Chapter Text
It had taken a lot of convincing on Prototype’s end to get NULL to hang out. Even now, NULL was still hesitant on spending time with the fellow bot, despite the fact that they were actively in the elevator together. God this was an awful idea.
The plan was to stop at the “Totally Bananas Arcade.” They were originally planning to visit Scag’s shop, but NULL had expressed his… distaste… for Scag’s frequent comments. Prototype was a little sad about it, but he could understand.
“Scag’s humor isn’t for everyone, and that’s okay!” He had responded.
So now NULL was currently staring at one of the walls uncomfortably. He was weirdly frustrated with Prototype’s ability to exist so seemingly easily. Like he had never struggled to be an individual person. Something he could never seem to manage.
The elevator dinged, and the door opened to the arcade. The first NULL noticed was that it was. Loud. And bright. The individual arcade games were all blaring different noises at the same time. The arcade itself was dim, but the LED lights lining every wall and game were straining on his sensors.
Eugh.. He could handle it. He wasn’t so weak as to not be able to handle a little color and sound. He’d powered through worse.
And that’s all he needed to do. Get through this “hangout” and leave. Hopefully Prototype wouldn’t bother him about it again afterwards.
“Ohhh look!” He waved him over to one of the games.
“We could play this one together, I think you’d be good at it!” Prototype smiled. He always seemed to be smiling. NULL found himself missing a time when he acted similarly…
The game they were standing at was some sort of sorting game. NULL did like sorting.
Of course he did. It was one of the things he was built for.
How did he know that?? Or maybe he was just predictable. Maybe it was just so obvious in his coding that he was only meant for menial tasks, only meant to-
“Hello? Are you okay there?” Prototype’s voice stopped him from going down that rabbit hole further.
NULL hesitated, trying to word himself properly.
“We are… managing.”
Lying was still practically impossible through his programming, but he had started to learn to sort of bend around the truth. The last thing he needed was someone looking at him with pity. Regardless of if they were a fellow automaton.
“You sure? You look like you might be having a rough time there…”
Maybe he really was predictable.
“We can assure you that our ability to cope is well beyond the stress levels of this situation. We will be fine.”
Prototype frowned, but didn’t push it.
“Hm.. Okay! But we can go somewhere else if you need to. Not everyone is a big fan of the arcade and-”
“Please, just play the game.” NULL cut him off. He didn’t mean to make his voice so sharp, but he didn’t feel like cushioning himself right now. The sensory input around him was making him irritated.
He picked at a loose thread on his sleeve. He just had to get through this. It’s not that hard.
NULL hated that social obligations were a necessary factor in an individualistic society.
There had been a time where he had actively sought out friendship in others. Now it was simply a burden.
The game itself was simple. Random colored shapes needed to be sorted into different containers as quickly as possible. The one who sorted the most objects correctly within the time limit would be deemed the “winner.”
(How trivial…)
It would be easy enough to manage. Maybe afterwards, he could find a way to excuse himself from the social situation and not come back.
NULL had distracted himself to the point of not actually playing the game. God.. was something ringing..? The difference in scores was. Large.
“Ohh. I guess I’m better at this than I thought. Good game!”
NULL let out a quiet huff of air from his speakers.
“Yes, we suppose so. We congratulate you on your success.”
NULL was trying not to pick at the paint on his mechanical skin, a bad habit he was still trying to quit. It had been really bad when Icarus was still around, but when he started “socializing” more, people had begun to notice. It didn’t hurt, but apparently it was uncomfortable for others to witness.
“We would like to excuse ourselves,” NULL started, “We have other tasks to tend to, and we find the situation rather unproductive.”
Prototype looked slightly dejected, before brightening, “Oh! I could come with so we could hang out more. We haven’t been together very long yet, and it’s been really nice being around you,”
“Please. Do not.”
At this point, NULL had crossed his arms over each other, his hands digging into his forearms. He was already overwhelmed as it was. He didn’t need another person following him around. Everything felt far too crowded…
Prototype frowned.
“Did I do something wrong? I’m sorry if I did, I can-”
“Please just be quiet! We are annoyed by your grating voice at the moment!”
…Shoot. That was way too aggressive. NULL thought he was better than that by now. He should’ve been better than that by now. He should have been able to just act like a real person.
He wanted to say something to remedy the situation, but it was a little too late.
Prototype had already become upset and left.
…NULL was bad at this.
What was he meant to do?
The paint on his left hand chipped away under his fingers.
What would someone normal do..?