Upon the examination table was the medical staff’s idol of study. Poking and prodding the pilot as its mind was too far off to react. It couldn’t see any of the men that surrounded it, couldn’t even hear them. Instead it merely replayed the words of it’s handlers, that it hopped were still inside the room, didn’t abandon it, weren’t just lying to it now that it was broken.

It had tried to brighten their situation that it had created, ruined their tranquil separation from combat. The words it had typed out echoed in it’s head. Mom? Dad? Is everything going to be ok? It’s frail fingers had jittered through its attempt to communicate. It can fix it, It can fix it, It can fix it. Delta repeated in it’s head, desperate to chase off the clawing doubts that cast it into the frigid depths. Replace yourself.

Those depths manifested as the bitter synthetic gust once again stripped whatever heat remained in its poor body. Please just decommission me. Delta’s mind began to plead as its memories once again picked back up, reminding it that there were very good reasons why it should be decommissioned.

~~~

Miller nearly snorted as the words were broadcast out of their tablets, another recent addition, a voice to their wonderful Delta. “W-wait hold on, I’m NOT your father.” The half a dozen marines surrounding the three couldn’t help back their gasped chuckles.

“Don’t worry honey, MOMMY over here was just having a conversation, everything is going to be ok, we’re not getting a divorce.” Harris continued, desperate to carry the mantle the LT normally took.

What’s happening? Delta’s fingers once again began to twitch, the false smile painted its face fading quickly. It made them laugh, it wasn’t completely worthless. Delta began to think to itself as it tried to get away from the deafening silence that rang in it’s ears, they all knew what needed to be said, but they had spent all of their courage over the past week.

Finally with a deep breath, Miller stepped up, deciding to speak bluntly, not sugar coat things anymore. “You’re going blind, or have gone blind.” Delta hitched as it wasn’t actually expecting the man to be honest with it, not like anyone else had. “They call it Onset Optical Rejection, I-I don’t understand how it works, but your eyes are fine, they’re just being ignored by-by that smart brain of yours.” Miller spilled everything, pushed desperately through the pain all of them we’re now sharing.

Doesn’t seem smart if it can choose to do this

The chasm between the group grew wider as they all thought on it’s words, desperate to rip the bandaid, but not carelessly punch the poor thing in the process. The silence dug into Delta’s fragile heart more than it wanted to admit, it just desperately needed someone, something to say anything, please just fucking say someting.

“Y-you got… I uhh-” Harris floundered, seeing the divide. “Listen Delta, think of it like this ok? You got intelligence and wisdom. You-you all you got is intelligence, me-well, umm us, we got wisdom, Intelligence says why use these eyes when it’s easy enough to see through your mech over there. Wisdom says, maybe I shouldn’t ditch them pretty little eyes of yours.” Harris seemed to recover, a smile Delta would never see plastered to his face.

Though nothing seemed to penetrate through the ice that now encapsulated the numb pilot.

What’s next?

“Next we’re going to get a physical done, earlier than before, I made sure they would see you as soon as possible-” Miller stopped in his tracks, unable to to carry out the pact he had made just moments before.

Say it. Delta frowned, the chasm threatened to grow wider as it stared unseeingly in the direction of Miller’s voice.

“T-they didn’t seem concerned.” Miller relented, his eyes shifting from his pilot.

Thank you.

His stomach dropped as he could barely make out in the corner of his vision, its fingers losing alot of their energy as it typed. “Me and Harris will be there, we’ll make sure no one hurts you.”

I heard.

Harris huffed, unable to hold it back any longer, seeing its dejected posture. “I’ll do it Delta, you just say the word, me and the bois we’ll just kill em all, alright? This life, this money, ii-it just aint worth seeing someone like you going through this.” Harris promised, the atmosphere in the room tensed as the unspoken contract was declared aloud.

Why haven’t you left? You won’t have to watch then.

“We’re NOT leaving you.” Harris nearly rebuked the pilot.

Why?

“Because you’re worth it.”

WHY?

“You-you just are, it's not everyday that you get to meet someone like yourself.”

Stop that!

Harris held his tongue as he tried his best not to yell at Delta. “Y-you just have to trust us.” He finally declared with an irritated huff.

Delta got to its feet, arm cocked back, ready to swing, tears filling it’s eyes as it searched for the sounds of its complimentary attackers. Unbeknownst to Delta, Miller bent at the waist leaning in close to the frail pilot, the marines around shifting, ready to hold back the two before their officer shook his head.

“You’re a good girl and-”

Before Miller could finish, Delta carried out its threat, the piercing pain that broke through its heart, and the barrier it had built up its entire life had finally been cracked. It hurt it way more than it’s poor hand could ever express. Delta had never been a physical fighter, Hound pilots didn’t need to be, and the aching in it’s fist barely blanketed the gap in it’s heart. The gap that suggested it wasn’t worthless, wasn’t deserving of the life it had been given. This only made its damaged little heart burn brighter, coherent thoughts evaporating.

Miller on the other hand stifled back his groan, standing up quickly, to leave his jaw out of the continued line of fire, he’d take the first shot on the chin. The next several hits he withstood Delta’s built up anguish that began flooding out of the wound he had created. He looked down at the poor thing in front of himself, all of his men did, all of them silently wanting to do something for the poor thing. Miller could only be a punching bag for it, before it eventually collapsed to the ground, sobbing.

~~~

The two older marines stayed on the other side of the brisk room like they’d promised. Their pilot sat across from them, half undressed in it’s body-glove, with eyes as dull as ice. The surrounding medical staff seemed to be finishing up with their blood draws, shots, and what the two could only assume was measuring its range of motion. Whenever they got a bit too physical with Delta the two would kindly remind them that they should rethink their actions.

“Handler Miller, I’m Dr. James Allen.” One of the voices that had been prodding Delta walked over to the two marines. “One-seven-six Delta here is functioning within parameters and is performing quite well under the circumstances.”

“Just call it Delta.” Miller clarified coldly.

“That would be against procedure to-”

“Call it Delta, Tech One-seven-six.” He Reinforced. 

The doctor cleared his throat as he continued. “There is nothing we can do for it, OOR is to be expected with something that has run as much as it has.”

“Then why are we still here? Why are you still jabbing at MY pilot?” Miller’s possessiveness perked up the pilot’s attention, a small branch that passed through the fog.

“Excuse me sir, but this is mandatory, all IPUs need-”

“Delta.” Miller butted in, at this point all civility gone knowing they wouldn’t do anything more for it.

“Bring it back in another two hundred hours of use.” The doctor ended the conversation as he and the rest of his techs walked out of the room, muttering under their breaths.

“Was that really a smart idea Miller?” Harris asked when the door closed.

“As you said, what's the point if they can’t do anything. It's vision either comes back or we get to walk it around by its leash.” Delta nearly hopped up, its spine going rigid as those lovely promises, a return to normality was offered. Something not accepted back when it felt cared for.

This was all the confirmation Miller needed, something the two marines had talked about, but something he wasn’t sure would actually work. It's all he wanted at the end of the day, something to brighten up it’s life. Delta could hear the two walk towards, as it began to fidget excitedly.

Picking up on its poorly hidden inclinations, Harris teased. “Aww, it doesn’t have its keyboard, guess we can mess with it all we want now.”

Miller got close and began to sniff at the pilot. “Jeeze it's like this thing hasn’t been showered in ages, we’ll have to fix that.” Miller half lied as surprisingly the pilot didn’t seem to be offended, but merely curious what their toying ment for it.

One of the marines gently clasped the collar around its neck, and gently tugged it off the bed, offering their hands to take their fragile pilot, and let it down safely. It’s heart began to whisper, their little act tugging more at that heart than its neck.

They made their way down the cold hallways, turning several times around a dozen corners till it couldn’t figure out just where it was, not that it would matter in this new building. It could hear men walking by, some it definitely remembered at one point. But none of them commented about the half naked pilot being walked through. Though as they passed it could’ve sworn the unfamiliar foot falls stopped with a squeak.

The excitement had begun to chase away the pain it felt about itself as its feet felt the slick tiles of a locker room. The humidity hit the pilot as it could hear the dozen or so men undressing, showering or just bullshitting around it. It’s self-consciousness rose into it’s cheeks, the set burning as it realized it was naked in front of those that cared for it. It felt different than cold practice of the techs who only saw it as a piece of equipment. These strange men treated it like a human, and it still wasn’t sure if it liked what that entailed. The pain of when it was humanized still lingering on its heart. It didn’t want anymore expectations to be thrown on it.

Before it’s thoughts could run away, It’s collar was removed. A strong hand gently clasped the back of its neck, as another pair finished stripping the pilot unceremoniously, causing a delightful shudder to shoot through its body. 

“Do you want to wash yourself?” Miller offered in its ear, to which Delta gladly shook its head, as it used its hand to find the teasing man. Finding a bare chest Delta shivered, the unsaid reward clearly displayed. “Good, never was going to give MY pilot an option.” 

An excited fear filled the pilot as Miller had easily found some hidden weakness so plainly written on its body. He was going to use it till its sour mood was nowhere to be found. 

With a gentle push Delta was maneuvered towards the denser, humid air. Several voices that were in the shower grew quiet, though it could still hear them washing themselves, and could almost feel their eyes on its naked, vulnerable body. It was time to be the frail human, and for them to show their appreciation of its protection.

Placing Delta underneath the warmth, the small pilot nearly crumbled as it relaxed in the sweet relief. It had been so long since it last remembered taking one of these. 

Miller softly rubbed its shoulders as Delta relaxed. “Arms up.” Miller ordered the very obedient pilot. 

His strong hands began massaging its skin with the soapy suds, covering every inch of its back, its hips, its rear. The attention was divine as a whimper finally left the growingly needy pilot. Another stepped infront of it as he partially blocked the showerhead with what it could only assume was his head. The newcomer, which it assumed was Harris, began to slowly wash each of its thin wrists, going down its biceps to slowly wash its hairless armpits.

“It’s so obedient.” Harris teased as he lifted the blind pilot's chin up, inspecting his property, turning it to the side every so often to prove his point.

“Very much so~” Miller replied happily as he made his way lower, using his nails to scratch into the sensitive pilot’s thighs.

Delightful pain filled the woman, pain that might’ve pushed it further into despair if done by the cold hearted techs, but it was its lover-no no handler. Delta stumbled as it grabbed onto Harris, who decided to gently wash its neck. Happy mews leapt from its lips as their domination filled that little hole in its heart, their bodies leaving nowhere to run.

“Turn around Delta” Harris ordered. 

Delta obeyed as quickly as it could. At this point they were just toying with it, they seemed to crave seeing it shudder and react, glow at their mere touch. Simple putty in the hands of master craftsmen. 

Miller began to softly scrub from its chest to its stomach causing Delta to double over. Harris gripped its neck from behind, pulling it back up against his chest. Delta was forced to present its own small chest to its handler, just goods to be inspected.

“Hey now~ be a good girl and let your Handler wash you properly” Harris purred in it’s ear.

Delta’s heart began break out of its chest, its face burned as it melted in their grasp. Its arms fell, useless, sapped of strength, their tormenting grip turning it into their puppet. A puppet that while roughly posed, was cherished with each pass of their callused fingers.

“So fragile,” Harris teased. “But perfect.” He pulled his hand from its neck, grabbing both of its wrists to put them behind the pilot. Miller finished his actual washing and now just began to tease its perky nipples.

Once Harris passed the wrists to one hand, his free one returned back up to its neck. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

Delta quickly nodded as Harris could feel its fingers flexing in the language it only knew. His smirk grew as he could feel the pilot shuddering, threatening to continue its loud mewing. Time slowed for the poor thing as they continued their torment, choosing to not stay in any area too long, lest it grow used to their torment. The pressure slowly began to overflow.

“There nice and clean~” Miller trilled as he began to pet its wet hair. “Almost. Harris, would you stop toying with your food and wash its hair.”

Harris laughed as he released the pilot, who fell back on his chest. A few seconds later Delta purred as it felt its hair being massaged roughly. His nails dug into its scalp, the action jumbled what remaining coherent thoughts it still uselessly held onto.

Though nothing crushed its pleasure as quickly as when it could feel its worthless reproductive organs being massaged. It was so sudden, It felt nothing, worse than nothing. The realization that it was once more just a broken piece of equipment. The joy, excitement, pleasure, everything had suddenly been stripped from it as a frown slowly corrupted its once happy features. After several moments longer, Miller stopped, seeing his actions were earning the opposite of what he craved. His lips twitched as he held back his own frown. 

“Did you like your reward?” He tried to recover.

Delta paused, desperate to try and ignore the last few seconds of unfortunate discomfort, before it nodded.

“Or was this actually a punishment?”

It desperately needed him to think he was still doing a good job, so Delta faked its return. It’s eyebrows raised as if it couldn’t figure out if the man was promising further pleasure. Harris then leaned it forward and began to wash out the shampoo. At least the feeling of freshness remained. It was still a little lost in the moment, so it simply stood still as it waited to be led somewhere.

“Hey come along Delta, lets get you dried off while Harris and Miller finish, ok?” Carter, or was it Garcia? Kindly held its hand as it was led out of the shower. A few other hands had their own turns drying the pilot off, though without the sexual intentions their superiors had.

When they were done, and a fresh body-glove was slipped onto the clean pilot, Mr. Carter/Garcia held its hand. It was a simple gesture that it desperately needed at this point. Something to help keep the tears in, remind it that it wasn’t broken, wasn’t going to be thrown out. Without something to hold onto, the world was scarier than it once was.