How boring. The whole day the shop has been empty. You and your Boss Pam didn't give up hope yet. Her job was fixing up mechanical thinks like cars and such. You were a repair technician so you frequently had to fix the robots that always got themselves into brawls.
finally the door opened. It was Brock, someone you saw around the arcade a few times. He was panicking and dragging in... an arcade machine?
Pam stepped in and easily carried him to her work station. Brock frantically tried to explain what happened, but through his tired breaths, we wouldn't understand a thing. "Brock, ya gotta catch your breath first!" Pam exclaimed. Brock took a deep breath and exhaled.
"Ok, me and 8-bit were at the arcade, just hangin out. Suddenly Bibi wants to play him, so he plugged himself in the wall. Bibi put in a coin and started the game. She played for a while, but when she lost she got upset a-and..." He gestured to 8-Bit's broken screen. There were a few pieces of glass missing and the screen was completely blank.
"Don't worry, Brock, it's nothing I can't fix." I put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'll fix him up as soon as I can."
Later in the day, you were hard at work trying to fix the wiring behind the screen. That "Bibi" girl must have been furious. After connecting the wires, you here a voice.
"Hello?"
You jump back in suprise. You must have fixed his voice box. Maybe the "Hello" was a startup noise.
"Who are you?"
Ok, this was getting weird. Somehow he was aware of what was happening. Usually when you fix robots their AI was a bit messed up until you completely fixed them. It was all the creepier that he spoke without his screen.
"Um, Hi, I'm Y/N. You got into a bit of an accident. Brock brought you here so I can fix you." I explained. He didn't respond. Where you going crazy or something?
An exhausting hour later, you finally fixed him, even the screen. For some reason he wasn't starting up. Weird. You couldn't find a power button, so you picked up his cord and looked for the nearest outlet.
"WAIT!"
You dropped the cord and looked at 8-Bit. Anymore of this is going to give you a heart attack.
"8-bit?"
"Please... don't plug me in."
His face appeared on the screen. He stood up and seemed to be working fine.
"It's good to see you're working. I guess I should call Brock to pick you up now."
His pixelated face then took on a worried expression. "I do not think you should." You scrunched your face in confusion.
"You don't want to go back to the arcade?"
"...No. I do not wish to continue my life there."
"Why not?"
"I was designed to be an arcade machine, but that often leads to me losing control of my consciousness. I am only used for games. It is not a desirable life."
You started to feel empathetic for him, although he was a machine. "Well, maybe you could stay here."
"Here? You would be willing to house me?"
"Sure!" You weren't sure why you were being so kind all of a sudden, and you definitely weren't sure of how Pam would feel about an arcade machine being in her shop all day. Despite this, you smiled when 8-Bit's face literally lit up with excitement.
...
After much convincing, Pam agreed to letting 8-Bit stay at the shop. He was kept in the back room so he would be safe and no one would play him. A few months passed, months of you and him becoming good friends. You would tell him about what you had to fix today, and he would tell you- well, anything you wanted to know. His brain was a computer after all.
Yoi didn't expect to become such good friends with him, but he made a great friend, and it was great talking to him after a hard days work.
One day, during one of your conversations, he asked you something.
"Y/N, do you value our friendship?"
It caught you off guard, and you weren't sure how to answer. "Well, yeah! You're a great friend." His face turned into a smiling emoticon, something you found charming.
"I'm glad I can be of value to you." This statement worried you. "Yeah but, you're your own person now, remember?"
8-bit made a confused beep. "Man he's cute." you thought. "I just mean that, now that you don't work at the arcade anymore, you can do whatever you want." Your words seemed to make 8-Bit ponder for a moment, which is weird since he has such an intelligent AI.
Weeks later, you and 8-Bit were still close friends, closer than you thought you'd be. You were excited to open up shop everyday just to see him- something Pam relentlessly joked about.
Today he asked you-
"Y/N, remember when you spoke to me several weeks ago, and said I could do anything I pleased?"
"Yeah, I remember."
"Well, I was thinking that maybe I should travel a bit, and get out of this town."
Your heart sank, and you looked at 8-Bit in panic. "What do you mean? What's wrong?!" you said with far too much heartbreak in your voice. "Nothing is wrong Y/N, I am just taking your words into consideration. My time with you has been great, but maybe it is time for me to discover who I truly am. I want to take time to figure it out."
You sighed and smiled sadly, " Yeah, that makes sense. But will you be okay out there on your own?"
"Of course. And due to my built in GPS I certainly won't get lost."
You were happy, and sad, and a little frustrated. But why? 8-Bit is your friend, if anything you should be proud of him and support him.
"8-Bit?"
"Yes, Y/N?"
"I'm really happy for you. Don't forget about me out there, alright?"
"I won't. You are my best friend."
...
Why did those words make you so sad? After a bit of silence, you hugged him, despite his cold exterior. He held still, not exactly able to hug you back due to his stubby arms. "Thank you for being in my life, Y/N" he finally said.
The day he left you were excited- and devistated. You packed everything he needed into a backpack. The two of you were standing in front of the shop, and the sun was setting.
"Well it's getting late. I guess you should get going."
"Yes. And do not worry, I will make sure to message you everyday."
You smiled despite the otherwise awful emotions you were feeling. He began to walk away, and you felt your heart being torn out.
"Goodbye, 8-Bit" you said, choking back tears.
"Goodbye Y/N. I will not forget you, I promise.
And he was gone. The sun set, and you were still there. As if he was going to come back.
