Deik-Beck swam down into the lake as directed, questing the Mithril hidden deep in its depths. His sensors showed him the energies infusing the entire lake, those of divinity and the essence of time. He could see why any living being who entered the lake would be reduced to dust if they tried, and that was the best possible fate. His mechanical body, however, was already treated with energies that made it indestructible. After all, Clockwerk built Deik-Beck after Coco had rendered Clock-La immortal by taking from that fused being the Seed of Death that made living beings mortal, that allowed them to leave the living world when their bodies gave out.
Deik-Beck looked back on those memories, the ones that weren't his. Neyla's screams of pain and fear as she sank towards the depths, only for her to realize - as the body she was in moved without her directive - that she was not alone.
"W-what's going on?" she demanded in fear. "Why is my body-"
"It was never your body to begin with," Clockwerk responded cruelly. "You were simply borrowing it. And I must thank you. If not for you, I would have remained a lifeless husk of my former self. Because of you, I was called back, my soul awoken. But I have no more need for you."
"Wait!" she called out despairingly. "I can help you-"
"All you are - all you ever were - is dead weight. And it's time to shed that."
With a jerk, half the Clockwerk head broke off the rest, letting Clock-La sink into the trench. An extra twist of cruelty, and part of the trench broke away with a strike, tumbling enough dense rocks down atop Clock-La to hide the metallic signature from any deep scans. Someone would have to know exactly where to look - and what to look for - to find her now...and the change in momentum from breaking off meant even calculating exactly from the point of entry into the ocean and all forces involved would get the wrong location. She now sank into a completely different branch of the trench.
Clockwerk himself altered the shape of the chunk he'd broken off, grasping the wall of a trench in an animal form that could make the climb back to the surface. Once there...he would get close to the Coopers. The filly...she was despondent after what happened to the turtle. He would just need something...cute to get her attention. Cute, helpless, damaged...just like her.
And as he broached the surface, the red optics turned blue. Deik-Beck was crafted, with a story to win sympathy.
An odd set of memories to be looking at, Clockwerk observed idly to the other voice in his metallic head, a voice he once thought naught but a tool.
End coming, Deik-Beck answered simply. When end comes, only natural to look at beginning.
...you know my plans.
We share head. Hard not to.
As the two in one being used their hind legs as propellers to drive deeper into the waters, they sat in silence for a time. Eventually, it was Clockwerk who spoke up. They will probably never forgive the deception, if my plan works. Coco will likely never forgive being used.
This I know.
Silence reigned for a longer time. ...I expected you to be more upset about that.
If save Coco, I do anything.
Even...make her hate you?
...do you remember love now?
Clockwerk was silent for a time. He looked back in his memory - as long as it was - and sought out a recollection that wasn't about hate. Wasn't about revenge against the Coopers. Wasn't...
...a little owlet named Klaw. An older raccoon. His daughter. A mission. A desire. A promise. ...a fool.
Did I go too far?
Love makes fools of all.
Clockwerk was silent for a time. Is that where you come from? Is that why your presence is so strong in my mind? Is that why you're able to influence my thoughts to the extent you've become a part of me, something truer than I was? Are you...young Klaw?
Not Klaw, Deik-Beck! Deik-Beck corrected insistently. After a time of silence, he added, Echo, perhaps.
Clockwerk let that turn over in his mind as they descended further...until they found the vein of Mithril. The ore glittered with silverly light, one very similar to the color of Clockwerk's metal wings. Carving off a tiny piece, Deik-Beck devoured it, letting it and its energies infuse his body. I am...sorry.
Sorry?
For treating you like nothing more than a tool. For taking what you had to offer me for granted. For disregarding what you could have been. And now...for destroying your future. I am...sorry.
Sorry for revenge?
Clockwerk thought about that for a time as Deik-Beck got to work carving out enough Mithril to make the weapons for Sly and Carmelita. As they turned to seek the surface, he found an answer. No, I'm not sorry for the quest that began in hatred, or what I did as a result of it. Or, to be more accurate, I do not regret my actions, or the results of them...though I repent the pain it caused.
Time to grow, Deik-Beck offered happily. Time to change. Time to love. Time to forget.
If we fail, there won't be any time left.
If succeed, all time in world to fix. Deik-Beck let off a few happy beeps, his version of a happy giggle. Cooper ancestor missing. Replacement has to come from somewhere. Grandfather of Book author dead...so supply replacement father of author.
Clockwerk thought about that for a time and couldn't help but chuckle. Those two stuck here in a place where they can get plenty of privacy, can't interact with many others, and waiting until the timestream is stable again before they can be sent anywhere? There might be plenty of choice by the time Wadjet drops that bit of news on them!
Clockwerk and Deik-Beck shared a laugh...and Clockwerk began to understand more than he did about what love meant.