Sentience

The darkness gradually gave way to small grey lights floating in the distance. Cool air brushed the left side of his face, bringing him to awareness. After some time passed, Cayce's vision began to focus. The small grey lights became words on what was left of his helmet's flickering HUD.

[ ------------ -et ]

[ --------- ----pen system expansion ]

[ ------- ------ expansion complete ]

The left side of the HUD was destroyed, a large gash running through the burnt metal of his helmet. The moonlight lit up the world outside his helmet just enough for Cayce to see tall grass sway in the darkness.

Though he had no control of his body, the limbs of the machine encasing him were moving on their own, walking forward with strange, mechanical steps. The brief vision faded to black as Cayce lost conciousness, yet the machine continued forward on its own.

The remaining section of the HUD flickered weakly as it pointed the unconcious Cayce in a certain direction.

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Old John had just finished fixing up a set of armor for a young agent. The young agent was excited to go out again, so he had stayed close by and talked with a few other agents who seemed to be good friends. As John was nearly finished, a couple of younger mechanics from one of the other teams ran past, "John! Old John, come quick!"

The sudden shouts startled the old man and a few muffled swears sounded from somewhere under his white, bushy mustache before he delegated the remaining work to his second in command and followed after the two who called for him. As he got closer, he found a group of mechanics standing around a certain dock. For some strange reason, no one was working on the machine. Instead, the group whispered among themselves as they kept their distance.

When Old John saw the armor, his heart stopped. It was the Fallen King's Gladius. The helmet had been torn open, a long gash started in the space where the armor's left eye should have been and trailed along more than half way across the left side of the helmet. Large amounts of blood had seeped from the gash and flowed down the chest of the armor before drying. The blood around the charred opening was darker and peeled away from the metal. The armor's back panels were wide open, the pilot already removed and rushed to a hospital. These were things mechanics would see from time to time and these sights didn't bother them too much.

However

The armor didn't kneel on one knee like normal. It stood there defiantly looking forward with its one remaining eye flickering every few seconds. The open panels on it's back exposed the interior of the machine, proving there was no one inside, yet there it stood. Old John pushed through the crowd and approached the machine. When he came close, the armor turned it's head towards him suddenly and met his gaze with one eye. Gasps escaped the lips of the surrounding mechanics. Old John stopped in his tracks.

A moment of silence passed as the old mechanic and the machine stared at each other. Then, Old John put his hands up to show he meant no harm.

"I'm the one who does your repairs. I mean you no harm."

The grey eye stared for a moment longer, then flickered as if it had made a decision and was responding to the old man. Then, the armor looked forward again and took a knee, taking the proper stance of an empty armor before powering itself off.

The surrounding mechanics stared incredulously at the machine. Gossip started immediately.

"I've never seen an armor move on it's own-"

"Did you see how it responded to Old John?"

"Holy crap, that was frightening! It looked alive!"

Old John didn't know how to feel. He worked on the Fallen King's Gladius countless times. Was it capable of moving on it's own all along?

...

Feeling a headache coming on, Old John took off his old fashioned, short-brimmed hat and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He would have a hard time getting his team to work on this armor with him.

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Cayce sat at the edge of a hospital bed. It had been two weeks since his armor carried him home. He sat there for a few moments, staring at a strange phenomenon in a handheld mirror. His left eye that was destroyed in the ambush was miraculously back in one piece and the wound through his head had been sealed. Now, all that was left was a long scar and a grey eye in place of the old blue one.

The doctors were dumbfounded. Somehow, his armor had perfectly sealed a fatal wound, repaired his eye and carried his unconcious body all the way back home entirely on it's own.

After just two weeks, he made a full recovery and was able to move about on his own. He didn't even need physical therapy. As soon as he woke up and got his strength back, he found he was just as coordinated as he was before, if not better. The doctors were concerned for him, but there was no reason to keep him confined to the hospital any longer.

Cayce thanked the doctors and nurses that watched over him and left for his own home. He had submitted a list of expensive improvements he wanted on his armor, draining the majority of his savings. However, it would take some time for the changes to be integrated into his armor. During that time, he would train hard in the simulation and strengthen his body as well as his mind.

Cayce had almost died. It made him realize he had higher ambitions. It wasn't good enough to be in the top 100, he wanted to be the best, to be unrivaled at the very top. His mind was already at work, building a grueling, new schedule he would carry out every day.

But how would he stay motivated? There was no one left for him to care for and protect, that's why he stopped trying so hard when he reached rank 82. The only people he would have wanted to protect had ended up stabbing him in the back the moment he decided to trust them. In fact, it's easy to think they planned it from the very beginning...

Maybe they never were his comrades.

The muscles around Cayce's jaw tightened as he thought about them, his eyes darkening.

Motivation?

...

Revenge would do nicely.