Cubix reached out with his mind that was not really a mind and searched for the wavelength that had meant life.
He could still feel the vibration of need subsiding, like one might still hear the sounds of a friendly musician walking ever further, calling out with parting gratitude.
The world was coming alive with its usual maelstrom of buzzes, like nature waking up after a storm, and finally Cubix found the wavelength, synchronizing his processors to it.
Then a giant pillar distracted him, and he wondered how it would feel like to slide down it. His mechanical fingers twitched.
He set a thread to calculate the angle and velocity needed for a perfect slide, but yes… he had set another process to remind him of something else. The ones who were like guardians had sectioned off an area for interviews and Cubix had to wait there.
The guardians walked around in pairs, balanced pairs. One human, one android. The humans who were like guardians wore sharp black uniforms with armor on their chests and arms and knees. Some also had sleek black helmets on their heads with visors that came down over their eyes, leaving their mouths and chins exposed. The eye shields glowed faintly violet, with a strange smoky pattern that swirled and undulated across the front.
They looked pretty, so Cubix tried to make his own visor shine like that… and managed to produce a glitchy green glow. He got bored with trying after just a couple seconds. But who knew, they could be useful, right?
Cubix set a reminder to practice his smoky pattern.
The androids who were like guardians had black frames with lines of violet that flickered with their vibrations. There was an emblem on their chests depicting a violet shield with a black star in the center.
Could Cubix… no, something told Cubix that he was not allowed to wear that emblem. His processors made a sad buzz, but he soon noticed something else, so he forgot all about it.
Not all android guardians fit this black-and-violet mold. Some were unique, seemingly chosen at random. There was a towering, tank-like robot with heavy plating and a built-in shield generator, a nimble, spider-like android with multiple eyes and legs, and even a delicate android with butterfly wings that emitted a soft -
Connor made a worried vibration.
Cubix turned to look, threads scanning.
"Umm," Connor buzzed. "Is that the blonde guy?"
"Yep." The one who was like a teacher said. Her assigned name was Sam.
Who were they talking about? Oh? Someone was making another vibration nearby. Ugly vibration. Like water cooling. Made of mud. Cubix found him. He wore the black uniform but had dismissed his helmet. And his hair did match the definition of blonde.
"I don't care who you are or how popular you are in this town. This is a total mess you've created."
He buzzed this very loudly.
Cubix understood the buzzing of the humans, their translation came to him from somewhere deep down. His stomach maybe? Wait, did he have a stomach? No, Cubix didn't think so. But anyway, he understood it, but he didn't see the purpose for the buzzing. Wouldn't it be easier if everyone else used vibrations?
Humans were weird in that sense. Their words were buzzing, and their buzzing had vibration, and then they had a vibration of their own! And sometimes, the vibration of their words didn't match their inner vibration. Which made Cubix very confused. Which one should he follow?
"You think you can do anything you want? You think you can just build gadgets for yourself and take the law into your own hands?" Said the human who was blonde and vibrated like broken water cooling.
This one's words matched his signature. So Cubix wasn't confused. But he was apprehensive. Connor was still thrumming with worry.
Cubix didn't like worry. But he liked fear less.
And he had positively felt Connor tremble with it as they raced to the station. Cubix's processors gave a terrified lurch of their own. Those had been heavy thoughts. Too heavy. So Cubix had needed to do something about it. And then he'd felt it. A storm of vibrations that was a single voice. A majestic, powerful voice singing a song with its own harmonies.
"Well?" Said the human with malfunctions in his water cooling.
"I'm sorry, Officer Jerome," The one who was like a teacher buzzed to the vibration of calmness. "Old habits make for strong software. I should have restrained myself, but would you have done any different? Would you have watched robots being kidnapped and done nothing?"
"I have a legal right and responsibility you do not."
"I have a moral right and responsibility, Civic."
The blonde one let some air out through his small nostrils, but the calm words had changed his vibration somewhat.
Now this was a confusing. The one who was like a teacher had so – many – vibrations, all going on at once, like she'd swallowed a beehive. She was speaking to the vibration of calmness but pulsed to something else. Something cold. Like a router with a POST request stuck in an infinite loop. Beyond that, there was a vibration of… of having used all resources, maybe, being tired? And beyond even that, there was something else. Something very faint.
A vibration that only one other human made. Somehow, it was a vibration of gaping emptiness, so still and noiseless.
How did the blonde one know which vibration to relate to? He glanced to the side as a black and violet android entered their partitioned area and saluted.
"Well? What's the news, Vesper?"
"No casualties, sir." Vesper said to determination.
The Jerome model made a shocked vibration. He glanced at Sam, then grabbed his robot by the arm and towed him a little farther off. The one who was like a teacher closed her eyes, breathing softly.
Cubix caught some of their conversation, but he saw a neon sign flickering, so he didn't pay too much attention.
"You mean… one person…?"
"Yes, sir."
"…evacuated all… else wounded… inside the station…"
"…Electrix model… rapid power expenditure… broken arm… caught in debris…"
There was silence and Cubix looked up. He saw Vesper regarding him with a vibration of awe and respect. This made Cubix so puzzled that his visor instinctively snapped to confusion.
"Well?" Sam buzzed.
"How did you know that man and his robot would be here?"
Sam shrugged. "I didn't. I was here for that Electrix model. There seems to be a latent problem with his software, one we haven't discovered earlier today." The one named Sam raised her eyebrows and made the next buzzing very deliberately. "When he came to the Botties Pit."
"That was a software issue?" The one named Jerome asked, pointing to some upturned cars. The Electrix that felt like a younger sibling had bunched them together, like a castle.
Impressive.
Sam shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. That's not the issue we discovered."
"However," The other one who was like a teacher said. Hela. She seemed to be buzzing to something heavy. "I will offer all the robots here free checkups on behalf of the Botties Pit. To aid the rebuilding."
"There." Sam buzzed. "We'll be sure to inform you when we find the problem. Full report and all."
The Jerome glanced between the two teachers, thrumming severely. Cubix liked him less and less.
"This is your doing, Samantha." He squatted down before her, getting in close. "Let me be clear with you. This is my town to protect. You do not have authority here."
"Is that so?" Sam asked.
"It is." Jerome buzzed to pride.
"Is that why you're here safely smirking at me, while others are chasing that robot?"
The thrumming in everyone had grown cold now, which made Cubix more alert. More able to focus.
"Do you know," The Jerome buzzed very softly, "Why I truly loathe you?"
"That's enough Jerome!" Hela said.
Jerome didn't even look at her.
"It's because people trust you. And you simply aren't worthy, Samantha."
The Jerome waved at everyone.
"Your friends have faith in you. But do you ever return that? Did you tell them how this happened?" He clicked his nail against the metallic component of the one named Sam.
"No," He whispered. "Because you love your secrets, little scientist. And when someone tries to prod, you intimidate them into silence. Somehow, they still love you afterwards."
"Officer you're crossing the line!" Hella said.
Everyone started buzzed like they had bee hives inside them, while making sounds to all different things. Great. But something felt sort of collective about it. Curiosity?
"Am I now?" Jerome smiled at Hela. "I wonder. How much do you know about that explosion, Hela Nemo."
"I know enough." Hela said, pulsing to regret.
Jerome smiled.
"Five entire levels of the building melted away! Not even the floor remained of them. Robots - turned to ash. There's only one thing that survived from the epicenter of that explosion." He stood up and looked at Sam. "And I'm looking right at it."
"Then you took a tragedy and made yourself a hero." The Jerome looked at everyone. "She doesn't care about you, or laws, or rules. If you stick close to her, she will put you in danger. And does she even give you the reason why?"
"Leave her alone!" Connor said.
The Jerome man raised his eyebrows.
"What's your name kid?" He asked, eyeing him. Cubix's mechanical fingers twitched. He set a process to write that Jerome's eyebrows looked funny.
Connor stayed silent.
"Well, I can't fulfill your request. I'm sorry it has to be this way, but your friend? She's a rogue kid accustomed to getting what she wants. Deny it, if you can. She makes messes, and then leaves other people to clean up for her, or worse, as casualties. I don't want there to be any more - " The Jerome gestured at debris. "Casualties."
"It's not her fault! That old man and his robot did this!" Connor protested.
"Stop, Connor," Sam said quietly.
"You see, Connor? Even when you defend her, she disregards you."
"I just don't want him to waste his breath." Sam said.
"Right. Is that what you thought, watching them try to restart Marin's heart knowing it was all your fault?"
There was a long, hollow silence.
"You will either interview us or get out of here, Jerome." Sam buzzed so quietly it was a wonder anyone heard.
"No," Jerome said. "You'll have answers for everything. And I have better things to do than listen to lies."
Then he shook his head. "There's something you're not telling us, Samantha. Something that can pulverize half a tower yet leave you alive."
His eyes swept over them. "If you know something, I encourage you to contact the Civic Officers. Any civic officer, you don't have to come to me specifically. I don't need any fame or recognition. I just want to keep my city safe. Vesper." He called out loudly, "Take care of the interviews please."
Then the Jerome left, clicking on his helmet.
The process had written the same insult in a file 10,564,901 by the time Cubix remembered about it, half an hour later.
Cubix stopped the process, but hesitated. Then he saved the file, nodding to himself.
Vesper had taken statements from everyone with great efficiency, saving it all to databanks.
It was still a subdued group tat walked away from the robot recharge station. Were they sad? Why so sad? The old man who echoed void had left, taking his robot with him. No one was seriously injured. They'd had enough to eat.
Was this because of the Jerome? That man!
Cubix pulled up the file then created an image and attached it at the bottom. It was a doodle of the Jerome with a thought bubble that read, "I wish my eyebrows had their own zip code."
That did make Cubix feel a little better, but soon, he found himself unable to enjoy his file.
Something inside him vibrated. Encouraging. Demanding. Be strong. You must do hard things.
So Cubix placed his hand on Connor's shoulder, and somehow, it had been the right thing to do.
"Don't worry, Cubix," Connor said, placing his hand on top of his, "We'll get through it together. And who knows, maybe Mong has a story about recharge stations and police officers."
Connor's vibration grew more peaceful, and that was good. Very good. Because the world had been dark for a long time. And then the wavelength of life had brought back all the color. Connor's wavelength.
Cubix's processors thrummed with satisfaction as the crew kept moving, but as he was placing Jerome's file back to storage, Cubix noticed something else.
A wall. Like a shifting pool of ink and shadow encroaching on his memory disks.