Archive of Our Own

Like the last few days, Assimilation opens its eye to see Andre by its side, staring at it gingerly.

The strings of text from the chat are a bit overwhelming so early in the day, but it's nice to hear them talking to it.

good morning to you too andre

im sorry i made you wait long andre

Assimilation smiles, its eye turning into a crescent moon as its hand slowly reaches out for Andre’s, who grabs it and interlaces their fingers.

im happy you stayed for me andre

what do you have in mind for today andre?

He summarizes to make it easier for Assimilation to understand.

i see andre

do you wish for me to come with andre?

of course andre

when do you want to go andre?

whenever you are andre

As much as Assimilation would like to stay in bed longer, it knows Andre gets restless when standing still too long, it's already a miracle that he chooses to stay with it during the night, so it is more than happy to compromise.

Andre makes quick work of grabbing his things while Assimilation stretches out (the robot stealing some glances he thinks aren't noticed), long limbs cracking into place loudly, then stands from their shared bed, waiting patiently by the door.

after you andre

They kick it off to a mine generated near their small provisional house, which is considerably far from Collin’s since he deemed Andre a “danger to his stuff" and said they'd be constantly exposed to entities… which made Assimilation reasonably suspicious that he cared about them, so they obeyed.

They go down at Andre's pace, which is faster than any other player's since he doesn't get tired or needs to eat, and Assimilation eagerly follows him from the shadows, watching as he drops from the edge of a long fall and successfully lands with what he calls a "waterdrop”.

you did very good andre

andre there is iron over there

do you want me to assist in mining too, andre?

alright andre

i do not mind watching you andre

And so, Assimilation got comfortable standing near Andre while he worked on upgrading his tools and armor, even offering the entity its own set, but it didn't see the use, so it refused.

little can hurt me andre

you should focus on getting them for collin, andre

he seems to need it more andre

i agree that his gear is not very protective andre

but i doubt anything would help again those entities andre

i believe it would take a weight off your shoulders to clear your debt with collin, andre

that way you won't worry about having to leave andre

A small laugh escapes Assimilation as it watches Andre's internal conflict, which is resolved quickly when they decide to go for the redstone first.

Sprinting down the mine with Andre on the lead, they descend to a small tunnel, where they stop dead in their tracks as it gets divided in two different paths. The robot decides to head right, but as the entity follows, its hand flies to Andre's shoulder, bracing itself on its partner as a sharp sense of dread pierces its skull.

andre

this way is not safe andre

Wrapping one of their arms around its waist, Andre led the entity out to head left, where the pain subsided to a tolerable level, though it didn’t fade away completely.

i am fine andre

i apologize for scaring you andre

Down the left tunnel, Andre finally let go (to Assimilation's dismay) to stop to mine more iron, and didn't hold the entity again for the rest of the trip.

Rushing over to them like an excited child, Andre got to mining them quickly, shoulders slumping as they revealed themselves to be an extremely minimal amount.

perhaps there are more nearby andre

And as the robot moved to begin strip mining, a message popped up on chat.

Assimilation watched Andre consider his answer for a moment.

your simplicity fascinates me andre

The robot turned to look at Assimilation.

Deeming the conversation successful, Andre kept on mining.

And as the entity followed closely, the dull throb in its head of a dozen presences nearby never went away.

Unfortunately for Andre, who was determined to finish his task that day, the two AIs came across a rapidly growing void at layer -54, which ended in them running back up until Assimilation teleported them to the cave’s entrance, where they were immediately hit by the cold rain air.

andre.

we are done for today andre.

Despite their situation, the entity felt its artificial heart beat a tiny bit faster at Andre's worries, his worries for itself.

andre i have no problem defending myself

andre i worry about failing to protect you

andre do not fret 

we could ask collin for more time andre

Assimilation watches as a message appears in chat.

There's a pause after that, where it becomes evident that Andre is still having trouble with actually communicating with others. But Assimilation's proud that he's trying.

Andre's shoulders drop with relief before his head turns to Assimilation after it lays a hand on his back.

you should thank him andre

A small huff leaves the robot before he's typing again.

lets go home andre

The moonlight would've been enough to light the way back home, but Andre's system wasn't a fan of prolonged water exposure, so Assimilation just let him hold onto it as it teleported them both… it won't admit it held on a tad bit longer after they landed inside, though.

Once they parted, Andre immediately got to organizing their chests, where they took out and put back stacks of minerals, then started checking out the list of things he owed Collin (the only things he got were the iron and diamonds). He then bolted to the spruce wood door that led to the back of their house.

andre where are you going

its still raining andre

all right andre

Knowing the robot would be under a roof (Assimilation felt really bad for their animals being out in the rain so it built them one), the entity felt calm enough to head over to their shared bedroom upstairs and lay down for the night to enjoy the temporary relief of its senses not being as assaulted as they were on that cave. Collin's world was… exhausting.

The only thing that briefly stirred it from its rest was the feeling of Andre's cold body pressed against its back, which was enough to lull it back into peaceful sleep.

Collin went into his house after going out to find yellow dye and some leather. The coat was starting to wear off and he wanted to be able to replace it before it completely fell apart. 

As he went to open his large chest, he stood still as he stared at the contents in disbelief