Work Text:
Zeeb didn't need to charge yet.
Because of that, he found himself sitting in the Zenith's living room long after Mission Force One and their robo-pets had gone to bed, hands folded in his lap and trying his hardest to act like he hadn't tried to steal a TTA starship eight Galactic Standard hours ago. Mission Force One may have been asleep by now, but if Zeeb knew anything about TTA ships, then there was one being that was always awake and watching him.
“Hey,” that one being piped up. “That can't be comfortable. You look so tense.”
“A Nemetron does not relax,” Zeeb replied.
“Yeah, but you're not with Nemesystems anymore.” The computer paused. “You know, I think I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Zeno, I'm the Zenith's computer.”
“Greetings, Zeno. My name is Zeeb.”
The energy around him changed slightly. It almost seemed like the ship got warmer. “Nice to meet you, Zeeb. You guys run on rechargeable batteries, right? I could figure out a way to get your charge up if you need…”
“No, thank you,” Zeeb told him. “My batteries do not need to be charged yet.”
“Alright. Make yourself comfortable, okay? And tell me if you need anything.”
Zeeb wasn't sure what Zeno meant. This was the most comfortable he'd been in ages.
Zeno let the quiet stretch on for a few minutes before speaking again. “So… how's the TTA been so far? I know it's only been a few hours…”
“It has been wonderful, thank you. I almost can't believe I'm here. But…”
“But?”
Zeeb looked around. There was a voice modulator above the door. Zeno was probably watching him from there. “Are you sure they'll want a robot… like me?”
Thin green lines flashed across Zeno's voice modulator as he spoke. “I mean, you seem fine to me. You didn't seem too keen on following Nemex's orders earlier.”
“Exactly. I am defective, Zeno. I suspect that was one of the reasons Commander Nemex felt it necessary to… dispose of me.”
“You're defective? Like, code-defective?”
“Yes.” Zeeb tilted his head. “I was under the impression that the Tomorrowland Transit Authority did not allow defective robots due to the risk of us going rogue.”
Zeno paused for a moment, thinking. “I mean, organic beings tend to not like code-defective bots that much… you're probably going to have to hide it, but there are code-defective bots in the TTA. Well. There's one.”
“One?”
“Yep. Her name's Stella, she's the main computer of the Stellosphere. Pretty sure the only organic who knows about her is her pilot. I promised her I wouldn't tell an organic soul, and I swear I won't tell anyone about you as long as you keep shut about her.”
“I promise I won't tell,” Zeeb replied, almost automatically. “I think I would like to meet her someday, if I can.”
“And I think she'd like to meet you,” Zeno replied warmly. His energy shifted again, away from Zeeb and toward the bridge, but Zeeb could still feel it in the walls. “Now, we're gonna land at the Tomorrowland Mission Centre in a few hours. Mission Force One is going to be receiving a new mission, and you're probably going to get some sort of orientation tour. After it ends, ask for a bot named Hubie. Tell him that I sent you. He's a hugger, so be prepared for that, but I think you two might get along.”
“Alright,” Zeeb replied, slowly as he processed the information. “Thank you, Zeno.”
“Yeah, no problem.”
—
He did ask about Hubie, when they dropped him off at the Mission Centre, and the research bot that had been told to give him a tour ended it with a visit to the Tomorrowland Futuretech Labs. Another robot was alone inside, his bright blue body hunched over the workbench at the far end of the room, muttering something under his metaphorical breath. One of his arms was missing.
“Excuse me?” Zeeb asked when the research bot left. The other robot startled, whipping his head around to look at him, before smiling brightly. “Are you Hubie?”
“Yes I am!” The robot said. “Pleased to meet you…?”
“Zeeb. I, ah… Zeno told me to come find you?”
Hubie seemed to think for a moment, then snapped his fingers. “Right, yes, Zeeb! Zeno mentioned you. I'd hug you right now, but…” and he gestured to his missing limb, smiling awkwardly.
“It's quite alright. Would you like some help finding your arm?”
“Well, if you wouldn't mind…”
The arm was sitting on the workbench, they realized a few minutes later, hidden behind a toolbox and a messy stack of blueprints. Hubie reattached his arm and immediately swept Zeeb into a hug, tighter than any hold he'd experienced during his days in Nemesystems. It was nice, actually. He could get used to this.
“So,” Hubie chirped when he finally let Zeeb go. “How's Tomorrowland been? Are you enjoying yourself so far?”
“I…” Zeeb stumbled, trying to regain his balance. “I have, yes. Thank you.”
His eyes drifted to the diagram that had been laying under Hubie's arm. It seemed to depict a starship's power cells, complete with a sketch of the inside of the ship computer's core casing. It was titled ‘S12-48 power cell upgrade’, scrawled in the empty space at the top of the sketch. Hubie followed his gaze.
“Oh, that's just something I drew up for Stella,” he said, waving a hand at the diagram.
“Stella?” Zeeb asked.
“Yeah, her power cells are running kind of inefficiently, I'm trying to help her out a bit with that–”
“You know Stella?”
Hubie gave him a look. “Yeah? Her pilot and his son helped me fix my ship when I got stranded on planet Crunkle once. I've been on her for repairs a couple of times. Hey, maybe I can introduce you two. You seem like someone she'd like.”
“Yes,” Zeeb replied, smiling as he looked down at the diagram. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard to build a new life in Tomorrowland after all. “I hope she will.”