1. The Stranger

The girl found herself in a theater, and she wasn't entirely sure how she got there. She knew that she had come through the door in the alleyway, and before that she had come from a street, another street, something that looked like a construction site, a dark and dusty room with the word "CORRA" written on the door. Beyond that, everything was too foggy to recall. But she was in a theater now and she was uncertain how to proceed. With no clear direction, her curiosity won out. She walked onto the stage.

The theater was empty. Aside from a few instruments, it looked like most of the equipment had been packed away. By far the most interesting things on the stage were the three motionless figures. They were standing in a line, but they were all slumped over slightly. Upon closer inspection, the girl could see that they were robots, sharply dressed in black and red. The one on the far left was bronze or brass and had an orange mustache, the one in the center was silver and sported a fedora, and the one on the right had a face of partially oxidized copper and a pair of goggles on its hat. The girl concluded that whatever they were for, they must be turned off now.

She continued to walk across the stage when a sudden whirring and clicking sound behind her stopped her in her tracks. She whirled around. The silver robot was standing up straight and had fixed its glowing green eyes on her.

"Excuse me, miss," it said. Its voice was a surprisingly warm and pleasant baritone. "Can I help you with something?"

Perhaps it was the shock of being confronted with a living robot, or the fact that she hadn't eaten in as long as she could remember, or perhaps it was both. Whatever the reason, the girl collapsed in a dead faint.

The Spine took a few steps towards the girl and looked down at her curiously. The first thing almost anyone else would have said is that she was dressed strangely. But this robot had seen over a century and attended a variety of conventions, not to mention having connections in other worlds, so the fact that this girl was wearing something between a lab coat and a dressing gown did not seem at all odd to him. What he did find surprising was a person who was shocked at the sight of a robot. Every now and then a child would seem a little uneasy in their presence, but for a woman to actually faint? Now there was a reaction he hadn't seen in decades.

"Hey, Rabbit, Hatchworth," he called over his shoulder, "Wake up."

The resulting whirring, hissing, and clanking told The Spine that the other two had listened. They had finished the show, met the fans, and packed the gear. The robots decided to power down and take a little rest while the humans went to get a bite to eat, and then it was back home to Walter Manor.

"Hey, w-what's the matter with her?" Rabbit asked curiously.

"I have no idea," The Spine shook his head, "She was just wandering around the stage, and when I asked if there was anything I could help her with, she keeled over like that."

"The Spine, did she suffer a system failure?" Hatchworth chimed in, "Should we start her reset sequence?"

"You can't reset a human, Hatchworth," The Spine explained, "She just fainted. She'll wake up soon. Rabbit, would you get out of her face? If the sight of me made her faint, you'll probably give her a heart attack."

The copper bot had been inching closer and closer to the unconscious girl and was leaning down with his face centimeters from hers. The moment The Spine addressed him, Rabbit jumped back, standing perfectly straight and still as if he had never moved.

"It looks like she's waking up," said The Spine, "You two… try not to be frightening."

Hatchworth and Rabbit dodged behind The Spine and peered around him at the girl. The silver robot sighed. The girl sat up, rubbing her forehead. She flinched as she caught sight of the three robots. The Spine smiled and held up his hands.

"Hey, don't be scared, we aren't going to hurt you," he said gently, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, I think," the girl answered, getting to her feet.

"We should probably introduce ourselves," The Spine began.

Unable to contain himself any longer, Rabbit sprang forward and grabbed the girl's hand, shaking it vigorously.

"Hi! M-my name is Rabbit!" the copper robot grinned.

The Spine cringed inwardly. He was certain Rabbit thought he was giving a friendly smile. In reality, the effect was a little… creepy.

"Um, hi," the girl replied.

"And my name is Hatchworth," the bespectacled automaton volunteered, "You can call me Hatchy, if you like."

"Hello," the girl smiled a little.

"I'm called The Spine," the silver robot said, touching the brim of his hat, "And who might you be?"

"I think my name is Cora," the girl answered hesitantly.

"You think?" said Rabbit, "D-d-don't you know?"

"Everything is very hazy," Cora's brow furrowed.

"Well, is there anything at all you can remember?" asked The Spine, "Like, where you're from, for instance."

"There was a room, and a construction site. Or maybe it was a ruin?"

"Can I guess too, Spine?" Hatchworth asked.

"It isn't a guessing game, Hatchworth. Anyway, it's nice to meet you, Cora. Don't worry, we'll do what we can to help you figure out who you are and where you're supposed to be," The Spine said, although he really wasn't sure how they could help except possibly to take her to the nearest police station.

"I think we may be able to help with that."

They all turned to see who had spoken. The robots froze, their long-disused tactical programming slowly coming back online. There stood two men wearing black suits and green ties and carrying small strange-looking guns. Becile agents. Each robot knew the others were thinking much the same thing. They had tried never to use force after they left military service and they did not want to have to now. But Becile agents were dangerous, and it was serious business for a pair of them to show up without warning.

"What do you want?" The Spine asked.

"You can stand down, Tin Man," one of the agents sneered, "We're not here for you. Just hand over the girl and we'll be on our way."

"You know, I d-d-don't think that's g-going to happen," said Rabbit, his voice uncharacteristically serious.

The second agent, the one who had been restlessly toying with his gun, spoke up.

"Ok, how about this?" he said, "Hand over the girl, or I shoot the one with the mustache."

He raised his gun, and several things happened almost simultaneously. The Spine said, "Wait just a minute-"; Cora took a step forward and said, "No, don't!"; the first agent shouted, "Stop, you fool!"; and the second agent fired. The bullet struck Cora squarely in the chest, knocking her back into Hatchworth's arms. The Spine and Rabbit leapt forward. They quickly disarmed the agents, crushing their guns as easily as if they were tin cans.

"Get out," The Spine ordered.

The agents did not need to be told twice. The Spine and Rabbit turned back to Hatchworth, who was kneeling on the stage with Cora in his arms. The Spine dropped to her side to examine the wound, except… there was no wound. There was a small tear in her clothes where the bullet had hit, and that was all.

"Spine, the bullet bounced off," said Rabbit, holding up a small piece of metal, "L-l-look, it's all crushed."

"I didn't know that humans are bullet-proof," said Hatchworth.

"They aren't," The Spine, "Cora, can you hear me?"

"Ow…" Cora groaned through clenched teeth.

"Are you hurt, Cora?" Hatchworth asked.

"It feels like I've been kicked by a horse, but I think I'm alright. Thank you, Hatchy," Cora said as he helped her to stand, "Who were those people?"

"A b-better question is, how are you still alive?" asked Rabbit.

"Hey guys, what's going on?"

In walked three young men in black jumpsuits accompanied by a pretty girl with white skin, blue lips, and black hair in ponytails. Michael Reed, who had spoken, looked at the robots and the strange girl curiously.

"Becile agents were here," The Spine said.

The humans' expressions turned instantly grave.

"Beciles. Those are the bad guys, right?" asked Matt.

"Right," Steve answered as he picked up the crushed remains of the agents' guns.

"This is Cora," The Spine motioned to her, "Matt, Paige, will you and Hatchworth please take her to the bus? She's coming with us."

"Of course. Come on, Cora," Paige took Cora's hand and led her out.

"Spine, who is she and why are we bringing her with us?" Steve asked as soon as they were gone.

"We don't know," said The Spine.

"And n-neither does she," Rabbit added.

"But the Becile agents were after her," the silver robot continued, "and that's enough for me. The safest place for her is with us. We can figure out what's going on when we get back home."

(Note: Greetings fan-bots, Cavalcadians, and various Kazoolanders! I'm new to the fanmily and it's been years since I've written any fanfiction, so any critiques/opinions of yours would be perfectly lovely. I'm doing my level best not to fly in the face of the established universe, so if you notice anything that seems wildly against canon please let me know and I'll either fix it or explain myself. Characters and ideas related to Steam Powered Giraffe are property of themselves.)