[TRIGGER WARNING: VIOLENCE, BLOOD.]

Tim flexed his fingers again. Still numb. That nerve had been severed completely and Alex didn't have the parts on hand to fix it. Jay could repair it when they found him. And they would. They would find him. And he absolutely refused to consider any other possibility. Beause those thoughts hurt. They caused physical pain in his chest and made him feel horribly, sickeningly human. Sentience was a curse just as much as it was a blessing.

"Where are we going, anyway?"
"To my old office."
"That's one hell of a morning commute."
"There's a much quicker way. You just don't want to run into other employees."
"So we're taking a two-day detour?"
"It might be longer."

The wind was ridiculous. It was always pushing against them no matter which way they turned and it never seemed to stop. Sometimes it got almost violent and they had to duck behind a building to wait it out. Alex usually mumbled something about the "higher ups" being upset about something when this happened. Tim hadn't quite given up on asking for clarification about Alex's working days here and his familiarity with management and the higher ups, though his past attempts hadn't been very successful.

"So, what did you do when you worked here?"
"I don't really want to talk about it."
"I know you killed people, that was literally your office key. What else did you do?"
"I told you, I don't want to talk about it."
"Well that's unfortunate, because we're going to talk about it. I think I deserve to be in the know about that sort of thing right now."
"They wanted me to work in management and I wouldn't put the mask on. I guess they admired my stamina so they just bumped me up one. I handled a lot of face-to-face stuff."
"Face-to-face?"
Alex sighed impatiently and turned around.
"Listen, all you need to know is that my work was bloody, I quit, and now I'm technically unemployed. You're not allowed to just 'quit' in this company. I've seen my boss. I've seen him happy, I've seen him angry, and I've seen him snap. He doesn't want me here, I don't want to be here, and I'm done talking about it."
"How did you quit then?"
There was a long silence. Tim didn't really feel like getting into an argument though, so he simply dropped it. They started off again at a much faster pace than before.

"I ran." Alex said suddenly. He paused to take a shaky breath and closed his eyes. "I just left and didn't come back one morning. The boss can't leave the district, so he sent management after me. I guess they got tired of hauling the coworkers' corpses back with them because they gave up eventually. Now I do repairs."

So he was risking life and limb come back to a place where he had a bounty on his head. It didn't really matter to Tim whether it was for his sake or for Jay's, but he wondered about it none the less. That was part of the reason he was starting to care, too. Alex didn't have to stay. He didn't have to help. He was probably just trying to prove a point - that robots are dangerous and that Jay was an idiot. Or he was genuinely concerned. Tim shook his head. It was confusing and probably pointless to think about.

"We're almost there. We should wait until morning though, it's getting kind of dark."

Tim grimaced. He didn't like the idea of waiting until daylight. From what Alex had told him, the longer they waited, the more danger Jay was in. Besides, that strange bot seemed to be chasing them again. They could hear it when the wind settled. It was careful not to move around unless the wind was blowing and covering up the creaks and groans of its worn metal frame. Tim was starting to appreciate these freak wind storms. It was the only thing between him and an unpleasant fight.

"How far away are we, time-wise?"
"Three, maybe four hours of walking. But once the sun goes down it'll be a lot harder for me to tell where we are."
"We have to keep moving. Jay might be hurt, that stupid piece of scrap metal might catch up to us, management might catch up - there are too many things that could go wrong if we stop."
Alex seemed to think about it a moment before sighing and nodding reluctantly.
"I guess. But we better haul ass. The sun's almost set, it's about to get real dark."

Jay's head hit the wall hard. He moaned, squeezing his eyes shut as if that would somehow block out the pain. His tried to pry the man's hands from his shoulders but he was too weak and dizzy at this point. It was a useless, desperate action but it made him feel better knowing that he was still trying.

Why? You're either going to die from these beatings, kill yourself, or put the damn mask on. Nobody is coming. Nobody is looking for you.

No, he knew better than that. Tim was looking for him. He had to be.

Give up, just give up. This is a privilege.

A privilege. Yes, becoming a murderous, brainless, trigger-happy zombie was definitely a privilege. He just wanted to go home and sleep and wake up the next day to work on a complicated order and maybe Tim would help him out. The masked man slammed him against the wall again and the iron taste of blood filled his mouth. The hands holding his shirt collar let go and he sank to the floor.

Tomorrow. You have one more day before you no longer have a say in the matter. It's up to you - we hammer it on ourselves or you let it merge with you.

Jay waited until all was quiet and he was sure he was alone again before opening his eyes. He didn't move or make a noise. He was dirty, sore, tired, and bloody. The mask lay on his lap, staring up at him expectantly.

"No." He mumbled to no one in particular, blood dripping from his lip where a particularly rough punch had split it.