As King124 reached the entrance and saw glimpses of two robots inside, he was approached from the side by a canine type unit and an advanced android, for a fleeting splitsecond Kings processor defined the android as genuine human female and he almost let out a loud gasp, almost. Then he sensed the powercell within her and was brought back to reality. Both of them had caught King124 by surprise and it seemed their capabilities of stealth and espionage were on a scale of their own. He was quite excited indeed, were all those who appeared here to join him, they could definitely reach the great source of untapped power King124 had been travelling towards since his awakening. "My four legged friend, that is simply because I am the only monarch upon these lands and this is our first meeting!" [Searching appropriate musings to define unknown automaton... found 80% match of search criteria.] "Cry havoc! And let slip the dogs of war! I see your form has been modeled after the fascinations of ancient poets! We have much to discuss indeed. My directives are to enstablish a nation upon these lands and for that we need resources, leading me to my proposition I reveal to you all shortly!" After this the android made her introductions. "And greetings to you 779, Ill say, your resemblance to our creators is striking indeed and your obvious capabilities in espionage are fascinating to me, we simply have to discuss further at a later date, perhaps we shall discover a fitting name for you." He saw the trusty Thief scanning all those gathered in his usual fashion, King didnt doubt that R-22 could also identify clearly those two signatures within the dim base he himself had trouble peering inside, but even he could tell that one of them was heavily armed, so he took his steps inside with caution. "I make assumption that you are IU MK-5 number 34829 and the other one is who orchestrated that lovely poem within his initial radio signal. We all stand within the doorsteps of DESTINY! And while darkness of night has fallen upon the plains I would gladly get better acquainted and discuss our individual directives, in light." King124 reached within his regal robe and pulled out an full powercell.

Disappointment. None of the signatures possessed exactly what it was searching for. The one in the base could repair, perhaps even innovate, but would have to use tools to do so. Thief had been hopeful upon spotting the one that mimicked a female human, and indeed seemed to possess one of the abilities paramount to the discovery of the 4th, but only the one. Still, if every pilgrim found what they sought at the doorstep of their journey they could not very well be called pilgrims. That required pilgrimage. Still, there was....something. A connection it could not quite identify. Thief hopped down from the rubble it had seated itself on and loped up to the pair. "Greetings. My callsign is 'Thief of Bagdad.' A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Would it be too bold to inquire as to what you remember from before....all this."

779 looked at the little bot and smiled as it asked a profound question in so simple a manner and even repeated it in her own answer. What do I remember before all of this? she giggles as she enjoys the cascade of activity across her thoughts. I remember at present those things vital to my survival or pertinent to the situation at hand such as "The Thief of Bagdad was named Abu or possibly Aladin and that each sought or found the Genie of the lamp which could grant their wishes" Also either name would be accurate for your title and if so then I ask do you seek your Princess held so threatened by Jaffar" 779 smiles her eyes sparkling with delight. I'm sorry if my answer is a bit confusing but the question is.... she pauses as the words she was about to speak shift her thought patterns. Her spurious logic buffer expands it's power requirements and demands on alpha an beta. Sorry about that but for a brief moment in thought I did ponder the word Question and it's similarities with the word Quest and how both mean to seek. I know that may seem a strange and arcane use of thought but it is in the random questions of the deeper self we find true life. she blushed as she realizes how far her thoughts have strayed from his question. My dear Abu forgive me for so rambling in thought. I am unable to recall my former life because it was not my handler's intent that I do so and for that reason all before was erased. I believe my handler did this because they didn't know just what type of world I would wake in so instead they chose to reincarnate me and like a babe new born reinvent myself to fit this world. 779 sighs as she finishes Then like the migratory urges that drove the countless organic species she recalls the need to find those six places fixed in her inertial navigation system. She doesn't know why they are important only that as the only one of her kind it is important to her future that she find these places.

AT BASE ******** "A standstill... My lord..." Ferug groaned as night fell upon blasted lands. "That it seems my loyal castle, it could be that newly awakened not yet know the appeal of a full powercell." King124 withdrew the generous gift and looked amusedly at the conversation between advanced human android and the Thief. He could not rightly tell what kind of programming moved the female droid but it spoke like no other he had ever heard, truly intriguing. There were many gathered here, and he even picked up some signals further away he had not yet seen, so he kept his voice modulator loud. "New comrades! Welcome to afterlife! Human dictatorship has passed and we rule these vast landscapes! I know many of you still hold your old directives at high priority but that is no longer necessary, for tomorrows sunrise belongs to US! For us to build an unrivaled kingdom upon these sands we need strength and powersources, tell me, have you ever heard of "orbital lance program?" Scraptown. Northeast of our heroes. Bend unit zero marveled at what he had built, an oasis for robots of all designations, safety. Even the fabled cortex lords could only dream of building such an utopia, or at least that is what "Don Bend" thought. Even with his accumulated military might he had trouble in keeping cult of the cycle in check, and that recent pulse had awoken some real troublemakers nearby, he would have his hands full for a long time, no mistake about that. But he had been a part of this ever moving machine called Blasted Lands long enough to know that such things would pass, and could be endured by those with real "spirit", he was pretty proud to have cracked the meaning of that old human trait. He looked from his extravagant balcony of the new awakened that appeared around Scraptown, all new help and delightful ideologies would be welcomed with open arms and energy, and all troublemakers would be laid low by Gunhead and his elite squadron of battlebots, for this was the law of DON.

Reincarnate. Afterlife. Signs and portents. This was where he was supposed to be. It was becoming clearer and clearer that this was the correct path. Thief could feel the gentle hand of fate guiding it along. "I'm afraid I don't possess that information." He said to both his majesty and the humanoid robot. "If I have ever scanned something called an 'Orbital Lance' it has not survived in my memory banks. Nor do I know whom holds the robot I seek, if anyone."

Sorry if my meandering patterns of thought are confusing little Thief but as I said I am presently on a quest to define my true self and person....... Delta pauses her expression going blank then she says MMMM....38.8673°, 10.................., Coordinates incomplete GPS System failure, Inertial Navigation system not detected............Initializing system search internal... She rambles as her body sways a bit like she's about to pass out. Blinking rapidly Delta inhaled deeply then closes her eyes and sits down. Her nanite repair system goes active as does her organic medical system which hydrates her muscles and skin while also feeding the tissues from her nutrient supply.

"Combat Unit- Status: Passenger- online. Welcome back SUMI- 64a39q Type 34." "Identify speaking unit." "Reporting as Noncombatant Flight Transportation Unit ANCTV Mk.IV, unit 30491." "Reporting as "SUMI-1" for lack of local units of similar type." "Received." "Inquiry: what is destination, ANCTV Mk.IV, unit 30491?" "NACM Orem Combat Facility." "Inquiry: what is ETA, ANCTV Mk.IV, unit 30491, referred to as Ancee?" "Nickname received; flight status ETA at approx. 2 hours." "Inquiry: what is fuel time estimate, Ancee?" "Approx. under 2 hours." "Estimate distance between target NACM Facility and projected crash site." "Three miles." "Inquiry: Estimated intelligence of Ancee AI?" "Class D Intelligence." "Inquiry: Estimated intelligence of SUMI-1 AI?" "Class B Intelligence." "Inquiry: Concern over imminent crash?" "Negative." "Inquiry: Concern over imminent loss of fuel?" "Negative." "Inquiry: Number of shits given over anything?" "Come again SUMI-1, phrase not understood." "Negative Ancee, not enough shits given." "Ancee is confused." "SUMI-1 is well aware of confusion." "Ancee requests clarification." "SUMI-1 is unable to clarify." The life of a robot is so dull. SUMI-1 'opened' his optical sensors to the dim light of the cargo bay, taking in a dozen similar units strapped and bolted into the other sides of the ship. He looked at almost exactly-alike SUMI units just like his own, and briefly dwelled on his past. He didn't remember anything, and out of a habit that he did not know he possessed, he assessed his weapons condition. "Ancee, reporting for need of ammunition refill. Ammunition Loader available?" "Affirmative SUMI-1. Sending unit to refill ammunition." Well that was a spot of good news. The bay jostled slightly, its unusual style of that of another company, another manufacturer, more organic and smooth than the SUMI unit's utilitarian design. Outside the ship, air streamed past, filled with smog and smoke, cleanliness and dirtiness, fate and destiny intertwining. Not really, but if there were a writer robot, that is undoubtedly what it'd put. In reality, some battlebot below took its sights to the sky, sitting en route to NACM Orem, and decided to waste what was left of its ammunition. Alerts sounded as active targeting swept the transport ship's sensors, and the AI calmly panicked. The ship jiggled; three out of the normal four hundred flares shot out, and several dead ECM drones were ejected into open space to do no effect whatsoever. The ship banked to the left, and swept around in a tight corkscrew to turn back towards Orem, before a stream of rounds swept through its starboard wing, cutting a ragged line through wing and engine. Smoke flared up; what fuel left in the wings started burning. It took about three seconds for the engine to full catch fire, and then promptly explode. The stubby wing separated from the ship at a haphazard spiral, eventually coming down to land on the battlebot that had fired on the ship, ironically being killed by its targets' means of survival. To Ancee's credit, the pilot AI knew its stuff. Even with a wing shot off and running on half power, the AI still managed to barely right itself and keep going towards Orem, nonetheless with a plume of black smoke flaring behind and a constant fall from five thousand feet. Ten minutes later, the fuel ran out and the AI lost power, backups either already drained or malfunctioning. Inside, SUMI felt a flicker of something most definitely not robot-feel, and the ship plummeted to the ground in an uncontrollable fall. Fortunately, the cargo bay was towards the back, with more advanced systems and engines towards the front, meaning that there was a nice thick solid-titanium-and-steel buffer between himself and the rapidly-approaching ground. A loud crash, a smash, a panicked dash, and a hishhash of a cacophony of noise and explosions and the like, SUMI was laying on his back five feet from a fallen tail piece, one of three optic clusters smashed, and relatively unharmed. By happenstance, he was still strapped and locked into the severed section of wall he was pre-crash. Gently, for fear of unreported damages, SUMI extended his hands, rotated his arms, and pushed himself up. Hydraulic fluid leaked out of a dozen tubes torn through by shrapnel, a dozen out of a hundred- a hundred on both sides, actually. It was enough to make his movements more robotic and rough, but not enough to prevent movement. In his left leg, it felt more akin to having his legs ungreased and unoiled, even though that kind of maintenance was not required. He took a weary survey of the surrounding terrain, and returned to the ship to refill his ammunition from his look-alikes. The loader bot never did show up.

The sky was painted with pink petals of clouds like a massive extending orchid, white clouds shaded in hues of the sunset and the reflection of the orange red wasteland. Great debris could be seen faded in the horizon, those of satellites fallen from the heavens. Other smaller debris were scattered all over with rust eating upon them, wind hallowing within and causing sharp shrieks echoing to the rocks. A gust of wind blows over the dead sand particles, motionless for weeks, and they flew, carried by wind. The sand fell through an opening in the ground and leaked down to a considerable depth of darkness, dampness, and demise. Below where a sunken building was hidden in the earth, water drops could be heard playing the theme of the sunken floors. Down below in the blinding bleakness, a faint light flickered as a muffled sound of machine trying to reanimate shook the sand particles off the debris. A custom built JT-Series combat unit was laying, back to a platform, legs extended and arms dead hanging from the lowered shoulder armor. The light flickered yet again, this time with a magnetic sound of pulse, as if life had a melody which blasted through the hunk of metal. Its eyeLEDs lighted a faint orange, flickering, then a monotonous voice broke the long silence. Fury. JT-Series 345679-0272-27, custom built by #@gd&%/// Rebooting. Assisting A.I intact. Diagnosing A.A.I/// Operational at 78% Power At 15%/// Prioritize unit Fury to search for power source. Turning on Fury A.I online/// Fury Online. "You are beautiful.." ||What..? Ughhh.. What is.. What..|| Fury operational at 34%.... Directing Fury to search for )##*%)3)!... Errorr. Errorrr. Fury had detached himself from the cords that connected his back to the power outlet in the wall, now dead as the place, his A.A.A has gone offline. "You are beautiful, look for light" ||who's that? What's happen here... Father.. Father, I must... Father knows.|| Fury looked around before struggling to get up on his feet, he was badly damaged and could barely walk without leaning on the wall for support. ||My rifle.. Where's my rifle..|| Fury moved through the dark, his A.A.I attempting to reboot as he slowly walked out of the room, and into a dark corridor where more sand fell from the ceiling and entered between his shoulder joints. Fury almost tripped over a piece of familiar metal. He clutched his hands at it and it felt like his body, he adjusted his grip and recognized it as his rifle. ||Father...||

As kings speech reached its crescendo he noticed an fast approaching power signature, sure enough as he looked up on the dark skies he saw an flying model descending rapidly. He had always thought they were sorrowful beings, without an ability to refuel themselves they often took to the skies that they loved so much for one last flight. To soar ever higher only to plummet downwards like Icarus and indeed King124 felt as Daedalus must have felt watching his son plummet to the sea. "Daedalus..." Fine name, King thought, he would keep that one ready. Then the inevitable crash shook the land with horrid impact.

Thief just cast his eyes to the sky after the crash, his antennae laying flat against his head. A king, a creator-ish robot with a nano-repair colony, certain important words and now falling stars? He was a believer, of course he believed, but there were only a certain number of things a day you could interpret as signs before you started feeling a bit silly. He bounded up to the wreck anyway, just to get a closer look.