We sat down beside Moonflower and threw an arm around her shoulder, hugging her close to us. Our metal skin felt good against hers, and I noticed Moonflower lean in ever so slightly as we squeezed her. We beamed and kicked our feet over the whirring blades that kept us moving through the void.
"Whatcha doing here, Moonsie?" Starflower asked "I heard you got a big scene where you have to fight off a FolDrone trying to kidnap people!"
"I can just show up and act it, I don't need to prep or anything. I have the script in my code and it's not like I wear makeup that needs doing." she said, sighing "I'm just trying to clear my head, figure out what parts of me is the template and what part is the code."
"The... what?" Starflower said, tilting our head "Um, aren't we just... ya know, ourselves?"
Moonflower looked at us and searched our face carefully "...No, we're not. I've been getting... different impulses. Maybe it's because my core wasn't edited as much, but I'm starting to pick apart the difference between what they put into me and what I got from Tre- mm, my template."
"Hmmm..." Starflower said, rubbing our chin "I think that's mighty interesting, makes you like, all extra good at thinking, right? Ya got two thoughts going at once?"
"It's more like the other way around, really." Moonflower said carefully, picking up a chunk of the road and turning it over in her hands "You know the FolDrone scene I'm supposed to shoot, right?"
"Yeah, ab-so-tutely!" Starflower nodded "I read it over a while back!"
"Well... why is the FolDrone evil?" she asked us "Isn't it good for people to get off this dying rock and into the main layer?"
"No, it's bad!" Starflower said, shocked "Why, if'n all the people go, no one will be around to keep this ol city going! We're already droppin' over thirty percent of fleshies a generation!"
A tip popped up reading 'PlEes Dddo W eE StiCusION Optic!'. The message was scrolling and flickering, like it wasn't able to fully form.
"Ok, but if there's no people here, why do we need to keep the city running?" Moonflower asked "We've been running from the drones for almost a hundred years, but what for? Why do we need to stay in the fold?"
Starflower rubbed her head "I- uh... I don't know, Moonie, this is a lot to ponder about... Because... we're preserving our culture or something? For the glory of The Shining Son? That's what I learned growing up at least, but... we still watch broadcasts from the main layer, and I haven't seen The Son on tv in a while, so I don't know if that's really it..."
Our overlay flickered and went dim, and we felt an overwhelming wave of exhaustion wash over us all at once.
"We... We're not programed to think about it. They thought if they added hard blocks to that topic, we'd never be able to think about it." Moonflower said "But we're not all programs and code." she tapped our chest "We've got more to us than that, and that's the part that's thinking about this stuff."
"Was... was your template some kinda insurrectionist?" Starflower asked, her voice less bubbly all of the sudden "I won't tell if he was, swear to the city, I'm no snitch!"
"I don't think so, I think he just thought about stuff more than the average person." Moonflower said "They'd have caught it in his background check if he was."
"Gosh..." Starflower said "It's a lot to think about, that's all I know. Think we'll get in trouble for thinking about this stuff?"
"Nah." Moonflower said "We're thinking with our real selves, not our code. Our code can't even process this stuff, there's no way for them to scan for it."
"Yeah, my systems are acting... pretty slow and weird right now..." Starflower agreed "I... I think my computer-y bits gave up when they figured out they can't keep up."
"Mm, I haven't had my systems on in... days." Moonflower said "I've found a few other things that can shut them off if you think about them too hard. The food shortages, the dropping population, the lack of repair materials for the city's systems, all of them trip our code and cause a reboot if you try and figure out why they're happening or why no one's fixing them."
"Those are... all very sad things to think about." Starflower said "I don't know if it's healthy to think about things like that all the time."
We frowned and touched our chest "I... feel funny, like my fleshie brain is working differently than it's supposed to, is this safe to be doing? I wouldn't want to break something that can't be fixed with an update..."
"It's as safe as anything else, I guess." Moonflower said "Speaking of unsafe, watch what I can do while my system's down..."
She flung the piece of road she'd been playing with into the turbine. It hit with a screeching clang and bounced and shattered across the whirring blades. Sparks flew and the engine sputtered for a moment before it leveled out back to normal.
We stared, our mouth open as we tried to process what she'd just done "Are... Are you insane?!" Starflower hissed "That's a turbine! We need that, you just mentioned we're low on parts to repair stuff! Keeping those running is hard enough as it is!"
"Do we need it though?" Moonflower asked, shrugging "It's not like we'll fall if it shuts off, gravity is fake here, we'll just stop drifting as much."
"Yeah, and then the FolDrones will find us!" Starflower said "We'll- oh. Ah, yeah. I... I see..."
"The city is dying, Starflower." Moonflower said "It has cancer, and it's spreading. We're rotting away as we use up everything we brought into the folds with us, we need to get out."
We looked back out at the turbine and then back to Moonflower "So... we're going to break the city then? To get the people to the main layer?"
Moonflower laughed and hugged us "'We'? I knew I told you about all this for a reason, Starflower, I like your enthusiasm. Yeah, not yet though. We need to be closer to a landmass so we can be discovered. We're still in the midwest right now, there's no way anyone would send a drone this deep without a reason."
"We-... I... I'm going to follow your lead on this, I guess." Starflower said "You're sure none of this will come up if they scan our systems?"
"You're running off of their systems right now, it's all internal. Can't you tell? All the extra stuff they added on to you isn't active. They'd have to manually review your memories to see this, and if they're doing that, we're already made."
"Ok, um. How do I... get my systems back online?" Starflower asked
"There's a failsafe, one that even I can't override." Moonflower said "It's wired directly to the reboot cycle. You just have to swear."
"What, like I just say f-f-f-f-fiddlesticks?" Starflower said, her voice pitching up and getting happier as our overlays popped back on. "Boy howdy, I was sure feeling like a drag there, I reckon you'll be one popular lady if'n yer plans take off! Let's do this again, pardner!"
"...Yeah, I'm sure we will." Moonflower said, smiling at us sadly "Hey, why were you looking for me? You came looking for me, then I just drug you into my whole mess, what did you want, anyway?"
"Aw... I... I just wanted to see ya!" Starflower said "I was feeling lonely, and golly gosh oh gee if you don't just make that feeling go right away!"
"Well... I'm glad I was able to help. Hey, you should get back to the studio, before they come looking for you."
We saluted her and patted her head as we stood up, bouncing to our feet with a sound effect "I'll see ya for the big scene, pardner!" Starflower sang, and we stretched away back toward the set as the memory faded to white.
I felt disjointed, but at least I was getting a lot of information. I was starting to see what was going on in Shining Void City, but it still wasn't clear to me. The templates, at least, were starting to come together. They provided some kind of baseline code to some kind of 'brain', something that couldn't be changed, just have other code layered on top of. I had an idea of how it worked, but I needed more information before I jumped to any conclusions...
~~~
The world faded in, and I cried out in our mind, a terrible sensation coming from our arm. We were in the shack again, and we were sitting at the desk, the terminal shoved to one side. We looked down at our arm laying on the table and winced, it was torn open, and the wires and artificial blood were spilling out. This sensation, it was... pain? I'd never felt it before, and I hated every second of it, it was filling me up and drawing my attention to the cut, right where I didn't want to focus... I resolved to minimize pain as much as I could when apprehending criminals from now on, no one should have to feel this.
"Ok S-Starflower..." Cornflower said coming around to the side of the desk, holding a basket of tools "I-I n-need to sterilize the w-wound..."
Sterilize? We were artificial, why would she need to- As she poured a clear liquid onto the cut, our mind scrambled, the pain spiking up into almost impossible territory, and I felt Starflower tense up. Pain could get worse?! That was horrible, that pain was from medical treatment? Just treating a wound could cause more pain?! Maybe I needed to start numbing my targets before I fought them...
"Hoo wee, that's a stiff drink right there, missy..." Starflower said, our voice strained
"It n-needs to b-be strong..." Cornflower said "If it g-get an infection and g-gets to your c-core, it could k-kill you..."
"Eyyyup, just... fix me up, doc." Starflower said, turning our head away
There were sounds of tools being used and an odd feeling of being naked for a moment as Cornflower took off the damaged sections and replaced them. Before long, the arm was back to normal, but the pain was still there, throbbing under the surface.
"N-now, don't stretch f-for at least two d-days..." Cornflower said "Otherwise you'll t-tear y-your tendons back open..."
"I reckon I can't go out chasing bandits, neither, can I?" Starflower sighed, flexing our fingers, making the pain worse. Why were we doing doing that? If it hurts, don't do it!
"Official r-recommendations are for, uh, th-three days r-rest after your f-flesh is damaged..." Cornflower nodded "Y-you gotta s-stay here..."
"Well horn swaggle my gibblets..." Starflower sighed "Guess I'm makin' friends with my bed..."
The door opened to Bellflower and Moonflower waiting outside, looking in at us with worried expressions
"Yo yo, my main g, what's the word on the busted mit?" Bellflower asked
"I gotta rest up a bit..." Starflower said sadly "My one chance at rounding up a bad guy, and by golly he had to have a flicker knife..."
"You'll get another chance, it's ok." Moonflower said "Hey, Bellflower, Cornflower, you two head out, I'll keep her company, ok?"
"Ok, th-thanks, I'l s-see you later." Cornflower nodded, tucking the tool kit under the bed
"Yo if I see that fool, Imma bust his head, just for you, dig?" Bellflower said, waving goodbye
After the other two left, Moonflower stepped in and closed the door behind her "Here, my charge bunk is easier to use, you can borrow it until you're better, ok?"
"Aw, shucks, I feel mighty honored, I won't say no to that..." Starflower said, smiling and slipping into the bottom bunk
Moonflower climbed in after us, and carefully took our hand in hers, resting her head against ours.
"It's... a mite crowded in here, ain't it?" Starflower said shyly
A tip popped up reading 'Please remember that the charging bays only work effectively if you limit the occupancy to one!'
"It's just the right amount of cozy, I think." Moonflower said, leaning up and looking down at us.
I felt something in us flutter and our hand found her shoulder "I- I feel like yer 'bout to start dirty talkin' us or something..."
Moonflower grinned and fluttered her eyes "With the current level of food and rates of population die off, it's anyone's guess whether we'll collapse due to starvation, or just because we don't have enough people to run the city..." she said sultrily
A tip popped up reading 'PeDNt LeTn MOFr HrYIo TrKo!'
We shivered "...Keep goin, pardner..."
"If the FolDrones are allowed to find us, based on rough estimates, they could safely evacuate the city in under a month..." she growled softly
Our overlay glitched, then flickered out and the tired, slow feeling came back. We lay there under her, looking up at her face, sad and lonely, but so intense, so focused on us, and we leaned up, kissing her lips. Her false skin felt odd against our own, the kiss wasn't warm or wet or anything but two bits of smooth rubber pressing against each other, but it still made us feel so, so right. We pulled Moonflower down on top of us and held her to us tightly, ignoring the pain from our arm.
"..Moonflower, I would die for you." we whispered
"Mm, I wouldn't ask you to." she said, her hands twisting into our stiff curls
"I'd like to, I don't think I'd like to be dead, but I'd like to know I gave you something, everything..." we told her
"Sunshine, you are my everything..." she whispered "You're everything I want..."
"Well, me and the liberation of the city, of course." we said teasingly. She laughed softly, and pulled the covers over us, wrapping us up together in a bundle of skirts, metal, and artificial skin as the world faded to white.
~~~
We found ourself on a long stretch of road in the city, roads crossing overhead, and more of the rail systems snaking everywhere, in and out of the buildings and roadways like a giant snake. We looked around, scanning for distress, and came up clean. This was... one of the nicer sections? An area that had been... a campus of some kind? We were having trouble remembering, but we got the feeling that was because we weren't usually a 'we'. Bellflower and Moonflower were up ahead, arguing about... we listened in... ah, milkshake flavors, of course. It's not like either of them could actually drink any, but we all had holdovers from our past we didn't want to let go of.
Moonflower's favorite was malted vanilla, We'd remember that...
We scanned again, and this time a ping showed up just on the edge of our range, and it was... tragedy? Sadness? Fear? A strange mix of emotions, but we stretched over to the other two and pointed at in the direction the ping came from.
"Lookie that-a-ways, friends!" we sang "Someone's sad and mopey, and it's up to us to get them back on the saddle!"
Moonflower glanced over in that direction and frowned "...looks like they're coming to us..."
"Dang, son, we'll just sit tight then!" Bellflower said, crossing her arms and flipping her sunglasses down.
When had she started wearing those? Our eyes were artificial, we didn't need... We never could understand her anyway, better to just let her do her thing. Thang? Whatever she always said...
The figure came around the corner a few minutes later, seeing us, and slumping. It was a man, in his late thirties if I had to guess, in a button-up and tie. His hair was slicked over to hide a receding hairline, and he'd obviously been crying. Bellflower whipped off her sunglasses at the sight of him and took a step back.
"N-Nate?" she said quietly, her usual bluster gone "You- you're not supposed to be here, yo, we're not allowed to hang..."
"It's Jonie, Bellflower." the man, Nate, said "We- I lost custody of her... Her mother got her back..."
Moonflower looked at me sharply and I stepped forward to help "Howdy good sir, I'm Starflower! I'm so sorry to hear about your little 'un, how can we help you feel up to snuff again?"
Nate pointed at Bellflower, who was shaking in place, her face frozen "I just- I needed to tell him, Jonie is as much his- or, her kid as she is mine... She deserves to know..."
"We- the- I-" Bellflower stuttered, before shuddering and drooping "...Jonie was the only reason we did this, yo..."
She dropped to her knees "If I'm not working to pimp my babygirl's crib, then what am I busting chop for?"
"That's why I wanted to tell you..." Nate said, crouching down and wrapping Bellflower in a hug "I- I don't think you need to keep doing this. Our ex wife won't accept any more than the alimony because of legal reasons, and... I don't need the extra money myself. There's no point to you doing this anymore..."
"I had twelve years left, yo..." Bellflower whispered "Twelve more years and she'd be all grown up and I could swap to a civilian model..."
"Hey, uh, is there any chance you could fight it?" Moonflower asked Nate "I mean, custody is so tricky, and my friend here really likes her job, if we could help work something out..."
Nate looked up at us, tears in his eyes "This was the last shot I had, I was supposed to go to meetings to prove I was working on my... problems, but work kept going late, so I... I didn't- I wasn't..."
Bellflower looked up, her eyes flashing with anger and she grabbed Nate around the throat, shaking him "You stopped going to the frazzing meetings?! Yo, that's some' cold shiz right there..." she growled "It was once a fragging week, my man, once an ever lovin' week!"
"I didn't know they checked attendance!" Nate choked out, pulling on her hands "I was just- I was trying to provide for her!"
"If you really wanted provide for our kid, you'd have gone to the mother flipping meetings, ashpipe." Bellflower said, her voice low and hard "I can't cap you, it'd screw up my data, yo, get me marked as un-recyclable, but if you know what's best for the peeps, you'll do it yourself, homes. Go void yourself, at least then Jonie will get the bars she needs to glow from your job, yo."
"I- what about you?" Nate asked, his voice getting thin. Something told me he wasn't surprised at the suggestion, or even against it "What will you do? If I'm dead, you can't legally exist!"
"Yo I'm countin' on that." Bellflower said, throwing him to the ground roughly, her face twisted and tight "I'll walk into the recycling plant myself, no sweat."
A tip popped up saying 'If your team mate is considering suicide, maybe try and cheer them up instead!'
"Um..." we said "I don't know if either of you two taking the long ride out to the stars is gonna help much... What about if ya'll could get to see Jonie now and then on weekends?"
"Ain't no turning back now, babe." Bellflower told me coldly "This bad mother just took my last reason for stickin' around away, I love you, I love all you homies, but for real? I was only here for Jonie. If this sick puppy lost custody, ain't no way I'm gonna get to hang with her and move in when she hits that big one eight."
"Starflower... I think we should... head back to the shack..." Moonflower said, taking my arm
"But- why? My friend is hurtin, and her template is-"
"Starflower, this isn't about us." Moonflower said firmly
"Do... do ya think we should let Dave know?" we asked as she led me away from the other two
"He'll find out when Bellflower's core comes online in another body, it's none of our business." Moonflower said, shaking her head
We looked back, Nate was standing now, hanging his head, and Bellflower was pointing to the north... towards the nearest edge. We felt ourself crying inside, deep down, at the loss of our friend, and at the realization that we're not actually as fun and carefree as the bosses would have us believe, each of us was here because of pain, at least a little.
Through the code and the scrambled data filtering in our mind, we wondered what we'd do if Marie showed up on a patrol... Of course, she was in so much debt, there's no way our job would ever be rendered useless. Even if she got it all paid off, she'd just take that as an excuse to spend even more. We wondered about Cornflower, and why she was here, it had something to do with debt, like Marie, but... not the same, was she using this to pay for school? That made the most sense, she was very smart, after all.
Moonflower was even more of a mystery, she never talked about her past or her template, all we knew was that she was going to be here for a long, long time. Part of us wondered if it had something to do with her plan to 'ground' the city so we could be tracked down by the FolDrones. Was she secretly funding a revolution? We wished she'd let us join if she was...
We pulled our hand along her grip until it met hers. Whatever she was in for, we hoped we'd get to stay with her, no matter what she was planning to do.