Title: His mission

After The BRAIN is destroyed, the world begins to settle once more, everything heals and life begins to grow. One of the fallen gets a second chance to revive what was lost in battle. But can he succeed?

I Still Own Nothing!

_-_-_Part 9: Settle _-_-_

It had been a week since 1 had been brought back. 3, 4 and 5 tried going out since then to find the others but the weather seemed to have other plans. The rain came hard and fast which made it difficult for them to look around thoroughly, so the majority of the time that they went out they had to come back before they ended up getting hurt. On the brighter side, things were beginning to settle down a bit, and 5 used the time to really get used to being alive again and to get his thoughts in order.

Things seemed to go much like they did before he came back. 5 began to see how things would be after they could all be together again. Being in this particular building made everyone feel calmer then when they all lived in the cathedral. Each stitchpunk had their own spaces in the scientist's building, which were usually close together with enough space for it to feel personal.

3 and 4's space was on a table near three large book cases, where they had even built a small 'house' made of books that they had finished reading practically as soon as they picked them up. They had two objects that 5 found out were called socks, and saw that the twins used them to sleep in. He once went up to find them both curled up in their individual sock, and he found it to be adorable beyond words.

5 found he liked staying in a storage compartment that was knocked on its side with a large open lid; inside he put together a pile of supplies that he could easily build with. 9 often asked why he liked to live in there with all the old junk and bits and pieces of metal, but 5 would tell him that it reminded him of the way he and 2 used to live. The fifth would be able to see the hurt on 9's face when he said it. It was usually too small to see if you weren't looking but 5 knew it was there. He never meant to hurt 9 but that's the way he usually took it.

1 and 6's soul were still new, and they hardly had a space of their own yet. 6 mostly stayed under a shelf on the scientist's desk in the corner that was filled with paper. 5 saw him tracing pictures and knew that the other missed his almost hypnotizing activities and knew he would have to bring the other back soon so that he could draw again. In turn; 1 had set up a small area for himself on the window sill, and it looked to 5 like that was where he was going to stay.

Over that week, he began to notice patterns in the others everyday life. 9 and 7 often went out to do whatever they did together, 5 found it better not to ask, nor to go after them when they did. He did once during the week and saw them holding close together. He didn't know what they were doing but felt he shouldn't interrupt further and went back to his work.

3 and 4 went on as they did during the war with the machine. They moved quickly around new areas, studying and collecting data. They always looked like they were having fun. He and the twins went off a few times during the week to try to find any of the three remaining stitchpunk's souls or bodies and they looked like they were at peace with everything around them as they explored, even with the destruction left over from the war.

5 weren't sure whether to be surprised or not at how 1 acted. The elder surprised most of them by staying away from them. He usually spent days sitting on his makeshift living space on the window sill on the farthest corner, looking out the window and hardly ever coming down. Sometimes 9 would go up and would sit with him for awhile but he could never get the other to come back down. 5 felt like 1 was becoming more and more like the age that he was.

He acted more like a nostalgic old man then the leader that they were so used to. Sometimes he would talk of the past before the younger stitchpunks were created, almost like an old man at the end of his days, going over his life and telling his grandchildren of a world that they would never have imagined possible.

5 noticed whenever he was about to talk of 2 he would call him 'brother'. It was odd to hear him say that, especially because of the way he treated the inventor when they were living in the cathedral, but he supposed since they were so close in age that 1 and 2 might have well been brothers, even if they weren't technically related.

Despite the old stories, 5 knew 1 was still as strong as he was years ago. He even got into arguments with 9 all the time about this and that, important or not they did this at least once or twice a day, both quick on their feet with wit and insult. 5 felt calm and smiled when they fought like this, and soon he would find himself thinking of the past, and with the past a certain word would come up and he would spend his free time trying to think about.

-'Family'-

5 thought about this word often after he found it in an old dictionary on the days that they spent inside and away from the rain. He found that that it was something he was beginning to feel close to, though he also saw that there were so many different ways of defining the word that he never really knew which version it was.

-'A group of things related by common characteristics'-

He knew that they were all made of the same things; metal, burlap, copper, strings and wires. Somehow he felt like this definition didn't really get to the heart of how he felt. It was odd, he knew that the main components of their physical beings wasn't what the book he found was talking about, but that's what it felt like to him and he would still search on for the proper meaning.

-'A group of persons of common ancestry'-

While it was true that each of the stitchpunk's souls were a part of the scientists; 5 didn't necessarily believe that that was the case. After all, they might look the same but they all had such drastically different personalities that it hardly seemed right. They all came from the same soul but the materials that formed their bodies were from all over, and that's the factor that eliminated the idea of them sharing common ancestry.

-'A group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head'-

This seemed closer to what 5 thought the word meant. This definition made the most sense to 5. Back during the war when it was only 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, they all lived together in the cathedral under 1 as the self proclaimed leader. That would have made 1 the 'head' of their group. But now it seemed like that definition didn't fit, like it was changing, turning into something else; something that he didn't know or could explain.

_-_-_-_

5 sighed and closed the cover of the small dictionary that he had pulled into his space. His eye was straining to see in the dark. It was about midnight and 5 couldn't fall asleep. So far the weather seemed to be letting up, which meant he and the twins would be able to start looking for the others again the next day.

The rain had turned out beneficial though, as 5 used it as a chance to go through the scientist's notes further. He studied the mechanics that bound the soul to the physical body and the ways that the different machines and mechanics worked inside them. He had found out the reason for 1's soul nearly disappearing, and the results scared him.

Apparently, if nothing threatened them and they were able to make normal repairs on themselves, the stitchpunks were able to live for a longer time than expected. 5 was relieved when he first read this as it also had bits hinting on the length of time that the soul could live outside of the body.

The younger the soul, the longer it could last. This explained why 1 nearly faded away; His soul was too old to last outside without a body. He did feel better about 6 after reading this though, he knew that he would be the hardest to find since his body was probably the farthest from everyone else. 8 and 6 he knew he wouldn't have to worry about, but then something crossed his mind that made him freeze.

2 was only a bit younger than 1 was which meant that 2 could fade away at anytime.

After he read that he began to look frantically for the papers that would say how long the soul would last. He asked the twins about it and he was thankful that they had seen those papers. Unfortunately they were destroyed during a terrible storm that happened a few months before 5 returned, but the twins had recorded them.

He looked over the recordings on the paper and saw that there was a certain time between souls. The moment 1 was about to disappear, 2 was to be given three months before his soul would start to disintegrate. The same time distance would be for the twins, meaning 3 and 4 would be given three months after 2 permanently faded before they did. Though they wouldn't have to worry about dying, they still had their bodies intact.

It was only the bodiless that had to worry.

5 stood up from where he was sitting on the floor of his space and moved over to his 'bed'; a few crumbled up pieces of paper under some burlap.

Touching the rough material he remembered a promise that 2 made him before he was sent out to scout by 1. He said as soon as he returned, he would make a real bed for 5, something that the fifth would be comfy in and would have nothing but good dreams.

He smiled at the memory. He knew 2 made that promise to him after he found out that 5 had nightmares about losing his eye, which manifested into nightmares about losing the rest of his limbs and mechanisms. 2 was his 'father' and he looked out for 5 every chance he got. 5 felt things for 2 that he was sure wasn't considered 'normal'. He loved him, and he couldn't help it.

He read on the word 'love' in his dictionary too. Some of the results surprised him; most talking about sexual things that human's felt and what not. But he found that the definition for a more family-like love suited how he felt better.

That's what caused him to look up the word 'family'. And that's what caused him to question just what the stitchpunks were to each other.

Sighing he moved to the opening of the compartment and pulled the lid until it was almost closed all the way. He didn't like sleeping with it wide open. He had too many fears of being attacked in his sleep, even though he knew that there was no chance of that happening here.

He also never closed it all the way, as some nights the twins would come down from their book fort and sleep next to him. He didn't mind really, it was surprising but it helped him relax when he had to care for the others. Maybe this was because it felt like he was keeping 2's memory alive by being caring and nurturing just as the inventor was for him.

He shook off the thoughts as he lay down. It was late and he knew that they would be off early in the morning to continue their search. He closed his optics and began to think about things that he didn't want to think of when he was about to sleep. Things like where they were going to search next, what kinds of machines they might run into, what kind of repairs would 6 and 8 need and with that the question on how much material he would have to take with him, and so on.

Luckily, those thoughts also made him even more tired than he already was. Soon he would be asleep, his gears grinding to a soft hum as he drifted away from his tired body. He hoped that the journey the next day would go easy, he was already so banged up from the past week that he was sure that anything more would likely kill him.

Still, he couldn't complain. This was his job, and for now he was just grateful to accept the sleep he was able to get. Tomorrow might not be so relaxing, but at least he had this one moment of peace, which was more than enough for him.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Part 9 done.

This chapter was really just a reflection on what was going on before 5 goes to look for the others, so the next chapter should have more action.

NOTES- A bit more was explained about 1's soul and the reason he almost permanently disappeared. As long as they have a body it doesn't matter how old they get, so don't worry about 1 as he is fine now.

Thank you to all who read and reviewed my story so far! I hope that you read and enjoyed this chapter. It makes me so happy when you review so be sure too if you like it. Thank you and I hope you come back to read the next part when it's up, which should be posted on Tuesday or early Wednesday.

Thank you -^^-!