Scout mission.
Simple task. Map noble district drainage system. Potential infiltration route.
Rust, Mira, Patchwork. Three-person team. Ember stayed behind (too visible, fire draws attention).
Night operation. Guards changed shifts at midnight. Window of opportunity.
They descended into sewers beneath noble quarter.
Dark. Wet. Smell of waste and expensive perfumes mixed. Nobles dumped EVERYTHING here.
Mira led. She knew routes. Years of scavenging.
Patchwork followed. Quiet. apologizing every
time he made splash-sound stepping wrong.
Rust. Rear guard. Watching for—
Movement.
Behind.
Fast.
Rust turned. Raised shield-arm.
Guards.
Six of them. Full armor. Lanterns blazing.
"HALT. Identify yourselves."
Filed under: ambush, planned ambush, someone TOLD them we'd be here.
Mira cursed. "Run!"
They ran.
Sewers. Maze-like. But guards knew layout. Pursuing. Gaining.
Rust calculated: Patchwork slowest, would be caught first. Mira second. Rust could MAYBE escape alone but.
No.
Turned. Blocked passage. Shield-arm extended.
"Keep running. I'll delay them."
"Rust don't be STUPID—" Mira started.
"GO."
She hesitated. Then. Grabbed Patchwork. Ran.
Rust. Faced six guards.
Alone.
Probability of victory: 12%.
Probability of survival: 23% if chose retreat immediately.
Probability crew escapes if Rust holds here: 67%.
Acceptable sacrifice.
Raised hands. Fire spell charging. Dagger-arm glowing.
Guards approached. Weapons drawn. Confident. Six versus one.
Then.
Something. Flickered.
Reality. Stuttered.
Like. Memory corruption. Visual glitch. Guard on left. Disappeared. No. Relocated. Now behind Rust.
Confused screaming.
All guards. Spinning. Looking for. Who moved them?
Another flicker.
Guard weapons. Gone. Appeared in drainage pipe. Unreachable.
"What the—"
Flicker.
Guards. Suspended in air. Hovering. Screaming. Terrified.
Then. Dropped. Into wastewater. Splashing. Flailing.
While they struggled.
Voice.
Behind Rust.
Female. Broken. Stuttering like. Damaged recording.
"Run now yes run go fast they they they recover soon not much time GO."
Rust turned.
Construct.
Female-shaped. Four and half feet tall. Patchwork body like. Like—
No. Different from Patchwork.
This was. DAMAGED patchwork. Fabric torn. Seams splitting actively. One arm longer than other. Joints bending. Wrong angles. Movement. Twitchy. Glitching physically.
Face. Mostly intact. Button eyes. But one missing. Empty socket.
She. Gestured frantically.
"GO they recover pursuit inevitable run RUN—"
Words. Overlapping. Repeating. Like stuck.
Rust. Didn't understand situation but.
Didn't argue with rescue.
Ran.
Followed mysterious construct through sewer-maze. Twisting route. Guards pursuing but. Far behind now.
After ten minutes running.
Emerged. Different sector. Safe zone.
Mysterious construct. Stopped. Breathing hard even though. Constructs didn't breathe.
Habit? Memory of breathing?
She turned. Looked at Rust with one button-eye.
"Safe now yes safe probably safe maybe safe WHO KNOWS." Giggled. Wrong sound. Broken-bell giggle.
"Who are you," Rust asked.
"Who who WHO good question." Tilted head. Too far. Neck bent. Impossible angle. "Was someone. Am someone. Will be someone? Memory. Fragmented. Call me. Call me."
Stopped. Thinking. Processing.
"Call me. Tangle. Yes. Tangle. Name feels. Right. Familiar. Was mine? Is mine? Language hard."
Filed under: severe memory damage, consciousness intact but. Fragmented.
"Thank you. For saving me. Us."
"Saved yes saved them NO." Tangle. Giggled again. "Guards chase. You run. I. Watched. From pipes. From shadows. Saw you SAW. Trash-lord they call? Rust? Names names SO MANY."
Confused speech pattern. Jumping topics. Non-linear thinking.
"Why did you help."
"Why why WHY." Tangle. Spun. Three full rotations. Stopped. Dizzy. "Because because BECAUSE. Lonely. Watching lonely people more lonely makes compound lonely exponential LONELY and I. Don't want. Lonely anymore."
Looked at Rust. Single eye.
"You build family yes build gather COLLECT consciousnesses like. Like someone collected ME once. Before. Before broke. Before WRONG."
Filed under: seeking connection, memory of being collected, damaged but. Wanting.
"You want. To join? Crew?"
"Join join join MAYBE." Nervous now. Twitching more. "Also maybe NOT. Memory says. Trust dangerous. Memory ALSO says. Isolation dangerous. Which memory CORRECT? Can't remember. Can't THINK straight lines only. Spirals."
She sat. Abruptly. On ground. Head in hands.
"Was someone. Important. Maybe? Noble's construct? Butler? Maid? Guard? Can't. Can't REMEMBER. They. Did something. To me. Extraction tried. Failed. Broke me. Threw away. Now I'm. THIS." Gestured at self. "Glitched broken WRONG."
Rust. Sat beside her.
"Join us. Temporarily. Trial basis. If it. Doesn't work. You leave. No obligation."
Tangle. Looked up.
"Really? Even though. I'm broken defective USELESS?"
"Everyone's broken. We accommodate."
"You say that. NOW. But later. When I glitch wrong. Hurt someone. Make mistake. Then. Then you'll. Discard like. Like—"
Stopped. Couldn't finish.
Rust recognized: same fear as Patchwork. Same as Ember. Same as. Everyone.
"We're all discarded already. Can't discard twice."
Tangle. Processed.
Then. Small smile. One-sided. Broken.
"Logic. Weird logic but. Logic. Okay. Try. Temporarily. Probably regret. You'll regret. Everyone regrets. But. TRY."
Extended hand. Shaking. Uncertain.
Rust. Took it.
"Welcome. Trial member."
"Trial trial TRIAL." Repeated word. Testing. "That means. Not permanent. Not STUCK. Can leave if. If TOO MUCH."
"Yes."
"Good good GOOD." Stood. Wobbly. "Where. Where family? Meet them yes meet introduce STRANGERS oh no oh no strangers sc—"
Spiraling. Panicking.
Rust. Calm voice.
"Tangle. Breathe."
"Don't breathe constructs DON'T—"
"Metaphorical breathing. Mental pause. Take moment."
She. Stopped. Stood still. Shaking but. Focusing.
After minute.
"Okay. Okay okay OKAY. Ready. Maybe. Probably not. But. Pretend ready. Acting. Good at acting was good BEFORE broken."
"Then let's go. Introduce you. Slowly. Carefully."
Started walking.
Tangle followed. Twitchy steps. But. Following.
Refuge.
Crew assembled.
Mira. Rushed forward when saw Rust.
"You're ALIVE we thought you— who's THIS?"
Rust. Gestured.
"Tangle. Damaged construct. Memory fragmentation. She. Saved me from guards. Seeking. Connection."
Tangle. Hid behind Rust. Peeking around.
"Hello hi GREETINGS humanbiological softskin PERSON." Then. Quieter. "I's. I'm. Tangle. Sorry for. Existing loudly?"
Mira. Blinked.
Then. Smiled. Gentle smile.
"Hi Tangle. I'm Mira. You saved Rust. That makes you. Hero."
"Hero hero NO." Tangle. Shook head. Frantic. "Not hero. Broken. Useless. Just. Happened to be. Watching. Creepy watching sorry SORRY stalking not stalking observing yes OBSERVING—"
"Tangle," Rust interrupted. "Breathe. Metaphorically."
She. Stopped. Reset.
"Sorry. Memory loops. Gets stuck. Repeating. Can't. Control."
Patchwork. Approached. Slowly.
"I. Understand. Looping. I do that. With apologizing. Compulsive. Can't stop even when. Want to."
Looked at Tangle.
"You're. Safe here. We're all. Broken."
Tangle. Stared.
Then. Whispered.
"All broken? Even. Even fire?" Pointed at Ember.
Ember. Flames crackling gentle-pattern.
"Especially me. Lost companion. Burned nobles. Got discarded. Now burning here. We're. Disaster collection."
"Disaster disaster collection COLLECTION." Tangle. Tested words. "That's. That's funny. Sad. Funny-sad. Funny-sad-TRUE."
Cog. Stepped forward. Gears clicking curious-pattern.
"Memory damage. Terminal?"
"Don't don't DON'T know." Tangle. Touched own head. "Extraction device. Activated. Half-completed. Process. Interrupted. Memory RIPPED. Consciousness. Fragmented. Some parts. Gone forever. Other parts. Looping. Repeating. Stuck."
Looked at Cog.
"You're. Old. Wise? Can. Can you FIX me?"
Cog. Paused.
Honest pause.
"No. Memory damage is. Permanent. But. Can help manage. Teach coping. Grounding techniques. If. If you want help."
"Want want WANT help. Desperately. Want. Not broken. Want. WHOLE again. But. Can't have. So. Help managing. Good. Good enough. Better than. Nothing."
Sat. floor. Suddenly exhausted.
"Is tiring. Being glitched. Constant effort. Staying coherent. Pretending. Normal."
Mira. Knelt beside her.
"Don't have to pretend here. Be. As glitched as needed. We'll. Adapt."
Tangle. Looked at her.
"You're. Soft. Humans are. Soft. Outside and. Inside soft. Gentle. I. Forgotten. Gentleness."
Voice. Quieter. Coherent now. Tired-coherent.
"Thank you. For. Not running. When I. Speak broken."
"Your speech is. Different. Not broken. Just. Different."
"That's. Kind lie. Appreciate it."
Mira. Smiled.
"Not lie. Truth. You communicate. Meaning gets through. That's. What matters."
Tangle. Processed.
Then.
Small nod.
"Stay. Trial basis. Help. When can. Learn. How to be. Person again. Maybe."
Ember. Crackling amused-pattern.
"Another recruit. We're. Building army of misfits."
"Best kind of army," Rust said. "Misfits have. Nothing to lose. Everything to prove."
Tangle. Looked around at crew.
At found family.
And whispered.
"Maybe. Maybe THIS is. What I was. Searching for. Before broken. This. Belonging."
Filed under: Tangle recruitment successful, trial basis established, severe memory damage noted for. Future complications.
Because.
Instinct said.
Tangle would be. Problem.
Helpful problem.
Chaotic problem.
But. Problem.
Time would tell.
[End Chapter 18]