jadedjada

Title: His Heart is Steel, Part 3
Summary: We look into the universe from which everyone’s favorite mechanical monster first originated. A meeting is placed and a plan is set, as we begin the series of events and inner turmoils that cause the once lovable Pollo to become the evil, vengeful villain known as Mechakara.
Characters: Pollo, Marzgurl, and Nostalgia Chick
Warnings: Disturbing content, including more references to death and a comatose person.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, all characters belong to their rightful owners.

Part 1 is here, part 2 (which none of you read! :() is here. Enjoy!

It was a promising morning for Pollo, as he was relieved at how refreshed he felt upon waking up. He felt great, better than he had in a long while...probably since the last time he had been allowed a full nights' rest. Whatever confusions of the mind there may have been the previous evening were all but forgotten, and it seemed to the little android that tiredness must indeed have been the problem all along. And since he was no longer feeling tired, it seemed apparent that all fears of further trouble were completely behind him, and he could now return to work at peace.

If only such simplicity could have been.

Happily he hopped off of his stool and hovered his way out the door, and as he did so he caught sight of a note attached to the wall. It was from Linkara, of course.

Pollo,

I hope you had a good nights rest and are feeling much better this morning. I'm sorry I can't be there to make sure of it myself, but as you know, we're all incredibly busy. If you're feeling up to it, please go and report to Marzgurl in the infirmary. She will show you the ropes with taking care of Nostalgia Chick so you can do so when we're gone. DO NOT PUSH YOURSELF, POLLO. I'll take time to check on you when I can.

-L

If Pollo had any kind of mouth, he would have smiled to himself. His masters' concern humbled him, as unnecessary as it was. He felt perfectly fine, no doubt capable of whatever tasks Marzgurl would assign him to. Still, he took a strange comfort in knowing that Linkara worried about him enough to leave him a note. It was little things such as that that made certain Pollo knew how respected he was, even for a mere robot.

Down the hall he went, into the infirmary. Even before seeing Marzgurl he could hear her rummaging around, busy as ever. As always she was the picture of determined fatigue. Her hair was tied up again, but she was wearing her large sunglasses, no doubt because she was planning on heading out with Joe and Lisa soon. Her usual camouflage clothing was visible under the white hospital gown she wore, and Pollo didn't need to look down to know she was already clunking around in her army boots. Always between her nursing and her battle station. That was Marzgurl
in a nutshell.

Marzgurl? He piped up, snapping her out of whatever she was doing.

“You're late.” was her welcome.

Apologies. I suppose I slept in last night.

“We have a lot to go over, and I have other things to do before nightfall.” Marzgurl replied, standing up straight and looking right at him, her face hard. “You're under my watch now, robot. So don't think you can start slouching off on your responsibilities just because you got a little sleepy last night. Linkara may be a pushover when it comes to you, but you'll get no sympathy from me.”

Had Pollo any mind to, he would have pointed out that it seemed unlikely Marzgurl had sympathy to give in the first place. But that would be out of line, and anyway, he didn't want to start any arguments so early in the day. So instead he simply nodded.

“Alright. Let's just get this over with.” With that Marzgurl headed over to the equipment on the other side of the room. Pollo followed suit with a sigh.

The infirmary was probably the smallest out of all the rooms in their hideout. It was also the most secluded, all the way at the very end of the hallway that connected everyones' bedrooms, farthest from the living room and the weapons room, all but cut off from sound. It seemed to work perfectly for their needs, as it was big enough only to fit the things they needed. On one end it had a single long wooden cupboard, cheaply made, carrying all the basic first-aid materials and medicines Joe and Lisa could find on their voyages. On the other end was the more complicated stuff. Specifically, a rather large heart monitor that took up most of the left corner, and a considerably smaller breathing respirator next to it. Connected to them were a series of wires and extension cords, tangled up and scattered along the floor.

Careful to step over said wires, Marzgurl led Pollo to the right corner of the room, which was taken up by a small bed, surrounding which were more wires and tubes, and a few IV bags. And in that bed, lying as stiff and as motionless as ever, was the Nostalgia Chick. Barely alive, barely breathing. The infirmarys' one and only patient.

For a moment they both simply looked at her, in a silence Marzgurl was quick to break. “Right,” she said flatly, “In exactly two days time everyone is going to head out on a very important mission in order to get Insano what he needs for his teleporter. A long mission, likely taking all day. Which means you need to be able not only to watch over Nostalgia Chick for that amount of time, but also to keep her in such perfect health that we can feel safe in leaving her for at least a day and a half.”

Right. Answered Pollo. He sort of thought they were bound to be gone for much longer than that, especially if Insano didn't have an immediate way back to the base, but he didn't say anything about it.

“Basically it's my job to make sure you know what you're doing with this, so you don't fuck everything up while we're gone.” Always the blunt one, Marzgurl. Linkara told Pollo several times that she wasn't always the way she was now. Pollo didn't know, he'd never met her before the uprising. But he had to admit, it was difficult for him to picture her as anything close to the shy, sweet young women his master was keen on describing. She just didn't seem to have it in her.

“The first thing you need to know,” Marzgurl went on, “Is to make sure Chick is kept warm. It gets extremely chilly in this base, as you know. So keep these blankets tucked around her at all times, and if you see any drastic change in her body temperature, you can get more from my room. Also, the components of her IV meds need to be kept constantly at more than half full. And it's very important you don't get them mixed up...”

The truth was that Pollo could probably figure most of this stuff out on his own. He'd assisted Marzgurl in taking care of Nostalgia Chick for so long now, he doubted taking over for himself for a day would be all that difficult. He paid more attention than Marzgurl gave him credit for. As such, the more she went on, the more useless the whole lecture seemed to him, and the more he began to let his mind wander.

It was still unsettling, seeing a person in such a state as Nostalgia Chick. So stiff and pale, with her hair all splayed out over the pillow and tubes sticking out of her nose and mouth. Pollo had seen dead bodies before, you'd think a just barely not dead body would pose no issue at all. But it was just weird to him Especially knowing what exactly had happened to cause it.

One of the most apparent traits of PAOLA was its ability to override any electricity charged technology that ran through a current. This didn't include things that were battery-powered, or otherwise had their own individual source of power. But essentially every piece of technology that ran off of public electricity in the world, from a simple household blender to military drones, had become susceptible to being taken over and used by the enemy. This, as it turned out, included artificially intelligent robots. At least to some extent.

As far as Pollo knew, there were only two AI robot buddies made in the world aside from him. One of these was Burton, Spoonys creation. But Pollo always knew Burton was different than he was. He had been made with adaptable knowledge and independent thought, it was true. But he had no emotions. No personality. Pollo had been given these things because Linkara had wanted him as a friend, whereas Spoony just wanted a servant. This, far as everyone could tell, was why Pollo remained unaffected by PAOLA, while Burton went rogue within weeks of the invasion, killing the son of Doctor Insano in the process. It was all very tragic.

And then...there was Saucybot.

Pollo shuddered to himself. Saucybot was the property of Nostalgia Chick, created for her by scientists that made Insano at his worst days look positively rational. Unlike Burton, however, she was indeed programmed with emotions. Quite heavily, in fact. Pollo knew her well, from before the rebellion began. They made contact with each other several times, as he felt he ought to have some camaraderie with the only other feeling machine. She was a poetic soul, who held a lot of appreciation for art and nature. It was likely nobody except him could tell just how complex she was. And she was sad, incredibly sad, all the time Pollo spoke to her.

For as much as Nostalgia Chick was always a smart woman, and had her own set of virtues about her, she truly had no understanding of how her own robot worked. As far as she and her friends were concerned, she was little more than an object. Poor Saucybot was used and abused by the lot of them, made constantly to do the most demeaning of things. For an emotionless machine like Burton, it might not have mattered. But Saucybot could feel every grueling chore, every hurtful word, every disciplinary zap that hit her already barely balanced circuits. All the while Chick and her friends laughed and carried on without a care in their conscience. None of them ever realized just how damaging their actions were. Not until it was much too late.

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P͉͊͐̇͑̐͊ͮO̙͕̘̮̳L̲̯̲̫̿ͧL̑̄͒͏̹̝͖͔̠ͅO̞̦̳͙͂̃͋̑ͨC̩͔̰̪̙̱̦ͮͫ̏ͫ̋̐t͔̭͉ͬ̂̊̈́ͨ̀͌̑͘͡r͓͈͈̳̜͒͑̑̊̾̚͠ḽ̨̟̹͍̹̒̎ͬ̽͋͊ͥ̕+̵̘͕̣̃ͦ͐͟Ä̶̟̣̳͈̹̯̙̤́ͨ̅ͦ͛ͬ̀l̟̻͓̫̔̔̅̈́̏̂̀͝͡t͍̙͉̜̫̾ͤͩ̌̅ͧ̀̆̈͘̕+ͫ̊ͬ͏̙̰̟̬̰D͚͎̭͛̔ͯͥ̑ͯ́e̳̍̋́͢l̹̞̬̙̔͑͟͜

“...Most importantly, you have to make sure to inject her with these vitamins right here if you see her blood sugar getting too low. She needs to have those tubes in her mouth for breathing, so we can' just take the more direct route of...Pollo, are you even listening??”

Pollo realized he was swaying, and quickly righted himself. Of course I'm listening, he lied. He was suddenly feeling rather dizzy in the head, which concerned him a little, but he said nothing. Marzgurl would only think he was making excuses.

“Well, listen harder then!” She snapped. “Anyway...” Here she leaned down next to the bed and gestured to a small piece of machinery lying next against it. “This device here is the catheter. You probably don't even know what that is, with the amount of attention you pay, so let me explain it in detail...”

There were times, particularly when he was in the infirmary, that Pollo felt like maybe he was too hard on Marzgurl. Like they all were. It had been she who found Nostalgia Chick on her way over to Minnesota. She who managed to bring her all the way here from New York and, with the help of Insano and the medical supplies they salvaged, find a way to keep her alive and preserved. Nobody ever asked for detail on what exactly she had discovered. Nobody wanted to. All they needed to know was that Saucybot had attacked them all, horrifically so, it would seem. Chicks' friends, the scientists, everyone who had been near her at the time were all dead. And if Marzgurl hadn't shown up in time and acted accordingly, Chick would most assuredly have died as well.

But what had caused Saucybot to go rogue like she did, even though theoretically she had the programming to go beyond the influence of PAOLA? There were numerous theories around the group regarding this matter. Some, like Spoony and Insano, thought that maybe all robots could be affected after all, and the real reason Pollo was protected was because of some magical shielding from Linkara. But this quickly scrapped after Linkara had announced the existence of magic as completely disproved. Pollo himself had thought that maybe Saucybot had finally gotten tired of her abusive owners, and as horrible as it sounded, used PAOLA as an excuse to suddenly attack everyone. But it was Linkara who seemed to have the most definitive answer.

“She was just unstable,” he had told Pollo one day. “Her programming was the work of psychotics, after all. It makes sense that she'd be a lot more vulnerable to what PAOLA was doing in the whacked-up state she was in. Not like you, Pollo. You were made just perfect.” And he looked at him, in that proud, beaming way he did, assuring Pollo then and there that his master must have been right. His master, who always found the most logical explanation for everything. Not to mention the simplest.

He was always a naive idiot that way...

Ẹ̴͓̬̖͍̘̩̝͎̻̠r̢̧͇̦͓̪͇̱̞͍͢r̴̬̘̺͉̀̀͡ó̶҉̢̯̫̘̘͙̟̩̲̖r̥̜̭̝̦̦̜͕̹͓͇͉̗̳̯̖̀͝~̸̸̡͈͈̠̰̹͇͙̠͖̯͈͔ͅm̵̫̯͈̫̪̣̺̰̝̬̜̲͜͞o҉̢͉̣̫̜̹̱͙̞͚͇͈́͜r̷̨̦͈͇̩̤̗̰̖̞̦̼̟̯̫̺ͅé̵͕̠̫̝͎̗͜
̶̴̡̰̯̠̖͔̖e̵͈͖̟͉̫̰̙̱͈̻̫̳̘̯̠r̨̥̫̹̲̗͎̦̖̟̩̪̗͔̤͟͞r̨͟͡҉͚̜̱̭̞͔͍̖̘̣̥̲̭ͅơ̴̸̧̟̥̪͇͎͇̪̭̥̣̱̯̳̝̫̝̖͝ͅr͢͏̹̟͉̤̱̱̟̲̜̳̟̫
̴̷̨̛͙̞̼̠͔͎̟̟͖͈͟2͇̝̖͔̭̣̺̭͕̖̠̰͔̺̩͟͟3̢̧͉̘̝̫̼̼4͝͏̡̮̬͚̤͖̻̝̻̮̳͚̦̥̝͓͔0̡̢̥̜̣̭̲͚͠8̴̢͖̣̪̭̻̬@̵̢̧̛͈̖̯̮̻ͅ$̸̛͇͖̬͚̳̩͇̘̹͞@̡͍̪̟͖͖̱̯̗͈̥̹̩̬̫̫͉͟ͅ$̷̷҉̙͚̯̮̪͓͘ͅt̸̡̟̜͍̭̝̖̲̱̥̻̬̗̰͞h̷҉̤͖͖̟̙̕i̸̗͚̹͔͍s̩̭̬̫͈͓̮̤̠̭̩̀͟ͅi̵̮̪̮̦͉͙̥̘͈̟̖̹͚̗̤͘͘͢͡s̸̛̲͉̪͔̪̜̣͈̟͔͕͙͢͠ẕ̧̜̪̗̣͖͇̳̲̬̲̥̀̀ͅa͠͝҉̡̖͉̘̼̱l̶̢̪͚̫̯̣̠̩̝͚̦̹͙̰̱̫͈̙̠͡g͏̛̘͓͔̹͕̼͖̜̝̺̯͎̪̞̥̭̺̭͚͢͞o̡͏̶̨͈͓̪̲̟̺̺͎͔t҉̵̵̘̙̩͕͕̦̖̙̱͎̠é̛̩̫̳̦̞̘̝̜͎̩̺̰̘̬̲̥̖̺̘͜͟x҉͍̦̗̤̲̬̦̞̝̹͕͡ͅt̡̛͓͖̭̝͕͈̗͖͚͚́̕͜*̝̙̱̘͉̳̪̜̜͇̤́͠ͅ*̷̢̼͕̜͖̠͘͝*̶͟͜͏̵̦̞̯̜̱̝̩̟C̗̪̘͓̖̺̞̦̜̺͙̣͖͇͉̣͠t̶̨̤̩̳̘̤̘͕͈͢͝͞ŕ̸̭̖̯̼̟͖͇̦̪͝l̴̛̠̻̩̪͔͓̦̟̩͚͝͡+̧̡̥̪͚̯̙͈̖͙̭͕͎̘̯̭̬̰͘͢A̤͙͇̖͙̗͕̜̳̜͚͠ḻ̡̛͙̪̯͘͢ͅt̸̫̬͎͉̠̞̖͓͎͇̞̫̘̲̹̹́͟+͏̴̢̧̪̻̥͙̮̰͕͕͎͔́D̴̢̞̮̙̻͎̝̥̫̀͝ẹ̵̡͍͎̭̩̲̫̗̭͖͓́͞l̵̸̘͙̮̟̻͖̻̠̦̲̰͍̰̫͎͢ͅ=̷̵̨̡̥͎̹̯̤̬̯̖̮̥͕̳̠̙̪̣͟ͅ≠͏̣͇̭̜̭̭̬̞̗̦̱̦̮̮̹̯̯≠̛̭̥̱̟̱͖̥̫̜̳̤̬̺̞͢͜͞ͅí̧̟̹͇͍̘̼̥͖̺͈̩̲̕͞t͡͏̶͕̝̥̼̟̼̺̟̯̥̜̪̦͘ͅ'͖̺̝̥͘̕̕͝ͅs̢̗͇̪̭̗̦̺̺͖͞ͅà̶̢͍̘̻̩̯͕̪͖̣͡͡c̸̵̡̡̤̹̟̻͇̹̤͎͠t̷̶̷̛̛͓͉͚̜͕̹̲̻̪̱̜͚̱̤ͅu҉̷̳̪͈̬̟̪̫̜̲̼̙̻́͢͟à͙̰͍̹͓̭̭͟l̶̫̺̞͔̘̭̥̤̭l̯͚̲̲͇͉̣͖̺̩̝̮͓̜̭̕ͅy̶̸̧̢̼̭̳̘̹̺̫̳͚̺̠̘̬ͅͅḁ̶̴̞̲̘̗̖̘̞̞̮̲̤̤r̛̻͍͚̻̝͔̻͉̫̝̻̱̀̕ȩ̡͈̺̺̺̺̝̭̮̦͚̼͎̜̝̰a̵̧̧̖̜̥͉ĺ͎̦̜̞̺̖͖̗̟̙̪͔̩ͅl̲̱͇͉͉̠̗̬͉͙̣̤̀͟͟y̸̴̢̩̻͉̝̲̰̝̱̹̣̦̤̟̤͢͠c̵̺̰̦̪̼̻̣̳̫͙͔̥̖̀̕͜͠ơ͏̢̛͙͓̥o͏̞͈̣͕͟l͏̸͞͏̯̞̲̺̖s̸͎̱̫͓͞i҉̨̛̘̠̟̙̙̹̤̰͚͡t͏̵̠̝̰͚e͜͏̤̙͎͟͞ͅ4҉҉̡̹̯̩̭͇͕̫͔̜̞̥̕2̢͉͈̼̞̣͍͉̠͟͡.͏̴̢̜͉͙̮̜͖̥̩̬͖̩͝͠ͅͅ
̵̨̡͉̯̠̠̦̬̣̪̕P̧͓̠̼̹͓͓͚̖̥̼̙̺̠̹̹͚̰̗̀͘͟͠ļ̶̡̲̝͈̤̗̭̦̘̹̲̺͚̯͓͎͘͘ȩ͢҉̞̗̳̼̞͙̠̼͖̪̘̤̟͍͉͕ą̵̢̙͖͙͓͇̤̘͖̀͠
s̷̢͖͈͍̱͇̮͔̀͢é̡̝̺̞̯͚͇͎̗̕ͅ
̥̦̦̭̼̻͎̲̥̤̹́͡r̨̜̘͙̠͝ͅò̘͔̖͈̭̬͖̟̹̦͍̞̱̤̳͉̳̕͜͡͝u̢͓̫͍̘͞ͅt̢̛҉͙̟͚̳͔̤̠̠̠̠̮̫͇͓͎̯ḙ̗͚͕̬̝͓͓̳͓͙͎̼̣̹͖̤͟͠
̛̼͙̼̲̟̳͜ͅN͏̸̰̗̘͖̝̼̺̗̩̻̯͢͢͡ḙ̵̩͖̭̙͚͓̣̳̜͖̥̹̤̙͈̦͍́
e̶̹̖̬̮̰̫̟̬͔̥̘̳̜̘̻̭͟ź̴̨͚̟͈͖̰̜̭̪͉͎̗̺͈̩̳̜͡ź̵̡̬̩͚͉̬͟͞z̵̤̱͇̺̻̞̀̕z̡̧̫̘͔̘͙͕̥͈͇̮̠̠͘̕͞z̡̞͖̞͔̪͉̦̼̼͔͍̳̳͙̼̫͓͢

...Wait, no. No he wasn't. Why in the world would Pollo think that?

“Okay, now I know you're not listening.” Marzgurl piped up suddenly, distracting him from his confusion. She looked angry, and Pollo realized he was been swaying again. He could see spots before his eye, and his head hurt.

“Look robot, if you think you've mastered all this stuff already, why don't you just say so?” She always called him “robot” when she was annoyed with him. Pollo supposed he could tell her that he did, in fact, know most of this stuff already, but he knew there would be no point. She'd never believe him...she was always underestimating him...

R̨̥̺̱̍̔̈̀E̶͌ͫ̇̌ͬ̾͏̧̘͓̭̗͈D̡̥̮͍̱̲͖̤̦ͫ́͆ͨ̀͟
̛͊͌̀͏͇̲̰͓A͖̮͖̠ͫͩ͂ͪ̔̂̽̈́L̥̟̋̈́͐ͫͦ͋̂E̛̫̫̮ͣ̔ͥͪ́̆ͥ̒̃̀R͈̝̞͙̂͢T̝̜̱͇̗̖̦͓̄̃͌:̩͖̭̟̪̣ͮ̊ͦ
̳͕̜̭͉̫̭̐ͯ͠t̶̸͚̩͇̪̖͉̠̏̓̂ͫ͌ͮ͝h͔̯̙̮͕ͣ̍ė̢̝̱̲͓̙ͩ̑͜͞
̡͚̘̌ͮ̓ͩ̾̾ͫr̲̥͉̻͉̘͖͔̻ͩ͑̽̄ͬͥ͜e̡̪͓̪̤̐̊̈̈́ͬ͜d͔͈̙͙̐͗͐͑̑̃͞
̷ͦ̔̌ͫ̀̆҉̴̺̖̠̠͖̼̩ͅt̛͍̼͉͎ͯ̽̅̈́̄͡ͅh̛͔̭̰͙̮̩͛̀̓͛͒̉ä̜͓͍̰͈̜̓̈́̆͝ẗ̪̖͎̫̝̌͂̐͡
̪̈̈̓̄̕͝͠h̴̦̹̫̬̝̬̍ͯ͆͛ͦͅȩ͖̩͓̪̺͑̂́͑͡'̢͇̤̠͓͆͋̋͋ͬ̂s̵̷̝̳̹̤͇̱͉̼͓͂ͮ̊͢
̲̦̣̞̦̺͎̂ͪ̍̌̉̃̀͡s̵͍͔͊͋ͅe̸̡̢͙̮͉̠͐̒̅̐ͭͣê̛̳̯̬̺̭͈͆̂̓̆ͦ͊͋î̶̮͓̄ͪͨ̀̔̄̚n̥͎̼͔̦̳ͫ̑̏ͪ̋́̇͌̾g̷̱̰̺̻͊̒͊͋̾͒́͗͢.͓͉͇̪̖̥̠̱͇̌͆̎ͤͧ̌̎ͨ
̢̫͔̦͈ͯ̾͌͛͜͟ H̴̤̠̒͆ͯ́̐̿͟e̷̖̰͚̜̋͢
̶̯̱̤̣͛̇̑ͮ͐ͧ̍̂́w̹̔̓̎ͫ͡͡ͅí͇̼̪̮̠͖̲̆̍̌͜͟l̢̧̺̒ͭ͂̊̏ͮ̍ͅl̫̙͆
̬͙̤͍̄̑̔̂ͭs̩͙͔͛̽̉͘ë͇̖͔̯̣͈̯ͣ͌̎ͤ̀ẹ̡̣̹̄̀ͪͯ̃ͤ̓͞
̶̦̟̔̓͘͞ͅm̳̙̱͎̬̅̎͗̆̆͢͞o͎͍̞̬̺̞ͦ̈́̒ͫ̀ͭͮ͆̕͢͝r̨͍͕̘͕͈͍̥̥̣ͨͮͮ͆̌̿͊̓͝e̷͇͓̟̟̩̹̥̳̩̾ͥ̍̍̾̽̈́̑͟,̤̞͓̫ͦ̉͘͟ͅ
̩̺̲͐͒͆̓ͬ͠5̛̜̯̋̑͂̒͒ͮ̐̀͢5̢͎͍̹̼͓͇̰̠̣ͭ͋͆ͩ͛̔ͬ̚͘5͈̩̯̺̣̝͖͐̕͟5̥̤͕͚̱̤̙̎̄̎͐̿̾͌̚.̖͎͓͈̲͓͂̔̀̄͒ͨͧ́̀
̶̢̜̙ͮ̅̿͗̇̀ͫ͟Ǒ̸̸̴̖̬̞̳̦̗̩̔̔ͦͪͅĥ̡̼͓͌̾̑́͊́ͥ́͢
͉͚̪͇̭͔̎̃̄̓P̷̯̱ͧͧo̫̞͖̘̰̜̱͖ͣͣ͊̂̓͡l̻ͩ̎̉̊ͧͤl̪̹̂̑́͛̃ŏ̱͖̠͉͇̗͆̓̿͊̚,̭̠̥̣͚̯͖ͨ͒͆ͦ̐̑ͤ̚̕͠
̞͓͈̬̖͙̆ͭͧ̎̎ͣ̔͘͟͡ͅ
ỷ͓̦͎̋ͨͣͧ̅̎͑ͪ̀͠ͅo͕ͤ̂ͧ͂̈͞u̶͎̝͙̮̪̻͗̉ͦ̈ͫ̔̚
̡̄̾҉͓n̊̎͛ͣͧͭ͏̙̫̻̝e̸̯͎͓̲̯̫ͧ̓̆̔̀̂̕͠e̛͓̘̜̺̖̘̓̈͘͠d̨͚̻̙̱̥ͤ͒͆̊͑ͭͤͥ̈́̕
̩̺̘̝͎͔̺̥͓̂̆̍t̪͈̮͔͍̭̮̩͊ͅo̜̩̭ͥͩ̐ͦ̍̆ͪͪ̈́͠͞
̫̖̬̭͚͕̱̼ͥ̾̀̀C͎̳͒ͤ̽ͯ̒̉̀̚͡t͚͔̩͓͙͕ͥr̡͉̞̹̲̃̍ͫ͗̈́̊ͩl͉͙̫̰̫̜͖ͫ̋̅̅̐̄̋̓̀ͅ
̘̘̯͐̎̏̊+̛̫̘̗̉̓̽
͓̣͗̽́̂ͬͨ͞͝A̵̩͎̙̤͚̮ͧ͗̍ͮ̅ͥ͊l̵͔̰͈̱̱ͥ̓̋ͮ̓͜t̵̰̮̘̻̦̭̥͖̾ͫ̓̆͟
͍̝͍̙͔̫̝͊͑͋̊+͔͒ͥ̎̓̄͆̒̈́
̮͕͍̳̟̂̽̏͑ͦ̔̈̕͟͠D̴̥̹̹̫̯̻̞͎̺̓̔͌̓ͥ̉ȅ̻̤̈́́̒̀̚͠l̴͉̩̲̘̳̤̋̀̅͐ͅͅ.̵̙̥̘̤͕͇͐͊̋̌̓͌̌̄̾.̪̙̼̈́͊̉ͯ̈͛.ͬ̄̾̽҉̵͚̦̮̝

Pollo stumbled backwards, hitting the wall. This somehow pissed Marzgurl off more.

“What the Hell has gotten into you, anyway?? Are you sick again? Is that it? God, you better not still be like this when we leave you here. Of all the rotten timing to screw up...”

Pollo didn't know what to say. He felt weird, really weird. Waves of anger were suddenly coming and going through him at an impossible rate. It didn't make any sense. He wasn't even angry at this stupid, annoying...

E̡͙̬̗͕̐͛ͪ̒ͩ̇͠͝r̗̪̖̗̜̭̯̩̝ͫ͌ͣ̓͊́ř̵̡͎͕̤͎͔̥ͦ̏ͮͮ̄̋͑̅̕o̸̬͔͕̫̳̭͈̱̩̅͗͗ͣ̊͆ͧ̏̔ŗ̜̺ͣͪ̑́̋̏!̫̮̤̻̺̎̓̌
͖̃̎́͒ͩͣ!̜̘̰̹͖̻̀̓ͭ̈̂͌͑̈ͤ͟͟)̛̦̺͎͔̖ͤ$̨͙̭̔̊ͅ^̥̣̓̽#̲̖̥̯͔̣̰̬ͫ&̸̭͓̒̓ͤ̏̿̇̄͐
̛̇̑̆ͬ͢҉̻̪͉͍͙͎Ëͣͭ̒̔ͯ̐͐͏̖̪̠͖̥̬͉r͚̱̠̞̥͔̬̼̋ͩ̀̒ͅr̬͔͚̼͎͔̈ͯ̅̌ͪ̿̍͂͜͞ͅö́ͧͮ̄̕҉̪̝̖ŗ̛̣̋̅̎͌̈́ͭ͂̇͝
͈̰̔̊̔̿̽̍ͥ͐͡e̼̼ͮ̆̑ͦ̐͗r̫̲̦̞̥͎̠͍͚̾͘r̡̫̅̅ͭ͟o̺̬̐̋̕͝͠r̢̭͗ͤ̉̀̉̽͘
͔̩̝͑͡͞ȩ̷͖̱̠̞̽̋̄ͤr̘̙͙̪̎͐̅ͮͦ͞r̢̩̰̗̝͙͇̔̈́̃ơ̛̳̣͈̞̇ͣ͒̂͛͝ṛ̦̞̙̼͍̱͉ͦ̉̂̃͛ͣ͂͠,̙͖ͣ͌̏̇͡
̣̌͊̒̒̆̓͘͟͠p͔̹͖̻͓͇ͥ̌̇ͬ̎͒̀l̡̗̦̬̤̓ͭͨͣͭḛ̡͎̖̫̝̫͇̉̈́̓ͅȃ̠̜̫͙sͥͥͧ҉̣̪͠ẻ̲̣̼͈̣͉͎̒̉̾ͭ͐̏̾
̷̨͇̣͚̪ͬ͒ͭͥ̉͛͞Ë̶̝̼̞̻͓̘̼̰̼́ͨ͋͜ș̬̣̻̖̫ͨ̌̾ͣ̃͟͠ĉ̶̡̜̱̺̖̺̺ͤ.̶̭͚̦̹͗̿̎ͪ͆ͥ̉
̲̗̠͗ͮ̽̎ͮͧ̑̈́͢ͅP̻̦̼̭ͫ̈́̏̒̓ͮ̕͠l̨̖̺̥̥̞̖͊̒ͨ͡ê̞͉̠̬̗̘͐̔̃͐ͨͮ͐ą̷̝̞͉̣̯̠̆͆̅̃͗̌s͈̤̦͍͚̹̮̏̔͑ͧ̀̔̆͠ę̧̟͍̭̿̐̉͛̔̌̆
̨͖͙̰̜̾͛̒̔͞E̡͖̦͆ͫͨ̌ͫͩͥ̓́͜ṣ̨̟͉̳ͮ̾͗c̈̚͏̱͖̯̤̰̼̞.̮̹̮̿͜
̶͈͚͓̼̖̪̞̻ͩ̎̾̅ͯ̒̉ͬ̒P̶̭̙͖̎ͨ̎̆̏͊̌́ͅȮ̳̤̺̿̂͛͘L͍̩̙̰͔͗ͥ̆̄ͬ̌̈̚ͅL̨̹̪̲̙̖͚̥̬̀͒͠O̸̸̧̺͇̣̔̌̉ͧͫͯ!̢͍͉̫̦̼̦͖̻̟̔̆ͥ͑̀̕
̖̗̖̤̤̑̆̇̕͜Y̸͓̩̙̟͓̟̻͕̆̉͋͑ͪͨ̍̑͡ǒ̶͍ů̶͠҉͔̮̝̞̱̗̝n͎̗̫͆ͥ͐͝e̘̦͓̗̪̲̮͔̤̎͆̒̌̑ͮͭͫ́͘͠e̡̟̬̙͎̩̞̓͆́d͍̮͔̱̤̠͙ͫ͛ͪ͗͢t̲̘̤̹̦͈ͤ̃ͨ̀̏̄o̥̲͍̹̻͔̱̽̂̂͋̐̈̈ͧ̀
͇͈̖̦̰͙̼̍͊ͤ̀̐ͮ̃͐̉̀E͖͉̩̩̩̤͎͑̾ͦ́̔ͭ͘͠S̢͎̮̣̩̳̘̙͊ͦͭ͐̚ͅC͎̣͎̲̥̬̣͇ͦ̅͝~̵̣̱̉̔ͫ̆ͪ̾̚͠A̶̘̺̰̙̦͎̪̦ͨ̓̿ͨ̄͛͗̎̈͝͠P̸̡̫̠̻̳̩̼̝̉͆ͣ͂
E̛̫̽ͣ͝!̘͔̹͇̹̔͒̇̌͑͘ͅ
̼͍̦͖̿̆ͥͪͬ͐̈

“POLLO! Answer me, dammit!” Marzgurl barked.

Pollo looked up at her, feeling numb. I need to escape, he said automatically.

Marzgurl stepped back, dumbfounded. “You...what?”

Escape. There are errors here. You are all errors here. Pollo was feeling wistful, almost sleepy. At the back of his mind the question arose of why he was saying these things to Marzgurl. Then he noticed the look of utter alarm on her face, and suddenly he snapped out of it.

...Forgive me. I think I'm feeling out of sorts again. He said quickly. I do believe you've told me all I need to know at this point anyway, did you not? Or is there more?

“No...no,” Marzgurl stuttered, “I think that's everything. Why don't you go...I dunno, do whatever it is you do. I have...things I should be getting to as it is.”

He'd made her nervous. Himself as well, for that matter. Very well then. Thank you for your time, Marzgurl.

He left quickly, not trusting himself to say much more. His head was spinning, and he felt unbelievably dizzy. Breathing heavily, he leaned against the hallway wall and willed himself to relax. His thoughts were a blur.

There was something wrong with him. Very, badly wrong. That much was plain to Pollo.

He could only hope it wasn't plain to Marzgurl as well.