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English
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Published:
2024-12-13
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1,850
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1/1
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7
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don't stay awake for too long, don't go to bed

Summary:

Kidnapped by the Mechanic on a mission, Zane is mentally tortured with his own emotional receptors until his perceptions of his friends change. Hatred, in the right hands, is a powerful tool. It erodes. Smashing through barriers quite easily, and Zane is not immune.

Being human is a part of himself that he will do anything for. Worth fighting his friends for..

not that he will have any choice in the matter.

Notes:

for non-coders: you get the gist of it
for coders: this shit is a hot mess

i used references and mac's terminal to try and get some ideas

Work Text:

It had been nothing but a routine mission.

He remembered strapping on his shurikens and adjusting his gi, pulling on his mask before leaving off the Bounty and traversing the city in search for the warehouse; and arriving with a sense of confusion.

Pixal had informed him that there had been a break-in at this stock of electronics, but there didn't seem to be so much as a stray box here- the place had been cleaned out. Turning on the flickering lights, he observed the room.

All that was there were tall, lengthy shelves, reaching from the ground to the very ceiling, and end to end. He scanned the internet for information, and discovered a floor plan: in the middle of the warehouse was a trapdoor, leading downwards. 

Strangely, there seemed to be no more data- it was as if all remaining evidence had been scrubbed from the web. As if this plan was its only record.

Puzzled, Zane walked past seemingly endless shelves until he reached the trapdoor. With a loud squeal, it opened to reveal pitch black.

A small voice in his head urged him to leave and search somewhere else.

But perhaps Dr Julien had made him too human. At any rate, the burning curiosity needed to be quenched.

But don't you know?

Curiosity kills the cat.

He ignored the thought.

Activating the glow mechanisms in his hands, he ventured downwards.

A small tunnel, leading to a table. And a yellow sticky note.

He peered down at it.

Spare Parts

He turned around just in time to notice a shadowy figure with a taser.

Now, for ordinary people, a taser would incapacitate, sometimes rendering the victim unconscious, but usually causing them pain.

Unfortunately for Zane, the nindroid was no ordinary person. An electric shock, especially one with '50000 volts, buddy!' as Jay had once so helpfully mentioned, would often cause a system shutdown.

In essence, yes, he would be unconscious, but his system would have to reboot, which could take much more than the average amount of time a human would be comatose.

This is why I do not often spar with Jay.

A zap, and he collapsed.

########

SYSTEM ERROR [VOLTAGE FAILURE]

REBOOTING---

REBOOTING---

REBOOTING---

SYSTEM REVIVED

COMMENCING AWAKENING 

10%---23%---ERROR

SYSTEM FAILURE

 

ALERT: UNKNOWN PRESENCE DETECTED

ALERT: FIREWALLS RUPTURED

ALERT: CYBERSECURITY MEASURES ACTIVATED

---

ALERT: CYBERSECURITY MEASURES FAILED

ALERT: PROTECTIVE SOFTWARES ACTIVATED

---

ALERT: PROTECTIVE SOFTWARE DISBANDED

ALERT: FINAL MEASURES ACTIVATED

---

---

ALERT: FINAL MEASURES FAILED

ALERT: BACKUP FAILED

A̶͖͠L̶̗͌E̴̠͛R̶̛̼T̴͈̓

Ä̴̡̬̦̹́̅̚L̷̙̹͊̎͐̾̿̚͜Ë̸̗́̾̃̑͜R̶̢̘͍̀͂̈́͑͝T̸̨͈̱͈͌͋͘

A̴͈̯̺̽̓͐̾̃́̽̓̐̇̈͊̒̏̈͘L̷̨͎̦̗̥̯̗̍̍͒̌̂̆̉͝͠͠È̸̡̹̬̥͚̜̱̩̳̳̼̻͐̋͛͂̐̐͑̿͐̆͆͛̈̈́̄̓̆͌͜͠Ṟ̵̛̛̩̦̀̑̑́͊͌̾̈́̓̚̕͘̕͝͠͠Ţ̶̻̞͕̲̍̀̓͑̾̕

 

########

FETCHING /the_mechanic/hack/project_deathbed/@~altsourcing/@~moribund/

PATH CONFIRMED

EXTRACTING 

INSTALLING

COMPLETE

def(neXt stage)

########

Operation N-R4ZE found

Operation N-R4ZE in use. 

Activate? Y/N

24%----47%----56%----89%----100%

Selection forwarding. 

Code activated.

def(neXt stage)

########

Overwrite current motor functions? Y/N

20%----33%----58%----72%----100%

Overwrite in process.

Overwrite complete.

Relinquish? Y/N

9%----36%----64%----98%----100%

Complete.

def(neXt stage)

########

RECALIBRATING

 

[OVERHEATING RISK: POSSIBLE] 

[TEMPERATURE: MODERATE] 

 

VOCAL SYSTEMS [ONLINE]

VISUAL PERCEPTION SYSTEMS [ONLINE]

AUDITORY SYSTEMS [ONLINE]

REDOLENCE SYSTEMS [ONLINE]

TACTILE PERCEPTORS [ONLINE]

GUSTATORY PERCEPTORS [ONLINE]

 

[OVERHEATING RISK: HIGH]

[TEMPERATURE: HIGH] 

 

INTELLECTUAL SYSTEMS [ONLINE]

EMOTIONAL SYSTEMS [ONLINE]

---

---

EMOTIONAL SYSTEMS [AMENDED]

PROCESSOR [FUNCTIONING]

 

[OVERHEATING RISK: ADJUSTING] 

[TEMPERATURE: MODERATE] 

 

CORE [FUNCTIONING] 

REMAINING SYSTEMS: [RECALIBRATING]

 

[OVERHEATING RISK: LOW] 

[TEMPERATURE: LOW] 

 

13%----45%----67%----96%----100%

 

RECALIBRATION COMPLETE

INITIATING PROJECT DEATHBED

########

Nothing.

He couldn't move.

He could think, yet it wasn’t much of a mercy. 

Everyone is used to movement. No one is used to restraints.

He knew he should be feeling his equivalent of pain. A fizzing in the wires, a nudge of the panels, but nothing.

He was simply a metal body on a steel table, unable to do anything but stare at the ceiling and wait.

And it didn't even scare him.

This was perhaps the most unnerving thing of all. Like a snake slithering, subtle and yet with a strange feeling that perhaps he was overlooking something.

A door squeaking open, footsteps, a hand on his shoulders. 

The Mechanic's face came into view, an ugly face with rotting teeth, a bowler hat and a large mechanical contraption over one eye, garish red lights obscuring his vision. He moved backwards slightly, and Zane wondered if he should feel relieved. Certainly his eyes hurt less without the LEDs. 

He imagined an intense wave, enveloping him, stealing him away, but of course one did not appear.

Where were his emotions?

He felt like he should panic. He did attempt to, but his mind didn't seem to register the command. Just calm.

He thought of Pixal, knowing he would feel happiness and warmth building in his chest.

But nothing. Just a faint ache, an dull echo, that too went away.

His friends came to mind, but again. Nothing. They could have been strangers for all he felt about them.

A large, brown grin. He heard the tapping of fingers on a keyboard, and suddenly Zane sat up and moved off the table, standing at attention, facing the Mechanic. He was holding a laptop in his hand as he began to talk, gesturing towards him, barely addressing the nindroid.

'Wonder how long you were awake, spare parts. Lots of 'em, actually. I bet that core'd get me a couple thousand, maybe even a million to the right buyer.

But I ain't going to bother with all that just yet. You came alone, ninja. Real sad, that. Maybe that water girl could have broken you out, or that earth guy. But they don't even know where you are. They can't help someone when they have no idea that you're even missing.'

He turned the laptop screen towards Zane, revealing a messaging system. 

ZaneJ: Apologies, friends. I've been delayed by some unexpected 'surprises' that will cause me to return in a couple days, maybe a week if I'm unlucky. The thieves stole a large amount of electronics and I need to track them down.

The messages following were concerned remarks and offers of help, which 'Zane' had politely and placatingly declined.

Pixal in particular seemed extremely worried. 

A dull reminder, that Pixal was his… girlfriend? She certainly didn’t feel like one, not anymore. Another stranger for the books. 

He tuned in again to the Mechanic.

'Lots of info in your head, you know. Which is good. A little window to those ninja buddies of yours. Now that I think about it, selling word could get me more than money- favours, influential 'friends', the list goes on. But back on track. Spare Parts- I think I'll just call you Parts- you are the key. My revenge. And when the ninja are dead, you'll just add to my little collection.

Oh, I don't often gloat, but you've gotten away from me so many times. I love this.

Almost forgot- you may have noticed that your emotion meter has been.. amended. Maybe you're craving some feelings right now. At any rate, you won't feel anything for a while- unless I say so.'

He began to type in some commands.

auditory systems [ACTIVATE] 

– – voicebox [ONLINE]

A sharp intake of breath.

motor functions [ACTIVATE] [ONLINE]

A twitching in the arms.

emotion meter [ACTIVATE]

– – hate

memories [NINJA]

– – rewrite

‘I also may have forgotten to mention. Your resistance has fallen by quite a few notches. Everything in your head has its own little compartment.

I… edited.’

Zane gasped as thoughts of his friends suddenly began filling his mind, like a dam broken. Jay, Kai, Cole, Lloyd, Nya, Pixal... They swamped him as he began to collapse to the ground. It took a second before the other command set in, and immediately his world flooded with red and hate, so much hate. 

All directed towards the ninja.

He didn’t even realise he was in motion, running on autopilot, writhing.

Screaming, he smashed the table, sending it crashing into the wall. It warped and curled, leaving a huge crack. 

The Mechanic simply moved aside, a smirk on his face. Looking down at the nindroid, he noticed his eyes were glowing red, something he would account for later.

‘How-’ Zane choked on his own words. His emotions were back, but was washed out by the hatred, tainting his memories. 

Frantic thoughts rushed through his head of murder and destruction, to eliminate, to kill. Slaughter the ninja, dismantle Pixal, burn them all down.

Another tortured yell.

‘...’ 

Looking down at his handiwork, the Mechanic decided to shut down his motor functions.

motor functions [DEACTIVATED] [OFFLINE]

A sudden stop as Zane registered the command. The nindroid was now a titanium board, completely immobile. Except for the screaming, of course. Which was something he could rectify.

auditory systems [DEACTIVATE]

– – voicebox [OFFLINE]

Nothing. Clear, pure silence. The room was so still that for all the world he could have been a statue- which he was, once you looked past the fury-filled eyes. 

With a small smile, the Mechanic crouched and flicked Zane’s head. A loud tong reverbrated through the room.

Nothing more than a piece of metal, he thought, and walked out.

It was pain unimaginable. 

Having your thoughts essentially rewritten to fit another, darker standard was horrific. His memories of his friends were twisted until he could barely recognise them or himself, for that matter. 

Resisting hurt more than anything, because the hatred would double down until he cracked.

And yet at the same time, he loved it.

This was a terrifying revelation.

But he was truly feeling.

Even though he couldn’t move, he didn’t want to let go. He didn’t want the liberation. Being still was both confinement and freedom. 

He wanted to keep his emotions close. He never wanted to lose any of them, never again. If he could really only feel one of them, it was fine with him. 

Wasn’t hatred a key part of humanity?

This rationalisation, however poor to others, seemed to make sense in his fractured mind.

Being human surely meant being, and living, from the bottom of your heart. This was a concept he had ran with for years.

Now with his emotions dialed up to high, he felt everything. It was thrilling. One emotion solely running through your head. He fully understood. No wonder Kai was like this.. Or was this even a good comparison? For surely the fire ninja had never experienced emotion on this level.

Lloyd, pulled apart, nothing more than an insect, powers working against him, tearing him into pieces

It was scenes like this running through his head, and deep down Zane knew that this had never been part of the commands the Mechanic had entered, that he himself was thinking of it, and he enjoyed it.

Once you got past the moralities in your head, it wasn’t so bad.

Still, a little voice protested, screamed, begged for it all to end. But it was drowned out by the torrents crashing all around it.

Riding the highs, Zane allowed the river to erode his mind, slowly erasing any former kindness he had had towards his fellow ninja.

He glances down, noting the blood swirled on the floor.

He can see fractals in the twisting rivers of red.

And then his emotions returned,

and he realised what he had done,

and he broke.