Chapter Text
“It worked.” Peter Walter VI breathed as the baby-blue photoreceptors blinked up at him from the table. With a grin, the golden robot faked a yawn as he sat up and looked around.
“How long was I asleep?” The Jon asked, looking around the lab, so different from the way he remembered it.
“Not that long, like a few years.” Peter said, watching the robot stand.
“Years? I missed so much cool stuff probably!” he whined as he located his suspenders on a nearby table. “Where’s Rabbit and The Spine? I miss my brothers!” he said as he adjusted the red suspenders over his shoulders.
“…We’ve got some things to discuss, The Jon.”
“So let me get this all figured out. Crystal Pepsi came back suddenly, so I came back, yay me! Rabbit’s a girl. Cool, she’s my sister. Hatchworth from the vault is out now because the band had to be a trio, that’s okay. But… They’re all in space now? And I’m not?” The Jon said after Peter caught him up on the past few years.
“Yep, that’s pretty much it.” Peter confirmed.
“Why are they in space? I wanna go to space too, can I join them?”
Peter shook his head. “Communication is spotty at best. I can rarely get in contact with them. Trying to send you up to them would be like trying to throw a rock in the ocean to hit a shark.”
“That’s a really weird analogy.”
“Yep. Point still stands though. Sorry, Jon.”
“It’s fine.” he said with a pout.
“I promise, next time I’m able to signal the others, I’ll tell them you’re awake, and chances are they’ll make their way back home, just to see you.”
The golden robot grinned widely and hugged Peter across the desk, much to Peter’s surprise. “Ah, okay, thanks man.” he said awkwardly, patting The Jon on the shoulder.
A few months passed before Peter could contact the ship on which the trio of robots resided. The Jon was watching a movie when he heard Peter call to him from down the hall.
“Jon! Jon-Jon-Jon, come here, quick!” Peter yelled, and The Jon ran, hair bouncing and steam curling as he barreled into the room. On a computer monitor, The Jon saw his three siblings smiling. Once Rabbit saw The Jon, she screamed.
“J-J-JON!! Is that youuuu?!” she cried, bouncing and causing the camera on her side to shake. All at once, the three robots on-screen began talking excitedly at once, as The Jon nearly pushed his nose to the monitor, shouting back at them with matched enthusiasm.
“I miss you all so much! Rabbit you look so pretty! Hatchworth I need to give you a hug, I’m glad to see you’re okay!” The Jon said, barely pausing between his words.
“Jon! We’re gonna make our way home soon, okay!?” The Spine said, grinning widely at his young brother as the screen began to fade into static.
“I love you guys!” The Jon said, waving at his siblings’ smiling faces as the connection was lost. The Jon stared at the static for a few seconds before grinning at Peter.
“They’re coming back home soon.” he breathed with an excited puff of steam.
“It’ll be quite a few more months.” Peter warned, but even then the happiness and relief softened his voice.
“I have to get things ready!” The Jon cried as he stood and jogged out of the room.
“Oh no. God no…” Peter whispered as his voice cracked, putting his head in his hands, the computer screen the only light in the room as he pressed clenched fists into the wood of his keyhole mask.
Peter watched the gold robot as he sat on the floor, crayons and drawings spread around him. Tentatively, Peter sat on the floor next to The Jon, folding his long legs underneath him as he watched the bot draw.
“Hey, Peter, are you gonna draw with me?” The Jon asked hopefully, showing him a detailed drawing of the Earth, with a stylized spaceship streaking toward a star on the planet over the state of California.
“Um, no, sorry, Jon… Actually I have… I have something to tell you.” Immediately The Jon’s face went serious.
“It isn’t good news, is it?” he asked.
“No, I’m afraid it’s not.” Peter replied, unable to look at the robot anymore. With a deep breath, Peter began speaking.
“Jon… I thought that the soda was coming back permanently. Everyone did, the company said it was… But the demand wasn’t high enough after a while… They’ve discontinued the soda again, and we’re down to our last three cans.”
“Three cans, that’s only… Less than a week.” The Jon muttered, eyes wide with fear. Peter felt his heart break as he watched the golden bot’s hands begin to shake.
“Five days, if you’re careful; three if you’re not.” Peter managed to choke out.
“I can’t go through it again, I can’t. I can’t say goodbye again.” he clenched his metal fists, snapping the crayon he was holding in half. He suddenly opened his hands. “I’m going to shut off. Don’t wake me until they come back. And don’t tell them that I only have a few days. Swear to me you won’t tell them.” The Jon said to Peter intensely.
“I swear.”
The Jon awoke a few months later with three very excited automatons smiling in his face. With a cry he sat up and tackled his siblings in a bear hug as they all spoke over one another, greetings and words of affection overlapping as steam filled the room.
“We missed you, kid.” The Spine said once everyone had quieted down a bit.
“Yeah we did!” Rabbit squealed, “ And now we can be a quartet, just like before, with-”
“Let’s focus on now, kay?” The Jon interrupted. “Let’s go for a walk or something.”
“We just got back from space.” Hatchworth said as The Jon stood.
“Yeaaah, but we have some catching up to do! I don’t want to waste any time, y’know?”
“It is a ni-ni-nice evening.” Rabbit said.
“Come on, let’s go!” The Jon sang as he pulled his siblings along out of the Manor.
The Spine watched Hatchworth and The Jon chase birds around the park, smiling as the two bots tried to sneak up on them and ultimately failed.
“I’m surprised you’re not out there chasing the poor birds too, Rabbs.” The Spine chuckled.
“And mess up my-my-my skirt? Nahhh…” she joked. “Plus, I’m okay with watching those two dorks play for a wh-while.”
It was quiet for a few minutes before Rabbit spoke again.
“I can’t believe he’s back.” Rabbit said, giggling a bit as The Jon ran full-speed into Hatchworth, sending both automatons crashing to the ground.
The Spine nodded in agreement. “Peter really is an engineering genius, I thought nobody was able to get The Jon’s core to work with just Blue Matter on its own.”
“Is that what hap-happened? I thought the soda came back.”
“I-I kinda of assumed Peter fixed him…” The Spine trailed off. “I haven’t seen any ads for Crystal Pepsi or anything.”
“I’m sure you’re ri-ri-right.” Rabbit said with a nod.
“What do you say we join them?” The Spine grinned, heading over to where the gold and bronze robots were climbing a tree. With an enthusiastic nod, Rabbit ran to join her brothers.
The automatons stayed at the park until the streetlights shut off after midnight. All four were covered in grass and energized from running round, boilers nearly dry from all the excursion. Linked arm-in-arm, the robots made their way home together.
“Two more cans, The Jon. You shouldn’t be running around, you’ll run out faster” Peter mumbled, handing the gold robot a soda.
“We should go to the beach today!” The Jon says enthusiastically the next morning to Hatchworth and The Spine, who were sitting in the dining room.
“Sorry Jon, it’s supposed to rain later.” The Spine said apologetically, looking up from the newspaper he was reading.
“I don’t mind!”
“We’re robots.” The Spine reminded him.
“Riiiight.” The Jon tapped his cheek with a thoughtful expression. “We should do something though.”
“Like what?” Hatchworth asked as he nibbled on a pancake.
“I don’t know! Anything fun.” he looked around the room after a moment. “Hey…Where’s Rabbit?”
“Kitchen. And she’s been too quiet.” The Spine said, giving the doorway a suspicious glance.
“I’m gonna go say hi.” The Jon said.
The Jon could feel something was wrong as soon as he walked in.
“T-t-t-there are only two cans in here.” Rabbit whispered. “Petes didn’t fix your c-c-core after all-all-all, did he?” her voice cracked and she stared at her golden brother with a mix of sorrow and anger. “Why did-did-didn’t you tell us sooner-r-r?” she cried out suddenly.
“I-I just wanted us to be happy for a while.” he said softly. He noticed the other two bots in the doorway, looking at the the exchange with alarm.
“H-h-h-how long, The Jon?” Rabbit choked as she glared, oil dripping from her eyes. “How long will two cans las-las-last?!”
“About three days if I’m careful.” The Jon said sheepishly.
Rabbit let out a small distressed squeak and stomped out of the room, shaking and pouring steam.
Hatchworth walked behind The Jon and put his hand on the gold bot’s shoulder.
“This isn’t how I wanted you all to find out.” The Jon said blankly, staring at the floor. “I wanted us to have a few really fun days before I ran out.”
“I’ll go talk to her” The Spine muttered, leaving the two youngest bots alone in the kitchen.