Happy Easter Monday!

Just to let you know that after getting the story on the road (literally) with this chapter, I will now update less frequently (aiming for once a week) and rather try to make the chapters longer.

And maybe the author notes shorter XD. But I got a few questions which might also be interesting for other readers:

- The main characters are the four names in the story description, and they will all get their share of attention. Some just later rather than sooner 😉.

- The story will also include minor characters (like Misako, Ray, Maya) but no OCs.

- I have plans for the four original Ninja (and Wu) but 'not yet and won't tell'.

——-

Comfortably Numb

"Please  turn right at the next junction." PIXAL instructed Misako. "This road  will then lead us directly to Ignacia. In 26 kilometres, we will have  reached our destination."

"Thank you, PIXAL." The elderly woman  briefly detached her tired eyes from the road ahead to smile at the  female Nindroid to her right. "I really appreciate your help. And your  company."

The team of five were on their way to Nya (and Kai's)  parents. About 45 minutes into the journey, the events of the last days  and nights had taken their toll on the Green Ninja in the passenger seat  and Lloyd had simply fallen asleep over the map he had been reading.

As  Nya and Skylor had been occupied talking to and comforting each other,  PIXAL had volunteered to keep their tired driver company – and awake.

There  was enough room in the front row, so the Samurai was now more or less  comfortably seated between mother and son. During one rather sharp turn,  the Green Ninja's head had dropped onto her shoulders, and he had  stayed in this position for the rest of their journey, snoring quietly,  while PIXAL was giving his mother the directions to Ignacia – as they  were avoiding the main roads, the robot's sat nav application had come  very useful as well.

PIXAL didn't mind though. At least it kept her system busy.

Whenever  her CPU usage fell under 60%, her OS would automatically try to find  something to do. And this usually included communicating with Zane  and/or connecting to the cloud drive she shared – no, used to share! –  with him.

'Error. Contact not found.' This message would  then always remind her of what happened. Of the emptiness she felt.  Although 'feel' was the wrong term, for she had...

"Would you mind  telling the girls that we will be there soon?" Misako's request snapped  PIXAL out of her thoughts. "They might have fallen asleep. And even if  not, Nya might need some time before she'll be able to tell her parents.  Poor Ray and Maya..." The elderly sighed, affectionately ruffling her  sleeping son's golden hair.

In PIXAL's (and even in Zane's shared)  memories, Mrs Garmadon had never been a young woman, but she had aged  dramatically since that morning that she had set off to find Sensei Wu.  Although the historian had a history of losing (and finding) family  members, she had been deeply affected by Garmadon's resurrection. And  despite Her claims that there was nothing left of her husband in the  Emperor, a part of Misako obviously still loved him. Just as her son  still harboured feelings for Harumi that he couldn't just switch off.

Unlike PIXAL.

"Of  course, I will check on Nya and Skylor." She said. The Samurai  elegantly climbed over the seat. In the back of the truck, the Masters  of Water and Amber were lying on the floor next to each other, looking  at pictures on Nya's phone. Looking at their tear stained cheeks, PIXAL  could immediately tell that they had been crying a lot. But right now,  they were laughing.

"And here's little Wu dancing." Nya chuckled. "Wasn't he a cutie?"

"Awww,  we should have used this picture for the fortune cookies." Skylor  agreed. "But people probably would not have recognised him without the  beard."

"How I wish I could have seen Garmadon's face when he opened his fortune cookie." Nya blurted out. "Instead of something like 'You will rule the world,' it was his brother's face looking back at him."

"Those two stupid guards probably got into a lot of trouble for that." Skylor joined into her laughter.

"Well, Scarlet must have distracted them pretty well from their duty..."

"I agree." PIXAL joined in their conversation. "You did a wonderful job, Skylor."

The other two looked up and smiled at the Nindroid.

"Thank you." Skylor smiled shyly, still slightly uncomfortable around the recently rebuilt robot.

"Hey,  PIX." Nya greeted her friend. "Sky and I are looking at some pictures.  You wanna join us?" She gestured at the empty space next to her. "Oh,  did you record the guys and I when we were all singing together?"

"I  did." PIXAL confirmed, sitting down. She had not forgotten the task  given to her by Misako but as the other girls were already awake, they  had a couple of extra minutes before bringing up the question about how  to break the news to Nya's parents. "It was very... memorable."

"I guess it was." Nya chuckled. "Oh, but it can't have been worse than Kai on his own. Here."

The Water Ninja tapped her phone to play a video of the red Ninja singing 'Ring of Fire' and handed it to her friend.

Skylor smiled sadly, more tears glistening in her eyes, as she softly touched the face on the display with her index finger.

"I can send it to you." Nya offered when Skylor returned the phone to her with a sigh.

"I would strongly advise against this." PIXAL remarked. "If you use your phones to send or receive data, the Sons of Garmadon  might be able to track the signal. In fact, it would be safer if we got  rid of them altogether. We do not carry any chargers with us anyway."

More than once had Nya used her boyfriend's power to charge her phone during a mission. And she hadn't been the only one.

"I-I can set it to airplane mode. Or switch it off to save power." Nya said. "It's okay if can't use the phone, but please don't make me destroy it or throw it away. These are the last pictures I have of the guys..."

"Doesn't it have memory card?" Skylor suggested.

"Oh,  you are right." Nya opened her phone to remove the card. She inspected  the precious little item in her hand. "I just hope I won't lose it... uhm,  PIX?" She quizzically glanced at the Nindroid.

"You want me to keep the data safe for you?"

"Yes,  please." Nya briefly hesitated before handing the card to PIXAL who  opened a small panel at the back of her head and insert the card into a  corresponding slot.

"Do not worry, I will not access any personal  data." She promised. "And I am very sorry to have interrupted your  conversation, but I actually came here to inform you we will soon arrive  at your parents' place."

"Oh..." Nya's face fell.

"Are you alright?" PIAL enquired. "I thought you wanted to see them."

"I  do. I just... have no idea how I should tell them about Kai." Nya  admitted. "I don't want to do it wrong and make things even worse for  them."

"Nya, what happened to our friend was so wrong, there  simply is no right way to break these news." The Samurai reassured her.  "But hearing it from you rather than from a stranger cannot make things worse for them than they are. As the words will come from your heart."

"Thank  you." Nya smiled weakly. "Strange to hear this from you." She added in a  quiet voice. But the Nindroid's highly sensitive audio detectors could  still 'hear' the words.

"What do you mean?" She wanted to know.

"How are you feeling, PIXAL?" This question caught her off guard.

"My systems are operating normally." She replied.

"No, how are you feeling?"  Nya repeated. "You have hardly said a word since... you know. Only adding  a little fact here or there to any conversation. You are acting  similarly to how you used to be before you met us. Before you met Zane. Does his death not affect you at all?"

"I-it does." My mind has become so empty.

"Then, what's the matter with you?" Nya suddenly yelled, tears running down her face.

"What  happened to the android who was devastated after Zane had sacrificed  himself? What happened to the program in Zane's head who would tell him  little stories and make him laugh – because don't think we didn't know  what was going on when Zane was sitting on his own, blushing and  giggling to himself? What happened to the voice in the computer who  would keep me company so I wouldn't feel alone whenever I was working in  the X Cave? What happened to our sassy Samurai VXL? What happened to my  friend?"

PIXAL was taken aback by the noirette's outburst. "Your friend?"

"Yes, my friend. Our friend." Nya confirmed. "You didn't think we were just tolerating you for Zane's sake, did you?"

"N-no." PIXAL said, wishing she could feel relief right now but that would require... "I consider you my friend as well."

"And as your friend, I am worried about you and want to know what's going on. You don't seem to be upset at all."

Nya expectantly looked at the Nindroid who was taking a long time to answer.

Of  course, it hadn't taken PIXAL's highly advanced processor long to  calculate the different options for her reply, but she still couldn't  decide which one to give.

They were teammates who trusted each other with their lives. Why was it so difficult to trust them with a secret?

"While  I was part of Zane's system," PIXAL finally started, "I was able to  learn a lot more about human emotions and relationships. Not only from  what Zane himself taught me but also through interacting with all of  you. I understood that family is not only based on a shared genetic  background. And that an imperfect match can sometimes be more desirable  than a perfect one, just because it makes you happy." Nya gave her a  little smile so she continued. "I was very intrigued by these  discoveries and wanted to be able to not only observe but to feel  these things myself. So Zane and I modified parts of my coding based on  his own." She blushed. "This also proved beneficial for our  relationship, but when I rebuilt my body, I realised that my new - and  as I believed improved – program was not fully compatible with my old  hardware, in particular, my AIE-ES chip."

"AIE-ES?" Skylor wondered.

"Artificial  Intelligence Enhancer – Emotion Suppressor chip." Nya explained. "Borg  invented it. It's not a standard component of the motherboard though,  PIX is the only functioning Nindroid who has it. She is one of a kind."

"Correct."  PIXAL nodded. "Unfortunately, this also meant that this project had  been discontinued. There was no updated version or even support  available, and I had to take care of it myself."

"What did you do?" The engineers interest had been piqued.

"I  separated its two functions. The AIE module was only upgraded using the  latest technology, but as for the Emotion Suppressor, I had to make  some major alterations. And I based it off Zane's humour switch, making  it tuneable."

"So, you mean...?"

"As soon as Zane  disconnected from our shared drive, I set the level to maximum  suppression. I had lost Zane once before, and I did not want to  experience this pain again. And I am very sorry that the two of you cannot do the same."

"Oh,  PIXAL." Nya wrapped the Nindroid in a firm hug. "You've come a long  way, but you still have a lot to learn about human emotions. They are  part of our lives, the good and the bad ones. Sure, sometimes it would  be easier if we could just switch them off. But you are right, we  can't. We have to deal with them. And you don't have to feel sorry  about that, because this is part of who we are. Like when our parents  disappeared, the whole experience brought Kai and I closer together. And  memories are more than just data. So, if you just blank out the hard  times, then you won't be able to remember the good times either."

Chocolate brown eyes locked with bright green ones. "And Zane and the others deserve to be remembered."

"I-I  do want to remember." PIXAL stated. "But despite my advanced  programming, I really do not know if and how I can deal with all these  emotions."

"You won't have to do it on your own." Nya promised.

And Skylor added. "If you want, you'll have two friends to share them with."

——-

PIXAL's original  AIE-ES chip (not the modified one) is actually canon but not many  people seem to know about it.

The chapter title is from a Pink Floyd song.