Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The cat was tired.
He had done so much, ran so far, but had lost something that took away the pride from all those accomplishments.
The cats tail curled over the drones cold, metal body.

Lifeless.

The fans inside the little drone had long since stopped, replaced by the cats soothing purrs. A helpless attempt to bring B12 back.

Fresh air wafted past the cats nose, carrying the scent of green grass, earthy soil, and all the little (delicious) creatures that lived within.
He was free. The cat could go find his family, run along the rusty pipes of his home.
But he couldn't.

His body was numb, unable to move. "Shutted down" as b12 had called it, or something along those lines. The drone had described it as 'being back in the network' when he had stopped moving, and in took a couple of minutes of grooming from the cat for him to wake up.

But no matter how long he licked the metal plating of the drone, it remained still.

The cat had known death, it was what came to his prey. The eternal sleep, when the creature doesn't get back up, doesn't fight, doesn't talk.

But maybe b12 was taking a sleep. They both deserved it, after all. Opening the roof was no small feat.

Yeah.

Maybe he should wait a while longer.

And the cat rested his eyes, ignoring the flooding in sunlight from the roof, ignoring the chatter of the cleaning bots, and ignoring the sound of the opening subway doors.

Chapter Text

The cat had done it.
That crazy son of a ***** cat had done it.

It was chaos as Clementine stepped onto the subway, companions were pushing and shoving each other. She would have helped people, but she didn't know if everyone had seen the sentinels fall over, and so maybe she was still a wanted criminal, but that was besides the point.

It took a second for the subway doors to close, and she was pretty sure somebots arm was pulled off or something, but it wasn't her.
Clementine had a mission. She would help others later.
She would be the second (third? She wasn't sure if the cat and b12 counted as separate outsiders) outsider to go outside. She was going to see it, and then go back, find Zbaltazar, and find Momo, and bring them outside.

Though it hurt Doc couldn't see it. she had waited years for him to miraculously come out of the sewers, almost as long as Momo, but it was pointless.
Maybe she could find Seamus, and take him outside in memory of his late father. She hopes he would like that.

A cool sensation wafted past her monitor, like the air in Antvillage, but softer, and richer. She wishes she had a nose like the soft-ones before her.

Beeeeep

An expressive voice echoed throughout the subway car. Was that what humans sounded like?
"Now arriving and the entrance to walled city 99. We hope you enjoyed your stay in the world's safest city!"

That was a weird thought. There was a world outside everything she has ever known. Clementine felt giddy as she stepped through the doors, sidestepping chaotic companions as they rushed to see what was above.

It was clean here. Very clean. Everything was polished to perfection, and Clementine could see her reflection in every surface. She looked incredible dirty compared to here, rusty brown and grey on pristine white.

There were other clean things here too, orange companions that seemed much less excited then her friends and neighbors rushing outside. She slowly approached one of the orange workers, waving her hand gently
"Hi...?"

"Greetings, inhabitant of Walled City 99. Do you require assistance?"

This robot was weird.
"I'm good, thanks-" Clementine was startled out of the conversation with a loud creaking sound, and the crowd of companions backed away from a large pair of orange doors.

The outside.

The robots clamored around nervously, each afraid of going outside, a daunting task.
Clementine suddenly pushed aside any thoughts of being a wanted criminal, and stepped in front of the crowd, holding out her hand to a small kidbot.
The kid clasped her hand, and she pushed open the heavy metal doors.

A collective gasp was hears, and Clementine stared in awe. The corridor infront of her was lined with green, plants she had never seen before, lusher than anything even the Gardener in Antvillage had grown.

..it was beautiful.

Clementine stepped forward. At first it was concrete, but then it gave way to soft plant life. She heard the footsteps of the others halt behind her as they climbed the staircase, and saw the view.

Small plants covered the ground, swaying in the wind. A creature flitted past, warbling a sweet song. There were so many colors, and it was so bright! There was a large ball of neon lights far above them.. the sun, she recalled. Momo had found a document on it. None of the words made sense, "night," "galaxy," and "planet" were all foreign to her, but this fit the description of the sun.

It was breathtaking.

But she couldn't wait any longer. Momo and Zbaltazar had to see this. Clementine let go of the kidbots hand, rushing back down the staircase. A new subway car had arrived, dropping off more Midtowners, and Clementine was already lost in the confusion.
She found herself ducking through a large pair of glass doors, the sign reading 'control'.

"Mrrrp?"

Clementine put her hands on her knees, grumbling. How was she supposed to get back if there was- wait. What was that noise?

A familiar chirp caught Clementines attention. The room looked empty, but then where could that sound have came from?
Clementine put her hand on one of the computer terminals, walking around it carefully, avoiding a few wires that had been broken and tossed on the ground. She eventually reached the far side of the room, and saw a small orange shape curled up on the ground.

"Little one? Why're you still here?"

Clementine reached out to stroke the cats fur, but then saw what he was curled around.

A small drone carcass.

Clementines heart ached. She had only really know the cat and the drone for a couple hours, but they seemed inseparable. The poor cat must be heartbroken.
She gently picked b12 up, and the cat hissed.

" it's okay, I'm just going to..." Clementine looked at the drones scorched body. Death was rare among companions, but B12 seemed gone gone. There was no flickering of lights, whirring of fans, no signs of life at all. Clementine thought a tear was showing on her screen, but she blinked it away. She had to be strong for the cat.
She gently put b12 in her satchel, showing the little furball that she wasn't hurting him, and stood up.

"C'mon, let's go find Momo and the others. B12 would want you to help others."

And somewhere, deep in the network, B12 did.

Chapter Text

The cat purred half-heartedly as he sat on Clementines lap, flicking his tail as the subway sped through the dark tunnel.

Clementine let out a soft warble, something the cat couldn't understand, and he raised his head groggily, looking around the car.
It was mainly empty, only a few companions going back from the outside, likely to show their family or friends.
The cat lowered his head again. He wanted to show B12 the outside, and everything he loved about it. The flying creatures, the tall trees, and his family.
They were probably looking for him, it had been over a day since he'd fallen into the city, but he couldn't bring himself to return to them.

The subway rumbled, screeching to a halt at the station, and the cat and Clementine slipped out one of the open doors. They ducked past a crowd of people, and eventually found a quiet place.
Clementine said something, a confusing mix of sounds to him without B12 to translate, and the cat tilted his head.
Clementine shook her head, and pointed at herself and then the residence, then at him and waved her hand in the direction of the city.
Was she telling him to say hi to the city? No, that wouldn't make sense, he didn't say hi to his bed at night. He understood that she would be going to her house, but was he supposed to follow? Oh! She was telling him to.. say hi to anybody he wanted to! (This was close enough to what Clementine wanted.)
The cat meowed at the friendly companion as she stood up and started walking to the residence, and the cat turned and pranced away. Maybe he could find the robot with the comfy lap that let him nap there!

The streets were chaotic, sentinels lying scattered on the streets, and robots rushing around, or staring at the sky. None of them noticed the small cat slipping by, and he was happy with that. The cat trotted through midtown, meowing at whatever companion piqued his interest, and he eventually found himself at the entrance to the Necocorp factory. The cat turned to leave. This place had nothing interesting for him, but he hissed as a low voice spoke something to him in the companions strange language.

The mean, mean robot from the cats earlier adventures stepped out into the sunlit street. Blazer. He crouched down infront of the cat, his screen showing an almost mocking smile, looking at the cat with interest.
The cat hissed again, the fur on his spine rising. This was not the nice companions he was looking for, infact this was quite the opposite.

Mean mean mean robot.

Blazer reached out with his metal hand, putting his pointer finger under that cats chin.
The cat backed up, growling. He did not like Blazer, especially now.
Blazer retracted his hand as the cat backed away, then waved his hand in the place B12 would usually buzz above the cats head, that stupid grin still plastered on his display.
The car hated Blazer. He was not kind or nice like the other robots. For all that cat knew, Blazer was just like the sentinels. Mean and stupid and it made the cat feel so angry. The cat hissed one last time, and launched himself, biting Blazers jacket and kicking the robots arm with his feet.
Blazer yet out a yell, more surprise than pain, and attempted to pull the angry cat off his arm. He grabbed the cat by the scruff, tossing him away.

The cat yeowled as the wall crashed into him. He was so angry. Angry that Blazer was mean, angry that he got into this situation, and angry that B12 wasn't here.

He missed B12.

The cat collapsed on the ground, and looked up as Blazer approached once more.

Blazer turned around as a loud noise startled him, and Clementine ran into the alleyway, grabbing Blazer by the chain and punching him in the screen. Blazer backed up, clutching his head, and fled the alley.

As soon as Blazer ran, Clementine crouched down by the cat, gently running her hand over his ruffled orange fur. She warbled something he didn't understand, and picked him up, cradling him in her arms. He purred, leaning into her. Clementine was nice.

Chapter Text

Debris rained down as Momo returned from the sewers, and a bright light reflected off his rainbow screen, blue peeking through the grey of the roof.

"Is that..?"

Momo stepped forward, his head still tilted upward at the widening roof, and he joined the crowd of companions standing around the guardian.

"The sky.."

Doc finished his sentence for him, lowering his head from the vast blue to look at his old friend.

"Doc," Momos voice trembled. He was here? He hadn't had time to reunite with Doc after the cat found him. Momo was honestly wanting to wait a bit before seeing Doc, thinking he would be angry at him for staying behind and letting Zbaltazar and Clem go to search for the outside, but if Doc was, he didn't seem to show it.
Momo payed no attention to the thoughts racing through his head, suddenly ignoring the sunlight pouring in, instead preffering to wrap his arms around Doc in a tight hug.

"I missed you."

Doc returned the hug, pulling away but leaving a hand on the other robots shoulder.
"I missed you too. That little outsider saved me, well with a little help from my Defluxor." Doc spoke in pride.

"It worked??? Then why didn't you come back sooner?" Momo asked. This was all so overwhelming, first the roof was opening, and now he had gotten his best friend back after so many years.

"Errrr, long story short, the fuse blew, and then zurks surrounded the area I needed to put the new fuse in and kinda sorta... trapped me in my base.. uhm. Sorry." Doc trailed off

Momo was pretty sure he was crying. He didn't care that it had taken Doc this long to get back, he was just happy he was back.
A sudden thought jumped into Momo's head.

"How do we get outside?"

Doc looked confused.

"The elevator is broken, the only way through would be the sewers, and I investigated it earlier with the cat, and there's a manual door there that one person has to hold open.."
Momo rambled, thoughts coming in just as fast as he could speak.

"That is a predicament... I'm sure with due time I could figure out something.."
Doc murmured thoughtfully

"Papa! Did you see? The sky's open!" Seamus rushed over excitedly, all remnants of his depression from Docs absence gone.

Doc put his other arm around Seamus' shoulder, pulling both him and Momo in tight.
"Of course I saw! And to think, you two, my own son and very best friend, helped do it!"

Momo chuckled.
"Don't discredit yourself, Doc. If it weren't for Clem, Zbaltazar, and your journals, I would've still believed the outside wasn't worth it."

Doc let go of the two, his screen turning to one of surprise.
"Right! Where are Clem and Zbaltazar? I need to show them my Defluxor!"
Doc swung the large UV light around his finger.
Both Seamus and Momo looked away awkwardly, and Momo eventually spoke.

"They uh.. They left to go find the outside. Years ago.. I only stayed because I was too scared, and a small part of me was hoping you would miraculously come back.." Momo fidgeted with his fingers. "I only managed to get in touch with Zbaltazar yesterday, and it was only for a few seconds.. I have no clue where Clementine is, only that she and Zbaltazar went through the sewers.."
Doc's face fell, and Momo cringed.

"I'm sorry, Momo.. I-" Doc paused, figuring out his words. "I should have never left you all.. I see now that it was a very big mistake.. maybe if I.. "
Momo shushed him.

"We don't need to dwell on the maybes. I spent all the time you were gone doing that. But look! The outside is right above us, and you came back! And that's good enough for me." Momo smiled, pulling Doc into the sunlight, Seamus following behind with an amused expression on his display.

"Now c'mon, if we wanna get through that sewer door we'd better get to work!" Momo laughed. It had been so long since he had felt a real laugh, something the soft-ones had programmed into all the machines to make them more human.
Momo pulled Doc into an awkward dance, tripping over each other, but the two laughed, yelling to the sky that they had done it, and the roof was open.

Chapter Text

"That jerk."
Clementine muttered as she walked to the old metro station, the sleeping cat cradled in her arms.
It wasn't a long walk, but it gave Clementine a chance to think on things. What would she say to Zbaltazar and Momo? It had been years, after all, she wasn't sure if they would even be the same outsiders she knew back then.
Did Zbaltazar forgive her for leaving him after he was stuck in Antvillage because of his injuries? Was Momo mad at her for giving up on Doc?
All these questions she didn't know the answer to, and wouldn't know until she actually talked to her friends.

She eventually found herself at the entrance to the pipe leading down to Antvillage, and Clementine paused. Was she brave enough to do this? She pushed past the thought, tugging her hat down over her eyes. She had to be. People looked up to her, she couldn't let them down.

As Clementine slowly scrambled along the roof leading to the main pipe, she noticed a few familiar faces already, buzzing about. As soon as she stepped foot on one of the platforms, a short figure ran up and hugged her.

"Aunt Clementine!"
Bilite exclaimed, Dav and Malo following behind.

"You're back! I knew you would come back!"
Malo squealed, jumping up and down.

"We saw you from Malo's garden, did you find a way outside? Did you?!"
Dav questioned.

"Alright alright you three," Clementine kneeled down infront of the three kidbots. "I missed you guys, alot. But first I have some important things to discuss with Zbaltazar. I'm sure we can catch up later."
Clementine smiled at the kids enthusiasm, but stepped aside, climbing down the latter to the next layer.

"You'd better!"
Bilite called after.

"I have some new plants to show you!"
Malo followed up with.

"I won't let you guys down!"

Clementine finally stepped onto the platform where Zbaltazar was, and as she turned the corner, she finally saw her friend.

"..Zbaltazar.."

"PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB ME WHEN MEDI- Clementine..?"

Clementine quickly rushed over, unsure of which monitor was Zbaltazar, and leaned against the railing.

"..I'm back. We did it. We did it Zbaltazar, the roof is open! I saw it! I went outside and and-"

"You did it? The outside, it's reachable?"

"Well, not me really, it was more the cat and B12.."
Clementine clasped the hand of Zbaltazar, then froze for a second, reaching from her satchel and placing B12 in Zbaltazars palm.

"Not without loss though.. can you fix him?"

Zbaltazar sighed. "It is to be expected, a catch in the world's greatest miracle. But to answer your question, no. His internal drives seem scorched, and there's no way that I can even tinker with anything in this state. The only one I could think of who could do something would be Doc.."
Zbaltazar trailed off, the two resting in an awkward silence for a minute, each thinking of their late friend.

"..I spoke to Momo the other day."
Zbaltazar finally spoke.

"You did? How is he? Is he OK?"
Clementine looked up back at Zbaltazar again.

The pile of monitors connected to Zbaltazar went back to displaying his usual annoyed face.
"The connection wasn't very stable, I blame those damn Zurks. S'ppose they ate his cables or something. Only got to speak to him for a few seconds, but he looked fine. He's still wearing that flamingo shirt."

Clementine laughed. "Typical Momo, I swear he treats that shirt like his child."

The conversation fell silent again.
"Zbaltazar.. I'm sorry for leaving.. I missed you.."
Clementine spoke slowly, sliding to the ground to wrap her arms around her knees.

"I was mad at you for the first little bit." Zbaltazar started. "But then I thought about it for a little bit.. I would have done the same if I was in your plating. And I suppose I already did, Leaving Momo.. We all made mistakes, Clem. Life is just owning up to them."

"Momo always said you were the wise one.."
Clementine laughed sadly, and reached over to give her fellow companion a squeeze on the shoulder.

"I'll go find Momo, and then we'll all see the outside."
Clementine held her fist out.
"Outsiders?"
Zbaltazar shakily raised his good hand
"Outsiders."

Chapter Text

Zbaltazar closed his eyes as Clementine walked off to greet her other friends in Antvillage, slowing his fan speed and shutting off any extra power usages as he began to meditate.

Darkness surrounded Zbaltazar as he entered the network, and the buzz of devices echoed through his processors.
He opened his eyes, searching around the digital space. It didn't seem that Momo had tried to contact him again, so that was one less thing to worry about.
Streams of messages were flooding the network, companions messaging each other through it.
"The outside! It's real!" "Did you see? The sky's blue!"
Zbaltazar grumbled. This was gonna make finding what he was looking for way more difficult.

Zbaltazar focused his mind on what he was looking for, diverting all his attention to searching, and the noise from the chattering companions soon faded, replaced by the networks inky blackness.

"Hello? B12?"
Zbaltazars voice sounded pixelated in the network, but not unusual to him.

"Little drone?"
Zbaltazar tried again. He only had a hypothesis that B12 was here, but he was eager to try and prove it.
During their earlier meeting, B12 had mentioned being trapped in the network, and Zbaltazar guessed that with his drone body destroyed, B12's consciousness would have returned to the network as a safety precaution.

"Scientist?"
Zbaltazar called eventually, and this time a voice responded, although not addressing him.

"It's dark again... I guess I'm dead.."
The voice seemingly came from everywhere, and Zbaltazar could not see nor locate a being of origin.

"B12? Is that you?"

"I opened the city.. there's nothing left for me.. why do I want to return?"
The voice ignored Zbaltazar, miserably talking to itself instead.

"B12,-"

"Mrow?"

Zbaltazar was startled awake, and opened one eye to find the orange cat staring at him.

"You again. What is it this time fuzzball?"

The cat climbed into Zbaltazars lap, resting his head on the robots knee.

"I can't help you cat. I don't even know if that was B12, and even if I did, you can't understand a word I'm saying, huh?"
Zbaltazar looked down at the cat, one digital eyebrow raised.
"Now shoo, I'm sure Clementine is waiting for you somewhere, you gotta go find Momo."
Zbaltazar waved the cat away, but as soon as he started to meditate again, it was cut short by another meow, and he opened his eyes to the cat sitting infront of him, with a white plant at his paws.

"Wh- Thanks for the gift, but I don't bother with physical items anymore, Kitty."

The cat nudged the plant closer to Zbaltazar in response.

"Are you trying to trade with me or something?"
Zbaltazars mind flashed back to some articles he had read written by soft-ones on grief.

"Listen Fuzzball, I'm not the one you should go looking for to fix your friend. I'm just a meditator."
The cat lowered its head at the negative tone, but still pushed the flower forward again.

"Fine, give it here."
Zbaltazar took the flower from the cat with a shaky hand, and wrapped the stem around one if B12's antennae.

"I can't fix your friend, but I can at least make him look good."
Zbaltazar wiped some ash off of the drones carcass, and held it up to Antvillage's artificial light, before placing him infront of the cat again.

"There you go." Zbaltazars voice softened. "I'm sorry you had to go through this, losing a close friend is tough."
Zbaltazar patted the cats head, a small smile on his display.
"Go on now, Clementine must be getting impatient."

Chapter Text

Doc grimaced, gripping his Defluxor as he stepped onto the small raft in the sewers, the pipes bobbing under his weight.
He was very glad to be back, but he felt trapped, feeling useless not understanding the things that had changed during his absence.
Doc was worried that he was acting like an outsider to his friends, just a stranger in the tight-knit group that made up the slums.

Doc grumbled, his joints creaking as he sat down. Maybe if he could fix the door, he could at least regain his reputation as a scientist..
He picked up the paddle, holding it above the water to inspect it. He hoped Momo wouldn't mind him borrowing his boat.
The paddle splashed as Doc brought it back down, and he pushed off gently, not noticing the metal footsteps approaching him.

"Papa?"

Doc turned his head quickly, scrambling to his feet on the raft as he caught sight of his son.

"..Seamus? I-"

"Papa what are you doing here? I just got you back, I can't lose you again.."

Doc was silent, lowering his head.

"You can't keep making stupid mistakes like this, you've gotta face it eventually!" Seamus clenched his fists. "I don't wanna go back to where I was before you got back.."

Doc turned to face his son.

"Son.. I don't want to seem like a stranger to you, you've grown so much without me, I must feel like a completely different robot to you.."

"..you still seem like my Papa. You haven't missed out on much, all I did was spend my days passed out in Duffer bar, with only Jacob to keep me company.."
Seamus looked away.

"Seamus.."

"I want to see the outside with you.. Please, Papa.."
The younger companion extended his hand to his father, balancing precariously on the edge of the murky water.
Suddenly, the muddy ground gave way, and Seamus stumbled forward, towards the sloshing watery grave...

.
.
.

And was caught by metal arms holding him safe, as Doc held his son close to him on the raft
Maybe he had made some mistakes in his life, sure. But the one thing he could never regret was his son, the light of his life.

"Let's go home, son."

-----

Doc leaned back, hands behind his head as the group sat in Momos living room. He and Seamus had decided not to mention last night's incident, as he was pretty sure Momo's CPU might actually explode, but the three + the Guardian still gathered here to discuss how to get outside.

"I've tried contacting Zbaltazar again, but so far it's been no success.."
Momo leaned forward dejectedly, a sad expression displayed on his screen.

"Doc, you've mentioned being able to make something that could hold the door open for us?"
Guardian pondered thoughtfully.

"I did say that, but I've checked my supplies in my lab now, and just about everything is outdated or expired."
Doc explained, and adjusted his goggles.

"Hm, well we could get you new supplies, but it would be extremely difficult and time consuming, what with the elevator being down." Guardian looked at the TV that Seamus was fiddling with. "But if it's the only option, I'm fine with holding the door open for you all. I don't exactly feel comfortable leaving the slums unprotected all that long anyways."
He smiled.

"That would be wonderful! I can grab my stuff right away." Momo exclaimed, standing up.

"Ahem, I can lead the group, I still have my Defluxor, so I can clear out any remaining Zurks." Doc stated, looking confident.

Seamus looked like he was about to object, but Guardian gave him a look saying "your father needs to do this." And Seamus nodded.

"Well if thats all sorted, we should leave right away."
Momo swung his bag over his shoulder.

-----

The four crept cautiously into the sewers, putting down two extra boats that Momo had quickly fashioned up.

"Be careful, it's really creepy down here.."
Momo warned, glancing around.

"We'll be fine, most of the zurks are either hiding or dead. I'm sure the cat also got a few with my mini Defluxor."
Doc assured, patting his friend on the shoulder.
The four paddled towards the large door, and the Guardian stepped out, pulling down the chains to open the door.

"Hhnngg... Tell Clementine and Zbaltazar... they're always... huff.. welcome in the slums.."
Guardian called to the three as they paddled under the door, and Momo nodded to him as the door fell shut behind them.

"Urgh.. it's so gross here.."
Seamus complained, stepping off the raft.

"Well at least there's been no zurks so far."
Doc responded cheerfully, stepping infront of Momo and Seamus, the Defluxor aimed straight ahead.

The three traveled cautiously through the sewers, eliminating any zurks they came across, and eventually found themselves at a door.

"Careful, I hear some loud banging from in there, there must be a horde of zurks. You two stay here, I'll deal with them."
Doc whispered, putting his hand on the door handle.

"Be careful, Papa.."
Seamus said cautiously.

And with that, Doc stepped through the door, closing it behind him.

Chapter Text

"Zbaltazar, we're leaving now.."
Clementine poked her head around the corner to where Zbaltazar sat, waving slightly.

"Mm, off to go find Momo? Good luck. You'll need it, going through the sewers."
Zbaltazar spoke curtly, and Clementine laughed.

"You don't need to act so formally, Z! Just admit that your worried. But don't worry! We'll be fine!"
Clementine reassured, picking up on her friends old habit.

"I am worried. We've lost a lot of people in there. You two had better be safe. Also please never call me Z ever again."
Zbaltazar smiled at his friends antics.

"Fine fine, whatever you wish." Clementine teased, and turned towards the exit of Antvillage. "Be back soon!"

As Clementine and the cat neared the entrance to the sewers, the robot pulled the lamp she had stuffed in her bag out. "For old times sake.. well not old, more like yesterday." She thought.

"You ready to go find Momo, Little Outsider?"
The cat meowed in response, and Clementine waved to Baladin as they crossed through the boundary of Antvillage.

The two progressed through the sewers in silence, save for a few warning meows let out by the cat when it smelled Zurks, who in turn were smashed by Clementines lamp, which was now a little bit more covered in flesh then for comfort.

"It's starting to look a lot more... zurk colored here, huh.."
Clementine murmured, poking at the fleshy walls with her foot.
They continued on, growing more wary by the second, as Zurks grew more frequent, and bulges of eggs started appearing.

"This is really starting to give me the creeps, I get the feeling that we're-" Clementine cut her sentence short as the cat and her arrived in a large room with gigantic red eyeballs coating the walls. "Being watched..." She finished.
The cat meowed nervously, and Clementine picked him up in her arms.

"We should.. probably get out of here. I don't think we're welcome.."
Clementine commented nervously, although it was more to herself, as the cat couldn't understand her.

"We're just visiting, no need to harm us, we're just passers-by who took a wrong turn.."
Clementine spoke to the giant eyeballs, who were watching her with great interest.

Suddenly, a great rumble sounded, and Zurks began crawling in from all directions.

"****, I don't care where we're going now, new goal: RUN."
Clementine yelled, bolting off and kicking any zurk who got near her or the cat, who by now had jumped out of her arms.
The fleeing robot ran through passageway after passageway, jumping over pipe and miscellaneous debris, her screen lit up with a scared display, a digital sweat drop falling down the side of her face.

"Shoot, where do we go, aah, THIS WAY!"
Clementine muttered to herself, terrified by the clattering footsteps of the zurks behind her.

Eventually, Clementine spotted an open door in the side of one of the hallways, probably for maintenance or something, she didn't care at the moment. And Clementine jumped in, slamming the door only after a few zurks had made it in, jumping on her leg.

bang
Bang
BANG!

Clementine squashed the zurks with panicked accuracy, letting out a sigh of relief and wiping her screen once all the zurks had grown quiet.

"Phew.. aw dangit, my lamp broke.."
Clementine held up the head and stick of her makeshift lamp weapon, a sad expression on her screen.

"Eh, still usable"
She shrugged, tossing the lamp head over her shoulder, holding the stand as her new weapon, and the clang on the lamp head hitting the floor echoed around the room.

Clementine looked across to where the cat was prowling, and raised the lamp stick.

"Something behind that corner? don't worry Kitty, I'll deal with it."
Clementine braced herself as the sound of a door closing sounded from around the corner.
"Come at me, zurk."
Clementine whispered as she jumped around the corner.

Chapter Text

The lamp clattered to the ground as Clementine froze, unable to comprehend who stood before her.
She took a step forward.
Then another.
And she was suddenly running, and when she reached Doc, she wrapped her steel arms around his body and hugging him tight.
"Please tell me this is real.."
Clementine whispered, tears running down her monitor.

"..Clem?"
Doc blinked back surprise, returning the hug as the two knelt to the floor in a tight embrace.
"Clem, it's real, I'm here!"

"I thought you were dead.. Why didn't you come back!?"
Clementines voice rose slightly, pulling away from the hug.

"Clementine, I.. I'm sorry. I never should have left to begin with, but the Little outsider helped me escape."
Doc smiled slightly, petting the cat as he trotted over.

Clementine wiped her screen, looking down at her hands which were clasped in her lap.
"I missed you."
She said simply.
"Does Momo know? Geez, he and Zbaltazar would be so happy right now.."

"Actually.." Doc began, but was cut off as the door behind them creaked open.

"Doc? Is everything alrigh..."
Momo trailed off, looking at Clementine, trying to determine if he was seeing right.
"CLEM!"
Momo yelled, running forward, almost tripping as he wrapped Clementine in a hug.

"MOMO!" Clementine responded joyfully, her screen lit up. "My RAM, this is the best day of my life!" She sobbed.

"Uh.. Hi Aunt Clementine.."
Seamus closed the door behind him, standing awkwardly against the wall.

"Seamus!? You've grown so much since I last saw you!"
Clementine stood up, smiling happily.

"Uh, Clem? Where's Zbaltazar?"
Momo spoke nervously, looking around.

"Ah, err.. some stuff.. happened. When we first came through the sewers.." Clementine turned back to Momo, her cheerful gaze faltering.
"He was injured.. badly, by the zurks, and has been unable to really move all that much, so he's been staying in Antvillage, a place deeper in the sewers."
Clementine was suddenly back in that fateful day, the horrible noises of the zurks echoing around her.
A hand rested on her shoulder, snapping her back.

"Hey, don't worry about it, the name Doc ain't for nothing!"
Doc grinned, posing like one of those bodybuilders she had seen on old magazines.

"C'mon, most of the zurks should be gone by now, we can probably make it back to Antvillage pretty quickly. "
Clementine waved the group towards the door, and gave Doc a soft smile as thanks.

The four continued on through the sewers, chatting on about all the things Clem had missed. A lot of it were deaths and injuries, which she had expected, but she hoped the occurrence rate would go down now with the roof open.

"How's Kosma doing? Is he still running that laundromat?"

"Yep, but every time I'm there, he's always out of the good detergent."

The cat meowed indignantly, pleading innocent.

Eventually the group arrived at the entrance to the village, and Clementine led everyone up the many platforms leading to where Zbaltazar sat.

"Zbaltazar, I'm back, and I've brought some guests.."
Clementine stepped back, revealing Doc and Momo, who waved awkwardly.

"Doc.. and Momo.. hm. It's been a while. I won't question why you aren't dead, seeing as I barely know how I'm still here myself."
Zbaltazar smiled wryly the pile of monitors scanning over the two for injuries.

"Not even an "I missed you."? I feel like my almost death has gone unappreciated!"
Doc joked, putting his hand to his chest in mock hurtness.

"I did miss you. But I had a suspicion you were still out there. Well, since the last couple days or so. I noticed that broken Defluxor on B12."
Zbaltazar held out the deceased drone, pointing at the exploded Defluxor, and everyone took a step back.

Zbaltazar looked at Clementine in confusion.
"Did you not.. tell them?"

"No.." Clementine whispered, her hands over her mouth. "****, I meant to, I really did, it just completely slipped my mind..."

Doc knelt next to Zbaltazar, picking up B12, and looking him over.
"What.. happened..?"

Clementine looked away. She never could face someone when telling them about something horrible.
"We think he sacrificed himself to open the city.. I found the cat curled around him near the door when I went outside."

Momo lowered his hat.
"B12 was a good companion.. that little guy has his own place in my RAM."
He turned to Doc.
"Is there any way you can fix him?"

Doc looked skeptical, even as the cat payed at his knee sadly.
"I can try."

Chapter Text

Seamus held the small drone he had been absent-mindedly been handed by his father as he paced around, and the smaller robot turned it around in his hands, wiping off any ash or dust.

"I actually quite enjoy my spot, I find I can meditate in peace here, and it's far less noisy compared to the slums or anywhere else."

Seamus looked up as Zbaltazar spoke. He and Doc were trying to figure out how to get the stationary companion to the outside, and Doc was pacing anxiously.

"Well we can't just leave you down here!" Doc threw up his hands. "The next few years- centuries, even- for us are gonna be outside, and I don't want you to be stuck down here, us outsiders should be able to have adventures again!"

Seamus rolled his eyes. He didn't know Zbaltazar that well, as he and Clementine had left when he was still quite young, but if Zbaltazar had found a way to still enjoy things, then Doc shouldn't be so worried.

"We could get you new parts, I'm sure there's some scrap metal somewhere that I could fashion up.."
Doc murmured.

"Doc, I appreciate your concern, but it's not that simple. It's not an issue with my limbs, I'm just unable to connect properly to my body, so getting new parts wouldn't fix anything."
Zbaltazar spoke wisely, and the two robots talked about a bunch of technology stuff that Seamus didn't understand.
He looked down again, fiddling with B12's antennae. Was this disrespectful? Um. He was kinda holding a corpse. He pushed the thought aside, and it was replaced with an idea.

"What if you just connected to a drone, Zbaltazar? I mean, you can wirelessly connect with all the uh.. whatever you do with the network, right?"
Seamus interrupted the other two, and they shifted their attention to him.

"Hm, it would be a solution, but only a temporary one. I'm not exactly keen to abandon my body, even if physical possessions don't really matter to me anymore. Perhaps we can later find a place to move my physical body that's outside so I can continue my meditation."
Zbaltazar closed one eye as he spoke, and Doc perked up.

"Great idea, son! I'm sure I can fix something up quickly!"
Doc ran in the direction of the way down to the trash pits below, and Zbaltazar turned his gaze to Seamus.

"Are you happy to have your father back?"
He inquired.

"Yeah, of course I am, but.."

"But?"
Zbaltazar pushed.

"Is it wrong that I feel mad at him? He's my Papa, I love him a lot, but.. he's been gone so long, and I.. I don't know, he's made no effort to do anything he missed out on.. He's missed out on so many things in my life and I don't know how other people's fathers are, but I think there are things they're supposed to do, L-like he doesn't even know I've had my first relationship, or that I've had alcohol before.. and a lot... but still! There's things he's missed out on that I'll never get to experience with him.."
Seamus trailed off.

"There's still a lot of things you still can do with your father, you know?" Zbaltazar raised an eyebrow. "You need not experience everything. But if you have your worried, I say you talk to him, I'm sure he's just not realized the gravity of everything, as there is a lot going on right now."
Zbaltazar chuckled.
"Not to be offensive, but your father can be quite oblivious at times."

Seamus smiled.
"Thanks.. I guess I really just needed to spill everything to someone."

Zbaltazar closed his eyes.
"Of course. I'm sure everyone has their own problems right now, so it's good to have an outsider perspective."

Seamus nodded.

"Now go off now, I'm sure your father is wondering where you went. There's a big world for you to explore, outsider."

Chapter Text

[PROGRAM HAS ENCOUNTERED A CRITICAL ERROR]
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[REBOOTING]
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[ERROR. BODY UNABLE TO BE CONNECTED. CONTACT HAS BEEN SEVERED]
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[TRY AGAIN?]
[Y/N]
[YES SELECTED. PENDING CONNECTION]
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[ERROR. BODY UNABLE TO BE CONNECTED. CONTACT HAS BEEN SEVERED]
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[TRY AGAIN?]

Again.. againagainagain.. please work you idiot machine!

The voice echoed through the dark network, stressed and angry, as the beep of popups continuously sounded.

If I can't connect to the drone, atleast.. atleast let me do *something*. I don't.. I don't want to spend the rest of my life stuck here.. please..

[ATTEMPTING TO CONNECT TO ADMIN ROOM LIGHTS]
[CONNECTING..]
[ERROR. ACCESS NOT GRANTED]
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[ATTEMPTING TO CONNECT TO MIDTOWN LIGHTS] [CONNECTING..]
[ERROR. OUT OF RANGE]

If he still had a body, he would have been sitting in a ball on the floor right now, exhausted of all options.
God. He hadn't felt this hopeless since.. since he had lost everyone to the plague.. At this point he would rather have been dead. It was torture, being alone in the network. It felt.. numb. He knew now he was human, but without an organic body, all forms of sense were lost.
Oh how he longed for those feelings.. tasting his favorite breakfast from when he was a child.. running his fingers along the electrical cables of his work.. smelling the scent of the artificially engineered plants he kept in pots in the kitchen.. it all felt so foreign now.

What had he been thinking, putting himself in the network? It was stupid. Sure, he had opened the door, but he had nothing left. His family was all.. long gone, passed on wherever people went, and he was stuck here, unable to even see the fruits of his labor. The outside..

He didn't want to be here anymore.

[SEARCHING DATA BANK FOR: DATA DELETION SYSTEM]
[SHOWING RESULTS: (0/0)]
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[SEARCHING DATA BANK FOR: HOW TO DELETE YOURSELF]
[SHOWING RESULTS: IF YOU ARE HAVING SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, PLEASE CALL THE WALLED CITY 99 HELP PHONE AT (99-888-8888)]
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[SEARCHING DATA BANK FOR: AAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUGHHHH CANT YOU STUPID SEARCH SYSTEM BE EVEN A LITTLE HELPFUL]
[SHOWING RESULTS: (0/0)]
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[SEARCHING DATA BANK FOR: CAT PICTURES]
[SHOWING RESULTS: (0/0)]

..What kind of stupid search system had no cat pictures.
This was certainly not helping his mood.
...He had lost a friend a while back to suicide, when the plague just started to hit its peak. They had said they didn't want to suffer, watching everyone die. At the time, he didn't understand, but now..
But now it felt like the only thing he could do. He knew what would happen if he spent too long in here, slowly forgetting everything.. it was awful. He didn't want to live through it twice.

There was always just deleting this whole section of the network but.. he had always felt nervous to do that, because it would remove any trace of humanity he had uploaded.

But now.. it felt right... if he left, he should take his dead species with him.

Hah.. I never thought it would come to this.. I'm sorry I never got to see the outside.. ah, who would even be able to hear me. This is nonsense. Mom, Dad.. I hope I haven't kept you all waiting that long..

[ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DELETE ?]
[PLEASE TYPE IN: DELETE]
[DELETE]
[ARE YOU SURE?]
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[DELETING DATA: CLEARING IMAGES]
[DELETING MAIN DATA: 1%]
[DELETING MAIN DATA: 2%]
[PROCESS HALTED. BODY HAS BEEN DETECTED WITHING RANGE. DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE DELETION PROCEDURE?]

..Huh?

Chapter Text

The metro doors slid closed behind the outsiders as they arrived at the exit to walled city 99, lurching from years of being inactive.

"Alright! Welcome to the exit! Just through those doors and we'll be outside!"
Clementine stepped forward, but Doc held out a hand to stop her.

"Clem, wait. Before we go outside, can you show me the control area? I want to test some things out to see if I can't fix B12."
Doc held the metal drone in his offhand, now clean from debris and looking brand-new.

A sentinel drone hovered beside the two robots, now repurposed for more conventional means.
"I too, would like to see this. I think we could learn a lot from how the Soft Ones managed the city."
Zbaltazar spoke through the drone, the tiny screen displaying his signature blue face.

"Uh, okay, follow me!"
Clementine walked past the outside doors, instead striding through the pair of sliding doors leading to the sparkling clean control room.
"Here's where I found the Little Outsider, I'm pretty sure B12 was connected to this station, as there seem to be some dents from him falling-"
Clementine was caught off guard by a familiar voice, and another robot, adorned with a golden chain, stepped from the shadows.

"Clementine! Old friend, I've been waiting for you! And uh.. you others are here too I guess.."
Blazer clapped as he sauntered forward, casting an awkward glance to Doc, Seamus, Momo, and Drone-Zbaltazar.

"Aunt Clementine, you know this guy?"
Seamus looked between her and Blazer, trying to determine the attitude of the situation.

"Yeah, we've had some.. past encounters." Clementine crossed her arms. "Although 'Old friends' is putting it strong. What do you want, Blazer?"

"Ah, Clementine, always straight to the point."

"I seriously doubt we've had a proper conversation outside of when you kidnapped me, but whatever."

"You see, you.. owe me a little something. Since you escaped prison so quickly, I never got the money I was owed. Infact, I actually lost out on money, since I rented out that fancy party room in the nightclub. So I figured, we could do a little trade. You give me the money I was meant to get, and we all leave like nothing happened. What do you say?"

"I uh, I don't quite like the tone of what you're saying. Maybe don't..? Threaten our friend??"
Momo cowered slightly, grimacing.

"Momo, it's fine." Clementine shifted her hand to her hip. "Blazer. You seriously expect me to give *you* of all people money. After you kidnapped me, got me sent to jail, and hurt my friend? Is your hardware fried? The answer to your "trade" is no."

"Clementine, I'm giving you one last chance. Give. Me. My. Money. I'm being nice here! Why can't you see how stubborn you're being?"
Blazer stepped forward again, putting out his palm.

"For the last time, no. N.O. I don't even carry sacks of cash on me!"
Clementine spoke, exasperated.

"Clementine, I don't think you've realized. You don't exactly have a choice here. And besides, even if you don't have money on you, I can still take something of equal value!"
As soon as he spoke, Blazer reached forward, and snatched B12 from Doc, holding the drone up to the light to inspect him.

"Hey, give him back! That's not yours!"
Seamus swiped at Blazer, who dodged out of the way.

"I know this little drone is quite important to you all.. shame the only value it has is the price of your faces when I do this."
Blazer shrugged, and within a split second, pulled out one of the pistols used by the peacekeepers, firing it at the window, and when the glass shattered, leaning against the edge and tossing the drone out.

"NO!" Clementine yelled, bolting across the room.

"See? I tried to get you to listen." Blazer smiled.

"YOU *****, IM GOING TO ******* KILL YOU"
Clementine, in a fit of rage, pushed Blazer forward, and he stumbled against the window, falling backwards. At the last second, he grabbed Clementines hand, gripping hard as he hung high over an abandoned part of the city.

"Heyyyy... Clem.. m-mind pulling me u-up"
Blazer chattered nervously, terrified at the height.

Clementine shook her head anxiously.
"You.. you.. YOU ASSHOLE."
She jerked backwards, but Blazer, with his death grip, managed to hold onto her hand, and it was instead yanked out of the joint socket, falling down the steep wall along with Blazer.
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.

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"..."
Clementine fell to her knees in front of the window, placing her still attached hand over her mouth.
The rest of the outsiders quickly rushed over, Seamus peering out the window with the cat on his back, while Momo hugged Clementine and Doc placed a hand on her shoulder.

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______________________________________________________

[CONNECTING...]
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[SIGNAL FOUND]
[BOOTING UP DEVICE]
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[CONNECTION STABALIZED]
[TRANSFERRING..]
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[TRANSFER COMPLETED. ENJOY YOUR NEW BODY.]
______________________________________________________

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"Clem.."
Zbaltazars usually monotone voice was filled with concern, as the drone he controlled hovered infront of the silent robot.

Digital tears welled up on Clementines screen, and she lowered her head.
"He was already gone. W-why now. Why now am I upset.."
She wiped her display with her scarf, leaning into Momos hug.
"I just.. killed someone, I think.. I should have been quicker. I could've.. Grabbed B12, and then.. we could've fixed this whole mess.."

"Guys-"

"Clem, ...don't worry. Maybe.. maybe it was a lost cause."

"Guys!"

"..you think so Doc? ..maybe I should trust your judgment."

"GUYS!!"
Seamus finally caught everyone's attention, pointing out the window.
"Look!"
Momo, let go of Clementine, helping pull her off the ground, while Zbaltazar and Doc stepped forward to see what Seamus was pointing at.

As Clementine peered over the window, she caught sight of a small, wobbly figure rising upwards.

"Hello again! I hope I didn't worry you all too much!"

Chapter Text

The group of outsiders froze in shock as the drone hovered infront of the window, the silence only broken by the sudden purring from the cat.

"Friend, it's been a while!"
B12 flew through the broken window, approaching the cat, who nuzzled his head against the side of B12.

"B12? Y-you're alive!?"
Clementine spoke hesitantly, backing up slightly to turn and face B12, and she adjusted her hat in surprise.

"It seems so. I am unsure what exactly happened, but my assumption is this body just needed time to cool down and do a full restart, seeing as I can use it now."
B12 twitched his antenna, tilting to the side as he observed the group around him.
"Hhh, I'm sorry, I was trying to contact someone to inform them, but my admin control was cut off, so I was unable to access any other devices."

Doc put a hand on his forehead, leaning forward to observe the tiny drone.
"Hm, it's a miracle your body wasn't fried instantly. I checked it over earlier and nothing seemed too badly damaged, so I thought maybe your consciousness was just erased, but you're here talking to us, so I suppose that says something."

The drone chuckled. "Humans have always been said to be resilient."

The robots suddenly shyed back in surprise.
"Humans!?"
They gasped in almost unison.

"..? Ah, right, I only mentioned that to the cat."
B12 turned to face the group.
"Yes. I am a human. Well, sort of. My consciousness is that of a human. I uploaded myself to the network many years ago."

Zbaltazar spoke thoughtfully, his screen displaying a processing icon
"..I was right. You were who I met in the network. I don't think you would have been able to detect my presence seeing as I was there through meditation."

B12 froze, cringing on the inside. "Apologies.. that you had to see me in.. a state."

Zbaltazar shook the drone he was controlling.
"No need. You were speaking in a language I was unable to comprehend. That of the soft-ones, I presume."

"..yes."

Momo looked back and forth from the window to B12, as if somehow expecting Blazer to crawl back up or something.
"Sorry if this uh.. seems blunt, uh.. should we go outside now?"

The cat meowed in agreement, now able to understand the robots speech thanks to B12.

"Yeah, we've worked so hard for this. I think it's finally time."
Seamus nodded, and held out his hand to his father, who held it tightly.

"I have waited hundreds of years for this moment. Thank you all, for helping me and the cat on our journey. It means a lot to me."
B12 spoke slowly, turning to the exit of the control room, while the rest of the robots nodded.

"The outside awaits."

The cat bounded infront of the group, taking the lead, and was followed shortly behind by B12, who occasionally turned to make sure everyone was following.

The group strode past the heavy orange doors, approaching the concrete stairs leading upwards.

"I've never seen this type of plant.. the ones in the city are engineered to need less light, but now that the roof is open, I wonder if I could bring some to my lab.."
Doc rambled on, running from side to side of the hallway leading to the staircase, and Clementine laughed.
"Chill out Doc, you haven't even seen the best part yet!"

The outsiders climbed the staircase, and fell silent at the view. Wind rippled across the tall grass, wobbling B12 and Drone-Zbaltazar slightly, and the cat ran forward, sprawling out in the dirt and rolling around.

"..it's beautiful.."
B12 murmured, his eyes brightening.

Doc and Seamus both nodded, a heart displayed on their screens as they took in the view.

"..! Look! There's.. Cotton! In the sky!"
Clementine pointed upwards at the sky, directing her gaze at the fluffy clouds dotting the vast blue.

"That one looks like Morusques's guitar!"
Seamus laughed, awed by the landscape.

"There's many trees off in the distance."
Zbaltazar commented.
"I read something on this once.. a.. forest they called it?"

B12 remained silent, but eventually whispered to himself,
"This is what we had been missing out on this whole time.. why did we ever seal ourselves underground..?"

Doc leaned on Momo happily, his hand outstretched to the horizon.

"We're gonna make so many new discoveries.. I can't wait."