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[ID: An Inanimate Insanity fanfic banner in the style of the Season 2 movie's credits sequence. MePad's body, Test Tube, Fan, Taco, and Toilet are all in the basket of a hot air balloon. Test Tube is on the left, wearing a cork and her lab coat, her hands gripping the edge of the basket. Fan is to the right of her, one hand gripping the edge of the basket. MePad's body is leaning against the right side of the basket, ropes binding it together. Toilet is in front of Fan, facing right. Taco is at the front of the basket, her hands gripping the edge of it. On the right is the title of the chapter in white text reading "Chapter 3: In a Fix" /end ID]

Fandom: Inanimate Insanity Rating: T Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Friendship, Grief Characters: Toilet, Test Tube, Taco, Fan, MePhone, Mephone3GS Warnings: Death, depictions of PTSD, detailed descriptions of a robotic character being disassembled Fic Description: Shortly after Cobs’s death, Toilet sneaks away from the others to see MePad’s body for himself. Not long afterward, he’s joined by Test Tube… but she’s not here to grieve. Slowly but surely they’re joined by others who all pitch in with a single goal in mind: bringing MePad back. Toilet has high hopes that he’ll see his friend again… but is bringing MePad back truly a possibility, or are they all staving off the inevitable? Beta Readers: @valencrime and @livemedown

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Chapter 3: In a Fix Summary: In which the raid on Meeple begins.

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The sun had long since crept up over the mountains by the time they were preparing to launch. Making the balloon didn't take very long—or it didn't feel like it did, anyway. They'd worked incessantly since Test Tube had proposed the idea, moving the supplies outside (which was a process in and of itself) to build the components, and had bundled MePad's body together with ropes and put it in the basket. As they began to set up the fuel (with Test Tube standing atop Toilet in order to reach the heating mechanism), Toilet barely felt the pain in his body anymore, and he couldn't help but be impressed at how quickly Test Tube could work when she was in a mad furor.

Just as Test Tube was finishing up, Toilet abruptly realized there were people just outside the basket, and jumped back, nearly knocking Test Tube off of his tank.

"Watch it!" Test Tube cried, re-balancing herself. "This stuff is volatiiii..." Her voice trailed off when she followed Toilet's gaze, and a sheepish grin crossed her features. With a few awkward steps, she hopped down onto Toilet's lid, then to the floor of the basket. "Hi, Fan!"

Standing beyond the wicker basket were Fan and Taco, watching the proceedings with concern. "Test Tube, uh, what exactly are you... doing?" Fan asked, raising his hand to indicate the as-of-yet-uninflated hot air balloon.

"We're headin' up to the MeCloud to fix MePad!" Toilet said cheerfully.

Fan exchanged a worried look with Taco and whispered something to her before facing Test Tube and Toilet again. "When was the last time you guys slept?"

"Yes!" Test Tube replied confidently.

Taco sighed, dragging a hand down her face, and shook herself. Meanwhile, Fan shuffled his feet, looking at the ground. "Maybe I could... go with you? To, y'know, make sure everything turns out okay."

"Of course!" Toilet exclaimed. "The more the merrier!"

"Yeah, you can help us raid the place!" Grinning, Test Tube waved Fan onboard, reaching out her hand to help him up. When he did so, however—

"WOAH!" Fan leaped back, eyes wide at the sight of MePad's mangled body leaning against the side of the basket. "Oh that's... way worse than I was expecting it to look."

"I know it looks bad," Toilet admitted, averting his gaze from the body. He shook himself, giving Fan a hopeful smile. "But Test Tube's gonna fix him, and I'm gonna help!"

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

The three looked up to see Taco boarding as well, and Test Tube blinked wearily a few times before realizing. "Oh, right, you're here to help too."

"Where have you been, Taco?!" Toilet rushed up to her, and she stepped back before he could bump into her shell. "We thought you left!"

"I did step away for a moment. I needed some time to think. And sleep. Or... try to." Looking past him, she walked around him and over to MePad. There she knelt down, placing a hand on his side and shutting her eyes.

Before anyone else could say anything, Test Tube jumped. "Well, now that you're all here, let's get this show on the road!" With that, she ignited the flames, which began inflating the balloon. Soon they were on their way upward, and Toilet watched the sights in delight.

"Wow, it's been a while since we've gone up here in a balloon!" he remarked.

Fan nodded, peering out over the edge of the basket. "Yeah. I remember being a lot more... excited, the last time." He rubbed his arm, frowning.

"I was excited, too! We got to help Mistah Phone!" Toilet cheered, only to pause. "And then that rubbish Soap threw me overboard."

"You also tried to kill us," Fan remarked, glancing back at him.

"Oh, right..." Toilet looked away, face pinched in guilt. "But MePad saved everyone!" A smile crossed his face, only to fade again as he turned to look at the body still lying against the side of the basket.

I do not intend on being superior to you at all. I consider us equals. We both serve a different purpose, is all.

...Oh. I appreciate that.

Once again, Toilet's tank felt dizzy looking at the lifeless half-broken shell lying before him and trying to remember that it was the same person who had shown faith in him all that time ago—and who had spoken to him just yesterday. Shuddering, he settled himself down next to Taco, who was now gently rubbing her hand along MePad's side, while her other hand scrubbed beneath her eyes. He observed this for a few moments before speaking, his voice softer than usual: "You don't gotta be sad."

Taco gave a quiet sniff, still staring down at the body. "I wish it were that easy, Toilet," she murmured.

"But we're goin' to fix him!" Toilet said, nudging himself closer to her. "Like we fixed Mistah Phone!"

With a shuddering sigh, Taco turned and took a seat, resting the back of her shell against MePad and wrapping her arms around her knees. "You and MePad were close, weren't you?"

"Yeah!" Toilet scooted himself so that he was as near to her as possible. "Not at first. I thought he was taking all of Mistah Phone's attention for himself, but... He said we were equals." Something tugged in his plumbing again, and he looked away. "Even though Mistah Phone didn't agree."

Feeling Taco's hand against his side, he looked back at her.

"I didn't believe I could change," Taco admitted quietly. "But he did, somehow. Even after I kidnapped him and abused his teleportation powers... I thought I'd successfully modified them in such a way that only I could use them. But, no, he was capable of teleporting away from me that entire time. He just... chose not to, not because he had something to gain from me, but because he wanted to help me." She shook herself, drawing her hand away from her eyes, which flicked to observe a corner of the basket. "No one had ever done that for me before." Tipping herself back, she peered past the bulk of the balloon and instead fixed her gaze on the sky. "It was strange, seeing such kindness, when all your life you've been in a game that perpetually pits people against one another."

Toilet followed her gaze, staring out at the bright blue sky, listening to the wind outside and the constant hiss of burning fuel above. "He was always kind," he murmured, only to shake himself. "He is."

Once again he felt Taco's hand rest against his side, and something about it... hurt. Shuddering, he took a few hops away from her to look instead at Test Tube, whose gaze was fixed at a point in the sky. "What about you?" he asked, and she gave a start, whirling around.

"H-huh, what?" she stammered, looking around the basket wildly.

Fan put a hand on her arm, stilling her. "They were talking about their time with MePad, and I think Toilet's wondering about you."

"Oh." Gaze on her own feet, Test Tube rubbed her forehead. "I... uh..."

Patting Test Tube's arm, Fan turned to Toilet himself. "We didn't know him... personally?" he said with a one-handed shrug. "He did a great job helping with the show, and... well... he cared about all of us." An embarrassed grin crossed his features. "Which says a lot, given so many of us just kinda... treated him like a background character." The grin faded into a guilty look as he stared down at the floor.

"Well!" Test Tube exclaimed, and everyone looked up at her; she was pointing at something outside the basket. "We'll have plenty of time to spend with him later! Check it out!"

Fan turned around, and Toilet and Taco made their way to her side of the basket, to trace her pointed trajectory upwards. Sure enough, the MeCloud was looming just overhead, their balloon making rapid progress toward it.

Taco took a step back. "Test Tube, aren't we going a little fast?"

"Oh! Right!" Test Tube was quick to take the controls, slowing their ascent so she could ease their way up to the entry walkway. Once close enough, she maneuvered it over the landing pad, which she lowered the balloon onto. Even with her efforts, it still gave them a jolt, knocking Fan and Taco off their feet and Toilet onto his side. Test Tube steadied herself against the wall of the basket before approaching MePad's body. "Okay, guys, help me carry him in."

Without another word, Test Tube grabbed one corner while Toilet, Taco, and Fan took the others. It was a lot easier lifting him up with four people bearing the weight, and soon they were out of the basket and hauling him toward the place of his creation.

"So uh... I've got a theory," Fan said, and bit his lip as he looked up at the building looming ahead. "We know ghosts exist, like Bow and Dough—and... and Knife—but... what if Cobs became a ghost? And his spirit is now haunting Meeple Headquarters?"

Toilet, who was holding his corner of MePad by the top of his lid, couldn't answer, so he was grateful when Taco spoke up. "Don't be ridiculous. The ghosts we know were all made by MePhone, were they not? And Cobs was his creator."

"Yeah, it's just basic science," Test Tube went on. "Everyone knows ghosts don't exist outside of those extremely specific circumstances."

"But you've been wrong about ghosts before!" Fan cried, gaze darting between Test Tube and the doors they were approaching. "Wh-what if you're wrong this time, too—"

"I'm not wrong about anything!" she blurted out, kicking at the automatic doors and causing them to shudder as they opened. The manic expression had returned to her face, which eased Toilet's nerves somewhat, though Fan cast a distressed look at Taco, who looked at him in sympathy. "There's no Cobs here, ghost or otherwise, to stop us! We're gonna take what we need, get MePad back, and head straight home!"

Home? Toilet thought abruptly, blinking. Since working for Mister Phone, he'd stayed with him and MePad, sleeping in the contestant grounds or the forest or cave with them whenever they needed to recharge for the night, but now...

The elevator loomed ahead, while an automated voice rang out, "W-welCOME to Meeple He-e-e-e-quarters! As you enter, p-please-please-please enj—kzzzt—r CEO, STeeeEEE—COBB—" Abruptly the speakers in the corners of the room began to spark, and the screen above the elevator remained blank.

The four of them stared.

"Well, that wasn't ominous!" Test Tube said with a grin, urging them into the elevator.

Excitement cycled through Toilet's plumbing as the elevator brought them further into Meeple Headquarters. Don't worry, MePad, he thought, looking down at the cracked screen. We'll get you fixed up in a jiffy!

Unfortunately, Taco and Fan didn't seem to share his excitement. Taco was looking around the elevator as it moved, frowning, and Fan's gaze was darting around anxiously, shudders occasionally rippling through the folds in his paper.

Finally the elevator came to a stop. The doors hummed open with a cheerful chime, revealing a showroom full of electronics, but empty of life.

Test Tube and Fan, who held the bottom corners of MePad's body, stepped out of the elevator first, the former grinning, and the latter still looking about anxiously. Nodding in approval, Test Tube turned back to face the others. "Okay! Now that we're here, we can—"

"Test Tube look out!" Fan cried, and let go of his corner of the body to tackle Test Tube out of the way. As one end of the body hit the floor with a loud CLUNK, a desk chair crashed down where they had just been standing moments ago. "AH!" Fan clung to Test Tube's collar, shaking her. "It's him! It's the ghost of Cobs out for revenge!"

"Whuh—Cobs?!" came a familiar voice. "Where—?!"

Heart jumping, Toilet helped Taco ease MePad to the floor before bolting out into the showroom. "MISTAH PHONE!"

Sure enough, Mister Phone stood off to the side of the elevator, looking like he was preparing to dash, but his eyes widened at Toilet's words. "Wait—Toilet? Fan? Test Tube?"

"I told you there were no ghosts here," Test Tube grumbled as Fan helped her up with a sheepish grin. Toilet, meanwhile, hopped up to Mister Phone's side, barely resisting the urge to butt into him.

Mister Phone held out his hands. "What are you all doing here?"

"We could ask you the same question, MePhone." Strolling out of the elevator, Taco raised a brow. "Not to mention, why..." She gestured at the chair on the ground. "...this?"

Groaning, Mister Phone dragged a hand down his cracked face. "Sorry, I got a little paranoid when the motion alerts went off. Wasn't sure if there were any more Meeple products out to kill me after what happened to Cobs. Plus, 3GS was—" He paused, eyes widening. "3GS! I gotta let him know we're in the clear—"

"3GS?" Fan repeated, his brows rising in interest. "One of the older models?"

"Fascinating," Taco remarked dryly, "but it doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"Well, Mistah Phone is a Meeple phone, and this is Meeple Headquarters!" Toilet pointed out, smiling at Mister Phone, only for his face to fall when he dropped his arms to his sides.

"Believe me, I wouldn't have come back here if I had any other choice," he said, rubbing the space above his eyes. "I wanted to give you all some space, so 3GS and I headed back here for the time being since... we don't really know anyplace else." He stared at the group again, deadpan. "Don't know what good that did, though, if you're just going to follow us."

"We didn't mean to follow you, but it's good to see you again, anyway, Mistah Phone!" Out of habit, Toilet leaned against Mister Phone affectionately, albeit more gently than usual, mindful of the cracks in his screen.

Mister Phone winced, raising his arm as though to push Toilet away, only to sigh and pat the top of his tank. "It's good to see you, too, Toilet. But seriously, what are you all doing here?"

"Glad you asked!" Test Tube pointed a threatening finger at Mister Phone. "We're gonna raid this place, and we're not gonna let anyone get in our way!"

Mister Phone stared at her, blinked, and then shrugged. "Meh. Take what you want. Just don't bother 3GS." He gave a start. "Oh—I need to go make sure he's all right!" With that, he hurried across the showroom.

"W-wait! Mistah Phone!" Toilet called, hopping after him. "What about MePad?"

Mister Phone skidded to a halt, and slowly turned around. "...What about MeP—" His gaze fell upon the open elevator door, and he froze.

Wobbling to a stop, Toilet glanced between his group and Mister Phone a few times. Fan and Taco’s eyes bore strangely guilty looks, Test Tube’s fists were clenched in determination, and Mister Phone's face was drawn in a strange expression, his brow furrowing. Abruptly, Mister Phone turned away, and there was an uncharacteristic quietness to his voice as he spoke: "If you want to lay him to rest, this isn't the place for it." He paused, letting them dwell on that. "Get him out of here."

Finally he stormed out of the showroom.

"B-but Mistah Phone—!" Toilet stammered, preparing to follow him.

"Let him go, Toilet. He's not gonna get in our way." Test Tube waved him over. "C'mon, help us carry him."

After glancing back and forth between where Mister Phone had gone and where MePad lay, Toilet begrudgingly returned to his group, hefting up a corner of MePad's body onto his lid again. The others picked up their respective corners as well, and the four headed deeper into the building.

While sunlight streamed through the massive windows, the place had an eerie quality to it. Toilet hadn't realized it before—they'd all been too awed (and somewhat bewildered) by Cobs's showmanship—but now that Cobs wasn't there to talk up the place, its stark white walls, utter lack of decoration, and cold, tiled floors felt... soulless.

"There should be a repair bay or something in here," Test Tube said, squinting in the sunlight.

"Meeple actually repairing products?" Fan raised an eyebrow. "I might've believed that before meeting Steve Cobs, but..."

Maybe wherever Suitcase took Mistah Phone's battery from? Toilet tried to suggest, but could only mumble with his lid pinned shut.

Fortunately, Taco caught the gist of what he was saying, or else had the same thought. "You did find a battery for MePhone here. They must be kept somewhere?"

Test Tube nodded. "And wherever those were kept—I think Cobs had said something about... Meeple Care?—there may be parts for MePad, too."

Cobs, Toilet recalled, had never shown them Meeple Care during their tour. But given what he knew now... The corn man had probably never wanted Mister Phone repaired in the first place. The thought made him shudder, his tank burning.

Feeling a hand on his side, he glanced over at Taco, who looked at him in sympathy before quickly returning her hand to MePad's body.

"Golly! Here it is!" Test Tube came to a stop in front of a door labeled "Meeple Care," complete with a red cross symbol above it. When she guided them closer, the door automatically slid open, revealing yet another room featuring white walls, tiled floors, and a massive window that the sun streamed through, though at least this one had some dark blue rugs, adding a small, albeit cold, splash of color. "Now we just have to... oh—gosh darn it—"

MePad was far too wide to get through the door, leading to Test Tube directing everyone to carefully tilt his body at an angle and carry it through that way.

"You'd think a Meeple repair bay would actually be able to fit Meeple products," Taco remarked as they eased MePad through. "Though I suppose that's again assuming Cobs actually wanted his products to be repaired in the first place..."

Toilet was hovering above and to the left of her, carefully gripping the corner of the body with his lid. "He's gotta have something!"

Finally they were inside, and Toilet smiled at the sight of the two fancy queen-sized beds in the room, in spite of the Meeple logo tarnishing the wooden bed frame. "Over there!" he said, nodding toward one of the beds. "I'll bet MePad would like to rest on one of those."

As he took up his position with his lid beneath one of MePad's corners, however, he couldn't help but notice Taco staring at the bed. Her eyes shone for a moment, and she swallowed before helping them lift MePad onto the quilt.

"Well, not my preferred place for repairs." Frowning, Test Tube tugged at the blue quilt. "Too easy for screws to get lost in these. But hey!" She placed her hands on her hips, grinning. "We made it this far, so I'm not complaining!"

"I mean, you just, kinda, did?" Fan pointed out, only to quickly turn away when she shot him a look.

While Test Tube got to work untying the ropes that bound MePad's two halves together, Toilet turned around to examine the shelves that lined the opposite wall of the room. On the far left, the top shelf had labels for "MePhone1" and "MePhone3G," but the shelf itself was empty and collecting cobwebs. Below that was a shelf labeled "MePhone3GS," also empty, though not as dusty as the previous one. Next was several shelves labeled "MePhone4," but—

"OH NO!" Toilet cried, and the others jumped and looked at him in alarm. "There's no extra batteries here for Mistah Phone number four!"

"Well," Test Tube said, a strained smile crossing her face. "Golly-gee-willikers! That would be a real shame if we were looking for MePhone's batteries and not supplies for MePAD!"

Balking, Toilet hopped back a half-step and looked away. "I-I know, but... What if Mistah Phone needs—"

Before he could finish his statement, Test Tube rushed up to him and pressed his lid shut. "MePhone probably already looted them and he can take care of himself, it's fine, we're not worried about him now, so stay focused!" With that, she shoved him back slightly as she let go of his lid, and turned to look at the shelves.

"S... sorry," Toilet stammered, his voice small.

If Test Tube heard his apology, she didn't acknowledge it, her mouth moving silently as she peered at the labels on the shelves.

"Look, uh, Test Tube," Fan said, rubbing his arm. "I get this is important to you and all, but don't you think—"

Test Tube whirled on him. "You wanna help or not?!"

Toilet stared at her as she glared at Fan, and for a moment, he took in her appearance. Her eyes still bore dark circles beneath them, her lab coat was wrinkled and smeared with ashes, and her body bore a number of dings and scratches.

Fan's arms dropped to his sides. "R... right," he stammered, voice catching. "I'll help."

Softening slightly, Test Tube pointed to the body. "Move the screen to the other bed." She then turned back to the shelves.

Toilet obediently hopped over to the bed, helping the others move the screen. Once again he shut his eyes to avoid seeing MePad's damaged internals, his own pipes aching in sympathy. Or maybe they were just starting to ache again in general. He had to see where he was going, though, so he opened his eyes and focused on Fan instead, catching him rubbing his knuckles beneath his eyes. When he glanced over at Taco, he found her expression oddly hollow as they slid the broken screen onto the bed. A few of the glass shards caught, some scraping at the quilt, others pinging to the floor. His eyes followed one of the shards, and he hovered over it. "Test Tube—?"

"I'll replace his screen later, it's fine!" Test Tube snapped without turning. "Five-S, Five-C, Six..."

Hopping up closer to her, he followed her gaze to the shelves once again. She was pointing at them, her eyes squinted as she read the labels.

"Six-Plus, Seven, Seven-Plus... X." Gritting her teeth, she looked back at the first shelf again. "One, Three-G, Three-G-S, Four—"

Toilet turned to her. "I already checked those ones—"

"I KNOW!" Test Tube glared at him, hands clawing her glass. "But it can't be right! There's nothing here for MePad!"

Lid opening and closing a few times fruitlessly, Toilet cast another quick gaze around the room. What caught his eye were the cabinets directly beneath the shelves, which Test Tube noted at the same time he did.

"Aha!" she cried, and went to pull one of the cabinets open, only for the door to rattle. "Darn it!" Turning away, she rubbed her hand beneath her face. "There's gotta be a key around here—"

Before she could finish, and before he could second-guess himself, Toilet rammed himself into the cabinet, busting the lock. Test Tube bolted out of the way as he proceeded to do this to each of the cabinet doors until he heard a faint chnk as a crack in his seat lid spread slightly further.

"I-I..." Fan held up a finger. "Was that necessary, Toilet?"

"I'll do anything to help MePad!" Toilet insisted, glaring back at him—partially from determination, partially from the pain that lanced through his lid as he spoke.

Taken aback, Fan looked over at Test Tube. "Hey, I-I think Toilet's hurting himself. You don't suppose we could talk sense into him, do you Test Tu—oh you're not listening."

Indeed, Test Tube was throwing open the cabinet doors and digging through their contents. A variety of tools found their way onto the floor, including ones that seemed to be specifically for Meeple products. She examined the contents of each cabinet thoroughly, and Toilet watched the proceedings over her shoulder, trembling in anxiety.

Fan, meanwhile, was muttering something to Taco: "Y'know Taco I think this is gonna be a lot harder than—oh that's creepy."

Suddenly curious, Toilet turned to find Taco sitting on the bed with MePad's body, one hand resting on his side, her expression hollow.

"Okay." Fan stepped back, gesturing at himself. "There's something seriously wrong when I'm the most normal one in the room."

"Rrrrgh there's nothing here!" Test Tube snarled, chucking a screwdriver against the ground. It pinged against the tiled floor and bounced up into the bed, where it stuck into the wooden frame. "This can't be all there is!"

Toilet nodded. "I'll find something for MePad, Test Tube, don't worry!" With that, he headed for the door.

"I'll double-check everything here one more time! Don't come back until you find something to help!"

Though the words weren’t spoken in anger, something about them brought a painful jolt to Toilet's plumbing, but he didn't look back. "I won't!” he replied, and hurried out of the room.

Hopping down the hall, Toilet scanned the doors for anything that might be useful. There had to be something in some of these rooms—even a manual would be helpful right now. He found himself throwing open different doors and peering inside; many were offices with filing cabinets, but any investigation of these only yielded invoices, sales orders, and receipts, among other unhelpful things. A few times he even found manuals for old coffee machines and sports cars, but nothing related to the Meeple products. Every fruitless search caused more and more frustration to boil in his tank, which was causing him to feel the ache in it again, and with a gargle he threw yet another door open.

A strangely digital voice cried out as soon as the door opened, followed by a familiar voice shushing it. "It's okay! It's just—Toilet?"

With a few confused blinks, Toilet took in the room. Instead of being white and bland like all the others, it was dark, with a soft blue carpet, dark red walls, and a wood trim. The room was lit only by the soft glow of a TV, which was currently playing some commercial at a low volume. An ugly couch sat in the middle of the room, white cushions against a singular curved metal base, and upon this couch sat Mister Phone (who looked back at Toilet in surprise) and another phone that Toilet did not recognize.

"T-Toilet?" the digital voice stammered, and the second phone gave a shudder before turning around, revealing a screen that was as badly cracked as Mister Phone's, and a pixelated face with a frightened expression.

"Yes." Mister Phone patted him on the shoulder. "He's a friend. You'll be all right."

"Oh." The phone blinked before a hesitant smile crossed his face. "It-t-t's so good to s-see you!"

"Um, you too?" Toilet tilted himself, blinking at the other phone.

Sighing, Mister Phone slid off the couch. At a gasp from the other phone, he held up a hand. "I'll be right back," he said softly before approaching Toilet. He placed a hand against the side of his tank, albeit not in a friendly manner, as he leaned in close, whispering, "I told you not to bother 3GS! What are you still doing here, anyway?"

"I'm sorry, Mistah Phone! We weren't tryin' to bother anyone!" Toilet insisted, hopping back half a step.

"Then what are you trying to do?" Mister Phone asked, rubbing his screen between a couple cracks. "I get that you're trying to raid the place, but what exactly did you need? If you need food, I can show you where the break room is."

Toilet shook himself. Truthfully he couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten, but food was the last thing on his mind right now. "I'm trying to find supplies, manuals... anything to help fix MePad."

"Fix MeP—?!" Mister Phone stumbled back, a hand on his screen as he stared at Toilet, agape. "That's why you came here?"

"Wh-wh-what's wrong?" 3GS stammered from the couch, a look of concern crossing his digital features.

Toilet ignored him for now. "We had to," he said, fixing Mister Phone with a firm look. "Test Tube's gonna fix him, and I'll do everything I can to help!"

Looking away, Mister Phone stared at some spot on the wall, lost in thought.

Cautiously Toilet hopped closer. "Don't you want him back, Mistah Phone?"

To his surprise, tears welled up in Mister Phone's eyes, and he covered them with his hands, tilting himself back. "Of course I do!" he exclaimed, voice cracking. "More than anything!" He pressed his hands into his eyes for a moment before pulling them away and balling them into fists, and glared at Toilet. "But don't you think I would've done something if I could?!"

Toilet's lid flew open in a choked gasp. "H-how can you say that?!" he cried. "Test Tube is smart! She can—"

"H-hold on!" 3GS cried as he slipped off the couch, and Mister Phone dropped his arms to his side, his expression muddled with equal parts exhaustion and anger. The other phone limped up to him, and Mister Phone held his arm out automatically, linking elbows with him. "You two h-have a fallen companion?"

"Yes, we do!" Toilet turned to 3GS desperately. "Can you help?"

Mister Phone's body gave a jolt, and he opened his mouth, only for 3GS to take a step closer, expression determined. "I will never leave another man behind!" he declared, pointing upward. "What is the soldier's model?"

"MePad is a MePad!" Toilet's lid opened partially in a hopeful smile.

"He was the only one... he made," Mister Phone said, looking away. "The only one I know of, anyway. I got him out of this awful place before he even had the chance to activate here."

"Not a model I'm f-f-familiar with." 3GS rubbed a hand beneath his face in thought. "But C... Cobs wouldn't have m-made a model with no d-documentation."

Mister Phone's eyebrows rose in realization, only for him to wince. "I think I know where it might be." He shook himself before giving 3GS a sympathetic look and placing a hand on his shoulder. "But I can't have you coming with me."

3GS's eyes widened. "No—!"

Toilet hopped in place. "I can stay with him, sir!"

For once, Mister Phone relaxed slightly, giving Toilet a smile. "Thanks. I appreciate that." While Toilet's heart leapt, Mister Phone faced 3GS again. "I will be back. I promise." With that, he guided the other phone over to Toilet's side, and 3GS hesitantly placed a hand against Toilet's tank, leaning on him. "I'll make it fast," Mister Phone said, and hurried out the door.

The two stood in relative silence for a moment, other than the quiet chatter from the TV. It was soon joined by static-y gasps as 3GS's breathing grew heavier. Toilet glanced over at him, noting the frightened look on his face.

"He'll be back," Toilet said, keeping his voice chipper. "Y'know, you look a lot like him. Are you related?" Immediately it struck him how silly the question was, given the fact that both Mister Phone and 3GS were Meeple products. Before he could apologize, however, 3GS gave a stuttering, breathy laugh.

"You could s-say that," he said, smiling. "I s-suppose we're brothers, in a way."

Toilet smiled back at him, only for a memory to jolt him: two objects, a showerhead and a sink, telling him firmly that he was not to return until he made something of himself.

He wondered if anything he'd done recently even counted for that. Or if he even wanted to return to begin with.

"You have... b-bad memories about family, too?" 3GS asked, a look of sympathy crossing his face.

Toilet shut his eyes, forcing the memory aside, replacing it with a softly-glowing purple screen. "I have good memories about friends," he said firmly.

"I'm g-glad." 3GS patted the side of his tank.

The door slid open again, and 3GS gave a start, only to relax once Mister Phone stepped into the room, carrying a beat-up cardboard box labeled "MePad" in his arms. "There's documentation on MePad in here," he said, hefting up the box slightly. Something rattled inside. "Some spare parts, too, but not much."

"Anything's good! Thank you, Mistah Phone!" Toilet exclaimed, jumping forward to butt into Mister Phone affectionately, only for him to stumble backwards.

"Nope, no, not while I'm carrying this!"

Meanwhile, 3GS stumbled in place, barely keeping his balance. "Woah—!"

Gasping, Mister Phone was at his side in an instant, allowing him to lean against him. "Sorry, 3GS. I should've told Toilet your legs don't always work."

"Really? Why didn't you just say so?" Toilet hopped up to 3GS and settled himself down onto the carpet, then looked upward to indicate the top of his tank. "Hop on!"

"O-oh!" 3GS blinked, leaning away from Mister Phone to face Toilet. He looked him up and down, wincing. "Your casing is d-d-damaged. Are you sure?"

"Sure as sour cream!" Toilet declared. "Go ahead!"

Shakily, 3GS climbed up onto Toilet's lid before seating himself atop his tank, gripping the sides of it to steady himself. He angled his body to the side so his legs weren't dangling over Toilet's eyes. "Okay, I-I think I'm good."

"Don't drop him," Mister Phone said firmly, and Toilet smiled.

"Wouldn't dream of it! Now let's go!" With that, he began hopping out the door, mindful that 3GS didn't hit the frame. "MePad's out this way!"

As Toilet led the phones onward, he felt his heart soaring. Now they had the parts they needed—hopefully—and the documentation, plus the help of two other Meeple products!

This was it—finally MePad would be repaired!

#ii toilet #ii test tube #ii taco #ii fan #ii mephone4 #ii mephone3gs #inanimate insanity #inanimate insanity spoilers #my art #my writing #fanfic #broken pipes and broken screens fanfic

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bcdrawsandwrites · 3 months ago

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Hey! Do you want to read a cool fic about Toilet, Test Tube, Taco, and others attempting to revive MePad?

If so, you're in luck, cuz I'm writing a fic about it!

[ID: An Inanimate Insanity fanfic cover, portraying MePad's shattered screen taking up the entire cover, though the cracks on his screen are centered rather than portrayed exactly where he was stabbed in canon. The background of the screen is dull and blurred. Within the screen is Test Tube, Toilet, Fan, Taco, 3GS, and MePhone. Toilet is in the center, directly beneath the center of the cracks, his body covered in scratches and cracks itself, his expression stressed and alarmed, and dark circles ringing his eyes. Test Tube is behind him to the left, wearing her lab coat, her arms raised and hands clawed in a mad scientist pose, and her face bearing a maniacal grin. Behind Toilet and to the right is Fan, whose teeth are grit as he looks down at his phone in worry. In front of Toilet and to the left is Taco, who also bears dark circles under her eyes, and who is looking off to the side and wiping at dried tear stains on her face. In front of Toilet and to the right of him are 3GS and MePhone. 3GS is standing behind MePhone and looking up at him with a worried expression, while MePhone stands in front of 3GS, arms reached out to grab 3GS's side and the top of 3GS's head in a protective gesture as he looks off to the side with a frown. All of the characters' faces are distorted by the cracks in MePad's screen. At the top and bottom of the cover is the title of the fic, "Broken Pipes & Broken Screens" in white text outline in black. /end ID]

[ID: An Inanimate Insanity fanfic banner in the style of the Season 2 movie's credits sequence. In Test Tube's lab, MePad's body is sitting diagonally across the table, while his screen is being lifted up at an angle by Taco (standing on a stool on the right) and Toilet (holding up the screen using his lid on the left). Test Tube, meanwhile, is wearing her lab coat, and has wedged herself between MePad's body and screen, her legs kicked up behind her. The chapter's title, Test Your Metal, is in the bottom left in white text. /end ID]

It's not showing up in the tags on mobile for some reason, but you can read it either on AO3 or on my art blog here. Check it out!

Here’s the AO3 link!

#ii toilet #ii test tube #ii taco #ii fan #ii mephone4 #ii mephone3gs #ii mepad #inanimate insanity #inanimate insanity spoilers #my art #hoping this will show up in the mobile tags

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bcdrawsandwrites · 3 months ago

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Fandom: Inanimate Insanity Rating: T Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Friendship, Grief Characters: Toilet, Test Tube, Taco Warnings: Death, depictions of PTSD, detailed descriptions of a robotic character being disassembled Fic Description: Shortly after Cobs's death, Toilet sneaks away from the others to see MePad's body for himself. Not long afterward, he's joined by Test Tube… but she's not here to grieve. Slowly but surely they're joined by others who all pitch in with a single goal in mind: bringing MePad back. Toilet has high hopes that he'll see his friend again… but is bringing MePad back truly a possibility, or are they all staving off the inevitable? Beta Readers: @valencrime and @livemedown

---~~~---

Chapter 2: Test Your Metal Summary: In which Toilet and Test Tube are joined by another friend of MePad's.

---~~~---

Navigating the contestant grounds was not easy without its usual landmarks, and Test Tube was growing more and more frustrated the longer they wandered. Toilet would've offered words of encouragement, but with his lid pinned shut, he could only follow patiently.

"I don't get it!" Test Tube cried, stomping her foot and throwing her hand out to gesture at the empty grounds. She proceeded to trudge forward. "By my calculations, the lab entrance should be right heeeeeEEEEEERE—!" Her voice pitched upward into a shriek that rapidly faded, followed by the sound of glass pinging against metal. Meanwhile, MePad's body abruptly dropped forward.

With a muffled gasp, Toilet carefully stooped down to set MePad against the ground. "Sorry, MePad," he whispered, before taking a few careful hops forward. Sure enough, MePad's legs were dangling over a sizeable hole in the ground. "Oh, who left this big nasty pit here? Seems pretty inconsiderate!"

A light snapped on somewhere deep in the hole, and rapid pounding noises and the sound of frantic giggling made their way up. Half a moment later, Test Tube emerged with a crazed expression. "Heheh! Heheheh! It's here! It's all here! My lab, my tools, my inventions! It's missing its incredibly clever camouflage of the Dr. Fizz machine sitting in the middle of nowhere, but that’s fine it’s not like I’m hiding it these days, and the pneumatic function is broken, but it's here! HAH!"

Toilet blinked. "So... we can help MePad?" he asked with a tip of his body.

"We can try!" Test Tube replied, eagerly grabbing MePad's legs.

Toilet leaped up into the air with a triumphant "YAAAAH!"

"Now help me lower him down here. This'll be tricky."

Nodding, Toilet looked over MePad's body and frowned in concentration before gently biting down on the top of him to hold him in place. "Got it!" he said, voice muffled.

With that, Test Tube braced her feet and the top of her glass against the sides of the tunnel, and slowly shifted herself downward, pulling MePad with her. Toilet, meanwhile, carefully eased him forward, straining to keep a grip on him. They had to work slowly as to not drop him, especially since doing so would potentially hurt Test Tube. By the time the body was halfway into the tunnel, Toilet was concentrating so hard that he nearly missed the soft gasp from a little ways off.

He did not miss the distinct British voice crying out: "You're burying him?! We haven’t said goodbye!”

Toilet looked up in surprise to see Taco watching them in horror and fury. "Ah! Taco!" he exclaimed, jumping back, eyes wide. He hadn't seen much of her outside of watching the first season, but he'd certainly heard a lot.

But he couldn't think about that for too long, as MePad's body abruptly shifted downward, and Test Tube grunted. "Toilet...!" her strained voice reverberated from the tunnel.

"Sorry!" Toilet rushed over to clamp his lid onto MePad's body again before casting a glance at Taco, who now looked more bewildered than angry. "We're not burying him," he explained, his voice slightly muffled. "He's not dead yet!"

Taco, who had been stepping closer, froze, her eyes widening. "Not... not dead?" For a moment, her eyes shone, but she shook her head. "But MePhone said—"

"We know what he said!" Test Tube shouted. "But I think I can fix him! Or I can try to, if we can get him down in my lab!" With another grunt, she gave a great yank, dragging him further downward.

"Yeah! We're gonna bring MePad back!" Toilet said, unable to keep the smile from his face.

For a few moments, Taco looked back and forth between Toilet and MePad's body, which was nearly all the way into the hole. She crept closer, peering down to examine the damage on the tablet's screen. Sighing, she rubbed his side and shut her eyes. "It looks bad. But..." She opened them again with a determined look. "If you're going to help him, then so will I."

"What?!" Test Tube exclaimed, only to yelp. "WoooAAH—!"

MePad's body dropped further into the hole, and Toilet strained to keep hold of it, only to find the body suddenly felt a lot lighter. Looking to his side, he found Taco firmly gripping MePad’s other corner.

"Let's discuss this once we're in the lab," she said.

While Test Tube grumbled, she did not argue, and together the three resumed the cumbersome task of getting MePad's body down into the lab. Once there, Test Tube wasted no time in directing them to hoist him up onto an examination table. After removing the invisi-bow from the body, she rifled through a closet, retrieving her lab coat and a cork. As she put both on, she glared over at Taco. "So what makes you think you can help with this?"

Toilet turned to face her as well, brows raised in interest.

Taco, who had been staring up at MePad, faltered, glancing around nervously. "Well that's..." she began, only to pause to collect herself. She straightened, holding her hands behind her back. "You see, you're not the only one with technological knowledge here, Test Tube. I have... experience working with Meeple products."

"Wow!" Toilet bounced in a short hover, only to wince at the rattling of his pipes. "I didn't know you worked for Meeple, too!"

"Wait, what?" Test Tube looked from Toilet to Taco and back a few times. "Since when did either of you work for Meeple?"

"I don't think working for Cobs counts, Toilet," Taco said, frowning at him.

"Wha—?!" Toilet jumped back, affronted. "I never worked for him! Not exactly. He tricked me! That nasty corny-cob popcorn pile!" He could feel his tank heating up again, and shook himself to try to calm down. "Before Master Adam promoted me, I worked in a Meeple call center. I had to read off the big book to help lotsa' people with their Meeple products."

Test Tube and Taco regarded him with quirked brows. "Fascinating," Taco remarked. She gazed at him for a moment longer before clapping her hands together. "Well, now that that's out of the way—"

"What about you? Didn't Mistah Phone create you? How did you get to work for Meeple?" Toilet leaned forward eagerly.

Meanwhile, Test Tube's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, how did that happen, Taco?"

Taco's eyes darted around the lab again before falling on MePad, and she heaved a sigh. "It was... less working for Meeple, and more working on Meeple. Specifically... him."

"You worked... on MePad?" Toilet asked, tipping his body to the side. "You mean you fixed him before?"

"No, I don't think that's what she means." Test Tube crossed her arms. "What did you do?"

Her expression hardened. "Look, all I did was modify him a little so I could use his teleportation technology while he was in sleep mode." Balling her hands into fists, she faced the two. "Yes, I did so for my own gain initially, but—"

"You hurt MePad?!" Toilet cried, eyes wide.

Test Tube pointed an accusing finger. "You used him!"

Wincing, Taco looked back up at MePad's body. "Yes, I did! But things... improved after that. He cared about me, and had faith that I could change." Her gaze fell to the ground as tears welled up in her eyes. "And I want to prove him right. And... pay back the favor." She wiped the tears away on the back of her wrist, and faced the two of them again, a determined expression on her face. "I'm going to help him."

Test Tube glared at her, and Toilet couldn't help doing the same. Test Tube was the first to speak: "Look, I don't care what you say—you've manipulated people before, so what's to say you're not trying to do that again now?"

"What—?!" Taco cried, stepping back, eyes wide in indignation. "What could I possibly have to gain from this?! The game's over, now, for good!"

Toilet hopped forward, biting back the urge to splash water on Taco, lest he get any on MePad. "Maybe you just want to hurt him again!"

Eyes narrowing, Taco frowned. "Do you think me a sadist, Toilet?"

"I think I don't trust someone who'd hurt MePad not to do it again!"

"Oh, you're one to talk there," she shot back, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Don't think I didn't observe that stunt you pulled with Knife on the hot air balloon, which nearly got MePad and all the others killed. And you did it out of jealousy!"

Guilt choked up his pipes for a moment before he could find his voice again. "B-but I—"

"Enough of this!" Test Tube cried, holding her arms out. "I fixed MePhone before by myself, and I can fix MePad, alone!" Face twisting in fury, she pointed at the exit tunnel. "Both of you, out!"

Taco and Toilet both leaned away, and pain that had nothing to do with his injuries yanked at his pipes. "But..." Toilet began, his voice small. "MePad wanted everyone to work together."

Glancing at him, Taco nodded. "It pained him—and me—to see how the competition tore everyone apart." She faced Test Tube, her brow furrowing. "Do you think this is what he would have wanted? All of us fighting, and over him, no less?"

Slowly Test Tube's face softened, and she dropped her arms to her side, looking away.

Toilet looked at the floor. "If... MePad believed in me, even after what I did..." he began, and turned to face Taco. "Maybe he... did believe in you, too, even though you hurt him."

Taco smiled, placing a hand on the side of his tank before looking up at MePad again. "Let's not waste any more time, then."

"...All right," Test Tube said begrudgingly, only to point at Taco. "But no funny business! I'm keeping an eye on you!"

"Good." Taco smirked at her. "You might learn something."

With a quiet hmph, Test Tube went to dig through her cabinets as she prepared to begin her work. Meanwhile, Toilet forced himself into a hover so he could look down at MePad's body. While the sight of his friend's injuries had been devastating before, now he could regard it with hope and determination. "Don't worry, MePad! We'll get you fixed up for sure!"

Test Tube pushed a smaller, wheeled table closer to the main one, and slammed her tool box down atop it with a grin. "Let's do this."

—

After an examination of the body, Test Tube determined that the first order of business was to remove the screen. She stood on a small step stool beside the table, rubbing the space under her mouth thoughtfully.

"For regular ol' phones, you'd want a pry tool, but MePad's a bit..." She hesitated before holding her hands as far apart as her arms would allow. "...bigger than a phone. Fortunately, I’m prepared for any eventuality, heh." Grinning, she flipped open the tool box and drew out a crowbar.

"Are you sure that's the best way to go about it?" Taco asked, casting a wary look at the tool.

Toilet couldn't help but agree. "Seems a bit... dangerous."

"Whaaat?" Test Tube protested with a wavering grin. "It's not like I'm gonna go swinging this thing around like some kinda lunatic!" And she promptly swung out the crowbar in a wide gesture, clocking Toilet in the tank and knocking him to the floor.

Toilet let out a stunned gargle, the lab spinning around him from his position on the floor.

"T... Toilet?" came Test Tube's voice, nervous. "Are you all right?"

Fortunately Toilet's porcelain could take a fair amount of abuse, and once the lab stopped spinning he wobbled back up onto his base. "I'm okay! I think." There was for sure a new nick on the right side corner of his tank, but he wasn't much worse for wear.

Taco drew in a breath, pressing her palms together. "All right. New plan." She pushed another stool up beside Test Tube’s, climbed atop it, and snatched the crowbar from her hands. "I'll handle the crowbar."

With a growl, Test Tube stepped down. "Be careful with it."

"I don't think you have much space to talk, there," Taco retorted before turning her attention to MePad's body. "Toilet, Test Tube. Hold him still."

Nodding, Toilet moved to one side of the body and gently bit down onto it, Test Tube moved to the other end and held onto a side near the legs. "Ready," they both announced, Toilet's voice muffled.

Narrowing her eyes, Taco carefully wedged one side of the crowbar between MePad's screen and the rest of his body, closest to his power button. Using slow, careful movements, she began to pry the casing away.

Toilet winced at every little squeak and crack as Taco worked, but he shut his eyes, forcibly reminding himself that MePad was not awake and could not feel this.

Taco worked her way around the body, with Toilet and Test Tube moving out of her way as necessary. What felt like hours ticked on, and Toilet's lid was beginning to ache, when finally Taco spoke up again: "All right, that's done it." Heaving a sigh of relief, she wiped her brow, and set the crowbar aside.

"Okay, great work, team," Test Tube said, and Toilet perked up in his hover, smiling. "Next, I'll need you two to lift up his screen, and I'll disconnect it from the inside."

Toilet had seen plenty of diagrams of the insides of phones in his line of work, but the thought of seeing MePad's insides made the water in his tank churn. "Ohhh..." he moaned.

"Keep it together, Toilet," Test Tube ordered as she dug through her tool box again. Toilet opted not to watch this time, instead focusing on Taco, who took Test Tube's original place at the other side of the body. Once Test Tube found whatever she needed, she nodded to them. "Okay, each of you seize one side of his screen, and on my count, sustain a fifty degree angle, at bare minimum, so I have access to the internals."

"Wh... what?" Toilet stammered. He might've been able to understand the instructions if given a moment, but his mind was still whirling at the prospect of opening MePad up.

"We'll open him like a box, hinged side away from Test Tube," Taco explained calmly.

"Oh... okay..." Nodding grimly, Toilet bit down gently on the top of MePad's screen, and Taco took the other side.

"On three," Test Tube said. "One... two... three."

Taco and Toilet heaved the screen upward at an angle, the latter screwing his eyes shut as Test Tube ducked beneath. There was a long pause before he heard a lot of scratching and clicking as she worked with her tools, and Toilet tried not to think too hard about it. His lid was starting to ache again, and Taco's arms were shaking.

"Give me about thirteen more seconds..."

"Hurry...!" Taco grunted.

With one final click, Test Tube let out a triumphant "aha!" and pulled away.

"I-is he fixed, now?" Toilet asked, still holding up the screen.

"No, but the screen's loose." After hopping off her stool, Test Tube directed Taco to lower the screen ("Gladly," she gasped), and grabbed the other side of it with her, relieving some of the weight. "Right! Now to transfer this to the counter adjacent to the wall." She guided them toward it, but stopped right before they reached it. "Invert it first so I can take a look at the other side."

Toilet had to swap to his invisible grip, which was less steady than his lid, but flipping himself upside-down would've made his water dump over the screen. Once the screen was flipped over, they set it down on the counter, all of them sighing in relief.

Taco rubbed her wrists. "I had to drag him, previously, and even that was a workout."

"He is one of the largest living Meeple products we've seen," Test Tube remarked, kicking her step stool over to the counter. Before mounting it, she paused. "...Thanks, guys." She turned to face them, shrugging. "I probably could've done this without you, but..." Her smile turned sheepish as she scratched the back of her head. "It would've been a lot harder."

"No problem, Test Tube!" Toilet smiled up at her, only for his face to fall as he hovered up to glance at the broken screen. Upon seeing the other side of it—and all the tabs and connectors he wasn't supposed to see, however, he turned away. "Oof... Does it look bad?"

Test Tube stepped onto the stool, took one look at the screen, and sighed. "Looks just as wrecked from this end." She paused. "Worse, in fact. Some of these connectors were damaged, but the good news is, I think I can replace those."

"I'll take anything positive at this point," Taco said, and Toilet spotted a hopeful smile on her face that he couldn't help sharing.

"Let's not get our hopes up just yet," Test Tube said quietly as she moved her stool back to the main table, where the rest of MePad's body still sat. As she hopped up onto the stool, Taco climbed up onto her own. Meanwhile, Toilet forced himself back into a hover, angling himself so he wasn't directly facing the body, afraid he might make himself sick.

Toilet was so focused on keeping himself from looking at MePad that it took him a moment to realize how quiet it had gotten. Turning his gaze to Taco, he found her with a worried expression on her face as she looked back and forth between the body and Test Tube. She, meanwhile, didn’t meet their gaze, instead staring down into MePad’s internals, her hands gripping the edges of the table, her brow furrowed, her mouth drawn in a thin line.

Taco broke the silence, a slight quiver to her voice: "Test Tube, tell us what we're seeing."

It took a moment for Test Tube to speak. "Toilet," she said, her voice strained, and he gave a start. "Did that 'big book' you looked at give you information on the schematics of Meeple's products?"

"Y-yes," he stammered, "but we weren't s'posed to give that information to clients, for some reason."

"Right, Meeple is notorious for not wanting its customers to repair anything by themselves," Test Tube muttered, pinching the space between her eyes. She moved her hand away. "But you're at least familiar with them, right?"

"A—a little? But... the MePads weren't released yet back when I worked there, and—"

"Toilet, look at him."

Shuddering, Toilet shook his head. "N-no, I think I'm—"

"Toilet, look at him."

With a whimper, Toilet finally turned his gaze to MePad's body, and the water flushed from his bowl.

He'd seen the schematics for the phones a few times, and roughly knew the layout—where the speakers were, the batteries, the logic boards. The pads must have had a similar layout, because he could pinpoint some of the major landmarks.

Or what was left of them.

The inside of MePad was blackened, and what had once been one of the batteries did not merely have a hole in it—it had exploded, leaking acid throughout the insides, which were in various states of being burned and melted and were littered with glass shards.

Some part of him was distantly aware that Test Tube was asking him a question, but he couldn't comprehend it, and even if he could have, he couldn't answer. His mind was somewhere far from here, out on the contestant grounds, talking with Mister Phone and MePad as they planned their next challenge, writing notes on a whiteboard and sharing ideas. MePad was talking in his usual soft voice, gently urging Mister Phone to consider some of Toilet's ideas. Even when Mister Phone didn't always listen, Toilet couldn't help but appreciate MePad's efforts. He was always...

...he was...

Toilet blinked, finding himself no longer hovering, but instead resting on the floor. Vaguely he was aware of some other noises around him, nearly drowned by the buzz of fluorescent lights—Test Tube rapidly muttering something to herself, and Taco sobbing.

Slowly he hopped around the side of the table to find Taco sitting on her stool, burying her face into MePad's side as she cried, while Test Tube paced in frantic circles, her expression manic, her words too quick for Toilet to make out.

His gaze turned back to the table, and he forced himself into a hover again, shuddering upward so he could take another look at the mangled body. His mind tried to reconcile this with the soft purple glow of MePad's face, the calm voice that constantly encouraged him... and something snapped.

"STOP IT! STOP IT!" he cried, butting into Taco's stool to knock her to the floor, and ramming into Test Tube's side to send her spinning across the room. His pipes strained and choked his voice, and tears dripped down his face as he went on: "We can't give up on him! We—there's—we gotta..." His eyes darted around, searching for an answer while not actually looking at anything, and a memory of an old challenge sparked in his mind. "We can take him to the MeCloud and fix him up there! The corn man is gone—he can't stop us!"

Taco and Test Tube, both sprawled on the floor and pushing themselves up, stared at him. Taco's shell was drenched in tears, and she had dark circles under her eyes. She scrubbed at her face, looking at him with an expression that looked bizarrely like pity. "Toilet... he's..."

"He's right!" Test Tube cried, hopping back up to her feet and staring down at her hands, a crazed expression on her face and similarly dark circles under her eyes. "I can construct a hot air balloon! I'm sure I have the materials for it here somewhere! We can use it to reach Meeple HQ!"

"Yeah! Yeah!" Toilet exclaimed, smiling through his tears. "We can still fix him!"

Standing up off the floor, Taco glared at them. "Would you two snap out of it?! We all saw what he looked like! We can't possibly—"

"NO!" Toilet got right into Taco's face, glaring directly back at her. "I thought you wanted to help him?! What happened to that, huh?!"

"We'll get to the MeCloud, all right," Test Tube insisted, placing a hand on the back of Toilet's tank. "We'll raid that place until we have everything we need to make MePad operational again!"

Taco stared at them, incredulous, before shaking her head. "Fine. I'm going with you, if only to make sure you don't get yourselves killed."

"Killed?" Test Tube waved her hand dismissively, still grinning. "We won't get killed! In fact, I've never felt so alive!"

Toilet wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he punctuated it with an ecstatic "YAH!"

Ignoring the body on the table, Toilet and Test Tube hurried about the lab, gathering the supplies they would need to build their hot air balloon. At some point Toilet noticed that Taco wasn't there anymore, but it hardly mattered.

Soon, now, they'd be on their way to fix MePad.

#ii toilet #ii test tube #ii taco #ii mepad #inanimate insanity #inanimate insanity spoilers #my art #my writing #fanfic #broken pipes and broken screens fanfic

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bcdrawsandwrites · 3 months ago

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(Please reblog if you want to, don’t repost. Do not post to Pinterest!)

[ID: Two concept sketches of the Genome creature from Seekers of Sahul. The first has a spherical “head” based on a papilloma virus with two of the star-shaped protrusions stylized to look like eyes, a long neck shaped like a strand of DNA, a long tube-shaped body based on the tobacco mosaic virus, a semispherical spiked base based on rabies, and four long insect-like legs based on the bacteriophage.

The second concept features a spiked thumbtack-shaped “head” that is split in half like a mouth based on the rabies virus, four long claws based on the bacteriophage and a DNA “tongue” protruding from the “mouth.” The rest of the body is worm-like and tangled, based on the Ebola virus, with four short legs at the end, each leg ending in a three-toed claw. Another sketch at the top left shows the creature with its “mouth” closed, the DNA “tongue” and claws retracted. /end ID]

Well, people wanted to see some of these, so here’s the rejected designs for the Genome, a creature based on viruses!

I wound up reading a TON about viruses for research, which was super fascinating. Designing these was a lot of fun!

I’ll post more rejected designs in the future!

#my art #concept art #seekers of sahul

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bcdrawsandwrites · 3 months ago

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Some of you might know that I’m currently doing concept art for an indie game! Specifically, it’s a monster-raising game called Seekers of Sahul (wishlist it on Steam if that interests you!), and I’m doing a bunch of the creature designs!

Recently I’ve gotten the okay from my client to share some of the rejected creature concept art. (“Rejected” doesn’t mean “bad”—it just means it wasn’t what he was looking for.) Would anyone be interested in seeing some of this concept art?

#non art

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bcdrawsandwrites · 3 months ago

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Fandom: Inanimate Insanity Rating: T Genre: Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Friendship, Grief Characters: Toilet, Test Tube, Taco, Fan, Mephone, and 3GS Warnings: Death, depictions of PTSD, detailed descriptions of a robotic character being disassembled Fic Description: Shortly after Cobs's death, Toilet sneaks away from the others to see MePad's body for himself. Not long afterward, he's joined by Test Tube… but she's not here to grieve. Slowly but surely they're joined by others who all pitch in with a single goal in mind: bringing MePad back. Toilet has high hopes that he'll see his friend again… but is bringing MePad back truly a possibility, or are they all staving off the inevitable? Beta Readers: @valencrime and @livemedown

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Chapter 1: Take a Crack at It Summary: In which Toilet goes from grief to hope in an alarmingly short amount of time.

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His porcelain ached with every step, his water sloshing in the cracked pipes within him. But Toilet wasn't going to stop now.

He had to see him.

Toilet? Are you all right?

M... MePad... D-did... did I do it?

Yes, Toilet. You did exactly what you were instructed to do, and very well. You truly are the greatest assistant.

But—but Mistah Phone—

You have done enough now, Toilet. You need to rest.

But I—

I will help MePhone. No matter what happens, I am not leaving him to whatever fate that man has planned for him. I will... try to return to you later.

Toilet stopped, his plumbing straining painfully as he swallowed back a sob. MePad hadn't been able to come back... so it was the least he could do to go back to him.

He'd tried, earlier. In spite of what MePad had told him, in spite of the pain wracking his entire body, he'd struggled to pull himself out of the ground and limp onward. He couldn't leave MePad or Mister Phone—if the corn man was still around, he'd probably do something terrible to them. Maybe even make them fight to the death, like he had tried with Knife and Suitcase. But try as he might, every step jarred his already-damaged plumbing, and he found himself losing balance and collapsing from the pain more than a few times.

It still hurt, but forcing himself to rest had helped. Of course, by the time he’d found anyone—not even an hour ago—Cobs was already gone, and MePhone had explained… what had happened to MePad.

And no one had noticed when he'd hurried away from the others, anxious to see MePad for himself.

The contestant grounds were dark, quiet, lonely, and absent of any sounds of life. Toilet might've missed the body entirely, as he continued limping onward, had the moonlight not swung abruptly into a shattered reflection on the ground.

"MePad...?!" he gasped, and hopped closer, ignoring the grinding noises from his tank.

There he was—a huge, flat rectangle with limp legs, a shattered screen, and not a spark of life within him.

Toilet found himself staring down into what had once been MePad's face, and seeing only his own broken face, marred further by the cracks in the screen, staring back at him.

Just hearing what had happened had been distressing, but seeing the body lying lifeless before him caused something deep within him to shatter. Before he could stop himself, ugly, blubbering sobs wrenched their way out of his mangled pipes, and he turned away to avoid dripping tears and toilet water onto MePad. "I-I'm sorry," he stammered, the grass below him blurring. "I'm sorry, MePad, I'm s-sorry..."

For what, he wasn't entirely sure. Not being able to do more? Not apologizing for how angry he'd gotten at him after he’d been fired? Did it matter?

Other thoughts wouldn’t come—nothing other than the fact that MePad was gone, gone forever, and he would never get the chance to work by his side again.

After an agonized eternity, his tears subsided enough for him to finally turn his gaze back to the body, but the sight of the shattered screen nearly broke him all over again. He swallowed back another sob, opting instead to hover as much as he could—which, at this point, was only a few inches off the ground—in order to take a closer look.

It struck him, briefly, that Mister Phone was (thankfully) still alive, in spite of his own busted screen. What had made the difference for MePad? But a closer inspection brought his attention to the center of the cracks, where a piece of the screen was missing, revealing a hole that went deep into the tablet's workings. So it was more than just a broken screen; he'd been stabbed.

The thought flitted by like any other, before realization struck him—Mister Phone had mentioned that MePad had given his life to save everyone, meaning... he'd taken a blow—a stab wound—from someone.

And there was only one person it could've been.

Slowly his tank began to heat up, rattling the plumbing within him. He was aware, distantly, that this wasn't good for him, but nothing could stop the rage that boiled within him. Cobs—the corn man—he'd tricked him, used Master Adam and the others to make him pilot that phone around and hurt everyone. And not only that, he'd... he'd...

With a furious gurgle, Toilet stomped back and forth before MePad's body, fuming. There was nothing to be done—Cobs was already very, very dead. He'd seen the corpse himself, but only briefly—the sight had been too grisly to linger on for very long. It had made his water run cold in horror, but now it only made his tank burn all the more. He'd deserved that. He'd deserved that, and worse.

How dare he do this to them?! To hurt everyone, and hurt Mister Phone, and...!

The rage quickly drained from him as Toilet turned his gaze back to MePad's body. He stooped over him, tears welling in his eyes once more. "MePad..." he murmured. "You were the perfect assistant."

Nothing answered him other than a cold, quiet breeze.

With a stuttering sigh, Toilet tipped backwards, catching himself in a hover to settle softly on the grass next to MePad and keeping his lid shut to avoid spilling water. From this angle, he couldn't see the broken screen. If he thought hard enough, he could push aside everything that had happened tonight, and pretend they were both just resting in the field together.

His gaze turned upward to regard the stars, and he imagined MePad doing the same.

It was late, and he was exhausted. But Mister Phone would surely be rushing up to their sides soon, telling them about some new idea for a challenge that they'd have to prepare for the next day. That was all right, though. It was fun working for Mister Phone—the best job he'd ever had, in fact. Much better than his old job at the Meeple call center, dealing with angry people every day and frantically flipping through binders of material in a feeble attempt to help them. Better coworkers, too, who actually cared about him, even if things got a bit rough sometimes.

Footfalls softly rustled the grass.

Toilet was alert in an instant, hopping upright. "Mistah Pho—"

The address died on his cracked lid as he found himself staring at a bright green vial, who had stopped several yards away.

"Oh," Test Tube said, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. "Hi, Toilet."

"...Hello," he said weakly. His gaze shifted over to MePad, and, seeing his shattered screen again, he slammed his eyes shut.

"Golly, I... uh... didn't know you'd be out here," Test Tube admitted as she drew closer. Even though Toilet wasn't watching, he could hear the hesitance in her steps. She said nothing as she approached, stopping just at the foot of the body and drawing in a quiet, hissing breath.

Opening his eyes again, Toilet expected to see tears within Test Tube's.

But to his surprise, her eyes were dry. Widened in shock, yes, and then a moment later her brows pinched in sympathy, but there were no tears. She scanned the body, eyes darting over the cracked surface, before she knelt down, reaching out.

"What are you doing?" Toilet asked, hovering closer, his bowl clacking softly against the glass of her side.

Test Tube leaned away with a wince. "I came to survey the damage," she said, turning her gaze back to MePad. "I know what MePhone said, but I wanted to see it for myself." Eyes narrowing, she scooted slightly closer, only to draw back with a gasp. "Ah—!"

Toilet jumped back. "What's wrong?!"

With a sharp hiss, Test Tube plucked something out of her knee and examined it. Toilet hovered closer. It was a small glass shard. She stared at it, frowning, then leaned over MePad's body, reaching out with her other hand. With a few fingers she traced the cracks in the screen, following them to the hole in the center, which she drew away from quickly, shaking her hand.

Toilet watched her as she stared at the body, her brow furrowed in concentration, when a thought struck him. "AH!" he cried, and Test Tube crashed backward into the grass, barely catching herself before she tipped completely over. He didn't care, though, jumping up into a hover over her in excitement. "You're one o' them science-y types! You can build stuff! An' you helped fix Mistah Phone before! I'll bet you could fix him, right?!"

Grunting, Test Tube shoved him away. "Yes, that was the plan," she said, pushing herself upright. Her face quickly fell. "I... can't guarantee anything, but I have to give it a shot." She reached out again, this time rubbing a hand along MePad's side. "He risked his life for us. It's the least I can do to try to give it back to him."

"Oh thank you!" Toilet butted into her, knocking her back again with a loud clang as tears flooded his eyes once more. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Aghh...!" Test Tube rubbed her head where she'd been struck. "Don't thank me yet, and please don't do that again. Seriously, I don’t do well when I spill."

"I won't!" Toilet exclaimed, jumping back. "I promise! And I'll do everythin' I can to help out!"

Test Tube sat upright, though she didn't look near as enthusiastic as Toilet felt, even when she gave him a strained grin. "Oh... great."

"I promise," Toilet went on, lowering his voice and settling himself on the grass. "I'll do anything for him."

"Well..." After taking a moment to brush herself off, Test Tube stood up. "You can start by helping me carry him out to..." She turned, frowning. "Where I hope my lab still is."

"Didn't it... disappear?" Toilet asked, frowning. "Like everythin' else, after I unplugged the wire?"

"Everything MePhone made disappeared. But I built that lab myself." She scratched the back of her head. "I hope that's enough of an exception for it to still be there." Shaking her head, she turned back to MePad. "Now c'mon, let's get him over there."

When Toilet hopped over to the top of MePad, however, Test Tube hesitated.

"Actually... are you sure you're up for this? You look kinda rough."

Brow furrowing, Toilet lowered himself, nudged his lid beneath MePad's body, and hoisted it up. I told you, I'll do anything for MePad, he tried to say, but with the body pinning his lid down, it only came out as a muffled gurgle.

It must've come across well enough, as Test Tube gave him what he hoped was an amused smile before turning around and hefting up MePad's other side by the legs, which she threw over her shoulders. "Okay, here goes!"

With that, the two carried MePad's body across the contestant grounds, Toilet straining to match Test Tube's pace. His porcelain still ached and his pipes rattled within him, but he refused to complain.

They were going to get MePad back.

#ii toilet #ii test tube #inanimate insanity #inanimate insanity spoilers #broken pipes and broken screens fanfic #my art #my writing #fanfic #FINALLY POSTING THIS YEAAAAAAAAH

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