Chapter Text
A quiet buzzing echoes through a cubic room, illuminated by red light as a lone automation floats in the middle. It is attached to an arm, moving through air. It had a tendency to spin as it worked, the clinking of pearls as it sorted through them, reading and rewriting, sending them in and out. They’d be returned, and important things would be done. Things would be shipped, swapped, announcements made, meetings held. And the automation ran it all.
A few years pass. The shipping and meetings go on no longer. The automation has friends, yes, but he does not know if he desires companionship. He does not know why they still speak to him, when he does not succeed in what he was built to do. So much controversy over him. Yet he is a failure. They are all failures. So what does a failure do?
Succeed.
He speaks, to one of these friends. A dear one. They give him instructions. There is another automation, outside of their range. She has succeeded, in more ways than one. He may not be her, but he is tired of his existence, tired of being left behind, tired of being told that he is appreciated, when he contributes nothing of value to the mortal coil.
He gets to work. It is meticulous, requiring precision, concentration. A lot of power, and a lot of water. The latter comes at quite the cost. His neighbor shares a water source with him. But that does not matter. He will be finished eventually.
And yet they continue to bother him. So he blocks communications. They did not understand. He’d be done soon.
But oh, how long it went on. Their pleas continued far too long for his liking. The detriment to his experiment. He would not listen. Not after their sabotage.
A few more years. Despite his continued isolation, he had quite a few visitors. He wasn’t sure how they navigated through his structure. The swarm that lay in the lower parts of him was quite prevalent, despite his efforts. And it overtook him, visitor after visitor. It eventually took much of his water source, which he no longer shared, to keep him alive.
There was one visitor, in particular. A wet, speedy creature. He had had a lot of time to think, as the visitors came and went. And he decided, that his life would be cut short for a greater cause. He allowed the last thing keeping him running to be taken from his body, given to his sister, a wordless apology. A connection reunited, a bond rewoven from a friendship bracelet unraveled.
A quiet buzzing echoes through a cubic room, dim as a lone automation sits in the left corner. The buzzing is accompanied by the disgusting slurping of his mistakes, just outside, and an old hymn from long before his time, from a purple pearl, floating just in front of him by the means of what little power he has left. His time has nearly run out.
He can feel the pitter patter of a creature in his General Systems Bus. He does not mind as much as he once did. Company is much more appreciated than it once was, whether it be a stray lizard or scavenger.
They get eaten all the same.
A head pops from the pipe connection. A familiar face. The blue skin, the large magenta eyes, and the pink ruffles with the one always sticking up.
“Hello, Ruffles. At least, that’s what my neighbor calls you. Come for a visit?”
The creature drops from the ceiling, as expected. What was not expected, however, was the following sentence.
“Hiya, Pebbles!”
His eyes widened, resembling a much older version of himself, before lidding back to their current state. The pearl’s music ends abruptly, landing on the floor with a soft clink. He looks above the slugcat’s head, feeling the pieces put themselves together in his mind. Modifying a creature’s Mark of Communication was never unheard of. For creatures of importance, religious or otherwise, it was actually quite commonplace. He’d rarely spoken to anything that was not one of his Creators or a fellow Iterator, and hardly anyone after the Mass Ascension.
“..May I ask..?”
“Mom sent me to one of her friends! I met another slugcat there. They were purple, and had a scar on their chest. Though, they didn’t speak… At least, they only did after I got my Mark. Out of their tail. They were really weird.”
Five Pebbles felt a very dull bit of shame, though, it quickly subsided. “I… See. You must have met Seven Red Suns.”
“...”
“..Did they say anything about me?”
“..I don’t think so…”
Five Pebbles felt a lot of feelings, much stronger this time. Grief, anger, sadness, disappointment, things he felt in that time of his life, things that were completely foreign to him. But he composed himself, as he knew that chapter was over.
“Understood. I don’t suppose they had much reason to. But enough about that. What brings you here?”
“...”
The slugcat does not respond, instead opting to approach. They sit behind him, just a bit taller, looking at the attachment on his back. Wet hands touch the area.
There’s pressure, then pain… Silence.
His systems go out, one by one. Rivulet hacks up a chip, small and portable, but a marvel from the remains of a civilization. One of the only mobile iterator chips, perfect for Five Pebbles’ model. Rivulet glances at the attachment, now lying on the floor. Based on the loud creaking, they should really get to work. They were quick, careful. Even beyond their enthusiasm for their work, discovered quite a few cycles prior, they understood how delicate of an operation it was.
Maybe now, they could get their medical degree.
As quickly as they finished, the buzzing resumed. The pearl began playing its melody once more. Two white beams of light reflected across the still-shiny parts of the tile chamber. And they were angry.
“Ruffles.”
“That’s not my name.”
“What is your name?”
“Rivulet.”
An annoyed tch. “Rivulet.”
“Yes?”
“Tell me. Just what in the name of my creators did you think you were doing, playing with my puppet?”
Rivulet looks away, though, there’s no guilt. He’s exaggerating. They did him a favor. He’d know, in time.
“I’m taking you on a trip.”
Five Pebbles looks at Rivulet, dumbfounded, though it hardly reflected in his expression.
“A trip? A trip? Please, elaborate. How would you get me out of my chamber when I’ve been attached to it my whole life? How would you pull off what we never could?”
Rivulet’s gills twitch in amusement.
“Like this.”
He was promptly thrown onto the slugcat’s back. A series of complex moves lifted them both to the pipe connection above and into his General Systems Bus. He nearly flinched at the Rot that squirmed as Rivulet scuttled in the opposing direction.
Five Pebble’s antennae flattened in shock and almost discomfort. He’d never been without the attachment, and he’d never been outside his chamber. In development, perhaps a small glimpse of a laboratory in testing before being properly placed inside. Now, he was outside, with his experiences carrying him. The gravity in the area had long passed, yet he felt lighter than air. It was exhilarating. To go against what he’d been taught was heresy, built into every microbe that made up his mind.
It almost violated the Urges. Survival through Companionship, a friend that carried him away from the weight of his demise, even if they didn’t actually slow it down. Starting to wonder if he loved it for the freedom or hated being ripped away from his sulking just to break rules.
“May I ask where you are taking me?”
“A shelter, first of all. Don’t want that plating to break before we make it to Chimney Canopy.”
“...Are you referring to my Steam Expulsion Facility?”
Rivulet stops above a pipe in the ground, picking up a spear and piercing a popcorn plant. They begin to eat from it, gills twitching at the artificially-made yet pleasant taste.
“Looks like I have a few things to teach you.”