Freeze or Fall

Chapter 30: Slumber

"Jrumbot?" Cyclops murmured.

Robot Grian frowned. "You recognize him?"

"Yeah, he's one of Mumbo's. But why specifically him?"

"Perhaps it's because of how young he is?"

Cyclops shook his head. "In that case, wouldn't they have gone for Grumbot?"

"Who?"

"Jrumbot's older brother. They were created around the same time."

"Beta version type?"

"Yep..."

Jrumbot didn't really understand what they were talking about. Tuning the older spirits out, he glanced around the vast expansion of nothingness.

Something was oddly familiar about the place, but Jrumbot couldn't figure out what.

"You probably have a lot of questions, hmm?"

Jrumbot glanced back at Cyclops. They'd finished their conversation and Robot Grian was walking off.

The little bot paused, but nodded.

Cyclops kneeled down. "Where we are right now isn't really a place. It's more of a... mindscape, if you will. A nonexistent place for our consciousness to go when our bodies are gone. Funny enough, it's a lot like the mindscapes alters go to. You know who those are, right?"

Jrumbot nodded.

"Well, if an alter does not have a host to go to, and cannot return to a mindscape, they come here. It's all connected, really. We're much different than alters though. You and I were born from machines, AI, life that wasn't made by the code. Just like alters, our souls came from players, but not in the same way. Since we're not connected to a host, our lives are fragile. If our bodies are destroyed, we have nowhere to go but here."

That's really sad. Jrumbot signed.

"Not really. We always have the option to move on. We're able to surrender our souls to the code, becoming spectators in the process. While our souls are recycled by the code, our consciousness floats around until it finds a new machine or creation. It's a forgiving cycle."

Does this mean I'm dead?

Cyclops chuckled. "No, your body is just deactivated. You'd know if you died. You'd regain your past memories, for starters. And your being would look different. Older."

Jrumbot felt a pang of sympathy when the realization hit him. So, you're dead?

"You could say that. You really don't have to worry about me. There's not much either of us can do right now." Cyclops reassured him. "But what I can do, is answer any other questions you have."

Jrumbot paused, only one question coming to mind.

There's a statue of a player at home that looks a lot like Robot Grian. Why?

Cyclops hesitated before answering.

"That player was who created Robot Grian. Robot Grian was one of us, but after a time became an alter. Recently, he returned here. I'm not sure why though. Grian, his 'creator', is alive and well. It's odd." Cyclops frowned. "Very odd indeed..."

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Renbob didn't need telepathy to tell something was wrong.

Everything felt thick and fuzzy, like he was still half asleep. He could vaguely hear what sounded like... fighting?

No, this wasn't right.

Common sense told him that he should be awake, but what felt like a thick blanket seemed to lull him back to the quiet.

__________________

Taurtis stared at the XP farm Grian had whipped up.

"...I'm scared."

"Oh it's not that dangerous!" Grian skipped over to what he'd described as the 'killing chamber'. "Just stand here, and bam! XP! It's not as efficient as I'd like, but it should do. You'll probably want to AFK for a while, it can get boring."

With a defeated sigh, Taurtis stood in the spot Grian directed him. "Alright, I trust you."

"Great!" Grian's wings puffed up a bit in excitement.

Taurtis snorted. "You look excited."

"You know I'm notoriously bad at redstone. I'm just happy this all works first try! Besides, XP farms are easy once you've built a few." He flicked a switch, turning the machine on. Almost immediately, Taurtis got a faceful of XP. "Oops."

Taurtis coughed. He'd absorbed XP before, everyone has. But getting a faceful? It was really weird, like someone had sprayed perfume in your face. At least it seemed to be edible.

"Well, here I go." Taurtis muttered to himself. He let himself fall into a deep sleep, and everything slowed around him.

_________________

Grian watched as Taurtis went afk. Grian quickly made his way to the spawning chamber, and sat on top to increase the rates.

He found himself humming a familiar tune.

"Taurtis, Taurtis, you are AFK. I'm gonna take your headphones away! Taurtis, Taurtis, Taurtis AFK. I'm gonna take your headphones away..."

Grian really did miss Hermitcraft. Sure, he might've only been there for a season, but he'd discovered so much there.

The grass around the farm turned a bit greener, and a single golden buttercup opened it's petals for the first time.