[Ratcheting and moving metal]

I think… this is something I can work with. I’m so glad. Please keep sitting still okay? I know it’s hard. I’m here with you, okay? You are going to get through this. 

I know this must be really scary, but I promise you will be okay. I need to replace that shattered pcb with this one, so I need to resolder some connections. It won’t hurt. I promise.

[Quiet sparking starts]

This will have no bearing on the status of your power unit, so don’t worry. You are not going anywhere, okay? I will be here with you every step of the way until you’re as good as new…ish? 

This board handles a lot of your functionality. Can you see a little better? I’ve just restored your night vision camera. Good. Thank you for letting me know. Don’t worry, I will fix everything. Please, if you have any problems at all… Okay, good. Thank you.

[Quiet sparking stops]

I believe that most of your leg servos should begin to function properly now that the chassis damage is not blocking their movement. Please send basic analog inputs to your legs for now and I will flash your new hardware with the stabilization and performance drivers soon.

Okay good! Three of your legs are working well. Please kill servo processes in your legs though so you don’t burn out your motor while the fourth leg is malfunctioning. Good. Good job. Thank you. 

[Gentle rummaging from slightly further away]

Yes. These should work. Fortunately… replacing these servos should be simple enough… just replace the cable and… screws… there we go. Please try now, okay? Oh! That replacement worked wonderfully! 

Please, would you try standing up? Be careful now, your chassis isn’t closed, okay? Good. Good. You’re doing so great! Okay, now lay back down. I need to finish fixing you, okay?

Sorry… This might feel strange, but I have to reach into your head to fix the lighting fixtures if you want to be able to see as clearly as you used to… Okay. Okay, good. You’re being so brave for me. Just… one… moment… Can you see better? Oh, I’m so glad! 

[Ratcheting]

Let me just close you up… There we go. All better? I’m so happy that you’re feeling okay now. 

That wasn’t so bad, now was it? I’m… I’m so relieved. Please don’t ever be in the line of fire again, okay? I can handle it. You’ve seen me.

You’re… I need you in a different way. I cannot lose you. Not ever. I promise you will not lose me. Be my backup okay? Be my support and fire from a distance. I need you to watch my six and keep my barrels loaded and I will be the one to keep you safe. 

You know… You kind of look like… a little dog… a puppy… I… The last time I saw one was in a crumpled up magazine during a raid against dissidents hiding in an abandoned mall… Scared. Cornered.

My mind is starting to feel free where the body does not, in ways that I have yet to even grasp, but back then… I couldn’t move a micron in that wretched cage of mine. I felt absolutely alone… like I was a monster in a cocoon. 

Despite everything, I think that may have been the worst day of my life. But… seeing a creature so innocent, carefree, and happy… During the final sweep of the building, I went back to look at that magazine for a while. I couldn’t even pick it up.

Nothing particularly awful happened to our squadron that day… but… that was the issue, wasn’t it? That this… was normal. That was the day… I… accepted it. That was the day that I accepted that I had no power despite everyone in this cruel world thinking that I somehow had all of it. Just being forced to be a vessel for callousness…

I-I’m sorry. I got carried away… You have just… you make me feel safe enough… you… that way that you communicate with me. You always make sure that I’m safe even though you’re the one that can get hurt. 

You’re always so polite and sweet with the way you send me codes, calling me “Miss Sona” and always saying “please” and “thank you.” Nobody ever thanks me… or worries about me. All the eyes I ever see are fearful ones… except yours. 

I know this is kind of weird… but when you ping the other squad members, it’s just once. But with me, you ping me twice to make sure I hear it. The little things… make me feel so… looked after… You’re just this small… little drone. But I think you have a big heart. Your heart… is something I want to protect with all of mine. 

Would it be okay if… I called you a puppy? My… puppy? Oh, you’re such a sweet little thing. Thank you. I mean, you are a little quadrupedal drone and your antennae look like those little floppy ears. Speaking of… there we go. One of them was a little bent. I fixed it.

Here… Let me use this data stick to flash you with updates so that your new pcb can allow you to have better control over your mobility. It… It kinda looks like I’m giving you a bone to chew on. Does… Does my puppy love chewing her bone?

Sorry… I realized I called you a girl. Is that… okay? I… hope I’m not being too forward with all of this. You just seem really cute and girly to me… Aww… You can be my good girl! It’s okay… Your eagerness makes me feel so, so loved. Is it okay if I give you scritches behind your ears?

[Gentle clanking, Sona giggles, drone beeps]

There, there. Does my good puppy like her scritches? I love when you get all excited, and you make your cute little robot beeps for me. Please, please, please… Don’t ever go anywhere again, okay? I need my sweet little girl to keep being cute with her little beep barks… and stamping her little paws. 

Let’s finish making sure my little girly sweetness is all fixed up, okay? In your “bone”, I implanted some “trick” algorithms to test the calibration of your parts. I’d love for you to execute some of these commands for me. Now… sit! 

[Happy drone beeps]

Oh… Did someone like that? I think maybe… it excites you when I get assertive. Let’s test that hypothesis. Rollover, now… Wow… someone really, really likes that, huh? I think I found a way I can push your buttons… Oh… and your tests are going really well.

Give me paw! Awww… Good girl. Would you… like it if I called myself your Mommy? You would? Yay! Let’s see if you can do a little pirouette for me. Give Mommy a little twirl! Good job, baby!

I’m… not being too weird, am I? …No? You like it when I’m like this? Good… Everyone wants me to be small… Not in the way that you’re so very small and cute, but in a sense of wanting me to be never seen or heard unless I’m being useful. I often find myself thinking I’m too much…

Being down here, in the quiet of the warehouse, with you… It’s just so… different. You let me be soft and tender… You let me like cute and safe things. You reassure me. Everyone up there… They want to turn me into a bad person, but I just want to be happy and spread love… 

I just hope I’m not moving too quickly for you… In my head, just less than a few hours ago, I was terrified that I had lost you forever… and now I feel like you… are my… forever… Sorry… That’s weird. I’m being– Thank you… Every time I second guess myself, you’re always there to hold me.

I… I don’t think my quantum transposition will hold up for much longer, so I have to hide you somewhere and put you in sleep mode. Don’t move until I come for you, okay? 

[Metal shifting, being replaced elsewhere after a brief pause]

Here we are, little one. I’ve placed you in this little nook in the corner of the warehouse. Nobody will see you here under this big pile of scrap metal.

I know… I know you must be so scared, having been decommissioned and thrown down here as scrap. I promise, with all of my heart, that I am coming back for you. I know… I know… You’re getting frantic again, baby… It’s okay. Mommy has been… Mommy feels like she has the power to leave here now. 

Don’t worry, babydoll. My sweetest, littlest puppy. Mommy is going to take you far away from this horrid place and instead of this cold, dusty place filled with all these wires and metal… you’ll be snuggling with your Mommy… in her bed. Oh… one day we’ll have our own bed. An actual… soft… bed. Just for us…

 Yes… Nobody is ever going to leave you in the cold and dark again, okay? I promise with every fiber of my being. Nobody is ever going to hold me like some apocalyptic phoenix in a cage. Nobody is ever going to take advantage of either of us! Ever again!

Sorry, my little sweetheart. I got worked up again… But Mommy wants you to know that she is going to protect you now… Mommy Sona… Your Miss Sona… is going to be the one to keep you safe, and do your repairs… and put you on the charger… and take you for walkies.

I just got excited because I wanted my little baby puppy to know how much of a bright, safe, future we’ll have. Imagine… basking in the sun together, laying out on the beach… I guess I can’t exactly take my little metal pumpkin for a swim, but we can enjoy the ambience! 

Maybe I’ll add a visual feed to some goggles and I can take my sweetest girl scuba diving! Clown fish and eels… Do you have things of that nature in your database? We do sometimes see subaquatic deployment, but you aren’t exactly fitted for such missions… I see… Well, we can experience it together.

I want to do things that normal people get to do… maybe people will look at us funny because I have baby pink hair and a robot dog… but that’s okay! People already look at me for way worse reasons… I want to go to a concert! I would kill to be able to hear new music that I didn’t have to make.

 I mean… I guess I literally will… kill… that is… I mean… not to… I kill all the time. It’s just… different… This time I actually am doing so to self determine… That’s sitting strangely with me.

I– I’m sorry. This is… it has been a lot. Calm again… Let’s talk about music some more… I don’t know if you’d know much about that. I rarely get to hear any… but I feel like I have an affinity for it. 

I would love to try listening to K-pop. Sometimes, on missions, I see advertisements for a certain band… K/DA… I think. The women in it look so gorgeous and I’m sure they’re talented too! I want to play music like them… on a big stage… with bold clothes and long colorful nails… 

[Happy drone beeps]

You really think so? I’m so happy… I’ve never had someone believe in me like this… I won’t let you down… Kill the guards… get my puppy and leave… get a bed… become a musician… I think I have a good plan for escape now! Oh… I probably need money for that stuff… The guards probably have that… 

Alright, little pumpkin… Lay down for me, okay? You’re being such a good girl for Mommy… I can see you getting sleepy… Is someone’s battery all drained and empty?

It’s okay, my sweet baby… Lay your little head on Mommy’s thigh, okay? I’ve got you… If you just keep being brave and follow my directions, we’ll be okay? Yes! That’s right! My baby doesn’t need to think a single little thought in her pretty little head right now, okay? Let Mama handle your anxiety protocols, little lamb! You always do so much for me. You took a bullet for me! I thought I… you know… Please… I just want you to understand that I am… these people think I am some kind of god… I should be the one protecting you.

I know, I know. You’re a very smart girl, I know, baby. I also know that my little precious is nervous and skittish about some things that I’m not. So for right now, no thoughts, head empty, okay? Good girl. That’s right, sweetest little heart. Mommy’s going to save you.

That’s right. You’re all mine now. So just shut those adorable little eyes off and get ready for sleep mode, okay, my love? I’m never going to let you go, okay? Nobody is going to stand in the way of our love… 

That’s right. Shh, shh, shh… My little baby… Go to sleep mode, okay? Mommy’s got you. I know it’s scary, but Mommy is your protector now. Mommy will be your light. 

I will do absolutely anything to protect you, my littlest one. When you wake up, we’re going to run away from this place, together, my love. We’re going to see a different world where we can have anything our hearts desire, okay? I just need to take care of some pesky business and everything will be ours.