"I'm gonna test you today," Linebeck mumbled, holding up a clipboard. He had a number of papers on it, Bellum reading them over his shoulder. "We'll be outside for a bit, but for now I've got a few questions."

Link blinked, sitting upright with his legs crossed. "What kinda questions?"

Linebeck glanced at him for a moment, avoiding making eye contact. "How old are you?"

"Uh... I dunno."

"Great. I'd say you're around two-hundred, considering you were made with the same materials as the ruins around the castle."

"Wha-"

"However, I need however old you are mentally. How long you've been awake, technically. If you could sit still, I can check that." He walked around the table until Link could no longer see him. The robot flinched as his metal fingers fished through Link's hair, finding something on the back of his head and pressing on it.

A click followed, and Link was presented with the unpleasant sensation of a part of his head chipping and falling off. "What happened?"

"It's like a little hidden control pad," Linebeck explained. "I can access your software and programming from here, connecting you to a little console I recently created to get a look at it." He tapped at a few things in the pad, each touch sending a little shock through Link's body. Linebeck stepped away from him, and Link watched him from over his shoulder.

He collected a pair of identical objects, each looking to be the shape of a small arrowhead. They had been placed next to his goggles. Link could see the inside of the strap on the goggles. The stretchy cloth was black, but small parts of it was gold. Link stared at it. Linebeck walked back over to him with the little objects. "Turn back around. I need to put one of these in." He held them up, holding them in his intact hand. His hand was callous and scarred, the little items in his palm.

Link shook his head. "Why can't I just do it myself. Here, I'll take it-" He reached out and meant to take one of the items. Linebeck jerked his hand away. Link turned and grabbed his wrist with one hand and reached for it again.

Link's eyes flicked up to Linebeck's face and he froze. He had gone deathly pale, his pupils dilated in fear. He roughly jerked his wrist out of Link's grasp, shaking, and backed away a few steps. It seemed like an over-the-top reaction for what had happened... but he was shaking, and his breath came in as shallow gasps. "A-are you-"

Linebeck shot a withering glared at him and tossed on of the objects at him. "J-j-just shut up. P-put it in. G-goddammit... do you e-ever listen?" He fumbled with his own item, getting a good grip on it. Bellum shimmered to life above his shoulder and started whispering to him. Link stared down at the little arrowhead-shaped thing and reached the back of his head.

He experimented with both sides, looking for a slot. It took a few moments, but it slid into a small indention. "It's in," he mumbled. "Why'd you react like that?"

Linebeck ignored him. Bellum murmured something in his ear, prompting him to nod. While Linebeck messed with his item and the console, Bellum floated over to Link. "I take it the others told you not to touch him and you just ignored them?"

Link pouted. "I thought they were joking."

"You're a moron. Linebeck wants me to explain it, so I'll explain it. The thing is that Linebeck has aphenphosmphobia."

Link blinked, amazed that the little AI was able to pronounce that. "Aph... Aphen... What?"

"Otherwise known as haphephobia, chiraptophobia, or thixophobia. The fear of being touched by other people. He's terrified of being touched by others, and even of touching others. Skin to skin contact is the worst for him. Let me reiterate- Do not touch him."

That explained quite a bit to Link. The gloves, maybe, his general rude attitude, his clear discomfort with repairing or touching Link while he was awake. "Why does he have aph... hephephobia?"

Bellum floated up and down, presumably to mimic a shrug. "Another thing lost with his memory. Midna did tell you about that, right? We overheard." Despite the unease this little creature instilled in Link's mind, he had an instinctual trust of him. "I mean, after all, Hylians can hear very well, and my senses are heightened as an AI. The tests he'll probably put you through will include some physical and mental tests, general stuff. Just, y'know, don't touch him."

A silent pact was created between the two artificial individuals as Link nodded to Bellum. Linebeck cursed under his breath, and the screen of the thing he was working on lit up. He inserted his own arrowhead item into a small slot, and a jolt ran down Link's spine. He shuddered and blinked a few times to clear the fuzziness in his vision. Bellum circled Link's head for a moment. "I'm gonna help Linebeck out with this."

Link pulled his legs onto the table. He watched Linebeck work, fiddling with things on the console's screen. A separate machine allowed him to manipulate other parts of the screen, and, every so often, an intense itch would manifest on the crook of his neck.

He waited in silence and flinched when Linebeck finally spoke. "Even your programming is complex. There are no commands for anything, just connections for power to limbs and such. It mentions the lungs and stomach, both seeming to be artificial. You require air, I've noticed, to keep everything moving. I can find a list of memories, but not where they're located and kept. You mentioned memory logs, correct? You don't seem to have anything by that name. There are, however, two parts that I haven't been able to find in your body, probably sealed in some of the unbreakable material that makes up your skeleton."

Understanding less than half of what he said, Link nodded.

"Your coding is strange, but not unreadable. It's simple and straight-forward... you have certain movements coded into you. Looking at them, they seem to have to do with swordsmanship... what do you know about fighting?" Linebeck turned to look at him, clearly still a bit unnerved.

Before he answered, Link dug through his own mind. He found facts about plants and the world, weather and monsters, and eventually came across a bunch of muscle-memory sword fighting movements. He knew that if he tested them out, he would be able to execute them perfectly. "I've got some movements ingrained in my mind," he offered as an answer. Linebeck nodded and turned back to the console. "Sorry for touching you. I just assumed that they meant it as a joke or something. I didn't know you were actually scared of it."

"Not many people know," Linebeck muttered as he worked. "I don't bother telling them. Not a fan of people knowing what I'm scared of. The city gets crowded during the day and rubbing shoulders with anyone is enough to make me collapse."

"So... I take it your phobia is pretty severe. What caused it?"

There was a series of small beeps from the console, and Linebeck removed the little object. Link felt a pressure that he never noticed disappear from his neck. "No idea. Another thing lost with my memory. Might be a good thing, considering some of the most common causes of aphenphosmphobia. Take your linktie out."

"M-my what?"

Linebeck held up the little arrowhead-shaped object. "This. I call it a linktie. I use it to read and edit robots' code."

Link tore the linktie from the back of his head and examined it. It was made of metal, certainly. He tossed it to Linebeck. "You can edit my code?"

"Nah. There was no option. A few robots have their code protected by passcodes and such, but yours simply could not be touched. Some expert coding. Now then, that's all for the testing in this room." Linebeck got back up, grabbing his goggles by the strap. His hand covered the golden lettering, to Link's dismay. "Follow me outside. The others are doing some farming, so we'll be on the other side of the building."

Linebeck strode a few feet in front of Link, and his little AI lingered back with him. Bellum hovered above his shoulder. "He's keeping that lizard he found in you, y'know. He's creating a little terrarium and he's named it 'Rusty'. In case that helps shed him in a better light. He hasn't been the most pleasant to you." He blinked and squinted against the sunlight once they got outside. "Gah. So bright."

"Light doesn't filter through you?"

"Nah. It's like I'm solid. It really sucks, honestly. Anyways, do you know if you're capable of eating things?"

"...What?"

"That's one of the things he'll test; whether or not you can eat and quote unquote digest things. After that will be a bunch of physical tests. Got it?"

Unable to erase the shaky quality of his voice, Link answered with a simple, "Alright."

"Cool." Leaving it at that, Bellum floated back over to Linebeck, who was waiting by a flat bit of land next to the building. He left his goggles around his neck, scribbling something on his clipboard. Without a word, Linebeck pointed at the spot next to him.

Link frowned and jogged over, standing in the spot. "What do you want me to do?"

"We're going to run a few physical tests..." Linebeck murmured, and despite that being prior knowledge to Link, he still felt a twang of nervousness.

For the next few hours, Linebeck ran Link through a number of tests, jotting down notes for everything. He had Link sprint around until he ran out of breath, hang off of the edge of the roof as some kind of strength test. He made him do push-ups, sit-ups, nearly every kind of stationary exercise that Link could manage to do before collapsing out of exhaustion.

As he lay on the ground, his limbs and abdomen feeling like flaming lead, Linebeck crouched down by him. He scribbled more on his clipboard, and finally drawled, "So. You're practically superhuman. Not really of course- all of your skills and limits are at the edges of normal Hylian potential. It's truly impressive. Have you felt hunger in these past few days?"

A wheeze emanated from Link's mouth. He drew his arms to his side and attempted to lift himself, but pain jolted through his arms and he collapsed once again.

"Ah. Either way I can test the next theory. Don't move." Linebeck jogged off, leaving Link laying on the ground like a corpse. The robot let out a weak cough as he waited.

Linebeck returned quickly. Feeling was slowly leaking back into Link's body, and he had managed to roll over into his back. "Wha..."

Linebeck crouched down next to Link. "Can you sit up? Or are you still feeling powerless."

It took some effort, but Link sat up. "I'm feeling... a b-bit better. What else... do you need?"

Linebeck handed Link a handful of blueberries. "Eat these. This is the last test for today." He poured them into Link's hand, flinching as he brushed the tips of Link's fingers. "We harvested them about a week ago."

Link inspected them closely. He took one of them in his other hand a looked it over. "I don't know what this tastes like..."

"Just eat it. If you can't actually eat, then I'll be able to clean it out." He let himself fall into a sitting position and watched with his elbows on his knees. In his other hand was the goggles, held by the strap.

Link stared at his goggles. Right now, he preferred to have a few questions answered. "What was the gold on the goggles strap for?" He placed the rest of the blueberries in one hand and pointed at the goggles as reinforcement for his question.

"This?" Linebeck asked, holding his goggles out with the gold print facing Link. It was a bunch of words- four words sewn into the black strap. Linebeck turned it back around. "It's in an old, dead Hylian language. The Sheikah actually still use it occasionally, and I found a few books on it."

"What does it say?"

"Pulvis Et Umbra Sumus- translated, it means 'We are but dust and shadow'. Appropriate considering my line of work, eh? I assume I had it put in myself. I rather like it, since it reminds me that all of us- Hylian, Zora, Goron, Rito, even robots- when you really think about it, we're all made of the same stuff. Dust and shadow." Linebeck paused, turning over and reading the words for himself. "Bellum's name is also in that same language."

Link held up a smaller blueberry. He contemplated the little saying, then blinked. "It is?"

Linebeck nodded and glanced around. Bellum was floating around in the distance, watching a lizard scampering around in the dirt. "Yeah. Put simply, his name means 'War'."

Link frowned. "War? Why's he named that?"

"Hell if I know. But I know the glitchy bastard has a strange bloodlust." Linebeck let out a short cackle, then shifted his attitude, giving Link a stern glare. "Eat the damn blueberry."

Link maintained eye contact with him as he popped the little fruit into his mouth. He chewed it for a few moments and swallowed, registering the taste and being surprised that he had apparently had prior experience with it. He tilted his head back and poured the rest of the blueberries into his mouth. Linebeck jotted something down on his clipboard.

While Link swallowed the rest of the blueberries, Linebeck cleared his throat. "So, then. Tell me if you encounter any problems that might be linked to that. But I'm hoping that nothing will happen." He got to his feet, offering a small smile at Bellum as the AI rushed back over to them. "Let's head back in. That's all the testing for today. I've gathering some interesting information. Thanks."

"No problem." Link grunted as he forced himself to his feet. His lungs and arms still burned, and he silently cursed his unknown creator for making him so humanlike. "...Hey, Linebeck?"

Linebeck, already halfway to the door, paused. "What."

"Why do you think I was made to be so humanlike?"

"...How about we consider that theory with the others some other day? That room I've been working on is almost finished, and I'd say you're ready to fully join the group. Hell, we're actually gonna have an end-of-the-week celebration. Why don't you help me set it up? Or, more rather... Help me cook by handing me stuff. I don't trust you enough."

Link tossed Linebeck a teaspoon, then turned back to the soup he and Midna were collaborating on. It was watery and a pale-yellow color, and Midna had reassured him that it was supposed to look like that. She cut up half of an onion to dump in before passing it to Linebeck, who was making a fish and rice mixture, adding in garlic and onion across the room. Ghirahim was milling around, poking his nose into whatever they were doing and evidently looking for something in the kitchen. He boasted about his own cooking skills, all while Midna periodically rolled her eyes.

Link added a handful of cut-up cilantro and jumped as Ghirahim drawled, "So, robot, how has been the past few days for you been? Of course, my tour must make the most of an impression... our touch-starved friend tells me you can fight! We must spar."

"You're acting different," Link mumbled.

Ghirahim scowled, tugging open a cabinet. "I was nice to you. Surprise, I'm a jerk. Wanna know our favorite hobbies?"

Link sighed. "Sure," he mumbled, slicing up a newly harvested potato.

"Of course. I enjoy fighting monsters outside the borders of our tiny land claim and visiting the city! I have fun with challenging other sparring partners and increasing my fame."

"And drinking," Bellum smarmily added. Link had forgotten that he was silently watching everyone, phasing through everything in his way. "Remember when you drank so much that you got stupidly drunk and made Linebeck have a panic attack because you kept falling against him like some disoriented redead?" Linebeck hesitated, then repeated the words for everyone else to hear.

"IRRELEVENT!" Ghirahim snarled. Link inwardly cringed, feeling bad for Linebeck, and even Midna grimaced. Apparently, that was no one's favorite memory. He glanced over his shoulder, getting a glimpse of the downright terrifying glare Linebeck shot at Ghirahim, how clearly didn't notice. "Moving on to Midna's hobbies."

"Hylia spare me," Midna dramatically groaned.

"Team hunter and wolf friend! Don't ask me how, but she says she can talk with wolves. Plenty of animals survived the end of the world and have mostly adapted to the warmer temperatures." Ghirahim slipped between Link and Midna and took a quick sip of their soup. "...Mmmm. Needs more salt. Anyways. Midna's like the resident witch- working both literal and metaphorical magic in the city, doing favors and making connects. She's also got it bad for the city's reclusive leader, Zelda."

Midna only laughed and scraped some carrots into the soup. "That I will not deny. A word about the city's leader and queen- she rarely shows herself and also happens to be a knockout beauty. Two out of the three here agree, as Linebeck is more into the dashingly handsome crowd." She placed a lid over the soup and turned the dial on the stove, lowering the heat. "What's my last hobby?"

Ghirahim rolled his eyes, moving out of Linebeck's way as he crossed the room to the cooled metal box. "Keeping me out of fights. Is there something wrong with my instinctual drive to assert myself?"

"You're one hell of a dull blade when it comes to being a peaceful person," Linebeck mused, placing his created food in the box to cool it. He snapped his robotic fingers and his index finger flipped, revealing a small razor.

Link quickly learned that Linebeck's robotic arm had a number of features. Each of his five fingers were able to flip around at the first join, the other end with a unique use. His index finger was a razor blade, his middle finger a lighter, his ring finger a magnet, his pinkie a mini flashlight. Link had yet to know if his thumb even had a dual use. Linebeck had told him that his inorganic knee had a small engraving of the smiley face on the bronze kneecap, and Link was unsure if he was joking or not. In addition, it turned out that the limbs were not made of bronze, but a mixture of aluminum and rubber casing covered in painted fiberglass to minimize conductivity. It had taken a few minutes for Link to fully register what he had meant.

"Anyways," Ghirahim loudly announced. "Linebeck's hobbies are up next! He likes locking himself in his room, crying himself to sleep or smoking whenever insomnia decides to screw up his day-"

"He smokes cigarettes most of the time," Bellum chirped.

"-and rambling on about whatever cool technology or hot men he saw at the city. A very fun guy."

"Love you too," Linebeck mumbled. He leaned over to peer at the pot of soup. "Smells good," he whispered. "I like the copious onions."

Linebeck waited by the cool box (Link didn't know the proper name for it yet) and Ghirahim apparently gave up on his search. Midna periodically checked on the soup, and Link went through his recent memories at the table. He then blinked and looked at each of the others in turn. "...You guys are like a family."

"A dysfunctional family." The tone of Ghirahim's voice was patronizing.

"Like a bunch of siblings," Link added. "You simultaneously love and hate each other with mutual feelings, but care nonetheless. I think I'll like it here. Hopefully."

"Whatever," Midna sighed. "Soup's ready. We just need to heat up whatever Linebeck was making and get some glasses of water and we'll be good to eat."

Linebeck sighed. "You phrased it as if we're being eaten. It's technically 'it'll be good to eat'-"

"Did I ask for your opinion, smartass?"