Protogen Adventures!

Chapter 1: Jolt the Explorer

A soft sigh emanated from the Protogen as he boarded the small ship, glancing around the dimly lit interior. The only source of light came from a large panel directly to his left with a computer screen above it. A large shadow was cast on the opposite wall due to the chair placed in front of them, a large opening placed at the back of the chair which was at waist height.. Both of them gave off a soft green glow while he padded to the console, his steps causing a metallic echo to reverberate through the room before he paused in front of the chair. He grabbed his shark tail with both paws before awkwardly sticking his butt out, struggling to slide his tail through the hole while not falling onto the glowing console. After a bit of wiggling, the metallic fin slipped through the back of the chair before the Protogen sat down with a sigh of relief. He wiggled slightly in the chair before sitting up as he stared up at the screen in front of him. The display showed the area in front of the ship through a live video feed, his nanite visor shifting the displayed lips into a smile as he watched the engineers scurrying from station to station to finish the pre flight checks. He sat back slightly and relaxed as he waited for his cue to leave, his mind shifting back to the small surprise party for him just before he stepped onto the ship.

He had been relaxing in the small chamber he had gotten to call his room tucked away within one of the many corridors of  the R&D section, enjoying the small gift he had been given by one of the many scientists studying his body. He had originally been given the designation 37-B, one of the first in a line of Protogen meant specifically for controlling of electrical components. Similar to some of the extremely basic AI used long ago to control various items within a home, he was meant to be a control center for administrative and private services. A sort of secretary/servant to help ease the use of various equipment while still keeping the primary functions for exploration so he would still be usable on frontiers where there the amenities were often less than stable. However, he had a glitch within his system due to the electrical energy needed to properly run and control the various systems he was created to manage. The glitch caused an electrical buildup within his body that would be released erratically, causing sparks to fly from his body uncontrollably and at random. The sparks weren’t dangerous for the most part with the exception of certain electronics, being an extremely low level shock akin to the regular static buildup of fabric rubbing together.

This led to several occurrences where the scientists studying 37-B would often shock themselves when they had forgotten that crucial fact, leading to him eventually gaining the nickname of Jolt and the creation of a ritual that garnered a lot of laughs from the staff tasked with studying him. Whenever a new scientist was swapped into the team, often to give one of the others time to relax, they were brought to meet Jolt and encouraged to shake his hand to foster friendship and ease of study. This led to an electric shock and several laughs from the scientist and even from Jolt himself who enjoyed making them laugh. As almost a full year passed, many of the scientists within the R&D department had spent time with the lovable Protogen and he had even gained a small fan base that had rallied support for a surprise to top nearly everything that had happened till now. Often the Protogen got to watch several others left to go on exploration while he stayed behind for more testing, often expressing slight melancholy at the situation and providing the perfect opportunity for the staff.. It took several days and lots of planning and bullheaded determination before they were ready, calling the fluffy Protogen to a conference room for more ‘psychological testing’.

The halls were surprisingly quiet as he padded down the hall, a metallic echo emanating with each footfall as he made his way over to the conference room. He wasn’t a fan of psychological testing but they made it enjoyable for him, often sliding donuts his way which he enjoyed immensely. He stopped in front of a door with several identical doors on each side before stepping inside without hesitation. His visor brightened when he found himself in a dark, giving a soft yellow glow to light the room before the lights were turned on. His vision was blinded for a moment as his visor darkened to adjust, hearing a raucous cheer begin as he suddenly found himself on the opposite side of most of the research staff with a large cake at the center. The cake was placed on top of the large table within the conference room, colored in the same scheme as the Protogen they were surprising. After the initial shock, his visor shifted to one with a joyful grin, the Protogen immediately taking the nearest scientists into his arms for a tight hug before they commence the festivities.