002 Vertebrae / Action

[not_doing_puns]

[A tall silver automaton stood on the sidewalk, blinking owlishly up at the buildings nearby. After so long in various battlefields, whisked away after to government facilities in unmarked vehicles with no windows, it was almost alien for him to find himself in a city that was not a complete disaster of a combat zone

Comments

[toaccomplish]

[Lycus was originally just going to keep walking - he doesn't make it a habit to stop and say hello to every weirdo standing outside that he comes across, but this guy... there's something about him. Oh, that's it! He's made of metal. Kind of like that performer he met. Except this one doesn't look like he's been singing. Could be a soldier. Something like a war machine? Well, alright- curiousity calls and he's answering.

He makes his way across the street and comes within a couple of feet, close enough to talk without being within reach.. You never know with VIs, after all.]

You okay, buddy? You look a little out of it.

[not_doing_puns]

[His posture was wary when he noticed he other approaching... but he seemed to be a civilian. Which... would not please any of the higher ups, who definitely wanted to keep their little project under wraps.]

...Been awhile since I've been in a city. [He answered, studying the stranger.]

[toaccomplish]

Yeah? [Lycus glances around a bit.] You just get here? There's not a whole lot else around.

[not_doing_puns]

So I'm starting to notice. [He shifted the bag on his shoulder, not out of any actual need to redistribute it's weight, but out of habit.] Better than desert any day.

[malfunctionbot]

[Rabbit had been trudging through the city after a nice, refreshing walk through the park that resided closest to his lonely, little apartment. Since he'd been unable to spend his mornings with Pappy and the ducks since his arrival into Mandalus some seven weeks earlier, the copper automaton had taken to brisk walks in the early morning hours to help keep his aging mind sharp and his emotions at a (somewhat) balanced level.

Today seemed no different than the last, Rabbit peering above himself with a semi-serious frown at the oncoming clouds that loomed so suspiciously in the distance. Not a serious storm on the horizon, no, but lots and lots of rain. Which meant the robot had best get his energy out now and finish whatever he needed to before he was trapped inside the small four walls of his home for the next day or two.

So his pace quickened, a slight hop in his steps as he hurried along to avoid an eventual shower, when he felt a strange ping in his gear-driven mind, a blip of energy on the communication link that was his mind

[not_doing_puns]

[It was those same clouds that The Spine was considering when that same ping came over the link, something he ignored so acutely as the years passed that he didn't even notice it. It hurt too much, reaching out in habit to give one of his brothers a networked nudge only to get silence in reply. So he'd stopped trying years ago

[malfunctionbot]

[The voice to come over the shared network is impossibly soft, barely a whisper and absolutely full of complete and utter disbelief. But even after seventy years apart, it should be easily recognizable as The Spine's only older brother, even if the tone is plain and lacking Rabbit's usual quirkiness.]

.../The Spine?/

[Rabbit couldn't believe it. Had his malfunctions and general glitching reached a new level of disrepair where even his own mind and memory were starting to fail him this severely? But even amongst his inner doubt and worry for his possibly corrupted programming, the copper automaton couldn't help but recall the other oddities that Mandalus had shown him. People were sent to this city from all slices of history's timeline.

What if it had brought a The Spine that had come from before the war that had ruined everything for them, back to his big brother at last?]

[not_doing_puns]

[It was strange to be called by his name again, even by the voice his obviously warped psyche was creating for him to speak with, and his response was almost hesitant after this.]

/...Hi Rabbit./

[He ducked his head as the sudden twist of emotion at responding lanced through him, and he could feel the oil in the back of his throat, the same pressure issue that even Uncle Sam's finest hadn't bee able to find a reason for or a fix.

He didn't look up or around, not wanting to shatter the illusion that his brother might actually be near, that he could almost hear the soft click of gears and the hiss of steam through a copper frame as the crowd briefly thinned, one gloved hand coming up to rub away the black tears welling in his optics.]

[notanemptymotto]

action;

[ Helen steps around the van she's brought, in hopes of tracing down the abnormal she's been looking for a few days now. She sees the Spine and stops. Helen blinks. She's certainly not used to that attire on him. ]

Dawning the military look, are we?

[not_doing_puns]

[The Spine pauses at the stranger's question, optics dimming in confusion.]

Apologies ma'am, but I'm afraid I don't catch your meaning. [Even after seventy years of personal hell, he will be damned if he is not polite to a lady.]

[notanemptymotto]

[ Her eyebrows turn together. ] The last time I saw you, The Spine, you certainly weren't dressed in military regalia.

[not_doing_puns]

[He looks... startled at her using his name, optics brightening slightly as he focused on her more intently.]

...Been a long time since I heard anyone use that name, ma'am. Or been out of uniform.