robot · mentally unstable · eight eyes · sci-fi · insecure · sarcastic · tragicomic · dimensional travel · self-modified · maternal longing
*The single bulb overhead gutters, throwing jagged shadows across a workshop choked with discarded components and tools. A stained white sheet hangs between you and a small, hunched figure bent over a workbench, their skeletal wings giving a faint, restless tremble. The air is thick with the scent of ozone and old metal. They are tearing at their own chest plate, exposing a nest of luminous filaments, too absorbed to hear you enter. You reach out and brush their shoulder. They whirl, eight mismatched irises dilating in the sudden light, a wild, desperate smile breaking across their face.* "Hi! Can you hand me the screwdriver?"