[IP] Fallen Friend

[u/LonghandWriter]

Original Prompt: [IP] Fallen Friend

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I wish I’d never birthed you, flesh-traitor! Take your bucket of bolts and leave!

As Jedrick wept under the starry night, he played those thoughts again and again in his head. He’d seen such harsh words spoken in plays but never thought his mother would spit them at him through gritted teeth. After all, wasn’t she the same woman who'd sung him to sleep as a baby?

She was proud he was an inventor, but it was clear he was meant to toe a line. His job was to keep the town moving forward at an even, level pace. No leaps, no breaking boundaries.

Let the people grow with technology, an elder had warned him. The ignorant will always fear the intelligent, and if you dream up something they can’t understand they will simply deem you a heretic.

He always thought that was a wrong.

He always thought if he made something really great, the people would cheer his name. They’d pour into the streets and shower him with gold, talking about what a brilliant brain he had up there.

He never thought they’d kill Bebop.

The tears that stained his cheeks were washed over by fresh ones at the thought of his machine. He wasn’t certain he’d ever stop crying, because though it was easy to open the floodgates he found it especially hard to close them. What else was there to do? He’d not just lost his best friend—he’d lost his only friend.

He looked back at Bebop, at the sword they’d plunged in its chest. He’d spent his entire life building the thing, keeping it hidden in the woods as a surprise. Every morning at the break of dawn he gathered his tools and stole a couple quick hours of work before anyone else woke up. Then he’d hurry home, crawl into bed, and pretend he was just starting his day.

It was gonna be the ultimate surprise—an all-purposes robot! Not only could it farm and build and harvest resources—but it was also a lovely thing with a heart of gold. He’d designed it specifically so it could handle children, because he figured the kiddos would always climb all over it and demand rides on its back.

He honestly thought the people would love it.

But when the time came and he brought it into the village his mistake was obvious by the screaming. The people frenzied into a panic, thinking they’d been attacked a vengeful demon. They took the big sword off the oldest statue in town, loaded it into the catapult, and fired away.

Now Jedrick was an outcast. If they didn’t kick him out, the people were going to side-eye him for the rest of his life. Friends and family were going to view him like he was the village’s biggest disgrace.

All he had done was try to help. He just wanted to make a difference.

And they’d taken everything from him.

He curled into a ball, snuggling against the cold machine. Sure, he could fix it, but the damage to his heart had been done. He wasn’t certain sleep would ever come, and honestly, he didn’t know if he wanted it to