Chapter 3: The Camp
It took well over an hour for the van to reach its destination. Courage had inevitably drifted off to sleep during that time while Computer himself did his best not to let Courage's body jolt around whenever a bump in the road was hit. He seemed to have done his job well because Courage never once woke up, or maybe it was just that Courage was so wiped out that nothing would have been able to wake him anyway.
In any case, the van had stopped moving a little while ago. Nobody had come to open the back doors, but Computer could often hear people speaking on the outside. They were probably trying to figure out what to do with their returned super weapon. It did not matter to him, just so long as this ended with him in a different body from Courage's. He still felt awful about what he had done before, and he could not bear being the cause of Courage's suffering like this. The sooner Courage was back to normal, the better.
Easily another hour passed before the back doors of the van were ripped open and Computer suddenly had multiple guns pointed directly at him from the outside. As if that would have saved those morons if his power were working properly right now! An obnoxiously bright spotlight was being shined into the van too, practically blinding him. He could not see much on the outside aside from the guns and the silhouettes of the people holding them.
All of the commotion resulted in Courage waking up, which had Computer fuming. He was so tired of these morons acting like he was about to blow them all up!
"What's going on?" Courage asked in a sleepy tone, just as blinded by the light as Computer was.
"We're getting the usual SCC welcome." He grumbled back with considerable annoyance.
A figure stepped into the light with her hands on her hips. "I cannot believe this!" She exclaimed, sounding more furious than amazed. "I was sure that the amalgamation would have caught you and reintegrated you back into themselves by now. I cannot help but wonder if this is some sort of trap, because I cannot think of any reason why you would willfully return to the SCC."
Computer hopped down from the bench he had been sitting on for the length of their journey to this place. A gasp rose from the shadowy figures and even more guns were pointed at him.
"Oh, enough!" He huffed. "I'm here because I want you to move me into a different body. My presence is wearing Courage down and something needs to be done about it." Realizing that he needed to keep up appearances, he quickly added as cover, "I could very easily move myself into another body, but I cannot modify my own programming, so unless you put me back to normal, whoever else I possess stays awake too, and I would rather not have to deal with that."
"Ah, I see." Elizabeth mused. "That can be arranged, but it will take some time. The machine I used to move you into the dog's brain was lost in the evacuation. I will need to find the parts required to make something similar."
Elizabeth raised a hand and the SCC soldiers backed away.
"Follow me. I will assign you a tent that you and the dog can use until I am ready to remove you from his brain."
Computer cautiously moved toward the end of the van. He kept expecting the guns to rise up again and start shooting, but it really was looking as if Elizabeth was willing to cooperate with him.
He jumped down into the grass and a cool night breeze ruffled his fur. Upon moving past the spotlight, he finally got a good look at the SCC's evacuation camp. There were enough lights that even in the dark he could see everything fairly well. A huge clearing was spread out before him, and there were more tents set up across it than he could ever hope to count. At the other end of the clearing, a hill gently sloped upward before leveling off at the top where more tents could be seen. There were no tents on the slope itself, but he could see dark shapes moving up and down between the two sections of the camp. Even at this late hour there were still SCC vans showing up to deposit evacuees. Huge lines of people could be seen waiting to be assigned a tent.
Computer stayed a few paces behind Elizabeth as they walked through the lower half of the camp. He could feel Courage silently urging him to tell her about their encounter with the amalgamation and what they had found out. Computer wasn't sure if it would help, but the situation was bad enough that it couldn't possibly hurt to tell her.
"Hey, uh, there's something you should know." He said, picking up his pace to walk beside her.
She barely spared him a glance. "Speak up then."
"...No patience at all, huh?" Computer grumbled, suddenly reconsidering talking to her.
Courage harshly whispered to him, "Stop letting her get under your skin and just tell her!"
"Fine, fine." He sighed, running a paw down his face. "Listen here, you annoying woman! We did encounter the amalgamation before we escaped the city. You must know by now that they are taking control of anyone who comes near them. Why else would people have stopped escaping the city all at once? That city and everyone still trapped inside are theirs now, and they are planning on sacrificing those people to create more Constructs to add to themselves! Their power and influence will only to continue to grow! They could reach this camp in a matter of days!"
"Calm down." Elizabeth coolly replied. "The ritual used to create Constructs requires a considerable amount of time to set up properly along with certain materials that are not easy to come by. Even with an entire army under their control capable of setting up multiple rituals at once, the amalgamation still cannot mass produce Constructs in a short amount of time. Even if they could, I don't think that they would be so quick to meld more into themselves. They were knocked out of commission for well over a decade last time. They will want to be cautious this time around, I'm sure. I suspect that they will take the time to experiment first to see if they can find a way to fuse new Constructs into themselves without causing a catastrophic amount of damage to themselves. If they are unable to, it is unlikely that they will do anything until they feel secure enough that they can survive another decade or two broken and helpless."
Computer frowned and picked up even more speed, feeling Courage's leg muscles protest the increase in activity. He pulled ahead of Elizabeth and stopped in front of her, forcing her to slow to a stop as well.
Glaring hatefully at her, he said, "You are much too cavalier about this for someone who has done nothing but consistently make the situation worse at every opportunity! You are not taking this threat seriously enough! The SCC should be doing more than just setting up a camp that's probably going to end up crushed under a wall of metal when my siblings reach starts to extend this far in a week or two."
Elizabeth crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Oooh, does the talking calculator that's convinced itself that it is a person think that it knows how to run my organization better than me?"
Computer's frown deepened.
"I am perfectly aware of how dire the situation is." She affirmed with a grumpy frown of her own. "There is very little left that any of us can do to stop that thing. For the reasons I've already outlined, I believe that the situation is ever so slightly more hopeful than it might seem. If my theory is correct and they cannot expand their influence as easily as it might seem, I will have time to do some research and possibly come up with a new means to stop them."
Eyes narrowing, Computer sarcastically argued back, "Oh, great! Another ill thought out plan for you and your organization to balls-up and make everything twenty times worse! Well, whatever you decide to do, keep me out of it! I'm only here because I want to get back into a body of my own for Courage's sake!"
Elizabeth pushed forward, laughing. "Body of your own? You can't have a body of your own, you damn parasite! You are lucky that I am even giving you the option! You are nothing more than SCC property and you do not have the right to any sort of autonomy!"
Computer rolled his eyes and started walking after her again. "Well, I may be a parasite but at least I'm not a mummified ghoul who can't run this organization for shi-"
Elizabeth wheeled around with an absolutely terrifying expression. Well, it was terrifying for Courage. Computer was utterly unfazed.
"Not another word, parasite! Or else I will make you regret returning to the SCC!"
Computer opened his mouth to argue further but Courage stopped him. He was the only one who seemed to have realized just how dangerous the situation was getting. He had never seen Elizabeth this angry before.
In a big huff, she turned around and stomped onward. They eventually reached the hill and made their way up to the top. Courage could sense how much Computer wanted to keep angering this woman that he despised so much, but Courage kept their mouth firmly shut...for his safety.
They walked down the first line of tents that overlooked the lower half of the camp below. Elizabeth checked several of the signs posted to every tent until finally she found one that she was looking for.
"This will be your tent." She announced in an emotionless tone. "A certain amount of food rations are given out to everyone daily. I'll send someone with a little extra since that dog looks like he is about to keel over."
"Thank you for your boundless generosity." Computer quipped before Courage could stop him.
Elizabeth leaned down, pressed a hand into Courage's back, and shoved him into the tent. She leered at him through a gap in the opening. "I will summon you in a day or two, after I've had the time to scavenge for the parts I need to create another machine that can extract you from the dog. I do not want to see hide nor hair of you until then, got it?"
"Happily!" Computer agreed. Although before Elizabeth could leave, he quickly asked, "You wouldn't have happened to see a group of puppies running around here, have you?"
She stared at him like he was stupid.
"Do you really think that I've been keeping tabs on every single mutt that shows up here?" She waved a hand dismissively. "I have people to do that for me."
She turned and stomped away before Computer could question her further.
With a sigh, he turned to get a better look at the tent. There was nothing special about it. It was made out of white fabric that didn't even have a floor. Were it not for a cot with legs that were only just slightly raised above the ground, they would have had to sleep in the grass. The cot had a thin pillow and an even thinner blanket. Aside from that, they had been provided a battery powered lantern, and that was it.
Computer was now faced with a dilemma. He so badly wanted to go search for the puppies, but he also knew how badly Courage needed rest.
Sensing Computer's conflicting emotions, Courage put on a tired smile and said, "It's alright. Let's go look for them for a little while. I can handle it."
Computer turned Courage's expression into a skeptical one. "Are you sure? I can wait until morning if I must."
Courage lightly laughed at that. "You'll keep me awake with your worrying. Beside, by the time we get back there should be some food waiting for us."
All too aware of Courage's hunger, Computer nodded. "Fine then, but I'm going to keep this short, for your sake."
He pushed open the tent flap and stepped back out into the night. They both took note of the number on their tent so that they would not lose track of which one was theirs. Looking out at all of the tents below, it slowly dawned on Computer just how daunting of a task this would be.
"They might be asleep by now." He mused, looking over at a neighboring tent. "I guess we're just going to have to invade some privacy then!"
He peeked into the tent. Someone immediately screamed and a shoe went sailing over his head.
Jumping back, he exclaimed, "Or not!"
Courage chuckled at his companion's antics, but he was just too tired to take part in any of it at this point.
Computer proceeded to make his way through much of the upper part of the camp. There was plenty of activity going on with SCC soldiers moving about and people trying to find their assigned tents. Most of the newcomers were human though with very few dogs among them, and no puppies to speak of.
"I should probably call it quits for the night." He finally said after nearly an hour of fruitless searching.
Courage had nodded off multiple times but it was hard to stay asleep when your body was moving around outside of your own control. It was like having a constant falling dream jolting you out of your sleep.
"I just want something to eat." He told Computer in a sleepy voice.
"Right, let's get back to the tent then." He affirmed.
It was a little difficult to find their way back. The camp felt like a maze when the vast majority of the tents looked exactly the same. They soon reached the edge of the hill though, which meant they had to be getting close.
It was right around then, as Computer was checking the tent numbers, that someone rushed up behind him and smacked him in the back. He was sent stumbling snout first into the grass. Whoever it was remained perched atop his back.
"It really IS him!" A small voice said in amazement, and all of a sudden the owner of the voice began bouncing up and down on his back. "Guys! Guys! Guys! It's him!"
There was the sound of many small feet moving through the grass and then Computer's vision filled with a sight that he had been longing to see for such a long time now.
One of the puppies leaned down and squinted at him. "You look...different."
The missing ear and the lack of glasses no doubt made it obvious.
Computer got up, sending the puppy on his back tumbling into the grass behind him. "It's a long story." He told them. "And that's not what's important right now. How are you all? It took me awhile to get back, I know, but it couldn't be helped. I hope that you gluttons were able to make the food last for a little while." He could help but smile at that last part, although it did not completely mask his look of concern.
"...What happened to Spot?" The voice behind him asked.
He turned around to find that it was Lily who had tackled him, and unable to stop himself, his smile fell into a painful frown. Not only because he had been asked about Spot, but also because of what state Lily's mom was in right now.
"I-I don't know." He answered truthfully. "He was hurt during our escape from Charon's and I was not able to find out what happened to him before we had to leave the city."
"We heard that Charon's place got blown up." One of the puppies interjected. "We all thought that you and Spot got blown up too."
"I'm afraid that we faced much worse than that." He explained, shuddering at the memory of Spot impaled among several of the teeth of one of Charon's fighters. "Look, they gave you guys a tent, right? Take me there and I'll tell you more about what happened."
"Follow me!" One of the puppies yelled in that familiar, overly energetic way.
"Oh, but before we go," Computer quickly added. "I should probably let you all know." He placed his paws onto his chest. "This is Courage." He announced with a grin. "I was able to get him back...just in a very unusual way."
"Uh...hi?" Courage took over to say.
An amazed gasp ran through the group of puppies at the sudden shift in voices.
"I suppose I'll have to try and explain this too." Computer added.
One of the puppies stepped forward, grinning mischievously. "So did you finally tell him that you lo-"
Computer rocketed off of his feet, tackled the pup before he could finish what he was saying, and clamped his muzzle shut. "No! Shut up!" He demanded while all the puppies looked on, giggling.
...Courage just pretended not to hear any of that...for Computer's sake.
In any case, the puppies brought them to their tent where they showed them that they still had the bag with all of Courage's and Computer's things in it. Computer was rather relieved to see it. The old book from Nowhere Library was still very important if he was ever to find the wellspring.
He spent a considerable amount of time telling the puppies about what had happened to him and Spot after Charon took them away. This was the first time Courage got a somewhat clearer picture as to what Computer had gone through while they were apart, although his companion still only hinted at some of the darker things that he went through. Afterwards, Computer tried to explain to the pups what exactly he was, although they only really got it after he oversimplified it considerably.
Most of the puppies were already asleep when he got up to head back to his own tent. Courage was barely holding on himself. Only the near constant rumble of hunger in his stomach kept him from passing out.
"I'll come back to see you all tomorrow." Computer told the handful of pups who were still awake.
Without warning, Lily lunged forward and hugged him around the middle. "Nobody is ever supposed to come back when Charon takes them away!" She bawled. "I-I thought you were gone forever...just like mommy!"
A chunk of ice formed inside Computer's chest. He wanted to tell Lily about her mom, but...
He placed a paw on her back and hastily said, "I'm glad to be back. Now, head off to bed so that I can find Courage some food before he wastes away."
She pulled back, tears running down her cheeks. Trying to hide his own feeling about all of this, he patted her on the head and left as quickly as he could.
"I'm not very good at this, am I?" He asked Courage, but Courage's consciousness had drifted off to sleep again leaving him with only his own thoughts and guilt.
He returned to their tent to find a small pile of weird tubes and a few bottles of water on their cot. He picked one of the tubes up and inspected it. There was nothing on it that labeled what was inside.
"Courage, wake up. Dinner is here. A very, very late and mysterious dinner, I might add."
He let Courage take over to do the eating since it was the least he could do after putting him through the wringer all day. Courage gathered up several of the tubes and a bottle of water and limped out of the tent. He sat down in the grass and looked out over the dark horizon. Even from here he could just barely make out the lights of the city shifting and moving around unnaturally in the distance.
He unscrewed the top of one of the tubes, sniffed it, and tried it out. Surprisingly, it was applesauce.
"At least they're not feeding everyone mashed up grass, or leaves, or something else just as cheap." Computer muttered out.
Courage eagerly tried another with a taste that he could not quite pinpoint. Maybe Computer was a little hasty to declare that they weren't being fed mushy grass. Still, Courage happily made his way through each one until he was feeling full. Only then did he finally start to feel a little better.
He remained sitting there in the grass for a little while afterwards, just enjoying being able to rest. It was a temporary and false sense of calm, of course. He knew that perfectly well. Even now he could see their doom on the horizon and it would not be long before it reached them in this place, unless they continued to flee.
"You know," He began wistfully. "I really did believe for the longest time that your siblings were not actually evil. That if they could just be split apart again that they would stop being so...so sadistic and cruel. But now? After what they did to everyone in the city? I'm not so sure anymore."
Computer let out an ironic laugh. "It really must be the end of the world if you are giving up on those you once thought were redeemable." He closed Courage's eyes and sighed. "Just look at it this way, if I were still with them, I would have gone along with all of that without a second thought, even if it is not something that I would have wanted to do as a separate entity. You have the right idea about them. I do not doubt that several of my siblings are truly sadistic monsters who love inflicting pain on others, but even that is only because that is what the SCC molded them into. They probably have the most control over the amalgamation because so many of the others are hurting and want revenge for what was done to them. Another half is likely too apathetic at this point to go against what the others want, and those who do not want to do harm probably do not have much of a say at this point. If they could somehow be separated, I do think that most of them could be reasoned with."
"But they can't be separated." Courage answered, his tone grim.
"That does seem to be the case, unfortunately."
"If they can't be saved, and the amalgamation is all of their negative emotions feeding in to each other in an endless loop, and that's causing them to do utterly evil things, how can I believe that there's still something redeemable about them?"
Computer placed Courage's paws behind his head. "You never gave up on me, now did you?"
Courage frowned. "You didn't just murder half a city of people and enslave the survivors!"
"My metaphorical hands are not exactly clean either. I went and murdered plenty of people before I knew it was wrong, and I've killed people who I believed deserved it, and as the amalgamation I slaughtered an entire hospital filled with people. Nurses, doctors, receptionists, patients, visitors, janitors, the SCC. We did not discriminate. Nobody was innocent in our eyes. I did not want to do such a thing as myself, but as the amalgamation, I did. It's the same for the majority of my siblings trapped in that maelstrom of hatred and suffering. If you've given up on them, shouldn't I be considered just as irredeemable as them at this point?"
Courage chuckled sadly. "I never thought that you'd start defending your siblings after everything they've done to you."
"Yeah, well, when you spend some time trapped in the same hellish predicament they've been stuck in for well over a decade, you tend to gain some perspective."
"Hmmm, well, if you're able to sympathize with them even after everything they've done, then I guess I will have to as well!" He grinned. "I've got a reputation to keep!"
Groaning painfully, he got to his feet. His legs felt like they were turning into stone.
"We'll figure out a way to stop this, I'm sure if it." He went on. "I may not be back home in Nowhere, but I still gotta protect Muriel."
"Don't get ahead of yourself." Computer interjected. "For now you just need to rest. You've had something to eat so now get to bed!"
"Okay, mom!" Courage joked back.
Computer took over and made him go back into the tent. Forced to lay down on the cot, Courage was pretty sure that he fell asleep long before his head even hit the pillow.
End Of Chapter