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It has been 2 days since you got out of that hell hole of a facility, you had managed to escape just by pure luck. You managed to get close to both Sebastian and pAInter, they allowed you to come along with them as they went through with their plan to escape! The three of you waited it out waiting for when the time was right, Sebastian had put you with working with pAInter as a way to keep the brat company. You couldn’t believe he had pried you with the imp that was responsible for a good amount of your deaths in tbe facility and you were supposed to forgive them for it! The two of you were fussing about it at first but after some time together the two of you eventually began getting along. You went from deeply hating each other’s guts to being quite fond of each other, you rarely left each other’s sides due to being fond of each other’s company.
It was nice to have someone to talk to down here, it kept you sane and the more you talked you learned they were curious about the outside world which you didn’t mind talking to them about. The only time you two were apart was when you needed to adventure out for edible food that wouldn’t ruin your stomach which often took hours to find which lead you to eating things you would regret eating; from killing sea bunnies and eating their small amount of edible flesh to …… … consuming flesh from dead expendables you had found……
Just remembering the taste of flesh just brought you a disgusting amount of disgust…! The horrible smell of the decomposing bodies and the weird texture of consuming flesh as the feeling of guilt from eating a fellow human built up inside you! Ever since your first taste of human you have been barely sleeping; you have only been able to sleep for a couple minutes before waking up feeling guilty.
If you weren’t waking up from guilt it would be something worse. Before arriving at UrbanShade you were awake in some operation room under their care, for hours you were forced to watched unprofessional surgeons perform surgery on you without drugs. Every poke and cut from them you felt, the pain was unbearable! They had to shove a balled up shirt partially into your mouth to muffle your screams and groans of pain due to you distracting them heavily. Randomly after the surgery you would get the feeling of things moving underneath your skin; no matter how much you scratched at the area the feeling was coming from it would never go away….! You would scratch and scratch till your skin got red and began flaking off. Sebastian would often have to grab you and bandage the area you were scratching at to protect the wound you had given yourself.
But getting back on track, it was your second day on the surface after not getting proper sleep and not eating proper food. Despite being so tired, you still had your sleeping problems. But to make it somewhat better you had someone with you at least, you laid in your bed rolling to your side to see a robotic body laying next to you.
pAInter had been sleeping in your bed with you since you got up to the surface, they brought a bit of comfort to you with their presence. Originally you guys slept near each other as a way to show you were both still together in the hell known as UrbanShade; that all of it was real. Now it has become a habit of allowing them to power down by you as you slept. You didn’t mind them being in your bed, it brought you comfort knowing he was there and if something violent happened you could easily shake them for them to sit up, turn one of their arms into a turret then easily take care of whatever spooked you or seek comfort from them if they were in the mood to provide comfort. They were a source of protection, you trusted them and they trusted you, but despite that comfort they brought you still were unable to sleep.
You tossed and turned throughout the night, being awake most of it and during the small amount of time when you fell asleep you would see the memories of being at your lowest states in that facility before waking up to continue your squirming in bed.
Eventually while doing your tossing under the blankets to see a sudden light turn on next to you thats decently bright, pAInter had gotten out of sleep mode. You silently curse in your mind as you face the other way trying to act like you were asleep. Feeling the sudden shift in weight on the bed as he sat up looking over you curiously, you both knew you were awake, there was no way they didn’t feel you flopping all over the bed. Their hand moving to grip your shoulder and roll you over to lay on your back for them to properly look at you, seeing the bags under your eyes from not getting proper sleep. Their eyes soften at the sight of your exhaustion, it being a familiar state for them to see due to seeing sleepless nights of Sebastian pushing himself after escaping out of containment and having to plan out their escape, waiting for the right moment to execute it. Thanks to that he knew how to somewhat handle this situation.
Well… somewhat
💻{” hey…. You sleeping alright? “} There wasn’t even a moment to allow you to answer before they spoke again {“ Ignore that- it was a stupid question “} they looked embarrassed for asking, scratching behind their computer head nervously.
💻 {“ what I meant to say is… …. ….. Are you… are you doing alright ########? “}
There was a moment of silence between you two, you didn’t know how to respond, you felt like they deserved to know how you were struggling to sleep the past couple days but at the same time you didn’t want to worry them. You seen how worried they got when Sebastian was pushing himself, you didn’t want that type of worry…… … You turn your head to the side, your body language tensing showing you don’t want to talk about it at the moment, from the angle you were you seen pAInter give a nod in knowledgement of you not wanting to talk.
💻{ “… if you don’t wanna talk about it it’s fine “} They turn to the side as well, looking at the floor for a moment before looking your away.
💻{“ perhaps you need something for it, maybe some milk? I heard that the liquid is used for making humans sleepy~ “} Such a suggestion made you hold back a chuckle, his suggestion sounded like something in a fairytale and childish. It wasn’t a bad idea though, you had nothing to lose here. You were craving something to drink anyways so you nodded at the question, shortly after your nod you saw them get up off the bed and slowly walk out of the room.
The steps faded as their robotic body moved farther and farther away, when the signs of them being in the kitchen were heard everything sounded a bit faded. You took glances around your dark room but everything was too hard to see without the light that was once in the room before the computer-robot left the room. Your head slowly turned to look at the staring ceiling above you feeling time escape your hands, the noises you once heard went silent as your brain zoned out waiting. Waiting for them won’t be so bad, it’s not like your Penelope waiting for Odysseus to make his way home from what should have been a 7 day boat ride turned into a 20 year long wait. ….. pAInter wouldn’t do such a thing … right? ….. you guys are close now and they wouldn’t just ditch you … …. Not after everything right..? They wouldn’t leave, they wouldn’t without saying anything. To snap you out of your thoughts you heard the robotic steps coming close towards the room which made your eyes shift from the ceiling towards the door as you sat up. When they got closer the light their screen brought back the light that was once in the room.
After a couple steps into the room you could see the small smirk on their face and the cup being held in their right hand.
💻{“ I got the milk for you like I said I would :] “} You heard their soft robotic voice say as they came over to your side of the bed, holding the cup out for your hand to grab, took a moment before one of your hands lifted up to grab it giving the robotic creature a smile as you mouthed a thank you before taking a sip.
The creamy feeling of the liquid in the cup came into your mouth, feeling nice and cold. Your eyes fluttering close as you drank more of the drink, hearing a soft giggle nearby you as the creamy liquid slowly ran out from you gulping it down in large amounts. The smooth nectar was so rich, you couldn’t get enough of it. A few moments later no more liquid touched your lips and your eyes fluttered back open looking into the cup seeing all the milk was gone. Feeling the hints of disappointment flow through you now that the cold drink was gone but you were in a better mood thanks to it.
💻{“ Feeling better now? “} Asked the computer hooked to a robotic body in front of you, you gave a nod in response to the question. Their robotic presence brought you comfort in times like this, you put the cup down and gave them a hug showing you were thankful for them which they returned the embrace. The combination of their comfort and the cold milk in your stomach made you feel at eased, feeling your shell slowly creak open; ready to shortly speak about whats been keeping you up.
“ it… it was guilt… “ the soft words left your mouth into their ‘ear’. It took a moment for the robotic body wrapped you to react.
💻{” What was? “} Their head tilted to look at your face being tucked in their neck, not wanting to see their gaze looking through you in this moment of weakness.
There was a pause, a long one before you uttered more words “ … what has been keeping me up…. It was guilt…. … The things I did…. The things I had to do in that facility to survive… it all lead to me being here. I did…. I did what I had to, to make it back…. “
“ … but… but why doesn’t it feel good? …. To be back, to be… alive “ the body you were connected to was tensing up with emotion. Staring down at the floor disappointed in yourself
The machine understood, their drawn expression softening. Having a similar experience themself, after what happened with their creator and being locked in that hellhole of s black-site, having to murder to survive. They understood your guilt… they had claimed lives.. killed many…. They couldn’t be redeemed… but at least they had you, being their light in the dark.
Their arms hugging you more tightly, not pushing you further to speak if you didn’t want to. They understood how hard it was to open about those sort of things based on how upset they were about killing all those expendables. Some they had reason for due to them being nasty criminals but some wanted to live jusf as much as they did and were so pure, so innocent, so full of life just to have a bullet deep in their skull and lifeless on the floor. They did what they had to do to survive in such a hell hole and understood you did the same. They weren’t gonna force you to talk understanding it was a sensitive topic.
💻{“ … Maybe that makes you living… Showing you are alive … …. I’m thankful for you being here even though I don’t know the full story…. I don’t know everything bad that has happened to you but I understand your pain…. I’m glad that you kept fighting…. …. “} They said shortly, their voice had more of an emotional take to it.
💻{“ Being up here again makes it worth it…. .. Seeing the beauty of the world makes it worth the fight.. “} Perhaps they were right; emotions like guilt show you are living and are worth fighting for. There are things worth living for. Besides how else are you supposed to see the things you dreamed of if your dead?
Like how pAInter wanted the milk was making you tired due to the affects of it kicking in. Your eyes were settling into their half opened state and slightly fluttering shut preparing to close for the rest of the night. Took it long enough, their arms hold you close before they let you go seeing your tired expression yearning for sleep. Guiding you back to bed helping you get under the blankets. They returned to their place by you, looking down at your face with those kind drawn eyes. You two could talk more when you were both ready to talk about the things you did back in the facility. That hell changed both of you but at least it brought you to each other which you were both happy about.
After they helped you lay down sleep was nearing and this time it didn’t felt forced. You didn’t have to force yourself to sleep this time like you normally do, sleep was warming you like a soft warm hug.
You drifted off to sleep feeling nice and comfortable
Tonight you earned it and they helped you get your slumber
You would have to thank them for it in the morning