Regis/Stories
After boldly flaunting the laws of his native planet, Regis absconds to Starview.
Regis: I've got a favor to ask of you.
Light: No.
Regis: Come on now. Can't you help a friend who's down and out?
Nimbus: ...You hit that metal skull of yours and forget what you did?
Regis: What I did? I tore a tyrant off her throne. I delivered a desolate dystopia!
Light: That's not how I remember it. Send him home, Alk.
Regis: Alk! Alk! Not even a word, and you're shoving me off? I thought we were both gentlemen here.
Alk: Well, that makes one of us.
Regis: How uncommunicative can you fellows get? Just lend me an ear— it won't kill you.
Alk: Fine. We'll listen to what you have to say, but then will you go home?
Regis: Alk. Chum. With a glare like that, you could freeze the tropics over.
Regis: Truth is, lads, I don't have a home anymore.
Regis: It, uh... might've been confiscated.
Regis: As you know, I've been rounding up bugs.
Alk: Yeah. The... droid memories.
Regis: Yes. Well, we found those memories rusting away in a vast sea of nothingness... The last resting place of data before it turns into foam.
Regis: But the key Dia was given... It could retrieve anything—ANYTHING from its depths! Do you understand what that means?
Nimbus: If we say yes, will you shut up?
Regis: Gents, to a droid, memory IS life. And there I was standing, with access to every piece of data ever to pass through air or fiber. I had found the tree of forbidden fruit!
Regis: Of course, you know how bureaucrats are. As soon as they caught wind of this, you couldn't dip so much as a toe into that sea of knowledge without first wading through a mire of red tape.
Alk: You didn't.
Regis: Oh, I did. I snuck past them all, then surfed that sweet web to my heart's delight.
Alk: How low can you go?
Regis: They caught me, of course. And that, mon amies, is how I went from hero to zero in one night. ...Actually, zero doesn't even cut it. I'm a wanted droid.
Light: I don't understand...
Alk: Um... It's like he found a book of forbidden spells, then used it for petty evil.
Light: I see. In my world, the penalty for that is death.
Regis: Well, we aren't in your world. Or mine, for that matter.
Regis: We're in Starview Village! And HERE'S where I intend to stay until all the hubbub subsides.
Regis: I look forward to getting to know you lads!
Nimbus: Hah. Hah. Rather be friends with a werewolf.
Stella: It has been a while, Regis.
Regis: So it has, Stella my dear. Mind if I take a seat?
Stella: Please.
Regis: You don't seem surprised by my sudden appearance.
Stella: Dia told me something when we parted.
Stella: Namely, that the chances of you one day descending on Starview were high... And that she wanted us to take care of you.
Regis: She really said that? Seems my darling princess has outgrown her tower.
Stella: Are you in love with Dia?
Regis: Ever heard of pulling your punches, Stella? ...But, yes. If you promise to keep it between us, I'll make a little confession.
Regis: She captured my heart the moment I first heard her sing... And has kept it ever since.
Stella: How romantic...
Stella: Welcome to Starview Village, Regis.
Stella: ...Don't give up.
Regis: No worries, Stella. I won't let anything get me down.
Regis: ...She was trying to comfort me, wasn't she?
With Alk's firepower, Regis liberates Nexus, a machine that reads android data and creates android children. The next day, the residents of Starview meet Regis Sr., a tiny droid formed of Regis's once-lost memories.
Alk: You tricked me!
Regis: Alk, my friend... "Trick" is too strong of a word.
Alk: Oh really?! I wasn't aware that your definition of "someplace nice" included the jaws of death!
Regis: Oh, the real show's further in. Think of this little ditty as the opening act.
Alk: Are you going to do something about them or not?
Regis: You know I'm not about that violence. I'm counting on you, buddy-o.
Alk: That's it! I don't want to hear any more of your lies!
Regis: Lies? Oh no. I really am counting on you.
Alk: WAIT!
Regis: Look at you, twirling on that stage. You could be a ballerina. And now for the grand finale!
Regis: Buster Arm, fired up!
Regis: Electron Buster!
Regis: We're here, Alk. This is what I was meaning to show you.
Alk: Hold up. My life's still flashing before my eyes.
Alk: ...Where are we?
Regis: Nexus. This is the place where androids come together and form new life.
Regis: The process itself is a tad dull though. This machine scans the parents' data and sort of balls it together into a new entity.
Alk: So this is where droids are born, huh? It's beautiful.
Regis: Yes, quite an spectacular design, isn't it?
Regis: By the by, human data is also fair game.
Alk: Really?
Regis: Yes. And since the two of us are already here... care to try it?
Alk: And spend the next eighteen years raising a kid with YOU? I'd rather eat scrap metal.
Regis: What if you cared for the little buster, and I paid child support?
Alk: Wow. Exhibit A of why Dia thinks you're trash.
Regis: You sure know how to hit a fellow where it hurts. But, all right. I'm sorry.
Regis: All joking aside, I've been wanting to show you this place for a while.
Alk: Why me?
Regis: Because you're young.
Alk: What?
Regis: Oh, nothing. What say we start heading home?
Alk: Already? We just got here.
Regis: Yes, and cleared the path for others. That's all I wanted to do. Give the people back their future.
Regis: Though, let's just say, I also snuck a tasty treat for myself.
Alk: ...Those were his exact words.
Light: I hope this isn't another one of his plots.
???: I hate to let you down, old boy, but "I" am always plotting.
???: Still, to tell the truth, if "I" weren't, I wouldn't be here.
Light: That voice... Regis?
Regis Sr.: That's right, chums. But not the Regis you know.
Regis: That one's made up of my old memories that were wiped by the Administrator.
Alk: Huh? Then why didn't they just go back inside your head?
Regis Sr.: Because that would've been against our wishes. It was far tidier to craft a separate Regis.
Alk: So THAT'S why you went to Nexus!
Regis Sr.: And I must say, Alk, you did a swell job beating a path to the place. You have my warmest thanks.
Regis Sr.: If you hadn't, why, I'd be stuck sharing a body with THIS miserable lout!
Alk: Yeah, that would've been bad... Glad I was able to help!
Regis: I say, why are you treating that Regis so much better than this Regis?
Regis Sr.: Hah. Haven't "I" ever heard the saying, "As you make your bed, so you must lie upon it?"
Light: My head's starting to ache...
Regis Sr.: No need to fret. I'll be taking my leave now. Must be a dreadful nightmare having TWO Regises in one space.
Regis Sr.: Oh, and l'autre moi... I'll be assuming full responsibility for the past. So turn over a new leaf. Start living in the present, eh?
Regis: Hah. Cheeky fellow, aren't "I"?
Alk: Can we exchange you for the other Regis?
Regis: Oh, mon amie... Why do you reserve your coldest winds for me?
Regis Sr. departs for deep space, where he hopes to find life and possibly survivors from his planet.
Regis: You're set on this then.
Regis Sr.: What can I say? These vagabond bolts are longing to stray. I'll be gone before the year is out... I'm sorry, l'autre moi.
Regis: Save the apologies. Don't you think I can sympathize with "my" feelings? This planet's too small... Especially for a big dreamer like "me."
Regis Sr.: Wouldn't it be grand if we could craft not only the frame, but also the heart itself?
Regis: We mimicked desire from the humans... It's a deep emotion, that centuries of philosophizing couldn't even begin to crack. Hacking it... That's out of the question.
Regis: And, l'autre moi... Even if it were possible, would "I" do it? Would "I" change myself for the world?
Regis Sr.: I know, I know... Just some idle speculation. Can't have the sweet without the bitter, can't have the joy without the longing.
Regis: That's more like it. Since when have "I" ever had doubts?
Regis: Go on then. Keep "my" head high, and don't look back.
Alk: You're traveling into deep space?
Regis Sr.: That's right. I know it seems sudden, but I've come to say my farewells.
Regis Sr.: And to you, Alk my friend, I wanted to say sorry. I never did repay the huge debt I owe you.
Alk: That's not what I'm worried about here...
Light: What is this "deep space"?
Regis: It's the region stretching far beyond what's visible to the naked eye. Skies light-years and light-years away.
Nimbus: I don't speak robot.
Stella: It is a place even further than the stars you see at night... Is that easier to comprehend?
Light: The scale is hard to grasp... But I understand at least that it will be a long journey.
Regis Sr.: Yes. The odyssey will span centuries, at least.
Alk: Centuries?! You won't rust, will you?
Regis Sr.: Droids can leap from one body to another. And as to the rusting of the mind—the loneliness, the monotony— why, all I have to do is sleep.
Regis Sr.: L'autre moi filched me a copy of Nexus's system. As long as I've got the parts, I can travel on into infinity.
Stella: But... We will never see each other again.
Regis Sr.: And I'll miss you terribly, my dear friends. But it's time that we parted.
Regis Sr.: I only ask that sometimes, when you look up at the night sky, you imagine me there... playing among the stars.
Alk: I can't believe he's gone already. Can we still see him?
Regis: No. The sky you're gazing at now is only an image reflected on a screen. A wall to shut out fear, danger... the unexpected.
Regis: And, at any rate, "I'd" be on the other side of the Milky Way by now.
Alk: What kind of people do you think live out there?
Regis: Since the dawn of civilization, we've never once discovered life in the great unknown.
Regis: It's beautiful, isn't it? When you stand here with your feet on the ground and your eyes on the stars? But when you're in space, that's when you realize it's nothing but a dark void filled with balls of gas.
Regis: The emptiness is terrifying... It may be why humans built the World Flipper. To not have to face it all.
Stella: And still, the other Regis chose to make the journey.
Stella: He said that somewhere out there, there may be other travelers that departed from this planet.
Regis: My, my. Did "I" really say that?
Stella: There might be survivors—humans that escaped before the fires consumed everything. And if, by some miracle, they should meet...
Stella: He said they would have a lot to catch up on.
Regis: Well. "I" was always a romantic.
Regis: ...We packed a few of our diva's songs on that ship. Maybe they'll touch some beating hearts, even out there in space.
Regis: And wouldn't that be something? Right, Administrator? Wouldn't that be something...