A/N: First Chapter! ;D Wonder what Jailbot's human form will look like? Let's find out!
Human
Ch. 1 "Cold"
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I heard noises, voices that sounded so familiar, yet strange. Strange, like I was hearing with new receptors or…ears?
The voices grew louder, and I could make out the scruff German sound of the Doctor explaining things to my Father's very own sing-song tone.
At this I began to reboot my visual sensors. I felt the small intricate gears of then spinning, but there was still dark?
Was there a malfunction? Had the upgrade gone wrong?
Suddenly I felt a bright light hit my vision, and I then understood.
Eyes? Yes…I had eyes. This meant I had eyelids, which explained the darkness.
I experimentally blinked a few times, these new eyes beginning to focus.
The voices stopped, and I saw that they were staring at me. Father had a mad smirk on his face, the unsettling genius within finally showing itself in small glimpses that the staff so rarely saw.
Father reached a hand out and cupped my face in his hands. They felt warm, as they usually did, but the feeling of them on my own flesh seemed a slightly unwelcome change.
I looked into his eyes, through the think orange-yellow frames of his coke-bottle glasses to see that they were intensely focused on my face. I saw pride in those eyes.
Was Father proud of me? The new me?
Excitement welled up in me like never before, like the emotions that I possessed were somehow more intense than in my metal shell, that this seemingly little thing meant the world to me.
"Jailbot, I know you're awake. C'mon, stand up, try it out!" he urged lightly, still smiling like a fox.
Hesitantly, I leaned forward, reaching out my arms and pulling myself onto unsteady legs. I stumbled for a moment, wobbling around as I attempted to make a few shaky steps.
My weight shifted slightly, and I suddenly clutched my shoulders feeling a cold breeze hit me.
"There we go buddy." Father urged. "You're doing great."
I stumbled forward again, walking on legs that were shorter than I expected them to be.
Something white fell in my face and a jumped in surprise. Father giggled at the childish action, before brushing my hair out of my eyes.
Another cold breeze hit me and I staggered into his upper body, leaning on Father as I struggled to find my balance.
I looked at my arms, as they clutched my torso trying to protect my new form from the cold. They were a porcelain white color, not the natural skin tone of Father, or the others.
I also then realized why I was so cold. The breeze in the lab hit my bare skin, and I hadn't a scrap of clothing to shield this new body from the cold.
I cuddled against Father, who simply chuckled and pat my snowy hair.
He removed his tailcoat, and placed it around my shoulders. It was very large on me, and I wrapped myself in it as best as I could.
"You can speak with this body, you know." He urged.
I looked at him questionably. I understood what he meant, but…I had never needed to speak. I was perfectly capable of letting others know exactly what I was feeling, or what information I had gathered without the use of a voice.
"Why start now?"
The sound of my voice shocked me, and I immediately placed a hand over my mouth in surprise.
The Warden's smile vanished at the comment, it not being the response that he was expecting.
He gripped my thin white shoulders tightly, looking deep into my eyes. I felt my heartbeat (I had one of those now too?) rise and my own eyes widen as my face heated up from the embarrassment of my outburst.
Father had a way of looking right through someone, almost as if he'd stabbed you through the torso with the point of his cane.
"If you are unhappy with my modifications Jailbot, I can certainly make a place for you among the ashes of your siblings." He said in a frighteningly cheery voice.
I nodded shakily, burying myself further into Father's stomach, silently apologizing.
"Good. Now then, c'mon little buddy, I bet you want to see yourself!" he continued.
The Doctor smiled triumphantly. "Yesh, yesh, you really ought too! I tzink I did a vonderful job on your face, it took forever!"
Hesitantly, I pulled away from Father, attempting to walk to where I knew the mirror in the lab was.
My short legs were awkward and stiff, but after the third or forth step, I began to feel the pattern of movement and persisted to walk until the mirror was in sight.
When I finally saw myself I froze.
Why…I was only a child! I looked to be no more than eight to ten years old!
I whirled around to look at Father questionably, where I found him laughing to himself quietly at my reaction.
"Silly Jailbot! Your face is priceless right now!"
I sent him a look as if to ask 'Why?'.
"Well to humiliate the inmates of course! What could be more humiliating to an inmate than to be defeated and kept in line by a mere child! It's perfect!" he smiled.
I understood Father's reasons. After all, my sadistic creator was a man who often vocalized his love for the torture that would befall the pathetic rejects of society the dwelled in his Superjail.
I wouldn't dare question him, fully knowing that his care for me was only skin deep.
…?
W-What was that? That sudden…pang of hurt? Sadness? But why?
I quickly shrugged the surge of emotion off, before looking back in the mirror again.
So I looked like a child. A child with snowy white hair, cut evenly into a bowl-like style. My skin was indeed porcelain white, while my nails were a stern silver.
The only color that I possessed were my eyes, which looked emerald green as they curiously examined my own reflection.
I looked quite innocent, and for a moment I felt almost as if I couldn't hurt a fly.
I giggled lightly at the thought, before turning to Father and walking back to him, hugging his waist lovingly.
He wrapped his arms around my small shoulders, before patting my hair affectionately.
"Thank you, Papa." I said happily.
The Warden pulled away from me, looking at me again. This time the glare caught his eyeglasses, so his expression was unreadable.
He smiled and patted my hair again.
"You're welcome Jailbot. Now c'mon, let's retire for the evening. It's gotten quite late." He said happily.
He kept a hand on my shoulder as I followed him back to his room the walk taking longer than usual due to my new legs slowing us down.
Upon our arrival I was at a loss of what to do. I had completed the nightly ritual that Father and I followed, of dressing him into his nightclothes, folding his suit and cleaning up whatever was out of place in the lavish room.
He smiled and pat my head once more before getting into bed curling up under the thick comforter and pillows. A large yawn filled the room as I calmly watched him begin to succumb to sleep.
I was now at a bit of a loss, walking to the door only to realize that I was still bare, having put away the Warden's tailcoat in the closet.
Would I be scolded to take a nightshirt or two? …Probably.
I was tired as it was, but knew that sleep wouldn't be comfortable in the cold. What was a robot to do?
So I now found myself walking down the semi-frigid halls of Superjail to Jared's office, which connected with a small room hidden only by a semi-discreet door.
Jared may have been a pathetic excuse for a human, but he was one of the few inhabitants of Superjail that was not perfectly at home with all the torture that went on here.
I hesitantly knocked on the door, only to receive a startled "Eep!" in surprise before the door was unlocked to reveal a very much awake accountant.
Sweat dripped from his brow as he seemed more shaken than he usually did.
An awkward silent ensued as I simply stood there looking at him.
"Umm…J-Jailbot? Is that you?" He guessed cautiously.
I nodded, holding myself still trying to escape the cold.
"You look…different. More different than I thought the upgrade would look…" he began, stepping aside and letting me in.
I nodded once more, shivering slightly as the breeze from the closing door hit me.
"Let me guess, the Warden hasn't given you any clothes, has he?" he guessed.
I looked up at him again, not needing to nod. Jared frowned, and looked at me with sympathy. The short man guided me through the door to his room, before rooting through a simple closet and pulling out a few clothes.
I curiously picked them up, examining the pair of gray sweat pants and white tee shirt. The material was soft, and I was happy to put them on. Once clothed, I politely thanked him with a quiet, "Thank you." Before turning to take my leave.
"You're not going back to the supply room where your docking station is right?" he asked, as I stood by the door to the hall.
I nodded to him, where else would I go?
"You have an outlet charger don't you?" he continued.
What was he getting at? I shifted up the shirt a little bit to reveal a small pad of buttons, something I'd noticed but hadn't overlooked. I figured it controlled the attachments that I had now.
I pressed a button labeled simply "Charger" and felt a small cord begin to potrude from my side. It was a strange feeling, almost like growing another limb at will.
I held up the plug, pulling it a little to lengthen the cord.
"Why don't you stay with the Warden in his room or something? I mean, you shouldn't sleep on the floor all by yourself, you'll catch a cold." He urged.
I looked at him stupidly.
"I can't get sick. I'm still a machine." I replied quietly. I didn't much fancy talking, it was strange and I still felt that I didn't need to vocally communicate.
Jared smacked his forehead in embarrassment.
"Yeah, err, yeah, you're right. Just go, I'll see you tomorrow." He shuffled nervously before closing the door.
I cracked a smile. Jared was such a mess of a human. My now less-stiff legs carried me to the supply closet, where my old docking station sat in a dusty corner next to a few mops and janitorial supplies.
I walked over to it, pulling out my plug again and plugging it into the wall. The surge of energy I felt was warming to my cold form as I sat down, on the floor, before curling up into the corner.
I let my systems switch to sleep mode before succumbing to a much needed rest.
/
A/N: Yo! DAMN that was long. I'd like to thank my two reviewers! :D They just made my day!
The reason the Prologue is so short is because it's simply a prologue. My chapters usually very anywhere from one to four thousand words. I like to keep them long, but not unreasonably so. Also, if there are any shifts in POV I apologize, that's mainly because I don't usually write in first person…
Thank you very much for your support.
