5. Purpose, Promises, and Strange Vignettes
"This is sort of a strange question, and I don't want to be a bother," Cora asked at breakfast the next morning, "But is there any way I could acquire some other clothes? I can't really go on wearing this old thing forever."
"Well," said The Spine, after thinking for a moment, "If you don't mind old-fashioned second-hand clothes, this house is full of them. Check out the closets and dressers in the unused rooms if you're curious."
"It'd be like a treasure hunt," said Paige, "That actually sounds kinda fun."
"It does," Carolina added, "I haven't had a chance to explore the manor yet."
"That settles it," Brianna slid back her chair and stood up, "Come on, you three! We're going on an adventure right now."
The four girls spent most of the day scouring the manor top to bottom for clothes and any other interesting forgotten items. There was a terrifying moment when they thought they had found an evil lich, but it turned out to be an ordinary zombie who just needed directions to the portal back to Horroria. In an otherwise empty trunk they discovered something that was either a doomsday device, or a Happy Meal toy from the 80's. They decided to leave it there and inform Mr. Walter as soon as possible. By the end of the adventure, Cora had amassed an extensive and eclectic wardrobe, and the other three presented her with a spare set of Walter girl official goggles and gloves.
"Because when you think about it," Brianna explained, "You might've been the first Walter girl, or at least one of the first."
Later that day, The Spine found Cora in the other blue room (which had been officially declared hers) organizing all her finds.
"Hello, Spine," she said without looking up.
"How did you-? No, let me guess. You sensed me coming, didn't you?"
"No," she grinned up at him, "I recognized the sound of your walk."
There was always a bit of a spring in The Spine's step and a bounce in his motions. Cora was starting to get used to the robots' movements, something she had found very off-putting at first. Hatchworth's seemed measured, Rabbit's were mercurial and glitchy, and The Spine's smoothly mechanical motion was almost mesmerizing.
"I thought I'd bring you a housewarming present," he handed her the blue jacket from the box in the lab, "I think it must have been yours a long time ago."
"Thank you," said Cora.
"Although I wouldn't use the left-hand pocket if I were you."
"Why not?" Cora asked, suddenly holding the jacket very gingerly.
"For a while, Colonel Walter was experimenting with using rifts for expanded storage. He called that model a pocket dimension. But they were discontinued following protests from inhabited dimensions that were accidentally being used. I'm pretty sure the dimension that pocket leads to belongs to a very cantankerous kraken."
"You're joking," Cora gave him an incredulous look.
"Am I? Why don't you put your hand in the pocket and see for sure?"
"No thanks…"
"That isn't the weirdest invention of his. At the start, he had a problem with employees getting so dumbfounded by the strange goings-on that they nearly went catatonic. That was when he invented the Suspenders of Disbelief, which prevented the wearer from questioning any randomness. They were a standard part of a Walter employee's uniform for a few decades."
Cora laughed. As The Spine was talking, she had put on the old blue jacket. She fastened the buttons almost reverently.
"It's funny," she said, looking down at it, "I half expected that I would start remembering things when I put this on."
"How are you doing on that front?" The Spine asked.
"Better, a little. I'm adjusting. I've decided to think of Verity as someone I was in a past life, and that's helping some. It's better to focus instead on finding out who I am now, not who I was then."
xXx
Cora stood on a ladder in the den, dusting off the high bookshelves. She looked down as Steve entered with Lil' Steve, who was carrying a tiny bow and quiver of arrows, riding on his shoulder. Steve was carrying a plush dragon.
"That's cute," Cora called down to him.
"It is, isn't it?" Steve smiled as he took down his own bow from where it hung on the wall and left in the direction of the back garden.
"Don't let its cuteness fool you!" Lil' Steve shouted back, "It's a ferocious monster. And I, Lil' Steve, will vanquish it!"
Cora stared at them for a moment. She asked Rabbit as he passed by: "Is he going to-?"
"T-turn that stuffed animal into a cute little pincushion?" Rabbit answered, "Yup."
"Huh."
Cora shook her head bemusedly and went back to dusting.
xXx
"And this lab is devoted to blue matter research," said Brianna.
"Amazing," said Cora, "I've never seen any of it up close."
"Come see," Paige motioned Cora over to the workbench where she was sorting samples.
Cora leaned in, her gaze dancing over the scattered blue glow. There was an unearthly beauty to the material. It radiated that not-quite-sound that Cora felt rather than heard. But this was different from how it sounded when it was filtered through machinery. It was clearer, colder, and harder. It brought to mind things Cora didn't know she was familiar with: snowfall, starlight, the ringing of crystal. Spellbound, she listened to it with all her might.
Without warning, the air before her shimmered and pulled apart. A breeze swept through the lab as a rift spread into existence. Some piece of paper blew out on the wind, plastering itself against Cora's shoulder.
"I'm going to get Mr. Walter!" Brianna said apprehensively before dashing out of the room.
Cora, recovering from her initial surprise, peered into the rift in fascination.
"What am I looking at?" she asked.
"I think it's New Pieland… Don't get too close!" Paige grabbed Cora's arm and pulled her back a little.
"Why?"
"Rifts can be very dangerous. I've never seen one just open up on its own like this."
At that moment Brianna returned with Peter in tow. He gave the rift a cursory glance, then pressed a few buttons on the remote control-like device he was carrying. As suddenly as it had appeared, the rift vanished. Cora, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, held out the piece of paper to him.
"Here," she said, "This thing came through the rift. Oh, I guess it's an envelope."
"Indeed it is. Ah! A letter from The Jon," Peter placed it in his pocket to read later, "I think his aim is getting better. This one is only postmarked two weeks ago. Verity, may I speak to you for a moment?"
He led Cora out into the hallway. She followed reluctantly. She knew that her initial dislike of Peter was mostly just her shooting the messenger, but what with his mask and the fact that he wouldn't stop calling her Verity… She still wasn't overly fond of his company.
"Now, Verity," Peter said, "I would very much appreciate it if you would stay far away from the blue matter lab."
Cora was mortified.
"I'm so sorry!" she stammered, "I just wanted to see it. I didn't mean to open that rift or put anyone in danger-"
"What? What are you on about? No, that isn't what I meant at all," he cut her off with a wave of his hand, "I think it's absolutely fascinating that you were able to open a rift at will. I've never seen it done before. However, you don't seem to know how you did it, and I don't want to risk a repeat performance until you learn how to control it. No sense in accidentally sending someone to Hypexion V if you can help it, eh?"
Peter laughed and clapped Cora on the shoulder. She managed a short laugh and a confused smile.
"Uh, right," she said.
"I'd like you to familiarize yourself with our research on blue matter before you go near the stuff again. All the books are in one of the libraries here, ask anybody and they should be able to show you the way. Come talk to me when you've finished reading them, alright Verity?"
Peter strode off, leaving a speechless Cora standing in the hall and wondering what had just happened.
xXx
Brianna straightened up the Hall of Wires one afternoon. From the hallway, she heard a surprised yelp and the sound of things falling to the floor. She opened the door to see Cora staring in shock down the corridor, a pile of books at her feet.
"What's wrong?" Brianna asked.
"That's…" Cora gasped, "That's a tail!"
Sure enough, an enormous fluffy white tail had appeared at the end of the hallway, vanishing around the corner. Brianna laughed.
"Oh, that's just Marshmallow. I'll introduce you to him. Marshmallow! Here, kitty!"
The tail swished out of sight. A gigantic cat walked around the corner towards them, meowing loudly. It stopped in front of Brianna and bent its huge head down to her. She scratched it behind the ears obligingly. The cat began to purr.
"Marshmallow, this is Cora," said Brianna, "Say hello, Cora."
"Hello, Marshmallow," Cora said cautiously.
She held out her hand. Marshmallow sniffed it for a second, and then leaned down a little lower so Cora could pet his head.
"How about we get you some milk, huh Marshmallow?" said Brianna.
"No you don't, Brianna," said The Spine, sticking his head out of a doorway, "We're already way over budget with how many gallons of milk you gave him last month."
"Spoilsport," Brianna sulked.
xXx
Cora found Steve fixing some of his equipment in the workshop.
"Um, Steve?" she said, "Rabbit just ate a mic pack…"
Steve jumped to his feet.
"Was it out of the black box on the top shelf?" he demanded.
"No, it was just laying on the countertop."
"Oh, that one was broken anyway. That's ok."
He sat back down.
"…and then he grabbed the green box from the second shelf and ran off yelling something about making a bouquet for Paige," Cora finished.
Steve immediately stood up again.
"That's not ok. Excuse me, Cora," he said, then bolted from the workshop, shouting, "RABBIT, IF YOU TOUCH THOSE MICROPHONES, I SWEAR TO GOD-!"
xXx
On particularly slow days at the manor, someone would inevitably break out the chess board. Today it was Matt and Michael. Michael leaned back in his chair as Matt stared at the board in intense concentration.
"Come on, Time Lord, make a move," Michael said.
"Time Lord…" Cora said softly to herself, concentrating on the words. Since she had learned that she could access the internet with her mind, she'd been attempting to find answers on her own instead of having to the others about everything. She was still struggling a bit to get the hang of it.
"That's right," said Paige, "You haven't seen Doctor Who yet. Hmm… Ok, I declare a Doctor Who marathon, starting now!"
The Walter girls devoted the entire next week to watching the series between Doctors 9 and 12. By the end of that week, the robots got very bored without them, and Rabbit decided that they should demand that the girls come outside and make s'mores with them. They found the girls in Paige's room, in the middle of the most recent episode. Brianna let them in, but told them to be quiet.
"The name I chose is the Doctor," Eleven was saying, "The name you choose is like… it's like a promise you make."
"A promise…" Cora repeated quietly.
The episode ended, and the girls laughed at Cora's indignation over the twist and the cliffhanger. After some speculation over what would happen next, they followed the robots outside.
"You know," said Cora, "I can't stop thinking about what he said about the name you choose. I'm not Verity anymore, and I only thought Cora was my name mistakenly. I think… maybe I should choose a name for myself."
"Oh! Can I help?" Rabbit interrupted excitedly, "I'm g-good with names!"
"I want to help, too!" added Hatchworth.
"I know you want to help," The Spine laughed, "but you can't pick a name for her. She's not a goldfish."
That didn't stop the other two robots from volunteering an array of absurd options.
xXx
"What are you watching?" The Spine asked.
Cora looked up a little embarrassedly, setting the laptop aside.
"Recordings of your concerts," she said, "I've heard you all practice your songs, but I've never seen the whole act. I was just curious."
"Well, what do think?"
"It's hilarious. I'd love to see it in person. Although, I was wondering… I know the act is a routine and all, so do the things you say have any basis in reality, or are they all just for show?"
"A lot of it is for show, yes. We tend to exaggerate things like me not understanding jokes or Rabbit pulling crazy stunts-"
"Ok, Hatchy!" came Rabbit's voice from the back garden, "J-just watch me and do as I do!"
Cora and The Spine ran to the window just in time to see Rabbit flying through the air past them. He had attached two ropes to the eaves of the manor and had just swung from a large tree at one end of the garden to another at the other. Hatchworth was in the first tree holding onto the other rope.
"Then again," said The Spine "Some of it is absolutely real."
"Alright, now jump!" Rabbit called.
"Don't do it, Hatchworth!" The Spine ordered.
"D-don't listen to him, he's just being a b-buzzkill. Jump!"
Hatchworth jumped and went sailing past the window. However, he forgot to let go when he reached the other tree. Rabbit made a grab for him, but he missed and back Hatchworth swung.
"Let go at the tree!" called The Spine.
Hatchworth panicked, letting go right in the middle. The robot plummeted to the ground. Cora and The Spine stared down at him for a speechless second, then looked back at each other.
"I'll go get Carolina," Cora said.
"I'm gonna find one of the mechanics," The Spine added, and off they both ran.
xXx
Cora looked up to see who had spoken, but as she did so she realized that that wasn't quite right. It hadn't sounded so much like a voice as it had a static buzzing in her head like a distorted electric guitar. There was something musical about it. It felt tense and excited. Cora tried to focus on the sound and to make out what it meant.
Suddenly she was jarred out of her concentration by an uproar in the center of the house. There were screams and shouts and the sound of running feet. Cora dashed towards the main staircase to see what was going on. If she thought she'd been getting used to the strangeness of life at Walter Manor, she was now proved wrong.
Walter girls, human members of the band, and robots were scattered around the levels of the house near the staircase. Everyone carried various Nerf swords and guns. Here and there stood coolers filled with water balloons. Michael and Carolina had already apparently been hit, as they were both soaked. Rabbit, wearing a red bandana and tri-cornered hat and brandishing a sword, swung from the chandelier.
"Ahoy there, landlubber!" he yelled when he spotted Cora, "This battle be every man for himself!"
"What on earth is going on?" Cora exclaimed.
"It's a spontaneous battle royal!" called Brianna from her position behind a sofa, "If someone wants to make a challenge, they set out the water balloons. That way we all know to get our weapons and fight to the death! The last one standing is the victor."
"Who issues this challenge?" called Michael from a doorway.
"I do."
The Spine stepped out of the shadows across the stairs from Cora, with a sword resting against his shoulder. He looked down on everyone with a cool smirk.
"You, Spine?" Cora gasped.
Without warning, The Spine flung a water balloon in her direction. Cora was barely able to dodge it. She flattened herself against the banister, ready to run.
"Arm yourself, maiden!" Matt called from atop a cabinet, tossing one of his swords up to Cora.
Cora made a grab for it. She intended to catch the sword one-handed and spring into a defensive pose. In her attempt to look clever and impressive, she fumbled her catch and ended up hitting herself in the face with the sword. The others burst out laughing.
"I don't know why," said Steve, who was standing a little ways down the stairs, "But I thought you'd have better skills than that."
"You… shut up!" shouted Cora heatedly, unable to think of a good comeback in her embarrassment.
"Is that the best you've got?" Steve challenged.
Cora grinned and readied her sword.
"Have at thee, miscreant!" she cried, and charged down the stairs at him.
Now the battle began in earnest. Everybody attacked everybody else, but it didn't seem to matter how many times you were hit. The combatants only consented to "death" if they were on the receiving end of a particularly impressive attack. Brianna was the first one out, struck down by well-aimed firing from Michael. Cora soon realized that she had gotten in way over her head in challenging Steve. She fled at the earliest opportunity, killing Michael and stealing his gun. Carolina cornered Hatchworth and dispatched him with her sword. Steve killed both Matt and Carolina before being slain by an aerial assault from Paige. Rabbit caused the chandelier to swing ever more wildly, using the momentum to take out Paige. While attempting to shoot down Rabbit down, Cora met her demise when The Spine dumped a cooler-full of water balloons down on her. At last, only The Spine and Rabbit remained.
"Looks like it's just you and me, brother," said The Spine, walking slowly down the staircase.
"I'll teach ye to meddle with Captain Albert Alexander, me hearty," Rabbit answered, dropping down from the chandelier.
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then they leapt at each other in a battle of such speed and fury that none of the onlookers could quite follow it. Suddenly, The Spine dashed at the wall. He ran up it, flipped in midair, and brought his sword crashing down on Rabbit.
"'Oh, I die, Horatio!'" Rabbit cried, inexplicably swapping seafarer-speak for Shakespeare.
After a magnificently over-dramatic display of staggering about, gasping, and clutching at his chest, Rabbit fell to the ground. The others burst into wild applause and cheers for The Spine, and the victorious silver robot bowed to them all, grinning proudly.
xXx
The Spine leaned in the back doorway, looking out at the sky. Night was by far his favorite time. It had been the first thing he recognized as being beautiful. Also, it was often the only time he got a little peace and quiet. As he turned his gaze to the dark garden, he noticed a strange heat reading. There was somebody out there. He walked out into the garden to investigate. Whoever it was, they behind one of the larger hedges that was farthest from the house. As he rounded the corner, he saw that it was Cora. She was sitting on the ground and… was she crying?
"Cora?" he said quietly.
Startled, she looked back at him. Then she turned away again, hastily wiping her eyes.
"I'm sorry," she cleared her throat a little, "I didn't think anyone would be out here."
"No one is, usually. That's why I came to see what was going on," said The Spine, kneeling down behind here, "What's wrong?"
"I had a terrible thought," Cora broke off and shook her head. She wasn't yet able to speak without starting to cry again. She shivered suddenly.
"Just looking at you is making me cold. C'mere."
The Spine wrapped his arms around Cora and pulled her back against his chest. Having a steam boiler inside had its advantages sometimes.
"Thanks," said Cora.
"It's not the first time I've been used for my body heat," The Spine laughed a little.
They sat in silence for a few minutes. When Cora stopped shivering, the silver robot spoke again.
"Do you want to tell me about it? I mean, if you don't want to talk to me, you could try your luck with Gravy Boat Bot, but-"
"I just realized…" she said finally, "They're all going to die. Matt and Paige and all of them. They're going to die someday and, unless something kills me, I won't. I could go on forever. And forever is an awfully long time."
"I know," said The Spine, holding her a little tighter.
"How do you bear it?"
"Well," he thought for a moment, "We sing. We make music, and it makes people feel things. It was the first thing that made us feel, too. We can't stop time and we can't change what we are, but the music is important. I don't know if I could ever explain just how important it is, or why. It's our purpose in life. It's what we were made to do. I suppose we could do other things if we wanted to, but this feels right to us. I suppose that's the advantage of being a robot. Even when we were away at war, we've always known what our purpose was."
"But I'm not a robot," said Cora, "And I'm not a human either. I don't know if I even have a purpose. I'm not sure what I am, and I'm not sure why I'm even alive."
"I think you're alive because a long time ago, you did something very brave and very kind, and it was enough to make a man do everything he could to ensure that you went on being brave and kind."
"Was I really brave, or am I just foolish?" she mused quietly, "No, I suppose that's up to me now, isn't it? It's my decision what I am and what I'm supposed to do. That's a lot of responsibility. It's something that has to be chosen carefully, as much of a promise as a name is."
For a while, they both sat in silence, gazing up at the stars. When The Spine looked back down at Cora, he smiled at something he hadn't noticed before.
"I don't know if this is the wrong time to bring this up," he said, "But did you know that you glow in the dark?"
Cora glanced at her hands. Sure enough, they glowed a faint blue in the darkness. She burst out laughing.
"I'm sorry," she managed, trying to catch her breath, "I don't know why I find that so funny."
The Spine, laughing as well, helped her to her feet, "Let's go back inside."
He walked with Cora to her room. She opened the door, then turned back to The Spine and hugged him.
"Thank you," she said.
"Goodnight," he smiled.
As he walked away down the hall, he heard Cora singing softly to herself:
"Here I go again,
I'm breaking up,
I'm shutting down now…"