What Am I Supposed to Be?: Strange Talisman

“This one isn’t as strong as the other. Keep it for spare parts,” a voice echoed around the darkness of standby mode. This unseen person once again haunted System Error 123. Their voices sounded vaguely familiar and yet so foreign. Was it someone Systor knew before their files became corrupted and lost? Who was the one that was just spare parts? Was it them?

 

Alerts flared across the protogen’s blue visor as they abruptly awakened from sleep mode. Exclamation marks made of black pixels appeared on the screen as Systor quickly stood up. A foreign object had been detected in their water tank, causing a clog. If not purged soon, the protogen would overheat and shut down potentially permanently. Quickly, Systor rushed to the sink in the guild hall and formed a face of black pixels and a jagged mouth. Plunging the blue and grey protogen forced water out of their tank and out of their visor. Gallons of liquid splashed into the sink before something made a metallic clink in the sink.

 

All the error messages cleared up as the foreign object sank to the bottom of the water and drained from the basin. Systor quickly grabbed the item before it flushed away down the drain. It was a gold locket shaped like a golden apple rested in the protogen’s paw. They had no memories of this object or any clue as to how it got inside of them. Setting the locket aside momentarily, Systor found a pitcher and filled it with water. Bringing the pitcher to their mouth, they began to drink but then spit the water back into the vessel. How was their water tank full after all the liquid they had purged? Was this some of that magic that the protogen had heard others around the guild? Later, they would have to find someone to check for magical influence.

 

Taking the golden apple-shaped locket in their hand, Systor examined it with all the different wavelengths available on the visor. The necklace had no apparent bits of technology, but it emitted a strange type of energy. It was on a wavelength that the visor couldn’t identify. Somehow, it gave Systor the feeling of floating on a large body of water. Have they ever been to an ocean or a big lake? The question raced across the blue and grey protogen’s mind as they hit the release on the locket. A gasp escaped them as the golden apple flipped open to reveal a picture inside. There was someone that looked like them without all the protogen upgrades. Alongside them was another similar being with a scratched-out face. Was this what they looked like before they became like this, or were they the being with their face scratched out? Why was the second one’s face destroyed?

 

“Your sacrifice will save our future,” Systor read the message inside the locket. Was this message meant for them, or did it belong to the other person in the picture? The longer the protogen looked at the locket, the more questions it raised. Perhaps this was a clue as to who they were and who they were supposed to be. A small storage compartment opened on Systor’s hip armor where they stored the locket. As the jewelry entered the compartment, strange wet energy washed over the protogen’s body. Hopefully, this newfound magic wouldn’t mutate them like old legends.