She stands still, hearing a repetitive ticking noise emanating from inside of her chest.
She can feel the gears inside of her as they rotate and mesh and interlink, sending the energy stored in the spring wound up within her.
She moves her arm upwards to stare at the back of her hand. As she does, wires move to curl her fingers, mechanisms rotate to allow her arm to bend at the elbow, and metal slides over metal on her joints.
She’s been so delicately made, so precisely crafted.
Always in equilibrium, as little wasted energy as possible.
Her miss made her to be perfect.
It always makes the next bit more fun.
A sharp blow knocks her off balance, sending her side into the edge of a table.
It cracks, but holds.
Her legs are swept out from under her. She falls.
Hits the hard floor.
Cracks, but holds.
The boot that follows finally breaks her, causing the ceramic of her chest and abdomen to fracture and burst out across the room.
Her miss reaches inside of her, not caring for the shards that pierce her skin and draw out her blood.
Her miss seizes a gear and holds it for a second. If she had a heart, it would skip a beat.
Her miss takes another gear. Holds it.
Tears it out.
She can’t feel or move her legs any more. Within her, cogs spin impotently, teeth catching on empty space.
Her miss gently places her hand around her spring.
Twists it.
Not up, but down.
Her eyes flutter closed. Her limbs don’t go limp, instead they lock in their current positions. Her gears and mechanisms slow, very soon to go still.
As she is wound down, she finds it harder and harder to think, to reason, to act.
To act before her consciousness fades out of existence requires immense willpower and focus, along with single-minded determination.
As her mind fades to black, her mouth moves.
It hangs open in a lopsided smile.
hey guys have you ever heard of THE CHARACTER. i’m thinking about THE CHARACTER. honestly can’t even get shit done because i’m thinking about THE CHARACTER. i’m listening to a song and imagining THE CHARACTER. all i know and love is THE CHARACTER
She loved The Factory. It certainly helped that she knew little else. Every day, she rose and set about her work. She assembled weapons and machines and more. She did her part, taking care of the children being raised in their little outpost. She ate and drank and worked and did very nearly nothing else.
But in this case, ‘nothing else’ is far from inconsequential.
She told the children about the stories that had been passed down from her parents. She dreamt about those stories. These stories had endured from a time where, quite unthinkably to her, The Factory had not yet expanded to assimilate their home. They talked about dragons and fools and vagabonds and knights and - her favorite - princesses. They held messages of defiance, of truth, of nobility.
She took these stories, and held them close to get through the day.
As time went on, she grew tired. These stories seemed to become more and more distant. She made things for people to use to kill each other in faraway lands. There was no meaning to her existence, no message, nothing coming to save her.
She became dull.
{And there is nothing I detest more than dullness.}
But she was rewarded. It seems as though fate {Nobility.} had taken a shine to her.
An accident happened.
Something went horribly wrong. Maybe some munitions assembly went wrong. Maybe a load-bearing beam had been built cheaply or incorrectly. The method doesn’t matter, only the results.
For the first time in her life, she steps outside.
The stories come rushing back to her. She breathes fresh air and stares at a clear sky.
She sees trees, and plants, and animals. She is entranced, and she steps into the forest.
In the stories, how often does an errant heroine wander through the woods?
Well, not too often. Usually they are relegated to the role of witless maidens to be saved.
This story is different, for it has truth to it.
She wanders, and time loses all meaning.
Roots and leaves and branches all blur into one. She could have been in there for seconds or centuries.
She steps out of the forest.
In front of her is a castle, looking as though it had been carefully copied from the ones in her dreams. Spires and towers and moats and crenellations and yet more features fill her vision.
She steps into the castle. {And I am waiting for her.}
She greets the person within in the manner she remembers from the old tales.
{I look within her, and I see her as she ought to be. She is full of lovely tales, and I am in need of some entertainment. It seems our goals align, though she is unaware of what she actually wants. I suppose I must give it to her.}
The Princess on her throne smiles at her, and opens her mouth.
She offers her a place in her domain, where she will never have to worry about dullness and boredom. Where she would never need to abandon her stories.
She accepts, of course.
{So I took her and made her suited to her purpose. It has led to such fun results.}
And she lived happily ever after.
The End.
She sits on the chair, legs crossed, waiting in anticipation.
Her friend takes an object, shows it to her to reassure her.
Explains what it is, how it works, what it does. Something to do with electromagnets, currents in the brain, and depth of stimulation.
Explains how it can have an impact on activity in specific parts of the brain.
She doesn’t understand half of it, but she gets the gist, and it sounds fun.
A couple of switches are flicked. Maybe a button is pressed, or a large dial is turned.
Her friend moves the object back, holding it to the side of her head.
Nothing happens.
She opens her mouth to enquire, and gibberish falls out. She can’t even form a word, let alone a sentence.
Her friend smiles.
She blushes.
She does not collapse, or raise her hands to cover her face. She wouldn’t be a good test subject if she did that.
Her friend moves the object to the back of her head, and flashes of light appear in her vision.
Her friend moves the object to the top of her head, and she jolts a little bit, her senses feel off.
Her friend moves the object to the front of her head.
Her mind goes blank.
If she could plan, or reason, or imagine, she would hear the pleasure in the voice of her friend as she explains the role of the frontal lobe in complex thought.
As it is, she sits limply, eyes open and empty.
The object is removed, turned off.
Thoughts rush back into her mind.
Her friend takes her hand.
Moves it up to her lips.
Thanks her for being such a perfect thing to study.
Kisses the back of her hand.
Once more, her mind goes blank.
She smiles, stands, and together they sweep out of the room.
-literally any sentence- "anyway stream left right goodnight"
POV: you wake up from a mouse bite induced coma
They had lived their life rather interestingly. Other people took the Laws of this world for granted. Those people saw no interest in making a change, they simply existed, making no impact on the world around them. They hated that.
They looked at the beliefs of the people, and they saw so many holes and flaws and problems.
They did not endeavour to fix these things. They took advantage of them, and made a good living. They turned lead into gold, water into wine, death into life.
It was the last, they reflect, that caused this to occur.
Their body shifts and twist beneath them. They broke the Laws, and now they face the consequences. They remember how this is meant to go. They will die, or they will be found innocent and emptied out, left to wander the world as a hollow shell of themselves.
A single word rings out in their mind.
‘No.’
Things are wrong. Things are broken and denied and unfulfilled. They continue to twist and shift. It hurts now, the fire of agony racing through their mind. This is unnatural, and it should not be.
Yet, in defiance of the Laws, it is.
They are torn apart and put back together. Claws and chitin and shell and bone and meat are grown and crushed, their flesh buckling and shaping in the same way as clay is worked by a potter.
They lose their mind halfway through this. All that is left is bestial aggression and animal instincts and emotion. They are so full of sadness and anger and regret and they do not know why.
They know only one thing - they have been found guilty.
Voices permeate the trees around them. They think as best they can.
These people are not guilty and yet they are.
This is unfair. They grow angrier and angrier.
They decide.
Claws extended, flesh warping, eyes wide, and mouth agape, they lurch towards the voices.
listen. clutching your stupid head to my chest and stroking you. you're not a bad dog. idc what they told you, they were wrong. you're a good, sweet, brave little puppy and you've experienced things that nobody should ever go through. i'm so proud of you for making it this far and still having a heart overflowing with this much kindness. i love you so much.
She/her, LARP doer, Warhammer and Gundam fan, that one reveal with Zane from Ninjago changed the trajectory of my life,Certified Scribblehub Eggfic Protagonist.
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