It had been a peculiar chain of events. In fact, now she thought back on it. There was little that could have possibly helped her make any predictions as to how today would have unfolded. It was simply too outrageous, too out of her calculations for the robot to have expected this to happen. But it all began during a peaceful morning in the city of Era.

In the aftermath of the events that led to the merge of the Collective Mind and the Rune Knights, some of the members had chosen to start directly their efforts less toward the pursuit of knowledge, and more toward the safekeeping of peace. Even now the robot was not entirely certain what she thought on the matter.

In hindsight, maybe it didn't matter. After all, she had only joined the collective mind on a whim, a desire to satisfy her own curiosity toward the activities of these strangers. Even now that had not changed in the slightest. Her loyalty wasn't earned, instead, she merely considered herself a temporary benefactor for now, willing to lend her assistance as long as the adventures of the Collective Mind continued to entertain her.

But then why had she chosen to follow the example of several members of the Collective Mind and attempted to mingle with the knights?

WC: 200/1.275

The answer was one she wouldn't be able to provide. Perhaps it was on a whim, or perhaps something else was urging her onwards. When she had heard about a group of knights preparing to try to help the people of the poorer districts by dealing with the various gangs that had been terrorizing the innocent townsfolk the robot had offered her assistance.

However, even as she was walking alongside the squad of knights into the streets of Era the robot couldn't find the answer she sought: Why did she insist on joining them? But it would all become clearer over time. The first signals came when she and the knights arrived at an alleyway where a group of thugs had been beating up some poor street urchins for crossing into their territory. While some of the knights planned to continue on, their target being a actual gang, the robot felt her body move on impulse.

A dash, a metal fist and a clean right hook was all it took to send one of the thugs flying straight into the wall. The other thugs spotted the knights and quickly chose flight over fight. One of the knights approached her, asking curiously why she had intervened. She had no answer, she genuinely had no idea what made her act. However, seeing the helpless and the weak exploited like that? It... made her fist tremble. She looked down at her hand, the metal prosthetic ceasing its shaking as the knight smiled kindly at her, explaining what she felt was 'anger'.

Impossible: A robot felt no emotions.

WC: 250
Total WC: 450/1275

As she joined back with the rest of the knights the robot's gaze turned toward her surroundings again. They were en route to a more unruly district, one that was in the midst of a turf war between two gangs. One of the more hardened knights told her to be mindful, that breaking formation like before during a skirmish could lead to danger, a statement the robot took to heart despite the fact one of the other knights said to cut her some slack.

Why was she feeling angry earlier? Was she angry at the street urchins for being unable to protect themselves? Or was she angry at the thugs for exploiting that helplessness? Or was it anger at the fact the knights would have walked past that scene if she hadn't intervened?

Finally, they arrived at the place the knights had talked about before, and already the robot could see just how different it was from the rest of the city. There were no local guards, the streets looked dirty and poorly maintained, and further into the alleyways the sound of fighting could be heard. Shouting and the sound of small explosions, like fireworks being lit. The knights started to approach the sound, and bracing herself for the conflict the robot prepared to join the battle.

WC: 200
Total WC: 650/1275

The fight had already begun within the blink of an eye. Several thugs were in the midst of a battle when the sight of the rune knights on their arrival earned a mixed response from the two groups. One of them chose flight, escaping in the nearby alleyways while the other group quickly chose for a violent confrontation. One of the thugs, a fire mage started to cast a shower of fire bolts that rained down from above. One of the knights however was quick to response by raising a hand into the sky, a dome-shaped barrier growing around the squad as the fire bolts pelted onto the barrier. Meanwhile, the other knights dashed toward the thugs that were still recovering from their earlier confrontation.

One was cleanly hit in the face by the shield of the rune knight, rendering him unconscious while the second knight was already engaged in a swordfight against his opponent. However, spotting the approach of another thug who wanted to take the opportunity to attack the occupied knight from behind, the robot rapidly dashed forward, her metal gauntlet balling up into a fist as the empowered properties of her prosthetic came crashing sideways into the body of the bandit.

The fool was sent reeling sideways onto the ground, right next to the thug that had cast his fire magic earlier...

WC: 220
Total WC: 870/1275

And then it all happened. From the corner of her sight, the robot could spot one of the street urchins she had saved earlier peeking from behind the corner of an old building, his eyes filled with admiration at how the knights were stopping the evildoers. However, the thug also saw them and thought it was his opportunity to make a breakaway. Raising a hand toward the sky the fire mage launched another spell, this time a flurry of fireballs but to everyone's surprise they didn't target the knights. No, instead the fireballs came crashing onto the rooftop of the weathered building. The impact was enough to make the building start to collapse, the debris starting to rain down toward the child.

It all happened so suddenly: One moment the robot was lunging toward the child, arms extended toward him, clearly with the intention to try to grab him and move to safety, but the moment she reached him and the debris nearly reached them the robot instead threw the child out of harm's reach, just moments before she became buried under the debris.

It all became dark, and for a while it felt as if the damage she had suffered had deactivated her core, but it was in that fleeting moment that she could have sworn she heard a collective of voices.

"Say Prim~ What do you want to be when you grow up? A smith like your Papa? An artificer like your mama?"

"I want to be-"

Yet before the child's voice could finish its line static sound filled her memory, instead a loud crashing sound and cries of despair followed.

For a while, darkness continued to surround her, when finally an ethereal figure appeared before her. In a way, they looked semi-transparent, not unlike a ghost might had been. The figure raised a hand, pointing toward her torso, where her core had been situated. The figure smiled, mouthing words that carried no sound but so much meaning: Good Morning.

A sudden jolt of energy coursed through her being, as if something had kickstarted her core. One of the knights was looking worriedly down upon her, while crying at her side was the street urchin she had just saved moments ago. The knight asked if she was alright, while the other knight remarked crudely that 'the robot likely felt no pain'.

"Not Robot..." The whisper caused the knights to look at her in surprise as she climbed upright, a hand reaching to ruffle the child's hair lightly as if to tell him she was alright. "Primula. My name is Primula."

That was right. There were secrets about her past that were still waiting for her to be discovered.

WC: 450
Total WC: +1275/1275