Rico (A sequel to It Came From The Sky)

It's 12:30 pm, midday on a Tuesday, one week after Rico's creation. As usual, Setuh, wearing her engineering outfit, is busy in the garage, making some upgrades for Rico.

"Hey Ma...", spoke Rico in a half-child-teen voice, looking at his mum.

"Yes, Rico?", said Setuh as she's hammering out new limbs for Rico.

"Do you really know where I came from? Like... Not just space, but my real home."

"I-I... I don't have a clue. I've been conducting some research since day before yesterday. I've been trying to find sources, but... Nothing came up."

"Oh..."

"Still. Your old mother's trying. Just keep on having faith, okay?".

She lightly smiled to her son as she said this. Crossing his arms and having a few thoughts of disbelief in his mind, Rico slightly looks down.

"O-okay. I'll try.", he says.

Setuh puts her equipment down and walks towards Rico. She crouches down and pats him on the head.

"Rico.", she beams a bit, "Don't worry about it. Okay? Again, I'm trying, but that doesn't mean you should be frowning while you don't know where you came from, alright?".

"Mmm...", he mumbled.

"Believe me. Even if it takes me two or three years, I'll eventually find out where you came from."

She kisses his forehead, before working on his new limbs. Rico smiles a bit, and looks at Setuh. According to his uncles, his mother is by far one of the most hard-working freelance engineers/scientists that have ever existed. From inventing the ToasterTron 3000 to making the Boom Bappers, she has been figured out as one of the mysterious, yet smartest people in the whole universe.

Over the course of his first week, Rico managed to go on a few adventures with the family. Regardless of how dangerous they were, he enjoyed every second of it. Each passing moment would make him feel happier and even more alive than he did on his first day. If he ever got older and the family stopped doing these kinds of things, he would always get a chance to look back and reminisce the first good times he's had with them.

Ten minutes later, Setuh had finished her work. The upgrades are complete.

“Hey! Rico!”, she excitedly exclaim, “I’ve finished making your new limbs!”.

“Oh cool, mum. Can I see?”, Rico asks.

“Sure.”

She shows the legs and arms to Rico. The colour and hue look grey. The hands and feet, on the other hand, are a little darker.

“Now, I know these don’t look better than you expected them to be.”, she explained, “BUT! But, but, but… I’ve added a few weaponry installations for you to try.”

“Okay. So… What happens next?”, questioned Rico.

“Surgery! That’s what.”

“Oh that’s nice! Surgery!”

“…”

“What’s surgery?”

Twenty more minutes later, we see a deactivated Rico lying on a table with his arms and legs cut off and his core taken out. Intact wires of all kinds stay exposed out of "wounds" of his body. Carefully, Setuh connects each new limb to their correct places. She ensures that everything connected properly and firmly by slightly twisting the limbs around.

Finally done, she puts her son's core back into his chest.

Then, she taps the head of her son, suddenly reactivating him in the process.

"Wake up!", Setuh said, "It's all done!".

"The... Surgery?", slowly spoke Rico.

Setuh nodded to confirm.

"Now, d'you need any help getting up?".

"No... J-Just... Just... gimme a second."

Rico moved his new arms around, and slowly put himself off the table. He attempted to walk, but he slightly wobbled in the process. He stammered a little. He looked at his hands. He twisted them around to see what goes on his hand. The palms give off that similar metal smell, but he can see holes in the tip of his fingers. He looked down at his legs, and lifted up his feet. Three large holes could be seen on each sole.

"So? How are they?", Setuh curiously asked.

"Th-thanks mum. I guess they look amazing.", said Rico, doing a little tumble-ish dance with his legs, "I might as well have to get used to these things."

Setuh gladly sighed as she watched her robot of a son move around.

"Mum?", he said pointing at his holed fingers and soles to her, "What are these things?".

"Oh... Right!", she just remembered as she walked towards Rico to get a closer look, "These are the new features I mentioned earlier!"

"Oh I see... I wonder what these fingers do-".

SHAZAM!

A little, buzzing ray is shot out of the tip. It causes damage to a wall it was aimed at. This brings a shock to Rico, who immediately shakes away his hand.

"What the-", he stuttered.

"Yep...", his mum said with a straight face, "Those are laser fingers. They're not powerful enough, but they should be able to injure someone if they affect them for a long period of time."

"Huh... And what about these things-".

BOOM!

All of a sudden, the sole of his feet lit up in roaring flames, launching him backwards and causing him to crash against another wall behind him. Setuh ran to him in distress.

"Rico!", she said, "You okay?".

"Ugh...", he groaned, "Rocket boots?".

"Yeah... Rocket boots...", she nodded back, "They can keep you flying in the air for a really long period of time. Say about... Two years or so. Just make sure that they're not damaged. Otherwise, you won't be able to fly right."

"Hang on. Let me try them again."

"NO! YOU'RE NOT TRYING THEM AGAIN-".

BOOM!

Rico flies once again. This time, he quickly crashes into the ceiling. Setuh covered her eyes to avoid seeing the impact.

"RICO! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!", she shouted.

"... Yeah...", he muffled out, put a confirming thumbs-up.

"Okay... I dunno what you said, but your thumbs up means it's a yes."

"..."

"Anyways, as your mother, I'm gonna have to teach you how to properly use those legs of yours... And for your fingers, I suppose Uncle Dynamo will teach you to control where you aim. Overall, you're gonna get taught how to use your new features. How does that sound, Rico?".

"Oh heck yeah! That's sweet!", his voice is still muffled, flailing around his limbs in joy.

"I... still don't know what the hell you're saying, but... I'll take that as a yes!"

And so... the days of Rico's Rising has begun. From that time onward, Rico has taken steps into understanding the ways of his family, his environment, and his friends. Gaining new experiences in life, he is still a robot, who is on a journey to find his mysterious origins.

END OF STORY

thx

It's time