Grian’s POV
Present Time
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It was a significantly shorter time to get Doc, Wels, and Scar all settled than it did with Grian and his crew. No playing cards or torrential rainstorms needed! However, while getting those three to town was easy (it mostly just involved dropping them off with the very-eager Iskall to give a tour), the problem was entirely isolated to the fourth person that arrived with them.

"What! Did! You! Do?!" was Cultie's distressed roar. The volume drew in Pearl, Gem, Joe, and Keralis, who had previously all been chatting about the worlds and all that nonsense. "You just left?! How did you leave? Why? It was nigh imPOSSIBLE to find you again!" He was pacing at incredible speeds, back and forth, back and forth.

Grian hadn't ever really seen Cultie upset before. He was usually calm, if a bit anxious. This was new. And interesting. And a little scary. Still, he grinned and shrugged. "Yeah, I have zero idea how I did that," he admitted freely. This was correct. "I've just learned to accept whatever weird things happen nowadays." This was also correct.

Apparently these blatant facts did not appease Cultie, as he proceeded to pull his hood further over his face and heave a heavy, scratchy sigh of indignance. "For Nether's sake, are you just trying to make things more difficult? You can never just let me do my stuff can you?"

Grian cocked his head. "Never?" That was a bit of an overstatement. "That's not fair, I've been plenty complacent since you dropped into my home and turned my life upside-down! I've been trying to help you, and you're calling me difficult!"

"Oh-" Cultie perked up suddenly, letting go of his hood and taking a step back. "That's not what I- Sorry, I got a bit overwhelmed." He spoke hastily, like a child trying to explain how that lamp got broken (it wasn’t them). There was a chorus of communicator dings. "I had to comb through like three hundred worlds before I found one that even had a trace of you in it. And then it just ended up being one of the ones we were already in and- what are you doing?"

Grian was staring intently at his communicator, as were the four others.

<iskall85> everyone get to my lab
<GoodTimesWithScar> I'm doing magic!
<GoodTimesWithScar> I think

"What are you reading?" Cultie asked. Instead of just looking at his own wrist, he slid behind Grian and peered over his shoulder to stare at his.

"Magic?" All five of them questioned in unison. It was quite impressive, actually. All of the chatter directly after was decidedly not in unison, but the first word was. Grian just frowned slightly. Magic...That was an odd thing to proclaim. Everyone knew about admin magic. Why did he seem so excited about it?

His gaze panned over to where Gem and Pearl were huddled, muttering in hushed voices off to the side. Brushing the frozen Cultie off to the side, he scampered over to the two of them. "Hey, you guys have any idea what the big deal is? We all do magic, right?"

Pearl shook her head. "Sure, but that's just coding and commands," she mused. "It's not really magic. Just Watcher magic---or the weaker admin magic in your cases."

"Ha, 'just coding', you're not giving yourself enough credit, Pearl!" Gem said, giving Pearl a light smack on the shoulder. But, her face solidified slightly as she turned to Grian. "But she's right, we don't have the faintest idea what...ehm-" She looked back at her communicator.

"Scar?"

"Yes, Scar. We have no idea what he's on about." A beat. "Can we go check it out?"

Grian turned back around. "Well, I guess we should ask the others but-" Everyone else was already descending down the spiral staircase to the lab's floor. That settled it, then, he supposed. "Nevermind, let's go!"

The room was significantly more crowded with ten people than it was with two. That was especially true given that everyone was crowded around two people: Scar and Iskall. The former of which was holding that chunk of metal and diamond from the latter's eye. It was...flickering. Glowing, briefly, then stopping. It looked like how it did when it was connected to the redstone contraption, but it was separated from it now.

The brilliant blue diamond shone like, well, diamonds. Despite the crystal itself being bright cyan, the light it gave off was lemon yellow, mixing together to create a greenish hue. That was different from when it was hooked up to the contraption, Grian noticed. Occasionally it would flicker out and return to just being a normal stone when Scar looked away from it. Then he'd look back with a hardened stare, clenching it, sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration, and it would flicker again.

"Scar, what are you doing?" Grian called.

"Oh-!" Scar looked up. Like shattered glass, his concentration broke and the diamond fizzled out. "Hello, Grian! I'm doing magic!" He held out the diamond. "Oh- give me a second..." It lit up again. Scar's hands were shaking.

"I asked him about my eyepiece, and he just picked it up, didn't even ask," Iskall explained. "Said---what did you say?---'Oh, a crystal!' and then it started glowing."

"I've never seen anything like it," Joe interjected. "None of my admin magic has ever done something like...that."

"That's because it's not admin magic." Grian turned to see Pearl walk up, parting the crowd to get a closer look at the diamond in Scar's hand. "That's Watcher magic."

The room got silent. The rock flickered out as Scar looked up, a puzzled expression painting his face. "...Watcher? Who's watching what? Are they watching the diamond?"

Pearl shook her head. "No, no. Well- kinda? The Watchers are people that, get this, watch all the worlds. We---they---keep eyes out for bugs, mistakes, and general things that players---you---dislike. Then, they report, along with Listeners who do the same thing but with their ears, to Rememberers, who store all of this info and deliver it to Creators who then fix those things and make the next updates." She let out a breath.

There was complete and utter silence, save for the sound of frantic pages turning and the soft buzz of redstone. Gem coughed. "Basically we just manage all the worlds," she said simply. The silence persisted, with everyone but Grian, the two Watchers, and Cultie standing there with abstract shock and possibly horror shaping their faces. But Gem wasn't finished yet. "And we have our special form of magic, which is like your Admin commands, but like, more complex. And what Scar appears to be doing?" She gestured expressively at the eyepiece. "That's Watcher magic if I've ever seen it. Where in the Worlds did you learn that?"

Scar shook his head. "I...I don't know," he admitted. He rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. "I just kinda felt it, you know? In my bones."

"No, I don't," Gem replied. "I'm getting the vibe? But not the part how this makes any sense at all."
"That's 'Sight', isn't it?" came a voice from the back of the room. It was the only person who hadn't sardined themself into the ring around Scar. "The yellow glow. That's an eyesight enhancement, right?"

Scar apparently took this as a cue to re-magic-ify the diamond. It resumed its glow, which was, in fact, yellow. The wizard, apparently, looked back up at Cultie. His eyes narrowed slightly. "How do you know that?" He asked, tentatively, like he was tasting every word before he said it.

"It just rings a bell," Cultie replied. "I think I remember something like that from before." Before? There was that vagueness again. Grian bit his tongue. He had so many questions for that man. It felt like all of them could be answered at once, if he could just find it out.

"Well, whatever it is, I bet I can figure it out, if you all could just give me a minute," Scar mused. "You two too," he added when Gem and Pearl stepped forward.

They looked at each other, but exchanged a hushed word and then shrugged. "Alright," Pearl said at last. "We'll leave you to it."

Eventually, everyone had cleared out except for Grian, Cultie, Scar, and Iskall. Grian waved to his pals and made to go upstairs but he was stopped by a tug on his shirt. "Wait-" It was Cultie. Grian raised an eyebrow, but hopped off the staircase. The hooded person looked at each of the three people, now very curious, in turn, then sighed. His shoulders slumped. "Okay, I, uh, didn't want to show you this when everyone else was here but..." He trailed off as he pulled out a small spiral notebook from inside of his cloak (that was probably where his inventory was, but Grian thought it'd be funny if he had just been holding it there the whole time).

Scar gasped, and for good reason, as the cover had a goofy drawing of a very familiar person in a wizard's hat and the words: "SCAR'S MAGIC NOTEBOOK! DON'T TOUCH!" written in big blocky letters. It was instantly snatched by Scar, who immediately began flipping through the pages like a madman.

"Where did you even get this, S- Cultie?" Scar gasped. "This is my handwriting, and my artstyle, and that's MY FACE on the front cover?!"

Cultie rubbed his forearm. "This was...left behind. In your old world." Scar landed on a page with a huge yellow crystal drawing labeled plainly, "SIGHT". Underneath the title appeared to be written instructions, but Grian couldn't make heads or tails of it. Scar's eyes, however, widened into saucers.

He tore his gaze away from the book and looked up. Grian couldn't see where his line of sight was aimed, if anywhere. He just looked to be staring into space, or at something that didn't exist. He said, softly, "I remember this." And then so much louder, "I remember this!!!"

"That must've sparked your memory," Cultie observed. "Was probably important to you."

"I bet I can fix the eyepiece now!" Scar was practically bouncing in place. "I just have to-"

But he was caught off by a yelp from the corner. The three turned to Iskall, who was clutching his arm. "Ah, no worries," he said through gritted teeth. Grian was definitely harboring worries. "This happens every night." That's when Grian saw it: pokes of white light permeating through the cracks of Iskall's fingers. He knew that white glow.

Not long after, Scar, who had relocated himself to a corner, also hissed in a breath. "Oh Nether, what's going on?" Cultie said. "Are you okay?!" He was shaking, looking so frantically between the two scar-ridden people that Grian could almost see through his hood. Almost.
"If this is what I think it is, they're fine. I get it, too," Grian explained. His scars should be making their presence known soon enough.

"What is 'it?!'"

Iskall walked back over. He let go of his arm and held it out. Just like Grian suspected, it was a pair of scars, glowing a familiar bright white. "This."

Cultie failed horribly at hiding a gasp. "How did that happen?"

His question was answered by a shrug. "I dunno. It's been happening as long as I can remember."

"Same here," Scar called. From his corner, he was practically buckled over. He gestured vaguely to his whole torso. "Although I'd wager mine is a bit more annoying." He grinned. "Not to brag, though."

Horrified, Cultie turned to Grian. "And you get them too? Where? Do you also not remember?" His voice was at least two octaves higher than usual. He was almost completely still, except that he was vibrating violently.

Grian also shrugged. "I have no idea where they came from. They're all over, though. Which-" he smirked pointedly at Scar- "puts me in the lead for most annoying scars."

But, the scars couldn't be annoying if they never showed up. Grian waited...and waited...but they never did. Eventually, Scar's and Iskall's faded, and Grian was left sitting there, confused. "At least, they normally show up," he said slowly, like saying that would make them appear. Come to think of it, they wouldn’t work in the Watcherlands either. Maybe being there made them go away? That would be nice.

"And none of you have any idea where they came from? You didn't fight anyone? Get stabbed? Shot at?" Cultie's incessant questions were all met by shakes of heads. "Oh that's not normal at all."

"It happens to all of us," the three non-Culties said in unison. Wow, they were good at that.

"That's really bad." Grian could’ve sworn he heard a chirping noise after Cultie said that. He must've been crazy.

It only took maybe twenty minutes after that for Scar to finally unleash a, “YES!!” of triumph. He held up the now consistently glowing diamond like it was the most impressive thing in the universe, a grin breaking his features. “Here, Iskall, try this!”
Iskall, who had been shutting his eyes in the corner, popped up and ran over. Grian watched intently as Iskall fiddled with the piece before it clicked into his metal piece.

A gasp escaped Iskall. “Woah…Woah!!!” He yelled. “I can see! Wow, it all looks so different, the depth, this is so cool, Scar, you're the best!”

The wizard, definitely, laughed triumphantly. “I'm so happy! Cultie, it worke- Cultie?”

Cultie had left a while ago. He hadn't said anything, just stood up and went back to the upper floor.

“Who cares about him, I'm going to go find the others,” proclaimed Iskall, already racing up the stairs.

It only took a few communicator messages to get everyone gathered at the base of the city. They all oohed and aahed over Scar's handiwork until Keralis suggested that they all go find actual supplies so that they could set the newcomers up with better living quarters (after all, it was already nighttime and they didn't have so much as more than one bed). This was, of course, not until after Cultie gave his whole memory spiel, which Grian wasn't even listening to at all this time. He was more busy thinking about the disappearance of his scars, and how odd Cultie was acting today. Still, Grian had a good time. The group walked and talked, until something made them stop dead in their tracks.

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No one's POV
Present Time
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Grumbot sat at the edge of a cliff overlooking a giant mechanical thing, with His legs dangling off precariously. He appeared to be deep in thought, if that was possible. You couldn't really know for sure. His cracked screen still showed that same, boring, expressionless expression as He stared off into the distance.

“Hey, Gwum! How awe you doing?” Jrumbot came strolling up to its older semi-sibling. “You look sad.”

“I don't look anything, Jrum,” Grumbot replied plainly. His screen briefly switched to a more somber pose. “That's the problem.”

The small one seemed to hesitate before speaking again. “I…I heard youwr argument with Sage the othew day. About you…uh…” Grumbot said nothing in response, as permitted by his coding. “Um…I still love you, even if you don't love me anymowe.”

Grumbot still sat at the edge of the cliff, but His legs stopped moving. He tensed up. Can a robot tense? Grumbot did.

“And I fink…I know that we can fix anyfing! We can find ouwr Dad and Poppa and then we can get them to fix you!” Jrumbot pumped its fist and jumped into the air. It grinned, as much as a screen lacking a mouth could do. “Don't youw fhink that's a gweat idea, Gwummy?” Its eyes practically sparkled.

Grumbot now stood up. His eyes were narrowed. He loomed over Jrumbot now, who was still thrilled. “That's not going to work, Jrum. Not this time.”

You could see the heartbreak. Well, you could if Jrumbot had a physical heart. “Why not? They made you and me, I'm suwe they can fix youw rwight up!” It began to do loops around its older brother.

“Because it doesn't work like that. They can't give me emotions,” Grumbot responded in His typical monotone way, but there was a hint of—was that malice? in His voice. He took a step towards Jrumbot, who reflexively jumped back toward the edge.

“Well, youw gave me a body! I didn't fink that was possible. And Iskall gave youw a body with Scaw's magic! Magic would make youw bettew, wouldn’t it?”

Grumbot took another step. He was almost shaking. Jrumbot's eyes flickered slightly, for just a moment. “No, it wouldn't! Just stop talking, alright?” He yelled.

Jrumbot remained mostly unfazed. Oh, the optimism. It was almost enviable. “I know you'we scawed, Gwum.”

It took another step back.

“I fink I might be, too.”

Another.

“But we've awways been togethew.”
It looked up at Grumbot's screen. His face was emotionless. “Youw are so coowl, Grum, youw can do anyfing.”

If Jrumbot had touch sensors, it might’ve felt a slight breeze.

“Please,” it said. The two robots’ screens were the only lights around. Jrumbot's innocent blue stared straight up at Grumbot's orange. It stepped backward, but not out of fear. “Can youw trust me?”

It held out its arms for a hug.

In one swift motion, Grumbot shoved it off the cliff. He didn't even have time to see its screen switch to one of shock. “GRUMBOT, HEWP!”

Crunch.

Grumbot staggered backward, His hands shaking, His ‘face’ one of pure horror. He collapsed onto the ground, clutching His hands. What had He done?

And then…

His screen returned to its neutral position. Grumbot stood up and walked away.

-(Author's Rambling)-

Hiya, it's me! Back for another chapter after multiple months👍. Sorry about that! I would like to extend my greatest gratitude and admiration to any and all who are still sticking around.

I wrote this entire thing in two sittings and refuse to proofread, so let me know if you all find any mistakes.
Other than that, thanks for coming, and I'll see you next time my little Readers!

Promise out!