Breakthrough.

|4|

The near echoing silence that followed the prior argument felt so loud, that subtle disturbance of peace, and calm.

It was very stark to what Five Pebbles could've hoped for- anything but the silence would be preferable, but it seemed Suns was near unresponsive. The other Iterator had began calculating- calculating ways to destroy this mess he'd made.
Well, sometimes Suns would check on him- or help soothe his mind. It was... able to leave him very calm. Although, they were mostly unresponsive.

Although, Pebbles could hardly mind this- seeing as his processing strata was still properly rebooting, and the flares of pain through his Puppet's receptors were constant.

He... wasn't used to pain, and this made it all the more horrendous.

"Suns, what're you doing?"
Pebbles spoke, his voice sounded hoarse- crackling in his voicebox still apparent- even though he hadn't even spoke in... who knew how many hours Suns had been at work with this.

The other iterator turned their head, before deciding to speak.

"I'm running multiple simulations at once- my apologies if I haven't spoke with you, at all. I'm trying to find something these creatures are... vulnerable to."
Their response initially came off with a cold tone- which by the end, finally eased. It seemed Suns was trying to be polite, despite the generally monotone nature of being at work.

"I know that it's hurting right now Pebbs, but i'm merely going to ask you to remain calm. I'll... see what I can do to reduce any of that pain, but for now, finding a way to stall, or get rid of The Rot is the priority- okay?"

"Suns, I'm going to request you focus on... reducing the pain."
Pebbles' response had a mild strain to it, these flareups of agony only grew more and more unbearable over time. It'd taken a few weeks for them to properly show up, but now? They constantly, and gradually intensified.

"...Alright."
With a wave of their fingertips, the various screens surrounding Suns vanished- except for one. The Override Button. It was soon-after pressed, and once again- Suns was able to locate exactly the problem.

"It seems to be attaching to your neural networks, seeing as they produce a small amount of electricity... I didn't account for that, my apologies. Shall I shut those ones in particular down?"
Suns remarks, looking away from the screen for an answer.

"Will... it do anything to me? Or hurt? I just... don't know if I want to cut off my neural pathway from that location."
His response was uneasy, and he simply picked a pearl off've the floor of his chamber- and began to play it's message, that familiar tune. It... brought a bit of peace to his still, almost empty mind.

"It... I wouldn't expect it to hurt at all, infact, quite the opposite. I'll just... switch this off at the Quarantine point, and try to lock it down."
Suns' remark was cut off by a change of sensation- a dulling, and then vanishing of the constant agony churning through Pebbles' systems. The relief of it all sent the smaller Iterator into a state of mild triumph- standing up from the floor to speak.

"That is Much better."
He responds, before scratching at the metal indent above his left eye.

"Although- still got a weird itch here- Dunno why."
He gestures towards the spot... and Suns nearly flinches- deciding to simply ignore the remark, and the rot seeping out've Pebbles' face.

"It's... probably just an itch. So, is there anything you'd like to further discuss before I return to my work?"
Suns responds, swiping away the translucent screen infront of themselves with their hands.

"Eh... what did I miss? My... Overseers are growing too slow, and have proven too weak to travel far anymore."
He questions, scratching slightly at the same panel again- before just leaving it to exist.