Tah was confused. To be fair, confusion was one of the more common emotions both for Tah and across the Space Between Universes overall, but still, this confusion bothered Tah. He was currently sitting on a bed that was way, way too large for him, watching as patients and medics wandered past. A couple of rooms over, he could hear two of his siblings working on a patient, a Phantai soldier who got stabbed by a high-ranking Voidborn while on patrol. Most of the beings here were suffering from similar injuries, mostly because the Crystal Doom, the Voidborn cult the Phantai had been warring against since forever, loved filling their victims with small, golden ticking time bombs.
However, Tah was in the recovery wards for a completely different reason. A particularly nasty, unaffiliated Voidborn had attacked the Phantai and the Thantir, the Decay Lord sect Tah was now a member of. Somewhere along the way, Tah had managed to get his head ripped off and his brain thrown across the room. A deadly scenario for most creatures, but that didn’t bother Tah at all. Aside from his brain, Tah was completely mechanical, and his brain was coated in a special hard resin that protected it from any major harm. However, after his brothers reattached his head and put his brain back where it belonged, it had taken a little too long for Tah to regain control of his body and start speaking again.
This had caused some… concern, and everyone was insisting that Tah rest and recover from his injuries.
That was what was currently confusing him. Tah was fine. He was a robot. He didn’t even feel pain, aside from the occasional twinge in his single, organic part. But Tah was completely fine. It was just a couple of faulty connections between his brain and the rest of his head, and those had been repaired. In Tah’s eyes, resting was utterly pointless. He could have been helping his siblings right now.
Really, since the Thantir had met up with the Phantai, they’d been busier than ever. Between training the rest of the Thantir on more efficient Kenic Spore and Corruption removal and doing a ton of removals for the Phantai in their otherwise ceaseless (and somewhat pointless) wars, Tah couldn’t quite remember the last time he had properly stopped and not done anything at all, like he was doing now.
It felt weird.
Tah wasn’t sure he liked it.
Thankfully, a distraction had arrived. Tah had hoped it was one of his siblings, but Litvir, one of the two young Thantir leaders, would have to do.
“Hello, Tah, how are you feeling?” Litvir asked as he practically threw himself on the end of the bed, not really caring that Tah was kinda using it. Then again, in terms of surface area, Tah was only using about 15% of the bed anyway.
“I’m absolutely fine, wondering why everyone is making me rest.”
“I assume it was the Phantai medics who told you to rest? I apologize, Retvik and I have not been of any assistance when it comes to repairing you.”
Tah shrugged. “You guys are organic, you’re not to know. My siblings fixed me up no problem.”
“And you no longer have any side effects?”
“Like I said, I’m fine. You don’t seem fine though.”
Litvir grunted, got up, regretted it and laid back down again. “I am a deity and I am exhausted. Galyn calls it being ‘mortal-minded’, but he has been a deity for aeons, while I have been a deity for not even, what, 5% of my life?”
Tah hesitated for a moment, looking Litvir up and down. His heart rate was up, his tattoos currently weren’t glowing and his eyes seemed heavy. And although Litvir heavily shielded his true emotions, Tah could tell he was unhappy.
“I’m sorry I suggested we come here.”
Litvir rolled over and glanced at Tah.
“It is not your fault that everyone here is an asshole and that us Thantir are cursed and seem always be in trouble. I honestly used to think it was Arkay who was cursed, but no, I am beginning to think the curse actually stems from Retvik. Not that I particularly believe in curses, but sometimes it is more comfortable to redirect troubles towards some unknown, supernatural, impossible-to-understand other rather than blaming oneself for these things.” Litvir tutted. “And it has not been too terrible here.”
“Really?”
“Well…” Litvir trailed off. “I suppose not having to maintain a ship is nice, as are the larger rooms, free meals and more space to wander around. And things have been better for our Decaylings. Tahvra, Akah and Elksia have settled down nicely, Eksi and Teekay have made new friends, Tenuk is enjoying making a new persona for himself. Things are still a little rough for Phovos, but Elkay has also shown some signs of improvement since Vikalos spoke to him. How about you?”
Tah shrugged. “It’s just business as usual. But having Tahvra and Akah helping us has been wonderful. Tahvra’s toxin and telepathy skills are insanely useful, and Akah is deceptively quick, he seems to pick up potential threats before we do and just freezes everything before anything bad can happen. You don’t mind them working for us, do you?”
“Not at all. They both seem happy and fit better among you anyway.”
“They are from your universe though.”
Litvir sat up and stared at Tah. “I never left my home planet, I barely ever left my home city. Akah is the first Lanex I have ever met, Tahvra is the first Vohra I have ever met, and Elksia and Phovos are first Vrekan and Ksithan I have ever met. I have met more Beh’evok than I have met Skyavok. Little one, I was formerly a very close-minded and not particularly nice individual.”
“Ooooooooooohh…” Tah didn’t mean to make such an awkward sound, but he’d just realized something. “You’re like us then. A one-off, someone meant to do one specific duty and nothing else, considered evil by most, forced to change by a drastic and universe-altering scenario.”
Litvir blinked. He didn’t have an immediate answer. “I… I suppose…” Litvir then sighed and tutted. “I apologize. I am rather scatterbrained currently. Between my tiredness, this constant Voidborn influence removal and the fact that these Beh’evok have realized us Rethans have female genitalia and keep on trying to bed us, Phos and Psehon in particular, I am pretty stressed. I can see why Elkay has been acting the way he has.”
Tah thought to himself for a moment. “I thought Phos and Psehon did the weird thing with Telin? Why would they be interested in you and Retvik?”
“The weird thing?”
“We literally, physically cannot understand romance. Tahvra explained intercourse to us in great detail and I regret learning.”
Litvir gave Tah another look. “Well… you ARE small, round robots, that does make sense. But Tahvra is probably the worst being to ask when it comes to that sort of thing. Despite being numerous beings, the Vohra never reproduced the same way the majority of vertebrate beings do. That and also Tahvra is a neutered child.”
“Oh…” Tah decided to change the subject. “Still, if you want a break, take one. You’re the boss now. And we don’t work for the Phantai. If you want to take everyone to a mall for a quick holiday break, you can do that.”
“Those are fair points. And I still owe Phovos a trip to the mall. She has basically no clothing now…” Litvir fell silent again, then got up from the bed. “I will take your suggestion. Do you and your team wish to join us?”
Tah shook his head. “There’s nothing we really get from shopping. Although if you are going to the mall, can you pick up some more paint for us? We’ll give you the codes so you can get the right colours.”
Litvir smiled, then smiled even more as he watched Tah struggle to get off the bed. “I will. Are you going back to work now?”
“Yep. I’m bored.”
“Alright. Have a good one, Tah!” Litvir waved as he wandered off, pausing to avoid a passing Phantai soldier. “Try not to get your head ripped off again.”
“Hah…” Tah faked a laugh. “I’ll try.”