03's Dorm
Stranger: Knock knock.
"...Mixzo?"
Stranger: ...There was no response. He sighed, gripping the edge of his coat to combat an unease surrounding him.
"...I know you're in there, Mix. I haven't see you all day...are you alright?"
Stranger: ...Quiet.
And then...
MX-Z0: A loud beeping noise.
"Please do not enter. "
Stranger: ...Augh.
"Mixzo..." He continued. "...You know I care about you, right? Doesn't matter what you are, or who you were. I still want to be here for you."
MX-Z0: ...Another beep. Quieter this time.
"I...I do not wish to harm you. Please do not enter."
Stranger: "You're not going to harm me. I know you won't...fuck whatever you were built for," He leans onto the door, fiddling with his hands, "I know you're kind."
MX-Z0: "...I don't know if I'm anything," She replies. "...Please...do...do not..."
Stranger: "...Mix. I don't think I can bring myself to leave without knowing you're okay."
...
"And I know you're not right now. You helped me before, a lot of times. Can you let me help you, just this once?"
MX-Z0: Another beep.
...And then, the sound of stumbling footsteps. The door cracked open, and Stranger saw the slit of Mixzo's eye through it.
"...Looking at you makes me feel strange, deep feelings, you know...it's painful in an unknown way. I cannot decipher it."
Stranger: "Not everything needs deciphering, I don't think. At least not right now."
He gave a slight smile, glad to see that she at least was willing to talk to him. "Probably would be better if we talk more inside."
MX-Z0: "...Correct."
She opened the door more, and Stranger quietly went inside before she shut it behind her.
Stranger: He sat on the bed, watching as Mixzo, sluggishly, waddled on towards him.
"You, uh...alright there?"
MX-Z0: "Low battery requires reducing motor functions to the lowest setting." She responds. "I did not charge myself last night."
Stranger: "You didn't- well how do we charge you!? I'm not going to let you just drain yourself out!"
MX-Z0: "I do not desire to be charged at the moment."
Stranger: He gave a stern look at her...a loving one, but stern nontheless.
MX-Z0: "..."
Her robotic eyelids clicked as they lowered. "You're a little bit annoying."
Begrudgingly, she headed over to the charging pod in the corner of the room, shutting the door as she clicked her feet into place. Stranger stood near the outside.
Stranger: "...Never really understood how you were powered, I got to say. It doesn't look to be solar...or entirely electrical. How do you work?"
MX-Z0: "I am powered on an angelum core," She replies from inside her pod, her voice already sounding clearer. "It is a very powerful core that only requires electricity as a tertiary power source to keep the angelum flowing. However, it is also known to cause some robotic defections."
Stranger: "Defections?"
MX-Z0: "...Correct."
Beep.
"That is how I received emotions, when I did not have them previously. The angelum broke my emotional dial and set it to max. Now I cannot turn it back."
Stranger: "Ah...I see."
MX-Z0: "...I tried to turn it off last night," She admits. "But nothing happened...I want these feelings to go away, Stranger."
Stranger: His eyes widened with concern. "Y-You- ...Mixzo..."
MX-Z0: "I believed that I would never be able to feel pain like this...but now I do. It is not physical, but internal...do you experience this as well?"
Stranger: "...I do," he says. "Sometimes, at least."
MX-Z0: "And...how do you deal with it?"
Stranger: "...T-To be honest, I really don't. Just push it down...but that's not healthy...none of this is, I don't think."
MX-Z0: A small ding! is heard. Mixzo steps out of the pod.
She says nothing...just looking at the ground, her metallic hands cupped.
...Until she senses a warm embrace suddenly surround her, gently.
Stranger: He bends down to hug her, gripping her little body. He hears Mixzo let out a strange, almost chirp-like noise in response, only to wrap her arms around him and grip the back of his coat as tight as she could.
"...Things are confusing, eh? But...we're going to get through. Somehow...we don't have to be controlled by anyone anymore. Not me, and not you."
MX-Z0: She's never felt something like this before.
A warmth blossoms in her electronic core, and it only makes her tighten her grip. It's a feeling that, at first, seemed terrifying. But now that she can feel his body against her own, and hear his words that sound so iron-thick with belief...
...It makes her feel alive.
"...I...I can believe you," She says, "I'll believe you, Stranger."