Writer’s spot: Greetings friends! And I have the feeling that you guys will hate me after this. ^^

SO, I had some classes today, as the equation goes, short writing times equals shorter chapters, shorter chapters equal Reinstall. But tomorrow will come with Insania without a fault. And probably a character’s list as a bonus, since some people asked me to do that a few chapters ago.

BESIDES(II), There is quite a psychological/dramatic part in this chapter. I suck at both, so please bear with it T.T

Beep, and enjoy your story!

---

It took around three hours of travel to reach their new house, and once there, the group all left the truck to take a look at their new house slash base from now on. And they all stared at it with their mouths wide open, with the exception of Gaz, who didn’t have a mouth, and Mirage who was playfully exploring its new territory.

The house was large, to say the least. Being easily the size of a small mansion, with many windows covering the sides. It was built almost inside a hill, sticking out from one side of it and the left side having a second floor that opened to the upper part of the hill. If someone were to look at it from above or behind, they probably wouldn’t be able to guess that such a large and modern house was hidden in here.

Even more so, when said back-side was the one turned to the road, and only an inconspicuous beaten earth road was what led towards it.

Red quickly shook her head and recovered herself, before looking for something inside one of her bags. She quickly found a small key-chain that she took with her to open the front door.

Inside was even bigger than what they all expected. The living room alone was more than enough to house all the group. If Gaz had to guess, it was about the same size as Yllivia’s own apartment. A door led to a kitchen on the left-side of the room, while a corridor led to what looked like a depot and two smaller rooms, as well as a bathroom.

Taking a stairway, on the corner of the room, they found themselves on the top floor, where there was the master’s bedroom with its own bathroom. Taking the stairs down, they found out that there was also a basement, about the size of the whole house, if not bigger. One corner was completely empty, with only what looked like large pistons holding the ceiling, while the others side had what looked like a simple, yet modern looking workshop.

Red ran towards the corner of the room, and pressed a button. For a moment, nothing happened, then the pistons holding the ceiling started to come down, forming a long and not too steep ramp that led to the surface.

“Hmm… I think that this is the garage…” She said to Volgoff, who stared at her surprised for a moment before widening his eyes.

The troll quickly ran upwards to the surface and soon the sound of steam motors sounded, followed by a the sight of the large truck coming down through the ramp.

“Hey, Reddy?” Lunn asked as she hugged her again.

“Hmm… Ruby…” She said with a low tone.

“What?” Lunn asked confused.

“It’s… My name… Ruby…” She said shyly.

The whole group stopped for a moment as they stared at the girl with some confusion. It was Sorius, who sighed slightly before saying.

“Didn’t I tell you guys, that Red was just her codename?” The elf said wearily.

[I… Had completely forgotten about that.] Ekis said with a surprised tone.

[Meh, newbie! I remembered that.] Gaz replied with a proud tone.

[Lies. You were just as confused as I was.] The goddess replied with a serious tone, leaving the small robot o an awkward position.

[Still, from Ruby to Red… It’s not that much of a codename, is it?] He said with a wry tone.

[…?] Even when Ekis said nothing about it, Gaz could still feel her confusion coming through their link, so he sighed mentally before explaining her what was a ruby.

Meanwhile, Lunn had gone on another rampage as she hugged Ruby even harder and started to spin around in delight.

“SUCH A KYUTE NAMEEE!” She shouted before stopping and smiling. “I’m going to treat you just like a real ruby! I’m going to hug, smother, polish and love you non-stop!” She said as she looked into Ruby’s eyes, once again earning her dangerous looking expression. “My little precious jewel… My precious…”

Just as the morfian became worried and the elf licked her lips with dangerous eyes, Yllivia landed a punch on the elf’s flank, making her let go of the poor girl and double over in pain.

“She wanted to ask why you are so surprised.” Yllivia said as she waited for Lunn to recover. Only to punch her once again with extremely cold eyes.

[Waah… She still holds it against her.] Ekis said surprised. Gaz simply agreed wordlessly.

“Hmm… Well… it’s because it’s also my first time seeing this place.” She said with a slightly shy voice. “When I bought this place… They were still going to build it.”

“They? Who?” Ross asked as he stared at the workshop. “Some things I see there ain’t exactly easy to find, ya know?” He said with a shocked voice. “I’ma holding myself here so I don’t squeal like a little lass.” Ignoring the dwarf’s last words, Ruby quickly answered.

“Arcon-tec.” She said. “I… Spent most of my money on this house, to tell the truth…” She said shyly. “I wanted a quiet house… Where I could put a lot of robots… Might have… Been a bit too… Big.”

“…How much you said that you spent on this house?” Lunn asked with her face frozen.

“Most… Of… My… Money?” She said shyly.

“And how much do you have now?”

“Three thousands?” The little Morfian was now shrinking in fear.

“Ruby, deary?” Lunn asked with a smile in her face, but her voice sounded scarily cold, making the young morfian shiver in fear.

“Yes…?”

“From now on. You are forbidden from spending money without talking to me, ok?” The elf said, and the young scientist could only nod in fear.

…

The group quickly set up to start unloading their gear from the truck and start to take their places on the house. Volgoff was happy with keeping sleeping on his truck, so he stayed on the garage. Ross and Sorius would share one of the rooms from the middle-floor, while Yllivia and Lunn would share the other. Ruby would take the master’s bedroom all for herself since she was the owner of the house herself.

Since he wasn’t capable of getting up or down stairs without help thanks to his damaged state, Gaz stood on the middle floor and took the depot for himself after the troll dropped the drones there for him. Although he tried to help a bit with the moving, he wasn’t much of a help, so he decided to simply stick to building his new body so as to not be a bother.

He started working on the legs for the robot, which mostly consisted of repairing the drones’ legs and upgrading them with some of the items he got before the girl’s shopping spree.

As he finished the second front-leg and started working on the rear ones, the door opened and in came a cautious looking Ruby, who looked around the room as if looking for someone, before settling her eyes on Gaz.

It seems that with all the commotion, she had managed to go back to her hoodie, even if it was only by throwing it above the sundress.

The girl quickly came in into the room and closed the door behind her. She slowly approached Gaz while leaving one hand above her chest, as if anxious. Gaz couldn’t help but notice Mirage approaching her from the sides.

“Beepy…” She said warily before taking a deep breath.

[Hmm… She seems nervous.] Ekis said with a slightly worried tone.

[I have a bad feeling about this.] Gaz said in the same tone.

“You… Can understand what I say, right?” She asked slowly, as if measuring her words. Gaz stopped for a couple of seconds not knowing how to react. But before he could do something, Ruby shook her head. “No, that’s not right… Mirage can also understand what I say.” She said as if stopping to think once again. “You… Aren’t just a simple robot, right? I mean, you… Have a sentience, right?”

Gaz stood there staring at her for a couple of seconds, having no idea on how to react. After a few seconds passed with the girl only looking at him, waiting a response, he finally reacted.

“Beep.” And turned back to his work.

[Pleasebuyitpleasebuyitpleasebuyit…] He kept repeating these words as he extended the tool-cable out.

But the young morfian didn’t buy it, as she quickly grabbed his chassis and spun him around so he would face her. She had a slight frown as she did that.

“Look. You may fool the others with the whole strange robot thingy…” She said with a slight annoyed tone. “But I’ve studied enough about the robots to that your odd behavior isn’t due to you being a strange robot. It’s almost too… Thought out… Premeditated… Sometimes random… Impulsive…” She seemed to have some difficulty to find the correct words. “Anyway. It’s not something a robot would do. Even the most intelligent ones.” She said while staring him right into the camera. “Are you… sentient?”

Gaz stared at her for a moment, trying to think a way out of this. If possible, he wanted to drag out as long as possible the idea that he was just an odd robot, but it seemed that Ruby managed to see through him. And somehow, he couldn’t help but think that trying to squeeze his way out of it, the girl would end up doubting him for the rest of her life.

And to tell the truth, she kind of reminded him of his little sisters, so he couldn’t help but not want her to dislike him.

He took a deep mental sigh.

“Beep.”

“Is… Is that a yes?”

“Beep.”

“You aren’t just beeping at random, are you?”

“Beep beep.”

“Was that a no?”

“Beep.”

“And that was a yes for the fact that two beeps is a no?”

“Beep.”

“Or is one beep no, and two beeps yes?”

“Beep beep.”

“Then, that was a no.”

“Beep.”

“So, one beep for yes, two for no?”

“Beep.”

“This… Is confusing.”

“Beep.”

Ruby took a deep sigh as she started to digest the information, while Gaz took this time to try and understand what was going to happen from now on. After a while, Red finally looked back to him, her eyes open wide with expectation.

“Say… Can you say anything other than beeps?”

“Beep beep.”

“Hmm… that’s troubling.” She said with a pensive tone, before her tone changing to a slightly brighter one. “Anyway, I have to tell the others about you! You are… Incredible! Something like you could change everything we knew about robots.” She said with shining eyes as she looked at the small robot.

But the robot, on the other hand, became a panicky, beeping nervously while moving his body from one side to the other. Ruby looked at him a bit confused for a moment before widening her eyes in surprise.

“You… Don’t want me to tell the others?” She asked confused.

“Beep. Beep.” He beeped nervously.

“Is that a no?”

“Beep!”

“Why?” She frowned a bit while looking at him. “Do you have a reason to keep this a secret from the others?”

“Beep.”

“I don’t like this… Why would you want to do that?” She asked with a dubious tone. Mirage started to arc her back as if answering the wariness of her master.

“BEEEeeeppp” Gaz let out a long and wry beep. Ruby looked at him a bit confused for a moment, before sighing out loudly.

“Okay… You… Did save me, and I owe you that.” She said with a sigh. “I will… Keep it a secret for now…”

“Beep!” Gaz beeped happily as he thanked her.

Afterwards, Ruby stood there watching him as he kept working on the body. A slight sign of wariness now within her eyes. Probably the reason why she didn’t try to help him like before. Some questions did come from her, but it seemed that she was still a bit overwhelmed by her discovery, as they seemed a bit disconnected and meaningless.

Well, it is hard to keep up a conversation when one side can only answer with a single sound. Not even capable of forming a word.

In the end, Ruby said that she still had to wrap up what she wanted to know, so she left beepy alone with his thoughts. And with the goddess that kept whispering to him, but there was no need to tell her that, or else she would think he has gone crazy.

[Gaz, why didn’t you let her tell the others?] Ekis asked him when Ruby left the room.

[I’m… Not sure.] Gaz said with a sigh. [It’s just that… I have the feeling that if Yllivia learns that I’m not just a robot, she might not be so at ease with me again.] He said after a while.

[Hmm… Why do you think so?] Ekis asked confused. [Wouldn’t it make it easier for you, though?]

[Well… How should I say it…] Gaz said as he thought. [There are some things… You don’t show to friends… Or at least normal ones...] He said with a shrug. [There are some people that like to speak their troubles to their pets, since they don’t expect them to understand, and with that become worried…] He said with a thought. [And some psychologists back at my world says that having pets is a good therapeutic treatment.]

[So… You think that Yllivia needs that terra… Thea… Tea… That treatment?] Ekis asked confused.

[Well, I’m no psychologist, but from what I could gather amidst the group’s talks and so on, it seems to be the case.] Gaz said with a sigh. [Then, I could be wrong and be just delaying her true treatment, but there’s no way to know.]

[And why do you think she needs that? She seems fairly fine to me.] Ekis said a bit confused.

[Well… Did you see how she was after that whole blacktrigger’s thing?] Gaz asked, and the goddess simply became quiet for a moment. [That’s the reason.]

[I… See…] Ekis said. [Thinking about it, she may need a bit help with that…]

[Yeah… I wonder why she gets like that.] Gaz said lastly. [Well, no need to keep brooding over the unknown. Let’s go back to making the new body!] He said while setting his mind back to work-mode.

…

Ruby woke up slightly confused from the strange soft feeling covering her head, and even when she opened up her eyes everything was still dark. The Morfian became confused as she couldn’t see anything, but a soft sweet smell still reached her nostrils.

She winced a bit at the overly-familiar smell that she had grown used these last few days, and when she pulled her head back, she couldn’t help but become surprised at the sight of Lunn sleeping soundly on her bed.

Ruby quickly put herself up and looked around confused. She was in one of the middle-floor rooms of her new house, sleeping in the same bed as the hugging-addicted elf. It took her a while to remember that she didn’t like her large bedroom, and ended up going to the girl’s room.

After that, there was some squealing and hugging, and before she knew, she was already sleeping.

But even before that, she reminded herself of the short talk she had before going to sleep, and quickly got cheerful.

[I have so many questions to make to Beepy!] She thought cheerfully as she ran to the bathroom.

She had a bit of a shock when Beepy started to answer her truthfully at that time, so all her thoughts stopped for a moment and she couldn’t process what she wanted to know. But now that she had rested up, she knew exactly what to ask him and still get some answers, even when limited to yes and no as replies.

[First, ask if there are others of him. If yes, ask if he can show me. If no, ask if he knows how he came to be, or what made him different from the others…] She thought cheerfully as she reached the bathroom. [Then, discover if his core is different from the other robots. This could be the reason for his sentience.]

As she opened the bathroom’s door, she quickly washed her face to take out all the remaining fatigue from the day, as well as took one of the toothbrushes to start cleaning her teeth.

But the moment she turned to the a bit too large mirror on the wall, she froze and stared at her reflection for a moment.

And her eyes had a strange light to them

[Whawhawhawhawha? My eyes? What’s…] She thought as she jumped confused for a moment. The sudden movement causing a lot of racket through the house. It seemed that someone noticed it, as the sound of a motor came from outside and someone peeked through the door. [Oh… It’s just Beepy…] She thought a bit surprised.

For a moment she only stared at him, and the moment that she smiled and prepared to say something.

[GODDAMIT! IT REALLY WAS HER!] A strange male voice sounded in her head.

[Waah! No wonder I felt something weird!] A feminine, mechanical, yet strangely lively voice sounded this time. She seemed strangely cheerful. [See Gaz! I told you that I felt something strange this night!]

“Wha… What? Who’s speaking?” Ruby asked as she looked around confused.

[Oh, sorry!] The female’s voice sounded in her head. [This might be a bit confusing, right?]

[Well, at least I had the introduction…] The male’s voice said.

“Huh? Introduction? What are you talking about?” Ruby asked as she became worried, before widening her eyes. “Wait, are you the ones responsible for the change in my eyes?” She asked, still worried, but with a tinge of anger.

[Geez, no need to shout, you can just think!] The guy’s voice sounded a bit annoyed, before suddenly stopping. [Wait, what’s wrong with your eyes? They seem normal to me?]

“Huh? Seems normal?” She quickly turned back to the mirror, and saw that they, indeed, seem normal. “But I swear…” She started before shaking her head. “Wait, how do you know how they usually look?” She asked confused.

[How? Don’t we usually… Oh right, strange voices in the head.] The guy’s voice said with a sigh. [Sorry, let me introduce myself. The name’s Garry Downer, AKA, Gaz.] The voice said with a slight playful tone. [We did meet before, but I didn’t have the chance to introduce myself.]

[And my name is Ekis. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ruby!] The girl’s voice sounder right after, sounding extremely cheerful.

“Garry? Ekis?” Ruby asked confused as she still looked around nervously, searching for their sources. “Why… Why are you in my head?”

[Err… We actually have no idea.] The guy’s voice said, and she somehow could feel as he shrugged.

[This is probably my fault, to tell the truth…] Ekis’ voice came afterwards.

[Don’t take it badly though. She’s new to this whole stuff and is as lost as we are.] Gaz’s voice came afterwards. [And it’s nice to be able to talk with someone using something that isn’t beeps.]

“Wait… Beeps?” Ruby asked surprised, as her eyes rested on the little robot who had been patiently waiting on the door. “Be… Beepy?” She asked shocked.

[Yeah… That’s also my new nickname, I guess.] As he said that, the robot also copied him. “Beep.”