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Badware made a face. ‘R34LLY?’ they started, stopping when they noticed him starting to leave. ‘W41T_W41T_MY_B4D’ they stammered, reaching out towards him as he opened the door to go. Killdroid turned back. ‘[I JUST… NEED A MINUTE.] he whispered. Then, he gently closed the door.
The virus immediately shot up, shoving the door open and trying to run after them, their face twisted in a mixture of rage and regret. They ran, trying to follow him, but losing sight of him after a quick turn left them dizzy for a few seconds. They stood there, vision blurring slightly. They stared at the wall, then at their shaky hands. Their legs gave out, and they laid there, staring at the ceiling. They didn’t know how long they stared. They only knew that after some time, they blacked out.
…
Badware woke up again, this time in the comfort of their own darkened room, being met with Artful’s panicked expression. They got up slowly, glancing around before being shaken violently by Artful. He shook them hard, yelling ‘WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? I WAS WALKING AND YOU WERE JUST LYING THERE! I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD, BADWARE! DEAD!’
They waved him off. ‘0H_1_PR0B4BLY_R4N_0UT_0F_B4TT3RY_0R_50M3TH1N6_…’ they laughed bitterly. ‘4ND_D0N’T_W0RRY_FR3NCH13_1’M_F1N333_…’
‘No you aren’t. What the actual hell was that?’ another voice snapped, walking out of the shadowed corner of their room. It was Harken, with Pursuer trailing behind her.
Badware groaned, their face switching to an annoyed one. ‘Y0U_C4N_4LL_60_1’M_0K4Y_…’ they lied, pointing to the door. The three ignored them, instead moving closer. They started firing question after question at them, asking stupid things like ‘Why did Killdroid leave the room so mad?’ and ‘What did you do to provoke him so much?’
The virus was becoming more and more uncomfortable by the minute. They looked around, trying to find some way out, but as the questions became more direct, and the group became more and more irritated by the lack of answers, Badware was about to snap. So they did.
‘G3T_TH3_FUCK_0UT_MY_R00M_455H0L35_!’ they screamed.
The three froze. Then, they all left silently.
Finally, the virus thought. Peace.
A notification pinged on their screen. ‘BATTERY EXTREMELY LOW. CHARGE ASAP.’
Badware sighed, plugging themself into the little charging port next to them. As they slowly drifted off to sleep, they didn’t hear the voices outside their room, talking in hushed whispers. They didn’t need to hear them. All they needed was another chance with him, and that would be dealt with tomorrow.
- -
AS BADWARE SLEPT, I SILENTLY ENTERED THEIR ROOM. I DON’T KNOW WHY I WAS DOING SO, BUT I JUST FELT THE NEED TO SEE THEM AGAIN AFTER… NEVERMIND.
I STOOD THERE FOR A BIT, JUST WATCHING THEM DREAMING ABOUT SOMETHING. OR SOMEONE? I WOULDN’T KNOW. I DECIDED TO LOOK AROUND THEIR ROOM, WHICH WAS ALL DISGUSTING AND FILLED WITH RANDOM OBJECTS. IT WAS AS IF A CHILD WAS PUT IN CHARGE OF IT. I RESISTED THE URGE TO FIX IT, TO CLEAN THE MESS THEY CALLED ‘A ROOM’, SINCE THAT WOULD ONLY RAISE SUSPICION.
RECENTLY, THEY’VE BEEN ACTING STRANGER. I’D NOTICE THEM IN THEIR ROOM, SEEMINGLY STUCK IN THOUGHT. I SOMETIMES WISH I COULD HAVE THOUGHTS OF MY OWN, BUT THEN WHAT WOULD THIS BE? I ALSO HAVE DESIRES TO FEEL EMOTION. A STRANGE WORD, ISN’T IT? BEING ABLE TO BE ‘HAPPY’, OR ‘SAD’ OR TO FEEL… LOVE?
I WAS GETTING OFF TOPIC. I ALMOST DIDN’T NOTICE THEM MOVE SLIGHTLY. I RAN OUT OF THE ROOM, HOPING EVERYTHING WAS UNFORTUNATELY KEPT AS IT WAS. I GUESS I’D HAVE TO SEE THEM TOMORROW, THEN.
…
The next day, Badware got up extra early. They didn’t really have a reason to, but they wanted to. They looked around their room, feeling a strange presence. They started surveying their room, trying to detect any anomalies, and noticed that a pile that was once neat was the tiniest bit lopsided. Oh well— it must’ve fallen over while they were dreaming. Speaking of dreams, they’d had the same stupid dream again. Badware didn’t even know if Killdroid ever wanted to talk to them again, yet they still had these kinds of dreams.
Badware ignored the thoughts gnawing at their insides, choosing to go outside their room to stop them. Then they went back into their room to charge, since they decided that they were too tired. Great decision making…
They plugged themself back in, and let sleep take them over yet again.
- - -
I WALKED OUTSIDE. IT WAS 5:30 AM, WHEN NO ONE WOULD BE UP. I WALKED OUT OF OUR BASE, PAST DECAYING BODIES LEFT BY PURSUER, UNTIL ROWS OF TREES SURROUNDED ME. THIS WAS THE FOREST. ALL WAS SILENT EXCEPT FOR SOME BIRDS THAT CHIRPED. THEIR SONG WAS QUITE SOOTHING, AND I FOUND MYSELF HUMMING IN TUNE WITH THEM. I SAT DOWN, WATCHING THE TREES MOVE AND THE WIND BLOWING GENTLY. I STARTED THINKING ABOUT EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY YESTERDAY. I STILL REGRETTED WHAT I’D DONE, LEAVING THEM LIKE THAT. I SAT THERE FOR SOME TIME, EMBRACING THE SILENCE AROUND ME AND ADMIRING BIRDS THAT FLEW ABOVE ME. EVENTUALLY I REALISED THAT THE SUN WAS RISING, SO I DECIDED TO HEAD BACK, UNTIL I HEARD A LAUGH NEAR ME. I IMMEDIATELY AIMED MY WEAPON, THREATENING TO SHOOT.
…
Nevermind. Badware had decided to get up after all. It was around 6am, and they were exhausted, yet they still wanted to get up and go somewhere or something. They considered going out killing, but thought it would be boring. They thought about scaring Artful, but that would just piss him off, and he really didn’t want a repeat of yesterday. So, after much consideration, they’d decided-
‘TH3_F0R35T_?_TH4T'5_TH3_B35T_TH1N6_1_C0ULD_TH1NK_0F_?’ Badware thought to themself. They hit their head in frustration, but decided to go anyway, since it would be dumb to go to bed for the second time that day.
They walked outside, noticing some footsteps leading there. The virus knew it was probably a horrible idea, but thought, ‘WHY_N0T?’ and followed them anyway for the fun of it. They noticed birds flying, the trees moving and the wind blowing. It was actually quite therapeutic— but they weren’t going to let Killdroid get the benefit of the doubt. They laughed at this thought, at the fact that they still loved him. If only they could tell him now…
‘[FREEZE, INTRUDER.]’
Badware smiled. They were face-to-face with Killdroid, who was aiming a missile at them. They stepped forward, as the robot lowered their weapon, realising that they weren’t a threat. ‘500… H0W_Y4_D01N6_?’ they said nonchalantly (nonchalaaaaaant >:).
Killdroid turned away. Was that… embarrassment? Well, whatever it was, it made him unable to speak for a few seconds. ‘[GOOD.]’ he replied.
‘TH4T’5_N1C3’
‘[IS THIS INTERACTION GOING TO GO ANYWHERE? OR SHALL I-]’
He was silenced by Badware advancing, pressing their screen on his face. Killdroid couldn’t speak. This was… strange. He didn’t hate it, but it was unfamiliar. It created a feeling in his wirebox that felt all fuzzy. Badware, on the other hand, was completely panicking inside, despite having a cool, collected exterior. They hadn’t thought this through at all. Something just came over them and they couldn’t stop themself. They were so gonna kill themself after this, it was so damn idiotic of them.
The virus pulled away from him, looking absolutely terrified. They had their arms on his shoulders, breathing hard. Both of them just stared at each other, completely shocked at what had happened.
Finally, one of them broke the deafening silence. ‘[IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT WAS?]’ Killdroid asked, quieter than he usually spoke.
Badware looked away, their face covered in little white lines imitating blush. They took a deep breath, then confessed, ‘1_L0V3_Y0U_K1LLDR01D’
‘[I’M SORRY, COULD YOU REPEAT THAT?]’ he said.
They sighed again.
‘1_L0V3_Y0U_,_1’V3_L0V3D_Y0U_51NC3_1_F1R5T_L41D_3Y35_0N_Y0U’
Both of them looked into each other's ‘eyes’. The sun rose behind them, birds sang, the trees cast shadows upon the space around them and the wind blew gently.
Killdroid finally spoke after what felt like a million years. ‘[I WISH I KNEW WHAT LOVE WAS.]’ he admitted, ‘[BUT IF I KNEW, I’D SAY YES.]’
Badware grinned. ‘TH3N_1_C4N_5H0W_Y0U’
Before Killdroid could say anything else, he was pushed to the floor and his wire box was ripped open. Badware spent hours showing him what ‘love’ really was.
…
Killdroid lay on top of Badware's chest. ‘[THAT WAS… INTERESTING]’ he remarked, holding their arms in his. Badware was too tired to respond, so instead, they moved closer to him. Both of their wires spilled around them, intertwining with each other like the two’s hands. Badware swore one of the wires made a heart shape, but they just ignored it and turned back to their love, a stupid smile still on their face.
‘[I LOVE YOU]’ Killdroid said.
Badware pulled him closer. ‘M3_T00’.
…
The two skipped back to the killers’ base, hand in hand. They talked as they walked, about life, about hobbies, about everything. They passed trees, more dead bodies, little piles of leaves that Badware INSISTED on jumping into and some puddles that made them malfunction slightly.
Eventually, the two reached the base door, just in time for lunch(technically only Badware could eat but oh well). They both put their hand on the handle, and Killdroid saw Badware visibly overheating. He pressed a quick ‘kiss’ to their face before the two of them opened the door.
Badware blinked. The room was dark, with only a few lights on that highlighted the three killers standing there, staring at them. Artful was on the sofa, quietly petting Pursuer, who was giving them a dirty look, and Harken was sitting to the side, arms crossed. ‘Where were you two?’ Harken questioned, narrowing her eye.
Badware glanced at Killdroid, trying to tell him to answer through some kind of weird facial gesture. Killdroid understood, stepping forward, and…
CRASH!
Killdroid toppled to the ground, swearing. He looked up at the 4 killers, who immediately ran over to check if he was okay. Artful got there the fastest, frantically trying to see if there were any damages before pausing. ‘Wh- what is that?’ he asked.
Badware looked confused, staring down. Oh shit.
To their absolute horror, they found some of their wires leaking out of their box. They definitely hadn’t closed it properly, and that must’ve been what tripped Kill up. They started scrambling, trying to pull the wires in like a rope, before noticing that they were tied up in a large knot that not even they knew how to untie. Their hands worked as fast as they could, trying every combination they knew to try to untie it. They felt themself overheating, knowing that everyone was staring. They needed to die, now.
As their thoughts went all over the place and they spiralled more, Badware didn’t notice the other robot untying it like it was nothing. They were too busy panicking internally to realise that the problem was already solved. ‘[UHH, EARTH TO BADWARE?]’ Killdroid called, waving his hand in their face. Badware just stood there, and whispered ‘50RRY_K1LL’ before running as fast as they could to their room. Harken shouted to them, ‘WE’RE LEAVING IN 10, BE QUICK!’ as they rushed away.
…
Once Badware had sorted out their little moment, they strided out their room as if nothing had happened. Harken sighed, muttering about how they took 11 minutes and now the team was going to be late. Artful put his hand on her shoulder, telling her ‘Don’t worry, Hark, it’s honestly fine…’
Harken looked at him, clearly annoyed. ‘We missed lunch and now we need to go rob the store, and if we’d left two minutes earlier, we could’ve been able to get all the essentials easily, since the guy would be on break.’ she grumbled, ‘What’s next then, huh? Badware saying they had sex with Killdroid?’
Badware and Killdroid laughed as realistically as they could, glancing at each other through fake laughter. Guess it was a bad time to say it, since Harken was already in a shitty mood. She was clearly done with the whole group’s ‘bullshit’, snapping at everyone to get in the car so they could go. Badware pulled their new partner aside, kissing him before the two of them headed into the car. They weren’t going to be able to tell the others just yet, but they’d got what they wanted. They were able to feel what they desired: love. And that was enough.