I had JUST had a thought! Update on Clukr, Garnold, Fun Bot, and Mr Fun Computer? How are they handling this?
Garnold does not take his attention off of the loading bar on Mr. Fun Computer's screen. "I had a feeling those... concerns you brought up about it earlier might be more important to address now."
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Cluckr, what's going on out there? Did you get any new readings?
Body horror warning for this one!
Part 2
But the wild things cried, “Oh please don’t go— we’ll eat you up— we love you so!"
[Mod note: For context, the meter Clukr has is a VOC meter and it measures the amount of harmful chemicals in the air! I am aware it's meant for indoors but shhhh don't worry about it]
Oh... right, the suit. Garnold, are you afraid that it might actually just collapse into your body?
Garnold tilts his head back towards Mr. Fun Computer when he hears a short tune. At the same time that diagnostic text starts to scroll down the screen, he hears an uncertain call from not far outside the door: "Garnold, could you assist me quickly?"
Garnold sighs. "Oh geez..."
"I can handle big brother!" Fun Bot offers, his antennae flicking up. "You go see what's going on."
"Thanks, kiddo." Garnold smiles tiredly. He slides away from the computer and out towards the open door. "Coming!"
Garnold's breath came in labored gasps. His body squeezed tighter and tighter, like a snake encircling its prey. He could feel cold metal through the weak insulation. Dull clicking spun around his head. Sweat trickled across his palms.
It was a long, long moment before Garnold had the power to speak again. "Clukr," he whispered, barely coherent. "Clukr, come on, you gotta-" haah, hhh- "We have to- we were going to fix this, we were so close, and you- you-"
Suddenly he lurched forward, clutching his chest. A scream tore from his throat, ragged, scratching up what little voice he had left. Wet tears began to stream down his face, and he curled into himself, gnashing his teeth together as if breaking them would bring back his- his- oh sweet stars, what was Clukr to him? Those mellow eyes held such sweetness only for him, on those silent nights where it was just the two of them, sharing a space while their children were off playing in the town. Peace would settle into their scales and into their fur, and Garnold could only long to reach out and touch the hand of someone who he had always…
The suit.
A jolt of panic cut through Garnold's heart as the clicking got louder. He had been so focused that he hadn't thought to check the springlocks earlier. His hands flew behind his head to find the release switches. Tick-tick-tick-THOK. A louder click made his helmet's back split open. Firmly he grabbed ahold of the sides of the helmet, tugging it up and-
The Tome of the Dead has been updated.
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Hi everyone! Wouldn't this have been a wonderful place for me to stop working on Acadia? Fortunately, I moved on a bit from this point, so I do have a bit more to share, though this is where the writing stops. But I will tell you what happens next!
Cutting away from this gruesome scene, Fun Bot has been listening in for a while. The screaming paralyzed his systems for a long moment, but now that it has quieted down, he feels safe enough to poke his head out of the room. What he sees makes him think that maybe he should've stayed in that side room after all.
His creator, writhing in front of him, unable to speak through the rods piercing his throat. What is he supposed to do? Dread overwhelms him, and his first thought is to get help. So, naturally... (Note: This is where I was unable to finish drawing the scenes.)
...Fun Bot runs away, the last thing Garnold sees in the fleeting moment before the light fades from his eyes.
His flight takes him to Mr. Fun Computer's chamber, where Mr. Fun Computer asks what's going on, unable to see for himself. Frazzled, Fun Bot can barely speak, but he tries anyway:
"I'm scared, Fun Computer... I don't know what to do. They're not moving anymore..."
Mr. Fun Computer, his hardware much older than Fun Bot's, does not have the capacity to handle strong emotions, try as their co-creators might've to fix it. So while he wants to help, the shock of his dads dying freezes his systems entirely, and he shorts out, leaving Fun Bot alone. Before he shuts down, he manages to place a lockdown on the lab. Now, no one can be hurt... right?
That marks the end of this post. Asks from this point on are open, though I would like to remind you that they're mod-only now! I'll be going over the plans I had for the rest of the story (or at least some of them; I might have to split it into multiple parts bc the writing is still fun) in the next post I make.