#dingbots

OK. This is funny.

Lucrezia, you absolute muggins. You are holding the derivatively-built multi-generation down-the-line descendant of something Agatha knocked together in her sleep just to keep her hands moving and have something to look at while she worked.

"So advanced!"

She really isn't a Spark, is she? Has she realized yet how very much she isn't?

Madame Olga, friend and colleague of circus Sparks, would be ashamed of her on these grounds alone.

Lucrezia this, the Other that...

...on the other hand, maybe we're going to crumple this woman up like scrap paper and bounce her off the wall until we get bored.

(I can hope.)

EDIT: Of course, it's also quite likely that I have been lulled into a sense of security/familiarity regarding the dingbots, and they really are as sophisticated and dangerous as Olucrezia here is implying.

Agatha builds exactly one thing, before the headaches begin and she stops hearing the music. It’s a very small clank, about the size and shape of a pocket watch, with one large eye where the watch face would go. She has other ideas, so many ideas, for ways to make it better, so she names it Prototype – Proto for short. It will be her best friend for the next thirteen years.

Well. Her only friend, really. It’s hard to make friends when she doubles over in pain every time she gets angry, or scared, or even excited. But through it all, Proto stays with her.

Proto builds more little clanks, but they never last more than a few months, and anyway, they don’t have the same sort of life to them that Proto does. Agatha also tries to build more, but her attempts tend to fail more… explosively.

But she can do this. She knows she can –

There is an ominous rattle from the little clank she’s working on, and she backs up just in time to avoid getting a gear to the face. It hits her in the arm instead, while another one goes straight through the window with a crash. Agatha screams – first in rage, and then in pain, as the headache that’s been building for the last half hour finally hits.

Adam and Lilith appear in the doorway, Lilith holding a frying pan and Adam a handful of bolts. They take in the smashed window, the sobbing teenager, the fragments of clockwork scattered around the room, and the frantically dinging little clank on Agatha’s shoulder, and sigh. Lilith sets the frying pan on Agatha’s workbench and walks over, wrapping Agatha in a tight hug. Proto scurries out of the way and starts picking up shards of glass. Lilith tucks the girl’s head against her shoulder and holds her silently until the headache passes.

“I thought I had it that time,” Agatha whispers as the pain eases away. “I really thought – Lilith, why can’t I do this? I’ve done it before.”

Proto is a stalwart friend, at least. It accompanies her everywhere, disguised as a slightly odd pocket watch, and running her fingers over the smooth brass of its casing sometimes helps her stay calm enough to ward off the headaches. It helps her sneak cookies out of Lilith’s cookie jar, and plot revenge against bullies. It listens to her when she talks, whether she's raving in anger or giggling in excitement, and gives little encouraging dingdingding! noises. It learns to tell when she’s getting a little too emotional, and pinch her to cut off whatever train of thought was leading her towards a headache. It's there for her in a way no one else has ever been – not that Adam and Lilith aren't there for her in their own way, but they're her parents, it's not the same.

Proto may be her only friend, but she's certain it's the best friend she could possibly have.

Unfortunately, while Proto is incredibly helpful in a variety of different contexts, it isn't really much use when she getting mugged by two men in an alley. Not as it is now, at least. She’s sure she could make some improvements. Maybe she could even alter it to be able to get her locket ba- ow!

Ah. Proto pinched her. Probably for the best. She’s already late, and considering how awful today has been already… Well, the last thing she needs is another headache.

She wipes her face as she hurries toward the University, using the opportunity to whisper, “I don't suppose there's any chance you could find them and retrieve my locket?” It taps her twice for no. “Oh, well,” she sighs. Maybe if she just acts like it's nothing but a minor inconvenience, she'll stop wanting to burst into tears.

She's mostly presentable by the time she reaches Mister Tock, but that goes out the window when he tells her she's late – after making her even later – and by the time she reaches the lab she's a crying mess again. For heaven's sake, she yells at poor Dr. Glassvitch.

He's always been a kind soul, though, and takes it in stride. It really seems like things might be looking up – you know, if you ignore the fact that her locket is missing, which she is trying very hard to do – when Dr. Merlot strides in with an even more sour expression than usual, and the news that the Baron is on his way for a surprise inspection.

Developer: Cannibal Cat Software Publisher: Cannibal Cat Software Platform: PC – itch.io The very first video game console I ever owned was an Atari 7800. Along with this came a host of excellent games such as Joust and Robotron 2084. It was thanks to these formative gaming experience that I developed a longstanding love of twin-stick shooters. That’s why Dingbots pulled me right out of a writing…

This picture + Agatha and Bang