Archive of Our Own ^beta

Loud mechanical sounds fill the room as the karma gate opens. A green iterator steps through the gateway. He looks around and sighs. Red lights reflect off of their metal skin brightly, dazzling.

“Moon… Pebbles… I’ll be visiting you soon…” he whispers. No Significant Harassment slips through the pipe, only to be met with water. They fumble in surprise, but eventually, he pushes himself out of the cold liquid, feeling energy rush through him as his batteries charge before the feeling slips away. His head bobs up to the surface, backpack dripping wet. Another instance of the iterator being grateful for this waterproof material. His neurons are still safe. The iterator looks around, studying his surroundings. Heaving himself out of the pool, he continues on his path, shoving himself into a pipe buried in the ground with a grumbling huff.

“You’ve got to be joking.” Pipes and platforms glare down at him, almost mocking his already exhausted state. After cursing a concerning amount, his arm opens up, revealing a grappling hook. It shoots out and lifts him above a structure, allowing him the convenience of flight. He nearly misses the platform leading to a pipe, yelping when his fingers scramble for a surface to grasp onto. He pushes himself onto the ledge, grateful for the thousands of cycles of experience he has had. 

No Significant Harassment steps through patches of grass cracking through worn down concrete. Their fingers brush moss as he starts to pull himself up a chilled pole. This place hasn’t been visited in a long while, he notes. A holographic map of the region previously named outskirts appears when he raises his arm. The little nooks and crannies are hard to fit in, these gaps would be a tight squeeze, even for his little Hunter. The previously god-like being sighs at how many rooms he has left to go. And yet despite the amount of effort he must spend, his determination does not falter.

- - -

After pushing himself out of a pipe that exits through the ceiling, he falls on his behind with a yelp and a swear. Turning around, he notices a shelter. Stepping into it, he finds that it is small, it doesn’t really suit his large size. But he fits nonetheless. 

The chamber is dead silent but sleep does not bless him. His fingers reach for his long-since ripped and stained cloak, clenching it, holding it, pulling it closer, closer. Iterators have rarely not been alone. Those with a companion, often chosen to be a slugcat, were rare even amongst the thousands of their kind. But at least then, the others of their like would only be a message or call away. That was until their communications had fallen. Even when he had left his can, many other iterators had given him companionship. But now he’s alone, so there’s no use in remembering what that warmth had felt like. At least that’s what he tells himself. 

After placing his backpack on his lap, he narrows his lenses, puppet hurting all over. From the tight space, from the cold, from being alone. Their body feels heavy, and the noise of the shelter closing becomes white noise sitting comfortably in the back of his mind. Sleep embraces him.

- - -

Grey Wind glares at him, judgement heavy in their black lenses. No Significant Harassment glares back, he’s always been stubborn and this situation is certainly no exception. The diamond and cross on his forehead flash bright green, a feature implemented in the later generations of iterators. A sign of strong emotions. The dark lines that flow down from Wind’s eyes do not blink. They are a generation one iterator, after all. This is a bad idea, part of them hisses. With Grey Wind being a first-gen, they are far larger and bulkier than him. But with their level-headed nature, they doubt they’d go that far, at least he hopes. A few seconds go by in silence, the other iterators surrounding them are silent, save for the occasional whisper, often followed by a sharp hiss. Eventually, the grey iterator sighs and looks away.

“No Significant Harassment, I’m sorry, but we’re not going to Moon and Pebbles. For all we know, it may be in vain. They could both be collapsed and deactivated by now. We travelled to Unparalleled Innocence, look what happened then. She was gone, Sig. And we lost Epoch of Clouds there. We cannot risk that again,” they whisper, voice barely audible in the cold wind.

He snarls, angry and desperate to see the two iterators who he holds dear to him, the two that he’s been constantly thinking about for millions of cycles. “There’s still reason not to at least check on them! For all we know, they could still be conscious and rotting in the snow! We can’t give up. Please… don’t…” his voice cracks and trails off, burying his face in his scarf, he screws his eyes shut to hinder the tears threatening to spill. Chasing Wind only watches him, fists tightened.

“You…” anger spills into his voice, directed at a yellow iterator, “YOU. Seven Red Suns! Why aren’t you worried for them!” his fiery gaze whips to the mentioned iterator. “You were the one who caused all of this!” Seven Red Suns does not respond for a long while, the red symbol on their forehead practically glowing in the white atmosphere despite the fact that they lack such an ability. Finally, they speak.

“It’s true, and I fully take responsibility for that. But Grey Wind is right. We cannot afford to lose more of us again.” they can only watch as their friend betrays them once more. Anger spills over alongside their tears.

“Fine then! I’ll just go on my own!” he screeches, whipping around and ignoring the cries from behind him. The pink fauna of the Outer Expanse has been buried by snow, crunching under his feet, much like the rest of the world; no warmth can be found in solitude.

He leaves the comfort of companionship.

- - -

The shelter’s gate opens, awakening the iterator from slumber. He groans at the aching parts in his body, which creaks when he tries to shove himself out of the pipe. No Significant Harassment pulls himself up a pole, reminding himself why he’s doing all of this on his own. He wants to see them, he misses them. He needs to apologise. Maybe it makes them selfish, doing all of this for their own peace of mind and blaming it on their caring for others. He doesn’t know… Fingers curling around his scarf, he stares at the message log. Regret floods through him - as he exits the pipe and sees another pole, knowing full well that he needs to get up to that ledge to get to where he needs to be. He rolls his head back and screams into his hands, but still grasps the very cold pole and, soon enough, enters the void-damned pipe. This whole thing is a huge pain, he thinks, but knows he’ll still go through with it anyway. The warm sun beats down on him, a chill already starting to form, he doesn’t hurry. Being an iterator means the cold won’t truly affect him. Sure, it would be a literal pain, but it wouldn’t truly affect his systems. Sig smiles, sitting down to appreciate the comfort of the sun. It’s still cold, but this is still something . Eyes shutting, he leans back on his hands. A minute of relaxation in this harsh world is rare for everyone, so he tries to take in the moment while he can. If only there was someone with him to enjoy this… someone he could share this with

He thinks of a pink hologram, of teasing followed by light banter. A flowing orange cloak donned by a small body. Beautiful iridescent white eyes, a marvel to behold. Confident words to mask insecurities that they could always see through. Warmth.

Guilt, guilt, guilt.

A hiss forces them out of his ruminations, Sig whips around and comes face to face with a creature. A white-scaled body connected to a light pink head, they do not know the name of this creature. By detaching from his can, they could only take a few neurons with them, the rest slipping away from his mind like the sands in an hourglass. His fingers reach for anything, anything to throw at the lizard. They wrap their hand around a rock and fling it at the creature. It cries out in pain, he does not miss his chance. Jumping off the ground, they sling their pack over their shoulder and dash for the nearest pipe. Heart pounding within their chest as they hear snow crunching under the pink lizard’s feet. They slip through the pipe and scramble as they continue to run, movements frenetic as he stumbles. The blue fruit hanging over their head provides no nutrients for an iterator and they barely notice it as they continue their escape from the small but undoubtedly dangerous creature. He spots a spear and grabs it as he attempts to squeeze through a small pipe. Curse their tall figure. Why did the Ancients have to make him so damn tall? After a moment of kicking and struggling, he manages to enter and exit the pipe. Heart still pounding he looks around and sees…

“Oh for void’s sake.”

A brown and white lizard pounces towards him. He raises his spear as it falls and the sharp tip tears through its flesh. Blood drips from the long but shallow gash and stains the falling snow in ruby. They curse at the limited damage inflicted. The large lizard, three times as big as the previous one, snarls at him, understandably angry. Despite the way the odds clearly lean in the lizard’s favour, Sig has had experience, admittedly usually with the company of others, but experience nonetheless. As the lizard pounces, they kick their leg up, nailing it in the jaw. With the creature’s mouth still open, Sig takes the chance to impale it in the mouth. Squinting his eyes, he watches the spear thrust into its throat, tearing the gullet. Thousands of cycles ago, he may have felt mercy, but now, only apathy fills him as the creature cries out in pain when he yanks out the spear. Blood spews out and splatters on them, a quiet noise heard underneath all of its screeching. Not dead yet, it continues to live in torment, the iterator grants it the mercy of death with a final tear through the stomach. For the first time in a while, they find themselves playing god. 

Sig kicks the still body and watches in morbid curiosity when the creature's head goes black, soft brown seemingly gone. Moon would find that interesting. Perhaps he’ll tell her about it if they are to meet again. He looks around, examining his location. Poles. Again. They sigh, they can’t use that grappling hook too often, they think, it takes a lot out of them. With a heavy and very exasperated sigh, he starts climbing the nearest pole, using the lizard as a rather shoddy stepping stool. Once more, he checks the map, studying the hologram for a few moments before letting it dissipate. One of the few good things about this snow is that, despite being incredibly uncomfortable, it does give him more sources of battery power, allowing him more freedom in what he does. 

After a few long and disagreeable minutes, they find themselves staring at a golden flower. Despite the absence of wind, it sways gently from side to side. Like a dancer, he thinks. With a cross in the center of it, the little plant looks quite unusual. A cross, usually symbolising the highest possible karma to achieve, the karma required for ascension, he remembers. Unfortunately, he does not remember whether he’s even seen this flower before, let alone what it does. Perhaps he once did, perhaps that too had fallen away like his godhood. Gently tugging the flower out of the ground, it gives way easily, almost like it’s meant to be picked, he stores it in his bag amongst other trinkets and continues his journey. The pole above his head is low enough for him to pull himself up naturally, so he does so, ignoring the other large pole beside him.

After pulling himself out of the pipe, he sees another shelter. He shoves himself into it, paying no mind to how much time is left before the blizzard arrives and makes his travels even more difficult. Thankfully, this shelter is considerably larger than the previous one, although his head still scrapes the ceiling of it. They place the bag on their lap, using it as a shoddy mockery of a companion with their spear safely tucked next to them to avoid being stabbed in their sleep. 

They try to warm themselves, but the cold still sinks into their core.

- - -

It was only a short time before the so-called ‘ice age’ of this world had arrived that Sig had gotten off his umbilical.

He found that all he needed to do was to find another organism to aid him in his escape. After the creation of another creature to help, it had been easy. Scavengers, the naturally intelligent and curious creatures they are, were surprisingly easy to teach. It only took a few cycles to lead one into his chamber and only a few cycles more to teach them how to unscrew the screws. The word spread and many praised him for his discoveries. They found themselves confused as to how nobody else had found such a solution, but then they realised that the reason was simple. No one cared as much as he did. This, they to be true in many things.

The stars are beautiful. He thinks, his bare feet meeting sand as he walks along the top of his structure. They knew in a few cycles, the whole thing would collapse. They didn’t mind. There was no need for it anymore. All of his important memories are stored in his neurons, safely tucked into a brown bag, sitting comfortably on his back. Their godhood is gone and yet they don’t truly mind. They found themselves resenting their parents for not telling them this sooner. The ancients had been liars in many things. ‘Iterators cannot feel love,’ pah! What a load of dung. They fidget with a green pearl, one of their most prized possessions. It contains a poem, from whom he would keep a secret until the end of time. They look to the stars, each one blinking every now and then, nothing could replicate such a beautiful sight. Not yet knowing the true warmth of companionship, they think this is the true blessing of existence.

- - -

Blinking their eyes open, they awake to the sound of a shelter opening. A sound they know well. After falling out of the shelter, they stretch, joints popping quietly as he extends his limbs out of the stiff ‘prison’ they were in. They enter and exit the pipe and see no less than five, five whole lizards stumbling around. Clumsy like the idiot creatures that they are. He analyses the scene carefully, lenses narrowing with a virtually inaudible humming.

Two of the pink ones, three of the yellow ones. Fortunately, he’s seen the yellow creatures before. Communicating using the large horns spiralling out of their heads, that’s what they did. They recall seeing All Seeing Flowers get her arm torn off by the wretched beasts. Not a fond memory, they hope not to be the recipient of that treatment.

He raises his arm, a hum growing as it opens and a hook shoots out, burying itself into the edge of the structure. They jump off the ledge and swing themselves onto the building. It looks familiar, with others of his kind, he’s travelled to many different places, many places that looked like this too, albeit less weathered by time. A sharp pain forces him out of his mind and he turns to see a yellow lizard with its jaws wrapped around his leg. They yelp, trying to yank their leg out of the creature's mouth to no avail and accidentally dropping their spear. Wires stretch and metal dents, he wonders if it’s even possible to keep travelling with only one leg. Sig hears snow crunching - and so does the lizard, if the way it pauses is anything to go by - then something hard hits the lizard in the head. It lets go for a moment, and Sig immediately pulls himself up and dashes away. Whilst running, he notices a glimpse of green, not the same as his metal skin, but lighter, gentler. It disappears quickly, a fluffy tail slipping away into a pipe.

“Oh- Um- Thank you!” they yell despite not even being sure if their saviour would understand them or not as they follow them through it. On the other side, they find themselves alone. Still cold, Sig pulls their purple cloak around their shoulders and sits for a moment, knowing that it would not be too long until they arrive at their next destination. The lonesome iterator pulls their leg up to examine the damage. Thankfully, the metal only had a few cracks in it, only the cosmetics had been affected, nothing they weren’t used to. With their chipping paint and frayed cloak, it had been long since they were in prime condition. It wasn’t as if any ancients were here to lecture them though, so what did it matter? Standing up, they test their leg, no pain or creaking. They sigh in relief, it was fine. Above them is another pipe, this time with a pink light shining from it. They climb into the pipe, up the pole, and into the next one. A hologram of the karma symbol of gluttony floats in the air, ancient text floating beneath it. Stepping onto the platform, they place a hand on the symbol. The wall is, unsurprisingly, cold. Sig winces and closes their eyes in response to the bright yellow light as the thing scans him. He doesn’t know exactly how the gate works for him anymore, but a quiet part of him somehow knows that it will always work.

The whirring of the karma gate fills their ears, karma symbol flashing as the gears of the gate begin to shift. Surprisingly, the gate moves easily. It must have been used rather recently, they think.

The gate finally opens, he steps through it and out of the pipe and breathes in the air of the icy monument that had formerly been the industrial complex. 

After a few long and dragged-out moments, Sig finally finds himself through the void damned pipe. The long tunnel holds a few blue fruits. Or at least, what looks like blue fruit, but in reality, is a bug pupa. Unfortunately, something they learned from experience. They climb the pole, making a point to avoid the ‘fruit.’

A room or two passes, and Sig finds himself in a shelter once more. It’s hard to tell the difference between this shelter and the previous one, but when they brush their hand against the wall, they feel the difference in material, in the chemical construction of it. Perhaps that had been one of the intentional points of their design. The chamber is just as cold, if not colder, than the previous two. They wonder if it would be the same for every shelter. Pressing their eyes close, they pray to whatever god might hear for warmth.

- - -

“What are these little fruits?” Blossoming Tears asks. His lavender fingers brushing a blue object shaped like a teardrop, quite like the shining silver symbol on their forehead. Rather fitting for her name. The clearing that they stand in shows the first sign of snow, but despite that, it still has some warmth. 

“Have you not seen them before? And they’re not- ARGH-” Epoch of Clouds starts, before getting elbowed in the stomach by Sig who smiles slyly. An iterator who had known them for long could have told that he was certainly up to something. They approach Tears, the mossy floor softening their footsteps, already planning some harmless tomfoolery.

“Of course not! My can was located in the desert, such pretty fruit like this wouldn’t have a need to be in my databases,” he says, smiling naively. Unparalleled Innocence and he should have swapped names, they think. Perhaps he would bring it up when they meet again. They lean forward and hum. Clouds watches him nervously, despite not really knowing the third-generation iterator for a long while, they can tell that his intentions are certainly not genuine.

“Hey Tears, did you know that the inside of the fruit is even prettier than the outside?” he hums. Tears’s antennae snaps up like a slugcat’s, the comparison brings Sig great amusement. Admittedly, it did bring them a slight amount of guilt to take advantage of their naivete.

“Wha- OW!” they cut themselves off when a piece of garbage gets thrown their way.

“Really!?” blindly trusting him, the youngest iterator presses their finger onto the ‘fruit’. It cracks open easily, but instead of the flesh that Tears had expected, a sticky liquid pours out. She yelps when something soft falls out of the object. The yelp turns into a scream when she realises what it is.

“WHAT THE-”

“What?! What’s wrong?!” Grey Wind rushes into the clearing, only to see an exasperated Clouds with Tears shaking and Sig bent over, laughing his neurons off.

Safe to say, he got a serious lecture after that.

- - -

Fingers brushing on the shelter wall, Sig crawls out of it, making sure to cling to the pole so as to not fall on his head. Garabge Wastes, their next destination isn’t too far anymore. Then they would simply have to go through shoreline, then they could see Moon in the flesh for the first time! Or- hm, perhaps in the metal. Slipping through a few pipes, Sig once again finds themselves face to face with a blue lizard.

“... Hello little beast!”

The little beast (Yes, little. It only comes up to his hip, in fact.) snaps its jaws at his face. Sig yelps and grabs the nearest rock, chucking it at the creature’s face. They quickly run, having no desire to fight another lizard, no matter how weak. He’s always been one of the iterators to avoid violence when necessary, not that he couldn’t rise to the occasion when it called for it.

Hopefully, the other lizards would be this easy to handle.

- - -

They were not easy to handle.

Not at all, actually. It took quite a bit of trickery. Luckily, Sig has plenty of experience with tricking others, especially their fellow iterators.

It only required remembering what certain creatures could do and what they couldn’t, an amount of garbage that rivalled the weight of a king vulture, and what could probably rival the entire spear collection of the scavengers. It wasn’t fun, to say the least.

He leans down huffing from just escaping a little pink lizard (the same pink as-) . While those creatures were indeed weak, they travelled extremely fast, swinging to and forth with their tongue. Odd, very strange. They wonder if Moon would find that interesting.

Something yellow pops out of the ground straight in front of him. Sig’s eyes practically sparkle with excitement.

“Oh, Moon! Hello old friend!” they chirp. The overseer bounces up and down in excitement, so she does see him! “I’m coming to see you. Just wait for a bit, I’ll be there soon!”

It nods, and disappears back into the ground, the small amount of warmth it brought disappearing with it. They step over a shelter, knowing that another would be on the other side of the karma gate. Even though their map was likely outdated, being created when the ancients were still around, they trusted that not much had changed. Well, other than Moon’s collapse. Or, maybe other things had changed too, they wouldn’t know. Moon and Pebbles have been silent for a long time with Pebbles having gone on lockdown and well…

Sig most definitely played a part in him shutting everyone off like that, and they would be lying if they said they didn’t feel at least the slightest guilt from that.

The iterator skips over the shelter beneath their feet knowing that another shelter would not be far. Through a pipe, marked with a strange symbol, they enter the karma gate once more, going through the motions. They are quite spaced out, wondering how much has changed. If Moon could see him, that would mean her state had improved by a substantial amount. If so, then what had become of Pebbles? Despite the complicated relationship between the two, he no longer hopes for the younger iterator’s downfall. The gate slamming closed causes him to flinch, no matter how many times it happens, he never gets used to the sheer volume of the noise. 

A shelter lies on the other side of the gate, once again he is correct. They can’t help but feel a bit smug.

Once more, they find shelter to be cold.

- - -

“Your little brother, what’s his name again?”

Moon glares at him through the hologram call, clearly angry that he doesn’t remember the name of her beloved brother. Sig rolls his eyes, he doesn’t understand her adoration for the young iterator. From what he’s seen in the local group, the guy seems to be somewhat of a brat, annoying and angry all the time, not taking well to his jesting.

“His name is Five Pebbles. You ought to know these things, Sig.” she sighs, clearly aware of their distaste for her sibling, “I think you two would get along if you gave him a chance. Besides, he’s one of the prettiest iterators I’ve seen!” she clasped her hands together, love in her eyes. Despite only knowing him for a few cycles, she’s clearly taken to him quite well. The green iterator narrows his eyes, for once, they are not at all on the same page. Why share your water with another iterator when you can have it all to yourself? It seems quite dangerous too.

Now it’s their turn to sigh. They lean back lazily, umbilical humming quietly as it moves. Their scarf floats in the air around them while Moon coos about her little brother and how cute he is. Frankly, he doesn’t see the appeal. Not that he’s met him in the first place.

“Really Moon~ is he prettier than me too?~” She rolls her eyes in response.

“Well… You’re a cutie too, but… he’s cuter,” she hums, “No offence, of course. But he’s my little brother, it’s practically impossible for me not to love him!” her voice turns serious, “Well, admittedly, I am a little worried for him. He seems to be focused on ascension, too focused.”

Now that’s a story they’ve heard many times before, iterators overworking themselves and losing their mind. Oftentimes, it wouldn’t result in anything too bad.

“I suggest you give him some advice! After all, you are old-” Moon sends a death glare at him, “-and wise! And wise! He’ll probably appreciate it.” he slaps his puffed-out chest. “And you can always come to me for help!”

Moon giggles, grateful for his friendship.

- - -

The glacial wasteland is quite frankly disgusting. Every time he steps into a pond of green, slimy water he crinkles his nose in revulsion. He despises the feeling of the liquid clinging to his skin. Arguably, the worst part is the way it slips behind the metal and onto the membrane behind it. He gags despite the lack of a mouth. Thank the void that it only goes up to his knees at most. He’s never been a clean freak - that had always been Grey Wind’s job - but even they had their limits. Judging from his map, it's a rather… confusing path to the shoreline gate. Sitting on a pile of garbage jutting out of the ground they study the map closely, trying to calculate how much Moon’s fall would’ve affected the terrain. Unfortunately for them, no longer being a godlike being makes it so that calculations such as this are rather hard to do.

A flap of wings alerts them and they quickly pick up the nearest spear and rock. A shadow can be seen, large and beaked.

They’ve had experience dealing with a vulture before, but that was only with a group. They wonder how well they’d fare without any companions.

The vulture flies down, large body slamming against the floor and creating a splash around it. (Absolutely disgusting , they think as the water splatters against their face. It would make good use for a prank, but they certainly didn’t want to be on the receiving end of the liquid.) Using its wings as mock legs, it crawls to him, fumbling.

Avoid the beak, and you’ll be fine.

They charge at the creature, ripples forming in their wake, and just when the beak is an inch away from them, they slide underneath its body. Heart pounding within their chest, knowing full well how easy it is to mess this up they jut their spear upwards, then grab it and dash away before the vulture can crush them with its weight. Admittedly, they aren’t too strong, Suns, and probably Moon too, would have dealt far more damage than they. It cries out in pain, crashing against the floor as it tries to turn around and snatch them into the skies. They will not let it. He pierces its neck as it crawls towards him, pulling it out. He repeats this motion, ignoring the flailing as the vulture attempts to fly away. They wonder if their little hunter had ever done this. They never watched her too closely, often being busy with things. (A lie. They couldn’t stand to see their child suffer due to a fault of their own.) It would have hurt other creatures had it been left to survive, but such is the circle of life, they suppose. Eventually, the vulture lies still on the ground, dead. Sig pants and cleans the spear’s tip in the slimy, gross , water of the garbage wastes. It would be a lie to say that they weren’t immensely proud of themselves for killing a whole vulture. They had previously struggled to kill even a lizard, but that was many cycles ago when they had been like a slugpup with no mother, left to fend for themselves. Sincerely hoping not to encounter more vultures (knowing full well that they most likely will) they crawl over its body and slip through a pipe.

- - -

Scavengers are one of the most intelligent animals that they have encountered in their journeys. Having a very large spectrum of behaviours, Sig had learned to always store as many pearls as possible in their pack, lest they face a face full of spears. Not that such a thing would often kill them, it took a lot to break through sheer metal, after all. They took pride in that fact, so it was certainly embarrassing when they found their cycle resetting after an unpleasant encounter with the species.

This is why, when he encounters one, he crouches to the floor to meet the creature’s height and hands them a pearl. While they certainly weren’t a clean freak - quite the opposite, in fact - Grey Wind had taken immense care to wipe down every pearl anyone found. Perhaps it was a way for them to calm down, either way, for their friend's sake, they never objected to this behaviour. The white creature accepts gratefully, bouncing up and down in a rather curious manner. Pull out their spear, to which the scavenger flinches at until he begins to draw on the dirt floor of the underground room the two sit in. Once they finish, they lean back and point towards their shoddy attempt at a beach and a pile of garbage. Shoreline, or the previously named Waterfront Facility, the location of Looks to the Moon. The scavenger grabs a spear off of their furry white back and draws a straight line between the two. Having no idea what that means, he tips his head to the side. The scavenger shakes its head, looking like one of his administrators - they can’t help but feel insulted - and points to the pipe then walks away whilst gesturing for him to follow. They oblige, picking up their bag from where it lay on the ground and following them. They slip through a few rooms and notice in awe at the amount of lanterns lying on spears, a sign that either a merchant or a toll is near.

They reach the toll, a painted raindeer head stuck on a long stick is quite a fright no matter how many times they see it. The scavenger signs something to their companions who look quite displeased until the white scavenger hands them the pearl Sig had given them. They allow him to pass.

The scavenger guides him through multiple rooms, fending off multiple lizards. They could only help out a little bit, compared to the scavenger, he is just a little pup in terms of experience.

Eventually, they make it to a room with pools of water. The room before the karma gate, they presume. Dipping their head at the creature in thanks, knowing any words of gratitude would go through one ear and out the other, they hand them another pearl. The intelligent creature dips their head in return and exits the room.

He holds the bag in front of his chest and dives into the water.

Leeches have no effect on iterators, that’s one of the things he’s learned after what they all thought was going to be another ‘death’ of an iterator. They simply slip right off, not being able to sink their teeth into metal. Truth be told, Sig is rather fond of the disgusting creatures. They make great material for a mean little joke. But still, they are disgusting . So they aren’t too happy when the worm-like beings start to crowd around him. The liquid is cool, which isn’t much of a surprise considering the current state of the world, but it is also clean, and their mechanical eyes can pick up the small pieces of salt floating around the water. They take it as a sign that Shoreline is indeed near. Pulling themselves out of the water, they slide through the pipe and make quick work of forcing the karma gate to activate. They’ve done this so many times before that it’s become muscle memory at this point.

As the gate opens, they see multiple overseers watching him, except one of them isn’t yellow. An overseer that is a pleasant turquoise, much like the waters of shoreline, watches him. Sig stares at it, conflict brewing in their mind before they eventually kneel in front of it, just far enough so it wouldn’t run away.

“Hello, Pebbles,” his voice comes out far quieter than he had expected, but he finds it doesn't bother him. They suppose it’s about time to stop trying to run away from dealing with his feelings, now dulled from ages of contemplating the… horrors. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately if the growing knot in their throat is anything to go by, the overseer flits away.

‘Running away again?’ he can’t help but think bitterly.

Another shelter is at the other side of the pipe, and so is… another golden flower? They check the inside of their backpack and find it to be lacking any sort of flower. Huh… they must have dropped it somewhere along the way. Needless to say, they place the plant into their bag once more and enter the cold, small chamber.

- - -

Sig’s fingers dart around the computer screen in a flurry, the blueprints for the creature previously used as a pipe cleaner in front of him as he alters its genomes. He needed this one to be strong, no matter what it took.

He couldn’t fail, he couldn’t fail, he couldn’t fail, he couldn’t-

A loud slam echoes through their puppet’s chamber as their umbilical suddenly goes limp, sending him crashing to the floor. He groans as he pushes himself up, finding themselves relieved to feel their umbilical move properly again. They must have gotten distracted to the point where even the unconscious movement of the umbilical had failed. Maybe it’s about time to call Grey Wind, they had been pestering him for a long while now, perhaps it would do them some good to talk to someone, the chamber always seemed less cold after…

They immediately shake their head. No, that would have to come later. Glancing at himself through an overseer, mirroring his face, he realises what a wreck he looks like. Small amounts of rust had begun to accumulate on his cheeks from where their tears had fallen. Sighing, they glance back at the blueprints then at all the files in their databases, one file sticking out in particular.

‘An Overview of the Infamous Condition: the Rot’

If they are to remember correctly, the article states that when inserted into a creature that isn't, well, stuck in a box all the time, it can increase their speed and strength. They stare at the file. It would be beyond cruel to give this creature the rot, having them live such a finite life, they would be a monster for doing such a thing.

But…

It would be for Moon.

With shaking hands, they open the file.

A cruel, cruel, decision.

But it didn’t matter, because they had succeeded, and if every now and then, they think to slimy red skin and large black eyes, no one would know but them.

- - -

Shoreline is… different, to say the least.

Perhaps due to Moon’s collapse, where there used to be a small puddle, surrounded by structures, there is now a large ocean, stretching beyond the eye could see. If they were to strain their eyes, they could see a collapsed structure in the distance. Moon’s structure, there is no doubt about it. Unfortunately, the distance is far too long for them to swim, and despite all their journeys, swimming isn’t exactly their strong suit. They open up their map again, then sigh. The terrain has been changed almost beyond recognition rendering the map completely useless to him. He laces his fingers together and watches the massive jellyfish sway to and fro from where it sits floating in the ocean. The peach colour of it creates a stark contrast from the dark blue waters, how beautiful…

A yellow overseer pops out of the ground, ripping him out of his thoughts as he falls over.

“Moon! Hello,” he says after collecting himself. The overseer bounces up and down then points to the nearest structure poking out of the sea. “You want me to go over there?” The worm-like creature nods. Stretching his joints, he jumps into the water, mentally sighing at the fact that he would have to dry themselves off after this. They didn’t want to rust, after all.

The large jellyfish does not move, but glancing down, Sig can see that its tentacles do. He dives underwater, narrowly avoiding the pale strings reaching out for him. It’s rather pretty underwater, with rubble scattered around the sea’s floor, they can see the remnants of Moon’s structure. Although, there seemed to be rubble from something else too. An overseer can barely be seen as he pushes against the water. While iterators may not sink in water, that didn’t mean they were exactly built, let alone taught, to swim. After a few seconds he can see a ladder halfway submerged into the water, he climbs onto it. They trust the overseer, overseers had been built for many tasks, and one of them was guidance. There was no reason not to rely on this creature to guide them to Moon, they think as the overseer points to the pipe with a symbol of Moon’s face lighting the ground around it. A loud creaking followed by sounds of splashing cause him to flinch. Not wanting to test fate, he dives into the pipe. 

Only for a moment does he feel solid ground under his feet. That moment quickly passes when he stumbles and meets air. They’re falling.

His fingers curl around the scarf threatening to loosen feeling his heart- or more accurately, his core- jump to his head. His heart pounds as the walls of the room rush by them. He shuts his eyes-

Water envelopes him, a loud splash going mute as his head submerges. They blink their eyes open, still tightly gripping on their violet scarf. An overseer pops out of the ground, in the dim lighting, he can’t tell what colour it is. It turns toward the surface and Sig glances up in the same direction.The shock of falling had rendered them frozen, finally snapping out of their state, they push themselves towards the surface, water rushing past them as they meet air. Had they had lungs, they would be gasping for air. Droplets slip off his face feeling cool against the green tissue that covers his face.

Another ladder. This place seems to be a haven for ladder enthusiasts, they think humorously. The ladder feels the same as the previous one, slippery and cold ( like their Hunter) , though slightly less so than the over on the surface. And despite their multiple hundreds of cycles of experience, their legs still remain unsteady on the pole. An incredibly unpleasant experience when there was nothing visible but the sky beneath your feet. If they were a fully biological creature, they would likely have passed out due to fear. The room after looks incredibly similar to the previous one, just far longer. He’s never seen such an incredibly large amount of water before. The largest he’s seen are lakes, even Suns’ oasis wasn’t as large as this. Water splashes against his face, a black and purple creature swims around. Considering they’ve never seen such an animal before, they assume that it is native to the salt waters of Moon and Pebbles’ iterators facility. Water sprays his face and he yelps, the fish-looking creature looks smug.

“So you can spit water,” he grumbles, not bothering to wipe his face, “that’s certainly interesting.” He jumps into the body of water, grabbing the fish to direct it forward. A gamble, but the odds seem to lean in his favour when the fish moves in the direction he intended for it to. Everything in this region seems to be slippery and cold, he thinks as wind rushes past him. They would get to Moon this cycle, they swear on it.

- - -

Despite having to switch jetfish multiple times, it didn’t take too long to get here. He could see it, her structure not far away at all. The blizzard rages on in their audio processors, jetfish attempting to wriggle out of his grasp, attempting to get away from the cold. Not for the first time, he is grateful for their kind’s resistance, and borderline benefit, to the blizzard.

They hear a crunching sound behind them.

The jetfish’s wriggling increases by tenfold and it slips out of his grasp, hurling him backwards. He curses as they push against the water, desperately trying to get to the surface.

The crunching sound grows louder.

Their heart pounds, fear coursing through their wires and veins, not wanting out what it is, they don’t turn around. Ignorance is bliss, after all.

Unfortunately, they do not have a choice in that matter.

A giant mouth opens, concrete surrounding them.

“OH SH-”

Pain floods through them, metal skin cracking and splitting, the muscle underneath ripping as the mouth comes crashing down on their head. The pearls in their bag split open, the information inside rendering unreadable, useless. They attempt to scream, but their vocal chords are crushed, no noise comes out. Oil spills out of their crushed veins and wires. A resounding crack echoes through the Shoreline.

The cycle resets.

- - -

Sig jerks forward, heart still pounding from the cycle before. Their fingers tremble as they grasp their cloak in the cold, cold shelter.

Cold .

Now there is a timeline in which they don’t make it, now there is a timeline where Moon watches him die, now there is a timeline where Pebbles suffers alone. They narrow their dark eyes, pulling their knees to their chest and pressing their face into their scarf. What was that creature? He wonders, not quite sure if they even want to know the answer. Their trembling digits play with the fabric of their shawl, a pattern of rhombuses decorating the purple surface. The iterator sighs, as much as it pains them, there is no use in dwelling on spilt milk, as the ancients would say. They push themselves out of the shelter. Another try, they get another chance. Perhaps this cycle would be luckier.

- - -

To say that this cycle was easier wouldn’t be quite telling the truth. Darting away from a salamander whose jaws snap angrily at him, he desperately clings to the jetfish. They wouldn’t make that same mistake again, these stupid creatures were truly proving to be a pain in the ass. The salamander wraps its dark tongue around his leg, they shudder at the slimy feeling. Using one hand they pull a spear out of their pack and stab it into the creature’s tongue, being careful not to accidentally impale himself by stabbing too deep. The beast retracts its tongue, a cry escaping its lips as it thrashes in pain. The jetfish continue onward, leaving the injured salamander behind.

Looking forward they see Moon’s structure again. Joy floods their wires, their eyes turn up into a grin. It had been many a cycle since they had seen their old friend. A moment goes by, and they’re right outside of her collapsed can. He stabs a spear into the side of it, noting the amount of dents on the surface. With a pang of sadness, they wonder if their hunter had been one of those.

Now standing on solid ground, which he had never realised he could be so grateful for, he hears a loud noise behind him. Twisting around, he sees giant jaws connected to a snake-like body. A goliath, massive and overwhelming him. They do not test fate. The iterator runs inside of the collapsed can.

It’s far less cold inside of the structure, which is strange. Moon has an automatic cooling system, if anything, it should be colder in her structure, not warmer. He looks around and sees… green lights? How? Last they had seen, she was completely broken down. A hum echoes through the room, and suddenly he jumps far higher than usual. Curious, he ponders how this could have happened, but ends up deciding to save it as one of the questions to ask Moon. They hop around, almost walking on water, and skip over the jellyfish floating below his dark green feet. Exiting the room and the one after, having been extremely claustrophobic in the tight pipes, he enters a large room, one that must have been hard to traverse without the reduced gravity. After looking around, trying to figure out where to go first, they end up climbing up the pole in the center of the room, connected to a giant cube. After getting up there, it only took a large jump to pull himself up the pole connecting to the otherside of the room. Thank void that the pole isn’t wet, he looks down and sees the large distance between him and the ground. Eugh, he feels nauseous.

The next room is just as claustrophobic, with tunnels that squish their metal. It’s hard to move, hard to ‘breathe’. It must have been far easier for a slugcat like their hunter to make their way through a room like this with their slender, small, and slimy body. A shelter is there too, but they decide to skip it, they can always come back after speaking to Moon. The blizzard wouldn’t hurt them.

Finally getting out of that horrid room, they jump into the freezing water, hearing the yelp of surprise in a secluded area near them. Lifting their head out of the water, clothes and pack soaked once more, they see Moon. The symbol on his forehead flashes happily.

“Oh! You’re here!” her voice practically shines with the joy in it. She sets herself on the ground, tattered white dress flowing with her as holographic screens flash around her. Wait-

Sig stumbles on his feet, making his way to their old friend. Confused, they ask, “How do you have your umbilical activated? And your structure too, and how-”

Moon chuckles, her voice melodic and gentle as always, it was no wonder why they had fallen in love with her.

“One at a time, my friend!” she sits down, Sig following her movements. It’s far warmer here than outside, perhaps it's because of the sunlight streaming down from the hole in the corner of what used to be a puppet chamber, perhaps it’s something else.  “There is a lot for me to tell you.” He stays silent, beckoning her to continue. Her dark eyes turn sad as she speaks, “To answer your first two questions, it’s only thanks to Pebbles that I have this. He gave… he gave me his rarefaction cell… Truly, I am forever grateful for what he has done for me. I haven’t seen him in a while, the last that I know of is his structure’s collapse. Ever since then…”

He blinks, that truly was a lot of information to take in.

“That sounds rather out of character for him to do such a thing” - he chuckles - “are you sure we’re thinking of the same Five Pebbles?”

Moon glares at him, quite frankly pissed. They wince, scolding themselves. Even they know that the joke had both been untrue and rude. “Sorry…”

She sighs at him. “I suppose you didn’t mean it, after all, you always seemed to know him better than others.” her smile returns, but once again, there is a hint of melancholy in her crescent eyes. “Everyone else seemed to think the same of him… just a brat, they would say. But he’s so much more! You could see it too, I know you could, maybe even more than I did. You two always seemed to have something”

What she said is true and it only adds to the pile of guilt resting on his shoulders. Pebbles… he really didn’t deserve all the harsh words that they had spoken. He was hurting, that much was clear now, if only he could go back, how he would have changed. Perhaps he would never have wanted to ascend if Sig was just there for him! An iterators code could change, he could have helped him, they could have saved him. So many more lives would be spared, if only they-

“Now, I have a question for you.” Sig blinks, snapping out of his spiralling. Moon watches him carefully, barely disguised concern showing on her face. “How did you get off your umbilical, out of your can, into this beautiful world?”

“Oh- well! It was easy for me, with all of my brilliance and intelligence!” they grin, the fact that it had been them who had first gotten off the umbilical would always be a great source of pride for them. “All I had to do was find someone- or something - to detach the screws and wires from my umbilical, I just left my can to rot- or- sorry- left it in the dust.”

She hums in wonder, anything novel is always something that takes her interest. Which leads him to ask, “I can help you get off your umbilical. Like I said, it’s not that hard.”

To his surprise, Moon shakes her head. “There’s no need, really.”

“But-”

“Sig, there is nothing left for me to do. While it would be nice to see Pebbles for one last time, my joints are old and damaged. Unlike you newer generations, I wasn’t really built for mobility.”

He fiddles with his scarf, Moon, who notices this, chuckles at his old habit.

“What do you mean, ‘for the last time’ ?”

Her only response is a slight tilt of her head and a facsimile of a smile. That alone is enough to tell them what she means.

“Oh,” he understands. 

Moon shakes her head lightly. “On a lighter note, I’d like to tell you about my experiences. I’ve seen a lot of things, even in my collapsed state.”

Sig nods, happy to have a conversation with his old friend again.

“Hmm… Well, I suppose I should start after I met your little Hunter. Well, there was this… how do I put this? Rather rotund slugcat. He was capable of a great many things, you know! He could craft quite a few things, some I’ve never even seen before!

“Oh! And there was this pair of siblings too! One white, one yellow. The white one was quite a survivor, and their yellow sibling brought me this garment!” She lifts her pale garment, tattered with mould growing on it, but still capable of use. He assumes that it had been bleached over time.

“Well! I must say,” he exclaims, “that little one must have had incredibly good taste. Your dress is quite pretty. In fact, I quite honestly prefer it now than before.”

“Isn’t it?! Really, I truly think that the ancients had no sense of style!” she grumbles, childlike in her mannerisms, “that orange was far too bright! I much prefer paler and duller colours! Although, there was this creature, an odd one at that. I assume they were an evolution of the original slugcat, they had gills, can you believe that! Remarkable.”

She pauses, watching him curiously, he already knows what she’s going to ask, and Sig is eager to tell her.

“Now, enough about me,” Moon’s eyes shine with the bright curiosity of a young child, something that nothing can tear away from her. “I’d like to hear about your travels , my friend.”

Sig perks up, excited to tell the turquoise iterator about his journey with his friends, or, rather, former friends.

His conversation with her lasts a long time, at one point, he can hear the blizzard blazing in the back of his mind. Cold seeps into the muscle behind their metal plating, but part of them is still warm, although that doesn’t stop Moon’s growing concern.

“You should leave, you know,” she says eventually, clearly hesitant with her words.

Sig shares the same sentiment, they don’t want to leave, but admittedly, their legs had begun to grow numb, so they nod .Getting up to leave, he slings his pack over his shoulder and bids his old friend goodbye, knowing it may be the last time they see each other, who knows?

“Farewell, Moon. I’ll be heading to Pebbles. Hopefully I’ll see you again.”

“Yes, farewell, my old friend. My overseers will guide you to Pebbles.”

His heart pounds at the mere thought of seeing Pebbles again, half excitement, half anxiety. Turning around, he watches an overseer pop out of the ground. He leaves and does not look back, heading into the shelterin that claustrophobic room. The remnants of warmth slowly begin to fade away.

- - -

His first meeting with Pebbles went… interestingly.

Sig’s fingers hover over the call button, which flashes lightly. Finally, they click it. They wonder how this call will go, instigated by Moon, they doubt it will go anything but badly. Five Pebbles acts quite frankly, like a brat. Ungrateful and hostile to everyone around them, what exactly is his problem?

That’s what he thinks as he waits for the younger iterator to answer. A quiet melody plays as he waits, and he spins around while listening. Patience hasn’t always been his strong suit, but if it’s for Moon, he’ll wait. While their feelings for her aren’t nearly as strong as they used to be, he still likes her. Even after that awkward conversation… they shudder at the mere thought of it.

A beep alerts him, and he shoots forward, scarf flopping against his face in a rather unbecoming way.

“You look ridiculous.”

Okay, well, first of all, rude. He pushes the scarf off his face, expecting to see the classic black eyes of an iterator, only to be met with white.

Beautiful, iridescent, white eyes, long and pale wires, acting as lashes hanging above them. He leans his head on a pink hand with all the glory of a god-like being that he is.

They’d be lying if they said this iterator isn’t drop dead stunning.

“You- okay, fine. Hello, Five Pebbles,” they say, ignoring the pounding of their heart and the way the fans in their puppet begin to spin faster. The other iterator snorts, eyes narrowing at him, quietly analysing who they are and what they want.

“So, I assume Moon told you to call me as well? Truth be told, the only reason why I answered was due to her, I assume the same is true for you,” he hums. Sig nods, slightly irritated that Pebbles had been correct. 

“So… Do you do anything for fun? Or do you just mope around all day, grumpy ‘n stuff,” they ask. 

He narrows his eyes at them, confused, for some odd reason. Really, their question had been an attempt at small talk, it’s not like they had asked them a complicated question unlike their cursed creators.

“For fun? Well, I work on the Great Problem, that is what I do. Every cycle.” Sig blinks. That’s certainly concerning. He knew that the newer generations of iterators had been created with more focused personalities, but the fact that he truly has no other hobbies… That only spelled trouble.

“What? Really? Nothing for fun? Why not, why don’t you ask your older sister for some things to do?”

Judging by his eyes, narrowed further than before, this question sets him off. “Well, I assume you wouldn’t understand. After all, you don’t have a great older sister for everyone to compare you to.” Pebbles’ bright lenses begin to glow brighter as Sig watches with growing regret and concern. “You don’t have to be perfect for everyone! You can do whatever the hell you want, and no one would care! Your existence isn’t a crime for others!”

“I’m sorr-”

“THIS CALL IS OVER!”

The call ends with a quiet beep, leaving the room in silence. 

Clearly, there is more to this iterator than it seems.

- - -

He gets up with a soft groan, joints still hurting from the cycle before. The dream rings fresh in his mind, he supposes it’s about time to stop suppressing everything. He gets to his feet and crawls out of the shelter, out of the room. He falls into the water below, yelping when he crashes down. Below the water, they see a yellow overseer pop out of the dirt. The iterator waves at it before surfacing. It points towards the exit of the room, Sig follows obediently.

- - -

About half a cycle passes, half a cycle of running around and stabbing monster kelp (they absolutely despise those cursed things) but eventually they reach an area, extremely collapsed with rubble everywhere. Kicking a rock, they watch it bounce around a bit before following the overseer. Plants, fuzzy plants, they notice as he brushes his hand on the dull green thing, sprout around the place. Darker ones drip down from overhead, slapping him in the face every now and then. The place is dark and tight, causing them to need to squish themselves in nooks and crannies in order to get through. Sig shudders. This place, silent and rotting, reeks of death. They dive through pools of water, scratching and bumping their head on the sharp rocks around them. A familiar hissing is heard, not one of a lizard, no, the source is a large spider, skittering around on its many legs. He flinches back, knowing that these creatures can be incredibly aggressive given the chance. But his shoulders relax when he sees a limp creature in its jaws, red glowing blood staining it and the spider’s jaws.

How unfortunate… I suppose that is the cycle at work, though.

He sidesteps the rather disturbing sight, wincing when their scarf gets dipped in the bright liquid. They would need to find a way to wash that later. Picking up multiple spears along the way, the green iterator climbs a ladder, having to stab the wall a few times to get to the top. Red lights reflect on them as they walk around, looking around at the remnants of the iterator structure, but this one had always been different. With Five Pebbles being one of the very few fifth gen iterators, he’d always attracted much attention from others. (That didn’t make them jealous, no, not at all.)

Stepping in and out of multiple pipes, they finally make it to the karma gate. The red lights, warning lights, they know from experience, hurt their eyes, so they wince, turning away from it. Placing a hand on the golden hologram, they listen to the gate crash and slam against each other, heart pounding, he steps through the gate.

The final obstacle between them and Pebbles.

- - -

They quickly realise that this final obstacle is the hardest to get through, he supposes it’s fitting. Moon’s overseers hop in and out of the ground as he steps forward, the noise echoing in the silent chambers. Really, the only creature that they see are spiders skittering about. They hold no threat, really. The little darts that the red types spit don’t penetrate his metal skin, and they all die with one hit. Not much fun to fight, more of a hassle with how fast they are. Not to mention the numerous high ledges there are, the amount of times he’s used his grappling hook leaves him panting on the floor, with multiple concerned looking overseers watching him. The rocky floor digs into his back, metal or not, it still hurts his skin. They wonder how any sort of creature manages to travel around in such a place. In the dark rooms, the red light is ever present, parts of Five Pebbles must still be activated for it to still be on. As they squish themselves through the narrow tunnels, they see the yellow worm-things attempt to emerge from the ground, only to fail and slam on the tunnel’s roof. They snort.

When they finally manage to push themselves out of the tunnel, they see the snow falling lightly, twirling in the light wind. Never would they have thought that they would be grateful for seeing the cold white powder. They step towards the exit of the far larger tunnel, brushing their fingers along the cool poles, a warm feeling had begun to fester inside of them, perhaps it is the growing anticipation in them. A snapping causes them to flinch, the noise is followed by more snapping. It begins to grow in volume, and he freezes.

Miros Birds. 

Sig dives towards a random tunnel near them, stumbling onto the floor as they hear those wretched birds slam their feet above him. Trying to ignore the rather terrifying noise as the creatures run overhead, they slip through the pipe, ending up right in the middle of the snow, the birds having run away. The iterator stands there for a few seconds, stretching their arms out, embracing the snow as it falls on him, melting away. It would be a long time until the blizzard would start again

An overseer looks at him, nodding upwards with a symbol of an iterator displayed in a hologram.

He groans and falls into the soft snow, lying there for a moment as overseers poke him with their little heads. Sig pushes themselves up, staring at the pipe embedded into the cliff’s face. Arm disassembling, a grappling hook shoots out, he swings on it, pulling himself up and into the pipe.

It turns out, he would have to use that grappling hook multiple times more after that.

- - -

The blizzard had long since begun to blaze, cold seeps into the muscles behind their metal plating.

They think they’re close, but everything is a blur, even the overseers only appear as a yellow smudge in their eyes. Multiple times does he nearly trip over the rocks on the floor. His hope begins to dwindle, and along with it comes the warmth in his heart, until he hears a quiet whisper.

“... Sig? ”

“Pebbles?!”

He stumbles again, then breaks into a weak sprint, fighting against the winds pushing him. His feet slap against the floor, hand outstretched towards the iterator whom he loves. They collapse in front of a pink blob, rubbing their eyes, he looks up.

Iridescent white eyes, and even though one is shattered, that doesn’t stop the warmth from spreading through his body. Despite everything that had happened, despite every betrayal, despite all the thousands of cycles that had passed, love for the pink iterator still courses through his entire being. There is no doubt in them anymore as they allow their neurons to connect to Pebbles, listening to the distorted tune playing from the purple pearl.

The two of them flinch violently as their memories begin to blend together.

Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold, the only thing he sees is white, bright, glowing white. Warning signs flash in front of him, followed by burning pain. A dull ache eats through his structure, long since had he learned to ignore it, blue and black is all he sees. Crimson and rogue, the slugcat hands him a purple pearl. 

It hurts.

Sig jerks, his body convulsing, then finally calming, he shivers. Memories, all belonging to the beautiful iterator in front of him. He’s panting, arms shaking with the little tears dripping down his cheeks. They place a hand on Pebbles’ arm, when he doesn’t object to the touch, they pull him to their chest, feeling the warmth and trembling from his body. His body practically envelopes the other’s with their large size. He rests his chin on his head, letting him press his face into their purple scarf. They stay like that for a while, barely noticing the crashing blizzard as they hold each other. Their symbols glow together in the dark atmosphere. Finally, a quiet and weak, although stronger than before, voice is heard.

“I missed you,” he whispers, fingers shaking from where they cling to his scarf like a scavenger pup.

“I missed you too, Pebbles,” his eyes squinting in an adoring smile, “I’m so happy to see you again.”

“... I’m sorry,” he whispers, voice shaking.

“I’m sorry too.”

Pebbles chuckles dryly. “Why are you sorry? Everything was my fault. I did this all . Why don’t- why don’t you hate-” his voice cuts off and a muffled sob is heard.

“No… I… You were hurting… I realise now how much everything must have hurt,” he pulls away slightly, just enough to cup his face, “I shouldn’t have said those things to you, which is why I’m sorry too. And… I love you.”

Pebbles does not respond for a long moment, tears still streaming down his rust stained cheeks. “You’re such an idiot,” he hums, resting his face in the crook of Sig’s neck, who smiles, knowing full well that it was an “I love you too.”

- - -

Multiple cycles go by with them resting in each other’s arms. Sig tells him every story he can remember while Pebbles tells of the little critters that had scuttered through his facilities. They laugh together, forgetting about the times of the past. Every now and then, a yellow overseer would pop out, watching them silently. Currently, he rests in their arms, eyes shut, but not quite sleeping, they simply enjoy each other’s presence.

Sig is the first to hear the crunching of snow behind him, they turn around, making sure not to disturb the peace between them and their lover.

Something green can be seen, walking amongst the falling snow.

They know what- or rather who - it is.

The nearer the creature comes, the more that their hypothesis is proven. What must be soft fur is seen, swaying as it walks. As it approaches the two iterators, he begins to gently nudge him awake. He awakens with a quiet hum then his eyes widen as he sees the creature.

“It’s here,” is all he says. Sig’s only response is a nod, as he holds him closer, he shuts his eyes.

“Have you reached Moon yet?”

The Saint in the form of a lowly slugcat shakes its head.

“I see,” he places a slender finger on his chin as he thinks, “What you’re doing- I wonder, do the others consider it a crime?”

As expected, it does not respond.

“I see it more as a mercy, although, I suppose that is due to the fact that I have nothing more left to do.”

The Saint steps closer, then a soft noise is heard as it begins to float off the ground, previously closed eyes opening wide. Pebbles shifts slightly, watching it distantly. Sig pulls him closer.

“Ascend us together,” they whisper.

The Saint adheres to this final request.

Two iterators fall to the cool ground of the silent construct, still clinging on to each other.

The last thing Sig sees is iridescent white eyes.

The last thing he feels is warmth.