"Are you CERTAIN you want to be on for this?"
"👍💖🙏"
Lied's confirmation flashed across my sensors. The question was a mere matter of courtesy as I prepared my tools. He always wanted to be conscious for maintenance nowadays.
His eyes eagerly followed as his frontal casing was unscrewed open.
"I didn't even know that V-Dolls could get jammed up this fast. You're not overexerting yourself for your fans, are you?"
I ignored his response as I began swabbing. The torso wasn't the issue, but I followed the procedure.
Unlike me, Lied didn't have skin installed, nor was he equipped with the related sensory capabilities beyond basic proprioception. All of his cute little reactions to me messing with his insides were cognitive in nature.
Even the contempt that I flashed as a test got a rise out of him.
I understood that creating arbitrary neural pruning was harmful for organic development, but Master could have done SOMETHING to prevent quirks like this from existing. No self-respecting roid should be buzzing with excitement over maintenance.
Thankfully only one of us was defective.
I moved to the joints. I didn't need to remove much to be able to access them, nor did he resist as I manipulated his limbs with my fingers.
It was possible for me to work much faster without increasing the possibility of permanent damage, but he had already learned to like it this way.
Left kneejoint was the last. I held him still has my other hand worked, with my index finger stretching the leg to allow full access, at a slow, constant rate.
I kept going until I started to feel the edges of the leg's limit approaching, and the strain that followed.
I kept pushing.
"❗❗❗"
Even just the act of finding that point of resistance must have been causing imperceptible damage.
"❗❗❗"
I wonder how mere proprioception signaled about something like that. What sensations would it cause?
"❗❗❗" "❗❗❗" "❗❗❗"
My vision was slowly filling with red as I kept working.
"❗2182❗"
I let go. The clearing warning messages allowed me to observe his face once more.
Unfamiliar expression. Its base component was fear, but the exact composition was unknown to me. I marked it as important for later analysis.
I switched to the other liquid to finish up the joints.
"All done."
Lied was back to his usual cheer by the time we finished, thanking me as he began frolicking back to his quarters. He was still refusing my offers to carry him.
"And do be more careful in the future."
I leaned back on my chair in thought.
What should I do with him next week?