Droid's Desire (Zrixtas)

[Ultimatum]

Mustafar​

Progenitor Facility​

​

Production: Terminal Droid​

Planet status: Secure​

​

"Sir, the program for those terminal droids is coming through. CAN WE DESTROY SOME CITY?" Ultimatum could always recognize that speech pattern. Legion, an accidental creation with a schizophrenic tendency, was easy to hear based on his unique speech.

"Keep up the work on those droid's minds, still working in the manufacturing... And no." He responded calmly, there was no point in growing upset or snapping at the droid. After all, it was Ultimatum's fault that Legion was the way he was. Anyways, Legion didn't respond in the conventional way to outbursts or reprimands. The once simple and very helpful protocol droid now had a much more sadistic side, making it perfect for the unsavory jobs that Ultimatum truly didn't enjoy. He had thought of fixing the droid, by either completing its programs or reverting them. He had decided not to because of the value that Legion played. He was now something of an overseer of the droids in Progenitor Facility.

Ultimatum returned his mind back to the work at hand. Literally at hand, he was manipulating molten metal to try and find the perfect design for a droid that would act as a receptacle for data and as a light maintenance droid. He had learned early on that his mind's capability for information gathering was very limited compared to how much data there was out there. He had come up with the idea for a droid that would collect and sort through information for him and then when he needed it simply give him what was considered important. Then if Ultimatum decided he needed more the droid would comply. It was an elegantly simple system, just the way Ultimatum preferred them. He was limited on time at the moment, he would have to back to the city to welcome some off world visitors, the governors he had in place seemed to overstress that his being there to welcome random shuttles would be helpful to revenue. He didn't pretend to understand the organic logic that made that a fact, but he listened and followed their suggestions anyways.

He would be leaving soon, a short speeder drive and he would be at the spaceport. He would have to shake hands and greet organics, a not completely undesirable job. When it caused Ultimatum to have to break concentration it was a little annoying though.

[member="Zrixtas"]

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCHREyE5GzQ

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Mustafar​

​

Above planet coming out of hyperspace​

Zrixtas had heard of a planet run by a droid on his travels and it had intrigued him immensely. His ship descended towards the molten planet and he soon arrived at the landing pad his broken down XS stock light freighter. A few sparks flew out the side of his head as he got up from the controls and walked towards a hydro-spanner and readjusted the fittings on his neck to be sure his head wouldn't fall off, well he didn't have one to begin with but he had to maintain the broken down droid around his true body anyway.

As the landing ramp descended he walked outside and he could feel the warm air roll through his body and lick his own crystal core. The torn Kama around his waist fluttered around as the wind gripped it and then let it go as it kept moving along around the planets molten surface. When his optical sensors noticed [member="Ultimatum"] he peered his "eyes" a little or it would look like that as the slides around his eyes nearly closed in. He looked more like a warrior droid than a diplomat droid but to each his own, the being was an A.I after all.

With a few more steps he approached Ultimatum and extended his hand to take his but his vocal modulator began to let out half guttural growls and beeps before he hit the side of his head and it was fixed. "Good day my name is Zrixtas Are you the ruler of this planet perchance?" He asked before his vocal modulator began to let out a "che-che-che" and then silenced as he hit the side of his head again. "Sorry about that I have a few buggy systems on this body." He noticed that ultimatum was a droid capable of actual and full range of organic facial expression and he marveled at the technology to do that, though he preferred his version of showing emotion with only his eyes.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum had been waiting for only a little while, standing where he was most of the people would have to pass him. His advisers had told him quite often that he should try to get to the spaceport much earlier, in case a ship landed early an be missed. Ultimatum had differed in opinion, it wasn't his job to welcome every single visitor, his job was to run a planet as efficiently as working with organics could allow. As it was his job was difficult due to organics being, well, organics. They almost always seemed to have a complaint about something or other and it was tiresome to listen to an endless line of problems. Overall it was worth it though, he had been able to upgrade Progenitor Facility.

He was surprised when a somewhat older appearing droid came up to him. It was apparent due to the design that it was not one of Ultimatum's. Also it was pretty badly damaged or at least it wasn't in its prime condition. Ultimatum had never had a droid come to Mustafar on its own accord, nor had he met another droid with this degree of self-awareness. The droid appeared a bit outdated, it looked like aside from some repairs it could probably use some new parts. He doubted that was the reason the droid came though. Ultimatum shook the other's hand answering, "Yes, my name is Ultimatum and I am controller of Mustafar for the time being. What brings you here?" Ultimatum desperately wanted to offer the services of his Progenitor Facility, a new droid body could probably be made there. However, he hid that thought and focused his attention on this new droid.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas looked at [member="Ultimatum"] for a time while he spoke. 'The controller of Mustafar.' This rung a little through his mind before he gave the handshake a small shake and then let go. "I'm here in no smal..l..l part due to you." He then explained as his voice modulator acted up again. A few sparks flew out of his chassis as a surge moved through his circuits and for some reason fixed the modulator, but took out his left eye instead. "Excuse the state of my body I am still in the process of repairing it." He then said as he made his body run a diagnostic in the background.

He took a step back when a large wave of molten lava rolled passed them a small distance away. "I must ask what made you decide to pick Mustafar of all places." He then said as he made his optics peer a little towards the molten rock of the planet.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum would have looked horrified at the malfunctions the droid was having to go through if he hadn't made the decision to hide those type of emotions for the moment. Probably out of politeness to the visitor, though Ultimatum wasn't certain. He was about to offer that the droid come with him back to a repair facility, they could probably have all his systems back to normal, that was unless he had some particularly old and rare pieces, when a portion of lava moved by. Common enough in this area, Ultimatum was working on having proper shielding to stop such things from happening, tourists weren't keen on the idea of being hit by some piece of molten rock. Ultimatum had had his fair shares of close calls, but as a droid he just had his body repaired and continued on working.

"Well, on top of the naturally hostile environment, a large majority of the planet's lava is molten metal, some of which is quite rare. I use the metal in construction of droids and there is a lot to go around. Hey, if you would like I can have some specialist droids take a look at repairing your body."

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas looked at ultimatum and then let out a little chuckle. "Well it might be a little hard to do my parts are mostly from the clone wars era as I made this body from a junkyard back were I am from." He then said as he moved his arms up and the forearms opened up to show wrist two wrist blaster barrels made famous by the B-2 battle droids, though he had split one to put into both forearms. "It took me around two years of scouring the junkyard to find the suitable parts and in good condition too." He then explained as he but his wrist blasters back but one jammed a little and he had to bang it a little to make it go back into place.

The diagnosis was complete and he dreaded a little what he saw, most of his systems were at 70-80% capacity with a few stability issues here and there but what he really didn't like was that his sensors and vocal modulator were stagnating and barely holding at 54% operational capacity.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum had feared as much. The parts were of an older era, he could probably find a listing of parts on the HoloNet. From Ultimatum's understanding the droid's built during that era were mostly known and heir pieces could likely be found. He wondered how many different droids this one had in him, there were some pieces that he identified as not standard for most battle droids at the time. Utlimatum's thoughts were interrupted by a small processor in the back of his unit. It had been going over the statements again just to be sure that he had gotten everything. He realized that the droid had said that he had built the body. That was definitely an odd thing to say as most droids normally did not construct their own bodies. Did that mean this wasn't a droid? If not, then what was it?

That question could wait, "If you want I can see what can be done. We have some older droid models still working and have the facilities for making older droid parts." He didn't add that because this used to be a separatist planet they used to make battle droids here, so it was possible that they could find some original copies.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas looked at Ultimatum and then let out what might be a sigh. "Thank you though in the end it'll only be prolonging the inevitable I'll have to make a new body soon while I still have the hands for it." He said as he looked at the mechanized hands held up lightly before he dropped them down again. 'Or I could just use the force to do it.' He then thought before he looked around them a bit more. They seemed to have drawn a small crowd of onlookers from the spaceports visitors. "Perhaps we should change locations or venues. I would appreciate it if you could show me the facility you just spoke of." He then said as he tried to show a gesture of good will with his hands, his eye turned on and he blinked for a few moments as he adjusted the output of both eyes to be harmonized.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum looked around, it wasn't unusual to have people grouping around him. He had had to deal with such kind of attention since taking over the planet. He didn't enjoy it but he knew that it was simply organic reaction to power. He tried to avoid it as much as possible, but also didn't complain when it happened. He was used to having to deal with organics. It was part of the job of taking care of a planet. The difficult part was always the organic part. They didn't always understand him or accept that he was ruler. He had had a few visitors believe that this was all a hoax.

"There's a speeder out back, enclosed, four seats in the back, droid driver. Just tell him I said you could get in. Don't let him goad you. I'll be there in a minute." Ultimatum nodded and then turned his attention to the group. He began to speak in a loud voice welcoming them to Mustafar and asking them to please obey the laws for everyone's safety.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

"Goad me?" Zrixtas mumbled as he nodded and then left to look for the speeder. The molten air licking at his droid body's "heart" felt a little good as he looked around for the speeder he had been directed to take. Once he was out back he noticed the Speeder and walked up to it and knocked on the drivers glass and waited for the window to come down so he could speak to the driver. "Um Ultimatum told me to come here and take a seat in the back." He then said, feeling a little silly like he was a child asking for a ride.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Legion looked bored as he looked through some old datapads that Ultimatum had given him. It was stuff on planet's histories. Legion would skip the most of the peaceful times and go straight for the wars. He enjoyed reading about how organics slaughtered one another and then complained about it. He had read the pads at least twenty times since they had been given to him and the stories never got more interesting. He was glad for the interruption, hoping for some lost organic to mess with. He looked out the window to see a droid and he felt deflated.

"Alright then go ahead. BUT YOU AREN'T TAKING MY PLACE!" Legion's protocol side was not quite pleased with his sadistic personality switch, he couldn't actually recall how it had come to be. While the sadistic side didn't enjoy listening to protocol personality and wished that it would shut up once in awhile and let him do the talking. He was just messing with this new droid, but he enjoyed making anyone and everyone uncomfortable or upset.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas just stared for a few moments, dumbfounded at this droid. 'Is this a schizo or something?' He thought as he moved to sit in the back of the speeder. "I assure you I have no intent on taking your place I am merely here to speak with @Ultimatum and hopefully get to learn a thing or two from him. I have no intention on staying here." He then said hoping to at least elevate this psychos fears. It would be the last thing he'd need a schizophrenic droid mad at him for overstaying his welcome, which by the look of it was already wearing pretty thin.

 

[Ultimatum]

Legion was disappointed at the lack of a response he was looking for. The other droid was being so nice, trying to defuse the situation. The sadistic side of him wanted only to keep pushing until he go a response. In a way that part of him was still like a child looking for attention, though it was actually looking for gratification in causing pain to those around it. The only good thing about the two being stuck together was that the two negated the annoying affect of either side. The fact that neither side had real control so the switching was often random, but most of the time at the end of statements or thoughts.

Fortunately at the moment the protocol droid was in control, "Forgive the outburst. It's a side effect of my status." Legion then shut off its vocals to stop any more being said.

Which was just in time as Ultimatum stepped up to the vehicle, opened the side door, and slid across from @Zrixtas. "I hope Legion didn't give you to much trouble. He is something of an accident." He turned his head for a moment saying to Legion, "Progen." He turned his attention back the droid across from him, or whatever it was. He took a moment to catch his breath. The people hadn't been difficult, they had been more attentive than a group that Ultimatum had had to deal with a week back a bunch of obnoxious tourists.

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

"Oh no, no trouble at all [member="Ultimatum"] " Zrixtas responded as he adjust the body to a more comfortable position as he looked Ultimatum over a bit more. 'Is he scanning me or just wondering what I am?' He thought as he then looked for a moment to the outside of the speeder. "If I may ask what is the destination we are going to?" He then asked as he turned his head to look at Ultimatum and a slight whirring sound began to emanate from his head as a servo began to click into place and a scanner finally came online after a week long restart procedure.

 

[Ultimatum]

"You may ask what you wish. As to where we are going. The name is Progenitor Facility. It is a secret building that I built upon coming to Mustafar. It is where I have special droids and droid parts built to order." Ultimatum stopped himself from adding, "Such as what will be made for you." He smiled as he spoke, this was an interesting one, whether he be droid or not. What was more intriguing though was its design, it was very similar to what he had for some of the droids to be built in the future. It was probably a coincidence, but one with interesting results none the less. He hoped that his joke was in good taste and understandable, "It's not a melting facility if that is what you are afraid of. Haha."

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

If Zrixtas could smirk he probably would at that moment. "Well as long as My... core shall we say survives I have no worries." He said as he looked [member="Ultimatum"] over again as far as his design went he liked it up to the droids head for some reason as impressive as the face was it felt a little off to him but that was probably just him. "But this facility. Why did you choose Mustafar for the facility? i understand the abundance of materials and all that but seeing you with those meat bags it seemed like it was tedious for you to be around them." He had been curious about that fact if he would take over a planet he would make sure only those that were in charge would know he owned them and not the population at large at least.

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum sighed heavily. "To be honest, I would have preferred to rule through an intermediary, but this planet's people have to be taken care of delicately. There is a somewhat complicated political structure that I have to please. The vast majority of the natives of this planet care little about conservative construction efforts, they only want to mine up all the planet's resources until nothing is left. Given the chance they would probably mine the planet's core leaving an empty husk behind. While this does allow much more work to be accomplished, it generally also means that the materials won't be there long. A minority of the Mustafarians actually care about trying to keep the planet intact by avoiding exhaustion of all resources. I have to back the latter, as personally I want to keep the planet as a planet as long as possible. I have put them in power, but in order to keep them as such they would like to have the assurance of an almost ever-present leader. Hence, I am constantly being asked to do this or take part in that."

Ultimatum stopped himself from going further. He simply smiled weakly. Yes running a planet was difficult, if he had hair it would probably be going grey by now. That was one of the reasons he wanted these terminal droids soon, it would alleviate the workloads on his processors. He could have them deal with things like Holocalls and other such things where physical presence is unnecessary.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas chuckled a little at that. "That's so like the meat bags make things complicated for everyone but themselves instead of just looking at the big picture." He said with a tone that would suggest he was grinning. A few sparks would fly out of the left side of his head and his left eye would stop working, indicated by the red glow stopping all together from the eye. "Chit" He let out as he began to bang his head a little to try and jostle the part back on.

[member="Ultimatum"]

 

[Ultimatum]

Ultimatum nodded at the statement, laughing a little as well. He wondered if it would ever change. Organics rarely thought beyond their noses in regards to what was happening. What further annoyed Ultimatum was the fact that they would complain when amenities of life started disappearing due to their own inability to care. He would have to deal with organics on a regular basis and the majority of them would be concerned only with that which immediately affected the. He wasn't about to complain though, with this he was also able to control most of what the organics accomplished. He could focus their efforts on different needs as he wanted. In a way he was very much the controller of the planet, playing a very precise game that required finesse and a gently hand. It was surprising that he would be the one with this as he had been intended to be a war strategist, but then the two were very similar. In war you had to balance your resources versus those that your enemy had. War was much like politics, you had your causalities, winners, and different battles.

"I can have that looked at once we reach the facility, it shouldn't be too long. Or we could get you a new body." Ultimatum didn't know if he would prefer that but he decided to offer anyways. They were only a few minutes out from the base, it wouldn't be long and Ultimatum could have the facility ready for repairs as needed.

[member="Zrixtas"]

 

[Lord Zrixtas]

Zrixtas's eye panels widened a little before he narrowed them again. "Is that an offer?" He then asked a bit surprised that [member="Ultimatum"] would offer making him a new body at all. He looked at his hand and it's rusty metal skin, he would need a better body for sure and if this was an offer he'd definitely take him up on it. "If it is an offer then I humbly accept but there is something you should know then before hand." He said as he opened his chest chassis and showed a small red crystal the size of a humans heart in his chest. "I am a member of a race called shards, we are sort of like sentient crystals that some of us can use the force but we require droid bodies to be able to interact with the world around us. I built this body in a junkyard and as you can see it is very broken down as well as the parts were never really top notch."

[member="Ultimatum"]