Ink Machine/novel

"If you expect me to take care of your work while you take FIVE, you're crazy!" - Your annoyed co-worker
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"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.

This article refers to Gent's machine. For other uses, see Ink Machine (disambiguation).

"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." — Unknown.

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

History

Origins

The Ink Machine was invented by Thomas Connor and the Gent Corporation at the Gent headquarters in Atlantic City. It was installed at Joey Drew Studios sometime in the early-1940s. Originally, it was a machine that would create living versions of cartoon characters using a specialized ink, which would have been used as living mascots for Joey's 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 interacting 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 deformed incarnation of Bendy. This creation was noted to be wrong, soulless in nature. So upon his creation, the demon was locked away in the Infirmary because of being a failure. As a result, it was decided that the creatures needed a soul to effectively resemble the characters. Joey then began to sacrifice human souls to the machine, running them through the ink in the hopes of printing perfect replicas of his creations.

Joey later 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 upon the Ink Demon's escape from the Infirmary. When Thomas tried to take the machine back, Joey told him that it was his machine and also fired Allison Pendle for siding with her boyfriend Thomas Connor.

Trouble at Atlantic City

After multiple failures, Joey rehired Thomas since he needed him to fix the machine. The Ink Machine was then transported to Atlantic City by a boat with Thomas Connor and a crew of movers to get fixed. After arriving at their destination, the workers took the machine to an abandoned meatpacking factory and it was stored behind a hidden door within the building.

Some time after his hiring, Thomas Connor took Bill Chambers to the factory to have him help fix the machine. After arriving, they entered the building through the hidden door and reached the Ink Machine. Bill asked questions about the machine but Thomas ignored them and told Bill to get to work on the machine. After finishing their work, Bill released the lever, after which he got sprayed in the face with ink. After Bill cleaned off the ink, Thomas started to talk about how he created a monster and told Bill that Joey had him invent the Ink Machine. Thomas then quickly aborted the conversation and started to leave, Bill soon followed after.

The next day, Bill took Constance Gray to the factory to show her the Ink Machine, and Brant secretly followed them. After arriving, they inspected the machine until Brant arrived. After some investigating, they found an old icebox thanks to Brant touching the machine's pipes and triggering something from 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 him and escape. The three of them then ran away but Bill noticed that the demon was 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 the ink retreated back through it after killing Brant.

After coming to Atlantic City, Joey wanted to check on the Ink Machine, meeting Thomas and going to the factory. Thomas took Joey to the machine's location while Bill secretly followed them until accidently running into Thomas Connor. Thomas told Bill to tag along as he could help them, despite Joey's unsureness at first. The three of them drove to the Prohibition factory, but they took a different entrance since the initial one was out of order, much to Joey's displeasure. After going through the tunnels, they encountered a crazed Scott who had been trapped in the factory with the Ink Demon. Thomas tried to calm Scott down but he freaked out and ran into a wall, causing himself to pass out. After seeing this, Bill felt scared and ran out off the tunnel much to Thomas' annoyance.

After Brant was turned back to human with Constance's antidote, him, Constance, and Bill decided to stop the Ink Demon and destroy the machine. They got to the location through the same secret tunnels, which took awhile because of Bill's unsureness. A bit after arriving, Constance opened the machine's side, which alerted the Ink Demon. Bill quickly went to destroy the machine and strated to pick it apart, taking out pieces one by one. After he took out some of its parts, he found a small but significant chrome tube, which he intended to remove. However, the Ink Demon arrived at the location right as he was about to do so. The demon killed a frozen Bill and left using an ink portal.

Brant and Constance planned to get rid of the Ink Machine's removed parts and trap the Ink Demon. The demon came back to finish the job 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. However Bill, now as a Lost One, saved him and lured the Ink Demon into the room as Brant locked him up. Constance then had gotten rid of the machine parts by dropping them into the ocean, completing the plan successfully. Even though what happened to the machine after this is unknown, it was likely fixed and taken back to New York City after the witnesses were silenced.

Going missing

At some point, the Ink Machine goes missing to Thomas Connor's 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 their assets form the defunct company, such as Ink Machine. After the re-acquirement, Gent started to gather research subject from people in poverty. 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, which resulted in horrific results.

Gent would continue experimenting with the Ink Machine, trying to 'bridge the divide', attempting to enter or discover the ink realm. After suspicions started to rise, Gent locked the test subjects in their dorms at night. 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, however, since he despised them for their betrayal.

The ink realm's creation

In the January of 1953, various workers escorted the Ink Machine to Kismet Production Studios for Joey Drew. After establishing The Joey Drew Show, with the help of Evan he would create a set of experimental 3-D glasses that would mentally transport those who wore them into the reprocessed cartoons using the ink. He gave out a few of these experimental glasses to test families for testing.

Joey later discovered the ink realm, 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 ink realm and the real world. Joey would later have all of the test families trapped in the ink realm to test its properties and effects, most of the test families escaped but one of the volunteers got trapped inside.

What happened to the Ink Machine after Joey Drew's death is unknown, but it was presumably taken by Archgate Films during their acquirement of Joey Drew Studios' property.

Characteristics

Physical appearance

The Ink Machine is described as a huge self-contained square with pipes that are 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 contains 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 contains a mass amount of ink, presumably because it needs ink to function and create.

In the Bendy: Dreams Come to Life graphic novel, the Ink Machine is depicted as mostly the same. A large square-shaped machine with pipes going from its sides, a turnwheel being placed on its back, and a curved pipe sticking out of it on its front. The main difference between the designs is that the machine is described as being "self-contained"; however, in the graphic novel it's depicted with a pipe from the ground being attached to its back, connecting the machine to the floor.

Functions

Needing ink to run, the Ink Machine operates similar to a printing press but for people. The special ink is ran through the machine, which results in it creating a living ink creature; human souls can also get mixed with the ink to create more refined creatures. Through unknown means, the machine also acts as a connection point between the real world and the ink realm, 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, meaning that it has the ability to bring ink-related things to life through unknown means.

Behind the scenes

The Ink Machine is a reccuring plot object throughout the 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 appears two times after that point.