#there will be. bot shenanigans. yearning. slow burn. a bit of hurt/comfort.

[kreepy-shipz-archives]

Meeting The Bots: Chapter 1

info: aaaAAA first chapter for my spg insert fic! i wanted to write one of her of meeting the bots back in 2009!! i do have more plans but here's this for now! ^^ I hope you all enjoy it! i took a bit of inspo from the spg comic btw, so some of the dialogue is from that :D another thing, this takes place before rabbit transitioned, so i used they/them for her in this fic! her transition will possibly be covered in a future fic!

Rbs r very much appreciated!!! <3

Word count: 3k+ (yes it's VERY long lol)

As the taxi drove away, the young engineer looked at the mansion in front of her. Her dark brown hair softly flowed through the wind. She blinks, thinking of all of the events that have led up to this. The engineer, Kenzie Faxton, came from a family of engineers who have been in the business since the late 1800s. Her great grandmother actually knew one of the men who resided in this mansion before, Peter Walter III. Eventually, her family’s company, Faxton Engineering, signed a contract with Walter Robotics to assist them with making robotic parts. Her parents moved all the way from New York to California to be closer to their work, in 2002.

Kenzie was well versed with machinery, and a bit on robotics as well. She met Peter Walter VI at a World Fair. Peter was a few years older than her, and from what she remembered, He had a keyhole face. She didn’t question it, since she had a pair of cat ears sprouted on her head.

Once Kenzie graduated high school in 2009, earning average grades, but did extraordinarily well in her machinery classes, Peter Walter VI asked her to help assist with one of his projects at Walter Manor.

Kenzie had no idea what she was bringing herself into. She took a deep breath, exhaled, and headed to the door of the manor. She knocked on it a few times, only to be greeted by the creaking of the door. She peeked her head inside, her blue eyes darting around the seemingly dark room.

“Hello…?” She called out, going inside the mansion. “Peter? Are you out there?” Kenzie looked both ways. There seemed to be no one in the mansion. The room was still dark as Kenzie bumps into a dresser.

“Hello??” She called out again, her tone now concerned. Did she just come into an abandoned mansion? With no one inside?? Peter did say the right location, right? She decided to take out a flashlight she has in her toolbox, and turned it on. She then starts to explore around the dark mansion. She hears a wiring noise from one of the rooms as she walks by. Her ears go up in curiosity, knocking on the door. When no one answered, she slowly opened the door.

The room was much brighter than the other rooms. It was a kitchen, with a fridge and a stove. There was someone using the stove, standing behind it. They were humming a tune as they cooked food. It smelled….cheesy? Kenzie's ears went up at the sight of the person, stepping into the room.

"Um, excuse me... Do you live here?" Kenzie asked, tilting her head.

The person jolted up at Kenzie's voice. They turned around to see the young engineer, and she noticed something very different about them.

Was that…..A robot?

The robot looked to be a man. His skin was a metallic gold, with marionette like markings on his face. His golden hair was put into a bun, with strands of his hair peeking out. There was a top hat on his head, with a few feathers stuck on top. He wore a black dress shirt with suspenders, and his shirt matched with his pants. There were also worn out sneakers on his feet.

The robot grinned, looking as if he never saw anyone in years. "Oh! Salutations! Are you a visitor, by any chance?" The robot exclaimed, blinking his eyes. He was holding a pan that held a quesadilla. The robot noticed Kenzie looking at it, and once again spoke up. "Did you notice the quesadilla that I was preparing? I don't eat, but I still make food for leftovers and that sort! Rabbit eats it all anyways!" The robot seemed to have a slight transatlantic accent. He put the pan on the stove, and looked back over at Kenzie.

She stepped back from him, looking uneasy. The robot tilted his head to one side.

"Are you alright? Have you ever seen a robot before?" the robot asked.

Kenzie shook her head, her ears going down.

"Oh." the robot said, his tone tinted with sadness. "Well, I guess I'm the first one you've met!" The robot smiled once again, continuing to robotically step over to the engineer. Kenzie stepped back every time he stepped forward, and eventually she felt the door behind her. her ears twitched at the sight of the robot slowly coming close to her.

The robot noticed that the human looked scared, so he stopped. He then smiled softly, lending a hand out.

"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you." He spoke in a soft tone.

Kenzie looked up at him, her hands at her chest. She slowly brought her hand out to his.

The robot grinned once again. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance! My name is The-" the robot stopped, shuttering a few times. The robot repeated himself, seeming to malfunction. Steam started to swirl out of his back. He eventually hunched down, steam still continuing to pour out of him.

Kenzie's ears immediately went down again, looking terrified. She slowly opened the door from behind her. As she turned around, she did not see an empty hall.

She saw another robot, looking right at her with two different colored eyes.

Kenzie shrieked, immediately stepping back and bumping into the golden robot.

This robot looked much more different. Their face was made out of copper, and their design was more unique than the other robot's. They wore a hat with goggles on top. Their outfit was similar to the golden robot's, but they wore a few belts, black suspenders, and high waisted striped pants. and it was mostly black, except their red, fingerless gloves.

"Ey, didn't mean to s-s-startle ya there!" The robot drawled in a jersey accent. "Say, are you the human Petes has been talkin' about?" They said, casually going over to the fridge.

Kenzie didn't say a word. Now there were two robots in the kitchen.

The robot looked in the fridge for a few moments, and then shut the door. They were now holding a soda can, going over to the golden robot.

"Mind moving a bit? Gotta put T-This in here." The copper bot points to the golden robot.

Kenzie nods, stepping back and looking on at what the bot was going to do.

The copper bot opened the soda can. They opened up a hatch that was on the golden robot's back. And then they poured it into the golden bot. After a few moments, the golden robot stood up, blinking his eyes. He scanned around the area.

"Where are we?" The golden robot asked.

"The Manor kitchen." The copper robot replied.

"Oh." The golden robot said.

".....What just happened." Kenzie said, her first words to the bots.

"Oh! Th-Th-They talk!" The copper robot exclaimed. "For a sec, I thought you were a mute human!" The copper bot goes over to Kenzie. "Have you ever met a robot before, whoever you are?"

Kenzie shook her head once again, a scared look was still plastered on her face.

The copper bot and the golden bot looked at each other, and back at Kenzie.

"Are ya…..scared of us?" The copper robot asked, frowning. "I'm sorry if I scared ya."

"Yes, me too! my apologies!" The golden robot said, bowing down.

"We just never see too many humans here! Yeah, there's Pete's family, but we've never had a visitor either! A human visitor!" The copper bot explained.

"Yes, visitors aren't a big thing here…." The golden robot slightly frowned.

"Wait, before we go on….I think we forgot to introduce ourselves!" The copper robot exclaimed.

"You're right! we should do that!" The golden robot nods robotically.

"I'll go first!" The copper robot smiles, clearing their throat. "M-My name is R-R-Rabbit! I was b-b-built back in 1896! Y-Y-Y-You know, back when Women weren't allowed to read and write! A-A-And all the men dressed like Mr. Peanut!" The copper robot named Rabbit said, stuttering from time to time. "I'm like a priceless antique!" They grinned, dusting themselves off with their hand.

"I feel like something is missing…." The golden robot said, looking around.

"Maybe it's cuz Spine isn't here. He usually says something after my introduction!" Rabbit says.

"Well, my name's The Jon!" The golden robot says. it's silent for a few seconds.

"Got anything else to say, The Jon?" Rabbit asks.

"Uhhhhh….No. I forgot my introduction. But pleasure to meet your acquaintance once again!" The Jon shakes Kenzie's hand, smiling.

Kenzie still hasn't said a word to the two robots, blinking a few times.

"And you are…..?" Rabbit asks.

Kenzie still doesn't say anything.

"What's ya name? Or do you not have one? which would be strange, since I think most humans have them!"

"....Kenzie. Kenzie Faxton." Kenzie finally says, nodding her head.

"Ah, Kenzie!" The Jon says. "What a nice name!"

"Yeah, Kenzie sure is a nice name!" Rabbit shakes their head. "I think now we can do a tour for her, ain't that right, The Jon?"

"Oh, sure! I'm sure she got really confused looking around here!"

Rabbit and Jon unexpectedly link arms with Kenzie, and leave the kitchen.

Kenzie doesn't know if she's dreaming or not. She was currently walking up the stairs with her arms linked together by two robots.

“Oh, I forgot to ask! Did ya want to take the elevator?” Rabbit asked, but the trio was already up the stairs. Kenzie sighs, rolling her eyes.

“Anyways, Jon and I will go find Peter for ya!” Rabbit grins, putting a hand on the engineer’s shoulder. “Wait right here, Kitty Cat! We’ll be back in a jiffy! Ya just…..stand right here and don’t do nothin’!” Rabbit and Jon leave to go find Peter.

Kenzie looks around the area she’s in, noticing the photos hanging on the wall. There are people that she doesn’t recognize plastered on the wall. She does notice Peter though, in the photo he looks to be about 10 years old. She sees another, noticing that it’s Peter and what seems to be his father and mother. Kenzie eventually gets so fixated on the photos that she bumps into a tall, white door. On the top of the door, the words H.O.W are shown in golden letters. Kenzie tilts her head, curious to see what could be inside. She opens the door, and is greeted by a room filled with red lights and wires.

Kenzie looked both terrified and fascinated by the room, but she clutched the door behind her. Suddenly, a screen came up in front of her. They had a green and black screen, and the top of their screen says the words “Qwerty”.

“K. GREETERINGS ROBUT. PLZ INPUT ID CODE. THX.” Qwerty said in a robotic voice.

“I’m….I’m not a robot??” Kenzie whimpers.

“LOZ. ERROR ERROR DOES NOT COM-COMPUTE.” Qwerty replies.

While Kenzie was distracted by the strange computer robot, she didn't notice the strange snakelike head next to her. She turns to where the head is, and she immediately shrieks.

“HOLY-” Kenzie stepped back, her ears perked up fearfully. “N-N...Nice snake head…..thing…..don’t hurt me, please.” She whimpered, her ears swooping down and stepping back more. The snakelike head was covered in wires, and a large silver circle was below it. The circle reveals to be a hole. Wires started to slither out of the hole, a silver robotic body came out as well. The snake-like head attached itself into the body. There are a few wires that held clothes, which are put onto the robotic body. A black suit with a red tie. The added finish to the robot’s outfit is a fedora, which was delicately placed on the top of the robot’s head.

Kenzie looked at the robot in fascination, tilting her head. The silver robot and Kenzie stare at each other for a few moments, but Qwerty interrupted by going “ADDING MUSTARD.”

The silver robot chuckles, rolling his eyes. “Darn it, Qwerty! What have i told you about being stupid?” He said.

Qwerty frowned. “NOT 2 BE?”

Kenzie looked at the two robots, confused.

“Oh, right!” The silver robot says. “You aren’t supposed to be here, but welcome to the hall of wires, Miss Faxton! You’ll have to excuse everyone and every….thing here in the manor. We aren’t used to having visitors.”

“How do you know my name?” Kenzie asked, looking up at the tall robot.

“News spreads fast on the Walter WI-FI!” The Spine explained. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is The Spine, and I was built with a titanium alloy spine.” The Spine smiled. “That’s my, er…..Backstory.”

Qwerty makes a ‘Ba-dum tss’ sound effect.

“Anywho, We should get back to wherever you’re supposed to be!” Spine announced, escorting Kenzie back outside of the Hall of Wires.

“Oh, Kitty Cat! There ya are! We were looking all over!” Rabbit says, catching up to the two.

“We thought we lost you there, Miss!” The Jon added.

Spine puts one hand on his hip. “Rabbit, Jon? Have you seen Peter anywhere?” Spine asked.

“No, we haven’t! That’s who we’re looking for right now!” Rabbit exclaimed.

“Could he be in the workshop?” Spine rubbed his chin, thinking of where else Peter could be.

“I feel like he could be! Didn’t he say he was doing his weekly repairs on Upgrade today?”

“Yes, i believe so!”

“Then let’s get goin!” Rabbit said, once again linking arms with Kenzie and Jon.

The group head to Peter’s lab, which was not a very far walk. The Spine explained some useless facts about the manor to Kenzie, which she did not find interesting. Then, finally, The group makes it to Peter’s lab. He was looking at a blueprint, with a pink robot sitting next to him. She wore a hat with a silver flower on it, and her hair was black with pink streaks. She wore a long, black dress. The pink bot looked over at Kenzie, pointing at her.

“Hey, who’s that girl?” She exclaimed.

Peter looked away from his blueprint, now noticing Kenzie and the bots. “Oh! Just in time!” Peter placed the blueprint on his workbench, going over to Kenzie. “We meet again, Kenz! It’s lovely to see you again! I see you got my message.”

“...I did. And I didn't know your house was so big.” Kenzie said, folding her arms. “I just finished school a few weeks ago, Petes.”

“Wonderful! That’s why I wanted to get into contact with you.” Peter nods, looking at the bots. “I see you’ve already met most of the steam powered robots...my great great grandpappy built them! Fascinating, aren’t they?” Peter gestures to the pink robot. “This one I believe you haven’t met though! I was doing her weekly repair check!”

“I’m Upgrade!” Upgrade says, smiling and waving at Kenzie. “I’m FAR more interesting than The Spine! Pretty, too!” She puts her hands on her chin, still smiling.

Kenzie awkwardly waves at Upgrade. Peter continues. “Anyways, I wanted to bring you here to see if you are interested in assisting with the robots. You know, repairing them, keeping a close eye on them during shows, making sure they work well before shows-”

“What shows? You never told me anything about shows, Peter.” Kenzie interrupts, raising her eyebrow.

“Ah, so you don’t know about my robot band!” Peter clasps his hands. “You see, Kenzie...You do know my background on robotic engineering. But do you know the history of The Steam Powered Giraffe?”

Kenzie looked confused. “The Steam Powered what-”

“Oh boy! Story time!” Rabbit exclaimed, sitting down on the floor, crossed legged. Jon also followed suit, but crossed his legs in a completely different way than Rabbit’s. Spine stayed standing up, only folding his arms. Upgrade hopped off the table, going to sit down with her siblings. Jon looked at Kenzie, patting his hand on the floor. He motioned for her to sit down next to him, smiling. Kenzie slowly sat down next to him.

“It all started a very long time ago….” Peter started. He then told the story of Peter Walter The First. He had a rivalry with one of his old friends over a woman named Delilah Morreo. They were both in love with her, and created things to win their love for her. Peter made a Steam Powered Giraffe, While his rival, Thaddeus Becile, made a Coal Fueled Elephant. But before Delilah could decide, she died of an illness. Powered by grief, Becile tried to resurrect Delilah with dark science. Because of this, Peter wanted to intervene. So he sent the Steam Powered Giraffe and the robots he created to Africa, where there was a War. It lasted three days. Eventually, Becile was defeated. After the war, Peter made the robots for entertainment, calling the band Steam Powered Giraffe.

“And now, Many years later, The bots continue making music and entertaining folks!” Peter finished, waving his hands. “They usually perform at Balboa Park, which is where you’ll be assisting them at.”

“So…..you’re telling me I have to watch the band at the park and make sure they don’t break down?” Kenzie explains.

“Yes, precisely! Though they do perform at other places as well! But those you have to pay to see. Balboa is entirely free for people, unless they want to tip them.” Peter answers.

“....Gotcha.” Kenzie squints her eyes, looking at all of the bots together. “I don’t know….This sounds stressful.”

“Kenzie, please don’t fret. It’s actually very fun to experience!” He helps her get up from the floor, and puts a hand on her shoulder. “You are the first person I thought of when I needed help with my band. You did so well with your classes, so obviously you have talent. Plus, you won’t only be watching the bots, but you can perform with them as well! You're basically going to be both a mechanic and a part of the band!” Peter exclaims. “Just….give it a try. You are still getting paid as well.”

Kenzie takes a deep sigh. She was only 18, and she wasn’t planning on finding a job. Fresh out of high school, and now she has one.

“...Alright. I’ll do it.”

“Perfect! You may need to pack your things, since you’ll be staying here for the time being!”

“Wait, What????”