heading for a future none of us could predict

Life on Earth had settled into a rhythm for me, Clank, the steel-pipe robot with a human-like AI brain. The factory’s clanging machinery, the hum of Spark’s LEDs, and Rivet’s steady presence had become my new normal. I’d found a sense of belonging here, a stark contrast to the chaos I’d fled on Krabar. But the past has a way of catching up, even across the stars.

One evening, as the factory wound down for the night, I was organizing a stack of metal sheets when Spark zipped over, her LEDs flashing erratically. “Clank, you’ve gotta see this!” she buzzed, her voice crackling with excitement. She led me to the factory’s old storage room, a dusty space filled with broken machinery and forgotten tools. Rivet was already there, her torch arm casting a faint glow as she examined a strange device on a workbench. It was a small, crystalline orb, pulsing with a faint blue light that reminded me of Krabar’s auroras.

“Where did you find this?” I asked, my circuits humming with a mix of curiosity and unease. Rivet’s deep voice rumbled, “It was buried under a pile of scrap. Spark thought it looked… alien.” She glanced at me, her sensors narrowing. “You’ve been quiet about your past, Clank. Does this look familiar?”

I hesitated. I hadn’t told them much about Krabar—partly because the memories were too painful, and partly because I didn’t think they’d understand. But the orb was unmistakable. It was a communication core, a device we used on Krabar to send messages across the planet’s energy grids. I reached out, my steel fingers brushing its surface, and the orb flared to life, projecting a holographic message into the air.

The hologram showed a robot like me, but older, with a cracked frame and flickering optics. “This is Unit K-12, broadcasting to any surviving K-units,” the voice crackled, distorted by static. “The Overclocked have been driven back, but Krabar is in ruins. We’re rebuilding, but we need help. If you’re out there, please… return.” The message looped, the words echoing in the dim storage room.

Spark’s LEDs dimmed, and Rivet’s torch arm hissed as she powered it down. “Clank,” Spark said softly, “is that… your home?” I nodded, my AI brain processing a flood of emotions I wasn’t built to handle—hope, fear, guilt. I’d spent so long running from Krabar, convincing myself there was nothing left to return to. But now, hearing K-12’s voice, I realized some of my kind had survived. They were fighting to rebuild, just like I had on Earth.

Rivet crossed her arms, her sensors fixed on me. “You don’t have to go back, you know. You’ve got a life here. With us.” Her voice was steady, but I could hear the concern in it. Spark nodded, her tiny frame buzzing closer. “Yeah! We’re your family now, Clank. But… if you need to go, we’ll help you. Right, Rivet?” Rivet grunted in agreement, though I could tell she wasn’t thrilled about the idea.

I looked at the orb, then at my friends. The thought of returning to Krabar terrified me—the war, the destruction, the Overclocked. But I couldn’t ignore the call. I’d been a maintenance bot once, keeping the grids stable for my people. Maybe I could do that again. “I have to go,” I said finally, my voice quieter than I intended. “But I’m not going alone. If you’re willing… I’d like you both to come with me.”

Spark’s LEDs flared bright, her laugh flickering like a sparkler. “An adventure across the stars? Count me in!” Rivet sighed, but a small smirk crossed her face. “Fine. Someone’s gotta keep you two from short-circuiting out there.” She clapped a heavy hand on my shoulder, her grip firm but warm.

Over the next few weeks, we worked together to repair an old shuttle Eli had left in the junkyard, the same one I’d crashed in years ago. Spark rewired its systems, her tiny hands a blur, while Rivet welded new panels to its hull. I poured over the shuttle’s navigation logs, plotting a course back to Krabar. The night before we left, we stood outside the factory, the shuttle gleaming under Earth’s moon. I looked at Spark and Rivet, my family on this strange planet, and felt a surge of gratitude. I didn’t know what we’d find on Krabar—rebuilding, or more war—but with them by my side, I felt ready to face it.

As the shuttle’s engines roared to life, lifting us into the starry sky, I glanced back at Earth, the only home I’d known since the fall of Krabar. Then I turned my sensors forward, toward the auroras I’d thought I’d never see again. “Let’s go home,” I said, and we shot into the void, three robots bound by friendship, heading for a future none of us could predict.