Chapter 16: Limitations
Morning came surprisingly early for Hammerface, faint rays of light just starting to pierce the interior of the ship as he awoke. The gray experiment cracked an eye open in confusion, uncurling from the chair he'd managed to find for himself after his encounter with Nosy and Fibber.
Speaking of which…
He flattened his antenna in guilt at remembering the fight up in the top level; despite the exchange, they were still his friends...even if he didn't care for how they approached him the prior night... Not to mention, he was unnerved at the things he'd said to the two; the fact that he had even done so wasn't like him.
But, there were still the other three to worry about, and they came first…
...Or…
He sighed, shaking his head to clear the thought. He'd have to talk with his friends first-it was early enough in the day anyways.
Hammerface stood up, but winced, holding a hand to his throat; it was definitely worse now, and he could feel a tangible sting deep within it. He grimaced as he began to make his way down the hall-hopefully one of them was up by this time…
However, as he was nearing the room, he heard a noise-it was small, and barely audible, but he recognized it nonetheless.
He paused next to one of the doors before knocking. "Hey-I can hear you in there. I want in."
There was a short silence from the other side before the door was cracked open by Fudgy, who wordlessly stood aside to let him in.
Hammerface flushed as he walked into what was clearly yet another gathering of older series-older series who'd been discussing him, as they all turned and nervously glanced off to the side. Nosy and Fibber were at the forefront, but his gaze fell to Felix first. Hammerface hunched his shoulders upon seeing the older 0-series; Felix was gripping the side of the table he was sitting at and clenching his teeth, trying his best to refrain from succumbing to his own coughing fit.
"Sorry, sorry-it's just-"
"I know, it's okay Felix, I think I have something now…" He hung his head in shame-Felix's new programming had left his powerful sense of smell behind, hence the discomfort at his entrance.
Felix shook his head and drew in a quick breath, "No, don't worry about me, I'll be fine, but I think you know the other part of this though, right?"
Hammerface narrowed his eyes at the group indignantly, "I'm not budging on the programming-"
"Hammerface, I'm going to stop you right there and say I don't care about the programming-not as much as I think is appropriate for here, anyways." Fudgy said, raising her voice amidst Fibber letting out a beep. "The fact is, Felix has been smelling your sickness for the past week, and we're worried-you're not…" She sighed, "Your immunity's not as good as it was, and with you tapping into that programming all the time, it's not being addressed. We really want to help-if you'll let us."
Hammerface crossed his arms and huffed, "And what do you mean by that? Like I said, I'm not getting my function changed."
"Which is exactly why I'm not touching it, all I want is for us to get you to Jumba to address your illness. That's it. I heard about the confrontation last night. Which I advised you two against, by the way." She raised an aggravated eyebrow at Nosy and Fibber, who returned the scowl, "I just want you to think about this, okay?"
Hammerface studied the floor in silence; it was obvious that to go to Jumba would likely mean his programming would be removed, but...they were right; there was the issue of the coughing and Felix could definitely sense something was wrong with him. And worse-what if he spread it to the other three? The last thought in particular was especially concerning…
He frowned before answering the 1-series, trying to alleviate a growing sense of defeat, "...It's gonna come out, isn't it."
"Probably. I wouldn't be lying if I said it's contributing in some ways." She explained, "I know you still want it, but it's just…" She trailed off and glanced to the side, but Hammerface held up a finger, "No, I...I dunno. The thing is Fudgy? I'm...this thing, it's been a part of me since I was made. I can control it, and when I heard about the other three, it-well, theirs were more pressing for me instead, so I tapped into my programming. To-to help."
He gulped as another beep sounded out from Fibber, watching as a sea of concerned and sad expressions turned back towards him.
"I...I'm aware that wasn't the only reason..."
Nosy's eyes filled with tears, "We know Hammerface."
"I...have a question to ask." Slimy said, peering cautiously at the gray experiment, "Was this active before Jumba showed up? Or did you access this when you were first around the other three? Because if not, then…I think that would be the best way to prove you'll get around fine without it. Because I'll be frank-none of us like seeing you put yourself through this, and I'm sure you feel the same on some level."
The tool experiment was silent for a while at this question, hugging himself as he surveyed the floor. The others waited in apprehension; after the fight the prior evening, they wanted to give him as much time as he needed to think…
The "Oh." that escaped Hammerface's throat was barely audible, but Fudgy's heart sank at hearing it. The tone was soft, but there was a twinge of horror to it that she-and everyone here who'd been caught before him, understood all too well. He almost seemed to deflate as he lifted his head to stare back at them. "I-I need to get over there-right now…"
Gantu cautiously peered into the kitchen, breathing a sigh of relief at seeing it was empty. 625 was still asleep and Hammerface was nowhere in sight-a perfect time to start breakfast before either of them tried to intervene.
He frowned to himself as he opened the ship's fridge, rolling his eyes as he pushed aside a package of lunch meat. It wasn't even in its proper compartment, but by this time, putting it back just encouraged 625 to leave it out. Sure, it was similar logic to when he'd had to take over for the sandwich experiment's messes back when he'd obtained 010, but by now, he didn't bother to put anything back.
He took out an egg carton and closed the fridge...revealing a large group of older experiments watching him from behind the door.
Judging from the look of their leaders, the day was going to be a long one.
He grimaced upon seeing Hammerface however-the gray experiment had taken to hiding far out of his way in the months since their diagnoses; it was appreciated at first, but it'd soon become irritating-and then very troubling. Despite the experiment being draped in a blanket, Hammerface looked frail; he'd lost some weight, the fur on his face was ruffled, and there were large bags under his eyes. Something was clearly wrong with him, and the reason became apparent when he let out a small cough and cleared his throat, blinking tiredly up at the former captain.
Gantu stared at them for a few seconds before quietly placing the eggs back and closing the fridge, not taking his eyes off the group the entire time.
"What. The hell. Is going on." He asked, keeping his voice as low as possible.
"Oh, I think you know." Fudgy said, "We need to get to the Pelekai's today, reason's...pretty obvious." She nodded towards Hammerface, "He wants to head over there as soon as possible."
Gantu sighed-though out of relief this time around, "Fine-good, actually, I'm calling them first, you take him outside so Hamsterviel doesn't see what we're doing."
Fudgy nodded, Nosy placing a hand on his friend's shoulder as the group made their way out of the room. Gantu watched them leave before turning to the phone on the countertop, now angrily picking it up and dialing the Pelekai's residence.
"Gantu? What're you calling for?" Lilo's distrustful voice came out of the receiver.
Of course.
He tried to calm himself-at least for this part of the call. "I need to talk with Jumba. Hammerface is coming over to the house today."
"Okay."
"One thing though-he's...not feeling well, alright? Just keep that in mind for when he arrives."
"Oh-is he alright? What's wrong with him?"
He sighed, "He's sick-he lost some weight and I just want you to be prepared for that, that's all."
"Oh...well, thank you for letting me know then...I'm gonna get Jumba now."
It was a few moments before Jumba's equally distrustful tone took over, "So, 033's coming over? And Little Girl is being telling me he lost weight according to you. Any reason for that?"
"That's funny for someone who activated what looked a hell of a lot like mind control when you merged him." Gantu snapped into the phone, "Believe me, I know it when I see it, and you have some nerve accusing me of anything pertaining to Hammerface when most of his behavior stems from your mistakes."
"I don't know what's wrong with him by the way, I do think he's got himself an Earth sickness, which wouldn't be good for anyone here for obvious reasons, but he's also been isolating himself, so I may need 010 here to scope out bacteria given it's been tracked all over my ship by now. He's waiting outside, and I'm coming over. I may take some of the others with me given it's Hammerface."
The silence from the other end was deafening. Gantu felt some satisfaction at it; truth be told, he was never keen on the programming upon seeing Jumba activate it, both for pragmatic and ethical reasons. It was a couple seconds before Jumba spoke again.
"Fine-but I want to know exactly happened during this time. And I will be removing that programming immediately."
The phone clicked off, leaving Gantu alone-but only for a moment, as another noise soon caught his attention.
The sound of a monitor booting up made Gantu groan in irritation and turn to glare at Hamsterviel. "I'm in the middle of something."
"Communicating with the enemy, I see?"
"Shut up and get out! I don't have time for you today."
"For what-"
"Experiment hunting." Gantu snapped, "Is that good enough for you?!"
Hamsterviel's lip curled into a snarl, "Don't think I didn't hear the end of that call. I demand answers as to why 033 needs to be taken to my useless ex-partner-right now, or I withdraw this month's pay-"
"What's there to talk about? Hammerface is sick. You wouldn't want a sick experiment, would you? In your cell? Where you know full well any Earth bacteria could mean you're found out?" He crossed his arms and returned the glare, watching his employer grind his teeth in fury.
"I am keeping more of an eye on things then-I don't understand why 033 is sick, but it most likely has something to do with you and your stupidity in cloning them. Perhaps now would be a good time to talk with the other experiments you caught…"
Gantu narrowed his eyes, "You do whatever, I'm taking Hammerface to Jumba."
Hamsterviel wordlessly hung up, leaving Gantu alone in the kitchen. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself upon hearing yet another interruption-a small creak from behind him.
He put his hand to his head upon seeing a wide-eyed Heat and Plasmoid peering in; the fight had clearly woken them as well as a few others, as an irritated Angel could be heard shouting from down the hall.
"Agh-blitznak, look, Heat and Plasmoid? I have to leave, you two and Thresher are in charge for breakfast, alright? Avoid Hamsterviel as well-if you can help it." He said, trying to adopt a calmer tone around them.
The two had no answer for him, and he could still feel their eyes on him as he made his way out of the room…
Gantu sat on a log outside the house, trying to ignore the dramatics going on inside; the walk to the ship had been tense, as had the interaction with Jumba when he handed the experiments off to him. In a sense, he did regret what he'd said to Jumba when he'd called, but given the current situation was clearly a result of Hammerface's programming, he found it hard to have any sympathy.
He'd been sitting a good two hours since reprogramming had started, maybe more. Lilo was at school and Pleakley had left to pick her up, but Stitch was there-and avoiding him as best he could. It was appreciated despite the eventual boredom, though at this time, boredom was preferable compared to the morning's chaos.
He could hear the door open from behind him; and a loud sniff told him it was Nosy who'd done so. Gantu crossed his arms, intending to ignore the gossip experiment, but of course, Nosy couldn't let the moment go without adding in some commentary.
"He-he's getting it taken out…"
"Good. Your creator should be ashamed of putting something like that in him in the first place."
"You shut up about my creator."
"You're the one who opened your mouth."
"And you're the reason Hammerface is here." Nosy snapped, "You and your-your crap revenge scheme-"
"Let's just cut to the chase because I'm not interested in this; why are you outside, and what's going on with Hammerface?" Gantu asked, turning towards the experiment in exasperation.
Nosy narrowed his eyes at him for a few seconds before taking a short breath, "He's getting his programming taken out, and...and he doesn't have anything he does in his free time. No concept of likes or dislikes and no hobbies. So, he's probably going to have to stay here for a while."
Gantu grimaced at the 1-series in dismay. No hobbies? Nothing he did for himself? Nothing at all?
He thought back to when he'd first activated the experiment, feeling his heart sink at the realization; even before this programming had been active, Hammerface really hadn't existed for himself. It was common for genetic creations to be made with this programming-it kept them loyal after all-and it was also one of the many ethical reasons experiment creation was banned in the Federation. Unlearning it could take months, if not years, and given the situation at his ship, it might not even be feasible for Hammerface…
Gantu thought to himself in silence for a moment before looking back up at Nosy, the faint beginnings of an idea forming in his mind.
"I'm going to need to talk with Jumba then."
"Why?"
"For how Hammerface is going to recover from this, why else?"
"Therapy sessions?"
Nani raised her eyebrow at Gantu in surprise, "That's weird coming from you, but then again, this has already been a weird day to say the least."
She gestured towards the interior of Jumba and Pleakley's room, where Gantu could just see the outline of the experiment. Nani sighed towards the bed Hammerface was tucked into before continuing on, "I've never seen something like this, so I'm at a loss. It's a good idea, I'm just unsure of how we're going to go about it."
He shrugged, "Either that, or having experiments he knows come over to help."
"I am being in agreement, honestly 033 has been in need of proper support for a long time." Jumba added, "199 and 032 are insistent on helping, big problem is being Hamsterviel-as usual. If he finds out these are occurring, he will try to manipulate the meetings to his advantage."
"I can hear you, you know." Hammerface interrupted, crossing his arms. His voice was weak, and Gantu could still hear a bit of a rasp to it, but he wasn't breathless like before. He craned his neck to get a better glimpse of him, raising his eyebrow in interest at the suggestion. "And at that, I'm not sure if that can work; not to actually support you, but that situation at the ship is very delicate to put it mildly."
"Thanks. I'm aware." Gantu retorted, "Listen, Hammerface? I've seen what you had. It's akin to mind control, and it's why I got so angry at Jumba over the phone. You're...going to need something for this. You don't have to take my suggestion, but I want you to get help for this program you had-and your immunity. You had something you really shouldn't have had. That pneumonia-whatever it's called.."
"You have it right." The gray experiment sighed, putting a hand to his head; he felt uneasy now-a strange mixture of boredom, regret, and overall anxiety had overtaken him when he'd woken up, and he didn't know what to make of it. The suggestion seemed daunting to him, but still somehow workable…
He frowned, "I...don't know. Who'd take me? I'm not human, and I dunno if I'd even want other experiments around me for a bit. Even Lilo and Stitch-after...not after how I started acting around the later series…"
He paused and squeezed his eyes shut at the last thought; guilt was now added to the mix of emotions flowing through him and he felt a lump form in his throat at it. Acting like an android around the other three, sneaking them food-his food, not even bothering to talk to them...they must be angry at him by now...and given how he'd acted, he couldn't blame them...
Hammerface felt a hand on his shoulder and opened now teary eyes to Felix, Fibber and Nosy, the latter of which had been the one to do so. His friend's voice cracked as he spoke. "...Hammerface, I'm sorry Fibber and I ambushed you last night, but I could see-you were messing with them. Not just the other three, but everyone in the ship. I-I didn't want you to end up hurting them and not even realize it."
Hammerface gulped as Fibber continued, "And...I'm gonna be frank-there is some damage here, but it's not anything we can't fix, and I'm sure they'll understand. They were worried for you, but Angel started getting protective of Heat and Thresher. She noticed, and they did as well."
"So she…"
"Yeah, I think she did start listing you as a well-a problem…"
"God."
Jumba sighed sadly at the notion, "Unfortunately, is being true; 624 has made some comments. She is not being very trustful right now. I do however think she will be understanding in time. Is being ironic-she was made to not normally care about prior experiments in this manner...but the problem is remaining. We need to come up with a plan for how we go about this given Hamsterviel."
Hammerface looked down at himself and flushed, drawing the blanket further up towards his neck; it'd fallen during the conversation, and the sight of his unbrushed fur and frail frame was upsetting. Felix helped with the task, frowning as he pondered to himself…
He furrowed his brow at the younger 0-series, "Hammerface? I'm gonna take care of everyone back at the ship-if you're worried about that. I already had to tell Plasmoid and Zap, so I think I can handle them while you're gone."
"Thanks Felix…" Hammerface said, "It's just, I don't even feel like I should be around them anymore after what happened…"
"You know, if I can cut in a moment...I went through something similar when our parents passed." The early series turned towards Nani in surprise upon hearing her speak. She nodded solemnly at seeing their reactions, "It...happened. My point is, I struggled with a similar feeling for a while before Stitch and the aliens came into our lives, and worse, I was at risk of having Lilo taken away. She doesn't have health problems like Heat or Thresher or Plasmoid, but I can understand why you tapped into that program the way you did."
"But," She held up a finger at seeing Hammerface open his mouth, "what's done is done, so, given what Gantu suggested and your past in the lab, I think we should arrange for you to see our social worker."
Hammerface cocked his head in confusion, "...Social worker? How would-"
"He knows about aliens. Roswell-that one crash way back when." Nosy explained, "We can take care of everyone at the ship, and if you'll let me," He cast a glance towards Gantu, "I wanna start letting some free experiments in on this. Our old friends from before we got deactivated."
"Really? How many?" Nosy felt some relief at hearing the hint of hope in his friend's voice before Gantu interrupted, "Please don't tell me you mean 149 and 150…"
Nosy smirked at the former captain, "Them, 123, 040, 221, 228…"
"300? 177?"
"Even them."
Gantu put his hand in his face, "I can't stop you, so I won't. Just do what you can to get yourself some help."
"I'll handle Hamsterviel by the way." He added, "Someone has to lie in this situation, so that'll be me."
Hammerface nodded, thinking to himself for a moment. "So. I see this social worker, I...well, start recovering, and then I go and see our old friends for extra help. Is that it? Or…"
"That's about it. We can add more stuff if you want, like maybe, group sessions. But only if you're comfortable." Nani said. "What do you think?"
The gray experiment nodded immediately at Nani's question, "I think it's a good idea."
Night had fallen by the time Felix stood at the door to the experiment's room, biting his lip in worry. This would be his first time explaining the situation to Heat, Thresher, and Angel, and he wasn't sure how he was going to go about it…
"Hey, you okay?" Fudgy asked, gliding up beside him, "I told 'em about Hammerface having to leave to the house, so it's up to you to tell the rest. With me of course."
"Yeah, it's just...you know…"
She nodded, "But we have to try-as best we can."
"Right."
Fudgy rapped the back of her hand on the door, "Guys? You in there? We wanna come in if you'll let us."
"Okay, just a minute…" Angel's voice rang out from the inside. She quietly opened the door to them, her ears flattening in confusion, "Where's Nosy and Fibber?"
"They're staying at the house for the night. Can we come in?" Felix asked.
Angel nodded, standing aside as Felix and Fudgy entered the room.
The sight the two walked in on wasn't pretty. Heat was curled up in one of the sleeping bags, evidently trying to hide, but doing an awful job at it. Plasmoid was glaring out the window, joined by Zap and Tank. Thresher, 628, and 625 were sitting in a solemn circle, the latter absentmindedly making a tomato sandwich for Thresher while 628 picked at a stack of completed ones, her normally cheerful expression now tense and somber.
Felix grimaced and drew in a breath; they evidently hadn't taken the news well…
Fudgy looked around before letting out a sigh, "Alright, listen, everyone? We have to talk to you, so, if you just wanna...get into a circle or something...and can someone pull him out of there?" She pointed at the sleeping bag containing Heat, "I don't want him getting tangled up in that thing."
A muffled "I'm not" sounded out from the bag, but its occupant slowly poked his head out before unzipping it. Felix's antenna drooped as he saw the reason-Heat's face was completely soaked in a mixture of tears and snot. He held a hand over his nose and sniffled as he stepped out, more tears streaking down his cheeks.
"Agh-oh, damn." Felix took a box of tissues from the cupboard and handed it to the thermal experiment, "Heat? It's going to be okay, but I know how bad this probably feels…"
"Geez-you make no noise when you do that…" Angel said, flattening her ears at him, "Not even I could hear you in there."
Heat shrugged, but said nothing. Felix put an arm to his shoulder, realizing how tense he was-as if Heat had been holding in crying the entire day.
Felix stepped back from the 6-series and looked over everyone else, seeing a mixture of apprehension and sadness reflected in their faces as they waited for him to explain.
He took a deep breath, "Okay. Hammerface is alright. He's recovering and he'll be staying at the house for some time. He got his programming taken out and he...well…"
He looked back at the 6 and 5 series before going on, "He and I agreed I'm gonna be taking over for him while he's recovering, and...he wants me to tell you he's sorry, and he's going to try to get better for himself-and everyone here."
"I..don't know if that's enough, but it is what he said, and you're all okay to visit him too, so…" He finished, rather awkwardly amid the later series' tension.
Quiet murmurs spread throughout the group before Angel stepped forward, "So, he's not gonna kill himself for us anymore? Basically?"
"No, he's not." Fudgy said, "We just...we want you to know and not to worry, okay? He's going to be fine and Gantu's loosening up his restrictions on going out, so you can visit him once he starts getting better."
The group nodded amongst themselves before 625 spoke up, his voice now surprisingly hopeful against the solemn atmosphere, "I'm gonna go take him some sandwiches tomorrow then-I think he likes ham on flatbread, so I'm gonna dig around the fridge for it. It's the least I can do after he helped patch me up the night he was activated..."
"I wanna go with actually-I...I feel like I have to talk with him since he started acting all weird…" Angel added. She placed a hand on Heat's shoulder, the latter still holding a wad of tissues to his face, "And it'll be okay, I'll come back with info for you three if you're too, you know-"
"Nah, we're gonna go at some point. Or I am. We need to talk to him about what he started doing. Believe me-he did that shit back when we were first activated and I didn't like it then." Plasmoid interrupted, "Right?"
Heat sniffed from behind the tissue, but put it down, "I...we should, especially Thresher and I…"
Felix sighed in relief, "Okay, that's all we wanted you guys to know. You're still coming over for your exams, so you can visit him then."
The younger series nodded amongst themselves, thanking the two older. Felix smiled, "I'm gonna start up dinner with the others, okay? You guys just sit tight for a moment."
They agreed, the tense aura of the room starting to subside as he left...