Mable: We're back with chapter twenty-five! I don't own 9, Enjoy!
Souls Run Deep
Chapter Twenty-Five: The Broken Projector
It was evening time and also time when Two began to scout the area of the library where he was planning to put the addition. After Child's surgery earlier, he should've been tired, but instead was ready to go with Five who was following through the few bits of hollow walls. "If we put a hall here then we can add two bedrooms here, a bedroom for Child and a bedroom for One. That was his clause; he'd like a new bedroom. Then we could continue through here…"
They soon crossed a low beam that looked to not be placed right and could clearly see a nearby opening. "Then we could try to add windows and… Oh my." Through the opening was an actual open room that was in the back of the Sanctuary. It looked like a simple room and below were a few shelves and a table. It was what was on the table that shocked Two. He began to climb down, using the shelves, and Five was concerned.
"Two, maybe we should go back." He tried, but Two was insistent, so the Healer began to follow him down. Soon they were on the table and Five noticed that his mentor was eyeing the most bizarre machine that he had ever seen. "What is that?" He asked quietly and Two smiled, "If I am right, this is a projector." He pointed out and gestured to a screen on the other side of the room. "Yes, see, a projector plays film reels and put moving pictures onto a blank surface like that screen over there."
Hearing 'moving pictures' piqued Five's interest to greater heights, "Can we turn it on?" Two chuckled a little, "Of course… Hmm… We'll have to fix it up a bit, but I think we can find what little we need very easily…" He then thought, "All we need are a few volunteers."
"What's a moving picture?" Six asked quietly as Two and Five explained what they saw. Five allowed Two to do most of the talking and merely nodded his head gently as the other explained. "It is a projection that resembles movement. We watch people moving upon the blank wall which are really just pictures being shown quickly by the projector." He then continued on, "The only problem is that, unfortunately, the projector is missing a few pieces that we would need."
One raised his eyebrows in interest, "What pieces?" Two counted them off, "We are missing a lens, some projector oil, and, of course, a reel of film." Then he chimed up, "However! I have the perfect solution to this. I know exactly where we can find the parts!" The others looked interested and Seven spoke up, "I can get them. Where are they?" Two gestured out of the Sanctuary, "About a mile to the west there is a large building that is an old cinema. There should be more than enough parts there."
"You are planning on sending them to a random building in the Wastes?" One asked, though sounded half-hearted, as though he knew there was nothing he could so to stop this. Two smiled, "I was hoping that I someone would like to come with Five and I." Seven nodded, "I will come. I think I've seen the cinema before, I… I went inside and it hard many chairs and a large, white screen. I remember I thought humans gathered there for some reason. The twins have told me of moving pictures before."
Two perked, "That sounds like the Cinema. Only a little ways into the Emptiness, One, we will be careful." Nine chimed in, "Maybe I could come too?" Five smiled in invitation, "The more the merrier!" Two turned to One for acceptance and the Leader huffed, "Fine, but be back by nightfall." With that, the four began to head to the lift, and as they boarded they were joined by yet another Stitchpunk. "Child?" Nine asked in confusion and Five looked shocked, "Child, wait, the surgery."
"I'm still numb." Child insisted as he nearly collapsed against the bucket lift edge. Two nodded, "Very well. Just don't strain yourself." He went to man the lift, but Five did instead with a sure smile. As they descended, Two looked to Child. A single glance revealed much to the pale Stitchpunk's character. Leaning stiffly on the edge, he was tired, looking tired, hands clenched, he was frustrated, and staring right at Nine and Seven who were talking softly.
It only then occurred to Two that Child seemed to want to intervene every time that Nine and Seven were together. That looked to be the only reason he would force himself to come as he didn't seem too concerned that they could handle themselves. Two decided not to speak to Child yet. Perhaps later, but for now he had a feeling that the male would resist any confrontation of this kind, and as such decided to simply enjoy their time.
Soon they exited the library and began to walk toward said cinema. It was in the part of the Emptiness with more less destroyed buildings, a lot of buildings, and the cinema itself was distinct. The sign that was once perched in display had collapsed before the entrance and the Stitchpunks walked over the backside of it, the wood feeling dry and uncomfortable, weatherworn as well. The entranceway into the Cinema looked dusty and old, with a floor of red carpet and peeling posters on the wall.
Five looked up at one in curiosity, "Why are all these pictures up, Two?" He asked his mentor who approached knowingly, "To show what film would be playing. This, I hope, means that they actually had a few films with them at the time. Maybe we could bring a few home for us." This made the Stitchpunks feel more hopeful, save Child who slowly had to use Nine as a crutch.
Two and Five went alone into the back storage rooms alone. In this time, Seven and Nine, nearly dragging Child, moved into one of the theaters. "See?" Seven pointed out at the vast room of seats. The white screen was just as she had suggested as well. Nine looked around in awe at the scene. Two and Five, though, were working diligently. They managed to find a projector and took the lens from it. As Two went to look for the oil, Five noticed something. A box of records the looked to be for a phonograph, each with a label.
He pulled them out curiously, pushed them back in, and then moved to the next one. Soon, Two returned, struggling to carry a large bottle of yellowish liquid. He soon dropped it beside Five, "I nearly had to drag this!" He laughed a bit and turned to Five's workings, blinking at the records, "Did you find some music records?" Five nodded, "I think so. Look." He showed one to Two who read the inscription on it. Then, suddenly, he looked confused. "Oh… Oh, no, this can't be right."
Five couldn't read it at all. Unlike the normal writings, these words were written differently, and Two spoke, "They… They're listing the audio to films on these…." It suddenly occurred to him and he closed his optics with a wince, "The audio! The sound!" The one eyed one was confused, "What's wrong?" Two sighed and pushed the record against the box. "I was so wrapped up that I didn't realize that the projector cannot play sound. They must have used these records in some sort of phonograph."
With his mentor discouraged, Five grasped for anything, "Wait, there's got to be something we can… Wait, maybe, maybe there's a phonograph in the Library. We did find a projector." Hearing this, Two began to perk. "You may be right. If so, we should still bring the film reels and the records… I assume we could attempt to roll them back…." He looked to Five, "Could you go find the others?" Five nodded quickly and actually ran to find the other three.
There were still wandering through the aisles of seats when Five found them, "We have a problem. Two needs everyone's help." Was all Five explained, so Seven assumed the worst and rushed back while preparing herself for battle. Instead, she soon found out the truth, that nothing was really wrong at all. Two was in a rush to get back to the Library to search for the Phonograph and soon decided to only bring back a single film reel and an audio record that matched it.
The reel was in a metal casing, so it was safe to roll, and Two gave Five the job to move it. Nine and Seven were tasked to move the record and make sure it didn't get away from them. Two, again, carried the oil, insisting that he took up the heavy job. Child, who was starting to show obvious signs of exhaustion such as limping, was given the easier task to carry the lens back. The walk was a little slow and took longer than expected, but they made it home much earlier than One had told them to.
Once inside, they moved through the passage Two had found, lowering the items down on the shelves, and moved to the projector. "We're almost there." Two said with a smile. "Now, I'm going to oil the projector and put the lens on. Could you three check those boxes?" When Child went to follow, Two stopped him, "Child, you're tired, why don't you help me instead?" Child decided to do so and agreed readily.
Apparently Child knew of mechanics enough that he was quite a nice help and even knew how to thread the film onto the Projector. More positive things came when they found a projector in the back of the room. It was close enough that Two saw no need to move it, and looked in fair condition. They soon noticed something was strange, though. "There's no handle." Nine pointed out and Two moved to look. Sure enough, the crank handle was gone and he felt in the hole. He could feel the end of the handle inside and was relieved that there wasn't anything internally broken.
"We'll have to replace it." Seven spoke up, "The twins were able to get it running by, literally, running on the record." Two smiled at the comment, "They are resourceful. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be able to see the movie from there." The Warrior realized this and nodded thoughtfully. Soon, Nine spoke, "We could go out and find something to use. Why don't you just set up the movie and watch Child?"
The Inventor nodded at the suggestion and looked back to see Child lying on the table behind them. Arm draped over face and looking already unconscious. "That may be best. Be careful." Nine agreed, "We will. Come on, guys." He started to head out, followed by Seven, until Five chimed up, "Wait, I'm coming too?...No, I'm fine, wait up."
Eight couldn't say that he didn't notice that Six was still seemingly acting weird. Whenever the male got a chance, he'd peer outside the entranceway or the vent window, looking out for something. Even when the Guard tried to set up exercises for Six, the Artist had trouble paying attention. Especially when Six's behavior caused a lifted book to drop into the pool and send water onto Eight, "Ah great." He murmured and looked to the striped one, "Alright, what's going on?"
"What?" Six asked and blinked before continuing, "I don't know what..." Eight looked unconvinced and Six slowly looked to the floor beneath him. "It's nothing." Eight approached, Six inched away, and soon the Guard was practically chasing the Artist around the area. "Stop walking away, Six, I want to know what's going on." Finally, Six abruptly stopped, and looked back, "I'm sure there was someone else." Eight perked at the admission, "You are?" Six nodded, "I… I had a dream about it."
The Guard was taken aback, knowing of Six's dreams and how they were usually right. "What was it about?" Six's hands clenched on each other, "Well… I saw another Stitchpunk, it was glowing, and it was right beside me. There were lights coming from its eyes like beacons, bright green, but ever tie I walked closer it would move farther away. I think… That must mean that it's trying to run from us. Maybe it's scared." He used his mind to drag a book free of a nearby pile to sit down on.
"Maybe I'm wrong… I just… It just feels so real, Eight. I'm scared…" Eight didn't like the discouraged look and exhaled calmly, "We'll figure something out… I'll talk to One." Six looked up innocently, "You will?" He asked in a look of hope and Eight nodded, "Yeah, I will. Don't expect me to come out of it alive." Six released a soft chuckle under his breath and Eight was shocked at how much that made him feel nice. It actually made him feel willing to go confront One without caring if his leader got angry or anything.
As such, he stretched a bit, "I'll wait a few more minutes. Let him calm down since Two and Five just got back. Come on, you've not been giving any real effort." At this, Six leapt to his feet, "I'm ready now!" With that, Eight began to teach again, but now his was the mind that was distracted by other thoughts.
When the twins appeared to look over the Projector, Two showed them around a bit, and was then interrupted by One appearing. "Two, can we speak?" Of course, he was looking at the room with a certain scouring, but Two hurried to meet him as they began to wander back towards the Sanctuary. It was a quiet walk and Two could tell that One was clearly not upset. In fact, he just looked a bit lonely, which would make sense as the Sanctuary was empty.
"We are working on the projector. We just need a handle for the phonograph in the other room. Then, we will get to watch our film." One nodded in understanding and asked, "Which one?" Two smiled, "Apparently, it was very popular. It is about a young girl who goes to a fantasy world. I thought it would inspire the others a bit more." One nodded yet again, "It sounds pleasant. Both for the twins and us, very well, and your health?"
"One, my health is fine." Two chuckled, "But your concern is a relief. I thought you were angry at me." One actually smiled a bit, "I still am. I think I may let you go without trouble." With that he reached over and actually slipped his arm around Two's waist. "While they are busy, perhaps we should speak of other matters. Do you still have that chess set?" Suddenly, Two began to bellow in laughter, "I had to hide that blasted thing! Every time we play it, you get angry!"
"I do not." One denied, looking away. Two exhaled patiently, "Alright, fine. Let me set it up."
It was sunset when Nine, Seven, and Five arrived at the Phonograph. Everyone was tired and decided to sit down for a bit. The Tentacle Beast's body still remained, but Five noticed that it looked destroyed, like it was scratched up and almost gutted. He winced, "I don't think we should stay that long…" Nine didn't seem too concerned, though, and Seven eyed the Handle. "Nine, I don't think we can get this off." Nine walked over to look and agreed; the Phonograph's handle didn't look like it would budge.
"We'll just attach something else to it." Five insisted, "Paste something that looks like a handle and can be used as one. Maybe we could find some wood in that shed over there." The Healer hurried over, wanting to leave the area as soon as possible, and the other two shook their heads with smiles. Seven moved up onto the handle to sit and let her spear fall to the ground where it stabbed into the dirt to stand upwards.
Nine felt a strange smile emerge as he noticed her going for her helmet. Sometimes she took off her helmet and he enjoyed seeing her without it. Soon, it was off, though Seven still held it in her grasp. Nine climbed up onto the edge of the Phonograph and smiled to her, "So… What do you think the film is going to be about?" Seven shrugged a bit, "I'm not sure. Come to think of it, Two didn't really say what film he got from the cinema. I'm sure he'd get something good, though."
"Yeah." Nine agreed before fluidly asking, "Maybe we could sit together and watch in case we want to talk at some points." Seven seemed to like this idea and agreed, "That's sounds good, Nine. Though Child might get upset." Nine waved to off, "He won't mind. He'll probably sleep through the film anyway since he's so tired." She seemed to believe this as well. "It was a rough day. I can't believe he has his fabric back… He looks so different."
The zippered male believed this as well. However, he couldn't say that he didn't like the new look of Child. He looked so different, just like a normal Stitchpunk, but still looked quite nice. It suddenly caused Nine to be able to see Child in a new light. "Maybe, if he's awake, he can sit with us." He suggested and she immediately nodded, "That might make him feel less left out." That's when the sound of footsteps could be heard.
"Look what I found!" Five proudly presented a short, metal rod. It was a little bent, but looked like it would fit in the hole, and he obviously planned to use it to replace the handle. "What do you think?" Seven released a soft giggle and placed her helmet back on. "It looks great, Five!" She jumped down and Nine soon followed her. With the makeshift handle in their grasp, they started back to the Sanctuary.
Mable: Okay, I do know it was a little rushed, but I was racing to the deadline. I hope everyone enjoyed and there will be another chapter up tomorrow!