Finally done :D

Astra was walking down the street on planet kitius, she hadn't heard from lay in a few days, and was starting to get worried. Hakai was searching as well but decided to go another way to cover more ground. The last place anyone had heard from him was a hat shop, where he got a straw hat for his travels.

Shortly after arriving, she saw a familiar yellow light next to some trash cans in an alley.

She assumed he was just sleeping, but when she got closer...

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She noticed he was heavily damaged. With yellow fluid leaking from what she assumed was his face.

The lights began to flicker more after she got close

Astra: lay... What happened to you?

...there was no response

She decided to test if he was still functional by pressing one of his cheek buttons to see if it would squeak. Although it may sound silly, that function is operated by his AI core. Therefore if the squeak still works, his AI is intact.

She pressed the button and...

A small bolt of electricity shot out from one of the larger cracks on his body, then a distorted high pitched sound emanated from lay for a moment. Although his speakers were damaged, it seemed his AI core was still in one piece.

This restored hope in Astra, she grabbed an empty bag off the ground and began putting as many parts in it as she could

After Astra got up from picking up parts, hakai walked up to her while holding the universal end, covered in blood and fur.

Astra: ... What the heck did you do??

Hakai: I got revenge.

Astra: ON WHO!?

Hakai: Lay's murderers!

She pointed the universal end at the bag in Astra's hand as she said that

Astra: how do you know they did it?

Hakai holds the universal end in front of her, and a hologram displays three kitians destroying lay in the exact spot Astra was standing

Astra: I- I didn't know you could do that...

Hakai: I didn't either, but there was this... Voice in my head that told me how...

Astra: perhaps the sword's previous owner could use magic?

Hakai: I'm not even sure if it had a previous owner.

Astra: huh.

Hakai: ... Anyway, we should get out of here before the cops show up.

Astra opens a portal to go back home

Astra: maybe don't immediately hack and slash next time.

Hakai simply remained silent with a slightly crazed look in her eyes

Astra: ... Ok then.

Hakai looks down at her clothes and realizes how much blood got on her, and how insane she must've looked walking down the street holding her sword

That got dark, uh, fast..

I was just trying to keep this accurate to the rp.

Yeah, but hakai is.. a teenager, right? I wouldn’t think she’d be THAT quick to resort to murder.

Well...

She was kinda raised to be a killing machine...

Guess she still had a couple of those habits.

Hakai: I need a shower.

Astra: YA THINK??

The two walked through the portal, hakai immediately went to the bathroom while Astra spread Lay's broken parts on the table to try and put him back together.

A couple hours went by, Astra couldn't figure out how to piece lay back together. Several parts seemed to be missing but she couldn't identify which ones they were.

Eventually hakai got out of the shower and put on a fresh set of clothes, then attempted to help Astra put lay back together.

But since she wasn't exactly an expert with technology... She was more emotional support than help.

Eventually collector got home from a meeting at the citadel

Collector: Astra! Hakai! I'm back from the-

Collector stopped mid sentence as soon as he saw lay on the table in pieces, while astra had her face down in a pile of parts, and hakai was attempting to comfort her

Collector walked up and tried to assess the damage

Collector: damn, what happened to him?

Hakai: three kitians with some swords.

Collector: I see...

Collector took a closer look at the damage

Collector: but don't these cracks and dents look more like they came from a blunt weapon? Perhaps a baseball bat?

Hakai held up her sword and showed collector the hologram she showed Astra

Collector: huh, well that's new.

Hakai: yeah. I managed to find them but one got away

Astra took her head out of the pile of parts

Astra: why didn't you mention that before!?

Hakai: I forgor

Collector: good job on killing for justice, but next time... Don't leave any survivors. That kitian is probably reporting back to his boss as we speak.

Hakai and Astra simply nodded

Collector: anyway, I'll try to fix his electronics. You two can work on fixing the outer shell. Once you have enough of it pieced back together I can make a more durable copy.

Collector sorted through the pile for a moment and grabbed a few important looking parts, then took them into his workshop

After a few minutes data came out of her room holding something behind her back

Data: hey astra! wanna see something I ma-

Data stopped as soon as she saw the parts on the table

Data: ... Do I even want to know what happened?

Hakai: three kitians in an alley.

Data: ok then.

Astra: what did you make?

Data: a smol boi

She held out her hand and revealed a smaller version of lay, with green LED's instead of the usual yellow. And it was missing the large one on the chest.

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Data: remember the day me and earth came back and I separated an AI from lay?

Astra: ... Yeah?

Data: this is yal. He's very quiet, seemingly because he has certain memories lay doesn't, but is pretty much the same in most other ways.

Astra was impressed, but didn't really show it since she was still sad about what happened to the original lay

Data: ... I came out at a bad time, didn't I?

Hakai: yep.

Data: wait, where are his electronics?

Astra: collector took them into his workshop for repairs.

Data went into the workshop, and half an hour later her and the collector came out with Lay's AI core, it was now functioning properly, and was able to communicate vocally.

By this time hakai and Astra had put together enough of Lay's outer shell that it only had a few small holes, and one large one in the chest

Collector: his AI is functional, now he just needs a body.

Lay: hi Astra!

Astra: glad you're ok!! :D

Lay: alive? Yes. But ok? ... I don't think so.

Astra: you get my point. :/

Collector: I'll start on his new body.

Collector set the core on the table, and took the reconstructed outer shell to his workshop.

Astra was finally starting to cheer up, Lay's AI was intact and soon his body would be rebuilt.

... It took longer than expected.

A few hours later collector walked out of his workshop covered in bandages and burn marks

Hakai: yeesh, you look like you've been through hell.

Collector: it's fine, I've survived worse. But as for my progress on Lay's body... I'm gonna need some help from Larry.

Astra: what!?

Collector: replicating a kitian's agility requires very small and precise parts. Parts which I do not have. I would just use nanotech but Lay's AI isn't complex enough to control it.

Hakai: how am I able to control it then? Didn't you say my new implants were nanotech?

Collector: YOU aren't the one controlling them. I added a chip that processes your thoughts to create a basic arsenal of weapons. That's why you don't have to be precise. Astra on the other hand can't NOT be precise, as the inputs are always gonna be ones and zeros. And of course, her AI is complex enough to handle that. Lay on the other hand...

Astra: we get your point.

Collector: Larry will be here in a couple hours. Try not to make a mess before he gets here.

Hakai: wait, you said you don't HAVE the parts, why can't you just make them? You have the power of creation

Collector: kitian biology is something I have yet to learn. I cannot replicate it if I do not understand it.

Collector went to his bedroom, and waited until Larry arrived. During this time data tried to install holographic projectors on lay so he isn't just a floating ball, but didn't have much luck.

Eventually Larry arrived and was able to provide blueprints to rebuild lay's body, and was even able to add some upgrades such as an asper (axe-like kitian weapon) that can be used in emergencies

And now it was time to install the final piece... His AI core

Astra carefully placed it inside of lay then closed his chest

After a few moments, lay reactivated

He was back! All of the damage had been reverted!

Well... Almost all of it. He was still a little scared after being attacked by those kitian's

Astra picked up lay and hugged him as tight as she could

Astra: YOU'RE BACK!!!

Larry: careful, don't break him again!

Collector lightly hit Larry with his elbow

Larry: it was just a joke...

Soon terra came out of her room after hearing all of the excitement

Terra: did I miss something?

Data: you missed A LOT.

Terra: well ok then. ;-;

Data gave a short explanation, and after that everyone just hung out until Larry eventually went home.

After that lay didn't leave alone for a LONG time. But eventually kitius released a message for all robots who were attacked there, it said that there was a special "reward" waiting for them.

He insisted that he could go on his own, despite MANY warnings from both Astra and the collector.

Even the eggs-icutioner stepped in, giving lay a massive hug before he could leave hoping it would change his mind

But he still wouldn't listen. He got on a ship to kitius, and the moment he landed...

A kitian walked up to him, asked his name, then electrocuted him. Which deactivated his systems for several hours.

When he woke up he was in a room, tied to a chair, with Ripley - the kitian president, and two guards in front of him.

After a short conversation lay burnt the ropes off using a flamethrower in his tail, and pulled out his asper for protection

But it still didn't go very well for him.

Ripley cut open a hole in lay's chest, and pulled his AI core out. Then put it into a storage room where many similar AI cores were kept.

A few days later, the same thing happened as before. Astra hadn't heard from lay in a few days and was getting worried.

THIS time though, she decided to speak to Ripley. The "reward" was specifically announced by him, therefore he would have an idea of what happened to lay.

She was right, but Ripley wasn't gonna reveal EVERYTHING so easily.

Astra: now that I've told you what I know, do you have an idea of what happened to him?

Ripley: ... I killed your cat.

Astra's eyes filled with rage

Ripley: I prefer not to have such robotic filth on my planet.

Astra pulled out her spear and leaped forward, attempting to stab Ripley directly through the chest. But she was blocked by a forcefield

Ripley laughed maniacally

Ripley: did you really think I'd let you kill me that easily!? I am the ruler of this planet, of course I have some sort of protection!!

After a few futile attempts to break through, Astra tried to analyze the forcefield using various different sensors, but it seemed to use an unknown energy that could create extremely durable barriers

Ripley: go home to your father. Your so-called "cat" is gone.

Astra: I'll be back you slimy hairball. And when I am, you'll lose far more than nine lives.

Astra exited the building and went home to tell Collector what happened.

Collector: so he just straight up told you he did it?

Astra: yep. And I made sure to save a recording of it. He didn't say if he broke his core though.

Collector: I'm mainly worried about that forcefield, if you couldn't break through then what energy was it made of?

Astra: could be phantasmal.

Collector: shields require more energy than blades though, so it would need a MASSIVE battery if it were to last more than ten seconds. And even then how did the kitian's learn to use phantasmal energy?

Astra: no idea, but it's the best theory I've got.

Hakai suddenly walked in

Hakai: so what exactly happened to lay?

Collector: Ripley killed him. We currently have no way of knowing if his core is intact or not. And without proper evidence we can't kill him without the entirety of kitius being against us.

Astra: WHAT!?

Collector: killing for justice still has consequences. The only reason I'm not in prison is because no law enforcement thinks they can contain me. And I've done enough good that they don't really hunt me down anyway.

Astra: ... So how are we gonna do it?

Collector: we need evidence. I believe finding his body would be the right way to go.

Hakai: but finding his body doesn't really help us link the crime to Ripley...

Collector: if we can find damage that matches a weapon in Ripley's possession it does.

Astra: >:]

Collector: now who's ready for their first autopsy?

Hakai: ... That would sound REALLY weird out of context.

Frickin collector here supporting hakai’s murder of two evolved cats, like WHAT

HE'S PARTS IN A BAG LETS GOOOOOOO!!!!!!11!!!

LAY BECAME PARTS IN A BAG!!1!!1!1!1

This is so good

awesome