#one-one

Wplace art again, this time an Infinity Train edition! I put it in North Branch, Minnesota since that´s the town Tulip is from. Only found one Infinity Train reference there so far, would be nice to see some more!

Working on this was really fun too hah

HERE'S THE MASTERLIST YIPPEEEEEE!! credit to @/uzmacchiato for the divider :) find the series on AO3 here!

Rating: 16+

Wordcount: 20.1k - [WILL CHANGE AS FIC UPDATES]

Warnings: SPOILERS FOR IRON LUNG, canon-typical blood, cursing, dread, anxiety, eldritch horror, injuries, blood ocean, harm of robots/droids, death, radiation poisoning, religious themes, pet death, death, fire, claustrophobia [WILL CHANGE AS FIC UPDATES]

Blurb: The stars were dead. An empty void of ghostlight filled the once vibrant galaxies that had teemed with energy. Gaps in solar systems yawned wide and dark, suns and planets disappearing in the same, dreadful instant. Trillions of lives lost, countless technological discoveries turned to dust, every bit of humanity’s history erased in the blink of an eye. Echoing silence was the only sound that followed the Quiet Rapture. Hope dwindled in the universe. Satellites and space stations floated through the abyss like unmoored buoys in a vast ocean. Occasional life stirred within them, lights flashing behind thick glass windows and expeditions packed into escape shuttles undocking from expansive hangar bays. A mere pinch of population remaining after the Rapture in handfuls below 500. The last inkling of perseverance, of stubbornness, of the innate human desire to push on despite the odds. Simon was the pure embodiment of that inkling.

One-one is a godlike robot from unknown origins who uses the power of math and magic to provide humans with a space where they are supported to work through their problems. This space - the train - requires people to do the legwork, if they actually get off the train or not is up to them. There are dangers, but all of these dangers stem from the people and denizens of the train exercising their autonomy. While the train itself might seem cold or unforgiving, that is a byproduct of limited perspective, and one-one has never once done anything to put his passengers in proper danger.

Caine, on the other hand, is a presumably semi-rouge ai made by man, doing his best to follow his imperfect programming. Unlike one-one, his job is not to take care of anyone, his job is to keep them entertained. He is capable and willing to inflict all kinds of violence, violations, trauma and horrors upon them if it keeps their minds busy. Additionally, where One-One has a self assured, delightfully congenial or pleasantly pessimistic disposition, Caine is insecure and erratic. Despite being nearly or maybe even completely all powerful within the circus, he is far more dependent on our resident unwilling cast than they are on him.

All this to say, of course I stand by my original sentiment. And I absolutely do not think either of these characters would desire to pursue romantic relationships. What I'm proposing is a far weirder relationship that basically results in the healthiest "I can fix him" dynamic the world has ever known. I like to think what they have is somewhere between what sean and laszlo have going on in wwdits and whatever loki had going on with literally anyone in that tv series. No one is doing it like them no one ever will

And a version without the cracks on One/One-One: