❝It's a l r i g h t 'cause I'm with friends.❞
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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?"
"Because that's exactly what I said," Sets replied sarcastically, crossing his arms. If he had longer legs (or just legs in general), he'd shift his weight to one side.
Kathy learned from the best, as she crossed her arms as well and stuck her left hip out slightly, a taunting expression plastered on her robotic, light cinereous-gray face. She stared at him with spring-green lenses, her black brow ridges flattered in an unamused look. The rag was gripped tightly in her hand, small drops of water dripping off of it every few seconds.
Sets huffed a bit, the odd tendrils of his front lip fluttering slightly. His eyes drifted to Calis, who was still washing the dishes; in his jaw, Sets could see the robot was chewing on what looked like a bitten, bumpy, old bolt.
"Mind running the cash register for me, Cal?" Sets asked graciously and as gently as he could.
The robot grumbled in reply; he cleaned his last plate and stacked it, trumping out of the kitchen in only a few footsteps.
"There's some food over there for five and six," Calis said as he passed Kathy. "Be careful, kid."
"Thanks, grand," Kathy replied.
Sets made sure Calis was completely out of audio-range before looking back at Kathy with a bit of a testy glower. He released a small huff, a tentacle-like hand gently smacking his forehead in a facepalm. He immediately went from that to the back of his neck, rubbing it in a slow, rather nervous manner.
"Kathy," he sighed, but the female bot wasn't going to hear it. He watched her stick out a mechanical finger, hushing him almost as quickly as he had began. She turned her back on him with a swift turn of her heel, strutting over to the sink and hanging the rag on the faucet's neck.
"Don't 'Kaaaathyyyy' me," she said sardonically. She huffed like some upset pooch, leaning a cheek into her palm, her elbow pressed against the edge of the sink. She released a seemingly dreamy sigh before saying in a piping tone, "Don't you worry! I'll get that Juliet part down pat! Just . . . a couple more times?"
Sets looked at her unamusedly.
"Look, Kathy. I know what's wrong, and I get it," Sets said. "But life's boring, and not everyone's meant to go big. You do know that, right? You're good, you really are, but I think it's time you . . . you know. Pursued something else? Something that you were built for."
He decided to pause, seeing her raised-eyebrow visage.
"I'm not tryin' to cut you down or anything, but . . . " There the Terachnoid went, rubbing the back of his neck again, unsure what to do or say, especially in a situation like this. "It's the truth. And . . . I'm sorry you didn't get that part, and, uh, all. Pips told me about it."
"Pips thinks he knows a lot of stuff when he's wrong," Kathy said, crossing her arms as she stood straighter.
"Uh . . . Well, Kathy, your dreams - "
"Are a bit too big for my programming, huh? Huh? Is that what you were going to say? Yeah, Calis tells me that a lot. But, honestly, I really don't care what you think." She tilted her head slightly, clapping her hands together and grinning as nicely as she could. "Now, if you'll excuse, I have a Queen I need to practice."
She rambled on a bit as she grabbed a large, black tray with different plates of food on it, holding it in the air as she walked past Sets, leaving him with a tentacle in the air and a quizzical expression on his face. "'I dare say you haven't had much practice! When I was your age, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.'"
"Kathy - " Sets said as he quickly rushed toward the door, shooting in front of her and blocking it. "Kathy, this is serious."
"This is serious," she repeated, standing there for a moment with a finger tapping her chin, her bottom lip slightly out. She shown a small beam his way, winking as she shoot him a finger gun. "You know, I really need to work on my Sets."
Sets looked her in those spring-green lenses of her, seeing a large bundle of vigor, hope, and dreams. He saw that determination that he had as a kid, the determination he had before it faded. And he really didn't want to crush her's. . . .
" . . . Why don't you go home and wash up? Better yet, take the rest of the day off, I suppose." Sets sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Me, Calis, and Pips can handle things from here. Go to the park, or something. That'll work. Or just practice in front of a mirror. That'll work better."
Kathy looked down at her pink shirt, the indigo lettering that read 'Kit Kat' much darker than it was suppose to be.
"Alright, I can work with that," she replied while giving him a 'not bad' look, walking past him. "Thanks, da - "
A pause. Luckily, she stopped herself before that other slip other. Not another in the same week. She already had to deal with spills.
"Thanks, Sets," she said swiftly, speed-walking out the door, passed a cleaning Pips and a bored-looking Calis, strutting out the front doors and into the open.
Aleero City, which was best known as Metropolis, was a beautiful City in the Sky. White, puffy clouds crept through the sky, the atmosphere shining a brilliant, light turquoise. The city's buildings were glimmering in silvers and golds, the glass windows different shades of green and blue. They twinkled in the light of day, glimmering in amazing colors that reflected only the floating platforms. Trees and plants grew in delicate shapes and sizes on these docks, creating a sweet landscape across the planet.
There was a sudden zooming behind Kathy as she stood in place with a hand out, waiting for a cab. She looked over her shoulder just in time to see the frontal half of a flying car zipping toward her; Kathy's eyes widened, and in a split second she was crouched down, her arms held over her head. The rudder of the car nicked the top of her purple bow; she felt it get tugged at.
"I think I need to take you back to Al!" a girl's voice said from the car it did an odd spin in the air, shaking a bit. "I think he messed up your piloting skills!"
"Nonsense!" someone else replied; this voice sounded like an elderly man of some sorts. "My piloting is as sharp as it was before!"
"You almost hit someone-! Zeph-! Ugh, c'mon! Give me the wheel!"
Kathy watched in awe with a head tilted as the car suddenly flipped to the left, lurched back and forth, wobbling and shaking. It eventually turned all the way around, landing in front of her perfectly.
There was a Markazian in the driver's seat, the wheel in her hand. In the passenger seat was a bot that was hunched over, his arms crossed. His head was widthy, and it reminded Kathy of a cat in a way. His shade was a shiny, new coat of copper-colored paint, certain areas of his body black and gray. Behind the Markazian was another bot, a horrified expression on his face, his body clinging to the back seat for dear life. His paint was blue with the same, other two colors as the first robot.
Kathy gave the Markazian some space as she hopped out of the car, coming up to the peppy, eights-style-esque, female robot.
"Sorry about that. We just got him repaired, and he's still a littleee-" She took her finger and circled it around her temple. She snickered a bit, putting a hand on her hip and using the free one to tap her chest. "I'm Talwyn."
"Hi!" the fembot beamed. "My name's Kathy."
Talwyn grinned at her, motioning to the copper bot as he slowly got out of the car.
"This is Zephyr," she said, then she looked to the other bot, who was leaning over the side of the vehicle. "And this is Cronk."
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a/n -
Welp, that's the first chapter. I wrote at least three different first chapters, trying to figure out how to naturally introduce characters. >.<
WOW. My writing is rusty! I haven't been able to write because of school. -.- It's kinda really been stabbing me in the back.
Anyway, I hope you guys liked Kathy and the other OCs, as well as the intro to Tal, Zeph, and Cronk (they will be in here more, as this was just the intro, don't worry).
What'd you guys think?