"Valen!”

The Creator feared the worst when a couple of the kid's clothes have gone missing from the tidy closet, in a room that was left in chaos.

He slowly came to a devastating realization that the boy ran away.

His little son, that was supposed to stay forever.

The Creator felt betrayed and heart-broken.

Why would he run away?

Had he not given him everything his little heart desired?

There was no denying it – Valen somehow realized the potential he had, of what he is. A potential the Creator himself only caught a glimpse of.

Valen realized there was nothing tying him to this place, nor to the Creator himself – if he even felt anything in the first place.

The little boy with the shining eyes, that probably pondered over how there were hardly any similarities between him and an old geezer, who wasn't even able to play with him, putting his trust in toys to keep the kid busy.

He can't be allowed to roam around.

Looks like he'll be needing the aid of the first monster he had created.

~~

The Creator walked into the cell Subject #1 was kept in, to find him kicking around an old, metallic food tray and bouncing it off the wall.

His prosthetic feet were reduced to mostly a metallic skeleton, just enough to let them still work, and his hands were in a similar shape – seemingly self-inflicted.

Still an unfinished work, he was chained to the floor in order to limit his movement and make sure he won't escape as well until his mental makeup can be stabilized to a certain norm.

But there was no longer time for that.

"So...You've finally came to pay ol' Cavalier a visit?” his voice was still somewhat warped, almost artificial sounding.

Cavalier smiled a mouthful of teeth and turned to face the Creator as he entered the room, ceasing his abuse of the metal tray.

His sickly-yellow eyes glimmered with malicious anticipation before the old man said a word.

"I have a mission for you.”

Cavalier's smile widened, knowing there aren't many things he'd be asked to do.

The Creator, on the other hand, was not smiling.

When he spoke, his voice came out dry and hollow, devoid of sentiment.

"I need you to find and eliminate Subject #2.”

"Subject #2?” Cavalier warped laughter sounded demonic. “I thought he was your 'precious little boy'...”

"He made his choice and ran away.”

"That's a big thing you're asking.” Cavalier walked forward, as far as his chains allowed him. “You better not have any regrets.”

"Worry not. He won't be returning willingly anyway.” He sighed. “And he can't be roaming freely.”

"Roaming freely, huh?” Cavalier scratched his jaw, with his fingers that resembled claws almost cutting through the skin. “And how am I supposed to to find him? After all, you never allowed him to visit his predecessor.”

"Hardly.” The Creator scoffed, narrowing his eyes. “But this should be the least of your concern, I'll make sure you'll know this little abomination when you see him.”

The older abomination was clearly amused. "Harsh.”

"I need to know that I can trust you to do the task I give you, and only that.”

Cavalier raised his eyebrow, eyes turning half-lidded. “After all this time, Creator? I thought you'd have some trust in me.”

"It's exactly that time we spent that has me belittling your credibility.”

"I see...” He chuckled and clenched his hands to fists in a metallic creak.

"So can I trust you to stick to your mission?”

"Yeah, yeah. Sure.” Cavalier waved his hand dismissively.

"I'll be your executioner...”

~~

"Looks like it was to much for you...”

After a day of scouring the city, Cavalier returned clean-handed.

While the Creator already planned ahead in case Valen proved to be a bigger challenge than he appeared, Cavalier wasn't to happy about missing his chance to satisfy his murderous instinct with no consequences.

"You said nothing about bodyguards!” He flared as soon as he stepped back inside.

"What bodyguards?”

"One of your 'toy' thing.” Cavalier huffed and started walking around, frustrated. “Those weird...Worms.”

"Worms, you say?” The Creator knew exactly they were – one of the experimental, instinct-based storage units, implanted in worm-like creatures made out of soft materials. “Interesting...They should be only protecting themselves...”

"Well, looks like they bonded real nicely!” Cavalier kept circling around, enraged.

The Creator said nothing and lowered his gaze to his latest project – currently only under the name of “Subject #3”, another humanoid robotic body courtesy of the former team's engineer.

He wondered time and again whether or not his unquestioning cooperation was a good thing. Sure, it made the way to his causes a lot easier, but his lack of interest regarding what his creations are used for was certainly odd.

"Worry not. I thought he might develop a deep understanding of the situation in a short time.” it was evident that the Creator tried to keep himself collected. “Just wait a little longer,” he stopped to look up, meeting Cavalier's murderous gaze. “You'll have your prey soon enough.”

~~

[Entry log #3443 - Excerpted transcript ]

"Voice module integrity.”

"Fully operational.”

"Internal sensors responsiveness.”

"Auditory receptors and echo-locators are at 100% ; photo-receptors are at 75%, proper optical device not installed.”

"That's quite enough, at least you can see...Now then, movement and balancing.”

"Balancing system fully functional.”

"A little rigid, but he said you'll adapt eventually.”

"One last thing. Can you grab this?”

"Yes.”

"Do you know what this is?”

"...It is a gun.”

[End Transcript ]

Subject #3 seemed to working very well, for a “hastily made” project.

The Creator specified he won't be needing any distinct facial feature since he won't be really needing to appear human up close.

Despite that, the engineer still provided a mask-like 3d-printed artificial face, so the otherwise blank silicone head won't draw too much attention, should it ever be out.

Conveniently, Subject #3 was about the size of his older suits, and the Creator found him one he hardly ever wore before, a dark pin-stripped suit with red stitching, accompanied by a similarly patterned hat and dark, elegant pair of shoes and gloves.

The hat almost completely blocked out his blank face when he looked down at the small firearm placed in his hand.

"What am I to do with it.”

His voice remained completely monotonous, leaving the Creator to assume it was a question by the grammatical structure of the sentence alone.

The old man decided that as long as Subject #3 is understandable, he can leave the monotony issue for his program's adaptation ability. There was no time to waste on something so minute, since it was never meant to be polished.

"I'll make sure you'll know exactly what to do with it.” The Creator turned to answer his query. “I'll spare you the confusing explanations and plans, and put them directly in your head.”

"How will you do that.”

"None of your concern.” The Creator signed him to rest the gun back on a table. “But rest assured, it won't hurt, nor will it take long.”

~~

"Let me guess...Stitches.”

Cavalier sized up his new, pin-stripped partner, not making the slightest of effort to hide his discontent.

"What makes you say that.”

"I figured, since we're going by clothing...” Cavalier shrugged. He knew it'll take him some time getting accustomed to this monotonous speech. “Got a problem with it, Mr. Suit-and-Tie?”

"Well, which is it.” Subject #3 turned his head towards the Creator.

Still slaving over the execution of his plan, he waved off the assumed question. “Whichever you find more fitting.”

"Stitches is shorter.” The faceless humanoid stated. “Is that my name, then.”

"Sounds like it.” Cavalier cackled and turned to the Creator as well. “So what's with this clown?”

"This 'clown' is going to help you capture Subject #2.” the aging man looked up at the two – a revived murderer and a faceless robot. This better work.

Cavalier didn't seem too pleased with the pairing, but seeing as this was his only condition for getting away with killing something, he refrained from any clear, verbal objection.

"So what's the plan, old man?” Cavalier seemed to become more on edge the more time he sat near his new silent partner.

"I can't have you two running all over the city, so we'll have to lure him into an enclosed space, make him drop his guard.” the Creator vaguely explained.

Stitches nodded a couple of time, while Cavalier became more and more confused.

"And how are we supposed to do that? With a trail of breadcrumbs and candies?" Cavalier clearly grew impatient.

The Creator shook his head. “He's too smart to follow a trail like that.” He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “We need to trick him into entering such a space, and making sure he never walks out, all without him suspecting any sort of involvement from us.”

"And how the hell are you going to manage that?”

"Well, he always loved the circus...”

~~

Frustrated with the entirety of the vaguely constructed plan, Cavalier walked out of the old man's work room, with Stitches following suit.

"What, now you're a shadow, too?” Cavalier bared his teeth when Stitches started walking next to him.

"Why is your voice broken.” He wondered, monotonously.

"Wha?”

"Your voice. It's broken.”

"I heard you the first time!” Cavalier huffed and shoved his partially bare prosthetic hands in his coat's pockets. “It's not like your voice is any better.”

"What's wrong with it.”

"Ugh, I'm not even going to try.” He rolled his eyes and stopped, wondering about the Creator's obscure mention. “So the old man wants a circus, huh?” Cavalier glanced over to Stitches. “You'd fit right in the freak show.”

"What's that.”

"You'll know it when you see it. Trust me.”