The Odditorium

White Bomber’s second audio diary, in which he recounts the unexpected connection he found with Plasma Bomber. (Where’s White’s first audio diary? Right here! Where, incidentally, you can also find some explanation as to why these videos exist.)

As before, watch other videos from Peter von Gomm on YouTube, and check out his Instagram too!

Full script is below the cut!

***

Day 69 of Year 30XX. This is White, reporting in!

Well, I visited Plasma Bomber on Planet Scrapheap today, and that was a little scary. Not because of him or anything…but because I really, reaaaaally didn’t want to leave my siblings home by themselves.

I mean, I’ve done it before when I didn’t have any other choice, and it didn’t always end in disaster. Sometimes things were only partly blown to pieces, instead of completely blown to pieces! So it’s not a total recipe for trouble. But it’s not exactly a recipe I wanna cook with if I don’t have to, you know?

But you might be saying, hey! Why didn’t I just bring all of them with me, like an older brother should?

And maybe I should have, considering that it seems like my siblings and the other former Dastardly Bombers want to see each other again. Red’s been playing online games with Magnet and insisting that he’s going to bomb Magnet into even littler pieces than he already is because Magnet’s a “big fat cheater,” and every time one of us checks Blue’s email for him he always has messages from Phantom about…well, who knows. Each message is completely empty except for a single attachment, which are all named things like “OPEN ME IF YOU DARE!!!” or “ARE YOU GOOD ENOUGH TO CRACK THIS CODE?!” There was even one that was just titled “FWAHAHAHAHA!!” Yikes…maybe someone should tell Phantom how to talk to Blue so he’ll actually bother listening. Or reading, in this case. You can’t really dare Blue to do anything except sleep for as long as possible.

…I, uh…don’t think Golem talks that much, but Plasma told me that his part of Planet Timbertree is filled with yellow flowers. Weird, right? I wonder what that’s all about…

In any case, I am glad we’ve made some new friends. We’re a little isolated here on Planet Bomber, what with being so busy with our training and all. (…or rather, with me trying to get everyone to come to training.) I could’ve dropped my siblings off so they could have some fun while I talked with Plasma, and then picked them up on the way back home.

But sometimes…I just don’t want to worry about anything like that, you know? I hate to admit it, but sometimes I just need time for myself. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t give this up for anything else! But it’s exhausting having to look after everyone. Plus, rest is just as important as training! It’s dangerous if you push yourself too hard.

(Just don’t tell any of my siblings I said that. Then they’ll be even worse about not coming to training.)

That being said, it wasn’t like I talked to Plasma for the fun of it. He’d sent a message the other day asking me to come see him on Planet Scrapheap, and while the message didn’t say what he wanted to talk about, given what I knew about him I figured it had to be something serious. So I left Pink in charge and headed out.

When I arrived, Plasma was there waiting with the kid who got involved in our fight last week. The kid ran off to play with his friends, and Plasma explained that he’d decided to look after the children here, to make sure they didn’t get into any trouble. And that made sense, because Planet Scrapheap’s not the safest place to be, whether you’re organic or robotic.

But it did make me wonder why Plasma came back in the first place. He’d said it himself: Planet Scrapheap was where machines like us ended up once we were broken or unwanted. There were other places he could’ve gone if all he wanted to do was to protect people. Why’d he come here, if he didn’t have to?

When I asked him that, he wouldn’t answer my question at first. He said he wanted me to follow him instead, so he could show me something.

I thought that was a little strange of him to say. But I had no reason to say no, so I went along with him. And man, the amount of trash on Planet Scrapheap really is unbelievable. Seeing it from space is one thing, but to actually walk around in it, especially when you’re not thinking about other things, is just…well, I don’t even know how to describe it. Scary, maybe, or creepy. Or even…

…

…

…

…anyway! The place Plasma led me to didn’t look that much different from the rest of the planet. It had the same mountains of grimy machine parts, the same towering stacks of crushed metal, and the same piles of defunct robots as far as I could see. But I did see the arm of a broken construction crane sticking out from the top of a nearby trash heap like it was going to reach down and grab me, and for a moment, I was a little worried that Plasma hadn’t actually been freed from Buggler’s control after all — that what he wanted all along was to lead me into a trap to destroy me for good. 

Well, of course, if that was the case, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight! I turned to him, bracing myself to throw the first bomb if I needed to…

And then Plasma said…that this was where he woke up after Buggler resurrected him.

That definitely caught me off guard. I had no idea what to say, so I gave the scenery another look. Somehow it seemed even more terrible, then, and I hadn’t thought that was possible for a place like Planet Scrapheap.

Plasma went on to say that he didn’t remember anything when he woke up from being scrapped. He said that all he knew was confusion, and disappointment, and betrayal. He said he didn’t know where those feelings came from, only that they only grew stronger at the sight of so many discarded robots around him. He said it was those feelings that Buggler seized on in order to brainwash him into doing the awful bidding of the Buggler Army.

Then he stopped, and didn’t say anything after that.

But you know? Somehow I understood him anyway.

I told Plasma that I got it. That he didn’t need to apologize to me for what he did or what he felt. After all, people don’t always appreciate us robots. Just because I’d disagreed with his reasons for revenge back then didn’t mean I hadn’t understood them. And, I made sure to point out to Plasma that he himself had said that Buggler had brainwashed him! He could only do as he’d been ordered. It wasn’t his fault.

Plasma didn’t seem convinced. (And honestly, I can’t say I wouldn’t have felt the same, in his place.) Still, I told him that there wasn’t any point in worrying about the past when he had the future to look forward to. Besides, I thought he had the right idea in looking after the kids here. That’s what all robots are made for, after all — to protect people.

But Plasma said it wasn’t like that, not exactly. He said that after everything that happened with Buggler, there was something else he felt he had to do.

“You asked me why I came back,” he said. “Here is your answer.”

Plasma gestured at the mangled, mechanical mess that surrounded us for miles, where dust-covered metal faces seemed to stare back everywhere we looked. He didn’t say anything after that. And this time, I didn’t understand him at all.

Thinking about it now, though, it seems so obvious! Makes me feel a little dumb about having to ask him what he meant. I don’t think I can do justice to how he explained himself, but it’s important, so I’m going to do my best. So here goes!

Plasma said that he’d come back for the robots who might one day wake up like he did, with no memory of who they were or what they were meant to do. He wanted them to know that, even though they’d gotten thrown away, there was still someone who cared enough to pick them back up again in this industrial wasteland. He wanted them to see that, no matter how broken they were, they could still find a function to fulfill. And he wanted them to realize, faster than he did, that they didn’t have to lash out and hurt innocent people in their pain.

“The cycle of hatred will end with me — I swear it,” Plasma said, and I remember him saying it just like that because…well…it was awesome! The way he held his fist to his chest with such determination was just so…heroic, you know?

Not that I told Plasma any of that. I have a reputation to keep, after all!

My response to him wasn’t anywhere near as cool, though. I just gave him a thumbs-up and told him I’d hold him to that. Which was true, at least! If Plasma ever goes evil again, you’d better believe I’d be the first in line to bring him back to his senses. It’s the least he deserves, especially now that I know more about him.

Okay, but that whole thing I just talked about wasn’t why Plasma called me to Planet Scrapheap. All of that stuff with him explaining himself, that was just because I’d asked him a question first and he wanted to give it the response he thought it deserved. Wasn’t that great of him?

Anyway, the reason Plasma wanted to talk was because he wanted to know if I knew anything about who created me and my family. I gotta say, of all the questions I thought he’d ask, that wasn’t one of them. I started to tell him the little things that I’d found out or remembered about our creator, but he interrupted me in the middle of it, asking if our creator had a daughter. I didn’t remember him having one, so I told Plasma no, and I asked him why he wanted to know.

It turned out that after we defeated Buggler, Plasma talked with Magnet, Golem, and Phantom, and found out that they were all starting to remember an old scientist with a daughter. Their memories weren’t complete, but they were sure that this was the man who created them. But Pretty, who had ended up in the same part of Planet Scrapheap as they did, was from my family. So Plasma couldn’t help but wonder if the four of them came from the same place she did.

In other words…Plasma thought that he and I…might have been brothers! 

Heck of a thing to think about, right? 

But I was a little confused. Why did he call me all the way out here to talk about something like that? He could’ve just asked about it when he sent me the message in the first place.

Plasma just waved it off, saying something about having been paranoid, so I let it go. In any case, as much as I respect him, I didn’t think I wanted to have him as a brother, and I told him so. After all, I’ve got enough siblings to look after already, especially now that Pretty’s back.

And…ooooh, that started it!

Plasma crossed his arms and said, “What makes you think you would be the one looking after me?”

And of course I was like, “What?”

And he went on all like, “It’s clear that you don’t have much authority over your siblings. While your skill as a bomber-warrior is admirable, I have less faith in your ability as an older brother.”

Can you believe him?! No way was I gonna let that stand!

I let him have it. I said, “Excuse me? What makes you think you’re any better at this brother business? One of your siblings barely talks and the other two are just…a little focused, that’s all! I dare you to deal with my crazy family for even ten minutes!”

Plasma asked if that was a formal challenge. I had to make myself calm down and think about it before I said something I’d really regret. Eventually I said I’d settle for him bringing Magnet over to play with Red, because I was seriously concerned that Red was going to blow up our TV if Magnet didn’t stop cheating at video games. And Plasma agreed…except that he insisted that Red was the one cheating.

Hmph — like I don’t know my own brother! I told him there was no way it could be Red, because Red was hotheaded, not underhanded. Plasma’s argument was that Red didn’t even give all of Magnet’s traps on Planet Technopolis a proper chance, so even if he had spirit and strength, he probably didn’t have honor.

That did it. I let Plasma know in no uncertain terms that one day we were going to settle this once and for all, and he was going to see that I was the better big brother between the two of us! Which I thought sounded cool and dramatic, but…Plasma didn’t seem that impressed. He did say that he was looking forward to that day, though, so…I guess that’s something.

And you know what? I’m looking forward to that day, too.

…but hopefully that day won’t come any time soon, because I just got home to find the common room almost completely filled with Charabom plushies, storybooks, and bags of candy. Black said that Green convinced Pretty to spoil him silly with presents, and now Pretty’s out doing karaoke downtown with Pink and Aqua for the third night in a row. At least Pink made lunch before she left, but…sigh.

Look — I totally still believe in our bond as siblings. We’re just…adjusting a little now that Pretty’s back, that’s all! Anyway, things weren’t anywhere near as bad as they could have been, so I’m going to call this a victory for my big brother skills. Once Pretty gets settled in with us, we’re going to show the former Dastardly Bombers who’s really boss — again!

The four of them should have a new name, though, don’t you think? I don’t want to keep calling Plasma and his brothers “the former Dastardly Bombers.” They shouldn’t be stuck with such a terrible name when all the “dastardly” stuff they did wasn’t even really their fault in the first place.

Maybe Red would have some good ideas. He’s always coming up with heroic names for himself and everyone he knows. Well, mostly himself, really. And most of them…aren’t that great. But I’m sure we could come up with something if we worked hard enough at it!

Wait. What if we just called them “the Plasma Bros.”? Note to self: run it by Red tomorrow.

Anyway, this is White — signing off!