13

The pengi emerged from the canals, brackish water burbled from it's smokestack, clearing out and allowing the smoke from it's miniature furnace to billow out as it waddled past #10 at the door to the plant and 'warked' in greeting. 10 nodded and continued on it's guard duties, slightly wondering why 13 was entering as they had all agreed the pengi tribe would only enter the plant as long as that machine was there, in an emergency.
Even the Boss's attempts to make deals could not get the pengi to go near it. and 13 just waddled in.
Then 10 saw a well dressed man in some sort of fancy suit pass by and forgot all about 13 as it followed, pulling out a blackjack to mug him and hoping this one actually had fish on him this time.

#13 waddled with a clanking sound past the waiting room while Grendel slept on the couch. 13 had made sure there was enough sleep powder in his tea this time to keep him out longer than the 5 minutes he had been traning himself on. so this time should not be interrupted. As 13 approached the machine, the cognigator started to panic and tried to regain control of the iron body, but he reinforced his control, it was getting harder daily, but a better body had not shown itself. He had found out about this machine, the experiments, and the supply of readily available, (if somewhat artificial) bodies through others in the graveyard, primarily the boy who had caused some trouble in the plant, and seemed to be what caused the creation o the machine, that medium in Footman's employ seemed to had done away with the boy somehow, as he had not returned in some time. then there were the few who had taken turns possessing the neighbor,
All to waste their time drinking and playing dress up, and of course jeapordized everything as they got that Somerset's attention, and that albino, the man sealed up the graveyard, so that none of them could leave easily, unless through the machine, fortunatly he had taken one of the automoton workers before then, noone would notice one of the ugly metal creatures acting odd, they already do act odd from what he could see.
Since he had taken 13, he had turned the machine on regularly, allowing others to come across as he worked, It was time consuming, but he felt he was very close to reaching her, some more modifications to the machine would be needed, but it was difficult with iron flippers to do very much, he couldn't for the life of him visualize how these things could be so dexterious with knives and guns. He would need fingers for the fine tuning.
He'd prefer another automoton, but the metal girl who seemed to work for Footman had not been around the plant much lately, there were parts in the laboratory, he could cobble hands together...if he had fingers. 13 sighed, it might be time to try a flesh and blood body, if idiots like Mac could manage, surely he could do better. 13 looked at the sleeping Footman, that one so far wasn't an option, his mind crisscrossed itself and spiraled into odd directions so often, anyone else with a mind like that would possibly be commited, he doubted he could keep control for very long, or worse, be trapped in the man's mind forever.
He's have to look around, it would be harder to control, but there were plenty of flesh and blood bodies in this city, For now, 13 flicked the machine on and set to work,