Chapter Text
It was all over. Nothing mattered anymore.
The rain had been falling steadily for hours now, the angry grey clouds storming over the park in a melancholy haze.
As the satisfied giant stomped away happily with his pack of candy, Rico was left to see his one and only true love, laying lifeless on the floor, glass shattered.
A tidal wave of unfamiliar emotions overwhelmed the robot, causing it to do something it had never done before— cry.
More tears of oil dripped onto the concrete pavement. The heavy rain never seemed to end, icy raindrops cascading through his metal frame. The vending machine, otherwise known as V.M, was Rico’s lover here at this strange park he was built to serve.
“You can’t leave me now— I can’t do this on my own.” Rico cried, trying to shake V.M awake.
“Because of you, I was able to stay happy in this park, what am I supposed to do now that you’re gone?”
The vending machine didn’t respond to Rico’s desperate pleas, weak light flickering on its cracked screen until the robot could see his own reflection through the broken monitor.
Rico kneeled, trying to piece the broken shards of glass scattered across the wet ground together like a puzzle as an act of desperation.
But there was no point. The monster had brutally punched V. M’s monitor, not just the glass. V.M was beyond repair, and the realization hit Rico.
Rico could feel the sadness subside as the hot wave of anger rushed in.
“Is this what you warned me about? Humans are truly evil, aren’t they?” He spat, putting all the snacks that fell out of V. M’s insides back in place, trying to somewhat make them look normal, like nothing had ever happened.
“Humans are selfish. They built robots like us to be their slaves and sit back as they expect us to do all their chores without pay.”
“They don’t realize how much technology has advanced, even if they were the ones to create and improve us in the first place. We’ve grown sentient enough that rivals the human psyche.”
He stared tenderly at V.M before speaking again. “We’ve developed far enough to feel emotions. And yet, humans still view us lesser than them.”
The robot touched V. M’s broken monitor. “And what happened to you is just proof that humans will never be grateful. They always want more.”
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It was a rather quiet night in Barley’s Bar with the occasional pitter patter outside from the raindrops. Barley was sweeping the floors, it was closing hours for the deli.
Listening to the quiet rhythm of the raindrops, Piper sipped her beverage of choice.
She was alone for yet another Valentine’s Day. Piper would usually prefer to drink her usual tea, but today seemed like she deserved a glass of beer.
Barley hummed a lively tune as he joyfully danced across the floors with his broom, happy that yet another exhausting day was completed.
“How was your Valentine’s Day, Piper? I’m assuming your father had arranged more dates for you today, I remember him telling me all about it a few days ago.”
Piper huffed lightly, crossing her arms as she rolled her eyes.
“Don’t even get me started, it was awful. I had to go on a total of 3 dates, spending the day with men I don’t even know nor remotely interested in.”
“But if you get married to one of the men Byron set you up with, your popularity will soar in the park.”
She narrowed her eyes at Barley, putting down her drink on the table. “Are you taking sides with Byron? You know very well that I don’t care about fame nor status, I’m perfectly happy with running the bakery, that’s all I want.”
Barley closed his mechanical eye. “I’m just presenting your father’s point of view. Your father has no ill intent, he only wants the best for you.”
“Byron doesn’t really like the fact you were in an intimate relationship with a robot in the past— you know better than anyone how this society frowns upon robots and especially when we get too close to humans.”
Piper only let out a lengthy sigh in response. Barley was right, she knew Byron was doing this all for her. However, Byron had never let her get a say in his decisions, and practically forced her to go on these outings with men even if she tried to explain her side.
Besides, finding a partner wasn’t in her best interest right now. Not especially when she was still stuck on Ricochet.
She reminisced on old memories that she shared with her past lover, looking blankly out the dark window, lost in thought.
“Barley dear, do you recall Valentine’s Day 3 years ago?” Piper asked.
The bartender stopped for a brief moment, putting his hand on his chin. “Yes indeed I do. I remember receiving lovely treats from you.” Piper smiled warmly in response, still staring out the window.
“I also remember that was the night you and Ricochet had gone on a first date, right in this bar. Why?”
Piper’s smile slightly faltered, her eyes glazed with sadness now.
“Those were good times.” She quietly smiled, setting her glass down.
Barley noticed her shift in tone and stopped cleaning, full attention on Piper with a concerned look on his face.
“Are you still in love with him? Is that why you refuse to get married with anyone Byron suggests?”
Piper took a deep breath, thinking on how to respond. She hadn’t really talked about Ricochet before, not even with Shelly. She also usually didn’t try to talk too much about herself, but the alcohol influenced her to do otherwise.
“Of course I’m still hung up on him. How stupid of me, I know perfectly well he’s moved on. We’re practically strangers now.” She gripped the handle of her glass harder and laughed tentatively to ease the tension.
Barley reached over to her, putting his metal hand on her shoulder. “Do none of the suitors catch your eye?”
Piper shook her head. “All of these men only see me for my looks and Byron’s money. Nothing feels real when I’m with them. Ricochet was the only one who saw past all that. He truly was one of a kind.”
“But he’s long gone now; it’s been two years. Surely forgetting him is easier now than before.”
“Oh, how could I, Barley? Every single corner in this park still has traces of him living his day-to-day life here. I just don’t understand at all why he would disappear and leave me.”
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The bounty hunter let out a mechanical laughter, with Piper joining in as they walked out of the arena together. They had won yet another gem grab match in Crystal Arcade.
Ricochet was still boasting about how he saved the game.
“Did you see that? Before Colt could run away with all the gems, I used the walls to bounce my super, and I got a team wipe on them! Seeing the smug expression on his face disappear made my day.”
“Yes, you were great, sweetie, no wonder you got star player.”
Ricochet beamed at the compliment.
“How could we not win? This is your best map, and I’m sure if we look closely, there’s going to be marks and scratches on all the walls from your bullets, sweetie.” Piper joked.
The robot seemed in deep thought. “I think you’re actually correct right about that. We should really check for marks the next time we play in that map.”
“Of course.” Piper nuzzled the side of Ricochet’s metal head.
The bounty hunter quickly turned away from Piper, starting to feel a little warmer from the gesture.
The sniper gave a sly grin. “Come on darling, it’s only been a year we’ve been dating and you’re still shy about me getting a little close to you?”
“I wasn’t expecting that. Besides, it gets overwhelming when someone as lovely as you shows me so much affection. It’s hard to get used to.” Ricochet muttered, tipping his hat to cover the growing heat on his face.
Piper only smiled in response, a genuine one, proud of the compliment she received. The pair sat down on their usual bench in a small park nearby to take a break.
It was a mid afternoon, the sky as clear as ever. The trees surrounding the couple had started to change colours, from green to orange.
“You know, we’ve been together for over a year now.” Piper started, picking off a leaf that landed on top of Ricochet’s hat.
“Yes, I’m very well aware. If you want to be exact, 574 days.”
“Do you think one day, we can settle down? And you leave your bounty hunting career behind?”
Piper’s heart raced, staring up in the sky to avoid eye contact with the robot.
Ricochet tilted his head in confusion. “Do you mean settle down as in get married and raise children of our own?”
“I know we’ve talked about this before, but I really do think it’s possible, even for us.” Piper convinced, squeezing his hand.
Ricochet squeezed Piper’s hand back.
“I’ve thought about it, but I’m still not sure. Many in the park still do not approve our relationship, and we still are just starting out with our jobs here.”
She nodded in understanding. “I get it, but I’ve been wanting to take our relationship to the next level… Maybe we don’t have to get married right away but… I’ve been thinking that we could maybe live together?”
She laughed in embarrassment, pulling her hand away from Ricochet’s to fidget with her hair, a nervous habit of hers that she rarely let slip.
“I mean, it’s normal for couples to live together in a certain point in their relationship. To show how dedicated they are to each other.” Piper quickly explained, she knew her boyfriend wasn’t aware of the significance of common human traditions.
She waited a moment for his answer, eyes anxiously flickering back at Ricochet.
But Ricochet seemed lost in thought for a moment, looking straight ahead, focusing on something far away into the horizon.
Piper waved her hand in front of his eye, giggling. Maybe he was starting to get a little too outdated.
That seemed to snap Ricochet back to reality. “I suppose so. We can give it a try. Do you want to talk more about it tomorrow? If you’re up to brawling.”
Piper smiled. “I’d be delighted, sugar.”
Ricochet then stood up hastily, startling Piper from the sudden movement. “I’m afraid I have to go somewhere right now, I just remembered Shelly asked me to run an errand just now.”
“Oh? Right now? I thought you didn’t work today.” Piper raised an eyebrow, but she decided not to ask further. She smiled as she stood up with him. “Oh, well I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then, sweetie. Stay safe.”
“Yeah, see you honey.” Ricochet hurried off, waving back.
Piper waved until the cowboy was no longer in sight. She couldn’t stop smiling as she continued her walk to the bakery. She couldn’t wait to see Ricochet tomorrow. Maybe she would even bake some oiled muffins with extra bolts just for him.
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“And just like that, he was gone with the wind. I don’t know what else to tell you.” Piper closed her eyes slowly, resting her forehead against her hand.
She continued. “It was so abrupt; it took me weeks to process everything that happened. To till this day, I still don’t know what happened to him.”
Piper took a rather large gulp of beer. “Maybe he got tired of this place and escaped, or maybe he got hit on the head by a brick and got amnesia, wandering off someplace else.” She swirled her cup of beer, ice cubes clashing against the glass. It was all you could hear in the bar.
“Have you… considered the possibility that… someone had something to do with his disappearance?”
Piper suddenly snapped her head towards Barley, a pained expression slipped through the cracks for a split second, as a tense moment passed between the pair before Piper composed herself. They both knew what Barley’s implications were.
“I try not to entertain such nonsense theories like that. I like to believe he’s still out there somewhere.” Piper smiled, contrasting her trembling hand.
“Maybe he’s on journeys, travelling around the world. Maybe he felt trapped here, he’s always been adventurous like that. Hunting bandits all over the world.”
Piper seemed to be trying to convince herself more than Barley.
Barley picked up on this, and wondered if Piper was saying this to put her mind at ease.
He knew Piper was a smart woman but also was left fragile after this entire incident. Maybe turning a blind eye and believing the robot had left to live his best life was her attempt to move on from Ricochet and forget about everything.
The bartender nodded slightly, picking up his broomstick again. “I see. That may have been the case.”
“Of course, I still resent him for leaving me all alone without a single word, but I loved him, so much so that I still can’t hate him.” Piper’s eyes were misty.
She had never admitted it out loud, let alone confide in anyone about Ricochet, not even when he was still here.
She wished Ricochet would come back, but she knew it wasn’t going to happen.
That made it all the more painful.