Night 64: Men's Bathrooms (M1-M40)

[maverickhunterx]

With a loud creak of the door, X stumbled into the room. 

It was dark, but spacious; his eyes could only see bare shapes, the glint of glass and other surfaces as they reflected in the dim light. Wherever it was, it was at least a good place to search. 

"Harpuia, can you turn on the flashlight? I can't see." 


[From here!]

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[lovesthepain]

Obediently, Harpuia complied, making a slow sweep of the room with the flashlight to establish where it was that X had lead them. It didn't take long for the beam to bounce off the mirrors, catching Harpuia's eye. Despite himself, he took a few paces away from X's side, beam lingering in place long enough for Harpuia to see just what he looked like.

Some small part of him had hoped he'd see the familiar sight of metal, of visible joints and seams, of the subtle camera-lens in his green eyes. It was a perfectly human-looking face that stared back at him, but he was oddly relieved to see it was still his own. His hair and eyes were the same color they'd always been, and each cheek still bore the distinctive emerald-green arrow markings he'd been given when he was built. They seemed remarkably out of place on a human, but there was still a sense of comfort in having them.

It was hard to keep the thought from squirming around in the back of his mind: if they were, in fact, organic, how did whoever did this manage to perfectly replicate his features? It was often easy to differentiate reploids from humans simply because of the artificiality of their designs -- too symmetrical, too even, too photoshopped-magazine-model perfect to be real.

Another thought to leave until later. This wasn't the sort of place Harpuia had ever visited himself -- machines had very little use for bathrooms -- but he was still able to recognize the row of sinks. Not likely to supply anything especially useful, then. Moving his gaze away from the mirror, he addressed X.

"Do you see anything of use in here, Master X?"

[maverickhunterx]

Whatever this room was used for, it was certainly something X wasn't familiar with using. Reploids had no need for such facilities, and as such, Hunter Base had none of them; it wasn't as though humans visited, after all, and what was a Reploid going to need toilets for?

X's eyes scanned everything. The strange cubicle-like 'rooms', the sinks, the tile...

...and then the glass. Mirrors lining the walls. X took a few steps close to one of them, staring rapt at his own reflection.

It was his face. Even with the shaggy mop of hair, the lack of mechanical features, it was still him. Porous skin met his fingertips as a shaking hand met it, felt the pocks and inconsistencies that were common with human skin, but so different from his own.

He pressed his hand down, and felt something hard, alongside something squishy.

Bone? Muscle?

A Reploid could be made to well-simulate human features. Dr. Light had done it himself with X, creating a robot who looked about as human as everyone else, outside of the mechanical insides and armored exoskeleton.

X moved his hand to gently touch the mirror.

"Yeah. But I need you to step back, okay?"

[lovesthepain]

Harpuia clearly wasn't the only one experienced the strange sense of dysphoria these new bodies had brought on. Harpuia hadn't dared spend long investigating his reflection; to him, there was something strangely uncomfortable about it. Just similar enough to be immediately recognizable, but different enough to be dissonant -- it was a little like the uncanny valley in reverse. It was hard to say whether X felt as bothered by it; there seemed to be more curiosity than discomfort in his examination.

He took X's request to simply have been borne out of a need for a little space while getting acquainted with this too-human reflection. Nothing more than an extension of the fascination with which X had studied his face. Harpuia nodded wordlessly and backed off, keeping the flashlight pointed in the same general direction so X could continue his business at the mirror. His own attention, meanwhile, wandered to their dark surroundings.

...Any way he looked at it, nothing here would make a serviceable weapon, unless any potential threats out there had a fatal aversion to hand soap. This particular stop seemed to be a waste of time. Not that Master X could be faulted for bringing them here, of course; he was likely just as unfamiliar with this place's layout as Harpuia was.

All the TL;DR, man.

[maverickhunterx]

...

X wasn't sure if he could pull it off. His body was weak, far weaker than he was used to. If he was a Reploid, this wouldn't have been any issue (but then, he wouldn't have had the need for a weapon had he been a Reploid, nor the need to test anything); he would have had his body and his buster for protection, confident in the fact that he could handle most things that normal humans could not.

Now, though...

In case he was right...

There was some paper hanging down from some sort of dispenser nearby. It wasn't much, but it was something. Reaching for it, X grabbed it and pulled--

--Only for more to come out. Convenient. Taking four to five sheets of this strange paper (it wasn't like anything he'd ever used. A human convenience?), he rolled it up in a tight, long bunch, wrapping it around his knuckles and clenching his hand into a hard fist.

Yeah. This would work. If nothing else, the added material would increase his stopping power some, in case he wasn't strong enough to break it.

...Though he wasn't quite tall enough to reach it. Not well enough to have full-strength anyway. He'd have to find another--

--well, there was one way.

X hoisted himself onto the countertop where the sinks were located, balancing on it with weak knees.

Better shield my eyes, just in case.

His non-throwing arm covered his eyes as he lunged forward with his other, covered fist, smashing at the glass with all of his strength.

...X could hear the distinct sound of glass shattering, and the clatter of large glass shards against the countertop, but there was also the painful feeling of something sharp sticking into the arm in front of his eyes, and a throbbing pain in his hand that ran all the way up his arm.

...and a distinct feeling of sticky wetness on both.

[lovesthepain]

Harpuia, for what it was worth, had a pretty idealized image of his master. X, after all, was the legend who had built up paradise out of a world decimated by war. The legend who benevolently did all he could to prevent unnecessary violence. The legend who possessed infinite wisdom and patience. The legend who watched over the world like a proud parent, gently guiding it along.

The legend who had just covered himself in broken glass. The sharp sound of shattering glass had snapped Harpuia's attention back over to X, and for a second, all he could do was stare in stunned disbelief at the scene captured in the flashlight's narrow beam. Did that... actually just happen? Really? Glass should not have been able to pierce that easily; even synthetic flesh ought to have been much tougher than that.

More importantly than that discovery, however, was the fact that this had even happened at all. X was hurt. X was hurt for an incredibly stupid and unnecessary reason. "Master X!" Harpuia blurted. The usual stony expression had shattered, blatant horror now written on every inch of his face. He edged closer, torn between avoiding the shards of glass that had hit the floor and the frantic urge to get to X's side. "...You're injured." Which was a much more tactful way of putting it than the train of thought currently running through his mind -- this was, after all, still someone who was miles above him in rank, and composure in a shocking situation was a valuable asset for any soldier. He extended his free hand up to X. "Get down from there -- carefully. Let me get a look at it."

...Not that he would be able to do much good; Harpuia may have been the most learned of the Guardians, but that definitely didn't make him a human medic.

[maverickhunterx]

It was strange, seeing yourself bleed, X decided. He'd been familiar with the sensation from a Reploid's perspective, seeing the note of his leakage as a computer would take note of a missing file or an error. Simple. Straightforward, almost clinical.

...But this...

He could feel the liquid oozing from his body as the red stickiness seeped from his wounds. Red droplets dotted the countertop, marring what was once pristine tile. That was his blood...? This was what it felt like to bleed, truly bleed, like a human?

It was such a different sensation to what he'd known, but terrifying.

Glancing down on the tile he spied a long shard of glass, three inches in length, pointed at the end. He took his noninjured hand and touched it, gripping it by the dull end--

"Master X"!

--Harpuia's voice jolted him from his reverie. Turning towards him with a wide-eyed stare, X took in his expression, the horror that shaped his features.

His heart clenched at the sight. The last thing he'd wanted was to give his companion something to worry about...but at the very least, they had something they could use, even if it was rather reckless in the means in which he got it.

But if he'd used the flashlight, the chance of it breaking was high, and on top of that he wouldn't have been able to see what he was doing clearly enough and could have hurt himself worse than he did...

A reckless decision in hindsight, maybe, but it paid off in the end.

Once his hand was taken care of, he'd grab one of the other large pieces of glass for Harpuia to use.

Taking the shard in his injured hand, X grabbed Harpuia's extended hand with his noninjured one, balancing on him as he eased down--slowly--to the floor.


[X Received Item: Glass Shard.]


"I think I'm okay." X said, both feet firmly on the ground. "I was hoping maybe the glass could be used as a weapon of some kind, but I think I overestimated myself."

Wasn't that understatement of the year.

hi did someone order a grossly oversized tl;dr

[lovesthepain]

Hearing X treat the whole thing so casually didn't really do much to soothe Harpuia. It, in fact, had the opposite intended effect. The maelstrom of worry and dismay already wheeling around inside of him was quickly joined by a growing sense of utter disappointment.

Harpuia, of course, was not a disloyal soldier; Neo Arcadia had meant everything to him, when he could still claim he belonged to it. However, maybe there was something to Fefnir and Leviathan's teasing about Harpuia giving out orders, to the false X demanding to know how long Harpuia was going to act like he was the one in charge, to the drone that had once been named TK-31 seething about the lack of respect Harpuia had shown to him. It was in his nature to take the reins when things were going off-course, and he wasn't the type to allow for a lot of slack.

Even if part of him was aware that he was very much overstepping his place, a larger part of Harpuia expected his leader to act like one; he couldn't just look the other way when his master did something so unbelievably foolish. "Have you lost your mind?" Harpuia demanded, leading X away from the shards littering the floor and anxiously checking him over -- shaking the fine, minute shards from his hair and clothing, then gingerly taking one of X's arms to inspect the extent of the damage.

"We don't even know that we're anywhere dangerous, Master X. There was no reason to vandalize the property of someone who may mean us no harm. That mirror will cost money to replace, and until this can be cleaned up, it's a danger to any human who sets foot in here. The Master X I revere hates to see anyone harmed without good reason. I find it difficult to believe that he would so thoughtlessly endanger not only himself, but others. I would like to think that he knows better than to set such a careless example."

Harpuia didn't want to admit it, but... he didn't know what to do about these injuries. In a typical reploid body, minor wounds could simply be left to autorepair. Nurse Elves or Subtanks could aid with more severe damage. If nothing else, then selective shutdown of sensors could at least numb the pain until repairs could be done. If this body was human... then what? Would picking the shards out do more harm than good? With only his bare hands to work with, he was reluctant to try going after the smaller bits embedded in X's arm, lest he accidentally drive them in further. For want of a better idea, Harpuia began gingerly easing out the larger shards of glass; at the very least, it made sense that X would need to be able to move his arms without worrying about doing further damage to himself.

"And for what, Master X? You've certainly proven you bleed. You've proven it so thoroughly that frankly, I'm afraid for you right now." He didn't quite have the heart to point out that coolant fluid was dyed red as an industry standard -- there had been plenty of occasions where he'd seen that not-quite-blood splattered from the broken bodies of Resistance reploids back home. One small mercy, then, in a minefield of disappointment. "That weapon you were so eager to acquire will likely only withstand one blow before shattering -- and it relies on three assumptions that still remain unproven: that anyone here is a threat to us, that whichever reploids serve as enforcers here have also been placed into bodies as fragile as ours, and that you can attack these possibly-human enemies without rendering yourself a Maverick."

Harpuia switched over to X's other arm, the one that had shielded him when he'd broken the mirror. ...Which brought him to the very weapon he'd been discussing. He frowned, adding, "If you're still set on arming yourself with that, at least wrap it in something. You're going to slice your hand open the moment you try to grip it hard enough to stab anything. Provided, of course, you can even wield it. After all the damage you've done to yourself, if we do find ourselves in a combat situation, you've hurt yourself so thoroughly you're more likely to be a liability than not."

He'd picked out most of the glass, but that still left X's arms peppered with lacerations and bleeding. Motioning for X to stay put, Harpuia began a quick search for something that might be able to help. A brief investigation of one of the stalls revealed a roll of paper -- too fragile and sheer to be bandages, but close enough in a pinch, he supposed. He couldn't use the sinks to clean up the blood that was already making a mess of X's arms -- they, after all, were full of the very same shards that had done the damage in the first place. He would just have to make do, then, and wipe X's arms down as gently as he could.

"I expected more from you, Master X," Harpuia finished, the edge ebbing from his voice until only the disappointment remained. "This was not worth the damage it did. My duty as a Guardian is not just to obey your will, but to protect you. If you must endanger someone so recklessly, then send me in your stead next time. For now, our priority is to get you to a mechanic or a medic. I'm afraid I can do little for you."

Have one in response, Harpy.

[maverickhunterx]

If a man could make one feel two centimeters tall, surely, it was Harpuia. Really, it was almost like bringing back memories of earlier days, when he was a careless rookie being hounded by his much more mature taskmaster. Mistakes, mistakes, and far more mistakes...

Shame shimmered clearly in his eyes, as well as frustration, confusion, and obvious pain.

But Harpuia was right. It had seemed like a good idea at the time; find something breakable, find a means to defend themselves. Even if it caused X some pain, possibly cutting deep and making him bleed, at the very least, it was something they could fight with, or at least use as a convenient tool. His mind had been working from task-to-task, his own uncertainty pushing itself to the back of his mind as the soldier in him lumbered for logical sense.

Or at least, that's what he thought was happening. In truth, he didn't understand it himself; it was as though something came over him. Something primal and instinctive, telling him:

"Defend yourself. Glass is weapon. Grab it."

"Can you bleed? Check. Keep moving forward. Don't think."

Of course, it was a dumb idea. X knew that. In the back of his mind, he knew this was the wrong way to go about it. But there was something else, something else that spurred him onward.

To put it into words was something that he couldn't explain, but that rush he felt as he'd climbed the countertops, that slight lightheadedness as he went through his plain in his mind, the...feeling he'd felt when he'd lunged towards the wall, smashing his fist into it.

This wasn't what a Reploid was meant to feel. Physical reactions, not even psychosomatic in nature. Rushes, lightheadedness, his heart slamming into his ears and the draining of blood as it leaked from his body.

There was no doubt about it:

X, and possibly Harpuia, was human.

"I...I know." His voice was quiet, but he met Harpuia's eyes. "I know it was a bad idea, I...I don't know what came over me. My head felt light, and my body started feeling differently than I'd ever felt before, almost as though my internal temperature was rising, but for no good reason. It was as though I wasn't even myself, if that makes sense."

Something he didn't like, that was for sure.

"I can't really explain it in words. This whole place, this whole situation...there's something wrong with it. Not just our bodies, not just the fact that we're here at all..."

He took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts through the pain, through everything else. He was still lightheaded, feeling something drain from him as though he was coming down from a high.

His stomach clenched.

"Why are we here? Why would someone place us in distinctly human bodies? I can't deny that now; whatever we were before, we're human now. And why would this building have such outdated technology, if they somehow had the technology to put us in these bodies? And why is everything so eerily quiet? Something's wrong here, and I think 'vandalism' is the least of our worries."

Logical. His train of thought was coming out in logical statements. One step over the other.

"It's true that those three things are unknowns, and shouldn't be immediately assumed. But I'd rather err on the side of caution, and from what I can gather, I don't think we were brought here willingly. If we were, don't you think we would have remembered allowing ourselves this sort of body-transfer? I was in my pod before I woke up here, and from what you're telling me, you were..."

X swallowed.

"...dead. I'm sure if we find someone we can get some answers, but in case they are hostile, I'd rather be able to keep you safe if that happens, my hand notwithstanding. The glass isn't the best kind of weapon, but it's at least better than nothing."

X laughed, though it was hollow; there was no humor in it. "Though to be frank with you, when I wanted to 'prove something', this wasn't what I had in mind. I just thought, 'we need a weapon. Glass can work.' I guess I'd figured I was a lot stronger than I thought, maybe hoped that my body wasn't like this."

He sighed. Really, he wasn't helping his own case, and to be frank, he was more than just a little ashamed of himself. That much could be seen on his face.

"I'm sorry. I was reckless, and it wasn't the way I should have acted. I guess even like this, my emotions sometimes run away with me. If that's what happened, anyway."

[lovesthepain]

"It's not necessary to apologize to me, Master X." Harpuia had spoken up when he'd found the course of action objectionable, yes, but ultimately, he was aware that his master's will was, in the end, his master's will. He hadn't expected an apology to begin with -- the differences between the false X he'd once followed and the genuine article were readily apparent, even in circumstances as outside the norm as these.

He couldn't quite claim to understand the thought process that had driven X; things like instinct weren't very familiar to a rational, self-restrained machine like Harpuia. Nevertheless, what was done was done. He had no further intentions of lecturing: there were more important things to worry about now.

"I... may have been out of line, but I'm speaking out of concern. To be able to meet you face-to-face... this isn't something I could have done anywhere else. Standing by your side is something precious to me, Master X; I'm not prepared to see you hurt." His gaze was drawn back down to X's arms. If it were a reploid... excessive loss of coolant fluid could make them overheat. An emergency shutdown might happen, but it was easy enough to replace the lost fluid, patch the leaks, and reboot them as normal. But a human... Harpuia was beginning to wish he'd spent a little more time understanding just how fragile they were.

"...How bad is it? Can you still function?" The fact still remained: Harpuia definitely didn't know where any sort of repair facility was located, let alone if this place even had any. The idea of X collapsing before they could find any help was not a comfortable one in the least.

[maverickhunterx]

“Don't say that.” X shook his head, even attempting a real smile. “It's never out of line to say what you think. I don't know about this 'Neo-Arcadia', nor do I know what I was like where you're from...but I'm sure that no version of me would ever object to you stating your concern, regardless of the circumstances.”

Besides, it wasn't as though X wasn't being unreasonable, either. This entire situation was made of all kinds of insane.

“Really, I should be thanking you. It jolted me out of...whatever that was.”

Whatever it was that X couldn't explain. His body was still feeling a little jumpy; whatever high that was, it was wearing on him fast, but not fully out of his system. How could humans handle such strange, unpredictable things happening to their bodies all the time? It was a mysterious, fascinating thing.

That, and if he wasn't here...I could have done something even more reckless.

He shivered at the thought.

X checked his hand. The bleeding was slowing up, and his pain was slowed to a dull thrum in his hand and knuckles. The pained area was even pulsing, as though the muscles were expanding and contracting.

Amazing!

“Yeah, I'm okay.” X said, “It doesn't hurt as much as it did, and I think the bleeding is slowing down.”

Thankfully, though that didn't put him in the clear yet. Was there a facility to help with injuries? Or a...”First Aid Kit” nearby? It was doubtful, but it would be wise to keep the lookout for one, considering the situation.

Absentmindedly, X played with the long shard of glass in his good hand.

“Though I think we should keep on the lookout for health supplies, just in case.”

Just in case something like this happened again.

[lovesthepain]

Harpuia nodded, though the concern still lingered in his eyes. It didn't bode well in the slightest if the very first thing that happened, upon being given the chance to meet the legendary machine who was indirectly responsible for Harpuia's birth, was that he carelessly allowed his master to get hurt. This, he decided firmly, was not an incident that would ever be repeated.

"I agree. We have no more reason to stay here; our immediate priority is finding a facility to tend to you."

His grip on the flashlight tightened. While it wasn't the least bit appropriate for him to be the one giving orders, he felt safer being the one in the lead; if X was right and there was something threatening here, then he preferred to be between it and any injured party, let alone one he was duty-bound to protect. "Stay close to me, Master X." Sparing a quick glance to ensure X would follow him, he pushed open the door to the washroom.

[To here]