Rory woke up from a nap and realized she was home alone. Jessica must've gone out with Avon. And Theodore probably went to the Agency.
She liked when she had the place to herself. The only people who stayed were the Butlers, Maids, and a few Generals guarding the front. But whenever it was as quiet as this, Rory could think clearly.
She walked out of her room and looked outside the large window that was in the living room. The door beside it was what led to the back deck.
There was still a bit of snow, but most of it had cleared up since the day before. It would probably snow again later that day to fill in again. Rory looked over her shoulder, hoping that the Generals weren't watching.
She was allowed to go outside with supervision from Jessica. The last time she went out caused the Chen family to take extra security measures. But she needed to get fresh air. She felt locked up like a prisoner.
Rory placed her finger over the scanning pad next to the door. A blue line traced down the screen and a click alerted her. The door was unlocked. Rory put on a Jacket and shoes she found before walking out to the back.
However, she regretted it the moment she stepped out and turned around. Waiting for her was the same killing machine. Rory stood stiff.
"Assistance needed." It buzzed at her.
So many questions were running through her mind. Why did the machine come back? Why was it telling her that it needed assistance?
It didn't matter. She had to get inside before it hurt her or anyone else. Rory spun around and turned the knob as fast as she could, but it didn't move. The door must've locked immediately from the inside.
There was a scanning pad for her to get back in, but the robot may as well have killed her before she had the time for it to scan.
The machine behind her shifted into its original form while Rory was panicking. It wasn't until the robot rolled into her leg to get her attention that she looked down at her feet.
"... Is that... POYO?" Rory gasped.
"Rory. Assistance. Needed."
Rory's hands went cold. That was most likely because of the weather. She was so stunned. The robot that she thought Decha took away was right in front of her.
But it didn't make sense. Why would Decha take POYO only for it to attack him later? And she never installed a hostile add-on to its programming. She had to figure that out later.
Right now, the robot that was programmed with her AI was asking for her help. Maybe she could recode the current way it's running back to its original purpose. Which was to help people. Not to kill them.
With that idea in mind, she got started. "Run a Self-diagnostic analysis." She commanded.
POYO's eyes went into two x shapes before making a repetitive beeping noise, similar to one a radar would make. Then it made a long ding.
Rory pressed a small button on the side of its head and a small holographic window fizzed up.
She read the notes of the analysis carefully. "Somethings wrong with the core. Power is pretty high, so you have reliable batteries giving you energy. But whatever chip is around it is causing you to malfunction."
Rory was able to fix it. But she needed POYO's original flash disk. But that disk was long gone. She could make another one with spare parts Jessica bought for her, but that would take some time.
"Stay here. I'll help you, but you can't come inside. Stay hidden until I come back, okay POYO?"
"Rory. Assistance. Needed."
"Yes, I know. I'm going to fix your chip. So wait here." Rory unlocked the door and quickly closed it behind her. She stared at POYO, praying that it would stay there until she finished making a new disk to start reconstructing its function.
She speed-walked to her bedroom and began building. By the time she finished, several hours went by. She hoped that Jessica wouldn't come back anytime soon.
When she walked back down the hall, she heard a couple of voices.
"I never got to comment on how big this place was the last time I came here. It looks smaller from the outside."
"You can focus on the interior later. I only brought you to help look for some files in Director Chen's office." She recognized Decha's voice immediately and her heart clenched.
Rory decided to hide in one of the bathrooms before anyone could see her. She heard their heavy footsteps fade, along with their voices. She decided to take the chance to hurry back outside.
Thankfully, she was able to sneak out the back without Decha and the other General noticing. She needed to be quick. Oddly, she felt that POYO wasn't going to be hostile to her.
Maybe it was because she was the one who created it. That was her theory for why it didn't attack her. But if Decha approached, she felt that the machine would go on a violent rampage.
Rory realized she needed to hurry and corrupt the harmful code in POYO's system. If she could revert it to how it originally operated while fixing its problem, then no one would have to worry about it attacking.
"I'm back." Rory announced in a hushed tone to POYO. She slipped the disk into an open slot behind the robot's head and began working her magic.
She pulled out her phone and all the contents on the disk connected to her device. She was able to see most of the details about the machine.
When she was at Grandell, she constructed the prototype physical form of POYO. But the small character droid in front of her was made of an entirely different material. This was brand new metal. It was polished.
Rory noticed an odd serial number taped on the arm of it. She took a picture of it with her phone, then went back to reading the details.
The AI was inserted into it as if it were storage. Most of the key components of what made POYO helpful were taken away. Rory thought it was odd. Decha certainly wouldn't do something like that.
She couldn't remember well about the man who snuck into her hospital room when the Walls first collapsed. But he must've been the one to change POYO's programming.
"Wow, your battery." Rory pursed her lips in shock. "It looks familiar." Rory pulled up the holographic image. "It's a little rusty though, but it lasts long. Let's see if we can start fixing that code." Rory pressed a button on her screen and began installing a code from what she could remember from her notes.
"Your scanner is still in good condition. If you sense unstable vitals, you have to help." Rory began sorting through the numbers and letters on the display. There was an annihilate feature that she turned off immediately, and POYO began to caw.
"Shh! Not too loud!" Rory shushed POYO.
"The following mode has been disabled. This will result in the partnered applications shutting down too. Do you wish to engage?" POYO beeped.
"Yes." Rory nodded.
"Please enter the 4-digit pin to continue."
A pin? Rory didn't remember setting up a password for POYO. Rory thought long and hard. She was so distracted that she didn't even notice Decha had come out of the house and found her.
"Rory." He called and stepped forward, but he stopped when he saw POYO there in front of her. His immediate reaction was to grab onto his pistol.
"Decha." Rory gasped.
"What the heck do you think you're doing?" He seethed at her. He knew Rory was wacky for robots, or technology in general, but this was another level of crazy. She was fixing the Assassin machine.
"Put the gun away," Rory begged.
"When hell freezes over." Decha aimed his pistol at the machine. "Step away from it." He commanded her in his work tone.
"It needs my help."
"I don't care."
"Decha, this is POYO!"
"Rory, step away from it!" His voice raised, and it made Rory flinch. He was worried that the robot would go haywire and hurt her. Rory was testing him. But it was fine. He was going to forcibly move her if she didn't obey. "Come here."
"No. I can fix it. If I change the programming it won't hurt anyone anymore." Rory turned back around and began hacking into the application. In the process, the robot shifted back into its violent state. The cute small character droid was now a tall metallic figure with its glowing blade, out and ready to battle.
"Rory!" Decha hollered as the robot began to scan his body.
"Wait a second!" Rory huffed and input another pin, but it was still wrong.
"N96... Initiating... obliteration." The machine swung its blade. It was meant for Decha but Rory would be hit in the process. He jumped forward and snatched Rory out of the way. The ice on the deck made him lose his footing and he slipped and fell.
"Shite!" He snapped. Rory slipped beside him. Before the two could react, Decha's leg was snatched and he was flung into the wall.
"Decha!" Rory screeched.
Decha crumbled and thought of a battle plan. Get Rory safe. Lead POYO away from the house. Don't get killed. The plan seemed simple enough, but the machine was too quick.
Decha needed to think fast.
He pushed himself up but was immediately shoved back into the wall with its long metallic claws wrapped around his neck. His air supply was being cut off. Fortunately, Jax came out of the house and began to fire at the machine.
The distraction was enough to cause the machine to loosen its hold on Decha. He took advantage and kicked the machine off of him. It tumbled over the rail and fell into the abyss of buildings below.
"No!" Rory ran over to the edge.
"Go inside." Decha grabbed her arm and tugged her away. "That's not the same POYO you built, Rory."
"Did you know the entire time? That the machine was mine?" Her voice cracked. Decha didn't respond, but she knew the answer. "Why didn't you tell me!?"
"I didn't want you to know." He voiced monotonously. It was as simple as that. He knew that Rory would go crazy if she found out. But he wasn't expecting her to try to fix it. He opened his mouth to say something else, but he was grabbed and thrown into Jax.
The machine appeared faster than Rory could register. "High threat detected." The robot croaked.
Decha rolled off of Jax with a grunt. "This thing is relentless." Jax heaved. "What's the plan?"
"You take Rory." Decha brushed the sweat off his face. "I don't care if she kicks or screams. Get her somewhere safe. And keep her there. I'll take the droid."
"Alone?"
"I just need to get it away from here. I'll be back in one piece." Decha stood slowly. "Go. Now."
Jax shot forward and snagged onto Rory's arm. "Let me go!" She spat.
"Sorry, N96's orders." Jax scooped Rory over his shoulder. Decha charged at the machine and jumped. He kicked it as hard as he could, and it whizzed a few feet away from the deck.
Then it spun around and grabbed Decha by his uniform shirt. It rocketed into the air, flying with Decha hanging from its grasp. Then it allowed gravity to carry it back down.
Decha's hair whipped around violently as he felt himself falling. He tried moving his hands, but it was hard because of the loss of altitude.
The air weighed Decha's arms to his sides. The machine refused to let go and slammed him into the deck. Decha lost consciousness because of the heavy impact. The robot sprung back into the air and swung its blade down, ready to end Decha's life.
Rory threw herself on top of Decha before it could touch him. The robot stopped before the blade grazed her. With tears in her eyes, she voiced out a command. "Don't kill him."
POYO began to malfunction when it scanned Rory's vitals. The machine was having problems performing the task it was sent to do. Suddenly, the robot hopped off the deck and jetted away disappearing behind the skyscrapers in the distance.
"Shite. I've never seen him take a blow like that before." Jax ran over to Decha.
"Is he... dead?" Rory felt her heart become heavy. "Why isn't he waking up?"
"Give him a moment." Jax pulled Decha to sit up with his arms. Then he reached under Decha's arms and propped him against the wall. "We're trained for this kind of thing. He'll come to in a minute."
As if on cue, Decha opened his eyes slowly. All the pain rushed to his head and he began to curse loudly.
"Take it easy." Jax grabbed onto Decha's shoulder. Decha had experienced this level of pain only outside of the sectors. That machine was really no joke. Fortunately, there were no broken bones. But it felt like it.
He was tortured by the leaders of another country. One of them would place a burning rack on it his back to force answers out of him. This was very similar to that pain.
But all generals were trained to handle it. To endure. "You're not out for good, are you?" Jax frowned. Decha massaged the bridge of his nose.
"No." Decha spat. Rory sighed in relief as Decha pushed himself up. "Take the files back to the Agency." He commanded Jax.
"What about you—"
"Do what I say. We'll meet up later." Decha gripped his side but refused to acknowledge the tremendous amount of pain he was in. Jax nodded at the command and left him and Rory alone together.
Decha barely glossed his eyes over Rory. He stepped back into the house and used the objects to help keep him balanced. Rory followed behind him closely. There was an awkward silence, but Decha refused to say anything until the pain simmered down.
Rory took it as Decha being angry with her. She could understand why. She didn't listen, and she tried fixing POYO. So Decha was probably furious.
"I'm sorry," Rory whispered as the two entered Jessica's infirmary. Decha didn't respond to her. He only took off his shirt and grabbed a towel off the rack. "I was only trying to prevent it from attacking more people. POYO's code was changed. Most of the qualities I installed were removed. So I figured I could—"
Decha slapped his hand over her mouth, catching her off guard. "I already know this." She was rambling again. He was very much aware that POYO was stolen and reconfigured. Decha tossed his shirt onto the bench and brushed past her.
"Your back." Rory gasped. There was a large black mark that started from the top of it to right above his lower back.
"I'll be fine after a hot shower." Decha fumbled through the drawers by the counter, looking for any pain medication. "You can leave."
"Decha, I—" Rory continued.
"Are you gonna stand there and watch me take a shower?" Decha unzipped his pants and deepened his tone as a warning.
"N-no!" Rory shook her head frantically.
"Then, leave." Decha nudged Rory out of the room and shut the door. She heard the lock click. Rory stood there as guilt flooded her mind.
What was she thinking? This wasn't her house. Not only had she brought danger here, but she disrespected a Generals orders. She almost got him killed.
If something happened to Decha because of her persistence, Sector A would all turn against her. She'd face execution. Jessica would be heartbroken.
Rory reasoned that's why she needed to put distance between them. Rory felt like she was a burden. She thought about it deeply. Jessica almost died trying to save her. Everyone was risking their lives for her.
That made her uncomfortable. She needed to do more. Physically, she was limited. But if she used her head, surely some good would come out of productivity.
The door in front of her swung open. Decha was wearing the same uniform he took off, but his hair was wet. When he saw her, he pressed his lips thin. "You're still here?"
"Sorry." Rory stepped out of his way. "Wait, let me say this before you go." She turned to face him as he went by.
"What?"
"You said you didn't tell me about POYO because you didn't want me to know. But that statement... doesn't make sense. Did you choose not to tell me because you didn't trust me? Was there ever a point you thought that I made POYO to be that way?"
"At some point, yeah," Decha admitted honestly. That hurt Rory. She realized it was because she was a Bracketer. Any Astellians first thought would be to suspect her.
"But I disregarded the suspicion after conducting a thorough investigation. The thought crossed my mind. But something told me you weren't the kind of person to do something like that."
"I'm not. I wouldn't create anything to hurt anyone."
"I know." Decha smiled at her. It was faint, but it still made Rory's heart flutter.
"So, why?" Rory pouted. "Why didn't you tell me? Am I in trouble?"
"You're not in trouble. But the people here aren't going to handle well knowing that the machine was built by a Bracketer. They won't go far to try to see your side of the story. I know that's a heavy weight to carry, so I kept it from you."
Rory embraced him, forgetting that Decha was in a lot of pain. He heaved slightly when her arms went around his back, but masked his discomfort with a straight face.
"You're Sweet."
"Sweet?" Decha tilted his head in confusion. "That's not really my thing."
"Whatever, tough guy." Rory chortled softly.