Mable: Here we are with the new chapter! Sorry this took so long to get out, but everything was a little wobbly for a while. Back on schedule! I don't own 9, Enjoy!
Our Inner Beasts
Chapter Twenty-Eight: Working to a Solution
It had been hours since Five had fallen asleep and Fabrication was still working. Though he was now running into a peculiar problem.
At the factory, with the humans, they forced him to start and stop whenever they willed it and he barely could keep up towards the end. Here, he was not forced to do anything yet, and wasn't even working too hard. Yet this body was winding down. He was growing tired even when he thought he built a body strong enough to resist it. He was having trouble keeping his gaze focused and his writing was slowing down.
It was only the sound of movement from Five's bed that woke him from his steady decline. Somehow able to get a second wind, Fabrication straightened and moved on to sketches for possible beast designs. Hopefully, something less dull would rouse him from this state. A few steps pattered across the floor before Five was standing behind him. He paused his writing as his optics darted off to the side; as though he would be able to see the male, which he couldn't.
"Fabrication?" Five quietly asked. "Aren't… Aren't you tired? You've been working all night." The machine gave a slight shrug and continued to struggle and work. By now he wasn't even certain what the numbers meant that he was writing down. They were just motions to keep him working and deterrents to buy Five off. The motions abruptly stopped when a warm hand was on his shoulder. "Come on. You need to sleep."
Maybe it was the exhaustion or maybe it was the sudden touch of warmth, but the former machine halted what it was doing. Almost immediately, exhaustion took a tighter hold, and his optics blinked as they struggled to stay focused. He brought a hand to his face and tiredly rubbed over it in a desperate plead for relief.
"Come on. Into bed," Five coaxed one last time before slipping a hand under its arm and starting to help it to its feet. He went along with the motions; stepping along and numbly following as Five coaxed him to Nine's bed. He couldn't understand the concept of exhaustion too well, considering that as a Machine he didn't need to sleep, but the growing heaviness was becoming a massive problem. "Lay down."
Five watched with furrowed brows as Fabrication dropped down on his front on Nine's bed. "I didn't mean like that. That doesn't look comfortable…" But Five's words were either ignored or not heard at all. The moment that it hit the bed, it fell entirely unresponsive, and the healer gave a sigh. He carefully removed its cloak and folded it at the foot of the bed. Then he grabbed a spare blanket and tossed it over him, not wanting to wrestle for the trapped blankets beneath it. At least the Stitchpunk resembling being was in bed now.
"Goodnight," the one eyed male remarked, the littlest bit of an amused smile on his face, and headed back to his own bed to lie down. At least he knew that the other couldn't do anything while he was sleeping.
Morning came too fast. Fabrication was roused by the sound of talking and the familiar voices of Nine and Five. His optics opened abruptly in groggy surprise, but he noticed that he was too tired to support the red glow in his eyes. Too lethargic in both emotion and body. He knew what it was like to work day and night creating machines without stop, making weapons for the humans, and yet he had never gotten like this. He had gotten overheated, not weary, and everything was still so slow.
"Oh, hey! You're awake!" Five noticed he was awake and sent him a smile. He was so eager and awake, in sharp contrast to the being laying on its front. Fabrication briefly regarded him with a glance. "That's great. We were just about to start-."
With that, Fabrication closed its eyes and the world went dark for a little while longer.
He opened them again to see Cat's back as the male sat on the bed in front of him. Annoyance exerted itself as a huff and a brief spark from his left optic. He turned his head down into the bedding while Cat turned around to look at him. He gave his own hum and reached out to touch the male, but then drew his claws back, deciding against it. He waited instead for his creator to eventually rouse enough to get out of bed. Then, without warning, he pushed himself upwards and sat on the bed silently.
Once he was sure that his creator was alert enough to listen, Cat quietly forewarned him that Two and Five were waiting, all while speaking in their own language. Fabrication gave a short huff and climbed out of bed the rest of the way before allowing Cat to lead him out into the Sanctuary. As they were stepping out of the hall into the throne room, Cat's audio receptors suddenly caught onto a conversation nearby.
"She didn't come back last night. With Six drawing pictures of that… beast, it would be safer if someone went out to find her," Nine could be heard saying. "We can't leave this to chance."
"This is not the first time that Seven has stayed out longer than the night," One argued back. "We've seen her leave for days in the past." Then his focus seemed to change. "Five, go keep an eye out from the Watchtower and ring the bell if you see her coming."
It was now that Cat and Fabrication stepped out into the throne room. One, Two, Five, Nine, and Eight were standing together, but only four were seemingly active in the conversation. The twins were by the lift, staring down and waiting for any response. While normally Cat wouldn't be concerned, Seven's extended trip outside didn't make sense. He had seen her last night and she had plainly said that she was coming back.
"There's Cat," Two remarked before striding over. "Cat!" He waved to catch the male's attention, as though Cat wasn't already watching. "Cat, Seven never made it home last night. Did she speak to you?"
Cat really didn't want to say what he was about to, but he could feel that cold gaze on the back of his neck. He couldn't lie in front of his maker, even if Fabrication was half asleep and was more zoned out instead of staring. "I was with her last night, out there," Cat revealed, "but I she stayed out when I came back."
"Of course it would be a romantic rendezvous when there is a beast afoot," One remarked with a smugness in his tone. Cat wouldn't disagree; it was at least a partially romantic meeting, if only the later half of it.
"Did she say where she was going?" Two inquired with concerns.
"We sparred, she needed to stretch her legs," Cat explained briefly. "She didn't say anything about going anywhere else…" Suddenly, this all seemed a bit more discouraging. Seven made it sound like she was going to come back shortly, and yet it was late morning and she was gone. "…I'll go out."
"Now that won't be necessary," One broke in. "We don't need more Stitchpunks missing. Five, the watchtower."
Five jolted slightly and started forward, beckoning to Fabrication. "We'll get started in the watchtower while I'm keeping a lookout. I think there's some work we can do up there," he suggested before heading to the stairs. Nine followed along with him. After a few moments, Five realized that the former machine wasn't following, and looked back to him expectantly. "...Please?"
Cat turned to the machine and murmured a quiet comment, reminding him gently of the situation he was still in. Fabrication, while still exhausted from being in this overworked body, gave a slow exhale and followed to the stairs, staring down the floor as he did. Cat followed behind the three, but was only intending to follow them to the other lift, wanting to make sure that his maker would be both cooperative and safe.
"Did you see the pictures?" Nine asked Five.
"I did. They're… They're pretty freaky, to be honest. Way scarier than the beast… Uh…" The one-eyed male looked back and gave a small call of. "No offense, Cat!" Cat raised a claw in dismissal; he wasn't even listening.
"No offense?" Nine asked quietly in obvious confusion.
Five ignored the question and continued. "But we've never seen it before now. Maybe it's just passing through and if we avoid it it'll leave the city? It's a big world out there."
"I hope, because Six's really shaken." Nine then lowered his voice to only barely audible. "Do you think you could ask…?" He gestured back with his optics. Five briefly turned his head back before answering.
"Huh? Oh, no. No way." Five shook his head swiftly. "I'm lucky he's willing to work with me. I can't risk that."
"No. It's best you don't…" Nine agreed with a sigh. He rubbed the back of his head. "Maybe Cat can look at the pictures. Anything's better than waiting for nothing."
Almost immediately after Nine finished this sentence, the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard. Both turned back to see the twins hurrying to them. They pointed back eagerly and Cat hurried past them and towards the stairs, apparently getting the gesture first. Nine and Five then followed suit, with Five briefly stopping beside Fabrication, who seemed uninterested, to point him to the lift.
"The lift is raising!" Two called to Nine and Five once they were back in view. He and One stood in front of the lift, waiting for Seven to eventually appear. Cat came to a halt beside them, the twins stopping on each side of him, and waited as well. Then, appearing slowly in the raising lift, Seven came into view. Thankfully she seemed to be uninjured.
Before she could step out, the twins barged in and hugged onto her, even before Cat could try to move in. Adding in, One gave a quick call of, "Where on Earth have you been?"
"Trapped," Seven flatly answered. "Underneath a car all night, and most of this morning too." She sounded more annoyed than anything, but Cat felt his own disturbance intensify as he stepped in. As she brushed past and stood alongside him, he could see the dirt clinging to her white fabric. "Good morning, Kitty Cat," she quietly greeted in a sigh. He tensed further; something had been hunting her and he knew it.
"What happened?" Two asked with dread. "Six has been drawing pictures of a beast and we suspected the worst."
The Warrior perked at the comment and looked towards the cubby. "He has?" Driven by sudden curiosity, she strode over and headed into the cubby. Cat and the twins followed along with her. Six knelt on the floor, sketching away, and he paused long enough to look back. He gave a soft gasp.
"Seven!" His face broke into a smile. "You're okay!" He jumped to his feet and hurried over to throw his arms around her. He hugged her tightly and she held him back.
"I am now. Two said you were drawing something," she said, getting straight to the point. "Can you show me what it is that you're been drawing?"
"Sure," Six answered as he bent over and grabbed the paper. He then showed the drawing to the female and she looked down at the figure. After a few moments of studying it, her look changed. Her face suddenly got a look of brief dread and her lips tightened in concern. She soon afterwards turned and looked towards the others, along with the ones now standing in the throne room.
"That is what I saw," Seven confirmed, "but it was much worse in person…" With a small sigh, Seven lowered her head tiredly and rubbed her face. She could feel Cat's claw land on her opposite shoulder and gently move her in to a one-armed hug. He pressed his head against hers, unafraid to show affection in front of the others; even when One had previously given a hint that he knew something was happening.
"It was a large, hulking brute. It had tatters of some sort of fabric on its back; like a canvas bag that someone tried to stitch it fabric. Clutched in each hand was a short hatchet, an actual hatchet, and it had a head like a hammer…" Seven explained to the group. Then she shuddered inwardly, "But by far, the most unsettling part was its eye… It was blue instead of red. We've come to expect red, but it had an eye of blue."
Suddenly Cat was listening in much more intently, because he had never heard of a beast with blue optics. He turned to look at Fabrication, but realized that he hadn't followed them down to the throne room. He would inquire later.
"Good heavens…" Two quietly murmured as he looked towards Six. "I… I can see why you were so worried now." The artist nodded stiffly. "And it attacked you?"
"I knew that I couldn't take it alone," Seven admitted. "The beast- I guess I would call it a Hammer Beast- was too heavily armed. I had to hide and wait for it to eventually move on… Unfortunately, it took all night." She seemed uncomfortable admitting that she had hid, but at this point nobody blamed her. From what it looked and sounded like, it was too much for any single Stitchpunk.
"You made the right choice," Two reassured. One nodded in agreement with the shorter.
"Did you see which way it went?" Nine asked with growing dread. There was no way that a beast that dangerous would just vanish back into the Emptiness. Eventually, they would run back into it.
"No. My sight was limited, being under the car, and once it was gone I came straight back here. I didn't want to risk being stuck out there any longer," Seven assured with a firm nod following the statement. Nobody argued with this train of though. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get some actual rest."
"Sounds like a plan. I'll head up to the Watchtower to keep an eye on the Beast," Five assured as he turned towards the stairs. While he did this, Cat released Seven and started heading for the lift. He only got a few steps before a hand grabbed his arm.
"And where are you going?" Seven inquired. Though she had a pretty good idea of where he was intending to go.
"Head hunting. I'll bring you back a hammer with a blue eye," Cat remarked with a light smirk and went to pull away. Seven's grip only tightened and he knew better than to fight it.
"Don't you dare. You can't handle that beast alone. I couldn't handle it alone," Seven firmly insisted. Then she lowered her voice, "And I can handle you just fine."
"Dove…" Cat purred desperately. He turned to her and took her other hand in his own. "I have to do it. For your honor and mine."
"Lovely sentiment, but I'm not buying it. You just want to go drive it off so that you can reclaim your territory. I can see right through you," Seven remarked matter-of-factly. She was partially correct, but he did feel an overwhelming disturbance that the beast had cornered her; she whom Cat was attempting to court. A rogue beast, one that didn't seem loyal to his creator, had threatened his home and his Dove. He couldn't stand aside and let the beast just get away with it. Yet Seven was adamant, "Look, I'm shaken. I could use someone in the room with me while I sleep."
She didn't want to mention sleeping together bluntly in front of One, so this was a perfect median. Cat seemed disappointed, but Seven gave him a tug and managed to move him slightly. "Now I've never seen you turn down a nap," she playfully remarked. She would've if she allowed him the option to hunt, but Cat loyally followed along with her, managing to ignore his concern for his maker. He would be fine for the moment.
Watching them leave, Two decided to leave as well. "Being that the Beast may be heading this way, I'll head down into the Workshop and retrieve what we need immediately. Then we can stay up here for a few days and, hopefully, the beast will be thrown off our trail," the Inventor suggested. He was mostly speaking to Nine and Five, who were halfway up the stairs and heading to the lift. "I'll be up shortly afterwards." Then he turned to head to the bucket lift. Though he was immediately confronted by One standing blatantly in front of the lift.
"Huh, that's peculiar. I seem to be detoured," Two remarked as he peered up at One. One looked utterly unenthused. "How peculiar, this strange statue blocking me seems to be sucking a lemon." Without a word, One pointed off into the throne room, away from the bucket. "That's one way to court," Two quietly quipped with partial amusement, partial exasperation as he made a waving gesture and approached the stairs. "I'll be in the Watchtower if you need me." One gave a content nod and continued to his throne.
Eight, meanwhile, raised his brows at his boss. "Good job standing your ground-." One gave a nod and climbed the steps to his throne. "-But I thought you didn't want Two alone with the Machine." With a choke, One nearly stumbled in place, spinning on his heel to storm back down. However, he then noticed the weird looks that Eight and Six were giving him. Not wanting to be too obvious, he decided to let it go.
"Five would throw himself into the line of fire to shield Two. They will be fine," One denied and reclined back into his throne. It just seemed easier and they went back to their own things. It was good enough.
Back in Seven's room, Cat was already antsy. He stood by the door, shuffling from foot to foot, and Seven noticed quickly that he was hesitating. This was especially odd to her as, usually, he would already be stretched out on her bed, happy with messing with up sheets and blanket. It didn't take her long to make a guess.
"He'll be fine, Cat. Nine and Five are going to keep an eye on him, and you know how good of an influence Two can be," Seven assured as she slipped off her helmet and set it on the nightstand. Cat watched as she stretched out on her bed on her back, snatching her own pillow and tugging it firmly under her head.
Agreeing with her silently, Cat sat down at her feet and simply looked down at her. Eventually her optics opened just a small bit. Just enough that she could peer down at him with a questioning gaze. Yet he found his eyes exploring her, as they usually did. Searching over her soft fabric and the intricate patterns that came on her canvas. From her long, gently folded legs to her small, green tinted toggle; Seven was almost too much to look at. He could stare at her and be entranced, like one would stare at a shiny object or a rare gem found hidden in the Emptiness.
She raised her hand in a partial beckon. He immediately caved and moved in behind her. His sharp claws coddled her face and trailed along the back of her head as he laid down alongside her. She, in return, reached upwards and removed his helmet before setting it alongside her own. Then, in a surprising gesture- unexpected and bold, though more former than the latter- she leaned in to press herself into his chest. Seven usually wasn't this open to coddling. Usually she just waited until Cat would get affectionate, then would give equal responses.
Seven was prideful. Normally a gesture like this would've been read as too weak or too desperate, but she was tired and it was now Cat that was holding back. Thankfully, this minor gesture managed to coax more out of Cat. He put his arms around her and rested his head on hers, holding her close. She took in his scent and let her body relax.
"It didn't touch you," Cat suddenly stated. Though it was more of an indirect question than a direct statement. He trailed his claws gently along her back. "You're certain?"
"It didn't get to me, Cat," Seven assured, letting her optics close.
"You would tell me if it did?" Cat inquired, still unsure about the situation.
"I promise," Seven assured with another muffled yawn. "Now quiet down. Your dove needs her sleep or she's not going to be very pleasant."
"Unpleasant? My dove? Nah," Cat disagreed with a purr as he held her more securely. Finally, he could shut down enough to just relax in holding her. He could ignore the beast for the moment to comfort his mate.
But as soon as she gave him the confirmation, he would be out on the hunt. Sooner or later, he would drive the beast away.
While it wasn't early morning, golden light still managed to fall upon the watchtower through broken clouds. It would've been a beautiful sight to behold, but there was distraction. Five headed immediately to the spyglass and began to look through at the Emptiness far below. Two followed him while Nine approached the edge of the railing and stared down at the Cathedral.
"See any sign of it?" Nine asked and Five gave a frown as he nudged the spyglass around.
"No… Nothing at all…" He gave a small sigh and continued to look. It was a few minutes later, when he pulled away from the telescope, that he noticed he had forgotten something. Or someone, who was currently sitting in the lift and looking as disinterested as could be. "We should get started with work, I guess." As he stepped down from the telescope, Two took his place, sliding the more intense lens into place to look.
Fabrication stood from the lift as Five headed over to the corner to grab a tarp from nearby. He watched carefully as the healer bent over. "There's a loose patch on the roof, so what we're going to start with today is replacing the patch. Being that you have a few extra arms, this'll probably be a breeze!" Five assured with a comfortable smile as he handed the tarp over. "Let me get the scissors and the thread too. I'll just be a minute." Five then headed around to grab the appropriate supplies up into his arms.
Once finished, Five turned back to him. "So, we can fold back-," Five cut off as he noticed what the other was doing.
Fabrication reached upwards with his extra claws and grabbed ahold of the fabric. He slid it down further and intently stared at the obvious tear. It would rip worse if not dealt with, but he wasn't yet certain if a patch would be appropriate.
"Hold on, hold on," Five blurted out as he hurried over. "Let me just- Wait a moment- Let me untie this side so you can pull it down." He set down the tools and hurried over to the rope. While he untied the rope, Fabrication made a grab for the needle, and dragged it over towards him. To his slight frustration, Five came back and grabbed the needle for himself. However, the tent was easier to lower down, so at least Fabrication could manage that without being handicapped.
"Alright, so I'll stitch it closed and then we'll patch it," Five explained as he had the other hold it steadily. Fabrication disagreed with the use of their resources and wanted to speak, but his voice was caught. He sent a glance to Two and Nine, who were still by the telescope. He didn't want to speak in front of them, as it was the last piece of control he had, but he wanted to question this decision. Perhaps there was a reason for why he would risk using so much thread in a world where thread was ultimately finite. Though he had no doubt that there was enough to last any doll's lifetime.
Five threaded the needle and stood before the pale male, then reached upwards and began to stitch the tear closed. "It seems like it's nothing," Five admitted, voiced strained from his stretching. "But we want to try and keep rainwater off the watchtower as best as we can. We can't keep it all off, of course, but just keeping some of it off garuntees us a little longer without rotten wood." He looked towards the former machine and gave a smile. "And it would take more than stitches to replace that, trust me."
Yet as he worked, the machine's focus changed to something more peculiar; the fact that Five's face was patched. Parts could be replaced, so he didn't understand why the buttoned male hadn't replaced his eye. Only now, forced in close proximity and with nothing else to focus on, did Fabrication realize how truly odd it was. Now that he had a voice he could ask, but as long as he was near others he had to remain silent.
As Five finished his stitching, he noticed that he was being watched. He felt self-consciousness start to sink in as he directed his gaze back to the stitches quickly. "You're staring. Something wrong?" he inquired as he tied off the stitches and grabbed the scissors to cut the excess. "Don't let that go yet; I still need to patch it." He knelt to cut a proper sized patch while the machine gave an impatient exhale. If he would just let him do it himself then they would be finished, he was faster than this, and standing here idly was frustrating him.
Finally, Five stood and put the patch into place before quickly stitching it to the fabric of the roof. He was quick with his stitches and secured the patch. "There we go! Alright, let me just get the ropes again and we'll…" Fabrication released the fabric and headed over to the ropes that Five had untied, securing them again. "…Or you can do it. That works too." While feeling awkward, Five took the other's willingness as a good sign. "I know this isn't really the most exciting thing we could do."
The fake Stitchpunk resisted the urge to immediately agree.
"But, if you want, we could head down to the plane next and I'll show you how we get our electricity," Five offered with a small smile. "We need to check on it anyway." He could see a slight raise of the head and knew there was some form of interest there. They may have not had the parts to make the generator yet, but they had plenty of busywork. He looked over towards Nine and Two, "Two, Nine, coming?" Considering that he was just being stared at, he knew that being alone would simply be too uncomfortable.
"Yes, yes, we're coming," Two assured as he released the telescope. They hadn't been there long enough to see anything, but they couldn't afford to wait time watching all day. "We'll come back up later to look."
"Actually…" Nine slowly broke in as he continued to stand by the railing and stare down into the city. "I think I'm going to stay up here and keep an eye out for a while." He had a feeling that the beast hadn't gone far and wanted to see it for himself. "You three go on ahead. I'll be down later."
"If you're sure," Two said. "But if you do see the beast out there, ring the bell a couple of times." He pointed out the warning bell an Nine gave a nod of agreement. The three then boarded the lift and headed back down into the sanctuary.
Two and Five led Fabrication out onto the roof of the Cathedral. As dangerous as it looked, having a plane half lodged in it and an enormous hole in the roof, the roof was staying together well underneath the damage. Five stayed protectively close to Two as they approached the plane and climbed down to where they had some of the lights connected to it.
"Wind is one of the few resources that we have left at our disposal. Which is perhaps a good thing. Our world has already been so damaged by the war. Not to mention the oil drilling around the factory," Two explained matter-of-factly. He wasn't afraid to say it to the former machine. "The wind may not give us a surplus of electricity, but it is a constant source… As long as we can keep the plane in good enough condition."
He continued to climb down as Five fussily followed. "Two, maybe I should go first…"
But Fabrication was intrigued by this sudden suggestion. This meant than this plane, perhaps fifty years old, was still capable of creating some form of electricity. If not, then it meant that the Stitchpunks created something themselves. Either way, he wanted to see it. He wanted to know how it worked. He used his arms and scaled down past Two and Five, climbing along the side of the plane.
"Be careful!" Five called down after him. "It rained recently, it could be slick!" His fussing continued, but he was too busy clutching Two to follow him down.
Fabrication stopped at where one of the cables connected inside and started to look over what he could. Small sparks could be seen from inside and while he expected it all to be shoddy work, or something extremely basic, the wires inside seemed to be laced together. To his disbelief, at least one of these dolls knew something about welding. Two and Five seemed like the most likely candidates; that baffled him even more. He started to scour the machinery and looked at whatever he could see.
"He certainly is curious," Two admitted with a small smile. "So eager to learn and work. I take that as a good sign!" This brought a small smile out of Five.
"I do too… Though there was something last night." Five looked a little discontent. "He wouldn't go to bed on his own. I had to nearly drag him away from work to get him to stop."
"He was a machine before now. It must be difficult understanding our body. Imagine; the size difference alone must be devastating," Two pointed out as he looked over towards the being in question. "…Though he did choose to take this form. I suppose so that he could travel along with Cat. I couldn't imagine being trapped in that factory, regardless of what he was- or still is." He fell silent as he continued to watch the former machine's interest in their project. "But him being so proactive is a good sign."
"I think maybe if we could get the pieces for this generator and get him working that he'd be a lot happier," Five admitted to his mentor. "But with this beast out…"
"The beast won't stay here forever. In the meantime, we have plenty we can get to around the Sanctuary," Two stated with a nod. He then looked towards the former machine. He was willing to push aside the past for now, to ignore what he could and offer this chance. It could only be what the Scientist would want. It was the second chance that any sentient being deserved. Giving a small smile to Five, Two continued down the edge of the plane.
Only to be stopped at the sound of a bell ringing. Two froze, Fabrication flinched, and Five looked back up at the watchtower with dread. "He sees the beast, he had to," he pointed out. Indeed, Nine proceeded to ring the bell a few more times before stopping. "That means it could be nearby!"
"It can't get up here, Five. Calm down," Two assured as he approached the pale male and crouch down beside the opening into the depths of the plane. "Now if you're interested, I can tell you how we hooked this up." Typical Two, wanting to teach, worrying little about an impending threat. Five both admired and feared this train of thought.
He loaded his harpoon just in case.
Mable: In case you are wondering why Two is being so reassuring to the Fabrication, it is a method of 'killing with kindness'. He's not oblivious to the danger; he's hoping that forming a bond will help dissuade it. XD I sort of felt the need to mention that out of nowhere. Anyway, I'm sorry about the delay of this chapter. The next chapter will be posted once it's finished, hopefully in the next week. I hope you enjoyed!
