[Chapter One - Vee] I remember a time. Something faint, in the back of my mind. Before my memories had finished installing. A clueless robot sat amongst a crowd of 4. They all seemed to know what was happening. The sad little robot did not. I blinked, and I saw him. Taller than the rest of them, scarf resting on his leg, beaming. I didn’t know what to say, so I merely stared. He was talking to the fossil beside me at the time, but we caught each other’s eyes. Neither of us said anything. He could tell I was confused and went back to talking to the fossil. I hadn’t been online for long, yet a sharp spark rushed across my face, hot and strangely comforting. Was a robot even able to feel… that? Apparently so. I still believe it wasn’t blushing to this day, I don’t fall head over heels so fast. I don’t. Stop questioning me. A woman’s voice had rung over my head, which I can only assume was Veronica, who had reassured me that I would be able to remember ‘any moment now’. I didn’t want to, not at first. The thought of being implanted with fake thoughts felt wrong. I watched the Toons with a blank feeling. Their obeying lies? They seem so… happy. And then it clicked, as if a million thoughts had blitzed into my CPU at the same time. Sprout. That was his name. The chef. The one who was overly clingy to Cosmo. I remembered. I felt uncomfortable with them, but over time, I guess I just forgot. Can robots forget? Apparently so. They can’t love though. They can’t. When we were first told Dandy never survived for more than 30 minutes, I couldn’t care less. I was programmed to dislike Dandy, and obviously my ‘memory’ got in the way of that. The others seemed horrified. The Main Cast without the actual Star of the Show? According to them, a dire situation. Fortunately, being the gameshow host I am, I easily took the spot until the humans could replicate him. The humans were obviously skeptical at first, but seeing as there was no other opinion available, they gave me the role. It was just for a week, they said. They could clone Dandy, they said. Liars. 3 months and 17 failed clones later, Gardenview was forced into temporary shutdown to ‘sort this out’. They never did. It started small. Events cancelled early. Items disappeared from shelves. Offices looked ransacked. They packed their bags and left. Literally. No one could find a way out, only elevators that seemed to go down forever. Looks like I’m stuck as the Star
ok dont worry im not gonna delete this one because i’ve genuinely become attached to this au ❤️ This chapter is short but it WILL GET LONGER ok im too lazy to write the prologue LMAO art by ME next: Ok yes this is basically just a fancy pants way of calling it Vee’s World but its doomed berrybot Song: trauma
