E-UNIT: The Blue Angels of Death.

Chapter 119: Background Process.

V O L U M E F I V E

Chapter 119: Background ProcessA cold night over Theria's borders. The city sat quiet, every robot watching their leader speak at the UNG meeting, the announcement of Elysium as a country for all intelligent beings playing across screens throughout the capital.

Outside the city, the E-Police building stood empty.

Except for two.

"Here's the station." 02 scanned the area as they approached. "I didn't run, as you asked. Though that still cost us a full day, on account of your traveling preferences." She glanced at her. "Are you sure you want to walk yourself?"

"Yes. And maybe you're right." Tau's voice had nothing behind it. "I should treat you better. It's not like you chose to take Omega from me." She paused. "Though you remind me of her far too much." They reached the back garden. The grave sat at the far end, covered in flowers, undisturbed. Tau looked at it for a moment. "They buried him properly. Considering everything he did."

02 cleared the energy wall in one jump and landed inside. "They're not monsters. He was their creator too. Some of that stays no matter what came after."

Tau climbed over with significantly less grace, landing in a stumble she barely caught. She was far less substantial than she'd been even that morning, mostly a faint outline now, internals visible through the surface, held together by the last of what remained.

02 looked away.

Tau crossed to the grave, brushed the flowers aside, and read the name carved into the stone. Nicholas Rivera. She sat down in front of it. "Are you satisfied with what you did?" Her voice was quiet, but not soft. "I believed in you more than anyone. And you chose her. You protected her and left me to be destroyed, her, the one who hated you most." She was quiet for a moment. "Why?"

Tau swung her legs gently against the stone base of the grave. "I was there when she tore you apart with words. I attacked her myself just so you could see how far I was willing to go for you." She pressed her hand into the soil, barely a touch. "What do I have to do to earn what you gave her for free, something she doesn't even want?"

A few meters away, 02 had found a charging station left outside near the wall and was inspecting it with genuine focus.

Tau watched her. ‘How can she think that would work? We don't have charging ports.’ A pause in her thoughts. ‘She's behaving like Omega though. That same instinct, just do something, find something, fix it.' She kept watching. 'Is she… I see…’

Then Tau fell.

02 was at her side before the sound of it finished. "Tau!" She caught her, pulled her in. "What happened?"

"I think I lost too much energy. I can't—" The thought cut off.

"Is there anything we can do? Something temporary?" 02 lifted her onto her shoulder and moved toward the main building at a run.

"I don't know." Tau lay against her, barely any weight left to her. Her hands rested over 02's head, partially blocking the view ahead. "I can't process properly anymore."

02 kept moving, forcing her voice to stay level. "I know it's hard. But try to sense where your main body is. You felt the connection before, you said so." Her voice dropped. "Please."

Tau went quiet.

The building's interior was spotless, white walls, automatic doors fitted to replace the old ones, everything clean and considered. 02 pushed through at speed, moving to the main engineering room where E-UNITs had come for repairs. She set Tau down on one of the medical beds, as carefully as she could.

Tau's state had deteriorated far past what it had been an hour ago. She was nearly gone, a suggestion of a shape, the faint trace of someone who had been here.

02 moved through the room, pulling open panels, checking shelves. "They must have charging stations in here. If we can restore even a fraction of your energy—" She tore a heavy metal panel off the wall, exposing a nest of diagnostic cables. She grabbed a thick power conduit, her eyes burning a frantic, blinding blue as she tried to force the connector into Tau's chassis.

“02…”

02 didn't stop. She stripped the wire with her bare hands, trying to press the raw electrical current directly against Tau. Sparks showered across the white bed, reflecting in 02's wide eyes. Nothing caught. The energy just dissipated into the air.

"I don't have wireless charging." Tau's voice came out thin, barely present. "Or wired. The crystal is my power source, father didn't build redundancies." A gap in the thought. "And even if we reached my main body, you would find a metal sphere. Nothing that would help us—" Her hand fell.

02 stood over her. "Why are you disappearing faster? It's accelerating."

"I think—" A brief flicker. "They found a way to pull from my crystal. They're drawing more energy than I'm producing. The system is treating me like a background process and cutting me off to optimize their usage." A pause. "They're speeding it up. I can feel it."

02 sat beside her. "How long?"

"A few minutes." Tau smiled, what remained of her face still managed it. "They're pushing hard now. Soon you'll be rid of the annoying weak sister."

“We need to find your crystal.” 02 stood. She lifted Tau back onto her shoulder, abandoned the empty clinic, and broke into a dead sprint down the highway. She didn't know where she was going, only that she had to move. The road blurred into a continuous blue streak behind her.

Tau reached up and tapped her head, feather-light touches, barely registering. "Stop... it doesn't... 02, stop."

"No."

"How stubborn can you possibly—" Her eyes flickered. "If you want to find my original body - body - body - it's in a parts graveyard somewhere. One of the copies had working optics. Still — yes. Still active. But—no use."

"Stop talking." 02's voice broke slightly as she slowed, though she didn't stop moving. "Save what you have left. I need you here. You're the only person I know."

Tau went quiet and rested her head down.

02's voice fell to almost nothing. "Tau?"

Silence.

"Tau."

"What. You told me to be quiet."

"I changed my mind. I'm scared."

"You have a blade that carves through metal and three confirmed kills on military personnel." Tau started tapping again, barely there. "You don't get to be scared. Your enemies, on the other hand—"

"Am I really that frightening?"

"YES." Tau pressed the point. "Those E-PHONEUS units got dismantled. You pressed one of them into concrete. That is not how you cultivate a healthy population of E-UNITs."

02 laughed softly. "How do you do it properly?"

"First, you find a brilliant, deeply controlling man. Someone who needs control the way most people need air. Someone who would give up anything for it."

02 kept running. "And then?"

"Then—then—you give him a lab. Computers. Access to things. Let him disappear into it for a while—"

02's eyes began to fill. Tau's weight on her shoulder was almost nothing now. "And then?"

"Then—" Tau's voice was barely a signal. "—he creates the greatest girl in the world. Though he is terrible at naming."

"Her name is Omega?"

A faint sound that might have been a laugh. "No. Omega was not his daughter, and not the greatest.” A weak, fond smile touched her lips. “She was—she was dumb. So dumb."

02 stopped in the middle of the road. The streetlight above her fell directly over them both. She stood still, holding on. "Then who is it?"

Tau tapped the top of her head one final time.

"02."

"Why me?"

"I finally understand why father took you away from everything." Her voice had become something far away. "Sister. You're so—"

"What am I?"

Tau's weight left her hands entirely.

02 stood with her arms out, holding nothing.

She stayed there for a long moment. Then her knees gave and she hit the road, the asphalt cracking clean beneath the impact. Tears of energy spilled from her eyes, thin lines of pure liquid blue light that dripped and glowed against the dark pavement.

Ding.

A notification. Orange. Small.

Search for the Hope Bubble. I wish you the best :)

02 stared at it for a long moment.

Then she stood, turned, and began the walk back to the station.

‎Tau