Chapter Text
Burial Mounds is just a poetic name, it doesn't change what this place is - a landfill. A pile of trash so big it takes up the better part of what used to be called Yiling. It's a dangerous place to live due to all the toxic waste. For the same reason, it’s the only safe place for Wei Wuxian and the Wens. It’s not as bad, though, the radiation levels are just as high here as anywhere else. Wei Wuxian actually likes it here. He likes roaming the heaps of junk looking for whatever can be salvaged or re-used. He finds a bit of poetry in that too. Maybe this place is exactly where they belong - in society’s eyes, they are toxic refuse hoping to be salvaged.
The red light of his visor scares away a bunch of mutated rats. He bows down to examine what they were feeding on and finds out it's an animal carcass. Thankful for his helmet filtering out any smells, he turns away. Something reflects his flashlight and his heart picks up its pace. It looks like he might get lucky. He wipes away all the debris that is covering the mechanical limb before he pulls at it. He frowns when he meets unexpected resistance. It either got stuck or it's a bigger piece than he expected. With his excitement growing, he starts digging deeper. The rats come back watching him from a safe distance, waiting for him to leave them alone with their dinner.
"Sorry, guys, this might take a while," he says and pulls at a big piece of metal that he’s finally managed to uncover. He gasps when he sees what's under it.
"Wei Ying? What's that?" Wen Qing barks out, gesturing angrily to the heavy sack on his back.
"I was looking for parts for Wen Ning's prosthetics, but I found something better," he says with a proud grin.
"I sent you out for fuel and you brought another piece of junk." She describes the situation with a long-suffering expression.
Wei Wuxian puts his baggage down as gently as possible, but it still makes an uncomfortable clink as it hits the ground of the bunker.
"This is not a piece of junk, Qing-jie," he protests and tugs aside the cloth.
Wen Qing takes a step back.
"A droid?" she squeals with horror.
"An android," Wei Ying corrects and crouches down beside his prey to uncover more of it.
"What are we going to do with a fucking android?" she asks. If Wei Wuxian didn't know her well enough, her threatening stare and aggressive stance with her hands on her hips would scare him to death.
"He can be useful. Do the heavy lifting. Help with building and gardening."
Their banter attracted other Wens and they are now lurking in the corners of the hall, listening and trying to take a peek of the android.
"This thing?" Wen Qing snorts dismissively and pokes the bag with her foot. Wei Wuxian bats her away and leans over the android protectively. "It doesn't even have all the limbs."
"I will fix him,” Wei Ying says, determined. “It's not like he's going to eat our food," he adds with a pout.
"If you don't have enough work, I'll find you some."
Wei Wuxian bats his eyelashes. "Come on, Qing-jie, you know I need a pet project or I'll go crazy," he pleads.
"I thought Wen Ning-" she swallows her words back when she hears the characteristic mechanical sound of her brother coming closer.
"Did you call me, jie-jie?" Wen Ning calls as he drags himself closer. They did their best to replace his lost limbs but all they had was scraps from the junkyard.
"Yes, I wanted you to see this!" Wei Wuxian calls. Wen Qing doesn't look at her brother, her face is red with embarrassment.
As Wen Ning whirs and creaks his way to them, other curious Wens come closer.
"Oh, it's... it's beautiful," Wen Ning says when he takes a look at the android.
"I found him in the junk, I think I can repair him so he can help around, but your cruel sister says I don't deserve any toys."
Wen Qing lets out an exasperated breath. Wei Ying knows it's not fair to use her brother against her because he's impossible to resist, but he’d do anything to win this argument.
Wen Ning doesn’t disappoint. He turns at his sister with the most adorable expression.
"Wen Qing, don't you see how pretty it is? It would be a shame to leave it to rust."
Wen Qing sighs in defeat and turns at Wei Wuxian pointing a finger in his face. "If you abandon your duties because of this thing, I'm going to smash it with a hammer."
Wei Wuxian gives her the brightest smile and a little thankful bow. "Thank you, Qing-jie. You are the best." He keeps the fact that a hammer would barely scratch the android's case for himself. "Wen Ning, will you help me take him to my workshop?"
Wen Ning might be slow when he's moving but it doesn't change the fact that he has titanium enhanced spine and mechanical limbs that give him inhuman strength.
"Will do, Wei-gongzi"
They bring the android to the Cave. That's how everybody refers to Wei Ying's workshop because it's one of the least cozy parts of the underground bunker they are inhabiting.
Wen Ning heaves the android on the workbench and Wei Ying turns on the overhead light.
It's no wonder Wen Qing was so skeptical about the android's future. He looks pathetic like this. Just a head and torso, one complete arm sticking out, the rest is nothing more than cut-off wires.
He's covered in grime and his case is scratched, but Wei Ying hopes that all the essential systems are intact. These things are made to last.
"Let's clean him up first," Wei Ying suggests. It's not polite to assume Wen Ning will be willing to help him, but Wei Ying noticed the awed look in his eyes when he saw the android and is sure he's right in judging Wen Ning’s intentions.
They scrub the case clean. There are no remains of artificial skin and his surface is smooth and shiny, so Wei Wuxian assumes he's not one of those types that are meant to look identical to humans. With the dirt gone he can see that Wen Ning has been right when he called the android beautiful. He’s a work of art even in his sorry state. His body parts are human in shape, but some lines are exaggerated - he has a perfectly symmetrical face with a sharp jawline, full lips, a beautiful nose, and arched eyebrows. His shoulders are broad, and the metal plates covering his torso imitate ripped muscles.
He’s stunning. Wei Ying isn’t ashamed to admire him. With his own creations, he never cared about the aesthetic aspect. They were rough and clunky, utterly inelegant. That’s why people started to call them animated corpses. They served their purpose though.
Wei Ying examines the android closely, making himself familiar with his exterior design. His fingers are buzzing with anticipation of what he's going to find under the casing.
There are two important things he learns from the android’s exterior. The brand on his forehead marks him as a creation of the Gusu Robotics company and his model code is LAN WJ 2301.
Wei Wuxian recognizes the brand name, but he never worked with any of the LAN models so he can't tell what the purpose of this android was. The model code is the closest thing he has to a name so Wei Wuxian starts to refer to him as Lan WJ.
Wen Ning, god bless him, doesn't comment on Wei Wuxian's habit of talking to the machines as he's working on them.
The more he uncovers, the more Wei Wuxian believes that he got his greedy hands on a treasure. Lan WJ's design is exquisite, the shapes are elegant, the surface is barely scratched and even the practical parts of him are made to be decorative. There's a design of simplified clouds on his chest and shoulders that Wei Wuxian supposes is going to glow when Lan WJ's reactor is on.
No matter how beautiful Wei Wuxian finds his casing, somebody defaced it. There's a word Hanguang-Jun scratched into his upper arm. Light bearing lord. Wei Wuxian wonders what’s the story behind the nickname. It must have taken a lot of effort to etch it into the surface.
Wei Ying startles when Wen Ning’s hand falls on his shoulder. “You should call it a night,” he suggests in a soft tone.
Wei Wuxian rolls his shoulders, he’s getting stiff. “What time is it?” he asks, looking around for anything that would give away the time. It’s a dumb habit from when he used to live in buildings with windows.
“It’s past midnight,” Wen Ning replies.
“Oh, shit. Wen Qing will skin me if she finds out I’ve been keeping you up for so long.”
Wen Ning shakes his head. “Jie-jie already knows. She sent some food. I’m supposed to make sure that you eat and go to bed.”
“Oh, the devilish woman, she knows I wouldn’t endanger you,” Wei Ying says as he gets up from his workbench. He stretches, his joints popping. When he looks at the bowl of soup Wen Ning brought him, his stomach rumbles.
He grabs the bowl and sits in the rugged armchair he keeps in the workshop in case he doesn’t make it to bed.
“You’ve eaten?” he asks Wen Ning, who is now looking curiously at Lan WJ.
“Yes,” he mutters and touches the now shiny surface of the android’s chest tentatively.
Wei Ying takes a mouthful of the bland soup and makes a face. Wen Qing is a great leader and even better doctor but she’s a horrible cook.
“Do you really think he will work?” Wen Ning asks.
“I don’t know. I need to crack him open to find out.”
“You should wait till tomorrow. Do it when you are fresh.”
Wei Wuxian sighs. “Wen Ning is so wise. But I can’t wait to look inside.”
“I’m sorry, Wei-gongzi, I have to drag you to bed by force if you don’t go willingly.”
“You are a good friend, A-Ning, I only hate you a little.”
Wen Ning gives him a sweet smile. “No dragging then?”
“No dragging.”
Wei Ying does all his chores. He fixes the UV lights in the hydroponic garden, greases Wen Ning’s joints and works on the new air filter. He doesn’t skip any meals and drinks his daily ration of water like a good boy. He only does it to appease Wen Qing who’s keeping a watchful eye on him. If he’s a good boy, he gets to play with his new toy. His mind is in his workshop though. He’s burning with curiosity.
When he’s finally free for the rest of the day, he has to fight the urge to run to his workshop. Fourth uncle invites him to a game of cards, but he refuses, feeling just a little guilty.
His hands are shaking with anticipation when he unscrews Lan WJ’s casing.
Lan WJ is an example of the finest technology. Wei Ying finds it hard to believe that he was blessed with the opportunity to explore such a refined mechanism.
He examines the reactor first. It looks intact, which is great news. Without the android’s power source being functional, there would be no chance to get him charged here. The other issue is that a faulty generator could blow the bunker up. He’s not going to tell Wen Qing about that possibility.
The generator looks fine though. The circuits got cut off by Lan WJ losing almost all his limbs. That’s why it shut down. Wei Ying closes all the circuits and pumps the chest with new cooling liquid. Just when he’s closing Lan WJ’s chest, Wen Qing enters the workshop.
Wei Wuxian looks up and pushes his protective glasses up his forehead.
“Are you here to drag me to bed?” he asks,
“No, it’s still early. You can play for a few more hours.”
“Thanks, jiejie,” he says in a voice that makes him sound like three years old. She rolls her eyes.
“I bought you something,” she says as she steps closer.
“Sweet buns!” he exclaims when she presents the plate to him. “Are we celebrating something?”
“Not really, but it was a good day so I decided we deserved a treat.”
“You are the best refugee camp leader ever,” he says as he snatches one of the buns. They are still warm.
“I’m not the leader,” she says grumpily. “People call you the Yiling Laozu.”
“People are stupid,” he says with his mouth full. He makes a place for her on the bench and she sits next to him. She bites into her own bun, eyes focused on the android lying on the table in front of them.
“How’s it going?”
“Good, I examined his reactor so far and it should be working.”
“Great. If you can get it running, we can use it to power the bunker.”
“Wen Qing!”
”What? It would be the most useful thing you could do with this thing.” She gestures at Lan WJ.
“That would be such a waste. He’s peak technology! He deserves more than…”
“Than keeping us alive?”
“Then powering the lights and the air filter. Wen Qing, I thought we are doing alright! Aren’t we?”
She averts her eyes. That’s a bad sign. With his chest feeling tight, Wei Wuxian tugs at her sleeve. There are holes in it. She’s been too busy taking care of everybody else to fix her own clothes.
“Wen Qing.”
“This place is falling apart faster than we can fix it,” she says quietly as if afraid of getting overheard.
“I’m doing my best.”
She looks at him, eyes soft. “I know A-Xian. I’m not trying to guilt-trip you. But I’m worried.”
“You are always worried.”
She sighs heavily but doesn’t say anything else. She drops her unfinished bun back on the plate and pushes it towards Wei Wuxian.
“He will be worth the effort.” Wei Ying says. “I promise. He’s really advanced, he will be able to do so much work. Not just some heavy lifting, actual work. He might be better at fixing the life support than I am.”
She smiles at him and nods, but he knows she doesn’t believe him.
Opening Lan WJ’s head is an entirely new adventure. It’s not like Wei Ying doesn’t know anything about AI, he studied it, but he decided to take another path. A path that took him right to the top only for him to fall straight to the bottom. He didn’t know the cerebral interface would turn out to be such a disaster. Everything looked so good and it was the middle of a fucking war, there was no time for more tests than the basics. He didn’t know there would be side effects, didn’t know about the neurological damage the operators would suffer. If he knew he would cause Wen Ning to lose control of his legs, he would never… No, that’s a lie he’s telling himself. He would do it again. He feels guilty for the people who suffered because of his invention, he really regrets hurting them, but he wouldn’t take it all back. He won the fucking war. He was a hero for a while. Now he’s here, shunned from society, living on a landfill like the toxic waste he’s deemed to be.
He sighs and lets his forehead fall on the table next to Lan WJ’s head.
“I’m still a mechanic,” he says to the android who can’t hear him. “I’m going to fix you and then you’ll help me fix this place.” He straightens up and looks down into Lan WJ’s peaceful face. “We can both be useful again. We can prove we’re not just trash.”
Fixing on that thought, he resumes his work digging in the android’s brain.
There’s too much. It must have taken years to put together a model like Lan WJ. It will take Wei Wuxian months to get to understand all the nuances of his systems. And he can’t do most of it while they are turned off. Besides, he's getting impatient. It’s been days since he found Lan WJ.
He didn’t always have much time and energy to spend on him though. After Wen Qing’s indirect complaint he doubled his effort to keep everything in the bunker running. He feels exhausted and bummed. He needs something good, something to cheer him up. He’s going to turn Lan WJ on.
To kick start the reactor he has to use the bunker’s power source. The lights go off for a moment.
When they turn back on, Wei Wuxian doesn’t even notice because he only has eyes for what’s in front of him. He was right about the cloud design on Lan WJ’s body. They shine bright blue now when the reactor is working. The reactor itself is a glowing orb in the center of Lan WJ’s chest. The nickname Hanguang-Jun makes sense now.
Wei Wuxian traces the patterns with his eyes up Lan WJ’s chest which is now rising and falling slowly as the cooling liquid is being pumped. With the limbs missing, the circuit is short and the rise and fall fast making an illusion of an agitated breath. There’s a sound to it, too loud for Wei Wuxian’s liking but he blames it on the long period of disuse.
Wei Wuxian’s look fixes on the android’s face which is still, only the brand logo on his forehead is shining slightly.
“Come on, wake up, Lan WJ 2301, wake up,” Wei Wuxian says. His anxiety grows every second the android is not reacting. What’s wrong? Are his processors fried? Is there a connectivity issue? Did Wei Ying fuck up or is Lan WJ beyond repair?”
“Please, Hanguang-jun.”
There’s a series of beeps that makes Wei Wuxian hold his breath.
Then Lan WJ’s eyelids open.
His eyes are bright and golden, almost human in their design but for the color and the slight glow. The irises widen and contract a few times with a sound only Wei Wuxian’s trained ears can catch, then they settle on the right size as the eyes focus on Wei Wuxian’s face.
“Lan WJ 2301? I’m Wei Wuxian. Wei Ying.”
The android is looking at him, his irises dilating again. Despite their look, Wei Wuxian knows those eyes are able to see much more than human eyes. Lan WJ is probably taking Wei Ying’s biometrics right now.
His gaze shifts over Wei Wuxian’s shoulder as he takes in their surroundings and analyzes threads.
Wei Ying can’t tell what causes it but the android jerks as much as possible with only one arm. A shrill sound that must be Lan WJ’s distress signal fills the room and makes Wei Wuxian’s head feel like it’s going to crack in half.
“Hanguang-Jun!” Wei Ying says and places his hand on Lan WJ’s chest right over his reactor. He feels the warmth of it. At the nickname, the android stops the alarm and focuses on Wei Wuxian’s face again.
He opens his mouth but nothing happens.
“I’m sorry, your voice box is busted, but I’m going to fix it, I promise.”
Lan WJ moves his head slightly looking down at his mutilated body. Wei Wuxian’s heart fills with pity.
“I’m going to fix you.” He pushes all his conviction into the promise.
The android looks him in the face and blinks slowly. Wei Wuxian wonders if the blinking serves another purpose than making Lan WJ less unsettling to the humans talking with him.
“There’s a lot I need to fix. To be honest, I don’t know the extent of the damage. I only turned you on to make sure your reactor and essential systems work.”
Another slow blink. Wei Wuxian guesses it means Lan WJ understands.
“Can you hear me and see me alright?”
Lan WJ gives a small nod. It looks as if it causes him pain which is, of course, nonsense, but it tells Wei Wuxian he should look into making Lan WJ’s movement easier. He must be stiff after basically being dead for a while.
“Good, I’m going to turn you off now so I can work on fixing you,” he says with a comforting smile which is stupid considering that he’s talking to a machine, but he can’t help himself. It’s who he is. He steps behind WJ but the moment he reaches up to his skull, WJ blasts the alarm again.
“Hey!” Wei Wuxian yells as he comes back into WJ’s visual field, palms pressed to his ears.
Lan WJ turns silent. He blinks at Wei Wuxian.
“You don’t want me to turn you off?” Wei Wuxian assumes. The android nods. Wei Wuxian gets it. If he turns him off it will erase his memory. For the android, it will be as if he dies again.
“I guess I can dig in your brain while you are awake, but do you really want it?”
A nod.
“It might actually be better if you give me instant feedback,” he mutters more to himself.
“I’m going to leave now though so you should switch into standby.”
The android looks at him. It’s unnerving, blinking or not. Then he makes a series of beeps before he closes his eyes. The light of his reactor dims.
Wei Wuxian lets out a long sigh. This is going to be interesting.
As he leaves the room he runs into Wen Qing, who’s apparently been waiting for him just behind the door. It was probably her who alarmed Lan WJ.
“So, you didn’t blow us up,” she says with a lopsided smile.
“Uh. I was sure I wouldn’t! There was never any danger.”
“Don’t lie to me. I’m not a mechanic but I’m a Wen. I know how dangerous these things are.” The Wens built a weaponry empire. If somebody knew something about explosions, it was Wen Qing’s family.
Wei Ying raises an eyebrow. “ You knew and you let me risk it?”
She shrugs. “I trusted you.”
“Well, I didn’t blow us up!” he says triumphantly, adding some jazz hands for good measure.
Wen Qing rolls her eyes. “How is he? It didn’t sound well when I walked in on you.”
“I think you scared him.”
She cocks an eyebrow skeptically.
“His reactor is working fine, so do the basic systems. He’s in a standby mode so I don’t have to kickstart him again.” He leaves out the fact that the android asked him to leave him turned on.
“Good, you freaked us out with the blackout. Couldn’t you give me a warning?”
“And risk that you would stop me?”
She shakes her head with a long-suffering sigh.
“Are you coming for dinner?”
“Sure,” he grins and grabs her arm.