Humilitas tilted her head as she stared at the face engraved into the bark of this mysterious tree. Its leaves were starting to bud. Red leaves? Hard to tell and it didn’t matter because she’s colourblind. But what did matter is that fusion was right! She could feel the presence of two heartbeats. Incredibly out of synch she’d feel sick if weren’t for her strange body. She touched the tree, being careful to avoid messing with the memorials on both sides. She hasn’t seen Stealth in days, not since she set up Timekeepers memorial. The heartbeats were making her so curious. It couldn’t hurt to copy it and try to see what it was. She knows Castitas has been on her back lately. She’s been copying a lot. She used an attitude on her once. It obviously did not go well and she can still feel the burn and can still hear Diligentias scolding in her head. But surely this was important. Why would a tree honouring two dead timekeepers have a heartbeat?
“Adaptive circuits engaged”
She announced to no one in particular. And then the pain hit her like a rocket. Her body struggled to change properly. Her entire body felt like it was being sliced on every inch at once. Not even Castitas’ purity rituals had pain like this. Her chest ached the most. An empty, hollow and sinking feeling. Her hands switched between soft pink ones and dark clawed ones back and forth in time to the heart beating ringing in her head down her spine. She fell on her back, writhing as her body kept trying to transform and copy. Her body resembled the new timekeeper in the end yet so mismatched from her at the same time. She screamed. She never usually screamed. She never had a voice of her own unless she was mimicking from crowds. The whole house could’ve heard her scream in pain. Diligentia and Temperantia were at her side in seconds. She couldn’t make out their voices until she felt Castitas’ warmth.
The virtues had felt Humilitas’ agony from their shared room. Humanitas and Caritas were trying to console each other from it while Patientia hadn’t reacted at all. Castitas honestly enjoyed the pain but the joy was dampened knowing it was from her dear other pieces. Diligentia ran to find Humilitas while Temperantia carried Castitas along swiftly. Her hands would help her. Humilitas’ body was writhing on the ground, every inch changing rapidly too quick for her systems to process. Castitas softly touched her fingertips to their temples.
“I’m here Humilitas. Initiate override protocol. Code word: emptiness”
Humilitas slowly calmed and her form returned to normal. They all felt her pain fading.
“Initiate stasis mode. Time set: seven hours”
Castitas kept calm as she spoke but deep down her spark raced. Humilitas would be grounded for this.
Her many eyes shot towards Castitas.
“Can you bring her to bed and keep watch?”
Diligentia softly lifted Humilitas and carried her away. Temperantia sighed in relief.
“What could’ve happened?”
Castitas turned towards the tree after Temperantia spoke.
“Something we weren’t supposed to know about I’m sure. Let’s keep quiet for now. Until we get more information,”
Castitas gets up and holds Temperantias hand as they go back inside.
