(not quite) plug'n'play

"just think of it like a trip to the dentist. it might be scary, but you go in, you get your work done, and you're out before you know it."

it certainly wasn't very comforting, but you'll take any affirmations you can get from her. she's doing her best, after all, and you know she can relate to the pit in your stomach. or at least, she could - do robots still get those? questions for later.

she leads you to a lounge chair, gesturing for you to sit - you do as you're told, of course. can't go doubting the (supposed) expert in the room! your legs are jelly anyway, so the rest is much appreciated...

now that you have time to take it all in, though, this looks an awful lot like an operating room. except, without any of the usual tools you would expect. all you can see in terms of "tools" is some band-aids, disinfectant wipes, and... something you can't quite make out, dangling from the ceiling. she reassures you that it's supposed to be there and it's normal, but what you still have no goddamn clue what it is.

you're snapped out of your "analysis" when she puts her hands over yours.

"hey, earth to Y/N? still with me here?"

you look up at her, meet her eyes... cameras? screens? you never actually asked- whatever. of course you're still with her! just got kind of... lost in the scenery.

"that's a relief... you froze up so hard i almost thought you turned into a robot on your own!"

dork. you're fine, you promise.

"if you say so... c'mon, up up up!"

she backs off of your hands, then puts one of hers on your back, guiding you to sit up.

"you miiiiight feel a bit of a pinch for a sec, but that's okay. aaaall part of the process!"

come to think of it, she never actually told you what the process entails. an injection? that would make sense, given the stinging, but what sort of injection could-

"also: don't worry about the plug."

don't worry about the whAUGH

it hits you with the combined force of a freight train and a taser. your neck and head seize up, filling with a feeling you can only describe as TV static. buzzing, buzzing, buzzing - who knew 0 decibels could be so loud?

worst of all, your brain feels like it's tearing itself apart - no, not quite. you can hardly tell through all the feelings swirling through you, but you could swear it feels like your thoughts are... reorganizing?

you can't really concentrate on that though, because the static is getting worse. spreading down from your neck to your chest and arms, down to your pelvis, all the way down to your toes, seeming to reach every possible corner and crevice of your body.

and just as it's about to peak...

it all stops.

everything stops.

it's all gone black.

you can't see.

you can't move.

you can't hear.

you can't feel.

you can't

something's there. faint. barely a whisper. from everywhere and nowhere all at once, like it's echoing from your very soul...

. . .

"morning, sleepyhead!"

your eyes shoot wide open when you hear her voice, prompting you to sit straight up. for a second, it seemed like you sat up too fast, but the woozy feeling never came.

the feeling you do notice, however, is something on the back of your neck. you reach back to touch... a bandage?

"hey, hands off! that's still fresh!"

fresh? what does she mean, fr- OH

the memory hits you with almost alarming clarity, like you're watching a video taken by your own eyes... you take a sec to take it in, and then snap back to reality again.

what the fuck happened, you ask. among other things. honestly, the amount of questions would have pissed anyone else off, but she just stands there and lets you finish before saying,

"i'd say take a sec to breathe, but obviously you don't have to."

don't have to breathe? what does Oh.

you look down at yourself. identical to the way you were before you came in here, at least on the outside. your nerves flare up, your heart starts- why isn't your heart beating? why do you feel so hot? what's happening?

that can't be right, the room should be like, 70 degrees! so you can't help but ask, why the hell is internal temperature reaching critical levels-- you cover your mouth. you can barely hear her speak to you over that god damned whirring.

"surprised, huh? happened to me, too. hey, c'mere."

before you can even process what she said, there's arms around you and a chest in your face.

"there, there. you're okay, i've got you."

it takes a second, but you settle in... the whirring quiets down, and your body slowly begins to cool off.

"lemme tell you what happened. your 'operation' went well, and your body put itself to sleep while things worked their magic. tried to sort of give itself and your mind some time to process things, you know?"

sleep...? but it felt like it was just-

"it probably only felt like a few minutes to you, but that's just 'cause you weren't conscious. your mind - processor now, actually - did all that setup on its own. and when it finished, it woke you back up. so, since it's all done... congratulations! you're a robot now."

you tell her that explains why you aren't tearing up from joy. she just chuckles in reply.

"been there too, bud. oh yeah, one more thing."

you look up at her, meeting her gaze for the first time in a while.

"i may have forgotten to mention that i won't be able to cut you loose for a little bit... that bandage on your neck? that spot needs to heal before you can do much of anything.

"see, when someone goes through this process, the spot they got plugged in... after it heals, it basically becomes your charging port. and without the ability to use one, you don't exactly have many options in terms of keeping yourself up and awake.

"however, check this out!"

she pulls you in even closer. all of a sudden, you feel a pleasant buzzing on every little point of contact. it's sort of an energizing feeling - the closest comparison you can think to make is the sort of "boost" you get after a long shower.

"ta-da!~ you're charging!"

apparently you really needed it, too. you never noticed how sluggish you felt 'til it stopped. you can't help but wonder how much energy you had before...

Unit Y/N: 14%

surprisingly, accessing that information feels like second nature, less like you're intentionally searching for it and more like you're "remembering" it. you suppose that makes sense - things like battery levels are probably always "in memory" in a computer.

wait - "unit?"

"oh, right - that's just the default internal name you get. you can go in and change it once you get more comfortable with how things work! but for now..."

she gives you a certain look, and before you know it. you're both tangled up together in the chair. she's practically right on top of you - you couldn't move if you tried. not that you particularly want to.

"you are going to stay right here 'til that neck of yours heals. 'kay? i can't have you wandering out and getting stuck with a dead battery."

you mumble out a sort of agreement and shut your eyes, letting yourself get comfortable in her embrace. it's all still a little scary, but... you think it's going to be okay.

your mind starts wandering as you nuzzle closer to her, exploring various memories and ideas and filesystems, working out the mechanics of your new self... but before long, you decide you're too tired.

one of the nice things about being a robot, you realize, is that you don't have to pretend to sleep before you sleep.

all you have to do is

> Entering sleep mode. Wake timer: 2 hours.

"good night to you too, dork. <3"