Arise, My Creation

The Archivebot Department was quiet, as it had been since it's inception as a department of COGS Inc. With little need for more than the department's head and a few collected workers, the grand building was nearly a crypt.

Deep within his study, Chief Archivist Lazarus Corona was busy with the final process of a project that had taken him years of careful planning. At a massive work-desk, tools and parts sat carefully arranged. He insisted on assembling this himself, without the assistance or knowledge of the factories under the Sellbot purview.

A series of lenses suspended from the cieling assisted his vision as his tools took to work. Every bone slotted into place, wires gingerly strung and wrapped around this frame and plugged into sensors, gears tightened, bolts secured- Lazarus worked quietly to a backdrop of shifting stars. This sky was false, of course, but within his domain all illusions were possible.

A blue sphere sat on a velvet cushion, a lifeless observer to the construction going on below it.

"You're the culmination of years of work," Lazarus spoke to it as he worked, knowing it couldn't yet hear him. "The keeper of all my carefully collected knowledge, the one creature I can trust with my secrets..."

He paused, gazing closer at those silver rings that slotted perfectly into a disc. The thought that soon this suit of his own design would be alive, the thrill of beginning a life. He felt a tremble of... Anticipation? Excitement? Delight?

He brushed that feeling aside as he continued to work. This wasn't something being done for fancy.

This suit had a purpose, a grand design.

A databank sat within it's chest, with the capacity to hold untold amounts of information, more than any cog yet designed. This was the key to it's function.

The chest plate was slotted on top, the neck joint securely covered, and a uniform carefully tugged and fitted on top. All that was left was the head.

"Are you ready?" Lazarus asked the blue sphere now held between his fingers, knowing he would not get a reply. "My divine heir, you have no idea yet how important you shall be to me..."

Lazarus paused, shaking his head slightly as he dismissed that train of thought. He instead remained quiet as he placed the head within range of the magnetized force of the neck cover.

Now, a fully assembled suit lay within his hand, hands resting crossed atop it's abdomen. Only the spark of life was left to apply.

Lazarus straightened up as he gazed down, rolling his shoulders as he summoned his strength. Along the sides of his hands, the seam split open, revealing the dusky golden light within.

As the Sunsetter, he was built with one ability: To officially close out any part of suit kind that was at it's end. Originally, this was meant to merely notarize paperwork, but over the years he had discovered other applications for this power, an oversight from a Founder that designed him as litte more than an afterthought.

Tonight, he would attempt another.

Lazarus cupped his hand, placing his other on top and holding them up above his head. He watched as the light within him seeped inside his grasp, shuddering as he felt his own energy leave his body. He couldn't be sure if it was electricity being ripped from his system, or the very magic that was entwined with his being. The feeling would surely be the same either way. It was like a hole being torn in his heart, inching up through his wires and around his arms until they came to his hands. The spiraling bands of gold that made his face ground to a halt as he focused, watching the light within turn from gold to white, to a color very nearly tinged with an innocent blue.

At last, he lowered his grasp, looking down at the suit in his hands.

"Arise, my creation," He murmured, every passing second without a sign of movement a pounding eternity in his mind. "There's so much to discover."

In truth, Lazarus wasn't entirely sure that what he had attempted would work. He couldn't afford to be wrong, yet he took the shot in the dark anyways. Something in him had told him that this wouldn't work any other way. It wouldn't be the same suit without a part of himself.

He stared into that sphere of blue, waiting for a sign.

It was slow, at first. A small pulse, a glimmer that dashed across the sphere for a half seconds, but surely... A blue glow spread throughout the head, twinkling in parts like a newly formed nebula. And at least, two eyes as bright and hopeful as the stars blinked to life.

It looked up to Lazarus as it sat up, silent and taking in the sight of it's creator. In turn, Lazarus gazed down at his creation.

So this is what it felt like. This trembling in the very core of one's being, the welcome terror of knowing someone's existence has just begun, the welling desire to hold them close and never let go- What was the name for it?

Lazarus once again dismissed these feelings.

"Welcome, my dear. Finally, you awaken to your purpose," Lazarus spoke softly, carefully raising his hand just a bit to get a better look at the new cog.

It sat there, quiet, clutching it's own hands close. It was unsure how to respond, and the Sunsetter dipped his head and continued on.

"Let's start with getting you acquainted with who you are," He continued. By now, the cog's basic informational programming should be accessible to it. "Tell me: What is your suit designation?"

The cog sat there for a moment, it's eyes wandering this way and that in it's sphere as it thought.

"I am the Failsafe." It responded quietly, eyes continuing to drift across the room.

"Very good. And your purpose?"

"I am to hold a copy of all data housed in the Archivebot Department- And recall it when needed."

"Excellent." Lazarus nodded. "Now, tell me what you know of your department."

"Headed by Lazarus Corona, the Archivebot Department serves to house the documents of COGS Inc, as well as other important pieces of historical significance." As it spoke, little points of light twinkled into existence across it's surface. Lazarus watched this with curiousity- An expression of the data it was gathering, even now?

"Absolutely perfect- Just as I built you." Lazarus smiled to himself. "You may stand up now, show me that you can move."

"Ah, you built me..." The Failsafe hummed, slowly stumbling to it's feet upon Lazarus' palm. Then, like a comet crossing it's mind, it stood up straight.

"You built me! Then that must mean-" It put it's hand to it's cheek, then stepped over in two long strides to Lazarus' thumb, wasting no time to drape those thin, delicate arms around the digit in a hug.

"Father!"

Lazarus' eye shot open. The Failsafe looks up to him again, those sparkling eyes of blue hopeful but unsure.

"Am I permitted to call you that, Sir?" It asked quickly.

Lazarus couldn't respond. Never had a single word shocked his entire system down to his most basic of circuits, leaving him a paralyzed statue as that dreaded energy of joy flooded his systems. This was everything he feared, that his creation would be a shining beacon into his heart from the moment it took it's first breath.

Shakily, he found his breath again, cupping his other hand carefully over the one that held the Failsafe, bringing it closer to his chest, being oh-so-careful not to harm it.

He would have to work harder than ever before to not fall into temptation. His pride blinded him, as this creature would surely take him by the hand and gently lead him to a new purpose from what he'd worked decades to achieve- If he wasn't careful, that is. If he didn't keep it safely at arm's length, if he didn't intently guide it's development.

He would need to hire others. Suits who could protect what the Archives would house, guard it's secrets... Who would be as devoted as the cog in it's hands, if for no other reason than a lack of place in the larger society. There was much to plan, much more searching to do.

But for now... He allowed himself that moment of warmth and weakness.

"Yes, you may..." He murmured in response. "My flawless jewel."