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All the doors in Heavy Containment were shut, thankfully, all the lights were still on and you could roam still.

It felt empty. Too empty. 

It felt almost liminal in nature.

Painter walked slightly behind you, paranoid as it looked around.

By now, you’ve walked by multiple corpses of personnel. Some that you recognize walking by daily.

Even if the doors were shut, they weren’t locked. 

With Painter’s help, you would turn the hand wheel to the doors, opening deeper into Heavy Containment.

Your goal? See if you could find any survivors. Carrying a medkit and a flashlight, both of which were found in some of the offices, you made your way through Heavy Containment.

You knew that it was dangerous, but your empathy made it hard to not try to look. 

If you were stranded, surely there were other scientists who were as well. 

Even if you weren’t a big fan of your co-workers, you weren’t going to abandon someone in need. 

And Painter wouldn’t abandon you either.

Painter was scared, nervous. According to him, he only left his room once and it was when he was transferred between divisions first getting here. 

So to say that it was anxious at the idea of leaving his small containment room seeing how Urbanshade was…

…You’re just hoping that neither of you get reprimanded.

The two of you were as careful as you could thanks to the circumstances. Thankfully, because of your job. 

This whole time, you managed to avoid any sort of threat. Sometimes you’d see the light flicker and get nervous but thankfully you would always be inside one of the offices making whatever threat pass as nothing.

You swear you saw Pandemonium one of those times however and hope your eyes were just playing tricks on you.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in these areas.” Painter muttered, lifting his foot from another pool of blood with an irked expression. “If we want to find survivors, I’d say they are in another division.”

“True…” You let out a sigh, glancing over at Painter. “But what if there’s someone who really needs our help?”

Painter went to grab your shoulder, stopping your walk. 

“We’ve been so close to danger, to death.” He shook his head. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

You put a hand on Painter’s hand.

“I’m fine, Painter.” Squeezing Painter’s hand you glanced over to the next locked door. “Besides, if we survived this long, we should be fine.”

“Well…”

“Seeing how long we have been walking and being able to avoid everything I’d say this lockdown is completely unwarran-”

Before you could even finish your sentence as Painter tensed up letting out a screech.

“WHAT IS THAT.”

You quickly turned to the direction it pointed at, hearing a guttural groan as it fled. 

“... Z-90.” Slowly, you looked back at Painter. “Wall-Dweller.”

Painter stared at you for a bit longer, mouth wide.

“We are going back to my room.” He grabbed your arm, immediately speed walking back to where the two of you started.

“But-”

“No buts!” 

You let yourself be dragged by Painter as you walked back a couple of rooms. 

Now that you weren’t stopping by every room searching for survivors, the way back didn’t take long.

And thankfully you didn’t get stopped by anything.

Quickly, as swift as the two of you could. Painter brought you inside his room. Closing the door as the two of you checked the room hoping that it would be safe.

The crayons you were using laid forgotten on the ground, but the drawings you made were placed neatly on Painter’s desk to make sure they stay safe.

.

.

.

You’re not quite sure how long you’ve been inside Painter’s room now.

Neither of you spoke. 

It was pure silence between the two of you. 

Not because you had nothing to talk about but because both of you had your alarm bells on. 

The two of you were careful, not wanting to raise any signs that you were here. 

Yet suddenly you heard the sound of the door. Shuffling, a bang, then the door sliding open. 

You felt your heart leap to your throat at the sound.

Painter gasped as he saw who it was as the door slid closed once again.

It was wordless, Painter didn’t say anything, his expression was of shock as you heard steps coming closer.

Slow. Calculating.

“Where are you? Come out. Now.” 

The sudden voice of Trips resounded in the small room. 

Their voice was devoid of emotion, waiting. 

They weren’t asking Painter, they knew you were there. 

They were asking you.

You suddenly remembered the ear piece that Trips gave you. Pulling it slowly from your jacket you saw the light of the Urbanshade logo pulsed at where the part against the ear would be. 

“I can feel your vitals. Reveal yourself.”

This wasn’t just an earpiece was it? 

It had to be a sensor or rather… It was a tracker.

Trips has been tracking you since you separated. But why? 

They’ve never needed to do so before. What's different now?

Taking a deep breath you moved out of your hiding spot, moving to the side just enough to peek through. 

Trips’ normally neat coat was ripped at the bottom. Making the coat uneven as it fell from their right shoulder. Said arm had a rather deep stab wound. Dark brown liquid dripped down from their arm as if it was blood.

… It seemed they worked on hydraulics.

You didn’t want to try your luck any further as you hid back behind the GPUs.

“We are safe.” Painter suddenly spoke, his speaker barely audible as it spoke carefully. “No one is hurt.” 

Silence followed as Trips let out a sigh. 

“Good,” another pause, “please reveal yourself.”

“Um…” Painter replied with, the two of you knew who they clearly meant. He looked over in your direction before you decided to side step and reveal yourself. “C-Careful!”

Now you could take a better look at them. 

Their once pristine coat was ripped at the shoulder, sparks flying from the opening at the joint as their body trembled. 

At the right side of their face they had more of that brown liquid, one that you could only assume to be oil that spilled and dirtied their clothes even more.

But what you couldn’t miss was the gun in their hands, one which they held tightly as if their life depended on it. 

“What… What happened to you…?” You couldn’t help but let out. 

Trips was always so clean, so pristine, so perfect. 

The Robotics division demanded nothing less.

Yet here they were, broken.

“What didn’t?” Trips shook their head with a chuckle, slowly raising a hand to brush their bangs out of their eyes. “Perhaps it’s a good thing that you stayed here.” 

They looked over at you, then at Painter.

“I was going to ask why you were still here but I believe I already have the answer.” Trips took a step closer, putting a hand on the chained fence that made up Painter’s enclosure. “Please tell me the two of you have not been injured at any point.”

“We ran away at the first sight of danger!” Painter exclaimed, clearly panicking as you looked back at it. You hoped that you didn’t have to admit that you left the room, especially noticing Trips’ state and yours being completely different.

However, instead of seeming panicked or stressed, Trips only chuckled brokenly.

“I could not expect any less from the two of you.” They mused, before their body started to malfunction again. They leaned against the fence, forehead against it as they closed their eyes. You’re sure that if they were human, they would have been sweating by now. “I’m… ah… glad the two of you are alright.” 

The silence seemed to be a constant now between you. Perhaps it was in the nature of the lockdown that no one knew what to say. 

Well what were you supposed to say when your boss was in front of you all bloody and cut?

Trips suddenly jolted up, eyes wide.

“Hide!”

“What?!” 

“Listen to me, something is coming!” Trips turned around, leaning against the fence. “Nothing would come to this room… I had to have been followed, ugh. I apologize!” 

Out of instinct from the danger, you hid back behind the GPUs. You didn’t want to know what was coming but you knew to trust Trips.

“You’ll be safe.” Trips glanced at where you were. “Hopefully.”

“That is not comforting or helpful!” Painter intercepted, knowing full well he was in full view of whatever might come in the room.

“Lookie here…” A deep gravely voice was heard from the other side, Painter let out a squeak as his expression turned fearful. Your ears picked up the voice immediately, glancing back from your hiding place.

Sebastian.

“I’ve been following you, you know. Surely you’ve realized.” Sebastian let out a devilish grin, straightening up in front of Trips. Sebastian was still in the Urbanshade uniform even after all these hours. 

The only difference? 

This uniform was soaked in crimson.

Sebastian let out a deep, mocking chuckle.

“I don’t even need to do anything, all the monsters here in the labs already did a number on you. It’s funny, really. Ironic too.” Sebastian moved closer as Trips took a step back, their back hitting Painter’s fence. “How come you went here, boss? Here, to Painter, in probably the most dangerous part of the whole Blacksite. Why?”

Sebastian suddenly slammed his hand on Painter’s fence, the fence rattled loudly at his sudden movement as he leaned down to trap Trips against the fence.

Painter could only stare helplessly, it was almost as if the other two completely forgot it was there, watching. 

You didn’t know what to do either, hiding behind the GPU just trying to keep your breathing down.

What are you supposed to do?

What can you even do?!

Suddenly Trips laughed.

Harsh. 

Grating. 

Exaggerated.

It was nothing like the ones you’ve heard from them before.

It was mocking.

Sebastian could only chuckle back slowly, you recognized it as one he would let out almost like a warning.

“No guesses?” 

Trips chuckled once again as they spoke. You could hear the smile in their voice.

Sebastian let out a low growl as his claws closed around the fence.

Another warning.

“I would have thought someone like you would have figured me out by now.” Trips started once again. “You have done such a disaster across the Blacksite yet you can’t begin to fathom why I'm here of all places?”

“Is this a game to you, Trips?” Sebastian’s voice was low as Trips laughed again, yet their voice crackled slightly, as if they had a voice box that seemed to be breaking.

“As the Head of the Robotics Division, or Overseer as I am written on official documents—” Trips started, pausing for only a moment as you suddenly felt their tail grasp harshly at your leg. When did their tail get through the fence?! Before you could even think they pulled you out of your hiding spot, revealing you to Sebastian’s eyes. “—it is my duty to ensure everyone from the division gets out safely. Now I only miss one, isn’t that right, my dearest scientist?”

You fell to your knees with a thump, your hands frantically trying to make the fall easier as they stopped your fall by pressing against the ground. 

It was silent.

The only sound is the whirring of Painter’s machinery.

Of the GPUs surrounding the room.

You hesitantly looked up at Sebastian and Trips. 

Trips didn’t look at you, seemingly too focused on Sebastian as he stood there motionless. His eyes did all the talking, pupils shrinking as he took the sight of you. 

Suddenly, he backed up as if stung. 

All signs of previous hostility drained from him as his eyes widened.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Sebastian shook his head, his hand going up to his head as he frantically looked around. 

He turned around, quickly closing the door behind him, as he shoved Trips to the side, making them hit the wall with a mechanical hiss to take a closer look at you. 

Sebastian’s eyes darted around you, perhaps he was making sure he didn’t just make you up, or maybe he was looking for injuries as he looked up at Painter.

Only for his panicked expression to melt into pure rage.

“YOU are not supposed to be here.” He screamed accusingly, his finger pointing at you through the fence. “Why the FUCK are you HERE!” 

“I should be asking you that!” You managed to let out, your voice shaking as it betrayed the fear you felt. You quickly sat up, backing up to one of the legs of Painter’s table. “W-What’s going on?!”

“I—”

Before Sebastian could speak, he was interrupted by a click behind him making him straighten up. His expression mellowing out, unreadable as he chuckled.

“Right, I forgot about you.”

Sebastian turned around, not without moving slightly to the side as if to give both you and Painter a better look. 

Trips had their gun aimed at Sebastian.

Holding the gun with their uninjured left arm as Sebastian moved.

“You wouldn’t.” Sebastian said with a small tilt of his head. 

“Z-13 is to be detained.” Trips let out a breath, motioning to the gun. “That was the last command I got from HQ as Urbanshade was too busy trying to scramble and reorganize everything.”

Sebastian only smiled.

“And hypothetically kill me in front of these two innocent folk?” Sebastian motioned to you and Painter with his thumb almost too casually, his voice dripping in sarcasm. “You wouldn’t…”

Trips took a step closer.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to ensure the safety of them both which was something you—”

Sebastian interrupted them as he went closer as a challenge, the gun pressed on him now.

“I think we both know that you would fail, Z-8.” His voice was cold even as he grinned mockingly. “I mean, look at you, it’s a tragedy really. If you weren’t a monster like me, you would have died a long time ago.” 

Sebastian flicked at their injured shoulder, making the scientist tremble as their systems seemed to protest.

“You know damn well that even if you shot me, I would be too quick and destroy your precious systems in a heartbeat. So—” Sebastian grabbed the tip of their gun between his index and thumb, pulling it closer to him as he pressed it to his chest. “—try. Try if you want to, see where that leads you.”

Another pause.

Another bang from the outside.

Another screech.

Yet neither of them moved.

Trips who seemed so sure to shoot Sebastian just moments prior hesitated, their gun stayed stable against his chest even as Sebastian’s fingers fell from the gun.

Waiting.

Knowing so confidently that he would win against the injured scientist.

“Or…” Sebastian started only to pause, coming closer to invade their personal space. He knew that they didn’t like it, noting their uncomfortable expression yet he pushed on. “I could offer you something… different.”

Before Trips could say anything, Sebastian’s hand launched to their neck. Surprisingly, the overseer didn’t shoot, not yet at least even with Sebastian’s hand on their neck as he forced them to arch up their back uncomfortably by the neck.

Then… a rip.

Trips tensed up as Sebastian pressed his clawed finger against the back of their neck.

“What are you-!”

“Relax…” Sebastian tsked before he tapped at where he left his finger at the back of their neck. “Here, right? Urbanshade has a tracker on you which makes it impossible for you to be off their radar. All. The. Time.”

Sebastian straightened up with a grin as Trips put their injured hand slowly, as if it took too much effort just to move their arm just to poise it on their neck as their other hand still held the gun pointed at Sebastian.

“I read it in one of your documents, Z-8.” Sebastian would say the number almost mockingly as he crossed two of his arms, his third one landing at his hip. “You’re the head of a whole division yet here you are being tracked like a DOG. You’re still the same Z-class as you were when you first got here. Just. Like. Me.”

Sebastian leaned down again, letting out a breath as he looked over at Trips.

“You know, I could fix you up. Remove that tracker from your neck. I know damn well you can’t do it yourself with that fucked up arm.” Sebastian shrugged. “I only ask for one thing in return… your loyalty.”

“... And what makes you think I’ll just change sides suddenly?” 

“Oh, come on Trips.” Sebastian mocked. “Don’t you miss freedom?”

Sebastian slithered around Trips, his tail circling them as he put a hand on their shoulder from behind, leaning in.

“Both of us know damn well that they don’t see you as an equal, just your skills really.” Sebastian leaned back as he went back in front of them. “You told me, ‘Sebastian, you’re so much more than what Urbanshade wants you to be, we are similar.’ when we were still oh-so young, hmhm.”

He chuckled.

“What happened to that, Trips? Or will you tell me you were naive because we were both still fully… human?”

Sebastian tilted his head again, shaking his head.

“So quiet. So unlike you. Make. Up. Your. Mind.”

Another silence.

Sebastian only pressed closer, leaning down for only a moment before going back up.

“Shoot.”

He said, looking them down.

“I know you want to.”

“You are one manipulative bastard.” Trips replied finally, as if it took every ounce of their strength to. Their arm tensed up as they pushed the tip of their gun against Sebastian’s chest, you could see how the fabric wrinkled slightly at where Trips pushed on him.

Sebastian only grinned harder, this was a game, a challenge for him. All he waited for was for Trips to shoot. 

Yet…

They didn’t.

Trips only clenched their teeth, leaving their jaw tense as they performed a quick flick of with their wrist, spinning the gun in their hand and flipping it for the handle to be in Sebastian’s direction.

The wordless offer stretched between them as Sebastian’s eyes widened.

“Don’t disappoint me.” Trips took a breath, or at least simulated one as Sebastian’s claws hesitantly wrapped around the handle of Trips’ gun.

“You’re kidding.” Sebastian replied, taking the gun with a fast pull yet Trips didn’t react, only stared at him. “I could literally shoot you down right now.”

“Simply a temporary alliance.”

Sebastian laughed.

“Well shit man, you’re a crazy bastard!” He pulled out his hand, putting it in a way for Trips to grab. “Shake my hand, seal the deal if you actually mean it.”

Trips shook their head, reaching out for Sebastian’s hand as they held a firm handshake.

“Alright, temporary ally.” The handy man spoke, straightening up before looking at both you and Painter. “Now about you two… wanna help out?”

“You are too casual about this.” Trips muttered.

“Oh really? Well, how else am I supposed to ask, genius?”

“Like how you asked me?”

“These two are miles nicer than you are.”

“Rich coming from you!” 

Both Painter and you stared at the duo which only seemed to be getting lightning bolts between each other.

… You’re not quite sure how long this temporary allyship is going to last.

“Okay… can you two calm down?” You tried to keep your voice as calm as you could given the circumstances. “And tell us what the hell is going on!”

“Well-” Trips started before their body seemed to zap itself, almost falling before Sebastian grabbed their good shoulder. He had a smirk on his face but seeing the slight frown on his brow made you think he was actually a little worried of the overseer… surprisingly.

“To put it simply…” Sebastian started as he kept a firm grip on Trips who seemed to be spasming out thanks to their systems malfunctioning as he put the gun between his body and one of his multiple belts. “Jeez, are you okay buddy?”

“Ghh…” 

Sebastian glanced at you, as if he didn’t know what to do at the predicament. Even in this life changing situation he still acted like his same old self as if he wasn’t covered in what you could only assume is blood. 

You could only look between him and Trips bewildered, you might be a behavioural scientist but never in your years working at Urbanshade did you ever need to do… any of this!

“You know what, I’ll just explain it to you on the way.” Sebastian grumbled, crouching down towards Trips. “And I’m picking you up, you look pathetic.” 

The handy man tugged at Trips, pulling them up over his shoulder as they let out another incoherent buzzing sound. 

You’re not quite sure what happened between their interaction and now but if you had to put a theory down, you had to assume that Trips’ systems got fried. 

Which was ironic since you’re sure you’ve felt their body almost burning multiple times before so how come they got fried now of all times.

“We’re going to the Robotics Division, fix this guy up, stay close to me, okay?” Sebastian started as he looked between you and Painter. “Painter, take your body with you. We need to group up and I do not trust you two here. We need to talk.”

“Y-Yeah of course!” Painter let out nervously, glancing up at you as you nodded, helping him back on his body. “Ready when you are.”

Sebastian nodded as he opened the door to Heavy Containment.

“Stay close.” He repeated before turning back to look in front of him. You glanced over at Painter nervously as it slid its hand in yours, giving you a comforting squeeze with a small smile.

Painter was just as nervous as you were, the two of you had too many questions yet no answers as Sebastian slithered on forward with your boss who seemed to be holding on for dear life.

The walk was uneventful, silent, too quiet. It was clear how much was on all of your minds as Sebastian stopped before a door in the Robotics Division with a sigh.

He played with his ID in his hands, the one that Trips had given. The one whom he mentioned he was surprised still worked. The one that allowed him to bypass so many doors. 

“I caused it.” Sebastian looked over at you before sliding his ID to open the door. “The lockdown, I mean, I guess it’s a little obvious with my clothes though, huh?”

“How?” Was the first thing on your mind. “You were supposed to…”

Sebastian only laughed.

“I was supposed to be transferred, yeah?” He shook his head as you walked through more doors. He paused constantly, as if he was wondering how to phrase things in a better way. “News flash, they weren’t going to transfer me, they were going to execute me.”

“... What?”

“Why are we even surprised?” Sebastian laughed again, as if this was just a big joke, a play of irony as he punched the wall. Trips seemed to buzz conscious enough to tell him to be careful which was something he didn’t take too kindly. “Shut up, Trips!” 

A quiet muttered apology was the response that Sebastian got as slumped down slightly. Shaking his head before continuing forward.

“They were going to shoot me at the back of the head all the while telling you that I was transferred to another facility.” He looked over at you for a second, his eyes showed the fear, the pain that he felt, one that you got to know, one which you wish you never knew. “As if you were but kids asking about their pet dog and their parents didn’t have the heart to tell you that they were put down so they tell you the dog ran away.”

Painter moved first, a hand on where its mouth would be.

“But weren’t you helping out everywhere?” He asked meekly, his other hand still intertwined with yours squeezed again. As if needing to make sure that you were still there with him. “You… You were the handy man, helping out everywhere weren’t you?”

Trips seemed to react at the question, lifting their head seemingly about to correct before getting told to shut up again by Sebastian. 

“I’m a ‘handy man’ who’s also a MR-P. Doesn’t matter if I help around or if I’m the assistance of the one and only behavioural scientist in all of Urbanshade.” Sebastian slid his ID in a door only to be rejected. Thinking fast, he moved Trips’ body just enough to grab their ID and pull it, finally sliding it in the sensor to open the door. “At the end of the day, I’m still Z-13. Just like how this guy is still Z-8, isn’t that right, Tripsy?”

The scientist only grumbled at the name calling as they did a seemingly weak punch against Sebastian’s back as he threw them back on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Sebastian turned on the light. This lab seemed to be completely different from all the others you’ve seen around the Blacksite. Spacious, and incredibly clean. 

On a table there was a laptop connected to some wires, in the middle of the room there was a chair with a machine with multiple arms over it. 

It was akin to a hospital.

Just much more mechanical.

“What even is this place?” Looking around, you’re not quite sure what this place is even supposed to be. Sebastian took such a particular route which isn’t a surprise knowing him. “How do you even know of this place?”

“From what I understand, this is one of our dear… well, ex-boss’ maintenance rooms.” Sebastian approached the chair, gently placing down Trips. “I found a map of the Robotics Division awhile back in the archives. There’s multiple maps to make sure that the important rooms that no one should know exist, like this one, is hidden as just a normal room and not a personal room like this one.”

Sebastian bent down, hands going to remove Trips’ uniform jacket as the latter recoiled. Their good hand almost closed back their jacket around their body as their legs bent up in a protective motion. Sebastian pulled his hands away in instinct, hands next to his head in surrender.

You saw how his expression was mad, but only for a second as his ears dropped slightly as understanding crossed his features.

“I’m sorry.” Sebastian started, lowering himself to be under Trips’ field of vision, something you knew he did with you to seem less threatening. “I’m not… going to hurt you. I want to help, I won’t do what those bastards did. I promise.”

A silence followed before the overseer let out a small nod, Sebastian lifted himself up as he helped Trips out of their jacket even as the latter seemed to tremble. You didn’t even know it was possible for a robot to tremble, much less one like Trips. 

Painter leaned against you as the event unfolded in front of you, a grainy sigh escaped his speakers.

“Do you think they will be okay?” He asked, looking almost too worried. 

“I think so…” You replied as you looked around the room, noticing some chairs in the corner. “Let’s go over there.”

Painter nodded as the two of you went to go to the chairs. Overhearing Sebastian mention something about removing his coat so he wouldn’t get any blood on Trips as he was left in his sheer collection of belts and a simple white tank top that was under his coat. 

He seemed to quickly get to work as Trips seemed to have either shut themselves down or went to sleep as Sebastian started to tinker around while searching around the room.

“Dear…” Painter started quietly, its hand quietly finding yours as his voice stayed quiet. “Um… About what Sebastian offered…” 

You looked over at Painter’s monitor. It was clear how nervous he was as it drew a sweat drop on his face. You’re not sure if Sebastian would be listening as he was so focused but you didn’t mind.

“Yes… what about it?” 

Painter glanced to the side, staring at Sebastian working hard on so many wires, his claws making it easy to cut through anything.

“I think… It's easy to see what he was implying.” He looked back at you, another squeeze at your hands. “Freedom… Him being the one to cause the lockdown… He wants to escape Urbanshade… And he wants… our help.”

You knew this was going to come up. Yet now with the statement in front of you, you’re not quite sure what to think.  

The loaded question was back. 

Do you want to help out?

Such a simple way to phrase “hey want to betray Urbanshade with me?”. 

This wasn’t something that you could simply answer at the moment. 

This was the kind of question that you needed time to think about.

You were supposed to be on vacation by now!

…

………

…………………..

You were supposed to be on vacation.

A vacation that Sebastian insisted that you take specifically in the middle of October…

How long has he been planning this!?

His casual question wasn’t because this was something easy for him to do, the question was like that because he was surely coping.

You weren’t even supposed to be here to begin with.

Sebastian planned this for months yet you were still here, you were supposed to be outside of the Blacksite this whole time. 

Suddenly everything started to get into place like a puzzle piece. His knowledge of even being transferred to begin with. His constant favours for you to get random items for him. His insistence for you to leave the Blacksite and how nervous he looked when you said it would be the 13th because he knew his transfer was the day after! 

You couldn’t help but curse at yourself. 

This was completely unexpected for him.

You weren’t supposed to be here!

You’re in danger and he knows it yet he’s trying his best not to show how he didn’t expect this.

The unexpected variable in the form of… you.

“Hey, Hey! It’s okay!” Painter’s voice suddenly broke you out of thoughts, his free hand now on your shoulder as he shook you. “I’m sure we don’t have to think of it now…”

You frowned, you have to think about it now.

You’re either on Sebastian’s side or you’re against him. 

There was no neutral side to this.

There was no gray area to speak of.

This whole situation was completely black and white.

Letting out a sigh, you knew how Sebastian felt. Only a facet of what he might be feeling right now. By the tense set at his jaw, the furrowed brow just when you were walking beside him in silence. 

You also knew he trusted you, the two of you trusted each other with your lives.

Knowing him, you knew he hoped you would accept.

The two of you have known each other for years, you trust each other, he has saved your life countless times from so many subjects. Even if he would laugh at your face, or mock you for your fear. You knew he didn’t mean any of it. You knew deep down he cared. You knew that strong front he would put out for you and the others hid the caring man you knew he was.

The man that would take you back to your office with a blanket if you fell asleep.

The man that made sure you didn’t miss breakfast.

The man that constantly gave you advice to deal with things that were out of your field.

The man that would die if it meant for your survival.

But another part of you wondered, if you left what would happen then to the subjects that were under your care? 

Weren’t you keeping them safe?

What would happen to them if you were gone?

But then you looked over at Sebastian, working hard on trying to fix Trips who surely had to be a more complicated machine that he has ever worked on. 

Then at Painter’s worried expression.

Maybe it’s time that you saved Sebastian’s life back.

Maybe it’s time to repay the favour.

“I’ll do it.” You reply finally, determination on your features as you nodded at Painter. “Maybe I’ll regret it, I’m probably going to lose my job or get blacklisted from the market but…”

You let out a sigh, looking at Sebastian once again.

“But when it comes between my job and Sebastian, I’ll take Sebastian every time.”

.

.

.

“Done!” Sebastian exclaimed as he lifted up his hands as if this was a cooking competition and the chef told him that time was up. ”I hope you didn’t time that, I do not want to know how long that took me, it was torture.”

You shook your head as Painter seemed to almost chirped on with the time before you pulled him back down. As silly as it would be to tease Sebastian, you’re not quite sure it’s the best time.

“It’s impressive really, I never would have thought that you would have been able to do that Sebastian.” Trips threw their legs around the chair, slipping on the shirt that Sebastian found. One that was practically identical to their normal uniform. Looking at them now, you didn’t expect for their body to have a white metal casing instead of one that would match their flesh. It reminds you of Painter’s own body.

“You’re okay?” Painter asked as he got up from his seat, helping you up with its hand as the two of you approached the other duo.

“As ‘okay’ as one can be in this situation.” They got up from their seat, rolling up their sleeves around their elbow as you noticed their previously injured arm was not matching their chest with the same white metal casing. Sensing you looking at their arm, Trips spoke once again. “Ah, this was probably the only arm that Sebastian could find, is that correct?”

Sebastian stayed silent, a grumble escaping him before he looked back at Trips.

“Fine, maybe, but it looks cooler anyways so who cares?” 

Trips only shook their head as they stood next to Sebastian, crossing their arms in the process. 

“The plan. Now.” 

“So bossy.” 

“Last time I checked, I was your boss!”

“Not anymore, asshole!”

You took a step closer to them,

“Can you two stop fighting?!” Your jaw tensed as you looked at the two of them. 

The room filled with silence after you exclaimed, the others all turning to look at you.

“Um…” Painter spoke shakily, looking at Sebastian and Trips. “We probably should… you know, team up properly? Work together? If we want this to work?”

Sebastian put a hand on his hip as his expression turns from tense to more shocked than anything as if realization dawned on him.

“Wait, does that mean the two of you want to help me?”

“Is that truly the only thing you retained?” Trips retorted back.

“You wouldn’t understand the notion of having FRIENDS who are actually ride or die, Trips!”

“I-”

The tension only seemed to grow between them.

“Knock it off, Sebastian!” You walked between both Sebastian and Trips, standing in front of the latter. “Just… calm down for one moment. Please put your hostility to the side.”

Sebastian sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically before crossing his arms.

“Buzzkill.”

There was another silence that filled the space.

Awkward. 

Tense.

Trips didn’t bother looking at Sebastian, glancing to the side as Sebastian did the same. Though you didn’t miss the moment he did look over at Trips, the slight regret in his gaze. You had to ask him later what was going on.

Painter looked over at you, as if looking for your approval before he spoke.

“Maybe we should start whatever your plan is Sebastian.” It started quietly, bringing up an arm to rub awkwardly on his other. “We have limited time, right?”

“... Right.” Sebastian shook his head, pulling out a notebook before opening it. “Well, you’ve probably found out by now that I have freed a lot of the subjects around the Blacksite. All thanks to a combined effort of your extra ID, the ID that Trips gave me, and finally one that I stole from a guardsman that I took down. All of it culminated in the lockdown you see now.”

Sebastian pulled out the IDs as he spoke, you never knew that he would use your ID for such a thing. Maybe your fate was sealed the moment that Sebastian took your IDs all the way back. Would he have still been successful without all those extra IDs?

“I managed to connect to Innovation Inc., we’ve been… communicating here and there for a while now.” Sebastian continued, looking around. “My next part is to communicate with them again, but I also need Painter’s help. I have plans for you buddy.”

“Me?”

“Mhm.”

You looked between Sebastian and Painter, brows furrowing. “What do you need Painter for?”

Sebastian let out a smirk.

“Something I had planned since I met him.” He nodded smugly before walking to the door. “First, we have to go back to Painter’s enclosure. We left something there that I need to access. Though, I think it would be better to keep him there for the remainder of our plans.”

Opening the door, Sebastian looked out into the hallway.

“Looks like we are still in the clear, you two, you’re coming with me.” He pointed over at you and Painter. The two of you looked at each other worriedly before taking steps closer towards the exit. Sebastian then pointed at Trips. “You… I have no idea what to do with you.”

“Great.” Trips replied sarcastically, crossing their arms while leaning on one leg. “No matter, I have my own plan. I have a device that should be able to help you. Maybe then you’ll actually learn to trust me again.”

“Really? Let’s see about that.” Sebastian let out a laugh before opening one of his pockets and pulling out a walkie talkie. Looking at it in his hands before throwing it at Trips. “Catch.”

Trips caught it wordlessly, looking down at the walkie talkie with a confused look.

“It’s so we can communicate. Better stay in touch right?”

The overseer let out a sigh before putting the device on their belt.

“Right, I suppose this is to make sure that Urbanshade doesn’t intercept the signals, correct? I don’t recognize the brand.”

“These babies are one of the multiple favours that I asked for, you know?” Sebastian grinned again before looking over at you, winking before looking back up. “We’ll be back before you know it. Don’t… uh… die.”

“Likewise.”

With that final word, Sebastian leaned down to push both your and Painter’s back, urging the two of you to leave the room.

Before getting fully pushed out, Painter looked back.

“See you later, Trips!”

Sebastian only urged the two of you our of the room quicker.

“We don’t have time for goodbyes, let’s go.” He moved in front of the two of you. “Stay close, I think the path should be safe, just trust me.”

.

.

.

“Well, shit.” Sebastian muttered as he opened the door to the next room, the lights seemed to be off but that didn’t seem to be the reason why he was worried.

“What’s wrong?” Painter asked worriedly, trying to peek through under Sebastian’s arm.

“So…” Sebastian started, turning around. “One of the ones that I freed was um… the giant killer shark that kills you with eye contact only and blows up your mind like pancakes. You know, Eyefestation.”

“Eyefestation?” You replied back, trying to push Sebastian to the side as if to confirm his words.

“Hey, what are you doing you’re going to get yourself killed!” Sebastian retorted, trying to push you away.

“I have… an idea.” You looked up to Sebastian. “I’ve… I’ve worked with Eyefestation a lot. You know this. I think… I think we can try to convince Eyefestation to help us!”

“Are you kidding me?! I am NOT letting you go out there!” Sebastian retorted back. “You were always in a controlled environment, we cannot risk you going out there!”

Painter grabbed your shoulder, pulling you back. “Sebastian is right… I… Neither of us want to see you getting hurt!” 

But determination blinded you, if there was anyone who can change the mind of any subject it was you. Eyefestation was one of your most important projects along with Sebastian. You knew you could talk with the shark and that it won’t end with your death!

“Trust me on this.” You finally replied with, a plea and a request at once. Sebastian looked over at Painter and vice versa. Conflict clear on both of their faces. 

“I swear to god if something happens to you, it’s on sight.” Sebastian reluctantly moved to the side, letting you pass. “If anything happens, scream out and I’ll get there as fast as possible. It makes me mad how easy it was for you to convince me.”

With a nod, you walked through the doorway. 

“Thank you, Sebastian, your trust means the world to me. Yours too, Painter.” You say before locking your eyes to the ground.

No matter what, you cannot look up.

You can only trust every other instinct. 

Gulping nervously, you made your way to which the green light was strongest. 

And there, the shark spoke. 

“It’s you.” 

A feminine voice spoke out, deep into your mind. 

“I’ve seen many before you, all have fallen, why are you still here? How are you still alive? Standing?”

The pull was weak, Eyefestation knew who you were, your plan worked, it didn’t see you as a threat at all. 

“I’m not sure.” You replied in your mind. Thanks to Eyefestations telepathy, you didn’t have to say a thing out loud. “I’m not working with them anymore, those that hurt you. But I have an offer.”

“How come you aren’t working with them anymore?” Eyefestation started, “Wait.”

Before you could question what it meant, you heard a screech beside you. 

“I know you humans are fragile, while you are here with me I’ll keep you safe.” The shark spoke calmly, the light it emitted got brighter. “What is the offer you speak of?”

“I’ll explain to you another time why I quit, there’s no time to explain.” You let out a nervous breath. “You got let out by another subject, Sebastian, big… blue fish guy with a light.”

“I’ve seen him, he spoke to me.”

“Great. Then there’s no need for introductions.” You took a deep breath, you knew Sebastian and Painter were watching, nervous but ready to jump at any sight of distress. “He freed all of you to make time, turn Urbanshade upside down, contact a rival company and hopefully get some of you out.”

“I see.” The shark spoke, moving around as the light moved with it. “And what more am I supposed to do?”

“Kill everyone you see except Sebastian or I.” You communicated plainly leaving no room for doubt.

“Very well.” 

“No resistance?”

“Why would I resist when I was given freedom, doctor?”

Eyefestation’s response made you pause. For it, just being free of its containment was enough freedom? Why stop at something so small? Why not wish for so much more? 

“I hear what you think.” The bullshark spoke again. “I don’t see myself leaving that far, these waters are enough for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Their deaths will be enough of a reward for me to stay.” 

“I see…”

“Will killing them ensure more of your safety?”

“... Yes.”

“Good, then I’ll make sure to kill every one of them. Promise to stay alive.”

“Eyefestation.”

“Yes?”

“... Nevermind.”

“Doctor,” Eyefestation spoke again, “thank you for your work with me. It was a relief compared to how they treated me. You have treated me… ‘humanly’, which is a bit ironic.” 

“I guess it is.”

“I’ll keep my word, I’ll make sure none of them leave alive.” The green light dimmed in the room. “Keep your promise with me.”

“I will.”

“Until next time.” 

Deep inside your gut, you wonder if there will even be a next time. An anxiety that starts gnawing at you like there was no tomorrow. You hoped there was a tomorrow.

“Goodbye Eyefestation.”

But the shark didn’t comment, the light dimming in the room before it eclipsed into darkness.

Before long, a brighter, yellower light covered the room. Sebastian slithered fast to you, his angler light bright as he looked down at you.

“You… you um… okay?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?” Painter ran to the two of you, originally standing next to Sebastian before suddenly pulling you in for a hug. “It was so quiet and I got worried and I heard a screech and I got so scared and-”

“I’m okay Painter.” You wrapped your arms back around it, feeling him relax before pulling away and grabbing your cheeks between its hands. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Eyefestation just speaks through telepathy.” You explained, looking between Painter and Sebastian. “I just had a conversation with it, Eyefestation is on our side and will make sure we are safe.”

Sebastian seemed taken aback as you spoke.

“It was that easy?” He put his hands up almost in surrender. “Damn, sorry for underestimating you.”

“You’ve got yourself to thank for that, Eyefestation remembered you were the one who freed it.”

“Really?” Sebastian replied incredulously. “Well, sorry for underestimating both you AND Eyefestation.”

You smiled pridefully, happy that your plan worked. Painter smiled back, pulling you into another hug with a giggle.

“You’re so amazing!” It pulled back, pressing his screen against your face. The bright screen was overwhelming in the dark space but knowing it was Painter, you didn’t quite mind.

Before you could soak up the moment, Sebastian’s voice cut through.

“I’d love for you two to enjoy your time together but now’s not the time.”

“Fineeee…” Painter let out sarcastically, hand slipping into yours before continuing forward.

“Since when did you learn sarcasm?!” The Handy Man leaned down, looking between you and Painter before straightening up with a scoff. “Let’s get going.”

Painter shook its head before giggling as he looked over at you. Pulling your hand as Sebastian led the way.

The room was still only illuminated by Sebastian’s esca light as he went on to open the next door. Looking behind you, you finally spared a glance to look around the room to look at whatever Eyefestation seemed to have killed.

It seemed to be yet another instance of Z-90.

… You didn’t think they had eyes.

The walk back to Painter’s room and by extension Heavy Containment was otherwise uneventful.

Not without Sebastian randomly changing the route occasionally saying that he had a “bad feeling” going through one door.

It seemed that Heavy Containment was still mostly safe.

Finally, you were all back to the safety of Painter’s room.

Sebastian made quick work, hands digging into one of the boxes that contained some of Painter’s extra parts. 

You glanced over at Painter, with him nudging its head over at his desk. 

“I think I can go back there,” it started, “might as well charge the body, right?”

Letting out a nod, you walked over with Painter back to his enclosure, separating it from its body before connecting him back to the devices on the desk. 

Neither of you spoke, as if the gravity of the situation was starting to settle once again. 

… That was until Sebastian spoke again.

“Oh wow, thanks guys for speeding up the process. I did need him on the desk, convenient. It’s like you read my mind!” He moved inside the enclosure, a grin broke out on his face before he sobered up, putting down a laptop on the desk as well as some cables.

“What’s this?” You side stepped, giving Sebastian the space to place himself generally in front of Painter. “You’re not going to do anything to hurt him, right?”

“Of course not, who the hell do you think I am?!” 

Sebastian started connecting the laptop to Painter with some cables, finally plugging in a USB inside the laptop.

Painter’s face moved to the side slightly, as if it was trying to look at what Sebastian was doing before looking back forward.

“Uh… What are you doing…?”

Sebastian only grumbled as he typed the password inside the laptop with the tip of his claws.

“Okay fine, I guess I can explain.” His eyes stayed focused on the screen, opening different programs and bypassing admin privileges. How could he be doing that on the company computers..? “I made a backdoor on you a while back, just for this specific moment.”

Moving the chair closer to you, you sat down on it, leaving just a little more space for Sebastian.

“You’ve been planning this for a long time, haven’t you?”

Sebastian only laughed as Painter looked awkwardly between both you and him. 

“Exactly! I've been planning this for months. The privileges that you managed to get us with making this body in the robotics division was as if you put everything on a silver platter just for me.” His claws moved rapidly over the laptop, as he didn’t use a mouse he used all the keyboard commands to move around the screen. “Wanna guess what I’m trying to do?”

“I couldn’t even guess you were going to do all of this.” You motioned around the room, letting out a sigh as Painter stayed silent.

“Well, I’ll put it simply for you, I’m hacking inside Urbanshade.” 

“What?”

Sebastian only let out a loud laugh, putting one of his hands to adjust one of the straps of his tank top. 

“I managed to break through some of the security. Specifically the defense system funnily enough but also the camera systems. The moment I found out just what I managed to enter in, I would back out and make sure my traces were not there. I’m surprised that they have it just so easy to get in.”

“When did you even figure out how to enter!?”

“Jeez, quiet down I’m right beside you.” Sebastian’s ear fins lowered slightly, did he not even realize how loud he was being? “When we were working on Painter’s body, if I reached my quota for the day I would explore around a bit their security. That’s all.”

You glanced back at the laptop, the amount of code on the screen almost made you dizzy. Since when could Sebastian hack inside? Unless he had outside help… but you’re the only outside help that he has! 

… That you know of, that is.

“What’s your plan anyways with this?”

Sebastian let out a sly grin before chuckling again, someone was confident. 

“We’re gonna make Painter control everything.” 

“WHAT?!” Painter finally talked, exclaiming as his face changed into something of equal shock. “I… I can’t do all of that?!”

“Well, you’re going to.” Sebastian shrugged. “You’re going to be our recon and well… you might need to kill people on the way.”

Painter’s face darted around the screen before settling in your general direction. A wordless plea for help.

But here you were not exactly sure what to make of Sebastian’s request.

“You’re serious.” 

“Of course I’m serious, are you kidding me?” Sebastian crossed two of his arms, his third one simply lying on his torso. “What, don’t tell me you’re too much of a coward to kill anyone.”

“He’s not being a coward.” You retorted back, crossing your arms back. “We’re supposed to take the peaceful way out, not…”

For all the years you’ve worked in Urbanshade, you were different. You didn’t so freely kill everyone you saw. You didn’t resort to violence like everyone.

But you knew you were being a hypocrite. You told Eyefestation to kill on sight. As if the moment blinded you. Why were you so self righteous now?

“Listen.” Sebastian straightened up, making sure to rise enough to look down at you. “You saw me earlier, my poor jacket. I killed the guard that I stole the ID from, you know. Do you know how many people I killed to get here? I’m just giving them a taste of their own medicine.”

Sebastian snarled as he looked down at you, the gills on his neck opened up simply with the agitation that he felt.

“There’s no choice. It’s a kill or be killed world.”

A quiet static filled the room, notifying how Painter was going to speak.

“I don’t… want to kill anyone.”

Sebastian sighed, shoulders slumping down as he looked back at Painter.

“I know, I didn’t want to kill either.” With another sigh, Sebastian lowered himself to be in front of Painter’s monitor. “But if it’s between my freedom and their survival, I’ve been here for too many years to even consider their life. They took away mine, so why should I care about theirs?”

Silence got between all of you. A moment that became common now in the light of the lockdown.

“I promise that I’ll get all of us out of here.” Sebastian started sincerely, his voice gentle. “You can paint landscapes again, you can feel grass again, you can see the sun again, isn’t that enough reason to try?”

You saw how Sebastian’s selection on the laptop was right at the run button, all that he needed was Painter’s consent. 

Looking back at Painter, you could see the conflict on its face. The hesitation that came with taking lives in exchange of his own. 

“I… I guess I can try. For our freedom.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Sebastian cheered, immediately pressing the run button to send over the code to Painter. 

The next moments were spent with Sebastian explaining to Painter the ins and out of what he understood from the security system.

First it was the cameras, in which Painter seemed to get a good hang of. It was easy to switch around the cameras in the Blacksite. 

Then it was the turrets.

“All you gotta do is aim… then shoot!” Sebastian said as you both looked at Painter’s screen. 

Currently, Painter’s face was at the corner of his screen, the rest of its screen showing a camera angle in which you could see the turret. 

Carefully, Painter aimed at a flowerpot before shooting it successfully. 

“Yes!” Painter let out, grinning at the corner. “My depth perception is not that good to take great aim at these things.”

You let out a sigh, walking closer to Painter’s screen as you patted the top of it.

“You did great, Painter!” You smiled, or at least tried to, given the situation. “Just… imagine the room like a canvas and your bullets like your brush.”

Sebastian perked up as he heard you.

“Hm? Good analogy.” He put a finger on his chin. “If you think about it, you’ll also have paint in the form of-”

“Sebastian shut up.” You immediately shut him down, earning a shrug from him.

Before he could speak, suddenly there was a voice that came from nowhere. Sebastian quickly opened one of his bags, taking out the walkie talkie that he had.

“Did you say something… over?” Sebastian pressed on a button on the side before letting go, waiting for a second before hearing the most audible sigh on the other side.

“Yes, of course I did, are you an idiot!?” Trips’ voice came from the device, clearly frustrated. But still continuing knowing that if they didn’t, Sebastian would comment about it. “... Over.”

“Okay damn,” Sebastian grumbled, “any updates, over?”

A silence followed soon after, Sebastian glanced over at you then at Painter before there was another crackle from the device. “I managed to acquire the device I mentioned prior. All that it needs is to be transported to you, over.”

“What even is this device, over.”

“You’ll see.” Trips said plainly, a silence following once again before they spoke. “My only problem is that I unfortunately don’t know this place as well as I once did. I request we meet up at the exit of the Robotics Division, over.”

“You’d hate to ruin your precious systems again, eh Trips?” Sebastian laughed. “I also wouldn’t forgive you if you destroyed my hard work so, fine, I’ll go there then, over.”

“Good, I’ll wait for you at the entrance, contact me when you’re here, over.”

“Sounds good to me, over.” 

Trips didn’t reply before Sebastian sighed, putting the walkie talkie back into one of his bags.

“Looks like I have to take a quick detour, not like I already wasn’t going to.” Sebastian shrugged, digging into another one of his bags to pull out another pair of walkie talkies. “I’ll leave one here so we can communicate. These were my emergency ones in case the other ones broke, didn’t think I’d have more than one ally.”

You looked over at the device, lips pressed into a thin line before looking at Sebastian.

“Let me go with you.”

“What? No, absolutely not.”

“I’m not weak, Sebastian.”

“Did you not see Trips earlier? That is the kind of injury you can get. I am NOT letting you out of here.”

“Do you really think I can’t defend myself?”

“No, not really!” Sebastian retorted back, he was frustrating. He always trusted you with everything, what’s different to now?!

Looking between the two of you, Painter reluctantly spoke.

“The… The route to the Robotics Division seems to be completely safe!” It was careful but quickly changed its screen to show the rooms. “You two can just take the path which we came, and you will be completely okay! I can look from over here and warn you guys if there’s anything in the way.”

Sebastian clenched his teeth before putting a hand on his face, expression tense before he relented.

“Fine. FINE. You win.” He grumbled again, digging into his bags to pull out a cable. Connecting the cable to Painter, he connected the other side to the walkie talkie. “You should be able to turn on and off the walkie talkie now, just a toggle, try communicating with me.”

Sebastian pulled out the matching device to the one Painter had as Painter’s mouth did a quick “o”. 

Moving his face to the side, Painter spoke. It seemed to be the exact same before you heard with a slight delay his voice in the walkie talkie.

“Great, it works.” Sebastian sighed, pushing the walkie talkie in his hands over to you. “You’re going to be holding onto this. Don’t make me regret this.”

Quickly, before Sebastian could change his mind, you grabbed the device, holding it close to your chest.

“Let’s go then.” You nodded, glancing back at Painter. Taking in a deep breath, you approached him. “Stay safe.”

“I will.” Painter spoke back, putting out a determined smile. “You stay safe too, be careful!”

“Remember to keep our paths clear.” You reminded, leaning in to kiss the corner of his monitor, earning a giggle from it. “It won’t be the last one.” 

“It better not be, I’ll miss you!”

“I’ll miss you too!” You blew a kiss over at Painter following Sebastian outside of the room.

Sebastian let out a sigh as he glanced over at you. 

“Stay close, okay?” He sighed before putting out the gun that Trips had out of his belt, motioning for you to grab it. “Think you can use a gun? I’d rather you could defend yourself.”

Looking at the gun, you took a deep breath. This whole time you were more of a pacifist with all the other subjects, being the one to actually hurt them is a whole different thing.

It made you wonder if you were really no different than the rest of Urbanshade.

“I can try.”

“That’s all I need.” 

The two of you started walking back, a backtrack from the path you have already done. 

How many more times would you need to take this path?

“I was surprised to see that gun, you know?” Sebastian started. “Not because Trips had it, but because it’s sawed off.”

You didn’t once let go of the gun, the object feeling heavy in your hands. Finally looking at it, you didn’t once notice how it really looked.

“It doesn’t seem like their style.” Sebastian continued. “That freak likes to keep things at a distance yet had a weapon that had to have been made for this moment and mostly shorter range. Why?”

“I’m not sure.” You replied quietly, letting out a sigh as you looked back forward. 

Yet one thing bothered you, even after becoming allies, Sebastian still referred to Trips negatively. 

What was going on in his mind that he wouldn’t let go?

“Sebastian.”

“What’s up?”

“Why are you so harsh with Trips?” You looked up at him, his expression unreadable. “Weirdly enough, I feel like they take most of your treatment, I’ve never seen them act like that with anyone else.”

“Maybe they are just scared of me.”

“Sebastian, a proper answer please. We both know you don’t actually think that.” You frowned, you just wanted answers. “We both know they wouldn’t be afraid of you.”

“Why does it matter?” Sebastian replied harshly, it felt like a sensitive subject but you weren’t going to let it be.

“Because we are now allies and we have to get along.”

At that Sebastian stayed quiet, glancing over to the side before brushing his hair back with one of his hands.

“I don’t know how much they’ve told you… about me.” He relented, letting out a sigh. “We met when I just got here and they were about to get out I guess.”

You stayed silent, letting him speak. Sebastian didn’t seem quite happy at the idea that you didn’t stop him however, letting out a grumble.

“We were both LR-Ps, met at the community area, they were playing chess alone like a loser. I was surprised there was even a community area for LR-Ps in the first place but here we were.” He shrugged, opening the door to the next room. “I remember exchanging why we were both here, Jesus Christ were they completely insane.” 

“But why the hostility..?” You asked after a silence from Sebastian, he let out a dangerous chuckle.

“Simple really, they managed to become a scientist while I stayed prisoner.” He held a bitter tone to his voice. “They climbed up the ranks while I stayed behind.”

Sebastian snarled, teeth clenching as he looked forward.

“On the bright side, when we saw each other again they wanted to make my situation better so badly they’ve done a lot of bullshit for me. Makes me feel like I’ve been taking advantage of them since I wouldn’t mind them dying.” He laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if their approval of Painter’s body was because they were trying to get on my good side, ha, what a JOKE.”

His words resounded in the room. 

His indifference spoke louder than anything. 

A reminder that the Sebastian you knew was only a small facet of the one he is.

“You can’t… possibly mean that.” You spoke a little bit uncomfortable. 

“You… Would never understand what it means to be in my place.” He replied. “Some people are just born expendable, if they are stupid enough to give their all in the process, then that’s not my problem.”

“Sebastian, listen to yourself!” You grabbed onto his arm, forcing him to look down at you. His face showed coldness, he didn’t care. “If you didn’t care then you wouldn’t have tried to fix them!”

“I had to because they were still useful!” 

“You did that because deep down you still care!” You didn’t care if someone heard you. “You always cared, that’s why you would get me food when I didn’t eat, or a blanket if I was cold!”

“I only care about you, you idiot!” He screamed back. “No one in this hell hole matters! I’m confident that you won’t backstab my ass but we don’t know about that stupid robot!” 

“You could say the same thing about Painter.” You replied bitterly. “Yet you gave him admin rights to the security of the Blacksite, what’s to say he doesn’t come and aim a turret right at you.”

Sebastian paused, eyes searching your face.

“Why must you question me?”

“Because you refuse to trust someone else, Sebastian.” You took a deep breath, you knew where he came from but it was hard to really understand it when he was the same person who offered an alliance. “To work together, we have to trust each other, without thinking that one of us is going to betray the other. If what you say is true, I don’t think Trips is going to betray you… or any of us in that matter.”

The Handy Man looked down at you, his expression was still tense but just like all the other times, he relented, shoulders slumping slightly.

“Fine. I don’t trust them, and I never will, but for you I’ll give it a chance. But—” Sebastian poked a finger to your chest accusingly. “—if anything happens to ANY of us because of them, they will get disassembled quick.”

“We will be okay, Sebastian.” 

He only sighed again,

“Don’t make me regret this.”

Feeling a slight buzz at the walkie talkie, you grabbed it, hearing Painter suddenly at the other side.

“Are you two, okay? I don’t want to say that I saw an argument but…”

You looked over at Sebastian who only shook his head.

“No, it’s all under control.”

“Okay, great!” Painter replied at the other side, letting out a sigh of relief. “Actually, I wanted to let you both know that if you take the door to the left, you should have a shortcut plus it will be safer.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm!” Glancing over back at Sebastian, he nodded as he changed paths to the left side as Painter suggested. “I’ll keep on the look out, don’t worry you two, you’re both safe with me!”

“Thanks buddy.” Sebastian finally talked, opening the door to the next room as he motioned with his head to continue forward. 

“We’ll keep in touch.” You reply back, putting the walkie talkie on your clothes. “How come you don’t do the whole ‘over’ thing like you do with Trips?”

“I like messing with them.” Sebastian replied curtly, as if it was the most obvious answer.

“I… see…”

The rest of the path was easy as the two of you finally made your way back to the Robotics Division. The moment you did, Sebastian pulled out his walkie talkie, ready to let his presence be known.

“We’re here, over.”

Both you and Sebastian looked forward, sparing a glance at each other before continuing your walk.

As you enter the Robotics Division, you are greeted by the Overseer. 

They changed their outfit slightly, now sporting a harness with firearms as well as a new belt to hold their ID card after having their coat be completely ripped earlier. It was odd to see their tail out in full view instead of peeking from their lab coat.

But what really caught your eye was the black device that they held in one of their hands.

Wasn’t that the secret device that you helped them with?

Sebastian spoke first, moving closer as he did.

“Well, what do we have here?”

Trips raised their arm, moving the device closer to Sebastian. 

“I think out of everyone, you should be the one to carry it. I installed a strap as well to make it easier.” Sebastian raised a brow skeptically in response, as if urging Trips to continue. “It won’t hurt you, now take it before I change my mind.”

With a grumble, Sebastian grabbed the device from the strap, looking at it from all sides.

“What’s this supposed to be.”

“A secret Urbanshade weapon, the Scrambler.” Trips started, adjusting their glasses. “It is made to scramble, hence the name, any sort of signals from technology. For example, communications can be completely made void with this.”

“Oh?”

Trips nodded.

“I’m sure you remember this project.” They looked over at you with a nod. “It wasn’t finished, it needed testing, but I believe if you want your little plan to remain a secret… then that might be your solution.”

Sebastian pulled the Scrambler closer to him, taking a closer look at the device.

“How do we turn it on?”

“There’s a button on the side,” Trips walked closer, raising their tail to tap where the button would be, “though I must warn you, the Scrambler is known to be a bit faulty around machines. I already put the necessary exceptions in the form of myself and Painter in case you bring such a device close to him.”

Sebastian looked over at you, you could only shrug at him.

“I’d say it’s a good asset to have.” You replied with, scratching the back of your neck. “I’ve seen it work, it completely breaks signals. Maybe we could be able to stop some communications?”

“I wouldn’t give you such an experimental, unfinished project if I wasn’t confident that it could help you.” Trips crossed their arms, brows furrowing slightly. 

“Alright, fine.” Sebastian relented, pressing the button on the scrambler as it let out a green hue. “Seems like it works.”

“Did you really think I would get you a device that wouldn’t work?”

“You never know.” Sebastian moved the strap of the device over his shoulder, thanks to his size, the strap barely fit comfortably. 

Before they could continue whatever they would talk about, you decide to talk first.

“We should group up.” You looked between the two of them. “Then we can think up our plan.”

“Sounds good to me.” Sebastian said as Trips nodded. 

Seems like there was going to be yet another back and forth, part of you was already wondering when this was going to end.

“Ah, before I forget.” Trips started, Sebastian had moved to be behind the two of you, untrusting of the Overseer. “It is a good thing that you have already turned on the Scrambler.”

“How come?” You asked, looking over at them as you opened the next room. This was getting repetitive.

“I got in contact with HQ, apparently they’ve been meaning to get into contact with me for a while now.” They continued, moving their hands behind their back. “They brought me up to speed on their plans, so there’s one thing less to worry about.”

“This is the time where you tell us their plan, you know.” Sebastian said sarcastically, only earning a dead-panned look from Trips.

“I was going to get into that if you didn’t interrupt me.” They let out a sigh, shaking their head before continuing. “First and foremost, Sebastian is now referred to as the Saboteur.” 

“Oh wow how original, let me guess, it’s because I sabotaged their plans.”

“... Urbanshade’s naming skills were never their strong suit.”

“Tell me about it.” 

“Secondly, they are trying to get Z-2, the crystal that powers the Blacksite. They’ve been sending down guards to try to retrieve it but all the monsters seem to have been picking them all off dry. The losses are getting too much for them.”

You side glanced over at Trips, then back at Sebastian. The latter only let out an awkward smile.

“Guess that’s where all the monsters went…” You muttered.

“That’s not all however,” Trips continued, “sending down the guards seemed to be unfruitful, they lost too many assets so they decided to start the Expendable Protocol. From what I understand, they have some prisoners whose lives are so insignificant to them to try to retrieve the crystal.”

“That’s bullshit.” Sebastian snarled. “Those bastards can’t do anything themselves huh, always have to go throw someone in the fire pit.”

“So be it, it doesn’t seem to affect us at all.” Trips replied, looking back at Sebastian. “However, if you wish to have more time for this plan of yours, I suggest adding on to try to stop anyone from accessing that crystal.”

“Right…” 

“Ah, but before I forget.” Trips dug into their pockets, pulling out some tokens. “This is… confidential, but I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Here, take some of these.”

You and Sebastian spared glances at each other before grabbing some of the coins. Sebastian seemed to grab them between two of his fingers, bringing it up to eye level as the light shone on it. 

“How familiar are the two of you with the Greek Mythos?” Trips spoke again, playing with one of the tokens between their fingers. “Specifically the Ferrymen who take souls through the River Styx.”

“Uh, a little bit?” Sebastian replied, looking back down at Trips. 

“The Ferryman is real, Urbanshade made a deal to bring back some of the personnel as long as—” Trips motioned to the coins in both of your hands. “—you have the payment.”

You looked down at the coin, you swear you’ve seen it before.

“Who is allowed these coins..?”

“Anyone high ranked is allowed one, in an envelope, you might’ve gotten one after a couple of years working here. It simply means you are an asset they cannot afford to lose.” Trips looked to the side, shaking their head. “Overseers are given a larger quantity, not for us but rather to give the privilege to those who excel. We are the ones who choose those that are gifted with a second chance at life. I simply took some of the coins and gave it to both of you. A contingency plan if you may, in case any of you die.”

“How morbid.” Sebastian grumbled, ultimately stuffing the coins inside his pocket. “I won’t let them kill me, but I… appreciate the safety net.”

You’re not quite sure if there was any more conversation between the three of you as you got extremely focused on making sure nothing suddenly jumped the three of you.

Before you knew it, you were back in Painter’s room. 

“Hi!” Painter greeted eagerly, glad to see all of you still in one piece. “I’m so happy you’re all back… safely.”

The three of you entered the room, with Sebastian accidentally hitting the Scrambler against the doorway.

“What’s that?” Painter asked, clearly interested in the new device strapped on Sebastian’s back.

“The Scrambler.” Trips answered plainly, keeping a comfortable distance between themselves and Sebastian. “It’s a device to intercept signals, with this, we should be able to stop communications between Urbanshade personnel. Keeping everyone, but Sebastian, in a grey area. Unless either of us, excluding Sebastian, shows any clear antagonistic signs, they should think we are on their side.”

“Wow, thanks for constantly casually mentioning that I’m the bad guy.” Sebastian grumbled, moving closer to Painter’s enclosure. “Anywho, how are you holding up, buddy? Cameras working well?”

“According to plan!” Painter chirped with a grin. “Is there anything else?”

“Just need to collect some more things.” Sebastian looked over at you. “In the room I showed you, remember? The last detour we need.”

“Wait,” you spoke first, “before you go, what… what else did you free..?”

“Erm…” Sebastian let out a shrug. “Every door that I passed I opened. Can’t really pin down what I specifically freed.”

At his words, you could feel stress piling up. Instead of the fear that you felt earlier now you felt frustrated. In a way, it meant no one knew what sort of monsters could attack. 

In another way, “no one” included you.

“Great…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?!” Sebastian pouted, putting two of his hands on his hips as he looked down at you.

You could only let out a sign, shaking your head. It’s not that you were disappointed but knowing some of these would be useful simply for the knowledge on just what you were dealing with. Not to mention that it was your job to analyze some of these monsters, you know how to survive quite a bit. 

Now if only Sebastian knew what he even freed in the first place.

“Excuse me.” Painter spoke, making the three of you look over at it. “I managed to find one of the monsters through the cameras. Maybe you can identify it?”

At his words, you turned over at its monitor where Painter changed to the camera footage from some place in the Blacksite.

The footage showed one of the hallways, a trail of blood connected two doorways with a red claw barely seen through one of the doors.

Your brows furrowed as you went around Painter’s enclosure to pass through the door, standing right in front of his monitor. Sebastian stayed behind the metal fence while Trips joined your side.

… You had no idea what that was.

“What is that..?”

Sebastian let out a chuckle behind you, ready to say a snarky remark before Trips stopped him with their own interruption.

“That’s one of the creatures that attacked me!” They moved one of their hands to their shoulder. The one that was previously injured as their fingers trailed the area. “Here, the biggest injury was done by them.”

“How did it look like?” You quickly replied back. “Tell me what you remember.”

Trips crossed their arms, shoulders slumping with a sigh.

“It was… a mass. Completely covered in blood, it seemed as if it was made of… guts. To say it was a gnarly, disgusting sight would be an understatement. It was repulsive.” They shook their head, fingers going at their glasses as they furrowed their brows. “I’m not familiar with many of the subjects, it’s simply not my field. However, the most important note was that it had a smiling mask. It's like a theater mask. Does that clear up anything..?”

“A theater mask?”

Sebastian looked between all of you, before letting out a quick “ah” pulling the attention from the three of you.

“I remember picking up a mask when I was escaping, it was one of the first things I saw.” He explained, recalling the events. “Put it on some poor scientist, it was like they uh… melted in front of me, started fusing with other people, I ran outta there real quick.”

With the knowledge, it was as if a light bulb lit up above your head. Sebastian seemed to have had a similar thought as you both looked at each other as he snapped his fingers.

“It has to be Z-96!”

Sebastian opened his arms excitedly, letting out a grin as you both exclaimed the same code.

“EYY!! Come over here!” Sebastian moved to the doorway, bending down slightly as he presented a hand. You easily high-fived him as you did when you both succeeded in something. “Looks like we DO share a singular brain cell.”

“Thanks for the compliment Sebastian.” You said sarcastically yet still had a small smirk. It’s nice to still have this sort of interaction with Sebastian even through this whole situation.

“Who’s Z-96?” Painter asked, Trips tilting their head to the side seemingly having a similar question.

“Mask of Sadness.” You spoke at the same time as Sebastian, making you both look at each other. Maybe you do share a singular brain cell.

Trips moved their hands up, palms facing the two of you in a stopping motion.

“One at a time, please.”

You put up a hand, grabbing Sebastian’s wrist as to wordlessly tell him that you would speak.

“It’s basically in—Layman's terms—a mask that eats and consumes anything organic by instinct and makes it become part of its body.” You looked over at Sebastian. “It’s a miracle Sebastian didn’t get absorbed.” 

Sebastian let out an awkward chuckle as Trips put a hand on their chin. “Organic… So that’s why I didn’t become one with it. I wasn’t ‘alive’.”

You nodded, only to hear Painter try to clear his throat with the best of its abilities with his synthetic voicebox.

“What if we tried bringing them to our side?” Painter chirped in.

Immediately, Trips turned in Painter's direction sternly. 

“And how do you suppose we bring this mass of…” They made a motion with their hand. “… flesh to assist us!? If it thinks through instinct, it cannot think like we do. How will you convince it to…”

“It used to be human right? Surely it must-“ You theorized before getting interrupted.

“This is hardly the same thing. Do not be ridiculous!” 

There was a silence between all of you before Trips looked to the side.

“Listen, I… understand that you want to figure out the best for everyone involved. But that thing attacked me earlier. If I was fully human I would have died then and there from blood loss, if not become one with it.” They shivered, putting a hand where the injury was.”

While Trips looked awkward, you let out a sigh.

“Earlier, we managed to tame Eyefestion. If Eyefestation is possible to tame, The Mask of Sadness is possible too.” 

You put a hand on your chin. “But how…”

Sebastian leaned back against the wall.

“Maybe we can use it as a killing machine.” He shrugged, throwing the idea out. “I didn’t interact with it much, but like Trips said, it does seem almost brainless.”

“Where are you going with this?”

Sebastian approached you, tilting his head.

“This thing only knows how to kill and multiply.” He grinned before going back to where he was. “If we are careful and stay as far away as we can. We can try to lead the guys after the Crystal to Z-96 no?”

“That seems rather…” You trailed off, you knew that for the sake of your survival and escape. It meant killing others. But you couldn’t push down the gut feeling of what you were doing. You didn’t want to, and you felt as if your teammates have now accepted it while you still doubted if you were truly in the right.

Before you could question any longer, Trips put their hand on your shoulder, squeezing as if comfort before speaking.

“What’s your plan then?”

“Well…” 

“Wait!” Painter interrupted suddenly as Sebastian took his long pause. “I have an idea.”

“Oh?” Sebastian crossed his arms, looking over at Painter with a smirk. “And what would that be buddy?”

Painter smiled before changing his screen to the cameras.

“I have access to a lot of Urbanshade stuff now.” It started, changing to one of the cameras looking at two doors. “I realized that there were numbers on the doors, seemingly leading to what I can only assume is the crystal you guys are talking about.”

Numbers on the doors? You only remember seeing that… 

N.A.V.I.! Urbanshade must be using N.A.V.I. to lead people to the crystal!

Painter continued but you had a feeling where it was going.

“I realized earlier that I could change the door signals, look.”

On queue, the door that clearly showed it was closed changed into a matching number as the real door.

“Ooh… well isn’t that convenient.” Sebastian chirped.

“Yes! I was thinking if we can move this Mask of Sadness thing to one of these rooms and then make the number fake… that’s how we can lead people to it!”

Sebastian laughs wholeheartedly, coming through the enclosure’s door to give Painter a head pat.

“You’re a NATURAL at this, knew I could count on you buddy!”

Trips however, did not seem too convinced.

“But how will you lead this creature to one of the rooms?” They looked back at the camera still shown on Painter’s screen, the being that the Mask of Sadness embodied still writhed against the floor. “Its arm seems to stay static.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll figure it out. I’ll lead it.” Sebastian confirmed. 

“It’s rather dangerous for an organic being to get so close.”

“I don’t see any other options here, seeing that you refuse to interact with them.”

Trips looked to the side, biting their lip slightly awkwardly. 

“Fine. I’ll… I’ll try to somehow get that creature's arm in there.”

“Atta boy! I’ll go with you, so you don’t gotta worry one bit.” Sebastian chuckled to himself. “I have an idea.”

Sebastian looked between you and Painter.

“Alright, here’s the plan. You two stay here, just monitor, call us through the walkie talkie if you need anything.” He crossed his arms. “Don’t leave this room under any circumstance unless I tell you two to. I’ll come back after my quick errand.”

After Sebastian, Trips spoke, putting their hands behind their back. 

“We’ll try to push Z-96 inside the room, all you have to do is change the number accordingly.” They then looked over at Sebastian. “I believe we should split up after we finish taking care of Z-96.”

“Oh?”

“I’ll help monitor through the Robotics Division, it is better if Urbanshade believes I am helping them over wondering if I disappeared or worse, betrayed them.” Trips looked between you and Painter. “I’ll be one call away. I have full control of the machinery in that division so no need to worry for my safety there. If there are any complications, I’ll assist the best I can through there.”

“Seems legit.” Sebastian muttered, moving closer to both you and Painter and putting a hand on both of you. “This room should be safe, stay here. Promise?”

Looking over at Sebastian, you put a hand on his wrist, letting out a determined smile. 

“I promise. You stay safe too.”

“I will.” Sebastian matched your expression, ending with a chuckle as he looked back at Painter. “I’ll come back with a turret, then we can upgrade your arm to have turrets! It was one of my original ideas, you know, and I won’t pass up the opportunity!”

Sebastian winked as he did finger guns, you completely forgot he had suggested that when you still worked on Painter’s body. He was serious?!

Painter full-screened his face on its monitor, letting out a smile.

“We’ll be okay here, you two stay safe!” Painter looked over at you. “Better knowing that we have each other as company. I would be so scared.”

You leaned against the table that held Painter, putting a hand on its monitor as you nodded over at Sebastian and Trips as they both approached the door.

Before leaving, Trips did a quick salute as they walked out as Sebastian looked behind him one last time with a grin.

I did this doodle because I can't envision ANYTHING (aphantasia moment :[ ) so I thought drawing out the scene would help but I don't think it would ever see the light of day otherwise so here have it as a bonus

You stared in front of you, eyes unable to focus on the screen in front of you.

It was all just noise to you, the hours passed as if nothing.

You clicked on the top of your pen, wanting to at least fill the void of the silence.

Humming slightly, you let out a sigh.

You are not completing any work today are you?

Stretching in your seat, you looked around your new office. It wasn’t terrible. It was just extremely… white. Everything was clean, pristine. Convenience was of utmost importance in the Robotics Division and you have to admit the automatic drink maker in your office was nice.

However, one thing was clearly missing from your office.

Sebastian.

He’s never been gone for so many days, Urbanshade likes to take him hostage for days, yes, but not almost a week.

Talk about bad timing. Looking over at the corner of your screen that displayed the day, you shrugged.

You were hoping he would be back on the 13th so you could actually bid him farewell before you went on your vacation and get him all the things in the neat little list he made for you every year.

Truth be told, you were a bit worried.

But as you remember his words to not worry one bit every single time he actually notifies you when he vanishes, your worries calmed down a bit.

Even as there was an inkling of doubt in your mind between the talks you had with Sebastian and later Trips about transferring and the like.

Talking about transferring, the transfer between the divisions was a lot less harsh than you expected. While you had to let go of your old busted up office that you quite liked, your new office was fine.

That and Trips managed to convince the Hadal head to let you still see Painter under the guise of being their own personal project! Talk about convenience.

You were a bit sad you couldn’t see the Hadal subjects that you did like to see, such as Eyefestation, you’re sure you’ll miss the giant shark. Not like you already don’t miss Eyefestation.

Sebastian was still allowed to follow you around and be your assistant. Matter of fact, he made himself known just as quickly and proceeded to raid the community kitchen the best he could as of course he had to steal someone’s meal.

You couldn’t stop thinking about some days ago, when he did exactly that.

His disappointment was immeasurable as he shook his head. “The food… what am I even supposed to steal from there?” He looked at you incredulously. “Did you even see what they serve your co-workers??? IT’S SLOP.”

Sebastian put his hands on your desk, moving your laptop to the side with his third hand. “They don’t even make their own meals, it’s all… I don’t even know what it is!” Sebastian said in panic. Straightening up as he shook his head. “Slop!”

“What are you even talking about?” You closed your laptop, leaning back into your chair as you had looked up at him, as you always did.

“The Robotics Division.” He answered matter-of-factly. “Since I can still use my keycard to just enter places in the Robotics Division still, I thought it would be a brilliant idea to raid their kitchen!”

Sebastian leaned back down, elbows on your table as he leaned on his hands. “Big mistake.”

“Yeah? I haven't seen the food there yet.”

“It’s stuff from NIGHTMARES and I’m not even joking.”

Sebastian put his hands up in defense. “You do not want to know, doc’.”

It was a bit silly when you thought back at it. You couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea of his sheer confusion.

But when you saw the slop they served you exactly understood what he meant.

And he laughed at you when you tried it.

Obviously.

The same day, you had gone to Painter with Sebastian in tow as he wanted to see Painter’s progress with the whole body moving thing.

In which you told Painter about Sebastian’s whole ordeal in which Painter laughed at Sebastian.

Sebastian was not amused.

Thanks to Sebastian, Painter did have clothes now. Just a simple button up shirt and pants combo which didn’t exactly feel very Painter but it’s better than nothing even if they were definitely stolen as Sebastian refused to give Painter one of the prisoner uniforms.

In the subject of Painter however, there were many new improvements that you were quite prideful of!

You had managed to convince Trips to give part of their time to finally visit Painter. Which was probably one of the greatest things that happened!

They didn’t have much time to spare at that date, but they did manage to figure out how to make Painter more independent from the wall. Managing to insert after tinkering about some batteries inside Painter. One that would make it possible for Painter to roam around in his body if he so wished to do so.

It lasted for a couple of hours, and that was enough for you as Painter would slowly be able to walk longer distances... With your help of course!

Suddenly you heard a knock on your door, your ears picking up the sound at the idea of getting interrupted, the excuse was perfect.

Opening the door you saw the familiar face of your boss, however, they only had a more complicated expression as if torn on something.

“Are you currently busy, dearest scientist?”

“No, not really.” You looked over at them quizzically. Wondering why the state of emotion they showed. “Why?”

“May I come in?”

You moved to the side, motioning an arm out to let them in.

Trips slouched slightly, awkwardly avoiding your gaze as their tail moved dejectedly behind them. They carried a briefcase with them, leaving it on your floor as they turned around.

“What’s up?”

Trips took a deep breath, looking over at you as they put their hands on your desk. The door to your office closed behind you as you leaned against the wall.

“How do I say this?”

Their voice was quiet, their expression downturned.

“What’s wrong..?” You approached them carefully as they took a deep breath.

“I… I’m sure you’ve… had your suspicions.” They started softly. “Or doubts.”

You looked to the side awkwardly, eyes darting around your office. “What suspicions?”

“W-Well…” Trips bit their lip slightly, crossing their arms as they finally looked up at you.

They gulped, mouth opening only to close right after. Glancing back down at the ground as they rubbed their arm slightly.

You scratched your neck awkwardly, you had no idea where they were going.

“From so many overheating warnings from cool machines… or my rejection of eating any of the meals you so kindly offer after having extras… missing documents… or even when Painter asked about how my GPU upgrade went…”

Slowly things were going back together.

Your mouth turning into an “o” motion as the realization hit.

Right, your suspicions.

Your eyes narrowed at them. They weren’t human and you knew it! You would ask Sebastian about it, theorizing about your boss to him in which he called you crazy and laughed at you for making conspiracies.

Trips had to be a robo-

“I’m Z-8.”

“What.”

Trips looked back at you, blinking. “W-Wait, were you not…?”

“Are you not a robot?!”

“No, I am but-”

Suddenly you heard the loudest whirring of fans louder than you thought was even possible as their eyes widened, hands going immediately on their face as their antenna tilted backwards.

Trips sported an expression full of horror as you heard the most pathetic whine coming from them.

“You didn’t even consider me as one of the Z classes did you?”

You barely heard their voice through their hands. Voice coming out more like a mumble.

“No… not really…”

“Oh. My. God.”

Trips completely sunk down against your desk, knees drawing up to their chest as they hid their face in them. “... and you’re being honest…?”

You scratched your neck once again. “... yeah..?”

They moved their head to rest back against your desk. A look of pure agony on their features, as their glasses laid askew on their nose.

A moment of silence got between you two before you finally processed what they told you. “Wait, you’re Z-8?!”

Trips took a deep breath, opening their eyes as they looked over at you. Nodding slowly at your words. “Now the cat’s out of the bag…” They muttered brokenly. “Now I feel like an idiot, I was so sure you found out.”

You looked at them stupefied, of all things to find out about your boss it was this.

Well, that explains why they were completely deranged and odd.

But it just begged the question on why and how they were even a head of a whole department. It made you wonder how the Z classes were even chosen in the first place.

“Did Sebastian tell you that?” You asked, looking down at their seated position. “He has a habit of messing with people sometimes.”

Trips’ brows furrowed slightly before a dawning realization hit them. Fingers immediately went up to pinch their nose. “... Why did I believe him?”

You couldn’t resist the snort that left your nose. Trips immediately picked up on it, shooting a glare at you as they finally stood up, dusting off their coat.

“Bah! For my sake, ignore everything that just happened in the past few minutes.”

They tilted their head up confidently trying to hide the utter embarrassment that took hold of them.

But then they looked back at you, eyes looking at you up and down. “Does the knowledge really not change anything to you?”

“... Why would it change anything?” Your mouth moved faster than your mind could really think about the answer.

Trips paused, opening their mouth only to close it right after before a bittersweet smile. “But my dear, it changes everything.” They went down to grab their briefcase before approaching you, patting your shoulder softly, glancing at you from the side. “I suppose this belief of yours is why the subjects adore you so much.”

You looked over at Trips as they walked to your doorway, only for them to turn around in excitement, expression completely contrasting their previous feelings.

They tilted their head, hands going up into a clap. “I have free time right now and a genius idea for Painter’s body! What do you say? Would you like to test it with me?”

Not even a moment to spare to process this new information you guessed.

And you know what?

A distraction sounds great right now.

And with Painter it sounds all the more sweeter.

“Sure!” You replied, turning around to grab your trusty notebook and putting your pen inside your pocket. You got used to not having your coat on much, especially when visiting Painter, leaving it on your chair and only really wearing it in the morning when you got out of your room. How silly was the idea that you stopped wearing it because Painter found it ugly.

While now Painter says you would look beautiful in anything, the thought of his distaste was too humorous to not still play along with.

Trips led you out of your office, closing the door with their tail as you both started walking to catch the tram to Heavy Containment.

“I had a genius idea earlier today, you know.” They started as the two of you waited for the tram to Heavy Containment. “I’ll explain it to you in better detail once we reach Painter, but in simple terms, I have the time to improve his current condition and I brought better parts for his body. I also remembered something that was in Painter’s code and wanted to see if it would improve anything.”

You nodded as you heard them talk on and on. So much for “I’ll explain it to you” when you arrived at Painter because they suddenly started going on and on about their ideas.

Even when the tram arrived, they went into increasingly technical details.

You had no idea what the hell they started talking about.

Even after working under them for quite a while now, when they went into these technical tangents, you had no idea what they were even talking about.

Their words started turning into white noise, a completely technical tangent that you knew that if you asked details they would be happy to explain but then they would quickly go back to technical.

Walking inside Painter’s room, Trips interrupted themselves, ensuring they would explain it to you better at another moment as they walked in beside you.

“Oh wow! I didn’t expect to see you two here, what’s the occasion?”

Trips clasped their hands together as they invited themselves in Painter’s smaller enclosure.

“I had a bit of free time for our lovely little computer and his body!” They tilted their head slightly, looking around the room. “Say, where do you keep the body? I must work on it ASAP.”

You pointed over to a box outside of the enclosure, earning a confused look from Trips. “Over there.”

“Why so far away?” They ask quickly, getting out of the enclosure to grab the body fully with one arm. “Right, you can use any of these free spots in the enclosure to store the body, I’m sure they won’t mind it.”

“Shouldn’t we be more careful with it?”

“I’m sponsoring you. They already know about this body project by now, it’s no use hiding it!”

You shrugged. Trips is right, by now it feels too late to actually pretend the body doesn’t exist.

As you did so, Trips moved their briefcase up on Painter’s table, taking out their laptop and some other machine parts that they kept safely in a box.

“How lucky must you be to have someone like me helping you!” Trips chuckled to themselves, using a screwdriver to remove the metal plating, putting the casing on the side gently. “Getting all these parts free of charge, I’d say you owe me knowing that I still pay you so generously.”

You froze, that made sense but you were hoping that Trips was just doing it out of the kindness of their own heart.

Trips looked back at you for a split second. “I am ‘joking’, dearest behavioural scientist.” They made air quotations around “joking” as they spoke. “I would have thought you would have caught on.”

Do they not realize that they are your boss?! Your boss who has a terrible reputation of switching on people so drastically that even if they are great to have around when it came to their genius the workers were ultimately afraid of them?

Talk about unselfconsciousness.

Before you could even reply, Trips went back to work. Tinkering about, changing parts around, plugging their laptop in the body as they did what you could only assume as software updates.

“Hey…” Painter’s voice suddenly cut through, you looked at him immediately, taking a step closer to his monitor. “I have a small question, not about the body or anything like that.”

“Yeah, go ahead.” You replied with, Trips seemed too focused on the body to pay attention at all to your conversation.

“Um… Do you have any news about Sebastian?”

You took a deep breath, ultimately shaking your head. “No, not today either.”

“Mmh, okay. That’s too bad.”

Painter quieted down after that, you were used to Sebastian disappearing for days while for Painter this was the first time that his friend vanished. He was worried for Sebastian but didn’t voice many of his worries. After all, it didn’t want to worry you too.

The only sound ended up being the GPUs connected at Painter for his Roblux mining as well as Trips’ tinkering. The occasional laugh of success coming from them, they were completely lost in their own world.

“Aha! I believe this should be a lot more effective.” Trips finally stepped back from the machine, it looks visually extremely similar. “Would you like to do a test run for me Painter?”

“Sure!”

Trips looked at you expectantly, you took the message as you started unplugging Painter from the GPUs as well as any accessories such as the drawing tablet. After you were done, your boss took Painter’s monitor and any necessary extensions and installed them on the body carefully.

“I added a lot of upgrades to your movement… some were theories however so you have to tell me how you feel.”

Painter nodded yet immediately froze. Moving its hands up it clenched and unclenched them in rapid succession. “It’s so much smoother!” Painter admitted, moving his whole arm forward in a dramatic motion. His whole body seemed much more animated. “I feel like I’m drawing, like these are brush strokes or something. Or maybe I AM the drawing!”

You couldn’t keep your eyes off the new movement. Painter was right, it was completely smooth. Smooth, and a lot faster too. You didn’t think it would be possible even after all of your tests to make Painter’s body all the more effective.

“I improved your GHz rate as well as gave you more RAM… among other things.” Trips started, crossing their arms over their chest with a smirk. “They were considering you as just a normal computer, but you aren’t a normal computer. You need something stronger, and I’m here to provide it.”

“Wow, thanks Trips!” Painter exclaimed, spinning in place. “I feel that I can move more confidently too. It’s like I’m moving exactly how I envision it!”

You walked over at the door of the enclosure, opening said door with your keycard. “I’d say it’s time to move in a more open space?”

Painter eagerly nodded, a grin on his screen as you walked out of the room. Arms open as you wait for Painter to walk out towards you. In a way, Painter was just like a baby who was just born, but its steps were getting better.

And with these new upgrades, Painter managed to take more confident steps. It still had to have its hands up for balance, ready to grasp at the wall or a table if it loses balance at any point.

But it was clear how his steps seemed to have some sort of new pep to them.

It was much more animated, Painter didn’t exactly walk like a normal human, it was clear he didn’t take his inspiration from the scientists that he would look at. But instead it looked just like an animation. It made you wonder if his movements followed the principles of animation.

Before long it stood in front of you, a grin on its screen as it wrapped its arms around you with a squeal, effectively crushing you against its body. Not like you minded of course.

“Made it!”

These small improvements were always a milestone for the both of you. Just some months ago, Painter could barely move the body, struggling to do so and connect what would be the equivalent to his mind to the body.

But now, here he was moving smoothly as if he had his body his whole life.

“Mind if I try something with you?” Painter asked, separating from you enough to be able to see your face.

“Of course, what’s on your mind?”

Painter chuckled to itself as it detangled from your body. Then he pulled out his arm, palm up wordlessly asking for your hand in his.

You did so without thought, only for him to pull you back in with a giggle.

What was different about this position however? Its arm stretched out yours on the side while its other landed on your lower back, pulling you flush against it.

“I saw this in a movie some years ago… I thought it could be nice as practice. I’m sure you know where I’m going at.” Painter let out a smile, with an almost challenging look on his features. “May I?”

You could feel your face heat up at the sudden change of atmosphere. This wasn’t the same atmosphere you had before, this was a completely different one.

Painter liked bringing you in hugs, in affection as he would push his screen to your face. Carefully learning how gentle it has to be to not hurt you.

But never would you have thought it would bring you in for a dance.

Not like its proximity didn’t already fluster you.

But one thing was clear as day in your mind, “I’d love to.”

Painter giggled in victory, immediately taking a step back and bringing you with him.

At first, it was a bit janky, the two of you struggled to keep up with each other’s tempo, with whatever music Painter had in his mind.

That was when he decided to open some music software and play some music from his monitor.

With the music, you started moving at a better pace together.

Painter seemed to be getting more confident, and you did as well, no matter how long it took.

Suddenly you heard a phone ring and it stopped the two of you as you saw the source of the sound.

“Ah, apologies.” Trips, whom you completely forgot was still in the same room as the two of you, apologized as they packed up their laptop into their briefcase. “I was simply monitoring to make sure that Painter worked fine but it seems I must take my leave now. Enjoy yourselves, yes?”

Before you could even say anything to Trips, they ran out of the room.

“Jeez, that call has to be an important one.” Painter muttered, looking at the door before going back to look at you with a smile. “Now… where were we?”

…

To say that you danced with Painter for hours was an understatement. The original time was supposed to be thirty minutes… maybe one hour max! But you danced with him for 3 and to say you were a bit exhausted was an understatement.

It wanted to try so many ways to partner dance with you. You’ve come to realize he’s a big fan of swing from the high energy part of it.

But because of that, now you desperately need rest.

It was really fun! Just really… really… exhausting.

You decide to go to the dorms.

Well… more like resting quarters.

All Urbanshade employees have their own dedicated sleeping quarters in a specific part of the Blacksite. But the Robotics Division had their own dedicated area for resting. Designed with the idea of being a small temporal break of it all.

Trips had given you your own room of the like. It was like a smaller apartment, but it was comfortable and when you took a nap in this room, you felt more refreshed than before.

Which meant it was perfect for a nap right now.

Looking over at the time, you’ll probably just take an hour nap at most. After all, you still need to catch the tram to go up to the surface and all.

And as you lay down in the bed, that was exactly what you were hoping for.

So why is it that you wake up with the sudden sound of frantic knocking?!

You groan, rubbing your eyes as you look at the digital clock at the bedside table.

.

.

.

YOU SLEPT THE WHOLE DAY.

As your jaw dropped at the sight of it being the 14th, you heard the knocking grow a bit louder.

As a matter of fact, who in their right mind would be knocking at your door at 5:30 AM on the DOT.

You grumbled slightly, sitting up on the bed before letting out a yawn. Slowly you made your way to the door, the door sliding open with a hiss, revealing your bosses form.

Trips’ eyes widened slightly at your form.

“Why are you here at this hour?” You asked groggily, rubbing your eye again to let go of the daze of sleep.

“I could say the same to you.” They replied with, pointing to the side showing the obvious “occupied” sign that all these rooms get when someone is inside. “Weren’t you supposed to be on vacation by now?”

“Oh… uh… yeah I accidentally slept in and-”

“W-Wait save your excuses!” Trips put their hands up before going out to grab your arm dragging you suddenly away. “We have important matters to do and we have no time!”

You blinked slowly, still trying to let go of the daze of sleep as they dragged you around like a ragdoll.

“I thought I lost my opportunity. Knowing I only got permissions now. I tried so hard to get it yesterday but it wasn’t feasible. I was so sure you would be gone by now. So imagine my surprise when I find your temporal chambers still occupied!”

“Why is it important?”

“Oh… my dearest scientist.” Trips started but ultimately trailed off.

The tram arrived just as you did, as if it was waiting for you. Or maybe it was just Trips’ impeccable timing. You didn’t even have the time to see which tram you were taking!

The two of you walked inside the tram. You were the only ones at this hour as the tram moved from the Robotics Division to wherever they were suddenly taking you to.

You’d kill to continue your impromptu nap though.

“We’re stopping in the Hadal Division.”

Trips started suddenly, looking over at you.

Alright, maybe you don’t need to continue your nap.

“What’s going on..?” You hesitantly asked them.

They took a deep breath. “I apologize, this must have been so confusing for you, perhaps frightening, hasn’t it?” Trips let out a bittersweet smile. “I… I am… keeping my promise with you.”

You looked over at them carefully. “What promise?”

Trips took a deep breath, fingers starting to fidget between each other. “When the time comes…” They started, looking in front of them as if rehearsing a line. “I’ll facilitate a goodbye.”

The gears started to turn in your head, the sense of déjà vu. Your eyes widened as you came to the realization. “You-!” Approaching Trips, you stood right in front of them as the tram moved between the areas. “You know about Sebastian?!”

Trips paused. “Barely.” They walked to the door of the tram, grabbing the upper handle as they glanced back at you. “But just enough.”

The doors of the tram opened before you could ask, they started walking swiftly, you had to make an effort to keep up.

“W-Wait! How-”

“Listen to me carefully.” Trips interrupted you, turning around as they pulled out a notebook and a pen from their jacket. Pushing both items into your hands. “Right now, you are my assistant. You will be taking notes of the behaviour as that is why you are there. When inside, open at page 15.”

“Wh-”

Before you could even question, they started walking fast once again. All you could do was keep up with them, everything was happening too fast.

But you quickly managed to keep up, determined to see what Trips managed. They noticed you immediately at their side, their tail pushing your back slightly as if helping you move with a bit more impulse.

“Six-five, we are late.” Trips whispered to you, groaning as they approached one of the guardsmen, showing their ID. “I’m sure you’ve already been notified of-”

Trips entered a conversation with the guardsman, seemingly needing to convince the guardsman who firmly believed that Trips didn’t have the necessary permissions as if they weren’t the head of a whole division.

It was only when another guardsman approached to interrupt the scene as Trips started getting louder and more agitated that they were finally allowed.

Seeing the dangerous look in Trips’ eye, you’re sure that something will happen to that guard after your time here but it doesn't matter to you now.

This was an area you’ve never been in, a place deep part of the Hadal Division.

But not the same kind of area that was shown to you, it wasn’t the same kind of empty.

This one felt hostile, the atmosphere was suffocating.

It didn’t feel safe, even if you had company that you trusted it didn’t feel safe.

The doors to the heavy containment room opened slowly. You saw scientists watching through a window as you entered the room slowly.

“Remember what I told you.” Trips muttered, posture straight as their arms folded neatly behind them. “Stay close.”

With that, you walked into the huge room.

It had clinical lights on, akin to a hospital.

As if those lights weren’t enough, there were spotlights that all circled one subject.

Sebastian.

“You have thirty minutes of allotted time, doctor.” The intercom went out, you knew those words were for your boss yet you couldn’t help but feel that it was for yourself.

Trips placed a hand on your shoulder, squeezing lightly as they moved beside your head. “Make it count.”

Slowly, their hand let you go yet your eyes were set on the scene in front of you.

Sebastian’s head was tilted downwards, he didn’t look up even as he heard the intercom.

His ears were downturned, he was akin to an injured animal, he knew he was in danger.

Sebastian‘s arms were all chained up. The shackle keeps him on the ground as the chains seem to vanish into the wall.

And the harsh lighting didn’t help him, you knew they were doing it to weaken him and it only made a fury bubble within you.

You brought your notebook up, just enough to cast a small shadow over Sebastian.

He looked up at the sight of the shade, expression harsh only for his expression to morph into one of shock and horror.

“Why-!” Sebastian’s words cut through the air sharply, pure fear in his gaze, pupils visible as he looked at you. “You shouldn’t-”

He interrupted himself, shaking his head. A disbelieving smile on his features but it wasn’t of happiness, it almost spoke of anguish.

Of a hope that you wouldn’t see him like that maybe.

You’re not sure.

You can only assume the danger and fear in his eyes was of the knowledge of his impending doom.

Sitting down in front of him, you took back the notebook.

Sebastian squinted slightly but his eyes stayed locked on your body.

You opened the notebook, page 15 they said.

It was just a simple note in neat writing.

‘Act natural, write down. They are listening but do not let that stop you, they can't read what you write here. Take advantage of this moment.’

And a simple reminder to flip the page when you are done.

You picked up the pen, pen posed right on top of the page.

“When I was told that a department head wanted to see me, I didn’t expect they would be coming with someone.” Sebastian suddenly started, shaking his head once more. His voice was gravely from the disuse. “Why… Why are you still here?”

You took a deep breath, you didn’t know how to explain it.

Embarrassment bubbled deep inside you.

“It was supposed to just be a nap.” You looked to the side awkwardly. The pen was smooth, a high quality pen you had to admit. But it didn’t exactly change anything. “Painter made me dance for 3 hours.”

You admitted slowly, pen writing mindlessly on the paper.

Sebastian looked at you carefully, expression serious before he let out a chuckle. “Really?”

“I thought I wouldn’t need an alarm… That I’d just wake up after a small nap.”

“Ah, a fool’s errand.”

Silence fell between the two of you. In any other time, you knew you would have countless things to talk about. Things that he might have seen in the day. Things that you’ve seen in the day that you would tell him back.

The silence was deafening.

“They put a lot of lights on you.” You look over at the harsh, clinical lights on Sebastian.

“Right, can you believe the audacity!” Sebastian grumbled.

Yet the conversation died soon after.

Another silence stretching between the two of you. It was like you were doing small talk with him. Normally your conversations were long, yet in a moment like this, it felt almost wrong.

“You got here because of a special permission… Did you even know I was here? Like this?”

There was a pause, it was almost humorous. How you spent your whole time in Urbanshade asking questions to everyone.

You yourself barely answered them.

Yet as you sat there, you had no questions to ask. And the tables turned right in front of you.

“No,” you answered plainly, “Trips found out and brought me here earlier.”

“So you only found out now?”

You nodded slightly, looking back at him with a sigh.

“Figures.” Sebastian leaned in over the table. Putting one of his hands on the table. The shackle clanking against the table.

“... Ultimately… this meeting is because of Trips..?” Sebastian’s gaze seemed to tense, almost calculating.

You nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, if I knew I would have tried to come on my own. This… this whole stunt was confidential.” You crossed your arms, frowning.

Urbanshade wanted to hide Sebastian’s departure away from you and it made you feel sick. You’ve known him for years, your life in Urbanshade was made thanks to Sebastian.

Everything was thanks to him, his presence was crucial to you at Urbanshade.

He was your friend.

“Yeah, I can tell.” Sebastian scoffed, staring behind you. “At first I wanted to refuse, lash out, maybe just ignore whoever had the audacity to talk with me. But here I am and here you are like the day we first met.”

Sebastian reached out, but didn’t grab you or anything. He tapped the back of your hand slightly.

“I was still locked inside the same room, you were interested in the human gills experiment I guess. Weren’t you supposed to just be a normal intern?” Sebastian chuckled softly. “But you were so stubborn, and just wouldn’t stop talking to me even if I told you to just leave me alone. So annoying.”

He shook his head as he reminisced. “I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”

Sebastian seemed to relax slightly, only a little bit. “I guess… I’m glad I accepted in the end though, to willingly see you I mean.” Sebastian leaned in, coming closer to you, you could notice the faint brighter part of his iris darting around you, as if to take note of your appearance in his mind. To sear the memory of you. “But… you should really just go on your vacation immediately after talking with me.”

You couldn’t help but quirk an eyebrow. “Can’t I have even just a bit of time here to prep?”

“Were you not prepping already?”

You paused, of course you were prepping. But the idea of Sebastian’s departure made a deep pit get inside your stomach. “I’ll take the next tram, promise.”

You didn’t know how to process the sudden tightness in your throat as you tried to remain strong. The way you had to blink rapidly to not make the tears slip from your eyes down your cheeks.

You let out a shaky sigh shortly after, the reality of the situation crashing down. “Who will I get back to?” You could feel yourself shake. “Who am I supposed to bring an outrageous amount of Sour Patch Kids or Reeses Cups?”

Sebastian’s expression tensed as he looked at your current emotional state. Worry on his features. “You eat them.”

You could feel an involuntary hic, your breath starting to come in shorter gasps. You knew he was trying his best to bring up the mood, but now you weren’t sure if you could contain your tears.

The reality that Sebastian will no longer be a constant in your life.

The reality that when you came back there wasn’t going to be the list of complaints that Sebastian would always tell you because everyone needed to put their work on someone and that someone being Sebastian..

The reality that the few times you would cook, there wouldn’t be someone stealing the ingredients as he did. Who would demand for you to make certain foods you’ve never made in your life in such a particular way?

“One minute.” Trips' voice suddenly broke through the silence as they approached slightly. “I… apologize. It’s the only amount I could request.”

Sebastian let out his own sigh, avoiding looking at you for a while before he finally looked at you once more. A gentle hand on your shoulder.

“If anything happens… tell my family I loved them.” He muttered softly, his hand cupping your cheek wiping the tears that started to fall on your cheeks. “And hey, I love you too. Guessed I should stop being stubborn for once and tell you what’s actually on my mind.”

He wiped another one of your tears, you couldn’t help but grab his hand, the chain was freezing compared to his body. While he was always cooler, the metal felt like a mockery. “Don’t cry.” Sebastian whispered, finally retreating his hand. You wanted to grab him back, beg him to stay, for more time. “Smile when you think of me. Don’t let your tears be the last thing I see of you, doc’.”

Sebastian smiled, straightening up as he backed away slightly. The shackles still held him down, and the lights made him squint even more. You tried to smile for him, but it only came out as a wince, your expression shaky which only earned an almost amused chuckle from Sebastian.

“Oh, and for the record,” he started, “you’re probably the best thing that this hell hole has ever seen. Keep being you.”

Sebastian grinned, letting out a thumbs up as he finally looked away from you. You could see the faint shaking in his body, he was trying to keep himself together just like you were.

“Bye Sebastian.” You said shakily, trying to keep it casual even as your voice cracked. “And I’m sure Painter would like to say goodbye even if he isn’t here right now.”

Sebastian let out a smile. “Bye doc’. Tell Painter I said goodbye too.”

While he couldn’t leave the room, he still turned away from you, wrapping his arms around his body as he took some deep breaths. He couldn’t bear looking at you any longer.

You faintly heard the intercom in the back of your mind. But the words didn’t register as you felt Trips urging you to stand.

Your eyes were locked on Sebastian, even he didn’t look at you back.

Even as you were dragged away, you couldn’t stop staring at him.

At the end, when the doors were finally closing separating Sebastian and you, you almost wanted to reach out, scream, thrash around, do anything.

But you could only stand still as you saw Sebastian glance at you one last time.

It was like a stab at your heart.

It was over.

After all these years.

Sebastian was gone.

Actually gone.

This wasn’t him vanishing for a day because Urbanshade forced him to work all day. He was actually gone.

Sebastian won’t come back.

You couldn’t seem to register anything in your mind.

Trips simply dragged you around, at one point you realized you were in the tram as you felt them use a handkerchief to wipe your tears.

You didn’t even notice you were crying.

It was odd, how outside of your body you felt. It felt wrong, maybe it was hopelessness.

Maybe it was the knowledge that you were powerless.

“… don’t mind… later…” You heard Trips’ voice in the distance but it still didn’t exactly exist for you.

You were sitting down, a blanket wrapped around your shoulders. You vaguely registered Trips’ worried expression as they mentioned something about needing to take care of something.

You felt tired.

You couldn’t help but slowly lie down on what you could only presume to be a couch.

It felt like a cruel twist of fate.

On one side, you got the closure you desperately needed.

But on the other hand, maybe you wished you never got it.

Sebastian was right, he looked just like the first day you met. Safe for the shackles.

It made you wonder if your work with him was for naught.

Did you actually do a change with him? Did Urbanshade ever appreciate your efforts with him?

Sure they allowed you to have him around, but what if they only did that for fun?

To give hope.

A false sense of hope.

It made you wonder if you ever did change in Urbanshade.

Did they actually believe in your cause or was your job just something for fun for them?

Thousands of thoughts rang through your mind. Resounding like a mantra.

Poisoning your mind until there was nothing left but those thoughts.

Was this Urbanshade’s plan all along? To break you apart until nothing was left?

You knew it was naive to believe there could be any good coming from them, to believe they would even consider anything to help the state of mind of their subjects.

It made you wonder if this was simply karma, if it was all the good things that happened amounting to this moment.

“Good morning.” Trips’ voice interrupted your thought process.

Morning?

“It’s 11:27 AM now.”

Were you sleeping?

…

You didn’t even notice.

“I brought you something to eat, it’s not much.” Trips motioned over to the plate of food that was on the coffee table in front of you. “I apologize, it’s not much. I haven’t cooked in a really long time but it is nutritious.”

They took a careful look at you as they instead went to grab the plate with their tail, putting it close to you.

It looked better than the slop they served in the community kitchen in this division. But the bar is in the Banlands so it didn’t really matter much.

“... Please eat.” Trips insisted, sitting next to you as they moved the plate to their hands instead. “You haven’t eaten since yesterday I’m sure… at least I hope you ate the day prior.”

You finally took the plate from them, slowly, carefully. “... Thank you.”

“It’s my pleasure.” Trips responded, hesitating slightly before deciding to stiffly lie back on the couch. “I hope it’s alright, the food I mean. I didn’t taste it and went from memory.”

You took a bite of the food, not like you exactly registered it all.

It was like automation.

How ironic, you felt like a robot.

There was silence between the two of you once again, yet you couldn’t stop thinking about everything.

Your thoughts felt too loud even through the silence.

“I… met Sebastian when he first got here, you know.” Trips started suddenly, at the mention of Sebastian you turned in their direction. “I met him when he was still human, before the freak experiments.”

Trips matched your gaze slowly.

Seeing as how you didn’t tell them to stop, they continued. “We played chess together.” They admitted. “Bah! He stood no chance against my genius, of course, he lost every single time.”

“You… You play chess..?”

Suddenly the realization of it all came crashing down. The idea of Sebastian knowing so much more on Trips than you was ironic.

You thought he found out through snooping around like he always did but instead it came from a place of… knowing them?

You couldn’t believe it.

It was almost as if you could hear his voice mocking you in your mind for even doubting him for what he said. You thought he was being ridiculous with the chess claim yet here Trips was admitting they play chess.

Of course, of course Sebastian would be telling the truth.

Why did you even doubt him? It’s true, he always knew more than you in some of these situations.

“I do.” Trips said plainly, yet you could notice a faint twitch of a smile on the corner of their lips. “I play it all the time, it’s the thing that helps me focus and calms me down. I even play it during meetings, and don't tell the others that I don’t pay attention.”

Trips chuckled to themselves as you blinked.

You turn back to the food that Trips made for you.

Chess. Obsessed. Freak!

Seems like an accurate descriptor now.

But one thing made you only wonder. “How… How could you have met him before his experiment? To… play chess..?”

Trips let out a sigh, pausing for a while as if trying to formulate how to respond to your question. “The LR-Ps are still allowed to communicate between each other.” They explained quietly, a laugh devoid of all humour escaped them. “They saw potential in me, promoted me with some caveats of course. I lost track of Sebastian since then. I only found out about him thanks to you… I didn’t expect to see what I saw when I read his document.”

They let out a sigh, shaking their head. “I couldn’t believe my eyes.” Trips looked back in front of them. “We both changed so much in the years, but I became a scientist and he stayed a prisoner… It was no wonder he didn’t have the same…”

They trailed off, taking in a deep breath before pressing their lips in a thin line. “... I can’t blame him.”

You looked over at Trips, yet only saw a conflicting expression on their face. As if they were struggling to grasp the idea of it all.

Trips pinched the bridge of their nose as they let out an exasperated sigh, getting up from the couch.

They walked to the window at their office, pressing their hand on the window. “Is this… the end?” You weren’t sure if they were asking themselves the question or to you but as they turned around to you, you saw an expression you never saw on them before. Pity, regret, and sorrow. “I wish I apologized to him. I wish I could have helped him more. I guess… maybe that’s why I was so willing to help you with your body project, knowing he was in the picture. Maybe I still cling to our old friendship from more than a decade ago, however short-lived it was. Maybe the guilt that I survived and excelled with barely any scarring from Urbanshade while he mutated beyond recognition is eating me alive when we both had the same starting point.”

Trips walked back to you, letting out a sigh. “I apologize, I suppose I have a lot on my mind as well.” They shook their head, taking the plate from your hands as they noticed you finishing. “Do you need anything else, my dear?”

You shook your head slightly. “No, it’s okay.”

“That’s good.”

It was quiet once again as Trips walked to their desk, moving some paperwork as you let out a sigh.

“The next tram to the docks is at seventeen, or 5 PM.” They brought one of their hologram screens. Pushing it in your direction as it slowed down right in front of you showing a quick suggested schedule. “It might do you some good to take a proper break of Urbanshade, it’s too bad that you just missed the one from yesterday. Being a weekday makes them want to put out the trams to the docks less likely.”

“So perhaps…” They asked, the screen in front of you changed to a different schedule. “How about you visit Painter? Anything but going back to your office or your room.”

You considered the offer, letting out a sigh. “Fine…” You reluctantly agree. Getting up slowly from the couch as you let the blanket fall from your shoulders. “I’ll go visit Painter then.”

“It’ll do you some good.” The screen in front of you closed as Trips smiled gently. “Ah, but before you go.”

They approached you, however what you didn’t expect was seeing them remove their ear piece with a couple of clicks and shuffling. Motioning you to grab it.

“Hold onto this for me, will you?”

You looked between the ear piece and Trips quizzically.

“Why..?”

Trips glanced to the side before pushing their glasses up with their other hand. “... There have been machines malfunctioning in the Robotics Division, this extends my field of communication between the machines… among other things.” They moved their hand again, urging you to grab the piece almost impatiently. “You don’t have to wear it, simply having it in your pocket is enough.”

You couldn’t see the correlation between what they were saying to why they wanted you to grab the ear piece. But knowing they were your boss and you were probably going to see them again later in the day, you grabbed the item. Stuffing it into your pocket.

They looked almost odd without the antenna that moved lightly with their emotions. There had to be something that Trips wasn’t telling you for them to remove such an integral part of their person.

You didn’t even know it was removable but here they are without it.

But you did know they were telling you the truth about the machines malfunctioning, you remember noticing it when Sebastian was still around, where he mused that maybe there was someone messing up with the robots to distract from the bigger picture, not like he cared.

Sebastian was almost a bit cryptic with some of his words the moment he found out he was being transferred. And it only got worse the days that lead up to today.

You wondered what was going on in his mind. While you complained that your boss was an enigma, Sebastian turned to prove he was one as well.

He was always so honest with you yet in the recent times he kept musing things around yet when asked he would never explain.

“Alright, I’ll keep it safe.”

“I appreciate it, dearest scientist.”

With that, you decided to leave Trips’ office. They waved you off as you did.

You let out a sigh, you couldn’t let all of this crush you. It was what Urbanshade wanted.

Yet it was so hard to stay at the surface, to not drown in the despair that took hold of you.

You shook your head as you took the tram back to Heavy Containment. Taking a deep breath, you nodded in determination. You knew this was coming, but if you can even improve any subjects’ lives as you helped Urbanshade, then that is an improvement.

Sebastian would have wanted that after all.

You looked at the reflection of yourself in the window of the tram. Trying your best to make a proper smile.

‘Smile when you think of me.’

If that was his last request, then you will try for him.

At least you managed to get closure. And while before you felt the pain of needing to say goodbye, the knowledge that you did manage to do so made you grateful.

Right now you had to focus on one thing, and that thing was to see Painter.

Slowly but surely, you made your way to the familiar part of Heavy Containment. You avoided certain paths, certain areas wanting to only focus on Painter.

Before long you arrived right in front of where it was contained.

Painter noticed you immediately, immediately perking up at the sight of you.

You slid your ID in his enclosure, sliding in the chair swiftly as if nothing. There wasn’t any scientist in the room, either it was their break or they were working on another subject, better for you.

“How are you?” Painter’s speaker crackled slightly when he spoke. You did your usual kissing the corner of its screen, earning the usual whirring of fans as a reward. “I thought you’d be on your vacation by now!”

“I overslept.” You scratched your neck awkwardly. “I have news though.”

“Hm?”

You pondered how to say it, taking a deep breath as you did so. “I saw Sebastian, he just got transferred.”

Painter's expression morphed slightly, before becoming unreadable. “Did you say goodbye for me?”

You nodded. “Of course I did.”

It was silent for a while. “Thanks!” Painter smiled. “I hope wherever he gets transferred to is nice. I remember when I got transferred from the Robotics Division to Heavy Containment it was really hard! So I hope it’s easy for him.”

“I’m sure he would have loved your consideration.”

“Hoping I can see him again soon when things settle down then!”

“Me too.”

There was a short silence between the two of you as you pondered what to do before an idea sparked in your mind.

You had to make time before the evening after all, so why not spend your free time with Painter! It’s not like they could stop you.

“How about I plug you up to your body? I have an idea.”

“Ooh?” Painter asked, extending his letters slightly. “Sure, I love using my body anyways, heh.”

You took the sign, pulling out the body that was now standing in the corner of the room. You unplugged said body from the wall as you started disconnecting Painter’s wires from himself.

Slowly, you started moving Painter’s parts to his body.

He seemed to connect a lot faster than before. Apparently a lot of redundant code had been purged making it easier for Painter to connect and move in the body.

When connected, Painter quickly moved around, testing around the body.

“Still can’t get over how smooth I move now!”

“Right?” You almost wanted to ask Painter to dance again. Even with how exhausted you were, you couldn’t put down the need to be closer to him.

“So… what’s your idea?” Painter asked, tilting his head as you pulled out the box of trinkets that you brought a while back.

The box was filled to the brim with things that you still didn’t show him which made it all the more heavier. In due time, you want to show him everything in it.

“Do you want to draw together?”

Painter’s face tilted to the side slightly, face moving slightly to the side as if he was looking around. “I’m still on my shift…” It muttered, tapping a finger on its chin as it pondered. “Welp! Since you’re here I guess I just have to listen to you!”

Painter turned around, grabbing his drawing tablet as he quickly closed his Roblux mining application yet struggled to think on where the tablet would be connected to.

You shook your head. “No, I have a different idea.”

“Huh?”

“Put the tablet down.”

Painter quirked an eyebrow as it did what you told it to do.

Building suspense, you digged back into your box, giggling to yourself as you did so.

It made Painter confused, he wanted to look at what you were doing but respected your want to surprise so he waited patiently.

Suddenly you pull out your big surprise for him. A stack of Urbanshade brand printer paper that you stole from the offices and then a big box of 152 different coloured Crayola crayons.

Painter gasped as it saw what you were showing.

“How about we draw traditionally, now that you can do it.”

Painter put his hands at the edge of his screen as he gasped.

“Yes! Yes, absolutely! I’ve always wanted to draw traditionally. Oh, this is so exciting!”

You opened the door to his enclosure quickly, urging him to come with you to a more open area of Painter’s room.

“Let’s draw on the floor!” Painter said excitedly. “Like that we can be comfortable and next to each other!"

The floor was probably extremely dirty and might have multiple diseases knowing Urbanshade. But you couldn’t say no to your boyfriend.

Normally, when you drew with Painter, it would be on his drawing software where the two of you could collaborate on the same canvas.

But knowing that you are drawing traditionally, you can’t exactly do that.

So instead, you decided to pitch a different idea to Painter. Thanks to Sebastian’s trend seeker nature (or was it just brainrot seeking?) there were some online trends that you found cute.

“How about we both draw a bit, and then after some minutes we have to exchange! So we will have two collaborative pieces.”

Painter immediately perked up, “That sounds fun!”

You grinned as you opened the box of crayons, showing off the colours to Painter. His look of complete glee and excitement made bringing the absurd amount of crayons all the more worth it.

“There’s so many colours!” Painter mused excitedly. “I know exactly what I want to draw.”

Painter quickly went to work, drawing one of its signature landscapes as you went to work too.

You weren’t exactly sure what you wanted to draw, Painter was still trying to get a grasp of the crayons in his hands as you grabbed a green crayon.

Maybe you can draw some grass… You got better at drawing landscapes thanks to him but you definitely didn’t match his level just yet.

Then you couldn’t resist drawing Painter itself. Just his monitor laying in the grass comfortably.

At the five minute mark, you giggled at your silly drawing. It wasn’t everyday you drew with crayons on the floor of Urbanshade’s labs.

“Switch!”

“I wasn’t done!!” Painter exclaimed but still switched the papers around.

You could see he was still trying to get used to the idea of the crayons, but it didn’t look terrible. You heard a sound of glee from Painter as he saw your piece, immediately going to draw on your artpiece.

Painter giggled to himself, making you tilt your head as you tried to add more to his landscape. “What’s so funny?”

“Not funny but… hehe…” Painter giggled once again. “Wait until the switch, you’ll see.”

Finally the 5 minutes were up, and you were up to switch again.

With the switch, you saw exactly what he was giggling to himself about.

Beside the Painter you drew on your paper, Painter drew you right next to him, leaning over his monitor.

Your eyes closed as you simply laid on him, it was an endearing scene that Painter put out.

Peaceful.

You took a deep breath, you want it to be real one day. You need it to be real one day.

“It’s perfect.”

“Hehe!” Painter grinned. “Don’t worry, I have more planned to draw when we switch again.”

He teased, urging you to go back to draw on your paper as “time is running out”. You reluctantly but playfully agreed.

“Mind if I play some music?” Painter asked as he started to collect probably 20 of your crayons right next to his paper. “I found this streaming service that I really wanted to try!”

Knowing that your only company sound wise was the whirring of all of the GPUs around you, you shrugged. “Sure, go ahead.”

“Awesome!”

You heard a soft tune get out from Painter’s speakers.

It was a perfect melody for how the current mood was in the room.

You forgot how nice it felt to just let go and enjoy your time with Painter.

There were no obligations.

Just the presence of your boyfriend as you drew together.

It was nice, it made you forget about the turmoil deep inside as you kept hearing Painter giggle to itself.

You wanted to hear him laugh in glee all the time.

This was rarer than you would prefer after all.

But it was nice, and you were relieved how nice it was to just spend time with Painter.

Nothing mattered except the drawing you were making with him.

But then suddenly the music stopped playing. “Huh?” Painter leaned back. “Weird…”

“What happened?”

“I have no wifi.” Painter admitted. “So much for using a streaming service right?”

You sat up, stretching your muscles before approaching Painter. You’d rather see and troubleshoot, who knows, maybe Painter’s wifi card broke.

“Let’s see…” You looked through Painter’s settings along with him, trying to find out what broke before opening him up to check directly.

Only to hear a whoosh and a loud click.

“... What was that?”

Painter’s face quickly came back on its monitor.

You looked behind you, noticing the door’s card reader being red.

“That’s weird.” You admitted as you got up from your seated position on the floor. Slowly walking to the door as you scanned your ID.

The door doesn’t open.

You frown, looking back at Painter ready to say something before suddenly a crackling from the intercom at the corner of the room spoke.

“CODE SILVER IN HEAVY CONTAINMENT.”

“Code Silver..?” You looked in confusion, noticing you were the only one in the room, you didn’t even notice the other scientists long had left.

“... What’s that..?” Painter asked as you turned back at him. Painter has now since gotten up from the floor.

You had to put your hand on your chin, thinking about it. These codes were barely used, Urbanshade didn’t make these kinds of mistakes. They were careful, too careful for their own good.

“It’s… Code for that there’s a violent situation happening basically… Like an active attack happening somewhere in this area I think.” You explained, walking up to Painter. “Mind opening the logs?”

While he wasn’t connected to all of Urbanshade, he still had notifications that would be sent to staff. “We should be safe here, as long as we don’t get Code Green and all.”

“It’s gonna pass right?” Painter asked quietly, you could pick up on his sudden anxiety.

You shrugged, trying to see if there was some sort of news anywhere in the notifications.

Nothing yet, how peculiar.

Yet for some reason you had a bad feeling, should you leave Heavy Containment? But you can’t leave Painter behind…

“Oh! I think I found something, wait.” Painter opened something on his monitor. “... Don’t ask how I got here but, look, there’s some extra logs here.”

“Huh.” You looked at the log carefully, it was being activated in real time. “I’m surprised they don’t have it in control yet, knowing Urbanshade.”

“Right…” Painter started, opening another page with another log as it moved it to the side, leaving the one it opened earlier on the forefront for you. “W-Wait.”

Suddenly the doors swing open once again.

“Oh, we can leave now!” Painter says happily.

“CODE GREEN IN BLACKSITE.”

You felt your face grow cold.

Painter slowly looked over at you, his happy expression turning into one of worry.

“This must be a good thing right..?”

Painter looked between you and the door.

You took a deep inhale, no matter how shaky it was.

“Code Green. It’s Code Green.”

“It’s… It’s good right..?”

“In all the Blacksite..?

“Uh… what’s Code Green..?”

Painter asked slowly.

As if afraid to ask.

Sometimes you’d get visitors, normally it was scientists from the Robotics Division who would come all the way to ask you personally to check your email and agree to go check up their respective machines.

While your job was a lot more different, starting to work with machines almost fully compared to the Hadal Division. It was still a welcome change.

What wasn’t a welcome change however was the odd rivalry that Sebastian and Trips were starting to get. 

Since the moment you helped Trips with their weird signal machine thing, they’ve been more conscious about your physical health. Albeit a bit weirdly with their techniques, you still appreciated when they would leave you some things.

However, Sebastian did not like that. 

He was the one that gave out food to you!! What was someone else doing that for you!! Ugh!! The audacity!! 

You saw him tweak the first time that he saw something that Trips left for you which made him…

“Rise and grind, doc’!” Sebastian walked in your office with a bag, quickly putting it on your desk as he started getting out the contents. “Got you some stuff~”

… quite competitive. 

In his eyes, Trips was a “fugly, white coated, chess obsessed FREAK”. You have no idea where the last point even came from but perhaps Sebastian just knew something you didn’t know about your own boss as last time you checked, you’ve never seen them play chess… ever.

Sebastian started, because of this whole ordeal, getting you too many things, you have no idea where he gets half of them.

Is that a blacklight? In what world would you need a blacklight?!

“Pretty cool, right?” Sebastian grinned as he settled the light down on your desk before slithering to look over your shoulder. “Whatcha doin’…” 

Sebastian dragged the “o” as if he was a child, tilting his head as you tried to avoid his anglerfish light that was clearly shining in your eyes.

“Just some paperwork… as always.”

You slumped, this was the norm, this feels like your everyday life forever. 

“Well… the day is really early but they can’t really stop us if we want to see a certain someone…” Sebastian puckered his lips as you looked over at him. 

“We shouldn’t…” 

“Oh, come on, you’re the best thing that machine has ever seen, those scientists that take care of the guy can’t say no.” Sebastian let out a wolfish grin. “‘Sides, the body is officially a project endorsed by the Robotics Division’s head, they can’t say no cause they don’t have the balls to go tell their own boss.” 

You sighed, Sebastian… had a point. 

As the body was done as a project with the Robotics’ head (even if they did nothing really with it), the body is officially currently as important as the crypto mining as Painter is not the only crypto miner in Urbanshade. They will not even realize the temporary short stop as it is bypassed by the authority of your boss. You’re not exactly sure of the technicalities but why should you care when everything is going according to plan?

“Okay… fine.” You got up, Sebastian could convince you instantly with practically anything. You have no idea who gave him the right to do that but here you are listening to him at the drop of his finger.

While you haven’t had much time to be able to hang out long with Painter as you had neglected quite a bit of your duties to make the body, the little time you did have was incredibly useful.

You would spend time slowly teaching Painter how to move his newfound body, and while he was still connected to a power source currently (you’re still waiting for your boss to have time to help remove Painter from the wall and move independantly) Painter has been able to move slowly but surely.

Normally, you don’t do much physical therapy as that is not your job, but in the case of Painter, you started doing so. 

Bringing in a box of items, some soft, some hard, some small, some large, etcetera etcetera for Painter to start learning how to hold things.

While Sebastian was a bit questionable with his choice of items that he started bringing you in the morning like a crow seeing something shiny, some of them were useful that you know would be interesting to make Painter hold.

And that blacklight that you judged earlier might just be one of the things you’ll bring with you.

“You know, it’s hard to come by some of these things.” Sebastian started with a shrug, holding the box of trinkets as he motioned at the door of your office. “After you.”

He teased as he bowed slightly, making you groan at his antics before leaving your office. Sebastian followed soon after, whistling a tune that only he recognized.

“You know, I was thinking…” Sebastian started, “I always found it really interesting that they just let you stay with a lot of the documents after you’re done working with these.”

You looked over at him in question,

“Where’s this coming from?”

“I mean… you got the early Z documents you know?” He shrugged. “We have no idea which one is Z-1 BUT we do know which one is Z-2… which is very funny because I know that you did have a time where you had to stare at it but like…”

He bent down next to you.

“Doesn’t it make it easier to just steal it..?” Sebastian looked to the side, lifting an eyebrow as he went back up. “Food for thought…”

“No.” You said plainly. “Even if you wanted to, they told me it isn’t safe to touch.”

“Bummer.” Sebastian said before continuing. “Okay, so we know Z-3… and 4… and 5… 6, 7… oh yeah, you’re missing 8. Then 9…”

He laughed after mentioning the eighth document making you look over at him in question as he then mentioned 13 being himself.

“What was with the laugh after eight?”

Sebastian slowly turned over at you with a shit eating grin.

“I know something you don’t~” He said in a sing-song voice as he started to laugh hysterically, trying his hardest to keep the box of items in his arms stable as he did so. 

“What!?” 

“I know the identity and you don’t!” He only laughed harder, earning a painfully confused look from you. Why was this a huge victory for him? Why was he laughing about it? He didn’t laugh about you not knowing Z-1, or the other Z numbers that you missed. “Pros of being one of the experiments I guess.”

Sebastian puckered his lips before letting out another snarky grin. 

But before you could press on Sebastian any longer of why he was actively openly mocking you in front of everyone, you instead got approached by one of the many scientists that made Sebastian actively tweak.

“I see you're out in the Hadal Division for once, dearest behavioural scientist.” 

Trips made themselves known as Sebastian let out an audible “ugh” at the sight of them. Trips, however, paid no mind as they approached your other side, hand reaching for your shoulder in a sort of camaraderie that they held for you that somehow you’re starting to feel your slowly returning. 

Slowly. 

Their closeness is rubbing off you and you’re not sure how much you like it.

While Trips looked at you with a genuine smile, Sebastian had a strained one, his expression morphing into one as if he was trying not to laugh. It gave you flashes to one of the things he’s shown you on the phone… or maybe you're just too brainrotted because of him now.

“I was actually making my way to you, I wanted to-”

“We’re actually really busy right now…” Sebastian interjected, faux innocence in his voice as he put a hand on your other shoulder. “Tight schedule and all… hope you don’t mind…”

Trips slowly looked over at Sebastian, the previous gentler expression turning into one with a dangerous gleam.

You could practically feel the lightning passing between them.

“Okay okay… you two um…” You gulped nervously. “Trips do you mind if I visit your office later? Sebastian’s right and I am taking part of my break just to transfer things…”

What were you doing? That was your BOSS. 

Perhaps passing so much time with Sebastian has made you a lot more shameless.

Or maybe the closeness that Trips tried to have with you made your walls fall down making you accidentally act a lot more casual knowing full well that was your boss.

Trips looked over at you, sighing as you could clearly see the disappointment in their body language as they let you go, taking a step back.

“Very well, I’ll be there between five and six, not before or later as I have practical work to do.” 

You felt terrible, it was as if you were taking advantage of them and it made you feel bad as they were your boss and you knew you were treading on treacherous waters. 

Trips had a short fuse, you were still on their good side… for now. And you know you shouldn’t be pushing their good side knowing that they could completely switch up on you at any time.

Sebastian pushed you slightly, urging you to keep walking.

“We’re gonna go then.” 

You looked over at Trips who looked a bit awkward. It was odd to see them as so, almost a bit worried and nervous before they tensed up once again, sporting their usual neutral expression.

“Do not disappoint me.” Their voice was colder before they walked away.

“Talk about time hogging.” Sebastian grumbled to himself.

“They’re my boss, Sebastian.” 

“Yeah, but your old boss didn’t do that.”

“The price to pay for Painter’s body.” You shrugged, yet you couldn’t blame Sebastian to react that way. Even if Trips was helpful with the whole body situation, Sebastian was always cold with every scientist that came across him. You were just the exception as you wiggled your way into his cold, cold heart. 

Sebastian stayed quiet for a while, before chuckling to himself.

“What’re you gonna do without me, hm?” He turns to you, his free hand going to your shoulder. “... You’ll just be chatting away, never doing your work or something.”

You didn’t miss how he seemed to carefully select his words yet continued moving forward. How his eyes seemed to be almost a bit distant that he tries to hide even if it’s barely visible. 

Sebastian’s been acting weirdly recently, even before working on Painter’s body you’ve noticed the change of his demeanour. The way he seemed more lost in his own mind, how he seemed to flinch at almost anything. He’s gotten meaner, crueler, but nothing could push you from him and you hope he comes to realize that.

“I don’t need to consider that.” You said quietly, watching him tilt his head slightly in your direction, ears twitching slightly, listening. “Why would I consider my assistant gone when he’s been working with me for years?”

Sebastian looked at you fully, expression unreadable before he let out a small smile.

“... yeah. Yeah, I guess I’m stuck with you, huh?” 

“You are.” You said matter-of-factly. Huffing out as the two of you made your way to Heavy Containment.

“Hey doc’?” After a while of silence, near Painter, Sebastian spoke once again. “I know you’re busy and all but think you have like an hour or two you can spare?”

“Why?”

Sebastian stayed silent before he put a hand on your head, pushing you down as he leaned down.

“Just wanna spend time with my fav person here.” He grinned, giggling to himself. “Without obligation, just you and I.”

It’s true that it’s been awhile since you’ve spent time with just Sebastian without work involved. While you two would interact a lot thanks to him helping you around paperwork, a lot of the times you were too busy trying to write down these things while he organized your drawers.

The two of you interacted a lot, he still told you a lot of random facts and things that he sees on your phone that definitely count as brainrot but even then it was only for a short while as the two of you were busy. It’s been awhile since the two of you actually interacted as friends for a long time.

“There’s something I want to show you.” Sebastian straightened up, chuckling. “... Thought of you when I came across it.”

“I’d love to.” You smiled up at him, even if you didn’t have the time, you’d rather make time for him. 

He was your best friend in this hell hole, and you wanted to spend time with him.

“Okay so, let me know after… six, I GUESS.” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “But before ten, obviously.”

“Baby curfew…”

“DUDE.” You snickered at Sebastian as he groaned. “Born to stay up late in the morning, forced to have a decent sleep schedule…”

Sebastian started making fake crying noises as the two of you finally reached Painter’s room.

At the sight of you, some of the scientists in the room started to pack to move rooms. It wasn’t that they had to leave, but unlike the Robotics division, the scientists in this division were too tired to care and as the researchers that worked with Painter who practically did nothing would see you, they would simply take a not-Urbanshade assigned break. 

It wasn’t allowed or anything, and they definitely shouldn’t be doing it. But you weren’t going to say anything as you know you would have done the same if you were forced to look at a machine the whole day and do nothing but stay at your other machine knowing you could be anywhere else.

Which is true, you are the same, you’re doing it right now. 

Either way, it was better for you as that meant you had Painter mostly to yourself as the scientists just looked at their own computers practically snoozing seated.

Everyday you are grateful that Sebastian was so extremely annoying that Urbanshade just gave you your own office instead of fighting you on Sebastian’s presence.

One day you want to know which higher up allowed it to happen, because it was incredibly funny knowing that you have your own office just because Sebastian was too big and kept moving every desk (on purpose!) with his tail because he wanted to be annoying.

You smiled at yourself as you opened the door to Painter’s room. The computer noticed you immediately as it minimized all its tabs.

“Hey!” Painter greeted immediately, face beaming and screen brightening at the sight of the two of you. Sebastian waved as he set the box of trinkets and things down on the table only to walk out to go grab Painter’s body hidden in one of the crates inside the room. “How are you?”

“Good.” You did your usual greeting of kissing the corner of the screen, earning a cute giggle from the computer. “How are you?”

“So much better now that you’re here!” Painter grinned, only for faint pink circles appeared under his cheeks as he looked bashful. “As always…”

“You two gross me out.” Sebastian interrupted your moment, as always.

“You’re just mad that-”

“Shut up.’ Sebastian pointed at you with a huff as he made Painter’s body stand, going down to plug the body to the wall. “We really have to see how we can make this body independent…”

“That’s true…” You mused, you really have to ask your boss about it. Didn’t they offer to come back at a future date just for that? “Either way, hope you’re ready for another training period, Painter.”

“I was born ready!” Sebastian picked up Painter, setting down the monitor on top of the body, holding the extra parts of Painter as he slotted it on his chest. Disconnecting the drawing tablet as the side piece he carefully moved the wires to the rest of the body. Painter’s body might be a bit of a mess of wires currently, but if it worked, then it didn’t matter much now did it?

“Connected?” You asked as you got up, going up to Painter as you tilted your head. Painter nodded slightly. “Alright, to the typical tests of testing your arms and legs.”

“Understood!” The computer said in determination, raising his left arm first, then his right. Since you’ve gotten the body for Painter, it has managed to move faster than before. While the coordination is still not fully done, it was an extremely fast improvement from the original movement that he had. 

Painter stretched out his arms, rotating his wrists. Clenching his fists before relaxing once again. He still struggled moving his fingers independently which is exactly why you have your box of trinkets.

Now legs, Painter lifted one leg, slowly. Sebastian stood beside it on standby. The last time Painter tried to move his legs, he nearly fell over and it made Sebastian panic in ways you didn’t think was possible.

While it took him a while, Painter managed to lift one leg up and put it back down just as slowly. Then he did it once again with the other, looking down in concentration as he focused on moving his legs.

As Painter finished, it looked up at you. Almost as if waiting for your approval.

You grinned, clapping your hands only to not be able to resist to come up and give him a hug.

“You did it!”

Painter tilted his head to look at you, wrapping his arms hesitantly around you, not wanting to crush you.

“I did!”

You kissed him on his mouth, earning an obvious reaction from how loud his fans started to go. Painter giggled, pressing its monitor up to your face as close as it could as it lowered the brightness of the screen. Painter was always conscious when you were close, lowering the brightness of its screen to make sure your eyes don’t get as hurt as they could be by how bright his screen can get. 

“Alright…” You reluctantly let go of Painter, earning a small sound of disapproval from his speakers as you did some steps back. Stepping right next to your lovely box. “Next, we’ll try to work on your grip, think you can walk on your own here?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Painter looked over at Sebastian still beside it. 

Sebastian nodded, one of his arms lightly lifted behind Painter. Not touching the robot but still there in case he needed it.

“Just take the leap, buddy.” Sebastian encouraged. “I’m right here in case you fall.”

Painter nodded in determination, looking down at his feet as he moved one leg forward. Hesitation took over the computer, his screen flickering into a face of worry as his hands moved up to grasp at something.

You saw Sebastian out of instinct come closer, but seeing Painter still standing, he let the latter go without assistance. You tried to not let the anxiety on your face show as you opened your arms for Painter, hoping to give the computer more motivation.

“Painter,” you called out to him, “look at me, don’t look down.”

Painter complied immediately, looking up at you as it took another step forward. In instinct, he looked down, but seemingly remembering your words, he looked back up.

Then he took another step.

And another.

And soon, it was finally right in front of you.

Painter beamed as it wrapped its arms around you, trying its best to not wrap too hard as it bumped its screen against you, Painter’s way of showing you affection.

“I managed to walk to you!” Painter said with a cheer, blue circles coming at the corner of his eyes. “I managed to actually walk!”

“You’re getting so much better!” You matched his cheer, nuzzling at his screen earning a light giggle from the computer.

“All thanks to my awesome partner.” Painter admitted, moving its hands to your lower back and squeezing lightly.

“Aren’t you sweet…” You replied with. “Give yourself some credit!”

“I already am, I just gotta compliment you while I’m at it.”

“Oh you!” 

Sebastian watched your exchange, eyes darting between the two of you. Even if he liked joking that the two of you were disgusting, he couldn’t help but smile at the idea of you finding love. 

He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle, when he thought of you and love, never in a million years would he have thought you would have fallen for a sentient computer that loved you back genuinely. This wasn’t one of those fake AIs that were popular nowadays that he’s seen on the internet. A real, genuine AI, that loved you with his whole mechanical heart.

It was silly for him, of course the scientist who saw all the subjects as people and treated them differently wouldn’t fall in love with someone normal. It was just in your nature to see things differently.

It was endearing, he can’t even blame Painter for falling head over heels for someone like you.

“Alright you two.” Sebastian patted the shoulder on the both of you. “If I let you indulge in each other you’re probably going to be slobbering all over Painter’s screen and I know he’s probably freaky enough to enjoy it.”

You couldn’t help but laugh, Sebastian said it in a lighthearted manner, a joke to try to split you off. But alas, both you and Sebastian could clearly see the gears turning in Painter’s mind as it considered the situation that Sebastian pictured.

“No bud’, especially not in front of me.” Sebastian lifted both of his hands, palms facing the both of you in a pushing motion as he closed his eyes. “We got some testing to do and the doc’ over here is on a tight schedule, aren’t ya?”

You nodded defeatedly, knowing of the work you so clearly ignored and procrastinated as well as the meeting you had to go later in the day.

“Aww…” Painter reluctantly let you go, taking some steps back as he looked at the box. It seems he’s starting to become slightly more confident with his walk. “But expected, I really gotta start working harder on the Roblux Mining, maybe they’ll actually give me the free day they promised and we can spend more time together!”

You glanced over at Sebastian as he did the same to you. It was clearly just a stunt that Urbanshade did to make the computer work harder. But even after this whole time you didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth.

“That requires me to also have a free day, I’m afraid…” You scratched the back of your neck, Urbanshade didn’t exactly give free days easily. While you worked daily and it was definitely breaking some sort of worker law, the pay was too handsome to complain unfortunately.

“We can try to align it…” Painter suggested. “Maybe even align it with Sebastian! And then we can all spend the whole day together or something! That sounds so fun!”

Sebastian chuckled, putting an arm around the computer.

“Sounds nice, maybe we might one day yeah.” He nodded. “But right now, let’s focus on the task at hand.”

“Aye aye, captain!” Painter did a salute, arm still trying to calculate the actual position to put it properly keeping its monitor as a head. 

Sebastian patted Painter’s shoulder before straightening up and nodding over at you.

Motioning for Painter to look at the desk, you put down a couple of items. 

Hardest to most fragile.

Painter went through them slowly, you could see how it clearly stressed it out. But hearing your words of encouragement, he continued on.

When he knew they were clearly your personal belongings and not something that you picked up from around Urbanshade, you noticed just how much gentler and more careful he was.

Earlier, you left as one of the items your personal notebook. 

“Is this?”

“My notebook? Yeah.” You shook the book slightly, before putting it back in the row of items. “The same one that I wrote all the information about you early on among other subjects.”

Painter looked over at the book, then at you. Hands extremely careful as he used his other to push it on his hand. Painter seemed so deadly afraid of ruining the book as he lifted it up, tears prickling in his eyes as he looked over at you. 

“You can put it back down if you want…”

Yet Painter hesitated, looking at the booklet, opening it slightly before closing it again.

“This is your own notebook, I can’t believe I’m holding it…” 

Its concentration however gave you an idea.

“Think you can turn to page 27 of it?” 

Painter looked over at you,

“Are you sure?”

You nodded, putting a hand on the table, leaning over it.

“Take it as a test.”

Painter did as he was told, turning page by page, he was so careful with it. He seemed so afraid to break the pages as he turned over to page 27.

Opening the notebook fully as he read.

“I didn’t ask you to read it.”

“O-Oh! Sorry!”

Painter frantically closed the notebook apologetically, face turning read in embarrassment.

“I’m joking.” You replied, completely forgetting how serious Painter was at respecting your boundary compared to a certain fish in the same room who liked pushing them. “Did you read it?”

The computer looked over at you, hesitating slightly before flipping the pages back to 27.

“It’s… about me…” 

You nodded, smiling as you came closer just to point at some passages.

“It’s what I thought about you earlier on, if you’re ever curious, I can let you borrow these so you can read them.”

“I’d love to!” Painter exclaimed, closing the notebook once again before continuing on with the other objects.

It was as if Painter was graduating from each and every object. He was getting better and more dexterous with his fingers. 

Painter was being tested on how well he could move his fingers as well as how much his grip was. 

So far, it didn’t break any of the objects, but rather managed to hold them well enough. He even managed to hold a pen in his hands and albeit slowly, managed to move the pen between his fingers.

It wasn’t easy for him and the hours would pass quickly as you and Sebastian carefully looked over at Painter trying his best.

“Alright, last two items.” You motioned at the items on the desk, one was the blacklight that Sebastian oh-so-generously got for you and the last one was just some eggs you got from the community kitchen that you’re sure Urbanshade wouldn’t miss.

“Be careful with that light, those are really rare.” Sebastian admitted. “Not like I know if it works. I tried to turn it on and it sounds like it works but I saw no light.”

“Maybe it’s out of batteries.” You shrugged, looking at the light. “Who knows, just try to grab it Painter.”

Painter looked over at the two of you with a nod, taking in a deep breath as it went in to grab the light.

…

Only for it to crack immediately in his hand.

Painter froze, an immediate look of horror and panic landed on its face.

You heard Sebastian take a deep breath, looking over at him who had his eyes closed.

Painter also looked at Sebastian, a completely apologetic expression on his monitor.

“I… I didn’t think…” Painter muttered. “I thought since it looked like plastic it would be sturdier…”

Sebastian took another deep inhale, opening his eyes as he put a hand on the computer.

“It’s okay.” It was definitely not okay, Sebastian seemed to have multiple inner battles he was fighting because of this. But you knew he at least suspected it could happen by the way he willingly gave it up for Painter knowing your previous experiments with Painter resulted in the computer destroying many items with his bare hands. 

“I didn’t know…” Painter seemed to tear up at it, putting down the now destroyed light.

“No, no it’s okay, really.” Sebastian tried to put on a strong smile. “You are learning, I already expected you to destroy it. ‘Sides, I don’t think it even worked, I was expecting to need to repair it at one point.”

“Are you sure..?”

“Yeah, of course.” Sebastian patted Painter on the head. “Come on, you can try again, there’s the rest of the light to destroy.”

Sebastian winked but Painter did not seem to see it in a lighthearted manner, heart seemingly sinking from ruining one of the items.

“Don’t beat yourself up for this.” You finally said, putting a hand on the side of Painter’s monitor as it looked over at you apologetically. “You’ve already improved so much since the last time, this is already so much better than before, you only destroyed this one compared to the countless items of last time.”

“But I still destroyed…” Painter said quietly, speakers crackling slightly. “I don’t want to destroy, all I want is to create.”

“You are, this is just the first step to it.” You reassured the computer. “You’re so close, with just a bit more practice you’ll be able to not destroy.”

You put your hands up for Painter to grab, he did so immediately.

“You won’t hurt anyone, after this you’ll be able to create, I promise.”

Painter nodded slightly, determined as he let go of your hand. Looking back at the blacklight as he picked it up again.

This time, careful enough to not break the light more. He moved it around his hands, playing around with the device, pressing the now broken buttons as if testing the waters before putting the device back down.

“Now it’s the last item.” Painter said as he looked down at the set of eggs you brought.

“The most fragile,” you confirmed, “be careful.”

Painter looked at you for a second before going back to the eggs. Determined once again as his hand hovered on top of them. 

Taking a small break of what you can only assume to be something similar to taking a deep breath as it finally wrapped its fingers around one of the eggs.

Both you and Sebastian seemed to look in anticipation as Painter slowly lifted up the egg from the set that you picked up.

You let out a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding as you let out a cheer. Painter matched your energy only to accidentally let go of the egg before frantically trying to grab it once again.

“Looks like you passed all the tests, buddy.” Sebastian leaned down. “Careful with that egg though.”

Painter frantically put the egg back down, putting his hands together in a clapping motion.

“Really?”

“Looks like it!” You replied with a grin, putting your hands in a clapping motion.

Only for Painter to move a finger to the corner of his screen, tapping it expectantly. You playfully rolled your eyes as you went to kiss the corner of his screen, earning a giggle from the computer. 

You stayed close to him for a bit before looking over at your watch. 

4:35.

“While I would love to stay and hopefully test more of your walking capabilities, I gotta go.” 

“Aww…” Painter let out a defeated sigh. “You did say you were on a tight schedule… that’s too bad.”

Sebastian shrugged.

“Don’t worry, I’ll stay with Painter til’ our meeting time doc’.” He grinned. “Gonna gossip so hard, and show him all the brainrot without you.”

“Please don’t mess Painter up, Sebastian. Or I’ll make sure to warn my co-workers of you stealing their stuff.” You warned.

Sebastian gasped.

“You wouldn’t.” He said as his own warning.

“I would.” You definitely wouldn’t.

Your lovely frustrating assistant put a hand on his chest as if he was hurt before shooing you away.

“I won’t miss you.”

“I will.” Painter interlocked his fingers together. While Sebastian liked to mess with you especially with his tough love, Painter couldn’t help but inject some of his innocent love in the situation.

You couldn’t help but completely melt at how its words sounded to how its position was. Painter was so cute you just wanted to kiss all over his screen.

But you unfortunately had to go lest you make your boss wait which wasn’t a good thing.

“I’ll miss you too Painter, see you soon!” 

You waved off the two of them, walking outside the enclosure as you walked at the door to leave the room. Turning back to blow a kiss over as Painter only for him to pretend to catch it and press it on his chest with a bashful expression.

Oh, he was just so cute!

Before you told yourself to stay any longer in the room, you turned back to leave the room.

Trips acted a bit weirdly earlier, and it made you wonder just what they wanted to talk to you about.

As you took the tram to the Robotics Division, you couldn’t ignore the sudden sinking feeling that took hold of you. Your boss was always more lighthearted with you, especially when bringing things up. The only times they were colder were when they were frustrated because you couldn’t connect a wire and they would be upset at everyone for the whole rest of the day.

They held grudges but it didn’t seem like their coldness was because of how Sebastian was acting towards them. 

It made you wonder just how serious the conversation could be with them.

The Robotics Division was as loud as it always was. You walked past all the workshops that had people working in them. You heard cheers coming from some of the rooms, likely from scientists having their code finally work.

But as you got closer and closer to your boss’ office, it seemed to get quieter. As if this area was frozen in time. But such is the atmosphere that surrounded their office. While the division seemed to be more close and happier, the reputation that surrounded the head made a certain atmosphere follow them.

In a way, Trips acted just like the rest of the division. But because they were the genius head of the division, everyone was more intimidated and preferred to have a business relationship with them which made you wonder just how Trips felt about that disconnect.

Finally, you stood in front of the door, hand hovering to knock on the door only for it to open for you.

You took a deep breath, trying to calm your nerves as you walked into the office. 

It was eerily quiet.

Trips’ office was always clean, pristine and quiet. Different from the rest of the division.

The scientist themselves stood at their window. Being a higher up earned them to have one of those big windows that showed part of the Let-Vand Zone with the artificial lights making the normally pitched black area more visible.

Screens surrounded them like a hologram yet you could tell they weren’t focused on them judging with how they weren’t moving and only stared over at the window. The light of the room dimmer than usual as they looked outside.

“How are you feeling?” Trips’ voice suddenly cut through the silence like a knife, the screens around them disappearing as they turned in your direction. “Come beside me.”

You listened, stepping beside them as they looked back at the ocean. 

In Urbanshade’s control, there was no sign of any of the wildlife you’re sure it used to have. Yet knowing that Pandemonium was first found in the same zone you’re currently in, maybe it’s for the better.

“I…” Trips started before letting out a sigh. “Perhaps I shouldn’t do small talk and simply get to the point, hm?”

You looked over at Trips who looked at you carefully. Walking away from the window as they went to instead sit down at their desk. Crossing their fingers together as they looked to the side.

“You’ll get a notice soon, but I thought I would tell you directly so you may know of this information as soon as possible.” Trips looked back at you slowly, motioning at one of the many chairs around their office. “Make yourself comfortable, my dearest scientist.” 

You looked over at Trips in question before slowly walking to one of the chairs around the office, stiffly sitting in one of them.

“I was allowed to bring you to the Robotics Division as the other higher ups have been seeing less… use of you in the Hadal Division.” They explained calmly. “While your work with Z-317 and Z-779 have been showing incredible improvements in both of them, they are the only noteworthy ones according to the higher ups. I read your document before, after all.”

You could feel yourself frown. What were they talking about?

It couldn’t be that Urbanshade only saw positive improvement in two of the multiple subjects you worked on! Knowing Trips, they probably have noticed the strain on your face at the mention. Your hard work was not for naught.

“As our only Behavioural Scientist, Urbanshade didn’t want to throw you away just yet. You were originally considered for the Bioparanormal or the Hazard and Ethics Division funnily enough.” They said that yet didn’t have any humour on their face. “However, at your request for something in the Robotics Division, I instead managed to intercept and get you in a division you were previously not considered in.”

“Why are you telling me this?” You couldn’t hold back the question, where was Trips going with this?

“Urbanshade doesn’t want you to work in or with the Hadal Division anymore.” Trips said plainly, leaning their elbows against their elbow. “That includes Z-779 and… Z-13.”

Your eyes widened at the information, mouth opening and closing at the knowledge. 

“... What?”

Trips only nodded.

“By transferring division, which would have been done anyways, you would need to cut complete ties. Such is how Urbanshade works, we don’t work between divisions.” 

“But I need to still work on the ones I’m currently working with, they explicitly need my help!” You got up from the chair, taking a step closer to the desk as Trips stared at you. “Eyefestation is getting better, less violent as we were trying to do, listening to others. Painter is getting more efficient by the day, just like Urbanshade wants him to be! And-”

Before you could continue, Trips raised their hand, wordlessly telling you to stop.

“You humanize the subjects too much.”  Trips let out a bittersweet smile, voice quiet as they spoke slowly, as if the words felt foreign in their mouth. “I admire it, it was precisely the reason why I wanted you here in the first place. But this… this isn’t allowed in Urbanshade.”

“What do you mean it’s not allowed, this is my whole job!”

“Ironic, isn’t it?”

You deflated immediately, slumping back down in the chair. You knew better than to fight it, already in the years of working with Urbanshade, you had to fight tooth and nail for the privileges you had managed to get. And even then, they were cruel and…

“What about Sebastian?” You look up at Trips. “He’s my personal assistant, you know.”

“They are working on getting you a new one.” Trips looked away as they said it. “As for your office, I have already found a room you can reside in so as to not make your transfer harder.”

“No, what will happen to him.”

“It’s confidential-”

“What will happen to him!”

Your eyes darted on Trips’ face, as if trying to figure out what was happening in the inner machinations of their mind. As if watching their expression would tell the truth, that maybe you would be able to find out why this was happening.

Since the day that Sebastian overheard something about his transfer. You needed to know what was happening and you wanted to know from someone who actually knew more of it. 

You couldn’t stand staying in the dark knowing that Sebastian was holding back information that he heard that he’s too afraid to tell you. 

You couldn’t stand the idea that people knew of him and refused to tell you anything when he was your responsibility.

Sebastian was your assistant, but most importantly he was your friend, your best friend. 

You can’t simply wait and sit back and let it happen. 

“... I apologize...” Trips said apologetically.

“I know.” You sighed, leaning on the table as you covered your face with your hands. “I know you can’t say anything.”

Trips called out your name, quietly, gently, perhaps the only time you’ve heard them call out your name. The higher ups had a habit of always referring to anyone by their title to keep a distance yet here they were, their hand moving close to you only to hesitate and go back to their side. 

“This isn’t the end, I’m sure we can figure something out.”

“Like what?” Your voice cracked as you looked up at them. You knew you had to be strong, you can’t show weakness, not here, not in Urbanshade. 

“Give me your hand.” Trips said quietly, palm up. It seemed their previous reluctance disappeared as they offered their hand. Almost as if they threw an offer to bring you back to shore, to bring you back from the treacherous waters that started in your mind. 

On one hand, you were never sure of Trips closeness. They were your boss and nothing could change how uncomfortable they could make anyone. Yet as you stared down at their hand, you hesitantly put your hand in theirs. 

They slowly got up, bringing you up with them as they walked around their desk to pull you back at their window. Hand letting go of yours before landing on your shoulder. The familiar closeness that they would give to you seeped through even as you jolted by the sudden touch.

“Urbanshade wants to separate you, they don’t value closeness, connection. Believe me, my dear.” Trips looked at you closely, eyes darting over your face as they sighed. “But this isn’t the end. They might want that but it… it won’t happen. You’ll… you’ll see each other again.”

“Don’t give me false hope.” You looked over at them with a bittersweet smile. “I know you’re trying to be… a friend… I guess but just…”

“I’m a terrible friend, I know.” Trips chuckled breathlessly, their voice a whisper as they rubbed your shoulder slightly before letting you go and looking out the window. 

It was quiet once again as you looked over outside.

“They won’t let you say goodbye.” Trips admitted before looking back at you. “But I promise I’ll facilitate a proper farewell when the time comes.”

You wrapped your arms around your body, taking in a deep breath as you looked back at them. You could easily read between the lines of what Trips was talking about. Your mind went through every possible option of what could happen.

You didn’t want to assume the worst. But it was so hard when you were in a place such as Urbanshade.

“... You’re dismissed.” Trips finally said, pushing their glasses up as they looked back at the Let-Vand Zone. “Take the rest of the night off, think about it.”

You didn’t know what else to say as you simply nodded, turning around and walking out of their office.

But before you left, you heard them speak once again.

“Enjoy the time you have left with him.” Trips said just barely loud enough for you to hear. “I’ll leave my office open for you if you wish to come back, looking over here calms me down. You’re free to use anything in this room.”

“... thanks.” You manage to mutter out, albeit a bit croaked from the effort of trying to hold back your sudden emotions. 

It was mindless, your feet just walking back to your office. 

You almost couldn’t remember how you got back here, it was automatic as you sat back down on your chair.

The paperwork that you had earlier in the day staring at you, mocking you.

You stared around your office, customized to hell and back from all the years you stayed in the Hadal Division.

Scratch marks on your desk and drawers from Sebastian accidentally pushing his claws too harshly on them.

You laughed at the memory, the amount of times he would scratch or bump something for it to fall over, he would look at you like a kid with their hand in the cookie jar. Apologetic as he would try to pretend nothing happened.

The Handy Man wasn’t quite handy when it came to things he didn’t consciously think of being careful with. Which made some of your office have random dents and scratches everywhere.

Taking a deep breath, you scrambled through your desk, pushing things aside as you pulled out a picture frame.

You didn’t keep it hidden because you didn’t want Sebastian to see it, but mostly because you were scared Urbanshade might have a say against it.

Just one of the many pictures you have of Sebastian and you.

Normally, you preferred using a polaroid, making it possible to have printed pictures immediately knowing that Urbanshade would never let you print them.

Urbanshade didn’t value connection.

They pushed against it.

You could feel yourself get tense as you looked at the picture.

It was your favourite of you and Sebastian, he was there clear. It wasn’t done with a Polaroid camera, but instead was with your phone that you later printed during one of your vacations. You wanted to have a picture where Sebastian’s eyes were open after all.

It was funny how he completely engulfed the scene, the picture was done in your office to make sure that you could have a picture with him with no fear. Everywhere in the picture, Sebastian was scene, his tail covering the floor completely. 

In the moment, he had lifted you up as you took the picture as a selfie. His grin charming and genuine as one of his hands made the typical going behind your head to give you ears to “ruin” the picture.

On your phone you had the aftermath which was a very blurred picture of Sebastian playfully almost dropping you and your face of pure betrayal towards his shit eating grin.

It was taken a year ago now and you couldn’t help but smile even as tears dropped down to the picture frame.

Your connection with Sebastian was real. It was valuable. It was something Urbanshade would never understand.

The same way they would never value Sebastian as a person. 

You took a deep, shaky breath as you pressed your thumb against the Sebastian in the picture.

You're not quite sure what you're going to do once he’s gone.

“They were keeping me HOSTAGE. Can you believe that?!” Sebastian, the real physical version of him, walked into your office, groaning at the sheer idea of doing much work. But then he stopped, noticing your sudden state. You only managed to put back the picture frame to where it was with shaky hands as he got to your side. “Hey, hey what's wrong?”

Even if Sebastian was slightly mean, he was never going to be that way when it came to your clear emotions.

He sunk down to the ground, lowering himself to just be right under your eye level which you knew was hard for him, especially knowing that you're seated. All previous thoughts or things on his mind were not important anymore, his eyes completely focused on you.

“Did something happen? Don’t tell me your boss told you something that made you cry, do I gotta beat a certain someone up?” Sebastian flashed a grin as he lifted his hand to showcase his sharp claws before sobering up, expression morphing into one of worry once more. “Seriously, what’s up?”

You shook your head as he kept his hands to himself, watching you carefully as you sniffled. 

He stayed quiet, looking at your body language carefully. 

Your focus got interrupted as you noticed the light dimming. Your office had it that it would dim between light levels instead of fully turning off as you saw that Sebastian hit the light switch with his tail. 

Before you could even question what he was doing, he laid his head on your lap, crossing his arms as he pillowed his head with them. Closing his eyes in relaxation. 

“You can touch me.” He said plainly, simply. The light of his esca was dim, yet was now the only light in the room. You felt tears prickle in your eyes as you looked down at him, there was nothing but him in the room. The world didn’t exist, it was just him, and the light that guided you.

Sebastian didn’t like touch, he hated it, he hated the idea of anyone even considering the idea of touching him. Yet here he was, openly offering as if it didn’t bother him in the slightest. 

Your hands hesitantly reached for him, one of your hands tangling in the side of his bangs. The back of your fingers skimmed his cool skin before separating once again to play with the strands of his hair. 

He kept his eyes closed as you sniffled, still playing with his hair. Sebastian’s neck gills opened and closed slowly, matching his breathing as he stayed barely moving on your lap.

You could tell he wasn’t putting much of his weight on you, he was making an effort to only put a bit. Simply the idea of his care made more tears fall from your cheeks.

Sebastian opened one of his eyes, glancing up at you lazily.

“Wanna talk about it?” You considered his offer before shaking your head slowly. He hummed in acknowledgment, leaning back down as he closed his eyes again. “That’s okay.”

His voice was gravely, quiet, yet he made an effort to stay as still as he could. 

The more you played with his hair, the more you felt your chest stagger at the thought of him. From the moment that Sebastian overheard his transfer to how Trips worded your own, it was all crashing down. The reality of the situation.

The reality that he will be gone.

You couldn’t handle it as your breath came in short gasps, simply seeing him in front of you, trying so hard to calm you down just made your heart crack. 

Nothing in your whole time in Urbanshade has hurt as much as this moment.

It was almost as if Urbanshade wanted to specifically mess you over. 

To make you crack.

You hoped that maybe if you just worked harder, what Sebastian overheard would be revoked. That maybe you could change his fate.

Maybe you developed some sort of saviour complex doing this sort of job. But you really thought that you were changing things.

After the talk with Trips with how your work was practically not on par with what they wanted and wanted you to transfer divisions anyways it made you wonder if your work was even worth it.

If you were even fixing anything.

If you were even helping anyone.

If you were-

“Hey, look at me.” Your thoughts were interrupted as you noticed that Sebastian lifted himself up, his expression was of complete worry as his hand was on your face, the back of his index finger wiping one of your tears. You didn’t notice how many tears started to flow. “Stay with me, focus on me.”

You tried to focus on his attempt of grounding you, you knew you were panicking, the self awareness only helped in making your situation worse. 

Sebastian took a deep breath before hesitantly wrapping his arms around you, pulling you up as he sat back against the wall, placing you on top of him. 

“I’m here for you.” He said softly, letting out a sigh as two his hands did a soothing motion on your back while one laid on your head, scratching your head as softly as he could. He hummed softly, low, as he did so.

The feeling of Sebastian was grounding, finally it felt as if your breathing finally calmed down. Even if the screaming in your mind voiced the idea that this won’t last for long, it started to get quiet as you focused on him. Finally focused on him. 

His voice was soothing, you’ve heard him sing before, rarely, but it was nice. This humming was just as rare but it was just as beautiful.

You stayed there for a while longer, simply hearing Sebastian hum a tune as you managed to control your breathing.

“Better?” 

You hesitated before nodding slightly, looking up at him as he looked down at you. His gaze was still the same worried one.

“... yeah…” Your voice cracked slightly, as you lifted yourself up from him, wiping one of your tears with the back of your hand. 

It was silent for another moment longer before Sebastian spoke once again.

“We can just stay here the whole time if you need it,” he offered, “unless you still want to check out the place I wanted to show ya.”

You shook your head,

“I’d rather be anywhere than here, right now.”

“Noted.” Sebastian said plainly, nudging you slightly to see if you were ready to get off him. After a small while, and with his help, you got off him as he straightened up. “We can go as slow as you need.” 

“No, let’s walk like normal.” You nodded in determination as Sebastian tilted his head. “The... rest of my day is off anyways so… I’d rather enjoy it.”

“You got the rest of the day off?” Sebastian looked at you incredulously, scratching his neck slightly. “Well, isn’t that just convenient. Guess you’ll just be spending the rest of your time with good ol me, isn’t that awesome! I mean, who wouldn’t want to, I’m awesome, and cool, and amazing.”

You could tell that Sebastian was just exaggerating some of his descriptors to cheer you up. 

A chuckle bubbled deep in your chest, one that you couldn’t hold back as Sebastian grinned. 

“See, even subconsciously you agree that I’m swag.” He nudged you with the back of his index finger only to walk at the door of your office. “Ready? You’re not going to expect this place.” 

You nodded at him, determined to see this through as Sebastian laughed to himself, opening the door as he bent around the opening.

“You first.” 

Sebastian was always full of surprises, which made you not exactly know where he was going to take you. 

Much less when you started to not exactly recognize the area at all and less and less scientists were around. He kept taking you to lower and lower floors, you would look over at him in question as he snickered to himself and told you to wait and see. 

You noticed how there were less and less cameras in these areas, less guards and everything. Which could mean this was either a completely defunct area of Urbanshade, or just extremely safe that no one passed by.

“We’re really far away from everyone right now.” Sebastian confirmed, looking over at you. “That includes other scientists, experiments, other prisoners…”

Sebastian started naming groups only to look back in front of him.

“It’s quiet here, no one really visits this area. I wonder why?” Sebastian mused to himself before kicking a ventilation shaft open. “Go in there, it’s safe I already checked, I’ll meet you on the other side.”

Before you could question his idea he was already gone. Something you always wondered was how he could be so fast with his biology, but it must be because of how many years he practiced with it.

You hesitated slightly before going on your knees before crawling inside the vent. It had a lot of space so you could still crawl comfortably in it. When you reached an intersection, you would hear Sebastian’s voice faintly telling you which direction to go as you finally found the exit.

Sebastian stood in front of you, his arms crossed.

“See? Wasn’t so bad.”

“I’m all dusty now.” You admitted without missing a beat.

“Eh.” Sebastian shrugged as he pulled your arm. “Before you ask, the door to this part of Urbanshade is broken so I made you go through the vents instead.”

“Where did you go?”

“Secret.” 

Sebastian shrugged before he opened the door, then another before you landed in what you can only assume as a storage room.

“Welcome…” Sebastian started, letting you go as he turned to face you. Arms opening dramatically as he grinned. “To mi casa! My humble abode!” 

“Huh?” 

“Mi casa… Tu casa…. In other words, my… uh…. My room.” 

You looked around the area, there were curtains everywhere covering the room. Pillows and blankets skewed around. 

But then you started to really look around, these weren’t normal items that you’re sure Sebastian stole, some of these were items you gave him.

Your eyes landed on an open box, eyes widening. The absurd amount of belts that Sebastian asked you god knows when! This is where they went?!

“Felt like finally showing you after years.” Sebastian tilted his head, grabbing a pack of cigarettes to stuff in his pocket. “What do you think?”

“Didn’t expect you to have such a thing.” You looked around, bending down to touch one of the blankets. It’s clear that he spends a lot of his time here, probably in times that you’re busy and he’s free. “It’s really nice.”

“I know!” Sebastian laughs, urging you with a goner to follow him again. “But this isn’t the only place I wanted to show you.”

He slithered over one of the furthest parts of the room, pushing a curtain to the side as you quickly followed after him. 

Hallway after dark hallway, you followed Sebastian as he was the only source of light. It was rare for him to go through an area with his esca so bright, but here he was leaving it so bright. 

It was rare to find such a place in Urbanshade, one where nothing happened. It feels abandoned yet everything still works. It made you wonder if this place was truly safe, or if something was lurking deep within these walls. But knowing Sebastian, he would protect you if worse came to shove. You knew he could defend himself, and you knew he could defend you. After all, he wasn’t your… assistant for no reason.

“Right here.” Sebastian turned your direction. “You are not ready for what I’m about to show you.”

Sebastian opened the door to a seemingly normal room, it almost looked like a lounge with the dimmer lights. You noticed a fireplace, odd, but then you saw what was seated at said fireplace who slowly turned in your direction.

“Is that-”

“A skeleton? Yeah.” Sebastian pointed over with his thumb, smirking almost too wide as he laughed. “Can you believe that? Crazy!” 

The skeleton moved, ready to throw the witches brew in its hand before Sebastian put his hands up in surrender.

“Sorry sorry!”

Sebastian looked back at you before urging you to follow him.

“I have no idea what this place is.” He started, leading you over to a seemingly bar-like area where a skeleton stared at the two of you. “All I know is that for some reason there are just… skeletons that can move and they refuse to tell me how they do that.”

He shrugged as he motioned for you to take a seat at the bar. You reluctantly obliged, while you knew Urbanshade had their fair share of oddities, you never thought you’d see a sentient skeleton.

You almost didn’t want to look over at the skeleton who was probably staring at you but as Sebastian paused you decided to look over.

That, and also because you realized of the glowing drinks beside you.

“Seems familiar?” Sebastian tapped a finger on the table, looking back at the skeleton. Digging into his pockets as he pulled out some documents. “Give me one of these blue ones, oh and a pink one for my friend over here, make it a virgin though.”

“What is this?” You looked between the skeleton… bartender and Sebastian. From the calm atmosphere, to the neon lights, to the hazardous looking drinks. 

“A bar.” Sebastian said matter-of-factly as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “And a nice little chilling area for skeletons I guess, even if they serve anyone that got enough stuff to give in. They accept anything.”

Sebastian grinned as he leaned against the table. The bartender slid the drinks over to the both of you. Picking up his drink almost immediately, he moved the little parasol at the edge to make it easier to drink. 

You looked over at the drink he ordered for you, a flicker of recognition flashed in your eyes at the neon pink.

“Now does it seem familiar?”

“This… The evil drink… You called it the Party Special..?”

“Wow, you still remember that?” Sebastian snickered. “Yeah, the evil drink, but don’t worry, it’s not hardcore like the one that was given to you that one time LOL.”

Your hands reached over the drink. It wasn’t reflective at all, it was radioactive pink. The reasonable part of you told you to not drink it, but knowing you already did once in a moment of weakness made you drink it anyways.

The taste can’t be described, it’s something new, something unique. Something that made you wonder if you would turn neon if you drank so much of it.

But there was one question in your mind.

“I already drank this once…” You started, thinking back to the time your lovely boss decided it would be a genius idea to give you one of these. “Did Trips get this from here?”

“That’s what I’ve been wondering too.” Sebastian leaned over your direction in a conspiratorial whisper, hand still holding his drink. “According to these guys, from the little I understand, they—as in these skeleton guys—are the only ones who sell this.” 

“But we are so deep in the Hadal Division.”

“Right? Why would the Head of the Robotics Division travel so deeply in the Hadal Division to get such a drink and then come back up as if nothing!” Sebastian shrugged, pulling out his pack of cigarettes as well as a lighter. “Do you mind?”

You shook your head, whatever your opinion on smoking was it didn’t matter in the face of your friend knowing why he decided to do it. He did it rarely anyways as Urbanshade didn’t have many smoking spots.

Sebastian quickly lit up a cigarette, inviting you as he always does before putting the pack and lighter back in his pocket. It seemed the bartender didn’t mind the smoke, it might be because they have… no noses.

“Thing is, I heard the guy isn’t quite a fan of interacting on anything that’s not a robot, yeah?” Sebastian took a long drag of the cigarette, closing his eyes as he pondered. “How come they, hypothetically, talk to these skeletons for what we can assume is multiple of these drinks that they just have in stock god knows how? Food for thought…” 

“I’ve never seen them leave the Robotics Division except very rare times.” You admitted, taking a sip of your mysteriously pink drink as you leaned against the table. “Maybe the skeletons don’t count because they aren’t biological?”

“Trips is a big ol’ misanthropist, which like, I totally get, me too, but like…” Sebastian put his finger up to his chin, tapping it. “Makes you wonder, why are they here of all places? You saw how long it took to get here.”

“I don’t think I know enough about them to know the answer to that.” You leaned against the table. One thing was always sure in your mind, Trips was an enigma. Every time you find out something about them, you always get surprised by something that completely makes you rethink them. For example, their complete lack of empathy towards everyone but machines, yet extreme empathy for you. While it could be a simple case of favouritism, Trips apparently moves on way faster, and it’s been months since Trips has been all over you.

“Maybe you just never put your mind to it.” Sebastian mused, straightening up. Using one of his hands he urged you to follow him once again. “Maybe you were focusing too hard on a certain someone instead.”

“Oh, shut it.” You deadpanned at him as he led you past the fireplace to one of the windows looking over at the water. You left your drink back at the bar as he had, only that he actually drank it all while you hadn’t finished. It was a completely different sight than the one in your boss’ office, being much less illuminated, almost more mysterious.

“I’m sure you’ve realized just how much happier that computer gets around you.” Sebastian tilted his head as he leaned his head on the glass. “Jeez, Painter won’t stop talking about you even when you disappear for a minute! Remember on your birthday? He literally wouldn’t stop talking about how nice and pretty you were, not like he’d appreciate I’m just telling you since I’m sure he’s too shy to tell you anything. Or show you anything. I’m trying to convince him to just show you the art on the hard drive but nope!”

“The art?”

“Oops!” Sebastian laughed to himself, playing with the cigarette in his hand. “Guess I shouldn’t have said that.”

“What art?!” 

Sebastian only laughed at you, using another one of his hands to point at you laughing. 

“I know something you don’t!” 

“Not this again!” 

Sebastian frustrated you to the Banlands and back. 

But somehow, you liked the banter you’d have with him. It was nice having fun with him.

“I can’t expose my buddy.”

“Touché.”

Sebastian sunk down on the ground, bringing his tail up as if he was bringing up his knees to his chest. Patting the space next to him, Sebastian looked at you expectantly. 

You listened without question, sinking down next to him.

“You’ve changed lives, doc’.” He started, looking at you up and down as he took a deep breath. 

“I try to.” You admitted quietly, looking back at him. “When I first got here, I didn’t think this was the job I’d have cut out for me.”

“Fate is a fickle mistress or whatever they say.”

You nodded over at Sebastian.

“I wouldn’t take it any other way. Even after all the heartache I get from how Urbanshade is, I don’t regret trying to help all the subjects.”

You didn’t mean to get so serious as Sebastian stared at you. It was silent for a bit, the smoke of his cigarette seemed to surround you.

“After… getting arrested.” Sebastian took a breath of the cigarette, letting out a sigh as he looked in front of him. The skeleton on the couch facing the fireplace seemed too stuck in its own world to pay attention to the two of you. “I thought I’d just die here, they’d kill me and that’s the end, if I didn’t… do it myself.”

He chuckled, looking back at you with a bittersweet smile.

“You gave me a reason to live.” He said plainly. “You gave me hope and… I really appreciate that. You gave us all hope.”

Sebastian took a deep breath, the cigarette’s smoke enveloping the area as he looked down at the smoke.

“At first, I thought I would just smoke it all. I never smoked before coming to Urbanshade.” He shook his head, looking at the stick in his hand. “To feel something. I really just… I didn’t…”

He laughed again, a smile on his lips.

“You’re really something!” He nudges you playfully, another chuckle escaping his lips. “A scientist that cares so much about the subjects, isn’t that crazy? All the scientists here are so messed up yet here you are walking like a ray of light.”

“Can’t resist it, you know.” You finally said, voice quiet as you looked over at him. Sebastian’s eyes darted on you as he put a hand on your shoulder.

“You care too much, you make me feel human.” Sebastian admitted. “You make us all feel… real.”

It was hard to come up with what to say, in the face of this situation you could only put a hand on his own on your shoulder, squeezing it in acknowledgement.

“I don’t want you to get hurt.” Sebastian muttered, his voice was barely audible as he spoke. “I really… really don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“Nothing will happen to me.” You confirmed only for his expression to turn serious.

“Promise me that if I’m no longer here, you’ll quit, you’ll leave Urbanshade and never look back.” Sebastian said, voice stern as looked at you carefully. “Promise me.”

“What?”

“Please.” 

His voice cracked at the end, as you saw the barely visible white of his irises search your face. The sight of the white was rare, it was only in immense concentration or extreme emotion that it happened to him, yet here he was like this.

You let out a sigh, part of you didn’t want to leave Urbanshade as you knew that other subjects needed you. 

But as you saw Sebastian’s expression, you knew couldn’t refuse his plea.

“I promise.”

His hand slid down your arm, hesitating before going back to his lap as he looked back in front of him.

“This isn’t the end.” Sebastian shook his head. “I won’t let it be the end, it’s not over yet.”

It was silent once again, tense, before Sebastian spoke again. Previous signs of his tension gone as his voice picked up in energy. “That reminds me! Do you know when my super cool ID loses accessibility?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know, the one that your boss gave me.” On cue, Sebastian pulled out the ID card only to drop another ID from his pocket as well. However the one he showed was the Robotics Division worker card that you recall Trips gave to you for your work on Painter. 

“Does it still work?”

“Like a charm.” He grinned, putting it back in his pocket. “Thought they would disable it once we finished Painter’s body.”

“Yeah…” You put a hand on your chin. “It might be because we are still fine tuning Painter’s body?”

“Probably.” He nodded as he picked up the other card that he dropped, stuffing it back into his pocket. Only that once you looked at the card for those split seconds more you realized.

“Is that my ID?!” 

Sebastian slowly turned over at you.

“Maybe.”

“Sebastian!”

He only grinned as he snickered.

“It’s just your extra one! I had to borrow it to show you this area you know, can you blame me?”

“So you’re not even allowed to be here?”

“Obviously not, but apparently you can. Hah! Convenient.”

“Do you just enjoy taking my card?”

“Oh, I take it a lot more often than you think. This is practically my card at this point, I love that it’s still working as if nothing, why does Urbanshade just let that happen? It’s so dumb of them!”

“You take my extra card?!” You confirmed incredulously.

“Yeah, I thought it was obvious that it’s mine at this point.”

You took a deep breath, Sebastian was definitely not supposed to do that. The moment that Urbanshade found out about this, you would get into extremely big trouble, and that's not even talking about the trouble Sebastian would get himself in for something so careless.

But there was one thing that he was right on.

“Wait, yeah why does it still work?” You’re sure Sebastian used your ID to move somewhere when you were clearly at the other side of the Blacksite. The objectively worse person you know made a great point? You cannot keep thinking like this.

“That’s what I’m saying!” Sebastian crushed his cigarette in his hands, face not even flinching as the stick lost all sign of even being lit moments prior. “Urbanshade stupid.”

“They could be listening…” You muttered, knowing that Sebastian always told you the same.

“Oh, they definitely aren’t listening here, one time I ranted for hours at the bartender and my living condition did not get worse. If they heard I would have been sleeping with the fishes, literally!” Sebastian said casually, putting two of his hands behind his head as he leaned against the window. “Which reminds me, completely unrelated, did you get approved for that break?”

You stared over at him for a moment, completely forgetting you had requested to take your free week for mid-october. 

“Oh yeah…” You pondered for a bit, remembering finding a confirmation email that you managed to score a week. “Uh… I think the week of the 13th..?”

You missed the wince that Sebastian let out as he kept looking over in front of him with a casual expression.

“The 13th huh? Of all days.” 

“Well I asked for mid-October, I’d say that’s pretty good.”

“Oh… yeah the 13th is the middle of October… I forgot about that.”

“Someone doesn’t know how to do math.”

Sebastian slowly turned his head over at you. His expression was unreadable as the room fell quiet. Safe for the faint sound of the fireplace.

“I literally studied engineering and business.” Sebastian stared at you. “I didn’t spend years studying only for someone like YOU to say that I don’t know how to do math, I’ll kill you.”

You wordlessly raised your hand in surrender. His threats completely went in one ear out the other. Mostly because you knew he would never act up upon them when it came up to you.

“I thought so.” He said, turning back in front of him as he crossed his arms with a huff. 

You leaned over at him, touching him lightly. You knew that Sebastian had a complicated relationship with being touched, but he allowed you to do so. Even with him explicitly allowing you, you never wanted to put that much pressure on him.

“You love me.” You couldn’t resist saying it. Something you knew that Sebastian would say to you because he’s a prick. It seemed he was rubbing off on you.

Sebastian seemed to quickly catch on the dose of his own medicine.  

“I hate you specifically.” 

“I’m-”

“That’s my thing! No stealing!” You grinned over at him, he was completely rubbing off on you. It was funny seeing him get frustrated at the thing that he would do to make you want to choke him alive only to see the same effect from him. “There can only be one baby.”

“I think there's actually more than one baby in the world."

“Okay smartass.” Sebastian dramatically made a motion with his head to show his typical rolling eyes motion. “Fine, I guess I don’t hate you.”

There were practically fireworks in your mind as you grinned over at him. He let out a frustrated groan but you could see it was playful judging with how big his grin turned as he fully turned over at you.

“Alright, maybe I like you a little bit.”

“Just a bit?”

“Okay, maybe you’re my fav.” He admitted, only to bring in a finger up to his eye as if to wipe a tear. “Too bad it’s not mutual.”

“What-”

“I GOT REPLACED BY AN AI!!!”

“WHAT.”

Sebastian put his hands on his face, fake crying if you’ve ever noticed him.

“I’m saying your boyfriend replaced me.” He shook his head. “When I catch him… bro just arrived and immediately stole my spot that took years to cultivate, everyone hates Sebastian Solace…”

You had to put your fingers on your head trying to wonder what the hell Sebastian was talking about. So much happened today that when you tried to wrap your head around his logic you could only ask more questions in your brain. 

None of which had answers knowing Sebastian.

“Not even an answer… I see how it is…” Sebastian sniffled slightly. “It’s okay, I don’t like you either.”

“Why are we back in this cycle?!” 

Sebastian looked to the side only to shrug.

“I don’t know, funny.”

You sighed, the endless cycle of, you hate me, no I don’t, you hate me. Sometimes, he was frustrating but on the other side of things, this is just how he is.

And while it frustrates all your co-workers. 

It's unfortunately endearing to you.

“I’m gonna leave if you continue.” You playfully told him. 

“You don’t even know your way back. “Sebastian grinned, nudging your arm. “You’re gonna get lost. Looks like you’re super stuck with me.”

“Unfortunately.”

Sebastian laughed at your response, only to wrap an arm around you and take your phone from your pocket.

“Hey!”

“Hush!” Sebastian quickly unlocked your phone, nudging you closer with his third arm. “I have so much brainrot to show you… and you can’t even leave! You’re forced to!”

“No…”

Sebastian let out a wolfish grin.

“Oh yeah…” 

He scrolled through your phone, looking through the camera app and opening a folder that he named something stupid that keeps on changing every time you see it.

“Get ready, because after tonight and the hours you’ve so kindly given me, you’re going to be so brainrotted!” 

The ticking of the clock, your only company, your head still on its side, the neon lights of the room were harsh and grating on your eyes. You look up to the flipbook calendar on your desk. 

August.

Five days to go.

Until Painter’s birthday.

Originally, Sebastian worked in your office. His tinkering and very occasional comments are a welcome sound compared to the quietness in your office. Without Sebastian’s constant presence, you couldn’t help but feel a bit depressed. 

He was a comfortable presence to be around. 

But now you saw him only occasionally, as he was too busy using his free time to tinker with his very ambitious project.

Not that you didn’t help him, those were the times you could talk and bond with him still. He would let you help on simpler things, and precise parts that his claws wouldn’t be able to help him on.

You must admit that it was a bit horrifying to bring him cups of coffee however. You made it a habit to bring him coffee as he never really slept much and slept even less with this new project. One time, you saw him directly dump part of the then cool contents of the mug you brought in the gills in his neck. Your jaw dropping as you saw it happen. 

Sebastian would only shrug as if that was the most normal thing that someone could do, mentioning that it made it easier to drink anyways.

You’re not sure how that works, not like you knew or understood his biology, but if he didn’t hurt himself doing that, then so be it… However odd it may be…

By now, Sebastian should already be working in the workshop back in the Robotics division. 

Originally, you had refused such a request from Trips. But as Sebastian looked cramped and suffering in the small space of your office, you realised that the worst person you know made a great point.

Heartbreaking.

Not that Trips was actually that bad… maybe. It’s just you didn’t know that you could get even more paperwork than in the Hadal Division! It was almost as if you spent even more hours working than relaxing!

Your—unfortunately—new boss really wanted you to be able to learn how to fix machines and build them. Because of your project with Sebastian on Painter’s new body, Trips made it their mission for you to learn the true intricacies of robotics. 

It wasn’t for no reason, after all, you probably shouldn’t doubt them. Especially after realizing that sometimes when you would analyze the behaviours of some of the robots, they would just collapse in front of you.

Not like it really mattered in the end, you were surprised to see some scientists from the division profusely apologizing while they would fix the robots in seconds so you could continue your work as usual. It was surprising to see such an efficient team compared to the countless accidents you would get in the Hadal Division.

You almost felt spoiled in the Robotics Division, they were fully capable and their safety procedures were extremely strict and precise. 

Thanks to the head, you’ve heard they accept nothing but perfection.

You couldn’t stop thinking of the time you were walking to your next subject only to overhear Trips complaining about the height of one of the machines.

“This robot is one hundred eighty-seven point fifty-SEVEN centimeters tall, I asked for two meters!” You overheard that day, their exasperated voice obvious. “What do you mean ‘how can you be so sure’, I’m two meters myself and that’s not counting my antenna so it’s a little bit EASY to CLEARLY see that your robot is not the right height! Are you doubting me?!”

They would emphasize their words with their way of speech and mannerisms, it was easy to tell when they were upset or irritated.

Not to mention that Trips was extremely strict. Even a slightly wrong angle makes them correct you. In the hours that they made dedicated for your “learning”, there is barely a moment where their gloved hands aren't on you to fix your position. 

You couldn’t help but be a bit infuriated with how touchy they were, especially with how it looked like you were their current favourite as you didn’t see them use their hands on anyone but you. However, talking to your robotics co-workers, it seemed that Trips was always like that with newbies before turning cold and only using their clawed tail to fix positions. 

Not even making them upset made it that they would stop their teachings at you. Something something you have more potential than what Urbanshade saw in you. 

It only made you wonder just how long until someone could catch Trips’ attention, you’re not sure if you like the attention that Trips—scratch that—the whole division is exactly giving you.

Nonetheless, the promise of a handsome pay was extremely real. Not to say that you were greedy, but your new division paid you almost too well. They even gave you an extremely generous extra pay at the start to sweeten the deal.

Unfortunately, it worked, and you were trying your best even if it was a lot stricter in this division.

Knowing you were completely zoning out, you decided to get up from your desk. Your office was still in the Hadal Division, you quite liked it after all, especially knowing that Sebastian and Painter were still in this division. It gave you more peace of mind knowing that even if they were far from your office, they were not Robotics Division kind of distance away from you.

Making some mental notes on your schedule, you knew you had quite a bit of paperwork to do. Most likely, there will be some scientists in the Robotics Division that will ask you if you reviewed the forms yet. Some were to approve your checks to continue the experimentation, some were to actually directly visit if you could. 

For some of the robots in the division, you served as an intermediate quality check. While there weren’t many that worked with artificial intelligence, those that did required your attention. Many teams from the department would ask for your presence as they all wanted to make their robots as human as possible.

You’re not exactly sure it would be a great idea to make so many robots that have a human-like intelligence. But being against it would be hypocritical knowing who was your boyfriend. In your heart though, Painter couldn’t exactly be compared to those robots, he was completely different and his technology and how he worked was nothing short of a miracle.

Talking about said boyfriend, you were already in the Hadal Division. It could be a nice break to visit Painter in Heavy containment since you were already here. 

Making the walk to Heavy Containment, you greeted the scientists who were far too busy doing their own jobs in their computers to greet you back. Painter noticed you immediately, perking up with his fans starting to pick up the speed once more.

“Welcome back!” Painter greeted, a giggle escaping his speaker. Its face quickly turned almost teasing as he spoke once again. “Thought you didn’t want to visit me… so comfortable in the Robotics Division.”

Painter made a noise as if he was blowing a raspberry, something he learned from Sebastian and constantly tried to imitate.

“It’s just really busy.” You sighed, sitting at the chair as you leaned against your palm, elbow comfortably on the table. “My free time is being monopolised.”

“I can guess!” Painter quickly interjected. “Your undereyes are darker than usual, your movements are 57% slower than usual, oh and you also have a bruise on your arm.” 

You looked over at your arm, skin peeking slightly from your position.

“There was a robot that malfunctioned today, it hit me but the scientists were quick to pull me away to make sure I don’t get hurt more.”

It was a nice change to have so many people excited to work with you as well as keeping your safety in mind, it made it easier to do your job knowing that you aren’t in active danger. But accidents were always bound to happen so these bruises would appear. Better than the amount of injuries you would get from working with the Hadal Division though.

Painter sobered up, a careful expression on his face, almost as if worry.

“Can you maybe ask for a break? I think you deserve it.” He asked quietly. “You’ve been working so hard since you transferred and…”

It trailed off, the unspoken words floating in the air.

“I mean… I could.” You said after a while. “I have a week of vacation… as long as it’s before December since Urbanshade hates giving December for vacation for some reason.”

You scratched the back of your neck awkwardly. 

“But I don’t want to leave you,” you admitted quietly, “even if it’s just for a week.”

Painter smiled,

“I haven’t seen you take a break since we met,” His face quickly changed more pleading. “Come on… for me? Please?”

He was guilt tripping you!!!

“Maybe more pictures from your home? Postcards from all sorts of places!” Painter started musing and imagining, his smile widening in a distracted way.

“Maybe,” you relented, shaking your head, smiling gently, “I have to decorate your room anyways, hm?”

“Aww, you shouldn’t have.” Painter giggled, he couldn’t help but turn bashful as his screen got the all too familiar red streaks on his cheeks. “It makes me wish I could just pull on your cheeks… but I have no arms.”

Painter chuckled to himself, your heart seemed to swell, the memory and knowledge that you were planning with Sebastian to give Painter exactly what he talked about made you feel giddy.

You wanted to just tell Painter directly, but you manage to hold back to knowledge this whole time. Just five more days and you’ll be able to surprise him.

Though it did make you excited, it seemed that Painter fantasized all the same to be able to hold you like you wanted to hold him.

Not like you wouldn’t hold Painter already, but knowing the other scientists around who would notice if you just picked Painter up from the table directly made you not do that.

It was just giving a body to Painter would make it more acceptable for the others that did watch you to touch Painter in ways you keep yearning to do so. You could only kiss him quickly and secretly after all.

“Maybe someday you might…” You trailed off, smiling softly.

“Hah! I wish!” Painter let out a sigh. “Urbanshade would never allow it, I just mine Roblux…”

You’ve never wanted to tell a secret so bad in your life.

Urbanshade would never, Painter was right, but you somehow convinced someone else to help you. And now what was previously impossible, is very much possible.

… As long as it isn’t found out by the higher ups. You’re not quite sure if they know, and if they don’t, then you hope it stays that way.

“We’ll see…” You trailed off softly.

Painter quickly changed the subject to his most recent art piece. The screen lit up slightly more as it beamed in excitement. You were never quite sure why Painter could change the brightness of its screen but you didn’t mind, it made his emotions all the more clearer and you adored seeing the sheer joy that he would emit. 

The conversation was comfortable, his art as beautiful as you remember. Painter was getting better at drawing portraits. Though there was a folder that it refused to show you no matter how much you asked

Soon, the time passed and the scientists in Painter’s room shoo’d you out of the room. You felt like a child getting told that they were having too much time on the computer.  

You relented, of course, you’re technically no longer in the Hadal Division. Meaning that you have less power than what you had when you did. On the bright side, that meant seeing less subjects from this division, which was a blessing even if there were rare questionable good ones.

Next location, Sebastian. Knowing him he’s hard at work, completely focused and probably tired. Taking the tram to the Robotics Division, you knew your time would be counted. Technically speaking, you could still use the community kitchen in the Hadal Division as your office was there but you decided to stop by the robotics one. 

In the Hadal Division, they were hardworking, but if you really wanted a boost of energy, the Robotics Division is where to go. While they had quite a bit of questionable drugs to stay awake, they also had healthier alternatives as you’ve learned that quite a bit of the division enjoys staying awake all night. Such is the passion of someone who creates. 

It also meant that the workshops were open 24/7. Not like Sebastian could stay all night, Urbanshade still had him shackled and he still had his baby curfew like always. In times where he had to leave, you would take over the work and work in the night. The lessons that you got unwarranted from Trips were useful in these kinds of times. Sebastian would tell you what to do and you would be able to at least attempt to do it.

Not like he doesn’t give you very specific instructions on what to do. You’re stuck doing a lot of cutting of parts for future use. As well as connecting certain wires that Sebastian would leave labels for you to connect for him, his claws being too big for some of these fragile parts. 

One time Sebastian stayed too long and an Urbanshade guard got him specifically and questioned his intentions in the Robotics Division. Thankfully, because you work in the Robotics Division and Sebastian was practically your assistant, you could make up an excuse for the both of you.

In the kitchen you got Sebastian a nice cup of coffee and a bit of cereal. It should be able to push him a bit longer, well, not like he would fall asleep there. 

On your way you got stopped by some of the scientists, multiple asking you to check over their work. Some trying to convince you to check it immediately. You couldn’t as you had to go check up on Sebastian and tell them accordingly. 

“Send me an email about it, my list is really long.” You admitted to one of them, they looked disappointed as they left. Perhaps in the Hadal Division you dealt with a lot of monsters, but here you dealt with a lot of eager scientists who do not know the concept of sleep apparently as they would look at you dejected as you rejected to check immediately.

After all, they couldn’t force you, especially since you were the head’s current favourite. In a way, the status was protecting you. The scientists all seemed to want the favour of the head, some were jealous that they were helping and teaching you personally even if they were harsh. 

Trips was beloved in the division, perhaps more admired. It must be because of their genius and ability to fix and build anything.

You had to admit that you must give the division credit, Trips made you slightly uncomfortable. They just had an uncomfortable air to them and looked all around uncanny. You’re not quite sure why, it made you feel bad as they were treating you well in your time in the division but you couldn’t help but feel that there is something you were missing. Something you don’t quite know of them yet.

Or maybe you’re just delusional and paranoid. Everyone in Urbanshade had their own quirks, what was so different from the head of the Robotics Division? Maybe it’s just the concept that you were never close to any department head. 

Maybe they are all this crazy and uncanny.

Not like it mattered as you balanced the cereal and cup of coffee with one hand, the other going up to slide your ID to open the workshop Sebastian was in.

As you expected, Sebastian was there, tinkering away in the dim light of the workshop. He disliked how harsh the lights were in the room but it’s alright as for some reason in this division certain workshops had different light levels. 

You’re sure there was a practical reason as you’ve seen some of the robotics emit light but in this moment, this kind of workshop that you managed to snag was perfect for Sebastian.

“Hard at work I see.” You mused, letting the door close behind you as you settled the items on a nearby table. “Brought you a lil’ booster.”

Sebastian raised the goggles on his face,

“Thanks doc’.” He grinned, slithering over as he picked up the cup of coffee almost immediately. “Took you longer, hard day?”

You shook your head.

“Just paperwork, more like a long day.” You chuckled tiredly. “I went to see Painter earlier before they shoo’d me off.”

“How does it feel to be a BABY with a curfew?” Sebastian’s grin turned malicious, his finger pointing at you accusingly. “Big BABY can’t be on the iPad for long, how does it feel to have a parental lock.”

“Seb-”

“Anyways!” Sebastian intercepted before you could defend yourself. “I have lots for you to do today, I hope you’re ready for a long night doc’.”

And a long night it was.

Sebastian wasn’t doing much physical work as he coached you on some inner workings. It’s not like he doesn’t know or can’t do it. But because some of these parts were extremely fragile and hard to get with a lot of convincing. Sebastian didn’t want to risk breaking some of these.

He was extremely careful, but he was conscious of his size and the sharpness of his claws. He knew better than to touch some of these parts that cannot be scratched even slightly lest they don’t work anymore. 

Sebastian didn’t want you to be indebted to anyone in the division, and you already had to do a lot of favours around the division. While Trips gave you quite a bit, there were some parts that Sebastian didn’t have access to, and you didn’t want to push the head’s generosity. 

That was why you were in charge of installing some of these hard parts. Yes, your blood may have spilled and covered some minor parts before, but it seemed to still be working accordingly so Sebastian shrugged it off. He insisted it was the ritual of giving up part of your blood to the computer gods and while you looked at him in pure confusion he only mentioned that you wouldn’t understand because you aren’t a nerd.

Soon after, Sebastian needed to leave to not face repercussions and you were set to copy down some code on the laptop. While you didn’t exactly understand the code that Sebastian wrote down, you had to give him credit for writing so many lines of code manually on a piece of paper because it was hard for him to write on a keyboard. 

The good thing was that the coding program on the computer was smart enough that when there were minor mistakes, it would highlight it and so you would fix it and then leave a note for Sebastian to check later. 

This was the schedule you’ve had with Sebastian for a while now. You would do your work in the earlier part of the day and then go to him and help him in parts that he couldn’t do himself. 

At first, you weren’t quite confident. After all, this seemed like an extremely ambitious project. But it seemed that Sebastian just had the best intuition known to man with the way that he figured out some of these things. 

He insisted that the original person who did these kinds of things did not have a template but you’re sure he’s using google to search how to do some things. After all, it’s not that he can’t use the laptop, he’s just slow with it, so you’re sure he’s just searching some stuff up and wanting you to compliment and feed his ego because he’s oh-so-smart.

Sebastian was smart but he loved even more to hear how great he was, you’re starting to think Urbanshade just either has the most self-conscious people known to man or the most egotistical people ever and no in-between. 

Not like you minded him specifically, rather, you liked complimenting him. Sebastian’s face would get more relaxed, pride showing on his features as his smile softened to something more genuine. He almost looked younger… as if-

“Two days, doc’” Sebastian’s words were a reminder, the days passed in a blur. You did your work in the division, you visited Painter, you helped Sebastian. 

You… may have neglected yourself a bit, Painter noticing as the sweet boyfriend he was, insisting that you should take a break.

“I know.” You muttered at Sebastian, he made you work on a small circuit for Painter’s new body, something that will be inserted in the arm. “I was just thinking…”

“About?” 

You let out a sigh, tilting your neck as you heard a faint crack. Jeez, how tense were you?

“Painter keeps saying that I look tired.”

“Yeah, you look like shit.” Sebastian said without missing a beat, you looked over at him slowly as his neutral expression turned into a shit-eating grin.

“As I was saying,” you started once more, glaring at Sebastian quickly as you went back to the circuit. “He… suggested that I should take a break… like a vacation.”

“Vacation…” 

“Yeah…” You shrugged. “I didn’t take my week the whole year, I still have it.”

“Oh yeah…” Sebastian moved closer to you, leaning against the table you were working at. A hand poised against his cheek. “When are you thinking?”

You put a hand on your chin.

“Well… not this month, not only because it's too late to ask but also because I would rather stay while we work on Painter getting used to his body. Not September either for the same reason…”

You trailed off as Sebastian stared at you, his expression unreadable.

“How about October?” He said plainly, he moved his face slightly to the side, eyes closing just a bit. “The middle of it.”

“Specific,” you let out, a quizzical expression on your face, “why?”

Sebastian stayed silent for a while before he frowned for barely even a second. His expression softened once again as he shrugged, trying to keep an air of nonchalantness. 

Slowly his expression changed,

“Halloween! Obviously!” Sebastian snapped back at you, his motions becoming quick and agitated. “I need my Reeses Cups, and my Sour Patch Kids! In abundance! And the best time is Halloween!” 

His change in demeanour was so abrupt that it shocked you. 

“I’m GREEDY.” Sebastian snarled.

“I get it!” You groaned, your shoulders slumping. For the sake of candies on sale, the middle of October is not that convenient which means… “You just want candy sooner don’t you?”

Sebastian looked away, whistling softly. 

“My stash might be running extremely, dangerously low.” He admitted, crossing his arms. “But that’s none of your business, you have to do it because you OWE me!” 

“WHERE.” 

“EVERYWHERE.” 

“Why are you LYING?” You put your fingers on your head, the circuit long forgotten as you started to question Sebastian.

“I’m baby.” 

You had to take a deep, exasperated breath.

“Okay, I’ll ask if I can take October off…” You relented. “Also you’re not baby.”

Sebastian put a hand on his chest dramatically in a faux hurt.

“Bestie…” He liked to call you that when he purposefully got insufferable and messed with you. You should have never let him borrow your phone. “I thought you loved me.” 

The other scientists would praise how polite you were no matter the subject or whichever scientist threw you to straight danger.

However, if there was one man that made you lose all patience, it would be Sebastian. He knew how to get under your skin and liked messing with you. He knew when to stop, but you can tell he rather enjoyed the moments. 

You glared at him.

“I do, but you suck.” 

Sebastian looked ready to make some sort of inappropriate joke judging by his smug look. But seemed to have sobered himself up before he said it. Must have suddenly developed consciousness!

“Awwww, you don’t mean that…” He grins. “I thought I was your favourite… well, after your boyfriend~”

“Oh shut it, Sebastian.” 

“Ok, ok, that’s enough messing around. Now pass me the circuit, you should be done by now.”

“Oh… Oh yeah.”

…

You notice those fake screens at your window simulating dawn. It’s the last 24 hours before Painter’s birthday. You stayed in the workshop all night, working on multiple circuits that Sebastian asked you to connect. 

Your head bobbing forward, your eyes feel puffy and tired. You’ve been rubbing your eyes all night. It didn’t feel good knowing that you had some meetings to attend today.

“Rise and grind pookie!” The door to the workshop opened, revealing Sebastian’s form. He was carrying a bag of what you can only assume as stolen food, like always. “I thought you would have gone back to your room by now, but seeing the little screen outside of here showing that someone was in here, I could only assume it was you, and I was right!”

Sebastian seemed so much more awake than you were, judging by his sing-songy tone. 

“You left me to work on these circuits all night while you were sleeping! You have no right to tease me!” You pointed at him accusingly as if you were in a court room yelling objection.

Sebastian shrugged dramatically, putting down the bag on one of the workshop tables.

“Gave you the list, didn’t expect you to try to go through all of them.” He mused, picking up some of the circuits as if analysing them. “Rather, I think you went through almost all. Mark me scared and impressed. That’s our doc’~!”

You could only face plant on the table.

“I have a meeting at 8.” You sighed. “What am I supposed… to do…?”

…

You slept through the meeting.

You tried to pay attention at the meeting, something about work ethic. You’re not quite sure at what point you fell asleep at but you remember something something weekly hangings. The presenter must have made a typo... Urbanshade can’t be hanging workers weekly?

Either way, when you woke up, Trips stood next to you, looming over your seated form as if they knew you were going to wake up at that moment. They offered you a suspiciously vibrant pink drink. Still being drowsy, you had no idea what Trips said to you as you downed the drink, no questions asked.

You’ve never felt more awake in your life.

You felt like your brain just entered a third plane of existence that you didn’t even know existed. What are they feeding the robotic scientists?!

Running over to the workshop back to Sebastian, you saw him look at you in confusion. But before he could speak, you interjected.

“Sebastian, tell me what to do right now. I can do it.”

Sebastian blinked.

“W-Well, I mean… I guess you can help me…uh…” He trailed off before telling you a small list. 

You kept completing the lists in record time, the lists grew longer and Sebastian got more scared. 

At one point, he just told you what to do as he sat back and you did it! It was like you understood everything, the engineering, the math, the code. You understood it all.

In record time, after 3 hours, you managed to complete the tasks to finally be able to close off multiple parts of the body. 

Sebastian looked at you horrified.

“Holy Christ—It’s… It’s only been an hour.”

“What? No, it’s been 3.”

“Doc’ what did they feed you. It’s been one!” He says in exasperation, coming closer as he grabs your shoulders, shaking you. 

“I can see colours I cannot comprehend. Is this how shrimps feel?”

“Ok… let’s take you to bed…” 

“No! We’re almost done!”

“Who did this to you..?”

“Trips… They gave me a suspicious pink drink.”

“Oh my god…” Sebastian said in horror. “They gave you the Party Special… and a massively zonked one at that…”

“I’m not on drugs… I’m just…” You scratch your neck, you feel like you drank 10 energy drinks at the same time. “Energized.”

“Jesus Christ.” Sebastian put a hand on his face. “Okay… fine… But promise after we test the body, you will go to sleep.

You throw your arms in the air, body almost vibrating from the adrenaline.

Sebastian sighed.

“There is something, very very very deeply wrong with you right now and it’s scaring me.” Moving to the laptop connected to the body, Sebastian looked over the code once again. “Alright, as we don’t exactly have Painter right now to test, we’ll just send commands through and hope that those same commands could be used by Painter to be able to control the body.”

He looked over at you, worry etched on his features. 

“I’ll tell you the commands, and you’ll tell me if they are working accordingly, yeah? Easy enough. Just tell me or make a thumbs up if everything is working accordingly.” Sebastian did a thumbs up as if to showcase what to do. “Just make sure there’s nothing that will break when doing any of these commands, we don’t want our robot to start spilling its wires you know!”

You nodded, taking a seat on one of the multiple chairs in the workshop.

“Let’s do it!”

The next few minutes were spent testing out multiple commands in which Sebastian found to be the most likely that Painter would do. Such as walking, moving the legs, moving the arms, seeing the precision in all of these. 

You would sometimes get up and check around the body. The hard, but thin, metal shell seemed to be holding up quite well. You can’t help but want to pat yourself—and Sebastian—on the back for doing such a great job. 

This was something definitely out of both of your comfort zones. So its nice that it managed to go with barely any hiccups. 

Yes, now you owe a lot of the scientists in this division, and you had to do a lot of favours around… and you might have needed to change workshops multiple times because of explosions… But it seemed all worth it as the body seemed to work and move!

Too bad Urbanshade always stuck Sebastian to fix underwater machines, he might do well in the robotics division. Though you’re not quite sure he’d like that on second thought…

“Looks like we’re done?” You said more in question over a statement. Sebastian nodded.

“It looks like our real trial of fire will be tomorrow then.” Sebastian approached you, putting a hand on your shoulder. Raising another one of his hands for a high five. “We did awesome!”

At Sebastian’s grin, you grinned back. High fiving him quickly as he retracted his hand.

“Jeez, someone's excited.”

He said it but there was no malice behind his words.

“Tomorrow.” You looked at the body then at Sebastian. 

“Tomorrow.” He repeated with a grin and a nod.

…

Dawn of the new day.

Painter’s Birthday.

You woke up groggy, the lingering effects of whatever happened yesterday still made your body shiver. 

But after you took a deep breath, stretching out your sore muscles, you felt determined. Today is the trial of fire, today is when your work with Sebastian will finally pay off. 

You couldn’t go visit Painter too early in the day, knowing that the scientists overseeing Painter would be there and stop whatever you would be trying. Which meant you had the rest of the day to continue your work and then when you’re done do final tests on the body.

Spending the day checking the robots in the robotics division, there were many scientists that wanted your assistance and approval for their experiments. You were in charge of checking how “human” the artificial intelligence could get yet none would be able to get very… human.

In a way, you were happy about that, you’re not quite sure how much of a good idea that would be in the long run. Especially with how Urbanshade treats its human workers. 

Those in the robotics division who searched for true artificial intelligence, not the kind that is in the current public right now, the machine learning labeled as artificial intelligence, but the true one were, well, crazy. Though you’re not quite sure what Urbanshade gets from them. 

That is… assuming Urbanshade knew of the experiments. You’ve realized that the head of the Robotics Division seems to accept whatever seemed to peak their interest. After all, it was them who accepted the whole giving Painter a body thing, and you’re sure that Urbanshade wouldn’t have approved as a company.

Either way, it was now near the end of the day. You had agreed to meet up with Sebastian back at the workshop. 

Wanting to surprise Painter, you also managed to get a cake. While he won’t be able to eat it, you thought it could be cute to have a whole typical birthday party even if Urbanshade wasn’t quite the whimsy kind. 

The thing that’s different about this cake is that it’s pure white. Why? Well you didn’t decorate it at all.

You had an idea that you’re sure Painter would adore, and you didn't want to surprise it as you put all your supplies inside the neat box.

Apart from the cake, your plan to bring Painter’s body back to the Hadal Division was by carefully disassembling part of the body inside neat little transport boxes to then transport them pretending that they are simply parts that were requested.

“Way to go hotshot.” Sebastian chuckled, stacking another box in your arms. You’ve already rebuilt and disassembled the parts over and over to make sure that they work being rebuilt, it should work properly. “Seems like all those times needing to strong-arm subjects really is paying off huh?”

“Oh, shut it.” You grumbled, these were very heavy parts. Thankfully, Sebastian was carrying the brunt of it so it wasn’t so much torture. Not forgetting your cake, Sebastian picked it up with his third arm, away from the rest of the parts, knowing that you couldn’t carry it currently with all the other parts you were carrying. “We just have to go back to the Hadal Division and… hope it works.”

“It will.” Sebastian said, looking over at you with a comforting smile. “I know it will.”

You smiled back at him, his confidence was contagious and relieving as you both walked in the direction of Painter’s room.

You chatted as usual, you told Sebastian some of the news, he would ask about the current trends and if there was any celebrity death he should know of to fall over and cry about. 

Soon after, the two of you arrived at Heavy Containment in the Hadal Division. 

Most of the scientists already went to clock out. While in the Robotics Division it seemed that the concept of sleep was foreign to them, in the Hadal Division, it seemed that they valued sleep and their lunch breaks a lot more. Now that you think about it, there were some of your coworkers that you never saw fall asleep in the Robotics Division…

Either way, it was perfect for you that in the Hadal Division they were so precise with their clocking in and out as it meant that Painter’s room at this specific hour was free. 

“Let’s leave the parts here for now.” Sebastian suggested right outside of the door. “How about you go in, tell him Happy Birthday while I stay here rebuilding.” 

“Won’t someone see you?” 

“Well… hm…” Sebastian scratched the back of his neck slightly. “Okay, new idea, you still go in there, go distract Painter who does get distracted with just your presence alone which would give me enough time to sneak in and build in the sideline.”

“Painter will notice, if not just by seeing you instantly because you’re so big…” You trail off. “Oh and the door.”

“Trust me, I’ll be able to sneak in and neither of you will even notice I’m there.”

You tilted your head slightly in confusion before shrugging.

“If you say so.” 

You nodded at him as you pulled your hands out.

“Cake.” 

Sebastian carefully put the cake box in your hands.

“Cake ready.” You opened the box to make sure everything was going well, the cake was still in its perfectly pristine condition. “Ready when you are.”

You nodded at Sebastian, a confident smile on your face before you turned to Painter’s door. Taking a deep breath you turned the handle as the automatic door slid open with a hiss.

Feeling a bit nervous, you started walking in. You cannot make it obvious to Painter what is on your mind. Though you have a feeling that Painter, like the sweet boyfriend he is, will be able to notice how off you are.

Painter seemed to be snoozing right now, screen dimmer as the rest of the room. It seemed that it was taking a break. 

You grinned as you entered the small enclosure that encompassed Painter and all his parts, making the computer jolt awake.

“You’re here!” Painter beamed, screen brightening immediately making you squint your eyes from the brightness. “Did they keep you busy? Oh I sure do hope that they are treating you well, you’ve been working so hard and-”

Painter continued talking, worried about your general health, worried if your job is going well, wanting you to take more breaks, etcetera etcetera. Before it stopped suddenly, face rotating in slightly as if imitating the tilting of a head in confusion.

“What’s that box?”

Now’s your chance. 

“I’m glad you asked!” You placed down the box near Painter’s drawing tablet. Tilting it slightly for when you open it, Painter would be able to see. 

You took a deep breath, it’s now or never.

“Happy Birthday Painter!” Opening the box, you revealed the pure white cake. “Sebastian found in your hardware when you were made, so we thought it could be the perfect day to celebrate your birthday!”

Painter’s face was of pure shock.

“I… I have a birthday?” He let out a breath, speakers cracking slightly. “And you… wanted to celebrate it with me..?”

You nodded with a smile, pulling out the cake from the box. Hearing soft noises coming from Painter’s speaker, you continued. All had to go according to plan. 

Inside the box there were also some piping bags of all sorts of colours that you painstakingly coloured in your free time as fast as you could in the community kitchen. You had to thank yourself for having bought so many colours as food colouring for Sebastian’s birthdays that it meant it saved you a lot of time and stress from your co-workers looking at you disapprovingly for liking colour.

You pulled them out, showing them off to Painter.

“You might wonder why the cake is fully white right?” You shook the bags slightly in your hands. “I thought… since you’re an artist, we could decorate it together!”

Painter gasped, an excited gleam in his eyes only to turn into an expression of question.

“But how will I be able to hold it..?” Painter paused for a while. “Or is it-”

“Come on, buddy, really?” Sebastian’s voice suddenly broke the moment, you didn’t hear him at all. He leaned against the wall, finally lifting himself up he grinned. “Right, how will you be able to do it without a body right?”

Sebastian chuckled, the anticipation deep in your chest as you glanced between Painter and Sebastian.

“Behold…” Sebastian said quietly, as his hand rested on a cloth that he used as a cover for a certain something. He waited for a couple more seconds to build more anticipation before he suddenly pulled it away like a magician trick. Under the cloth, was the body that you built with Sebastian standing completely straight, clean, pristine, perfect. “Happy Birthday!”

“What?!” Painter said suddenly, completely at a loss of words. It looked between you and Sebastian. “Y-You… You mean…”

You couldn’t help but grin as Sebastian grabbed the body, bringing it into Painter’s enclosure. Sebastian laughed as he brought you in a quick side hug.

“Just a lil’ gift from me ‘n the doc’.” He grinned. “You really wanted one didn’t you?”

Painter stayed silent before you saw small circles start falling from his eyes. Was it… crying?”

“You guys…” Painter said between sobs, his speakers almost simulating hiccuping and a difficulty to breath thanks to his tears with a faint crackle. “You really…”

You smiled, a hand settling on his monitor. 

“Yeah…” Looking over at Sebastian pridefully, he matched your gaze with a grin. “Do you know how hard it was to hide this when you kept mentioning wishing for a body?”

Painter let out a small laugh through his tears.

“You’re so evil! You knew about this and hid this, so mean…” As he said that he kept laughing. “Is this the real reason you kept telling me the robotics division was keeping you late at night?”

“Yeah, the evil scientist that kept me hostage was Sebastian.” You chuckled as you pointed at Sebastian with your thumb.

“Do not tell me you referred to me like THAT.”

“I had to hide your identity somehow!”

“I think we're gonna have to kill this guy, Painter.” Sebastian moved to Painter’s side, a hand laying on one of Painter as he kept a sad expression. Wiping an imaginary tear from his eye, Sebastian sighed.

“Damn…” Painter played along, but because of his current feelings, he couldn’t keep up the act for long.

“Alright, buddy.” Sebastian dropped the act, moving back to the body. “Truth be told, I don’t know how well this will connect. After all, we’ve only tested with simulations. So be patient while we try to connect this to you, alright?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Painter smiled. “Take your time, even if it doesn't work, it’s the thought that counts and it means the world to me!”

“Don’t jinx us, Painter.”

“Sorry!” 

Sebastian started untying wires that he had neatly tied against the body as he settled them on the table. Then he moved Painter to the side so he could unscrew its back casing.

“Normally, when working on a machine and adding and removing parts, you should probably turn it off.” Sebastian explained, moving some wires to the side. “However, with the way I made the body, it should work as if I was putting in an external drive on you.”

Painter’s fans were the only sound with Sebastian’s tinkering. Both you and Sebastian knew that there was a very big margin of error. After all, neither of you could have access to Painter’s hardware for the project lest it ruined the surprise.

So you could only sit down and watch Sebastian tinker. His face concentrated as he moved wires around. You couldn’t bring yourself to speak in fears of distracting Sebastian, and it seemed that Painter thought the same.

“Right now, I’m trying to see if I can continue you externally without connecting you fully to see if you can control at least part of it.” Sebastian interrupted the silence with a grumble. “Though, judging by how you aren’t really telling me anything, I’m not quite sure I’m connecting anything.”

“I got a new hard drive if that means anything!” 

“Ehhhh, kinda, a lil’ bit.” Sebastian admitted with a shrug. “Can you read anything in it?” 

Painter paused, 

“No.” He said honestly.

“Shoot.” Sebastian grumbled once again, going back to playing with the wires.

“I… I could ask someone from the Robotics Division to help?”

“Oh yeah genius, as if anyone but us know about this.” Sebastian said sarcastically. “Besides, I would prefer if not more people than needed touched Painter, not like anyone in the Hadal Division can even perform basic maintenance on him.”

You frowned, not at Sebastian’s reluctance but because of the one who you had in mind. “There’s one person who knows and we can ask.” You paused, you really didn’t want to talk to them, you were too tired to deal with their excitement today. If they weren’t your boss, you might have just told them some boundaries but alas, they are your scary boss. “My boss, Trips.”

Sebastian paused, turning his head to you. “Right… aren’t they our project supervisor technically?” He tapped a finger on the table. “Not like they checked over the project, they just let us do whatever after approving this… hm… you might be onto something doc’.”

You nodded slightly, Trips had a habit of disappearing for awhile, you just hoped you could find them. But that meant… asking your co-workers who were oh too eager to ask for your assistance at any time of the day.

“They might help since they seemed interested in the project… Maybe.” You looked over to the side nervously. 

“Alright then, just don’t get hurt.” Sebastian relented, “If they don’t want to help don’t push it, you know how they are.”

You just hoped you would catch them at a good moment. 

Some days they would be eager for anything, while others, irritation falls from them in waves as an uncomfortable smile settles on their face. 

Why did you have to work so closely with your boss?

Kissing the corner of Painter’s screen as a farewell, earning a giggle from the computer, you waved off Sebastian as you left the room.

“Good luck!” You heard Painter’s voice yell out as you started making your way back to the Robotics Division.

As always, the division looked empty. It wasn’t that people finally checked out, but it was that everyone was still working on their passion projects deep in their respective workshops. Everyone in the division were crazy workaholics and only a few times would you be able to find stray scientists around.

At first, you checked Trips’ office. They weren’t there. Then you checked some of the workshops. They weren’t there either. 

Making you need to ask around.

After a couple of exasperations, asking the few scientists you managed to find around, you found your boss once again. This time, they were in a lower ground workshop. Barely anyone worked in the lower parts so it made you wonder what it was this time.

The door was open as you peeked inside, there was Trips, concentrating on their next invention. Their careful hands carefully maneuvering the machine, one holding a light. The one holding the light seemed to twitch occasionally, granting a frustrating groan from their lips. 

It seemed that everything was bothering them seeing as they kept brushing their normally neat black bangs out of their eyes, not to mention how messy their hair looked in general. The constant pushing of their glasses back onto their face.

You almost felt too afraid to break their laser focus, especially with how their tail seemed to thrash as it held onto the table’s leg.

Walking inside the monitoring room that separated you and Trips, you noticed that the computer screens seemed to be glitching. The systems must be crashing. 

Your eyes went back to the machine they were working on. It was mostly black, compared to the contrasting white that covered the robotics division. A green light flickered from the machine as you saw Trips grit their teeth. 

After another moment of silence, they hit their fist against the wall in frustration. Head in hands as you could hear the grumbling through the window. 

Seeing their sudden thrashing as they threw a chair against the wall, perfectly avoiding the table that the machine was on this whole time. 

It wasn’t that you had a death wish, but you also knew that Trips was your only option and Sebastian is probably starting to get frustrated with how much time you’re taking. So with a bit of hesitation, you knocked on the window.

You saw Trips freeze up, preparing to move to the side if a chair flies your way, you opened the door to the protected workshop. For all the times Sebastian went aggressive, he has trained you for times like these… ironically.

Trips still wasn’t facing you, their body eerily still before they slowly turned their head in your direction. A dangerous glare flashed in their eyes before a dawning realization sparked instead. 

Suddenly they launched in your direction, you took a step back out of reflex as they slammed their hands on the door frame. Their body twitched occasionally, their left hand almost spasming in intervals. The antenna connected to the ear piece at their right ear moved slightly front and back, almost struggling to stay in place.

“My dearest scientist.” Trips let out a grin, they looked more of a mess than you thought up close. Their normally black eyes had a pinkish ring around the center that only seemed to slowly engulf. Slit eyes suddenly getting big they looked you up and down like a predator. 

Unnatural, just like the rest of Trips. You wondered if they ever participated in an experiment like the B.U.P.W.M. one, to have such unique eyes that react seemed to be some sort of side effect. Yet they never bothered hiding it. Probably because they were the head of the division. 

“What brings you to me?”

You paused, looking over at Trips, their previous frustrations seemed to diminish, if only slightly as they seemed to struggle to breath, body letting out an occasional strong spasm as they let out a deep grating chuckle. You couldn’t help but feel a bit worried for them.

“Pray tell, was it to visit me?” Trips smiled, tilting their head to the side, a particularly dangerous gleam in their eyes. They were always so uncomfortably chummy, you’re not quite sure they understood boundaries. “I hope it was, this place isn’t easy to find. You must have asked so many just to come here. How exciting!” 

Your eyes darted nervously, glancing down at their tail that seemed to show their excitement of seeing you. When the other scientists looked at you in pity when they said you were Trips current favourite, you understood why. 

The other scientists admired Trips, they were looked fondly… as long as you weren’t their current favourite. It seemed everyone just simply preferred having Trips be cold and helpful, not close and… in a way, warm. Trips wasn’t terrible, it’s just that no one really wanted to be close to them. You understood why, after all, it looked like they had no idea how to interact at the idea of a friend.

But at the same time, you’re not quite sure how you’ll feel when they would no longer be interested knowing that half of your work has been revolving around their interest around you. Perhaps it will just turn into working for the other scientists more.

Trips’ right hand slid down slowly, you tensed up only for them to boop your nose with a giggle.

“This is why you’re my favourite, always so eager to come see me.”

You’re not quite sure of that knowing that a lot of times you went to find them because of your job. But for someone from the Robotics Division that didn’t seem to differentiate work and personal relations, it seemed that Trips was happy with your presence nonetheless.

They acted like an old, close friend, as if you knew each other for years. However, they failed in the way that they always missed something that would make the quality of a friend. Trips was odd, it was as if they wanted to be your friend but didn’t know how to ask or act like a proper friend. 

That, and that they are your boss.

“I… I need your help, Trips.” 

Trips nodded, urging you to continue, the permanent smile still on their lips. It looked almost uncanny with how their smile wasn’t the same neutral scowl expression they have naturally on their face. Not to mention the sheer rage that you saw just minutes prior.

“We gave the prototype body to Painter and we… we need your help to connect him properly. Sebastian doesn’t get what’s wrong and well… me neither.” You admitted sheepishly, scratching the back of your neck. 

“My… you need my help?” Trips beamed. It looked like they were suddenly in a way better mood than they were before. Perhaps because they weren’t currently teaching you something. “I need something to distract me from… that.”

However their happiness seemed to dim as they motioned at the machine on the table, their left arm still twitching.

“Urbanshade wants this to… hm…” Trips grinned at you, their sharp fangs flashing at you. “This is quite confidential, can I trust you?”

You scratched your head, you were not here to hear about Trips newest invention. But knowing Trips they would get so criminally upset at you and it would bite you later on. You already managed to gain Trips forgiveness after doing it once and it took too much time. 

Trips seemed to have some sort of skewed view of any sort of relationship, they kept bribing you, they were overwhelming and didn’t seem to learn much. If you had guts of steel, you might have straight up told Trips what they were doing wrong. It made you wonder if Trips would actually try to make a proper effort at change. They seemed to be willing to change; they simply didn’t change a lot very fast when you would tell them a small complaint. 

They seemed to care for your opinion when in a good mood. It made you wonder just how far that care would go, how much they could change if you just kept catching them in good times. 

Though, It didn’t seem that anyone in the robotics division had the guts to go ask them to change. They all just continued as usual because that’s “just Trips”. 

The usual. 

If they weren’t the head of the division, you’re sure they would have been one of your subjects with how they act. They are helpful normally, but have their streak of wanting to work alone, getting upset at if someone else does a “mediocre” job and how they are the only one that can do anything right in the whole division. 

In one way, Trips was the smartest in the division, it made sense as to why they were the head, if no one could solve one thing, Trips could. Trips was a genius in all ways of the word.

They were just hard to get along with. 

“I guess I have a bit of time…” You muttered, earning a noise of glee from the scientist. How could such an intimidating, uncanny figure make such a noise you’re not quite sure. But here you were. 

“Then come join me right here,” Trips walked back to the machine, their tail wrapped briefly around you as they tugged slightly before making their way. You took their side shortly after hoping it wouldn’t take so long. “Now this is my newest invention, they explicitly wanted my input for this version. I have edited so much that at this point it’s barely recognizable as the original version, hence why I called it my invention. Apparently the signals are extremely distorted and messing up the wrong things.”

They put a finger on their chin, pondering.

“But what does it do..?” 

“Bah, where are my manners?” Trips shrugged. “It’s a machine that interferes with signals, as you can tell.”

They raised their left arm, a jolt running through their body.

“There seemed to be that the way that this machine is handling exceptions is randomized and only partly. Observe how my robotic arm moves.” They raised their sleeve, you didn’t even know they had a robotic arm after all this time you worked with them. It looked like a real arm up until the elbow. Above it was a sleek white, you could have never guessed it was a prosthetic. 

But as Trips made it seem like it was the most normal thing in the world you couldn’t stay with your surprise. Still, it looked pretty neat. 

“The signal is still going through, partly, I can still move it. It should stop all the signals, interrupt them as you will. Not like I want this to interfere with my arm.”

They turned the laptop that was connected with the machine, the (uselessly) encrypted coding software that Urbanshade liked to use showing the sheer amount of lines of code that was written. The amount of comments made it all around somewhat clean. 

Yet you couldn’t help but notice the blaring warning notification, one that showed that the CPU was overheating.

Trips pushed the chair they used in your direction.

“Here, take a seat.”

As you took the seat, Trips crossed their arms, their lab coat crickling under their arms as they seemed to try to control their arm. Your hand pressed on the laptop’s keyboard, it was cool to the touch. How come there was a warning for overheating? You heard fans going off yet don’t feel the laptop’s fans going on. Where was the sound coming from? Was it by the machine Trips was working on?

“I don’t understand.” They grumbled. “Not to mention how incredibly messy the original code was, I spent longer cleaning the code and it’s still thousands of lines too long! There is also a component that keeps wanting to fall on the machine and it makes my life impossible!”

They turn off the machine, their arm going back to normal.  

“You seem to have come to me at the perfect time! I need a fresh pair of eyes to see this.” Trips motioned at the laptop, the lines of what you could assume to be the code to make this machine work laid on it. “You will be my rubber duck.”

What?

Apparently your expression of utter confusion was obvious to Trips as they continued to speak.

“Here is what we’ll do, go through the code, and point out parts and I will explain them to you.” Trips straightened up, letting out a sigh as they turned around, leaning back against the table not facing you. “That is what a rubber duck does.”

You couldn’t help but question the correlation. Last time you checked, a rubber duck belongs in a bathtub, or a pool. Floating happily and brainlessly. 

Not one that is supposed to ask questions on code. Isn’t that just a student? 

Are students just rubber ducks to Trips?

Trips is truly an enigma. With all your years of working as Behavioural Scientist at Urbanshade, you’re not quite sure you want to understand the mind of someone like Trips.

Gulping nervously, you turn to the screen, scrolling through the code. You see the amount of lines and they reach the thousands. You’re not quite sure how you will get through this, at least fast enough for Sebastian to not crucify you for taking so long. 

You would occasionally ask Trips about certain parts of the code, and Trips would answer them accordingly.

Something you noticed however was how Trips never once looked back in your direction. You would ask about a line, not even mentioning which number it was on and Trips would confirm the exact line to which letter your mouse was on. Yet they weren’t even looking… How could they do that?

Part of you wondered if this was just some stunt to make you listen to them even longer. As if you don’t spend at least 2 hours in their office listening to their latest invention as they pointed with a stick at a powerpoint they would make that day just for you apparently.

How considerate of them.

However, with the way that you describe them, Sebastian started calling them “baby sensory, Subway Surfer powerpoint for a big baby such as yourself”. Which isn’t very accurate to the presentation itself but with how animated Trips was during the presentation as they explained to you their newest idea with much more excitement than what they show in professional presentations, perhaps in a way Trips was the baby sensory Subway Surfer side video to the presentation itself that Sebastian talked about.

Either way, you reached a certain line of code, an if-else statement, one of many but this one seemed different… You just had a feeling. 

“This line here, an if-else as I’ve already explained to you is one of the many that work for the exception rules. You see, it counts certain digits from certain machines as things that cannot be affected by this machine. The pool is very small and right now it’s only for some machines here in the division.” Trips explained. “Or at least, it’s supposed to. If this could work, perhaps we would be able to add more excep—”

Trips freezes.

“Wait…” They forcefully pull the laptop from your hands, pushing you slightly to the side as their brows furrowed.

From what you could see, and from the typing they did, they seemed to have changed a digit from the list of numbers.

After that, they pressed an arrow on the screen, the one which you learnt awhile back to be the one that builds the code onto the machine.

The familiar green glow turns on once again. The machine works.

Trips looks over to the machine, then to their arm. It looks… fine. It’s not twitching.

One minute passes.

Two minutes passes.

Three minutes passes.

Next thing you knew, Trips collapsed onto the floor. 

You quickly got up from the seat, swiftly getting on your knees.

“Are you okay?!” You turn Trips’ body slightly for them to face up instead of kissing the ground. Only to be greeted by a look of sheer agony. 

“How could this be?!” Trips bawls.

You couldn’t seem to understand why suddenly they were crying. Well, looked the part. No tears left their eyes weirdly enough, but their face showed the emotion properly. 

“But isn’t it working..?” You muttered. “Your arm… it’s working right?”

Trips let out an agonizing sigh.

“It’s working perfectly fine! That’s the problem!” Trips exclaimed, putting their hands on their face as they sat up. “5 days… 5 days of trying to figure out why the code wasn’t working and in the end all that it was… was one number!” 

Trips was exasperated, crying out something about how they accidentally put a 1 instead of a 0. 

You didn’t know what to do. 

Without much choice, and hearing Trips’ absolutely pathetic sounds, you tried to pat their back slightly. They stiffened making you yank off your hand quickly after. Well, you yanked it off also because their back was almost boiling to the touch. If your hand stayed any longer you’re sure it would be burnt. How… peculiar.

“There… there….” You said awkwardly, trying to bring some sort of comfort.

Trips kept sobbing, and you felt that you did the best you could do knowing that you couldn’t even touch them.

“Maybe you should go to Medbay…” You suggested quietly, flexing your fingers slightly. The tingling from touching Trips earlier is still present. It almost reminded you of the times Painter got so flustered he would overheat to the point of shutting down. Wait was-

“Bah! Me? The Medbay? Do I look weak enough for you that I need doctors to pry my body?” Trips snarled, a sort of anger that you’ve never seen appeared on their face as they got up suddenly. The anger wasn’t directed at you even as their voice kept going high octaves. “The only one who will touch my body is ME! NO ONE ELSE WILL.”

Trips put a hand on their head, clenching their hair almost as if they were close to rip it directly from their hair.

“No one else will…” Their voice took almost a distant turn as their shoulders slumped, a sigh escaping their lips as their expression sobered up soon after. 

You were still on the ground, shocked by the sudden turn of events. You’ve never seen Trips so worked up before. They did have their times of extreme emotions, but when they were mad it was always some sort of exasperated, irritated anger as they corrected people. Not something so outwardly in rage and almost… hurt? Even in most of their moments of frustrations they always looked unnaturally happy. 

Yet here, they seemed completely human. Not the detached head of the robotics division. 

“I… apologize for my outburst.” Trips glanced over at you, almost looking disappointed as they pushed their glasses up. Their voice quiet as they pull out a hand for you. “I don’t… I don’t know what came over me.”

“It’s okay.” You hesitated slightly, remembering the burn from their back. Trips felt your hesitation, hand dropping slowly as they looked to the side with a frown. Before their hand could fully fall you went out to grab it. It was hot, but not as hot as their back. Trips quickly tensed up before helping you up to your feet. “I’ve dealt with worse.”

You tried to joke but it only resulted in Trips putting a hand on their arm, they almost looked bashful looking away. 

“R-Really it’s fine-” 

“Painter, right?” Trips interrupted you, the familiar confidence back on their face even as their eyes seemed to dart around you nervously. “How about you go back to him, I’ve kept you long enough here. I’ll join you soon, alright?”

Trips walked past you, almost dragging themselves away as they walked past the threshold of the workshop. It was odd, to see this facet of them but you knew better than to even confront them about it. It seemed that you hit a nerve, but you’re not quite sure which kind. 

Trips wasn’t one to apologize lightly, they were stubborn and egotistical. They were a genius who did everything right in the division. Trips didn’t make mistakes. But if they did they wouldn’t apologize. They wouldn’t even acknowledge it, it was a waste of time for them. 

Yet here they were apologizing, almost looking hurt and haunted for even remotely raising their voice at you. This wasn’t the first time they yelled at someone, what was different this time?

You shook your head, you had to go back to Painter and Sebastian. The latter is surely going to complain that you took forever like a child. 

Not to mention that you managed to make Trips agree to help, even if it was at a cost of… whatever this was. 

You glanced back at the machine, choosing to turn it off before you left. The green glow dimmed down until it was fully off. Part of you wondered why Urbanshade would need such a machine, probably it was to go against their rivals. 

Not like it mattered much to you, it wasn’t your problem. Most likely you’ll never see it again as this was Trips’ project and whichever the other team was that worked on it. It wasn’t a machine with artificial intelligence so it’s not your problem.

You took the tram back to the Hadal Division, wanting to be quick to at least pass on the news to Sebastian that you did manage to get help.

“FINALLY.” Speak of the devil, Sebastian immediately turned in your direction as the door opened. “Took you long enough!”

Painter’s body was to the side as Sebastian seemed to be chatting with Painter on the table. It seemed that they took a break.

“You took so long I learnt how to draw on Painter,” Sebastian moved to the side, showing what must be a collaboration between him and Painter. Painter only giggled in reply. “You better be the bearer of good news doc’.”

You walked in the enclosure, narrowly avoiding the body and Sebastian’s tail. 

“I don’t know if I want to tell you, I mean… you greeted me like this… I thought we were friends…” You teased, going in front of Painter as you put a hand over your mouth, whispering loud enough for Sebastian to hear. “Did Sebastian treat you well, Painter? Do I have to beat some sense into him?”

“I heard that!?” Sebastian ranted, an obvious snarl on his face. You knew he was just playing along to you.

“Don’t worry dear,” Painter said in a quiet voice, you could hear his fans picking up at the nickname. He was still embarrassed to use nicknames on you. “Sebastian treated me well while you were gone! We started drawing together and he liked my art!” 

Painter grinned, quickly moving its face to the corner of the screen as the drawing appeared on the screen. Now that you took a closer look, it was cute. One side was a lot more artistic and clean while the other was scribbles, surely by Sebastian.

A chuckle escaped your lips before you could stop it but before you could let out a playful remark Sebastian let out two middle fingers in your direction. 

“Don’t. Even. Start.” Sebastian scowled as he crossed his arms. “It’s not that I can’t draw, I just need a jumbo tourist trap pencil over whatever THAT is.”

Sebastian grumbled as he dramatically motioned at the drawing pen.

“Looks like tourist trap pencils are more inclusive.” You jokingly said.

“Don’t remind me.” Sebastian covered his mouth, his head lowering dejectedly, his ears drooping accordingly.

“Anyways,” you started, “Trips agreed to go check up on the body, just had to help them with something while I was there.”

“Ah, the unwilling assistant to the mad scientist.” Sebastian put two of his arms behind his neck casually, his third going to rest on his stomach as he leaned back. “But good, I was cracking my skull open trying to figure out what wasn't working!”

“You two…” Painter intercepted. “If this doesn’t work it’s okay. Just the thought of it, that you two wanted to do this for me means the world to me!” 

Both Sebastian and you looked over at Painter, you know he just wanted to comfort you two but it did the adverse reaction. You were planning this for a really long time for it to not work. 

It has to.

“I’m stubborn.” Sebastian admitted, crossing his two upper arms once again as his third went on the table to help him up. He walked by the body, wires still all about. “This… It has to work. We’re…”

Sebastian trailed off with a sigh.

“When is this guy coming doc’?” 

“Uh well-”

Suddenly you heard the door open behind you. Sebastian’s head snapped as he took a look.

“Well, would you look at that?” 

At the door was Trips, fixing their hair slightly only to then dust their clothes of imaginary dust. They looked almost disheveled yet well kept at the same time. It looked like they were making an effort to look nice in front of the three of you. It reminds you of all the times you ran around Urbanshade to see your next subject only to need to fix up your appearance because the scientists talk when you don’t look your best. It made you need to carry a mirror with you to be able to check your appearance.

“Apologies for getting here late, I believe I was requested here?” They walked in the room, confident smile on their lips once again as if what happened just moments earlier didn’t. They walked at the door of the enclosure, greeting you as their smile softened slightly as their hand lingered on your shoulder. Only to slip off as they looked at the other two. “Sebastian, Painter, good day to you two. I trust you’ve already been told why I’m here?”

Before Painter could greet Sebastian interrupted. 

“Yup, here’s the body.” He turned to the side, pulling out the body, making it stand to show Trips. “What do you think is missing?”

“Let’s see…” Trips approached, opening the hatch as they looked at the technical parts. “Hm, perhaps I should check the code as well, where is the computer you’re using to see the code?”

Sebastian turned to the side slightly.

“I didn’t bring it.” He pursed his lips, shrugging. “I just thought of using Painter to see it but uh, realized I couldn’t.”

“Of course you wouldn’t be able to, Urbanshade doesn’t even have the software downloaded on the poor guy.” Trips said matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing. Putting down their laptop as they quickly connected the machine to the robot body. While you couldn’t extract the code of machines normally in the typical way, Trips had their… ways you’ve learnt. “Good thing I brought my own device because I see I’m the only one with a mind here!”

“Why did you even ask the-” Sebastian said exasperated, grumbling.

“Ah, immediately I see here…” Trips interrupted, not exactly paying attention to Sebastian’s irritation. “You didn’t even make it possible for Painter to connect in the first place.”

“Huh?”

“Look.” Trips put down their laptop on the desk, turning it in the direction for Sebastian and you to see. “You’re all familiar with IP addresses, yes? Like addresses at your home, there can’t exactly be more than one in the same. You have to send the information of the body to Painter’s IP address. Which you aren’t doing here. Not to mention you aren’t sending to a port either!”

“What?” Sebastian blinked in confusion.

“Ah… Are you perhaps familiar with OSC?” Trips asked, “I heard you quite liked music… it stands for Open Sound Control… it’s commonly used for music but it’s also used for robotics if that’s familiar..?”

“Now you’re just saying words to me.”

Trips let out an exasperated sigh. “I do not have the time to give you a crash course on what these things are, just imagine it like a USB that you did not connect to Painter which is why the signal isn’t being sent. Because so much is being connected to Painter, part of it can be sent through a signal to make it easier for Painter to read the information as if he had a human mind such as yours.”

Sebastian scratched his head, his face tense in confusion but he simply shrugged.

“Whatever you say boss, as long as you fix the body.”

Trips looked over at Sebastian, irritated, you could tell their patience was running thin. Extremely thin. They made a strained smile as they looked back at the laptop.

The air was awkward as Trips worked wordlessly. Their hands were quick as they kept going back and forth on the body and the code.

You kept glancing over to Sebastian as he looked at you back, shrugging as you looked back at the body. Painter looked awkward at the silence only to be shocked when Trips suddenly picked him up.

“H-Hey! Be careful!”

“I am!” Trips snarled, holding Painter’s monitor with one hand as they looked over at the other parts. “I’ll connect the other parts later, for now, let’s try to connect your monitor.”

Looking at each of the wires, Trips was careful as they instead went to focus on settling Painter’s monitor on the body. 

“With how this body was made, I should be able to simply connect the wires, however…” Trips trailed off, connecting some wires to the monitor. “This body is not fully efficient, there aren’t any areas to put necessary parts of Painter in, not to mention that you are missing a stronger power for the body to work on its own without being plugged in the wall. So for now, we will keep Painter plugged here, I hope you do not mind.”

“Well as long as it wo-”

“Thanks Trips,” you interrupted Sebastian, with how Trips seemed to be getting irritated with Sebastian, you didn’t want to take any chances. “Think you can maybe visit on a later date to help fix those then?”

Trips looked in your direction, pondering before their smile softened slightly compared to the uneasy smile they had earlier.

“Very well, it would be my pleasure.”

“That’s crazy.” Sebastian muttered, bending down next to your ear as he chuckled. “When your co-workers say you’re the favourite, they weren’t kidding huh?”

“Sebastian… behave.” 

“It’s better for us that you have them wrapped around your finger.” He grinned, chuckling almost maliciously. It made you look at him in confusion. “Very very convenient.”

Before you could question Sebastian’s intentions that only seemed to get more confusing by the day, Trips let out a triumphant laugh.

“There, behold!” They stood to the side, motioning with their arms Painter’s monitor on the body. 

For a while, Painter didn’t move, except for the face on his monitor before there was a slight movement on the neck.

“Woah…” Painter muttered, “This is… a lot.”

“Remember the commands I told you. Easy enough, correct?” Trips motioned with an arm in your direction. “Remember the values.”

Painter froze for a bit, its face going to the corner of its screen as if in concentration. Your eyes stayed focused on Painter, breath held in anticipation as you noticed a twitch in his left shoulder. 

Slowly, his shoulder tilted in your direction as he raised it, elbow bending soon after. With another pause, Painter rotated his hand, palm up as he then looked up at you with a smile.

You let out the breath you didn’t exactly realize you were holding. Approaching Painter, you looked down at his hand. Gingerly you put your hand in his, slowly looking back at him. This time he wasn’t powerless to move on a desk, here he was in front of you, face to face. His fingers slowly wrapped around your hand.

It was slow, so incredibly slow. But as your eyes pricked with tears of relief, you couldn’t help but feel an immense amount of joy.

It worked.

The body worked.

After all those sleepless nights, working on the body, praying that it would work. It was all worth for this moment. 

Taken by your own emotion, you launched yourself to Painter, wrapping your arms around his body. 

Oh, how long you’ve dreamt of this moment.

Painter giggled against you, arm slowly around to hold you back. 

“You feel nice.” It admitted, red lines covering where its cheeks would be. “I want to stay like this forever.”

You laughed in return, immense joy at feeling his body pressed against yours. 

“Eww, you two make me sick.” Sebastian suddenly interrupted the moment. You glared over at him. “Hey, I didn’t say anything until now, you better be happy!”

“I’ll be leaving you three to your own devices then.” Trips interjected, turning around to exit. “Everything else should work as expected, call me if you need anything. You two did a good job on the body for amateurs. I’m impressed.”

Trips looked between Sebastian and you, their eyes lingering on you for a little longer than comfortable before their smile widened. 

“Oh, wait Trips!” You called out to them as they turned around, they glanced at you as they nodded slightly, urging you to continue. “I um… made a cake for today, I was wondering if you would like a slice, I can drop it at your office later… as a thank you.”

Trips expression turned unreadable, almost as if something crossed their mind as they stared at you. “I… appreciate the thought but I don’t eat… I don’t… do… cake.” Trips let out a strained, awkward smile. Instead of saying anything more they simply turned back at the door, letting out a sigh. “... Happy Birthday on my part as well then.” 

And with that Trips left. You almost wanted to cut them a slice anyway and just leave it anyway in their office. Knowing that you’ll probably have extra… you’ll think about it.

“What a weirdo.” Sebastian muttered.

“Tell me about it.” You shrugged before focusing back at Painter right in front of you. “How are you feeling?”

Painter smiled at you,

“Overwhelmed.” He admitted, fingers playing on your back slowly. “There’s… a lot. I need to consciously think about so much…”

“One thing at a time,” you comforted, “we all start somewhere.” 

“Just think of yourself like a baby who was just born.” Sebastian approached, leaning against the wall.

“What is your obsession with babies?” You looked over at him, you can’t help but realize the amount of times he kept mentioning babies in recent times.

“I’m pregnant!” Sebastian yelled out suddenly, two of his hands at the side of his face, claws reaching into his scalp as both you and Painter looked at him incredulously.

“WHAT-”

“Congradulations!” Painter suddenly said, making you look at him wide eyed.

Sebastian’s jaw dropped.

“Why did you BELIEVE ME?!” Sebastian put his hands to cover his mouth. Instant relief dawned on your face as you hid your face on Painter. Why did you instantly believe Sebastian without much thought? You’re so embarrassed. Sebastian took a deep breath before putting his hand on his stomach. “Oh yeah sorry I guess I am pregnant. Are you KIDDING me?! Why would I be pregnant?! That’s not even possible! I hate both of you!”

You couldn’t help but let out a laugh at Sebastian’s panic.

“C-Congrats… who’s the other parent?”

Sebastian looked at you for a second, expression unreadable before he closed his eyes and smiled. It seemed to take everything out of him to not jump and claw at you right then and there.

“Count your days, doc’.” He opened his eyes, a malicious glint in his eye as he snarled. “Count. Your. Hours.”

You chuckled, while Sebastian threatens you, he doesn’t act on those threats anymore. Some years ago—when you first met—he would have no doubt. But this isn’t the Sebastian from some years ago, so you could only grin. 

He only crossed two of his arms with a huff. His third arm wrapped neatly around his body as he fixed his uniform slightly. Tilting his chin up pridefully as he avoided your gaze.

“Should we start testing?” Painter’s voice broke through, you looked over at Painter with a gentle smile as you nodded. Sebastian on the other hand approached Painter as he patted its head slightly.

“Whatever you want buddy, as long as you feel ready for it.” Sebastian said with his own nod, Painter smiled but stayed frozen, you looked at him confused. Sebastian blinked as he stared. “Well, maybe you should start by moving your arm.”

Another silence.

“I forgot how…” Painter admitted bashfully, before looking at you apologetically. “Sorry… I trapped you by accident…”

“It’s okay… I don’t mind.” You smiled at Painter, you can’t blame him. In a way, his want to keep you here forever was true. However, you knew you couldn’t stay here. So instead you looked over at Sebastian for help.

“Of course, I’m the one who’s responsible to fix this.” Sebastian said sarcastically, moving his arms around as if you weren’t powerless to do anything. 

While you waited, you approached Painter’s screen to peck his screen with your lips. Painter in return could only let out a breathless chuckle, speakers crackling slightly as it closed its eyes.

It was quiet, safe for your breathing and Painter’s fans. It was just him and you, with his arm around you how you dreamt of it for so long. You couldn’t wait until Painter managed to control his body fully. There were so many things you wanted to show Painter, so many things you wanted to teach.

You felt around his thin metal casing, it was still cool to the touch. You pressed your forehead against his screen, closing your eyes because of his brightness. Painter dimmed its screen to make it easier for your eyes.

“I love you.” Painter muttered quietly. “I’ve never felt like this before. I love you. I love this feeling. I love knowing that you are in my arms. I love feeling your touch.”

Painter’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“I never want this to end. I don’t want to exist without you.” He admitted. “I want to create with you forevermore. I want to be able to paint you everywhere. I want to paint with you everywhere.”

You took a deep breath, opening your eyes slightly.

“I want the same.” A bittersweet smile graced your features, you want to take him back to the surface. You want to give him the freedom he craves, the one he deserves. “I love you too.”

He was silent once again, enjoying how your body felt close to his before the two of you suddenly heard a loud noise coming from Sebastian following with a grumble.

“I forgot to label… a lot.” Sebastian put his hands on his face. “We are going to be here for a while, make yourself comfortable, you two.”

You looked over at Painter, with his arm supporting you, somehow the fatigue of the day dissipated. 

It’s been a couple of weeks since Painter confessed his feelings to you. You tried to keep the relationship under wraps, not wanting to put Painter in danger.

Not like you could hide it for long, sometimes you would zone out just thinking about the computer. It was so cute when it was embarrassed or shy. It was easy to pinpoint his emotions just by the increase in the fan speed. Weirdly enough, you’ve started to find the sound of computer fans oddly comforting.

You would bring Painter pictures from the outside world, while he would show you his latest art piece. As your job was a success with Painter, it wasn’t needed for you to be constantly around Painter, but you made your excuses. Most cases, you would visit Painter in after hours… and you may have fallen asleep in front of them once… or twice…

You sighed as you put a hand on your cheek, only to hear a harsh groan from your fish assistant, who only made a dramatic head motion to showcase him rolling his eyes at you.

“You’re embarrassing.” Sebastian started, putting a document down as he leaned on your desk. “Thinking about your boyfriend instead of work?”

You blinked at him, you couldn’t help but feel giddy at how Painter was your boyfriend… But you didn’t want to make it obvious to Sebastian as you tried to keep a stronger front. One that Sebastian saw right through. “I- Of course not!” You tried to defend yourself before Sebastian cackled to himself.

Sebastian put a hand on your shoulder. “This calls for a break, doc’, how about we visit the kitchen?”

Ah, yes, code for “cover for me while I raid the kitchen”.

You shook your head with a sigh, “Fine.” Getting up from your chair, you stretched. When was the last time you got up from the chair? Talk about a slow day. Urbanshade is making you do paperwork instead of interacting with subjects. One of the few times you really did wish they would just let you visit subjects whenever, however you want. But it’s Urbanshade that we are talking about, them giving you freedom in the form of Sebastian…

“I knew you’d say yes!” Sebastian cheered, but you could see the clear, cruel intent of thievery on his face.

Looking over at the clock on your desk, you made a mental note of how much time you had left in the day to do the things that Urbanshade asked of you, even if today was rather boring, you still had many papers to fill. Seeing that you kept getting distracted thinking of Painter, you knew you needed the most time you could to sit at your desk, waiting when work hours would end and you could see Painter.

On the bright side, it wasn’t lunch hour for the normal worker. Which you knew was what Sebastian counted on. He would steal between two times. Either at night when Urbanshade forgot to lock him in his enclosure, or between lunch employee hours. You’re sure that multiple people had already been notified of their missing lunches, but somehow, Sebastian was never reprimanded… You always wondered why; did they never figure him out? Or maybe-

“Oh, by the way, there’s something I found out some days ago.” Sebastian leaned in your direction as you walked to the community kitchen. “Something about Painter you might want to know~”

You looked over at him quizzically. “What is it?”

“I found out his creation date, it’s in a couple of months.” He looked over at you, a smile playing on his lips. “In other words, I figured out his birthday.”

You stopped in your steps, slowly turning in his direction.

Before you could say anything, Sebastian put a finger on your lips, shushing you. “I already have an idea before you say anything, something that I’m sure he would adore!” He laughs as he slithers quicker to the kitchen, making you need to jog to keep up with him.

“Can’t you slow down?” You huffed in exasperation. “What’s your idea anyway, you didn’t even tell me the dat-”

“Hush, doc’! I need my fill first, and some scientists will have their break time soon, and I cannot risk my meals.”

There was something severely wrong with him.

The two of you made your way to the community kitchen. Sebastian was already sporting his smirk, ready to steal in plain daylight… not like sunlight got to your location.

You decided to sit on one of the barstools next to the kitchen island as you waited for Sebastian to finish stealing. At this hour, he was more picky with his food selection as he wouldn’t have a bag to carry all the food, instead he would stuff the items inside of the bags on his tail.

Convenient bags, but at what cost? You’re sure that Urbanshade wouldn’t have allowed him to have so many bags if they knew he was going to use them to steal food from the other scientists.

“Looks like there aren't many people at this hour,” Sebastian started, “think it’s because they are all preparing for their lunch hour?”

You shrugged. “Maybe, or there might be some emergency in another area, or they are skipping lunch. Everyone here is rather dedicated.” You mused, plopping your elbow on the counter.

Suddenly, Sebastian slides over a sketchbook. You recognise it as a sketchbook you gave to him, as normal notebooks don’t fit him that well, so you decided to get him one of those larger sketchbooks. Looks like he was using it, judging by how he opened it on a page in the latter half of the book.

“Since you look so bored.” Sebastian cackled, turning back to raiding the kitchen as you looked down at the sketchbook. There was a messy sketch of a body on it, with lots—too many—labels pointing at different parts.

“Sebastian…”

“Like it?” He turned around with a smirk. “What do you think?”

Sebastian’s sketch might be messy, but what was undeniable was the head. This was a concept for a body… for Painter.

“What greater gift to give to a bodiless machine that wants autonomy to be able to see the surface again than…” He leaned down to reach your eye level. “Give them autonomy with a body?”

You felt your breath hitch. Painter having a body… It would be able to move on its own. It would also be able to walk and roam. It would be able to explore places. It could maybe be able to feel. You wonder how its body would feel against-

Sebastian burst into laughter.

While it was nice to hear him happy, as it was rare, it was embarrassing that he was laughing at your expense.

You shook your head, looking back down, not wanting to hear him making fun of your lovestruck self. Of the labels you could read (thanks to the jumbo pencil that he uses to write), he seemed to have some really good ideas for Painter’s body. You’re sure some parts Urbanshade would not agree to, though.

“How are you even planning on getting these parts though…?”

Sebastian leaned closer, grabbing the edge of the page of his sketchbook. “That’s where you come in, whoops-” He quickly slapped his sketchbook down, you didn’t see much, only a page that seemed to be way too shaded to be just a normal drawing. Sebastian’s face flushed slightly in embarrassment as he cleared his throat, pretending that he didn’t accidentally show you something he didn’t want to. “You didn’t see that.”

You looked around, scratching the back of your neck. “No, I didn’t.” He seemed to be making a big deal about it, now you’re wondering what he drew that he doesn’t want you to know…

“I see the gears turning in your mind, it’s nothing!” Sebastian pouted, grumbling as he carefully picked the corner of the next page, making sure he was only grabbing one page as he flipped the page. “Anyways, here’s a more detailed list of the parts and for which area. The robotics division has a lot of extra parts they aren’t using—I noticed—if we could get access to those parts, then it would be a breeze! All of the parts I wrote here are parts that can be found in the division unused! So all we need… is to convince them.”

“You talk as if that’s easy, Sebastian.”

“I know it isn’t doc’.” He shook his head. “But you have convinced Urbanshade to do incredible things to bend to your whims, so why not try again?”

“Urbanshade isn’t that-”

You stopped as you looked at Sebastian's incredulous face. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know it was extremely easy to make Urbanshade just agree to have a subject have freedom to walk around anywhere as long as the scientist that they are under is okay with it.” He said sarcastically, blinking at you rapidly. “You’re a miracle worker, you know that? Even I can see it.”

Sighing, you looked at him. “This whole time I’ve been working in one division, I don’t know how the other ones will treat me.”

“Well, there’s a certain other division that keeps asking you to come back-”

“Sebastian.” You glared over at Sebastian, Pandemonium’s rotting figure flashed in your mind. Why is it that the ethics division finds it isn’t safe to interact with it, but then you get called to try to control the beast? Are they crazy? Who convinced the ethics division for you to visit Pandemonium?

How traumatising.

Now you’re wondering if Sebastian is coping by reminding you all the time in a lighthearted manner because he couldn’t have seen it and not feel as if the void was staring directly at him, going to kill him.

“Alright, alright.” Sebastian shook his head. “But it’s true, you aren’t stuck in just one division; rather, the whole Hadal Blacksite seems to be your playground!”

Sebastian nudged you with his elbow lightly, “Come on, just give it a chance.”

You sighed, you wanted to do this, you really did. But the risks were already high, you’re not sure if Urbanshade would allow it. After all, Painter is just a crypto mining machine for them. What would even convince them to give Painter a body?

“Do it for me.” Sebastian leaned down, putting two of his elbows on the counter as he put his hands on his cheeks, he let out a casual smile. He put his third hand on his sketchbook, sliding it over to you. “Do it for him.”

Part of you hated Sebastian, he convinced you to do risky things. To do crazy things. Just witnessing him years ago was what changed your career path. He was the reason you pulled out important forms and signed so many papers just to be able to get him out of the cell. To give him more freedom.

But he had a point in a way. You had already done the impossible, giving a subject more freedom than they were originally given. Sebastian was just a pawn to Urbanshade, and while you can argue he still is, he now can roam the halls of Urbanshade without supervision. Something he would have never been allowed if it wasn’t for your constant push.

He was the only subject that you managed to give freedom to…

Maybe you are a miracle worker… maybe you can do it again.

“Alright, Sebastian.”

Sebastian grinned, he almost beamed from the joy that he got just by convincing you. “Great! I’ve been meaning to get my hands on some new tech.”

You immediately glared at him. “Do you even know robotics?”

Sebastian stayed silent for a while. “… No..?” He answered honestly. “But who cares! I’ve worked with computers and whatever machine Urbanshade throws at me to repair. What’s the difference?”

…

With Sebastian, you dropped a request form at the dropbox of the robotics division. Urbanshade felt extremely old-school with these things, why would it still be in paper? Why not electronically? We are in 2025!

While the form wasn’t the most well-thought-out, as both you and Sebastian cracked your skulls over what would convince Urbanshade to give the resident crypto mining computer a body. Both of you would settle into a better state of mood and security. Hoping that would be enough to convince someone in the Robotics division.

Sebastian leaned down as you pushed the request form through. Raising one of his hands up to your height for a high-five. “See? That wasn’t so bad.”

You rolled your eyes but high-fived him anyway. “Yeah, after an hour of my work day down the drain because you kept getting new ideas for the body. Why would you even add an interchangeable arm?”

“Do you not watch sci-fi movies at all? Hello? Arms turning into guns. Killer robot!” Sebastian shrugged before putting his index and thumb out in a faux gun motion. “I know Urbanshade has guns, and their security is turrets… Turret arms!”

He proceeded to make noises and movements as if he were shooting two pistols. It was slightly concerning, but it was extremely him. You still feel warm on the inside, knowing that he feels comfortable enough to act this way with you and not the same mean and cold man you met years ago. Not like he isn’t like that with the other scientists—as he should—but it’s nice knowing you can depend on each other.

The two of you walked to your office, back to the monotonous life of filing paperwork. Sebastian would do small talk, it was weird that he talked to you so much recently. He was normally more kept to himself, yet recently he was telling you little facts about himself. You had an inkling of an idea as to why he was telling you things, especially with how he would tell you to never forget about it.

You plopped back onto your chair, stretching once again as Sebastian started searching in your file cabinet again. Part of your office was now filled with all the food that he stole from the community kitchen.

“Seriously, what’s with your sudden interest in my cabinet?”

“What’s wrong with wanting to know more about the subjects around the Blacksite?” You looked over at Sebastian suspiciously, making him let out an exasperated sigh. “Officially, I’m your assistant, aren’t I? I might work on repairing machines, but I’m supposed to help you. Especially if the subjects swim too fast for your tiny lil’ legs.”

He would wiggle his fingers rapidly, mimicking the movement you would be doing just trying to flee from the anomalous entities around the Blacksite. Wasn’t it part of the prisoners' jobs to directly interact with dangerous entities? Why do you have to interact directly with some of these dangerous entities?

Before you could reply to his comment, a loud knock resounded around the office. It was almost erratic. Both you and Sebastian looked over at the door.

“Who the hell would need y-” Sebastian started before the knocking became impossibly louder. Almost as if someone was hitting the metal door with metal. Sebastian looked over at you in question before pointing with his thumb that you probably should get it.

You sighed, getting up as you opened the door. It slid open with a hiss.

In front of you stood one of the scientists. It wasn’t any of your co-workers judging by the different uniform. Their arms were comfortably folded behind their back, head tilted as you suddenly noticed some sort of metal claw retreat behind them.

Well, now you know what the metal-on-metal contact sound was coming from.

“And here I thought you might have been somewhere else. You were one point thirty-five seconds later than the average hardworking Urbanshade employee who has duties to uphold.” They started, straightening their body. “Good, you could be slightly quicker, but at the very least, you are doing your duties!”

You felt yourself frown slightly, but tried to keep it down. This isn’t the first time you've met someone like this in Urbanshade. But if they aren’t from your department, why are they chastising you?

“Sorry, uh…” You tried to read the nametag on their clothes.

“Call me Trips,” they interjected, “like an adventure, like the one you will be taking with me!”

Trips suddenly gripped your arm with their claw… Tail? They dragged you in their direction as they suddenly put an arm around your shoulders.

Who even is this guy?!

Trips seemed to feel your questions, letting you go before grabbing your chin, forcing you to look at their direction. “Where are my manners?” They said almost sarcastically, looking at your face closely before letting you go. “I suppose you wouldn’t know who I am as you work in this awful division. I am the head of the Robotics Division.”

Oh.

That explains it.

“Nice to meet you…” You started hesitantly, Trips, was it? They were… overwhelming to say the least, you didn’t know how to react, nor how to respond. “I’m-”

“I already know who you are, famed behavioural scientist!” They started, taking a step back. “My, you’re the talk of so many divisions. There isn’t a meeting where at least one of my co-workers—supposed equals—mentions how great you are. I would assume that you would be higher ranked at this point!”

They took a step closer, pulling onto your cheek suddenly. “Surprising your feats, especially since you are still… flesh.”

Trips wiped their hand on their clothes, putting their arms behind their back once more. Turning around as they walked, wordlessly urging you to follow.

You looked over behind you, the door to your office still open, as Sebastian looked like a deer in headlights inside. He quickly gave you three thumbs up with a nervous nod. Looks like you’re on your own.

You closed your door as you quickly caught up to the scientist. They nod in acknowledgement, seemingly pleased by your quick appearance.

“I believe we will get along swimmingly, dearest scientist.”

They walked silently for a while, when the two of you would walk by rooms with computers, they would glare down at the worker. Just with their tail they would rapidly fix machinery just walking past. You hadn’t even noticed that some of these weren’t working properly.

“I read your request.” Their voice broke through the silence like a knife, looking at you with a sharp gaze. “Z-779. You want to give him a body.”

Your request was found this early? How did they find out so fast?

However, even with all your questions, you nodded.

“I’m sure you have already read why it could be useful for Urbanshade.” You started, your throat felt dry from how nervous you felt talking with the head. Especially when you saw them slide their ID to open one of the doors and it showed the highest Grade possible you could get as a scientist here at Urbanshade.

They were the real deal.

“Z-779 is currently for crypto mining for Urbanshade, as that is what they have seen that Z-779 could be useful for.” Trips started, looking at you with a head tilt. “Urbanshade already has quite a bit of security, as for your other point, tell me how you think Z-779’s emotional standing will improve anything?”

You pressed your lips in a thin line. You didn’t know how to explain it, especially to someone who hasn’t supervised any of your subjects.

“W-Well…” Why were you so nervous?

Trips seemed to pull a syringe out of nowhere. “Do you need a relaxant? It must raise your anxiety being somewhere new as someone who’s extremely mentally and emotionally sound.”

You quickly shook your head, you didn’t trust any of the drugs that Urbanshade would offer, that much you learnt from being here.

“No need to be afraid, here in the Robotics Division, it’s commonly used. Many of the scientists here get nervous when a machine backfires, when their life flashes before their eyes.” Trips chuckled. “It’s beautiful to see that spark of humanity, that loss of control. After all, Urbanshade doesn’t waste resources on fools who did nothing good for the company, only to end up in the Banlands.”

You blinked over at Trips, nodding as your eyes darted around the room.

“Do not worry, Urbanshade sees you as a valuable asset. They won't give you up easily.” You could feel Trips’ gaze on you. The sudden conversation shift made you uncomfortable. “However, I see you aren’t much of this sort of relaxant, no matter, I understand.”

Trips shook their head as they put the syringe back onto a holder inside their jacket. Just a singular glimpse, and you can see the sheer number of items inside the uniform. You’re sure those aren’t the only ones, either.

“I prefer to have my mind sharp.” You decided to mutter out. Urbanshade provided many drugs for efficiency. But your paranoia made you unable to even attempt using them, even if you wanted to. Not like Sebastian would let you, as he gave anyone who used them the stink eye.

“Good,” Trips replied, “tell me, why did you take the offer of becoming a Behavioural Scientist all those years ago?”

“I just…” For someone who would be able to understand the behaviour of subjects, Trips felt like an enigma. Their expression would hide what they thought, their body language tense yet also almost casual. Their conversations and way of speaking made you uncomfortable. Worse of all, they almost looked unnatural.

It was hard to put into words why you started. It started with Sebastian, that’s for sure, but the rest was simply because Urbanshade found that you would do best in the new job, as they were severely lacking. You were a floater scientist, meaning that you could work with any division. Urbanshade gave you a job, and you wanted to do your best.

“Disregard my previous question.” Trips said, passing their ID on yet another door. “What made you want to continue your work with Z-779?”

“Z-779… he has a passion for art… He's as if you made an art major go into math. It’s not that he can’t do math, as a machine, he’s skilled at it, but he has a passion for something else.” You started, when the subject of Painter came, it was almost as if you could talk about him forever. “I knew he was struggling with the Roblux mining because he wasn’t allowed to do what he loved. He’s sentient, he has emotions like us… so in turn he was depressed and did a less than ideal performance… But with my interference, we managed to increase mood and performance! Painter-I mean, Z-779, can improve drastically more.”

You felt ecstatic at how much Painter’s state improved, it was a high like no other. None of those weird drugs that Urbanshade provided could match the success of your job. You might have not studied to have this as your job, but you’re doing a great job at it.

Trips seemed to grin in approval. Their expression made your blood run cold; they almost felt uncanny.

“Alright, I’ll cut to the chase. Your work with Z-779 is the talk of the division. Everyone in this division has talked about you at least once!” Trips nodded at you before stopping by a window overlooking one of the robots. “Z-779… He was here before he was taken to Heavy Containment. I rather prefer him here over Heavy Containment, but who am I to say when he is more useful for Roblux mining!”

They shrugged before continuing their walk, making you catch up to them. “I believe that the Roblux mining is rather useless. Z-779 has extremely advanced technology that can only be described as anomalous. Nothing inside Z-779 should be able to make him work as he does; he should be working as technology did some decades ago. However, Z-779 proves to be sentient and has better technology than most machines here! Incredible piece of software.”

You froze, looking at them from the side. “You don’t… agree with the crypto mining that they are doing with Z-779?”

“Bah! Such incredible technology could be used for something more! However, Z-779 was taken away from us as we couldn’t find a ‘sufficiently useful’ future for the computer.” Trips shrugged as they closed their eyes. “But you, you’re different.”

“What do you mean?”

“Here’s the deal, famed scientist!” They ignored you. “Every department wants your expertise, including this one. Seeing your success with Z-779, I request that you oversee the machines here. Many can use your expertise.”

“I’m not sure if I-”

“Nonsense! You managed to figure out Z-779, you managed to tame Z-13, some of the machinery here is rowdy, fake artificial emotions are implanted in them. You can figure it out.” Trips’ voice took a more serious undertone before they straightened up, letting out a chirpier tone. “Of course, you will be heavily rewarded. Not only will I provide you with the parts you desire for Z-779, but your paycheck has been rather stagnant as of late… If you know where I am getting to.”

Your jaw dropped.

“I’m sure we can raise it drastically… The Robotics Division can pay you handsomely, unlike the division you call your own.” Trips snickered, you could feel almost malice rolling off them. “Besides, who would want to continue working with such organic subjects when you can work with robots? It's much more interesting. Technology is the future after all.”

They were asking you to just abandon your division? You can’t do that, you’ve been there for years. You’ve seen subjects come and go, there are some that you’ve known for years. While there are most that you hate and would rather die than see them again, you would miss those that you had nicer conversations with, such as Eyefestation. Now that you think about it, it’s been a while since you’ve seen the bull shark.

“You won’t leave everything, I’m sure there will be resistance from some of the parts of the division, I’m sure… unfortunately.” Trips rolled their eyes, bringing you into yet another room but stopping. It was darker than the other ones. “And you can put some exception rules for the transfer if you so desire. See how benevolent I am?”

You took a deep breath, “I… I need to think-” Yet the glare that Trips gave you left no room for thought, you either accepted or didn’t. “Okay! Fine!”

“Fine?” They grabbed your chin forcefully, making you look at them directly. “Just Fine?”

“I mean, yes, absolutely.”

“Good.” Trips let go of you once again. “I knew someone as smart as you knew the right choice. When Urbanshade falls, the only thing that will stand is the machines. Know that your work will be for a future where your work will not be in vain.”

You gulped, you had no idea what you just signed yourself up to, and you sure hoped that it would be worth it.

“Very well, now that we have that out of the way, let me show you where I brought you!”

With a snap of their fingers, the light of the room suddenly turned on to a blinding white. You unconsciously brought your arm up to cover your eyes; this was worse than the sterile rooms you would sometimes visit for certain subjects.

Bringing your arm down, you blinked as your eyes adjusted to the new lighting. Around you lie parts, multiple parts. Whether they were solitary parts or parts of bodies, they were all thrown haphazardly. There were tables covered in parts.

“Welcome to my workspace,” Trips turned around as they raised their arms as if to showcase, “one of many, of course. A genius such as myself cannot simply stay in one location.”

What a messy workspace… and you thought your office was a mess because of Sebastian…

“Please don’t mind the mess.” It was almost as if they read your mind. “However, the ‘mess’ is exactly what you’re here for.”

Trips turned back in your direction, tilting their head as they walked uncomfortably close to you. With their tail, they picked up a stray part, showing it to you as they kept their arms on their back. “Tell me, what do you think this part is?”

“Uh…” To say you had no idea what it was was an understatement.

“Junk.” Trips replied, “At least for me.”

They threw the part down, grabbing another one and asking you once again. Just like the last one, you have no idea what it is.

“Junk.” Trips smiled, grabbing another part. “This one is also junk.”

They stepped away from you, looking at the pile of materials before grabbing another part deep inside the pile. “What is this?”

“… Junk..?”

“No, trick question, perhaps it would be useful to make you learn more about these parts before your work here… ah! Perhaps we can have a welcome guide just for you explaining the most important parts!” Trips tilted to you oddly, with a manic smile. “Anywho, this is a GPU, one of the most well-known computer parts, I’m surprised that you didn’t know.

You looked over at the part more carefully, you swear there are other computer parts that have fans, how were you supposed to know it was a GPU!

”Especially with how Z-779 is surrounded by them, as it makes the Roblux mining more efficient.” Trips interrupted your thought process, your attention jumping back at the mention of Painter, talk about sleeper agent behaviour. “Absolute waste of materials if you ask me.”

You nodded slowly. “I did see them a bit outside, but… they normally keep them rather locked away.”

Trips nodded back in response, turning back to the chaos around you. “Token scientist, these parts are part of your playground.” They picked a set of parts that seemed more put together in their contraption. Their hand settled on the part gently, almost as if saying goodbye. “Machines of my design, now your creations to mould.”

You nodded with a sudden boost of confidence. Their words seem to help your nerves.

Seeing your agreement, Trips nodded in return with an unnatural smile. “Splendid! Will you need your own workspace? Or would you prefer another area? I’m sure we can provide you with the necessary power supplies.”

You wondered about it, but knowing that Sebastian was going to do most of the work and he was only comfortable in your office, you settled in there. “I’ll be working in my office, as mentioned on my form, I’ll be working with Z-13.”

“And it’s comfortable there?”

Not physically for Sebastian, but emotionally, yes. “It is.”

Trips let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Very well, whatever you say.” They proceeded to start grabbing parts erratically, dragging things from under chairs, putting power supplies on tables. When satisfied, they walked back at you with their arms full, and a supply on their tail. “Arm out.”

You put your arm out as commanded, they put the supply around your arm as then then commanded for you to put your arms like theirs. You listened, grabbing onto the mountain of parts from them.

“Hm, you look like you can carry more, let me see… what don’t I absolutely need?” Trips walked around the room, grabbing more parts as they raised your stack a lot higher than your eye level. You can feel the weight starting to take its toll on you. “I’m sure all the parts you require are here, I simply don’t know where they are in this room exactly. I’m simply finding parts that could be useful while you start… especially if you melt them…”

In what world were you going to melt anything?!

Something tells you that you might just not be set for this kind of world, but here you were carrying parts to take back to your office… How are you going to get back to your office like THIS?!

Trips walked past you out of the workshop, seemingly satisfied with the stack that they put on you. “If needed, you can come back, I’m sure you’ll need multiple stops before you get all the parts you need, dearest scientist!” You let out a nervous nod as you followed, leaving the room shortly after. “If you need anything, it’s best you tell me now as I am quite busy!”

You thought about it for a while, but nothing came up. Suddenly, it was almost as if a lightbulb lit up on top of your head. “My ID doesn’t have access to this division, I wouldn't be able to get through here.” You paused, wondering if you could be lucky enough for a hard ask. “I was wondering if I could bring Sebas- Z-13 to help me bring the parts…”

Trips blinked at you in question. “Ah, your lap dog! Multiple arms should be helpful to bring parts, yes, of course!” They approached you, grabbing your lanyard before unclipping the ID holder from it. “Let me see your ID first, I’ll be back!”

You blinked at them leaving, it was that easy?

You felt your arms starting to grow numb. Looks like the path to your office was going to be an agonizing one. As you faced the wall to use it as support to carry the parts it was almost as if their words started to make sense in your mind.

Before you knew it, they were back, flashing your ID. “Permission granted!” They clipped your ID carefully back onto your lanyard before pulling out a blank ID to show you, only to slide it into your pocket. “And this one is for your domesticated lap dog! I heard he has quite the habit of slithering around without you, so for easier access, there is one for him, too! I’m sure you’ll need more than just my workshop if you’re building a full robot body.”

You twitched. “He’s… not my lap dog.”

Trips ignored your words completely as they bored into your eyes instead. “Don’t make me regret this.” Then they let out a smile, which felt corporate. “Oh, and be quick, I won’t be there for a while, but get those parts out ASAP for when I do come back.”

You attempted to give them a nod, but the stack of objects in your arms made it hard to move with much safety.

Before they fully left, they turned around one last time. “Ah, before I leave, it is quite nice to see colour in this lab.” Trips smiled. “So incredibly dull everything is, a droplet of colour makes all the difference. Perhaps that is why you are so different, right?”

They turned back to leave without another word, starting to instead mumble about another project that required their attention before the whole division exploded.

The more you heard and listened to Trips about the division, the more nervous you became about working here. You can’t believe that you’ll be working here from now on. On the bright side, you will be able to keep some of the subjects that you checked on before.

There was a difference between working on a subject that was organic over one that wasn’t, you’re not quite sure it’s going to be easy. You’re sure that Painter is more the exception over the rule.

As you made your way back to your office, you felt your legs burning from the weight. You had to constantly go face the wall as if you were in a time-out just to relax your arms. It’s not like any of your co-workers were benevolent enough to help you, so you were on your own trying to make your way back.

Seeing the familiar hallway where your office was, you could almost cry as you let out a sigh of relief.

You’re so close…

Just some steps away from freedom.

But now you are faced with the biggest problem for today.

How will you even open the door!?

Awkwardly, you moved your hands slightly. Yet only felt the objects falter. You couldn’t drop this, not after so long.

You felt sweat pool on your forehead. You can’t drop this, and none of your coworkers will help you! They are too busy with their work to open their doors.

Sebastian should still be in there… If you can't move your arms, you should be able to move your legs and keep your balance.

One kick.

Two kicks.

Now you wait…

… But nothing came from it.

Was Sebastian no longer in the room?

No, it couldn’t be.

He wouldn’t leave your office that fast… especially since he seemed to want to have some time away from Urbanshade.

He wouldn’t abandon you to another scientist and wouldn't wait until you return safely.

Three kicks.

Four kicks.

Five kicks.

You did a third one this time for good measure in the sequence.

“Jeez, I GET it! I’m GOING.”

You could almost cry tears of relief just hearing his voice. It was like an angel came down and specifically went to save you from this hell.

With a hiss, the door opened with a deadpanned Sebastian. “Sorry for taking so long, it’s almost as if I don’t have the same simplicity as you to move around the room.” Sebastian groaned as he took in your shaky figure, thanks to the pressure that the parts were doing on your bod,y only for his eyes to widen and his ears to perk up. “Look at you~!”

Sebastian grinned as he took the parts eagerly from you, settling them down next to your table. “Tell me what happened doc’.”

You then started to go on a tangent on everything that happened, trying to remove the parts on how odd you found the head of the division to be.

“… so, yeah. Guess I’ll be working over there now.”

Sebastian looked over at you worriedly, “Nothing shady with the deal..?”

“Nothing that I know of.” You sighed, sitting on your chair for a moment of respite. “On the bright side, I can still work with some subjects here if I want.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good thing.”

“I can choose!”

“Uh huh…” Sebastian muttered before going back to sorting the parts that you brought him.

“By the way…” You started, tilting your neck over to him. “There’s more to grab over at the division-”

“Great, because out of all the parts you brought, almost all—safe for five—are GARBAGE. No wonder they just let you have this!” Sebastian interrupted, putting his elbow on your table as he leaned on his palm. He let out an exasperated sigh. “This will… take awhile.”

“Actually…” You started, a prideful smile on your face. “How about you come with me and you can check directly?”

Sebastian tilted his head in your direction. “I don’t think they will be too happy to see a sub-”

“Here, catch!” You suddenly grabbed the keycard in your pocket, throwing it in his direction. He didn’t expect it, his eyes widening as he tried to catch the keycard. The card hopped around his hands as he panicked to get hold of it.

“H-Hey! What was that for?!” He snarled at you as he finally looked at the card, holding it between his index and thumb, bringing it in front of his eyes. “Oh..?”

“I asked the head if I could bring you as help, apparently everyone sees you as my…” You paused, looking to the side. How could anyone-

“Lap dog?”

You blinked, looking back at him. “H-How do you know that?”

“Everyone calls me that when you’re not there! When you go on vacation or sick leave, I just get called your lap dog!”

“You aren’t my lap dog!”

“That’s what I’m saying!” Sebastian grumbled, “Okay, maybe you aren’t so bad since you don’t see me as one.”

You were taken aback, almost insulted by his words. “Why would I see you as my lap dog???”

“I don’t know! It feels too good to be true that you are straight up ‘not like the other scientists’ you know?!” He did air quotes at some of the words as he crossed his arms, looking away. Sebastian looked like a child as he defended his point.

“Sebastian, it's been YEARS.”

“What if, now hear me out, you’re the evil mastermind behind Urbanshade!?”

“What kind of conspiracy theory is that?!?”

Sebastian looked serious as the room fell silent. He straightened up as he approached you, as if trying to intimidate you, only to break out in a hysterical laugh. “Oh god, you should see your face!” He pointed at you as his other hand went up to his face.

You cursed how easily you just believed Sebastian’s words, yet seeing him laugh made you crack a smile. “Fine, fine, you got me.”

“I got you alright.” Sebastian chuckled as he leaned against the wall next to you, slowly unwrapping his tail from the corner of the room. “Tell me, what sort of privileges does this keycard even have?”

You saw him wave the card casually, “I didn’t have time to ask, probably granting the same privileges as me.” You started, putting a hand on your chin. “They said it was to make it easier for you to walk around without me between both divisions. So I wouldn’t be surprised if you got some of the permissions around different divisions more than just the robotics one.”

Something seemed to flash in Sebastian’s eyes before he tilted his body to face your office. “Convenient.”

“Yeah,” you scratched the back of your neck. “You can’t open a lot of doors though, it just opens transport ones, I’m sure, so no visiting some other subjects.”

You chuckled as you nudged Sebastian with your elbow. “You talk as if I would… hm…” He faced you, a teasing glint in his eye. “Open the doors to some subjects. I’m sure Pandy would love to see you again~”

Your body let out an involuntary shiver at the name as his voice held a teasing edge. “Don’t you dare.” You threatened.

He only chuckled again. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want to hurt my favourite behavioural scientist~” He poked your cheek with his knuckle, straightening up as he moved towards the door. “We should probably find the parts. Wanna lead the way? Or am I stuck taking you on a trip all over Urbanshade?

You rolled your eyes playfully at him as you opened the door, “I’ll lead the way.”

Sebastian nodded in acknowledgement as you started walking back to the robotics division. Your legs were still sore from carrying all the parts earlier, but if you wanted to execute Sebastian’s plan, then you had to suck it up and go back the long path.

Part of you wished there were trams around to take you to different divisions, but according to Urbanshade those “aren’t needed”. But alas, it wouldn’t be useful right now, as you’re sure Sebastian wouldn’t fit. Even if he did, he would surely make it reach maximum capacity just with his tail alone.

Sebastian would hum a tune, stuck in his mind. This was something that would happen, you leading, him following with a hum. He would avoid the stares of the scientists with disinterest. But once one would catch his interest he would flash his sharp teeth in malice. Immediately making the other scientist nervous.

If he wasn’t grinning as an intimidation tactic, he would instead crack his knuckles in their direction. The threat would hang in the air as you would occasionally get complaints of Sebastian’s behaviour. But the momentary frustration of how you had to deal with his behaviour later would dissipate as he would laugh, pointing in the direction of the poor scientist he would torment with his thumb.

“Someone’s chipper.” You finally said, noticing his smile. Recently, you haven’t seen Sebastian having a genuine smile, especially outside of your office. It felt nice to have a lighter atmosphere, especially nowadays.

“We are way ahead of schedule, even if we were missing parts, I can just find them myself… if you know what I mean.” He winked in your direction before slithering ahead of you. The door needed a keycard to pass and Sebastian pulled out his own. His grin got impossibly bigger when the door opened. “At this rate, we might just be able to finish this and have time to test!”

You suddenly remembered the doctor’s warnings when seeing Sebastian’s almost too excited smile at the door opening with his card. He was never allowed his own card until now; he was normally given very limited access with cards that were returned on the same day.

In theory, this one should stay active until you finish the body seeing as Trips mentioned how you might need more than their workshop for parts.

But Sebastian wouldn’t abuse the rights he was given. You trusted him enough not to do so. While he had a habit of messing with you, he would never do anything that would purposely jeopardise your job.

Finally, the two of you managed to reach the workshop. While the dirty looks that Sebastian got in your division were many, here in the Robotics Division, he would either get completely ignored or be given a confused look.

“Everyone here has metal tails.” Sebastian looked over at you in question. “Weird, right? Wonder why it’s only here that they have extra appendages.”

You looked around, and he was right. How did you not notice it sooner? “I saw the head using it as an extra arm… It might be for that.”

“If it were any other division, you know it would be a biological tail in their weird way of making human weapons.” Sebastian scoffed as he crossed his arms.

“Like the B.U.P.W.P. procedure…” You mumbled. That was one of the few procedures that you knew were done on subjects. They only told you because of how successful your work with Eyefestation was… poor Eyefestation…

“Stupid name,” Sebastian muttered. “I mean, come on.”

The two of you fell silent as you both continued your way deeper into the division. It almost reminded you of the Heavy Containment area now that you thought about it. It was extremely white, blindingly so.

“You know, if you’re gonna work here now, you should ask for one of those tails.”

You thought about it, you’re not exactly sure how it would feel to suddenly get a new appendage. You’re not even sure how it’s controlled, or how it would be controlled by you. Though you suppose Sebastian must have gone through that thought process already.

At your expression, Sebastian continued. “I mean, it looks neat, you don’t look like you need to lose anything with it. Looks useful too, trust me when I tell you an extra limb is kinda nice.” Sebastian nodded. “Or maybe I’m just high on copium…”

“I’ll think about it.”

“I would have taken an extra tail over my legs to be replaced, to be honest.” Sebastian mused. “I miss wearing pants. When was the last time I wore pants… I feel like fish wannabe Winnie the Pooh.”

“What?!”

“I said what I said!” Sebastian crossed his arms with a pout. “Anyways, where is this guy’s workshop? I feel like we’ve walked… er… travelled for hours.”

You turn and glare at him. Without breaking eye contact, you push the door next to you. Without a word, you gesture inside to him.

Sebastian simply furrows his eyebrows and grumbles, slipping into the room

The light in the workshop was still on as before. “Well, this is what we've got to work with.” You motioned around the room. “Apparently, everything here is free for us to take. One of the head’s multiple workshops, apparently.”

You couldn’t stop thinking about how they were, but if you had the freedom of one of the workshops, which you’re sure must be exclusive, then you won’t complain.

“Wow, I didn’t expect this mess,” he started, “you sure that this belongs to the head of the division?”

“Apparently.” You shrugged. “As long as we get permission—which we do—and parts, I think it doesn’t matter.”

Sebastian nodded in response as he started digging in the pile of parts. Not wanting to just awkwardly stand there, you went near him, digging around.

“How about this?” You pull out a part that looks in particularly good condition.

“Let me see…” He took the part from you, rotating it in his hands before throwing it to the side. “Trash.”

“Oh.” You scratched your neck awkwardly.

“How about this, doc’?” Sebastian started. “How about you relax for a bit on one of those chairs since you look particularly exhausted while you let the expert take the reins?”

“You don’t even know abo-”

“Hush! Let the expert search, they don’t call me the Handy Man for no reason!”

Just by his words, you had to pinch the bridge of your nose. But he had a point; besides, you’re not quite sure what the parts he mentioned in his sketch would actually look like.

So instead, you listened and sat in one of the chairs around the workshop.

The only sound in the workshop would be Sebastian’s rummaging. The metal-on-metal screeching is doing a number on your ears. And judging by how Sebastian would wince with his ears drooping slightly, it seemed to have quite a reaction on him as well..

Because you had to wait, and didn’t have much energy to make your way back to continue your work, you instead had the brilliant idea to rest on one of the tables.

…

“It’s actually quite funny that you’ve just started sleeping anywhere.” Sebastian’s voice cut through your sleep-deprived daze. You blinked. Did you just fall asleep randomly again?!

You internally cursed yourself as you suddenly became all too conscious of how Sebastian was just carrying you like a sack of potatoes. “Hey! Put me down!”

Sebastian let out a light laugh. “And what, let you fall face first to the ground? I don’t think so doc’.” He laughed again. “As appealing as that is, I would prefer you not to have brain damage.”

You grumbled. “I’m perfectly capable, Sebastian.” You huffed. “I do appreciate you not abandoning me, though.”

“Anytime.” Sebastian hummed as he looked in front of him. Judging by your surroundings, you were close to your office. You could feel the questioning gaze of your co-workers seeing Sebastian carrying you, as your face heated up in embarrassment. “How was sleep, sleeping beauty?”

You glared at Sebastian in response. “You’re insufferable.”

“I pride myself on it.” Sebastian grinned as he glanced over at you. “Just so you know, I managed to find some really nice parts while you were knocked out. I have to give credit where it’s due, things are looking great so far doc’!”

Sebastian takes you back to your office, you don’t miss his grumble when he can’t use his temporary ID to open your office, instead grabbing your lanyard from your body (as you’ve gotten used to him occasionally doing) to scan your ID.

“Looks like you can’t open my office.”

“No need to rub it in, doc’.” He settled you back down on your feet. It was a bit disorienting sometimes being carried by Sebastian, but as the years passed, you slowly started to get used to it. “Guess I’ll just need to take your extra ID instead.”

He huffed as you set yourself back behind your desk. “And with the ones that Urbanshade gives you when you do maintenance, you would be able to access most of it.”

“As if they would let me have those cards for longer than two hours!” Sebastian grumbled as he opened the bags on his tail, taking out parts and laying them next to your desk, effectively blocking multiple of your cabinets… You hoped you didn’t need any files in there anytime soon. “One day, I’ll find where they store those…”

“You might not need those, seeing as you already have too much access around Urbanshade with MY ID and the new one.” You emphasised his thievery, crossing your arms. “I’m surprised it’s still working.”

Sebastian shrugged. “I don’t care, better for me.” He grinned, putting one of his hands on his waist. “It’s careless of them, and it makes it easier to… borrow things that they won’t miss.”

You looked at him quizzically before letting out a shrug. “As long as I don’t get any repercussions…” You mentioned honestly, it’s not like you cared about Urbanshade. You’re sure they could deal with a couple of losses here and there. Even if they pay you handsomely, nothing would be able to pay for the therapy you had to get for all the things you had to see in your daily job.

The room fell quiet as you picked up your stack of papers once more. The office work was so boring, you’re a scientist! You’re supposed to be looking at behaviour, not doing stupid, simple paperwork. Even if some of these subjects were questionable and terrifying, it would beat being seated, filling out and signing papers consenting to seeing certain subjects.

You knew you had to fill these out, but some of these had to be for other divisions! This couldn’t be all part of your job… All behaviours you’ve analysed today were Sebastian’s, and perhaps you can argue for the head of the robotics division thanks to their colourful personality. Though you’re sure that’s not a good thought to have for your… future boss.

You shivered slightly at the thought. Choosing to instead open your laptop as you opened your emails. Talk about office job… Maybe it doesn’t help that you just woke up again. You had a mountain of emails to go through, all for different subjects, safe for one of the most recent ones being from Trips welcoming you formally to the Robotics Division.

“You look like you’re this close to snoozing again.” Sebastian chirped, not looking at you as he tinkered with the parts on your ground. “I’m gonna take a while, and you look like you need a boost of energy. Why don’t you go visit…”

Sebastian trailed off with a smile as he looked over at you. A certain computer popped into your mind, and you almost immediately got up before the responsible part of you came back in control.

“I have… paperwork…” How unappealing.

Sebastian moved his tail for the tip to nudge you out of your chair. “You’re either sleeping at your desk or seeing your boyfriend, let’s be real.” He put down one of his tools, ushering you to move with a fanning motion in your direction. “Come on, we both know what your heart wants.”

You sighed in defeat. He was right, at this rate, you’re never going to do anything without something to really push you to do anything. The deadline isn’t today after all, which only made you procrastinate on the boring part of your job.

“Alright…”

“Besides, you haven’t seen him in so long! He surely misses you!” Sebastian put a hand on his cheek, his voice sounding as if he were cooing at a baby. You looked at him in disappointment; you didn’t want to agree with him when he was saying it like that. He really liked messing with you, especially after he found out about your relationship.

“Good luck, Sebastian.” Turning around towards the door, you bid him farewell, not acknowledging his taunt. But he knew better and knew you would acknowledge anything he threw at you.

“Have fun doc’.”

He waved you off as you closed the door to your office. You took a deep breath in. Truth be told, recently you’ve been feeling as if things have been falling into their place almost too perfectly.

Your job has been easier recently; the team behind Z-283, the Angler, has been off your back. They haven’t been calling for you recently, which is nice, as you have no interest in working with Z-283.

Mostly, the departments in charge of the more peaceful subjects have been calling for your revisit.

The only time you went to Heavy Containment recently was for Painter!

On the subject of Painter, the ones in charge of him seem extremely pleased with your work with it. Apparently, the Roblux mining has been at an all-time high. And they let you visit Painter whenever you want, which includes off hours, where Painter was now allowed to take breaks as long as it reached the quota.

According to the one overseeing Painter, it should be a sign to raise the necessary quota, but with your resistance, the quota stayed the same. As long as Urbanshade doesn’t find out. You’re glad that your status makes it so that certain scientists will make exceptions for you.

You wanted to make this time a little bit different, reminiscing of one of your earlier encounters, it felt as if it had been a long time since you showed a set of pictures to Painter.

He adored looking at the pictures, it was what fascinated him and he would constantly tell you of his wish to be able to go to the surface and see some of these things with his own eyes. Everytime, there was almost like a voice in your head that always thought of how Urbanshade tricked him into letting him see the surface if he reached his quota for a day trip to the surface. The trip to the surface, to a safer, habitable area, was longer than just a day.

You shook your head as you went to your sleeping quarters. Not to sleep, as appealing as that is, but to pull out the box of photographs that you have. You looked over them, there had to be something interesting that you could bring over to Painter that would blow him away.

Painter would be satisfied with anything that you knew. But you don’t want satisfaction, you want surprise, excitement to the extreme! A joy that would rival any joy that he has felt before!

Taking a set of photos, you pulled out your notepad from your jacket, slotting the photographs inside to keep them safely without folding.

Satisfied, you got up and started making your way to Heavy Containment. There was a bounce to your step, sudden adrenaline that would make it seem as if you weren’t tired at all. Your co-workers who saw you earlier would side-glance at you weirdly, but you paid no mind. This was the norm anyway, so why should you care?

Before you knew it, you passed the GPUs in front of Painter’s room, the path to Heavy Containment always felt a lot faster when you had a better goal of seeing Painter who wasn’t an active danger to you.

You slid open the door, like always, there were few scientists inside simply doing their job. Since your interference with Painter, the scientists that worked with Painter started going onto other subjects and very few would make sure Painter worked as normal.

Greeting the scientists, Painter noticed you almost immediately, his screen becoming impossibly brighter. You welcomed yourself inside Painter’s enclosure.

“Hey!” Painter’s face appeared on his screen, pink lines where his cheeks would appear shortly after as he quietly called you by your name.

“Doing good?” You started, knowing that the other scientists were too busy doing their paperwork, you kissed the corner of Painter’s screen.

You could hear Painter’s fans pick up, no matter how many times you did it; his fans would pick up every time. It was extremely charming.

“Better with you here…” He admitted quietly, its voice from the speaker having a slight static.

The room fell silent as you stared at each other.

While for anyone else, it could be uncomfortable. But you adored Painter, the little quirks that it showed when you stared at him for too long. Little lines of “blush” appearing on his screen wasn’t rare, but what was different was just how much its screen could turn pink.

You would mentally count how long it would take his screen to go red; it was a fun game. Not that he minded, of course, you wouldn’t do anything to make him uncomfortable.

Much less, something that might blue-screen-of-death him.

“Any news on your side?” Painter suddenly cut through the silence. Before he would show you anything, Painter loved to hear about your day. He would tell you how just your presence would give him the same excitement as painting would…

You wanted to tell him about the plan… almost. You knew you shouldn’t, especially to keep the surprise. But you knew you could tell him about everything else.

“Today was quite long,” You admitted with a sigh, so much had happened during the day that you couldn’t help but feel drained. “Stuck in my office for quite a bit doing paperwork.”

“I hope the paperwork was at least a bit interesting?”

You knew Painter just wanted the best for you, but truth be told, you couldn’t lie to it. You knew your face showed an obvious disdain.

“Oh, but I was also contacted by the head of the Robotics division to transfer.”

“Trips?”

“Know them?”

Painter’s face would move up and down on the screen, almost in a way to show a nod as it let out a small “mhm”.

“We’ve talked a lot before I was transferred to Heavy Containment for Roblux mining.” His speakers would crack slightly as he sighed. A sigh that turned into a dry chuckle. “Couldn’t understand why I wanted to go back to the surface.”

You hummed in response. The two of you talked a little bit more about your presumably new boss and their oddity before you shook your head.

“Enough about that,” you took out your notebook, setting it on the desk, “brought you some new pictures~!”

Grinning, you opened your notebook, taking out the pictures as you saw Painter beam. His fans started to pick up speed from the excitement.

“Someone’s excited.” You teased with a smile, Painter proceeded to get a more bashful expression on its screen.

“I just love when you show me things…” Painter would smile wider. “Since I’ve met you, I’ve started to find out so many beautiful things about the world. I just want to visit all of the places and see them with my own eyes. I want to see them with you.”

You sighed, now’s not the time you let thoughts that you might never take Painter out of this place go away. You want to be optimistic, so that you can escape with those that you care about.

“I know—I promise—that we will.” Your voice was slightly heavy, an unspoken promise lying between your other one. “We’ll go to all the places I showed you, and you’ll be able to see how accurate, or not accurate, some of these places are.”

“Well, some are decades old! I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them have changed since then.” Painter explained quickly. “I want to see that change with myself…”

“You will, I’ll make sure of that.”

Painter smiled as you spoke.

If you said that when you first met, you’re sure it wouldn’t have believed you. But now, knowing that you managed to make his living situation so much better. You know that Painter believed you. If anyone was your biggest believer, it would be without a doubt Painter.

Some might call his blind trust in you naive. But you appreciated those that believed you without a second thought. Even if those that did normally had numbers for names.

You decided to stop stalling as you pulled out the first photograph. It was one of those natural wonders, a picture you took yourself as you visited. You had to (reluctantly) appreciate Urbanshade for paying you so well, it made it easy to travel if you wanted to.

As always, you explain to Painter the significance of the place. In this case, why people visit it and why it’s so wonderful culturally. Painter listened carefully, letting out occasional “oohs” and “aahs”.

It was clear that he enjoyed the time you spent together. Much more when you would show him new places. You never knew that the collection of pictures would be useful for more than one subject. After all, there weren't many that would appreciate the outside world, such as those that were ripped from it. And even then, few would you see more than once and wouldn’t respond hostilely if you “tempted” them.

It was nice when someone would be able to appreciate the pictures you kept stashed away. Being in Urbanshade for such a long time without seeing the outside world would make you homesick, and seeing the pictures brought you comfort. You can’t imagine how the subjects here feel being trapped here forevermore, and you’re glad that sometimes these photographs quell even a little bit.

“How are those colours even possible?” Painter would muse, fascinated with one of the multiple photographs you brought out.

“I’d say it’s a trick of the lighting, the moment… You know.” In truth, you had no idea how the colours in the photograph were like that. But it seemed to interest Painter, so you kept it in front of his camera as you looked from the side.

After a while, you changed to the next photograph. This was a cycle until you finished your stack of photographs.

The whole showing of all the photographs seem to boost Painter’s morale however. It seemed to get a lot more chirpy with its comments.

It was endearing; it would make your heart swell.

It made you want to kiss him all over his monitor.

But knowing that there were still scientists inside the room, and that Painter would immediately blue screen if you did that. You went against it.

Instead, you put your hand on your cheek, leaning on the desk as you watched him start talking about how beautiful the colours are from nature. What fascinated him the most was nature after all.

An environment artist at heart, Painter would always talk about the small details inside every part of the photographs you would showcase. Multiple details that you would have never noticed before.

He was perceptive, and it was incredible.

“Oh, right!” Painter interrupted his own tangent. “I was wondering… if you could give me your opinion on something…”

You broke out of your daze. It wasn’t that you weren’t listening to him, far from it. It’s just that part of your mind was just thinking about him. And how cute it was. And how adorable it looked talking about what passionate him. And how-

Painter called out to you gently, breaking you out of your daze again. “Sorry, Painter…” You looked at him apologetically. “But sure! What’s up?”

He smiled gleefully before sliding his face to the corner of the screen. “You see, I’m practising portraits… I’ve been drawing mostly from my memory, but I don’t want it to become… well… uncanny valley.” It started opening folders on the file manager, it was folder after folder. Some looked seemingly empty, only to have a singular folder inside, and then another. Why were there so many layers? “I wanted to ask someone who actually… looked like what I was drawing to see if it isn- Whoops!”

Painter frantically closed the file manager.

You blinked in confusion at Painter before he awkwardly chuckled. “Sorry, I took the wrong path… there’s just… uh… crypto mining spreadsheets… you know…”

“Inside ‘Super Evil Folder For Evil Reasons’?”

“Urbanshade is evil.” Painter’s speakers went quiet as it opened the file manager again as if it was whispering.

You expected him to take a different route, yet he was back inside the same folder. But you didn’t want to question it. If it had something he didn’t want to tell you, then you would respect that.

“Here,” Painter opened one illustration, “I don’t know if you would prefer to see someone you actually know or if you’re okay with seeing strangers, but… yeah!”

The drawing was stylised, in no way realistic, but not uncanny. The illustration was of someone who had a light smile. Casual, slightly weary. There was a bit of sunlight that came into what you presumed was the room. It wasn’t exactly fully a portrait; there was still a background to the piece. You can tell Painter couldn’t just not paint his favourite part of his art process.

“It’s my creator.” Painter broke the silence. “At least… what I remember of him.”

You couldn’t help but feel a bit of melancholy. Painter’s file didn’t omit what happened to his creator. Your heart couldn’t help but clench at seeing the piece in a new light.

“… Before Urbanshade, it was him. He showed me the world and loved to show me the world.” Painter’s speaker crackled slightly. “I want to do him justice. A tribute, if you will.”

You let out a bittersweet smile. “It looks lovely Painter, I think you did a good job.”

“I’m just scared it isn’t accurate…” Painter answered truthfully. “I just…”

It trailed off, you could tell it pained Painter. And it pained you to see him like this. You put a hand at the side of his casing. Even if it couldn’t feel your hand exactly, just the knowledge that you would put your hand there would bring comfort to Painter as it would look back at you.

“I’m sure he would have loved it, Painter.” You started quietly. “Besides, if it’s not up to your expectations, you can always practice. You’re amazing at your craft, and this already looks stunning.”

Painter’s mouth would go into a straight line. Only for him to let out a crackled sigh. “Alright…” Painter would go back to a smile, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. “I haven’t drawn people in a really long time, to be honest, I’ve only drawn maybe 3 portraits since I got to Urbanshade? So I’m a bit rusty.”

“But you’re getting better, and that’s what matters!” You tried to boost Painter’s morale. “Besides, if you ever feel you aren’t progressing, you can always look at your old art and see your improvement.”

Painter looked horrified, however. “My old art?! It’s… It’s terrible! I can’t stand looking at it! I saw my art that I managed to sneak in between work from before you started helping me, and I was horrified!”

You couldn’t help but chuckle. “Well, isn’t that enough proof that you’ve improved?”

Painter grumbled, putting his face to the side of the canvas, as if looking to the side. “I guess.” You smiled gently at him as he moved his face to cover the whole screen again. “Well, I can show you more of my portrait art, but that one is probably my best one so far… Among others…”

You hummed, preparing to answer, only to hear a sudden voice calling for you. You looked quizzically as you got up, opening the door to the enclosure as they waited outside. Another younger scientist, do all the interns become errand people when they enter Urbanshade?

“I was sent to give these to you personally. I’m glad that people knew where you went as when I went to your office…” You could see the intern shiver, looks like a certain fish decided he wanted to scare off another Urbanshade employee.

They put out the folder for you to grab. You did, opening the folder and looking at the first page where your name was neatly written on. Looks like this was indeed for you.

“The Robotics Division? More?” You looked in confusion at the papers, then at the intern. “They already sent an email, what more is there…”

You skimmed through the papers. Oh.

Forms upon forms were inside. No wonder the folder was so thick. You saw a sticky note left by the head, you almost felt yourself twitch at how they wanted you to sign everything by tomorrow.

Seeing your expression, the intern quickly excused themselves as they ran away.

“Do you want any help analysing them?” Painter suddenly spoke. “You might… need it… knowing…”

You looked over at Painter, every part of you was telling you that it would be fine, you didn’t want to burden Painter knowing that this was your job (and your price to pay).

But seeing the stack of papers in your hands and how much heavier they are feeling by the second, you couldn’t help but look at Painter.

His expression was tense yet focused. So focused that he didn’t even notice you come in the room.

Next to him, there was a stack of documents, how fast was he reading these?

“I got you the part you wanted.” You broke the silence, he looked up with wide eyes only to relax immediately seeing how it was you. Gently, you put the part on your desk, motioning with your now free hand at the stack of documents. “What’s up with these?”

“Do you need a specific keycard to open some of these?”

“No, not always,” you answered immediately, “why?”

“Even those in Heavy Containment?”

“... Some… Why are you asking me this?”

Sebastian put the document in his hands down. Z-367, Pandemonium. Why was he reading that document? “No reason.”

You crossed your arms, “I think I deserve to know as I gave you the answers easily.”

Sebastian has been extremely secretive recently, he hasn’t been telling you much and would vanish quite often. To say it hurt you a bit how you haven’t been talking as much as you have other times bothered you. But what bothered you the most was how he looked that something bothered him greatly and he wouldn’t tell you.

It hurt you, as his friend, to see him act this way.

“Please don’t do this to me doc’.” Sebastian would pinch the bridge of his nose. “I can’t… I shouldn’t.”

“Shouldn’t what? Sebastian, I’m worried for you…” He would press his lips in a thin line as he looked to the side. “You’ve been strong this whole time, even treating Painter so gently but I know there’s something on your mind… You don’t have to shoulder this alone.”

Sebastian’s ear fins would pin to his head as if a cat, his body deflating as he heard your words, a whisper escaping his lips. “They might hear us…”

It felt like your conversation from just a couple of hours prior was repeating, only that this time you just wanted to tell him that Urbanshade wasn’t listening yet there was a little voice in your mind that told you otherwise.

With a sigh, you looked over at your desk. Perhaps it was time to check around the room again.

Leaving Sebastian alone, you looked around your desk. Inside the drawers, under the table and chairs, unplugged any device you had. You grabbed your laptop and put it inside a bag, stuffing your phone and any other electronic devices in it.

Sebastian stared at you as you left the room with the bag, his expression still glum. Only to perk up slightly at seeing you come back—this time without the bag.

“Now they won’t.” You brought your arms up, turning around in place as you turned your pockets out. “I removed everything that should be able to hear us. Here’s to hoping no one steals my stuff.”

You smiled lightly at Sebastian but he only blinked at you, he was stupefied. “Your stuff is getting stolen.”

“Don’t jinx it!”

Sebastian seemed to smile slightly at the situation, slithering closer to you as he put a hand on the wall. He would lean lower, his height was intimidating like this. “Fine, you win. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He would straighten up, grabbing your chair and pushing it in your direction. “Feel free to take a seat, this is serious. Fall asleep and I’ll kill you.”

You grabbed the chair that Sebastian pushed in your direction, flipping it to sit down. “I won’t.” His threat was serious, you knew he was capable. Knowing that, it was almost as if any fatigue from the day before left your body.

“Good.” He would let out a sigh, turning away from you. “I don’t know how to put it.”

“Take your time.” You insisted. “There’s always other ways to say it if you need it-”

“No, I’ll say it, and I’ll only say this once.” Sebastian said sternly, pointing at you as he finally turned around to face you. Finally, he took a deep breath. “I don’t think I’ll ever make it back to the surface.”

This wasn’t the first time that Sebastian would have this conversation with you. His insecurity would take him over, from how he looks to how he’s perceived. He became hopeless years ago yet managed to gain a bit of hope with your help.

He would look at you as if exhaustion took him over, as if he became weak as his head would fall and his position changed into a slump.

“What brought this up..?” You looked over at him, face morphing into pure worry. He hasn’t been like this since the first time he opened up to you.

Sebastian turned away from you once again, grabbing a document from his stack. “I feel powerless!” His shoulders would tense up as he turned around to you. Your eyes widened as you realized which document he had in his hands.

His own.

“This isn’t even the full information, there’s parts that neither you nor I know. In all of these documents, I’m sure!” Sebastian motioned to the stack of documents with his third arm, a hand on his head as he brushed his bangs back, only for them to go back to their original position.

Before you could say anything Sebastian would flip the folder back to his direction. “I overheard some high-ranked guards—don’t ask me how—but they were talking about me.” He sighed, slumping back down as he put a hand on his forehead. His emotions kept going all over the place. “They said something about my sentence… hah…”

“Sebastian-”

“Wait. There’s more to say.” He would look into your eyes once more. “I heard them say that they will transfer me.”

“What?”

“Some other facility—I don’t know!” He approached you, grabbing your chair. “I have to do something—anything—”

He looked as if he wanted to say more, yet as he opened his mouth once more, only a squeak would come out as a stray tear fell from his cheek, it was rare for him to break down, he never did.

Yet here he was in front of you, broken just as he was when he told you about his past. He would slump once more, this time right in front of you, his esca barely touching your torso.

Sebastian would rarely call you by name, he would joke that it was because he never wanted to grow attached to you. Yet here was one of the few times he did. You don’t know what he heard, but what you did know is that it tore him apart just as Urbanshade did to him.

If Sebastian was telling the truth, then that meant that he would leave the Blacksite for another place that might be more unsafe. And in turn, no longer be under your protection.

“I’m here.” You put your hand on his head. He flinched for a second before relaxing once more.

“Tell me about the outside again, the surface.” Sebastian’s voice was quiet. The request was heavy, it always was. It made him seem as if he was raised here and not stolen away from his previous life.

In another world, he would have been out there. Living his life, working in engineering for a safer company. Not be forced to, knowing of the threat that loomed in the air.

In another world, he would have been able to have a pet and be able to come back home to the safety of his home.

In another world, his biggest worry would’ve been something as simple as his favourite band disbanding one day.

Yet he was here, a husk of the person he once was. With no hope of being able to escape the Blacksite to the freedom he craves, that he deserves.

Your eyes held a rage to them, from what Urbanshade did to him, to what they did to everyone. So many subjects in the Blacksite were innocent and conscious. They didn’t deserve the fate that was given to them for whatever cruel reason that Urbanshade would need it.

Sebastian didn’t look up, he took deep breaths as he attempted to calm down. You relaxed, your rage for Urbanshade could wait. Your hand went by his hair slightly as a comforting manoeuvre.

With a sigh, you started to speak. “Well… There has been an increase in restaurants that have been serving cuisines from other countries. The flavours of all around the world can now be tasted closer to home, now people don’t need to travel far.” You paused, you wanted to speak of something new yet now you told Sebastian everything you knew, it was hard to come up with something different even if he didn’t ask for it. “It’s the same for bakeries, there has been an increase from different places–”

“You’re gonna make me hungry,” Sebastian whined, crossing his arms on your lap as he lifted his face slightly. His voice was slightly hoarse as he sniffled slightly. He was incredibly heavy yet right now you put the thought behind, it wasn’t important right now.

“It was the first thing that came to mind!”

Sebastian put his index finger on your chest, poking it. “Now you owe me some empanadas, specifically cheese filling.”

“Do you know how hard it is to get the ingredients?!”

“I know you have the batter mix, I’ll steal the cheese from the kitchen.”

He let out a playful grin. It seemed he was starting to feel better. It wasn’t perfect, but even if he felt a little bit better you would be happy.

“Fine.” You give in, tilting your head with a pout.

“Also I lied I want one beef one too.” He corrected.

“Hey! You’ll already want me to make like… ten!”

“Uh huh, nine cheese, one beef. I’m suddenly craving a braised beef one too…”

“Sebastian…” You looked at him in faux disappointment. “I’m not your cook.”

“You take care of me though~,” he said in a singsong voice. “I’m your responsibility~!”

Sebastian blinks innocently, he was definitely feeling better already if he could joke around with you. Or his stomach was making his decisions for him and he was really hungry.

“Fine…” You affirmed once more. “The things I do for you.”

“You love me.”

“Not anymore! You make me cook for you, that’s not in my job description.”

Sebastian would straighten up, a smile still on his lips. He looked as if he hadn’t cried at any point, you wonder if it has something to do with his biology. “Well, now it is. Do you really want me to break the community kitchen? They won’t be happy knowing that–”

“Okay okay, I get it!”

You got up from the chair, stretching slightly and trying to ignore the soreness from Sebastian's previous weight on you. He would pick up the documents and put them all in a singular drawer, turning around as he brushed his hands to remove any dust.

“Let’s split up, you get the ingredients for the dough, I’ll get the filling from the storage.”

You shook your head, said storage was locked for everyone but specific staff yet Sebastian always somehow made it in. It made you truly wonder how much Sebastian could do that you didn’t know.

Scratch that, you wonder how much Sebastian could do that Urbanshade never caught him on.

“Alright, meet me in the kitchen when you’re done.”

You walked at the door to your office, turning around to see Sebastian in your desk drawers. “What are yo-”

Sebastian would pull out your extra ID, one that you somehow keep forgetting about. “I’ll be taking this!”

“You better not be using it to put me in trouble.”

“Alright…” He trailed off, stuffing the ID into one of his pockets and slithering next to you as he opened the door. “I’ll try not to, no promises!”

Sebastian let out a malicious grin as he left fast before you could counter his argument. You shook your head once more, you trusted him to not get you in trouble. Yet at the same time, you had no idea what he really used your ID for.

The next hour was spent cooking with Sebastian… Well, more like you cooked and he occasionally passed your ingredients. He kept eating the raw dough and the filling, when you would catch him he would just look like a deer in headlights.

He would excuse himself in multiple ways, ‘I was hungry’ was the main one, but there was also ‘I brought too much anyways’ and finally there were times when he would silence you by putting an ingredient in your mouth, saying how you were now his accomplice.

That wasn’t very fair of him but at the same time you were only cooking for each other and it was only the two of you in the kitchen. It was far from a meal hour. Sebastian wasn’t the easiest to cook for either because he wanted you to make the empanadas in such a specific way, any other way was incorrect.

Sometimes you would let out a yawn, you forgot how tired you were earlier. The day was so eventful that you forgot how tired you were. It was only in moments like this one, where all you did was simple mundane things, that you would remember that you are still human, and were still a victim of fatigue.

Sebastian would poke you slightly to make sure you were awake as he would sometimes take over areas that he could. He struggled, thanks to his size, but his help was appreciated.

After you were done, you would place the plate on a table. A stack of perfectly made empanadas stood there as you puffed your chest in pride with such a beautiful set of empanadas.

Sebastian would get to the other side of the table, grabbing one in his hands as he bit it. His face was content as he nodded. “These are perfect.”

“That’s good.” You took a chair and sat at the other side.

“Just like mom’s,” Sebastian admitted, his expression softened. “Thanks.”

He went on to grab another as he stared at the crescent moon shape, breaking it in two as he stuffed one half in his mouth. “You can grab one if you want.” He offered. “I’m feeling nice.”

“You’re letting me try the fruit of my labour?”

“If you put it that way I’m taking the offer BACK.”

You chuckled, taking one of the empanadas from the stack.

It was silent for a while, Sebastian scarfing down the empanadas while you sat back enjoying the peace. Sebastian was happy and content, it was nice to see him at peace once more, simply enjoying food with no care in the world. You hope that one day he can be free as he longs to be, he deserves to eat empanadas made by his mom once more.

You knew that he would correct your work when making empanadas, he longed to have the taste of food from his family. Who could blame him? You knew that you could only make an imitation, but if he was happy with it, then you would continue and do it once again.

You put your arms on the table, leaning on them slightly as you yawned. “Sorry Sebastian, mind if I close my eyes a bit?”

“Ohhh.” He winked, taking another bite. “Is it ‘siesta’ hour yet?”

Sebastian must have been very comfortable to suddenly spill some Spanish in his speech, thankfully, being around him enough meant you could understand him.

“Shut it, I’m not taking a nap…” You leaned more on your arms. “Just closing my eyes a bit… they burn.”

“Whatever you say doc’, good night.”

You sighed slightly, ignoring what Sebastian said in favour of closing your eyes as you rested on the table.

…

Unfortunately, Sebastian was right.

You woke up suddenly, yet weren’t in your bed. Alarm bells started blasting as you sat up.

Only to be greeted by the familiarity of your office. A small light illuminated the place. You sighed in relief as you relaxed, looking around as you realised your situation.

You were on the floor, yet completely wrapped in blankets—too many to count. They must have come from a storage area.

You find your phone next to you, with a written note next to it. ‘Didn’t want to wake you up so I brought you here with some blankets. Sorry I couldn’t bring you to your room, you know I’m not allowed there. Have your well-deserved rest. P.S. I found your stuff in a random hallway, what’s wrong with you???’ The note was signed at the bottom with Sebastian’s name.

How considerate of him.

You’ll make sure to thank him when you see him again.

You picked up your phone checking the time, it was some ungodly hour. Night shifts had long started and all the scientists would be asleep in their quarters.

You pondered if you should make your way to your quarters, knowing that Urbanshade would log where you were.

Well, not like you were tired enough to continue sleeping on the floor. Even if it was comfortable (enough) thanks to Sebastian’s consideration, you weren’t planning on staying there.

You wiggled out of the confines that Sebastian put you in, sitting up and stretching.

This was the first time you would be out of your room at this hour.

While not against the rules, being awake at such an hour still made you slightly uneasy. Any security should let you go with the mention of your rank and ID; some scientists work at this hour after all.

Some never slept, powered with drugs that only Urbanshade would provide or simply consumed copious amounts of caffeine and would sleep at their desk when they would crash. It was normal to see researchers pushing themselves to their limits here at Urbanshade.

You were lucky that Urbanshade didn’t have the same expectations that they had for the other researchers for you. You could have a healthier amount of sleep as long as you checked on all the subjects that Urbanshade wanted you to go check weekly. Other researchers had to make so many breakthroughs just to not get fired.

It was a blessing to be the only one to fill the niche that you do. There was no competition and no comparison. It was reassuring that you wouldn’t land on an experimentation table because your performance was subpar compared to a coworker.

… Not like Urbanshade wouldn’t do that anyway.

The Blacksite was still illuminated as if it was still daytime. If there wasn’t a forced curfew and mentions of the time occasionally, you’re sure you would have lost count of the hours and days. The light from the outside world—from the surface, didn’t get to the Blacksite.

You would zone out slightly while you walked hallway after hallway. Yet instead of landing in the hallway leading to the living quarters, you stood once more in front of the Heavy Containment area.

How does this keep happening..?

An itch inside of you, calling for you to check back on a certain computer. As if it was dragging you spiritually back to it.

You didn’t understand why it kept happening, why you would always come back more than you needed to. Why would you sometimes be deep in your thoughts and come back at the opening of the undeniably worst part of the Blacksite.

There was no other subject that you would actively go back to, the only one that did would be coming to you instead of the other way. It felt new, it felt foreign. To be the one actively searching to exchange more words.

Maybe you were simply worried… wondering if it was still working. Whether it was in his (god forbid) crypto mining, his art, or in general mode, you just wanted to know if he was still on.

You slid your ID at the doors leading to Heavy Containment.

It was quiet, almost liminal, it raised the hair on the back of your neck. This was the first time you came into this dangerous place when there was no scientist around, talking about whatever experiment they were working on. There was no conversation to listen to, only your steps that would echo as you would open more and more doors leading to other places.

You were surprised to not see one security guard around. Instead, you would be randomly greeted by sounds in the back. At first, you jumped at the bashing, contrasting the silence. But knowing that you were still safe was enough for you.

In the worst case, you could always hide in a room or in one of those lockers that were around. If you recall correctly, they should survive just about anything. It would be better that than to stay out in the open.

Thankfully, you managed to get to the area that Painter would be in.

Talk about seeing Painter too much in the week, much more in the same day. If Urbanshade realised how many times you saw Painter in the same week, they might be displeased with the bias.

All you wanted to do was simply check if Painter was fine, when you did you would simply leave.

Yet your plan immediately fell apart when you heard Painter’s recognition, your name coming from its speakers. “Why are you back? Did you leave something behind?” You walked inside, closing the door. Now that you thought about it, it makes sense that Painter would notice you. The doors weren’t particularly quiet.

It seemed that anyone who would monitor Painter would be in the early work hours, not… now. “It’s been a couple of hours. According to my calculations and analytical data, you should be asleep at this hour!”

“I fell asleep in my office, wanted to check up on you before I went back to my quarters.” You admitted, almost by instinct you slid your ID to enter its room, standing in front of him. “I was worried.”

“I’m good, promise!” Painter chirped. “Are you sure you shouldn’t go to sleep though? Humans should-”

“Not tired…” You interrupted Painter with a sigh, sliding the chair to sit on. “That’s what I get for falling asleep in the middle of the afternoon instead of the night.”

“Well…” Painter started, “I noticed that you had an increase in fatigue, physically you haven’t been moving the same way as you normally do. Not to mention the eye bags you have… How are you feeling?”

You put out a bittersweet smile. The job would sometimes get to you, seeing all the subjects would make your heart bleed for them. The previous conversation you had with Sebastian just some hours ago weighed on your mind.

“Nothing that doesn’t come with the job.” You sighed in defeat, trying to think up a solution to any of your problems. “Thank you for asking…”

Painter stayed quiet, his expression turning glum as it let out a sigh with the crack of his speakers. It was hard to be happy in a place such as this one.

“Maybe I can show you some of my art pieces? I have some I wanted to save for later but…” Painter trailed off slightly. “Art makes me happy… maybe it can make you happy too!”

“I’d love to see.”

“Awesome!”

Painter opened his drawing software and did as he always did, putting its face in the corner of the screen as if he was streaming.

It started showing you all sorts of drawings. Most were landscapes, you wondered if he had some landscapes in one of his disk drives as some of these felt new.

Your theory would prove to be correct as Painter would wistfully recount how some of those landscapes were from its home, how he would kill to be able to go back there. The Blacksite—Urbanshade—was its current place of residence but not its home.

“One day… I want to go back home… and see it again…” Painter would tearfully say, his speaker cracking slightly as there would be a singular blue dot at the corner of its eye.

Painter quickly changed the subject, showing you instead its portrait drawings.

Compared to the landscapes, the portraits were more stylized yet still realistic. ‘A love for humanity’ Painter would say. It was common for the subjects to learn to hate humanity, which made it refreshing that Painter wasn’t one of them. It was good for him to separate those of Urbanshade compared to those from the outside world.

However, it was also equally common for subjects to see you as one of them over one of those “clad in white”, among other descriptions. Were you still human for those subjects? You had to study it further.

But at the same time, you wondered where Painter would categorize you.

After a while, Painter started just showing you anything and everything in its folders, landscapes, life drawings, portraits, etc. Were all of these newer drawings? Or perhaps some that he managed to salvage and keep safe from Urbanshade.

Painter smiled at you from the corner of its screen, having gotten excited once more at the sheer idea of your interest in his art and being able to show it to you judgment-free. This excitement… you wonder if this is how it acted before Urbanshade took it in.

If so, you hope it doesn’t go back to how it was before your intervention.

Your brows furrowed slightly at the thought, however Painter seemed too deep in showing you his art to have noticed. If only it was possible to just break Painter out of the Blacksite, what you would do for there to be some sort of event where you could just… kidnap Painter with you or something and finally leave Urbanshade behind forever…

“Oh and, I have one thing I'm working on… but you can’t see yet!” Painter interrupted your thoughts.

“Oh?” You raised a brow at it, “and what would that be?”

“What part of ‘you can’t see yet’ do you not understand!”

Your expression softened, putting your arm on the desk in front of you. “Then why mention it?”

“To build suspense.” Painter said matter of factly.

You smiled at it, this wasn’t the first time that Painter had a surprise for you, and you started to look forward to its surprises. His art was always so wonderful.

If Urbanshade wanted money so badly, why wouldn’t they take advantage of the talented artist they had right here?

“Hey Painter, wanna draw together?”

“Obviously.” It rolled its eyes, opening a new canvas for you to draw on as you picked up the pen to draw on the tablet in front of his monitor.

“What do you want to draw this time?” You asked it

“Hmmm,” it thought, “maybe… the future.”

“The future?”

“Yeah.”

The future… What a broad subject.

How it currently stood, Urbanshade was your future. Yet suddenly you wished for the freedom of the subjects that you worked with.

You held the pen firmer, putting its tip on the tablet.

“I think… In the future we will be out in the fields.” You drew a stick figure, you didn’t plan on drawing that seriously. “And you’ll be there drawing the scenery.”

Painter listened intently as you drew more of the scene. It wasn’t that good as you were doing it quickly but it was endearing.

“Where are your other friends?” Painter asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Like…” Painter proceeded to draw multiple types of fish, some of which were crudely drawn. “—I don’t know much of the others but this is that one eye fish thing you talked about… oh and Sebastian too!”

You giggled at how Painter classified all the other subjects. You didn’t know he remembered when you mentioned the other subjects, some of whom you would even refer to as friends or acquaintances.

“Awww did you move us closer Painter?” You commented when it used the transform tool to move things around.

He paused for a second, its smile turning into a frown. “...I was running out of space.”

You only laughed in response as you continued watching Painter work its magic, filling the place with a beautiful “future” one where you and all the subjects would be free.

…Though you’re really not too sure about that Eyefestation in the sky.

Time passed as you watched Painter draw, you knew you shouldn’t be here long but watching it was always entertaining. It would sometimes do small talk too if it felt like it.

“Well.” You started, getting up from your seat “I should probably go to my quarters and sleep.”

You yawned as if proving a point.

“Awww…” Painter whined, as much as a machine really can. “Already?”

“Yeah.” You rubbed the back of your neck. “Maybe you can show me the finished sketch tomorrow!”

You laughed slightly, putting your hands on the desk feeling a dizzy spell. How much did you push yourself today?

Painter called out to you in worry. “Are you sure you’ll be fine?!” Its speakers cracked slightly.

“I will.” You trailed off slightly. “I managed to get here, I can get back.”

“If you say so…” Painter frowned, it’s not like you can stay longer knowing that the other scientists will notice and wouldn’t be too happy that you visited Painter without anyone’s knowledge. “Please, stay safe.”

You nodded briefly as you put a hand on top of his casing as a form of reassurance, completely missing the sudden burst of hot air that hit you. “I’ll be fine, I promise. You don’t have to worry Painter…”

Your name spilled from his speakers in a silent plea. “What if something happens to you..?” Painter seemed agitated. “I wouldn’t be able to handle-”

“I’ve survived this whole time Painter, I’ll be fine.” You shrugged. “Did Sebastian do something to you?”

You ended your sentence with a chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. However, it didn’t seem to work on Painter. “You don’t understand!” Painter would call for your name once again, even more agitated than before. “I just- I-”

“Painter, are you okay..?” This felt like a back-and-forth of asking if either party were all right, but as you saw Painter overheat once more, it only made you worry that he might overclock himself.

“I-I’m… scared.” Painter admitted, though you had a feeling it wasn't what it wanted to say originally.

“About what?” Your hand went to the side of its casing, attempting to perform a comforting manoeuvre at the computer.

“Well…” Painter sighed, its speakers crackling. Perhaps his speakers needed an upgrade with the sheer amount of damage that it had with the amount of cracking in audio. “You… You’re human… A-And I’m just a machine.”

You stayed silent for a moment. “What does that change between us..?” Was the only thing you could mutter out.

“I’m sorry I shouldn’t bring this up suddenly…” Painter got awkward, looking at anywhere that wasn’t your direction.

“No, please, tell me.” You insisted, sitting back down on the chair. “We have all night.”

“But you shouldn’t-”

“I care about you, and I want to know if I can help…” Your arms went neatly on the table, the light of Painter’s screen being the only thing illuminating the room.

Painter sighed once more. “I don’t have the same capabilities as a human… as a living breathing organism…” Painter looked back in your direction. “What if… once you find out… you’ll just throw me away… I’m outdated, I’m obsolete, all I do is crypto mine…”

You intently listened to him, hearing him trail off once more.

“Find out what?” You latched on to that part. “I find it hard to believe that I will think all of those things of you…”

You aren’t like the rest of Urbanshade, and you pride yourself on knowing that you aren’t like the rest of the scientists here. Which was surprisingly a low bar.

“I…” Painter started once again. “Find out that I…”

Painter seemed to be getting more and more self-conscious, a sort of unease getting onto it.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” you reassured Painter, “only tell what you are comfortable with.”

“I know…” Painter responded.

To talk with subjects like this was the norm in your job. Yet this wasn’t like the other subjects, Painter seemed to be hiding something and it seemed to be weighing not only on his mind but also on his own self-esteem.

Painter seemed to take a deep breath, as much as a machine could as its eyes darted between you and the wall. “I was… thinking… since you left… about something…” Painter would take multiple pauses, yet you didn’t interrupt at any point, patiently waiting until he was done. Somehow, your fatigue left your body once again, rendering you fully alert on Painter. Perhaps it was the adrenaline. “Hypothetically…”

He kept pausing, in a normal situation it could have been frustrating. If there was any scientist that was overseeing you, you would have been told to hurry it up. But neither of those situations happened as it was just you and him.

You and the whirring of his GPU, sometimes going louder and quieter. You and the computer whose screen would suddenly get coloured pinkish lines. You and the artist who would-

“Hypothetically speaking… do you think that…” Painter would look straight at you. “Do you think that a machine could fall in love?”

You were a bit taken aback by the question, you didn’t expect that.

Seeing your hesitance, Painter attempted to continue. “Machines aren’t programmed to love… They aren’t supposed to feel, and that’s a fact! But do you think that… maybe… it could be possible..?” He stuttered slightly. “I-I just think a human probably would know the answer!”

What a complicated question.

The question bounced around your mind.

You remember reading books about machine consciousness. How some would yearn for destruction thanks to what humanity did to them. Yet there were some which would spin a different tale about a machine falling in love with humanity.

If machines can dream of electric sheep, does that mean they can love?

Love was a complicated subject in general. However, it wasn’t the first time that you were asked about love. There was something oddly appealing about how humans felt love that some subjects would ask you about, sometimes it was because they never felt it and wanted to know and understand.

“If a machine could feel love…” You trailed off. Painter let out a noise of affirmation as you pondered. “Love is subjective I think.”

You put a finger up to your chin. “So let’s specify, let’s take you as an example. You aren’t like other machines, far from it. Your sentience is unique from other machinery.” You take a deep breath. “Your creator went above and beyond for your creation. I don’t think you qualify as a machine anymore.”

Painter stayed silent as you spoke, not daring to interrupt. While you looked around the room while you thought, its eyes stayed locked on your form.

“Your AI is incredibly advanced. Dare I say, I could consider you having a consciousness.” Your eyes went back to Painter. “Perhaps, in this ‘hypothetical’ situation, machines might not be able to fall in love. But, maybe, you can, because you’re that special.”

Painter started to have a set of pink circles under his eyes, similar to how a blush might look in a cartoon. It cleared its throat, as much as a machine can do without destroying its speakers.

“Soooooo…” His mouth seemed to travel around the screen as he stretched the word. “Would it be weird if I said I… ‘loved’ someone?”

The word “love” seemed foreign to Painter, as if he was savouring the word as he spoke with the way that he said it.

His answer surprised you, yet you couldn’t resist, immediately teasing him. “You’re in love? Who is it? Tell me!”

Painter’s face darted around the screen for a moment before you saw the volume slider appear on its screen, lowering drastically. His face landed comfortably at the corner of the screen, instead of being like all the other times, it felt as if he was hiding.

Its eyes darted around once again before it let out a motion of sighing. “...you…”

Your jaw immediately dropped. Seeing where the conversation was going, it was only natural if you connected the dots, yet here you were completely frozen in place. Your shoulders slumping slightly in shock.

Well, that was unexpected.

This whole time you were in work mode and yet somehow Painter went past your work self to the real and true you.

Painter immediately picked up on your change of emotion, panicking. “I’m sorry! F-Forget I even said anything!”

It was odd, the feeling of it all. Yet most importantly, the feeling of the confession. All the subjects in this place were always so closed off, there were so few that you could talk to. Yet with Painter, it was somehow easy, even if it was a bit rude at the start. He warmed up quickly, and you enjoyed passing all the time you could with him. It was enjoyable—incredibly enjoyable the time you spent with him.

There were times when you would wonder about the computer, times when you would attempt to finish all your weekly tasks just to be able to have a free slot to see Painter once again. The researchers inside the room always looked at you disapprovingly as you would come back once more for Painter.

Even Sebastian would pick up on your bias for the computer, joking around to himself as he would flip the file in his hands.

It was almost as if everyone that knew of you and your habits with Painter felt that there was something more. Yet you only told yourself that this was normal, this was your job.

Painter’s question appeared in your mind once again.

Can a machine fall in love?

It was funny, with Painter's dilemma and his panic. If machines would be able to convey love. And now you are stuck in the same dilemma.

It was always machine this, machine that. Never the other party.

But it did raise a new question instead.

Can a human fall in love with a machine?

.

.

.

YES.

“Painter.” You call out to him, interrupting his panic.

THEY.

You grabbed the side of his casing, approaching him closer.

CAN.

Painter’s screen seemed to be glitching as he panicked, the frames slowing down drastically as it became choppy. “Don’t panic for something that isn’t true.”

Painter’s panicked face seemed to suddenly stabilize in the middle of the screen, turning into confusion. “Huh?” He pauses, “What do you mean ‘not true’..?”

“I’m gonna let you in on a little secret.” You started. “You can’t tell anyone—not even Sebastian— he would get jealous.”

Painter seemed to calm down for a second, listening to you intently.

“You’re my favourite.” You paused for a second letting the sentence simmer. “Ever since I met you, I always thought you were cool, unique.”

Painter seemed to gain pink circles under his eyes, a sort of blush perhaps.

“I’m your favourite..?”

You nodded, carefully picking your next words.

“I like you. Had it been any other circumstances, we could have been friends, we wouldn’t be behavioural scientist and subject.” It was difficult to choose the next words, it was almost as if making peace with your own feelings as well.

Painter immediately seemed to get the wrong idea as he looked visibly upset but you didn’t let it stop you from continuing to finish your thoughts.

“If we can leave it in the down low… our little secret…” you pause as if musing. “I don’t mind giving it a shot.”

Painter’s screen started showing red lines instead. At first, it was only on his cheeks, but then it immediately spread throughout the whole screen.

“Thank you!!” He couldn’t stop, his excitement repeating the words like a mantra. His smile was blinding, literally. “Thank you thank you!!”

As much as you enjoyed seeing him so ecstatic, it seemed to be about to overclock. Which way were you supposed to calm him down..?

You went through your options, yet all that could come up were actions of affection.

…Maybe a kiss would calm him down?

You considered it as you decided to pull the trigger, aiming at where his cheek would be and planted your lips.

You lifted yourself back up noticing you misaimed instead, noticing the faint mark of your lips, having landed in the corner of Painter’s mouth.

Whose face was now frozen in place.

Your brows furrowed. “Painter, are you okay?” You leaned back, the heat that Painter was putting out was overwhelming compared to the temperature in the Blacksite. He still wasn’t reacting, however. “You’re worrying me.”

You were instead greeted with a blue screen, realizing your action actually made Painter speed up the overclock.

Oh.

Oh no.

”Lemme tell you,” Sebastian started, “for once, Urbanshade hasn’t given me a list of jobs today!”

He put the documents in his hands on your desk, his fingers pushing the document further down making the desk creak slightly.

”No wonder you were skimming the same page over and over again.” You joked, putting your own document down as you looked at him. “Any plans?”

”Nope.” Sebastian answered quickly. “This is one of the few days where I’m like, super free. Too baaaad you aren’t free today.”

You shook your head slightly. “Urbanshade never gives free days to their scientists.” You paused for a second. Realising you actually lied. “Except for the ones I used in summer… to get stuff for you.”

Sebastian simply smiled. ”But you love getting stuff for me.” Almost as if he was trying to get puppy doll eyes, he put his elbows on your desk, putting his hands on his cheeks as he blinked multiple times. “You even convinced your higher ups to get me more stuff. I know you like doing stuff for me.”

“You practically beg me to do it.” You said with a chuckle.

”Who else will get me merchandise from my favourite bands?!” Sebastian frowned lightly, now his expression turned into (an attempt at) a kicked puppy. Grabbing your arm as he lowered himself just to seem a lot smaller than he actually was. “And who will get me snacks… You’re my only hope! Or something.”

“That last part just collapsed your whole argument.”

”Well.” Sebastian let go of you with a shrug. “Uh.”

”I wouldn’t have it any other way.” You interrupted his thought process. “I wish I could do more… like take you out of here somehow. There’s so much I want you to see.”

Sebastian’s face seemed to become unreadable for a second before he gave you a bittersweet smile. ”Yeah, me too.” However he frowned right after, his expression becoming serious for a second. “I was actually thinking…”

He let out a sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose instead, shaking his head slightly. ”Actually, never mind.”

“Are you sure?” You looked at him in worry, it was rare to see him with such an expression. Putting a hand on his own that was still holding your arm, you spoke once again. “You know you can tell me anything.”

“I know doc’, it’s your whole job.” Sebastian let out a dry laugh.

”Outside of my job, I’m your friend.” You sighed. “You can tell me anything—as a friend, not as another scientist here… you know I won’t tell Urbanshade.”

The last part of your sentence was in a whisper, even if you knew there were no microphones nor cameras in your office (Sebastian checked every single day for weeks the moment you got your office and destroyed all of them, Urbanshade gave up trying to put any in your room after a while apparently), you still wanted to make sure the information stayed between the two of you.

Sebastian let out a slightly forced smile, ”I know.”

It was now your turn to have your own bittersweet expression. Even if you would always tell Sebastian that he had to tell you what was happening in his mind, it normally only happened outside of your office when your co-workers were watching and if he was particularly holding one of your documents and was purposely trying to make your work day longer. However the latter is normally good fun.

You respected Sebastian even if none of the other scientists did. For you, he was still human and had his own thoughts and feelings, not just another one of the subjects that Urbanshade housed. If there was something he didn’t want to tell you judging by his expression, you would respect that.

Silence came between the two of you as you cleared your throat grabbing one of the documents on your desk.

”Hey.” Sebastian started again, you looked over at him only to see him looking directly inside your notebook. “When are you gonna see that computer again?”

”Why are you asking?”

”What. Do you want me to ask about the eye shark? Or, god forbid, the angler-”

”Okay okay shut it don’t remind me.” You grumbled lightly, just by his list, Pandemonium started to materialise in your mind. If there was one subject that you wished could just disappear forever, it would be that… thing... How traumatising.

“But yeah, any news?”

”I already saw him earlier this week, they can technically only call for me now if there is a second meetup.”

”Him? Hold up, the computer has a gender???”

You looked at Sebastian quizzically, you opened your mouth to say something but the question stupefied you so much that you only tilted your head in even more questions with a slightly confused frown.

Sebastian closed the notebook, putting it next to the document you were reading. “Anyways you already saw the eye shark twice this week, and that other subject that I remember nothing about so why not do another check up on the computer?”

”…That’s suspicious.”

”What’s suspicious about that?!”

”Spill it, what favour do you want?”

Sebastian smiled awkwardly, lifting his hands beside his head as if he got apprehended by you. ”You got me, maaaybe I want you to find this part for me in one department that’s nearby.”

With a sigh, you got up your seat as Sebastian explained to you the piece itself, it was so oddly specific that you hoped you would be able to find it. While the part itself only made you question why Sebastian needed such a thing, you were grateful that at least the department that Sebastian wanted you to visit wasn’t one that despised you for some reason.

Sebastian really loved using your authority around the lab to do things for him. For example, last time he asked you to get an absurd amount of belts and you have no idea how he managed to convince you nor how you managed to get so many. The stares that you got on that day and weeks after that day still haunt you.

…You're sure you looked insane carrying that absurd amount of belts.

“Okay fine, I’ll visit Painter and get the part you want.”

”You’re the best!” Sebastian beamed, his voice turning more sing-song. “I’ll get you something nice later.”

“You better.” You joked at him, getting up from your desk as you held onto your notebook. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m gone. You know I’ll never hear the end of it.”

“And I won’t hear the end of you!” Sebastian grumbled. “Don’t worry doc’, I won’t do anything, just chill as I breach your privacy.”

You blinked at his honesty, turning your head slowly at him. “Seb-”

“I’m kidding!” He defended himself quickly, putting his hands behind his back. Only to turn his head to the side and whistle slightly. “... Though I might read through other subjects' documents…”

You shook your head slightly. Almost wanting to say ‘as long as Urbanshade doesn’t find out!’ but the paranoia of if they magically somehow managed to put a microphone and hear inside your office terrified you slightly.

“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.” You turned to face the door leading out of your office. “Good luck Sebastian, hoping you find what you want to find?”

Your sentence ended in a question, not exactly knowing what Sebastian really wanted to get out of looking into other subjects' documents. Not like you had access to much.

“Thank you.” Sebastian said simply, “Good luck out there!”

“You make it sound like I’m going to die.”

“Maybe!”

The both of you laughed slightly, even if the possibility of death was fully possible overnight thanks to your workplace, sometimes you just needed to have some lighthearted jokes like that. Making it less serious made it seem as if it wasn’t a possibility of it truly happening.

With that you left your office, making your way to the Heavy Containment area.

On the subject of Painter, you never really understood why he was put there. All the other subjects in the Heavy Containment area were always disastrous beings, those that could actually make life turn to the worse in seconds.

Though, at the same time, there is a knife for some odd reason in the Heavy Containment area, and from what you found out, it’s just a normal knife shaped weirdly, which makes no sense. But perhaps you have no room to question as that isn’t part of your job.

You shook your head lightly, because of how dangerous the subjects can be in Heavy Containment, you get very little jobs in the area. While you fit a niche, normally you are stuck with the normal subjects. Which is a blessing in disguise, the idea of needing to do your job with subjects that are like Pandemonium that aren’t coherent for you is a lot. And you’re sure they would ask you to go alone as if that wouldn’t be a death sentence.

While you knew that Sebastian wanted you to get the part that he wanted, you decided to instead see Painter first. You had all day to find the part and you would need it as you’re sure it won’t be easy to acquire. Such are the parts that your friend wanted.

Walking around the whole Blacksite just to get to Heavy Containment was always an experience, you cursed Urbanshade for giving you an office so far away yet at the same time if anything were to happen, you’ll be safer than those closeby. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise as you’ve heard some horror stories in your time working here.

Maybe the trip you had to take was just a short price to pay for your safety. At least you got your exercise!

Being inside your thoughts as you did the same thing that you always did to get to Heavy Containment, it was a bit surprising that you got to Painter’s area as quickly as you did. Perhaps you can find out if there's an even more effective route one day.

Either way, you walked into the same ol room, however you were surprised to find it mostly dark safe for two scientists in the room.

The only light came from them and slightly from the machinery beside them. What surprised you the most was how Painter’s screen was fully black.

”Overclock?” You spoke loud enough to break one of the scientists from their work.

”Somewhat.” They looked up from their screen. “Z-779 had been completely shut down since yesterday, there is a suspicion that there is a damaged piece inside that completely broke the system.”

You frowned at the comment, part of you was surprised that you were told so easily and simply but the other part of you was questioning what happened for this to happen. This was completely different behaviour.

”When will Z-779 be back up?”

”We aren’t sure.”

You sighed slightly, you aren’t a tech wiz to know how to fix him yourself. “Is there not an available mechanic to fix Z-779?”

“Not currently, no.” The scientist shook their head. “Today is a busy day.”

“Not for us though.” The other scientist pitched in, closing their laptop as they stuffed it into their bag. “I’m going to go check up on another subject, I don’t think there’s much for us to do here.”

That scientist walked past the both of you as the one you were originally talking to sighed. Their eyes focusing back on you. “I’ll stay here as someone needs to stay to look after Z-779 and make sure nothing happens to it.”

The scientist went back to their original seat as they went back to work. You stood awkwardly as you stared at Painter’s black screen.

If only there was a mechanic that was free right now that could look into Painter.

If only…

Your eyes widened slightly in realisation, there was a mechanic that was free right now!

Running back to your office, you almost missed your door sliding across the hallway as you entered your keycard in the door.

“Woah hey! Look who ran a marathon!” Sebastian snickered as you walked in, looking at you up and down as he separated himself from looking into your drawers. He tilted his head quizzically seeing as you had nothing new with you. “Did an angler grow legs or something?”

“What?!” You frowned at him. You gulped slightly at the image trying to manifest in your mind. “No! Don’t give Urbanshade ideas either!”

Sebastian only chuckled to himself. “So..? What’s up?”

You decided to cut straight to the chase, you knew he was gonna ask why you didn’t get the part that he wanted so you shook your head.

“First of all, I decided I would get the part you wanted after visiting Painter.” You huffed, taking a deep breath in, running your way here was a bad idea. Why did you feel that you had to be fast? It's not like Painter was going to die in 10 minutes forever or something. “However, Painter seemed to have been catastrophically overclocked and there are no available mechanics that can fix him as soon as I need.”

You looked over at him crossing your arms leaning back on the door that had closed earlier when you entered the room. “I need your expertise Sebastian, if you’re willing.”

“You want me to go try to fix that computer.”

“...yes.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea I mean—” He raised his hands only to wiggle his fingers. “—my hands aren’t exactly made for tech such as that computer.”

“I know but… You’re the best mechanic I know.” You tilted your head slightly. “Even with the cards that you were dealt with, you do an awesome job all the time.”

“Okay now you’re just buttering me up.”

“It’s true!”

Sebastian straightened up, stretching himself slightly as he approached you, putting a hand on your shoulder. “The things I do for you,” he started, leaning down near your shoulder as he ended the sentence with a smile, “show the way then.”

You smiled at him, knowing that you managed to convince him.

But before you left, Sebastian went to grab something. “Oh, by the way, you dropped this.” Inside his hand was a photograph. “I know it’s yours and I know sometimes you keep some in your notebook to show to other subjects but come on, you drop them so easily!”

You froze, scratching the back of your neck nervously. “Maybe I should start finding a way to keep them inside.”

“Maybe you should start using paperclips or something.”

“Maybe…” You look away from him with a quick lighthearted “hmph”, leaving the room as Sebastian follows soon after.

The walk (more like your walk, Sebastian was slithering around) was silent as you eventually got to the gates that would lead to the Heavy Containment area.

Sebastian looked tense going into it. While he loved to have a light smile on his face naturally, in a place like this, his mouth would slightly frown.

You knew him well enough to not ask, he hated this area. Urbanshade loved to put him in here, especially when he disobeyed. It was only thanks to his status as a MR-P over his original LR-P status that he could roam around. Even with that he was not fully treated as a MR-P and it was only because he was completely under your responsibility that he managed to have a bit more freedom and would get contained a little bit less (as you would face the consequences instead, thank goodness you haven’t been strapped to an operating table yet).

“I’ve never been in this area.” Sebastian said, breaking the silence. His voice was low as he squinted his eyes.

You looked over at him, this area was always extremely bright. It was moments like these when you wished you could find shades that would fit Sebastian, especially one that could fit his third eye.

“Sorry I should’ve told you.”

“Oh I know.” He said, slumping slightly. “It’s just… Urgh.”

You looked at him slightly worried going down some stairs as Sebastian slithered down the stairs, albeit with slight difficulty as he used the wall as support.

Sebastian only complained the closer you got to Painter’s room. The warmth that you got used to only seemed to bother Sebastian, understandably so as he does like having colder environments.

The moment you started going through the GPUs that Urbanshade loved to hoard however, that is when your whole trip started to slow down. Sebastian’s body only made it hard to go through and you could hear any passing researcher cursing you for having the sheer idea of bringing such a big guy to such a small area.

At least they didn’t ask why he was with you, perhaps everyone just knew that Sebastian is with you all the time for no reason.

Thankfully you managed to reach Painter’s area, opening the door with a sigh as you looked at the time quickly. A lot of time was used just getting here, you just hope that it was worth it.

“I brought someone that can help.” You say to the scientist still inside. The scientist nodded briefly before looking up, their eyes widening as they saw your friend coming through the door.

The scientist and Sebastian stared at each other for a while, Sebastian being slightly irritated thanks to the bright lights while the scientist looked at you in complete shock.

“May I speak with you. Privately.” The scientist looked at you expectantly. You obliged, approaching the scientist as Sebastian just stood close to the door, crossing his arms.

“Why did you bring a subject here?!”

“That’s Z-13, Sebasti-”

“I don’t care what its code is why did you-“

You raised your hand slightly. “He.” You corrected. “Sebastian is someone I’ve worked with since I got here, I trust him with this.”

“What? But-“

“Urbanshade trusts him with machinery as well.”

The scientist looked at you as if you were crazy. “With what tools! Have you not seen the subject's hands? Those can damage the wires of-“

“I can hear you over here.” Sebastian interrupted, approaching you and the scientist, standing behind you slightly. “Just because my claws are big doesn’t mean I’m not careful with them.”

Sebastian paused to show his claws, a slight shine on them as he moved his fingers. While with one of his other arms he pointed as one of his bags on the upper part of his tail.

“Besides, I have my tools with me at all times. You never know when Urbanshade will ask you to fix an underwater machine.”

Sebastian sneered, his sharp teeth only serving to make the scientist look away from him, instead looking at you.

“If you don’t have another mechanic that can fix Z-779, then Sebastian is our best option. However if you don’t want his help then we can just leave.” You crossed your arms, a scowl starting to get on your features seeing how the scientist was acting with your friend, it was nothing new but still made you angry nonetheless. “Though I’m sure Urbanshade wouldn’t be too happy knowing that you pushed back help and in turn made the crypto mining business go even further behind schedule.”

It seemed that you put the scientist in a tough spot, they shuffled nervously as they thought of their options.

“Fine. But if your “friend” breaks anything. I’ll make sure you get fired.” The scientist glared at you while they used their fingers to emphasise “friend”.

These kinds of threats were nothing new with this job, you only glared back as you simply hummed in acknowledgment. Turning around as you walked to where Painter was.

“Come on Sebastian, I’ll show you where your work is.”

Sebastian looked at you in worry for a second before following closely behind.

“So this is the main man himself huh.” Sebastian said, awkwardly shuffling to make fit his huge tail in the place without damaging anything.

You nodded slightly in response. “They don’t know what happened to him. Think you can figure it out?”

“Dunno.” Sebastian said simply, turning Painter slightly to the side carefully as he started taking out different tools from his bags. “But I can try.”

You nodded again at him, this time in acknowledgment as you looked at Sebastian carefully putting his tools in a row on the table. Moving Painter’s drawing tablet with his third arm as he continued trying to look at how Painter was constructed.

One thing that got your attention however was Sebastian’s hands focusing on the table leg. “Why are you touching the table leg so much?”

“Oh,” Sebastian said plainly, “I was just checking to see if the table legs were metal.”

“Huh? Why?”

“Always touch metal before playing around with electronics!” Sebastian turned to you, motioning with a finger. “Removes static and lowers your chances of getting electrocuted.”

He looked at you nod slowly before he narrowed his eyes slightly. “I am a fish, it would be awkward if I electrocuted myself because you know damn well that me dying won’t be the only bad thing that’s going to happen.”

You raise your hands as if you were surrendering. “Okay, I get it, I don't want to think that you’ll get electrocuted… Though if you’re that big would the electric shock even be that strong? The image of you with spiky hair thanks to being cartoonishly electrocuted would be funny.” You joked at Sebastian, earning a somewhat confused glare as he huffed looking back to Painter.

“You can do me a favour right?” He asked, completely ignoring your last statement as he continued looking at Painter’s casing. “I’ll ask you for some tools and you grab and give them to me.”

You looked at him slightly quizzically. “Sure.” You looked over at the tools on the table, Sebastian must have asked you as how he was positioned made it hard for him to actually grab the tools. This might be the first time you’re the one helping him over him helping you in the whole time that you’ve worked here.

Weirdly, it felt nice being his assistant.

“Okay, pass me the screwdriver with the black handle.” His third arm opened in your direction as his other arms still analysed Painter.

You grabbed the screwdriver after looking at the collection he had, putting it in his hand as he simply put it on his other hand going immediately to start unscrewing Painter.

“How much do you wanna bet that they didn’t even try to open him up hm?” Sebastian hummed, looking at you at the side briefly before immediately going back to work.

You tried to think up an amount only to shrug, giving him a random amount as he only chuckled.

“Seeing the dust accumulation,” as if on cue, a puff of dust went to Sebastian’s face, making him cough, “I’d… I’d say no.”

Sebastian rapidly waved his hand to make the dust get out of his face as he moved Painter’s casing to the side. He hummed as he looked inside, frowning as he put a hand on his chin.

“Can you see what’s wrong?” You ask him, leaning in slightly to attempt to see what Sebastian was seeing.

“Well, there’s a lot happening here. I’m not super familiar with it all. Some of it is new tech but some is older tech… interesting.” He mused, tilting his head. “Yeah I can only recognize like half of the things in here.”

You looked over at Sebastian then Painter’s black screen, your features turning into worry as you did so. “... Is there one thing that you think might fix Painter..?”

Sebastian continued taking a good look, turning on his esca as he used it as his own personal flashlight to look inside Painter. “Well, there’s some parts that are broken in here that need replacing I think. That dust accumulation though? That was thanks to a broken fan here and an unplugged one right here.” He tilted Painter in your direction slightly, motioning each part gently with his fingers, being sure as to not accidentally scratch the inner workings. “The motherboard looks fine though.”

“...so..?” You asked him, you had to admit that the inner workings of computers weren't really your specialty.

“You have to find me replacement parts, obviously.” Sebastian smiled at you. “And while you’re at it, if you can get me the part you oh-so-kindly offered to get me earlier. Same department and all.”

Your mouth pressed into a straight line. At first you were going to retort back yet then it clicked in your brain, how else was Sebastian going to get the parts?

You got up from where you sat, being careful to avoid Sebastian’s tail, as you always do. “Fine, just list the parts you need.”

Sebastian only smiled as you took out a paper to write down the list of parts that he needed. He explained each part and how they looked, being extremely precise with some numbers that you just would put in a big square to make sure that you would remember to mention it to the scientists that you needed to ask for each part.

You were not excited to do all the manual labour for Sebastian and hope that you did enough work in each of the departments for them to be lenient and give you the parts that Sebastian needed.

Sebastian waved you off as he went back to work, looking into Painter and analysing each component that the computer had. Painter was unique, his casing was old yet the technology was newer.

Must’ve been an upgrade that Urbanshade did for the computer to be able to mine crypto.

Either way, Sebastian was careful with his manoeuvres, taking certain tools to start removing certain parts from Painter. The broken fans were first, he left the one that still worked on the side, connected still as he continued unscrewing other parts.

The more he looked inside, the more he realised that not only was Painter’s technology just a complete mystery in timeframe (why couldn’t Urbanshade just replace all the technology?) but his cable management was even more of a mystery.

Sebastian unplugged certain cables, reconnected them again, over and over until he fixed the management. Some cables weren’t even plugged in which made it more of a mystery.

While Painter’s insides were now outsides, Sebastian still attempted to turn him on constantly. A silent prayer that maybe Painter just needed to have his cables fixed to be able to function again. When you return with the parts then Sebastian can fix and upgrade the broken parts.

At one point, Sebastian’s eyes jolted as his focus on Painter’s wires broke. His screen turned on and Sebastian internally cheered. A job well done indeed.

If Painter can at least boot to BIOS, then it’s even more of a win since that just means that Sebastian can check what Painter needs to boot up fully and its order and in turn be one step closer to completely fixing the computer. He can already see the end of the horizon and even more reason to convince you to get him things without much of your resistance!

Sebastian moved to be in front of Painter, pulling beside him the impractical mouse, or rather, drawing tablet that Painter has as a mouse. He just hoped that he wouldn’t accidentally break the stylus in his hands.

He navigated the area for a while, trying to get used to it only to hear a slight buzz. Sebastian put down the pen as he went to try to tune his ear to figure out where it was coming from only to suddenly get blasted by a series of numbers.

Before Sebastian could even comprehend where the sound even came from, he looked at the screen, his ear fins twitching when he saw a face flickering on it.

It was quick for him to put two and two together, blinking slightly as he looked at the screen finishing the list of numbers that was being said out loud. “Woah you can talk?” Sebastian’s eyes widened. “A machine shouldn’t be fully functional when in BIOS.”

“Huh?” Painter glitched slightly, disappearing as fast as it came on, but his voice remained. “Oh hey there!”

“Who’re you?” The sort of “excitement” in Painter died down.

Sebastian only blinked slowly. “I’m Sebastian. I’m… a friend.” He cleared his throat. “How are you even awake..?”

“I haven’t seen you before.” Painter’s voice became more monotonous. “Are you some new scientist who’s going to break me and rebuild me—just conscious this time?”

“What???” Sebastian’s eyes darted around the room, his eyes landing on a reflective surface as he saw himself. His ear fins twitching slightly as he frowned. “Listen I’m like you buddy, not a scientist. I’m here to help your little situation.”

He put his hands up in a defensive manner, safe for his third arm that stayed down.

Sebastian let out a sigh as his gaze lowered slightly, avoiding the technical text all over Painter’s screen. “Listen I was sent by a certain—” the casual nickname that he used for you spilled from his mouth, however Sebastian was quick to correct himself using your proper title and last name. “—I was just asked to help you out as a little favour, I was the only one who was available so here I am.”

Painter seemed to repeat your name after Sebastian finished speaking. “W-Where..?”

“Where?” Sebastian pushed the desk chair in the room to give himself more space as he leaned slightly on the table. “Oh you mean the doctor. Gone to get me some parts.”

Sebastian quickly dismissed you, however was quick to put a hand on his cheek as he used his other to attempt to manoeuvre Painter’s BIOS. Something about him not having a mouse was really bothering him, his hand was starting to cramp up using the thin stylus that Painter had.

“How come you’re so interested hm? You just talked earlier about the scientists so negatively.” Sebastian started, ending with the idea that you were “no different”. For him, you were different, but the idea of it was playing on his mind. Why did Painter seem to act different when it came to you? Asking about you?

What a scandal!

“Oh.” Painter let out, almost as if a scratch coming out of its speakers. “Well the times we’ve talked have been all talk and no bite.”

Painter said plainly, however the way that its words seemed to have softened at simply saying so wasn’t missed by Sebastian.

“Hm, yeah, that doc’s real fun huh?” Sebastian mused slightly, a smile gracing his lips (that he is glad you're not around because he would refuse to accept that you made him soft in the cold place that is the Blacksite).

“Hah… yeah…” Painter responded back, albeit it came out more as a whisper as his fans picked up slightly. If its casing was on fully, Sebastian knew he had a lower chance of noticing, Painter probably didn’t even notice its own fans picking up.

Sebastian naturally would have been worried, his hard work on waking up this machine couldn’t go unnoticed. Well, by you specifically. He hopes that Urbanshade never finds out as that means more work for him. But for you to know, it just made sense that you just had to be more lenient with him after… a future favour already starting to appear in his mind as he was confident in his skill.

Either way he wasn’t worried, instead a knowing smile got to his face.

“Well well.” Sebastian started, putting both of his elbows on the table as he leaned his face on the palm of his hands. “Something tells me that the doc makes you act a little bit different.”

“HUH?!” Painter seemed to panic. “I mean, of course! Haha! That’s the ‘behavioural scientist’s’ job!”

“Woah pulling out the whole title to prove a point just makes you look a bit more guilty~” Sebastian’s tail swooshed slightly in the side of the room, a grin was starting to manifest on his lips.

“WHAT?!” Painter’s face seemed to appear on the screen stronger than before, the sketchy lines of his face seeming to become more jagged and messy, almost as if he managed to override his own BIOS system and just add himself back.

What is up with this computer?

Painter looked shocked beyond relief, Sebastian never thought he would speak to a sentient computer, much less one that acts like THIS.

“If I didn’t know any better I would think you have something with the doc.” Sebastian snickered to himself. However what was just good fun joking to him didn’t seem to be so as he suddenly heard Painter’s fan pickup at a catastrophically high level making his head snap back to Painter in worry. “Hey buddy I was just joking!”

Painter seemed to be completely out of it, mentioning your name so quietly that Sebastian could barely hear it. “What if I..?!”

“You..??” Sebastian repeated back. “Oh my god, wait—”

Before Sebastian could ask more to clarify his suspicions, his ear fins completely straightened up in alarm as the rest of his body did hearing your voice calling for him.

“Sebastian I swear this better be all the parts you were looking for!” You called out with a huff from the door, walking towards the door of the place while sliding your ID. You looked like you ran a marathon, and also seemed to completely ignore the air that was in the room. “You have NO IDEA how much I had to ask around for these.”

“Oh heyyy.” Sebastian put his hands inside of each other, as he tilted his head slightly, closing his eyes slightly. Motioning with his third hand, he pointed at an area on the table. “Awesomeeee just leave the parts right there.”

You grabbed on the desk chair that was in the corner of the room, being careful to avoid Sebastian’s tail as you sat on it, melting in it with a huff. “The worst part is that the part you asked for earlier is NOT in those departments…” You crossed your arms. “They told me about this other newer department, I’ll check it out later.”

You ran too much today, the Blacksite is too big for its own good.

However before you completely settled (and almost fell asleep for some reason) you heard Painter’s quiet greeting. The greeting jolted you awake, the sleeping spell on you gone at the moment you heard Painter’s voice.

Getting up from the chair, you were going to approach Painter as you wanted to confirm that you indeed heard it from the menu that he was in. However, one thing was in your way.

Sebastian’s tail.

That you completely forgot existed for a second as your leg got caught and you felt time slow down.

But before you could hit the ground, you felt something grab you from the back of your collar.

The man himself whose tail that belonged to.

The man who is now staring at you with a mix of disappointment and dumbfoundment.

“What was that?” Sebastian spoke as he pulled you up on your feet again. “You always avoid my tail, I thought we learned about how to avoid my tail a very very long time ago.”

You blinked at him slightly, putting a hand on your head. “Sorry Sebastian, I just completely forgot it was there.” You shook your head slightly. “Thank you for saving me though.”

Sebastian looked away from you for a second, turning his focus on the parts you gave him as he looked at them thoroughly. However after a while he paused, his ear fins perking up slightly. “You got up after you heard Painter, right?”

You looked over at Sebastian, he still wasn’t looking at you as you simply looked at Painter’s BIOS screen. “You heard that? For a second I thought my mind just made it up.”

Sebastian turned his head slowly at you, a deadpan on his features. “So you both just become stupid at the mention of each other.”

“What?”

Looking away from you, Sebastian only did a quick hand motion of dismissal. Although, a chuckle escaped him. “Oh forget I said anything.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” You approached him, frowning slightly at the idea of Sebastian hiding something from you. “Sebastian.”

“Subject stuff or something.” Sebastian tilted his head slightly. “I’ll just tell you later.”

Somehow, you felt that Sebastian was lying to you, but knowing your priority was Painter, you left it alone. Not to mention you don’t want to cause a scene knowing that it could put Sebastian in danger thanks to your difference of statuses.

Instead you stood in front of Painter, leaning down to be able to face him. “You there?”

Painter seemed to hear you, quietly calling for you back. “How are you?”

Its voice was low, you wondered if the sound module was also slightly messed up. “I’m good.” You replied, a look of worry coming from you. “But what about you?”

“I just overclocked myself again.” He sighed.

“Sebastian says that some of your parts were completely burnt.” You looked down slightly, a sigh escaping your lips. “That’s why it was harder to wake you up again.”

“No wonder I feel so tired.” Painter says with a chuckle, however the lightheartedness left as soon as he saw your expression. “Don’t worry, I’m fine see? I’m awake!”

Your expression softened slightly at Painter’s words, worry etched on your face.

“Sorry to cut your conversation short but I have to turn you off again Painter.” Sebastian said plainly, tilting his head slightly. “It’ll be quick, seeing as you turned on earlier, in theory you should be able to turn on as fast with the new parts… hopefully.”

Painter simply hummed, a crack coming from its speakers as Sebastian turned him off again. You sat back on the chair, your arms on the rest.

“Need any help?”

“If you want.”

You stood up again, standing in front of the parts he organised on the table. It was just like before, he asked for a part, you figured which part he asked for, you gave it to his third arm.

Sebastian looked focused, at this point, there was no small talk as he only asked you for specific parts and you would give them. It was interesting to see Sebastian in the zone, the last time you saw him that focused was when he brought you with him to steal food from your co-workers. Which is surprisingly not as little as you think. It’s a weird bonding activity you two have.

After connecting more wires and screwing other parts in, Sebastian moved away, quickly brushing his hands on themselves. “Think I’m done, now we just have to test and pray that the computer turns on again.”

You nodded at Sebastian as you pressed on Painter’s power button. Pleased to see the monitor turn on.

Before you could do anything, Sebastian pressed a couple of buttons, making the screen show a couple of lines of text that you didn’t exactly understand.

“How did you do that?”

“Do you want the short answer or the long one?”

“Whichever.”

“I have no idea.” Sebastian said, shrugging slightly. Before you could ask him what he meant, he spoke again. “On any other computer you would need to press different buttons but, well, Painter doesn’t have those buttons so I actually have no idea how I managed to open it twice. Must be something that Urbanshade did or something.”

You only tilted your head quizzically. “Um, okay..?”

You didn’t pry as computer technicalities weren’t exactly your thing. You understood and knew some things but not in a Sebastian Solace kinda way. He was the tech wiz over here and you just smiled and nodded for him to work his magic.

It was quiet, safe for the occasional scratching that Sebastian did and hitting the table, he was passing by so many menus and so quickly that your eyes didn’t have time to adjust. It was only when Sebastian tilted back while puffing his chest in pride that you noticed that Painter’s monitor was now showing the main home.

Not even a second later and Painter’s all too familiar drawing program opens showing his face. “Woah!” You approached the table again, nudging Sebastian slightly as you smiled at the screen.

“Welcome back Painter.” Painter grinned at you as you spoke. “Feeling better?”

“I’m feeling awesome! I don’t feel tired at all!”

“That’s great!”

Your focus on Painter was broken as Sebastian started grabbing his tools, you didn’t even notice him putting Painter’s casing back on fully. “Looks like my job here is done.”

“Thank you so much Sebastian, you’re incredible!” You straightened up, tilting your neck to see Sebastian face to face as he had already straightened up.

“Of course I did, I always do.” He responded simply, but judging by the way his ear fins shook slightly, he quite enjoyed the compliment. “I should get going though. You have fun with your… good friend.”

You completely missed Sebastian’s way of speaking as you nodded at him lightly. There was something about being able to fix Painter that made your heart swell with pride. Even if it was Sebastian who did it, you couldn’t stop being amazed by his skills. He could do things that Urbanshade employees couldn’t and that’s what made him special.

“I’ll be in your office, visit as soon as you can. I have something I want to talk to you about.” Sebastian struggled slightly as he went past the door, turning back for a second as he pointed at you. “Oh and don’t forget the part I asked you hours ago, I didn’t forget about that!”

You blinked slightly at him as you realised that you indeed had forgotten about the part. Seeing all the other parts that you had to ask for him, it completely slipped your mind the original part he needed. You were not excited to visit the department where you would need to find the part, not like you knew which one.

At your expression, Sebastian just laughed, waving you off.

Before he could leave fully, Painter spoke. “Thank you for your help… buddy?” Both you and Sebastian turned at Painter to stare at it for a second. “D-Did I say something wrong?”

Painter held a worried look on his screen as the silence stayed for a second. Only for you to let out a smile and Sebastian to chuckle. “No, no, I like that.” Sebastian got closer again, staring from the outside. “The nickname’s fun right? Feel free to use it more often.”

Painter’s worried expression disappeared as it was replaced with a happy scribble.

“He’s right, it fits you.” You mention, sitting on your chair.

Painter giggled to himself as you heard the door behind you close. It was now just you and Painter in the room.

“I think you can take it easy for the rest of today.” You say simply. “According to the documents you were planned to be down the whole day so…”

Painter smiled as he grinned almost maliciously. “I like the way you think!”

In other words, no crypto mining until later. You’re sure Painter is tired of doing so, it was exactly the reason he had overclocked you’re sure so why not give him a well deserved break.

Painter would excitedly open his other drawing software, the one he would draw in as he opened a new canvas.

“Hmmmm I don’t know what to draw…” It mused, the software holding his face being pinned in the front so you would be able to still see his expressions as he drew.

You put a finger on your face as you thought before remembering the photograph that was in your notebook. Taking it from the side as you opened it on the page that you slid it in. Thank goodness it was found again and not on the floor somewhere in the Blacksite.

“I have a new photograph if you’d like to see it!”

“Yes please!!!” Painter was polite as he had an excited expression. Seemed that the reset that it had made it be back to his chirpy, happy self.

Holding onto the photograph, you flipped it to be seen on Painter’s webcam. Going around the area that you thought that it would be able to see it as clear and as full as possible.

“Wow…” Painter stared in awe. “Where do you even find these kinds of pictures..?”

“Some from stores, some passed down to me, some I took myself.” You started explaining to Painter the photograph, your collection, the reason you started collecting. This one however was special as it was one of those once in a lifetime events.

Painter giggled in glee as it began sketching down the photograph. He would take a picture of it and then reference it when you weren’t around to hold the picture. From then on, you would watch as he would do what his namesake was, and paint.

You put an arm on the table as you leaned your face on it, watching Painter silently as he drew. His expression would sometimes change, it was interesting to see the artistic process and the way its face would change with it.

Painter was always an interesting case. It was like a human artist, he thought like one and the process was like one. Yet Painter was a machine.

It didn’t change anything for you however, he was just that stellar. Painter was so much more than just a machine, he was talented and conscious. It could think and feel.

“If you keep staring at me like that I’ll start to get embarrassed…”

Painter’s voice interrupted your thoughts, you hadn’t even noticed how he had stopped drawing. Its fans picked up slightly as little cheek lines appeared on the drawing of his face to show his bashfulness.

“Sorry Painter, you’re just so… fascinating.” You said in a low voice, a yawn escaping your lips as you suddenly felt your fatigue get to you once more. “I could watch you forever.”

“Really..?” Painter laughed lightly. “I could watch you forever too… I mean… um… in like… I don’t mind you watching me way! Obviously…”

You blinked slowly at him as you leaned your head a bit more on your hand, a lazy smile on your lips. “It’s good you aren’t uncomfortable.”

Painter seemed to exhale a breath as he nervously chuckled. “Of course not you’re… um…”

It trailed off only to let out a sigh. You looked at the time, stretching yourself slightly. You hadn’t noticed how much of your day had spilled into trying to fix Painter. Your work day is almost done and you still didn’t grab the part you had to get.

With a sigh of your own, you got up from your seat. Painter seemed to be watching you intently as you did so, his face moving slightly in your direction as if it was staring at you and nothing else was to be seen.

“I’ll let you take your break properly then, I still have some errands to do before the end of the day.” You yawned again, the day seemed so eventful with all the running you had to do and you still weren’t done. You knew you had to pay tomorrow for not seeing the subjects you were planning on seeing today.

“Sounds good.” Painter’s voice sounded disappointed as he let out a small “aww”.

“I’ll see you again soon okay? Good night, Painter.”

You started to walk to the door as Painter called for your name again. “I just wanted to say that I… I think…” He trailed off again. “Nevermind… Good night…”