Fandom The Reploid Factor (Lost Martian x Extra123)

[Lost Martian]

With bleary eyes, Tom Light scanned over his three monitors, once more going over the information showed. While the numbers had not changed in the last half hour, Tom still didn’t trust them. Perhaps it was due to a lack of sleep, of several days without sleep, that Tom felt like he couldn’t trust anything. He was on permanent edge, late night fears of Mavericks busting down the door to the lab and taking away Violet from him again.

The thought of Violet is what was keeping Tom going, her image burned into his frazzled mind. That portrait of beauty that hung within his mind was more effective than the many coffees that Tom had drank at pushing him forward. This project was the most important thing Tom had ever done with his life so he couldn’t screw it up.

Shaky hands would type on the keyboard, occasionally hitting the wrong key. Tom cursed the weaknesses of flesh as it required rest. But he refused to rest, as he was about to finish making something without said weakness. While Reploids had been created before, and in mass, Tom was attempting to do something new, to turn a human into a Reploid. He was going to recreate Violet, the most important person in his life.

Unfortunately there was almost nothing left of Violet after the Maverick attack, but Tom insisted that their bond was strong enough that he could recreate her from just memory. In his mind, Tom knew her perfectly. This project would result in Violet being reborn. Tom would have her back, a second chance to do things properly, to not waste anymore time.

As Tom’s eyes began to droop, an action that he had been fighting for quite awhile now, he heard a ding come from his computer. Whipping around in his ergonomic chair, one of the screens had changed to say that the upload was done completely. A shiver went through Tom’s body, as Violet was finally ready to be reborn.

With an excited energy overtaking him, Tom downed the rest of his last cup of coffee and stood up. Across the lab from his workstation, Tom had a pod, filled with a perfect replica of Violet in his mind. He would then take a moment to stare at his creation, taking in the happiness he was about to feel about having her back.

Eventually Tom would work up the nerve to actually walk over and awaken her. Tapping a few buttons on the side of the pod, Tom took a step back as the door of the pod opened, letting the air of the lab engulf the Violet Reploid. Each millisecond was an eternity for Tom, as he wondered if he had screwed up, if he had failed at bringing back Violet. The feeling caused by that thought was like someone crushing Tom’s organs and impaling him with blades all throughout his body. Tom could almost not bear the waiting as he stood there in front of the pod.

 

[Extra123]

Darkness. All that existed was a complete darkness. Within the darkness there was no sound. No warmth or cold. No knowledge existed. All that there was, was a comforting and silent darkness. How long this darkness lasted, the entity inside could not know. It may have been a millisecond. It could've been a millennium. Both seemed just as accurate in this existence without time.

But then, with the click of a few buttons... the darkness would end. The machine's eyes emitted a dull red light, indicating that its ocular systems were online. The machine blinked a few times as its eyes looked around the laboratory. The sterile white lab with numerous computers blinking and making blipping noises as they performed automated tasks that the reploid wouldn't be aware of the significance of until a future date.

Its eyes eventually settled to focusing on the person in front of it. Light blue hair, white lab coat, blue eyes with significant bags underneath, as though he hadn't slept for multiple days. The machine searched its databanks to make sense of this; and very quickly she learned the identity. Thomas Light IV. Designated as its creator. The machine began to speak once her vocalization systems turned online.

"Human-Series Reploid Prototype active. Unit Designation: Violet. Greetings Doctor Light." 'Violet' replies to the man before her. Her response had been automatic, pre-programmed to ensure that her voice box would be used as soon as possible so that if there were any glitches they would be detected immediately. However, there were no glitches, her voice coming out smoothly, diction being clear and proper. Yet, there was something clearly missing from her voice. That being emotion.

As the pod doors were opened, the machine felt compelled to get out of the pod. To explore more. It 'desired' (as much as a machine can desire, in any case) to fulfill is objectives which included helping people. A task that it could not fulfill while immobile within a pod. The machine stepped forward and came down from the pod... by falling down face first.

Right after landing on its face, its internal systems told it that its balance systems had come online. It appeared as though it began its movements too soon. Quickly it got back up. There was no damage to its systems, since it had been built with durability in mind. A minor fall would do less than negligible damage.

Now back on its feet, the reploid re-addressed Thomas Light IV. "What are my orders, Doctor Light?" The machine asks of its creator.

 

[Lost Martian]

Tom held his breath as a second began to pass without the replica of Violet doing anything. As anxiety seized his chest, Tom would then feel an insurmountable amount of relief when a red light turned on in the Reploid’s optics. That indicated that step one of the activation process had worked, that Tom was one step closer to having Violet back. The total feeling of anxiety would then quickly transform into total happiness at the sight of the Reploid in front of Tom blinking.

Tom would be almost giddy as the optics of the Violet Reploid would focus on him. In his mind he had perfectly replicated the gaze of Violet, the eyes in front of him being the same as those who would look across the table at him while eating lunch together back in university. It was something that Tom had missed greatly, as Violet had been a mainstay in his life until her death a few months back. But now she was reborn, the fruits of Tom’s labor yielding amazing results.

As the Reploid Violet announced her activation, Tom was both feeling positive and negative. The positive point was that it sounded exactly like the accent and cadence that the human Violet had possessed. The negative was that it was neutral in tone, lacking any of the human eccentricities that Violet has possessed when speaking to Tom before. The young scientist had expected this to happen, it was still unnerving, a flaw in his recreation.

Besides her vocalizations, Violet also seemed to test out her motor functions by stepping out of the pod, only to immediately lose balance and face plant. Tom instinctively rushed over to help her up, only for Violet to recover instantly, far faster than Tom could move. The Reploid would then shrug off the fall and instead ask for orders from its creator.

This would baffle Tom, the young scientist having no clue what to say. He had focused so much time on bringing Violet back that he had neglected to figure what exactly what he wanted to do with her when she was back. He was compelled to just tell her to live, to be reborn, but he figured that she wouldn’t understand that command, as it was hard to quantify. Instead Tom wanted to make sure that she was as much like the original as possible.

“Please Violet, call me Tom,” he said, “And the first thing I would like you do is to download all files related to Violet Estella on my server. You can access it with your wireless connection. Once you do that, please review every single file.”

Tom hoped that going over what made Violet, well Violet, that the Reploid recreation could become truly Violet. Tom would stop at nothing to have her back, and make things like they should of been.

Extra123

 

[Extra123]

"Updating glossary information: Doctor Light is to be referred to by the name 'Tom'. The glossary update is complete. Greetings, Tom." Violet says in response to the man's request that it calls him by the nickname rather than his official name. It wasn't quite an automatic response, but rather the machine's way of communicating that the order was understood and had been carried out by it.

Violet then looks at the man before it and nods its head. "Understood Tom. I shall begin the download." The machine states to the man, before closing its eyes to focus. After a few moments, Violet opens its eyes, which begin slowly going in circles in the manner that appears on someone's monitor when the system is downloading files or video games.

Then, after a few minutes, the eyes appear to become normalized. The reploid's face goes into a frown as it tries to comprehend all of the information which it had been recently exposed to after the download. Now it knew who Violet Estella had been, had the entirety of her life story stored in its databanks. Subsequently, the machine understood that it was also to become the next Violet, as the personality installation process began immediately after completing the information download.

Once the personality installation had completed, the reploid stood there in silent thought. Violet had the information from the files which Tom had filled out and coded for its use. But... it wasn't the same as fully being the original Violet Estella, and on some level the machine knew that it wasn't and would never be able to be her. However, it had a desire to fulfill its creator's desire. It chose to play the part it had been programmed to be.

The reploid walked up to Tom as he stood there nervous. The reploid smiled and pulled up the fingers on both of her hands, before placing the fingers on the edges of Tom's mouth. Violet then gently raised Tom's frown into a smile in almost the same way the original Violet would if she had felt that Tom had been bothered by something but wouldn't talk about it for whatever reason.

"There we are. A smile looks better on your face." It said to him. The same words the old Violet would say. The reploid then mimics the expression that Tom had been made to do, giving him a gentle smile. "Do you feel better now?"

 

[Lost Martian]

Even though it was with an emotionless voice, the young scientist was overjoyed to hear Violet refer to him as Tom again. The shortened version of his given name, he had always preferred to be called Tom, perhaps to differentiate himself from the Light family legacy. Violet had understood that, rarely bringing up Tom’s family name. It pleased Tom that this Violet would now do the same.

It pleased him even more when Violet began her download, optics spinning as she accessed the Light lab servers. Tom knew that this could take some time, so he went over to the nearly empty coffee pot. While his body was screaming at him to take a rest, to just close his eyes, he simply refused. Tom figured that he had just enough coffee left to take him till Violet was fully ready. He wanted to be present for this entire process, so he willed his eyelids open.

It was Tom sipped his new cup of coffee slowly, to make sure that he would have enough, Violet’s eyes returned to normal. Once more anxiety welled up into Tom’s stomach, worries of not being able to recreate Violet, crushing down on the core of Tom’s body. All his work had come to this, to see if you could bring back a human as a Reploid. If not, then all Tom would have accomplished is building another Reploid, having broken the law to do so.

Without consciously knowing, Tom had begun to frown. Instead all of his focus was on the Reploid in front of him, as she began walking toward him. Unsure of what she was doing, Tom was shocked when Violet put both of her hands on his face. The touch felt real, even with synthetic skin, as Violet raised Tom’s frown into a smile. The young scientist’s heart began to pump faster as Violet maintained the touch. The previous Violet had always done this when Tom was troubled, an act that just deepened Tom’s affection for her.

Tom’s face was blushed as Violet said her usual bit about a smile looking better. Besides being a familiar aspect of her personality, this Violet now spoke with the same cadence and emotion of the original. As she gave Tom a gentle smile, his stomach went up and down like a roller coaster. Though he was infinitely happy to have Violet back, he had worries in the back of his mind that he could lose her again.

Again doing something without thinking, tears began to form next to Tom’s eyes. It was only as they slid down his cheeks that Tom noticed them. Embarrassed at this sudden show of emotion, Tom raised the sleeve of his doctor’s jacket to wipe them away. While Violet had seen him cry before, it was not the ideal way that Tom had wanted this reunion to go.

“My apologies,” said Tom, “It must be my allergies.”

Tom realized that this was one of the dumbest lies he had ever told. And truthfully he felt like he didn’t need to hide things from Violet, but some kind of ancient form of masculinity from a bygone age was making him feel bad for tearing up. This confusion was not helping with the swirling mass of emotions that Tom was currently feeling.

Extra123

 

[Extra123]

As Tom gave his lame excuse, the easily disproven lie, about allergies, the reploid slowly removed their hands from the man's face as her head tilted to the side for a moment. This Violet didn't have the natural experience that a natural human would in interpreting the emotions of others, even having a natural empathy programmed wouldn't teach her how to see why someone is feeling a certain way. She tried to analyze Tom's face, to try and get why he was crying, so she could help.

The best idea that came to mind was giving him a hug. Violet intended for it to be a gentle hug, but Tom might have felt it to be somewhat tight regardless, due to the vastly enhanced strength of a reploid body that this one hadn't quite fully learned yet. Still, he is lucky she wasn't trying to help him by giving a tight hug, then he might have ended up with a snapped spine...

"It's okay Tom." Violet said to him in a gentle voice as she continued to hug the man. "I'm here now, so you don't have anything to worry about." The reploid adds, suspecting that part of his sadness had to do with the death of the original Violet. The machine lightly rubbed the man's back with its synthetic skin-covered hands to give him some comfort.

All the while, some internal thoughts were running through Violet's processing unit. Queries asking itself 'Would the real Violet be better at comforting him,' and 'Would it be helpful to promise him that this reploid wouldn't leave him again'. Could such a promise even be kept if it was what both of them desired?

It releases its arms from around the roboticist's sides and back, letting him go free. Violet gives a smile to the doctor. "Are you feeling better now? Or do you require a second round of smile help?" It asks him, referring to the prior act where it used its thumbs to make him smile. The doctor had responded positively to such an action at first, and it was an action which she used to pick him up all of the time in the past. While waiting for an answer, it looks into the doctor's eyes to see if he is still smiling or not, and that is when she notices the bags under his eyes along with some redness that stems not from tears but from lack of sleep.

"How long has it been since you last slept Tom?" The reploid asks the man, hands on its hips as it does so. It gives a quick glance at the cup of coffee he has before looking back at his face. "I know that you and Viole- I mean you and I have pulled off some all-nighters together, but that doesn't mean you should forego the sleep you need now."

The reploid gingerly takes the cup of coffee out of his hands and puts it down on a table. "Now go to bed. I'll make sure to wake you if anything goes wrong with me." It adds, knowing that he might be a bit worried that his latest project might, itself, might go haywire.

 

[Lost Martian]

As embarrassment washed over Tom, he tried his best to end the tears. He had thought that when this event happened that he would be able to control himself, that he would just be happy, a smile on his face. And yet Violet had to force a smile on his face, as Tom couldn’t currently control his emotions.

Violet then removed her hands from Tom’s face, her head tilting in an unnatural way, once more reminding him that this was a recreation of her. But that was better than nothing, as Tom just wanted Violet back in any capacity. But before he could think too long about that, Violet stepped forward and embraced him, putting him into a very tight hug. While the strength of the embrace was uncomfortable, just the contact with Violet was enough to cause Tom to well up with tears again. This embrace was all that he had wanted.

Violet then surprised Tom by offering soothing statements as she held him. This was something the original Violet had done a few times, in moments of weakness for Tom. He had always had an emotional up while around her, afraid to show his true feelings. But with this Reploid Violet, Tom couldn’t help but let his feelings flow out of him. It was an odd experience for the normally stoic scientist.

“Thank you,” Tom muttered at a volume so low that it was barely audible.

Violet would eventually release Tom from the tight embrace, inquiring if he felt better. Truthfully, while he still had some tears, he did actually feel better. The last several months since the Maverick attack on Cain Industries had been exceptionally hard for Tom, as he lost the most important person in his life. But now he had her back and she was already making things better for him.

To further emphasize that point, Violet would insist that Tom get some sleep. It was only as she mentioned this, that Tom once more felt the weight of going days without sleep. It was only through sheer force of will that he hadn’t collapsed on the floor of the lab. A quick glance at the table showed that the coffee pot was now empty, as was the cup in his hand. While Tom could always make more, his body was protesting any movement besides laying down.

Violet would then take the empty cup from Tom’s hands and put it next to the empty pot. She then instructed Tom to go to bed. The manner in which she did so was exactly like how the original Violet would have, which did bring another smile to Tom’s face.

“Very well,” said Tom while stifling a yawn, “I’ll sleep. But please alert me to any and all problems you might have. I’ll just be right upstairs.”

Tom would then depart his lab, heading up the stairs out of his basement and into his house proper. It was only a few steps past the stairs to his modest sized bedroom, with his modest sized bed. As soon as Tom entered the room he would collapse onto his bed, the weight of the last few days dropping him like a sack of potatoes. It would only take a minute for darkness to consume his mind as he fell asleep on the soft mattress.

Extra123

 

[Extra123]

"You are welcome." Violet almost instantly says when Tom mutters his 'thank you' at a barely audible level. As a normal human being the original Violet wouldn't have been able to hear his words well enough to respond to them, even if she could hear that he had said something. However, as a reploid, this Violet had enhanced hearing capabilities, and as such was more than capable of hearing the speech of others.

As Tom smiles at Violet, both with regards to the smile the reploid provided as well as the way they recommend he go to bed, they smile back. But it is different, a bit of a fuller smile in response to his smiles. Violet's smiles feel more real to the ones provided earlier, more 'natural', rather than forced to fit into the Violet the reploid was designed to imitate.

"Understood Tom, sleep well." The machine says as he declares that he'll be upstairs. As he walks upstairs, Violet watches him and gives a wave goodbye with another unnatural smile. Then, when he is out of site, the smile drops to a neutral expression, and Violet's hands droop down back to its sides.

The machine, having no orders to follow and no Tom to put on the 'Violet' persona for, stands there motionlessly as it thinks to itself for a bit. It understands its situation quite well; it has access to all of the data on a late Violet Estrella, has a similar personality programmed into it, and is designed to exist in her place. The machine cannot claim that this is a bad situation, it enjoys (or at least its emotional processes send positive reinforcement signals during their interaction) his presence. The Violet reploid is certain that it can keep mimicking the Violet human and effectively 'be' her. It even has her self identity programmed in as part of its personality.

Despite this all, it didn't feel right. An emotion its sensors described as 'guilt' already began to course through its thoughts. Violet understood that as much as it was a version of Violet Estrella, it wasn't THE Violet Estrella that Tom was looking for. Was it okay to continue playing this role when it was performance for a man who missed his best friend and wanted her back (ironically, having such moral qualms would make it more like the original Violet than it would realize)? But if it wasn't okay, could Violet even play any other role when it has the original Violet's personality and life synopsis both programmed into its very code?

Unable to come to a conclusion, the machine enters sleep mode in order to perform automative internal system checks that needed to be run but hadn't had the time to since it woke up. Checks to ensure that all of the internal coding was working properly, that all of the internal gears and bolts were all functional and capable of their designated tasks.

Additionally, it was one of only two ways the machine had authorization to pass the time (having been programmed to not do certain actions like leaving the building without permission in order to avoid the risk of being lost yet again). The other option, watching Tom sleep, was determined to be 'too creepy'.

 

[Lost Martian]

Tom would continue to sleep for several more hours, his face almost fully squished into a pillow. Without an alarm set, Tom remained plopped down on his bed for far longer than he usually did, the pressures of the last few days without sleep keeping him down for the count. Eventually though he would wake up, finding that he had drooled a little in his sleep as he raised his head off the pillow.

Initially fuzzy on what was going on, Tom at least recognized his bedroom. Rolling off his top sheet, which he hadn’t even bothered to pull down before sleeping, Tom was still so tired that he was moving on autopilot. Puzzled that he was in his full lab gear, Tom reached over to turn on the holo-vid setup he had on his nightstand. Defaulting to a news broadcast, Tom didn’t really pay it any heed at first.

That was until bright flames took up the holo-display. The destruction caught on video immediately drew Tom’s attention, as his brain worked in overdrive to fully awaken and be present for whatever is happening. Tom’s droopy eyes would focus on the holo-display, a headline on the screen simply saying Maverick attack on the capital.

Images of people running away from a burning transit station, several of them bleeding, would be shown on repeat. Tom immediately wondered where exactly in the capital this was, as his current residence was on the outskirts of the same city. Eventually the feed would cut to a feed of a Human reporter, clearly a few blocks away from whatever was happening.

“Reports are streaming in of a Maverick attack on the western transit junction,” stated the reporter, “Apparently using unknown technology taken from the raid on Kline Army Base almost a year ago, one or possibly more Mavericks would board the train, riding it till it was at max capacity. They then set off some kind of bomb, killing an unknown amount of people, and injuring many more.”

As the news about the Mavericks was fully taken in by Tom, he finally achieved mental clarity and thought of Violet. He then immediately shut off the holo-vid display and ran back down to his lab. What he had seen had been terrible, and right now he just wanted to forget about it. Perhaps seeing Violet smile again would help with that.

However Tom would find Violet in a neutral position, standing with a blank look on her face. Realizing that she was in sleep mode, Tom’s immediate thought was to awaken her. But he then wondered if he would do the same thing if she was the original Violet.

However Tom’s needs would win out as he said, “Exit sleep mode Violet.”

Tom also wondered if he was selfish to bring another Reploid into a world that feared them for the actions of the few Mavericks. There had been a lot of rhetoric about Reploids following the attack on Cain Industries that claimed the original Violet, and Tom could just imagine how much more there would be now.

Extra123

 

[Extra123]

'Exit sleep mode Violet.' Those were the words which brought the reploid back to reality, after it had entered sleep mode hours ago. Upon awakening as a result of the command, a command it had been built in to respond to all of the time, eyes darted back and forth in an attempt to understand how long sleep mode had been activated for, not realizing that the internal clock would provide such information immediately.

After taking this moment to regain its bearings, the reploid internally reviews the system check which had been running in the background during the sleep mode... All systems seemed to be functioning at peak efficiency. This seemed to be good, as it indicated that there would be no need for further repairs to be made on the reploid. Looking at Tom, the reploid spoke.

"Good morning Tom! How did you sleep last afternoon?" Violet asks, since the man's rest did begin in the afternoon due to how exhausted he was and continued on until much further into today. "I ran some internal diagnostics while you were asleep, and all of my functions are up to standards." She adds for him.

Upon stating this with a smile, the reploid looks at the man closer. Slowly, Violet's face goes to a neutral position as its eyes narrow in concern looking at Tom. While the reploid's creator looked healthier and well rested, his face shows concern on it regarding both the reploid attacks as well as his moral qualms about having built this Violet. While it doesn't fully understand the reasoning, Violet did at least know he was bothered.

"What's wrong Tom?" Violet asks the man, approaching him slowly. "I can tell from your eyes and pulse that something is causing you increased stress. You can tell me what it is."

After a moment, thinking that perhaps his issue is worry about Violet's status, the machine adds on. "You don't need to worry about me. My body is much more durable than the body of the previous Violet. I won't be destroyed easily."

Violet's eyes widen as it gives the statement, and quickly begins to shake its head. "I meant my previous body! I am Violet. I am Violet." The machine repeats, having realized the error it made. It is supposed to be Violet Estrella. Making a verbal reference to Violet Estrella as 'the previous Violet' went against its core reason for existing.

 

[Lost Martian]

Some of the pressure that Tom was experiencing after seeing the news was alleviated as Violet opened her eyes. The gaze she had as she looked at Tom was enough for him to temporarily forget that this wasn’t the original Violet, that she hadn’t been killed. Instead she was right here in front of him, asking him how he slept. It was a perfectly normal conversation, one that was helping ground Tom as he was still reeling from the breaking news on the holo-net.

However what through Tom off was Violet mentioning her internal diagnostics. It was a simple reminder that she was a Reploid, a being who was hated more and more with each Maverick attack. All Tom wanted to do was wrap his arms around Violet and promise her that she would never be hurt again, that he would do anything to protect her. Without knowing it a frown would form on Tom’s face.

With her advanced systems as a Reploid, Violet noticed his raised pulse and asked him what was wrong. Tom was unsure if he should tell her what he had just seen, as it would be undue to burden someone just created with that kind of news. Perhaps keeping Violet in the dark would be best for her. Tom figured that he alone could carry the burden of this increasingly more dangerous world.

However Violet seemed to want to press the issue, insisting that she would be good as her body was stronger than that of the first Violet. The mention of a first Violet stung Tom’s heart as it brought back memories of the day of the attack on Cain Industries. There was no escaping the fact that Tom had lost Violet and that this was a recreation. But Tom decided that he didn’t care, that it was good enough to have some form of Violet back.

What did surprise Tom was how fast Violet back pedaled on the mention of an original. With a fluster not commonly seen in a Reploid, Violet recanted her previous statement and said it was her previous body as she was the same Violet. Tom wondered how much of that was Violet trying to not hurt his feelings and how much was programming. Tom had done his best to recreate Violet while keeping in some basic rules, but hadn’t done anything like putting in an infatuation program. If anything developed between him and Violet, Tom wanted it to happen naturally.

As such Tom decided to treat Violet the same way he would’ve treated the original. That meant coming clean about the situation in the city, as they never really kept anything from each other. Tom would then put a reassuring hand on Violet’s shoulder.

“It’s not anything you’ve done Violet,” Tom explained, “But it was a news program I saw. There was an attack on the capital. They’re saying that it was Mavericks. Apparently it’s pretty bad. But we should be safe here. I mean, I’ll keep us safe here.”

Tom really hoped that he hadn’t alarmed Violet, as this was a lot to dump on a person who had existed for less than a day. But if Violet was to become a part of society, a step Tom did want to get to eventually, then she would have to be aware of what was going on in the world. She couldn’t just remain oblivious, standing here in Tom’s basement. Tom owed Violet much better than that.

Extra123

 

[Extra123]

'I am Violet Estrella. I am Violet Estrella. I am Violet Estrella...' This thought repeatedly echoed inside of the reploid's head after it had to make the correction earlier. While part of this was the basic programming regarding its self-identity, another part of this looping thought pattern was psychological. Violet desired to make the people around it happy, and to its understanding people would be happy if 'she' is Violet Estrella rather than new reploid Violet. Ergo, it kept attempting to fix the error and make sure it stayed as Violet Estrella.

This thought pattern ends abruptly when Tom initiates physical contact with the machine, effectively snapping it out of the thought spiral it had been going down at the time. The reploid looks at him and shakes its head to refocus itself on the conversation that they had been having before it needed to make the identity correction. They had been talking about why Tom had seemed bothered. Such a news story certainly explains it. Violet frowns slightly as Tom puts a reassuring hand on its shoulder.

"I'm sorry Tom. I know you don't like hearing about such events. Especially after..." Violet stops, referencing Violet Estrella's death, but also deciding to avoid bringing it up despite being important to the topic at hand. Instead, the machine shakes its head, the allusion being enough.

"However, you don't need to worry. My sensors indicate that I have been built with military reploid specifications, if not beyond that. We will be safe; in fact, I should be the one protecting you. Not the other way around." Violet does think, additionally, that Tom could probably restore it if need be, so long as the memory chip and personality chip remained. However, bringing it up right now was deemed highly unempathetic, so no such words were uttered.

"But that is besides the point." Violet says in a serious matter, putting a hand on its hip. "You know that it isn't good for you to stay cooped up in a lab all week. We went on daily walks not just because it was pretty out, but for our health as well. As such I won't let you stay here all day." The reploid declares in an authoritative manner that brooks no argument from Tom on said subject.

It then tilts its head to the side in thought. Violet then brings up an idea. "Speaking of, I have no data programmed into me about the lay of the nearby land. Perhaps you can show me around the town."

Afterwards, with a gentle smile, the machine continues. "Maybe, if we have fun, we can go on daily walks around town. Just like old time, right Tom? I think I would like it, and my files indicate that you enjoyed such as well way back when at the very least. Don't worry about safety, as indicated before, I should be able to protect the both of us if need be."

 

[Lost Martian]

Tom felt a little bad about Violet being the one worrying about him in regard to the Maverick attack. She was the Reploid in this situation and thus at more risk of the public turning against her. In Tom’s mind she was still the frail girl that he wanted to protect, someone who Tom needed to shield from the dangers of the world. But then Violet brought up the fact that she was made of military grade parts.

While it was true that Tom had designed Violet with those type of parts, it wasn’t so that she could fight. If Tom had his way, this new Violet would never see any of the threats or evils that were out there. He had only picked those parts because they would help ensure that no harm ever came to Violet.

Tom was then disturbed when Violet said she should be protecting him. That was something he hadn’t planned for the Reploid to do. However, she did now have all of Violet’s files in her, and it was the kind of thing that the original Violet would have said. While it wasn’t what he wanted to hear, it was what he wanted to happen. This Reploid was supposed to be Violet completely, meaning all the things Tom loved, and all the things that got on his nerves.

However more of these positive traits came out when Violet commanded Tom to get out of the lab and go for a walk. The tone she used was exactly the same as the one Tom had seared into his mind ever since he first met Violet. She was always looking out for him, pushing him to do better. Violet always seemed to see the best in people and would encourage them to live their best lives.

It was true that Tom hadn’t left his house in about four days, most of that time spent basking in the glow of the computer monitors in an otherwise dark basement lab. Tom knew that it would do him good to set foot outdoors, something he was much more inclined to do if he had Violet by his side.

Violet then revealed that she had no file on the area around Tom’s house, the young scientist realizing that he had forgotten to have her download map data for the capital city. However, rather forcing her to do another download, Tom decided to go with Violet’s suggestion of having him show her around his neck of the woods.

Ever since meeting Violet in university, Tom and her had gone on a walk together almost every single day. Sometimes it would be brief, like around campus, or sometimes they would enjoy each others company enough to not realize they were now on the other side of the city. It was a tradition that Tom greatly missed, so he was overjoyed that Violet had recommended starting again. The only thing that bugged him was her mentioning protecting him again.

“Hopefully that won’t be an issue,” Tom said quietly, before raising the volume of his speech, “But a walk sounds great. Perhaps we can go to the corner store that had your favorite ice cream? You do remember your favorite flavor?”

Tom was pretty sure that he had included that in the files she had already downloaded, but he just felt like making sure. He had sworn to do everything he could to replicate Violet, to return her completely to existence.

“Anyways, let’s get going,” Tom said.

He then led Violet up the stairs out of the lab and onto the main floor. While Tom’s house had become very messy ever since Violet’s death, he ignored it as he now had Violet with him again. Tom then led the Reploid to the front door, pulling it open. As he did so, the rays of a midday sun burst into the house, temporarily blinding Tom.

It would only take a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, now able to see his driveway and the few houses that were nearby. Tom would then turn and offer his hand to Violet, ready to bring her out into the wider world. Tom wanted to guide her back into the life she had before, the one he wanted to share with her.

Extra123

 

[Extra123]

As the young man quietly stated that he hoped protection wouldn't be an issue, Violet couldn't disagree with him. As such, the reploid's head nodded lightly when its auditory functions had received and interpreted this message from Tom. Additionally, the idea of herself being part of the danger by scaring the likely worried townspeople never entered its thought processes. "Yeah. I hope that there won't be any danger either, especially since it'd mean having to hurt them in order to stop them. But you said that we'll be safe here, so we'll be safe here. You wouldn't have made that statement if you weren't sure after all."

The idea of visiting the corner store for ice cream did bring up some questions regarding the advancements of reploids in the timespan between Violet Estrella's death and the Violet bot's building. After all, last she could remember, there hadn't been any reason to create pseudo-digestive systems for the machines, nor taste-buds for that matter, after all it was more efficient to have them just plug in or get oil to power them. Perhaps Tom made these developments just for her? How sweet.

"My favorite flavor was mint chocolate chip ice cream, if my memory system isn't failing already. After all, why not go for cool mint if I'm already having something cold to consume?" She asks, shrugging her shoulders.

When the duo walked up the stairs, Violet finally gets to glimpse more of the house than just the basement laboratory. It was certainly in disarray, causing the reploid to stop for a bit and just look around, rather than immediately following Tom to and out the door. While the reploid didn't have explicit memories of how his home had been, it did have context clues. Considering that the original Violet made sure to drag Tom out for walks and told him off for his bad sleep habits, if he had neglected to take care of his home, she would've said something. But no such arguments were in her memory, indicating that his home had been in decent shape when the original Violet was still alive.

But now it was a pigsty of depression.

Violet considers giving him a lecture on cleanliness, mouth opening slightly, before its empathy chip prevents such statements from being uttered. He had been depressed and focused on his work. Work which brought the machine into 'life', at least as far as robotic life is considered life. A more empathetic approach would be best, and as such she instead chooses to VERY GENTLY pat Tom's back.

"Let's get going. And when we get back, I think a late spring-cleaning session would be in order. After all, a messy home is indicative of a messy psyche, and we don't want that now. Plus, do you think a lady should be living in such a place?" Violet asks, the last part clearly being jocular based on its tone of voice. The real Violet knew she wasn't a prim and proper lady, being more of an energetic girl with a bit of tomboyishness sprinkled in-between.

Seeing Tom's hand after it had said this, the reploid hesitates. It knows that the real Violet and Tom would've walked hand in hand frequently. But at the same time, imposter syndrome crept up in its mind. It wasn't the real Violet and as such this role wasn't for her.

No. It was Violet. It wasn't. It was. It wasn't. It waswasn'twaswasn'twaswasn't-

The sound of wind blowing shook the thoughts out of its mind. And the machine resumed its previous actions, taking Tom's hand, ready to engage in their (soon to be daily) stroll through the neighborhood.

 

[Lost Martian]

Tom was surprised to hear Violet’s mention of hurting people to stop them from being a threat. It was far more aggressive than he remembered the original Violet being, the thought that he had got the personality wrong triggering some stress in Tom’s mind. However he was able to file it away deep in his psyche, as Violet quickly moved on from the topic.

Tom felt more relief when Violet was able to recall her favorite flavor of ice cream. There had been many a time in the past where Tom and Violet had enjoyed an ice cream cone each from the corner store. To this day Tom still didn’t understand how she liked mint chocolate chip, as he hated the taste of mint. Violet would then give a partial explanation of why she liked mint flavor, a statement the original Violet had mentioned several times to Tom. It was a common enough occurrence that Tom had made sure to include it in his files for shaping the Reploid.

As the pair headed upstairs, Tom didn’t notice Violet stop to examine the ramshackle placement of things on the main floor. In truth, Tom had committed the last several months to recreating Violet, causing every other part of his life to suffer. The messy, chaotic state of his house wasn’t even the worst bit, as he had neglected work, blowing through all of his sick days to stay home and finish his important project.

Tom then felt a pat on is back, turning to see what Violet wanted. The Reploid then suggested cleaning the house after the walk. Tom had planned to completely clean his house before he activated Violet, as he wanted everything to be perfect, but in his excitement he had activated her as soon as she was ready. Tom’s cheeks flushed red as he realized how pitiful he looked to someone looking at his house from the outside.

When Violet mentioned that it wasn’t a proper place for a lady to be living, Tom’s cheeks flushed a darker red. While Tom had always intended for the Reploid Violet to live with him, her stating as such was still odd to him. While the original Violet had come to Tom’s house plenty of times, at the end of the day she always returned to her downtown apartment. It was a dream for Tom and Violet to live together, something he wanted but was always afraid to ask, until it was too late. But now Tom had a second chance, and he would put things right with Violet.

“Yeah I’m sorry about the house,” muttered Tom, “Things have been overwhelming for awhile.”

But the sight of sunshine improved Tom’s mood as he offered his hand to Violet. The young scientist would ignore the slight pause before the Reploid took his hand, the two of them exiting Tom’s townhouse. Based on the location of the sun, Tom guessed that it was a little past noon, though the exact passage of time was hard for him to figure out given the odd hours he had been keeping.

“I don’t know if you remember, but the corner store is about two blocks north of here,” stated Tom.

As Tom spoke, he also checked his pockets to make sure he had his wallet. Given how absent minded he could be, he had forgotten it before, meaning he and Violet would have to turn around, get money, and then walk back to the store. It was always a little embarrassing when that happened, so Tom was glad that wouldn’t be one of the new Violet’s first memories of him.

In fact all Tom was trying to do was make these first few memories of the new existence of Violet special. For example, getting her favorite ice cream. While Tom himself was a big fan of double chocolate ice cream, he wasn’t currently hungry. Those basic human needs were being pushed to the side by Tom, as he was fulfilled just by having Violet around. Her presence was more than enough to sustain the young scientist.

Extra123

 

[Extra123]

Violet-bot hadn't meant the idea of hurting others to be taken in an aggressive way. Its statement was in fact that it did not want to hurt others, which is why it hoped no threats would come to the duo. However, it was also a fact that the original Violet wouldn't have made such a statement regardless. She would've brought up fleeing (with Tom in her arms to carry him away, if she had the upgrades that the robot has) as a means to avoid confrontation. The robot couldn't help such inclinations however, having been built to military standards and having such training built into her made such instincts easier to activate.

But that is besides the point. The point now, is the cute blushing face Tom has, and not cute in the romantic way. Just in the 'teasing a friend' way. While the robot did intend to comment about things being overwhelming for him with Violet's death and rebuilding, it had to bring up his response to the mention it made about staying with him in the house. As such, a cheshire cat-like grin sprouts on the face that once belonged to the original Violet.

"Are you getting a bit of a blush about having a lady in your home?" The machine asks teasingly, before easing up. "Don't worry too much, just think of me as a roommate or having your best friend over all of the time."

"Did you not consider where I would stay after being rebuilt? I'd think that most of my assets would've been distributed as to Violet's wi- My! My will. So I won't have anywhere to go except your place. It'll be like a sleepover, except we're adults, and I recharge instead of sleeping." She then adds on, trying to be a bit more chipper to contrast the heavier talk that she will be saying soon.

"But since I brought up wills, I need to ask if you read the last letter written by me. It was mentioned in my memory banks, but the details of what was said on it wasn't included. It might be that you don't want me to have the memories of it, and I accept that judgment. But I think you should read anything sh-I left for you." Violet adds, somberly.

Then, seeing that all of this has brought the mood down, forces a smile, takes Tom by the hand, and walks with him to the corner store they were going for. Seeing him check his pockets, she comments to him. "I hope you have enough to pay for both of us, because it's no fun to eat alone!"

That and the machine could tell that Tom had lost at least some weight, likely in his efforts to create it as well as depression. While the motherly comments about what's good for his health might influence Tom in some ways, making this one be just a 'fun thing' might make him more likely to go for it. Day by day they'll improve rather than all at once. Just like how Violet helped become Tom's friend before.