F-09-420-T

“I’m not entirely familiar with the term, but I haven’t met anything quite like you before. I’ve known some people who go Prosthetic, but…your mechanical parts seem a step above anything I’ve seen. Many steps.” He bent down, cleaning his lower body as he talked. He scrubbed away at the caked on blood that had seeped through his clothing, revealing green hair and unbroken skin.

“Prrros… Thetic…?” He growled softly, moreso trying to feel out the word in his mouth than expressing strong emotion. Yet another word he’d have to ask about the meaning for later.

“Well… I try to be!” The large probably-a-robot said with a sway of his tail, “I was told that humans might feel better being around me if I was nice to them. I don’t wanna hurt any, either… I want to learn more about them.” His teeth were sticking out of his good-natured (if rather snaggle-toothed) grin that extended down his neck slightly. “Don’t need to make them more scared if I don’t want them to be, rrrright?”

“Prrros… Thetic…?” He growled softly, moreso trying to feel out the word in his mouth than expressing strong emotion. Yet another word he’d have to ask about the meaning for later.

“Well… I try to be!” The large probably-a-robot said with a sway of his tail, “I was told that humans might feel better being around me if I was nice to them. I don’t wanna hurt any, either… I want to learn more about them.” His teeth were sticking out of his good-natured (if rather snaggle-toothed) grin that extended down his neck slightly. “Don’t need to make them more scared if I don’t want them to be, rrrright?”

"Less than half of that was mine, I think. But it's good to be clean again. And Prosthetic...it's when a person replaces a part of themselves with something made. Sometimes it's just a limb or sometimes they go farther and start trying to replace everything."

After the creature spoke back up he nodded. “Assessing” was mildly concerning but was fair in the circumstances. Better make the most of the time he had to prep.

"I'm not entirely familiar with the term, but I haven't met anything quite like you before. I've known some people who go Prosthetic, but...your mechanical parts seem a step above anything I've seen. Many steps." He bent down, cleaning his lower body as he talked. He scrubbed away at the caked on blood that had seeped through his clothing, revealing green hair and unbroken skin.

“Well… I can’t go out in daylight. Sun hurts my eyes. Maybe if I need something during the day… When my linemates can’t help, I can ask you then!” Mezzo seemed pleased with himself at this compromise.

The taller of the three nodded, his fins raising up. “Right… I can go ask the others about those. Give me a time to call them…”

Mezzo straightened up and raised one of his hands to his right audial, staying silent.

“Well… I can’t go out in daylight. Sun hurts my eyes. Maybe if I need something during the day… When my linemates can’t help, I can ask you then!” Mezzo seemed pleased with himself at this compromise.

The taller of the three nodded, his fins raising up. “Right… I can go ask the others about those. Give me a time to call them…”

Mezzo straightened up and raised one of his hands to his right audial, staying silent.

After the creature spoke back up he nodded. "Assessing" was mildly concerning but was fair in the circumstances. Better make the most of the time he had to prep.

“I might have a little money,” He paused, a realization hitting him, “But that won’t do me any good as I don’t think we use the same currency. Unless your shops take Ahn I’m probably going to have to rely on…charity. At least until I find something I can get paid for.” He wasn’t entirely sure what catches to expect from a shelter, but he knew that he didn’t want to rely on them longer than he had to.

Mezzo’s fins drooped slightly. He wanted to help, but he didn’t really have the experience or knowledge to provide to Ceryx. “I wish I could help more, but I think the others I know would be more helpful with that…”

Issi and Mezzo looked at each other. “Issi sometimes goes up during the day to look around. Not all the time, but people are friendlier to him than they are to me. He found the shelter and took a look around. Issi told me they assumed he was a lamp mechaniloid? And gave him a treat.”

Issi wagged his tail at the memory, letting out a pleased little jingle.

Mezzo scratched his chin and hummed, squinting at Ceryx.

“I’m a grade 7 Fixer, although I like to think I can act like a 6 on a good day. The Hana Association” He stopped, realizing that the agency’s name wouldn’t carry much weight in a place this far out of its reach, but he kept going, figuring it was still the best way to describe it. “They consider me to be on the upper side of the bottom of the roster, decently capable for a solo Fixer.”

He prodded the sodden remains of his top. “Normally I look a little better put together, but the last fight I was in before I made it here went poorly. You should have seen the others though. My tailor’s gonna be pissed though, I think this outfit is dead.”

“If you need clothes, there’s lots of stores above the surface – though they seem to need something to get them… Uhh… Mmmm–Mon-ney? Money!”

Mezzo seemed proud of himself for remembering the correct word, flaring his fins out. “There’s also some nice people who work at the shhh… Shelt. Shelter? Shelter nearby. I think they got clothes too - they were nice to Issi and that’s what he told me.”

The aforementioned Issi looked up at Ceryx, somehow serene for a robot that looked like a walking doggy-shaped light fixture.

“Yes! Issi is my friend!” The large ‘Abnormality’ responded, very carefully patting the top of the robot pup’s head with an oversized mitt, “Issi helps me see in the dark! The tunnels’ lights don’t work well anymore. I tried to clean up the path but I still trip over stuff sometimes… But that’s why he’s here!”

"I might have a little money," He paused, a realization hitting him, "But that won't do me any good as I don't think we use the same currency. Unless your shops take Ahn I'm probably going to have to rely on...charity. At least until I find something I can get paid for." He wasn't entirely sure what catches to expect from a shelter, but he knew that he didn't want to rely on them longer than he had to.

His fins drooped a little at the thought.

“… I don’t think l would like that place very much… Here, Mavericks can be unpredictable. Reploid or mechaniloid can go Maverick, usually when they get infected with the virus. But otherwise, Abel City is not so… Mean.”

Mezzo stared at Ceryx for a moment before perking up.

“… If you have to fight to live everyday… You must be stronger than you look,” he commented. As backhanded as it seemed, he said it without a hint of malice - even meant it with a bit of awe in his tone.

"I'm a grade 7 Fixer, although I like to think I can act like a 6 on a good day. The Hana Association" He stopped, realizing that the agency's name wouldn't carry much weight in a place this far out of its reach, but he kept going, figuring it was still the best way to describe it. "They consider me to be on the upper side of the bottom of the roster, decently capable for a solo Fixer."

He prodded the sodden remains of his top. "Normally I look a little better put together, but the last fight I was in before I made it here went poorly. You should have seen the others though. My tailor's gonna be pissed though, I think this outfit is dead."

“Near as I can tell nobody has been following me, not that it’d be hard with all this sa–blood on me. Deliberately came out this way because I didn’t think any upstanding sorts would want to have anything to do with someone covered in blood, so I needed a place to clean up and plan ahead.”

Remarkably knowledgeable compared to an abno, Ceryx turned back to Mezzo. “I’m not really from around here, and this City of yours is…very different from the one I’m used to. Honestly, you telling me that this area is dangerous is the only familiar and comforting news I’ve heard all day.”

The larger cryptid hummed in understanding, nodding along to Ceryx’s words. Some of his teeth poked out with his smile. “Mmhmm. Makes sense to me!”

Mezzo tilted his head at the other’s admission. The mental cogs were turning. “So… You are from somewhere more dangerous. That doesn’t sound nice.” Familiar and comforting for the city to be dangerous? What kind of place did Ceryx come from?! “I hear Maverick attacks happen all over Abel City. I, um, don’t go out into the parts with lots of people cuz people are afraid of me, so I don’t know everything. There are nice places to go out at night though! Even if I have to punch someone trying to attack me sometimes…”

He clenched his fists, fins flattening against his neck.

Yeah sure. That body shape makes the weird angle on the neck make more sense. Ceryx would have to keep his guard up and pay attention, because this certainly seemed more an abnormality than a human. At least that was familair though: he’d run into a few during his scavenging runs on the L-Corp ruins.

Mezzo was clearly intelligent enough to hold conversation, and seemed more interested than talking than face-mangling, so Ceryx would try to keep that trend going. Throw in a good faith gesture even. “I’m figuring this was were people would clean up after a day working here. There’s pipes and….” Ceryx was not a plumber.

“Pipes and the water comes from somewhere.” To demonstrate, he stepped out of his own cone of water to reach to a shower between him and Mezzo, turning it on to a light drizzle before returning to his own. “Just… wants to come out, I guess.”

“Oooooohhhhhh.” Mezzo’s fins stretched out even wider at the demonstration, “so it’s… Programmed, that way? Okay. I didn’t know humans needed water to do… Whatever it is you’re doing.”

Confusion crossed Mezzo’s harsh features again, this time staring at Ceryx himself. “Usually I don’t see humans down here. I didn’t even know humans lived in this part of the city! All I see are Mavericks most of the time…”

Ceryx hadn’t picked up any sign that he was being approached, or watched. Too busy living in the moment of clean. Or he might have just run out of fucks to give after how his day had been going. Either way, he was able to keep his calm, continuing to scrub away, working the dried bits out of his short hair. “Just kinda standing in it and doing the best I can. Far from the worst shower I’ve taken, I’ll tell you that much.”

He pushed his hair back out of his eyes and turned to look at the speaker as he put it back up. He had…questions. The head peeking it at him didn’t seem to be coming from the right angle to be from a human of a respectable height, which, given the shape of the head, checked out. It could be an abnormality, if those existed here, but at least it could talk. He’d try that.

“What wants to know?”

“Um… So… You’re not making the water come out of the wall?” the cryptid asked hesitantly, staring more at the showerhead than the bloody figure standing beneath it. The metallic smell made his nose wiggle and his face scrunch in a wince, but other than that he didn’t seem very bothered by the man himself.

Glancing back down towards him, the ‘abnormality’ blinked at the question. “What… Wants to know?… Do you mean, ‘who wants to know’? Because, ah… Everyone calls me Mezzo.”

Mezzo was clearly intelligent enough to hold conversation, and seemed more interested than talking than face-mangling, so Ceryx would try to keep that trend going. Throw in a good faith gesture even. “I’m figuring this was were people would clean up after a day working here. There’s pipes and....” Ceryx was not a plumber.

It felt good. Even though he had to convince himself that there was any warmth in the water it was just nice to feel it. If he understood things right, it had, somehow, only been a day or so since he set out on this risky gambit. He’d just managed to fit what felt like a month of agony and ass-beating into it.

As he worked to help the water clean off the dried blood from his body and clothing, he checked out his injuries. There would still be bruising for a bit, but it looked like most of the worst had healed up.

Figuring the shirt was probably as clean as it would get without being burnt, he started to unbutton what was left of it. Once off, he tossed it against the wall and continued the shower. Whatever he faced later, he’d at least face it clean.

As the two approached closer, the distinct pattering noise like rain could be heard. Confusion overtook the cryptid’s caution in that moment. Was it… Raining?

Issi tilted his head at the taller one’s confusion. Apparently, his bigger companion had never heard of a shower before - figuratively and literally.

Before Issi could step up to stop him, his friend peeked through the door and widened his eyes. An odd-looking man - a human, by the looks of it - was standing in rain coming from a metal piece of equipment. Rain? Inside of a subway station? Underground? Absolutely unheard of.

“… How are you doing that?”

He pushed his hair back out of his eyes and turned to look at the speaker as he put it back up. He had...questions. The head peeking it at him didn’t seem to be coming from the right angle to be from a human of a respectable height, which, given the shape of the head, checked out. It could be an abnormality, if those existed here, but at least it could talk. He’d try that.

It was promising. He didn’t actually have anything on him that used electricity, let alone would hook up to the outlets here, but it was good that it was still on. Meant that if he managed to get his hands on local stuff it would still work.

He found an “Employees Only” door and found it conveniently unlocked (by virtue of being broken) and started looking for a good spot to hold up. Opening another set of doors and reaching for a lights witch he found himself in a locker room. As he set the box down, he started rationalizing the decision he’d already made. It would be a good idea to make sure the water is still working, and while his clothes were still trashed he could at least get them clean and closer to presentable.

He turned one of the showers on, pleasantly surprised that the water ran at all, and after a minute of running it even had a little warmth to it. He stepped into the water still dressed, determined to get some of the blood off before he even bothered taking anything off.

The two wandering the tunnels just walked out, clambering onto the platform. They were just about to walk out when the taller one’s fins perked up.

The subtle hum of the water pipes wasn’t something he ever recalled hearing here before… And what was with the bright lights leaking out from behind the doors?

All of a sudden, the two inhabitants of the subway felt a lot less alone.

The taller one’s fins went flat against his neck while nervous energy flooded his system. Someone else was here? Sure, it wasn’t unusual to find another Reploid or two hanging out or needing a recharge in the office or just loitering around the platforms until nighttime, but those types certainly weren’t friendly in most cases. He hated the times he had to fight them off.

As he worked to help the water clean off the dried blood from his body and clothing, he checked out his injuries. There would still be bruising for a bit, but it looked like most of the worst had healed up.

Ceryx was feeling a lot better now that he was re-armed, enough that he was on the move. Long term he’d sort out later, but short term it was getting later in the day and he wanted a place to spend the night in, and medium term he’d want a base of operations while he figured out more about where he was.

He started trying to find the worst part of town, a distressingly hard task when there aren’t the usual sounds of the City to go by. Eventually he started to find some husks of neglected buildings here and there, suggesting he was going in the right direction. His goal was somewhere bad enough that nobody would care if he moved in, but still close enough to civilization that maybe some of the utilities still worked. Water or power, or both if he was lucky.

There was a tunnel going down, and the occasional flicker of lights. The signs suggested it might be a train station of sorts.

A tall creature and its quadrupedal compatriot shuffled along the dark railway, careful to avoid catching their feet on the track. The taller of the two sighed as he scratched one of his drooping head-fins.

“You know, Issi, I like being able to walk outside, but I get scared someone’ll get mad at me if they recognize me. I like that this place is here but I don’t want to be stuck in it all the time. It’s boring! But… I did a really bad thing and now you gotta stay here ‘cuz of it…” The cryptid rumbled, a clear frown of guilt on his features.

‘Issi’ was trotting next to him as he vented, glancing up every now and then. It was true - they were stuck underground for a good while, and the only safe times they could move out and about were at dusk or nighttime. However, the doglike robot seemed nonplussed about that particular issue. If anything, the dog’s only response was a light, tinkling sound like a chime and the wagging of his tail.

“I know. It’s not all bad. We gotta protect the tunnel, too, but you ought to still be able to go to the surface! As long as we avoid other people, we should be okay…”

He found an “Employees Only” door and found it conveniently unlocked (by virtue of being broken) and started looking for a good spot to hold up. Opening another set of doors and reaching for a lights witch he found himself in a locker room. As he set the box down, he started rationalizing the decision he’d already made. It would be a good idea to make sure the water is still working, and while his clothes were still trashed he could at least get them clean and closer to presentable.