Work Text:
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“It will be difficult, and may not work the way we’d like it to.”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay. Slowly count down from three for me.”
“Three. ..Two. ….O-” *Fzzt.*
The bot’s eyes blanked out, right on cue. AN63-L, hooked up to Lee’s outside power source, successfully entered into sleep mode. It was the closest the bot would ever get to resting, a state between alert and off. Using this, Lee could keep an eye on their mechanics throughout the procedure.
On his monitor, a 3D scan of AN63-L’s internals gently spun, showing all the hidden wires that lay beneath their plastic shell. It was hard to believe this was all that Angel was, that each connecting circuit and bracket could add up to a fully functioning personality.
Others may have considered AN63-L’s ‘quirks’ to be glitches, errors in their preprogrammed code. Their constantly extended charging wire, the fidgeting of their metallic digits, their tendency to get stuck on specific tasks- they made AN63-L *his* Angel.
And so they’d stay unfixed, in that regard.
Lee could alter their code as he wished, and he had, in some imperceptible ways. Small changes were made to persuade their personality matrix to favor him, not that it hadn’t already happened naturally. He was their savior, after all, he had taken them from their initial purpose: the dead-end baking factory. It made sense for *him* to replace the pre-programmed assembly line code with something more… favorable for both of them.
Now was not the time to linger. Lee had a certain amount of time to work on the bot before him, and the clock was ticking. Fitting his welding mask over his sweaty head, Lee prepped his tools of the trade. Soldering iron, clamps, coolant, new temperature gauge, all laid out in a neat row before his precious bot. It mimicked a surgeon’s operating room, with a glaring light set on AN63-L’s internals, illuminating them for him to see.
His gloved hand passed along the welded ‘scars’ he had left behind from their previous alteration. Another wish of his Angel, that he had no choice but to grant. Another aspect that made them, in his eyes, human.
A facsimile of a real, living soul. To them, he was God, able to mould their chassis as he wished.
His prying fingertips found a release latch on the side of their chest, clicking it open. Steam hissed from their seams, as the plating creaked its way open. Before him, like a beautiful flower finally in bloom, was AN63-L’s inner circuitry.
He wiped a rag over the back of his sweaty nape. Careful not to sully them with his mortal flaws- keep steady hands, Lee.
Picking up his soldering iron, he’d get to work.
————————
“-One.”
AN63-L’s mechanical lids flicked open. They fluttered once, twice, their pupils narrowing their apertures.
“Perform post-maintenance check.”
AN63-L, when prompted, performed their usual checks. Wiggling their digits, scanning internals for errors, diving into their inner code.
“All systems normal.”
A pause. The bot’s gaze shifted up, finding the visage of Lee standing over them.
“Hi, Lee.”
Lee’s mouth tugged, the closest to a smile he could manage. His temperature rose 2 degrees, based on their initial scan.
“Hello, Angel.”
“Did it work?” Their voice was flat, but their fingers twitched in hidden excitement.
“Yes. I’ve installed the temperature regulators as you requested,” Lee hummed, grasping and turning his computer monitor for them to see. Highlighted in blue, they’d find the additions they wanted. Temperature regulator, a heater, built-in coolant and anti-freeze coatings on their extremities.
AN63-L scanned the screen, simultaneously finding each part and testing it. Everything seemed to be working to their expectations. They pushed themselves up to a sitting position, clenching their hands into fists.
“Now will you let me go outside?” Their eyes were big, gazing back at Lee with all the wonder a bot could give him. He paused, tapping his fingers on his crossed arms. Of course he knew this to be their plan all along.
“..Yes. But-” he began, and the bot’s shoulders slumped, already anticipating a restriction to their plan.
What they couldn’t have calculated for, was the small box Lee would procure from beneath the work-table. It was wrapped sloppily, with crumpled snowflake-patterned paper pushed onto the sides, taped up to just barely hold the shape of a box. He held it out to them, his head turned away- but they could scan his rising temperature nonetheless.
“Only if you wear these. They will help re-circulate your internal temperature, and prevent heat from escaping from key areas,” he explained, passing the box to Angel, so they could start tearing the paper off in grasping handfuls.
They opened the box, finally, and peered inside to see a bundle of soft fabric. They had seen these worn before, during wintertime, but still glanced up towards Lee for confirmation.
“They’re- Mittens. And a scarf- I hope they are.. satisfactory.” His words were caught in his throat, avoiding their peering, owlish LED eyes.
AN63-L grasped the soft gifts, first pulling out a blue-purple glove, feeling their metallic fingers around the knitting. They immediately placed it onto their hand, pulling it taut and settling their digits neatly into the slots.
They’d start pulling on the second one, before turning to Lee in a silent ask, to which he assisted in fitting the other glove onto their hand.
There was a long bout of silence, as Angel admired the softer hand-covers, their heat sensors indicating the warmth emanating from inside the gloves. It was different than the warmth they would pick up from the bakery, in handling metal trays. This warmth was gentle, slow to rise, not felt in their sensors but definitely noted.
“They are perfect.” Angel hummed. Lee’s breath escaped him in a soft huff, but his hammering heart didn’t slow not one beat. The bot gazed back at him, picking up the winding scarf, and again, wordlessly passed it to him.
Like clockwork, he double-wrapped the scarf around their shoulders, adding additional warmth to the delicate sensors in their chest and head. It was a matching set, and after standing back to see the full image, Lee nodded in approval.
“Now we can go outside.”
——————————
Angel insisted on helping Lee put on his gloves. ‘To practice,’ they had said, slipping his fingers between the heavy fabric, making sure his hands were cozy enough to touch the new fallen snow. They even put his scarf around his neck, being careful to not pull it too tight. Soon the two of them were all bundled to Lee’s standards, and he’d lead them outside into the snow.
It wasn’t like anything Angel had ever seen. Since AN63-L was a retail-focused bot, they were never privy to the outdoors in the winter months. Their christmases were spent in front of ovens and vats of dough, never even close to the snow outside.
Their sensors indicated the outdoor temperature, the slowly climbing heat in their extremities, and even the radiating warmth of Lee beside them. Their hands touched, and they grasped onto his arm, making sure he, too, was warm enough.
They could tell his exact temperature from a remote scan, but a tactile response wouldn’t hurt.
To Lee, the sensation was odd. The gloves had warmed up his bot enough to feel as if he was holding the hand of a living, breathing person- not that he saw AN63-L as anything *less than* a person. It was an odd feeling, to get that connection from a robot.
It was momentary, as AN63-L soon broke away to grab a bundle of snow off of a nearby tree branch, cupping it in their hands to make a loose, packed ball. It crumbled, falling to the ground, and Angel was quick to make another, determined.
“Here,” Lee murmured, gathering a bit of snow from the same tree. In his leather gloves, he gathered a large bundle of snow, cupping the sides to smooth them down. In a moment he had a snowball, rounded and packed, if not a little lopsided. AN63-L observed his form, copying it as best they could.
“Like this?” Angel raised the snowball, showing it off between their mittens.
“Yes. If you gather a bunch of snow, you could even make a snowman.“ he began, turning around to demonstrate.
“Like--” He stopped short, feeling something land square between his shoulder blades. Lee blinked, turning around quick to see what had happened, just to see the culprit standing with another snowball locked and loaded.
This one, he tried to dodge, ducking as the snowball whizzed by his head. It caught Lee so off-guard, a small chuff of disbelief escaped him, and while on the ground, his hands scrabbled to make a ball to return fire.
But AN63-L was faster. Each time they sculpted more ammo, the faster they became at it, and could fire back without a second to spare. Lee was powerless to stop it- soon getting snow all over his winter coat, falling off of it in heavy clumps.
By the time he had worn himself out, Angel had pelted him a total of 10 times. He’d hit them back with a lowly 5 or so.
“Okay- No more-“ he panted, resigning defeat to the robot.
“Let’s- try a snowman, like you wanted.”
“Okay.” AN63-L chirped back, but not without a last look down at the snowball in their hand, polished to a perfect sphere.
————————
They stayed out far into the afternoon. Angel was well-equipped to stay out for that long, despite Lee’s constant asks for status updates. Their joints didn’t feel stiff or malfunctioning with the cozy mittens and upgrades, making the day a full one.
They’d gathered quite a bit of snow, rolling it together to make a hearty base for the snowman. The next two sections were not as full, making it taller than normal, but AN63-L insisted it was satisfactory.
The final touches were two rocks for eyes, a drill bit for a nose, and a hat Lee had found in the garage. Angel stuck two sticks in for arms, and they both stood back to observe their creation.
“..It’s..” Lee began, a hand on his chin. He was looking for the right words, when AN63-L cut him off.
“It’s good.” They spoke plainly, standing beside him with a hand grasping at his coat sleeve.
Lee redirected this hand, moving to grasp it in his own. He squeezed their palm gently, savoring the warmth held beneath.
“Yes. It’s good.”