#i'm thinking of using 'sams obedience protocol au' for this but i'm still not totally sure about it

[cosmic-kinglet]

So...I have more already.

No Ruin this time, but instead a little post-protocol interaction between Eclipse and Ruin Eclipse. Yeah, I still don't have a shorter name for him to differentiate between him and Ruin. So, prepare to maybe get confused at some point, but definitely prepare to read 'Eclipse' a LOT.

Also, same 15+ warning I gave before, for the same reason.

     "Shoot! Another one fried!" Ruin Eclipse had tried several times to fix this particularly pesky machine. He stood, weary from his hours of trying and failing to get this machine working. Just as he was about to collapse in defeat on his new furniture, he spotted someone climbing the staircase.

     Eclipse emerged from the top of the staircase. He was just returning to his 'room' after his daily report to Moon. The hand pressed against the top of his faceplate made this fact clear enough.

     Ruin Eclipse could tell that Eclipse was not in the best of spirits. But, really, when was he ever? He knew he likely shouldn't bother, but Ruin Eclipse still felt the need to try checking in on him. As Eclipse drew nearer, Ruin Eclipse stepped forward to meet him the middle.

     Eclipse stopped, glaring down at Ruin Eclipse. He groaned. "What do you want?"

     Ruin Eclipse fought against his desire to back away. "I...I just wanted to ch-check on you. I um...I suppose you just reported to Moon?"

     Eclipse pushed past Ruin Eclipse. "Oh, don't waste my time with that crap! The less I think about that waste of scrap, the better!"

     Ruin Eclipse chased after Eclipse. "Fine! Fine! We won't talk about him! I still want to talk. Seeing as we're both here, and I know you cannot harm me, I would like to at least try to get to know you better."

     Eclipse stopped in his tracks. He turned back quickly. "Why?" he began, in a mocking tone, "Still want to try and fix me? Give me therapy? Make me all better?"

     'You make it difficult to want to do anything for you,' Ruin Eclipse thought to himself. "No. I'm afraid I could never provide adequate help for you." He took a few steps closer. "I really just want to spend some time with you. I've heard so many things that you've done, and yet I don't really know anything about you. Besides," he motioned toward the entire area of the West Arcade, "neither one of us has much to do here." His gaze then wandered back to the machine he had spent hours trying to fix. "Aha!" Ruin Eclipse raced over to the machine and then waved Eclipse over to join him.

     Eclipse wasn't sure why, but he felt the smallest inclination to go along with this stupid 'hangout'. He really didn't have much to do at that moment. He rolled his eyes, but he still slunk over to the machine that Ruin Eclipse had moved toward. As he reached Ruin Eclipse's side, he felt a sudden jolt run through his body. He stumbled slightly as he felt it flow through every one of his limbs, and he let out a small grunt of shock. 'What the hell?' he thought. The strangest part was that it didn't feel bad. It didn't feel bad at all. But what was it?

     Ruin Eclipse quickly reached out to stabilize Eclipse. "Eclipse! What happened? Are you alright?"

     Eclipse groaned as he regained his balance. "I'm fine."

     "You're sure? Did you trip?" Ruin Eclipse took a cursory glance the floor around them. "I don't see anything that might have-"

     "I said I'm fine!"

     Ruin Eclipse's head jolted back up to meet Eclipse's gaze, and he raised both hands up to chest level. "Alright. Sorry."

     Eclipse sighed. "So, why did you call me over here?"

     Ruin Eclipse perked up instantly at the reminder, "Oh! Yes!" He gestured toward the machine. "This arcade machine has been giving me trouble for a very long time. No matter how many times I go to that arcade machine dimension and grab parts for it, something always goes wrong!" He looked back up at Eclipse. "Since you showed up at a convenient time, and you're more skilled with machines than I am, I thought maybe you could take a look at it. I'm not asking you to fix it yourself! I just thought maybe you could tell me what I'm doing wrong, and maybe we could have some idle chit-chat in the process?"

     Eclipse sighed. He was already right by the machine. Why not? Without saying a word, he crouched down to peer inside. He felt the jolt again. Another involuntary sound escaped his voice box. What. The. Hell. Was happening?

     "Eclipse? Is something wrong?"

     "No!" Eclipse's response was made intense by a combination of confusion and embarrassment. As much as he knew something was wrong, it almost seemed to settle into him after the immediate pulse, and it felt really good. He tried to push those thoughts away by focusing on the arcade machine. He couldn't immediately spot anything wrong. "I'm not seeing anything right away." He really didn't care, but he still felt a desire to ask. "How long have you been working on this?"

     Ruin Eclipse was slightly surprised to hear Eclipse engage in small talk. "Today? About five hours, I believe. In total, 3 months. I only recently gained access to an arcade machine dimension, and that's given me a lot more to work with than what I had originally."

     A smaller jolt. The feeling went through him again. It urged him to keep the conversation going with a promise to deliver more. "An arcade machine dimension? What; it's just nothing but arcade machines?"

     "As far as I can tell; yes."

     Another jolt. Eclipse had to try and not show that anything was happening. "I...don't think I ever knew of a dimension like that. Although, I never cared much for dimensions other than my own. That much I do remember."

     "Yes, well," Ruin Eclipse's tone softened, "some dimensions are...less than pleasant. I may not have any memory of my dimension after the virus took hold, but I've been told that, when Sun and M-" he stopped himself, remembering that Eclipse didn't want to be reminded of Moon's existence, "when they were sent there in October, it was near its destructive end. It's likely gone at this point."

     Those wonderful feelings began to engulf Eclipse completely. This was good. This talk with Ruin Eclipse was good. It must be. "Right. I guess the whole missing memory thing is something we have in common."

     Ruin Eclipse chuckled, but it held a melancholy feeling. "Yes. I suppose it is." He paused. "You know...I actually had a gap in my memory much more recently. Just over a month ago, I want to say."

     Eclipse was violently snapped out of his bliss. Did Ruin Eclipse know that the virus was still there? That Ruin would still take over at times? How much did he know? Eclipse tried to maintain a calm facade as he replied. "Really? How do you know?"

     "Well," Ruin Eclipse began, "apparently two days after I was rescu-..." He trailed off, not wanting to tarnish the moment. He mimicked a cough. "Anyway! Two days later, I apparently revealed some brilliant plan to...um...deal with you. I found um...you know who...carrying a box of parts the next day, but I didn't even realize that the previous day had happened." Ruin Eclipse's voice began trembling slightly. "I was missing an entire day, and in that time, I suggested...killing you..."

     Any remaining pleasant feelings were now replaced with fury. 'He wanted me dead?! He thought he'd just act all buddy-buddy with me while actively planning to kill me?! I'd rip his voicebox out of his chest if I could!'

     "E-Eclipse?"

     Eclipse had been so distracted by his thoughts that he hadn't noticed his growls. He also didn't notice he had snapped a wire that he'd ended up holding. He simulated a deep breath in. "So...I'm assuming Moon didn't find anything when he checked your systems after that, right?"

     Stunned silence followed for a moment. "That's right. The firewall was still too strong to get past."

     Eclipse huffed. "Figures." He stood slowly. "Well, I couldn't find a clear problem with what you'd done," he ignored the feelings rushing through again as he continued, "and I actually ended up making it more broken."

     Ruin Eclipse took a step closer as he reassured Eclipse. "Oh, no! It's fine! We still had a nice conversation, and that was all I really wanted."

     Eclipse turned to leave, but then he felt metal finger tips press gently against the back of his hand. He snatched his hand away from the unexpected touch and turned back toward Ruin Eclipse, who was visibly startled.

     "Sorry! I just...it seemed like you knew something. About my gap in memory, I mean." He stepped closed, looking up to lock eyes with Eclipse. "Eclipse, if that thing is still inside me, please tell me!"

     "I..." Eclipse stood, uncertain. He felt such a strong desire to tell what he knew, especially after learning that Ruin had planned to kill him. And yet, there seemed to be something stopping him. There was something that wouldn't allow him to reveal Ruin. There was obvious strain in his voice as he replied. "I...I can't. Can't say..."

     "You...can't?" Ruin Eclipse tilted his head slightly. "As in you don't know? Or can you really not tell me?"

     Eclipse shook his head. "Really...really can't. Something...in me...in my systems."

     "Oh! Oh, that's...that's very bad! Very, very, very bad! I know you hate him, but Moon might-"

     Eclipse suddenly lunged forward. "I'm not going to Moon! And I'm not going to that goody-good knockoff either! I'll figure it out on my own!" He stormed off, not wanting to give Ruin Eclipse a single chance to stop him from leaving. He didn't care what happened to him; Eclipse was going to kill Ruin.