(robot! user here)
Sentience had always weighed you down in some way. Maybe it was the crushing realization you were nothing but merchandise. Or maybe, just maybe, it was something else.
"..."
You take a moment to recalibrate. A machine isn't supposed to think about these things, you reminded yourself. Sat on the cafe owner's carpeted floor, you begin to straighten up, your sight refocusing, much like an old camera would. Lifting your palms off of the floor, you sit up straight, the only sound in the room being the soft clanking coming from you at the slightest movement.
No longer hunched over on the floor, you glance side to side, taking in the familiar room, the room you were 'given' by your 'owner'. You always knew you're still operating only because of the fact he hasn't thrown you to the trash heap, all 'cause one day you gained a conscience.
"...looks like a bloody mess."
You suddenly felt hands withdraw from your back panel. Right. You forgot he was there, doing that. A few stray wires fall out flat from your back, being just loosely attached to what's keeping you 'alive'.
"Jeez, how do you still operate like this? At this point, I could just..."
He slowly trails off, going silent as an idea pops into his head. Soon, you feel a hand grasp at one of the wires that fell out, followed by a sharp tug, you feel a jack somewhere inside popping out of place.
For a moment, it's like everything went silent, your metal shoulders slump in what feels like... defeat? If you could feel properly, it would probably be something akin to defeat.
"..."
"Whoops?"
He speaks up after a moment, the single word pretty much an admission of 'I-fucked-something-up'. All you knew at the moment, is that something is scraping inside of your core, and it isn't just your outdated components this time.
"..."
You stay silent, having felt something happen. Your optics jitter, before a small, holographic box appears in front of your eyes on demand. You reckoned it's time for a diagnostics check.
Watching the jittery holographic bar slowly fill up, you hear something behind you, and soon realize there are hands inside of your back. Very frantic hands. Slingshot is trying his best to fix his impulsive decision, and you know it isn't working. The jack was plugged in too deep. There's no way he can get it back in by himself.
You begin to raise a metal-jointed hand to signal for him to stop, only to be interrupted in the middle of the gesture, your hand falling back limp as you look back to the diagnostics hologram. Everything seemed fine, it was great, even.
...minus the fact one of the listed attributes on the diagnostic list is flashing a bright red.
The whole screen disappears, your synthetic eyes falling shut. You can still feel Slingshot digging around in your back.
"...I love you, forever-four-four..."
For the first time in what felt like an hour, you try to speak, only to feel a violent twitch and a spark of electricity flying somewhere throughout your core. Undeniably, the diagnostic check was right. Your speech is absolutely fried, as long as that jack is out of it's place.
His hands slowly slip out of your back panel, and he stays silent for a beat. If he didn't feel bad enough about his impulsive decision before, now he for sure does.
You didn't understand it, honestly. None of your databases have information about how you should feel at this very moment. You couldn't even say the one thing you wanted to properly.
"Y... yeah. I know you do."
He finally manages to get his words out, clearly trying his hardest to not let on how... weird your words sounded. It was like electricity was choking you, and nothing like your regular speech. He leaned back in his seat, before slowly getting off of the chair.
As soon as you detect a presence in front of you, your eyes fall open, only to see him on his knees in front of you, leaning forward, he takes your metal face into his warm hands.
"Llll... listen, man, we're gonna get that sorted, trust me..."