Alright instead of doing my homework I will attempt to put my thoughts in a coherent order and explain my off the strings AU (which I’ve given the super long name the Picking up the Pieces AU)
Uhhh just wanna warn you that it’s not super well thought out and it’s purely for self indulgent fun and for me to play with character dynamics and personalities and relationships and such- try not to take it too seriously lol
The main story happens decently post Rivulet campaign and well before Saint’s campaign, but the AU really starts wayyy back right before Hunter’s campaign.
Basically No Significant Harassment had just sent Hunter off to deliver his care package to whatever is left of Moon, and he’s left losing his mind since after Pebbles closed access to his and Moon’s area NSH can’t send an overseer to make sure his messenger even arrives at all (feat some stupid doodles I did to go along with it lol)
And in his desperation, a frankly stupid idea pops into his head.
Obviously the very idea of removing a crucial piece of an iterator’s body and expecting it to be able to continue to function and even travel long distances is logistically shaky at best, and even if it did work would essentially lobotomies their intellectual capacity.. but as things were, if NSH had to choose between living out his days as he was, but without Moon, or live as a fractured version of himself with his best friend.. he had to at least see if it was possible.
If it was possible though, it would no doubt take ages to figure out and make all the necessary preparations, ages which NSH was worried Moon didn’t have.. so he decided he needed help. And who better to help him than the person who has already shown they would research radical and dangerous theories about iterator body alterations :)
I do plan on making a little comic of this conversation, but I’m too lazy right now-
At first Suns is absolutely NOT on board with this idea. They already feel like they’ve basically caused the death of two iterators already, they don’t want NSH of all people to be added to that, but NSH is not dissuaded by their words at all and basically tells them that they can either continue to mope about their previous mistakes or continue to work on fixing it, and if they don’t help him he’s still going to do it anyways. So eventually they fold and agree to help. Besides, it would give them a chance to right their wrong and apologize to Pebbles.
A very long time skip later, turns out even with help this project would take years.
(Also if anyone was hoping I would go into detail about how they even make it possible, I am currently not gonna do that. I feel like I’m not clever enough to really come up with a convincing way for an iterator to literally detach a vital part of themselves without triggering a taboo.. and it’s just a self indulgent little fix it story, not meant to be taken too seriously :P)
By the time Suns and Sig finally have everything prepared for their plan, the iterator population is in pretty bad disarray. The equipment to communicate with one another is eroding, and by this point many iterators are completely radio silent, and a few of the older unluckier ones have even begun collapsing.
This does make the choice of detaching your puppet from your structure easier, because it’s clear that only a matter of time and every iterator will just collapse and be left completely alone in the silence of their structure.
NSH decided that he would detach himself first, and walk all the way over to Suns’ structure, then they could both make the trek to Moon.
Before he does that, NSH broadcasted all the files of the project out, just in case anyone is still around to use them..
The journey doesn’t go as smoothly as he would have preferred.. traveling isn’t very easy it turns out since their puppets aren’t meant for standing let alone walking or running (they definitely end up making and using tools to make getting around easier. I plan on explaining their equipment and outfit changes and stuff later-) but he survived and then they both set off to Moon and Pebbles’ area.
Thankfully there aren’t many animals outside of the iterator areas due to how freezing cold the world is, so all they really need to worry about is the terrain and the weather.
Meanwhile the siblings are not doing very well. This is post Rivulet (rip Ruffles though.. unfortunately there are no slugcat companions in this au…), and Pebbles’ structure had just collapsed very recently by the time Suns and Sig make it to their area. The siblings had already made up by this point and were keeping in contact before the collapse.
Moon was planning on sending her overseers out to see what was left of him once the rubble settled a bit, but she was currently mourning her brother and didn’t notice the two rouge iterator puppets making their way through their facility grounds until they reached her chamber
I plan on making a little comic for this too but here’s a cute little thing I made-
(Iterators can’t actually cry but shhh it’s for dramatic effect let me do what I want-)
I just know their reunion is precious. NSH is so thankful that Moon is actually still functional, and working better than he expected even thanks to the rarefaction cell! Best friends reunited after years apart.. She probably thought she was going crazy at first though because how are these two just standing in her chamber-
So at this point NSH’s plan has worked almost perfectly and he has done everything he set out to do. He’s definitely not pointedly ignoring the existence of someone he has been slowly building resentment for over the past however many years. (They have a complicated dynamic which I will definitely get into later..)
Yeah anyway there’s no way Moon and Suns are leaving without Pebbles.
So whether NSH wanted to or not, as soon as Moon got the hang of walking around the three of them headed off to what remained of Pebbles’ structure. Probably the worst place anyone could go honestly, especially with the walking skill level of a toddler.
Somehow miraculously they survived the trip there, they got lucky idk but yay reunion time!
At that point Pebbles had already resigned himself to his fate, sitting in a pile of rubble with his broken chamber around him for eternity. He definitely thought he was losing his mind when the other three suddenly show up..
Anywayy this is the point where I don’t really have too much of a story planned out! The four of them will probably end up traveling a little before setting up a base somewhere as they get used to this new state of existence. I guess a lot of post apocalyptic slice of life stuff? lol if you wanna call it that maybe. Idk! Just a lot of getting used to living together, and getting over past issues. Lots of fix it stuff
It’s a WIP obviously- but this is at least the beginning main plot beats ^ ^
