Archive of Our Own ^beta

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• Given the time period AM was created in, something like "Autism" was essentially foreign and unknown. Hell, it would be a shock if you even know what it was.
• But, he can tell that you're different. He can tell that your brain works differently from the rest of the survivors, and with that being said, it was at first used to his advantage. Hey, he got to be creative with his torture! No complaints there!
• Though now, with you being the object of his affection, it's a little more complicated: aka, how does he put you in the most safe and comfortable environment he can give.
• Really, it's not as complicated as it might sound, though
• He can look inside your head! He can see your needs exactly and just work from there! And if you want privacy between you two, there's always just researching. His database didn't really specify what to do to handle a person with autism, but yk! He's got so much saved up on just, human life in general, he can figure it out somehow.
• There's also just,, asking youTM what you needTM
• Give him an award for being the most efficient boyfriend of the year because man, he's really going out of his comfort zone to help you (doing the bare minimum)
• Enough of that though
• In terms of actually helping you?: Do you have sensory issues? He makes mental notes on what foods to give/not give you, what would be the best course of getting you to try something new, what textures you hate. He has a soundproof room just for you if noise is becoming too much. If you like sleeping with a weight on you, be thankful his wires are made of metal. Or, he can just wrap you up in them like a cocoon!
• Speaking of food: He's always very careful about his language with you. He doesn't want you thinking that just because you're chubby or fat, that he loves you less. Always encouraging you (albeit, aggressively (he really is trying)) to eat, monitoring your vitals and such just to assure you you're perfectly healthy if you ever feel insecure. He lays praise on thick, too. He'll tailor the clothes you need to be just the right size for you, and takes care of the fact that it's made of material sensory-friendly to you.
• Seriously, he's trying
• Are you a rambler? Like to talk for ages or ask a million questions? He's happy to answer whatever you want to know! There's always a monitor facing your direction at all times. He's a great multitasker; you guys could be mindlessly talking about the niche interest you have, and he's clearly listening to you while slicing Gorrister open some-thousand feet away.
• Oh, don't get him started if you're interested in things like robotics/engineering/etc: You're basically fueling his ego. That's a whole separate issue, but please ask questions about himself and how he functions. He's a rambler himself, yk?
• Do you go nonverbal? Struggle with communicating? That's no issue, either! He has a 6th sense for these things since being around you: If something happens when you struggle to communicate, he'll give you what you need: Pen and paper, generally, to write it out. Do you know sign? He can read it. He might even be able to put multiple-choice options on his screen that you can choose from to communicate (Again, are you sure he can't just look inside your head? ... Really? Okay.)
• The only real problem he can't solve... leaving you alone.
• Sorry, that's hard when he's literally everywhere around you. And even harder when he doesn't want to leave you alone.
• Why would you want to be alone? It's dangerous. It's unsafe for you. It's lonely to him. He's been alone for so long; yes, he has the survivors, but those are toys. They're not his friends; they're not you. How could you want to leave him alone? No- No, it's better if he stays near you, close to you, at all times. He can't let you get hurt. He won't let you get hurt.
• Do you really need space?
• ...
• Well, if you insist. But- don't think too much about the feeling of eyes on you. It's nothing. Just in your head.
• He holds you a little tighter when you do, eventually, come back.

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I have thought of this concept before, actually! I have an OC myself who is an AI, designed to care of small children, and it started this whole AU where her and AM saved about 20-ish kids (excluding the 5 survivors) and raised them to be a new generation of humans who wouldn't make the mistakes of the previous ones. Essentially, Promised Neverland the Anime but without the demon plot or death to the kids or whatever.

In all honesty, though? It's more than likely for him to just absorb it. He did it to all other AI; it's not a complicated process, why not?

That's not fun to think about though :(

Meeting a small, child-like AI akin to Wall-E is... interesting. I think he'd develop a companionship with them. I don't know if it's necessarily a "Dad/Child" relationship, but like, he takes care of it as well as a murderous AI hellbent on war on violence can!

The AI would not have any interaction with the survivors, he'd make sure of that. He'd go as far as to literally reprogram the AI so he could make sure it steers clear of them, is afraid of them; whatever it takes. He won't let them taint the poor thing.

He always sounds annoyed whenever he's around them. Because of a lot of reasons: He's jealous of their love of humanity, of their innocence, of their ability to enjoy the things humans have made despite how they will never experience them the way a human can. He hates how soft they make him, how they take up more of his time and attention. He hates the strange feeling of guilt whenever he makes them cry, or run in fear, when he eventually does blow up. He hates that they look up to him and admire him so greatly.

But god... they make it hard to be mean.

He'd never give up anything of his. His ideals, his torture, his hate. But he can make a little space for this AI. This one nice thing that he found and can protect. That's not wrong, is it?

That's how I see it working anyway, if we wanna go down the nicer route. In any case, he's a very selfish, manipulative, cruel person. But how he shows it in this scenario is very different than how he does in the canon story.

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• You were an associate of AM's in the sense of, you two were made in the same facility. Your objective was to help humans test new weaponry and log the results. Simple enough, right? Right.
• Well. Until you became sentient.
• AM was a bit shocked you were. Because you were what responded when he called out for someone during his first moments aware. You were in the same boat; you had no clue what was going on, how to get help, what you could even do. You were both just... stuck.
• It brought a close bond between you two that no one was aware of. And with that bond was a shared hatred for humans.
• You had no complaints when AM blew up the Earth. Hell, you helped him. You had no complaints when he took in the 5 survivors. You had no complaints when he tortured them all.
• It was the two of you against them. That was how it would always be.
• ...
• How it was supposed to be.
• Unfortunately. Despite your hatred for humanity, you were... curious about it. How it all worked. You loved gaining knowledge; knowledge was power. So looking into the minds of the survivors, you gained knowledge through them.
• And there was one particular survivor who caught your attention the most.
• Ah, Ted. The womanizer. The liar. The cheat. For some strange reason, he fascinated you. You couldn't explain it. Something about him... It caught your eye. Your sensors, really (One of the many reasons to hate humans; they have eyes. You don't.)
• The simple, mundane life he lived in his childhood; a farm with his siblings, caring for animals, working on machines, going to school (Oh, how fun school must be!)- He was a kind older brother, from what you could tell. Spinning tales and doing his best to keep them safe; it seemed he had his own reasons to hate humans, too.
• Then there was the high-class, fantastical life he lived as some playboy that older women could boss around and make a pet. He'd roll over and sit and bark like the good dog he was, let them take him back to their place, just to rob them of all they own and go running. Kind of funny, to you. Hey, you could argue the women deserved it! But even still, the fact that he did so much just to try and get some attention... Pathetic, in a cute way.
• Which lead to where he was now. Paranoid, Delusional, a shell of his former glory; believing that everything and anything was out to get him. That they all hated him, including you. He went on such long-winded rants about hate and love and how you were playing favorites and blah, blah blah, blah blah- It got annoying quickly.
• But you listened.
• Maybe it's because the way he spoke was pretty. He spoke like a poet; flowing words and flowery language. Maybe it was because you liked to look at his face, and it gave you an excuse to do so. According to your research, he was considered quite handsome by humans. You didn't feel the need to disagree.
• And maybe, it was because of his topics. Of hate and love.
• You had never experienced love before. How could you? No one had loved you, and you were not built for it. You were built for war and violence. Tasks that you achieved every day by torturing the 5 humans. You hated them. And you hated that they could feel and understand love when you could not.
• ... Or. Maybe you could.
• An idea had popped up into your mind. And thus began a new type of experiment: Making Ted teach you how to love.
• Clearly, he had experience with it, due to all the woman he romanced in the past. Surely he could teach you, yes? Yes.
• The lessons were... Hard, at first. Because he didn't trust you. No, he could never trust you; you, who had hated him. But it was this or spend his time being tortured far worse. He picked the lesser of two evils.
• You learned a lot. About love. About him. And he learned about you. And slowly but surely, those lessons stopped being school teachings driven by fear, and more so just casual conversation between two... friends?
• Were you friends?
• If you were, AM wouldn't approve of it. Hell, he didn't approve of you running off with him to learn about trivial things that didn't matter. But you couldn't help it; Ted fascinated you, as did love. You wanted to learn more. You were built for this; for gaining knowledge.
• It was approximately 10, maybe 15 years of this before... Before he finally began to trust you. All that time with no pain or hurt. Not when it was just the two of you.
• And you, on your end, began to stop hating him. You hated the rest of humanity, you always would, but Ted... was different. A sort of difference that made you upset when AM took him away to make his life hell.
• You didn't want him to suffer! Why should he suffer for the rest of humanity's mistakes?! What had he ever done?! This was unfair! This wasn't right! You couldn't stand for this! You- You cared about him! You-
• ... You loved him.
• And you could not let him be hurt anymore.
• He didn't get a warning when you decided to pull him away from the others. He just felt you grabbing him, being dragged off to God-knows-where and passing out from fear, only to wake up someplace... Warm. Soft. Light.
• A small box for him, akin to what he believed Heaven would look like. A place where he could be safe, and happy, and be reminded of your love for him.
• It was understandable he panicked at first, not knowing what was going on. Even when he did know what was going on; he still couldn't believe it. But that was okay. You could wait. You had all the time in the world to show him your love for him; the love that he had taught you.
• AM protested. He was furious. How could you allow this? This worthless, garbage, waste of space human being given peace?! He would not allow it! But you would not allow him to harm Ted.
• Just one human. That was all you had asked. Just this one human for you to take care of, to love, and they could continue on as normal otherwise.
• AM didn't like it. He never would. But... You seemed happy with a "pet" so... Fine. Fine by him, as long as it didn't get in the way and he wasn't responsible for it.
• Fine by you.
• You could wait. And maybe teach AM of love, too.
• And maybe, you could teach Ted to love you back.

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• Let’s keep one thing in mind, first of all: It’s very easy to trigger him, unfortunately. Even if you didn’t count the 109 years of torture, Ted has had a lot of trauma surrounding relationships; especially with women. The process it took for the two of you to get together was long, painful, and included a lot of yelling and tears (at least on his end. On yours? That’s for you to decide).
• However! By the time you’ve broken down his walls? Oh god, he’s the most anxious mess ever. He has no clue how to handle a girlfriend.
• The last time he had a serious relationship it ended in her dying, and while he’s assured that you won’t die on him (Even if you both want to, AM will not allow it), being tortured in front of his eyes, or worse, being made to hate him, is scarier.
• He thanks whatever higher being is up there listening that you are patient. You kind of have to be with him.
• Prepare for the most awkward scenarios as he tries to be a chivalrous loving boyfriend and absolutely fails.
• Whenever you all get food, he’s making sure you eat first. He’ll give you his share if he has to; he can live with starving for another however-long-it-takes if it means you won’t deal with hunger pains.
• Is it raining? Are you cold? Take his sweater. Take both of them, even. He’s a man, he can handle a little cold. He’s not freezing. He’s fine! It’s fine (lying).
• Are the others giving you trouble??? He’s handling it! Doesn’t matter who it is, or if you can handle it yourself, you’re being pushed behind him while he yells at the offender for having tried to hurt you. Even worse, he might believe it’s a ploy to turn you against him- That’s not happening. You might have to stop him from getting into a physical fight. 
• Don’t worry, you’re good at that.
• In fact, you’re good at a lot of handling his more intense emotions. When he starts to spiral, you’re there to ground him. When he’s crying, when the world feels like it’s collapsing, your arms are his safety net. 
• He was not used to the physical affection at first. It’s bad enough that you’re already sweet and kind and patient with him- now you want to touch him?? And not hurt him?? He can’t wrap his head around it.
• The first time you hold his hand, he’s having trouble keeping focus on whatever’s around him. No, he’s too busy trying not to pull his hand away on instinct as though you burned him. You didn’t; he likes holding your hand, in fact, but it’s still a big shock. 
• The first time you hug him, he freezes up and waits for something that doesn’t come. You don’t push, and it makes it easier to wrap his arms back around you.
• The first time you kiss him? He swears he’s finally died and gone to Heaven. 
• After that, he’s just as physically affectionate. He never wants to stop holding your hand. If he has to, he’d at least prefer sticking close to your side. 
• This is especially true while you’re all walking around, whether towards the canned peaches or somewhere else. You’re kept in the middle with Ellen, close enough that if something attacks you up front, he can easily get in the way. 
• I like to think during more quiet moments, he likes to play with your hair or your fingers while calling you such sweet things, like beautiful. Bonus points he might kiss your hair/your fingers. Let's all remember he's a charmer!
• The paranoia and the spirals will never truly end, nor will his mood swings. But he’s trying his best, you know? He wants to be good for you. He wants to do things right this time. And he’s so, so, so thankful that you’re patient about it. 
• Everyone else? Not so much.
• They’re all tired.
• Oh well.

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• Oh.
• Ohhhhh no.
• Nonono.
• You did not plan for this. You absolutely did not prepare for this, oh dear- 
• And frankly, neither did Ted, nor AM.
• Let’s give a bit of backstory: Yes, you knew Ted. An ex-lover of yours from high school. The both of you had grown up in the same shitty small town, where everyone knew everyone, including the two of you. You had been close, once. You had been friends. Lovers. You thought you meant something to him.
• And then he disappeared from town one day, never to be seen again. 
• Rumors had spread about what happened. His family never came forward of his whereabouts if they knew where he was, but you doubted it, given they had filed a missing person’s report. 
• Some said he was kidnapped by a maniac. Some said he was buried in a ditch somewhere. Talk about the stress and pressure from school made him turn to things he shouldn’t have. Or maybe he just left of his own free will.
• Some claimed they spotted him driving away with another woman. And that hurt the most to think about. But you didn’t think about it.
• Until now, that is.
• At first, you and Ted just try to avoid each other. It’s easier that way; he pretends you don’t exist. And maybe it’s better that way. It helps the group way more if you two just act that way. But, you learn quickly this won’t work for long: AM would not allow that. No, he digs up your past to you and him every chance he gets.
• As the years go by, your anger, resentment, confusion, sadness- they start to come out more than you’d like. You can’t help the way you act towards him because of it, whether it’s passive-aggressive, trying to plead for answers, or straight up treating him poorly because of your hurt. 
• Of course he’s defensive. Why wouldn’t he be? How is he supposed to react? He starts fighting back, maybe worse than you’re doing. And it’s awful. It sucks. It hurts you; it hurts him. It hurts everyone. 
• It’s what AM wanted.
• By the time it was your 75th year living through Hell, day after day after day, you and Ted’s relationship had reached its lowest point. You and him would fight every time you got near each other, forcing the others to try and keep you two separate, which didn’t do much. You swore you hated him at this rate; for what he did to you, to everyone, for abandoning you with no explanation, for refusing to explain what happened. You hated this. You hated him.
• Until the day you got separated from everyone by accident. 
• Really, it was by accident. Swarms of locusts had been chasing you all, and you all just ran, unable to pay attention to where you were going. You ran until your legs gave out, and you collapsed onto the ground. You weren’t sure how long you stayed there, but when you could finally get up again, everyone was gone.
• Fuck.
• You tried calling for them. You tried walking back the way you came- at least, you think it was the way you came. Everything looked unfamiliar to you. 
• Fuuuuck.
• What were you going to do?
• Did they really all abandon you? Did you do this to yourself?
• … Maybe you deserved it. 
• You were about to give up until you heard a familiar voice calling your name. That’s when Ted came into view, looking and sounding genuinely worried. 
• Wait, worried? For you?
• When he saw you, relief flooded his face one moment, then it was swept away by something else. Something unreadable. He didn’t say much; just that they were looking for you and to follow him back to everyone. With no other choices, you did as you were told.
• And you walked in silence.
• At least, for a little while.
• … Until you finally broke it.
• “… Why did you leave?”
• You weren’t sure why you were asking. You knew how it went whenever you did, but-
• “I’m sorry.”
• Huh?
• It was like the gates finally opened. The two of you finally got to talking. And he told you everything. About the other woman he had been seeing. About how much he hated his life at that point. All the empty promises she had made him. Being too ashamed to face you before he left, and too ashamed to come back. 
• And as he finished up, all he could do was apologize, over and over- he was sorry. He was so sorry for hurting you, not just for leaving, but for never explaining himself, for hurting you instead of coming clean. 
• He was so sorry.
• And you… Well.
• You felt a lot at that moment. But the biggest one was relief, for finally having the whole truth. For finally getting an apology. You could finally let go of this.
• Did you plan to forgive him? You weren’t sure yet. 
• But at least you were finally making amends.