Chapter Text
Artificer stands on the rubble connecting the land to the sea, looking out at the collapsed can in front of her. A spear is held tightly in one little hand, and a peculiar, robotic eyeball in the other. An overseer, now sparking and devoid of life.
The rather grizzled slugcat stares at it with her one good eye, before looking back up to the superstructure half submerged in the sea.
Hunting down a group of scavengers had led her to the Garbage Wastes, and while massacring their members she had spotted something blue and glowing. On instinct she had flung a spear at it, and the little glow didn't have enough time to escape; it was pinned to the compacted trash wall with a flurry of sparks.
When finished with the apes, she made her way towards the round object she had speared a few minutes ago, picking it up with her blood covered hands and studying it carefully.
She recognised this, Five Pebbles has many of them himself. He uses it to keep an eye on her while she travels away from his can.
But his are yellow. This one was blue. Who is behind this one?
---
Deep in the recesses of her superstructure, Looks to the Moon is awoken by a rather familiar splashing sound outside of her puppet chamber. She raises her blue face towards the hole in the side of the room, big black eyes wide with curiosity.
Perhaps one of the strange masked organisms wanted to gaze at her again, or maybe a salamander had managed to make it's way into her can.
What emerges makes Moon's head tilt with confusion.
A little red creature, resembling a rather large and furless cross between a rodent, a feline and a gastropod. It is heavily scarred, lacking an eye from a rather nasty and old injury, but otherwise looks healthy for something of its size.
What makes Moon the most amazed is the spear the being holds in it's right hand, and what looks like an overseer eye in the other.
The creature stares at the Iterator, making no effort to move closer, so Moon takes a friendly approach, moving slowly to raise her hand in greeting.
"Hello, little creature. I don't believe I have seen one of your kind before. If I had my memories, I would know what you are." Moon's voice is soft, but every now and then a glitch makes her speech repeat a syllable or two. "I see that someone has given you the gift of communication. It must have been Five Pebbles."
The creature perks up at the name, and Moon tilts her head.
"He is sick, you know. Being corrupted from the inside by his own experiments. Maybe they all are, by now, who knows. We weren't designed to transcend, and it drives us mad."
While Moon talks, Artificer listens silently, unmoving. While Five Pebbles matches her hate for Scavengers, his personality is endlessly grating at her patience. But this Iterator is different. Empathic, kind.
It's confusing to find someone so seemingly fragile but welcoming, and the Artificer can feel something ache in her chest at the sound of her gentle voice.
"It is nice to have some company..! The scavengers aren't very good listeners."
At the mention of the masked beings, Artificer clenches her spear hard, remembering why she came here. She throws the Overseer eye to Moon's feet before the Iterator can continue, giving the puppet a glare.
Looks to the Moon is confused before picking up the eye, and humming. “The remains of an overseer.They act as our eyes on the surface."
As the Iterator talks in that dreamy tone, Artificer takes a moment to look at her closely. She is a sad sight compared to Five Pebbles. Where a seemingly endless supply of neuron flies dart around the outside of his puppet chamber, only five remain for this one, hovering near to the Iterator like children would cower behind a parent. Artificer swallows dryly.
"I used to have a lot of them, but I lost contact with them when I was neutered. My umbilical is cut."
Neutered..? Artificer looks to the wires connected to the puppet. They are ruined, snapped from their bearings and now hang lifelessly from her form to pool at her feet. Ah. Neutered.
"... Of course, it's not completely impossible that there are a few left. Say hello if you see one."
The slugcat's eye flicks back up to those of the Iterator as the finish their speech, placing the overseer eye onto the floor and rolling it back towards Artificer who stops it with a small foot.
Artificer stays silent as the Iterator looks them over, her big black eyes wincing at the slugcat's lack of a left eye.
“You are injured…” Looks to the Moon says softly, shuffling her naked, robotic body forwards and raising a hand slowly to Artificer's face. “Would you let me take a look?”
The little red creature is frozen for a moment, before stepping backwards and moving her face away, while Moon's hand falls slightly in response to her rejection.
“Ah… That is alright. I understand.”
Such motherly words and actions; it makes Artificer feel sick to her stomach with familiarity, but long for that comfort all the same.
So, the little creature huffs out of her nose, and her small paw grabs Moon's hand and presses the metal against her missing eye.
The Iterator is surprised for a moment, those black eyes widening, and then her fingers cradle the slugcat's face, and Artificer feels like she might either cry or bite Moon's hand.
“... You have been through so much, haven't you? And yet, you carry on. It is admirable, but… I wonder if you feel the same as I do. Trapped in this cycle, unable to do anything else other than survive…”
Moon makes a noise that sounds like a sigh, and somehow, her robotic face portrays such empathy.
“As cruel as it may be, I almost feel comforted by the fact that I am not alone in this way of life.”
The Iterator laughs.
“How… selfish of me.”
Moving away from the cold yet gentle hand of Moon, Artificer shows that she has had enough of the Iterator's comfort by turning her face. Moon respects her space, choosing to turn her own face towards the hole in the ceiling of her puppet chamber.
Angry grey clouds gather overhead, racing together in a show of shocking speed, threatening the surface below with the crushing rain.
“The rain is coming. You must find shelter, small friend.” Looks to the Moon nods her head at the sight of the clouds, curling in on herself, hugging her knees to her chest in a protective position.
The red slugcat's one good eye flicks up to register the threat of rain, before she turns away from the Iterator and walks through the makeshift entrance to Moon's puppet chamber.
But before she slips into the water, she throws something back to the Iterator. Looks to the Moon catches it, and looks down at the small thing in her palm.
The overseer eye.
Big black eyes widening, a smile comes through in her voice as she speaks.
“... For me..?”
She looks back up, but the red slugcat is gone, and empty space in their wake.Moon grips the slightly sparking sphere tightly, and closes her eyes. If she had a mouth, she would be grinning ear to ear.
“Thank you.”