I own nothing. Please review. Steam Powered Giraffe Fanfiction.
Chapter 2
The rain was a blessing in a way. Being that it was raining and nothing wanted it be in the rain if it didn't have to be. This included automation and organics alike. While automatons and cybernoids would not be at risk of exposure from the elements like an organic would be, there was always the risk of rust and electric wiring shock. Very few automatons were 100% water proof.
The group moved quietly though the dirty street. It may have been decades since Rabbit has seen battle but she still knew how to navigate best to remain unseen. Her eyes flashed blue taking in what little light there was to navigate. The streets were for the most part devoid of light, accept in places where neon lights for cheap bot shops blinked. A place for interfacing at a price, something that helped with the strange emptiness automatons sometimes had inside and sleazy oil selling night club signs, reflecting off the puddles of dark water.
It was only a few blocks of travel. The human stumbling often in the dark but Hatchworth easily caught her each time, keeping the organic from falling to the ground. She seemed fascinated by his one green and one blue eye lights and reached out to touch them. Hatchworth didn't mind but the Spine frowned. "Keep moving, follow Rabbit." He said quietly. Hatchworth started walking again, now holding the organics hand in his so she wouldn't stumble so much.
The Spine guarded his band, his friends, from the rear. His green eyes flashing in the dark, like floating fireflies. When a drop of rain would hit his wound he would flinch slightly, wiring misfiring. The rain was also making it difficult for the leaking oil to thicken and clot.
They only passed a single street vender peddling various wares in the rain before reaching their destination. It was a run down, low rent automation boarding house. The floor boards creaked under their weight as they entered the dimly lit building. It was still brighter than the outside and the flickering lights in their eyes the human had been watching vanished. The band had a room on the first floor at the back of the building. They traveled down the shared hallway full of spilled oil, broken glass, trash and bits of metal. The organic hesitated halfway down the corridor, broken glass and oil covered the floor and was a real threat to her bare feet. She let a slight whimper pass her lips, brain drained or not, there was always the human instinct of self-preservation.
Not wasting any time the Spine quickly picked up the human in his arms and hurried the rest of the way down the hall. Rabbit closed the door right behind him just as a few other automatons renting rooms in the house came down the stairs. No one had seen the organic with them.
The Spine placed the human on one of the few chairs in the room. "Sit here." He said and she nodded obeying. The room was small but not unpleasantly so. It was cozy. The window was boarded with old planks of wood, imperfectly as a small amount of water had pooled around where there was no longer glass. Yellowing wall paper once covered in bright flowers was ripped away in most places but some remained peeling and dusty. A fake fireplace mantle of marble was set into the far wall, though most of it was cracked and broken away. Yes, this room was probably once very beautiful.
"Spine, let me l-l-l-look at your wounds." Rabbit said with a slight glitch, examining the puncture marks as the Spine slipped off his coat and stood still. "You need oil badly. You've lost too much in the rain." The Spine nodded, he was having trouble staying still on his feet. His balance mechanism was faltering, causing his joints to keep moving slightly as a way to compensate.
Hatchworth brought a can of oil over with a metal tube pushed down into it like a straw. "Drink up." He smiled handing the Spine the can.
The Spine took a deep long sip. Oil felt so good on his gears after the pressure being so low. He finished the small can quickly. Hatchworth already had another can ready to hand him but Spine shook his head. "I'm alright." It was the truth, his oil level was still on the low side but he would be fully functional. And they had very little oil left and even less money for more.
"I'll take it then." Rabbit said grabbing the can out of Hatchworth's hand. "Here you go little human, drink up." Rabbit offered the can to the organic with a playful half smile.
"Rabbit don't give her that!" the Spine stepped over and took the can out of Rabbit's hands. "Organics can't have oil."
"But Rabbit's pet must be hungry." Rabbit said, running her hands through the humans blond hair playing with it. The human for her part merely looked between them as they spoke.
The Spine pinched the bridge of his silver nose. "We are not keeping her Rabbit and even if we were, we are not calling her Rabbit's pet."
"Why not? She'd be perfect for the band! Look how cute she is! No other band has a human pet in it. It could be our, our, our, gimmick." Rabbit suggested.
"No Rabbit." Spine said firmly. "Remember when you wanted a mechanical wombat as a pet? You're excitement barely lasted a day when you realized the work it took to care for it. Humans are mathematically 20 times harder to care for then that robo-wombat."
"We had to return it to the store and they wouldn't even give us our money back." Hatchworth added, bringing a blanket over for the soaked human to use to dry off.
Rabbit stopped her foot. "That wombat was broken before we bought it. This will be different. "
"Rabbit you almost just poisoned her." Spine said, waving the can of oil. "You have no idea how to care for a human."
"Organics eat sandwiches. And I have the best sandwiches, though sometimes they are badges, and sometimes badges sandwiches." Hatchworth offered undoing the latches to open his hatch. His hatch that seemed to be a portal of some kind that sometimes sandwiches, few of them edible, came out of…also sometimes badgers.
"Yes they do, but don't feed her while I'm gone. I'm going to see if the twins next door will let me borrow there welder." The Spine said as he moved to the door.
"I'll get it for you brother." Rabbit sang out, "You just spend some time with Rabbit's pet, okay? You will change your mind."
"No wait Rabbit…" Too late as the door slammed behind her, Spine settled himself down on the floor next to the organic as Hatchworth pulled out sandwich after sandwich. "This one Spine?" "No" "This one?" "No" "How about this one?" Hatchworth asked, over and over as he pulled one inedible sandwich after another from his hatch.
"No… oh actually let me see that one." The Spine held out his hand and Hatchworth handed the sandwich to him with a big grin. The Spine turned it over. Everything appeared to be organic and fresh, nothing rotten or out of place. The Spine, after visual inspection, took a deep sniff of the sandwich checking for poison. It had not been his favorite job during the war but there had been times he needed to make sure the food drops were in fact safe for the humans. He had been with a small group scouting and when they had returned to camp everyone else was dead. Stomach split open, foaming at the mouth. The food drop had been a fake and poisoned. Without The Spine assistance, the few organics left would have starved before fresh and safe supplies had arrived.
"This one is good." Spine said offering it to the human on the chair. "Here, you must be hungry."
"Thank you." She said taking the sandwich and taking a bite of it. The Spine was taken aback slightly. Those were the first words she had spoken yet her voice was so melodious and bright.
Hatchworth looked like his face was about to crack with joy. He loved making sandwiches but no one ever ate them before. "Is it good? It's good, right?" He asked the organic excitedly.
"Yes it's very good." She answered finishing it swiftly.
"Do you want another?" Hatchworth asked ready to start the process of sandwich portal making all over again. He was interrupted by Rabbit opening the door dragging a welder in with her.
"The twins weren't home, had to borrow it through the window." Rabbit said, setting it up in the corner.
"You stole it Rabbit?" Hatchworth inquired.
"No I "borrowed" it. I'll put it back." She said lighting the small flame at the end. "Come here Spine."
Spine knelt on the floor in front of Rabbit as she welded the small tears in his metal back together. It was a quick process. "There all better." She said turning the welder off.
Spine stood and looked over his arm. "Good, time to go human." He said grabbing his coat and hat.
"But Spine…" Rabbit started to whine.
"No Rabbit, I'm taking her to the Law Keepers. They can take care of her better than we can. Find where she belongs." He adjusted his hat. "Return the welder you "borrowed" Rabbit and Hatchworth, clean up the sandwiches. I'll be back soon. Come on human."
The girl stood. "Thank you for the food." She said to Hatchworth. "And the dress." She said to Rabbit running her hands down the black Victorian like piece.
"Come on." The Spine said again from the doorway, but his voice held no anger. He had been checking that it was safe to go without anyone seeing them. As soon as the girl reached his side the Spine scooped her into his arms once more, cradling her firmly but gently to his chest. Carrying her again over the glass in the hallway, she was sure he would put her down as they stepped out into the dark, wet street once more but as his eyes glowed green against the darkness around them, he tightened his hold ever so slightly and looked down at her. "Hold on."
Suddenly they were racing down the street at a speed most automatons could not match. The world was little more than a neon blur for a good five minutes before Spine stopped at the edge of an alleyway and put her down. Just across the street was a building with lots of lights and looking to be in much better condition than the buildings around it.
The Spine turned and bent down slightly to look the organic in her eyes. "That is the Law Keepers headquarters for this part of the city. All you need to do is walk in the door and tell the officer behind the desk you have been brain drained and need help. They will look after you." The Spine would have taken her inside but he'd rather not have himself or Rabbit or Hatchworth blamed for the brain drain.
"Do you understand?" He questioned her, hoping she did.
"Go inside the building and tell the officer I have been brain drained and need help." She repeated back to him and the Spine gave her a smile. "Good."
The girl turned and stepped out from the alleyway. The Spine was planning on watching her until she went into the building when he saw three people coming out of the building and he knew two of them! He grabbed the human and pulled her back into the shadows and against the brick wall covering her with his body. She made a slight sound of surprise and discomfort.
"Shhh…" The Spine whispered, doing his best to hear the conversation being spoken just a short distance away.
"So we have an understanding, should the organic we are after, show up here?" One of them spoke.
Spine narrowed his eyes at the sound of that voice. That was the long jaw Cybernoid that had attacked him, looking human again. His partner in crime extending arm was normal shape again but in a sling. But who were they talking too? He peeked out from the alley. No, that uniform indicated that the automation standing with them was the police chief of the precinct. The Spine had heard about there being corruption among the Law Keepers but this was more than he expected.
"She will be terminated, quietly. As will those robots, should they show up with her." The police chief responded in a whisper and The Spine saw that long jaw cybernoid pass a large wad of bills to the chief. "Good, consider your position taken care of for several years. The Family looks after those who look after the Families interests."
The Police chief entered the building once more as the two cybernoids started to head this way. The Spine pressed his body as close to the human and the wall as he could without hurting her, hoping his dark coat would help hide them. Thankfully the cybernoids came no closer than the street to hail a cab.
Even after the taxi drove off, Spine held his position for a few more moments before looking down at the girl, cradled protectively by his body. Her eyes were pleading even though he was sure she didn't understand what exactly had just happened. The word responsibility flashed over and over in his wiring. He sighed, letting a little steam escape his lips into the damp air. After another moment The Spine scooped her up once more into his arms as it began to rain again.
"Let's go see if Hatchworth has more sandwiches." He said holding the organic carefully, taking a more leisurely pace back to the others.
*********************************Boarding house***************************
Rabbit let out a mechanical squeal of delight as The Spine opened the door still holding the organic. "Rabbit's Pet! Oh Thank you Spine! I'll take such good care of her!" she bounced around him, excitedly.
The Spine put the human down. "We are not calling her that Rabbit."
"Why did you bring her back Spine?" Hatchworth asked, also smiling brightly. After all this organic liked his sandwiches. Spine gave them short version of what had happened, all he had seen and heard. The air was serious for a moment before Rabbit broke into a huge smile.
"So we get to keep her?" Rabbit questioned after a moment, trying and failing to hide her excitement.
"For now, yes." Spine said, suddenly feeling very tired in his joints.
"What are we going to call her? Sandwich taster?" Hatchworth wondered.
"Rabbit's pet! Rabbit's pet! Rabbit's pet!" Rabbit jumped up and down. Hoping if she said it enough times The Spine would agree.
The Spine sat down in the closet chair and reach for his guitar. He played a few chords thinking. "Melody." He said after a few quiet moments. "You're name is Melody." He said to the girl who had been sitting in soft awe of his guitar playing. "Say it back to me. What is your name?"
"Melody! My name is Melody." She replied back, gleefully.
He smiled. "Hello Melody, My name is The Spine, Spine to my friends. This is Rabbit and Hatchworth. You're going to stay with us for a while."
Her blue eyes sparkled. "Okay." She agreed with no hesitation.
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