The Monster Machine

The Meeting

"...Tova... Tova..... Hey, c'mon, wake up."

Tova was nudged awake by a familiar voice. She blinked and looked around, her vision slightly foggy. She slipped Madeline's coat off her shoulders and handed it back to her as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.

"You okay? I thought I heard you talking in your sleep."

"Huh?"

"I said I thought I heard you talking in your sleep. Crazy dreams?"

Tova didn't respond. As she began to think, she remembered the dream. If... she could call that a dream. She stared off into space for a long time as she remembered everything while Madeline packed up. They were camping ontop of a roof of an old building. No one could spot them from where they were, which made it safe for them to rest for a while.

"We should be getting close, but we still got a bit of a ways to go. You ready?" Madeline glanced at Tova who was staring off into space, clearly not paying attention.

"Tova."

"Hm?"

"You ready to go?"

"Oh, yeah." Tova picked up her bag and slung it around her shoulders and Madeline led the way, hopping off the roof and continuing their journey upwards through the Underground.

"How far are we?" Tova asked.

"Uh... I'm not sure. I've never been up this far, but keep your eyes open for anything that looks familiar to you."

"Okay."

They avoided a lot of busy streets and looked for ladders and maintenence tunnels to help them ease their way upwards. There weren't a lot of bright lights to help them illuminate their path, making Tova stick close to Madeline most of the time so she wouldn't get lost. They walked down a long, dark tunnel and when they made it to the end, they turned into a tight alleyway that eventually led out into a busy street that was more well illuminated. Tova looked left and right until she noticed something just down the street. She walked towards it and Madeline followed her. They made it to a large area where a broken fountain sat in the center of a circular area, old buildings surrounding them on all sides and a couple other streets that radiated outwards. Something about this place looked... familiar to Tova. She approached the broken fountain and stood ontop of it.

"Tova? Tova what are you doing?" Madeline hissed at her quietly.

"I think... I remember this." Tova said blankly.

"What?"

"I think I've been here before."

Tova looked around, her memories being recalled the more she stared into the streets.

"When I was running from my father... I remember stopping here. I didn't know which way to go..."

"Then... here, c'mere."

Madeline pulled Tova off of the fountain and put her heavy coat over her shoulder and flipped the hood up.

"We gotta be careful then. We don't know if anyone might still be looking for you. Keep that on so no one can see you."

Tova fastened one of the large buttons so it wouldn't fall off of her shoulders.

"Do you remember where you went next?" Madeline asked.

Tova continued to look around. Almost all of the streets looked the same. All except one, which was not as well lit as the rest. Tova began to wander in that direction and Madeline followed her, glancing behind her to make sure they weren't being followed.

"I think I went this way." said Tova absentmindedly. They walked slowly down the dark street until Tova looked to her right and recognized the alley she was pulled into. They stepped into it to let other people pass them easily.

"This... this is where he found me. He offered me safety if I went with him..."

"Okay, but do you remember where he took you?"

"I think so. I think we went this way." Tova began to walk down a narrow path and Madeline followed. Tova began to hate the memories that were being recalled from her mind. She didn't want to think about what happened and tried to stay focused. But deep down, she still couldn't let go of her hatred for what he did to her. She was glad to have Madeline with her to help keep them on track. Somehow, Tova managed to remember everything. The unstable rusty catwalk that swayed underneath their feet every time they took a step, the narrow concrete street that led them down a long spiral staircase which finally led them to a dead end. Nothing but piles of trash and boxes where a high wall stood in front of them.

"Tova... there's nothing here. Are you sure this is where he took you?"

Tova stared at the wall of trash. She definitely remembered this place, but couldn't recall how to move past it.

"Um... hold on. I think it's... over here."

Tova stepped through the piles of trash where a long piece of cloth hung over and Tova reached her hand through it, feeling a switch. She flicked it and there was a click in the center of the wall. Tova moved the cloth away to reveal a large, metal door and she managed to open it.

"Wow. I never would've guessed that was here..."

"Yeah. He said he put this here to keep intruders out because they kept stealing stuff from him. Here, this way."

They stepped through the door and Tova left it slightly ajar so they could come back through later. When they turned around, the familiar building stood before them. Tall, hardly any windows, and the balcony off to the side looked like it had been ripped off. The whole site seemed to be leaning towards the seemingly bottomless pit and the only thing holding it back was the long wooden support beams. But it didn't seem like it'd be much longer until the whole thing would eventually crumble. Madeline took the lead and they quickly ran to the side of the house. She leaned over the edge and her stomach dropped at the sight of it.

"Geez... you fell from all the way up here? My god... I can't believe you survived that..."

"Yeah, me too... I honestly thought I was going to die."

"Ugh... okay enough staring. Come over here."

Madeline and Tova walked to the back of the building and crouched down.

"Okay look, I know how much you want to barge in there and slap the guy with a metal pipe, but we're here for answers."

"So... what should we do? Is he even still here?"

"Look."

Madeline pointed up to the broken balcony. Tova saw a bright light from above and a shadow moved across it. Tova's heart rate increased and she inhaled sharply.

"He's home alright. He's probably trying to fix everything you broke, good job by the way. We need to keep him inside the house, we can't risk him escaping."

"You have a plan?"

"... Sort of. You said you were helping him fix things around the house, right? Do you remember what they were?"

"Um... oh, yeah! There's a generator back here that puts power through the whole house."

Madeline snapped her fingers, "Perfect. I bet if we can shut it down, we might have a better chance at catching him."

"You... want me to break it?"

"Yep. You think you can do that?"

Tova nodded confidently and they moved around where the generator stood hummed softly.

"Okay, when the power's out, I'm gonna get inside and head him off upstairs. You stay out here until I call for you, okay?"

"Yeah, got it.'

"Okay, give me my coat. I'm gonna need that."

Tova slipped the large coat off of her as Madeline reached into her bag and pulled out a mask of some sort that only covered her mouth.

"What's that?"

"It's just a painter's mask. Just makes me hard for people to see my face. Can't have them recognizing me. Okay, ready?"

Tova nodded and moved behind the generator, pulling out the panel and finding all the connected wires and other machinery. Madeline found a small window around the corner that she prepared herself to jump through. Tova counted her down and pulled out a large cable that made the generator spark and fizz. The lights inside the house flickered and went off as Madeline heaved herself inside and Tova waited. After a moment or two, she suddenly heard a loud voice coming from the balcony followed by shouting and stomping. Heavy footsteps began to thunder upwards and after a series of banging, crashing, shouting, and heavy grunting, everything went quiet. Tova's heart raced in her chest as she began to wonder if Madeline was alright. She moved slowly around to the window Madeline had hopped through and decided to take a peak. Until a figure popped their head out from the window, making Tova yelp. Madeline threw off her hood.

"It's okay, it's me! We're safe, you can come inside now."

"What happened? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I had it all under control! Now get in here, I need your help."

Madeline pulled Tova inside. As Madeline headed upstairs, Tova took a moment to look around. It was exactly as she had remembered it. Besides the darkness and some visible cracks in the walls that weren't there before. She broke her daze and went upstairs. She lightly gasped when she saw a body lying on the floor in the middle of the hallway. A pair of broken goggles lay near it.

"Is that... is he...?"

"No, he's not dead. At least... I don't think so. I hope not. I just knocked him out, he'll be fine."

Madeline glanced up and down at Argo's unconscious body for another moment.

"Yeah... he'll be fine..... He might be out for a while, so in the meantime let's look around and see what we can find around here."

Madeline and Tova stepped over Argo and approached the wall of monitors alongside the broken balcony that hung precariously close over the edge of the seemingly bottomless hole. With the power out, there was no way they could access the data within. Madeline realized she hadn't thought her plan all the way through.

"I... still don't understand why he decided to build this on a balcony over the pit of doom."

"He only told me it was made to take apart little machines without damaging everything." Tova explained.

"Yeah... but what did he need the parts for? Something about that doesn't feel right..."

Madeline turned away and walked down the hallway.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm gonna deal with this guy for a second. You think you can look around the other rooms and see if he might have some notes or something?"

"Notes? For what?"

"I don't know, anything. Just... look for anything that might be important. If he said he used to work with your father, maybe he still has some old stuff that could tell us what exactly they were doing."

"Okay..."

While Madeline dragged Argo's heavy body downstairs, Tova was about to search the room beside her, until she remembered something. She quickly descended the stairs and looked around the living room, until she spotted a small shoebox sitting on the edge coffee table.

"The box!"

Tova ran up to it and grabbed it. She was so worried it was lost forever, but it seemed like Argo hadn't even touched it. As Madeline grunted, carrying Argo's body down the stairs, she looked confusedly at Tova.

"What is that?"

"It's the box I told you about! The one Maria gave to me. I thought I'd lost this forever!"

"Ohhh! You should keep that in your bag then, that way you won't lose it again."

Tova did exactly that and looked up where Madeline still struggled to get Argo down the stairs. She decided to help out. Madeline asked her to find a chair and some rope, or even some long wiring or cables to tie him up with. Tova did so, and now al they had to do was wait until he woke up.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Leave him to me. I don't know how long it'll be until he wakes up. I'll stay and watch him, you should go back upstairs and keep looking around. Let me know if you find anything."

"Got it."

Tova went upstairs and checked the first room on the left. It was a small room filled with boxes large and small with dozens of scattered papers strewn about. There was more stuff in the back of the room, but Tova could hardly see what was back there. She sighed at the sight of it. Until her thoughts were interrupted by a fuzzy noise coming from one of the pocket in her bag. She pulled out the radio.

"Hey, Madi, are you there? Is this a bad time? I know you said I had to stay quiet, but it's been a long time now and I... I'm just making sure-"

"Azu? Is that you? It's me, Tova. I can hear you."

"Oh, Tova! Oh, it's so good to hear you. Are you okay? How's everything going for you two?"

"Well, we made it. We found Argo and Madeline knocked him out... I think. We have him tied up downstairs and we're gonna try talking to him when he wakes up."

"Wow, already? That's good, then. So, what are you doing?"

"Madi asked me to look around for anything important, and I'm in this room with all these... papers and junk. But... honestly, I'm not sure what I should be looking for..."

"Hmmm... well, since we need more info about what your father's doing, maybe try looking for some blueprints or something. You remember what those look like? I showed you before. Anything maybe related to machines or some plans or something. Try starting there. Lemme know if you find anything. Oh, and when you guys are done, tell Madi to bring me back some tacos!"

Tova giggled at that last remark.

"Okay, I will. Lemme see what I can find."

Tova put the radio away in her bag and looked up at the room in front of her, trying to narrow things down with her eyes. She looked through a couple boxes of papers, unfortunately, most of them were written in a language she didn't understand. She began to ignore the writing and tried looking for notes with pictures or drawings on them. Whilst moving some junk around to move through the room easier, one of the stacks tipped over and the contents spilled on the floor. Tova stepped around everything until she spotted a strange device lying on the floor. It almost looked similar to one of Azu's gadgets, but she had no idea what it was or what it did. She picked it up and stuffed it in her bag as she suddenly heard Madeline call to her from downstairs.

"Tova! Get down here, quick!"

Tova raced down the stairs and looked at Madeline who was standing near the tied up Argo.

"He's starting to wake up. Get behind the couch."

"Why?"

"Just go. Leave this to me. Don't come out until I say so."

Tova didn't hesitate and quickly hid behind the arm of the couch, making sure no part of her was visible. Madeline took a moment to get herself ready, putting her mask back on and throwing her hood back over her head. She took a deep breath and struck a confident stance as Argo began to stir.

"Ugh..... wha..... what happened?" Argo mumbled to himself. Madeline kicked his leg to get his attention.

"Hey, eyes up here." said Madeline, speaking in a deep voice. Argo looked up at her and began to struggle in the wires as he began to realize what was going on.

"Hey, who are you? What are you doing? How did you get in here?!"

Madeline remained calm and stoic as Tova peaked from behind the couch, wondering what Madeline was about to do.

"Who are you?" Argo hissed.

"None of your business. I'm here for answers."

"What do you want?"

"Does the name Isandro mean anything to you?" Madeline asked as she c****d her head. The expression on Argo's face quickly changed, making Tova a little nervous.

"What do you know about him? You know nothing about what he's done. If you want to know so badly, why don't you go ask him for yourself?"

Madeline leaned closer to him in a threatening tone.

"I heard you were working on... some sort of... project. Care to explain?"

"Why do you care so much about this? Don't you want money or parts or something? Cn't you just take any of that and leave me alone?"

Madeline struck Argo across the face, making Tova gasp. She hoped they didn't hear her.

"Answer me! What exactly is he building?"

"Why should I tell you? You can't make me say anything."

Madeline was about to hit him again until Tova suddenly stood up from behind the couch.

"Wait."

They both looked at her and Tova's heart began to race again. She didn't know what prompted her to reveal herself. Something else from within was driving her.

"You're right, she can't make you say anything."

Madeline looked at her concerningly as she stepped forward. She wanted to tell her to go back and hide, but she was also slightly curious about what she was doing. Tova stood next to Madeline and pulled out the tool ring from her dress pocket. She flicked out the tiny knife and held it towards Argo. His eyes widened as he finaly recognized Tova through the darkness.

"You lied to me. You said you'd keep me safe. Instead you used me and tried to take me apart like I was just another machine. You're just as bad as my father!"

"Your father didn't do s**t to you!" Argo snapped back. Madeline subtly held an arm in from of Tova protectively.

"While your father sat at his stupid desk, working away all day, I went out to find all the pieces of scrap he needed for that 'project'. I was the one that gave away all that I had just to afford what he needed, breaking my fingers day and night putting everything together the way he designed it to be, without mentioning a 'thank you' even once! Nothing! Evey day I went out there, risking my life over dozens of people that have tried to kill me over a stupid piece of wire or screw. I barely made it out alive with what I had left! Any one of those days could've been my last, but was he ever worried about me? No! He was more worried about the condition of the stupid, shitty scrap I risked my life to get my hands on for him! And you think lying to you was the worst thing I ever did? I wanted to help you, Tova!"

"You tried to kill me!" Tova screamed as she pointed the knife closer towards Argo. Argo also struggled in his seat, until Madeline whacked him across the face again and pushed Tova back, glaring at her. She was able to get Tova to calm down after a moment before turning back to Argo. Tova stood behind Madeline as she glared at Argo angerly.

"We're not here to discuss who did what to who. We're here for the why. Since you were the one collecting all the hardware, maybe you can tell us what it was actually for?"

"Hey, I'd like to know as much as you." Argo sighed frustratingly. "He... never actually told me what it was all for. I was just the guy grabbing all the materials he needed."

Tova handed the tool ring to Madeline and she took it, pointing the knife blade underneath Argo's chin.

"Ah- I'm telling you, I really don't know! He refused to tell me anything! He only ever said it was for 'the good of everyone', I swear that's all I know!"

"If you can't tell us, then can you show us? Notes, blueprints, you got anything like that that might be able to help us? We're not leaving empty handed, and if you lie to us I will not hesitate to make sure you never lie, or speak to anyone again." Madeline threatened as she lowered the blade towards Argo's throat. Argo swallowed and inhaled sharply.

"Upstairs, in my room... there's a loose panel in the wall. I stuffed some thing back there years ago. He told me to hide them so no one would see them. Just... take whatever you want and let me go. It's no use to me anymore anyway..."

Madeline glanced at Tova and Tova understood. She went back upstairs and headed towards the other room down the hall. Argo's room was... a lot cleaner than Tova had expected. She moved over to the walls, feeling them until her hand pressed against something and a large wood panel leaned outwards. She moved it away and inside was a square hole full of small boxes and rolled up blueprints. Tova wasn't sure either she or Madeline could carry all of these things together. She took the rolled up blueprints and put them in her bags before rifling through the rest of the papers. Most of them also had indecipherable writing on them and Tova took whatever else looked important. Well... only as much as she was able to stuff in her bag. When she thought she was done, she walked back downstairs where Madeline was still talking to Argo.

"I'm telling you, I really don't know what he's building or what it's supposed to do. He always asked for some really weird crap. But it's definitely not a new power source. I swear, I'm telling the truth. And... I don't think it's the machine's he trying to complete. There was... something else he was working on too... but I never heard him say anything about it. If you're planning on confronting him, you're going to need a lot more than a pocket knife." said Argo as Tova walked downstairs, not completely paying attention to what he was saying.

"I appreciate your concern, but I'm not here to let you convince me to help in your personal revenge story. You hurt my friend, and that is not something I'm willing to forgive easily."

Madeline noticed Tova behind her.

"Did you find anything?"

"Yeah. I think I got enough."

"Good. I think we're done here. Thanks for you're cooperation, Argo."

"Hey! Aren't you gonna untie me now?"

"What do you think?" Madeline sassed back as she approached the front door. Tova followed her as Argo continued to writhe and struggle in the wires.

"Tova, wait! Please!"

Tova hesitated to turn around, but she did anyway.

"If you see your father again..... kick his a*s for me?"

Tova glared at him before slamming the door behind her. She and Madeline went back the way they came.

"Hey... you okay?" asked Madeline.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm okay. I'm just glad he got what he deserved. Was I okay back there? Did I take things a little too far?"

"No, actually you were perfect. I'm surprised you were able to get him to talk like that."

"Really? I was actually a little scared. But... it felt kinda good at the same time. Is that weird?"

"Not at all. I think you did really well. C'mon, let's get out of here. I have a feeling whatever's in those notes is not going to be easy to figure out."