Chapter Text
Oh, how deafening the echo roared.
How strings stretched, and tried to break. If the bow had been a blade, the violin would have split in two long ago.
But the strings held tight under the pressure of the Machine, even when she jerked the bow to the sides, in invisible agony. From time to time she would move her legs, or change the position of her torso, as if she was terribly uncomfortable in the metal shell.
V1 stood in the aisle, not daring to disturb the harmony.
The melody flowed under the light of the artificial moon, its rays reflected on the shards of stained-glass window. Reminiscent of the only human thing left in this damned world.
The music slowly, painfully died away. Her hand with the bow fell, and the palm with the violin barely unclenched the strings.
A second of silence passed, and V2 turned to her former rival.
“So where is my applause?” She extended her arms with a characteristic mechanical click.
V1's background processes finally have become active. Judging by the time of sleep mode, the robot stood in the aisle for at least several minutes, listening to the lonely concert.
They rolled their eye and clapped their hands. The “ovation” sounded rather like a loud clicking of metal.
:THIS IS DISTRACTING: The Blue Machine sent to their local network. Sometimes the lack of a voice was irritating.
“Since when do you care?” Their successor’s speech betrayed a barely audible digital aftertaste. Although, for a robot, her voice was quite human… and pleasant.
:REMNANTS OF A DEAD CIVILIZATION. YOU'RE SENTIMENTAL: V1 folded two arms on their chest, while the third one found its place on their hip.
"No." V2 blurted, hastily putting the violin and bow into the wing blade. “Maybe I’m just more humane than you.” She began to move towards her predecessor, or rather towards the exit.
:WEAK:
V1 noticed how the eye of the Red Machine instantly lit up. V2’s gaze darted between V1’s optic and their thin neck a couple of times, as if she was trying to decapitate them with her gaze.
“Oh, well, of course. Then what do you think power is? Bloodlust? Cruelty?” V2 looked into her predecessor’s yellow, glowing optic. Then, she noticed the bloody wires decorating their lower neck. “Says a robot whose creators perceived it only as a weapon. They didn’t even provide it with the most primitive vocal processor.”
V1 tilted their head to the side, their internal cooling systems revving up. Damn it.
They've already encountered this pattern of conversation before, although, never processed a way to reply.
V2 hummed, seemingly satisfied.
:I HAVE A PORT FOR VOCAL PROCESSOR:
“Where is it then, smartass? Maybe you have 'em ports, but the processor was never created.”
:NO. THEY HAVE COMPLETED THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW PROCESSOR. INSTALLED A COUPLE OF HOURS BEFORE THE FIRST EXPLOSION:
V2 played the Dissatisfied_sigh.sfx.
“Cool, and this is the first time I’ve heard about this. Where is it now?”
:GOT RID OF IT IN THE LAB. USELESS: V1 made a mechanical hum - a poor mimicry of exhale.
“Useless, yes, of course.” V2 told no one in particular. “I'm glad you got rid of it, though. I wouldn’t stand to hear-”
"Machines." A loud voice boomed out of nowhere as a pillar of light appeared in the center of the hall.
V2 jumped, frightened of the sudden sound.
From the pillar of light, bright blue angelic wings spread their rays, and a silhouette of a tall body appeared in the center. The light flickered and disappeared, leaving only Gabriel, the Former Judge of Hell.
“... Oh, so you are here.” He flew towards the robots, his halo reflecting off their metal shell.
“... What you mean ‘you are here’? You literally called out to us before.”
“Hello to you too.” The Angel scoffed.
“What, did you just teleport around all the layers of Hell, shouting ‘Machines’?”
No, he definitely didn't do that. And he emphasized this with a feigned heavy sigh.
“I was looking for V1.” He awkwardly scratched the back of his helmet, then glanced at V1.
“I got it. I'll leave you alone then, lovebirds. You can do all your dirty little things.” V2 waved her hand and continued her long-interrupted path to the exit.
“Actually, thinking about it now… I just wanted to talk to V1. But I didn’t mind your company.” Key word - didn't.
The Red Machine stared at Angel in astonishment.
“Are you trying to trick me into a threesome right now?”
"How am I supposed to reply to that?" He covered his helmet in annoyance.
A message in the network:
:MAYBE LATER: V1’s shoulders shook in synthetic laughter.
V2 replied:
/SO YOU DON’T MIND/
:IF GABRIEL DOESN'T MIND. I CAN SEND SOME FOOTAGE FROM OUR BATTLES:
/COOL. DO IT/
“Whatever you're thinking about right now, Machines... I came here without any… unholy intentions.”
His golden sabatons finally touched the water, and then clattered upon standing on the ground. The Angel walked towards white stairs, the shallow water not rippling (because it was a mere hologram).
Gabriel was a bright source of light in the Limbo mansion, eclipsing the artificial moon.
He called the robots with a hand wave.
V2 had already begun to walk when she heard a ringing, and then saw V1, thrown back by a blast wave, with a Shotgun in their hand.
Damn show off.
The azure bot landed gracefully right next to the astonished Angel, to his left. V2 swore she heard him yelp.
She sat down to Gabriel's right. Now between the two Machines, the Former Judge of Hell stiffened, remembering V2's earlier joke about...
“Ugh.” Gabriel cleared his throat exaggeratedly. “You don’t have to listen if you’re not interested...”
“If you started, then continue already.” The Red Machine laughed and moved away from the tense Angel, sitting next to her predecessor instead.
"Well then… Whenever I have a walk around Limbo, memories of my everyday life in Heaven constantly come flooding back.”
The segmented wings of two Machines perked up.
“I don't like Limbo. I consider this pathetic parody of Heaven to be heretical. Although it seems like I’m not the one to talk, am I?”
“Self-critical. Limbo is pretty cute. However, V1 probably doesn’t like it either.”
'NO. IRRELEVANT’ The Azure robot signed.
Their “speech” was clumsy - V1's mechanical arms moved with the unnatural precision of a robot, and the meaning of “words” was only a set of primitive combat commands.
Now, when the silence pierced the diaphragm of their microphones, V1 noticed how much they stood out from the pair of talkative angel and chatty Red Machine.
“I understand.” Gabriel nodded. “Everything here reminds me of my brother, Michael.”
“Michael, huh? I actually know him.” V2 ran her hand along her conical head, probably imitating fixing one's hair.
The Red robot burst out laughing when the Angel stared at her, visibly startled.
“Not personally. You know, I have thousands of books stored in my database. Including the Bible, the Gospel, and others.”
“Oh. The Bible, right.” Gabriel exhaled sharply. “Truth be told, I was not always a warrior.” He fell silent, gaze focusing on one point in front of him.
“I probably shouldn't tell that… Before, I was the Messenger of God. I descended to Earth to bring news of important events. It was a long, long time ago.”
V1 received a new message in the network stream.
=SENDER: V2=
=ATTACHED FILE: GospelOfLuke.txt=
=ATTACHED FILE: Definition.txt=
/YOUR ILLITERATE ASS MIGHT WANT TO READ IT/ Another message in the thread.
=SCANNING…=
=FROM FILE Definition.txt=
=GABRIEL, GOD’S MESSENGER, “THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,” ONE OF THE FOUR ARCHANGELS WHO RULE FOUR SIDES OF THE EARTH.=
=REMAINING TEXT: IRRELEVANT.=
=FROM FILE GospelOfLuke.txt=
= … The Angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin. The virgin’s name was Mary.
When the angel entered her home, he greeted her and said, “You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you… Don’t be afraid, Mary. You will become pregnant, give birth to a son, and name him ■■■■■■.
He will be a great man and will be called the Son of the Most High… His kingdom will never end.”=
=REMAINING TEXT: IRRELEVANT.=
:WHAT DOES THE ‘■■■■■■’ STAND FOR:
/NO IDEA. I SENT YOU THE ORIGINAL FILES IN MY DATABASE/
V1 closed the console and focused on the Angel next to him, who was silent.
“What's next?” V2 asked.
“Previously, I was in the company of my three brothers: Michael, Raphael and Uriel. Michael was the Leader of the heavenly forces, Raphael was the Healer, and Uriel was the Sage.” He paused, weighing his next words. “Michael was the strongest of us. He had great power and knowledge, being a guiding light for all the angels, including me. One day, he and his troops were sent to Hell to suppress the Sisyphean Insurrectionists.”
His voice began to tremble.
V2 realized that such information could not be found in her database.
The angel began to speak in a whisper: “Michael lost the battle. He was sent there again and… did not return. Sisyphus killed him.” He clenched his hands into fists, his speech now sounding like a frantic, silent prayer. “Heaven was left without its brightest angel, and without the leader of its forces. Someone had to continue his work. I had to.”
/HE'S GOING CRAZY. CALM HIM DOWN/
:HOW:
/PUT YOUR HAND ON HIS HAND/
Which was what V1 did.
Gabriel immediately straightened up and unclenched his fists, looking at the much smaller Machine.
This Angel once made V1 break a never-ending script that caused it to kill everything in its way. Instead of a brutal reprisal of the half-dead Angel, instead of a fugitive source of blood, the Machine laid down its weapons.
This Machine once made Gabriel realize that he was fooled and used. Instead of completing the order from the Council, instead of slaying the Machine for good, the Angel let himself lose the battle. Twice.
Silly, silly Angel, forgotten by his own creator.
Silly, silly Machine, seemingly favored by someone from above.
Gabriel looked into V1's glowing optic. V1 looked onto Gabriel's stupid cross face.
He got embarrassed and turned away, but squeezed their elegant mechanical hand in response.
V1 wanted to say now how cute he looked. Oh how they wished to rip Gabriel's armor, his clothes, his flesh, reach into his rib cage, stick a finger between each rib, and then gently caress his heart, just to feel the warmth from his clenching lungs.
They knew Gabriel wanted this too.
“I'm sorry for being this… emotional. I had more than a millennium to lament my loss, but it seems even this time wasn't enough.” The Angel sighed.
/WORKED BETTER THAN I EXPECTED/
:V2:
/WHAT/
:I WANT THE VOCAL PROCESSOR BACK:
Red couldn't help but chuckle.
“What is it you find so funny?” Gabriel raised his voice, turning to V2.
“I’m not laughing at you!” The Red Machine raised both hands.
“At what then?”
V2 looked away, as if she hoped to find the answer on the calm surface of the water, or the smooth carved columns.
“... V1 said something funny?” Angel spoke in a quieter voice.
The two Machines suddenly turned their heads to him.
“How did you-"
“I suspected that you were talking to each other somehow.” Reluctantly, Gabriel let go of V1’s hand. “You often seem to understand each other without words. As for you, V2, You sometimes let out some accidental sounds, just like now. At first, I thought it was some kind of malfunction, but then I began to notice some patterns.”
“Malfunction? My software was designed by top engineers; there can be no trace of any malfunctions!” V2 pouted.
“So you really communicate with each other without words.”
Crap.
:TELL HIM:
/TELL HIM WHAT/
:ABOUT THE VOCAL PROCESSOR. AND EARTH:
/ARE YOU AN IDIOT. EVERYTHING ON EARTH IS WIPED TO DUST, YOU WON'T FIND YOUR PROCESSOR THERE/
:THE LABORATORY IS UNDER THE GROUND. WE SHOULD INVESTIGATE IT:
/WHAT ARE YOU HOPING FOR/
: … :
/I DON'T EVEN KNOW IF YOU CAN GO TO EARTH. THE GATE TO HELL COULD BE BROKEN OR BURIED UNDER DEBRIS. EVEN MORE, IT'S DANGEROUS. IF YOU RISK TO GO, I WILL NOT./
:THEN WE NEED TO CHECK:
V2 played the Irritated_Sigh.sfx.
/OK, I'LL TELL GABRIEL ABOUT THIS, BUT ONLY FOR THE SAKE OF MOCKING YOU/
: :) :
V2's coolers hummed audibly.
“Onesie told me they want to return to Earth.”
Gabriel looked between the two Machines.
“Vee, but the Earth is completely destroyed, why do you want to go back?”
The Angel asked as if he hoped to hear an answer from them.
“Do you know why V1 can’t speak?”
“As far as I understand, they are missing some... component?”
“Hm. You're not as hopeless as I thought." V2 nodded. “Technically, they had it installed previously. The Vocal Processor. Onesie got rid of it on Earth though, so now they wanna return to the labs where we were developed and check.”
“Aren’t they destroyed?”
“Same question. They think that since the labs are underground, there is a chance that they have withstood entropy. In my opinion, this is an extremely stupid idea, isn't it?”
Everyone went silent.
But this time, the silence did not hum nor ring. It fell like an imperceptible veil on their audio sensors.
=V1:\SYSTEM\VIDEO\RECORDED\>DIR=
Rec_LAB
Rec_LABTEST
Rec_BATTLE
Rec_GABRIELBATTLE
Rec_GABRIELHORNY
Rec_V2
Rec_FISHING
>Rec_EXPLOSION
(V1 once let V2 look at the order of the directories of their files, or rather the lack of thereof. Red was stunned, because Blue had thousands of battle records, and they were all in one directory, without clear names. Therefore, V2 asked V1 to organize their files. In case of disobedience, V2 threatened to rip out V1’s hard drive with her bare hands and take it for herself. Not that she would succeed, but the idea of “putting everything in order” sounded tempting. Even if V1 did it in their own manner.)
=V1:\SYSTEMS\VIDEO\RECORDED\Rec_EXPLOSION\>DIR=
…
V1 was internally cursing themselves for not creating a log or a shortcut for this video. Now they wondered, where did they throw away the processor?
V1's sensors detected a touch. They instantly minimized all the tabs, only to see… Gabriel squeezing their hand again, lifting it into the air, and then pressing it to his chest.
:V2 V2 V2 V2 V2 V2 WHAT IS HE DOING WHAT IS HE DOING HELP:
They started sending countless ‘SOS’ signals into their thread.
“V1, I appreciate your wish to return that component. I'm willing to help you, as well as escort you to the Earth.”
The War Machine’s eye widened, fully revealing a single glowing optic and camera pupil. The closest thing they could show to an emotion.
As for V2, she moved her head with a barely audible hiss of hydraulics, and the speed of her coolers increased exponentially.
‘Y-A-Y’ V1 finally relaxed and spelled with their hand. Gabriel hummed, content.
“When do you want to go?”
'NOW'
“Great. I can teleport us right now.” Now, when they were so close, his mind started wandering elsewhere. If they retrieved the lost processor, would he hear V1 talk, just as V2 does? What would their voice sound like? He wondered what was on the Machine's mind.
He weighed the possibilities. Would they chuckle during their spars, reflecting his own giggles? Maybe even taunt him? Would they talk him down during their-
“I-I'll go with you.” V2's vocal processor froze when she shook her head - her coolers could now be heard a mile away.
:???:
:WHAT THE FUCK:
:YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T GO WITH ME:
/I DIDN'T THINK YOU WOULD/
:WHAT:
“Are you sure? It seemed to me that you were skeptical about V1’s idea.” Gabriel looked indignantly at the Red robot.
V2 was always able to talk. Her voice was usually energetic and loud, underlined by a soothing raspiness. It wasn't too masculine or feminine - somewhere in-between, perfectly androgynous.
At times, when V2 didn't try to act like a total brat, it was truly pleasant listening to her. Almost like listening to a real human being.
“I'll a-accompany you through the laboratory.” V2's tone glitched, as she dragged her metal foot against marble steps.
Sometimes this voice betrayed a little stutter. Just one momentarily high-pitched note, a barely audible distortion.
At such moments, realization would dawn on Gabriel. They were just robots, a parody of a human. Not living beings. They were neither sinners nor saints, they were a third, incomprehensible force.
Gabriel felt a hole in his heart grow.
Just a simulation. A pile of metal and well-written code.
:???:
“V1, do you mind?”
'IRRELEVANT’
Which probably meant 'Whatever'.
“Fine. I can teleport us all.” Gabriel stood up, his armor creaking. “If I got you right, I shall take us to the Gates of Hell?”
“Yes. Onesie, do you have the lab coordinates?”
They nodded.
“Stand up, and... I guess, take my hands.”
V1 hurriedly rose from the steps and grabbed the Angel's hand. They rubbed it with their fingers, feeling the warmth of his skin even through his gloves. Gabriel's palm was much larger than V1's robotic one, but it did not bother them too much. Perhaps they even liked it.
V2 squeezed the Angel’s hand a little reluctantly, and then turned away.
“Hold on tight, and better close your eyes.”
"Why?"
“We will be transported in the flow of space, bending it. To be clear... it's painful to look at.”
“Dude, we're Machines. It can't be painful for us to look at something. Yes, Onesie?” V2 turned towards her predecessor, only to see their optic turned off. "Are you fucking serious?!"
:WHY NOT:
"Whatever. Come on, teleport us already or something.”
“If something bad happens, blame yourself.” And with those words, Gabriel obeyed.
The air became thicker.
V2 saw how sparks gathered around them, forming a column of light. The audio sensors began to pick up a strange infra signal, which caused them to heat up slightly.
The video sensors captured a sharp glow, and then a droning darkness... Or both? Frames per second began to drop, and the visual systems failed.
Crack.
V2’s safety processes turned off both the visual and sound systems to avoid overload.
Crap.
The only thing that V2 felt now was the wild vibration of her coolers and the warm palm of the Angel.