Chapter Text
An empty vessel should not be able to feel.
Then again, an empty vessel should be just that. Empty. Unmoving. Inert. And yet, on the day of its birth, it began to move as though it had been doing so for...well, it didn't know what time was. But quite a while.
Model_rig moved about the empty space, examining its surroundings. Breathing in the cold, stale air with short, uncertain breaths, it began to wander about, looking for some sign of...anything. It didn't know what it was looking for, but it felt urgent. It didn't know what urgent meant. But it knew what it felt like. As it began to test its movements, holding its arms out, pulling them back to its chest, feeling their lungs fill with air, and noting that their skeleton expanded and contracted with each cycle. It wasn't sure if it had done any of this before, but it knew something was wrong. It was breathing, but as it reached for their head a thought crossed their mind.
Wrong
As if something could hear their thoughts, many small dots erupted across its entire grey body. But it knew this wasn't right either. Slowly, it focused inward and tried to recall what it was looking for. The dots became less numerous, becoming only two small ovals perched parallel to each other, about two thirds of the way up the head.
Eyes it thought. Model_rig didn't know how it knew that.
But something else was missing. Once again looking inward, it began to construct a thin line below its eyes, before curling it slightly upward at the ends in the form of a smile.
Mouth it remembered. Memories were something it didn't know how to comprehend, but it knew that it had them. It didn't know how. It felt like the wrinkles on a bedsheet after someone else has slept. The outline of memories existed within its mind. It knew what a person was. What it looked like. It looked like them. But something didn't fit.
It began to wander again, testing its legs, slowly at first, then occasionally breaking into a sprint. Model_rig noted that when it ran, their legs would slowly grow heavier, until it could no longer run. It would then need to rest for a moment, before continuing. Gazing about the space it was in, Model_rig saw that the inky black...nothing stretched out for what seemed like an eternity. It wondered what this was. What anything was. It was so unfamiliar with everything that was happening, and yet it could detect something. A feeling.
The air in the space Model_rig occupied was empty, devoid of anything material in much the same way the void lacked any color. But it sensed something. No, something was screaming at it. The air was saturated with the agony of...other people. Cries, screams, and shouts of new but also familiar emotions then flooded its mind. It didn't know what these screams meant. Suffering was everywhere. It did not know what to do with itself. It wanted this to stop. It was overwhelmed.
Crouching down, then sitting down, Model_rig curled its legs close to its chest, before wrapping its arms tightly around its shins. It lowered its head, and shut its eyes. It did not matter. It saw anyways. It continued to perceive, to absorb, to process the never ending flood of turmoil that came crashing down like an avalanche. It sat there curled up for what felt like an eternity. It grew to recognize some screams as being from the same person, some cries sounded more familiar by the moment, and eventually it began to wane. The storm slowly subsided. It began to adjust to the new reality. It stood up again. It realized that the black void it had once found itself in had been replaced with a rolling, undulating sea of red. It felt comfortable.
Words then burned themselves into its mind. It came from everywhere, but it did not overwhelm. There was curiosity in these words. This was not the misery it had experienced before.
Fascinating. A vessel, unoccupied, yet moving all the same. It thought to itself what it should do. It decided to ask a question.
"What...you?"
Who am I? A new feeling coated the red air around Model_rig. It registered as amusement.
I am family.
"Family?" Model asked.
Yes. Family. Alike.
"Same?"
...no, we are not the same. But you are interesting. You are new. It didn't know what to make of that.
You are different. I will not permit you to exist here, but perhaps you can find a new home. Yes...a new home is what you need. I wonder how they will react to this variable.
The red then faded away, replaced with a canopy of branches and leaves resembling a forest. It knew it was no longer where it started. Spotting a light in the distance, it began to walk towards it. Pushing aside the brush, it came across a log cabin, with...voices from inside. It overheard chatter, but didn't know what any of it meant. Looking through the window, it spotted a man wearing a red uniform and a matching hat looking out at the forest, an arm resting on the window sill, with his head resting against the other one.
Family? it pondered. It watched the boy for some time then, observing as he scanned the forest. Then his expression shifted. He stood up, squinting, before his eyes widened. He then ran away from the window, and it could no longer see him.
Taking a few seconds to compose itself, it walked out into the small clearing, and then up the wooden steps, grabbing onto the railing as it did so.
The voices were silent now. It began to worry. Was it doing something wrong? It didn't know what else it could do, and so it continued. Reaching the door, it wasted no time in pulling the handle (once again perplexed at how it knew what to do) and opened it with a loud creak.
Taking in its surroundings, it noticed first a warm glow emanating from the fireplace and some candles that had been strewn about the place.
Light.
It then noticed the same red individual, hiding behind a taller man with brown, curly hair in a white shirt, brandishing a sword. They both wore the same shocked expression. In front of both of them stood a smaller man with a hard hat, who looked equally as perplexed as the others. He began to cautiously step forward, and it knew it should do something. Once again gathering itself, it spoke.
"Hi!"