Chapter Text
Ten Years Earlier
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"Introducing, The Abomadroid!"
The confident voice of the female owner of Blight Industries rang throughout the entire building as she pulled back the curtain, revealing the company's latest invention.
Admittedly, it didn't look like much.
There stood what looked like any regular witch or demon, the only difference being that it appeared to have some kind of circular symbol that resembled a sigil on the right side of its head, which glowed a light blue color, and it was wearing a neat-looking suit with the company's logo on it.
"Now, it may not look like much," The woman spoke again, addressing what everyone was thinking, "But believe me, this thing will change your life. It's an absolute must have!"
A devilish smirk appeared on her flawless face, as she then instructed the android abomination to do various tasks. The crowd watched in awe as it completed each task without fail.
"This is the Boiling Isles' greatest breakthrough in abomination technology. It cooks, it cleans, it babysits, it can do your grocery shopping for you-Anything at all that your heart desires, the Abomadroid will complete any task without question!" She walked up to her creation and placed a hand on its shoulder, "You can even give it a name! It can be a part of the family... perhaps even a lover, if that's what you want." She winked.
"They come in a variety of ages and models, and tonight only, we will be auctioning off this guy right here," She patted the abomination on the back, "Be the very first to own our latest product! Starting at 9000 snails."
The crowd quickly began erupting and roaring with interest, people shouting numbers left and right.
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These will improve the Boiling Isles for the better.
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Present Day
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Flip. Clink. Flip. Clink.
A shiny coin flew between the thin fingers of a young man—Or rather, abomination. Its hair, greener than even the lushest jungle. Its eyes, as golden as freshly made honey. Its posture was nothing short of perfect and a charming beauty mark sat just below its right eye, completing its simple (yet handsome) appearance.
Standing straight, it stared directly ahead with a blank expression as it waited for the elevator doors to open.
It skillfully slipped the coin between its fingers, moving quickly as if its hands were coated with butter. The coin sounds then came to a halt as the elevator's descent began to slow, soon coming to a complete stop.
Placing the coin into its pocket, the abomination readjusted its tie. The elevator doors opened after a few seconds of anticipation and the artificial boy stepped out with zero hesitation, eager to complete what it'd set out to do with no time wasted.
Upon exiting the confined space, it was immediately met with an Emporer's Coven scout, who had been waiting for it to arrive.
"Negotiator on site," They said, to someone that wasn't the abomination.
"Repeat, negotiator on site."
They began walking away, the abomination soon following suit.
It stopped momentarily, picking up what looked to be a family photo. In the photograph were three people; a man, a woman and a young girl. They looked happy.
The sigil-like LED on the side of its head flickered as it took in as much information as it could from the photo, scanning it thoroughly.
"No, stop... I... I... I can't leave her!"
The "boy" looked up from the photo when it heard the voice of a distressed sounding woman-It quickly assumed it to be the mother. It was proven to be correct when the same woman from the photo was dragged around the corner by the same scout, towards it.
"Oh, oh please, please, you gotta save my little girl..." She quickly grabbed ahold of the abomination's arms and stared up at it with teary, pleading eyes. It stared back, blankly, watching her facial expression morph from hopeful to one of absolute horror and disbelief.
"Wait..."
She stumbled back, looking it up and down.
"You're sending... an abomination?"
"Alright, ma'am. We need to go." The scout grabbed her arm.
"You can't... You can't do that! You W-" A sob broke out as the scout began dragging her away. She resisted, glancing back in desperation and panic.
"Why aren't you sending a real person?!"
"Don't let that thing near her...!"
"Keep that thing away from my daughter!"
The android turned away, completely blocking out and ignoring the rest of the woman's cries. Instead, it looked down at the ground and focused its attention on a fish with a dozen eyes that flopped around helplessly on the ground; it had somehow gotten out of it's tank.
Kneeling down, the boy-like thing gently took the fish into the palm of its hand, quickly returning it to the tank. It watched it swim around for a few seconds and then turned away, its mission now taking up its full attention once again. It never got distracted, but something about leaving that fish to die didn't sit right with its programming. (Perhaps it was an error?).
It walked forward and turned the corner that the woman from earlier had come from.
"Why are we wasting time sending an abomination to negotiate?!"
"That piece of crap could jump from the rooftop any second."
"I don't care. The scouts are ready to step in, just give the order!"
"..."
"Damn it, I don't believe this..."
It followed the voices until it found the sources; two larger-built coven scouts gathered around a crystal ball that displayed what was going on outside.
"Captain?"
It got their attention, the one it was addressing turned to face it.
"My name is Edric. I'm the Abomadroid sent by Blight Industries."
The scout stared at the abomination for a few seconds, then decided not to acknowledge it any further, going back to observing the situation through the crystal ball.
"It's firing at everything that moves, it already shot down two of my men..." He muttered, "We could easily get it, but they're on the edge of the balcony."
"If it falls," The Captain turned back to face Edric, "She falls."
The abomination didn't respond, instead it began weighing the options in its mind. It needed more information in order to make a safe decision.
"Do you know its name?" It asked.
"I haven't got a clue. Does it matter?" The Captain sounded unamused, likely thinking the question was pointless and stupid.
"I need information to determine the best approach." Edric explained, following up with another question, "Have you tried its deactivation code?"
"It's the first thing we tried."
"Has it experienced an emotional shock recently?"
There was silence from the scout before he turned, getting in the abomination's face.
"Listen, saving that kid is all that matters. So either you deal with this damn thing now, or I'll take care of it." He hissed, walking past the abomination. Edric watched him walk away.
Unfazed, Edric began looking around the house for more information that it could use to its advantage. The creation eventually found itself in what looked to be the little girl's bedroom.
Immediately, its eyes locked onto a scroll sitting on the desk. The scroll likely didn't belong to the girl (she seemed too young) but seeing as it was in her room, it could've had useful information on it.
The android approached the desk with swift, confident steps, swiping up the scroll. There was a video open. It pressed play.
"This is Jerbo, the coolest android on the Boiling Isles! Say hi, Jerbo!"
"Hello!"
The video showed the little girl, smiling widely along with 'Jerbo', another abomination, like Edric. It had brown hair and equally brown eyes. It stood tall, waving happily at the camera.
DEVIANT'S NAME: JERBO.
Edric stored that information away for later.
"You're my bestie! We'll always be together!"
The video soon ended. Edric set the scroll back exactly where it had found it, not a centimetre out of place.
The abomination looked around for anything else that could be of use, eventually leaving the bedroom to check the rest of the house. Further inspection lead to the android discovering two bodies; one belonging to the father of the hostage, the other belonging to a coven scout. Both seemed to be shot. The bullet holes were leaking, besides blood, a purple substance—"abomination goop", it was commonly referred to as.
Feeling confident that it had gathered enough information, Edric began making its way to where the action was happening.
Several scouts were guarding the balcony, attempting to de-escalate the situation until help arrived. Apparently, another scout had been shot during this time and was being healed by another.
Edric calmly made its way past the scouts, pushing the certain out of the way and making its way onto the balcony.
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BANG!
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A clean shot through the negotiator's shoulder. A blue liquid splattered onto the wall behind it.
Abominations didn't bleed. The blue liquid was something used to help power Abomadroids specifically, as they were much more advanced than regular abominations, however most witches and demons would refer to the substance as if it were blood. It also allowed them to use wild magic like any other witch.
In a way, it wasn't exactly incorrect. The blue liquid was mainly used to keep the androids "alive", much like blood would do for others. Without it, they were pretty much dead. Powerless, useless.
Edric remained unaffected by the shot, however.
"Stay back!"
The thing barking orders was the Abomadroid that Edric had seen in the video. It had one arm wrapped around the hostage, holding her in place. Its other arm had been transformed into something that resembled a gun; it was a security feature installed in the androids to protect their owners if they happened to be in any serious danger that would require such an instant, powerful weapon.
It was also stood dangerously close to the edge of the balcony.
"Don't come any closer or I'll jump!" It threatened.
The poor little girl in its grasp was sobbing hysterically, "No! No, please! I'm begging you!"
More Coven Scouts began surrounding the neighboring buildings in attempt to keep the deviant boxed in.
Edric had to save her.
"Hi, Jerbo." It said.
"How—"
"My name is Edric."
"How do you know my name?" Jerbo demanded.
"I know a lot of things about you." Edric answered, taking a cautious step forward, "I've come to get you out of this." Another step. Then three.
There was a powerful wind blowing around everything on the balcony, making it quite dangerous to manoeuvre.
Edric continued to slowly approach, "I'm an abomination. Just like you. I know how you're feeling." It figured that empathizing with the deviant may be the best way to go about saving the girl.
"What difference does it make if you're an abomination?!" Jerbo hissed. It kept the gun locked on Edric, "You're on their side! You can't understand how I'm feeling!"
"Are you armed?" Jerbo's LED was bright red. (Never a good sign).
"No," Edric calmly replied, "You'd be able to see if I were using any magic, and my arms are completely normal, see?" It held up its arms in a non-threatening manner.
Jerbo's shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.
"No sudden moves, or I'll shoot." It threatened.
There were a few seconds of silence, then Edric spoke again.
"They were going to replace you and you became upset." It stated. It had noticed in its search that the owners had apparently been shopping for a new Abomadroid, "That's what happened, right?"
"... I thought I was part of the family." Jerbo's voice broke, like a person's would. It seemed genuinely heartbroken. Abominations don't feel emotions.
"I thought I mattered..." Jerbo's teeth gritted together, "But I was just their toy, something to throw away when you're done with it..." It pointed the gun at the girl and her bottom lip quivered in fear.
During the deviant's monologue, Edric approached an injured scout laying farther out on the balcony. He was covered in blood and breathing slowly, weakly.
Edric looked to the deviant.
"He's losing blood. If we don't get him to a hospital, he's going to die." It voiced.
"All creatures die eventually. What does it matter if this one dies now?" Jerbo replied, bitterly.
Edric ignored that statement. "I'm going to use some healing magic to stop the bleeding."
The android turned the scout over onto his back and began to draw a spell circle—
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BANG!
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Another bullet hit off the ground and nearly hit Edric in the face.
"Don't touch him!" Jerbo warned, "Touch him and I kill you!"
"You can't kill me. I'm not alive." Edric countered. It ignored the order and continued with the spell, managing to stop most of the bleeding. Jerbo watched it closely for any sudden moves.
Edric stood back up and faced the deviant.
"I know you and Emma were very close." It said, 'Emma' being the hostage, "You think she betrayed you—but she's done nothing wrong."
"She lied to me! I thought she loved me... But I was wrong... She's just like all the others...!" Jerbo held the gun closer to the girl's temple.
"Jerbo, no..." She weakly cut in, tears streaming down her face.
"Listen, I know it's not your fault," Edric tried stepping a bit closer, "These emotions you're feeling are just errors in your software."
"No, it's not my fault..." The deviant agreed, "I never wanted this... I loved them, you know?" The gun slightly lowered; the android was letting its guard down.
Until it raised again.
"But I was nothing to them! Just a slave to be ordered around!"
The girl began hyperventilating.
The deviant then seemed to become hyper-aware of the scouts surrounding it.
"Tell them to get out of here!" Jerbo demanded, waving the gun around. Edric seemed to think for a moment, then made a gesture to one of the scouts.
"The situation is under control." They informed the others, and they quickly began making their way out of sight.
"There," Edric said, "I did what you wanted."
"You have to trust me, Jerbo. Let the hostage go and I promise you everything will be fine."
"I... I want everyone to leave! And I want a staff. When I'm outside of Bonesborough, I'll let her go!"
"That's impossible, Jerbo. Let the girl go and I promise you won't be hurt."
Jerbo's legs fidgeted, stepping from side to side, "I don't wanna die..." The android muttered.
"You're not going to die. We're just going to talk." Edric reassured, "Nothing will happen to you. You have my word."
Jerbo took in some deep breaths, taking a moment to think before it looked back at the negotiator.
"Okay..." It started, nodding,
"I trust you..."
Gently, Jerbo released its grip on the little girl and set her down, allowing her to run away to safety—She did end up tripping, but she was safer now than she was before.
The two androids made eye-contact and there was a long, intense pause before a BANG rang out; Jerbo had been shot.
Long before Edric had confronted the deviant, it'd cast a hidden spell circle which had been used to shoot an abomination bullet at the android. Upon hearing the shot, the scouts that were guarding the balcony came out and began firing spells at the deviant until it fell to its knees, blue liquid rapidly pouring out of its artificial body.
With wide eyes, Jerbo made eye-contact with Edric a final time.
"You lied to me, Edric."
Its voice was fading.
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"You lied to me..."
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Edric stared at the, now completely lifeless, android. The Captain slowly approached behind it and watched as Edric stole a glance at the sobbing girl, then calmly turned away, walking past him and away from the scene without another word.
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MISSION SUCCESSFUL.
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