Whatever's Out There

Chapter Three

Six was still asleep when we got into the room and I went to light a match while my companions went to his side. Five pulled off his bag and laid it down beside the bed before kneeling down and shaking the Artist's shoulder, "Six?" He asked softly and the striped one seemed to awaken quickly, though still groggy. "Five?" The Healer smiled a warm and somewhat excited smile, full of relief, "We've been looking for you!" The striped one looked guilty, "I'm sorry. I got lost. I meant to come home after I found ink."

"It's okay. We were just worried about you." Five comforted and squeezed Six's shoulder gently before looking him over. As a Healer, I assumed he was looking to see what was wrong, and at this time Nine spoke, "We're glad you're okay, Six." In a reassuring manner with a friendly smile before turning to me. I knew attention would be angled at me eventually and he explained, "Thanks for taking care of him. Six isn't used to being out in the Emptiness, especially not on his own. The others will be glad to see him when we get home."

"It can be rough out there." I commented and Nine asked, "I didn't catch your name." before I could figure out to an excuse of why I didn't have one, his words sunk in, "Wait, when you get home?" They were leaving and I was alarmed, though he mistook my comment as me questioning that there were others. "We have a safe haven, a Sanctuary, far on the other side of the Emptiness. There's more of us back there." Then he added in, "And we have more than enough room for others."

He was inviting me to join them and for a second I considered it. Then I realized that this meant leaving my home, this meant going back out into that mess, and I was traumatized. I didn't want to go back into that world of Beasts to face those monsters. It was so much better when I didn't even know they were still alive. "Well, actually, I'm pretty safe here. There hasn't been a single Machine to pass by the entire time I've been here, so I think I'll be fine." Immediately alarm passed Nine's face and Five actually looked back to me, Six sort of watched tiredly.

"You… You want to stay here? Alone?" Five asked in a quieter tone and I waved it off, "I'll be alright. I mean, now I know I'm not completely alone, and you all can come by if you need somewhere to stay that's safe on this side of the… Emptiness." I put my weapons down beside the candle while Nine suddenly spoke again, "It's not all safe. We just walked in through the back, a Beast could easily find you." Again, I protested, and I was becoming desperate, "I didn't see one until I went out. I've spent years looking out the windows and Six was the first thing I saw beyond the glass."

There was an awkward moment where neither of the others spoke and merely stared. I stared frozen into their gaze and waited for what reaction it would yield. It was unnerving. Then Five took his turn to speak and asked quietly and bluntly, "How long have you been here?" My facial expression must have given away that the question abruptly affected me. I don't know why; maybe the pity filled tone, maybe sadness, maybe fear, perhaps all three, and I myself wasn't sure what I was feeling.

"I…" I looked back and forth between them before I smothered the face, "I know how we can find out. I used to keep track of the days by putting little marks on the wall to count how many days I was here for. Sort of like a calendar to keep track of time. It's over here behind this curtain." I wandered over to the velvet drapes before calling back, "It's going to be a little off, though. I stopped a while back once I started forgetting to do it daily." The bottom portion was pulled back and revealed a wall lined with scratch marks.

Not a single part of the area had been left without some sort of mark. In the beginning the marks were even, but began to lose such pattern further on when it was a struggle for room. "…Or maybe I stopped when I ran out of room." I admitted defeated as I stared at the wall. I slowly turned around, my optics sliding to face Nine and Five, neither of which was taking what was on the wall very lightly. They both stared with somewhat wide optics; Five's one at the wall and Nine's both on me. "It's-ah-it's been a few years."

This didn't satisfy Nine, "And this entire time you've been completely alone?" I looked downwards and my optics locked onto something, anything, and finally locking onto the bag that Five took out. There was some sort of weapon jutting out that looked like a crossbow made out of some sort of key that caught my attention. Or, at least, caught my gaze while my mind danced about through anything it could. "Yeah, but you're making it sound… It's not that bad really. I've just been here doing my own work and living fine. It's quiet, but it's not as bleak as it sounds."

Neither seemed convinced and I finished, "The only reason I left was because Six told me that there were others and I was afraid that he was… Was going to get worse." I admitted to them and now Nine came towards me with a friendly and yet still serious and sympathetic look on his face. Though he lost some of that compositor when he stumbled over Five's bag, laughing briefly before turning to me. It eased the mood a bit and I managed to crack a smile, even if I didn't want to, as he spoke.

"I know you're afraid after what happened. The Beasts are terrifying… Shortly after I was created I was attacked by a Cat Beast that took our friend and Five's mentor away and I was terrified, Five was terrified, but we had to go out and find him." He smiled a little before continuing, "And things can go wrong out there, but they can also go right, and as long as we're careful we'll be fine." I was still hesitant, "But this is my home." I pleaded, trying to get him to stop before he talked me into anything, and it almost worked.

That's when Five suddenly chimed in, "How about you come to the Sanctuary with us and meet the others? We can always bring you back afterwards." The suggestion was taken strangely lightly and Nine soon smiled again, "We could do that. What do you say?" he addressed me again and I was torn. I didn't want to leave, I wanted to stay here, in my home, in the safety of my home. "Okay…" I hesitantly answered before adding, "But only if we're clear that I'll be able to come home after I visit them." Nine nodded, "You have my word."

Finally I caved fully, "Alright, but should we leave already with Six…?" That's when Five spoke up, "Oh, no. Not yet. Maybe in a couple of hours if he's feeling better, but not right now." He looked to Nine now and explained, "I don't think we should move Six until he's stable. He's almost there, but he needs more rest." This was an instant relief and I crossed back to the bed and watched as Six was coaxed to sleep. He seemed much more comforted now then when he was alone with me, but I understood why; this was his family.

It was sweet how attentive they were of each other and I wondered if all of the other ones of us were this friendly. I turned to Nine to strike up another conversation; the voices talking didn't seem to bother Six in the slightest and I assumed they were comforting, "So how many of these Machines have you seen out there?" I inquired and Nine paused to tap his fingers on his staff before reaching to turn it off, only then noticing the candle gave enough light that he didn't need it on as well.

"Quite a few, but we haven't fought them all. Nowadays most of them we just avoid, sometimes we find a passive one that doesn't want to attack." Then he suddenly changed tone, almost hesitant and looking to Five as though asking permission. "In fact," Nine began, reading Five's reaction, "We've seen the Machine that created all of the others." Five didn't give much of a reaction and this gave Nine to go ahead to continue. I was interested, "You mean the Fabrication Machine? You've actually seen it?"

He seemed confused, "You know about it?" I gestured back into the far corner where I kept some of my reading material, "I've got one or two newspapers about it. I didn't really think there was one that really created the others, the papers sometimes confuse some of their information, but I never actually have seen it." I grew almost excited in morbid interest, "What is it like? Does it resemble a human? I always imagined that if there was one leading Machine that it would look human like. Almost like poetic justice, but a lot more temperamental."

Now Five took the time to speak and I briefly saw relief on Nine's face. I suddenly wondered if Nine was hesitant to mention the Machine in front of Five for a reason, but he seemed to go along fine with it. "Actually, it is almost like a sphere." He explained, making hand gestures to make a mental form, "With a larger frame and many arms of dark metal, but the most noticeable trait is its large, red eye." It sounded much different than I expected and he continued, "But it's nothing to worry about anymore. It's gone now, Nine stopped it."

Suddenly Nine interrupted, "We stopped it. It was a group effort." What was going on with these two? I knew there was something they were both talking around, something that happened, but it was slightly confusing. Though there was no point to bring it up and prod into where I wasn't needed. Now Nine turned to me curiously, "You have newspapers on the war?" I nodded, "Oh yeah. A ton of them. The old lady collected them, though I guess she was pointedly not collecting though with the Machines or was getting rid of the pictures or something."

"There's another Stitchpunk here?" it took me a second to realize that by Stitchpunk he was referring to us and I quickly dismissed it since Five was already about to jump up to seek out the other possibly injured Stitchpunk. "No, no, I meant- The old lady was the human who lived here before I did. Her body is in the other bedroom back there, I don't visit it often, but I know a lot about her so I tend to consider her as another person…" Then I paused, "Which now sounds a little weird when I say it out loud…"

I stared at the wall as I waited for either of my companions to say anything. They didn't, but they weren't bluntly staring or anything so I pretended that they weren't mortified with my comment. "But, uh, anyway, she collected a bunch of newspapers. They're over there if you want to look." The zippered one was clearly interested and thanked me before starting to head over to the corner. Before I could follow, Five abruptly caught my attention, "Umm, Miss?" Apparently he already caught that my name was still not presented, "What did you use to bring down Six's fever?"

"I was wetting a rag, that rag beside his pillow, and putting it on his forehead." I grew concerned, "Why? Did I do something wrong?" As I was imagining that water soaked into Six's head and somehow damaged him, like his metal wasn't treated with whatever kept mine from rusting. He smiled reassuringly, "No! Not at all! His fever's just a little high and I was trying to figure out how I was going to try and bring it back down. Water works the best, but I didn't think to bring any." I eased and smiled a bit, "There's a tub in the other room with some in it. Usually leaks in and collects when it rains."

He got the rag and I grabbed my knitting needle in case I had to duck down to reach the water. I wasn't sure how much the tub still had collected so I would probably need it. Then I led him out into the hall and towards the bathroom. On the way my attempt to start a conversation was beat by Five. Our voices clashed for a second before I went quiet and persuaded him to continue; I'd prefer to have someone else start the conversation as to not risk me saying something strange again.

"What was she like? The woman? You don't have to talk about it if you aren't comfortable, I was just…" He trailed off and I paused briefly; he didn't sound like he was being patronizing so I explained. "I never really knew her, I don't think. I can't ever remember a time when she was alive… But I've gone through her items enough that I know what she liked. I think she liked knitting and sewing, and I'm pretty sure that she had a family. There's a lot of pictures of a couple, a man and a woman, who I think might have been her and her husband when they were younger."

Five then asked, "Is the man here too?" The way he stumbled over his words after the comment makes me think that perhaps he realized that saying that may have been out of line and regretted it. I didn't find it so, though, and so I answered, "No, there's nobody else. Looks like she was living alone here. Maybe he lived somewhere else? Or maybe she was a widow, I'm not sure." I explained and added as we entered the bathroom, "And I don't think they had children either. There are pictures of them with other adults, but none with them having children."

"There was a war not too long before the Machine War." Five pointed out as I led him to the tub, "Maybe they decided not to have children because of the danger of the war?" I thought and soon agreed, "Makes sense. Who would want to bring children in that sort of environment? I mean, at least there's no active war now." I decide to defend. I wasn't sure if our kind, Stitchpunks, could actually have children and decided not to talk down upon it in case it had happened. Five volunteered to swab the rag into the remaining water in the tub from the small table perched beside it while I watched.

"You know, I remember when the humans were still alive." The Healer suddenly announced and now I grew just as curious as when they mentioned the Machine, "What were they like?" I inquired and he sort of shrugged, "I… I don't really know. I only knew one, our Creator, the other soldiers barely noticed us. If they did at all. They weren't around for much longer after I was born. We went into hiding in the old Sanctuary for a while and soon afterwards they were all gone." He seemed to sound more sympathetic than I did; it was clear that his relationship with them was a bit more intimate.

Like a knitting needle, my mind caught onto a thread of the conversation that stood out while he climbed down. "Here we are. This should help a bit." He assured with another smile, "Or get him soaked." He playfully added as he hopped down the rest of the way and started towards the hall. I abruptly stopped him with my voice, hands waving in confusion, "Wait, wait, wait, you just said-." He looked back at me and I cut off before repeating, "You said your Creator was a human?"

"He was." Five answered, seeming to mention him fondly, "He was a very kind human. We didn't spend much time together, but I still remember what he taught me in our short amount of time together." My mind was still reeling and my face was struck with alarm, "But… We were created by humans?" Why did it bother me so much? Well, I had this minor suspicion that I didn't want to voice out loud, but I was just taken aback at the same time by the fact that our origin came from Humans.

"I think so." I know he said 'think' because he had doubt on who created me, "Did you know your Creator?" I paused, "Ah…" I ran my fingers through my hair in a nervous tick, "I… No. I don't have any idea who created me. Can't remember that far back." And now I was bluntly lying. I had a small idea and I remembered that one night of me in the Emptiness long ago, but I wasn't ready to announce that yet. He seemed to believe me and smiled a little, "Well, maybe we had the same Creator? I can't remember much of my birth either, so you could have just forgotten."

I decided to go along with that and smiled, "Maybe. He sounds like a nice guy; I would prefer that my practical parent would be nice." He agreed and we headed back to Six's side. On the way back we were virtually silent except for when we got to the door and Five thanked me for taking care of Six. I waved it off quickly, and we approached the Artist's bedside. There Five sat beside him and began to dampen his forehead while I glanced to Nine who had moved the newspaper over by the candle. He was staring at a page with the Chancellor denouncing the Scientist on it.

"Did they all believe this?" He muttered to himself and I spoke, sort of, "Hmm?" I asked and he looked back to me, "The humans, they all believed the Scientist was to blame… The Chancellor was the one who took the Machine from him, and then the Machine changed on its own." I shrugged a bit, "You can't trust the newspapers. A lot of what they said is backwards." I didn't really know what happened, but I trusted him well enough, after all the newspapers went back and forth between loving and loathing the Chancellor.

That's when Nine rubbed his forehead tiredly, "In the end they all blamed him when he's the reason life is here at all now. The humans weren't- I don't know…" He gave in and I wondered if he knew the Scientist. It clicked, "Five and I were talking about our creators, or your creator. Was that the Scientist?" My mind began repeating, "Don't tell me the Machines and Stitchpunks…" Nine looked back to the newspaper and spoke, "He was." I didn't let him see my clear wince, "Of course." I mentally thought before he added, "Though he passed after my birth. I never met him."

It was a shame, I supposed, but I decided to not question further. Nine seemed disturbed and moved onto another newspaper that didn't talk of the Machine and instead had some sort of article about mold. He took interest and a pleasant look passed his face. Once Five finished with Six Nine called him over and I sat down in the spot the Healer had been, leaning back on the bed and waiting for something to happen. I didn't feel comfortable leaving to work on something else and didn't have any idea what to do anyway.

I think I might have closed my optics for a few moments longer than I assumed because when I opened them the light filtering through the windows was stronger. That's when I heard a voice beside me, "Are you awake?" I glanced over to see Six sitting up and looking much better. He was actually awake and alert and I forced myself upwards. The nap left my head hurting for some reason, maybe from the angle I was laying at, and I regretted it, "I'm awake." I insisted, "How are you feeling? Any better?" I pulled to sit upwards and Six smiled at me with his reassurance, "A lot better. I'm ready to go home."

He insisted and I stopped myself from inhaling in alarm. They were leaving and I looked over to see that Five and Nine were nearby preparing. Five was working with what looked like sort of paper or map while Nine was talking to him. I didn't even know that they were paying attention until Five spoke, "Sure you're feeling well enough, Six?" Six climbed out of my bed and stood, swaying a bit and having to be stopped by Nine. "I'm okay. I can go." Six insisted, clearly wanting to return home, and I understood.

"Alright, we can leave." Nine chuckled before looking to me, "We can help carry your things if you want to bring your weapons." I fidgeted a bit and stumbled with my words, "Ah, well, you know, maybe today isn't a good day." I insisted, rubbing the back of my head through my leather hair, "I mean, we may get lost since we're unfamiliar around here, so maybe you guys should head home and come back for me tomorrow?" I immediately scolded myself, "I should've chose a further date! Now they'll be coming back trying to get me to leave tomorrow!"

"I made a map." Five pointed out, "Or really I just wrote on an old one, but I think I know where we are, and it won't be that far of a walk." He insisted and I approached to look down over his shoulder at the map. It was sketched out to resemble parts of the city with special marks signaling different places. He noticed I was looking and lifted it so I could see, and so I leaned forward, hands clasped behind my back, and scanned it. "Here's where we are." He pointed out at a small picture of a building in the corner, then moved to the center of the map, "And this is where the Library is."

"And that's your Sanctuary?" I asked and he nodded to me, "That is. Home sweet home." He smiled and I smiled, I guess it was a bit contagious, and Nine grabbed his lightstaff, "Well, we can set off now and we'll get there before noon." It already felt like noon and I suddenly decided to stall, "Wait-uh…" They were all looking to me and I forced a smile as I noted Six's ink stained fabric and pen tipped hands once again, "If you need ink, I think I have some around here." I was completely lying, I knew I didn't have any left.

"You do? I can have it?" Six asked in surprise and I insisted, "Sure! That's what you were out looking for, wasn't it? Take all you like. I'm not sure where it is, though…" The striped one perked and Nine spoke, "That would be great! Six, why don't you wait for us here and we'll go get the ink? Then you'll be able to draw when we get home." The Artist nodded vigorously and Five rolled up his map to stand once again. "The only placed it would be would probably be in the closet at the end of the hall and in one of the sitting rooms downstairs. There's also a room with sewing supplies that you can check if you need any."

They thought I was being generous, they had no idea that I was trying to stall for time. Once they were out of the room, Six turned to me, "Can I read that book?" He asked me and I realized he meant the Aesop Tales. Of course, if he read it then he'd know my trick to make the short stories seem longer, and so I offered, "Sure. Would you prefer I read it to you?" Apparently Six did as he crossed to the bed and sat down, smiling, "Okay." He folded his legs beneath him and rubbed his key gently in a comforting manner.

I need to carry something around that I can squeeze when I'm stressed out. Anyway, I tugged the book over and laid it out on the floor, far enough away that I didn't think Six was going to read it, it didn't have pictures or anything, and began to read aloud to him. He was so interested! The feeling of being listened to is fantastic, beyond anything I expected! Though I may have just been addicted to the attention. Either way, I was halfway through the second short story a few minutes later.

"Aesop then pointed out to his master," At some point through the first story I started calling the dog 'Aesop', considering the fact that I was treating the dog like the main protagonist, "that 'it is much easier to demote something that you cannot achieve, but that doesn't make it fair. That makes the fox look more like a fool.' Then he looked back to the grapes and…" I trailed off when I noticed Nine and Five had returned. Apparently I hadn't noticed quickly enough as they looked to have been standing there listening for a while.

I also noticed that they were carrying and inkwell and was certainly surprised. "What- Where did they find that?!" Six noticed my gaze, noticed them, and lit up, "You found it." He chirped pleasantly as he climbed off the bed and ran over, a weird sprint that looked like skipping almost. He certainly seemed happy to have the ink and I closed the book, pretty sure we wouldn't need it much longer. Unfortunately, Six suddenly decided that he wanted to go home once he had the ink, I assumed to draw.

I was running out of time. My mind raced for another distraction, "Oh! Before we leave," I started, faking a normal tone, "Do you think maybe you could look at something for me? I have to get my roof fixed and I'm not exactly sure how to go about it." Two birds with one stone; maybe they would even know how to fix my primary problem which was the hole. I stood and Five offered, "I could take a look before we go. Two and I do a lot of carpentry work. A roof shouldn't be that hard to mend."

That was until I led him to the room with the hole and he changed his tone, "Or maybe it will be." He murmured to himself as he looked up at the hole, "How did it cave in?" I shrugged, "It just caved in the middle of the night. It was raining a bit hard, but I never expected it to happen." The Healer hummed a bit, "Sounds like dry rot. That's the simplest answer to why a roof would suddenly cave in, the rain could have helped it along." He paused to eye the hole before speaking again, "It doesn't look… Too difficult?"

The unsureness was obvious, but he then changed and stated, "Once we get to the Sanctuary I can tell Two and he can come see for himself." Nine nodded in agreement with him, "We should probably hurry out then." I tried to nonchalantly add in, "There's not really a need to rush." The zippered male quickly pointed out, "If we wait too long then you won't get much time at the Sanctuary before it gets dark." So they were still planning to bring me back. That was a relief and my mood abruptly changed, "Oh, well, guess that's true. Alright, let's head out."

Now my mind shifted since I knew I had no choice but to go, which was the mindset to go and come back as quickly as possible. I just hoped that they would keep their word.

I really hoped that they were as trustworthy as they seemed.