Chapter Text
In the wake of Rigour's defeat, Cass uses some of their savings to let AuDy buy a new arm. It doesn't match their other arm, but it's shiny and gold and the spitting image of Aria's prosthetic. The similarity isn't lost on any of the Chime, but no one says anything about it.
AuDy corners Cass once the repair is complete. "Now that I am no longer damaged, I require employment."
"Um, okay? What's that have to do with me?"
"You will hire me as a bodyguard," AuDy says firmly.
Cass blinks at them, confused. "I will?"
"Yes." Then, after a pause: "You have tried to sacrifice yourself multiple times. I can't allow you to continue. You will hire me as a bodyguard."
Cass shakes their head, incredulous. "AuDy, that's not how this works. Besides, if you're my bodyguard, that's just putting you in danger. How's that any better?"
"I will be close to you." They respond without hesitation.
Their answer shocks Cass into silence for a moment. When they recover, they shake their head again. "Okay, but that doesn't change the fact that you could get hurt. What happens then?"
"My salary will pay for any potential repairs," AuDy says. As if that's a reasonable response.
"That's not the point! The point is I don't want you to get hurt!"
"Then do not do anything that would cause me to intervene." As if that's also a reasonable response.
Cass pinches the bridge of their nose. "AuDy…"
AuDy matches them. "Cassander."
"Alright. Hypothetically, say I let you do this. What happens then?"
"I will be close to you and make sure you remain uninjured," AuDy replies.
Cass holds up their hands, relenting. "Okay. Okay. You win. I'm hiring you as a bodyguard. But you have to promise me you'll… I don't know. Just be careful. If something happened to you because of me…" They don't want to think about that scenario. Losing any of the members of the Chime would gut them, but losing AuDy because someone is gunning for them… They shake their head.
"I will be as careful as I need to be," AuDy says, which is not reassuring.
*
"I will be close to you," as it turns out, means a variety of things. Beyond simply standing at Cass's side during functions, it means sitting with them as they eat, staying in the Apokine's suite, and taking up a position near their bed so that Cass falls asleep under the dim glow of the lights on AuDy's chassis. It's almost comforting to have them there, a step behind and to the side of Cass. A comforting, cold presence that permeates their life.
"I will be as careful as I need to be," as it turns out, means something entirely different.
*
The assassination attempt is sloppy, but Cass is alone in their room—or as alone as they get with AuDy's constant presence—and the attacker had good enough tech to make it past the perimeter guard. They come through the bedroom window while Cass is bathing. Cass doesn't even know what's going on until they hear a gunshot followed by a shotgun blast followed by a second shot.
Their days in the military and with the Chime have conditioned Cass to keep a weapon within arms' reach, so they eschew a towel and grab their pistol instead.
The sight in their bedroom is… grim. The attacker did not fare well against a shotgun being fired point-blank at their abdomen, but at least one shot clipped AuDy in their original arm and left it hanging useless at their side.
Cass lowers their pistol. Their hand does not waver, but their voice does. "AuDy, I need you to tell me you're okay."
"My arm and leg are damaged, but I am functional," they say. "I have alerted the rest of your staff. You might want to put on clothing."
"Shit." Cass sets their gun on an end table and dashed back to the bathroom to do as AuDy said. Before they've even tugged on their tunic, the rest of their security team arrives.
The process of clean-up is swift, though there's nothing to be done about the window until the next day. Cass is shuffled off to another suite in the palace, and AuDy drags themself behind them. When they're settled with a doubled set of guards on every point of entry, Cass looks at AuDy.
"I thought I said I didn't want you to get hurt. I—"
"I'm your bodyguard," AuDy interrupts. " I can be repaired. The roboticist will be here tomorrow. You would not heal for weeks or months."
Cass waves a hand in AuDy's direction to encompass… everything. "You got shot, AuDy!"
"So you would not," they say. "I am your bodyguard."
Cass stands up and stomps over to stand directly in front of AuDy. They're taller than Cass, which ruins some of the effect of Cass's anger, but it's too late to change their course of action. They glare up at AuDy's primary camera. "I hired you because that meant you'd be close to me, not because I wanted you to get shot!"
AuDy shrugs with their good arm—the golden one. "I can be repaired. You can't."
Scrubbing at their face with both hands, Cass groans. "That's not the problem here. The problem is that I care about your well-being, okay? I want you here, but I don't want you getting hurt."
"Then why did you hire me?"
Cass groans in frustration. The urge to tear their hair out is high. They point at AuDy. "That was your idea!"
AuDy laughs, a sound so foreign that it takes a moment for Cass to remember that's what it is. It only makes Cass glare up at them harder.
"It's not funny! You got shot!" They gesture at AuDy's arm and leg in a jerky motion.
"I will be fine. If it will make you feel better, you can assist with removing the bullets. My sensors can't pick them up and my cameras are not capable of seeing the one in my arm."
Cass takes a deep breath and counts to ten. Twice. When they're done, they look back up at AuDy. "Okay. Alright. Fine. I'll help you dig out the bullets."
Without a word, AuDy hobbles to the bed and sits down, their weight causing the frame to creak and the mattress to tip low. Cass settles in beside them. The two holes are sizeable when not compared to the hole AuDy left in the assassin; the weapon was high caliber or the rounds hollow-point. If it had been both, the chances of AuDy retaining their limbs would have been low.
"I'm not going to get shocked by exposed wires here, am I?" Cass asks, half a joke.
"No. I've shut down power to these limbs to prevent further damage."
"Great."
Cass looks at the hole in what amounts to AuDy's thigh. It's two inches in diameter, but they can't immediately see the slug. "I guess if your sensors can't pick it up, it's not gonna hurt if I dig around in there," Cass muses, mostly to themself.
"I do not feel pain," AuDy affirms.
Taking another deep breath, Cass reaches into the hole and probes for the slug. They've removed countless bullets from people during their time as a doctor—hell, they've removed bullets from themself and Aria and Mako on more than one occasion—but something feels different about digging around inside AuDy's leg.
AuDy holds themself perfectly still as Cass works, something else that is different about this compared to previous experiences. Cass grimaces. "This would be easier with some forceps," they grumble.
"You are welcome to acquire some."
Cass rolls their eyes. "No, I've got it. I can feel it right… here." They grab the slug between their forefinger and middle finger and pull it out of AuDy's leg. When they remove it, they drop it on the nightstand near them. It makes a dull thunk sound when it hits the wood.
They turn their attention to AuDy's arm. The hole is just below their shoulder, perfectly placed in one of AuDy's blind spots. They reach into AuDy's arm until their fingertips find what they're looking for and pull it out as well. It falls next to the other on the nightstand.
"There."
AuDy finally shifts. "Your assistance is appreciated."
*
The roboticist comes and goes; they're no Cene Sixheart, but they patch AuDy up well enough and don't complain when Cass insists on being there while it happens. The only indication that AuDy had been damaged are two shiny spots in their chassis where the roboticist performed the repairs.
"We need to revisit this whole thing, AuDy," Cass says once they're alone again. "I know you're all patched up now, but… AuDy, I don't want you getting hurt again. I'm firing you."
AuDy doesn't so much protest as declare, "You can't fire me."
"I'm Apokine," Cass snaps. "I can fire you if I want to. And I do, because I'm not letting you take any more bullets for me."
"You can't stop me." Another declaration.
"I can have my security detail take you out of here and replace you." But their words aren't nearly so forceful.
"You will not," AuDy says.
Cass sighs. "You're right, I won't. I know you want to stay close to me and… I want that, too. But I don't want you getting shot, or stabbed, or electrocute, or blown up… AuDy, I—"
AuDy cuts them off. "I don't want any of those things, either. Cassander. I care about your well-being. I want to ensure you are safe."
Cass's breath hitches in their throat. That… It made sense, from everything AuDy has said and done, especially recently, but… Hearing them say it makes it feel like something in Cass's chest is too large for their ribcage. The room feels warmer except for the coolness radiating from AuDy's metal form.
They reach out and take AuDy's hand—not the gold one, but the one that originally came with the Automated Dynamics chassis. The metal must have been smooth once, but it's scuffed and pock-marked beneath Cass's palm. In some ways, it matches the myriad of scars—acquired through scuffles and brawls and a notable accident with a scalpel—on Cass's own hand.
AuDy allows it.
"This is so stupid," Cass says around the lump in their throat. "Didn't you ever stop to think that I felt like that, too?"
"You act on the impulse often," AuDy says in a measured sort of way. "You have tried to save me from injury many times. It is difficult to ignore."
Cass snorts. "That's not what I meant."
"You want to be near me, and you don't want me to be injured." What should have sounded clinical with AuDy's voice synthesizer ends up somehow soft. Or maybe that's just Cass's imagination.
"Yeah."
AuDy turns their hand so that they grip Cass's fingers. "Then we should try to keep each other safe."
The statement is so simple that it startles Cass into laughter. "Okay. Yeah. Okay. Let's do that."