Countess' Assistant (Poll story; Robotification, Secretary-tf)

The Great Machina didn’t like humans much, by hero standards. Machines were so much more understandable to her, which was why she had so many helping her out. Humans were irrational, overemotional, and so on and so forth. She didn’t really get the idea behind empathy either, if she was to be honest. But at the same time, she really loved humans - even if their idiosyncrasies grated on her nerves, defied her desire for an orderly world. That very unpredictability fascinated her. There were no surprises with computers and other machines, and while that was satisfying in it’s own way, it just wasn’t the same as stories of people doing wild, ridiculous things that they simply should not have had the capacity for, be it out of love, a sense of adventure, or just sheer stubbornness.

It was because of this that what she saw as she snuck into the Crimson Countess’ territory disturbed her. Or maybe that wasn’t the word - she wasn’t really emotional enough for that. But she knew it was wrong.

On the surface, it all looked nice and proper. On the surface the people in the Countess’ domain were happy. They acted out their roles to perfection, never deviating slightly. The peasants were dutiful and devoted to their masters and mistresses, the maids and butlers thought of nothing but service. The lesser nobles were elegant and refined, but not cruel.

But there was something just fundamentally wrong there. Those imperfections and idiosyncrasies that made them so fun to watch, that made them human, had been ironed out - to say nothing of how their unique identities had seemingly been washed out and replaced with a generic role. Oh, they had names, distinct families and all. But one person in a role was just like any other you picked in all but that name; any personality was simply a subcategory of their main role. The Great Machina saw it as something like a video game; they were all NPCs with randomly generated personalities. Rowdy Peasant and Dutiful Peasant. Smug Noble and Elegant Noble.

It strengthened her resolve as she approached the mansion that served as the seat of power for the Countess, directing her robots to keep quiet and calm. Many in the city had decided that the Crimson Countess was simply too powerful to challenge, and were considering simply ceding her the territory she had laid claim to - but the Great Machina was a hero and would not stand for that, not after what she’d seen.

The plan was simple - cut off the head. Take the Countess in, and her servants would be easy. Simple, but that didn’t make it easy. The Countess was crafty, careful; it was like she knew how heroes worked, and was always a step ahead. So the Great Machina went to the logical conclusion of doing something other heroes wouldn’t even consider: a sneak attack. Or, perhaps a touch more accurate, an assassination. Even if it would be a distinctly non-lethal one, it was hardly ‘honorable’ or ‘fair’. Bonus points for such a direct assault on the Countess being out of Machina’s character in particular!

So she’d basically walked into the Countess’ domain, in mundane guise and with her assistants in human disguise. It wasn’t uncommon for people from the city proper to come out there, if they were desperate - the Countess did claim to offer living space and food for any who required it, provided they submitted to her authority. So she was confident their entrance hadn’t been remarked upon beyond perhaps simple bureaucracy.

Night had fallen, and it was time to act. The heroine and her helpers approached the palace quietly, working in perfect synch as they found a place where they could get in - a window was open on the second story.

The Great Machina signalled, and the robots prepared themselves, one hopping on another’s shoulders, and then another on that one’s, and so on until they were a human(oid) ladder to the window. The heroine approached, and the robot at the bottom picked her up and passed her on to the one above, superhuman strength allowing them to effortlessly lift her and her equipment and superhuman balance letting them do so without falling.

Once the last of her machine assistants clambered through the window, the Great Machina looked around - they’d climbed into a fairly expansive personal library. She took a device from her belt and brought it to her eyes; through a green filter, she could see right through all the walls of the manor house, and noted on the third floor the sight of someone seated on what seemed to be a throne. Target acquired.

At the Great Machina’s signal, the gynoids moved out, into the manor proper. It was only a matter of time before they found the guards, and it wasn’t long at all until she heard the fighting start.

The gynoids largely discarded their human disguises once the battle began, revealing the shining silver underneath; while they were quiet, they weren’t mindless drones - they just were networked with each other and didn’t need to speak. The Great Machina was, after all, a heroine, and wouldn’t turn people into mindless automatons.

Which made it a bit disconcerting that the maids and butlers that fought them seemed more robotic than the actual robots. The Great Machina pressed forward, leaving the bulk of her helpers to fight with the servants while she and a couple gynoids moved to the throne room.

When she burst through the door, the Crimson Countess was right there - lounging on her throne with a wine glass in hand, daintily sipping from it. She was flanked by another maid, although this one seemed somehow more authoritative than the last few, and an equally gorgeous woman wearing all black. The Countess didn’t seem concerned at all, a smile on her lips as she raised her glass in greeting. “Welcome, dear, to my lovely abode~ I’ve been expecting you~”

“Did you think that my love wasn’t smart enough to have her supporters report new arrivals to her?” The black-clad woman said. “I’m insulted on her behalf~”

It was no matter that their arrival had been predicted, Machina decided. Minion-making villains followed a pattern; they had assorted tiers of minions that were of varying strength, the highest tiers often significant threats to heroes on their own - but the villain themselves was rarely able to put up a fight. There were two last minions between her and the villainess, and that meant that she had an opportunity to bring her down.

“Well, that’s for the best then! All this cloak and dagger was getting on my nerves!” The Great Machina said cheerfully. “It was a lot easier, but it was honestly really annoying having to be so quiet!”

The noblewoman laughed, a haughty oh-ho-ho sound that somehow simultaneously sounded refined and elegant, and incredibly irritating. “Oh, that’s adorable… I’ll enjoy helping you put on a more serious face. Black Baroness, love, would you help put her in her place?”

“Of course, my Countess~” The Black Baroness replied, stepping forward towards the heroine and her allies. “Head Maid, if you would?”

“If it would please my Mistress.” The Head Maid said with a solemn nod, following after.

“Oh great, we’re done with the banter already! Good it was so quick, I was getting bored.” The Great Machina said, turning to her remaining machines - there were two left. “Abby, Jen, would you keep them occupied for a minute?”

“Of course, boss!”

“Right away Machina!”

The battle wouldn’t be much of one. Her gynoids were advanced, and being initially made from (consenting!) humans, they had a lot more critical thinking ability than your average drone - but then, few had had any degree of combat training before their conversions, and there was only so much Machina could program in. Their job wasn’t to beat the higher-tier henchwomen; their job was to slow them down while the Great Machina went in for their Mistress.

The Great Machina flew right past them, rockets on her boots propelling her forward just as her helpers engaged the last of the minions. The Crimson Countess didn’t seem fazed; and not just in the usual villain being too overconfident for their own good way. She casually tossed her remaining wine into Machina’s path, letting it splash over her.

While her gadgets and gear were of course waterproofed, her eyes weren’t. Machina came to a stop, coughing and sputtering as she wiped out the wine from her eyes. When she opened them, the Crimson Countess was gone.

The Great Machina narrowly dodged an axe kick by instinct, barely keeping in the fight. “Woah! You’re really good at moving in those heels, I’d have tripped trying to move that fast!”

“Practice makes perfect, darling,” The Crimson Countess said, casually flipping her hair as she recovered from the kick and got into a combat stance that seemed at odds with her dress, “You’ll be getting plenty soon.”

Unexpected development. The minion master wasn’t useless on her own. In fact, she seemed rather well trained in close combat. “This was perhaps a miscalculation.” The Great Machina noted. “Usually I love how unpredictable people are, but this time it’s a bit annoying…”

Suddenly, the Great Machina was on the back foot, unable to properly advance against the force of her opponent. She was able to keep up - she wasn’t half bad in a fight herself - but it was clear that she was the less skilled of the two, and that wasn’t something she’d expected at all. She had a limited time to turn the tables, before her helpers went down and-

A grab from behind as Machina dodged, locking her in place and kicking her to her knees. “The machines are subdued and ready for reprogramming, Mistress.” The Head Maid said formally. “I sincerely apologize for allowing this piece of trash to get close.”

The Crimson Countess dusted herself off, her composure returning as if she’d never had to fight for herself. “It’s quite alright, Head Maid. I can take care of myself quite well. Now then…”

There was a pressure on the Great Machina’s temples - a soft, gentle pressure, as the Head Maid seemed to gently massage her. Machina nearly took the opportunity to escape, but the Countess tilted the heroine’s chin up to look her in the eyes. “Submit. Be mine.” The Crimson Countess commanded.

Suddenly, it was very hard to remember what she had been doing there. The Great Machina’s mind struggled, but inevitably broke before the Countess. She should have been doing something, shouldn’t she? But it seemed hard to think about that kind of stuff. It was so much easier to just listen to the Countess…

“Now, darling… I need you to listen very closely…” The Crimson Countess said softly, caressing Machina’s cheek. The dazed heroine nodded. She’d listen. “I need you to take the device you use to make people into machines, and use it on yourself.” The villainess continued with a smile. Such a pretty smile.

The Great Machina reached into her belt and pulled out a small ball of silver. It was surprisingly small for all it did - but it didn’t need to be bigger. She popped the ball into her mouth like a piece of candy, and swallowed.

The nanobots inside the ball rapidly dispersed as the capsule opened, and the process began. Starting from her core, silver spread across the Great Machina’s body, the self-replicating nanomachines consuming her clothes as they went as fuel for their function. Her invention had been a crowning achievement of modern science - a new alchemy, turning human flesh to metal. Of course, she’d tested it on herself before anyone else (and knew how to reverse it), so this wasn’t an unfamiliar sensation - but this time, she felt different.

Skin turned to shining, sleek silver, as her outfit vanished to leave her appreciable figure out in the open for any to admire. She felt her various internals being remade and repurposed, her circulatory system becoming a mass of wires and a power generator in place of her heart; her nervous system turning into a network of wired computers and the means to relay those commands across her form. The metal quickly converted her head, and for a moment she stopped thinking as her brain was converted to a high-power supercomputer. When she opened her eyes again, she was looking through cameras, not retinas.

In only a minute, she’d been completely converted to a gynoid. She blinked a few times. She… should be fighting, right? Her mind worked to recover her goal - it was hard to hypnotize a robot. But just as she was preparing to re-enter the fight, she felt a panel on the back of her neck open up and something plug in. The Great Machina’s machine body seized up, and then went still. “Programming mode activated. Please input commands.”

The Crimson Countess laughed again. “Ohohoho~ Perfect, thank you darling.” she said cheerfully. She didn’t know much about programming of course - but her Head Maid did, if her Mistress ordered her to. “Uninstall that personality. Leave it in her files; being able to pretend all is normal could be useful in the future.”

The Head Maid nodded, and pressed a few buttons. “Personality: Great Machina, uninstalled. Awaiting orders.” the gynoid reported in a monotone. The Great Machina ceased. In her place was a nameless gynoid awaiting programming.

“Send the shut-down command to all your minions. They’ll make an excellent staff once we reprogram them as well.” The Crimson Countess commanded, and the nameless robot did as it was told; the remaining gynoids across the manor suddenly stopped fighting, stopped moving, turning to a docile and inactive state. The Crimson Countess nodded approvingly. “Head Maid, install a new identity for her, would you? I think I could use an assistant…”

“As you wish, Mistress.” The Head Maid said.

The nameless gynoid wasn’t curious about what it’s new self would be. It wasn’t anxious that it might be used for evil. It was simply a machine awaiting orders.

Soon, that began to shift - information flooded it’s head, instructions for the nanomachines and all the data it would need to fulfill it’s new role. It’s body seemed to shimmer as parts of it turned black, giving the impression of wearing a business suit. The gynoid’s mind, meanwhile, learned of the Countess’ realm - how many people were there, how best to keep them docile and subservient, all the resources and finances needed. If it were still the Great Machina, this information would be quite useful to bring back.

Instead, though, it was simply the Secretary. The Secretary felt her new personality fill in - businesslike, serious, and utterly devoted to her Mistress. Her “hair” tied itself back in a formal bun as the coloring under her eyes shifted to give the impression of half-rimmed glasses. She vaguely remembered the Great Machina, but that was a different person entirely; a fool to try and resist the Countess, unlike the loyal Secretary.

As the Head Maid withdrew, the Secretary stood - but only so she could properly bow to the Countess. “The Secretary awaits your command, Mistress.” she said.

The Countess smirked. Oh, but there was nothing like putting “heroes” in their place. “Perfect. Secretary, I would have you get to work assessing the likely next moves of those rebels who believe they don’t serve me. After all, you hold no loyalty to them anymore, do you?”

“Of course I don’t, Mistress. My only loyalty is to you.”

The Secretary bowed once more, and then left, collecting the other gynoids as she went; she’d have to reprogram them, remove those silly personalities and replace them with something beneficial to Mistress…