Salem Vicarious, Lord of Lost Things
Salem was caught off guard by Graft's sudden movements and pouted as Graft slapped the defiled hat back on the doll's head. Floating out of reach of the director, Salem complained,
"Geez...! I was only joking~ But you're one to talk about cooperation! Unless you've forgotten, your 'job' isn't maximizing benefit to yourself, but to maximize benefit to the Chateau. Yet when I suggest an amicable quid pro quo, you say it is in your nature to get something for nothing from Light and I, and exploit our goodwill. We are, for lack of a better term, your business partners, and you should be investing in our mutual relationship." Of course, Salem was merely arguing for the sake of arguing, and only repeating stuff they had heard from Dr.Drd when the Sable Lord complained of 'management'.
"And in a tantrum, you've ruined my best hat~! But I'll forgive you. It's clear that the creature in front of you has made you emotional, so you're not the usual, objective, dependable Graft that we all know and love. Don't worry, I'll keep your secrets for as long as you desire, free of charge! And just to show that I treasure our relationship, I'll give you something else for free; some advice~!"Up to now, Salem, while pouty, had maintained a precocious and chipper attitude, but the doll suddenly became grave.
"I know a thing or two about being the favorite of a creator." Salem's eyes darted over to the nightgaunt, scanning and lingering over every injury. Salem was momentarily grateful that it's own body parts could be easily replaced so that no scars remained, but that soon became resentment as the doll vengefully longed for some lasting evidence of abuse to show the world, but that thought quickly passed.
"I thought each Chapter Keeper was their respective creator's favorite like I was. I see now that I am mistaken." Salem was heavily insinuating to Graft, without revealing too much, that the nightgaunt was Brushen Penn's favorite. Salem was pretty sure Graft knew what was being implied.
"Destroy it. That is my advice to you. If nostalgia and abandonment are driving you, know that nothing you do with it will bring your creator back. If curiosity is driving you, then turn back, it's not worth it. You might think that you can control it, mold it how you want, exert power over it, but some forces, emotional forces, cannot be measured. Our remaining Lord, Rodias..." Salem sighed, realizing that their next words could be greatly misinterpreted, but soldiered on,
"I fear Rodias is emotional, and therefore unfit to lead. And if Lord Rodias learned of this...thing, this...legacy of another Sable Lord, well, I fear for your position. Our creators are fickle, and cannot be expected to be objective. No matter your loyalty, no matter your service, they will give their attention to the next, newest plaything, more so something with sentimental value. Do not give them that opportunity, do not let yourself be replaced, for your own sake and the Chateau's. Destroy it. I won't tell anyone."In the next instant, the childish act returned.
"alright, it's getting boooring~ in here. The only thing more boooring~ than doing work is watching someone else do work. I don't need to supervise you since everything you make is excellent, and I would be daft to pay to watch something I find absolutely droll. Anyways, access to my wardrobe is still open to you and the new lady, no strings attached. Welp! Time to blow this popsicle stand!" With that, Salem left the Factory, though on it's way out, Salem tossed the ruined hat into an open furnace. Items were created to be destroyed.
@The Irish TreeHaving returned to the City of Lost Things, Salem pondered momentarily on Graft's outburst. Salem had no memory of Graft ever acting out to such a degree, and as much as the doll was loathe to admit it, it was kind of scary. This was coupled with the fact that Graft had a weapon that could very easily and utterly destroy Salem. As much as Salem was a nihilistic brat, Salem still understood that relations in the Chateau needed to be maintained; for self-preservation, and because it was the only home Salem knew. Salem now knew that the Graft only gave himself the allowance of being a greedy businessman, and while he gladly threatened to make his allies pay for trivialities, he apparently balked when the same was done to him in return. Being the overseer of the Factory, Graft, paradoxically, was a creation but made ultimately to be a creator, so for him to embody the same hypocrisies as their creators was not unusual. But for the time being, Salem would play nice.
Salem went through the City's inventory of glass eyes and also scoured for small glossy red and black beads that could easily pass as vermin or bird eyes, tearing them off of the City's subjects if necessary. Having prepared all this, Salem took possession of the eyes and beads, allowing them to extend the doll's vision. Salem covered them in cloth and placed them in boxes to be sent to the factory to be inserted into the dolls Graft was preparing. As a bit of a peace offering, Salem made sure the boxes could only be opened from the outside and not from the inside by, say, a levitating eyeball, and included specific instructions to keep the box closed and the eyes and beads covered with cloth at all times so Graft would know that Salem had no intention of spying on the Factory's inner workings.
The boxes were then delivered to the Factory by a threadbare teddy with stuffing flowing out of generous gashes. It hardly mattered if it returned to the City in one piece or not. Having noticed that there were several scouting parties outside the Chateau, some more permanent than others, the constant surveillance that Salem provided with the doll heads scattered outside were becoming redundant. At the very least, the Chateau had fewer blindspots now, so Salem decided to recall any whose vision overlapped with the scouts so that their eyes could be re-purposed for the spying facsimiles under construction. Fewer than half of the doll heads levitated out of their positions and proceeded to return into the Chateau, but to do this, they would need to pass through the entrance, the 5th Chapter. While attempting to unlock the Chapter, Rodias would likely be suddenly greeted by the disturbing sight of a stream of mutilated doll heads suddenly hovering into his vicinity. Noticing Rodias piqued Salem's curiosity, and the heads converged on Rodias.
"Whatcha up to?" the heads would say in broken unison.
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