General description of the au:

Eight gets teleported 2 months back into the past by a bored deity wanting to enact revenge on H2TCH. They end up meeting some new people, being subjected to torture and fucking over an entire orgnisation, as well as almost sacrificing themselves in the process.

This roleplay took place 03.12.2024 - 11.02.2025 (for now). This is the first time Eight has directly interacted with Edgar of all alternate timelines.

Scenes:

1 - Author's visit
2 - Eight's entrance
3 - Hetch's offer
4 - Code experiments
5 - Hetch's and Diamond's hug
6 - Eight's coding lessons
7 - First drone meeting

- In Hetch's Office -

[Author was bored. And that is never a good thing. And that's where our story starts.] "HETCH, what an unpleasant meeting!" [The cheerful voice was coming from right behind H2TCH's back.]

[HETCH turns, and touches the side of his mask lightly with a gloved hand. An intruder he wasn't informed of before they reached him? This should be interesting.] "Good afternoon. Dare I ask who you are, or why you're here?"

"Oh but of course! I am Author, god of storytelling, writing and history." [They reached out one of their floating paws forward, mimicking an aristocratic lady who expects for her hand to be kissed as a greeting.]

[HETCH obliges, resting his hand under theirs and briefly pressing his mask to the back of their paw.] "A pleasure to meet you, Author. I'm honored that you chose to visit us here. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Yes there is, actually. I have found a curious little thing on my adventures. I would like you to take a look at it and tell me what you think." [Author flicked their tail, and as they did so, something big appeared in front of them both, on the floor. It was hard to tell what exactly, as it was covered by a black cloth.] "Care to do the reveal yourself?"

[HETCH drops their hand and kneels beside the cloth. The smell is... Unpleasant, to say the least, but he will not question a gift from a God. He will not hesitate. He throws the cloth aside to reveal a body in an advanced stage of decomposition. A faceless body, maskless, in the uniform he himself wears] [Is this one of his predecessors? Why has he been given the corpse of a HETCH?] [He examines it more closely, hoping to determine the reason for this unsettling gift, and finds a barely-visible line of stitching along the left arm of the unraveling uniform. HETCH pauses to absorb this information, and looks down to the tear in his sleeve that he planned to repair this evening.] "Ah." "Within the next year or two, then? I can't imagine this particular uniform will last much longer than that. How unfortunate; I'd hoped for a longer career, but I suppose it can't be helped."

"Within the next couple of months, actually. Perhaps even in the next month." [Author smiled smugly, content at how the situation is turning out.] "And you are wrong about the fact that it can't be prevented. That's exactly why I'm here, in fact."

[HETCH recovers the body and stands, clasping his hands behind his back.] "I see. Thank you for this warning, Author, I must express my deepest thanks for the chance to realize my potential in this company. Would you be so kind as to tell me what I can do to avoid this fate?"

"Oh but of course! I will even bring the key to you. You see, masks aren't nearly as reliable as you all seem to think. It is one of the reasons for your upcoming death. But I have a person who, in being a mistake of the process, has the error particularly prominent in their code. I'm sure that if you manage to get your hands on said code, you'll easily be able to reverse engineer a solution." [Author giggles, enjoying the little game they were playing. The sound was more easily attributed to a fox rather than a human.] "All you have to do is catch them and get to said code. Which may not be quite as easy as you expect."

"A game, then. Very well. " [HETCH thinks he understands this god. They're invested in the story, not the actors, with the power to change it: the ideal of the viewers this company was made for. If they seek entertainment, he is more than willing to offer it in exchange for his life.] "Is there any more information you can give me, or am I on my own from here?"

"Oh you will know when they appear, don't you worry. They are quite a prominent figure." [A loud crash comes from one of the rooms. Specifically, Diamond's room. Author's smile widens. Cursing can be heard, in a voice that is very clearly not Diamond.]

"I assume that's my code."

"You would be correct to assume so."

- In Diamond's Room -

"Who the fuck?! Why are you in my room! What do you want?!"

[Eight, who just spontaneously appeared out of thin air and started screaming, suddenly stopped as they saw that they weren't alone.] "Diamond?? What are you doing here?-" [They were sitting on the cold, tiled floor, looking up at the other with a look of pure confusion. Luckily, their mask didn't really show anything. Their incredulous voice did, however.]

[Diamond was squished into the corner of the room.] "Who are you? Why are you- this is my room."

"Is it?" [Eight got up from the floor, stumbling a bit before finding a wall to lean onto. They were trying desperately to buy themselves time to connect to the local cameras.] "We're in Showfall.. why are you in Showfall again? How the fuck did that happen?- when?-"

"What- what do you mean again?"

[Eight stayed silent for a couple of seconds, processing that.] "..fuuuuuuuck." [This was the only response that Diamond has gotten.]

[HETCH stands outside for a moment, listening to their conversation. The key is clearly disoriented, perhaps drawn in from another timeline by the Author. He can use that. Offer to explain the situation, draw them away from Diamond. He can’t have his potential successor corrupted by such knowledge yet.]

"Are you just... not going to explain what the hell you meant by that?!"

"I don't think that will be necessary." [HETCH steps into the room and moves between the two.] "Good afternoon, Diamond."

"Oh thank god." "Mario this guy appeared in my room."

[Eight immediately steps back, clenching their fists.] [Oh they're fucked.] "I didn't appear here on purpose, to be fair."

"I'm aware. I met a very interesting viewer just now; I believe they brought you here, and if you would come with me, I'd be happy to explain the situation."

"I'm not going anywhere with you." [Eight grit their teeth, forcing the sentence out of their throat.]

"Diamond, I will be back to tell you what you need to know later. For now, I think it would be safer to limit your contact with this individual, as they could very easily pose a minor threat to either of us."

"Yeah. Yeah, I don't uhm. Yeah."

"I'm not- why the fuck would I hurt them exactly?"

"Yes, you are. Right now you are more dangerous - and more valuable - than you know, and if you'd allow me to explain, I'm sure we can clear everything up neatly."

"it's better if you listen. he's very nice if you copperate."

[HETCH moves so that he can look at Diamond without allowing the key out of his line of sight, and softens his tone.] "Thank you, Diamond."

[Diamond smiled a bit.]

[Eight shook their head in response to Di. Oh fuck no. They didn't know why they were here, but they weren't about to give themselves up willingly. They would fight him if they had to.] "I'd rather die than help you in any way."

"Oh, dear... You must be disoriented from the travel. It's all right, we're not going to hurt you. Not unless we have to."

"please for your own sake listen. please learn from my mistakes."

"...What do you want to do to me, exactly? Why am I so valuable and dangerous?"

"If you’ll come with me, I’ll try to explain. Our viewer - the one who brought you to me - was not entirely forthcoming with the specifics."

"Why can't you explain here, exactly? Don't want Diamond to know?" [Yes, this Diamond wasn't out yet. But Eight knew that some support is better than none and Di was the only ally they had with them right now.]

"Don't- don't drag me into this. I'm not involved in this fight. I don't want- I also want you out of my room." [They spoke a lot less certainly then the Diamond they knew. Much more careful about their words.]

"Great, then only the first question."

"Because the Author is not in this room and I dare not make demands of a valued Viewer." [I dare not make demands of a god who has already offered me a chance to save my own life.] "Perhaps you can learn from them. And Diamond is not meant to leave their room at this moment, so I will convey any necessary information to them later."

"The... Author? Is that like the founder?"

"A god from what they've explained. Not the capital G God but.. a god. Of storytelling, writing and history."

"Oh. I kinda get it."

"And, HETCH, learn what exactly? How to be a selfish asshole? Not a new thing."

"rude"

"Learn the answers to your questions, - hm. My apologies, I've forgotten to ask for your name. The Author did not tell me why you are so valuable, but I am inclined to believe them. Come with me, and we'll ask again together."

"Hm. Okay. It's.." [Oh they are not about to give out their real name. Or their deadname.] "Shard. Shard works."

"Shard."

"Shard, yeah."

[HETCH holds the door open for them.]

[Shard hesitated for a couple of seconds, glancing at Di through the camera again. They couldn't stay in this room forever. They would be dragged out. And drugged too, likely. And they would like to keep their clear mind for as long as possible.] "You first. I'll follow." [They gulped, taking a step towards the door.]

[Diamond seemed to relax, sitting back down, and grabbing their fly plushy.]

- In the Hallway -

[HETCH walks out into the hallway, seemingly perfectly at ease. He closes the door behind them, leads them out of earshot, and stops in an empty room.]

[Eight stays silent. They look incredibly tense, as if ready to run at any moment and they're badly hiding it.]

"I'm afraid I wasn't entirely truthful with you. The Author has already left."

"I expected that."

"I'm not here to trick you or hurt you, despite what you seem to think. I want you to work with me."

"I need to know what we're working on first."

"Somewhere in your code is the key to our survival, Shard. All we need to do is find it."

"Our is a bold word."

"The company itself."

"Hah. And why would I want to save this place?"

[HETCH miscalculated. He assumed that the Author's tool would be as interested in showfall as the god themself; clearly, he was wrong. Adapt, and move forward.] "You care about Diamond, for reasons unknown to me. They love this place. From your appearance, you once loved it as well. I'm... Cleaning up the messes left to me by my predecessor as well as I can, but my work will never be complete without your key. We can make something worth saving."

"I never loved this place. If you're referring to my mask, know that it is broken beyond repair. The reset button doesn't work either. I've tested it. Doubt that you'll even be able to get access to my code in the first place, or make something of it."

[He raises a hand in offering, the movement sharper than it needed to be. His body language is tense, hand high, for just a fraction of a second telegraphing an incoming blow. But it does not land, and the offering remains.]

[Eight steps back instinctively, raising their hands up to their torso in a protective manner. They don't flinch. It's a bit harder to do when they don't even see the movement until half a second after it happened.] "What do you want to do to me? I've already told you that my mask is broken and my code is so glitched out that even I can't make sense of it sometimes."

"I'm sure we can figure something out. It would be so much easier with your help, but if you refuse, I'm afraid I will have to find another way to extract this information. This can be painless for you if you cooperate."

"I doubt that you even have access to my mask from the control center anyways. How are you planning to extract the information?" [They were putting the answer off, trying to get more context. Information is king, isn't it?]

"I'm sure I'll find a way"

"Oh I'm sure you will." [FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK.]

[HETCH tips his head to the side, finally lowering his hand.] "You seem nervous. I'll do my best not to hurt you as long as you continue to do what is best for Showfall."

"Nervous? Hah. You're underestimating me. But okay. I agree to help you as long as you'll allow me to go through the process willingly, without drugging or other forms of control." [They grabbed his hand tightly, squeezing it to the point where it almost hurt.]

"Of course. I'm insulted you'd think so little of me. " [HETCH shakes their hand, then drops it, showing no response to their painfully strong grip.] "Come. We have work to do."

[Eight nodded and followed after. They stayed a meter or two away from him, out of an arms reach. They stared at security cameras on their way.] [I know you're here. I know you're watching. Help, if you can. Please.]

- In the Repair Room -

[He leads Eight to a room not unlike Drone repairs, shelves covered in masks both whole and cracked, but not one of them is broken beyond repair. There must be hundreds, at least.]

[Eight looks at the masks of their fellow ex-drones and their stomach twists. Is this supposed to be an attempt at intimidation?] "What's your plan?" [They didn't quite enter the room, instead simply leaning onto the doorframe.]

[HETCH powers on the old computer, waving them closer.] "Come in, Shard. I'm going to try to attach your mask to this so we can look at your code. You're welcome to see it too, of course."

"I know what my code looks like, thanks. But I won't say no to seeing your reaction." [They slowly came up to the old terminal, trying to feign being unborhered but in reality being so nervous they felt like throwing up.]

[HETCH puts a stabilizing hand on the back of Shard's head and moves them within range, holding them in place while he plugs two separate cords into ports- hm. Well, this is inconvenient. One of these ports has been destroyed.] [He plugs one cord into a port near their temple, lets go of them, and waits. The connection will be slow and any changes to Shard's code may need to be saved and written over the entireity of what currently exists, but it will work. It will have to.]

[Eight willed themselves to not move as his hands touched their temples. A shiver ran down their spine but they tried their best to not show it. The sensation of someone looking through their head was less pleasant than they hoped. They flinched at the beep they've warned people about before. Look how the roles have changed.] [The code that has revealed itself was.. a mess. Some parts of it straight up gave him an error message when he attempted to view them, making them basically inaccessible. Some parts were obviously modified, and modified by a clearly inexperienced programmer as well. Likely, Eight themselves. Lines of code kept jumping up and down, when he tried to select one thing, his cursor jumped onto another part of the code entirely.] "Yeah, that looks about right. Told ya." [A manic laugh rang through his head. Author's voice.] "I never said that I wanted you to live!"

[HETCH was not prepared for this. He tries to sift through it, selecting one character at a time to see where his cursor jumps to. There has to be a pattern to it; he needs to find a way to detangle this mess.] [He doesn’t react to the voice whatsoever. He’s been… Desensitized, shall we say? Past experiences with the audience have left him generally unaffected by sudden voices in his head. He privately acknowledges this fact and resolves to work harder to win their little game.]

[There does seem to be a pattern there. Some lines do throw him out, some don't. And each line that does seems to move his cursor to the start of that part of the code. To the very top of the file. Which makes accessing anything else in that file quite complicated if not impossible. There probably is some way. He'll just have to experiment. Looks like it's going to take a while though.] [There's an emoticon in the shape of a dick somewhere near the parts of code that have already been modified by Eight. The comment states "Dave" with an arrow pointed to said emoticon. Shard snorts when they see it. "That's- uh. Dave?" [The file where their "personality" is supposed to be seems to be missing.]

"It seems that way, yes." [Interesting. So this act is all their own, is it? Every new thing I learn about Shard makes them more irritating to deal with. Perhaps I shouldn't think that way about a potential ally; it makes them more intriguing, as well. I will find out how you're functioning with this mess in your code.]

"Dave is a test subject. Don't mind him." [In their defence, they didn't think that anybody besides them would be looking through their code. They didn't exactly clean it up before. Seeing H2TCH frustrated did give them a sense of satisfaction, however.] [They hoped that the code he's searching for is long gone. They truly did. But if it really was, what would happen to them? Would they be let go? No way. Discarded? More likely. Fuck.] ".. Perhaps if you copy certain files into a different editing software, one that is not connected to the mask, you might have an easier time going through them."

[HETCH nods once, and tries to highlight a large chunk of text to see what will happen before he dares try to copy anything.] "Let’s see how this goes first."

[The selected text morphs between his eyes, the length and the contents of it teleporting around in the highlighted area. If he were to reconstruct them in the original order..] "I don't mean copying and pasting the text. I mean duplicating the whole file and sending the duplicate over onto the computer and opening it in whatever editing software it was written in in the first place." [Then they wouldn't have to sit here for him to look at the code. They wouldn't have to feel his hands on them or to feel the cold metal connecting to the one in their skull. They wouldn't have to hear the quiet buzzing of electricity.]

"I’m aware. I need to know how your code reacts to being duplicated before I try to move the entire file, Shard; I don’t want to change anything unintentionally. A lack of care on my part may end badly for both of us." [If all it does is rearrange itself, this shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but HETCH can’t risk letting the key out of his sight.]

"..." [They fidgeted with the string of their hoodie for ten or so, carefully watching the code. They were getting tired of this. How can they get out of this?] "What if you tried.. hmm, for example- FUCK!-" [A door somewhere in the other part of the facility, far far away from the eye of most cameras, suddenly shut. A shock ran through Eight's body and they did their best to not suppress their genuine reaction to it. Gosh it hurt.] "Shit." [The wire that was connected to their brain seems to have been fried. The very end of it, at least. Not too hard to repair but inconvenient. An error message jumped out on the screen before the program closed alltogether.] "What the hell just happened?"

[HETCH sighs and unhooks Shard from the computer, checking the port to make sure it's intact. It is. He picks up the cord they couldn't use earlier and replaces it with the broken one.] "I'm not sure. Something changed just before the shock, just down at the bottom of the screen. Whatever you did, try to do it again. I'm going to see if I can decipher what happened."

"I think I was.. thinking of grilled cheese. No I'm not joking, I just miss it, okay?" [They tried their best to be thinking about grilled cheese so incredibly intently. As intently as they can. They are not about to reveal their access to Showfall to him.] [Simultaneously, they try to access the drone hivemind. They know that they can't, not anymore. And they know that weird shit happens in their device when they try to. Hopefully it'll be enough.]

[HETCH is tempted to put his head in his hands. He doesn't. This broken Drone's code is so utterly broken itself that sandwiches cause it to go haywire. He hums to himself as he watches the changes, flickering by far too quickly for any sense to be made of them. Unfortunate.] [But the activity follows a different pattern, and there's no resulting shock. Either he's being lied to or they don't know what happened either. He turns to look at Shard instead of the screen.] "This is not what happened before."

"It's not?" [Their voice was filled with mild dissapointment. They really are channelling their dissapointment over the fact that it didn't work into being an absolute idiot.] "I don't- I don't understand. I'm thinking exactly the same thoughts I was thinking before this."

"Interesting." [HETCH lets his own disappointment be known, staring them down from behind the dark mesh that hides his eyes. He doesn't like being lied to, and he's certain that he is, but there's no way to prove it without breaking the tentative cooperation he's recieving. If Shard can cause glitches in their code at will, how much have they been working against him already, and how much harder could they make it if they dropped the act?]

[The voice sounds through his head again.] "Oh they can make it basically impossible, darlin'! They're one hell of a foe. I heard one time they got into a fight with someone and they stole a car, while not knowing how to drive, and almost drove into a wall at full speed which woulda killed 'em all." "You don't have to reply out loud."

[Eight doesn't reply, nor do they move, just meeting his gaze from under their mask, calmly. Or at least they make it seem so.]

[HETCH looks up, acknowledging the god's words.] "Very well. Shard, what can you tell me about this? You live with your coding, surely you know more than I."

[Eight blinks, processing the question for a moment and carefully choosing how to reply to it. They knew that lying would be risky in such a situation. Half-truths and clever workarounds would serve them a lot better.] "I'll admit, this is not the first time I have gotten shocked. It happens sometimes. I'm not sure why it started or what part of my code causes it exactly." [None of that was necessarily a lie. They steadied their breathing. If this goes on, who knows how many times they'll have to shock themselves. Gotta get used to it.]

"I see. Terribly… Inconvenient for you, isn’t it? We’ll have to look into that at some point. I can’t have you burning through resources because your code doesn’t respond well to being interacted with." [HETCH is getting irritated now. He knows Shard is lying through their teeth but until he finds actual evidence - or catches them in a contradictory statement - he can’t justify correcting them for it. He’s learned his lesson with Diamond.]

"Yeah no I don't enjoy getting shocked. Would prefer for that to not happen actually. I ain't one of those people if you know what I mean." [Okay well that didn't work. Fuck what are they even saying? Why are they talking about masochistic tendencies with HETCH what the fuck-] [Eight chuckled, trying to break the tension and, perhaps, seem less threatening.]

"Shard, do try to stay professional," [HETCH chides mildly.] "We have better ways to spend our time."

"..yeah. Okay." [Shard sighs, nervous but mostly bored out of their mind. How long is this gonna last? They change their position, now sitting criss-cross. They were still trying to watch what's happening on the screen, but they were getting more done with it all by the minute. ..will he notice if they access the internet? They open google in their mind, just to see if anything will happen.]

[….Why has every other line turned into a link? Inaccurate question, it’s not every other line, the links are irregular.] [HETCH directs Shard’s attention to the screen.] "What caused this?"

[On one hand, they are fucked. On another, this has the potential to be so funny.] "Uhhhh.. not sure. I've seen stuff like this before but it happens in multiple scenarios. It gives different links with each scenario though so. Could you just click on one of em? I'll recognise the page and tell you." [They open the page.]

[Wary, HETCH opens the links as they rearrange themselves into something that almost looks familiar.] “We’re no strang-“ [HETCH closes the link.]

[Eight is trying so hard to not snicker.]

"So you do have more control than you’re letting on." [HETCH says it offhandedly, without any audible accusation behind his words. Your move.]

[Eight gives up on trying to hold back their laughter and it bursts out, loud and genuine.] "It was worth it! Can you blame me? Don't answer that, no you can't." [They're so in trouble but who cares?]

[HETCH hums, taps the desk, and eventually disconnects them from the computer again. For the first time, he lets his displeasure seep into his words and his tone.] "I can. If you cannot display enough professionalism to at least pretend that a life or death situation is worth your time, perhaps we should put this on hold for now."

[Their laughter dies down and tension takes it's place. What will he do exactly? They doubt that he'll let them out of his sight or at least the sight of other drones.] "Well that depends on what the alternative to looking through my code is." [They sat up and took a step back, wanting to put some distance in-between him and them. They almost walk into a shelf.]

[He crosses the room quickly, passing them without a second glance, and opens the door.] "There’s no reason to be so tense. If you haven’t done anything wrong, you need not fear me. All I intend to do is let you wander for while; perhaps you can find some other way to expend your excess energy so that we might actually get something done." "Considering your… Appearance, I’m sure you are familiar enough with the layout of this facility not to get lost. Just to be safe, though, I’ll have Drones stationed in most halls that you will be able to ask for assistance should you need it."

"I'd say that we have different definitions of wrong, hereby I can never be truly certain if I am or am not doing something wrong. Who knows." [I'm being such a smartass.] [Eight pushed themselves off of the shelf, their hand still on it as they trailed it. They walked to the entrance, making sure to peek out and check if he was waiting with a syringe, waiting to drug them.] "And- really? You're just letting me wander? Alright. I won't say no to an opportunity to look around the sets."

"As long as you do not interact with anyone you may find on these sets. We recently found a new actor who hasn’t quite settled in yet, and I don’t want them disturbed."

"A new actor, hm? Who is it? I reckon I'd know them." [They tilted their head in curiosity.]

[Unexpected information, but perhaps it shouldn’t be. HETCH is careful to sound fond, gentle, when he speaks.] "Our little Lamb. I found them alone outside and took them in. They’re still frightened of this place, the poor thing - Drones scare them, though I’m not entirely sure why. You understand why I cannot allow you to see them."

[Their voice sounded dissapointed, not particularly caring or affectionate, if at all.] "Oh, Lamb, right." [I hoped it would be somebody more useful.] "Yeah. I understand. It's not like I can talk to them properly anyways. I don't see a reason to seek them out."

"Mm. Go on, then. I have to visit Diamond, so I may not be accessible to you for a time, but after that you can find me in the security office." [He'd rather get straight back to his other projects, but he supposes Diamond counts as one of them, and he did make a promise - it's best not to break those when he can manage it, earning back their trust is a tedious process. They can be so needy at times. It would be irritating if not for the fact that he molded them this way himself.]

[Eight stayed silent, not wanting to spill anything excessive out. Insulting him right now would be stupid. Don't do it. Don't.] "Mhm." [They leave, not thanking him. They wait until he's out of sight to go where they actually intended to. A storage room. One of theirs.]

- In Diamond's room -

[HETCH heads straight for Diamond’s room, as he said he would. He unlocks the door, opens it, and walks up behind them.] "I’ve come back, as I promised. What do you have to show me?"

"I- well not must, it uh-" [It was hard to focus on anything when they’ve just been worried about Mario. Viewers can be awful at times, and if they were upset with how long it took they could take it out on Mario.] "Did… everything go alright?"

"As well as I expected. Our guest is not being particularly cooperative, but that will change soon enough." [HETCH drops his hand onto their shoulder, turning them to face him and holding out the other arm for a hug, more command than offering.] "Don’t worry about that now, they’ve been taken care of for the time being. I believe I have another promise to fulfill."

[Diamond hugged him back without hesitation, taking in the warmth Mario gave off. They hummed happily squishing their face into his chest.] "I hope it will work out. You don’t need a second problem causer in the facility."

"Hm. I think I can handle our guest regardless of their behavior, now that I don’t have to worry about an attack from your end. You’ve been less trouble lately, haven’t you? " [HETCH runs his fingers through their hair, catching on a tangle. His Hero’s appearance is slipping; he’ll have to fix that at some point before the show airs.]

[Diamond melts and relaxes more into the touch.] "Mhm, I promise to behave and I mean it this time. I’m not going to try to escape."

"We’ll see." [He waits for Diamond’s heartbeat to slow before he lets go of them. Such an anxious child; he does wonder sometimes how much work he’ll have to do to remold them into a proper HETCH once they’re prepared for the technical side of things. It will be a pain to turn them into a person who can make decisions without input or positive feedback.] "I should get back to work if you have no progress to show me."

"I- yeah, I’m sorry. I’ll try to focus now and- and I’ll have a lot to show you next time!"

"I know you will. You’re getting better, Diamond." [HETCH steps back and looks at them again, taking in the pitiful mess he’s created. It almost feels like a waste to rebreak them into someone more confident; they’re so willing to obey like this, and they were so frustrating before. Still, it’s for the good of the company.] [He leaves.]

[Diamond looks almost longingly at the door for a few more moments, hoping he’ll come back for one reason or another, before turning back to their terminal to try and work.]

- In the corridor near Diamond's room -

[After wandering the mall for an hour or two, stealing some knick-knacks and monologuing to their past self, Eight ended up walking down the corridor where the personal rooms were. They stopped at Diamond's door, contemplating.] [HETCH doesn't want me talking to anybody. That's exactly what I'll do then. Maybe I should explain why the fuck I'm actually here before HETCH spreads his lies as well. They'd probably appreciate that.] [They knock on the door lightly.] "Di-amond? You there? It's E- Shard."

[Diamond jumps, they aren’t used to anyone knocking.] "What do you want?"

"Wanted to say that I hope I didn't scare ya too much when I just appeared." [Eight cringed at their own voice trying to apologise. They're never doing this shit again. Just this once. It was obvious by their tone of voice that they weren't reslly used to this.]

"I just don’t get why it was in my room of all places."

"Me neither. I guess the fuckin- god thing decided that they wanted me to meet you or something. Or scare the crap out of you, no idea." [Just keep the conversation going.]

"Yeah, well I’m not interested in making any new friends. I cause enough problems on my own. besides I’m busy right now."

[Eight frowned at their words, unsure of how to proceed.] "..what are ya working on?"

"Coding, and I already have a hard enough time focusing so leave me be!"

"Coding, eh? I can do that one." [They connected to Di's terminal, glancing over their code.] "You got a dot and a comma missing riiight there." [The cursor on Diamond's screen moved to the place of the missing signs.]

"How did you… you just fixing my mistakes won’t help me learn. I don’t- I need to be able to do this on my own without any mistakes." [That way HETCH will keep them around for being useful, and Mario won’t have to fight so hard.]

"There isn't a single programmer in this whole entire world that never makes mistakes. Especially the stupid ones. It's not like forgetting to put a comma is much of a learning opportunity." [They shrugged, even though they knew Di couldn't see it.] "What are you even learning programming from, a textbook?"

"Mario- er HETCH is giving me lessons."

[Eight snorted at that. Hetch as a teacher? He would absolutely suck. Especially for a neurodivergent person which Di probably is.] "HETCH, really? Is he any good at it at least?" [Just keep the conversation going. It's gonna be fine.]

"Yeah, I just don’t think I’m a good learner. But he’s as patient as he can be with such a busy and important job."

"If someone wants to learn then there's a way to teach that can accomodate basically anything." [Shard started cracking their knuckles in an attempt to let out the poorly hidden restlessness. Seems like walking around did nothing but make them even more bored.] "Must be better than rotting away doing nothing though, right?"

"I guess, I just… coding doesn’t feel like my thing, it needs someone a lot smarter then me to do it." [i rely on auto correct way to much the amount of fucking spelling errors they spent ten minutes trying to correct is way to many.] "But I need to do something useful."

"Why don't you do something else then? Not coding. I mean I'm sure there are plenty of useful skills you could pick up. Like cooking. Or if you wanna be useful for Showfall specifically then cinematography, sewing, drawing, debating.. there's a lotta stuff." [They knew full well what Diamond meant. Something useful to HETCH. Skills that are required to be the successor. But they're refusing to admit it until it gets brought up.]

"This is what HETCH wants me to do. I can’t keep letting him down. I need to get better at coding, you don’t understand."

"..I do understand." [Dammit. Okay, I'm doing this.] "I can help you if you don't mind. Not fixing mistakes for you but more like just explaining things if you don't understand something or making suggestions, y'know?" [At this point they were sitting on the floor on the opposite side of the door, just waiting to hear a negative response which will surely come soon. Probably. Hopefully not.]

"I doubt you really understand." [How could someone understand how desperately they needed the approval. How terrified they were that their next mistake would be the one that made Mario realize they weren't worth it.] "But sure, if you really want to help, there's... nothing wrong with a few extra lessons... right?" [He couldn't get mad that Diamond was trying to get better.]

"Oh! Yeah-! That's.. yeah! That's true." [They scrambled up from the ground and stepped away from the door, expecting that it'll unlock soon. When they didn't happen, they spoke up.] "Are you gonna.. unlock the door?"

"I... can't? It's an outside lock"

"..how the hell did I not notice it I've been standing in front of this door for five minutes straight." [They unlocked the door and opened it, peeking into the room, still snickering at their own mistake.]

[Diamond didn't look over at them, they were staring almost blankly at their screen. the position they were siting in didn't look comfortable, especially in a the chair they had - one of those make up chairs.] "I don't know, but what now?"

"Not giving yourself arthritis would be a good start." [Eight snorted, ignoring the feeling of wrongness that came with seeing Di so.. blank.]

[Diamond shrugged.] "It will probably fix itself after a death or two, or my body will be destroyed anyway."

"Damn. Brutal." [Eight walked up to Di and the terminal, briefly glancing at the code before turning their head back towards Di.] "Whatcha working on?"

"I... don't really know, just figuring out how it works. trying to make something. Anything to be more then the basics."

[Eight looked through the code on their screen. Wow it was a mess. Understandable, honestly. Thank g- they weren't using the old version of MASC. That would've been hell.] " Okay. Tell me what you've learned already. Like which commands or maybe even sections. And then we can figure out where to go from there." [They nodded, sounding determined and confident. Maybe it'll help Di feel more secure as well? Hopefully.]Well, I, it’s like… I’ve technically learned everything I need, I think? But I don’t really know what they do so I don’t know what I’m putting together, so when something goes wrong I don’t know what to fix. But HETCH said that I don’t need to know what it does

"Well, I, it’s like… I’ve technically learned everything I need, I think? But I don’t really know what they do so I don’t know what I’m putting together, so when something goes wrong I don’t know what to fix. But HETCH said that I don’t need to know what it does"

"How do you make a program without knowing what it's even supposed to do? The fuck??" [Eight sounded flabbergasted.] "That's kinda the whole point of a program. For it to do something."

"Well yeah, but I'll figure it out when I need to know." [Diamond imitated HETCH's voice.]

"Do you wanna know what you're actually learning?" [Eight was about to just tell them but then realized that they might consider it a betrayal or something. So better to ask.]

"I- that would be going against HETCH though. He's got to have his reasons to not want me to know... it's just best if I learn without... doing that."

"I didn't ask if he allowed it, I asked if you wanted to know, but okay whatever." [Eight sighs. Di deserves to know what they're doing. Whether they want to or not. But they can't just tell them so..]

"Yeah, and I don't want to go against HETCH, I've done that enough."

"Yeah yeah. Fair enough." [They turned their attention back to the code.] "Okay so you know how to use individual commands. You can try combining multiple? Or if you want something harder then combining multiple commands from different sections. Like Memory and Behaviour."

"Uhm, I mean, I think I should get the basics down before I do something harder, right?"

"Not if you're stubborn enough! But yeah that's fair. Uhm- I'm not like- do you actually want this to be a lesson? I thought you were just gonna do something and I would help but this all seems to have turned into an actual lesson."

"I mean, I can do either, I really don't mind. I'm grateful that you're willing to help, but I don't want to take up to much of your time if you have something better to do."

"I don't, in fact, have anything better to do and I'm bored as fuck and you are fun to talk to soo." [Eight shrugged. Technically they weren't supposed to be here in the first place but Diamond didn't need to know that.] "Alrighty, well. Can you tell me at least one command that you do know how to use? Doesn't have to be anything complicated, just any command."

[They're... fun to talk to...?] "I don't know what any of them are called. But I get this one right consistently." [Diamond highlighted a bit of text that said "if reactions is within 20s = reset".]

[Eight checked the rest of the code. Oh this was about audience choices and the timer that they're supposed to have. Seems like it was a coding for an actor. A Hero. And this piece of code would basically make them unable to do anything until the audience makes the choice. Gah, how do they explain it?] "Okay. So this one.. basically makes it so that if the.. user, I guess, reacts to something before 20 seconds is up, they get reset. Which means that they can't really do anything until the timer is up. Makes sense? It probably sounds weird but I'm trying my best to avoid spoiling it and it's really hard to do here."

"I- okay? How is me knowing that meant to help?" [They were- this was coding for actors? Diamond wasn't sure what they expected it to be, but they felt ill. They didn't want to learn this. maybe they could figure out how to put backdoors in teh code that wouldn't be noticed]

"It helps with knowing when to use it. Okay, so. Do you know how to do the if statements? So like, if something happens then do something. That." [Eight saw the confusion quickly morph into poorly hidden disgust on Diamond's face and they knew that Di figured it out. Eight nodded, trying to confirm their suspicions without straight up saying it.]

"I know what if-else means, if that's what you're asking. Yeah. I'm not a complete mornon."

"I meant if you knew how to code them. But yeah yeah okay got it. Wanna play around with that? Variables and stuff. Try to code an if-else with that one command you know."

"I- everything here is here for a reason. I should... I should just learn what I'm meant to, not figure anything else out." [They didn't know what Shard was trying to accomplish, but they didn't think they liked it. They felt like crying.]

"Hm? What do you mean? You're not actually coding someone, this is just a test document. Not hooked up to anything. The point is to learn how to use what you know to make your own code." [Eight was just genuinely confused. They wanted to learn how to code and then refused to do any practice?]

"I told you I didn't want to know what it did. So why did you tell me?" [Eight was just genuinely confused. They wanted to learn how to code and then refused to do any practice?]

"What gave it away? I swear I tried to be as careful as I could to avoid revealing what it actually does." [And for once they weren't even lying.]

"You just said “coding someone”."

"The user! That's a phrase that could refer to anything from a person using a phone to a player in a video game. Fucking hell man. " [Eight groaned, their tone a bit louder than they meant it to be.]

"User sure, but you said I’m not coding a person"

"This conversation's just gonna go in circles." [Eight sighed, not wanting to actually argue with Diamond. It wasn't worth is. Especially since Di wasn't even arguing, more like just talking.] "..did you have your suspicions beforehand?"

"I tried to not think about it, because- there was a reason Mario didn’t tell me…"

"Oh I'm sure there was. A lot harder to get someone to focus on programming when they know that they're gonna have to use it to control people." [Shard's tone was dark. They put their elbow onto the terminal, leaning onto it.] "I didn't mean for this to go the way it did. I genuinely wanted to help and just hang out and stuff."

"Get out."

[Eight hesitates for a moment, but ultimately decides to follow their wish and get out. It's okay. Hopefully. They'll have another chance. Someday.] "I- I'm.." [They can't say it.] "I hope I'll see you again." [Good enough.]

[A voice crackles over the intercom, stern and clear.] "I do think it's time you left the room, Shard. If you're going to take advantage of our hospitality to distress and distract valued personnel, you may assume that your access to the facility will be restricted in the future. Diamond, calm yourself, and forgive me for my inaction. I did not think to listen to your conversation until you began to show signs of stress."

"fuck." [Eight nodded to Diamond, trying to at least somehow reassure them amd exited the room, their body tense.]

"It’s okay Mario. I should have known better."

"Yes, you should have. I warned you about our guest. What’s done is done, and since you chose to accept their offer, you’ve pieced likely the wrong information together from the pieces you were given. Whether you’re able to identify and rectify this misinformation is up to you."

"I didn’t- I wanted to make you proud. I just wanted to make progress… I promise I was trying to be good." [A few tears slipped down their face.] [The silence, the two seconds of silence, felt like too much to handle. They were too anxious. They needed Mario to say something.] "Please! Please you have to forgive me. I was trying! They fixed an error so I just thought. Please Mario I’m sorry, I didn’t want them to tell me anything, I didn’t want to know. I- I can forget it, just please - please forgive me."

[A quiet, put-upon sigh.] "I really am too lenient with you. It's all right, DIamond. As long as you fix your mistakes, you will be forgiven."

[Diamond nodded, relieved. This wasn’t the final mistake. They really needed to learn how to not fuck anything else up thought.] "Thank you. Thank you Mario. I will, thank you." [Diamond got back to work, ignoring every thought about what they were coding, and focusing on keeping Mario’s love.] [But it felt impossible to focus, all they could feel was dread and confusion. They hovered their hand above the button, they didn’t want to be reset, but they couldn’t cause problems if they were. Mario was dealing with enough right now, Diamond would be back soon, when the issue was over. Just- hit the button. It took some convincing but eventually they did, a small shock coming out of the necklace collar. Now he was calm. Now he could focus.]

- In the corridor -

[Eight, in the meantime, didn't go to HETCH's office. They aren't his dog or his employee, they don't owe him a report or an apology. Instead, they went to the weapon shop, the one that was still leftover from the social experiments. They didn't even look around, going straight for a shiny hunting knife hanging on the wall. Alas, they couldn't go to his office with the knife. To obvious of a threat. So they came up to the empty front desk and started playing.] "Oh, I have all my fingers, the knife goes chop, chop, chop.." [They spread their fingers apart and started stabbing the spaces in-between them in an, at first slow, but steady rhythm.] "If I miss the spaces in between, my fingers will come off." [Eight was picking up the speed, hoping that their skills were good enough to not actually cut a finger off.] "And if I hit my fingers, the blood will soon come out.." [Eight looked up, right at the security camera in the very corner of the room, continuing to play the game without even looking. According to their voice, they were.. smiling?] "But all the same, I play this game 'cause that's what it's all about!" [At the finale, they raised the knife higher and plunged it right near their hand. They nicked themselves, just a bit, but they trued their best to not flinch. The knife went pretty deep in.] "..." [With adrenaline in their veins and determination in their mind, they got up and quickly started walking towards the HETCH'S office, making their steps louder the closer they were, as a reminder, as an omen.]

[A Drone falls into step beside Eight as they walk.]

[And a second.]

[A third.]

"I am already going to his office. There's no need for this. I left the knife in the room."

[The second drone emits a low, continuous hum.]

[They do not leave Eight's side.]

"..?" [Eight glances at 0008, slowing down their speed.] "Why are you humming?"

[It shrugs.]

"Fair enough. Can you report your current task?"

"Return Guest Shard to HETCH. Secondary priority, avoid damage to Guest Shard's mask."

[As 0008 takes a breath, 0028 cuts in.] "You sound so stiff. No wonder you don't actually talk much! Anyway, hey bestie, sorry about the mask, it looks pretty rough. D'you know why you're in trouble? I probably shouldn't be, but I'm curious."

"It's alright, it's been that way a while. And about the second part of that, I told Diamond some things that they shouldn't have known. Then proceeded to indirectly threaten HETCH with a knife. At least I'm pretty sure he took it that way." [Eight shrugged nonchalantly.]

[Despite being hidden behind an inexpressive mask, 0028 looks horrified.]

[0431 is laughing silently.]

"And you’re alive? Bestie, you must be really important. He doesn’t let anyone talk to the Hero."

"Oh I know I am. Apparently there's something important in my code that could "save the company". The problem is that my code is glitched the fuck out so he is really struggling to find whatever it is he's searching for. And also partially cause it's been modified by me so he has to sift through dick drawings and poorly written code."

[0028 stares at Eight in silence for several seconds, its head moving slightly from side to side. It puts its hands on its hips and turns to look at 0008, who seems to have taken its opportunity to steal the voice back.]

[0008 puts a hand on 0028’s upper back and shoves it forward.] "Move. We have an objective."

"Oh come on, let them speak. I'm not even resisting or anything"

"0028 stopped walking. We have an objective. Conversation distracts it."

"..." [Eight stayed silent, making their pace even slower, just baarely moving forward but still walking.]

[0008 hooks its arm into Eight’s and looks at 0431, who shrugs and copies 0008 on their other side. They walk. 0028 follows behind, sulking.] "We move."

"Awh come on, don't be boring, Edgar." [They hoped that calling them their true name would do something. But if not, that's okay. Worth a try. Do they even remember their names?]

[0008 startles, tips its head and tightens its hold.]

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