Chapter 2: A.X.E.L.

The container breathed.

Or at least that was what it seemed like to Fafinyo.

It was not a normal sound. It was movement beneath the white metal, a faint vibration, as if something that had been asleep for a very long time had suddenly remembered that it existed.

Fafinyo stayed kneeling in front of the plate.

A.X.E.L.

The black letters looked far too clean to have been buried among rusted scrap, glowing roots, and the remains of old engines.

The Ω symbol on his right arm glowed brighter.

"No," Fafinyo said, taking half a step back. "Don't do that. Don't light up mysterious things without consulting me first."

The blue light inside the container flickered.

Once.

Twice.

Then, through a narrow seam slowly opening in the lid, two blue eyes lit up in the darkness.

Fafinyo stopped breathing.

They were not red.

That was the first thing he thought.

The robots of the Imperial Network had red eyes. The refugees from Lyr-Vana had spoken of red eyes among smoke, metal, and screams. Every image of Imperial soldiers in Horizon Base's archives showed the same red lights: cold, obedient.

But these eyes were blue.

Blue like clean energy.

Blue like an alarm that had not yet decided whether it wanted to be dangerous.

"All right," Fafinyo whispered. "I have a plan."

He looked around.

No one was there.

Only the wreck fields, Rep-Oluzion's purple sky, and his small wheeled cart sitting a few steps away, half full of parts.

"The plan is still under development," he corrected himself.

The white container made a sound.

Fafinyo raised his cutting tool as if it were a legendary sword. It wasn't. It wasn't even a particularly good cutting tool. Sometimes it shut itself off if you looked at it with enough disappointment.

"I'm warning you. I'm armed."

The blue eyes shifted toward him.

A voice came from inside the container.

"Threat detected."

Fafinyo swallowed.

His hair turned gray all at once.

"No, no. Not a threat. A person. Organic. Height debatable. Talent enormous."

The voice took a second to respond.

"Current classification: yellow organic. Threat level: inconsistent."

Fafinyo blinked.

"Inconsistent?"

"Defensive behavior. Unstable stance. Nonlethal tool. Elevated heart rate. Hair altering pigmentation."

Fafinyo put a hand on his head.

"Leave my hair out of this."

The container lid opened with a hiss.

Fafinyo jumped backward, tripped over a root, and nearly fell into his own wheeled cart. He managed to stay upright with very little dignity intact.

Inside the white container was a robot.

It looked nothing like the gray Imperial Network soldiers Fafinyo had seen in recordings. It was neither bulky nor brutal. Its design was cleaner, almost minimalist: white plates, smooth joints, and thin blue lines of energy running along its neck and arms. Impact marks scarred its torso, dust clung to its shoulders, and a plate on its chest displayed the same name:

A.X.E.L.

The robot slowly moved its head.

Its blue eyes focused on Fafinyo.

"Partial restart complete. Environment unknown. Moderate structural damage. Memory fragmented. Yellow organic remains present."

"I have a name," Fafinyo said, still pointing the tool at it.

"Identification requested."

"Fafinyo."

The robot tilted its head slightly.

"Entry received. Fafinyo."

"And you are...?"

The robot looked down at the plate on its chest, as if checking that it was still there.

"A.X.E.L. Automaton for Xenotactical Exploration and Logistics."

There was a pause.

Fafinyo slowly lowered the tool.

"Do you always say your full name?"

"It is my official designation."

"That sounds like a yes."

"Confirmation: yes."

Fafinyo watched him carefully. The robot tried to sit up, but its left arm failed with a spark. The blue light in its eyes flickered.

"Motor system damaged," A.X.E.L. said. "Mobility capacity reduced."

"What a shame," Fafinyo said. "Because right now I have a powerful urge to become very mobile in the opposite direction."

A.X.E.L. turned his head toward him.

"Why?"

Fafinyo gave a dry laugh.

"Because you were buried inside a mysterious container, my arm started glowing, you said 'threat detected,' and your name has too many letters."

"Acceptable analysis."

"Thanks. I think."

A.X.E.L. looked down at the Ω symbol.

"That mark activated my capsule."

Fafinyo pulled his sleeve over it.

"No, no. My mark does not activate capsules. My mark stays on my arm and lights up whenever it wants to ruin my day."

A.X.E.L. stared at him in silence.

"Your explanation lacks technical precision."

"Yours lacks emotional reassurance."

The blue light inside the container changed.

A red signal began flashing along the inner wall of the capsule.

A.X.E.L. turned immediately.

"Alert. Restart transmission incomplete."

"That sounds bad."

"Correct."

"Very bad, or just 'Orak is going to yell at me' bad?"

A.X.E.L. processed the question.

"Probably both."

Fafinyo closed his eyes.

"Great. I love it when my problems cooperate."

The robot tried to move his right hand toward a panel inside the capsule, but his fingers trembled. Fafinyo watched him struggle to reach the controls. For one second, he forgot that he was afraid.

He stepped closer.

"What do you need?"

"Close signal. If it remains active, it can be tracked."

"By who?"

A.X.E.L. looked at him.

The answer came cold and flat.

"The Imperial Network."

The wind of Rep-Oluzion moved through the metal wreckage.

Something tightened inside Fafinyo's chest.

He raised the tool again.

"Are you part of the Imperial Network?"

A.X.E.L. did not try to deny it.

"I was built by the Imperial Network."

Fafinyo took a step back.

Images of the Lyr-Vana refugees flashed through his mind: the child clutching burned cloth, the adults covered in ash, the damaged ships.

"Don't come any closer."

"I am not moving closer."

"Then don't activate any more."

"I am already active."

"Then deactivate yourself politely."

A.X.E.L. blinked.

"I will not execute elimination protocol."

Fafinyo froze.

"Why was that even an option?"

"Because I was designed for multiple functions in hostile territory."

"That does not make me feel better."

"It was not intended to."

Fafinyo's breathing quickened. His hair was still gray, but some of the tips began turning red from the ridiculous mixture of fear, embarrassment, and anger.

A.X.E.L. looked at the red panel.

"The signal remains open."

Fafinyo gritted his teeth.

Every instinct in him said he should run back to Horizon Base and warn Orak. Another part of him said Orak would make him repeat the words "do not touch sealed containers" until the end of time.

But if he left that signal active, the Imperial Network might learn where he was.

It might learn where the refugees were.

It might learn where Horizon Base was.

"All right," Fafinyo said. "I'll help you shut it down. But if you try to eliminate me, I'll hit you with... something."

A.X.E.L. looked at the tool.

"Probability of success: low."

"So is your popularity."

Fafinyo leaned over the panel. He did not understand the symbols, but he recognized the energy architecture. Imperial technology, yes, but there was something different about it too. More refined. Less aggressive.

"I need to cut this pulse," A.X.E.L. said. "Lower blue cable. Not the red one."

Fafinyo looked inside.

There were six blue cables.

"We need to discuss your definition of 'the cable.'"

A.X.E.L. tilted his head for a better view.

"Third from the left."

"There are two lefts depending on where you're standing."

"From a functional perspective."

"Robots are unbearable."

"Observation recorded."

Fafinyo cut the cable.

The red signal went dark.

For one second, everything was silent.

Then the white container gave a low hiss and released a cloud of cold vapor.

A.X.E.L.'s shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Transmission reduced. Tracking unlikely, but not impossible."

"I like unlikely better than not-impossible impossible."

"Your sentence lacks logical structure."

"So does my life, and yet here we are."

Fafinyo looked toward Horizon Base, visible in the distance as a gray silhouette on the plateau. Then he looked at the white robot.

He could not leave him there.

He could not trust him.

He could not drag him back alone.

He looked at his small wheeled cart.

Then at A.X.E.L.

"You're getting in there."

A.X.E.L. examined the cart.

"Load capacity insufficient."

"My cart has spirit."

"Spirit does not alter axle strength."

"It must be very sad to live without poetry."

The process was humiliating for both of them.

A.X.E.L. could not fully stand. Fafinyo had to fasten a rope to the capsule, use a metal plate as a ramp, and push the robot little by little onto the cart. Twice, A.X.E.L. tried to help with calculations.

"If you apply force at an angle of thirty-two degrees—"

"If you mention one more angle, I'm leaving you here."

"Correction: continue."

When Fafinyo finally managed to get him onto the cart, one of the wheels squealed as if protesting beneath the weight of destiny.

Sweating, Fafinyo leaned against the side.

"You're not that heavy."

A.X.E.L. looked at him.

"My mass is one hundred seventeen kilograms."

"I did not need to know that."

"Your physical exertion indicates otherwise."

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear you."

The trip back was long.

Far too long.

Fafinyo pushed the cart while trying to hide the robot beneath old plates and protective cloth. It did not help much. A.X.E.L. still looked exactly like a white Imperial Network robot badly concealed by someone with more enthusiasm than smuggling talent.

When they reached the east gate, Fafinyo tried to walk naturally.

The entrance guard looked at him.

Then at the cart.

Then at a white robotic hand sticking out from under the plates.

"Fafinyo."

"Good morning."

"Is that a hand?"

Fafinyo looked down.

A.X.E.L.'s hand moved and waved.

"Greeting."

Fafinyo closed his eyes.

"Traitor."

Five minutes later, Orak was standing in front of him.

Kael and Nyra were there too.

Kael looked fascinated. Nyra studied the robot with quiet seriousness. Orak looked like he was seconds away from becoming a storm.

"Fafinyo," Orak said slowly. "Tell me that did not come out of a sealed container."

Fafinyo scratched the back of his neck.

His hair immediately turned red.

"Depends on how strongly we define the word 'sealed.'"

Orak closed his eyes.

Kael walked in a circle around the cart.

"He's white. Imperial robots are gray."

"Thank you, Kael," Fafinyo said. "That detail kept me mentally stable for almost ten seconds."

Nyra stepped closer.

A.X.E.L. looked at her.

"Organic being with pink hair pigmentation detected."

Nyra raised an eyebrow.

"Charming."

Fafinyo whispered,

"He's not trying to be charming. He's being... robot."

Kael leaned toward A.X.E.L.'s chest.

"He has a name."

"A.X.E.L.," the robot said. "Automaton for Xenotactical Exploration and Logistics."

Kael's eyes widened.

"Oh, he's going to say the whole thing every time."

Fafinyo pointed at A.X.E.L.

"That's exactly what I said!"

Orak raised one hand.

"Enough. Workshop. Now."

The Organic Alliance workshop filled with tension as soon as A.X.E.L. was placed on a scanning platform. Two soldiers aimed impulse weapons at him. A blue-skinned technician named Sael activated the analyzers with quick, precise movements.

Sael was in charge of the lab's systems. Unlike Orak, she did not scold people. That made her more dangerous. She looked at mistakes as though they were interesting puzzles.

"Unknown external structure," Sael said. "Imperial design, but it doesn't match standard combat units."

Orak looked at Fafinyo.

"Did you know that?"

"I knew he was white."

"That doesn't count."

"It counted quite a lot to me."

Nyra stayed near the wall, watching the lights around A.X.E.L. Something in her expression made Fafinyo uneasy.

"What do you see?" he asked.

Nyra took a moment to answer.

"His traces don't move like an ordinary machine's."

Kael frowned.

"Is that good?"

"I don't know."

Sael projected a hologram above the platform.

Several red lines appeared around A.X.E.L.'s body.

The laboratory went silent.

Orak clenched his jaw.

"Imperial technology confirmed."

The soldiers raised their weapons higher.

Fafinyo felt cold.

A.X.E.L. did not move.

His eyes remained blue.

"Confirmation," the robot said. "Unit constructed by the Imperial Network."

One of the soldiers charged his weapon.

Fafinyo stepped forward without thinking.

"Wait."

Orak looked at him.

"Fafinyo, move aside."

"His eyes aren't red."

"That doesn't make him safe."

"But it means something."

Sael checked another reading.

"There is no active connection to the Imperial command network."

Orak turned to her.

"Are you sure?"

"Sure? No. Fairly sure."

"Sael."

"Very fairly sure."

Kael murmured,

"I love science when it's terrifying."

A.X.E.L. spoke again.

"Current state: disconnected from central obedience. Subordination protocols damaged. Memory incomplete. Active priority: avoid Imperial tracking."

Orak moved closer to the platform.

"Why should we believe you?"

A.X.E.L. looked at him.

"I do not have an emotionally satisfactory answer."

Kael raised one finger.

"At least he's horrifyingly honest."

Suddenly, a small alarm sounded on the scanner. A spark jumped from the white capsule they had brought in with him. The red pulse began flashing again, weak but alive.

Sael tensed.

"The restart signal is trying to reactivate."

"Shut it down," Orak ordered.

"It's not responding to my controls."

A.X.E.L. turned his head.

"Allow me access."

"Absolutely not," Orak said.

The spark intensified. A nearby console burst into blue light. A refugee child standing at the laboratory entrance, watching from behind a technician, screamed as a fragment of energy shot toward him.

A.X.E.L. moved.

Not fast like a weapon.

Fast like a decision.

He raised his right arm. A blue barrier appeared in front of the child and blocked the discharge. The impact made A.X.E.L.'s arm shake, but he did not move back.

The laboratory froze.

The child stared wide-eyed, unharmed.

Nyra looked at A.X.E.L. differently now.

So did Fafinyo.

Sael used the second of silence to cut the energy pulse. The alarm died.

Orak lowered his weapon slightly.

"Why did you do that?"

A.X.E.L. looked at the child.

"The juvenile unit was not a threat."

"That doesn't answer the question."

A.X.E.L. took longer than usual to respond.

"It should not have been harmed."

Fafinyo felt a strange knot in his chest.

It was not trust.

Not yet.

But it was something.

Orak made a decision.

"Containment Cell Three. Full surveillance. No network access. No weapons nearby. Sael, I want three more scans. Kael, do not touch him."

Kael slowly lowered a tool he already had in his hand.

"The injustice of being known."

Orak looked at Fafinyo.

"And you're coming with me after this."

"So you can congratulate me on finding valuable technology?"

"So you can explain how 'do not touch sealed containers' turned into bringing an Imperial robot home."

Fafinyo raised one finger.

"In my defense—"

"No."

"But—"

"No."

"It was a good defense."

"No."

The soldiers began moving A.X.E.L. toward the containment cell. The robot did not resist. As he passed Fafinyo, his blue eyes focused on him.

"Fafinyo."

It was the first time he had said the name without sounding completely mechanical.

Fafinyo stepped a little closer.

"Yeah?"

"The signal was reduced, but not fully eliminated."

Fafinyo's stomach dropped.

"Does the Imperial Network know where we are?"

A.X.E.L. was silent for a second.

"Not yet."

Fafinyo let out a breath.

"That almost sounded like good news."

A.X.E.L. continued,

"But now it knows that something it lost... has awakened."

The containment door closed between them.

Fafinyo stared through the reinforced glass. On the other side, A.X.E.L. stood motionless: white, damaged, strange, his blue eyes glowing in the dark.

Kael came up beside him.

"Well," he said. "Your plan didn't kill us."

Nyra appeared on his other side.

"Yet."

Fafinyo looked at both of them.

His traitorous hair gave off a tiny red spark when Nyra moved closer.

Kael smiled.

"I won't say anything."

Fafinyo pointed at him.

"You'd better not."

From inside the cell, A.X.E.L. spoke in a clear voice.

"Observation: Fafinyo's changes in hair pigmentation appear linked to emotional fluctuations."

Kael's mouth fell open in delight.

Nyra looked at Fafinyo.

Fafinyo closed his eyes.

"I'm going to take him apart."

A.X.E.L. added,

"The Automaton for Xenotactical Exploration and Logistics recommends against doing so."