"In the gloom of a dimly sea seabase a lone robotic figure sat in the glow of mother nature's undersea creations. Once part of a research project Ekko had lain dormant for decades until being discovered and reactivated by a Spaceknight called Cobol, not only saving him but for the first time in his life freeing his mind and granting him full self autonomy.

As Ekko stared at the lights his mind was filed with a dark void of questions about life, existence, and meaning he had no reference for.. The Spaceknight Project originally began with willing volunteers looking to serve their government, then in generation two.. The phase Cobol was from.. a lot of the humanity and emotion was scrubbed from their minds to better prepare them for the horrors of intergalactic conflict. By generation three.. Ekko's generation.. they instead opted to use wholly artificial minds. Ekko's earliest memory was himself being shown his own reflection for the first time.. and he was just housed in a smooth metal cube with a camera on, While the scientists argued about which weapons to train him on he'd just wanted to know who he was before they disabled his free will and made him a bystander in his own existence.

Now faced with nobody to tell him what to do or think his savior left him space and time to straighten his mind out.. somehow the spectacle of these sea creatures called his attention and before he knew he found himself watching them for hours, Was he as alive or sentient as they were? he didn't know for sure.. but as he watched them the dark void in his mind seemed to lift."

A little bit of a story to go with this image, inspired by various plot ideas I've drafted with my spaceknight characters that have not yet seen the light of day.

Artist:  Kamiduzaurus https://www.furaffinity.net/view/52046728/