Binary code flooded Cobalt’s vision as she sat in the chair. Her red eyes blinked quietly as she just stared at the zeroes and ones the rolled in front of her. She sighed, looking down to her hands, thick overlapping lightweight molded metal, interlocking just like anyone else's fingers. She was certainly no ordinary rabbit. She looked almost normal, until you caught a glimpse of the thick rounded sections of her arms, separated by parts so thin they looked unnatural, and that was the truth, because she was no organic creature, Cobalt was a highly advanced android. And more, she was impatient! “Is it done yet?!” she asks annoyedly.
She looked to be about 14 or 15 years old, which fit her personality rather well. She was impatient, quickly annoyed, but with a love for life. But Cobalt had her own struggles no ordinary teenager would ever have to face. The artificial muscles in her body, the fact she could hear and see far better than anyone her age ever could, the hum she could pick up of her power cells, the actuators in her shoulders and hands, all part of the control mechanism that connected to her brain. A brain that would be just a complicated hunk of silicon and other metals, arranged in such a way as to make most processors look like childs toys. In reality, they were, at least compared to what she could process. But what’s more, her torso looked entirely organic, even if it was an illusion, it was well maintained, her face, her torso, even her long ears all looked natural and real, even if it was artificial skin that renewed itself regularly, and the fur a complicated network of sensors all hiding a lightweight and strong internal skeleton, with wires and cables running all throughout her body! Yet for all of this, she was as well adjusted as you could ever expect!
The Professor just chuckled at Cobalt’s impatience. He was a young looking rabbit as well, with dark brown fur, mostly hidden by a thick, long white lab coat, made all the more strange with a pair of goggles perched atop of his head. He was about 6 feet tall, and unsurprisingly in just about every way, with the exception of his brilliant intellect and genius, a genius he put to work creating Cobalt! His emerald eyes glittered almost mischievously as he replied to the young android, “Oh be patient, it’s not like I can make it go any faster. You should see the progress bar on your HUD, you’ll be able to tell when it’s done before I will!” he teases her.
Cobalt just sighs, “But not asking is booooooring! I hate updates.” she whines, crossing her arms in front of her in a huff, her ears bouncing as she looks down.
The Professor just chuckles again, “Yes yes, but without them, glitches would happen over time and then you might not be able to function. We can’t have that can we? Besides, I need to fix things I didn’t quite take into account when first programming you.”
Cobalt just closes her eyes, focusing on the steam of numbers in front of her. Random letters were peppered throughout the code, injected via raw machine code for her body to execute.She watched the progress bar on her hud slowly crawl forward. So...very slowly. At least it was almost done. She can see the name on the bar: Update Petunia: 90%....91%...UGH! It was SO slow! “Can’t you like...install another data jack or something? Come ON!” she moans to no one in particular.
“Not until this update is finished. Besides, some of it is an adjustment to your motor functions. So you might need a bit to get used to them again. You were always so awkward because I built you at the awkward height of a teenager. I might fix that later,” he says, “but for now, these new algorithms I’m installing should help you to adapt easier!”
Cobalt just groans, kicking her feet impatiently as she sat there. 93%...94%...but then something changed. She saw a new progress bar pop up, reading: Unpacking update 0 / 95675321456 files 0%. “Ugh! Professssssoooooorrrr!’ she whines, “It’s doing something else now! How long will THIS take?!”
He simply shakes his head slowly, “Cobalt, please be patient. It’s unpacking files, so that it can install them. The download itself is done, but the files need to be installed and integrated into your existing file structure so that the update can be used. If you start walking around now, you could fall on your face as it updates your mobility subroutines.” he says, trying to hide a smile. She was still so young. This had to be annoying for someone that enjoyed experiencing the world so much and it had to be almost painful to be cooped up like this. Maybe he should have had her power down and saved her the frustration? But...after two years, so full of life from her, even though it would be just a short time, the thought of deactivating her, even if it was for her own good, made his heart ache.
“But...I wanna move!” she whines, her legs kicking more as she hmphs. She knew she had to wait...but she didn't WANT to.
“You’re just going to need to wait. Those files are being overwritten now. Besides, you were able to suffer through Anemone, i’m sure you’ll do JUST fine with Petunia.” he says, indicating the updates that he always had floral names for.
Cobalt just watches impatiently. Luckily it only takes five minutes. Five long, quiet agonizing minutes before she sees the final numbers tick over and the words on her HUD: Update complete! She stretches and pops the cables off of the small hatch on the side of her head, letting it blend back in as if the ports were never exposed to begin with and goes to stand up, “Now Cobalt, you may want to…” the Professor is interrupted as Cobalt just slips out of the chair, hopping out. Unfortunately, she’s not...quite adjusted yet. She windmills her arms as she loses her balance and as she starts to tip over, "Woah! Woah! WOAH!" she calls out as her jets fire, launching her careening into a nearby table! The shattering of glass and crunch of wood echo in the lab before a loud thud as she hits the far wall!
The Professor just quietly finishes his statement, “wait...until you’ve calibrated before moving.” he mutters.
Cobalt groans and raises a hand, “I’m okay!” she calls out. Her legs hadn’t moved at all like she had hoped. That was embarrassing. Not that she was the most graceful android ever, but hey, she was learning!
It took 10 minutes, with the Professor walking her through before she could stand up and dust herself off. She looks at the broken glass and damaged table, “I’ll get the broom.” she says.
“No, don’t worry about it, why don’t you go and see about vacuuming the house, get yourself used to the new changes. I’ll take care of this up here.” the professor replies with a smile.
Cobalt just shrugs and starts to walk towards the door, “By the way, thanks Professor. I know I complain, but I really do appreciate that you keep me working like this. Have fun!” she says, giggling as she walks out of the door.
The Professor just smiles and shakes his head, “you have no idea Cobalt, you are my life’s work, and I couldn’t be happier.”
**********
Cobalt starts to hum to herself, she was just so glad to get out of that chair! It wasn’t like she disliked the Professor, that wasn’t it at all, she cared so much about him, but it was...just so annoying sitting there. There was so much to experience, that she was just glad to get out of that small room!
The home she shared with the Professor was a fairly spacious manor home, several floors, dozens of bedrooms and bathrooms, but yet they were the only two there. It was almost lonely at times, and while she knew it was treated like a lab, the only room that had equipment that she could ever see was the room she had been in minutes before, getting her software updated.
Regardless, she walked the halls quietly, in fact, she loads up a music streaming service and just starts humming along, looking for something to clean, or more, something to do! She just walks along...realizing quickly, there just really isn’t anything to clean, and even less to do. She just sighs, slumping against a wall for a moment, “This sucks, maybe I should make a mess to clean up?” she asks, boredly looking through the update notes while she thinks.
Cobalt yawns, just deciding to look over the files that were updated. She smiles, seeing a crossword hidden inside of one of the files. The Professor was always doing things like that, hiding little games and silly puns. Anything to keep her brain busy and happy. Of course a crossword puzzle was no issue for her, as she focuses on each of the clues, filling it out without any real issue. It’s only then that she realizes that the experiments folder happened to be larger than the notes seemed to indicate, “Wait...why is that…” she murmurs to herself, opening the folder.
Inside, Cobalt finds a new subroutine, still packed and not installed from the update. She has it...but why wasn’t it updated? It could be a mistake, but that didn’t make much sense! She thinks to herself, looking over the file. There’s no documentation what it does, but he had to have put it here for a reason. With a shrug, she activates it, seeing the familiar (and boring) progress bar as the files unpack. It would take a while, so she started looking over her tasks for the day to try and keep herself busy. “Let’s see...beds are made, floors are vacuumed...I got all of those done earlier. Dishes haven’t even been used today, so I can’t do dishes that don’t exist.” she mutters, tapping her chin.
Cobalt yawns, starting to tromp around the manner, humming to the music as she just watches those numbers crawl across the screen. Heck...this is taking longer than the update unpacking in the first place! “So sloooow!” she complains, “come on come on!”
Cobalt’s impatience was almost legendary in the household. But at least she wasn’t confined to the chair this time, so instead she started running down the hallways, back and forth to entertain herself. Doing so, it helps pass the time, and soon she’s seeing the percentage creep along: 99%...100%! Unpacking complete! “Yes!” she calls out hopping excitedly, “Now...what does this do…” she wonders, looking at the unpacked subroutine.
“Vertical Adjustment Protocol,” she says aloud, “I wonder what it does…” she looks for the standard documentation, but she doesn’t find anything, “Maybe it’s passive? But still, what does it do?!” she asks frustrated. “Mmmm…” she finally shrugs, “Well, I’ll ask the Professor later.” she says starting to walk back down the hall.
She doesn’t feel any different, no new elements on her hud show up. The name sounds interesting, but still, she can’t find anything to help her understand what it does. Well...whatever, it’s active now, whatever it is! She should be able to ask later and that’s what matters! Besides, she can entertain herself while she waits.
It isn’t easy passing the time. The house is clean, the update is done. She just doesn’t have anything to do! But it’s times like this that she’s glad she’s an android as she opens up several games to play at the same time while walking. A crossword, guess the song, maybe even a game of Tetris! That should keep her busy! In fact...it keeps her a little...too busy. As she plays and walks, her foot latches under the leg of a chair that she wasn’t paying attention to. She trips, dragging the chair along and as she falls there’s a loud snap!
The chair breaking wasn’t what caused Cobalt to pause and blink. She felt a tingle rushing through her systems. That never happened before. In the wake of the tingle...She felt...bigger, stronger somehow. It wasn’t much, but when she stood up, the ceiling WAS indeed closer...what had just happened? She looks curiously at the chair, then to the floor, “that’s not normal,” she mutters, closing her eyes for a moment and, in a rare case of patience from her, she runs a diagnostic on herself.
Details about her state flood her HUD, but yet...nothing seems to be wrong, at least until she gets to the information on her dimensions. It wasn’t much but she was a few inches taller? How did that happen?! Moreover...what was that tingle she felt? It was the first time she had ever experienced the sensation, and it just felt like something crawling under her skin. Strange, but also...not bad either, it reminded her of a shiver, but it was hard to explain. Regardless of what it was, she liked it.
She opens her eyes, knowing the Professor will help her understand this later. But as she goes to take her first step, she just trips over her own feet! She lands on the chair with a resounding crunch as she reduces the proud seat into splinters! She’s thoroughly wrecked it now! Bits and pieces, no bigger than small wedge of wood was left. But..why did she trip? She feels that tingle again and feels her feet sliding on the wood! There was a small podium with a vase atop of it, and her feet don’t stop until she bumps it! It teeters for a moment and she winces as the vase shatters! “Oh maaaaan…” she mutters, feeling that sensation once more! When she stops, she’s the size of a small car, crammed into the hallway. What was she going to do now?
Cobalt bites her lip, her mind racing. What now...what now? The Professor doesn’t get mad when she breaks things, but she’s gotta fix it anyway! She looks around, realizing that whatever is happening, it’s making her grow. As she starts to shift, she feels the wood chunks under her cracking more and it hits her as she feels that tingle, growing again! When she breaks things, she grows. How strange, but still…
She looks in the space she’s crammed into, seeing the only thing she didn’t manage to break was the other vase. A smile crosses her face as she reaches out with a finger, now so much bigger than before, “Aww, but it’s so pretty, it would be a shame if someone…” she taps it as it falls, crashing to the ground and shattering, “Whoopsie!” she says giggling, enjoying the sensation as she grows again!
She revels at the splintered wood, the cracked floor, the podiums. It’s all just so nice! Now when this wears off she’ll have something to do! The thought excited her, but not as much as the realization of what that little subroutine did! The Professor would be so proud that she figured it out all on her own! She slowly climbs to her feet, wincing as her head thumps on the ceiling. She glares at the ceiling for a moment, her ears flattened up against the walls as she starts to make her way towards the antechamber. Of course, there’s more than one accidental (and purposeful) crash along the way!
Cobalt doesn’t stop until she’s in the antechamber. Though at this point, with walls she’s crashed through she was crawling on all fours. Most of the breakage now was unintentional, but it didn’t matter when it felt this good! She had found this all on her own! The Professor would be so proud of her! She took a moment to calibrate herself, she was now easily the size of a bus, perhaps even larger and she knew when she stood, she would give the Professor a surprise entrance! The thought made her giggle. She was already so big as she crawled through the hallways, her ears had knocked pictures off, her rump had bumped vases and broken at least one door! She managed to crunch and smash the railing to the stairs leading up to the second story when she tried to rest her weight on it! She just couldn’t be stopped!
All the crashing and smashing had drawn his attention. He pauses, fingers lifted from the keyboard he was typing in and looks down where he knows Cobalt is, “Oh what is she doing now? I know she’s bored, but...well maybe she SHOULD make a mess so that she has something to do!” he says shaking his head and laughing, “That girl, she’s an interesting one at least!”
He went to get back to work, only to hear the floor groaning in protest. It’s as if the entire house was fighting something! He watched as the floor began to bulge, “What...in the world?” he asks, taking a step back.
He doesn’t have to wonder long, her added ‘accidents’ downstairs had Cobalt thinking she was JUST tall enough! Her head smashed through the wood, the joists cracking, the wood creaking before splintering like it had exploded as her head, peeked through the floor! She was taller than a one story building now for sure! The professor just falls back hard, landing on his rump, “Wha! Co...what!” he manages to stammer out as Cobalt’s head smashes through the table he had JUST managed to repair only a few minutes ago! The clamps clatter to the ground as the wood shatters like toothpicks dropped all over the floor! The android rabbit just smiles, “I found the protocol Professor! Aren’t you proud of me?” she asks.
“I...but...whaaaa…” he stammers out, so many questions running through his head. All he can see if her giant head looming through the giant hole in the floor! He’s still stammering as he hears his own radio (tuned to the same station that Cobalt’s was) interrupt the music for a news report.
“Citizens of Root Vegetaville! This is not a drill!” as if to validate his warning, sirens could be heard starting to scream in the city even from the mansion! “A giant creature has walked up from the ocean and has started destroying the city! Please refer to your Kaiju threat manual and follow immediate evacuation protocol! I repeat! Follow your Kaiju evacuation protocol. No pushing or shoving, please enter the shelters in an orderly fashion! Good luck out there.”
The Professor can’t help but have his eyes widen more, and stammer out more unintelligible dribble as cobalt years this, “Don’t worry professor! I’ll get him!” she says as she just...starts walking towards the side of the building, wood and metal splintering, wires snapping, joists groaning. She just walks right THROUGH the side of the mansion, all while calling out, “I get to be a hero!”
**********
The city was used to this by now. It seemed that Root Vegetaville was assaulted almost weekly and yet, the citizens loved their city! The evacuation orders were carried out in an orderly fashion and soon, the city was a ghost town, with the people taking shelter underground in reinforced shelters, built specifically for such a thing. When the Kaiju had done its thing and left, the people would come back and rebuild, they had gotten quite good at it by now!
Approaching the city, still in the ocean was a large green creature! It looked to be some kind of lizard, with club shaped scales peppering its body and a ridge of thick spikes running town its back! It’s eyes were deep blue, almost like gemstones and to say it was large was an understatement. Even as it crawled out of the ocean, it dwarfed the buildings near the expanse, its head almost disappearing into the clouds! It was the biggest Kaiju the city had been attacked by, but still, they knew they would be safe!
The creature tromps towards the city proper, its feet leaving huge craters, cracking asphalt, claws digging into the small buildings that it walks over, flattening homes and businesses like they weren’t even there! Power lines snap, crackling like angry snakes in the air, buzzing loudly as the high voltage arcs off of any available surface that it can reach before the creature snaps the next and the cycle repeats! Nothing seems to stop it, even as cars crumple under its feet all while it marches forward in a silent reign of destruction. It’s looking for something...but what?
On the other side of town, another giant was rushing towards the first! But...she’s not quite as effective! She trips, slips, skidding on cars, careening into buildings, cracking foundations! But she’s persistent and every bit of destruction she causes, makes her grow larger! Already, from leaving the mansion, Cobalt has grown to almost two stories tall, the android lapin still not used to her new height! All she knew is that she wanted to stop the monster! A monster even she could see from this side of town!
Despite her ungraceful start, Cobalt soon gets her bearings and, after several minutes of trying not to break too much...she reaches the Kaiju. Only to realize...she miscalculated. “Well...that thing is huge…” she says looking up...and up. The creature easily overshadows the skyscrapers it’s starting to claw into. But Cobalt isn’t deterred, not in the slightest!
“Hey! Stop that!” she cries, picking up a car and throwing it at the creature! It hits home, crumpling immediately and falling to the ground in a heap. But the shout, as well as the car did nothing to stop it. Cobalt wasn’t even sure that the creature even knew it was under attack.
“Hey! Don’t ignore me!” she cries out, starting to punch at the creatures ankle! Over and over and...it just lifts its foot continuing its slow destructive walk forward. “What the...I didn’t say you could leave!” Cobalt shouts after it. She runs after it, shouting! Throwing things! She doesn’t know WHAT she’s doing, but she’s going to stop it! Finally, in desperation, she hops onto the foot, clinging around the ankle of the lizard and she bites down hard! She’s gained more height and weight since this, and of all of her actions...this was what caught the attention of the creature! She feels her teeth slip past those scales and hears the creature cry out! She hops off, “Hah! That’ll teach you to ignore me!” she shouts up, striking a pose at it like she’s some comic book superheroine.
Cobalt is so caught up in her minor victory, she’s turned her back on the creature, and only looks up when she notices where she’s standing is shrouded in shadow all of a sudden, “huh...I didn’t think there were clouds today.” she says looking up just as that giant scaly foot smashes down hard! She lets out a surprised cry as she feels more weight than she ever thought possible crushing down! The ground cracks, she hears a nearby building collapse...all before everything around her goes strangely silent. Not because she’s been knocked out, heavens no, the Professor built her more sturdy than that, but rather that the giant foot made some excellent sound insulation!
As quickly as that pressure hit her, it let up, and light came flooding back in, along with sound! She wasn’t hurt and quickly stood up, dusting herself off, “How rude, I was talking…” she mutters, not noticing the Kaiju wasn’t done with her. The sky doesn’t darken this time, but as she looks up, she can see those blue eyes looking down on her, almost confused. She strikes a pose and points up at it, “Hey! That’s right, you can’t crush me! Now you listen to me you overgrown…” she’s interrupted as the creature's tail whips around and slams into her, cutting her tirade short!
The sound was incredible! Just a thunderous *Whap!* as she felt her feet lose their grip on the ground! The world blurs by, *Crash!* through a car as she bounces up *Bang!* through the side of a building, tumbling over chairs and desks that are far too small for her! *crash!* she shoots out the back of the building, skipping on the ground as she tumbles head over tail! If this was a ride, most others would want off by now!
She hits another building! A shuddering boom as she crashes through the cement foundation! The force was so strong as she hit that the building begins to tilt, the scream of metal and glass as the building topples echoing in the city! But yet, she still can’t stop!
She claws out at another building, ripping huge gashes as her fingers bite into the masonry, only for her to just tear past! Leaving a huge hole in the side of what was once the bank! She hits the ground again! *Smash!* there went the bowling alley! Collapsing into a heap as she just bounces on past the first strike she had ever bowled!
She finally starts to hit friction, digging into the street, ripping out a huge gouge of asphalt, wrecking the sidewalk! Tearing through a fence and shattering several trees! She finally screeches to a stop, face first in a deep rivet in the dirt, her feet lifting from the force before she just flops down onto her stomach!
Cobalt groans, slowly picking herself up from the ground. Her HUD flooded with red warning messages, warning her about velocity and striking solid objects. At least her self repairing mechanism was working. She looked worse for the wear to be honest, spitting out dirt, her armor scuffed, with deep cuts. Her breastplate had a huge dent from where the creature’s tail had hit her and her ears were ringing. Her sense of balance was utterly ruined as she tried to stand, but that was before she felt that now familiar tingle begin to rush through her like a bolt of lightning, “uh oh…” she whispers.
She almost gets sick, as she looks down, the ground seems to be rushing away from her! She feels her feet bite into the dirt, and then the resistance just give as her toes claw away like an out of control bulldozer! The trees at the park she landed in were the first victims, but that wasn’t all! She just kept growing...and growing! Her arm’s rapid expansion smashing through a building, her weight starting to cause the ground to buckle under her! Up and up and up! Soon she dwarfed the park! Even kneeling like she was, she could see the Kaiju, though any sounds from the city had rushed away, blown away from the jet stream.
The Kaiju pauses, if it could go slack jawed it would have, as Cobalt gets bigger and bigger! Its gaze moves up on the android lapin, as it needs to crane its neck when she goes to stand! It actually takes a nervous step backwards as the little creature biting at its ankle seems to loom over him, “Hey! I said you couldn’t ignore me!” she cries at it as she starts to run towards the Kaiju. Each step causes the ground to quake as already damaged buildings begin to crumple under the assault! Cobalt runs like a soccer player, going at a slight circle as she raises her foot! The Kaiju can barely process before…*Wham!*
The reversal to the creature was...amazing! It was as if the giant creature were shot out of a cannon as it flies backwards, crashing through buildings, skipping over the ground! Nothing would stop its flight! It hits the water with enough force that the spray glitters into the sky and the splash washes away the rubble from homes that were near to the ocean! But it doesn’t stop, skipping like an out of control stone further and further! Splash! Splash! Far off onto the horizon! Cobalt cries out in victory, “I did it! I’m a hero!’ she cries, before losing her balance and falling hard on her rump! The last remaining skyscraper falls, crumpled under the bottom of the would be heroine!
The Kaiju was gone, the city was...saved? Well...the people were at the very least! Luckily even under Cobalt’s weight the shelters held firm! But when she looked back at the city...there was no skyline, only a few buildings even still stood, and those were heavily damaged. It looked like most of the city were reduced to rubble, but hey! SHE took care of the Kaiju! She saved the people, who knows if it may have burrowed and tried to eat them or something!
Weeks later, when life began to return to normal, the news would go on about how an out of control science experiment had somehow removed the Kaiju, though whether it had saved the city was hard to say! Construction would take months before the city would return to its former glory. But, in the end, there were no casualties! Just a kaiju with a very rabbit like footprint bruise it would never forget!
Cobalt, a rabbit android girl, unlocks an update she's not supposed to. The unstable update lets her take on a rampaging giant and she runs off to play hero! Written for: Meister_Li: (https://inkbunny.net/MeisterLi)
