jabberwocky jabberwocka

UNLOCK?

"I didn't fucking do anything.... intentionally. It's.... entirely possible I was toying with scamware that masquerades as... a helpful assistant."

Blackout perked up at Jabber recognizing the name. He watched the way they paced, curious. There was little that seemed to make Jabberwocky lose their cool….

“I take it you know this ‘Queen’?” He gestured to the gash in his neck. “She seemed pretty active to me. Nearly took my head off.

Who is she, Jabberwocky?”

Jabberwocky’s pacing stopped, hands clenching their own hips at Blackout’s question. Their tail still kept those erratic movements. Stress.

“I’m sure you remember that fucker I told you to take out? King? The three of us-- Queen, King, and I-- share a creator,” They explained, tone as even as they could possibly make it. “Even so, she shouldn’t even be capable of damaging you this heavily. She’s-- she’s literally made for agriculture! She’s supposed to be a managerial reploid, delegating tasks to... lesser... oh no.”

Jabberwocky falls dead silent upon the realization. Where they’d been this whole time. Eyes widening. It’s almost deafening how quiet they are. It’s only with the softest whisper that they speak again...

And there goes any hopes he had of getting out on the field after this repair- Wait compromised?

“Jabber, If you don’t mind me asking, what happen to you? How did you come back?.” Lumine didn’t move while he spoke but his eye was locked on Jabberwocky.

“What can I do to help this place not be compromised? I won’t leave until you feel safe for us to do some. Promise.”

Jabber’s eyes narrowed at him, shaking their head. It was a nice thought. Notes seemed to populate on the screen with their own observations, populating a list of parts. Most importantly on that list was a new optical and the parts to create one. The rest could be done with screws, silicon, your average stuff. New chips would need to be collected as well...

“This entire location is compromised. I’ll need a new lab to feel more secure. I have Blackout to thank for my timely return, but he’s even worse off than you right now...” They grumble, clenching their fists. 

“They USED to be under your orders.” Blackout grumbled. The more vital tubes and wires in his neck had been repaired by the nanites so he wasn’t losing coolant there anymore. He pushed himself off the table with a groan, the movement making more fluids push out of the still open tubing.

With his back turned to Jabber, he got to work fixing his arm that was laying on the table. “It took a very long time to track you down. By the time I’d found you, someone else had gotten their hands on you and Bandersnatch. Referred to herself only as ‘Queen’.”

The missing fingers were reattached with a few clicks. “…I was only able to get you out.”

Jabber was about to start formulating a list of parts in their own files before their brain skidded to a halt at the mention of the reploid’s name. “Q...Queen?” The fish reploid trembled slightly, anger? Fear? Both?

“That’s impossible. She was never activated-- she was completed, but I- I...” 

Their words became so fast, rambling, that they were nigh unintelligible. Garbled speech from a voicebox that was still getting used to being used again. Jabber started to pace, heavy steps expressing well their frustration.

Jabberwocky was right but Lumine had a itch that would NOT go away and he knew what would get rid of it. Lumine wanted to get patched up fast, go back and rip that Commander’s head clean off. He just wanted any excuse to get back but again, they were right.

Lumine signed and nodded.

“Understandable. I’ll get on the table.”

When Lumine was up on the examination table, Jabberwocky breathed a small sigh. To come back feeling like total trash only to have to get right into repairing. This was taxing on their reserves, but it's fine.

It's fine. It would be fine.

"My lab is compromised now, Lumine, so I need you and Blackout to be more careful."

"You like me enough to remain in my presence. I'm a project. There's other ways to study me, you know."

"Simple, really."

Blackout kept a close eye on Jabber, ready to move if they looked ready to fall over. He didn’t stop working though, trying to quickly patch the larger gashes on his body and stop the coolant from pooling out if his body.

“Deactivated? That’s a word for it.”

He let Jabber do their scans, as was their want. Most of the injuries were in fact external, but his core was working overtime to keep him functioning. The nanites were trying to repair what they could, but they were seriously inhibited by the acid in his crevices. He was in bad shape–it was a wonder that he was even standing.

“Your pet would be the culprit.” He grunted as he pulled wires back together in his neck. “Bandersnatch. He was less than pleased that I was trying to take you back.”

Scanning complete. No internal damage. Good, nothing that couldn’t be repaire again at some point. Their fins pointed downward in thought, only to flare again at the sudden rush of emotion posited by Blackout’s words. 

“Bandersnatch? They’re under standing orders not to hurt you.” Jabber retorted, disbelief coloring their perception despite the evidence. “Take me back? I escaped from the Mavericks ages ago, and why would Bandersnatch be so resistant...?”