"Greed, buddy? Can you sit down in the living room for a second, please? There's someone I want you to meet," Steam says anxiously, but excitedly, and Greedlerbot cocks his head in wonder but nods, agreeable, and moves to sit on the sofa in the other room.
Patiently, he sits and waits as Steam smiles and disappears, closing the door behind him. Greed plays music to himself and bobs his head along with it, curious and eager to meet a new friend. Is it someone that Steam works with at the factory? Is it another Once-ler? He isn't sure, but he's on edge to find out.
When Steam reenters the room, he has someone in tow with him. Someone who creaks only the way moving metal does, the sound of puffing steam emitting from a valve in a boiler, someone with heavy steps and clanking, twitching fingers fumbling together anxiously.
Greed-ler is instantly on his feet, hissing loudly.
"Greed, Greed, no... Please, don't... Settle down, okay, bud? This is Once-1erbot. I made him to --"
But Greed pounces, furious, and Once-1er yelps and cowers behind Steam, and Greed growls and tries to reach around and claw at Once-1erbot, but Steam holds him back with struggling grunts, pushing as much as he can against Greed's solid, metal chest, his knees quaking with the effort.
"Greed, Greed! Stop it right now!" He raises his voice until he's roaring, and Greed tenses, recalculating, stepping back and scowling deeply, a low rumble emitting from deep in his chest. Steam pants a bit and stands firmly between them. "Not this time, Greed-ler. I finished him weeks ago, and he's here to stay. He's a friend, not a rival!"
"Not... friend," Greed clips out and plays back with a furious edge to his tone. He snarls, lurching forward, and Once-1er whimpers mechanically and fists the back of Steam's vest, rattling with fear.
"I mean it, Greed! Don't you dare hurt him! He's going to be another helperbot, but also a new companion for you. So I'm going to trust you not to fight, and leave you two alone for a little while to get to know one another. Okay?" Steam relays swiftly, sternly, and Greed's narrows his gaze. "Okay. Now, be good. I'll be upstairs." And e turns and leaves them, sympathetically patting Once-1er and whispering, "It's okay, he won't hurt you," before shutting the door behind him.
Once-1erbot shakes and hesitantly holds out a hand. "H-h-hello, M-mr. G-Greedlerb-bot," he greets unsteadily, his vocal chords skipping and typing in knots over his nerves. "I-I hope we can t-talk and be f-friends... I want to get to kn-know you."
"You... talk!" Greed exclaims, stealing recorded clips from Once-1er.
"Huh? But... s-so do you... Can you not? Or do you not speak on your own?"
"Not speak on... own," Greed grumbles heatedly, scoffing and looking away, arms folding over his chest.
"O-oh... I see... you record things instead. That is... unfortunate. It must be very frustrating at times, unable to say exactly what you wish to. I am sorry," Once-1er murmurs, casting his gaze downward.
Greed's gears grind and his fingers twitch. He desperately wants to shred a hole in Once-1er's wiring and decapitate him, rendering him as useless as scrap metal. But he resists, just barely, because of Steam's orders, and out of respect and love for his creator. But were it not for him, this battle would be short-lived and would end with him as the victor.
Once-1er glances up and fidgets awkwardly on his feet. "You... do not like me very much. Do you truly hate other robots that much?"
"Hate other robots," Greed reiterates in agreement. He scoffs again and walks away. He can't deal with this right now. He feels betrayed that Steam would build and complete another highly intelligent bot in secret and try to pass it off as not being a replacement for him. And he can't stand the thought of being forced to get along with this new bot.
So he storms off and punches a few walls, aiming to mend them later, and all the while, Once-1erbot stands rooted to the spot, defeated and self-conscious. He glances down and looks at himself. "There is a long fight ahead," he manages, and by the end of it, he knows, either he will have fought for and won Greed-ler's friendship, or he will be permanently shut down.
