The Spine had all but blocked out his connections to the Walter Wi-Fi, reducing them to no more than a slight hum in the back of his mind. He had chosen to remain in his room that day, breaking the monotony of the Hall of Wires.
He replayed his memories of Holly, they're date and the morning after. He missed her, and hoped she was alive and okay. He had let his guard down, allowed himself to have real feelings for her, even started to fall for her as she lulled him from his nightmares. He should have known better.
He felt the buzz at the back of his mind intensify in short bursts for a few moments before quieting completely. He turned the Wi-Fi signals back up, listening. The sudden lack of noise was strange, but wasn't particularly bothersome.
He looked down at the paper he had been sketching on absentmindedly, and her eyes looked up at him. He snapped the pencil he was holding and crumpled the paper, this had to stop.
Suddenly the Walter Wi-Fi came alive once again with three words. Three words that shook him to his very core.
Paige is dead.
The Spine ran to the staircase.
The way that Rabbit held her she could have been sleeping. Her head rested against his shoulder, one arm draped across her waist, her eyes were closed, and the hint of a smile still danced on her lips. The shrapnel was still embedded deep within her chest, shattering the illusion.
The Spine came into the room within a minute of hearing the news. His knees nearly buckled beneath him. She had been so young.
Paige had only worked for the Walters for a few months. The Spine himself had interviewed her. Now she was dead in his brother's arms.
"What happened?" He asked Peter, seeing that Rabbit was even further from okay than the inventor.
Peter looked at The Spine, his voice was choked with sobs, "I don't know. I heard some noises, and Rabbit screaming. I went to investigate and then…" He gestured to Rabbit, a sob cutting off the end of his sentence.
The Spine understood what he meant. He sent out a message to everyone else, telling them all to get to the manor immediately. He didn't use his phone. He never needed to, but it made him feel more human. Now was not the time for thinly veiled charades.
Brianna was the first to arrive, her phone was still in her hands, attempting to decipher The Spine's message. The phone tumbled from her hands as she looked up. "No." She whispered, she tried to run to Rabbit. The Spine hooked his arms around her waist as she passed by, pulling her back against him, and effectively holding her back. Brianna kicked and screamed clawing at his arms. "No no no no no no!" Her legs gave way beneath her as she broke into deep sobs. The Spine spun her around, allowing her to rest her head against the fabric of his vest. "She can't be…" She cried into the silk. "She just can't."
The Spine could hear Steve entering the manor.
"Spine, you needed something? What's the big rush?" Steve called out from the front of the manor.
"Kitchen." The Spine called back to him, keeping his calm.
Steve came around the bend minutes later, still wearing his trademark smile. The grin vanished the moment he saw Paige. "Holy crap!"
Steve looked around the room, taking in everything that was going on. Peter VI was still in shock, Brianna was shaking in The Spine's arms, the silver bot still stared at his brother. "Have you called everyone?" Steve asked The Spine, who was obviously the most level headed in the situation.
The Spine nodded slowly, "You were first to show up after…" He gestured to Brianna who was still struggling to stay standing.
Steve nodded slightly, thinking. It had been 30 minutes since he had gotten the call from The Spine, Michael never ventured far from the manor. If Michael had been on his way, he would already be there. Steve pulled out his phone and dialed Michael's number as he stepped into the next room.
Michael saw it was Steve calling and set down his coffee. He stepped outside out of respect for the band that was playing. "Hey Steve."
"Where are you at?" Steve sounded annoyed, but there was something else in his voice that Michael couldn't place.
"At a coffee shop, why?"
"Didn't you get The Spine's message?"
"Well yeah, but-"
"But nothing. The only butt you need to be worried about is yours if you don't get it to the manor soon." Steve hung up and went back to the kitchen to see if he was needed.
Michael came into the manor ten minutes later, slightly exasperated. Before rounding the corner to the kitchen he called out, "Alright Steve, who died?!"
All eyes went to Michael as he entered the room.
Michael looked at all the people staring at him for a moment before seeing Paige. He blushed a deep red. "Ohmigod….Ohmigod….. I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I didn't know. I just….. I'm sorry." He continued to mumble quiet apologies to anyone who would listen.
Wanda and Norman came in together. Wanda was more than a little bit annoyed at being called away from her work, especially by The Spine. "What the hell is so important…?" her voice trailed off when she saw Paige. She recognized the shrapnel as being a piece of the bot she had worked to carefully on, her legs gave way beneath her.
Norman caught her just before she hit the ground, but he wasn't looking so stable himself. Steve moved to help support her, whispering some words of encouragement to Norman. He let him know it was okay to leave the room, advice which Norman gladly took.
Wanda stayed, staring at Paige, paralyzed by her own guilt. The robot she had fostered, had killed an innocent girl. She knew her robot had been built to kill, but not her. Never her.
"Where are Hatchworth and Matt?" Steve asked as he took account of the people in the room.
"Matt's on his way, I don't know where Hatchworth is." The Spine said, not moving.
"I think I might… I'll be back in a few minutes." He left the room and swiftly made his way to the vault.
Hatchworth was there, as he had expected, it was a familiar place for the bronze bot to power down. He went to Hatchworth and carefully powered him on, pulling him out of stasis. A soft click sounded through the near empty vault as hatchworth powered on. Steve stood by, waiting for him to wake.
Matt showed up only moments before Hatchworth. "Hey, what's going…. woah." He looked at the body. He turned around and walked out of the room for a moment, paused and went straight back in. He pointed at Paige for a moment, "That's a…" He put his hand down, looking at The Spine. "Is she…?" He couldn't seem to finish a sentence as he stared in disbelief at the body of the girl he had met not so long ago.
Steve led Hatchworth into the kitchen with a grimace. Hatchworth looked at Paige and then at The Spine. "Did she have a malfunction?" Hatchworth asked, as though he was asking if the sun was out. Hatchworth walked over to Rabbit, peering closer at Paige. "She seems to be leaking hydraulic fluid at an alarming rate. should take a look at that."
The Spine raised an eyebrow, mouth slightly open. Michael stared at Hatchworth, his face contorted with conflicting emotions of shock and disbelief.
"Michael, can you take Brianna for a minute?"
Michael nodded, wrapping his arms around her as The Spine released his grip.
"Hatchworth, can you come with me for a minute?"
Hatchworth followed The Spine out of the room with a confused expression. "Is there something wrong, The Spine?"
The Spine placed a hand on Hatchworth's shoulder. "Hatchworth, do you know what's going on?"
"Paige appears to have suffered a breakdown." Hatchworth said bluntly, not seeing the flaw in his logic.
The Spine searched Hatchworth's eyes for any recognition, finding none. "Hatchworth, you do realize Paige is human right?"
"Why of course I know that The Spine."
"Humans don't have breakdowns, Hatchy." The Spine paused for a moment. "You know when a robot breaks down, and sometimes they don't wake up? It's a lot like that."
Hatchworth stared at The Spine in disbelief. "I'm sure it's nothing Mr. Reed can't fix."
"Hatchworth." The Spine said, looking the bronze automaton in the eye. "Paige is dead. She didn't break down, and she's not going to wake up." It pained him to say it so bluntly, but the truth had to be said.
Hatchworth finally understood what The Spine meant. "But she can't be dead." He said, tripping over the word 'dead' as he forced the foreign pronunciation past his lips.
"I know this is hard on you Hatchy, but right now we need to be strong. For Rabbit."
The Spine and Hatchworth went back to the kitchen where they all struggled to grapple with a harsh reality.
Paige was dead.
Matt spoke up out of the silence. "Shouldn't we call the police or something?"
Michael, Steve and The Spine let out a small collective laugh, eliciting a look of confusion from Matt.
"We have a certain… understanding with the police. They don't come out here anymore." The Spine explained.
Matt frowned slightly, "Shouldn't we at least call her parents?"
The Spine nodded slowly, taking the phone off of the counter. "That would be my job. Excuse me for a few minutes." He stepped out of the room.
He took a deep breath before dialing. The phone rang for a few moments before a woman picked up.
"Hello?"
"Hello. Mrs. Law I presume?"
"Yes, who's this?"
"I'm The Spine, I'm calling from the Walter Manor."
"Oh yes, I remember you. You're one of those robots."
"Yes I am. I'm afraid I'm calling for reasons other than being social."
"And those reasons would be?" She asked, her voice sounded impatient, as though she had something more important to be doing.
"I have some distressing news. It's about your daughter."
"Paige? Oh my god is she okay? Is she hurt?" All traces of impatience had disappeared from her voice replaced with an overwhelming amount of concern and panic.
The Spine paused trying to fight for the right words. "Your daughter passed away this morning. I'm deeply sorry for your loss."
A choked sob sounded from the phone, "You mean… she's dead? How? How did this happen?!"
The Spine swallowed. "I can't be certain. I believe it was an accident in the lab, I wasn't there, only my brother Rabbit was."
"Well then ask him! She was my daughter, I deserve to know what happened to her."
The Spine stiffened slightly, "My brother is indisposed at the moment. He's still in shock from losing her, I don't know if you are aware of this, but my brother was in a romantic relationship with your daughter."
A laugh of contempt sounded from the phone. "I would hardly call it 'romantic' he's just a piece of metal, just like you. He can't feel. I don't care if he's in 'shock'. I want to know what happened to my little girl!"
The Spine vented Steam angrily but kept a cool head, reminding himself that anger was a normal stage of the grieving process for humans. "I'm very sorry for your loss Mrs. Law, but there's still the matter of her funeral to attend to."
"What of it?"
"We have a cemetery here at the manor where we traditionally bury our loved ones. It's well maintained, and has open access to family members."
Another laugh from the phone. "Are you insane? Do you honestly think you have the body of our little girl."
"Mrs. Law, we-"
"You listen to me you piece of scrap of metal.
We.
Are.
Taking.
The.
Body."
