Hey again, everyone! I was super excited to get this chapter up! If you want to know why, read the big-ass paragraph below.
The other day, I was working on a flipnote, and I wondered how my newest EM one was doing. So I went to YouTube, and I was scrolling through all the comments (I'm vain like that, but at least I'll admit it), and most of the comments were along the lines of "Wow, a TF2 flip!" But in one particular thread, I found people discussing the story and coming up with theories! Just knowing that people were talking about the story completely made my night, so I got this chapter written at 1 in the morning. XD
I know I say it a lot (or I think so, anyway), but thank you guys SO much for all the support. Without you guys, I might never have gotten past chapter 5.
Also, one of the YouTubers totally called something in this chapter, but for the record, I had this moment planned out weeks before I saw the comment. And Soldier is accidentally racist again, just a heads-up. His opinion, not mine.
"What?!" Scout exclaimed. "Whaddya mean, Mal's gone?! It was just in Resupply!"
"I know," Engineer murmured. "But it ain't there now. Left its bat behind and everythin'."
"Wot've I been tellin' the lot of ya?" asked Sniper. "Obviously it's been spyin' on us. It just needed a diversion to escape!"
The Texan opened his mouth to argue, but as he thought about what the bushman said, he closed it. Had Mal only acted like it trusted him? In the handful of weeks he'd known the robot, he'd really come to trust it himself. He talked to it, he taught it how to cook, he showed it his doggone hand... and he showed it Respawn. He let it watch as he opened and examined each of their files, let it witness the secrets to each of their Respawn capabilities. And then this went and happened.
...But that didn't necessarily mean anything. Even if it had faked it all, he knew that Mal could still form attachments and associate. It liked to play games, it enjoyed cooking as far as he could tell, and he knew for a fact that it craved the chance to learn something new. And of course, it wore its heart on its sleeve, so to speak. It blinked when it was curious, it pulled down on its hat when it was angry, it hissed when it was worried, or sometimes even when it thought something was funny... There were just some things you couldn't fake, even with all the programming in the world. Engineer believed that Mal had truly enjoyed their company.
"...No, I don't believe that. I know Mal, and I know it wouldn't betray us like this. That Spybot wanted to take it back."
"But the Scoutbot ran away," Soldier stated. "That means that it does not like us." He paused to think about it. "Wait, no, that means that it does not like you, doesn't it?"
"It didn't run off," Engineer snapped, quickly on the defensive.
"And wot proof of that do ya have?" Sniper asked, almost tauntingly. "How do ya know it didn't take advantage of us? How do ya know it isn't spillin' our secrets to Gray roight now?"
"Oh, so ya wanna ask a buncha questions?" Scout shot back. "Well, here's one for ya. If Gray wanted to spy on us so bad, why didn't he get da Spybot to do it, huh?"
"Prrph, Rr brrnb phrrnk hrr phrrb Rrngrr wrrb phrrnb hrrm," Pyro added.
"Yeah, Hardhat found Mal. Gray didn't plant it or nothin'."
"Vhatever zhe case may be," Medic interrupted before yet another argument could take place, "Gray likely has bozh robots vizh him, und bozh are capable of telling him vhatever it vas he vanted to know. Zhe question is, vhat might zhey tell him, und vhat are ve going to do about it?"
"There's Respawn, for one thing," Sniper supplied, the remainder of a snarl on his face.
"They got away with Respawn!" Soldier bellowed, his head swinging to and fro in sudden panic. Pyro put a hand on his shoulder and gave him some sort of look, preventing whatever devastation would have followed.
"Above all else, that's somethin' we need to consider," Engineer said, uncharacteristically quiet. "Every wave we die anywhere between... let's say, five to ten times? Maybe twenty, for some of us?"
"So next time we go out dere... we're all gonna die?" Scout choked out. "For real?"
"Not yet," Engineer replied. "First they gotta get to Gray, then they gotta tell him about Respawn before he can do anythin'. Even if he knew right this second where Respawn was and how it worked, he's still gotta figure out how to get a robot back down there. And if he cain't do that, then he'll have to figure out how to shut it down remotely. Either way, that's gonna take some time. For now, we're still safe."
"So ve'll have to stop him before zhen," Medic concluded. "But how are ve going to do zhat? All ve've been able to do for monzhs is hold him off. Ve don't even know how many robots he has left!"
"Isn't it obvious?" Soldier boomed. "We penetrate their defenses before they penetrate ours!"
"And how do ya s'pose we do that?" Sniper snarked. "It's us against thousands, maybe millions."
"I have a disguise," Soldier replied, grinning. "I will go get it now." With a solute, the American was off for his quarters... about two doors down.
"Ya think he's got somethin' cool?" Scout wondered. "I bet he's been collectin' robot parts as trophies. We're gonna get robot armor! Sweet!"
Seconds later, Soldier returned, and in his hands was the hope of the team...
"...A cardboard box," Sniper deadpanned. "Do ya really think that will get us into Gray's headquarters?"
"Yes," Soldier answered. "Robots are very dumb."
"Mrr rrphrrnb brrm!" Pyro gasped, offended.
"Is the Scoutbot American? Because it is scientifically proven that all non-Americans are dumb. Also, I have not seen it eat steak."
"I think it was a good idea," Engineer offered, "but I doubt that it's really gonna work. Those robots are smarter than we gave 'em credit for. But I think you've made some pretty good points." The Texan looked at each mercenary in turn with his steely gaze. "If we have any hope of stoppin' Gray, we might just have to bring the fight to him, and we gotta do it while we still have Respawn."
"Novun has answered my question," said Medic. "How are ve going to pull zhis off? Zhere are only six of us!"
Engineer allowed himself a small smirk. "I think ya might've miscounted there, doc. There's eighteen of us."
(...)
"Spy!"
Mal awoke with a start, quickly realizing that it was no longer in the Resupply Room. Everything around it was... gray. Gray walls, gray lighting, gray tiles...
Fuck! This was Gray's headquarters! What was it doing here?!
"Help!" Mal called, knowing that no one would hear it. "Hardhat! Scout! Pyro! MMMedic! Help! Please!" It tried to get up from its sitting position to run, crawl, something, but its joints just whirred in protest, unable to move. "Can-Can-Can we just let's go? Please, help!"
"I wouldn't try to move if I were you," a voice said from directly behind it. Mal would have jumped if it could. It recognized that Southern twang, and it was almost relieved. But something was really off about it. "I've disabled your servos to keep ya from damagin' anythin' while I work on your processor. All you're gonna do is wear your joints out."
Wait, its goddamn processor?! What did a Mecha Engineer- that's definitely what this was- want with its processor?! "What... What are ya doi-doi-doin'?! Don't kill me, please! Help me!"
The Mecha Engineer paused in its work. "I forgot, you're one of the older models. Your designation's SC-37, right? You're one of the quick ones, older than I am. E-249, if you were curious.
"To answer your question, I'm extractin' and decodin' the information ya gathered while you were in Mann Co.'s custody. Gotta say, I'm pretty impressed, and I know the Maker will be. How did ya get the Engineer to show ya where Respawn was? Humans must be pretty dimwitted. Not the Maker, of course."
"No!" Mal shouted. "Don't... kill them! I don't want them to die!"
"Would ya rather they destroy us?" E-249 asked, getting back to work. "Look, they've been causin' the Maker trouble for years, long before most of this bunch was alive. They're hell-bent on makin' sure every last one of us is destroyed. I know you've seen it. Hell, ya almost lived it a few times. Once they're gone, the Maker will be free to do as he wishes, and we'll keep our parts intact. What more could a robot want?"
"C'mon, man," Mal pleaded, its voice box quiet. "Please, don't kill them. Dey-re... Dey're friends."
The Mecha Engineer made a long, staticky noise, a sigh. "Friends, huh? Well, I wouldn't worry about it too much, son. You ain't gonna remember any of that, anyway."
Mal's eyes went bright. "...What?"
"I hate to do this to ya, but it's the Maker's orders. He knows that ya don't care for him much, and what with ya apparently bein' friends with the lot at Mann Co., he's got it in his head that you'll rebel or somethin'. Crazy, isn't it? No robot is stupid enough to jeopardize their freedom like that. Well, this way, ya won't have any reason to do somethin' stupid like that. And ya know why? You were never over there in the first place."
Woo! Lots of stuff is about to happen, and we finally get to meet another intelligent robot! The comics came into play a little bit this time around, but since this is sort of an AU, things are going to be WAY different, if that isn't already obvious. Also, I don't like the Classic team. There, I said it.
The next chapter is half-way through being written, so I'll try to have that up by next Monday or Wednesday. I hate ending up with a buffer, because my first instinct is to type it up as soon as I can. Remember how the first three chapters were up in the same day? Yeah, I'd meant to space those out. XD
Oh, and Engie's estimation on deaths comes from my own experience. I play Sniper because I like to and it pisses people off (I'm F2P), and if we finish the wave, I'll die seven or eight times on a good run. If I'm trying to be a Scout, I die twenty or thirty times.
Pyro Speak:
"Plus, I don't think he thought we would find him."
"Mal isn't dumb!"
So, I'll be seeing you guys soon!