...you're short.
Not like, over-exaggeratedly short like those 2-foot-tall Wattpad main characters in those Harry Styles fanfics, no. Just slightly under the average height for the age you were.
You didn't mind it that much- actually, scratch that, you did. High shelves, being mistaken for a child and treated as such, being called cute almost all the damn time, even by your colleagues?! It was annoying. You were just as much of a robotic engineer as they were, and here they were treating you like a baby, and for what cause? A foot of height difference?!
As such, you often found yourself working alone on the tasks and experiments you were assigned. When you were alone, you found you were able to get things done quicker and with less of a mental and emotional toll. Today you were tasked with performing maintenance on one of ADHOC's first bots- Business Bot.
Usually, they're maintenance would be the easiest of the four bots to complete, seeing as they're the most calculated and cautious of the bunch, a simple number-cruncher, in charge of handling statistics, paperwork, algorithms, and all the stuff that the humans were too bored to do. And yet...
"How the hell did this happen?!" you couldn't help but exclaim.
On the repair table sat none other than Business Bot, all beat up, covered in cracks and dents, a few of their aluminum teeth knocked out of their maw, their screen cracked and flickering, and their voice cutting out as they tried to explain. You shushed them, telling them you were going to the archives to find their blueprints to help fix him. Their corroded eyes flashed a confused look as you took your keycard and left.
Their voice, while it was completely indecipherable, you knew what they were trying to say. "Why are you doing it alone?", "Why aren't you getting help?". The answer was simple; you could never get help among your peers that didn't in some way result in patronization or ridicule. You could do this. You knew it. You just needed to get the blueprints.
...
Which coming into the archives you realized won't be easy. The archives were alphabetized, you see. And the "B" shelf, which Business Bot's Blueprints would definitely be on, was on the highest shelf.
...and the stepstool was nowhere in sight.
Great. Just great. How the hell am I supposed to get the blueprints now?!
Your first plan was to stand on your tippy-toes, your fingers could only just touch the corner. A start, if anything, but it wouldn't be enough to be able to grab it.
Your second plan was to use something else to grab it from where you stood. A stick, a tool, a broom, something. But unfortunately, Griffin the janitor was on break, and nowhere to be found.
Your third plan was nothing short of genius, in your opinion. Use things around you to lift yourself up and be able to grab the prints. You started grabbing the more hefty folders off of the lowest shelf and stacked them on top of eachother, making a pseudo-stool. Once it was complete, you climbed onto it, and reached for the prints.
However, as you attempted to balance and reach up, the uppermost file slid, and you slid in the opposite direction to it, falling to the side, and onto the ground.
Or so you thought, you realized as you opened your eyes and saw you didn't hit the ground, but rather was suspended above it by a foot.
"Don't worry, I gotchu!" a chipper, high pitched voice called up to you.
Melody. The fourth bot in ADHOC's lineup, whom of which technically wasn't even an ADHOC bot. She was a rejected children's toy from their rival company- QUALIA, whom of which had shunned her upon seeing her achieve sentience.
She was a rambunctious, mischievous little drone, always pulling pranks on the other bots and sometimes the scientists and staff. However, you never seemed to get any flack from her, now that you thought about it.
As such, you didn't feel nervous as you asked her for help.
"Hey Melody, hold still will ya?" you asked as you stood up, reaching for the sheets and grabbing onto them, you then dismounted the drone and nodded to her, "thanks."
"No prob, bob!"
"It's (Y/N)."
"I know, just messin' with ya!" she giggled, before noticing the blueprints you held, "Oooh! what we have here? B.B's prints?"
"Yeah, I've got tasked with fixing them up today and they just looked trashed, so..." your voice trailed off, as you came upon a possibility, "...Melody did you have anything to do with it?"
"Who, me? I would never-"
"Melody." you crossed your arms.
"Ok, maybe I set up a little banana peel by the stairs..."
"Melody, how could you! Someone could have gotten serious hurt, Business Bot is seriously damaged!"
"In my defense I had it set up for one of the humans-"
"That's worse!!"
"Ok, how about this, I'll help you fix B.B, and we'll call it even."
You opened your mouth to say something, but stopped, upon realizing what she was offering. Aside from editing the videos that ADHOC's prized Fandroid the Musical Robot created, Melody never helped out much. And yet here she was, offering you aide after having previously helped you with getting the blueprints, all without one condescending attitude, nor a single infantilizing remark.
...what a surprise, the nicest person you've met in the facility was the resident prankster.
"...alright then, come on." you said, unlocking the archive and walking out, hearing the faint hovering behind you.
(A/N: SWEET MAMA MERCY ITS BEEN WAY TOO LONG, I'L MAKE ANOTHER CHAPTER EXPLAINING EVERYTHING LATER-)
