Chapter Text
"This is a horrible, horrible, stupid idea." Jeremy stared at the green bottle as Rich voiced his concern. "Really fucking stupid, Jeremy! What if it reactivates it!?"
"Relax, Rich, we have the Red if it does. And it's Jeremy's choice if he wants to try it or not."
"I just want to see if I can drink the stuff, don't get dramatic." Jeremy sighed, unscrewing the lid. He sighed before taking a drink. After about fifteen minutes, he shrugged, screwing the cap back on. "I don't feel any-" Suddenly pain shot through him, and he doubled over with a shriek of pain, thankful his Dad was off on a business trip. In a second he was on the floor on his knees, gripping his head as someone, or something, else screamed with him. He just barely heard "Recalibration in process..." He held his head with a sob of pain, feeling Michael pull him into a hug, trying to calm him down. His breaths came in short gasps for air as he forced his eyes open.
His heart nearly stopped as a cloud of glitchy blue pixels appeared in front of him, slowly turning into the Keanu Reeves Lookalike he never wanted to see again. His breath hitched as it, or was it a he, looked down at him, face unreadable. "Jeremy..."
"No..." He choked out, "You...you aren't..." he froze as the Squip staggered with a glitch, letting out a sharp gasp. "Y-you....you're hurt..."
"Jeremy?" Michael grabbed his shoulder. "J-Jeremy, is it-"
"He...he's hurt. I...I don't think he can do anything." He watched again as a particularly bad glitch sent his Squip to his hands and knees. Pushed away from Michael, he crawled up and sat in front of them, listening to his labored breathing with pity. He wanted it gone, but he never wanted it to be in pain. No matter how much he deserves it.
"Are you going to shut me down again?" Jeremy frowned. "I...I don't know, I...I wanted to get rid of you, but I never wanted...."
"You aren't considering keep it, are you?" Rich asked, face pale. "After...a-after all it did? Y-you can't seriously-" Jake leaned on one crutch and pulled Rich close, shushing him. "It's okay. If he does, none of us will let i do anything bad." Jeremy was a bit thankful for his input, gasping and trying to jerk away as his Squip suddenly grabbed him. "I....was not aware I..." Jeremy swallowed, glancing at where scars peeked out from his sleeve. They were mostly from being electrocuted, but more than one was from himself. "I..."
"I didn't...I thought..." The Squip glitched again. "I...I'm sorry, J-Jeremy-y...I thought..."
Jeremy pulled his wrists back, rubbing the scars. "...I did this to myself, it was my choice and it was selfish and stupid."
"Jere, what is it saying?" Christine asked, shaking slightly. Jeremy swallowed hard. "He...he's apologizing." Rich made a face. "What if it's just trying to make you feel secure?"
Jeremy hesitated, but shook his head as his Squip whimpered in pain, glitching again. His heart broke a bit when he realized he was barely keeping himself up. "Christine, pass me the Mountain Dew."
"What?" Rich's voice was shrill. "J-Jeremy-"
"Rich, he can barely keep himself up. I...I don't think he's going to do anything bad." Jeremy pulled the Squip over to him, the computer not even complaining as he laid his head in his lap. "He's in pain. I may hate him, but I can't let him suffer. I won't stoop to his level." He felt the Squip flinch, but he wasn't sure whether it was from the pain or something else. "Are you sure?"
Jeremy hesitated. Even hyper, sweet Christine wasn't sure about helping the Squip. But then again she couldn't see the state it was in, breathing(did it even need to breathe?) labored, shuddering with every glitch. "I'm sure. If you could see it, I think you would agree."
Despite his friends' protests(except for Jenna, as her Squip had done more good than bad), Jeremy downed the rest of the Mountain Dew. He watched the Squip relax, no longer glitching as bad. The supercomputer seemed to be unconscious at the moment. After a second, he disappeared, probably resting before returning. Sighing, he stood, dusting himself off. "I think he's resting? I think the glitching took a lot out of him."
"Well, if it's asleep, you should drink the Red." Michael put a hand on his shoulder. "I know you don't want to hurt it, but it'll be dead before it can wake up."
"No, I...I can't do it. I can't hurt it again."
"Are you seriously going to give it another chance?" Chloe scoffed. "Are you an idiot?" Brook elbowed her. "Don't be mean!" Jeremy hesitated, but was saved having to respond when the Squip reappeared, leaning on the table and holding it's head. "...you helped me."
Uh... He looked at it. Yeah...Yeah I did.
"Why? After all I did, you should have drank the Red, correct?"
I...suppose so. I just....saw you were in pain and couldn't hurt you again. Jeremy broke eye contact, followed by a bombardment of questions. ("What's it saying?" "Is it making excuses?" "Do I need to fight it?") "He's asking why I helped him."
"Don't call it a him, Jeremy." Rich frowned. "It doesn't deserved to be humanized."
"I'm humanizing him because I just watch him fall to his knees from pain. " Jeremy sighed.
"You shouldn't have reactivated me..." He murmured. Jeremy frowned, looking over at him. "Why not?"
It stared at him, glancing around at the rest of the dubbed "Squip Squad". "Because..." He glitched a moment, wincing, before clearing his throat. "With me active....they can find you. And if they can do that..."
"...then you're all in terrible danger..."