rabbit doesn't seem so good, 'n I'd swear thar was yin more o' ye...”
Mercury lashed out, “Bloody hell there was! The girl! The whole reason we went there! I had to preserve her personality and memories in that fragment, and I got a bit of the design data you need. So how about you be less of an ass for once and do something about her, would you? We both know how long those things last.”
One of his appendages connected to the back of his daughter's neck, the schematics passing over to him in a single heartbeat. He retracted immediately, backing as far up as he could. There wasn't only schematic data in there, but a brutal breakdown of the bodyshop of horrors that made each piece of the puzzle fit. “Gods, well no wonder ah couldnae make ye if ah tried, them bits dinnae grow on trees, and... well actually trees dinnae grow anymore either.” Shaking his head for a moment he zipped back down, this time directly in front of Usu. Usu looked at Manchester with broken eyes that spoke of loss. Yet even then, he summoned all of his courage as he handed Rain's fragment over, Manchester delicately taking it through a gloved beard-hand. “Yer a good laddie ye know, well, a good whatever ye are.” Usu found little relief in his praise. “Ah will be straight wi' ye rabbit, ah cannae make her th’ same. But ah kin save her, mayhap if th' ghost in th' machine blesses us.”
Usu walked closer, nervous and terrified about any possible outcome, until Modbot kneeled down and scuffed up his head. He found strength in that, a strange, perverse head-scruffing fetish sort of strength, but at this point no one's being picky. Manchester stopped fiddling with some idle calculations and looked at Usu firmly. “In a hundred 'n thirteen years.”
Modbot spoke up first. “For what?! For you to twiddle every thumb you've got on that chin of yours?”
Manchester let out another exaggerated sigh, covering the room in a light smog. “Nah, ye blunderbuss. T'save th' lassie. If he kin hold his horses that long, ah kin do something aboot it sure as a catholic's guilt! But...” He leaned ever more forward. “Kin ye hold on that long laddie? Even when ye dinnae ken how for long ye have ta bide? Ah could implant her in a stock model 'n you'd be t'gether fer days at best afore she'd shatter, but if ye take me offer, 'n―more importantly―if it works, th' lassie will be free o' all that wishes ta bind her.”
Reality struck Usu straight to the head like so many other things had done on this journey, and while reality was seemingly less physical than a touch screen display panel (for a completely coincidental example), it stung far more. He had no choice; before him was merely the illusion of it. Waiting for her was the only choice he could make even if he lived a thousand lifetimes over. The choice would always be the same. Steeling his heart, he nodded with determination filling both his heart and eyes. Rain had waited for him, waited so much longer, and he could never refuse her the same courtesy.
Modbot looked startled. “Y-You’re just going to wait a hundred and thirteen years?” Changing his orientation to the floating Scotsman, he continued. “What even takes that long anyway? You building her a body made from half-burnt Woolworth’s coupons?”
Manchester was already busying himself after witnessing Usu’s resolve; half his body was stitching up Mercury while the other half kept flipping through thousands of schematics, but he did say this much, “Nae at a', that wouldn't! Ah will have ta grow it, hoping it steals shape from whatever auld memr’es o' her are left in this wee pebble. 'N ye rabbit, you'll need ta be thar when she wakes up, ta remind her o' wha' she was, 'n help her become what she wants ta be.”
With those simple, barely intelligible words, time was forgotten. Minutes became months and hours fell ill without hegemony.
The world withered as it always had, and a small white rabbit slumped against a massive
Mercury lashed out, “Bloody hell there was! The girl! The whole reason we went there! I had to preserve her personality and memories in that fragment, and I got a bit of the design data you need. So how about you be less of an ass for once and do something about her, would you? We both know how long those things last.”
One of his appendages connected to the back of his daughter's neck, the schematics passing over to him in a single heartbeat. He retracted immediately, backing as far up as he could. There wasn't only schematic data in there, but a brutal breakdown of the bodyshop of horrors that made each piece of the puzzle fit. “Gods, well no wonder ah couldnae make ye if ah tried, them bits dinnae grow on trees, and... well actually trees dinnae grow anymore either.” Shaking his head for a moment he zipped back down, this time directly in front of Usu. Usu looked at Manchester with broken eyes that spoke of loss. Yet even then, he summoned all of his courage as he handed Rain's fragment over, Manchester delicately taking it through a gloved beard-hand. “Yer a good laddie ye know, well, a good whatever ye are.” Usu found little relief in his praise. “Ah will be straight wi' ye rabbit, ah cannae make her th’ same. But ah kin save her, mayhap if th' ghost in th' machine blesses us.”
Usu walked closer, nervous and terrified about any possible outcome, until Modbot kneeled down and scuffed up his head. He found strength in that, a strange, perverse head-scruffing fetish sort of strength, but at this point no one's being picky. Manchester stopped fiddling with some idle calculations and looked at Usu firmly. “In a hundred 'n thirteen years.”
Modbot spoke up first. “For what?! For you to twiddle every thumb you've got on that chin of yours?”
Manchester let out another exaggerated sigh, covering the room in a light smog. “Nah, ye blunderbuss. T'save th' lassie. If he kin hold his horses that long, ah kin do something aboot it sure as a catholic's guilt! But...” He leaned ever more forward. “Kin ye hold on that long laddie? Even when ye dinnae ken how for long ye have ta bide? Ah could implant her in a stock model 'n you'd be t'gether fer days at best afore she'd shatter, but if ye take me offer, 'n―more importantly―if it works, th' lassie will be free o' all that wishes ta bind her.”
Reality struck Usu straight to the head like so many other things had done on this journey, and while reality was seemingly less physical than a touch screen display panel (for a completely coincidental example), it stung far more. He had no choice; before him was merely the illusion of it. Waiting for her was the only choice he could make even if he lived a thousand lifetimes over. The choice would always be the same. Steeling his heart, he nodded with determination filling both his heart and eyes. Rain had waited for him, waited so much longer, and he could never refuse her the same courtesy.
Modbot looked startled. “Y-You’re just going to wait a hundred and thirteen years?” Changing his orientation to the floating Scotsman, he continued. “What even takes that long anyway? You building her a body made from half-burnt Woolworth’s coupons?”
Manchester was already busying himself after witnessing Usu’s resolve; half his body was stitching up Mercury while the other half kept flipping through thousands of schematics, but he did say this much, “Nae at a', that wouldn't! Ah will have ta grow it, hoping it steals shape from whatever auld memr’es o' her are left in this wee pebble. 'N ye rabbit, you'll need ta be thar when she wakes up, ta remind her o' wha' she was, 'n help her become what she wants ta be.”
With those simple, barely intelligible words, time was forgotten. Minutes became months and hours fell ill without hegemony.
The world withered as it always had, and a small white rabbit slumped against a massive
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