☆Glitch is here!!☆

All the doors in Heavy Containment were shut, thankfully, all the lights were still on and you could roam still.

It felt empty. Too empty. 

It felt almost liminal in nature.

Painter walked slightly behind you, paranoid as it looked around.

By now, you’ve walked by multiple corpses of personnel. Some that you recognize walking by daily.

Even if the doors were shut, they weren’t locked. 

With Painter’s help, you would turn the hand wheel to the doors, opening deeper into Heavy Containment.

Your goal? See if you could find any survivors. Carrying a medkit and a flashlight, both of which were found in some of the offices, you made your way through Heavy Containment.

You knew that it was dangerous, but your empathy made it hard to not try to look. 

If you were stranded, surely there were other scientists who were as well. 

Even if you weren’t a big fan of your co-workers, you weren’t going to abandon someone in need. 

And Painter wouldn’t abandon you either.

Painter was scared, nervous. According to him, he only left his room once and it was when he was transferred between divisions first getting here. 

So to say that it was anxious at the idea of leaving his small containment room seeing how Urbanshade was…

…You’re just hoping that neither of you get reprimanded.

The two of you were as careful as you could thanks to the circumstances. Thankfully, because of your job. 

This whole time, you managed to avoid any sort of threat. Sometimes you’d see the light flicker and get nervous but thankfully you would always be inside one of the offices making whatever threat pass as nothing.

You swear you saw Pandemonium one of those times however and hope your eyes were just playing tricks on you.

“I don’t think there’s anyone in these areas.” Painter muttered, lifting his foot from another pool of blood with an irked expression. “If we want to find survivors, I’d say they are in another division.”

“True…” You let out a sigh, glancing over at Painter. “But what if there’s someone who really needs our help?”

Painter went to grab your shoulder, stopping your walk. 

“We’ve been so close to danger, to death.” He shook his head. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

You put a hand on Painter’s hand.

“I’m fine, Painter.” Squeezing Painter’s hand you glanced over to the next locked door. “Besides, if we survived this long, we should be fine.”

“Well…”

“Seeing how long we have been walking and being able to avoid everything I’d say this lockdown is completely unwarran-”

Before you could even finish your sentence as Painter tensed up letting out a screech.

“WHAT IS THAT.”

You quickly turned to the direction it pointed at, hearing a guttural groan as it fled. 

“... Z-90.” Slowly, you looked back at Painter. “Wall-Dweller.”

Painter stared at you for a bit longer, mouth wide.

“We are going back to my room.” He grabbed your arm, immediately speed walking back to where the two of you started.

“But-”

“No buts!” 

You let yourself be dragged by Painter as you walked back a couple of rooms. 

Now that you weren’t stopping by every room searching for survivors, the way back didn’t take long.

And thankfully you didn’t get stopped by anything.

Quickly, as swift as the two of you could. Painter brought you inside his room. Closing the door as the two of you checked the room hoping that it would be safe.

The crayons you were using laid forgotten on the ground, but the drawings you made were placed neatly on Painter’s desk to make sure they stay safe.

.

.

.

You’re not quite sure how long you’ve been inside Painter’s room now.

Neither of you spoke. 

It was pure silence between the two of you. 

Not because you had nothing to talk about but because both of you had your alarm bells on. 

The two of you were careful, not wanting to raise any signs that you were here. 

Yet suddenly you heard the sound of the door. Shuffling, a bang, then the door sliding open. 

You felt your heart leap to your throat at the sound.

Painter gasped as he saw who it was as the door slid closed once again.

It was wordless, Painter didn’t say anything, his expression was of shock as you heard steps coming closer.

Slow. Calculating.

“Where are you? Come out. Now.” 

The sudden voice of Trips resounded in the small room. 

Their voice was devoid of emotion, waiting. 

They weren’t asking Painter, they knew you were there. 

They were asking you.

You suddenly remembered the ear piece that Trips gave you. Pulling it slowly from your jacket you saw the light of the Urbanshade logo pulsed at where the part against the ear would be. 

“I can feel your vitals. Reveal yourself.”

This wasn’t just an earpiece was it? 

It had to be a sensor or rather… It was a tracker.

Trips has been tracking you since you separated. But why? 

They’ve never needed to do so before. What's different now?

Taking a deep breath you moved out of your hiding spot, moving to the side just enough to peek through. 

Trips’ normally neat coat was ripped at the bottom. Making the coat uneven as it fell from their right shoulder. Said arm had a rather deep stab wound. Dark brown liquid dripped down from their arm as if it was blood.

… It seemed they worked on hydraulics.

You didn’t want to try your luck any further as you hid back behind the GPUs.

“We are safe.” Painter suddenly spoke, his speaker barely audible as it spoke carefully. “No one is hurt.” 

Silence followed as Trips let out a sigh. 

“Good,” another pause, “please reveal yourself.”

“Um…” Painter replied with, the two of you knew who they clearly meant. He looked over in your direction before you decided to side step and reveal yourself. “C-Careful!”

Now you could take a better look at them. 

Their once pristine coat was ripped at the shoulder, sparks flying from the opening at the joint as their body trembled. 

At the right side of their face they had more of that brown liquid, one that you could only assume to be oil that spilled and dirtied their clothes even more.

But what you couldn’t miss was the gun in their hands, one which they held tightly as if their life depended on it. 

“What… What happened to you…?” You couldn’t help but let out. 

Trips was always so clean, so pristine, so perfect. 

The Robotics division demanded nothing less.

Yet here they were, broken.

“What didn’t?” Trips shook their head with a chuckle, slowly raising a hand to brush their bangs out of their eyes. “Perhaps it’s a good thing that you stayed here.” 

They looked over at you, then at Painter.

“I was going to ask why you were still here but I believe I already have the answer.” Trips took a step closer, putting a hand on the chained fence that made up Painter’s enclosure. “Please tell me the two of you have not been injured at any point.”

“We ran away at the first sight of danger!” Painter exclaimed, clearly panicking as you looked back at it. You hoped that you didn’t have to admit that you left the room, especially noticing Trips’ state and yours being completely different.

However, instead of seeming panicked or stressed, Trips only chuckled brokenly.

“I could not expect any less from the two of you.” They mused, before their body started to malfunction again. They leaned against the fence, forehead against it as they closed their eyes. You’re sure that if they were human, they would have been sweating by now. “I’m… ah… glad the two of you are alright.” 

The silence seemed to be a constant now between you. Perhaps it was in the nature of the lockdown that no one knew what to say. 

Well what were you supposed to say when your boss was in front of you all bloody and cut?

Trips suddenly jolted up, eyes wide.

“Hide!”

“What?!” 

“Listen to me, something is coming!” Trips turned around, leaning against the fence. “Nothing would come to this room… I had to have been followed, ugh. I apologize!” 

Out of instinct from the danger, you hid back behind the GPUs. You didn’t want to know what was coming but you knew to trust Trips.

“You’ll be safe.” Trips glanced at where you were. “Hopefully.”

“That is not comforting or helpful!” Painter intercepted, knowing full well he was in full view of whatever might come in the room.

“Lookie here…” A deep gravely voice was heard from the other side, Painter let out a squeak as his expression turned fearful. Your ears picked up the voice immediately, glancing back from your hiding place.

Sebastian.

“I’ve been following you, you know. Surely you’ve realized.” Sebastian let out a devilish grin, straightening up in front of Trips. Sebastian was still in the Urbanshade uniform even after all these hours. 

The only difference? 

This uniform was soaked in crimson.

Sebastian let out a deep, mocking chuckle.

“I don’t even need to do anything, all the monsters here in the labs already did a number on you. It’s funny, really. Ironic too.” Sebastian moved closer as Trips took a step back, their back hitting Painter’s fence. “How come you went here, boss? Here, to Painter, in probably the most dangerous part of the whole Blacksite. Why?”

Sebastian suddenly slammed his hand on Painter’s fence, the fence rattled loudly at his sudden movement as he leaned down to trap Trips against the fence.

Painter could only stare helplessly, it was almost as if the other two completely forgot it was there, watching. 

You didn’t know what to do either, hiding behind the GPU just trying to keep your breathing down.

What are you supposed to do?

What can you even do?!

Suddenly Trips laughed.

Harsh. 

Grating. 

Exaggerated.

It was nothing like the ones you’ve heard from them before.

It was mocking.

Sebastian could only chuckle back slowly, you recognized it as one he would let out almost like a warning.

“No guesses?” 

Trips chuckled once again as they spoke. You could hear the smile in their voice.

Sebastian let out a low growl as his claws closed around the fence.

Another warning.

“I would have thought someone like you would have figured me out by now.” Trips started once again. “You have done such a disaster across the Blacksite yet you can’t begin to fathom why I'm here of all places?”

“Is this a game to you, Trips?” Sebastian’s voice was low as Trips laughed again, yet their voice crackled slightly, as if they had a voice box that seemed to be breaking.

“As the Head of the Robotics Division, or Overseer as I am written on official documents—” Trips started, pausing for only a moment as you suddenly felt their tail grasp harshly at your leg. When did their tail get through the fence?! Before you could even think they pulled you out of your hiding spot, revealing you to Sebastian’s eyes. “—it is my duty to ensure everyone from the division gets out safely. Now I only miss one, isn’t that right, my dearest scientist?”

You fell to your knees with a thump, your hands frantically trying to make the fall easier as they stopped your fall by pressing against the ground. 

It was silent.

The only sound is the whirring of Painter’s machinery.

Of the GPUs surrounding the room.

You hesitantly looked up at Sebastian and Trips. 

Trips didn’t look at you, seemingly too focused on Sebastian as he stood there motionless. His eyes did all the talking, pupils shrinking as he took the sight of you. 

Suddenly, he backed up as if stung. 

All signs of previous hostility drained from him as his eyes widened.

“Shit. Shit. Shit.” Sebastian shook his head, his hand going up to his head as he frantically looked around. 

He turned around, quickly closing the door behind him, as he shoved Trips to the side, making them hit the wall with a mechanical hiss to take a closer look at you. 

Sebastian’s eyes darted around you, perhaps he was making sure he didn’t just make you up, or maybe he was looking for injuries as he looked up at Painter.

Only for his panicked expression to melt into pure rage.

“YOU are not supposed to be here.” He screamed accusingly, his finger pointing at you through the fence. “Why the FUCK are you HERE!” 

“I should be asking you that!” You managed to let out, your voice shaking as it betrayed the fear you felt. You quickly sat up, backing up to one of the legs of Painter’s table. “W-What’s going on?!”

“I—”

Before Sebastian could speak, he was interrupted by a click behind him making him straighten up. His expression mellowing out, unreadable as he chuckled.

“Right, I forgot about you.”

Sebastian turned around, not without moving slightly to the side as if to give both you and Painter a better look. 

Trips had their gun aimed at Sebastian.

Holding the gun with their uninjured left arm as Sebastian moved.

“You wouldn’t.” Sebastian said with a small tilt of his head. 

“Z-13 is to be detained.” Trips let out a breath, motioning to the gun. “That was the last command I got from HQ as Urbanshade was too busy trying to scramble and reorganize everything.”

Sebastian only smiled.

“And hypothetically kill me in front of these two innocent folk?” Sebastian motioned to you and Painter with his thumb almost too casually, his voice dripping in sarcasm. “You wouldn’t…”

Trips took a step closer.

“I wouldn’t hesitate to ensure the safety of them both which was something you—”

Sebastian interrupted them as he went closer as a challenge, the gun pressed on him now.

“I think we both know that you would fail, Z-8.” His voice was cold even as he grinned mockingly. “I mean, look at you, it’s a tragedy really. If you weren’t a monster like me, you would have died a long time ago.” 

Sebastian flicked at their injured shoulder, making the scientist tremble as their systems seemed to protest.

“You know damn well that even if you shot me, I would be too quick and destroy your precious systems in a heartbeat. So—” Sebastian grabbed the tip of their gun between his index and thumb, pulling it closer to him as he pressed it to his chest. “—try. Try if you want to, see where that leads you.”

Another pause.

Another bang from the outside.

Another screech.

Yet neither of them moved.

Trips who seemed so sure to shoot Sebastian just moments prior hesitated, their gun stayed stable against his chest even as Sebastian’s fingers fell from the gun.

Waiting.

Knowing so confidently that he would win against the injured scientist.

“Or…” Sebastian started only to pause, coming closer to invade their personal space. He knew that they didn’t like it, noting their uncomfortable expression yet he pushed on. “I could offer you something… different.”

Before Trips could say anything, Sebastian’s hand launched to their neck. Surprisingly, the overseer didn’t shoot, not yet at least even with Sebastian’s hand on their neck as he forced them to arch up their back uncomfortably by the neck.

Then… a rip.

Trips tensed up as Sebastian pressed his clawed finger against the back of their neck.

“What are you-!”

“Relax…” Sebastian tsked before he tapped at where he left his finger at the back of their neck. “Here, right? Urbanshade has a tracker on you which makes it impossible for you to be off their radar. All. The. Time.”

Sebastian straightened up with a grin as Trips put their injured hand slowly, as if it took too much effort just to move their arm just to poise it on their neck as their other hand still held the gun pointed at Sebastian.

“I read it in one of your documents, Z-8.” Sebastian would say the number almost mockingly as he crossed two of his arms, his third one landing at his hip. “You’re the head of a whole division yet here you are being tracked like a DOG. You’re still the same Z-class as you were when you first got here. Just. Like. Me.”

Sebastian leaned down again, letting out a breath as he looked over at Trips.

“You know, I could fix you up. Remove that tracker from your neck. I know damn well you can’t do it yourself with that fucked up arm.” Sebastian shrugged. “I only ask for one thing in return… your loyalty.”

“... And what makes you think I’ll just change sides suddenly?” 

“Oh, come on Trips.” Sebastian mocked. “Don’t you miss freedom?”

Sebastian slithered around Trips, his tail circling them as he put a hand on their shoulder from behind, leaning in.

“Both of us know damn well that they don’t see you as an equal, just your skills really.” Sebastian leaned back as he went back in front of them. “You told me, ‘Sebastian, you’re so much more than what Urbanshade wants you to be, we are similar.’ when we were still oh-so young, hmhm.”

He chuckled.

“What happened to that, Trips? Or will you tell me you were naive because we were both still fully… human?”

Sebastian tilted his head again, shaking his head.

“So quiet. So unlike you. Make. Up. Your. Mind.”

Another silence.

Sebastian only pressed closer, leaning down for only a moment before going back up.

“Shoot.”

He said, looking them down.

“I know you want to.”

“You are one manipulative bastard.” Trips replied finally, as if it took every ounce of their strength to. Their arm tensed up as they pushed the tip of their gun against Sebastian’s chest, you could see how the fabric wrinkled slightly at where Trips pushed on him.

Sebastian only grinned harder, this was a game, a challenge for him. All he waited for was for Trips to shoot. 

Yet…

They didn’t.

Trips only clenched their teeth, leaving their jaw tense as they performed a quick flick of with their wrist, spinning the gun in their hand and flipping it for the handle to be in Sebastian’s direction.

The wordless offer stretched between them as Sebastian’s eyes widened.

“Don’t disappoint me.” Trips took a breath, or at least simulated one as Sebastian’s claws hesitantly wrapped around the handle of Trips’ gun.

“You’re kidding.” Sebastian replied, taking the gun with a fast pull yet Trips didn’t react, only stared at him. “I could literally shoot you down right now.”

“Simply a temporary alliance.”

Sebastian laughed.

“Well shit man, you’re a crazy bastard!” He pulled out his hand, putting it in a way for Trips to grab. “Shake my hand, seal the deal if you actually mean it.”

Trips shook their head, reaching out for Sebastian’s hand as they held a firm handshake.

“Alright, temporary ally.” The handy man spoke, straightening up before looking at both you and Painter. “Now about you two… wanna help out?”

“You are too casual about this.” Trips muttered.

“Oh really? Well, how else am I supposed to ask, genius?”

“Like how you asked me?”

“These two are miles nicer than you are.”

“Rich coming from you!” 

Both Painter and you stared at the duo which only seemed to be getting lightning bolts between each other.

… You’re not quite sure how long this temporary allyship is going to last.

“Okay… can you two calm down?” You tried to keep your voice as calm as you could given the circumstances. “And tell us what the hell is going on!”

“Well-” Trips started before their body seemed to zap itself, almost falling before Sebastian grabbed their good shoulder. He had a smirk on his face but seeing the slight frown on his brow made you think he was actually a little worried of the overseer… surprisingly.

“To put it simply…” Sebastian started as he kept a firm grip on Trips who seemed to be spasming out thanks to their systems malfunctioning as he put the gun between his body and one of his multiple belts. “Jeez, are you okay buddy?”

“Ghh…” 

Sebastian glanced at you, as if he didn’t know what to do at the predicament. Even in this life changing situation he still acted like his same old self as if he wasn’t covered in what you could only assume is blood. 

You could only look between him and Trips bewildered, you might be a behavioural scientist but never in your years working at Urbanshade did you ever need to do… any of this!

“You know what, I’ll just explain it to you on the way.” Sebastian grumbled, crouching down towards Trips. “And I’m picking you up, you look pathetic.” 

The handy man tugged at Trips, pulling them up over his shoulder as they let out another incoherent buzzing sound. 

You’re not quite sure what happened between their interaction and now but if you had to put a theory down, you had to assume that Trips’ systems got fried. 

Which was ironic since you’re sure you’ve felt their body almost burning multiple times before so how come they got fried now of all times.

“We’re going to the Robotics Division, fix this guy up, stay close to me, okay?” Sebastian started as he looked between you and Painter. “Painter, take your body with you. We need to group up and I do not trust you two here. We need to talk.”

“Y-Yeah of course!” Painter let out nervously, glancing up at you as you nodded, helping him back on his body. “Ready when you are.”

Sebastian nodded as he opened the door to Heavy Containment.

“Stay close.” He repeated before turning back to look in front of him. You glanced over at Painter nervously as it slid its hand in yours, giving you a comforting squeeze with a small smile.

Painter was just as nervous as you were, the two of you had too many questions yet no answers as Sebastian slithered on forward with your boss who seemed to be holding on for dear life.

The walk was uneventful, silent, too quiet. It was clear how much was on all of your minds as Sebastian stopped before a door in the Robotics Division with a sigh.

He played with his ID in his hands, the one that Trips had given. The one whom he mentioned he was surprised still worked. The one that allowed him to bypass so many doors. 

“I caused it.” Sebastian looked over at you before sliding his ID to open the door. “The lockdown, I mean, I guess it’s a little obvious with my clothes though, huh?”

“How?” Was the first thing on your mind. “You were supposed to…”

Sebastian only laughed.

“I was supposed to be transferred, yeah?” He shook his head as you walked through more doors. He paused constantly, as if he was wondering how to phrase things in a better way. “News flash, they weren’t going to transfer me, they were going to execute me.”

“... What?”

“Why are we even surprised?” Sebastian laughed again, as if this was just a big joke, a play of irony as he punched the wall. Trips seemed to buzz conscious enough to tell him to be careful which was something he didn’t take too kindly. “Shut up, Trips!” 

A quiet muttered apology was the response that Sebastian got as slumped down slightly. Shaking his head before continuing forward.

“They were going to shoot me at the back of the head all the while telling you that I was transferred to another facility.” He looked over at you for a second, his eyes showed the fear, the pain that he felt, one that you got to know, one which you wish you never knew. “As if you were but kids asking about their pet dog and their parents didn’t have the heart to tell you that they were put down so they tell you the dog ran away.”

Painter moved first, a hand on where its mouth would be.

“But weren’t you helping out everywhere?” He asked meekly, his other hand still intertwined with yours squeezed again. As if needing to make sure that you were still there with him. “You… You were the handy man, helping out everywhere weren’t you?”

Trips seemed to react at the question, lifting their head seemingly about to correct before getting told to shut up again by Sebastian. 

“I’m a ‘handy man’ who’s also a MR-P. Doesn’t matter if I help around or if I’m the assistance of the one and only behavioural scientist in all of Urbanshade.” Sebastian slid his ID in a door only to be rejected. Thinking fast, he moved Trips’ body just enough to grab their ID and pull it, finally sliding it in the sensor to open the door. “At the end of the day, I’m still Z-13. Just like how this guy is still Z-8, isn’t that right, Tripsy?”

The scientist only grumbled at the name calling as they did a seemingly weak punch against Sebastian’s back as he threw them back on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Sebastian turned on the light. This lab seemed to be completely different from all the others you’ve seen around the Blacksite. Spacious, and incredibly clean. 

On a table there was a laptop connected to some wires, in the middle of the room there was a chair with a machine with multiple arms over it. 

It was akin to a hospital.

Just much more mechanical.

“What even is this place?” Looking around, you’re not quite sure what this place is even supposed to be. Sebastian took such a particular route which isn’t a surprise knowing him. “How do you even know of this place?”

“From what I understand, this is one of our dear… well, ex-boss’ maintenance rooms.” Sebastian approached the chair, gently placing down Trips. “I found a map of the Robotics Division awhile back in the archives. There’s multiple maps to make sure that the important rooms that no one should know exist, like this one, is hidden as just a normal room and not a personal room like this one.”

Sebastian bent down, hands going to remove Trips’ uniform jacket as the latter recoiled. Their good hand almost closed back their jacket around their body as their legs bent up in a protective motion. Sebastian pulled his hands away in instinct, hands next to his head in surrender.

You saw how his expression was mad, but only for a second as his ears dropped slightly as understanding crossed his features.

“I’m sorry.” Sebastian started, lowering himself to be under Trips’ field of vision, something you knew he did with you to seem less threatening. “I’m not… going to hurt you. I want to help, I won’t do what those bastards did. I promise.”

A silence followed before the overseer let out a small nod, Sebastian lifted himself up as he helped Trips out of their jacket even as the latter seemed to tremble. You didn’t even know it was possible for a robot to tremble, much less one like Trips. 

Painter leaned against you as the event unfolded in front of you, a grainy sigh escaped his speakers.

“Do you think they will be okay?” He asked, looking almost too worried. 

“I think so…” You replied as you looked around the room, noticing some chairs in the corner. “Let’s go over there.”

Painter nodded as the two of you went to go to the chairs. Overhearing Sebastian mention something about removing his coat so he wouldn’t get any blood on Trips as he was left in his sheer collection of belts and a simple white tank top that was under his coat. 

He seemed to quickly get to work as Trips seemed to have either shut themselves down or went to sleep as Sebastian started to tinker around while searching around the room.

“Dear…” Painter started quietly, its hand quietly finding yours as his voice stayed quiet. “Um… About what Sebastian offered…” 

You looked over at Painter’s monitor. It was clear how nervous he was as it drew a sweat drop on his face. You’re not sure if Sebastian would be listening as he was so focused but you didn’t mind.

“Yes… what about it?” 

Painter glanced to the side, staring at Sebastian working hard on so many wires, his claws making it easy to cut through anything.

“I think… It's easy to see what he was implying.” He looked back at you, another squeeze at your hands. “Freedom… Him being the one to cause the lockdown… He wants to escape Urbanshade… And he wants… our help.”

You knew this was going to come up. Yet now with the statement in front of you, you’re not quite sure what to think.  

The loaded question was back. 

Do you want to help out?

Such a simple way to phrase “hey want to betray Urbanshade with me?”. 

This wasn’t something that you could simply answer at the moment. 

This was the kind of question that you needed time to think about.

You were supposed to be on vacation by now!

…

………

…………………..

You were supposed to be on vacation.

A vacation that Sebastian insisted that you take specifically in the middle of October…

How long has he been planning this!?

His casual question wasn’t because this was something easy for him to do, the question was like that because he was surely coping.

You weren’t even supposed to be here to begin with.

Sebastian planned this for months yet you were still here, you were supposed to be outside of the Blacksite this whole time. 

Suddenly everything started to get into place like a puzzle piece. His knowledge of even being transferred to begin with. His constant favours for you to get random items for him. His insistence for you to leave the Blacksite and how nervous he looked when you said it would be the 13th because he knew his transfer was the day after! 

You couldn’t help but curse at yourself. 

This was completely unexpected for him.

You weren’t supposed to be here!

You’re in danger and he knows it yet he’s trying his best not to show how he didn’t expect this.

The unexpected variable in the form of… you.

“Hey, Hey! It’s okay!” Painter’s voice suddenly broke you out of thoughts, his free hand now on your shoulder as he shook you. “I’m sure we don’t have to think of it now…”

You frowned, you have to think about it now.

You’re either on Sebastian’s side or you’re against him. 

There was no neutral side to this.

There was no gray area to speak of.

This whole situation was completely black and white.

Letting out a sigh, you knew how Sebastian felt. Only a facet of what he might be feeling right now. By the tense set at his jaw, the furrowed brow just when you were walking beside him in silence. 

You also knew he trusted you, the two of you trusted each other with your lives.

Knowing him, you knew he hoped you would accept.

The two of you have known each other for years, you trust each other, he has saved your life countless times from so many subjects. Even if he would laugh at your face, or mock you for your fear. You knew he didn’t mean any of it. You knew deep down he cared. You knew that strong front he would put out for you and the others hid the caring man you knew he was.

The man that would take you back to your office with a blanket if you fell asleep.

The man that made sure you didn’t miss breakfast.

The man that constantly gave you advice to deal with things that were out of your field.

The man that would die if it meant for your survival.

But another part of you wondered, if you left what would happen then to the subjects that were under your care? 

Weren’t you keeping them safe?

What would happen to them if you were gone?

But then you looked over at Sebastian, working hard on trying to fix Trips who surely had to be a more complicated machine that he has ever worked on. 

Then at Painter’s worried expression.

Maybe it’s time that you saved Sebastian’s life back.

Maybe it’s time to repay the favour.

“I’ll do it.” You reply finally, determination on your features as you nodded at Painter. “Maybe I’ll regret it, I’m probably going to lose my job or get blacklisted from the market but…”

You let out a sigh, looking at Sebastian once again.

“But when it comes between my job and Sebastian, I’ll take Sebastian every time.”

.

.

.

“Done!” Sebastian exclaimed as he lifted up his hands as if this was a cooking competition and the chef told him that time was up. ”I hope you didn’t time that, I do not want to know how long that took me, it was torture.”

You shook your head as Painter seemed to almost chirped on with the time before you pulled him back down. As silly as it would be to tease Sebastian, you’re not quite sure it’s the best time.

“It’s impressive really, I never would have thought that you would have been able to do that Sebastian.” Trips threw their legs around the chair, slipping on the shirt that Sebastian found. One that was practically identical to their normal uniform. Looking at them now, you didn’t expect for their body to have a white metal casing instead of one that would match their flesh. It reminds you of Painter’s own body.

“You’re okay?” Painter asked as he got up from his seat, helping you up with its hand as the two of you approached the other duo.

“As ‘okay’ as one can be in this situation.” They got up from their seat, rolling up their sleeves around their elbow as you noticed their previously injured arm was not matching their chest with the same white metal casing. Sensing you looking at their arm, Trips spoke once again. “Ah, this was probably the only arm that Sebastian could find, is that correct?”

Sebastian stayed silent, a grumble escaping him before he looked back at Trips.

“Fine, maybe, but it looks cooler anyways so who cares?” 

Trips only shook their head as they stood next to Sebastian, crossing their arms in the process. 

“The plan. Now.” 

“So bossy.” 

“Last time I checked, I was your boss!”

“Not anymore, asshole!”

You took a step closer to them,

“Can you two stop fighting?!” Your jaw tensed as you looked at the two of them. 

The room filled with silence after you exclaimed, the others all turning to look at you.

“Um…” Painter spoke shakily, looking at Sebastian and Trips. “We probably should… you know, team up properly? Work together? If we want this to work?”

Sebastian put a hand on his hip as his expression turns from tense to more shocked than anything as if realization dawned on him.

“Wait, does that mean the two of you want to help me?”

“Is that truly the only thing you retained?” Trips retorted back.

“You wouldn’t understand the notion of having FRIENDS who are actually ride or die, Trips!”

“I-”

The tension only seemed to grow between them.

“Knock it off, Sebastian!” You walked between both Sebastian and Trips, standing in front of the latter. “Just… calm down for one moment. Please put your hostility to the side.”

Sebastian sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically before crossing his arms.

“Buzzkill.”

There was another silence that filled the space.

Awkward. 

Tense.

Trips didn’t bother looking at Sebastian, glancing to the side as Sebastian did the same. Though you didn’t miss the moment he did look over at Trips, the slight regret in his gaze. You had to ask him later what was going on.

Painter looked over at you, as if looking for your approval before he spoke.

“Maybe we should start whatever your plan is Sebastian.” It started quietly, bringing up an arm to rub awkwardly on his other. “We have limited time, right?”

“... Right.” Sebastian shook his head, pulling out a notebook before opening it. “Well, you’ve probably found out by now that I have freed a lot of the subjects around the Blacksite. All thanks to a combined effort of your extra ID, the ID that Trips gave me, and finally one that I stole from a guardsman that I took down. All of it culminated in the lockdown you see now.”

Sebastian pulled out the IDs as he spoke, you never knew that he would use your ID for such a thing. Maybe your fate was sealed the moment that Sebastian took your IDs all the way back. Would he have still been successful without all those extra IDs?

“I managed to connect to Innovation Inc., we’ve been… communicating here and there for a while now.” Sebastian continued, looking around. “My next part is to communicate with them again, but I also need Painter’s help. I have plans for you buddy.”

“Me?”

“Mhm.”

You looked between Sebastian and Painter, brows furrowing. “What do you need Painter for?”

Sebastian let out a smirk.

“Something I had planned since I met him.” He nodded smugly before walking to the door. “First, we have to go back to Painter’s enclosure. We left something there that I need to access. Though, I think it would be better to keep him there for the remainder of our plans.”

Opening the door, Sebastian looked out into the hallway.

“Looks like we are still in the clear, you two, you’re coming with me.” He pointed over at you and Painter. The two of you looked at each other worriedly before taking steps closer towards the exit. Sebastian then pointed at Trips. “You… I have no idea what to do with you.”

“Great.” Trips replied sarcastically, crossing their arms while leaning on one leg. “No matter, I have my own plan. I have a device that should be able to help you. Maybe then you’ll actually learn to trust me again.”

“Really? Let’s see about that.” Sebastian let out a laugh before opening one of his pockets and pulling out a walkie talkie. Looking at it in his hands before throwing it at Trips. “Catch.”

Trips caught it wordlessly, looking down at the walkie talkie with a confused look.

“It’s so we can communicate. Better stay in touch right?”

The overseer let out a sigh before putting the device on their belt.

“Right, I suppose this is to make sure that Urbanshade doesn’t intercept the signals, correct? I don’t recognize the brand.”

“These babies are one of the multiple favours that I asked for, you know?” Sebastian grinned again before looking over at you, winking before looking back up. “We’ll be back before you know it. Don’t… uh… die.”

“Likewise.”

With that final word, Sebastian leaned down to push both your and Painter’s back, urging the two of you to leave the room.

Before getting fully pushed out, Painter looked back.

“See you later, Trips!”

Sebastian only urged the two of you our of the room quicker.

“We don’t have time for goodbyes, let’s go.” He moved in front of the two of you. “Stay close, I think the path should be safe, just trust me.”

.

.

.

“Well, shit.” Sebastian muttered as he opened the door to the next room, the lights seemed to be off but that didn’t seem to be the reason why he was worried.

“What’s wrong?” Painter asked worriedly, trying to peek through under Sebastian’s arm.

“So…” Sebastian started, turning around. “One of the ones that I freed was um… the giant killer shark that kills you with eye contact only and blows up your mind like pancakes. You know, Eyefestation.”

“Eyefestation?” You replied back, trying to push Sebastian to the side as if to confirm his words.

“Hey, what are you doing you’re going to get yourself killed!” Sebastian retorted, trying to push you away.

“I have… an idea.” You looked up to Sebastian. “I’ve… I’ve worked with Eyefestation a lot. You know this. I think… I think we can try to convince Eyefestation to help us!”

“Are you kidding me?! I am NOT letting you go out there!” Sebastian retorted back. “You were always in a controlled environment, we cannot risk you going out there!”

Painter grabbed your shoulder, pulling you back. “Sebastian is right… I… Neither of us want to see you getting hurt!” 

But determination blinded you, if there was anyone who can change the mind of any subject it was you. Eyefestation was one of your most important projects along with Sebastian. You knew you could talk with the shark and that it won’t end with your death!

“Trust me on this.” You finally replied with, a plea and a request at once. Sebastian looked over at Painter and vice versa. Conflict clear on both of their faces. 

“I swear to god if something happens to you, it’s on sight.” Sebastian reluctantly moved to the side, letting you pass. “If anything happens, scream out and I’ll get there as fast as possible. It makes me mad how easy it was for you to convince me.”

With a nod, you walked through the doorway. 

“Thank you, Sebastian, your trust means the world to me. Yours too, Painter.” You say before locking your eyes to the ground.

No matter what, you cannot look up.

You can only trust every other instinct. 

Gulping nervously, you made your way to which the green light was strongest. 

And there, the shark spoke. 

“It’s you.” 

A feminine voice spoke out, deep into your mind. 

“I’ve seen many before you, all have fallen, why are you still here? How are you still alive? Standing?”

The pull was weak, Eyefestation knew who you were, your plan worked, it didn’t see you as a threat at all. 

“I’m not sure.” You replied in your mind. Thanks to Eyefestations telepathy, you didn’t have to say a thing out loud. “I’m not working with them anymore, those that hurt you. But I have an offer.”

“How come you aren’t working with them anymore?” Eyefestation started, “Wait.”

Before you could question what it meant, you heard a screech beside you. 

“I know you humans are fragile, while you are here with me I’ll keep you safe.” The shark spoke calmly, the light it emitted got brighter. “What is the offer you speak of?”

“I’ll explain to you another time why I quit, there’s no time to explain.” You let out a nervous breath. “You got let out by another subject, Sebastian, big… blue fish guy with a light.”

“I’ve seen him, he spoke to me.”

“Great. Then there’s no need for introductions.” You took a deep breath, you knew Sebastian and Painter were watching, nervous but ready to jump at any sight of distress. “He freed all of you to make time, turn Urbanshade upside down, contact a rival company and hopefully get some of you out.”

“I see.” The shark spoke, moving around as the light moved with it. “And what more am I supposed to do?”

“Kill everyone you see except Sebastian or I.” You communicated plainly leaving no room for doubt.

“Very well.” 

“No resistance?”

“Why would I resist when I was given freedom, doctor?”

Eyefestation’s response made you pause. For it, just being free of its containment was enough freedom? Why stop at something so small? Why not wish for so much more? 

“I hear what you think.” The bullshark spoke again. “I don’t see myself leaving that far, these waters are enough for me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Their deaths will be enough of a reward for me to stay.” 

“I see…”

“Will killing them ensure more of your safety?”

“... Yes.”

“Good, then I’ll make sure to kill every one of them. Promise to stay alive.”

“Eyefestation.”

“Yes?”

“... Nevermind.”

“Doctor,” Eyefestation spoke again, “thank you for your work with me. It was a relief compared to how they treated me. You have treated me… ‘humanly’, which is a bit ironic.” 

“I guess it is.”

“I’ll keep my word, I’ll make sure none of them leave alive.” The green light dimmed in the room. “Keep your promise with me.”

“I will.”

“Until next time.” 

Deep inside your gut, you wonder if there will even be a next time. An anxiety that starts gnawing at you like there was no tomorrow. You hoped there was a tomorrow.

“Goodbye Eyefestation.”

But the shark didn’t comment, the light dimming in the room before it eclipsed into darkness.

Before long, a brighter, yellower light covered the room. Sebastian slithered fast to you, his angler light bright as he looked down at you.

“You… you um… okay?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?” Painter ran to the two of you, originally standing next to Sebastian before suddenly pulling you in for a hug. “It was so quiet and I got worried and I heard a screech and I got so scared and-”

“I’m okay Painter.” You wrapped your arms back around it, feeling him relax before pulling away and grabbing your cheeks between its hands. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Eyefestation just speaks through telepathy.” You explained, looking between Painter and Sebastian. “I just had a conversation with it, Eyefestation is on our side and will make sure we are safe.”

Sebastian seemed taken aback as you spoke.

“It was that easy?” He put his hands up almost in surrender. “Damn, sorry for underestimating you.”

“You’ve got yourself to thank for that, Eyefestation remembered you were the one who freed it.”

“Really?” Sebastian replied incredulously. “Well, sorry for underestimating both you AND Eyefestation.”

You smiled pridefully, happy that your plan worked. Painter smiled back, pulling you into another hug with a giggle.

“You’re so amazing!” It pulled back, pressing his screen against your face. The bright screen was overwhelming in the dark space but knowing it was Painter, you didn’t quite mind.

Before you could soak up the moment, Sebastian’s voice cut through.

“I’d love for you two to enjoy your time together but now’s not the time.”

“Fineeee…” Painter let out sarcastically, hand slipping into yours before continuing forward.

“Since when did you learn sarcasm?!” The Handy Man leaned down, looking between you and Painter before straightening up with a scoff. “Let’s get going.”

Painter shook its head before giggling as he looked over at you. Pulling your hand as Sebastian led the way.

The room was still only illuminated by Sebastian’s esca light as he went on to open the next door. Looking behind you, you finally spared a glance to look around the room to look at whatever Eyefestation seemed to have killed.

It seemed to be yet another instance of Z-90.

… You didn’t think they had eyes.

The walk back to Painter’s room and by extension Heavy Containment was otherwise uneventful.

Not without Sebastian randomly changing the route occasionally saying that he had a “bad feeling” going through one door.

It seemed that Heavy Containment was still mostly safe.

Finally, you were all back to the safety of Painter’s room.

Sebastian made quick work, hands digging into one of the boxes that contained some of Painter’s extra parts. 

You glanced over at Painter, with him nudging its head over at his desk. 

“I think I can go back there,” it started, “might as well charge the body, right?”

Letting out a nod, you walked over with Painter back to his enclosure, separating it from its body before connecting him back to the devices on the desk. 

Neither of you spoke, as if the gravity of the situation was starting to settle once again. 

… That was until Sebastian spoke again.

“Oh wow, thanks guys for speeding up the process. I did need him on the desk, convenient. It’s like you read my mind!” He moved inside the enclosure, a grin broke out on his face before he sobered up, putting down a laptop on the desk as well as some cables.

“What’s this?” You side stepped, giving Sebastian the space to place himself generally in front of Painter. “You’re not going to do anything to hurt him, right?”

“Of course not, who the hell do you think I am?!” 

Sebastian started connecting the laptop to Painter with some cables, finally plugging in a USB inside the laptop.

Painter’s face moved to the side slightly, as if it was trying to look at what Sebastian was doing before looking back forward.

“Uh… What are you doing…?”

Sebastian only grumbled as he typed the password inside the laptop with the tip of his claws.

“Okay fine, I guess I can explain.” His eyes stayed focused on the screen, opening different programs and bypassing admin privileges. How could he be doing that on the company computers..? “I made a backdoor on you a while back, just for this specific moment.”

Moving the chair closer to you, you sat down on it, leaving just a little more space for Sebastian.

“You’ve been planning this for a long time, haven’t you?”

Sebastian only laughed as Painter looked awkwardly between both you and him. 

“Exactly! I've been planning this for months. The privileges that you managed to get us with making this body in the robotics division was as if you put everything on a silver platter just for me.” His claws moved rapidly over the laptop, as he didn’t use a mouse he used all the keyboard commands to move around the screen. “Wanna guess what I’m trying to do?”

“I couldn’t even guess you were going to do all of this.” You motioned around the room, letting out a sigh as Painter stayed silent.

“Well, I’ll put it simply for you, I’m hacking inside Urbanshade.” 

“What?”

Sebastian only let out a loud laugh, putting one of his hands to adjust one of the straps of his tank top. 

“I managed to break through some of the security. Specifically the defense system funnily enough but also the camera systems. The moment I found out just what I managed to enter in, I would back out and make sure my traces were not there. I’m surprised that they have it just so easy to get in.”

“When did you even figure out how to enter!?”

“Jeez, quiet down I’m right beside you.” Sebastian’s ear fins lowered slightly, did he not even realize how loud he was being? “When we were working on Painter’s body, if I reached my quota for the day I would explore around a bit their security. That’s all.”

You glanced back at the laptop, the amount of code on the screen almost made you dizzy. Since when could Sebastian hack inside? Unless he had outside help… but you’re the only outside help that he has! 

… That you know of, that is.

“What’s your plan anyways with this?”

Sebastian let out a sly grin before chuckling again, someone was confident. 

“We’re gonna make Painter control everything.” 

“WHAT?!” Painter finally talked, exclaiming as his face changed into something of equal shock. “I… I can’t do all of that?!”

“Well, you’re going to.” Sebastian shrugged. “You’re going to be our recon and well… you might need to kill people on the way.”

Painter’s face darted around the screen before settling in your general direction. A wordless plea for help.

But here you were not exactly sure what to make of Sebastian’s request.

“You’re serious.” 

“Of course I’m serious, are you kidding me?” Sebastian crossed two of his arms, his third one simply lying on his torso. “What, don’t tell me you’re too much of a coward to kill anyone.”

“He’s not being a coward.” You retorted back, crossing your arms back. “We’re supposed to take the peaceful way out, not…”

For all the years you’ve worked in Urbanshade, you were different. You didn’t so freely kill everyone you saw. You didn’t resort to violence like everyone.

But you knew you were being a hypocrite. You told Eyefestation to kill on sight. As if the moment blinded you. Why were you so self righteous now?

“Listen.” Sebastian straightened up, making sure to rise enough to look down at you. “You saw me earlier, my poor jacket. I killed the guard that I stole the ID from, you know. Do you know how many people I killed to get here? I’m just giving them a taste of their own medicine.”

Sebastian snarled as he looked down at you, the gills on his neck opened up simply with the agitation that he felt.

“There’s no choice. It’s a kill or be killed world.”

A quiet static filled the room, notifying how Painter was going to speak.

“I don’t… want to kill anyone.”

Sebastian sighed, shoulders slumping down as he looked back at Painter.

“I know, I didn’t want to kill either.” With another sigh, Sebastian lowered himself to be in front of Painter’s monitor. “But if it’s between my freedom and their survival, I’ve been here for too many years to even consider their life. They took away mine, so why should I care about theirs?”

Silence got between all of you. A moment that became common now in the light of the lockdown.

“I promise that I’ll get all of us out of here.” Sebastian started sincerely, his voice gentle. “You can paint landscapes again, you can feel grass again, you can see the sun again, isn’t that enough reason to try?”

You saw how Sebastian’s selection on the laptop was right at the run button, all that he needed was Painter’s consent. 

Looking back at Painter, you could see the conflict on its face. The hesitation that came with taking lives in exchange of his own. 

“I… I guess I can try. For our freedom.”

“That’s what I like to hear!” Sebastian cheered, immediately pressing the run button to send over the code to Painter. 

The next moments were spent with Sebastian explaining to Painter the ins and out of what he understood from the security system.

First it was the cameras, in which Painter seemed to get a good hang of. It was easy to switch around the cameras in the Blacksite. 

Then it was the turrets.

“All you gotta do is aim… then shoot!” Sebastian said as you both looked at Painter’s screen. 

Currently, Painter’s face was at the corner of his screen, the rest of its screen showing a camera angle in which you could see the turret. 

Carefully, Painter aimed at a flowerpot before shooting it successfully. 

“Yes!” Painter let out, grinning at the corner. “My depth perception is not that good to take great aim at these things.”

You let out a sigh, walking closer to Painter’s screen as you patted the top of it.

“You did great, Painter!” You smiled, or at least tried to, given the situation. “Just… imagine the room like a canvas and your bullets like your brush.”

Sebastian perked up as he heard you.

“Hm? Good analogy.” He put a finger on his chin. “If you think about it, you’ll also have paint in the form of-”

“Sebastian shut up.” You immediately shut him down, earning a shrug from him.

Before he could speak, suddenly there was a voice that came from nowhere. Sebastian quickly opened one of his bags, taking out the walkie talkie that he had.

“Did you say something… over?” Sebastian pressed on a button on the side before letting go, waiting for a second before hearing the most audible sigh on the other side.

“Yes, of course I did, are you an idiot!?” Trips’ voice came from the device, clearly frustrated. But still continuing knowing that if they didn’t, Sebastian would comment about it. “... Over.”

“Okay damn,” Sebastian grumbled, “any updates, over?”

A silence followed soon after, Sebastian glanced over at you then at Painter before there was another crackle from the device. “I managed to acquire the device I mentioned prior. All that it needs is to be transported to you, over.”

“What even is this device, over.”

“You’ll see.” Trips said plainly, a silence following once again before they spoke. “My only problem is that I unfortunately don’t know this place as well as I once did. I request we meet up at the exit of the Robotics Division, over.”

“You’d hate to ruin your precious systems again, eh Trips?” Sebastian laughed. “I also wouldn’t forgive you if you destroyed my hard work so, fine, I’ll go there then, over.”

“Good, I’ll wait for you at the entrance, contact me when you’re here, over.”

“Sounds good to me, over.” 

Trips didn’t reply before Sebastian sighed, putting the walkie talkie back into one of his bags.

“Looks like I have to take a quick detour, not like I already wasn’t going to.” Sebastian shrugged, digging into another one of his bags to pull out another pair of walkie talkies. “I’ll leave one here so we can communicate. These were my emergency ones in case the other ones broke, didn’t think I’d have more than one ally.”

You looked over at the device, lips pressed into a thin line before looking at Sebastian.

“Let me go with you.”

“What? No, absolutely not.”

“I’m not weak, Sebastian.”

“Did you not see Trips earlier? That is the kind of injury you can get. I am NOT letting you out of here.”

“Do you really think I can’t defend myself?”

“No, not really!” Sebastian retorted back, he was frustrating. He always trusted you with everything, what’s different to now?!

Looking between the two of you, Painter reluctantly spoke.

“The… The route to the Robotics Division seems to be completely safe!” It was careful but quickly changed its screen to show the rooms. “You two can just take the path which we came, and you will be completely okay! I can look from over here and warn you guys if there’s anything in the way.”

Sebastian clenched his teeth before putting a hand on his face, expression tense before he relented.

“Fine. FINE. You win.” He grumbled again, digging into his bags to pull out a cable. Connecting the cable to Painter, he connected the other side to the walkie talkie. “You should be able to turn on and off the walkie talkie now, just a toggle, try communicating with me.”

Sebastian pulled out the matching device to the one Painter had as Painter’s mouth did a quick “o”. 

Moving his face to the side, Painter spoke. It seemed to be the exact same before you heard with a slight delay his voice in the walkie talkie.

“Great, it works.” Sebastian sighed, pushing the walkie talkie in his hands over to you. “You’re going to be holding onto this. Don’t make me regret this.”

Quickly, before Sebastian could change his mind, you grabbed the device, holding it close to your chest.

“Let’s go then.” You nodded, glancing back at Painter. Taking in a deep breath, you approached him. “Stay safe.”

“I will.” Painter spoke back, putting out a determined smile. “You stay safe too, be careful!”

“Remember to keep our paths clear.” You reminded, leaning in to kiss the corner of his monitor, earning a giggle from it. “It won’t be the last one.” 

“It better not be, I’ll miss you!”

“I’ll miss you too!” You blew a kiss over at Painter following Sebastian outside of the room.

Sebastian let out a sigh as he glanced over at you. 

“Stay close, okay?” He sighed before putting out the gun that Trips had out of his belt, motioning for you to grab it. “Think you can use a gun? I’d rather you could defend yourself.”

Looking at the gun, you took a deep breath. This whole time you were more of a pacifist with all the other subjects, being the one to actually hurt them is a whole different thing.

It made you wonder if you were really no different than the rest of Urbanshade.

“I can try.”

“That’s all I need.” 

The two of you started walking back, a backtrack from the path you have already done. 

How many more times would you need to take this path?

“I was surprised to see that gun, you know?” Sebastian started. “Not because Trips had it, but because it’s sawed off.”

You didn’t once let go of the gun, the object feeling heavy in your hands. Finally looking at it, you didn’t once notice how it really looked.

“It doesn’t seem like their style.” Sebastian continued. “That freak likes to keep things at a distance yet had a weapon that had to have been made for this moment and mostly shorter range. Why?”

“I’m not sure.” You replied quietly, letting out a sigh as you looked back forward. 

Yet one thing bothered you, even after becoming allies, Sebastian still referred to Trips negatively. 

What was going on in his mind that he wouldn’t let go?

“Sebastian.”

“What’s up?”

“Why are you so harsh with Trips?” You looked up at him, his expression unreadable. “Weirdly enough, I feel like they take most of your treatment, I’ve never seen them act like that with anyone else.”

“Maybe they are just scared of me.”

“Sebastian, a proper answer please. We both know you don’t actually think that.” You frowned, you just wanted answers. “We both know they wouldn’t be afraid of you.”

“Why does it matter?” Sebastian replied harshly, it felt like a sensitive subject but you weren’t going to let it be.

“Because we are now allies and we have to get along.”

At that Sebastian stayed quiet, glancing over to the side before brushing his hair back with one of his hands.

“I don’t know how much they’ve told you… about me.” He relented, letting out a sigh. “We met when I just got here and they were about to get out I guess.”

You stayed silent, letting him speak. Sebastian didn’t seem quite happy at the idea that you didn’t stop him however, letting out a grumble.

“We were both LR-Ps, met at the community area, they were playing chess alone like a loser. I was surprised there was even a community area for LR-Ps in the first place but here we were.” He shrugged, opening the door to the next room. “I remember exchanging why we were both here, Jesus Christ were they completely insane.” 

“But why the hostility..?” You asked after a silence from Sebastian, he let out a dangerous chuckle.

“Simple really, they managed to become a scientist while I stayed prisoner.” He held a bitter tone to his voice. “They climbed up the ranks while I stayed behind.”

Sebastian snarled, teeth clenching as he looked forward.

“On the bright side, when we saw each other again they wanted to make my situation better so badly they’ve done a lot of bullshit for me. Makes me feel like I’ve been taking advantage of them since I wouldn’t mind them dying.” He laughed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if their approval of Painter’s body was because they were trying to get on my good side, ha, what a JOKE.”

His words resounded in the room. 

His indifference spoke louder than anything. 

A reminder that the Sebastian you knew was only a small facet of the one he is.

“You can’t… possibly mean that.” You spoke a little bit uncomfortable. 

“You… Would never understand what it means to be in my place.” He replied. “Some people are just born expendable, if they are stupid enough to give their all in the process, then that’s not my problem.”

“Sebastian, listen to yourself!” You grabbed onto his arm, forcing him to look down at you. His face showed coldness, he didn’t care. “If you didn’t care then you wouldn’t have tried to fix them!”

“I had to because they were still useful!” 

“You did that because deep down you still care!” You didn’t care if someone heard you. “You always cared, that’s why you would get me food when I didn’t eat, or a blanket if I was cold!”

“I only care about you, you idiot!” He screamed back. “No one in this hell hole matters! I’m confident that you won’t backstab my ass but we don’t know about that stupid robot!” 

“You could say the same thing about Painter.” You replied bitterly. “Yet you gave him admin rights to the security of the Blacksite, what’s to say he doesn’t come and aim a turret right at you.”

Sebastian paused, eyes searching your face.

“Why must you question me?”

“Because you refuse to trust someone else, Sebastian.” You took a deep breath, you knew where he came from but it was hard to really understand it when he was the same person who offered an alliance. “To work together, we have to trust each other, without thinking that one of us is going to betray the other. If what you say is true, I don’t think Trips is going to betray you… or any of us in that matter.”

The Handy Man looked down at you, his expression was still tense but just like all the other times, he relented, shoulders slumping slightly.

“Fine. I don’t trust them, and I never will, but for you I’ll give it a chance. But—” Sebastian poked a finger to your chest accusingly. “—if anything happens to ANY of us because of them, they will get disassembled quick.”

“We will be okay, Sebastian.” 

He only sighed again,

“Don’t make me regret this.”

Feeling a slight buzz at the walkie talkie, you grabbed it, hearing Painter suddenly at the other side.

“Are you two, okay? I don’t want to say that I saw an argument but…”

You looked over at Sebastian who only shook his head.

“No, it’s all under control.”

“Okay, great!” Painter replied at the other side, letting out a sigh of relief. “Actually, I wanted to let you both know that if you take the door to the left, you should have a shortcut plus it will be safer.”

“Oh really?”

“Mhm!” Glancing over back at Sebastian, he nodded as he changed paths to the left side as Painter suggested. “I’ll keep on the look out, don’t worry you two, you’re both safe with me!”

“Thanks buddy.” Sebastian finally talked, opening the door to the next room as he motioned with his head to continue forward. 

“We’ll keep in touch.” You reply back, putting the walkie talkie on your clothes. “How come you don’t do the whole ‘over’ thing like you do with Trips?”

“I like messing with them.” Sebastian replied curtly, as if it was the most obvious answer.

“I… see…”

The rest of the path was easy as the two of you finally made your way back to the Robotics Division. The moment you did, Sebastian pulled out his walkie talkie, ready to let his presence be known.

“We’re here, over.”

Both you and Sebastian looked forward, sparing a glance at each other before continuing your walk.

As you enter the Robotics Division, you are greeted by the Overseer. 

They changed their outfit slightly, now sporting a harness with firearms as well as a new belt to hold their ID card after having their coat be completely ripped earlier. It was odd to see their tail out in full view instead of peeking from their lab coat.

But what really caught your eye was the black device that they held in one of their hands.

Wasn’t that the secret device that you helped them with?

Sebastian spoke first, moving closer as he did.

“Well, what do we have here?”

Trips raised their arm, moving the device closer to Sebastian. 

“I think out of everyone, you should be the one to carry it. I installed a strap as well to make it easier.” Sebastian raised a brow skeptically in response, as if urging Trips to continue. “It won’t hurt you, now take it before I change my mind.”

With a grumble, Sebastian grabbed the device from the strap, looking at it from all sides.

“What’s this supposed to be.”

“A secret Urbanshade weapon, the Scrambler.” Trips started, adjusting their glasses. “It is made to scramble, hence the name, any sort of signals from technology. For example, communications can be completely made void with this.”

“Oh?”

Trips nodded.

“I’m sure you remember this project.” They looked over at you with a nod. “It wasn’t finished, it needed testing, but I believe if you want your little plan to remain a secret… then that might be your solution.”

Sebastian pulled the Scrambler closer to him, taking a closer look at the device.

“How do we turn it on?”

“There’s a button on the side,” Trips walked closer, raising their tail to tap where the button would be, “though I must warn you, the Scrambler is known to be a bit faulty around machines. I already put the necessary exceptions in the form of myself and Painter in case you bring such a device close to him.”

Sebastian looked over at you, you could only shrug at him.

“I’d say it’s a good asset to have.” You replied with, scratching the back of your neck. “I’ve seen it work, it completely breaks signals. Maybe we could be able to stop some communications?”

“I wouldn’t give you such an experimental, unfinished project if I wasn’t confident that it could help you.” Trips crossed their arms, brows furrowing slightly. 

“Alright, fine.” Sebastian relented, pressing the button on the scrambler as it let out a green hue. “Seems like it works.”

“Did you really think I would get you a device that wouldn’t work?”

“You never know.” Sebastian moved the strap of the device over his shoulder, thanks to his size, the strap barely fit comfortably. 

Before they could continue whatever they would talk about, you decide to talk first.

“We should group up.” You looked between the two of them. “Then we can think up our plan.”

“Sounds good to me.” Sebastian said as Trips nodded. 

Seems like there was going to be yet another back and forth, part of you was already wondering when this was going to end.

“Ah, before I forget.” Trips started, Sebastian had moved to be behind the two of you, untrusting of the Overseer. “It is a good thing that you have already turned on the Scrambler.”

“How come?” You asked, looking over at them as you opened the next room. This was getting repetitive.

“I got in contact with HQ, apparently they’ve been meaning to get into contact with me for a while now.” They continued, moving their hands behind their back. “They brought me up to speed on their plans, so there’s one thing less to worry about.”

“This is the time where you tell us their plan, you know.” Sebastian said sarcastically, only earning a dead-panned look from Trips.

“I was going to get into that if you didn’t interrupt me.” They let out a sigh, shaking their head before continuing. “First and foremost, Sebastian is now referred to as the Saboteur.” 

“Oh wow how original, let me guess, it’s because I sabotaged their plans.”

“... Urbanshade’s naming skills were never their strong suit.”

“Tell me about it.” 

“Secondly, they are trying to get Z-2, the crystal that powers the Blacksite. They’ve been sending down guards to try to retrieve it but all the monsters seem to have been picking them all off dry. The losses are getting too much for them.”

You side glanced over at Trips, then back at Sebastian. The latter only let out an awkward smile.

“Guess that’s where all the monsters went…” You muttered.

“That’s not all however,” Trips continued, “sending down the guards seemed to be unfruitful, they lost too many assets so they decided to start the Expendable Protocol. From what I understand, they have some prisoners whose lives are so insignificant to them to try to retrieve the crystal.”

“That’s bullshit.” Sebastian snarled. “Those bastards can’t do anything themselves huh, always have to go throw someone in the fire pit.”

“So be it, it doesn’t seem to affect us at all.” Trips replied, looking back at Sebastian. “However, if you wish to have more time for this plan of yours, I suggest adding on to try to stop anyone from accessing that crystal.”

“Right…” 

“Ah, but before I forget.” Trips dug into their pockets, pulling out some tokens. “This is… confidential, but I suppose it doesn’t matter now. Here, take some of these.”

You and Sebastian spared glances at each other before grabbing some of the coins. Sebastian seemed to grab them between two of his fingers, bringing it up to eye level as the light shone on it. 

“How familiar are the two of you with the Greek Mythos?” Trips spoke again, playing with one of the tokens between their fingers. “Specifically the Ferrymen who take souls through the River Styx.”

“Uh, a little bit?” Sebastian replied, looking back down at Trips. 

“The Ferryman is real, Urbanshade made a deal to bring back some of the personnel as long as—” Trips motioned to the coins in both of your hands. “—you have the payment.”

You looked down at the coin, you swear you’ve seen it before.

“Who is allowed these coins..?”

“Anyone high ranked is allowed one, in an envelope, you might’ve gotten one after a couple of years working here. It simply means you are an asset they cannot afford to lose.” Trips looked to the side, shaking their head. “Overseers are given a larger quantity, not for us but rather to give the privilege to those who excel. We are the ones who choose those that are gifted with a second chance at life. I simply took some of the coins and gave it to both of you. A contingency plan if you may, in case any of you die.”

“How morbid.” Sebastian grumbled, ultimately stuffing the coins inside his pocket. “I won’t let them kill me, but I… appreciate the safety net.”

You’re not quite sure if there was any more conversation between the three of you as you got extremely focused on making sure nothing suddenly jumped the three of you.

Before you knew it, you were back in Painter’s room. 

“Hi!” Painter greeted eagerly, glad to see all of you still in one piece. “I’m so happy you’re all back… safely.”

The three of you entered the room, with Sebastian accidentally hitting the Scrambler against the doorway.

“What’s that?” Painter asked, clearly interested in the new device strapped on Sebastian’s back.

“The Scrambler.” Trips answered plainly, keeping a comfortable distance between themselves and Sebastian. “It’s a device to intercept signals, with this, we should be able to stop communications between Urbanshade personnel. Keeping everyone, but Sebastian, in a grey area. Unless either of us, excluding Sebastian, shows any clear antagonistic signs, they should think we are on their side.”

“Wow, thanks for constantly casually mentioning that I’m the bad guy.” Sebastian grumbled, moving closer to Painter’s enclosure. “Anywho, how are you holding up, buddy? Cameras working well?”

“According to plan!” Painter chirped with a grin. “Is there anything else?”

“Just need to collect some more things.” Sebastian looked over at you. “In the room I showed you, remember? The last detour we need.”

“Wait,” you spoke first, “before you go, what… what else did you free..?”

“Erm…” Sebastian let out a shrug. “Every door that I passed I opened. Can’t really pin down what I specifically freed.”

At his words, you could feel stress piling up. Instead of the fear that you felt earlier now you felt frustrated. In a way, it meant no one knew what sort of monsters could attack. 

In another way, “no one” included you.

“Great…”

“Why are you looking at me like that?!” Sebastian pouted, putting two of his hands on his hips as he looked down at you.

You could only let out a sign, shaking your head. It’s not that you were disappointed but knowing some of these would be useful simply for the knowledge on just what you were dealing with. Not to mention that it was your job to analyze some of these monsters, you know how to survive quite a bit. 

Now if only Sebastian knew what he even freed in the first place.

“Excuse me.” Painter spoke, making the three of you look over at it. “I managed to find one of the monsters through the cameras. Maybe you can identify it?”

At his words, you turned over at its monitor where Painter changed to the camera footage from some place in the Blacksite.

The footage showed one of the hallways, a trail of blood connected two doorways with a red claw barely seen through one of the doors.

Your brows furrowed as you went around Painter’s enclosure to pass through the door, standing right in front of his monitor. Sebastian stayed behind the metal fence while Trips joined your side.

… You had no idea what that was.

“What is that..?”

Sebastian let out a chuckle behind you, ready to say a snarky remark before Trips stopped him with their own interruption.

“That’s one of the creatures that attacked me!” They moved one of their hands to their shoulder. The one that was previously injured as their fingers trailed the area. “Here, the biggest injury was done by them.”

“How did it look like?” You quickly replied back. “Tell me what you remember.”

Trips crossed their arms, shoulders slumping with a sigh.

“It was… a mass. Completely covered in blood, it seemed as if it was made of… guts. To say it was a gnarly, disgusting sight would be an understatement. It was repulsive.” They shook their head, fingers going at their glasses as they furrowed their brows. “I’m not familiar with many of the subjects, it’s simply not my field. However, the most important note was that it had a smiling mask. It's like a theater mask. Does that clear up anything..?”

“A theater mask?”

Sebastian looked between all of you, before letting out a quick “ah” pulling the attention from the three of you.

“I remember picking up a mask when I was escaping, it was one of the first things I saw.” He explained, recalling the events. “Put it on some poor scientist, it was like they uh… melted in front of me, started fusing with other people, I ran outta there real quick.”

With the knowledge, it was as if a light bulb lit up above your head. Sebastian seemed to have had a similar thought as you both looked at each other as he snapped his fingers.

“It has to be Z-96!”

Sebastian opened his arms excitedly, letting out a grin as you both exclaimed the same code.

“EYY!! Come over here!” Sebastian moved to the doorway, bending down slightly as he presented a hand. You easily high-fived him as you did when you both succeeded in something. “Looks like we DO share a singular brain cell.”

“Thanks for the compliment Sebastian.” You said sarcastically yet still had a small smirk. It’s nice to still have this sort of interaction with Sebastian even through this whole situation.

“Who’s Z-96?” Painter asked, Trips tilting their head to the side seemingly having a similar question.

“Mask of Sadness.” You spoke at the same time as Sebastian, making you both look at each other. Maybe you do share a singular brain cell.

Trips moved their hands up, palms facing the two of you in a stopping motion.

“One at a time, please.”

You put up a hand, grabbing Sebastian’s wrist as to wordlessly tell him that you would speak.

“It’s basically in—Layman's terms—a mask that eats and consumes anything organic by instinct and makes it become part of its body.” You looked over at Sebastian. “It’s a miracle Sebastian didn’t get absorbed.” 

Sebastian let out an awkward chuckle as Trips put a hand on their chin. “Organic… So that’s why I didn’t become one with it. I wasn’t ‘alive’.”

You nodded, only to hear Painter try to clear his throat with the best of its abilities with his synthetic voicebox.

“What if we tried bringing them to our side?” Painter chirped in.

Immediately, Trips turned in Painter's direction sternly. 

“And how do you suppose we bring this mass of…” They made a motion with their hand. “… flesh to assist us!? If it thinks through instinct, it cannot think like we do. How will you convince it to…”

“It used to be human right? Surely it must-“ You theorized before getting interrupted.

“This is hardly the same thing. Do not be ridiculous!” 

There was a silence between all of you before Trips looked to the side.

“Listen, I… understand that you want to figure out the best for everyone involved. But that thing attacked me earlier. If I was fully human I would have died then and there from blood loss, if not become one with it.” They shivered, putting a hand where the injury was.”

While Trips looked awkward, you let out a sigh.

“Earlier, we managed to tame Eyefestion. If Eyefestation is possible to tame, The Mask of Sadness is possible too.” 

You put a hand on your chin. “But how…”

Sebastian leaned back against the wall.

“Maybe we can use it as a killing machine.” He shrugged, throwing the idea out. “I didn’t interact with it much, but like Trips said, it does seem almost brainless.”

“Where are you going with this?”

Sebastian approached you, tilting his head.

“This thing only knows how to kill and multiply.” He grinned before going back to where he was. “If we are careful and stay as far away as we can. We can try to lead the guys after the Crystal to Z-96 no?”

“That seems rather…” You trailed off, you knew that for the sake of your survival and escape. It meant killing others. But you couldn’t push down the gut feeling of what you were doing. You didn’t want to, and you felt as if your teammates have now accepted it while you still doubted if you were truly in the right.

Before you could question any longer, Trips put their hand on your shoulder, squeezing as if comfort before speaking.

“What’s your plan then?”

“Well…” 

“Wait!” Painter interrupted suddenly as Sebastian took his long pause. “I have an idea.”

“Oh?” Sebastian crossed his arms, looking over at Painter with a smirk. “And what would that be buddy?”

Painter smiled before changing his screen to the cameras.

“I have access to a lot of Urbanshade stuff now.” It started, changing to one of the cameras looking at two doors. “I realized that there were numbers on the doors, seemingly leading to what I can only assume is the crystal you guys are talking about.”

Numbers on the doors? You only remember seeing that… 

N.A.V.I.! Urbanshade must be using N.A.V.I. to lead people to the crystal!

Painter continued but you had a feeling where it was going.

“I realized earlier that I could change the door signals, look.”

On queue, the door that clearly showed it was closed changed into a matching number as the real door.

“Ooh… well isn’t that convenient.” Sebastian chirped.

“Yes! I was thinking if we can move this Mask of Sadness thing to one of these rooms and then make the number fake… that’s how we can lead people to it!”

Sebastian laughs wholeheartedly, coming through the enclosure’s door to give Painter a head pat.

“You’re a NATURAL at this, knew I could count on you buddy!”

Trips however, did not seem too convinced.

“But how will you lead this creature to one of the rooms?” They looked back at the camera still shown on Painter’s screen, the being that the Mask of Sadness embodied still writhed against the floor. “Its arm seems to stay static.”

“Don’t worry about it, I’ll figure it out. I’ll lead it.” Sebastian confirmed. 

“It’s rather dangerous for an organic being to get so close.”

“I don’t see any other options here, seeing that you refuse to interact with them.”

Trips looked to the side, biting their lip slightly awkwardly. 

“Fine. I’ll… I’ll try to somehow get that creature's arm in there.”

“Atta boy! I’ll go with you, so you don’t gotta worry one bit.” Sebastian chuckled to himself. “I have an idea.”

Sebastian looked between you and Painter.

“Alright, here’s the plan. You two stay here, just monitor, call us through the walkie talkie if you need anything.” He crossed his arms. “Don’t leave this room under any circumstance unless I tell you two to. I’ll come back after my quick errand.”

After Sebastian, Trips spoke, putting their hands behind their back. 

“We’ll try to push Z-96 inside the room, all you have to do is change the number accordingly.” They then looked over at Sebastian. “I believe we should split up after we finish taking care of Z-96.”

“Oh?”

“I’ll help monitor through the Robotics Division, it is better if Urbanshade believes I am helping them over wondering if I disappeared or worse, betrayed them.” Trips looked between you and Painter. “I’ll be one call away. I have full control of the machinery in that division so no need to worry for my safety there. If there are any complications, I’ll assist the best I can through there.”

“Seems legit.” Sebastian muttered, moving closer to both you and Painter and putting a hand on both of you. “This room should be safe, stay here. Promise?”

Looking over at Sebastian, you put a hand on his wrist, letting out a determined smile. 

“I promise. You stay safe too.”

“I will.” Sebastian matched your expression, ending with a chuckle as he looked back at Painter. “I’ll come back with a turret, then we can upgrade your arm to have turrets! It was one of my original ideas, you know, and I won’t pass up the opportunity!”

Sebastian winked as he did finger guns, you completely forgot he had suggested that when you still worked on Painter’s body. He was serious?!

Painter full-screened his face on its monitor, letting out a smile.

“We’ll be okay here, you two stay safe!” Painter looked over at you. “Better knowing that we have each other as company. I would be so scared.”

You leaned against the table that held Painter, putting a hand on its monitor as you nodded over at Sebastian and Trips as they both approached the door.

Before leaving, Trips did a quick salute as they walked out as Sebastian looked behind him one last time with a grin.