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The Defect was bored.
There simply wasn't much to do at the bottom of the Spire. The Defect laid at the edge of the pond in the Neow's cave, listening to the murmur of waterfalls and watching the fish swim by.
It poked a claw into the water, watching the small waves ripple through the surface. One fish swam up to its claw, tried to nibble at it, and then promptly lost interest.
The Defect took its hand out of the water and got up to its feet.
It had to stay out of the most recent attempt to climb the Spire, as some of its injuries had to be fixed manually. Others offered to stay behind too, wait for it to mend itself properly, but it refused to be a hindrance. There will be plenty of opportunities to climb together again, surely.
And now, its diagnostics told it the required mending was complete, and the Defect was bored.
It walked away from the pond, the sound of the waterfalls fading into the background, inaudible over the electric hum of its internal mechanisms.
As the ground underneath the Defect's feet transitioned from wet rocks to soft grass, it spotted a familiar throne in the distance. This was the first time the Defect saw that throne motionless on the ground — it had always been carried by minions.
It was also the first time the Defect saw it be empty.
It picked up its leisurely pace, walking over to the throne with curiosity. It peeked over it, only to see the Regent sitting on the grass behind it.
"Oh, hello, construct," the Regent murmured, briefly looking up at the Defect, then back at the ground in front of him.
The Defect walked over to take a better look. The regent was hunched over a checkered board with various figurines scattered over it. He picked up one that kind of looked like a horse, hovering it above the board for a few seconds, then placed it back down onto a different square.
The Defect let out an inquisitive series of beeps and pointed at the board.
"I'm studying chess," the Regent said simply. He looked up at the Defect again, who was still pointing at the board. "Do you play chess?"
The Defect shook its head with no less enthusiasm. It sat down on the other side of the board, giving it and the Regent its full attention.
"It's an extremely complex game…" the Regent trailed off as he got back to focusing on the game in front of him.
Having heard that, the Defect let out a low-pitched beep. The Regent, surprised, looked up from the board. The Defect's head was hanging low, and it looked as if its core's light dimmed slightly.
As the Defect was about to get up from the grass, the Regent gestured at it to stop. "Er, of course, that's not a problem at all! I'll let you know, I am a great chess teacher!"
The Defect immediately perked up, letting out a high-pitched chirp and sitting back down onto the grass. Its internal fans became faintly audible once again.
"Now," the Regent said as he picked up one of the figurines, "this is the most important piece, the king…"
As the Defect moved its bishop to a square across the board, it let out a two-syllable beeping sound. By now, the Regent had learned what the noise meant.
Checkmate.
"Huh, what?" the Regent raised his head from its resting position on his palm. For a moment, he was confused, his eye scanning each piece on the board. It took him a few seconds to realize that his king had, indeed, been surrounded.
"Oh, come on!" the Regent barked in frustration, tipping his king over. "Mere three hours ago, you did not know what chess was! How in the world do you keep winning every single game!?"
The Defect let out a noise that the Regent thought kind of sounded like a snicker, and pointed at itself.
The Regent was still staring at the chessboard. "Seriously, HOW!?"
Once the Defect repeated the giggling noise, the Regent looked up from the board and at his opponent.
For a moment, he just stared. Neither of them said anything, so the only audible sound was the quiet hum of the Defect's internal mechanisms.
As the Regent listened to the constant white noise, memories surfaced to the front of his mind.
He remembered the many combats he had partaken in, where he fought side by side with the Defect, among others. The many instances where the enemy had started to falter, but nobody was sure whether they would have been able to kill it before it retaliated one last time. So the heads would silently turn to the Defect, asking the unspoken question of whether it was time to forgo defenses and go all out on attacks. And after a few seconds, the Defect would either nod or shake its head — and the others followed it, never once having regretted the decision.
He also thought of their frequent stops at the merchant. While everyone else would be busy counting their gold and trying to work out what combination of items they could afford, the Defect would already be handing over some its gold to the merchant. After it would pocket its newly bought trinkets, it would walk around the small market, looking at the various items on display while others did their own shopping. The merchant would count the gold he'd received from the Defect — and never once was the amount incorrect.
Finally, the Regent remembered the scenes by the campfires, when everyone was battered and bruised and tired and they had to decide how to spend their precious respite. Despite their injuries, many would opt to upgrade their weapons instead, for they knew they needed to get stronger; not only for themselves, but for their friends as well. Sometimes, seeing that would make the Defect upset. It would walk over to its friends, letting out agitated beeps as it tried to snatch the weapons from their hands, tried to tell them taking care of their injuries was a priority. Sometimes, they would listen to it — other times, the Defect would get shoved aside, shouted at, the weapons grabbed out of its hands. So it would sacrifice its own time to mend their wounds while they sharpened their blades.
And after the next battle would be over, and its friend realized they would have succumbed to their injuries had they not gotten its help at the campfire, they would mouth a quiet "thank you" in the Defect's direction.
The Regent blinked, snapping out of his thoughts and focusing on his friend facing him across the board.
He slowly realized that, perhaps, playing chess against an automaton wasn't the brightest idea.
He lowered his gaze back at the chessboard, frustration bubbling in his chest. Before he could think of what to say, however, he heard the distinct sound of splashing water coming from Neow's cave.
He turned around to look. Sure enough, moments later, the three reborn fighters walked out of the cave and stepped onto the meadow.
"Hey! Brute! Huntress! Lich!" The Regent yelled out as he got up from the grass and started marching towards them. The Necrobinder waved when she noticed him, while the Ironclad and Silent gave each other an aggravated look.
The Regent didn't seem to notice. "Do any of you play chess!?"