Turnabout Remodeling (R)

A dreary day in Echo Glade made for little fun. Even as most of the rain bounced off the forest canopy far above, the ground below still got quite soaked from the water running off the leaves. For Gallows, it was good enough to go out for a bit.

The gryphon was walking out of Allorik’s Emporium. Her rubber body was mostly black, with red bands on all four of her legs, a red chest and groin that looked almost like shorts and a chest wrap, and a red gas mask that was her head and face, complete with filters embedded in her beak. The mouth could still open, but it still felt nice to have those lenses on her eyes. She’d had her order sent to her house while she continued to look around at other shops, but trouble wasn’t all that far.

As Gallows turned a corner toward another road, someone yanked her by the collar from behind and drove something into her back. Being that she couldn’t feel any form of physical pain, her attacker became rather confused when she didn’t react. However, that particular detail wasn’t actually in play.

The knife came out clean as she slowly turned toward him. The gryphon hadn’t even realized she was still wearing the suit from before. At least, not until the weapon caused an audible squeak against her skin.

Her attacker stared in shock. He hadn’t expected a synthetic being, much less one he couldn’t hurt so easily.

With a prideful smirk, Gallows reached out at the hyena, squishing an orb of rubber into his chest. Red and black rubber. It spread across his upper body, causing him to stumble backward in horror. A valve appeared just above where his ribs met, while his trunk had been covered by the same type of suit that his would-be victim had been wearing.

Before he could scream, before he could call out for help, the mass moved up his body, latching onto his face. The black mask began to form over his jaw, a beak slowly emerging from the tangle of rubber. A beak with filters, in fact. Then the azure lenses, which covered his eyes completely, filling his vision with a frosted blue haze.

As the changes continued, he raised a hand, only to find a talon in place of his paw. Then the other, replaced by the same type of limb. His feet, trapped within thick boots, flailed against the ground as he tried to get a grip. But it wasn’t going to help him. The moment he flipped over, he felt something press against his back. Heavy… Metallic… In an instant, his limbs just stopped working. His vision blackened, and everything went silent.

He wasn’t dead. He wasn’t unconscious. He could still feel everything.

The sensations of something picking him up. Hoisting him to his feet… All four of them. They held up, forcing him to stand in place as the object on his back was manipulated further.

One step.

Another.

Neither of his own volition. He couldn’t stop himself from moving, and yet, he found himself wanting to blindly walk. To follow directions from something in his mind. Soon he was trotting along. Unable to see anything. To hear anything. Yet, he knew which direction he was going, and which way he needed to move. Despite the walking, it felt like only seconds had passed when his sight returned. Much clearer than ever before, except… something seemed quite off.

Dots…

Pixels…

Lights all around.

Like he was looking through a computer screen.

Gallows pointed to him, then to one of the strange dome-like pads on the ground. He couldn’t see where he was, just the gryphon, and the strange device she’d directed him to. Everything else was pitch black.

His body began moving again as a path of light traced out in front of him. Following the line without fail.

Then, he stood on the small platform, and found himself rising into the air, floating above the dome as it lit up. His forelimbs crossed in front of his chest, while both legs dangled below him. And in his vision, he could see text being drawn in a small window off to his right.

$~> sudo -i
Password: ***************>
#~> _

That looked like something he’d seen on some of the computers back in the lab. The cursor blinked softly for a few moments before the typing resumed.

#~> usermod -c “” g1218-112

His mind felt heavy… For some reason, he was having diffculty remembering things. His name seemed distant. Muted. Even when it was shouted in his memories.

#~> idmod --KeyID “G1218-112” --ShortID “112” g1218112

112… That sounded more familiar. Strangely so.

#~> supmod --SuperID “Ω562231-623855” --ShortSuperID “855” g1218112

Supervisor 855… He suddenly remembered that. It was the gryphon he’d seen walking out of the store.

#~> idbku -r //Kentaris/idbku/e8f25a53-391b-4ff6
Beginning backup.......
10%
...

112 simply watched as the backup worked through the processor on his back, sending something to a remote server somewhere. He wasn’t really sure what was being backed up, but it didn’t take long.

100%
Backup complete.
#~> rm -rPf /home/g1218112/.id/

Within moments, the poor drone started to feel a sense of emptiness. Thoughts simply started vanishing from his mind. Thoughts of school…Had he gone to school? He didn’t remember doing anything like that. Organics went to school, not drones.

#~> echo “ G1218-112 \n Gallows-112 \n Gryphon \n PSD Model 1812 \n Feminine \n Distribution Nozzle \n“ >> tee /home/g1218122/.id/modelinfo
#~> echo “ Gallows-Prime, Gallows-855 “ >> tee /home/g1218122/.id/ownerinfo

He was G1218-112, identifier “Gallows-112”. Personal Service Drone model 1812, Gryphon, with a feminine chassis and equipped with a distribution nozzle in the groin. He was owned by GallowsPrime, or Gallows-855, his supervisor. That’s what he was remembering, anyway.

#~> rpcp --silent //Kentaris/defaults/glsdrn /home/g1218112/.lob
#~> ./ready.sh

His mind blanked once again as something ran through it. It was only for a second, but when the drone could think again, his thoughts were simple: Waiting for input... Battery at 90%... Waiting for input...

Gallows continued to grin as she hovered in the air next to him on an identical charging station, in a room just o! the master bedroom of her Echo Glade home. Not only did she get a new plaything, but it was better than what the royal guard would’ve done to him.

She sent one final command to the newly minted Hazards Containment and Transport gryphon, and within moments, both of them hung limply in the antigravity hold, eyes going dim behind the lenses of their masks. The sizable OmNILink packs on their back soon followed, with their barely lit holodisplays showing nothing more than a power icon.

Drones, ready for their orders. But one question still remained… Was that Gallows the real one? Or was it just as much a drone as its new copy?

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