...

...

...

...

...

...Shock's eyes lit up ever so faintly. She could see... nothing, except for some gooey liquid on the ground that her eyes just barely illuminated.

She propped herself up and started lifting her face off the ground, but was struck with a sharp stabbing sensation in her left shoulder, sending her face first back to the gross, wet floor.

Her hand... her shoulder... she let out a pathetic groan.

“If you can't push through the pain, you're going to die. Get up.” Shock recognized the voice... it was Nōne. He was right above her.

Of course he'd be here. Of all times, of course it would be now.

She pushed against the ground again. Shrieking in pain, she managed to bring herself to her heavy and sore knees. Although... she felt lighter. Placing a hand on her back, Shock quickly found out both her metal beams were gone.

A black, gloved hand snuck into view from her right. Shock took Nōne's hand, wincing as she shook to her feet.

“If you were able to survive until now, you shouldn't have a problem getting out of here, darling,” Nōne sang as he inspected his scythe, tone as sharp as a needle.

Shock grumbled, shaking off some of the black stuff from the floor. “Where... where are we?”

“Hell.”

“Huh?”

“A place no one belongs.”

“Just tell me!”

“...It's known as a corruption yard, if you must know.”

Shock had never heard of it, but the name didn't inspire much hope. Looking around... everything screamed misery and death. The room was a few dozen feet tall, and the walls were all rusted brown and grey with the same vile liquid from the floor, haphazardly streaking down the walls. Around them... corpses of robots, all leaking the same fluid from every orifice.

“I wouldn't let that black liquid seep into your body if I were you.”

“What is this stuff?”

“Are you willing to have your perception of robot life changed forever?”

“Nn– what? Quit being so cryptic!”

“That would ruin all the fun.”

“Fuck's sake.” Shock rolled her eyes.

“Let's get moving. Neither of us want to stay here.”

“Toast to that...”

Grumbling from both frustration and pain, Shock trudged behind Nōne as he walked into the only doorway in the tall room – a plain, square hole in the wall, easily tall enough for them to walk through.

Her eyes were the only source of light in the following room. Aside from the squish squish of Shock's feet stepping through black sludge coating the floor, this place was eerily quiet. She couldn't see any walls, any ceiling... only the suited machine in front of her, illuminated in a faint green light from her eyes.

“Uh, where's Aural? And... and where's Lavil?” Shock mumbled.

“Lavil, I wouldn't know. Aural... mmm.”

“Is Aural alive? Where is she?” Shock's panic rapidly grew.

“She didn't land in a corruption yard. But, in truth, I have no idea if she's alive or not. She'll be underground somewhere.”

Shock sighed, cussing under her breath. “And... how do you even know where you're going?”

“Experience. Focus, my dear.” Nōne suddenly turned right, and a few steps later, the two passed through another doorway identical to the last.

This was a terrible idea. I knew I shouldn't have gotten involved with Tangent, Shock thought. I knew it. I knew it. If I could just go back in time for one moment and say no thanks, fuck this, maybe... she'd be okay...

Shock could see the walls around her in this room. They were in a narrow hallway with maybe only a couple feet of free space on either side of her. Just like the room she woke up in, the walls were streaked with black marks and even some jagged dents and cracks.

“...Am I dead?” Shock asked out of the blue.

“Not yet,” Nōne responded. “Ready yourself.” He held his scythe in front of himself, ready to attack.

He stopped in his tracks. Shock cautiously walked over beside him, staring off into the darkness ahead.

Splish... splish...

Something was making noise ahead of them, but Shock couldn't see anything.

Splish, splash...

Something dark was crawling on the ground in front of them, with flickering lights barely visible in the inky blackness just outside of Shock's sight. As the two simply waited for it to approach, a plain, metal head slid into view, pathetically dragging its face through the puddles of sludge on the floor. Its shoulders and arms eventually brought themselves into sight as it pulled itself along the ground.

“Gggg . . . e . . . ttttt . . . ii . . . ttt . . . ooooo . . . uuu . . . tttttttt . . .”

It was – vaguely – a voice coming from the crawling machine.

It lifted its arm up and reached towards Shock with a broken, rusted hand. She quickly stepped back, grunting from the jolt of pain the sudden motion caused.

Nōne spun his scythe in the air and slammed it down on the machine, the blades piercing it straight through the back. A small burst of sparks and electricity flashed through the room before it returned to the same empty blackness as before.

“Don't let them lay a finger on you, dear,” Nōne remarked.

“Wha... what is that... thing? You just murdered it!”

“A remnant of the past, clinging to reality like a leech to a vessel of blood. It has no place in this world. Not anymore.”

“Is it even possible for you to give a simple, straight answer? Even once?!” Shock grumbled.

“Of course.”

“So why don't you?”

“If you knew what I knew... well, let's just say I'd rather you enjoy the remainder of your time in this mortal coil.”

Shock sharply inhaled, her head shaking in frustration. She shut her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before looking back up to that cryptic, edgy, irritating–

“We shouldn't dawdle~” he spoke up. “They'll be coming for us before long, now that we've made such an entrance.”

Shock shivered. Whatever he meant by that... she knew she wasn't going to get an answer out of the TV-head.

Nōne continued walking forward, Shock hardly a step behind him. She constantly peeked from side to side, expecting something to jump out of the shadows at any moment.

Another plain, square doorway. The next room was wide open, once again, with nothing in sight except the machine in front of her.

Nothing but darkness.

Splish, splish.

Movement in the darkness.

...Splash.

Where was it coming from?

Shock stopped. The sounds stopped.

She turned around. Nothing behind her.

“Nōne...?” Her voice shook. She looked around at the ground around her. Nothing except for ripples in the black fluid on the floor.

“Yes?”

“There's something in here.”

“And there'll be more if you wait around.”

“Wh-what?!” Shock shakily walked over to him, the terror pounding in her head.

Splish, splish.

...Were those her steps?

She had to calm down. She took a deep breath. In... out. Another. In... out.

Step, step, splash, splish.

Shock shivered. She looked down. Was this liquid getting deeper? She shook her foot around. No, it wasn't... right?

SPLASH.

Shock jumped and reeled around to face whatever caused that huge noise. She waited for the ripples in the fluid to settle, and the thing slowly came into view, rising out of the water–

–Nothing. There was... nothing there?!

Nōne stopped in his tracks. “I meant it when I said to focus, dear. If you let this place wriggle its way into your mind, it will devour you. This corruption is more than eager to absorb more victims into its writhing mass.”

The TV-head's words didn't calm Shock down. If anything, they did the opposite.

“We're almost out,” Nōne assured her. “Don't betray my faith.”

Her urge to grumble about that pompous machine was overwhelmed by terror that she just couldn't shake. There was something in here with her. It was unmistakable. Yet, she couldn't see anything.

“Y . . . o . . .”

Another horribly distorted voice, distant and quiet compared to the last. But... it almost sounded familiar.

“Did you–”

“Yes, I heard it,” Nōne interrupted Shock's thought, walking on ahead as if nothing was wrong. “We should be clear of most of the corruption in this next hall, but this one might pose a threat. Sounds like it's ahead of us. Be vigilant.”

The two robots approached another plain, square hole in the wall, leading to a narrow tunnel. The walls and floor were just barely visible in this hall – at the end of the room was a tiny glimmer of red light peeking through a thin line in the wall. Perhaps... the exit?

“Hhhey . . .” the eerie voice mumbled.

Nōne stopped again. Shock carefully walked up beside him.

“Y-you...” Shock stammered, looking at what appeared to be a machine standing in the darkness, covered in black fluid.

“I . . . remmemmmb . . . err . . . yyoouuu . . .”

The robot staggered on the spot, desperately trying to keep its balance.

This bot... no. It couldn't be. Back at the factory, that crude fellow...

“Mettt . . . yoouuur . . . pppaa . . . lll . . .”

Nōne stepped towards it, raising his scythe in the air.

“NO!” Shock yelled, grabbing the back of Nōne's coat.

But Shock's hand merely pushed his coat away rather than grabbing on to it. It was almost as if it was just floating there.

“Don't kill him! Nōne!” Shock continued, running up between Nōne and the ghastly robot.

“Yyyo . . . hheelp . . . aa . . .” it continued moaning.

“Hey, hey, it's... it's okay, we can help!” Shock stammered, “I'm a techni–”

Nōne lowered his scythe, grabbed Shock's arm, and yanked her backwards. She yelped in pain as she stumbled back, about to cuss the TV-head out–

“Do you want to end up like him?” Nōne's “face” was right in front of Shock's. “There is no saving him, dear. Once corrupted this badly, you're an erratic zombie capable only of infecting others until you drop dead. No matter what he intends, this is what he will do to you.”

“What?! Bullshit! He's a machine just like the rest! Of course he can be fixed!” Shock retorted.

The robot wobbled around a bit, trying its best to step forward. However, it stumbled against the wall instead.

“Gettt . . . iii . . . tt . . . ouutttt . . .” it moaned.

Nōne stepped back again, bringing Shock along with him. “There are things even you don't understand about us yet. Are you not aware of impure deaths?”

Shock wiggled free of Nōne's grasp, glaring up at him. “Of course I am!”

“Have you ever seen one?”

“Ah... I guess not?”

“Now you have. He is already dead, my dear. The only thing left to do is put him out of his agony.”

“That's... n-no,” Shock stuttered, looking between the zombie bot and Nōne.

The TV-head walked back over to the corrupt bot. Shock reached out to him as he raised his scythe...

...and spun it around, striking the bot in the upper chest. It crumpled to the ground without any flash of electricity like last time.

Shock gasped in disbelief, struggling to say anything. She just watched as Nōne casually murdered a benevolent robot she'd met with her friend. Wide-eyed and mouth ajar... she stood perfectly still.

Nōne started walking forward towards the light at the end of the hall. “You're here to kill Lavil's master, correct?”

“Um, I... what? I-I...” She shook her head.

He looked to the side. “It's imperative that you answer my question.”

“N-no! I... I mean... I don't think so?! Shit, I don't know! I don't... I don't know where the fuck we are, I don't know where my friend is, or if she's even alive! We have machines trying to mow us down at every opportunity, and... and you just killed a real, sentient robot! One that I knew! I... I don't know what's going on anymore... I don't know what the fuck I'm doing anymore.” Her voice wavered more and more as she spoke. She paused, placing her arm against the wall, leaning her head into it.

“I never should have agreed to this shit. Look at me! I'm in some hell pit with mutated zombie robots and this shitty black stuff that apparently wants to kill me, hanging out with a thoughtless maniac while my only real friend is probably dead!” Shock stepped away from the wall and flung her arms up in the air. “Oh, you want your old life back, Vanessa? Too bad! You're stuck in robot hell with no way out. Great decision! And guess what? You're being hunted down by an even bigger psychopath who's wrecking the city just to kill you and the only person you care about! So, fuck me, I guess!!”

Shock leaned her head against the same wall and slammed her fist against it, sobbing all the while.

A few long seconds passed, with the only sound echoing through the tunnel being Shock's tears.

“Oh, that's hilarious, they even built me so I could cry. How fucking thoughtful.”

Nōne took a step towards her and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Don't fucking touch me,” Shock growled between whimpers. “Unless you're going to kill me.”

Nōne retracted his hand as requested. “Regrettably, dear, you're the one I have no reign over. I cannot and will not fulfil that request.”

“Yeah, of course. Just go away.”

“And leave you here to rot in a pit of corruption?”

Shock looked up at Nōne with pained, teary eyes. “At this point, yeah, I'm considering it,” she choked.

“Sorry, darling, but that's not an option.”

She looked away. “Not an option,” she sarcastically mimicked him under her breath.

“You are aware that Aural Automaton is probably still alive, yes?”

Shock didn't answer.

“As someone who knows this part of Zynima all too well, I can say with certainty that she did not land in a corruption yard. I observed you two as you fell beneath the city. I was not far behind.”

Shock drew a long, heavy breath. “So then where is she?” she groaned.

“Come with me. Perhaps I can answer that question.”

She looked over to Nōne, her whole expression weary and tired. “Christ, what choice do I have?”

“You don't really have a choice.”

Shock tilted her head up and took another deep breath. “Fine,” she said in a familiarly dry, uninterested tone.

Without a word, Nōne turned towards the crack of light at the end of the hallway, beckoning Shock to come with a wave of the hand.

Letting out an exhausted, shaky sigh, she slowly followed with her head and arms drooped down, trying not to look at the robot Nōne just killed as she stepped around it.

She failed. His face was exactly the same as before, complete from the big smile, to the squinty eyes, to the backwards baseball cap.

“I'm so sorry,” Shock whispered, tearing up again. “You didn't need to die.”

Nobody deserves to go like this... reduced to a dysfunctional mess, trying to cling on to life like that? This city's shit...

Nōne stopped in front of the light in the wall, with Shock walking up just behind him. She looked up; on closer inspection, yes, the light was coming from between a sizable pair of doors, rusted and gross just like the rest of that miserable place.

“Ready?” the TV-head asked.

“No,” Shock bluntly answered, sarcasm as sharp as ever.

She stood and watched as Nōne pushed the huge doors open, allowing the blinding, radiant light into the hellish catacomb.