Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Now arriving at Vandelay Island. Please take all your bags as you exit the vehicle."

As hordes of people made their way off the boat and into the various sectors of Vandelay Campus, one of them trailed behind, softly bumping his head to the music in his headphones.

This is Chai. And he's here to be a rockstar! Now, granted...he hasn't played any guitar, or performed in a band, or even taken any lessons. But once he's fully upgraded with Project Armstrong, his dreams can finally come true! And all he had to do was sign a couple of papers. What was in those papers, you ask? Eh, doesn't matter. Nobody actually reads the fine print, anyway.

He quickly stepped into the Orientation building, tapping his foot to the rhythm as he waited in line. Soon, the toe tapping turned into a full-on air guitar solo, and he hadn't even noticed he was at the front of the line.

"Next." The receptionist droned.

"I said NEXT."

Chai finally scooted forward, slapping his info sheet onto the counter. But then, it hit him. “Wait…You’re a robot?” Said robot, who identified herself as LU-C1LLE simply replied. “Vandelay Technologies switched to robot labor after discovering robots do tasks 98.3% more efficiently than humans do. Now then, your name is…Chai?” He just stood up straight and nodded. LU-C1LLE continued “Profession…Rockstar?” Chai took the opportunity to strike a pose, hopefully one that he would soon be doing in front of a cheering crowd. “FUTURE rockstar, actually.”

After a brief pause, the robot merely placed his card on the table. “Whatever. Here’s your Armstrong Pass. Welcome to Vandelay Campus.” Chai grew a smile, grabbing it with his good arm as he ran through the open courtyards. He looked up to see the Vandelay Marketing Manager, Mimosa on one of the many screens, congratulating all the Project Armstrong applicants, and promising a better future under Vandelay! "Woah, it's like she's talking right to me...." He kept up the pace, running to a crowd of people just like him, people who were ready for a fresh start.

Now, you might be wondering…how the heck does someone like him break an arm? The answer, like most things in life, is that he was trying to look cool. A couple of friends had dared him to try out a new skateboard trick, claiming that A rockstar on a skateboard would be one of the coolest things ever. And as Chai flew up off his board, he felt a sense of awesomeness very few things could make him feel.

And then he landed straight on the concrete.

He couldn't remember much that happened at the moment. He recalled people screaming to call an ambulance, and the searing pain in his arm. He remembered screaming as he was carted to the hospital, but after that, it was all a messy pile of memories and feelings. All he could gleam from that pile was the aftermath, where a doctor was explaining how Chai would probably recover after a couple of months. And that while he was walking home, Chai stumbled upon a poster on a graffitied wall. Something called Project Armstrong.

And that's how he got here, standing amidst a crowd of fellow adults and teens, while the intercom above blared. "Ladies and Gentleman, introducing the CEO of Vandelay Technologies, KALE VANDELAY!" A tall, blonde man walked onto the stage, earning a cheer from the crowd, Chai included. Kale smiled, raising his arms. "If you're here, You're the best of the best! And more importantly, you're here because you want to best the odds! Now, who's ready for their new future?" The crowd was electric, cheers and applause erupting from the courtyard.

That was a lot of people though, and Chai wasn't necessarily in a hurry, but he'd still like to get his enhancement sooner rather than later. So he squeezed, shoved, and pardoned his way through, even leaping over a huge guy to make his way to the Enhancement Center, where he was met with a gigantic robot, gesturing for him to put all his stuff in the bin and get dressed for surgery. "Not much of a talker, are you?" Chai mumbled, tossing his music player and headphones into the crate and heading into the changing rooms.

Meanwhile, Kale was up in the rafters, with a few of the heads of his company trailing behind. And he was pissed. "You promised the "best of the best", Mimosa! What the hell are all these KIDS doing here?" The Marketing Manager simply responded. "Marketing asked for test subjects, Kale. Production delivered." The woman next to her flinched, getting extremely defensive. "Don't pin this crap on Rekka! If it weren't for that grandstander Zanzo in R and D, we would've hired the-" Mimosa cut her off. "This will work, Kale. Rest assured." The CEO straightened, grabbing a music player from the nearest bin. "Look at this. You're bringing me LOSERS! But if you're sure this can work... then I'll hold off for now. Just remember, no slip-ups. And NO DEFECTS." He looked at the device in his hands and scoffed. People still use this sort of garbage? Pathetic. "What a piece of junk." He grumbled, tossing it down the rafters.

Chai had just finished changing, and he was walking through a scanner that identified the perfect enhancement for him. a magnetic arm, ideal for litter collecting. He would've preferred something with a built-in speaker or other musical tools, but he wasn't picky. He looked to the robot at his side and then back to the table. "So... do I just step in, or...GAH!" With a simple robo-punch, he was suddenly slotted in and restrained, now face to face with something that looked like a huge hydraulic press.

But it wouldn't be that simple. His music player was falling, and after bouncing off a poor robot janitor and one of the lights nearby, it landed square in the middle of his chest. "Uhhh..." He looked back to the giant press above him, which was approaching very, very fast now.

SMASH!

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Feel the Rush!

Chapter Text

Chai awoke hours later, just about to stand up off his operating table, when it rudely flung him into the fence next to him. After a while of trying to make the pain go away, he finally stood up, noticing his robot arm. "No way..." He twisted it and flexed the fingers in awe. It all felt so natural. But in the middle of admiring his new attachment, LU-C1LLE's voice blared over the intercom. "An error has occurred. Please proceed to the checkpoint." Chai hadn't seen one on the way here, but that at least gave him a goal. "Right... checkpoint. It's gotta be somewhere around here." He made his way through the rest of the Enhancement Center, passing a couple of robotic carriers on the way there. He was probably never gonna get used to the fact all the employees were robots.

"Please collect your belongs." His crate came along the conveyor belt, and he starting picking up his stuff. "Right. Time to get out of this hospital gown." His clothes fit well, but he had a bit of trouble getting his shoes on, finally pressing his foot into the sneaker. He looked at the familiar sling his arm was in, and wrapped it around his neck like a scarf, as a memory of how he got here in the first place. But something was off. He shook the crate over and over, but it was still completely empty. "Hey, where's my music player?" He knew that it fell on him during the surgery, but was probably tossed in an incinerator or something.

Light streamed in as the doors behind him opened wide. The park just outside was vibrant and sterile, not that Chai got to enjoy that, as the moment he stepped outside, he got a tablet straight to his face. A few robots circled around him, clicking on the tablet periodically. "Alright, kid. We've just got to screen everyone coming out of the Center." Chai took a defensive step back. "Let's see. Robotic arm, LX-DUST34, equipped with magnetic waste management affixture…” Chai got just a bit offended at “magnetic waste management.” Now HE was a janitor? Lame. But the robots finally ended with “Looks like an unauthorized power core. He’s a defect. C’mon, take him in.”

Alright, now something was DEFINITELY wrong. Chai started to back up, and before he could respond, he saw a trash grabber emerge from his wrist. The robots shared a confused look. “Is that a weapon?” Chai froze on the spot. “I..uhhh....I don’t think so?” The robots hands suddenly emerged weapons of their own, a couple of laser sabers.

“I think he’s resisting.

Chai stammered to a defense, but it was already too late, as he got a saber to the chest and fell to his knees. Something inside of him started to thrum with energy, and as he tried standing back up, he noticed the grabber start to shake violently. He looked to the ground, and little pieces of metal around the small park started to shake and soon, they flew off the ground, and stuck right onto his stick until it resembled what looked like a guitar. Chai grew a confident smirk. Now he stood a chance. A wall suddenly formed in front of him, apparently part of the lockdown. It was settled, then. The only way was to fight his way out.

"Get him!"

He heard the robots clanking after him, and he instinctively swung his new weapon at the bot's face, knocking him back. A few more swings, and he exploded. But Chai noticed something odd. Every time he swung, it was somewhat metronomic. That is to say, it was like there was an invisible beat that he was fighting to. And as he disposed of the last of the robots, he found out the source. He hovered his hand over his chest, feeling the familiar thumping from before. He lifted his shirt to see where his heart should've been, it was his...music player? He nervously lowered his shirt back down.

"So... if I'm getting this right..."

First, music player in my chest. Pretty sure that's not supposed to be there."

"Second, It's powering my new robot arm..." He flexed it, and sure enough, it twisted to the rhythm.

"Third... It's making everything sync up to the beat..." He tapped his foot rhythmically , and noticed that even the foliage and pavement cracks around him flexed to the music.

"And finally...and this sounds ridiculous...but when the music kicks in, it's like I'm on a stage!"

He looked around, and suddenly, he was in a venue with a cheering crowd. "Like I'm a ROCKSTAR!"

He heard an announcer on the loudspeaker, and noticed the weird robo-training pin thing in front of him. "Tonight's performer is Chai, folks! And here's his trick, all his attacks are on the beat!" Chai kept getting instructions, learning quicker, lighter attacks and heavier strikes with a beat in-between. And at the end of it all, the crowd was cheering for him. "Chai! Chai! Chai!"

Unbeknownst to him, it was just a vision in his head, and he was actually just cheering to himself in front of a new pair of robots.

"Chai! Chai! Thank you... but I don't do autographs, no, you're too kind!"

'Ahem."

Chai finally snapped out of his daze, eyes pointed to the knocked out robots on the ground. "Anybody see the guy that did this?" The robots yelled "That's the defect!" And while Chai tried to defend himself once more, he realized fighting was the way out again. He stuck his baton out confidently, watching as the junk piled up. This time, instead of blindly swinging in self-defense, Chai kept up the beat, swinging with quick attacks like a human metronome. And now, once the place was clear, the doors blocking him in finally sunk back down. "Well that was...awesome, but it's probably best to get out of here."

As he started to make his way through the park, he saw the face of some muscular woman on all the screens around him. "What's this I hear about a DEFECT runnin' wild in Rekka's zone?! If any of you slackers see him running around, Rekka wants you to CRUSH him, SMASH him!" Chai scoffed, finally entering what looked like a construction zone. "Right. Clearly someone I don't want to meet."

Someone called out over to his left, and when he turned to see, he was met with a...refrigerator? Said refrigerator introduced himself as "Vandelay Unit 37-2ES42 Smart Fridge, but more commonly known as "Smidge"." Chai rolled his eyes, unable to believe he was having a talk with this thing, but Smidge said something that caught his attention. "You seem to have

, should I explain your malfunctioning abilities?" I mean, they weren't a Malfunction, per say, but some explanation would be nice. Smidge mentioned how attacking right on the world's beat would make attacks stronger. Chai nodded, as he did take out robots faster when he timed his strokes with the music. "Huh. You sure know a lot, Smidge," The robot laughed. "I know everything about you. I look forward to our next chat!"

Chai hurriedly shuffled away, trying to get far away from the fridge. "Creepy..."

He burned the image of Smidge's smiling face out of his mind, just as he ran into another group of robots. These ones surrounding someone new. A...cat? The robots seemed just as confused. "Is that the defect?" Another stroked his metallic chin in thought. "Could be..." Chai called out, grinning to the robotic security. "I believe the defect you're looking for is me?" They deployed their weapons, giving the cat a chance to escape. As one of the robots lunged towards him, Chai felt his feet move to the side. "Aw yeah, Can't catch me now!" He bragged, before getting a saber right to the face. Right, time to focus. He dispatched them pretty easily, now that he could dodge their attacks, and stood in front of a large gate that just wouldn't budge.

"Hey!" A distant stranger yelled. "Thanks for helping my cat!"

"No problem! But I'm looking for a way out of here!" Chai called back.

"Well, I should be able to help you out, if I can just-"

Chai groaned. "Hey, yelling like this is awkward! Can we speed this up?" The stranger sighed. "I hacked the lift button down there, hit it and come on up here!" Chai simply obeyed, jumping across a few platforms while thinking about how quickly today had soured. "Man... I wanted a cool robot arm, not a target on me!" He leapt into a dark warehouse, stepping carefully. "Uh...hello? Cat rescuer here. You said you could help me out?" He nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard their voice again. "Down here." He looked down to see the cat again.

Wait, the cat again?

"You're the cat?!""

The stranger, now speaking through the cat explained. "No, THIS is 808. I built her." Chai scoffed, looking for a way out of this dark room. "Yeah, I don't think I need help from you and your cat-" He felt 808 tug on his scarf. "Look, I CAN help you get out of here, but Vandelay's up to something, and I have to figure it out." Chai still wasn't having it. "Thanks, but I'm good. Cute cat, though." He tried to pet 808, but as he laid his hand on her, his music player started to surge to life, and that power jolted straight through his arm and into the robotic kitty. She leapt up, and suddenly, she was a floating cat-ball-thing. The stranger seemed concerned. "808 isn't responding. What did you do?" Chai shook his head. "Forget that! Did you feel that beat? We've got something here!"

Suddenly, he was back on the stage, with the announcer back at it again. "Chai's back, everyone! And he's got a friend? Anyway, thanks to 808, he can charge up some stronger attacks with Beat Hits!" The rockstar felt the electricity, the surge striking his arm every few swings. "808, was it? I think I'm going to like you." He returned to the warehouse, which thankfully had the lights on now. Chai grinned. "So...you CAN help me out, but I'm going to borrow your cat for a bit." The stranger seemed suspicious. "Why's that?" Chai stood on a lift, nodding his head to the beat. "Hey, you're still helping me out. And 808 is helping me get rid of these robots even faster!" He smacked the lift's switch a couple of times, and flew into the air, seeing the entirety of Vandelay Campus stretching in front of him. "Woah..." Just as he landed, he saw more guards emerge from hatches on the rooftop, and he clutched his guitar. "Bring it on."

At this point, he was far from the bumbling attacker he was in the park, if anything, he was the opposite. He felt the beat, He WAS the beat. Every strike felt like he was rocking the guitar and that his dream was growing a little closer with every robot he reduced to scrap. "That should be all of them." He retracted the staff back into his arm, with an awestruck stranger watching him. " You HAVE to tell me how you did all that." Chai leaned over a railing. "You first. How do I get off of Vandelay Island?" 808 explained that the nearest exit was through QA. Where was that again?

"It's the building that literally says QA on it."

Oh, right. As Chai started on the long route, 808 warned him. "With that way out, they'll probably be expecting you." Chai barely stopped moving, leaping across the rooftops. "All I heard was "way out." C'mon, let's go!" He keep running, his confident footsteps stepping like a metronome as he jumped onto another scaffolding. But this one bent under his weight, and not after long, it was starting to fall.

"Uh oh..."