System Reset

The king casually strolled over, his smile as kind as before. Berus struggled against Gyria’s grasp, but to no avail. He knew that something dangerous was happening, even though he had no idea what it was.

“The access plate should be in the neck, if I remember correctly,” the king said lightly, as if talking about the weather.

No more words were necessary for Gyria. Suddenly, Berus found himself on his knees, and she pressed down on him with all her might. He couldn’t move. A few hands pressed down on his head as well, exposing his neck to the king as he came over.

“Good. Enjoy the struggle as much as you want, as it will be over in just a moment,” Gyria laughed quietly.

Berus couldn’t see anything. Out of reflex, he opened his combat menu, only to find Ki-Rai floating around.

“Ahaha! Doesn’t feel nice, now does it?” she giggled. “That’s how I felt all this time!”

“Ki-Rai…”

“Shhh,” the king hushed him. “I have to focus. Let’s seee… where was it… exactly for these things you need a mechanic, hmm…”

His hands ran over Berus’ smooth neck, on the search for something. Berus tried to move, to fight, but he couldn’t escape Gyria’s grasp.

“Stop that!” Mikkah screamed, as she herself was still held by Gyria.

“Stop it!” Iuria joined her.

But no one dared to do anything. On the contrary, some of the people around them leaned forward, as if this was an interesting demonstration.

He had to do something. Maybe he should activate the self destruct once more? No, he couldn’t. Not with Ki-Rai, Mikkah and Iuria around. Wasn’t there anything else he could do?

“A-ha! There it is.”

A small panel on his neck opened. Ever since Berus had been reborn in the automaton, Mikkah had never touched that panel. He didn’t even know if she knew about it, but with the way the king behaved, and her screams grew more panicked, that seemed unlikely. He didn’t want to find out what the king could do there.

“Then, let’s get ready for a proper system reset, hmmm? You’ll feel much better afterwards. Or, well, no. But I will definitely feel better once you’re in my service. Your poor soul will only suffer.”

He laughed as if he had made the joke of the century.

“No!”

“Stop it, Father!”

Mikkah fought against the limbs holding her in place, as if she tried to distract Gyria, but it didn’t work. Iuria herself rushed forwards, but was caught by two guards who prevented her from interfering. Ki-Rai was still laughing, as if this was all a joke to her, and that hurt him the most. But he couldn’t see more.

The king continued to rake through Berus’ internal cables, as if he was repairing old electronics, all while humming a tune to himself.

“Oh, why did they have to put it in such an inaccessible place…”

It felt weird, worse than anything Mikkah had ever done to him. But King Flavis certainly didn’t care for Berus’ discomfort, and continued to shove his wiry innards around. It felt like having his muscles shoved around for hun. Now, he tried to move by pure instinct, but even that was not possible in the demon’s grasp.

“There you go! What a tiny button. Well, enjoy your full system reset.”

Berus could feel King Flavis pushing down, and with that motion, his whole body froze.

“H-huh?”

He couldn’t talk, but his soul was still calling out.

“What’s going on? Ki-Rai?”

She wasn’t laughing anymore.

“Oh shit! They made a full reset!”

“What does that mean?”

“Bad news!”

“That doesn’t help me! What can I do? Tell me!”

Panic welled up inside of him, but even that didn’t move him. This was completely different from anything Mikkah had ever done to him. It felt as if he had fully lost control over his body, as if he was losing parts of himself. And Ki-Rai was right there, panicking with him.

“This is bad! Like, really bad! I don’t want to lose you, you were fun!” she whined.

He took a deep breath.

“Thank you for everything, Ki-Rai. You were… annoying, but also a friend. I liked you.”

“W-wha… don’t say that!”

For a moment, his vision vanished, and he felt truly alone in a cage of darkness. Caught in this metal body that is his, but still fully outside of his control. Berus felt the hands of Gyria withdraw, but he didn’t fight. He couldn’t.

“Ki-Rai?” he asked, but it was still only his soul that called out. His body remained silent.

“Looks like it worked,” King Flavis said with a satisfied smile.

Berus’ vision came back, as clear as before. But he didn’t move, or say anything.

“Tell me your unit number, machine,” he continued.

Berus wanted to say his name, to tell the king he was not a machine.

“My unit number is 037589.”

It wasn’t his voice, he knew that. It sounded emotionless and robotic, as if someone had taken audio recordings of him and fed it through an AI. And yet, it was the only thing his body allowed to say.

The king nodded, delighted by his words. “A pile of trash. Outdated and half scrapped. Don’t you think so?”

“Of course.”
No, he wanted to say. That’s not true!

But he stood there and simply took the abuse.

“Good. That’s what I want to hear. And who is your master?”

“You are.”

Berus wanted to scream, to fight, to do anything but this. But he screamed only into the void of his own soul. Even Ki-Rai was gone. His mana regeneration accelerated faster than ever, and it sickened him.

“This can’t be…” Mikkah whispered.

“Berus! What… what happened to you?” Iuria said, as she struggled against the guards.

“Right!” King Flavis turned around to her as if he just remembered her. “I wasn’t done with you. If you all would give us some room. Except you, machine. You stay right where you are.”
Gyria retreated on her many limbs, while the guards made more room. He did not like this.

Ki-Rai?, he asked out once more. He couldn’t give up hope. Not yet.

“I-I’m here,” her voice came to him, scrappy and distorted. “But… I’m having a hard time to…”

I’m so glad, he thought. I’m so glad you’re here, and you can hear me, and–

King Flavis motioned to the guards, and with that, they pushed Iuria into the space they had just created.

“I have no use for a daughter who doesn’t want to join her father,” he said. “I’ll have this machine hammer away at your doubts. I have to test its loyalty to me, after all. Sounds good?”

He smiled at her, but his words were devoid of warmth.

“Automaton.” He looked directly at Berus. “Hurt her until she is ready to give up.”

Slowly, Berus’ body moved forward.