Unrecognizable

~Chapter Twelve~

After rubbing the sunlight out of his eyes and regaining his posture, Mumbo noticed X standing right in front of him, jumping back with a start. "Oh- hi X," the redstoner started with a chuckle. "Didn't see you there."

But X seemed to be more interested in the fact that Mumbo had emerged from the ground rather than the fact that he appeared to have never seen the sun in his life. Peering behind the redstoner, the bee-suited Hermit said confusedly, "Did you just- What are you doing, Mumbo?" His gaze flitted over to a shelf for just half a moment, leaving Mumbo wondering if X had somehow found his apparently not-so-secret entrance to the apparently not-so-secret base.

Mumbo chuckled. He was never that great at keeping secrets. Besides, X would surely find out soon enough. Before he could give it another moment's thought, he was walking over to the shelf on which he had concealed a small button. Connected to a messy line of redstone, this was the key to entering his secret lab of sorts. "Here," he began. "I'll show you as long as you don't say a word to any of the other Hermits, got it?"

The admin nodded, giving Mumbo a thumbs-up. "My lips are sealed," he confirmed.

Satisfied, Mumbo pressed his palm down on the button. The string of redstone lit up, shining bright red. Not a moment later, the sound of pistons filled the room and the floor opened up. The staircase down was revealed and Mumbo walked over to it. "C'mon, X. Down here!" Mumbo made his way down the stairs, looking back to make sure that his friend was following. He was, so when the door closed quickly up, flooding the room in darkness, Mumbo noted, "Almost there; careful where you step."

Soon enough, the two emerged into his room. The moustached man walked up to his machine and turned around, throwing his arms up dramatically. "Welcome, XisumaVoid, to my creation!"

The admin's eyes were wide behind his visor as Mumbo displayed his machine. "Mumbo, is that a-"

Nodding enthusiastically, Mumbo cut X off. "Yup. It's a matter duplication device."

Xisuma, raising his eyebrows, stared right into Mumbo's eyes, his green ones not wavering from Mumbo's own. "It's a cloning machine." Even though his tone was flat and unwavering, the brit could sense a bit of astonishment from within. He, if he was being perfectly honest, slightly expected this reaction. Mumbo didn't expect the admin to be all that pleased with his machine, knowing what had happened with Evil X. There was a reason he had never told him, after all. That, and, of course, it was supposed to be a bit of a surprise. 

For the same reason, Mumbo had never told Grian, his closest confidante, his plans. After Grian's own creations had gone a bit nuts, the sweatered hermit was forced to lock them in a closet. He surely wouldn't have agreed with Mumbo on his idea, should Mumbo have told him. But it wasn't like Grian was any bit experienced with machinery and the like, while Mumbo was. He'd be fine. 

"Not a cloning machine cloning machine," Mumbo refuted, folding his arms. "I'm not creating life. I'm, ah... making artificial life?" Mumbo found himself ending the statement in a question. He couldn't explain it well-- it made sense to him internally, he just couldn't get others to understand it the same way. That and he was extremely tired and barely making sense to even himself. 

X somehow didn't seem to pick up on Mumbo's grogginess, instead rolling his eyes and walking over to the screen. "Is this what you are doing your work on?"

"Hey, I saw that," protested Mumbo as he moved over to where Xisuma was. "Yeah, it is. Like it?" Mumbo had intended to sound casual, but his urge to impress the admin, the one who usually dealt with this stuff, overpowered that and he sounded rather enthusiastic. Which he was, of course. The brit fidgeted as X looked through his series of codes, nodding as he did so.