Waking up was very disconcerting, when Genos hadn't been expecting to ever do so again. His power core had run out - how could he possibly be waking up?
The cyborg sat up, gasping quietly and holding a hand over his chest. Every movement still ached. A quick self-diagnosis revealed that he was in much the same condition as he had been when he passed out. The only difference was his power, which was at 35% now.
'How..?' Genos shifted further, and then noted that there was something plugged into the bottom of his left leg (which was mostly mechanical compared to his right) in the sole of his foot. He reached forward to tug it out, and paused when something dropped off from his sweaty forehead. It was a sticky note.
Squinting, Genos picked it up and flipped it over to read it.
Patch urself up
Before Genos could ask himself and the mysterious note writer 'with what?', he surveyed his surroundings, and realized he was actually lying on top of an enormous pile of various kinds of scrap. Electronic, mechanical, and even some fabrics thrown in around the bottom.
Genos was baffled. The last thing he remembered was trying to plead for the lives of citizens from Saitama, and then his core's power had failed. Who had found him? Who had brought him here?
There was no way to find an answer except for doing as the note said and repairing himself. Though he wasn't sure how to find the person who brought him-oh, another note on his knee. He picked it up.
P.S room 15C
Oh. Genos glanced around the large room again - it looked more like a lobby, actually, now that he observed it properly. Was this a hotel? No...more likely an apartment complex.
His movement to get up was impeded when he saw a third note on his shin. He repressed a sigh when he picked it up.
P.P.S pls bring charger back
Dutifully Genos wrapped the cord around the adapter and put it carefully in his pocket, before shifting onto his knees and beginning to go through the scrap. This would likely take awhile - best to get started as soon as possible, before more sticky notes could rain from the ceiling or something.
It took approximately 18 hours before Genos finished affixing the last bit of replacement metal sheet over his limbs. He'd found his missing arm amongst the pile, which was a relief - he wasn't sure he would have been able to build an entirely new one. Only Kuseno knew how to do that, and Genos had no idea where he was or if he was still alive.
He still staggered a bit as he walked, but he attributed that to fatigue. His core power was down to 25% now, and he felt he could do with a bit of sleep. And so with the apartment number note in his hand, and the charger in his pocket, the repaired cyborg climbed his way up the first flight of stairs to go thank his rescuer. And possibly get something to eat and drink...his throat felt unbearably raw, and his systems were insisting on him getting something for it to digest and turn into energy.
The stairwell was empty, unsurprisingly, but as Genos passed the first two flights, he couldn't help but notice how quiet it was here. How many people lived here? After all he'd been dumped in the lobby atop a gigantic pile of scrap metal and wasn't disturbed for 18 hours, plus however long he'd been unconscious. Was this complex abandoned? And if so who was living here? Who would live here?
Genos reached floor C and exited the door out onto the balcony. He shielded his biological eye from the evening sunlight, glancing over the railing and freezing in place.
Devastation served as the building's panoramic view, scenes of crumbling, empty buildings and flattened lots filled with nothing but dust and human bones. There wasn't a single sound from the street below, nor any movement. He did a scan for life signs outside the apartment building and came up blank. There was no one in this town.
He swallowed and forced himself to turn his gaze away from the chilling scene, refocusing himself on his current mission. Genos tapped a finger against the charger in his pocket, and began walking down the balcony past the multiple apartments, heading for the one at the end. The cyborg noted the number of doors that were open, a few of them just hanging on their hinges. He stopped to peer into one, and noted that it looked abandoned - blankets and pillows on the couch, some shoes by the door, a few toys left in the hall..but it also looked looted through. The pantry door was ajar, as were most doors on the kitchen cupboards, and both revealed empty shelves.
'This place has been evacuated…' Genos noted, closing the doors and absently gathering up the discarded toys and setting them on the coffee table. 'This family fled in a hurry...did they make it to safety?' It was a question he would never know the answer to, but knowing the statistics he did about the survival rate of disaster victims in this world...maybe it was for the best.
He exited the apartment, shutting the door behind him. His eyes went to the left, where 15C was, at the end of the row. 'So who still lives here? If it has been evacuated, and no one else has returned, then there must be a reason this place is still dangerous.'
Instincts screamed at Genos to flee while he still could, while he was assumed to be still unconscious in the lobby, but he persisted. There weren't many people out there that would willingly assist another like this person had with Genos. It would be valuable to know such an individual, and to show appreciation for what they had done for him. Even if all he could give was a thanks, and a returned phone charger.
Genos was further encouraged by the smell of food coming from underneath the door of apartment 15C. He took a deep breath, released it, and then knocked.
He was barely able to make out a garbled 'It's open!', likely coming from someone with a mouth full of food. Genos tested the handle and found that the dweller's statement proved true. The cyborg entered quietly, respectfully closed the door behind him, and then once again froze.
Saitama leaned his head back (the shininess of it had been the giveaway though Genos valued his life and so would never state that outloud) and gave a wave, slurping up the remaining noodles that hung from his lips. "Hey! You're all patched up? Good. You bring my phone charger back?"
Genos reached into his pocket and pulled out the item in question, walking forward and silently handing it back. He flinched a little when Saitama snatched it, dove for the wall, and slammed it into his phone. " Ah ! Just in time..I was at 1%. Whew.."
The cyborg only grew more tense as the pajama clad nightmare of humanity stood up, brushing off some crumbs from something from his sleeve, and turning around to face Genos properly. He looked him up and down. "Your clothes are a bit torn up still but you're all back to normal besides that, right?"
It took Genos a good couple of seconds before he could force his mouth to move. "Yes."
"Great. Man, you know you were out for.." Saitama scratched at the back of his head in thought, having to go back to his phone to check. "Oh man. Five days?"
That math added up in Genos's head pretty well. Though he had no idea there had been a place for a phone charger in the bottom of his foot. Saitama must have somehow found it himself. The idea was vastly uncomfortable.
"I probably would have forgotten about you if you didn't have my phone charger. I went down there a few times to borrow it for a bit." Saitama sat back down on his couch, picking up his bowl of noodles from the floor. "I was pretty sure you were dead at first, but then your…" Saitama made a vague gesture at Genos's chest, causing the cyborg to flinch again. "..thingy started glowing again. So I guess you probably just needed a lot of time. Do you usually charge up with a..?" He pointed at his phone.
Slowly Genos shook his head. "...no...sleeping allows my power core to recharge. Just not when my power reaches zero.."
"Oh." Saitama tilted his head. "You sleep?"
"Yes. I am still human."
"Not mostly though. Right?"
Genos briefly clenched his jaw. "I still have an organic brain, which requires sleep." This entire scenario was becoming surreal. He was having trouble connecting this casual, striped-pajama wearer to the powerful, city-destroying menace that his optic was repeatedly informing him of. The warning alert that Genos had programmed his system to give whenever the man was in sight was becoming annoying now, and he silently deactivated it so his headache wouldn't get any worse.
"Oh."
Genos stayed standing where he was, eyes fixated on Saitama and not blinking - he couldn't dare.
Saitama grimaced, eyes narrowing a bit. "Would you quit that? You're creeping me out."
"...quit what?"
"Staring at me like that."
"..."
"...oh. I get it." Saitama smirked a little and leaned back on the couch. "You're waiting for me to like..punch you through the floor or something, right?"
Genos didn't respond.
Saitama waved his hand dismissively. "No. I like this apartment. I wouldn't wreck it like that."
"..I see."
Saitama rolled his eyes, sticking the last forkful of noodles into his mouth. He'd found Genos's avoidance of monologues a nice refresher from heros that usually talked his ear off, having a higher chance of boring him to death than by beating him in combat. But a minimalist was apparently just as dull.
'Ugh. I don't know what I was thinking...this guy isn't being interesting at all. He's just standing there, staring at me like he's apparently been doing for the last five years. Maybe I should just take him to the balcony and-'
"May I.." Genos began, pausing and glancing to the side before continuing. "...may I please have something to eat?"
Saitama blinked. "...you eat too?"
"Yes."
"...huh. What about drinking? Do you need water too?"
"Yes."
"And you've been out for five days! Sheesh, how are you alive?" Saitama got up, wandering into his kitchen and trying to find a clean glass.
"I don't need sustenance as often as a…'full human'." Genos turned to keep watching Saitama, not sure how to feel about the fact that Saitama seemed genuinely concerned about his 'guest' - Genos wasn't sure what other word to use to describe himself in his current situation.
"That's pretty convenient, since you'd be dead otherwise." Saitama was forced to rapidly scrub out a cup from the pile in the sink, rinsing it a few times and then filling it and handing it to Genos. "There."
"Thank you." Genos took the mug and drank quickly enough that Saitama decided to turn the tap back on and step aside, gesturing Genos to his sink to refill as many times as he needed while he rooted around in the pantry for something to feed him.
It took a whole minute at the sink, doing nothing but refilling and drinking, before Genos satisfied his thirst. He wiped his mouth and set the cup aside when he finished, turning to Saitama and giving a small bow with his head. "Thank you."
"..yeah." Saitama eyed him, and then awkwardly held up an instant noodle bowl. "..you know how to make these?"
"Yes. I've learned to cook all sorts of meals." Genos nodded, accepting the bowl and peeling it open.
"Great. You're making breakfast tomorrow then." Saitama informed him, wandering off back to the living room and flumping down on his couch again. "Hope my phone has a decent charge by now…"
Genos stared after him, baffled by the proclamation/order. He was expected to stay the night?
A low core power notification from his system reminded him that he was running low, and Genos doubted he would get far enough away to be safe before his power ran out. Silently he resumed cooking the small meal, overriding his system to allow him to stay awake past 25% power, as he had in his fight with Saitama. Hopefully this time he wouldn't lose power completely before he could get to bed.
Saitama peered at him from time to time over his phone as Genos cooked the noodles, eating them quickly but not requesting anything else after. Whether that was because it was all he needed as a cyborg or because he was too polite or scared to ask for more, Saitama wasn't sure - but it'd be interesting to wait and see how long it would take Genos to ask him for more food, or if he'd just wait until breakfast.
"..so.." Saitama began, unable to help a small, mischievous smirk when he saw how the sudden interjection of his voice made Genos jump a little. "Since you apparently sleep, you can take the couch tonight. It's only a one bedroom apartment so.."
Genos, who had been standing stock still with his head turned just enough to watch Saitama out of his optic, nodded slowly. "Thank you."
"Yep." Saitama got up, taking his phone charger and current manga comic with him as he strolled down the hall to his room. "Sleep well!" He chirped, giving a slight bap to Genos's shoulder with his comic and snickering a little to himself at how much that made the cyborg jump.
Yeah. This would be decently amusing. For now.