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The world felt oddly vacant. With all of Grox's interesting activities that he indulged into, you would think that Verity would have a lot of time on his hands; but he didn't. In fact, it only gave it more time to think.
Verity had grown a dislike for being left alone with his thoughts. Sure, he never enjoyed it before, but at least things were predictable. Nothing can hurt you if you know what's going to happen, right? But then Mob happened, and every semblance of control that it gathered over the years suddenly vanished.
To say it was difficult would be an understatement. Fortunately, Verity didn't have a problem hiding it from Grox. The wither skeleton was too focused on his projects to notice what was going on with some AI, and the creature would definitely like to keep it that way.
Ever since Mob died, Verity decided to go over the memories of his past handlers. Maybe it was the trauma from the event that sparked such a sappy action, but it wouldn't matter if it was. The past felt like a blur to Verity now. He couldn't remember much, despite his absolute knowledge—which even perplexed him. Thank notch for the log dates he wrote or he wouldn't have been able to recount it all.
Even without the logs, he could tell you it had been used all of its life. For knowledge, for power, for food, or just the miscellaneous. Everyone wanted a piece of omniscience, and they got it. Sure, it made Verity feel good for a while. Who wouldn't at the idea that you can be useful to someone else and make them feel happy? Mob was the only person that didn't only think of him as a tool to be discarded later. He cared about him, and that changed something within it.
Verity was currently 'home', specifically in the bathroom. While contemplating on past events, he remembered Mob's question of why he had a bathroom if it couldn't use it. At the time, he didn't answer the question simply because the feeling of being back home was.. a lot of weight on his shoulders; though sitting on the tiled floor of it now..
It found that he really didn't know the answer. This got him trying to find out why.
Verity knew all there was about humans. Their evolution, their history, patterns, weaknesses and strengths, you name it; that also included activities, with some being less appropriate than others. A past owner had jokingly mentioned Verity would be far more versatile if he could provide more human services.
Verity scoffed, "I don't need a function like that."
But would it have made people stay?
The creature rested its back against the metallic walls, sitting criss-crossed crossed against the tiled floor. He stared down at his gloved hands in thought. Handlers already wore him down for his perceived omniscience, so how much would things change if he suddenly gained that human function.. to please someone in that way?
Verity didn't like thinking about that. In fact, he hated entertaining the thought, but he couldn't help it. Maybe if he was better, he could've prevented the deaths of so many people, maybe less people would've left him, maybe Mob wouldn't have—
Then the wave washed over him.
Verity experienced these sometimes when he dwelled too hard on human emotions, or in this case past events. They were similar to humans, but Verity could never describe how accurate it was since he didn't feel it often enough (thank notch.) It was an urge, to keep it simple. An urge to touch a place that didn't exist for the AI, or at least the function for it to work anyway. He'd come to the bathroom whenever these feelings arose because it was the only place that felt appropriate.
Verity usually sat in the dark, taking deep breaths to steady his racing mind. Sometimes it would be easy, sometimes it felt impossible; but he didn't falter. This time, the light of the bathroom was shining on him, and he had a crystal clear view of himself. It's not like Verity wanted to feel like this. He wasn't completely sure as to why, but he assumed something in his twisted brain had become accustomed to liking the idea of being used—in more ways than one. Correlation does not equal causation, but it all seemed so similar.
The creature's right hand moved to its ankle, simply rubbing the artificial skin that wasn't hidden by fabric. That weird sensation never ceased to confuse him. Static with a burn, covering his body head to toe. He loathed it, and yet at the moment..
Its hand drifted down to its crotch. As expected, he wouldn't find anything there, but the action still made him hold his breath.
Would people take advantage of him like this too? The thought disturbed it, but he knew there was a possibility. Not even one hundred years of living and he's seen all of the wicked things that humanity can do in the face of their wants.
He wanted this to stop. It didn't want to think about this anymore. Why couldn't he just—
"Yooo, Verity! What are you—"
The walls shook violently as the creature punched his hand into the wall behind him. The static that filled his mind did a good job at deafening the sound of his head beat, though inadvertently allowed him to ignore the door.
Verity only stared at Grox. He was sure that his expression was rather aggressive, considering the annoyed scowl that appeared on the players face.
"I was just coming to find you, man!" Grox huffed. "No need to get all pissy at me."
Grox looked around the room, noticing the cleaning appliances and other devices. He crossed his arms, before glancing back at the creature with a tilted head.
"What do you need a bathroom for?"
".. I don't," Verity exhaled, removing his hand from the metal dent. Grox could've sworn he heard a curse underneath the others breath.
"Well, you obviously aren't here for no reason," Grox walked over to Verity. "So, what's up? What's got the AI's wires all tangled?" Grox leaned down, moving his face closer to Verity's with a smug grin. Although he was being nosy, his heart was in the right place.
Verity couldn't exactly lie to his owner, so..
"I'm not going to tell you."
Grox stood there for a moment, searching for anything in Verity's expression. When he found nothing, he sighed. "Okay," The player respected with a shrug. "But that doesn't mean you need to wallow in it, whatever it was."
Grox turned around and sat down beside Verity, though not too close. He could see faint tremors that ran throughout his body. Interesting, but he wouldn't pry.
"—Can we stay here, for a bit?" Verity's question made him raise a brow.
Grox's brows furrowed. "You want to sit here, in a bathroom, that you can't use."
".. Yes."
Grox rolled his eyes, looking at the mirror that was mounted above the sink. The player could only give a small chuckle, "Aight, bet. Guess we're going home late today."
"Yeah.." Verity trailed off as looked at the opened door of the bathroom, tensing at the other rooms that were visible through the fenced squares. "Home."