Outbreak

Helpful Machine

Day 36:

Sabre's P.O.V.

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"Wha? Why are we in the lab?" M glances around the pristine room in confusion. "Shouldn't we be in the leader's house? My people will be worried about me." I sigh.

"They are, but we have to keep you here for a while."

"But... why?" I open my mouth to respond, but am immediately interrupted by Assistant Steve, who rolls quickly into the room.

"Okay, can I have my teleporter back now?" he whines.

"Nope." I decide. "I still don't trust you with it. Now, can you distract the Red Steves in M's house?"

"But I don't want to!" Even as he says it, Assistant Steve's wheels start rolling backward, taking him out of the room and toward the elevator. "Non-steve, this is really unfair!"

"How did you do that?" M asks incredulously, momentarily distracted. "Assistant Steve never does anything when I ask!"

"I reprogrammed him." I explain. "Now I basically have more control over him than Professor Red. As you may have guessed, he isn't taking that well." Even now, I could hear Assistant Steve loudly complaining as he went up the elevator, his voice getting quieter and quieter as he ascended. M stares at me with huge eyes.

"You can... program?" he asks, shocked. "I thought only the Red Professor could do that." My face heats up.

"I can do a lot of stuff." I shrug. "Machines are kind of a hobby for me."

"Still, why? You know he's going to be mad at you forever now." M laughs. My expression falls, and I can see him grow concerned. "Sabre... did something happen?"

"You might want to sit down." I say somberly. "There's a lot to explain."

"So... there might be infected steves in the Rainbow Kingdom?" M breathes, once I'm done telling him the story. "That's bad."

"Exactly. And I think that's the reason Light captured you." I add. "Which means you might be... well..."

"I might be infected." the Red Steve finishes. "That's not good, either."

"Definitely not." I kick at the ground, feeling bad for my friend. "Especially since you might be fine. We won't know until you display symptoms, or until you continue not having symptoms."

"But that may take days! Who's going to run the kingdom if I stay down here for days? Or worse, if I'm actually infected? Sabre, there's not an apprentice's apprentice!"

"I don't know, M. But we can't risk your whole kingdom getting sick. I've- I've seen what this can do to people. Entire villages completely abandoned... it's bad, M."

"That's what happened to the other steves." M recalls. "To the steves like Green." I brighten up a bit, happy to share some good news.

"Hey, guess what?"

"Hm?"

"I figured out how to cure Green!"

M's face lights up.

"Really? What are we so worried about, then? Let's go cure everyone!" He jumps up excitedly, and I have to stop him from racing toward the quarantine room.

"Wait! It... it doesn't work on steves from this realm." I have to clarify. "I already tried it on Light. The rainbow stone I used isn't compatible."