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"Okay, okay, so if I turn into a worm and I wriggle back and forth, then I wanna live."
Slimecicle couldn't remember how the conversation about worms had began.
"And if I turn into a worm and I start, like, crawling around in a circle, then I want you to kill me."
Neither did Baghera, but she was just as invested in this hypothetical worm communication as him.
"Okay, so- can you repeat again? So I have the code."
It was the Day of the Dead- Dia de los Muertos. Slime and Baghera were there with the eggs, and some others. The others laughed, noticing the absurdity of the conversation that Slime and Baghera seemed so oblivious to.
"Okay so if- yeah, so if I wriggle back and forth, like wiggle back and forth, that means that I wanna be a worm. But if I go in a circle, like I turn into a little circle and I start going around in a circle, that means I wanna die and I don't wanna be a worm."
It was a nice day. There was an otherworldly peace in this place, and it would surprise no one if that was because once they went through the archway they had literally been brought to some other world. It was hard to believe it was real; the tree, the flowers...the eggs.
Juanaflippa wasn't hard to believe- no, she was alive, she was just giving the dead eggs company. She was with Slime yesterday, and she would be with him tomorrow. But the others. Trump, Bobby, Tilin.
Slime didn't expect forgiveness for what he did to her. Now he didn't know what to do with forgiveness once he'd gotten it.
They were lying down in the grass, and it was nice. Slime and Baghera were staring out into the sky together, and Juanaflippa and Tilin were with them. Slimecicle hadn't felt peace like this in a while. Even with Juanaflippa, things had been off with her memory, and as much as Slime would never admit it, things had been off with her. But looking at his daughter now, those feelings weren't there. Looking at his friends he felt like it was all okay.
"Wait, so, you're preparing codes in case you become a worm?" Bagi asked, sitting opposite from them with Trump and BadBoyHalo.
"Yeah, yeah, these are like worm codes, these are like live or die," Slime clarified to her.
"I don't want you to regret anything," Baghera said to Slime, referencing back to her idea of giving the hypothetical worm time to decide if it really wanted to die.
"No that's fair, that's fair- okay I actually appreciate that, okay I'd do the same for you, I'd wanna make sure you were in your right worm mind before you made any big choices."
This wasn't an important conversation. In fact, it was a completely stupid one, and Bagi was right to be at least a little confused by their antics. But Baghera wanted to keep taking about hypothetical worms, and Slime wasn't going to stop until she did. Even if they were talking about nothing they were still talking, and laughing, and being stupid together. And that was more than either of them could ask for.
It was the Day of the Dead and Baghera's wings ached a little less. His daughter was here, and Slime's hands didn't feel quite as numb.
--
01010011 00110010
--
Baghera had come to Slimecicle's house to give him the baskets he wanted to take with him from the celebrations.
She just wanted to give him the baskets.
"Slime, please, listen to me, Slime-"
He didn't listen.
He couldn't hear her anymore.
Baghera's back slammed into the wall as she was thrown against it, wings bending unnaturally with the sudden force. She had found Slimecicle in the basement of his eggxile home. She didn't know if it was better or worse that she could still recognise him under the green and black consuming his form.
0̵͓͈͍̝͙̌͑͗̑̒̉1̴̲͖͕̝̜͕̘͋͛́͘0̸̨͖̋̔̐͑0̶͇͓̳̩͓̞͛͒͒͜ͅ0̶̞̮̇̌͊͘1̸̢̪͛̓̓̽͑̇1̸̡̭͓̮̦̎͒̋̂̂̅1̷̢̖̲̪̓̍ ̵͈̲̬͇̣̺̯̏̑̅̋0̴̨͙͎̰̞̅1̸͚̩͙̱̈́1̶̧̨͎͎̖̺̘͙͂̾̕͘͝0̷̡͓̠̹̞͗̑̽̌͂́̕͜0̵̦̝̹͍̤̄̔̆̾͊́̌͝1̵̟́̒̐͒͝͝0̸̨̘͓͍̄͊̈́͘1̷͇͆̅͒͒͛̅ ̷̡̦͌͋̑0̶̧̤̼͑͊͊̃͠1̵͎̬̿͂̓̍̔1̸̛̥͈́̉̽̄1̴̡̛̯̫̲̱̠͔̘̓̃̉̌͌͛̕0̸͍̥̤̣͕̲̽̊̈́͂͂͒͘1̷̲͉͍́͗͌̓̍̈̀̌0̴͈͌̏̈́͝0̷̛̤̋̄̉̈́͗ ̸̧̝͎̲͖̳̩͐̾͆̂̇̆͜͝0̴̤̈́̃͑̈̊͠͝0̷̤̬̏͌͊1̸̧̹̼̱͇͈̠̀0̴̝͑̂0̸̝̮̖̘͙̓̕͝0̵͉̩̘̠̻̋́͛̔0̶̼̯͎̗̿ͅ0̴͔̦̟̜̩͈̩͐̓̎͛̊̎̋̅ ̸͕̻̩͍͈͙̐̊͗̌̍0̸̨̹͔̱̘̭̈́̉̇͛̍̕1̵̧̢̗̮̞̯̝̒͒1̴̛͉̑̆̑̕0̸̦̮̜̜͎̳̰͈̂̍1̴̦̜̳̘͚̏̐̾̐̀͘͝1̷̢̜̝̖͍̻̬̦͗̏̎͛̀͐̚1̶̧̨̪̥̔1̵̢̫̫̊̉̉̓ͅ ̷̨̻̥̟̯̪̙̏͒͛͊̂͛̍͊0̷̧̗̻̘̙̦̒͑͌͠1̵̨̜͕̍̽̇̒̿͑̓̕1̷̠̳̉̈́͑͛́̓͘͠1̸͙̜̩̬̯͙͓̽͜0̴̡͙̚͜͝1̷̧͙̀͜0̴̱̺͚̉1̸̯̈̓̾̚ ̷̧̟̹̑̔̓̉͆0̵̢̹̱̩̺̼̭̒1̴̮̙͙͓̤̐͋1̷̧͚̯̪̖̣̖̐͂̈́̔͒͆̾̎1̴̡̃̌͠0̷̛͚̹̲̇̒̓̽1̷̡̬͍̗̰̫͂͝͝ͅ0̶̧̟͈͉̬̱̪̱̾̄̿̈́0̵̦̻̯͖̆̅̔̿̎̒̈́͘͜
The way he spoke, if it even counted as speaking, was unintelligible and painful, made of high squeaks and low growls with an undertone of screaming. Baghera looked at him, where his eyes were, where they should've been. Nothing looked back.
"Slime...just calm down...I'm going to help you, okay? You just, please just stay there, I can-" Baghera stopped but Slimecicle did not, approaching ever closer, stepping over patches of his floor that had turned into green masses of numbers. She backed against the wall and stared at his face as he twitched, as something inhuman looked back at her.
0̶̢͔͈̘͗͊̅͝1̶̨̠̲̀̀̎͐̒0̴̻͈͗̔̊̆́0̷̯͍́ͅ1̴̡̤̦̔0̶̟̫̞͒̓̈́͜͝0̸̦̕̕0̸̹̣͚̪̩̓̿̉͘ ̴̠̤̆̓ͅ0̴̦̇̃̅1̶̹̗̈́̃̇1̵͙̜͉̟̱́̓̈́0̴̯̂̔͝0̶̧̟͇̺̑̐͜͠1̵͖̳͠0̶̢̺́͒ͅ1̵͕͗̅ ̶̧̌́̂0̷̯̺̮̐͐́0̵̢̙̯̹̀̓1̵̹͕̈́̓̏́0̵͕͑̓͝͝0̵̹̆̽ͅ0̵̢̳̜͕͇͛̑̀̿̓0̷̬͌̌͆̾͠0̶̡̟̎ ̵̛̹̫̘̥͙͆̿̇0̷̢̖̅̆1̸̜͖̗͋̊1̵̭̦̲͐͗̃͌͜0̵̢͍̥͇͆̕1̵̹̩̫͕̦͊̚͠0̶̫̻̣͎͛͝0̸̤̩̓1̶͉̜͇̞̜̒̅ ̵̯̰̏̋͆ͅ0̶͇͑̑̌̔͠1̷͕̳͓͈͝ͅ1̴̣̀1̵̡̰͉͊̒͘͝͝ͅ0̴͕̲̌0̶͕̜̀̿́1̸̺̬͙̼̃1̵̗͎͚̙̮̔ ̸̖͖̥̥̀͑0̶̫͐̔̀̍͘0̵̺͔̕̚͜͝1̷̼͖͍̬̋̓̿͌͘ͅ0̸͇̼́̆̽̐̓0̶͈̠̥̦̀̀̎͒͌0̸̧̨̝̤̱̑̕0̵͕͓̲̩̓̓͐͗́0̷͕̹̪͆͒́͗̾ ̶̨̬̭̞̞̄̎̂̕͠0̴̫́̀̚͜1̸̛̤̩̞͌ͅ1̵͚̜̳̄͘ͅ0̴͚͓͉̫̎0̶̼͉̮̦̀1̸̩͙̎̈̿̑͊1̷̺̇̓1̵͙̪̠̝̦̽̌ ̴͇̍0̶̹̇̈́͂̽̇1̸̬̬͔̒́̉̚1̶̩̙̞̥̍̑͝0̴̨̗͎̀̈́̚1̴̡̡͕̞͎̊1̶̞͙̥̳̮̐̄̎1̵͍͋ͅ1̶̧̯̳̯̘͗̓ ̵͖̰̦̠̀̓͊͛0̵͈̖̗̀1̴̺͂1̴̩̮͔̒0̶̝̟̗̏͌̂1̶̅͗̈́͠ͅ1̴̺̝̈̾́͠͝1̷͕̤͑̿̓̃̐0̷̰̰̅̅̽̕̚ ̶̼͔̚̚0̶͈͓͐̌̅̔1̶͓̗̖̝͖̆̉1̴̘̫̭̹̏̃͠0̵̢̤̈̋0̶̹͓̥̗̦̆1̴̬̈́̎̀̈0̶͉̻̩̐͆1̷̢̜̟̲̈́
Baghera strained her ears against her own breathing and heartbeat, trying to make out anything in the chorus of screams and glitches that didn't make her want to scream herself just to drown out the noise. She swore Slime's voice was calling out from the chaos but just as quickly as it surfaced it was swept back under the tide of white noise.
She studied Slime's face like it would be the last thing she saw, because for all she knew that would be the case. Flesh melded with ones and zeroes and his glasses were on the floor behind him. She couldn't tell if there was intent to kill in those eyes, if there was anything. His pupils were bright green and his irises were black. Strings of numbers trickled down one side of his face and the other side wasn't much better. Baghera might not have recognised it if it wasn't a face she knew so well.
"Slime, I can help you."
She reconsidered her claim when Slimecicle drove his fist into a chest on the wall next to her.
The wooden splinters flew across the room, some embedding themselves in Slime's arm, but he hardly seemed to notice. Both his arms were nothing but numbers, the code reaching all the way up to his neck like it was strangling him, reaching into his veins and his lungs. His clothes could barely be seen beneath shifting code that took over his body, it seemed like the only part they'd spared of complete corruption was his face, which was only hurting Baghera to keep looking at.
It wasn't as though he was angry as he looked at her or as he shattered his own chests, nor was he begging for her help or screaming out in pain. His mouth was shut and still, his expression didn't change, like it was all spare parts that he didn't know what to do with when they weren't needed. Somehow, to Baghera, nothing was worse than anything.
0̴̟̞̰̂̒1̶͕̺̘̐͌0̸̱̄͛̕0̶̩̪̊ͅ1̶͕̽̈̋1̴̝͕͋̾͆0̶̗͓́̒0̸̼̏̆̆ ̶͓̹̃͌͜0̵͉̙͐̍̀1̷͉̍̾1̶͊͜͜0̴̬͎̞͌̚͘0̸̭͊1̷̥͕͝ͅ0̶̣̝͂1̵̟̣̗͛ ̷̧̿0̵̠̭̔̈́ͅ1̵͚͂1̴̺͊͑̍0̶͕̬̩̇̅̑0̴͍͈̟̈0̶͕͋͑̓0̴̳̥̖͋͆͒1̴͈̏̈́ ̷̧̎͒̚0̴͈̀̔1̷̰̈́́1̷͈̈́͆1̶̧͑͒0̷͔͎͛ͅ1̷̦͌̽ͅ1̸̦̖̕͝0̴̣͂̽͘ ̷̣̋̄́0̵̢̗͈͆͝1̸̘̲̥͂̀1̶̧̫̈́̚0̷͈̱̠̈́̕0̵̦͖̉̀̓1̵̢̯̒̒0̸̧̺͋̉͠ͅ1̶̹̓̒
His head angled down to again look at hers, fist still embedded in the chest. Still she found no meaning in the inhuman noises escaping his lips, but she didn't get the impression it was anything friendly.
With Slime hopefully stuck where he was for a moment longer, Baghera quickly stumbled to her feet and sprinted for the ladder. She didn't know what was going on here but maybe Etoiles had already gone through this, perhaps Cellbit had figured it all out on another one of his corkboards. She could only ask them if she lived to tell the tale, though, and that didn't seem an easy task right now.
Slime was giving chase as soon as her hand was on the first rung. She didn't turn around, she didn't dare, but she heard as the screeching approached. She swore with each panicked step and felt as though any second now Slime would be breathing down her neck. She wasn't far from the top, but Slime probably wasn't far from grabbing her ankles.
By some miracle Baghera was unscathed as she clambered into the entrance to Slimecicle's house and flung her backpack in front of her. Blocks- she needed blocks.
There wasn't time to be picky, as soon as she found stone she flung it down onto the path from which she'd came, obstructing Slimecicle just as his head was reaching the top. She leant against the blocks as she caught her breath and tensed when she felt banging from the other side, and a moment later she heard screaming.
It wasn't just anger, it was pain and agony, it was inhuman and terribly organic. Now she leant on the blocks like she was keeping them in place, like her absence would free this beast from its dungeon.
The glitched howling continued, piercing her ears despite being muffled below a layer of stone. She gritted her teeth and shut her eyes as she briefly rested her head against the blocks.
"I just wanted to give you the baskets...I just wanted to give you the baskets, Slime."
--
01010011 00110011
--
Cellbit had come by. So had Etoiles. There was nothing they could do.
They insisted there was, Cellbit told her he would find some kind of cure, Etoiles was sure there was a way to reverse it. Baghera resented them a little for lying to her face like that.
She knew they were trying to be nice and give her hope, because god did her eyes look hopeless, but she couldn't look at Slimecicle and believe any of it was true.
It was worse. The numbers consumed his face. He twitched and he screamed, or at least made sounds adjacent to screaming. Maybe they meant something. Baghera was starting to think she didn't want to know.
With some difficulty they had made the basement into a holding cell, a glass wall dividing the room in two. On one side was the ladder and a few chairs placed in front of it, facing the other side. She sat there all day, looking at the other side. Looking at him.
The walls had turned black and green around him, code spreading like mould, corrupting everything that had once been his.
She hadn't bandaged her wings despite the recommendations of everyone else. She didn't want Slime to know he had hurt her.
"I don't know if you can hear me."
It didn't look like he could. He mostly sat there, and maybe he would've been looking back at her if Baghera could see his eyes. Sometimes he paced. She felt like she'd caged an animal. She felt horrible.
"I want to try, though. You know me Slime, I know you do. Please...you can fight whatever this is."
Her words seemed to convince him as much as they convinced herself. Maybe they could've stopped the corruption earlier, if they'd tried once they noticed it instead of letting Slime live in denial. They had just let it deteriorate him and watched. Now it was probably too late.
He did respond, though. Baghera watched intently as he rose up onto his feet, twitching with each movement. He didn't make a noise, he only began pacing again. Back and forth, across the floor that glitched under his step.
"Slime, if you are in there, if you can hear me- please, just do something to let me know you are there."
He kept pacing. Baghera bit back her tears. She just wanted her friend back. He didn't deserve whatever the hell this was.
She watched him walking, eyes tracking him back and forth, round and round.
It was only a few days ago they had been laid down together, just talking about stupid things.
Talking about worms and nonsensical communication.
Talking about going around in circles.
Baghera jumped from her chair. The sudden movement cause Slimecicle to stop.
"No. No, that's- Slime, that isn't..."
She raised a hand to the reinforced glass between them. He was going round in circles. She still remembered what that was supposed to mean.
"Slime, I'm not- if you can hear me then no! I am not doing that! We can still help you!"
Eyes obscured by green and black stared blankly at her. She just wanted them to look at her again, to actually look at her, to crease at the edges like they always did when Slime smiled, like they did every time he laughed at a stupid joke that really wasn't that funny.
He started walking again, moving in a circle.
"No! NO!"
Baghera pounded her fist against the glass as if it would stop him, as if it would change his mind from the decision he seemed so certain on. She cried out his name. He didn't stop.
She knew she wouldn't do it. She couldn't, she could never got through with that. But maybe it was selfish. If he was suffering, if he was in pain right now, maybe it would be a mercy. Keeping him alive despite his pleas, despite this being his only message to her, it was for her own sake, not his.
But she couldn't do it. She wouldn't.
A week. She'd give him a week.
--
01010011 00110100
--
It was painful to look at him. But it was painful to leave him on his own.
He seemed more stable, at least. He jerked and stumbled less when he walked. The distorted howls were less jarring. But the final traces of Slime that Baghera had been clinging onto were gone.
Every inch of him was corrupted, replaced with green and black, ones and zeroes. She didn't know if he looked at her anymore.
It had been a week. Slime had stopped pacing in circles, but he had stopped doing most other things too. So this time when Baghera came to visit him, she brought something with her.
It was a book- an empty one, she hadn't just brought entertainment for herself because she was bored. Carefully she slid it through a small slot in the glass and backed away, trying not to make her apprehension too obvious.
"I...I brought you a book. I don't know what you are saying when, whenever you try to speak, but I, uh, I thought maybe you could use this instead, you know?"
She tried to smile against the involuntary motion of the corners of her mouth dragging themselves down. Slime looked at the book and for a while she didn't know if he would even move, but she was relieved when at last he did.
She sat and watched as he made slow movements, lifting up the book, tracing the spine, opening it and watching the pages part. She didn't know if he was being careful of if he just didn't remember what a book was, but it was becoming clearer to Baghera that she might've set her hopes too high expecting him to be able to write. Still, she waited, and she watched.
She held back a gasp when Slime raised the pen to the paper. As he began to write his grip looked shaky, unusually unstable, but he wrote despite it. Baghera waited. She was prepared to wait forever.
When Slime pushed the book back towards the gap she tried not to instantly lunge for it and carefully took it into her hands, like it might crumble into ash if held with too much force.
She read the message. It was short, and the handwriting was weird and messy, but she could at least make out the words.
1 c4n̵'̶T̸ f33l A̷n̶y̷y7h1ng. 1t'5̷ sS̷o̵ nu̴M̶6
Baghera closed the book. She remembered him saying that, about how the parts of his body with code felt like they had pins and needles. But still, this was good, he'd written something to her. Maybe they could still communicate.
"Slime, do you...do you want anything? Do you know how we can help with this?"
She gave the book back and Slime took it again, writing his answer once more. It took just as long and Baghera could see once she got it back that the handwriting was no better, but it could still be read, at least.
3̸n̴D. 1 ̸d̷0̴n̵'7 w4n̴T̸ thi1̷5̸5 4̴n̸yM0R3̴e
"End..? You want it to end? Are- are you in pain or anything, is there something happening?"
This time she stayed by the gap in the glass as he took the book, not backing away. She tapped nervously against her leg as she awaited another answer.
Y0̶u̵'̷r̸3 S4d̷. 1 d̵0̴n̵'7 w̵4̶nT t̸0̶ m4̷k̶k̴3 y0u̷u s̴4̷D
"You- Slime, you're worried about me?"
She laughed despite the tears showing she was anything but happy. He was really that worried about her even with him in this state, with this body no longer his own, some other host taking it from him. And he just wanted to be gone because being like that was making his friend sad.
"Slime, please, the last thing you need to worry about is me. What do you need? Food, a blanket? Painkillers..?"
She pushed the book back but Slime didn't move to pick it up like he had before. Instead he turned his corrupted head away from it. Baghera looked at him, confused, trying to figure out what the matter was.
"You...Slime, come on, if you need something then tell me. It's not an inconvenience, I am literally here to help you."
She sighed and leant down to put her hand through the glass, her fingers reaching Slime's side to push the book further towards him. She didn't pull away when at last his glitched hand leant down and touched the other side. Even without their hands making contact she could feel a staticy feeling creeping into her fingers, though it went away as he pulled the book away and opened it.
He didn't take as long to write this time, since it was only a simple message.
F00̸d̷
Baghera chuckled to herself and nodded.
"Yes, food, I can get you food."
She reached into her backpack but startled as something slammed onto the other side of the glass. She looked back in fear at Slime's hand pressed against it, but realised as the fingers curled back that he might've only done it to get her attention, not meaning to startle her. He recoiled into himself, giving her the sense that he was hesitating to do something.
She pushed the book back through the glass but the corrupted head shook. Baghera tilted her head.
"What is it?"
Slime hesitated a few moments longer, but then lay down. Baghera looked on, confused, as he suddenly started to wiggle.
Then she realised, she remembered that one too. The other side of that dumb worm code they'd made up together. He had changed his mind.
Baghera laughed, because her friend was made of code and wiggling on the floor in front of her and he wanted to live, why wouldn't she be laughing at this? Slime stopped and made a noise but it wasn't the indiscernible screams he had made before, it was still distorted but Baghera thought it sounded a little like a laugh, his laugh.
The two of them laughed again like they always had, like things were alright again. Of course they weren't, but they were together, using a dumb code made for worms to communicate. That was enough.
It was another day on the QSMP and Baghera's wings didn't feel so broken. His friend was here, and Slime's body didn't feel quite as numb.