No Purpose, No Place

[Komitoza]

A perfect harmonizing wind created by the failing engine cooling system blew throughout the empty hallways of the "Glacier", the mechanical fortress of the missing Core guildmaster, Arcani Unit-018 "Frostbite", as the large suit of armor wandered the hallways carrying the empty shell of a former human residing within, lost in deep thought. Each heavy step of this walking encyclopedia of augmentation echoed throughout the Destroyer whenever his foot made contact with the heavy alloy flooring. "How long has it been since I've started my search for her? I didn't even get the chance to synchronize my time with the ship before the main panel went offline. What day is it? Does it matter, really."

Ever since Ruby disappeared, Andrew has been slowly declining into insanity. His irrefutable affection for the former guildmistress was the only emotion which could distinguish this abomination of a cyborg as a standing human. When she originally put him in charge of the Core, Frostbite was left with a numeral address on which he could contact the girl after her initial disappearance, and while she never replied to any of his usual status reports, he was always notified of her reading the message at the very least, which kept him in check performing the duties he was left with. But one day, the messages would no longer reach Ruby, and the numeral address, it was as if it never existed in the first place.

At that point in time, if he was capable of doing so, Andrew would be thrown into a total state of panic, but his half-mechanical heart was no longer beating, so his brain did what it could to make up for his lack of emotional reaction, knowing that the man wanted it from the bottom of what remained of his soul.

While he was known to be a laid back joker before his so called "upgrade", Andrew was a low-key genius, and the irregular determination he felt after literal years of only being driven by motivation which was basically programmed into him, made his plan of setting sail on a journey to find his reason to live be put into action within minutes of the ideas birth.

Frostbite continued to slowly limp down the walkway leading to the bridge. To him it seemed like an eternity as he was overwhelmed by feelings he forgot about long ago, but in reality it only took a mere four minutes for the man to reach his destination. He's been greeted by the same sight for the past week, every daily visit. As the bridge door slid open, to the left was a trashed security panel, broken in a fit of rage which he no longer remembers, as was everything else in the following scenery. To the right, stood a small armory stand, the shelves crashed down onto one another despite them being made out of strong metal, and straight ahead, the wider view showed a series of destroyed displays covered in pitch black oil along with the floor, still dripping from the numerous robotic corpses of the former AI crew. The only functioning thing was the holo panel, connected to the ships circular main computer in the very center, which at that point was only capable of displaying navigation. "How ironic, I never thought such a trivial emotion would bring my demise. Should I rejoice at the fact there's still a human left inside of this suit of armor, or should I grieve that I've failed in more ways than one?"

The only service elevator still in function was the one on the main bridge. While it only connected to the aesthetically placed, so called "Frozen Throne", thankfully it was just the place Andrew was looking for. The place where he first met her in person after the Arcani, the place where his spark for her reignited, bringing back what little humanity he had left as it spread into a wildfire, the place where he ultimately received her absolute trust, as the rank of guildmaster was passed down onto him along with the only remaining way of contacting the former one. As he entered the claustrophobic hatch, the weight of his combat suit was enough to momentarily drag the entire elevator downwards, but it didn't last long as it started slowly dragging him up towards his destination. "I pray this is the right answer, or so I would if I believed there was any logic behind the concept of god."

Frostbite exited the elevator, entering the large hall of his frozen throne, soon to be his resting place. Even to a regular person, the sight would be grand. The ceiling was so tall anyone's first thought would be, "how did they fit all of this in here?", and in the very center of the room, stood a large, bulky, white, electronic throne. The ceiling itself was actually a window, along with the area behind the throne, allowing the universe's luminous light to shine upon it, but apart from that the gigantic room was quite empty, giving off an appropriate lonely vibe. "Ah. Nostalgia, so genuine, a feeling which can't be erased by even the most rigorous procedures."

Approaching the stairway, the man-machine began climbing slowly, taking each step in with special care, letting this feeling which was oh so amazing for him slowly sink in. Should someone on the brink of death, especially a supposedly emotionless shell, feel such bliss in its last moments? Who knows, Andrew did not think about it for even a second, contrary to his habit of over-analyzing things. Once he was at the top, instead of sitting down, the man knelt before the throne on the final step, reaching in for the serial-key scanner on the back of his neck with the his right hands index finger, releasing the pressure from his armored shell. The helmet was the first thing to open up, followed by the chest and abdomen, thighs and shin, down to his very feet. What stepped outside was nothing like the appealing man he used to be. Instead of well shaped abs, defined slim muscles and cute blue hair, Frost had wire tubes for abdomen, bare-bone augmented limbs, mechanical hips, and even a hatch over his heart, though his chest to the opposite side was completely human, even though on the inside his ribcage was reinforced with special alloys. Even his left eye was replaced with electronics. He looked like a robotic lich, more than anything. "Maybe this way, I'll get to feel like I'm going there as myself, as Andrew Frost, even if the sensation is minimal."

The suit of armor closed behind him, and once Andrew finally sat down onto the frozen throne in his usual royal pose, resting his left hand raised on the arm rest, leaning the left side of his metal jaw line over his clenched fist in a lightly smug manner, it was as if he was looking at an afterimage of his current self, or former, or debatably both. Either way, even thought it was supposed to be an emotional moment, he felt very little in comparison to his yearning for mistress Hydra. Using his right hand, he'd reach in for the hatch over where his heart should be, once again allowing the serial key scanner to do its magic, releasing the hatch to reveal his almost entirely mechanical blood pump. Without a flinch, Frostbite grabbed it, getting a gentle hold over his own life as he began to pull it out along with all the small tubes and wires connected to it, careful not to rip them off. It didn't take much time, as there was a lack of fear present, and soon he'd place it on the right arm rest, while still keeping it in his hand with a soft grip, gazing at it as it began slowly beating every once in a while. "The very small amount of fear I'm able to feel is revolving around the possibility of meeting you in hell, should one exist. But my hopes stand high that you're still alive."

Despite their depressing nature, Andrew had a smile on his face as he spoke those words, the first and the last smile he ever showed in the last two years. The hand which held his own heart got into motion, his grip got stronger by the second. He continued to look down upon his kneeling suit of armor as he felt his life slowly slip away. The thin layer of protective armor around the mechanical blood pump began to crack, faster and faster, until.. click. "See you soon, love."