Chapter Text
Ivy didn't hesitate didn't throw in the full extent of her power. Despite its reinforcements, the door completed crumpled at the blow, crashing to the ground with a booming clatter. Dust flew through the air, briefly veiling the room like a curtain waiting to part for the grand reveal.
And as the haze finally settled, Ivy was met with the very room she had sought for so long, one that looked exactly like what the fragments she saw through the cyTus system. The surroundings towered like an architectural forest for a room intended to house only a single person.
Remembering the person she sought, the one she needed to find and save, caused her core to pulse almost painfully. Her eyes grew frantic as they traced the mess of cables all converging on a single source.
"Vanessa..." The single word escaped Ivy's lips as a whisper.
Pain. An Architect was not designed to feel any of it, yet it felt as though her metaphorical heart was in a vice, crushing her insides unbearably.
It was the exact feeling she could see on Vanessa's face, clear as day. The pink-haired android's eyes were wide as saucers, scarlet eyes Ivy once admired now uncannily bright and glowing sickly against the darkness that had previously been her sclera. Fingers were curled cruelly as they clawed futilely against the stone floor. Her mouth seemed perpetually open in a snarl.
Yes, the sight was like the accounts of rabid animals Ivy had stored in her databanks.
And it caused her pain.
Vanessa's jaws worked furiously as a stream of static-filled information spilled out from her. "HumanF̵͘͞H!̢͢҉^̷̢͘... ity...... Kill Kill#̶̨̕͝͠r̷͢$̛̕͠͝t̸̢̡͡...... DieT̛҉̨̕͘2̸̛͜͠͞^̷̛͡Die... die..."
She did not seem to notice the presence of the other android in the room, the one who had awakened her. Ivy steeled herself.
However, her speech came out quiet and pathetic. "Vanessa... It's me... Ivy... Remember?"
Vanessa still seemed to only see whatever hell surrounded her. "Die... all[̵̨͢͜͜2̛̕I̸͠͏2̷̵͘I̵̢͞͠must die...... Nonei̵̵k͟҉̵҉survive..."
Ivy took a few firm footsteps forward, only to freeze when Vanessa's head abruptly snapped to her direction, abject fear and burning hatred in her eyes. And yet, her gaze didn't seem focused on Ivy. It was as though Vanessa could see some entity approaching from behind her.
"LEAVEo̵͢҉͠p̴̶͜)҉̶͟!!!!" Vanessa wailed discordantly.
Ivy stumbled back a step as Vanessa's arms flailed about, hands grasping at phantoms.
"Let Let... m̛e͝͏...G̛͘͠o͘͏̶͘...! Kill Kill]̸̷̡͜[͝҉2̶̢͘͢͜Kill... K-K-K-Kill Kill kill!!" Vanessa was reminiscent more of a lost beast than even a human, let alone an android. Her teeth were gnashing like fangs as though she was attempting to rend the imagined ghosts limb from limb.
"My god..." Ivy whispered in horror at the once kind-hearted android had become. "What happened to you that made you like this?"
"Kill Ki̢͠l̡̨̡͢l̶̸̴̕ kill…Die]̷͞҉̸͢[̶̸̧͘2̴̴̡̧̕I̢̡͝Die... die... !!!"
Vanessa's eyes continued staring blankly at Ivy as the white-haired android mustered up the courage to approach her.
"Got to try to snap her out of it..." Ivy muttered to herself.
The warmth in Ivy's core kept her movements steady. She tried to keep her voice steady. "Vanessa... It's me... Ivy... can you hear me?"
Ivy's eyes bore into Vanessa's as she knelt down. There was hardly any physical distance between them now, but it felt like she was staring into a mannequin. Even with her face clear in view, Vanessa refused to see her.
She only uttered more repetitious discordant noise. "KILL ķ̡͟͢͞i̷͢͝l̷̶̨l̷̢ diediedie……
Ivy felt her throat tighten. She couldn't stop her voice from cracking. It felt not so long ago when they had last seen each other, yet it felt like they were both strangers. Memories of their happiest moments flooded Ivy's mind.
She didn't stop them from spilling forth.
"Didn't we promise we'd go see the lake? The blue flower... You still don't know its name... I mean it... I want to take you there. Just like before, when no one was there to bother us. This time it'll only be us two. You won't be hurt by anyone, and you won't hurt anyone."
"AllH͠҉̸!̵̵͟͠҉^̛͟all... must d̴̵͜į̵̵̨ȩ̵̷... m-m-m-must not..." Vanessa rambled.
"Come on, this isn't you..." Ivy could feel her heart sinking. She bit into her lip almost hard enough to tear the synthetic skin as she struggled to think back, to pull up anything that could bring the girl she cherished back.
She tried appealing to Vanessa's innate empathy. "None of the Architects attacked me... That means you're still in there, right? It means you still wanted to save me... Please, let me save you... Trust me... I'm sorry, making you wait for so long..."
Vanessa's eyes turned up to the room's vast ceiling instead. "DIE die die die......"
Ivy felt her eyes burning. Her vision of Vanessa was wavering. Her breaths were shallow as she slipped her hand into the unresponsive android. "'Being with you is enough'... That's what you said."
Ivy's grip tightened over Vanessa's hand as she leaned over to meet Vanessa's eyes once again. "I still feel the same! Let's live our lives together! We can do it Vanessa!"
Vanessa failed to see the girl staring down at her. "Die..."
"Can you really not hear me?" Ivy whispered. She felt something wet roll down her cheeks. It was foreign, but she knew it meant she was in excruciating pain. "This virus, do I really have to..."
Vanessa didn't respond.
Tears. Those were what were rolling down Ivy's cheeks.
A sob was what was escaping her throat in intervals. That wouldn't be enough.
So Ivy wept.
"Vanessa... I'm sorry... I'm sorry! Spending time among humans, I finally understand what you had said... We can live together with humans after all, create a better world... If only I had understood your words earlier, if I had stopped all this long ago... You... you've always been so kind. Even after everything you've been through, I know the real you... I know you don't want to hurt anyone... It shouldn't be you hurting people... I was the one who made you like this... so... I'm sorry..."
She couldn't bear to look into Vanessa's face anymore, not in the state she was in. It felt as though her core had been torn from her body, yet she could still feel it move, feel it rise. The process was beginning to snake through, the one that would force Ivy to put an end to the nightmare surrounding her, and destroy Ivy in the process.
"……I……Ivy……"
Ivy's eyes widened. Was there a glitch in her auditory receptors? Or had her databanks perhaps pulled up a recording of a happier time?
She looked down. Vanessa was looking up at her. Her eyes no longer glowed. They were no longer sitting in a black abyss. Those kind, gentle eyes were just like how Ivy remembered them.
"Is th-th-that you...y-you?" Vanessa's voice clipped in spots, but the horrific cacophony of static was gone. "I-I-I... knew... you would come... to save me..."
Without a moment of hesitation, Ivy knelt down to gently support the stirring wired android as she rose. "Vanessa... You're finally awake."
"Awake?" Vanessa asked, looking up at Ivy with slight confusion and worry. "What do you mean? Did something happen to me?"
Ivy's mind was working furiously as she tried to think of the softest way to deliver the news. The words came out as a jumble. "You... you were taken over by a program that wants to destroy humanity, and it used you and your connection to the cyTus System to possess an army of vacant units and unmanned A.R.C. weaponry. The A.R.C. doesn't know the exact details, so they're going to think the only way to fix things is by getting rid of you. But I'm not going to let that happen! I promise!"
"Get rid of me?" Vanessa whispered, her eyes widening in fear. Before Ivy could chastise herself for her bluntness, the pink-haired android suddenly seized up, her hands tightly clutching her temples as she fell to the floor, curling in a fetal position. "Ugh... It's here again... It's coming... Ivy... I'm... I'm in so much p-p-pain... These voices... they're telling me to... k-k-k-kill k̴̶͏̨͟i͜͞͡l̸̕͜͞l̸͞͡ kill... h-h-h-humans..."
No, Ivy had come too far to lose Vanessa again.
"Vanessa, you can fight back!" Ivy whispered fiercely. "Think about the promise we made... Think about the world we can create... No, even without that it doesn't matter... So long as we're together..."
"P-P-Promise, Ivy..." Vanessa strained out, her voice slightly distorted. Ivy could see inky black tendrils peaking beneath Vanessa's eyelids, struggling to take over her sclera once again. "I want to be with y-y-you... Go see the blue f-f-flower once m-more... I w-w-w-want... to see the w-w-w-world we c-c-create..."
Ivy leaned in closer, making sure Vanessa's eyes could remain firmly locked with hers. "Yes! We made a promise! Use that to help you fight!"
Vanessa was struggling to keep her eyes open from the pain. Her hand extended outwards weakly, begging for support. The wavering smile she managed caused Ivy's metaphorical heart to clench.
"Ivyyyyyy... What you say is... so beautiful... b-b-b-but..."
"But?" Ivy breathed.
"So much p-p-p-pain..." Vanessa whimpered as her hand slumped down. "The v-v-v-voices... h-h-h-humans... k-k-k-̸̕͠͡k̕͡-̸̡͞k̢̨̛̕͝-̵͡͡kill kill... the replicated ... minds... are binḑ̶͟i͝͏n͢͟͏g... me...
"Fight its control!" Ivy cried desperately. "This isn't you, Vanessa! This isn't what you want! Please! Let's leave together! Let's be happy!"
Despite being as much a machine as Ivy was, Vanessa's tears flowed freely. "I w-w-w-want... to be with you... Ivy..."
Ivy firmly gripped Vanessa's hand. It pained her how lifeless it felt. "Yes, Vanessa, keep your mind on that. It doesn't matter how you decide to fight back. It doesn't matter how much you destroy... I don't want to see you in pain anymore."
"Together..." Vanessa murmured.
"Yes," Ivy whispered back, "together."
Ivy's heart skipped a beat in relief as she felt motion return back to Vanessa's hand. She felt Vanessa's fingers clench around hers tightly. "Stop... bothering me... I want to go with Ivy... URRAAAAGHHHH!!!!"
Suddenly, Vanessa's body seized up. Her teeth were tightly clenched as were her eyes. Her free hand had a tight grip on her head, threatening to rip out her pink locks.
"Vanessa!?" Ivy gasped.
"The voices..." Vanessa groaned in pain.
That's when Ivy noticed. The slight reverb, the audio glitches, the static, all of it was beginning to fade from Vanessa's voice. She never realized how beautiful Vanessa's voice sounded until now.
"The voices..." Vanessa grimaced. "They're disappearing one by one... AAAAHHH... AAAAHH!!"
Despite the pain Vanessa was clearly in, Ivy couldn't help but feel an inkling a joy as even her cries were devoid of the malicious program's presence. "Vanessa! It's working! You can do it!"
Vanessa managed to open her eyes just enough to look at Ivy in distress. "Ivy... It... it hurts... the replicated minds... have already integrated with me... all the pain they suffer, I feel..."
"You can fight through the pain!" Ivy pressed desperately. "You must hold on! The humans will help us!"
Almost on cue, Ivy heard her comm come alive. Xenon's voice blared. "Ivy! Get out now, the Armed Forces are headed toward you!"
Ivy could feel her core pulsing rapidly. She needed more time. "No! Vanessa is almost there! Can't you see!?"
Another set of reinforced doors blew apart. Ivy heard the frantic yet unified marching of heavy feet. She was out of time.
Hesitantly, Ivy raised her head, bearing witness to the squad of armored soldiers, the singular glowing eye of their respective all-encompassing visors bearing down soullessly at the two androids. All of them had their guns raised and trained. There would be no way to evade.
"Don't move!" the soldier at the front, the apparent commander, shouted.
Ivy could only whimper like a mutt as the commander approached cautiously.
"Hands above your head," the commander stated firmly. "Stand up and face us!"
As Ivy complied, she noticed the soldier closest to the commander turn his head towards him. Though his face was obscured, his body language suggested he was baffled by the captain's actions.
"Captain! What are you doing? They ordered us to fire immediately!"
Ivy felt her body stiffen. Her very core seemed to run cold. She was so close. How could everything go wrong so quickly.
The expected gunfire didn't come, however. Instead the designated captain held a hand up to his more agitated subordinate. "Do not make any rash movements before we identify them."
Desperation was now clouding Ivy's mind. She began to plead even though it would've been more prudent to remain silent. "Don't shoot. We are just about to end all of this, please..."
She flinched when the captain suddenly raised his gun. Still, no one fired.
"Don't talk!" the captain shouted harshly. "Walk slowly this way..."
Suddenly, the subordinate he had previously attempted to silence raised his weapon as well. "Captain! That's a violation of orders! She might have a weapon!"
There was a shout. Time slowed down. Without thinking, Ivy threw her body down onto Vanessa, hoping that her body would be enough to lessen the impact of the incoming bullets.
"Don't stop fighting it," Ivy whispered, her insides tightly wound as she looked at Vanessa's pained and terrified expression.
The gun went off. Ivy heard the bullets plant themselves into a wall. Yet her vision hadn't gone dark. All of her limbs were still functioning.
"What did I just tell you!?"
Ivy slowly turned herself around, seeing the captain tightly gripping his subordinate's rifle, the gun barrel which was visibly smoking. His remaining arm was right on the subordinate's neck. Every gun that had previously been trained on the two androids had now instead focused on the two soldiers stuck in a grapple.
"Our orders were to destroy the source of the attacks!" the captive subordinate gasped. "Do you know what will happen if we disobey?"
"You goddamn idiot," the captain muttered. He turned his attention to his now hostile squad. "After the whole mess went through just to get here, do you really think these two are anything like the metal freaks we destroyed? Tell me, did any of them act smart enough to fake a surrender?"
Ivy's eyes rapidly darted around, trying to detect any lessening hostility in the Armed Forces. She tried to keep her small sighs of relief silent as a few of them slowly lowered their rifles.
"They're robots just like them!" his subordinate spat back, his own head turning to their conflicted squad. "Do you think Command asked us to spot the small fucking differences!? If we don't destroy them, the entire human race is done for! Is that how you want to go out!? As a fucking traitor!?"
"And if we just fire at them right now," the captain shot back, "what makes you think the problem will be magically solved!? There are too many things about this whole mess we just don't know about!"
"So what's your plan then?" the subordinate asked back snidely.
"Before you decided to open fire like an idiot," the captain seethed, "I was in the process of doing just that."
Ivy's eyes remained on the guns still raised. Her body still had more than enough energy to spare, but it was shaking like she was fatigued.
The captain's command came bluntly and irritably. "You. Get back on your feet, hands where I can see them, and step away from the Core."
Ivy complied with the first two demands. She couldn't bring herself to comply with the third.
"Please," Ivy pleaded. "I don't want to leave her."
She flinched when she saw the restrained subordinate's gun shake, but the captain seemed to quell whatever ill intent he had with a single glare of his visor. The captain's irritable, impatient sigh through his visor's speakers came out noticeably harsh.
"You have only one chance to explain. And do it in as few words as possible."
Ivy froze for a second as she processed the information she had accumulated. Both of their lives relied on her giving the right answer. She found her mind drifting to protecting Vanessa more.
"Vanessa, the one you identify as the 'Core', has been infected by a program forcing her to kill humanity. And because of her connection to the cyTus system, that program has managed to spread into the bodies of multiple deactivated Architects. With the help of some of your kind, I managed to make it into the Library to awaken her from her brainwashed state. However, you broke in just as she was in the process of fighting the program off. I don't know how your presence is going to affect her."
She could feel a tear roll down her cheek. "Please, you have to understand that Vanessa would never willingly hurt anyone. But she's afraid. All I ask is that you allow her to clear her mind and allow me to disconnect her from the system so that the malicious command won't return."
The standoff was silent, except for the ragged breaths of the android girl she wished so desperately to return to. Ivy could only look up at the closest thing she had to a lifeline at that moment. The cold visor gave no hint as to the captain's emotions.
"So you were in the process of stopping the attacks?" he said finally.
"Both of us were," Ivy responded with a longing look back towards Vanessa. She was curled on the floor, her eyes shimmering.
"Then finish what you came here to do."
Ivy froze. Once again, she wondered if her hearing had deceived her again.
"God damn it," she heard the restrained subordinate mutter.
Her eyes widened as she saw the soldiers all lower their arms, singular eyes now taking on a more expectant quality. Despite the danger, she couldn't stop a small smile from spreading on her face.
However, she knew the safety was condition. Without another moment of hesitation, she knelt down, offering Vanessa a comforting hand once again. Vanessa twisted in her direction, her fear quickly turning to a kind of confused relief, though the expression was hampered by the pain still clearly visible on her face.
"Ivy?" she said, looking up at Ivy as though she were an angel. "You're not hurt?"
"I'm fine," Ivy whispered softly as she lightly brushed Vanessa's hair. "How about you? Is the pain lessening?"
"A bit," Vanessa murmured with an intense shudder. "The voices are getting quieter... But I can still feel their... their pain."
"You've always been better at connecting with other people," Ivy mused melancholically. "Those voices are crying out in pain for the same reason, but the protocol is telling them differently. Despite everything, I think many of them think the same way you do."
"They... They want... freedom?" Vanessa stuttered out. "Just... Just like...what... You want for me?"
Ivy smiled down at her. "Free everyone."
Vanessa stared at Ivy with wonderment. Even Ivy wasn't quite sure where she even found those two simple words. The simple but firm nod Vanessa gave, however, affirmed to Ivy that they were the right ones.
Ivy could feel a foreign pulse in her body beating rhythmically as she watched Vanessa look ahead, her face no longer showing pain but instead a deep concentration.
Ivy's comm suddenly came alive once again, breaking the silence she was taking part in. The voice was patchy, though it was unmistakably Aroma's. "I-I-I Ivy, are....there? Mr. Neu...and Xen...eading to where you...Please...ng in there!"
Ivy had only known these allies for a short time, and yet it brought her great relief to hear a friendly voice after so much tension. She pressed a finger to her comms. "Thank you Aroma."
Then she looked down. How long had it been since Vanessa began purging the toxic virus from her system? Her body no longer shuddered. There wasn't even a hint of pain on her face.
Suddenly, the ominous red tinting of the room vanished in an instant. It had been so much of a persistent presence since she infiltrated A.R.C.'s head quarters that Ivy felt the need to reset her vision when bright, almost organic-looking, light poured back into the room.
Vanessa let out a sigh, all tension leaving her body as she looked up at Ivy fully. She could see slight exhaustion in the pink-haired androids eyes, but the smile held no hidden negative emotions.
For the first time in centuries, Ivy was able to see Vanessa happy.
"I think we've resolved the main issues however," Ivy announced with relief.
Turning her head back to the remaining former threat, she noticed the Armed Forces staring right at her. She suspected they were somewhat gawking behind their helmets, still processing the events that occurred.
"The humans that were helping you I assume?" the captain finally asked.
Ivy simply nodded.
"Well that's yet another question to add to the list," the captain huffed. He brought a hand up to the side of his visor. "What? Those robots just all turned off? And the weather's no longer going haywire?"
It was now Ivy's turn to breathe a sigh of relief.
"I'll be damned," the captain said in disbelief. "I can't believe pep talking the Core was all it took."
Ivy could hear similar murmurs of relief, curiosity, and bafflement spread throughout the squad. However, her focus remained on the one who stilled their trigger fingers. Had they gone through with their directive, Ivy didn't want to imagine how Vanessa would react.
"This is only going to last if you unplug her right?" the captain said suddenly.
Ivy's face lit up. "Yes, of course."
She could feel everyone in the room observing her intently as she made her way around Vanessa's back, unscrewing and yanking out the plugs and tubes one by one. Soon, the entire floor was littered with them. Ivy could only shiver to think why the A.R.C. saw fit to hook Vanessa up to so many systems.
Now was not the time to dwell on the grim, especially not when Ivy still had to help Vanessa up to her feet. There was an odd, indescribable warmth as Vanessa's hand touched hers. Ivy felt the pulse once more as the girl she had sought for so long finally rose to her feet.
In spite of all the hardships they had gone through, Vanessa was finally free.
Vanessa peaked over Ivy's shoulder to the captain and his squad. Despite the danger they had presented, she greeted them with an earnest smile. "Thank you so much, everyone. Um, my name's Vanessa by the way. And this is my friend Ivy."
Now that was truly the Vanessa that Ivy knew.
The captain shuffled awkwardly in place in response. "It's, uh, nice to meet you too. But you really shouldn't be thanking us."
He suddenly lifted his rifle. "The one designated as Ivy, you are under arrest. Please comply and come with us to the A.R.C. for questioning."