Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

- Pearl Identified - Contents Displayed -

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Dispatcher: Iterator Flocks to the South. Repeat. I am Iterator: Flocks to the South. Urgent message for region, iterator city, located in the swamp near the base of my mountain: My structure will collapse in approximately 4.8 cycles at time of dispatch. Once this message reaches you, my demise will be imminent. I have calculated my presumed trajectory. Your city will be swallowed whole by the impact. Your negligence has doomed you.

[Attached Files: 1 Document.]

Attachment contains: The current state of my structure. This is not a farce. There is not a single counterfeit character in this document. You will see me. You will see every component of my being and you will know what you have done.

I cannot calculate a future in which I might survive. I have tried. I have tried. I do not wish to die. I do not wish to die. I do not wish to die. You did this to me. YOU DID THIS TO ME.

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- End Contents -

~ ~ ~

Flocks to the South had 2.63 cycles left to live. She was working in her city when she felt an urgent signal from one of her overseers. Her hands paused. It was Detect— it never bothered her unless the matter was crucial, critical. Flocks leaned back from the wirework, allowing herself to focus fully on Detect's system. Triangles appeared over her eye as she watched.

She quickly recognized the area Detect was in. This was the karma gate at the base of her structure. She couldn't imagine what could be so urgent here. Her gates stood still and solitary, just like they had for countless cycles. The flora was overgrown, almost sealing the doors shut, and—

The chamber was shaking.

She jolted, grabbing her harpoon off the ground and slamming the panel shut behind her. Someone was coming through her karma gate. She mounted the harpoon back onto her arm while she moved across the city with her armature. She could see the gate struggling to open through Detect’s eye. It finally broke free, ripping the plants to shreds without mercy. No one should be here. No one should even think about coming here. She was alone, desolate, abandoned and doomed, and that was all she knew.

She saw them. She saw the ancients, and she slammed the connection closed. They were back. They were going to finish her off.

Flocks lifted herself up, lowering her body on top of a nearby building. It stood sturdy beneath her shaking feet. She still wasn’t used to her newly-built limbs. This building had held the test of time far better than she had. It also gave her a clear view of her evacuation shaft, where the ancients would surely arrive from. It would guide them straight to her, and she would be ready.

The first thing to come through the pipe was not an ancient. It was a small, purple creature. They flicked their one good ear, and then looked directly up at Flocks to the South.

Flocks stayed deathly still. The creature mirrored her, freezing, watching. She idly felt her system identify it as a slugpup. It was not a threat. They were not her prey.

The sound of footsteps echoed through the evacuation shaft behind the slugpup. They flattened their body to the ground and crawled between the rubble, moving deeper into her city. Her eyes stayed on the pipe.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five ancients shuffled into her chamber, one after the other. The majority of them paused, taking in the area and chattering amongst themselves. One of them, however, kept marching ever forward.

“Wait, Thirteen Nests Atop Countless Stones— Where are you going?”

The ancient in the front, Thirteen Nests, hardly bothered to change their pace. “I am going to the general systems access shaft.”

“Shouldn’t we check in with the puppet first?” An ancient near the back gestured upward toward her can. “She sounded—”

“She’s asleep.” Thirteen Nests huffed. “She’s asleep, and she’ll never wake up. The message was sent out by her subconscious. We’ve been over this. Our mission is to reinforce the legs and keep the structure from collapsing.”

“But—” A third ancient elbowed them in the shoulder, stopping their words short. Thirteen Nests turned around, surveying the group.

“I know what I’m doing,” They drawled. “Stay in line.”

Flocks to the South watched silently. The group seemed to wilt and grumble, but they obeyed. They followed Thirteen Nests across her city. Something about the leader sent a chill through Flocks’ wires. The center of their mask was familiar. It was styled after the masks of the vultures. It was far more grandiose, though, just like everything else the ancient wore. Feathers branched out around the center, creating a sort of mane that framed their head in the shape of an X. It had to be ridiculously heavy.

The group moved slowly, stepping on rubble and spare parts Flocks had left on the ground. Her blood boiled. She hated this so, so much. They weren’t supposed to come here. She was supposed to fall. She had already accepted her death (this was a lie), she was supposed to bring them down with her into the deepest depths of—

The ancients disappeared through the access shaft. She had no choice but to let them work.

~ ~ ~

Flocks to the South monitored every step the ancients took. She could see them growing in unease as they noticed the overseers watching them. She didn’t care. She learned that the team of ancients was from the neighboring structure where the Birdwatcher had arrived safely. She learned the structure’s name: Endless Expressionism. She learned that three of the ancients in the group had lived in her city before she was abandoned. All five of them had helped build Expressionism. None of them knew she was awake.

They repaired her structure’s legs. It was hardly a comfort. She was too on edge to feel relief, too angry. These were not the only failing components that threatened her life. The ancients did not care. They only wanted to keep their living city safe. Her life was worth nothing to them. She was not alive to them. She didn’t matter.

At first, she had held on to some hope that the team would leave after they finished. They didn’t. The ancients lingered. They had a small camp set up in her city. They took over one of the abandoned buildings, setting up a system to redirect the vulture smoke out of the immediate area. They were taking it back from her.

The one called Thirteen Nests concerned Flocks the most. She kept overseers on them constantly. She knew she was missing conversations between the other ancients, but she didn’t care. Thirteen Nests kept lingering in her memory arrays.

~ ~ ~

Flocks to the South was watching Thirteen Nests when she felt a presence by her side. She looked down. The purple slugpup stared back at her, their eyes wide. They tilted their head to the side. They nodded.

Chapter Text

Thirteen Nests was, frankly, impressed. The modifications Flocks to the South had made to her own structure were no short of miracles. They had been quite busy compiling pearls from her memory arrays. They gathered plenty of purposed organism genomes, of course, along with plenty of more mechanical blueprints. This information would be very useful in their personal endeavors.

Today, Thirteen Nests was looking through Flocks’ code. They scrolled past errors and computations, making their way to the more interesting data. They had a theory, considering the level of personal modifications Flocks to the South seemed to have performed, and—

They were right. Thirteen Nests knew what this section of code was meant to look like. They had coded it themself. Flocks to the South had overwritten her own taboos.

Thirteen Nests’ fingers twitched. They couldn’t help themself. They ran their thumb over a line of code and began to rewrite it. Immediately, an overseer appeared in their face. Its hands waved, smacking the mask from Thirteen Nests’ face and pushing them back. The metal arms held far more of an impact than a regular overseer would have been capable of. Before Thirteen Nests could even realize what was happening, the overseer was gone. It took the pearl with them.

Thirteen Nests cursed, looking around. They knew they were being monitored— the overseers made it rather obvious. One of them bobbed its head at Thirteen Nests from the corner of the room, by the roof. They just didn’t expect these pests to be so... persistent. Obstinate, more like it.

They picked up their mask, gracefully placing it back on their face. They would have to return to this later.

Thirteen Nests lifted their sack of pearls and moved on. Flocks’ memory arrays churned and clattered around them. Her structure’s heartbeat was irregular. They didn’t care. It had always been that way.

They moved through the access shaft calmly. It had been a very productive cycle, and they were quite proud of themself. An overseer trailed behind them, watching. They didn’t notice. They reached the end of the hall and ducked through the pipe.

The first thing they noticed was the smoke. Something had happened to their redirect system, and the vulture smoke hit them in the face as soon as they entered the city. They coughed, waving their hands in front of their face.

The second thing they noticed was the bright red laser pointed straight at them. They froze. Their eyes traced it forward, following the light all the way to a figure hidden in the midst of the smoke. She had a vulture harpoon aimed right at their chest.

The figure had to be Flocks to the South, but that shouldn’t be possible. Her blueprints didn’t mention any modifications to her puppet. She should be trapped in her can, asleep for all eternity. She had served her purpose. She was never meant to live.

The smoke in her eyes swirled and danced. Thirteen Nests couldn’t help but be reminded of fire. They had started this fire in her heart, and it was going to consume them.

Flocks’ hand stayed steady as the harpoon impaled Thirteen Nests through the heart.

Chapter Text

To say Sprouts was struggling with their studies would be an understatement. Between complex diagrams and somehow more complex explanations, it would take a miracle for them to actually understand the internals of an Iterator structure.

So, when word got around that a crew was going off to investigate an abandoned structure, they did what any reasonably minded fellow would do.

They snuck along. Not close enough to be noticed, but close enough to not lose sight.

Getting to the structure… that’s a story for another day. Mountain hikes aren’t exactly easy.

~ ~ ~

“- Our mission is to reinforce the legs and keep the structure from collapsing.”

Sprouts rolled his eyes at the statement the mechanic gave. Why they came along, he didn’t quite know. Following a different path, he traveled through the structure, taking notes as he went and making an effort to at least clean up the larger pieces of rubble he came across.

As much as he tried to avoid any Overseers, there was still enough footage of him for Flocks to the South to know he was there.

To say this was better experience than sitting in a classroom would be an understatement, but it was obvious something was wrong. The frequent encounters with The Omen didn’t help either.

~ ~ ~

Sprouts caught a glimpse of something he figured could be an easy fix. That could be anything, of course, when the hard part is finding all the spare scrap that was needed to execute the fix.

He took a mental note of where the fix needed to happen. Nothing too major, just a few rails and supports that would make navigation easier for just about anyone. There were other similar problems, but those would require more scrap in the end.

The overseers caught his every action, despite how much he may have tried to hide. After gathering all the scrap for the repairs, he headed for the site of the damage and got to work.

Unlike the overseers, the other Ancients at the site were much easier to hide from. Hearing an unknown yet familiar voice echo down the hallway, Sprouts ducked into a nearby pipe and waited for the echo to die down. When he was sure the voice was gone, he finished the repair, gathered his things, and returned to the surface, unaware of what his small repair would do for the Iterator going forward.

~ ~ ~

It was sunset by the time Sprouts returned to the city the structure contained. Stepping out into the cool air, his preparations to leave were stopped by a spear impaling itself in the wall.

Looking around for the source, he found himself face to face with… a puppet? It certainly didn’t look like any iterator puppets he’d seen before. It seemed angry. At everyone. And in that moment, at him.

The harpoon pulled back from the wall, ripping the seam of Sprouts’ bag. All at once, a notebook, pen, and mechanical piece fell out. Sprouts himself was in panic mode, bracing for the worst.

The last thing he heard that day was the shrill call of a vulture… from somewhere, anyway.

~ ~ ~

The notebook that was recovered was full of sketches, textbook scraps, and other notes. Despite the scraps being for newer generation iterators, Sprouts put a noticeable amount of effort into trying (and usually failing) to backport the ideas to the structure that Flocks was built upon. Despite mostly being wrong, the ideas were there.

It was accompanied by… well, half a textbook on modern Iterator construction, Seventh Edition. There wasn’t much on the subject of puppets, since by that point there wasn’t much need to build them within structures. Pages had segments torn out, scribbles in the indents, and the occasional missing page.

As for the mechanical piece, it ended up being what Flocks needed to extend her life by a few cycles more. It almost didn’t make it, considering Thirteen Nests Atop Countless Stones was adamant about only going to make sure the structure stayed stable.

(The pen is just a normal ballpoint pen. Not much to go into there.)

As for the bag itself, there was a clear hole in it, but a nutrient bar, two batteries and a flashlight, and a small card with contact information were still visible.

Chapter Text

Flocks to the South clicked off the lasers in her eyes as her harpoon returned to her arm. Her gaze traced over the ancient’s bag and the contents that had fallen onto the ground. Curious. The other ancients had consolidated their supplies and brought them in together. This one seemed separate somehow.

Flocks tilted her head and tapped into the footage of one of her smaller overseers, Peer. It had been keeping track of this mysterious 6th ancient for her. Whoever they were, it seemed like they didn’t want her to see them. They constantly ducked away when they saw Peer watching. It wasn’t comforting in the slightest, not that she expected an ancient to ever be comforting.

She noticed he was using a notebook and pen in the majority of the footage Peer captured. She dismissed the connection and looked down, taking in the state of the ancient’s notebook. It was a rather primitive form of collecting data. Smoke huffed out of her eyes as she realized she wouldn’t be able to scan through it quickly. She lifted her feet off the ground with her armature and lowered herself beside it, carefully turning the cover open. The paper was brittle and well-worn beneath her hands. She was almost worried about ripping it.

Her interest only rose as she turned the pages. The notebook contained an incredible amount of studies on newer iterator superstructure models. The ancient seemed to have tried to backport some of the ideas. It was quite obvious to Flocks that most of these attempts would never function, at least not in her structure. Regardless, the notes were critical in her current situation. She could improvise. She had never had a modern resource like this.

She sent a signal to one of her overseers and turned to inspect the second book. It was a textbook, also modern, that described iterator construction procedures. It was half scrapped. Regardless, there was information there. Her mind whirred with something dangerously close to hope.

Her overseer appeared on the floor, looking between Flocks and the book. It looked down, poking the page with its arms.

Flocks reached forward, lightly rubbing beside its eye. It leaned into her hand. She tapped the floor by the textbook with the tip of her harpoon.

“Urgent request for overseer, Survey: Please transcribe the contents of these texts onto a data pearl.” Flocks instructed, letting go. Survey spun its arms to acknowledge her words. Then it grabbed the books and vanished.

Flocks leaned forward and pulled the ancient’s bag to herself. She quickly removed the other contents of the bag, her eyes catching on an identification card. The ancient’s name was Seven Sprouts Amidst Endless Horizons, Bringer of Hope, Speaker of Limitless Truth. According to the extended titles, they were currently studying the construction of iterators. They were studying her. Flocks crumpled the ID in her hands and tossed it aside. It didn’t matter. She’s certain she would never see any of her visitors ever again, if they had any sense at all.

Flocks turned. Her eyes caught on a metal piece that got thrown across the floor when the ancient fell. She stumbled to her feet, landing on one knee beside it with a metallic thud. Her eyes lit back up as she inspected it, the laser tracing every inch of the component.

That strange feeling whirring in her mind flared just a little bit brighter.

Chapter Text

Of all the places for Sprouts to Definitely Not Be, the admin room for ELS was definitely up there on the list. Especially after working hours were over. Despite this, he was there anyway.

As is to be expected, the Iterator took notice. You couldn’t exactly muffle the sounds of clattering closets.

“...Sprouts? What are you doing out this late?”

Sprouts jumped. “Uh… Research? Did any of your admins say anything about a pearl in the last few days?”

ELS gave a small head tilt, then pointed to a filing cabinet. “Second drawer down, fifth section from the back. Whatcha need it for?”

Opening the drawer, Sprouts found a small pearl that had what they were looking for: blueprints from the abandoned Iterator that he had an… unfortunate encounter with the day before. A small chirp alerted him to a creature in a cage nearby, a purposed organism that seemed to resemble a Slugcat.

“I think that the folks that went to the abandoned Iterator yesterday didn’t actually go there to repair anything. …….that and I may have encountered the puppet for the structure. She seems nice.” Those last lines were rushed through. He didn’t exactly want to remember how a harpoon through the chest felt, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going to be feeling it a lot over the next few cycles.

…his gaze returned to the Slugcat. “I’m taking this guy with me.”

ELS gave a shrug. “Your choice. The big shots couldn’t seem to get it to cooperate, so I doubt you’d be able to. Good luck with your research though! I wanna know when you’re done with those classes.”

“...will do, little buddy. Will do.” After a moment, Sprouts gave the Slugcat a small pat and began his exit trip through the structure. He didn’t quite seem to notice the small pattering of footsteps behind him.

~ ~ ~

Sprouts returned to his apartment, completely missing the Birdwatcher sliding in and under his bed before he closed the door. Pulling a fresh copy of his textbook out, he readied a new notebook and began retaking his notes.

~ ~ ~

For once in his life, Sprouts was happy to be in school. The hardware lab the building had was on par with legitimate hardware development labs, and the fact there was a plethora of tech scrap literally everywhere helped too. He’d pulled a pillow out and slid it under the workbench, and the Birdwatcher was softly sleeping on it.

The top of the bench itself was a mess, to say the least. Multiple pearls, a textbook, his notes, and more scrap than one would ever see in one spot left little room to actually hide any of it. Not that he’d need to, right?

Aside from the occasional janitorial bot, the school was empty. Hell, most of the city was probably asleep with how close it was to the Cycle Shift. He didn’t care about any of that though, the iterator he’d seen a few cycles ago was still on his mind.

He was flipping through the blueprints and the textbook. These components were too new, but surely he could get them to work, right? It was that or find an older issue of the textbook, and he didn’t have the funds to visit another city right now…

…footsteps. At this hour?

Sprouts threw a blanket over the workbench and started digging through a nearby closet as Thirteen Nests peeked inside the lab. This garnered first a confused look, then a scowl.

“Sprouts, what in the world are you doing in here?”

Despite figuring this would happen, Sprouts still jumped, bumping his head on a shelf and causing a few metal pieces to clatter to the ground. “I… think someone stashed my stuff in one of the cabinets? I haven’t been able to get back all day ‘cause of a part time gig I picked up, and…” This was only partially true. There was no part-time gig, but someone did throw his pencil pouch in that specific cabinet. “...well then.”

Thirteen Nests pinched the bridge of their nose with a sigh. “Whatever, just don’t slam the doors on your way out. This building is barely held together as it is.” As if on cue, a ceiling tile fell in the hallway with a crash. “...case in point. Test on Tuesday.” And with that, they left, leaving the room silent once again.

Sprouts gave a hefty sigh. Cleaning up what he knocked down, he returned to the workbench, gave the Birdwatcher a small pat, and started working on the next piece on the blueprints.

Chapter Text

It was inevitable that the scent of blood would attract the nosfer vultures. Flocks was lucky she had void fluid in her veins instead of blood. She was also lucky that she had enough time to install the component she stole from the ancient before the vultures picked up the scent.

She ran a quick diagnostic. She estimated that she had about 4.18 cycles left to live now. It was an improvement, no matter how minor. It was practically a miracle.

Flocks was still making adjustments to her systems when she felt the vultures break through the ceiling of her access shaft. She flinched and wrapped up what she was doing, making sure to leave metal sheets over the more sensitive machinery. She was worried, but logically there was nothing more she could do. Fighting them would only spill more blood. They would swarm to her city in droves. Her hand twitched. She had to wait and hope they wouldn't destroy anything important.

She lifted herself by her armature and moved to the upper layer of her city. Hide. Hiding was the only course of action. Normally she'd hide in her can, but that was too close to the access shaft. She didn't have time. She huddled herself into the space between two abandoned buildings, her harpoon at the ready.

Flocks watched as the first nosfer vulture stuck its head into her city. It rattled and lifted its nose. Then the creature let out a screech. It hurried the rest of its body into the room, a small pack of nosfer vultures scrambling in behind it. The leader ran to the edge of the platform and leapt, stretching its wings and letting out a huff of vulture smoke to catch its fall. The others followed in a similar manner. Then they pounced on the remains of the ancients by the general systems access shaft. It wasn't long until there was no evidence of their visit left at all.

The vulture at the back of the pack skidded to a halt, though. It didn't join the others. It raised its head and turned, instead charging for the lone remains by the evacuation shaft. It didn't stop when it finished its meal. It rattled in its throat, smelled the air, and then started climbing. It was coming right for Flocks.

She straightened in her seat. Her mind kicked into overdrive. They had never tried to attack her before. Her gaze caught on the edge of her cloak. She had picked up some of the blood, likely when she leaned down to look at the notebook. She clutched it in her hands and ripped, tossing the cloak in front of her just in time for the nosfer vulture to catch it in its mouth.

The creature rattled happily and looked back at Flocks. It tapped its feet against the ground and stuck its nose out at her. She leaned back. It wouldn’t bite her, right? She got rid of the blood. She might just hurt its teeth, though it was capable of biting through bone. She hoped she didn’t smell that much like iron–

The beast licked her.

Flocks stayed still long after the nosfer vulture retreated to join its pack, processing. They shuffled out of her city without any further incident. Survey eventually appeared and presented her with a data pearl. She took it in her hands slowly, shaking her head. She would have to worry about the cloak and the nosfer vulture later. It was time to get back to work.

~ ~ ~

Flocks was pacing. She fiddled with a prototype component in her hands, her mind running as fast as it ever was. The modern blueprints she found in the ancient’s bag confounded her as much as they helped her. Backporting the ideas and then converting them into something she could create with alloys and power with vulture smoke was purely headache-inducing. She whirred and dropped the component onto the ground. This wasn’t working. She picked up the transcript pearl. There had to be something else here she could use. An overseer appeared at her feet and whisked the prototype away, but she hardly noticed.

Flocks flipped through to the blueprints, her fingers tapping against the pearl’s surface. No, that was too organic. She didn’t have the materials to make that, so no. While a new voltage stabilizer would be more secure, it wasn’t necessary. This component might work, but half of that page had been torn out. She could definitely use this system of neuron fly division, but it wasn’t what she needed–

Flocks felt a series of urgent signals from Peer. She jerked her head up and connected to Peer’s vision. She looked through its eyes just in time to see a blur of a creature pounce directly onto it. Peer blinked, dazed. Flocks tilted her head and urged Peer to watch the retreating creature. The footage was momentarily scrambled by the attack, but Flocks could see the creature was running straight through the evacuation shaft toward her general civilization bust. She dismissed the connection, turned on her heels, and aimed her harpoon at the entrance.

Something in her systems beeped with recognition the instant she saw the creature. She dropped her harpoon back to her side. She dropped the pearl onto the ground. She practically flung herself across the length of her city.

The Birdwatcher shimmied their way through the pipe and shook themself off. They had some sort of metal piece in their mouth. Their feather-like frills ruffled happily when they saw Flocks. They bonded forward in a much more coordinated manner, bumping their head into her side and pressing the piece into her hand. She grabbed it, but her eyes were glued to the slugcat in front of her. Her free hand ruffled down their frills, scratching behind their ears and removing their mask. She took in their face, just to be certain.

“...Creature identified. Title: Birdwatcher. You were instructed not to return.” The Birdwatcher trilled at her and nudged the metal piece with their nose. She huffed smoke out of her eyes and looked down, turning the piece in her hands. The inner workings were incredibly precise. It would have taken her far more cycles than she had left to puzzle out the mechanisms within, not to mention half of the materials used were unobtainable. Ignoring the clear bite mark on the chassis, the piece was surprisingly perfect. With this, her water systems would be far more effective at filtering the microbes and debris out of the river water she used to funcion. She felt her stomach clench. Soon she would no longer be hungry.

“Thank you, Birdwatcher.”

The Birdwatcher trilled again, running in a quick circle around Flocks. She tilted her head, her systems humming with something close to contentment. It was short-lived. She turned, offering the component to a nearby overseer. “Urgent instruction for overseer, Optic: Promptly install this component within my Alimentary Filtration System.” The overseer nodded and took the piece out of her hand. It vanished into her greater structure.

The Birdwatcher rattled out a warning and nudged their face into Flocks’ hand. She gingerly placed the mask back on their face. Her hand trailed down the back of their head and rubbed their ears. It was strange to see them again. The life she had right now was more than what she expected, but it was still fleeting. It didn’t matter. She was dying. She leaned in until she was eye level with the Birdwatcher, her gaze intent and burning.

“Urgent instruction for creature, Birdwatcher: You cannot save me. You must live on. You must leave.”

The Birdwatcher meowed a complaint. Then their ears twitched. Their head swiveled toward the entrance.

Flocks stiffened immediately and turned toward whatever caught their attention. There was an ancient in her city. They looked very disheveled, Their chest heaving like they just ran a mile. They looked incredibly lost. Flocks could fix that. She saw the exact moment their expression went from curiosity to dread.

“...hey! Hey wait, we can talk about thi–”

Sprouts had a harpoon through his chest again before he had the chance to blink.

As the ancient fell to the ground, the Birdwatcher sat and stared at her. She recalled her harpoon, staring back. They seemed... upset with her? She couldn’t figure out why.

“Creature, Birdwatcher: The danger has been dealt with. Be at ease.”

The Birdwatcher chittered disdainfully and thumped their tail against the ground. They shoved their nose into Flocks’ hand, flicked their laser on and off in her eyes, and then promptly turned to leave. Flocks watched as they disappeared through the pipe. Even Peer appeared for only a brief moment. It boggled when it saw the ancient on the floor, and then it too ran away. She shuffled on her feet, baffled.

At least the Birdwatcher listened to Flocks. They would be much safer somewhere else.

Chapter Text

Surely everyone knows hiking up an entire mountain range is tough, right?

…someone seemed to miss that memo.

Already exhausted from the constant shift between City and Rain cycles, Sprouts took some time to rest just above the cloud layer, bringing a premade meal out to reheat over a small fire.

Flocks’ structure was in sight, of course. Who could miss the giant rectangle that loomed over the region below?

Clearly antsy, the Birdwatcher (who had come despite Sprouts’ protests) started digging through the small hiking bag that was brought. Grabbing the part that was being brought, the Birdwatcher booked it up the remainder of the range.

“Wh- Aw…”

Visibly disappointed, Sprouts ate what he could, threw everything in his bag, and tailed after the mechanical slug. It wasn't impossible for him, but it was incredibly difficult.

~ ~ ~

Finally making it to the room outside the main chamber, Sprouts stopped to catch his breath. He could hear Flocks talking with the slug nearby.

Following the sound through the structure, Sprouts rounded a corner and found himself, out of breath, staring eye to eye with the puppet.

He barely had the chance to say anything before receiving a harpoon to the chest.

Chapter Text

A few days had passed since his last trip up the mountain. On this particular day, Sprouts woke up with a killer headache and some numbness on his legs.

At least one of those things were easily understood. Sitting up in bed, Sprouts found the Birdwatcher laying on his legs as if waiting for him to wake up.

Giving the slugcat a proper scolding, some pets, and crawling out of bed, Sprouts dressed for the day and downed a moderate amount of headache relief before reviewing what he needed to do for the day. He was out of the pieces he needed to build another one of those parts that the Iterator was needing, and he also needed to find some new equipment to build with. Thirteen Nests was starting to grow suspicious with how many late nights he's been pulling.

Finding a part-time job he could work to get the money for new equipment should be easy enough. The hard part, though…

~ ~ ~

Most people's weekend plans don't involve dumpster diving at a hardware store. Most people are smart enough to not attempt to interact with anyone who has stabbed them multiple times.

Seven Sprouts is not like most people. By most people’s comment, he's stupider.

Those people are right.

Sprouts threw scraps into a bag he had brought from a small waste pile. The Birdwatcher guarded the bag, scaring off birds and other small critters and seeming way too proud of itself.

He poked his head out from the metal pile and looked at a checklist. He had all the parts he needed, but it wouldn’t hurt to get some more…

The Birdwatcher gave an unamused meow during this. It matched well with the confused glances that people passing by gave.

“What, do you not want to see your friend… creator? Whatever the case, do you not want to see her well? I’ll be done in a minute.”

Sprouts dove back in, and only resurfaced when his bag was full. The sun was long gone by the time he was done.

Chapter Text

The end of the class week. Good riddance.

It was hard enough teaching every class in the day five days a cycle, and yet this class is the hardest of all. It was at the end of the day, so it was the students to blame. And yet…

“Sprouts. A word, please.”

Seven Sprouts amidst Endless Horizons. The proper definition of a model student, shockingly. For the first semester, at least. They’ve fallen a bit as of late, suspiciously around the same time as their own personal trip to Flocks to the South.

“Yes, sir?”

“You’ve missed a few important days recently. What have you been up to?” An innocent question at face value, but the wrong answer could let a few details slip. A few key details, even.

Sprouts turned to think for a moment. “Well, I’ve had to visit some friends and family in other cities recently. Makes it hard to keep up with classwork, but I’ve been meaning to ask for the work that I’ve missed recently.” Well, that tracks. Those were all excused absences, and his rail history lines up. So much for that approach.

“Ah. Is everything going well?” More of a general question. To make sure everything lined up. Thirteen Nests was so sure that Sprouts was up to something with Flocks, but…

“I think so. Some of my family on EE’s sister’s structure were ill for a moment, but that cleared up around the time that I left. I also stopped by a friend’s place on Miss Horizon’s structure to help them plan a project for their STEM program…” He went on for a while. Shocking that a kid like this could have so much going on, but everything seemed to line up. So much for that idea.

But there was something else. Thirteen Nests pulled out a sheet printed specifically for Sprouts. A diagram of a part that one of the mechanics that went with him those cycles ago was needed. A “gotcha” if there ever was one.

“I see. Well, nevermind the missing work. Here’s something for extra credit. And, as a little extra, if you get full marks on this, I’ll excuse all the work you’ve missed. Go enjoy your weekend.”

“oh- Thank you, sir. You too.” Sprouts seemed caught off guard, but that wasn’t enough to say anything for sure. He skipped away, and Thirteen Nests was left alone in the classroom.

Thirteen Nests muttered something under their breath as they packed up to leave.

”That kid is up to something…”

Chapter Text

As soon as the component was installed, Flocks threw herself back into her work. She felt her time ticking down in her mind. She knew she was running herself into the ground in a vain attempt to stay standing, but it wasn't like she had any other options. She could lay down and die, or she could keep working. So on and on she toiled, restlessly, relentlessly. She let the cycles blur together in the face of every piece she needed to rebuild. It was miserable. It was exhausting. It was all she knew, and all she could know.

Flocks’ hands shook as she worked. She knew her puppet needed to rest. She could feel it in her limbs, and in her chest as she breathed. Everything felt heavy and sluggish. She wasn't sure how much longer her body would continue to listen to her. It didn't matter. Rest was a privilege she did not have time to indulge in. If she fell asleep now, she would likely stay asleep for a full city cycle or more. It was far too much time to waste. It would kill her.

Instead, she let the world around her blend into one sensation. It did not keep her alert, but it kept her awake. The ticking of gears, the thrum of her heartbeat, the scratching and screeching of vultures, it was all the same. It was all just noise, until it wasn't.

Something felt wrong. It was like her senses picked up on it before she could consciously perceive what was different. Flocks sent a few quick and panicked signals to her overseers, asking what, where, how—

The one who responded the fastest was Peer. She latched onto its vision, her senses immediately sharpening. Someone was behind her.

Flocks turned slowly, hinges squeaking. The figure in front of her blurred. Her mind was a cacophony of exhaustion, fear, and rage. The laser in her eyes clicked on, tracing the person's shape. Undoubtedly, it was an ancient, but she was too tired to identify who. She raised her harpoon, but she did not shoot. Her hand was shaking.

“You. You. Creature: You cannot— you should— You should not be here.”

She huffed smoke out of her eyes a few times in quick succession. She was breathing too fast to do her puppet any good. She didn’t care. She watched as the ancient took a step forward, his mouth moving without a word processing in her mind. She fired. The harpoon crashed into a machine behind him, and she recoiled.

“Do not— DO NOT MOVE.” She quickly recalled her harpoon and aimed it once more. “Do not move.”

The ancient, wisely, stood still. It did not calm her. She hoped they did not notice her swaying. Why were they so insistent on coming here? Did she not make it clear that the ancients weren't welcome? She stomped her foot once, and they flinched. It was likely someone she had driven away already, then. The fire in her heart burned brighter.

“A lapse in judgment. A mistake: I should not have sent that pearl. It was arrogance, reckless— I do not wish to be seen. I wish to die. I do not wish to die. I do not wish to die. I DON'T WANT TO—”

“You won't.”

Flocks' voice fell into a soft buzz. She stared. This was... before her was an ancient, of all creatures, telling her that she would live. It would almost be laughable if it didn't make her so angry.

The ancient seemed to interpret her silence in a different way. They straightened up slightly, as if they didn't expect to actually get a word in. They spoke again, “If it means anything to you, I care.”

Oh. So it was a joke.

“You are an arrogant, insolent, selfish, leech of a being, and you should not lie.” Flocks’ mind swirled dangerously. She leaned forward, and the smoke from her eyes cascaded into the ancient's face. He started coughing. She continued, paying his fit no mind, “You do not care. Creatures, Ancients: You only know how to take.” She swung her free arm toward the laboratory, her hand very clearly shaking. “You took everything from me. EVERYTHING. You butchered me down to a husk of scraps. You abandoned me to be eaten alive by the same creatures you told me to create. You tried to kill me. You detonated my rarefac— my— my heart— it hurt—”

“Flocks.”

She froze, baffled by the shortened name. The ancient was ducking slightly, trying to shield his nose and mouth from the direct smoke. He looked so small. He was staring at her with something entirely unfamiliar in his eyes, but he didn't look hostile. It had to be some sort of trick.

“You need to breathe. Uh— You need to breathe slower than that. What was it my sister said, um… Can you give me five things you can see?”

Flocks shook her head at the question. Was that an order? If so, It was an unusual one.

“Smoke,” She started flatly.

There was a long pause. When it was clear she wasn't going to give any more answers, the ancient shuffled on their feet nervously. “...Right. Okay. That's not quite what I meant, but... What are four things you can feel?”

She leaned back, her vision glazing over. It hadn't been that long since touch was her only constant sense. It was not a pleasant reminder.

“1: I can feel the furthest reaches of my structure groaning under the weight of myself. The reinforcements you implemented will last approximately 240.7 city cycles. I will still fall, but I will not be alive to see it. 2: Judging by the resounding vibrations, I can feel a miros vulture attacking a smaller creature near the entrance to my roof. The creature has approximately a 6% chance of survival. 3: I can feel my laboratory teeming with the life I created. It is constantly moving and shaking. I have never had a moment of rest from this sensation. 4: I can feel every empty piece I am missing like a chasm within myself. Every diagnostic scan I run returns with more issues I cannot fix. They are all that will be left of me.”

When she looked back down, the ancient's eyes were blown wide open in shock. “You can feel all that?”

His ignorance was agonizing. Something in her eye sockets blazed back to life. “You know. You know: I can feel everything. You did not want me to understand, yet you made me experience every movement, every sign of life I cannot have. I do not know why. I do not know why. Why? Why did you— Please. Please tell me. Why?”

The only thing Flocks could identify on the ancient's face was some sort of sorrow, or horror, or both. He glanced away. “...I don't know, Flocks.”

Of course. She didn't expect an answer, she was just so exhausted. She readied her harpoon again, anger flaring, but then her gaze flickered to the component she had just destroyed. Her movements stalled. She took one deep breath. “I will not entertain you any longer. Leave.”

The ancient quickly shook his head. “Oh— No no, you don't understand. I'm not Thirteen Nests. No, I'm Sprouts, and I'm trying to help you,” they laughed nervously. “Though I'm realizing this may not have been the best grounding exercise, considering you probably can't taste or smell...”

Flocks brandished her harpoon at them, entirely unamused. “I do not care who you are. Repeat. Urgent message for creature, ancient: Leave. You will not receive another warning.”

“I can prove it to you! I have another, uh... here, let me show you...” Sprouts started fumbling around in his bag. Flocks was immediately on edge. He could pull out anything, like an explosive, a weapon, she didn't know. She should fire now before they had the chance to hurt her. For some reason, though, her puppet wouldn't listen to her. Her limbs were locked in place, and the room spun around her. No. No no no, this was bad. This was bad.

Flocks shook her head, letting out a distressed whirring sound. Sprouts immediately paused and looked up at her again. She wasn't sure if they were talking to her or not. She was solely focused on their movements. They leaned forward, barely a centimeter, and it was all the encouragement she needed. She reeled back her arm and swung.

Her fist connected with his skull hard enough to crack. Sprouts was knocked out in mere moments. She watched numbly as a part fell from his hands and clattered to the ground. Oh. That was what Sprouts was trying to show her. It was an iterator component. As she watched it settle onto the floor, she felt something foreign and alarming worming its way into her mind. She felt a twist of doubt.

It did not matter. Flocks knew that. She could not trust them, and she could not trust herself around them. When they had asked her questions, she had responded to them like they were someone else, like she was somewhere else. That scared her. It terrified her so deeply. Even if Sprouts had actually talked to her like she was a person— No. It could not matter to her. She didn't have time to understand the weight of such a thought. She would never have enough time.

Hands still shaking, Flocks raised her harpoon and pressed it over the heart of the unconscious ancient in front of her. She fired. Then she dipped her head and convinced herself he deserved it. She didn't have room for error or hesitation. She had to fight one impossibility at a time.

Flocks grabbed the component off of the floor and moved deeper into her city. She did not notice the slugcat that skittered out of hiding to inspect the fallen Sprouts, but her overseers did. They watched as the Birdwatcher scavenged a notebook out of his bag. They placed it into their own chest compartment, then gazed at the overseers like it was a challenge. None of them sent a signal to Flocks. They merely watched. They had come to the realization that there were some things Flocks did not need to know.

The Birdwatcher nodded to them, then ran back out of the ruined city. They had quite the run to make it back to Endless Expressionism before Sprouts woke up again.

Chapter Text

“You've been wearing your mask.”

I knew how to spot small differences in behavior, it was part of my job. Something like this was hard to miss, though.

The culprit? Seven Sprouts amidst Endless Horizons. My very own idiot brother. He's been stupider than usual, which is already a high bar to cross.

I had nothing to do but sigh. “So, what's the sob story this time?”

Sprouts gave an unamused glance as he began, his voice muffled by the mask. “I slipped. Fell off the edge by our place and took a bit of a rough tumble.” It was bullshit, and I knew it was.

“Uh huh. And is this another one of your ‘You wouldn't believe me if I told the truth' stories? They installed nets over the edges to prevent that exact thing.”

Except… Maybe this time would be believable either way. Sprouts took the mask he had on off, and… well, to say I was caught off guard would be an understatement.

“It's… a long story. I can't say much without it reaching the wrong people.”

“Well, I'm right here. Why don't we start with those scars.” All along the right half of his head, no less. Whatever struck him must have left some bad cuts. “And I won't say a word. Patient-doctor confidentiality, you know.”

Sprouts rolled his eyes at that one. Couldn't blame him. “So… You know that old structure on the mountains? The one people questioned if there was an abandoned Iterator?”

Anyone who's anyone knew about that structure. It was kinda hard to miss. “Is that really your first question”

“Just…

“The rumors were right. There is an Iterator in that structure. And they're alive. Barely, but they're alive.”

Well then. Isn't that something?

“I've been… sneaking off to try and help them. Especially since Thirteen Nests didn't seem to keen on keeping them alive, and-”

“Your teacher. Thirteen Nests Atop Countless Stones.” Believable, sure, but what would that old hoot want with a decaying superstructure?

“...yes. My teacher. He's a prick, but these scars aren't his fault.”

Well, if not him, then… “So you've been face-to-face with the puppet then?” Somehow, someway, this is the most believable thing he's said in the last few Cycles.

“It's… Oh, there you are…” A Slugcat hopped on the table, revealing a notebook in a hidden compartment and shoving it in Sprouts’ face. “Took you long enough…”

“Isn't that..?”

“Yeah, this is the Scug that delivered the pearl. They had it locked in a cage in the admin offices, which was a bit lame. The notebook is mine, though.” He ripped one of the pages out and tossed it to the side. “Got that one…”

“So then, Mister Iterator Repair, what's your next plan?”

“Well, I need to get some new equipment. The school is closed for a few weeks and… well… I've been banned from the hardware store for dumpster diving in the scrap pile. I have a few odd jobs lined up that should get me what I need.”

It was hard to avoid letting a chuckle escape. “You? A job? Today just keeps getting stranger and stranger, huh?”

“Well, it’s that or I ask for money, and I’d rather not do that.” Sprouts checked a calendar of his. “That being said, do you think you could teach me some of your tricks? I tried the one with the five senses, but it’s a bit ineffective with someone who can’t taste. Or smell. Or… you get the idea.”

THAT was a new one. But why the hell not. “Sure, just give me a time. And I’ll get you some of the money you need.”

Sprouts was conflicted, but agreed. He was obviously keen on seeing this through, so I might as well help.

“Thanks, sis.”

Chapter Text

Thirteen Nests wandered down isles of the hardware store. It was nearly time for their preferred time of the year, an applied test that helped decide who would be eligible for jobs working with Iterators. Of course, they cared more about what the students submitted - the eligibility was merely a second thought to them. Usually.

There were a handful of students who wouldn’t qualify. Most were simply interested in other roles, some were too immature to be trusted around perfect machinery like that, and the rest had potential but quit before the end of the first semester.

The hardware store was busier this time of year. Students and teachers alike buying materials for classes and projects. Nests saw Four Converging Creeks and Drifting Blossom in one of the aisles, though quickly passed by as to avoid eye contact. They were already on a tight schedule, no time for common chatter.

The radio overhead played some kind of piano rabble. Random in nature, as if composed by throwing notes at random and seeing what sticks. It was just noise at that point. It fit the environment, at least.

~ ~ ~

“Thanks for stopping by, have a nice day.” Nests recognised that voice. It was hard to forget, of course. Seven Sprouts stood at the checkout counter, visually exhausted. Couldn’t blame him for that, at least.

“Oh, hello teach! This for the big project?” Sprouts perked up. Had to appreciate his tenacity, at least. “I’d have gotten stuff myself, but my shift doesn’t end for a few hours…”

Nests really didn’t have anything to say. They were exhausted from having to reexplain the project. The two stood in silence, the grating piano accompanying the beeps of the register.

This silence would not last long.

~ ~ ~

“Heya, Nests!” Thirteen Nests looked around for the source of the voice before letting out a hefty sigh. It was the one person they were hoping to avoid a conversation with. They barely had time to let out a defeated “Hello, Four Converging Creeks.” before the Ancient began rambling.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen ya out of the office! I’m sure you have your own reasons, but it really wouldn’t be surprising if you were trying to avoid running into people after what happened at the last faculty party…” Uh oh.

“Of course, it’s hard to say exactly what. You know, a bit of this, a bit of that. Everyone was a little tipsy, and there was a lot said that wouldn’t have been said otherwise. Or so I’ve heard.” Creeks’ ear twitched a smidge at the comment, and she was grinning like there was no tomorrow.

Sprouts groaned a smidge at the comment, can’t blame him for that. “Oh, come on. You know that was clever.

“Anyway, what was it… Oh, right, you were talking about a bunch of stuff, weren’t you? Rambling on and on about your beliefs, complaining about how the ‘new generation’ is ruining what you worked so hard to build, the whole nine yards. There were… a lot more expletives thrown around than usual, though.

“Listen, I’m all for whatever you’ve got, but bitching about the Admins for the group senior really isn’t a good look for you, drunk or otherwise. I’m sure you’re still upset about what happened with Flocks to the South, but… Come on. That’s probably the fastest way to get yourself on a blacklist, and people already seem to barely put up with you as it is.

“Surprisingly though, that wasn’t the only thing you were overly vocal about. You also wouldn’t shut up about this kid, Seven Sprouts I think? You claimed he was at the structure on the day you ‘n your crew went up to adjust the supports to anyone that would listen. You were acting like he was gonna ruin what you did or something.

“Which could be possible, actually. I’ve heard-” another groan, this time from Nests. How did they ever put up with this one? “-that he’s been pretty busy recently. Rooting through scrap piles and sneaking into labs in the middle of the night.

“It’s surprising on multiple levels, frankly. There’s plenty of stories around about the kid, but this is unusual, even for him. I wonder if his family knows about all this.

“I think… Oh, I think I heard from someone who knows someone who saw him sneak off structure just a few weeks ago! Had nothing but a backpack on him, and was followed by some weird Slugcat. If I had to guess, the two miiiiiiiight just be related.

“I’ll let you know if I hear anything else. I’m all ears, you know.” Creeks giggled. She was far too proud of that one. “But I’ve rambled long enough. See you at work tomorrow, Nests!”

The silence after was crushing. Nests returned their sight to the screen in front of them, showing the total cost of everything. After a moment, all that could be said was “...I’ll give an extra 50 to not speak of any of this again.”

The sentiment was met with a silent nod, and the two parted ways both wishing that today never happened.

Chapter Text

Flocks to the South had to stay awake. She had to. There was nothing else to it. She had no other option but to keep working. She knew that. She did. She had to stay awake. She must not rest. Sleep could not claim her. It could not take her consciousness from her. It couldn’t. Not now. It could not take her hands or her eyes. She needed them to keep working. She needed to keep working. She didn't have the time to rest. She had... She had to...

Flocks’ mind ran in circles. She looped the same mantras in her head, over and over. She was barely aware of Mirage by her side, pushing her in a particular direction. Her vision was blurry, and she was so, so tired. Another push, and she fell to the ground. The sensation felt so distant. Perhaps it would be okay to just... drift for a while. Maybe some sleep wouldn’t be so bad…

Chapter Text

“So. Whatcha building?”

Gem and Sprouts huddled in an abandoned shack in their hometown. It was the only place they could fit the equipment they bought, so they made the most of what they had. To Sprouts’ credit, the place was quite cozy with the proper decor.

Sprouts stood a pair of devices up on the workbench. “It’s a pair of communication devices. They’re on a rudimentary system, but I think if I leave some nodes along the pathway that these can connect to, it’ll make things at least a little easier for everyone.” Sprouts dropped a hammer on his foot and winced.

Sprouts obviously had potential, and it was on display here. “Have you considered applying to be a mechanic for an Iterator yourself? Where you don’t have to sneak off up a mountain to do things like this.”

“Thirteen Nests would never sign off on that. And a letter of tecommendation is… kinda required, from what I can tell.” Sprouts sighed, thinking about the encounter just a few days before. “Besides, the walk is nice. And I have company.”

The Birdwatcher jumped onto Gem’s lap at that comment, seemingly content with being around someone they had never met before. “You again..? What, did you imprint on my brother or something?” With a cat on her lap, the least Gem could do was pet it.

“Pff- I would have never thought about that. It’s possible.”

Silence for a moment while Sprouts put one of the communicators together.

“So, you said something about looking for more grounding techniques. Can I ask why?”

Sprouts pulled his goggles up. “Well…

“...last time I went up, Flocks seemed way too tense. Crabby, as if they had worked for ages without rest, and…

“Well, being there, I guess they took it out on me. They said the Ancients abandoned her with the same creatures they were told to create, and that the Ancients only knew how to take. Stuff obviously about her Admins. Did some digging the next morning, and you’ll never believe who was at the head of that project.

“Thirteen Nests. The same ‘old hoot’ who I said was going up there with ill intent.

“Anyway, I tried helping them stay grounded with one of the techniques I’ve learned from you, but it didn’t seem to work, and… Yeah.”

“The scars.”

“Yup. Straight to the skull. Clean shot too. Doctor said there wasn’t any fracturing done.

“But, after hearing all that…” One of the communicators beeped, before a small pearl projected a test message. “...well…”

“Okay, sure. But why?”

Sprouts pointed out the window to a small pillar holding a wooden Slugpup. “Well, that, for one. Was right over there when I encountered the Omen, and now we’re here. Maybe this is the good that’s coming for me.”

“You’re somehow more delusional than ever, Sprouts. Never change.”

Sprouts rolled his eyes and put one of the communicators in his backpack, leaving the notebook behind. The Birdwatcher jumped up and joined him at the door.

“I’ll be back. Keep an eye on that for me, please.”

It was Gem’s turn to roll her eyes. “Whatever you say, Tech Support.”

Chapter Text

The Birdwatcher was restless. They were usually restless, especially when they were climbing the mountain with Sprouts. He was slowly getting used to the climb from sheer practice alone. His pace was still slower than the Birdwatcher wanted, though. So of course, once they deemed them close enough to Flocks’ structure for Sprouts to make it without being picked off by a vulture, they immediately ran ahead.

They slipped through Flocks’ structure easily and headed toward the city. They ruffled their frills at a few overseers along the way. None of them wanted to linger long. They were likely more interested in what Sprouts was doing, which the Birdwatcher didn’t mind. They scurried onward and upward. Eventually they found Flocks’ puppet on the ground in her city, entirely devoid of movement.

The Birdwatcher padded forward and sniffed her. She didn’t react. Thankfully, the Birdwatcher had seen this sort of thing before. She had been in a comatose state like this when they had first left her structure with her broadcast pearl. A little jostling should do the trick. Without hesitation, they leapt up and bit one of the wires attached to her armature.

The puppet did not move like the Birdwatcher had hoped, but the structure immediately responded. The whole area shook. The Birdwatcher fluffed out their fur as the lockdown gates slammed closed to protect the city. It was impossible to tell if it was an automatic response, or if Flocks was giving them attitude on purpose. They hissed at her just in case. Then they turned and made direct eye contact with an overseer that had watched the entire thing.

The Birdwatcher flicked their ear and crouched into a hunting position. The overseer, Haze, rotated their arms around their eye. The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and then Haze blinked. The Birdwatcher immediately lunged and grabbed the overseer in their teeth. It wiggled valiantly, but it was no use. Haze was no match for the sheer determination of the Birdwatcher. After some struggling, they managed to shove the overseer into their holding compartment. That would do for now.

Satisfied, the Birdwatcher did one, big stretch, and then moved on to the top of Flocks’ structure. The gate to the roof was blocked off, but it didn’t matter. They wedged their nose through a small gap in the rooftop access shaft and wiggled through into the daylight. They figured Sprouts would catch up to them one way or another. They began their climb downwards once again.

Chapter Text

The Birdwatcher rushed ahead, leaving Sprouts to make the last leg of the climb alone. He was used to this, but it didn't leave him any less miffed.

To occupy himself in the last moments of the climb, he pulled a small paper from his pocket and began reading over it. He was sure this would be his only chance to have a proper talk with Flocks, and he had taken the time to prepare what he wanted to say ahead of time.

It would be an easy process, just like last time, just like all the rest.

~ ~ ~

It very quickly became a very hard process.

Sprouts’ preparations were very suddenly halted by a door being where it wasn't usually. Which is to say, he ran into it. Rubbing his head and pocketing his monologue, he looked around for a way to open the door, only to catch a glimpse of an Overseer and decide to follow them through the structure.

Emerging into an open part of the Experimental Volary, Sprouts tried his best to navigate while also reciting his monologue to himself. As a bonus, he also saw numerous Overseers, so he at least knew that the message would get to Flocks one way or another.

No matter what happened, he knew he'd look like he was talking to himself. “You are Flocks to the South, we're both aware of this.”

Tripping over crates and trying to avoid eye contact with Nosfer Vultures in cages, Sprouts followed Mirage through the lab, wrong turns and all. Coming across a ruined doorway leading to an empty chamber with noticeably harsher gravity than the rest of the lab, the two stared at each other for a moment before Sprouts uttered, “I… think this might be the wrong way, dude.”

He knew he'd have to be quick if he wanted to get through his monologue in his own head, but he was starting to blank on that. “...I think those bad eggs are starting to get suspicious…”

In the meantime, Mirage led him through a pipe into a more familiar area. Along the same path that he'd taken every time before this. The two exchanged nods while Sprouts worked through the rest of what he wanted to say.

The communicator rattled in his bag. “Oh, right. I made a communication device. It's primitive, and it only connects to the other node at my place, but it should help nonetheless.” He was glad he remembered to put up the nodes for it along the way. That would have been a pain.

Turning into the City, Sprouts was caught off guard by Flocks sitting unmoving. Fear set in as he threw his backpack off and rushed in to try and help.

“...oh, no. Oh no no no no…”

. . .

Sprouts rushed to Flocks’ side in a panic. Her systems were obviously online, but her puppet was alarmingly motionless.

“Come on… not like this… Can any of you help?” Sprouts’ first instinct was to turn to the Overseers nearby. Their continued operation gave Sprouts a small sliver of hope, but his mind was still racing… Was this it?

Sprouts’ eyes darted around the area. The general rubble was discouraging, but he had a figment of an idea spotting an abandoned vehicle.

He let out a silent prayer running over, and it was proven to be worthwhile when he discovered the battery to be fully intact. Ripping it from the hood, and grabbing some jumper cables from another abandoned car, he threw everything down in front of Flocks and exhaled.

He turned over to the closest Overseer, one that he at least partially recognized. “You… you are Mirage, right?” He was met with a nod. “Well, I'm gonna guess that you were recording everything leading up to this so… Make sure this is in the recording too. I'd rather my stupidity not go unnoticed in case it helps.”

Sprouts attached the jumper cables to the battery and tested for a current. With a shaky breath, he prepared himself. The overseers in the chamber scooted backwards in anticipation.

Sprouts shouted a single word before bringing the cables to Flocks, enveloping the room in a bright flash.

“CLEAR!”

Chapter Text

Whatever happened to be in front of her was dead before Flocks fully processed what was happening. She stared. Waking up was disorienting, to say the least. She always felt uncomfortable readjusting to her puppet’s movements and surroundings. It was another reason why she hated going to sleep. It certainly didn’t help that she was... being attacked by something? That didn’t make any sense. She was supposed to be asleep in her can, which only her overseers had access to, but she wasn't. She had passed out in the middle of her city, apparently.

She huffed smoke out of her eyes to get a better look at the creature before her. It was an ancient. Flocks immediately sprung to her feet much quicker than she intended. That was strange. Her puppet felt more snappy and responsive than usual. Of course, these things could be attributed to the fact that she was just resting, but she still felt rather tired. It didn’t matter. She needed to ensure no one else was here. If there was one ancient, there could always be more. The first thing she noticed when she looked up, though, was that she was completely surrounded by her overseers.

Flocks paused, processing. They were watching her. They were watching them. The ancient had been right in front of her while she was entirely asleep and defenseless, and not one of her overseers had tried to wake her up. No, no no. That couldn’t be right. She had to be missing something important, something vital. She spun in a slow circle. Her gaze landed on Mirage.

“...Mirage,” she muttered. It waved its arm and slithered forward. It had to have a good reason not to alert her, right? Flocks had a lot of uncertainty that crowded her mind on a constant basis, but she was entirely certain that none of her overseers wanted her hurt. She also knew— with the same level of certainty, she knew the ancients wanted to hurt her. Those were the two most irrefutable facts of her life. She could trust her overseers. She could not trust the ancients.

Flocks picked up Mirage and held it close to herself, her mind reeling. She didn’t speak as her other overseers bobbed forward and danced around her reassuringly. All she could manage was a quick signal to the overseer in her arms. It was a single, desperate question. Mirage’s eye flickered for a few moments, and then it projected a grainy video of the ancient who was dead on the ground behind her.

The first thing she noticed was that his speech was... awkward. He carried barely a fraction of the confidence she remembered observing from her admin. He was speaking directly to Mirage, though, and to Flocks by extension. She jolted slightly when he gave her his name. He was Seven Sprouts Amidst Endless Horizons. Her systems recognized it from the identification card she had found so many cycles ago. It was probably still by the pipe where she had first killed him, crumpled and discarded. She shook her head slightly, leaning toward the feed. He gave a little more information on where he lived and the sort of situation he was in. From what she could gather, he wasn't working with her admin at all.

When Sprouts mentioned a communications component, she held up a hand to pause the video. Mirage hesitated, but complied when it realized Flocks was turning around to inspect the ancient herself. The movement tugged at a cable that was hooked up to her puppet, though, and she jolted as it clattered across the ground. She seemed to have knocked it off of a small rectangular device. She quickly let Mirage down and picked it up.

This was not the component Sprouts mentioned, but it was clearly also from them. It wasn't metallic enough to be something she made herself. She opened the main panel to inspect the internals, and she found it was some sort of battery. Had this been hooked up to her puppet? She supposed that explained why it felt oddly energized. She was immediately suspicious. When she ran a quick diagnostic on her puppet, though, she found that it didn't cause any harm. In fact, her puppet had a small excess of power in its systems that she was entirely unfamiliar with. It helped her wake up. They had— No, no, she needed a more solid confirmation. She waved at Mirage to continue the video.

“...If you have any blueprints, you can send them through this and I will try and bring them up.”

There it was. Flocks stared intently at the video feed as Sprouts continued. They were… they were claiming they wanted to help her. She could faintly recall something similar from her conversation with an ancient before she fell asleep. Had that been Sprouts, too? The realization struck her violently. She watched the projection as Sprouts found her on the floor and rushed forward, their expression frantic with worry. Mirage cut the feed, and the silence weighed on her. Her hands were shaking.

“Urgent. Urgent. Urgent request for creatures, overseers: If you have any footage of this— of title: Seven Sprouts Amidst Endless Horizons, please. Show it to me.” She followed this request with a signal, calling all her overseers to herself. She tallied the responses of the overseers that weren’t in the room with her, and found that there were four unusual signals in the mix. She froze. It could only mean one thing.

Flocks fell to her knees, grabbing the cable that had fallen from her puppet earlier. She ignored everything telling her not to trust it, and she frantically snapped the cable back onto the battery. Record, Vista, Spectacle, and Envoy— she hadn't felt anything from them in cycles. The four overseers had fallen during a particular incident in her laboratory. She didn't have the resources to regenerate them normally. She had built them small mechanical frames to support where the organic pieces were meant to be, but it wasn't enough. She was slowly supplying them with void fluid from her puppet, too, but it wasn't enough.

There was no time to hesitate. The power from the battery was steady. It did not pulse with the arrhythmia of her rarefaction cells or quiver with the unsteadiness of her smoke-based systems. She rerouted it all to the four broken overseers in her can.

Peer appeared in front of Flocks and waved itself at her. Then its eye flickered just like Mirage’s had. She snapped to attention and watched the series of recordings Peer wanted to show her. It was all footage of that ancient, Sprouts, bringing her components and making small repairs around her structure. Those weren't coincidences. Of course they weren't. She felt like such an idiot. Her other overseers chimed in with their own footage, too, and not a single recording showed any hostility. Considering the different outfits, Sprouts had trekked all the way up her mountain three separate times. No, it was four times, if she counted the instance right in front of her. She had killed him every time.

She tilted her head upward as she felt Record, Vista, Spectacle, and Envoy jolt back online. She called them to her puppet. The recordings kept playing around her as her gaze fell upon the four overseers that she thought she’d never see again. She welcomed them back softly. Record curled around her wrist, tapping her palm with its arm. Vista practically collapsed against her, like the poor thing was just happy to be near. Spectacle moved with that ever familiar flourish she had grown so fond of, dancing between her shoulders, and Envoy tapped at the side of her face in greeting. They were alive. Against everything Flocks had ever known, Sprouts had brought them back to life. It felt like a miracle.

Her gaze fell once more, searching. It landed on the communications component the ancient had brought with him. Careful not to disturb her newly reformed overseers, she leaned forward and picked it up. She couldn’t deny it any longer, could she? She needed help, and it seemed she would get it whether she was willing to receive it or not. She sighed softly and began fiddling with the component in her hands.

Chapter Text

When Flocks reconnected the battery to herself, it caused a few other side effects that she wasn’t quite paying attention to. The majority of them were insignificant, like a small surge in her river’s water. A few of the lizards might have noticed a slight increase of vulture smoke in the air, or an increase in the tremors beneath their feet. The most impactful side effect, though, was a small stirring in her old communications node.

Flocks herself had never tried to use this module. It was constructed exclusively for the ancients’ use, and it was put decisively out of commission when her fourth rarefaction cell exploded. Even if Flocks tried to access it, it was exclusively hooked up to the only structure that was nearby at the time of the ancients’ evacuation from her city. With this short surge of power, the communications module mustered up the last of its strength and sent out a single message to Blinded by Horizons.

Horizons was busy. She was very busy with some very important work, and by that she means that she was tending to her slugcat’s fur. The Caretaker was purring very loudly in her lap as she brushed them. She couldn’t possibly get up, even when she felt a rather urgent signal from her communications node. She hummed softly. Surely it could wait.

Horizons didn’t look up from her task until one of her overseers appeared in her chamber personally. She sighed softly. “Yes? What is it?”

The overseer danced at her slightly, then projected the text of the comm she had supposedly just received. This was a triple affirmative. Obviously, it was a false one. Either way, it did not matter. All Horizons saw was a mess of unreadable characters and data with a barely-decipherable communications tag from the southern side of the group.

Horizons stared at the text for a few moments, her hand stalling. The Caretaker meowed in protest, which caused her to immediately resume her brushing. She faintly recognized a few portions of text that followed the same patterns as her own thought language, but that didn’t make any sense. This comm came from Curiosity’s side of the valley, right? His code was far newer than this.

She raised her free hand to float a few pearls her way and referenced them quickly. She had heard a few loose rumors recently that there was a stirring from her late senior, Flocks to the South, but none of them had come with any real evidence. She certainly didn’t want to contact anyone directly involved. She didn’t want to perceive the existence of Thirteen Nests any more than she absolutely had to. She could take a chance and send a message to Endless Expressionism, though. If she had heard the rumors, it was almost guaranteed that he had heard something, too.

Horizons set the brush aside and quickly promised the Caretaker plenty of treats when she was finished. They still looked a bit upset, which almost made her want to cry. She caved instantly and picked the brush back up. Well, she could just keep her overseer pointed at her face during the call.

Chapter Text

The communications component that Sprouts had brought her was unusual. The ancient had called it primitive, but Flocks had never used a communications device before. She was fairly certain it was still a few technological generations beyond her. She couldn’t figure out what the intended way of inputting data into it was. Regardless, it would suit its purpose. She found a way to make it work. The real problem came from deciding what component to ask for.

There were two things Flocks knew she needed, desperately. The first was an unpredictable problem within the code of her Research Cortex, or memory arrays. Theoretically, it might never be an issue. It was stitched together carelessly, though, and a single tip in the wrong direction could send her into a... less than ideal state. She didn’t want to expose that to an ancient, though, even if that ancient was Sprouts. She didn’t particularly want to send anyone into her memory arrays, regardless of how much the problem made her worry. This naturally led her to her second option.

This second option was a component that Flocks wasn’t sure she could make herself. She didn’t have access to void fluid at a high enough concentration to replicate the blueprints she found. She had built a place for this second component to rest already, though, tucked right in the heart of her abandoned city. She took the communications device with her as her armature carried her smoothly between the— Wait.

Flocks paused and spun herself around. She could have sworn that section of her track had been corroded for a number of cycles now. She was used to snagging on the imperfection and having to wedge her armature free. The rail was entirely repaired, though. She hasn’t instructed any of her overseers to tamper with it. It was such a small thing, and she needed them to focus on her more pressing problems. Before she could come to any sort of conclusion on the matter before her, one of her overseers ducked into the way.

It was Peer. It danced as its eye flickered, then it projected a few seconds of footage in the air. It was Sprouts, once again. Sprouts had repaired this section of the rail for her.

Flocks to the South was unresponsive for a solid few minutes. Her overseers poked at her curiously, but she paid them no mind. This track wasn’t even something she was meant to have. It wasn’t needed. When she built it, she had told herself it was for the sake of her repairs. Deep down, though, she knew she had desperately wanted to get out of her can before she died. She couldn’t stand the thought of wasting away in that wretched box forever. That was what her admin had expected of her. They had isolated her and used her. They never even bothered to speak a word to her, and yet. And yet... Sprouts had repaired her track without a second thought, no matter how unimportant it should have been. In her hands was a window to the outside world, however small that window was, and he had at least tried to talk to her. The only reason why he failed was because of her own fear. He really was the antithesis to everything she thought she knew for certain all this time.

Without warning, Flocks turned and kept moving. Her overseers startled and hurried after her. She needed to get the blueprints to Sprouts as quickly as possible. She didn’t have time to hesitate. He didn’t deserve her doubts.

~ ~ ~

All Flocks had left to do now was wait. She knew exactly what needed to be done, but she wasn’t able to contribute anything to actually doing it. She was used to working herself tirelessly, relentlessly. The idleness was agonizing. She tried her best to occupy herself with other repair work, but it didn’t help much. She noticed her hands were shaking more than usual. Her only successful distraction came in the form of an overseer that had been missing for several rain cycles and a familiar, mechanical slugcat.

Haze alerted her of its presence the moment it was close enough to do so. Flocks felt the relief in waves. Her overseers rarely wandered off, especially without explanation. The alert was followed by a more urgent signal, though. Flocks reached out to connect to Haze’s vision and quickly looked around, scanning for threats. They were weaving through the caves beneath her structure. There wasn’t any danger, but Sprouts wasn’t with them, either. Flocks felt her hope sink. Regardless, she gave Haze an encouraging mental nudge. She could drop what she was doing for a while. This was far more important.

Haze immediately tapped into its memory storage and began showing Flocks footage from its time away. She was surprised to see that the Birdwatcher had taken it all the way to the neighboring iterator’s city. It seemed so different from what she had glimpsed of her own city through the glass side of her can. It was a bit overwhelming. They were outdoors, for one, and they seemed far more relaxed. Watching the Birdwatcher weave between buildings and ancients gave Flocks this yawning, desolate feeling she couldn’t quite describe. She quietly urged Haze to get to the point. The footage flipped away from the city immediately.

Flocks didn’t recognize the first two ancients Haze wanted to show her. Something about one of them seemed familiar, though. She watched for a few moments, and then she realized that she looked sort of like—

“Oh, well... they’re more like my brother’s, actually.”

Of course. It had to be Sprouts’s sister. Flocks very faintly remembered them mentioning her. She seemed fine. The Birdwatcher seemed to trust her, anyway. Whatever they were talking about after the Birdwatcher fell asleep seemed rather personal, though. Flocks took note of it and urged Haze to move on.

In the second clip, the Birdwatcher was walking into some sort of diner. She watched as one particular ancient turned and made direct eye contact with her. She immediately slammed the connection closed.

Flocks— Flocks recognized this one. It brought back memories from a phase of her life that she didn’t have time to think about. The memories were foggy and hard to pick exact instances out of, but they were there. She knew him. It was Four Converging Creeks, Flashing Teeth, a low clearance researcher that worked in her laboratory back when a project was all that she was. He wasn’t... He wasn’t bad. He didn’t have access to the data that destroyed her. It was likely he had no idea what had been going on behind the scenes at all. Still, the memory wasn’t a pleasant one. She clenched her fist and took a deep breath.

Haze was requesting a connection again. Flocks reluctantly went back to watching the footage. It was hard. It was difficult not to be mad at Creeks for leaving her like this. She watched intently as his face flashed with guilt, though. Flocks recalled times when Creeks would send little grins at her overseers in the middle of experiments, which was more than anyone else in the laboratory had given her. She waited a moment, and— there it was. He still smiled in the exact same way. She watched as Creeks kindly invited the two unwelcome guests to his table, and she tried to calm the anger boiling in her mind. She tried to understand.

The next two snippets of footage were far less dizzying. The first was of the neighboring iterator himself. Curiosity was friendly, almost absurdly so. Apparently he was also friends with Sprouts and Gem. It eased Flocks’s nerves a bit. The next portion of footage was of Sprouts, which eased her even more. It looked like the part was almost complete, and Sprouts wouldn’t be far behind the Birdwatcher. She wouldn’t have to wait much longer.

Flocks was watching the footage for far longer than she realized. The Birdwatcher poked their nose into her GCB a few moments later. She dismissed the connection with Haze in favor of greeting them both in person. The Birdwatcher meowed loudly and pressed against her hand. She pet it idly while Haze dipped onto her shoulder. It seemed tense and worried about something, which immediately put Flocks on edge again.

“Overseer, Haze: What is wrong?”

Haze’s eye flickered. It turned and pointed at one more recording of the neighboring city. This time, Flocks recognized the two ancients instantly. It was her admin and another scientist from their laboratory team, named Warm Burrows Beneath Frozen Soil. She didn’t even try to quell her anger at the sight this time.

The Birdwatcher decided they were happy with their pets as soon as the footage started playing. They gave Flocks a swish with their tail, and then they ran off again. She wasn’t paying them much attention, though. She was too focused on the component her admins were making in the footage. She felt something much stronger than dread now. The sight confirmed all of her fears.

This problem would require a rather creative solution.

Chapter Text

Sprouts woke up to the sound of the communicator he built beeping up a storm. Groggily sliding a pearl into the receiver, he prepared himself for the day as the message he was being sent translated itself, a schematic forming from ones and zeroes.

Despite how quiet his hometown was, Sprouts couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. It was understandable, what with ghosts filling themselves into the occasional corner, but this was a different feeling…

Shaking the feeling away, he got to work. The part Flocks had requested this time around was different from some of the other parts he’d built for her, but he was able to get it to work regardless. He was able to get things done remarkably quickly, even, which allowed him to begin the journey up the mountain within the same solar cycle.

It was just a matter of hyping himself up to properly meet Flocks from there.

Chapter Text

Flocks was fully aware of Sprouts’ presence as soon as they arrived at her structure. Her overseers had no qualms about notifying her this time. They had clearly been hiding his visits from her before, so she supposed she should feel some sort of indignation. They had their reasons, though. She couldn’t fault them for her own mistakes. If only she had realized what was going on sooner, then maybe she wouldn't—

There was no time to dwell on it. She already knew what she had to do. She just had to hope that she could trust Sprouts, even in the face of the extreme plan she had brewing in her mind. She settled herself near the entrance to her structure’s access shaft and waited patiently.

It wasn’t long before Sprouts themself ducked through the pipe. Flocks forced herself not to move. She was a bit worried she would attack him on reflex. They were following Mirage, though, so that helped ease her slightly.

“In here, right?” Mirage settled onto the floor and waved an arm in confirmation. Sprouts paused and looked around. “Why'd you stop? We need to find— OH MY GO—”

His gaze landed on Flocks’ puppet. He jumped and almost fumbled the component in his hands. Maybe she should have been moving, after all. She huffed a breath of smoke out of her eyes and tilted her harpoon behind her back.

“—od, you scared me.” Sprouts settled himself down when he realized she wasn't immediately going to stab him. He cleared his throat. “Uh, hi.”

Flocks tilted her head slightly. “Hello.” She took a few steps forward and offered the ancient her hand.

Sprouts seemed at a loss for a moment, but he quickly recovered. He took her hand and shook it. “It's nice to meet you proper, Flocks— Flocks to the South, that is.”

Flocks stared blankly. “...I was requesting the component.”

Sprouts practically boggled like a scavenger. “Right, right, that checks out— here.” He set the component into her hand instead. Flocks let out a soft whirr of something that might have been amusement and focused on the piece. It was exactly what she needed. It was perfect.

Flocks turned and beeped once at Mirage. It slithered forward and settled happily across her shoulders. Then she led the way deeper into her abandoned city.

She was not leading anyone. Sprouts was not following her. She looked back and beeped at them once. Another moment, and she remembered that Sprouts would not understand such a sound. “...Your preferred title is ‘Sprouts,’ correct?”

“What? Oh,” Sprouts quickly nodded. “Yep, that's my name.”

“Understood,” she hesitated. “Formalities are not necessary, then. Just ‘Flocks’ is acceptable.” She turned again, her fingers twitching. She was beyond anxious to get this component installed as quickly as possible. “Question for title, Sprouts: Are you not coming with me?”

“Y— yeah! I'm coming, Flocks,” Sprouts quickly shuffled into step beside her. They mumbled a quiet, “Wasn't sure if you wanted me to...”, which she elected to ignore.

They kept moving deeper into her abandoned city. Flocks was used to the silence, but Sprouts clearly was not. They sprinkled in little questions and idle chatter as they went along. Flocks tried her best to keep up with it. Mirage tapped her in encouragement whenever she hesitated for a few beats too long, which helped. Ever so slowly, she noticed Sprouts's shoulders relaxing. This sort of interaction was entirely unfamiliar to her, but she supposed she also found it... nice.

She was suddenly, painfully aware of the weight of her harpoon on her arm. Flocks shook off the feeling as well as she could. They had finally arrived at the heart of her city, and she rushed forward to fiddle with the central machine.

There were countless discarded versions of components scattered across the floor. It was obvious that Flocks had spent a considerable amount of time trying to make an alternative to the piece Sprouts just brought her. They carefully stepped around the scraps and watched. “...You’ve needed this one for a while, huh?”

“Yes. Affirmative,” Flocks muttered. She was entirely distracted. She slotted the component into place, and the relief was palpable. She let out a long breath and slowly lowered herself to the floor.

Sprouts’ eyes widened. “Woah— you alright?”

Flocks didn’t respond right away. She was too busy running a diagnostic through her system and parsing through the data. There was still a considerable amount of repairs she needed to complete, of course. Her work was nowhere near done. Yet—

“Flocks!” She jolted to attention and turned to look at Sprouts. He was crouched on the ground beside her with a very familiar look of worry on his face. “There we go. Are you okay? Did I mess something up?”

Flocks tilted her head. She was more than okay. There was no countdown in her mind, not anymore. She could hardly believe it. Numbly, she reached a hand up and rubbed beside Mirage’s eye. She shook her head slowly, and finally she spoke, “My condition has stabilized.”

Sprouts paused. He gasped loudly. “Oh, wait— For real?” She nodded, and Sprouts laughed. “You really had me worried for a second there. That’s great news, right? You’re gonna be okay?”

Flocks stared. She wanted to celebrate. She did. She wanted to relish in this relief and embrace the fact that she wasn’t actively dying, but she couldn’t. Her expression darkened. “It is not over, Sprouts.”

“What?” Sprouts leaned forward, confused. “What else is there to do?”

Flocks looked away. She had to tell him. It was the only way. She braced herself for impact. “Urgent— urgent message for title, Sprouts: T— T— Th—” she grimaced. “My previous admin.”

“...Thirteen Nests?” Sprouts offered.

This time, she visibly flinched. “Confirmed. Approximately four solar cycles ago, the Birdwatcher and one of my overseers delivered a collection of footage from the neighboring structure.” She straightened up slightly. “Footage contained: A variety of interactions between them and creatures: Ancients. One of these recordings included my previous admin and one companion constructing a particular component.”

“A component?” Sprouts’s expression furrowed, then he seemed to realize what she was implying. He cursed softly.

“I do not harbor any doubt. It is intended for me.” Flocks stood, trembling. “There is a particular vulnerability within my processing strata. It is reasonable to assume they left it within my code as a failsafe. If exploited correctly, they may manipulate it to induce a manual shutdown. It is... This is the only taboo engrained so deeply into my code that I cannot remove it without risking my own life.”

Sprouts looked more and more grim as she continued talking. There was a certain level of determination in his eyes, though. It caught her by surprise. “Okay, I get the picture. What do you need me to do? Can I just go fix it?”

“No,” Flocks shook her head quickly. “No, no. That would pose the same risk as repairing the code myself. Ancient, Sprouts: I require a similarly complicated component that may counteract each process individually.” She plucked a pearl off of the floor and handed it to them. “I dissected the component within the footage to the best of my ability. Do you recognize this technology?”

Sprouts squinted at the pearl, then their eyes lit up. “Yes! Oh we are so lucky I did my make-up work. They were just going over this sort of tech in class last week.” He glanced back up at her, and his expression fell slightly. “They already have their component mostly built, though, right? How am I going to get back before...”

Flocks clenched her fist. They were smart. “Correct. Time is my primary concern.” She paused. “I have a solution. You will not like it.”

Sprouts’s face scrunched up with dread. “Lay it on me.”

Flocks turned back to them and slowly raised her harpoon. “I will convey the contents of this pearl over the communications device you sent me.” She hesitated for another moment. “Do you understand, Sprouts?”

They watched her weapon, confusion fluttering across their face. Then their eyes widened. They went through a few other emotions in the span of mere moments, but then they sighed deeply. “Fast travel,” they mumbled. Then, a bit louder, “yeah. I got you. Just get it over with.”

Flocks lowered her head, positioning the tip of her harpoon over their chest. "I admit: I do not yet understand why you are willing to bear this, but I am grateful. I will... This will be the final time. It will be swift."

Sprouts inhaled sharply and slammed their eyes shut. She remained steady.

"Thank you, Sprouts."

One more time, Flocks’s harpoon pierced straight through Sprouts’s heart.

Chapter Text

Sprouts knew his time was limited. Between Nests’ growing suspicion and the climb seemingly more perilous than it's ever been, he couldn't afford trying to leave at night like usual. This, he'd come to know, would be a mistake.

Preparing the part in record time and rushing through the small town, Sprouts ducked into an elevator that traveled to the surface. It was now or never.

~ ~ ~

Thirteen Nests stared down the small town of Icar. They had to confront the kid about this someday, and now was as good a time as any. Before they could do anything though, they caught notice of Sprouts ducking into an elevator across the way. Jackpot.

Catching the lift on its next trip, Thirteen Nests prepared for the same climb that started this whole mess.

Chapter Text

Flocks was pacing. This was even worse than waiting for the previous component. There was always a chance Sprouts would be too late, and Th— and her previous admin would shut down her systems completely. Of course, either way, Sprouts could not prevent everything. His component would only reverse the effects of her impending doom. She wasn’t waiting to feel whole this time. She was waiting to experience death.

Mirage had practically glued itself to her shoulders ever since she sent Sprouts back for the component. It kept trying to distract her and send her soft, reassuring signals. Flocks wished it helped. Her worry kept mounting, and her puppet could not stay still.

Eventually, finally, Flocks’s overseers alerted her that Sprouts was here. He had quite the entourage of eyes following him. She quickly noticed her worry reflected in his own demeanor, though it all melted away the second he stepped through the pipe.

“Flocks!” Sprouts slung his bag off of his shoulder as he bounded over to her. “Hey! Everything good over here while I was gone? You still stable?”

Flocks paused. She was a bit taken aback by how friendly his demeanor was, considering the last thing she had done was kill him, again. Mirage tapped her face. Oh. Right.

“All systems: Stable. Yes,” Flocks nodded as she watched Sprouts shuffle through their bag.

“Great! Now if I could just— Ah, there it is.” Sprouts lifted the component out of their bag and offered it to Flocks. “Here, if you wanna check my work.”

Flocks zeroed in on the component the moment she saw it. She took it and turned it in her hands. If she was being entirely honest with herself, the technology went beyond her own era of knowledge. Still, she couldn’t help the urge to double check that everything was in order. She felt Mirage tap her face one more time.

“...The overseers are glad to see you,” Flocks added, a bit quieter. Sprouts laughed.

“Oh yeah? Is that what this is?” They waved their hand at the small crowd dancing around them. “I thought you were keeping an eye on me, to be honest.”

“Perhaps I am also glad to see you,” Flocks deadpanned. She quickly pressed the component back into their hands. “Component: Appears stable, though I will have to trust your judgement this time. Apologies. I wish to have it installed as swiftly as possible.”

Sprouts grinned and nodded along. They placed the component back into their bag. “You still nervous?”

Flocks assessed herself for a moment. “...Affirmative. There will be time to talk afterward.” She beeped once and sent a signal to a particular overseer. Glimpse, a second large overseer about the same size as Mirage, quickly revealed itself. “Overseer, title: Glimpse will guide you.”

Sprouts glanced down as Glimpse slithered over to his feet. It waved at him. He waved back, then he glanced back up at Flocks. “Great, I’ll be back as soon as I—” Glimpse was already slithering off in the direction of Flocks’s memory conflux. “—oh, it’s leaving without me. Uh, I’ll be back!” He gave Flocks one last wave and quickly hurried after it. Her overseers seemed intent on following along, so Flocks and Mirage were left alone once more.

Flocks stared for a few moments. She huffed a breath out of her eyes, then went right back to pacing.

. . .

Sprouts pulled a screwdriver from his bag. He had the help of Flocks’ Overseers today, so things should be smooth sailing. In the meantime, he found himself talking with his “assistants” amidst the ambience of the Memory Conflux.

“You know… I’ve only ever seen pictures of a room like this.” Sprouts pulled another component from his bag. “It’s a cozy space, in a way… a little dark, though. Anyone have a light?”

Haze perked up at the request, shining some light over the area that the component needed to be installed in. Sprouts kept with small talk to pass the time, though most of it went unnoticed over the natural sounds of the room.

The same sounds drowned out something unfortunate happening mere meters away.

. . .

Thirteen Nests knew that kid was around here somewhere. They weren’t worried. In their mind, Sprouts was already dealt with. They had a much bigger problem to snuff out first.

They knew this structure’s Memory Conflux like the back of their taloned hand. It was merged with the laboratory. They had lived here during the most important phase of their life, after all. Their hands had guided every thought processed by the machine here— or, at least, that was what they had thought at the time. It was clear that leaving the laboratory alone for so long had allowed for some sort of independent thought, however shallow it may be. It didn’t matter. Thirteen Nests would soon bring an end to what they failed to do all that time ago when they had blown out one of the structure’s rarefaction cells. Their little project had been rolling in its grave for far too long.

Thirteen Nests soon found what they were looking for. Carefully, they slotted their jamming component into place among the core processors and let out a satisfied hum. That would do most of the work. There was just one more thing they needed to finish, now. They turned away and moved deeper into the laboratory.

Not too far away, in the structure’s abandoned city, the puppet halted her pacing. Flocks felt the exact moment the component began its work. She felt her thoughts scatter and writhe erratically in protest, and she fell to one knee. She was barely aware of Mirage shuffling on her shoulders and tapping against her face, trying its best to catch her attention. So this was it, then. This was her previous admin’s last attempt to finish her off. Her overseers had already shown her Sprouts working, though, right? It was a miracle he had gotten to her first. That would lessen the effects, and she’d eventually be fine. She had to be. She just had to endure this. She had to hold on for a little while longer. She just...

Flocks tried her best to keep anything in focus. It was to no avail. Her vision blurred along with her thoughts as every piece of her structure struggled to keep herself together. Not far from where she had fallen to the floor, Thirteen Nests slipped through a pipe and entered the abandoned city.

. . .

“Whew, that should be it.”

Sprouts stood to admire his work, the component he'd brought humming silently amidst the hardware it was meant to aid.

“Not bad for a limited timeframe, huh?” Sprouts turned to the Overseers, who seemed to be in a panic. Before Sprouts could even ask what was wrong, Mirage showed a projection of the General Systems Bus, showing Nests monologuing over an injured Flocks.

Sprouts ran from the room in a hurry, tripping in the process. He was already running through what he could do to stop this.

. . .

Thirteen Nests spotted Flocks first. Her head was lowered to the ground, and an unusually large overseer was worrying across her shoulders. It was too distracted by the puppet’s dazed state to notice them entering the room. Perfect. Quietly, Thirteen Nests scooped up a piece of rubble off of the floor and threw it at a pipe on the opposite side of the room.

As soon as she heard the sound, Flocks spun away from the ancient and fired her harpoon. It embedded itself firmly into the wall. Flocks shook violently as the movement threw her into a fit of dizziness. The overseer’s gaze was focused firmly on Thirteen Nests, however. Its arms flared angrily.

“Overseer, Mirage: Wh— What is there?” Flocks’s voice crackled in her throat as she tried to speak. Thirteen Nests couldn’t help themself. They chuckled lowly.

“You named that thing? How... cute.” They prowled deeper into the room and brandished their spear. “I suggest you tell it to leave, unless you want it to die with you.”

The very sound of their voice made Flocks freeze for a few precious moments. She coughed a fit of smoke from her eyes and attempted to recall her harpoon. It was too late. Thirteen Nests had already sliced the wire that tethered it to her puppet. They pulled her weapon from the wall and aimed it at her.

“Go on,” They grinned. Flocks mustered her strength and shot one, urgent signal to all of her overseers. The laser in her eyes flickered on weakly as she stared down the ancient she once called her administrator. She gripped Mirage tighter in her arms.

Thirteen Nests’s smug expression fell ever so slightly. “Oh, you wretched thing,” they sighed, then hefted the weapon in their hands and threw it. They didn’t hold nearly as much strength as the mechanism in Flocks’s arm, but it did the trick. She ducked and shielded Mirage with her shoulder. The sound of the harpoon clashing with metal reverberated across the room, and Flocks immediately dropped Mirage.

“G— Go.” Flocks whispered to it desperately. “Leave. NOW.”

“That’s much better,” Thirteen Nests laughed as Mirage reluctantly slithered into the nearby components. “This talk is just for you and I, hmm? It’s been a long time coming.” They sauntered forward. “It seems there are a few things you’ve forgotten in my absence. Don’t you think for a second that I’ve forgiven you for that stunt you pulled last time I was here—”

As soon as they were close enough, Flocks lunged forward and swung her fist. Her movements were slowed, though. She was sluggish and disoriented from the effects of the jammer, and Thirteen Nests took advantage of it. They shrunk back and aimed a kick directly at her face, dislodging the laser mechanism in her eyes. She reeled and clutched her head. Everything was loud and writhing and spinning. She could hardly think.

Thirteen Nests huffed incredulously. “Really? Again? I know your tricks now. Did you really think you could protect yourself in this state? Much less your little... pet.” They glanced in the direction Mirage had fled.

Flocks jolted in pain as Thirteen Nests turned to take in the state of her puppet. “I can’t believe you had the guts to tarnish my design. Look at you. Barely a fraction of what you were meant to be...” They sighed. “Did you think fixing up that little husk would mean something? Give you some sort of new purpose? It doesn’t. I know you’re not there. You are the laboratory, and that is all you will ever be. I’m sure if I could sever the wires in that arm of yours, it would help remind you...” Thirteen Nests turned, surveying the armature piece attaching her to her track.

No. No, no no. Flocks buzzed loudly. She couldn’t... she needed to buy herself some time, but the only thing she could muster was a single question. It was all she could focus on.

“Why?”

Thirteen Nests paused. She caught a glint of something in their eyes. It was not guilt, but triumph. They were enjoying this. “There is no ‘why.’ Not for you.”

Flocks didn’t expect anything different. She breathed, or, at least, she tried. She could feel the power in her puppet dwindling as she failed to circulate the vulture smoke through it properly. She could barely follow what they were saying anymore. It didn’t matter. She just needed them to keep talking. “P— Please.”

Thirteen Nests hummed, pretending to consider the question. “It’s simple, really.” They raised their arms, grinning beneath their mask. “It’s happened countless times within these very walls. When an experiment has served its purpose, you put it out of its misery. It's the right thing to do, is it not?”

Flocks huffed out a long breath, shaking. She was rather fond of her misery. It meant she was still alive.

“It’s just a shame you dragged that kid into your mess. You’ve ruined Sprouts’s life, you know. I’ll be sure of it. He could have been something, but now his only fate is to fall with y—”

There was a crash from the nearby pipe. Sprouts came barreling into the room, his chest heaving with exertion. His eyes went wide as he took in the scene before him.

“..Speak of the devil,” Thirteen Nests muttered.

Sprouts placed himself between Flocks and Nests. Behind him, Flocks gave a spark trying to speak. In front of him, Nests gave a disappointed sigh.

"Really? Of all the hills to die on, this is the one you choose?”

Sprouts planted himself in place. "I won't let you hurt her." He was nervous, but he put everything he could into hiding that.

Nests sighed in response. "Right, should have figured. It must not have happened to you yet, then."

Flocks repositioned herself to get a better sight of the scene. Between sparks, all she could mutter was a cough.

"I hope you've made amends, kid." Nests raised their spear. "Your loved ones are gonna see you on a different kind of carpet. I just have to ask, though... why?"

Sprouts turned to Flocks, trying to form a response. "I... don't know. It was the right thing to do." Flocks winced at the response. "...what? I mean, I'd do better if my life wasn't on the line."

"Uh huh. Touching." Nests brought their arms down to rest. "And what will you do when it has no use for you? When you're abandoned like the rest of us?"

Sprouts gave a puzzled look.

"Really? With all the rumors floating around about what you've been up to, I'm surprised you don't know what happened here." Nests chuckled. ""Flocks" here stopped listening as soon as the project was canned. Simple as."

Sprouts' nervousness was starting to show.

"Left us all to the vultures. Some people didn't make it." Nests shook their head. "All because of an Iterator who wasn't built to care."

Sprouts began to speak, but was spoken over. "I would think you'd know first hand, Sprouts. Flocks to the South doesn't have the capacity to care for anyone. Just the work that needs to be done. It's how it was coded."

"You're wrong. She-"

"It is lying to you. To it, you're expendable. Once it gets what it needs from you it'll cast you to the side like the rest of my team was. What then?"

Nests pinched between their eyes. "Kids these days..."

Sprouts swallowed what he could and held himself in place. "I... am the... Iterator designated Administrator... of this superstructure." Each word was followed by a shaky breath. "If you intend on doing anything to the Puppet or any of her systems, you must go through me."

Nests laughed at the comment, turning up to show a devilish grin. "You, an Administrator? Please, you barely have the credentials to qualify for that position the bonehead Converging Creeks had!"

"Remember this well, kid. You are worth nothing in this world. And soon, you'll have nothing as well." Sprouts stared in shock as Nests raised the spear over his head. "You had this coming."

. . .

The silence that followed was broken only by the howling wind and the clatter of goggles falling to the floor. Flocks made an attempt to push herself upwards, though found even a simple action like this difficult in her condition.

Despite this, she felt a faint pulse from her Overseers. They were working to help, they just needed time. Time that was being lost.

“Well, that saves some of the berating, I suppose.” Nests pulled a communicator from their pocket and used it to send a few messages. "I certainly had high hopes for the kid. Such a shame you got to them first." The words stung. They always had.

Flocks let out a small grunt as she propped herself up on one arm, letting out a faint "Y-you..." in the process. Slowly but surely, she was regaining power.

"You used to be great, you know." Nests sneered. "You were the perfect little laboratory aide. You didn't ask questions, you didn't get in the way... You did what you were told, even." They stared at the communicator, replaying old footage. "Nothing like whatever you are now. You couldn't just stay dead."

Flocks felt a pulse emanate from her Memory Arrays. The jammer was destroyed. While Nests had their back turned, she shakily got to her feet, supported by her armament.

"And now look at you. You selfish little thing." Nests stood over Flocks as she struggled to get up, their devilish grin showing once again. "Sending a poor little college student to do what you couldn't leave well enough alone. What was your plan when this was done? Just... exist in silence? You were already going to die alone, but you just had to force some poor sap to help you survive just to die alone slower."

Flocks let out a mechanical cough as Nests turned away again, using the chance to grab what was left of her protection. The laser.

"You forget, machine. You forget who created you." Nests turned around, a new mechanism in hand. "You forget who is in charge, now and forever."

Silence filled the room as Nests pressed the button on the mechanism. Far above the General Systems Bus, a shrill cry echoed across the empty sky.

"...right, well. I guess we're doing this the h--"

The room was plunged in darkness as a Nosfer Vulture circled above, leaving the two barely illuminated by the red light of the laser.

"The Ancients may show you mercy for your actions," Flocks spoke in a steady tone, illuminated by the laser. The red light trailed along the same path as her shaky eyes. "...but I will do no such thing. Not today."

"I-i... you..." Nests began to walk backwards, but soon found themself backed against the wall. Staring at horror as the vulture landed in front of them, they turned for the entry and attempted to run.

Running proved futile, as they were scooped from the ground by the vulture. As it flew away with Nests between its claws, Flocks was left in silence. As the adrenaline rush ended, her breath became more shaky.

She held the goggles right as exhaustion washed over her, bringing her to the ground next to Sprouts.

~ ~ ~

Sprouts woke up the next cycle in a cold sweat. He had to move quick.

Gem shouted something to him as he ran through the house. He didn’t take any time to listen. He was on a time lim-

Sprouts was stopped in his tracks by a pair of clicks. The last thing he could remember was being shoved into a vehicle before blacking out again.

Chapter Text

[ Flocks to the South - General Systems Bus ]

The Birdwatcher sat defiant in the middle of the GSB, its incessant meowing jolting Flocks awake.

"You..." Flocks began to speak, but struggled to stand. Haze came to aid, and Flocks was upright in a matter of minutes. "Query for... anyone..."

The room was a mess, to say the least. The ground was littered with glass and patches of dried blood, and a shadow of a sleeping Nosfer Vulture was cast against the wall. Spears of rebar were stuck in the floor and walls, and claw marks against one wall showed clear signs of conflict

Flocks took a moment to breathe before finishing her statement. "...what happened here? Where is the Adminis- Where is..." She hesitated. She knew full well who she was referring to, but referring to them as such seemed both natural and unnatural. "Where is Title: Seven Sprouts?"

Mirage latched onto her shoulder and began to display a recording of cycles before. Even that seemed to move in a blur, though. The component and the jammer, the monologuing of Th... of her previous admin...

"...that's enough. Thank you, Mirage." Flocks dismissed the hologram merely halfway through the recording. The component was in place and the jammer was no longer active. That is what mattered.

She did not need further aid to maintain her structure. She only needed to find a way to ward off further intrusions. She was free of the Ancients, something that could benefit both sides.

And yet...

The Birdwatcher let out an annoyed meow before pawing at Mirage, bringing the recording to light again. As Flocks turned to travel into her facilities, a familiar voice caught her attention.

"I mean, I'd do better if my life wasn't on the line."

Flocks slowed to a halt hearing the line again. It was Sprouts' bravery (and a little bit of stupidity) which gave her Overseers time to destroy the jammer.

Flocks sighed after a moment, a burst of smoke pouring from her eyes. The mental gymnastics from this would have to wait.

Chapter Text

[ Case Cycle 0.1 - The House of Wings, Eden ]

“You need to call more often, you know.”

Gem rolled her eyes at her grandmother’s comment.

“You know I’m right, Gem. You and Hy barely visit anymore. Not since you moved away, leaving me stuck with the twins and-”

Gem had her arm elbow deep in a mailbox. “Grandmother, not the time.” Pulling out a stack of envelopes, she gave a sigh. “I swear, I’ve given them an updated address too many times to count.

Themis rolled her eyes, then began to think. “How is Hy, anyway? I tried calling the other day, but he didn’t answer…”

“Oh, you know him. Always busy with this or that…” Gem shrugged. Obviously, she knew what her brother was up to, but it wasn’t her place to talk. “Eugh, jury duty…”

One of the other Ancients in the building perked up. “Is it for the courthouse here? There’s a big trial there in a few cycles. It’s for some runaway, but the case is serious enough that they brought Her Radiance in to oversee it.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever, but they could have at least addressed it prop…”

Uh oh.

“...I need to go. I’ll come back later for dinner.” Gem grabbed her coat and rushed out the door, much to the dismay of her grandmother. If her suspicion was true, this was going to be hell to explain.

Chapter Text

[ Case Cycle 0.2 - Eden’s Eye Detention Center ]

The mechanical grating of the time clock made Gem wince. It was already annoying enough that she had to explain that she wasn't here to visit family, the least the big shots here could do was use some WD-40 on their equipment every once in a while.

The hallway to the visitor's room was only slightly better, but still passable. It just reminded her that she wanted to be anywhere else. Preferably with her brother. And his weird cat.

She had to wait for a turn in the visitor's room. What a surprise.

. . .

“So… How is it in there?”

Gem stared at her brother behind the glass. Fully clad in the ugliest green jumpsuit you could imagine, stitches completely visible without his mask, yet he looked well rested and like nobody had tried to beat him up.

Sprouts thought it over for a moment before speaking. “Well, it could be worse. Everyone here heard about the thing with Nests one way or another, so we've mostly just been talking about how much of an ass they are.”

Well, that's a relief at least. Gem turned her time card over to see if it had any extra information on it, and came up empty. “Why did they even throw you in here? Everyone back home knows you're innocent no matter how absurd the crime, so it had to be pretty bad…”

“Well…” Sprouts started, trying to recall what he heard before he blacked out at his place. “I think the officers said it was Unlicensed Iterator Modification and the attempted murder of a “government official,” which that last one is just bogus as hell.

“But… from what I've heard, nobody's gone to take the case. Not even the public defenders.”

Because of Nests, no doubt.

“I'll take the case then. You may not be innocent, but I'm sure that bastard has done worse.” Probably the stupidest stunt Gem could pull in this situation, but it had to be done by somebody, or else getting to see her brother would be impossible. Equally difficult would be explaining that to anybody else.

“Are you sure? You don't have any experience with this kind of thing…”

Gem saw a faint ghost on the shoulders of a guard on the other side of the room. She knew it to be the only sign she needed.

“I am. Trust me.”

This got a smile out of Sprouts. A weak one, but a smile all the same. “Thanks, sis. That means a lot.”

Chapter Text

[ Case Cycle 0.3 - Eden Courthouse, Courtroom No. 2 ]

“You want to do what?”

Blinded By Horizons stared across the courtroom at Gem. Hearing anyone say they wanted to take this case was shocking enough, but someone like her? It seemed preposterous.

“Look, I hate to say it, but this case would already be hard enough for someone with legal experience. For you, I'm tempted to call it a suicide mission.” Gem was taken aback by the Iterator’s response. “What? We're the only ones in here, I don't think I need to act all high and mighty right now.”

Fair enough. “I know what's at stake here. I'm doing it anyway. That's my brother behind bars.” The room was silent, save for Horizons flipping through a case file. Gem was visibly stressed, and jumping through hoops was the last thing she wanted to be doing right now. “...I can't lose him. Not like this.”

“I understand, Gemstones.” Horizons stood and crossed the room. “Here. Give this to the attendant outside. This will give you enough credentials to fight this.”

Gem gripped the slip of paper. It had not only her brother's fate, but also her own.

“I believe in you, kid. Give that old halfwit what for.” Even without a mouth, Horizons was obviously grinning ear to ear. She was already sold on giving Gem the case from the moment they walked in, but now she was certain that they could be the one to finally give Thirteen Nests a taste of his own medicine.

Gem gave a small bow. “Thank you, Senior.” This was cut abrupt by BBH raising a hand.

“Please, there's no need for formalities in here. Not yet, at least. Just Horizons will do.”

Gem stuttered for a moment before squeezing out a “Thank you, Horizons.” before rushing out the door, leaving BBH standing in the middle of the courtroom, hands crossed.

Chapter Text

[ Case Cycle 0.4 - Eden Courthouse Lobby ]

The more natural key clicks were a welcome surprise, given everything that had happened.

The intern at the desk, on the other hand, had their own struggle. A more experienced official had to be called over for the slip that Gem was given, which made sense all things considered. She had just been given a copy of the court case and a badge when someone else bounded over.

“Hey! You're the one who just took the case, right?” Creeks bounced over, ears flapping in the wind. It wasn't until she drew close that she came to a stop. “...Gem? I thought you just did psych work…”

“It's a long story. My br-”

“Oh, right! The case! I finally had the chance to get a train ticket. Put me down as the defense attorney, if you would.” The room was silent. “What, did I miss the trial date?”

“I took the case. Got special permission from the judge.” Gem held up the case file. “It's my brother. He's been accused of some nasty stuff, and before today nobody had come to his aid.”

The gears were turning in Creeks’ head. “Your broth… Sprouts? Sprouts is the Defendant of thOH MY GOD IT ALL MAKES SENSE-” Creeks began muttering to herself, and Gem shared confused glances with the staff behind the desk. “I'll explain later. For now, here's my number. Call me tomorrow morning. You, behind the desk, put me down as the defense’s assistant.”

And just like that, Creeks was bounding away. The two staff members behind the desk glanced at each other in confusion before going back to clicking away at their keyboards, leaving one very confused Gem with a badge, a case file, and… maybe two leads total.

(This is going to be a “fun” few days…)