Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A few days have passed since the car accident that the body experienced.

3803 was with 2153 making their deliveries of oxygen to somewhere around the chest area.

"It seems like the body's beginning to heal nicely!" 2153 remarked.

The two haven't run into the others since the time they split up those few days.

"The two nanobots must be really busy. The same could go for IB and PC." 3803 added.

"Can you two tell us what we're going to discuss at that time?" 3803 asked.

"It's a surprise!" 0012 answered with a giggle.

"Do you think we should start heading towards the stomach?" she asked her partner.

"That wouldn't be such a bad idea," he replied.

They first went to deliver the oxygen they have on hand.

After picking up their carbon dioxide, they began to walk over.

While they were walking over, they saw Killer T Cell and NK Cell arguing over something.

Not wanting to get involved with the inevitable galaxy-sized fight, they simply ignored them and continued walking.

Just like that, not long after the two passed them they could begin to hear punches beginning to get thrown.

To that, the two simply let out a sigh and kept going.

As they were walking they encountered 1196 with her own small group of neutrophils dealing with a few antigens.

A red light came from their pupils for a few seconds before fading away again.

"I see she's just as great as ever." 2153 told himself before they continued walking away to where they were supposed to be.

After a bit of time, they managed to find their way into an empty vessel.

"Man, it would be wise to get out of here as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling something's gonna-"

3803 was interrupted by an antigen that made itself known.

"Hm, easy targets I see! I'm coming after you two!" it yelled as it made a mad dash for them.

Almost no time has passed when it happened.

Just as the antigen was about to reach them, the dot of red light could be seen once again as their expressions grew a bit colder than usual.

2153 grabbed the antigen in the face, while 3803 grabbed its chest with her arm and the two cells pinned it down.

Wasting no time, they simply each put pressure on a certain point of the antigen's body with their free hands.

It didn't take too long before they killed it from the inside.

Just like that, the red light faded away once more.

The two blinked once before getting up.

"What... just happened?" 3803 asked.

"I'm not exactly sure."

They simply stared at the corpse for a bit.

During this time, they began to feel a little drained.

"Maybe it would be wise to go and ask the two nanobots this once we go and see them." 3803 suggested before the two continued to walk again.

In the stomach, 0011 and 0012 were both waiting for a pill that contained some things they needed.

"Have you heard anything else from Shane?" 0012 asked.

"I wish. All I've heard from her is that she's beginning to make something, a new experiment she wants to test out in an artificial environment or something around those lines." 0011 responded.

"Did you hear anything about the body I was originally in?"

"I don't know too much about that either, but it seems like on that body's end, they fulfilled what was needed, so I guess you're going to stay with me now!"

Some time passed.

While they were waiting on the pill, they were able to spot 3803 and 2153 in the distance.

"Ah, so you were able to make it. Wonderful!" 0012 exclaimed.

"Yeah, we actually got a question for you guys. Is our talk gonna involve us taking out antigens?" 2153 bluntly asked.

The two nanobots froze for a moment.

They both simply let out a small smile.

"I see you're both adjusting to the program nicely. Don't worry, we're going to fill you two in on that. Come with us." 0011 told them.

"Program? What program?" the two thought.

The two were then led away into an empty corner.

"So, when we were trying to save you, there wasn't a whole lot that we had on us in terms of how to repair sickle cells. We were also thinking about what our creators told us to do, as well as how to make you both feel more useful for this body. Wasn't there ever a time where you really wanted to help the white blood cells?" 0011 asked.

The two red blood cells were able to recall all the various times where they could see their friends struggling, and that the most they could do were deliver oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nutrients.

"To put it more bluntly, you're both semi-immune cells now! Not only could you do your original jobs a bit better, you also have some way to defend yourselves for when you're alone or in extreme danger and the like. We even made it so you could be more resourceful in what you can use!" 0012 said.

It took them a bit to process all the information that was just given to them.

"We're... partially immune cells now?" 3803 asked to confirmed.

The two nanobots nodded.

Before they were able to go more into detail, they got a signal that the pill they were waiting for has arrived.

"Looks like our pill has arrived, why don't you two test out your abilities." 0011 told them before the two nanobots ran off.

The two red blood cells simply clutched their packages of carbon dioxide and went to the lungs, which also allowed them a bit more time to process this new information.

A bit before the nanobots got to the pill, something quietly jumped out of it and went through the door and simply disappeared.

Chapter Text

"To think, we now have the ability to defend ourselves while doing what we do best. Nothing can describe how I feel about this right now." 2153 exclaimed with a look of fascination.

"Speaking of which, maybe it relates to why we felt a bit drained after dealing with that antigen." 3803 added.

"Yeah, what was that about?" 2153 questioned.

Since the two were alone when they killed the antigen, only they and the nanobots know about this.

Maybe IB and PC do too.

With more caution, the two decided to go into a busier vessel for the rest of their deliveries for the day.

1146 was hanging out with 1196.

"So in the body that you're from, you use those kinds of blades?" he asked pointing at her long blade.

"Yes, quite different from your daggers."

She looked at his hat.

"Is the receptor you have there used for detecting antigens?"

"It is, but it's not like it's the most useful thing in the world. After all..."

A familiar-looking cell walked by with a bunch of good bacteria.

"Oh, hello white blood cell!" Cell Boy waved at him.

His receptor went up.

"...it reacts to even that" 1146 finished his sentence.

The two nanobots went to cut a hole into the pill and took out various supplies.

"So let's see... I think we have enough for our blasters and for cell treatment until the next delivery," 0011 noted as they looked over a checklist.

Pulling out a few more things, they left the stomach as the capsule got digested.

Later in the day, the two red blood cells met with the two neutrophils.

"So, how are things going for you two?" 3803 asked.

"Right now 4989's a little jealous that 1196 doesn't need a receptor in order to do her job but other than that the rest of the group likes the extra help her own group gives." 1146 replied.

"Yeah, and the two nanobots have been a big help." 1196 added.

Almost as if on cue, 1146's receptor began to go off.

A group of antigens ran past them as they were being chased by a group of macrophages.

The two assistants were leading them.

1146 apologized for the interruption before the two neutrophils ran off.

The two cells were left alone.

"Maybe we should go," 3803 suggested.

They began to get up and walk away, knowing that if they stayed there any longer-

"Are those red blood cells I see?"

Turning around, before them was one of the antigens.

They began to panic about what was about to happen before their new senses took over.

Like last time, they each grabbed a part of the antigen with one of their hands and administered something with the other.

This time though, they were able to get a better idea of what they were doing.

2153, in particular, was being observant on his drainage of energy.

"Wait, so what did we do right before meeting with the White Blood Cells?" he asked.

"Well, from what I can remember, we stopped by a vending machine for an ice cream cone or two..."

He was onto something.

"When you think about it, isn't this feeling something we usually have when we're low on glucose?"

He was able to see a lightbulb light up within 3803 when he brought that up.

"......That explains a lot," 3803 finally responded.

The antigen was dissolved from the inside and they got up, ready to leave.

"Wait, did you two take out the antigen?"

They slowly turned around to see the two neutrophils staring at them and the carcass.

"........Maybe...????" 3803 barely manage to say.

The two could only muster up a poker face as they were staring at the two gaping neutrophils in silence.

3803 finally spoke.

"Listen, when the nanobots were repairing us..." she started.

"How do I word this without looking weird?" she thought.

"The only way to save us was to put something immunity-related into us," 2153 finished.

1146 was trying to piece it all together.

"Even so, how did you two manage to take that antigen out?" he asked.

They held up their hands.

"Since what they put into us also made us more resourceful for how to defend ourselves, we burned through most of our glucose reserves taking that guy out," 3803 tried to explain as she lifted up a finger and made it glow a faint red.

"Stay here, we'll get you two some more glucose and then we can talk more," 1196 proposed before the two neutrophils went off to the nearest vending machine.

The two nanobots were looking through various samples.

Suddenly, they got a report from Shane.

According to her, it seems like her special experiment went missing.

"We were both given orders to keep an eye out in the case that experiment managed to get into the body. You got that?" 0011 checked with their partner.

"I think so. It seems like she doesn't have a solid way of removing this experiment if it did get into the body. What if we do find it?"

"She just said to keep it in check..... I wonder."

While the two was reading the report, someone tapped them on the shoulder.

"So, you are both the nanobots Shane keeps on talking about!"

That's when they realized that what they're dealing with was also a nanobot.

Instead of the green and orange they have, this one was a bright purple, and their irises were almost wild-like.

Surely, the eyes weren't what made this nanobot special, right?

"You two can call me 0013. It's a pleasure to meet you two!" they said with a big grin.

While the two were shaking their hand, they couldn't help but feel like something was off.

Back in an area of the lungs, a red blood cell was talking to 5100 and 4201.

"So you're a friend of 2153, right? Yeah, I met him. So you're 1677, I'll make sure to remember that," 5100 told him.

"I can't wait to surprise him!" 1677 announced with a smile.

Chapter Text

The two nanobots have been keeping an eye on 0013.

So far they weren't doing much out of the ordinary.

Even though they weren't doing anything bad per se, neither of them could trust them enough to tell them about 3803 and 2153.

As for those two red blood cells, they were hanging out with the two neutrophils, the four of them with an ice cream cone each in hand.

1196 simply looked at her cone for a bit before giving it a nibble.

"It isn't often when I have the time to actually get dessert."

They were continuing their chat, this time beginning to ask about their new ability.

"So you guys mentioned about being able to be resourceful in taking out antigens that stand in your way. Can you two use something other than your glucose reserves?" she asked.

"We... don't know," was all 3803 was able to say.

The rest of the time was spent in silence as the four continued to eat their cones.

Meanwhile, it seemed like 1677 wandered near the stomach while on break.

"Oh, 0012! How have you been doing?" he asked with a bright smile once seeing them.

"I didn't think I would run into you here! I'm fine," they replied.

PC hovered over to him and landed on top of his head.

"I see you still like to treat my hat as a landing pad."

Looking back at 0012, he noticed the two other nanobots and the drug unit with them.

"Oh, and you guys are...?" he asked, pointing in their direction.

0011 looked at their partner.

"Wait, have you ever talked about us? In that case..."

They simply stuck out their hand.

"I'm known as 0011 here, and this is IB. We are the caregivers assigned to this body", they told him.

IB had a stoic expression displayed on their screen.

That expression didn't change when they gave him a small 'hello'.

0013 stepped forward and offered their hand.

"A pleasure!" they told him as they shook his hand.

After talking to the nanobots for a bit, he said his goodbye and went back to work.

0013 stared in the direction that he went off in.

"Well, I think that I should try to be as useful to this body as possible. I'm going to collect some samples!"

They ran off before the other two nanobots could stop them.

"Hey PC, I'm going to need you to keep an eye on them", 0012 ordered.

The small helicopter gave a nod before heading off in their direction.

After passing through a few vessels the nanobot came upon a small pile of bacteria remains.

They also took notice of the macrophages nearby, talking to a few dendritic cells.

"I'm assuming that the macrophages will take these remains shortly. Better take this opportunity that I have now..."

0013 grabbed a handful in their right hand and stared at it.

PC was not far behind, paying close attention to what they are doing.

After a little while, the bacteria remains began to change.

It grew random bumps and other oddities.

"So my ability managed to stay intact after all. That will come in handy!", 0013 declared as they put the mutated lump back next to the rest of the pile of bacteria.

PC grew slightly concerned that they have that ability.

The unit left before they were spotted and relayed the information to the other two nanobots.

"What should our next course of action be?" IB asked.

"Good question. For starters, we should probably keep an eye on them", 0011 decided.

The two nanobots then pulled out their smartphones.

Each of them put in the information.

The macrophages each took a portion of the bacteria remains before leaving.

Dendritic cell noticed a portion of the mutated portion one of them took and sneakily took a photo of it.

He then went back to base.

Some time passed.

The nanobots and assistants were working with the neutrophils and studying a few forms of bacteria that they run into.

4201 ran into 1677 while on one of her deliveries.

It's not like she hates the guy, but he was quite a big contrast compared to his supposed friend.

She sometimes wonders where he was the whole time his friend was staring Death in the face.

Then again, they both arrived in the body around the time they got into a car accident, so more likely than not, he probably had his hands full so she can't hold something like that against him.

"Yo, 4201! How've you been?" he asked her.

"Fine and dandy. You haven't been slacking on the job have you?"

At first, he looked dramatically appalled at her even thinking about that, but then grinned and gave a small nod.

"Okay, you got me."

The two walked and she gave him a lecture in the process.

"I've been looking for my friend. Have ya seen him around lately?"

She shook her head.

Come to think of it, she hasn't seen her senpai around for a while either.

"I did run into the nanobots earlier. There's a new guy with them", he noted.

"A new guy? What're they like?"

He paused for a moment to think.

"It's a bit hard to describe without you seeing this guy in the flesh. They acted very proper, but they also had this odd feral energy to them."

"Where is that new guy?" she asked, but she had a feeling that he didn't know.

"Last place I saw those three is by the stomach, but they may have moved from there by now."

4201 just gave a sigh since she knew that he would probably be right.

1677 decided to then follow her to where she was delivering the package of oxygen.

They were walking down a more populated path when they spotted something familiar.

"YOOOOOOO dude!" 1677 called out while waving his hands in the air like a lunatic.

2153 looked up from his almost-finished cone and gave an expression of disbelief the moment he set his eyes on his friend.

The duo ran up to the larger group and 4201 began asking 3803 where she's been all this time.

"Don't worry about that Kohai! I've been keeping up with my deliveries thanks to the extra help I got!" her senpai stammered.

"Meanwhile, have YOU been keeping up with your job?" 2153 gave his friend a questioning glare.

"Y-yeah! I just so happened to be on break!" 1677 said with a grin and a very animated thumbs up.

He then saw the two neutrophils behind him.

"Wait, I know that white blood cell, but who's the other one?" he asked, pointing at 1146.

The neutrophil stood up.

"Ah, I go by 1146, it's a pleasure to meet you", he offered his hand for a handshake with a small smile.

"Quite the pleasure!", 1677 replied with a bigger smile as he gave an enthusiastic handshake.

After a few more minutes of talking, the red blood cells began to leave.

"Our break is almost over. We should probably get going", 3803 insisted.

Her partner nodded in agreement.

The two neutrophils gave their goodbyes and the two groups began to go their separate ways.

At that moment, the antenna on 1146's hat sprung up suddenly.

Many regular cells and red blood cells were running away from something.

They saw neutrophils and killer t cells turning the corner of a building and the two other neutrophils took their blades and began to run in that direction.

The red blood cells were giving each other confused looks and wondered what kind of antigen entered the body to cause this kind of ruckus.

Then it became visible from the buildings that were covering it before.

The entity was like a giant mass of something, and none of them could exactly distinguish what it was made from.

The two red blood cells' new instincts were beginning to kick in as their minds were telling them over and over 'CANCER'. 

But 3803 has seen forms of cancer before, and while those forms looked menacing, it was nothing compared to the monstrosity that they were looking at right now.

The two looked at each other before looking back at the mass and decided to make a run for it.

The other two cells were screaming at them to come back, but they both needed to get a closer look.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING? DO YOU REALLY HAVE A DEATH WISH?!" 4201 shouted.

The mass had tentacle-like limbs attacking the neutrophils and killer ts as they were trying to take it down.

Luckily they got to where they needed to be undetected.

Sneaking up to the mass, they began to look for signs on what it was made of.

It took a few moments before they began to find some clues.

There were a few battle weapons here and there tangled in the mass.

They were also able to find frills.

As they were looking more and more, 2153 began to notice that there was a lack of macrophages responding.

"Hey, do you think that the macrophages would not respond to this sort of thing?" he asked 3803.

For a few seconds, all she could do was stare at him.

Then she began to frantically scan the area in search of even a single macrophage.

Then it hit both of them.

Unless they're proven wrong, the mass consisted of mainly what was once macrophages.

Chapter Text

1677 and 4201 have no clue what the other two red blood cells plan on doing.

"What the hell is he doing?! He can't take on that monstrosity!" 1677 stated.

The giant mass was continuing on lashing out at the other white blood cells and killer t cells while the two red blood cells tried to come up with a strategy of attack.

"How are we going to go about this without the others knowing what we're doing..." 3803 pondered.

She looked at her hand and focused on it.

"Are we able to focus energy onto our entire hand?" she asked her partner.

2153 gave a frown.

"I'm not sure. We never tried that before."

They looked back at the mass and noticed that something was up there.

"Wait, is that the small penicillin unit I saw a while ago?" 4201 mumbled to herself as she squinted up at PC, who was now hovering at the top of the mass.

A few moments later, 0012 arrived.

They took out something from their backpack and quickly threw it at the mass.

The small device latched onto an area and within an instant began to electrocute it.

0012 turned to the white blood cells and killer t cells.

"I got this cancer paralyzed, now's your chance!"

While the other cells went in for the attack, the nanobot noticed the two red blood cells and motioned for them to join in.

The two noticed them and ran over to where they were standing.

"So, what do you suggest we do? Actually, let me rephrase that. What can we do that won't get us caught?" 2153 asked.

0012 looked back at the crowd of bystanders.

"Actually, you two can help the other red blood cells evacuate the area. That should help hide your secret and prevent some casualties."

The two decided to follow along and went back to the crowd of cells to try and get them to leave.

"Come on everyone! We're all running late on our deliveries. The immunity cells can take care of this without us in the way!" 3803 shouted to the group.

"As for all the other non-immunity cells here, I think it would be a really good idea to not stay here for much longer while that thing is still rampaging! So I suggest that you all evacuate!" 2153 added.

The other cells stopped staring at the mass, looked at the other two red blood cells, and began to run away.

1677 and 4201 were in disbelief.

"They're still not getting out of there. What's her senpai going to think about this?" 4201 muttered.

"Probably that she is really- wait what's going on over there now?" 1677 asked while he pointed at a red blood cell on the floor.

He didn't look like he was dead, but he was trying to stand up.

2153 noticed the hurt cell and realized that he was from his original body.

"I'll be right back", he told his partner before running off to help the other cell.

Around the same time, another red blood cell came running in.

"Hey idiot, aren't those other two red blood cells from your body?" 4201 asked.

1677 squinted at the group of three red blood cells who were in the middle of helping the hurt cell up and pulling him to safety.

While that was happening, 3803 snuck back into the battle and quickly gave a portion of the mass a downright slap and began the dissolving process before she could get caught.

She then backed away and headed back to the others, who were now checking on the hurt cell.

"Are you okay dude?" 1677 asked the cell, who was still sitting on the ground.

"Thanks for helping me get him out of there. It's been a while since I've seen you too", 2153 told the other red blood cell.

"It really has. Glad to see that you are all holding up all right here", the stranger replied.

3803 ran up to the group.

"Sorry for taking so long, something else that I needed to do."

She noticed the other cell.

"So, who's this?"

"Ah right, I never introduced myself. I'm BD7599. I guess you could say that I was overseeing those two in their rookie days", 7599 said with a smile.

They then heard a cough from the sitting cell.

"I guess I should introduce myself too. I'm NC8429. I'm barely starting out, so I guess I can be considered a rookie in that case."

He stood up and faced the other cells.

"It's a pleasure to meet you guys."

8429 bowed.

"And thanks for saving me!"

7599 stood him straight.

"Don't make such a big fuzz over it. We were happy to help!" he told him.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves then", 3803 suggested.

"Good idea. Those two never got a chance to meet us", 4201 agreed.

The two introduced themselves to the new cells and talked.

3803 was focusing on 8429.

She then proceeded to pinch one of his cheeks.

"Ah?! What are you doing?" he asked in slight surprise.

"Well, I took notice of how squishy your cheeks look."

4201 stepped in.

"Uh senpai, I think you should stop that for now. We should probably get on with our deliveries anyway", she suggested.

3803 perked up and gave a nod.

"Ah, you're right!  If you want, one of us can go with you on your route", she offered.

"I'll be going with the guy for a bit, maybe give him a boost in self-esteem!" 1677 boldly proposed.

"Dude, I've known you for forever and I think that's a pretty bad idea", 2153 immediately interjected.

"I'll keep an eye on the two then. Our schedules should be able to work in that favor at least", 7599 told him.

"Good point. Alright then, I'll trust you guys to that."

As they were about to leave, they heard a loud thud.

The group turned to the source and saw that the mass has fallen to the ground, slain by the immunity cells.

0012 climbed on top of the mass and began to take samples.

PC was hovering in place at the top and took some of the samples away.

"A mutation of macrophages. Based on the results I was able to gather right now, this mutation was artificially induced in a way", 0012 told themselves.

Killer T Cell backed away from the giant.

"That was a weird cancerous cluster. Now, anyone else finds it weird how there were no macrophages here?"

1146 also backed away.

"Um, I think that this mass consisted of those macrophages Killer T", he pointed out.

"That explains all of these frills then."

1196 looked at the giant.

"How many macrophages did this cluster consist of anyway?"

Eventually 0011 and IB got to the scene, with PC close behind.

"Let me tell you guys, it took a lot to convince the macrophages not to attack this thing!" they exclaimed while pointing at the mass.

"So that's what took you so long. Anyway, did you get a chance to look at those samples?" 0012 asked.

"IB has the results. Show them what you've found."

The unit displayed the results, which revealed something intriguing.

"This was artificially induced. The most probable cause is that they may have eaten something that caused them to mutate. So are you thinking what I'm thinking?" 0011 asked.

"Well based on what PC told us, there is a possibility that they may have had a hand in it. But without solid proof, we can't exactly accuse them."

0012 looked down.

"So what are we gonna do then?"

The nanobot proceeded to stomp on the ground.

"Well for starters, we need to find 0013 anyway. Let's stabilize this mass first and then we can leave this to immunity."

The duo had their thread-like wires come out of their backpacks and stuck them inside the mass and proceeded to electrocute it.

"Okay, you guys take it from here!" 0011 told the group of cells as the two left with their partners.

While immunity was taking the mass away, they failed to notice 0013 observing them hidden behind the corner of a building.

Chapter Text

Some of the neutrophils were on break and chatting by one of the tea machines near the lungs.

"Have you ever wondered how some things have changed since the accident a while ago?" 4989 asked the others.

"How so?" 2001 questioned.

"Like to an extent, the body seems to be running, what's the word.....smoother."

He gave a small smile while looking at his teacup.

"Yeah, ever since those neutrophils came from the other body we have been able to handle antigens better", 2048 agreed as he stretched his arms upwards.

2626 gave a nod in agreement as he folded his arms and leaned against the wall.

"That is true, but I'm now just remembering that we already had a discussion like this not too long ago" 2001 pointed out.

"Oh really? Guess the fight with the cancerous macrophages made me forget?"

4989 gave a shrug as 2048 gave him a noogie.

1146 looked at his own teacup in silence.

It would be reasonable to assume that with more cells to help, the immune system can perform better.

However, he has a feeling that another reason why their jobs have been easier to do is that the extra help that they got just so also happened to be from an environment that made this one look like a complete cakewalk to perform under.

He's seen that environment with his own eyes.

His mind slowly drifted onto thinking about the large macrophage mass they had to fight earlier.

He can understand why a neutrophil like 4989 would probably forget a casual conversation like that.

1146 had his fair share of cancer cells in the past, but he has not seen a cluster quite like this one before.

As he got lost in his thoughts he was suddenly brought back to reality as he heard running footsteps nearby.

Turning in the direction of the source, he noticed some red blood cells running by.

This also included seeing 8429 stumbling a few times.

Each time, either 7599 or 1677 were there to catch him.

"It seems like they're doing okay at least", he finally told himself as he gave a sigh of relief.

He turned to face the rest of the group, only to realize that the four of them were looking at him.

"I worry for you sometimes. You were looking off into space", 2048 told him with a slightly serious look on his face.

"Yeah, do you need a longer break? You have been working harder than usual lately ever since the encounter with the macrophage mass", 4989 pointed out.

1146 blinked at them in surprise.

"No, I'm fine. Anyway, I think we should get going soon. Our break's about to end", he pointed at the clock on the wall.

They turned their attention to the time and quickly drank what was left of their tea.

"Alright, then let's go before we get yelled at by the higher-ups", 2001 declared as they left the breakroom.

Around an area of the thighs, the other group of red blood cells are making their deliveries.

As the girls were making sure that 3803 was not getting into trouble, 2153 was in stunned silence.

He never really paid attention to it before, but he noticed how smooth it was to travel through the thighs.

He couldn't see this being what could have been his original body, despite 0012 and PC doing a decent job at repairing the place.

They arrived at their last stop before needing to head back to the lungs.

"Just sign here please!" 5100 asked as she held her clipboard and pen to the other cell.

After she got her signature, she turned to the others.

"I think we can begin to head back now-"

SLAM!

The ground was shaking violently for a few moments before stopping.

Many of the cells went straight to the ground and some bumped into things on the way down.

"Another accident?!" 3803 gasped in slight confusion as she was getting up from the ground and rubbing her head.

"No.....I don't think that's it. Might have just bumped a leg into something perhaps", 4201 calmly suggested as she picked her hat up.

2153 was picking up 5100 from the ground when he saw 0011 talking into their smartphone.

"What do you mean the body bumped into a table? .........Nevermind that, how is their vision at the moment?" they were asking with a slight look of concern showing through what part of their face is visible.

He excused himself from the rest of the group and ran to the nanobot.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

The nanobot looked up at him.

"Oh, it's you! I'm just running some things through 0012 about what caused this earthquake in this area."

They hung up the phone.

"Seems like this body managed to hit a corner of a table, and pretty hard from what I found out. I expect that there's bruising that the platelets will need to attend to."

The nanobot began to walk away.

"Maybe we'll talk a bit later!" they said as they were walking away, not looking behind them.

3803 ran up to him.

"What was that about?" she asked with an expression of slight confusion.

"Turns out that your kouhai was right. The body bumped into a table", he explained as they were walking back to the other two.

"W-wait I was?" 4201 stammered a bit in surprise.

He gave a nod.

"Anyway lets head back to the lungs now!" 5100 directed and they proceeded to head back.

0011 went to meet 0012, IB and PC near the left eye to have a discussion about some findings.

Surprisingly 0013 has also made an appearance.

"So I had a feeling that you guys would be here. Is everything alright?"

0012 looked at them, then 0011, who looked back at 0012, and the duo sighed.

"I began to collect some information to see how the various cells of the eyes are doing. Something that's concerning me is the reduced number of rod cells in this eyeball. While I need to check on the cone side of things, it's not looking too promising", 0012 explained as PC displayed some other data to better explain the findings.

"We need to look more into stem cell research if we want to attempt anything here", 0011 concluded with IB nodding in agreement.

"Hm, according to my database there's the possibility of blindness. I'll see what I can do, I want to help contribute to this body!" 0013 declared.

The other four looked at them in slight shock.

"Oh, you're serious about that? Lets shake on that" 0012 proposed as they raised their hand.

"Alright then!" 0013 responded as they took the hand and began to shake it.

Hidden from 0013's view, 0012's other hand gave a signal for 0011 to use one of their wires to plant something onto 0013's back.

Soon after they all left they area and 0013 was on their way somewhere else, the group stopped.

"So is the GPS working?" 0012 asked.

0011 showed them their smartphone, which displayed a map of the body.

The was a blinking violet dot in one of the legs.

"Working flawlessly!" they declared with a smile.

They took the smartphone back and began tapping on the screen.

"Onto another subject. There's some upgrades that I want to discuss with you while we're going to the thigh."

"Oh? What about them?"

"I was thinking that while we wanted them to be resourceful, they do drain through their energy reserves rather quickly, and what if there's a time when they don't have an ice cream machine nearby for emergencies?"

0012 raised an eyebrow in curiousity.

"What are you getting at?" they asked.

"Well, what if we work on a phagocytosis-like feature for them?" 0011 suggested.

0012 stopped walking and thought about it.

"If we can somehow pull that off, then that can also make them more useful in terms of clean-up after kills. We just need to figure out how to actually implement that. Making them into semi-immunity cells as is was already a miracle!"

They began walking again.

"Let's work on that! Besides, maybe we'll also come up with something to help deal with 0013" they declared with a wide grin on their face.

The platelets were still repairing some damage as 0013 walked by, deep in thought.

"So the experiment I did gave me some information that I needed, but not nearly enough to help this body the way I want to do it. What can I work on next that will help me progress to where I need to be for helping regain the lost eyesight?"

They paused for a moment before walking again.

"Eyes are fragile, why not try something that's also fragile. Something like erythrocytes?" 

Something in their coding glitched as they made a plan for their latest experiment.

They saw groups of red blood cells up ahead. 

For every few red blood cells they came across, 0013 would give one a tap on the shoulder.

None of them noticed what the nanobot just did.

"Maybe erythrocytes can't become cancerous themselves, but they do have some other properties that I want to examine firsthand."

They hid in the shadows once again and waited.

One of the red blood cells wasn't looking where they were going and bumped into another red blood cell.

The two not only fell to the floor, but they also noticed that they were stuck to each other.

"What's happening?!" some of them began to shout as more of them began to get stuck, either by accidental contact or by trying to help the ones that are already stuck.

0013 grinned at the chaos that they created as the groupings grew bigger.

"Excellent, now lets see what happens from here!"

Chapter Text

As the piles of red blood cells grew bigger, they began to crush each other under their own weight.

The groupings eventually ended up as blood clots.

"Pfffff, and they say it couldn't be done", 0013 scoffed as they crouched down.

The clots began to roll as the platelets noticed what was going on.

"Everyone, stay up here! There's danger below us!" the platelet leader shouted to the others as they all looked down at the clots that began moving up the leg.

The nanobot duo wasn't very far ahead when they detected something off in the body.

"Hey, something went off in the map", 0012 pointed at a red dot on 0011's map with a slightly confused look.

0011's eyes widened a bit.

"More like multiple somethings, and they're all migrating away from the thigh!" they added in a slightly shocked and concerned tone when more red dots began appearing on the map.

They saw red blood cells running in the opposite direction.

"This is not good..." IB said in a slightly concerned tone.

The group began to pick up speed and as they approached the location of the dots, their eyes widened as their pace began to slow when they realized what they were dealing with.

Multiple blood clots were barreling up the thigh.

"Crap! If those blood clots leave this area then we'll really be in trouble!" 0012 exclaimed as they readied a weapon.

"Wait, are you really gonna cut the clots?" 0011 asked.

"What else can we do?! These clots don't seem to have been formed by normal means!" 0012 retorted.

"Hm, you do have a point. When I was surveying the thighs earlier the vessels seemed to be in working order."

They pulled out another weapon before they both began to walk toward their targets.

PC went on ahead to get a birds-eye view of what they were dealing with.

IB began to charge a blaster as they were close behind.

The blood clots were not slowing down.

0013 was observing them in silence to see what will happen next.

"Alright, on my command!" 0011 ordered.

They took aim.

The clots were getting closer until...

"ATTACK!"

IB began to fire their blaster arm at the closest clots as the nanobot duo began to slice into them with precision and speed on their side.

PC was beginning to record data of potential causes for the blood clots existing.

Corpses fell as the clots began to shrink in numbers until there weren’t any clots left.

0011 breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally, the hazard has been eliminated!" 0012 cheered as they fist-pumped in the air.

"That may be true, but the question still remains of how they came into existence in the first place", 0011 said with a slightly concerned look in their eyes.

0012 closed their eyes and thought hard for a moment for a possible answer until they remembered something.

"Where is 0013 on the map again?" they asked.

With a slightly confused look, 0011 pulled up the map of the body with a blinking violet dot still near the thigh area.

"Oh!" 0011 finally realized.

PC then returned with the data.

"Here are my findings", they told them as something displayed on their screen.

It confirmed their suspicions.

"How do you wish to proceed?" IB asked 0011.

0011 thought for a moment.

"Now that we have proof, the next thing that we should do is to notify Shane. If we do anything to make 0013 suspicious of us, that can be bad news for this body."

They looked down at their smartphone screen.

"We also made the right call on not telling them about those other two."

They put the phone away as 0011 began to think about how to implement a phagocytosis function.

They investigated the thigh area and made sure there were no more immediate hazards that needed their attention.

After that, they walked over to the stomach as by this point they have decided to make it their usual meeting spot for discussing important matters.

"So first we need to transmit our evidence to Shane and await her instructions."

0011 typed the information into their smartphone before pressing send.

The group waited as the screen indicated that the message was still in the progress of sending.

They waited and waited until an error message appeared.

"Huh? Don't tell me that we're in a dead zone?!" 0012 exclaimed as they took the smartphone from 0011's hands.

"Hey!" 0011 cried out in protest.

After a few minutes of pressing buttons on the screen, 0012 couldn't figure out why the message didn't go through.

Meanwhile, hidden from their view, was 0013.

"No, Shane cannot know about this! I want to surprise her and prove that I'm really the superior nanobot that this body needs! If I don't have a chance of explaining my research then I will surely get deactivated! That's why I have to stop the transmission with my own interference field."

With a few wires raised, they were sending a particular frequency that while may not be detectable to anyone within its area of coverage, can jam any attempt of communicating with the world outside the body.

Once they were sure that they weren't going to attempt to contact Shane again, they left.

"I guess we'll have to try again some other time..." 0012 gave a sigh of defeat as they handed the smartphone back to 0011.

The other nanobot then pressed a few more buttons on the phone.

"Anyway, onto the next matter. IB, can you pull up the data for 3803 for a second?" 0011 asked their assistant.

The screen on their face changed to display a chart.

0012 looked at the other nanobot in surprise as 0011 was looking at the data presented.

"Wait, we're going to look into that now ?" the confused nanobot stammered.

"Well, yeah? And besides..."

0011 was scrolling through the chart as they talked.

"...I feel like this is something that would be much more beneficial for everyone involved to have done now than when it's already too late."

They paused and turned around to face 0012 with a serious look in their eyes.

"It'll only be a matter of time before 0013 tries something more serious than those blood clots. While I don't know what their true ultimate goal is, if we can't contact Shane then we will have to take care of this situation ourselves", they stated.

0012 stared in silence for a few moments before turning walking to PC and pulling up 2153's data.

"We both agreed on a phagocytosis-like feature, right?" they finally asked.

"Correct. We're also going to need to work out some physical changes too in order to have a chance of this working."

And so began their plan of introducing the ability to be more like an immune cell.

Meanwhile, Dendritic Cell was busy with his own plan.

"Let's see...I think this collection of photos might be able to aid those nanobots nicely...as long as that other one does not interfere."

He was looking at a photo album with narrowed eyes.

Back in the lungs, the large group of red blood cells was taking a break together.

2153 went to approach the colleagues from his original body only to be greeted by both 1677 and 7599 grinning, all while 8429 looks exhausted.

"Oh, good to see you Mr. 2153 sir", 8429 gave him a long and exhausted look as he spoke in a slightly whiney voice.

The other cell sweatdropped at the sight.

"I see those two ran you ragged..."

The red blood cell gave a sigh as he gave the other two a glare.

"I thought that he would be good to go in both of your hands, but it seems that you in particular can't be trusted with a kouhai just yet", 2153 frowned right at his friend, who immediately took offense to those words.

"What do you mean by that?!" 1677 complained.

7599 couldn't help but laugh as he patted him on the back.

"Don't think too hard about it!”

The glasses-wearing cell couldn’t help but chuckle at the pouting his friend was doing.