Finding Space | AvA/AvM one shots

Entering The Box

A box, by nature, is generally constraining. But for a certain stick, The Box is not that.

This story has spoilers for AvA6 E2: "The Box". You have been warned.

Content: Implied past abuse, implied past identity abuse, discussion of identity beyond abuse, going the wrong way about things.

***

They did the interrogation early the next morning. He didn't think he could wait much longer than that.

Containment Bay 1 was still fairly cold and he could feel the morning draft around his legs. He vaguely registered Primal barking at one of the floor workers to adjust the temperature controls.

He and the mercs approached The Box. The containment cube glowed a blinding white and contained the prisoner, still paused mid-flight. The night guard had reported that the Pause Lock had held steady and The Box's status had remained normal throughout the night, but he could still feel himself controlling his breathing, the way he did when he was nervous.

He allowed himself a moment to adjust to the light, then headed up the stairs that lead into The Box.

Behind him, he could hear Agent booting the systems. Even though he wasn't facing the console, he could still feel its presence like a burning heat lamp behind him. The screens would be displaying status monitors, safeguards, items to be used in the interrogation, and his personal weapons.

He stepped into The Box. He knew at that moment the console would display his vitals, his current levels, and... his... name.

He hated it. How the console displayed it every time he stepped into The Box. How it wasn't even capitalised. How just knowing it was there threatened to plunge him into a morass of emotions and memories.

No one called him... that. He'd made certain that no one at Rocket knew it. Only the mercs knew and he had ensured that they called him "Boss" as everyone else did.

He had tried numerous times over the years to change that name at the deepest code level - at first through various back alley methods and finally through a precursor of The Box itself. But every attempt had either failed or had brought on such excruciating pain that he had to beg to stop the procedure.

Oh, he knew he could go by a different everyday name. He could also, as some did, wear it proudly to neutralise the insult and offence it was. But there were always those bits of him deep down, whispering, that no matter how much power he had, how much tech he built, how many people he commanded, he would always be... that.

But The Box... The Box was freedom. Of course, he knew that Agent was outside at the controls, but the two of them had practiced enough that he'd been able to forget the outside world, forget himself, and believe he was more. It was worth stepping back into the real world and walking past that console again and letting all of it crash back into him.

But with yesterday's capture of The Chosen One, he was one step closer to changing that.

He stared at the paused stick and let the resentment build within him. His research indicated that this was the second one. The one after him. Powerful and respected from the beginning. A stick who always had everything one could ever need to change destiny.

The door panel slid shut behind him, hiding Agent and the others, the morning draft, the greyness of the Containment Bay beyond, and the console with that name. He let everything - the fear, shame, helplessness, bitterness - flare into white hot fury. Then he took a deep breath, held it for a moment, and exhaled, pushing those volatile emotions deep into his gut, compressing them into sharp, focused, burning resolve. Here, he was no victim. Here, he had everything.

***

Published 07 Nov 2023

Unsurprisingly, AvA6 E2 "The Box" and the fandom's takes, theories, and ideas have been clawing at my brain the last few days and I had to write something about it. This was a bit rushed so I may change minor wording in the future.

Thank you to the Discord peeps who helped me with content tags and gave this a read-over! I appreciate you all <3