Saga - ST "Droidsong" (a holiday gift-fic for Findswoman)

Title: Droidsong
Author: Seldes Katne
Era: Sequel Trilogy, near the end of The Rise of Skywalker.
Characters: BB-8, D-O, C-3PO, R2-D2, Finn, and an assortment of droids.
Genre: Humor
Summary: D-O and BB-8 want to do something nice for their friend Rey to thank her for her kindness. They end up enlisting the aid of several “consultants.”
Notes: Gift-fic for @Findswoman. Her wish for this story: “A Saga—ST story featuring BB-8 and D-O in some kind of humorous situation—I leave the details up to you. The only “organic” character that is allowed to appear in the story (if you want him to) is Finn, but other droids may show up (again, if you want them to).”

I originally considered using actual binary code for non-droid names, but that quickly became unworkable. (For example, Rey = 01010010 01100101 01111001. Finn = 01000110 01101001 01101110 01101110. You get the idea.) Quotes from droids who usually communicate through sounds rather than speech are indicated by the symbols << and >>.

Droidsong​

“She is gone?” D-O said.
“Yeah, she’s gone,” Finn answered. “I don’t know where.”
“I miss her,” D-O remarked.
“I miss her too.”

~Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker​

Rey had returned, the war apparently had ended, and the Rebels were planning to celebrate. Two droids were considering their options.

“I am glad Rey has returned. She is my friend,” D-O stated. “She was kind to me. She fixed my wheel. I-I-I want to do s-s-s-omething nice for her.”

<<Rey is my friend, too,>> BB-8 said in his tonal language. <<She rescued me in the Jakku desert. She did not sell me when she had the chance. She helped me find my way back to my friend Poe. I would like to do something nice for her, too.>>

D-O wheeled excitedly in a circle. “What should we do for her?”

BB-8 sat still. <<I don’t know.>> The orange-and-white droid thought for a few nanoseconds. <<We can ask the protocol droid. C-3PO knows a lot about Humans.>> After a moment, BB-8 added, <<At least he says he does.>>

C-3PO was making his way down a corridor outside the base’s conference rooms when BB-8 and D-O found him. After hearing their explanations, the protocol droid exclaimed, “A splendid idea! Most Humans love music. May I suggest a holiday song? Everyone is preparing to celebrate our victory over the First Order!”

“Yes!” D-O exclaimed. “I would like-like-like to sing for my friend Rey.” D-O wheeled around and around in a circle, then halted. “I-I-I don’t know any songs. “

“There are many songs of friendship,” C-3PO assured him. “The song ‘Friends in Times of Trouble,’ from the Herglic, has 227 verses. Or perhaps ‘Lament for my Friend,’ sung by members of the Weequay. Although that does chronicle several double-crosses and mistaken assassinations, so –”

<<Something simpler might be better,>> BB-8 suggested. <<I don’t think Humans have a long enough attention span for either of those.>>

“R2-D2 should have recordings of songs. I think I saw him in the X-wing hanger earlier.” C-3PO led the way down the corridor.

In the hanger, the astromech droid listened to their request, then played a recording of a children’s song, “Happy Life Day to You.” Head cocked to one side, D-O listened through the simple verse. “Yes! I-I-I can sing that one! What else should we d-d-do for friend Rey?”

R2-D2 beeped and whistled. C-3PO translated, “Decorations. An excellent suggestion. Humans seem to like those.”

“Yes!” said D-O. “I will decorate myself!” He paused. “How d-d-do I do that?”

Using beeps, trills, and a whistle, R2-D2 replied, <<I’m not sure. I’ve never been decorated.>> The astromech searched its memory banks. Finally, it said, <<We have several maintenance droids who have worked on racing craft. Humans often celebrate when they win races. Let’s ask them.>>

The quartet of droids located three DUM-series pit droids further back in the hanger. Once persuaded to stand still long enough to listen to D-O’s questions, the three pit droids began to beep, squawk, and squeal at each other (accompanied by increasingly energetic arm and hand waving). <<I’m beginning to think this might not be the best idea,>> BB-8 confided to D-O softly.

At last, one of the pit droids (who identified itself as LRR-Y) turned to D-O and, with a series of whistles, clicks and squawks, told him, <<Humans often decorate their craft with ribbons, to make them more festive. You could tie ribbons to your antennas.>>

“Where would I find-find them?”

The trio consulted. <<We’ll check the inventory,>> replied the second pit droid (EM-O). A few minutes later, the third one (KRL-Y) said, <<There are four crates of fabric and related items in area Red 4. We should try those first.>>

D-O and the other droids made their way to the storage area and spread out to search. Wheeling down a row of crates ahead of the others, D-O found an open storage container. He sped inside and found himself among tanks of liquid. Before he could back out, however, one of the storage area’s service droids lifted the side of the crate up to cover the opening, sealed it in place, and picked the crate up to transport it to sickbay.

A few minutes later, a medical droid opened the crate and peered inside. Seeing D-O, the medical droid cocked its head. “Hello. You are not a 50-kilo tank of bacta.”

“N-n-n-no. I am D-O.”

“I’m pleased to meet you, D-O. I am 9MED5. How did you end up in a crate of medical supplies?”

“It was-was an accident. I was preparing to do s-s-s-something nice for my friend Rey. We were searching for ribbons. I decided to s-s-s-search this crate, and got closed in. Here I am.”

“Here you are indeed,” 9MED5 agreed. “I know Rey. She helped fix a generator for my diagnostic equipment. I would like to join you in whatever you are doing for her. Let us go find your companions.”

When they arrived in the storage area, they discovered that the other droids had found bags of ribbons, and were now searching for D-O, having noticed his absence. 9MED5 listened patiently to the expanding tale of their search for “something nice for Rey.”

“It seems you have found what you’re looking for,” he remarked. “When and how will you present this song to her?” The droids all exchanged puzzled glances.

<<Perhaps,>> BB-8 finally suggested, <<we should ask an actual Human. My friend Poe is not here, but I think Finn is in the habitat area.>>

9MED5 nodded. “That seems like a sensible suggestion. Lead the way, BB-8.”

A few minutes later, the droids had located Finn’s quarters. 9MED5 tapped on the door. When Finn saw the collection of droids, his eyes widened. “What’s going on? Is something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong,” 9MED5 assured him.

“We need your help, Master Finn,” C-3PO said.

“Uh, okay. With what?”

D-O, with clarifying comments from C-3PO and 9MED5, explained the idea, the song, and the plans for “doing something nice for friend Rey.” Finn’s expression was skeptical as he looked at the various group members, but finally he said, “Okay. Sing it for me.”

The droids began singing (and beeping, and whistling, and making assorted other noises, with more enthusiasm than skill). The three pit droids added rhythm (mostly by hitting each other):


Ha-Ha-Happy Life Day. To you! (Clang! Ting!)

Ha-Ha-Happy Life Day. To you! (Clang! Ting!)

Ha-Ha-Happy Life Day, Friend Rey! (Clang! Clang! Ting! Ting!)

Ha-Ha-Happy Life Day. To you!” (Clang! Ting! Ting!)


Finn looked around at the circle of droids. “You’re really going to, uh, sing that to Rey?”

“Yes!” squeaked D-O. “Rey is our f-f-friend. We want to d-d-do something nice for her!”

“Okay, I got that.” Finn’s expression softened and he smiled. “I’m sure she’ll love it. How can I help?”

“T-t-t-tie ribbons on us!”

“On all of you?”

“Yes!”

“Great Maker, no!” C-3PO exclaimed. R2-D2 and 9MED5 declined as well, but the pit droids enthusiastically accepted (it took Finn several minutes to get them to calm down enough to actually tie on the ribbons and convince them to stop folding up from excitement), and BB-8 agreed to a single ribbon attached to his receiver antenna.

At last Finn straightened up and surveyed his work. D-O was wheeling in circles, ribbons streaming along behind him. The pit droids were spinning in place to make their own ribbons flutter. The rest were looking on in tolerant amusement. “Well, you all look like a festive group. I can’t wait to see everyone’s reaction to this. Anything else I can do for you?”

D-O stopped at Finn’s feet and tilted his cone-shaped head up. “Y-y-you can come and s-s-sing with us!” The other droids offered various sounds of affirmation.

Finn shook his head. “Thank you, but I don’t think I’m much of a singer.”

Still peering upwards, D-O said, “But y-y-y-you are Rey’s friend too! And you are our friend. Y-y-you should sing in our group!”

Touched, Finn said, “Thank you, everyone. That means a lot.”

“Might I make a suggestion?” C-3PO offered. “If he is uncomfortable with singing, perhaps Master Finn could introduce us before we sing.”

Finn considered the idea. “Sure, I can do that. We gonna do this now?”

“Yes!” D-O responded. “D-d-do it now!”

A few minutes later, Finn and the droids stood outside the door to Rey’s rooms. He pressed the door chime. “Rey? Do you have a minute?” He gazed around at the assembled droids. “Some friends have a gift for you.”

 

Cute droid fluff! I love it!

 

Thank you for noticing that. Every time we see the Pit Droids, there are always at least three of them, and they seem to engage in continuous slapstick, so of course....

I like Finn, and I'm glad your wish suggested him. I imagine this whole thing is beyond his experience, but he just rolls with it.

I kind of envision this "droid chorus" as similar to the ending of The Music Man, where the kids' playing is off-key and at different tempos, but the parents hear it as a professional marching band, and everyone goes singing, dancing and playing off down the street in a big musical finish. Because why not? Love sweetens everything.

You're most welcome. I must confess, when I discovered that I had received your wishlist, at first I was excited. (I'm writing for FINDSWOMAN! She's one of my favorite authors! How awesome is this?!) Then I was terrified. (If I screw this up, I will be too embarrassed to ever post here again! So, no pressure or anything....)

Interestingly enough, I woke up at 7 a.m. on a Sunday morning with little D-O wheeling around in my head saying, "This IS the plot you're looking for!" So I fired up my laptop, and 90 minutes later I had this story. It needed some tweaking, and some OC droids, but most of it was there. And I'm pleased that you enjoyed it.

You're welcome. Thank you for reading it and commenting. D-O rapidly became a favorite of mine (I would love one of him in real life), and I don't think there's anything wrong with having him in a plush. (I'm currently looking for the Funko Pop version, to the match the BB-8 one currently residing in my office at work. Because I really am that much of a geek....)

Thank you. I'm glad this story has been so well received.

 

Good heavens, @Findswoman, there's no hurry on reviews. I know what it's like around the holidays -- we did all that insanity for years. Now it's just my mother and myself (thank goodness!) and I'm just as happy to have a quiet(er) Christmas/New Years season for a change. Just knowing that you're pleased with the stories is enough.

 

Reading your story I think droidophobia should be abolished for good. Your story was very cute and thoughtful.