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The trial room was a glitchy hellscape. The only beings left were Sora, Mikado, and Utsuro. None of them knew how long it would take until the Neo World Program shut down, they were practically stuck there for an eternity.
Sora had the choice of either sitting down with the one Akane adores or with her creator, who everyone despised, including herself.
Sora surprisingly chose the latter, hatred aside, without him she wouldn't have ever lived to see her friends having fun and hanging out. She adored her friends even if they were just for show.
The white-haired girl sits down near the bleeding-out blonde, curious and disgusted.
"Was this all worth it?"
She asks the man, not expecting a reply but shooting her shot anyway. Mikado looks up to see his beautiful creation, he tries his best to speak, yet his voice is raspy and weak.
"Y...yes..."
The man musters all his strength to get up and sit beside her, he's visibly shaking and coughing up blood, none of these concern Sora.
"Was it worth creating me?"
She asks with a tear rolling down her cheek, she knows she shouldn't be vulnerable with this freak, but she can't help it. These are her last moments, after all, it's only logical to be like this when you've been created and disregarded on the same day. The AI doesn't hesitate to answer, pushing himself a little closer to the algorithm.
"Ah... yes... surely... You've served your purpose well..."
The blonde shivers, holding onto his bullet-pierced chest as if he's trying to prevent the pain, as if he regrets being able to feel pain in the first place, he breathes out before talking again.
"Was it nice while it lasted...?"
"Yeah."
Sora doesn't bother giving him an explanation, he already knows everything he needs to....
Sora starts pondering about her utopia again, she misses them all dearly. Deep down, she wishes she had stayed, however, she's happy she didn't. She's happy she helped save her friends. She's happy Yuki gets to live through all his hardships.
All she can hope for is that the remaining get a happy ending, even Iroha. She was her friend as well, even throughout all she's done.
"Do... you miss... your utopia?"
Mikado said in between coughs, like he could read through Sora and her programmed thoughts, feelings, everything. No matter how much she hates him, she knows he knows her best.
"A little..."
Sora mumbled under her breath, certainly not in the best shape, evident by her compliance to talk to Mikado. Her answer is completely understandable to Mikado, he almost seems sympathetic.
A silence begins between the both of them, honestly, it's a surprise Mikado isn't rushing towards Utsuro any chance he gets, maybe he's too weak for that. Sora thinks about it a little before the weak wizard breaks the silence.
"Ahh....Let me show you something."
The blonde suggests, awaiting a response, to his dismay, the white-haired wasn't much of a talker. So in a bit of a struggle, he takes her hand. Sora was surprised by Mikado's sudden advance, but he got up before she could object, dragging her somewhere.
Mikado, heavily fatigued, hurried to drag Sora deeper into the place where the binary numbers flickered a strange pattern. As soon as Sora noticed, she stopped in her tracks, stunned. The wizard realized she'd never agree to such a task, how foolish of him, so he decided to take matters into his own bloody hands.
Mikado starts summoning a fiery magic circle around them both, still not letting go of his one-sided handhold. Even if it would have been practical, he liked the embrace. Her purity tainted with his disgustingly human blood. With a snap of the AI's fingers, they teleported deep into the binary.
There were no walls or stable ground, only lines of code and strings of binary numbers, resulting in them floating around.
Sora looked around the binary frantically, having no choice but to hold onto Mikado, who had experience with flying. She wasn't sure what to think, the code memorized her. It felt strangely familiar.
Mikado weakly breaks the tension with a statement, visibly proud of what he's accomplished here, which makes Sora look at him with a hint of irritation.
"This is...your source code, isn't it marvelous?"
"Huh...?"
Sora looks back at him surprised, unsure how to react, she urges him to let loose so she may explore for herself. Surprisingly, she's able to manoeuvre the place perfectly.
Sora is able to learn everything she can about herself. A complete contrast to when she believed she had amnesia, everything she is — is right in front of her very own eyes.
"The binary is beautiful, isn't it?"
Says Mikado, looking at the algorithm exploring its code, he finds her reactions endearing. Although he doesn't feel like revealing to her that he no longer has any mana. Meaning they're stuck there, together.
Forever.