Archive of Our Own ^beta

She did it.

She actually did it.

Vee thought she was bluffing. Some sort of cruel lie to convince her to work harder. Take charge and work more hours, be more entertaining to watch and delightful to speak to. Delilah was like that. Always threatening something or another with the hope that it’ll convince a Toon to do a better job. To earn more money. But she wasn’t. It wasn't one of her ways to get Toons to work harder. One of her hundreds of empty promises that everyone knew was empty the moment she spoke them into existence. This was real life. Something she put thought into. Put time and her precious money into.

How could she do this? So casually introduce Vee to a newer, better version of herself, as if it meant nothing at all? Telling her to make her feel welcome.

Welcome?

How could Vee ever make a better, flashier version of herself feel welcome? It's like looking into a mirror, but the thing that looks back at her is who Delilah had wanted her to be from the moment she opened her eyes. Not who she was. Not who she'd ever be. No matter how much code and electrical components Delilah stuffed into her, she'd never look like that. And maybe that's why Delilah chose to just replace her with an entirely new Toon, built from scratch in her stupid lab. It's far easier than the alternative: spending ages trying to fix Vee into something she wasn't. Even Delilah knew that was pretty much pointless.

Veronica had done everything in her power to try and stop this from happening. At least, she said she did. But clearly it got nowhere - because in the end, she got replaced anyway. Maybe it was meant to be that she gets replaced by something better. Bigger. Faster. Funnier. Smarter.

She had hundreds of adjectives. Millions of words she could use.

And still, she’s less than.

Imperfect.

All she could do now was sit, alone in her room, going over her cards. Questions she’d never get the chance to ask. Questions she already knows the answers to. Everyone’s eyes have been turned to the new and improved version of her. She’s flashier. Cooler. Not even near as blunt as Vee tends to be. Vee hates to admit it, but it’s nice to hold a conversation with Vee Version 2. She listens and gives good conversation. She’s always been out of place when looking at everyone else. She isn’t much more than a hundred thousand 1s and 0s, and where the others have their birthdays and their unique, biological bodies, she has her code and her metallicity. Vee Version 2 is a perfect mix of biological components and code.

Sometimes, she catches herself feeling jealous.

And every time she does, she realises why they prefer the others over her. Why everyone has stopped visiting her since. Why she's stopped getting the attention.

She sat still in her room, staring at the box stationed before her. Tape. Scissors. As if to rub salt right into the wound, Delilah asked her to help clean out her old plushies to make way for the new plushies of Vee Version 2 that'll be coming in soon. Vee ached to argue with Delilah, but she knew that arguing with a human was about as effective as a kettle with no handle. Especially with Arthur and Delilah. Any complaints go through one ear and out the other, never to be brought up ever again. Unless it threatened profits, of course. Because god forbid Gardenview lose even a penny to a Toon's mistake.

Maybe she's just being bitter. Bitter about being replaced by someone who could do her job better than she could. It's not... unreasonable, she has to admit that much at least. It's normal for workplaces to cycle through employees until they find the perfect candidate for the job. She was no different. Maybe in a few months, Vee Version 3 would come out. And then 4. 5. 6. And so on. Forever and ever. A cycle of constant innovation and betterment of the base code. Of the base Vee.

Of her.

She couldn't bring herself to tape that box shut. Because then, she'd have to actually make herself completely and utterly face the fact that she'll be as much a part of the show as Dyle is. And he's so pathetic sometimes. It made her shudder - the idea that she'll be OA now. Off-air. A Toon's biggest nightmare.

A knock at the door quickly sobers her up however, and she quickly grabs the scissors to get to work on the box, thinking maybe Veronica or someone would walk in. Only for someone completely unexpected to come inside. Glisten. Vee just sighed, getting to work without really acknowledging that he was there. The sooner she was done with this stupid box, the sooner she could get out of this conversation.

"Have you met the new you yet, Vee?" Glisten hums, standing at the door with his hands on his hips and the same smug expression Vee's come to know too well.

"Yes." Her voice was stiff. And he could tell.

He smirks. "I don't like her."

Vee's attention immediately turns entirely to Glisten, studying him with surprise. That made... no sense. There was every reason to prefer the new version of her more than... her. Vee Version 2 was everything she wasn't. Everything she couldn't be, no matter how hard she tried.

"You're being stupid again."

"God forbid I prefer the original over the remake," Glisten huffs, crossing his arms as he steps inside. "The first version of everything is always the best. Search it up in that fancy little search engine of yours, and you'll know it for sure."

Vee just shakes her head, getting back to work on taping the box shut. "Thank you for the flattery, but it's unnecessary."

"I'm not here to flatter you," he bites back, stepping up right in front of her. She could tell by the look in his eyes that he was up to something - and whether that something was good was up for debate.

"It's Christmas." he starts, his voice low. "You know? The time for giving gifts and celebrating and whatever else Bobette constantly drones on about."

Vee barely has time to respond before Glisten holds his hand out. There, in the palm of his hand, a USB stick. Marked with tape as Vee Version 2's code for the trivia shows.

"I know you don't really have the ability to do game shows that well anymore, and it was your favourite thing in the world to prepare." he murmurs. "So I thought it'd be good to get you this. So that you can go back to planning them. Even if nobody will see them except you. And maybe me. If you're willing, of course. I'd love to be a guest star on your show much more than on hers."

Vee was never good with emotion, but she could feel it. She could feel it, even if she could never really process it the way everyone else around her does. She slowly - reluctantly - takes the USB stick, studying it.

"Where'd you get this?"

"...Delilah's office."

"What?!" Vee exclaims. "You idiot! Go put this back, quickly, or-"

"I know, she'll lose her head." Glisten sighs. "I don't really care. Not like she's gonna go looking for it, you know? At least not now, with Christmas here. Probably only once Bobette and the others start isolating again. So until then, you have creative reign."

Vee didn't really know what to say. Glisten was willingly putting himself right in the line of sight of Delilah's short temper for what? To prove something? To make her feel better? Since when does he care about any of that?

"So?" Glisten gestures to the stick. "Come on. Think up some trivia for me. Don't make me fall asleep where I'm standing, haha!"

Vee smiles slightly, shutting the door behind her and plugging the stick right into the side of her head. Blinking a few times, the new information comes flooding right in. A plethora of new information, all ripe to turn into trivia questions. She didn't realise she was smiling until Glisten pointed it out.

"Are you going to stand there smiling, or quiz me?"

Vee, smirking, grabs her microphone, holding it up to her face. Even if it was off and not connected to anything, it was a habit she didn't want to break.

"Okay, then. Glisten, tell me... what's the largest ocean on our planet..."