"Hello, dear Rabbit," a familiar voice sounded from the darkness, "So nice of you to join us."
The Hall of Wires lit up, blinding Rabbit slightly. She shielded her eyes allowing them to adjust to the sudden light. She looked up.
She immediately felt regret for entering the room.
Entangled in the wires was Camille. She looked in bad shape. Her hair was messed. Parts of her uniform were torn. A trickle of blood dripped from her lips.
Rabbit tore her eyes away from the horrific sight as something caught her eye, something slithering around in the wires.
It was the Spine.
He wasn't attached to his body. He was slithering close to the Walter Girl. Rabbit felt uneasy as he got closer.
"Wh-Wh-What's going on?" the automaton stuttered, afraid of his response.
"Oh, nothing," The Spine smirked as he reached the Walter girl, he slithered around her shoulders. She squirmed slightly letting out a whimper. This only caused the Spine to grin, "Just having a bit of fun."
Rabbit couldn't stand to see the helpless Walter girl in this situation. There was something seriously wrong with the Spine. She turned quickly trying for the door in an attempt to escape the Hall. She only managed to open it a nudge before she felt a wire wrap around her body, hauling her back.
"No – No – No, this won't do at all," The Spine scolded as he dragged her back, "We can't have you run off like this."
Rabbit tried to find something to grab onto in order to escape the grasp. She quickly grabbed a pipe, the end was jagged. She stabbed it into the wire, causing the Spine to gasp in pain and release her.
"How are y-y-you controlling the wires?" Rabbit stood up, turning to her brother, he was still wrapped around Camille's shoulders, "What's gotten into y-y-you? Did you hurt her?"
The Spine laughed, "Oh, Rabbit, of course I did! She came to play earlier, but when she found out about the games I wanted to play she didn't seem that up to it. Obviously, I was very upset that she got my hopes up for a second. You shouldn't upset me. Isn't that right, Camille love?"
His tail wrapped around her neck slightly, causing her to whimper. He nuzzled his face against hers causing her to shiver.
"Stop, the Spine!" Rabbit cried.
"Oh, stop whining, you stuttering whore!" The Spine spat. He swiftly slithered down Camille and onto the wires until he met the ground. He charged at Rabbit, causing her to fall back in shock. She attempted to crawl away as he got closer. He wrapped his tail around her waist, drawing her closer.
"How about we play a game, Rabbit? You love games, don't you?" The Spine pressed his fore head against hers, his eyes were like fire burning into hers.
"Sp-Spine, why are you - -" she stopped questioning, a gasp escaped as the Spine tightened himself around her.
"Don't you?" He snarled.
"Y-Yes," she whimpered.
"Say 'I want to play the game, Spine, my dear brother'."
Rabbit choked a bit, "I w-want to p-p-p-play the game, Spine, my d-dear brother."
"Good! We're going to play a game of True or False. But it's played my way. If you answer my statement wrongly then poor Camille here will pay. If you answer correctly, then she wont be harmed." The Spine grinned, "That sound clear, girly?"
Rabbit hesitated before answering. She nodded her head slowly as a black tear slid down her cheek.
"Good!" The Spine cooed, "first statement; Rabbit, you were made in the year 1896."
"True," Rabbit answered.
"Very good, Rabbit! I'm glad you're being honest!"
Rabbit didn't react. Where was he going with this.
"Second statement; you have a secret room, in the manor, all to yourself that no one else knows about," the Spine sneered. Rabbit was speechless for a moment. How did he know?
"How did you–"
"True. Or. False."
Rabbit sighed, "True. It's a room Pappy and I used to w-watch the stars from. It w-w-was our place. No o-one else's. I'm sorry but it's sp-special to me."
The Spine rubbed his cheek against hers in a faux comforting way, "Oh don't worry, pet. We're just getting started."
He pulled his face away, Rabbit's eyes slightly widened, "wh-wh-what do you mean?"
"Third statement; sometimes you wish the humans weren't here."
Rabbit shuddered, "Wh-what? That's not tr-tr-true! I love the humans!"
"WRONG!"
Camille gasped as the wires binding her tightened. A wire slithered its way around her throat.
"Spine, stop!"
"Tell the truth! Don't you remember, Rabbit! The time Steve fixed your rock tumbler for you."
Rabbit was speechless. Steve had fixed the machine for her. Although she had been grateful she wanted to know how to fix it herself. The humans kind of prevented the automatons from being independent at times, "I said I w-w-wished I could be m-more independent."
"Then you said 'Sometimes I wonder if they weren't here would I have been more self dependant? I just wish that's how it was.'" The Spine put on her voice.
Rabbit was silent. She didn't remember wording it that way. But he was right. She sighed, "True."
Camille gasped. Her eyes widened. She couldn't believe Rabbit would think that way.
"Fourth statement; You would sacrifice my life for Pappy to be back." The Spine grinned. He knew this one would really get to her.
Rabbit panicked again, "False! False!"
"Wrong again, Rabbit," the wire around Camille's neck tightened causing her to choke, "I am ashamed of you, sister."
"Spine, pl-please," Rabbit choked out a sob, "why are y-you doing this?"
"You wanted to play the game! Well, we're playing the game! Now; the correct answer please!"
Rabbit squeezed her eyes shut, letting more tears fall, "It's true. But – But…I didn't m-mean it in that way. I said I'd sacrifice anyone's l-life. I'm s-sorry. I didn't mean it in th-that way, Spine."
"Second last statement!" The Spine chuckled a bit, "Rabbit, you were responsible for Upgrade not being with us today!"
Rabbit's opened wide. Upgrade. She had heard that name before. She stopped sobbing.
"She was the pretty one. The one who you were jealous of. She didn't just malfunction. You damaged her core," The Spine chucked morbidly.
Then it hit her. Upgrade. Their sister. She was a pretty robot. But she had malfunctioned and was unable to be fixed. But Rabbit couldn't remember hurting her. Nothing sparked in her memory.
"It's…it's false," she muttered.
"This is the third time you've lied, Rabbit," The Spine shook his head. Rabbit also shook hers but with more desperation, "Don't shake your head, Rabbit. Maybe you don't care about Camille being hurt. In fact, it's obvious you don't care about the humans after all. Maybe you deserve the punishment now."
Rabbit screamed in pain, the Spine biting down hard on her shoulder. His tail around her waist tightened. She choked out sobs as he pulled his face away.
"Think about it, Rabbit," The Spine's voice quietened, "You are playing my game…my rules…my set answers…"
Rabbit's sobs softened as she realised what he was saying. He was manipulating her. He was making her say what he wanted to hear. But why?
"It – It – It's true…" she murmured.
"Louder."
"I k-killed Upgrade!" She choked out, loud enough for the Walter Girl to hear.
Camille gasped as tears flowed down her cheeks, "Rabbit…no. Why? How could you?!"
Rabbit squeezed her eyes shut again as she sobbed.
The Spine chucked, "Final statement; You were jealous of Hatchworth too! Hatchy and I were best buddies. You and I grew apart. That wasn't good enough for you. You were just being selfish as always. You went into his room whilst he was powered down. Messed with his core until it was damaged enough to cause harm to the residents of the manor. You wanted rid of him. But you were so surprised when you found out we were going to keep him the vault temporarily! You even hid the key in your secret room so he would be in that vault for so many lonely years! You wanted rid of Hatchworth because you were jealous, you naughty girl!"
Rabbit couldn't believe everything she had just heard. As much as she wanted to deny the false allegations, she knew there was no point. It was his game.
"True," she replied blandly.
"Why?!"Camille screamed, "How could you?!"
The Spine chuckled loudly, "Well it seems you have one the game, Rabbit! As promised, Camille can go free."
The wires loosened on the Walter girl. She fell to the ground. Instead of standing, she just curled up and sobbed.
"Pl-pl-please, Spine. Let us go," Rabbit murmured, "we can get P-Peter. He c-can help you."
The Spine grinned wickedly, his tail tightening again, "Oh, poor innocent Rabbit…true or false; I said I would let both of you go."
Rabbit gasped. There was a sudden stabbing pain in her core. She slowly looked down, his tail was sticking out from here breast plate. He punctured her back. Her eyes widened as he leaned closer to her. She felt his lips slightly brush against her ear.
"False."
He yanked out his tail.
Rabbit's core faded as her eyes slowly closed.