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Thorn was simply sitting alone at her table and clicking at her laptop with her headphones on. What was she meant to be doing? Before the incident, she'd be working on a song. But she knows she can't do that anymore.
At table next to her was a girl she couldn't simply not notice. Her hair was a purplish pink, and was curled to make her look like some sort of cartoon princess. She was wearing a pastel pink cardigan over a light blue sailor uniform-style shirt and had on a frilly pastel skirt and star leggings. Her face was obscured by a mask and those makeup glasses, but her eyeshadow was impressively bold. Was she going to some kind of convention later on?
The style seemed terribly familiar. "Dreamy-cute", as Sweet-P used to say. Maybe Sweet-P should meet this woman. The two would really get along.
"Ichika?" The waiter called, and both Thorn and the woman next to her got up. Upon noticing the confusion, the waiter just called out "227".
Thorn checked her order number. 239. It wasn't her? The dreamy-cute woman went up to the counter and got her drink- a pink lemonade- and went back to... Thorn?
"I can't believe we have the same name, isn't that so cute~?" She smiled. She immediately began to notice her voice sounded a little raspy, and cleared her throat a little before awkwardly shutting up.
What Thorn was really thinking was "That's my name. Why do you have it?" But it's not like she could say that. She didn't own the name.
"Kind of," Thorn huffed. Her own voice didn't sound so good either.
"By the way, I noticed you staring earlier. Were you by any chance checking me out-?"
"No."
God, this girl was a pain.
"I'm just teasing! I get stared at a lot, I understand..."
"Is that a μ keychain on your purse? You're awfully bold to be wearing one of those after... you know." Thorn pointed out.
"So are you," Ichika pointed to the sticker on her laptop next to the mousepad. Thorn immediately shut her laptop down after that, "Were you a victim of the Astral Syndrome incident?"
"I was."
"Me too! But even after all that happened, I don't want to give up on μ. It's not her fault. I mean- it was but she's a good girl. She won't do it again."
"Besides rumour has it she was being manipulated by someone."
"She definitely was."
That was an awfully certain response. The only way Ichika could be so sure μ was being manipulated would be if she used to be either a Go-Home club member or an Ostinato Musician.
Wait a minute-- was Ichika, Sweet-P!?
"By any chance," Thorn asked, "Are you a Doll-P?"
"Huh? What gave it away?"
"Sweet-P!? What are you doing here?"
Sweet-P was about to shout in shock, but remembered to lower her voice to a whisper not draw any attention-
"And I go here every day. What are you doing here, Thorn?"
Thorn turned away- knowing that Sweet-P had asked a much better question. Anyone would be shocked. The former mastermind of the Astral Syndrome incident who had gone completely missing after everyone had woken up was suddenly back in town. Regardless, Thorn tried to dodge the question.
"You look exactly the way I imagined you to." Thorn huffed.
"So do you." Sweet-P agreed.
The two stared at each other for silence for a second. But Thorn noticed Sweet-P hesistating to say something.
"Are you by any chance- Have you, uhh- Do you... Are you-- like-- Are you transgender too?" Sweet-P muttered, keeping the word "transgender" at a whisper.
Thorn sighed. If she were tell anyone this, it might as well be Sweet-P.
"I'm not transgender, but I wasn't a girl. I've been on estrogen and gotten surgeries to look like this. It's for witness protection."
Sweet-P began laughing and coughed on her pink lemonade.
"Stop drawing attention to us!" Thorn hissed, "What's so funny?"
Sweet-P couldn't even answer, and her words were incomprehensible through her laughter. Eventually she calmed down, and was able to breathe steadily.
"Out of curiosity, what gave it away?" Thorn asked. Although it was probably pretty obvious. Her unnaturally deep voice and broad figure made her seem a little different from any other woman. But wait, Sweet-P said "since I met you in Mobius"..? How could she have suspected anything then?
"It takes one to know one," Sweet-P answered, "But you transitioned for witness protection?"
"It worked out in the end. And that's what matters. I'm Saotome Ichika now, and the Astral Syndrome incident never happened. That being said, why are you suddenly going by Ichika?"
"I didn't like my birth name so I decided to change it. I got the name 'Ichika' from a book I was reading. I didn't notice you'd come up with the same one."
"It's a lovely name."
"I know. That's probably why you're using it too. Where'd you get it from?"
"An old friend."
Thorn's order number was called, and she got up from the seat to get her drink. While she was at the counter, Sweet-P quickly snuck a look at her laptop screen. Thorn was checking the activity on her YouTube channel!
Her activity was plummeting, and she was losing views and hits like Virtuadoll fans during the Astral Syndrome incident. Guess she must have felt a little bad about it even if she'd abandoned that old channel.
"Man, it sucks that no-one listens to us anymore~" Sweet-P whines as Thorn comes back with her black coffee, "Doll-Ps these days are dropping like dead flies, and people are avoiding everything virtuadoll related! You know that game Project Mobius that I wanted to play? It shut down due to boycotts!"
"They don't even play my songs in department stores anymore. I'm surprised you're still active yourself."
"Of course I am! I love being a Doll-P. Maybe I'll need to get a new vocalist for my songs, though. But I can't sing with this voice. And I can't afford to pay a professional singer!"
"Speaking of singers," Thorn switched the tab on her laptop and searched for a channel. She opened to an utattemita video of Distorted Happiness, "It seems like this new utaite has shown up."
She took her airpods out of her purse and handed one to Sweet-P, and they both played the video. The singer had her face obscured by shadow, with only her side profile at the mic visible- the way many utaites do. The production quality of the video was sub-par, but her voice was beautiful. Overflowing with emotion. With power.
"She's really good..." Sweet-P remarked, "Imagine if she surpasses the original."
"That won't happen." Thorn chuckled. Even with the virtuadoll fandom disappearing, Thorn's songs were still legendary. The new utaite had only showed up a month ago and had around 30 views.
Sweet-P clicked on the channel description. All it read was "channel for new virtuadoll 'Regret'."
"Some kind of roleplay thing?" Thorn muttered to herself, "Bold of her to claim to be a virtuadoll after what happened."
"People seem to be into it." Sweet-P replied, "It's the same aesthetic without the whole actually falling into comas thing."
Maybe this was going to be the future of the virtuadoll fandom. Soon, μ would fade into obscurity. And she'll disappear from the Metaverse-Es. Would that feel like dying to her? Would she sing and fight as she disappeared?
That kind of idea sparked a song in Thorn's mind. She could hear it so clearly. μ crying out in pain, getting out all her feelings as fast as possible. It was perfect, way too perfect.
"The Disappearance of μ"