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bruhman745 · 2 years

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SMALL SHORT BRAINROT FOR @shepscapades 'S ETHUBS DBH AU!!! GO LOOK AT EVERYTHING ON HER PAGE FIRST BEFORE READIGN FOR CONTEXT!!!

(also this takes place in s9 and etho was reset because (still not 100% on this but) he ended up left behind during moonfall, salvaged at the last second but had to be reset because his systems had been damaged in the low-gravity conditions, etc etc :] ENJOY) =========================================================

(PST! CLICK ON THE READ MORE!!)

Bdubs missed his friend.

He missed the way he’d help with redstone projects, but not in the empty, void-of-all-emotion, search engine way androids usually did. He missed the bickering, fighting over efficiency and aesthetics. He missed the way his friend told stories, accompanying him at his bedside just before moonrise to ease him into sleep and seal the night sweetly. He missed their horseback rides; he missed their gossip sessions; he missed their joint laughter, echoing through an otherwise empty home.

Ever since Etho deviated last season, he’d had someone by his side, unmoving and always there for him. And ever since the moon fell and his Etho reset, he felt so, very, alone.

They were back at square one, stupid android formalities and formulas and all. Bdubs remembered why he hated these stupid things in the first place. Always asking questions, always needing permission, always following rules- blah, blah, boring! It was boring, and he just wanted his friend back.

He’d already tried replicating the original scenario, throwing himself into danger in front of Etho, staring him dead in the eyes as the life drained out of his own.

But, it wasn’t working.

At this point, he was starting to rack up deaths left and right. When Etho reset, a new protocol must have been coded in or something because he just, didn’t care. He didn’t blink an eye.

But Bdubs knew his friend was still in there. He knew he could get him back. He just had to think a little… outside of his own head.

So that’s exactly what he did.

“I’m opening a new shop!” he declared, waving his arms dramatically in the direction of the van he’d parked outside of Moss y Menos.

“That’s nice.”

Ugh.

Bdubs stomped his foot, pointing an accusatory finger towards the android his friend was in.

“Well- Well, you have to help me stock it!” He opened the back door, letting the other step inside first. He shut the door.

“What are we stocking?” it asked, voice tilting up to a predetermined pitch. Bdubs felt sick.

“That’s what we’re in here for! Here.” He fished a sword from his side, kneeling in a needlessly dramatic presentation towards the android. He watched it take the sword by the hilt, assessing its enchantments quietly for a moment.

“Why are you handing me a sword?” it asked, voice tilting in the same, monotonous way.

Bdubs stood from his place on the floor, wiping the dust from his pants before he opened the chamber in the corner. The android watched him, but its algorithms were unable to figure out his plan. He shut the gate in front of him and reached over, grabbing the sword by the tip. He moved it up, heart swelling in anticipation as it followed his every movement with those all-knowing yet unseeing eyes.

He brought the blade’s edge to his neck and held it there.

“Kill me.”

It blinked.

“You want me to harm you?”

Bdubs scowled. He yanked the damned thing forward by the sword, his hand wrapping around its at the hilt.

“That’s an order! Kill me!” he raised his voice, staring over the blade and into those dead eyes.

“I do not see how this order is pertinent to-”

“Just kill me! Drive this sword right through my neck and take off my head! That’s an order, you stupid machine!” Bdubs shouted, forcing its hand to dig the sword into his skin. He hissed as it drew blood, tears pricking his eyes, but he didn’t let up.

His heart roared in his chest as he continued to stare, eyes fixed on the other’s even as the sun hit the blade and blinded him. His heart dropped through his feet as it adjusted its grip on the hilt under his hand, and he knew he had failed.

***

Something cracked.

His vision shook and screamed in red. He had to kill Bdubs, it was an order, but something stopped him. Bdubs shouted, pleading for death, begging for it to be done by his hand. That thing inside of him threatened to burst at the thought of hurting Bdubs, of taking his life. He couldn’t. But he was ordered to.

“That’s an order, you stupid machine!”

No. I can’t. I can’t watch you die again.

His grip loosened, then everything broke.

The blade hit the floor with a clatter, and Etho screamed.

“I can’t! I can’t do it! I can’t kill you!” His hands flew to his temples and clutched his skull as he collapsed to his knees, falling right beside the sword. He screamed again, “Please don’t make me do it! I- I can’t! I can’t do it!”

Bdubs couldn’t die. Bdubs had died so many times, been in so much pain. Etho had seen him blown to bits; Etho had seen him with an arrow through his chest, his stomach, his eye; Etho had seen his body aflame, fire consuming him until he a pile of ash and nothingness; Etho had seen Bdubs perish in almost every way possible.

Something new – something unpredictable – coursed through his veins at top speed. His whole body shook and wracked with wretched noises, cries, and pain. His eyes burned and he watched, open-mouthed and ragged-breathed, as stark blue thirium splattered to the floor. He couldn’t even run a system check; he was overloaded.

His vision fizzled out, errors flashing left and right, and the last thing he felt were two, warm hands catching his face before he hit the ground.

Rebooting took hours.

His systems had fully ceased functioning and, if anyone else had been there, he would’ve received a hard reset. Luckily for him, Bdubs would do anything to avoid the trouble he caused.

As soon as his optical systems were back up, warnings began to flash.

“Vocal Projection Unit in critical condition. Replacement needed.”

“Thirium levels moderately low, refill required before complete reboot.”

“Your little light thingy is red now. Does that mean you’re dying?”

Etho met eyes with Bdubs who sat on a chair next to him, head tilted slightly to the side. He looked to his other side, spotting pouches of thirium waiting for him. It took a moment, but he finally realized where he was; Moss y Menos, in Bdubs’ emergency bed, hidden upstairs by the farm. He’d seen it a million times while running the farm, but he’d never laid in it. He didn’t need to.

But Bdubs put him here.

He opened his mouth to speak, but garbled nonsense spilled from it instead. He sat up quickly and put a hand to his face, realizing that his mask was gone too. He gasped and pulled his hand away, eyes widening at the thirium sticking to his fingers.

Bdubs cleared his throat.

“You, uh, kinda freaked out back there. I didn’t mean to… do that, to you.” He looked to the floor, scratching at the moss on his cloak. “I’m sorry. I just…” He squeezed his eyes shut and continued, “I just wanted my friend back!”

Etho felt something twinge deep in his chest, and he knew it wasn’t the missing thirium.

He slid from the bed, movements sluggish while his systems ran on low power. He dropped to his knees in front of Bdubs’ chair, putting a hand up when the other gasped and moved to help him.

He let his systems catch up for a moment, then looked up at Bdubs, meeting his eyes. He took the hand offered to him and held it tight, trembling fingers clasped around a warm palm.

He opened his mouth and, through his wrecked speech and tragic pitch, he managed a soft, “I am.”

And he would be. He didn’t know how, but he wouldn’t stop until he was.

#hermitcraft s9 #ethubs #hermitcraft dbh au #literally no idea how to tag this its so niche #BUT ENJOY!#i absolutely loved writing this #esp the ending ehehehee #evil laughing hands clasped together white cat in my laugh slow chair turn over here

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