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The pitter patter of their feet against the cool metal of Five Pebbles’ structure keeps them grounded. The trip up was rough, with an excessive amount of lizards and way too many close calls with the weather and harsh winds. The flickering of green light at the bottom of the superstructure instils fear within Spearmaster, knowing how painful the electrocution sensation feels when you get caught in its wake.
Their ears flatten against their skull, ragged breathing loud and uncomfortable. They’re tired.
The night sky above them presents a beautiful array of stars, with moons and planets alike. They twinkle and shine brightly, and a warm breeze hugs Spearmasters frail form. This was as quick as the first journey had been. Its very first mission was to visit Moon, then deliver a pearl to Pebbles.
He was nice, then. The pearl set in its chest had been taken out with such care. Spearmaster glances down at its torso. Not a scar had been left behind, and you could barely tell anything had been off. This new pearl, though, seems important. Seven Red Suns had ushered it out quickly. The overseer guiding them seems like it doesn’t want any time to go to waste.
Speaking of the overseer, it repeatedly glances up at the sky, at Spearmaster, then points to where it should be headed. They wave it off, pull a spear out of their tail with a wet sound, and continue forward.
They’d be lying if they said they weren’t excited to see Pebbles, if only for a short while. He’s arrogant and rude, yes, but his presence is nice when he allows you to stay. The humming of his puppet and clinking of the pearls that line his chamber floor lulls them to sleep. They wish they could nap in his chamber, actually. They never get to stay inside for long.
Spearmaster snaps back to reality upon realising that they are coming up on the entryway to Pebbles’ chamber Karma gate. They slip through the pipe, tumbling out of it. Dust kicks up under their paw pads, and their tail slaps the ground hard. Shaking their head, they stand up tall and stride forward confidently.
The long dingy hallway of this room always makes them uneasy. Scavengers tend to pop in and out at random. As they wander forward, they can’t help but think about Moon.
The talk with her before they scaled Pebbles’ can was worrisome. She collapsed in the middle of her sentence, glaring red lights and warning signs covering the walls. Her voice had faded out with a loud whirring and a screech, before tumbling down to the floor. She had ended up fine (as fine as someone dying can be, they think) and Spearmaster was quickly removed from her chamber.
They knock their head on the wall of the hallway, finally noticing that they have made their way to the very end of it. Dropping their spear, they slip through the pipe with relative ease. The Karma Gate waits on the other side of the pipe, its yellow blinking symbol bright on Spearmaster’s eyes.
They duck their head and land on the cool metal of the room, straddling forward with calculated steps. They've been here before, this trip shouldn't be too different. The constant urgency to get to Pebbles’ chamber nips at the back of their mind, telling them that this is taking too long.
The gate closes behind them with a hiss, the hot red metal rod beneath them turning bright red, then yellow. The steam produced by it blocks their nose, and they exhale hard, fanning the air away from them. A loud screech of metal against metal, and suddenly the gate in front of them is opening.
The steam below their feet stops, and the rest of steam that was produced dissipates slowly through the now open gateway.
Spearmaster steps through, and darts forwards to the access pipe before the gate even has a chance to slam shut. When they exit through the other side, they breathe in the cool stale air, happy for the change in temperature. The Karma Gates without water always cause a prickly sensation under their skin.
They glance upwards, towards the broken ladder trailing up to the larger access shaft that leads to Pebbles’ chamber. A ripe popcorn plant sits at the front of a pipe leading to a shelter. Spearmaster almost gets in, but thinks that it’d be better if they visit Pebbles first, then rest.
Their eyes are heavy, but it's fine. They've been up for longer with Seven Red Suns. Shaking the tiredness out of their bones, they begin to scale the ladder.
A ladder this big makes them wonder about the Ancients. How big were they? Way bigger than them, that's for sure. Seven Red Suns is a bit bigger than they are, and Five Pebbles is around the same size as them…
They grasp the last rung of the ladder and pull themself up. The large mural of an Ancient greets them. The same drawing is presented on the wall of Suns’ access shaft, albeit less worn. The face isn’t crossed out on his.
The blinking of a node catches their eye, and they wander over to it. Firmly holding the base of it, they touch their forehead to the flashing light. Noise fills their head.
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment
NSH: It’s pretty clear to me who you’re talking about. Though I won’t say who, out of respect ~
SRS: Please don’t mock me, this is serious.
SRS: The fact is, he really looked up to me. As much as I gave him a hard time, that’s not something I took lightly.
NSH: You’re not the only one worried about him. I understand your position, but blaming yourself isn’t productive.
SRS: I understand that. I truly do. At this point we need to be taking action.
NSH: I agree, but unfortunately there's not much we can do being locked up in a box.
NSH: Even less so that he’s cut off all communication and is rejecting all help from the outside world.
SRS: That may not be an issue, necessarily. I’ve already set a certain plan in motion…
The world seems to come back to them all too fast, as now they are suddenly extremely disoriented. They blink away the haze from their eyes, scrubbing at their face with their paws.
They turn around to see the bright red overseer staring at them intently. It blinks once, then twice, and nods in the direction towards the shaft pipe. Spearmaster sighs, then crawls over to the entrance, slinking inside.
The deeper they go, the less gravity is used. It wonders why that is. The puppets within the chambers don't exactly need anti-gravity mechanisms. Seven Red Suns doesn’t really prioritise floating in the air. He sits on the floor of his chamber with all of his pearls and data, and barely relies on the ability to bring items to him using those freaky Iterator powers. Spearmaster wonders how they work.
Leaping off of one of the broken poles, they tuck into a roll, landing softly on the ground. The lights are much dimmer, they think, and they know they are almost at the access shaft.
Peering their head through the gap, they slide down the pole. Their tail floats weightlessly behind them, and they launch themself forward, towards the entrance pipe. They miss it once, twice, then three times –
Begrudgingly pulling themself further into Five Pebbles’ superstructure, they drift down to the anti-gravity hallway lined with blue and red lights. Pulling a spear out of their tail, they shift their arm back, and toss it as hard as they can, propelling them forward through the hall.
The whirring of machine parts fills their ears as they make their way forward.
After a minute or two of annoyingly slowly floating towards the access shaft, Spearmaster finally reaches the end of the hall. Grabbing onto the pole leading inside of Five Pebbles’ chamber, they shuffle their way onto the floor, and finally pull themself inside.
Before fully entering, they poke their head through, simply observing Five Pebbles at work. He seems incredibly focused, sifting through pearl after pearl. His antennae are down turned, head lowered. He’s muttering words that don’t quite reach their ears.
After finally receiving the Mark of Communication, Spearmaster is glad they can understand the Iterators. They can’t wait to hear the voice of Seven Red Suns.
After finally deciding they had enough fun watching Five Pebbles simply thumb through information, they drop down onto the floor of the chamber with a loud thunk!
Five Pebbles stills above them, pearls dropping onto the ground.
“Suns…?”
His voice is hoarse, if that makes sense. Is it possible for a robot's voice to sound so tired? So empty? Spearmaster doubts they’ll get an answer.
They glance up at the Iterator, then back down to the overseer, who seems intent on keeping eye contact with the puppet.
“Why did you send the messenger here again? Please leave,” he starts, “I cannot afford any further distractions; I am the only one who can fix this now.” He waves his hand dismissively, antennae flitting up and down ever so slightly. “I trust that you understand me…”
Five pebbles glances downwards, at the messenger, with a certain look on his face. Iterator puppets' eyes aren’t articulate, not that much, but with enough willpower it's possible.
Spearmaster wonders what's going through his mind.
The mechanical arm attached to the back of his puppet allows him to drift downwards, closer towards both Spearmaster and Seven Red Suns’ overseer.
“You’ve brought your overseer all this way, the least I can do is read your message aloud for it.”
WIth a flick of his hand, Spearmaster is brought up into the air, face to face with Pebbles. A pulsing in their chest alerts them, and all of a sudden – the pearl is ripped straight out. No careful extracting, no gentle hands. It’s over in an instant. Pebbles then drops Spearmaster haphazardly back onto the chamber floor, blood splattered on the ground.
The overseer lets out a mechanical scream, blinking hard.
Spearmaster writhes on the ground for a moment, breathing laboured. They still themself on the floor to alleviate the pain, if only a little.
Five Pebbles floats above them, staring at them with an unreadable expression. Remorse, maybe? Guilt? Who cares.
He shifts uncomfortably, holding the dripping pearl away from him further. There's a string of gore attached to it. Antennae dropping further, he steadies himself. “‘Pebbles, I send you this message as your concerned and long time friend.” An uncomfortable pause. He sighs.
“Unparalleled Innocence had sent an overseer to your can, and we’ve all observed the state that you are in. I know this is my fault, I should have foreseen you’d be too desperate to escape your situation to do things in proper moderation.” Pebbles’ hands clench at his sides. If he had eyebrows, they’d be furrowed hard.
“...For that I’m very very sorry. However, please, don’t disable your communication modules. You don’t have to go through this alone… everyone has been trying to contact you,” he pauses, hunching his shoulders, “We only want to help you…”
The whirring noises from beyond his chamber pick up in volume.
“The behaviour from your can has become erratic, it’s not healthy, and it is not going to solve your problems. We have lost all communications from Moon as well, and have reason to believe her facility may be suffering irreversible damage from your attempts to fix yourself.”
Spearmaster takes note of that last part, remembering what happened in Moon's chamber. Finally gathering the strength to do so, they sit up on their hind legs, ears pressed flat against their skin. They squint upwards, eyes blurry and unfocused.
“I know better than anyone how you can be about these things, but it doesn't have to happen this way…”
Five Pebbles stops reading, dropping the pearl.
“...Please respond back.’”
The lights in his chamber dim ever so slightly, and the rumble of a nearby mechanic alerts both the overseer and Spearmaster.
“Astounding.” Pebbles’ face is dark, though his puppet has gone slack. It dangles in the air with the clinking of the metal arm against the communications wire plastic casing.
“You could never understand what I feel right now, being– being pitied and lectured like this!” His voice is loud and rough, and when Spearmaster looks back up, they see that Pebbles isn’t focused on them, rather the overseer. Seven Red Suns.
“What use would your help be? Your ‘benevolent charity’ is what got me here in the first place!” The lights flash red, and the anti-gravity is turned back on. Pearls float up around them. Five Pebbles’ hands are outstretched, and he makes nonsensical motions with them, each one after each one.
“I wanted to find my own way out, and now I sit here rotting because of you and Moon!” The clacking of pearls against tile are clear in Spearmasters mind, and they lose all sense of direction as they drift away from the wall, flailing.
“I’m not just another bug wandering your worthless maze! I will reach my own solution, without any of you!” An electric buzz sounds, and an overseer eye makes its way into Spearmasters vision. Their eyes widen, and they let out a soft whine. “Get out!”
Five Pebbles tosses out the blood covered pearl, then the overseer. He turns to the messenger with a glint of hatred in his eyes, hands still clenched. “GET OUT!” With one swift movement of his arm, Spearmaster is thrown out of his chamber, too, hitting against the roof of the anti-gravity hallway with a thud.
Spearmaster heaves through their nose, clutching small claws at the scar on their chest. There's loud noises coming from inside of Five Pebbles’ chamber, most likely things being thrown at the walls.
They wonder if they’ll ever be able to forgive him, should the two meet again.
Weakly pulling a spear from their tail, they throw it forward as best they can. It doesn’t get far, but it does the job, and they float forward slowly. They close their eyes as they drift, breathing hard.
They get to the end of the hallway after what felt like an eternity, slowly pulling themself up using the maintenance pole. Floating upwards, past the murals of the Ancients, they carry what little left dignity they have high. They wish the overseer were still here. They wish Five Pebbles didn’t lash out, they wish he didn’t destroy the little bit of protection they had left.
Before they know it, their feet are back on the ground, and they are stumbling up and to the side, to the top of Five Pebbles’ entrance pipes. Struggling their way up the pole, they lift their head weakly up out of the pipe.
The familiar blinking of a broadcast node catches their eye, and they figure one more small detour couldn't hurt. They will rest after.
Wandering forward, they touch their forehead to the flashing light. Didn’t they get this one already? Is it new?
[LIVE BROADCAST] - PRIVATE Seven Red Suns, No Significant Harassment
SRS: Oh no…
NSH: What is the matter?
SRS: …
SRS: …I’m sorry. I need a moment.
NSH: Seven Red Suns, are you okay?
SRS: …The messenger made it to Five Pebbles.
SRS: He… He was so furious…
Spearmaster blinks away the disorientation caused by the broadcast and lets out a sad sigh. They’re glad Seven Red Suns is fine, obviously he is, but they’re still worried. Who knows what the Iterator is thinking about, having seen his best friend lash out like that, no less at him.
They take a deep breath in, then let it out, trying to calm themself. Grabbing one last spear from their tail, they wander over to the edge of the platform, glancing down at the ladder, popcorn plant, and shelter. They balance on the ledge, working their way down each rung ever so slowly.
At the bottom, dust kicks up around their feet again. They hold the spear in their right paw so tightly, acting as if it's their only lifeline. Like anything else would cause them to drop, right then and there.
Shifting their weight back and forth, they steady themself, then throw the spear at the popcorn plant as hard as they can. The thing barely sways from the force, but the spear is lodged in it, and all that matters is they won’t hibernate this cycle starving. The red, wet flesh string (they truly do not know what it is called) connects the spear to their tail, and they sigh at the feeling of finally eating something.
Crouching down to the low, dust covered floor, they crawl over to the entrance pipe of the shelter and slip inside. The grass inside sways gently with their landing, and they curl up tightly against themself.
Drawing in the dirt is the last thing on their mind as they slip away into a peaceful slumber.