Chapter Text
There wasn't much to do before the breach.
Eat. Sleep. Hang around the Oxygen Gardens.
Eat. Sleep. Watch some minimum wage nobodies do their jobs.
Eat. Sleep. Draw on the walls of the room I claimed for myself with the insides of gummy lights. It felt wrong to destroy them, but I couldn't exactly just go around asking for a pen and paper.
I didn't have to eat, or sleep. It was just a way to pass the time, really. Eat. Sleep. Daydream for hours.
Sometimes I used that Imaginary Friend remote. She's nice.
Being in the Blacksite wasn't that bad, as long as I didn't look out any windows and ignored the looming sense of dread. I never was a fan of the ocean.
I did miss the sun, though.
I did miss my friends, though.
I missed a lot of things.
And there wasn't much to do.
The breach livened things up a bit. Watching everyone run around all panicked was fun. The blood was a downside, though.
Z-13– Sebastian Solace– was the one who initiated it. Huh! I'd seen him around before. He was even who I based my form off of! Never pegged him as the type to start something like that, though. Then again, I didn't talk to him. Ever. And that was about to change!
My tail flicked as I approached him. …He’s a lot bigger than I thought he was. I had to float a few feet off the ground just to be at eye level with him. I went a little higher, just for good measure.
“Sebastian!” …What do I say to him. “Working hard or hardly working?” What the fuck? Who starts a conversation like that.
“...?!” The Extremely Large Fish-Man looked around, before his attention landed on me. He squinted. Ohh, right. I'm blurry to humans. Is he even still human? That's philosophical. I don't really care. “Excuse me?”
“You started the breach? Riiiight?” I asked, moving to what I assumed was his peripheral vision. He turned his head again to look at me straight-on. Am I really that ugly? Rude. “So… You working on whatever you did that for?” I asked, trying to backtrack. He looked me up and down.
“Who are you again?” Sebastian asked after a brief pause. RUDE.
“Uhm. Cecil? Cecil Red? Z-52? Very important. I'm sure you've heard of m-”
“Never heard of you.” Yeah, I expected that. I just wanted to make myself seem cooler.
“You didn't, uh, answer my question.”
“Fuck off.”
And so I found myself in Heavy Containment! I wasn't a big fan. The rooms were airtight (and I wasn't detected by the motion sensors), so I had to use alternate methods to make my way around! Most of which involved going through cracks in the walls. Not very safe. For anyone else! I was fine. But it was really annoying to have to stretch my body out so far.
Most of Heavy Containment was unexplored for me. I wasn't kept there, because only dumb losers were kept there! I was allowed to go wherever I wanted! And, uh, Heavy Containment was where the breach happened. Since Sebastian didn't want me around, I decided to look around myself!
Some rooms were more destroyed (and covered with blood. gross.) than others. There were also a lot of… random objects kept behind locked doors. Why they were in Heavy Containment was a mystery to me.
As I entered one room, the temperature seemed to rise tenfold, and all I could hear was the whirring of fans. It was kind of nice, actually; compared to the ambiance of the rest of the Blacksite, that is. Like white noise. There was a normal door surrounded by PC towers at the far end of the room. I had to know what was in there. Something about it, I couldn't say what, was calling to me. I dissipated my particles and slid under the door.
When I reformed inside, all I noticed was a computer surrounded by a metal cage. Two computers, really. A laptop with the Urbanshade logo in green, and a larger one that looked… dated. Grey and square, with a completely black screen. Why was this in here? And what was the cage for? To keep it in, or others out? It was to keep others out, obviously. What, would the computer grow legs and walk away? No. But why? Why would Urbanshade keep a computer locked up in a cage? I couldn't see the point. I made my way through the cage, placing the collection of molecules I made to resemble a hand on the larger computer’s casing. Was it hooked up to a drawing tablet..? That's not very practical. It was also very warm, much like everything else in the room. It vibrated slightly under my touch, probably from its cooling fans working in overdrive.
The screen turned on. I jolted back, my wings flapping a few times in surprise. It showed an open MSPAINT tab, with a crudely drawn smile which quickly changed to what could only be read as an annoyed expression. “What do you want?!”
“IT CAN TALK???” I shouted, mostly to myself, at hearing the voice. Yeah, no shit it can talk.
“Yes, I can talk,” the computer spat. “And what are you? Not an Urbanshade employee. Unless they started hiring freaks of nature.” Jesus. Why is everything down here so mean to me?? I feel like a victim!
“My name is… um.” Shit. What's my name again? I just introduced myself to Sebastian earlier in the story! “Cecil. Y-Yeah! That's my name! Cecil!” The computer scoffed.
There was a long,
awkward
silence.
Before I spoke again. “...What's your name?”
“None of your business.” Oh. My tail flicked slightly as I looked away from the bright screen. Bright. So bright. Such a beautiful, soft, harsh light that cast itself over and through my body. I could stare at it for hours. But that would be weird.
“...It's Painter.” Oh! I looked back at the screen, a grin plastered on my face. It still showed that drawn-on annoyed expression.
“Painter. Painter… I like that name.” I reached out to touch the computer again before pulling my hand back. Hm. “You heard about the thing going on?”
“You'll have to be more specific than that, Cecil.” Ah! It said my name-! It felt nice to hear someone say my name. Usually, I was just called Z-52… all that work picking a name just to be called by a number? BORING. I much prefer my name.
“Oh! Uh, mmmm. So basically, this, uh, this guy let a bunch of the… creatures out? And now they're killing the Urbanshade guys!” The annoyed face flickered to a smile for a brief moment. Yeah. “Heard some people talking about it… earlier.”
“That explains all the screaming!” Painter laughed. Oh! The sound made me smile. I hadn't heard anyone laugh in a while… Well, except LTIFfanny. But she doesn't count. She's not really…
…
“...You're a computer?” I asked, inadvertently changing the subject. Painter's screen showed an ellipsis in a red font, before changing back to the MSPAINT tab. Now, though, the expression looked… puzzled.
“Do I look like anything else to you?”
“Hah-! I, uhm, I guess not…” I laughed, trying to play it off as a joke. That did not work. “But… you're a very pretty computer!”
Another awkward pause.
“Um. Thank you..?” Painter said, though it sounded more like a question. Am I fucking stupid or something? Why did I say that??
“You're welcome,” I murmured, shying away from the light. Screen. Computer. Light… “I should, ahh, go now.” I didn't really want to leave. I could make a friend down here! A real friend..! With a computer, sure, but… it seemed sentient enough.
“You're a very pretty… whatever you are. For what it's worth,” Painter stated, returning the compliment. I felt my body temperature rise, my wings flapping happily. Nobody had ever called me pretty before!! Even if it was just saying that…
“O-Oh! Thank you!” Why was my temperature so high? Why did I feel so… fuzzy inside? Huh. “Um… what are your pronouns?”
“Pronouns..?” Painter asked, screen displaying a question mark. “Oh! Right. He/it/they.”
“Mine are, uh, they/it/star.” It felt kind of embarrassing to say out loud, but Painter… didn't make fun of me. Out loud, at least. I smiled. “Painter. I'm an artist, too.”
“How..?” Painter asked, before trailing off. “...Right, it's in the name, huh?” I nodded. “Well… that's… good. I haven't met another artist down here.”
“Me neither,” I mumbled, moving closer to Painter and ‘sitting’ on the table next to it. “Maybe I could draw you! You look fun to draw.” I tilted my head, studying Painter’s form. Truly a very beautiful piece of technology…
“Maybe I could draw you, too?”
“Mm.” I couldn't stop myself from smiling wider. “Maybe.”