So sorry about the wait, I had to make sure this chapter was good enough for your expectations!
The ground gave way beneath you. The androids were quick to react, but they couldn't do much, being pulled down with you into the new hole. The world hung around you in a blur of gray and red as the air flew by. It took you a second to recognize 904 and 320, rushing down through the falling debris to get to you. You could feel them grab on to your hands and, after a moment, a hairline, nearly invisible spherical shield appeared around you. The pods pulled up, slowing your fall. Against your earlier worries, the falling concrete impacted and slid down the shield, instead of passing through.
Glancing down, you caught the other androids holding on to their pods, sinking to the ground noticeably faster than you were. The three landed with palpable thuds, skidding against the uneven debris. They had each landed safely- probably due to the fact that most of their internal components could stand such an impact. 9S looked around the room and headed toward the only obvious exit, while 2B and 47D waited about where you would be landing.
The shield fizzled out as you neared the ground. 47D stepped forward, letting the pods drop you into her arms before setting you down away from the rubble. Now with stable footing, you could afford to look around the room.
What little light flitted in through the roof could not do much to change the red glow which pervaded every square inch of the room, built to feel like an auditorium. The area you stood in was a circular stage, surrounded on most sides by the seating, long buried under a blanket of rubble. The front of the room was dominated by a massive curtain, delicately framed with white and gold trim. But strangely, no matter where you looked, you had this overwhelming feeling of some oppressive stillness, like every step, every breath was an affront to it.
"It's locked." 9S's voice unexpectedly echoed through the air, although you knew he didn't speak any louder. "I can open it, but it's not going to be quick."
"Guess we'll just have to-" 47D's voice was cut off by the mechanical screech of gears whining against a motor. Out of the corner of your eye, the curtain slowly and jerkily parted, revealing a gigantic figure cloaked in some sort of red fabric standing with its back to everyone. It slowly turned, showing off its ghastly display.
One of the first things to come to your attention was its belt. Strung arm to arm were these metalic bodies that reminded you all too much of androids, all left to dangle from the dress. The black liquid spilling from some of them told you they were fresh. The lights sparked on, casting an ill-fitting angelic glow around the figure- the machine-looking torso, stiff and crusted with rust; a helm, guarding no face, but sporting irregular spikes growing from its back and sides; and two more android corpses hanging from the spikes, tethered only by chains strangling around their necks.
The curtains and the figure stopped at the same time, allowing the room to dip into silence. She raised one arm, and the room suddenly resonated with a note she sang. She raised her other arm, and the note rang through your skull, drowning out your thoughts. The stale air had only a fraction of a second to grow still before she released a third note, which shook your entire body to the core. The floor beneath you trembled, the debris shook, and even the androids stepped back and clasped their hands over their ears.
As the note faded away, leaving little to hear but the ringing in your ears, you looked up and saw the singer land on the circular stage. Letting the burst of dust from her landing spread out, the slats making up her 'skirt' raised, revealing a number of interlocked mechanisms squirming against each other underneath. You suddenly felt 9S step up behind you, followed by more than two pods grabbing on to you.
"-n't say anything about a machine like this!" 9S shouted behind you, the ringing in your ears blocking out some of what he said. "We need to get him out of here!" You definitely felt the pods begin to tug against you, starting to pull you up…
Only for the bullets to begin flying, one striking against 904. In a pulse of energy that arced out from him, he suddenly gave out, releasing you and dropping from the air. You didn't fall far, only being a few centimeters in the air, but you struggled to catch 904 as he fell. The other pods released you and frantically began to fire back. 904 seemed to be thrashing around as the sparks danced around and off him.
"Move!" 9S picked you up and ran, wrenching you out of the moment and causing you to drop 904. "Theo, you can't just stand still when-" 9S's voice stopped dead, as the noise of something charging pierced the air.
You had not time to react, being deliberately thrown from 9S. Your arms wheeled as you landed off balance. You turned back just in time to see the songstress slam into 9S, an array of yellow-hot blades sprouting from the hem of her 'skirt'. He managed to pull away, but with a number of black burns scratched across his side. 9S staggered back as she lost momentum and slammed her skirt down. A second later, she pulled it back up, exposing a different mechanism- one with more barrels than you were comfortable with.
They suddenly angled up, and started firing- somehow these bullets looked different than the tanks- like there was far more energy stored in them. As the first shots finished their arcs, they landed with an explosive burst, a pulse of energy and electricity resounding from them. Swallowing, you eyed the next group of shots as they traced their way down, unsettlingly noticing the next round fire. You couldn't believe you were doing this, but you charged straight at her the moment the second round landed.
The charge didn't dissipate as quickly as you wanted to, leaving you with a blast of heat and an electric smell as you took what shelter you could from the third burst. From the other side of the songstress, you could hear someone just laying in to the machine, hopefully completely ruining the delicate machinery inside.
The hem slammed down again, and the songstress spun back. Seizing the opportunity, you distanced yourself from her as well. You caught 47D running around, now charging straight at you, weapons behind herself. The hem raised a third time, showing another assortment of weapons, each charging.
In a blinding burst, the floor of the room filled with lines of searing light. A deep, cackling laugh echoed from somewhere deep inside the songstress. 47D leapt over each one, not letting herself get singed on any of them. While the beams missed in their initial burst, you realized, with horror, that they were turning. 47D swept by in a blur, lifting you away from danger, but the songstress spun faster, giving no quarter to the androids. You heard some of the emitters burst, their lasers sputtering off. With this annoyance, the songstress slipped the beams off, turned back toward her stage, and-
Oh God, a whole section of boosters were firing underneath the songstress, lifting her off the ground back to her safety. Despite her size, she crossed to the stage with frightening speed, where she gathered yet another burst of energy.
"209, get the other pods together." 47D frantically spoke to her pod. "Now that it's occupied, you all can-" 47D was cut off, suddenly falling forward and dropping you. Picking yourself up and looking back, you found her spasming in pain, twitching uncontrollably. The pods around her were faring little better, but off in the distance, you could see 9S relatively unharmed.
"It's trying to hack us!" he cried, staggering back with a hand bracing his other arm. "2B!" He rushed over to the barely-upright android, pulling her back up. Back on the stage, the songstress was still standing, but slumped over. It felt like it was still watching everyone.
You saw the songstress pick itself back up, its entire body moving in spasms as it spoke. "Beautiful… Beautiful…
"I must be Beautiful!" Another shriek pierced the air, forcing you to clamp your hands over your ears. You could hear a number of items slam themselves into the ground around you, over, and over, and over. Looking up…
You wished you hadn't looked up.
Spaced all throughout the battlefield were those silver android corpses, each of them tied, strapped, nailed, pierced, or affixed by some other means to these clusters of twisted metal. Their mouths were forced open, each one of them permanently frozen in a scream, soldered into this unending torment. Together, they formed this unholy cacophony of held, untuned screams.
Looking down, you tried pulling 47D upright. At first, she didn't react at all- her heavy body (heavier than you expected) didn't respond at all. After a second, she suddenly bolted up, standing like you hadn't helped her up. In a flurry of sword blows, she started to destroy the crucified androids around herself. You couldn't quite tell what was happening, why the androids saw the need to keep destroying them.
As the last few corpses were being taken down, the curtain opened again. "I've almost analyzed the enemy's hacking pattern," 9S shouted over the din of battle. "If I'm going to hack it back, you need to keep it busy!"
The songstress descended down from the stage again. You could tell by the slashes and dents all across her body that she had taken a fair amount of damage, but was still far too eager and ready to continue the battle. The engines all cut out at the same moment, slamming herself down. The hem of her dress raised, and the mechanisms beneath launched a burst of missiles. She fired four rounds, each directed at a different participant, speaking a word at each launch with a far more disjointed and maniacal tone than any other machine you've heard. "More… Beautiful… More… Beautiful…" 47D rushed by, pulling you along, to dodge the missiles fired at both you and her.
The songstress's hem dipped, then rose. By how she was carrying herself, she was starting to lose strength- but considering that 47D was almost limping when carrying you along, you seriously questioned who would win this battle of attrition. The new mechanism charged, firing a glowing ring up into the air, before it dropped back to the ground, immolating everything in its path. 47D held back, then slipped under one of the rings. She stumbled as she ran through the remnant of the explosion, dropped you off, then stepped up to attack.
The hem slipped back down, or at least tried to, since parts of it stuck for a few seconds before unsteadily following. With a grinding noise, something inside her shifted as the hem rose. With surprising regularity and slow speed, a number of delicate chains of bullets issued forth from her, decorating the air in a complex display of destruction. The songstress began to slowly move across the stage, quietly croaking out, "More… More… More…" You had to duck around the bullets filling the area. Though whatever pod was hovering right next to you was doing their best, they had significant difficulty in clearing the air around you of all the bullets.
With a loud grind and a shudder, the songstress stopped and looked around itself. From its side, a flame appeared, licking its way up her dress, burning away the fabric. Another shriek pierced the air, but instead of a note, it was the sound of panic. The songstress flailed about, desperately trying to put out the fire which engulfed her. In seconds, the dress fell off her form. The songstress sank to the ground, clutching at what little remained of her garments. The slats that made up her skirt buckled and pushed off to the side as she lowered herself.
Her voice, lower now than it ever was, repeated a line over and over: "I must become more beautiful. I must become more beautiful…" The crashing and breaking of metal announced her standing back up, as four legs tore their way out of the dress. "I. Must." Most of the skirt broke away, trapped beneath her feet as she stood up. "Become. More." She stood up to her new full height, arms reaching toward the ceiling, and announced the last word with a scream. "Beautiful!"
With a leap, she crossed the entire room and landed right next to 9S, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. Before he could react, it grabbed him in a crushing grasp and sent him flying across the room. As he sailed past a light, you could tell that his body didn't look like you remembered- something about the silhouette struck you as wrong. Was it how his limbs bent? How his body was twisted?
Out of the corner of your eye, you just caught something soaring toward you. Instinctively, you turned and tried to catch it, or at least deflect it. The pain radiating through your hands and stomach as the projectile hit you said enough- but as you screwed your eyes shut, something in the back of your mind told you its shape seemed all too familiar.
A crash sounded through the room as 9S impacted the wall next to the stage, sending the facade and decorations raining down. 2B shouted, panic and fear present in her voice. "9S!" The songstress turned and focused on her, crossing the room in another bound.
Its landing wasn't clean, the machine stumbling as it impacted the ground. 2B took full advantage, dashing forward and carving into its forelegs as it attempted again and again to right itself. Ripping and tearing at its insides, 2B showed no hesitation in exacting every bit of vengeance from it. After shearing one of its legs clean off, the songstress slammed a hand on top of 2B, slowly bringing her up.
Meanwhile, 47D could only watch the scene unfold around her. "Theo," her voice was shaky, like she was suppressing her fear boiling up beneath the surface, "the pod's broken, you can't use it for-"
"Negative," 320 suddenly spoke up, "pod 153 has calculated optimal attack vector to destroy the target, but is unable to actualize the attack due to damage. Attempting data and program copy." She dove and picked 153 up from your hands.
A shriek tore your attention from your pods, toward the songstress and- to your dismay- the body of 2B soaring toward you. You had no time to react, merely flinching and covering your head, and 47D could only pull her weapons out of the way. The two collided, and 2B was sent tumbling over you, landing with an audible crunch behind you. 47D stumbled back and purposefully away from you. The damage from battle was wearing down on her. The charred parts of her skin cracked as she struggled to stand, desperate to move herself to intercept danger.
Off in the distance, the songstress attempted to leap toward you. Bereft of its two front legs, to its surprise, all it could do was throw itself to the ground. With a snarl that resonated through the room, it pulled itself along the ground, slamming its hands into the concrete to better its grip.
Glancing back at 2B, you found her struggling to stand up. Her clothes were tattered and her skin was peeling off in several locations, revealing the metal structure underneath. Her right hand was partially shattered, with two of her fingers broken and seemingly useless. She nearly fell over as she stood, herself as desperate to get back into battle, like 47D.
"Pod," you shouted at 320, "hurry!"
"Affirmative. Data transfer complete." In one swift movement, 320 ripped off the lower part of 153 and then extracted a cartridge from inside. Discarding the rest of the body, 320 opened, dropping her old cartridge and plugging the new one in. After a second of charging and aiming at the songstress, 320 said one last sentence: "Proposal: look away."
You complied.
In a burst of light and sound, bright enough to see even with your eyes closed and while you were turned away, 320 fired upon the Songstress. In one final, faltering note, the songstress gave her dying song.
You knew that, in the absence of objects for the mind to recognize in the field of view, it will create new ones from the random noise. But even that couldn't explain what you were seeing.
As the moment hung in the air, you saw two figures silhouetted in grey against a beige background. The two figures, one towering over the other, stood apart facing each other. Each raised an arm toward the other, as if longing for embrace.
The light faded, and you heard 320 fold back up. As you cautiously opened your eyes and surveyed the aftermath, you found 2B and 47D struggling to stand up. Looking to where the songstress was, you saw nothing but a twisted wreck of metal, the remnants too far removed from the original form to be recognizable- a mound of debris jutting out at any conceivable angle.
"9S… 9S!" 2B, limping though she was, broke into a half-run around toward where the Scanner had last been seen. She had a tight grip on her left arm as she intermittently staggered forward. Her clothes were torn, and you could see a few places where shards had dug into her skin, jutting out like quills.
Your thoughts were moving slower than you liked- it was only now that you could manage to move yourself forward to check on 9S. You only briefly registered that 47D had said something, and was herself struggling to stand. Fear slowly made its way up your body, tensing your muscles. Would 9S be fine? It wasn't like 2B to be panicked like that- you expected her to patch herself back up, then hurry over to see if 9S needed further assistance.
You began to understand why she was so distressed about 9S as he came into view. The debris from the collapsed stage had fallen into a pile, and 9S was partially buried, only part of his upper body stuck out.
Immediately, you could tell he was in a critical state.
Part of his face had been bashed in, a region on the left side of his face stretching between the chin and cheekbone. There was a crack on his upper left arm, most of the limb below twisted away at an unnatural angle, wires spilling out and away. Even as 2B rushed toward him, he showed no sign of response.
2B was quick to take on the debris above 9S, pulling away at the chunks above him. Seeing rusted rebar climbing out of the concrete like patchy grass, you weren't even sure of what you could do to help, unless you tried pulling him straight out of the pile. You quickly secured your grip and took a deep breath, willing the adrenaline to stay coursing through your system for just a little bit longer.
You pulled on 9S with everything you had. To your dismay, 9S barely moved an inch, although you did feel something shift. A spark jumping from his body caught you off guard, and his voice sprang to life- but it sounded off. It wasn't a natural-sounding voice, it sounded synthesized, like it came through one of your pods.
"Theo, wait-" just as the voice cut off, you felt something shift within the pile shift again. With another tug, you felt his body start to slide free from the debris.
"It's fine, 9S. See? We've gotten you out, we-" You looked down at 9S in horror. While you had definitely pulled 9S free of the pile, you found why it had become so much easier. Both of 9S's legs had broken off mid-thigh. While the right was far from a clean cut, it had at least detached entirely. His left leg still hosted a number of cables stringing it to the rest of his leg under the pile, some of which having snapped while you pulled him out. "Oh- oh God. 9- 9S. I-" Your body became numb in parts, and you felt yourself drop to the ground, your grip still steeled on his arms.
"Theodore, Theodore!" 9S seemed to nearly be begging you to listen to him, though his voice cut out intermittently. "This- -your fault, Theo, this isn't your-"
You stopped listening, sinking backward. Your thoughts began to swim. 9S continued to try to talk to you, 2B moved to begin repairs on 9S, you felt disconnected as the world just seemed to move around you. You- you had actually caused all this hadn't you? This all could have been avoided.
If only you hadn't brought the androids this far into the amusement park.
If only you hadn't asked them to continue exploring after the first day.
If only you hadn't even asked them to take you here in the first place.
If only you hadn't-
"9S! 2B! Theodore!" 47D's shouting shook you back to reality. "Hold up! Why did you all run off?"
"9S was in serious condition," 2B countered, "I couldn't just-"
"Yes, you could wait! You're barely in any better state, yourself!" She dropped heavily next to you and started to look you over while still talking to 2B. "How do you expect to help 9S when you won't help yourself?"
You looked at 47D and all of her still-open wounds covering her body. "What about you? You still look like-" her glare cut you off.
"In case you haven't noticed, you're a little bit more important than we are, Theodore. We're…" she momentarily glanced away and hesitated on the word, like she feared facing it, "replaceable, if worse comes to worst. I think you're about to see this."
"No…" 2B said, at first under her breath, then pointedly to 47D, "I'm not leaving him behind."
"2B, just look at him. He's far beyond repair- he'd be more of a liability than an asset." 47D pulled out gauze and tape, before reluctantly handing it over to 320, choosing instead to tend to her own wounds. 320 hovered close to dress what few cuts you had; they stung more and more as the adrenaline wore down.
"But we can't make the trip back with only the two of us guarding him." Her words caused 47D to pause. "We'll be caught off-guard for sure, and we can't let that happen."
"2B," 9S's voice feebly cracked, "there's- -ction point not too far aw- -n't be entirely sure where it is, or what's ar- -ave to take the risk."
It took a moment for 2B to respond, her voice suddenly far more level. "9S, forward me the location, and stay in low-activity mode. Don't risk breaking anything more that isn't broken." 9S fell silent, and 2B began work on repairing herself.
320 finished patching you up quickly, allowing you to watch some of the fascinating ways that the androids repaired themselves. Like before, the two used some type of gel to close over their wounds, but they broke out new, interesting means of self-repair. 2B pulled out a blob of dark gray material, shaped it slightly, then stuck it to where two of her fingers broke clean off. It worked surprisingly quickly, taking the function of the missing parts within a minute. You could almost see the skin and cloth crawl up as she worked on other parts.
47D was taking care of a number of shards that had dug into her skin. She pulled out the largest ones and broke off the rest, before dealing with the pits left over. To your surprise, something inside her body was systematically either dealing with or breaking down the remnants, subsuming them into her body.
2B finished first, but still left a number of presumably inconsequential damages on her body. She turned back to 9S and started some type of preparation. She obviously wasn't trying to fix him back up, but was probably preparing him for transport- removing the sharper edges from the break points of his legs, bending his arm back into shape, that sort of thing.
A thought briefly caught your attention- what happened to the pods? There had to be five coming into the battle. 320 helped patch you up, 904 was shot (but you don't remember seeing him since), 9S's pod was broken in half during the battle- you briefly wondered if 2B's and 47D's pods were scavenging the aftermath of the battle. With all the androids scattered about, there was certainly plenty to retrieve.
After a while, 47D stood up. "Are we ready to go? 209 said that the door locks disengaged, and we can probably leave through there, assuming nothing else decides to make our day any worse."
"I'm ready." 2B moved 9S's unresponsive body behind her, securing him in place.
"How far is the connection point?"
"Hopefully not all that far," 47D responded, "but we can't afford too many delays." She pulled you up to your feet, and the three of you made your way toward the door.
"So," you started after passing through the door, unsure how to bring this up, "that machine said some pretty weird things, didn't it? It's a bit odd that-"
"Theodore," 2B sharply spoke up before 47D could, "there is nothing behind what the machines say. All they do is copy from the world around them. There is nothing in their minds. No emotions, no feelings."
You passed through the atrium, opening the rusted doors to outside. You stepped back, blinded for a moment, but continued behind 47D as she continued urging you forward. You were relieved to see the bridge leading away from the castle, and the straight-shot avenue leading away. The open front gate beckoned you to continue, a promise of freedom…
Were it not for the singular machine hovering in front of the gate, its body not reminiscent of the other painted machines. Oddly, a pole stuck up from its back with a white cloth fluttering off it, nowhere near as large as it should be. Even from this distance, you could see its eyes shone green like the other machines in the park.
47D brought a hand up, stopping you from advancing. Looking between each other, the empty hall behind them, and the enemy in front the two came to a wordless conclusion. 47D turned back to you, saying, "Wait here, Theodore."
The two androids advanced up to the machine, bringing their weapons to bear. Their pods stayed behind with you, probably to keep guard over you. To your surprise, up ahead, the machine began talking to the androids. You couldn't tell what was happening, but 2B and 47D did not seem to be in accord with the machine.
While straining to listen in without moving forward, one of the pods rang, making you jump. A screen flashed up, showing 6O after the static cleared. Her face was worryingly grim, as she kept looking between a number of screens. She finally glanced straight at the camera. "Ah, Theodore?"
"Yeah?"
"Uh…" she fidgeted, glancing with uncertainty at a screen off to the side, "look, I think you already know, but something came up at camp-"
"What did?"
There was a disconcerting pause. "It's- it's nothing to worry about too much, Theo. Can I just check in with something quick? I think the locator in your pod is malfunctioning, would you mind telling me where you are? Approximately?"
You looked at her uneasily. "We're… at the park to the east of the camp."
For a moment, she tilted her head in confusion. "The park? Wait, you mean-" Realization flashed across her face. "You- you can get back soon, right? Like, really soon?"
"6O, what's going on?"
"Theo, I- I don't really think I can say. I need to go." Before you could react, the screen flicked off, leaving you staring at open air.
Off by the gate, the androids began to turn around, beckoning you to come toward them. Uneasily, and still shaken by the conversation, you made your way forward, your thoughts muddled by everything that was going on. What happened at camp? What made 6O so worried? Was the park really that dangerous?
47D began to speak as you neared them. "Theodore, this machine claims that it knows where we can go to resupply and find the connection point. It… also claims that its people are non-hostile. We're not sure if it's trustworthy, but it's the best shot we have to get 9S back up and running.
"Come on, there's no time to lose."
...And I'm so sorry to say this, but I'm putting this work on temporary hiatus to work on "Like a Father to Me", at the request of my friend. Perhaps some time away will allow me to further cement my ideas on how I want these next chapters to flow (and how to work in additional ideas).