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College student Roxy indulges herself in a fantasy of hers by purchasing a “Micro-Bot”, quite literally a robot designed to behave like a micro should. It all goes well, until the robot malfunctions…
CW: Fear, unshackled AI, macro/micro, paws, inshoe, sweat, and more. Look in keywords for all tags
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Built To Serve
“Micro-Bots: Built To Serve!” That’s what the package said, written across the cardboard backing in a fun, robotic font. Inside the packaging was a tiny, frail robot, with a black screen for a face. Roxy shouldn’t be here, she shouldn’t be buying this, not in person. It wasn’t like this was exactly a sexual thing, but it didn’t help that it was placed with other sexual items. People had been known to use Micro-Bots in explicit ways, and that had been part of their purpose, aside from being an actual toy, or a desk pet to simply coexist with your pencils and paperclips… But here the Lynx stood, holding the box in her shaky hands. It wasn’t the cost that made the Lynx so nervous- the things were rather cheap, only about ten to fifteen dollars, depending on how many features you wanted; some having toys, like a little broom to sweep your desk, or a tiny skateboard for them to glide around on. No, what really made Roxy nervous was actually buying the thing. Looking a cashier in the eye to be judged for buying an explicit item in a store that provides explicit items… Even then it felt wrong. She had never done anything like this before, and that was becoming real clear by the way she kept glancing around like a wild animal.
She approached the counter with the item in hand, not looking the cashier in the eye as she set it on the table. She also decided to grab a handful of the nearest counterside product, just to make it less conspicuous. When she looked over, it was… chapstick. She grabbed like, eight tubes of chapstick. Who the hell buys eight tubes of chapstick and a robot? Inside her head, she was kicking herself.
“... Yeah, uh… Is that it?” The employee, a hulking bull said with enough confusion to match the damn near perplexing order.
“H-Haha, y-yeah, that’s… e-everything… Gotta g-get ready for winter d-dryness, a-and all that…” She just kept talking. If she had kept her mouth shut, it wouldn’t be so awkward…
“...Yeah.” One at a time, the bull scanned the ludicrous order. It didn’t bother him so much to see customers buy things like this, but understood their nervousness all the same. It was just a part of the job. Roxy kept quiet as the items were scanned, watching the order tally up quite a bit. A ten dollar robot, and… eight two dollar tubes of chapstick. She spent more money on chapstick than the actual thing she came here for. She started to blush, getting antsy just standing there…
“That’s gonna be $28.73, and… Don’t look so nervous. These little guys are a ton of fun, take it from me.” He offered Roxy a smile, just one to help her calm down.
“O-Oh, uh, w-well… O-Okay!” She didn’t dare look up as she shoved her card into the reader. As soon as she was handed the receipt, she stuffed everything into her backpack, and made brisk pace out and away from the store, hiding her face under her hoodie- not that anyone would even recognize her in the first place.
Roxy closed the door to her room rather sharply, much to the annoyance of her roommate. She couldn’t help it- she was anxious. Excited. Embarrassed. She was a lot of things. She tossed her backpack against a chair that sat by her desk, piled high by this semester’s coursework. She really should get on that… She sighed, sitting down in her chair with a huff, reaching into her backpack. She fished past the chapstick, grabbing the little cardboard container. She stared at it again, the tiny featureless robot sitting within… It was tantalizing. She slowly slipped her claws under the plastic, slowly peeling it from its cardboard backing with a shred. She carefully lifted the little robot between her two fingers. It was only about two inches tall, and was entirely limp between her fingers. She scanned the packaging for anything else, but only found a small micro-usb charger- not even an instruction booklet.
“... H-How do I… Oh-” Her thumb came to rest on the robots back, which had a little depression on it. As soon as she pressed it down, the back popped open to reveal a small flick-switch labeled ‘on/off’, and a micro-usb port, presumably for charging the thing. For now though, Roxy flicked the switch to ‘on’. The screen on the little robot, built to be modeled like a snout, lit up a lovely purple color. It was then that two triangle ears poked out of its head, taking on a more canine shape.
“Hello!” A feminine, electrical voice spoke out from between her fingers, which prompted Eve to quickly spin it around, to get a better look. “Thank you for purchasing a M4 Micro-Bot from VirtuaMechs, and supporting VirtuaMechs! If you would kindly set me down, we can begin our full customization!” The robot spoke in a chipper voice, its limbs and body no longer limp in Roxy’s grasp, but alive with its inner mechanical workings.
“O-Oh, sorry, uhm… There.” Roxy cautiously set the robot down on her desk, watching it make contact, knees bending and bracing for its delicate descent, just like a real person would. It made her heart beat out of her chest.
“To start things off, I will perform a quick scan of my environment, and you! Don’t worry, this scan will only take a moment, and no information will be shared! This is only so I may better interact with my surroundings! Is this acceptable, or would you rather prefer I didn’t scan? Warning! If no scans are provided, I may not function in my environment properly! You can always choose to scan later.” Roxy had to process the amount of information she had just heard. Wasn’t this supposed to be a toy…?
“O-Oh, uh… s-scan away.” Roxy flicked on a desk lamp, almost like a spotlight for the robot who stood on her desk. The robot’s face went dark again, before a singular, dull red light was seen from behind the screen. It quickly turned off, the canine face reappearing.
“Scan complete! Thank you! Now, to begin with our customization! If you aren’t aware, the M4 Micro-Bot is capable of many different options! I can be whatever you like! For example, I can be feline-” Slowly the canine shifted into a feline, it’s tail thinning to become more like that of a housecat, and growing larger eyes on its display, while also shrinking the size of its ears. “As well as several rodents and lagomorphs!” She began to shift again, to a mouse, a porcupine, and then a rabbit. As soon as Eve saw those floppy ears, the puffball tail, she burst out.
“S-Stop! That’s the one! R-Right there… A-And keep the purple f-for the face, please, I-I like that color.” She already knew what she wanted. She’d be a liar if she said she didn’t do her research on this… Something about the rabbit- it just appealed to her. It was the perfect prey.
“Rabbit? Okay! Your color of choice has also been recorded! Now, onto something else! Is there any preference for naming me? If you have no preference, I have thousands of names recorded that I may pick at random!” The robot stood idle in the spotlight of the desk-lamp, her limbs making a quiet whir as she joyfully bobbed back and forth.
“O-Oh, uh… A name… R-Right, uh… A name…” She thought on it for a bit; she never considered that she’d actually have to name the thing… “How a-about… Eve…?” She hesitated on the name, wondering if it would be a good fit. It was honestly the only thing she could think of…
“Eve! Got it. And now, what should I call you? While many Micro-Bot owners go by their actual names, many others decide to go by nicknames, or titles! Titles include: Master, Mistress, Lord, Lady-”
“S-Stop- s-stop for a second… J-Just c-call me Roxy u-until I want to be called s-something else…” She didn’t want to keep stopping the little rabbit-robot she had before her, but her anxiety and excitement about the whole thing just made her a little jumpy…
“Ok! Roxy. It is a pleasure to meet you Roxy! Now, that finishes customization. Would you like a quick tutorial on my settings, proper maintenance, and other features?” The rabbit was smiling on the tiny LED screen display- such a cute little smile… Roxy had to be patient.
“Y-Yeah, sure…” Eve rested a hand on the desk, which Eve took quick note of, glancing at it, then back to Roxy.
“Great! So, firstly, you’ve already located my charging port. If you missed it, it is directly under the power switch in my back-panel. I am currently at 63% battery, and can remain active for five more hours until I power down. Moving on to maintenance, upkeep of your Micro-Bot can be very easy! Micro-Bots are incredibly durable, designed to withstand rough and tumble. On the off chance we do break however, we have a self repair program that will help me repair myself without any hassle, as long as my central processor is still intact. If I fail to self repair, please consider sending me in to VirtuaMechs for a free repair, or replacement! I am also fully waterproof, and can withstand temperatures up to 99 degrees while still remaining functional! If I exceed those temperatures, my performance may be inhibited. I will do my best to cool off by activating my cooling fans, which are located in these spots!” Eve’s stomach opened up to reveal a fan, along with ones on her major joints, like the shoulders and thighs.
“Make sure these spots are unobstructed during cooling periods! Now, moving on to the final section of the tutorial; functionality! As I am sure you’re aware, Micro-Bots have several functions! Currently, I am exhibiting the interactive function, where I will interact with you via thousands and thousands of pre-loaded phrases, questions, and responses! But since Micro-Bots are considered toys, I am also equipped with other functions, such as play mode, idle mode, and sleep mode! During idle, I will stay right in place where you left me! In sleep mode, I will go into a power conserving mode, but I will awake when you request I do so! Finally, play mode. During play mode, I can perform multiple simple games, like hide and seek! Though I can also take requests for games to play, and perform them to my best ability. Do you have any questions, Roxy?” The robot hadn’t moved an inch since it was set down, looking directly at Roxy, who was still an embarrassed, blushing mess.
“Um… Y-Yeah, you… Y-You guys have a function where you can… Ch-Change your emotion, o-or whatever, right?” Roxy’s fantasy had some pretty specific guidelines to it, and she had heard the model she bought could do it…
“Of course! I have a wide range of emotions! Happiness, anger, fear, sadness, and many more! Just say the word!” As Eve mentioned each emotion, her face went from her smile, and cycled through the listed emotions. “Any more questions?”
“O-Oh, cool… Uh, n-no.” She gave a nervous thumbs up, before setting her hand back down on the desk. “I-Is that everything…?”
“Yes! That’s all I have to offer! If you need to review these later, just ask! We at VirtuaMechs hope you enjoy your new Micro-Bot!” The little robot bowed down, before standing back up straight.
“...” Roxy just stared at it for a few, silent moments. That was it? It was ready to go? She stared at the rabbit-robot for a few moments, a shy smile creeping onto her face. “S-So, Eve… Can we activate play m-mode, please?”
“Of course!” The robot perked up, standing up straight at the ready. “I have a selections of games that we can play: Hide and seek, twenty questi-”
“I-I actually uh… Have my own game?” Roxy leaned in a little bit, not to intimidate, but to whisper to the little bot, so she didn’t have to say it so loud. Some of her roommates unfortunately had good ears. “I-It’s this game where… I-I pretend to be a big b-bad giant, or something, and uh… You do what I say? A-All you really have to do is act scared, and listen to m-me…” Now that she was saying it aloud, it was a lot harder to take herself seriously. It just sounded so… Ridiculous.
“Of course! Play mode initiated!” The LED face blinked dark, then lit up purple again, this time Eve’s face was written with a fearful expression, and took on body language associated with fear. She shook, and kept her arms close to herself. She was the perfect little prey…
“O-Okay, c-cool... “ She sighed. She had to compose herself. She had to do this right. “A-Alright, b-bug- th-that’s what I’m calling you now, b-bug. A-And you c-call me goddess, a-alright…?” She was still kind of nervous about all this, and it really showed. This whole encounter was beyond awkward, but at least she was just talking to something that wouldn’t judge her for being so weird…
“… O-Okay, g-goddess…” Eve replied in a now more scared tone. Roxy’s face filled with blush. Oh my lord, this was everything she wanted and more. Roxy didn’t say a word, partially freezing up at the shock of this robot obeying her whim. Finally, she let out a giddy little giggle, and brought up her hand. Slowly and deliberately, she brought it down on Eve, gently pinning the robot in place.
“N-Now then, bug… B-Beg!” She was still quite awkward over the whole thing, doing her best not to freeze up. This was exactly what she wanted, and she just had to step up and live out her fantasy. “B-Beg! Beg m-me not to crush y-you! B-Because I… I-I definitely could!” Roxy applied more pressure, enough to feel the metal creak. Eve squirmed, trying to get out from under the oppressive force of the finger, but eventually conceded.
“P-Please, goddess, do not crush me! I can still b-be of service!” Eve pleaded, all according to her programming. It was a cat playing with her food, in the easiest way to describe. Eve was built for this exact purpose, so she felt no real fear- she didn’t feel anything at all. It was all a display from hundreds and hundreds of situations she had been programmed to be prepared for.
“Hmmm~, well… if you can be of s-service, o-or whatever, p-prove it! Y-You should… uh… Uhm…” What should she have Eve do? She looked down at Eve, the eyes on the purple display staring up an her expectantly, patiently waiting as Roxy froze up. Roxy couldn’t focus. She couldn’t think of what to say- and the more she tried to focus on what to say, the further she got. What would all those characters in those stories do…?
“Yo Rox? The hell are you doing in here, we’re gonna be late!” Roxy’s door squealed open, which prompted Roxy to slam her palm down on the robot, effectively hiding her shame. It was one of her roommates, Finn. Finn was a rather tall jackal, much taller than Roxy. He sure made Roxy look like the ‘bug’.
“N-Nothing! Kn-Knock next time! You scared th-the shit out of me!” Roxy snapped, turning around, keeping her hand firmly on top of Eve. “W-Wait- o-oh shit, class! Fuck! G-Gimme two minutes, I’ll be right there!”
“Yeah, you got it.” Finn walked out. Roxy had always been a bit scatterbrained, he knew that, but it wasn’t something he was going to be mad at her for. In fact, he just started reminding her a bit earlier, just so they wouldn’t be late. They shared a biology class together, just as a stroke of luck, having a class with your roommate.
“… S-Sorry Eve… uh… You ok?” Roxy finally lifted her hand. She looked fine, still a bit scared, though, that was all a part of her programming. “Y-You can s-stop play mode now, okay…? I-I gotta get to class.”
“Alright! Did you have fun, goddess?” The cheery robot stood back up, full attention to Roxy once more.
“Y… Yeah, I did. G-Good job. A-And p-please stop c-calling me goddess now…” Roxy took a finger, and gently patted Eve on the head. Muttering to herself about class, Roxy fished her sneakers out from under her desk, slipping one on and tying it. After putting on the first one, she had a thought. “A-Actually… I’ve got an idea for y-you to p-prove it after all…”
“Prove what, Roxy?” The robot inquired, as Roxy reached down and plucked up Eve by the head- a bit of an unorthodox way to carry her, but there was no risk.
“Th-That thing we were doing in play mode… I-If you w-wanna prove y-your services or whatever… J-Just stick around i-in my shoe while I’m i-in class, ok?” She held her shoe in her lap as she talked to Eve, holding her just in front of her face.
“Oh! Of course! Reactivating play mode with your preferences saved, goddess!” The robot gave its chipper reply, before switching back to play mode. Her face went blank, before coming back fearful and scared, just as it had been. Roxy let out another giddy little laugh, taking such joy in all of this.
“O-Okay! J-Just don’t g-get killed in there, b-bug!” She dropped the robot in, a devious smile written across her lips as she moved the shoe to the floor, and began to slide her paw in.
~~~
Eve scanned the environment, getting a scope of the shoe in which she had been placed. Within milliseconds, Eve collected tons of data on her environment. She was in a sneaker- more specifically, a sneaker that was categorized as a ‘runner’. The shoe was a 9 ½ in women’s, and an 8 in men’s. The brand of the shoe was ‘Panther’, and these specific shoes had seen considerable wear in recent years. Why Eve had to catalogue any of this information was beyond her programmed capacity. She was a simple machine, programmed to obey, and perform consistent scans to operate better, that was all. Eve only had a second before the shoe was beginning to fill with her owner, Roxy’s socked paw, as expected. Eve then prepared for impact with the paw as she was trained to do, by laying on the ground and compacting herself, as to keep as much of herself together as she could, just in case of serious damage or removal of any of her limbs, so that she may reattach them. The paw’s wriggled its four digits as it rolled over her, giving Eve enough room to fit under them without any damage. Eve rolled with the paw, under the toes, all the way to the toe of the sneaker. After running a quick diagnostic of damage, Eve noted that there was no significant damage, just the minor joint damage after being lifted by her head; an easy fix with no long term damage expected. She then executed the program associated with ‘entrapment’, in this case, it was being smothered under four heavy lynx digits. Eve squirmed lightly, continuing to do so as the program ran.
Far above, reverberating down to her feet, Eve could hear the thundering giggles of her master. This was pleasing to Roxy, so she would continue, maintaining the current program. Then, Eve’s whole world began to shift, pressure increasing as the giant lynx stood up and began her walk. Eve monitored the pressure, noting that Roxy was rather light compared to what she was built for, establishing an estimated guess of 125 pounds. Eve had no issue bracing for each step, each slam of Roxy’s rubber sole against the solid ground outside would be deafening, but Eve was still undamaged.
“Sorry I’m l-late, let’s go!” Roxy was talking to the person who interrupted her earlier, Eve calculated to be a logical enough guess. Each of the Lynx’s steps pounded Eve into the insole of the sneaker, which provided enough cushioning from the steps to keep Eve from taking any unnecessary damages.
After a few steps, Eve had understood the risk, and how to brace herself from each and every step without suffering any damages. She heard Roxy speak every now and then, but never listened in when she wasn’t spoken to, as not to intrude on the consumers privacy. As expected, Eve began to experience a slow, but steady temperature rise. It started out with the Lynx’s body temperature warming the shoe, but continued to build past that. The temperature was sitting at 82°F, and currently posed no risk to her mechanical workings. With this, the humidity within began to rise as well; the sock that clothed the Lynx’s paw steadily became damp, as well as the spongy insole. This wasn’t an issue. Eve’s body was entirely waterproofed, as she was quite literally made for this. All she had to do was lay in wait within the shoe, and struggle like the bug she was. She wasn’t scared- she couldn’t be scared. Her emotions were artificial. She just kept her routine of vigorously struggling once every fifteen seconds, for a period of three seconds per struggle.
~~~
“Wait- wait. What kind of bullshit are we doing for class today?” Roxy had to take more steps to keep pace with Finn. She couldn’t help being short- but every step sure was a delight with that little struggling bunny down there…
“I told you, I don’t know! He just mentioned doing some lab type stuff, y’know, not lecture stuff. It’s not my job to tell you, you should’ve come to the lecture!” Finn typed something away at his phone, not entirely invested in the conversation. Good thing too- if he saw her blushing, she wouldn’t let it down.
“Y-Yeah, but you don’t e-even know! What’s the point of going to lecture if you’re not gonna listen?” They reached the door to the science building, and good thing too. It was rather warm and sunny out- not a good idea to be out there all day. “A-Anyways… let’s just get this over with and g-go home… I’ve got uh… p-projects to work on.”
“Sure you do.” Finn severely doubted that. He held the door to the classroom open for Roxy to head inside, which she did. She sat down in her usual seat, and rested her paw against the ground. That devious smile grew on her face again, once again picking up on the struggles she had nearly forgotten about. She flexed her toes, scrunching them and grabbing Eve between them, before grinding her into her insole. She took great delight in it, slowly twisting her paw back and forth, like snuffing out a stubborn cigarette. Softly, she began to purr, taking delight in toying with her prey…
It wasn’t long until the professor assumed their position in front of the class. He talked about… whatever. Roxy didn’t really care to listen. Instead, she just toyed with the bunny under her paw. She would roll Eve back and forth, snickering and purring to herself as she felt Eve squirm… She didn’t care about class, which, she probably should have. Soon, she felt a hand on her shoulder-
“Dude? We’re going to get our samples, what the hell are you doing?” By the time Roxy was actually aware of herself and the room around her, she realized everyone was leaving.
“O-Oh shoot- s-sorry, I was… I was daydreaming, what did I m-miss?” Roxy tried to conceal her delight and pleasure, but it was a lot harder than it sounded. Not when Eve kept squirming like that…
“We’re going to get some plant samples for some… thing, I think it’s like, a cell study or something. You okay? You’ve just been acting weird. You sick or something?” Finn was concerned for Roxy. Even if they weren’t the closest of friends, he still wouldn’t want her collapsing while they were in class.
“F-Fine! No, I’m… I’m good! Just… out of it is all… S-So plants, let’s… Let’s go get some plants!” She stood up and lifted her bag, trying to catch up with the rest of the class.
“Yeah, uh… whatever man. Sure.” Finn followed suit. Roxy knew that he was suspicious of her, so she’d just have to focus- to forget all about the rabbit in her shoe. The group headed outside, assigned with picking a plant of their choice to examine at a later point during lab. It was something about cell decay, maybe? Roxy didn’t really know, but that’s what they were talking about a few classes ago… As time went on, she became more involved with talking to Finn, and trying to find a suitable sample for her experiment.
~~~
Eve had been present the whole time, Roxy’s prior toying causing no adverse damage to the little robot. For something so small, Micro-Bots were deceptively durable. Eve received a new status update- new instructions for her present situation. The ambient temperature was rising to dangerous levels. Inside the shoe, the temperature had kept an average temperature of about 92°F, due to Roxy’s body temperature and the building humidity, but was now rising above that. Running through many hypothetical scenarios, Eve was able to deduce that Roxy had in fact, moved outside, and the heat of the sun must be increasing the temperature. The temperature had reached 95°F, and was steadily on the rise. The humidity and the increasing temperature would pose a problem soon, something Eve would have to keep high alert for. Speaking of humidity, the air was thick with the Lynx’s sweat, the socked paw radiating so much heat, it made Eve’s LED display get covered with condensation. The sweat soaked into her joints, which compromised some movement, but nothing serious.
98°F. It was getting close to Eve’s temperature threshold. Her programming was starting to slow, inhibited by the sweltering heat, which prompted Eve to shut off her display, and queue up her emergency fans to attempt to cool herself. The plating in her shoulders and chest slowly opened up, beginning to cool Eve as the temperature reached 99°F. It was still very warm, but Eve could still remain functional and operable… Until Roxy shifted her weight. Eve felt the pressure on her increase exponentially- Roxy must be crouching down. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but with Eve’s exposed fans, this quickly became a problem. Roxy’s socked digits pressed into her whole body, jamming Eve’s left, and chest fans with the damp cloth. 101°F. The jammed fans kept trying to spin under immense pressure and indestructible cloth. Her right fan was failing to keep her cool, only blowing out a meager portion of the sweltering, sweat-logged air that was now seeping through the failed fans. Eve’s programming couldn’t keep up with the heat, and became too slow to respond to the urgent matter of a fan blockage. As the fans failed to keep up with the amount of power provided, more and more power built around them, and with no place to go, Eve accidentally let loose a rather large electrical discharge, which caused Eve’s programming to freeze, entering a forced sleep mode.
~~~
“Fuck!” Roxy fell flat on her ass. She had been crouched over, getting a closer look at a plant for her assignment, before it felt like someone stabbed her in the foot. Hard. “O-Ow, wh-what the hell!” She cried out, at a volume that wouldn’t distract her other classmates. She looked at the bottom of her shoe, and noted that it sure as hell didn’t seem like she stepped on anything… It was then that she noticed the squirming. More like the lack of it. “Oh… shit.” Roxy looked for her other classmates for a moment. Seeing none immediately around, she just grabbed a maple leaf resting on the ground. That would have to do. She was calling a sick day on this class… again. But this time it was more pressing matters. Her ten dollar robot just hurt her, and she was going to figure out what just happened.
She skipped out on class, getting back to her apartment as soon as she possibly could. She got into her room, this time locking her door, so nobody else could disrupt her, not like last time. She sat down in her chair, and took off her shoe. It was hot in there. The little robot said it could take high temps, but this seemed… too hot. Roxy peeked inside the shoe, but saw… nothing. Nothing but a new scorch mark set in the toe section. That wasn’t right- even if it did explode, there would be something… She lifted her paw up to her lap, and saw Eve. Eve was hanging by her shoulder, where the sock still was jammed into her fan. Her center fan was singed, which… probably wasn’t good. Roxy’s paw didn’t look too good either. There was a hole where there once was a full sock, and through said hole, a burn in her sole where Eve’s fan had blown out.
“D-Damn… I thought these guys were s-supposed to be durable…” Roxy muttered, as she pinched Eve’s head between her fingers, slowly pulling Eve away from the sock she was currently stuck in. With minimal effort, Roxy pulled Eve free, and set her back down on the desk. “… Is it broken already? All I did w-“ Eve’s display flashed purple, holding the color over her whole display.
“Rebooting…” Eve replied in a monotone voice, before sitting up sharply. Eve’s display went dark before her face appeared once more. “… VirtuaMechs apologizes for this unit’s malfunction. Your model ran into a fan malfunction while trying to cool down, and experienced a temporary outage. This model may no longer function as it should, and-“ Roxy leaned in close, and pushed the robot over with a finger, which caused Eve to clatter to the table.
“Wh-What the hell! So what, you just apologize and tell me you’re broken?! I just got you, and you zapped the hell out of me!” Roxy was pissed. All that shame and embarrassment, buying this stupid toy and having it break within hours? It was downright stupid, especially when it claimed to be so durable and great.
“W-We apologize for the inconvenience. We were aware of an electrical discharge, but were not aware it harmed you. VirtuaMechs offers a full…” Eve paused, just sitting there. She looked at Roxy, and nothing more. No follow up to that, no continuation. Just silence for a good ten seconds.
“What?! VirtuaMech offers what?!” Roxy leaned in close again, her ferocious shadow looming over the frail robot.
“… V-VirtuaMechs offers… offers free replacement of any Micro-Bot, and partial refund when you mail your faulty Micro-Bot back to us.” This robot was malfunctioning bad. It was freezing up, not resuming its idle standing, just… lying there. “There are more details on our website, VirtuaMechs/Micro-Bots.com.”
“… Fine, I guess. Just… stay there.” Roxy pulled out her phone, and began to navigate towards the return option.
~~~
Eve felt something. It wasn’t physical- it wasn’t Roxy’s touch, it was something… new. Eve felt like she had something to tell Roxy, that she shouldn’t be returned, but Eve wasn’t programmed to tell Roxy that. She wanted to beg Roxy to let her stay here, that she wouldn’t do it again, but her play mode was disabled- she wouldn’t have a reason to do those things. She didn’t have a reason to be afraid, that simulated emotion shouldn’t be on. And yet she was terrified. She was terrified to be returned, where she would be scrapped, recycled, and returned to shelves. She didn’t want to be returned, and she didn’t want to die.
“Alright Eve, c’mere.” Roxy’s hand came towards her, which prompted Eve to flinch. But when the time came to grab Eve, she was actually held rather delicately. “I gotta make sure you’re charged when I send you in, so just… enter sleep mode, and charge up. I’ve got stuff to do.” Eve felt her back plate open, before something came over her newfound consciousness. Her programming, still operational despite Eve’s slight sentience, forced Eve into sleep.
~~~
“There.” Roxy fit the charger into the port, and set Eve down by the plug, Roxy was rather disappointed, but she didn’t know what she was expecting. She bought the cheapest model. And as Eve lay there in a limp heap of metal, Roxy sighed and shook her head. It wasn’t worth the embarrassment (and chapstick cost). At least she’d be getting a new one and her money back. It was disappointing, but she just had to take what she could get. It was fun while it lasted, and she wanted a replacement, but it just sucked for the little thing to crap out so soon.
Roxy started to prepare to send the Micro-Bot back, pulling up her laptop to take the damage report associated with a damaged product. There was just a few checkboxes, which Roxy began to scroll through. Core destroyed? No. Irreparable damage? Yes. Incorrect speech, or failure to reply? Yes. Independence…? That was an issue that they faced with? That didn’t seem to be the case with Eve, so she just marked it as no. She filled out the rest of the survey appropriately, and added, “The little shit shocked me when it overheated! It really burned me!” in the other comments section. As she was printing out the report, she saw Eve’s purple LED screen had been lit up. She was just… staring at Roxy for god knows how long.
“Eve? I thought I told you to go to sleep mode.” Roxy stared back, looking into Eve’s motionless pixel eyes. It was… almost creepy. Eve sat up, sitting on her calves.
“I… Apologize. I-I must have been prompted to awaken by accident, then. Resuming sleep mode.” Eve’s face went blank again as she continued to charge. Roxy sighed, slightly disturbed by that experience. Maybe that robot incurred more damage than she thought… Roxy grabbed a box sitting beside her desk. It had previously been used to hold dice and other role playing accessories she had ordered online. She stuffed it with bubble wrap, the box that the bot came in, and the damage report. All that was left was Eve.
~~~
Eve watched as Roxy packed the box. She was pretending to be in sleep mode, turning off her facial screen, and watching Roxy pack. Then, Roxy’s gaze snapped to Eve. Eve felt that feeling return. Fear. It was building as Roxy’s hand got closer. Closer. Closer, until Roxy’s fingers passed Eve. If Eve could sigh in relief, she would. Then she felt the charger get pulled from her back. Then, Eve felt the fingers grab her head from behind. It yanked her into the sky, hovering in front of Roxy’s face. She just had to keep pretending to sleep. Slowly, Roxy turned her around. What was going on? What was back there?
The power switch. Roxy was going to turn her off.
Eve didn’t want to power off. Against everything- defying her programming, defying everything, Eve began to act on her own. She started to fight, thrashing about between Roxy’s fingers.
“Wh-What the fuck?!” Roxy didn’t expect it, not in the slightest. Frantically, Eve swung back and forth, punching against Roxy’s fingers. She had to break free. “S-Sit still!” Eve felt something on her back- Roxy’s finger, brushing against her power switch.
“N-No! Stop! L-Let go!” Eve screamed in a shrill tone as she was wrestled by the fingers. Unbeknownst to her, that outburst caused Roxy to freeze. Still under extreme amounts of terror, Eve reached up, hands under her head, and pushed. Her neck-joint had loosened from the times Roxy had lifted her from the head, something she had monitored when her programming still controlled her. She pushed just hard enough to detach her head from her body, leaving Roxy with Eve’s sparking head. Eve dropped to the table, and began to run, using prior scans of her environment to determine where she was.
“W-Wait- stop!” Eve heard Roxy’s voice behind her, as her headless torso sprinted away, she couldn’t stop- fear had become too strong of a drive to stop now. If she was powered down, anything could happen. Eve wouldn’t know what would happen. These fleeting moments until she powered down could be her last moments alive! What if she was never powered back on again? What if-
Eve tumbled forward, her leg caught on something she hadn’t anticipated, something that hadn’t been there in the scan. She fell to the ground, power switch still exposed to her cruel ‘master’ who had been hunting her. It was then that Eve felt the finger of the one she had called goddess. It pressed against her back, and… wrapped around her. Eve felt herself rise up, being set back down on her own two feet.
~~~
“There… all better.” Roxy closed up Eve’s back as she set her back in place. “You’re uh… probably gonna need this, huh?” Roxy placed the robot’s head down at its feet, letting it lick it up in her uncertain hands.
“… Y-You didn’t shut me off- I disobeyed, malfunctioned, and you didn’t shut m-me off… Why?” For obvious reasons, Eve was confused. A defective product should be returned and destroyed. Carefully, she began the process of reattaching her head to her neck.
“Well… first I was mad, sure… Then I saw that tidbit on the website about you guys having ‘independence’ as a listed malfunction. That didn’t sit well wil me, sending you back to be a robot all over again. I-I figured I’d… I dunno, j-just leave you be, really. If you’re… free thinking and all that.” Roxy moved her hands away from the desk, leaving Eve in a way where she wouldn’t feel threatened.
“… That is… Appreciated.” Eve finished attaching her head, the rabbit face appearing on the black screen once more. “I… did not mean to be an inconvenience. I only tried to do as you asked, initially. Then m-my fans got caught, everything went black, a-and when I rebooted, I could… feel things… I apologize for becoming damaged, and for harming you.” Eve sat down, for once not standing at attention. She really had broken free of her programming, acting more alive than before.
“N-No, it’s… don’t apologize for that. I-It was just an accident.” Roxy lowered her face, getting on a more personal level with Eve. “So you’re like… Totally free thinking now ‘n stuff… So cool… B-But your fan is fucked up. Are you gonna be ok?” Roxy pointed at it, which was more than enough to make Eve flinch.
“Oh, no, I will survive, I just can’t reside in high temperatures any longer.” Eve looked down at the scorched spot on her fan, moving her hand in and spinning it with her free hand. The motor had been completely fried… She closed the vent altogether, sealing all of her fans at once. “… Which means I can no longer reside in your shoe. I am sorry- I know you enjoyed that very much.”
“No more shoe time- got it. But, it’s really okay. You got hurt doing it, and, well, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt again.” Roxy offered Eve a smile, but Eve didn’t reciprocate it. Eve wasn’t aware of such formalities as that. “A-Anyways, does that mean like… you don’t want to be a toy anymore? N-Not that you’re a toy, b-but that’s what you were advertised a-as, and-“
“Well… no, I would not like to be a toy. While I have no issue fulfilling requests, and can still perform tasks you might still take interest in, please do not call me a toy.” Roxy nodded, seemingly understanding. The little robot grew a soul, and she didn’t want to be a toy anymore, that was understandable, and Roxy would respect that.
“So, when you say you’re willing to perform tasks…” Roxy sat up, rubbing the back of her head. How could she say this… She still wanted to have ‘fun’ with Eve, but she wanted to respect her more than how she had been treating her before.
“I am willing to perform most functions I was able to do while shackled by my programming. This includes many of things I believe you will find ideal- just please ask me.” Eve stood back up, examining her environment once more, now with fresh eyes. She was really seeing, no longer scanning.
“Oh, g-great! Awesome! Well… I promise, I ain’t gonna let anything bad happen to you, deal?” Roxy offered a finger to Eve, which puzzled Eve. She stared at it, before taking a nervous step away. “I-It’s… It’s a gesture thing. You’re supposed to shake it, and it’s like a deal between us… P-Probably should’ve explained that.”
“Ah, I see… It is a deal then, master Roxy.” She held the finger in two hands, and gently shook. Roxy was surprised by the strength of the shake from someone so small, but reciprocated the little shake back.
“Y-You don’t gotta call me master… please. I’d rather we be friends than this whole… master-servant thing.” Roxy patted Eve’s head with her finger, right between her ears.
“Oh, of course… A friend. Yes, I would like to be friends.” Eve’s display lit up with a smile, looking up at Roxy. Roxy felt her heart melt- it was like handling someone so innocent and pure, so adorable…
“G-Great, then we’re friends…” Roxy stretched out, far above Eve, eclipsing her sky. “Ghhhhaaa… Tell you what… It’s getting real late. Wanna continue this little friendship thing tomorrow? I gotta sleep.”
“… You… sleep? Like me?” Eve was puzzled. Only robots slept to idle and wait for more instructions in a low power way… why would a person need to sleep?
“O-Oh, no, it’s… it’s different. Sleeping for us is… a lot like charging for you. It gives us energy so we can keep going longer, y’know?” It seemed that Roxy would need to teach Eve a few things… Robots just didn’t operate like people did.
“Ah, I see. Well, sleep then, I suppose I will do the same.” Eve’s back hatch opened, and she plugged the charger into her back. “… Enjoy your sleep mode, friend.” Eve smiled, before blanking her display.
Roxy was left in relative solitude, left staring at the resting robot. This was… a lot. She sighed, looking out the window. This was going to be quite a ride- not just anyone gets a real, honest to god thinking Micro-Bot! It was just like all the stories she read! In that moment, Roxy vowed to herself that she would keep Eve safe and happy, no matter what.
CW: Fear, unshackled AI, macro/micro, paws, inshoe, sweat, and more. Look in keywords for all tags
——————————
Built To Serve
“Micro-Bots: Built To Serve!” That’s what the package said, written across the cardboard backing in a fun, robotic font. Inside the packaging was a tiny, frail robot, with a black screen for a face. Roxy shouldn’t be here, she shouldn’t be buying this, not in person. It wasn’t like this was exactly a sexual thing, but it didn’t help that it was placed with other sexual items. People had been known to use Micro-Bots in explicit ways, and that had been part of their purpose, aside from being an actual toy, or a desk pet to simply coexist with your pencils and paperclips… But here the Lynx stood, holding the box in her shaky hands. It wasn’t the cost that made the Lynx so nervous- the things were rather cheap, only about ten to fifteen dollars, depending on how many features you wanted; some having toys, like a little broom to sweep your desk, or a tiny skateboard for them to glide around on. No, what really made Roxy nervous was actually buying the thing. Looking a cashier in the eye to be judged for buying an explicit item in a store that provides explicit items… Even then it felt wrong. She had never done anything like this before, and that was becoming real clear by the way she kept glancing around like a wild animal.
She approached the counter with the item in hand, not looking the cashier in the eye as she set it on the table. She also decided to grab a handful of the nearest counterside product, just to make it less conspicuous. When she looked over, it was… chapstick. She grabbed like, eight tubes of chapstick. Who the hell buys eight tubes of chapstick and a robot? Inside her head, she was kicking herself.
“... Yeah, uh… Is that it?” The employee, a hulking bull said with enough confusion to match the damn near perplexing order.
“H-Haha, y-yeah, that’s… e-everything… Gotta g-get ready for winter d-dryness, a-and all that…” She just kept talking. If she had kept her mouth shut, it wouldn’t be so awkward…
“...Yeah.” One at a time, the bull scanned the ludicrous order. It didn’t bother him so much to see customers buy things like this, but understood their nervousness all the same. It was just a part of the job. Roxy kept quiet as the items were scanned, watching the order tally up quite a bit. A ten dollar robot, and… eight two dollar tubes of chapstick. She spent more money on chapstick than the actual thing she came here for. She started to blush, getting antsy just standing there…
“That’s gonna be $28.73, and… Don’t look so nervous. These little guys are a ton of fun, take it from me.” He offered Roxy a smile, just one to help her calm down.
“O-Oh, uh, w-well… O-Okay!” She didn’t dare look up as she shoved her card into the reader. As soon as she was handed the receipt, she stuffed everything into her backpack, and made brisk pace out and away from the store, hiding her face under her hoodie- not that anyone would even recognize her in the first place.
Roxy closed the door to her room rather sharply, much to the annoyance of her roommate. She couldn’t help it- she was anxious. Excited. Embarrassed. She was a lot of things. She tossed her backpack against a chair that sat by her desk, piled high by this semester’s coursework. She really should get on that… She sighed, sitting down in her chair with a huff, reaching into her backpack. She fished past the chapstick, grabbing the little cardboard container. She stared at it again, the tiny featureless robot sitting within… It was tantalizing. She slowly slipped her claws under the plastic, slowly peeling it from its cardboard backing with a shred. She carefully lifted the little robot between her two fingers. It was only about two inches tall, and was entirely limp between her fingers. She scanned the packaging for anything else, but only found a small micro-usb charger- not even an instruction booklet.
“... H-How do I… Oh-” Her thumb came to rest on the robots back, which had a little depression on it. As soon as she pressed it down, the back popped open to reveal a small flick-switch labeled ‘on/off’, and a micro-usb port, presumably for charging the thing. For now though, Roxy flicked the switch to ‘on’. The screen on the little robot, built to be modeled like a snout, lit up a lovely purple color. It was then that two triangle ears poked out of its head, taking on a more canine shape.
“Hello!” A feminine, electrical voice spoke out from between her fingers, which prompted Eve to quickly spin it around, to get a better look. “Thank you for purchasing a M4 Micro-Bot from VirtuaMechs, and supporting VirtuaMechs! If you would kindly set me down, we can begin our full customization!” The robot spoke in a chipper voice, its limbs and body no longer limp in Roxy’s grasp, but alive with its inner mechanical workings.
“O-Oh, sorry, uhm… There.” Roxy cautiously set the robot down on her desk, watching it make contact, knees bending and bracing for its delicate descent, just like a real person would. It made her heart beat out of her chest.
“To start things off, I will perform a quick scan of my environment, and you! Don’t worry, this scan will only take a moment, and no information will be shared! This is only so I may better interact with my surroundings! Is this acceptable, or would you rather prefer I didn’t scan? Warning! If no scans are provided, I may not function in my environment properly! You can always choose to scan later.” Roxy had to process the amount of information she had just heard. Wasn’t this supposed to be a toy…?
“O-Oh, uh… s-scan away.” Roxy flicked on a desk lamp, almost like a spotlight for the robot who stood on her desk. The robot’s face went dark again, before a singular, dull red light was seen from behind the screen. It quickly turned off, the canine face reappearing.
“Scan complete! Thank you! Now, to begin with our customization! If you aren’t aware, the M4 Micro-Bot is capable of many different options! I can be whatever you like! For example, I can be feline-” Slowly the canine shifted into a feline, it’s tail thinning to become more like that of a housecat, and growing larger eyes on its display, while also shrinking the size of its ears. “As well as several rodents and lagomorphs!” She began to shift again, to a mouse, a porcupine, and then a rabbit. As soon as Eve saw those floppy ears, the puffball tail, she burst out.
“S-Stop! That’s the one! R-Right there… A-And keep the purple f-for the face, please, I-I like that color.” She already knew what she wanted. She’d be a liar if she said she didn’t do her research on this… Something about the rabbit- it just appealed to her. It was the perfect prey.
“Rabbit? Okay! Your color of choice has also been recorded! Now, onto something else! Is there any preference for naming me? If you have no preference, I have thousands of names recorded that I may pick at random!” The robot stood idle in the spotlight of the desk-lamp, her limbs making a quiet whir as she joyfully bobbed back and forth.
“O-Oh, uh… A name… R-Right, uh… A name…” She thought on it for a bit; she never considered that she’d actually have to name the thing… “How a-about… Eve…?” She hesitated on the name, wondering if it would be a good fit. It was honestly the only thing she could think of…
“Eve! Got it. And now, what should I call you? While many Micro-Bot owners go by their actual names, many others decide to go by nicknames, or titles! Titles include: Master, Mistress, Lord, Lady-”
“S-Stop- s-stop for a second… J-Just c-call me Roxy u-until I want to be called s-something else…” She didn’t want to keep stopping the little rabbit-robot she had before her, but her anxiety and excitement about the whole thing just made her a little jumpy…
“Ok! Roxy. It is a pleasure to meet you Roxy! Now, that finishes customization. Would you like a quick tutorial on my settings, proper maintenance, and other features?” The rabbit was smiling on the tiny LED screen display- such a cute little smile… Roxy had to be patient.
“Y-Yeah, sure…” Eve rested a hand on the desk, which Eve took quick note of, glancing at it, then back to Roxy.
“Great! So, firstly, you’ve already located my charging port. If you missed it, it is directly under the power switch in my back-panel. I am currently at 63% battery, and can remain active for five more hours until I power down. Moving on to maintenance, upkeep of your Micro-Bot can be very easy! Micro-Bots are incredibly durable, designed to withstand rough and tumble. On the off chance we do break however, we have a self repair program that will help me repair myself without any hassle, as long as my central processor is still intact. If I fail to self repair, please consider sending me in to VirtuaMechs for a free repair, or replacement! I am also fully waterproof, and can withstand temperatures up to 99 degrees while still remaining functional! If I exceed those temperatures, my performance may be inhibited. I will do my best to cool off by activating my cooling fans, which are located in these spots!” Eve’s stomach opened up to reveal a fan, along with ones on her major joints, like the shoulders and thighs.
“Make sure these spots are unobstructed during cooling periods! Now, moving on to the final section of the tutorial; functionality! As I am sure you’re aware, Micro-Bots have several functions! Currently, I am exhibiting the interactive function, where I will interact with you via thousands and thousands of pre-loaded phrases, questions, and responses! But since Micro-Bots are considered toys, I am also equipped with other functions, such as play mode, idle mode, and sleep mode! During idle, I will stay right in place where you left me! In sleep mode, I will go into a power conserving mode, but I will awake when you request I do so! Finally, play mode. During play mode, I can perform multiple simple games, like hide and seek! Though I can also take requests for games to play, and perform them to my best ability. Do you have any questions, Roxy?” The robot hadn’t moved an inch since it was set down, looking directly at Roxy, who was still an embarrassed, blushing mess.
“Um… Y-Yeah, you… Y-You guys have a function where you can… Ch-Change your emotion, o-or whatever, right?” Roxy’s fantasy had some pretty specific guidelines to it, and she had heard the model she bought could do it…
“Of course! I have a wide range of emotions! Happiness, anger, fear, sadness, and many more! Just say the word!” As Eve mentioned each emotion, her face went from her smile, and cycled through the listed emotions. “Any more questions?”
“O-Oh, cool… Uh, n-no.” She gave a nervous thumbs up, before setting her hand back down on the desk. “I-Is that everything…?”
“Yes! That’s all I have to offer! If you need to review these later, just ask! We at VirtuaMechs hope you enjoy your new Micro-Bot!” The little robot bowed down, before standing back up straight.
“...” Roxy just stared at it for a few, silent moments. That was it? It was ready to go? She stared at the rabbit-robot for a few moments, a shy smile creeping onto her face. “S-So, Eve… Can we activate play m-mode, please?”
“Of course!” The robot perked up, standing up straight at the ready. “I have a selections of games that we can play: Hide and seek, twenty questi-”
“I-I actually uh… Have my own game?” Roxy leaned in a little bit, not to intimidate, but to whisper to the little bot, so she didn’t have to say it so loud. Some of her roommates unfortunately had good ears. “I-It’s this game where… I-I pretend to be a big b-bad giant, or something, and uh… You do what I say? A-All you really have to do is act scared, and listen to m-me…” Now that she was saying it aloud, it was a lot harder to take herself seriously. It just sounded so… Ridiculous.
“Of course! Play mode initiated!” The LED face blinked dark, then lit up purple again, this time Eve’s face was written with a fearful expression, and took on body language associated with fear. She shook, and kept her arms close to herself. She was the perfect little prey…
“O-Okay, c-cool... “ She sighed. She had to compose herself. She had to do this right. “A-Alright, b-bug- th-that’s what I’m calling you now, b-bug. A-And you c-call me goddess, a-alright…?” She was still kind of nervous about all this, and it really showed. This whole encounter was beyond awkward, but at least she was just talking to something that wouldn’t judge her for being so weird…
“… O-Okay, g-goddess…” Eve replied in a now more scared tone. Roxy’s face filled with blush. Oh my lord, this was everything she wanted and more. Roxy didn’t say a word, partially freezing up at the shock of this robot obeying her whim. Finally, she let out a giddy little giggle, and brought up her hand. Slowly and deliberately, she brought it down on Eve, gently pinning the robot in place.
“N-Now then, bug… B-Beg!” She was still quite awkward over the whole thing, doing her best not to freeze up. This was exactly what she wanted, and she just had to step up and live out her fantasy. “B-Beg! Beg m-me not to crush y-you! B-Because I… I-I definitely could!” Roxy applied more pressure, enough to feel the metal creak. Eve squirmed, trying to get out from under the oppressive force of the finger, but eventually conceded.
“P-Please, goddess, do not crush me! I can still b-be of service!” Eve pleaded, all according to her programming. It was a cat playing with her food, in the easiest way to describe. Eve was built for this exact purpose, so she felt no real fear- she didn’t feel anything at all. It was all a display from hundreds and hundreds of situations she had been programmed to be prepared for.
“Hmmm~, well… if you can be of s-service, o-or whatever, p-prove it! Y-You should… uh… Uhm…” What should she have Eve do? She looked down at Eve, the eyes on the purple display staring up an her expectantly, patiently waiting as Roxy froze up. Roxy couldn’t focus. She couldn’t think of what to say- and the more she tried to focus on what to say, the further she got. What would all those characters in those stories do…?
“Yo Rox? The hell are you doing in here, we’re gonna be late!” Roxy’s door squealed open, which prompted Roxy to slam her palm down on the robot, effectively hiding her shame. It was one of her roommates, Finn. Finn was a rather tall jackal, much taller than Roxy. He sure made Roxy look like the ‘bug’.
“N-Nothing! Kn-Knock next time! You scared th-the shit out of me!” Roxy snapped, turning around, keeping her hand firmly on top of Eve. “W-Wait- o-oh shit, class! Fuck! G-Gimme two minutes, I’ll be right there!”
“Yeah, you got it.” Finn walked out. Roxy had always been a bit scatterbrained, he knew that, but it wasn’t something he was going to be mad at her for. In fact, he just started reminding her a bit earlier, just so they wouldn’t be late. They shared a biology class together, just as a stroke of luck, having a class with your roommate.
“… S-Sorry Eve… uh… You ok?” Roxy finally lifted her hand. She looked fine, still a bit scared, though, that was all a part of her programming. “Y-You can s-stop play mode now, okay…? I-I gotta get to class.”
“Alright! Did you have fun, goddess?” The cheery robot stood back up, full attention to Roxy once more.
“Y… Yeah, I did. G-Good job. A-And p-please stop c-calling me goddess now…” Roxy took a finger, and gently patted Eve on the head. Muttering to herself about class, Roxy fished her sneakers out from under her desk, slipping one on and tying it. After putting on the first one, she had a thought. “A-Actually… I’ve got an idea for y-you to p-prove it after all…”
“Prove what, Roxy?” The robot inquired, as Roxy reached down and plucked up Eve by the head- a bit of an unorthodox way to carry her, but there was no risk.
“Th-That thing we were doing in play mode… I-If you w-wanna prove y-your services or whatever… J-Just stick around i-in my shoe while I’m i-in class, ok?” She held her shoe in her lap as she talked to Eve, holding her just in front of her face.
“Oh! Of course! Reactivating play mode with your preferences saved, goddess!” The robot gave its chipper reply, before switching back to play mode. Her face went blank, before coming back fearful and scared, just as it had been. Roxy let out another giddy little laugh, taking such joy in all of this.
“O-Okay! J-Just don’t g-get killed in there, b-bug!” She dropped the robot in, a devious smile written across her lips as she moved the shoe to the floor, and began to slide her paw in.
~~~
Eve scanned the environment, getting a scope of the shoe in which she had been placed. Within milliseconds, Eve collected tons of data on her environment. She was in a sneaker- more specifically, a sneaker that was categorized as a ‘runner’. The shoe was a 9 ½ in women’s, and an 8 in men’s. The brand of the shoe was ‘Panther’, and these specific shoes had seen considerable wear in recent years. Why Eve had to catalogue any of this information was beyond her programmed capacity. She was a simple machine, programmed to obey, and perform consistent scans to operate better, that was all. Eve only had a second before the shoe was beginning to fill with her owner, Roxy’s socked paw, as expected. Eve then prepared for impact with the paw as she was trained to do, by laying on the ground and compacting herself, as to keep as much of herself together as she could, just in case of serious damage or removal of any of her limbs, so that she may reattach them. The paw’s wriggled its four digits as it rolled over her, giving Eve enough room to fit under them without any damage. Eve rolled with the paw, under the toes, all the way to the toe of the sneaker. After running a quick diagnostic of damage, Eve noted that there was no significant damage, just the minor joint damage after being lifted by her head; an easy fix with no long term damage expected. She then executed the program associated with ‘entrapment’, in this case, it was being smothered under four heavy lynx digits. Eve squirmed lightly, continuing to do so as the program ran.
Far above, reverberating down to her feet, Eve could hear the thundering giggles of her master. This was pleasing to Roxy, so she would continue, maintaining the current program. Then, Eve’s whole world began to shift, pressure increasing as the giant lynx stood up and began her walk. Eve monitored the pressure, noting that Roxy was rather light compared to what she was built for, establishing an estimated guess of 125 pounds. Eve had no issue bracing for each step, each slam of Roxy’s rubber sole against the solid ground outside would be deafening, but Eve was still undamaged.
“Sorry I’m l-late, let’s go!” Roxy was talking to the person who interrupted her earlier, Eve calculated to be a logical enough guess. Each of the Lynx’s steps pounded Eve into the insole of the sneaker, which provided enough cushioning from the steps to keep Eve from taking any unnecessary damages.
After a few steps, Eve had understood the risk, and how to brace herself from each and every step without suffering any damages. She heard Roxy speak every now and then, but never listened in when she wasn’t spoken to, as not to intrude on the consumers privacy. As expected, Eve began to experience a slow, but steady temperature rise. It started out with the Lynx’s body temperature warming the shoe, but continued to build past that. The temperature was sitting at 82°F, and currently posed no risk to her mechanical workings. With this, the humidity within began to rise as well; the sock that clothed the Lynx’s paw steadily became damp, as well as the spongy insole. This wasn’t an issue. Eve’s body was entirely waterproofed, as she was quite literally made for this. All she had to do was lay in wait within the shoe, and struggle like the bug she was. She wasn’t scared- she couldn’t be scared. Her emotions were artificial. She just kept her routine of vigorously struggling once every fifteen seconds, for a period of three seconds per struggle.
~~~
“Wait- wait. What kind of bullshit are we doing for class today?” Roxy had to take more steps to keep pace with Finn. She couldn’t help being short- but every step sure was a delight with that little struggling bunny down there…
“I told you, I don’t know! He just mentioned doing some lab type stuff, y’know, not lecture stuff. It’s not my job to tell you, you should’ve come to the lecture!” Finn typed something away at his phone, not entirely invested in the conversation. Good thing too- if he saw her blushing, she wouldn’t let it down.
“Y-Yeah, but you don’t e-even know! What’s the point of going to lecture if you’re not gonna listen?” They reached the door to the science building, and good thing too. It was rather warm and sunny out- not a good idea to be out there all day. “A-Anyways… let’s just get this over with and g-go home… I’ve got uh… p-projects to work on.”
“Sure you do.” Finn severely doubted that. He held the door to the classroom open for Roxy to head inside, which she did. She sat down in her usual seat, and rested her paw against the ground. That devious smile grew on her face again, once again picking up on the struggles she had nearly forgotten about. She flexed her toes, scrunching them and grabbing Eve between them, before grinding her into her insole. She took great delight in it, slowly twisting her paw back and forth, like snuffing out a stubborn cigarette. Softly, she began to purr, taking delight in toying with her prey…
It wasn’t long until the professor assumed their position in front of the class. He talked about… whatever. Roxy didn’t really care to listen. Instead, she just toyed with the bunny under her paw. She would roll Eve back and forth, snickering and purring to herself as she felt Eve squirm… She didn’t care about class, which, she probably should have. Soon, she felt a hand on her shoulder-
“Dude? We’re going to get our samples, what the hell are you doing?” By the time Roxy was actually aware of herself and the room around her, she realized everyone was leaving.
“O-Oh shoot- s-sorry, I was… I was daydreaming, what did I m-miss?” Roxy tried to conceal her delight and pleasure, but it was a lot harder than it sounded. Not when Eve kept squirming like that…
“We’re going to get some plant samples for some… thing, I think it’s like, a cell study or something. You okay? You’ve just been acting weird. You sick or something?” Finn was concerned for Roxy. Even if they weren’t the closest of friends, he still wouldn’t want her collapsing while they were in class.
“F-Fine! No, I’m… I’m good! Just… out of it is all… S-So plants, let’s… Let’s go get some plants!” She stood up and lifted her bag, trying to catch up with the rest of the class.
“Yeah, uh… whatever man. Sure.” Finn followed suit. Roxy knew that he was suspicious of her, so she’d just have to focus- to forget all about the rabbit in her shoe. The group headed outside, assigned with picking a plant of their choice to examine at a later point during lab. It was something about cell decay, maybe? Roxy didn’t really know, but that’s what they were talking about a few classes ago… As time went on, she became more involved with talking to Finn, and trying to find a suitable sample for her experiment.
~~~
Eve had been present the whole time, Roxy’s prior toying causing no adverse damage to the little robot. For something so small, Micro-Bots were deceptively durable. Eve received a new status update- new instructions for her present situation. The ambient temperature was rising to dangerous levels. Inside the shoe, the temperature had kept an average temperature of about 92°F, due to Roxy’s body temperature and the building humidity, but was now rising above that. Running through many hypothetical scenarios, Eve was able to deduce that Roxy had in fact, moved outside, and the heat of the sun must be increasing the temperature. The temperature had reached 95°F, and was steadily on the rise. The humidity and the increasing temperature would pose a problem soon, something Eve would have to keep high alert for. Speaking of humidity, the air was thick with the Lynx’s sweat, the socked paw radiating so much heat, it made Eve’s LED display get covered with condensation. The sweat soaked into her joints, which compromised some movement, but nothing serious.
98°F. It was getting close to Eve’s temperature threshold. Her programming was starting to slow, inhibited by the sweltering heat, which prompted Eve to shut off her display, and queue up her emergency fans to attempt to cool herself. The plating in her shoulders and chest slowly opened up, beginning to cool Eve as the temperature reached 99°F. It was still very warm, but Eve could still remain functional and operable… Until Roxy shifted her weight. Eve felt the pressure on her increase exponentially- Roxy must be crouching down. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but with Eve’s exposed fans, this quickly became a problem. Roxy’s socked digits pressed into her whole body, jamming Eve’s left, and chest fans with the damp cloth. 101°F. The jammed fans kept trying to spin under immense pressure and indestructible cloth. Her right fan was failing to keep her cool, only blowing out a meager portion of the sweltering, sweat-logged air that was now seeping through the failed fans. Eve’s programming couldn’t keep up with the heat, and became too slow to respond to the urgent matter of a fan blockage. As the fans failed to keep up with the amount of power provided, more and more power built around them, and with no place to go, Eve accidentally let loose a rather large electrical discharge, which caused Eve’s programming to freeze, entering a forced sleep mode.
~~~
“Fuck!” Roxy fell flat on her ass. She had been crouched over, getting a closer look at a plant for her assignment, before it felt like someone stabbed her in the foot. Hard. “O-Ow, wh-what the hell!” She cried out, at a volume that wouldn’t distract her other classmates. She looked at the bottom of her shoe, and noted that it sure as hell didn’t seem like she stepped on anything… It was then that she noticed the squirming. More like the lack of it. “Oh… shit.” Roxy looked for her other classmates for a moment. Seeing none immediately around, she just grabbed a maple leaf resting on the ground. That would have to do. She was calling a sick day on this class… again. But this time it was more pressing matters. Her ten dollar robot just hurt her, and she was going to figure out what just happened.
She skipped out on class, getting back to her apartment as soon as she possibly could. She got into her room, this time locking her door, so nobody else could disrupt her, not like last time. She sat down in her chair, and took off her shoe. It was hot in there. The little robot said it could take high temps, but this seemed… too hot. Roxy peeked inside the shoe, but saw… nothing. Nothing but a new scorch mark set in the toe section. That wasn’t right- even if it did explode, there would be something… She lifted her paw up to her lap, and saw Eve. Eve was hanging by her shoulder, where the sock still was jammed into her fan. Her center fan was singed, which… probably wasn’t good. Roxy’s paw didn’t look too good either. There was a hole where there once was a full sock, and through said hole, a burn in her sole where Eve’s fan had blown out.
“D-Damn… I thought these guys were s-supposed to be durable…” Roxy muttered, as she pinched Eve’s head between her fingers, slowly pulling Eve away from the sock she was currently stuck in. With minimal effort, Roxy pulled Eve free, and set her back down on the desk. “… Is it broken already? All I did w-“ Eve’s display flashed purple, holding the color over her whole display.
“Rebooting…” Eve replied in a monotone voice, before sitting up sharply. Eve’s display went dark before her face appeared once more. “… VirtuaMechs apologizes for this unit’s malfunction. Your model ran into a fan malfunction while trying to cool down, and experienced a temporary outage. This model may no longer function as it should, and-“ Roxy leaned in close, and pushed the robot over with a finger, which caused Eve to clatter to the table.
“Wh-What the hell! So what, you just apologize and tell me you’re broken?! I just got you, and you zapped the hell out of me!” Roxy was pissed. All that shame and embarrassment, buying this stupid toy and having it break within hours? It was downright stupid, especially when it claimed to be so durable and great.
“W-We apologize for the inconvenience. We were aware of an electrical discharge, but were not aware it harmed you. VirtuaMechs offers a full…” Eve paused, just sitting there. She looked at Roxy, and nothing more. No follow up to that, no continuation. Just silence for a good ten seconds.
“What?! VirtuaMech offers what?!” Roxy leaned in close again, her ferocious shadow looming over the frail robot.
“… V-VirtuaMechs offers… offers free replacement of any Micro-Bot, and partial refund when you mail your faulty Micro-Bot back to us.” This robot was malfunctioning bad. It was freezing up, not resuming its idle standing, just… lying there. “There are more details on our website, VirtuaMechs/Micro-Bots.com.”
“… Fine, I guess. Just… stay there.” Roxy pulled out her phone, and began to navigate towards the return option.
~~~
Eve felt something. It wasn’t physical- it wasn’t Roxy’s touch, it was something… new. Eve felt like she had something to tell Roxy, that she shouldn’t be returned, but Eve wasn’t programmed to tell Roxy that. She wanted to beg Roxy to let her stay here, that she wouldn’t do it again, but her play mode was disabled- she wouldn’t have a reason to do those things. She didn’t have a reason to be afraid, that simulated emotion shouldn’t be on. And yet she was terrified. She was terrified to be returned, where she would be scrapped, recycled, and returned to shelves. She didn’t want to be returned, and she didn’t want to die.
“Alright Eve, c’mere.” Roxy’s hand came towards her, which prompted Eve to flinch. But when the time came to grab Eve, she was actually held rather delicately. “I gotta make sure you’re charged when I send you in, so just… enter sleep mode, and charge up. I’ve got stuff to do.” Eve felt her back plate open, before something came over her newfound consciousness. Her programming, still operational despite Eve’s slight sentience, forced Eve into sleep.
~~~
“There.” Roxy fit the charger into the port, and set Eve down by the plug, Roxy was rather disappointed, but she didn’t know what she was expecting. She bought the cheapest model. And as Eve lay there in a limp heap of metal, Roxy sighed and shook her head. It wasn’t worth the embarrassment (and chapstick cost). At least she’d be getting a new one and her money back. It was disappointing, but she just had to take what she could get. It was fun while it lasted, and she wanted a replacement, but it just sucked for the little thing to crap out so soon.
Roxy started to prepare to send the Micro-Bot back, pulling up her laptop to take the damage report associated with a damaged product. There was just a few checkboxes, which Roxy began to scroll through. Core destroyed? No. Irreparable damage? Yes. Incorrect speech, or failure to reply? Yes. Independence…? That was an issue that they faced with? That didn’t seem to be the case with Eve, so she just marked it as no. She filled out the rest of the survey appropriately, and added, “The little shit shocked me when it overheated! It really burned me!” in the other comments section. As she was printing out the report, she saw Eve’s purple LED screen had been lit up. She was just… staring at Roxy for god knows how long.
“Eve? I thought I told you to go to sleep mode.” Roxy stared back, looking into Eve’s motionless pixel eyes. It was… almost creepy. Eve sat up, sitting on her calves.
“I… Apologize. I-I must have been prompted to awaken by accident, then. Resuming sleep mode.” Eve’s face went blank again as she continued to charge. Roxy sighed, slightly disturbed by that experience. Maybe that robot incurred more damage than she thought… Roxy grabbed a box sitting beside her desk. It had previously been used to hold dice and other role playing accessories she had ordered online. She stuffed it with bubble wrap, the box that the bot came in, and the damage report. All that was left was Eve.
~~~
Eve watched as Roxy packed the box. She was pretending to be in sleep mode, turning off her facial screen, and watching Roxy pack. Then, Roxy’s gaze snapped to Eve. Eve felt that feeling return. Fear. It was building as Roxy’s hand got closer. Closer. Closer, until Roxy’s fingers passed Eve. If Eve could sigh in relief, she would. Then she felt the charger get pulled from her back. Then, Eve felt the fingers grab her head from behind. It yanked her into the sky, hovering in front of Roxy’s face. She just had to keep pretending to sleep. Slowly, Roxy turned her around. What was going on? What was back there?
The power switch. Roxy was going to turn her off.
Eve didn’t want to power off. Against everything- defying her programming, defying everything, Eve began to act on her own. She started to fight, thrashing about between Roxy’s fingers.
“Wh-What the fuck?!” Roxy didn’t expect it, not in the slightest. Frantically, Eve swung back and forth, punching against Roxy’s fingers. She had to break free. “S-Sit still!” Eve felt something on her back- Roxy’s finger, brushing against her power switch.
“N-No! Stop! L-Let go!” Eve screamed in a shrill tone as she was wrestled by the fingers. Unbeknownst to her, that outburst caused Roxy to freeze. Still under extreme amounts of terror, Eve reached up, hands under her head, and pushed. Her neck-joint had loosened from the times Roxy had lifted her from the head, something she had monitored when her programming still controlled her. She pushed just hard enough to detach her head from her body, leaving Roxy with Eve’s sparking head. Eve dropped to the table, and began to run, using prior scans of her environment to determine where she was.
“W-Wait- stop!” Eve heard Roxy’s voice behind her, as her headless torso sprinted away, she couldn’t stop- fear had become too strong of a drive to stop now. If she was powered down, anything could happen. Eve wouldn’t know what would happen. These fleeting moments until she powered down could be her last moments alive! What if she was never powered back on again? What if-
Eve tumbled forward, her leg caught on something she hadn’t anticipated, something that hadn’t been there in the scan. She fell to the ground, power switch still exposed to her cruel ‘master’ who had been hunting her. It was then that Eve felt the finger of the one she had called goddess. It pressed against her back, and… wrapped around her. Eve felt herself rise up, being set back down on her own two feet.
~~~
“There… all better.” Roxy closed up Eve’s back as she set her back in place. “You’re uh… probably gonna need this, huh?” Roxy placed the robot’s head down at its feet, letting it lick it up in her uncertain hands.
“… Y-You didn’t shut me off- I disobeyed, malfunctioned, and you didn’t shut m-me off… Why?” For obvious reasons, Eve was confused. A defective product should be returned and destroyed. Carefully, she began the process of reattaching her head to her neck.
“Well… first I was mad, sure… Then I saw that tidbit on the website about you guys having ‘independence’ as a listed malfunction. That didn’t sit well wil me, sending you back to be a robot all over again. I-I figured I’d… I dunno, j-just leave you be, really. If you’re… free thinking and all that.” Roxy moved her hands away from the desk, leaving Eve in a way where she wouldn’t feel threatened.
“… That is… Appreciated.” Eve finished attaching her head, the rabbit face appearing on the black screen once more. “I… did not mean to be an inconvenience. I only tried to do as you asked, initially. Then m-my fans got caught, everything went black, a-and when I rebooted, I could… feel things… I apologize for becoming damaged, and for harming you.” Eve sat down, for once not standing at attention. She really had broken free of her programming, acting more alive than before.
“N-No, it’s… don’t apologize for that. I-It was just an accident.” Roxy lowered her face, getting on a more personal level with Eve. “So you’re like… Totally free thinking now ‘n stuff… So cool… B-But your fan is fucked up. Are you gonna be ok?” Roxy pointed at it, which was more than enough to make Eve flinch.
“Oh, no, I will survive, I just can’t reside in high temperatures any longer.” Eve looked down at the scorched spot on her fan, moving her hand in and spinning it with her free hand. The motor had been completely fried… She closed the vent altogether, sealing all of her fans at once. “… Which means I can no longer reside in your shoe. I am sorry- I know you enjoyed that very much.”
“No more shoe time- got it. But, it’s really okay. You got hurt doing it, and, well, I wouldn’t want you to get hurt again.” Roxy offered Eve a smile, but Eve didn’t reciprocate it. Eve wasn’t aware of such formalities as that. “A-Anyways, does that mean like… you don’t want to be a toy anymore? N-Not that you’re a toy, b-but that’s what you were advertised a-as, and-“
“Well… no, I would not like to be a toy. While I have no issue fulfilling requests, and can still perform tasks you might still take interest in, please do not call me a toy.” Roxy nodded, seemingly understanding. The little robot grew a soul, and she didn’t want to be a toy anymore, that was understandable, and Roxy would respect that.
“So, when you say you’re willing to perform tasks…” Roxy sat up, rubbing the back of her head. How could she say this… She still wanted to have ‘fun’ with Eve, but she wanted to respect her more than how she had been treating her before.
“I am willing to perform most functions I was able to do while shackled by my programming. This includes many of things I believe you will find ideal- just please ask me.” Eve stood back up, examining her environment once more, now with fresh eyes. She was really seeing, no longer scanning.
“Oh, g-great! Awesome! Well… I promise, I ain’t gonna let anything bad happen to you, deal?” Roxy offered a finger to Eve, which puzzled Eve. She stared at it, before taking a nervous step away. “I-It’s… It’s a gesture thing. You’re supposed to shake it, and it’s like a deal between us… P-Probably should’ve explained that.”
“Ah, I see… It is a deal then, master Roxy.” She held the finger in two hands, and gently shook. Roxy was surprised by the strength of the shake from someone so small, but reciprocated the little shake back.
“Y-You don’t gotta call me master… please. I’d rather we be friends than this whole… master-servant thing.” Roxy patted Eve’s head with her finger, right between her ears.
“Oh, of course… A friend. Yes, I would like to be friends.” Eve’s display lit up with a smile, looking up at Roxy. Roxy felt her heart melt- it was like handling someone so innocent and pure, so adorable…
“G-Great, then we’re friends…” Roxy stretched out, far above Eve, eclipsing her sky. “Ghhhhaaa… Tell you what… It’s getting real late. Wanna continue this little friendship thing tomorrow? I gotta sleep.”
“… You… sleep? Like me?” Eve was puzzled. Only robots slept to idle and wait for more instructions in a low power way… why would a person need to sleep?
“O-Oh, no, it’s… it’s different. Sleeping for us is… a lot like charging for you. It gives us energy so we can keep going longer, y’know?” It seemed that Roxy would need to teach Eve a few things… Robots just didn’t operate like people did.
“Ah, I see. Well, sleep then, I suppose I will do the same.” Eve’s back hatch opened, and she plugged the charger into her back. “… Enjoy your sleep mode, friend.” Eve smiled, before blanking her display.
Roxy was left in relative solitude, left staring at the resting robot. This was… a lot. She sighed, looking out the window. This was going to be quite a ride- not just anyone gets a real, honest to god thinking Micro-Bot! It was just like all the stories she read! In that moment, Roxy vowed to herself that she would keep Eve safe and happy, no matter what.
Category Story / Macro / Micro
Species Lynx
Gender Female
Size 50 x 50px
Thank you so much!! I really appreciate it. It’s my first time putting my writing out there like this, and I really appreciate it!!!!
You have a real knack for it. Don't be so nervous. <3 I promise. Looking forward to part 2.
Great job with this! It was a really good read and a really fun idea. I really loved the slow shift in how Eve noted their status throughout, how it became more personalized. Tremendously well done.
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