Chapter 2

Sometime later 7 began to wake from being unconcious. The first thing she became aware of was pain—a stabbing pain in her sides, arms, and back. It hurt like heck and there was a loud buzzing in her head. It felt as if something was moving over her, touching her all over and digging cruelly into her spine.

She screamed and thrashed but, was held down, not allowed to move. She whimpered, not liking the pain, especially when it grew into pure agony.

The darkness crept back in again and she fell unconscious once more.

The next time she woke, probably hours or even days later, it was because a cold hand rested gently on her cheek. She moaned, resting her face against it. "...9?"

"No," a voice that did not belong to 9 said. "It's me."

Me? Who was me? She clicked her optics open blinking and taking in a blurry image. "Hmmm?"

As her vision cleared she discovered 1 smiling down at her. "Slowly, my dear," he said in a soft voice that sounded so different from the one he'd used previously. "These wires need to settle in."

She didn't understand what he meant; all she knew was that she didn't want him near her, much less touching her. She pulled away from him, not wanting his hands anywhere near her fabric, or her body for that matter.

He held her down, preventing her from going anywhere. "Shhh..." He was still pretending to be nice and caring. How sickening.

She pushed at him. "Let go of me!" she ordered.

"I am not holding you," he responded, pulling his hand away from her to prove his point. "However..."

However? She looked at him confused. What did he mean by that?

"These wires better not be severed," he replied matter-of-factly. "Should you want to live that is..."

His words made her freeze. What did he mean by that? She started feeling cold, sensing that something had happened to her that she hadn't agreed to.

He smirked, as if sensing her feelings. "They connect directly to the remains of the fabricator," he explain as if she'd asked him to. "It'syour new heart, in a way."

Her new...?

She felt as if an icy hand had touched her spine. "What did you do to me!" she demanded, shoving him away from her.

He chuckled, not even slightly fazed by her reaction. "Look at yourself." A mechanical arm came down and held a chipped mirror before her.

She gasped, seeing wires coming out of her back and head, leading upward and away.

"No..." she breathed, stepping back in horror. What had he…how could he?

He laughed at her now, opening his arms as if he expected her to embrace him. 'Come here, my queen."

She turned to him, horrified. "Get away from me!"

How could he expect her to accept this, especially after she'd openly rejected him and his proposition? Did he really think forcing her into it would make her change her mind?

At her words he frowned.

She put up her hand, still stepping backward. "You…you just stay away from me!"

He stepped toward her, glaring. "No, I won't!" he snapped, stubborn. "You're my queen now!"

"I am not and I will never be!" she shot back, clenching her fists. "I don't care what you did or what you say!"

He smirked at her once more. "We'll see about that," he responded. "Once things settle..."

"Don't count on it!" she cut him off, reaching behind herself and tugging on one of the wires. No way was she going to stay plugged into that thing. It just wasn't going to happen.

He watched her and snickered. "Don't waste your time. It's part of your body now."

She chose to ignore him, still tugging. He had to be lying again; there was no way that could be true.

He suddenly rushed over to her and grabbed her hands, yanking them away from the wires. "Don't make me tie you down!"

She kicked at him, not wanting him to touch her. "Get away from me!"

He kneed her in the stomach, shoving her over and onto the ground. "Shhh!"

What the heck? Did he actually think that would make her stop? "No!" she fought against his hold, kicking and scratching at him.

1 ignored her struggling, keeping her pinned to the ground. Eventually wires came down to help him, wrapping around her arms and legs and chest. She continued to fight, though the wires made it hard to move. She wouldn't give up that easily, oh no.

The older stitchpunk continued to pin her down, unfazed by her mad thrashing. He leaned closer to her.

"Get off me!" she screamed into his face.

He suddenly grabbed her neck. She managed to pull her arm free andpunch him in the face, which made him dig his fangs into her arm. She winced, gritting her teeth. What in the world was he doing?

Suddenly he tore the fabric off her entire lower arm, exposing the metal frame under it. She screamed in pain. "STOP IT!"

He dropped the fabric, glaring at her. "Why should I?" he demanded. She couldn't seem to answer so he continued. "You do not listen, either. NEVER!"

"Why should I?" she threw his words back at him. Now it was his turn to be silent so she went on. "You're nothing but an uncaring, selfish, control freak!"

"Am I?" he snarled, giving her a dark look.

"You are!" she replied heatedly.

Suddenly he snuck his hand down her front, slipping it into the hole in her chest where the button had been.

"No!" she screamed. Not this again.

He started playing with her frayed seam, looking thoughtful. "Hmm..."

"STOP IT!" she didn't want him touching her. She tried to get back up. "One, get your hands off me!"

He pushed her back down.

"Get off me!"

"Unlikely." he kept her pinned, ignoring her struggling. "Not until I get what I want.'

She shot him a disgusted look, struggling madly. "I said no!"

"And I said yes..."

"You're disgusting!" she shouted into his face. "A disgusting pervert!"

"No," he said simply. "I am the only one making sense here."

"No you're not!" He really wasn't and if he was, it was only to himself.

When he put his hand over her mouth to shut her up she bit it. He didn't seem fazed and dug his hand into her front. She began to thrash around; screaming against his hand, though the only sound that came out was a pathetic squeak.

1 leaned forward more, stroking her soul container gently, wanting her to loosen up finally.

She had no intention of doing so and squirmed under him, trying to get away. He brought his face close to hers, his mouth even closer. She made a noise behind his hand and turned her face away. And then he did something she wasn't expecting. He bit into the fabric above the tear in her front, sinking in his fangs.

Her optics shrank to pinpricks in pain and she fought harder to get him off, though he stubbornly held onto her. She started kicking at him, just wanting him to let her go. What did he expect her to do with that kind of treatment anyway? This just made her want to get away more.

Eventually he did let go, pulling away. The pain in her chest was still there, though, as she stared up at him. "Why did you do that??"

He just grinned and said. "Guess."

Guess? She didn't have the slightest idea; all she knew was that it had hurt. "Are you crazy?"

He responded by digging his fingers into the wound, making her scream for him to stop. He frowned.

"Why should I?"

"Because it hurts!" she tried to keep her voice even.

Suddenly he was grabbing her arms, pulling at them as if he wanted to tear them out.

"STOP IT!"

He ignored her, digging his claws into her fabric.

"1, stop!" she screamed again.

Now he did stop. He looked at her confused.

She took her chance and tried to sit up, tried to get away from him. He was going to kill her if he kept this up and she didn't want that.

A wire came down suddenly and wrapped around her neck. She gasped, grabbing at it, trying to get it off. As she did, it began to tighten, choking her. She began to gag, falling onto her back, fighting to get it off as it cut off her breathing.

He pinned her down, growling. "Not so cocky now, are you?"

She couldn't answer him because she was choking. She made a gurgling noise, still trying to get the wires off. He made no attempted to help her either, choosing to watch her with glowing red optics.

Soon her struggling grew weaker as darkness began to creep at the corners of her vision. She started panicking, fighting harder. He was killing her!

1 growled at her, still watching without attempting to help.

Suddenly she went limp, blacking out from lack of air. Now the wire did untangle itself from her neck, going back into the ceiling.

The older stitchpunk tore her front open so another cable could go inside her front and clamp onto her frame, making her body jerk.

He looked up and gently touched her right optic. He seemed to think about it a moment then he brutally ripped it out of her face and threw it aside.

Oil leaked from the hole in her face but he ignored it, beginning to work on some other things.

A short time later he stopped and the cable went out of her body. 7 moaned as she began to come around.

1 looked at her face and slapped it hard. The remaining optic in her face snapped open in shock and pain, instantly focusing on him.

Right away she noticed something was wrong. She seemed to have gone blind in her right eye and had lost all depth perception. When she put her hand on her face he grinned. She sat up, realizing what was happening and started to scramble away.

1 reached out, grabbing her ankle. "Surrender or die."

She kicked at his hand, knowing full well what he meant. "No!"

He dug his claws into her ankle, refusing to let go. "No to what?"

She didn't reply to his question, instead focusing on what he'd just done to her. She placed her hand back on the spot, discovering her fabric was torn and sticky from her bleeding oil out of it. "Are you going to tear parts out of me every time I say no?"

"I wasn't hurting you for that."

"No," she said, relaxing right away why he had. "You're doing it because you like it!"

'"No!" he shouted at her. "I am doing it to fix you!"

"Fix me!" she exploded, staring at him in shock and disbelief. "You tore my optic out of me face! How is that fixing me?"

He laughed.

"What's so funny?" she demanded.

"You still don't get it!" he cackled.

"You don't get it!" she shot back.

"Get what?" he asked her.

"I am not interested!" she shouted at him hotly. "Don't you understand the definition of no?"

He leaned toward her and poked her chest, grinning. "I could ask you the same question."

She angrily slapped his hand away. "Don't touch me, monster!"

He stiffened, glaring. "Who are you calling monster?" he demanded, his voice rising.

"You did this to me!" she shot back, her own voice rising. "You're a heartless monster!"

He growled, his optics flashing red.

She kicked at him and got to her feet. She'd had enough of this and him.

He pulled away from her shouting. "Fine, you die!"

She glared down at him. "Go ahead and kill me already!" she shot back hotly. "I never even asked for this! You forced it on me!"

The older stitchpunk let out a roar, grabbing her ankles. She growled and pulled away.

He hung on, ripping at the fabric on her legs., making her scream and kick at his face. He kept clawing, undeterred. His optics blazed bright red now with anger.

She tripped, losing her balance. He was still clinging to her so she leaned over and grabbed at his wrists, trying to pry his fingers off.

This wasn't 1 at all! This was a machine in his body!

1 growled at her as she fought with him. Suddenly another set of mechanical arms came down and grabbed her, lifting her away from him and off the ground. She yelled with surprise, struggling to free herself. Why did he always do this? Couldn't he fight his battles without cheating?

He stood up, watching her, grinning madly.

'That's right! Kill me!" she shouted down at him, wanting more than anything to kick that smile out of his face. "You've sunk so low anyway! You're not even 1! You're a demon possessing his body!"

He exposed hid needle shark teeth at her. "Whatever."

"You're weak!" she exclaimed. "A fool!"

He chuckled, amused by her statement. "On the contrary,"

She went on, cutting him off. "The 1 I knew wouldn't give his will up so easily to anyone! But you...you're not him! You're only manipulating him, Fabricator!"

"Well…it seems to work," he replied, watching her dangle from the cables.

"You're pathetic!" she continued. "A pathetic monster!"

"But I have power!" he exclaimed, suddenly.

"At what cost?" she asked him.

He snorted. "None of your business."

"Answer me, 1," she pressed, "Or can't you think for yourself anymore?"

He continued to smile at her. She knew that smile. It was Definitely 1's. Maybe there was still enough of him left to try reasoning.

"It brought certain benefits." he responded, brushing some dirt off his chest. "I do not have to fear the beasts anymore."

"And you lost your purpose in the meantime." she added, almost sadly.

"I gained a new one," he said proudly.

A new one? "And what would that be?"

He just grinned.

"Answer me!" she snapped. "Don't just stand there grinning like an idiot!"

He folded his arms. "What do you think?"

What was he asking her for? "To kill Us?" she responded.

He shook his head. "To Rule Us," he corrected.

"Rule who?" she demanded. "Mindless machines?"

"Rule all of you."

She sneered. "That won't happen," she told him. "The others won't obey you, they'd rather die!"

"Or so you think."

"That's what I know!" she insisted angrily. "The only things you'll be ruling are corpses!"

"Heh," he snorted. "I have enough machines to bring them all back if that should happen."

"They won't obey you!" she replied once more. "Not matter what you do!" when he didn't respond she went on, pulling on the wires, trying to free herself. "You have nothing, nothing but machines! You call that ruling? It's not ruling, you'll be left alone! All alone with no one to talk to or care for!" she took a deep breath and shouted out. "NOTHING!"

"I can make them talk," he replied simple. "I am their ruler, and nothing you say or do will change it!"

"They will only say what you want!" she snapped. "They won't have their own thoughts. They won't care about you at all! You'll still be a lonely being! All alone and unloved, forgotten!"

"I do not care," he replied, frowning. "As long as they do what I want."

"Is that all you care about?"

"Maybe..."

She looked away from him. "Are you so brainwashed that you can't even see?" she asked, shutting her optics and shaking her head. "I feel sorry for you."

He turned away at her words. "Save your pity," he told her. "You can rot up there for all I care."

"I'd rather do that than become nothing but a tool," she said quietly.

He shrugged. "Your decision."

Yes it was, and she'd already made up her mind.