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Phantom presses their face against cool metal, taking a deep breath to steady themselves, and steps back, looking up at the cogwork bug standing before them. It holds their mask in one hand, its razor sharp claws wrapped around it with caution that makes their heart ache, and watches them in silence, waiting for them to speak.
“My rebellion has finally been deemed too much” they murmur, their claws settling on its waist. “Mother is dismissing me to the Exhaust Organ, and sealing the path to get there.”
The Sentinel tenses, its free hand twitching towards its waist for just a moment. “Directive states that this Sentinel may not leave the Sacred Citadel. Query: may Phantom return?”
Phantom shakes their head and laughs bitterly. “No, my mother wishes to never bear witness to her failed daughter. She wishes to forget me.”
“This Sentinel w-w-wishes…” The Second Sentinel seems to falter at the attempt to express its emotions, and Phantom waits for it to twist free from its Directive-cage, well used to this by now. “-wishes to continue meeting with Phantom. Statement: You are not-t-t a failure”
Phantom lifts themself up towards Senti’s mask, and it meets them halfway, pressing their faces together. They can hear its fans jump in speed as it heats up slightly, and its free hand lifts to rest on their shoulder. “My mother judges me one, and her divine will cannot be avoided. Your opinion matters not to the citadel Senti.”
“This Sentinel will find a way to join you.” Static hums from its voice box as it turns off the component for a moment “-adel, Eternal is the devotion of the Sentinels.” Phantom feels their face darken upon hearing that statement and turns away to hide their embarrassment. In response, the Sentinel Crouches down further, pressing the cool metal of its mask to the crook of their neck.
“The architects will dismantle you Senti. If you break from your directive, they will find you useless.” Phantoms claws tighten on its hips and their breath hitches. “I do not desire to find you destroyed.”
“Dismantled already, is the First. Soon to follow is this Sentinel. Phantom’s task is Eternal, this Sentinel... Directive states Sentinels Eternal. An error? The First is gone.” Its hand shakes slightly on their shoulder, a miniscule tremor that its undamaged form should not carry.
Phantom’s shoulders shake along with its hand, and tears roll down their face. “Eternal until we lose our functionality. The conductors and my mother have no more use for us.”
Senti stares at them for a long moment, its eyes flickering. “Eternal is this Sentinels l-l-l-love for Phantom. Even if it is dismantled.”
Phantom curls into themselves as a harsh sob tears through their body. They had known it loved them, it had made that deeply obvious, but it had never managed to voice it. The Sentinels were not programmed to love, and its directive-cage had always proven too strong.
“I- I have a plan” they choke out, their hands lifting to the panel on the Second Sentinels chest. “I hide your heart, and we wait. When the Citadel falls, I will rebuild you.” The Sentinel won’t accept the plan, its directive will make that an impossibility, and they brace themselves for its response.
“This Sentinel t-trusts Phantom” it straightens up, removing its face from their neck, and its chest pops open, revealing its internals. “W-when the Citadel f-f-f-f-f” its voice cuts out, unable to finish the statement.
Normally the sight of Senti’s internal mechanisms would cause Phantoms heart to skip in excitement, as it had every time the Cogwork had bared itself like this to them, but today, all they feel is deep sorrow. They reach their hands into its chest cavity, resting them directly on the cogwork heart within.
The glow of Senti’s eyes intensifies, and they watch its fans kick into overdrive. They look up, meeting its gaze, and speak, their hands still resting within its chest. “Are you certain? I do not wish to take your consciousness against your will.”
“T-t-this Sentine-el t-trusts you.” Even as distressed as they are, Phantom cant help but be slightly satisfied by how difficult the Sentinel is finding speech suddenly “This Sentinel-l-l love-e-e-es y-you.”
Phantom smiles, leaning into the Sentinel’s chest cavity and pressing a kiss against its heart. “I love you too. I will see you soon.” In a smooth motion, fueled by years of studying its internals, Phantom detaches the Cogheart from its body and pulls it out. They will break it into smaller pieces, and hide each one around the Citadel. Eventually, something would arrive to slay their mother, and Phantom would no longer be lonely.
Senti’s senses crackle online, and it scans over its body, quickly running diagnostics at the same moment it analyzes the room around it. They are not here, and instead a hunter in a red cloak stands before it, silk coiled deep in her chest.
“Woken, is this sentinel. F-f-f-functional, is its shell.” If this woman is of the Citadel, the directive-cage must be followed exactly. “Still devoted, is this s-s-sentinel, and awaiting your commandment.” Its voice was damaged; it would have to request Phantom repair it when they found each other.
“You speak, gilded one? I've no command for you, but my curiosity is piqued. You call yourself a sentinel. What is it you are charged with protecting?” Not of the citadel then, but potentially soon to be.
It bows its head slightly, crossing its scissor blades before its chest. “Defense of the sacred C-c-citadel, and the voices that fill it-t-t, is our eternal duty.”
“I had assumed as much. Yet look around you, gilded one. During your slumber, the Citadel has fallen, and its voices lay silent. This place is dead, or very nearly. Some would argue that standing guard over a kingdom's corpse is a foolish task, empty of meaning. I wonder then, will you still hold true to your charge?”
The Citadel had not fallen; it knows that for a fact. Because if it had, Phantom would be the one standing before it, not this strange bug. “Eternal, is the Citadel. Et-t-ternal, is the devotion of the sentinels. While its shell is f-f-functional, this sentinel will hold true to its duty.”
It springs past her, racing out the door of the room, and deeper into the cogwork core. Perhaps the path to the Organ has opened. If not, it will find a way to exit the citadel. Eternal, is the devotion of this Sentinel.