Chapter Text
The HQ was…a mess. A very loud, disastrous mess.
Brighteyes was gritting her teeth at the head of a meeting table, trying really hard to ignore some stupid, petty argument that Luke and Clockwork were engaged in. It was something about some prank one had pulled on the other, or something. All she could tell was that somehow, some way, Sorcus was also egging the argument on, and Brighteyes had a feeling he was actually the one who had pulled the prank. Stupid. They were gods in a world that was falling apart and the only thing those three could think to do was to act like children.
Bright made a glance to Tarabyte, eyebrows raised above her glasses to silently ask her if she was going to do anything if Bright snapped at Sorcus in specific, only to receive a wing-flick of acknowledgement and an adjustment of a bracing against incoming yelling.
Noted.
“Can you three STOP ACTING LIKE CHILDREN?!” Bright slammed a paw-hand on the table, startling poor Reese who looked like she was in the middle of being about to step in, “You can bicker about pranks some other time, we have things to discuss! Important things!”
“What’s the point in sitting down in pointless meetings if we don’t even have a plan to start with?!” Clockwork suddenly snapped back, the previous pranking argument forgotten in favor of genuine panic that Bright didn’t expect him to suddenly turn to, “We’re fighting a losing battle out there!”
“It’s gonna be even more of a losing battle if you immediately turn and give up like that,” Sorcus huffed, clearly trying to ignore the way Tara was pointedly staring at him, “Considering how much of Robloxia is already lost to…everything, if we give up, we might as well just…bomb the whole place and start fresh.”
It was clear the last bit was a joke, considering the way his face curved into a bitter smile, but Bright saw the incoming reaction from a mile away.
“Great idea, Sorcus!” Luke was suddenly leaned forwards, and Bright could easily see predatory rage in his posture, “Hey, why don’t we ask the last person who thought that going on a bombing spree was a good idea?! Oh! That’s right, we can’t!”
“Luke,” Bright made a small warning snarl.
“Oh, what, so just because she’s dead we’re not supposed to mention her anymore?!” Luke snapped to face her, “Epitaph showed us all exactly what the people out there think of us!”
“No, they didn’t,” Tara clacked her nails on the table, “they showed us that groups that aren’t aligned to us can be dangerous, and I’m sure we’ve learned that even more considering a certain someone who has just been roaming free!”
“Are we starting the Amarah argument again?” Reese groaned, “Cause it sounds like we’re starting the Amarah argument again.”
“You know what?” Luke suddenly flicked his head to face Reese, “No, let’s start the Amarah argument again, why aren’t we dealing with that guy?!”
“Because truthfully, as much as we hate it,” Bright sighed, shaking her head, “He’s…way too powerful for a mortal. We can’t risk going up against him and one of us going down, because we’re already down four Admins.”
Clockwork suddenly seemed to have an idea, and Bright looked to him, seeing him shrink back a moment. She nodded her head, telling him to go on.
“...This is…going to sound crazy, I know,” his voice sort of warbled as he spoke, rubbing at the back of his head, “But what if we…asked…the known Exploiter Group for help? See if any of them know…anything about everything going on and if they have any ideas.”
“That’s…” Tara was the first to speak, clicking her tongue, “Actually not a bad idea.”
“Do we even know who the leader of The Exploiter Group is?” Sorcus hummed, “Our first step is trying to get in contact with them.”
“...They’re tight-knit, aren’t they?” Luke had seemingly managed to calm himself from his earlier outburst, “Could someone give a message to the first Exploiter they manage to find to pass it to their leader?”
“They won’t just…willingly walk into HQ, though,” Reese prodded, “So the question becomes how do we make it worth their while?”
Bright tapped her claws on the table, thinking things through, “If you guys are willing to agree, I have an idea,” she took a breath, expecting immediate push-back, “complete and utter pardoning of any past crimes given they do whatever they can to help us.”
The room was silent for a moment, and Bright prepared to defend her idea tooth and nail. She was the leader of Robloxia now, and she was fully willing to argue until she was blue in the face if someone wanted to push against her idea, only for…
…collective sounds of agreement.
“We’re in…dire times,” Tara adjusted her wings again, motioning a hand towards Bright, “We have to be willing to offer them something they’d really want, and that’s exactly it.”
“If Tara agrees, I think it’d be weird if I didn’t,” Sorcus laughed, “So yeah, I’m in too.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Luke nodded, “I’d be willing to look the other way for past crimes if they can help us get out of this mess.”
“We’re in too deep to this chaos to be picky with what we can offer,” Reese sighed, “So…pardoning it is.”
“I see nothing wrong with that offer!” Clockwork practically chirped like an excited bird of some kind, “I’d be willing to deliver the message!”
“So then it’s settled!” Bright laughed, a smile fully on her face for what felt like the first time in ages, “We get the Exploiters to work with us, we get whatever they can offer us, and maybe, just maybe…we’re on the way out of this mess.”
For the first time since Dusekkar had disappeared, there was genuine hope.
“We just have to stick to our guns and see this through. If the Exploiters help us, then maybe–no, then we will make it out of this. It’s been…tough, these past few years. It’s been tough on all of us. We’ve seen things we never thought we’d see happen, and things we haven’t seen happen in many, many years,” she pulled her glasses up to sit on her head so the rest of the group could properly look her in the eyes as she glanced around the table, “But at the end of the day, what’s important is that we stick together. These meetings are important because they give us time to talk, to just…figure it out. Hopefully by the next time we have a meeting, we’ll have the leader of the Exploiters sitting in with us. We’ll get what they know, and we’ll be one step closer to everything being set right. One step closer to our beloved home actually feeling like home again. So let’s…keep working together. For ourselves, for those we’ve lost, and for everyone outside the HQ walls. Does that sound good to everyone?”
“You sound like Builder,” Reese had a good-natured smile on her face, “You’re really growing into the role thrown at you.”
“We just gotta keep going,” Sorcus nodded in agreement, “After all, everyone out there is still looking to us for help.”
“And help they’re going to get,” Brighteyes’ voice was firm, without any falter.
She was going to fix everything, no matter what.