I'm really in love with the idea of Robert, instead of going into a coma, dies in the suit and becomes a sort of technoghost. still a dispatcher, either just be haunting the computer while the suit gets fixed, or in an android, n potentially uses some of his tech knowledge to offer to replace flambae's missing fingers. Robert/Flambae pls?
There are things Robert misses about being flesh and blood. Most of it goes without saying: physical closeness, warmth, sex (though he has to admit he hadn’t been having much of it when he did have a body). Certain smells: coffee, cut grass, perfume, rain, barbecue smoke. Not to mention food. Any and all food, actually. What he wouldn’t give for a twinkie.
But Robert won’t be like this forever. SDN’s helping him build a new body. And as he is now, a virtual consciousness living in their network, a lot of his human needs, not having a body to map to, have lessened. Ironically, he also has something of a superpower at last: inhumanly fast comprehension of a shit ton of information. All he had to do was get blown into a million pieces for it, who would’ve guessed? Complex mechanics and engineering just click in ways they never did before. His father’s work on the old Mecha Man suit is child’s play, and he’s able to properly help Royd with constructing his new body. The prototype is promising, though its only a partial build of the whole chassis, constructed from the ribs up. Metal matrix composite skeleton, polymer muscles, and even a few patches of synthskin. So far, it’s a pretty close amalgamation of his old body. Sans hair, pelvis, legs... ok, a lot of things. But they would come later.
And anyways, his body isn’t the only thing he’s working on.
“Thanks for coming,” Robert says as Flambae walks into the mech lab.
Flambae startles at the salutation. His eyes dart to the half-built chassis sitting on the table in the middle of the room. Robert tracks his surprise at several angles. The SDN cameras are his eyes, but so is this new prototype.
“What the fuck. Is this what you wanted to show me?”
He approaches Robert’s chassis, his hand extended, as if he’s going to reach out and touch him. Robert wonders how it will feel—once the neural sense circuitry is calibrated. Hot, if it’s Flambae touching him. He runs several degrees warmer than a normal human. Not hot in any other way, of course.
“Jesus Christ. Is that you, Robert? I thought the whole disembodied voice was creepy, but this really takes the cake.”
“You’d think you’d be used to it since you hear my disembodied voice every day.”
“Fuck off,” Flambae says, but his voice is too soft to really be dismissive. He hasn’t stopped staring since he came in, widened eyes, mouth slightly parted. Robert can’t tell if he’s impressed or scared.
“What?” Robert asks. “Do I have something on my face?”
“Your voice,” he says, finally, “too realistic.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. We’re making a ton of progress. The hope is I’ll be able to join the Z-Team in the field in a year or so.”
“I’m sure this is more than fascinating for you nerds. But why should I care?”
Robert hasn’t moved this whole time. By design, for a big reveal, but also to fuck with him. He touches Flambae’s outstretched hand, interlocks their fingers.
“What the—!”
Flambae yanks back like a startled cat, but Robert doesn’t let go. He’s strong enough to hold on, but that doesn’t mean he’s heavy enough to stay in place. Flambae swings his half-built chassis into the air.
“Easy!” Robert yelps. “What the hell is your problem?”
“My problem!? What the fuck’s wrong with you, touching me with your freaky robot hand!?”
He nearly slams Robert into the table. Thank god the chassis was built with violence in mind. Robert lets Flambae go, rights himself. “I was trying to demonstrate the articulation.”
Flambae rubs his hand on his chest like he’s got something gross on him. Robert rolls his eyes. Funny how natural it feels in this new body.
“Here, look.” Robert lifts his hand, wiggles his fingers. Closes it into a fist.
“Uh, what exactly am I supposed to be taking away from this?”
Robert gives him the finger, then he lets his hand drop to the table. “It’s advanced. Better than anything on the market. Responds just like a human body does. The same locomotion. It’s wired differently for an artificial body, but it could be reworked for biological integration.”
“Meaning?”
Robert sighs. Sometimes it’s hard to remember how slow humans think. Or he’s giving Flambae too much credit. “Your fingers, dumbass. We could replace them. They wouldn’t even have to look like prosthetics. Royd and I have nailed down some pretty convincing synthskin.”
“My…” Flambae looks at his right hand. Slowly, he makes a fist. Even missing fingers, Robert’s seen how much damage it can do. “… you could do that?”
“Yeah, I think we could figure it out. That’s why I’m offering.”
Flambae tightens his fist. The veins in his hand are stark, oddly mesmerizing. He glances at Robert. It’s a strange look, almost shy. “I don’t know. Still freaky. And don’t think that I’ll forgive you for lopping them off in the first place, even if you replace them.”
He frowns and extends his hand, palm up.
“What?” Robert asks.
“Let me see your hand again, idiot.”
Wordlessly, Robert places his hand on Flambae’s outstretched palm. It’s a little smaller than Flambae’s, narrower. “Realistic, isn’t it? If you close your eyes, you won’t be able to tell the difference.”
Flambae clicks his tongue, turns over Robert’s hand to study it. “I’m sure you’ve used that line a lot in your life.”
“Ha ha,” Robert says, but without much venom. He’s too busy watching Flambae trace his fingers over his hand. He aches, suddenly and acutely, but not in the physical sense. His processes kick up, running background simulations to stave off this feeling. Flambae would be hot to the touch. One-oh-eight point nine degrees, to be exact. Calloused knuckles and palms; smooth, rounded nails. He would smell sharp but clean, pomade and cologne, balsam and pine.
The pressure lessens. His sensors quiet. When Flambae pulls his hand away, it’s slow, catching along the entirety of Robert’s fingers and palm. He shivers.
“What the hell was that?” Flambae asks.
“Nothing. Just a bug.”
“One you’ll have fixed before I go under the knife, I hope?”
“Nah. You’re the guinea pig, after all.”
“So the truth comes out.”
Flambae grins. It’s infectious, it seems. Robert smiles too.
“Gah, no. Too weird. I think I’ll stick to ghost Robert until you get a few more upgrades.”
“Aw. You saying you don’t like my new look?”
“You’re a half-formed robot with most of your skin, body—whatever—missing. You would not be out of place in a horror movie.”
“A good horror movie?”
“A shitty one. Direct release to streaming.”
They go on like this for some time. Long enough that Robert almost feels human by the time Flambae leaves. Strangely enough, he’s almost looking forward to Flambae’s prosthetic build as much as his own.
as much as i love phenomaman, choosing waterboy for the z-team just seems so much more narratively satisfying. watching in real time waterboy finding his confidence... and how HE is the one to defend you after golem when you reveal your identity like.......... WAH!!!!!!!!!!!
For Phenomaman's junk, I've seen it to where it's similar to how people do merman genitalia, where its like a hole and a phallic member at the same spot that emerges with stimulation, I've seen some pieces where he has something more akin to a vagina but they make the labia less like folds and more like a few prehensile tentacles, great for frotting
Mhmm, I've seen that too now that I've been looking around. I was also considering his sex organ is actually his throat, so he's basically got a thrussy and then has nothing between his legs. 🤔
