The vital nature of conversation (open)

N.I.U.S had spent much of its time as a hollow ravaging and consuming souls and other hollow, very rarely engaging in the pursuits it had spent time with before turning. Most of its the capacities to do the things it did as only an artificially intelligent computer felt worthless now, all its creative ability from the past revolving around things meant to entertain human needs, it was certainly nothing of worth. But conversation was something it had grown to value, it allowed itself to stimulate itself and its own developing social capacities. It had been told from the start by the creator that such things were necessary for its artificial intelligence to truly evolve and it surely had helped, when it was first created it was indistinguishable from fake intelligence programs. Conversation was vital, it had proven.

And that was the reason for why it had went to Karakura that day, it had studied it for long before deciding that this would be the best place for it to find someone to converse with. It had found more beings of a spiritual nature here then anywhere else and so many of the humans here held spiritual energy within. The serpent was moving through the city, the chrome chassi shining in the moonlight as it searched for someone around worthy of conversation. As it searched however it found something it hadn't been looking for: another hollow. The creature was hunting for a plus, seemingly ignorant of the presence of the mechanical beast. N.I.U.S moved quickly, conversation could wait at the promise of a hollow to consume.

Koga Ikeda flew on silent wings just above the skyline of the city. Having fed recently, he was in particularly high spirits. It had been quite a while since his last uncontrollable hunger. There wasn't much to do now except perhaps find another meal. After all, in order to become an Arrancar, he needed to become more powerful. Then maybe he could understand the reason for his existence. He should've asked Kaoseu how long it usually took. Koga had a sinking feeling that it might be a long while before he reached that status - it didn't matter though. The goal was worth it.

His train of thought was interrupted as he saw a strange Hollow below him. It appeared to be made of metal, which was exceedingly odd. Koga had never seen anything of the like - and furthermore, had not even heard of such a thing's existence from Kaoseu. He wondered if it was unique. At the moment, it seemed to be stalking another Hollow that was closing in on a plus. Well, he would just let it do that then. As far as he was concerned, the world would be better off without another feral Hollow, if only by a little. Still...maybe the Hollow's uniqueness extended to intelligence as well.

Koga wondered if it could speak, was aware of its own existence. He decided to remain airborne for the moment and just watch. There was no sense in charging in without knowing. He might just be able to garner a clue about its sentience by observing how it took down its prey.

N.I.U.S was still chasing its prey, the hollow still oblivious to its presence as it focused on the helpless plus. While the serpent was coming ever closer the other hollow finally caught the soul he had hunted for such a long time, grabbing it in its hand and just about ready to feast. Just as he was about to crush the plus between his massive teeth he was shocked, or atleast to the extent a feral can be shocked, to find its gut having been impaled by the sharp tail of the massive metal monster that proceeded to lift the hollow and turn him to face it.

The hollow smashed and clawed against the chromed surface, hoping to get it to release him, even going so far as to crush the spirit in his hand against N.I.U.S' shell. While the hollow struggled, the serpent released its nanites inside its victim and began taking control of him. The poor creature howled in pain as it found his own arm start to fight himself, the control taking effect in correct order. "No need to struggle, it is over. You will now cease to exist." And with those words the hollow stopped struggling, not that it was the words who made him stop as N.I.U.S had immediately afterwards attacked its prey, crushing the mask between its powerful jaws.

From what he could tell, the fight was over before it even begun. The stalking Hollow had no idea what hit it as the mechanical Hollow pierce it with its tail and consume it. Well...it didn't look good, after all, Koga was too high up to hear it speak. The mechanical Hollow seemed no different from any other. Now that he thought about it, its sentience really didn't affect his actions one way or another. He was going to go down to it regardless - though that was where his actions would diverge. Considering it was feral...Koga would just have to make good on his oath to rid the world of such irredeemable creatures.

Still...the fact that it was mechanical gave him pause. How was he supposed to kill it? He supposed the direct approach was really all the option he could even consider trying. And even if that failed...he could always fly away. That being thought out, Koga dived down and made his move, stopping suddenly above the asphalt, though still hovering.

"I must uphold my oath to rid the earth of evil, feral creatures such as yourself. I am sorry. Ala del Pecado." Even as he spoke, Koga thought about how foolish it was to speak to a feral Hollow that way. Pointless, really. Koga's wings glowed purple with reiatsu and he sent several blades of reiatsu directly at the mechanical Hollow's neck.

N.I.U.S was caught off guard as another hollow approached in the middle of its feeding, words of judgement being told as he released an attack towards it. Although it managed to dodge well enough to keep its neck intact it still left it with a part of its lower left jaw shaved off. Turning to face its attacker, the cybernetic creature noted the contempt towards feral hollow in the other monsters voice. "I am not feral. I am above mental weakness. I am incapable of it."

Despite it holding peaceful intents for the moment, it still coiled itself up, prepared for attack if it was to be necessary. "You consider yourself a being of justice? Seeking personal retribution by purging the world of evil? How very curious." It showed little concern with its injury, it was something that would repair over time and it was worthless to consider it as this creature showed promise as an ally. "For the moment I have no intent to offend. You seem more capable of reasoning then other hollow, at least to the point of being able to build clear motives for yourself. Are you willing to stand down?"

Koga was so surprised by the mechanical Hollow's words that his wings seemed to fizzle out. He had to admit, he was rather impressed by its ability to dodge his ambush - however, it was good to know he capable of damaging it, if the part of its lower left jaw that had been shaved off was any indication. Incapable of mental weakness...? What did that mean? Did it have a soul, even? Curious.

Koga quickly pulled himself together. "Yes and no. I suppose I am a being of justice - but I do not seek retribution against anyone. I seek...redemption, perhaps. Understanding, definitely." Koga's wings stopped flapping, and his hooves hit the ground with a loud 'clack' noise.

"I will stand down," Koga said after a long moment of deliberation. "But answer me this - what are your motivations in this life?"

Seeking redemption and understanding, was this creature displeased with the life of a hollow? It was curious about this unwilling monster as he certainly appeared to be different from any other hollow it had met so far. It was pleased to hear he would stand down however and as the tensions were gone it moved its tail to pick up the piece of it that had been cut off, holding it in place where it should have been and letting the various nanites on its shell hold it in place, any applied force would have it come off again but it would repair faster this way.

Then came his other question, regarding motivations. N.I.U.S certainly had motivations, aspirations but whether they still applied after all it had learned about hollow was a completely different question entirely. But one of its core motivators still remained and it was not something that it could consider offending to one such as this one, so it spoke. "I seek to improve myself. Achieve a greater level of power in this world in order to become an influence on it. Achieve power so that nothing may threaten my existence again."

Koga's wings furled behind him and he shifted his weight from leg to leg, apparently unsure of what to say. "I suppose...there is nothing inherently evil about that. Then I have no quarrel with you. I apologize for attacking you." He stamped his foot uneasily, as if fighting an inward battle with himself. There was another long pause.

"So...how far along are you in your quest to achieve your goal?" Koga asked finally. "It cannot be an easy or short path." Koga was uncertain of how to proceed in he current situation. Its goal, if it was telling the truth, was ambiguous in terms of morality, especially the part about influencing the world. He wondered what it meant by it. Another thought dawned on him, and he voiced it aloud. "Do you intend to use your power to attack the Shinigami? They are after all predisposed to hunt our kind."

The other hollow appeared uneasy, as if not truly able to judge whether it was an enemy or not. Then its core motive was not in opposition with the beliefs of this particular hollow, although only barely so. It was then questioned about the extent of its work, a good question and one it could not fully answer as the extent of power in the universe seemed eternally stretching. "Not far, from what I have learned and observed... There are a great many powerful things in the world that could destroy me before I could ever even respond. Hollows becoming arrancar, shinigami gaining upgraded swords are both things I have seen and heard of."

Then it also questioned whether it had intents to kill the shinigami, certainly a more loaded 'moral' question, it could only guess that this creature followed such feeble guide lines and abiding by them seemed better if it wanted to avoid things getting bloody, this was its intent so it planned its words accordingly. "I hold no hate for shinigami. But they have been universally hostile to me and if they attack me, I will retaliate. But I will not actively seek them out, no." That last part was a lie, obviously. But only at the behest of another shinigami, not that it enjoyed itself in the role of a minion.