Breakthrough.

|1|

It was a quiet morning, if it could be called so. The sun rose on the horizon- casting Five Pebbles' superstructure in a golden glow- illuminating each, faintly, red crevice with valiant sunlight.

The young iterator found himself stirring from a state of temporary shutdown- senses near overwhelmed, even in his 'can'. The whirls of steam outside signaled his recent activities quite well- and the constant thrum of machinery drowned out anything that would've come from his own movement. With a groggy shuffle- he boots up a small screen, looking over his systems as he rubs at his eyes...
But there's something on his hand, as he retracts it from his left eye.

He reels- the screen fizzling- and crackling as he looks to his fingertips. The faintest tinge of deep blue remains- and he taps once again to his face... it seems to be a tad above his eye? What could this be?
He glances back to the screen ahead- swiping his hand over his robes with an irritated grumble. It doesn't matter, he has things to attend to... like figuring out how to get rid of this... THING.
His fingers whirl over the screens, delicate movements carefully operating different functions. The endless churning of mechanics surrounds him- and he continues his attempts to silence the various calls in his Communications Array.

Five Pebbles would've sworn, then and there- if Seven Red Suns never called him again, it'd be too soon.
The damn bastard had been almost constantly calling him for longer than... He didn't want to think about what happened to moon. He empties his thoughts with a quick set of breaths- well, they weren't really. This specific puppet model didn't possess a mouth. Steam ventilated out into his chamber, leaving it in a faint smog- a sign of his stress.

No matter what he tried- it seemed that this biological anomaly just... wouldn't die! He collapses his consoles- crumpling to the floor with a hissing sputter. He pulls himself into a ball, merely sitting there in the empty solitude- that endless churn of systems slowing the only noise to fill the emptiness... well, other than the ringing of his Communications Array.

He 'hisses' under his breath again- steam billowing into the chamber. He finally goes to the Array, muttering under his breath. Of course, it's Suns- at it again. Would it even be worthwhile to answer? He stands, hand looming over the button... it... Maybe Suns would know how to fix this.
After all, it'd been Suns who'd given him the idea- oh so long ago. Now, it seemed that the other Iterator would like nothing more than to stop his attempts to break the Taboo.

Pebbles turned for a moment- venting the steam from his chambers, and trying to compose himself, to little avail. He felt it, already eating away near the edges of his superstructure... he can't help but flinch every time it continues to eat away at components.
Fuck it, there's nothing to lose.

He presses the button- accepting the broadcast invitation from SRS, and opening communication. He steps back from the array, expecting one of Sun's overseers to pop into his chamber...

To say the voice broadcasted to him was distressed, and hoarse- would be saying the least.

"Pebbles? Pebbles, are you there?"
Suns' voice rang true, and honestly- Pebbles couldn't help the relief that it brought. It was something in this endless thrum of anguish.
It made sense that after what he'd done to Suns' messenger, he was still worried.

"I am present, do you require something of me?"
He manages to keep composed, a steel tone- cold and unwavering.

"Oh thank the void you're okay- I'm sending an Overseer- right now."
Sun's response is rushed, to say the least.

"Is that Necessary?"
Pebbles grumbles, simply crossing his arms in the antigravity. Various pearls encircle him, in a halo-like formation.

"I am MAKING SURE you're okay."
The other Iterator's tone took such a serious connotation- Pebbles was even a bit stunned for a moment. Usually Suns was rather carefree.