Sighing to herself, Elsa waited on the sidewalk for her taxi to arrive. Her night was a near total disaster. The sleeze had tried copping a feel while they were in the middle of the show and she'd responded by stepping on his foot hard enough to let loose a loud yell. Which then led to him being dragged out by the security bots in the theater. Elsa couldn't enjoy the show anymore after that so she made a quick call and here she was. Standing outside on a cool autumn night listening to the sounds of the city just waking up for the night.
"Come on dude just leave it, totally not worth hauling that pile of junk anywhere. Not even for the spare parts."
"Yeah okay man, I'll leave the damn thing alone."
Elsa turned her head and watched as two scruffy looking teens ambled out of the closest alley, knocking shoulders and laughing at their words. Curiosity crept into her mind and she slowly walked over the entrance of the darkened alley. She waited a few more moments until the youths were far enough away before cautiously entering.
Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness Elsa was just barely able to make out an outline of a body propped against the brick wall. Carefully she crouched down in front of them, trying to get a better look. A flash of headlights slid by the entrance, illuminating the pair for a moment and Elsa was able to make out torn and tattered clothes caked in dirt and grime. Reaching her hand out towards their face Elsa felt cool skin under her fingertips. With a sense of urgency she cupped cold cheeks and lifted gently, wanting to get a better look.
A violent shudder ripped through the body causing Elsa to lean backwards quickly. Sparks arced out across the skin Elsa had just touched, lighting up matted red hair and unfocused teal eyes.
"In-In-In-ating," broken words in a harsh mechanical tone had Elsa reeling in shock. "S-S-S-sss-art up up up." Another shudder had its head jerking to the side. "Two two fi-ive eight-t thr-thr-three alpla aren."
Elsa's eyes widened as she realized this was one of the first AI companions to have been released almost 18 years ago. How this one had survived so long was a mystery to her as most AA models had been destroyed. She reached back towards the AI, gently taking a hold of a limp hand.
"Hey, can you look at me?" As if struck by lightning, teal eyes that glowed ever so slightly now in the darkness, focused immediately onto Elsa's own blue ones. The intensity of the stare had Elsa's heart stuttering in her chest and she squeezed the cold hand. "Are you able to move at all?"
Fingers twitched and legs jerked awkwardly, a piercing whine accompanied the movements. Elsa winced at the sounds and she moved closer to wrap her arm around the slim waist, tugging an arm over her covered shoulders.
"Alright, up you go," pulling upwards Elsa was surprised to find that the AI was light, which was likely a good thing. The whining had turned into a groan as Elsa took most of the weight and slowly she half dragged the shorter AI out of the alley and into the street lights. A loud honk startled the blonde slightly, causing the redhead to slump in her arms.
The yellow taxi flickered it's top light and Elsa realized this was the one she called for earlier. Adjusting her grip Elsa walked them over and opened the side door. Carefully she slid the AI onto the seat, trying to ignore the groans and clicks as she settled the limbs into a sitting position. Climbing in, Elsa gave the driver her address and sat back against the leather seats. The redhead gave another shudder and leaned her head on Elsa's shoulder.
"An-n-na," the quiet rush of static reached Elsa's ears and she smiled slightly.
"Nice to meet you Anna, let's get you fixed up hmm?" she grasped the cool hand in her own, squeezing gently. Perhaps her night wasn't a total waste after all.
"First things first though, you need a bath."
Paying the driver, Elsa carefully lifted Anna out from the back seat wincing still at the grinding and high pitched whines as the AI attempted to help move. Thankfully it was only a short walk up the driveway to her single story home and easier still to slide her fingers over the touchpad to unlock the side door into her garage.
"Lights," Elsa softly commanded as she shuffled them through the door, careful not to knock Anna against the edges. The inside of the garage lit up slowly, flickering on gently as to not blind it's only occupants. Various books and tools lined the white walls of the two car garage, papers strewn haphazardly across a long desk against the back wall.
Walking to the center of the room Elsa gently placed Anna upon the low steel table, making sure the AI stayed sitting up and wasn't in danger of falling over. She reached up to brush matted red hair out of Anna's face, sighing as she finally got a good look at the state of the AI.
Dirt and grime was caked upon lightly tanned skin and red hair tangled with bits of garbage and plant life. She could see that it was partially braided at one point but didn't look like it had been taken care of in quite some time. The 'clothes' that Anna was wearing were little more then rags, she couldn't tell what color the t-shirt was anymore as it was layered with oil and filth. The baggy jeans much in the same state although ripped and shredded. Threadbare socks was the only protection the AI's feet had.
Scrunching her nose Elsa was reminded of the horrible smell. She would have to clean Anna off as best she could with her limited mobility, perhaps wipe off what she could before working on Anna's systems. Crouching down slightly she peered into unfocused teal eyes, heart clenching painfully in her chest.
"Anna, I'll be right back. I'm going to grab some towels to clean you up some before I start fixing you." Eyes flickered in her direction and she almost didn't see the small nod. Elsa gave her a small smile and stood back up.
Turning around she made her way towards the door leading into the house. Soft lights flickered on as Elsa walked down the hallway towards her bedroom, grabbing towels from the bathroom as she passed. In her room Elsa undid the latch to the floor length black dress, letting it fall to the floor in a pile. Sliding her feet out of the simple black high heels Elsa sighed in relief, she was never overly fond of heels in the first place. Rummaging in her closet she pulled out a pair of blue sweatpants and a black tank top, wanting to be as comfortable as possible since she figured she would be working on Anna for quite a while.
Digging deeper into the closet she found a large grey button up shirt, the length reached her knees so she knew it would fit easily over Anna. It would also be easier to cover her with. Quickly changing, Elsa pulled out a few pins from her hair to let the blonde hair fall into it's normal braid.
"What are you doing Elsa…you've brought home a near decrepit old robot," mumbling to herself, the blonde left her room arms full of towels and the shirt. "It could be dangerous, there is a reason the AA's were discontinued," in the kitchen she grabbed a bucket to fill with some hot water. "Something is different though…I just can't put my finger on it."
Sighing heavily Elsa carefully lifted the bucket out of the sink, slowly making her way back to the garage.
Anna was still there, humming and whirring as limbs still tried to move unsuccessfully.
Standing next to the table Elsa placed the towels and water close to the AI, watching as glowing teal eyes tried following her movements. Smiling she picked up a small towel and dunked it into the water. With slow and gentle movements Elsa began cleaning Anna's face, watching as faint freckles began appearing from under the layers of dirt.
Soon she moved from Anna's face to any visible skin; arms, neck, and hands. Murmuring to herself Elsa grabbed a pair of scissors from her desk and began cutting away the clothes, tossing the scraps into the garbage can, intent on burning them later. As more skin was revealed, she couldn't help the faint blush on her cheeks.
Anna was definitely, anatomically, a woman. Even if she was an AI, Elsa wanted to be as respectful as she would be with any other person.
Keeping her eyes averted as best she could, Elsa wiped as much of the grime and dirt as quickly as possible. A full shower and bath would be looked into once Anna could move on her own. A quick glance down and Elsa figured that she did as much as she could. Grasping the shirt she placed Anna's arms through the sleeves and buttoned up the front, fixing the bottom to cover up her lap.
"Okay Anna, lets see about charging you up while I look at your systems. I'm sure that would help you out immensely," a quiet click and Elsa watched as Anna's left arm twitched, a long thin panel opening above her wrist. The blonde was please to see the charging connector was the same as the companion bots of today.
Opening a drawer she pulled out the end of a cable, attaching it to the input slot in Anna's wrist. Switching the power on Elsa jerked back as Anna's body went rigid, head snapping upwards and sitting up perfectly straight on the table. Her eyes began glowing brighter and a quiet hum filled the room.
"Cha-ch-charging," blinking slowly Anna's body relaxed slightly. "A-a-au-uto repair in-in-iniated."
"Whoa, wait, what?" Elsa stood back in front of Anna, watching as the tiny cuts and openings in her skin began to slowly close. "I didn't think AA's could do that…"
"Func-ion err-err-or." Anna's voice wasn't as harsh or mechanical anymore, static remained, but Elsa could just barely hear the soft tone that should be there. "He-hel-p," the shocked blonde stared into desperate eyes and she realized why she brought Anna home with her.
"Pl-plea-ease."
Anna was just as broken as she was, but Elsa knew she could help her.
AN:So really, I should not have started another story. But I had watched Wall-E and this idea kinda niggled into my brain. It's a nice little break from working on Underneath Your Skin, because really, that next update is going to be a monstrosity.
And there is some fantastic art for this from Husk at Crownthedogs on Tumblr. They are totally amazing and did some sketch commissions for this one and for UyS and I'm STILL squealing over how awesome they are.
