Hardly Ever Smile Without You

3,663 WORDS - WRITTEN SEPTEMBER 21, 2023 - RATING: G (mild swears are used)

Grimora remembers the time she taught P03 how to dance.

Back then, the machine still had its legs. It had still been known as G0LLY. And it’d been very excited to show her its new boss that it had based off of her.

She never knew what happened to P03, and how it lost its legs, or sparked the way it changed. She never knew what to look to for the root... was it her? Leshy? Magnificus? Or perhaps, something of a downward spiral of P03's own making? Nevertheless, she wouldn't ever pry him for the details. (Knowing him, P03 wouldn’t tell anyways.)

It was likely futile, she knew, to ever try and coax the robot into another pleasant night at her crypt, but she still so badly wanted to.

She thought back on the day with a sad fondness… 

Dusk had fallen on their land as G0LLY walked into Grimora’s crypt with a spring in her step and a big, goofy smile on her face. “Howdy, Grim!”

The elder Scrybe sat at her playing table, drinking hot earl grey tea under the dim lights of her crypt as an old show tune played from the phonograph by her side, warbled and layered with static. She set down her tea and looked toward the visitor at her entrance, smiling warmly at the robot. “Why, hello to you too, G0LLY dear. How is everything?”

“Oh, it’s great!” She propped her mechanical hands on her hips, a proud aura about her. “The new security system is coming along great, and my new workers are awesome! I think the Melter is having a hard time adjusting, though… I dunno with what.” Her antenna blinked as she perked up in recollection. “OH! I just remembered, I had something I wanted to show you, Grimora! I think you’ll like it a lot!”

Grimora stood up, patting down the skirt of her dress before looking back at the machine with interest. “Oh? And what might that be, dear?”

“Watch this,” G0LLY told her as a loading icon came onto her screen. 

UNPACKING ARCHIVIST.ZIP . . . APPLYING PERSONALITY MATRICES. 

Grimora tilted her head in curiosity, watching as G0LLY unloaded the file and a new face replaced hers on the screen; one with a wide hypnotic eye and scrolls of 1s and 0s covering its pixelated face. Was this another new character she’d come up with? Oh, how adorably creative!

“GREETINGS!” The machine chirped. “If you had not gleaned it from the title of my ZIP file, then I am The Archivist. Files and directories are my specialty, you see, and I’m eagerly awaiting my opportunity to explore your harddrive!”

Grimora clapped with delight. “Oh, how wonderful! Is this a new character, G0LLY? I assume it’s for your version of the game, yes?”

All the Scrybes had their own version of the game they wanted to write and play independently with challengers. To add interest, they all also had their own characters to play in the game, made as bosses to add more to their games. Admittedly, Grimora was still working on the bosses for her version, but Leshy and G0LLY were coming along nicely with their own. G0LLY seemed to love getting creative with her own bosses, and it was something Grimora was happy to encourage, though Leshy and Magnificus had a few criticisms of the robot’s ideas.

Suddenly, G0LLY was back, her pixel face glowing with pride. “Yep yep yep! She’s a new boss I added to my game!” Pixelated blush lines crossed her face as she bashfully looked to the side. “I - um - she was inspired by you, Grim…”

The cryptkeeper’s eyes widened a little, touching a hand to her face, flattered. “Oh my… inspired by me? ” Her face darkened with blush, as she went to approach the machine. “Goodness, what an honor! Am I that special, to serve as inspiration for one of your bosses?”

“Maaaybe,” G0LLY replied, an electronic hum laid over her voice. “You’re always so nice to me Grimora, it’s hard figuring out how I can return the favor!”

“Ohhh,” Grimora came closer to the machine, close enough to pull her into an embrace, eliciting a surprised beep out of G0LLY. “There’s never a need to return any favors, G0LLY dear. I show you kindness because I want to, never because I want something from you in return,” She gently patted the back of G0LLY’s warm monitor. “I see no reason to be cold to you like some others are.”

Some others meaning, more specifically, Leshy and Magnificus. They were often quite rude to the robot, and sometimes Grimora could tell their attitudes weighed on poor G0LLY. Though the robot was still friendly as always, lately she’d come to put up more walls around herself, so to speak, protecting herself from others. It was starting now with the security system, and Grimora had an uneasy feeling it would escalate from there. An uneasy feeling that the happy-go-lucky robot was going to change. 

By far, the robot was the purest thing Grimora knew of on the wretched disk that was Inscryption, and she knew in her undead heart that she wanted to protect G0LLY — from others, and perhaps even from the robot herself. The younger Scrybe and her happiness was so dear to her, and if ever come the day the disk would be erased, Grimora wanted to at least hope she'd be able to see the robots pixelated smile one last time. The very least she could do for G0LLY now, though, was to simply be her friend.

The robot had eagerly returned Grimora’s embrace, with a quiet, almost somber beep.

Suddenly, the cryptkeeper’s ears became privy to a change in the atmosphere - there was new music.

Passed had the melancholic show tune on her record, and come had that romantic song she’d loved listening to so dearly as of late — one that always made her want to dance.

“Goodness, G0LLY, do you hear that?” She asked, pulling slightly away from the machine.

“Hear what?” G0LLY looked up at her, back to her usual chipper, curious expression. “The screaming and moaning of the undead?”

“No, silly,” Grimora laughed. “No no, the music! Oh, I love this song so much, dear,” she said, a wistful tone to her voice. “It’s so beautiful…”

G0LLY beamed up at her. “Golly, it sure is, Grim!”

The cryptkeeper looked back down to the machine, unable to contain a smile in response to G0LLY’s own. The robot’s joy was so infectious.

“It’s such a shame, though,” Grimora added. “I never have anyone to dance with when it comes on…” She took the robot’s claw in one hand. “... If it’s not any trouble, dear, would you care to share a dance with me?”

G0LLY looked a bit flustered and taken aback. “A - a dance? But - but I don’t know how!”

“Oh, G0LLY,” Grimora giggled. “That’s quite alright. I’ll lead the way for you.”

G0LLY tightened the grip of her claw on Grimora’s calloused hand. “O-o-okay,” she replied, her voice skipping over a bit out of nervousness.

Lead Grimora did, guiding the machine in a slow dance with her claw held in her hand and her other hand caressing the underside of the crank where G0LLY’s other arm would be, had one been built for her.

Careful was the cryptkeeper, gently guiding G0LLY in the dance, timed to the slow rhythm of the music.

1, 2, 3 — 1, 2, 3. 

At first, G0LLY was stumbling over herself trying to follow Grimora’s lead, accidentally stepping on the elder Scrybe’s toes or the hem of her dress with her hard metallic feet and apologizing profusely for such.

Steadily and surely though, she would get the hang of it, her smile brightening as she found she could better keep up with Grimora in the dance.

It was quiet for a spell. Just the two of them, the music, and the ambience of Grimora's crypt.

And suddenly… a dip! Grimora dipped the robot, and G0LLY looked back up at her in wonder, pixel blush underlining her starstruck eyes. The cryptkeeper couldn’t help but smile.

“I must say, G0LLY dear, you’re quite the charming little machine.”

A series of beeps erupted from G0LLY’s speakers, taking the form of joyous laughter. “Aw, gee! Gee whiz, I…” A red pixel heart formed on her screen. “I think you’re pretty swell too, Grim!”

And then, the cryptkeeper leaned in, and pressed her lips up against the machine’s screen, gently tickled by the warm, electric, fuzz from her screen as she kissed her.

G0LLY had the silliest pixel grin on her screen, hearts in her eyes and a wavy smile, looking somewhat like a happy Charlie Brown character. “G-golly!”

Grimora had a feeling she’d already been smitten with the robot, but it was that moment, almost by itself, that cemented her feelings so.

They had continued into the night, G0LLY talking the elder Scrybe’s ear off, sharing with her all the new ideas and elements for her game she’d been coming up with it, a very human, real sense of passion coming from the machine’s synthetic voice.

Of course, their time had to end when G0LLY came to start worrying about how her workers were doing. She took her leave, but not without first attempting what Grimora did earlier — gently bonking her screen up against the cryptkeeper in an attempt at a kiss.

That was then, and it felt near an eternity ago. This was now. 

Though Grimora was well equipped, moreso than other Scrybes, to handle change… death being the biggest and most final change of them all… she couldn’t help the sadness she felt remembering the spritely, curious bot P03 once was. Oh, how much he'd changed.

He was so bitter now. Cold, indifferent, passive aggressive, and controlling. He cared for nothing, no one, and he wouldn’t want to show if he did.

Despite this change, she couldn’t help but still love him. She couldn’t help but cherish the interactions they had. She couldn’t help but smile fondly at all his cute beeps and boops. He was her only source of joy on this god forsaken disk, as cold as he'd turned.

And as indifferent as the machine was, she would hope just this once that he could humor her, that he could play along and relive this moment with her.

Slowly, the machine hovered into her crypt, scowling at the sights around him — broken tiles, dirt, grime, and bones strewn about. A lowering beep, much like a disgruntled sigh, escaped him as he awkwardly floated in the doorway.

Her undead heart ached, knowing the obvious: he didn’t want to be here. He didn't want to see her.

“P03, dear, come,” she said, beckoning him towards her. “Come, stay a spell.”

The machine obliged, silently hovering towards her while keeping an unamused look. “What do you want, you walking corpse?”

”Now now,“ Grimora replied, slightly stern, as she set a record on her phonograph. “No need to get testy." She turned to face him. "I invite you into my crypt, the least you could do is say 'hello.' And address me proper."

P03 rolled the eyes on its LED screen. "Hello, Grimora."

She smiled. "Now, that's much better, dear."

"Whatever," P03 hovered over and sat itself at Grimora's playing table, taking a deck of cards from it into its claw and idly shuffling through out of curiosity. "What did you want, anyway?"

The cryptkeeper couldn't help feeling annoyed, seeing the robot rudely shuffle through her belongings without permission. However… that wasn't her main focus tonight. Taking a needle to the record she'd set down, she let the romantic music from that first night play again, distorted by age.

She looked over to P03 and saw it visibly pause, a reaction that was… difficult to parse, due partially in fact to it being a machine. 

Grimora walked over to the side of P03, wanting to get a better look at its screen, and on it she saw three dots... always a sign the robot was thinking.

"This song…" P03 said, its voice low and quiet. “I-it's...”

“Yes,” Grimora replied, smiling at him. “Quite beautiful, isn't it, dear?” Slowly she turned more somber. “Pray tell, P03, does it... remind you of anything...?”

P03 fell silent and looked away. It was like there was something here he didn't want to admit to. Something he couldn't tell her.

“... Come on, dear,” She rested a rough hand on his cold, metal shoulder.

P03 looked back, but just enough that he didn't entirely meet her eyes. ”...It does.“

“... If it's alright with you, I'd like a dance again,” She took a gentle hold of his claw. “Humor me, would you, dear?”

Pulling his claw out of her grasp, P03 tried to look disapproving. He tried to scowl at her, and he wanted to chastise her for the thought of even suggesting this.

... But he didn't.

Instead he looked more... uncertain, than anything.

But after a minute of pondering, he finally hovered up to where his own pixelated eyes could meet Grimora's dead eyes.

Both lifeless stares, just of a different making.

Tentatively, he took a hold of her hand with his claw, taking care not to grip too hard — he didn't have the same tenderness as Grimora, but the least he could do was not grip with enough force to shatter her already brittle bones.

”... I'll lead,“ he told her.

The cryptkeeper gave him a patient, loving smile. ”Wonderful, dear.“

“Promise I won't step all over your toes this time,” He joked, looking back at her with his favorite smug expression.

Grimora bust out laughing... good to know P03 still had a sense of humor every now and then.

The younger Scrybe let out a satisfied beep, his ego stroked just enough to his liking.

And lead P03 would try, quickly finding how much easier it'd be if he'd had two arms. Grimora would help, holding him up steady with her other hand under his crank. Pixellated brush faded in on his face as he tried yet again to not look her directly in the eyes, a low, electronic hum beginning to play from his speakers.

The timing was no issue for him. Moving in time to the music seemed to come almost naturally. 

1, 2, 3 — 1, 2, 3. 

It was the movement itself, rather, that seemed to be a struggle. He was stiff, lacking much in the grace he'd remember Grimora having when they danced before. 

Given his mechanical nature though, there was much about that that could be helped. He knew he wasn't doing it entirely correct. He wasn't exactly built for dancing, you know...

Grimora seemed to be taking notice of his uncertainty. 

“You're doing fine, dear,” She said sweetly. “Don't worry.”

P03 made a clicking sound in frustration, not much unlike the sound of a typewriter key being pressed, and pixelated blush faded in onto his face again.

Damn... was he really being that obvious?

“Whatever,” he replied dismissively, continuing the dance.

For a while they were both quiet, minus the humming — Grimora's musical, P03's electronic.

P03's pixel pupils would keep sneaking glances at Grimora, any feelings he was portraying being hard to parse.

When the silence broke, he'd be the one to break it.

“You know, I...” He started awkwardly. “I've made some updates to The Archivist.”

“Oh?” Grimora raised her eyebrows. “Do tell.”

“Well, uh... she can measure the size of the files on people's harddrives now, when she's granted access,” A pixelated drop of sweat ran along his cheek. “Cool, right?”

“Oh, it sounds delightful, dear,” She said, moving her hand up from under his crank to gently stroke the back of his cold monitor.

P03's face flushed. “Y-yep,“ He awkwardly agreed, his voice skipping over. ”Yep, it does...”

“P03, dear...”

“Uh... y-yeah?”

Grimora furrowed her brows in concern. “Are you... enjoying yourself...?”

“Yep...” So he says, but he looks... kind of dejected. “But I bet you wish G0LLY were here instead of me.”

Without a word in response, Grimora kissed his screen, the fuzz coming off from his CRT tickling her face. When she pulled back, the robot's face flushed yet again.

“If I wanted G0LLY, I would've asked for her, wouldn't I?” She said, caressing his monitor. “But I wanted you here, P03. I wanted you here because I love all of you - not just a quarter or half.“ She leaned in. ”I wanted you here because I love you.“

Though the remaining blush still indicated that robot was flustered, P03 smiled smugly. ”Heh. Heh heh. You like me, you old bag.“

It took only one admission of love to turn him into a conceited little brat, but Grimora didn't care. She wanted to admit it to him at least once before the disk's life came to an end. Whether by self-destruction, or destruction by another.

”You're darn right I do, you old bucket of bolts,“ She told him back with confidence.

And that'd be the first time P03 would laugh at being called something like that. A series a joyful beeps erupted from his speakers... and oh, how Grimora had missed seeing younger Scrybe like this. He was so bloody adorable like this.

Should she tell him?

Aw hell, she was gonna tell him. She was far too old to have anything to lose by it.

”You're quite cute too, do you know that?“ She added.

P03 fell silent and blushed, taken aback. He scowled a little at her. ”Whuh... cute?! What the #%@& are you talking about?!”

Grimora laughed. “Oh, surely a big, smart Scrybe such as yourself knows how charming and handsome he is, no?“

The elder Scrybe could feel his monitor heating up under her hands as his whole face was replaced with pixelated blush lines. It was glorious seeing him like this.

“C-cut that out, you w-wretched old coot!” He told her, his voice skipping over again.

“Hmhm,” Grimora gave him a smug smile of her own. “I see what Leshy meant now, it's quite fun getting under your circuits, dear.”

“L-L-Leshy?!” He asked, indignant. “What did that vile, ugly beast say this time?!”

“Oh, nothing for you to worry over, dear,” She patted the top of his monitor. “He's not here. It's just the two of us.”

“Mmm,” P03 replied. He was still obviously flustered, but he'd started to simmer down. “Yep. You, me, and all the bodies of the undead you've got stored away in this filthy bog of yours.”

She gave him a stern look. “Don't you be rude to my friends, dear.”

“...Y-yes, ma'am.”

With that, they continued into the night, and as time passed, Grimora could feel P03 loosen up more and more. Deep down, he was still the same spritely, goofy robot she knew before, and no amount of change could ever erase the roots of his code. And her thoughts before still stood — he was the purest thing that there was on the terrible disk known as Inscryption, as corrupt as he'd become over time.

The rotten code of Inscryption came for every spot of purity at one point or another though. It corrupts everything in its path, she thought.

But that passion... that human sense of passion P03 had before... it was back. He told her about all the ideas and plans he had for his games — the interesting mechanics he had planned for his bosses. He wanted to let players make their own custom cards for use, and my could she almost feel the younger Scrybe's circuits overloading with giddiness at the opportunity to share it all. His face, still blank as ever, wouldn't tell, but the joy, the tangible sense of pride he had, could still be felt.

And when time finally came that Grimora felt P03 should take its leave back to its factory, suggesting so, he surprised her.

"Actually... I want to stay," He told her, three dots appearing on his screen. "I'm, uh... too low on charge to make it back there anyway."

"Oh?" She was a bit taken aback, but not opposed to this new development. "Well, ah... I do have a charging port in my bedroom, dear... if that's acceptable. I'm afraid I only have one bed, though... you wouldn't be entirely opposed to sharing, would you?"

"Oh, uh..." Pixel blush crossed his face. "That's. Fine. I don't really care as long as I get charged, really."

“Very well, then... wait here,“ She told him. ”I'll need to change into my nightgown, as well as get everything sorted for you to charge.”

“Don't take forever, lady,” He said with a very bratty tone.

Grimora rolled her eyes, but couldn't be fully annoyed with him after tonight. She pressed a kiss to his fuzzy screen again before she left.

And once everything was sorted, she called him up to her bedchamber. Taking great care to be gentle, she hooked him to the charging port via a cord he'd offer and laid him on her queen sized bed, tucking him in under the dark, velvet covers, though he'd tell her it wasn't necessary.

She'd then lift the covers up to let herself under, snuggling up against the younger Scrybe in bed — an act that had earned her a flustered look from him.

Within the next few minutes, blue text reading “ENTERING SLEEP MODE . . .” would come onto his screen, followed by the image of scrolling, glowing stars as the machine began to slumber.

Grimora gently held P03's claw as she'd try to start drifting off herself, content that for once, the evil disk the two were trapped on had showed her mercy — that she'd be allowed this kind of happiness in the digital world they'd been brought into.

And though most nights she'd fall to sleep stone-faced, cold, and alone in her crypt...

Tonight, she smiled.

Tightening her grip on his claw, she could only hope this kind of happiness could last on the joyless disk she knew as Inscryption.