To Unite Us
Author: The Passionate Admiral
Rating: T
Disclaimer: I don't own 9. It is an epic animated masterpiece, in my opinion, and I would love it if I owned it, but Shane Acker is the rightful owner.
Plot: This opens up a few weeks after the movie ended. It is the aftermath of the destruction of the Fabrication Machine and all its pawns. 3, 4, 7, and 9 are still unsure about what they are supposed to do next, but they soon discover that they are still not alone.
9 sat on the window to the Scientist's workshop. He sat up straight, letting his legs dangle over the windowsill. From there, he gazed out at the surrounding ruins.
Even though the Earth he was brought into was a barren wasteland, things were starting to improve. Ever since the day he and others had destroyed the B.R.A.I.N., water had started falling from the sky at erratic intervals. 3 and 4 had done some research and discovered that this falling water was classified by humans as "rain."
It sounded like a gloomy name to 9, but it was certainly better than seeing miles and miles of the usual arid, inhospitable surroundings.
Not long after the rain had started falling, some of the smog had begun to dissipate, letting in more sunlight. 3 and 4 had later discovered that some type of biochemical reaction doing on in the surrounding soil. At that moment, the two of them were out studying this reaction.
7 was scouting around, looking out for any more machines. Granted that the Stitchpunks had not seen any operational machines since the destruction of the B.R.A.I.N., they knew better than to let their guard down.
9 was left on his own to "hold up the fort," as 7 liked to say. He took that time to think about what the future might hold for him and the others.
9 could not help but wonder just how the Scientist intended him to "protect the future." He had destroyed the Fabrication Machine himself, but it was his fault that the monstrosity was awoken in the first place. He could not help but think that he was responsible for the deaths of 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8 as well.
3, 4, and 7 had made many attempts to comfort him about this matter. After all, when 9 had set up the trap for the Fabrication Machine, 1 had had a change of heart and pushed him out of the way for him to survive in his stead. 6 had died willingly to prove to the others that the souls of the others were trapped inside the machine, and if 8 had been more watchful while on guard duty, he would not have been captured and killed. 9 had also tried to save 5 when he was caught by the B.R.A.I.N., but 1 had stopped him.
The only death that really made 9 feel terrible was 2's death. He and 5 had gone to the factory to rescue 2. When they arrived, 2 was alive and well. But after 9 had placed the Talisman in the B.R.A.I.N., 2's soul had been sucked out and a new terror was operating.
No matter how hard the others tried, 9 could not forgive himself for 2's death.
At that very moment, 9 was holding onto two items. In his left hand, he held the Talisman, which he had decided to keep "just in case." In his right hand, he held his light bulb staff. It was not lighting up at the time, as there was plenty of light coming from the sun. Plus, 9 only wanted to use the light bulb when it was necessary in order to preserve its power. The light bulb was also one of the things that brought the Stitchpunks hope for the future; they did not want to waste it.
"9? Are you up here?" came a familiar feminine voice.
9 snapped out of his reflection and looked over his shoulder. 7 was standing a few feet behind him on the Scientist's desk. She had her bird skull helmet over her head and she held onto her spear in her left hand.
"Is everything alright?" asked 7, noticing the uneasiness in 9's optics.
9 smiled at her and said "I'm fine, 7. I was just thinking."
She scoffed and walked over to him, saying "I notice you've been doing a lot of that recently."
As she sat down next to him, 9 said "A situation like this calls for lots of thinking."
7 pulled up her skull helmet and set her spear down next to her. Then she and 9 took a moment to look out into the horizon. There were miles of barren wasteland for miles in all directions, but the two of them had been able to see the beauty in the environment.
9 put the Talisman and his staff to the side as well. He placed his hand on 7's, inciting her to look at him out of the corner of her optic and smile at him.
9 wanted to start up a conversation, but he was not sure how to begin. He first asked 7 "Have you seen 3 and 4?"
"Yes, I passed them on my way back," she replied, "They're still at the exact same spot they were this morning, and they're still cataloging the soil."
"That doesn't really surprise me," said 9, "I'll bet they've been there all afternoon."
"I don't think so," she said, "They had one of their reference books from the library with them, which I'm sure was not there before."
"Alright then," 9 grinned again, "I guess we'll just wait for them to get back."
There was a brief interval of silence. 9 finally broke it when he said "7, have you ever wondered how we came about?"
"What do you mean, 9?" she asked, "The answer to that is simple; the Talisman gave us life."
"I know that," smirked 9, "What I mean is: how was the Talisman able to give each of us our personalities? We all have very different personalities."
"In what ways?" she asked.
"I thought you'd ask that," he said, "1 had the personality of a rigid leader, 2 had the personality of a benevolent inventor, 3 and 4 have the personalities of quiet but informative historians, 5 had the personality of a friendly, peacekeeping doctor, 6 had the personality of a cryptic oracle, you have the personality of a valiant warrior, 8 had the personality of a loyal guard, and I… well, I guess I have the personality of a brave yet somewhat ignorant mediator."
"I would say that all those labels correctly match everyone," nodded 7, "But you're not ignorant. I would say that you're… curious, yet perceptive. If you know what I mean…"
"Thank you," he grinned nervously. Had he been human, his cheeks would be turning a deep mahogany hue. But he was not human, and his cheeks were made of burlap. So nothing appeared.
7 looked up at 9 and said "So, you think I'm valiant?"
"Of course," he nodded quickly, "You're also kind, caring, compassionate, very motherly – towards 3 and 4, I mean – thoughtful, protective-"
"Am I motherly to just 3 and 4?" asked 7, smiling again.
"Well, 'motherly' is not exactly how I would categorize your friendship with me," 9 responded.
"In that case, how WOULD you categorize your friendship with me?" she asked, scooting a little closer to him so that their legs were almost touching each other.
If 9 was human, he would have started to sweat in anxiety. But he just chuckled nervously and said "Well, um… I, uh… well…"
"9?"
"Yes, 7?"
"Have you ever heard of a rhetorical question?"
9 took a moment to think, and then he said "Not to my knowledge, no."
"A rhetorical question is a query that some humans would give others," 7 enlightened him, "But whoever asked the question actually knew the answer already, and they were not really looking for an answer from the person they asked."
"I fail to see the point to such a question," 9 commented, raising the stitches above his eyebrow in interest.
7 put her arm around his shoulder and told him "Rhetorical questions served a variety of purposes. Sometimes they were just used to keep a conversation going or change its subject; sometimes they were used to open a conversation. But sometimes they were used to address a matter with a small amount of subtly."
9 immediately knew what she meant after that. He just looked at her and grinned once more.
Just then, their moment was interrupted by a loud beeping sound going off in the distance.
"What's that?" 9 asked in concern.
"That's the alarm I gave 3 and 4!" 7 answered, somewhat disturbed "I told them to use it in the event of an emergency. Or a… 'situation.'"
"Let's go!" 9 said as the two of them rose to their feet. 9 quickly picked up the Talisman, unzipped his zipper, put the Talisman inside his torso, and zipped himself back up. As he picked up his light bulb staff, 7 dropped her helmet over her face and picked up her spear. She went back inside, jumped off the desk, did a somersault in the air, and landed on her feet.
9 was in good shape, but he was still not quite ready to be doing somersaults in midair. He just carefully climbed down the desk, but he slipped just about a foot before he reached the ground.
Fortunately, a computer module broke his fall. After 7 helped 9 up, the two of them quickly made their way to the bottom of the building. However, neither of them noticed that the module started flashing in a certain spot just before they left the room.
Once they were outside, they ran as quickly as they could to the place 3 and 4 were seen last.
When they got there, they were half-expecting to find a machine like the Seamstress or the Cat Beast. Instead, they just found 3 waving his arms to them, urging them to come closer.
When 7 and 9 reached 3, 9 asked him "Where's 4?"
3 responded by using the flickering lights in his eyes. When he was finished, 7 told 9 "He says that she's busy cataloging a new object that neither of them has ever seen before. That's why they called us over here."
Both 7 and 9 calmed down when they heard this reassuring news.
3 led the two of them over to 4. She had her back turned to them and she was kneeling on the ground, studying something in front of her.
When they reached her, 3 went over to 4 and communicated her via their flashing lights.
"What is it you and 3 found?" 7 asked her.
The two mute Stitchpunks moved away, revealing a bunch of very interesting objects protruding from the ground.
The objects were clustered together. They were all tall, thin, and green. None of the Stitchpunks had ever seen anything like this up close before. They were at the very least able to determine that it was made of organic material.
9 soon recognized it from a mural at the library.
"3, 4, let me save you the trouble of looking through research banks for hours on end," said 9, "This material is known as 'grass.' It grew all over the ground before the war between humans and machines took place."
3, 4, and 7 looked at 9 in interest. "How do you know this?" asked 9.
"5 told me," said 9.
"Oh, alright," 7 nodded.
There was another brief moment of silence. The four Stitchpunks focused on the blades of grass. Then 9 said "Well, looks like it's started."
"What's started?" asked 7.
"The rebirth of life on this world," 9 clarified merrily.