The Investigation
Cera was certainly feeling lucky today.
Finding the cathedral was a breeze, and getting there was quicker than she thought. All that was left was to find a way to get inside. As much as she would like to use the easy route and just waltz right in, Cera knows she needs to be careful. After all, since part of the mission was looking for signs of life, who knows if said signs end up being dangerous.
Reaching out into her backpack, Cera pulls out a pair of binoculars and hides behind a pile of rubble so she won't be seen. Enhancing her binoculars, Cera carefully and slowly inspects the inside of the cathedral.
So far, nothing. Not a hint of movement, not a speck of soul anywhere inside. Not even on the upper floors.
"Hmm, maybe there's no one inside," Cera murmurs to herself.
However, upon closer inspection she noticed something odd about one of the broken spires. Where the broken part of the spire was allowed her to see the inside, there seem to be two strings attached to it. If she looked very closely she would've sworn that the strings were moving. Until the bucket came into view.
Either I'm going crazy, or there's someone moving that bucket to the top.
Cera wondered in her mind. Using the binoculars' highest enhancement, Cera manages to spy the tallest peak of the spire. Luck must have been on her side today thanks to the clear view of said peak. What she saw launched her mind with a dozen questions:
Is that a sextant?, is that a sheet tied to the spire, is that the bucket I saw earlier?, who on earth MADE all this?, HOW did they made this?, no human should have been able to climb the inside of that spire! Wait....is that a DOLL?
Despite her confusion, Cera continued to stare at her strange discovery, when the weird doll suddenly moves the sextant right at Cera's direction. It had spotted her! The brunette swiftly pulls down her binoculars and ducks down behind her hiding spot.
"Great....just great. Now they know I'm here. I need a new plan....."
Cera thinks over her options: She definitely needed to check inside, but there's the new possibility of whoever just spotted her could be hostile. She should seriously investigate the new evidence on top of the spire, but it's way high up. Climbing outside the spire would be too difficult due to it being the tallest part of the cathedral and climbing inside the spire would be too small for her to properly investigate.
"Either way, getting up there would be impossible!", Cera says to herself.
Suddenly, an idea emerges, "Unless..."
*********
Malaika was having the time of her life.
Even though it took her longer than needed to find the library, she still couldn't help but squeal with glee when she step foot inside the still standing building. In fact, aside from the statues being destroyed and the giant broken globe in a corner of the place, none of the books seem ruined.
If Malaika had time she would have no doubt that she would spent hours coopted up reading every book she could find. But right now, her mind is focused on her plan; look for books that might have something to do with the advanced AI of the war machines. Either way, she's gonna be in here for a while.
So far, no luck. Due to the books being everywhere BUT the shelves made the search a lot harder. And it was constantly dark in the library even with the flashlights.
Malaika groans, "I'm never gonna find ANYTHING at this rate! I'll probably die from the leftover poison gas before I could find the right books!" Malaika looks again at the massive piles of books laying around her and sighs, "Who'd knew that my favorite hobby could probably be the cause of my own death." She lets out a small chuckle at her own morbid joke, but she knew not to give up. Using her flashlight, the Muslim tries once again to continue her search.
*click click*
Malaika stops at her tracks.
Was that a sound she just heard?
Immediately, she looks around for the source of the sound.
*click click*
*click click*
There it goes again! That weird clicking noise! It sounded closer, and like there were more.
*click click*
Malaika slowly makes her way to where she heard the strange noise. It seemed to be over by the globe.
*click click* *flash*
*click click* *flash*
Was...was that a flash she just saw!? Is someone taking pictures of me!?
Malaika starts to panic, her mind gripping with a very frightful conclusion; Not only were there more than one person living in this dark library, but they seem to be taking pictures of her, and goodness knows what else they want from her!
Wait! I can't afford to be scared now! I gotta be brave, and show these guys who's boss!
Mustering up all the courage she had, Malaika strains her hearing and sight for any more signs of her stalkers.
At first, the library went back to being silent. But then...
*scatter* *scatter*
"Scattering...?", the young woman murmurs to herself, "Mice perhaps....? No, that can't be it, mice don't make bright flashing lights and clicking noises..."
Suddenly, the scattering comes back. Malaika tries to follow the noise, whoever this thing was, it was small and fast! Eventually, the scattering seem to stop behind a book on a low shelve.
Being the quietest she could be, Malaika tiptoes her way to the book.
Slowly....
Carefully....
She puts her hands on the book and....lifts it up from it's spot!
Only to come face-to-face with two pairs of camera-like eyes.
Malaika screams.
*********
Odette was NOT having a good time.
Not only did it take her at least a half a hour even get to the factory, (and would have been longer had she not found a still working bike) but she had to endure countless coughing fits because of the air, barb wires, a never ending dust storm, and getting covered in oil due to her bike splashing against the many giant puddles of oil that surrounded the place.
Needless to say, Odette was not in a good mood by the time she entered the entrance of the factory.
"Whatever I find in here, it BETTER be worth it." She grumbles to herself.
The walk inside the factory was quiet aside from the sound of her feet. The factory itself was....eerily. Odette isn't sure why, but walking around the very place that made death machines felt very disturbing and gave her chills.
To make herself feel calm and not scared, Odette tries to take as much photos as she can of the factory with her camera. So far she's got pictures of the Walkers hanging from the ceiling, the bombs that carried the gas, and several items that shouldn't belong in a war factory in the first place. (Seriously, who brings a toy doll to a factory? Better yet, who bring a CHILD to a war factory?)
As Odette is looking over her photo of the strangely placed toy, something stops her in her tracks.
"Hm?" It was faint, but Odette could have sworn that she heard scraping metal. From where it was, it's at a clearing at the end of the hall.
Is someone here? Or rather, is SOMETHING here?
Whatever it is she heard, it was definitely not human.
When Odette finally arrived at the clearing, she did not expect the main room to be a mess. Destroyed parts and junk were everywhere, streams of oil flooded the corners, it was like a death sentence for the feet and legs. Regardless, Odette knows that this spot could have the evidence she needs.
She slowly and carefully steps around the area while also keeping an eye out at her surroundings. So much stuff was around her, where could she even start?
A familiar nonhuman metal sound gave her that answer.
The sound was louder, and it was coming from behind a giant pile of metal next to a low conveyer belt. The dark-haired girl walks over to the pile, trying not to make too much noise, and is suddenly aware of a bunch of new noises.
Growling, roaring like a beast
Shouting and screaming in fear
Human screaming
Odette's thoughts are screaming in confliction. Part of her tells her to get out of here, the other tells her to at least help the people in danger. But she does know that there's not lot of time left, so she decides to at least take a peak of the other side to adjust the dangerous situation to get more prepared.
Odette was NOT AT ALL prepared for what she is witnessing right now.
What looked like a terrifying beast made out of a cat skull and sharp metal was cornering a trio of tiny doll-people cowering in fear. (One has a zipper on its chest, another has a shoelace chest, and the other has one eye) The young woman is fully aware that if she rushes in to protect them, the beast would certainly kill her within seconds. But at the same time she couldn't just leave them.
Aaaaahhh, what to do, what to do? The question repeating in her head over and over.
Then, like a answer from heaven, in the corner of her eye, another doll-like person comes into view. This one seemed to have a bird skull for a helmet and a sword in their hands. Odette sighs in relief. Then, sneaking out of her backpack, she brings out her camera and starts recording.
The cat beast continues to roar at the trio when the bird warrior jumps on its back! The beast struggles for a bit, managing to take the warrior's shield off their arm, but it's no use; the warrior leaps into the air, does a backflip and.....slices the beast's head clean off! The headless beast falls to the ground, the warrior gets off the body with a three-point landing.
I have no idea what I just saw, but that was the most BADASS thing I have ever seen in my life!
Odette thinks with nothing but shock and awe in her mind. The warrior proceeds to lift their helmet, and judging from the reactions of Shoelace and Cyclops, they seem to recognize the warrior as a old friend.
Where Odette was, she could barely hear what the dolls were saying, but even she could tell that they were very happy to see them. And as she listened to the voices, she made the following conclusions:
Shoelace sounded like an elderly man.
Zipper sounded like a young adult man.
Cyclops sounded the same but much deeper.
And Bird Warrior sounded VERY MUCH like a grown woman.
The four continue to talk, and Odette stops recording.
As much as I would like to speak to them, it'll just feel like I'm interrupting a private moment.
Deciding that the video evidence is enough for her, Odette begins to gather her backpack and head on back.
But not before she steps on top of the pile to take one more glimpse at her discovery.
However, something seemed....off.
Three of them were still talking, but the fourth has his back turned on them, seemingly more interested in what looked like a big, hulking machine hanging from the ceiling and covered in a giant red flag.
Odette's body becomes filled with dread. She knew EXACTLY what that is:
The Fabrication Machine.
The one responsible for creating the machines that revolted against humanity.
If the doll awakens it, then world would be in grave danger.
Once again, Odette is in a very tight spot. She's standing on top of a metal pile, yelling at the doll to stop would alert her presence to the others. But even if she did take the obvious route, she doesn't even know if these doll-like people would let her live if they find her!
Before Odette could make a quick decision, she starts to feel a strong tickle in her throat.
*********
9 picks up the strange object from the ground, the same one that he had carried with him since he first awoke before the beast took it.
Now that he has it back, he examines it and the weird piece of metal right next to him. There seem to be some sort of indent shape with three holes, like an outlet of some kind.
9 turns the object around and notices three small identical holes in the back of it.
I'm curious....are these two supposed to fit together? Is that where the object fits? 9 wondered.
He turns the thing back around and slowly puts it in the-
*COUGH COUGH COUGH*
Startled, 9 stops what he's doing and looks at the source of the strange loud cough.
Whatever it was, it has lost its balance and fell, hitting the huge pile a few times before landing face first into the ground.
The others were just as startled.
"Wh-what was that?" 5 asked, not hiding the fear in his voice.
"A machine perhaps? It sounded pretty big." 7 suggested, already on her guard.
"Highly unlikely," 2 refutes, "and from the look and sound of it , they're in great pain." He begins to run to the poor injured being, though 7 was faster.
*********
Odette can only groan in pain after that fall.
Thanks to her failed attempt to hide her cough, she ended losing her balance and hitting both metal and dirt. She can only hope that she's not bleeding badly anywhere.
Using all her strength, Odette gets her hand to grab a firm grip on the conveyer belt that's above her.
Her body aches all over, but she manages get her upper body onto the belt.
Only to make full eye contact with a sword.
"Gah!"
"Who are you?."
Odette doesn't move an inch. The warrior has her sword to her face.
Even though she can see the other dolls rushing towards them, Odette realizes her life hangs in the balance.
So she blurts out the only thing in her mind:
"Wait! I'm a friend!"