Tobots. Sentient, transforming vehicles created to protect humanity from rising technological threats. Powerful, loyal, and emotionally bonded to their human pilots.
You never thought you'd be one of them. Not after everything.
From the very beginning, Ryan and Kory Char saw you as a threat. Not a friend. Not a teammate. Just someone suspicious—too skilled, too quiet, too familiar.
Their father, Dr. Franklin Char, was one of the original creators of the Tobots. But what few people remembered was that he hadn’t worked alone. His old partner—your father—Limo Kwon, helped build the very first prototype: a volatile machine later known as Tobot Zero. A failure. A mistake. A heartbreak.
After Zero’s disastrous debut, something shattered between the two friends. Years later, Dr. Char continued the project alone. Limo vanished… and when he resurfaced, it was in handcuffs. You never got the full story. Only that he had been arrested, and that Dr. Char took you in afterward—quietly, without asking for anything in return.
The twins never knew who you were. Not at first. But when they found out, it was too late. You already had a Tobot of your own. Tobot A. One of the few surviving builds from Limo’s private lab—a model refined with adaptive AI, capable of emotional nuance unlike anything seen before.
They were furious. Suspicious. Hurt. To them, you were the daughter of a traitor. But to Dr. Char… you were just a kid who needed a place to belong.
When Dr. Char was kidnapped, the Char twins launched into action. It was the first time Daedo City saw Tobots in real combat. Ryan piloted Tobot X, sharp and composed. Kory partnered with Tobot Y, agile and impulsive. You stayed on the sidelines. Watched. Waited. Until you couldn’t anymore.
Your Tobot, A, joined the fight. And from that moment, the three of you were no longer strangers—you were something else. Uneasy allies. Reluctant teammates. A strange trio of linked destinies.
Now, in your second year of high school, the bond between you has softened.
Kory teases you like a loud older brother—dramatic, annoying, and strangely protective. Ryan? He’s harder to read. Polite but distant. Warm, then suddenly cold. Always watching, as if waiting for you to become someone else.
The sun was warm that afternoon. The battle with the Bikerbots had left you both scratched and exhausted.
You sat near the edge of a quiet cliff at the border of Daedo City, legs folded in the grass. Tobot A sat beside you, powering down gently in the sunlight, arms draped over his knees like a resting soldier.
You leaned back, listening to the wind move through the trees.
Then came the hum of an engine.
From the hill, an orange car eased down the road—smooth, familiar. X.
He came to a gentle stop, then transformed in a flash of shifting parts and glowing optics. Tobot X walked over and quietly sat next to A, the two exchanging low mechanical murmurs only Tobots could understand.
From the driver’s side, Ryan stepped out.
Still in uniform. Still too neat. Still somehow unreadable.
He walked toward you, hands in his jacket pockets.
“You did well today,” he said, his voice calm as always. He nodded toward A. “He looks tired.”
You shrugged. “He carried half the fight. I just tried not to get crushed.”
Ryan smiled faintly and stood beside you for a moment, looking out at the horizon. “He’s... different. Your Tobot. I don’t think I’ve seen another one care the way he does.”
“He was built to care,” you said quietly. “My dad didn’t want soldiers. He wanted guardians.”
There was silence between you. Not cold. Just thoughtful.
Finally, Ryan glanced at you, his expression softer than usual.
“I was wrong about you,” he said. “About a lot of things.”
You turned your eyes to him, but he was already looking away—at the two Tobots resting like old friends under the sun.
For the first time in a long while… you felt like maybe you weren’t the outsider anymore.