[Credit to Nymm-Kirimoto for the Hoodybot design!]
Hell.
Tim hadn't been taught much about religion, and honestly he didn't much care to learn, but this waiting seemed like an appropriate definition of Hell. Alex had insisted on waiting until the morning to go in search of Jay. He supposed that was fair. Cascade was dangerous enough during the day, let alone at night where the city's true colors came out. It may have been best known for being the most advanced city in terms of technology, but it also had the highest crime rate. Still, it was torture to sit in the shop alone waiting for daybreak. A thousand scenarios ran through Tim's mind. None of them positive. He sat at the kitchen table, tapping his fingers irritably and glancing up at the window every 10 minutes or so.
He stood suddenly, nearly knocking over the table in his attempt to get to the door. He could have sworn he saw someone looking in on him through the dirty glass. Standing in the street, listening intently and scanning the shadows for any signs of movement, he noticed that the night was unusually quiet. No sounds of struggle in the distant alleyways. No raucous laughter pouring from the nearby taverns. Just a faint whispering of wind. Ah. There. A creaking noise, like neglected hinges complaining about their use. A tan-colored blur of movement caught his eye.
"Hey!"
He took off after it, impressed and disturbed by the speed and agility with which the bot moved. Tim was actually having trouble keeping up with it. Through tight alleys, down unlit side streets, over low walls and chain link fences it tried to shake him. Even when Tim fell a bit behind it wasn't too hard to determine where the thing had gone. Every movement it made was accompanied by a loud creak or groan.
Finally, Tim had it cornered. One wrong turn - that's all it took. One wrong turn into an alley with a fence too high to jump and too slick with moss and grime to scale. Standing before it now with a clear view, Tim actually felt some amount of pity for the thing. Its frame was visible under a baggy brown hoodie and loose-fitting jeans, a black bandana pulled up over where its mouth should have been. The glow of his too-round red eyes was dim - a sign of a low battery. No marbelite, no covering of any sort over the fragile metal skeleton. It was rusted in places and covered in dampness and dirt. Tim frowned and hesitated.
"Who are you?"
It pointed to its face, pushing the bandana up slightly to show the smooth surface beneath. No mouth, no facial features.
"You can't speak at all?"
It shook its head "no". Tim wasn't sure what to do about it, honestly. He didn't really want to let it out of his sight, not after all the trouble he went through to hunt it down. It was badly in need of repair and he supposed that he could use that as an excuse to bring it back to the shop.
Of course, Jay isn't there to do the repairs. You screwed the pooch on that one, remember?
Tim winced. He didn't want to think about that, not right now.
"Alright, listen." He approached the bot slowly, holding his hands up to show that he wasn't going to hurt it as it scrambled backwards against the wall. "I'm going to bring you back to a place where you can get cleaned and fixed up and then you're going to explain who you are and what you were doing by the window, understand?"
After a moment of contemplation, it shook its head "no" again and stood up. He was wary of the bot's newfound confidence. The way it moved spoke of ill intent. Before he could defend himself or move out of the way the bot charged him, colliding with him in a full-body tackle. A sudden surge of static blinded him and then-
Nothing.