I’m A Friend

If two weeks ago, you told Cera that she will one day climb a cathedral with a grappling hook just so she could get to the top of the spire, she would ask if you were on serious crack. And yet here she was doing EXACTLY that, now Cera is starting to wonder if SHE was on serious crack.

"There is no way anyone is going to believe me by the time I'm done here." Cera says to herself. If anything, the whole climb up was not that bad. It was slow, yes, but Cera managed to reach the top while avoiding every window.

Soon, Cera found it easier to climb with her bare hands thanks to the still-sturdy clover-shaped holes on the spire.

Finally, she reaches the weird man?-made structure, supported only by her arms on the wood used for a floor and her feet on the clover holes.

Whatever this place was, it seemed to be a watchtower of some kind. The sextant Cera saw looked like it was modified to be a telescope, a tiny bell, and what looked like a wooden board complete with a clipper.

As Cera grips with the fact that what she saw was not a illusion, she reminds herself why she's even up here in the first place,

"This could be the first of many signs of proof in this place. It's a good thing my camera has a strap." At least, that's what Cera tells herself as she's carefully grabbing her camera wrapped around her neck. In her mind on the other hand, Whatever you do, do NOT lose your balance! playing in her head over and over as Cera takes her pictures of the scene. Before the brunette could take any more however, the rope starts to move.

Realization dawns on her; the spire has holes and is way too steep, whoever is climbing up is going to spot her soon!

Cera needed to get off this spire and fast, so she hangs on to the clover holes and quietly but swiftly climbs down. By the time she reaches the bottom hole, she takes her grappling hook from her pocket and hangs it onto the hole.

Hanging onto the rod for dear life, Cera looses the string attached to the hook and slides down as farthest it could take her. Once it runs out of rope, Cera realizes she's only a few feet away from the rooftop. Determining it safe enough to let go, Cera unleashes the grappling hook....

"Oof!" "Owww…"

…..causing her to land on the roof oh so non-gracefully.

"Nailed it...." Cera groans as she slowly gets back on her feet. Brushing off the dust off her jumper, the young woman observes her surroundings and ponders on what to do next.

I'm going to need more than just the pictures of the spire as evidence. After all, the mission requires that I go inside the building. Just the outside of it won't be enough.

Nodding to herself, Cera decides on her plan: Sneak inside, get evidence, sneak out without a sound. Luckily for her, there's a giant hole in the middle of the roof next to the damaged plane that's stuck on the wall. Walking towards it, Cera peers inside.

For a moment, she sees no one. Hears no one. That's the sign for her to sneak in.

Once again using the grappling hook, Cera slowly descends into the destroyed cathedral. And once again, she misses by a few feet. But this time after she unleashes the rope, Cera makes a much smoother landing.

Oh yeah! A three-point landing on the first try!, Celebrating with a quick fist bump into the air and a smile on her face, Cera continues her quest.

To call the inside of the cathedral a mess would be an understatement. In fact, the whole place looked liked the aftermath of a really violent riot. Seats were scattered but intact, dirty choir papers were all over the floor but could still be in good use, and Cera could have sworn she smelled ink everywhere. So far, nothing looked like anything that she could call evidence.

Of course, there is always the upper floors....

*pitter patter*

The sound of tiny feet interrupts Cera's train of thought.

Wait, tiny feet?

Cera listens some more, and very faintly, the sound returns.

*pitter patter*

Where is that coming from? What kind of tiny men live here?

Cera silently moves through the cathedral, her sharp eye looking for detections of movement.

"The source....."

Cera jumps up in fright, her head frantically looking all over for whoever just said that.

"Go back...to the source...."

The voice was haunting and eerily....almost like a spirit, watching her every move...

"The source....the source...."

The voice continues to give Cera chills in her spine, eyes filled with fear.

Eyes that spot something odd on the floor.....

Getting over her fear, Cera picks up what seems to be a drawing on a choir paper. But as she takes a closer look at it, her eyes widen as she immediately recognizes the symbols on the drawing.

"This...this is....!"

"You know the source?" The voice was right next to her.

Turning her head faster than she could believe, Cera looks down to see the culprit of the voice.....and immediately backs herself into a wall.

"G-g-g-ggg-gahhhhhh!!"

"Aah..!"

Cera couldn't believe what she is witnessing right now. This...this...doll thing must of came straight out of a sci-fi horror film! It was startled when she yelled, but it stayed put.

"Shhh-! Be quiet....they could hear you.", instructs the doll.

Hear me....? They....? Who....?

Cera could do nothing but stare at this strange creature while she waits for her heart to slow down, her vision taking in the thing's appearance. He continued to stare at her with his

mis-matched eyes, pen-nib fingers twitching like crazy and clinging to a piece of paper, the striped body and curly yarn covered in ink, the black key dangling around his neck. Finally, he spoke:

"You're...one of...them..."

"Huh?"

"The three tall strangers....they have arrived here, and you're one of them." He holds up the paper in his hand for Cera to see.

It was a drawing of her with Malaika and Odette.

Cera can only stare in complete utter shock. She quickly bends down to the doll's eye level. "How do you know about us?" Cera asks softly but firmly, "How did you know that we would come here?" The doll looks down nervously, but manages to answer her, "I-I see you...in my visions....they come to me, and I have no control over it..."

A doll oracle? That is something you don't see everyday. At the very least, this doll doesn't seem dangerous. Cera looks at the drawing in her hand, and then asks the doll, "Sooo, you know something about this symbol?" The doll nods his head very quickly. "Y-yes! It's the source!" The source, huh? Wait a minute..... An idea pops in her head. This doll might just have all the answers Cera's looking for!

But first-she must get friendly with the doll.

"Say...little guy, I don't think I got your name. I'm Cera."

"....6..."

"6? As in the number 6?" 6 nods.

"Are there more of you then?" 6 nods again. "The ninth has recently awoken." He says.

So there's 9 in total, good to know! "May I see the rest of them?" Cera asks. "NO!" 6 suddenly yells.

"No? Why not?"

6 starts to shake like a leaf, "B-because 7, 3, and 4 have run away years ago, and 5 and 9 have went out to look for 2...", 6 trembles even harder as he continues, "And-and if 1 f-finds you, he-he'll get mad, and sent 8 out t-to p-p-punish me!"

Oh, this poor sweet little doll.

Before she knew it, Cera picks up 6 and pets him gently. "Shh-shh, it's ok 6." She assures him, "I won't let 1 or 8 hurt you." Slowly but surly, 6 calms down. He's surprisingly soft... 6 finds his voice again, "R-really?" "Of course!", Cera replies, "And all honesty, I could really use your help."

6 tilts his head, intrigued.

Cera continued, "For you see, I was sent here to look for signs of life and information on the AI of the machines here. And since you seem to fit the bill quite nicely, not to mention you know about the symbol you call the source, I believe you could have my answers! So, how about it?"

6 looks like he wants to tell her everything, but feels hesitant. Reaching into her backpack, Cera pulls out a pencil and a small notebook. "It's ok, 6." Cera reassures the doll, "You can trust me. Tell me everything."

Realizing that this girl really wants to hear what he has to say, 6 gives her his first smile all day. And just like that, 6 just went from weird to adorable.

*********

Malaika continues to scream as she runs away from the creepy eyes. Soon finding herself hiding behind a wall, she does everything in her power to keep quiet. Sure enough, the two tiny things run pass her and climb up a shelve next to her, probably looking for her. Standing perfectly still, her hand on her mouth and hearing nothing but the scatter of those things and the intense beating of her heart. A book suddenly falls out of the shelve, the tiny things must of pushed it out. Said things jump off from the shelve and start pushing the book-right in Malaika's direction.

Before Malaika could run off again, the strange beings stop the book right in front of her, as if wanting her to take it. Fear turns into confusion as the young girl takes a closer look at the book. To her surprise, it was a book about Islam! The beings even open up the book for her and turn to a page of a Muslim girl wearing a hijab. They then point at the picture and point at Malaika. Malaika couldn't help but be very impressed and giggles.

"Haha, yes. Yes, that's right, I'm a Muslim!" She says with astonishment in her voice, "You two are very smart!" The two beings look at her with a hint of pride at their finding. Coming to the realization that these two are friendly, Malaika decides to get closer to them. And in turn, they get closer to her. Upon closer inspection, Malaika notices a few things:

These two seem to be identical doll-like figures made out of blue material with some kind of hood. Their hands very close to their chest in a mice-like fashion. The woman extends her hand to the dolls.

"My name is Malaika. Nice to meet you."

The dolls don't shake her hand. Instead, they climb up her arm and start running all over her body! Malaika could only yelp in surprise as their eyes flash all over her, as if they are taking in this new human that they've never met before. And boy, these guys are FAST!

Finally, she manages to grab them both with her hands, glaring at them with annoyance in her words.

"OK! That's enough of whatever that was! Now, I don't think you two have told me your names yet!" The twins took the hint, and point to the writing on their chests:

"3....and...4?" Malaika ponders over on why they have numbers for names, and the possibility that there might be more of these "dolls" out there.

No matter. I'll ask them those questions later. After all, a bright idea has formed in her head: The twins obviously live here, and they seem to know where every book is. Combined with their high intelligence, These twins could be her answer.

Putting the twins down on the ground, Malaika tells them what's on her mind.

"Before you run off anywhere, I could really use your help finding a specific book."

The twins don't move. They look with curiosity. Malaika continues, "I'm on a very important mission to search for not only signs of life, but also the secret behind the advanced technology of the Walkers from the Machine War. Of course, the secret could be anything; dark science, hidden tools, alchemy, any hint and clue you could give me helps."

3 and 4 look at each other and nod. They run pass Malaika, beckoning her to follow them. They lead her back to the giant globe, getting inside through a huge crack on said globe. Big enough for the dolls, but too small for a grown woman.

"Hmm, 3 and 4 have something in there, but how can I see it if I can't fit?" She tries to bend down to look inside the crack, which only resorts to her backpack sliding off her back.

Oh, right. I have a backpack...Hold on!

Suddenly remembering WHAT she has in the backpack, Malaika reaches into the pack to grab a item that was made for this situation. "Now what if I use this...?"

*********

"Wait! I'm a friend!"

The bird warrior doesn't move her spear, but she seemed surprised. The other three dolls catch up to her, only to stop and stare at me with shock and awe.

"A human? But that's impossible..." Cyclops say nervously.

"Wait, you said you're a friend?" says Zipper, his voice hinted with excitement.

"Stand back guys." Bird Warrior warns with caution, "She could still be dangerous."

Shoelace on the other hand, doesn't listen and puts his mechanical hand on mine.

"Are you alright dear?" He asks with concern in his voice, "That fall must have hurt."

Odette isn't sure why, but she feels like she can trust this doll, so she gives him a weak smile. "I'm fine. A little sore, maybe a few bruises, but I'll live." She tries to stand up, grimacing from the pain. "And honestly, I should be asking you the 'Who are you' question. I mean, I've never seen anything like you before."

The bird warrior doesn't seemed phased, "Well, I'M asking you because all the humans should have been dead!"

Odette didn't even have to think about that, "Humans in this area, yes, but I'm not exactly from around these parts. Where I'm from? TONS of surviving humans."

The dolls gasp.

"No way!"

"R-really?"

"What?"

"Oh-ho! This is SMASHING! Absolutely SMASHING!" Shoelace is practically holding my entire hand at this point, clearly way too excited at the thought of human survivors, "Miss, is there any way that we can meet these other humans?" HUH?

"WHAT?" The other three are just as surprised as Odette, Bird Warrior especially. She tries to talk Shoelace out of it, "2, we can't just go with her. We don't even know if we can trust this human!"

The raven-haired woman can only sigh, "Unfortunately, you are right." Now, it was Bird Warrior's turn to look shocked. Odette continued, "Taking you guys to see the other humans will be tough, for a number of reasons. Reasons that I rather not name."

"Oh", Shoelace, for some reason is officially named 2, sighs dejectedly. Cyclops, feeling sorry for 2 gives him a pat on the shoulder and asks, "Well, are there any other humans with you at the moment?" 2 perks up at the question and waits for her answer.

"Just two others" Odette replied, "They're investigating other buildings in the area." "Is that why you're here?" Zipper asks, "To investigate the factory?"

"Yeah pretty much."

"But why?"

Odette suddenly remembers who exactly is in the same room as them.

"Well, you guys see that giant machine covered in a red flag?" The four dolls turn their heads to see what she's talking about. "Y-you mean that big scary thing?", Cyclops nervously asks.

"Yep, that right there is the Fabrication Machine. The one responsible for the War. I was sent here to find out how it turned against the humans in the first place, but there seem to be nothing here."

"In that case, since you can't find anything, I would personally LOVE to get out of this place before it creeps me out more!", Cyclops begs out of fear. Zipper nods, "Couldn't agree more." As the dolls turn to leave, Odette stops them. "Wait!" She yells, "At least let me help you four get out of here." "How?" Cyclops asks, confused. Odette bends down at their eye level, and extends her hands.

"Climb on me, I'll ride you out."

2 seems to like that idea, "What a splendid idea!" And without hesitation, steps aboard on her left hand. Zipper quickly follows, little light staff in hand. The other two however, were more reluctant. "It's ok," Odette assures them, "I won't drop you, you can trust me-er….you know, I don't think I ever got your names."

"And we never got yours," Zipper fires back, "I'm 9 by the way."

"And I'm 2. It's an honor to meet you!"

The other two gave each other a look, and finally walk over to my right hand.

Cyclops introduces himself shyly, "Um, my name is 5."

While Bird Warrior gives Odette a quick, "....7 is my name."

Named after numbers are we?

"My name is Odette. Nice to meet you all."