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It was Movie Night again at the Manor. Tonight’s film was one that Arborus had seen many times before, as it had been a favorite of his momma’s, The Wizard of Oz. He wasn’t sure he wanted to go to this one. He was still missing his momma so much and to see it without her…. He wasn’t sure he could do it. Tonight though, the band had scheduled a rehearsal to kill some time before the movie while the humans ate dinner. He had wanted to hear the band play again, remembering a few of the songs from the steampunk convention he had traveled to when he had had to leave his home. Rabbit had convinced Arborus to knock off work early so he could go, explaining most of the other Manor bots would be coming and she really wanted him to be there. It seemed to be important to her, so he did stop work early to clean up and change into something presentable for movie night, a simple pair of jeans and a clean white lace-up pirate shirt that Butterfly had made for him when he had shown her a picture he had found online.
He showed up for the rehearsal just as they were starting to get organized. Rabbit gave him a big grin when he entered the room. He took a seat with the others, a little toward the back. He looked around the room, a little uncomfortable at the crowded space. The rehearsal room was small, with too many people and he just wasn't used to that. A wall covered with colorful show posters caught his attention so he focused on that to distract from his nervousness. Around the posters were smaller photos of the band members. He was curious but didn’t get up to look as the band was ready to start.
Because they didn’t want to drag a human away from their dinner to run the sound board, the band did an acoustic rehearsal. Still, they put on a raucous show, Rabbit being perhaps not nearly as PG13 as she would normally have to be, had it been a real show. The Spine tried his best to keep her in line but pretty much gave up halfway through. Arborus found himself laughing along with the others at some of the more obvious jokes and jabs, then he actually joined in on the finale song choruses, a rousing rendition of Brass Goggles, even if he couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.
Afterward, the band started putting away their instruments and props as the exuberant crowd left the room still singing the chorus. Arborus helped fold chairs then waited while The Spine gave stage notes to Zer0 and Rabbit. While he waited, he went over to the wall of posters and photos to have a closer look. When The Spine finished up, Zero bounded out of the room to get a good seat for the movie. The Spine left the room too. Rabbit came over to stand next to him, nervously shuffling her feet as he studied the wall.
He looked at the photos surrounding each show poster. The earlier photos were fading with age but still viewable. He said in a near whisper, “The band has been doing this a long time. And so many different band members. Who are they? Do they live here too?”
Rabbit started at the left, the earlier photos. She pointed at one. “This is Upgrade. She and The Jon and The Spine and I were were the original band members. Upgrade doesn’t live here any more. She went off to be a princess…but I’m fairly certain she only works as one part time for The Mouse up in Anaheim.” She smiled. “She comes to visit fairly often. Next time, I’ll introduce you to her!”
Pointing to another photo nearby she said, “This is The Jon. He’s now Mayor of Biscuit Town so he doesn’t live here any more either.
“A robot is Mayor of a city?” Arborus looked to Rabbit wide-eyed.
“Yeah, long story. Hard to describe, but yeah. It’s in a place called Kazooland. Nowhere near here.”
Arborus looked at her skeptically, wondering if she was pulling his leg, but she nodded earnestly. “Yup it’s true. We’ll have to get Peter to take us all for a visit some day. It’ll be fun!” They moved to the next series of photos.
“And this is Hatchworth. He was locked away in a vault for decades just before the war started in 1942, but he joined the band when he got out.”
“He was locked in a vault? For…decades?” That was longer than Arborus had been alive. “What did he do?”
“He didn’t do anything wrong. He had a blue matter leak. Caused all kinds of problems. Had to put him in a containment vault down in the basements.” She shuddered. “But Six fixed him up. He doesn’t live here any more either. We’re actually not too sure where he is or what he’s doing these days. A postcard does show up occasionally, always something about gold fishing.” She shrugged. “Makes no sense to me, but if he’s happy, that’s all that matters.”
They moved further down the wall. “And this is Zer0. You know him, of course.”
Arborus looked at the long line of photos again and frowned. He moved down to one group of photos midway on the wall and pointed at one in particular. “Who is this? This sad fellow with the oil stains under his eyes?”
“You noticed that right off, huh? Some don’t realize….” her voice trailed off. “No one’s told you….?”
“Told me?”
“About Rabbit….”
“You are Rabbit.”
“So was that robot in the photo.” Her voice trembled a bit.
“I…don’t…understand.” He looked at the photo then to Rabbit, then to the photo again and back to Rabbit one more time. “That was you,” he said, a statement not a question. Rabbit nodded, unable to answer aloud.
Arborus studied the photo again, then looked directly into Rabbit’s mismatched eyes. His face lit up with a smile. “You don’t look anywhere near as sad now.”
Rabbit’s face broke into a smile too. “No, I’m no longer that sad bot.” She gave him a hug. “I’m glad you were able to see that too.” She blinked back tears when he returned the hug. "Still friends?" she whispered.
"Was there ever any doubt?" he asked, letting her go and looking up into her face, seeing the last bit of that doubt vanish from her eyes. He wasn't sure how he was going to get through the movie, especially the part where Dorothy says, "There's no place like home." But then, this was home now, and Rabbit was his friend, so with a big grin he asked, “Ready for Movie night?”
“Sure thing!” Rabbit looked over Arborus’s shoulder to see The Spine moving quietly away from the door. He had lingered for support for her, but seeing things were all good he went on his way.
Arborus offered his elbow to Rabbit. She linked hers in his then started to do the yellow-brick-road skip step while singing, “We’re off to see the Wizard, the wonderful Wizard of Oz….” she stopped a moment to teach Arborus the foot moves, then together they skip stepped off down the hall, Rabbit singing at the top of her voice, Arborus not singing, but studiously watching her feet, doing his best just to keep up with her as they careened down the hallway to the theater.