This is somewhat loosely tied to 'Female', but can be a stand alone. AU. Partially Humanized!
"H-hello?"
Seven and Nine looked up. Five was too into what he was doing. Until the man spoke again.
"Is anybody here?"
Five looked up, too. They glanced at each other as they heard footsteps. Seven pulled her swords, Five picked up his crossbow, and Nine…Nine did nothing but puzzle. A face peeked in then jerked back when the weapons were raised.
"Come in," Five said authoritatively. "Slowly. Hands visible." Pause. "Now!"
The man shyly came in. He had short black hair and tanned skin. His clothes were ragged and filthy, but even if they hadn't been, they were plain and boring.
"Where do you come from?"
"The Charlotte colony."
"Charlotte…North Carolina?"
"Yes, for those who remember the states."
"What are your intentions?" Seven asked.
"I came to find my children."
"There are no children around here," Five replied. "Go away."
~Who sent you?~ Nine asked experimentally.
"Timothy."
Five and Seven gaped at him. Nine smiled, walking boldly forward. He stopped right in front of him.
"I recognize Five and Seven," the man said, frowning at him. "But I don't remember feeling you before."
Nine held up a hand then waited. The man searched his child's golden eyes with his violet ones then took his hand. Green light shot between them and every single Stitchpunk saw. They saw him grow up. They saw him make BRAIN. They saw him make them. But…Nine didn't wake up. He was setting up for another soul transfer when the Resistance broke in and dragged him away, kicking, cursing, and screaming for his youngest.
After that they saw seventeen long, lonely years. Yes, he got younger and stronger, aging backwards instead of forward, but he was a shell, nothing without his children, the other parts of him. Leader after leader cast him out, and he finally lived on the outskirts of the Charlotte colony. He stayed there until his old friend, Timothy, one of the few people who listened to him, came with news of humans with numbers blazing on their backs. He hurried as fast as he could, all alone on the dangerous journey to get there, hoping against hope, praying they were still alive, that it was true.…
He woke up slowly, heavy and aching. He moaned. He was too hot. A cool rag was placed on his forehead, a voice shushing him gently.
"I know it's hot. We're drawing you a nice, cool bath."
"One…One is that you? P-protect the others. Don't let them die. Be their leader…"
"I'm afraid he took a memory burst worse than we did the first time."
"Five? Th-they need you. Guide them with your…your…" He coughed then shivered. "Your light."
"One, the bath's ready."
"Two! Two, you're so curious. Inspire them to do the same!"
"Is he going to keep doing that?"
"Eight, you must guard them. You're the biggest, the strongest…"
"Ooh, do me next!"
"Six, you see the future. Lead them through the storms of life…"
"…Well? Speak, woman!"
"What do I say, One?"
"Seven, you're the only female, but you can fight. Females can fight better than any man, they're craftier, smarter. Defend them…"
~Will he do us if we project?~
"Three, teach them. You know so much, and you learn so fast. Teach them of life before the war, of color and plants and animals…"
~What about me?~
"Four, you are just as smart, but different than your brother. Define the others, Four. Watch them and define them, for how do you know what a thing is, but by its definition…?"
There was silence. "One?" Five asked as they stared at the flushed, shivering man in the bed. "Nine's not here to speak."
"Nine…he's dead. He didn't wake up…He'll never live…He can't s-save you…"
"Save us? What do you mean, save us?" One asked with a frown.
"From imploding. Such vast differences, One, such vast differences between personalities. Something will go wrong, I know it, and Nine will save you from separating…Shouldn't have made him, too much soul energy, won't end well, but he must live for the others to survive!"
There was more silence then Five checked his temperature. "We need to put him in the tub."
The blanket was tossed aside and the cold air made him moan again. Now he was cold. Or was it hot? He couldn't tell. Then he was placed in water. Very cool water. And held there. He didn't have the energy to fight, so he just laid there until darkness took him.
He sat bolt upright. Was it a dream? Had he imagined it? A hand touched his face.
"It's okay, Father, go back to sleep."
"Nine! Where's Nine?!"
"Nine's at the Factory. He's trying to sort through his conflicted feelings about meeting you."
"Con-conflicted? What do you mean conflicted? He's my little boy!"
"Who has never met you. You didn't exactly look happy to see him when you saw him for the first time. He's upset by that. You acted like he didn't belong with us. You didn't trust him."
"I said none of that!"
"Your expression did. Five and Seven confirmed it. Now, we'll worry about him tomorrow morning after breakfast. Sleep."
When the Scientist was sure One was asleep, he used his soul energy to mimic his weight. It would slowly disappear so One wouldn't know that he was gone. He also used his soul energy to get out of the house without being heard. Smirking, he then headed for the one place he never wanted to go again. But he went willingly. To see his youngest.
The door was well oiled for some strange reason, and he entered to see…machines. Three of them. And they all turned to look at him. But…they didn't attack. He slowly walked forward, glancing up at the large machine above them before stopping altogether.
"Good…boy?" he said as the wolf sniffed him. There was a single bark, and a low buzzing. A door off to the side opened, and a man walked out. He strode right up to him, grabbed his face, and studied it with glowing, fully red eyes. The eyes of a machine. The Scientist stood there for a long time as he was poked and prodded by BRAIN, for he had no doubt that was who it was. He paid no attention to the machine-turned-human until he finally stood up.
"You have aged in reverse, Maker. Just as Nine predicted you would. You are much healthier now than you were when you made me. However, you are too thin. Do not worry about that, though. Nine will fatten you up. Now, Nine is asleep, and he is no doubt the one you came to see. Do not wake him. He has been troubled with nightmares since he fell asleep. Perhaps your voice can soothe him better than mine. Come."
He led his maker to the door. "The floor is clean. Take five small steps in, you will bump the corner of the mattress. Follow it to the head of the bed. Do not bump the bedside table, there is a bottle of water for Nine. It will break if you knock it onto the floor."
"Aren't you coming in?"
"No. I shall recharge out here. Nine will want to speak with you when you wake up."
"Do you need a bed?"
BRAIN smiled, and dissolved into green energy, which flowed up to the large machine in the middle of the Factory. ~No, Maker. I do not need a bed. I am not actually human. Or Stitchpunk. Go and rest. You look exhausted.~
"Thank you, BRAIN."
The lights dimmed quite a bit, and went out as soon as he went into the room. He could hear Nine whimpering, so he quickly slipped into the bed, during which he realized that he had made the trek over to the Factory with nothing on. At all. Not even pants.
"I should have noticed that," he mused softly.
~Noticed what?~ came the tired response.
"Oh, nothing."
~You clearly tricked One to go back to sleep and snuck out to see me. Tell me.~
"How do you know what I did?"
~Simple. I would do it, too. Probably in the same way you did. False weight that disappears? Solidifying creaky wood with soul energy? Been done. And One is going to be pissed when he wakes up.~
"I…I didn't care. Still don't. I wanted to see you."
~You're not going to until morning.~
The Scientist laughed, reaching over to pull Nine close. He remembered he wasn't wearing anything and grew embarrassed. Nine snickered.
~Is this what you didn't notice?~
"Y-yeah."
~It doesn't bother me. I'm not naturally human. We do not share compunctions about nudity. However, we do wear clothes outside the house. Just because of humans' reactions to it. And Seven always has. I never let her walk naked outside unless I am damn sure there isn't a human around.~
"Still…I would feel much more comfortable if I had on pants," the Scientist said, his cheeks warm.
~Very well.~
Green energy swirled through the blanket, and the man was relieved to feel cloth beneath his fingertips.
"I greatly appreciate it, Nine. I really do."
~I understand humans much better than the others. I can see the past.~
"Is that what happened? We saw my past?"
~Yes. It was a complete memory burst. I got everything about you and your life, but I filtered it for the others. They still can't handle that sort of input.~
"I see. So, you have seventeen years behind controlling this?"
~Um…no. Seven."
"I beg your pardon?"
~I'm only seven years old. I didn't wake up for ten years.~
"What woke you up? Did they find you?"
~No. Skull did.~
"Who's Skull?"
~Did you see the metal kitty cat? That's Skull. The wolf is Fang, and the one with wings is Talon. He's not actually a bird…but it's the closest damn thing I could come up with. So he's my pet bird.~
The Scientist nodded. "So Skull found you and jolted you?"
~No. He brought me to BRAIN.~
"Ah."
~Who then proceeded to try and suck out my soul.~
Silence for a whole minute, followed by an incredulous, "What?!"
~Yep. He was still evil. He remembered you screaming that he needed a soul, and you were the kindest person he knew, and he wanted to please you, so he did his research. He found he couldn't steal it from a human, so he built Skull and instructed him to find something with a soul that wasn't human. He then went dormant for ten years. Skull found me, saw the soul in me, and hurried me to BRAIN. Who then proceeded to try and suck out my soul.~
"…And?"
~I woke up confused and frightened. I felt like I was being peeled apart. All I knew was that something was tugging on me and hurting me, so I tugged back. I won, but didn't disconnect from him. He did the equivalent of crying. He just wanted to please his maker so badly. So I tore my own soul in half and gave him a piece. I then couldn't move for a month. It hurt.~
"I know. But I had to keep moving. No rest, no respite. Just work. Get them done. Get them done. Get them done so that you've contributed something good to the world."
Nine nuzzled him. ~He became good after that, BRAIN did. Reprogrammed my pets. Kept me company, guided me through the world for four years as my only companion, besides his machines.~
"When did you meet the others?"
~That is a story for another time. I'm tired. Sing to me? Like…Like you did for the others?"
The Scientist did so, soothingly singing a lullaby. It lulled them both to sleep, smiling and pressing close.
