Work Text:
There were two things Mellow thought upon looking in the book on the desk in the fleshy room he was currently in: one, that this was probably the weirdest room he’d ever been in (which said a lot), and two, that this book made absolutely no sense.
“Enda…copia?”
The back wall parted to reveal a familiar form with the neutral expression it always wore.
“Endoscopia. It’s Latin. It means ‘to look inside’.” he said, slamming the book shut between his hands. “Take a seat, Mellow.”
Doing as he was told, Mellow went to the brown armchair and sat down. Why not? It looked cozy, and he was safe with the Surgeon. There was never a time where he wasn’t. Not like with Henry.
“I can barely understand my own studies anymore.” he heard the Surgeon say, though he didn’t know if the robotic man was talking to him, or himself. He decided not to ask, a phantom throb of his head reminding him what happened if he asked too many questions.
“You’ve been of great help, Mellow.” the Surgeon said, his head turned to look at the small boy, who seemed focused on him but not in a way that he expected. But then again, Mellow had always done the unexpected. It was almost a point of pride that the minimally organic man had to admit when it came to the boy.
“I’d like to answer any questions you may have.” he offered. Those big blue eyes were curious, and he admittedly was fond of the idea of being a significant role in the boy’s growth.
“I’ll answer everything honestly, to the best of my ability.” he reassured, though it was a moot point. He’d never been dishonest with Mellow, so he would have no reason to think otherwise.
“What is going on, Mr Surgeon?”
What a loaded question. He should’ve expected it, really, especially from a nine year old boy. “I’m performing a sacred ritual.” he began “I refuse to have this world die, despite other’s efforts. We will be performing a sacrifice and have my bride as a vessel. It’s the only way.”
“What will happen?”
“I can’t answer that.” Neither of them would be alive to be able to find out, if the ritual worked as intended.
“Do I matter to you?”
What an absurd question. Almost illogically based, if it weren’t for his knowledge of Mellow’s family beyond the body of God.
“Of course you matter. You were a gift delivered by the universe, without you none of this would’ve been possible. In another life you might as well have been my very own son.”
The boy was quiet for a minute, and as he patiently waited the Surgeon gazed over his notes. So much passion and work had been put into each line, but it barely made sense now. Not that it mattered, he wouldn’t be alive in this form much longer and it would all be left behind to make a new future for all of mankind. It’s what he’d been working towards for as long as he could remember at this point.
“Why not this one?”
He looked up and over to the boy, momentarily stunned though his face didn’t show it. “What was that, Mellow?”
“Why can’t I be your son in this life?”
An intriguing notion, if not a simple and selfish one. Expected of a child who could barely understand.
“Because we are meant to be so much more, Mellow. We can save mankind, bring God back to life, and all it would take is the completion of the ritual. We can make things better. Don’t you want that?”
The child thought about it for a moment or two. “I think I made things better, Doc. Ticketa and Ticketo are happy together, people of Timesville are safe now, the people in the office are working hard, and I have people that care about me. All of that happened without God.”
The Surgeon shook his head, his tricolored lamps swinging as he did so. “There’s more to this than what you see, Mellow. It is more than everyone here. More than us. God can return to life because of my work and your spirit.”
“For what?”
If he had eyebrows –or movement to his face at all– they would be furrowed. “Pardon?”
“Why bring God back at all?”
“In the name of life, for the love of my bride, for the sake of a greater being. It’s the least I could do for all I’ve been given. It’s my role. My innate mission.”
“How old are you?”
“More than a hundred, I’m sure.”
“So you have been around without God for a long time.”
“Indeed.”
“You’re alive, which proves you don’t need God.”
“I suppose that is true, however God needs me. Needs us, Mellow. To live again for another millenia.”
Mellow didn’t understand why God had to live so bad. To the Surgeon it would save mankind, but he didn’t seem to know how. And the way Mellow saw it, mankind could be better anyway without its help. But how could he make the Surgeon see that? He was convinced that his work and his life led up to this and only this.
“Is surgery a science?”
“Yes. Specifically a science in the medical field.”
“Do other science people do projects together?”
“Yes, many scientists often perform surgeries or experiments together.”
“Do they always agree on things?”
“No. It isn’t unheard of to have multiple people have differing methods for how to perform a task, or question the validity of research performed.”
“Sciencey people look at each other’s work?”
“Yes, Mellow. Professionals will look at another’s work to test for validity and originality. It’s referred to as peer review.”
“Am I a sciencey perfessional?”
“Professional.” The Surgeon corrected. “And no, there is education and experience needed to meet that requirement.”
“Can I rear view your work anyway?”
“Peer review.” he corrected the child once more. He thought about it for a moment. Mellow really had no ground to stand on when it came to a proper review, but it was their last minutes alive so what truly was the harm of criticism to come from a nine year old? “Alright Mellow, present your review.”
“I think…um…” he began, looking the Surgeon in the face. While there was no expression, he could tell that he wasn’t being judged by the medical man. He didn’t seem annoyed, he was patient and seemed vaguely curious about what he had to say. It was something he had always wanted from the adults in his life.
“I think that…” he tried again, but for some reason the words just wouldn’t come out. He was trying to be nice about what he wanted to say, but he didn’t know if what he was trying to say would come out right by being nice. As much as he liked to argue otherwise, The Surgeon had feelings and was more human than he let on, at least mentally and emotionally. The Surgeon was his friend, and he didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“Say it Mellow, we are wasting time.”
“I think this project is dumb and that there’s a better way!” Mellow blurted before quickly covering his mouth with his hands, looking as if he was going to be punished for what he said.
The Surgeon tilted his head slightly as if in contemplation, but said nothing for a good few moments, just looking at Mellow. The boy meanwhile felt nervous for the first time since this whole adventure started. Was the Surgeon going to hit him? Hurt him? He never had before, but that didn’t mean that he couldn’t start.
“‘A better way’? The God whose body we inhabit is decaying and will collapse to ruin around everyone here. How would you suggest we fix that without returning it to life with a new vessel?”
Okay, so he didn’t seem mad. At least as far as Mellow could tell.
“Why not move everyone out of the body? Find somewhere else?”
“To do that would take time, resources, things neither of us have at our disposal. Or, we could complete the ritual and fix things now.”
“But then we die.”
“We merely divert the trajectory of our purpose into a new direction. A new form, if you will.”
“I don’t want to die, Mr Surgeon. And I don’t want you to die either. I’d miss you.”
If he had been more human his sense of guilt would’ve absolutely crushed him by now. Not only because of what Mellow had said, but because he was starting to doubt himself. His work. The sacrifice of his bride to be the vessel for God. Was he really willing to sacrifice a nine year old boy with limitless life to proceed with his own goal? Yes. Yes he was. Was he also considering abandoning his work, his bride, and God itself because of this same child? Hesitantly, yes.
“Even if we had the time to evacuate everyone, where would we all go? Out there is nothing but desert for miles.”
“We could make a new house. Or find an old one. There has to be a way.”
Oh the naivety. The hope in the boy’s blue eyes as he explained what little scraps of a plan he had. It was almost sweet, like the blissful haze he’d experience when on one of his drug benders when he wanted to feel something other than his general apathy.
“I don’t think it would work, Mellow.”
“The only way to know is to try, right?”
Damn him. Damn his intelligence, his creativity, his desire to have everything be alright because he wanted it.
For once in his long life the metallic man felt stuck. Genuinely stuck. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt like this, or maybe he hadn’t not felt like this in a long time and only now was understanding it. There was a choice to be made here: either to follow through with his plan to sacrifice himself and Mellow to bring back God and save mankind as well as his bride, or to leave God to spoil and abandon his bride to a death unbecoming of someone so beautiful and strong who chose to aid him in his goals.
“Mr Surgeon, are you okay? Do you need your pills again?” Mellow’s voice spoke louder than it had before, and turning his gaze back to the boy he saw that…he was taller? No. Gazing down it became clear that the boy did not miraculously grow taller, but that rather he at some point during his contemplation had knelt down and was closer to Mellow’s height.
“Doc?” the boy asked, grabbing at the Surgeon's shoulders and shaking them a little. Due to the heavy materials he was made of, it barely did anything to truly move his form but it did what it was intended to do: get him to focus again.
“I am alright Mellow. I am experiencing something I have not felt in a long time.”
“What's that?”
“Doubt.”
“Doubt about what?”
He took a moment to think of how to encompass everything he was feeling and thinking to the child in a way he could understand.
“I do not want to disappoint my bride. Or God. Or myself. Not now when everything is close to succeeding. Everything I have done has been for this.”
“Well…why not do something else you can be proud of?”
“Like what?”
“I dunno.”
He supposed that was a fair answer, even if it wasn't helpful in the slightest.
“Back in the graveyard you said that beginnings were meant to be left behind.”
“I did.”
“Is this not a beginning?”
Fuck. This kid was smart, too smart for his own good. He would've been proud had it not wedged him in a corner like this. Correction, he was proud regardless. Looking from one side of the room to the other and then back to Mellow, his vents released air he didn't realize had been within him. A sigh, or a close approximation of one.
“I suppose.”
Mellow’s hands moved down to one of the Surgeon's and tugged insistently. “Come on Doc, I know a way out.”
Standing up, the Surgeon looked down to Mellow, his hand still being held by Mellow's. “Lead the way, Mellow.”
He led him over to a section of the fleshy walls before turning to look up at him. “Can you make a…a decision?”
“About what?”
“No. You're a surgeon. You have the scalpel thing.”
“An incision. Yes, I can do that.” the Surgeon replied before taking out a scalpel, and just as he was about to make the cut Mellow spoke again.
“Oh! Down here, Mr Surgeon. It's the way I crawled in.” the boy said, pointing where it looked like some flesh had healed over.
“Very good Mellow.” he said before kneeling and making the first incision, then a second one into an x shape before using his free hand to push the membranous flesh aside to remake the opening. The cuts were clean, done with steady hands that had done similar hundreds of times before. “After you.”
Mellow took the initiative and got on his hands and knees before crawling into the opening. He checked behind him once he was inside of the path he had come in through to see the grey arms and head of his current companion come through to follow him. Due to his size, the Surgeon had to essentially lay down and crawl on his stomach to follow Mellow, and if he had been more of an organic man the feeling of the walls touching him at all sides would have caused some panic to rise within him. This was an artery, the Surgeon could tell, for they were supposed to become this Beast's beating heart. It felt wrong to call this drained corpse God any longer, especially now that their goal was to leave and let it rest.
His headlamps scraped against the arterial walls, scraping loose flesh to gather around the edges. He would have to take the time to get it out and sanitize himself. To wash himself away from the thought of this forever, even though he knew it would never happen. He did all of this, and he would live with the consequences forever.
Was this a failure?
The Surgeon didn't know. Was it a failure to almost finish a project but then change tactics when almost completed? Best case scenario was that it was too soon to tell. The worst case was that, indeed, he failed. And not only that he failed but that he chose to do so.
Mellow started to hum in front of him, and it took a moment for his mind to recognize the tune. It was back when they first met and he had sung about his bride, about how he would save mankind with his procedures. How juxtaposing with what he was doing now.
As the tunnel continued up Mellow's hums turned into very soft singing, and it briefly occurred to the Surgeon that he could be attempting to self soothe. Not once had this child shown to be uncomfortable during this entire process, but that didn't mean he wasn't.
Do it for love, do it for life, for my chiiiiild.
Those were not the lyrics. Though in all truth, he supposed it didn't matter. Perhaps it could even be a reprise. It did get him thinking, Mellow had asked why he couldn't be his father in this lifetime, and now that his plans hadn't come to fruition he found he didn't have an answer anymore. He had not been directly asked to be Mellow's dad, but maybe the nine year old thought that he would be simply because it was an option.
As they continued and made it into the house he wondered if being Mellow's father would make for a successful undertaking. Could he be the parent that Mellow needed?
Mellow stopped at the old computer and clicked the door on the program before leading him further into the home and to the correct door. At least now he could stand, which felt infinitely better as his hands came up to scrape the gunk out from his headlamps the best he could, at least for now, as the flesh splattered against the carpeted flooring with a decently heavy thud.
They walked up a brown curving hallway section with many doors. Once past the doors the room got darker. Mellow looked back at the Surgeon before nodding once and quickly shuffling to climb the mound. They both got to the top, and then there was light. Mellow tried jumping, but he was too short to reach the flooring above. He went to walk back to the Surgeon, but stopped upon hearing something pop up behind him. Turning around, he saw that it was Tip.
“Mellow. I don’t think I can go higher than this…but I have an idea. I can boost you up! All you have to do is hop on my head.”
“What will happen to you?”
“I don’t know… I don’t think I can go further than this…but- but you can, kiddo! This is what it’s all been for! I’ll figure something out! Just…don’t let me down now!”
The young boy walked over to Tip and wrapped his arms around the sign’s post, hugging him tightly. And while the sign had no arm with which to hug him back, his face expressed his enjoyment of the hug, practically melting into it.
“Alright Tip, let’s go with your idea.”
“Just promise me one thing: don’t ever look back.”
“No promises.” he replied before climbing on top of Tip’s head and boosting up to go through the opening in the floor.
“Hey Mister, do me a favor, would ya? Make sure he’ll be okay. I know you’ve already done it once, but you’re all he’s got now.” the sign said to the Surgeon, who nodded his agreement.
“Mellow will be fine.”
“Good. He deserves it.”
That he did. The Surgeon knew of Mellow’s negligent parents outside of the body of God: the alcoholic father, the mother bound by obligation, and the brother who was going down the same route as his father. The only innocent member of Mellow’s family was his younger sister who adored Mellow and looked up to him. Maybe when he and Mellow got out he could see about reuniting him with his sister while also keeping him away from the rest of his family.
The Surgeon was broken out of his thoughts by a voice. It was Henry’s voice, telling Mellow that he was done teaching him a lesson and that ‘what comes next is real punishment’. That was rich coming from a lizard who had genuinely already killed the child once before to blunt force trauma to the head. It was only through his own medical intervention that Mellow didn’t stay dead.
Then the sound of a mallet hitting flesh reverberated down into the hole to meet his audio receptors. He didn’t know if it was Mellow as the recipient of the hits, though it would be amiss to negate the possibility entirely. Shuffling to the entrance –or exit as it were– he could barely see the looming figure of Henry due to the distance. But it would be enough. It had to be. The Surgeon tilted his headlamps, reached up behind him and turned all three of them on, the lights blasting up out of the hole, their colors mixing to create a bright white light and meeting its mark: Henry’s pupils. Henry shrunk back with a cry and the Surgeon turned off the headlamps. The sudden stimulus of bright light and subsequent dark in comparison should be enough to dampen Henry’s eyesight.
The sounds of the mallet hitting flesh continued, but since he heard no cries of pain from Mellow nor any victory cry from Henry he didn’t know what was being hit. His observations were interrupted by being bumped.
“Hey Mister, something’s happening!”
The Surgeon looked and saw that there –per the sign’s description– was something happening. Black fluid was building up and starting to pool at his feet and rise higher. The smell gave away what it was, though someone less informed on bodies and their functions would be at a loss. It was the contents of the dying Beast’s stomach. Whatever Henry was hitting must’ve triggered the reflex to vomit. The last vulnerable act of a dying creature.
“Hold your breath if you are inclined to breathing.” he instructed the sign as the black liquid filled the hole, and before long it was dark, eyes unable to see what lied ahead. Suddenly everything surged forward, and with more room the fluid dispersed, allowing the Surgeon to see that not only were Henry, Mellow, Tip, and himself spewed, but so were just about everyone else.
Henry was launched forward, with Mellow behind him and the Surgeon behind them both. Mellow was tossed around and as he was turned backwards he saw a familiar grey, yellow, cyan, and red form. He reached a hand out towards him.
“Dad!”
In an instinct he had thought long since dead, the Surgeon reached out as well, grabbing Mellow’s hand and pulling him into his hold as they tumbled and were washed away from their old home. Mellow clung to him in turn, though both of their holds were slippery at best due to the liquid.
As the fluid all dispersed and lost pressure, everyone landed somewhere on the now wet sand, the Surgeon landing harshly on his back. The impact of him stopping led to Mellow slipping out of his grasp and landing nearby as he kept going. Sitting up, the Surgeon looked at Mellow and noticed that he seemed alright from the landing, though he was unconscious. An unsurprising discovery, seeing how much he had been through without rest or food. Standing, he went over to Mellow and placed him on his back, wrapping the small boy’s arms around his neck and his legs around his torso, his head resting against his shoulder. The Surgeon looked around, being mindful of the red lamp and how he would need to move his head to avoid hitting Mellow.
Everyone else stood up as they groaned and stretched, uncomfortable as a result of being thrown around. The only one to not get up was Henry, which suited the Surgeon just fine. As everyone convened together, someone had looked towards the horizon and saw what appeared to be the outline of a house. Everyone agreed to go looking that way, and thus began the journey to what would hopefully be their new home. The Surgeon held Mellow on his back, and used his free hand to drag Henry’s body along behind him.
After a little bit of time, someone tapped his shoulder. He turned his head to see that it was the pierrot girl, Ticketa.
“Hey, I was wondering if you wanted someone else to take Mellow while you’re busy with that guy?” she asked him, gesturing towards Henry’s corpse.
“I am able to handle both tasks.”
“Nobody’s saying that you can’t. Just wanted to extend the offer in the event you wanted it.”
He took a moment to think about it. It would be easier to do one task instead of both, and it would also provide comfort to the others to be able to hold onto Mellow and reassure themselves that he was okay.
“Alright, if that is what you want.” he said, turning his back to Ticketa, who carefully grasped Mellow and brought him to her, resting his head against her shoulder and making sure her hold was secure before they continued walking.
By the time they’d made it to the house everyone had a turn carrying Mellow, and things were going better than expected. The house was abandoned, so everyone decided it could be their new home. As everyone else went inside, the Surgeon dragged Henry’s corpse behind him, ripped open the back of the mailbox and shoved his head unceremoniously through the opening. It was the least that the lizard deserved after all of his cruelty. He hoped Mellow would see it that way too. Brushing his hands together as if to rid them of Henry’s filth, he headed inside to check on Mellow.
The boy had been gently placed on his belly in front of the unlit fireplace to rest while Mirianne was delegating tasks to people to clean up the place and get resources in order. She had Ticketo do some dishes that were in the sink, sent out some others to go find some food since the fridge was scarce. Anyone not given a task was allowed time to get settled into an area and find something to do.
“Oh, Mister Surgeon. I know your expertise is in medical intervention, so if you’d be so kind as to keep an eye on everyone and make sure nobody gets hurt that would be swell.” Mirianne said.
That wouldn’t be difficult, it just meant he’d have to stick around and be present in the event that someone needed help. Like a babysitter almost. Wandering over to the living room he perused the shelves of books and picked one that he thought would be able to hold his attention enough to read in its entirety but not so enthralling that he wouldn’t be willing to put it down. Book in hand he then went to the red armchair and sat down, opening the novel and beginning to read.
He got through at least a third of the book before Mellow woke up. The Surgeon saw the boy come up to him and put the book down.
“Mellow, good to see that you’re well.”
“Hey Mister, I’m glad to see that you’re here too. What happened?”
“We were vomited up by the Beast. Henry seemed to have triggered its gag reflex, causing acidic liquid to bubble up and spew out of its stomach and body, naturally launching us all out of it as well.”
“Is everyone here?”
“That vermin from the toilet is not. They were stuck within the Beast, as they should be.”
“Everyone else?”
“Is here.”
“Henry too?”
“Yes, though he is not as he was. Dare I say the form he inhabits now is his best yet.”
“I know you don’t eat, but would you want to sit by the fire and roast marshmallows with everyone?”
“I can’t imagine it as being a terrible time. Very well, Mellow, I’ll join you.”
“Sounds great!” the kid said before heading to explore around, probably to check in with everyone and see if they also wanted to roast marshmallows. For now at least, his reading was disrupted, but he found he didn’t mind. The Surgeon marked his place and set the book down on the table next to the globe, and sure enough people started gathering around to roast marshmallows. Once wood was put in the fireplace as well as some kindling, the fire was lit and by the time Mellow came back everyone had their sticks and bags of marshmallows were distributed among the group so everyone could have one. The Surgeon had two sticks, handing one of them to Mellow as he settled in among his friends.
The Surgeon waited while everyone else roasted their marshmallows, and once there was an opportunity he roasted the one in his possession, rotating it and keeping it from bursting alight in flame. Once its outer shell was golden brown he pulled it away from the fire. By this time others had wished their goodnights to Mellow and headed off to bed, which suited the Surgeon just fine. In their absence Mellow had moved his way closer to where the Surgeon was sitting, though there was still some distance. Extending his arm, he presented the stick with the perfectly cooked marshmallow to the boy, who took it gleefully and devoured it without a care in the world. His greed was delightful to the Surgeon, for it was the second time the child had ever been greedy, and the first could hardly be considered greed, for he merely wanted all of his friends to be alright.
Mellow scooted closer to the Surgeon, close enough to lean back and rest his head against his torso as they both watched the fire. A silicone hand was placed against Mellow’s belly, the weight of the arm a comfort to him as he got comfortable in the Surgeon’s hold.
“Mister Surgeon?”
“Yes Mellow?”
“Would you be mad if I called you ‘Dad’ from now on?”
“No, I wouldn’t be upset. You’ve done so earlier already.”
“I know, but I never really asked you about it.”
“My name is lost to time and a life very long lived. If I’m known for my now multiple roles I inhabit, that will be fine.”
“So I can call you Dad?”
“Yes Mellow, if it would make you happy.”
“Okay, cool.” he said before turning, wrapping his arms around the Surgeon’s waist as best as he could and hugging him as tight as his little arms would allow. While the Surgeon couldn’t respond in the same intensity without worries of crushing his son, he did hug him as well.
“Would it make you happy too?”
“...It would.”
They sat like that for a while, and more of the housemates left for their own spots in the house to sleep until it was just the two of them.
“Hey Dad?”
“What do you need, Mellow?”
“Can we go to bed?”
“That can be arranged.” he responded, adjusting his hold on Mellow before standing up, bringing the two of them to the armchair. Sitting down, he got comfortable and allowed Mellow to do the same in his lap before he picked up the book from earlier. He took the red cap off of Mellow’s head and placed it atop the globe for when he would wake up in the morning, and checked how the skin was healing on his wound. It seemed to be healing just fine, and for that the Surgeon was grateful. He placed a hand on Mellow’s head and gently caressed it, causing the boy to sigh contently as he closed his eyes.
“Goodnight Dad. Sweet dreams.” he said softly, his father’s movements lulling him to sleep like a wordless lullaby.
The sweet boy probably didn’t know that he didn’t sleep anymore. Not after his long extensive experiments and upgrades. Or if he did know, he just hoped for his dad to have a good night even without sleep. Either way, what kindness his boy showed. Yes, this boy would do nicely as his son, especially with how resilient, kind, and smart he was, and just how much smarter, kinder, and more resilient he could be now that he had a true family to support him.
“Goodnight Mellow. Blissful rest.”
Yeah, Mellow was going to be okay. He’d be sure of it.