Rating: K+/T
Uploaded: August 5/2010
-x-
-x-
Klunk is missing a piece of his soul.
He can feel it as sharply as an organic would feel a missing limb... or so he figures, at least. He doesn't know what missing a limb would feel like, and the thought of disgusting organic fluids spilling everywhere gives him cause to shudder.
Still, the metaphor is apt. Organics can survive without a limb (or two, or three) if they get medical attention, and they can even get prosthetics to replace their missing pieces. The replacements, however, can never match up to the original. Something will forever be different. Wrong. Broken.
He wonders what he'd be if he had all of his pieces. What if the Doctor hadn't given him this mockery of what should have been, but the genuine article? He knows he'd be different. Maybe extremely different. He wouldn't be Klunk. He might be Clank, though.
He's seen the blueprints for his frame, which is of course identical to his nemesis', and there are things in there that he doesn't recognize. He's sure the Doctor couldn't make heads or tails of them either, because what's actually in his body doesn't match what should be in his body. There are bits and pieces with no name and apparently no function. A strange device whose energy output wavers for no discernable reason. A secondary processor that is overclocked far past its boundaries - yet continues to function.
But, if Clank has these parts (and he does, of course) then they must have a purpose. Perhaps it is just that silly thing organics call a 'gut feeling', but he knows that they do something. Maybe Clank knows. Maybe he doesn't. As much as it pains him to follow his organic-loving counterpart, he's fairly certain that he'll learn the truth of his (their) frames eventually. There isn't much else left for him in the universe, anyway.
So he watches, and waits. Always out of sight, and though Clank has expressed worry as to his whereabouts, Ratchet always brushes it off. He can be grateful to the Lombax for that, can't he? He might not like organics, but he can appreciate their help when it benefits him.
He follows the two of them for four long years. He follows them to Dreadzone, morbidly interested in seeing his twin die. He's mildly disappointed when they succeed in their escape. Then it's the Technomites, or what's left of them, and by that point Klunk finds himself rather annoyed with their dawdling. Did Clank have no urge to discover his origins? Did he honestly believe that he had been a glitch born on Quartu? Was he truly that stupid?
Out of sheer boredom he devises a plan to separate the two, if only for a time. They aren't going to remain separate for long, seeing as this is Ratchet and Clank, but hey, boredom. The Doctor had more of an effect on him than he'd thought. Up to and including ridiculous schemes for no reason whatsoever, apparently.
He's right. He's basically destroyed by the end of it, but it was fun while it lasted. It gives him other pains to concentrate on besides the one he can never fix. It takes him a long time to rebuild himself. As a side benefit, spending several months as a vacuum cleaner courtesy of Ratchet does wonders for his damned fondness of the Lombax.
By the time he's back to himself - sans the ridiculous gold suit - he's lost track of his quarry. Fame has its benefits, however, and eventually he tracks them down. It's impossible for a celebrity to vanish completely, even if they leave the galaxy. It takes another half-year to get to Polaris, and almost as long to find out what's happened to the two of them. Clank is missing. Klunk despairs. Not in the same way as Ratchet, oh no - he doesn't mourn. Doesn't mourn for Clank, at any rate.
Not that he needed to. Sometimes he forgets that the universe is always on Ratchet and Clank's side. Clank may be missing, but he isn't dead. Not by a long shot. Neither is the Doctor. He very nearly approaches his builder for help, but he's isn't as naive or dependant as his counterpart. He can handle himself just fine without the presence of a very less-than-sane Doctor. Though the butler... is a blessing in disguise.
Following Lawrence brings him straight to... someplace. He's not entirely sure of what it is, but he does know that nowhere in the universe feels more like home.
Klunk wanders the massive structure, more than happy to lose himself in it. There's an energy here. Wild, unrestrained - though behind it, there's a soothing softness. It's the second one he's looking for. He's been looking for it since his creation. He's so close... giving up now is not an option.
Days pass. Or is it weeks, or months? Time moves strangely here, or maybe it's just his mind conjuring fanciful imaginings. He doesn't particularly care how long he's been at this place, anyway. He has all the time in the world... or perhaps not. Something changes without warning. The drones waver in their pathways as the machinery shudders. Gears slip, glass cracks, and a hush falls.
Something's very wrong.
The behemoth structure is falling apart around him. The computer's calm voice has gained a note of panic, and the stars that were once near-stationary whirl by at an impossible speed. Klunk has never been compassionate or progressed beyond simple self-preservation, but this time...
He runs as fast as his legs can carry him to the source of the - whatever it is. A dormant instrument in his frame has woken, and it unerringly indicates the direction he must go. He doesn't know if he'll be able to stop it. It doesn't matter. He cares about this place, and if it's destroyed...
By the time he's gotten there it's too late for him to do anything. Beyond showing himself to the Lombax and robot he knows so well, that is. He can't begin to fathom what exactly has happened. But it's over now, and the structure is still mostly intact, and he's glad for that.
It's another two weeks as they fix what Klunk comes to know as the Great Clock. He keeps himself hidden from the Clock's inhabitants, though always within earshot. It's through them that he learns the history of this place and the robot tied to it... robots tied to it, because he's practically Clank, isn't he? All that's different between the two of them are their life experiences, their age, and a piece of Orvus' soul.
With that revelation, Klunk realizes he is Clank. He's more Clank than Clank himself. What's left of Orvus has influenced his twin enough that he's barely his own person. He realizes that Orvus is the missing piece, the pain he's felt all his life. He wishes, however briefly, that he could have met his - other father? The being ultimately responsible for his creation, at any rate.
He's there as the final message to Clank plays. He isn't surprised when Clank evades Orvus' original plans for him, and he thinks that Orvus probably wouldn't have been surprised either. His twin and the rat are inseparable, after all. It's disgusting, frankly, but at least this way he has the Clock to himself... nearly. The Zoni are here, though that's more or less the reason he wants to be here. He craves their energy. They aren't Orvus, but they're more than adequate to fill the void.
And there's his - brother, half-brother? He isn't sure; using organic terms to describe how he's related to Sigmund is an exercise in futility. The new Senior Caretaker is nearly alone. He can't communicate with the Zoni, and his relationship with the computer is an antagonistic one. It isn't long before Sigmund is talking to inanimate objects, and though Klunk finds it rather amusing, he decides he should show himself before his companion completely loses his mind.
Sigmund mistakes him for Clank at first, and is overjoyed to see him. His optics are still his own particular shade of red, however, and the two of them get into a scuffle before things are sorted out. They're still not on the best of terms, but it's civil enough. A friendship is developing, and Klunk surprises himself when he realizes that he honestly likes Sigmund. The Zoni are having an effect on him, it seems.
Beyond the unfamiliar feeling of friendship, he's discovered another change. He's happy. He likes it. This is home, and there's nowhere else in the universe he'd rather be, nothing else he'd rather be doing. He has no intentions of leaving without a fight. He's well aware of the fact that Orvus' message wasn't meant for him. It doesn't matter. Klunk decides to listen anyway.
It's high time he did that which makes him feel whole, after all.