Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

System startup. . .

Checking diagnostics. . .

<<System all clear>>

Initiating protocols. . .

Auditory systems online

Sensory systems online

Olfactory systems online

Visual systems online

[All systems online]

Booting…

[Boot up success]

“It… It worked…”

Those were the first words that entered your auditory input.

“It… actually worked…!”

As your optics online, you find yourself face to faceplate with a man.

Messy, disheveled, other words for unclean…

His unkempt brunette hair was tied into a low hanging bun. His complexion was a nice almond color and his eyes, accompanied by eye bags and fatigue, were a chocolate brown that when the lighting hit just right turned into a beautiful hazel. Black square glasses with thick lenses perched his aquiline nose, a lab coat hung from his shoulders, with a t-shirt underneath that had different types of animals(?) printed on it and black jogging pants with white stripes running down the sides.

He had an average build, average face, and right now he looked like a walking corpse. But even if that was the case, the sheer ecstatic energy that he exuded in waves outweighed it all.

Jumping around, whooped, he did all the things an excited person does to shake out the energy.

Why he was so happy escaped you at the time.

Looking back at it now, you fully understand.

As he was doing more celebratory dances and cheers, You took your time to observe your surroundings.

From where you sat, you seem to be in a laboratory setting. The room is bathed in white, from the ceiling to the floors. It was hard to focus when your optics were still overwhelmed with the amount of information you were gathering. The place was cluttered, but it seemed to have a sort of pattern to it.

An organized mess, as you would learn later on.

A lot of things are unfamiliar to your optics, as you’re currently working with very little knowledge about the world around you. You look down and raise your hands to your optics, observing every surface of your smooth metal. Your gaze goes downwards, taking in every detail your body gives you.

You investigate your body with a little prodding, where the sensations so alien to you were being processed. You were exploring your body and sucking in every single detail you gained like a sponge.

From the corner of your optics, you saw him making his way towards you.

You stop as he gets closer and give your full attention to him.

He clears his throat and picks up a clipboard and pen from a table next to where you were settled.

“As expected, you’re really curious. You don’t have that much info in your noggin apart from the basics buuut…” He drags on as he taps a pen to his chin. “ That's supposed to come later as you interact with your environment, so we can skip these for now…” he then taps the pen on the clipboard.

“All right, let’s start with introductions.” He looks over the clipboard, tapping the pen against it in thought.

“You are M-0151.” He looks up at you. “Your purpose is to learn from the world around you, a project that's been made by the Robotics Innovation Lab to further the stretches of scientific discovery!” His eyes seemed to sparkle when he said that. “It’s truly an honor to be a part of such a…” He pauses.

“Ahem…” He grew flustered when he noticed he was getting a bit off track. “I am William, your charge, but refer to me as Will. I will…” He chuckles a little at his realization. “I will be the scientist responsible for overlooking your tests and such.”

He then looks at your entirety.

“Hmm… let’s do a check-up first, huh?” he says, as he snoops around you, looking for damages or anything that looks out of order.

From the angle you're in, you can see how his hands shook. He couldn't seem to be able to focus, and you wonder why that is.

He looks away and scratches his head in frustration and lets out a groan. Then, as if reading the thoughts directly from your processor, comments. “Ahh, I'm too excited! I can't focus at all!”

Backing up a bit, he takes a deep breath, exhales, and looks at you.

“M-0151.”

You stand at attention, awaiting his next words.

You can see him clench his fingers against the clipboard in anticipation.

“Come here”

And you follow.

Well, you would've.

You take one step, not noticing that you were a few inches off the ground, and trip over yourself in thin air.

Your optics widen, so does his.

You encounter another emotion in the small time frame of being online.

Shock.

You must be going for a world record at this point! (Sarcasm)

What followed after was a loud crash, and suddenly you were on the floor. Pain receptors doing their work as aches spread to your front.

“Ow.” You let out. A small gasp can be heard a few ways away, followed by frantic taps on the floor.

Then, you felt warmth encircle your midsection. A small grunt sounded to your left as you felt yourself being heaved up.

“Sorry about that, I forgot to set you down from the working table haha…” he checks you over, worried you broke something. “You don't have anything broken? Maybe bent? Scratched?”

A warm feeling, not coming from the organic beside you, spreads through your insides.

You run a system diagnostic and come back clean.

“All is in working order.”

He lets out a chuckle. “Well, with just that ordeal, we can check off a couple of things on this list!”

Confusion, the third feeling you've felt.

You didn't find how anything in this situation could warrant a laugh of any caliber. You just couldn't understand. But maybe, you thought, maybe you'd come to understand it in the future.

Throughout the day (you believe, as that's what you've been told), you continued testing.

The same scientist stuck with you through it all, just as he said he would. Checking how well your systems ran and examining your senses for optimal function. Other tests included exploring your limits, some examples would be checking how fast you ran to how well you understood the words provided. You were also exposed to certain stimuli to check your reactions to such things.

“Alright M-0151! This,” He gestures to a Birman, a really soft and fluffy Birman. “Is a cat. I call her Beryl. Come here Beryl!” He made a certain noise with his mouth at the cat to attract her attention. The cat seemed to either have not heard him or chose to ignore Will’s attempt. “Eh, she’ll learn to love me.” He looks at you. “Why don’t you go and interact with her?”

You look at her, something thumps inside you as you make your way to the lax cat. She licked her paws and grooms herself.

As you got closer, the cat’s ears perk in your direction before turning her fluffy face towards you. Observing you just as you observe her.

You look back at Will to see him giving you two thumbs up. You return the gesture and then swivel back to the cat, which makes her tense up. Likewise, you took notice of this and back off a bit, your hands in front of you in a pacifying manner. The cat seems to observe this and relaxes a bit.

After a bit of waiting, you make a move to get closer. The cat lets this happen, her tail swishing side to side like a metronome.

Once you do make it in front of her, you crouch down to your knee caps and hold out your hand, trying to pet her. You slow to a stop, however, when she reaches her nose out and sniffs your outstretched limb. You tense up, trying not to disturb the cat in her quest to determine your place.

From behind you, Will watches on in awe. A hand covering his mouth as he takes in the interaction of his cat and the android he’s responsible for. He never expected to be a part of something so big, even if this moment served as such a small milestone in the road paved for future generations. And yet here he was, watching a sentient AI interact with his precious cat.

The cat lets out a small meow and starts to rub her soft face on your metallic hand.

How soft…

You look on as the cat continues to purr against your hand, the soft vibrations coming from her fluffy body makes you feel… calm, happy even. A small smile forms on your faceplates. You reach around the cat to try and carry her in your arms and, to the surprise and jealousy of Will, successfully scoop her up in your metal arms.

“WHAT! That's just unfair! How'd you do it!?” He makes his way to you and Beryl, stomping his feet as he goes. “How'd you get her to open up so easily!” He says begrudgingly, although his tone came off more in awe if anything.

“I…” you trail off, “Am as unsure as you are.” You then continue to pet Beryl, curling up, burying your head and getting lost in the texture of her cloud-like fur.

Before Will could utter another word, you look back up at him, “Can…” you hesitate, “Can I stay like this? For a while, I promise I'll go back to testing when I'm done.”

You must've looked a certain way when he gazed back at you with such a soft expression. “Well, sure, why not? What's the harm?” He says with such a bright smile that it made you giddy with excitement when you realized he gave you the go ahead.

You don't know how long you had Beryl in your arms, seeing as you only let go when the cat started to squirming out of your grip. And with a heavy feeling, you let her go.

You stand back up and look around to find Will sitting in front of a computer, shoulders hunched and face practically glued to the screen as he typed away. You made your way over.

He must've been so focused on his task that he didn't hear your loud steps across the floor. You make it to his side, glancing at him before you look at the computer. Tilting your head a bit as you lean in to observe what he's doing.

[Log 1

The test subject M-0151 is doing well so far. They have a very curious nature, but that is to be expected. They seem to be gaining sentience at a faster rate than we anticipated.]

You didn't get to read the rest when you felt Will jump in place. You didn't expect him to be so surprised at your arrival. “Shit! Don't sneak up on me like that, damn it! You almost gave me a heart attack!” He takes a deep breath in and slowly lets it out.

He glares at you, but it looked more like he was just squinting his eyes at you. “Also, how long have you been there?”

“Exactly three minutes and twenty-nine seconds.” You state, tilting your head. “Was that a bad thing to do? Should I have warned you before coming here?”

“Well uh,” he cocks his head to the side and covers half his face with his mouth, contemplating on his answer. “Not necessarily a bad thing, it’s just… If you see someone as focused as I was, they're not really gonna appreciate getting out of their mojo, do you get what I'm saying?”

You stared at him.

He sighs, “uh ok, just don't sneak up on people until you understand why, got it?”

You nod your head, “Alright, understood.” He nods at you, a small smile forms on his mouth. He then gets back to his laptop, then pauses. You can see how his eyes move from side to side, seemingly reading out the page he has typed. He turns back to you.

“You know, M-0151 is kind of a mouthful, isn't it?” Will leans forward with his hand bracing the back of the chair, anticipating your answer.

You stand and look at him, “I am unsure how to respond to that.”

“Bah, well, it is to me! I don't wanna keep referring to you as M-0151 every time I call for you! Feels too serious, ya know?” He leans back on his chair, finger tapping his chin in contemplation. Then he snaps his fingers, shoots forward and sits up straight, “Alright, let me give you a nickname! C’mon, you know you want it!” He begs, folding his hands together and shakes them in your direction. “Uh-” “Aw, who am I kidding? I’m the one who wants it!” He then laughs and stands up to meet you halfway.

You have a feeling it’ll be hard to keep up with him even when you get used to his shenanigans.

“Hmm, let’s see.” He looks around the lab, trying to find the appropriate name for you. He goes on, humming away. His eyes darting all over the place as he tries to come up with a nickname.

“This is kinda hard…” He deflates and looks back at you. “Nothing’s clicking as of right now…” He goes back to his laptop and sits down on the chair in front of it, dejected. “I’ll just call you M for now, sorry for getting all excited, haha.”

Well, that was a bit anticlimactic. Oh, well, what can you do.

You stay where you are and look at him expectantly, awaiting his orders.

He steals a glance in your direction, briefly going back to the laptop before going back to you again. He then turns half of his body in your direction, arm resting at the back of the chair, as he raises his eyebrow in question.

“What? Why are you just standing there?”

You fold your arms behind your back and stand up straight.“I am done with analyzing the cat named Beryl and am ready to continue the tests.”

He facepalms, “I'm actually an idiot, I can't believe I forgot about that.” He stands up from the chair, claims the clipboard with a pen next to the laptop, and walks to you. “Alright, where were we…”

And that’s mostly how it’s been going for the past 3 months you've been online on earth. You've undergone multiple tests, some you've failed and had to be modified for a better output, and some you've excelled.

There was nothing too big to write home about. Apart from being able to know more about the scientist whose care you're under, along with his sweet cat (only to you, that is).

You don’t have any strong feelings for the things currently available to you now, except maybe for Beryl, but you think that's ok. After all, you had all the time in the world to get accustomed to your surrounding environment anyway.

Chapter Text

It’s been a few months, 3 give or take, if the calendar Will has is right. You’ve gotten used to having tests every single day of your life. But the tests did give you something to look forward to, and that was having the comfort of the cat named Beryl by your side.

The first few weeks here at the institution were focused more on the testing of your bodily functions. They still made sure to manage the upkeep through Will, but the last 2 months were focused on making you learn. They started with the common knowledge of the English language, then continued on to science and mathematics.

You were able to keep up with most of the things they taught you, as your processor was better than most human brains at containing knowledge on the more logical areas in life.

Emotional areas, however, still needed more work, as teaching the concepts of human emotions to an AI was harder than it seemed. 

Sure, you were able to understand the concepts and such, but it seemed they were puzzled on how to actually go from there. Your sentience was locked to self-interest, and they were stumped on how to gain the right stimuli to make your processor learn empathy and other complex ideas to make you sapient.

With that, they left you fully in the care of Will. Whereas, at the beginning of the testing, scientists alike piled up in this room to overlook the progress made with you. Now it was just you, Will and Beryl. Just like it was when you first went online.

These walls just appeared to get more dull as time went on in this room. It was all you ever knew and will ever know, it seems. 

At some point, during the first week of your third month in the institute, Will brought in a square T.V. along with a VHS player and a set of VHS tapes. It got boring in here, he said, and he felt bad that you didn't have anything else to entertain yourself with. Of course, the T.V. was set to certain channels only. So that you don’t get ‘overwhelmed’, as Will says. 

The only ones you had access to were the news stations and National Geographic Wild, your favorite. It was there that you learned about your love for animals, hence your stronger connection with Beryl. 

Speaking of Beryl, she is currently sat on your metal lap as you watch Nat Geo Wild. 

“The octopus is a master of disguise. It’s designed to disappear.

Skin texture and color can mimic the environment in a fraction of a second.”

The current program captured your attention, rapt.

That was until the frantic voice of Will came into the picture. 

“ M! Have you seen the news!?” He says, as he steals the remote from right next to you and changes the channel, to your annoyance. Still, you don’t take your optics off of the screen, just to humor him as you gently run your leaden hands atop the soft fur of Beryl’s head.

“There seemed to have been an unsuspected meteorite that was observed to have entered the earth’s atmosphere last night. A video caught by a few stargazers were seen surfacing online, catching sight of the meteorite in action.”

And just as the news anchor said, a video appeared on the screen. Its quality was bad, but the meteorite was bright enough to be discerned in the captured video.

“ As astonishing as this unpredicted meteorite is, there's just one problem."  

It cuts to a live feed of a crater located in what seemed to be a clearing in the forest.

“The meteorite seems to have gone overnight, as all that was left is this giant crater!”

“Let’s head on over to Carly for the live feed.”

“ Yes! Hi, this Carly reporting to you live here at the supposed crash site of the meteorite! We’re situated over here…”

The field reporter drones on, but you just didn't care enough to keep paying attention. You wanted to go back to the interesting facts on octopuses, but Will still has the (your) remote caged in his left hand. You didn’t see the point in the current subject which the news anchors kept going on about. The octopuses were way more fascinating than a giant hole in the ground.

“What do you think could've caused this?” He looked at you, but all you could focus your gaze on was the remote. 

He raises a brow at you and follows your gaze. Then he realizes, turns his attention back to you, and furrows his eyebrows. “Oh, come on, were you even paying attention?” He then hands you back the remote. You swiftly snatch it back from his grasp, immediately turn your gaze back to the T.V. and switch it back to Nat Geo Wild, all the while feeling Beryl’s purring vibrations run throughout your metallic body. 

“And I thought we could've had a fun back and forth about this.” He pouts, trying to ignite something akin to guilt in you. His attempt was futile, however, as your full attention was elsewhere.

And by elsewhere, it was on the dang T.V.! Will swears he shouldn’t have introduced you to human media This fast! Now look at you, getting a personality! Honestly…

He rolls his eyes and walks off, not before saying, “We’re still up for movie night, right?” And goes to his desk to rummage through his bag. “This time, I’ll let you pick what we watch! I rented some more VHS tapes to choose from!” That’s what got you to look away from the screen. “Yes, please! I-”

“Danger is abound here

Some Skuas patrol the sky, looking for a chance to plummet.”

And once more, your attention was held captive by the Gentoo protecting their clutch of eggs from the fierce Skuas as Beryl took a small nap, comfortably tucked on your legs. Will shakes his head and goes back to his work, writing down his current observations on his laptop with a fond smile spread across his lips. 

Of course, having a personality is better than having no personality, he supposes.

Will, for all his faults, always made it here in the room at exactly 8 o’clock in the morning, sometimes even earlier. But that was only on the weekdays. On weekends, he’d sleep in, leading to him always coming in late. You couldn’t make sense of why he worked the way he did. He told you he was used to it since his early ‘schooling days’ and that it felt weird to not wake up at 5 o’clock in the morning on weekdays. 

It is Monday today.

Today he is running late. 

And that felt really bizarre to you. This has not happened in the past 3 months he’s been with you, unless he told you beforehand.

And he did not tell you beforehand. 

You weren’t too worried. Why would you be? It just did not compute well in your processor why or how he was late, when this hasn’t occurred before. You guessed that nothing really stays the same, no matter how set in stone it seemed.

Currently, laying stomach down on the floor, you’re reading a book about four extraordinary kids that solved mysteries under a man with narcolepsy and his assistant that’s plagued with insomnia.

You wonder if you’ll ever have an adventure as exciting as the children did. Maybe gain new friends? Some enemies here and there, but those seemed more like a hassle and less fun.

Either way, you hope you’ll be able to go out with Beryl in the future, perhaps Will too if he wants. 

Hopefully you’ll get to go out and explore the world. Perhaps you’ll actually get to touch grass and see the open sky through your own optics! With Beryl at your side, of course. 

You continue to fantasize about the outside world, your feet going back and forth trying to mimic the people who do so in movies. The voluntary movement reminds you of all the human media you’ve consumed, with Will as your one and only guide. He’s been really helpful in getting you to understand a little more about humans, their mannerisms, and culture. It was all so interesting, and sometimes you kind of wished to be a human yourself. 

Only sometimes, that is. You’ve heard Will complain about all the horrible things he’s experienced as a human so many times already, it kind of bummed you out. 

A slam snaps you out of your daydreaming (wow, wait till the scientists hear about this!), and direct your attention to the lab’s double doors. There stands Will, hunched back, breathing heavily with sweat coming down his brows in all his glory

“Greetings, Will, what seems to be troubling you today?” You say, lowering the book to provide your full attention to the mess in front of the doors. He holds his left pointer finger up while his right hand leans on his right knee. 

Oh! He wants you to hold on a moment. 

You do so, swinging your legs back and forth once again as you wait.

After finally catching his breath, he inhales deeply, holds, and exhales shortly after. “Well, there was a bit of a security breach, from who or what company, I’m not really sure.” He runs his fingers through his hair as he makes his way towards you. “Anyways, which book’re you reading?” He says as he leans down and observes the book in your metallic hands. 

You wedge a leaden finger in between the page you're currently reading and show him the book’s cover. “The Mysterious Benedict Society.” He brightens up at your words. “Oh! It’s one of the very first books I’ve read as a kid!” He goes to sit down beside you and tell you about his experiences with reading the book, slowly snow balling to his childhood.

“Did you know… ok, that sounds dumb, of course you wouldn’t.” He chuckles, shaking his head, before continuing. “I used to have this imaginary friend, and they lived on in my small beagle plush. His name was ‘Brownie’. Yes, I know, wow, so imaginative.” He shakes his open hands, palms facing you, and rolls his eyes.  “We used to go on all these sorts of crazy adventures. Well, as crazy as a 5-year-old’s imagination is.”  

You look at him and wonder about what those adventured entailed. It brought you back to your thoughts before he came. And you, before your processor could even register, open your mouth and ask “Will there come a day when I can go outside?” 

He stops in his tracks for a bit, hands frozen in their past action. They lower slowly as he turns his head to you. “Not… not yet…” His mouth drew a straight line across his face as he thinks of an answer to give you

He reaches his left hand behind his head and rubs his nape, back and forth. A self soothing motion, as you've come to learn. 

“You see, no one can know about you yet because you’re not ready,” He shakes his head, hand going from his nape to pat your shoulder joint. “But you will be. And when you are, I'll be there to show them how wonderful you are.” 

He looks on in the distance, a fond smile on his lips. And as you go on to look in the direction he’s facing, you start to wonder what he sees.

“They’re gonna love you. I can feel it.” The words, merely a whisper, but you hear them just the same.

He squeezes your shoulder softly. 

You crack a small smile without knowing. 

You’ve never felt so warm.  

The book in your hand closes with a dull thud as you read the last lines on the page. You’ve exhausted most of the media Will has given you in less than a week. It’s not like you have anything to do otherwise. You wonder if the scientists have given up on you. 

You ponder on what that would entail for your future. Would you still be able to go out if they have given up on you? You hoped so, they’d have no use for you whatsoever if you did stay, so why keep you? Oh well, only time would tell, you suppose. 

For the past few weeks, you’ve done nothing but consume the media Will has given you. Sometimes with him, sometimes without. Every time he noticed you’ve finished, he’d ask you what you thought about, you’d give your opinions and from there a conversation would flow out between the two of you. 

Recently, you started initiating. You’d start conversations by sharing your thoughts instead of having Will start for you. It felt great to share your perspectives and ideas when Will listened so attentively, so you just started to talk to him about it. You’d never forget the look on his face when you approached him. He didn’t realize it at first, but when he did, he was so ecstatic! It felt like you were meeting him for the first time again.  

And the things he brought with him were all so much fun to go through! Although, at the same time, they made you yearn for the life you couldn’t have. Not yet, at least. 

The days flew by and, unfortunately, his visiting time became irregular. He made an effort to at least see you every day, even if just for a few minutes before going back out.

Because of this, he’d sometimes leave Beryl in your care to give you company, as he would say. You, of course, do not complain and take care of her to the best of your ability. With the advantage of being an AI, you learned quickly on how to take care of her like a professional pet sitter. And every time he came back to the lab, weary and tired, he’d immediately be greeted with the sight of his precious Beryl well taken care of. This immediately gets his spirits up. So you kept at it, and even without his happiness as motivation, you still would’ve done it. 

You just love seeing his face light up every time, it’s one of the things you look forward to in the day. 

Seeing how well the outcome is affecting his wallet, Beryl, and you, he decided to quit hiring a pet sitter and make you Beryl’s permanent (for as long as permanent entails) pet sitter. You remember Will laugh about how Beryl would be the very first cat to have an AI pet sitter. 

You didn’t know why he was laughing, It is such an honor to be the very first AI pet sitter, thank you very much!

So, here you were now, brushing out Beryl’s soft fur on the floor as she purrs like a motor engine. She has a blanket in between her and your lap for maximum comfort. The calm of the moment sweeping over your whole system as you’re relaxed over the repetition of movement along with the comforting presence currently with you. “Is it to your liking, Beryl?” You mutter, ducking your head down to look at her face. 

If she felt your movements, she did nothing to indicate, as her eyes are kept closed. She made some small biscuits on your blanketed lap, her tail swishing from side to side. You hummed in acknowledgement as you continue back to brushing her fur. 

The door to the lab swings open. Knowing who it was from the familiar pattern of footfalls. Heavy on the heels, slow and clumsy, most likely because he was distracted. You look up to see him fussing over a clipboard in his right hand while chewing a pen held by his left. He slows in his tracks before stopping and looking up, seemingly confused on where he was. “Why am I here again?” His eyes wander, as if searching for the answer, then sees you with Beryl. 

There it is, that expression slowly growing brighter as he sees you groom his cat. 

“Awh, was I interrupting something?” He smiles, making his way towards you. You shook your head no. He then proceeds to lay down next to you, arms and legs spread wide, as he lets out a sigh. “They finally relented! After 2 weeks. I'm surprised we didn't lose anything, their attacks were brutal!” He emphasizes this by raising his arms up in the air. “Makes me wonder why, kinda worried over here bud…” He closes his eyes with a deep exhale.

His eyes suddenly snap open when he feels something on his head. What greets his vision melts his heart. 

You're leaning on top of him with your arm stretched over him and hand rubbing his head, dare he say, comfortingly. 

“Are… are you trying to comfort me?” His voice shaky and his smile wobbly as he tries to comprehend the situation. You nod, not really knowing what to do in this situation. He couldn't help but feel proud of how long you've come. Like a father to his child, seeing their achievements. 

Makes him think back to where it all started, right here in the same room. 

Beryl notices that the attention is off of her, so she makes her way from your lap, near Will’s face and nuzzles her head at the crook of his neck. He raises a hand to pat her gently. “A pat-ception!” He lets out with a tiny chuckle, noticing how you're still petting his head. 

You close your eyes, feel Will’s hair underneath your metal hands and think that yeah, even if you wished for something more to happen in your life, this feeling of belonging would suffice for now. 

You'll get your adventure when you're deemed ready. But for now, you'll savor this feeling with them for as long as you can. 

Sadly, all good things must come to an end, or so the saying goes. 

At exactly 6:00 pm, you, Will, and Beryl were watching T.V. More on you and Will than Beryl. 

A hushed discussion fell between you about the current show playing on T.V. 

All was as it should be…

Until it wasn't.

At 6:25, there was a loud ‘BOOM!’ that shook the place to its core. 

The both of you snapped straight to attention. Will frantically stood up and looked around, while you stayed seated, not knowing what to do or how to react.

Suddenly, the alarms went off, and the room was drowned in red.

Chapter Text

“Come on! I know you can run faster than that!” Will calls over his shoulder. 

You can, of course, but it seems like your systems still haven't caught up with your situation. And what is that situation, you ask? 

Well, you didn't know either! But it seemed to put Will in deep distress, so you guess it’s something really bad. 

Well, if the large booming quakes felt in the ground were also something to go by. 

You’re right behind Will, Beryl in your steady metal arms, as both of your footfalls sounded throughout the corridors accompanied by the alarms in the hallways you were traversing. Everything is covered in shades of red. 

BOOM!

You curled up around Beryl as both you and Will fell forward from both the shock and momentum. You looked behind you to see a… a hand?

A large purple arm peeked out from the huge hole in the wall it seemed to have created. Light from outside the building filtering through, with dust clouding the room as debris littered both the ground and the large appendage. Sparks flew from broken electric wires, the hallway’s lights flickering and eventually fading out as the protruding limb slowly went back out the gaping hole. 

And, for the first time, you saw a glimpse of the outside through that hole in the wall. 

It made you freeze, grip on Beryl a tad bit tighter as the world around you stills and mixes together. 

This feeling of yearning appears as the stars twinkle before your very eyes. A soft breeze following after which shakes the surrounding nature in a calm sway. 

The sky! The trees! The grass! The lot of it! All there, just within reach! 

As if in a trance, you start to stand up, your metal body leaning towards the opening. 

Like a moth to a flame.  

Will let out what seemed to be a muffled yell as he reaches for your arm and pulls you towards him to keep you from going. Snapping out of it, you remember what you were supposed to do, you looked down at your arms to see that Beryl is still in one piece, then continued running with Will. 

While doing so, you couldn't help but take a little peek behind you to see more of the outside. 

But your view was blocked by a bright red light, painting that specific section of the hallway in red.

Feeling something rotten brew in your tanks, you face back to your front and continue to follow Will. 

Past a couple of stairs going down and a few more long hallways, a big archway with steel doors greets you. Beryl moves to your shoulders as you and Will collaborate to push the steel doors aside to see what is inside. 

It is, what looks to be, a massive underground bunker filled to the brim with equipment you didn't know neither the names of nor the use for. And the electric generators, from what you could guess.

“You’d think we have a protocol for giant metal aliens destroying our building, but I guess not!” Will says as he chuckles quietly, it seems forced. Beryl lets out a small meow, seemingly responding to him, as her tail brushes the side of your faceplate. “This is the safest spot I know of, hopefully we’ll be able to hold out here… well until help arrives, that is… if they do.” Will lets out a small huff though his nose as he nervously looks around and starts to wander off. “I’ll look around, see if we can use anything to… Uhm, defend ourselves? I guess…” He mutters, then disappears behind some machinery. 

Your optics blink in the direction he left, then you look at Beryl. “I guess It’s just you and me for now, little feline.” She purrs and rubs her head on against your metal cheeks. You reach your hand up to rub her soft head as you listen to the chaos happening above you. A small shudder resonated around you as the room trembled from every step they took. You couldn’t help but look up.

They were relentless. The place trembled under their weight as sounds of destruction wasn’t deterred even with the thick walls and the dirt above you muffling the sounds. Debris fell from the ceiling like small waterfalls as their reign of terror continues. 

You wonder when it’ll end, and couldn't help but clutch onto Beryl tighter. Unfortunately, to the discomfort of said cat, as she mewls in annoyance. You loosen your grip.

“All I’ve got a comment on is how there is a total of ZERO food in here.” 

… 

“Oh, and the lack of conventional weapons too.” Will steps out from behind one of the equipment and makes his way over. “But I guess this is the best hiding spot we can get. All we really have to do now…” He looks up at the ceiling, chewing his bottom lip in contemplation, “is wait.” A shaky sigh escapes him.

He sits down and starts to trace out symbols on the ground. 

Silence.

After a bit, he turns his attention back to you and gets this look on his face. “Hey,” He smiles and goes to get Beryl out of your grasp. You let him. “Do you think that processor in your noggin is capable of making up any stories? Just a way to both pass the time AND test out that processor of yours!” He goes to sit back down on the floor, then gestures at you to do the same. You oblige and stare at him. “Is there anything specific you'd like to hear?” He pats Beryl as he contemplates on what to answer. “Ehhhh, surprise me!”

Your processor tries to come up with something and settles on a story about how a thief ventures off to rescue a princess up on top of a tower. 

“I didn’t ask you to tell me an already made story!” He chuckles. “I asked you to make a story up!” You look at him with your head tilted in question. “But stories are usually structured where a knight rescues a princess! Not a thief !” You argue, “I don’t believe that’s been done before!… Has it?” 

He laughs at you, a full belly laugh. You can’t help but feel a bit confused and slightly irritated. Even with the slight annoyance, you can’t help but still laugh along with him, feeling confused but happy to see that he’s at least having fun. 

Unfortunately, that happiness last only for a short moment as the tense silence makes a comeback accompanied by muffled noises from above.

“I can't believe we got into this situation… I mean, how unlucky can we get!” He lets out a small chuckle, eyes vacantly stares at the floor as his fists clench at his sides. He chews inside his bottom lip as he looks over at you. His mouth forms a guilty frown. “I'm sorry you have to go through this. It wasn't supposed to go this way, but here we are.” He runs his hand through his hair. “I mean, giant robots of all things? I can’t believ-”

BOOM!

Then all went still.

It was deafening, the only things you could hear were the soft humming of your systems and the anxious breathing of Will beside you.

In all three months of your being online, you didn’t think your whirring systems could be as loud as they were now.

“Where ya hidin’ fleshies?” The voice, though muffled, was too clear to mishear.

You hear a choked gasp next to you, alarming you. Before you can look, Will grips at your shoulder joints as he pushes you in front of him. He leads you, shoving you deeper into the domain of the spacious bunker. 

You make your way through various objects, some appear to be unfinished projects and the like. At the end of it all, two metallic doors with yellow and black stripes at both the top and bottom was what greeted you. Will goes up to the keypad right next to it and frantically enters a code. 

BANG!

The world shakes, as Will clutches on to you for balance. A loud buzzing sound was heard, indicating that the code was incorrectly put in. But that wasn’t what you both were paying attention to.

A bright red light peaks into the hole the being made with its fist. It looks around frantically, it seems to be searching for you.

“You can’t hide in there forever! I’ll get’cha! And when I do…” 

SMASH! 

“I’ll crush you all into pulp!” 

‘Incorrect’ , another loud buzzer sounded as Will flinches harshly. “NO!” He goes again to input it, his hands shaking violently. You look back to the entrance of the bunker as the harsh pounding of metallic fists against the wall shook you both to your core. The vibrations made by the mech’s metal fists not helping Will’s case as he keeps inputting the wrong code. “Come on! We don’t have time for this-!” 

BOOM!

“Ready or not! Here I come!” 

“Come on!” Buzz

“Please!” Buzz

“Stupid shaking hands!” Click!

‘550296’

The door opens with a ‘Whoosh’. He looks back at you when he finishes. 

There was this look in his eyes as the ground beneath you shook from the weight of the running mech.

You don't know what it means, but it gave you this sinking feeling inside. 

The ground trembled beneath you as the harsh steps of the running mech behind you got closer and closer. It seems that the random equipment littering in the room was not enough to hinder its hulking mass, as the mech haphazardly pushed them out of its way. 

You can see Will’s hands trembling when he reaches for your shoulders, one on each side.

“Hurry! Hurry!” He pushes you inside harshly, the impact put you on your hands and knees, letting Beryl go in the process. He initiates an automatic closing code. The doors started to shut as he goes to make his way through.

He almost made it, He really did.

Everything seemed to slow down once more. 

But this feeling was anything but magical.

You look back at him as he looks at you through the gap of the closing door. His lips opened, but no words came out. From alarm to profound terror makes its appearance on Will’s face. His grip on the closing door was no match to the hand closed in around his waist. 

A silent scream, a hand extending out towards you with his other trying It's damnedest to clutch at the closing doors, leaving marks in his desperation. 

Your mouth hangs open, and your optics widen in fear. Your arm stretching out in a desperate plea, scrambling to get on your feet as you're frantically trying to stand up and reach him.  

The last view of Will that has seared its way deep into your memory banks will be of his face.

The way his hands reach towards you as his fingers slipped from the closing metal doors, not strong enough to go against the strength of a mech thrice his size.

It shuts closed without him in the assumed safety of the locked room. The crashing sound of your frame resounds against the doors as you fall against them in your hopeless attempt to get him back.

You look at the doors and try to push them open, metal hands shape into fists as they pound desperately against the doors. 

A large crash sounded from outside, making you flinch backwards and fall on your behind.

It was muffled, their voices. You didn’t know what was happening, you didn’t know what to do. You felt frozen and helpless as you stared at the door, trying to process what just happened. 

A muffled scream sounded. It snaps you out of your trance.

You didn’t know why, but you felt something in you break as those faint shrieks resonated in the room. It echoes in your audio receptors and clamors in your processor. 

It was a chaos so taxing on your systems, you just couldn't handle it all. 

Scans detect: Processor limit reached 

Warning: Processor overheating!

Warning: Systems overheating!

Initiating emergency shutdown. . .

You tried to fight against it, but you just felt so heavy. As the last bits of your consciousness leaves you, a faint tickle of something soft brushes against your metallic face. Your blurry vision sees a hint of white and brown. Soft rumbling came from the figure. 

It helps to calm you down, succumbing to the darkness with nothing more but the purrs of a certain cat to keep you company. 

<<Emergency shutdown initated>>