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"Is he still alive?" "His brainwaves are still erratic, but his body seems to be responding to all parameters." "That's good, he appears to be handling himself." "Yes...but...how?!? All my games...they-" "Enough about your goddamn ancient toys, Anseed! Our project is alive at least from your foolish blunder." "I DID ask for sleep, sir, to focus better on the experiment." "Your games take too much priority and endangered this experiment..." "Well, at least his first test should be quite a show! I mean, first time nanos always exceed their limits before finding them..." "We'll have to dump out the data from his head, it's all garbage now." "If we do that then his CPU will reset completely and we'll have to do it all over again!" "Then fine, go ahead do it!" "B-but he-...if we put too much stress on his neural boundaries he could shut down, or worse!" "We can find another raptor...it'll take time to take out the wires from him because of your mistake but I'll just take it out of your team's paycheck." "BUT YOU-...NO, YOU CAN'T, we can't just throw him away like some toy!" "You said you needed a raptor Dr. Anseed and I gave you one, what more do you want?!" "General, please I...I can't...I won't let him just be discarded like this. N-not after this because of me." "What are you saying?" "It was my fault...I got my data mixed with your military data by accident, that is my fault, I should be the one held accountable not him!" "He's YOUR mistake then." "HE'S NOT A MISTAKE! HIS NAME IS JAMES ROBERT CAMPBELL FOR PETE'S SAKE HE HAS A NAME!" "...Robert?" "...y-yes." "...I don't remember ever telling you he had a middle name, Anseed." "......w-well I...I just read the report on him fully, that's what you pay me for isn't it general?" "I do...it's just that you seem rather well-informed more than usual on this particular subject...more emotional too." "Well maybe for once, I actually want to take my job seriously and...not have this one suffer as much for it would be detrimental to our project, wouldn't you think?" "He's a giant lizard, we can always find another running around in this damn city." "Not this one...not...this-you can't ever find another one like him...he...he was born for this."

_ sEvEn yEaRs...a pLaN tO sAve oUr wOrLdS fRoM eXtiNcTioN _

The memory flooded back to him as he stared upon a ceiling, bright lights of a surgical clarity with a sturdy bed he laid upon not too well-cushioned, his head swimming with dull sensations. Blinking harshly against the light, he tried to move his hand to shield himself before finding it was restrained tight. His weapon was gone from his back, as well as his satchel and backpack as panic rose up within him. "Oh god...oh god not again, DON'T EAT ME FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" "G-GAH FOR PETE'S SAKE BOY!" "H-HUH!?" "Could you PLEASE not squawk your head off for once like some damned lunatic?!" The voice of someone recently familiar came hovering closer to him as he heard the soft thrusts of a jet propulsion, seeing the glaring golden-lensed monocle of the three-armed robot he had fought before. His body had now been patched up, welded haphazardly like old war wounds to leave a scar upon both sides of him. James looked up softly as the bed slowly began to lift itself showing him the rest of the room. Definitely a surgeon's theatre, brighter and strangely cleaner than most he had seen in many other places. Four mechanical beings stood before him. The hoverbot he knew already, as well as the tripod bulky mech with one of its legs now replaced once more. One of them was the small orb floating like a mechanical eye with cotton tufts on either side of its head and the last one stood promptly in the middle. A thin retro-looking machine with two arms and two legs, a chest like a washboard and a tall peaking head with a glassy yellow dome covered by a powdered wig. Even more strangely this robot wore an old longcoat over its body, covering mostly its arms. "How are you feeling, my visitor?" The dressed robot had the stature of authoritative dignity, clear and prompt despite his dishevelled appearance. His voice retained a more English accent than that of the other robots around him, who were decidedly American. "Nnnnngh...wha...what...h-happened..." "You took upon my dare to run upstairs and discover that the so-called pizza parlour you screamed frantically about did not in fact exist, by which then you presumably fell unconscious by sheer hysteria and we slowly took you down here to recover. Forgive my friend's restraints but considering your past impressions we thought it necessary just in case." "Y-you didn't inject me with anything did you?" "No. We have the Auto-Doc for that."

The robot indicated towards the corner a familiar-looking thing, a shiny EKG monitor with various spindly limbs reaching out of it much like the one in Sally's office. Except this one seemed a much more improved model as the cotton-tufted eyebot floated nearer to James with anticipated curiosity in its voice, a slight touch of the European in his accent. "You have quite the fascinating anatomy my lizard friend." "I'm not your friend." "Not yet perhaps, but I apologise for the start of our pernicious encounter." "Yeaaaah trying to kill me for falling into your scrapheap is more than just a bad start, pal." "Ah see, you call me a pal already, the frays have started to turn!" "Ugh...so...who exactly are you people?" "People?" said the three-armed hoverbot. "Surely you recognise us by our very names, why you must have heard them during our rumbumptious melee!" "Um...no?" The automatons looked at each other before the one in the powdered wig stepped forward asking: "...may I ask where you were schooled, my lad?" "Um...London, why?" "Ahhh!" said the eyebot. "A redcoat! Your old brother of another mother, Thomas!" "Not that I have known," said the wig-wearing robot, "all my former brothers were human beings despite our bad bread courtesy of King George himself." "Wait king?!" asked the raptor. "Seriously what the hell's going on, why are you guys all...speaking like golf club people?" "Don't drive the wedge between us please," said the eyebot, "it would not do to leave our friendship in the rough, hmhmhmhm!" "We're NOT friends, tell me who you are already!" "You really do not know?" asked the long-coated machine. "Hmmm...I suppose in this body it is not possible for you to recognise us so I will give the benefit of a doubt. My name is Thomas Jefferson...does that help at least?" "...um...n-not...really." "Land sakes!" spouted the three-armed bot. "What do they teach you in London boy?!" "Well I kinda ran away from high school when I was like fourteen." "HAH, a delinquent, I knew the moment you walked in you were a miscreant." "Theodore," warned Jefferson, "please. Besides you were home-schooled." "Maybe so," said Theodore, "but I at least studied as good as the rest of them!" "I would hope so," said the smaller eyebot, "one would hate to have a president of this country who hadn't studied." "And what happens if we do have one as that?" "They get vetoed to be part of the Senate, there's no need for education there." "HAH, well played!" "Um guys?" asked FG. "I still don't know who you are even though you're desperately trying to make me know." "What?! Lad's more dull than that bear's teeth, don't you know any names of the presidents of this fine nation!?" "Wait, presidents?! ...um...sh-shit I-...there was...who was president back in my...ummmmm Alvarez?" "What, noooo no no, FORMER presidents!" "Oh wow um really, I have no idea." "...a sad day for the British education system." "Now now," said Jefferson, "we all come from different stock, if there is willingness to learn then it should not be scoffed. My apologies young sir, I am, or was, the third president of the United States of America, serving between March 4th, 1801 to March 4, 1809...respectively."

The robot said this with his bulky arms slowly stretching their way back behind him clasping his cold metal claws and puffing his chest out with proud dignity. Even for a rather oblong machine with poor posture there was a presence that James could not deny. But the words made him blink slightly as if he had just been offered a banana out of nowhere. Something inside him just suddenly dropped like the bass of a bad song. "...s-...seriously? President of the United States? Okay. Yeah, sure, I mean...might as well go mad the whole way." "Pardon?" "First I dream of a haunted kiddy pizza parlour and golden bears trying to strangle me, now I got this robot trying to claim he's the freaking president, sure okay! FINE! Bring me up full of pills I'll just go right in the fucking cell now just gimme a jacket, SURE! NO I'm done, I'm fucking done with this just lock me up now this is the limit! THIS IS THE LIMIT, where I finally go 'fuck this, I'm out'." "...you do not believe me." "OH NO! I totally believe you, I mean why else would I not believe you, everything else I've done makes PERFECT SENSE! NO, I mean...hehhehehehhahahahaha I mean everything I've done is pretty stupid! I get raped by a pterodactyl, I murdered a cat who killed my dog girlfriend, I get arrested by ANOTHER dog with his rabbit friend, I free a bunch of feral raptors, I get cursed by a demon living inside my scissors, get trained by a FROG to use swordsmanship and then PIRATE CROCODILES make me part of their crew an-" James ranted off a series of bizarre and unusual events, much to the belayed confusion of the four robots slowly turning to each other as Thomas asked them: "...that IS sarcasm is it not?" "Yes," said the floating eye-shaped bot, "at least I HOPE it is, it started as that but now it seems to have dwindled to insanity...sarcanity we shall call it." "That doesn't quite roll off the tongue." "We don't HAVE tongues," said Theodore, "least not anymore, but at least I no longer have fear of tripping over it. Same with the legs." "_ BRRZzzrrrt, _" mumbled the giant sentry bot. "That's beside the point, what do we do with this urchin?" "We haven't even asked him his name," said the eyebot, "and it would not do for us to turn him away when he quite clearly needs help." "Does he?" They turned back towards FG who continued adding: "-and don't even get me STARTED on ghosts trying to make me part of their own secret plan of destiny or something, OHHHH NO!" They turned back towards each other. "He needs help," said the eyebot. "It was funny when he first started but now he just sounds sad and...delusional beyond normal sakes." "I agree," said Thomas, "the boy talks like an apothecary, less sense in him than rheumatism." "Very well I concede," said Theodore. "We have to sort this mess out either way what with his ramblings of animals and spirits, he had to come here for some reason." "Agreed," said Martin, "A-HEM, excuse me sir!" "Yeah?!" said FG with heavy breath. "Jus-...you didn't let me...get to the part how...love of my life'll never forgive me ever again, what, you wanna hear THAT mister president?!"

"I am sure that's fascinating but listen, we did come off a bad start and we wish to make amends concerning...you. So, let us introduce ourselves and then you. I am Martin Van Buren, the ninth president of the United States. My giant friend over there is my predecessor Andrew Jackson, don't worry about his voice we just need to find the right modulator for it but he perfectly understands. And as for the boisterous three-armed companion over there-" "Theodore Roosevelt," claimed the hoverbot, "junior, twenty-eighth president of this glorious land or at least what it once was." "Oh...right," said James softly, "okay...that explains everything." "Really?" "NO, OBVIOUSLY-wait lemme check." He forced his neck up before suddenly he banged his head back against the steel bed, his dull ringing thuds heard at least three times. "NOPE, NOT WORKING, STILL INSANE!" "Alright alright calm down!" said Roosevelt. "Complain all you want it will not do anything, nor will bashing your head against the wall like some deranged hooligan." "Oh no, I mean I'm tied down in some laboratory like some pet experiment gee whiz like that's not happened before for the fifteenth fucking time." "Hold your tongue boy, you have plenty other words to use without such vulgarity!" "Bite me." "I would if I had teeth, don't test me young brigand!" "Theodore." The robot known as Jefferson said this name calmly but with the force of a bullet. "Please allow our guest some liberty, he is quite clearly in a state of mental distress and I would like him to clear it at his own pace." "There's liberty of speech and then there's being a horse's ass!" "Which one are you being right now?" "...hmph, very well." "Now, what is your name good sir?" "My...my name is James Campbell." A moment of silence between visual parameters of the four robots indicated something was up, before Jefferson replied with: "Ahhhh a Celt. Interesting, the effects of Culloden have already corroded the state of Britain." "Hhhahahaha," chuckled Van Buren, "he seems rather underdressed for the highlands, and not much a bagpipe either." "I knew that Clan Campbell had already made bedfellows with the English most grievously upon their former nation, but I did not expect their offspring to have actual scales." "Truly a union that should not have been." "I'm not Scottish," said FG, "I was born in London." "You did mention that young James." "I'm thirty-one!" "Really?" replied the Eyebot. "Well by our standards you are quite young, considering all four of us have reached the triple-digit of aged wisdom...some moreso than others." "Ahhh huh...well...seriously, are you really presidents?" "We do not jest, we are indeed!" "So why are you robots? I thought they were human." "Ah...Mr. Jefferson, could you care to explain this?" "Certainly," said Jefferson stepping forwards, "as you are aware the state of America has advanced quite prodigiously since our olden days. During some part of the 21st century, our minds were reanimated from the remains of our corporeal bodies. We were originally meant to be an educational factor in teaching our next generation of citizens about their national heritage, the times and strife of this great land and how it came to be. Unfortunately, all that was wiped out by a most vengeful chaos."

"The nuclear holocaust, right?" asked James. "Precisely. Whilst human beings simply decayed or struggled to survive, we managed to survive ourselves in these strong suits of iron. It is...an uncomfortable experience at first." "I bet, didn't you like, freak out or something I mean, I would too if I found my brain got put into some giant robot for the next few hundred years." "The existential ramifications did disturb us yes...but over time we adapted and so we are but witnesses to the state of entropy, both for this existence and our former nation. Far as we know there is not even a democracy or a senate anymore." "Well that's one thing we're better off without," said Van Buren cheekily. "Hmmm...but I hope that answers your questions Mr. Campbell." "You really aren't kidding huh?" replied James. "I do not jest. Not in this state. Now what about you, you say you were born in London but I do not remember any such as you in the ranks of King George, or are you much more recent through the state of this world?" "I'm...not actually from this world." "...really?" Jefferson said this with great fascination as he walked closer as did Van Buren who hovered beside him. Theodore stayed back with Jackson who simply listened with mild interest, filling out steam from his body occasionally. "Another world you say?" "Yeah like...literally not of this world." "That explains the technology," said Van Buren, "studying from the Auto-Doc I findd a great many things that do not exist in our world. You are organic yet you have one part of you that's clearly mechanical, and I see various additions to your body that are certainly not natural." "Yeah um...that was an experiment I wasn't really wanting to do." "Coerced? How tragic, to think this happens on British shores." "Heh, actually it happened in YOUR country." "What?!" Roosevelt pushed up towards the front hearing this. "What did you say?!" "Yeah, I was experimented on by YOUR military in YOUR country. Sure my country's a pile of shit but yours ain't exactly better." "Preposterous, we would never do such a thing!" "Not in our time at least," said Martin, "but the new forces of this world...that's entirely different." "It wasn't them or this world," said FG, "I mean back in my world, a parallel Earth in a different America." "Parallel? Really?! The same nation and everything?" "Yup." "...this is most fascinating please explain everything." "Why do you wanna know?" "Do you have any idea how dull our existence is stranded beneath a city's burdened limits with nothing to read? Quite frankly I applaud your coming here to give us something new!"

"Speaking of that," said Thomas promptly, "why did you come here? You mentioned earlier that you fell into our sanctum which is...unlikely but I will give you the benefit, what purpose did you have?" "Well," began FG, "I just...wanted to get some parts for machines I need to fix. There's these vehicles I got, bikes and a bus, if we just got them fixed we could head out on the desert and rescue some...people. They need our help and I...well...I really wanna do this." "Saving people? Hmm...noble, I assume you are part of the Brotherhod of Steel around here?" "Yes I'm...a squire." "Ahhhh...you fought well for a squire, we had a senior knight visit up top recently and he experienced a similar madness to you, ranting about some golden bear." "Really? I met him...he wasn't really kidding was he?" "Do you see a golden bear around James? Though it is unusual that such an ailment can affect two completely different creatures." "But I know I saw it, I...I saw this pizzeria and these...those robots you have, THOSE exist and they smelled like dead people so...where did you find those?" "We found them here," said Van Buren, "part of this old vault beneath the former building, discovered them in a storeroom hidden away at the back after we moved ourselves to this place for safety, noticing they could be controlled remotely by a set of AI-alterating modules in a panel we had in the control room above. As for any odours I can assure you they are quite perfectly clean and have always been since our arrival." "But you had them...up there trying to kill me...and there was this song that played like 'nannnn-nuhhhh nu-nuhhhh, dan-daaaan-daaaaan, dohhh-heee-ahaaaaa-" "Tooooreador!" cried out Roosevelt. "That's from Carmen my lad, how did you know?!" "That was the song! I dunno what that is but you do?!" "Well it sounds certainly similar to the Toreador March, I did not witness it myself as I am more an outdoorsman than for the opera but damn if everybody didn't play that blasted thing for weeks on end!" "Well that's what I heard and I never heard of Carmen so..." "And as for your accusation of our robot friends assaulting you first, we can most certainly confirm they have not been anywhere above ground in the past five days." "Wait...five?" "That's how long you were up there for boy, don't you remember?!" "Wha-...no, no that's stupid, that's impossible." "Do you have any proof?" asked Jefferson. "I have my-...WAIT, my omni-tool, it has a clock on it AND I recorded when I went into the pizza parlour, that'll prove I'm not lying!" "Omni-tool?" "Yeah it's...science stuff, lemme just...um...can you guys undo my restraints please?" "Only if you promise not to attack us. I want your word on this Campbell." "Well if you guys aren't gonna kill me I got no reason to fight back, okay? We have a deal?" "...deal." Gently taking off the restraints they allowed James to sit up as he immediately began to focus on his omni-tool, checking the time on it firstly. To his amazement, it actually had been five days since first entering the pizzeria above, or what was left of it. January 31st. 2:30pm. "But...b-but that makes no sense I-...I was only there a few...then the...song...what...no, no wait lemme just, lemme get the recording up." "Alright."

James tapped into the recorder functions of the omni-tool hoping that it worked. He flickered through the end of the dialogue with Hawk, his image floating above his left hand by a small holographic screen which proved that it was working. But then after that...nothing appeared but a horrendous static image completely scrambled beyond belief. They barely heard even a sound from it other than the odd ringing of a bell somewhere beneath the harsh radio noise, leaving the raptor all the more confused and horrified before hearing it. "...no...n-n-no...that...that was real, it's fucking real I swear...I didn't imagine that, I swear I didn't I-...oh god...oh god that ringing...the ringing...wh-why..." He placed his head in his hands and started to shake fearfully as small sniffling sounds could be heard, balling up slightly as the four watchers looked at each other with uncertainty. Thomas placed a cold hand upon James' shoulder in an effort to appear friendly. "D-DON'T TOUCH ME!" The raptor slapped the hand off from him and crawled backwards off the chair, shivering into a corner and rocking on his knees with arms wrapped around his face as if shielding himself. Martin approached cautiously, his small puffy cotton-tufts shivering around him by his little propulsion jet. "Lad...James, was it?" "Wh-wh-...what?" "Is this...the first time you have experienced such......incidents?" It took him a few seconds to think of a synonym for delusions but he got there. "N-no...not really I-...I've had moments like this but...I saw something usually." "Usually?" "There was...last world I went, some thing just...broke inside me and...t-tore me up like I was just...a plaything to him...it...s-some kind of anomaly...something...s-something evil and full of sorrow b-but there wasn't anything like...like here." "An anomaly? Does this anomaly have any particular traits to its presence?" "Just...lots of static and...glitching and...s-stuff and maybe-" "Transmissions?" "...m-maybe?" "Hmmmm...perhaps we should explain to our young guest about some recent changes around these shores." "What you mean?" "Tell me, did you perhaps receive any radio transmissions from this place?" "I...yeah I...actually the guy who came here last, um Senior Knight Hawk, told me about radio transmissions from the Enclave?" "Aaaaaah," said Van Buren the eyebot, "so you noticed them too." "W-wait...what do you mean?" "Firstly, how well are you feeling right now?" "Um...I feel like, the world's gonna collapse on me again...and that everything I've known the past week was just me hallucinating really badly and I dunno what's real and what's not anymore an' I just wanna go home back to Koopin but he's not safe with me nobody is...h-hhhh...ohhh g-god..."

Sobbing back into his arms, the raptor shivered by himself as the robots slowly gathered round him, gently picking him up once he was dry of tears as they escorted him out the doctor's office. The interior of the subterranean level beneath the pizzeria was certainly not that of the original foundations, much more new and somehow not quite decayed to the point of ruin. There were various rooms neatly clustered throughout various small hallways that looked strangely well-designed for such a compact set of rooms. Besides the doctor's surgery there was also as far as James knew the central scrapyard where he had fought, the stairway to the upper world, a maintenance room full of metallic junk and tools somewhat familiar to James, a main office with a large all-seeing eye over every little room and lastly some various resting quarters with recreational areas. He noticed several of the rooms through windows showing various inhabitants' tastes. One had a reading desk with good lighting and several various tomes rescued from decay, another had neatly-compiled mechanical parts in various sub-categories of meaningless junk, and the last one contained old posters, various war memorabilia, a great collection of books and lastly three sabres neatly hanging on the wall like trophies well-maintained. He passed through a few other small areas with couches, chairs, beds, the odd pinball machine now broken as well as ping-pong tables and derelict games consoles far too clunky to look comfortable in any arcade. The raptor was gently laid down upon a more comfortable couch, given time to sleep as he stared up at the strangely benevolent hosts of steel frame glinting down on him. He allowed himself a moment's rest before waking up softly an hour later. His head still felt in pieces, and his body became lead as he struggled to lift up himself from the ruined leather sofa. The room he was in appeared to be some sort of rectangular reading room with various chairs, bookcases now mostly ruined and gutted out, as well as broken tables one could read on. The hallway outside could be seen through a closed door shutter with two oblong windows, one on either side as he slowly walked forwards. The door opened as soon as he came close, the sounds of the deep underground echoing calmly towards him as he moved towards the sound of voices, coming from the larger head office. "_ BRRrrzzt. " "G-GAH, JESUS!" James panicked and fell backwards whilst turning to see Jackson roaming the hallways, seeing him fall as he rolled his way over. Despite the aggressive-looking presence, it looked calmly upon the raptor before prodding at him with the gatling arm. " BZzzrr-rrrt. " "Wh-what...are you saying?" " BRRrzzz. " "You're not...gonna hurt me I guess?" " Bzzrr. " "Heh...about as talkative as a Beedrill...a-alright then, um...I was just gonna go see your friends, is that okay?" " Brrz. _"

He took that as a yes as James slowly got up, pulling himself with the gatling gun part offered to him before the two walked on. The head office had one circular table which in actual fact was a series of linked computers all connecting towards one central seat, where Jefferson sat with his humble court all around him. Or rather, on either side of him with Martin to his left and Theodore on his right. The three looked up from their monitors, which clearly worked by a glowing green light upon each of their "faces". The wall behind them was of various areas of the complex monitored on unseen cameras. "Ahhh you are awake," said Thomas. "How are you feeling?" "Like I've..." the raptor paused in thought. "...been asleep a thousand years." "Hmmm...we were hoping to inform you about this unusual transmission that lured you and this Hawk fellow to our complex." "Yeah?" "It might help to explain your hallucinations, won't you sit down please?" He sat in front of Jefferson in front of the monitor on a free seat, glowing green light from underneath making his skin look like a ghoul's as every inch of his unsightly pallour revealed itself. His cheeks appeared more gaunt, his eyes sunk deeper than in the last month and his body sagged forwards slightly. "You mentioned before that there was an anomaly, and that also there was a transmission from the Enclave is that correct?" "Yes." "It has become apparent that in the past few months, we have had an intruder in our database weaving its way through the network and causing...abnormalities of some sort. Not the least of which concerned a transmission it began sending at least one week ago, or perhaps nine days back." "I see." "Did this Hawk mention anything?" "Some...bear was threatening to kill him and...warned him to stay away or else...he'd...die." "Hmmm...and you?" "He choked me to death...stuffed me in a suit or thought it did...then I fell down here, somehow. The other ones moved too, tried to stop me from...leaving, door wouldn't open...there was a security monitor that showed me...evil. Something evil." "And this was five days back?" asked Martin. "Yes." "Hmmmm...that was around when the infrasound frequency began spiking." "Indeed," said Thomas, "but there's no cause for it, the architecture here does not transmit that. Our intruder in the system must have caused it." "That blasted digital rapscallion!" said Theodore pounding his desk. "First he mocks us with his cryptic devilry and now torturing people like some damned ghost Indian!" "I think even the spirits of this nation's tribes have long departed this place, Theodore. We now have our own ghosts created by our own misery." "That may be but this criminal shall feel our wrath very soon, that I promise you." "_ BRRZZZRT! _" "Yes and he shall pay for that too dear Jackson!" "Um," murmured FG, "I still...don't really understand what all this is about..." "What?! Speak up boy, you had the dash-fire in your voice when we last fought!" "I don't care, can I go back to sleep please?" "What sort of attitude is that?! Where's the fire from your shrieking heart I saw when you cut down into my chassis?! "Theodore." Thomas shook his head to let him be silent before asking FG: "We believe that this transmission caused a certain madness within you, being as it was projected directly towards you as well as this Hawk fellow." "How come...you guys didn't get affected?" "It simply ran through our database, not transmitting anything but when we tried to intercept it, it left behind a curious message concerning three numbers always. One, three, seven." "...it's him."

_ i kNoW wHaT yOu WiLL bEcOmE _

His head simply bowed forwards slumped on the desk, gasping back fear welling in him as he clasped his hands over his face. "It really is...I didn't wanna think it was but...that ringing, that fucking ringing it has to be, that fucking thing's been following me." "What thing?" "That...sorrow thing, it...I just...I don't know why I fought it but...ever since I met it back in Kanto it just keeps trying to swallow me...wh-why does it want me..." Sniffling tears could be heard once more as Martin asked him: "You say that you have met this thing before?" "Yes...it wants me...wants to hurt me, make me feel...sorrow within me...something, I dunno, it knows where I am and keeps following me...h-hhhhh...I don't know what it wants." Clutching himself tightly with his arms wrapped round him, he began to rock back and forth as if nursing a hot pain in his stomach, swollen with an ocean of tears he wanted to form from himself. The robotic foursome looked at each other once more before Jefferson asked: "James, can I ask you one last thing?" There was no response but he decided to ask after a few seconds of silence. "Can I...show you our models that we have placed back in storage. Just so we can affirm what visions you had were real or not." "It's not real," mumbled the raptor, "nothing is, it's not real." "It will allow us to differentiate it from your afflictions." "Whatsit matter, I'm going insane either way, what difference does it make? You guys might not even be real for all I care." "I can assure you that we are, now take a look." Jefferson brought up an image from the monitors showing one on their terminals, the raptor seeing a storeroom's camera transmitting live showing four animatronics. The models, despite all appearances looked completely different from what he had seen upstairs. There was indeed a bear, a rabbit, a bird of some sort and a fox but they were far different in their look. The rabbit for starters was blue with freckled cheeks, the bird was much more effeminate and sleek in white downy blemish still keeping the exact species ambiguous, the bear a lighter shade of brown with shorter snout whilst wearing no hat, and lastly the fox wore eyelash and lipstick but did not possess a hook despite having a sailor's headband. All of them had rouge on their cheeks giving them a rosy wholesome look that slightly unnerved him, but also made him feel much more fearful of what it meant. "That...th-that's not them." "What?" "That's...not the ones I fought." "Exactly, that means you cannot possibly have met them whilst up in the ruins of-" "N-no not that I mean...when you ordered them on me, to attack me...that's not what I fought. That's not what I fought, I fought different ones, I fought...h-hoh god I really am insane I can't even think straight!" "What?" "Th-the bear was...darker and bigger and the rabbit was purple a-a-and the chicken-duck-thing whatever had these teeth like two of them inside its mouth and the fox was....h-he had a hook..."

_ yOuR fAtE iS pArT oF mE _

James twitched as he felt his head turn foggy with his thoughts, warm once again with an unnatural pain that burned up inside him, his shivering breaths rattling from within his lungs as he rubbed his forehead. His eyes turned loose and uneven as he stood up and slowly stumbled in his gait, careless without watching in front of him as he mumbled to himself. "B-but I s-saw the ones up there, a-and they were down h-here but those things, they're not the ones they're not the ones I fought so who could be...god, no, he's gotten inside my head, I can't get rid of him I already got one demon in me now I got two what the fuck is happening to me please h-help me p-please...please..." Falling to his knees, he found his strength losing him everytime his voice began to tremble, his sorrow and madness robbing him of his energy as he sobbed quietly, barely audible to them as Thomas stood up, promptly walking towards him asking: "Do you wish to return to your quarters now?" "Yesplease." "Alright...do you require assistance?" "No...let me walk." "Alright." Eventually James pushed himself up and dragged his feet towards the sofa where he had slept, not even given the chance to become cold when he came back to it falling down upon its leather-beaten seats. Thomas said nothing, could not express his growing discomfort as his arms began to shake, ruffling them slightly before turning to fellow presidents, his uncertainty growing more. Nothing came for a few hours as they conferred amongst themselves and kept monitoring all bases, each of the rooms guarded with their watchful eye. The animatronics remained where they stood simply awaiting further orders, the raptor slept still in the reading room not moving other than twitching throes of discomfort as they stared upon him. Jefferson began to worry as he turned back towards his fellow men starting with: "We have to do something." "Indeed," said Van Buren catching on, "I know you are not prospective of caring for this beast, a devil among tailors with teeth to match." "Is he perhaps feeble-minded?" asked Theodore. "He drew the long bow in our first discourse with him, I can't believe half the twaddle he speaks of." "No, his brainwaves were in the normal state...at least comparatively so, he also recognised clearly who we were talking about concerning the numbers and such. He seems to have a connection, plus he speaks of ringing which I remember hearing during that intermittent static upon that thing's first approach. Clearly both are connected and he is unsure why." "_ BrrzZZRRT? _" "Ah yes, what did the lad say, Jackson couldn't hear him the last moment." "He said that they're not the ones he fought," said Thomas, "he confirmed that our models are not the same ones from upstairs." "Well we knew that!" blustered Roosevelt. "Boy couldn't even lead a blind monkey with his line of thought!" "But that's not the case, he said that during the actual battle when you fought him, they were not the same ones he fought. He INSISTED that the models he fought in our home had been much more different." "But he recognised me upon awakening!" "You are hardly forgettable," said Martin, "but if what our guest says is true then that means his madness has bled far more into him than I thought. And I cannot heal that with simple medical factions even after learning all this fine-crafted technology of our dark futures." "Then if Man cannot heal him, perhaps someone higher." "Oh?" "I have seen that look in his eyes before, as he rambled and whatnot. That is the look of a man far beyond hope and darkness that only God Himself could absolve him of. It is rather unusual that such a beast have human qualities, but I suppose in this world there are many strange things we must encounter in our absence." "...I am not sure if subjecting him to the whims of fire and brimstone would do wonders on him. He already has enough demons to panic about, first one now two as he mentioned so let us not send his heart to heaven with fear of angels. I daresay this ark of sanity he once had set sail a long time ago." "Heaven?! For him?!" "Does God not love all His creatures?" "But is HE one of God's?" "He is but a reanimated fossil of an old terrible beast, much like the ones they had been discovering in Europe back in our time. Surely God constructed them too in far ancient times." "Or that one in New Jersey, you know, Grover Cleveland." "SNRRRT!"

A metallic rattling of a snort came from Martin as he shook slightly with laughter. "Hhhhhahahaha, your predecessor wasn't THAT decrepit." "A damn sight paltry than most fossils I've known." "You know Theodore has a point," said Thomas butting in, "NOT concerning the Bible as antipathy of itself but of another spiritual faith altogether...perhaps even more than one." "What are you on about?" asked Roosevelt. "I have an idea. I believe you are right and that there is one thing we are missing with this beast. He has no purpose, he is lost, he has a fear deep within himself and keeps crying about demons." "But is this demon real?" "Considering the Bible's damning lack of veracity I think not. But that does not mean it cannot be used to instil morality and faith once again into a lost person, like all religious texts should be purposed for and nothing else." "But whatever we saw in our database went rampant inside our home, and it clearly has something out for him, it summoned him here! And he knows what it is, that his very NAME showed itself on our terminal is a sign if nothing else!" "The boy looks as poor as Job's turkey," said Van Buren, "his mind is quite clearly addled and I know we are not familiar with this beast of reckoning, but if he walks like a man, talks like a man and by Jove fears like a man ought to then I will consider him to be regarded as such." "As so shall I," said Jefferson. "Perhaps our guest needs some self-perception and a time and place to do so. Clearly he has suffered a lack of peace in his time of life and as such needs it more than anything, his words fail him as if rocked in a stone kitchen." "Do you think that will work?" asked Theodore. "I have no other suggestions in the slightest." "_ Brrzz-ZZZRR-RRZ-zzrrrrt? " "Exactly," replied Roosevelt, "where COULD he go? God's houses have all been wiped off this earth, as well as the homes of every Jew, Muslim and what have you that existed, how can anyone find faith in his Creator out on this wretched wasteland?" "We do not need a house to pray in," replied Thomas, "but simply a right time by which to do so. Give him a few days to settle his weary self, and come February 3rd I will have something in place for him...it is the perfect time according to the lunar calendar." "Lunar?! The boy's mad enough as it is!" "Agreed," said Martin Van Buren, "the call of Luna might not cure the lunatic, one might say." "Let his body rest then," said Thomas Jefferson. "We will see how he is as time goes on and if he does not cure his ailment by itself through February 3rd, I will take matters upon my own hands." "May I ask one thing at least?" "Yes, Martin?" "Is there, I mean not that I am against this plan of helping such a poor creature but, what exactly are our motivations out of this?" "Firstly we cannot have him like a mourning shirt upon our fireplace leaving oft-destitute to himself. But more importantly, I cannot abide to see one suffering as much as he is. We are in some small part to blame for his fractured state, for it is our home's failed security that lured him, and that digital anomaly took charge of our reins and forced it towards our guest for its wicked purpose, whatever that may be. It is our duty to heal him, and if either of you do not agree then I will-" "I agree emplicitly! I just wanted to confirm our cause, of which in that case I shall continue my search upon our loathsome little earwig. It has since disappeared upon our guest's arrival, but I know it is simply hiding out of sight, for this very instance." "Very good, Jackson, please continue your surveillance route and call on me if anything happens, is that clear?" " Brrzzt. " "We shall reconvene the following evening, dismissed everyone." The four nodded as they left to their own separate quarters, divvied-up between them through various parts of the underground facility. James tried to sleep, but his mind turned over with such frenzied accounts he could not keep himself to think straight enough for any rest to come to him. Eventually he woke up half an hour later, wandering the hallways of the underground facility as he looked around for any signs of life. The loneliness soothed him, but at the same time he felt fragile, uncertain, needing another voice. After finding no one the first few minutes, as well as being too frightened to walk forwards like a timid mouse, he walked back to this couch. Seeing the omni-tool on his left arm he began to rewind it as far back as he could, hoping to calm himself with some sweet memory of his time last year. A galaxy swelling with voices, millions of dialects where he never felt truly alone. Except once. The raptor pulled the recording back to its very first segment, flickering onto a familiar ghostly image above his arm. The sounds of the galaxy returned back to him in the background as he saw his magnificent score upon the arena's steel-blue wall. A set of numbers that made his arm twitch before he rapidly flicked forwards to the next memory. _ "Okay, we are here live at the Armax Arsenal Arena wi-" "-just yanno say hi and stuff about where you live, what you like and such." "Okay, mm-hmmph..."

The scene had changed already towards his former bedroom, the familiar metal walls of a small ship seeing his old friend appear before him. The strange cheerful-voiced creature with a glass masking across the face, where pale white eyes hid beneath a cyan-coloured veil as she started: "Hi theeeere, my name's Leiah, and um...I'm a quarian, and this is the galaxy! I was born in the Migrant Fleet on the starship Guuha in 2168, and I'm an engineer, like most quarians." "Nice to meet you Leiah," said James in the past, "could you tell us more about what a quarian is?" "Oh, well, quarians are a nomadic race who travel on starships and live on them, because we used to have a home planet until we...kiiinda accidentally made an entire race of AIs that took over us and forced us off our planet and...the galaxy didn't like that. We also can't really go and make another planet our home because our immune systems got so weak over time living on ships that it...well, makes things really difficult." "Well that sucks." "Oh, totally. I mean quarians aren't really liked because we keep getting blamed for that, as if we ALL wanted robotic servants waiting on us hand and foot and get all surprised they wanted to rebel! I mean, keelah come on, it's been two hundred years!" "Right, right...heh, getting off on a rant there are ya?" "S-sorry...I didn't mean to ruin your vid." "Nah it's fine, it's more honest like that. Anything else you wanna-" "Hey uh guys?" Lirem's voice broke through briefly in the background. _ "The boss wants to talk to us." "Okay coming!"_ replied James before murmuring, "...should I leave this thing on?" "...go for it, hmhmhm!" James smiled as he watched the recording remain on, passing through hallways he had known too well from last year, two turning corners before heading out of the bedroom hallways across the main living quarters. The cozy-looking central area so well-lit with a kitchen to one side as the recording went to the cockpit, giving the briefest shot of his other friends before he sat down towards a mostly-obscured view of something bulbous and glistening upon a monitor. Its voice came clearly to him. _ "Please turn your recording off." "WH-what?!" "Turn it off, before this one breaks it off." "...a-alright, sorry."_ The recording flicked off as he smirked sheepishly to himself, which soon dropped upon realising such a poor innocence upon Leiah he had given. He could not help but think of her back in that old warehouse frozen and bleeding, gasping her last kiss to him as his stomach dropped harder. Tears were not enough, for he had run dry of them already this day as he laid on his side on the couch hoping that sleep would come take him once again. He started to wish over the next ten minutes that he had not woken up.

hE iS wAtChiNg yOu ** help me ** i sHaLL mEeT a fRiEnD oF yOuRs ** stop listening to him ** hE pAsSeS HiS hEaRt and gAvE iT tO yOu you can stop ** bUt yOu WiLL NeVeR tAkE iT** please help me james

For the next five hours James stayed in a loop, constantly leaving the recreational room before returning back to it as if afraid to now leave it for too long. He had become too familiar with every rusted tile, every damaged book, every inch of the reading tables he placed his head on to try and watch the dust float off everytime he breathed on the tabletop. His head remained warm no matter what, never felt it turn cold with ease as he struggled to think through the chaos inside his mind, shuddering static noise briefly on the edge of his hearing. Always imagining, but never dreaming it. Almost none of the books were legible inside the reading room, except one or two that concerned science and technology, one of which was the Big Book of Science for children. Reading it mindlessly without taking in any information, he was stopped ten minutes later after reaching a part of the solar system concerning the earth's atmosphere when a voice called up to him from behind his back. "Hello there!" The eyebot known as Van Buren floated his way into the room watching James curiously. He simply turned and looked dumbly at him before blinking slowly without notice. "Enjoying yourself a good read I see, nothing like the growth of knowledge to shake out the cobwebs I say. Are you a scientist by chance?" "...no." "No? Well it's always good to learn, in fact I would greatly appreciate some assistance in scientific endeavour." "I can't do science." "Oh come now you must have learnt something by now in that book." "You're a robot. You've done all this before." "But I have only the single eye, in fact I AM an eye technically, was meant to have a much larger model but the people who designed me couldn't finish the old Van Buren project so to speak and here I am now, not that it's not appreciated in some capacity." "So what?" "What I mean is, I would appreciate some sparkling eyes of a young hemp to see something from a new position." "My eyes aren't young...or sparkling. Have you seen them lately?" He turned back towards him showing indeed they were faded away, somewhat retaining green but of a far less lustrous colour than they had before as if nearing around his twilight years. Martin however did not take the pessimistic approach and simply claimed: "They do seem to have lost their lustre but that only means a great fountain of knowledge is within them! Age along with experience can be a great temperance of acuity, which is why you seem well-weathered by it, that is not the loss of youth it is the gaining of wisdom!" "Please go away." "Alright then, my apologies. If you cannot offer your experiences, then I would at least ask for your permission. See, we had your items stored in a separate room and I came across one particular Little Pip 3000, a fine little foal of a handheld device. And well, being as it is in your possessions I woul-" "Take it." "...what?" "Take it, it's yours. Hawk gave it to me, said he wanted to take data out of it. Something involved with the Eagle, I don't care. Back on the Beech they can't do anything for it, he said it was too complicated to bother." "I see, a challenge of great intellect. And you turn your primordial nose away from this, a task of vexing provocations!? Surely you would not-" "Shut. Up. Take the damn thing and go away." "...my apologies."

The eyebot slowly floated off as James went back to reading, continuing to ignore everything the book taught him with one or two semi-interesting facts that peaked his curiosity like a dull wick in a cavern. James was offered food to eat from the well-preserved food storage of the facility that the robots of course had no need of, as well as water which he took humbly. They took that as a good sign showing he had not quite given up entirely on living just yet. Much as they tried to befriend him, or at the very least glean some more info as to why he was here, he avoided speaking when he could. Eventually, the day after Martin's request, the tri-armed hoverbot floated his way into the reading room promptly standing up before James who sat on the sofa still, leafing through his science book. He cleared his throat, or rather voice modulator forcing James to look up eventually, or at least acknowledge his existence. For the next four minutes there was nothing but the odd "harumph" getting more and more forceful. Eventually he raised one clawfinger and prodded at the chest harshly, pushing the hoverbot away slightly backwards. Still he did not move. They said nothing still, a contest of endurance unwittingly enforced between them of defiance versus apathy. Two more pages James flicked through until he finally answered: "...what." "Why did you even come here? Hmmm? If you came to mope there are plenty of other dried-out husks to nest in besides our own you know." "What?" "Why did you come here?! What was your purpose to come here originally before this...madness overtook you?!" "Because...heh, because I'm too stubborn for my own good." "Stubborn?! The only stubbornness I see here is a coward who gave himself up the moment he found an enemy he could not fight!" "You try fighting that anomaly and see how well you do." "What's a little insanity to a war veteran, I've been a cowboy across the land and seen plenty to drive me to ruin but I still stood! What about you?! You're a beast of another era surely you should be by all rights not as weak as a man ought to become! You have teeth like a bear and now you sit timidly like a kitten upon its chair!" "Is there a point to this, coach?" "YOU...arrogant little hobbadehoy!" "...hobbademy dick, get lost." "Do you realise who you are talking to?!?" "No."

James flicked another page with a heavy sigh, his furrowed brow focusing on himself rather than Roosevelt's bolstering before the robot swiftly grabbed the book, and ripped it from his hands to place on the desk carefully. James looked up at him dull through his stare. "I was reading that." "Really?! What were you just reading about?!" "The...sun?" "No, you were on the page about Jupiter, NOW will you tell me why you came here?!" "Why are you such an ass?" "Because if there's one thing I cannot stand it's people who bemoan about the state of things, instead of simply moving forwards. A tin man has more sense of duty than a quitter." "I don't know how to go forward." "Nonsense, you just up and walk out, keep moving to your destination or even make one yourself, what's the point of sitting here?!" "Says the robot who stayed down here for the past few hundred years, what is this place anyway?" "An old vault, not well-constructed and abandoned of its former residents, not the true Vault-Tec design but rather a sad mimic in the state of business industry. I can assure you that I myself have made many a scouting voyage outwards in the surrounding area, never am I inactive in this place. Now, I will ask again, WHY did you come here?!" "I told you already, are you deaf or something?" "Then tell me again for posterity, I want to hear what parts you need necessarily since you had mentioned such before." "I need...HHHhhhhh...a starting motor, four of them at least...need the...hydraulics fixed maybe I dunno." "Starting motors? And why come here when there are plenty around?" "Because...it's in my satchel, my boss gave me some things about it, diagram and...the manifest, something called Cawthorn Hydraulics." "Hmmmm...yes, the name on our animatronics that would make sense." "R-...really?" "Why yes. That must be what you are searching for, now if you had asked nicely for us to hand you the starting motors I would wish you on your merry way, but instead you attack me in my own home, you constantly insult me and now you mope like an unwanted in-law. So of course I am not partaken to be polite with you when I see that does not do any good!" "Hmph...yeah...I guess." "Now if we gave you those parts would you leave as so kindly?!" "I guess...not got any much use here really." "No, you HAVE no use because you are sitting around like a mewling wetnurse instead of taking action! What do you plan to do after this?!" "I don't know...I think...maybe I should just go back but...really I don't know what I could do after this." "Don't you have anyone to tend to?!" "She can look after herself." "Who?!" "Some girl, she's a kid but she fought for herself better than most people I knew." "You mean to tell me that you are responsible for a CHILD and you don't even care about her?!" He looked up coldly with a deep sigh through his nostrils, furiously containing his frustration as it started to slowly bleed out of him. "She's better off without me. Didn't you hear me talk about that...thing that keeps following me, what if...what if it comes to kill her too, like it did the last time I...protected someone I promised to...to take back to his mother I...I-i just...why didn't it kill me before? What does it need from me, after all it's taken from me, my friend, my sanity, my...should never have gone to Cinnabar Island I could have avoided all this...god I just can't stop...doing this can I?" Sighing deeply into his hands he slowly rocked forwards as Theodore watched him cautiously. He tried a little experiment, childish but he wanted to see if it would work. He began to poke him, prodding him on the head with a gentle claw of steel as every poke made his hand slip down slightly showing a green staring eye. Theodore did not stop, but he did slow down just to savour every poke of his thin metal fingers upon the raptor's skull.

"Stop it." He didn't stop as he kept prodding away at him, insistently tapping at the right spot. "Stop. It." "And what do you plan to do about it? Your energy is lost, your vigour has left you, you hardly can bring yourself to care about someone else, this should be nothing compared to the apparent suffering that runs so deep you cannot move from this place." "You're trying to piss me off." "And you can't muster the spirit to keep fighting after some digital blaggard scared the wits out of you, I've encountered worse and I do not tolerate such quitters." "Good for you, why don't YOU go fight it then cuz I'm done." "Did you not say you were planning to save people? What of them then? What of them if you just gave up entirely and left them to die out there, that's not the mark of bravery or dignity but simply cowardice!" "I'm done with being brave, you know why? People died because of me." He stood up defiantly at last, but not against Theodore directly. He more defied himself and his reflection in the brass body. "No matter what I do people just keep dying around me. I couldn't save my friend who got killed because I couldn't just walk away from a fight, I couldn't save some crazed girl who knew about my dark...demon inside of me, and even after all that she went through and struggled to live to tell me what she saw, she fucking dies anyway and I can't...Hawk died because of this...he...he died because of this...thing that fucked me up, that followed me and now made me think this whole place was real, this...this fucking pizza parlour now I can't even tell what's real anymore." "This is. This prodding right here, is real." "Maybe it is...or maybe I'm just trying to piss myself off. Are you even real?" "What?!" "I'm sorry but I'm having a really hard time believing you guys are really what you say you are. I mean if I was going crazy I'd totally dream up robots pretending to be presidents." "I am most certainly NOT a pretender boy and I am offended by the very remark! Frankly you seem dull-witted to even compose half of us or what we say so I am most certain we are not fabrications of your sad sorry state of a lizard brain. Your existence defies reason to me but I don't let that stop me, I charge forwards into the future and engage it, not sit around in the past waiting for other people to take their place, not like you." "Fine. I just...I just wanna stop feeling anything so we-...I shouldn't even be talking to you, I don't even know you just...leave me alone." Theodore stopped poking him at last and looked at him with such alacrity before James sat back down. He saw him not move a single inch simply staring at the floor, as he had to ask frantically: "What in blazes has changed since the past day or two, what the hell did I fight?!" "Huh?" "That wild raving beast who swung at me with a giant pair of scissors like a madman, do you think that's NORMAL for me to see?! I didn't question myself or go mad from the sight of you, do you know how absurd you look in this world?!" "So what?" "When I saw you screaming and ranting in our sanctum I did not panic! I did not hide away questioning my existence, I took you on! I took you to blade and we fought gladly, you were a fighter worthy of my skill, and now THIS! This sad pathetic state that you commit to because you can't handle a new thing of existence, what's changed between that live-wire I fought against and this feeble-minded grouser I see before me?!" "If you saw what I had seen you'd understand." "Fine, make me understand, I am fed up with your wallowing in misery as a waste of skin!" "Did you ever watch someone you promised to protect die before you? Did you ever see a child who was entrusted to you become swallowed up by a horrifying thing that defies all reason? Something that can break reality apart and make you think you're not real, not even exist for one moment that feels like a whole day or week?! ...were you responsible for the deaths of three children who watched each other die?" "I am a veteran of war, do you think I am a stranger to tragedy?!" "Like what?" "I led an entire regiment into battle against an unshaken military with weaponry far exceeding ours, Spanish Gatlings that cut down body after body like wolves in a sheep's pen. I faced a nigh-impossible number of odds, knowing that if I failed in my duty and valour I would be responsible for not only the deaths of my entire regiment, but the loss of an entire nation whom had entrusted themselves upon me. Do you think that I am not familiar with pain, death and guilt in any capacity? Have YOU ever been responsible for hundreds of men, bore the weight of so many lives upon your back?!" "Have YOU ever been responsible for kids being murdered?" "No, not directly. But I have left more widows and orphans than any man should be comfortable with. My point is, that there are far worse things to suffer than an unknown enemy that delights in taunting you, be glad it only does that." "It DOES do more than that you brassheaded fuck!"

A slight hover of irritation came from Roosevelt as a small wry chuckle came from the back of its modulator. "Hmhmhmhmhahahaha...theeeere's that live-wire again." "Shut. Up, and leave me alone." "What HAS that thing done to you hmm!? Has he robbed you of your family, your love, or simply your patience?! I am not leaving until I hear what exactly is so terrible about this anomaly." "Why do you care?!" "Because as someone who has encountered this thing briefly mocking us through our array I wish to know more about this pest and seeing as it has infatuated itself with you I see you are just the bully trap for it." "FINE, you wanna know what that thing did to me huh!? I DON'T KNOW, because I can't explain it!" "What?!" "First he nearly murders my friends THEN completely destroyed a kid I promised to protect, a young little boy who had no mom or anyone but me, then it follows me and attacks me elsewhere disguised as a robot and almost kills ANOTHER two friends I had. THEN, it allies itself with some terrorist organisation threatening the lives of hundreds, maybe thousands, I try to stop it, it COMPLETELY fucks my head up and I...I-i-i can't remember, I just feel this pain and sorrow and fury inside me but it's not even MY sorrow, my fury and I don't know what the hell this thing's done to me! But it wants me, it keeps hunting me down and I don't know how to fight it. And it just keeps killing...just keeps killing and killing no matter where I go like this demon inside me does...your problems at least begin and end with YOU." "What do you mean?" "If it's just guilt or...something bad you feel, you can get counselling, you get that fixed, not...not this thing...I don't know what to do, okay? I've just been walking for so long I can't fucking stand it anymore, I've been walking for fucking years and I am tired as shit and I just want to go back to home to the one I love but this THING inside of me, this f-fucking demon keeps making me try to kill people I don't wanna kill. I gave in, I woke up a week later or something, I find people dead around me and their blood is on my hands, I have nothing now, you hear me? I have nothing...I'm not a hero, I can't even be a villain right, all I know is how to kill and I'm sick of it. I might as well...just...be here underneath the earth and just never go back home to anyone." Theodore listened as James began to rant, fury borne of exhaustion before his voice simply slipped back towards a dulling melancholy like it had been the past while. Eventually the former president stood to attention and began his response. "At least you have somebody to go back to." "What?" "You mentioned someone dear to you previously, the love of your life...that implies you have someone to go back to. Someone who loves you." "Better off without me...after all the things I did." "Do you see this world out here? This...was MY world. My existence ended four hundred years ago, and when I was revived by this technology I only saw a small glimpse of this place before the apocalypse wiped everything out. A beautiful crisp future and even before that, I learnt one very horrifying thing. My friends...my family...were now dead long before I came back. And the first thing I thought to myself was, why me? Why bring ME back and not someone else? Was it because I made a good party piece, was it because I was famous and such a 'personality' but not my friends who kept a smile on my face? Not my family not any of them who made me feel warmth every day of my life?! Because if that is the case I wish I'd never been famous, I would give up everything I have just to be with my family once more...you understand that too don't you?" "Yeah...I guess but...don't have a family no more." "Neither do I, so what gives you the right to just sit there and whine like a berated child!?" "Fuck you, one-eye." "I have THREE eyes thank you very much you vulgar little snipe!" "Only one works, I see the monocle but you can't afford to get the other ones." "Would you like to see how you live with one eye alone? My sabre can gladly affirm that for you." "I don't care. Just leave me alone." "...utterly incredible. I feel as if I fought you and now I'm wasting time with your shadow." "I wish I didn't have a shadow, the one I have keeps ruining everything." "If you are so fatalistic then why do you not starve yourself? You still eat from our stores and drink from our water, not that WE need it anymore but why do you insist?" "I don't want to die...just...I'm just so tired of walking I just wanna sleep...and never wake up." "I am certain that is the same as just simply dying. And having died in my sleep once I can ascertain that this is fact." "Fuck off Teddy."

It was in that moment that James knew he had touched deep inside of one's wounds. A flick of the electric eye throbbing with rage, a shuddering hand made of cold steel suddenly lashed out before slamming against his neck, forcing him down hard against the broken leather as the beaming monocle glared down upon him. His brass body forced itself hard against the raptor's chest crushing him by its weight, his voice turned bitter into dry cigarette ash. "DON'T... ever...call me that name." "GH-GHRRRK!" "My Alice was the one to call me that. And I loved her dearly. You will not tarnish that name dear to me like every other bastard-child newsie that ever dared make a quick buck off their latest 'scoop' you worthless SAVAGE!" "GHH-HRRRRK!" "You may have seen a great many things both terrible and awesome by your own admission but you disrespect yourself, as well as every friend, lover and family who ever had you by sitting here moaning like a lost sheep, when people even greater than you had far less than you have now and STILL dragged their heels from darkness to reclaim their labours lost! DO YOU HEAR ME?! For I am done with you." Shoving him back against the sofa, Theodore hovered back up above him with a piercing twitch in his flickering eye before leaving with disgrace. James rubbed his throat feeling somewhat shaken up, but only slightly as he felt confusion swallow him again. Now he felt somehow worse by hearing the tirade of an old tired soul, realising there was truth but at the same time a great fear had encompassed him, overwhelming to the point of his own vision being unclear and muddied. Two days of no improvement in their guest soon bade Jefferson's plan for action, as he walked in to see James watching his old recordings through the omni-tool hearing a rather dark voice. One that should not exist within this world or the other. _ "Allow me to say thank you. Thank you for bringing me to this place where I may feast upon all these creatures-" _ Click. Rewind again. _ "Thank you for bringing me to this place-" _ Click. Rewind again. _ ** "Thank you for bringing me to this place-"** _ Click. Fast forward once. _ "-we shall meet again, James Robert Campbell." _ "Are you busy, sir?" Jefferson stopped him before he could click again. "Not...really," he said flatly. "I would like to ask you something." "You don't need help from me." "This is not a request of help." "Good, because that Buren keeps asking me stuff about my world and stuff when he knows I'm not smart." "Thankfully this will not require wisdom, but patience instead. And since you have done nothing but sit and plain for the past few days I have an offer to make that will change very little of your position. Won't you please come with me?" "Do I-" "Yes. I would leave you to yourself normally but this is a most urgent matter that specifically requires you...and this anomaly." "...alright."

_ eVeRy StEp yOu tAkE sHaLL HuRt yOu eVeN fUrThEr _

James got up and stumbled his way through the halls along with Thomas Jefferson, his hands clasped behind his steel back as his scaled companion looked down on his clawed feet, blank without any solace even from himself. They walked past rooms where the others had lived, Martin working on new inventions with some assistance from Jackson, carefully lifting new parts upon a desk before being welded up together. Theodore hunched over floating against his own desk reading deep into some old book, clearly lost to the world outside his room. "Your accent," began Thomas, "you've lived in America for a while now, haven't you?" "About...eight years." "Ahhh yes...a defect, or perhaps a young immigrant?" "...define defect." "Did you leave your country for the sake of asylum from your government?" "Well...technically I did leave my country illegally, just to get away from all the bullshit. Got taken away from my family because people on the same street didn't want us there, made up dumb shit, rumours, social services came round, didn't wanna go to another home. So I ran away." "Ahhh, an oppressed young individual, the true spirit of America as a sanctum for the masses." "Sure did a good job of that, didn't you?" "We made a nation far more free than that of King George's palace." "Uhhh...actually they're kind of about the same right now, least in my world anyways." "Is that good or bad, Mr. Campbell?" "Honestly? Neither." "Your world sounds very...dissolute, at least from what I heard of you telling Mr. Van Buren in your fairer moments." "He wouldn't leave me alone, I had to tell him something." "Man and dog in unison, felines and reptilians living upright between houses, such maddening concepts to me outside of fairytales but you are living proof. And most certainly not of our world as you have come to attest, the Auto-Doc verified a lot of things about you not of this existence." "Well believe it, not like we asked for it and neither did the humans, they all hate us for it." "And why is that?" "They think we're some kind of punishment, just when they found peace and unity between each other they start picking on us instead, saying we could have had the world on our own together but now we have a whole new problem with dumb animals to handle. Can't eat meat so they had to make a new kind, lots of new diseases, they had to redo their entire medical system. Not like anyone cares after our nuclear holocaust, they HAD no medical system so we built it from the ground up together. Morons don't think that." "Bigotry is the disease of ignorance." "Yeah, totally." "Do you have religion in your world, Mr. Campbell?" "Don't call me mister please." "Very well, James then." "And sorta...we got all the standard human ones but those are really lifestyles more than anything, no one takes them seriously. I mean I guess they go to church, they speak about god and then go home, maybe one or two of them are like 'can't eat this kinda food' so-and-so which I think is kinda stupid NOW considering none of the meat we eat is actually real but I guess old habits and such." "I see." "We also got the um...the um...ugh, these two religions, one for anthros and one for scalies?" "Really? And what are those pray tell?"

"Well there's Karennio-something, that's some belief that all anthros got made by some grand creator who was just some guy up on a mountain, then there's Pangaeism for us saurians but-" "Saurians?" "Um, the...dinosaur people." "Ahhhh...see I can comprehend somewhat the evolution of canine and living reptile, but those like you who are most certainly of a far ancient past, that...still befuddles me." "I don't really know how either, I don't read history." "You should," said Jefferson, "your own history will ensure not to repeat the same mistakes of your ancestry. That's something many people of a new nation rather forget, all nations actually." "Well anyways, some old ancestral memory thing is what Pangaeism is because we basically got revived from old fossils and stuff? I think, I dunno, like I said I don't really get into that so lots of people believe that a lot of memories are still in us fresh." "Considering I am essentially the reanimated memory of a former president within a steel animatronic suit, I can not call lightly upon that." "Right...so yeah, they're kind of weird though, I always heard stuff about them doing weird cult shit like burning rituals and stuff, something to do with fire, they really don't deal with fire very well." "Fire is the great cleanser, its symbolic of our primal origins as our only refute against the wild barren nights cold as the devil's heart. But it also can scorch the earth and erase people from our history." "I guess...why you asking about this?" "I am curious about theology, I find it a great composite of morals that would begin to structure our society, as do we maintain our laws and rights by such basic understandings for all good and evil, to espouse moral philosophies in order to establish a working society where man is free to pursue interests, to not punish another for not believing in his way and to speak against active discrimination." "You saying religion started all that? How's that working out for you?" "...your flippancy is noted and I do note that while I was flesh and blood I spoke plenty concerning the hypocritical divisions of Christianity, of which I am more versed than in other religions. But that does not mean I think religion itself is flawed, there is goodness in God, it is just those ordained as His messengers that have all-too-great flaws that concern with disputes, anathema and burning of the heretics." "So, do you believe in God then? You don't sound big on it." "I believe in the moral scripture, of that of Jesus as he spoke to his people in all that is good to be committed upon this fair earth. However I do not believe in divinities, or miracles, or the absolute power of the holy trinity. And I most certainly do not believe in the unison of church and state." "I guess." "What about you?" "I kinda stopped caring about things like that. Being on a long road like this sorta gives you a lot to think about, even after meeting someone as powerful as god, and demons...definitely demons." "You say demons are real?" "There's one in me right now." Jefferson stopped him in his tracks and turned towards him asking: "Was that perchance the voice I heard you recording from your interface?" "Yes...he left a message for me taunting me about all the people I killed...or maybe HE killed, just used my body for such." "May I see?" "...you really want to?" "I will not judge you, you have no reason to lie at this point don't you?" "Not...really but...well you said you don't believe in God-" "Only because I have no evidence to the contrary of His true existence, that does not mean the Bible is completely useless for it still contains a moral structure along with every other text of-" "Okay stop stop...listen I get you're big on religion but I don't really care." "I know, I am just simply-" "You wanna see my demon? Go ahead, look."

He flicked on his omni-tool and found the recording he was on before winding his way back towards the beginning of it, seeing the image of the demon rapidly transfixed within static snow. Eventually he pressed play and allowed it to speak for itself, his own visage sneering at something unseen from out of view in a dark hospital room. Thomas watched the recording with fascination seeing the most clearly vile Scissoraptor's form. _ "-now stay there or else I will make your death last longer than these walls. ...hello James Robert Campbell. Hmhmha ha ha...finally you can see your face the way it truly deserves to be. Do you like my eyes? Yours rather, now bereft of life and cold as the blood that now runs through me. Did you know that when I possess you, you are technically dead? Or rather inbetween life and death? Your body still fits like a glove for my...purposes. You are aware of the new armour fitted onto your body I presume. It is, according to this scientist here, a fully capable suit that provides...what was it again?" "A-a-a...a...p-please, don't kill me-AAAAAAAAAARGH!"_ "That's enough." Thomas put up a hand to cease as James turned off the recording bluntly. "I see, clearly you are most definitely afflicted by something and I have noted that you...are a most different personage when that state takes you. Much more than just a mental deficiency, this is clearly something far worse." "It is worse." "What exactly triggers it?" "He gets...hungry, that's it really...if I don't feed him with souls from all the people I kill, like using my weapon on them basically, he lives in the scissors...but then he got inside of me, got a hold on me, he gets hungry over time. Someone I went to told me that if I kept feeding him in some way then he would be easy, just sorta calmed down and stuff but that...really didn't work for long." "And why is that?" "...because I didn't wanna just keep killing all the time I...I can't do it. ...I killed criminals at first, people who were really terrible...then I killed someone innocent, by accident. Just a homeless dude he didn't do anything j-just, went there at the wrong place at the wrong time and I just...I didn't want to keep doing this but Koopin...f-found out about everything..." "I see. A grim business, and you cannot dispose of this demon, perhaps by not ridding yourself of these scissors?" "No he...he always comes back, always he finds a way and just reappears like...something evil I can't get rid of him, I...I just can't find a way to stop him from using me just to kill people." "That is not possible." "I'M not possible, but I'm still here." "That is true, your existence defies a lot of things to me and most certainly I saw a demon in that recording." "You're taking this awful well." "I have lived three hundred years against my will, reborn in this mechanic corpse. I have seen plenty of things both old and new that should not have been. You say this demon forced you to commit such acts?" "Kinda...but...still my fault that people get killed when they don't deserve it." "That is good." "Huh?" "The first thing to have is remorse that will allow you to repent. Tell me, are you familiar with Siddhartha Gautama?" He walked on through another hallway, leading James towards a surreptitiously darkened corner of the facility as he felt more undergrowth upon his feet. The air felt warmer somehow, and there was more dirt and grit beneath his feet as he saw the tiles begin to wear away, cracked and buried underneath before asking: "Um...is that a book?" "Nnnnot quite, do you know of the Buddha at least?" "Wait...Buddha...isn't he that fat guy people have statues of outside garden centres?" Even without a face James could tell the bemused look from Jefferson's circuitry. "Perhaps your world has a different understanding but no, that is not Buddha. Buddha was a somber man of average build, not exactly large in terms of body type, but he IS however known as the founder of Buddhism. Do you know how he came to be?" "No, how?"

"Once upon a time, there was a young man known as Siddhartha who was born as the son of a chief in central Asia. Details somewhat vary but from what I remember, his mother passed away and he was raised by his aunt and father who wanted him to become a great king, and as such shielded him from the existence of human suffering and religious practice in order to leave his mind untempered. Around his thirties, he left the palace in order to meet his subjects and soon became all too aware of the sick, the aged and the suffering. He was so stricken by these for the first time that he strove at first to become an ascetic." "A what?" "A person who strives to abstain from wordly material pleasures in order to find peace. Continuing, he made many efforts to abstain from such pleasures by begging for alms on the street, partaking beneath a master of yoga, as well as self-mortification through starving oneself to live on absolute barest of necessity. He almost died in a river from this." "Oh this is very uplifting," said James sarcastically. "But he survived and began to reconsider this path he took, thankfully, and decided to meditate by focusing upon a special memory to him. A memory of his father plouging in the field, a memory that to him was both blissful and reassuring. That was when he went into the state of the dhyana. He sat under a tree, of the ficus religiosa, and meditated for forty-nine days where he vowed never to move until he found the truth." "What truth?" "The Four Noble Truths, which must be realised in order to eliminate the existence of suffering in this world. Firstly, we have Dukhha. we cannot keep what we like and cannot avoid what we do not like. If this is all we know we suffer. Second is Samudaya, that all suffering has a cause and that usually is because of ignorance. Ignorance leads to want, want leads to selfishness, selfishness becomes ignorance which in turn causes suffering. Do you follow me?" "Um...sorta, why do you-" "Bu-bup, let me finish. Thirdly, there is Nirodha, a state of mind one can obtain free from suffering. By refusing the crave of base desire, we can cease suffering unto ourselves. And finally, we have Marga which is the end of suffering and to achieve that, one must learn the Eightfold Path." "Oh god, now there's eight things, is this gonna be on the test?" "Simply put," said Thomas ignoring, "there are eight attitudes one must take in order to achieve the end of suffering of oneself and others around you. That is to never have high expectations so you will not be disappointed; commit to your mental and ethical growth in moderation; speak truthfully without exaggeration or cruelty unto others; avoid all actions that would do harm unto others; do not become an occupation that intentionally causes harm unto others-" "Too late." "-make an effort to improve oneself which leads to the last two parts of the path, a mental state to see things truly as they are with clear consciousness, and a state of enlightenment when one's ego shall fade away." "Why do you know all this? You said you were a Christian." "I read James. I read many things and it is important that one obtains a great many views in order to see this world much more clearly. Now I am not asking you to become a Buddhist, that would require far more time than we have and quite frankly I am not the man to oversee such an epiphany. I instead however ask that we take lessons from Siddhartha's story concerning one's meditation." "And what lesson is that?" "To understand oneself. Here."

_ bEyOnD tHiS EaRtH LiEs a bRoKeN pRoMiSe _

They stood in front of a door at the end of a dark hallway, a warmth lingering upon the air almost as if James was back outside before realising the soft earth beneath his feet. Jefferson opened it by entering a code into the keypad on his right, showing a new room that James had not seen before. It was an arboretum, a place where a tall tree stood mightily before them pushing through the cracks of wilting steel above its 20-foot height, struggling to hold the roof as if the world was on its shoulders. Desks had been shoved to the walls all around it and a large screen was untouched behind it. For the most part it stayed upright, but the branches bent themselves against the roof of the large room, twisting and creaking against cold metal as the silt of dirt fell in occasionally in small dusty sprinklings upon the warm tiles. There was light inside this place, a light so radiant he forgot that it came from the desert sun up through the cracks to the world above unseen. It was beautiful, the sight of little white berries upon it made him curious of its taste, and while it splayed out thickeningly over prominent decaying walls, it was then James realised he had never seen a fully-developed tree in this world until now. "Hooooly...wh-...what is this?" "A juniper," said Jefferson, "Juniperus Virginiana, also known as the Red Cedar despite being not a true cedar and actually of the juniper family." "This...th-this is...why is it here?" "It was once a room for children and such, possibly their schooling home but I found there were some seeds in this place and allowed it to grow neatly as itself. Once there had been many skeletons lying around but due to respect we decided to bury all possible remnants of these former citizens to the great earth. Now there is this...we have been looking after it for the past...seventy-five years?" "How come...no one ever found you yet?" "The place you saw above you has no value, it is a decaying husk of a building and as such holds no interest. Also we made sure that the door was well guarded and securely hidden, despite this plant's attempts to keep reaching out towards the outside world, not that it really matters for it has enough light and we process water purely through our works." "Yeah you...really have some nice clean water." "The benefits of an inventing mind as well as understanding machinery when you are part of it. I was previously a farmer before I dirtied my hands in politics." He waited as if for a cue as James looked at him oddly, seeing the robotic eyeless dome stare at him. "That's...cool?" he replied awkwardly. "No? Hmm, Martin likes when I say that anyways, I was previously a farmer and therefore I have experience in tending to a crop, as well as innovations of agriculture that I use to keep this plant secure. Fortuitous soil mix, adding water chemically pure to its standards, noted nutrients and of course light." "But...why bother with this tree of no one's gonna use it?"

"Because I feel as if one day the earth shall revive itself as did this juniper had done through the days of the apocalypse. I feel as if...my hopes remain on this tree and so long as it stands there...I know that one day the world will come back." "Trapped here beneath a dying earth doesn't sound that really hopeful." "Pessimism, it is safe, not trapped receiving light and water, not want for anything else." "I guess...I dunno, seems beautiful though, you really grew this?" "I did plant it, but I have to commit its bravery by endurance before I could manage to find appropriate nourishment for it. The light it found on its own, I just simply gave it water." "Man...I could never do that." "You can always learn," added Jefferson, "it is not hard to care for a beast that does not move." "...are you talking about me or the tree?" "Ha ha ha, now that one you got." "But...why did you take me here to this tree?" "Because I give you a greater purpose before you. I want you to meditate under this tree, for twenty-eight days until you find your answer. Since you do not plan on leaving in your state, I wish to make the best of it hoping you may find an answer to your inner riddle." "It's not a riddle, it's a demon for fuck's sake." "Can you figure out a demon? No, therefore it is a riddle and one you must now solve in order to free yourself of its trappings. Being a part of you, you must learn to control it, to wield it powerfully as a cursed weapon and contain it when not in use. You handled your weapon well against Theodore and I confer that YOU are the wielder of that, not the weapon wielding you is that correct?" "I...guess." "Then you must control it. And in my experience when a man suffers great offence at the hands of something dreadful within him, through his worst qualities controlling him then he must turn to faith. And it is through this meditation that I hope you find some solution." "That's not gonna work. I tried science, I asked gods up in the sky and they couldn't do anything because of some bullshit about wishes." "If science and mysticism both fail you, then there is only the spiritual path left for you. You have not tried it, haven't you James?" "...n-no." "Then, do you have anything left to lose by doing so?" "...no." "Then please...sit underneath this great juniper and meditate for me." Slowly the raptor walked his way over towards the tree and sat down before it, resting his back against its mighty reddish-bark and feeling the cool rugged texture soothe him. Already he felt much more peaceful, but possibly because he had not felt beneath a tree in a few years. The last he had ever felt such peace in nature was with Koopin, which gave a little sadness in his heart. "Are you comfortable?" asked Jefferson. "Kinda...yeah actually." "Good, because I now have another mandate. You recall I asked you meditate for twenty-eight days, correct?" "Um, yeah like a whole month?" "Do you want to know why?" "Is...is that how long Buddha sat?"

"No," said Jefferson, "that was forty-five days, this is different. I understand that simply meditating may not be enough, you spoke of how you have a lack of self-control and discipline correct? That this demon can take over quite willingly and you do nothing to stop it." "Y-yeah." "Then I enforce upon a rule. Have you heard of the month of Ramadan?" "Huh? ...um...yeah I sorta, Mahmoud told me about cuz his parents do it, that's the Muslim thing right? With all the fasting and stuff?" "Precisely. I have read on it previously, even partaken of it myself once upon dealing with a dignitary from Tunis, an envoy of the chieftain." "Hah, really?" "We had some concerns upon piracy preying on our merchant vessels by the Barbary States, and I spent six months conferring upon him of this matter. Unfortunately he arrived during Ramadan and in deference to his religious obligation I changed mealtimes upon inviting him to my housing, from half after three, to that of precisely sunset. Hmhmhaha, he actually told me not to pay his steward during our time at iftar as his steward had been wildly reprehensible, drinking and fighting like well you had been! Except you did not drink in our first encounter. "I've never really gotten drunk that often, I was raised in a bar so I've seen plenty of that." "Interesting...but now, where was I?" "Ramadan?" "AH, yes, I believe it shall make a good use of practice for allowing you to learn self-control and discipline, by not eating for the days gone by, no food, no drink, no sexual relations, no partaking of tobacco and no hallucinogenics." "Don't Christians have something like this?" "Yes we have Lent, but that starts next month on March 7th and we have the lunar calendar showing it is the perfect month now for Ramadan. Unless you'd rather wait another month for a good FORTY days of fasting and self-discipline." "Uhhhhhh...let's get this over with right here, I'll stick with Ramadan...but I don't believe in-" "I know, that's not the point. The point here is discipline, we shall use the practice of the Moslem to steer you towards an inner faith in oneself, by learning to become strong and faithful, by being able to oust the evils from inside of you by controlling your body's needs, by not giving in to your base desires of eating, violence and fornication." "Right...should I pray or something?" "Only if you wish to, perhaps for this case you have someone dear to wish to, someone you may love?" "...there is...someone out there." "That's good, then pray to them. Pray to their safety and love for you to overcome your trial. I will keep watch over you, and feed you for under the rules of Ramadan you shall eat before sunrise and after sunset. You may NOT however perform anything else no matter what but I shall keep track of your pre-fasting and post-fasting meals. And as you meditate upon there, grasping to control your body I want you to focus upon your most blissful memory. Like that of Buddha."

_ MeMoRiEs aRe dUsT bEfOrE mE _

James blinked through his warming headache as he asked cautiously: "Blissful memory?" "A memory that is important to you, a memory so focused in its utmost cheer and wisdom that you endeavour to find wholeness within yourself through that memory. To be thankful, to be brave and strong against injustice both inside of you and from others. That, is your task for this James." "But...I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" "Because...I pity you. I see a boy desperately in need of spiritual balm from what you suffer, a curse of the demon sleekly coursing through your very soul and I believe that a blending of two cultures, may help you see things through. I would have only appropriated only one but that would only give you either a time or a place, not both. Were I to give you both a time AND place by which to meditate, we may have some better results yet as a test of your dilligence, a cross-reference of maintaining dignity and solace." "So just sit here for a whole month not doing anything thinking about happy things? That's it?" "To put it as such...yes." "Hmph...alright, got nothing else to do, I'll just sit here then. You not worried about your tree?" "I have plenty nourishment for it so I do not have to worry. And I trust you not to do damage to it, for that tree now represents your hope. And should it happen to fail...that will be the end of it. God be with you James." The robotic figure closed the door as he left James watching underneath the tall juniper tree, sitting amongst the dirt and roots gnarled encroaching upon the earth underneath him. There was admittedly something about Jefferson he could not help but like, his stern but patient manner or perhaps the fact he needed this, he wanted to be guided somewhere over the past few days with each new dawn passing. Not that he saw the dawn underneath the remains of his city, but each new awakening of himself from sleep had just given him static from his dreams, brief and frantic with despair. He hoped by a small chance of bleakness inside of him that perhaps being buried far from anything, within this strange complex of even stranger hosts, he would find some peace. Or at least find some way to keep himself from spilling blood once again. At least here, people were safe from him. The only one not safe was himself, and at this moment in time, he accepted that gladly. Here, he began to dream of all he had been through, and hoped somewhere amidst his frayed journey there lied some hope of reigniting a fight within him. Against two impossible forces of darkness that hungered for his existence. One claiming for his soul, the other for his sanity. He sat, as he waited for a solution.