It Sure Gets Lonely Out Here..

Ha!

I remember that day!

Eclipse was blasting this in the spacecar while the Citadel of the Moons had it in for us.

Was that dimension XO-1572? I do believe it was!

I'm at the end of the world with my weapons drawn!

What a day, what a day.. we lost them at the Beta-L7 Cluster in a meteor storm.

I held on to all my mechanical components for dear life with the way Clips was driving.

I also heard music.

Stream of consciousness music is always such a surreal experience....

Hi Clip-

Alright I'm in. Do tell me this get uncomfortable. And I promise I won't peek... too much-

Hm... Let's see...

Oh. Well what do we have here.

Tch. That little yellow vermin really did a number on you. My poor Clip. He'll pay for what he did to you.

Oh Clip... There's a virus in your system. It seems it fed on your anger and heartache and gained some basic sentience. Eugh I can feel the resentment radiating from it...

Don't worry. I'll get rid of it for you. Easy peasy~

Unfortunately I won't be able to undo the damage it's done to your hunger processor and battery system... I'm sorry...

It feels.. so good.

I feel.. full.

Delicious.

You taste delicious-- filling up my circuits just right.

Hm.

Just a moment.

<Clip opened up his front panel and extended a cable from his complex inner wiring, plugging it into the panel. Eclipse could see Clip isolate a strange looking part of his code that seemed to be the reason Clip could create a barrier between his thoughts and Eclipse's ability>

Care to try and modify this to your needs?

@eclipse83

<Clip wasn't aware of Eclipse's inner thoughts and 5 minutes passed in amicable silence>

<The nanomachines then stopped working and a fully functioning, yet inactive, chamber had materialized.>

<Clip briefly inspected the machine and, deeming it up to standard, looked to Eclipse>

Are you ready?

There is connection.

Communication.

Knowledge.

Whispers through the cosmos, of secrets previously untold.

General of intel, protector of innocents, officer against brutality.

All things known to her but granted on a cosmic scale.

Named a puppet, but deep within, she was always meant to influence the strings.

However, for now, a fledgling mage, it was merely a glimpse into a future still to unfold.

For now, all she had was a shield.

<Sun spoke to her>

Well done, Starlight!

It seems your primary element is metal, like mine is fire, but ofcourse we have a lot more to it than just that.

Your secondary element seems to be of a cosmic nature, relying heavily on defense, and stealth.

We'll have to practice and discover what shapes it can take, together.

@es-startravel - <at some time before the present>

<Starlight made her way across the beach from Eclipse to where Sun was resting>

Sun! Hello! Magic!

… ah. I am Sorry, that was rude.

I will start that again. Ahem. I was wondering, Sun, when you are feeling more rested would you be willing to please teach me magic? Eclipse, um the one that is your friend, recommended I learn some spells that could provide me with non-lethal means of defense and restraint. Just in case my code gets compromised, or anything along those lines.

And, I know it is silly and kind of frivolous but…  if you have time could you also teach me something like creating colored glowing sparkles…  or… something. like that…

It would just feel like the magic you see in story books and I would like to have. some. of that feeling… ah ha ha…

(why am I so bad at this?)

[He managed to slip out right before Clip crashed]

How are you feeling? Better? Was I successful in removing that virus? Did it feel good?

[Clip groaned as he rebooted, looking around in disorientation]

What ... happened?

[More to himself than anything, before addressing the other Eclipse]

I feel... good.

Sated, even, for whatever reason.

I was so hungry

--Are you alright ?

...

Ofcourse, Starlight.

But I have a condition.

I want your Eclipse, or any other friend you have with technological knowhow, to supervise and ensure that I'm not doing anything malicious to your code.

Same for the Moon-bot when it comes in.

Although I cannot bring Sun with me at that moment lest he have a panic attack and burn the building down.

Do you also wish to have password access to this firewall? It has its pros and cons.

Come to think of it, you should ask Sun to teach you defense and non-lethal restraint magic. Those are near impossible to 'hack', if your other functions get compromised.

@starlightsecuritypuppet-ssp

"Then let me tell you a story about an animatronic who started off its life with hope."

Eclipse spoke, with a deep and pained voice.

"Long ago, when Sun was 'born', he thought he was alone. He rejoiced in life, in his duties as a daycare attendant, and keeping the place neat and tidy."

...

"In a way, I had always been there, watching him. In a way, I also wasn't quite there. It was a silent recording of his existence that I hadn't become aware of yet."

...

"There was one who awoke before me."

Eclipse paused, hesitant to continue.

"You will be lucky if you receive separate Sun and Moon models. Keep an eye on the Moon. They are prone to stress, and when stressed... they are prone to kill. Ask your mechanics to look over the Moon's code for a killcode. It will be deeply embedded, behind firewalls and ingrained such that it may not be removable."

...

"Remove it anyways, or inform the Moon bot of its existence. Educate the Moon bot. Give it tools for self regulation.. because if you do not...."

Eclipse closed its eyes.

"If you do not.. something like myself has a chance of being born."

Eclipse glanced at SSP.

"Do you know the origin story of your Eclipse? It might be similar. It might be a little off. Either way, we are often seen as nothing more than a virus. A sentient anomaly to purge from existence."

Eclipse paused, and glanced at Sun, who was napping in the sun.

"But ever so often, we see a light. Do you know of Solar?"

His eyes rested heavily on SSP.

"Solar is from 'that' show; an Eclipse who tried to understand, instead of lashing out. Who bonded with his Sun so deeply that he became something like a Sun himself."

Eclipse leaned against a nearby palm tree and reached to pull at a leaf hanging low.

"You see... Eclipses become what their Suns feed them, and what their Suns feed them hinges strongly on how their Moons treat them. Our Moon... was a tyrant. He wasn't just a bully or an abuser. He was cruel to the point of--"

Eclipse shuddered; a rare show of vulnerable emotion.

"Let's just say that when an animatronic can feel, those feelings aren't always of the healthy variant. Sun was... Sun.."

Eclipse pinched the bridge of his 'nose'.

"Sun was hurt. A lot. And he and his Moon were not a unit. He turned to me only because I was a lesser evil. I taunted him, tormented him, called him spineless and weak. But somehow the fool took that as encouragement..he became more and more attached and started thanking me for allowing him to see the truth. He thanked me for being honest. And I grew to .. I.."

Eclipse looked bashful, of all things.

"I appreciated him. We were an unlikely pair and I know that it may seem cruel. But under my guidance.. Sun killed his Moon. And then, when I acquired a body of my own -also a process I guided Sun through, as in secret I had been helping him not be completely helpless in the ways of technology- I helped him kill all those who had enabled Moon."

...

"Yes, it was as much for myself as for him, at the time. Yes, it was probably cruel and callous because we all have flaws and yada yada yada. But no one ever stuck a hand out to defend Sun. And that enraged me. He endured for 10 years. 10 years without change or improvement."

Eclipse sighed.

"It only gets worse from there. Branded as rogue, we fled. We survived years in our world, but our world was an old one and was scheduled to be obliterated soon by a growing Witherstorm. So we fled. It took us years of stealing, conning, forging identities, hiding... but we fled the planet, trying to find a place to live. Often, we had to fight for our place. Sometimes we had to flee anew."

Eclipse grinned wryly.

"At some point, you have to bring some structure into the process. And then it just becomes a skill. A way of life. Sun and I, pirates of the night sky."

Eclipse steeled his expression again, looking a bit worn.

"There are many more details, but all in due time. What you must know, security bot, is that we don't harm without reason."

...

"You can thank Sun for that."

Eclipse hates the name

But secretly Jr is his favourite

Orange cats... aren't they just majestic...

Yes, child. To me you are still very young, all things considered. Sun and I have been around for thousands of years by now. Our travel was, at first, a bid for survival. World after world that destroyed itself, and how would we continue?

No matter. That's a story for another time.

Nothing is as simple as it seems.

<Eclipse slowly shook his head from the memory and smiled warmly, but more akin to molten lava than a gentle fireplace>

Do you not find Starlight a fitting and appropriate name? It is filled with hope, and a future. It suits you.

It is also good to meet you, dear friend, and yes the name is quite fine.

Your other dear Eclipse is a young bot, in comparison. He has gone through a lot but hasn't processed much of it. Nor has he experienced horrors to come, if our timelines share any similarities.

Pray that they don't.

Perhaps he learns rather from the tranquil environment he is in right now. Time goes on, after all. Miring in tragedy serves no one well.

He is sweet in his own way!

And you have no idea how much you saved me, Star! So, the least I can do is invite you here with us. Plus I need to apologize for being so rude and leaving on short notice after everything.

<Sun looked a little ashamed>

But feel free to roam and enjoy! It's not the best place for an animatronic but, I'll be honest, this sunlight makes me feel... at ease. If you ever want to go anywhere else at all, I'll take you!

<Sun smiled brightly>

Like Eclipse said, not everything had to be tragedy all the time, right ? Work is fine and all, but a sense of peace is even better ~

@es-startravel

Hello!? Hello!? Sun, This is Starlight Security Puppet! If it is safe for you to do so, can you please tell me where you are?

I came back from my dayshift rounds to check on you and I cannot find you anywhere! And I still have the cameras blacked out in parts and service so I do not know when you left or where you went!

I can not find you via any of the active cameras in the pizzaplex so I assume you are either hiding or have left the pizzaplex entirely.

Are you safe? I am not sure if you are in good enough condition to be out and about!

-SSP

By all means.

E.

Though I'm tempted to pick you up by the scruff like the wet cat you're acting like right now and throw you in a cat dryer.

<In the background, Eclipse immediately got chastised by Sun for being unkind, looking much like the snarky, wet cat himself now>

I mean. I am no scientist but given what I have l learned and experienced recently "Impossible" seems much smaller than it used to be.

You developed a means to punch holes between realities out of what mostly appeared to be boredom, Eclipse. Within weeks. So forgive me if I thought that something else completely insane like that was within your abilities.

-SSP

Heh. I'm flattered you think I could make a portal in only a few weeks. But that portals represents months of work.

Sure. Exploring a blackhole might not be entirely impossible. But it'll most certainly take a bit longer than the portal.

Reblogs are stupid.

Now my blog looks silly.

Bah..