#Rho Huxley

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guardian

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Concrete Jungle

3 Urgent Screams

/S Y S T ̕͜E̴͠ ́͢M ̷͢ ̵̡M A̸͞ ̨L̵͘͡ ̀F ́͜U̶ ̡N̨͟ ̕͟͠C҉͝ T I O N  D E T E C T͝͡ E Ḑ͡/ / E̢̦̥̘̯͚͎̫ ̞̖͎̲͍͇̪̣R͖̥̳̬͚͈̜͉͝ ̸̛̩̩͎̱̘̻R̲̮̦͈̬̤ͅ ҉͕ͅO̸͙̳̝̩̯̟ ̵̜̱̫͈R̴̛̞̱̳̼͍̥̫͠/  / E̢̦̥̘̯͚͎̫ ̞̖͎̲͍͇̪̣R͖̥̳̬͚͈̜͉͝ ̸̛̩̩͎̱̘̻R̲̮̦͈̬̤ͅ ҉͕ͅO̸͙̳̝̩̯̟ ̵̜̱̫͈R̴̛̞̱̳̼͍̥̫͠/

/ P̷̛R͏̵̢O͢͡TO̢C̛͘OL̡ ̧9̵̧ ̷9҉ ͡9̴͡͠ ̛͝9̡̧ ̢9͢͡ 9͟͞ ̀2́͢ ̢A̷̛͡CT̕I̵V͘͜͜A͡͝T͡ÌN̸G͏/

Gears ground against themselves trying to settle back into place as an acid green tube spilled out upon the ground. Faux fur was dirtied with oil and the hissing strain of mechanical parts that were forced to move as the robot’s eyes shifted from their pink coloration to a strikingly bright red.

K.A.T. was moving, motors working overtime to haul the mechanical monster up the stairs after the fleeting pink stain that trailed after the purple bitch. The scrape of a needle on the concrete was anything but a respite to the feline whom was now rather irritated by her mechanical flea of a follower.

Through shattered optics, relying on heat sensors as a back up, K.A.T. observed the form suspected to be ABC halting. A spark jumped from a paw before the robot simply scraped the foot along ahead of him, a walking mechanical nightmare to some, but a hero to Kitten. And a hero he was told he would be.

The crackle of a recording starting brought more sound sharply into the hall, ABC frowning before the still moving titan.

“Well. This is the last thing to do today.” The voice of Kai Theta filled the hall, sparks dancing from the back of K.A.T. Smoke was bleeding from an ear. “Well ABC. I suppose if you’re hearing this, that means you’ve likely found my little hiding shithole.” Something faint broke eliciting a sigh. “And it means you’re threatening dear Kitten.” K.A.T. stopped moving.

“You know I can’t have that.”

Red flickered in the blackness that ABC had left behind, turning unnaturally bright for but a moment before plunging the hall back into the cold lifeless void it would be left. There was no more sound as a horrific high pitched screeching filled the hall, a nova of white erupting from the machine to fill the void and chase a suddenly screaming ABC.

Rho’s paws met dirt, and she squinted hard into the trees that had overgrown at the edge of the clearing that held their little shitty hospital. She had to adjust, and Kitten only had so much time to look back.

There was a flash of light, like a photograph was taken, at the stairs they could see from here. It was brief, gone in the blink of an eye, but it had been there.

Now came the hard part. Hiding from ABC AND The local population. Rho had no real experience with the locals, and Kitten wasn’t about to play tour guide. The younger feline was scooped onto Kitten’s back in an easy motion, jarring the bow in their hair out of place as they took off for the trees.

Now there was really no looking back. Now there was only confusion and the desperate run and search for somewhere that might be allowed to be called safety, even if for a moment.

The pair, or rather Kitten, continued on until a break in the path. The dense trees gave way to what looked like a river, fed by a rather oddly pathed waterfall at a slant from the clear mountain before them. Rho stared in awe, not at all understanding where the water was coming from. There was nothing atop the mountain that she could see.

“C-come on...” Kitten was tired, they had run the entire distance and with Rho on their back. This was not meant to happen, but for the time being it was clear that they had very few options. This was one of the few actual places that held a cave system that one could easily get lost in. Kitten and K.A.T. had already mapped it inside and out, understanding where it led and how it might be able to be defended...

But tired as they were, Kitten was in no shape to deal with more than just getting into the entrance and covering their tracks. “Stay.” A paw was stomped before Rho’s nose as she was dropped onto slick stone, soaked from the portion of the waterfall Kitten dragged the pair through before turning around. “I’ll be back. Stay there Rho.” With a huff, claws scraped stone as Kitten left Rho alone for the moment, allowing the young one to think about her situation.

And there in the dark, something moved before opening a pair of gleaming eyes.

[kittenplayscorner]

[kittenplayscorner]

Here he comes

[kittenplayscorner]

im engulfed by depression and apathy so have some thing that’s a little better than nothing (?)

[kittenplayscorner]

KP: I couldn’t do anything for Kai. But I can - I will - save Rho.

[kittenplayscorner]

this is all i was thinking about while doing that last update

[kittenplayscorner]

rho rho rho ur boat........ gently down the..... bloodstream......... @ask-kai-theta

[hibiscus-scribe]

Concrete Jungle

2 Painted Stone

/S Y S T E M  M A L F U N C T I O N  D E T E C T E D/ /SYSTEM REBOOT COMMENCING/

/MAIN SYSTEMS ONLINE... SCAN QUEUED/

There was a twitch, and a familiar click of barely audible machinery as light suddenly came to be, two eyes flicking on and to life in the dark of the hospital.

/OPTICS ONLINE. AUDIO SENSORS ONLINE. MOTION FUNCTIONS ONLINE AND FUNCTIONAL. LOADING PROTOCOL LIST. ACTIVATING WIRELESS CONNECTION WITH HOSPITAL SYSTEMS/

The pale pink faux fur moved as the figure stood their full height, blue tail twitching and rolling for a moment.

/INTRUDER DETECTED. SEARCH AND DESTROY PROCEDURE LOADED./

There was a sharp sound of metal on metal as claws unsheathed and dug into the cement of the floor the machine had awoken on. In that moment, they were moving directly for the basement stairs.

/BEING DETECTED. IDENTIFIED. RHO. INHABITANT. CLASSIFIED: BITCH NUISANCE. IGNORING./

/”Kitten...?”/ This was not Kitten. This was that thing that fed Kai. A weird thing of metal that smelled like blood and strange liquids... /”Kat?”/ That’s what Kai called it. It had a name or something... That must have been it... Maybe it could help! /”Down there! Uh... Kitten-”/

An ear swiveled to face Rho before the head snapped to her.

/TRANSLATING SPEECH. KITTEN SPOKEN OF. LOCATION CONFIRMED./

With a screech, claws grated on the floor and steps as the machine sent itself down into the inky void of the basement.

/NIGHTVISION ACTIVE. KITTEN SIGHTED./

“K.A.T.?” Kitten’s voice was clear, and just beyond them the other figure was sighted. Kat’s left eye glowed bright pink.

/INTRUDER IDENTIFIED. ABC. CLASSIFIED: KILL ON SIGHT. FOLLOWING TERMINATION PROTOCOL./

The machine launched forward, past it’s gifted master and toward the purple feline covered in pink goopy shit.

“Heeeeeeey~! Kai maade a little toooooooy~!” A wide grin split her face as the machine lept past some of the tendrils that the goopy shit was crawling forth with. Seeing this as an opportunity to get away, Kitten turned and ran for the stairs. One last order shouted out.

“DON’T FUCKING DIE K.A.T. I CAN’T FIX YOU!”

/COMMAND CONFIRMED./

Rho shivered as the sound of steel on concrete reached her ears, and her ears perked as she saw the familiar shape of Kitten appearing out of the darkness. A moment of warmth spread through her body before she realized she was being shoved past... She followed quickly, not sure about the other thing that wasn’t following them now.

“Ok Rho we need to get out of here.” Kitten looked around, cautious to avoid the goopy shit if any was seen. “We’re way down here though... We need to get up to the ground floor, come on.” She launched forward again, looking to check for Rho at her side before seeming content that the little feline was following.

Behind them, somewhere in the hall or down the stairs, the sound of a good amount of metal scraping over the floor was caught. It pinched at the nerves and froze the blood as it was accompanied by a giggle, all too bright for a place so dark and cold.

“KIIIIIIIIITTEEEEEEEN~! COOOOOOME AND PLAAAAAAAY~!”

Somehow Rho noticed they were running faster after that was heard. She couldn’t understand the words that Kitten spat out, the hall echoing with “FUCK YOU BITCH I DO WHAT I WANT!” as the pair turned another corner, the slightest sight of pink showing back where they’d started their run.

It was following. She was following. /”Kitten, where are we?”/ Rho finally got the courage to ask as they spotted some signs that were on the floor. They were jumped over as Kitten turned sharply to the right.

Kitten didn’t say anything, simply looked back to make sure Rho was still there. Stairs were at the end of this hall as well, and it was here they slowed so as not to fall down the slick material they were made of. /”Kitten?”/

/”Shut up Rho. Talking later.”/ She was irritated, and...scared? Rho didn’t remember fear being something from Kitten. Just joy and irritation. This was wrong. So much was wrong...

Rho was scared, but if Kitten was too, maybe she had to be brave? /”Y-you can get us out! Out of this cave! I know you can!”/

The words tickled pink ears and allowed the feline to steel their nerves. /”I will Rho. Come on, almost there.”/

In the dark of the basement, something twitched behind ABC, the goo following her calm paws and giggling form.

[hibiscus-scribe]

Concrete Jungle

1 Manufactured Caverns

Kitten never questioned their brother. Kai was older, bigger, stronger. There was no doubt he was smarter, having made Kitten K.A.T. after all. Kitten wasn’t good at building, designing yes, but not building. Art was one thing and creating a machine that functioned and appeared as though it were not what it actually was... that was another thing entirely.

That was why Kitten didn’t worry when Kai began to bleed from the eye he’d not been able to see from. He’d told her it was nothing, it would all be fine. They believed him.

He didn’t leave the basement as much, and that was fine. K.A.T. brought down food and their silent companion Rho, with all her furless wonder, was ever present as company. As lonely as Kitten felt over that fact, they didn’t say a word. Everything was alright, and Kai was never wrong.

Kai was wrong though. So very wrong. He’d lied to her. He’d lied to Kitten and there he sat in the basement, shivering from a chill that no longer was chased away by the single poor looking blanket that he chose to use. He could not see, but he could feel. Long dried blood marked the floor in thick sticky spots, left by the bodies of ponies long dead or even from his own body that now seemed more purple than deep blue.

“You need to understand me. This is too important for one of your little episodes.” Some part of Kai felt his words were almost panicked... but he didn’t do that. Fear was not something he felt. Odd moments of regret, rage, and sometimes exasperation but never did he feel fear. “Listen carefully.Try to pick the words you understand and remember them, okay?” Though he was blinded by whatever was happening... He could still tell when he was ignored. “Look at me when I’m talking, Rho.”

Before him, he was not sure how close she was, but Rho sat patient and silent as she always seemed to be. Kai didn’t let it distract him. The truth had to come out. Something had to be said.

“I don’t have enough time for this. I’m going to die very soon. I’m very sick, yes? You understand sickness don’t you?” This was so stupid. He’d been careless and now here he was wasting away like the bodies that probably still rotted while hung above on so many hooks and chains... The bubble of rage took over. “You’re so useless. I hate that this is my last shot. When I’m gone, there will be no one here anymore. The hospital will be empty, you will be alone.” He tried to fill the words with an urgency that anyone would instinctually know as important, but Rho was so quiet and stoic...

“I can’t guide you out, I can’t move.” As painful as it was to say, it was even more painful to be true. His joints felt swollen and sharp, like needles just kept injecting him, and his skin under his fur was so wet... “All the doors will be open, it will be a clear path for you...” A sudden wave of care washed over the tiger, making his stomach more ill than it had been in the past week, the distant foggy memory of a pink tiny kit he should have remembered rising up.

“I wish I had something more meaningful to say...” The words were bitter in his mouth, likely thanks to his rotting tongue. “Be safe okay?” His last word ended in a near hiss, breath leaving his lungs in a way he hated to hear. This close it was torture, but he was able to ignore the pain at least as he slumped into the puddle that had grown around his weakened state.

Rho watched as his body stopped moving, as the blood crept out like a small wave of ants so curious to see the surface. Her eyes closed once, and she stood as they opened, turning around behind her to begin the wander that might lead her to freedom that she barely understood.

K.A.T. was missing. K.A.T. was never missing. The pink feline frowned and moved, taking familiar steps toward a staircase that led down and down and down. The lights were off, but that was normal. Kai didn’t need lights if he couldn’t see...

The sharp taste of blood hit them before the smell did. Idly his voice rose up to say that was stupid, but it was silenced with a loud cracking noise. Kind of like the shell of a beetle being smashed under their paws.

“No.” A pile of blue fur slumped in sticky red. “NO.” Kai hated his naps being interrupted. Kitten was supposed to be quiet but... “NO NO NO!”

He was dead. Kai wasn’t moving and the smell of death hung fresh in the air without any dead ponies as the source. He’d lied...

“Kai cheated...” No tears fell. Kitten was broken, like Kai once said their species was... Kitten was alone and not crying over the family they’d just lost. Just speaking into the darkness of the lower halls. “Kai cheated... huh.”

Rho’s pawprints were clear as day to Kitten’s eyes. The only thing to paint the portion of floor untainted by their brother after so much moving before his heart had stopped. Small things, smaller even than Kitten’s.

Claws flexed as they moved forward, finding Rho within moments. “Rho.” At her name, she’d turned to face the pink tiger. Her expression was unchanged. “Where will you go?”

The way Rho’s eyes darted to Kitten’s paws reminded them of the claws that were still out to threaten. Kitten didn’t need to threaten Rho. She was not one to hurt.

/“Home. I want to go home.”/ The words were foreign, and to speak them brought a twitch to Kitten’s ears. Familiar... Claws sheathed.

/”It’s ok Rho. It’ll be alright.”/ Speaking back, Kitten almost felt their tongue tingle. It was strange to use those words after so long away from the place they came from. A place that didn’t exist... Kai had said that once...

Pawsteps caught the pair’s attention. A vent? Another cat? Rho stood. /”Something is there. We must go.”/

From her place hidden in the ventilation a purple figure smiled brightly, wearing the top portion of the blue tiger’s head. The ears drooped and brushed against her own, but she didn’t care. She had him with her and he couldn’t be mean anymore. Not to her, not again, never again. “Hee hee~”

Kitten ushered Rho out before her, claws party extending to urge the small hairless feline faster along in the dark hall. A glance over her shoulder showed the hall behind devoid of life... though the vent was dripping with pink goopy shit...

/“Move faster Rho.”/ Something inside just started to scream at that point. Kitten remembered the purple fur, the scarf that she always wore. “The bitch is coming.”

Rho seemed confused by what Kitten said, but obeyed the larger feline. Looking back a moment, seeing the pink goop that was moving on its own toward them. The unfamiliar chill of dread welled up in her stomach and she paused, paws on the stairs and tail twitching, to hold back the urge to vomit.

/“RHO MOVE.”/ The words made her jump, and she didn’t look back to see what Kitten was doing. Kai and Kitten had been good to her, and that wasn’t going to stop...not unless something stopped them and Kai...

Well. Kai was not really around to help now, was he?

Not as Kitten stayed back, fur bristling as she watched the vent drip pink to the floor, pink that didn’t glow but somehow was lit by a source of light outside of itself. It was so clear and obvious and out of place in the dark of the hallway.

“Been a while, A-Bitch-C.” Kitten smiled, enjoying the nickname she’d just made up in her rage. “Kai said you’re not allowed to visit us, don’t you remember? Why are you breaking the rules now?”

“Heee heee~ Kiiiiitten it’s been waaaaay too looooong~” The voice grated on not just Kitten’s nerves, but their ears as well. Their pink tail lashed from side to side as a paw peeked out from the dripping vent, pushing past the metal easily before it popped off and fell into the goop below with a sick sploosh sound.

Up the stairs, Rho took pause to wait for Kitten. They needed them, and Kitten was good. Kitten knew the outside. The freedom. Kitten would help stop the clawing at the back of Rho’s mind, the whispers in her ears that she wished would just fucking STOP.

/”Kitten?”/ The call was unsure, nervous and even a touch quiet. Rho was always too quiet, Kai had mentioned that once. Even when she wanted to be loud, but honestly Rho didn’t like being loud. Not down there, not in the space where words echoed and the shadows tried to trap her. Like the stairs seemed to be doing right then.

Rho hoped to whatever listened that Kitten would show up from that darkness the stairs crawled into. And soon.

[kittenplayscorner]

KP: “Hee, hee... how long has it been since I spoke that language?”