AN – Some notes to drive you crazy:
It's set after the first film, probably about two weeks after the characters leave for Montana (though when I first started writing this there was no plot so the consistency of this statement may not be right, but I'll try to catch those out before I post).
I've added a lot of non-canon bits to this, so don't expect things to be accurate to the films. For a start, the name 'Johnny' hasn't been thought up yet, so the robot is still called Number Five. You'll find out later why I did that. ;)
The robot is less human, or at least I tried to make him like that and he never once says 'input' in this D: oh mai gawd his addiction is gone! No, but he's a little bit more insecure about other things instead.
Oh and this fic is mostly about the relationship between Number Five and Newton. Next chapters will be a bit longer.
"I was reluctant to come back, you know."
The robot glanced up. Its multifunctional eyebrows twisted around in confusion. It did not understand why Newton said this; he had blurted it out rather randomly. Number Five was sure it had not missed any conversation, even if its mind had been completely preoccupied deciding what it wanted to do after completing this tedious assignment with Newton. Did it want to play with the dogs or pester its human friends for some attention when it got back to the house?
It really liked exploring its new surroundings, either by itself or with company, however it had not spent much alone time with Newton for the simple reason that it did not enjoy his companionship much. The man was a scientist, and Number Five now had it drilled into its altered programs that scientists were dangerous people, especially since it had unexpectedly gained consciousness in a military laboratory, and then was almost destroyed by the same people that had spent so much money and time creating it. It had been a lucky escape, with the help of young woman by the name of Stephanie, and this very man walking along beside it; yet still it found it difficult to trust him.
"Hmm?" it questioned.
"To Montana," he added hastily. Newton almost tripped on a loose stone on the forest floor and flailed his arms comically.
Number Five snickered at this; its laughter was closer to a hiss of static then the noises humans made as they expressed their amusement. Tripping or falling was almost impossible for it; only if someone deliberately pulled the robot down or if it shifted its body in a specific way could it fall on level ground, not that it was likely to allow anyone to do such a thing without good reason.
Newton glared at it. The robot gazed back, completely unfazed, knowing that it still frightened the man ever so slightly. "Was that because I got you to carry all the wood?"
"What was?" it asked. Newton was not explaining himself properly.
"Oh forget it," he snapped. He stormed out of the forest, leaving the robot standing with its arms full of blocks of firewood.
Number Five watched Newton's figure disappear into the light. It knew it had upset the man, it just did not know how, nor had it done so deliberately. It stood for a few minutes trying to process what had just happened, but did not reach any useful conclusion other than emotions were much harder to understand than mathematical functions.
It did not dwell on the thought for too long because it was, no - they, were supposed to gather firewood for Stephanie. But now the robot was worried about what she might think of Newton's absence since she had suggested they go together in 'an effort for them to get to know one another', and they had clearly failed that mission. Nevertheless it trundled back to hand over the wood, its ideas of playing with the animals or badgering anyone were completely wiped from its memory.