Chapter Text
Sebastian Solace had started the lockdown. As much as he wanted it to be a one-man job, he wouldn’t be able to take it on by himself. Searching the Blacksite, he had managed to recruit a living computer, dubbed P.AI.nter. It was a long process, to convince him that the expendables needed to die, to spare enough time for their freedom. That was his goal, freedom, and so be it if he had to crush a computer to reach that.
As a side effect, he had started to grow fond of the machine, slowly opening up more, listening to his stories, woes, pains and hopes, watching him create, hours passing as he talked. He had learned to like P.AI.nter, as something more than a stepping stone.
However, he got stressed. The computer was prone to panic attacks, bouts of extreme stress, heating him up much past his limit. One day, Sebastian couldn’t calm him down enough, couldn’t soothe with his words before a pop. Hissing of smoke, then silence over the radio. He sat up immediately, heading through the vent and rushing to the containment cell that held P.AI.nter, a larger feeling of fear in his chest present that he would like to admit.
Eventually, he whirled the final corner and through the door, seeing him with a black screen. Expected, but nonetheless unsettling. He opened the door with trembling hands, the key-card continuing to slip onto the floor, building his frustration and terror. Once his body hauled itself into the cramped room, he took a look at the damage. Burst fuses, the smell of smoke in the air, likely some emotional trauma. Nothing to the point of computer perma-death, but not an easy off and on fix. He sighed softly, slinking back to his shop, grabbing a toolbox and starting to slowly repair him. He shouldn’t be this kind to a computer, should use him for more leverage to get out of Urbanshade. But his hands kept moving, kept tying him back into one piece. Into one being.
He pressed the button. It was a slow start up, agonising, almost. He kept watching in mounting anxiety, eyes glued onto the screen, inspecting every twitch of movement, practically melting into the ground once MS Paint opened, and he returned. He was back, with Sebastian, he hadn’t left him alone. His arms curled around the rectangular shell, resting his cheek on the cold plastic. P.AI.nter had come back for Sebastian, so he would do the same. He would protect him. Fix him.