Chapter Text
It had been a few days after the four surviving stitchpunks had made it back to the old National library and had settled in after the fight against the Fabrication Machine. A few days after the burial of their friends, and not long after the dust and black smoke that had risen from the Factory had disappeared into the sky too or had rested back down to earth to coat the ruins in soot and bad memories...
Just long enough so 7 had gotten restless and started roaming the Emptiness like a bird of prey that had been tamed but still had the need to hunt and stretch her wings again. Long enough so 9 had learned what it was like to truly sleep and for him to start checking out the vast and echoing rooms of the library, asking questions every step of the way but not minding if there was nobody who knew the answers for him.
And it had been just long enough so 3 and 4's fears had stilled enough so they didn't feel reckless looking outside through the doors of the library or peeking through the holes in the globe they called their archive room. Their safe place. Their home.
They were happy to be back in the familiar clutter and center of knowledge and history; and they were even happier that 7 and 9 had decided to stay with them. They had never expected one day there would be anyone living in their space with them, but it became clear that 9 had every intention of staying and 7 every intention of returning no matter how far she went into the desolate city and streets.
3 and 4 both agreed they liked this arrangement to each other. It was less lonely, now there was more than two of them in this empty corner of the world.
They still preferred each other's company, though. But that was to be expected. They were twins after all! And they had always been together, so why change that now?
A bigger family was still appreciated though. They had both always wanted to experience that again...
Daylight began to return through the smothering clouds above. Early stages of routines were being made and reestablished. They learnt more about 9. They remembered more about 7. The twins categorized and reorganized a small portion of the library and moved everything of interest into their archive room. And whatever they couldn't move (or more accurately, couldn't fit) they had found somewhere closer and more accessible for them to study in detail later.
If they remembered it existed of course.
Now that they were brave enough to start making the rest of the library their home, the twins were beginning to get more enthusiastic and random with their studying. With so much stuff for them to look at and document it wasn't uncommon of them to leave a book open at a random page or for some curiosity to be left among the cluttered floors of the library.
They didn't do it often though.
Just often enough so 9 got adept at leaping over half turned pages and wayward pieces of string and glue jars instead of tripping after them all the time. Which wasn't often at all if you thought about the important duty of learning and sharing. 3 and 4 didn't see it as a problem anyway. For the sake of categorizing, sometimes things had to be a little messy before it got organized, and so of course a big mess meant there was a big promise of future organization. It was sound logic as far as they were concerned.
All the same, 7 kindly berated 3 and 4 to "categorize more neatly" when they had started dropping things off high tables and shelves and when they had accidentally trapped 9 behind a mysterious door because they couldn't help but see what pushing it from behind would do.
Turns out the door would close.
A lot of things about physics and engineering were learnt that day. And it took a lot of physics and engineering to rescue 9 again, even with 7's help.
9 had laughed when they eventually got him out from that room he was trapped in. 3 and 4 had been ready to synchronize a 'we're very sorry for getting you stuck in a dark room all by yourself because our impulse control is so bad' dance and light show for him, but 9 had already started talking and pointing at all the interesting stuff that he had seen while he had been trapped.
Apparently he had found a lot of funny picture books and had spent a lot of time fiddling with the light bulb and wires of a table lamp and giant wooden box with a black screen. 9 had claimed he even made the big box turn on for a minute, though he couldn't get it working again because something important must have blown.
3 and 4 were deeply jealous they hadn't been trapped in the room with him too. If they had known there were books and a functional television on the other side they would've found that room before he did and closed the massive door behind them personally.
4 had said it would've been silly to have trapped themselves in any room (even if it had books and a tv in it) but 3 had replied it was the principle of the matter. And also they were sorry for trapping 9 like that. Even if it had been for science.
Not that they could've explained that to 7 and 9. But still. A good discovery had been made and 3 and 4 thought that whole morning had been very exciting.
But every day was exciting when there was things to define and even more things to teach themselves and each other. Usually themselves and 9 though. 9 was surprisingly easy to educate for someone who had only been alive for less than a week, and even if he often didn't understand that didn't mean he was scared to ask the best questions and 3 and 4 were always ready to find him answers if they could.
7 didn't have any thirst for knowledge like 9, though. And the twins were aware of 7's numerous adventures into the Emptiness. They had always known her as someone who liked to explore and see things for herself, and they felt she was a kindred spirit in that respect (even if she couldn't seem to stand in front of a book for longer than a few seconds before finding something else to do). And after the Fabrication Machine truly became a part of history, they thought it was logical that 7 wanted to explore more now it was safer then it had ever been.
Or maybe she wanted to check that all the mechanical beasts were truly dead. She had never been paranoid like 1, but they recalled 2 once saying she was a "sensible girl with a good head on her shoulders" who had a lot of motivation and independence... but some of her behavior confused them. She seemed relaxed, but rarely content to believe everything was safe. Peaceful, but always restless like something was dragging her away back into the world outside. Cheerful and happy to spend time with them all, but isolated herself for hours at a time even if she hadn't seemed to be tired or grumpy.
It was a little weird. But not so weird it was something to worry about. It was just something 3 and 4 scratched their heads about sometimes.
But whatever the reason for 7 to go out into the Emptiness so often, the twins always rejoiced when she returned. Even when they were engrossed in a dozen newspaper clippings or trying to draw pictures on the back of cardboard boxes, they always bumped into her with a hug and happy smiles as she returned for the night or just to check up on them in the afternoons.
9 often went with her on those outside adventures too. And he was always bringing home some interesting thing he had found or scrapped together, which meant 3 and 4 couldn't help but crowd him and figure out how he had made something like a working compass with only a broken needle and a piece of cork or how he had gotten his hands on some non-Newtonian fluid-!
"I found it in a box. Think it said it was Silly Putty? Not sure what that is, but I thought it'd be useful for something anyway," 9 had explained as the twins had poked and pulled and tried to bounce the strange and elastic substance on the floor.
And of course when 9 spent the day in the library he was always fixing or adding something good to their everyday lives. A string of colored lights was one of the first things he scavenged, and the twins had watched in fascination as he had somehow adjusted most of the burnt out bulbs and taped up exposed wires and had made it turn on. And his arsenal of tools seemed to get larger everyday, even when he wasn't making something new.
But while 7 and 9 went outside the library a lot and found a lot of good stuff and had misadventures and made discoveries and mapped out everything they could on the streets, 3 and 4 agreed there was much work to be done inside the library for now.
Obviously one day they'd love to explore the Emptiness and document everything personally; preserving history was important and someone had to do it!
It was just they could learn about the Emptiness and it's history more definitely with cited sources and maps and books and pictures for now.
Everything they needed was right here.
And the only thing they truly needed was each other.
So when 7 and 9 had started talking about their next journey into the Emptiness late one afternoon a week after they had made their home base at the library, the twins hadn't exactly been... paying attention to the development of that conversation.
"-and it's only a few hours until sunset. I'm sorry 9, but we don't have time to explore more than one more place today."
"But that's the thing," 9 tried explaining again, waving his hands to a hand-drawn map propped up against a weathered dictionary, "now that there's nothing trying to hunt us down I think it's safe enough for us to explore separately. Go our different paths, cover more ground! Get more materials!"
"Beasts might not hunt on the streets anymore, but it's far from safe. There's still landmines and bombs and some roads are very unstable. I can't let you go out to those places alone until I've scouted them out properly." 7 patiently explained.
"But I'm just talking about a few streets down from the library! And imagine how much ground we could cover if we did split up and went in different directions-"
"A few streets is a long way to go alone."
"You go out into the Emptiness alone all the time." 9 pointed out.
"That's different," 7 said.
"Different how? Different why?" Paper rustled against wood and copper hands. "I'd be fine by myself! I have tools, maps- I can save myself if I got into trouble!"
There hadn't been any anger in his voice, but the pause from 7 had been long enough so it almost made 3 and 4 raise their heads from their work to see what had happened.
"... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make it sound like that," started 9.
"It's okay. I know. ...sorry. I'm making double-standards. That's not fair to you." 7 acknowledged.
"Yeah... but you're so much more experienced with the Emptiness then I am. I didn't even know what a grenade was until I tripped over a string and almost blew us both up... Maybe I shouldn't go exploring by myself just yet-"
"No, don't say things like that. You're really clever and you work well with your hands. I should trust you more. But I don't want you getting hurt because I didn't check somewhere first. I want to look out for you," 7 said quietly.
9 sighed. "Thank you," he said sincerely. The youngest stitchpunk sighed again. "It's just... I hate dragging you around with me. I know how much you wanted to go back and explore those streets you found today. I can't ask you to change your plans just because I want to go exploring somewhere else..."
"Hm. It's sensible to go out in pairs though. No matter where you wanted to go, I'd still come with you and help carry anything you wanted back to base." 7 said. "Four hands are better than two. I can't bring back stuff as easily without you either."
"I know. But I still think splitting up is a good idea."
"I don't want you to be alone, though... Not yet."
"... well, maybe I don't have to," 9 said thoughtfully.
And that's when 3 and 4 tuned back into the conversation and realized 7 and 9 were looking at them. The twins were on the floor and were in the middle of taking a radio almost as tall as them apart, documenting every screw and new piece they managed to rip off, but they froze mid-action. Their hooded heads lifted just above their hunched shoulders to meet the white and brown stitchpunks' optics on the other side of the floor.
'What/what?' their eyes blinked questioning. Half in curiosity, half in unease.
7 was giving the twins a considering look.
"I mean... it doesn't hurt to ask them. See what they think of the idea." she said. 3 and 4 made a subtle side-glance at each other.
'What are they talking about?/They're asking us to do something with 9 I think.' They both flicked back through their audio memories, eyes whirling like shutters until they had scanned every bit of dialogue they had saved in their heads. They blinked and their normal eyes returned, lights flashing again as they leaned closer to get a better reading into the other twin's thoughts.
'Go into the Emptiness?/Is that what they want us to do?\With 9?/9's clever. He finds good stuff\But the Emptiness? Where?/where?\Where?'
9 cleared his throat and the twins remembered he was standing there, immediately straightening up and dropping the screw and giant screwdriver they had been holding and gave their baby brother their full and undivided attention. 9 smiled awkwardly. 7 hid a chuckle behind his back.
"Ah, okay," 9 started. "So... I know you two don't leave the library a lot, but since me and 7 have been talking about where we'd like to go next - and because we don't want to leave the other alone - would you like to come with us into the Emptiness? Just this once?" he asked.
3 and 4 stared off into space and flicked through some calculations with the information they had at their disposal.
'Two directions/A few hours until it gets too dark without a light\7 and 9 split up/but still need another person to help them carry supplies back\or keep 9 from stepping on a trap/Fair and Logical\Very Fair and Logical/But that means---'
The twins gave each other a look.
That means 7 and 9 were asking them to split up.
"It'll just be for an hour or two," 7 reassured, probably reacting to their increasing worried expressions. "You'd be such a big help if chose to come with us both. You know what kind of things to look out for, right?"
3 and 4 thought about it, nodding quickly even before they had finished going back through their memory banks. 3 stepped up and turned on their projector, shining a picture of a poster they had seen years ago about 'Instruments of Destruction'. 3 blinked again and showed personal pictures of bombs, grenades and general mayhem they had seen for themselves out in the Emptiness over the years.
"Perfect. Then I can trust one of you to look after 9 while the other comes with me," 7 said, smiling and looking encouragingly at the twins.
"If you chose to come with us, of course!" 9 clarified, and 7 nodded in agreement. The twins hunched lower, optic eyes calculating and searching...
Clearly 7 and 9 were giving them the option to stay in the library if they really didn't want to go. But they looked so expectantly at them...
4 stepped closer to 3, wrapping around their twin's arm and both gloved stitchpunks' hands locked together in a grip. 3 glanced at 4, already expecting the bitten lip they would see. 4's eyes indicated that they saw 3's nervous ticks clearly too.
Instinct made them both know that neither wanted to leave the other's side for a second if they could help it. But... common sense also told them both this was something important to 7 and 9 and it would be beneficial for the group if they did split up.
'... what do you want to do?/Stay with you of course\I know. I want to stay too./And... I think they would let us stay at the library if we wanted to...'
Of course. 7 would be very understanding if they decided to say no. And 9, even if he was keen to explore and would be more disappointed at their refusal, he'd still probably let them make their own decisions without pressure. He was good like that.
3 looked down at 4. They paused.
4 had that look on their face. Optic eyes to the ground, flashing slowly as they ruffled their fingers against 3's sleeve...
'But... say, 3... If we did... decide to---'
3 raised their eyebrows to the roof and stared at 4 with open mouth, already seeing where this sentence would go but still shocked they were the ones suggesting it. They leaned in and tried cutting off their twin's train of thought, in case it was one made of peer-pressure or guilt.
'You don't have to do this/no no, this could be a good chance.\Documenting the Emptiness isn't that important right now-/I know\-7 and 9 would understand!/ No! I know! But we were going to do this one day anyway, so may as well do it when we've got someone else who can be with us\you don't have to do this/3, it's fine. I want to do this. Don't you?\You don't have to do this'
4 snapped out of their fast-paced communicating to forcefully plant their hands on 3's shoulders. Their hoods almost touched as 4 glared into 3's optic eyes.
'I don't have to do this. But I want to. So are you in or out too?'
3's brain jerked to a halt. Stuck. Painfully grinding out arguments, counterarguments, and pleas to make this situation not happen. But... all of that faded away because of the look on their twin's face.
4 was serious. Despite everything they had been through, despite everything 3 knew must be screaming inside their twin to not do this, they were still looking at them like that.
They dimly remembered 4 had once said they wanted to do this on their own terms one day. Back when the subject of being separated had been much more painful than they could process.
But terms meant nothing unless all sides agreed to it.
Milliseconds ticked slow. A choice had to be made...
3 put their expression in neutral gear. Inhaled. Then their eyes blinked a final question.
'Who do you want to go with?'
Both twins turned to look at 7 and 9, who were standing by patiently awaiting their answer. 4 let go of 3's shoulders and ducked behind 7, grabbing her arm and staring back at their twin with wide eyes that hid no emotion or expectation.
Okay. That settled it.
"So... are you going with- oh! I guess you are," 9 said as 3 pushed their head up under 9's armpit. Both twins peeked their optic eyes at 9, not unlike innocent puppies who were waiting for their master to tell them they were good and clever and cute. 9 laughed. "That was fast. So you two are coming with us? You're agreeing to go?"
They both nodded enthusiastically. Even though 3 wasn't thrilled at this idea, they had to make sure they projected their intentions clearly.
7 smiled and patted 4's head, giving 3 an easy look. "This will be a short adventure. We'll all be back here before it gets dark, I promise."
3 nodded. They knew that. Truly, they did. And they knew everyone would be fine and safely back home before the day was done.
But a glance at their twin made their stomach drop and the circuits in their brain fizz like a soda spilling over the edges of a cup being shaken to the core.
They tried to ignore that though.
It was a choice. And the choice had been made.
Besides, no doubt 4 was feeling that fizz way worse than 3 right now, and that thought was the only thing making 3 brave enough to smile.
*****
The anxiety did not die down in the slightest when they had set off on their trip to wherever it was 9 had wanted to go, but it also hadn't stopped 3 from recording everything they were seeing so they decided to roll with it as best they could and try to live in the moment.
The memory of 4 and 7 waving them off as they walked in opposite directions kept resurfacing in their mind though. 4's hunched shoulders and seemingly excited smile. 7's tip of her head and final words of "Keep an eye on 9 and I'll keep an eye on 4" echoed like a broken record in their head. Over and over and over again.
Keep an eye on 9. Keep an eye on 9. She'd look after 4. She'd keep them safe. Keep them safe.
3 analyzed 4's last expression they had caught before 7 had pulled them out of sight behind a crashed jeep. They had looked fine.
What if that was the last time I will ever see 4 alive-
3's eyes burned and they stumbled blindly for a second, bumping into 9's back and making him trip a little.
"Woah, careful! You okay?" he asked, light-heartedly pulling 3 up beside him. 3's vision filtered back into reality. They pressed their lips tightly together and gave 9 a thumbs up.
After-images haunted the back of their optics. They couldn't see 9's face clearly.
"You sure...? Well, okay. You don't have to stay that close to me, though. As long as we can see each other I think it's fine if you want to wander off and find something interesting. I won't mind," 9 said.
No. 7 had said to keep and eye on 9. They had a job to do, otherwise 7 might be disappointed or not protect as 4 as well as she could. Couldn't let that happened.
3 lurched out and grabbed 9's hand before he had a chance to be out of reach. Had to protect their baby brother...
9 paused for a few seconds, but otherwise didn't resist. They kept walking together in silence.
Taking their time to navigate the trash and boulders and rusting metal, 9 led the way through the Emptiness. The red sun rested heavily above the smoke and clouds on the horizon behind them. Fallen walls and uprooted fences covered the ground almost as much as the wreckage of machines and concrete did. Metal lamps bent out of shape or completely uprooted was all the landmarks left of this street as 9 followed a map that would never match the cityscape ever again.
The only thing really halting their journey was 9 sometimes getting jerked sideways when 3 jumped to inspect something closer without warning. At first 9 gave startled cries at every unexpected tug, but he seemed to get used to it after the dozenth time 3 whipped around to stare at the remnants of a trashcan full of ash, or a broken down car crashed into a building, or a chipped wall covered in graffiti depicting abstract and intense scenes of hurt and healing.
3 didn't mean to pull 9 so hard or to delay their destination a little longer. They were just used to having someone who was always ready to be dragged in the same direction as they were and get derailed at new things...
3 tried not to get too disappointed when 9 patiently guided them away from every sight. Tried not to think of 4 somewhere in the Emptiness doing the same thing with 7.
It'd be fine. They'd be fine. Both of them.
The seconds ticked by slowly though. Every step like a pause in time, even though they were moving steadily onward...
A picture of a suburb taken before the war suddenly crossed 3's mind. They didn't know why it had triggered. Not that it mattered; even if it had been a tattered and stained photo when 3 had seen it a year ago, it was still embedded in their mind as clear as ever:
Rows of houses whole and unspotted with dirt, blood or oil supported each other in perfect scenery. Blurred figures of people looking up at a sky that was full of aircraft with the Nation's symbols. A flag waving proudly among the clouds. The road and sidewalks almost pristine. Polished and clean and looked after by living things that had wanted something as common as a place to walk to be something to be proud of.
3 wondered if the same street they were walking on was the same one in the old photograph they had stored in their memory..
Unlikely. The Emptiness was big and it was impossible to tell where one street began and another ended because they were so small and they couldn't see it from the humans' perspective.
But not impossible.
History would never come back to them whole though... and more time would decay what little remnants of the present they had until it was all gone; or they would be gone first.
Gone. 4's gone.
4's going to die---
3 viciously shook their head, their hood rubbing against the back of their neck and cheeks.
'4's with 7. 7 will protect 4. 4 is fine.' The reminder did nothing to ease the crushing force in their chest or the sickening fizz behind their optic eyes.
9 pulling them back with such strength that they stumbled and fell backwards onto the ground did a much better job making 3 forget their anxiety. They hadn't even realized 9 had stopped walking until both their arms had been stretched to their limit. 3 glanced up at 9, a hand comically rubbing their behind as they analyzed why 9 had stopped so suddenly. The irony of this role-reversal did not go unnoticed by 3, but still-
"Is that a bomb right there?" 9 asked.
3 blinked and tried to see if there was anything on their path that looked like an explosive-
Yes. Yes there was.
A hand grenade. Black and lemon-shaped and small, contrasting greatly with a tall and red public telephone booth just behind it. Had it been dropped by a human during the war and it never got retrieved? They couldn't see the pin-
Terror dropped onto their shoulders in an instant and 3 made a dramatic show of scrambling up and zipping behind 9, pulling the brown stitchpunk backwards and further away from the bomb.
"Okay, okay! So I was right. Good, I'm starting to get better at recognizing these things," 9 said casually, as if they hadn't just found a live grenade. "Why are we hiding from it though? As long as we don't touch it we'll be fine right-?"
3 violently shook their head and flashed their optic eyes. 'It's a live grenade! It could detonate at any time, even if it hasn't exploded yet and been forgotten for years! You can't just ignore it and hope it's dead!'
9 squinted and shied away from 3's flashing eyes.
"I'm sorry- this is bad...?" he asked slowly. 3 realized 9 hadn't understood what they had said. They puffed out their cheeks, thinking.
Then they tried again, this time with more hand movements and body language and emotion.
'Bomb is bad!' they pointed to the grenade, waiting for 9 to look where their finger led and then back to them. 'Someone took the pin out-' 3 pretended they were holding something, finger curled like it was hooked on something that they got out with a lot of effort, '-threw it! But it didn't explode!' they arched their arm back and tossed the imaginary grenade somewhere far away before running in a tight circle. Crouching and blocking their ears as if waiting for an explosion, shutting their eyes tightly.
After the appropriate time passed 3 sprung up in 'confusion', a hand shielded above their eyes, sweeping back and forth as if looking for something. And just for good measure, 3 pretended to relax and walk casually towards some imagined goal, step on 'something', and with a lot of flailing limbs they jumped backwards and fell on their back, pretending to be dead.
9 looked down at 3 in appropriate worry.
"So you're telling me that bomb didn't go off for some reason, and it could still go off now?" he asked. 3 beamed up at him from the ground.
'Yes! Any explosive should be considered alive until it explodes.' Not that 9 understood what 3 had tried saying, but it was the principle of educating someone who had no idea what was going on and praising them when they did understand a little more than they had before. Good thing their baby brother was very clever and good at connecting the dots.
9 hummed, looking back at the small black object with a lot more seriousness then he had before. "I probably walk by a lot of these things without even realizing it... no wonder 7 is always cautious about me exploring the Emptiness."
3 had assumed 7 was over-protective of 9 because he was only a week old compared to the rest of them, but he had a point about the Emptiness. Even before the war of man and machine had ended in a whimper there had been lots of things that could've hurt or killed someone careless or not paying attention.
Sometimes even when they were being careful it might've been too late...-
"I guess we'll go around it quickly. And I won't poke it or anything, I promise."
3 stepped back into the present, aware of 9 already skirting his way around the unstirring explosive and making his way past the phone booth and safely behind it.
3 hesitated for a fraction longer. Then fear of being left behind outweighed the fear they had almost forgotten about earlier. Tugging their hood like a shield around their face, they pattered after their friend and made a grab for the hand that was swinging by 9's side.
9 glanced down at them with an odd expression, but since they were both safely away from the small black bomb 3 pretended that was all they cared about.
They wondered if 4 would come across a bomb themselves... wondered if they would've seen it before or after it was too late-
If 3 had teeth they would've bitten everything in their mouth in an attempt to stop thinking about those dreadful daydreams.
Keep walking. No more distractions. The further away from that grenade they walked, the better. And the sooner they got back to the library...
3 let out a silent sigh. They hoped 4 was okay right now.