Whatever's Out There

Chapter Eleven

When I agreed to help Eight walk to Six's mystery destination I never expected him to place his hand on the top of my head and lean on me like some sort of sentient cane. Though I felt somewhat guilty so, sure enough, I was stuck with walking along beside him. I offered twice to help him with his hand on my shoulder or arm, but he said he was comfortable how he was. I think he was messing with me. Though we did finally arrive at Six's shelter. Which was a large staircase leading high into a half dilapidated building high above.

We climbed the stairs and for the most part I was sort of afraid that we would be in the open. However, the second we entered into the actual building I not only felt a sense of security, but I actually had that same feeling of déjà vu as before. There were two rooms in the top of the building and Six led us into one in particular, and I was struck by what was inside. Laying only a few feet away was the body of a human just spread out on the floor. Eight and Six both seemed to ignore the frame as the Guard saw down on a book while Six circled around and examined the rest of the room.

My optics immediately went to scan the room in absolute awe. It was almost like Five and Two's Workshop except human sized and there were peculiar things everywhere. Even a globe in the back which would be useful for learning locations outside of Luxembourg; maybe we could even travel outside of the city. Papers also covered the floor and looking closer I was delighted to see that they were sketches of Stitchpunks. In fact, some of them were very familiar, I think I might have been taken aback to find Two's laying nearby.

Then I realized that I knew that human laying on the floor. The clothes matched well enough to back up my theory that it had to be the Scientist in the papers. Five had mentioned that he was also their Creator which filled in the gaps well enough. I almost approached him, but something kept me away. Looking at him made me feel uneasy and I didn't want to do so for any longer. Instead, I looked back to the papers along the ground, struggling to read the scratches of rushed writing. Some of the words didn't even appear to be in English.

For a good amount of time I just sat there staring at the internal workings of my kind and wondered why I didn't have my own. The pictures also brought to my attention the prospect of where the others were. It was great that Eight was getting to sit down and rest, but I doubted that I'd be able to stitch his back right, and Six would probably be afraid to cause Eight any discomfort. "How will the others know we're here?" I asked Six and he looked to me with a slightly hesitant look, "I… This is where we come sometimes. If they're looking they would check here."

It seemed fair enough, but thinking that it would be that simple wasn't possible. After all they could still assume that we were with the Beasts. I looked upwards towards the closed window of the Workshop, "Maybe I could open it. It would let some light in and- No, wait." My self-talking cut off as I came up with an idea, "Maybe we should put a candle in the window. The light would guide the others here without really standing out to Beasts." I pointed out, "A candle guiding two Stitchpunks together. Could make a good story, maybe a love story, probably because candles are so romantic."

I trailed into rambling as I wandered closer to the window. "A light flame flickering shadows on both of their faces as they stare into each other's eyes. An orange glow gives the feeling of warmth in the atmosphere. Of course their hands slip together and-." I stopped myself, "And I just said all of that out loud, to Six and Eight. I need to keep in mind that I'm not alone anymore and I can't go off on a tangent." I looked back to the others, "What do you think about the candle?" Eight was understandably zoned out as he had moved the book by some shelves and was leaning on it.

Six, on the other hand, was watching Eight very closely, and I felt the need to come forward and speak to him, "Six?" The Artist looked to me after I called his name and played the incident off quickly, "I think the candle would be good. They'll be looking for a sign of us." He was obviously distracted and I put an arm around him, "Are you okay?" I whispered and he nodded, leaning against me in a tired way, and I almost reveled in the fact that we were comfortable enough to do this. I really did like this sibling thing we had between us.

"You look tired. Maybe you should get some rest. I could help you make a little bed." I added in and he was hesitant, "No, I'm okay. I don't want to sleep." Then I added, "At least go sit down. Maybe we can find some ink and you can draw a little?" Now he nodded a little and I added in, quieter, "I saw what happened today." He looked at me in alarm and I added, "Just wanted you to know. You don't have to talk about it yet, but I saw what it did to you, whatever it was, and I think you need to rest yourself. It's going to be alright, alright?"

I sounded like a fool, but Six seemed somewhat relieved to hear the words. Glancing over I noticed that Eight was listening in. It wasn't hard to tell that he was because his head was somewhat turned and he was staying quite still. Finally Six spoke, "Okay. But what about…?" His optics flickered over to look at Eight in gesture and I insisted, "When Five or Two comes. If they come of course. They'll stitch him up." He nodded and then I gestured for him to keep going, "I'm going to put a candle in the window and then I'll look around."

Once he was wandering off and, I assumed, either looking for both some ink and a place to sit. While he did this I struggled to climb onto the workbench and wandered around. There was some sort of strange contraption off to the side that was tall and made of metal. While I didn't know what it was I somewhat wondered if it involved Stitchpunks somehow. Thankfully I found a candle nearby sitting by itself. It was mostly melted down and somewhat bent sideways, but it would work, and soon after I was able to find matches under a book nearby.

After pushing the window open I found myself stopped as I stared at the distant world. It took me aback for a second to see such a distance stretched out before me. I had never been this high up in my life. Even my house wasn't this tall and to stare out at the length of the city I could see was a mixture of breathtaking and somewhat melancholy triggering. To see all this broken down mess in this world proved it was someone else's before ours, someone's who was ruined, who was gone now. But at the same time I wasn't that depressed about it strangely enough.

It was also so expansive. How much was out there? How much did they leave behind for us to explore? I wanted to see it all and yet part of me wanted to go back home. Creator, thinking of home suddenly made it very hard to focus. I almost died today, we almost died, and it wouldn't have happened if I was at home. Shaking my thoughts away I pulled the candle onto the window, "Let's go back to something romantic, shall we? How about Nine and Seven?... Maybe later. They're not even here…"

I climbed down from the window and walked over across the workbench to climb down to the floor. "Seven's lucky. I'm sure she could get any guy, especially since she's the only female. Well, other than me, but I'm not good with those sort of things. I'm not nearly as eligible as Seven." Then I began to look around for some sort of inkwell. Though I was distracted with, I don't know, myself. I won't go into details, but most of the time it was worrying if the others were going to find me or not. That was until the noises came.

"You hear that?" Eight asked and my attention drew towards the doorway, "No, what was it?" I asked and clearly noticed Six somewhat move closer to Eight in fear, clutching his key. "Something's coming up the stairs." I trusted Eight's judgment, "I'll look down and see if there's anything down there." As I inched towards the door Eight added in, "If it is a Beast remember to shut the door." And I almost thought that he was going to say something helpful. I had gotten used to Eight's antics by then and brushed it off as I headed out into the foyer area.

At the top of the stairs I began to stare downwards and scanning for anything, slowly inching down. It was beginning to get dark out and it was hard to see. That was until a light suddenly made an appearance and I inched further down before actually seeing what was illuminating. The bulb of the lightstaff was recognizable and I gasped obviously at the sight of Nine. He heard me and looked upwards; knowing that he probably didn't see me I called down, "Hey! Hello down there!" Nine's face was far away but I could still see the relief.

He turned back and spoke to the others whose footsteps I noticed, "It's Velvet. She's up in the First Room." More of them appeared on the steps and Nine was the one to call up, "Hello up there! Are Six and Eight with you?" I nodded and, again, called down, "They are! Eight's injured, but he's doing alright!" Then I called through the door, "It's the others! They found us!" Then looked back down at the others hurried to climb up. It was good to see them and I asked once they got closer, "Did the candle tip you off?"

"It did. Five could see it with his spyglass." I could see Five down there as well, along with everyone else, even One. They must have been searching for us for a while I assumed. Once they were close I headed over to the door to tell Eight and Six. "Maybe they hadn't heard me." I considered as I arrived at the doorway. However, that's when I heard the talking from inside. At first I assumed that Eight was pulling something when I stepped out, but then I heard the comment. "-I couldn't." Six was saying pitifully, "I tried, but I couldn't do it… I still can't…"

"You did it back there." Eight suddenly spoke, "Do you know what you could do with that?" There was a silence before Eight added, "You saved me a lot of pain for one." I peered in to see that Eight and Six's positions had changed. Eight was still sitting, but was facing this direction and looking to Six who was now standing right before him. Six was grabbing at his key tightly as he stared downwards, clearly nervous, and looked upwards a few times for only a few seconds. Eight was staring at him intently.

"I… I don't know." The Artist admitted, "I didn't want you to get hurt." My question was the same with Eight's, but in a different way, "What does that mean?" Maybe Eight wasn't as oblivious as I had been. After all I hadn't noticed Six's strange behavior. Six paused briefly and Eight exhaled, "This is about earlier. It was just a picture." Suddenly the Artist spoke, "But you gave it back to me so it's not just a picture to me anymore." Eight was moving his hand for a second and then I was suddenly brought to attention by footsteps behind me.

Wanting to cover myself so it didn't look quite like I was spying I pulled away and turned around, hiding my hands behind me as though I was hiding something in them, and came face to face with One of all Stitchpunks. Yes, the one who seemed to want a reason to suspect me, and there was no way to do so now. "Oh, hi." I greeted with a forced smile, "You got up here quickly." He must have ran, or maybe he stalked the shadows and was closer than I had intended. Either way, One was straight to the point.

"Are Six and Eight in there?" He asked me and I assured him, "Yeah. Eight's got a tear and Six is a little shaken. They're right in there." Then he added in an uncomfortable or perhaps exasperated tone, "Doing what?" I actually stuttered a bit; I don't know why but that scene inside the workshop was affecting me oddly, it made me feel somewhat embarrassed while I was being confronted, my face was beginning to warm and I was only glad it wasn't visible. He walked around me and glanced inside briefly before addressing me once again.

"The weather is turning and it is growing dark quicker than we anticipated. I have already forewarned the others that we will be staying here for the night." That made me feel uncomfortable. There was one thing with staying the night in the Sanctuary, at least it was safe and had comfortable beds. Here I had never been before and while I felt like I was somewhat secure I didn't actually believe it. I was about to protest when One added in, "Perhaps we can use this time to get to know one another better."

Just like One to make what is typically a friendly comment and make it sound like an interrogation. He followed with, "Come with me." Before heading into the workshop. Part of me, again, wanted to find a way out of the situation. There wasn't an obvious way to do so though and I knew One had been wanting to corner me since I had appeared. "It can't be that bad." I tried to convince myself as I followed him inside. Eight and Six's actions had seemed to change during that short time and now they weren't saying anything at all.

I did notice that something bigger had changed though. Eight was holding Six's sharp hand in his own. They were just standing and sitting there holding hands after a conversation that managed to make me blush and do something to One as I noticed he had his head angled not to see it. They pulled back when we passed through, but I noticed that Six stayed awfully close to Eight and thankfully Eight had decided rectify his need to bully the smaller. I almost wished that I wouldn't have interrupted their moment together.

One actually asked Eight how he was doing and after a quick reassurance we continued on. We headed into the back of the room where we would be alone enough. He looked somewhat tired and I felt the need to ask. I was afraid that I would sound patronizing or something, but I couldn't help it, and finally spoke. "You… You look tired." I pointed out and he seemed to straighten a bit more, "Yes. It has been tiring. Common when our home is invaded by such monsters. Were you able to see what has come of them?"

I explained, "We escaped, but there was too many to take on just the few of us. Most of them have the cages and were basically meant to trap us while there was one that was bigger, it acted like a leader and spun webs, that could cocoon and could stab. Though the Webspinner didn't get stab-crazy until we started to escape." He nodded and then asked, "It overpowered you and Six?" I gave a 'so-so' hand gesture. "Well, not exactly. It had this numbing poison and made us go paralyzed. Then we were overpowered."

He stared at me, I stared back, he then spoke, "You two are fortunate it wasn't permanent. The Machine and its creations are cruel and may have had much worse in mind." He warned me and I nodded as I went to fix my leather hair a bit. He then asked, "Now I have a few questions that are long overdue, I am sure we will both agree." He pointed out and then added the first question, "When were you created?" I tried to think back before answering, "I don't remember. It's been a few years, but I can't remember the beginning." He quietly nodded and continued.

"So you were not recently created. Two suggested such. He said you had been hiding away." I nodded, "I've been there forever. My earliest memory is there and I hadn't ever gone out of eyesight until recently." He seemed to agree, but there was something odd as he paid attention. If he knew this then why was he asking me? The others were filtering in and looking over I could see Five and Two beginning to address his wounds. One was pondering something before asking, "You mentioned that there was a woman, a deceased human, in the home with you."

"I did." I stretched out, remembering distinctly that I had not said this to One. Or, at least, I was pretty sure I hadn't unless he was listening in. With Two studying the woman he might have told One since I now knew that they were close. I also realized where exactly Two had gone that night I had stayed in his bed. My blush had just went down too. "Do you know anything of her past life?" I fiddled with my ribbon a bit, "Not much, really. I know what you're probably thinking, but that's not the case. I don't remember much, but I'm definitely sure that I wasn't born there."

His face contorted in perplex and even though he wasn't being sinister those slanted optics were leveled on me. They unnerved me, or maybe I was unnerved at what he could be thinking. Not sure what that would be exactly but in involved suspicions of humans I believed. I tried to steer the question away before he asked more, "I, umm, for years knew nothing about any others. This might be strange, but is there a chance of any more of us being out there? How many Stitchpunks could have been created?"

He answered immediately, "There was only one human able to create our kind." His optic twitched as though he was resisting to let it look over towards the body on the other side of the room, probably towards the Scientist. He looked as though he was trying to keep from letting himself give any indication that he was even connected to the body at all. "As such, only we exist, unless there were a few that the Scientist created that were separated from us." He seemed like someone who believed this adamantly, but I wondered if this meant he believed I had the same Creator.

Well it was better than him suspecting me. Around this time I heard Eight swearing and glanced over to see Two standing there and instructing as Five stitched the larger male's back. Six had gone somewhere else by now and One seemed interested in the current scene. "It was fortunate that you all were not injured more severely." He remarked and I nodded, "I know… It was bad out there." Maybe I was still a little uneasy and rubbed over my arms a little. To my surprise, One took sympathy and reached out to put his free hand on my shoulder, the other still clutching his staff.

"There are always risks when dealing with such a world. We must learn from our mistakes and further protect ourselves." I nodded in agreement, wanting to appease him since he was suddenly being parental towards me… In fact, he was acting a little strange. I noticed Two was occasionally as well, like when we rushed home before. I shook it off; I was being paranoid again. There couldn't be another insane breakdown like before. I stood and One took lead to steering back to the others, apparently done questioning me at the moment.

Once standing by Eight he released my shoulder and grasped the staff with both hands. "How severe was the damage?" He questioned and Five looked up from his crouched position, "Just a tear. He's going to be sore for a while though." Just as he said this he pushed the needle through again and Eight's hand twitched a little. "I see, and where has Two wandered off to?" Five gestured across the workshop and looking over I could see Two prying a drawer open and looking for something. One murmured something to Eight, I wasn't paying full attention, and went after Two.

"How are you feeling, Eight?" I asked and he passed it off with a mutter of, "Feeling great." A sarcastic response obviously, but he sounded tired, though it may have been from the needle weaving into his fabric. I stepped back to stand beside Five and watched as he continued to stitch away. It was interesting watching his smooth motions. His hands skillfully pulling the thread through and closing the wound shut. He'd be good at making clothes; he's very patient with his work and has clever hands.

I gave him a little pat on the shoulder in a friendly fashion and saw him smile a bit. "Are you alright?" He asked and I smiled as well, "I'm fine. Eight got the worst of it, but that poison was pretty rough." He suddenly seemed to become concerned, but quiet as he hesitantly asked, "Poison?" I explained, "It shot out this liquid poison on us and made us go paralyzed for a short while. It was awful!" His optic widened as he stared at Eight's back, pausing his motions. This triggered Eight to speak, "We done?" The Healer perked, "Oh, almost there."

He had gotten lost in thought for a second. "So it paralyzed? Was there a way to wear it off quicker?" I got it; he was the Healer, he had to know these things for future reference. "I'm not sure… But once I got feeling back a little it seemed to help a lot if I continued to try moving around, you know? Six must have gotten a higher dose because he went unconscious for a little while." Five nodded, interested but having to look at Eight's back, and I decided to give him a few minutes. "You know, I should go warn the others. Maybe when I'm done and when you're done we could talk a bit?"

I was worried that I was being too forward at first, but this seemed to perk Five a little. "I'd like that. I'm almost done here." With that I gestured over towards the twins and started over, "Be right back." On the way to the twins I noticed Nine and Seven talking and my eyebrows raised in interest. For a good total of two seconds until Child suddenly appeared and practically strode into the conversation. Now that the third wheel place wasn't possible I decided to enter the conversation. Though, to my surprise, it was a bit harder to get into the conversation than I thought.

Instead I meekly stood there quietly and listened in as Nine spoke to Seven. Child was mostly quiet, but I noticed his hand was still busy. One resting on Nine's back and sliding around so much that at first I thought he was searching for something. Then I became very confused; Nine and Seven were having an in depth conversation with clear interest while Child was rubbing his back. Now I was really confused. It looked like Nine and Seven could be close, I still thought maybe a nice push could get those two into a little romance, even with Child's brotherly coddling.

Then Seven turned to me to ask about the Beasts. "How many were there?" Before I could answer I noticed Child subtly putting his arm around Nine's back. I use subtly very loosely. "About, well, umm, I'd say five or six with one large one being the leader. The Webspinner, that's what I call the leader, spun webs… Which is why I call it the Webspinner." Maybe my explanation was a bit strange, but Seven understood, and seemed worried, "That quite a few, and with a leader one must believe that they may make more."

The twins rushed by with a piece of paper and caught Nine's attention, "Even when they aren't in the Library they're running around working! You have to admire their effort." He pointed out and I agreed, "They're always working and always helping. Looks like they're… Helping One and Two. Do either of you know what they're doing over there?" Nine seemed unsure and Seven watched them before Child answered me, "They are scouring the room looking for something that they most likely won't find." Nine got an amused smile, "You don't even know what it is."

"I still have a very high chance of being accurate." Child pointed out, "Because Creator-forbid anything be easy to find in this wooden deathtrap." He added in a murmur and Nine laughed a little at the comment. Then a hand suddenly came down on my shoulder and I jumped a little bit before looking back abruptly. To my relief, it was none other than Five standing behind me. "Hey. Eight's doing better." He mentioned and I smiled to him, "Thanks to you. I think it would've ended a lot worse if I had gotten stuck trying to stitch him up."

Five didn't seem to exactly agree, being nice enough to defend my stitching skills, but we were interrupted yet again by Seven, "One's coming so perhaps you were right, Child." I decided to instead look back to Five who was talking to Nine, "The Trapping Beast that broke in paralyzes its pray before taking them away. Like the Seamstress. Velvet saw it." Then looked to me with that same interest. "Can you tell us more about what happened?" He wanted to hear the story, my story, and I suddenly felt like I wanted to talk about it.

Even though it was so horrifying I wanted to tell Five, and Nine and Child of course, the story of our escape from the beasts. Finally I had an interesting adventure story to tell that was my own. Well, I didn't make it myself, but at least it was more than just rereading out of a book. "Six and I were downstairs looking for Seven because she offered to train me. Six was having a bit of a headache so I went alone to go out front, but Seven wasn't out there, and when I returned Six wasn't alone. I tried attacking with my mallet, but to no avail, and I was spat on with this thick liquid."

Five was actually ringing his hands. He didn't look afraid or anything so I wondered why he was distressed. Nine seemed surprised at the tale, interested, and even Child had stopped coddling Nine long enough to listen. "Suddenly I start feeling numb and I slowly start to lose control of my arms and legs. Then I could barely even breathe as it took me inside itself. Six way able to fight back for a bit, but it got him to, and we were both carried out into the Emptiness. When we got there we were thrown into a cage where the paralyzing wore off. Eight was wrapped-."

I cut off at the sound of someone clearing their throat behind me. Looking back there was One and I dropped my story, "Sorry, was I-?" He cut me off when he suddenly said, "Two found something that he believes you will be interested in." This confused me, "Me? Just me?" He nodded, "Yes, just you." He remarked and put a hand on my shoulder again to guide me away. This wasn't a comforting gesture; there was something else going on, but I played it off. "Oh, okay. I'll be back in a second, guys." I noticed that they were as confused as I was.

Seven even stated, "Haven't you interrogated her enough for one day?" One just gave her a small glare before looking back forward again and leading me to where Two was. The Inventor was standing with the twins, but when he noticed me wandering up he quickly seemed to shoo the twins away. Not that he made the motions; I doubt Two would actually shoo anyone away. Then he turned to me, "Hello Velvet. How are you feeling? I heard of your adventure today." I smiled; at least Two seemed upbeat, "You could call it that. It was certainly tiring."

Then, suddenly, everything became much tenser when I started to note that One and Two were hiding something. It was one of those things you could just tell. Overly pleasant conversation, soothing atmosphere, me being alone, and I wasn't sure what was occurring. Then Two gestured to some papers, "I found something that I thought you'd find interesting. Here, let's read it." Now One's hand backed away as Two's touched the other side. "How is it that his touch is so gentle and yet I still feel so uneasy? This can't be paranoia."

He led me before the paper and gestured down to it before kneeling, having a little trouble with his legs clearly, and I kneeled down to sit on my knees. "Now the handwriting is a bit difficult to read so why don't I read it to you?" He insisted and I shrugged, "Alright." This was so strange, what was going on with them? Then he actually began to read and One crossed to stand behind us, slanted optics scanning the paper as well, and instead of reading ahead I allowed Two to read for me. To be my optics and tell me the story on the paper.

"It has been so long since I last saw your face and the tired wrinkles can only punctuate the crisis that you have been put through. What we all have suffered at the hand of merciless fate that has decided that you shall be the guilty and that we shall all take the punishment. Perhaps it is only best this way. We both knew that the end was inevitable and at least we had that last moment together. Our memories were all that we ever had. They were there when you were gone and led me back to you when I had strayed."

Two paused briefly and I looked to him, "Two?" He smiled at me, "This is getting a bit long winded, isn't it? We could skip ahead." I protested, "No, we don't have to, you just stopped." The Inventor suddenly looked troubled and One spoke, "Two, the matter at hand." He reminded and Two perked immediately, "Oh, yes, I'm sorry! Let's continue. Shall we?" There was something wrong here. No denying it anymore. I stared straight at Two and tried to judge his reactions accordingly.

"Toy making; I knew someday you would return to your formal practice. All those years making miniature trinkets to be beloved by children, to alight the eyes of the children that we could never have, and now this knowledge you have used to bypass our inferiority, my inferiority, to create life in another way. A beautiful way. Their small hands are as nimble as yours, their minds bright and insightful; they are you. If anything should live on it should be you. You gave me my memories and now you have given them the opportunity to have these same memories."

There was another pause and I watched Two. He looked up and over towards me, staring at me for a few seconds, and I asked, "Two?" Two smiled a little hesitantly towards me. "Velvet, I think you should pay close attention to the end of this letter." With that I looked forward to the paper and he finished as I read along. A sinking feeling in my insides.

"You gave me a gift. My body is weary, it begins to slow down as I speak, and yet it was worth the agony. This is what childbirth must be like. To create life and the loss of one's own. I would rather die knowing that something will live on then to the rising Machines outside our window. Yet I am torn because I know that like any parent it is time to let go. I am now passing my child, the child you helped me create, onto you once again. You have given me one last chance. One last memory with you. Remember that I left because I love you, which is why I am leaving again, so that this will be our final memory together."

He stopped again and this time I was confused, "I... Interesting letter, Two, but I'm not really sure what you wanted me to see. It's certainly sad. I'm guessing they were humans who were separated?... And apparently went through something like childbirth?" Then I cut off because I realized that it was slowly sinking in and I didn't want it to. Whatever sounded familiar was blocked out, and words were pushed away. They thought it was a sweet and tragic love story and wanted me to hear it. That was it. That was all.

"We found a picture as well." Two explained and stand before crossing to a nearby photo that he had face down. It was a little torn as though it had been pulled from a frame and he lifted it before showing it to me. Now here I was facing it and I was surprised at the picture of the two humans, perhaps in middle age, both looking slightly familiar while age somehow obscured them. "Who are they?" I asked quietly and One was the one to speak, gesturing to the male in the photo as Two propped it against the workbench leg. "That would be our Creator, the Scientist."

Then my optics flickered to the woman in the photo and couldn't believe how much I recognized her. I was almost afraid to ask at first and merely stared there. This is what Two and One wanted to show me and I knew it. "And she's…?" Once again, One's accented voice answered me while Two watched silently. "That woman was the Scientist's mate- his wife." He explained and then Two added in the one comment I actually felt fearful to hear.

"She's the woman in your home."