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In contrast to his master's flamboyance, gregariousness - he, a skittish little droid, is not that popular within the Resistance. He does not wage discord with the other droids, or other humanoids in the base. Rather, as built in his programming, he tends to dislike harm and danger at all costs (ironic, as he is sort of designated for war and warships and he likes flying) thus being found by other droids in the base to be meek, too shy, too scared.
Too loyal.
This hits BB-8 in full force, as his lens focuses on the rag doll by the side, looking misplaced and at home at the same time.
Rey, as she is called, an ally as he registered, looks at him in concern albeit laced with little amusement.
"Is there something wrong Beebee-Ate?"
He refocuses, shifts his head, files the image in his registry to be reviewed later. He angles his head as if to question her question, feigning innocence, as he is yet to trust her (he is getting there).
"I wanted to be a pilot someday," she starts to explain herself, wistful, "…fly a ship, go somewhere."
He beeps and rolls off closer to her, interested in stories and dreams.
"Just somewhere. Have you been to a lot of places?"
BB-8 nods, tells her of all the planets and systems he has visited in his adventures, but the look on Rey's eyes as she listens stops him. Registering sadness - her eyes droop down, her smile wanes – so he stops.
She does not speak again, so he supplies a trivial matter to get her out of her thoughts.
"Coordinates! I won't know about coordinates!" Rey shakes her head, "at least there's not that much sand in all of them, is there?"
He shakes his head and she laughs, the night creeping in close in their solitude - but he is not alone and so is she - and it clicks, registers: gratitude. Rey is his ally, and now his friend, and almost instantaneously his subprogram associates her with loyalty.
He tells Rey he should come with him in his adventures. He is learning to trust her more now. There, in the confines of a dilapidated AT-AT, BB-8 checks himself - his systems are not in imminent danger, his protection alarm not aggressively beeping and his logic circuits do not trigger his fears. He gives a nod, more at ease now, giving her encouragement and tells her it is exciting as she had probably dreamt countless times.
At this, BB-8 shifts to the ragged doll by the corner. He beeps softly, steels himself once more. This is one of those nights – except this is a first. His thoughts drift to his master, his closest friend.
"Your master is a rebel pilot?" Rey shines in obvious excitement, her eyes lighting up. BB-8 looks at her, his thought process ruined. He joins in - affirmation: positive - and tells her unabashedly, that Poe Dameron is the best pilot in the Resistance.
"Whoa," the young woman's words register in his logic as something good. She tilts her head, and her smile becomes bigger, "You must convince him to let me fly his ship and travel the galaxy!"
BB-8 tilts his head - Poe: overprotective, friendly, committed - and as he reads from memory, Rey does something with her fingers and he beeps a question.
"You do this when you're happy or just, excited, I guess," she gestures, "like having a successful mission? Or maybe just going home."
BB-8 does not fully understand, but he scans his tools and it is the best he could come up with - he flicks his lighter up and Rey laughs.
Classification: happy, excited, successful mission, going home...
But he remembers he is alone again, and his gears shift at large. Rey notices the change in his demeanor and says, "He'll come back."
Ally, Friend Rey pats his domed head, "Trust me. I know all about waiting."
That night, BB-8 waits with Rey.
Too loyal. So he waits.
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He recalculates the odds and figures - his best chances of survival rely on his newly acquired human friend. Rey: dreams of becoming a pilot, wants to travel the galaxy, can keep him safe. They are headed to a wide tent of metal scraps - classification: junkyard - and their adventure (unknowingly) starts when BB-8 spots his master's jacket being worn by someone else.
Poe's jacket: brown, orange stripes, overused -
Rey fights that person and boxes that person out (classification: male, wearing Poe’s jacket, confused) until he is on the ground. His logic circuits trigger his electric shock - registration: agitation - and zaps him, twice. BB-8 is skittish, and does not calm, especially not when the new enemy tells him 'Poe did not make it'.
Poe: dead, jacket was stolen, not coming back.
He rolls away as his subprogram scans a response, records a lag of a fraction of a minute due to an embedded trigger associated with loss or death. BB-8 moves further away from them. Time lapses until he spots something from the distance - spots another enemy, and then he overhears that the other enemy is lying (his face does not come up in his registry of the Resistance!) - his circuits process fast and aggressive and he must protect Rey.
When the three of them are flying off from Jakku via a huge, old freighter, BB-8’s machinery senses his in-built processor speed up to complement his program. The dry weather in Jakku does not help him, and sand has gotten inside his protective unit as he skidded away from their pursuer. His logic and registry speeds down as he recollects -
Rey: flying an unknown freighter, dream mission is successful, off to the galaxy
Unknown Human: enemy, is not in the registry of the Resistance, steals Poe's jacket
Poe: dead, jacket was stolen, not coming back
BB-8 recalls his master’s last message, "I'll come back for you, it'll be alright," and immediately, he senses his processor speed up again - classification: fear - until Rey shouts for him to hold on. He does not, and he flies right into the air suspended for milliseconds, and bounces back into the floor after calculated rotations.
They fly off into space and despite his mistrust, BB-8 asks Rey about Unknown Human.
"Don't worry, he's from the Resistance - "
He almost beeps a negative.
"And he will bring us home. Both of us."
BB-8 remains skeptic, and does not completely believe Rey regarding Unknown Human. It shouldn't have gotten worse - until he finds out that he was right about the truth, and Unknown Human is lying, and now he is asking for the location of the Resistance base in exchange for BB-8's safety.
Resistance: home, successful mission, parts maintenance
What to do - what to do?
If he could not trust Unknown Human, at least, BB-8 deduces, he can trust Rey. The young woman probes him and for a moment, the droid registers confusion, but Rey - Rey is an ally and a friend and BB-8 trusts Rey.
Rey: could be trusted, flying an unknown freighter, dream mission is successful, arrives in the galaxy.
"The Illeenium System!" Rey exclaims and hunches back down in the basement, her tone resonates with happy, excited -
Unknown Human does that thing. BB-8 knows that.
He flicks his lighter up and he is going home.
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Unknown Human leaves after all and confirmation: negative - he cannot be trusted. Rey will still take him home, he hopes, but he senses her sadness because of Unknown Human leaving.
BB-8 wonders if this is within her knowledge of waiting.
He follows her, having witnessed the exchange from afar. Rey is distraught - association: confused - and BB-8 follows her towards a dark place that puts his circuits into overdrive.
Classification: stairs. Association: fear.
Rey goes down too fast for him to catch up, but braving through his fear, he scans the steps and begins his descent. Once, Poe has told him that he finds it bizarre he does not like stairs but easily gets accustomed to flying in steep heights. BB-8’s protection alarm sends through a detection, but he ignores it - Rey does not need to be alone anymore.
BB-8 does not understand human emotions quite well, does not understand the logic of tears, does not understand why Rey is running again. He follows her outside, through the forest and suddenly, there are loud hovers of ships in the skies, sound of blasters, sound of rushing feet. But all he hears is -
"BB-8. No, you can’t –you have to go back. You’re too important."
"You take this. It’s safer with you than it is with me."
“I’ll fight them off…I hope so too."
"I’ll come back for you. It'll be all right."
He prompts her with one last look, memorizes her words. Rey will bring him home. BB-8 trusts her.
He will also not lose her. He will go home. They both will.
For now, BB-8 waits alone.
Too loyal – but as Rey goes towards the other direction, he rolls away to the other side.
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The Resistance ships land one by one as BB-8 scans the crowd slowly forming by the hangar. Recognition: Unknown Human, goes also by the name of Finn. Rey is nowhere to be found. BB-8 wanted to ask where Rey is but promptly remembers that Finn does not understand binary.
He continues to look for Rey, recognizes Falcon Owner and Fur from earlier. General Leia and Falcon Owner know each other, he notes, so Falcon Owner (classification: human, male, thinks BB-8 is a ball) must be of equal importance to the Resistance. BB-8’s scanner maps each and every recognizable face, until it picks up a different signal - from a ship, the Black One, whose coordinates are closely located to where BB-8 currently is.
That only meant one thing.
BB-8 speeds up as fast as he could, maybe intentionally tripping Finn in the process, towards his master. Poe: alive, orange suit, tousled hair. The pilot spots him as well and his excitement is imminent.
"BB-8, buddy!"
His master crouches down and BB-8 does not know where to start.
Poe: alive, orange suit, has come back.
Beeping excitedly, he tells him all at once of his adventures - his first night in Jakku, Teedo, the rag doll from the abandoned AT-AT and then, and then, it's all too soon. Poe suddenly sees Finn and stands up, rushing into him. BB-8 tries his best to tell him about Finn (that Finn helped him get back to the Resistance base) but Poe is now too far to hear him, and BB-8 watches the exchange.
He hasn't even gotten to the best part of his adventure yet.
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The thing is; he never found Rey back in the base.
Rey: missing, somewhere, only has a small gun.
Finn rushes to General Leia Organa with Poe by his side, the commander sounding rushed and demanding attention. BB-8's logic program is right yet again - Rey is missing, but she is yet to be confirmed to be dead. He wonders if she is alone and she is waiting again.
The Resistance troops have a brief meeting, as the reconnaissance report confirms that time is not on their side. The First Order has tracked their ship and is now heading for their system. At this, the base is in chaotic array and BB-8 finds himself rushing towards the hangar where Poe’s X-wing is maintained.
Then he is sucked into the co-pilot seat. This time, he does not hesitate.
"A scavenger – who knows how to fly a ship.”
His master shakes his head, not nearly impressed. BB-8 lets out an indignant beep and when Poe remarks that it was a good thing his droid parts were not scavenged in Jakku, BB-8 stills himself.
Poe activates the controls of the Black One, and BB-8, seated in his co-pilot compartment configures the ship's machinery. He beeps and beeps and beeps, with Poe checking on the engines.
"That freighter? You got lucky, that thing looks like a malfunctioning miracle," remarks Poe, to which BB-8 disagrees. Ready for the important mission, his master swiftly straps himself to the pilot seat, helmet adjusted to his liking.
He doesn’t understand it either – the need to defend Rey to his master. In the simplest droid logic devoid of human emotion and pure machinery, BB-8 deduces it is a matter of righting a wrong. Rey has saved his life, after all.
“Are we set to pre-turbo? Make sure the blasters are charged as well.” Poe adjusts his helmet one more time and flexes his hands, stretching his gloves. “Seventy-three? That’ll take…two minutes and thirteen seconds, right on, buddy.”
The droid does a few more configurations, additional gear protection protocols – and some more off-handed bleeps.
BB-8 doesn’t see it, but he recognizes the shuffle of his friend in the forward seat. The astromech makes a sharp turn, a glance, to see his reaction but all he can see was the back of Poe’s helmet.
“A girl, huh?”
BB-8 met Poe that time when the latter became officially part of the Resistance. Although BB units did not come from specifically configured astromechs like the R2 units, Poe did not think twice in getting him configured and complementary for the mechanics of his X-wing. This, along with BB-8’s program design, made his relationship with Poe characteristic that to friendship in human relational hierarchies.
From there, came stories of the pilot’s childhood and tales – including that of his memories of his mother, Lieutenant Shara Bey. BB-8 knew his master admired his mother greatly and looked up to her, influencing his passion and commitment to serve under the leadership of General Leia Organa. To BB-8, these names held a place of importance and is reflective of Poe Dameron’s – he wasn’t sure if ‘heart’ was the right term for it, but if these tales of the women he looked up to were of any indication, BB-8 thought that when a potential “person” comes along, he would know where to place his vote of confidence.
That time though, he certainly isn’t thinking of it. BB-8 just wants to save Rey.
“Tell you what,” Poe turns to him, his eyes peering, “how about we blast off all these annoying enemy ships and you tell me all about her?”
BB-8 beeps back excitedly, and he almost does that thing, that trick, but he is strapped in his seat and Poe has turned his back on him anyway.
There will be time for that later.
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When he is up there, he does not associate with the concept of fear. The red engine lights of the X-wings glare back at him, and from afar, they blend with the stars. BB-8 does not dwell when there is an explosion – classification: death, loss – instead, rechecks the machinery and its mechanics time and time again to make sure he and Poe will come back safely. From his small seat, BB-8 sees the approach of many tie-fighters and he bounces, telling Poe they’ve got company. Dislikes: tie-fighters as company, many tie-fighters, explosions.
The blasts on the thermal oscillator cause his temperature to surge but not enough to let him combust. Poe obviously enjoys himself, reeling in the victory despite the shaking base planet and admittedly, BB-8 enjoys the way he flies their X-wing, maneuvering in the narrowest of curves. He sees the oscillator bursting into tiny fragments of metal into space and deems the mission successful.
He hopes that Rey is found. He hopes now, they both go home.
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They do. Rey alights from the freighter and suddenly there are too many humans crowding in, that BB-8 stops himself from going towards her. He sees General Leia Organa holding the young woman and he also registers Finn being carried off to Medical.
“Come on, BB-8, it is best that we give them time,” drones C-3PO, tone laced with sadness.
In much needed reprieve, R2-D2 powers up to inform the rest of the Resistance troops that he has a backup of the complete map retrieved from the Imperial Archives. Recognizing it at once, BB-8 probes Poe, acquiring the missing piece inside his drive, and flashes it to complete the picture – a picture of the galaxy’s hope.
And then cheers erupt from across the room. Sounds of laughter fill up the small base, and for a moment, Rey crouches down to him, obviously happy to see him again. Though traces of sadness are present in Rey’s eyes, BB-8 still finds her smile warm and he realizes he is fond of it.
Likes: Poe Dameron, parts maintenance, Rey’s smile.
More cheers fill the room, and with self-preservation ingrained in his logic, the droid steps aside to avoid being manhandled, making way for Poe to bump into Rey. She is the next person closest to the ace pilot – and in an instant, the young woman is enveloped in the celebration with a hug.
BB-8 watches the scene with interest.
“Uh, hi,” says Poe, running a hand through his tousled hair, caught off-guard. “I’m Poe.”
“I recognize the name. So you’re Poe,” Rey watches him closely, maybe too closely. “Poe Dameron. The X-wing pilot. I’m Rey.”
“I know.” Despite the awkward exchange, Poe manages a warm smile, “Nice to meet you.”
BB-8 remembers that he forgot to tell Poe about Rey’s wish to fly the Black One. Now that they have met, he is going to make sure Poe will know. And Rey will finally have her wish.
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Except she doesn’t. Almost too soon, Rey will go and find Luke Skywalker for another important mission – but this time, BB-8 doesn’t know. He went with her to the Medical, waiting outside while she talked to the sleeping Finn. Rey made sure to tell the droid to go easy on her other friend and to take care of him for her.
“Rey,” calls General Leia Organa, soft, hushed, full of hope, “May the force be with you.”
BB-8 takes his cue and rolls forward. He looks up at her and remembers everything.
Come back, please, he tells her.
She only nods, offering a small smile.
The Falcon drifts off as the entire Resistance gather by the hangar, watching, as it grew smaller and smaller in the vast sky. Poe crouches down by the droid’s position, patting his head as if to comfort him.
“Hey buddy,” BB-8’s focus shifts towards his Poe, whose eyes are still trained on the sky. He then looks back at his loyal droid, a smile grazing his features.
“Why didn’t you tell me she’s beautiful?”
BB-8 beeps, more sounding like a whistle. Poe: alive, smiling, thinks Rey is beautiful. He files this in his registry and associates the information with association: happy, excited –
He flicks his lighter and Poe understands it right away. He howls in laughter, returning the gesture with affection.
“Y’know, you do know a lot for a droid.”
Yes, he does. Rey has taught him two tricks. That thing.
And waiting.
He knew all about waiting.
This time, BB-8 waits with Poe.
Too loyal.
So he waits.