"You were with him? Is he okay? What happened out there?"
"It all unfolded so fast, I..."
She looked over at 9, noticing that he was beginning to wake up.
"9?"
X watched as 9 began to open his eyes. 5 had done a good job at sewing his shoulder up, she had to say she was impressed. Just as 5 was leaning in to snip the last thread, 9 sat up, startled. 5 jumped back, surprised at the sudden movement. X grinned.
"9! You're awake!"
9 looked around, still slightly shaken.
"Where are we?"
5 lowered his scissors a little.
"With us."
9 studied 5 intently. 2 had told him there were others, was this part of who he was speaking of? He was a little more plain-looking than 2, with two buttons going down his torso. This one's hands and feet were made of wood and metal, similar to his own, but everything else was brown burlap. Where his left eye should have been, he instead had a large patch in its place. He reached his pair of scissors back out to snip the thread hanging from 9's mended shoulder. He carefully cut it, leaving his work looking clean and well-done.
"There, that should hold. Now, was there anyone else with you?"
9 gasped.
"2! The thing! It took him!"
Stricken with grief and terror, 5 turned away, showing the number painted on his back.
"No, no, no. It can't be..."
X was about to speak, but she was cut off by someone coming in through the curtains.
"Keeping secrets from me, I see?"
His voice was old and hollow. He was the most primitive-looking of them all, by far. He was made of a pale fabric, oddly stitched together in random places. He had 2 buckles around his torso, and his hands and feet were crudely constructed out of scrap metal, looking almost like claws. His eyes were narrow, and his face was gaunt. He must have been the leader, because he possessed a staff made of a sewing needle, a broken gear, and a small bell. He wore a tall, royal-looking hat with a coin tied onto it, alongside a red cape adorned with a gem. He turned to the side for a split second, allowing 9 and X to see his number.
1.
5 cringed. "I... I was coming to tell you..."
1 ignored what 5 had said and approached 9 and X, displaying arrogance in his stride. He pulled at 9's neck with the hooked end of his staff, finding the number on his back. He shifted his gaze over to X.
"And you, there."
He lifted her arm up with his staff, spying the variable on her shoulder.
"Hm..."
5 tried his best to explain.
"I found them both, out there in the emptiness! They were with–"
1 cut him off, his eyes narrowed into slits.
"What? What were you doing out there?"
"I saw them from the watchtower and thought that maybe..."
"You'll lead the Beast straight to us! How many times have I told you?"
9 and X exchanged glances, realizing what 1 was talking about.
"That's what we saw!" cried X.
9 chimed in as well. "That's what took 2! If we hurry, we could still save him!"
1 turned back around, beginning to walk away.
"If the Beast took him, that's the end of it."
X reached out.
"But he was still alive!"
5 turned to the two of them, suddenly hopeful.
1 put hi shand out to them, as if shooing them away.
"No, we have rules."
He struck his staff against the ground, making X jump.
A large knife came through the curtain. 9 looked up in awe at the large weapon. The one holding it was another doll-looking creature. This one was the biggest, by far. They were large and bulky, with the number 8 painted on their left shoulder. Their mouth was large, and their eyes were rather small in comparison to the rest of their body. On their back, they carried another blade, the end of it looping over their head. Their body was armored with a collar of old scraps of metal. 1 left the room, leaving the three of them with 8. They placed their knife in their hand and beckoned for the others to follow. They did as they were told and left 5's workshop. They walked through the intricate structure, 9 and X looking around every which way. 5 looked over at the 2 of them.
"It didn't kill him?"
X shook her head, and 9 opened his mouth to say something. 8 loomed over them menacingly, their gaze piercing. The three of them decided to pipe down for now. They all got into a bucket attached to a rope, 8 pushing 9 and X into the bucket harshly. X winced. Was 1 their leader just because he was the oldest? He certainly wasn't a good one, being so arrogant. And 8, she could tell they didn't have much going on in their head, but they had to have had enough sense to not be so loyal to 1. She hoped the two of them didn't cause that much trouble. Once they were all in the bucket, 1 nodded to 8, and they began to pull them up into a seemingly-infinite tower. They passed a large, winged, metal structure that had fallen into part of the wall, destroying most of the level. They also passed by a large, colorful window and two giant bells. They stopped underneath a clock. The sunlight came through its face, casting shadows of the numbers onto the floor. They all exited the bucket, with 1 going to stand by a large window. The others gathered around him. X could have sworn she saw someone hiding in a corner, peering over at them, but she left it to her imagination. 1 stared off into the distance, recalling a memory.
"When we awoke in this world, it was chaos. Man and machine attacked each other with fire and metal. The earth split and the skies burned. The gas... killed everything. I led us here, to the sanctuary, where we waited for the war to end."
1 grabbed a match and struck it, starting a fire. It was unlike anything X had ever seen. Brilliant and warm, it radiated a comforting energy. 1 put his other arm around 9 and X, resting his hand on her shoulder. She was a bit startled by the cold metal after being lost in his tale.
"Slowly, the world became silent."
1 led them over to a fearsome drawing of the Beast. It was depicted with its mouth open in a roar.
"The only thing that remains now is the Beast."
The match burnt out, and 1 turned to face 9 and X again.
"So we stay hidden and wait for it, too, to sleep."
9 was still confused.
"But where did it come from? Why is it hunting us?"
1 scowled.
"Questions like that are pointless. We need to protect ourselves. Keep ourselves out of danger."
X chimed in, a bit frustrated with 1.
"But 2 is in trouble, he needs to be rescued! Maybe if we knew more about this thing we could..."
1 wouldn't hear of it. He shooed her away with one hand.
"No. Too many of us have already been lost."
He walked over to a calendar. On it were the numbers 1 through 9, with 3, 4 and 7 already crossed out. X assumed that meant they were gone. She looked down solemnly as 1 crossed out the number 2 with his now extinguished match.
9, now even more annoyed, furrowed his sewn eyebrows.
"You're not listening, he might still be alive!"
X spoke up as well.
"Why won't you try to save him? What kind of leader are you?"
1 angrily struck his staff against the wooden floor.
"Enough! Enough of this madness!"
He turned to 5, who hadn't spoken a word.
"You there, go to the watchtower and take our guests with you."
5 winced and meekly obeyed, beckoning for the other two to follow him.
Meanwhile, another ragdoll hid away in a shadowy corner, humming a familiar tune to himself. He didn't remember the name, but he knew the melody well. His fingers graced along an old sheet of paper with uniform elegance, like he had done the same action time and time before. He saw the things the others didn't, but since they didn't seem to understand him, he took to ink and paper. Though he was never calm, he felt especially shaken at the moment. Something big was coming, something terrible...