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Being small was a lot of work. The Spine found himself running out of water far too often. There were water bottles in various rooms of the manor to try and give him some freedom. Luckily without a sense of taste, he wouldn't know when the water got stagnant.
Six was working hard on how to reverse the effects of the shrink ray, but it was taking far too long for his liking. He wanted to be big again!
Worst of all, he was starting to change more the longer he was small. He could explain away the water with how much work it was to do simple things when he was no bigger than a doll. Even if he thought it was getting worse. But his voice was another matter.
Sure Spine could hit some high notes, but he could hit even more low ones. Or at least, he used to be able to. He had to really push to get low and not as low as he used to. His voice was getting higher and higher. Sometimes it was almost like a squeaky toy. He couldn't lose his voice! What if it didn't come back when he got big again?
It was something that was taking up more and more of his thoughts as he wasted time being small. There wasn't much for someone so small to do. He could memorize music, and think up more song ideas, but he was too small to play anything to flesh it out. Too small to practice or even play with his fire truck properly.
Laying across Roomba while they worked he felt a little better. A little less alone.
Roomba chirped as they hit a wall and he smiled. "It's alright, buckaroo. The floor's gettin' mighty clean with your help," he reminded them as they spun around to go another way. They helped make things feel almost normal. Or as close as he could get like this
Slowly zooming around, he saw Rabbit turn the corner and cringed a little. The other bots didn't know he'd shrunk. Six had said it was better to let them think he was getting major maintenance done in the labs. Hopefully, she didn't notice.
But when did things ever go like they were supposed to?
"Is-is-is that a Sp-Spine doll?!" She gasped in surprise, hurrying over to pick him up from Roomba and look him over carefully. "You lo-look pretty good for a little Spine, ya know. But it's not right without yer hat! Did you lose it, buddy?" She asked, knowing a doll wouldn't speak.
Glaring at his sister, he tried to cross his arms. "I'm not a doll, Rabbit!" He yelled, steam powering out of his vents. Of course, now his voice would choose to squeak.
He wasn't the only one either. Rabbit squeaked in delight and hugged him. "Aw! You're just like Spine," she giggled. "I told them they needed to make dolls of us! Glad they listened. I hope they make me next! Come on, let's go play!"
Not that he had an actual say in the matter as Rabbit bound through the halls, giggling like a loon. Down the halls and up the stairs to her room. A room that was full of odds and ends she ‘acquired’ over the years from rooms in the manor. Spine wasn’t sure there was even any floor left when Rabbit stepped in.
"We can play dress up!" She chirped happily and plopped down in front of an even bigger mess on her floor. A mess, That Spine realized after getting closer, was a pile of doll clothes.
"Rabbit! I am not a doll!" He yelled again. His voice was still too squeaky for her to believe him. Though what kind of doll insisted they weren't a doll? Honestly! When she pulled off his tiny cowboy hat, he whined and tried to snatch it back. "Give that back!"
Holding it out of reach, she beamed. "You're just like Spine! He says that when I steal his hat too!"
"That's because I don't want you to steal my hat, Rabbit!" Trying again to grab his hat, he grumbled when she threw it into the pile of doll clothes. It would take him ages to find it again in that mess! Curse his luck.
Still holding her very little brother in one hand, she started digging through the messy pile of clothes humming Over the Moon to herself.
When she wasn't listening still, Spine deflated in her grasp. This wasn't working. At this rate, he was going to be totally at her mercy. There was no way this was going to end well.
While Spine was thinking about how to get out of this mess, he didn't notice Rabbit pull out a red dress from the pile with a happy gasp. "Perfect! Oh, you're just gonna be the cutest Spine!" She giggled.
Looking the dress over, steam wisped through his vents. "I'm not a doll, Rabbit!" He tried again, struggling to get free.
"Oh come on, don't you want to be pretty?!" She chirped and tried to tug off his best.
Yelping, his voice was getting worse, he smacked her hand. "Don't you dare! These don't come off "
Rabbit pouted and steam curled from her cheeks. "Fine!" Though instead of giving up, as Spine had oh so briefly hoped, she shoved the dress over his head.
Yelling and struggling, Spine was jostled around while she struggled to get him in the dress. In the end, he gave up and put the thing on himself. Honestly!
Somewhere along the way, Rabbit sat him down on the floor. Brushing out the skirt, he looked himself over and made sure the bust fit right. Or at least as close to right as he could manage. Once he was satisfied he looked up at Rabbit and held his arms out. "There."
Rabbit held her hands to her chest and giggled. "It's perfect! Now we can have a tea party! I even have cake!" Getting up, she dug into her closet, which worried Spine more than anything else.
She came out sometime later in a feather boa and a tiara on her head. "There!" Sitting on the floor she pulled an old china tea set out from under her bed as well as a cake that was covered in, well Spine wasn't sure what it was covered in, but it was definitely not good for human consumption anymore.
He watched her set up the tea party and grew even more concerned when she actually poured something out of the teapot. "Rabbit, you cannot eat," he tried to remind her as she cut two slices of cake. His was smaller than her's, but it was still nearly as big as him. Not that he planned on eating it anyway.
"It's fine! It's not pie so you won't get diarrhea," she told him as she put a piece in front of him and a teacup he could almost bathe in.
Grumbling, Spine crossed his arms over his chest. "Robots can't get diarrhea."
Rabbit just giggled and sipped her tea.
With a sigh, Spine’s shoulders slumped and watched her. Even if he wanted to play along, which he totally didn’t, how was he supposed to drink that? If he tried to tip it, he’d likely drown. Even if robots didn’t need to breathe.
When he still wasn’t playing with her, Rabbit huffed a long cloud of steam. “Come on! You got-gotsta drink tea at tea parties!” Nudging the cup closer to him, she yelped when it tipped over. Grabbing it quickly, it wasn’t fast enough to save him from getting covered in old tea.
Before Spine could react, Rabbit had picked him up again, fretting. “I’m sorry! Let’s dry you off before something gets wet that shouldn’t!” Skipping down the halls, she found one of the many manor bathrooms and sat him on the edge of the sink. In a flash, she draped a hand towel over him and tried to scrub him dry.
And none too gently either. Grumbling, Spine tried to get away from her, but she wouldn’t let him get far before she grabbed him again. “Rabbit!” He yelled, trying to get her attention. Another hard scrub and he tumbled into the sink, head hitting the faucet with a tiny clang.
“Sp-Spine!” Squeaking, she picked him up to check for any dents. “I’m, I’m, I’m sorry. I promise I’m not this rough on dolls normally.”
“RABBIT!” He yelled in exasperation, surprised to find his voice had gone back down to its old octave. What a relief. Looking up, he saw that she was frozen in place. Steam whisped from his vents. Maybe the yelling was a bit much. "Rabbit. I'm not a toy. I'm the real Spine," he explained yet again now that his voice finally went back to normal.
"Oh, I know!" She chirped. "Petes told us ages ago! Said you were embarrassed about it and to leave you alone. But you looked really lonely all by yourself."
He blinked at his sister a few times before his processors whirred back to life.
“WHAT?!”