Reconfigure by Aileen Rose

Broken

  "Easy now... I'm not gonna hurt you."

Crophopper 7 had his back to a wall, a panicked look in his eyes as he kept them locked on Riley 07

"S-Stay away!"

He tried feeling for his disk but to his dismay found it wasn't there.

Riley 07 held his hands up.

"Crophopper 7, I'm an ally. Remember? Riley 07? I was the one who got you out of that lab, I stopped the glitching that was hurting you."

And for someone who has been through a lot of pain he sure can bounce back pretty quick. Nearly broke my neck when he woke up.

Crophopper 7 focused his eyes a little, taking in all of Riley 07's features.

Riley 07 pointed to the Jolly Wrench crest on his armor collar. "You have one just like this, you were written for my squadron if I had to guess Brody08's intentions."

Something clicked in Crophopper 7's eyes as his stance relaxed.

"Our User..."

"That's right."

Crophopper 7 started to pull away from the wall, but went back to it when he saw Hornet 51, Lightning 95 and Ranger 301 enter. He narrowed his eyes, growling a little.

"Guess Sal-E wasn't kidding when she told us he was lively." Lightning 95 commented as he saw Crophopper 7.

Hornet 51 hit him on the back of head.

"OW! What was that for?!"

"Saying that isn't going to help." Hornet 51 growled.

Riley 07 held up a hand. "Guys please, he's just scared."

Ranger 301 stepped forward, heading towards Crophopper 7. Crophopper 7 tensed up more as he came forward.

"Ranger 301..." Riley 07 warned.

"Trust me." Ranger 301 shot back.

Soon as Ranger 301 was close enough, Crophopper 7 jumped at him, tackling him to the ground. Riley 07 held Hornet 51 and Lightning 95 back as Ranger 301 and Crophopper 7 struggled.

"Let him handle this."

Ranger 301 pushed back at Crophopper 7, causing both to tumble around the room. Crophopper 7 growled, kicking at Ranger 301's chest.

"GET OFF ME!"

Ranger 301 cringed, growling a little. "You brought this on yourself, thought I should remind you."

He moved back, grabbing Crophopper 7 by the shoulders and throwing him a against a wall before drawing out his two disks, pinning the program by having one of the disks held at his neck.

"And I suggest not moving."

Crophopper 7 kept his eyes locked on the disk.

"Just... Just kill me if that's your intention. Don't torture me with anticipation."

Ranger 301 narrowed his eyes. "I have no such intentions... You're one of us after all... I just needed to get you stop attacking and the best way to do that was to get it out of your system. Now stand down or we keep fighting."

Crophopper 7 was still for a few moments before he nodded.

"Good boy..."

Ranger 301 pulled away, relaxing his stance, still keeping his disks out.

Just in case...

"Now that that is taken care of, mind telling us what Brody08's orders were for you? We're rather curious as to what his intentions were to sending you here."

"Identification first." Crophopper 7 shot back.

"Heh... cautious one... Ranger 301, Fire Wall Chief of N-Gin and one of the MCPs."

Recognition flashed in Crophopper 7's eyes as he looked over to Riley 07 and Hornet 51.

"Riley 07 and Hornet 51... two of the other MCPs... Riley 07 the commander of the anti-virus squadron the Jolly Wrenches and Hornet 51 as the holder of peace for civilian programs."

The two programs nodded. "Right on all accounts."

Crophopper 7's eyes landed on Lightning 95. "Um..."

Lightning 95 stepped forward. "Lightning 95, an override program that's been under the teachings of Hornet 51."

Crophopper 7's eyes went wide. "And override program... That's-" He stopped mid sentence falling to his knees, clenching his teeth.

"Crophopper 7?"

Ranger 301 knelt in front of him. "What's-"

Ranger 301 didn't need an answer as he saw parts of Crophopper 7 starting to glitch again.

Oh no...

Riley 07 acted quickly, hitting a button on the wall that set off an alarm. Soon, MA-ru and Dot-E came rushing in. They didn't need to ask questions when they saw the state Crophopper 7 was in.

"Alright make room!" MA-ru commanded as they picked Crophopper 7 up, setting him on the table and got straight to work.

Within a few moments the glitching was under control. Crophopper 7 had a terrified look in his eyes.

"W-What's happening to me...?"

Dot-E held his hand, giving it a squeeze.

"It's okay now... we got it under control I promise... You were just suffering from glitches due to a reconfigure process Nero put you through."

"G-GLITCHES!?" Crophopper 7 sat up, giving her a look. "No no no no, I can't be! I have a directive I need to carry out I can't be-"

"HEY! COOL IT!" MA-ru shouted, whacking him on the back. "We're gonna fix it! Users, control yourself!"

Crophopper 7 looked at his arm guards, panic in his eyes.

"My directive... if I'm glitching then... then that means I can't... I can't..."

Everyone went dead silent, not wanting to say anything that could upset him.

Dot-E decided to break the silence.

"It's true... the glitches are preventing you from taking your machine form... I'm so sorry..."

Crophopper 7 lowered his head. "I'm... I... I can't be... me..." He closed his eyes. "My directive..."

Ranger 301 stepped forward. "What was your directive? It's not over yet, we can still get you fixed up. Just please... tell us why Brody08 sent you."

Crophopper 7 was silent as he searched his thoughts... before a look of horror came into his eyes as he looked at everyone in the room.

"... I... I don't remember."