towerofanimus | Palms rise to the universe...

Characters: The Spine and YOU... guest-starring Rabbit (Night)!
Setting: Floors 61, 5, and 28
Format: Action spam, but I'll switch to prose if you'd rather!
Summary: The Spine is dealing with recent events as best he can--as well as that creepy feeling that sleeping in his dormitory room may not be the wisest thing to do.
Warnings: Robots?

Floor Sixty-One

[A week or so ago, The Spine had been directed to this floor if he wished to see the sky. There certainly was a sky to see, but it was not the one he had hoped for. For one thing, there were far too many eyes. He stands just inside the door, brim of his fedora pushed up with a silver finger as he regards the clouds and mountains with evident suspicion.]

Floor Five

[As dangerous as exploring could be in the Tower, The Spine was restless, particularly after discovering that the sky he had been promised was as false as everything else in this place. It's beginning to get to him, this knowledge that nothing is real. Nothing, except the souls that he and his brother shouldn't by rights have. The souls that made death, real death, a possibility.

He finds his way to the viewing stations and stays there for a while, expression impassive as he stares at the ruin of his world.]

Floor Twenty-Eight: Day

[The Spine can be found standing near the back wall with a guitar in his hands, playing as he quietly sings one of two songs.]

Floor Twenty-Eight: Night

[Night time will find two automatons sitting close in the music room. Being surrounded by instruments is a great comfort, as is the presence of each to the other. They might not need to sleep, but wandering the hallways at night is dangerous--as is, The Spine feels certain, staying in their rooms where something lurks beneath their beds.

...It's a bit difficult to ignore the way some of the instruments occasionally play snippets of unsettling, unearthly tunes. No stasis time will be had this night for the silver automaton.]

{OOC Note: Tagging Floor Twenty-Eight: Night will get responses from both Rabbit and The Spine!}

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was definitely a robot, silver hands moving with mechanical precision over the strings and voice perfectly pitched. Occasionally there would be a hiss of steam and a click of gears and his knees would dip sharply, only for the automaton to slowly stand up straight once more.

Performing was one of his main functions, something he enjoyed, and he didn't miss a beat when he noticed he had an audience. Even if the sight of yet another child wandering the Tower alone made him feel as though a gear had slipped. He just flashed a small smile at the boy in a pause between lyrics. When the song was over he haltingly bent to prop the guitar up against the wall.

Why were all of the children he had met in the Tower so far unprotected? "Hello there, bucko. Lookin' for someone?"

((Also, you should know that every time I see the two of you posting I immediately feel the need to go into my itunes and listen to Steam Powered Giraffe aaah...))

Quark shakes his head when the robot finishes singing and addresses him. "Not really, no." The admission makes him sad, however, and his face flushes in mild shame. "Well, I was looking for my Grandpa for a while, but...I'm not so sure I'm going to find him anywhere." It had been a month, after all, give or take. Sure, the Tower was big...but it seemed too unlikely that the old man was going to appear, now, after so much searching.

"I just heard you playing and decided to come over; it was really nice, you know. I didn't know robots could sing." Quark had never met a singing robot before. Well, he couldn't really say that he had ever actually met a robot at all. Especially not one that looked as well made as this one. He had heard a lot about them, though, on his planet. Rumors of all these amazing high-tech models that could do all sorts of things.

Of course, people like him were too poor to ever have access to that kinda thing.

{MY WORK HERE IS DONE.}

Aw, no, don't look so embarrassed, kid. There's no shame in missing someone, something The Spine would be quick to point out if he knew. "Oh, uh... Well, a lot of us can't." Even the other Walter robots in the manor. Just the three that had originally been built to play music and the fourth that was given the necessary upgrades. "I'm part of set of three--or, I was, anyway."

Oh. There's a bit of sadness in his voice, a slight downward tug of those black lips. But he doesn't want to worry a stranger, so he perks up almost immediately. "Thank you for the kind words. It's always nice to meet someone that appreciates music." And, naturally, he remembers that he has yet to introduce himself. "I'm called The Spine. What's your name, partner?"

Three robots...Quark wishes he could see. He bet together their music was even cooler. Which meant...super-duper cool! But then, if he was anything like Quark, he was probably something close to being alone here. After all, it wasn't as if any of them had asked to wind up here. They just...had.

"The Spine? The Spine?" Before he can help himself, Quark finds himself grinning. "That's like a title! That's really neat!" He laughs a little, then. "My name is Quark! It's nice to meet you, too, The Spine!" He couldn't wait to tell people that he had met a singing robot.

The Spine is lucky; he had arrived here after one of the other automatons and hadn't had to spend much time alone at all before he was found and subsequently tackled. He can imagine what being alone here would be like all too easily. It isn't hard to extrapolate from how Rabbit had reacted to seeing him.

"I guess it is a bit, yeah." A quiet laugh as he readjusts the tilt of his fedora, the small smile on his face widening slightly. "Gotta say, your name is way cooler, Quark. Never met anyone with such a science-y name, Six'd love it." ... Would have loved it. Gone, now. "What brings you to this room, if you don't mind me askin'?"

And suddenly, the small boy is beaming from ear-to-ear. "You...you think my name is cool?" He couldn't believe it! The robot liked his name! "Most people don't even know what it means!" Quark laughed happily, bringing his hands to play with the straps on his hat. Sure, it was kind of embarrassing to have been named after a really small particle, because Quark didn't like being treated like a tiny kid (even if he was), but The Spine has a point. It was all science-y and stuff! "Thanks, Mister! I like it, too! My Grandpa gave it to me so it's special."

At the mention of the room, however, Quark's attention falters for an instant as he looks around. "I dunno, really. I'm trying to visit a lot of places in the Tower so I get familiar with it, and I had a good feeling about this one." After all, what could be so bad about musical instruments? His smile never fades as he adds, "and I ran into you, so I guess it paid off!"

"I guess it did, at that." If a person is going to run into a stranger, there's certainly worse ones than The Spine. He smiles back, charmed by the boy's enthusiasm. Seeing someone's face light up simply because they've met a walking, talking robot reminds him that even in the tower life isn't all bad.

...Not all bad. But some days it could be mostly bad. "I'm not gonna say you shouldn't be explorin', but be careful, okay? There's some floors that aren't anythin' but trouble." And, since he's already extended this offer to one of the children in the tower and he can't stand the idea of someone so small getting hurt, he adds, "And if you do find some trouble, I'm usually either here or on floor three of the dorms."

Palms rise to the universe...

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Just realized I read "action spam" and somehow processed "prose" instead I'm so sorry for that.

No worries! <3 Sorry it took me so long to get back to you!

I understand! I can be pretty slow sometimes, too! As...it is now obvious lmfao.

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