Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

1: this story will have NO smut or nsfw (besides gore stuff probably)

2: I will continue to write the story in a journal until I get my stuff back, the teaser is kind of done.

3: I need help.

I can't post often, but I can still view my email so what I need from yall is some ideas, story thoughts, what you want to see, anything that can help me generate ideas for what to do or write for the upcoming chapters, just leave them in the comments and I will get an email on it and see it, thank you everyone for the support, yall are kinda the reason I got back into this. I don't got any more time and have to go. I want to make this story, but I'm not sure if I can do it on my own, so please lend a hand to this cowboy in need.

Take it easy and remember to stay tuned~

Teaser is out now btw

Chapter Text

The boy runs through the slim hallways, many fancy and expensive painting line the walls, they seem well kept but still forgotten, as though no one has come to admire such beauty for quite some time.

The boy was young, yet his attire had him dressed in a dance suit, the miniature tux was a bit tight on his neck, but his mood was much different from the seriousness of his outfit. His white hair flowed and his joyful black eyes gleamed with excitement, his features complimenting his outfit, but nothing seemed to outshine the smile on his face, not even the portraits that hanged.

It seems as though the boy had reached his destination, and without a second thought he takes a leap into the air into the arms of an older man. The man himself was quite shocked at the sudden embrace but didn’t hesitate to return it.

“Hey there sport!” The man’s voice was ruff as he spoke, still shaking off the cold from the outside. Once the man was comfortable, he leaned down, trying to get on the same level as the kid. “Did you miss me?” The boy didn’t miss a beat “of course I did uncle, I haven’t seen you in forever!” The man chuckled as he raised himself “Now now, 8 months isn’t forever.” The boy looked down, a playful pout on his face “felt like forever…” the man chuckled again, his voice soft yet ruff, like a rose that looks beautiful but pricks those that dare to touch it. “I’m still happy you missed me because-“ his voice raising in pitch “I got you something~” this did nothing but raise the boys excitement.

The man turns around just a moment, and with a bit of a struggle, he bringing something in with a huff as he sat it down. The boy had never seen drones like this.

They were different, modified it seem, they appeared similar to a worker drone, but even from their sitting state they seemed taller than any of the others. Their arms and legs seem different too, no longer the fragile weak materials that made them so easy to damage, no, there arms were made of the same metal as the rest of their body’s, were their arm ended, the limb increased inside, but there legs did the opposite, seemingly shrinking at the end to a stub. That’s not all, on top of their head layer a headband with 5 lights sit on top. He didn’t even notice the tail at first glance.

The drone on the left wore a half cut jacket that went down to the end of their torso and had basic white hair cut short, matching his white color, same with the one on the right that had twin ponytails instead wearing a very fancy business suit with a yellow shirt underneath. The one in the center though seemed different, its hair was black and kept tidy in a small bow behind its head, it wore what appeared to be a dress? The boy was unsure why.

“Sorry.” The man states, snapping the boy from his thoughts. “The one in the center here-“ he points “was supposed to have white hair but I kinda ran out of time and threw on whatever…” the man paused for a moment “So? What do you think-” He was once again caught off guard by the quick hug that the white haired boy had given him, and the man smiled, at least he could give him something to cherish before he had to leave… “Hold on one moment.” The man stoop up and walked behind the drone in the center, he started messing with something on its back. The body peaked over curios. With a final grunt a faint glow entered the drones screen. “There.” He said, feeling accomplished. “That should do it!”

System Reboot…

Reboot completed.

Running Analysis…

Analysis completed.

All Systems functional.

Looking for Admin…

ERROR

Admin not found.

Starting up booting sequence…

the unnamed drone, now finally awake, takes in its surroundings, but its eyes lock in on a specific boy…

”Hi! It’s nice to meet you!”

My names Nickolas

Nickolas?

Loading…

Admin accepted.

that took way too long…

Chapter Text

Footsteps echo through the hallway, as Nick wonders through them. He has a smile on his face, yet the smile looks forced, like it’s only being supported by a small hope flickering. Still his fragile smile stands out in the colorful yet grey maze of hallways.

He’s looking for something, hoping for something any sign of his parents remembering his birthday, even if they never did celebrate it, using it to “make connections” than actually for the boy himself. He was 16 now, he hoped for something at least.

But the creaky hallway seemed to show no sign of giving in to his request. He felt the need to distract himself, to prevent the pain building up in his chest from overfilling him.

Than, what seemed like a gift from the universe (your welcome btw), a distraction was what was given to him…

The sound of the collision echoed throughout the dim passages of rooms.

A few drones looked to see the commotion, others paid it no mind for better, they knew what happened to nosy drones.

Nick let out a low groan, taking a glance up at what had mocked him to his feet. Black pupils met white optics staring back as Nick saw the familiar drone he had recognized on the spot, mainly from the black hair that fell over the top of her head.

”T!” The voice sounded more shocked than it actually was. “This is the third time this week that you’ve ran into me, and it’s Tuesday!” The girl robot herself turned away, she did enjoy his voice, but it sounded a bit better when he was angry. “Sorry…” was all she whispered as she kept her head to the side to hide the blush creeping up on her face.

Nick sighed, guilt started to make its way to his heart. “No, you don’t have to apologize, I just worry that you might accidentally Bump into James or Louise.” T let out a quiet scoff, as if she would even want to let alone touch them. “I should have been watching where I was going too, I’m sorry.”

T reached down and gave her best friend a little help up, but she wasn’t sure how much longer she could just call him a friend… Her gaze turned to his hand, it was warm against her cold metal one, like it had been made the perfect temperature just for her, and that warmth flowed through her like a sauna.

”Oh!” The sound made T jump as she turned to him once again. “Since J’s out completing a task for my dad-“

Meanwhile on the other side of town…

J quickly scans through the clothes isles, he bosses father had sent her out to go and collect clothes for an upcoming event, the news she had to separate from Nick sent her into a spiral, but neither of his parents let Nick leave the house, like he was a priced jewelry piece that they only flaunted and never used.

J made her way quickly through the isles, trying to complete her task as quickly as possible, yet only grabbing what she saw as best for her little CEO.

Just as she was about finished, something caught her eye…

It was a business suit…

and it was the perfect fit…

Meanwhile, in our universe… (if you get it you get a cookie)

“-why don’t we go hang out, just the two of us!” T didn’t even thing twice. A moment alone with Nick? That was a once in a drone-time opportunity! (And here those weren’t long…) “Hell ya!” Her accent was on full display as she grabbed Nick’s arm and takes forward down the labyrinth of twists and turns, but T didn’t seem to care and on their travels, her mind drifted to a certain day…

8 years ago…

The drone opened her optics for the first time. Questions started to fill her database. Who was she? Where was she?

She didn’t get time to dwell on them as a young boy sat down in front of her. “Hi!” He shouted, his voice filled with excitement and curiosity. He whore a type of suit, but Mitch smaller, is iris where black but still glowed and his white hair hanged close to the top of his head. “My names Nickolas, but everyone just calls me Nick, what’s your name?

My name? What was her name? “I…” she spoke in a low whisper with an accent that contradicted to the boy. “Don’t know…” The boy frowned, saddened that his new (only) friend didn’t know her own name.

He pondered for a moment until he had an idea. “I know!” He jumped up. “What do you think of T?” She tilted her head “T?” Her voice still shaken. “Ya! Like Tyrannosaurus Rex, T!” He waves his arms around like it made sense.

The drone couldn’t help but chuckle at the kids antics but was still curious. “Why T?” She was still unsure of everything the was happening. “Because, your so big and strong..” T was just about to ask another question when he spoke again. “I just remember this really cool plushie I got in my room!” He started to move and motioned for the robot to follow. “It’s really soft and fluffy and…” is voice grew distant the farther he got.

The female drone was still confused, when her attention was grabbed by a deep chuckle that grabbed her attention. She turned her head, so fast it look liked it would have flown off if not attached.

Behind her, she saw two similar looking drone to herself, except their hair was white, matching the boy she talked to, while hers was black. She also spotted a much taller and older man standing behind the two of them, his face was obscured by his hat and his figure was hidden behind his coat.

”Hi.” His voice was deep. “T, right?” The drone intensively took a step back, swallowing the synthetic saliva that had built up in her mouth that she had just became aware of. “Your probably confused?” Well duh! But she didn’t dare say those words out loud. “Allow me to enlighten you~” he lowered his figure down a bit, even if she was taller than worker drones, he still loomed over her. “Today is my nephew’s birthday and I wanted to make him something special. So I made you and the other two here.” He motioned down to the others like her. “You are a defender drone, I made you to defend Nickolas, and well, be his friend. Cause if you haven’t noticed-“ he motioned around the area like it was a grand entrance to something disappointing. “-He doesn't got any.” He turned back to the door standing back at full height with his head still looking back a little. “Can you… do that?”

She didn’t know what to say, so she only gave a small nod, but it seemed to be enough as the man smiled at her, seemingly proud.

”Hey! Where’d you go?” The voice sounded from somewhere down the hall, wherever it lead. The man glanced past her. “Guess you shouldn’t keep him waiting, huh?”

The defender drone nodded to her creator, and with one last glance, she turned on her heels and started to move down the hallway.

She was a defender drone, defend what?

She had to defend Nick

She is his friend, and he is her friend.

Where they best friends?

Yes, she is… She was his only friend.

Only friend the though echoed in her mind

Who is she?

She knows who she is.

She is T.

Well hoped you enjoyed that thrilling piece of paper I wrote…

just make sure to look at the notes and stuff, also don’t forget to leave any ideas of what you want to see next, until than?

See you next time!

and stay tuned~

Chapter Text

A lot of time has passed since T had first entered life in the manor, and boy were things complicated...

Nick was absently walking through the halls, hoping to avoid detection from his parents. "Niiiicccckkk?" A voice sounded from a room he had just passes. "How do I use this thingy again?" It was T. He froze his steps, tracing back and turned the corner. "what did you say budd-" He froze, just outside the bathroom, T sat in the bathroom as she pulled and tugged at a plunger that she had somehow got stuck on the mirror.

It's safe to say, he had a good laugh after helping her clean up.

that dosen't mean that she didn't have fun...

T and Nick both sat in his bedroom, they were looking out the window together. T had her face smushed up against the clear glass that she would probably have to clean up later. To the two, it was a peaceful sight, a grasp of freedom to a place they would never see. T, slowly, let her head start to rest as it landed on his shoulder with a content sigh, Nick moved under the new weight, but didn't push her away, instead he adjusted himself to make her feel more comfortable, as they both staired into the endless void of space.

And some... Not so good times

T sat outside of a room, metal teeth were clamped tight in a strain, clawing at her own wrist in a impatient manner. She wasn't in silence, no, she would have preferred silence. The shouting had increased from inside the room until a SMAKE left the room. T couldn't help but feel the rising temperature that was her core, wanting nothing more than to stop it, stop it all, but she couldn't, and she felt so, so Weak.

A few more minutes had passed as the shouts turned to a whisper, than, Mr. Elliot slid out through the door, only sparing T a short glance before disappearing down the slim corridor, as if she was just another piece of property he owned, but he didn't own HER. She fought every instinck in her body that shouted to tear him in two, to DISASSEMBLE him, to take her buddy and run far away from this hell.

Disassemble? That had a nice ring to her hypothetical ears.

Her favorite memory though, was when she learned more about herself...

T had just been doing a few chores, cleaning the dishes, dusting some places, and stuff like that, basic (This was actually an easy day for her as most days were much worse.). "Psst." The word sounded like a fly, she looked around the room, trying to spot the noise maker, and their he was, just leaning out of a room and beckoning for her to come and see what he had to show her. T knew she should have probably finished her chores, but her curiosity overpowered any of those thoughts, that, and the though of her and... Nick... in a closet. alone. together...

And a very damaged worker drone...

On a table in the room on a desk, lied a worker drone, it's torso cavity was dented and wires pulled out of it's chest like a snake, it's right arm hung loose and detached, and that was only the damage her optics could see. "I need, to ask a little favor..." Nick said Softley before taking a deep breath. "I need someone to fix the drone, but he is the engineer drone, and I need to go to a meeting with my parents that I'm forced to go to, so I was wondering if you could maybe try to fix him?" The words shot out of his mouth like a Uzi (BITE ME) "Is that alright?" He let out a gasp as he caught his breath, T stood near kind of shocked at the sudden outburst of words but still gave him a small nod. The boy suddenly shot at her and gave her a big hug "Thank you so much, love you, bye!" T stood still, her face was a bright white of blush lines, and once he was fully gone her voice let out in a squeal. She took a few minutes to calm herself before speaking. "Righte-o," she turned too the damaged drone. "Lets get to work, shall we?"

Two Hours Later

Nick let out a deep breath, letting out the air he had subconical held. He was more happy that he was away from his parents, away from their act, pretending like they loved him. His mind drifted to his own, makeshift family, he should probably go to check on T...

He was shocked to see her so busy at work, still unaware of his presence behind her. She made amazing progress, the drones chest cavity was no longer dented with it's wires back were they were needed, and even it's arm was almost fully re-attached. She had many tools spread out with even extra drone parts laying around, actually, where did she get those parts? T set down a tool, looking upon her own work. She turned around to go and find her buddy, and jumped when she turned around to meet his gaze.

"Oh, Robo-Jesus..." She scream/whispered, catching herself on the desk behind her. She gave Nick a Shakey wave, as if to say 'I'm okay' Nick let out a laugh, and soon, she joined in on it.

Than there was THAT day...

No.

T didn't want to think of about the day, the day her whole world almost came crashing down, and how it was all Her fault...

Just as the anxiety started to creep into her systems and make it's way into her core, a serious "Eh-hem." Got her attention as T and Nick's feet came to a halt as T's thoughts were interrupted by an overpowering figure. Her 5 other eye's still failing to warn her yet again, she really needed to get those checked...

Her optics met matching colors, as another defender drone stood tall in her path, their slick suit with a small pin on the right of it and a tail that stood up, dangerously pointing at her. The drone's presence alone gave a strong sense of authority and many of the other worker drones quickly made their leave from the area. "Hey there... J, when did you get here?" T gave a loose smile, hoping that it would lessen the tension. J only stared at the two, but her intense glare was focused on the robot and the human holding hands.

Oh boy...

She was in trouble...

Kinda rushed, doing two things at once, but let me know how it turned out.

Chapter Text

“What were you thinking!”

J’s voice echoed

She had already taken them out from the hallway, placing them in a more private setting away from sight of others, making sure both were separated. What were they thinking? She had worked hard. HARD to try and please the masters, HARD to keep Nick safe from their rath, but they were doing this? The thought alone gave her CPU a headache…

“If your parents saw you goofing off-” J was cut off by Nick, who was trying to calm the level headed drone. “J, it’s okay, me and T were just going to hang out-” It didn’t work… “Thats the problem!” J’s voice thundered like a ragging storm. “If they saw what you were doing, they would have my head for it!” She turned her head towards T, the drone herself was already crumbling down like a piece of paper. “I thought you had your share of fun that day-” T winced, she knew what J was talking about. “-or do you have more planed?” Her words cut like a hot knife in her metal circuitry, but T’s buddy came to the rescue. “Now J! That wasn’t her faul-” Now it was J’s turn to interrupt someone. “It was entirely her fault! If she had doing her job and not goofing off, it would have never even happened!” T looked down, a feeling off shame was across her face. She took the initiative to leave the room.

Once T had left, J turned back to Nick, her face becoming more comforting. Nick was conflicted, on one hand he felt bad for T, but on another, J was right… J felt upset that she kinda blew up in front of Nick, but she was the boss, she couldn’t show weakness not when she had an image to uphold, Nick knew this.

They sat silent for a few minutes before J noticed that Nicks hand had made its way to her shoulder, it caused her to jump back in surprise anda blush to develop on her face. She lets out a small cough and straighten her back, ready to change the subject. “I completed the task Mr. Elliot sent me to do…”

The Elliots… The words had a sour taste that could send any other drone into a fright that knew of their… reputation… Not from power, no. But of their constant habit of throwing away any drone that happened to make the slightest mistake, as they would say: “Theirs no room for imperfection!” They didn’t live T, or V, or even J for that matter, they seem to especially hate the uncle that had brought them. Calling him A disgrace to the Elliots perstene name. They often referred to the trio of defender drones as ‘mistakes’ or ‘abominations’ because of the design difference from any common worker drone. The only reason they hadn’t scrapped them was because of J in all her glory. She had made herself useful, an imposing figure, keeping the other drones in check, including Nick. The amount of power she held over those around her had drawn them in like fish, and they had taken the bait.

“He had sent me to go and find clothes for an upcoming event.” J turned to the neatly folded clothes that she had placed in the corner of the room, handing them over to Nick. But what caught Nick’s attention was that one of the suits seemed very similar to the one the drone before him wore…

The duo had already started walking down the hall, the destination clear to anyone… Nickolas’s room.

Upon entering, J made her way to the bed and gently said the folded clothes down. Nick had already started to undress with his back to J, taking his shirt about halfway down before remembering his company. “Uh… J?” He waited for a few minutes, but J didn’t hear him. His voice seemed to die out in her processor as her optics focused on the all too many scars that lingered on his back, but what made her core twist was the fresher lines that clinged to his form.

Nick was blushing profusely now “J? A little privacy?” J snapped out of her thoughts and finally realized the situation she was in. “Oh, right-” A yellow blush of her own was across her visor. “-Sorry boss.” She scurried out the door in a hurry, slamming it shut. She stayed their, guarding the door from any intruders. Boss . The word was still new to her synthetic tongue. She used to just call him her little CEO and she still does! Occasionally… But she can’t deny that he wasn’t so little anymore, he was practically an inch taller than her!

Her thoughts began to wonder. She thought about when he placed his hand on her shoulder, but now the absence of said hand left her feeling empty. She thought about were else they could tou-

NOPE

J COULDN’T think about that…

She had to think of anything else…

Loading Memory Banks…

…

Completed.

Are you sure you want to access this file?

[Y/N]

[Y]

Loading…

…

Accessing File…

…

Playing File…

She was thinking of hand holding, Get your mind out of the gutter! >:[

If it wasn’t for these guys/girls? Than I probably would have never continued working on this. The first is Hill2002 - Discarded, and Mr_kodeo - Divine singularity, both of them are amazing authors and you can find both of their stories in my bookmarks, so go check them out while you wait for me!

Also, Delusions and Breach in the firewall first chapter will probably be out next week. (Should mention these chapters are gonna be pretty short.)

And as I looked in the mirror, I didn't see me... As I gazed at this thing that stared back, its smile never leaving, my grim feeling only grew. 

I looked at this thing that wrapped around my bones... This FLESH, wasn't mine! But no matter how much i scratched... It wouldn't leave...

The thing still smiled, its mask still held strong.

I wonder...

What if I'm the one in the mirror?

And thats who I truly was, and I am but a reflection?

...

If the one who smiles is already here...

Than who else could I be?

Who am I?

Chapter Text

I just wanted to make a few announcements… (P.S. This is not a chapter…)

I FINALLY GOT A WATTPAD ACCOUNT!

So what?

Well the main reason was for those who felt more comfortable using wattpad, but there will be a few advantages between ao3 and whattpad.

Here, on ao3, you get to see my lovely end notes that I wrote in my journals~ and chapters are released a bit earlier than Wattpad.

On wattpad, you get updates on when chapter releases and announcement/chat feature that will be about more than just chapters (it means we can chat about all sorts of crap). And you don’t have to see my weird end notes I wrote in my journal.

I don’t currently have my book up over there yet, but you should subscribe so you know when it’s there ;). It will probably be up this weekend.

You can find it by just searching: Southern_Rat.

Onto my second announcement.

The next 3 chapters will be a bit repetitive because I didn’t plan out the memory’s better, so the next few chapters will be similar to T. Learn about the characters present and then their past. But don’t worry, I got some big things planned after that~ (no I don’t~). So just hold out a bit…

And finally, I wanted to address the thing I wrote at the very end of the last chapter. It was a vent? I don’t really know… I just wrote it because it just popped in my head and i just decided ‘why not?’. But since it seems some of y’all took it seriously I decided to make it cannon! That’s right I can do that now! And since you seem to love mystery’s… I’ll try and come up with something…

With all that out of the way, I have a question for y’all? What do y’all want to see next? I’m generally curious as to what y’all think. It doesn’t have to be about this story specifically (although I would love to hear that) but for future stories y’all might want to see me make.

…

I don’t got much else to say… but in the end… stay tuned~

Chapter Text

Yall know any good yandere murder drone stories for some good inspiration?

I finally got V’s chapters done, so now its just getting it all up.

I don’t even know where to go from there, so once yall read it (When I get it up), think yall can give a few tips?

Without further adieu, let's get into the story…

J didn’t know a lot when she first booted up.

She knew her serial name.

She knew her model was different.

She knew her programming told her to defend a boy named Nickolas.

What she didn’t know was…

Who was Nickolas?

She found out when she and her… Sister? Found the boy playing with another one of them in his room with some plushies.

The room itself consisted with a full sized bed in the center, a chest just in front of it, two windows, one on both sides with swampy green drapes that matched the small carpet that the two played on, in one corner was a bookshelf filled with books that were far too advanced for a child his age. A dog book was leaning out, recently used. Finally she took note of the closet on the far right of the room, still closed.

“He s-seems nice…” The drone beside her sputtered out, her voice oddly sweat for how nervous she seemed. J wasn’t concerned with that though, she was concerned with why they were defending a child that seemed to never leave?

J had noticed the way he looked up at them. The way his eyes lit up when they saw them, almost as if it had been years since he hung out with someone outside of his plushies that he held so gently in his hands, but J couldn’t stop thinking. Why?

She wasn’t expecting the truth.

Her colleague, V, had made a mistake…

V was sent to carry a few stacks of dishes from the kitchen to the event room, which didn’t seem too hard, if it wasn’t for the fact that the event room was stupidly far from the kitchen. Along her way, Nick joined her and even grabbed a few of the dishes from her like it was also his job to help.

Meanwhile, J was nearby, she was tasked with inspection. The Elliots picked her because of how the workers seem to fear her.

Fear.

That word felt bitter in her synthetic tongue. The worker drones feared her- No, all of them, just because they were different to their older models. Even the Elliot’s looked at them strangely, well, except Nickolas of course. Nick never looked at them with fear or disgust, he always looked at them warmly… Like they mattered… She supposes she likes that about him.

J saw it happen.

When the human and the drone were about to enter the event room, she saw V’s tail catch onto a dresser, and just out of the corner of her Hud, she saw Nick’s mother.

J cringed at the sound.

Now, most mothers are seen as kind and caring to a child out of the two parents. If the child is injured, the mother is there to assist, if the child can’t sleep, the mother sings them a lullaby to lull them to sleep. Like a bird, the mother always cared for its child under its wing. But there are others… A few mothers who aren't loving or caring to their children, and sadly, Mrs. Elliot was one of the few.

“What on earth was that!?” Her voice rang out and it felt like the whole room froze at that moment. The female Elliot’s gaze quickly caught V in her net. “What is that abomination doing? I swear by God I will have it-” Nick quickly jumped in, like someone jumping into a fire to save another, taking a step in front of V. “S-sorry mother, I wasn’t watching were I wa-”

It happened fast, too fast for J to stop, the sudden swing of the woman's arm that connected to soft flesh.

J felt paralyzed…

J’s optics were frozen hollowed, V’s own face matching. Mrs. Elliot leaned forward, whispering in her son's ear. His own reply was shaky and quiet, but loud enough for J to hear. “Y-yes mother…” Which was enough for the woman to turn on her heel and leave. The worker drones seem to come back to life and continue their job, as though nothing had happened. But it happened, the mark on his poor face was proof enough, Nick’s hand draped over his right hand, scratching an invisible itch on his wrist that wasn’t there, calling out V’s name.

J realized at that moment, they weren't made to protect Nick from the monsters outside, but the ones that were already inside the home…

Since then, J had worked much harder, and more on keeping Nick out of trouble. It came with other benefits, such as Nick’s parents being fond of her. But it seems that the new likeness had set a wedge between her and the worker drones, even T started to act differently around her, but through it all Nick always treated her the same, Nick, despite how much harsher she had become, still treated her with the same kindness he always has. She hated it, but it kept her going all this time, and she loved thanked him for it.

J found her CPU drifting as she wandered the halls, stopping in front of a very familiar one. She halted her upcoming thoughts, giving the door a gentle knock. The sound of metal scraping the floor followed by a grunt told her enough, “Come in!” J took the invitation and opened the door. Nick moved too on top of his bed, the chain around his ankle restricting his movements. J still wasn’t used to seeing the metal being used on the boy, but he had already told her this was normal. Which did not reassure her.

“So, what happened now?” The now 11 year old boy, averted his gaze down and gave a much quieter response. “Well… I WAS supposed to go to my violin lessons, but… Me and T thought it would be more fun to hang.” J only let out a desperate sigh. T always seemed to get Nick into the most trouble over the years, and J had repeatedly got onto her about it. Even V, who was usually so shy, occasionally joined in. Yet T seemed to never learn. “And where is she now?” The question hund in the air for a few minutes, Nick deciding how he wanted to answer this. “My parents said something about locking her up in the basement-”

MEANWHILE IN THE BASEMENT_

T was struggling in the small room under the library, she could easily break the chains that held her, but she knew it would only worsen things. All she could do there was sit in pout in annoyance.

“-and not getting too attached.” As much as J HATED disapproved of the parents' methods, she did think it was a good decision to separate them. T and Nick had been getting awfully close recently, even the thought of it made her want to TEAR OUT HER THROAT keep her locked down there, but she wasn't jealous…

J felt a tug on her uniform that brought her back to earth. When she looked down Nick was offering what looked like a bottlecap with a pin on the other hand, the words ‘Companny Buddies’ were written crudely on with marker. J gently picked up the pin and held it in her hand. “What… is this?” Nick reached up and took the pin back. “It’s a gift, for all the hard work you do, and I know you're like a really cool business person. So… I made a pin to represent our friendship!”

J didn’t know what to think. Her, a friend? After how hard she's been on him? He still saw her… as a friend? She felt her CPU in scrambles. Nick decided to take the opportunity to gently reach up and put the pin onto her jacket pocket. When J’s optics looked down, she met his oh, so gentle smile that seemed to cool her systems.

J’s hand lingered over the old button, she may have seen this as just a job at first, but it wasn’t, not anymore. It was her purpose. To love and care for Nickolas, because he had no one else, and she would embrace that role.

J jumped out of her memory bank, a small smile tugged at her lips while her hands gently played with the faded pin that sat on her suit.

Hm?

A few bumps from inside the room caught her attention. Perhaps Nickolas was struggling to get some of the clothes on? She reasoned, but a smaller voice in her head told her that she should help. She quickly shewed the thought away, but maybe she should check on him. “Hey, little CEO? You alright?” A few minutes of silence followed before she got an answer. “YA!- Ya, I’m good, uh… be out in a bit!” J didn’t trust his tone, he was a terrible liar after all, but J decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “Ok.”

After all,

A boy his age should have some privacy.

Right?

Everything seems to be in order... So how was it! 

These chapters have definitely gotten longer, but I didn’t want to give you like 3 chapters that were just focused on J’s memories, so I put it all together, same for V’s chapters. (GOD HELP ME-) But it was really fun to write!