Disclaimer: Ratchet and Clank and all related characters, locations, and concepts belong to Insomniac Games. All other ideas and characters are my own. I am not a lawyer.

Author's Note:

Here's the sixth oneshot, in which I finally write a character other than Ratchet. I'm surprised I didn't write Clank earlier, actually, since he's the character that I relate to most.

As usual, reviews are appreciated!

Chapter Summary: At the Great Clock, Clank has trouble deciding whether he should stay or go. Set during A Crack in Time, so beware of spoilers.

6. Break Away

Clank was a robot. Being such a logical entity, he did not usually have trouble making decisions. Most decisions could be parsed in such a way that finding the better choice was a simple matter of finding the more logical choice. Doing that was easy enough.

Still, decisions did not usually involve the fate of a lifelong friendship, or the fate of the Universe, for that matter.

To his dismay, Clank was unable to decide which was more important.

On one side was the Great Clock, which had been left to him by his now probably-deceased father. On the other side was his closest friend, who had abandoned the pursuit of his family in order to search for him.

Which had the higher priority, then?

Logic dictated that he stay with the Great Clock. Orvus had designed him to take care of it, after all, and it was an integral part of the Universe. Since Clank had inherited the Clock from his father, keeping time and repairing paradoxes had become his responsibility. Judging by how the Zoni referred to him as 'sire', Clank presumed that he was also meant, in some way, to lead them. That was his purpose. That was what he had been built to do.

Then again, Clank supposed that in the two years of Orvus' absence, Sigmund had taken good care of the Clock. Or had he? Apart from the fact that Dr. Nefarious had taken over, the Clock was in fairly good shape. All the damage that had been done by the hypersonic brain wave scrambler could be easily fixed. The clock's current state of disrepair was therefore not Sigmund's fault. Or was it?

Emotion was not usually a factor that Clank considered when making decisions, but in this case, it was non-trivial. Clank had known Ratchet for his entire life. Although the Lombax had stayed with him only grudgingly at first, they had soon become best friends. It was no small matter that in searching for Clank, Ratchet had abandoned his search for the Lombaxes, and therefore, for his own family. Evidently, Clank was an important part of the Lombax's life; family in his own right.

Still, perhaps Clank needed to find his own path.

Clank did not know what to do. To delay the moment at which he would need to decide, he occupied himself with repairing even the slightest damage to the Great Clock. Only time would tell if he could become habituated to a life working there, but he considered it an acceptable task for the moment.

The decision haunted him nevertheless, looming over him. Would he follow the tradition upheld by his family, or go help his friend? Or was Ratchet his family? Clank sighed. He was unaccustomed to such doubt and uncertainty. Normally, he made the most logical decision, and stood by it. If the wrong decision was made, he could store the information from his mistake and learn from it. Now, however, he was unable to decide. Logic gave way to emotion, and though Clank was a robot, his emotions were as complex as those of any organic being.

Clank found himself wishing that he could escape. He found himself wishing that he could be free from emotion; free from the burden of having a soul.

How could he say that? The fact that he possessed a soul was a gift.

Still, the feeling of uncertainty lingered. Until he made a decision, Clank supposed that he would have to default to stagnation.

So he stayed at the Great Clock, and waited for Ratchet to make the next move.