Chapter Text
You stretch in your seat. Looking over at the commission you’ve just finished with a smile. You hope your customer is as happy with it as you are, they did seem to like the sample you sent. It was an interesting piece of art, it was fun to draw too, there is a simple beauty to it, the sun reflected in a lake as the moon, they’re using it as a book cover or something.
You set your stylus down and close your laptop, you’ll probably hear from them tomorrow.
Your stomach growls… oh yeah food… you get up from the desk in the corner of your bedroom and head to the kitchen. You head back into your room to grab your phone.
Back in the kitchen you look in the fridge… nothing of interest in there… The cupboards seem promising. Some instant noodles will do for dinner right?
You flick the kettle on.
You open your phone, a message from your friend. You sigh, not sure how to reply. You read it again. ‘Wanna come over and hangout? I built something I’d love to show you’
You’ll answer it later.
You scroll through your phone, memes and art the usual.
The kettle finishes boiling and you fill the noodle pot to the line and fold the lid back over. Oh what's this? Someone saw another one of those robots roaming the city?
You chuckle at the second to last comment. They’d adopt one? What a silly notion, they are possibly (but never confirmed) murder robots not pets. You do feel kind of sorry for them though. Ever since that Pizzaplex crumbled in that sinkhole they’ve been showing up all around the city, and no one's done anything about it just like when there were robots free roaming Utah back in 2023, no wonder everyone questioned your sanity when you said you were moving here.
You finish your pot noodle and toss it in the… you pause over the bin. It’s full, you were supposed to empty it earlier. At least it’s not dark yet. With a heavy sigh you tie the bag and lift the rubbish out of the bin. Slipping on some crocs and heading out your apartment and down the little stairway.
‘No pets allowed’ posters are plastered all over the backdoor. You push it open grabbing the bat left next to the door, raccoons and wild animals keep getting into the dumpster, you’d never hurt them just scare them off.
As if on cue you hear a rustling from in the rubbish.
This is why you should have emptied the bin earlier. You place your bag down and hit the side of the dumpster then step back.
The rustling stops and from amongst the rubbish emerges a face, a big round robotic face with sharp triangles around it that shrink as it locks eyes with you…
You stare.
It stares.
It’s pale robotic eyes blink before shifting from side to side.
“Uuh meow?”
“AAAAAAHHHhh!”
Bonk.
It winces back. “Owww.”
Oh shhhooot what did you just do?
You just hit the damn murder robot square on the forehead. Your heart sinks, anxiety builds. You just hit a murder robot and it did no damage.
“Ah uh um… sorry.” you squeak, stepping back. You hit the floor. “Please don’t kill me.” You brandish your weapon.
It’s… laughing?
“Sorry friend I didn’t mean to scare you.”
It smiles as it clambers out of the dumpster and offers you a hand.
You look at it and cautiously take it’s hand.
It pulls you up off the bag of rubbish you tripped on and onto your feet.
“Sorry… that I uh…” you hide the bat behind you.
It sighs. “That's ok, humans do silly things when they’re scared. How about we start over?”
You nod.
“Hi there new friend, My name is Sun!”
“Hi Sun,” You feel a little hint of a smile tug at your lips as you introduce yourself.
“It’s nice to meet you.” he shakes your hand.
“Sooo… uh what were you doing… uh… in the rubbish?” You ask.
“Rubbish… oh.” he looks at the dumpster. “I was looking for some parts or tools or anything really.”
“Oh, are you like broken?”
“A little, kind of…”
You think for a second… is this a smart idea? You think back to that post ‘that’s how you die’...
“Well… I uh… know a person who could maybe fix you up?”
“You do!?”
“Yeah I dunno if they’ll be up for it but I have a friend who like, builds robots and stuff.”
“Amazing! Can I meet this friend of yours?”
“Tomorrow maybe? I’ll uh… have to check if they're free.” You check your pockets for your phone… it’s on the kitchen counter isn’t it.
“Do you uh… want to come in?”
He looks surprised. “I’d Love to! If that’s ok…”
You shrug, “yeah…”
You turn to head inside and almost trip on your rubbish again. “Oh yeah.” you toss it in the dumpster and then head in and back up the stairs as the lanky robot follows. Is this how you die? He seems kind enough right? But that’s how they get you. What do you have to lose? Just everything.
You open your door and hold it open. “Uh… Welcome to my little flat?”
“Thank you. Oh It’s so cute.”
“Thanks?” you rub the back of your neck. “You um.. fancy a cuppa?”
“Cuppa? A cup of tea… uh… No thank you?” Sun giggles.
“Yeah.. right… force of habit.” you chuckle a little too. “It’s alright if I make one tho right.”
“Go ahead.”
“Cool um… make yourself at home I guess.”
You walk past your sofa to your kitchen area. You can still see the robot from here, through the archway that makes your living area almost open plan.
You turn to the task at hand, a well deserved cup of tea. There’s still water in the kettle from earlier, you tap it carefully and determine it’s not quite hot enough so you pop it back on.
You reach over to open the upper cabinet.
DONK
“Jeez, I’m sorry.” You swing around to see him.
He holds his very flat nose. “It’s ok…”
“I didn’t see you there…” How did he even get so close… “Did you need something?”
“No, I was just curious.”
You smile. “Wanted to see how a proper cup of tea is made?”
“Maybe…” he fidgets with his ribbons.
“Just uh… don’t stand too close alright.”
“Good idea.” he chuckles.
You grab your mug from the cabinet.
You pour just a splash of boiled water into the mug and swirl it around before pouring it down the sink.
“Was the cup dirty?” Sun asks.
You shake your head, “no, just cold.”
You take a tea bag from the pot on the counter and place it in the warm mug, then fill it just over three quarters full. As it brews you go to the fridge and grab some milk.
Stirring the tea for a moment until it’s the right strength, you then scoop the tea bag out and squish it against the side of the mug before placing it in the tea bag tidy.
Then you add just the right amount of milk.
“There, easy peasy.”
He nods his hand on his chin. “Lemon squeezy?”
“Yeah.” you giggle. “Oh I should message Bolt…” You grab your phone.
Looking over the message you’d previously ignored. You start typing. ‘Hey yeah that would be great, you free tomorrow? there’s actually something I need to ask if you can maybe fix if you’re up for it?.’
You take your tea and sit on the sofa.
“So Sun… you’re from that fazbear mall thing right?”
He nods. “Yes, the Pizzaplex.” he sits on the floor crossing his legs.
“Right, the Pizzaplex.” you nod.
A wash of silence hangs awkwardly in the air.
“So uh… the weather?”
“The weather?” He tilts his head.
“Yeah it’s um… been nice lately…”
He sighs a soft smile. “The sky is beaut-i-ful.” he hums.
Oh… yeah he’s probably been trapped in that building for like ever.
You nod.
Your phone buzzes.
‘Sure thing, bring whatever.’
They have no idea what kind of surprise you have in store for them.
“They say we can go over tomorrow.”
“Brilliant! Thank you!”
“Don’t thank me yet, we don’t know if they can even help…” you rub the back of your neck.
“It’s the thought that counts!” he chimes. “Soo… this friend, what are they like?”
“Yeah, so Bolt is like a tech genius, they’ve been building and fixing allsorts of electronics and robotics stuffs since they were a kid. If they agree to fix you you’ll be in good hands.”
“Good to know, Good to know.”
“So… uh you can like, Crash here for the night, do you like… sleep? Do you… need to plug in to charge or anything?”
“No, our battery actually keeps itself charged kind of like a car does.”
“Cool… cuz like I only have one bed so one of us would have had to sleep on the sofa or something.” you chuckle.
He laughs a little as well.
You sip your tea… another silence. A faint scent of garbage wafts through the room.
The robot… he smells… shoot how do you deal with this without being rude?
“Um…” he breaks the silence. “I don’t suppose I could… clean myself up?" he rubs the back of his head. “I’ve been rummaging through the trash. I kind of smell…”
“Oh uh… Yeah sure, what do you need?” he’s a robot… he probably can’t shower or bathe… “I have a spare flannel and a towel?”
He thinks for a moment. “A cloth and some… either dish soap or bubble bath should do.”
“No problem, I can grab some spare clothes and I can chuck yours in the wash.”
“That would be great.” he beams.
You stand and head to your room. He follows standing in the doorway.
You dig through your clothes and find an extra long tee and some joggers, that might be a bit short but they’ll do. Next you head to the bathroom.
You find your spare washcloth and towel and the bubble bath.
“There, I hope that’ll do. If you need anything I’ll be in the living room.”
“Thank you friend." he chimes.
You leave him in the bathroom and sit back down with your tea.
What a weird situation. You must be crazy… at least you’ll be safe if the robot apocalypse comes, wait isn’t this kind of a robot apocalypse? The second one in Hurricane now you think about it. You laugh at the thought.
You take a moment to scroll through your phone again. Your favourite fictional characters fill your feed, oh hey that fanfic you’ve been reading just updated, you’ll have to read that later.
You then find some funny videos and soon enough Sun emerges from the bathroom.
The joggers look like three quarters on him and he’s not wearing the tee? Well he wasn’t exactly wearing a top to begin with, not his thing? Or maybe it blocks a cooling fan or something?
“Where can I?” He holds a pile of clothes.
“Yeah, just bring them over here.” you walk to the cupboard and bring out a mostly empty laundry basket.
He puts an alarming amount of clothes in the basket, for someone not even wearing a top this seems excessive.
“You can come with or stay it’s up to you.”
“Go where?”
“To the laundry room. I’ll get these washed for you now.” you grab the laundry sauce and your purse of change.
“Oh can I come?”
“Sure.”
You head back down the stairs once again followed by the lanky robot.
The laundry room is empty just like you thought it would be.
You go straight to your favourite washing machine. Why you have a favourite is a mystery but this is just the best one.
You start loading the clothes. A yellow and red sleeve, a second sleeve, matching trousers, another sleeve… a purple sleeve covered in stars… a matching hat? were these his pjs? Or a change of clothes maybe, where was he keeping these? Under his other clothes? You put them all in the wash anyway, they were just as dirty, that’s what a couple weeks of being out in the elements and in the rubbish does you suppose.
You notice him hovering over you.
“Sooo… you need something?”
“Sorry no, force of habit.” he lets out a nervous laugh as he steps back.
You load the flannel and towel and other miscellaneous clothes to get a full load in.
You pop a cap of detergent in and load in the coins before setting it to the regular wash… that should do right?
You turn to Sun who is staring at the no pets posters plastered everywhere.
“So you didn’t fancy the shirt? Where did it end up?”
“Oh no Moon has it.”
“WHO?”
He turns to you. “Moon… he’s um… My other half?”
“Your husband?”
He busts out laughing. “Goodness no! He’s a part of me.”
“A part of you?”
He sighs. “I’ll just show you.”
You watch as he walks over to the light switch and turns it off.
Mechanical noises fill the room as your eyes adjust.
You see two red lights staring at you, slowly you see him more clearly, a robot similar to Sun but half of him almost blends into the darkness, stands in his place, he’s wearing just the long t-shirt.
“Uh… hi?” you mumble…
He waves with a chuckle. “Hell-o.”
His voice is deeper than Sun’s, slow and kind of crackly? Almost creepy…
“So you’re Moon?” when in the dark they transform? Must be some show trick, they do look like jesters maybe they perform or something?
He nods.
“So uh the starry clothes must be yours?”
He nods again.
“Is the uh… T-shirt comfy?”
“Yes, thank you.”
“Cool… cool… it’s uh no problem…”
You were not expecting to meet one robot today, never mind a two in one robot deal. What do you even say?
He sighs and turns away. “Sun’s turn now.”
“Oh ok,” the lights flicker back on. “Bye-”
“So yeah that’s Moon!”
“You’re like two different robots in one huh?”
“Exactly.” he chimes.
“He doesn’t like me does he…” it slipped out before you could filter it. Man you must be tired.
“What? No he’s just… uh… not much of a talker.” That nervous laugh again. “He’s very nice I promise.”
“Yeah…” sure…
“So um… these posters? They’re everywhere. . .” he looks back to the posters.
“Yeah the landlord is pretty adamant we don’t have pets.”
“That’s a shame… that must get lonely…” he gives you a sad smile.
“What?”
“You live alone right? No people, no pets…”
“Well… yeah but I’m alright.”
“I could never…” he mumbles, you almost didn’t catch it.
Was he projecting? Can a robot do that? Can they even feel emotions? He does seem really emotive… is this all a sympathy play? Get your guard down?
A chime made you jump. The washing was done. Was that quick? Or have you really been down here that long? Well it wasn’t like washing machines ever tell the truth about how long they’ll take.
You load the basket with the wet clothes. You could pop them in the dryer but that would take another age or two… they should dry on the airer right? It’ll do, it’s getting late.
“Alright.” you hum as you make your way out.
“Do you want me to carry that?” he asks.
“No it’s ok.” you start climbing the stairs.
“But… it looks heavy…” he follows.
“It’s ok.” it was a little awkward but not overly heavy, you do this all the time, plus it’s not like there were that many flights of stairs. It is a pretty small apartment building afterall.
You enter your apartment and take out the airer and start hanging his clothes.
“They should be dry by the morning.” despite the padding in them you’re about 80% sure they’ll be dry.
“Great.” he chimes.
You hang the last of it. “I think I’ll head to bed now…”
“Good idea it’s getting late, wouldn’t want to stay up past your bedtime.”
You can’t help a little chuckle. Maybe you’re over tired but the notion of a bedtime at your age just seems funny.
“Goodnight.” you turn the lights off.
“Nighty night~” Moon said in a sing-song tune.