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“Is it scary?”
“No, I don’t think it is.” Subspace sighed as the rhythmic monotonous beeping of the heart monitor buzzed in the back of his mind, lulling his consciousness into the void as it buzzed and beeped with such strange palpitations it could be mistaken for the backing track of a song.
“You were always so against the thought of dying. Seeing you now with such acceptance is strange. You’ve been fighting your whole life for something more than what you had, and now you’re just taking what you’re given.” Hyperlaser looked Subspace up and down in the bed where he was lying for the last time.
The sheets were pushed down off his body as much as possible, preventing him from overheating as he panted. His right arm was long gone, amputated in a futile attempt to slow the rot consuming his body in a futile attempt at clinging onto survival. His hair was disheveled and in his face, sweat beading down his forehead as his remaining arm’s hand clutched the sheets below his fragile body. He was skin and bones, barely any muscle or fat on his body at all. He looked like a walking corpse, it was shocking to anyone how he survived this long.
“Yeah, well, what can you do? Life’s a bitch. I can claw and kick and scream and beg for more time, but it won’t stop me from wasting away. I have been rotting for the past twenty-two years, Hyperlaser. My body is tired. My mind is tired.” He smiled, looking at Hyperlaser with his one remaining eye, vision wavering. “I think I’m ready.”
“Never thought I’d see the great Subspace T. Mine in this condition.” Hyperlaser removed his helmet, stealing away his own sight along with it.
“Hah! My face looks worse than yours now.” Subspace laughed raspily with his breaking voice. The rot had spread minorly to his vocal cords, causing his voice to be strained and hoarse.
“Well, Subspace. You were hardy enough to make it this long. Do you think you could make it a couple more hours while I fetch everyone you wanted to say goodbye to?”
“I’ll be fine, Hyperlaser.”
Hyperlaser balled up his fists, inhaling deeply for a moment before releasing it in an exasperated sigh. Emotion was plastered on his disfigured face, which Subspace could barely see from his blurred vision.
“I’ve never much agreed with you, neither have I much liked you, but I don’t want you to die alone. That’s no way to treat Blackrock’s greatest.” Hyperlaser’s words were spoken with a clear sincerity that even Subspace could understand in his loopy mind that was drugged up from the medications.
Hyperlaser and Subspace finished exchanging words amongst themselves before Hyperlaser left to gather up those who were willing to give Subspace a farewell. In the moments right before it happened, he wouldn’t be able to remember who was fond of him or not, so some wanted to give him a moment of contentness before death.
When Hyperlaser returned to where Subspace was being held, which was a makeshift hospital room in the lab rather than an actual hospital, he was confronted by the doctor. Subspace’s condition had progressed rapidly in the few hours that Hyperlaser was gone. He was like an entirely different person.
One by one, everyone piled into the room to see Suspace now hooked up to a breathing machine because his lungs could no longer handle the task themselves. Hyperlaser had gotten together Vine Staff, Boombox, Katana, and Sword. Boombox and Vine staff came because they wanted to, Katana came with Vine Staff and because Hyperlaser wanted him to, while Sword came on behalf of Medkit.
Everyone said their one-by-one farewells to the scientist as the last thread of his life unwound from the metaphorical spool of his existence. Subspace allowed incoherent babbling to fall out of his rotting mouth, which nobody could understand.
Vine Staff planted sprouts around Subspace that bloomed into beautiful flowers. He held one in his hand, smiling at it delicately. He was never one to admire the beauty of small things, mostly too wrapped up in himself or his inventions, but in this moment he gave time to the smaller being.
The farewells didn’t last long until Subspace was too exhausted to take it anymore. He could barely remember Hyperlaser at all by now. He’d even asked him what happened to his face, entirely genuine and clueless in his seemingly stupid inquiry. As Hyperlaser sat down in the chair beside the bed, Subspace craned his neck to face Hyperlaser.
“Is Meddy coming by the lab today?” The question was so innocent. It was spoken with complete cluelessness.
Hyperlaser pondered for a moment. He knew Medkit refused to come, turning down his invite after a long while of hesitation. Hyperlaser understood. It was far too much to burden him with by asking him to return just to say goodbye to his worst enemy who ended up ruining his life. He didn’t find it fair to let Subspace die with the grief of thinking that someone he forgot about his issues with disliked him. It would be unkind to allow Subspace to die with the idea of someone he thought was a friend hating him.
“...Yeah, Medkit’s coming today. He’s just a little late.”
“Haha, Meddy’s always getting on me for being late. I bet he feels silly now being the one who’s late.” Subspace’s voice cracked and faltered pathetically as if his vocal cords were a tightrope that his words had to walk across cautiously in order to be said.
Subspace turned his neck back to resting position, his head aligned straight with his body. He stared at the ceiling with his eye growing pinker and pinker as the rot spread through his brain. He sighed softly as he felt relaxation taking over his body. He could no longer feel anything below the neck.
“Hope he gets here soon.” Subspace went silent after that.
His breathing quickened before slowing, soon reaching a near halt. Hyperlaser winced as he heard the heart monitor beep more inconsistently, speeding up to try and pump blood through his body as fast as it could. The loud ringing of the flatline buzzed in his ears before he knew it.
Hyperlaser sighed, leaning back in the chair.
“Goodbye, Subspace.”
Hyperlaser got up from the chair, leaving the room and closing the door behind him as the sound of the monitor echoed around the room. He went outside, lighting a cigarette, and beginning to smoke it. The doctors locked up the room soon after, sealing it entirely and leaving Subspace’s body in there. It would emit noxious gases as it decayed, and they didn’t want to risk anyone being infected or getting sick from it.
Hyperlaser sighed as he watched the man he disliked being locked away forever, feeling a surfacing remorse for the man he once thought of as a brother.