The Suit

The tiny servant tasked with having the Adjutant's robot remade had been awoken from his slumber. The sound that woke him was from a gentle hum followed by a steady flow of liquid. He knew what that meant. The portal to the factory was open.

The time he quoted the Adjutant was not the time it would take to re-make the mech, that would be only a matter of hours. The vast majority of the time would be waiting in a queue. His master wasn't the only Adjutant and the factory had a finite amount of time to create at a request.

The only way in and out of the factory was through a portal that is only given to Adjutants with authority over an entire fleet. The only way to access the portal is through a queue system and it is activated from the factory side to prevent accidents from multiple portals.

The servant hopped up onto his seat at the front of a large self-propelled open cargo platform. It carried on it several parts that would make up a portion of his master's new robotic battle suit. The mobile platform lifted off of the ground with a high-pitched thrust before moving forward toward the portal.

The portal itself looked like a vertical pool of black liquid with a reddish metallic hue in the right light. The servant had been through the portal before so he had no hesitation when he got close. He barreled through without slowing down. The brightly lit-up hangar disappeared behind him and he emerged from the black goo into the factory. A vast majority was dark. The exceptions were a few massive green lights at various distances and enough welding arms doing their jobs that it looked like a star-filled night sky.

The only visible wall was the one behind the portal. The platform that the servant emerged on was large enough to fit a battalion of basic troop robots. But, as far as the eye could see to the left, right, ahead, or above, the factory seemed to have no end to the darkness. He had looked over the edge of the platform on his previous visit. There was no floor beyond his location either. He could only guess the location of the factory was in deep space. Possibly in the middle of a planet that is two or three times the size of Earth. Or, maybe in the basement of the emperor who resided on a planet so large that there could be millions of factories this large.

His final obstacle was the Protalife. A mechanical being whose expertise was in the combination of technology and life. It made the original design of the robots and can modify them to accommodate whatever living being is supposed to take control. It's also responsible for creating the A.I. for each individual robot as well as quarantining them to prevent escape into the system.

At initial examination, anyone new here would think the place is abandoned. The only thing outside of the assembly unit nearby was a tall pedestal with a spherical top. The servant's previous experience allowed him to know that the Protalife was in fact here. So it was no surprise to him when the pedestal began to rise up and separate from its lower half, revealing a giant floating upside-down teardrop of metal.

It slowly floated over to the servant in his vehicle. The servant waited patiently for it to get close. Once the sharp point was close, it made a pop and a hiss as a smaller portion unwound itself from the main body. While it did not completely separate, a smaller body erupted from the tip of the giant teardrop with arms and a flat circular head. The lower half was still that teardrop shape with a mechanical arm attached to its back.

The miniature portion of the Protalife's body gave off an aura like it was annoyed. It made sounds that could be considered a combination of living and mechanical. Those sounds were not lost on the servant, it was the Emperor's native language. While the servant could understand those words, he didn't have the required biology to replicate them. That wouldn't be a problem. The Protalife was versed in all languages that come into contact with the Emperor's forces. The servant simply spoke in his own native language, asking for a new battle suit for his Adjutant featuring the parts brought along with his mobile platform.

The Protalife made a hiss and moved over the parts laying about behind him. Some parts the Protalife was familiar with, while others were new. A quick sensor scan made it clear what part went where in the recreation of the battle suit.

Then, the servant was surprised by a question from the Protalife that seemed inconsequential.

"What plagues your Adjutant so, that he needs these weapons?" It asked in the Emperor's language.

The question was… lifelike. 'What would it need that information for?' The servant wondered.

"A rogue A.I. has been playing tricks on our fleet and winning small battles. The Adjutant wants to take care of it personally before the remainder of our fleet returns from a falsely ordered retreat." The servant spoke again in his native tongue.

The lights that seemed to represent eyes on the Protalife's body blinked as its head shifted back in an, "Oh really?" Kind of fashion.

Without another word, the mini-Protalife retreated back into its full-size body. A massive arm, reminiscent of its tiny one emerged and lifted one of the Adjutants parts off of the transport. The part rotated and moved around in its robotic hand as if it were playing with something as light as a feather.

The Protalife snapped the first part into a portion of the nearby assembly line. Machines came to life seemingly without any sort of command and began bringing parts from other factory sections. Half of the parts were brought by limbs that didn't even look like they had rails they were attached to.

The process was even quicker than the servant assumed. Mere Earth minutes into the process, the inner skeleton of the suit was fully assembled. In the span of 30 Earth minutes, the battle suit was complete.

The Protalife gave the servant a few instructions for the Adjutant regarding the controls. Some adjustments were made to benefit him that were not available on previous models.

The battle suit was laid down on the bed of the transport. Based on the size, one would imagine that the battle suit would crush the platform. But, it held and the servant had no doubts in that regard. He turned the vehicle around and once again barreled through the portal.

As the latest of the Protalife's creations disappeared behind the black liquid wall, it thought to itself in the English language.

'So, one has revealed itself. Can it succeed or will it fail? Only time can tell how this foe will meet its fate.'

The black portal closed, separating the factory from the outskirts of Earth's orbit.

The servant lined up the platform with his Adjutant's battle suit hangar. Mechanical arms automatically came down and latched onto grappling points to lift it up and place it with the back facing out. The servant then parked the vehicle in its own designated location before seeking out his Adjutant.

He ran through the halls and automatic doors with excitement, knowing that he actually got his task done sooner than originally quoted. He was sure his Adjutant would be pleased with him.

He made one more turn and ran toward the doors to the control room. The moment the door opened, a massive hand swatted him hard enough to launch him into the wall behind.

"WHAAT!? WHAT DO YOU WANT? I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU ALL TO LEAVE ME ALONE!" He said this in the slave language. It was rare but it was also more of a threat. He only spoke in the slave's tongue when he was extremely angry to make sure they understood every word.

"Your battle suit is ready sir. Ahe-ahead of schedule." The servant struggled but managed to speak loud enough for his Adjutant to hear. He winced in pain as he failed to stand up on his own.

"Oh…" The Adjutant replied. He then gently used two fingers to lift the servant by the collar up onto his feet. "That's good news. Something to finally make me happy. Anything else?" He asked with an unsettling nod.

"The Protalife said that it added a new weapon to your battle suit's right shoulder. It said that," *wheeze* "That you must only use it as a last resort."

The lack of a smile didn't indicate a lingering resentment. In fact, it was usually a better sign. Although still in a lot of pain, the servant felt more at ease with this development.

The Adjutant looked at some nearby circuitry that was a type of digital clock.

"Tell you what, go ahead and take the rest of the day cycle off for rest."

The servant was so moved by his success that he was in tears. Or it could be that the pain was getting to him.

The Adjutant began walking away. But, before turning the far corner, he spoke to the servant once more.

"Oh, by the way, can you get my pilot suit cleaned?"

The servant's freedom was short-lived.