Peter and Travis appeared to be the first pledges to return with their costume, so they drew an immediate crowd of curious seniors.
"Oh wow, you really managed to throw something together." Victor looked them over curiously.
"Does that mean we passed the test?" Peter mumbled through his bucket.
Victor laughed, "Oh come on, you didn't think I was going to reject you guys over a shabby costume."
Travis raised his arm, letting out a muffled, "Wait, you're saying I didn't need to spray paint my arm?"
Peter could already start to feel the box strain and flex under their movements. They really should have used more duct tape... But still, they passed! Maybe once the rest of the gang had seen their outfits, they could spend the rest of the night with just the bucket heads and silver arm. This facade wasn't going to hold together much longer.
The Frakenstein senior from earlier leaned on their box, "So, which one of you is which?" He reached for Travis' bucket, pulling it off easily.
Peter whipped his head around to try and see if the box was holding together. His focus quickly shifted to Travis' head however. It was silver! Did he get in a fight with the spray can when Peter wasn't looking?
His head wasn't just silver though, it was metallic. His hair seemed pointier, and- Oh man, were his eyes glowing? His pupils looked like they were built out of LED panels. A darting-eye animation played, looking out over the crowd.
A synthetic voice came out of Travis' mouth, "My designation is Bro Bot 2.0. I am the ultimate party robot and frat house assistant. Please designate orders."
The Frakenstein blinked, "Woah, neat mask! He looked down at the bucket, then at Peter's head, "Do you both have one?"
"What the- hey, don't!" Peter protested, trying to pull away from Travis. He should have been able to easily stumble through the box, but somehow found himself stuck in place.
A shiver ran up Peter's spine as Frakenstein pulled off the bucket on his head. He found himself standing at attention, staring straight ahead just as Travis had been. At the edge of his vision, he could see a pointed metal nose built into his face.
"What the hell is going on...!?" Peter tried to protest, but nothing came out of his mouth.
A familiar voice spoke up in his head.
> I'm not sure, but I think our costume just got a whole lot more authentic.
> Wait, Travis, is that you?
> You bet! I'm not sure who that other guy is though.
> What other-
> Invalid Command: "Do you both have one?" Initiating second prompt for baseline orders.
An emotionless third voice paused Peter and Travis' train of thought as their underlying programming chimed in. Peter could feel his head move, scanning the crowd. A synthesized version of his voice came out of his mouth, "Do not understand command: Do you both have one?" Peter's resumed staring straight ahead, as Travis's head began to move. Without skipping a beat, his robotic voice box chimed in with, "Please designate orders."
The gaggle of frat boys stared in disbelief. One of them nudged Victor, "Well, say something." As the Bro Bot stood at attention, Travis and Peter could feel the cardboard pieces around them start to fall apart, revealing even more metal underneath.