Press 6 for Banished Etna

The representative the line connected you to was very helpful in getting you set up right after you made your choice. Given the potential volatility of the Banished Etna personality, you decided to meet her somewhere outside the city - you figured it would draw a little less attention anyway. Surprisingly they told you it would only take a few days - three to five business days. Not exactly immediate, but way faster than you thought a high-priced robot could get readied and shipped out.

It was nice to give you enough time to prepare your house anyway. Given that the bot was programmed to act much lie the normal Etna, you weren't planning on having her use most of your facilities - the second bathroom, as unused as it normally was, needed a good cleaning, and you had to actually pull the spare bed frame and mattress out of the storage closet just to set up the guest bedroom again. The whole place needed a solid dusting and tidying. Not to mention the supplies, some spare clothes in case her base uniform got damaged (at least as a holdover – the sales rep assured you that extra uniforms would be included given the violent nature of the model, as well as available upon request for barely any more than a normal clothing store would charge).

By the time you had everything set up, the delivery date was already here. Keeping the warning that you’d received over the phone in mind, you made sure not to be even a minute late – in fact, you were early. You saw no sign of the delivery truck and assumed they’d already been there, but just to be safe you waited an extra few minutes before you even set foot out of your vehicle.

The meeting was at a storage warehouse just past the city limits, generally used only by a recycling company in the past few months but available due to their relocation. The company had rented out the place for the day before someone else could buy it altogether, and supposedly your model was waiting inside for you to-

The tin walls of the place buckled outward as what had to be an explosion from inside rocked the entire surroundings, sending you down to your belly in a duck and cover. When nothing happened afterwards, you dared to glance up, and found the building still standing, with only a few holes in the walls where the thin metal had given way.

“WHAT?! NO WAY! THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!”

That voice sounded… well, it DID sound like Etna. Was it all part of the scenario? You only had one real way to find out. Climbing up from the ground, you quickly made your way toward the door (which had thankfully only been blown off ONE hinge).

The scene inside was borderline gruesome. As you stepped through the doorway you saw several black, charred pieces of… what, steel? Had to be steel, judging by the shine on them, but covered in the remains of something that was now little more than charcoal. There were huge black scorches across the entire concrete floor too, and you were incredibly thankful that none of it was wooden. The entire place smelled like burnt flesh too, and yet you had no idea why, because in the middle of all of this was Etna, sitting as pretty as a daisy and-

Ohmygodwasshecrying?

There was no denying the water in her eyes, but when your jaw dropped and a gasp escaped your lips, she quickly managed to draw it all back inside and looked straight at you, her pupils now dilating with rage instead of sadness.

“I can’t believe it! You’re a HUMAN!”

She spat the word like a curse, then drew back her hands and slammed them into the concrete, smashing it into shards that scattered everywhere. A few bounced off of you, only mildly painfully, and you couldn’t help but let your jaw hang in amazement. The HELL did they make those bots out of? Apparently super-strength was one of the many things that they included with her, for realism maybe?

“Uh, yeah. What else would I be?” You asked calmly, not sure what to really say to her. You’d gone over so many things before, but explosion and the following confusion had kind of knocked you out of your mindset.

“You could try being useful!” Etna stomped her foot, shattering more of the floor, though thankfully this time it didn’t explode outward like the last batch had.

“H-hey, why don’t you slow down and tell me what’s going on?!” You shouted, trying to get your voice heard over her shouting and whining.

“I’m banished is what! That stupid Laharl, coming back and taking away my throne like that… how was I supposed to know he didn’t want all those statues of him changed over to look like me?! I thought I was just improving the looks of the Netherworld!”

Well, that fit her personality. And her story. You started to try to piece back together your vague ideas of what you were going to say, and found it surprisingly less difficult than you’d originally expected.

“The… Netherworld?” You asked, trying to feign something resembling ignorance. “So you’re some kind of demon?”

“I’m not just a demon!” She stood up, fuming from the ears. “I should be an Overlord! I’m Beauty Queen Etna, and- and I deserve better than THIS!”

Etna flailed her arm around at the entire area, possibly referring to the world itself. You stepped a little closer, rubbing the back of your head. She turned toward you, glaring harshly.

“Who are you, anyway? And why aren’t you cowering in fear?!”

“Sh-should I be?” You asked quietly.

“Of course you should! I’m a demon, you’re a human – it’s basic math! Seriously, do I get no respect anywhere?! Tch, doesn’t matter anymore…” for a moment, you saw something break through, maybe some of that hurt you’d seen before when you first came in.

Did it seem hot in there? Must have been your imagination. Still, you took extra caution as you approached her. She glared at you with an intensity that matched the temperature, immediately reprimanding you again.

“Don’t come any closer! I’m in a bad enough mood to vaporize this whole place! Now, what are you doing here?!”

You held up your hands in a nonthreatening manner. “I work private security. My friend asked me to check in on this building, said there had been reports of suspicious activities. I don’t think he meant anything like this, though…”

“Tch, I just got here, so I doubt that… Tell him to buzz off, this place is mine now. I need somewhere to stay,” she spat, but looked more sad than angry. She started to pace the building, looking around and kicking a few of the stray metal pieces.

Well, that seemed like the best kind of invitation that you were going to get. You weren’t entirely sure how to approach it, though; she seemed like the kind of person who wouldn’t take charity, and you weren’t sure you wanted to piss her off – whether or not she was supposed to be incapable of hurting you, the whole thing was giving you a bit of fright. So, how would you approach her?