N was no stranger to pain in the slightest. In fact, he knew it more intimately than most people knew their spouses. So for him to wake up feeling a brand new kind of pain was a novel experience. Everything hurt. Even things he was sure didn't transmit that kind of data.
That said, he was more focused on the fact that he had woken up at all.
'My God, I can't even die right,' he thought, which was when he discovered that it even hurt to think.
He could hardly see anything with only his standard optics barely functional, but he could still tell that he was in a well-shaded area of the spire. He heard the low crunch of snow under someone's feet before a silhouette with two red eyes entered his vision. Then more red as the figure raised its glowing hand(?) and a large object floated over him, also covered in red. With another gesture from the figure, the object tilted over and dumped a mound of snow over him.
Steam immediately obscured what little vision N had. Even if it was out of the sun, his body was still fighting the good fight against life! Though, if this mysterious "benefactor" had anything to say about it, that would be a losing battle.
As much as N just wanted it to be over, he couldn't deny that his curiosity was piqued. Who was this Worker and what did they want that he needed to be alive for?
He had no idea how many snow piles had been dumped on him, but that last one had cooled him just enough for some of his nanites to start healing other things rather than devoting everything to keeping his core components from melting. Within a few minutes his sight had returned enough for him to clearly make out the red and yellow cheerleader outfit and long purple hair of one of the last people he ever expected to see: Doll. She was turned away from him, tending to something about ten meters away.
It was around that time that his olfactory sensors came back online and he was suddenly hit with the most delicious smell. And a very familiar one.
'She found my kit,' N thought, keeping his screen dark as he watched her from the corner of his eye.
Now he was really curious. What could Doll want with him that was important enough to dirty her hands with the blood of her own people to make him an emergency meal?
N grit his teeth and settled in to heal to the point where he could move. Even if he didn't want to be saved, she had done just that, so the least he could do was hear her out.
But first he would remind her that, even weakened, he was still a Disassembly Drone. If she couldn't keep a civil tongue in her head, she might not keep it at all.
*****
N's plan to assert dominance lasted all of five seconds once he got close to the pot. He tried to maintain the facade, and it seemed to have worked at least somewhat. But the reality was that if she had asked him to roll over and beg, in that moment he might have done it.
"So, what do we have to chat about?" N asked after making sure his voicebox was repaired enough to not sound like a mechanical parrot caught in a garbage disposal.
"Uzi," Doll answered, then frowned when N's face morphed into a suspicious scowl. "I imagine you are thinking the worst of me right now."
"That you want to use the life-debt I now 'owe' you to secure my 'friendship' so you can parade me around the colony and rub it in Uzi's face? No, of course not!" N said with a smile that was all teeth.
A clear warning.
"I deserve that," Doll admitted with a deep sigh. "If the road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions, then I deserve all the torments it has to offer for what I have done to Uzi." Doll then looked up to lock eyes with N. "And at this rate, I should save a spot for you as well."
