Chapter Text
Machines couldn't think.
That was one of the best parts in Wrench's eyes.
She could tinker and fix and tweak and move parts as she wanted, and the mechanisms wouldn't hound her for it. There was no voice box to say those awful things. There were no fingers to grab at her. Just her tools and fingers against cold metal. People were too much.
Specific people were too much.
How was she gonna know what they wanted!? Sudden texts after 4 months of silence sent her wired mind into a spiral. Did they want a response? Did they want her to ignore it? Did they want a reaction!? How was she to know!
Her tools moved against the metal, making a quiet scraping noise as she thought. If a machine couldn't think, it couldn't hurt her. The purr of the engine meant it was running. It's only purpose. It didn't have ulterior motives. It couldn't have ulterior motives. She didn't need to dissect every word, every bit of grammar, just to understand their tone.
If people were machines, everything would be a lot easier.
Is there a problem? Easy fix. Just check all the points of error and eliminate the bug. Leaking coolant, leaking oil, bolts not tight enough, spark in the wrong order. Done and dusted. Is there a problem? Beat around the bush to not hurt their feelings while trying to pry, but that's too far! Back up before you make the situation worse! Check for their feelings every two seconds, and maybe just maybe they'll forgive you. Or not.
Her screwdriver turned with force to take out the screws, sending them clattering to the hard floor of the workshop. If she needed to fix the components or Electra himself, she'd do her best to shut them down before starting. If a machine couldn't think, it couldn't hurt her.
A whirring came from the other side of the room, and she set the tools down to look at the bot. Across from her workbench was V1, the war machine from hell. Honestly, the train had no clue how or why the machine had taken a liking to her, and her to it, but it was nice. Now this machine could think.
Technically.
It's ai was developing emotions, thoughts, and feelings. It worried her to some extent. Surely, if it could think, nothing would end up good. But... so far, it was alright. It couldn't think like a human. That was the good part. If she needed something out of the machine, a certain string of words, commands, and the ai would bend to her whim.
Wrench didn't think she had a thing for control. Well... no. It wasn't a thing about control! Just being able to predict things and ask questions without someone threatening things. Her voice buzzed against her ears as she talked to the machine, who gave its response in that hard-to-understand mechanic voice.
Her hands felt around his fingers, brushing over every joint and wire that made his hands move. Her ears still buzzed with the vibrations of her voice as the conversation went on. Her eyes found their way to the large yellow light on his head. One of her hands lifted to brush against the plating beside it, and she ran her thumb over the light gently.
It wasn't reactive, just a steady, circular light. She didn't have to decode the facial expressions. She didn't have to catch a slight squint in its eye for it to not be mad at her. She found herself balancing on her toe stops, the vibrations in her ear quieter, as she pressed a soft kiss to his light. Metal hands held her waist, and she could hear the electric whirring of the joins.
She dropped back down to her wheels and smiled at it. The bot couldn't think like a human. It was amazing. V1 reached its head down to press his face plate against Wrench, and she smiled. It was similar to a dog licking you when people would say it's their way of kisses. The robot pressed its head against her because it's their way of kisses. Her arms reached around him carefully and meticulously, finding the best spot to rest against the jagged plating.
Her head lay on his chest, listening to the inside mechanisms of the blood pump. It was just that bit far off a human heart that she liked. A pump to move the blood around. His fuel. Similar to people. But the heart couldn't ache or yearn or feel pain. He was her machine. Her amazing, coded, whirring, cold, metal machine. And Wrench wouldn't change that for the stars. It's ai could replicate human emotion all it wanted, but it could never truly be human.
Humans hurt her.
Machines didn't.
V1 was the perfect balance.
He could touch her, talk to her, agree with her, challenge her thinking, and yet didn't have a chance of throwing things out the window if jealousy took over. Because he was machine.
Sometimes, she would open up the plating in his chest just to stare at the pump. Remind herself that everything he did was thought through and calculated. It wasn't sporadic or driven by emotion. The ai could calculate the best way to make her feel love. The gentle touches, the checkups, the face kisses. But it wasn't human.
V1 could go fast. Faster than Electra, faster than Greaseball. The days Wrench could hook onto him and he would speed her around made her head spin with love. Love for the whirring, for the mechanisms, for the robot, for the disconnections of humanity. He was perfect.
While Joule was off with her romantic and horny situations, Wrench would be in her workshop tinkering with the intimacy of mechanics. Purse and Krupp could focus on their familial love of their child, while Wrench could focus on her joy of creating a new engine part. Volta trained her speed and ability for racing, and Wrench could train her mind in unscrambling wires.
She wasn't like the other components. But she thought she was okay with that. V1 liked her - well, as close as he could get to it - and Electra still wanted her services. What else could she need?
Cold hands ran down her thighs, and she was brought back out of her thoughts. V1's hands were gently caressing her. Tougher than a humans touch, but with enough gentleness to pass. Wrench smiled and pressed a kiss to his light again. It flickered for a second, but he pressed his face against hers. As he always did.
Machines loved her, and she loved them back.