Unrecognizable

~Chapter Eighteen~

After having the admin promise not to spill his secret project, Mumbo pressed the button. Once again, the sound of pistons sounded and the staircase was once again revealed. It wasn't lit very well, the only light seeming to come from a very distant bottom. The redstoner began to walk down the steps. He turned around to call back, "C'mon, X. Down here!" Xisuma followed quickly, allowing the floor to shut back above them. 

"Kinda dark," X noted. Maybe it'd be a better idea to light this up. He nearly tripped multiple times and ended up pressing his hand against the wall to avoid toppling down the steep steps.

Mumbo in front of him chuckled, though it sounded slightly uncomfortable. "Heh, yeah. I should probably do something about that." 

The light at the end of the tunnel-- or staircase, in this case-- soon got brighter and brighter until the two Hermits had reached the bottom of the stairs. Xisuma almost froze in his place as Mumbo revealed his project. It was a cloning device. "Mumbo," he began slowly. "Is that a-"

Mumbo cut him off, grinning wildly. "Yup! It's a matter duplication device!"

X raised his eyebrows. "It's a cloning machine." Was this a bad idea? This might be a bad idea. 

Mumbo crossed his arms, quickly countering X's claim. "Well- Not a cloning machine cloning machine. I'm not creating life. I'm, er... making... artificial life?" Mumbo himself seemed unsure. X sighed inwardly. It wasn't that he didn't trust his friend, he just was wary of the prospect of more cloning. The last time that happened, it didn't go so well. 

Rolling his eyes, X walked up to the machine. 

"Hey, I saw that," Mumbo protested, but X ignored him, smirking to himself.

There was a communicator-like screen in front of the machine, showing hundreds and hundreds of lines of code. X had to say, it was impressive. "Is this what you're doing your work on?" X glanced back over to Mumbo, who nodded enthusiastically. 

"Yeah, it is! Like it?" The brit was clearly pretty excited, and X had to laugh just a bit. He turned to scroll through the lines of code, before turning back.

"Yeah, Mumbo, it's well-done," the admin praised. "Not that I expected anything less of course." X stood up. Now that he knew what Mumbo was doing, he should probably leave him to it. But then an idea came along. 

What if he could get Mumbo's clone to help him out? Just a little bit, here and there. X was ninety-nine percent sure that this clone would be, well, capable of it. Before he could stop himself, X found himself offering to give Mumbo a hand.

It seemed Mumbo was just as confused as X thought. He blinked, folding his arms. "Didn't you not want me doing this?" The moustached man narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion.

Maybe X wasn't a fan of this before, but... He quickly spoke. "Ah- no, no. I- well I wasn't against the concept; I just wanted you to be careful. Y'know, we don't exactly have a... wonderful track record with them." He found himself speaking quicker than normal, and finished, "I think this is a fun idea, actually, Mumbo, and I wanted to see if I could be of any use." He smiled hopefully. 

But then Mumbo refused. X had to admit, he was a bit surprised, but he understood. This was Mumbo's project after all. But he was a bit disappointed. He had gotten his hopes up. But what was he going to do? Mumbo didn't want-- need-- his help. He'd have to figure out another way to save the server. 

After a moment, Mumbo continued, mild worry showing on his face. "What, are you afraid it'll turn out like..." 

X quickly cut in, waving his hands. "Oh, no! 'Course not!" He really should've watched his words, whoops. "I have complete trust in you to not end the world, Mumbo." He smirked as Mumbo's face paled just the slightest. "Kidding," he laughed. He fixed his expression, smiling. "But in all seriousness, I do believe you'll do well. You cracked AI in three days, remember?"