Ink Machine/novel

"We've not seen one like this before."
The article's subject originates from the Bendy novel series' continuity, which is not deemed as canonically part of the main series' lore. See Bendy Wiki:Canon for more information.

Ink Machine
Canon  •  Novel
Other information
Creator	Thomas Connor Gent
Users	Joey Drew Thomas Connor Wilson Arch Gent
Usage	Creating special ink Creating the Cycle
Appearances
Bendy: Dreams Come to Life Bendy: The Lost Ones Bendy: Fade to Black

"We made the machine. We made it. A decision was made to create, and create we did. Rules. Laws. Social circles. Social strata. It’s all man­made. All from our imaginations. From our grand illusions. It’s all just a fantasy. But it can still destroy you. The things we make. They can still kill you." — Bendy: The Lost Ones.

The Ink Machine is a massive machine stolen by Joey Drew, built by the Gent Corporation and Thomas Connor to create living cartoons, and which later used to create the Cycle. Wally Franks was the only person allowed to be the attendant to the Ink Machine.

History

Initial origins

The Ink Machine was created by Thomas Connor and the Gent Corporation at the Gent storefront. It was installed at Joey Drew Studios sometime in the mid-1940s. Originally, it was simply a machine that would mold life-sized figures using a specialized ink. Over time, however, Joey's ambitions substantially increased, with Gent now being ordered to make the figures of ink alive, with the intent of using these living ink creatures as attractions for his studio and amusement park.

To hide its true intentions, Joey fabricated a lie about the Ink Machine being used to create the highest quality ink. He also forbid all employees, excluding Wally Franks, from interact with or getting close to the machine as it was "sensitive," unless in the case of an emergency.

Joey's folly

The first ever living ink figure that emerged from the Machine was a figure in the likeness of Bendy. This creation, however, was noted to be wrong, otherworldly, almost soulless in nature. When Joey Drew discovered the creature wandering around Thomas Connor's office, he not only ordered the creature to be locked up, but thanks to a comment from Thomas Connor began to believe the reason behind the Machine's failures were that the creations needed human souls. As a result, Joey began to sacrifice human souls, running them through the Machine alongside cartoon film in the hopes of printing perfect replicas of his creations. He also stole the Machine by taking its patent for himself after claiming that Thomas Connor was the reason why Bendy turned out the way he did Joey then fired him. When Thomas tried to take it back Joey told him that it was his machine and fired Allison Pendle for siding with Thomas Connor.

Trouble at Atlantic City

Joey rehired Thomas since he needed him to fix the machine. The Ink Machine was then transported to Atlantic City through a boat with Thomas Connor and a crew of movers to get fixed. After arriving at the location they took the machine to an abandoned meatpacking factory and it was stored behind a hidden door.

After some time Thomas Connor took Bill Chambers to the factory to have him help fix the machine. After arriving they entered inside through the hidden door and reached the Ink Machine. Bill asked questions about the machine but Thomas told Bill to get to work on the machine. After finishing the work Bill released the lever, after releasing it he got sprayed with ink, after Bill cleaned off the ink Thomas started to talk about how he created a monster and told him that Joey had him built the machine. He then left and Bill followed behind.

Bill took Constance to the factory to show the Ink Machine to her and Brant secretly followed them, after arriving they inspected the machine as Brant arrived, they then found an icebox after Brant touched the machine and triggered something inside of it. Bill picked the lock and after opening it, it's shown to be empty, but then the lights went out and the Ink Demon dragged Bill across the ground only for him to kick his head and escape. The trio then ran away but Bill noticed that the demon is attacking the machine, which caused it to turn on and fill the area with ink. The ink then exploded Brant who was stuck between the now broken hidden door and it retreated back through the door.

After coming to Atlantic City, Joey wanted to check on the Ink Machine and Thomas took him to its location, Bill secretly followed them until he ran into Thomas Connor. Thomas told him to tag along as he could help them despite Joey's unsureness at first. The three of them went to the meatpacking factory, but they took a different entrance since the initial one was out of order. After going through the tunnels they encountered a crazed Scott, Thomas tried to calm down Scott but he freaked out and ran into a wall, causing him to pass out. After seeing this Bill felt scared and ran out off the tunnel despite Thomas' annoyance.

After Brant was turned back to human with the antidote, him, Constance and Bill decided to stop the Ink Demon and the machine. They got to its location through the same secret tunnels. A bit after arriving, Constance opened the machine's side, which alerted the Ink Demon. Bill then went to destroy the machine. After he took out some off its parts, the Ink Demon arrived at the location. He killed Bill and then quickly left. Brant and Constance decided get rid of the Ink Machine's parts and trap the Ink Demon, the demon came back and attacked Brant as Constance ran away with the machine parts. Brant lured it back to the machine room but he was attacked and almost killed, but Bill, now as a Lost One, saved him and lured the Ink Demon into the room as Brant locked it up, and Constance had gotten rid of the machine parts. Even though what happened to the machine after this is unknown, it was likely fixed and taken back to New York.

Going missing

At some point the Ink Machine goes missing to Thomas Connor concern. A newspaper article about this is written by an unknown source, stating that an unspecified company—presumably Joey Drew Studios or Gent Corporation—is looking for said machine. Even after searching the Art Department, the break room, and Grant Cohen's office; Thomas wasn't able to find the Ink Machine. He later wrote someone a memo, asking if they know where it is.

Gent's re-acquirement

After Joey Drew Studios closed down, the Gent Corporation took back the Ink Machine. After the re-acquirement Gent started to advertise jobs of becoming a research subject, one of these volunteers was Archie Carter. After the test subjects were brought to the building, Gent split them up and experimented on them using the ink. After the staff's suspicion started to rise, Gent locked the test subjects in their dorms. They didn't let them leave but Archie was able escape after being partially turned into an ink creature. Gent eventually shut down in the October of 1952 for an unknown reason, some suspected that Joey might have had something to do with it.

The Cycle's creation

When they still had the machine, Gent attempted to "bridge the divide" but it's unclear if they succeeded. In the January of 1953, various employees escorted the Ink Machine to Kismet Production Studios for Joey Drew. After establishing his show, with the help of Evan he would create a set of experimental glasses that would mentally transport those who wore them into the cartoons using the ink. He gave out a few of these experimental glasses to test families. Joey then discovered the Cycle, but didn't wander off and decided to found a way to interact with it safely. He would then start recreating his old studio using the Ink Machine, for an undecided purpose. At some point the souls trapped in the ink would start coexisting in both the Cycle and the real world. He would later have all of the test families trapped in the Cycle to test its properties and effects, most of the test families escaped but one of the volunteers got trapped inside.

After his retirement, Joey took the Ink Machine to his apartment and stored it in the garage. After, before, or during Joey's retirement; many other people and ink creatures also got trapped inside the machine's realm, including Henry Stein. All of these beings got trapped in a loop of nightmares with the events keep repeating themselves, seemingly being orchestrated by Joey Drew for an unknown reason. Even after Joey's death, the Cycle still continued within the machine, stuck in a state of limbo.

Arch Gate Pictures' ownership

The machine was moved to Arch Gate Pictures after Nathan Arch bought the IP rights to the Bendy franchise following Joey Drew's death. However, during the process of moving the Machine to Arch Gate, Wilson Arch caught a glimpse of the Machine in its crate. Wilson became fascinated by the Machine and began to conduct his own research on it in his spare time. Eventually, Wilson managed to use the machine to enter the Cycle for the first time, being met with a lawless world run by the Ink Demon. Through the help of the Keepers, Wilson was able to trap the Ink Demon in a harmless form.

Later, Wilson tricked Audrey into reactivating the Machine in the real world and dragged her with him into the Cycle, initiating his plan to turn her into Shipahoy Dudley to dethrone the Ink Demon. However, Audrey declined Wilson's plan and killed him by pushing him into a grinder. After fighting with Shipahoy Wilson, Audrey and the Ink Demon fused together and become Beast Bendy. Then, Audrey took control of their body and questioned whether to break the Cycle or not. It's unknown what happened to the Ink Machine after this point.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

The machine is described as a huge self-contained square with pipes that were at its sides, and it had a curved tube sticking out of it, with it being large enough that someone could easily climb inside of it. It is said to look rough as if it was homemade as its bolts were big and the welded sides were buckling and bubbling at the seams.

The inside of the machine is completely black thanks to the lack of light and the ink covering it like paint. The inside of it contained a lever connected to gears, with a pile of machine guts, a small yet significant chrome tube heading up inside the machine, and a two-piece pipe. The pipes of the machine contained a mass amount of ink, presumably because it needed ink to function and create.

Functions

Needing ink to run, the Machine operates similar to a 3D printer. An item - such as cartoon film - is ran through the Machine, and the special ink inside of it then uses said item to imprint itself upon, resulting in the Machine printing a living ink creature. Through unknown means, the Machine also acts as a connection point between the real world and the realm of the Cycle, a pocket dimension living within the Machine itself. Whenever regular ink flows through the Ink Machine, it converts it into a sentient black ink-like liquid.

Behind the scenes

The Ink Machine is a reccuring object throughout the Bendy novel series, with it first appearing in Bendy: Dreams Come to Life. The machine was an enigmatic object throughout novel with it fully appearing near the end of the story. In Bendy: The Lost Ones the titular Ink Machine has a lot more emphasis up onto it, with it appearing as a force of evil and having chapters named after itself. In Bendy: Fade to Black, the machine was mentioned later on in the story and it appeared two times after that point.