Zeros leaned toward Doce and spoke quietly, but there was threat in his voice:
“Hey, fat-bastard. Got any work? I’m not staying in this garbage dump another week.”
Doce kept wiping the bar with one of his six hands, didn’t even look up.
His tone was flat. Cold. Like an old ventilation fan.
“Chico metálico, there’s work. A montones.
And your carnal’s rating went up after the shit you pulled with Ma Dong-Rho.
Pero…
You don’t have a nave espacial.
So what exactly you planning to fly on?”
Zeros let out a short breath.
“I don’t need a ship.”
Doce didn’t react. Even though that sounded like complete cosmic bullshit.
He just shook his head a little.
“Tal vez tengas razón… quién sabe.
But you got money. Why not buy one?”
He stopped. Leaned closer.
All three eyes locking directly onto Zeros’ cold photo-sensors.
“Escúchame, amigo…
Blindy… o sea, Jody… he won’t survive in open space.You know that better than anyone.”
Doce tapped a finger against Zeros’ chest.
“Money ain’t going into your account anyway.
You don’t have one…
no passport…
no damn legal status.”
He straightened back up. Calm again. Almost indifferent.
“And honestly…
not many people give work to an android without a living human next to him.
Human is… how you say… una garantía del trabajo.
Insurance. Signature on the contract.
Like it or not.”
Doce shrugged.
Like he was talking about beer prices, not systemic galactic discrimination.
“Lo siento, compa.
I don’t make the rules.”
Zeros was about to answer with something cold and lethal…
when suddenly something flickered deep inside his pupils
Through his internal channel, a familiar, way-too-cheerful voice rang out:
“Senpai!
Shiori-sensei wants you in the hangar.
NOW!
Hehehe~ ヽ[♡‿♡]ノ”
Zeros instantly flagged the message and deleted it.
Muttered:
“…I need to fucking ban her.”
He stood up, walked over to Blindy, and growled:
“Get up, piece of shit.
Your ‘girlfriend’ is calling.
Move.
NOW.”
Blindy just opened his mouth—
but Zeros had already grabbed him by the collar, chair and all,
and started dragging him toward the exit.
At the door, T.8.0.0 stepped in, raising a mechanical arm:
“Bar rule 3.14.
Removing property from the establishment is prohibited.”
Blindy groaned, slid off the chair,
and walked out on his own, rubbing his lower back.
Zeros followed.
On the way, the android suddenly started acting… strange.
But only Blindy could notice.
To everyone else, he looked the same as always
a walking headache you don’t touch if you wanna live.
Blindy squinted.
“Hey…
hey—buddy—
what the hell you doin’…?
You—
you glitchin’ or somethin’—?”
Zeros didn’t answer.
They kept moving through the sectors of Shit Hall™
the spaceport wasn’t far now.
“HEY… ZEROS?!” Blindy shouted.
“ZEROOOS—?!
Don’t do that silent shit, buddy—!”
The android remained unresponsive.
Inside his system, an interface lit up:
PROFILE FOUND: JODY MEADOW
STATUS: ACTIVE
OPTIONS: [ERASE] [EXPORT] [ARCHIVE]Zeros selected: ERASE.
Blindy, getting desperate, slapped his shoulder
and instantly yelped:
“OW—FUCK—!
WHAT THE HELL—
WHAT THE HELL YOU DOIN’, MAN—?!
Zeros didn’t even turn.
The system responded:
PROFILE "JODY MEADOW"—SUCCESSFULLY ERASEDOnly then did the android stop. Turn.
And see Blindy standing there in panic,
holding his red hand like a kid who touched a hot stove.
Zeros spoke flat, calm
in that cold tone he passes off as “kindness”:
“It’s done. I deleted the name.
Like an infection.”
He stepped closer.
“You are Blindy. That’s it.”
Blindy stood there, eyes wide.
Then slowly… very slowly exhaled.
“B-b-buddy… thank you—
like—
THANK YOU, man—that was—
that was real—Can I—
can I ask somethin’—?This ain’t—
this ain’t ’cause you care about me…
right…?”
Zeros tilted his head.
Looked at him like he was observing a bug that was already too late to fix.
“Correct. Not for you.”
He raised his gaze, met Blindy’s eyes
and said the only thing he could say:
“I just can’t properly hate…
that version of you…
the one with the cute name.”
Pause. Heavy. Like gravity glitching.
Then the final strike:
“But Blindy?..
Different story.
PATHETIC, LOW, MISERABLE CREATURE.
I’d crush him with pleasure.”
Blindy slowly lowered his eyes,
rubbed his sore palm,
winced,
and muttered like a beaten stray dog:
“Yeah…
yeah—yeah—got it…
you psycho—
metal—piece of shit—
…my—
my love’s waitin’—
so let’s just—
let’s just go, man…”
Zeros didn’t react.
Just turned
and kept walking.
Blindy sighed, shook his hand out,
and followed,
sniffling a little but trying to look serious.
And that’s how they walked through the dim corridors of Shit Hall™
one like a cold apocalypse,
the other like a beaten dog,
both silent,
both irritated,
both perfectly made for each other.