I Just Wanted to be Human. Ch. 3

Chapter 3: 98.9%

Rabbit followed behind Micheal, slightly annoyed at the humans slow pace, but understanding the need for it. After the woman stormed off very little was said between them. Micheal knew that Rabbit wanted answers, and Rabbit knew that Micheal had to find the right way to word it. But neither one of them knew how to start.

They were almost at the bottom of the stairs and Rabbit paused. Just barely in his line of sight, on a rusted metal table to the side, laid The Jon. Torn into at least 3 pieces, but still recognizable.

"Jon!" Rabbit squealed, pushing Micheal off the last step. He ran towards the broken robot, his hands hovering over his brothers metal frame. He wanted to hug him, lift him off this disgusting table, put him back together again. But the realization came that, it wasn't going to be alright.

"I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-" Knowing Rabbit was having trouble, Micheal placed his good hand on the robot's shoulder. Tightening a screw. Rabbit paused his replay and started again. "I saw Spine kill him." The memory itself felt like a glitch.

"No you saw Spine cut him." Micheal groaned in pain.

"You mean?"

"If Spine wanted to have killed him he would have had to make that cut about 2 milometers further to the right. He knew where Jon's main wires were, and he missed them." Micheal sat down slowly in a rusted chair in the corner, rubbing his bruised ribs. "The only damage is auxiliary."

Rabbit made a giddy squeal, jumping up and down and clapping his hands in a happy dance. He rested his head against Jon's chest and patted it gently.
"You know what that means?" He told his powered down friend. "That means you're gonna be okay! Everything's gonna be okay buddy!"

"Well not everything..." Micheal corrected. Rabbit lifted his head quickly off of the Jon, his face showing his great concern, but his hands still resting there. As if to keep Jon calm while Micheal shared whatever bad news he had. Micheal waved his hand and shook his head. "Don't' worry its not like he's never coming back online or something. When his oil leaked from the pipelines being cut some circuits got damaged." Micheal sighed, and continued. "His upper torso is in working order, but the bottom half. I won't be able to get it functioning until we get back. He's powered down right now until I can take out all the broken parts. If we turn him on with them still installed he won't be able to function properly. I have to... downgrade the programing and blah blah blah blah you get the idea." Micheal groaned and rubbed his forehead. "... all this technical talk is giving me a headache. We're lucky Holly was around, she can help me do repairs."

The silence was back. Micheal seemed to be trying to overcome a surge of pain, while Rabbit was stroking Jon's hair. The question was on the tip of his tongue, but Rabbit waited till Micheal was more cognitive to answer. The unknown was eating at him, so he had to ask.

"Where is Spine?" His voice was soft, but he made sure it was very clear. He didn't want to have to make himself ask again. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to find the courage for it a second time.

Micheal raised his eyebrows and turned to the other metal table in the small mold filled concrete room. Rabbit followed his gaze, turning his head and torso but keeping his hands safely on The Jon. It seemed like a cruel joke. On top of the table rested a pile of broken circuits, wires, panels, and bars. Like seeing the guts of a robot ripped out and laid out like a pile of junk. It was all they were made up of. To an unknowing eye it was just trash.

Amidst the pile was a shimmer of silver. Rabbit knew what that was. He saw the damage last night, so why was this so difficult? His legs felt faulty. It was a struggle just to make them walk towards that table. Jon was going to be fine, but what about Spine? As he approached the table he rested his hands on the edge, forcing himself to stare at his fallen brother.

"I don't know what happened with Spine. That... that definitely wasn't him." Micheal broke the thick silence. "I want to inspect the parts, but from the fall I can't tell which damage was done before... or after."

Micheal was just background noise for Rabbit. He reached, outstretching his fingers, and ran them down the side of Spine's battered titanium face. He was the one who damaged him. The one who pushed him off the edge. Would he have listened? Did he even know what he was doing? Spine was always so humble and straightforward. He did what was right, even if it hurt him. So why this?

"When did it start? Did we miss something?" Micheal asked under his breath, thinking to himself. "During the show he had trouble with the words. He couldn't remember his chords, he just wanted it to be over."

"I stepped out to get pickles. Pickles for the sandwiches." Rabbit didn't lift his gaze as he recalled the events of the evening. Letting the saved video replay from his hard drive.

"Spine was sitting in front of the mirror. He was really quiet. Even when Jon was doing cartwheels and throwing lettuce around. He usually would try to stop him, but he didn't say anything. He sat there, staring at his own reflection..." Micheal recalled, probably not as easily as Rabbit. Starring at the floor in deep concentration.

"A fan stopped me in the hallway. Asked for an autograph."

"I asked him what was wrong. He didn't say anything. I touched his shoulder, thought maybe he didn't hear me." Micheal rubbed over his itchy cast, remembering the pain. "He grabbed my arm, tossed me like a rag doll into the costume rack. The wind was knocked out of me... I couldn't breathe."
"I heard a crash. I thought maybe Jon got into trouble. I excused myself and walked back to the dressing room."

"He lifted a chair or... something big. He came back at me, tried to throw it at me. Jon knocked it out of his hand. Tried to stop him. His weapons were online. He never brings weapons installed when we do shows. Why did Spine have them installed?"

"I opened the door. Spine pinned Jon under his foot. He had my saw. My saw equipped. Jon screamed as he put it against him. Jon went offline."

"I heard you scream something. There was blood and oil. You dropped the jar. I... I blacked out."

"He turned to me. His eyes were different. His expression was... angry. He was targeting me." Rabbit frowned, brushing the top of Spines head. Something didn't quite make sense. "Someone told me to run. It was very soft, trapped in white noise, floating on the WI-fi. Someone said-" He paused the memory and rewound back, enhancing the audio and replayed it over and over. "Someone said. 'Run. Don't Stop.'" He paused the audio, staring at his brother in his hands.

"And you did run. And you didn't stop. That's probably how you escaped relatively unscathed." Micheal sighed as he stood, now standing behind rabbit. Pressing a gentle hand on the robots back. "When I woke up you two were gone. Holly was there, she called an ambulance. I thought you were dead..."

Rabbit laid the mysterious sound byte over Spines regular voice, analyzing the waves. There was no comparison. "Spine's the one who warned me."

Micheal stared at him in disbelief, burrowing his eyebrows together in thought. "Are you sure?"

"The sync is 9-9-9-98.9% with a .1% chance of error. I'm sure." Frowning, Rabbit stared the broken pieces. Micheal following his gaze. "If he wanted to hurt me.... why would he warn me?"