Chapter Text
Billy is about as old as he appears to be, being in his early-to-mid 20s. As a robot, he's always had the maturity of an adult, though. He's actually one of the oldest out of the Cunning Hares, even if he doesn't seem so at first glance. Speaking of Gentle House, they're like family to him. He frequently acts as an older brother even if, also frequently, he isn't respected as such. Billy is most protective of Anby and Nekomata because he views them as his younger sisters. Nicole and Billy could be described as the parents of the group.
Billy often finds himself inclined to protect children and those younger than him. It's not known if these “older brother instincts” are a behaviour he learned, or was simply created with.
He was built as a combat weapon manufactured for war, so he didn't need to learn tactical bullet arts or how to drive. Most robots of his generation don't need to sleep, only recharge, but he does anyway. He's even learnt how to dream.
Despite being a durable war machine, his body is slightly aged due to him being a product of lost technology. He isn't outmoded, per say, but doesn't perform as well as he did a decade ago. All of the repairs to his body are by his own hand, and he’s documented most of it within a notebook that he stores inside his chest cavity because he didn't come with an instruction manual. His body has doll-esc joints and articulation, including ball joints, and it has been modified so he's able to experience things closer to how humans do, like temperature sensitivity and a pain threshold. Also, his hair is synthetic, so it's very soft. He uses wig shampoo to wash it.
Billy always smells ever so faintly of machine oil because it's required to keep his body operational. He masks it with various scents, one of his favourites being vanilla.
It's likely that he wasn't always as autonomous as he is currently. Being, at his most basic form, an AI construct, “Billy” is simply the result of two decades worth of a robot learning and improving upon a basic, rather unremarkable (by New Eridu’s standards) artificial intelligence.
Mirroring the real Billy the Kid, he was “orphaned” from his former home when he was (technically) 15. Billy values freedom greatly, but still follows Nicole unquestioningly because he was built to follow orders and feels most comfortable working under somebody.
“Even if I agree, the Starlight Knights wouldn’t agree!”
“...And even if the Starlight Knights agreed, Nicole wouldn’t agree!”
He's probably a hoplophiliac.
Ironically for a gunslinger, Billy’s eyesight isn’t the best. He often has to squint and/or close one eye to get a clearer picture, making him slightly nearsighted and with possible diplopia in human terms. His model type was built for its accuracy, which is a double-edged sword. On one hand, he’s still incredibly efficient without perfect vision, making use of his enhanced movement sensors- but this also means his degraded vision is very difficult to fix without the proper materials. This is why it has gone unrepaired.
The way in which his AI functions and processes information is notably different from most other AI constructs. In human terms, this would make him neurodivergent. His behaviour is extremely similar to autistic humans, so for simplicity’s sake he simply refers to himself as so. He has hyperfixated on Starlight Knight for years, finds it difficult to stand and sit still, struggles with social cues, can't regulate his speaking volume too well, and is terrible at lying. He also has a resting bitch face. His default expression is often mistaken for an angry one, but it’s literally just his face.
A lot of his cartoony behaviour is genuine, but just as much of it is a coping mechanism in response to the time he spent in the Outer Ring. His delusions regarding being a self-proclaimed “Starlight Knight” and The Girls’ ability to speak stem from this developed mania.
Billy was created without a sex or gender, even though a masculine presentation was generally in mind. Because of this, he considers himself a trans man because it aligns with how he feels about himself. He's just A Guy. There's been multiple instances of him buying into gendered marketing for men because he just assumes that's what human men are supposed to do.
His body has gone through modifications over the years, one being his ability to swap out genitals as he pleases, or have none at all depending on his mood. He has those “books” in his locker for a reason.