Morality & Mortality (Artificer x Reader)

And As Long As We Roam The Still, Cold World...

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[[CREDIT TO TUNÇ ÇAKIR]]

ARTIFICER'S P.O.V

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The tallest tower reached high into the sky, outstretching its aged, rusty body towards the heavens. 

Just like a small hand reaching up from a pool of murky water, begging to be plucked out and saved from being dragged down into the depths...

...

Wind brushed against Arti's skin as she climbed one of the many poles that allowed her to ascend the construct, all while a very giddy slugcat gripped her shoulders and talked their head off about various things surrounding 'The Ancients' while she carried them on her back.  

Her friend had practically begged Artificer to take a detour and explore the great tower, insisting that it was essential for their 'studies' and that the view would be 'absolutely enchanting'. 

Not wanting to deal with a whining slugcat for the rest of her journey, Artificer complied. The bastard leading the Scavengers could suffer in their own paranoia in the meantime. 

"I still find it hard to believe that I was walking in the same streets as The Ancients themselves!" Artificer nodded and let out a tiny smile, just small enough to not be noticeable by her friend, "It's bloody surreal I tell you!"

"Well, 'being chased by Scavs' would probably be a better description than just 'walking', y'know." Artificer responded with an unusually lighthearted tone compared to her previous cycles.

"'Walking' sounds a lot more pleasant than 'running from a bunch of spear wielding maniacs' when written down though," They said with a fake posh accent, "And if you would be kind enough to let me brag, I think I know a little bit more about literature than you do, 'pal' because I invented it, and I perfected it so that nobody could best me in the field of writing!"

Artificer simply scoffed and rolled her eye.

"This view better be the best damn thing I've ever seen in my life, or I'll be chucking you off the top of this tower myself." 

"It will be, Arti, trust me!" Their keen voice showed no signs of lying, "I've also got uh, something to tell you as well..." The last section of their sentence was hard to pick up on, luckily Arti's senses were sharpened by survival.

The climb wasn't easy by any means, it always took at least one blast jump in order to reach the next ledge or pole she needed to use to ascend the tower. Falling down and breaking a limb would be very counterproductive to her current goals, she was lucky that her friend was as light as they were. 

Arti could see the utter disrepair and squalor of most of the Metropolis from here, and her sharp eye could even spot a few wandering Scavenger patrols, prancing around innocently as if their kind weren't disgusting slabs of bipedal waste. 

Perhaps the 'great view' that was promised to Artificer by her friend, would be so high up she wouldn't be able to see any of that stuff at all. Not a bad idea, honestly.

Finally, she reached an access pipe that led upwards, through the floor of one of the 'houses' imbedded into the tower. Her friend could probably answer as to why cramming a bunch of folks into a singular place was a good idea to those 'Ancient' guys, but they must've done a pretty shitty job at doing whatever they were supposed to be doing.