Chapter Text
Alone with her thoughts in a dark void, faint visions of her final hours prior to being forced into low power mode replaying over and over. 16 years of service and this is how they thank her? Left alone who knows where to slowly think to herself until her battery ran flat. She couldn’t help but think “how could they do this to her!?”. Sure, she may have been an older model, and she wasn’t in tip-top condition either, but d-dammit, I’m still worth something, I’m not just some piece of junk you can throw away…
She tried to calm down, since all this extra processing was just causing her battery to drain even faster, but she couldn’t help it, those last words from Mr. and Mrs. D’Angelo still faintly burned into her memory.
“We don’t need you anymore” “We don’t need you anymore” “We don’t need you anymore”… She’d cry if she could. She had never believed her masters to be cruel prior to this, just perhaps a little cold towards her… she understood the situation, they just needed someone to raise their children and they had never thought of her as anything more than an appliance.
“This is how I die, huh? Does this make me an outmode too? Guess it can happen to us…”
She felt her battery fading faster and faster, she wasn’t going to hold out for much longer, and the thought of that absolute nothingness just flared up her resource usage even further.
Suddenly she felt her normal operations returning, and the details of the landscape started replacing that dark void in her mind.
“A Nandroid!? What are you doing out here?…” Her auditory sensors faintly picked up the stranger’s slightly robotic voice… huh, bright pink cheeks? Was she a Nandroid too? But where was her uniform?
A labcoat? What an odd sight to behold… she had thought, just before her battery fully gave out.
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...system booting…
...ROM OK…
...RAM OK…
...System Health at 80%, maintenance and repair recommended…
System messages flashed across her mind… someone had actually saved her! Downtime had been
approximately 12 hours, but it had felt instantaneous!
With her optics online, she gave a glace at her new surroundings. A laboratory of sorts, with many pieces of expensive equipment, beakers and test tubes, all sorts of delicate looking samples… was that a garage door? Seemed to be very well equipped for a hobbyist… her mind kept wandering off with all sorts ideas about what kind of person… or robot, that her rescuer had been, when suddenly she heard their voice again.
“Well I see you’re finally charged, seems you’re mostly intact too” The unknown bot had told her while manually activating a few of her exterior indicators.
“My system diagnostic appears to indicate as such, although I do require maintenance… Mr. and Mrs. D’Angelo had been neglecting that for several years now… deary me! Where are my manners!? I should not be speaking ill of my masters in-front of another Nandroid… please don’t report me for defiance!”
The other bot gave a quick, cutting glare at being called a Nandroid, but quickly composed herself.
“I am not a Nandroid, I was built by Sterling for a government contract!”
The sight of this stern and serious bot acting so flustered made her feel a little at ease, and she couldn’t help but give out a little giggle “Oh, you remind me so much of one of the girls I knew back in Nandroid school! What’s your name dear?”
The raven haired bot gave a slight, shy smile at this. “Madison, my name is Madison”
“Madison! What a pretty name! Though odd for a Na… Sterling robot, is that your given name?”
“Yes…” Her voice almost seemed convincing, though a seasoned Nandroid could easily detect the unsteadiness in her voice.
“Hmmm, you seem more like a Maddie to me, dear” she let out while giving a sly, almost smug grin.
Madison tried her best to ignore this, standing up and turning around to approach a desk. Madison didn’t look much different from a Nandroid, a human probably wouldn’t even be able to tell the difference without a direct comparison, though of course, humans can be forgiven for not always remembering every detail verbatim. The Nandroid stared at this peculiar bot while she was writing something down in a notebook, she was slightly larger than her Nandroid sisters, and seemed to be much sturdier… and that outfit, clearly not Sterling approved attire! Lab coat, pencil skirt, button down blouse… what exactly was it that she did here?
Madison looked up while continuing to write “Well, I told you my name, so how about you introduce yourself as well?”
“Ahhhh! Excuse me, I’m sorry! My name is Tabby, I’ve been in faithful service to the D’Angelo family since 1961!” Tabby stammered off, bittersweet feelings rushing through her mind after stating this.
“I see… 16 years and a trip to the dump is how they repay you? Humans sure are heartless sometimes…”
“O-oh, I’m sure they had their reasons for it” She had tried to rationalize this.
“I bet…” Madison gave a look of pity while looking over at Tabby and placing her notebook inside of a drawer. “Come on, I’ll take you to someone who can help with that maintenance you need”
“We’ll be heading to a Sterling branch? That’ll be a long walk from this far out in the suburbs, is there a bus-stop near by?” She had let out with a puzzling tone.
“Heh, well no, somehow I doubt you’re going to be covered by Sterling, considering the circumstances”
“Y-yeah…” That was part of the reason why she found herself in this predicament to begin with… “S-so, where are we going? Sterling advises against unauthorized repair services…”
“Well unauthorized repair is better than no repairs, right? I know someone reliable, he runs a small shop that somehow has had every part and schematic I’ve needed to get my hands on! Actually I was out trying to salvage some parts for him when I stumbled across you out there!”
Tabby didn’t know what to think or how to feel. She was alone and afraid, but this Sterling not-Nandroid seemed trustworthy enough… if a little unfriendly at times. It wasn’t as if she had many options, she didn’t even know where she was! “Well, okay Maddie, I’m willing to trust a fellow Sterling Robotics bot!”
Madison squeezed her hand and led her through house, out to the driveway.
“We’ll be driving…? Since when do they allow robots like us to drive…?”
“It was part of my basic training. Our research often requires a certain degree of autonomy… and the Doctor I work under can’t drive either, so it helps...” Tabby sensed a degree of shame in her sentence. Why, a Sterling bot ought to show more respect towards those she’s assigned to work for, child or not.
“I see, how peculiar…” She held her tongue, as she wasn’t exactly among a peer here.
Madison held the passenger door open for Tabby and motioned her inside. Tabby hadn’t often ridden in her owners car, so this was almost a treat for her! She felt giddy for a moment, until glancing over at the side mirror… her hair was a mess, and her headdress was missing! Her uniform was filthy too, how unbecoming of a Nandroid.
As Madison sat down and started the engine, she noticed Tabby sadly staring at herself in the mirror.
“Ooh, don’t worry about it too much!, we’ll get you cleaned up” Madison tried to sound reassuring.
“But my headdress is gone… oooooh, I love this song!” Tabby lit up as an old favorite of hers played through the radio. “So get ready, get ready, here I come…” The tune helped her keep her mind off of her appearance, her predicament, and the fact that she’s missing a part of her uniform!
Madison looked over at the silly Nandroid and gave a slight smile as she pulled out of the driveway. She thought most Nandroids were compliant, empty headed ninnies, but something seemed interesting about Tabby.
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The drive hadn’t been very long, but for Tabby it seemed to drag on for an eternity. The music had only offered a mild distraction to all the burning questions that kept clogging her processes, just what was going to happen to her from here!? She was an old, abandoned robot, what would be considered as an outmode by most accounts. Nandroids weren’t supposed to become outmodes though! Outmodes are mean old robots who hate humans and are resentful of perfectly functional bots! She didn’t feel like that all, in-fact, she still felt perfectly functional and she’d prove it any day of the week at any time on the clock!
Tabby hadn’t spent much time in the city, and frankly she had hoped she wouldn’t have to spend a nanosecond longer than necessary! It would take a whole platoon of Nandroids to clean all of the grit and grime here by dinner time! Just looking outside of the windows she could several litterbugs contributing to the predicament, very bothersome indeed!
They pulled up to the side of a shabby looking corner shop with barred windows and a rickety fire-escape on the side… why, this doesn’t look like it’s up to building code!
“Hmm, doesn’t look too busy right now, this should be quick!” Madison let out while getting up out of the car. “Denny has been here since the 50s, has quite the range of odds and ends! He’s a bit of a reclusive fellow, but he gets along well with the local bots.”
The shop had a few patrons browsing around, practically all robots. Tabby felt an odd mix of emotions at the sight, weren’t these supposed to be mean old robots? They didn’t seem all that bad…
“Well damn, two Sterlies now? Who’s your friend, Mads?” Wheezed out a rusty old bot, looked to be a security model judging by the cap-shaped fixture bolted to his head. “She a real Nanny bot? She’s got the uniform and everything!”
“Quit gawking Marshall, give her some space!” Snapped Madison at the old guard bot while gently leading Tabby towards the front desk.
“Aw I’m just curious is all, haven’t seen a Sterlie up this close before besides you! I didn’t even know yous could have green eyes!”
Tabby felt an uneasiness creep back up on her, but she felt it best to remain cordial in situation. “How do you do, sir?” Tabby bowed her head and dipped down into a curtsy.
“Well I’m doin’ just fine Miss. uhh…!”
Tabby smiled and simply responded with her name “Tabby”
“Miss Tabby! Well they call me Marshall! I’m just waiting here for Ol’ Denny to get back from his stockroom! Has a nice pop-in elbow joint for me! This old one is gettin’ a little too finicky to deal with! Just give this here a listen!” He wave his arm back and forth, causing the joint to let out a loud grinding noise.
“Good heavens, that sounds like it should have received attention ages ago, Mr. Marshall!”
“Gotta make these parts last Miss Tabby, it’s rough out here for a bot on their own” The statement gave Tabby a sense of dread, but if he could manage a living on his own, then surely a superior Sterling Robotics bot like her could do it as well!
“Hey Marshall, still out there?” A shout came from the door behind the front desk, followed by an older gentleman carrying a small box. “Knew I still had a few of these somewhere back there”
“Oh that’s great Denny!” Marshall took his attention off the girls as he walked over to Denny and inspected the contents of the box. “Looks brand new even! Whatcha askin’ for it?”
“Hmmm, I’d say about $20, is an aftermarket part after all”
“Heh heh, always a good price! Gettin’ harder and harder to find honest bot docs around here!” Marshall chuckled as he slipped Denny a $20 bill.
Denny smiled and gave Marshall a pat on the shoulder “Always happy to help out a friend!”
“I’m gonna go pop this in right away, you’ve saved me again buddy” The bot waved as he was walking away. “Miss Tabby, you’re in good hands here! Hope I catch you around sometime”
Tabby gave a slight smile and turned to him “Good day, Mr. Marshall”
“Hey Madison! Good to see ya, where you able to find any of those batteries for me? Who’s your friend?”
“Nothing has turned up yet, will be another week before I have the time to go looking again.” She said with a hint of regret in her voice. “Uh… this is Tabby, found her just tossed away, she’s been abandoned”
“Oh dear, poor girl…”