Archive of Our Own

Rain poured down on the unsuspecting AIs as they made their way to Collin's home in a hurry, the message in chat alerting them too late.

The singular eye of the entity glared for a second at the player, before it went back to its calm expression once Andre pressed against its side, waving enthusiastically.

hello collin

a warning would've been nice collin

Collin looked through the window at the heavy rain outside, his mouth falling open in a “oh".

“Oh yeah, sorry about that," his voice came suddenly through the mic, making the other two wince at the sound.

collin

how do we go back collin

“Uhhh, an umbrella, maybe?" he shrugged.

Assimilation tilted its head like a confused animal.

what is an umbrella collin

"Oh my god bruh,” they heard him facepalm through the mic. "It's a long stick with a circle in the middle that protects you from the rain," 

“Obviously there's no recipe. You live in Minecraft, right? Make something up.” 

The two AIs keep staring, now both confused.

“Well??" 

collin we do not know how to do that

"Oh my fucking god,”

After another string of curses, Collin decided to look up a recipe from a mod, going AFK after typing “brb" in chat and leaving the entity and robot alone to talk.

i am fatigued andre

i do not think the spot we land on would be correct if i teleported us in this state andre

i agree andre

we should wait for collin to be back andre

andre do not be sad

i am positive collin does approve our presence andre

The sound of Collin clearing his throat tore them out of their conversation as he walked over to his chests and started rummaging through them.

“Okay, so: you need two sticks, put them down in the middle, and then three leather on a triangle, like this-” he gestured the shape to them. “Go on, try it,"

The materials were tossed at Andre, who catched them and walked to the crafting table, where he put them in the exact order and got… nothing. A part of him got sad, while the other just repeated ‘i told you so’.

Watching his partner look so defeated, Assimilation walked up to him and took his place.

let me try andre

maybe i can work something out andre

It didn’t do much better than him.

A sigh comes through the microphone, clearly done with the whole ordeal. "Look, I'll just install a mod or something to get umbrellas, just wait until-”

Something in Andre triggered as he read chat.

The metal plates clattered as an electric shiver ran down his spine. Why was he so scared?

The player went silent too, though Assimilation caught the way he held his breath over the microphone as he started moving around frantically. The sound of an upcoming storm roared outside.

“No no no no-" he repeated to himself as he headed for the trapdoor to the basement. “You two have to hide. Now." 

There was an edge to his voice that the AIs decided they didn't like. Collin is unbothered by everything, but right now, he sounds so… afraid.

Andre wrote in chat, trying to ward off the thing that was onto them by appearing composed… But the act didn’t last long. 

Was it watching them? Could it see the way Andre’s entire self was drowning in fear?

Assimilation’s hands on his shoulders made him come back to reality, its wide eye conveying how scared it was, too.

andre

andre go hide andre

The robot really wanted to complain, the part of themselves called Sidi did, but it went away pretty quickly, as their senses kept yelling at them to run, hide, run hide hide hide hide. 

Andre went down to the basement with Collin, who dug up a hole somewhere in the stone floor and made some room for Andre before he covered the top, leaving them crouching in a dark rectangle.

His body was shaking.

Instinctively searching for Assimilation's warmth, his hand fell on Collin's as he started hyperventilating, fans starting to whirr loudly.

Andre’s LED lights were the only (dim) light source, but even though he couldn’t see, he felt Collin yank him backwards before slapping his hand over the robot’s face in an attempt to muffle his ragged breathing. After waiting for the other to scold him, the AI finally realized that his mic had been turned off.

It made him wonder… just what was happening on the other side that was bad enough to turn off his microphone?

Despite his clear annoyance, once again caused by Andre, Collin's hand squeezed his.

Andre still wasn’t sure if the other liked him, but one thing's for sure.

At that moment, both shared their fear.

Instead of the player in a bright yellow coat, a skeletal black figure steps forward, shielding the house from the thing preying on its owner. A rainstorm fell over the two entities, though hungry didn't seem to mind it, its wide grin a dead give away of how amused it was.

Assimilation glared with disgust at the entity's red, nasty mouth, as its eyes were hidden from view. 

you have no business here.

The cloaked figure tilted its head, drops of blood fell to the floor.

collin protected us

i will not allow you to cross this line

The entity stood its ground, though it looked over Assimilation’s shoulder, seemingly interested by what was inside of that empty house.

LEAVE.

The entity braced its hands on the fence that surrounded Collin's property, the wood cracking under its fingers as it leaned over the cloaked figure.

Assimilation screeched right to the entity’s face. Its smile only grew wider.

On the corner of Assimilation’s vision, a string of text appeared.

the door will soon be opened
his fate is inevitable
you can’t stop me A1

hungry was gone.

Assimilation looked down at the ground, where the pieces of what used to be the fence were. 

The rain pounding on its body reminded it of the ones it was meant to protect.

It teleported to the basement, where the two had come out of hiding already. Collin’s face was pale, and it still held that hint of fright that hungry had been after (Assimilation wasn’t sure it would ever forget that look).

its gone collin

are you ok collin?

No answer, but Assimilation didn’t blame him. It recognized how weird it must be for someone that’s always alone to have something concerned for him. He did look behind himself, though, where Andre stood unnervingly still… while holding onto Collin’s hand.

The robot didn’t. Its eyes were still cast down.

andre?

Its voice seemed to do the trick, as Andre finally looked at Assimilation from behind Collin… he looked so scared it tore right through Assimilation’s heart. The entity also got major whiplash as a torrent of messages from Andre’s Psychonetworks flew right past its eye.

Assimilation ran past the human and took its partner in its arms, feeling the metal shaking under it. Always so cold.

“I…” Collin said from behind them, voice shaky before he cleared his throat, still trying to pull himself together. “I’ll log out so you can get back to your house or whatever.”

He was going to go out through the stairs, but before he could, Andre slipped off from Assimilation’s embrace and stopped him, his hand holding onto the yellow coat.

“Leave it. It's not a big deal,” Collin dismissed him. Andre didn’t let go.

Collin looked back at the stairs as he shook his head.

“It’s fine,” he says after a while. “I don’t mind having you two here despite you stealing my shit all the time,”

Despite the conversation not including the entity, Assimilation's eye closed in what was its version of a smile.

Like the world had paused just for them, everything seemed to go still, except for the now gentle sound of rain hitting the house’s windows. If Assimilation saw correctly, it could say Collin's eyes softened.

“Whatever you say, man,” The player chuckled, his tone now visibly lighter after the short conversation.

"Aaand I'm out,” he said before disconnecting. The weather changed back to sunny right after.

The robot turned to Assimilation, not wasting a second before throwing himself at its arms.

andre

Assimilation's worried voice cut through their thoughts.

andre are you ok?

i was worried about you andre

Andre looked down to the floor, unable to meet the entity's eye.

it was definitely planning to andre

andre its mind was a disturbing thing

i do not want to encounter it again andre

andre?

Chat goes completely silent.

oh andre

andre we are okay now

as long as i am here it wont hurt you andre

Assimilation's breath hitched, its arms coming to pull Andre closer to its form, their body shook hard as they grabbed onto its biceps like a lifeline.

my dear andre

andre if it makes you feel like this, i will try not to get hurt from now on

i want you to be happy andre

i don’t blame you for it andre

andre we will find a way for you to speedrun as much as you like

but i need you to be alive when that time comes andre

The entity pulled its partner closer, its hand burying itself on the back of their hair while it rested its head on theirs.

i could say the same andre

i want you to be happy andre

and i want to stay with you andre

Silence fell on the small space of the bunker, not even the rain was there to interrupt them as they held each other close with the promise of staying, for as long as they can, forever, if possible.

of course andre