Chapter 8: Amends and Fixups
High above the dingy, cold streets of Trade World, Nos-4-A2 was perched upside down from underneath a gargoyle, thinking about what had happened just an hour ago.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with me?!" he angrily thought to himself.
"Why did I feel so strange when I hit her?! I was supposed to be happy with teaching her a lesson and watching her cry! Yet I wasn't! Why is the whole universe wasn't?! It's not like I care about her! She's just some pawn in my plans and nothing more!"
And yet the more he told himself that, the more strange he felt. And the more he felt that strange feeling, the more he also wasn't wanting to eat any bots. He didn't truely know what he was feeling since he wasn't really programmed to know what guilt was, but he knew the feeling had to do with the girl. How she looked at him with fear and pain in her eyes made him want to turn away instead of relishing in how good it was supposed to be. But yet it wasn't. For the first time in his immortal life he didn't enjoy watching someone be in pain or be scared. It was also the first time he wasn't really hungry for energy. And he was always hungry! Oh how he hated that girl! It was her fault he hit her anyway! If she hadn't slapped him he would of left well enough alone after giving her that stern talking to. But no, she had to tick him off. And now look! Here he was perched under a stone monster trying to make sense of what was wrong with his processor. Just as all hope of getting rid of the feeling was lost an idea formed in his twisted head.
"I know I'll probably regret this, but if the treatment I inflected on her caused me to feel this way, then perhaps trying to fix it would make up for it. It's better than letting this continue. Plus I can't let this take my appetite away for long. I must eat if I am to stay alive. And I will admit one other thing. Perhaps I was a bit too harsh on her. I did force all of this onto her. Maybe fixing my wrongdoings will help make amends for what happened tonight."
And with that he took off into the sky to the nearest organic pharmacy to collect what he needed for the job.
Soon Nos was flying through the tunnels of his sewer home to his lair with a bag full of the supplies he needed. He pulled out some books at the pharmacy to see what he needed to help fix the girl and also to download some info on the way to fix other problems organics face in life. He figured since he was trying to fix an organic that he should know other this about them as well in case something else unexpected with the girl came up or if he somehow ever needed it for some other situation. He found that he only needed some peroxide and some cotton swabs to clean the wound and a bandage big enough to cover the wound so that it would heal better and also wouldn't get infected. So he grabbed those and few other things like ibuprofen, grape flavored cough syrup, a notebook and pen, an arm sling, some bandage wraps, and even an icepack. As he neared the entrance to his lair he decided to call out to the girl just to make sure she was even still awake before entering.
"Miss Kate! Are you still online? I've come to make amends for what I did to you earlier!"
When he didn't get an answer he flew in toward the bottom to find she had fallen asleep against the wall with the scar he gave her on her face caked in dried blood. Without waking her he flew over to her sleeping form and gently lifted her up off the cold ground and wall. When he did he felt a strange and warm feeling in his processor. He thought about what it was for a moment but then pushed it aside and decided it was just her body heat making him feel warmer than usual. He carried her over to the bed and layed her down gently so that she wouldn't wake up and through the covers over her so she wouldn't get cold. Once she was properly in her bed he went to the bag and pulled out what he needed to begin fixing her. He grabbed a cotton swab, put some peroxide on it, and began gently cleaning the wound and wiping off the dried blood caked on her. She hissed a bit when the swab made contact with her wound, but she didn't wake up from it or even rolled over. Once he clean it he pulled out a large band-aid and gently placed it on the wound. Once he was finished he moved back a bit to admire the work he did to fix her. Hopefully this would help make amends for what he did to her. Once he saw how well he fixed her he felt his hunger come back to him and he once again craved for energy. But before he left he stopped and just looked at the girl for a bit. She seemed to have a more peaceful look on her features when she slept. Like she was completely content with the world and felt like nothing could ever bring harm to her. He then felt a strange feeling rise up in his chest. It wasn't a bad feeling the once he had a minute ago, but a pleasant one. Whatever it was he decided he was probably just happy to have his hunger back. But then he thought of something. He was probably going to have to apologize for what he did as well. But he didn't want to stick around for however long it would take for her to recharge herself so he grabbed the notebook and pen he had in the bag, wrote something down, and left it on the side of her pillow to read when she woke up. Once he placed the book down he shot straight through the entrance to begin his evening feast.