V walks into the bar area.
"Wave." You say as V enters. "Hello, V," .
V looks at you with a small smile and drops a rag on the counter. "Hi, Y/N."
Cyn takes the rag. "Grab." She then starts wiping down the counter.
There is a moment of silence between you three.
"She/he is copying me," says Cyn, breaking the silence, an unamused expression on her face.
V sighs and rolls her eyes. "Really?"
"I've been copying you for two months, and you say that like you're just now realizing that?" You ask, tilting your head.
Cyn's face turns into a smirk. "Oh, please. I was just joking." Her expression quickly becomes unamused again. "Also J is approaching."
V snatches the rag from Cyn and goes to a table to start wiping it down.
Cyn glares at V. "Angry!"
"Just you see, they're probably doing nothing," you hear J's voice say. You don't even need to look to know she's got that smug smirk plastered on her face.
You try to resume sweeping but your hand jerks causing you to drop the broom. You try to grab it, but the motion is too fast. You miss, and the broom clatters to the floor.
"Ugh," you mutter under your breath, feeling the pressure rise. Pick it up, pick it up, pick it up...
With another awkward twitch, you manage to lean down, eyes fixed on the broom as you struggle to grab it again.
You finally get a grip, and with a stiff, jerky movement, you stand up, holding the broom. Your head jerks as you force yourself to stay still. You can do this.
The sound of footsteps grows louder, doing little to ease the tension in the room. But luckily, the three of you weren't caught. J paused by the room, along with an unfamiliar human in a mechanic's clothing.
J's glare sweeps over the room. "Hmph."
Cyn was rearranging glasses, V was wiping down tables, and you were sweeping the floor, quietly muttering "sweep" as quietly as you possibly could.
The unfamiliar human stands near the entrance, glancing around the bar area. His eyes briefly meet yours, and for a moment, you freeze. You quickly look down at the broom again, mentally scolding yourself for even thinking that they wouldn't have noticed your malfunction.
Cyn, still fiddling with the glasses, notices the new human. "Awkward glance."
"Are any of them the defective drone we're supposed to shut down?" The human asks.
The three of you glance at J with wide eyes.
J sighed sharply. "They're probably in the laundry room. Now hurry up. I'm tired of R tearing everything apart!"
J and the mechanic walk away
You and V sigh in relief. "Relieved sigh," Cyn says at the same time.
You grip the broom a little tighter, your joints locking up as your processors race. Shut down?
Your visor flickers.
V looks just as tense, her hands gripping the rag she was using. Even Cyn seems oddly still.
Shut down.
That could've been you.
That still could be you.
"Well," Cyn finally says, tapping her fingers on the counter. "That was unpleasant."
"Understatement," V mutters. She adjusts her glasses, but her visor flickers slightly, betraying her unease.
You swallow down the static clogging your circuits. "They said... the laundry room. That means... someone's getting shut down right now."
V hesitates before nodding slowly. "Y-Yeah..."
Cyn tilts her head. "Curious. Do you intend to stop them, Y/N?"
Your hands twitch. Stop them? How? What could you possibly do?
You weren't careful like N. You weren't respected like J, and you weren't fast like V.
You were just... you.
A defective, glitching mess.
But...
Your fingers tighten around the broom.
"I..." You hesitate.
V looks at you, concern flickering in her visor. "Y/N...?"
You take a shaky step forward. "I... I have to go see."
Cyn blinks. "Brave."
V looks between you and the hallway J disappeared down. She shifts nervously. "Y/N, wait... if they see you-"
You hesitate again, but then shake your head. "I... I'll be careful."
V doesn't argue, but her posture is tense.
Cyn shrugs. "Sheepish nod. If you return in pieces, I call dibs on your broom."
You sigh, but you can't help a small smile. "Noted."
Then, before you can second-guess yourself, you turn and slip out of the bar, heading toward the laundry room.
:>
"Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, shuffle..." You hear Cyn say behind you.
"Shhh..." You hear V say behind you.
Your head jerks as you look behind you. V and Cyn are following behind you. Cyn is hiding behind V. V slowly walks to your side.
"You're coming too?" You ask.
V nods. "Yeah."
With a nod, Cyn says, "Curious."
Okay then. "Let's go."
As the three of you walk down the hall, you pass by an open doorway. Yet, none of you stop.
Cyn tilts her head. "Curious. That was the laundry room."
You and V both freeze mid-step.
There's a beat of silence before all three of you simultaneously turn your heads back toward the door.
V sighs. "Oh. We walked right past it."
Cyn nods. "Yes. We are very intelligent. Also, that was sarcasm."
Before you can respond, you hear a familiar, cheerful voice.
"Hey, guys!"
You all turn to see N standing nearby, holding a book in one hand. He closes it and tilts his head. "What are you doing?"
"We're... uh..." You hesitate.
"We're going to the laundry room," V answers simply, adjusting her glasses.
N brightens. "Oh! To see what kind of mess R made?"
Cyn nods. "Would you like to come, big brother N?"
N doesn't hesitate for a second. "Sure! I like doing anything!" He tucks his book away and happily joins your little group.
You shake your head but smile slightly. "Alright, let's actually go in this time."
With that, the four of you turn back toward the laundry room-this time, actually entering it-ready to see just what kind of damage R has done.
ns 15.158.61.42da2
