wickedchouette | (no subject)

[ It nods, and then pauses. ] Didn't they give you me in the first place?

[ It lets Alfie lead it wherever, though. ]

As a joke. They were expecting me to send you straight back, I think.

[And indeed, every single person they pass (which is a lot; it's a busy place) does a double-take, and a couple break into grins and go to clap Alfie on the back. He dodges all of them, barking at them to get back to work.]

In here.

[Says Alfie, stopping at a door somewhere in the center of the building - they've gone up a couple flights to get here, and made many turns in the corridors. It's a bare, windowless room, with a couple couches, some end tables covered in old magazines, and not much else.]

Don't come out on your own.

[ It's not a terribly appealing place, but. The bot doesn't look like it minds too much. It makes its way into the room and stands against the wall, taking in the surroundings. The light at its temple flickers yellow for a moment, and then it settles back into blue. ]

I won't. [ It acknowledges, glancing at Alfie. An order that it can follow! Amazing. ]

What did the yellow mean, just there?

[Alfie asks as he hovers in the doorway, half in and half out of the room.]

What? [ A pause. It glances at Alfie, and then shakes its head. ] Oh. You gave me an order. I was adding it. I was also taking note of escape routes, should they be required.

Mmm.

You know, when I said not to leave on your own - you should disregard that, if you do need to escape.

[ It watches Alfie, head slightly tilted. ]

... Okay. [ Maybe it sounds a little grateful. ] I will be here if you require my help with anything.

Yeah.

[And with one last glance over his shoulder, he lumbers off, shutting the door quietly behind him. Time to go to work.]

[ It settles, and goes still, eyes closed. It'll stay here for an hour or so, until - in the distance, there's a gun shot. It's muffled, and clearly, whoever shot it was trying to hide the noise, but it's impossible to mistake it for anything else. The droid opens its eyes and stares at the door, shifting uncomfortably.

A gun. Does that mean it needs to get out? Or is this part of Alfie's job? It waits, trying to figure out what to do. ]

[Not thirty seconds later, another shot rings out, followed quickly by a second and a third. They're similarly muffled, but also closer, and a little clearer. From elsewhere in the building, someone yells in alarm.]

[ Yeah. That's not normal. It pushes away from the wall, orders rearranging themselves in its head. If you need to escape, you can leave on your own. And it should just leave, because that's what it was told, but... Alfie's still out there.

It straightens, and makes its way out onto the floor, searching for the source of the gunshots, quiet and in the shadows. It covers the glow of the LED with a hand, creeping towards where it thinks Alfie's office might be. ]

[Fifteen or twenty feet down the hallway ahead of it, a door suddenly flies open, and a young man stumbles out. He doesn't notice the bot, at first - his attention is rather taken up by the wound on his abdomen. He has a hand over it, trying to staunch the bleeding, but it's not going very well.]

[ It stops, uncertain, and stares. Should it help? Maybe it should keep going. It shifts like it's going to run past - and then shakes its head and moves to try and help the human stand. Carefully but firmly, it presses the human's hand harder against the wound. ]

Steady. [ It says, reassuring. ]

Who the fuck are you?

[The guy asks in alarm, weakly trying to pull away. He's young, in comparison to Alfie - late twenties, maybe, or very early thirties.]

I am an RM700 unit. [ It says, frowning slightly. ] Don't try to pull away, you're injured. I'm trying to help.

I don't fucking know you.

[He says, still stiff and resisting despite the heavy bleeding. His tone of voice makes it clear that he doesn't trust anyone he doesn't know, especially today.]

[ A pause, and then: ] Whether you know me or not, you'r bleeding heavily and need assistance. What happened?

The boys from Downey Street, they-- their gang--

[He's still scowling at the bot, right up until the moment that he sinks to the floor and loses consciousness.]

[ Oh. That's bad. The bot sighs a bit, and then starts to rip the leg of the man's pants. It needs fabric to make sure that this guy doesn't die, and it figures - pants are replaceable. The human is not.

Expertly, the bot ties the wound up and makes sure the bleeding slows before picking him up and taking him back to the room Alfie had left it. It lays the man out on one of the couches, and then turns.

A gang is invading. Which means technically, it's allowed to escape. But - but Alfie's still there. And that means the bot is is going to keep going to try and find him. Protect humans - the warning light flashes in its head. And it will. With emphasis on one. ]

Edited 2019-05-25 15:00 (UTC)

[It's been a while since a gunshot has rung out, but all the same, the building is eerily quiet. If things were all clear, the bot would be hearing more bustle - people rushing around to make sure that the doors and windows are secure, people rushing around blustering about retaliation, people tending to the wounded. But instead, it's almost like the building is on lockdown - except when gangs are attacked, they don't tend to hunker down and wait it out.

Back out in the hallway, the door the wounded man had staggered out of still stands open.]

[ It hesitates. Which is weird. It shouldn't hesitate. But maybe it thinks about the kitten curled up on the couch back at the apartment, and about how Alfie would probably not keep the cat if the bot was destroyed, and it has a moment where it can't move, locked in place.

But the desire to help humans, to make sure its owner is okay - it overrides everything. And so the bot creeps closer to the door, peeking around it to try and see what's going on. ]

[The door leads to another hallway, and that hallway, too, is eerily empty. Do you dare, bot?]

[ It dares. It really dares. But it is sneaky, making its way down the hallway as quietly as it can. ]

[And, eventually, he'll start to pick up on Alfie's voice.]

-- didn't really think this would end well, did you?

[It's coming from far away - through several closed doors - and there's a weird, stuffed-up quality to it, like he's talking through a bad head cold.]

You might have had the element of surprise, but you're on my fucking terf.

[ It makes its way towards the room that Alfie's voice is coming from, cautious still. One step, and then another, and carefully, it peeks into the room it's pretty sure Alfie's voice is, trying to get a look at the situation before busting in. ]