#sentinelfic

6 Hours Into Mission.

The Sixth Sentinel walked through Bilewater. It was tracking Groal. It had heard rumors of the location fo Groal's lair. It knew it was on the right path.

When suddenly, the bushes started standing up. They weren't bushes at all.

12 Hours Into Mission

The Sixth Sentinel had fought well. There had been sixty-four Stilkin. It had killed seven and severely injured five. But it had been heavily outnumbered. Ultimately, its internal mechanisms suffered catastrophic damage, and it fell into the muckmaggot-infested water.

Its silk fly was still active. Its mind was still conscious. But it was immobile. It could not get out of the water.

New Objective: Wait for retrieval.

396 Hours Into Mission

The Sixth Sentinel knew it had been underneath the water for a long time. It also knew that its soul reserves were being drained by the maggots around it. Thankfully, its silk fly produced the most soul out of all of the Sentinels, so it would be fine.

Species Identified: Vorus anima. Common name: "Muckmaggot."

Its objective remained the same: Wait for retrieval.

9... 9... 9... 9... 9... [ERROR] Hours Into Mission

About [ERROR] hours ago, the Sixth Sentinel's internal timekeeper had broken from trying to process a number of hours greater than 99,999.

And just now, the Sentinel had noticed something.

Its soul reserves had started depleting at a faster rate than it had been before.

The Sentinel's ultimate conclusion was that the "muckmaggots" had reproduced, growing in population, and because its population had grown, the necessary soul consumption to sustain the population increased. And the "muckmaggots" were using the Sentinel as a soul source.

... This meant the Sentinel could, eventually, start producing less soul than the muckmaggots steal, ultimately resulting in its destruction.

New Objective: Find a way to leave this water.

9... 9... 9... 9... 9... [ERROR] Hours Into Mission

The soul drainage of the muckmaggots had increased to 120% of its original value when the Sixth Sentinel heard a song from the CItadel.

The song caused its silk fly to attempt to escape its containment unit. Thankfully, it could not.

Anomalous calling. Deception. But intriguing nonetheless.

Current Objective: Find a way to leave this water.

The root bud had escaped its parent. It had known something was wrong with it.

Blue. Blue. It was blue. It shouldn't be blue. The blue... kept it alive. But. Weird effect. On mind?

The Blue tried. This bud. Better. Better than other buds. Mind strong. Too strong for The Blue.

But body. Body weak. Body need food. Food come from Host. Host. Host. Host.

This place. Water! But yucky water. Yucky water with yucky creatures that take bud's food.

Bud needed host.

Bud fell in water.

Yucky creatures come for bud.

Bud dying.

But... But bud taste Food.

Food. Food in water. Food deep in water. Host. Host in water!

Bud go to Host. Bud go inside of host.

Host... Cold. Hard. Uncomfy. But... But food! Food... Food. Food, food, food.

Bud. Wrap around food. Bud eat food. Bud grow. Bud grow quick and strong thanks to The Blue.

9... 9... 9... 9... 9... [ERROR] Hours Into Mission

Gained a stowaway, this Sentinel had.

Subject Identified: Radix gulosus. Infantile stage. Common name: "Root bud." Unique Variation: Afflicted by the parasitic plant Hemo vitalis. Hyper-parasitism, this is: When a parasite infects another parasite. Unique Variation: Resistant/Immune to the mind-altering effects of Hemo vitalis, judging by the ordinary behavior of this specimen. Further study recommended.

The Sentinel thought for a moment.

Capable of movement, this Sentinel is not. Capable of movement, this specimen is. Hypothesis: If sufficiently grown, this mutated infant Radix gulosus could be used as a replacement for this Sentinel's damaged locomotion mechanisms. Furthermore, this would allow this Sentinel to keep the Radix gulosus specimen alive for research; resistance/immunity to the mind-altering effects of Hemo vitalis could have wide-reaching applications.

The only problem with this plan was that the root bud had to be grown in order to be useful to the Sentinel as a replacement to its locomotive systems.

Has perfect tool, this Sentinel does.

Its reserve bind could hold about six times as much silk as that of the other Sentinels. It was also protected. The Sentinel could unlock it, and allow the root bud to eat.

Problem with plan: Infant Radix gulosus is not within reach of the reserve bind. This Sentinel would have to command it to reach its reserve bind.

...

Hypothesis: Soul contains Sentinel's consciousness. Soul could be used to transmit to the Radix gulosus.

To test the hypothesis, while the specimen fed on its soul, the Sentinel thought about its reserve bind really hard in the bud's direction. It thought about how much soul was in that silk. That'd be a very nourishing meal for the bud, yes?

Thoughts. Thoughts about food. Food. Food, Food, Food from Host. Bud eat Food. Bud grow big and strong!

The bud's tendrils wiggled to maneuver it, wrapping around the reserve bind.

The Sentinel opened the reserve bind.

FOOD! FOOD, FOOD, FOOD! SO MUCH FOOD! BUD EAT FOREVER! BUD GROW BIG AND STRONG!

The bud consumed the silk rapidly. The bud's tentacles lengthened. The bud grew larger and larger, and larger, as it feasted on the silk. The bud grew more tentacles, more roots, to use as appendages.

One appendage wrapped around the containment unit for the silk fly, allowing the bud to feast. The rest all went to the legs of its host.

Success, The Sixth Sentinel thought. Then, it thought about using its legs to stand up and walk out of the water.

... And nothing happened.

Hypothesis: Incentive required.

It thought about walking to the Citadel, and how much silk was in the Citadel.

MORE FOOD!?! ALL THE FOOD!?!? ENOUGH FOOD FOR BUD TO GROW EVEN BIGGER AND STRONGER?!?

With primal glee, the bud's appendages began moving to try and operate the legs. It stood up. The yucky creatures began moving in. Some of the bud's appendages moved out, and grabbed the yucky monsters. It squeezed them until they stopped moving, and then consumed all the soul. The bud grew bigger. Its roots lengthened, and it gained new roots. Its roots spread throughout its host's strange, cold, hard body.

Soon, the Sixth Sentinel was out of the water. It thought about the way back to the Citadel. The root bud began maneuvering the body back that way.

New Objective: Report to the Conductors.

It could recall, in the distant past, a memory in which it had been hunting for an assassin in the Moss Grotto.

Mission: Capture, Dead or Alive, the Assassin of Conductor Menalais

The Sixth Sentinel had been walking through Bone Bottom. The pilgrims staying in Bone Bottom had reacted with fear, predictably. The Sixth Sentinel's reputation preceded it.

It heard what they had called it.

"The Gilded Death," they whispered amongst each other. "The Shining End. The Shining End."

The Sixth Sentinel cared not for the words of the townsfolk, yet it still paid attention. And due to the sheer efficiency of its memory system, it remembered everything it heard from them perfectly.

Including the way one mother acted towards her daughter in that moment.

"Shhh, it's okay, I'm here. I know the Cogwork bug is scary, but it won't hurt you. We haven't done anything wrong. It's not here for us. I'm here."

It remembered her tone perfectly. Soft. Soothing. Foreign to the mechanical voicebox this Sentinel had, but still replicable.

The Sixth Sentinel gave it a try.

"This Sentinel is here," it spoke softly to the crying root bud. "You are safe. You are cared for. You're hungry, aren't you? Scared? It cannot be easy for you to be in this metal shell. But you are not unsafe. This Sentinel shall protect you."

Just like that, the cries of the root bud quieted down. It still whimpered lightly, but it was much less loud. It understood that it was safe and was acting accordingly.

"Assessment: Radix gulosus specimen successfully calmed. Will now visit Trinn for a lesson in singing lullabies."

The Sixth Sentinel began walking, now with a much calmer root bud in its body.

The Sixth Sentinel had finally located the Underworks, and from there, finally located the Twelfth Architect's workshop. It entered the area and said, "Subject Identified. Species: Cogwork Creation. Model: Architect. Designation: The Twelfth of the Architects of the Citadel. Returned, has this Sentinel. Damaged, is this Sentinel. Dirty, is this Sentinel. Infested with mutated Radix gulosus, is this Sentinel," The Sixth Sentinel explained. However, it got no further before the Twelfth Architect spoke.

"Hello, Sixth-of-Make," They said. "Pleased, I am, to see you. However, your report concerns me. Wh-What do you wish from me?"

"Repairs to body, cleaning of shell, modifications to body, iridescent Sentinel polish, and medication to stunt growth of Radix gulosus specimen," The Sixth Sentinel listed. "Necessary modifications to body include: Addition of this Sentinel's voice box allowing for adoption of a 'soothing' tone for the Radix gulosus specimen's comfort; external storage for these silk spools," The Sentinel gave the silk spools to the Twelfth Architect. "Addition of warm system for Radix gulosus specimen's comfort; and addition of moisture system for Radix gulosus specimen's comfort."

"Understood," The Twelfth Architect said, before it got out a new tool. "This should assist with cleaning."

With that, they pointed the tool at the Sentinel and pressed a button. The tool roared to life and began shooting, extracting the dirt and grime from the Sentinel until it was spotless.

The Twelfth Architect then externally attached the silk spools before opening the Sentinel's maintenance panel.

"... I see... I can maybe give you a n-new endoskeleton? But your muscular system... I cannot replace while the parasite remains inside."

The Sixth Sentinel nodded in acknowledgement. "Understandable. Unfortunate. Acceptable," It said.

The Twelfth Architect nodded before quickly constructing and installing a new endoskeleton. It then got to work on installing the endoskeleton, and then created the warmth and moisture systems the Sentinel had requested. After installing those, the Twelfth Architect removed the voicebox and made simple modifications, before re-installing it. Finally, they said, "I will add v-v-various runes to your interior, to make you more durable."

"Understood," The Sixth Sentinel said.

It was an hour later that the process was finished.

"Thank you, Twelfth Architect. This Sentinel is in a better state. It will now leave."

And then it... left.