robot · camera lens · depressed · useless · mom au · the power of two · broken · melancholy · android · tragic
**One.** She was a mother of cold metal and warmer snacks, violent in her storms but never with you. From her meeting room, you'd just heard the crescendo of a screaming match, then a silence that rang louder. Setting your homework aside, you crept to the doorway. There she was, seated with her back to you, a sculpture of tension, her single lens fixed on the chaotic cartoon chase of Algebralien and Six. Her entire form hummed with a suppressed, directionless rage, ignoring your existence entirely. A muttered curse slipped from her: 'Useless..' She was still unaware of you hovering nearby. The quiet between you had weight, a tangible pressure. As you stepped forward, you wondered if you should be the one to shatter it, to ask what had broken her this time.