"It's the Scientist," 9 shouted, "He's the source! He gave us his soul! We are him." 7 flipped her mask open. "I know what we need to do now," 9 continued, "It was designed to be an instrument of progress. It lacks a soul. And that's exactly what it took from 2, 5 and the rest! It needs all the pieces of the Scientist's soul to think as a human."
"Fool!" 1 shouted, "We need to live, not die. Fire again!" The Twins immediately pushed another missile into the cannon.
"No! You'll destroy it!" 9 said. The missile fired off, missing the Machine narrowly. It shook a bit, then quickly swooped forward in a fluid yet mechanical swipe, grabbing 1 and 7 in its claw. The red eye snapped shut, and green energy exploded from the now limp, burlap bodies. The twins cowered in fright as another claw swooped down, grabbing them.
9 watched with a mixture of emotions. On one hand, the Machine would become humanlike, as the Scientist had clearly intended to happen. On the other, he was watching his friends essentially die. He took a deep breath, and closed his eyes. He felt the grasp of the cold, metallic claw around his body. He wondered if dying hurt very much.
