Rodney's fame was growing fast. Outmoded bots of all shapes and sizes traveled daily from miles around to seek his help. When word about two humans working with him to help all bots came to light, the whispers were no longer filled with fear or prejudice against the humans. Instead, they were now about the auburn-curled beauty who had traveled from the human world and her kindness toward bots and the blue-eyed girl who had fought through hell and back from the Chop Shop to collect spare parts that were thought to be lost.
The human world had now also learned of Alli's travels to the robot side of the globe. Word spread around towns, cities, all forms of places where humans inhabited. Despite sneering whispers about Alli's journey to Robot City, there was also hope that she could be the one to restore the bridge between robots and humans.
However, the broken-down bots and humans weren't the only ones who knew of Rodney's innovative genius and Alli's mission.
Word of his talents and her kindness toward bots even spread to the underground Chop Shop. Madame Gasket was not only not pleased about this anonymous bot's deeds, but also interested in this mysterious human maiden.
At Bigweld Industries, Ratchet moaned in satisfaction as a salon bot gave him a massage.
"Oh, yeah. I have never felt so relaxed. Say, can you give me a massage between my shoulder blades? Ah, there we g–"
He yelped when someone scratched his back a bit too hard. "Easy, tiger. Oh! Hey, take it easy! Hey, what are you trying to do, kill–" He screamed in panic when he came face-to-face with Madame Gasket. He had given strict orders to anyone he ran into to not be disturbed, but that didn't stop her. Madame Gasket had only one issue in mind: the bot doc has to be stopped.
"Relax, it's me, your mommy," Madame Gasket smirked.
"How did you get in here?!"
"I came up the air shaft. I know you don't like people to see me," Madame Gasket answered as she moved to reveal a hole of her shape on the wall.
Ratchet wasn't surprised. His mother is capable of many things. Now that he knew how she'd gotten in here, to begin with, the big question on his mind was why. "Well, what do you want?!" He asked impatiently.
"Someone's fixing them!" Madame Gasket replied angrily.
"What?"
"Someone is repairing outmodes! And they are laughing at you!"
"Who? And are you sure they're not laughing with me?" Ratchet asked.
"Yes," Madame Gasket replied deadpanned.
"Oh? So what if someone repairs a few outmodes? Who cares?"
"And that's not the only problem. There are humans here. In Robot City," Madame Gasket continued.
"Humans? I thought they hate us," Ratchet remarked.
"Not all of them. One of them is special. She's showing those bots out there kindness and patience. And she's helping that fixing bot repair those outmodes. Today, it's one. What if tomorrow, everybody gets that it's a good idea? 'We can fix ourselves. We don't need upgrades. We want Bigweld.'" Madame Gasket imitated the population. Then what happens to you?!" She asked enraged.
"Okay, okay. Take it easy. We've got to find out who this is and stop them," Ratchet suggested.
"Not stop them. Crush them! Destroy them! And then you'll find this human girl and bring her to me–alive!" Madame Gasket demanded before pulling out something from her pocket. "And by the way, I've got you a little something for your desk."
YOU ARE READING
Flesh and Bolts AU
FanfictionA certain AU that has come back to haunt me years later. In this universe, the characters are all humans, but they are called robots because of their prosthetic-like limbs. Everything else pretty much remains the same. ______________________________...
