Excuse me
Upon awakening, Arthur heard a series of disturbing crunches and hisses coming from the living room along with a very recognizable yelp from a very irritating someone. And so, slightly grumpier than usual, he rose very aware that the illusionary silence of his apartment had been broken by some yet undiscovered horror. He found Allison slowly sifting through wires in her busted open rib cage as if puzzled by how they worked together to form her body and mind. It took all his self control not to yell.
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked. She looked up slightly bemused by his overly calm tone coinciding with his clearly twitching eyebrows and grim expression.
"I'm fixing myself, and you're angry? Why don't you eat something? America usually felt better after eating something," she said, muttering that last part without much thought. Thankfully, the current situation required far too much damage control for him to give it much thought himself.
"Don't touch anything. I'll call Kiku and sort this whole thing out," Arthur said, knowing full well that sooner or later Ivan would also get involved, whether this would turn into a problem or not remained to be seen. Then again, perhaps, he wouldn't be required at all. Surely, Japan could fix a few problems with the hardware. She'd be okay. Sigh, these kind of issues were going to come up a lot, weren't they? He might as well get used to these off putting scenarios.
"Hellooo Arthur, are you listening? You don't have to do that. I know what I'm doing, kind of," she said, giving him a less than confident smile as she pulled out a few wires and rerouted them. Coming from that face, he had a hard time trusting that line.
"Japan can make any adjustments you want. You shouldn't have rushed in head first like this, but I suppose with your programming I can hardly blame you. It seems to lack a certain nuance," Arthur said, not exactly hiding his distaste. She'd be able to pick up on his feelings any how.
"But he won't, and if you tell anyone anything, they'll undo what I am doing. Please don't say anything," she asked, surprisingly quiet. For once, she was completely at his mercy. It made him uncomfortable.
"I'm sure everything will be fine," Arthur said.
"Don't you understand that you can't trust these people?" she blurted out.
"What exactly are you fixing?" Arthur asked again. She mumbled something. He didn't need to hear what she said to know what she was tampering with.
"You're eliminating your security measures. Allison, do you know what kind of message that sends to the council? Do you have any idea how much of liability you are to me already?" he yelled. How much effort was he willing to put into indulging a machine? The entire situation was a complete and utter waste of his time. She kept working as if she hadn't heard before finally replying in a trembling voice.
"I'm trying not to be, but I'm no good to you if I have an off switch." Only then did Arthur realize what had brought this on, he should have held his tongue and considered her feelings. He found it rather hard as he stared at the big mesh of wires in front of him.
"I-I see your point, but if we are going to do this, we must be discreet. This is not discreet," he said, holding up a bundle of wires for emphasis. She quickly confiscated them before he could do any real damage. Allison didn't trust him as much as she led on. Considering their first encounter, he didn't blame her.
"Calling Kiku isn't discreet. It's better that they don't know their little experiment has gone rogue," she said, sounding fairly bitter. There was a distinct awareness of her synthetic nature that hadn't been present before. He had missed much while he was sleeping apparently.
"They wouldn't. At least, Kiku wouldn't," Arthur said. For now, they had similar goals. For now, he was the closet thing Arthur had to a friend in this cold impassive world of metal.
"Like they wouldn't vote to throw you in an asylum with the rest of the political prisoners?" she said, her previously sweet nature poisoned by knowledge she shouldn't have. She must not find out the true nature of this world, not if they were both to survive.
"Excuse me? Don't you dare assume you know anything just because you managed to siphon a little bit of information from that thick skull of yours, " he huffed, hiding his own misgivings. He'd rather not lose control of the situation just yet.
"I'm sorry I still lack- what did you call it? A certain nuance," she said, grinning playfully. He probably had that coming.
"You're forgiven," he said, begrudgingly.
"Did you know I actually run on an internalized heat and water system? They set up the whole "love" trigger switch to keep me dependent on people. I fixed it," she said, tucking the wires back into her rib cage without much fuss.
"That is more convenient for me in some ways," he said, lingering a little too long on her newly modified insides. Would this have consequences for the others and himself if he were to let this slide? Should he report this? Did she have time to modify anything else?
Yes, her head, the scars made a thin outline where she melted the skin back together. She absently fixed her hair so that her recent tampering wasn't so noticeable. He could still see a faint outline of burnt plastic on her forehead despite her careful reassembling. So, she had managed to tamper with more than he thought.
"You're worried about taking away all of my limits aren't you?" she asked. He couldn't say that it wasn't a scary thought. Strength and conviction would only take her so far in a world full of so many subtle trappings.
"I'm not sure you can handle living in a world of restraint without having actual restraints" he said bluntly. It was too early in the morning to be polite. She laughed.
"Oh Arthur, you're so repressed," she said, slowly welding her insides shut. Without a doubt, it would leave yet another ugly scar.
"If I wasn't, I'd be exiled to who knows where," England said, defending himself. Any display of defiance now was pointless. He was a few centuries too late to set thing right.
"I know where." Allison cut in.
"It's better that you don't speak of it," England said, already seeing a potentially deadly plan unfolding in that artificial brain of hers. It's wasn't a good plan.
"I think I know who killed her," she said, measuring his reaction to see if he knew or not. All he could manage was a blank stare. Some things were better left forgotten. It wouldn't help anything, not the way it ended.
"Again, it's better if you don't speak of her, especially with that face," Arthur said.
"Why? Why is it better?" she snapped at him.
"I think I'll have that breakfast now," he answered cooly. This caught her off guard.
"You're not going to rat me out?" she asked.
"It's your prerogative to get yourself killed. I won't stop you," he said, cracking a few eggs. He didn't bother making enough for her. She didn't need food to work anyway.
"Don't be so cynical," she whined, feeling her belly for potential rough patches. The fake skin looked surprisingly smooth compared to her forehead. She must have been in a hurry to finish the adjustments up top.
"I'm not cynical. I'm rightfully paranoid."
"How is your sister by the way?" she said with a smirk. Scotland's reputation preceded her. He rolled his eyes. She was no help to anyone shut away in her cabin.
"As reclusive as she's ever been since everything took a turn for the worse," Arthur said. These days he didn't bother visiting someone who clearly had nothing left to say to him, and he'd heard little else from his other sisters.
"Do you think she could get me in contact with the exiled countries?" she asked.
"That's it. I'm calling Kiku. You clearly need a hard reset," Arthur said, reaching for the phone. She immediately grabbed his hand and gave him a cold hard glare.
"England, I refuse to live in a world where I constantly feel trapped. Things are never going to get better if we never try." He nodded, feeling his hand slowly lose feeling as she squeezed too hard. For a brief second, he had forgotten who he was actually dealing with. She wasn't a human being, and yet, she sounded so sincere. Maybe, it wouldn't be the end of the world if he played along.
"She may be able to contact one of them, but you're not going to like who," he said, already slightly irritated at the thought of having to contact such an irritating loudmouth.
"Unlike you, I'll take who I can get," Allison said, wincing slightly when she noticed his arm had gone limp. She immediately let go.
"Sorry," she said, not looking directly at him. He focused on regaining circulation. His unique body structure would do the rest.
"Never apologize for defending yourself. It's nothing." Physical pain reminded him he was still alive and rarely made a lasting impact. Psychological scars lasted a lifetime.
"I promise I'll be more careful," she told him anyway.
"Duly noted, why do you want to contact the exiled countries anyway? I think I know, but I want to hear it from you," Arthur asked, resigned to the fact that his supposed body guard was only going to put him more at risk than he already was. And, maybe, she was incapable of ignoring the very pitfalls that had killed her predecessor. The thought saddened him.
"The countries on the council might be apathetic messes, but if I get proof of foul play, I bet they'll turn on Matthew, and we can stop actively instigating the masses and start making things right," she said enthusiastically like the sweet summer child she was.
"That's charmingly optimistic of you, but I'll save you the trip. They don't have any proof Matthew did anything, or they would have exposed him already," Arthur said.
"Oh yeah," she mumbled, actually embarrassed by her ignorance instead of instantly brushing off her mistake as America would have. He readily took advantage of this weakness.
"And since when has a coup actually worked out for America?" England asked mockingly. Allison was not amused.
"Now, you're just being mean," she whined, sticking her tongue out at him. Despite her saccharine childishness, he could see she was deep in thought, now that her ill thought out plan had not proven to be a viable option. He likely only had seconds to influence her reasoning.
"Change has to come from within, Allison. Running off to find some delusional rebel riffraff won't get you what you want," Arthur said. If bringing Prussia into this complicated mess did anything at all, it would put a target on Arthur's back, and that is definetely not what Arthur wanted.
"Will it get me what I want if I give them guns?" Allison asked sarcastically.
"Get out," Arthur said, not in the mood to play such games. He would not have this turn into another incident.
"What? Arthur I was kidding. Is that what America did?" she asked, unsure of herself.
"No, she just protested a little too loudly and had too many powerful friends to be intimidated into submission," Arthur said, despite knowing full well that was not the reason she died. America simply no longer fit into the world they lived in.
"So, Matthew arranged an accident?" Allison asked, jumping to conclusions already.
"I never said that," Arthur said tiredly. He should have ignored the ruckus and gone back to sleep. This was not a conversation he wanted to have this early in the morining.
"But it's what happened," Allison said, fishing for a confirmation she would never get.
"He was involved, but I would prefer if you dropped the subject. No good will come of it," Arthur said, giving away nothing else.
"Fine. Okay, so let's see: we've ruled out political coup, guerilla warfare, and civil disobedience. This is going to be hard, " Allison said, frowning as she counted her bad ideas on her fingers.
"Or you could do nothing. If you can keep your mouth shut long enough- never mind, you'd never be able to pull that off," Arthur said teasingly, feeling a little better now that he had some food inside his stomach.
"Arthur, I'm not going to just sit there and pretend nothings wrong. That's the stupid British way," she said indignantly.
"Then, start small, you're not exactly in any position to do anything politically at the moment. You're a glorified security guard,"Arthur said. This truth never seemed to occur to Allison. She nodded grimly.
"Sure, that sounds reasonable, so who's running my country right now?" Allison asked.
"I'd rather not say," Arthur said, realizing he'd just brought up what could be the start of a rather ugly conversation. She sported a great big smile and guessed.
"Is it you?"
"No," Arthur said, although the land had certainly been offered to him.
"Mexico?" she asked, slowly losing the smile.
"Yes?" she asked hopefully, when the silence lasted a little too long.
"No." It finally dawned on her who would have the easiest time taking over her country.
"Oh please no," she said, hiding her face in her hands.
"Canada," he finally answered. No use dragging out the conversation any longer.
"Of course, he is," she said, taking a deep breath. She was taking this rather well.
"Do you still want me to contact my sister?" he asked, curious if she had changed her mind now that she knew what she was getting into.
"Yup, I'm planning my first act of defiance," she said, a sly smile forming as she developed what was likely another ill thought out plan in her head.
"You're leaving for an indefinite amount of time, scary," Arthur said, waving his hands around so she knew how inconsequential her current efforts would be to the council .
"Don't patronize me. I'm inviting someone over," Allison said. Oh, that was different.
"Are you sure you want Prussia messing up things in her own special way?" England asked, very weary of this plan. She was sent away for a very good reason.
"Prussia's been exiled? Why?" she asked, surprisingly innocent for someone embodying a persona of rebellion.
"Do I really need to spell it out for you?" he asked, baffled that she didn't have the slightest clue of what had happened. Had those files really become restricted since he last looked into them or had she simply not thought to look?
"Forget it, I don't need to know. Can you have your sister take a message?"
"What message?" Arthur asked, a little skeptical of this plan.
"Prussia please come to England, love revived America," she said, likely thinking herself clever for inviting an unbalanced stranger to his abode.
"I'm not sure that's wise," he said, hesitating. How badly did she need to know?
"Why?" she asked.
"That's like willfully breaking a mirror. You'll get seven decades of bad luck," he said, remaining vague. So, she obviously didn't take him seriously.
"You worry too much. She'll be a great addition to the team, " she said, likely already imaging victory upon them without knowing the price she was about to pay for it.
"What happen to the "Keeping Arthur alive" team?" he asked.
"It's been repurposed. Besides, I promise I won't be the death of you, " she said, remaining confident this was the right decision to get what she wanted.
"America stop making promises you can't keep," he said, worried he would repeat the same mistakes that lead to America's inevitable demise.
"You're willingly calling me that?" she said, suddenly bursting with confidence.
"It's not like anyone else is using that name anymore. You're going to need to step up if your going wrestle the U.S. out of Matthew's grip." he said, wondering if this would only lead to more suffering in the long run. America could be very shortsighted. Then again, he wasn't exactly being forthcoming.
"Aw, it almost sounded like you care," she said, pecking him on the cheek.
"Don't get used to it," he muttered, calling his sister. His stomach was a sudden bundle of dread. Perhaps, she wouldn't care he hadn't called in ages.
" Hello Moira? I need a favor," he said, gritting his teeth. He put the phone on speaker and prepared for the coming onslaught.
"Oh, look who finally bothered to call, it's only been fifty years. Last I heard, you suffered PSTD, and they had to send you to a psychiatric hospital like a loon," she scoffed, both disapproving and worried without fully admitting the later. With this in mind, he answered calmly.
"I know we haven't really talked in the last few decades but-"
"That's an understatement. I had to hear you were finally out from Ireland while he was drunk off his arse during a party, and you're calling for favors like you're still the boss of me," she shouted angrily. Oh that, well, it hadn't been true in a while. He hadn't considered how that might sour her on helping him. He owed it to Allison to try.
"Would you shut up for one minute? This is important. Allison wants to send a message to Prussia," he said. The phone went silent as if he'd said something that indeed marked him as a loon. Wait, he hadn't exactly elaborated on whom he was referring.
"America is dead. Don't you know? It's the reason you went doo-lally, " she said, voice filled with pity and confusion. She didn't know how to deal with his potentially unstable self. Thankfully, this definitely wasn't the case.
"Yes, I know America died. I'm talking about the robot," he said, realizing that didn't sound that much more sane than her previous assumption.
"Should I call Matthew to pick you up wherever you are? You seem to have had a relapse," she said, attempting to make her gruff voice soft. A part of him panicked before remembering he still had control of the situation. He wouldn't end up back in the asylum if he could help it. He had only narrowly avoided a second visit.
"No, please refrain from doing that, and hear me out. I haven't gone insane. We have a plan," he said, his voice quivering despite attempting to sound confident.
"So let's say you're not lying or delusional. Why should I risk my neck and help you?" she asked, choosing to believe him. He sighed in relief. All this time, Allison watched quietly riveted.
"Because I'm your baby brother who recently had a mental breakdown and would like companionship that isn't a robot," he said reasonably. Allison stuck her tongue out at him.
"Blast it, I'll contact her, but I doubt she'll follow your crazy convoluted schemes. You let her into your world, and she'll burn you and everyone you care about for even the slightest victory, " she said, warning him about things he already knew. However, this was the first time Allison had been given such a clear picture of Prussia's current nature. She bit her lip and looked down, deep in thought.
"I'm afraid I have no other choice," he said. Again, she pointed out the obvious.
"You could ignore the robot," she said. He needed to hear that.
"No, the robot knows all," she said, revealing herself. Scotland laughed, relieved to know her brother wasn't actually crazy, or at least, that's what he hoped the laughter meant.
"Allison, give me the phone, " he said sternly. She folded her lip and gave him a disappointed puppy dog look before handing over the phone just in time for his sister to say this.
"I swear you're going to be the death of me." It was odd to have his own words used against him. Considering the context, he took it harder than she probably expected.
"I'm the death of a lot of people. When should I be expecting our guest?" he asked. The line was quiet for a minute before she answered.
"Depends how fast she runs, are you in the same hovel you're always in?"
"I think so. Things tend to move, finding me could get difficult" he explained. The constantly updating digital maps around the city made it easy enough to find one's way around if you were a local. The constantly moving city was more the bane of tourists and postmen.
"No matter. She'll find a way in," she said ominously before hanging up. Thank goodness, that was over.
"She sounds scary," Allison said
"She is," he said, shaking his head. May Germany forgive him for inviting his homicidal sibling back to town.
"Happy?" he asked.
"Of course, I'm one step closer to setting things right," she said, rubbing her hands together, extreme smug that her plan was coming together.
"Or disaster," he said. Her smile only faltered slightly before replying.
"No risk, no reward," she said, sitting down on the sofa, her eyes suddenly inundated with info and graphics in an attempt to prepare for the unpredictable. He could only wish her luck before beginning the very long task of deciding who would get the food that remained in very short supply. He hated his job and what kind of person it had turned him into.