Work Text:
An array of tools hanging from the pegboard wall, metal pieces strewn across the worktable, and staticky music crackling out from a radio atop an overturned milk crate. One thing was for sure, you at least looked like you knew what you were doing.
Nonetheless, the head seated at the other end of the table continued to eye you with skepticism. “I DON’T THINK IT LOOKED LIKE THAT.”
After taking a few moments to drive in a screw all the way, you gave the robot an aside glance and tapped at a paper pinned to the board. “I looked at all the blueprints you gave me, I’m doing it exactly to the dimensions that were written on it.”
“MY THIGHS ARE CERTAINLY NOT SHAPED LIKE THAT! YOU MUST HAVE MISREAD.”
“You can barely see them most of the time, you’re wearing the uniform.”
“...SHUT UP.”
“You’re free to build your own body.” You half-tease. “If you’re going to be picky about it.”
Robo-Ky went quiet, outside of his muffled grumbling. You went back to your work. A tentative flex made the mechanical knee joint bend without a snag, and it unbent just as easily.
“Alright, leg skeleton looks good! Hopefully once I finish up with the hydraulics and put all the pieces together, everything’s gonna work together nicely.”
“HUH?” The robot’s mouth went agape. “YOU ONLY JUST MADE THE SKELETON??”
“I mean, for now, obviously, I’m gonna work on other parts after this. It just felt like the best play to start was the basic frame.”
“AUGH, AT THIS RATE I WON’T HAVE A NEW BODY BY THE NEXT CENTURY!” The head began to steam, rocking back and forth so hard that he nearly tipped right over.
You catch him before he can knock himself off the counter. “Easy, zippy, where are you headed so fast?”
As soon as he was put back down, Robo went back to his fuming. “I WANT LEGS! I WANT TO HOLD THINGS! BEING A HEAD SUCKS!”
“Okay, okay, I guess that’s fair.” You reply, patting him with one hand and reaching for your wrench with the other. “Promise I’m not trying to be slow, there’s just a lot of components. It’s a lot easier when you’ve got PWAB funding and machines for mass-production. I gotta do all of this from scratch.”
The thought didn’t even seem to have occurred to him. “OH.” He said. “I SUPPOSE…THE WORTHLESS PROFESSOR DID HAVE WAY TOO MUCH MONEY. WAY TOO MUCH! ALL HE DID WAS SIT IN THE BASEMENT ALL DAY!”
Well, that sounded a lot more like Robo-Ky. “Try to think of it like this, once it’s all done, your body will be unique! Even if I follow the blueprints, there’s still stuff that’ll end up just a little different. And I can add my own signatures!”
“SHEESH! YOU’RE ALREADY GOING MAD WITH POWER!”
You both pause to chuckle. “So waiting a little longer isn’t going to be the end of the world, is it?”
“AS LONG AS YOU DON’T DILLY-DALLY! THAT MUCH SEEMS ACCEPTABLE.”
“Aww, you sweetheart-”
“HEY, I SAID ‘ACCEPTABLE,’ NOT ‘IDEAL.’ DON’T GET WORDS MIXED UP!”