Surprise! "The Infection" is back in action!

"The Infection"

Chapter 7

The Second Generation was welcomed with open arms into the Library. 48 was most surprised when 9 showed them to an accessible area for them to make their new home at. "Please, please, make yourselves at home. Well, this is your home," 9 told them and showed some old spaces for them.

"Thank you," 19 said and clapped 9 on the back. 9 jolted forward, "You remind me so much of 8…well, before…" 9 trailed off but 13 comforted him. "It's alright, we all have our past failures. Especially me," 13 told him. "Thank you, 13," 9 told her and gave her a small smile. "Your smile just brightens up the room," 13 told 9. 9 scratched his head, looking around in case 7 was around.

"13, please don't fall in love. Life expectancy is quite short around here," 11 said as he passed by her with his bag full of arrows and needles. "11!" 48 barked as he chased after 11. "Don't mind 11," 12 told 13 and 9. "When 21 went out and came back nearly torn to shreds, 11 was heartbroken. He can be kind and endearing but there are times when he sees love flourish he should remind us how vulnerable we are to death."

"What happened to 21?" 9 asked 12. "14, 18, show him what you remember," 12 said and the twins scurried over. 14 held 18 in place and twisted her brother's optic. 18 projected his memory of the entire event. 9 watched the event and watched the horror of the events taking place during the war.

In the projection, 18 was scurrying to cover with 14. They watched as machines passed by, gunning down any rebels they saw. 14 pointed to two Stitchpunks waving to the twins and waved for them to book it over to cover. It was 11 and 21. 11 bolted, dragging 21 by her hand. 14 constantly looked up at the machines. 18 kept her optic on 11 and 21. As they ran, 21 kept one hand over her heart.

11 was brave and proud in those moments. He held 21's hand with an iron grip. 9 took his eye from the projection for one moment and noticed a small tear emerging from 12's optic. "Did she know 21?" 9 whispered to 13. 13 looked up at 9, she gave him a nod. "Best friends."

9 turned his attention back to the projection of the memory. "11! Look out!" another Stitchpunk said in the memory. 11 stopped in his tracks and turned around. The machines took notice of them and opened fire on them. "11!" 21 screamed. The rounds from the machines crashed against the concrete ground. 11 and 21 dove for cover in some debris.

The rounds kept hammering the debris they hid under. The debris didn't hold long, one round broke through. It nailed the ground between 11 and 21. "We can't stay here!" 21 told 11. "Something will draw them off, it normally goes like that!" 11 told her. 21 didn't listen to 11, she booked it. "21, no!" 11 yelled then took off after her.

They barely managed to dodge the rounds fired from the machines, they came crashing down all around them. "21, get- "11 yelled but stopped when he saw the one fear that changed his young life.

A bullet went straight through 21's left optic. 11 watched as the one he truly loved fall. 11 rushed to 21's side, "NO!" he screamed. "11, get over here! NOW!" 72 ordered as the twins saw her enter the conflict. "You two, over there! NOW!" 72 ordered and pointed to other Stitchpunks waiting for them. As the twins scurried off, 18 looked back and saw 72 pulling 11 away from 21.

The memory ended. 14 held 18 as she recovered from the long projection. 9 looked down then he looked over at 11 sitting with his back against the wall. "They just left her there?" 9 asked 12. 12 looked down then over at 11. "It wasn't our finest moment, we were all scared. Especially me." 9 looked at 12 shocked. 12 was an amazing warrior even though she had one arm, and here he learns that It never used to be like that?

9 looked back as the others came in. 15 and 16 piled into one room with two beds. 19 came by and picked up 12, putting her on his shoulder. "Come on, I think they might have a delightful book or two for you to lose yourself in," he told her. A smile appeared on 9's face. "3 and 4 might have some for you," 9 told 19 and 12. "3, 4!" 9 called out. The twins came scurrying out with their optics flashing.

As soon as the original twins came out, a smile came on 14 and 18. They scurried over to meet them, their optics flashing like crazy. 13 and 9 laughed as each set of twins constantly tried to get each other to stay still. 12 and 19 smiled at each other when they saw 13 and 9. Even old 48 gave a small chuckle.

10 saw them laughing, he twitched his fingers like crazy. "Book. Happy," 10 said to himself then scurried off to follow the path 3 and 4 took. "Book, book, book," 10 kept muttering.

7 sat outside the entrance on watch, she looked back and forth at the interior just in case something went down. She looked back as 10 came scurrying around. "What's he doing?" she said to herself and hopped down. She pulled down her skullmet and stealthily followed him.

10 walked past books that he could have read and they would have satisfied him. But he avoided them, every single one of them. "What is he looking for?" 7 asked silently as she tailed him. She could hear 10 muttering to himself, like 6 did before he died. 10 walked all the way to the twins' main room. 10 looked up at their book. "Find. Book," 10 muttered and turned the pages of the twins' book.

7 watched as 10 looked around and found the book that 6 pinned his drawing the Talisman on. A small smile came on 10's face, 7 didn't recall 10 ever smiling….at all. "Source. Found!" 10 cheered and tapped his finger on the page. 10 then looked around, like he just found out how to know what he's looking for. He scurried around the room, but he didn't find what he was desperately looking for.

10 looked up at all the shelves he could see. 7 thought he must have the greatest eyes in the world because he saw what he found from a long distance. 10 ran over to the elevator and hopped on. He pulled the lever, the elevator began to ascend to one of the shelves.

7 wondered what he found way up on the shelf. She climbed up on some of the old equipment and used her skills in parkour to reach the same shelf 10 went up to. She watched as 10 pushed over some old things left in the shelf. "What is he doing?" 7 asked herself as she watched him rummage through things.

"Source. Source," 10 kept muttering. 7 wondered why he kept muttering that same phrase as 6 had done previously. "What's he looking for?" she asked herself and peeked over at him. 10 kept muttering the phrase and kept rummaging through things. 7 realized the shelf they were on was the one that 9 hid the Talisman! "He won't find it, 9 hid it extremely- "

"SOURCE!" 10 said happily and pulled the device from its hiding place. "Way to go, 9!" 7 thought to herself sarcastically. She leaped over to the elevator, the elevator clanged loudly. 10 snapped around and looked at the elevator nothing. He must have been hearing things.

Unaware to him, 7 had quickly thrown herself under the elevator. She's never had to do it before and was lucky to not make any noise when she did. She did her best to not make a noise while she hid under the elevator. She remained quiet, listening to 10 and his doings.

"Source," 10 repeated. He started pressing some other sequence, "Code?" he asked. 7 could hear him press the same sequence again. "Code," 10 said then scurried to the elevator. "Ø. Code," 10 said sadly. What does that mean? Who's Ø? And what code? The only code was the one that the Scientist input on the Talisman. But that means that-

7's thoughts were shifted when the elevator started descending back down to the main floor. 10 hopped off with the Talisman in hand. Once 10 was clearly gone and couldn't hear from the room. 7 got out of her hiding space. She threw her spear onto a book along with her skullmet. "I have to tell 9, this Second Generation is too suspicious for my liking," 7 told herself then sped off to find 9.

She ran through the old entrance and into the hallway that the Second Generation made their home. "9! 9! 9, you need to- "she started to say but she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw 9 and 13 laughing. "Hear this," she trailed off sadly and backed away.

She hoped no one would notice but 72 did, she followed 7 as she walked out. "7, hey, where are you going?" 72 asked 7. She looked at the new Stitchpunk being friendly, "Nothing, just going on a walk." 72 didn't buy the lie. "No, you saw 9 and 13. I know sadness and jealousy like the back of my hand," 72 told 7 and grabbed her arm. "What is wrong with you? You two weren't together, together?" 72 asked.

7 glanced back up at 72. 72 got the message, "Scrap." 72 looked around and saw small tracks left by 10's feet. "Hey," 72 said and went past 7, "where did 10 go?" 7 looked back, her mechanical heart speeding up. She looked over and saw 72's spear laying against the wall, 72 couldn't find out that 10 left. 7 reached over for 72's spear and snatched it. "Hey 7, where do you think-DUGH!" 72 started to say but 7 nailed her in the face with the butt of the spear.

72 fell unconscious on the floor, 7 dropped the spear. "Sorry, but secrecy is required," 7 whispered then ran off to get her spear and skullmet. She came back to the entrance, donned her skullmet and took off out the entrance.

A few hours passed, 72 woke up scratching her head. "Ugh, that was not okay. At all," 72 said and stood up. She looked out the entrance and saw that it was completely dark outside. "Hope I didn't miss all the fun," she said and walked back to the hallway. She found all the others huddled around a campfire. 9 and 13 were a little too close, extremely close. Once 16 saw 72 walk in, he assumed she came back in from a long walk.

"That's it," he said and got up, "I'm taking a walk. I can't be cooped up in here any longer." He started walking to the entrance when 19 called for him. "15, get back here!" 15 turned around annoyed. "I'm taking a walk!" he said and took off. "I'll go after him, come on 16," 85 said then hobbled after him. The three took off into the night. "I'm sure they'll be fine," 72 said and took a seat.

15, 16, and 85 walked out the entrance and far beyond into the old city ruins. "How far are we?" 85 asked 15 while 16 scurried behind them. "Far enough from that prison," 15 said and kept walking. "Why do you hate that place so much?!" 85 asked 15 and stopped. 16 scurried behind him. "It's too cozy there! Back at home, we always trained and were always on edge. Here, we're not!" 15 told 85.

85 and 15 then got into a heated argument about the Library. As they argued, 16 heard some clanking sounds amongst the rubble. "W-who's here?" 16 asked while looking out into the old city. The clanking noise got even louder, 16 started to get scared. "What is it, 16?!" 85 and 15 both yelled. 16 cowered down, he pointed to the roof of an old city.

"Dead! Dead! DEAD!" 16 screamed. 85 and 15 looked up at the old building's roof. "No, it can't be!" 85 said and jumped back. 15 was completely shocked as well. "Dead! Dead! DEAD!" 16 screamed again. They saw the dark figures jump down on the ground with a loud CLUNK. The two figures slowly walked towards them.

85 and 16 backed up against some debris. 85 looked over at 15, who looked at them then took off. "15! You coward!" 85 yelled at him. "He'll join us soon…soon…" the first dark figure whispered. The first figure looked over at their partner and gave a nod. Their partner took off after 15, it wasn't long until they heard 15's cries.

85 put 16 behind him to protect the little one, "To get him you get through me!" 85 yelled. The blackened figure chuckled and put their spear over their shoulders. "Don't worry, sit!" she commanded. 85 tilted his head at the figure. Then, he heard a beast behind him. 85 turned around. His mechanical heart must have had a heart attack.

A blackened Cat-Beast was glaring at him. "Son of a beast!" 85 said then tried to bolt it. The beast jumped him and 16. It's paws held them down, they struggled to get free. The second dark figure appeared shortly after, they were dragging 15 along. "15!" 85 yelled to his friend. 15 didn't respond. The first dark figure appeared before them, holding a strange device. "Soon, you'll be free once more. Like those others before you, taken and set free."

85 looked over at 16 and 15. "You have to get through me first!" he yelled at the figure. The figure chuckled, "As you wish." They pressed a sequence on the device then held it to 85. The device shot out at 85, the red beams of electricity broke into 85's optics. He screamed in pain as the device shocked him. 16 and 15 watched in horror as their longtime friend and mentor was dying. "I-agrhh!" 85 yelled as the device finished. 16 and 15 looked over at their friend's lifeless body, but 85's optics turned red. The blackened Cat-Beast released its grip on 85.

85 got up and walked over to the dark figures. The figures laughed, even 85, they pressed the sequence again and aimed it at 15. The same process repeated, 15 rose and joined the others. 16 squirmed in the beast's paw. "Infection! Infected!" he screamed in complete fear. The figures laughed at 16. "All in appropriate time," the first one said. The first one held the device towards 16, he closed his optics in complete fear.

The figures stopped when they heard a distant noise. "Move, get them back," the figure told the second one. The figure nodded then took off with an infected 85 and 15. "Leave this one for the beast," the first figure told the device and took off. The beast roared and snatched 16 up with its jaws. "Infected!" 16 yelled as the beast ran off with him.

The beast hopped from building to building, it hopped on the sign that -7 wrote on with ink. The beast looked around, like scouting for a leader in charge. It stopped on an old building when it saw something moving towards it. "Friend?" 16 whispered. The beast dropped 16 and put its paw on him. The beast scanned the area, it turned on its light eye then scanned for any hostiles.

The beast heard a bola and turned to see it come crashing down on its cat skull. The beast fell and tried to pull off the bola, but it couldn't pry it off. A figure came running across the old sign and leaped down on the beast. The beast tried to throw them off but failed. The figure leaped up and came down with a spear slicing the head off.

The beast fell dead, its grip on 16 faltered. 16 scurried out of the paw and looked up at the figure standing on the beast. 16 looked up at the figure. They stepped off the beast and gave him a hand. "16, are you okay?" the figure asked 16. He looked up in pure amazement and shock at who they saw. He saw Ø standing before him, the actually Ø. "Yeah, I've got a long story to explain. But not now, we should go back home. To the Safe-House, where it all began for us."