SMASH GAMES 2: CHAOS | Super Smash Bros.

12 - The Discussion and the Desertion

Rosalina 

The mess hall was practically empty, which was very creepy. The ROBs filled up some of the space her absent fellow prisoners left behind, but it didn't help much.  

"Hello, Miss Rosalina!" the cafeteria ROB said behind the serving line said. He was awkwardly holding a big spoon of mashed potatoes, struggling to get it over to Rosalina's tray. It shook out of his hand at the last second, landing in a big gooey mess on Rosalina's tray. Several specks landed on her red dress. 

"Whoops!" the ROB squeaked. "Sorry, Rosalina." 

"It's all right." She tried not to roll her eyes in annoyance. 

"Would you like some string beans with that?" ROB asked. 

Rosalina snatched her tray off the rack and pivoted. "No, thank you." 

Luma bounded after her as she made her way across the mostly-empty eating area, towards the very back, to the table beside the window. The only other occupant of the dining room was a tall, pale woman with brown hair. She was wearing a sweatshirt, yoga pants, and brown sneakers. She had silky brown hair, currently pulled into a low ponytail. A cup of steaming hot coffee sat before her, but she looked bored with it; she traced a finger around the lip of the cup, cradling her head in her other hand. 

Rosalina sat down at the table beside hers; the lady looked up at Luma hopped into the seat next to Rosalina and smiled at them both. "Those G1s are annoying, aren't they?" she said. She had a very faint British accent.  

Rosalina blinked at her. "Excuse me? G1s?" 

The lady nodded towards the ROBs behind the serving line as she took a sip of her coffee; the robots were currently loading a huge rack of dirty dishes into the washer. A couple fell to the ground and splintered as the ROBs struggled to push the rack into the shaking machine. 

"Generation-ones," the lady said. "Prototype version. The first ROBs." 

Rosalina spooned her sloppy potatoes and sat back, dropping the spoon. "If I didn't know any better," she said grumpily, "I'd've thought that their manufacturers integrated stupidity into their programming." 

The woman chuckled before offering her hand. "Sarah," she said. 

"Rosalina," she answered, shaking the lady's palm. "I'm surprised to see someone so ordinary in all this madness." She blushed. "Er, I meant that respectfully." 

"I'll take it respectfully," Sarah replied, grinning as she took another sip of her coffee. "And I'm just as confused as you are, Rosalina. I'm just a fitness trainer-no superpowers or abilities to speak of. Unless you include stubbornness and endurance." 

Luma poked Rosalina in the side and pointed down at her mashed potatoes. May I? he asked. She pushed the tray and spoon towards him. 

"So, have you gotten a mark yet?" Rosalina asked Sarah. "It should be only a matter of time, seeing as how we're the only two left here." 

Sarah shifted in her seat and took another drink of her coffee. "Yes, well, about that." She turned her watch face-up and tapped the screen. Rosalina blinked when she saw that a marker was pulsating on her screen. The map had zoomed out to show that the target was several miles away, deep in the woods that covered Subspace. 

"You have a mark!" Rosalina exclaimed. "So why are you still here?" 

Sarah tugged the sleeve of her sweatshirt over the watch, hiding it from view. "Why else?" she asked. "Because I'm rebelling, Rosalina. Did I mention that I'm stubborn?"