Eclipsed [Ratchet & Clank]

1 ⋆ 'Cause the World Might Do Me in

❝It's  a l r i g h t 'cause I'm with friends.❞

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

If you weren't a hero, life was particularly dull in Aleero City. You could always visit the Hall of Heroes, or maybe you could go down to the different shops and buy whatever made you feel superhero-like. But deep down, you know you weren't built to save the galaxy, and that, possibly, you weren't built for anything special at all.

That's what working at Sets's diner felt like, and of course, the Terachnoid himself knew it. He knew that working at a completely un-unique diner on a surprisingly un-unique planet serving un-unique patrons was a complete and total beat-down. 

He would know. 

Ever since he was a kid, he worked for his father at the diner, so he always made sure to keep his plans down to Earth - or Kerwan, actually. Dream too big, his strict father always said, and you'll break this little building.

There were those who didn't mind their job (or they just did a very good job hiding it).

There was Calis, an older bot that was in his late, robo fifties. He was creaky, clunky, and monotonous, but still Sets kept him. More often than so, Calis would chew on a bolt or spring to calm his nerves, as Sets knew that the diner (and the people that worked there) could create an intense atmosphere. The rickety bot had been there for ages, working away, pulling his joints and pouring his circuits out to make sure the diner was absolutely perfect.

There was also Pips, a short info bot that Sets had bought from a bank on a different planet, turning him into the cleaner of the diner. Pips was particularly speedy; the little guy, despite being only a couple feet tall, was always on the go, and always moving. He was that only employee that was in as soon as Sets unlocked the door. He possessed a high-pitched voice and a knack for getting customers to like him. (Sets wasn't sure if that was the only reason he kept him around or not, but he was going to be a kind-hearted kind of guy and say 'Of course that's not the only reason I've kept him this long!')

The sharp screeching of plates shattering against the floor made Sets's train of thought crash and burn. He raised his tentacle-like hands, rubbing his temples at the sound of Pips's shrieky laughter, and Calis's grumpy 'shut ups' from the kitchen window.

Sets followed his customers' gazes, and his eyes landed on a robot everyone there called Kathy.

Her once-retro, pink and indigo shirt was wet with steaming broth and lengthy, yellow noodles, and around her were scattered splinters of glass, a couple pieces of silverware here and there. She immediately avoided Sets's gaze, her eyes snapping to Pips. She motioned to the broom behind the counter, then to the mess at her feet. When he didn't move, she raised her voice a bit in a 'Do it!' shout, the sound of it enough to make Pips do his job.

She refused to look at Sets as she quickly speed-walked into the kitchen, the door swinging behind her in her wake. The Terachnoid ordered his customers as nicely as he could to go back to eating, and that there was nothing much to see, then he walked past the busy-as-a-bee Pips, following Kathy.

Kathy stood there, leaning against the counter, her palms against the edge and one leg crossed over the other. It had been the second time that happened in a month, the first time being caused by a kid, and most of it hadn't gotten on her. This time she wasn't so lucky, though.

Calis ran a washcloth under some hot water and wrung it out, handing it to Kathy, to which she convinced trying to get any dark broth out of her shirt.

"You know," Sets said as he walked in, "this wouldn't be a problem if you just stuck to wearing metal."

Kathy couldn't help but scoff a bit at that. "And be just like everyone else? You would like that, wouldn't you?"