[Overall A/N: I haven't watched Robot Jones basically since it was on tv. I've been watching a few episodes on YT, but i don't think it's all there rn. I'm more anxious to write about the characters/series with so little experience in it more so than writing an SI, which sounds backwards.
Anyway these are the stories that i wrote of an SI for a character that i had a crush on as a kid and hopefully doesn't have too rabid a following of five people. Auto's supposed to be genderneutral, so i'm gonna use different pronouns in different stories.]
[A/N: This one uses masculine pronouns. I'm also making this story a little time-skippy, sorry. Ending's a lil cringe.
TW/CW: fancharacter, loneliness, anxiety, middle school (mentioned a few times), confusion, frustration, crushes, lil bit of electricity]
Auto Maton is a robot. He's a research unit, programmed to study children that are transitioning from pre-pubescece into teenagers in an educational environment: he studies kids that are in middle school, Beaumont Middle School. He doesn't know that they're the worst of all undergrown humans, but he might not ever get a chance to ever figure that out.
But it wasn't as if he didn't have a clue. He was a needle in a flock of sheep: a shiny metal button on the fabric of the student quilt. He was an outcast among the organic, and they never let him forget it.
This made his directive much more difficult than it should be. He was to integrate with them: collect information about them, their microsocieties, how they learned, and how to further introduce new technology into their education. It wasn't supposed to be hard: they were already enamored with television and video games and ways to listen to music. But if it wasn't him simply being a robot that made him an oddball, it was his personality.
He was eccentric, in a way. He typically did what he thought to do, regardless of what the social implications were or would come to be. At the same time, he could become so anxious about things that he would practically shut down on the spot. He clung to small cliques of students as if he were hanging off of the side of a skyscraper, but was flighty enough to jump between ledges whenever he saw an opportunity. They didn't mind, they were just happy to get him off their backs.
So he never had any friends. Even the people that he would follow most were far from amicable to him, only ever letting him tag along because he could not at all ever take their hints that they didn't want him around.
As was the case on this particular afternoon. The group that he was following was in town, looking for something specific. Auto followed faithfully, not understanding what was being sought or that the people that he was with weren't listening to him ramble.
As he spoke, his eyes wandered to the other side of the street. He saw the arcade and noticed that a group of people were exiting. There was something that he spied that completely captured his attention.
He stared at it, going mute for a few seconds. He started to babble. "I, uh.. that's a… there's…" He looked to his companions and pointed to the object. "Another robot!!!" He smiled wide, wholly enthralled that he found somebody that was like him!
One of his partners glanced at him. He looked them in the face with incredible excitement. They turned away, and Auto looked back at the other robot. "Should i go talk to them???" There wasn't anybody to listen to the question. He stood there for a few seconds. "I'm going to go talk to them."
Auto marched across the asphalt. He was over-the-moon that he saw another robot in public. It was also exciting to see that the humans were being friendly to them: it almost made Auto hopeful.
He was only a few paces away when he froze in place. His circuits filled with ideas of rejection or of the robot being mean. The doubt around him clouded his ability and he almost lost the opportunity.
"Oh hey! Jones, look, it's another robot!!!" The shortest of the group was pointing directly at Auto.
Auto got even more nervous. He hated when people pointed him out, since they always did it to humiliate him. He shook.
The robot looked at him from between his friends. He blinked and smiled wide. "It is another robot!!" Auto almost wanted to run away.
"Hey dude! What's your name???" The tallest one asked nicely. They all smiled kindly, waiting for an answer.
"I am… i… uh…." He felt like static was seeping all through him.
"You don't need to be shy. We won't bite you!" The one with headphones tried to offer.
Auto quickly scanned over the humans. He nervously turned his vision to the robot and the two of them locked optics. They smiled at him again and waved. Auto felt something abnormal in his chassis, but he suddenly felt compelled to speak. "My name is 'Auto.'"
"Hello, Auto!" They spoke in a cheerful tone. "I am Robot Jones."
The other boys introduced themselves as well. Auto was glad that they were nice to him so far, but almost all of his current attention remained on Robot Jones. He did notice that, understanding that Auto was very nervous. He asked in a pitch outside of what his friends could hear, in binary: "(Hey, are you alright???)"
Auto glanced at the humans and back to Robot Jones. He answered honestly. "(No, i don't think i am.)" Robot cocked his head in concern, but he didn't know what to do to help.
"It was great to meet you, Auto!" He looked back up at the tall one.
"Yeah! You should hang out with us sometime!" The one with the headphones proposed.
Auto had never been invited to things before. Despite his nerves, he felt overjoyed. "I… i will!!!" He smiled widely, buzzing happily.
"Great!" The short one spoke up. "We usually come here after school. Come by whenever you want to, and we'll be here!!"
"We'll see you soon, okay?" Robot tried to give a comforting expression. He added another private message, giving Auto his contact information. "(You can call me if you want to talk about things. I've been around humans for a while. I can give you some tips.)"
It felt… bright… in Auto's chassis. He smiled in appreciation at all of them. "Okay!" He looked at Robot again. "(Thank you, so much.)"
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Auto would have never thought that he would be invited to anybody's house. He also never thought that he would meet a robot like him, researching middle schoolers. He really never thought that he'd be invited to the house of another robot that was studying middle schoolers. But he was! And he was really, really excited about it.
He located the big blocky house. He reviewed the information and his internal GPS again just to make certain. This was Robot Jones' house for sure. The stark metal and cubic shape felt comforting to Auto, and he respired before walking up to the door.
He rang the bell and waited with a smile. Only a few moments passed before the door opened to a large pink robot with a lightbulb in the middle of their face. "Hello, you must be Auto. Robot is very excited to see you."
Auto smiled wide to greet them. "I am! It's very nice to meet you, parental Jones unit! May i come inside??"
The robot moved to the side and spoke in its feminine voice. "You may. Robot will arrive shortly." Auto walked in and looked around at the interior. It was just as mechanical as the outside would suggest it to be. The robot called out for the smaller Jones unit, and he came out from inside the house to greet Auto.
"Hello, Auto! I'm glad that you could come over!" Robot smiled kindly and waved his claw.
"Hello RJ! I'm happy to be here! Your home is so nice!!!" Auto grinned wide to both of the other two bots.
"Thank you, Auto." The pink machine was flattered. "You two have fun."
"Follow me so i can show you around!" Auto matched Robot's pace right behind him, still looking all around at the new environment.
After a short tour, Robot opened a door so that the two of them could enter. "And this is my room!"
Auto stepped inside, gawking at how much space there was. "Wow! All of this is your room?!"
"Yeah! It's super comfy." He closed the door behind them.
"It looks it!" Auto only intended to mention it: "my room is pretty much a closet, haha."
Robot made a face. "Oh, really? That's too bad, i'm sorry to hear that."
Auto should have thought about what he was sharing, but he didn't bother. "Yeah, it really is a closet. Um, so are my brother and sister's rooms. Our parents are the only ones that really have a proper room."
"Wow! Why is that???" Robot couldn't imagine his parents treating him like that.
"'Cause we're robots. Uh, my parents are actually humans. They programmed the three of us to do research about school kids. My brother studies high schoolers, my sister elementary schoolers, and i get middle schoolers."
"But why don't you get your own rooms?? You'd think they'd even let you three share a room if you needed to…" Robot was a little upset to hear about Auto's living situation.
Auto respired. "Oh, they just like to save space. They figure that we don't need much ourselves for when we're charging overnight…" He thought for a moment. "I think we're all okay with that…" But he wasn't really sure that they were.
Robot touched his claw to his face. "Oh gosh, that sounds awful!!!" Auto made a confused face. "If you ever feel like you need some space, you can sleep over here any time you want."
He was really shocked. Nobody had ever offered anything like that to him before. He got nervous. "Oh, no, i really couldn't impose!"
Robot shook his head, not able to take that as an answer. "No, no, i insist! I'm certain that my parental units will allow it!"
Auto felt heat in his face, and he didn't understand what it was. It was really weird and pretty concerning, but he had to respond. "W-well thank you, RJ. I'll definitely…" he glanced around, still impressed by the size; "think about it."
Robot nodded. "Please do!!!" He pointed to show him around. "Since you're going to be here more often, you should probably get familiar with the place!" He proceeded to display and explain the things about his room, all of which Auto examined in detail and politely asked questions about.
"Here is where i charge overnight." He motioned to a comfy-sized device that had easily accessible charging ports. Auto noticed a piece of furniture beside it.
"What's that???" He pointed to it.
Robot glanced over. "Oh, that's my nightstand. I put just random stuff on it or in the drawer. It's pretty functional right here."
Auto looked at all of the knickknacks on it, many of which were framed photos. He saw a picture with Robot and his friends smiling together, and he saw one of the pink bot from earlier next to a blue one that was wearing a tie. But he also saw one of another human that he hadn't seen before. "Who's that???"
Robot looked at what he was pointing at. His energy noticeably changed. "Thaat'sss Shaannooonnn." He crooned. Auto's mind boggled at that. "She's a fine human specimen, so full of metal. Sheee'sss preeettyyy." He was obviously enthralled with her.
Auto blinked in confusion. He scanned over the image again, seeing the metal that Robot had mentioned. It was more than those other humans had for certain, but it wasn't really impressive to Auto. He thought about why else she must be appealing. "Iiiiiisss she friendly???"
Robot broke out of his haze. He ran through his memories of her. "Um… yeah, kind of."
"'Kind of???'"
Robot blushed. "Yeeaahhh, i guess sometimes she gets pretty embarrassed by me. I'm kind of awkward sometimes, eh, especially around her." He tapped his cheek.
Auto studied her image again. "So why do you have a photo of her???" It really didn't make sense to have a keepsake of somebody that wasn't even friendly to you, which is probably why Auto didn't have any photos of anyone that he knew.
Robot answered flawlessly. "I have a crush on her!"
Auto processed this. He was aware of the concept of a crush, but he hadn't experienced an AI being able to have one. "You…" Especially on something organic. "You have a crush on a human?????"
"Yeah!" It must have been completely normal in Robot Jones' perspective.
Auto tried to apply logic to the idea. A human, and a robot? Something mortal, with something that can be upgraded forever? Something so advanced having romantic, dedicated feelings for something so primitive??? It really wasn't making any sense at all. It was almost frustrating how illogical it seemed. "Why?!"
Robot thought about it. Besides what he already said, he wasn't actually too certain why he fancied her. "Hmm. I just like her, i guess." He shrugged.
Auto couldn't comprehend that. 'Just like her?' What does that mean??? What was there to like in a regular human that had just a little bit of metal who wasn't even friendly??? Isn't there another human that he could expend the energy on? Or better yet, something that wasn't a human? Or something that wasn't as useless as romance???
Auto reeled back and thought about the energy that he was expending on trying to rationalize it. He decided that it wasn't worth it and figured that he should probably just accept it tor now. He coughed out. "Oookaaayyy. I, uh, guess i should meet her sometime..." He suddenly wanted to change the subject.
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It was nice to just spend time alone with a friend. The afternoon felt peaceful, and the bright sun kept Auto's batteries fully charged. He looked over and smiled at Robot, who smiled back.
Robot went back to studying the grass, watching the way that it moved when he passed his pincers over it. Auto saw how intense his research was, and he looked down to see what he was finding. It didn't really seem too important, but he had been learning that not everything needed to be. He looked at the way that the grass underneath him bent and was pushed out of the way, cradling the bare metal. The contrast was pretty nice, Auto guessed.
He looked up at the sky. He measured the temperature and the humidity, and he looked at the color of the atmosphere and the shape of the clouds within. He cocked his head, trying to make himself enjoy examining the 'simplicity' of the world around him. It was still kind of hard for him.
He glanced back over to Robot. What he did enjoy was being near his friend. He liked the way that Robot treated him, and he liked the way that their radiated energies mingled. He really liked the tiny sparks of electricity that passed between them when the metal of their bodies accidentally touched; they always made him giggle. He coyly leaned nearer and barely connected to him, the teeny tiny sprig of static making Robot look up at him.
Auto learned that what had happened to his face that made it warm was what "blushing" was. It happened again when he got Robot's attention. "Ooh, sorry!!!" He smiled shyly and scooted over to save face, even though he didn't want to.
Robot made a funny expression. "That's okay." He playfully tapped his grassy claw to Auto's shoulder, and a slightly bigger spark ran between them. They both giggled.
Auto touched a hand to his face and felt warmth and buzzing. He noticed the weird wirring in his chassis again, which only ever seemed to happen when he was around Robot. He initially deduced that it was a reaction to their different radiant energies, but he came to discover that it happened when he merely thought about him as well, which didn't make sense. He wondered if Robot had ever experienced anything like that, but he didn't exactly know how to bring it up.
"Hmm… uhm, RJ?? Can i ask you something about your processors???"
Robot cocked his head. "Uh, sure."
"Do you ever get a wirring in your chassis?? Or a weird vibration… like, everywhere???"
Robot nodded. "Oh sure! I get that when i'm around Shannon. I think it's that crushy feeling and being excited about being near someone that i like." He shrugged, "at least for me, anyway."
Auto was surprised. "Oh, really? Okay, cool. Hah, i thought i had a bug or something." He put his head in his hands and looked at the sky again.
Robot blinked. "Oh, do you think you might have a crush on someone, too???" He was kind of excited for his friend to have someone that he could gush about the way that he did about Shannon.
Auto thought about it. He hadn't really considered that as something he'd experience. "Huhhh… i don't know." He turned to Robot again. "I didn't really think that i'd be capable of having those kinds of feelings for someone."
Robot smiled dreamily. "Aahhh, but it's soooo nice to feel like that! To care about someone just because they're them. To feel all staticy when you're around them. To just want to be near them all the time?" He looked at Auto. "You've really never felt that for anyone???"
Auto scanned over his memories of everyone that he had ever encountered. No one ever raked up that tingle in him. Until. Recently… Auto cringed at himself. "N-no, i don't think i have…"
Robot stared into space. "Huh…" He thought about what else that feeling could be. "Maybe it's something else, then. Maybe you're just nervous or anxious or something."
"I guess so…" Auto has definitely felt nervous and anxious before, and neither of those things made him react like that. This was something almost completely different, something that he now really really hoped wouldn't get in the way of his friendship with Robot. "But, uh… thank you for helping me try to figure it out." He smiled nervously.
"Of course!" Robot grinned and touched Auto's shoulder again. A much bigger bolt of electricity flowed up through Robot's hand and arm, and he quickly reeled away from it. He was worried that there was something wrong with his friend.
Auto's whole body vibrated a bit. He blushed at the surprisingly intense energy transfer and shrunk away from Robot. "Ahahaaahh!" Auto smiled nervously. "Sorry about that!" He made up a lie on the spot. "I, uh, guess that i got too much solar energy out here. I'm s-sorry that i shocked you!!!"
That made enough sense to Robot. He smiled nervously, "no worries…!"
He contemplated everything that just happened and might have drawn his own conclusion. He blushed at being the apparent subject of affection, but he tried his best not to let his idea disturb what they already had. It seemed like if that really was what Auto was experiencing, that he also wanted to maintain their friendship in spite of it.
Robot wasn't wrong, and Auto always did his best to push those feelings aside when they were hanging out together. Secretly, he still relished the tingling. He managed to find that he was completely fine with just plain friendship between them. Mostly, anyway.