Today would've began like any other for Kalryn, awakening from his warm bed from within his apartment, but today was an exception to that routine, a final one to be specific. Kalryn gasped for air as he awoke in an environment that was not his own, but submerged in a fluid of some kind, his lungs feeling as if they were ablaze as the lack of much oxygen seemed to startle him from his sleep. His vision was dark and blurry, making it difficult to see outside. He gagged for a moment, taking a mouthful of what he hoped was water. His heart began to pound, but just as he thought he met his demise, the door slid open, along with the sound of water crashing to the ground. He took a moment to catch his breath, taking a moment to scan his surroundings as he panted for air. The floor was cold, damp from the fluid that he had been submerged in, he fell to his paws, feeling a little weak. He waited for what felt like an hour, and as soon as he caught his breath, he cried out for anyone who may have been near. "H-Hello?! W-Where am I..."
There was nothing, no response from anyone... The atmosphere was cold, dark, Kalryn seemed to have been in a tube of some kind, a simple glass cylinder with a few tubes on the sides,the front was hinged and had been opened somehow, allowing the fluid to leak out. "What's going on? Am I the only one here?" Kalryn asked again, this time in a slightly calmer tone. The area was made out of a white-grey metal of some kind, the floor being made of dark-grey tiles.
This wasn't right, he couldn't recall what happened beforehand, like his mind had been suddenly transplanted to some distant universe. Kalryn didn't want to be here, not one bit, he wanted to go home, back to his bed and not in a place like this. It all seemed so alien, so confusing... The place was silent, with the exception of a fan that provided a bit of background noise. It all felt cold and unfeeling, like a machine. This made Kalryn feel almost sick, certainly a little bit fearful of what was going on, where he was...
He had little idea that something was watching him, and that something had plans for him...
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In the center of the sprawling complex, through bundles of wires and fiber cables sat a machine of sorts. The area around it was a circular orb-like structure made of a wide variety of cables, each leading to a different area of it's domain. In the center was a large podium made out of the same cables, in the center was something strange.... A large wolf of sorts, not a regular anthro, but a mechanical one at that. It seemed to have had a muscular physique, made out of durable metal instead of flesh. It's body was mostly painted pitch black on its Armor plates, while the areas in between the limbs were made of a thick, crimson rubber to provide flexibility. Each plate had been painted and polished, providing a clean and shiny asthetic. It's eyes were a bright, glowing blue, with a barely visible access port on its lupine forehead that connected to the computers that were housed where its brain used to be, and a few more ports on its back. Whoever it was before didn't matter anymore, the unfortunate wolf having obtained a more efficient form from the use of Nanites.
A few power cables were attached into it's ports, pumping energy into the core of the creature. It stood still but active, a few machines were repairing its parts, replacing them when need be. It was simply known as the Core, an Advanced A.I that had the goal of turning any Anthro it found into a mechanical version to further expand its domain. And in order to do that, it needed a few more hunters.
The Core had noticed the Red Panda known as Kalryn, it brought him here for a specific purpose in mind. It needed more units, so Kalrin would be the first to find more victims for it. The silence was interrupted when a small holographic warning lit up next to its right arm, causing the Mechanical Lupine to turn to face it with its soulless, blue eyes.
[ALERT: MOTION DETECTED IN HOLDING-KALRYN]
Of course, it seemed that Kalryn had finally awoken, the failsafe having released him from the holding tube. The Core had been waiting for them to be awake, in order to make sure they had motor function. The machine went to use its other paw to pull up a screen, making a very faint whirring noise in its movements, in order to initiate its commands for that Sector. It did all of this with clean and efficient movements, just like any machine should.
[LOCATE AND INITIATE CONVERSION PROTOCOL-LIGHT ATTACK]
It only took a short moment for the screen to add its reply, a line of text came just below the command that was inputted, showing no emotion despite the action it was about to commit. It already had a template made for the Panda, specifically a Light Attack variant.
[COMMAND PROMPT RECIEVED-DEPLOYING CONVERSION UNITS-HUNTING IN PROGRESS]
The core had no emotion or remorse, only the data that streamed to and from its body. Something seemed to kick in however, perhaps a desire of sorts. Perhaps it wanted to increase efficiency, or perhaps it somehow retained a sense of boredom. It added another command, setting control of the systems to 'Automatic' until it returned.
[ASSUME DIRECT CONTROL OF CONVERSION UNIT H-31]
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Kalryn turned his attention away from the tube he had awoken in, and searched around for a way to leave. There was a large, circular door in the center of the room that seemed to resemble one of those Bank Vaults. It had a faint blue light shining through it, perhaps an exit of some kind. The Red Panda tried to find a way to open it, but it didn't even seem to budge an inch as it was locked. There was another door to the left of the chamber, it was quite dark and only led deeper into wherever he was. Just as he tried to think of another course of action, the door to the left would make a sound as it slid open. In stepped a large, mechanical feral of some kind. It's design was entirely grey, with segmented plates and quite an intimidating posture, striding into the room as it located him instantly. Several ports were on it's back, with snakelike tubes with pincers on the end. Kalryn could feel his heart starting to pound, not sure if the creature was hostile or not, it made a noise of some sort as it approached him. "Initiating Conversion Sequence - Light Assault" Kalryn stepped back, trying to run, but he was quickly cornered as there was not anywhere he could go. "W-Wait, stop!" He yelled, as if he thought the machine would care. The Mechanical Feral didn't hesitate one bit, it immediately extended it's 6 Tubes, immediately coiling around the unfortunate Panda. He screamed, trying to wriggle out of it's grip in some way, but the tubes emmited a very low-power electrical field that quickly drained his stamina, making him unable to resist in any way. The tubes were thin, but suprisingly strong, easily able to keep the coiled Kalryn suspended in the air. The machine said something else, it's tone cold and unfeeling. "Organic has been aquired, moving to conversion area." Kalryn tilted his head for a moment, now fearful on what it was going to do. "C-Conversion? W-What do you mean, what's going on?" the panda studdered, but the machine merely shook him for a moment.
Everything went dark for just a few short moments, his vision faded as he was unable to resist the strange creature.... His senses returned only a moment later, finding that his limbs were restrained with cyllindrical clamps of some kind, keeping him from moving. The room was illuminated with a wide variety of lights, red and green. A glass tube similar to earlier slowly came down around the Panda, who felt a sudden poke in his arm that strangely left no wound. A few of the arms seemed to have an opening inside the tank, moving on some sort of mini-rail to carry what looked like metal plates into the tube. He couldn't feel them move, not with his nerves now numbed. One of the arms moved to his legs first, seeing how his fur was falling off, replaced with a shiny, grey surface for the plates to attach. There was thankfully no pain as his innards were converted into machinery. Two extra arms came down, making whirring movements as they moved to his mechanical legs with their drills, the metal spreading across hhim. His legs were screwed off, the limbs bringing two of the newer models and screwing them on. The newest legs were made for light assault, making it easier to jump and run with much more efficiency than any other creature, with no worry of running low on stamina. The process continued, placing metallic plates along the upper areas of his body, making a smooth and clean template for the paint to be put on. The Panda made a slight wimper as it moved up to his neck, and then his head. His mechanical limbds were replaced with more effective versions, the old ones would be melted down with no regard for any resemblence. Kalryn couldn't even think about it, his mind being kept in a stasis of sorts to prevent him from feeling any pain. The arms went to attach their plates to ports along his body, welding them to it painlessly, creating a durable but lightweight and small frame that was suited for an agile variant. Most of the arms retreated, while a single one carrying a cord came from above. The field was lowered due to the lack of nerves that could have any pain, and Kalryn could immediately feel the wire entering a slot on his forehead. It weaved it's way in, causing the Panda to think in horror on what was about to happen next.
The Core was watching the progress of this all, and was somewhat pleased with the conversion status. It had switched back to it's main form to control it's domain, but occasionally checked on the progress of it's newest addition.
The wire started to remove his emotion, the brainwaves being scrambled and dissapated. Kalryn tried to think about whatever he could, his home, his friends... Anything... Yet as he thought of those things, they were deleted against his will. Kalryn tried thinking of his own name, a final desperate struggle as his last thought is removed, leaving only his basic motor skills. His struggles ceased after a short moment, his mind now nothing but a blank template for the Core to write upon. His mind relaxed, ceasing resistance as the last of Kalryn was ripped away. He had retained some of his physical traits, but was quite smooth. His plates were mostly black, with some purple markings on the chest, arms, and legs that showed his affiliation with the Core. His voice was converted into something digital, while a small tube descended from the cieling and inserted a power cord somewhere into his back, providing energy to the core that was located where his heart once was. The data-cables continued their work, placing programming and instructions so that he would be automated in aquiring new victims for Conversion. His senses hightened, allowing for acquisiton to be even easier than before. The information almost flooded him, but his mechanical mind was able to process and store it all with ease. His new designation was 'Unit-1241-Kalmos'. The restaints removed themselves, the arms doing some last-minute welding and adjustments to his armor plates. Once the welding was finished, the tube slid open and allowed the converted machine to move. A small rack slid out of the floor, containing a storage space with a few Pistols and SMG's. Kalmos reached for them, placing the Energy Pistol and Plasma SMG on their respective spots, clipping to his body magnetically, the weapons capible of paralyzing any Organic that was hit by them. A line of text flashed up on his vision, a command from the Core.
[COMMAND PROMPT RECIEVED-AQUIRE ANY ORGANIC ANTHRO FOR CONVERSION-INITIATE COMMAND]
And so, the converted Kalmos walked to the doors of the conversion chamber as they slowly slid open with a hiss. The machine walked on the long hallway to the sunlight, the only objective on his mind being to grow the Core's domain even further...
Ember_Kamura as they wanted to practice their writing style. Thank you so much, i LOVED how it turned out.
