Yellow Rook; Defense

One of the Dolls that had been wandering the border of Mechanica's Factorial Village would retreat inside of the Broken Home's Orphanage both screaming and laughing at the same time. This was a cry for the other Dolls that were in the area.


The Mechanica would start running, and the Rag Dolls would lift from their stasis, suspended in place and awaiting to hear what the other was coming to alert them about. The Dolls conversed in a language that was made of baby noises, such as grunts, laughs, cries, screams and other primal animal noises similar to monkeys, cats and dogs. The Orphanage was suddenly filled with chatter that sounded like the jumbled up glitched noises of a computer, with all of the random noises blending in discordant chatter.

The Yellow Rook that was sent out would walk into the room full of Rag Dolls and not interact with any of them. They were all chattering on about something indistinct that couldn't be deciphered, nor was it deemed anything important enough to engage with. He would stop before them, as if he already knew what to do.

When it was okay to move, he would slip in between them and off outside their radius of motion.

Many 'Collectors' passed through the 'Broken Homes Orphanage' carrying their debris and picking up any that might have been passed within the shelter and disposing of it with their particle deteriorating devices on their tendril cord arms. The Orphanage was cleaned up of all waste on the spot, and all of it was carried off to the next level of disposal for repurposing.

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The dolls thought that they heard something foreign. When something outside of their systematic society got their attention in any way, the shock of the foreign object or force terrified them to some degree, because of their sheltered nature. Whatever unknown it was, if it didn't assimilate with their society, their first instinct was to either run or to attack, which is what they did. The frightened dolls all scurried away and holed up in the buildings, leaving no one outside in the now wide open and blank field. Anything that was not systematically aware of the procedures of the dolls would be found outcast and be judged from within the systematic boundaries that were set for them, which were the buildings that were nearby.

When the dolls from outside came back into the Broken Homes Orphanage, they would begin to chatter among the Rag Dolls that were inside of the orphanage, and a commotion was caused.

By the time the dolls from outside retreated into the houses, along with them would be the Yellow Knight and Yellow Pawn that were out in the field, who would greet with the Yellow Rook that was stationed inside of the Broken Homes Orphanage. The Yellow Knight, who was commanding the Yellow Pawn, and therefore were recognized as a single unit, would approach the Yellow Rook to report the findings of the exterior.

"Yellow Rook, there seems to be something going on outside that has gotten the dolls in a stir. I saw some strange people outside the wall that might be frightening them." The chatter of the dolls was somewhat foreign to them, since they didn't speak their language, but the words sounded human, yet jumbled up. "I think it's best that whilst we retreat, you remain at your station and go out before them to see if anything is wrong before coming back to the HQ."

The Yellow Rook agreed with the Yellow Knight that this was a good idea and would take this suggestion whilst the Yellow Knight and the Yellow Pawn crossed deeper into the Orphanage, out into the back, where the Yellow Rook had come from in the first place. Those two units disappeared and the Yellow Rook advanced before the other dolls on their behalf.

When the Yellow Rook took initiative to step out before the Dolls, they would follow behind him and crowd the door, all looking to the windows and yammering on in their own dialect, which sounded like mixtures of standard language, baby babble and animal noises all blended together. After that, the Dolls each lined up in order and arranged themselves in a formation, with the first of the Dolls walking up to the Yellow Rook and whispering something to him, drawing his immediate attention to the Doll inside the Orphanage. What was whispered was not disclosed, but would be understood by the Yellow Rook that was protecting them.

The Yellow Rook, whose body was hidden nearly completely by his giant shield, would heed the whispers of the dolls in the Orphanage and acknowledge them and what they were doing. After they had spoken, and the Yellow Rook continued to hold off the inquisition outside, he raised his shield up for the doll that was below him to be able to see and move, whilst continuing to engage with the potential threat outside.

A Rag Doll that looked like an orphan walked outside after whispering to the Yellow Rook. Another of the Dolls stepped up out of formation behind the Rag Doll, but stopped and did not follow the first outside.

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What went on inside of the building was audible to the Yellow Rook. The woman from outside had infiltrated the interior and was causing trouble to the dolls. They all called to the Yellow Rook for help.

When the Yellow Rook heard the cry of the dolls in the Orphanage, then saw the woman who was once outside standing right in the middle of the floor before him, his eyes widened and he called out to the nearest dolls to come stand beside him. He whispered something to them about staying right where they were whilst he went to go deal with the woman. Since both she and her partner outside were separated, then perhaps the woman could be reasoned with. She was already throwing a tantrum and making the dolls afraid, for they were already a timid and broken bunch; those that lived in the Orphanage. Of all the ones that roamed, they were the most fragile, and it seemed like that wasn't understood. The Yellow Rook might have needed some assistance.

"Please!" he cried out, now at the mercy of the woman who suddenly gained an advantage through unknown power, "Don't cause any trouble! This is an Orphanage filled with broken and scared people. I've been trying to keep them from this type of trouble." The sheltered group hadn't been exposed to many outsiders before, and if they did, then it was an unpleasant run in with the Valparaiso Denizens.

Once the woman appeared inside of the stronghold of the dolls that were watching she and her friend outside, they went into a panic and started running around everywhere doing all sorts of things within their confined space. Some of them that were's running around hysterically like the others would whisper to each other before joining in the hysteria, whilst others would exit as they would once the hysteria began. All of it looked the same and none of it could be distinguished, save for the fact that there was a panic inside of the orphanage. Many messes that had just been cleaned up would be made again in their clamoring, but all of them seemed to neglect the importance of it once they were potentially threatened. So, the orphanage was astir and riled up, and seemingly out of control.

As it stood, the Yellow Rook was at the mercy of this woman because she appeared inside of the territory, and he didn't want to fight her while there were the orphans around. Instead, he tried to coerce her into leaving, but it didn't seem like she was going to go. He didn't know what to do now that she was here and not listening except to give into her demands. "Fine! You may pass," the Yellow Rook finally said. He called the other dolls to bring him his yellow shield. "Just don't do anything and don't touch anyone," he warned, "Or else you'll be the one in trouble!" It seemed like he knew something about this place that he was trying to keep from happening. He told the dolls to stay away from those two.

The orphans and dolls would heed the warning of the Yellow Rook that was protecting them, and those that were at the door holding up the shield would start to move away from it, bringing the shield back to the Yellow Rook. Some of the other dolls grouped together and then started whispering between themselves, only to start walking around in an orderly and organized fashion and clearing a way to the next area. They all looked at the woman silently, and did not stop staring, but did not move afterward.

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The actual human orphan was the one that would walk toward the man and grab his hand once the door was no longer blocked off, whilst the other would guide the both of them inside. Because the actual orphans were systematically integrated with the dolls that were provided for them, they were mixed in with the Mechanica based on following systematic procedure and not defined by their organic makeup. The real child that had Wei's hand would urge him to get up from his place so that he could be taken inside by the doll that was already functioning on systematic protocol regardless of what the humans decided to do.

The orphans outside would suddenly come inside when the door was no longer blocked off, bringing the man outside, Wei, with them. Once they entered, the Mechanica would begin to chatter and rattle off noises that seemed to neutralize them to his presence, whilst the other children would stand by patiently, still staring at everything silently. No one answered the questions.

It seemed like the orphans weren't going to explain themselves, and the Yellow Rook understood that, figuring that this would be so rather quickly. He was hesitant to speak up, as well, knowing that giving out too much information to a Valparaiso Denizen was pretty risky. However, he thought that perhaps if this woman had her answer, she'd be more willing to leave everyone alone, so he didn't hesitate for too long before telling her the answer.

"... It's because of the Valparaiso Denizens," he began, figuring that much would be clear. "Before there was a wall here, the people of Valparaiso were in and out of here, either leaving a child or taking a child and abusing them. Many of the children here have suffered many traumas at the hands of the Valparaiso Denizens, and so they're naturally more wary and cautious of any stranger beyond the giant wall." That was the gist of it all, and it was seemingly something that could have been inferred. "Everyone inside of the wall, even as a Valparaiso Denizen, is different from the people on the other side of the wall. That's why they trust anyone that comes from the back, but not anyone that comes from the front." Whatever is already inside of the wall is trusted, basically, and anything outside is not.

Wei, and his orphan escort, came into the building on the tail end of the Deacon's explanation. Though he hadn't heard it all, he could understand the gist of it and surveyed the room to look over all the orphans and their robotic companions. They really were indistinguishable to each other, to the untrained eye, in appearance and preliminary chakra scans. Now that he could see the difference, he understood why he mistook them in the first place. It wasn't an error in his own judgement, but that of Chita's previous companion. Who had been more blinded by finding out what happened to the Valparaiso in his rose-colored memories, then understanding the why behind the changes in the first place.

Wei supposed he wasn't any better though. He immediately defaulted to sleazy information broker when the Deacon showed himself. Even going so far as to manipulate the situation so that Chita would do exactly what she had done, when he should have just been straight up. It probably would have worked out much better in the long run and established a better relationship between the Deacon, the orphans, and Wei and Chita themselves.

Wei sighed, sitting on the ground on the orphanage right beside his orphan escort with his legs crossed. "Ya know, I kind of figured that. You seem like a good kid. Green around the ears, maybe, but stalwart in your conviction of protecting these children. Throughout our exchange, I saw that even though you were afraid of what me and my compatriot might be capable of, you never moved your shield to allow us a peek inside." Wei crossed his arms and nodded his head, before closing one of his eyes to wink at the Deacon boy, "You're pretty good at your job. Though you should never outright tell someone your affiliation with certain organizations, even if they might have suspicions."

The problem now was that they had hit a crossroads. From what Wei could understand, the majority of the cut throat Valparaisans hadn't, necessarily been run out of Valparaiso, but willingly chose to abandon ship when a significant portion of their territory was sealed away behind the giant wall outside. Some took orphans to train so they could fight in Champion, others took them for much more nefarious purposes. Street Walkers and the like left the kids here because they probably never wanted them in the first place and it would interfere with their livelihoods. Anyone left outside this wall just really didn't have anywhere else to go, and the robots carrying out their routine tasks and appropriating debris to keep the inside of the wall in tiptop shape was too new and strange for the Denizens outside the wall that didn't understand where the robots had come from, nor what their purpose was.

"I hate to tell you this buddy, but me and my partner there aren't the worst of what you're gonna face." Wei said, opening his eyes and looking at the orphan that was beside him. He didn't touch them, figuring they weren't quite at that level of trust, but he did give them a smile before he turned back to look at the Deacon with a rather serious expression. He continued, "With what you just told me, I'm satisfied, though I would like to know who, exactly, erected this wall in the first place. That aside, you and your brethren, and any of the other gangs that joined the protection racket, are going to have a real problem pretty soon." Wei pointed over his shoulder, towards a barricaded window that directly faced the wall outside, "Someone's gonna unite anybody that ain't happy about that thing bein' there and they're gonna revolt. Folks in, and from, Valparaiso don't like losin'."

The orphans that were near listened carefully to the words that the strangers were saying, especially the man who was forewarning them about the Valparaiso Denizens. The fact that there was talk about someone infiltrating the walls was terrifying to them, but after spending time with the Mechanica, they were sure that the machines would help them out if something should ever happen. They were living in peace for this long, even if it was only a short time, and if the machines could do it once, then they could do it again. The orphans would put their trust in the Mechanica, since they had no other protectors around. Even these people, the Yellow Deacons, only rarely showed up to come to their aid at all, and it was usually only for some sort of selfish purpose, like now. Otherwise, the orphans would still have no protector beyond the Mechanica. However, because the Yellow Rook decided to be adamant about protecting them, they were a bit more trusting to the organizations that were in the background. Still, it seemed like the orphans were wary of everyone. They did not speak nor move, but remained attentive to everything everyone was saying and doing.

The Yellow Rook was stuck in between feelings about the man's words. He was grateful for the praise that he was being given for his adamant nature, as a Rook, but he was also a little distressed about how he was speaking about his position. "I was a Valparaiso Denizen too, you know," he said flat out, in his emotion. "... I'm not as green as you think." The way the Yellow Deacons were formed, they did not act conventionally, as perhaps another unit or a standardized unit would. "I appreciate your acknowledgement, but you really don't know enough about the Deacons to really be placing such judgment." It sounded like the man were upset or perhaps insulted that he was being looked down upon by an outsider, let alone one that was saying he had affiliation with the other Valparaisans. Many were already against the Yellow Deacons because they defected from the anarchic life of Valparaiso in order to become more orderly, and their orderly nature now was different from what most might understand. "Please don't insult my ranks and my faction." The Yellow Rook seemed also very adamant in his feelings, just as he was about indirectly keeping the both of them out for as long as possible, as the Yellow Rooks were assigned to do.

"I can't tell you who made this wall, but I do know that whomever did it provided a pretty nice cover for us." That much was all they needed to worry about, actually. "The Yellow Deacons don't work directly. We're totally geared toward all things we do being indirect." This was everyone, as a Yellow Deacon's training; to be as indirect as possible whilst also following the natural mechanics of their positions. "Even if someone from the outside is coming in..." He grit his teeth with conviction, having faith in his faction, and their order that had gotten them this far. "... We will prevail, no matter what!"


"That is enough!!!" cried an unfamiliar voice, who would walk through the door garb in a fine yellow robe, different from the yellow armor adorned on the Yellow Rook. "Pray, you learn to mind your tongue!" There was a certain air about his voice that was different from the Yellow Rook; far more confident and assured, yet also, somehow cunning and filled with wit. It was clear that the Yellow Bishop had heard many things, but it was uncertain just how much he'd heard before interjecting. Enough, certainly, if he had to stop the Yellow Rook. "We're done here, Yellow Rook. We're returning to the HQ. Orders from the top." The Yellow Bishop, who was the superior of the Yellow Rook, by nature of how the Yellow Deacons were both founded and functioned, would stand before his companion with his arms folded behind his back and his yellow garb flowing freely.

The Yellow Rook narrowed his eyes, looking far less timid and weak as he once appeared, then nodded his head without saying a word, leaving the area the exact same way. The Yellow Bishop that had come to get him hadn't spoken anything further but smiled at thet two guests as he turned behind the Yellow Rook and walked behind him, covering his back. "He was right you know," the Yellow Bishop would say to the Yellow Rook. "You do talk too much to be a Rook." The two of them departed, and only the orphans and the guests would remain.

Wei closed one of his eyes, held his hands out to his sides and shrugged his shoulders as the Rook gave his passing glance before he was escorted away by another fellow in yellow. The other fellow wasn't nearly as geared up as the rook had been, but there was no mistaking that they were part of the same crew. Wei said nothing, until they were completely gone.

Once they were, Wei dropped his arms and rested them in the comfort of his lap. "Indirect he says, though he approached us. Pretty direct if you ask me." Though the other guy seemed more akin to upholding those words. Wei had knew he was around the entire time, but he had never made an appearance until know. Wei could only surmise that he had been the one giving the Rook his instructions in the first place, considering how quickly the Rook withdrew when he finally showed and said something about orders from an even higher station that his own. Whatever the case may be, it really didn't matter to Wei either way.

"No direct answers, but this has your whacked out family's name all over it. No two ways about it." Wei said, finally addressing Chita for the first time since they had been hiding in the empty building right next to this place. He turned to look at her, "So, what are you going to do now?" She certainly didn't have a reason to stay, though she seemed more interested in this place than he did himself. The small amount of wonder that he had were just the lingering emotions of the person he'd been fused with for so many years.

The conversation that went over the heads of the orphans was somewhat troubling to them. They were a sheltered folk that didn't know what others were doing with them or around them. The dolls that were made as their friends were being talked about as if they were some sinister plot by someone who had built the entire establishment for them. Many of them lowered their heads, wondering if this could be true, and that they'd been taken advantage of. They didn't want to believe it, especially since only good things had come of it based on everything they'd been through. Some of them hugged their dolls.

The Mechanica, who understood the emotions of the orphans would realize that this sort of talk was bad for them based on the assumptions and presumptions of two who didn't know what was going on exactly. It was as if they were poisoning the ears of the small children. So, the dolls, which already had a predetermined scenario for if such should happen, would start making mechanical noises like those of scanning computers, and immediately begin to disperse. Some of them would take the children off to different rooms or into bed, whilst others walked deeper into the orphanage and into a different area all on their own. The main room of the orphanage was left now only to the two that were conversing.