Out There Reimagined Chapter 11: Source

By morning, all the Stitchpunks had gathered outside the factory. Sentry machines were flying around in the air keeping watch for anything suspicious, which kept the Stitchpunks hiding behind nearby rubble. Once a sentry passed on it's way, 15 and the twins moved a sheet of metal away. Seeing the coast was clear, 9 began to head towards the factory, but 5 stopped him before he could go any farther. “Wait! I'm going with you!” he said, grabbing 9 by the shoulder. 9 turned around to look at him.

“No. It's too dangerous. If I don't come back...destroy it.” he said. 9 turned away and ran for the entrance of the factory.

“Wait! How?!” 5 yelled out, but 9 was already too far away to hear him. 5 sighed and looked to the side, noticing some machinery running. He knew what they were, oil wells. He looked at the ground below him, seeing a small pool of the black liquid. He remembered seeing a larger pool of oil when he was inside the factory an idea forming in his head.

“Well, let's hear it.” 1 said from behind him. “What's your brilliant scheme?” 5 turned towards the elder, pulling out a match from his bag.

“We'll need a full barrel.” he said with a grin. As they began to look around for a barrel of oil, 15 stopped and looked ahead at the sinister factory.

“F-15? W-w-what is it?” 6 asked, lightly shaking 15's arm. She snapped out of some kind of trance she was in and looked at 6.

“It's nothing.” she said. She began to walk ahead, 6 following. “At least he'll be able to go out in a blast.” she mumbled.

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The Seamstress stood in front of it's creator, taking out the first victim it had captured. It presented 8 to the Machine, as if he were a tribute. The Machine took the Stitchpunk into it's own arms, placing him in front of it's singular eye. 8 began to struggle, trying to break free from his captor with no success. The Machine's eye closed completely, and 8 stopped struggling. The talisman began to power up, and instead of struggling again 8 growled at the Machine, trying to show that he wasn't going to give in. But it did no good, as the green lights that emitted from the talisman shot straight into his eyes and mouth, draining his soul inside. The lights subsided, and his body fell limp in the Machine's grasp. It opened up it's red eye, taking in the power that it had received. The Seamstress held out 16, who had regained consciousness once again.

He looked down at the thread that kept him tied up. “What was I doing last night?” he said. He turned his head to see the Machine looking straight at him. The inventor became absolutely frightened, wanting to get away but stuck where he sat due to the thread. “Hey let me back in! Let me back in!!! I don't wanna be Machine fuel!!!” he yelled out in a panic. The Machine proceeded to take 16 in it's grasp.

At this point, 9 had made his way into the factory. Hearing 16 yell out, he ran as fast as he could. He stopped and kept himself hidden from the machines, and could only watch while 16 met his fate.

16 struggled in fear, but once he came face to face with the eye of the machine, he just gave a big grin. “Ha! You think you can take me down like this? You obviously don't know who you're dealing with! The awesomeness that is 16 can't be taken down by the likes of you!” he said. The Machine began to power up the talisman once again, but 16 didn't seem to notice. “In fact, you're nothing but a big, glowing, piece of-” 16 was cut off, as he too had his own soul drained from his very body. In a matter of minutes, he was in the same, lifeless state as 8. His body fell to the ground, landing on top of 8's.

The Seamstress took out 7, it's final victim, and was prepared to give her up to the Machine. 9 couldn't let that happen to her, and taking notice to a scrap of burlap thought of a plan.

As the Seamstress presented 7 to the Machine, a yell caught it's attention. “Hey! Over here!” From where it stood, it's broken red eye caught something moving. Seeing the foolish Stitchpunk giving itself away, it decided to close in and placed 7 back inside it's body. Once it got close enough, it began to strike it's needles into the burlap in order to tie it up. When it tapped it's head, the Stitchpunk strangely lit up. The Seamstress began to realize that this was no Stitchpunk. While it was distracted, 9 began to run off in the other direction. The Seamstress began to take chase, but was caught on something and couldn't move. 9 had tied the light staff to a nut and threw it up by the gears. And with the Seamstress' thread still tied to the staff, it was being pulled up as well towards the gears.

9 stopped running and turned around to the Seamstress. Taking out a small blade, he stuck it into the Seamstress and sliced through it, releasing 7. Before she could make impact with the ground, 9 caught the warrior in his arms. The Seamstress was being pulled farther and farther into the gears, and soon it was noting more than a pile of fabric and crushed machinery. 9 looked at 7 and began to untie her so they could escape.

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Back outside, 5 and the others had managed to find a barrel of oil and had rolled it up to the entrance. Stopping it right in the front, 5 looked down into the tunnel worriedly. 9 hadn't returned with the others yet. “Where are they?” he asked. 15 walked over to him, placing her hand on his shoulder.

“Don't worry. He'll come.” she said. “I just know it.”

“It's been too long! There's no way he's still alive!” 1 said, dismissing 15's words. “We have to do it now!” he began to reach for the match, but 15 grabbed his arm.

“I don't think so.” she said. 1 pulled his arm away and continued to reach for the match.

“I don't recall you having the authority to tell me what I should or shouldn't do, stupid girl!” he yelled out.

“Leave her alone! We need to give 9 more time!” 5 yelled back, running in between 15 and 1.

1 laughed at 5's behavior. “And allow you to cause the death of another of our kind? I don't think so!” he said. 5 cringed and looked down in depression. 15 looked at 1 with rage. This time he had gone too far.

“I've had enough of this!” she said, ready to give 1 a piece of her mind. But before she could, a light began to shine down on all of them. They looked up and saw that one of the sentries had spotted them. All the arguing and yelling must have given them away.

5 took out his grappling hook and shot it at the sentry. 5 grabbed the cable and began to pull down on it. “Help me bring it down!” he called out to the others. 6, 15, and the twins ran towards 5 and grabbed onto the cable, though a few grabbed onto another Stitchpunk. The sentry let out some kind of siren, and tried to resist the pull. The Stitchpunks continued to pull, but weren't able to bring it down. They began to be pulled themselves by the machine. However, using quick thinking, 1 looped the cable around an open section of the barrel. The others were no longer being pulled up, and fell to the ground.

1 looked down the tunnel and began hearing the sounds of something coming closer. “They're coming!” he said, running over to the fallen 5. As 5 reached out his hand with the hope that he would help him up, 1 instead grabbed the match and lit it.

5 managed to get back up and ran to 1 before he could light the oil. “No! Not yet!” he yelled out, struggling to remove the match from 1's grip.

“Let...go...you...fool!” 1 said, not about to give up.

“5!” The two heard 9 call out from the tunnel, 7 following behind him. There were countless numbers of small machines chasing them. 5 took the match from 1 and lit the trail of oil, while 1 ran over to begin pushing the barrel.

“Now!” he yelled out to the others. 1 and everyone else began to push the barrel as hard as they could, sending it rolling down the tunnel.

As it came towards them, 7 took 9's hand and jumped over the barrel. The machines behind them were pushed back by the live weapon. As the others watched 7 and 9 make their way through the tunnel, 15 turned around and yelled out “Move!!!” They turned to find the sentry that had spotted them was being sent down as well. Everyone dived to the side to avoid being sent down with it. 7 took the blade 9 had and stuck it out forward. She lurched forward with 9 in her grasp and stabbed straight through the blimp part of the sentry. The two safely made it out of the tunnel, just in time. The group of Stitchpunks ran as fast as they could in order to safely avoid the explosion.

Once they reached a safe distance, they all looked back to the factory. The building had burned completely down. There was no way anything could have survived the explosion. They slowly walked away from the sight, relieved that everything was over. “Hmph. Good riddance!” 1 said before walking away.

“You did it.” 5 said to 9.

“Are you two just going to stand there all day, or are you going to join us?” 15 called out. 5 and 9 ran over as fast as they could. 5 however, stood for a moment and looked back at the factory.

"You see 11? The plan worked after all." he said with a hint of sadness. 3 and 4 were on top of a record player that was nearby. The two started to walk across the surface, causing it to begin making a sound.

“Somewhere, over the rainbow,
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of,
Once in a lullaby.”

15 suddenly raised 6 by his legs and placed him on top of her shoulders, carrying him around. The striped Stitchpunk began to laugh, not expecting her to do such a thing. For the first time in what felt like forever to the prophets, they were able to laugh and have fun together. 7, who was sitting on the record player, laughed at the prophets antics. It made her happy to see 15 enjoying herself again. It had felt like forever since she had seen her this way. Perhaps it had been wrong to have taken her away from Sanctuary. She had thought it was best for the female artist, but now she realized that she had been happy all along. Suddenly, she heard the sounds of eyes flashing behind her. The twins were standing on the handle of the record player cataloging her, as well as 6 and 15. 7 placed her skull helmet over her face and waited for the twins to come up again. Once they did, she turned around and yelled out at them, startling them and causing them to fall over. She looked down and saw that 9 was turning the handle.

9 himself got on the handle and tried to walk over to 7, tripping and causing the record to skip a little. 7 helped him up as he looked embarrassed. They looked over to see that 6 and 15 had found their way onto the record player themselves. 6 was standing in front of the speakerphone and looking into it. “Souuuuunnddd!” he kept saying into the speakerphone. “Sound!” Next to him, 15 was sitting down and giggling. She rarely ever saw him act silly like this.

Both 9 and 7 laughed before looking back at each other. “Thank you.” she said.

“Someday I'll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me.
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Way above the chimney tops, that's where you'll find me.”

9 and 7 noticed that there was an extra voice singing that time. They looked ahead and saw that the extra voice had come from 15. The two were surprised at the fact that she could sing. 6 on the other hand, was happy. “W-what a beautiful s-s-sound...” he said, sitting down next to 15. 15 blushed, her singing wasn't that good yet 6 believed otherwise.

“You really think so?” she asked. 6 nodded his head, blushing as well.

“Y-y-your s-singing isn't t-the only t-t-thing that is...” he said. 15 was confused and flattered all at once. 6 leaned in closer and gave the confused prophet a kiss. 15's whole face turned a bright green. Everyone that was nearby looked in amazement at the prophets kiss. 6 removed his lips from 15's, leaving her flustered. “F-f-f-15...” he began. “I-I...I love you...” he nervously said, his stutter gone and with a hopeful smile.

“S-s-6...” 15 was at a loss for words for a moment. Once she snapped back, she took 6 in her arms. “6, I love you too.” she said.

5 smiled a little, pleased to see his sister figure and friend happy together. He had suspected the two of them had something for each other, but never tried to figure out if it was true or not. So much had happened to them in the past few days, he figured it was best for them to have their moment. He walked over to the container of records, hoping to find something that would set the mood.

Meanwhile, 1 was sitting by himself, looking at the burning factory. He listened to 15's singing again, it was different than what he had heard last night. He remembered what she had said about singing for them once things returned to normal. Even though that meant everything would be fine, he couldn't join in with the others. Everyone else was happy, after all they had destroyed the last thing that had been going after them. They could rest easy and celebrate. So why did 1 feel so terrible? He removed his hat, the last symbol of authority he had left, revealing the tie on his head. He looked down at the ground, his heart feeling heavy.

5 looked through the records, stopping at a cover with a woman on it. His heart began to feel heavy, but he shook it out of his mind. 11 might have been gone, but he still had a life to live and a family to spend it with. And now they could live together without fear of machines. Nothing could possibly go wrong. As he was distracted, a record began to roll away. 5 snapped back to reality and began to run after it. 1 looked up, seeing him chase after a silly record. “That boy really is foolish...” he mumbled, looking back at the ground.

As the record rolled away, 5 stopped to catch his breath. He looked at the destroyed factory once again, thinking he could see something in the dark cloud of smoke. At first he thought it was just his imagination, but then he saw something move. A large figure came closer and closer. It wasn't until he saw the red glow that 5 became terrified.

Back at the record player, 6 and 15 were sitting on top of the handle together, their hands clasped together. Suddenly, 6 let go of 15 and began to shake in fear. 15 knew that look far too well, 6 just had a vision and it wasn't a good one. “6, what's wrong? What did you see?!” she asked.

6 looked up at her and whispered slowly, “D...d...death...”

“Guys!” 5 yelled out, grabbing the attention of everyone. “Run! The Machine! It's alive! It's alive!!!” Behind him was the Machine, damaged but still functional. The twins, who had been running across the record, stopped once they hit the needle, knocking 6 and 15 to the ground.

The Machine took 5 in it's grasp, and 9 ran to try and save him only to be held back by 1. “It's too late now! Continue this and you'll kill yourself!” he said as 9 continued to struggle.

As the Machine brought him closer and closer, 5 screamed out in terror. He stopped just a second before before the talisman drained his soul, thinking he could see something in it's eye. His thought was cut short as the talisman drained him of his soul. “No!” 9 yelled out, unable to do anything. 6 and 15 were practically huddled together, the two holding each other as tight as they could. The Machine completed draining 5, leaving a burnt hole in the patch where his eye once was. 5's body was dropped to the ground, and 7 took the twins in her arms, covering their eyes.

6 and 15 looked at the Machine's eye, seeing something inside. In the eye were their comrades, at least what was left of them. They could see 2, 5, 8, 11, and 16, and the prophets knew that it wasn't too late. “The others...” 15 said.

“T-t-they're trapped!” 6 said, clutching onto his key.

1 turned around, and saw a bridge suspended over a chasm. “To the bridge!” he called out. While 9, 7, and the twins followed 1, 6 and 15 remained where they were. 7 stopped and ran back for 15, with 9 grabbing 6.

“Are you two trying to get yourselves killed?!” 7 asked.

They reached the bridge, with the machine following behind them and getting closer every second. 9 and 7 lost grip of the prophets, and the two ran towards the machine. “They're trapped! They're trapped inside!” the two said as 9 and 7 restrained them both.

“6! 15! Come on!” 9 said, resuming his running.

“What is wrong with you?!” 7 asked. "You've never acted like this before!"

“7, you don't understand!” 15 tried to explain. "I know what we have to do, please listen to me!"

“I think that you're the one who doesn't understand! We need to keep running until we find a way to destroy that thing!” 7 said. "All you're doing is sending yourself closer to death!"

“But you can't destroy it! If you do, the others won't make it!” 15 said.

7 looked down at 15 in confusion. She and 6 were acting strange. Something wasn't adding up. But now wasn't the time to figure out what. They had to keep running. "Well now isn't the time for this!" she said, pulling the female artist once again. 15 looked desperately at 6, unsure of a way to tell the others what they clearly understood. 6 looked just as upset as her, how could they not see it? The Machine struck the bridge, just missing the Stitchpunks. The bridge began to give way, and the Machine had to grab a metal bar just to keep from falling into the chasm below. Seeing as this being the perfect opportunity, 7 ran over and began using her spear to try and send the Machine to it's end.

“No! Stop! You musn't destroy it!” 6 yelled out, running towards 7 with 15 following behind him.

“Please listen to us 7! You're making a big mistake!” 15 yelled out.

“Get away you two!” 7 shouted out, shrugging off their words returning to the task at hand. 6 and 15 turned around and ran towards 9.

“You musn't destroy it! Don't destroy it. They're trapped. They're trapped, they're inside! They're inside!” 6 said.

“9, you can't destroy it! Not yet! If you destroy it now, they'll be lost forever!” 15 said, trying to word it in a way 9 would understand. "It's not too late, you can still save them!"

At that moment, 7 had successfully gotten the Machine to lose it's grip on the bar keeping it from falling. In a scramble, it broke through the boards of the bridge with it's arm, taking both 6 and 15 with it. 9 and 7 ran to the edge of the bridge as fast as they could, as the bridge began to fall to the side, joining 1, 3, and 4. They could only watch as 6 and 15 suffered the same fate as the others had.

“Go back! To the First Room! He'll show you! The Source!” 6 yelled out.

"The truth lies in his words! He'll reveal they keys to freedom!" 15 added.

The two of them didn't struggle, as if they accepted death peacefully. They had no regrets, and they knew what would happen to them from the beginning. Their life had been short, but they didn't care. They had spent it well, and they trusted 9 to listen to their words. "All is how it must be." 6 said.

“Well, I guess this is end.” 15 said, looking over at him.

6 took her hand into his, refusing to let it go. If they were to die, it would be together. “At least I'm with you at it.” he said.

15 weakly smiled. “I couldn't have said it better myself.” she said. "Thank you, for everything." The two looked at the Machine's eye, accepting their fate.

9 and 7 watched helplessly as 6 and 15 were drained of their souls, 9 nodding his head in understanding. The two fell limp in the Machine's grasp before they were dropped into the chasm below. 9 and 7 looked away in sadness, while 1 looked down at the Machine. The mechanical monster shook in it's temporary prison, trying to break free. “We have to destroy it.” he said.

“No. Didn't you hear them?! They're trapped inside! We can still save them!” 9 said, hoping to reach the others.

“What?” 7 asked.

"We have to find the Source. It holds the answer!" 9 said.

1 and the other looked down at the Machine, still trying to break free from the fallen bridge. “We're out of time.” 1 said, looking at 7. She turned her head back to 9.

“9, they're gone.” she said. "We all saw it. There's no way to undo what has been done."

9 looked at them in disbelief. “You're wrong. There's a way to save them, and I'm going to find it.” he said, running off.

“9!” 7 yelled out. But 9 ignored her. 1 placed a hand on her shoulder, not exactly in sympathy but in a bit of comfort.

“Let him go.” he said. 7 took one last look at the Machine, feeling guilty about 15.

“I'm sorry.” she said, before joining 1 in search of a way to destroy the Machine for good. The twins looked down at the chasm in sadness. All they wanted was for everyone to be happy. Instead their family was as split apart as it could be. 5, 15, and 6, all gone. There was nothing they could do now to fix things. Silently and sadly, they followed after 1 and 7.