Chapter Text
1010 sat on the edge. It looked down, staring at the slums below from its perch on the wall on the very edge of Midtown. It could hear sirens echoing through the outskirts of Midtown, slowly growing louder and louder. There was nowhere left to run.
This was it.
At least now it would join 1000, where ever they were.
It pushed off.
__________
1010 was special, it knew that. As long as it could remember it was called special, especially by humans. Even when it bit them, they called it special (why did you have to bite them?) They called them things like dragon men and werewolves and all manner of strange nicknames, mostly due to their animal-like heads.
The humans were gone now (where did they go?) , and so there was less to do, but it was still special.
It was one of five. Well, it used to be one of five. It was the only remaining P.A.R.12 model now. It was said that they had been so expensive to produce, that only five could be made. Together, they were tight as a drum and all equally enforced each other. It all started 18250 days ago. 1040, the youngest, was the first to go. It had leaned in too close to a Sentinel, it caught a bullet to the head, a bullet meant for a companion. Something changed that day. After that, its peers fell like dominoes.
1020 was next, just 2,555 days after 1040. A rebelling companion hit it just right in the head with a baseball bat. It survived the blow initially, but the damage was too great for it to continue service and so it was shut down and scrapped for parts. The vocoder in 1010's throat was 1020's.
13870 days ago, 1030 died. It had been overwhelmed by several rebelling companions and had been tripped into a pool of electrified water. 1010 had been there… It hadn't stopped them. It doesn't know why. It had been ushered away from the scene afterwards, it doesn't know what they did with 1030's body. It never went back.
1000 stayed around for much longer. 1000 and 1010 stuck together like glue. They were in perfect sync with each other, 2 connected gears in the same engine. All of the P.A.R.12 models had been trained separately from each other, but the two had been the first to be introduced to each other. 1000 and 1010 never spoke to each other, they never had to. They didn't need to speak on that day either.
__________
1000 was eerily quiet as its teeth crunched into the neck of a companion. 1010 watched on, crouched close by in able to help but trusting the other robot to handle the job on its own. They had chased the escaped prisoner all the way to the top of an abandoned high-rise before they finally caught them. It was grateful the chase was finally over. 1000 suddenly stood straight up, oil dripping from its jaws, and looked over to 1010 to stare directly at him.
1010 watched the other for a long moment before slowly rising from its crouched position to approach it and the fresh companion corpse. For a while, they just observed each other. 1010 felt as if it was in a trance, staring into the pixelated eyes of its peer. Without warning, 1000 grabbed hold of 1010's arm with an intense grip, hard enough that its metal claws left scratches in the metallic cover protecting the rubber of its arm. For the first time, 1010 saw pain in the eyes of a P.A.R.12. It hadn't seen it in 1020. It hadn't seen it in 1030. But it saw it in 1000.
Slowly, as if to placate the other robot, 1010 reached out and gently took hold of 1000's free arm. Then, it pulled the two of them close to each other so that 1000's head rested on 1010's shoulder. 1010 remembered seeing companions do this, this "hug", it had no idea why it was doing it. It felt programmed, but it knew it couldn't be. As they held each other, 1000 pressed its number plate into 1010’s pocket. Somehow, 1010 knew exactly what it was thinking. It chanted robotically, like a mantra.
"No more. No more. No more."
1010 pulled away to look 1000 directly in the eyes. All 1010 did.. was nod.
1000 stepped away, and as if commanded, walked towards the edge of the high-rise they both stood on. 1010 didn't watch.
When the Peacekeepers burst out of the staircase to the roof of the high-rise, 1010 only said that 1000 had been glitching, it only said something like “No more”. Perhaps the companion got a lucky hit on them.. on it. They did not question 1010's slip-up, just ordered it to head back to the police surgeon for inspection. No one spoke of it again.
But 1010 did not forget.
—
Tomorrow, it would be 7300 days since 1000's death. 20 years…. 1010 felt as if it's mind had been completely altered by that event. Nothing had been the same again, since that day it started… thinking . Actually thinking! About things and about its life like a companion did. It was terrifying. Not only to be able to think about the state of its life but also to replay events in its "mind".
1010 was also alone now. These thoughts and "replays" seemed to catch it most when it was alone. In this “alone state” as it called it, it came up with all manner of questions. Where did the humans go? Why could it not remember where the humans went? Why couldn’t it remember humans if it had supposedly been created before they were gone? How old were they? And how old were the others when they died? 1000 died on day 5,501,010. It knew that. But that didn’t make 1000 15,071 years old. So, what was day 0? No matter what 1010 did, it could not remember day 0 and yet… it felt older than day zero. It felt as if it knew humans and as if it missed them. At least 1000 had felt the same… 1000 had been different. Like how 1010 was different now. They often asked if it remembered the humans, 1010 only answered with a simple “Negative.”
Only once they passed did 1010 realize the answer was affirmative.
Feigning recharge, 1010 watched as the Peacekeeper watching over its recharge stepped out. It was required to have constant supervision these days. Now that it was the last of the P.A.R.12 models, Bordin kept it on a tight leash (sometimes literally) . Bordin was the head of PD99, the police department of Midtown. Bordin was a male companion unlike the companions 1010 observed in the streets, he was without color and without remorse. 1010 had been under his command for as long as it could remember. He wore only his uniform and kept to a very strict schedule. That is why 1010 found it so easy to find moments to stray away from Bordin’s care.
In silence, 1010 disconnected from its charging port and walked to a nearby window, flipping the latch and slowly pulling it open. They wouldn’t miss him for too long, right?
__________
1010 sat muted, crouching in a dark corner on the edges of Midtown just... watching. No one had spotted it crouched among the trash bins, not yet. It had just managed to slip away... just to watch the Companions go about their lives in Midtown. 1010 knew it was only a matter of time before Peacekeepers started looking for it, but it wanted to savor every moment it got away from them.
It had started taking notes on each and every companion it saw in Midtown. The group of punks that often hovered in between the Nightclub and the Residency, the clothing shop owner who hated them, that one companion with the upside down face, etc etc. It was particularly fond of the dragon-headed companion who it often saw being chased by Peacekeepers. Well, they weren’t dragon-headed like 1010 was, they wore a dragon head mask. Perhaps that’s why it was so fond of them.
Suddenly a companion walked past the trash bins, causing 1010 to jump back to look up at this new companion who it had never seen before. Their base color was red and they wore jeans and a peculiar hat. Something about this hat fascinated 1010… It was… familiar. Familiar. It was familiar!
ERROR.
SOMETHING IS WRONG.
MEMORY ERROR. CORRUPTION 74%. REBOOT? Y/
(N)
REBOOT CANCELED. SEEK REPAIR.
The human laughed, smiling wide like they had no trouble in the world. But their face was a blur. Their voice, however, was clear and held a certain twang to it. “Well, it actually comes from the name of an old river…”
And just like that, the replay was gone. Who was that ? That was a human. And that error… It said memory corruption. What happened to my memories? My… It said my. What was happening?!
Subconsciously, it found its hand falling into its pocket and pulling out 1000’s number plate it had managed to keep secret all these years. Slowly, it looked down at the number plate and ran over the lettering with its thumb. The urge came on to turn it around. Why turn it around? There would be nothing there. Still, it did anyway. On the back of 1000’s number plate was etched a little messy picture of the same style of hat that the new companion wore. What.
Suddenly, 1010 was on its feet and approaching the companion on autopilot. It’s voice blasted just as every other Peacekeeper, startling as every robot in the vicinity. “WHO ARE YOU?”
The companion flinched hard and tried to move away, but found 1010 gripping their arm (when did that happen?). “Hey man, I don't want any trouble! I wasn’t doing anything!”
“WHO ARE YOU? IDENTIFY.” 1010 asked again. It felt separated from itself, unable to control its actions anymore. Whatever happened now, happened outside of its control-
Out of nowhere, hands were grabbing him- it and pulling it away from the strange companion. There were voices speaking to it, but it did not understand.
There was Bordin. He was frowning and his screen was red. “1010! You left recharge again ? What is wrong with you??”
He made a frustrated sound, like a burst of static. “And here you are bothering this…” His voice took on a diplomatic and sickeningly sweet tone. “Poor, poor citizen. I’m so sorry for the interruption, sir-”
“WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?”
It was a simple question. And yet, everyone just.. Stopped. Like 1010 had frozen them with its words alone, even Bordin seemed flustered by its question. It found itself liking that reaction. So, it kept speaking. “I REMEMBER.”
Bordin flinched at its words, like they hurt him. Good. Before 1010 could continue on its track, the male spoke. “You are terribly broken, 1010. We need to take you to repair and reboot you.”
“NO MORE.”
Bordin gasped, taken aback and physically took a step away from 1010.
“I DID NOT FORGET 1000. NO MORE.”
And with that, it launched itself at Bordin and latched on to the arm that came up to defend himself from the attack. But it was useless to 1010’s terrible bite. There was a loud sickening crunch as the pressure became too much for the arm and the metal plate cracked. Then, 1010 pulled hard and the arm came off at the shoulder with a clean pop. Dropping the arm, 1010 could barely hear Bordin’s wordless screaming as it realized there was no going back from this. This was it.
Just as a Sentinel’s shot whizzed past its head, 1010 turned tail and ran.
The scenery went past like it never mattered in the first place. 1010 had never run this fast in its entire life. The sirens usually used only for a dire emergency rang out all over Midtown, maybe they were even loud enough to be heard by the Slums. A peacekeeper suddenly stepped in front of it and it barreled into it like a truck, its head hit the asphalt hard enough that it went offline. 1010 kept running.
Abruptly, it came to a wall. Skidding to a stop just mere inches from the concrete. Thinking quickly, it grabbed onto some of the rebar sticking out of the concrete and began climbing.
1010 sat on the edge. It looked down, staring at the slums below from its perch on the wall on the very edge of Midtown. It could hear sirens echoing through the outskirts of Midtown, slowly growing louder and louder. There was nowhere left to run.
This was it.
At least now it would join 1000, where ever they were.
It pushed off.