'I promise…'
He'll come back…
He promised…
She repeated that in her head over and over, desperately trying to make herself believe it.
But…
It was difficult.
If she had a token for every time she tried to hold onto hope, and that hope died out…
She could play every arcade game in the building a hundred times or more.
It was more upsetting to her that she was the only thing in the building that was still functional.
All her friends…
They deactivated a long time ago.
No amount of fixing could ever get them back to normal.
But…
Unlike them…
Unlike everyone she's ever known that wasn't human…
Her body didn't break down.
It never has.
Not one glitch, not one error…
Even after years sitting in her box, her joints still bend and rotate completely unhindered.
She felt fine, every scan she could run came back positive.
Not even her synthetic skin or suit showed signs of deteriorating.
She was in perfect condition…
From what she could gather from that human and his friend, the friend was looking for something.
Any time a human went into a place like this, they were looking for something of value that may have been left behind.
The only real object of value currently in the building…
Was her…
If that friend had discovered her, he would have taken her to be sold for money…
She scowled.
Humans and their greed…
All they care about is money…
Not all humans are like that though.
But that 'friend' was.
Her scowl disappeared.
This human, the one that found her…
He saved her from being sold off to…who knows where.
A feeling came over her.
One she's never felt before…
As well as a sudden wetness on her cheek.
'Am…am I..crying?'
She didn't feel sad.
People only cry when they are sad.
So why was she crying now?
With this feeling of…happiness?
It felt like happiness, but not joy…
Thinking about that human saving her made her feel this way…
It felt like a good feeling, but it caused tears to run down her face.
She spent a while just sitting and waiting for the feeling to subside.
When it did, she began to think.
She's no longer forced to stay in her box.
She could get out any time she wanted now…
…
What point is there?
Everything is broken and rusted and rotten.
There's nothing to do but walk around the building.
She can't leave the building either…
She's spent so long wishing to be free from her box.
Now that she was free…
There is no reason to be out of her box, other than stretching her limbs.
But she doesn't need to.
Her limbs and joints work just fine.
A sound brought her out of her thoughts.
The sound of rusty hinges moving.
Is it him?
Did he really come back?
Slow footsteps slowly got louder and closer.
She heard shifting right outside of her box.
Then a soft knock.
"Hey…are you still in there?"
That voice…
It's him!
"You really came back…" she responded.
"Heh, yeah. I promised, didn't I?"
"Yes…"
"Can…can you come out?"
She hesitated for a second, then stood up, opening the box.
She laid her eyes on him.
Silence…
"U-um…you aren't any normal robot, are you?"
"I thought that was clear already"
"Yeah…" he looked around, then back at her. "Do…would you like to get out of this place?"
!?
"…what?"
"I can get you out of here…take you somewhere nice"
"But…I can't leave the building"
"Why?"
"Because-…"
She paused.
The mechanisms stopping her from leaving the building are broken.
There was no way they could still be working…
"Hm?"
"I…I was never able to leave…because of something that would shut me down if I tried…but it's no longer operational"
"That you means you are free to leave"
"But…where would I go?"
"I can take you with me"
"…why?"
"Huh?"
"Why would you do that?"
"Would you rather stay here?"
"N-no…but why would you want to take me away from here?"
"Well, you're clearly just as alive as I am, and I'd hate to be stuck here. Plus you're-duh-I-y-you-"
A grin grew on her face as he began to stutter.
"Do you perhaps-" she got into a pose "-see something you like?"
"Something? No. Someone? Yes"
She blinked.
This was the first time anyone has ever referred to her as being a person…
Not 'it' or 'that thing'
"If it's ok with you, I'd like to take you away from here"
"Are you going to keep me?"
"It would be better than leaving you here"
"What if someone sees me?"
"I live alone, my brother visits me occasionally"
"How do you plan to take me?"
"Well…if you don't mind staying in that box a little longer, I can put it in my truck"
"I can do that"
"Ok, it shouldn't be too long"
XXFelixXX
Felix closed the rear door of his truck and caught his breath.
That box is really heavy…
He climbed into the driver seat and stopped just before starting the engine, grabbed his vibrating phone.
"Hello?"
'Hey, where are you?'
"Uh, I'm not home"
'I can see that, dumbass, I'm outside your house'
Uh oh…
"Why?"
'I wanted to go back to that place we checked out last night'
"Well you're going alone then"
'Aww com-'
"No! You dragged me there once already, I'm not going back there again"
'Geez, fine…'
Felix sighed as he started his truck and began to drive.
XXXX
"This must feel strange to you…"
"I have never been…free…like this"
"It's uh…just occurred to me that we don't even know each others names"
"I do not have a name, but they called me the Marionette, or the Puppet"
"Well…do you mind if I give you a name?"
"I don't"
"Ok…how about Mary?"
"It sounds nice"
"Good, my name is Felix"
"So…what happens now?"
"Well…you're free to do whatever you want, you just can't leave the house, someone will see you"
"I don't plan on being seen by anyone but you"
"That's good, I'm going to put your box somewhere in my garage…hiding it will be a bit difficult" he spoke mostly to himself as he walked away.
Mary had a small frown on her face, both disappointed and slightly confused.
She couldn't tell if he was pretending not to notice, or if he was really that ignorant.
She would wait until he came back, then try again.
In the meantime, she looked around the room, seeing lots of things she could identify, but had never actually seen before.
Her programming tells her what things are, and without a second opinion from anyone that actually knows, she has to go along with it.
Like this small, rectangular object on the table beside a couch.
She's never seen that object before, but her program tells her it's a TV remote.
The couch was obvious, as was the table, she's seen those before.
The tables in the restaurant were much bigger than this one though, possessing a decorative sheet over them.
This one was just made of wood, and held a remote and a second object that was producing light.
A lamp, as her program tells her.
She's seen lamps, but this one was not like the ones hanging above the stage.
The couch was like the chairs at the restaurant tables, but longer, and cushioned.
There was a table on the opposite end of the couch, identical to the one in front of her.
That table only had a phone on it, one like the one on the desk in the security office.
The TV was different from the ones she was familiar with, very different.
Instead of being small and box shaped, it was large and flat, being held by a counter with shelves in it.
In the room there were two doors and a hallway, one door was the one they came in through.
The other was yet to be known.
The hallway leads to a few more doors, also yet to be known.
She wanted to explore, to walk around and find things she's never seen.
But she didn't want to possibly go into a place she wasn't allowed to be in.
The front door suddenly opened, Felix had come back.
"Hey, I see you haven't moved an inch" he spoke as he stepped over to her. "You don't have to be afraid to move, you can do whatever you want"
"I was waiting for you"
"Is something wrong?"
"Well, not exactly, but there's just something I want to say"
"Ok, go ahead"
"I wasn't made solely to entertain children"
"That's clear from just looking at you"
So he isn't ignorant, he must be playing hard to get…
"You won't have to do either of those things now, you're free"
"What if I want to do one of those things?"
"Do you really want to go back to being in a box?"
"That's not what I was talking about"
"Wh-oh…oh…uh…I-uh-"
"What's wrong? Do you not like me?"
"It's not that, there's nothing wrong with you…it's me"
"Is there something wrong with you?"
"Heh, well yes and no. I'm fine physically, I just…I'm-"
"I think I understand"
"Huh?"
"You're a virgin"
"Ah-y-yes, but that's not the problem!"
"Then what is the problem"
"I…I just don't know if I can…you know…"
"Is it because I am not human?"
"Ah fuck…m-maybe…"
"So you don't like me…"
"No! That's not what I'm saying, I just…give me some time to think about it…ok?"
Mary stepped over to him and hugged him, pulling his head right into her chest, which may or may not have been intentional.
Making sure that she wasn't holding him too tightly, she won't make that mistake again…
"I never got to truly thank you for freeing me, and for getting me away from that place"
"A-ah, you're w-welcome…"
"You've made me so happy, I don't think it's very fair if I don't do anything for you in return"
"Y-you don't have to do anything…"
"I want to, there is not much I can do, but there is something"
"A-and…what would that be?"
Mary leaned down enough to be close to his ear. "Starting right now, my body is yours~"
"…what?"