Robo always insisted that he was fine after his trip to the Geno Dome. He wasn't fooling anyone, especially not Frog.
nobody ordered this bucket of tears, yet here it is anyway.
i headcanon that robo wears atropos' bow after gets it for the rest of the adventure, yeah.
The buzz of energy that the Epoch held was gone again. It was normal, really. Without the whole team at the End of Time, there wasn’t really much to do other than talk to one another or challenge Spekkio to a fight. But usually, no one wanted to do the latter. The End of Time was a place for resting and regaining energy. Perhaps no one had quite regained their energy enough, because the air was silent.
Crono had taken Ayla and Magus to the hunting grounds in Prehistory. Crono wanted to show it to Magus, unaware that Marle had already done so in his absence, and Ayla knew her way around it than anyone else. That only left Marle, Lucca, Robo and Frog behind at the End of Time.
Frog knew that Robo and Lucca had been to the future with Crono not too long ago. Crono had taken a few minutes’ break before heading out with Ayla and Magus, while Lucca and Robo opted to stay longer. He had heard Crono quietly ask Robo if he would be okay without him around - Robo said he would be fine. Frog initially thought that he asked solely because of how long hunting for Nu could take. But that didn’t quite make sense. It was only around half an hour since Crono, Ayla and Magus left that Marle and come over to where Robo was sitting and asked him if he was okay - Robo said he was fine. She had asked again another half hour later, and the old man had even asked, too. Despite Robo’s claims, he didn’t exactly look fine. Frog wasn’t sure if it was possible for a robot to emote so subtly, but Robo had this distant, melancholic look in his eyes. His voice was a bit quieter, too. It didn’t carry the usual energy it he had always heard it with. And while he was unsure if it had anything to do with his dreary mood, he wore a light green bow now. He had come back wearing it.
Frog looked around the room. Robo had left his usual spot. He wasn’t quite sure how he missed it - he guessed that he was so lost in thought, Robo’s movements became background noise.
He looked over at Lucca and asked, “Lucca, do you know where Robo went? I wish to speak with him.”
Lucca became alert when Frog spoke her name. She looked back at him and told him, “He went over to the room with the pillars of light. I guess he wanted a bit of space.” She paused before telling him, “Be gentle, alright?”
As Frog stood up, he nodded. “I will.”
The door to the pillars’ room had been left open by Robo - odd, given how insistent he was about shutting it behind oneself. Frog figured he had simply forgotten. He climbed up the steps to find Robo there, sitting in front of the middle pillar of light. Frog couldn’t quite remember where it led, but if memory served, it led to the future. Frog edged his way around the pillar and sat down beside Robo.
“It’s quiet without Crono around, isn’t it?” Frog said to Robo. He didn’t want to ask that question just yet.
Robo’s eyes flashed as he looked over at Frog, then replied, “Yes.”
There was silence between them for a minute or so before Frog asked, “So how was the trip to the future?”
“Same as most: cold. Desolate.” Robo raised his left arm as he added, “I did get this new arm. A silver lining, as they say.”
Frog raised an eyebrow. “A silver lining? But that would mean things went poorly.”
Robo beeped and blooped, before replying, “No-! The… The trip did not go poorly. I simply meant… in the grand scheme of things. In 2300.”
Frog slowly nodded. A few silent moments passed before he asked, “Would you like to tell me about it?”
Robo pulled in his arms and legs closer towards him, and he looked away from Frog. “I am fine.”
“Robo, keeping whatever happened there to yourself will not help you move past it.”
“...”
“I will not judge you for anything you say. You can tell me, Robo.”
“...”
Robo let out a soft beep; what Frog assumed to be akin to a sigh. “I am unsure of how much you would understand, if any at all.”
“I may not understand what being a robot is like, but I will still lend my ear. You have my support, no matter what,” Frog assured him.
Robo let out another soft beep after some long, silent moments. “We went to the Geno Dome. It… She…” Robo made a bloop. “Please let me think about how to word this.”
“Of course.”
The two of them sat in a heavy silence for what felt like far too long for both of them. It seemed like forever until Robo spoke up again.
“We went to the Geno Dome. There was this… this horrible computer, Mother Brain, she… She greeted me as soon as I activated the first computer in the dome. She… She locked the door we came in through. And she wanted to see how strong Crono and Lucca were. She… called them fleshlings.”
Robo put his hands on his head. “It was awful, Frog. She was awful.”
Robo let out a series of beeps before continuing, “She made us fight through so many other robots, and then we had to figure out how to meet her… Crono and Lucca were doing so much of the fighting, it should have been me… I…”
Frog put a hand on Robo’s arm. Robo squeezed his wrist twice, in short bursts, in return.
Robo went on, “And… once we made it to the second floor… They… They were killing humans… They looked so sad… and… their screams…”
Robo squeezed Frog’s wrist again before continuing, “Mother Brain was just telling Crono and Lucca to give up! She didn’t care about them! Or a-anyone! Only herself! She-! She-! ...She reprogrammed Atropos…”
The sheer amount of guilt laden in Robo’s voice startled Frog.
“Atropos? May I ask who she is?”
“She… I loved her…” Robo murmured. “We loved each other very much… She was so kind, yet so strong… and she always stood up for herself… and me…”
Robo fell silent for a few moments. It seemed he was lost in thought for that time, staring down at the floor, until he looked over at Frog again and realised what he was talking about.
“I do not know how it happened, but Mother Brain… reprogrammed Atropos. It came down to fighting. I… did not want to do it, but I was not going to let myself be beat up and thrown around again. B-But…”
Robo clutched Frog’s wrist, and didn’t let go. “Sh-She… She deactivated… L-Lucca tried to fix her, but… there was nothing that could be done… Even though we defeated Mother Brain, and all the humans that were in the Geno Dome have been freed… We had only just met again! After so long! She is gone, and… it is my fault…!”
The lack of blood going into Frog’s hand was the least of his concerns at that moment. He had never seen Robo so distressed before. So grief stricken.
“Atropos gave me her bow before she passed,” Robo finished, pointing to the light green bow he now wore with his free hand. “I wish something could have been done to save her…”
“...I understand how you feel,” Frog replied. “It was hard for me when I lost Cyrus. I blamed myself for his death for many a year. But…”
Frog looked up at Robo. “Please do not make the same mistake I did. I, and the rest of us, are here. You can come to us should you feel the need.”
Robo’s grip on Frog’s wrist loosened. “...Thank you, Frog.”