CHAPTER 3: GOOD SOULS DON'T DIE

9 had made his decision: He would go back to the first room, again. The room where everything had begun, and everything had ended. If his flash was correct, it would be the place to begin again.

9 didn't really have anything to pack; His lightstaff was destroyed right before the last battle with the B.R.A.I.N. Perhaps I can make a new one, he thought. The only other thing was the talisman, 9 hadn't been able to look at it since the memorial, so he kept it locked away in his burlap chest. He was all set to go, so 9 decided to get a better look at his surroundings.

There wasn't much to the decaying building, some of the old piping was showing from holes in the ceiling and had rusted over. There were piles of rubble here and there, but the building seemed to be mostly intact. There really wasn't anything interesting about this building, it was just another grey spec in the sea of destruction the great war had caused.

"Well, it's now or never." 9 said, reasurring himself. He was just walking towards the exit when he heard her.

"9! Where are you going?"

7 immediatly blocked 9's path. He hadn't even heard her enter the room, but of cource that was how she was designed. He looked up and her face showed him that she wasn't too happy about him trying to leave without her, then again, he hadn't really planned on going alone. She repeated her question, much clearer this time.

"9...Where. Are. You. Going?"

To anyone else she would have come off as being furious, but 9 knew that she was just concerned, so he calmly asked her to sit down on the bed. By now the twins emerged from their hiding spot behind some rubble, where they had been listening the entire time. 7 and the twins formed a sort of half circle to listen to what 9 had to say.

He told them everything that he had expirenced since the memorial. The things he had seen, learned, and his eventual desicion. The entire time 7's optics never left 9's face. The twins seemed to change from looks of confusion to complete bewilderment. 7's face never changed. She trusted 9, and anything he ever had to say. When he finished she simply gathered her things and said,

"Okay, let's go."

There were no questions, no complaints. The four stitchpunks gathered what supplies they needed and began to set out for the first room. After walking for only a coulple of minutes, standing on a pile of some unknown trash and junk, 9 looked back. At first he didn't know why he had turned his head from his course, but soon remembered. He looked back at the memorial, the only evidence of his great adventure, and his greatest mistake. 7 sensed his grief and put a supporting hand on his shoulder.

"9, if you're right about this, then maybe its not too late."

9 didn't answer at first. He only spoke four words, yet they were the most moving ones he had ever spoken.

"Good souls never die."