Chapter Text
Looks to the Moon was an iterator. A giant, older than most of her kind, purposed superstructure, tasked with solving the great problem. She was seen as one of the wiser, and more rational iterators.
That's what she was, wasn't she?
If that wasn't the case, she would not have been their local group's senior. Right? She couldn't bring herself to fully believe it, even though it was the undeniable truth.
Her puppet let out an agonizing scream, as it's vision went dark, as her body screamed out alerts of overheating to her, and as she yet again felt her mechanical flesh and bones crumble, fail her.
After all, what kind of group senior, a god, a older sister, cannot even help herself, not even when her own brother's actions are killing her? She thought as her consciousness reached her puppet once again. She let her umbilical arm drag her up to a comfortable sitting position, so she could call the brave messenger up to her and calm it down. The brave little creature has delivered her last message exactly 5.056422 cycles ago, yet for some reason it returned to her once again. She was worried about the little thing's safety, yet her every attempt to explain how staying inside a iterator in this state would be very risky, was met with just a empty look of it's milky, adorable eyes. It definitely understood her. The mark guaranteed that. But why did it risk staying?
It was not a logical decision. But again, she was an iterator. Modified or not, it was a slugcat. Perhaps there was no point in trying to reason with an animal's behavior. She still appreciated the company though.
Her blue, metallic fingers ran through the brave messenger's short, deep violet fur. What she was doing was not productive. In no way a progress towards the great task.
But she couldn't bring herself to care about it now. Not when right now, these might be the last moments of her long existence. Maybe-
Then everything shook and she felt the metal of her struts barely hold on again. Her processors and pipes, overheating, beg for even the smallest drop of water, again. Her own consciousness scattering away, and her puppet screaming, then falling limp, again. And every moment of it was agony.
It was 36th.. no 37th time this cycle. She counted as the pain died down to a manageable degree, and she opened her eyes again to see a pair of worried, big eyes staring at her from her lap.
"I'm fine, brave messenger... Or rather, as fine as I can be" She tried to reassure the slugcat, while slowly petting it, not sure if for it's own comfort or her comfort.
Her eyes wandered to the wound on the messenger's chest. It seemed to heal rather well. She was worried when she first saw the scar. She didn't want to believe it, but it seemed that it was yet another wound dealt by Five Pebbles. He had hurt both of them, didn't he? She-
38. 38th time this cycle. If only her agony could stop.
She still could feel a sort of light, desperate, oblivious emotion pulsing through her neuron flies. Hope. Hope that he would stop, that he would help her. That she wasn't going to die. Sh-
39
She knew that her hope was false. She has contemplated her future countless times already. He wasn't going to stop. And even if he did, the damage was already done.
...58
She wondered how the local group was doing. The brave messenger's task was enough of a proof of the commotion her absence, and pebbles' doing caused. She was missing some context, but what she had was enough to make a good guess about what has happened exactly. To say that she was worried would be an understatement. Would they be okay? Her overworked fans whirred, and dusty wires sparked with electricity as she thought back to each member of their group. Perhaps it would be the last time she gets to think about them.
...61
No Significant Harassment was a good friend of hers. He had a tendency to go over the edge with some of his jokes, but despite being brutal with his humor, he was a really good, and caring friend. She hoped he wasn't too worried about her, and wouldn't do anything stupid without her to keep him in line. Next was Grey W-
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-Grey Wind. He was one of the older iterator models. Not as old as her of course, but he was wise and knowledgeable. She could not deny that. His interests were definitely... uhm.. questionable.. but she wasn't the one to judge. He seemed happy with it. She wished she could participate in one more debate with him. Listening to his arguments was a intriguing thing.
Unparalleled Innocence, being one of the younger iterators, was quite immature. In the short time she held contact with them, she wasn't able to figure them out. They definitely were the one she had to warn about their behavior the most. She still was quite worried that they wouldn't get along with anyone in the group, but it seemed that a little bit of friendship started to bloom between them and No Significant Harassment. It didn't surprise her as much as she thought it would. They both shared their love for being menaces. She chuckled as she thought back to the cycle when both of them had collaborated on the idea to pretend that her broadcasts didn't go through, and in a attempt to "help her" with her "problem", NSH sent her a malware file that played silly slugcat video compilation for the rest of the cycle. She was maybe not mad, but annoyed back then, as they both earned a mute for 2 cycles, but now she couldn't help but wish for them to send her something again. Be it a virus or not. Anything, just to talk to them one, last time.
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"Brave messenger, a new cycle will begin soon" Her speakers were getting strained at this point. As much as she didn't want it, the little slugcat had to leave soon. It had slowly woken up from it's slumber, large, shiny eyes blinking at her sleepily.
"My structure will collapse soon. You need to leave by then. I will inform you once the rain ends, and I'll send one of my overseers to guide you outside our facility grounds." She couldn't bear how it looked at her with it's ears flopped down, clearly saddened.
"I really appreciate your company, but I'm sure there's someone waiting for your return.-"
64 She's going to be alone again.
Her legs won't hold on for much longer. "...There is someone who cares about you. I won't lie to you, you're most likely the last creature I'll ever talk to, but nothing can change my fate now. Please, I'd hate for you to get hurt."
"You've already helped me a lot, and I'll forever be grateful to you" She hugged the messenger. It hugged her back. She didn't want to let go, she didn't want to be alone in her final moments, she didn't want to die.
She pushed these thoughts to the neurons further away, as she let go, said her final goodbyes to the creature, and called an overseer to guide it.
1 She's alone... She's so scared
It was already gone. She didn't see it leave.
And the last member of their local group, the youngest, was Pebbles. She wasn't sure how she felt about him. He was her little brother. She was his big sister. She supposed she could see where his actions were coming from. Yet there was no excuse for his actions.
7 She doesn't want to die
She felt betrayed, it was unfair. Who wouldn't feel that way, getting murdered by their own brother? She didn't want to die, she felt... a weird sort of weightlessness, as the metal of her structure screamed, as her puppet's umbilical cord was cut by falling debris, as her memories were crushed by her processors, as her overgrown exterior crumbled, and her memory arrays were shattered. And just like that, suddenly it all went dark. And then came nothing.
Five Pebbles was an iterator. A massive supercomputer, that carried a city on his back. A god. Tasked with solving the great problem.
Sure, his whole existence might have been controversial, but that doesn't matter. None of those who thought that were still alive after all.
He might be looked down on by other iterators, but that doesn't matter as well. They don't know a thing about him. He's going to find the solution, he'll show them all. They'll all praise him and beg for his forgiveness.
He might have made a few mistakes on his way, but it was all Suns' and Moon's fault. They compared him to a bug.. She shouldn't have interrupted him. It was their own fault.
His neuron flies buzzed to the song of his mind, as he was brought back to his own... little problem.
Black and blue. It was spreading. Slowly, but a slowly too much. He flushed his systems again, only to bring back the same result as countless of his other attempts. The rot still held on.
He was about to look over to a ping his overseer sent him, when suddenly his whole structure shook violently. What in the void was that? Their rains didn't have nearly enough strength to cause this. Maybe she finally collapsed? No.. It took a moment to register before he felt it, and it felt wrong.
Metal scraping against metal, steel beams and pipes breaking and crumbling, his legs failing him as something crashed onto his structure, and the world was tilted to the right, accompanied by the screams of his structure. His screams.
Something was very wrong.
