Hungry Iterators

Chapter 3: Arguments and Hunger

No Significant Harassment was having difficulty getting Seven Rising Suns to talk about what had happened between him and Five Pebbles. Having been silent about the topic, NSH decided to push further, calling SRS once again.

"Sigh, NSH, what is it this time?" SRS said with distain in his voice.

"You know what I want to know," NSH commanded.

"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not talking about it!" SRS argued.

"You know this is important! Especially since Looks to the Moon has gone silent," NSH argued back.

"She's, gone silent?" SRS said, questioning the claim.

"Yes, and I suspect it has something to do with what you've seen. After all, those two are really close, if something affects one, it'll likely affect the other," NSH said.

"I... I doubt what I've seen would affect LttM."

"Why not?"

"I don't think he could... do that... to her."

"Do WHAT?"

"I'm not saying!"

"This could be important! If something is wrong with Five Pebbles, then it could harm LttM! Why are you quiet about this!"

"Because I don't want to think about what I saw!"

"Why not? It can't be THAT bad, could it? We've seen nasty things; I doubt it's any worse than anything we've seen yet."

"It IS worse than what we've seen!"

"How am I supposed to know that unless you tell me?"

"Why don't you just trust me that it isn't something you want to see?"

"Because I don't believe it!"

"Why not?"

"Because you've shone no evidence other than how you're acting! Whatever, I'll figure it out myself."

"NO WAI-" and with that, the conversation was over.

Still annoyed with their conversation, NSH quickly made a slugcat to check up on LttM. He accidentally gave it a disease, but that didn't matter to NSH at the moment, he only wanted to know at this point. Sending out the little red thing with an overseer following, he watched curiously. While on its trip, SRS tried to call multiple times in an attempt to warn NSH, but he wasn't having it. He was getting his information whether SRS wanted it or not. 

The little red slugcat he sent out eventually found its way to Five Pebbles and LttM's structures and went inside LttM's. Inside was eerily empty, almost like it was dead. Activity was slow, almost nonexistent, and not even creatures decided to reside in the quiet. Going into her puppet chamber, the slugcat found nothing, except for a puppetless umbilical. The room's lights were off, no sign of life anywhere in this place. The slugcat made its way into the memory confluxes, only to find most empty, even of the neuron flies that usually resided there. The lack of activity anywhere worried NSH, and so he used the overseer to motion the slugcat to go to Five Pebbles's superstructure instead. 

Crossing over into Five Pebbles's structure, there was sudden activity within. Neuron flies could be found everywhere they didn't belong, and violent ones too. It was bustling with activity, violent, violent activity. Five Pebbles's memory confluxes were the worst of this activity, filled with neuron flies moving in ways they shouldn't, many with eyes, many others unnaturally dark in color. Both with stealth and speed, the little slugcat finally made their way into Pebble's puppet chamber. 

This place was not as it should be. The floor, red with a sticky substance, had places where it was inky black instead. A broken yellow ID drone with a cracked face is bloodied on the ground and the black inky substance seems to be coming from something within Five Pebbles's hands. While it takes the slugcat a bit to figure out what they're looking at, NSH takes no time at all. It's a half-eaten head.

Not just any head though, specifically LttM's head, still crying. Where her body was, NSH had no idea, but the inky substance coming from the remains covered both Five Pebbles's hands and mouth. The mouth on its own would be unnerving, but the inky blackness coming from it irked NSH into fright. When the overseer noticed Five Pebbles now noticed the slugcat, it quickly left, leaving the ill slugcat to whatever fate was there for them, and leaving NSH disgusted by what he saw.