Chapter Text
"Ugh, sometimes the other scrybes' junk glitches in here. Ignore it."
Still, you poke around the wooden, antique cuckoo clock, pressing at the buttons to move the hands. The tiny doors suddenly pop wide open, and you're surprised because you don't really know what you did exactly, apart from messing with the hands. Well, they point to 4 o'clock now. What's inside?
You peek in and pull out the card that was previously lying there, turning it around to reveal the ever-beloved ouroborus you missed oh so dearly. You gasp, then hop around a like a kid that just got an ice-cream cone, squealing. P03 simply beeps, ignoring whatever shenanigans you're up to, but all you can focus on is how it's stats stayed 100/100 after going through the grueling effort for it.
You skip back over to the table, now eager to watch the (arguably) best card in action.
As the first round begins, you're lucky enough to draw the ourobot from your top deck, and glance over the board to start planning how to get it on as quickly as possible.
———
You collect the robobucks and the empty vessel upgrade like before with a relieved sigh. It was an interesting mechanic, including your computer files in the gameplay. You're not sure if the Archivist was allowed or even could access them, but what really made you panic was getting one of your windows files as a one-hit-kill card. Sure, that was your oldest file, but it was still pretty stupid to put it on the line like that, even if it's stats were actually pretty good.
Again, you got up for another short break. However, this time you didn't go to the inspection room like always. You snooped around the front room, hoping to find more cards like the Lonely Wizbot or the ourobot. Though nothing reveals itself, unfortunately. You give a short, disappointed huff and turn around to continue playing, but that's just when something grazes your left arm. You don't have enough time to realize it was a large, raw wire until after it'd burned your skin. A sharp hiss through your teeth catches P03's attention as he was quietly doing some self-maintenance. You clutch your arm, squeezing it in hopes of relieving some of the pain. Why the fuck is this thing just dangling here? You think, when P03 disconnects himself from a boxy-hardware lookin' thing, and hovers over to your side.
"Let me see it." He holds out his claw. You release your grip and wince when cold air hits bare skin. He clasps around your arm, and rotates it a bit to examine the injury. You can't help but stare at him as he does so. This annoying, sarcastic-ass robot, being so... careful and gentle about your injury? What could possibly be a better example of an oxymoron!?
"I'll go get electrical tape," He says, then releases your arm and heads into the inspection room on your right. You barely process what he says—your eyes fixated on the one spot where his screen used to be—until you look back down at your arm. The indents from his claw were barely visible in your skin, already fading away into your memory.
You blink, snapping yourself out of this trance. That was... weird. Very weird. You're not sure what that was about.
When P03 comes back into the room, holding the roll, you suddenly and conveniently remember what he said.
"Wha-Wait. Electrical tape?" Your breath is caught, absolutely appalled at what you believed would've been the last resort to wrapping up an injury, until quickly being proven otherwise.
"I don't have any gauze, if that's what you were expecting." He puts on his annoyed face, basically telling you to lower your expectations in his consideration for Beasts like you.
He's on your left again, and you steady your arm since he only has the one to wrap tape around your swollen wound. You flinch when the smooth, vinyl rubber connects, but still try your best to stay strong.
It's quiet. P03's focused on fixing you up, and you're focused on him. You wanna say something, but aren't able to conjure any words up that'd fit the moment. So, you just stare again, this time noticing his screen flickering more than usual. Hm, what's up with him?
Just when you're about to ask, he rushes to say "There. Better?"
However, he doesn't give you enough time to answer before he turns away, most likely because he wouldn't put in any more effort than he already has to abide to your silly human needs.
At least he's trying, I guess. You shrug, but take care not to move your arm around too much. He's probably just eager to get back to making more progress on the Great Transcendence. Well, that's how you rationalized it, at least.
So, you both return to the table, getting comfortable in your chair to continue playing. After winning a battle or two on the bridge—encountering more of those pesky bounty hunters—you end up in the ~magicks~ area, to which P03 perks up.
"I forgot to grab an extra piece for this part of Botopia," He states, and looks at you expectantly.
"What?" You make an incredulous face. "I just got hurt and you want me to fetch you something already?"
"This is only the second time I've asked."
"Maybe if you said please."
You wait a second, and are surprised because you didn't actually expect him to—
—Just kidding. He doesn't say please or anything like that, and instead switches his screen display to give you that annoyed look. "Get up and go," He orders.
And Damn, You think. Thought I was gonna get him with that one.
With a heavy sigh, you very slowly rise from the chair, and make sure every agonizing step is as loud and clear as the last. Through the inspection room, and onwards to the smelting room you go.
As you glance around aimlessly for whatever the heck he asked for, you notice the small, red flashing dot on the camera in the upper corner of the room. Ugh, of course he's watching you. But he doesn't actually expect you to do anything bad, does he? You've only injured yourself once... so far.
You find the odd rune-drone lookin' thing exactly where P03 said it'd be—floating above the smelter. Though just as you're about to leave with it tucked under your arm, you're distracted by the sounds coming from the pipes. You step closer to investigate, and that's when you become elated with finding out it's the Goo Mage.
"The pain is a bit more bearable," He informs you, his green mass gurgling, shifting, and sliding in his new container. "The pipe's walls squeeze me nicely."
You give him a smile, happy to hear he's doing a bit better. You'll never know what it's like to be turned into goo, but you do your best to offer the sympathy he deserves.
He also comments on how "You're close to the master!" while making an excited, toothless grin. It's endearing, though it breaks your heart a little knowing how the scrybe truly feels about him. Anyway, after a wave goodbye, you walk back to the front room, successfully delivering the missing game piece. Immediately after you sit down, it floats up and assumes it's position obediently.
"Good job," P03 says, and explains the use of the rune drone. Additionally, he upgrades your empty vessels. Now they won't be as "useless," he calls them.
On the way to the next uberbot, you overclock one of your sniperbots, just like you've done to a few other cards before. Except this time after it's returned to you, P03 doesn't unplug himself from the machine. You look at him, trying to figure out why he's taking so long, then realization quickly hits.
He's tugging at the plastic casing of the cord, trying to disconnect it from his screen. Is it stuck or something? His face changes to an ellipsis, though it’s pretty clear to you that he's just trying to hide his embrassment with it.
"Um," You start, unsure of whether or not he's got it. Is he going to ask for any help, or...?
After another ten seconds of him struggling, you decide you can't take it anymore. It's unbearable watching him in silence like this, and even more awkward than that.
"Do you need help?" You ask, despite knowing his pride wouldn't let him answer honestly. So, instead of waiting for a response, you take the initiative to get up from the table and walk over to his side. You look down at the robot, and it looks up at you. Maybe you're imagining it, but it almost looks sort of pleading. Then, a fleeting thought suddenly infiltrates your mind.
Cute.