Chapter Text
Blood coated every wall of every room that the machine stormed through, relentless in its slaughter. Bodies of lesser husks turned into splatters of gore just so the machine could soak up every last ounce of blood out of them. Nothing stood a chance against the perfect killing machine.
Usually, at the end of most "levels", V1 had faced different bosses, such as a stone face V1's UI called "MALICIOUS FACE" or a yellow, long-faced machine designated "SWORDSMACHINE." But, whenever V1 pushed to the ending room of the level (which was incredibly hot, but that was off-topic), there was… a human?
That wasn't it. Its UI couldn't exactly pin a species on him. His skin didn't fit exactly right, and his arms were blackened with what looked like necrosis. He wasn't facing V1, so it could see the way his spine protruded from his back. It wasn't enough to scare the machine, but it was enough to confuse it. V1 thought it was lucky that he, the human, wasn't facing it. So, the machine fired off a singular shot into his back. But, to the machine's surprise, it ricocheted off.
The thing (that V1 decided was definitely not human) seemed to awaken from whatever stupor it was formerly in. It shifted its head, facing the machine and staring at V1 with shadowed eyes, shrouded by a green army helmet. It gave the machine a wicked smile with teeth too white and gums too bloody.
"Whoa!" It said, turning around and pulling up its pants, which V1 had realised were incredibly low. V1 saw its grin, which could be called goofy, and its chin tattoo of a black square that ended somewhere on the bottom of its head. It didn't wear any shirt, but did wear a bullet belt with no bullets on its chest, along with a dog tag necklace with only one dog tag. Its hands had fingerless gloves, which were quite hard to see above the necrosis that was a similar colour. Its low pants were camo-patterned, and it wore black army boots that it didn't bother to tuck its pants into. All-in-all, definitely not a demon, but not exactly human either.
"A machine!" It walked closer, reaching out an arm. V1 pointed its Piecer at it again.
"Whoa! You gonna shoot me?" It laughed. "I mean, you shot me before; this one is still gonna ricochet off." Also, apparently, this "human" had a lisp. Whenever it spoke, V1 could see a black tongue flashing in and out of its mouth.
V1 lowered its gun. This… thing made a good point.
"Great! Nice to meet you. I've never really met a real machine—my name's Jaw. I’m assuming you're V1. I know I've only really got one good eye, but I can still see that engraving on your chest!" Jaw pointed to the engraving of the machine's name on its chest, and V1 nodded in response to his assumption.
V1 tilted its head at Jaw speaking about his “one good eye.” Jaw seemed to notice, and his grin widened, and he stepped even closer.
"Yes. I've got a dead eye," He lifted his helmet, flashing one eye with a pupil that shifted like a camera lens. The iris was grey, and it seemed bruised.
"You think you know what happened, machine?" He asked. V1 shook its head. Jaw laughed, his dead eye rolling upwards slightly.
"It was the government, V1! The American government. I expect your kind was also the one to wipe them out." He laughed again. "Well! They put an itty-bitty camera right inside of one of my eyes, and now… well… it's dead. I can't see out of it, and they could for a while. But, now they're all deader than this eye! Hahaha!"
If V1 could feel disturbed, it would've run right then and there. This thing, Jaw, at least it called itself that, no wonder it was the only human thing in Hell. He wasn't human at all.
"Welp! Where are you heading?" He put his helmet back down and continued his friendly demeanour. V1 pointed to the exit behind him, and Jaw turned around.
"Oh! You're looking to leave, ain't ya?" Jaw walked towards the exit, scratching his hair beneath his helmet. Suddenly, he jumped up and mule-kicked the exit doors. Unluckily, they didn't budge, and Jaw came toppling to the ground. V1 walked towards Jaw to stand over him, blinking its optic once in a show of obliviousness.
“Heh…hehehe,” Jaw laughed awkwardly. “Could you… Help me up? That was really stupid of me; now my back hurts.”
V1 held out a hand, not to Jaw, but towards the red exit doors, causing them to slide open. The machine stepped over the soldier’s body, moving to exit the level. Jaw, seeing this, quickly stood up and held out a hand to stop the machine, but the exit doors quickly clamped shut on his fingers.
“OW! Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!” He yelped, attempting to free them, but with no luck. V1 heard this and turned around to see Jaw's struggle. The machine rolled its optic and walked back, prying the exit doors open to free him. Jaw pulled his hand back, flapping it a couple of times and grinning awkwardly at V1.
"Wait, before you close the doors again. Is… Is it ok if I follow you? Listen, I'm not the best of companions, but I'm lonely, and you might be lonely, and-and y'know what, I can uh…" He stammered before holding up an arm and making a motion of slitting his wrists.
"Feed you!" He suddenly flinched, lurching forward. "Y'know? Y'know? You run on blood! Right? Please tell me I'm right."
V1 stared at Jaw for a moment, and Jaw's grin slowly morphed into a frown as the time passed. Then, in a quick motion, V1 grabbed Jaw's wrist and swung him into the exit, dragging him down the path before quickly jumping down the tunnel that led to the next level. Jaw screamed the entire way down.