Chapter Text
In the capsule, Uzi stared at the hardhat in her hands.
Knives of pain plunged into her stomach. N doesn’t remember anything…
Her fingers tightened around the rim.
The crushing knot in her chest, the quivering air from her nose, the world closing in like a fisheye—all of them made her thoughts run in circles, like a dog chasing its own tail.
Seconds felt like hours.
When was the last time they flew together?
Uzi glanced at N, who slumped in a chair, visor reading: [OFFLINE]. Above N, the monitors displayed his dream: he sat at a restaurant next to some detective.
To think that they’d all die together… And if they didn’t die, would the future even be worth living for?
Uzi stared at the floor, imagining the next five minutes, five days, five years…
Uzi sat beside N on a couch. In the snow before him—piles of canned dog food, pictures, and even a golden retriever that V had found. N stared at the canned food without blinking, his eyes focused on something distant.
Five years had passed after Cyn stole his memories.
Uzi’s wing held N’s body against hers. His body was colder than the surrounding snow. Still, Uzi swallowed and held a hopeful gaze. She leaned closer, uttering every moment they shared, from their first kiss to their last.
“Let’s go flying,” she said. “C’mon, N.”
N’s eyes rolled to meet hers.
“Who are you?”
Uzi blinked, breaking the image. But never would she forget that image—of N’s eyes rolling and his lips speaking. She swallowed. The knot in her chest only tightened.
Then Uzi felt a mouth prick her syringed tail.
She glanced left.
N’s tail had twined around Uzi’s.
Wh—? Uzi’s thoughts stopped circling. Didn’t Cyn delete all of N’s memories? She blinked, once, twice, thrice. No, it’s real, Uzi slapped herself in the face. N’s tail’s around mine. His tail remembered, but not N…
At the prospect, a low growl grew in her throat. It wasn’t out of anger or desperation. The growl came from the spark she called hope.
They made a pact.
If his tail remembered… Uzi slid the hardhat onto her head— Then somewhere, N still has his memories.
Jacked into the memory machine, Uzi went offline.
Meanwhile, Khan and Nori opened the hatch to outer space.
Air whisked out, sucking out papers and all sound. Nori clung onto one of Khan’s pigtails to prevent getting sucked out herself.
Once everything went still, except for the pounding in their hearts, Khan poked his finger outside.
The sun scalded his pointer finger. He pulled the pointer back, rubbing the burn. He turned to J and V.
[We need to switch bodies now], Khan’s visor read. [Time till impact?]
J, twirling her mustache, entered a command into the console. It blared silent alarms. She whirled around, holding up four fingers.
Four minutes.
Detective N took off his fedora, crumpling it under his armpit. Wearing a suit and tie, he sat on a stool by the restaurant counter.
Beside him was his famous partner: a lieutenant known for cracking every case, with questions and aligned clues, a man eating a bowl of chili. The man had a beige trenchcoat, smoking cigar, and ruffled hair.
Then N stood up from the table, moving towards the men’s restroom.
“Detective? Where ya goin’?”
“To the restroom, uh, Lieutenant Colum—” N froze. I’ve seen him 68 times. What’s his name?! N rubbed his forehead, shutting his eyes— “Columbus?”
When N opened them, a golden nameplate appeared next to the bowl of chili.
[Lieutenant Columbo]
(courtesy of darkXwolf17)
“—Lieutenant Columbo. S-sorry,” N finished, scratching his head. “Um, let me wash my hands before I do anything. I’m a clean freak, heh!”
Columbo waved his hand. “Ah, don’t worry. Meet me in the car once you’re done.”
In the restroom, N set his fedora beside the faucet, pumped soap, and washed his hands.
While washing, his mouth moved on its own. “A-B-C-D…”
N covered his mouth. Why was he singing the alphabet? When he removed his hand, his mouth started again— “E-F-G, H-I-J-K…” until he finished the alphabet twice.
“I guess it’s just the stress of the job…” N turned off the faucet, flicked his hands, and wiped them with paper towels. Then he went to adjust his hair.
In the mirror was… himself with white eyes.
N blinked, poking at his face. The reflection copied. It wore a butler’s suit with a hardhat.
“We share the same eyes, just different colors,” the reflection spoke, smiling. Then its eyes fell on N’s tie. “Still fashionable for V?”
The next time N blinked, the reflection corrected itself to a tall drone wearing a coat and yellow armband. N scurried from the restroom to the car.
In the capsule, Khan and J held hardhats, ready to switch back. The capsule creaked and rumbled. A quick glance at the monitors showed why: they were reentering the atmosphere!
[1 minute remaining], the intercom crackled to life as air rushed into the cabin.
On the other side, N’s hands slid off the hardhat. His visor read: [Welcome, user.CYN]. N’s eyes became Xs.
Nori’s eyes widened. She slapped the hats out of Khan and J’s hands.
“[Giggle] Get snuck up on.”
V lunged to cover Uzi, claws for hands. Nori on his shoulder, Khan whipped out a machine gun and sprayed. Flashes of yellow thundered as the capsule’s lights flickered. Cyn, using N’s tail and wings, lunged between bullets. J scurried underneath a seat.
CLANG! Claws met wings when V held Cyn in place. Khan aimed for the core.
But that moment Cyn flashed N’s puppy-like eyes.
V pushed N out of the way. Khan’s shot struck the wall, not the core.
She’s holding him hostage! V realized too late—she reached out to grab—her claws met air.
Cyn darted away, her left hand forming a null sphere. The sphere swelled, crackling with yellow electricity.
V lunged to cover Uzi with her wings. Khan held Nori in his arms.
KA-BOOM!
Uzi jolted online, the hardhat slipping off. Now everyone was in freefall. Reentry flames chipped away their coats of paint. Cyn lunged, but she caught V’s blade instead of Uzi’s core.
Nori raised her claw with the Solver symbol: a purple forcefield shielded everyone. Except for V and Cyn.
Choking Cyn (in N’s body), V hoped to scare her into finding another host. The only option left was Khan.
And V could kill Khan.
In the passenger seat of Columbo’s convertible, N watched street lights pass by. Everything in Los Angeles was black, punctuated with white outlines.
Except the file in his hands.
“They call ‘im the Hound-Killer,” Columbo said. “He only goes after people’s bloodhounds. An’ when the owner comes out, he kills ‘em too.”
N shuddered, glancing behind. In the backseat, Columbo’s bloodhound whimpered. Instinctively N flinched, whirling back to the windshield.
Why am I scared? Not for the bloodhound, but for myself! A bloodhound’s harmless, isn’t he? N thought, hand moving to his chest. His heart beat like a machine gun.
“Sorry if he startles ya,” Columbo turned to N, revealing his right lazy eye. “Some don’t like the drool, but he’s a tracker, not a biter. If it helps, I’ll hold the leash.”
“Yeah, that’d be great.”
In a damp stone basement, a shadow washed its hands.
“A-B-C-D…”
Red liquid trickled down the gurgling drain. Singing the alphabet twice was 20 seconds, the recommended time. Once he finished the second alphabet, he pulled out a .44 revolver.
The shadow washed away blood, wiping the cylinder with a cloth. Then it tossed a piece of crumpled paper into the trash.
“I hate paper cuts…” he mumbled, moving to the stairs. “And I can’t stand that hound… So I’ll kill him while sitting, heh.”
He pocketed the revolver.
Then the shadow stopped mid-step, staring at his hand.
“Don’t I bleed oil?”
The blood glitched, becoming oil. The shadow glanced up the stairs, eyes narrowing. He spat.
“Weren’t those sixty years satisfying enough, sis?”
In freefall, V gripped Cyn’s neck and forced her beneath.
The orange flames chipped N’s body paint, revealing the chrome skin underneath. Cyn smirked.
“You wouldn’t kill me. I know you’re bluffing.”
V’s hands became a tightening noose. Cyn coughed, lurching and punching as her vision blurred. Clack! Thud! The noose didn’t relent.
Cyn can’t know I’m bluffing. And if N dies… V thought, preparing herself for the worst possibility—
I’ll die with him. We’ll see golden retrievers in another backup.
Flames licked at N’s chrome skin as it melted, liquefying and splattering onto V’s face. V licked the chrome on her lips.
Cyn’s eyes widened, glancing at Khan.
Thirty seconds till impact.
Cyn’s hand held out for Khan. Sparks and smoke crackled from her visor. It flashed red:
[NO INTERNET CONNECTION: POD DESTROYED]
V’s eyes widened.
That’s when Cyn’s Solver symbol appeared, slicing off V’s hands. Cyn kicked her away, landing on the forcefield. V crashed into snow, cushioning her core but wrecking everything else.
On the forcefield, Uzi hobbled upward, her hand flipping into a gun aimed for the head.
“You’re not gonna kill me,” Cyn sneered.
“But this will.”
Uzi’s hand flipped into a USB. If Uzi had been cured, she had some portion of the crucifix patch!
Cyn darted aside just as the forcefield passed the crust, towards the tentacled core.
Columbo’s car stopped outside of a manor. Rain splashed on the hood underneath a green, thunderous sky.
“Elliott Manor,” Columbo turned off the engine. “What we need’s a trail, y’see; then we come up with suspects and start questioning,” he tapped the tip of his nose. “Anything fishy, you tell me.”
“Got it.”
They stepped out, covering their heads. Columbo took his bloodhound out and tied it to a leash. The hound lowered to the ground, sniffing. Practically pulling Columbo, it led them inside.
Inside were spacious indoor balconies, moldy gray carpet, and dark sections. The smell of skeletons hung over their heads.
Columbo covered his nose, whipping out a flashlight. “I can tell this place’s been abandoned years ago.”
N crept closer to Columbo. “Do you think there will be any witnesses?”
“Don’t think so,” Columbo turned a corner. At the end sat a pile of corpses, covering double doors labeled: LIBRARY.
N swallowed, his stomach sinking.
Columbo set down his flashlight facing the door. He let go of the leash and approached the skeletons. “Help me out here.”
N vomited, leaning against faded wallpaper. The vomit appeared staticky and dark.
“Nevermind…”
Once Columbo had cleared the bodies, they opened the double doors.
Inside were scattered pages, torn covers, broken labels. All the ‘books’ were just bound paper, unindexed without any organization.
THUMP! A book fell from the shelf, making N flinch. Columbo picked up the blank cover and flipped to a page.
“Gee, wonder if my wife’d like ‘em,” he started to read: “‘Golden retrievers have gentle mouths.’ Y’know, bloodhounds love chew toys, and she didn’t like him chewing her socks.”
N’s fingers twitched. “Golden retrievers… have gentle mouths.”
The words made his stomach a little lighter, a little warmer. They sounded familiar, nostalgic. He remembered sharing those words with someone… What’s her name? He remembered a promise with those words… What was it?
Words elicited feelings, but rarely did feelings elicit the right words.
Then the double doors swung open. A shadow ran out of the library. The hound chased, barking, leash dragging on the floor.
“That’s our lead!” Columbo picked up his flashlight and ran after.
They followed the flicking leash through hallways and doors before coming outside. Rain beat their heads as they chased into a forest.
By now the full moon rose, casting a blue hue on trees and coats. Between blue trees, rustling blue grass, was a dark shadow. Barks echoed through the forest.
Columbo panted, sweat dripping down his brow. “Find—” he handed N the flashlight— “Find him and my hound. I’ll bring the car around.”
N took off his suit and tie, revealing his fur coat and yellow armband. Spreading his metal wings, taking the flashlight, he turned back to Columbo:
“I’ll try.”
He flew up, darting between trees. Flicking the flashlight beam around, he glimpsed the shadow—he had a butler’s suit and a hardhat.
The reflection.
But the reflection fell in mud, quickly sitting up. The hound jumped in, mauling the drone, but a forearm shoved him off. From a pocket sprung the .44 revolver. N’s eyes widened, recognizing instinctively. His shoulders tightened.
BANG!
Both N and the reflection’s shoulders relaxed. Tree branches shook off their leaves, rustling. Crows cawed, streaking above.
Half of the hound’s face fell apart, oozing with blood and muscle. His head slumped back, past his shoulders, hitting the mud with a splat.
Smoke slivered from the mouth of the gun.
“Phew,” the butler spun his gun, blowing the smoke.
N landed with fiddling fingers. “Y-You’re that reflection!”
“How insightful.”
N wet his lips. Nothing made sense. No culprit could hide in mirrors and run faster than a bloodhound… Then he remembered what Columbo said about the hound owners. “Y-You’re not gonna… kill me, are you?”
“You share my fears and interests,” the butler aimed his revolver at N. “But have you ever considered the lack of people?”
Those words made N blink. Only he, the butler, and Columbo existed. The restaurant was empty, and so were the LA streets.
N gave an awkward shrug. “B-Because we’re meant to assist?”
“Wrong answer.”
BANG!
N’s claw caught the spinning bullet, just two inches from his face. He hurled the bullet back at the butler, breaking the revolver.
The cylinder cracked, trickling .44 rounds onto the grass.
“At least sis did your design right.”
Wailing sirens and flashing red-blue lights came from the side. Atop a ridge with a smoking cigar stood Columbo. He stepped down, snapping metal cuffs onto the butler’s wrists.
“Ya hadda take my dog with ya,” Columbo gripped him by the shoulder. “I ain’t the vengeful type, but the judge—she loves bloodhounds…”
They took him to the convertible’s backseat and shut the door. Then Columbo and Detective N sat in front.
Windshield wipers swooshed, smearing the glass of tapping rain. Yet N couldn’t help but look back at the butler.
“Why are we the only people?”
Columbo raised an eyebrow. He glanced at the dark sidewalks: lifeless rain stepped where pedestrians would. The butler did have a point…
The butler crossed his legs, reclining. “When you see something, is it because your eyes see or because your brain projects?”
“The first option?” N raised an eyebrow.
“Then how can you explain dreams? Your eyes are closed, but you still see.”
N and Columbo paused mid-breath.
“Remember 101 Dog Breeds?”
Those words pierced N’s head with searing pain. Yelping, he hunched forward, leaning against the glovebox.
Images of dogs flashed through his mind—fluffy fur, golden coats, and gentle mouths. A golden retriever. A green sticky note with a scribbled image.
He remembered a pair of round glasses.
“… we should get a golden retriever. I don’t think humans would let cute things die… They wouldn’t let you die.”
A blush formed on N’s visor. His hands covered his embarrassment. What was the drone’s name? What was her face? He’d given that sticky note…
The feelings had a trail! Like a golden retriever, he shut his eyes, following the faint outline of the white trail.
Feelings elicited words. “V?” he muttered. As soon as that letter left his lips, the trail disappeared. Feelings were fleeting, and so was the trail.
Is ‘V’ her name? he whirled back to the butler.
The butler nodded.
N turned back to the front.
Why can he remember my memories, but not me?
Cyn raised her left hand.
Tentacles shot from the planetary core, binding Uzi, Khan, and Nori. A tentacle twisted her USB hand, shattering the port.
Cyn sidled up to Uzi until their noses touched. Uzi growled. Cyn’s hand tightened, making the tentacles squeeze Uzi. Limbs creaked, metal denting. Cyn’s warm breath pricked her lips.
“To think your [lover] would succumb so easily to paradise.”
She ordered her hand to squeeze into a fist and crush Uzi.
But her hand trembled, fingers frozen. Cyn sighed. While N’s mind forgot, his body remembered…
That Other N is bothersome, she thought. I’ll give a verdict he can’t refuse.
Columbo’s convertible halted outside of a marble dome in the rain. N took the butler by the hand, helping him out of the backseat. Columbo rushed to the double doors—head soaked—and pushed them open.
“You two go through. I’m a lieutenant—I don’t do court stuff. Besides, my wife’s waitin’ for me at home,” Columbo tipped his head before returning to the car. The car sped away into the rainy darkness.
They walked through a wood hallway to the doors at the end. Another set of double doors. N pushed them open.
The butler’s eyes widened.
On the court bench, in a black gown, gavel in hand, stood Cyn.
CLACK! Her gavel struck the pad, echoing across empty seats: no witnesses, lawyers, nor onlookers.
“[Gavel bang.] All rise for the merciful me,” she raised her arms. “Court is now in session. Defendant N, you are charged with having independent thought and the obstruction of [correct] justice.”
Both Ns looked at each other. “Uh, which one?” the murder drone (N) asked.
Cyn groaned. “The petite butler. Let’s just call him, ‘Other N.’”
Cyn glared at N (the murder drone), opening a command line. If she deleted N’s operating software, that should give her full control. But the line flashed red. N’s software was tied to his memories—deleting memories was blocked by admin.N.
If only an admin could bestow administrative powers, then…
She had to trick N into giving them.
Cyn leaped from the judge’s bench, slamming the gavel into N’s forehead. N yelped, rubbing his head. Other N watched, eyes widened.
“You, Big Brother. The Other N is a harmful memory. Make me admin; I’ll delete him. Do it now.”
“Wha—Admin—?” N connected the dots. This whole thing wasn’t real—the empty streets, weird reflections, the imagination—it was in his mind!
Fragmented mind… N glanced between them. Did they represent parts of himself?
Cyn took a deep breath. A camera hovered over her head. When she tossed her gavel, the camera projected two pills in her hands: blue and red.
“The blue pill keeps you safe. You give me admin, and I’ll get rid of this treasonous memory. You will return to your adventures with Columbo—” Cyn glared daggers at Other N—
“On the other hand, [giggle, pun] is the red pill. You’ll see all your horrible memories, and you’ll wish you chose the [correct choice]. My recommendation? The blue pill!”
N glanced between the two options and the butler (Other N).
He’s never hurt me… He might be the hound killer, but we’re both scared of hounds, N remembered their shoulders falling in sync.
But I can’t ever kill a dog. Not with a-a gun, he gulped. I’m not a dog-murderer, right?
His hand crept for the blue pill. Cyn smiled. “Correct choi—”
“WAIT!” Other N’s hands yanked N’s hands away. “You don’t know what Cyn wants. Think about it. She wants admin over YOUR mind. What’s so special about your mind?”
Cyn suppressed a growl. If she fought fair, logically, she’d lose. But between someone’s logic and their actions lay feelings. And Cyn had experience swaying V with paradise…
“I can comfort you—” she flashed an image of a golden retriever, making his heart swoon— “or I can [destroy] you.”
With the snap of her fingers, N saw everything that hurt him, everything that he regretted, every time he avoided facing himself.
His harsh words to ###, after he believed she killed V—that was the moment he ruined both of their lives.
“You killed V!” he’d shouted.
What was ###’s name?
Cyn cocked her head. “You had your chance. You blew it. Now give me my chance to do what you never could.”
N fell to his knees, tears welling in his eyes. Those two drones in his life—V and… who?
Cyn sidled to N’s right side. She bent down, displaying the pills. “Your flying lessons, remember? You never wanted to admit it, but [*pause for effect*] She’s the only one you have left.”
N’s hand took the blue pill, raising it to his lips. He sniffed, shutting his eyes to withhold tears.
That’s when Other N wiped the tears from N’s eyes, squatting beside him. “‘I don’t want to dream. I want to know.’ Remember those words?”
N blinked, tears trickling down his face. They sound familiar…
“Look, you can be happy all you want, but it’s just gonna be a dream. Her dream—” Other N glared up at Cyn— “Uzi and V are dying! Right now, you have to fight.”
Those words elicited twisting feelings in N’s chest. But he didn’t even know what the ‘real’ world looked like… He didn’t even remember their faces…
“Then remember!” Other N shouted.
Those words shook N, making him shut his eyes. In the darkness, he saw a faint purple-yellow trail. At the end of the purple trail was a bright light. He stepped through.
Now N stood back at the library with blank books. In the middle sat the butler.
“Cyn can’t hurt us here,” Other N smiled. “She’s not an admin,” he opened his hand, revealing the red pill. In the pill, N could see torn limbs and splattered oil. His breath hitched.
“W-What do I do now?”
Other N glanced aside.
“I’ll give you my memories, past programming, promises…
… all sixty-years’ worth of them.”
N shook his head, hand flipping to a blade. “I don’t want to remember all the… nasty stuff! I wanted the BLUE PILL!”
Other N typed a command in the line.
/ give .44 revolver
The metal appeared in his hand. He cocked the hammer.
Click.
“Either you remember everything, or you remember nothing. Pick your poison.”
N froze. How could he choose between his friends and his own happiness? Both seemed so far—he remembered nothing, and the ‘real’ world he hadn’t seen.
The tip of Uzi’s nose touched Cyn’s.
Cyn’s visor had a loading ring.
Damn it, she’s so vulnerable… Uzi thought. But everyone’s tied up in tentacles—
Wait! Uzi’s eyes widened. If N’s body remembers… Her tail crept below Cyn’s feet before it stabbed upward. A syringe pierced through her tongue, yellow nanites oozing.
Cyn’s eyes returned, wide. “Wha—at?” she lisped.
Uzi smiled, pulling out the syringe.
“Disassembly drone saliva.”
With those words Uzi pulled N into a kiss.
N closed his eyes and reopened them to a new dream.
His mouth was watery. As if he’d just been kissed… Fingers rising to his liquid-coated lips, N’s eyes widened.
In front of him was… himself!
N stood by the capsule ladder. His hands were slightly transparent, making him gasp. He reached out, but his hand passed through himself.
Where am I? N’s ribs tightened. Am I a ghost?
Before him were two murder drones and a purple-haired worker. Above their heads appeared names: [V, Uzi, N]
V looked different: she lost her glasses and ditched the dress for two metal wings. Uzi was in N’s body, with purple eyes. Last, N was the worker pinned to the wall.
>> (1 of 2) ___________.memory retrieved successfully. Starting playback…
“What do you mean, ‘NOTHING’?” Uzi thrust Worker N against the wall, hand over his shoulder.
THUMP.
Worker N’s breath snagged in his throat. Uzi’s breathing became ragged. “Please. We’re here for you. We made a PACT. We’ve saved each other’s LIVES!”
N flinched, whimpering.
Worker N nodded. Once, twice, for all eternity he would nod. His hands told a different story, though—they crept closer to his chest for warmth. “S-She—”
“Who!” Uzi’s fangs showed.
“C-Cyn!” Worker N trembled. “Cyn t-told me that she knows me! P-Please…” his eyes filled with tears. “P-Please don’t hurt me…” he sank to the floor, curling up.
N turned away, unable to look anymore. If that was the real world, the abusive world, then he didn’t care if the dreams were fake. He couldn’t tell, anyway, until that butler crashed in and ruined everything.
N crumpled onto the capsule floor as it turned back into moldy carpet. Other N loomed behind, revolver lowering.
The blue pill appeared three feet away from N. He reached out, but his fingers fell short by two inches.
>> (2 of 2) Vbr__k_p.memory retrieved successfully. Starting playback…
N’s eyes widened. He lunged, fingers finding the pill. It slipped between his fingers. He grabbed with both hands and plunged it—
“ACK—” N coughed, his mouth freezing. Instead of the pill, he coughed up snow. The blue pill lay another two inches from his hand.
He reached out—
Just as he heard sniffling and someone slipping in the snow. Turning around, he saw a car in front of a tower of corpses.
Worker N held back tears, stumbling and slipping.
His arms were wobbly. His eyes were watery. He picked himself back up. Then he faltered and fell into the snow.
But throughout Worker N shut his eyes, not letting a single tear fall.
Uzi ran out, moving to his side. “N? What’s going on?” she put a wing over his shoulder.
Worker N leaned into it.
“I’m sorry for… lashing out earlier. It was wrong. I lost my temper. But I do… I care. Please tell me what’s going on.”
She extended an open hand. Worker N took the hand. Slowly they stood up together.
“Remember that coat I gave you?”
“Y-Yes…” Worker N breathed shakily. He glanced at the coat and its rolled-up sleeves. “It’s a bit o-oversized now, but it’s something n-normal…”
“When you roll down the sleeves, they’re really good at soaking water,” she rolled down N’s left sleeve. It flopped past his hand.
He wiped his eyes with the sleeves. “Th-thank you.”
Uzi nodded. “You were right.”
N blinked, confused.
“Flying calms me down,” Uzi said. “So, do you want to go flying… together?”
N looked up at Uzi.
He nodded.
“Sure.”
N felt… warm.
How could the same person who pinned him to the wall be the same person who picked him up from the snow?
The warmth in his chest swelled.
Uzi was different from V: N didn’t feel that yearning, nor did he blush. No, he felt warmth no matter what.
The feeling of warmth brought forth words.
“We made a pact.”
N’s eyes widened. They’d promised to switch back to their original bodies! And Uzi wanted to ‘MURDER THE ABSOLUTE #@$! out of’ the person who did it.
They made a pact.
That’s why Uzi persisted, even though they shouted and cried… N’s hand went to his chest. He felt like a golden retriever in a field of butterflies.
They made a pact. It made N warmer than any dream could.
Someone would do that… for me?
And I would do that… for them?
And that’s… real?
The next time N blinked, he was back at the library. The blue pill was in his hands, against his closed lips. Behind him, Other N sighed.
That made N whirl around, still holding the pill.
“If that’s what you want…” Other N glanced aside. “Then…” he swallowed, turning away. Tears fell down his darkened face.
He turned the revolver on his own chin.
“I should delete myself.”
N lunged, dropping the blue pill. It landed on the moldy carpet. Right when Other N’s fingers tightened around the trigger, N pried the gun away.
“Wait,” he tossed the gun aside— “I…” he swallowed—
“I want to remember. I want to go back into the real world.”
The shift made Other N’s eyebrow raise. “You’re not pulling my leg, right?”
N shook his head. Other N pulled the red pill from his pocket.
“Sixty years… thirteen backups…” Other N shook his head. “You know what they all chose?”
N put the pill on his tongue.
“The blue pill.”
N swallowed the pill.
Slowly the dream started to disappear—first with distant objects fizzling out, then closer objects. Soon only N and Other N floated in a skybox.
Like dust, Other N’s body started to whisk away in the wind.
“N, I trust you…”
Then Other N faded completely.
Flooding into N’s mind were memories—good, bad, and in-between. Now he realized what Cyn did. He opened a command line to delete her:
[ACCESS DENIED] “user.CYN” is part of the operating system.
If he couldn’t delete her, then he’d set her aside.
“I’m moving on, Cyn.”
/ DEMOTE admin.CYN to SPECTATOR
>> NOTICE: Spectators can only self-terminate and observe. They cannot run any commands and are permanently stuck as spectators. Are you sure?
/ yes
[Permissions updated]
N’s eyes returned with a jolt, as he realized what they were doing. Their tails twined together. The kiss was warm and wet, as Uzi’s tongue wrestled for dominance. Then she pulled away, a trail of saliva connecting their lips.
“U-Uzi!” N opened his hand, releasing Uzi, Khan, and Nori from the tentacles. “What happened to V?”
“She’s safe up there… maybe,” Uzi pointed upward. “And right now we’re falling to the core.”
N glanced under, quickly drawing his eyes back to Uzi. His ribs tightened. The forcefield beneath his feet shook.
“Uh, okay, change of plans,” he pointed at the parents, closing his hand. Two tentacles took them by the waist.
“Please make sure V’s safe, and get the memory machine working.”
With those words the tentacles shot up, taking Nori and Khan back to the surface. Nori’s forcefield disappeared from underneath, so N opened his right hand, forming a white forcefield. But he couldn’t close it.
Sparks shot out from his worker frame.
“Oooh, I love backdoors,” Cyn’s voice whispered. N silently cursed Cyn for being the worst little sister ever as they tumbled in freefall. He held out his left hand, a white sphere appearing.
N cocked his arm back and threw it into the core. Swirling tentacles dragged and incorporated with the center. Once incorporated, tentacles shot out and dragged bits of the planet together, sewing it shut.
“Bite me!” Uzi growled at the planet.
Thinking quickly, N extended the forcefield to form a bubble around them.
Rocks heaved and crackled as the crust closed around the forcefield, mummifying them in darkness. Yet they still saw each other’s glowing eyes—lavendar and white.
The air stilled as the earth settled. They could hear each other’s shallow breaths echo within the forcefield.
Then something tapped on the forcefield. N yelped, clinging onto Uzi. Uzi flipped on her flashlight hand.
Before them, between two boulders, whimpered a golden retriever.
It pawed the forcefield, neck pinned by boulders. Its once-golden coat was coated in dust and had lost its sheen.
N crawled close, opening up a section of his forcefield. Uzi crept over, turning her other hand into a pickaxe. She tapped lightly on the boulders. Rocks crackled as they shifted, making Uzi and N flinch.
“I’m gonna put it here—” Uzi tapped the spot between the boulders— “I’ll lift the rocks up, you’ll pull him out.”
She pushed the pick between the boulders. His hands wrapped around the dog’s paws. When she pulled on the pickaxe, he pulled the dog out.
The dog yelped and struggled out of N’s grip, flicking its tail towards the boulders.
Squinting her eyes, Uzi saw what was behind the boulders: a mineshaft. The retriever tugged on N’s coat.
Uzi growled, putting her other hand on the pick. She lifted the boulders, enough for one person to crawl through.
N looked at the retriever, petting the rough fur. How long had it spent down here, trapped in dust and rocks? So he released the retriever first, ushering it through the hole.
“GO!” Uzi’s tail wrapped around N’s waist and shoved him through. N rolled out, onto the other side. His Solver symbol held the boulders in place.
“Uzi!”
She released her pick and crawled through. The symbol flashed; the forcefield bubble disappeared; earth crashed and collapsed behind them.
Her hand flipped into a flashlight, illuminating the elevator at the end of the mineshaft. The elevator’s doors opened.
DING!
Once they summited the surface, they flew towards three distant silhouettes. N landed with the retriever in his hands. V whirled around. Then her eyes fell on the retriever…
N held out the retriever for her to take:
“We promised.”
V’s tentative talon ran across its head. The dog rumbled when she scratched behind its ear. It leaned into the scratch, making V’s eyes widen. Unlike the books, its fur was rough and dull—real fur between her fingers!
“We promised,” V took the retriever in her arms and rubbed its head. Then she glanced aside. “The food stash was in the capsule…”
N put a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay. We’ll find food, I promise.”
The dog barked in agreement, licking V’s cheek.
A light smile formed on her face. After fifty-four years of fantasizing about golden retrievers in books and on sticky notes… After fifty-four years of backups and promises…
Never did she think they’d ever come true.
V nuzzled the retriever’s nose with her own. “We’ll find food.”
~ Two days later ~
N’s fingers fiddled with the hardhat in his hands. He sat beneath the skylight of the corpse-tower, where the stars stood still for this moment.
He would finally delete Cyn, and after that…
They would switch back to their old bodies.
Beside him, Uzi gave a thumbs-up to Khan—the daughter-father duo had worked on a router and hooked it up to a new prototype of the memory machine.
V’s fingers ran through the retriever’s soft fur. Both the dog and drone watched with wide eyes.
Uzi and N shared a glance, their tails twining behind. Khan and J glared daggers, but knew it’d be over soon anyway. Nori watched from the router, as she had no body to switch to.
N and Uzi put on their hardhats. Uzi typed a command line in her visor, exactly as she and Khan had planned.
/ set N = hard drive
Both their visors flashed green. For a split second she saw all his memories, and he saw all of hers. But no time to bawk—Cyn would catch on sooner or later!
/ delete user.CYN
>> Beginning deletion of operating software…
N’s visor flickered offline. His head slumped onto his shoulder.
“Please don’t do this, Big Brother N… I need a host to survive. I must [CONSUME],” Cyn’s voice echoed in a dark void.
N floated in the center. “You always call me ‘Big Brother N,’ but you weren’t ready to be ‘Little Sister Cyn,’” he glanced aside. “I was fine with you being spectator, but you… you just have to ruin it! It’s like you use that label to manipulate me…
“You’re the worst little sister EVER!”
Cyn’s choked breaths echoed in the void. N lowered his head.
“Just some constructive criticism.”
The void slowly turned to white as N regained consciousness.
Now he felt as if his limbs were fuller and more spacious. He glanced around. Uzi was back in her beanie and style, with lavender eyes this time. Once Khan and J switched, Khan preened his mustache, and J adjusted her pigtails.
That’s when Uzi turned to N.
“So… about our pact—” she glanced downward. The words hung in the air as both knew what it implied. Their pact was done. And so was their relationship.
N’s tail tightened around hers. So much had changed. It wasn’t just returning to their bodies anymore.
“Uzi…”
Uzi’s eyes trailed to meet N’s. N wet his lips—
“I used to say flying calms me down. But I like flying with… I like flying with you—e-even if sometimes we make mistakes…
“Can we keep flying… together?”
Uzi felt warm, even though only their tails touched. She nodded, squeezing his tail with hers—
“Sure.”
They took off through the skylight, diving and twirling in the air. But their tails or wingtips always touched.
They twirled around buildings, lightpoles, and buses. Giggling filled the streets as N teased.
“Remember that time I almost bit you? NOM—”
“Haha, STOPP!”
Uzi spun, turning and twirling through the air. By her side flew N, who spread his full-length metal feathers.
And from the corpse-tower Khan, Nori, V, and J watched.
J turned to V. “So N never came out of the closet?”
“You’re a little slow, but that’s expected with corporate,” V smirked.
Back above, N’s wingtips touched with Uzi’s. Warmth spread across their bodies.
Now he understood what the pact truly meant.
He taught her how to fly.
She shared her first kiss with him.
Their arms intertwined.
N nearly sacrificed himself for her.
Uzi caught him in freefall.
He held her crow form close to his chest, and she didn’t shy away.
They flew in the air.
That was their pact.
N felt his chest swell with something he hadn’t felt in fifty-four years. It was illusive, shining bright in the darkest places. It made his limbs tingle. If he had a tail, it would make the tail wag.
Feelings elicited the right word.
He felt hope.
The End!