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“Our origin stitchpunks?” 12 asked.
10 nodded at the twins sitting on the floor,
“They are stitchpunks related to part of your soul. You know the legend of the main stitchpunks? Where half of them died and they’re souls ended up ascending from the heavens to recreate rain?”
“Yeah!” 11 spoke up cheerfully, “they’re the ones who are restoring life back right now on Earth!”10 smiled and dipped his head as a way to praise for being correct.
“Well, with each raindrop that are rained down, it contains part of one of the late stitchpunk’s soul from the bacteria. Their soul can never run out since they easily regenerate, so pouring parts of their souls down here on Earth is endless.“When rain started showing up, SARA witnessed strange green lights rising to the clouds and suddenly restoring rain. Curious, she analyzed the raindrops and learned that bacteria actually relates to the scientist’s souls. It’s a long and complicated detail on how she figured this out, but to make it short, she decided to make new stitchpunks with it. “She used a talisman her creator used to make her and added two raindrops in the device. Then, using a body she made, she activated it and the newly fused soul was transferred into the stitchpunk’s body. That was how I was made.”
11 optics glittered in awe,
“Baby 10......”
“Leven, please don’t make this lecture awkward than it already is,” 12 muttered.10 chuckled and blushed while scratching the back of his head,
“It’s ok. You...could say I was considered a baby at first before you guys.”
“Oh yeah!” She chirped, “can you tell us a story on how we were created.”
“Oh don’t worry, I’ll explain that to you later. Today I’m just teaching you about your origin stitchpunks.”“Ah,” she stopped smiling and stared in curiosity.
“I will tell atleast a bit about your creations. After we transferred your souls into your bodies, we were analyzing you two to make sure the process is a success. What caught us by surprise however is not only do you both have part of the deceased stitchpunk’s soul. But the ones still living right now.”“Wait what?” 12 snapped out of his daydreaming for a moment.
“Ooooo, really?!”
“We don’t know how it’s possible. You both are the first so far that has it. Our leader is still trying to figure it out. But yes, we now know it is possible to contain part of a living stitchpunk’s soul. However, most of your souls are for certain based on a deceased stitchpunk. We call them our Main Origin Stitchpunk, or Main Origin to put it shortly.“When two souls merge, there is always gonna be one of the them that takes the most space. And the bigger that part of your soul is, the most likely you would act like that stitchpunk more then the other.”
“So,” she blinked, “does that mean we are the reincarnation of those stitchpunks?”
“Tenchinally you can say that.”“You act like them, but that doesn’t mean you are duplicates of them. The fact that you are fused with two different souls, the way how you are experiencing your life right now, is what makes you yourself. A fused soul may even create few new personality in you that they never had.”10 paused,
“There is a catch though.”
11 and 12 looked at with a blank look.
“Not only do the late stitchpunk’s personality affect your actions. It’s their life experience, how they died, how their body and soul was treated before it was ascended.”“For example, if your Origin Stitchpunk was swallowed by a goblin, you would either like or be horrified by the goblin.”
“THERES A GOBLIN?!” 11 optic pupil went huge. Even 12’s optic slightly shrunk by the news of this.
“No no, I was just giving an example.”
“Ofcourse,” 12 mutttered while optic went back to normal.“Oh.” 11’s excited reaction disappeared.
“But anyways,” 10 continued, “I’m sure what that personality of yours can do. And I know you never saw what your life is like. But try to be careful. Your actions might end up repeating their history.”
“Oh yes,” he glared at 11, “especially SOMEONE is always putting herself into danger.”
The brown raggedy dressed stitchpunk made an soft embarrassed chuckle while rubbing the back of her head.“Oh!” Her shutters flew back open when she thought of something.
She quickly looked back at 10 raised her hand.
“Hm. Yes, Leven?”
“I have a question. If it’s true my soul came from my Origin Stitchpunks, does that mean they’re like me? That they believe that there might be some beasts that are innocent?”
Her face fully brightened she said this.10 was taken back.
Such full hope coming from her face....
He nervously looked at 12, hoping there might be a good answer to this. But he felt uncomfortable on doing it and just looked away. 10 has no choice but to say the best one he can think of.
“11,” he looked back at her, “besides you, we have never met any stitchpunk that can have the same opinion about the beasts being innocent as you.”“But I’m sure that’s because nobody here ever met my Origin Stitchpunks!” She continued looking excited, “So that means there’s a huge chance that one of them really does!”
10’s fist clenched. 11 stopped smiling, wondering what he was thinking.“Um.....y-yeah. I’m sure they are. Ju-“
He paused again. He walked and kneeled to put his hand on her shoulder. He smiled.
“Just don’t give that belief up. I’m sure there’s someone who sees the beasts the same way as you.”
“Mhmm!” She made a huge smile and dipped her head, “Yeah! Ok!”10 glanced at both of the twins.
“I think that wraps up the lesson on Origin Stitchpunks. Any questions?”
No answer.
“Alright then,” he fully stood up in satisfaction, “then you two are free to go.”
“Yay! Come on 12, let’s scout the Emptiness again!”
“Sure,” 12 said as she was rushing out of the room, “just give me a moment. I’ll catch up to you at the entrance.”“Okie dokie!” Her voice chirped from the distance. 12 bent down to get the backpack 11 crafted for him, as well as his weapon. He paused, sensing that 10 was gonna ask him something the moment he walked up to him.
“You were too scared to tell her too. Weren’t you.”
The dwarf male was silent for a moment.“Look. She may be cloud brained as she is. But she is smart enough to be aware of what people think of her. If we said even the slightest doubt of her pathetic viewpoint, it can affect her. Believe me...”
He put his pocket knife on his belt pocket.“The next thing I need is to see my sister upset.”
10 dipped his head seriously,
“Ofcourse.”
12 looked down on the ground for a moment and began walking out of the room.
“We’ll come back before sunset.”10 waited until he was out of his sight. He looked away, his mind dazed into the conversation he just had with the twins
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“......se wain ub predy la....”
“Giv....time, ...ARA. She’ll wake up eventually.”
She feels something lightly press unto her chest.
“I can hear her soul clearly now. She’s a girl.”
“A girl, huh? Nice. Our first female creation.”
There was a pause.
“Do you know the gender for the other one already?”
“I believe the other twin is a boy.”
“Do you think you can double check just in case? I’m gonna see if I can wake 11 up.”
“Yes, mam.”
She was conscious. Yet her body didn’t want to move. She didn’t feel like opening her eyes. She would like to see what’s going on around her, yet she’s not sure why she still feels sleepy.
She sensed someone knelt next her and put her on their lap.
“Come on now,” they said as she felt somebody massage their body, “ you need to wake up. You can’t be lying here forever.”
She then felt a hand pat her head many times.
Somehow with that patting, her whole body suddenly spark awake, she can now feel all the nerves on her body. The strange drowsiness was vanishing. Her eyebrows twitched.
“M...mmm!”
“Oh my....10! 10, come over! The first one is finally waking up!”
“Really?”
She heard another footstep run and kneel down close to her.
“Come on,” the male voice spoke in a gentle tone, “just try opening your eyes for us.”
She did as the voice told her. She flickered open her shutters, only to be met with a painful light.
“Mph...”
She squeezed them back shut and softly looked away.
“I know,” the male voice said again while comforting her by caressing her shoulder, “it hurt for me too. But your eyes will get use to it in a moment.”
Surprisingly enough, he was right. The pain went away in just few seconds, she turned to where the voices are coming from.
She flickered her eyes to see a bright lightbulb on the ceiling staring down at her. Two very blurry stitchpunks are shown somewhat covering the light with their heads. After several quick blinkings, their appearances got clearer. The was a male, brown attached shirt with dark brown buttons closing it up. He had some sort of strange thick pale brown fabrics on his head that is suppose to resemble his hair. He had a mixture of kindness yet excitement on his face
The female, on the right side, had a very light brown burlap, with a bizarre.....color beaded hat on her? Looks quite silly but it feels something she should laugh at. But she couldn’t, she’s still curious about everything around her. The female had a softer smile, a bit of pride on her face.
11’s huge pupils blinked. Her expression had a mixture of curiosity and awe. She wanted to see more. She started to try sitting up.
“Oh hey now,” he held her to retain her balance, “easy. Your body is still not fully awakened yet. Just take it nice and slowly.”
The female helped as well. Her arms felt a little wobbly, but she can feel her real strength building up everytime she uses them.
“There,” the male continued to smile right after she was able to sit upright.
“Now,” the female said as the two stitchpunks both let go of her, “can you speak? We heard you make a little sound just now, but we wanna make sure you can fully use your voice box.”
11 pondered about their question. She made a little sound, her hand touching to where the sound is coming from. She can hear her voice. She looks up, looking at both of them.
She has no idea who they are. But they treating her kindly, almost like they are family. Her eyes continued to gaze at them.
“Are we friends?”
Her voice box was a little static. Though it could be because those were the very first words she ever spoken. The two were a bit surprised by her first question. They glanced at each other.
They looked back at her smiling.
“Well ofcourse we are,” the male chuckled, “why else are we helping you?”
She felt her heart flutter...engine flutter? Whatever she should call it, she felt a very warm feeling on her chest. Her optic glistened in awe from the answer.
She made a moment of pause. And she made her very first smile. Her eyes lightly closed, giggling in happiness,
“Yay! Friends!”
The two chuckled by her attitude.
“Well you’re an adorable little one,” he said, “you also have sort of a little girl voice. It fits you. A-atleast you’re comfortable with me saying it!”
“No no!” She smiles huge, “I actually like my voice! It’s all cutsie!”
She felt a hand hold her chin and it made her turn her face to the female. She examined her and she smile warmly.
“What confidence you have. Such energy.”
She let go of her. She dipped her head.
“You will make a great warrior someday,11.”
She wasn’t sure what she meant by that. But she smiled again, taking it as a compliment.
“I’m gonna go ahead and mark her calendar down,” he stood up and walked over to a calendar laying against the wall. He grabbed a pen, soaked with red ink and marked something on one of the days.
“11....April 13th....and done.”
She tilted her head when she sees the marking on his back.
10
She guesses his name must be 10. She looks at the female and started crawling around her.
“Oh, what are you doing?”
She looked at her back.
“S?”
“Oh,” she lightly smiled, “you’re figuring out my name. Call me SARA. I’m going to be the leader of this new group.”
“Ah, SARA! Nice to meet ya!”
“Yes. And you know what you’re name is, right?”
“Yes! It’s 11.”
“Good. It’s good you’ve awoken knowing your name.”
11 nodded. Then thought of something and started rubbing her back.
“Hey. SAMMIE?”
“It’s SARA.”
“Do I have a marking on my back too?”
“Ofcourse you do. You wanna see it?”
“Yeah!”
“Ok. Come.”
She helped her up. She also helped her with her first steps while taking her over to the mirror.
“Good,” she put her in front of it, “now let me-“
“AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!”
The two jumped in shock, from the newborn’s scream. 10 quickly turned to her,
“H-hey, are you ok?!”
“N-NO!” She took steps back with one hand covering her chest and the other covering her crutch, “DON’T LOOK AT ME! DON-!”
She tripped back, startling 10 in worry.
“Woah hey, just calm dow-“
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME I WAS NAKED?!” She blurted out.
The two both froze.
“W....what?” 10 eyes shrunk, finding what she just said very unexpected.
The newly awakened female quickly look around, still in panic, and spotted a curtain. She quickly got up and started running.
“W-wait! You’re body is still not use t-!”
She tripped again, falling face first.
“....to running yet.”
A moment later, she got up again, showing no sign of injury, and continue running to the curtain until she entered and disappeared from it.
“Well I’m glad she didn’t break her optics.” SARA walked up frowning, “but she is quite a weird one.”
10 made a soft laugh,
“I honestly like it. She’s weird, but in a fun way.”
“I...guess.”
“Ughh...”
The two stiffened by a voice they never heard before.
They turned to where it was coming from.
Next to where 11 awakened, another stitchpunk with darker toned burlap was waking up. They were holding their head and getting up.
“What the hell was that awful scream?” The said in a male preteen tone, “it’s giving my head migraines. And what’s with this painful light?”
They gazed at them and looked at each other.
“Hey,” she smiled and shrug, “it’s a good thing we didn’t need to try waking up the other one.”
They both walked down and kneeled down in from of them. 10 grabbed a crafted stethoscope and put it on their chest, all the while with them trying to soothe their head.
“Yep! A boy.”
12’s eyes opened and look at the other male with a soft glare.
“What? Do I look like a girl to you?”
“U-u-uh, no! We just wanted to make sure you really are a boy.”
He looked unsatisfied.
“Uh-Huh.”
“Well then,” he rubbed his head trying to smile, “happy awakening day, 12.”
“He looks tough,” SARA examined his expression, “such boldness in his eyes. You will become a great warrior too.”
“Oh um,” the male newborn looked at her in surprise, “I...”
He cleared his throat and blushed, but looked away, trying to look careless.
“Sure, thanks.”
10 smiled and wanted to laugh on the look on the young man’s reaction.
“I’m glad you are awake today then,” he got up, “you can share the same awakening day as her.”
12 looked back at 10 walking to the calendar.
“As who?”
The curtain flung open again, causing the three to all turn. 11 has reappeared panting, but now with a dark brown sheet wrapped around her body. It took two ropes to tie it so it won’t slip out.
“There,” she presses her fists against her waist in pride, “much better! So how do I see my marking?”
Her eyes traced to 12.
The two now locked eyes with each other.
“Hey,” She said tilting her head, “Who is he?”
“Yeah,” he pointed at her in awkward confusion, “Who the heck is she?”
10 blinked and smiled. SARA smirked and chuckle.
“11,” She she gestured her hand towards the other newborn, “This is 12.“
She looked at him.
“12,” She gestured her hand back to the female newborn, “This is 11.”
“You have both awakened today, few minutes apart from each other.”
“Born few minutes apar-?”
12 paused
“Wait,” he slightly narrowed, “Are you telling us that we’re twins?”
11’s pupil softly grew. She looked back at 12.
“Twins....” she almost whispered.
12 looked at her again too. She froze for another moment.
She slowly formed a very huge smile.
12’s pupil quickly shrank.
“Oh curse my foolish mou-“
He didn’t even have time to react, cause he was bombarded by her body, nearly slamming him to the ground.
“I HAVE A BROTHER!!!”
She was tightly embracing him, her eyes squeezed shut, while her cheek pressed against and nuzzling it.
“Woah woah hey, what the hell are you doing to me?!”
He starts trying to pull her away,
“Get. Ooofff mee!” He harshly groaned.
“IM SO HAPPY! I ALWAYS WANTED A SIBLING!”
“What do you mean?!” He made a huge glare at her, “you were just born minutes ago!”
“So were you, silly dilly!” She giggled.
“Gosh, what is wrong with you?! Get off me! You let go of me right now, you dimwit!”
SARA and 10 looked on in silence. As strange as these two’s first impression with each other was, he just smiled even more.
“This hideout is gonna be quiet from now on,” he laughed and turned back to the calendar. SARA looked on in awkward silence, watching 12 keep on struggling until he gave up. He sat there in small humiliated defeat while 11 still embraced and nuzzled him.
10 grabbed his red ink again and updated the day on the calendar.
“11 and 12. Awakened on April 13th, the third year of the Stitchpunk.”
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Fast paced running sounds are heard until one foot halted and so did the rest of the body. Her eyes looked out at what she was seeing, with 12 and SARA meanwhile catching up and and doing the same. 12 blankly gazed, the leader looked to not be intrigued by it, but has known it to the point where she accepted it. They outside of their hideout. The twins’ first time stepping out into the Emptiness. The male dwarf slowly looked about.“What happened here?”SARA was silent for a short while.“Machines,” her voice had a dark tone.“Machines are what happened.”They stood there, taking in this new world. “B-But wait,” 11 looked at her in confusion, “W-where’s the blue sky? The walking tall people? The horsies? The birdies? From the picture book?” They’re gone?”“Huh?”“Everything was killed,” she looked back out of it, “This is all that’s left. I told you both before. This is why we call it the Emptiness. It’s nothing but...complete emptiness.” “You don’t say,” 12 continued to stare out. “Huh....what a waste.”11 looked back at it in silence, the wind lightly picking up her brown ragged dress. The sky was either green, grey, or black. Everything was nearly colorless... “Mm. Uh,” she looked down. “Well...I...think it’s pretty great!” 12 quickly looked at her with eyebrows furrowed.“Oh good, what do you have in mind this time, Leven?”“Well. You see, maybe the point that even though it lifeless, there can still be a ray of sunshine and goodness about it! Maybe we can find even a small portion of a pretty flower!” 12 gave a sort of disgust expression now.“You’re not seeing what’s in front of you, are you?”“I do!” She chirped“We can’t waste time arguing,” the eldest told them. “Come. We need to gather more fabric and burlaps to repopulate our community.” And thus off they went. ————- “Huh,” she picked up a nickel from a pile, “I wonder why these things are all stacked here. Are they needed for something?”“They’re not,” SARAH spoke while looking around, “they’re just piece of junks. It’s why we called them that.”“Piece of junks? But doesn’t 10 collect one of these things?” “Anything that could craft a stitchpunk, weapons, kit supplies. But not these kinds. They’re just junks.” 11 frowned. She looked at the nickel and held it up to the dark sky. It glistened the remaining light of it hit it. She gave a pleasured look.“It can be useful,” she set it down on her kneeled lap, “maybe we can use it as some sort of entertainment.” She glanced about.“Uhhh, look at this one.”She picked out a smooth pale blue fabric,“This can be used as a new casual clothing. O-or look!”She sees a rolled up light blue ribbon thread, and grabs it, pulling rolling out part of the ribbon.“This can be used to make a pretty bow tie. Oh that would be so cutsie!” “11,” SARA said while 12 continued scavenging the other piles, “I understand your idea on focusing to invent entertainment for us. But that’s not how this world is anymore. This world is all about survival.”“But,” the female dwarf softly frowned, “it doesn’t ALWAYS need to be-“ “Hey SARA, take a look at this,” 12 spoke out to her while picking up something.“Sure,” she walked to him, “what did you find?” “It looks like some sort of pocket knife.” 11 stacked the ones she found in her backpack while the leader is distracted, “I think it’s a torn off steel shard?” “Hm,” SARA pondered as 11 zipped her backpack closed, “sounds very useful. We have a thick wooden stick as our leftover. Maybe you can give it a tie around it and make it your weapon. Put it in your belt for now.” “Will do,” he said as he stuffed it unto his belt pocket.”“Now then,” the creator of the twins fully stood up, with 11 already putting back on her backpack and rejoining them. “Shall we get go-?”A snarl is heard in the very distance. The three all turned to the sound, then with the twins looking around from the What the sound’s whereabout is now. 11 blinked and kept turning her face in blank expression.“Huh,” she spoke, “I wonder what th-““SHH!” SARA’S body tensed. She was reaching for the large pocket attached to her hip while trying to listen to it. It wasn’t a snarl again, but echoed distant footsteps are heard getting closer. Her eyes harshly narrowed. She dug in the pocket and picked up a small stick.“A beast...” She pressed on a button, and the stick out stretched to reveal a knife at one end and a small marble attached to the end. 12, as soon as she said this, quickly went close to 11 and use one hand to hold onto his sister, while the other pulled back out the shard he just found. 11 glanced at 12’s behavior.“W-wait,” she frowned, “you mean the creatures we heard of that roam this place?” “12,” She whispered a command, “go and take 11 to hide behind the pile. I’m going to give you both a good demonstration on how to take one of these things down.”The dark tone dwarf, dipped his head and quickly escorted the pale one behind the nearest one, all the while hissing at her to be quiet everytime she made a questioned sound. SARA meanwhile also hide, but at the other side of the road. 12 and 11 bent down. 11, with her mouth covered by her brother’s palm, can hear him heavily breathing. Being beside him nearly all the time, she can sense fear within him. But despite this, his arm around her won’t let go, even if she tried to be released, as well as his other hand tightly gripping his weapon. It was obvious that despite how scared he was, he was ready to go full out and defend him and his sister at all cost. The ground slightly shook. And it kept getting stronger and stronger each few seconds it returned. 12 peeked out. 11 peeked out underneath, his grip not letting her look out any further. As she scary as this were, she curious. She wants to know what exactly they looked like. The mysterious creature is somewhat invisible. It somehow has the same color as the area they are in. Stopping one foot down, it was now at the road between to junk piles where the scouting group were hiding. It skin changed in almost some sort of static effect, revealing its rusty brown color. It had a shape of a huge lizard. It’s huge hole like mouth remained open, with tons of circled teeth within. Many tiny eyes above it appeared and it looked around in a snarl. 12’s grip was now feeling tighter, his mouth quivering.“Bloody hell...”The male’s voice whispered softly, she almost couldn’t understand what he just said. The beast’s huge oval mouth opened slightly more until huge spotlight shot out of it. It’s head turn sideways repeated, as if it was frantically searching for something, and took slow steps forward to continue on the hunt. 11 stared at it in silence. Now was her time to shrink her pupil, to feel her pulse racing, to whimper in horror, to beg for it to disappear. ......... None. None of those followings. Not even a bit. Her pupil grew a bit. No...this is the opposite. She kept staring at the horrifying demon, with it making a soft snarl. Her optic glass reflected its every movement.This....this thing is- A weapon staff flew in, breaking throw the back of the head and nearly exiting it mouth. It let out a very painful screech. 11’s eyes quickly shrank a lot, she made a terrified high pitch gasp.It kept on screech in pain until it was cut out by a sharp object going through it head. It glitched and collapsed limp on the ground with an explosive-like thud sound. The dust nearly covered the view of the body. SARA, who was now at the top of the pile, slid down and examined the creature’s face. She looked out at the smaller stitchpunks still hidden.“It’s a goner. You two can come out now.” 12 sighed in relief and looked to see his sister in huge shock.“It’s ok,” he patted her back, “we’re good for now.”He left her there, thinking that she will follow him, but she remained in her kneeled position.
With the second awoken one of the dwarves walking close to the machine, he looked out the damage.“Woah...it only took two hits,” he murmured in amazement and turned to her.“H-how did you do that?!”She chuckled, “Practice, kiddo. As well as speculating other wandering stitchpunks doing it. It takes few years to master something like that. That’s why it’s always appropriate to be with a group in order to use the help to destroy them.” She grabbed weapon within the beast’s mouth, careful not to touch its spikes teeth and pulled it out. The mouth made a short large spark as response.“Good,” she smiled at her weapon, “didn’t get damaged.”11 continued to looked out of what she was seeing frozen. “So...” 12’s eyebrow raised, “the only key to developing your fighting skills is to speculate? And attempt to kill a beast.”“Yes for the first question, no for the second.”11 was standing up.“Since you are a beginner,” 11 walked to them while SARA continued lecturing, “you would need to work with a dummy to perfect your aim and agility. Once you’ve done that you can try fighting it with the assistant of someone who has mastered the skill.” 11 walked passed them and kneeled in front of the corpse. “Don’t worry,” SARA smiled at him while pressing her fist against her hip, “through time, you guys will become great fighters before you know it.”“Why......” The creator and her brother looked at her when she softly spoke in a shaky tone.“Oh. Well,” SARA looked down, “it’s just how the world is now. It’s understandable to cope this feeling when you have just seen such a horrific being like this. I know the fear and hatred you’re feeling. But I’ll help you with you’re training so you can also protect both yourselves and your group.” 12 honestly did feel pity for that dimwit. Even he was terrified. If the beast found them, he wasn’t sure if he could drive it off. He never saw anything so petrifying in his life. He wanted to comfort her but...no, that would be cheesy. “W-why....?”Her body trembled, her voice starting to choke from incoming sobbing.“Oh darling,” SARA cooed as she bent down near her, “Come here...”“WHY DID YOU KILL IT?!”She has sharply turned to her. There were mix of tearfulness, anger and confusion. The older female was taken back by her strange comment. “Woah now, 11. Whatever are you talking about?”“Why did you had to kill that beast?!” She gestured to the beast, her voicebox developing a soft static, “it didn’t even try to attack!” SARA stares at her in silence. 12 stares at her in silence. They were both staring at her in silence.Wh...what?The huge confusion crept up at her twin’s head.What in the world is she saying? What’s going on in that head of hers?Sure, there are lots of idiotic and strange 11 has said in done. But no stitchpunk, not even the outsiders, has ever said anything like this. “It would have attacked you,” SARA spoke again narrowing, “if it saw you.”“You don’t know that,” her hands rest on the machine, “you BOTH don’t know that!” She rest her face on the body and let out a sob. SARA stared for a moment. She clenched her first. But it then release, with her taking a deep breath. She smiled and patted her back.“Now now. You can’t see it now, but as we keep fighting off more beasts, you will. Just trust me. I wouldn’t lie to you? Would I?” She kept on sobbing.“Come on,” She said, “let’s keep going.”She shook her head, the creator sighing as a reaction.“12, help 11 up please. I’ll wait for you two.”She starts waking off, but slowly. He looked at his sister and took few steps closer to her. “You heard the woman,” he told the crying girl, “we need to keep moving.”“W-wait!” She spoke out loud enough for her creator to turn. 11 trembled.“C....”Her lowered.“Can we give it a funeral?” SARA paused and fully turned her body to the direction the dwarf.“I’m sorry. What did you say back there?”“A funeral. Everyone deserves a funeral. We can’t just treat it like it’s nothing.”12 was taken back more by her next comment. SARA narrowed, but tried to soften it. “Don’t say such silly things, 11. Now let’s go.” “I’m serious,” she softly begged, “I’m not being silly this time!” “THATS ENOUGH!”“Eep!” her body slouched and stiffened , but never turned her look at her. 12, although agreed with SARA that her viewpoint is silly, was in shock by her outburst. He turned to 11, where her face was revealed to be badly startled by this, her eyes filled fear and confusion by her sudden behavior The elder calmed.“We need to keep going.”She turned back to the horizon.He doesn’t know why he felt and thought this way, but...His hand clenched.“Wait,” he said, “let me help 11 carry her bag.” “That’s fine,” SARA replied, “just try making it quick. It could be hours, but to us, the sun will set faster than expected. And we can’t waste our training standing here.”“I understand, mam.”12 looked back at 11 still not letting go of the huge corpse. He crouched down next to her and held her shoulder. “No, please!” She hugged the machine with a choked up tone, “please let me just do thi-!”“Shh!” He hissed a whisper while he grabbed her away from it and forced her to turn to him, “shut your loud mouth and listen!”He made a long whisper to his sister. SARA remained staring at the horizon, with few minutes passed. She was wondering if she should remind them until she head footsteps. She glanced to see 12 walk up while holding the other dwarf’s backpack.“Has she come to her senses.”“She is. She’s just trying to cope with the reality.”“Understandable....” Not even a second he asked,“So what was that beast called?”“Oh the one we just killed? Well, we call it the Beastmeleon. According to a book I once read, it tries to resemble a chameleon, which is why it’s called that.”She starts to softly turned to the beast to demonstrate its appearance. “What’s a chameleon?” Her turning was interrupted by him. She stared at him impressed and smirked.“Heheh. You’re a curious child today, aren’t you?”“Don’t call me that again,” he muttered with an irritated glare. “It’s just nice to know that you want to learn for once. What’s with the change of heart. Tell me, it’s you trying to protect your sister, isn’t it?”“No? I don’t even give a crap about her. I just let her tag with me so the group doesn’t criticize me for being a meanie.” “Mmhmm. Well, since you asked, I’ll tell you what I know. You see, the chameleon were once animals that would use their skin to-“They hear another footsteps and turn to see 11 staring blankly at the ground. She looked up at SARA.“Oh hi 11,” She smiled, “you feeling ready to scout again?” 11 nodded. “Good. I know you would come to your senses somehow,” she rubbed her head.“Let’s continue on then.”They walked away from the area. 12 decided to look to see how 11 is doing. Instead, he realized she was already looking back at him. She was giving a blank look. Then she smiled. “Ew,” he said in disgust, “don’t give me that look. If you did that to other people, they will discover how dumb you are.”She softly giggled.“I know.” As the the trios were disappearing from the horizon, the sun broke out of the clouds. It shined down at the dead beast. The nickel, which was now covering half the creature’s eyes, glittered in response.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Are we there yet?”“No.”“Are we there yet?” “No.”“Are we there yet?”“No.”“Are we there yet?” He made a loud breath take in frustration and lowered his drawn map. “Leven,” he said, “if we DID, I would tell you.”She frowned,“But are we there there yet?”“NO!” He yelled at her in irritation, “WE! ARE NOT! HOME YET!”“Oooohhh,” she moaned and raised her head high up to face the sky while swinging her leg as she’s waking, “but I wanna go home already!” “I miss everybody! 10, 19, 15, 17!”She made a brief pause.“....SARA.”12 can understand by the tone of her voice and blank expression when she mention that leader’s name. He looked down in anger.“Crap her,” he muttered, “if she does anything stupid to you again when we get back, I’ll make sure she doesn’t do it again.” “12,” she turned in concern, “I don’t hate her.”“Sure you do. Just like you do with everyone else who tries to hurt you. Always being the nice warrior of the group.”“It’s not that,” she shook her head, “I just know she must have went through so many things before she made us.”“And that doesn’t give her the right to change your viewpoint.”She stopped speaking. She sadly looked down. He took a quick look at her. He looked away and sighed.“Here,” he started to change the subject, “let me show you something in case you forgot.”He gestured her close to him and they stopped walking.“Hm?” She looked down at the map he has taken out. “Ok,” he pointed at the empty part of the map, “we’re...oh wait.”He knelt down, along with her. He asked 11 for an ink pen and gave it to her. He took off the lid containing the ink, thank his sister for inventing it, and drew a very simple drawing of the battlefield. He crossed out the drawing of a trench, which was circled, and traced a line from there to the battlefield drawing. He circled around it.“Ok,” he spoke again putting the lid back on before pointing at it, “we are here. We have atleast twenty minutes to get out of this place. When we do it should take us few hours before we are safely back home.” “Though in case we get split up...” he looked around and noticed something on the horizon.“You see that sunset?” he shaded his optics and pointed at it.“Ouch,” her optics were blinded for a moment and looked out at it again, “Uhuh?” “That’s our destination. That is where our hideout is located. You keep following the sunset. If you loose it, stay at the safest place you are. Don’t go anywhere until the sun starts setting again. Better yet, if the sun is rising, walk away from it. That’s another way to get back to the hideout. We should either bump into each other again or we meet up at entrance. Got it?” “Mmhmm!” She quickly nodded with a confident smile. “Good,” he smiled a bit for a moment pleased.“Now,” he put the map on the bag and they both stood back up, “since we got that covered, let’s get the hell out of here. This place keeps on giving me a creep.” “That’s funny,” she tilted her head while looking at him, “you barely get spooked by things.”“Oh shut it,” he softly squinted, “it’s just one of those rare occasions where I do, ok?” “Hmm....” she pondered. She...could guess why this could be this way.“And don’t freaking say that it’s because my main origin might have died here. This feeling is almost the same as went went passed that burnt down building. You being a theorist.” “We passed an abandoned city...”His pupil mockingly went huge and try to imitate his sister’s little girl tone.“‘Oh! That could be where my main origin died in!’ We go pass a library, ‘Oh! That might be where they died in’! Seriously, those ghosts mean nothing to who we are. So don’t guess that my main origin perished here! They could have died anywhere for all I care...” “Oh, ok,” she shifted her leg awkwardly, “I just believe that if we learn more about who are origin stitchpunks are, then we can understand more on who we-!”“Shh!” He grabbed her wrist, “get down!”The ran for the nearest hiding spot. They peeked out. A big spider beast passed by, but carrying something on its back. It appears to be a glass shard. It went pass by where the duos were hiding and disappeared from down the small hill. “Another one?” 12 furrowed his brow in confusion, “this is the third time we’ve seen them like this. What exactly are they even doing with these junks?” “Maybe the beasts are coming together to host a tea party,” 11 spoke.“Yeah, that would be possible if we all had somtah.”“I think it’s called stomach, 12.”“Whatever. We have to keep going.”He sets off. 11 takes a last glance at the direction the beast headed off to. Then followed after him. ———- “There’s the barbed fence. It’s our ticket out of here. Keep going.”11 nodded and followed him. Her engine was slightly warming up, but it’s not bad. She can make it atleast 3 hours more of walking. All they need to do is get out of this area and they can finally camp out. The sun has already started to touch the horizon, the stars starting to appear. There was huge stormy cloud in the distance, so it seems they may need to also take shelter. “How’s your engine doing?” He ask her.“A bit warm, but I can make it through this!” She have him a reassuring smile. “Good. Just need us to walk a little longer and then call it a day.”She dipped her head.His walking slowed, causing 11 to make the lead. “I can’t wait to go home,” she said, “we’ve been walking for days!” “Yeah yeah,” he said, “but-“He halted, falling completely silent.“But what?” “Shh!”He looked around. He could of sworn he heard something again.11 also fell silent and looked around. A distant shriek was heard. “What’s that sound?”“Must be another beast,” he said taking out a folded stick and throwing it upward for it to unfold and form into a spear stick. He caught and held it tightly, looking around in defense. 11 held him as a way to make her feel safe, while still glancing about. The shriek was getting louder but he cant see a beast anywhere on the ground. He blinked.Unless it’s in....He looks up. A strange flying thing is dashing down towards them.“LEVEN RUN RUN RUN!!”He immediately pushes her, and his sister’s body immediately started dashing despite not knowing what’s happening.
The beast crashed where they use to stand at, tripping and sliding towards them. 12 was able to look back and pulled 11 down to the ground along with him.“AHHHH!” 11 shrieked in fear. 12 embraced her tightly as the beast barely hit them, only it’s arm sliding past above them. 12 waited until he stopped hearing the surprise guest slid to a stop. He looked up at it, trying to get up before he held his sister up in a kneeled position. She was leaned against her brother, whimpering and holding him tightly.“Hey!” He quickly turned to her, “look at me! Are you hurt?”She looked and quickly shook her head. “Ok,” he patted her back and then muttered, “dammit!” They hear the beast again and the both looked at it in alert. It has now stood up and turned to them. It shrieked. The beast had a head that looks like a reptile, it’s had legs, and a lantern on its back.“Wh...what kind of beast is that?” She murmured in fear. But 12 spent no time in figuring that out.“Hide somewhere!”“But 12 you can’t fight by-!”“GO!” He made her get up and push her. She dashed out to look for a hiding place. Meanwhile, 12 quickly got up and saw the beast already charging at him. Having no time to form a fighting tactic, he instead shield himself with a spear and the beast knocked him down on the ground. 12 grunted as he keeps pushing its jaw away from him with the stick. 11 stopped running and looked back in fear of what she’s seeing.“12!!”The beast heard her and was turning to see her when he was interrupted by a pocket knife flying onto one of its eye and shrieking in pain. Once he did so, he grabbed his spear again and skidded away from the beast, standing up.“WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU CLOUD HEADED TRAMP! HIDE!!”She whimpered, but went to a bean bag nearby and hid behind it. He looked back at it, his hands tightly gripped unto the spear. The beast regain control from the pain, and looks down at the male dwarf snarling. “That’s right,” he said, “just focus on me. No one else. Just you and me.”They faced and glared and each other in silence. 11 slowly peeked out and looked out the scene, completely concerned for him. They stood there for a minute. The beast charged, but he dodged in time. He leapt and head for the neck but it slapped him away before he can even do so. He shook his head, got up, and dashed back at it. Before it did anything, he made a long slid underneath its belly. When it was backing away to look down and try finding him below its body, he took that opportunity to leap and go for the neck again. Somehow, it lowered its head enough while checking closer and the spear missed. “DAMMI-oof!”He fell back on the ground. He was gaining conscious when he heard a shriek and saw it extend its arm and lunge it towards. He tried dodge again, but the beast grabbed the ribbon of his helmet.“Ah! Nngh!” He struggled to break free as the beast hoisted him up with a snarl. He grab a picket knife from the other side of his belt pocket and threw it at its eye again. It quickly caught it with its claw. It extend the arm and threw it back at him. He gasped and try to catch- “AHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!” He screeched in excruciating pain when it felt as if his entire left hand exploded. He realized that the picked knife impaled through it. And not matter hard he tried to move it, it is clear he has lost all function of it.Damn it.....damn it damn it damn it!!!!!!! He saw the beast open it’s mouth. His eyes shrunk. He use as much strength with one hand to pry open his helmet, successfully taking it off and following on the ground. As soon as he did so, he suck in his lips harshly, hissing at the pain still throbbing on his paralyzed left hand. He heard something. He looked and-The beast flail it’s hand and it slammed against 12, sending him flying and hitting him against a boulder, immediately knocking him. During this, his bag flew to a different direction, landing right near where 11 was standing. She glanced at it and back up at the scene in horror. The beast targeted 12 again. It crept towards him. 11 kept staring helplessly, her pupils shaky.“12....” her voice cracked. She suddenly took notice of something on the ground. Something that slipped off the bag. A small harpoon. Her eye glued onto it.
“This is not the kind of world we live in.”
“Machine never have souls. It’s impossible.”
“If you watch and do nothing while you’re brother gets killed, the cause of his death will be you’re doing.”
“Do you want to become a murderer?! Do you want everyone to see you as one?!”
The glass of her optics reflected on the weapon... The beast approached the male dwarf’s unconscious body. It opened it mouth, ready to finish him off.“HEY!”It turns. It see a blue bow headed dwarf out of her hiding place. She looks at him with mixture of fear and the will to protect her brother. On her trembling hands, she’s holding the harpoon. “I-I said hey! If you....if you kill my brother. If,” she tried not to choke up, “if you...take a step closer....I-I.....”She looks down at the weapon. She shakingly raises it.“I-I’ll kill you....”The best stared at her. It quickly crawls towards her. 12 groaned and flickered open his eyes. Everything is blurry, but it softly gets clear. He sees the beast heading towards her and his sister is out of her hiding spot.“Ugh...Leven...?”Once his vision was fully clear he sees her aiming the harpoon at it.“You hear me?” She whimpered, “I’ll kill you...” “Wait,” he his eyes, “what are you...?”Her eyes became very tearful. Her finger began touching trigger.“Hey....” he slowly got up, “Hey! Hey hey hey, stop! That’s not what you want, dammit!” Her mind seemed shut off from the world. She was too focused on trying to finish the beast off while trying not to let her screaming heart get the beast of her. “Leven! Leven put it down!” He dashed to her to her in panic but determined to get to her on time, “STOP!!” The beast opened its mouth wide. Her arm trembled violently. She turned her face away and squeezed her eye shut, followed by another whimper. Her fingers began to start pulling the trigger. At this point, he needed to use all the energy his engine can give him.“SIS!!! DONT DO IT! STOP!!!”He got to her on time and hit her out of the way with his body. His first hitting the side of her head caused her to completely black out. He grabbed the harpoon. The beast lunged it’s mouth at him. He aimed the gun, his eyes glowed green and he pulled the trigger. ——————— She woke up. She has no idea how she knocked out. Must be from her engine overheating. She softly got up, rubbing the side of her head that feels as though somebody threw a pebble on her. She heard a soft yelping sound. She turned to where the sun was setting. It’s that beast again. She took notice that one of its arm fell, leaving sparks flying out where it use to be attached. Gaping it’s mouth open in pain, something slid off. It hit the ground. She stared at it. Very slowly she got up. She walks towards it while the beast was distracted. She came closer and close and.... She halts. Her mind calculate what she was seeing. ........ Her pupils slowly shrunk with horror. The thing that fell out was a stitchpunk. A dwarf stitchpunk with a darker tone than her. It had a huge hole on both the front and back, huge sparks flying out on the exact location the engine would be. The marking no doubt had the number “12”. Her body was paralyzed.Her voice unable to come out of her throat.Her body suddenly went cold. The beast now looked at her, ready to target her first. It moved until it tripped for not having its other arm. It struggled to get back up. It flared at her for what felt like a long time. Somehow, during this, she no longer fear the thought of it killing. She’s not scared of dying. It gave in. It looked down at the body. It scooped it with it mouth. Then flew off. Her mind snapped out from being frozen. She moved again.“W.....wai.....WAIT! WAIT!!!!!”She ran after stop.“STOP! STOP!!!!”She nearly trip. “THAT’S MY BROTHER’S....NO NOOO!!!!!” Her running slowed, her breathing getting heavy from how much her chest was hurting. She watched in shock as it got farther and farther away until it disappeared. She froze. She collapsed on her knee. She wouldn’t stop staring at it for a long time. She slowly look down, raising both of her shaky hands to lock sight with. Her shrunken pupils continued staring at them.
“If you watch and do nothing while you’re brother gets killed, the cause of his death will be you’re doing.”
The sun completely disappeared from the horizon, causing the sky to darken into dusk. Her hands now trembled violently, her mouth also trembling as a hysterical whimpering was heard. She clenched her hands. Her shrunken pupil quickly close. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” She continued her bloodcurdling screams and cries. In a place where no one can hear her. Where her brother or anyone in her group can no longer rush and comfort her. She is now all alone. It was to that very day....she made a vow to never have anyone die in front of her again.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
10 is seen making a new stitchpunk body. He gently puts the second optic on it and presses it down, hearing a sparking sound that means that it should successfully be connected with the input. SARA walks into the crafting room.“How is 17 coming along?”“Doing good. Both optics are successfully in place.”“Engine?” “Successfully in place.” She digs through the opened burlap located on the body’s chest and checks.“You’re correct. Good. We will flip it over and put the marking. We should be ready to bring 17 to life after that.”He nodded, looking forward to who this new stitchpunk will be like. He helps flip 17 over.“Grab the ink pen.”He grabs it from the corner, careful with the drips and lightly wrote on the stitchpunks back. He pulls it back to clearly see the number “17” written there.“Not messy?”“It’s perfect.” 10 smiles in pride.“I hope they like it too.”15 runs in all fours. She quickly crawls over and pats 10, then at SARA.“15?” She looks down at her, noticing a sense of alarm in the blind girl’s expression, “what’s going on?” “SARA, it’s 11.”SARA facepalm.“She bailed out of training again did she,” She muttered to herself. She did remember moments before she left to check on 10, she was making an excuse that she wants to take a break cause her chest was aching and all those kinds of stuff. But she knows that she only said that so she doesn’t need to learn how to become a fighter. “Do you know where she went?” She look back down at 15.“SARA,” She looks at her completely serious, “11 blacked out.” 10 mouth slightly drooped, not certain if he should believe it.“W-wait,” the creator said, “what do you mean by that?” “11 fainted during training. 12 was luckily able to catch her before hitting the ground. But she hasn’t woken up yet.”SARA froze.“For the love of....10, get your supply kit! Quickly!” 10 did so as soon as she said this and he ran after her. 15 was taking the lead and they were running through the hallway.“So what exactly happened?” SARA demanded for the explanation. “We were doing small running laps after push up, just like you asked me to coach them before you left. 12 noticed 11 was running slower and when he went over to her, 11 murmured something, ‘12, I feel slee...” and that was when she collapsed in his arms. Last I heard, he’s trying to wake her up.” 12? Waking 11 up? She shouldn’t be too surprised though. She has known that the grumpy boy had a soft spot for 11 since their first scouting. That time when 12 ran back to find her when she suddenly went missing. “Ok....let’s hurry it up.”The kept running. Eventually, they started hearing shouting of a familiar voice.“You damn fool....WAKE UP! DONT BE PLAYING TRICKS ON ME, YOUR BETTER THAN THIS! WAKE UP, DAMN YOU!” 16 and 14 are shown outside. 14 is crying like a traumatize child and 16 just tries to comfort him. They let the three enter the big room where 13 was shown looking down at the scene until he heard them come in.“COME ON! Hey....HEY-!”“12,” SARA walked close to him. He turned to her, in frustration and irritation. But it was obvious that he was terrified. Cradled on his arms was 11’s upper body. The rest of her body was just stretched out and limp like a lifeless doll. Her mouth moved a bit, softly wheezing due to the struggle on trying to breathe, but there was barely any struggling expression on her face.“She’s alive,” 10 frowned, “but...”“Analyze her.” 10 did so and kneeled down. He pressed his hand against her chest. Almost immediately, his eyes shrunk.“Her engine.....”“What about her engine?” SARA look, hoping she won’t hear what he’s going to say but felt like she needed to.“It’s warm....REALLY warm.” He frowned now really worried and murmured,“How did it get like it this fast....just by doing push ups and running?!”“10.”He looked at the leader. “Take her to the clinic.”He nodded and carried her out of 12’s arms. “Hey! wait!”12 quickly sat up.“How the hell should I know that she will be ok?!”The first born turned to him, saddened on seeing her brother so desperate. “The best you can do is to wait out the door of the clinic. That’s all I can give you.”He exists the room while her body continued limping. 12 sucked his lip stressfully. Taking a deep breath, he followed after them. ———— 12 was sitting near the clinic door, embracing his leg and staring sown at the ground silently and angrily blaming himself in his thought of how he should have took 11’s symptoms seriously. Meanwhile, 11’s eye were wide open with nothing but statics due to the magnet very close to her head. She is no longer wearing clothes and the stitch on her chest is opened up to reveal her skeletal structures. SARA is diagnosing while 10 continued to hold her unconscious body down as she’s doing so. She removed the engine’s shield and put it down. she stares at the engine.Huge confusion grew on her face.“10,” she spoke, “why does her engine look all worn out?” “I...I-I don’t know. I don’t remember it ever being worn out when I found it.” “When you found it...”She was silent for a moment.“I thought you made it. Where did you find it?” “Oh. I didn’t feel comfortable making one, as it would have been risky. So while I was scouting, I found this engine just laying out exposed in the Emptiness a-“He felt something slap across his face, causing him to almost loose balance and try to regain it by backing away. His body hit against the table and held onto to it, trying to recover from the hit. But right when he was doing so, he heard someone storm towards him and tightly grab his shirt. The elder pulled him close to his face.“Why didn’t you tell me?!”“I...” his eyes widened in fear, “I thought it would have been fine! Y-you were too busy making 12 so-!” She slammed him against the table, making him yelp in pain. 12 hears this and turns to the door.“SARA, please! The reason why I didn’t make the engine was because I didn’t want 11 to be born with with any complication! I-I was only born several months before she was! I was still studying!”“And don’t you KNOW how long that engine has been out there?! How many times it’s been rain down on?!” “Uh...l-look. We can just replace the engine and give her a better one!”She froze.“Replace...the engine.”She threw him down on the ground.“Once a stitchpunk is created, the engine is irreplaceable. If we remove it, she will immediately die.” 10 eyes shrunk while gazing at the ground. He slowly looked back up to her. She squinted.“She’s gonna suffer this for the rest of her life. And the blame for it will all be on you.”10’s heart sank. His mind coming to a realization of what he’s done.“I’m....” his voice was cracking and growing static, “I’m sorry. I never meant to...” She continued glaring at him. “You will be a lucky man if she ever forgives you. Such a disgust you brought on this group. It’s because of you, if she is ever out there fighting a beast and her stamina runs out, she will be the first to die.”12 body felt cold, his body trembling at what he was hearing in there. His fist was tightly clenching. “When she wakes up, you must be the one to tell her.”She turns away and walks to the door, leaving 10 with his face hidden from completely staring down at the ground. She opened the door and stormed off. And as she was passing the frozen male dwarf, he reveals to be deadly glaring at her. His eyes kept slowly moving to her direction until she disappeared. He stood there in a long pause.There is no way he will ever trust her again. ————- 10 is sitting there on a chair in front of the still unconscious 11. 12 is now inside the room and is sitting against the wall with his arms crossed and waiting without a sound. 12 came to tell 10 how he heard everything. 10 is too scared to tell 11 the news alone, so her brother decided to wait for her to wake up with him. She is now wearing her raggedy brown dress again, while her flower necklace is laying on a small table . They were aware she wouldn’t like it if she woke up without her clothing, so they felt it was completely necessary to put it back on her. After half an hour of them not talking, they heard a soft broken moaning sound. They both looked to see 11’s eyebrows twitching. Her optics opened and she kept on blinking until her vision is clear. While 12 quickly got up and walked close to the hospital bed, she softly glanced around the room until her eyes were locked on the boys. “10? 12?” She spoke exhaustedly and rubbed her optics. She tried to get up,“W-where am-““Don’t!” 12 stopped her from getting up, “don’t try to get up. You lay down right where you were and if you get up again, then I will make you knock out again!”“12,” 10 frowned, “I don’t think it’s a good time to play ‘acting tough’ on her.” “Oh no,” she made a weak chuckle while he made her lay back down, “it’s perfectly fine. I’m use to it already. Don’t worry 12, I’ll be careful.”“You better,” he squinted.“11 uh....” 10 looked down anxiously, “there’s....something I need to tell you.” “Oh,” she blinked and smiled again, “ok, what do you need to tell me?” She looks so positive. But it won’t be for long.He frowned more. 12 backed away and let him start saying the news. “So...you blacked out during training.”“Uh-Huh?” “And we took you here to diagnose your condition.”“Uh-Huh?” “And....” he looked at 12. He turned back at her, “we found something. It’s your engine. They’re worn out.”“Oh?” She tilted her head a bit, “and what does that mean?” “It...it means that your body’s stamina limit is a lot lower than an average stitchpunk. It means if you run too much, if you get get too upset, if you do anything that strains your body, your engine will quickly overheat itself. And that will cause your body to have a temporarily shutdown in order to recover....which is why you blacked out in training.” “Oh. And how long will the blackout last.”“It depends on how much you strained your body.”“Oh....”“And. It’s all my fault you’re like this,” he turned away and looking like he’s going to cry, “when I was making your body, I went out to the Emptiness and found an engine. I thought it was better than risking making one since I didn’t know much on making an engine yet. And it’s because of my carelessness that you’re like this.” “I should have told SARA to check it before implanting it on you and bringing you to life,” his voice cracked, “I’m sorry...I’m so sorry!”He covered his optics and shivered while hiddenly sobbing .“I’m sorry....”11 stared at him. She was wearing a blank expression. ......“Ok.”“I know....it’s hard to ever forgive me. It’s fine if you don’t want to talk to me any-“His sobbing faded. He slowly looked at her, his pupil huge from sobbing.“What did you say?”“Ok,” she smiled and shrug, “that’s fine by me!” “But...you don’t understand. You don’t know how dangerous it is. If you black out in a middle of a situation, you can get killed!” “Pfft,” she rolled her eyes, “aren’t we always in danger?” “But you’re different from us.”12 gave a cold glare at him and he noticed.“U-uh....not as a bad thing of course. B-but!”“I understand 10,” she giggled, “and I guess it’s fine to be different. We all are, aren’t we?” “I.....I guess?” “But any who, mistakes happens. I’m not gonna get angry at you over that. Besides, I’m not capable at fighting anyways!” “But you need to fight. That’s only way for you to survive. SARA says so.”“Well,” She shrugs, “maybe someday I can prove to her that she’s wrong.” 10 and 12 stared at her.That idiot, he frowned, does she thinks the world is some sort of game? How much it can shred her spirit little by little?He paused.Why am I scared of that someday happening to her? Shouldn’t I be proud that it will mature her into a warrior we were created to be? “.....I really hope you’re right, Leven,” 12 looked down, almost looking sad about it.She smiled positively,“I know I am.”12 was silent from then on.“11,” 10 gazed, “Are you....sure about this? About forgiving me?”“Mhmm!” She dipped and gave a thumb up, “no problemo at all!” He paused. Then smiled fondly.“Thank you...” “Nooooo problem!” She said it as if she was singing.“Well....I’ll leave you two alone then. Tell me if you need anything.”He stood up and went. He halted at the door and looked back at her. He looked down blushing, his heart fluttering. And he fully exited the room. “You should go ahead and keep resting,” her brother told her.“What? Noooooo I wanna playyyyy.”“You can play when you’re better! No excuses, you hear me?!”“Mmmph,” she pouted angrily, “you no fun sometimes.”“Good. That’s how I always am. Now shut your eyes.”“Ok ok....” she laid down and started to drift to sleep. He stared at her sleep. The thought of what SARA said still raced in his mind. She will be the first to die. ...... She will be the first to die...... It burned in his body......Over his dead body will he let that happen.