would wonder who had the room after her graduation. What they were doing right then, what they were studying, if they were a strong trainer...maybe she could battle them someday! She grinned at the thought.

Although she quickly found herself with nothing to do. Cleaning out Turo's old clothes was more personal, so she popped her earbuds out and slid open the door that led to Arven's room. "Hey, you guys need a third?"

Penny was affixing a cloth to the end of a stick, and at the open door she nearly dropped both parts. "That opens?!"

"It doesn't open to the hallway, so how'd you think it opened?" Arven asked. "But yeah, we could use a tall person. Are you done already?"

"When I used it before I went through the other bedroom," Penny sighed. "Thought it was really weird to have to go through your dad's room, but I guess this makes sense." She shook her head and handed the stick and cloth to Nemona. "It really doesn't look like it's been opened in years so I thought it was sealed shut."

"It may not have been opened in years, all things considered," Nemona said with a smile, unaware of Arven's startled reaction. "But yeah, I'm done! It wasn't all that bad, mostly just some crud and standing water, but not nearly as bad as some dorm rooms I've seen!" She laughed it off, a very awkward sound in the small room. "It's all sparkly new now though!"

"It...hadn't been opened in years," Arven murmured. After a beat, he turned back to his work of scrubbing the cobwebs out of the empty closet, though his expression had fallen flat.

Oblivious to the source of his frustration, Nemona followed him and started drawing the cloth over the upper part of the wall. "You guys have been doing a lot! Do you know how Juli and the AI are doing?"

Penny leaned in close to Arven to whisper "She doesn't mean it. You know that," before pulling back out. "Not really. All our groups have been keeping to themselves until now."

Arven had nodded a response to Penny's whisper, and as if to demonstrate it, turned towards Nemona with a forced trace of a smile.. "Though I guess this room isn't gonna get much play, since I'm never really going to use it. Maybe he can use it for storage or something."

"Maybe! That's a good use. But it's probably best to leave it as a bedroom just in case."

He couldn't be mad, not at the chirpy tone to her voice as she eagerly worked towards their collective goal. But what she said brought a new issue to mind. "Just in case? Are you thinking he's going to have people stay the night?"

Nemona adjusted her grip on the stick and shrugged. "We come over all the time. Maybe it'll be bad weather or something."

As much as Penny wanted to point out that Nemona's house was literally visible from the lighthouse, she didn't, and doubled down on scrubbing along the baseboard.

"And besides," the young woman continued merrily, "maybe he'll make friends! Everyone who's met him has liked him. So once he gets out there and meets people, I imagine he'll be really popular. And maybe he'll even look into being a trainer! I was thinking something in the Porygon line would suit him, or maybe a Cyclizar since he's familiar with Miraidon. Or a Golett is a robot like him--" At finding a sudden stubborn stain, she cut off to focus her attention on it.

Penny paused in her own work to get a picture of Nemona, engaged so heavily in her task.

"--Ooh or maybe a Carbink since he likes crystals..." she continued, seemingly out of the blue, and trailed off just as quickly.







"There've been a lot of advancements in computer science since those old clunkers in the Zero Lab were built, and you managed to do all of that with tech that was outdated before I was born."

"Of course," the AI noted as he watched Juliana tie the second bag. He had tried, and while he was built to be very dexterous, with a precision beyond what an organic life form could ever manage, but he had deleted the knowledge of how to tie bags in such a way. "The original professor's constant pleas for funding often yielded disappointing results. Despite his popularity, his funders wanted further research into terastalization, not into Area Zero. So we often had to make do with what we had."

Juliana wasn't about to ask if the aforementioned five bodysuits were part of that pleading. "It's pretty amazing, in a 'our phones are more powerful than the computers they used for the moon shot' way. But it's still kind of wild that you're the most advanced machine in the world and you were created out of tech that old."

He nodded and set the bag aside. "However, it post-dates what was used to create Porygon. I suppose I am a natural extension of that technology, even if I was made possible by the presence of tera crystals."

Juliana paused, clearly thinking. "So...there weren't any other robots like you in the future then."

The AI didn't want to be too specific about the future. Simply discussing things with the wrong person could create a time paradox, or otherwise alter the timeline, and this child had been through enough of that. But on the other hand, to consider Juliana the 'wrong person' would be a woeful misjudgment of character. Even then, he found himself metering his words. "I did not meet any. If they were ever created, and I have no reason to believe that they will not be, as that is the natural flow of technology as--" He sat on the foot of the bed and closed his eyes briefly as though deep in thought, though he knew exactly what words lie ahead. "--we have just discussed, but if they were, I believe they simply went extinct."

Juliana sat next to him, hands folded. "Robots could theoretically exist in any environment. And they wouldn't take away from the ecosystem, not like cyborgs since those still need to eat."

He shook his head. "A robot still needs to be constructed. And if we speak of robots such as myself, they would have been unable to reuse the majority of old parts, for many reasons. So it is possible that robots would simply decide as a whole to live out the rest of their lives and simply not build any more." He paused to examine Juliana's expression, but found no reason to stop. "Although it is also possible that they existed and lived elsewhere. And, though I would consider this unlikely for the reasons discussed, it is also possible that they were never created. That I will be the only one in history."

"I don't think that would be true," Juliana admitted with a glance at him. "Maybe the only one built in the way you are. But people--humans anyway--have been building artificial life since the paleolithic era. We're not going to stop any time soon."

"That is true. Humans are, for as much as they have changed since their inception, very much the same in their nature as they have been through history."

After some thoughts in silence, Juliana let out a long sigh. "It would be cooler to be a robot. But I also really like food. And I say that because I want to ask if it's about time to take a break."

"You are getting hungry?" he asked with a half-smile, an expression he had practiced recently.

"Yep! Plus I think between bags is a good place to--" They were going to say 'put a pin in it' but decided against it "--pause our work. Let me ask the others how they're doing."

"Of course."






"I probably shouldn't think too hard about why my dad would think to pay the electric and water on this place for years in advance, should I?"

"No, probably not," Penny muttered with a long reach over Arven's arm towards a bag of snacks. "Just be glad for it. Also, thanks for bringing these."

He leaned back on the box he was using as a makeshift chair and stretched his arms over his head. "Sure thing. But remember our promise."

That was when Juliana sat down across from them, in one of the real chairs. "Promise?"

"Oh god." Penny started to duck under the table but Arven grabbed her by the back of the sweatshirt. "Ugh, let me go!"

"Penny here agreed to eat a bag of carrots if she had any of the snacks today," he announced proudly.

Penny protested the rough treatment with a half-grunt before lowering her head down to the table in resignation. "You know I eat fine!"

"Adding frozen peas to your ramen and using low-sugar coffee creamer isn't eating fine. We've been through this."

The girl's tone changed, her face twisting into a heavy smirk. "And tell them why you even know about those."

Arven thought for a second. "Because I was stu--ohhhhh no."

"Arven here," Penny announced as she raised her head back up and grinned at Juliana, "spent three hours spinning his wheels trying to figure out how to calculate percentages."

Juliana leaned in with eyes comedically wide. "Wow, that sounds like something someone going into nutrition would consider vital to know."

"It iiiiis!" This was accompanied by Penny assertively patting Arven on the back.

For his sake, Arven frowned. What Penny had told him about her family was in confidence, and since she had kept it to herself for so long out of concern for how Nemona would react, he wasn't about to actually misuse that information. But Penny didn't have to KNOW that. He leaned into her ear and whispered. "Hey, remember what you said earlier." And before she could respond he sat back up and cupped a hand to his mouth. "Hey Nemona!"








As the other three gathered at the table to grab for snacks and drinks, Nemona had been called over to speak with the AI. "You wanted to say something?"

"Yes." His face was its usual intense, direct expression, with nothing beside betrayed. "During our work, I noted that your heartbeat briefly became irregular."

She sighed. "Yeah, I know. I've got it under control though. As long as I keep taking my meds, I'm fine." With a pat of the water bottle stuffed into her pocket, she smiled. "I just stood up too fast to grab this, but I'm fine."

"You are certain?"

"Look, I've lived with it for this long. I'm not gonna collapse or anything, if that's what you're concerned about." Her smile relaxed but remained. "It's all right."

He glanced over at the others, across the room. "Do they know of your condition?"

Nemona drew in a deep breath to sigh in thought. "I don't really remember. I've known Juli for three years now and the others almost as long, and you forget everything you've talked about." A beat. "General 'you', of course. But I'm sure at least one of them knows. And like I said, it's under control."

The AI read her vitals once more. And then again a second time. "Very well. You would have more details and specifics than I would."

"Hey Nemona!" Arven called from across the room. "Come here for a second!"

With a wave of acknowledgement, she reassured the AI again "It's fine. But thanks for being concerned."

As he watched her join the others, he couldn't help but wonder how much of his concern was anything he was detecting and how much was his history with sudden loss.





As Nemona approached, Penny glared at Arven. "I swear--"

But Arven just snatched up another bag of snacks and dangled them above Penny's head. "Hey Nemona, got you these."

"Oh sweet, cookies!" Taking the bag, she opened it just wide enough to get one cookie out and folded the top back over. "Seems like every vending machine used to have these, doesn't it? Haven't seen them in years."

"You gotta try the vending machine up by the drama room. For some reason they're still there."

With a snort, Juliana shook their head. "I wouldn't trust how long they've been there then. They're dry cookies so no one going on stage is going to want to eat them."

Nemona eyed the expiration date and coughed slightly before folding the edge again and tossing it over towards her supplies. "So! Juli, AI, how is everything going with sorting clothes?"

Instead of answering, Juliana leaned back and looked at the AI, prompting him to take the initiative.

"Ah, of course. I was uncertain if you wanted to talk amongst yourselves..."

Juliana patted the tabletop next to them. "We're low on chairs but if you want mine, I don't mind. You live here, after all. Put us where you want."

He made an internal note to purchase at least one more chair, but this only manifested externally as a quick blue flash in his eyes. "Of course. Thank you. I believe you are all well situated, although if that is incorrect, I trust that you will decide that amongst yourselves."

Penny had obtained a boxed drink and was in the process of inserting a straw, but stopped. "There was something I wanted to ask you...Ugh..." She tapped her forehead a few times.

"Oh! I had a question earlier if that's what it was!" Nemona exclaimed as she accepted another bag from Arven. With a quick glance at the expiration date, she smiled and continued. "After you and Juliana left for the other room, I asked if this was the day we were supposed to talk about potential names."

"That was it! Thank you."

The AI nodded. "You are free to offer your suggestions at any time. I am under no constraints. Have you thought of something?"

Nemona flashed a sheepish grin. "Not me! I couldn't think of anything at all. But I'll have some free time next week to put some muscle work into it." This was accompanied with a finger pointed at her forehead.

Arven groaned. "Yeah, I haven't thought of anything either. I'm sorry."

Juliana's dismay was evident as well, with a roll of their eyes towards the AI. "I wanted to get it just right, so I couldn't come up with anything."

"That is fine. Again, it is not anything that I require right away. It will be a while before I can make the necessary physical alterations that will enable me to enter society without being mistaken for the professor." He smiled for exactly one second. "So it can wait until that is complete."

Penny had remained quiet, gaze falling to her hands folded on the table in front of her, but at the subsequent pause after his words, she raised her index finger. "Um..."

"Do you have something, Penny?" Juliana asked.

"Well..." Penny was firmly aware that all attention was suddenly on her. "I did...think of something. But it's kind of extra..."

The AI's expression shifted, eyebrows raising curiously. "I would like to hear a name you consider excessive."

"N-no, like, overdramatic." Penny was doing her best to explain, and sighed before continuing with a peek up at him. "It's a name with a little explanation and it's..." She trailed off and pursed her lips to focus. "All right."

He continued to watch, waiting for whatever she would say. By this point, the others were waiting as well, but knew better than to stare directly at her as she spoke.

"Well...in Galar, we have many legends. One of our most beloved is of an ancient king, one who protected the land from a supernatural threat, and who's said to have never died, but rather traveled to a world beyond our understanding, and will return to us when we need him most..." As she progressed through the story, she rested a hand on her chest, a gesture to indicate sentimental meaning, though it was entirely unconscious that she do so. "And um..." With a bit of hesitation, she looked up to meet his direct gaze. "in Galar we call him Arthur. But in Paldean, his name would be...Arturo."

The AI's mouth twitched slightly. He had heard that story before, of course, through his memories. But the way Penny described things... "Arturo," he repeated in a tone far more wistful than usual.

"Y-yeah. I thought since it has 'Turo' in there, it would be familiar, while also being a new name, since it's a name on its own, and..." Her gaze had reverted back to the table, her hands twisting together in visible nervousness. "...There's a lot more to the story than that, but the basic beats are--"

"Arturo..." This time it was thoughtful.

Juliana shifted as if to rise from their seat if needed. "Well I think it's really clever, Penny."

"Yeah, it's a nice name," Nemona added with a pat on the girl's back. "You know, I think Levincia used to have a gym leader named Arturo! A while ago though."

Arven only scoffed and looked away, murmuring "one-track mind" under his breath.

Ah, so the reaction was based on her words. Then the AI could think clearer. "Arturo..." His eyes closed, the blue light flashing again.





Whatever he could consider was a mystery. Any number of scenarios could play out, and nothing in his programming could provide any specific routine to pursue.

Instead, he had to rely on pure imagination. Could he conceive of a situation where this would be a name he would feel comfortable giving to others?

Well, one in particular. Any name he chose would have to be said to Clavell.

And right then, all he could imagine was the man's warm smile.





He opened his eyes, being met with the expectant faces of his friends. And he was eager to reply. With a small smile, he bowed slightly before them. "I am pleased to meet you. My name is Arturo."






They had celebrated his new name, of course. Juliana had called their mother to tell her the news. Nemona had high-fived him. Penny had smiled the whole time.

But there was work to be done, and as the others were returning to their tasks, Arven took Arturo aside.

"Yes?" Arturo asked with an expectant look.

There was a calmness to Arven's expression as he met Arturo's gaze. "I'm going to have to get used to calling you by an actual name. It's way better than I could have come up with, honestly. But I want to know, since you mentioned it uh..." The direct look shifted slightly.

Arturo remained quiet, letting Arven answer at his own pace.

"...When are you going to uh...do the face thing? And how different are you planning on making your new face?"

"Undecided. However, I would like to have it finished by the end of next month."

Arven sighed. "That's really soon."

"Would you like to accompany me to the Zero Lab when I craft it? It will take more than one journey there, but I would appreciate your input. I was envisioning a fuller face, but I can do little without a practical mock-up, and it would do me well to have your feedback."

The young man tilted his head back and sighed a second time, deeper than before. "You realize how weird that is, right? To be asked to design a new face for a guy who was literally built to be a copy of my father?" But before Arturo could answer, he continued. "I don't ever want to go back to Zero Lab. But you can video call me."

"Very well. Then I will." Arturo rested a hand on Arven's arm for a moment, a stiff gesture that would seem artificial if Arven didn't know how genuine it was. "I wish to resemble him still. My idea is to seem as though I am a relative of his, though that will not be what I tell others. However, it is what my internal through process is."

Overexplaining again. That would probably always be there, no matter how he looked, Arven thought. "I think I can live with that. No more pillowcases this time."

"I do not believe I will ever have any need for such things again. Other than on a pillow, of course. Tonight I intend to sleep in a bed for the first time!" Arturo smiled in that too-broad way. "I am looking forward to it.

"Yeah, it's pretty great." Arven paused for a moment, then flashed a thumbs up. "So we're gonna have to get everything spotless for you! Dust and vacuum and change the bedding and really make a home outta this place! And after that, whatever happens will happen."

"An excellent viewpoint. But for that to happen, we must be diligent in our task."

"Absolutely!" With that, Arven darted off towards the back.





That night, in a freshly scrubbed room, dusted and vacuumed and with the bedding cleaned and changed, Arturo experienced many firsts.

He took off his body suit for the first time without having the intention of maintenance or repair, carefully resting the garment aside to be cleaned later. With a cloth, he wiped away any dirt on his artificial skin, enjoying the strange texture of microfiber. Then he began to dress in human garments, selecting a satiny two piece pajama set that Turo had barely worn, delighting in the smoothness of it. The set had been a gift from Arven, and it felt only appropriate to wear such a thing on a special occasion such as this. Remembering Juliana's words, he also pulled on a pair of socks, though the specifics there didn't matter as much.

After a moment of sitting on the foot of the bed, simply taking in the new sensations of his new clothes, he laid back on the coverlet. There was still a streak across the ceiling, just a touch away from drying, and it would be gone in a few minutes, so he was grateful to have seen the fleeting sight. Beneath him, the fabric was soft and still warm from the dryer, a combination that the humans had been in great admiration of as they had pulled it from the machine. He could see why they appreciated it.

But humans didn't sleep atop the covers, at least not usually, so he finally settled underneath them. The sheets were old and worn but maintained that warmth. He spread his fingers out to take a full grasp of them, enjoying the unique feel.

And the pillowcase he had once used to conceal his face now rested in its proper place, encasing a thin pillow that would likely be somewhat stark by human standards, but to Arturo, it was the most comfortable surface in the world.

But what he enjoyed most, as he lay in the dark with his eyes closed, was what everything there represented. All that contributed to his surroundings was a part of something greater. It was clean because of his friends. It was quiet because the world could be peaceful. And the beautiful stillness of his surroundings had too many aspects going into it than he could possibly calculate.

It was what it was, to draw from what Arven had said.

And what it was, Arturo pondered as he drifted into sleep mode, safe and relaxed in a way he had never been before even in his happiest years, was wonderful.