INT. THE CUBE – EARLY MORNING
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yJIEwL32k
The night folds away quietly, revealing the muted gold of morning light pushing through the city haze outside the Cube. The sky over Central City still wears its cloudy shawl, but there’s warmth behind it—a kind that doesn’t reach the streets but still pretends to.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ9wYWBzy3J
Jason, already awake, moves around the living space with quiet purpose. He’s dressed in partial armor, tightening a new segment onto his right forearm. Tools clink and hiss softly as he works—efficient, automatic, like he’s done this a thousand times. He has.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPCnbSRX2F7
K opens his optics slowly, his usual upside-down hang undisturbed.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWNIAV6lkAU
K (casual, dry)
“Didn’t even try to sleep again, huh.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlfnnM4kxT
JASON (quietly, not looking up)
“Didn’t feel like pretending.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjbUXXx4r8
K lets out a small huff through his vents and drops to the floor soundlessly.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlEKJZpiuCW
K
“Well. Welcome to the living.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc1pVbzBk6z
Suddenly, a loud thump and some dramatic shifting come from the shared bed. A stretches exaggeratedly with a groggy groan, flops over—
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ657d30q7X1
A
“Morning suuu—OUCH!”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqkXeSyYmfT
A sits up quickly. One of his waist armor plates clinks against the floor. Jason and K turn toward him.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPV0iKIJDi0
JASON
“…Did something fall off you or did I finally go deaf from stress?”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3uZdx9BfXe
A (confused)
“It’s the side plate! The one Josh welded on! What the hell—?!”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRSLbOf75s
Jason walks over as A lifts his shirt slightly to inspect the spot.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxTmtNIeF7
No wound. No scorch mark. No exposed circuits. Just sleek metal skin, polished and smooth, like it was never injured.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCjCR53d6fV
JASON (blinking)
“…That’s not right.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJmdpU9F5G0
K
“Wait. That’s healed?”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv6nMSee5jH
A
“Yeah! It was there, remember? Big ugly burn. Jason did that cleaning thing, Josh did the patch-up welding, and now—” (he taps the unbroken plate) “—now it's just... gone.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1eaSLT3yo1
They fall into a short silence.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1gelp0RMK
JASON
“You don’t have internal repair nanites, do you?”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq1LP0F0p3Q
A
“Nope. I wasn’t upgraded for that kind of luxury. Neither of us were.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfFhgjL94O
K (quietly)
“And yet, you healed. Without assistance.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nR9WnmzV5
Jason crouches to pick up the armor piece, examining it. Then looks up.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8TfIr06Nf
JASON
“I’ve seen Purifiers melt, break, blow up, split open—none of them got the chance to show me this before dying. But maybe… maybe this was always there. Just hidden under all that chaos.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVk9Io2D6P
K (arms folded)
“Regeneration. Like organic life. But we’re metal. Circuits. Code. This doesn’t make sense.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNjcU7RR2bE
A (thinking aloud)
“What if we’re not just metal and code? What if Purification models had… something else wired in? Something they never told anyone?”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QDvZl65EM
Jason stands, serious now.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyZonlzaDaB
JASON
“They were already odd enough. But this—this crosses a line. Operators, Labors, Security units—we don't heal. We repair. There’s a difference.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKRUKf30JK2
K
“Then maybe we were never made to survive long enough to find out.”
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkTnpKHGNjZ
They all stand there for a moment, quiet. Jason looking down at the armor plate, A gently touching the smooth, healed patch on his side, K looking toward the window.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydMLksYyPo
A single thought passes between them, unspoken.
87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlwIFEx1pyN
What else don’t we know?
ns216.73.216.176da2
