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A spark of light fills the expansive night sky, almost like the daytime that she thought she’d never see or feel again, bright and hot, almost blinding.
There’s a cacophony of screams and pleas for help surrounding her, so deafeningly loud yet feeling impossible to smother. Her entire body feels numb, yet fuzzy too all at the same time, as if she was back in that small stuffy library again, sitting on her legs and reading till they fell asleep and forced her to move again. She reckons she should be used to hearing screams by now, but they still startle her every single time.
She wriggles, trying to turn her body and her head with it, but her mind feels heavy. Her eyes feel like they’re being pushed into her skull, so she gives up after a few brief seconds. The screams get louder until a familiar one joins them, an old friend. A voice she’s heard every single day for however long after the month she stopped counting.
Her breath catches in her throat, and the air stills around their body. A heartbeat echoes quietly in her ears, growing louder and louder with every agonizing second that drone stares at them until, in a way that would probably be quite funny had she not been in her current state, that drone swallows her old friend’s core, and the screams alongside it.
CREEEEEEAK….
DRIP..
..DRIP..
SNAP.
She lets out a gasp, tension she never realized plagued her slowly slipping away as their body pulls itself apart, making a sickening squelch as the eldritch monstrosity that had been holding her bones snuggly in place slowly releases them and weaves its way through the metal scaffolding below. She feels her body crumble to its knees. Everything is blurry, but she can almost make out the figure of that drone swaying in front of them.
No, no please..
.. Wait..!
It’s no use fighting gravity as it claws them down. Her bones fight between staying atop the scaffolding and coming down with the rest of their body. Do they even have one anymore? She can’t feel her hands. She can’t feel her feet. The fuzziness has never been this suffocating before. All she can see is this vile, tar-like substance. Is this it? Is she going home?
She never imagined it’d be this scary. She thought maybe they’d find a nice quiet place and close their eyes for the final time, far in the future. That wouldn’t really be her style, though, would it? To go out quietly.
I want to.. Can’t I see..
Nobody replies.
In the distance, familiar voices fill her ears. But they do not call out to her. They call for the drone from earlier.
She hates this. For so long, she wanted to be rid of that robotic voice worming around in her mind. Is it weird that now she misses it? What part of it does she miss? No answer finds her.
She aches. Even in a moment like this, she can’t muster up any tears. No matter how hard she tries. There’s nothing to cry out of. Her eyes are gone, her hair, her nails, her freckled skin. She never got to say goodbye.
.
.
.
.
Tessa’s eyes gently flutter open. Her body no longer aches, but her heart continues to. She half-expected to awake somewhere nice, perhaps in a field of beautiful flowers full of color, with no walls to keep her trapped.
Well, there are no flowers, but the only walls around are crumbled and forgotten. They’re keeping nobody now. She blinks, slowly raising her hand and finding the maddening fuzziness gradually fading away from her mind. It stays away even as she carefully lifts herself onto her feet, feeling no tiredness or commands to move as she had before. Her mind is quiet.
Tessa looks around. She’s where they landed after that drone ate Cyn’s core. Is this real, or is it another foul nightmare teasing her? She closes her eyes, straining her ears to listen for even a whisper of that monotone voice. Only the windy night air replies. She can’t believe it. She’s free. No more snide remarks, no more painful memories being brought up when she least expected it. She spins around, joy swirling through her.
The stars shine back at her, as if sharing in her happiness. Her eyes sparkle in return.
“You’re sure you saw–”
“—over there?”
Murmurs of voices interrupts her delight, but they don’t dampen it. Quite the contrary. Tessa barely even realizes she’s moved before her feet carry her halfway to them.
They take her no further as fear suddenly grips her just as she’s about to spring out from behind a decrepit wall. Would they recognize her? It’s been so long, but she can’t hear Cyn anymore, and every horrible appearance choice she’d made seems to have washed itself off like blood in a river. Cyn tampered with their memory, but it seems very much like they remembered again now. She holds her breath as she steps into the light.
“N?.. V?” Tessa’s voice wobbles as the words fall out of her mouth. She’d never been good at holding back tears and this time was no different, but she’s quick to wipe them away with her hand. God, she never thought it’d feel so great to use her own stupid hand again.
Their gaze turns towards her. N’s eyes immediately brighten, the once hollow ovals on his visor switching to full ones as he lets out a squeal of delight and glides down to the platform. V lingers in the tree behind him for a few seconds, her expression still holding hesitance, but she soars down after him nonetheless.
Tessa can’t stop her tears from flowing as she chokes out a sob, but for the first time in however long, they’re truly tears of joy. She opens her arms, prepared to accept N’s usual sweet embrace, despite how shaky her legs feel right now. She blinks away the tears, smiling softly and opening her mouth once more.
“N, I..” She begins, chuckling softly at her hesitance. What could she even say? What words could make up for so much lost time? The closer her old friends get, the more she realizes it doesn’t matter at all what she says.
A burst of cold air slams into her as N passes right through her.
.. What?
Excitement slowly drains out of her as reality creeps in. No, no..
She knew it had to be too good to be true. She knew. It really should not surprise her what she finally notices when she looks over her shoulder at him. It really should not surprise her that there are no footprints accompanying her steps, and that she receives no response when she calls out for them. Neither N nor V even blink in her direction.
But that drone does. What is her name again?
“Uzi!”
Right. That.
She watches as N pulls the shorter drone into a tight hug excitedly, before being not so kindly interrupted by V. Still, though, his joy does not waver.
Tessa hates how that makes a sharp, burning pain claw into her heart. Would they have been that happy to see her?
She doesn’t pay much attention to the little skirmish they have over Uzi’s new appearance a mere moment later. Instead, her mind is racing with frankly much more important, to her at least, thoughts. Why has nobody said anything? Are they not sad she’s gone? Was she wrong, and they truly don’t have their memories of her?
Even now, Cyn still tortures her. Is this her idea of a joke? Is that why she’s still here but invisible to them? Some prank?
Tessa lets out a shaky breath. Maybe this is better. They can move on without pain—or at least less pain. Cyn looked like her, what with the whole fusion of their bodies like some sort of undead cyborg. It’s probably better this way.
Anger bubbles up inside her again almost immediately after that thought. Yeah, that would be better, wouldn’t it? They get their happy ending, and she’s stuck here drifting as some stupid ghost thing? That’s just perfect.
Tears drip down her face as despair replaces her fury just as quickly as it had arrived. She’s really going to be forgotten, huh? What a life. It was good while it lasted. She made some friends despite it all. Even if one of them ruined everything because Tessa was stupid enough to trust her.
“Eh—“ Uzi’s voice breaks through her sorrow a few seconds later, uncertainty plaguing her tone.
N turns his attention towards her and tilts his head slightly, offering a cautious, but patient smile. V only offers a brief glance.
“What about Tessa?”
Both taller drones halt immediately, but V just as quickly continues to walk again. The hollow ovals on her visor don’t stay there for long either.
“What about her?” V’s voice is dull and low in volume, sounding almost bored by the question. “She’s dead.”
“Don’t you feel.. y’know.. sad?” Uzi asks awkwardly, eyeing N as he begins to follow them again.
Neither of them reply. The only response is a huff and a murmur about getting home.
Suddenly, Tessa realizes that maybe, just maybe, things will be okay with this drone around.