Pest Control

Tags: AAA Original Characters

Published: 14 January 2022

Word Count: 1,124

Summary

Sometimes when the Squad is stressed, they hide in the walls. It's best not to disturb them if you notice them doing so.

Some of us on the Murderbot Discord were tossing around the kinda crack idea of the Squad hiding in the walls of Tellus' hotel to recharge, and Tellus calling pest control. Mad cackling and spitballing of how said pest control would react, and who said pest control even was followed, and... then I wrote this. Enjoy!

Anari had been doing a lot of thinking over the past several days, after they'd found their old combat SecUnit squad hiding in the walls of the transient hotel. That had been surreal. Anari still remembered, quite vividly, seeing through the inspection camera they'd inserted into the wall the ten arm-mounted energy weapons (and a knife) pointed at the lens from every direction. Very familiar energy weapons -- but none of them with the stark white armour around them that was usually there. Not a single one.

Anari was all too familiar with the capabilities of the squad. They could have easily shot through the walls to kill them, hacked the hotel bot, covered their tracks... but they hadn't. They hadn't attacked. The squad had simply sent a message. We will defend ourselves. Leave us alone. Anari was still trying to wrap their head around the fact that the squad had actually taken the pillows and blankets they'd left out for them.

Equipment didn't use pillows, or blankets. Weapons didn't need comfort.

But people did.

After spending their entire life in the Corporation Rim, the idea that constructs were actually people and not just tools was an idea that Anari was still coming to terms with. It would've been absolutely laughable back in the CR, but here, on Preservation, after seeing and hearing so much about the rogue SecUnit that had saved the PreservationAux survey team and rescued their leader (the same unit that had once, years ago, been part of the squad that Anari had commanded)... well. Not so laughable now.

Anari rubbed at their temples and sighed. They were currently on a rest cycle, sitting at one of the 'outdoor' tables by a place named "Starchy Foods!", enjoying one of their favourite starchy snacks. Or at least, enjoying it as much as they could while also having some kind of... crisis of conscience, or something. They took another bite and chewed slowly, then blinked as they spotted a familiar someone approaching their table.

They'd seen their squad out of their armour enough times before (usually only while the units were damaged and bleeding - Anari tried not to think too hard about that part) to recognise the one approaching now. The pale skin, light hair (a little longer than Anari was used to seeing though), the thin face and straight nose - Epsilon. The main liaison between Anari and the rest of the squad. It wasn't wearing armour now though, just practical clothes and boots in various shades of grey.

Epsilon was looking right at Anari as it came to a halt by their table, its expression familiarly neutral. It seemed relaxed, but there was still a slight awkwardness to its movements. "... May I sit?" it asked Anari, gesturing to one of the other chairs at their table.

Anari nodded and chewed hurriedly before swallowing their mouthful of pastry. "Of course, please, sit." They'd glimpsed some of the squad around the station over the past several days, but had never approached any of them. Apparently now the squad had decided to approach Anari, instead. They glanced around, and-- there. Of course Epsilon wouldn't be here alone. Anari could see another of the squad, Gamma, standing casually some distance away.

If Gamma was here, then Iota was probably somewhere nearby too. Anari felt the skin on the back of their neck crawl, but did their best to ignore it.

Epsilon pulled out the chair and carefully sat in it, looking a little uncomfortable, and Anari realised they'd never seen any of the squad sit before. Of course not - SecUnits weren't allowed to sit in the presence of humans. That just confirmed what Anari already suspected - the squad was no longer under anyone's control. That should have been terrifying. It was, still, a little. But the squad had already had a chance to kill them - multiple chances - and hadn't taken them.

Even though Epsilon had approached them first, it looked like it didn't know what to say now that it was here. Anari cleared their throat and asked, "So, um. How are you all doing, anyway...? Still hiding in the walls?"

Epsilon blinked, then outright sighed, rubbing at its forehead with one hand, and Anari had to bite back a huff of (maybe a little hysterical) laughter. "... Occasionally," it admitted reluctantly, letting its hand drop back to the table. "We're... doing all right though. Figuring things out."

Anari nodded. "Preservation seems like a good place for that."

Epsilon made a soft non-committal noise, then eyed Anari for a moment before speaking again. “We want to know why you’re here though. Are you still with the Company?”

Ah, Epsilon was getting straight to the point. Anari could work with that. “No, I’ve retired. Got my full severance payout and everything. As for why I’m here…" They hesitated for a moment, considering just how much to admit to. “... When I was still with the company, I was… keeping an eye on Omega. I hated that I couldn’t get it back to the squad.”

Epsilon looked surprised at that, but remained silent, and Anari continued. “I wasn’t in a position to influence its assignments, but I could at least keep track of where it was. So when Dr. Mensah bought it, and it eventually ended up here… I decided to check Preservation out, make sure it was okay.” They shrugged. “It turns out it’s actually quite nice here. I got to do some study, got myself a job that suited my interests and experience, and was much less stressful than my previous one.” They gave Epsilon a wry smile. “Imagine my surprise when I spotted you lot. So much for being less stressful.”

“If it makes you feel any better, we were just as surprised and probably even more stressed out,” Epsilon replied dryly. It shifted in its chair a little, diverting its gaze to one of the nearby plant displays. “... Why the pillows?”

Anari chewed their lip briefly before answering. “I… well. When I first saw you I thought you might actually be here on a mission. But then I realised, none of you had your armour on, and if you were all here on a mission, it wouldn’t be one that would involve you hiding in walls. And… well, being here has… made me rethink a lot of stuff I thought I knew.” They shrugged uncomfortably. “I thought that… maybe you’d appreciate them. While hiding in walls.” They hoped that Epsilon would understand what they were trying to say.

Epsilon was silent for a long moment, still looking at the plant display. “We did appreciate them,” it finally replied, its voice soft. “And the off-duty comment. Thank you.”

Maybe Epsilon did understand. Anari relaxed a little. “You’re welcome.”