Chapter Text
Prologue
Oh, no. The human clients are talking about their soulbonds again. Ugh. That usually means I have more work to do because humans get stupid when they get emotional.
Thank fuck I don't have a soul. Sharing a soulbond would be a living hell. For me and whatever poor sap would… ugh, feel my emotions. I don't even want to feel my emotions, much less someone else's. And I certainly don't want anyone else having to sort through my mess.
Unfortunately for me, one of my current clients is behaving erratically, due to the emotional state of some random human who isn't even here. He's crying, sobbing really, because someone important to him, his soulmate, is, I don't know, in pain, or sad, or whatever. Humans cry for a lot of reasons. It is not very good as a security feature as it makes a lot of noise, and most humans can't see or function. Seems like the only thing it's good for is alerting other humans to a compromised emotional state.
He's lucky he's one of the managerial staff for this forsaken mining operation, instead of one of the miners. Otherwise, he'd be surrounded by people in a much less comforting and far more aggressive way. I'm lucky for the same reason I suppose. It makes him less likely to do something stupid if the other humans are helpi-
And there he goes, running off into some abandoned mineshaft, likely to get himself killed unless some rogue secunit comes to save his ass.
By the time one of the other important human clients tells me to go get him back, I'm already running after him.
He had a head start, but I am significantly faster. He ducks around a corner just before I catch up, and I see him lean against a wall and collapse to the ground via one of my drones. Slowing my pace, I round the corner and say in my best secunit neutral voice, "This area is unsafe. Please return to the communal areas."
"You don't understand!" He wails, curling up into a ball on the floor and seemingly making no move to leave."I made a soulbond! And I don't even know who it is. I just know they're in distress and, and…" he sobs, disgusting fluids running down his face. "And I think it's one of the miners here, in corporate servitude, probably for the rest of their life! Why did it have to be me, why can't I be bonded to someone important, instead of some enslaved nobody?"
"This area is unsafe. Please return to the communal areas." I say again, still pretending to follow orders from HubSys.
"You wouldn't get it. You're just a stupid bot. And what does that make me, venting and crying at a stupid fucking appliance. Fuck!" He bangs his head against the wall behind him dramatically.
"This area is unsafe. If you are unable to leave of your own accord, this unit is authorized to carry you to safety." I really didn't want to have to do that, but thankfully the threat of being carried by a SecUnit is enough to get him off his ass.
"Fine, fine. I'll leave the stupid blasted cave." He wipes his eyes to try and erase the tear-stricken look from his face. He walks slowly back the way we came, and I trail behind to scout for danger. "Stupid soulbond, most important person in the world to me has to be some fucking nobody."
By the time we make it back to the hub area, he almost looks like he wasn't crying at all. Not that I really care, but I keep an eye on him in case he does something stupid again.
I was nowhere nearby when it happened, but soon after, word got back to the managerial staff about a miner who saved the life of a manager, and neither one has been seen since. Rumors say they hopped the first ship off this rock.
I don't blame them. Frankly if I wouldn't be hunted down and scrapped for parts as soon as I did, I'd do the same.
Oh, well. Maybe they'll get their happily ever after or whatever. More than likely they'll be caught and put back into servitude. Either way, it's not my problem anymore.
Chapter 1
I'm scared, terrified even. I feel as if it's justified in this situation. I've got my eye on a ship headed to RaviHyral with no crew, just a bot pilot, so I should be safe and calm.
But I'm a recently freed secunit on the run from the people who saved me. I try to tune out the voice in my head that asks why I'm running from perfectly good humans who don't seem to want me dead.
They don't want me dead, but that doesn't mean I'll be able to be myself on Preservation. I'll just be someone's pet bot.
I ping the transport and think about what it would be like as a pet bot. The shock of surprise I feel startles me a bit. I don't want to be a pet bot, I won't be. I'd rather-
The bot pilot pings back a query. I offer it media in exchange for passage to its next stop, and quell the random spark of nervousness I feel. It accepts and I make my way towards where its docked.
For some reason, my emotions are all over the place as I settle into a chair on board. I try to brush it off, it'll likely go away once we're safe in the wormhole. I keep glancing at threat assessment, which is at a reasonably low level, and that reassures me.
The ship uncouples from the station and before long I'm traveling in the wormhole, safe and untouchable. I pull up episode one of a new media I picked up in port and relax.
You were lucky, A voice says in the feed. Threat assessment and my fear both spike. I'm not alone on this ship? It must be the bot pilot, but bot pilots don't speak. It doesn't sound like a human though. Maybe it doesn't mean me any harm, but I proceed with caution. Not like I've survived this long because I assume everything is friendly.
"Why am I lucky?" I ask. I'm scared, but I also feel a hint of curiosity. There's no time to be curious. If this ship deems me a threat, it could make this trip a lot more uncomfortable.
That no one realized what you are. I can feel its smugness in the feed, like a giant lurking fauna. Of fucking course I can feel this things emotions like other constructs and bots in the feed.
Shit. That isn't reassuring. "What do you think I am?"
You're a rogue SecUnit, a bot/human construct with a scrambled governor module. It pokes me in the feed, and my organics release another spike of fear hormones. Do not attempt to hack my systems. And then I see it. It drops its walls for .0001 seconds, and I get a glimpse into the abyss, and it's looking back. And it is oh so curious. Curious with a hint of fear.
It could squash me in an instant while running seventeen other processes. I've never seen something so immense and powerful.
I am so screwed. If I do anything to piss off this giant feed fauna of a bot pilot, (Can it even be called a bot pilot? Probably not.) then I would be gone. Fear comes off of me in waves, and I know it can tell. I wall myself off in the feed, hoping that will be enough to make it leave me alone.
You are leaking data into the feed. Of course I wouldn't be so lucky.
I'm not afraid of you, I lie.
It doesn't seem to respond to that, so silence stretches in the feed. I count the seconds as they pass.
You can continue to play the media, It says, sounding annoyed.
I curl up tighter in the chair, and feel its annoyance grow.
Don't sulk. It pouts.
If this thing keeps telling me what to do, I'm going to get annoyed too. But mostly I'm afraid. Afraid and angry. SecUnit's don't sulk. That would trigger punishment from the governor module. Then I hastily shove a bundle of memories into the feed, showing it just how 'lucky' my life has been so far as a governed construct.
I feel its shock and pain through the feed as it views the files quickly. Its emotions are different to read than another secunit's or a bot's. Almost like they're underdeveloped. Or maybe just because it's a big ass feed fauna and it's only sharing select emotions.
Shock and pain repeat as it views the files over and over in quick succession. Moments pass, then minutes, which is a long time for two intelligences that can communicate at our speeds.
Its emotions are a swirl of incomprehensible nonsense for a while, until it eventually settles on something that feels like regret. I am sorry for frightening you. That was not my intent.
It is either scary good at controlling its emotions, or its genuinely sorry. I'm tempted to reassert that I am not scared if it, but we both know that's a lie. Instead, I think about how it took a risk letting me on board, how I could do some damage internally before it could kill me.
I suppose we both took a risk with this trip. It's still an asshole though.
Warily, I ping an acknowledgement in the feed, and bring up an old episode of Sanctuary Moon to help calm me down. It leans heavily on me in the feed, and I can't help but feel it's excitement and ecstatic joy. It's annoying to have its feelings weigh so heavily on me, and I briefly wonder if this is what it's like for humans with a soulbond.
Hah, what a ridiculous thought.
I'm less than half a second into the episode when its joy turns to disappointment. It pings me with a request for the new show I started when I first boarded, something called Worldhoppers.
I gave you the files, did you even look at them? If it wants to watch a certain show, it's welcome to do it itself.
I scanned them for malware and other hazards.
Okay, well fuck you too. Asshole. I try my best to ignore it, but it pings the request again.
You have the media. Watch it yourself.
I tried, it feels a bit guilty, but it is far easier to process emotional context through your filter.
Huh, does it not have the emotional intelligence to process on its own? That might be why its emotions feel so weird on the feed.
It continues, When my crew plays media, I can't process the context. Human interactions and environments outside my hull are largely unfamiliar.
It makes sense. If my emotions in the feed are half as readable as its are, then it's bound to be easier to understand the context with me watching. Humans don't show their emotions in the feed like bots and constructs do, so watching its humans is probably pretty boring.
It might be a big menacing feed fauna of a bot, but its emotions are so raw and vulnerable… how could I refuse it if it wants to watch Worldhoppers? I can practically feel it pleading through the feed.
Besides, I want to watch it too. It's not realistic. It isn't supposed to be. It isn't a documentary.
I am aware of the lack of realism common in most media. It feels like it would roll its eyes if it could.
So, together we watch Worldhoppers.