Voice

The lack of sound woke her from her rest, rather than its presence.

Ebony's joints ached slightly as she propped herself up from the cold ground, scratching her head slightly on the low ceiling of twisted metal above her.

She and Male had chosen to seek refuge in this intricate nest of twisted metal the night before when her body had started to act up again, and he had fallen asleep in her arms after the warmth of their small fire made him drowsy. She loved taking care of him. Ever since he had insisted on accompanying her on that day that they first met, she had grown quite fond of the boy. She had been programmed from the beginning to imprint on some human behaviors, particularly those of protective females, and now that she had a human to take care of she found that she was beginning to emulate the maternal behavior of the many human females she had observed throughout the years.

In between periods of travel through abandoned cities and towns, she would run her hands through his soft hair to comb it. She would stick her finger in puddles of water to wipe away the smudges of dirt constantly plaguing his face. When he seemed to become tired or sad she would caress his back with her hand in what she hoped would bring a sparkle back to those electric blue eyes. She had done none of these things for anyone before he had come into her life.

She only worried about how long this would be able to last. She had a feeling that eventually Male would yearn to be among his own kind again. They could do things she couldn't. They could feed him consistently. They could comfort him with the warmth of their skin. They could call him by his name.

There was also the fact that she was slowly breaking apart. She had been for years, but it had never bothered her until her existence had become directly essential for another being. Lately she had taken to settling down more in between periods of travel to rest and to let herself heal, blindly hoping that it would slow her decline.

In her rational mind, however, she knew that her efforts were in vain.

These were the things that Ebony pushed to the back of her thoughts when she lay down to rest that night prior. She had pulled Male from across the ground where he lay against her chest, and placed her metal hand on his chest. She checked the beating of his heart. Her sensors picked up a steady rhythm. Normal, she decided. This always put her at ease when she was scared that he was ailing.

She entered her own "sleep" cycle shortly after his gentle breathing became a lovely lullaby to her sensors.

But she no longer heard his breathing.

Through the tiny gaps in the wiry metal ceiling Ebony could see small shines from moonlight, meaning that in all likelihood Male was still in the refuge and sleeping. Supposing that he somehow had wormed his way out of her arms and was sleeping peacefully a little ways away from her, Ebony sat for a few seconds to allow her metallic irises to adjust. Her irises finally focused and she surveyed her surroundings.

She didn't see him. She only saw his beloved knapsack lying against the wall opposite to her.

Panicked, she switched on her heat vision.

Still, nothing.

Ebony could feel an overwhelming rush of what only could be described as fear cascade over her system. She quickly sat all the way up and crouched onto her rusted kneecaps, making her way through the tunnel of metal that led to the entrance of their hideaway. She stumbled into the dark and desolate outside. Although it registered in the back of her mind that all her desperate calls sounded like shredding metal, Ebony screamed for Male.

In all the time he had been by her side he had never gone off in the middle of the night, even when his stomach growled loud enough to keep even Ebony awake. She couldn't imagine him having run off. But then how did he disappear from the refuge, with him wrapped in her safe embrace no less!

She searched for him until the sun spilled its light through the hazy clouds and smog of the morbid sky. With a grating moan of despair she sank to her knees and buried her head in her hands. Her body wracked and heaved, causing the metal of her torso and her joints to contract and crinkle dangerously.

Where is he?

"Ebony?"

Ebony tensed immediately, the sound of Male's voice focusing her senses acutely for the first time in months. She whipped her body around to see him standing behind her, unharmed and alive, albeit terribly confused. With surprising speed for her condition she leapt to her feet and grabbed his frail frame, squeezing him into an almost painfully tight embrace.

If she didn't press him against her hard enough she would never be sure he was there, and she would never be able to trust her sensors again.

"EBO-GGK!-NY-WHAT-GHDK-WHAT'STHE-HMMRPH-MATTER-?!"

It suddenly clicked in her mind that he had indeed left on his own. And without telling her. The metallic lids over her monochrome eyes furrowed in hurt and rage, and she pushed Male away from her, a small sense of betrayal festering within her. For all she knew, the Other Robot could've snatched him away. She had been scared out of her wits. Who did he think he was?

She angrily bent back down to her knees and scribbled in the war-torn dirt.

YOU LEFT WITHOUT TELLING ME I THOUGHT SOMEONE HAD TAKEN YOU

"I-I'm sorry, it was important." he stammered. "I left because I thought it might help you."

Ebony stabbed her finger to the ground in order to write more of her disapproval of his departure when the last part of what he said sank in. She hesitantly smudged out what she had begun to write and started anew.

HELP ME

"Y-yeah." Male shifted nervously and began to speak again.

"Y'know how I told you I lost my memory?" Ebony nodded. "Well, um…l-lately some of it has been coming back, and…uh…I never told you because I didn't want to get your hopes up with what I remembered."

He shifted once more on his dainty feet. He took a shaky breath and started again. "I-It's not very clear when I remember, but I'm sure that whoever I used to be had experience with repairing robots. Every time I look at you I…I remember seeing different robot parts and equipment for them in different places…places that I think I lived in. I think I may have been living in a family of mechanics. But the reason I left without telling you w-was because I t-thought I could look around in the city that we passed through recently for a…a toolbox I could use."

He paused again, looking at Ebony before continuing.
"I wanted to try and fix you."

Ebony winced a bit, despite herself. She had tried her best to hide her declining condition from Male, but he had still noticed.

"I was only t-trying to h-help…I'm sorry…" Male's eyes began to tear. "I-I…I really REALLY like staying with you. And everyone else needs you even more than I do, b-because you're the *hic* only one who can fight that Other Robot."

He sniffled and attempted to wipe his eye with his grimy hoodie sleeve.

"I didn't want you to leave me."

Ebony's writing hand reached out on reflex to stop him, not wanting his eye to become infected.
Gently she lifted her other hand from her side and wiped his tears for him, her cool metallic skin caressing his cheek a bit before Male took her hand into his.

"Are you mad?"

She took her writing hand off of his sleeve and placed it to the ground once more.

NO

BUT NEXT TIME TELL ME

"D-deal."

He smiled his gorgeous smile and Ebony felt a surge of affection for him. She stood up onto her creaking legs and pulled Male into another embrace, only this time with less urgency.

He had done so much for her and risked so much.

He never made an attempt to go back to his kind, he stayed hidden during her battles with the Other Robot, he helped clean her wounds afterwards, and he endured the long hours of silence and guessing games between them.
He had even left the safety of the refuge to help her.

"MALE"

It came out unexpectedly. For the first time in centuries she had spoken. The word had been hardly recognizable through her grating and auto-tuned voice, but it had been spoken.
She had finally been able to say his name.

"Ebony!" Male said.

He looked up at her in astonishment as she did the same to him.

"MALE"

"MALE"

"MALE!"

Her voice became no less grating or robotic sounding each time she said his name, but she was too overjoyed to notice. "Hey, that's my name, don't wear it out." Male smirked.

Ebony looked at him again and smiled. She knew now she had nothing to worry about. She should've known this a long time ago from observing humans. Once you formed a family with them, they never let you go.

And that was a good thing.