Against Her Programming [SHELLVISION]

Get It Together [6]

"Vee wait!!" Shelly pulled on her arm, bringing Vee back straight into her. Once out of the thorns, Shelly released her wrist. She crouched down to observe what the thorns could be, "We don't know what these are!" She commented, her tone lightly scolding Vee.

Vee looked around the thorns, which seemed to encircle something in the middle of it, but whatever it was were hiding behind some crates. Although, they'd have to pass whatever was in there, since a machine was on the other side.

Looking over to where Shelly was, she'd disappeared. No, that wasn't right. Vee whipped her head to the other side, Shelly was already peering past the thorns, "I see something behind those boxes."

After a moment, the two looked at each other. Vee shifted her gaze off shelly, noticing a small candy off to the side. Cautiously creeping to the candy, she'd pick it up. "Hey Shelly, step back for a moment okay?" Adjusting the volume on her screen to quiet.

Stepping out of the way away from the thorns, Vee threw the candy next to the crate. Just as quick as the candy hit the floor, the thorns raised out of the ground and extended themselves. Caught off guard for a second, Vee quickly averted her eyes behind the crate.

A figure, their mask split in two, it was Razzle and Dazzle! Looking at their disfigured state, Vee felt unease, what could have done that? Shelly saw it too, gripping on to Vee's arm.

After a quarter of a minute, Razzle and Dazzle sat back down, resetting the thorns back to their original state. So they'd be bothered by sound, good to know. "..I'm gonna extract that machine," Vee whispered, pointing to the machine on the other side of the area.

Shelly's grip tightened, "You sure?" Scanning Shelly's face, Vee could see she exhibited signs of nervousness. "Yeah, I'll be careful, don't worry," Vee responded, gently patting Shelly's shoulder.

It was enough to get Shelly to let go, but Vee could tell she was still nervous. "It'll be quick," Vee assured her, taking a careful step over the thorns. She didn't turn back to see if Shelly was going to respond, solely focused on the machine ahead. Treading lightly, Razzle and Dazzle were rocking themselves to sleep, their masks meshed together to form a singular face.

Vee grimaced, adding to her incentive to get this done. Hoping her soft steps wouldn't trigger their untimely aggression, she turned to face them, occasionally twisting her head to the machine. Estimating her distance from the machine, Vee backed up while keeping her eyes set on the monstrous form of her former acquaintance.

A few more steps back, and Vee felt herself press against a cool, solid surface.

*Clink!*

Vee ducked just out of view from the crate, unwilling to take the possible risks. She glanced at the thorns surrounding the area, which hadn't reacted whatsoever to the soft noise.

After what could only be a sigh from a robot, Vee regained her footing. Looking past the crates and to the other side of the room, Shelly seemed panicked. Not wanting to stress her out, Vee awkwardly rose her thumbs up, signaling she was okay.

Seeing Shelly relax herself slightly, Vee took the moment to do the machine. Setting her hands around the valve, she already had an ample flow of the inky stuff going. At this point, all her previous questions about whatever this was were irrelevant.

It wasn't long before it was done, sure, a little slower than her previous ones, but she wouldn't mind it much. Once the tank was full, she turned to see Shelly clenching the edges if her dress, the poor girl was so unbelievably anxious.

Vee knew the safest option was to play it slow, refusing to awaken Razzle and Dazzle from their slumber. Edging closer to the edges of the thorn circle, she could practically run out of it. Although, she wouldn't risk it.