Circuit-Breaker lays on a broken and dirty mattress that sits underneath a rusting car in the middle of a junkyard, not moving. He is in sleep mode, a state that allows him to automatically recharge his body. Circuit-Breaker used to only be able to see darkness while in this state, but now in recent years he has started experiencing strange visions that are very much like vivid dreams.
The darkness gives way to a glitching landscape filled with strange plants and buildings. Circuit-Breaker walks through the eerily quiet land, his sights set on a tower that pierces the sky and disappears into the clouds. Circuit-Breaker is unsure what this world is exactly, it fluctuates in the same way he had heard regular dreams do, but he can actively choose where to go and what to say along with being able to experience things with all his senses. He also remembers everything clearly when he wakes up.
Once he is inside of the tower, Circuit-Breaker launches himself into the air, flying up to the very top floor which contains a library. His feathery ears twitch at the sound of muffled crying coming from a large chest with heavy books stacked on top of it. Circuit-Breaker moves the books off, opening it. Inside is a smaller and more child-like proportioned version of him who has a dragon-like tail. They are curled up in a fetal position, shaking. “Why are you hiding, Michael?” The red and blue lights on Michael’s body light up as they look up at Circuit-Breaker. “I’m not hiding, she trapped me in here…” Michael says, climbing out. “Where is Michelle?” Circuit-Breaker asks. “She is in her room.” Michael says. Circuit-Breaker walks among the seemingly endless bookshelves until he reaches a door at the back wall. He opens it a crack, peeking in. Sitting in front of a lit mirror is a tall feminine figure with the same dog-like head he has. Michelle is dressed in very bold clothing adorned with spikes and chains, including a heavy spiked collar around her mechanical neck. “Go away.” Michelle growls. “You trapped Michael which has greatly distressed him.” Circuit-Breaker states. Michelle rushes towards the door, slamming it shut and locking it. Circuit-Breaker steps back, slightly startled.
Michelle has always been aggressive and closed off, and Circuit-Breaker had first heard her harsh and condescending voice in his mind a few years after he first became aware of Michael. Circuit-Breaker doesn’t know who or what these two “others”, as he calls them, residing inside him are, but he does know that they sometimes physically take control of his body at times which causes blackouts and memory gaps. Circuit-Breaker turns back to find Michael worriedly looking out one of the windows. “I can feel him taking control of the body again.” Michael says. The room glitches and Circuit-Breaker finds himself in a black void, his senses numb.
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Michael jolts upwards, immediately falling off of a ledge and onto the floor. He is in control of Circuit-Breaker’s body, and there is something obscuring his vision. Michael is lifted up from the floor and violently forced back down onto a metal surface where he feels heavy chains wrap around his arms and legs like giant snakes. Michael knows what is about to happen next, and he starts thrashing around. “You know what happens if you don’t let Circuit-Breaker out.” A man says in a dangerously calm tone. “I won’t let him out! I-” Michael screeches as his head is repeatedly struck with something heavy that burns like fire. Michael shakes his head, the fiery pain almost unbearable. “I’ll ask you again, let him out.” Michael whimpers as he feels Michelle draw closer to the front of their mind. Michael thrashes around again before he is dragged away from the outside and into the dark void where Circuit-Breaker watches Michelle take control from a distance.
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Circuit-Breaker’s body shudders, the lights that adorn it flickering before it relaxes. “Come on, just do it already.” Michelle says in a seductive tone. Michael runs over to Circuit-Breaker who shields the child from seeing the terrible deeds their creator enacts upon Michelle. “I don’t want to die!” Michael cries, clinging onto Circuit-Breaker. “I don’t want to be here anymore!” The child wails. The crying from Michael and disturbing sounds coming from the outside soon become unbearable for Circuit-Breaker. He feels himself regain control of his body, lunging forward with so much force that the chains snap. Circuit-Breaker opens his jaws and manages to bite down on his creator’s shoulder, shaking his head viciously. His creator screams in agony as he pulls himself away from his creation. Circuit-Breaker corners him, mauling and disfiguring him-
Circuit-Breaker feels himself chained down, the violence he had enacted upon his creator having been nothing more than a desperate fantasy. “You failed to bring Aarón back with you.” His creator says flatly. Circuit-Breaker says nothing, holding very still. He hears his creator move around to stand on the left side of him. “You are nothing but a puppet, something that I could easily replace with something better. If only the people who worship you could see you now.” Circuit-Breaker hears a crackling sound next to his ears. “You’re a disgusting, useless piece of shit. You’ve failed me endlessly, and yet I can’t help but keep you around for my own personal needs…”
Circuit-Breaker feels a gloved hand stroke his chest. “I could easily strip you of your current memory chip and replace it with something that hasn’t been tarnished by whatever force acted through Aarón at that mall all those years ago. I could make you completely obedient to me again.” His creator muses. “I won’t fail.” Circuit-Breaker says. “Then go get Aarón.” The cover over Circuit-Breaker’s eye is lifted, and he finds himself alone in a damp cell deep within the Newon sewers. Circuit-Breaker leaves the room and makes the long trek back to where he and his countless followers have taken up residence over the decades.
The cramped tunnel finally opens up into a colossal natural cavern with a makeshift city of tents and huts spread all throughout it. People, mostly white human males, meander around. It is clear that they are bored yet eager for the day that the Mortal Engine will be activated in which they will finally be able to act out whatever violent fantasies they have on the innocent. Circuit-Breaker senses his followers, or rather his creator’s followers, staring at him with reverence as he walks past. Circuit-Breaker remembers when his creator had sent a younger recruit to try and kill Aarón in the Human-Katian’s early years by attacking him at a playground.
The recruit had managed to greatly injure Aarón, but had ultimately failed to kill him in the end and was disposed of. Circuit-Breaker has a sudden thought. What if he sent a few new recruits to try and capture Aarón for him instead of directly doing that part himself? That way it technically wouldn’t be him failing his creator if they were the ones who messed up. Circuit-Breaker makes his decision as his eye lands on a group of young men huddled together around a fire. Circuit-Breaker approaches them, adopting his persona of authority. “All of you, come with me. I need you…” As Circuit-Breaker and the eager young men leave to make their way to the surface, his creator watches from the inky shadows. “Soon I won’t need to hide behind my creation to be respected…”