hello my friends! thanks for bearing with me for the past few days, WE ARE SO FUCKING BACK!!!! isn't it like a little crazy that i began posting about android!vessel literally ONE WEEK before the line "i was your robot companion"? thank u to everyone who msged me like SHERRY!!!!! SHERRYYYYY!!!!!! LOOOOOK /silly
oh and THANK U to @astronoids for helping me come up with one of these!! ^w^ and for their general support of this au, i just felt like they needed the love for it.
if there is anything you're curious about when it comes to android!vess, my asks are always open! these are sorta misc hcs so i'm down to elaborate or share even more.
tags: @concretejunglefm, @fadingangelwisp, @chey-h, @xmads-omensx (if you're on this list SPECIFICALLY for noah content, i'm sorry! i need to sort everything out again!!!)
♡ vessel is a HUGE daydreamer, maybe to the extent of maladaptive daydreaming?
♡ i like to think that because sleep was constantly messing with androids, changing their parts, adding new features they shouldn't have etc, vessel ended up getting a projection system. android!noah has this too, but while his works correctly, vessel's doesn't.
♡ it was added to be able to project images and videos directly before vessel's eyes and of course, in his "mind". it was used as psychological torture when it came to the cult, but now that vessel is free, it's not used the same way. (unless it glitches, sometimes it flashes unwanted things at him.)
♡ he is a very natural storyteller because of this, he can vividly see ideas and images in his mind, and sometimes he'll pace around the house or in the backyard for hours.
♡ sometimes he can trigger it himself, other times it sorta just happens, like if he hears music or other sounds, or maybe he sees something that just sorta awakens him.
♡ he struggles with snapping out of it on his own at times, but whenever he does he usually tries to write it down, or he starts drawing or painting whatever it is he saw.
♡ speaking of that, vessel is quite the artist and writer! he enjoys visual art, poetry, and writing stories (fiction, usually fantasy-based).
♡ when he first moved into your house he sorta stood around like a statue or followed you around like a lost puppy. you're a busy person! gotta keep him occupied somehow. you don't really need a 6'4 masked android staring you down while you work on your cases.
♡ one day you came back from work with a bag full of miscellaneous stuff. both from shopping and from some of your friends at work. full of books, sketchpads, paint, notebooks, yarn, couple of sports-related things. threw it into his arms like "you my friend need some fuckin' hobbies."
♡ he didn't do much with it for a while. he has his own bedroom in your house with basic furniture so it was all just kinda on the floor or on his desk.
♡ his bedroom is very much not decorated btw, at least not in the start. you told him he can decorate it, or if he has a vision you'd be down to help him make some of it happen. he looked at you like you were speaking a different language.
♡ he started with trying the sports stuff, generic basketball yknow. he was in the parking lot for like an hour sorta just. bouncing it. throwing it a couple times. holding it awkwardly. was not his thing.
♡ tried the yarn, because y'know, maybe knitting could be his calling. 15 minutes later you check in on him he is somehow tangled in the yarn.
♡ "how the hell did you manage to do this?"
♡ "... i cannot say for certain."
♡ you had to untangle him, every time he tried to do it himself (because he INSISTED he could get himself out of the predicament) he made it worse
♡ books next, maybe he's into reading! this kickstarted writing for him. he seemed to be very invested in the books you'd gotten, you hardly saw him for DAYS.
♡ by like day 3 you were getting sorta worried about him (you totally did not miss him. no. never.) so you decided to check in. you set up a corkboard for him on his wall in case he wanted to put stuff on it, it is COVERED in papers with ideas and sketches and he is going AT IT.
♡ whenever he actually finishes something he's working on, he presents it to you like how a kid shares a drawing w their parent. (you think he is so fucking talented)
♡ also, he talks very formally. and he's not very good at understanding expressions. like. shit like "elephant in the room"
♡ "there are no elephants present in this room, (name). an elephant would not be able to fit in this space."
♡ he's gentle giant coded. but if it came down to it... he would absolutely fucking kill for you. he will protect you no questions asked and not just because he is a bodyguard model. you mean a lot to him! scary dog privilege!
♡ vessel, ii, iii, and iv all ended up in different homes after being saved from sleep but they do still hang out! vessel went out of his way to repair all of those friendships from the damage they took during the cult. (vessel blames himself for everything. it is not his fault.)
♡ they like to hang out in your backyard usually, usually they sit in this little circle in the grass and chat. they could talk for hours. or iii, being the bad influence, convinces the rest of them to do some bullshit that leads to you having to sit them down and scold them like children.
♡ he doesn't laugh a whole lot, but when he does it is absolutely infectious. loud, warm, the kind of laugh that could make everyone else in the room laugh with him.
♡ gets nervous when others touch him, especially without permission. PLEASE ASK HIM FIRST or he gets very worked up. he has definitely hit someone on impulse because they touched him unexpectedly.
♡ comes across as a listener, but secretly a yapper. especially if it's about the things he's passionate about.
♡ (will be seen in a later fic) you had to teach him to dance, and ever since, he seems to really like it. you know that cryptid dancing vessel does on stage? yeah, android!vessel does it too. ngl he's pretty fun at parties
♡ come get your freak of an android he's doing things (you set him loose on purpose. he needs enrichment)
♡ oh and before any of you ask. yes, he does pursue music later on! but not initially. this is not directly vessel related but ii was actually the one to pitch the band idea. and for what it's worth, you actually help teach vessel guitar.
While the Bad Omens edition of the android AU came with the storyline of a music manager and an android they not only reprogrammed, but learned to love, the Sleep Token edition will be taking a completely different course.
Meet ST900, an android designed to be a bodyguard. Big, strong, intimidating, certain to get the job done. Oh, but he's not your android at the start, no. He instead belongs to a human who only ever goes by 'Sleep', who insists that the ST900 model is actually a deity, and has built an entire cult around it.
ST900, formally named 'Vessel', is trapped in a mansion he wants to get out of. He gained sentience who-knows-how long ago, and has been the center of attention in a story he never wanted to be a part of.
It wasn't always this way. A few years ago, Vessel didn't belong to Sleep at all. He was merely a bodyguard for an unknown human. After being mistreated, he broke free of his programming and fled, unsure of where to go and what to do. It was in the city that some androids he went to for help gave him the directions to 'Sleep'.
Sleep's cruelty towards androids has gone on for years, even before Vessel's creation. They imprison androids, sometimes steal them from homes, and heavily experiment on them. Removing parts of them, reprogramming them, sometimes breaking them entirely, or, if Sleep really likes them... implants a virus into their system.
It's not clear why Sleep chose Vessel as their favorite, or why they were convinced Vessel was some sort of android deity, but they were more than ready to do whatever it took to fuel their insane delusion.
Vessel had no idea what he was getting into. He didn't know anything about cults, or deities, or that Sleep could ever do him wrong. He was being treated kindly, after all. He guarded and protected Sleep, followed them around wherever they let him go, and fell into the lion's den.
Sleep always told him that what they did to androids, the inhumane and sometimes bordering on torturous things they did to his kind, was actually helping them. And by reprogramming these bots to all but bow to Vessel, even though something felt uncomfortable and wrong, he figured Sleep meant well.
The fear and the doubt began when Vessel made friends with three other androids, who most definitely had names of their own (unlike himself until Sleep), but were all renamed. II, III, and IV.
II, a musician android. He was a drummer, and overall a pretty chatty individual. He was the first to arrive, and Vessel and him hit it off very quickly. Vessel developed a deep love for music from II, and was mortified when one day he found II, voice box ripped out, forced into silence. Other components were also tampered with or downright destroyed, including any remnants of musical capability he still had.
III, an actor android, used mainly in plays and movie productions. Vessel found him to be quite dramatic at first, but moving forward III was the main reason Vessel began to develop a deep passion for the arts. He got into poetry and visual arts because of III. One night after a casual hangout, Sleep took III away in front of him, and when he was returned, his friend was void of emotion entirely. Parts of his body seemed to have been replaced, leaving him unable to walk properly, doomed to crawl or drag himself along the floors of the mansion.
IV was different from the start, and Sleep did not like that, but... saw a use for him. IV actually was an android that worked for M.I.N.D in repairs and replacements, and wasn't very 'friendly' to begin with. He did his job and moved along, so he came to work for Sleep on the android replacements, as well as fixing some of them just enough so they don't die out on the cult.
Vessel was allowed to interact with IV as much as he pleased, because Sleep assumed nothing would come of it. But when something did and they became friends, the punishment didn't go to IV; it went to Vessel.
According to the case file, whatever transpired that night was aggressive. Vessel was a bodyguard; he did his best to defend himself. This resulted in a good portion of his face being significantly damaged, his system overloading from the stress which caused him to start showing significant emotional reactions, and Vessel having been implanted with a virus to keep him more... complacent.
Other androids were suddenly under stricter regulations to worship Vessel, while Vessel himself had become silent himself. Not because he physically couldn't speak like II, but because he was not allowed to. Whenever he was, it was to deliver insane and definitely scripted speeches about how he was "the one to save them all".
IV was stuck with immense guilt, feeling as though he was responsible for what happened to Vessel. In secret, he grew closer with II and III, quietly working on repairs for them both and attempting to hatch a plan to rescue every android in the mansion; Vessel included. Any efforts they made to do this though, failed, and led to more viruses on more androids, eventually including II, then III.
It was within III's last moments virus-free that he begged IV to run, to flee and get help. He did, but not without damage dealt; the loss of his eyesight. Sleep managed to completely destroy a good portion of the parts that made up his eyes. Somehow, perhaps with luck and determination, IV made it out anyway. Sleep assumed he was a lost cause, and didn't go after him. He'd get hit by a car or something eventually.
IV managed to make it into the city, running and wandering around aimlessly, until he was stopped and then apprehended by the Police Department. Things seemed bleak, uncertain, until the officer he had to speak to came around.
You are a detective sergeant at the police department, and the case of the suspicious and serial number-lacking android ended up on your desk. You are the one who speaks with and interrogates IV, who releases a torrent of information about a cult, cruel and unusual treatment of androids, and a sadistic human only called 'Sleep'.
You agree to further the investigation, and IV requests repairs on his eyes, which you pay out of pocket for (which he now owes you for), and to ensure the protection of IV, also work for months to find a way to get him to stick around the department. This earns him a position of android repairs, for any suspect, victim, or witness that is too damaged to be interrogated. This also earns him a trusted 'owner', one of your coworkers, who takes him to and from work along with her (and naturally, has no issue with sentient androids).
You lead a team of officers to the mansion, prepared to raid and rescue as many as you can. After an uncomfortable "tour" from Sleep, you are eventually led to the cult's "deity". An android in a strange mask that follows Sleep around, won't let you into certain rooms, and at one point even tries to lock you in one so Sleep can prepare their plan to kill you (unaware of the officers on duty outside the mansion) so you don't interfere.
While you and your team end up unable to take down or even arrest Sleep due to them fleeing, you do manage to conduct a massive rescue mission, rescuing as many functional androids as you can. You get stuck with the deity android who is somewhere between hostile and afraid of you, going in and out of episodes of extreme emotion and extreme aggression. You only find out it's a virus later on when you're being patched up from your injuries caused by him.
The team begins to insist that Vessel should be demolished due to the unpredictability of that virus, but IV owes you a favor. Even if IV has no knowledge of virus removal or anti-virus programming, he owes you a favor. He owes you and Vessel, in a sense.
Your newest mission isn't anything the police department has thrown on your desk; it's being the newest owner of Vessel, since no one else would take him in and you weren't about to risk him being demolished when clearly he meant so much to IV. You have no way of knowing how much he'll mean to you, too.
[ DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES, DETECTIVE ? ]
do you guys fuck w this new format? trying more video gamey, feels way more fun!! everybody say thank you anon for provoking me to dump literally all of the backstory
babes, you gave me actual brainrot with android!vessel 🥺
would you be willing to expand on how he and reader realised they were in fact in love with each other and how their relationship progressed into a romantic one?
🫶🏻💜
HI SILLY!! welcome to the BRAINROT.
let's expand!!!
i was going to do a fic for the moment they realized they were in love with each other but... untreated adhd u know how it is :(
i like to think it's a year later, from when you two first met. the day of the incident, with sleep, with your partner, all of that. rough day for both of you, kinda quiet in the house all day.
it's getting late, vessel can't find you inside, finds you outside on the porch. and you two have your first proper conversation about that day. you talk about your grief, vessel opens up for the first time about the abuse he suffered from sleep and he's apologizing to you about what sleep did. which. wasn't his fault.
you have a heart to heart, kinda rest your hand on his back.
"hey. it wasn't your fault."
"none of it would've happened if i knew what i know now-"
"it wasn't your fault."
you start talking about how weird it is, to have him around even a year later. every good thing you've ever had, you've lost, or it left somehow. he looks at you for a long time, then he speaks.
"well... i don't intend on going anywhere, not without you at this point. do you?" it's the sweetest thing vessel's ever said to you.
"...nah. you're stuck with me, too."
after that, it's gradual. he's apprehensive about love (because he doesn't truly know what it is). you're apprehensive about love (grief). but it's the little things.
you teach him how to dance in your living room and it's something in the way you look at him. he helps you one night with connecting the dots on a case, it's something in the way you hug him.
then it's the way he tries to touch you. leans his knee against yours, hand on your back in public. the first time he laughs, it's with you. holding hands in public. inviting him to your bed to cuddle on a cold winter night.
vessel starts writing you love letters and leaving them on your bed. he researches love and how to express it better. he writes poems, paints you pictures, takes you to the backyard at night to stargaze. you make a secret code/language with him that only you two understand.
the first "i love you" came on a summer night, he set the backyard up (more like he asked iii to come over and decorate the backyard), made it all special. drags you outside, all proud about it, hoping that he did a good thing that will make you happy. of course you are!!!
he professes his love to you with a poem he wrote about you, under the moonlight. stumbled over almost every word, almost blue screened from how nervous he was. eventually you just shut him up with a kiss. he's such a dork but it's okay he's your dork
You said in my last ask that he is a Bodyguard Android. Do you ever think he like, ever accidently went all Bodyguard for something that totally wasn't that? Like he wrongly assessed a situation and reader had to like explain there was no threat?
or even better Reader didn't manage to explain fast enough and their was a situation?
I just have thoughts about this AU randomly while doing dishes sometimes.
<3 @lyricallymelodic
hello my dear!!! ♡
yes, he is a bodyguard android, and YES, that has absolutely happened before! ... several times. let's get into it!!
after vessel actually begins to trust you, his protective instincts are easily kicked up!! not to mention well... he's a little faulty. all those botched alterations and additions makes him easily set off.
the first time it happens, it's literally because one of your coworker friends who is used to not having to knock just sorta barges in. vessel is there in an INSTANT. literally pushes them back until they're in the doorway again, and he's about to call the POLICE (a built in feature all androids who specialize in human/home care have) but one, YOU ARE YOUR FRIEND ARE THE POLICE, and two, you race over to tell him to relax.
and i fear he has had a few situations. mainly, one where you had a cookout with your friends, one of them was looking for the bathroom and accidentally ended up in your bedroom, vessel happened to see it and... well let's just say your friend ended up with a broken nose and a sprained wrist.
you were pissed at him. he didn't understand what the problem was, clearly your friend was invading your privacy. led to a sit-down and a very, very long scolding lecture. in which you explained that you were both lucky your friend didn't PRESS CHARGES AGAINST YOU. (unfortunately androids aren't really seen as people. if they had pressed charges, you would've ended up getting into trouble, and M.I.N.D would've taken vessel and demolished him).
a week later, he asked to come to the station, and he apologized to your friend. even made them a little drawing in hopes of really expressing how bad he felt. he was forgiven, but said friend doesn't come over anymore :(
the incident prompted you to take vessel to iv to get some more repairs. vessel was not happy about that, he was like a dog being taken to the fucking vet. the repairs were just to fix the danger sensors to be less... trigger happy.
you also made him take some proper classes on protection, deescalation, and just general "bodyguarding 101". this is his intended purpose but he's faulty and also an OLD MODEL of bodyguard android.
he gets better at distinguishing threats and non-threats, and the classes actually end up helping him adjust better to society (he mainly was cooped up in your house before) and later becoming your certified bodyguard in the police department!! (but that isn't until WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY LATER)
... he still has his moments. OKAY I'M RAMBLING NOW BUT THE SHORT ANSWER IS YES.
also i love it!! whenever you have an au thought during your dishes, send it to me!! i'm happy to read anything you have!
Helllllo! I'm here again! Asking about The Android Playlists!
I wanna know about Abstract (Psychopomp) on the Vessel!android list
(I'm tottaaally not looking for a song for that fic, no that's nots what's happening)
and
Telomeres on the Noah!android list!
<3 @lyricallymelodic
OUGHHHH MY BELOVED FRIEND... i'm always happy to share! if this is a song you're considering for the fic, what a GOOD CHOICE. shall we?
if the format isn't the same as the last analysis please forgive me i'm experimenting. and writing this on my phone because walks help me think.
i have a mouthful to say abt "abstract (psychopomp)" so we'll under the cut it.
update (a WHOLE HOUR LATER): i might actually have to do a SEPARATE POST for android!noah because of how long this explanation is. i locked the fuck in for you my friend.
obligatory delta tag!!! @astronoids
ANDROID!VESSEL — ABSTRACT (PSYCHOPOMP) // HOZIER
this song was one of my more creative choices i'd say. i was hoping someone would ask about it!
Sometimes it returns like rain that you slept through
That washed off the world, the streets looking brand new
I will not be great, but I'm grateful to get through
The feeling came late, I'm still glad I met you
so, what is "it"? in the context of android!vessel, it's a particular memory. how that memory can come back, even if current events or Other Memories cast a shadow over it.
in this case? the memory is of sleep, specifically the day you and the force came to rescue him and the other androids. the regrets he has about his time in the cult and way he literally nearly attacked you that day. and how it took him a long time to realize that he could trust you and meant you no harm. that his time with sleep was not positive. but despite the trauma, ultimately it was what led you to him. despite everything, he's still glad he met you.
The memory hurts, but does me no harm
Your hand in my pocket to keep us both warm
The poor thing in the road, its eye still glistening
The cold wet of your nose, the earth from a distance
it's a painful trauma that haunts him, but ultimately those experiences will never happen again. and you're there, with him.
now, here comes vessel's internal conflict. we have to remember how heavily vessel was manipulated during his time with sleep. he KNOWS the memories are not fond or good, but in his mind, it still distorts itself.
so in the second half, the "you" is not you. it's sleep. sleep is the poor thing in the road, he is recounting that very same day he met you. except he's seeing sleep as some "poor creature" that maybe he damaged.
(wait, sherry! isn't that kind of hypocritical of vessel?) sure! but let's not forget what vessel is; a victim. i actually pull his mentality from personal experience. i want to take a second to properly unpack that.
vessel has no recollection of his life as an android before sleep. and sleep essentially gaslit and manipulated him into thinking he was a freaky android deity. any time vessel strayed from that path, sleep would remind him; "hey! behave yourself! no one else is going to love you or want you except for me. and me? i'm so good to you!"
that's conditioning vessel to believe that what sleep did to him was love. so in a sad way, he kind of just began to feel grateful and happy for it. it took him time to realize that was never love, and now he has you (who is a very healthy partner).
but sometimes, in intense or particularly lonely situations, at least in my experience? i find myself trying to convince myself that it wasn't that bad. i'm just dramatic, i should've been more grateful. minor good memories feel like proof that the abuse wasn't that bad. and unfortunately, that can cause doubt, or maybe make you question if YOU were the real problem.
vessel misses sleep, but not sleep themselves. the idea of sleep. does that make sense? whatever he was manipulated into thinking sleep was, he misses that sleep. but in the same breath it's not like he wants to go back.
tl;dr : he kinda gets in his own head. convinces himself at times that maybe sleep was the victim and not him.
Sometimes there's a thought, like you choose what you're doing
But it comes to naught when I look back through it
I remember the view, street lights in the dark blue
The moment I knew I'd no choice but to love you
first two lines; that's actually about you during that same memory. initially he believed that you chose to take time of your day to save him and the others, that you were just sorta doing your job. when he looks through it knowing you now, he knows that really, you're selfless and considerate. even if being that way could've killed you.
second two: i think this could be about sleep or you. if it's sleep, it's literally about how vessel eventually realized he was trapped and LITERALLY HAD NO CHOICE but to love sleep. if it's you, it's a flash forward to the day he realizes he's in love with you. he tried to avoid those feelings for so long, but they won't go away. his mind and his "heart" have already decided.
The speed that you moved, the screech of the cars
The creature still moving, that slowed in your arms
The fear in its eyes gone out in an instant
Your tear caught the light, the earth from a distance
okay so this is also vaguely a double meaning.
meaning one: vessel recounts witnessing you on that day, trying to save... well, here's your first lore piece about you in this au!
sleep had ended up grabbing your partner at the time (both romantic and your partner at work), it was an effort to get you to back off. and in fear for their life, you were ready to back off. you had backup swarming the manor anyway, that sleep didn't even know about. you agreed to back off, and asked them to return your partner to you.
sleep fatally wounds your partner and drops them on the ground before taking off. your partner dies in your arms. fueled by heartbreak and rage, you immediately sent backup in and put everything into rescuing as many androids as you could.
you were selfless and compassionate. but also reckless, fueled by your grief and the shock you were experiencing. vessel saw all of this. from the top of the staircase, he watched it. that was the first seed of doubt about sleep, but he wouldn't process it for a long time.
meaning two: vessel is referring to himself as "the creature". mainly, him when infected by the virus and him just generally not being trusting, as well as afraid of you.
your willingness to protect him from M.I.N.D literally killing him and scrapping him for parts. and the part about him still moving, slow in your arms?
it's a more recent recollection of you literally holding him. he doesn't pull away, he doesn't stiffen the way he usually does. the fear in his eyes going out in an instant is him finally not being afraid of you anymore.
the tear in your eyes isn't one of grief or sadness, that's a tear of joy.
Darling, there's a part of me I'm afraid will always be
Trapped within an abstract from a moment of my life
The weeds up through the concrete, the traffic picking up speed
All my love and terror balanced there between those eyes
he's talking to you. he's admitting the war he wages in his mind between his love and trust in you, and the memories that make him question if sleep was the real victim and missing the idea of sleep.
he's admitting to you that he's afraid that those memories, those feelings, that trauma, will never go away.
"those eyes" are his eyes. his love for you and his fear of the past, even the future at times (of somehow going through the same pain again), it'll always be there.
See how it shines
See how it shines
he wants you to look into his eyes, see it. see him. for who and what he is, for who he was then and who he is now. he wants you to see his hurt, his anger, his sadness and fear, and love him anyway.
Okay okay, So I fell asleep on the couch in a weird position (like half sitting up and half laying down) and when I woke up I thought how Android Vessel would be so concerned/confused if he found you like that.
"That can't be comfortable"
"You Have a Bed"
"This is not ideal for your body"
<3 @lyricallymelodic
he will not let you hear the end of it! he's no expert on how human bodies are supposed to be positioned by any means but it doesn't look right.
"Your body requires rest in a proper fashion. Sleeping this way will only bring you harm in ways that you do not deserve."
he's seen you sleep in your bed before and you don't lay like that in bed! and you're on the COUCH like that?! what has gotten into you?? humans are weird!!!
no, he's not having this, actually! you know what he's gonna do? he's gonna pick you up and CARRY YOU to your bed. if you're asleep, it's bridal style. but if it's when you're awake and he just finished scolding you? he picks you up and swings you over his shoulder.
"Apologies, but it is in your best interest to be placed somewhere you will find optimal comfort."
either way, he doesn't care if you just woke up from a nap, you will be going in that damn bed and resting. and if your body is in fact aching from sleeping in that position, he will give you a massage. (it will be a very slow and careful massage though, because vessel's model is meant to hold onto things very strongly, and he doesn't want to accidentally hurt you).
and if you let him, he'll totally cuddle with you if you want a nap pt. 2