Work Text:
Wilbur squinted as he twisted the screwdriver, carefully pushing the final screw into place. This was a new model. Techno and Phil had brought in a couple spare parts and he wanted to try a new design for a hand.
This one may not have been technically legal, but as long as that didn’t catch the attention of the higher ups, it didn’t matter. Or, the bad attention of the higher ups. If they took interest in his work, then he could get himself a deal.
Not that he would take it. They’d probably kill him first if he refused to take an investment from them.
Wilbur didn’t care, though. Neither did Phil or Techno. Good morals were a rarity in this time. Wilbur wouldn't exactly say he was the best man to have walked the earth, but he had some standards. Kissing up to those filthy pigs was not something he was willing to do, even for his own life.
Wilbur smiled as he finished the last piece, lifting the prosthetic hand into the air. Perfect. Now he would just need to test it.
It was a glove with an EMP. Something that would shut down a certain variety of prosthetics. These existed everywhere, of course. Most prosthetics had some kind of protection against them.
But an EMP hidden in a package so small such as a hand? Quite interesting technology.
Wilbur flinched as the door slammed open.
“Your favorite customer is here!” Techno shouted.
Wilbur rolled his eyes, walking out of his shop and into the main lobby. The gears in his legs clicked and whirred as he moved, a steady thump of the metal of his sole against the concrete.
As soon as he made it out, he grinned.
“Tommy! My boy! What are you in for here today? More repairs? Something new? Can I interest you in our newest setof appendages?” Wilbur leaned against the counter, a sly look on his face.
Tommy was a regular here. Wilbur wouldn’t lie that it concerned him just how regular he came in.
He usually came in one or twice a week, asking for a repair or an upgrade. The boy was one of the most decked out teens he had ever seen. Both legs were prosthetics as well as his left arm and nearly his full right. Since he had been a customer at the Sleepy Mechanics, Tommy had had many new replaced parts. When Wilbur had first seen him, the kid still had both his eyes and his stomach. He had his left arm and right leg too.
Wilbur had asked what happened, trying to be playful. Tommy didn’t seem to want to give him an answer.
Wilbur frowned as he saw Tommy limp inside, his right mechanical leg torn off from the knee down.
“Kid. What happened to you?”
Tommy sneered. “None of your business. Just fix me up.”
Wilbur obliged, leading Tommy to the back. He set Tommy down on his work table.
“So, kid. Interested in any new upgrades? I’ve actually just finished my newest work. It’s a hand—“
“Give it to me.”
Wilbur blinked. “You sure? It hasn’t been tested.”
Tommy glared at him, his mechanical eye taking a moment longer to squint. “Your stuff hasn’t done me wrong before. Just do it.”
Wilbur smiled. “Very well, kid. Though, it does appear that my machines have…” He gestured to the torn leg. “Not quite done you good, either.”
Tommy sniffled. “Won didn’t I?” He said it quietly, almost a whisper.
And oh.
Oh.
Oh no.
Wilbur’s eyes widened, forcing himself not to yell at the kid. He needed to act cool. He didn’t want to scare the poor kid off.
Maybe Wilbur should have questioned where Tommy got these funds from before.
“Won? Oh, you in those fights?” He tried to act nonchalant. He kept his hands low, so Tommy wouldn’t see the trembling of his hands.
He had gotten real attached to this kid, hadn't he?
“What’s it to you?” Tommy spit, clearly regretting his decision to say anything at all.
Wilbur shrugged, getting to work on Tommy’s leg. “Nothing at all. Not my business. Glad my stuff is doing you well.”
Tommy nodded. “It does.”
Wilbur gulped.
The pit. Tommy was in the pit. Tommy was in the pit.
The world was a cruel, awful place. He hated every moment of it. He grit his teeth, setting his jaw.
A 15 year old teenager in the pit. How did he even get in? Bet they let him in for some sick entertainment. The pit wasn’t supposed to be for kids but it certainly wasn’t fair either. People gathered around to watch others tear and rip each other apart. And despite the fact that the prosthetics had the ability to turn off pain sensors, they always made sure they were on before their little entertainment went in.
Many died. Very rarely did a battle end without a death. Wilbur looked away, shuddering. No one here was a stranger to death. Wilbur had some blood on his own hands, he couldn’t lie.
But someone so young. Wilbur had been repairing him for almost a year now. No wonder Tommy had needed so many new body parts.
Wilbur covered his mouth, trying not to throw up at the thought.
Tommy really had wormed his way into his heart, hadn't he?
The man took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before continuing his work.
“Y’know, Tommy…”
Phil and Techno would be so mad at him.
Tommy glanced at him from where he was laying down. “What?”
“There’s a position open here.”
There was a moment of silence, Wilbur cringing at the tension in the air.
“Didn’t see a sign on your door,” Tommy eventually replied.
Wilbur huffed a laugh. “Just opened. Realized I could use a helping hand around the shop. Figured you’d been repaired so much that maybe you’d like to take a crack at it.”
“I don’t know anything about mechanics, or else I’d be doing this myself instead of paying your annoying face.”
Wilbur let out a sudden burst of laughter, throwing his head back in a cackle. He shook his head fondly. “There’s plenty of other shops, Toms. You love me, don’t act like you don’t.”
“I don’t. I hate all of you. Except Phil. He’s the only man ever.”
Wilbur laughed again. “Tell him that yourself, hm? I don’t mind putting the effort in to have an apprentice.”
Tommy looked to the ceiling, staring off into space for a moment. “Need an apprentice to take the shop off your hands when you die from old age in a couple of years?”
Once again, Wilbur was sent into an unexpected laughing fit. “I’m not that old! Talk to Phil. He’s already got one foot in the grave.”
Tommy chuckled, turning to look at Wilbur once more. “You’d give me the chance? Are you sure?”
Wilbur smiled, patting Tommy’s leg. “Yes, I’m sure. You’re a good kid, Tom. I think you deserve a semi-comfortable place to stay. We’ve even got rooms here to stay in, if you need it.”
Tommy took a deep breath, nodding to himself. “Very well then. Hello, co-worker.”
Wilbur puffed his chest out, purposefully acting pompous as he raised his voice. “Since you are my apprentice I believe that means you must call me master. Like one of those senseis.”
Tommy twisted his leg, shoving Wilbur off with a yelp. “I’m leaving. Never coming back.”
“Wait, wait! Buddy, pal, co-worker.”
Tommy grinned, Wilbur grinning right back.
Tommy extended his hand, Wilbur slapping his into it.
“Can’t wait to work with you, Wil.”
“Can’t wait for you to blow up my work station, gremlin.”
The boy let out a squawk, shouting that he was the best at everything.
Wilbur just laughed, shaking his head and continuing on his work.
Had to get the new employee fixed up for his first day of work, of course!