Chapter Text
Builderman sat in his office, eyes scanning over a scatter of documents- reports, ban logs, and files he hadn’t yet fully processed. It stirred a sense of familiarity in him, though there was the lingering feeling in the back of his head that told him staying put for this long was a death sentence.
With a sigh, he put down the papers and rubbed his eyes. The sound of the ticking clock in the room would have always served to ground him, yet circumstances only made it feel more... ominous. A threat. A gun waiting to be fired by the entity that had forced them to play their twisted game.
"Ain't that a sight?" He mumbled to himself, leaning his head as he scanned the office once before closing his eyes to take in the silence. "Is it really..."
Over?
It was something Builderman struggled to accept.
All the sentries he built to slow down whatever killer was hunting them down, all the dispensers to heal anyone who ended up getting roughed up- did he really not have to do those anymore?
He rubbed at his shoulder, recalling each time he was attacked while building his machines. Scars still lingered even after all this time; each slash of a sword or machete, the burning, and the corrupted spikes...
"My friend."
His grip unknowingly tightened on his shoulder, jumping slightly at the sudden, but familiar voice in front of him.
Not hearing him come in was already a clue enough as to who it was, opening his eyes and letting a small smile cross his face.
"I sense a weight you bear. Speak to me, if you would share." A familiar mage said, hovering in the air as they gripped their staff. Dusekkar always had a habit of sneaking up on him with their non-existent footsteps, even from before the whole...
He'll refrain from thinking about that.
"You gotta quit sneakin' up on me, pumpkin," Builderman said, their tone light but holding a tint of heaviness in it. Fixing his builder cap and letting out a sigh, he let himself try to relax...
But Dusekkar's expression of concern was something he locked onto all too easily.
"Ain't nothing bothering ya, is it?" He said, clasping his hands together and staring at the other. "Ya know ya can always holler at me."
Dusekkar sighed, their fingers tracing over their staff. The flow of magic freely coursing through them was welcome after having been suppressed for so long- in his sleep, no less.
He took a moment to form his words in his head before he gestured to the photo frame of them all, their tone holding a worry that always filled Builderman with dread.
"There's something we have uncovered that you must hear, my friend." He started, making the leader sit up in alert. Dusekkar watched for a moment before gesturing to the door, already hovering off. "Please, follow me."
Builderman had no hesitation.
...
"What's this?" Builderman said, eyes wide as he looked at the sphere of code in front of him. Each line connected as one, pulsing with a flicker of life- a part, if not the source code of Robloxia. Every line was founded because of such: the scripts, their creations, the system. The foundation of it all, in simpler terms. Each server, each log, each memory...
It held Robloxia together.
Yet something was wrong.
Builderman stepped closer, watching as a string of code flickered and dimmed before sputtering back to life, but weaker, slower, like a dying ember.
"It ain't right," Builderman muttered, frowning. He extended his hand and let the code respond, a studious expression in his eyes. Dusekkar took note. "This ain't-"
"I don't think you should just touch it, BM." Another voice said, coming into view with their smug expression, a little strained. Shedletsky had their sword put in its sheath, hand lazily holding onto it. "Did I miss anything?"
"Nothing vital slipped past you, Shedletsky," Dusekkar responded, earning a nod. "I only informed him of what we found."
Shedletsky gave an acknowledging grunt, turning to see Builderman still staring at the source code. He tucked his wings back to avoid touching the code, a reminder to himself not to touch whatever it was. "B?"
"What might've caused this here?" Builderman said, holding in the urge to physically grab the source code and examine it for himself. Changes to something so important to Robloxia's existence wouldn't be altered by something so easily, and the amount of power it would take to access it, no less? "Who knows anythin'??"
The glow in Dusekkar's staff dimming as Shedletsky's expression turned into discomfort clued Builderman in, but he wanted to hear it for himself.
He needed a confirmation.
"Y'all talking about the Spectre." He stated more than questioned, but their reactions were enough to know. "How."
"We survived, but the battle was not ours to claim." Dusekkar grimly said, turning their staff to gesture to a portion of the source code already having hollowed out. "It clings to the code, a hollow hunger."
"And if we know anything 'bout the Spectre, it's not going to be good." Shedletsky huffed, their earlier lazy grip steeling for a moment before it forced itself to relax. "What's the game plan?"
Builderman stepped back, staring blankly at the hollow source code.
"... round up all hit by this hollow infection." He said after a moment, turning to look at his friends. The people who had stayed with him through the forsaken hell and back, and ones he could count on to stay with him all over again. "We ain't gonna let the Spectre play games with us no more. That's a promise."
"Always with you, B." Shedletsky smirked, a hand on his hip, before he turned to look at Dusekkar. His wings fluttered behind him in response, tucking themselves back.
"By your side until the end," Dusekkar said, a hand on their chest as he mimicked a head bow. "Always with you, dear friend."
Builderman huffed out a smile, nodding back in response.
They can overcome this.