Author's Note: I CANNOT BELIEVE I SACRIFICED SO MUCH SLEEPING-TIME TO WORK ON THIS I'M GOING TO COLLAPSE TOMORROW AHAHAHA
NOT THE SMARTEST THING I'VE EVER DONE, BUT AT THIS POINT IT'S TOO LATE TO GO BACK AND UNDO IT
SO ENJOY

Chapter Seven

The screaming whirr of an electric tool.

"Boy, am I glad she's not awake for this!"

"Don't jinx it, Hatchworth."

Those were the comforting words that Brianna opened her eyes to.

"HAAAAAH!" she shouted, springing to her feet on the bed.

Hatchworth dropped the powered screwdriver on the floor, letting his mouth fall open in shock.

"What did I tell you?!" Spine hissed.

Brianna was dizzy, disoriented... where was she again? Who were these people?

She felt a weight in the back of her dress and remembered her sword, pulling it out.

"Wh-whoa!" Hatchworth stuttered, stumbling back. "Spine!"

"Okay, look." Spine said, holding up his hands with palms out. "Let's talk this out. Now, why don't you just-"

Brianna couldn't hear him over the ringing in her ears. All she saw were shapes... moving shapes, all around her... she had to get out...?

She jumped, springing off the bed and bringing her sword down. Spine dodged, slamming into the wall. Brianna swayed on her feet, bringing her sword up again-

CLUNK

A strange feeling shot from her middle, and she looked down to find that an entire chunk of machinery had fallen out.

"Why couldn't you have just stayed still?" she heard Hatchworth lament.

Hatchworth. Oh.

Whoops.

"Haashworth... Spine?" she slurred. "R-ravvit..."

"Rabbit?" Spine urged, taking her by the forearms. "What about Rabbit?"

But his words didn't reach her. She slumped onto the floor, sword clattering to the ground beside her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe it." Hatchworth said. He was leaning against the wall, arms crossed.

Spine was sitting down. They were both staring at Brianna, laid close-eyed on the bed.

"Did you see, that Spine? She didn't even have a motor, but she still..."

"Attacked us." Spine grumbled. "Yes, I know."

"Without oil, even!" Hatchworth mused, shaking his head in wonder. "Colonel Walter was truly a genius."

Spine tapped his fingers on the table. "Mhhhm."

Hatchworth raised an eyebrow. "And what's gotten into you all of a sudden?"

"Sorry, Hatchworth." Spine said, embarrassed as he looked up. "I'm just worried. This is all so strange- we haven't seen Brianna for decades, yet suddenly she shows up at our door with a hole through her. And she started to say something about Rabbit."

"But this is good, Spine!" Hatchworth reminded him. "She might tell us where he is-"

"No!" Spine said, voice cracking as he stood. "Don't you understand?! Why would she have a hole through her? Who would do that, and why would she come tell us as fast as she could?"

Hatchworth's eyes widened. "No." he shook his head. "It can't be. That's- that's impossible."

"It's not impossible, Hatchworth!" Spine shouted. "Who knows what kind of technology this 'Professor' has? What if she's trying to warn us?"

"Stop that." Hatchworth said firmly. "We don't know anything yet. It could be that-"

"What if he's- what if Rabbit's on his way here right now, weapons blazing-?"

Hatchworth slammed his palms on the table. "Get ahold of yourself, Spine!" He paused. "At least have some faith in the boy, for goodness' sake! Rabbit has a strong will. You think others haven't tried to turn our kind before? They've all failed. No matter how strong 'Professor' is, history repeats and he is no different than those who came before him. You've got to understand that."

"And what if you're wrong?"

"You've got to trust me." Hatchworth said. Then, he looked at his watch. "I should go get some parts for her, before everything closes. Can you stay and watch her? She might wake up- if she does, can you refill her lead and oil?"

"Sure."

"And make sure she doesn't move around."

"Of course."

Hatchworth was halfway out the door when Spine turned to him again.

"Wait!" He said. He cleared his throat. "Uh. I... sorry. It's just..."

"You don't need to explain anything to me, lad." Hatchworth chuckled. "You think I haven't been through this before?"

Spine smiled a bit, ashamed. "Thanks, Hatchworth."

Hatchworth tipped his hat to him, and was gone.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hatchworth walked back from the store, box under his arm. His joints were creakier than usual. Rain was coming.

A car roared by, and he went faster. Every shadow looked suspicious, every van hid a thousand secrets.

You could never be too careful, after all.

He looked down at his feet as he walked, deep in thought.

Oh, Rabbit. Hatchworth had spent so much time fixing him up, trying to make his mechanics smoother. Hours and hours and hours. Rabbit would often get bored, going into sleep mode. At some point he started bringing comic books to the sessions. He always ended up falling asleep on those, too.

Was the Professor undoing Hatchworth's work right now, right now as he walked down this darkening street? Was he ripping into the electronics, tearing wires and snapping- snapping-

Stop it. Hatchworth scolded himself, shaking his head. Stop that this instant! Where will that kind of thinking get you? Into the madhouse, that's where.

An image of Rabbit, with dead eyes half-closed in a pool of lead, flashed across his eyes.

It occurred to him that maybe he belonged in the madhouse already.

"Keep it together, Hatchworth." he muttered to himself. "If he's broken, you'll fix him."

But he knew that there were some things even he couldn't fix, and some wounds that could not heal. While he was in Professor's hands, it was a toss-up. A 50/50 chance. The illusion of having an advantage was of no use to him now.

What if he couldn't fix Rabbit? All he could do was wait and see, but that burned him. Even with the knowledge and tools he had, some things were impossible. All the king's horses and all the king's men.

He felt emotion rise up in his throat, but he did not cry. He had learned long ago that crying was useless. Waste of oil.

Instead, he kept walking.

After all, what else could he do?

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Spine was nodding into sleep-mode when something moved.

His head jerked up, and his eyes widened. Brianna was stirring, turning her head to one side.

He stood, tensing.

Brianna's eyes opened slowly, and he watched as they focused on him. She blinked.

And laughed.

"Don't worry, suit boy. I'm properly awake now."

Spine relaxed, sighing and smiling a bit. "Suit boy?"

"As long as you haven't had the courtesy to introduce yourself, I'm free to call you whatever I'd like!"

"You want to talk about bad manners?" Spine said, kneeling to pick up a tank of oil, "You tried to kill me, remember?"

"Vaguely." Brianna admitted. "But okay. In light of this, I think we should skip the formalities and get right to the point. Shall we?"

"The point?" Spine said absently, raising his eyebrows as he poured oil into a measuring cup.

"Don't mock me." He heard her say. A sly grin was in her voice. "I see it written across your face. You're worried."

He stopped what he was doing.

"Your hands are shaking, Spine." she warned. "You want to know if Rabbit did this, don't you? If he fired this hole through me with those lasers of his?"

Spine turned to look at her, eyes uneasy.

Her eyes scanned his face, drinking in every detail. "Oooh, it's fascinating. The fear in your face." Brianna breathed out a cloud of steam, closing her eyes. "Haven't seen that in a while, you know. Thrilling."

Spine gave her an amused glance, then turned back to his work. "Thought you said we were going to skip the formalities, no?"

"Ah, but of course!" Brianna said. "Your friend is fine. Well- hmmm. That depends what you define as... 'fine'."

Spine carried the measuring cup to her, handing it over. She took it in her hands, nodding her thanks, and took a sip from it as if it was a mug.

She looked over its rim and saw that his hands were shaking again.

"Care to explain?" Spine asked- but his voice was trembling, and he looked away.

"Now, don't panic!" Brianna said. She stopped to take another sip, then went on. "He's intact, he's alive, he's the same person he was a week ago. But there's already been some close calls, and you can't wait even a minute longer. You understand?"

Spine rubbed his temples. He knew he should've be relieved to hear it, but his worry was still there and his head still ached.

"Nothing eases it, huh?" Brianna said. Her short hair swung back as she upended the measuring cup, downing its contents in one gulp. She looked back at him, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "The worry? It'll be there for a while. It'll be there even if you do get him back. Never goes away."

Spine chuckled, sitting on the end of the bed. "You talk about it like you've lived through it."

Brianna was silent, setting the cup on a bedside table.

Spine tilted his head to the side. "Who?"

"My sister, Paige, is back at that lab." She answered coolly, laying her hands on her lap, "and if I'm not back in three days, Professor's promised he'll kill her. But forget the three days- time is irrelevant to someone like him. While she's at Rabbit's side, she's in the same danger he's in." She sighed, a tired smile spreading through her face. "So, you see? You and I are very much alike."

"But we aren't." Spine mused. "You're calm as ice. Why is that?"

"Are you implying that I don't feel?" Brianna said, raising her eyebrows. "Are you saying that I don't care about my sister?"

"Of course not!" Spine replied, quickly shaking his head. "I know you feel. You were saying her name during while you slept. And you cried."

Now that surprised her, and she glanced to one side, embarrassed. "Ah."

"Oooh." he taunted, grinning. "The fear in your face! So- now, what did you call it?- thrilling!"

"Using my words against me?" Brianna said. "You have reached a new low, suit-boy."

"I haven't jabbed a sword at you yet, so I think I'm fine."

"Hmph."

There was silence for a second, and then Spine pulled a knee up to his chest.

"How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"How do you hold yourself together?" Spine said. "That's your sister down there."

"So? What's your point?"

"Where do you get the strength to keep going?"

"The strength?" Brianna laughed, shaking her head. "What kind of abstract psychobabble have you come up with?"

"...what?" Spine said, confused.

"I do what I do because I must." Brianna explained. "I've got to free my sister, I've got to free Rabbit, and I want to free myself. I've just got to keep going. Common sense."

"But then- don't you turn into a machine?!" Spine said. "Well, you're already a machine- but you know what I mean."

Brianna looked down, nodding. "Yes. It has happened, I suppose."

"There's nothing wrong with letting things out, you know." Spine said. "Feelings are important. They keep us human. And without humanity, what's left?"

"Sometimes," Brianna said, "certain feelings are best left unfelt, if at all possible."

"You can't hide from consciousness!" Spine chided.

"I know that all too well."

Spine got up, pouring another cupfull of oil. "Are you blocking your feelings right now?"

"No." Brianna said, frowning at his back. "I said it HAS happened, not 'it happens'. And when it did happen, it wasn't good. I let my sister down. I watched tens of robots die. I was stuck in that lab for years." She sighed. "How could I do that? To Paige, to myself? I don't know. So I'm giving this feeling stuff another try."

"And how's that going for you?"

A faraway look in Brianna's eyes. "It's strange... but I like it. I'd forgotten how it felt. It's been years, Spine. Years in that lab."

"Well, you're here now." Spine said, walking to her bedside with a smile, "and we're going to sort this all out. How does that sound to you?"

"That sounds fantastic." Brianna said-

Suddenly, Spine's arm jerked and the oil fell to the ground, splashing all over. "Oh!" he said ruefully. "This awful arm of mine- just wait a second- ah-!"

He slipped and she reached out, trying to steady him by his arms- when this failed, they both toppled to the ground with a splash-

"Ack!"

"Ugh-"

Hatchworth opened the door.

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Oh." Hatchworth said, raising a hand to his mouth. "Oh my." He closed the door.

"Wait! Hatchworth!" Spine scrambled to his feet, picking Brianna up and setting her back on the bed. He bolted after him. "Hatchworth, it's not what you think! Come back!"

"RUN, suit boy!" Brianna cackled. "Run for your pride! Run!"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Paige looked both ways, making sure Professor wasn't there. Then, she tiptoed to Rabbit's cage.

"Pssst!" she hissed. "Rabbit! Hey!"

Rabbit looked up. "Paige!"

"Hey!" she said, holding up a dusty magnifying glass. "I found one. Now, show me!"

Rabbit smiled shyly, opening a metal flap in his arm.

A intricate web of clockwork and gears laid beneath it, moving slowly and smoothly. Paige gasped, holding the looking-glass up to her eye. "Whoa." she breathed, eyes scanning the marvel. "That is some complicated stuff you've got there!"

Rabbit laughed, embarrassed. "Hatchworth keeps making it more complicated." he said. "He's convinced he can make me stop being clumsy."

"You're clumsy?"

"Can't walk a yard without falling on my face!"

Paige giggled, and it was a soft, tinkling laugh. "Well, you know what they say- flying is just like falling!"

"Doesn't feel much like flying to me." Rabbit sighed, and Paige laughed again. Rabbit couldn't help but grin.

He couldn't help but notice how much brighter the place was when she was around. Company was the best medicine, it seemed.

A dark thing gnawed at his mind, though, and he spoke hesitantly.

"Paige... how long have you been down here?"

Paige let out a breath, closing his arm and looking him in the eye. "A while."

"A while?"

"I've honestly lost count!" she said, drawing her knees up to her chest. "Years, probably."

"And... how did you get captured?"

"That's the thing!" Paige said sadly, shaking her head. "I don't remember anymore. By the I realized I'd forgotten, it was too late, of course. I know I was captured, but I don't know why or when or how. I remember life before, but my time down here has been a blur- you know the feeling?"

Rabbit thought of the war, of countless battles. "Yeah." he said finally. "I think I do."

"But I'm not worried, Rabbit." Paige breathed, grabbing his hands and clasping them together. "Brianna's out there now. This is it, Rabbit. This is where this ends, and something new begins. It's going to be great, Rabbit, you'll see!"

"I don't know." Rabbit admitted. "I'm scared. I'm scared that this won't be easy."

"When is anything easy?" Paige said. "We've got to work for our freedom. You'll see! It'll be- it'll be-" A drop of oil fell from her eye, and she wiped it away.

"Paige?" Rabbit said worriedly, laying a hand on her arm. "What's wrong?"

"I don't want you to die, Rabbit." she said, voice thick with tears. "I'm scared, too. I'm scared that your clockwork will stop. I'm scared that he'll kill you!"

"Your life could go on just fine without me, you know!"

Paige shook her head. "No, Rabbit. You're different, and I already started talking to you. I should have stayed silent, ignored you- but I couldn't. Now you are tied to my hope, and if you die then you take it with you."

"Oh, Paige." Rabbit laid his head in this hands. "Why d-d-d-d-did this have to happen? To b-b-b-both of us?"

"Because some machines are people, and some people are machines." She replied. "And they can't coexist."

"No, they really can't." Professor said.

Paige's eyes flew open, and she froze. Rabbit sucked in a breath.

Professor walked into the light. A cruel smile tore across his face.

"Poor silly girl, that sister of yours." Professor said, holding up a small device with blinking dots. "Forgot about the tracker on her clothes. And your sister, I'm afraid, is not where she's supposed to be. No, not at all."

"No!" Rabbit shouted, grabbing onto Paige. Not now, not now... "No! I w-w-w-won't let you!"

"As if you could FIGHT ME!" Professor laughed. "As if you could KEEP me from doing anything at all! Now, tell me this." He grabbed Paige, ripping her away from Rabbit and holding her up. "If you don't help me use your weapons, she dies. So what'll it be?"

No.

Rabbit shook his head wildly. "N-N-NO!"

Paige was cold. Her mind was frozen.

"YOU SURE?!" Professor yelled. "LAST CHANCE, RABBIT!" He started walking towards the crushing machine.

"NO!" Rabbit pleaded. His vision swam, and his knees shook as he stood. "P-P-P-PLEASE!"

Professor threw her under the small canopy of spikes, tethering an arm in place. "What do you think, Paige? Should I turn you into scrap metal?"

"Go to hell." she hissed angrily. She turned her head. "Rabbit, don't say yes! Never say yes! You're strong, stronger than you think!"

This answer displeased Professor. His face reddened, and he pressed the button.

Rabbit screamed, losing the ability to form words. And now her eyes were closing, her fists clenched-

Rabbit fell to the ground, oil gushing from his eyes, as the first of the spikes touched Paige's chest-

And then Professor suddenly stopped the machine. With a thunderous fury that filled the air, he strode over to Rabbit's cage and reached through the bars, grabbing him by his collar. Shook him.

"WHY WON'T YOU BREAK, YOU STUPID MACHINE?!" he howled, voice reaching volumes that made Rabbit flinch. "YOU USELESS THINGS! YOU ROBOT SCUM!"

When Rabbit stayed silent, he dropped him and went back to the machine. Ripped Paige from it, opened the cell door, threw her in. She landed with a clank.

"You'll have the honor," he said, "of watching your friends die. They will be blown to smithereens once they touch the door. Then, I will figure out how to break you. I will break you both until you obey me."

He walked away.

Rabbit and Paige clutched each other, held on to each other as if the world was falling apart. He could hear her drives spinning and she could hear his gears clicking and turning, a symphony of sounds which accompanied their panicked gasps and sobs on their way to the bare, rusty ceiling.