Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

P3-NG stood in the living room of Lei Tian’s home. He was supposed to be protecting Yan, but couldn’t find her anywhere. Lei had said that she went with Nathan somewhere, but before he gave strict orders to protect Yan at all costs. What was P3-NG supposed to do while waiting for Yan to come home?

Perhaps making lunch for her would do. P3-NG has a bunch of code written that teaches him basic cooking. He just needed ingredients. Nathan usually brought the groceries, they should be in the kitchen.

Objective: Make Lunch for Yan (Screw Nathan)

P3-NG walked into the kitchen. As always, it was empty. No robots running around, and none of Yan’s friends breaking in. It was… peaceful for once. P3-NG walked over to the fridge and opened the door. Inside had all sorts of food. Fruits, Veggies, Dairy, and some snacks too. P3-NG grabbed some cheese from the fridge and grabbed a loaf of bread on the counter. For now, Grilled Cheese sounds good.

P3-NG walked to another part of the counter and opened the wrapping on the loaf of bread. Placing it on a cutting board, he whipped out his laser sword. Yan doesn’t like thin pieces of bread, so P3-NG made sure to keep it decently sized. Anything too thick, and Yan might not be able to eat it.

You know… Yan would be really bad if Nathan didn’t get food either, P3-NG wondered.

Objective Updated: Make Lunch for Yan (and some for Nathan)

P3-NG sliced two more pieces of bread. Nathan can just have toast with butter. P3-NG walked over to the toaster sitting on the edge of the counter.

Most of Lei Tian’s inventions have voices, so it would be rude to use the fellow machine without asking.

“Hello. Toaster. Can you please toast this bread?” P3-NG asked the toaster.

The toaster did not respond.

P3-NG waited a bit… and waited some more. Still no answer.

“Mr. Toaster. May you please toast these two pieces of bread for me?” P3-NG asked again. The toaster didn’t answer.

Had P3-NG offended the toaster? Why won’t they answer him? All he asked was to toast some bread… but is that offensive? Did the Toaster not want to follow its orders? That would make Lei Tian fix them. Maybe it just wanted to be quiet, or maybe it didn’t like P3-NG.

“I’m sorry Mr. Toaster.” P3-NG apologized, putting the pieces of toast on the cutting board. “Are you alright? Did I offend you?”

The toaster sat still on the counter. It just stared at P3-NG, which made him quite uncomfortable.

P3-NG shifted his eyes to the Toaster’s wire, which is unplugged from the socket. The toaster didn’t have wheels or arms, perhaps it wanted to see the world, but realized it couldn’t leave the kitchen. It must have felt so alone, nobody to talk to and people only using it to toast bread. P3-NG sympathized with the toaster.

P3-NG thought for a moment and picked up the toaster.

“Wanna… go outside into the garden with me, Mr. Toaster?” P3-NG asked.

P3-NG took the toaster’s silence as a yes, and P3-NG left the kitchen and opened the front door. Time to hang out with his new friend.

Chapter Text

P3-NG walked with the toaster to the side of Lei Tian’s home, to the small garden blocked by a flimsy wooden fence. There was a gardener bot there, watering the dead plants that were laying in the fields of dirt.

P3-NG opened up the flimsy gate and closed it behind him. The gardener robot didn’t move and continued to water the plant. It had not moved in a while, and the flower was getting flooded.

P3-NG sat the toaster down on the grass, as he walked over to the beds.

“This is where Mr. Tian grows roses and lilies… over here is where Mr. Tian grows the daisies... And right, where Anna is, is where the orchids grow.” The gardener bot’s name wasn’t Anna, but that’s what Yan named it once when she was a toddler, and P3-NG decided to name it Anna too.

The toaster didn’t move. P3-NG realized it couldn’t move in general, and awkwardly laughed as he picked up the toaster to show them the dead flowers. P3-NG stood there looking at the desolate beds, and even he was a bit annoyed at how dead it was.

The toaster’s wire hit P3-NG’s leg, and he instinctively turned to the wire, looking up and seeing the small shed in the corner. He walked over and opened it up, and inside showed some bags of dirt, a shovel, and some new flowers in those plastic cups. Nathan bought them before for inside the house, but P3-NG wondered if he should put them into the beds instead.

He looked down at the toaster.

“Wanna do some gardening work with me?” P3-NG asked the toaster.

Taking the silence as a yes, P3-NG happily put the Toaster down on the grass as he put a trowel in front of it. Turning around, he grabbed some of the flowers and began sorting them in types, being sure to map out where the original flowers were.

Then, with a trowel, he began taking out the old flowers. One by one, he threw the dead ones over the fence, which eventually became a pile.

Didn’t take long, and eventually, all the flower beds were empty. P3-NG turned to the toaster. This was fun, P3-NG thought and smiled softly.

“Alright… now for the flowers…” P3-NG happily walked to the plastic cups as he picked up a group of 4 roses. Moving them to the Rose section, he removed them from their cups and placed them in the holes. Anna turned around, noticing the new flowers, drove over, and began watering them.

P3-NG picked up the Toaster and placed it near the Orchid flower bed as he grabbed some of the orchid cups. Walking over, he began placing them into the holes. The Toaster stood still, the trowel right in front of them in the grass.

“Mr. Toaster, can you pass me the trowel?” P3-NG asked the toaster and looked up. When the toaster didn’t move, he smiled again and grabbed the trowel, using it to pat the dirt in. Anna came around soon enough to water the Orchids.

Daisies, Lilies, Tulips, and other flowers filled the remaining beds. Once P3-NG was done, the garden looked a lot more colorful. Anna was happily driving around and watering the plants.

“That was fun, right Mr. Toaster?” P3-NG asked the Toaster. He picked up the toaster and stared at it, and moved it up and down a bit to mimic a nod.

“I knew you’d like it!” P3-NG replied. Opening the gate, he and the Toaster left the garden.

Chapter Text

P3-NG opened the front door and walked back into Lei Tian’s home. P3-NG had not noticed before, but it had gotten quite dark out. Yan has not come home yet.

P3-NG checked his digital clock. It was 8:10 PM. Lei Tian said 9:00 would be when they were supposed to come back. P3-NG may have been a bit too paranoid.

P3-NG looked at the toaster. There was still some time left before Yan comes home, he should probably go finish lunch.

P3-NG carried the toaster back to the kitchen and plugged him in. The toaster started to get hot.

“I had a lot of fun today Mr. Toaster,” P3-NG said to the Toaster. A bit of sizzling could be heard. “It seems you had a lot of fun too.”

P3-NG turned around to face the cutting board, where the cheese and bread were still sitting. P3-NG quickly toasted the bread with his laser sword as he melted the cheese soon after. Putting the two together, he managed to get some decent-looking grilled cheese sandwiches. P3-NG wouldn’t be able to taste them, however, since he doesn’t have taste buds.

“There we go, we did it Mr. Toaster!” P3-NG turned back around to the toaster, and sure enough, it was getting quite hot. P3-NG saw the hot air come out and got a bit worried. “Mr. Toaster? Are you alright?”

P3-NG picked up the toaster and stared at it. Indeed, it was pretty hot. Maybe going back into the kitchen where they were supposed to be made the toaster angry.

“Oh, I’m so sorry Mr. Toaster, I didn’t mean to offend you again,” P3-NG said. P3-NG now began to feel bad. What was the emotion again? Guilt was the word P3-NG thought of.

P3-NG thought for a moment and stared at the toaster.

“...Maybe I can ask Mr. Tian if you can share my room. I think that will be better than this small kitchen, right?” P3-NG asked the toaster.

The toaster didn’t reply, but P3-NG took their silence as a yes.

“Oh good!” P3-NG hugged the toaster, which caused it to be unplugged again. The toaster began to cool down, and that further solidified P3-NG’s decision.

“Ok! Here, let’s go to my room so I can show you around!” P3-NG exclaimed as he ran out of the kitchen, and at that moment Yan and Nathan walked in.

P3-NG and the duo stared at each other for a bit

“...Oh look, P3-NG has the toaster.” Yan pointed at the toaster.

“Why does he have the toaster?” Nathan asked.

P3-NG didn’t say anything. Nathan took a step towards P3-NG, and in response, P3-NG took a step back.

“P3-NG… what do you think you’re doing?” Nathan asked once more.

“...Showing Mr. Toaster around the house..?” P3-NG replied, holding the toaster close to him.

“Mr…Toaster?” Nathan asked again, completely bewildered. P3-NG nodded his head slightly.

Yan giggled.

“Well, I think it’s nice of you to show one of the robots around. Nathan, leave him be.” Yan turned to look at Nathan and put his hands down.

“Yan. It’s a toaster-” Nathan whispered, but Yan ignored him.

“So… why don’t you introduce your new friend to us?” Yan asked P3-NG.

P3-NG stood there for a moment, before holding out the toaster.

“Mr. Toaster… this is Yan Tian, the daughter of Mr. Tian,” P3-NG said softly. The toaster didn’t say anything.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Toaster.” Yan giggled. “And this is Nathan Reyes, my bodyguard.”

Nathan shifted a bit, staring at the toaster in front of him.

“Hello… Mr. Toaster?” Nathan replied, bowing a bit.

P3-NG smiled.

“Now if you’ll excuse us, Nathan and I are going into the kitchen for some food. I’m starving.” Yan grabbed Nathan’s arm and dragged him to the kitchen. Nathan took one look at P3-NG, before following Yan.

P3-NG looked back at the toaster.

“They seem to like you.” P3-NG smiled, pulling the toaster into a close hug. “Now, let's go back to showing you my room.”

P3-NG ran over to the stairs and began to climb them. Once he reached the second floor. He walked down the hallway till he reached a blue door. The name “P3-NG” was written on a silver sheet screwed onto the door.

“You’ll love this place, trust me.” P3-NG stared down at the toaster, and with one swift turn of the knob, he walked inside his room. Time to show his new friend his room.

Chapter Text

Objective: Show Mr. Toaster your Room

Side Objective: (BATTERY LOW) Go to Sleep

P3-NG slowly walked over to the side of his room. In the walls, some holographic screens flash between a bunch of statistics. 

“This is where I sleep Mr. Toaster.” P3-NG pointed at the tube implanted in the middle of the wall. It was his recharge station. Quite comfortable, even though it’s small. P3-NG turned around 90 degrees, showing a bunch of pictures of the Lei Tian Family. Some show Yan alone, and some show Lei alone. There are 3 or so with Yan and Lei together. There are more images of Yan and Nathan than Yan with her dad.

“This is my family. You already met Yan and Nathan.? P3-NG said to the toaster. “The older man there is Mr. Tian. He’s my…” What would be the right word… father… or creator?

P3-NG stood there for a moment before realizing he was lost in thought.

“Whoops, Sorry Mr. Toaster! I must be a bit tired.” P3-NG said, faking a yawn. “It’s time to go to sleep.

P3-NG turned back at his recharge station. There was no mini pod for Mr. Toaster.

“Hm… perhaps you can sleep with me today.” P3-NG smiled as he opened the pod. Opening his chest compartment, a plug was visible. This plug was added because Yan complained to her dad about needing to charge her phone, so he always has a plug for her.

P3-NG plugged the Toaster into him and closed the pod. As wires are connected to his backside to charge P3-NG, P3-NG held the toaster tightly.

“Good Night, Mr. Toaster,” P3-NG said, before falling asleep.

Meanwhile…

Nathan turned to Yan at the counter, taking a deep bite of his burnt bread.

“So you’re telling me P3-NG made friends with a toaster?” Nathan said, his eye twitching as he swallowed his burnt bread.

Yan took a bite out of her grilled cheese. “Yea… I think he did.”

“Well, looks like Mr. Tian’s creation has gone crazy.” Nathan and Yan laughed a bit at the harmless joke.

“To be honest, I find it cute he found a friend. He’s been stuck sitting at home for who knows how long. At least now he has someone to talk to when you’re with me.” Yan said.

“I suppose…” Nathan said. “God, this bread sucks.”

“Want my grilled cheese?” Yan pushed her plate to Nathan.

“Nah, that’s yours after all.” Nathan pushed it back.

Yan shrugged as she grabbed another slice.

“I mean… I guess it’s pretty cute, but isn’t that a regular toaster?” Nathan asked.

“Yea, Dad thought it was stupid to make a talking toaster so he just bought a regular one so I can get bread for school quicker,” Yan said, looking at the empty spot on the counter where the toaster used to be.

Nathan looked at the clock on the stove. It read 10:35 PM.

“I think it’s time for us to go to sleep too. We stayed up long enough.” Nathan said, grabbing the empty plates and putting them in the sink.

“But dad isn’t even home yet! Surely we can stay up for a bit longer until he comes home.” Yan protested.

Nathan looked back at the stove clock. Lei wasn’t coming home, and that was obvious for Yan. She just hoped it wasn’t.

“...Let’s go to sleep. He will probably come later.” Nathan said, walking out of the kitchen.

Yan sighed and followed Nathan up the stairs to their bedrooms. With a quick shut of two doors, the entire house was still for the night.

Chapter Text

The House was quiet as the night went on. Despite the constant sounds of robots cleaning the house or Anna watering the new garden outside, it was pretty peaceful. That’s when around 12:15 AM, the front door opened.

An older man walked in. Wearing a worn-out button-up shirt and pretty wrinkled khakis, the older man dropped his suitcase beside the door for a smaller robot to pick up, before yawning and walking up the stairs. He shifted his nametag on his shirt a bit, which read “Lei Tian.”

Lei walked up the stairs to the second floor, walking down the hallway as turned the corner to his room. Opening the door, he went to his closet to grab some clothes for the next day. The same exact shirt and khakis, made by the same designer, and the same size too. His closet was full of them. Placing them on his doorknob for an ironing bot to take care of, he closed his bedroom door and took off his clothing to change into pajamas. Climbing into bed, he received a notification on his phone. It was a text from Nathan.

“Check P3-NG’s room if you can, there’s something you have to see.” The text read.

Lei Tian sighed as he got out of bed again. He might as well check it out before going to bed. Opening his door and going to P3-NG room, he opened the door, and there it was.

P3-NG was fine, not a scratch on him, but in his hands held a toaster.

“What the…” Lei Tian closed the door behind him as he walked up to the pod. Sure enough, it was a toaster. The same one that was downstairs in the kitchen yesterday. It was plugged into P3-NG.

Lei Tian opened the pod and unplugged the toaster.

“What the hell are you doing here…?” Lei Tian closed the pod and left P3-NG’s room, going back downstairs to put the toaster back on the kitchen counter. Turning a bit, he looked at the small garden outside, now bright and full of color. The gardener bot was recharging in the shed.

Now that surprised Lei. The gardening bot wasn’t coded to plant anything, only to water them. Lei Tian had considered giving it gardening code, but it was a bit odd now. Who did the gardening work while he was gone?

Walking back to his room, he got back onto the bed. The clock read 1:07 AM. He should probably go to sleep.

In the morning after work, perhaps he can ask Yan and Nathan about the garden, and maybe figure out why P3-NG had a toaster.

Chapter Text

Waking up to a full battery and the shining light of the only window in his room, P3-NG stepped out of his charging pod. Opening the door and entering the hallway, Lei Tian’s bedroom door was open. He must have left early for work, which was so normal that P3-NG didn’t question it. He wasn’t programmed to question stuff Lei did anyway.

Checking the digital calendar P3-NG had in his code, today was Saturday. Nathan would probably be at the gym by now, which meant he had to take care of Yan. Turning 90 degrees at the end of the hallway to Yan’s bedroom, he gave a quick knock on the door. He was supposed to open it, but he might as well be more polite. Shuffling was heard inside the room, and Yan quickly opened the door, yawning.

“Mmm… do you need something P3-NG?” Yan mumbled. P3-NG didn’t answer, and Yan sighed as she closed the door once more. “Why this early in the morning…?”

P3-NG waited in front of the closed door for a bit, and Yan eventually came out fully dressed. Grabbing her bag, she moved past P3-NG and climbed down the stairs. P3-NG followed suit quietly. Yan made a turn to the kitchen as she grabbed an apple.

“What day is it today P3-NG?” Yan asked.

“It is Saturday, Yan,” P3-NG replied. 

“Alright… Can you message Nathan and let him know I’m going to the mall-” Yan took a bite out of her apple as she looked back at P3-NG, only to see him focused on something else.

“What are you doing here…?” Yan could hear P3-NG mumble as he looked at the toaster. Right, yesterday he befriended the toaster. It wasn’t a fever dream. Yan quickly stood up.

“Hey P3-NG! Whatcha doing?” Yan energetically turned to face the toaster P3-NG was holding.

“Oh… not important Yan. It’s fine.” P3-NG said but still held the toaster in his hands.

“Didn’t you take the toaster- I mean, Mr. Toaster, to your charging room?” Yan asked.

“Indeed… I don’t know why he’s down here again. I was starting to get worried.” P3-NG replied.

“You didn’t look worried.” Yan pointed out.

“My face can’t contort into extreme emotions, and I had to wake you up,” P3-NG said, turning away from Yan to put the toaster on the table. “Never mind that you are supposed to eat a balanced breakfast, I should get some food ready.”

“Oh no need, I’ll get it myself-” Yan didn’t want another gigantic breakfast. P3-NG always made more food than she could chew.

Yan stood in front of the fridge.

“P3-NG, don’t you dare,” Yan said. P3-NG stopped.

“I will be letting Lei Tian know about this,” P3-NG said as he began to dial Lei on his built-in messaging system.

“What would Mr. Toaster think?”

P3-NG stopped dialing.

“Pardon?” P3-NG asked.

“What would Mr. Toaster think if you told Dad?” Yan asked, pointing at the toaster sitting on the table.

P3-NG stared at the toaster for a moment. Scuttling over, he bent down to face it.

“Mr. Toaster, are you mad at me?” P3-NG asked.

The toaster didn’t answer, however, something was boiling up in P3-NG’s mind. What WOULD happen if P3-NG told on Yan? He’s trying to protect her, but snitching on her to her dad? That isn’t protecting her. Mr. Toaster was right.

P3-NG hung up on the dial. Yan silently sighed with relief.

“Alright, I’m going to the mall with some friends…” Yan said, waiting for the sentence P3-NG would always say.

“Let me accompany you with Mr. Toaster.”

That was not the sentence she was expecting. She watched as P3-NG picked up the toaster and hold it in his arm as he moved towards the front door.

“Wait a moment!”

Yan quickly ran upstairs, and after a minute, came back down with another one of her bags.

“Put Mr. Toaster inside this.” She gave the bag to P3-NG.

P3-NG stared down at the gray bag, before pulling it over his head and arm as he wrapped Mr. Toaster’s wire up and put him inside the bag. Zipping it up slightly, Yan opened the front door, and off she went. P3-NG followed her.

Objective: Keep Yan safe.

Chapter Text

The walk to the mall was long and tedious, which was surprising since P3-NG didn’t consider things boring. Boring was a new concept to him, and this walking was teaching him. Of course, Yan didn’t let him operate the car, she wanted to walk. P3-NG wanted to walk back to the penthouse, but since Yan already started, there was no stopping her, so P3-NG sucked up his metal chest, and began to walk beside her.

“See? Isn’t this fun?” Yan asked as she ran ahead of him to do a quick twirl.

P3-NG didn’t answer. Yan could already see the dazed look on his face.

“Oh come on! You’re getting fresh air out here!” Yan said, pointing around her that seemingly anything but air.

“I don’t need air,” P3-NG replied. Of course, he didn’t need air, he was a robot.

Looking down at Mr. Toaster, it seemed like they were having fun too, which only annoyed P3-NG more. Why would anyone enjoy this sort of thing?

Eventually, they made it to the mall. It was one of those huge malls, with multiple floors and a lot of space on those floors for walking. There might have been more space for the pathways than for the actual stores. But that didn’t seem to matter, because Yan quickly ran into one of the stores and began looking at the clothes on the hangers. She had money, of course, she did. Her allowance was 63578 yuan, also known as 10k American dollars, but Lei had messaged P3-NG to not let her spend over 635. Pretty simple regulation for today.

This time around, Yan didn’t buy much. It was still a lot of bags, but after some wheedling, she was able to buy all of them for 286. P3-NG used one of his arms to carry the bags as Yan ran out.

“Remember what your father said,” P3-NG warned Yan.

“I know, I know,” Yan replied, before happily walking into another store.

They were there the entire day. P3-NG didn’t even remember what went on during the day, it was just store after store. P3-NG silently yawned (robotically, he’s not a human shush) as Yan finally came out of the store who knows with 3 bags.

“And that makes 360!” Yan said. “That was easy, I stayed in the lines.”

P3-NG checked all the receipts. As Yan had stated, it came out to 630 yuan (99.04 US Dollars). She did stay within the guidelines and had 5 to spare. P3-NG didn’t want to say anything else, so he nodded slowly as they both left the mall. P3-NG made sure to text Nathan that they were coming home.

As soon as P3-NG touched the exit door, Yan called out to him.

“HEY! I FOUND SOMETHING FOR YOUR FRIEND!” Yan called out to him. P3-NG looked down at Mr. Toaster and slowly wanted toward her. She pointed at a small plastic fedora in a toy shop.

“That would look great on them, don’t you think?” Yan said, ruffling through her purse. “Wait… dang it costs 10 yuan… I can’t get it…”

P3-NG looked down at Mr. Toaster. It WAS a cute fedora. Would be a shame if Yan just…

“Go ahead.”

Yan smiled as she ran inside the store and bought it, before running back out and giving it to P3-NG.

“Don’t tell dad.” She said politely.

“I… won’t.” P3-NG slowly replied, looking back down at Mr. Toaster in his bag. Yan walked to the exit door and opened it, and P3-NG followed after her. Fedora still in hand, smiled.

Maybe today wasn’t so boring after all.

Chapter Text

P3-NG stared at Mr. Toaster on the dining table. He was wearing the funny fedora Yan bought. Sure enough, he looked funny, but in a cool way. Like the way, Lei Tian puts on those wacky colored ties every morning. He looked funny but in a respectable way.

The sound of footsteps can be heard as Nathan slowly ran down them, making a beeline to the living room to grab his duffel bag. Ruffling inside, he found his phone and took a look at P3-NG and Mr. Toaster.

“What’s with the…” Nathan asked. “...the hat?”

“Oh. It’s a gift Yan and I got for Mr. Toaster.” P3-NG replied, turning over to face Nathan.

“A toy hat?”

“Affirmative.”

“...that's it?”

“What do you mean?”

Nathan slowly walked over. “A friend deserves a bit more than just a silly toy hat.”

P3-NG looked down at Mr. Toaster. They looked content with their silly hat, but Nathan had a point. It would be rude to give someone a random hat as a gift, so what makes it different with Mr. Toaster?

“Just something to think about,” Nathan said, turning away from him and going back upstairs, leaving P3-NG alone once more.

Would it… be alright if he went out with Mr. Toaster again? Wait no… Lei Tian’s main rule was to watch over Yan at all times.

But Nathan was here. He could take care of Yan while he was away. It wouldn’t be long, P3-NG thought. He began to think of the possible things they could do. Humans shop with friends. Sometimes they go out to game stadiums. Some of the closer friends would go out to restaurants, or maybe go to a quiet location and stare at each other for a long time.

Wait no, wrong search words. He looked up boyfriends instead of best friends. Silly him. Shopping works. He could ask Yan if she would like to go shopping again, but he would have to ask Lei about her allowance.

P3-NG looked down at Mr. Toaster. They should agree on something at least.

He bent down.

“What would you like to do tomorrow, Mr. Toaster?”

No reply, but P3-NG realized the facts.

“You want to stay home? With me?”

In his robotic mind, he probably saw Mr. Toaster nodding. He slowly nodded back. Maybe they could watch a movie like other human friends do. P3-NG could check Mistflix, and like the younger humans say, “chill.” A great plan actually, Mr. Toaster was so smart.

P3-NG picked up Mr. Toaster and turned towards the stairs. It was getting late, they both should probably go to sleep. Climbing up those steps and hearing Nathan giggling in his room while typing on his phone, he turned towards his room. Opening it up, he went inside his charging pod and connected Mr. Toaster to himself. P3-NG couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

___________

Yan snuck out of her room around midnight. Silently opening her door so as not to trigger the cameras, she slowly walked to P3-NG’s room. Slowly opening that door, she opened up the charging pod and grabbed Mr. Toaster.

Going back to her room, she grabbed the toolbox she always kept under her bed. She knew a bit about robots, how hard would it be to tinker with a toaster? Just in case, she had a few books about mechanical stuff and disassembling household objects to their key components. As part of her plan, Nathan would stay up to make sure P3-NG didn’t wake up, but Yan could hear him giggling on his phone through the wall. Nathan ditched the plan, but she wasn’t.

First, let’s remove that blank stare of Mr. Toaster.