Unrecognizable

~Chapter Twenty~

Earlier that day

Grumbot's POV-

He knew something was up. He also knew what was up. Iskall wasn't one for secrecy. And so He knew that soon enough He'd be out of this large body. He also knew that He wouldn't be having a choice in the matter. But then again, given the choice, He knew that He'd choose this. Being stuck in one position for months gets old after a while. 

So He was hardly upset by this. Well, mostly. He was going to miss communicating with His younger brother, though. Through the electrical bond between the two robots, they could effortlessly communicate. Even if, in reality, it was just a flurry of numbers, Grumbot could hear it as if it were words. The bot had grown accustomed to the nearly constant stream of chatter from Jrumbot, and, if He was being completely honest, He had grown to like the hour-long conversations about pretty much nothing at all. It was hard to believe that they would be over soon. 

Speak of the devil, Jrumbot's childish voice was soon speaking in Grumbot's mind again. It was squeaky and loud, like a five-year-old singing a nonsensical song while pretending to know the words. 

Hey Gwumbot! Gwumbot, hey Gwumbot!

The voice resonated inside Grumbot's mechanical mind. If Grumbot could audibly laugh, He would. Even if the littler robot was annoying at times, Grumbot still adored him. He reached out to the other bot to answer.

Yes, Jrumbot? What is it this time?

He feigned annoyance, which always got a rise out of Jrumbot. Highly entertaining for the older bot. Jrumbot whined slightly.

What? Why awe you so mad? What did I do?

He would miss this, He decided. He'd miss being able to just talk like this. And maybe He wouldn't have to. Maybe in the new body that Iskall was piecing together for Him, He'd still be able to reach out and talk to Jrumbot. One could only hope. He didn't mention any of this to Jrumbot.

I'm not mad, Jrumby. I'm just joking. What did you want to tell me?

As much as He loved messing with the younger bot, He did feel just a touch bad for worrying Him. Darned moral compass. Jrumbot's tone instantly lightened, and He was back to his normal self.

Oh, okay! Well, guess who I saw today!

Grumbot didn't exactly know what He was expecting, but to be honest, this seemed about right. Jrumbot always got excited about little things like seeing someone he hadn't in a while or seeing a pretty bird fly by. He was very easily pleased. 

Who?

Internally raising an eyebrow-- that was something the Hermit's did sometimes, the bot was genuinely interested in who Jrumbot saw. Well, maybe it was mostly because when Jrumbot didn't know someone's name, He'd make up silly descriptions of them. One of his favorites was his description for Jevin, "The blue slimy one that I can almost see through with the white sweatshirt". 

I saw Poppa!

Oh no, who was that again? Grumbot could never remember who Jrumbot was referring to when he spoke about his and Grumbot's dads. Was it Grian? Or Mumbo?

Mumbo. Just the thought of the moustached man made Grumbot sick. Because, as He had quite often told Grian, He had no clue where his dad was. This person walking around, it wasn't Mumbo, no matter how hard it tried to convince the others otherwise. It hadn't even tried to convince Grumbot, just simply showing up one day and offering the robot a chance to join its team. Like He would ever willingly go against his dads and the rest of the Hermits. But that never stopped Sage-- disgusting name, it was like it was trying to mock Mumbo Jumbo by having a name that meant nearly the exact opposite of his-- from coming back time and time again.