Grumbot's POV
I don't know how long I've been sitting here.
Maybe it's been a day.
Maybe a month.
Does it even matter?
Dads will be back.
They have to come back.
I haven't moved from my position in front of the notice board, reading the papers stuck to it over and over. The Shopping District around me has fallen into disrepair, even the once beautiful diamond throne looking cracked and neglected.
Jrumbot is asleep in my arms, his joints rusted and his little body freezing cold. I gently rock back and forward, trying to keep him safe while I tell myself the same thing over and over.
"They'll be back soon. Don't worry."
"That's what I kept telling myself, and look how well that aged."
I would jump, but I have an inability to be scared. Instead I turn around rather calmly (though I also have an inability to be calm, so I can't really say that) to see a stranger standing behind me.
The stranger looks exactly like Dad, and I almost think it's him. On closer inspection I see that parts of his body are made of metal, like Dads' friend Doc. Two plates of rusted iron are on his face, that run from his jaw to just below his eyes. They look like tears running down his cheeks.
"Who are you?" I ask, tilting my head to show the confusion my voice lacks.
"Dad?" Jrumbot asks, looking almost hopeful as he excitedly bounces up and down in my arms.
The stranger smiles, a sad, twisted smile that shows pity for my little brother.
"No, I'm not your dad." He tells Jrumbot sympathetically. "I'm just a friend of your dad who wants to help you."
Then he holds a hand out.
"NPC Grian, NPG if you will, at your service."
"Hi." Jrumbot mumbles, waving shyly and making NPG smile again.
"Hi." He responds. "What's your name?"
"Dum-Both."
"He means Jrumbot." I tell him "And I'm Grumbot."
"Hmm... would your other 'dad' be Mr. Mumbo Jumbo, by chance?" NPG asks
"Yes."
"I knew I recognised that moustache." He tells me with a grin, before helping me to my feet. I didn't realise how much ivy and plants have surrounded me until I have to wrestle my way out of their grip.
"So let me guess, Grian abandoned you too?" He asks
"Dad didn't abandon us. He always comes back." I reply calmly
NPG's face softens slightly, his eyes full of sympathy.
"No... he's not coming back this time."
"What do you mean? He said he'd be back!" I insist, starting to get upset
"He lied. He's gone off without you, and he's not gonna come back. Ever."
"No!" I yell "My dads always come back for me, they love me!"
There's a moment of silence.
"That's what I though too."
"What do you mean?"
"Grian left me behind too. He wanted to forget I ever existed."
This only confuses me more.
"Why would he want to forget you?"
"Because I was a mistake." NPG retorts bitterly. "A failure, to put it another way. And Grian would never love a failure."
"Then... are we 'failures' too?" I ask
"No, you're just not useful to him anymore now that the Mayoral Campaign's over."
"Not useful?" I repeat.
"Yeah, you two were only made to help Mumbo become Mayor. And when Scar won instead... well you just weren't much help anymore, were you?"
"I don't know what you mean, they're our dads! We're their sons, we weren't just made to help make Dad mayor!"
NPG frowns, looking almost sad.
"There's... something I think you need to see."
NPG's POV
Grumbot's situation is worse then I expected it to be when I came here. Not only does he refuse to accept he's been abandoned, he genuinely believes he's human. An actual person who Grian and Mumbo love and care about.
He doesn't know that he's a robot, he doesn't know he was made just to assist, he doesn't even know that his so called 'dads' were leaving him. At least Grian had the decency to make me aware of all that.
So I'm leading Grumbot to Grian's base, where I can hopefully find a recording of when he and his brother were built. Maybe then he'll believe me. And maybe it'll be easier for him to hear it from his dads then from someone he just met.
We eventually reach The Mansion, where I come across Grian's editing room. There's a shulker box of labelled tapes, one for each episode of Season 7 that he made. I search through the disorganised box, until I find the one I'm looking for.
Hermitcraft 7: Episode 22 - BUILDING THE GRUMBOT!
Grumbot frowns sceptically when he sees the name, but watches nonetheless as I put the tape into the small televison and press play.
I can't help but scowl when I see Grian's face. It's the face I have to see in every mirror I pass, every bad memory I think of, and a face I absolutely despise.
Grumbot holds onto Jrumbot as he watches, slowly realising that what I told him was true. I show them when Jrumbot was made, when Mumbo lost and they were put into the matrix, and finally, Grian's Season Finale where they leave them forever.
Jrumbot's too innocent to fully understand what's happening, and just accepts what he sees. Grumbot, however, seems almost broken by the truth, taking a moment to try and process what he's just gone through.
"They lied to me. I was just a tool to help Mumbo win."
I note how Grumbot calls Mumbo by his name, instead of addressing him as 'dad'.
"And they really aren't coming back."
I nod, reaching out a hand to place on his shoulder, to try and comfort him, when he grabs my wrist, holding it tightly with an iron grip.
"THEY AREN'T EVEN MY DADS."
The peaceful, happy robot I know Grumbot to be seems to shatter to pieces, leaving a hurt, angry robot who's been lied too. The blue lights that light up his face and body, turn a bright red as fury slowly consumes him.
Grumbot turns, seeming like a completely different being. His red eyes have a crack just below one of them, looking like a tear running down his face. His metal body is shaking from this overload of information, and Jrumbot seems almost scared of his brother.
"I HATE THEM."
His once soft and happy voice sounds louder, angrier. His eyes are filled with anger and hurt, feelings I recognise all too well.
"I know you do, I hate them too." I tell Grumbot, trying my best to sound truly sympathetic. "But do you know what the good part of this is?"
"WHAT?"
I smirk, a dark, twisted grin that reflects my dark, twisted mind.
"You get to have your revenge."
What's this? Insane Grumbot, now heart bent on destroying his 'Dads'?
Working together with the equally insane NPG?
Yes.
Yes indeed.
Expect a Part 3 sooner or later.
-Xan