Downloading Friends (Open)

Light was all that Shirou could see and then it was gone. He blinked as dots clouded his vision due to so much light. When it cleared, he got a good look of where he was. Where he had once been standing in a computer room within Radiant Garden was gone. Instead, he was in a small room. He was standing on some sort of circular platform. In front of him was what looked to be a computer, though it was pretty bulky overall. But. that was exactly what the Underlord was looking for. He wouldn't have to venture any further, and he didn't want to. Space Paranoids always made him feel uncomfortable, like big brother was watching his every move.

He took a step forward but then something suddenly flashed before him. Or rather, materialized in what seemed to be strings of numbers. A small, circular disc appeared in front of him, floating. Shirou frowned and moved to the side so he could walk past it. However, when he did, it followed him. He leaned to the other side and it still followed him. He ducked and rolled under it, but it smacked him in the face. He sighed and straightened himself out, grabbing the disc in defeat. "Dumbass disc." He had to fill out some form before coming here, with his personal information. Was this what it was supposed to be recorded on? There was something mentioned on that form about an identity disc, though he was sure it should have already been on him somewhere one he materialized. With a shrug, he equipped it on his left hip and moved forward.

Shirou made it to the computer in a few quick strides and inserted a small disc of his own into it. He made sure the computer executed it and he crossed his arms as he let it run. It would search through the database for anything and everything concerning AIs. He was quite familiar with this system and if it was anything like it was back in his past, the program he made should be able to pass any security walls with no trouble at all.

After several minutes of waiting, though it felt like days to Shirou, there was a beep from the computer. All files in relation to AIs had been pulled up and ready for Shirou to read. His eyes darted around the screen, quickly taking in all of the information. He occasionally clacked at the keyboard to get to a new document. Soon, he found what he had been looking for. Shirou had previous experience in creating AIs. He was quite familiar with most of the information, and he was mainly looking for a way to create an AI in Space Paranoids. And he found it. He'd have to go to another room, called the Communications Room in the I/O Tower. He grabbed his disk and walked towards the room.

Soon, Shirou found himself in the Communications Room with no trouble. He had not run into any Heartless on the way, either because they didn't care for him or because the MCP of the place really kept a clean ship. EIther way, Shirou wasn't complaining. It meant less trouble for him. Ever since he had woken up in the Underworld, he had felt significantly weaker. He wasn't sure how he would fair against heartless now. It had certainly been a while since Shirou had to worry about heartless in the way that he did now.

The Underlord made his way to the console in the room and started clickity clacking away.

Shirou had just made it into the room he had wanted to make it to when suddenly, he ran into something that felt like a wall but looked like literally nothing. He rubbed his nose in an attempt to ease the pain as his eyes darted across the room. He then outstretched his free hand and pressed it in front of him. Though nothing was there, it press against something very solid. He turned around and felt the area there, as well. Again, solid. He didn't bother checking above or to his sides. He figured he was trapped if there were already two walls.

Something began to appear in front of him, as if being created from pixels. It turned out to be a person. A girl, to be exact with red hair. Shirou breathed a quick sigh of relief, glad it was what he had initially expected it to be. Pixels usually meant two different things.

Shirou raised his hand and said, "I am that idiot, though you're free to call me Shirou. I guess idiot works, too."

To Shirou's surprise, there was a look of recognition in this girl's eyes. She stepped forward and spat out a question, glaring at him in a hostile manner. He blinked. His mind started racing. This wasn't the same universe that he came from. It was about eighteen or nineteen years too early for it to be. He had checked after he had woken up and made sure of it. Other than the cold hard facts, he had known from the feeling. This universe felt different, so it wasn't just time travel. So could this girl be the person whom he knew personally or was there a chance that his version here had done something to tick her off as well.

"I came here to revive a friend," Shirou said, slowly as he still tried to process things. "I'm sorry, but do you know me?"

Shirou winced at her words. They were harsh, yet true as well. That was certainly something he said before, and to her. Even if this wasn't the girl he had known, she had certainly been wronged. They had been friends once. Then Shirou decided that he didn't need friends. All he needed was power, and he proceeded to burn down every bridge he had. It was a large part of why he left. It was also why we wanted to come back, to make amends. Or at least try to. Then he arrived in some place completely different, unable to go back home. He didn't think he'd have a chance to run into her again.

"Axis," he said, looking at her with a pained expression. One of regret. "I can't take back what I said and did, as much as I want to, and I'm sorry for that as well. I wanted to apologize. I was a terrible, awful person. So I ran away, from you guys and from who I had become. I ran so far and so fast that I ended up in an entirely different dimension. I went from a monster to a coward. And then I decided that I needed to fix things, or at least, pay for what I had broken and I tried coming back. I swear, I did but then I got stuck in this universe. So close to home yet...so far.

"I'm...I'm sorry."

As Axis spat her anger at him, Shirou was quiet and listened. She was right, and he knew that. She was justified in her anger. He had an ego problem and had failed several times to control it. Axis was a victim of that, as were so many others. And while Shirou wished so desperately to take back his poor actions, he had accepted that what was done was done. He had dug his grave and now he must lie in it.

"I wouldn't expect forgiveness to come from you so easily," Shirou said with a melancholy grimace. "I really don't deserve it. I may never deserve it and while that is something that I am not a fan of, it is something I must be content with. However, even if that is so, I really am sorry. I have regret for my actions, for the pain they caused you. And I will try my best to make up for it."

With a swift threat on his life, Axis demanded why he was here, which was what she had originally come here to do. Shirou wondered briefly if she was serious on her threat. Would she really just delete him like that or would she kick him out? Shirou didn't want to try calling her bluff, though. He didn't want to know what would happen if he were to be deleted. It would probably be painful.

"When I originally left, I had an AI companion with me. However, it seems he was not compatible with where I was going and went into this kind of hibernation mode. Since this place is so similar to where we are from, he can function here, too. However, he's still in hibernation, so I have to restore him. And since I no longer have access to my old tools and whatnot, Space Paranoids was the next best thing I could think of."

Ouch. Shirou winced at her words. She was certainly not pulling any punches here. In the past, Shirou might have returned some of them, but he had said worse things for much worse reasons. He wondered if she was going to try to delete him regardless. She never seemed that cruel in the past, or did Shirou cross a line too many before to push her like this. Perhaps it was all bark and no bite, though. Again, however, Shirou had no desire to challenge her on that.

"While he may be called an 'Artificial Intelligence', he is very much real and he exists just as much as you and I do," he reasoned. "He's been through a lot because of me and I owe a lot to him. I want to make amends with as many people as I can who I wronged and he was one of them."

Oh, well then!
What a fine level of power she had! It would be a crime not to have her! What kind of man would he be, if he didn't give the people paying hefty sums of munny the best?! A criminal, that's what! He hated criminals!

So it was only logical that he kidnap her, of course.

Less-than-politely, the Gambler stepped in between the two, glancing over Shirou with puzzled disgust.
"Honestly, you're off adventuring in such a nice suit? For shame. Don't mind me, just borrowing the lovely lady here. You won't even notice she's gone missing, and you can get back to..." He glanced upwards at the posts above.
"Your character development. Still, you should change clothes. You'll get that suit filthy. It'd be a shame."

*CLICK*
And with that, time stopped in its tracks as the Gambler drug Axis's stony body back through the way he came.
"I should have taken his suit...Time would go back to normal and he'd be sitting here trying to be all serious whilst naked! A shame it's too late to turn around, ha ha ha!"

---

Axis has been transported!

Shirou blinked. One second, Axis was there and the next she...wasn't. She just disappeared without warning or anything, and Shirou was sure that Axis still had words for him. Or maybe she just didn't feel like talking to him anymore and went away? But it's weird to him that it was so sudden. It wasn't anything like the way she had entered. He scratched his head in confusion. Would he be stuck here, in this invisible container, until she came back or was he supposed to rot here?

Suddenly, there was another voice. A female one. Another person took the place where Axis had been. She was female but Shirou wasn't sure if he could call her human or even an organic being. She had nuts and bolts. She kinda looked like a robot or android. Or perhaps a cyborg?

The newcomer commented on Axis and released him from his prison. From the way she talked, her and Axis were not friends. She motioned for him to continue on what he was doing, though Shirou hesitated. This was all weird and sketchy. Axis suddenly left and then somebody came in and freed him? What exactly was going?

"Um, sorry, but who are you?" Shirou asked. "And what happened to Axis?"

What this stranger said implied she had good intentions and just wanted to help, but Shirou noticed how she said "system" and not "MCP" or "Axis". Perhaps Axis wasn't exactly wanted here by certain programs or maybe this was just an anomaly in the system? Alternatively, she could just not like Axis and wanted to fuck her over. And while Shirou had no beef with the MCP, the feeling wasn't mutual. It would be only a matter of time before Axis returned, as Shirou was sure she wouldn't just up and leave all suddenly like that.

Shirou walked forward, to the computer console. He plugged a small drive into it and started typing. Create this. Export that. Dot JPEG. The usual computery stuff. As he did his thing. he attempted to strike up a conversation with the stranger.

"I'm Shirou, by the way."

"Well, when everybody around you is a stranger, it's sort of becomes a necessary habit if you ever want to know people," Shirou replied, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him. He was used to being in places where he knew nobody. Sometimes he even made replicates of himself with a different color scheme so he could know somebody. "What about you? Do you often go out of your way to defy the MCP and let people do whatever they want out of spite?"

"That almost sounds like something an overbearing mother would say," Shirou said. He paused for a moment, focusing on what he was working on. This was so much easier than last time. Then again, he had a lot more resources than some shoddy computer within a computer that controlled said computer. However, he made a few more quick clicks and he pulled out the drive.

"Thanks for the help, Z," Shirou said with a slight smirk. "You seem like quite the interesting program. We should do this again."

He paused and frowned. "Well...not this exactly same thing, but, we should hang out again. Maybe help out the MCP again or skip rocks across the river." He shrugged. Sometimes, well, often times, he found that he couldn't but spew words out of his mouth, regardless of how weird or stupid they sounded.