The team continued towards the Clam-a-Tailin's water tower through the facility. After fending off an infestation of Zebrussels in stage 1 filtration, a moment of respite graced them as they moved forward through the facility, noting any repairs and making small talk.
"Not gonna yank ya chain hun, but this place sure be lookin' abandoned, outside of critters n’ the like."
Dark, while taking a swig from his gallon bottle of vinegar, gurgled in response to Hildra's statement: "Ayye, the lights are on though right? Somebody had to pay the bill and flip the switches as far as I see it. Plus, people are still getting water!"
"Shitty Water." Rawker chimed in.
"Yeah! Shitty water!"
Another deluge of King Vine Gar slapped his inner walls.
"Ahh… I may still be new to recharging my battery like this, but… man, does it clear my mind and take the weight off my shoulders… Though the tingling sensation I feel vibrate outwards from my abdomen is borderline ticklish. Hehe!"
A goofy grin spread across his face under his wire-layered mask as he gave himself a jolly rub under the chest.
Beanie Toe bobbed back and forth between Lady Hildrantine and Darkgeek, brushing his cute black muzzle against their calves and shins with the occasional mild meow of "MINE…" Hildra copped an opportunistic petting of Beanie's shoulder area.
"Actually, what gotcha’n to goin’ cyber in the first place? Everyones got a reason, n' this lady's always nosin’ for new info."
A sudden stop. Dark capped his jug and stored it back inside him with a cold haste.
Expressions shifted. A serious look overtook him, with winces of pain and anger cracking out behind his identity. Beanie Toe quickly scampered to his side, ready to receive pettings. Not for himself, but for his father because he needed them.
"I... am not ready to talk about it yet. I... must continue to process it… Once I have, I will answer your question… Sorry..."
With a careful grapple, he picked up Beanie and held him to his chest, rubbing his chin as he cradled his baby. The warmth and rapid heartbeat was soothing to a troubled mind. At the same time, Hildra clenched her fist to her collar bone.
"Oh crap, my bad Dark! I..."
Dark gave a wink and thumbs up towards her direction in a flirtatious manner.
"Ya' good Hildra, though it's nice to know I'm working with someone that's got some empathy aye?"
With a wiggle and hop, Beanie let himself out of Dark's grasp on to the ground, seeing his kin was stable yet again.
"Aww, ya tryin' to get a girl to blush? It's always damn hard taken' a genuine compliment nowadays I swear. Best I got is a 'thank you'… Though… I guess you're pretty cool workin' with as well so far too."
"Ha, fair trade!" chuckled Darkgeek.
"Uh huh?"
"Uh… Never mind… Oh, look, something is... floating towards us?"
At the end of the concrete corridor, a watermelon-sized robot was hovering their way. bright striped colors of neon green and purple patterned the metallic being.
"Man, that's one shitty looking piece of cheap hardware! I'm surprised it's even able to achieve basic hovering tech!" scoffed Dark.
"That Is A Happy Melon Poof Foosh! You Would See Them Occasionally On Clam-a-Tailin's Mini Series Of Online Videos Geared Towards Infants." beeped Rawker as he pulled up a previous thumbnail of one of their most popular videos.
"I-i-I SoMe HaP-Py!” crackled over its cheap speaker on the front.
"Bruh... Hildra, do kids really like those things? The unnerving slotted-in smile and cheap large googly eyes attached looks like something out of a horror OC."
"Yeah... I love the lil ones, but what they’d end up likin' is plain stupid sometimes. Though, I'm sure most our parents’ would say the same about the things we'd liked!" she snickered.
"I LoVe Aqua-aFraCk-K-k!"
Its face grinded along the wall, clipping an old work safety poster off from its old taped up state.
Yet, for some reason, Rawker suddenly got quite ecstatic.
"Oh! Darkgeek! Hey! Hey! Put Me In It!"
"Wait, what? You really want your first copy to be that thrift store door stop? Why?"
"It's Got Charm! Plus, I Want To See How It's Like To Be Mobile For The First Time!"
Rawker shifted his bones into walking legs with glee.
"Ugh, alright, let me lasso it in before it… damages itself more."
Dark shifting his usb cords into a long braided whip. With a flick and pop of his shoulder and elbow, he hooked the end of the whip into itself and yanked the machine towards them with a thunk at their feet.
"CaN Y-ou CoUn-T to-To- ME?"
"Ok, yeah, it's a mercy update for this piece of junk."
He grasped the tech and sat down with a heavy thud. Like a kid on Christmas day, he began to feel around the machine, eventually finding a spot for a usb amongst other connections.
"BaCk-k-K To HapPy TIMe WoRk!"
The Happy Melon Poof Foosh flapped its tiny plastic fins and spewed out low pressure lavender-smelling soapy water from a little garden hose, right onto Dark's lap just as he was about to connect his cable and upload.
"… Ok..."
Attempts were made by Hildra at holding back her laughter, but she was caught off guard. The helmet’s demon cackled its unworldly anthem of hellish joy. While indeed embarrassing, Dark couldn’t help but also agree mentally with Hildra; it was sure funny from her perspective.
"Alright Rawker, all yours!"
With a click-in of the connection, Rawker worked his magic. Compressing and unzipping files as they were needed. Rebuilding and creating new drivers within the limited amount of data storage allowed. Heat could be felt radiating from both the connection site as well as the machine itself, pushing its limits to achieve optimal efficiency. While the process only took 60 seconds, what had just taken place was only 2nd in terms of technological events. Compared to the CessNet Virus that overtook all wireless tech back in 2038, Rawker’s ability to overtake anything he was uploaded to had the potential to pose even more of a threat.
"Alrightly Guys, Say Hello To Rawker 2! Or As I Like To Call Him, Rawkalon The Soapy One!"
The center display rebooted on the front of the Happy Melon Poof Foosh, from a static image of Clam-a-Tailin's Brand Logo, to an altered avatar of Rawker, now with accents of a shark-like bone structure.
"Hello World! I'm Rawkalon The Soapy One! You Can Just Call Me Rawkalon Though!"
"Hello Other Me! Now, If I May Explain To The Others: This Is An Exact Copy Of Myself, Minus The Ability To Copy Like I Just Demonstrated. Feel Free To Talk To Him As If You Were Talking To Me. I'll Be Recording All Interactions He Has To Preserve/Recreate Him Should Something Happen, That Way He Is Never Truly Lost! I Am Also Quite Curious To See How I Myself Would Change If Given A Different Environment!"
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"Ight, Got it Rawker."
"You Mean: Rawkalon Darkgeek!"
Using the same hose from before, Rawkalon shot slightly wet confetti out above the team as he hovered above.
"Err, my bad. Got it Rawkalon The Soapy One! Ha."
Hildra leaned in to get a good look at their newest team member: "Hrm... so ya' basically semi-omnipresent by makin' a copy of ya' self? That's some impressive software right there Dark. I might need to explore makin' A.I myself in the future if it's gotten this advanced. Would be darn boot kickin' to have a sassy shield companion!"
Mild curiosity of what had just happened perked up Beanie Toe. Hopping onto Dark's shoulder, he observed the orbital companion in focused silence. At first, Beanie contemplated cat-related uses of Rawkalon. But, Indifference was ultimately decided, like most cats.
As Darkgeek stood up (padding his crotch dry), he gestured with one of his hands: "Ight, let's continue."
Carrying on, the team turned around the corner of the hallway and into the Waste Water Distribution room, where all raw sewage would leave the facility and out into the water ways. But, unfortunately, the bridge across was up.
"Ayye, that's not cool. The console on this side is all torn up and the bridge ain’t down." sighed Dark.
"Lookin' like the other side's in better condition though." pointed out Hildra.
"Leave It To Rawkalon The Soapy One! I'll Go Investigate. A Hovering I Shall Go!"
Across the large whirlpool of death that lay below them, Rawkalon floated. Loud sounds of swirling sewage smacked against the walls and into itself. The stench was thick, but surprisingly bearable.
Lady Hildrantine and Darkgeek waited on the other side, tracking Rawkalon as he investigated the control panel and briefly pressing against it. The bridge moved down a little bit, but stopped right afterwards. Rawkalon then tried to press his hose rhythmically against the panel’s more precise spots, and got the bridge to move a little more. It appeared to be stuck. Unsuccessful, He hover back to them.
"Oke Doke, So There Were Some Sticky Notes On The Console."
Rawkalon booted up some low quality footage, displaying their predicament.
"So, As You Can See, The Red One Says 'Don't Lower The Bridge Due To Increased Zebrussel Infestation' And The Older, Yellowish One Says 'If Bridge Gets Stuck, Hold The Button And Push On The Bridge.' I Attempted To See If I Could Do It Myself, But Alas, My Little Hose Can Only Do So Much."
"Hmm… Alright, I got an idea."
Gently, Dark picked up Beanie Toe off his shoulder and sat him down on the grated steel floor. He then took a knee in front of his kitty.
"Hey Beanie, I'ma need you to help bounce off that bridge from the other side."
Dark reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a little bag of Doomer’s Mild Jerky Strips. Breaking communion with his little fur friend, they each shared a piece of the snack between them.
"So, My Beanie Burrito, how do you want to get over there?"
While side chewing the tough, yet flavorful dried meat, Beanie made a unique decision.
"PULSEY JUMP!"
"Ight, let me get your feetsies ready."
Little fuzzy baby blue cat slippers, stored in his back trunk where Beanie Toe loved to rest, cutely came out. And, from the same storage compartment, he also pulled out 4 generic usb sticks. Dark then shimmied a flash drive into each of the bootees until they were flat at the bottom. Finally, Covering them with both hands, he began to channel energy into the socks themselves, giving them a radiant blue glow.
"K, gonna slip them on now Beanie."
The little blue garments made his whole coat poof out, as the black cat began to float.
"YOOP… YOOP!" meowed Beanie Toe as he seemingly began to jump on invisible shelves towards the other side of the bridge. A Peter Pan Pouncer was born.
"Ight Rawkalon, I leave the rest up to you. Make sure Beanie Toe makes it safely. We'll wait here till the bridge is down."
"Got It! Time To Herd A Cat!"
Rawkalon floated alongside Beanie Toe semi-gracefully, all while going over the details of the plan once they made it onto the other side. Beanie Toe didn’t care. Yoop yoop, the kitty jumped from ghost shelf to ghost shelf without a care in the world.
"That cat of yours actin' more like a dog. Trustin' and loyal." complemented Hildra.
"Yeah… He's like a son to me to be honest. When I first got him, it had been about 8 months since creating Rawker and nose diving into tech and cybernetics. And while Rawker helped keep me company, he wasn't as advanced as I needed him to be at the time. My family never could afford much, but my mom got me this kitten she found near the dumpster one day at work, along with more thrown away tech like usual for me to tinker with. I was in a dark place mentally at that age, so she would help in what ways she could. Probably saw it as a better way to teach me to be smart with money too I'd guess. To which, I'd say was a success. I made sure to take care of the little guy. Took up a part time job too to cover expenses, it really helped me."
(Rawkalon and Beanie Toe made it to the other side. “Beanie Toe, You Got That? Now Let's… Hey. What Are You…” “BATH!” “Hey Hey, No, We Have To Lower The Bridge Cat! I Swear On Guido van Rossum’s Soul You Better...”)
"But, like a fool, I'd let Beanie outside sometimes as he got older. Fresh air and a chance to do more cat things right? Well... one day Beanie got side swiped by a vehicle. I did try to teach him to never go by the roads, but cat's gonna cat ya know? I came home from work, and at the front door was Beanie Toe, back legs limp and crushed, struggling and pawing to be let in like always for food and cuddles. My mom was home, but busy and unaware of the situation. I had to act quickly. I brought in Beanie and began to do what I could to save him. My mom was a hard worker, but could only suggest we put him down upon seeing the situation. It was the financially sound thing to do, I'd understand that, we were poor. But as I worked on him, I began to realize I didn't have enough supplies nor enough money to save him."
(“Ok, Let’s Try Again… Now Just Bounce Off The Bridge ‘Beanie Weenie’ When I Press The Button On Three…” “STUPD PIDGE! RAWR!” “... Fuck It, I’ll Just Keep Pressing It…” Rawkaton and Beanie Toe finally worked together and began lowering the bridge.)
"Then enters my dad. He could never hold a job,and did some horrible things to both my mom and sister. Generally not the father you’d want in life. But… upon seeing his son in need, stood up. He ugly argued with my mom, stole her purse, and flew out the door as fast as he could to go get everything he knew I needed. He even helped on the more delicate operations I couldn't do. Because of that, Beanie Toe lived. My family was put under more debt because of my Dad's recklessness, and the tension in the household increased yet again between my parents. Even so, I greatly learned from that experience. My mom's logical thinking flows through my very being. But, I know there will be times I need to be reckless in order to save someone's life against all reasoning. After that event, the rest was just nurturing, upgrades... and us both going outside together."
"...That was... Actually quite a heart touchin' story Dark. Thank you for sharin' it with me."
Rawkaton and Beanie Toe crossed the bridge to meet back up with the team, with the black cat taking lead.
"SMILE BALL JUST BOSSY AS SKULL!" meowed Beanie Toe.
"Annnnd You, Furball, Have No Sense Of Rhythm! I Told You I Could Only Hold The Button For So Long, But No! You'd Stop Mid Press To Groom Or Itch! Then You Got Frustrated And Repeatedly Bounced Off The Bridge! Be Grateful I Didn't Spritz You With The Soapy Water Of Justice!"
"Ayye, y'all got it done, that's all that matters right? Let's press on yo!"
"Grrr... Fine My Friend, I, Rawkalon The Soapy One, Shall Show Mercy Upon The Fur-Shadowed Creature Called Beanie Toe For Now. At Least We Can Finally Enter The Common Area Once We Climb The Stairs Up Ahead!"
“Right…” murmured Hildrantine.
As the team was about half way up the fleet of stairs, arguing could be heard from above, getting closer.
"Ok Ted, I’m finally gonna see what's making all the noise down here, ya slug shit!"
Dark quickly whispered to Hildra: "Shit, there wasn't supposed to be workers during this time!"
Another voice responded to the first one's.
"Yeah, yeah Bob, you just don't want to clean up this mess you left in the microwave! Just. Fucking. Cover. Your Chili! Fuck!"
"Let's just haul ass up Dark!" hissed Hildra.
"K.K."
Upon leaving the stairway into the slightly better conditioned open area, a grimy heavy set middle aged mocha man in a mermaid blue jumpsuit hunched over in the way. Bob was there.
"I swear Te… oh… uhhh, hey guys? Who are y'all and why are you over here?"
"Uhhh… the exterminators? We...'ve been culling the pest down below? Hhhaha..." Darkgeek responded, quite unconvincingly.
Before Bob could respond, Lady Hildrantine stepped in and removed her helmet, revealing her face.
"Hi, I'm Tessa Jendger, owner of Valkyries Empire. While we are usually known for revolutionary defensive technologies, we've recently expanded into the market of pest control and extermination services. Here, take a card hun'! We just finished down there for now, but will need to leave our receipts and set up for the next appointment, think you could point us in the direction of your boss’ office? If I remember correctly, it involved an elevator, but we haven't come across it yet."
Dark was relieved that Hildra took over the surprise conversation so professionally, but was at the same time, surprised by how much her accent shifted to a well spoken saleswoman.
"Uhhh, ok? I wasn't told about y'all, but that wouldn't be the first time around here. Doesn't help that we've been so short staffed either, so I don't really care."
The disgruntled worker Bob suddenly perked up with a request, pushing his dandered black hair back.
"But, before y'all are done, your gonna need to take care of the biggest damn pest them fucking Clam-A-Tailin' Sisters brought in! We've sealed off that dangerous motherfucker for now, but we're gonna need access to that room eventually to fix the black water recapture system."
A random Happy Melon Poof Foosh floated by, angling itself towards Bob and bumping into his shoulder.
"I LovE WORKinG heErEEreReE!"
Bob immediately slammed the machine against a wall with his elbow, damaging it.
"Fuck These Things!" yelled Bob, starting to shift his gaze towards Rawkalon with malice.
"No problem sir! We can take care of this pest before finishing! Lead the way!" Dark spoke, emulating Hildra's lead, and as well as taking the heat off of Rawker's copy.
"Alright Valkyrie Empire guys, follow me, it's past our break room. Bet my chili is cold again, damn it. Anyway, after y'all are done, I'll show y'all the elevator to the Shit-sisters."
The break room was tiny considering the amount of workers the facility is supposed to have. It had a small microwave missing the center plate, an old fridge (closed only by a bungee cord hooking itself from the handle to the coils), and some really uncomfortable looking fast food table-seats god only knows from where.
The only other worker there was assumed to be Ted, sharing similar folk and looks with Bob, wearing a mix of a heavily worn blue jumpsuit and personal attire. Some Dee-N-Apin use was apparent, as his greasy dark hair and mustache protruded out similar to that of a slug’s tentacles.
"That's Ted, the lazy bastard."
"Hey! I'm the only other guy besides you that takes overtime ok? But yeah, I'm pretty lazy, ha!"
They seemed to have a unique work-friendship going on, even in this bleak setting of a job.
"God, I'm tired of overtime, but I still care somewhat about doing a decent job, even after being here for so long..." exhausted Bob.
"Anyway... The Goatic is behind the large metal hatch around the corner from here, I'ma finally eat my..."
Dark interrupted: "Wait, Excuse me, a Goatic? Wha..."
"Oh! That sludge eating monstrosity?! Bob, you sure these guys can take care of that thing? It took off Kyle's foot several weeks back when he tried to stab it with a shank broom, or as I like to call it, a Shankoom! Ha!"
"Ted… I just want to eat my chili... I've been here for 16 hours… and just… just look at these guys? That big wire arm dude with his service cat looks capable as fuck. And that chubby gal got breasts… I meant crest! Crest shields! Fuck... I'ma go eat now, ok? I'm too tired… sorry..."
Hildra, ignoring the bone-tired worker's misspoke, took lead: "Alright, We'll take care of this… Goatic right? No problem guys, anythin' else to know before poppin' the doors open?"
"Yeah! Don't let it grab you with its tendrils and watch out for its horns and teeth! Ha! Hell, I'll go with y'all, I've been on break for over an hour anyway. I can at the very least remove all the caution notes and tape Bob put up before returning to my area!"
Bob was deep into his chili, abandoning the spoon he had in favor of just slurping it from the edge quickly. At this point, he was done talking and had wasted majority of his 30 minute break dealing with pest control. Still, he would make sure he did his job decently for the next day.
Bob, ultimately, just wanted to go home.
