Chapter Text
After narrowly escaping fighting a few patrols, or “claps,” as Pony called them, we made it to our destination. We arrived at a small shack adorned in graffiti, it appeared to have two additional rooms extended onto either side of the small, original, structure. An older looking Killjoy in a wheelchair rolled out the front door to greet us. He introduced himself as Dr. Death Defying, or just “Doc.” After that I don't remember what happened, but I woke up inside, on a couch.
“Hey Newsie, are you feeling alright?” An unfamiliar voice asked. I looked over and saw a Killjoy I had not met yet, he looked to be a bit older than me, but not by much. They wore a cyan jacket and had short orange hair, it looked like it had once been a strong medium red but was now fading. They also had an assortment of gadgets on them, some of which clipped onto their belt and sling bag. While briefly studying a particular device they had attached to their raygun I remembered they had said something to me. I was feeling fine, so I began to wonder why I was suddenly lying on this couch. “Sorry, I'm Mad Gear, he/him by the way.”
“Oh! Sorry, I’m… yeah, I think I’m alright.” I quickly responded, realizing I had been rude not responding to his first question. “Thanks uhm, I guess I’m… Newsie? That's what you all keep calling me.”
“Oh yeah, NewsAGoGo, that was the name of the run where Show ended up meeting you. At some point we all just started calling you that. We’re calling the other guy Missile Kid, by the way, so if you ever knew his city name, no you didn't.” He smiled at me. I didn't know Missile Kids' city name, but I laughed and nodded anyway.
“So.. are you a part of this radio station team?”
“Yup, um, I’m here to help you actually, Doc sent me after you collapsed. You kind of turned off for a bit.” He paused and looked away. “I’m sorry but… your battery is dying.”
I knew my battery would become an issue sooner or later. I was just hoping it wouldn't be this soon. An uneasy feeling twisted in me until I remembered what he had started with. “You can help though?”
“I think so!” His eyes lit up as he turned to face me again. “You’re kind of the first droid out here, you know, so I've never gotten to try anything like this but, I have some ideas on alternate ways to keep you powered…” He proceeded to very excitedly ramble on about his ideas, which ranged from using mutated electric spiders, to replacing some of my exterior panels with different ones that could absorb sunlight. Was photosynthesizing in my future? Eventually he turned his attention back to me. “So is there anything else you think I should know before I get started?”
I thought about all the messed up things my body kept doing. “Well I think my brain is pretty messed up, among other things.”
“Oh! Tell me more, or… please” He caught himself being over eager, and I couldn't help but laugh at his embarrassment a bit. He clicked a pen and opened a small notebook.
"Alright, how do I explain it..." I sighed and took a deep breath. "First, what I say is so... so far behind what I'm thinking. And… I can't explain everything. Because If words are not in my choices I can't say them… maybe not the kind of thing you can fix." I stopped and took a moment to look at my body. "Ok… arms, my arms are stiff. My hands are the worst, can barely handle my... RAYGUN.” My voice glitched at the strange word, worse than before. “When I most recently fought a patrol they took the back of my battery pack." Mad Gear looked up from his notes, I looked away. My voice continued to fight me as I tried to speak again. “I AP-” I took a steading breath. “I appreciate this.”
“Of course Newsie, of course. I'm gonna do everything I can.” He looked at me seriously as he closed his notebook. “We know you’re human, and we'll make sure others understand that too, and maybe… maybe there will be more ‘joys like you one day.”
If I had still had a heart, I think it would have… stopped, momentarily, at least. A clash of emotions overwhelmed me. Pride that I had made it this far, I had saved myself from the city, and now Gear could save me from the failings of this body. Yet I despaired at the reminder that there were so many others like me back in the city. But the idea of being able to help other droids become Killjoys too? The fact that Gear even called me a Killjoy? That began to overpower everything else. I was the first, but maybe not the last.
“Yes,” I said maybe a bit too loudly. “And I’d like to help them.”
“Alright great! We can always use more runners.” Gear smiled at me, then grabbed a tool box off a nearby shelf. “And we may be getting ahead of ourselves, but once I get you fixed up you can totally do that. But hey, for right now, it starts with you.”