Breakthrough.

|6|

That gentle embrace seemed to ease both Iterators minds, even with the rot constantly eating away at its new prison- now they had time, and Five Pebbles had figured out a way to repair himself. Seeing as he, too, was the youngest- repairs would, and had taken the least amount of time- which seemed to only stall The Rot further.

And so, both Iterators once again sat in the other's chamber- this time, Pebbles having primarily transmitted himself through hologram, over to Suns' chamber.

The iterator was scrolling through their selection of pearls, and occasionally chiming in to help with the work the other was struggling with.

Despite this, Five Pebbles had one of those holographically represented arms wrapped around Suns, the other hand gesturing to certain pearls- or even things in his own chamber. Two minds were better than one, after all.

And so, both remained at work- quiet other than occasional words spoken. Despite this peaceful Atmosphere, Five Pebbles couldn't help but flinch every once in a while, The Rot still eating away at his superstructure. Slowly, but surely it consumed... It always left a nauseating feeling in his puppet, which was quite peculiar... especially since he didn't even have a mouth, nor ears.

And so, he sat there- Antennae faintly twitching through the air, and scrolling through his new database. Him and Suns had pooled their information, in order to more properly progress. He was working on further slowing The Rot down, while they were trying to figure out solutions, alternative solutions to slowing it down. So far? No progress had been made in either, likely because they'd just started work on it for today- quietly muttering various things on occasion.

He'd been getting call after call from NSH, that bastard seemed to think it was urgent to talk to him now, seeing as Suns was actually helping him.

It didn't help either when a public announcement, against his will, was made about his contraction of The Rot. They'd managed to sneak an overseer into the containment when he'd been transporting more frigid material inside with an Inspector, and it seemed now that the image was skyrocketing in popularity.

Unfortunately for those who wanted to help, this was simply too private for him to ever consider. He... didn't know what to think of the unwanted publicity, other than to stay silent, and wait for them to shut up.

Suns' eyes, well, gaze shifted towards the Iterator on their left, the smaller looked stressed, and mildly uneased, having paused his sequence- with his antennae sinking down. They quietly dismiss their own trials, before speaking.

"You alright over there, Pebbles? You look stressed."
They remark, a tone of concern covering anything else noticeable.

Five Pebbles abruptly shifted, Antennae darting up in a rather unpredictable manner.
"Yes, suppose so. Just dwelling, and thinking on recent matters. My apologies, i'll be getting back to my work now-"

Suns seemed a bit taken-aback, rather confused at the random apology. Were they expecting too much of Five Pebbles? Was the iterator struggling to solve some other issues? They decided to ask.
"There's no need to apologize, and I'd like to inquire; is there something you are struggling with? There's always the chance I will be able to help."

Five Pebbles now had his turn to be mildly taken aback- usually Suns stuck to their work, and didn't question him. Now, he felt almost a tad babied. It was both an unpleasant feeling, but one that made him feel at least... a bit appreciated?

"I'm fine, nothing of trouble, really."
He responds, his words nearing a scoff. He returns to his work, running a few programs- in comparison to what he'd been doing for the past... who knows how many cycles, this was light work. In fact, he seemed to find another way to slow The Rot down even further each day- another way to produce something colder massively.