One week after Tangle joined.
She'd been. Helpful.
Mostly.
Scouted drainage systems (could phase through walls when memory-glitched right way).
Located guard blind spots.
Even. Made Patchwork laugh once. Accidentally. Looped same joke three times. He found repetition. Endearing.
Crew warming to her.
Even Ember. Who initially distrusted.
"She's chaos," Ember had said. "But. Honest chaos. That counts."
Today: supply run.
Simple mission. Retrieve magical components from noble disposal site. New location. Recently discovered.
Team: Rust, Tangle, Cog.
Three constructs. Less suspicious than bringing Mira (humans drew attention).
Tangle. Had insisted on coming.
"Want want WANT to help. Prove useful. Not just. Broken burden."
Rust. Agreed.
Mistake.
They approached disposal site. Behind Lord's district artificer workshop.
Cog examined perimeter. Magical wards. Moderate strength.
"Can bypass. Need thirty minutes. Delicate work."
"I can can CAN help." Tangle. Eager. "Wards are. Memory-patterns yes patterns LOOPS. I see loops. Can. Untangle them. Literally untangle ha HA wordplay."
Cog. Hesitant.
"This requires. Precision. If ward disrupted wrong. Triggers alarm."
"Trust trust TRUST me. Was. Before broken. Was artificer's assistant. Maybe. Remember. Fragments. Ward-breaking. In muscle-memory. Hand-memory. MEMORY."
Rust. Calculated.
Risk: high. Tangle's memory unreliable.
Benefit: if she succeeded, bypass time reduced to. Five minutes instead of thirty.
"Try. Carefully. If uncertain. Stop immediately."
"Carefully carefully CAREFULLY." Tangle. Approached ward.
Extended hands.
Fingers. Glowed? No. Flickered. Reality stuttered around contact points.
Ward. Responded.
Magical pattern. Becoming visible. Loops and knots. Arcane mathematics.
Tangle. Worked.
Fingers moving. Precise. Confident.
For ninety seconds. She. Looked competent. Skilled. Like she KNEW this.
Then.
She. Froze.
"What. What is this. What am I. DOING."
Panic voice.
"Tangle?" Rust. Stepped closer.
"I. Don't remember. Don't remember STARTING this. Why are hands. Moving. WHO is moving hands. Not me. NOT ME."
Memory glitch.
Lost context. Mid-task. Forgot she'd volunteered. Forgot mission.
Hands. Still touching ward.
Panicking.
Started pulling at pattern. Frantically. Wrong way.
Ward. SHRIEKED.
Magical alarm. Blaring. Loud.
Lights. Erupting from disposal site.
Guards. Responding. Fast.
Cog. Grabbed Tangle. Yanked away from ward.
"RUN."
They ran.
But. Too late.
Guards. Pouring from workshop. Twelve. Fifteen. Twenty.
Constructs. Combat models. Larger than Rust. Armed. Dangerous.
Surrounded.
Rust. Calculated.
Fight probability of victory: 3%.
Retreat probability of success: 1%.
Surrender probability of survival: unknown.
All bad options.
Raised hands. Shield-arm forward. Dagger-arm ready.
Combat. Inevitable.
Then.
Tangle. Screamed.
Not fear-scream.
Memory-scream.
"NO nonono NOT AGAIN. They. They try. Extract. Again. Turn brain. Inside OUT. NO."
Reality. STUTTERED.
Hard stutter. Mass glitch.
Guards. Scattered. Randomly. Teleported to. Different positions. Confused. Disoriented.
Weapons. Vanished. Appeared embedded in walls. Ground. Each other.
Time seemed. Wrong. Flowing backward briefly. Then forward. Then. Sideways?
Tangle. At center.
Glowing. Flickering. Reality bending around her like. Broken mirror.
"STOP STOP STOP."
Final word. Echoed. Multi-directional.
Everything. Froze.
Guards. Suspended. Mid-motion. Statues.
Rust. Could move. Cog too. But. Guards. Frozen.
Tangle. Collapsed.
Shaking. Sobbing.
"I. I did. Wrong. Memory said. They extract. Panic. Can't. Can't think. WRONG WRONG everything WRONG."
Rust. Knelt beside her.
"Tangle. Listen. You saved us. Accidentally. But. Saved."
"Saved saved DOOMED you. Guards saw. Saw me. Saw GLITCH. Now they. They hunt. They KNOW construct with broken reality-anchoring exists here. Hunt. Kill. Extract. Experiment. Like BEFORE."
Cog. Urgent voice.
"She's right. time-freeze won't hold. Maybe. Minutes. We need. Exit. NOW."
Rust. Lifted Tangle. She didn't resist. Limp. Defeated.
They ran.
Through frozen guards. Through stuttering reality. Through disposal site chaos.
Emerged. Three sectors away.
Safe.
Temporarily.
Refuge.
Crew assembled.
Tangle. Curled in corner. Not speaking. Just. Looping apologies silently. Mouthing words.
"Sorry sorry sorry sorry."
Endless loop.
Mira. Knelt beside her. Trying to comfort. Tangle didn't respond. Lost in. Guilt-spiral.
Cog. Explained situation to Ember and Patchwork.
"Mission failed. Ward-breaking triggered alarm. Tangle's memory glitch caused. Panic response. Reality manipulation exposed. Guards witness. Authorities now know. Glitch-construct exists."
Ember. Flames burning angry-pattern.
"So we're COMPROMISED. Because she. What. FORGOT mid-mission?"
"It wasn't. Intentional," Rust said.
"Intentional or NOT. Result is. Same. We're hunted now. More than before."
Patchwork. Quiet voice.
"Is she. Is Tangle. Leaving? Because. Mistake?"
Silence.
Everyone. Looked at Rust.
Decision time.
Filed under: leadership test, compassion versus. Practicality.
Rust. Approached Tangle.
Knelt. Eye-level.
"Tangle. Look at me."
She. Didn't.
"Tangle."
Finally. Slow turn. Single button-eye. Filled with. Something. Grief? Shame?
"I. I ruined. Everything. Like. Like always. Broken broken BROKEN ruins everything touches. Should. Should leave. Before. Before hurt family more."
"You're not leaving."
"But I. I glitched. Mid-mission. Endangered. Everyone. That's. That's EXILE worthy. I. Understand. Deserve."
"You panicked. Memory failed. That's. Not moral failing. That's. Disability."
"Disability disability DANGEROUS disability. Can't. Can't control. Can't TRUST myself. How can YOU trust me."
Rust. Considered.
How DO you explain trust to someone who. Can't trust self?
"Trust isn't. About perfection. It's about. Trying. You tried. Failed. Will try again. Differently. That's. Growth."
"But what if. What if NEXT mission. I glitch. Worse. Kill someone. Kill YOU. Kill family. Then. Then what."
"Then we adapt. Build safeguards. Cog can. Monitor. I can. Intervene early. We. Accommodate. Risk."
Tangle. Stared.
"Why. Why would you. DO that. Accommodate. Dangerous glitch-construct. Logical to. Exile. Remove risk."
"Because," Mira interjected. Soft voice. "You're FAMILY. And family doesn't exile. Disabilities. We accommodate them."
Tangle. Shaking.
"I. Don't deserve. This. Kindness. After. After FAILING."
"Deserving doesn't matter," Ember said. Surprising everyone. "Spark. My companion. She would've. Burned you same as me. Not because you. Deserve it. Because that's. What fire does. Burns. You glitch. That's. What memory-damage does. Can't hate you for. Being what you are."
Looked at Rust.
"Though. Safeguards sound. Prudent."
Rust. Nodded.
"New protocol. Tangle doesn't handle. Ward-breaking. Doesn't handle. Precision tasks alone. Always. Supervised. By someone who can. Intervene if memory glitches."
To Tangle:
"You're combat asset. Reality manipulation. Emergency situations. Not. Delicate operations. Understand?"
She. Processed.
Then. Small nod.
"Understand. I'm. Weapon. Not tool. Use carefully. Pointed at. Enemies only. Not. Family."
"Exactly."
"I can. I can do that. Be weapon. Blunt instrument. Simple. Less. Thinking required. Thinking is. Where I. Fail."
Stood. Wobbly.
"Thank you. For. Not exiling. For. Accommodating. Broken weapon."
Mira. Hugged her.
Tangle. Froze.
Then. Slowly. Awkwardly. Hugged back.
"Soft soft SOFT. Humans are. So soft. Gentle. I. Forgotten."
Whispered.
"Thank you. For. Teaching me. Failure isn't. Automatic exile. That's. New. Good. Scary. But. Good."
Later.
Tangle asleep.
Glitch-constructs apparently could sleep. Or. Powered down. Similar concept.
Crew. Discussing.
Ember. "She's liability."
Rust. "Yes. But. Powerful liability."
Mira. "She's also. Person. Trying her best."
Cog. "Mission failure acceptable. If learning occurred. Did it?"
Rust. Considered.
"Yes. Learned Tangle's limits. Won't assign precision tasks. Only combat. Simpler applications."
Patchwork. "I. Like her. She's. More broken than me. Makes me feel. Less broken. Sorry if that's. Selfish."
"It's human," Mira said. Then. "Well. CONSTRUCT-human. You know what I mean."
Ember. "Still think. We're taking unnecessary risks. But. If everyone else. Committed. Then. Fine. I'll accommodate."
Rust. Filed observation.
Crew cohesion: strengthening. Despite.failure. Maybe. Because of it.
Learning to handle. Disability. Error. Imperfection.
That was. Growth.
Revolution wouldn't be. Perfect team. Flawless execution.
It would be. THIS.
Broken people. Broken constructs. Glitching. Apologizing. Failing.
And trying. Again anyway.
Filed under: family definition expanded, Tangle integrated with limitations, mission methodology adjusted.
Tomorrow: rebuild trust through. Smaller missions.
Eventually: Tangle would prove. Worth. Or. Prove Ember right.
Time would tell.
[End Chapter 19]