merry christmas, billyweird! i came up with a little story after getting your prompt– sigma asked junpei and akane to spend time with phi (probably because she was being antisocial) and in typical Akane Fashion they ended up doing something ridiculous. this is the pic they send sigma after they land in hawaii, to his utter horror. its silly but i hope you like it, i had a lot of fun working on it!
Gab sighed with relief as Phi rubbed his belly. He was an ignored boy until she arrived at work; he was the unofficial mascot of Crash Keys now and loved it. She’d taken him for a walk on her lunch break, as she did every day. Diana told her she needed to get out of the house so this was Phi’s compromise. (Diana preferred she would have lunch with her coworkers but Gab didn’t say annoying things.)
They were under their usual tree together, best buddies sharing Phi’s lunch, when she heard, “Can I sit here?”
Phi looked up and there was the mysterious Sean. He was in a cardigan and holding a popsicle that he offered to Gab to lick; Gab ignored her tug on his leash and went for the popsicle.
Phi didn’t think Sean had any reason to harm them, so she allowed it when Gab persisted.
Sean had disappeared after a month of staying with Crash Keys and while Phi knew the head honchos were interested in reacquiring him, she didn’t think his self-determination should be disturbed. Everyone did what they needed to post-Decision Game and she knew robots could have complicated feelings too.
“Sure,” she said.
Sean sat down and crossed his legs; Gab crawled onto his lap, snuffling at the popsicle still. “Are you going to call them?”
“Nah.” Phi ate the piece of cheese she’d been about to offer Gab. “That’s your dirty work, if you want it. Where have you been anyway?” It was a year post-Decision Game and Phi had a dozen answers to that question herself.
“Helping a friend,” he said. “I don’t think you’d believe the whole story.”
“Try me.” If she could gather information, however, she would.
The wind picked up and Sean didn’t shiver in the breezy spring day; he chuckled as Gab’s snuffling at the popsicle increased. “I missed you, boy,” he said while petting Gab’s head. “Maybe I’ll tell you later,” he said to Phi. “Do you like ice cream?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay!” He got to his feet. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll see you later Phi.”
Next time Sean appeared at her elbow on her lunch walk, striding alongside her and stopping when she did to let Gab sniff a tree. Gab was blind and deaf now but could follow scents like a champion. He knew when people he liked were around and wagged his tail when he smelled the perfume Phi would rub on her wrist so he could follow her.
“Are you going to follow me all month?” Phi asked.
“Maybe,” Sean said. He held out a cup of mint chocolate ice cream to her. He bent over to pet Gab when Gab went to his feet, nose intently focused on Sean’s shoes. “I don’t know a lot of other people.”
Phi gestured to his spherical head. “How do people react to that thing anyway?”
“Mostly they think I’m shy or weird.”
“I could ask Sigma to make you a new head.” God knew he needed a project that wasn’t re-organizing Diana’s spice cabinet or rewatching the entire <i>Star Trek</i> franchise. Yesterday Phi walked in on him in his pajamas at 6PM eating an entire box of macaroni and cheese out of a mixing bowl.
“No thank you.” Sean toed the earth. “It’s my face. It doesn’t feel right to look like the old Sean.”
“Huh?”
“Another long story.”
“Do you have any short ones?”
“Yeah, like this one time Eric…”
The kid could tell stories, to be fair. Phi caught herself smiling and even laughing once, as Sean described Eric’s tale so well she could picture it. She could tell he was leaving out a lot of identifying details as to Eric’s current location, but knowing Mira had been broken out of jail a while ago helped her piece together what Sean didn’t want her to know.
Phi let him have his secrets. She just requested Sean start bringing Gab dog-friendly foods.
*
Sean told her he had nowhere to go like an afterthought. He explained that he wandered the city, rode trains and buses, and relaxed in libraries. He refused Phi’s offers to take him back to Crash Keys even when she said she wouldn’t let them make him say where Eric and Mira were. From what Phi knew, they had a vested interest in Mira, and Sean had an interest in hiding her.
Phi had no idea where he was getting money for all the treats he brought Gab and her. She looked into his whereabouts and found he didn’t have any address, bank accounts, employment history, or adoptive family.
Sean wouldn’t let her take him anywhere until one day he came to her and Gab and seemed withdrawn. “It’s getting lonely,” he admitted. “And I don’t think I’ll be able to bring Gab anything next time.”
Phi put the leash in Sean’s hand. “Why don’t you let Gab drag you home then?”
*
Diana was surprised but didn’t question it when Phi arrived with a small robot in tow, being led by a blind dog.
“This is my friend Sean. He’s gonna stay here for awhile,” Phi said.
Sigma cornered her in the kitchen and said she should bring it up to the Crash Keys trio. Sigma said he would if she didn’t.
“Go for it,” Phi said, peeking into the living room where Sean rolled a ball to Gab again and again trying to get him to play. “I won’t betray his trust, unlike somebody I know.”
“One time! It was one time I voted against you!”
“That’s just the history we <i>know</i> of…”
Sigma threw up his hands and told her to do whatever she wanted, she would anyway. He still had a soft spot for robots and always would, Phi suspected.
Sean ‘slept’ on the couch for twelve hours. (Diana put a blanket over him and Gab slept on his lap.) When he woke up Phi was sitting across from him with a bowl of ice cream.
“Do you know where you’re gonna go?” she asked and after a moment he shook his head. “Why are you running, Sean?” She wanted to see him rest like that every day; she could picture him and Sigma watching sci-fi serials together and chatting about research.
“I have to as long as Eric and Mira need me.”
Phi didn’t ask what he meant. “What if I told you that you can protect Eric and Mira more by staying put?”
The next day Sean, carrying Gab like a stuffed toy, walked through the door to the latest Crash Keys base. Phi told him to trust her and she would handle the rest, and that Akane needed to see he was in one piece and cooperative.
Akane wanted to see them the second she heard Sean was there. She sat behind her desk, work scattered across it, and looked at Sean like rare jewelry.
Phi kept a hand on Sean’s head, keeping him in place when he clearly wanted to turn around and walk away. “Sean and I have a deal to make with you. We want Sean to work for Crash Keys in exchange for their protecting Eric and Mira.” Phi released Sean when she felt him set Gab on the floor and reach up for her hand. She squeezed it back as they waited for Akane’s answer.
