Complete Private ✪ Finweald Eyes Swallowed by Hate

[Tick Tock]

The aftermath had left many questions unanswered, many families shattered, many homes broken. Not even her own workshop was spared. Her directive clearly ignored any sense of self-preservation, despite how painful it could be for her work to be all dumped to waste. Slimes were left like stains on the cracked floors, the door left unhinged as the only thing barring entry, documents and burnt papers scattered or turned to nothing but ashes, and the sunlight pierced from the gaps in the ceiling.

The ones who suffered the worst had to be the citizens of Finweald itself. Tick knew better than to not use alternative routes compared to the main roads themselves. Not like her body could sustain any more battles, not when spears and sticks were rised against her, understandably so, by any who remembered her face. Non-lethal approaches were so difficult: Overtune them a little, and you blow someone's face off, but if you hold back too much you may get yourself killed!

How bothersome, but a few more cracks were a better trade than more red on the streets. Also not a good idea to stain in blood the only cloak she had to conceal eachother with...

---

And she fled. Until silence was all Tick Tock could hear. It felt awfully familiar to cold to her, now lonely within a broken home, untainted by blood or the voices that once screamed and were now mere hums to their ears. Even the sound of bolts and wrenches weren't enough to keep the abyss at bay.

She grew too used to the noisy workplace she shared with her twin, and while pain wasn't a problem she suffered, the glitching in her system blurred her vision and turned it into faulty code.

"Our friends are safeEEef." Tock said once she climbed out of the basement, pulling the hood down once again as she peered over to the vessel Tick had begun to work on. "You said we wouldn't have to change again." Tock pondered outloud.

"Tick doesn't want to either, but we don't have much of a choOOic-ice now do we? Maybe someone shouldn't have kept a ton of explosives at reach without some kind of safe word or something!" She replied, putting down her tools on top of the doll.

"Don't blame T-ttOOcK! It was fun!" Tock exclaimed, spreading her arms to gesture to their surroundings. Tick knew she meant more than their workshop in this case-- They had Finweald as their playfield, for a few long minutes at least. If anything, their spider bots were proven a success, despite most of their antics being assisted by their second mama.
"Yes. Yes it was. Until mama came along." Yet remorse was the last thing she could feel at the moment. If anything, they didn't technically play with Eva at all! That wasn't them! "But she's alive, yes? And so is Kyanna."

@Eva

 

[Eva]

"I thought I told you to go straight to my house for dinner."

The voice echoed in the shattered remains of what used to be a pretty workshop. Outside, the once-lively streets of Finweald were now barren and empty, destroyed by a catastrophe of epic proportions (that the twins sort of did by themselves).

The woman emerged from under the destroyed doorway, navigating through the rubble and debris with difficulty.

The destruction around them was almost unfathomable. Buildings lay in ruins and the air was still thick with the acrid smell of burnt wood and rubble. Her house, just next door to the twins' workshop, was one of the few structures still standing, somehow, barely touched by the destruction.

As she approached the twins, Eva brought two stacks of lunch boxes, the kind usually packed by parents for their children, but more resembling a small metal military compartment. Placing the food containers on a half-destroyed stool, Eva looked up to see what the twins were up to.

"What are you two doing?" She asked, her tone flat as she eyed the vessel, chassis, or body that Tick was working on with her one remaining eye. "If it can wait, we should have dinner first." Eva leaned forward to unlock the strangely highly secured lunch boxes, revealing the piping-hot stew-like food and crackers on the side. There were also three secured cups of tea.

"I reheated it, let's eat before it gets cold again."

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"I thought I told you to go straight to my house for dinner."
"EEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The duo jumped on their feet at the hard-to-miss monotone voice of their mother, carrying a menacing echo they had no hand in.
"Didn't you close the door?" Tick mumbled down, eyes darting from Tock back to Eva, then back to her twin.
"What door?!" She replied, an arm pointing back towards the rubble and ruins that was left out of their entrance. A plank or two could probably do the same job their door did right now.

Of course dinner was important, and the pair knew as much that their mama is the most efficient lady in Terrasphere. Which means she wouldn't let that food go to waste. The cons of preserving a meal is that it's taste suffers, simply not the same compared to a warm, fresh out-of-the-oven plate. But that was on them for being late.

Not like they would admit it.

Tock turned around, arms reaching over to wrap themselves around Eva. Despite the lack of emotion in that wide smile the twins had, her grasp became worrisome the second Tick locked eyes with her, or at least on the one eye that's left.

"It can wait, yes yes. TicTICKKK are building a new body. A new host for ourselves." Tick explained, and now that she turned to fully face Eva their wounds were more apparent, including the blackened hole at heart level covered with a piece of cloth, not so different to Tock's, but the thin sheet could barely hide the movement behind it. The cracks and chunks pulled out of them were enough justification for their actions, at the very least.

Yet not the strange familiarity their new form had to the one their mother had seen across the city. Far younger, but ressembling to the girl she pulled her trigger for.

"Oh-oh! Tea too?!" Tock's attention gravitated back to the equivalent of a miniature safebox holding their lunch-turned-dinner, starglitter on her eyes and unsteady hands almost ready to plunge onto the food. "Tick thiCCNKS it's best t-to leave, yes yes. It's cold here." Yanking from Tock's cloak, the twin covered the unfinished body on the table. "...Does mama need Tick to help her build an eye, too?" Pale concern hidden behind their usual tomfoolery. "Eyes grow back, afterall. Ju-just need some meTAAAAAL. Maybe can make a spirit eye!" She added, waving her fingers as if a 80s ghost she were.

@Eva

 

[Eva]

A new body. Eva only had a few glances at it, but it was clear that the thing was largely unfinished and needed time. And also the familiarity of this new vessel...

Successfully getting the twins to stop doing what they were doing and go eat, the woman slowly sat on the dirty floor before distributing the dining utensils to the twins.

"Oh-oh! Tea too?!"

"Yes. I processed some unusual leaves that actually make for a great tea. See if you two like it."

"...Does mama need Tick to help her build an eye, too?"

"Probably. It's beyond healing. Although that's not a priority right now." She touched the burnt right side of her face where an eye used to be, but was strangely unbothered by the lack of it. Another spoonful of saucy meat went into her mouth, as she munched on the food expressionlessly. Her one eye wandered to the corners of what used to be Clockworks, comparing the damages with the rest of the city.

She froze for some seconds as if calculating something in her mind.

"You two can stay at my house for a while." She suddenly offered, hand reaching for a cup of tea, opening the magnetic cup cover. "The place is still in one piece. There are also tools and resources you need to finish the new body." Eva sipped the red-colored tea slowly, eyes closed. "It's also perfect for staying out of sight, at least until city renovation is in order..."

She placed back her cup, looking at the two heavily damaged constructs while exhaling softly. "...and the stigma against magia has changed." The King really has to do something fast, or else there would be a second part to this war.

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

Despite appearences being important to the puppets, they both never frightened away from dirt, charcoal, fire or slimey substances. It didn't make their looks any less prestine after a night of work. So is why Tick dropped to her knees, dragging her tattered dress along with her as her fingers reached out to Eva's scorched features, fingertips caressing that cheek despite having no way to feel it.

But wouldn't the touch made it all the more dramatic, and thus, emotional for their mother? Oh but that was the irony: she was as cold as their robomama, maybe even more than the machine mom herself! "Mama knows best. Let TicCCKk know, we-we have the measures already. O̶͖͚̲̾H̷̺̽̇͂! We'll show you after dinner, mama. You gonna love it." Her excitement could barely contain itself. As usual. As if nothing had changed in the slightest in this world.

"Yehgs Mauhma. Hu gon lov it." Tock added, mouth stuffed full of food for that alien sentence before gulping them down, or so it looked, couse they didn't have the muscles to do that. Only that the food was gone in the first place. It's only when the barest hints of an action spread themselves on Eva's features that both twins reacted,

Observed.

In an equal pace, both of them reached out for their cups, following mama's lead so all three would take sips at the same time, giving a few moments to consider the offer. Tick's eyes darted across Clockworks in a similar fashion, putting the cup down and crossing her legs. "Tick doesn't plan to stick for long, Mama. Tick promised to help Kyanna find her mama." Her voice died the second Tock interfered, swinging her spoon around. "That way, Tock can get Kyanna's mama's approval to marry her daughter!" Truly a chivalrious plan. A side-objective, however. But they couldn't speak of it in dinner, that was a surprise tool for later.

"Did you have fun with us, Mama? Was this what you expected it would be?" The question repeated itself, as Tick tilted her head curiously. The very few 'ticks' that portrayed emotion behind that wide smile or overly comical pondering look. "It is far from over, mama. Things will get much more fun, but we can't stay in Finweald, nono. Would you come with Tock and Tick, mama? Kyanna could be of use-"
"Of benefit-"
"-To us. Mama, Tick and Tock!" Silence followed, aswell as the loud sips taken by the duo, switching from cups back to the bowls, from drink to meat.

"There is a certain Pinkie. A fancy specimen, a nice test subject. A bit cartoonish, sure, she wanted to eat an egg like four times her size... With such small jaws and no fork or knife. But she knows more, Tick is certain of it." She spoke with certainty behind her giggling fit. The pinkette was a mystery wrapped in sweet powers that mimicked that of the mother of machines herself. A diet version perhaps? How else could she still be alive with all that power if not?

There were too many pieces in an unfinished jigsaw, and she likes to cheat on those.

@Eva

 

[Eva]

The woman let the porcelain magia touch and caress where the burn mark was. An act of affection? Remorse? Who knows.

"If you say so," She said as Eva took another spoonful of stew. She hadn't had the need for an eye replacement, yet, but if it were to help contain the twins' overflowing excitement. "How's the food?" The woman stoically asked, slowly munching her food without any sound like a refined lady.

As the three of them enjoyed the tea, the inventor raised her eyebrows at both of the answers. "So do I," she responded to Tick, before turning to Tock to once more shot her hopeful dreams down. "I don't have the right to do that. It's purely up to your choice, and hers."

Sorry, Mickey Mouse. That tool isn't going to be useful anytime soon.

"Fun?" If only joy, or excitement was something that she could feel. What a shame, that knowing and understanding are two different things. "It is interesting." She gave a non-committal answer. There was no benefit in lying for a such trivial thing. Tick and Tock were no idiots, they know how it is with her.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't." Again, she responded enigmatically. It was then Tick piqued her interest with the mention of a certain pinkette.

Her eyes went up for a second, trying to remember things. A lot actually happens. Tonight was a really long night, was it? "I know exactly which one you are talking about."

Whatever the thing shrouding that girl was, it was unnatural. Of course, as someone who seeks knowledge, it was very intriguing to her.

"You two made friends with her?"

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"Of course Tick says so! If she didn't, she wouldn't say it!" Tick replied, as bombastic as ever despite the disregard given. That's just mom being mom, afterall. "Tock? How's the food?" She then turned over to her twin, who kept making faces as if she were the culinary expert here, and that's exactly what she is and what she's doing.

"Immaculate, prestine, elaborate and increasingly pleasant. Ten out of ten, has enough water!" Tock spoke between bites and sips. "Mama may not cook with her heart, but she cooks with her mind. Truly a magia mama." Nothing like following a recipe. It made her VRAM all fuzzy just to eat these!

The pair leaned at once as Eva made her surprise known, mimicking her brows rising aswell. "Really? That's great! Mama can join us if she'd like. Tick and Tock are heading to the Hylands for our next clue. Kyanna's mom is around Terrasphere that's confirmed!" Granted, if she was mere bones or not by now is still inconclusive, but one grim step at a time.

Tock in the other hand had to face rejection once again, but this time it made enough sense to keep her sobbing low. If she had mouse ears, they would be folding right now. "It's okay Mama, Tock will earn your blessing one day, and then Kyanna and Tock will marry on top of a goose as fate predicts" Her hands held against the little hole on her chest, right on her kokoro.

But where Tock only wished for marriage, Tick begun to drag herself closer and closer to Eva, hollow glassy eyes staring intently once the word 'fun' escaped from her mouth. All the way to the lack of commitment. It shocked Tick, for this meant there was still an opportunity. "Interesting. in-te-res-ting. Hehe, Tick knew it one day you would reveal your emotion hardware to us." Perhaps she acquired it in their battle against Szofrit? "Maybe Tick just has to cut you in half and see what's inside! Maybe she can upgrade your robot bits." She stroked her chin, but discarded that idea as quick as it came with a shrug. "Matters little, Tick built mama's upgraded version."

But of course when it came to Kyanna, Eva was just putting an act! Or so the twins believed. How could she not help the poor witch? So naive, so cute and so guillable. So much that she almost ended up killed by the aforementioned pinkie, the same one that their mother mentioned to know of. Of course they were seekers of lore, moreso than anyone else she knew.

As their bargain chip, both puppets sipped from their cups and put them down with a quiet little grin that didn't miss a beat from one and the other.

"Oho, maybe Tick did more than just make friends."
"Maybe Tock knows some of pinkie's friends..."
"Pinkie spoke with our boss too!" Because how else could they refer to this third person than calling her 'Boss'. She was the one in charge afterall, like employee and employer.

The pair rised their cups and shook them from side to side, as if a beggar asking for a coin, or in this case, more of that sweet beverage. "Maybe some tea will refresh Tick Tock's miiiinnd..."

@Eva

 

[Eva]

"Hmm" was the only response she emitted after Tock's praise of her food, noting down inside her head that the recipe is perfect and she doesn't have to adjust for anything in the future. Of course, this was a mistake, since the twins were going to praise her anyway for any kind of food.

"So, what about you two?" Her head suddenly turned to Tick, then Tock at a constant speed. "Are you two having fun?" She asked, before quickly adding to her question. "All of it, is it akin to a game for you two?" Despite what it sounded, it was a genuine question, emphasized by Eva's tone, or rather, the lack of it.

"Hylands," Eva recalled, the cold mountainous region to the west, also known as the standard RPG snowy territory. "When is this going to be? Because as you two know, I'm still bound to the physical limitation of my other body."

It's been... a lot of hours, give or take. She completely lost the track of time after all the spacetime and timey-wimey thingy that happened. Normally, she would be able to tell time with accurate precision. Even a person like her needed rest, and exact, proper nutritions to perform and process at maximum level.

For the twentieth time, the woman again had to dispel the allegation that she was a magia. "I don't have any robot bits." The monotone reply made it seem like it was a pre-programmed response, to be honest, so not totally Tick Tock's fault.

"...Boss?" It looked like Tick and Tock had been mingling with various interesting individuals. But as for the identity, even the resourceful Eva was not sure of it, causing her to comply with the twins' demand for more tea. "Fine," Taking out a thermos-like container from the other military-grade lunchbox, she opened the secure cap and proceeded to pour another serving of hot tea into each of their cups.

"Who is this... Boss person?"

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

Why of course, very few bothered to peek into their minds out of fear of getting lost, but not their mama! Both twins shared a momentary pride in knowing their mother could keep track of them like no other person could. A true lore-seeker she is!

Tick giggled, leaving the cup on it's holder. "Why of course Tick did!" And Tock didn't fall behind, doing the same gesture after her sister did, if only to catch Eva's attention with the little 'ding!' the cups did once deposited. "Tock wouldn't see it any other way!" They cheered, only to give extra thought to that last addition: Is it a game to them?

"Mama didn't die, Kyanna didn't die, so why should Tick see it as more than a game?" The 'head' twin replied, only for Tock to add afterwards with the same energy behind her voice. "Tock thinks mama needs to have more fun too, if she knows what fun means. Maybe her memory banks are missing the definition." Tock giggled, but she couldn't resist to poke fun at Eva for being and acting like a magia. "Tick Tock believe that a good dose of sadness needs a good dose of happiness. And we had plenty of sadness with robomama's theatre." Which was plenty, and some suffered more than others.

But Eva didn't seem to lean to either side. The perfect imbalance to their imperfect balance.

"As for when, when Kyanna says so, of course! She also has her own little body to take care of outside of Terrasphere. Aaah, I just hope she takes good care of her health. I wonder just how pretty she is out of it." Tock took the liberty of answering with a dreamy stare and a honeyed voice whenever the word 'Kyanna' slipped out of her lips.

But despite having no sense of fun, their mother sure knew how to make them break into refined laughter. Both could barely hold back to that raw comedy she could pull with no sense of fun or comedy at all in her system. "No robot bits she says..." Tick wheezed, holding a hand over her stomach just for the sake of gesturization. "Next, she's going to say 'I'm no murderer' and then shoot EMP bullets to our heads!" The pair chuckled, their voices cracking a little along the way. "Guns do the killing, not her!"

Fortunately they had something to 'freshen their throats' once they got their tea refill. At a price Eva had agreed upon, of course. Beverages for information, a fair exchange that came with a discount for who they were talking to.

"You already met her a few hours ago!"
"But to be honest, we don't know her name. She's like a ghost. And she doesn't like fun, apparently." That brought shivers down Tock's spine, easing herself down with a few sips from her cup.

And then, the pair stood back up to their feet together, offering each a hand out to Eva. "So, how about we show you instead? The surprise is just along the way!" They added. Some things better shown than told.

Tick's eyes darted over to the metal hatch that lead to the basement, making it clear where their destination was.

@Eva

 

[Eva]

"Hmm, glad you're having fun."

The woman nodded in a monotone voice, despite saying that she was glad. "The point of a game is to provide entertainment, after all." She did not take offense to the other twin's jokes about this missing 'memory bank' or something, but instead, she acknowledged it. "But maybe you're right. Maybe I have to find this 'fun'."

Finishing her tea, she put the cup and the holder back into the other container, then wiped her mouth with a cloth.

"Yes, I am not a murderer." Her hand went inside her pouch, taking out a blue-tipped cartridge with a size that was definitely inspired by the real-world .50 BMG caliber cartridge. "I don't think the EMP bullet ever killed someone," Eva recalled with a confused face, inspecting the bullet with her remaining eye before adding. "It was meant to disable electronics, of course."

Obviously, she missed the fact that if a bullet of that size struck a normal person, they would be instantly obliterated.

Listening to Tick and Tock's further explanation about this 'boss' person just made her more confused. "Hm?" She already met her a few hours ago? And she's like a ghost?

... Is it possible that...

No, that does not compute.

Resigning, she closed the secure lunchbox and got up to walk closer to the hatch. "Okay then. Lead us the way."

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

The pair nodded, but what truly caught their attention wasn't their mother's stoic displays of care for them. It was how for once everything wasn't a 'yes' or 'no' with Eva. A 'maybe' got in-between, and that 'maybe' was related to FUN. Their lips twitched into a full fledged smile at the thought.

"Oho, Tick is sure mama can disable more than just electronics with this." Tick leaned all the more closer when presented with a caliber far above any non-lethal approach she's ever been part of. Which is zero, excluding Szofrit's mumbo jumbo. Tock in the meantime pulled her magnifying glass, giving it a twirl on her hand before focusing exclusively on the cartridge. "No wWWWOonder Tock was so spooked about it. One shot and bo-om, we gone! No one alive to tell about the casualties, so of course it's fatal rate is zero!" She babbled, losing concentration until she had her batteries with one nice sip from her cup.

The pair handled their cups on the way to the basement's hatch, using one hand each to turn the wheel and giving it one kick for good measure before prying it open. "Tick Tock first, we have traps to disable, unless mama wants to end a cyborg." But the idea half-crossed Tick's mind. Not as much to Tock, rather fond of hugging their fleshling magia mom and not a metal mom.

---

Beneath their shop it looked like an ordinary basement- Or cellar, to be more accurate. But what seemed normal for any other villager to have it looked awkward, specially with the amount of wine and ale stored within caskets and the many utensils that matched more for a farmer than an inventor. It all felt generic. Fake. Even the strongbox laid bare beneath a table filled with rags and what seemed like a month old stew, all the way to the crumbling drawer carefully placed over a set of barrels.

"Hop hop, one two three, don't miss the beat and don't step off the line! You know how claymores work, mama? Well, imagine they look like cobblestone and we are just above them!" Tick singsongs along as she made very specific steps to reach the opposite end of the room, where a bookshelf tilted against the wall gave just enough space in between for them to crawl through, except there was nothing on the other side but a wall-

Until it proved to be a mere trick of the eye, an illusion, as Tock crossed first and Tick offered a 'mama's first' gesture for Eva to cross.

"Welcome mama, to our most precious chambers!" Tock proclaimed with arms spread. The room stretched like a corridor, where lanterns and candles illuminated plenty and left little patches of dark around the corners only. Against the walls, coffins rest vertically, with their lids open to reveal the contents.

The first Eva would find would be herself, an eery but accurate version of herself. All the details down to her clothing and her hair bangs nailed, yet the flaws were clear once one got close enough: She could tell this wasn't real, just like Tick Tock had her own give aways that she is not a real human but a puppet, so did this life-sized ventriloquist puppet. And Eva wasn't the only one in display. At least, not in the room.

The Little Witch did so too, lifeless just like the last. Eyes closed, fingers interlocked, they all shared the same resting posture.

The Heroine, too, who looked not so heroic with such a long face, devoid of all energy beyond her looks.

Hanging from hooks on the far end of the room, past a crude operating table, were unfinished pieces, with many of them being blank and featureless, as if the 'skeletons' of what truly made these puppets. Some were even on sitting positions surrounding the walls past the table and drawers. Most of them had their hands cupped together holding candles.

Two of them however had some semblance of design, despite being far from complete, but their features and heads were almost complete: The Accursed Pinkie and Kyanna's friend, MAI.

@Eva

 

[Eva]

Eva followed the steps precisely, down to the rhythm. She didn't know whether the traps were really there (judging by today's scale of destruction, they probably were) and if they would trigger with the slightest mistake.

Why the elaborate safekeeping? What do Tick and Tock keep in here that required all the facade and the traps?

It was quickly answered as the room beyond the wall was revealed; some kind of an eerie workshop. Several coffins stood around the room, with familiar-looking bodies displayed inside of them. One of them was akin to looking into a mirror. "Impressive." She muttered softly, tilting her head.

"Ninety-eight percent accuracy on the measurements. Impeccable likenesses. Perfect finishing." Eva commented, walking closer to the puppet in her image, admiring it closer while her hand runs on its face.

"Yet, missing so many things."

Things that made her human. Not expression nor emotion, since she obviously lacked both.

The white-haired woman walked to the next coffin, inspecting Kyanna's puppet and then moving to look at the others. Those puppets, which felt identical to Tick and Tock's bodies, must have taken a lot of effort and time. "But, for what?" She questioned, scanning the unfinished puppets before looking back at the pair.

"Is this 'Boss' person here?"

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

The pair giggled, unsure how to react to such praise other than with pride and joy unmatched by any headpat Eva could have given them. Of course they accepted both the positive and the criticism alike, and they both almost glued themselves to their mother once she went on to inspect her own puppet, peeking at every trace she made with her hand, taking pictures with just their eyes as their lens.

"Of course, it's missing what makes Tick Tock be Tick Tock! It's missing..." Tick dragged it out, as per dramatic cliches go, her glassy eyes shifting lightly towards Tock's direction. "A soul! A spirit! What little ethereal matter that makes a person be, well, them!" Tock concluded, with fingers pointing at herself, and fingers pointed at her.

The pair stood on each side, grasping onto Eva's hands and walking her over towards the table.

Why? The question that they expected. "Has mama ever wondered why the world's unhappy? It's because we can't agree to one thing. Like bees! There's a reason why they call them a hivemind." Tick said.

"But a hivemind is boring. Effective, but fun isn't always effective." Tock retorted, despite this being a piece of their explanation, it couldn't hold itself together without some little bantering and huffs and puffs to get their feelings across. "That's why we came to a middle ground... Puppets! Ones with strings, ones for Tick Tock to play ventriloquist with! What if everyone were to have strings that we could hold and pull as we see fit?" She revealed, finally ending infront of the table where they let go of their mother.

"Strings to pull when people do bad bad things."
"So they can all focus on having fun instead. They won't know it was Tick who gave them idea to just not start a war!"
"Or Tock the one who whispered to this queen to be nicer to Magia." She wiggled her fingers over the invisible strings that made the incomplete puppets to move. To rise from their sitting positions and lift themselves off one another. "Imagine if we had absolute control, but we didn't tell people what to do other than to avoid catastrophes? A true Utopia, a flawless Utopia! But every fairy tale needs a start, and that's with our puppets over here. With our research-"

"But before that, we need to do what Boss asked of us. And Boss wants to bring a special someone back." It is then that Tick smiled and pointed out to the space now released by the weight of wood and joints alike to reveal a coffin on the floor. "Mama is so smart. Asking the right questions, figuring things out without Tick even telling her! But... Yes and no." She grasped the edge of the lid from this coffin and pulled it open. "Ninety eight percent right. This, mama, is the one who matters the most to our Boss. You are a smart mama, you can figure out what this means, yes? But shh! It's a secret!" Tick hushed.

And inside, there would be the same girl Eva had pointed guns at amidst the fires in Finweald. Her clothes didn't match, and her eyes remained closed, but they were one and the same, despite the few differences present on hair-colour primarily, and the black bowties adorning the inside of her resting place.

@Eva

 

[Eva]

"Is it just the soul?" Eva threw a rhetorical question while looking at the lifeless bodies. "Perhaps there's more to humanity."

"Puppets. Makes sense why you decided to start with people you know,"

Her fingers brushed through the hair of the Kyanna-puppet, feeling the almost authentic texture of hair. "The dedication to making them look identical is very commendable, although I don't know the purpose for that." Her left hand suddenly pointed toward the puppet with her likenesses, motioning around a specific torso area. "You two missed a full inch, by the way. It's F."

Hence why she didn't give them the full score.

She let the twins walk her toward the table, where they explained their plan to 'pull the strings' and 'prevent people from doing stupid things'. Of course, in practice, people will always do unintelligent things. "But, what's the end goal here?" The inventor asked again about the motivation behind the twins' plan as the both of them started to reveal something. "You two want to have fun. Is this Utopia going to be fun?"

Bring a special someone back. So this wasn't the boss, yet her calculation couldn't be wrong. The woman was sure of the boss person Tick and Tock referred to. Could it be? They did not give a clear answer.

Obviously, this was the same girl that Tick and Tock fused into, except this wasn't her attire (people don't change clothes during a chase, sorry Chris Redfield), and her hair was of a different color.

As if this was a clone. Or the next logical possibility, a twin.

She looked briefly at the twins, then back to the husk of the girl, as if reconnecting the mismatched clues she had before. "This one... so she still couldn't be brought back here... yet?" Eva theorized, touching the girl's cheek. "Stuck in another world, perhaps?"

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"Pfft, mama..." Tick sighed off, folding her arms against her chest. "Tick didn't thought you were the philosophical sort! Of course there's not! You don't need a heart, a brain, a pulse. All you need is a soul and a way to make it communicate, and what better way than the human body?" She waved her hands towards the puppet closest to them: Kyanna's.

"Magic of course. Look at Tick or Tock: Sure, we have a heart, but that's for other reasons-- We don't have a brain, for example. Not in the colloquial sense, that Tick means." She could pry open her head right now and show it's empty. The one drawback: She couldn't just cut her head open like a plate like humans do when in need of surgery. But there was no need of surgery in the first place, so that's a bonus!

Their cool broke once Eva pointed out a flaw, Tock sprinting over next to their mother and pulling out her notepad, while Tick leaned in closer, hands resting gently over Eva's puppet as she gave a better scan over to the torso, then to the real one's, a measuring tape formed out of thin air ended up on her hands as she begun to circle around Eva to take the right measures and confirm her statement.

"By the puppets... It's true, Tock. It's F..."

Tick rested a hand over her lips, practically struck down by the revelation, while Tock giggled sheepishly to herself. "Tock is pleased by this discovery- And ANNOYED!" Her thoughts went back to 'business mode', a mean frown over her face. If she could duplicate herself, she would be kicking her porcelain backside right now for doing such a terrible job. "How could we have missed this? Thank you so much, mama. It was a great idea to bring you down here, yes yes..." It would have been an imperfect body for her, had she not intervened.

"But, what's the end goal here?"
"Ours? To have fun, to spread fun! We are 'permanent residents' here. UI-locked is a popular word these days for that." Tick nodded. "Our boss though, wants to go back- Not in the way the nerds at MIT want." Derogatory of their efforts, with Tock adding a 'BLEGH!', like an audience booing the actors on stage. "She wants to go from here, to there. Like... A bridge between both worlds, yes! She wants to cross the bridge, powers and all, and cure her sister. See, this is why brains are bad. They can suddently go haywire and stop working like it should, while the rest of the body does." She wagged her finger in denial.

Tock's right hand reached out for the lid of the twin's coffin, giving ample warning for Eva to pull her hand off before finally closing it, almost defensively so about it.

"You are too smart, mama. Too smart." Tock added, in a forlorn tone almost mismatching their attitude of earlier. "Perhaps that's why Tick Tock's boss has interest in you. You are a good mama. Maybe good enough to help our boss with something less... Dramatic." She finally turned around to face Eva, with the unfinished puppets taking their function of guardians once again and burying the coffin with their own bodies, back to the way they were before, dust and all.

Frozen like living statues.

"Our boss wants you to visit her sister. As a favour of course because she can't do it herself. She needs to know if she still breathes or her plan's gonna be doomed, how about it? Should be simple for mama, even if she doesn't have any of the game's mumbo jumbo to help her."

@Eva

 

[Eva]

The woman let the twins circle around her to take the measurements once more, proving that she was indeed correct. "You probably added some offset for undergarments, but today's lesson is to never assume things." She gave them pointers as to why there was an error in their calculations.

Guess it made sense. Both of them are to live in this world forever, so they wouldn't want it to self-destruct due to the Starcalleds' lack of brain. Eva still couldn't find the 'fun' in this, though, maybe when she finally see this plan in action.

"Hmm.."

Curing her sister; her twin sister, who was in a vegetative state. Probably by bringing her here, but the headset will not do anything if the brain doesn't even function.

This also revealed more about what Tick Tock actually is and the circumstances of their state. For now, she's just going to mentally note this down inside her head.

"Barely an inconvenience," Reaching into the pouch, Eva took out her journal, and with a pen in her right hand ready to write. "A name is all I need, nothing more."

After writing down the name, she underlined it, noting under it 'a visit'. "So, a pleasant visit, I suppose? But do tell your boss..." Closing the book with one hand, she turned toward the twins, staring at them while speaking monotonously, reminding them that she never, ever work out of kindness or whatever that nonsensical concept is.

"... a favor for a favor."

@Tick Tock

 

[Tick Tock]

"Tock REALLY wanted to ask you about it, but Tick thought it would be very indecent to ask you to wear your birthday suit just for this!" Because no better outfit than that for an artist who wishes to not miss a single detail out of someone's body. The measuring tape snapped itself back inside Tick's hand with a little 'click!' at the end.
"Tock doesn't need to hear all this, she is a professional!" Tock huffed. But it was a lesson she would have to take to heart when it came to female anatomy and the problematics of clothing when measuring with the naked eye only. They usually didn't have these problems, but lo and behold, a woman whose circumference beat their sight.

The pair jumped in joy, a little hop more than a leap, but it showcased enough happiness for three. "Yay! That's easy!" Tick said, clearing her throat with a little cough and a pat on her chest. "Erika Banderbill." Her voice changed for that name alone, devoid of that cheer of earlier, or of any emotion to begin with. "Hope you like Spanish food, mama. Barcelona, that's your destination." She waged her finger to her side, in a pointless but artistic gesture, as if writing in the air.

"Juust a visit. You can even talk to her if you'd like, but Tock doubts she will listen. She's a deep sleeper, that one." Simple terms for a simple task. Their hands tucked behind their backs, the pair smiled as the well awaited back and forth finally bounced back to them. Yes, the ball had to roll back to them eventually, and the request of a favor was all they needed before they both stretched their hands out for a handshake. "Anything for mama. Favors included. So, Tick assumes we have a deal, yes yes?"

"We celebrate with some tea back at the shop's front. Wouldn't want to make our friends around here thirsty. They like tea too. Besides, we must plan our little trip with Kyanna. Mama won't leave Tock's wife to her fate, right? She's like your daughter-in-law by now!"

@Eva

 

[Eva]

"I don't have a specific suit for birthdays, though." Eva raised one eyebrow, apparently not having a single clue about that specific expression.

As the twins finished explaining, the woman just promptly replied with "Deal."

Favor is a currency greater than any, and by securing one, she made sure she was always ones step forwards.

Tick and Tock then talked about the planned trip to Hylands to Kyanna, something that she felt like delegating to the both of them. "You two go plan that. Meanwhile, it is nigh time that I rest."

Without any further chit-chat, Eva just turned away like the last time she visited the shop, slowly exiting the secret passage while waving her hand goodbye. "Farewell then, daughters. I'll report back in a week or two."

---

The woman with long white hair was enjoying the steamy hot water running down her head that night. Still standing underneath the shower head, she turned towards the door. "Vasily," Ekaterina's voice echoed through the absurdly large bathroom, calling to another person who proceeded to enter the private space.

A blonde tall man stared at her with sky-blue eyes, waiting for an order. "Yes, my lady."

"Arrange a flight to Barcelona for tomorrow morning. Bring six of your men, no need to tell father about this." She promptly told him, to which he just nodded without any questions asked. "Понял. Anything else?"

"... And get me all information you can pull about Erika Banderbill. Her family, her whereabouts, and her status. Everything." Vasily pulled out his phone, turned around walking out while calling his subordinates. Stepping out of the shower, Katya grabbed a towel, before looking at the stars outside.

@Tick Tock