I was floating ... drifting.

Lost.

Thoughts were few and far between.

Like leaves floating on a quiet pond.

Drifting.

Quiet.

"Meow"

Meow? Was that a ... cat?

Ripples in the pond.

"Meow"

Yes. That was definitely a cat.

Where?

I see it now. Standing on the shore of the pond ... of my mind?

It was a black cat, with green eyes. It looked at me.

Who... am I?

'You are Aegis. The shield. The protector.' The cat seemed to say. It wasn't moving its mouth.

I'm Aegis? Oh yeah.

'Aegis. Much will be asked of you. You will be faced with challenges beyond even your own life. When you are lost, look for the sign of the cat. I will always be there. Take care my little shield.'

What? Shield?

The cat began to fade from my mind's eye.

The cat.... Cat .... Cat...

[Cat - cat - catastrophic system failure. Automatic repair systems halted. Damage estimate at 80%. Unable to resume repair routines. Power at 15%]

What?

There was a strange voice in my head. Not ... a cat?

[Catastrophic system failure. Aut aut automatic repair systems halted. Damage estimate at 80%.]

Damage estimate?

My eyes clicked open.

Clicked? Yes, that was definitely a click I heard.

Birds were chirping.

I blinked.

Click.

Yes, that was definitely a click.

My vision cleared a bit. Everything was staticy - like looking through a bad security monitor.

I was lying to one side. My ... face? was lying against the cold, hard stone.

I could hear birds chirping. Was I ... outside?

No, I could see stone walls. But ... with bright sunshine.

So not outside, but not inside either?

Ah... my mind engaged.

Ruins.

I was lying at the opening in a wall. Like there had been a big explosion sometime in the past.

The far past from the looks of it.

There were vines growing along the walls. Rubble was everywhere. A broken chair lie just outside of my range of vision.

[Cat - cat - catastrophic system failure. Automatic repair systems halted. ]

The tinny voice in my head was ... a computer? What system?

[System query. Automatic Electronic Generalized Information System : AEGIS.

System v0.01

Damage report .... All systems at 80% damage. Energy level 14%

Mana compensation at 0%

Automatic repairs halted due to lack of power.]

Mana compensation?

[System Query: Mana. Mana systems operate beyond logic parameters. Otherwise known as Magic.]

...

[Warning! Power at 12% and dropping. Cat cat catastrophic system failure imminent.]

I blinked. I heard something. It wasn't birds.

Footsteps.

The rocky ground was crunching under someone's feet. I remembered the hooded figure. Paralyzed. I could not move. I could not even "feel" anything. I was terrified.

Help! I cried inwardly.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

[Assistance query. Help. Urgently need liquid water to catalyze battery restoration. Solar cells damaged. Seek water source.]

I could hear the footsteps coming closer. I heard humming. Singing. It sounded like a ... girl?

[Seek water. Seek water]

""Wat - water."" Some strange electronic voice spoke just beneath me. Was that - that me?

The humming stopped.

"Who's there? Who said that?" It was the girl's voice. She sounded terrified.

"Look, I'm just here to look for something to scavenge. I don't want any trouble!" she stammered.

""Water. I. I. I need water""

Footsteps running closer, crunching the ground.

A face. In front of me. A beautiful girl, no older than maybe 17, leaned over and stared at me. She looked horrified. Her golden hair glowed in the sunlight. Beautiful ringlets.

I blinked.

cLICk!

"Eeeeeeeeek!" She screamed.

Her face left my field of vision and I could hear the sounds of footsteps racing away.

Great.

Just great.

Hours pass.

I close my eyes.

Guess I need to conserve energy.

I cannot move. I don't even know if there's anything there TO move. I cannot feel anything. Probably a good thing since if I had an itch, I couldn't possibly scratch it.

[Power at 10%. Urgent action needed. Seek water. Seek water]

Yeah, I know. Sorry, voice in my head, but I can't really do that right now.

How did I get here? What is going on? Is this the simulation? This is NOT a space sim.

I thrashed inwardly. What is this voice? It's like some kind of computer system?

I chanced opening my eyes again. One eye was damaged, it seemed. Oh yeah. I was hit by a robot arm.

Something shifted within me.

That was ... my arm!

Oh god. What am I?

[System Query. You are A.E.G.I.S. An autonomous humanoid golem. You were created by Kendranen Mir on Standard Date 1714.28. ]

Well, I didn't really expect an answer. A golem? Why didn't it say robot?

[System query: A robot is a lifeless automaton consisting of pure mechanism. A golem is a creation of magic and science imbued with a life force. Self is a golem.]

Oh. ... Magic? Um...

I struggled to comprehend what was going on with me. I stared at the floor and walls helplessly. My life was slowly draining out of me. I couldn't move. One eye was damaged. I guess somehow I was hallucinating, back in the POD. This was my brain's way of dealing with me dying...

Oh well.

The girl was pretty though. Way to go, imagination.

[System Query: The human girl was not an imaginary construct. Ultrasonic radar confirms the human is approaching, once again.]

What?

I heard footsteps. Growing slowly closer. Two sets this time. One seemed heavier, slower.

"Look, dad!" The girl's voice. "There it is! It - it spoke to me! It's eyes moved!"

"Now, Clarissa. There's been nothing here for fifty years. Looters cleaned out this castle decades ago. How can - " A man's voice.

""Water. I. Need. Need. Need. Water."" I managed. How was I speaking? I sounded like a drunk C-3PO.

"Oh my." The man's voice finished.

Rushed steps.

A kindly looking man with a balding head and wild tufts of white hair on the sides looked into my eyes. My world suddenly shifted dramatically.

Whoosh!

Ouhhhh. If I had a stomach I would have puked. He must have ... picked me up? Oh god.

I could see all around me now.

Before me - holding me upright was the old man. He was squinting in the sunlight. Someone or something had done a number on this room. I could see heavy stone walls. I was near a rather large hole in the wall. Trees were everywhere outside, and a few even inside the walls. Above me the walls went up up up. A castle? I was just outside the ruins of some kind of heavy stone castle.

The girl, Clarissa? She stood close to her dad. She seemed both curious and fearful.

"What is it? A robot? He looks like he's been chewed on by an ogre." She said derisively.

I could tell she had a curious sense of humor.

She was wearing a pretty dress with red flowers on yellow. It was girly without being too frilly.

[System shutdown in twenty minutes. Battery at 5%. ]

"Please." I croaked. "Water."

The man almost dropped me.

Carefully, he set me down, against a ruined wall.

"Clarissa, get my water pouch off the horse. Go, quickly!"

"But dad! We don't know what this is. What if it's a .. weapon?"

"Not a weapon. Please help" I said.

"Go!" The dad yelled urgently.

Clarissa ran off in a huff, but came back with a leather pouch that had some kind of lid on one end.

"Where?" The man asked.

Where? I asked myself.

[System Query. Water delivery system at mandibular opening.]

""Mouth"" I said.

A moment later I could hear water gushing.

Something inside me CAME ALIVE.

I could hear servos moving. Gears clanking.

Was that. Steam?

[Water delivery successful. Processing...]

I felt something.

I felt something!

I was getting warm, deep inside.

I blinked several times.

Clarissa eeked, mutedly.

[Energy conversion commencing. Battery level at 14% and rising.]

"How's that" The man asked.

"Thank you" I sounded better already. I guess my speech had been unmodulated to save power.

Moments passed.

[System update. Battery at 35%. Engaging automatic repair routines]

Suddenly, I became very noisy. Gears were grinding. Steam began shooting out of places, I couldn't even see.

Then, like a blanket of life, of cold fire, fell over me all at once. I could FEEL. My body.

And it HURT.

"ARRRGH!" I cried out.

The man and girl stepped back, in fear.

I held up my hand.

MY HAND!

My right hand was metallic. It was partitioned like a lifelike robot, with joints and gaps where I could move my elbow and fingers. My arms were covered in strange shapes, almost like runes or tattoos. I looked at my own arm.

"Wait!" I said.

"Won't hurt. Just in … pain."

Another wave of intense pain racked my body. I screamed.

I looked at my other shoulder. Apparently I could move my head now?

There was only an empty socket where my left arm should have been.

I knew it.

I bit my lip. That's new.

I looked down.

I was metallic, but also sinewy. My body looked bronze, with light and dark areas. Parts of me glowed with a greenish hue. However, while that was pretty seriously troubling, that was not the worst of it.

Below my stomach, where my legs should be, and ... my butt? There was nothing.

If I was a doll, or a golem? I was pretty broken.

Another wave of pain - so so much worse than before - racked my body.

This is bad.

[Warning! System reboot in 10... 9... 8... ]

""Help - "" I managed before everything went black.