Polokins and Rorahkins!

"Negative." Ace replied, his voice monotonous and robotic. He could neither think nor feel - merely respond, the way he had been programmed to. Like a television set, that will turn on and change channels at the press of a button.

I frowned. Maybe....I took one glove off and held it in the other hand. Maybe if I touched his arm then....It was a stuoid idea, but an idea nonetheless. Slowly, I stretched my arm out and grasped his bare arm.

As the girl's hand touched his arm, Ace jerked it out of grip and raised it instantly to point at her face, his hand rapidly morphing into the same laser pistol from before, and pointing directly at her forehead. "Threat detected." He stated, and slowly, the end of the gun began to glow threateningly.

I wasn't prepared for his actions, and I stumbled back as he jerked his arm away. I raised my hands slowly. "Okay, okay. Bad idea."

"Gesture of surrender identified." Ace stated, his eyes - dull gray now, rather than red - tracking the movements of the girl's raised palms. He raised his own arm, and with a flash of energy, the pistol vanished to let his hand reappear once more.

I lowered my hands and placed the glove back on my hand. "What the..how..what happened? You just sort of...switched to soldier mode all of a sudden. Lost your humanity..."

"Command not recognised." Ace stated, and with that, he became still - staring blankly in front of him, since he had no need for action at that moment. Without a master, he was barely able to function. What Automata could? Even one as advanced as himself was not created to go solo...

"Tell me what you need to...." I shrugged. "I dunno...function? Tell me what you need to function." I said, I reckoned this automata could only respond to direct commands, rather than statements.

"I require orders from a master." Ace stated, "I function based of commands given to me by the master who forms a contract with me."
He spoke always in the same robotic tone, staring blankly at the human, his eyes metallic grey and devoid of light.

"What contract do you need? What sort of contract is it?" I asked, wondering why I was caring so much about a robot. No, that was cruel. He could be human...he could be. If only he had whatever contract he needed.

Ace slowly turned his head, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he considered the human's question with what little humanity was programmed into him. "Do you wish to command me?" He asked - unwilling to answer her previous question until he was certain of her intentions.

I opened my mouth to answer. "Well...I suppose. I guess you don't deserve to be stuck as something like this forever." I looked at him, it made me sad to see his eyes dull and lifeless. "Now, answer my question."

Raising one hand, Ace had a metal goblet materialise above his palm, magnetically attracting iron from underground to form it.
Twisting the magnetic fields around him, Ace had the goblet float toward the girl, then finally answered her question.
"Well, then... Your blood, if you please... Master."

"How much do you want...." I asked slowly, now unsure of what it would entail. As long as I wouldn't have to fill the whole thing up and bleed to death, then I'd probably be fine.

"Fill it." Ace commanded - taking charge for the last time before he would be completely enslaved to his master. "If I haven't enough blood, my protection of you will be flawed."

Crap. "A little help then." I rolled up my sleeves to my elbows.

Ace nodded in understanding, and forged an iron dagger from the minerals in the earth. He ran it over his fingers, slicing his skin to test it, then handed it to her - his skin repairing itself within a soft glow of energy.
His eyes locked intently on the girl as he waited to see her spill her own blood. This was a test of courage, too. Courage, and pain durability. Only those of great worth would suffice as his master... Even Samuel... He had not given enough blood. That was why Ace had been late in that final fight, when Sam's life had been taken from him.

I took the dagger from him and looked it up and down, before grasping the hilt firmly and plunging it deep into my own flesh. My face contirted into an expression of agony as I created a huge gash down my pale arm. I couldn't help uttering a pained scream as blood dripped and oozed out of it, and I brought the goblet up underneath without putting my hands on it. Eventually, the goblet started to fill. I could feel my whole arm going numb, but yet the goblet wasn't full...I drove the knife even deeper, drawing more and more blood.

Ace watched as the girl plunged the dagger deeper and deeper into her arm, letting her blood gush out to fill the goblet.
She was brave, and determined. It seemed to him that she would make a good master...
"Stop." He said finally, and he took the goblet from her.
Bringing it to his lips, he tipped the blood down his throat, gulping rapidly to swallow every last drop.
The goblet disintegrated when he released it, and Ace closed his eyes as he felt the blood slowly spread through him, binding him forever to his master.
Finally, his eyelids lifted, revealing blood-red eyes.
Without wasting a moment, Ace fell to his knees at the girl's feet.
"Master." He murmured, bowing low.

I zlowly removed the dagger from my arm, letting another pained scream escape my lips. I let it fall to the floor, clattering on the pavement, I clutched my hand tightly over my wound, tearing the glove off with my teeth. I looked down at him, tears of pain welling in my eyes. "What's your name?" I asked him. Strange. I'd just sacrificed myself for this robot, and I hadn't even asked what it's name was.

Ace felt a stab of sympathy upon hearing the girl's pained scream, and he quickly held his hand over the wound, skillfully altering energy levels to make her skin knit together. By the time he was done, however, he was exhausted, and he collapsed back against the bench. Ace considered her question for a moment - honestly having to think to know the answer.
Then, finally, he replied.
"Ace." He murmured softly, "My name is Ace."

I watched in awe as he fixed my wound, then going to sit next to him on the bench. "Well Ace...Thanks." I gave him a smile. Going to pick the glove and the knife up from the ground, then handing the knife to Ace. "I believe this is yours." I replaced the glove on my hand.

"You need not thank a servant, Master." Ace pointed out, accepting the knife with a brief nod of thanks. He ran his tongue over it, catching the last few drops of blood, then let the iron particles disintegrate and fall back into the earth once more.

"Don't call yourself a servant, Ace. You're a friend, nothing less." I leant back on the bench, hanging my head back.

"I don't understand..." Ace murmured, blinking in confusion at the girl's strange words. She was his master. He lived to do her bidding... What did she mean, he was a 'friend'?