Chapter Text
She tries to stop him.
Truly, she tries.
She tries to give him every possible hint to leave his cell and escape this prison.
However, despite everything, the second his chains come off, he goes into her cell.
If she still had the half of Zane’s heart in her chest, she is certain she would feel it sink inside her. As she hears Zane’s triumphant “I’m through! Now, let’s get out of here!” But all she can do is adjust her hologram, ensuring that its appearance is strong. Still. Not showing the inevitable consuming despair…
She cannot succumb to despair. Not yet.
Not when she has one more thing left to do.
“Pixal, you’re…you’re–”
“Scrapped,” she finishes for him. “I know.”
“Pixal…I don’t…I…” He stammers. He reaches out his hand to grab the lifeless husk of a hand that was once Pixal’s own. Miraculously, it is still intact and on the table beside the monitor. Zane intertwines his fingers with it while she speaks. “I don’t understand, Pixal.” To her surprise, a tear gathers in one of his eyes. “Why…why…”
Why did you lie to me?
Pixal is caught off-guard. She scrambles for an answer. All she can think of is the truth.
“I couldn’t tell you. Not when you needed to get out of here.” She fights to keep her voice from slipping…to prevent her avatar from showing her true feelings, but it glitches slightly on the screen and she cannot stop all of the sadness from seeping into her voice. “Sadly, this is where my journey ends. But not for you.” She tells him that he must find his friends and stop Chen, infusing the only confidence she has a firm command of into her voice. “I know you have it in you.” That is the truth. It’s easy to say. “Don’t worry about me.” Pixal hesitates. A thought lingers. Words she could say. I will always be a part of you. But something holds her from saying them. Remember, Pixal, she tells herself. You have only known him for a few months. What he has done in that time meant so much to you…but you have not existed for that long and he has lived much longer. Experienced much more of the world. Lived as a human feeling their emotions, dreaming their dreams for years before he met her. He changed her life, undoubtedly. But did she change his?
No, she couldn’t have. Or, if she did, it would matter little. Pixal’s thoughts—despite lacking a physical processor—work at lightning-speed, retracing the swirling mental patterns that haunted her ever since she formed her plan to ensure Zane’s escape.
Zane will live. I will not. Zane is a hero, loved by all. He has an elemental power. He has done so many incredible things…he will not remember me. I’m just an assistant. I do not matter. Not to him. And, if I do, I won’t for much longer. He will forget. He must. Pixal feels a sharp prick of sadness at these thoughts. She quickly crushes it. You knew this. You knew this from the beginning that this was temporary. Zane cares for everyone. He just happened to show you concern because you were there. He is a ninja and he will always be. He does not have time for you.
Those tangled thoughts collect themselves in mere nanoseconds as Pixal refocuses on the nindroid in front of her.
“I know you can,” she continues. She makes sure to look him in the eyes. “You have conquered every challenge before you with kindness and grace. I am certain you will conquer this one too.”
As Pixal finishes speaking, Zane decides to move his hand to brush the monitor screen instead. Instinctively, Pixal moves her avatar’s hand to meet his. Zane looks down at their two hands, connected only through illusion.
“Pixal, I don’t want to leave you…” The tear falls, slipping down his face. Pixal’s avatar’s lips part and she cannot stop them. Oh, Zane. She wants to push through the screen and wrap him in a big hug, tell him that it doesn’t matter, he’ll forget about her in a few months, it’s just his miraculous programming driving him to protect the innocent. I will be alright. I will rest in peace knowing that you are free. That you made it out. Just as she decides to voice these words, she and Zane hear a rattle of keys—right outside Zane’s cell. If they had been talking, it would have been inaudible. But, now, in the silence, it is piercing.
“Zane!” Pixal withdraws her avatar’s hand from the screen. “You have to go!”
“Pixal…” Zane’s voice is almost pleading. “I don’t…I…” They hear a soft clatter as the nearby door opens. Pixal hears Clouse whisper, “He’s not here! Check the girl’s.”
“Zane, if you don’t get out of here now, you’ll be scrapped too. Zane, please!” Pixal is now the one who pleads. “For me.” At this, Zane’s eyes soften. He leans down over the monitor and presses a soft kiss against the screen. Pixal is so shocked her avatar glitches. But Zane does not see this. He turns and slips through the bars between their cells and back into his own as Clouse and a guard come through the door.
“Where is he?” The little man hisses. Pixal grits her avatar’s teeth.
I have to buy Zane time.
“He’s gone,” Pixal says. “Next time, you had better acquire thicker chains.”
“We can see that!” Clouse hisses. He advances to her monitor and leans down towards it. Pixal can see every hair on his wrinkled face. Everything inside of her wants to lean away from the weasel-man, but she is trapped. Trapped in the monitor. The only thing she can do is glare back. “Where is he?”
Pixal forces out a laugh, hoping it sounds convincing.
“Too far for you to catch.”
Clouse slams his fists on the table. Pixal’s former hand shifts. Pixal wishes that it would come to life and strangle the man before her. Unfortunately, it does not. She has never been magic. Never had a mysterious otherworldly power. And, now, she certainly never will.
“I can take you apart, little girl. Rip into you and make you suffer. Where is he?” Pixal rolls her eyes.
“Oh, really?” Her avatar leans forward, a smirk on its lips. “Look at me. You really think you can do anything worse to me than Chen, Ronin, and the Mechanic did? Ha!” He flinches. Pixal cannot resist breaking her avatar’s smirk into a grin. “Your colleagues have put me through Hell and back. I have nothing left to lose. Do you know what this means? Of course you don’t. You have a below average IQ.” At this, Clouse fumes. The guard beside him suppresses a snicker. “You can’t do anything to me except kill me. So, why don’t you? Just pull the plug, smash the machine, it’s right here.” At this, Clouse’s face stiffens. Is that…fear? Has Pixal made a villain afraid? This would give her a flicker of pride if not for the nagging worry that Zane might be in the cell beside them. What if he heard all this? No, he couldn’t have. He’s surely gone by now, isn’t he?
Clouse scoffs, straightening his face into a hard scowl.
“You’re right, girl. There’s nothing but death left for you. But I won’t give it to you yet.” He leans towards the monitor one final time with a yellow-toothed sneer. “It’s far too good for a rat like you.”
“At least rats have a high intelligence, which is something you clearly lack.” Pixal cannot help herself. Clouse turns back to her, his face creasing in rage.
“You little—”
Clouse lunges for the monitor and the guard pulls him back.
“Master, remember what Chen said. We still might use her.”
“Right,” Clouse brushes off his fancy purple cloak with a snarl. “Enjoy your rotting, girl.” And with that, he slams the cell door behind him, leaving Pixal all alone in the crumbling prison.