I've been thinking about Object Invasion so much now that episode two is out. My thoughts have been floating around for a bit, but I need to get them down in one place. There will be spoilers in here.

I've been waiting for more "lore" on Phone in the reboot and now that I have more crumbs from this new episode, I want to write some of my thoughts about him so far.

Phone is established as a character who deeply cares and shows love/compassion (despite being a "machine", I suppose). To me, he also appears as a character who prioritises and values safety (to an arguably higher extent compared to the other characters). His very first lines in the reboot (episode one) are him expressing concern for another electronic's safety.

Phone additionally appears to have an aversion to high-tech things (or perhaps only things created by Coffee). When Cup talks about how expensive the recovery centre is (in episode one), Phone immediately seems uninterested in the conversation. Coffee also first appears when the recovery centre is first mentioned, so I'm probably... guessing... she made it...??? Perhaps?? But I digress.

Phone's aversion to high tech extends to episode two when Coffee shows off her portable lab and her super advanced custom flashlights she makes for her teammates. Phone again doesn't seem too phased by it.

When Cup accidentally blinds himself with the flashlight, Phone immediately drops the flashlight and is the first to chase after Cup to help him (I mean, they're friends so why wouldn't he?). Phone may be thinking about how one of these high-tech things he seems to avoid has caused someone he cares about to get hurt. For the rest of the episode, he doesn't retrieve his flashlight even though Notebook Paper picked it up for him. I personally see this as him not wanting to acknowledge Coffee - or her creations - or high tech - in the slightest. He cares more about the safety of others.

Phone's aversion to high tech seems to show again when Cup is stuck in the tree. Phone has a way to get Cup down, but he doesn't want Notebook Paper or Button to see. He tells them to turn around. This is the first time we see one of Phone's special features, his mecha laser-shooting arm.

Phone not wanting his teammates to see this part of himself can imply a few things, such as:

Phone doesn't want to be used for his special features

Phone wants to be seen as an equal (not special or an odd one out)

Phone's aversion to high-tech things goes as deep as him disliking certain high-tech aspects of himself (and by extension Coffee and her high-tech products (IF we are assuming that Coffee created Phone like in the original series (we don't know for sure if this is the case in the reboot))

Phone is happy when Cup is safe despite using his laser arm to help. He is happy again when he finds out that Cup and Notebook Paper are okay and finished the challenge. Again, that seems to be one of his priorities, safety.

Phone, assuming that no one saw his laser arm, tells Button that they should find a way around the canyon. He wants to be practical without using any of his special features, to which Button disregards (most likely unintentionally, as he doesn't seem to pick up on Phone's aversion to the high-tech) and instead convinces Phone to use his laser arm again to cut the tree down so they can use it as a bridge across the canyon.

At that point, Phone realises that Button did not respect his boundaries when he asked him to turn around. Trust is broken, and he is not happy about it. However, Phone still decides to use his laser again to help with the challenge. He could have refused, but I guess his desire to be seen as helpful was stronger.

So far in the reboot (as I am typing, episode two), Phone seems (to me) like a character who has three main "motivations":

He wants to be helpful

He wants the people around him to be safe

He wants to avoid the high-tech (and perhaps has a distaste for it)

I'll briefly talk about Button, but this is me reading way too much into it. Probably. Maybe...

I see Button as a character who struggles with taking initiative for himself. In episode one, he is apprehensive about taking the lead for his team, despite having some ideas about how they should go about the challenge. He is pushed aside by Lamp who asserts himself as the leader, and Button doesn't contest him.

In episode two, Button relies on Phone. Button relies on Phone to help Cup down from the tree (he could have asked Notebook Paper first but I'll ignore this). Button, after seeing Phone's laser arm, sees Phone as more helpful/useful and, instead of going along with Phone's suggestion of "finding a way around the canyon", instead of picking up that Phone might not like having to use his lasers, Button takes the easier option of getting Phone to zap the tree down to use as a bridge.

When Phone outwardly shows his annoyance for having to use his laser arm a second time, that's where Button appears to show some regret. Button may be wondering why Phone doesn't seem so pleased about having a **super cool mecha arm that shoots lasers**. We as viewers also don't know exactly why Phone seems to have a complex about it, but I hope we find out!

I'm not suggesting that Button's passiveness and reliance on others makes him bad, I actually find it extremely interesting and I really wonder if the show will explore some of it. I also really want to see how Button and Phone's relationship develops from here, as now Phone feels as though Button has crossed a boundary and broke his trust, despite telling Button to turn around. I want to see that fun conflict.

Button being passive and lacking confidence, and seeming drawn to/is happy relying on others to help him out... Then there's Phone who appears to highly value safety and helping others (to the point where he feels he has to use his high-tech features to do so despite seemingly not wanting to acknowledge that they're a part of him). This is a dynamic that I cannot stop thinking about lately because it is so interesting to think about.