🅲🅾🅳🅴🆇 🅾🅵 🆀🆄🅸🆁🅺🆂 (TFOne Movie x Reader)

·˚ ༘₊· ͟͟͞͞꒰➳[ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇 𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 ]

Boy! This was a long chapter! Counting these words, it is 15293 words! Regardless, enjoy the story!

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Back with the others, the tension was palpable as the encroaching darkness settled around them like a heavy cloak. They were on their way to return to Iacon. But now, their simple journey seemed to exude an uneasy atmosphere, as if the very air was saturated with unspoken fears.

 D-16's normally bright demeanor had been overshadowed by a passive-aggressive air that weighed heavily on those around him, especially impacting Orion Pax, who had always valued the spark of camaraderie between them. 

Beside him, (Y/Cyb/n) was acting strangely, a fact that did not escape Orion's notice. Although he maintained his signature monotonous tone and semi-blank expression, there was an undeniable shift just beneath the surface. The left optic, a defective piece of machinery in its own right, betrayed him with bursts of emotion; when it activated, it glowed with unsettling intensity, flashing a pupil of sentiment that hinted at a deeper turmoil.

At times, (Y/Cyb/n)'s optic would emit a frantic, strobing purple line, a visible manifestation of the panic that simmered just below his calm façade. Other moments brought forth a chaotic white squiggle that twisted into an infinite loop of messy, erratic lines, graphically representing the inner chaos he was struggling to contain. Initially, the group had assumed this was an effect of his ongoing struggle to earn a T-cog while navigating the conflicting algorithms of Algorithmic Prime, but Orion felt an unsettling suspicion that something more profound was at play.

The Codex crossed his arms tightly as he walked, squeezing them in a futile attempt to dispel the pressure building within his chassis. He felt a wave of nausea when he recalled the foul act of consuming the Death Tracker, a secret that gnawed at him but one that he felt compelled to keep hidden from his friends. 

"(Y/Cyb/n)?" Elita-1's voice cut through the tension, her blue optics narrowing as she scrutinized the (a/c) and (s/a/c) mech. He flinched slightly at the sound of his name, an involuntary reaction.

"Yes? Elita-1?" The Codex replied, turning to face her. His functioning right optic twitched sporadically, while the flicker of his left screen optic flashed momentarily, displaying a light pink Isotoxal Star Triangle before it morphed into a purple question mark—an instinctive attempt to conceal his escalating panic.

"Is everything okay?" Orion Pax inquired his voice grave and tinged with concern as he observed the glitch in his friend's screen optic. "You've been... acting off since we got our T-cog."

"[ASSURANCE]" The Codex managed to respond, emotions slipping unbidden as a soft, yet nervous smile crept across his dermas. "I'm okay." A gentle sigh escaped him as he fought to maintain eye contact, determined not to appear rude or alarm his friends with his erratic behavior. "Really. I am."

Elita-1 raised an optical ridge at his response. His flickering and glitching screen optic said otherwise, betraying his words.

"Are you sure about that?" Elita-1 inquired, her azure gaze never leaving his face. "You've been acting strange recently. You don't look... fine." She stated simply yet with a hint of concern.

Orion Pax nodded in agreement. "We've all noticed it, (Y/Cyb/n)..." He paused and looked at his friend. "We're all worried about you."

(Y/Cyb/n) shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny of his friends. He knew he couldn't keep up his facade for much longer, especially with his malfunctioning left optic constantly glitching and revealing his true emotions.