Imperium

Chapter 1: Split Souls

Running diagnostic on internal systems. . .

No perception impairments detected.
Pain receptors: deactivated.
Sustenance necessity: deactivated.
Sleep necessity: deactivated.
Intellectual processing: activated.
Emotional processing: activated.
Emotional Power Core of CL-3585 percentage: 74%. Nominal damage taken.

Diagnostic complete. All systems fully operational. Rebooting now. . .

Colin slowly opens his eyes to see a grey sky looming overhead. Cold drops of rain fall from above and land on his face and clothes. He waits for a moment to let his systems finish restoring power to allow him to move his limbs with ease.

He pushes his arm under him and rolls to the side, supporting his weight on his forearm. He looks around and scans his surroundings. He is in some kind of alleyway with damp concrete pavement and tall stone buildings walling the sidelines. At the end of the alley is a chain-link fence gate that's open ajar. On the other side of the gate is a street with cars of all colors zipping past, honking and flashing lights. It's a strange sight.

He turns his attention to a detected heat source a few meters down the alley and he stands up, rushing over and kneeling at Edith's side. He scans his eyes over her. She is still breathing. She has taken no physical damage that he can detect. She may have taken damage to her mental state. He detects a slight increase in her body temperature which could indicate a fever. He then scans her EPC.

Emotional Power Core of ES-6248 has taken critical damage. Percentage: 7%.
S.R.L requires approximately 1 week of restoration before taking any more psychological damage.

He sighs and leans back, staring at her face. He feels as his emotions rise. His guilt and longing. His love. It's all so hard to keep up with. He knows that the moment she sees him, her emotions are going to spike again. He needs to coordinate a plan to prevent her from lashing out and causing any more damage to her EPC.

He narrows his eyes at her as he thinks. He runs through what he has saved in his memory banks and begins processing each that involved situations where her EPC had taken damage.

(I dropped to her side, keeping a hand on her back. "Edith? Doll? What's wrong?" I asked.

Edith gasped for breath. "My... my heart! I... I don't know what's happening!" she cried.

"Your heart?" I gasped and grabbed her shoulder tight, trying to hold her still. "Just breathe, Edith! Please! Just calm down!" I shouted.)

He shakes his head. Not that one. He had only managed to calm her down then because she was willing to trust him and breathe. A more extreme memory might be required to revisit. He keeps searching.

(IC-4721 slashed the blade into my leg and I grunted, sucking in breath and exhaling with a low shudder as my leg began to spark from a damaged circuit.

"CLIVE!" Edith screamed. I looked at her with distant eyes and forced a painful smile.

"...Just breathe, doll. Please..." I said, shutting my eyes tight as I was met with another brutal impact on my stomach.)

Edith was far too distraught to even listen to what he was saying back then. Anything he said only made it worse because she knew the pain he was in. He had suppressed it for her sake, which may have facilitated the situation, but it didn't stop it. That could be a potential place to start. One more memory should be all it takes to strategize a plan.

(I watched her sob, wrapping her arms around herself and covering her face. "...Do you have a heartbeat?" I asked and broke the silence.

Edith slowly opened her eyes and looked at me. She stared at me in question. "...what?" she asked.