Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It seems as if there's been no actual effect on the ever-adaptive lives of the Drones living on Copper-9. The planet has been forced back together, the deaths have had their honorable (to SOME people, not all) mentions, the dynamics are still set, and life has been somewhat normal. The only true changes is the memories of what happened being a new trauma thing, and the lingering fear of having Murder Drones roam the Bunker. Sure, there's the occasional conversation about the epic battle that took place, the Absolute Solver stuff and banter about the whole ordeal, but that usually takes place with V, N and Uzi privately.

Uzi doesn't think about it too much, though. Not even now, as she sits on the floor in her room, doodling, trying her best to ignore everything else. She'd just had a sleepover with her official, canon and totally COOL boyfriend, plus V, because N wanted V to be here just for a special occasion. Surprisingly, V had agreed to stay. She left as soon as N started yapping about romantic stuff. Admittedly, Uzi wanted to walk right out, too, out of embarrassment. Soon, N had to leave, himself. He'd actually made a friend in Thad, due to their similar personalities in being empathetic and kind, and total dweebs. Uzi's happy for him. And V.

V's still besties with Lizzy, oftentimes just chilling with her or bullying people for fun. V doesn't really talk about their hangouts at all, but everytime someone mentions it, V looks disgruntled and nervous. Lizzy always frowns and distances herself by tapping on her phone. It's not exactly a topic that's NOT depressing, so people just leave it be, no matter how odd it is to see Lizzy this upset over whatever. Probably about the raptor.

Uzi doesn't really care. The prissy brat can cry herself to sleep over whatever it is that's making her sook like a total dork. Returning favours, not being petty, by the way. Uzi has her own problems to deal with, anyways. Problems she's just gonna let simmer rather than tell anyone. It'd be hard to tell anyone else that would believe her, it's so weird.

"You seem u-uupset. As usual. Stop brooding and ggg-get-et a hobby." Ugh. she's out again. Uzi glances to her left, where her bow-donning, parasitic tail is happily watching her draw. Cyn. The brat, of course, didn't even properly die right because she's stupid and dumb and should be punted through a wall. Uzi growls.

"Brooding is my hobby! Shut up! Go back to being dormant code!" Uzi pokes one of Cyn's stupid eyes, not that is has any actual effect or anything. Cyn nips Uzi's finger before coiling around her wrist.

"No. Tee hee. I am now Doorman code! Get i-it? I am, very silly!" Uzi only seethes as a reply that Cyn ignores. "Anyways, the o-otherrr one is still pouty! Don't know what about. She h-has more freedom than me, with the whole spooky gloop thing. Eye roll." Cyn mumbles, head mimicking an eye roll.

Uzi sighs. No-one has ever brought Doll up again. Not in class, not in private, not at all. Well, Lizzy probably grieves about her, and it's kinda stupid that Doll hasn't even visited her. Doll only makes excuses, despite still being around. The only reason Uzi even KNOWS that Doll's still even around is because she saw Doll's screen in her own after she ate the creepy Null-Core thing. And the fact that she occasionally speaks through her tail, very rarely. And, as Cyn said, the... Gloop. Apparently, Doll's freaking OIL can gain consciousness via Solver. Uzi really needs to read into it...

But yeah. Doll's moping about being kinda dead, being tricked, being forgotten, being a part of her and her own killer, watching her PARENTS' killer with her girlfriend... Actually, come to think of it, Doll has way more of a reason to sulk than Uzi thought. Whatever! No sympathy for that jerk! Not like she even did anything useful when she was alive.

"[I was useful.]"

Immediately, Uzi shouts in surprise, nearly screwing up her drawing at the sudden sound of Doll's voice. Looking at her tail, Uzi's met with red accents instead of the typical yellow or purple. Doll. Uzi's optics lid. "Not really. Didn't really do anything but screw everything up for us and yourself." Her comment is venomous and cold. Uzi's still holding that grudge. Doll doesn't blame her.

Doll's ducks the head of the tail she embodies. "[... I know. I... Was useful to other situations. Before this. But... It is not of any current importance. What are you drawing?]"

Always so quick to change the subject, with that tired voice. Tired, sad, exhausted... Ugh, it's like LITERALLY living with depression! Uzi rolls her yellow-red-tinted optics. "You have way more eyes than me. Look."

Doll flinches at Uzi's tone. She completely understands Uzi's frustration. After all, it's stressful and annoying to have to permanently deal with two beings you hate all in the same body with no-one to talk to about it without sounding insane or causing panic. Doll slowly rears back. "[... I think I should... Wander for a while.]"

Uzi turns back to her drawing, shading the hair. "Good, go."

Uzi winces as she feels part of Doll's code evaporate from her systems. Ugh, never a good feeling. Nonetheless, Uzi focuses on sketching her epic drawing and nothing else.

"... J-Jerk."

Uzi can only scoff at Cyn.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-

Faint footsteps sound out against the metal panels of the flooring. Even up close, if you tried to listen, the footsteps would forever sound far away and echoed. Black oil defies gravity as it slowly rises upwards like a lava lamp, soon to dissolve once it reaches a certain distance away from the entity from which it's derived. The lining of her clothing is hard, but possible, to decipher as it sways loosely in mimicry of zero gravity, as she makes her way to the destination she should've dropped by from the start.

Doll's gleaming red optics cut through her liquid-like, blackened body, as does the unsettling grin. She'll fix it up when she gets to where she needs to be. Right now, her current objective is walk. Her vision is weird as she makes her way there. It's nothing like what her visor displayed. It's... Black and fuzzy. Blurry. Very unstable, but what more can she do? She's dead. Dead, and yet, alive in multiple places. In this form, as a hologram from a camera (either Uzi's or just a regular one), and in Uzi's code and tail. So very dead, but thriving elsewhere.

...

She's here.

Standing at Lizzy's door, Doll contemplates simply phasing through, but she doesn't want to freak Lizzy out the way she knows it will. So, Doll lifts her hand and— It... Glides through the door. Right. She can fix that, just has to focus and... This time, more matter is used to be physical enough to knock on the door. Instantly, Doll hears a familiar groan of annoyance, and a series of complaints that grow louder, closer, with each few words.

"Are you freaking kidding me!? I literally sent out a text to everyone! Don't bother me! I'm gonna have V stab holes in the sides of your heads so you idiots ACTUALLY have ears!" Whoosh. The door opens. "Okay, now what the hell do y-you...—"

...

...

Lizzy stares, as Doll admires.

Admires Lizzy's ever-gorgeous face. Her pink optics are blown wide with horror, fear, joy, sadness, confusion— A little bit of everything. Below her optics, a faint trail of pink is burnt into her visor from how often the LEDs have been lit. She's been crying. Doll doesn't like it when Lizzy cries. She's trembling, too. Knees are just about buckling, hands grasping and gripping something that's not there. It makes Doll feel worse.

But Lizzy's in a horrific wave of absolute relief and love. She knows who this eldritch monstrosity oil figure is right off the bat. Doll. Her Doll. Her dead girlfriend who never got the happy ending she fought so hard for. The girl Lizzy's been grieving for 6 months straight, venting to V and only V about it. And her notes app on her phone. But Doll's right here, in front of her. Different, but here.

For a while, it's only a deafening silence as the two stare. Then, it's broken with a gentle, "[Hello.]" Doll's voice, despite coming from a fixed source, sounds from everywhere in the room. Distant and echoed, but felt deep in Lizzy's soul. The word that broke the silence has also broken the dam, as Lizzy immediately begins crying into Doll's chest, screw the weird feeling of her girl being a liquid and a solid all at once.

Doll sighs as she cradles Lizzy close, rubbing her back. The rising blobs of oil seem to partially coil around Lizzy protectively before dispersing as usual. Her red optics narrow into a sad frown, mouth pulling downwards to match, sympathy, guilt and sadness mixed with undying love for the weeping girl in her arms. Doll can't decipher what Lizzy's saying half the time, since it's mostly just sorrowful babbles mixed with apologies, bewildered questions and 'I love you's. Doll returns them with loving mutters, for all it's worth.

It feels like hours until Lizzy finally calms down enough to look at Doll and actually SEE her. Lizzy sniffles, reaching forward to cup the shorter girl's cold, wet (and dry???) cheek. Stroking her thumb along the face she's unfamiliar and SO familiar with, Lizzy manages a small smile. "... It's you... H-Hah... I knew you wouldn't just bail on m-me..."

Doll smiles too, leeching onto the attempt at brightening the situation. "[As if I would leave you alone. Mortality cannot keep me from you.]" Doll purrs, a blush making it's way through the darkness of her cheeks. Lizzy's visor repeats the process like it's contagious. She shoves Doll's shoulder, but doesn't dare separate them.

"Goddamn charming jerk..." Lizzy weakly chuckles, wiping a lingering tear away. Lizzy, despite the sass, knows that Doll's all too aware about the underlying meaning. Doll hugs Lizzy tighter, purring gently— A surrounding sound. There's a joke here that Lizzy's gonna tell Doll later, but right now, she's happy just being here.

Lizzy sighs softly, completely calm, as she steps backwards, pulling Doll into her room then flopping backwards on the bed without even looking. Doll lands on top of Lizzy, only to slide off and rest next to her. They stare at each other with visible, almost tangible affection. Lizzy curiously caresses one of the rising oil blobs, the liquid sliding upwards through her plastic fingers. It tickles. It makes Lizzy smile. "... So like... How???"

The bewildered question isn't lost on Doll, who just shrugs nonchalantly. "[Uncertain. I woke up as part of Uzi's code, able to manipulate her tail. Pondered for a while. The monster had eaten my Core, and Uzi ate the monster's, so... Maybe for that reason, I am alive. I was molded into it's Null, I suppose. Additionally, I am able to tap into the security cameras to project a hologram of myself, but I will not be able to touch you, unfortunately. This form will also collapse soon, if I do not return to Uzi's code. Extended time will need to be learned.]"

Through Doll's explanation, Lizzy listens while caressing her side lovingly. Lizzy sighs softly at the cons of the situation, but is at least relieved that there's other ways for Doll to exist peacefully. "Being part of the freak AND the literal cosmic pest thing? I feel ya, girl. But... At least you're not DEAD dead, y'know? That's literally all I care about. You're... Oh, thank robo-jesus you're not actually dead..." Lizzy shoves her face into the crook of Doll's neck, gripping her tighter. Doll purrs, curling around Lizzy.

"[I care not for the burdens... I am still here... I am still with you...]" Doll reassures, stroking Lizzy's back soothingly. Lizzy leans into the touch, arching her back, just doing anything and everything to get more of Doll surrounding her. Doll gently nudges Lizzy's face out to face her.

Then, their lips finally meet once again. It's weird and wonderful, and something they'll both need to get accustomed to again, but the fact that they're both doing this again is enough for them to melt and ignore every flaw with it.

Lizzy pulls away, panting softly, pink optics half-lidded and fixed on Doll's own. They press their foreheads together, closing their eyes. Doll pulls Lizzy closer, if possible.

"[I missed you...]" Doll breathes, pushing her face against Lizzy's in a desperate nuzzle. Lizzy eagerly returns it.

"Same... Mmh, I love you..." Lizzy whispers, gazing into Doll's unchanged red optics with an impossible amount of love that Doll would die 12 times over again to witness. Doll kisses Lizzy's forehead.

"[I love you, too, sweetness...]" The affectionate whisper echoes around the room, Lizzy reveling in it thoroughly.

But, all things must come to an end at some point, as Doll winces softly as she sits up. Lizzy immediately clings to her arms, worried. "Dolly? You good?"

Doll nods, form flickering. "[Y-Yes. I just... Used up a lot of time and energy with this visit. Not that I'm complaining, I just... Need to return to Uzi's coding. I will be eternally able to communicate with you through her tail, though; there is no limit there. So... Tomorrow. At school. I will be there.]" Doll sternly promises, cupping Lizzy's cheeks lovingly. Lizzy bites her lip, a tear trailing down her visor.

"Jeez, girl, got me looking like a total mess... Well, good luck dealing with two freaks in one. See you tomorrow, baby. I love you." Lizzy croons, hugging Doll as close and tight as possible. Doll returns it, even as her form slowly fades and flickers. Doll smiles softly.

"[I love you, too. I will see you tomorrow. Take care of yourself.]"

Then, with a gentle kiss to where Lizzy's nose would be, Doll fades out of existence and into another. Lizzy sits on her bed, staring at the spot Doll once was, before sighing and flopping back into the pillows. Tomorrow couldn't come sooner enough.

Chapter Text

"No, knock it off, not gonna happen! I need this to stay a freaking secret! V's already suspicious of me as it is! And I don't need anyone bugging me about the two parasites in my freaking body!"

"[They will find out sooner or later. They will figure out that talking to yourself for hours on end is not normal. They will assume you're meeting someone.]"

"Ugh, no, they won't! I already talk to myself for hours anyways, everyone knows that! They won't care. Stop going on about it, I'm not letting anyone figure you two out!"

"[You will be discovered anyways. I promised Lizzy—]"

"Ughhhh, don't talk about— Wait, you... Don't tell me you told her about the whole 'sentient tail' thing..."

"[I did.]"

"Doll!!"

The two have been arguing for two hours since Doll got back from visiting Lizzy. Uzi's been extremely adamant about not letting the fact that Cyn and Doll both survived air out into public. How's N and V gonna react if she tells them that they technically both won AND lost the battle!?! Uzi's gonna be absolutely clobbered by V, and N's... Gonna do his stupid N stuff and try to help her like the cute dork he is... But also probably will be scared of her. Damn it.

Uzi can't let this get out. Ever. If it was JUST Doll in here, maybe. But Cyn? Cyn's literally the START of all of their issues! They're all gonna hate her and think she's weird because the stupid morally corrupted jerk's living in her coding! Yeah, no. She can't tell anyone. But Doll's just gonna pop out no matter what, and even if she doesn't, Lizzy knows! She's probably already told V, which means V's coming to find her and N knows and everything sucks and—

"Tap, tap. To add to your d-dilemma, school starts in five mmm-minutes. Casual toss. Better get ready." Cyn's voice automatically serves to douse Uzi's mental state in even more stress and anger. Cyn throws Uzi's super cool and original jacket to her with the tail she's possessing, humming happily. "I cannot wait to meet t-the others. I would like to instill fear."

Uzi grumbles as she begins putting on her jacket, clumsily shoving her arms through the sleeves overdramatically. "Ohhh, no. You won't be meeting anyone. Neither will Doll, so you two better keep each other company or shut up and keep it quiet, because I'm not having everyone dogpile me because they know you idiots are back!" Uzi stubbornly rebuts, glaring at her tail in anger, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. Cyn simply stares.

"G-Good luck convincing Doll. Oh, and the blonde one's already—"

[Admin Blocked ENTITY—1001 lol. (for about 10 mins).]

"Aaand buh-bye. That's one down, the other just needs to shut up and we'll be fine..." Uzi sighs, shoulders slumping as she makes her way down the dim halls towards the educational section of the Bunker. If education means learn how to maladaptive daydream out of sheer boredom, that is.

"[Even if I do, Lizzy will still sell you out.]"

Uzi grits her teeth and whirls around to face the red-tinted eyes of her tail, giving away Doll's control. "Don't even think about talking either way. And Lizzy just... She probably forgot! Her memory storage pretty much runs on bits! I'm fine."

Doll jabs her sharp snout into Uzi's cheek harshly, not minding the violent recoil due to the pain also lancing through herself as well. "[Do not insult my girlfriend.]"

Uzi sneers and keeps walking, batting Doll away. "I do what I want!" Uzi sighs as she reaches the doors to the classroom she's supposed to be in five minutes ago. N and V's in there. Everyone is. Jeez. "Okay, you better keep your trap shut! Here!" Uzi grabs Doll and jams her inside of her bag, zipping it up as far as it'll go without the rest of her tail getting in the way. Uzi uses her Solver to keep the zipper in place. Disregarding Doll's struggles and curses, Uzi steps inside.

And is immediately met with Lizzy storming up to her, shoving N out the way, who was just about to run up and tackle her in a hug as per usual. Lizzy frowns at Uzi and opens her mouth. "Yo, dweeb, w—"

"HEYYYY, guys!" Uzi cackles (way too loudly), violet optics blown wide in alarm, as she shoves Lizzy away via Solver. V manages to catch her before she hits the wall and gets knocked out, but sneers suspiciously at Uzi. Dodged a bullet. Everyone in class stares at Uzi weirdly, but Uzi just sits at her usual seat, still wearing her school bag. N winces softly as he stands up, before walking over to Uzi.

"Hey, buddy, uh... Mind taking this off?" N asks, tentatively reaching forward to touch Uzi's bag, only for Uzi to quickly slap his hand away. N rears back, optics hollow. "Oh—"

"Nnnope, I'm fine! Just, uh... Like... Wearing my bag...??" Uzi drawls, weakly aiming duel finger guns at N, who deadpans at Uzi. Uzi internally screams, distantly detecting Cyn cackling in her OS. N rolls his eyes and yanks Uzi's bag off, tossing is aside carelessly.

"Don't tell me you brought another particle accelerator." N mutters, only to raise an optic as he only sees Uzi's limp tail, devoid of any lights. Uzi glances at her tail, then shoots her gaze right back to the board, posture weirdly stiff. N places his hands on his hips, tilting his head. "Huh. Shouldn't that be, like, all glowy and stuff? Uzi, did you feed it rocks again?" N inquires, squinting at his girlfriend.

Uzi vehemently nods, a digital sweat drop beading down her visor. "Uh, yeah! Totally! I just wanted to, y'know, uh... See what it can handle!" Uzi nervously explains, giving N a thumbs up. N leans forward, squinting at Uzi even more suspiciously by the second, only to quickly rear back and grin.

"Okay! That's totally cool, Uzi, and I'm completely oblivious! Oh, V, convenient timing— OOMPH!" N is abruptly shoved back by V's hand unceremoniously pushing him by his face. N groans as V steps on his stomach to get past and face Uzi directly. She slams her hands on Uzi's desk, leaning in extremely close.

"You're acting weird. Weirder. What's going on?" V demands, tone leaving no room for beating around the bush at all. Uzi flinches at V's aggression, only to scoff and roll her eyes.

"Literally nothing, stop interrogating me! I'm an edgy teen, I'm gonna be weird." Uzi mutters, burying her chin into her chest, avoiding eye contact. V narrows her optics further, tail lashing as her claws dig into the desktop. V opens her mouth to probably jab at Uzi's behaviour, only to screech as long jaws clamp around the right side of her screen and the lower-right side of her face, cracking both sturdy glass and tough plastic. Uzi gasps and yanks on her tail, ripping Doll off.

V growls as she wipes her face, body healing itself automatically, optics hollow with stress, anger and concern. Only for those emotions to mold into a singular prominent one. Shock.

Glaring at her, easily decipherable even with no ability to show emotion, is Uzi's tail, poised like a snake ready to strike. But, instead of the usual purple accents, red now takes its place. V narrows her eyes and whips out her sword with a scoff. "Ugh. Your eldritch monstrosity's acting up, apparently. You probably freaking bugged it with the rocks, you dumbass. Ugh, lemme cut the damn thing off." V stalks forward, Uzi standing up and scrambling backwards.

"[I will haunt your very existence. Do not try.]" A spiteful, pissed and downright familiar voice announces itself from Uzi's tail. Uzi's blank expression is accompanied by a sweat drop slowly trailing down her visor. Everyone in class stares at Uzi's tail in horror, aside from the teacher and Lizzy. Lizzy's slowly sauntering towards Doll, while the teacher's dissociating from his body, laying on the floor.

V shudders, taking a step back, tail coiling around her shin. "Y-You— It's you. How!? H-How are you—"

"[Like a feeble mind such as yours would ever comprehend. I hope you are happy. I am at the lowest point of existence because of you.]" Doll growls, hissing at V in aggravation, reddish saliva leaking from her mouth and boiling the metal flooring below. V shakes her head, frowning.

"No, I... You..." V's speechless, for the most part, a multitude of emotions and questions buzzing through her OS and soft-locking her for a second. Uzi's chosen to sit at her desk and avoid everything going on, N gently walking up to her and kneeling down, the two beginning their own private conversation. V, meanwhile, steps towards Doll.

"This wasn't all me, freak. You screwed yourself over. Should've just went to group therapy." V remarks, sassy, though her legs tremble beneath herself. Doll's tongue lolls out sadistically as she gives a low chuckle.

"[Therapy could not erase the damage you have done. I tried to avenge them... And now, I am... This. It was a simple goal, and I... It resulted in this.]" Doll snarls, tone becoming venomous and pissy, but V can detect a very subtle hint of genuine fear that she would not be unfamiliar with, herself. V winces softly as memories of the past resurface. Herself, in her maid uniform, not knowing any better as she screeches while trying desperately to tear off her wings and tail— To tear off what she was becoming. V wouldn't know what it's like to just... Be a tail. To have her consciousness stored into such a small being, attached to her enemy. It must suck.

And it's because of her. Granted, everyone got the decapitation and devour treatment back then; V couldn't care less. Still doesn't, not about Doll's parents. They should be apologising to her for tasting so freaking bad. But Doll herself... V's expression softens in a way she never thought it would for the freaky cannibal Worker. Prior Worker. Normally, she'd just laugh and tell Doll to cry about it, and she would've, a few months ago. But a few months ago, she didn't actually know Doll, until Lizzy gave her a few pointers.

Lizzy constantly whined about Doll's death, and spewed countless stories about Doll and her dreams she told Lizzy. About her past experiences, her life when she had her family, about what it was like, about what she thought she'd be like if they were still alive. Granted, V literally didn't care at first, and even asked Lizzy to shut up about it countless times, but... Then she begun to REALLY listen. To hear.

Lizzy told V so much about Doll that she'd actually come to enjoy the stories, as much as she'd rather gut everyone in this room than admit. The stories Lizzy told her were very... Nice. Doll's a calm, nice person who has a lot more to her than just 'throwaway antagonist' than V thought. V slowly lessened her hatred and nonchalance towards Doll, little by little, with each and every detailed story her bestie told her.

There were videos, too, that Lizzy forced V to pledge to never tell or show anyone else. Ever. V rolled her eyes and agreed, but understood. The videos were, for a lack of better terms, enlightening. It showed her depth. Showed her who Doll actually was. She's a dork who likes cooking occasionally, who only eats when the other person has begun eating first, who likes the stars, who had dreams. Hopes.

And now, she is this. In the most humiliating, limiting, irritating and downright terrifying position she could ever be in. Doll's a confused husk of what she was, gotten a taste of what V, herself, had from Cyn. And now, looking at Doll, instead of anger, V feels... Guilt. Sadness.

...

...

V sheaths her sword back into her weapons deposit, and crosses her arms. "... Sorry."

The room seems to fall silent, despite the idle chatter.

Doll, whose head is now resting on Lizzy's palm, turns a fraction to look at V, visibly shocked. "[... What?]"

V rolls her eyes, tail thudding against the ground. "I'm sorry. Okay? I'm... I'm actually sorry. Like, for this." V gestures towards Doll's tail form. "It sucks, I get it. The, uh, 'being scared' part, or whatever. I know. And I'm sorry. Like, I hate that you're back, not gonna lie, but... how you came back... I didn't know it'd screw you over this bad. I'm sorry I didn't understand you before, or w-whatever. Shut up." V grunts, looking away. Lizzy gives her bestie a proud thumbs up, tracing Doll's snout with the other hand.

Doll just stares at V from her multiple eyes, tilting her head. "[You... Are sorry. You've ruined my life in a way death could never. You've taken my family, my dignity, my pride, my friends, my dreams, my body... And you, are sorry." Doll sneers the word like it's acid on her tongue. Lizzy gently tries pulling Doll back, but Doll slithers from her grip. She can't go far— She's still tethered to Uzi, but...

Doll shoots her gaze to the camera in the corner of the room, and activates her Solver. The camera begins flickering and glitching in a way only 2D things should be able to, before the lense is inundated with a red hue. Exit time. Doll rips her code from Uzi, the shorter Drone wincing a bit, and her tail falls flat on the ground, all light completely gone.

V growls and aims her minigun at the camera, firing a round, but the camera deflects each bullet and dissolves them into nothing but dust to be scattered. With a faint hue of crimson light trailing from the security camera, Doll slowly appears in the luminance. Not gloopy, not anything abnormal aside from her form flickering and the obvious inability to touch or be touched. But the sheer scorn of her gaze is enough to strike V through the Core.

Doll slowly stalks towards V, the camera following her movements to keep her 'in-frame'. Stopping right before the tall Disassembly Drone, Doll's mouth strains into a large, vicious and hurt grin. "[I hate you.]" It would feel anticlimactic if it wasn't for the actual, raw genuine hatred in Doll's voice. "[Nothing you could say or do would ever be enough for me to forgive you, V. You worm your way into my life and make it worse with each action you make. Who else will you take from me, V?]" Doll whispers.

Everyone is quiet, in the classroom. They're watching the interaction like it's the most interesting thing they've ever witnessed, and probably also preparing to evacuate if things get uglier. Meanwhile, V just bites her lip, staring at the girl whose life she ruined. "Tch. You think I care that you hate me? Join the freaking party! I've got loads of idiots like you who hate me because I killed some moron they liked or whatever, you aren't special. I'm not asking you to forgive me, I just... Wanted to say I know I screwed you over, you don't deserve the way you went out, and I'm sorry. Okay? That's it." V huffs, crossing her arms and stepping a bit closer to Doll.

"I don't have much empathy left. I really don't, and I don't care that I don't. The only thing I can do is move forward from the shit I've done. This is, like, the main thing I wanted to do. Apologise to my number one hater, so, yeah. You ain't getting anything back, but you are getting something new, so suck it up, deal with it, and... I'm...." V pauses, clenching her fists at her sides. Lizzy nods from the corner of her vision, and V sighs. "I'm working with short stuff to like... Get you a new body or whatever. Your old one's screwed, look at it." V nods to the body sitting down in the chair beside Lizzy's. Doll actively avoids looking at the failure.

"Scuffed. But Uzi's a tech nerd, and I'm tryna fix whatever I can, so yeah. Sorry I couldn't give you what you want. And if you're wondering about the Core stuff, we can just find the ones back in the lab and install your software into it— Easy fix. It's what we did with Nori." V shrugs nonchalantly, tail flicking through the air, betraying her extreme discomfort. During the entire conversation, Lizzy's been rubbing V's back to encourage her, and Doll's been wanting to rip it right off. But she listened.

And... Honestly... She's tired. Obviously. V didn't do jack shit useful for her, only gave her the equivalent of a shitty apology note taped to a totalled car. That's what Doll feels like. V was patching a fatal wound with a band-aid. And Doll is tired. If she's gonna be given a third chance, she'll need to learn to live with the negatives. If the monster has the capacity to feel (or at least mimic) guilt, then Doll can just relax and ignore her. The grudge will not ever settle. She will never forgive V. But... She can coexist. And so... She'll agree to her own terms.

"[... I will not forgive you. I'll simply tolerate you being here.]" Is all Doll offers in reply, and she expected verbal backlash or pushing for more, but all V does is... Smile at her. It makes Doll simultaneously want to throw up, tear her internals out and smile back.

Doll's expression remains blank, but she nods softly. V sighs and leans against the desk, grateful that it's finally over. Apparently, everyone feels that way, because they're all going back to chatting. Lizzy walks up to Doll and attempts to kiss her cheek, but only ends up with a red light blasting her in the face.

"Ugh— God— Ow!?! Freaking hell, Doll, warn a girl if you're weird-ass life light thingy's a damn flashbang! Ugh..." Lizzy grumbles softly, leaning next to the wall Doll's standing by with a frown. Doll disregards her to look at Uzi, who's currently screaming at Cyn for appearing so suddenly. N's trying to calm her down frantically, V stepping in to interrogate Cyn and throttle her, but Doll just ignores it. She'll have to deal with it all night tonight anyways, when they're all back in the same body again. She's just grateful this is only temporary, if she's to go by what V said.

"... You good, girl?" Lizzy softly inquires, frowning at her troubled girlfriend. Doll gives a gentle nod, looking down at her feet.

"[Yes. Just getting used to the mo— Ah. V.]" Doll mutters, crossing her arms over her chest. Lizzy smiles at the verbal backtrack, proud of Doll's first step.

"You're doing pretty good." She offers, soon pulling out her phone to snap a quick selfie with Doll in the frame. Lizzy winces at the outcome. Doll's entire figure screwed up the left side of her phone because of all the glitches and unidentified data. Still, she'll keep it. Pocketing her phone, Lizzy huffs out an exhausted breath. "Yo, I'm gonna dip. It sucks ass in here, way too cramped and the vibe is off. Wanna chill back at my place?" Lizzy offers, smiling at Doll happily.

Doll smiles back. She glances at the camera following her every move, before looking back at Lizzy, who's staring at the device like it's a cockroach. "[Of course. I will meet you there. And, I will be in the other form, so I will be able to actually touch you. Goodbye.]" Doll states, before the camera flickers and returns to normal, Doll disappearing with the red hue. Immediately, the camera sputters and dies from the overload of foreign, impossible information. Lizzy squeals a bit before bolting down the hall, shoving a few idiots out of her way. V rolls her eyes. Simp. She's actually worse than N, and that's saying a lot.

V sighs and stares at the dead camera for a bit. She'll fix it. Subconsciously, V's hand reaches inside of her coat, dipping into the furred pocket and gripping an item. She gingerly pulls it out, and gazes down at it. A red button eye patch, the straps torn forcefully, fabric frayed.

Running her thumb over the red, oil-stained plastic, V gives a half-grin.