The vast sky was cloudy and threatening rain. Five looked up and his expression turned fearful. It would rain soon and if they didn't get back, they'd be trapped in a downpour and that was the last thing he wanted. His gaze turned back to his companions; Nine, Two, Eight and Six. The entire group had set out to loot whatever salvageable material they could find and had split into two smaller groups.
Two had made an effort to push One and Seven together in an attempt to forge a more tolerable relationship. The two silently opposed when he innocently suggested the groupings and he knew it, but he knew very well neither would openly oppose. After all, that would be childish.
Their little group had already explored a good chunk of the surrounding neighbourhood. Nine requested to revisit the First Room and, since they had already acquired the necessary materials, they had time on their hands. Not to mention, they always seemed to discover something new upon each visit. Going back once in a while wouldn't do any harm.
This time around, it seemed that Nine had discovered something that had fallen down the back of the Scientist's desk. With the help of Eight, he pulled it out from behind the large wooden structure, only to find it was similar to a pad of paper. He inspected it with curiosity, as Two approached him from behind. "Did you find something, Nine?" He asked, softly.
"This thing...One had one of these back at the sanctuary. He used it to cross out the numbers of everybody that had died." Saying it now seemed a bit strange, but there was no other way to say it. The leader had previously used such a thing to mark off the deaths and disappearances of their kind, back when Nine had awakened the machine. Two shot a smile at Nine and his innocence.
"Do you know what it is?" He asked, wiping some dust from the pages. Nine shook his head. It was obviously not meant to be used how One used it, but he wasn't quite sure how else it could be used. Each page had the same set of numbers, but he couldn't figure out what they meant. Two flipped back one of the crinkled pages.
"It's a calendar. They're used to show and record dates. I told you about months and years, didn't I?" Two explained. Nine nodded. "Yeah, although we don't really know what day, month or year it is." He almost sounded sad. "Well, they're not definite. I mean, it's easy enough to figure out the months and seasons according to the weather. Then I suppose we can take it from there." Nine's expression turned thoughtful. "What month do you think it is?"
"Well it's still incredibly cold, which means we're still in the winter months, but it's been cold for quite a while. They say that November, December, January and February are the winter months so...well I think we'd be around the beginning of January, which is the beginning of the year. That means we can apply our calendar here to the new year." He smiled widely and Nine nodded vigorously. Suddenly, something caught his attention.
"What's that? There's something marked on this month."
The pair looked down at the pad to see a red circle around the 9th of, what Nine read to be, September. Looking closer, there was something scribbled inside it and it looked like their Creators' handwriting.
'9th September- Birth of 9'
Nine stared blankly, clearly not understanding, until Two nudged him in the side with a grin. "I believe this is the day you were created. I wonder if our Creator has marked the rest of us on here." He lifted up a few pages to look for more scribbles. Nine merely watched him in silent surprise. He had...a birthday? Or something to that description.
"Here's Six's. 27th of June. And Five's which is the 3rd of May." Nine could see Five perk up at the mention of his name out of the corner of his optic. "It seems our Creator had planned a date for us to be made. How organised..." Two mumbled, staring at the scribbles. Nine almost laughed out loud; did he talk to himself like this all the time?
"We should take it back. Do you think Eight could carry it?" Two looked over his shoulder, scanning his surroundings for any sign of the hulking guard. Eight was standing a short way away, staring blankly at the wall. The pair shared a look. "I'm sure he'd be able to handle it. Ah, Five. Did you find anything?" Two smiled up at his one-eyed apprentice.
Five flexed his fingers nervously. "Uh, not really, no. There isn't much here that we can move. Did you find something?" He looked over at the calendar with interest. "We found a calendar; like the one we had back at the Sanctuary. It has our creation days' marked on it." Two made an effort to drag the calendar further out from behind the desk, with the help of Nine.
"Eight! You wouldn't mind carrying this for us, would you?" Two called. Eight was snapped from whatever daydream he was in; he stared blankly as he attempted to register the request. He nodded, once his mental functions had sorted themselves out, and trotted over to help. He pulled the calendar out with ease and dragged it towards the door as Six scampered after him.
Nine found himself wondering how Two, or anybody for that matter, could pretty much order Eight to do anything without feeling guilty. Then again, Eight felt a little bit redundant when he had nothing to do, so maybe it was better that way. Nine watched Eight and Six leave the room together; they seemed to get along so much better than before.
"Now that we have the calendar, things will be a bit easier. Sudden weather changes won't be so much of a surprise." Two smiled, but his optics were shining ever so slightly. Nine could sense he had some sort of...ulterior motive.
"Not to mention, we'll be able to celebrate birthdays!"
There it was.
There was no doubt that this was going to be a fun year.
"You found a what?"
"A calendar." Two gestured to Eight, who dropped the calendar on the floor. The twins bolted over, immediately flicking through the pages. They were mildly disappointed that there weren't many words to read, but it was interesting all the same. Seven watched with slight curiosity.
"With this, we can keep track of where we are in the year. Since we're midway through the winter season, why not begin the year today? It should be roughly around January anyway." He searched One's piercing optics with hope, and was pleased when his expression remained neutral. He waved his hand dismissively. "Fine, fine. Do whatever."
He turned to leave, before Nine snagged his cape and pulled him back. One spun around to angrily protest, when he saw Nine was pointing at the calendar. "Our creation days are marked on there." He said simply. One stared at him, blankly, before shrugging. "So?"
"So? We have- well, what I suppose would be the equivalent of a human birthday." Two looked deep in thought, before looking up at One with a grin. "Humans celebrate their birthdays. We can do the same." One gazed over at Six and the twins, who were lying on the floor, with Seven and Five crouched next to them.
He looked like he was about to protest, but instead, a sigh escaped his lips and he rolled his optics. "Do whatever you want. Just don't drag me into it." Two beamed, victoriously, and the others seemed to perk up. This sounded like a good idea, it would certainly bring a little excitement to the year.
"Why don't we have a look at whose birthday is when, then?" Two practically dragged One over with such force that One couldn't really fight back. The others sat down around the ragged calendar, as the twins swivelled it so Five could read clearly.
"Um...Well I guess it'll go in numerical order." He mumbled, as he flipped the calendar back to January. "One's is the 17th of January, which is upcoming." Cue several pairs of optics to stare at One, as he shifted to the side, clearly uncomfortable with the amount of attention. "Skip that one." He muttered.
"Two is the 22nd of February...Look at that, it's all 2's." He let out a short laugh, and flipped the page. The twins looked especially eager to know whose was whose. Lord knows they'd join forces with Two and organise most of it.
"Three and Four are the 13th of April, Mine is the 3rd of May and Six's is the 27th of June. Seven is the 18th of July, Eight is the 28th of August and Nine is the 9th of September." He said, almost with one breath. "That one is all 9's as well..." It was starting to seem that their Creator had planned this. It seemed like a terrible joke, but it was nice to know their Creator had a sense of humour.
"Well, isn't this nice? Now we can celebrate everybody's birthday." Two beamed. He said the word 'everybody' with a bit of force, and One shifted in his spot. Apparently, that meant him as well. Aside from him, everybody seemed very eager to do this.
The year ahead was going to be interesting...
The oncoming chapters is each birthday individually, as you could probably guess. Look forward to that, I suppose.
