The Costume Party: Aloy and Grazer (Com)

A commission for Lastofworkers

June was sitting in her living room looping all the straps through a large Grazer mech costume she made for her best friend Adam. Adam wasn’t really interested in trick or treating, but he’d rather walk around with his friend than sit at home giving away candy.

June on the other hand was super excited, not for the candy but to be able to wear a costume. June loved making costumes and had made an Aloy costume for a convention, but didn’t get to wear it because the event was canceled at the last minute.

So she was glad to be able to wear it finally, especially since Adam agreed to wear a costume if she made it. So June made him a grazer mech costume, so they could go as a pair. She couldn’t wait to take photos and then go on the hunt. For candy, not for Adam in the grazer costume of course.

Adam arrived thirty minutes before they agreed to head out for the night, got changed into a black Zentai bodysuit, and then stood still while June began to add piece after piece of the grazer suit until he was in full costume.

Adam was quite impressed with the costume, the back legs were attached to his legs, so they all moved at the same time, and there was a place for him to slip his arms into, so that way they weren't noticeable when taking pictures.

It was a bit heavy though and awkward to move around in since it was quite large, so as he practiced in the hallway of June’s apartment building, June went to her room to change into her costume, apply the wig, and the makeup, and grab her gear.

Once she was ready, June left her apartment and was met with Adam who was a total goofball and running in circles. June greeted him and said she was glad he was enjoying the costume, but to maybe take it down a notch so it doesn't break.

Adam rubbed his head and apologized. He had no idea what he was dressed as, other than some type of deer, but it was like he was one of those Gundam pilots in a big robot, and it’s low-key most boys' dreams to be giant robots. June laughed saying she was glad to help him out with his dream.

She then suggested they get to hunting before the candy runs out. Adam smiled and then started running, saying if she was going to hunt him, she had to catch him first. June laughed at him and followed him.

The two of them started on their block, but there weren’t a whole lot of people with lights on, so they weren't getting much candy, they decided to take the long walk towards the other side of the city, past the park and into the more condensed residential areas.

It took them about a half hour since Adam’s costume was quite taxing on him and he kept needing a break. June didn’t mind though, as she got to take her pictures when they stopped. Eventually, they made it to their destination, \which was quite lively.

There was a festival being held and all the stores around had their employees wearing costumes and greeting people. June and Adam began going from house to house, and in ten minutes they had double the candy they got from trick-or-treating around June’s house.

As they were walking a group of teens their age noticed how awesome their costumes were and came to ask for some pics. June was happy to be in the pictures, and Adam was happy to have a break, not because he was tired this time, but because he wanted to eat candy.

The two of them took a big group photo with the teens, and then a bunch of duo photos, and then finally one where June pointed her bow at Adam while she was crouching like she was hunting him, while Adam pretended to not know she was there.

Once they were satisfied they thanked them, and then revealed a house that was giving out king-sized candy bars, and had a ton. June and Adam thanked them, and then the two quickly went over to the next street to find it.

King-sized bars were easily better than like ten small-sized ones, so it was worth it. Even when they arrived, they found nearly twenty toddlers dressed as minions in a line waiting to get theirs. June rolled her eyes, she absolutely hated the minions.

Blue overalls, goggles, the random noises everything about them, especially the Facebook memes grandmother shared, she just didn’t get why people were so fixated on them. Adam on the other hand loved them, mostly because like them he was also a menace.

As June and Adam waited in line, they saw a bright light coming from a few blocks down. Adam said it must be a light show from some sort of party, but June felt uneasy and said it looked like it was coming towards them. Adam said there was no way, but then quickly changed his tune.

They both nervously took a step backward, but the light was moving too fast for them to avoid, and before they knew it they were completely blinded by the light. June couldn’t see, but she could hear parents around her panicking and calling to their kids.

She could also hear a bunch of high-pitched voices saying things like Bello, Pado, and Bable, which she, unfortunately, recognized as typical minion words. It was weird that the kids sounded different, but even stranger was the robotic noises she was hearing.

Finally, the light vanished and she was able to see again, and the sight she was met with was honestly one of her nightmares. All the kids in minion costumes had suddenly been transformed into real-life minions, and they were causing chaos all around them.

In a panic, June told Adam they needed to get out of there, and then took off running. She heard a bunch of strange robotic noises again, but she wasn’t interested in finding out what they were from, at least not until she realized the noises were following her.

She turned around and saw a terrifying robot deer staring at her. June fell backward onto her butt trembling. She started begging it not to hurt her, but then surprisingly it rubbed the top of its head against her to show June it was friendly.

That was a bit confusing to June at first, but as she calmed down she recognized the deer. It was a Grazer from the horizon, but why was it real and why was it following her? And where was Adam? June suddenly remembered what happened to the kids, and jumped up.

She looked the Grazer in the eyes and asked if it was Adam. Suddenly Grazer’s eye flashes and it seems happy. June placed her hands on her forehead, nearly in tears because she had no idea what was going on and she was scared.

That’s when she activated her focus. Suddenly a 3D interface appeared and it was scanning Adam. The focus stated that Adam was indeed friendly and somehow started a link between June’s focus and Adam.

Adam’s thoughts were then displayed as text for her to read. Once she realized that, she began to communicate with him. It took them a few minutes to adjust to this, but soon enough they were trying to figure out what happened while checking themselves out.

June hadn’t changed all that much physically, as she was already a girl, now she was just one that looked like Aloy, but her biggest changes were with her head. She was much smarter than she was a minute ago, and she had all this knowledge about machines and hunting that she didn't before.

Adam on the other hand completely changed physically, with no mental changes. He was now fully mechanical, which he claimed felt strange but not awful. He said he felt faster and maybe stronger, but not being able to stand up straight or have hands was really confusing.

He moved around a bit, nearly falling over but managed to figure it out. June was still worried about what was going on. Suddenly her focus picked up on the internet and connected to it, and with total access to it, she was able to look up anything.

So she checked her local news and saw that there were tons of reports of the light, and following it, people transforming into all kinds of things. There were warnings from the government for the affected to go to a police station and to stay there and remain calm.

So June took Adam to the nearest one and had to convince all the police he was friendly and not to shoot at him. After that, they spent the night huddled on the floor of the police station waiting for answers.

The town was in a bit of chaos for the next couple of weeks. June and Adam were shipped off to a facility to be monitored. Luckily there wasn’t anything wrong with their bodies, and they weren't considered hostile so they were about to return home after a month.

But they were given the news that there was still no explanation for what changed them, so they were going to be stuck with the changes, which was fine in June’s case, but Adam didn’t even have a human-like body.

June didn’t like that, and instead of going back to school the following week, June and Adam with the help of their unrestricted access to the World Wide Web, got to studying mechanics and Adam’s current body in the hopes of understanding it and creating a better one.

It took about two years, but they managed to make Adam a new human-like body, one capable of feeling things and moving just like a human, with only very few limitations. But because of their work on Adam’s new body, they became highly praised in the field of robotics.

They received grants from the government and hefty donations from the elite of the world, all to continue their research. They really didn’t have a reason to continue it, but Adam suggested they use the money to create the other robots from Horizon.

June liked that idea, and soon enough they had a whole collection of robots, and at first they were displayed for people to see like a museum, but Adam got the idea to start controlling them and turning their display into a zoo of some sort.

A couple of years after that, June and Adam had a full-on theme park, which was completely operated between June’s focus and Adam's AI. Every day they’d put on a show, where June acting as Aloy would run around a staged battle ground destroying Adam in different robots.

Adam never gets bored of it, after all being in control of a bunch of robots that get to fight every day is his dream, plus without an organic body he doesn’t get sick and doesn't age, so he’s basically immortal.

June also enjoyed it, she loved hunting down the robots and getting to use her skills to destroy and control them, and after some time she even started classes at the theme park where she’d teach people how to use a focus, shoot bows, and even do minor repairs on Adam.

Overall the two of them have created a happy life, and they’d made the best of the changes they received, which was a lot more that they could say about that group of kids who are still running around as minions causing chaos.