Not sure how much of a prompt you need, but Overwatch, and an OR14 in a scenario like Bastions. The reader is just wondering the woods, and stumbles across it.
{Aye I finally finished this, woot! I know it ends at kind of a weird spot, but it felt like a good place to leave this one off at. If you want me to continue it I can definitely try to do a sequel of sorts. Hope you enjoy it though!}{-J}
You had expected to find lots of interesting things on your hike. Animals, flowers, maybe some nice clearings or viewpoints, or even a geo-cache hidden away near the path. What you hadn’t expected to see, however, was a big, moss-covered Omnic plopped down at the summit. It was a little off the beaten path, just beyond where the main trail ended. A strange humming sound had caught your attention, luring you towards the machine, your eyes going wide as you took in the strange sight.
Most of the people you knew would have run at that point. Realistically, that’s probably what you should have done. But instead, like the naive, trusting person you often were, you had simply slowed down, approaching with only a mild level of caution. The OR14 bot didn’t seem to notice you, not that it was necessarily even active. It didn’t seem to be moving at all. A fair amount of plant life seemed to be growing on and around it, centered around the different cracks and joints of the Omnic’s plating, a strange mosaic of earth and steel.
Still, the humming sound was ever-present, never shifting in pitch or pattern. At this point your curiosity was overwhelming. What exactly was going on here? You squinted at the machine in front of you, searching for any signs of life. Or, well, at least the closest Omnic equivalent of life. Maybe if I just get a little bit closer, you muse, your hands shaking as you dare to take that step.
A branch snaps beneath your shoe. There’s a pause, the whole world freezing around you, your breath caught in your lungs, your eyes wide and staring at the machine in front of you. For a second, all you can hear is your heartbeat and the omnic’s humming… and then the humming stops. Metal starts to creak and moan a moment later, a sure sign of old joints reawakening. All of your curiosity breaks away in an instant. Fear replaces it, urging you to bolt away; that’s exactly what you do, turning and booking it back towards the path.
In your panic, you don’t pay much attention to where exactly your feet land, and soon enough your ankle catches a branch and you’re sent flying into the underbrush. You’ve maybe made it a dozen meters away from the Omnic. The sound of metal shifting has slowed down, though your heartbeat has only sped up, and you find yourself too scared to look over your shoulder at the OR14. Gulping, you try to flatten yourself against the ground, hoping to hide yourself from the centaur robot. But as soon as the sounds of metal scraping against metal stop, noises from behind you stop completely. It’s absolutely silent.
Fear still has you in its grasp, however, and you don’t feel comfortable enough to move just yet. A minute passes, then another, before you finally hear a few birds chirping in the distance. Leaves start to rustle. Some kind of small rodent strolls past you without a trace of fear. The wildlife goes back to acting like normal. If your time on these trails has taught you anything, it’s that if the forest critters are calm, then there’s a good chance you should be too. A breath of relief passes past your lips at the thought.
“Hello?” The voice rings out just a split second after your sigh. It startles you, nearly making you jump out of your skin. It’s a robotic voice, for sure, and it sounds like it’s coming from behind you. “H-Hello? Assistan-tan-tan- ERROR. Rebooting spEECH systems. One one one Moment, please.” You stay low to the ground as the voice continues on, managing to summon just enough courage to take a peek behind you at the Omnic. It’s standing now, though one of its legs seems to be struggling to support any weight. Lights have turned on all over its body. The brightest of which are on its head appear to be some sort of ocular sensors. They’re turning back and forth, occasionally moving with a twitch, likely looking for you.
When one starts to focus on something in your direction you flatten yourself once again, another spike of fear shooting through you. The sound of slow, heavy footsteps reaches your ears, and you can’t decide whether staying put or running would be safer.
“Assistance Required. Location: Unknown. Date: Unknown. Systems needing repair: 32-2-2-2… Systems Needing Repair: 33. Please Assist,” the OR14 called out, stopping about halfway to you. It hadn’t tried to fire its gun in your direction, and its pleas for help seemed oddly honest. Maybe it won’t kill me if I offer help? You wondered, before very, very slowly standing up and facing the machine. At this distance you could tell all of the lights were currently blue. From what you remembered from school, that was a very, very good sign. “Please Assist. This unit is in need of repair.”
There’s not much of a chance that you actually know how to help the Or14 in front of you, other than maybe helping it figure out where and when it is. But seeing the poor thing up close and functional now actually tugs at your heartstrings a little. There’s a desperation in the machine’s voice, something you didn’t know this model was capable of. Maybe you’re going crazy… but your curiosity kicks in as your fear takes a backseat again. You might not be able to help much… your uncle, however? You know that he could. So you take a deep breath, look the damaged OR14 in its eye, and say the words that’ll change your life forever:
“I know someone who can help. Follow me.”
