Chapter 24: A Machine's Melancholy

Phil's walk home was pleasant. The sun was shining bright, the breeze was rattling his torso in a pleasantly rhythmic motion, and the wildlife decided to leave him alone for once.

Historically, he had been attacked by random animals during his treks throughout the island. Be they deer, boar, or some variant of rodent. They always liked to pull on his limbs for some reason.

Phil decided that he had been exploring enough for the time being and opted to return home. His YoRHa companions had satisfied his curiosity for the time being. Now, he wanted to see his mansion and butler once again.

The grasslands mercifully had dried from the rain the previous days weather. It was only when Phil reached the canyon that he noticed the muddy terrain.

He looked at the mud with displeasure.

He was never much of an outdoorsy machine. The grit and grime often get inside his body, clank against his insides and grind against his internal machinery. Substances like mud were capable of grinding a joint to a halt.

So with a careful and calculated hop, he jumped over a mud puddle with glee and began the climb up the stairway to his abode.

His courtyard was still a mess from when the YoRHa androids first visited him. There was still the broken spear and spots of mysterious red liquid.

Phil frowned internally. He figured his butler would have cleaned that. He would need to give him a stern talking to.

He approached the front door and attempted to open it.

Locked.

Phil quickly knocked furiously for a brief moment before turning around, gauging the state of his mansion.

It wasn't as clean as he had hoped. Logically, this could have meant a few possible scenarios…

As the door creaked, Phil whipped out his pair of axes and took a battle stance. Prepared for an intruder to greet him.

Alas his butler, suprissed by the aggression, stood at the door. "Master Phil! A pleasent surprise. Please, enter." he stepped aside and gestured his returning master in.

Phil slowly replaced his axes on his back and entered his abode. The butler guided Phil back to his study.

"SERVANT, WHY IS MY MANSION IN DISREPAIR?" the machine inquired.

"Many apologies, Master Phil, however we had the most curious guest appear in the recent hours. I hadn't been able to finish my duities."

Phil stopped in his track, "GUEST?"

The machine began stomping his foot furiously on the ground, "A GUEST WAS ALLOWED INTO THE MANSION WITHOUT PHIL'S APPROVAL!?"

The butler appeared surprised, "Many apologies Master Phil, I was under the impression you were aware. As he seemed already familiar with the mansion and was an acquaince of yours as well."

"IT WAS NOT THE YORHA ANDROIDS?"

The servant shook his head, "Alas not. I haven't seen them since they were here last."

"FOOLISH SERVANT. IF PHIL HAS NOT ALLOWED THE GUEST INSIDE BEFORE, WHY WOULD PHIL ALLOW THE GUEST IN NOW!?" Phil continued stomping down the hall towards his study.

Screwing his face, both in realization and confusion, rge servant bowed, "Again, my apologies, Master Phil."

Phil barged into the library almost defiantly, "ATTENTION, GUEST! STATE YOUR BUSINESS AND BE GONE!"

The machine did a double take, as in front of his desk, on the visitor side, sat what he initially thought to be another machine. The head was certainly round enough to fit the bill. But as it turned around, everything in his body froze.

"YOU… ARE FAMILIAR?" Phil cocked his head.

"Huh?" the figure also cocked his head in kind.

It was then Phil recalled the guest in question. It was Emil. The lone head that was wondering the village. The same one that Thea had intercepted and hashed out some sort of conflict with the local barkeep.

On querying about thte interaction, Thea dismissed the head as "A strange fellow." whom Phil, "Didn't have to worry about." clearly, this was a logical fallacy.

Something was different, however. Emil was no longer a lone head. Instead, it was slouched on a short body of some kind. Regardless of it's origin, it was obscured by a ragged cloak. The material was familiar to him as it was the same worn by the village dwellers.

"Oh. Hello there!" a hand belonging to a damaged android exoskeleton peeked out from under the cloak, waving.

"THE GUEST… USES AN ANDROID BODY?" Phil points almost accusatory.

"Hrm? This?" Emil looks himself over, "Well- Sort of." he sounded like there was an exhaustive story behind it. "There's a ditch full of these things over by the field of rocks on the other side of the canyon."

This left Phil curious, but ultimately it was something to pursue later.

"FOR WHAT REASON IS GUEST IN PHIL'S ABODE?" Phil stepped around the table, stomping down onto his chair authoritatively.

"I have a name, you know?" Emil slumped before extending a hand, "Emil."

Phil waved his own hand dismissively, "SURE SURE. EMIL. FOR WHAT REASON IS EMIL IN PHIL'S ABODE?"

"Oh. I saw this place while wondering around. I dunno why, but I guess I was just drawn to it." Emil looked around as he spoke, mezmarized by the space.

"SUSPICIOUS…" Phil grumbled.

"Better question, why are you here?" Emil asked to machine, leaning in.

Phil blinked. Why was he there? Was there much of a choice on his part? Before the YoRHa androids appeared, he'd never seen Emil before.

"PHIL WAS BUILT HERE. THAT IS ALL." he said, picking up a random book on the desk and inspecting it.

"Built here?" Emil sounded dumbfounded, "Oh. Right, you're a machine." he nodded along. "You were built on this island?"

"CORRECT."

"Wouldn't you want to leave, though?"

Phil paused for a beat, as if the answer was so obvious it must have been rhetorical. Ultimately, he gave in and humored the guest, "HOW DOES GUEST ASSUME PHIL WOULD LEAVE?"

Emil shrugged, as if he had forgotten where they even were, "You're not wrong. But surely you're crafty enough to come up with something, right?"

The more the idea floated in Phil's mechanical head, the more appeal began to latch onto it. See the world… A world beyond the island?

It was why he was helping the YoRHa androids originally, wasn't it? Although, that hope was dashed once he heard about YoRHa's fate.

A fate instilled by machines…

A fate instilled by… Him?

Phil shook his head, he hadn't heard of YoRHa before the androids arrived at his doorstep. His mind wondered back to something Thea had mentioned…

The Machine War. Something Phil also only just heard of. It was strange, him and others like him being so far removed from their own kind that such dramatic events were foreign concepts.

Not that it mattered. Because it didn't. Not really.

With all of this in mind, Phil finally mustered a response, "PHIL WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE WORLD. BUT, PHIL IS INCAPABLE."

Emil slumped, seemingly saddened. It was difficult to discern his emotions based on expression alone, given his face was frozen in its shape.

"That's sad…" he said, sheepishly vocalizing his emotions, "If you want to see the world, you should be able to. Yeah?"

"WHY DOES GUEST KEEP ASKING PHIL QUESTIONS? ESPECIALLY WHEN PHIL DOES NOT HAVE THE ANSWERS?" Phil huffed, placing a book down in front of him.

"Sorry, I just figured that you must be bored being stuck in this mansion all of the time." Emil looked again at the room surrounding them. "It's strange, though… There's something… Comforting about this place."

Phil nodded in agreement, "INDEED. PHIL HAS STAYED HERE FOR A LONG TIME. THE SERVANT ALSO ASSISTS IN MAKING THIS PLACE FEEL… HOMEY."

"Well, at least you're not alone out here, right?" Emil shrugged.

"PHIL AGREES. BEING ALONE WOULD BE TIRESOME. DESPITE HOW MUCH SERVANT FRUSTRATES PHIL."

"Frustrates?" Emil leaned forward, "He seems nice! What's so frustrating about him?"

"SERVANT MAKES INCORRECT ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT PHIL. AS IF SERVANT BELIEVES HE KNOWS PHIL ALREADY. BUT HE CLEARLY DOES NOT." Phil crossed his arms as he leaned back in his chair.

"Huh." Emil rubbed the vauge are where his chin could be, "This mansion was here before you, right?"

Phil shrugged, "PERHAPS."

"Then maybe he had someone else he took care of. Before you."

Phil pondered the thought. The servant? Taking care of another? It seemed possible. But he mentioned no such person before. Maybe he served an android or two before Phil claimed the building? It was also possible. Exciting even!

"PHIL WOULD NEED TO ASK SERVANT." he tapped his chin, curiously.

"It's kinda sad, isn't it?" Emil blurted.

The machine looked up to Phil.

"I mean, having your life dedicated to serving someone else exclusively. Sounds like it would get boring, wouldn't it?"

"PHIL DOES NOT UNDERSTAND. SERVANT SHOULD BE HONORED TO SERVE PHIL!" Phil stood on his chair and posed dramatically.

Feeling the energy, Emil mirrored the pose, "But what if he has aspirations outside of the mansion!" Emil declared, ramping up the drama in his voice, "What if he-" He pointed to the sky, "Wants to see the world!"

Phil starred at the point of Emils decrepit finger. The reflection of the afternoon sun glinted and made it almost sparkle. Something about it was memorizing.

"PERHAPS," The machine hesitated, calculating his next words carefully, "PHIL DOES WISH TO ESCAPE THE ISLAND."

"PERHAPS!" he pumped his fist, "PHIL AND HIS SERVANT CAN SEE THE WORLD TOGETHER!"

"That's the spirit!" Emil raised his voice, matching the machine's energy. Before slumping back down on the chair.

"Well," Emil stood up, stretching his presumably newly acquired limbs, "This was fun! But I should be going. Thanks for the chat, Phil!"

"HRM?" Phil broke his pose before waving him away, "YES YES. GOOD DAY."

As Emil exited the room, Phil was left in thought. Something about Seeing the world! Clung to him like a bug. A bug that made him desire to know more. Before he could even think, he found himself following Emil through the halls.

CRUNCH

Emil stopped. Near the entrance to the hallway. He had stepped on something.

Looking down, it was glass. Glass now in shards under his alloy-laiden feet. The glass surrounded a small side table. Something meant to display some sort of vase or something of high class or value.

He didn't know how he recognized this, human concepts were just as foreign to him as they were to YoRHa… Right?

On top of the table, a largely illegible picture sat in a worn down frame. The deep maroon paints that once complimented the very wood it stained was now chipping and faded. The image inside was no longer being shielded by a full slate of glass. Only its edges clung to the wood like a stubborn baby tooth.

Emil blinked. The image was… peculiar. Two short people, likely children, and one towering over them. Their features were lost to time but… Something about it bothered him.

Phil finally caught up. He looked between the picture he was starting at and Emil himself. "IS THE IMAGE THAT INTERESTING?"

"Huh? What?" Emil jerked his head around, before fixing on Phil. "Oh. Yeah. I guess."

"Say," Emil began, a sudden thought crossing his mind, "Do android have siblings?"

Phil blinked. Sibblings? Machines? The idea was preposterous! Absurd! Laughable!

Although, the more he thought about it…

"PHIL DOES NOT FULLY UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF A 'SIBBLING'." he mused, loudly, "BUT FOR SOME REASON, PHIL THINKS OF YORHA ANDROIDS THEA AND HIVES."

"You don't say?" Emil picked up the picture frame, inspecting it quizzically.

"SIBBLINGS IS A FAMILIAL TERM, IS IT NOT?" the machine inquired.

"Yeah." Emil nodded, still fixated in the image, "I guess, it doesn't need to be in the traditional human sense."

Emil tightened his grip, "Just… Somewhere… Or someone that feels like…"

"HOME?" Phil interrupted.

"Yeah." Emil nodded, "Exactly."

"PHIL BELIEVES THIS TO BE APPROPRIATE TO ANDROIDS AS 'FAMILY' AS WELL AS PHIL'S MANSION AND BUTLER."

Emil shrugged, "Makes sense to me!" he put the picture down. It wasn't clicking, whatever was pricking at his mind. Maybe another day.

Exiting to the main foyer, Phil guided Emil to the door. The butler awaiting.

"It's been a pleasure, Mister Emil." the butler bowed.

"Gee," Emil scratched his head, "Thanks!" he was sure he'd be blushing, if he was physically able.

"PHIL DEMANDS YOU RETURN. WHEN PHIL DESIRES GUESTS." the machine commanded. His mind swam with ideas of a meeting between himself, Emil, and the androids.

Emil waved as he exited the mansion. Satisfied with his brief visit.

Phil, on the other hand, still felt a strange emptiness. A yearning for something more. He didn't know exactly what, but he knew. Those androids had to be the key.

He receeded into his abode. Preparing for his next adventure.