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Morty warmed up to Prime pretty fast, chatting with him, venting to him, and Prime did his part too. He would comfort him after fights with Rick and give him answers in school when he was actually in his classes instead of adventures. Prime also played the devil on his shoulder too, insisting that Morty kill his bullys, or shoplift, those kinds of things.
Prime still had his main goal though, he didn’t forget that. Every time Rick displayed his drunken antics, forced Morty on adventures, or voiced his anger at Morty, he was there whispering in his ear.
“He still hasn’t apologized for the other day, but let’s be real, when has he ever apologized?”
“Pulling you out of school again? When was the last time you went to a full week of school?”
“He’s really ripping into you this time, huh? It’s kinda funny because it’s actually his fault, but his pride and ego won’t allow him to see that.”
“Taking care of this giant drunk child again? You know he’ll never say thank you for this, right? You’re a child, Morty, why should you have to take care of an adult?”
A few weeks passed like this, bonding with Morty, pushing him to see the fucked up reality of his situation, then comforting him when he would breakdown. He used those moments, when Morty was in a vulnerable state, to his advantage.
“I know, peanut, I wish I could wipe your tears, don’t cry, he’s not worth your tears.”
“If I had a physical body, I’d go beat up that shitty knock off you call grandpa. Then I’ll be your real grandpa.”
“Don’t think about that asshole and his bullshit adventures, kiddo. Instead, how about you imagine an adventure you want to go on, imagine if you could leave and go anywhere you wanted without him, just us 2.”
Prime filled his head with sweet fantasies of fun adventures and showered him with nicknames, comfort, praise, and affection. Everything Morty wished he got from Rick, and Prime knew this.
On restless nights, which was most nights, he would hum “grandma’s melody”(that’s what Morty liked to call it), to help Morty sleep. It’s to the point he has it memorized and will find himself humming it while he does school work or doing chores in the sub basement.
One day, while he was down there, Prime pointed out a door to the side and played Morty’s curiosity against him. Morty wanders over and sees the key pad.
“I don’t think I know the code for this one.”
“But I do. Watch.”
Morty watched as Prime walked over and traced out the code, Morty curiously stepped forward and copied what Prime put in and was shocked when the door actually opened.
“How’d you know the code?”
“I know all Ricks use the same codes, just like how I know you’ll find a bunch of tubes all labeled booger_aids in that room.”
Morty gave him a confused look, then he stepped inside and saw the walls of the circular room lined with an assortment of colored tubes, and they were all labeled some variation of booger_aids, just like Prime said. He picked one up and turned it over in his hands, a shiny tube, and a red glowing light inside. It kinda looked like one of those plasma globes he saw on a school trip to a science museum.
“What are they?”
“Why don’t you see for yourself.”
Prime stood beside a helmet like device with a spot that looked like it would fit the tube. Morty looked at it cautiously before picking it up.
“This isn’t going to zap my brain and kill me or something if I put it on, right?”
“Of course not, I’d never put you in harm's way, peanut, trust me.”
Morty put the helmet on and stood still for a second, waiting for something to happen, then breathed out a sigh of relief as he realized he was still alive.
“See? What’d I tell you?”
“So do I just stick this in the helmet?”
Morty grabbed the red tube and examined it further.
“Hold on, might wanna sit down first, kiddo. We don’t need you cracking the back of your head open.”
Morty climbed onto the chair in the middle of the room and looked at Prime, who gave him a thumbs up. He took a deep breath and stuck the memory tube into place. Morty fell limp in the chair, eyes rolled back as the memory played in his mind. Prime watched in anticipation, eager for Morty to wake up and see the expression he’ll have on his face.
‘Will be disgusted? Maybe scared? I hope it’s something traumatizing, maybe he’ll cry.’
Morty woke up and took the helmet off, he put the memory tube and helmet back to their spots. He took a glance around the room, almost like he was contemplating viewing another one, he chose not to and then promptly left. As he walked out of the memory room, the door shut behind him, he leaned against it before sliding down to the floor.
Prime, masking his excitement under a worried face, leaned over to catch a glimpse of Morty’s face. His eyes were wide and wet, tears threatening to fall, lips held in a taut line, he looked as if he could throw up. Fear, denial, realization, anger. He looked utterly broken.
A shiver ran down his spine and Prime had to cover his mouth to hide the twisted smile that spread across his face. This was better than anything he could’ve hoped for. He thought Morty would be a mess after a few memories, but this, this was so much better. Whatever that memory was, to elicit such a reaction, it must’ve been horrific. Prime only wished he could’ve seen it too.
He composed himself and crouched beside Morty.
“Hey, kiddo, you don’t look so hot. Tell grandpa what’s going on, huh?”
At that, Morty breaks down, hysterical sobbing, clutching at his chest, curling in on himself on the ground.
“I-I can’t anymore, I can’t DO IT ANYMORE! I don’t wanna make any more fucking excuses for Rick!”
Morty sobbed, his whole body shook while he cried, it really was pathetic. Prime watched him cry and curse Rick for a little longer before acting. It was finally time to start the plan. The beginning of the end.
Prime wrapped his arms around Morty, the familiar buzz across Morty’s skin calms him down enough to hear his words.
“Then let’s leave, Morty. I want to take you away from this, you deserve so much better than this. Let grandpa help you. We’ll get you far far away from that asshole Rick and be free from his abuse.”
Morty looked up at Prime, imagining a life away from Rick and his family. He’s thought about it before but he never dwelled on it due to guilt about thinking like that.
“I don’t know if I can, if Rick finds out, he’ll-I’ll be- I’m not- I can’t!”
“Yes you can, peanut! You’re my grandson! And that means you’re the bravest, strongest, most able Morty. You don’t have to be scared, your grandpa’s the smartest man in the multiverse, remember?”
Morty wiped his tears away onto his shirt, taking a few deep breaths before standing up, Prime stood in front of him.
“You still scared, peanut?”
Morty shook his head and moved closer to lean against his chest. As his forehead phased through Prime, a new pang of hurt flowed through his chest.
“I wish you could hug me.”
The words slipped out before Morty could stop them, he could feel his ears burn up at his confession. In a family like his, and his dynamic with Rick, the only time he’s gotten anything close to a genuine hug is when he got tackled.
He just wanted to feel loved, to be wanted, and the one person who has made him feel like that, like he wasn’t a tool or a nuisance, couldn’t even hug him. He was, quite literally, only in Morty’s head. It was so pathetic, like some sick joke, he felt like crying all over again.
“Grandpa will figure something out, peanut. Let’s worry about getting you out of here first, yeah?”
“Ok.”
“And hey, while we’re down here, go down a few levels, find a large metal cabinet, and inside we’ll find something that’ll be a big help in the plan.”
Morty follows Prime’s instructions and opens the cabinet to find the inside door panel lined with portal guns. They were all slight variations of Rick’s in design but worked all the same.
“Take your pick, kiddo. I would teach you how to make your own, but we don’t have the materials, and it’s about time you started taking back from that shitty grandpa, don’t you think?”
“You’re right.”
Morty grabbed a smaller portal gun, more pistol shaped than Rick’s, it had what looked like a bulb at the end of the barrel, and a dial on the side to put in coordinates. The green cylinder of portal fluid sat on top and there were green accents on the sides of the portal gun unlike the other sleeker designs.
He turned it over in his hands before sliding it into his pocket, and grabbing a few replacement vials of portal fluid.
“Good call, kiddo, it’d be bad we ran out and we don’t wanna make any more trips down here than necessary.”
Morty finished up the rest of his chores and made his way out of the sub-basement. Rick was slumped over his workbench, definitely intoxicated. Morty glanced over at him and left the garage.
“Not my job to take care of that drunk idiot.”
“That’s the right kinda thinking, peanut!”
Prime theatrically wipes a tear away with his hand.
“They grow up so fast!”
Morty smiled at the praise, he almost felt giddy.
“Heheh, you’re being dumb.”
He made his way up to his room and laid down on the floor, he was too gross to lay in bed right now after his chores. Prime followed and laid down beside him.
“You said you had a plan, if I wanted to leave, right?”
“Yep, I guess you’re ready to hear it?”
Morty pulled the stolen portal gun out and held it up to the light, watching the portal fluid slosh around in the cylinder.
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
“Okay, listen closely. This won’t be a one night operation unfortunately, our main obstacle right now is still Rick. He’s got trackers and implants on you that’ll cause trouble for us if they stay in, so that’s the first thing we have to do, but don’t worry, grandpa’s got someplace in mind that’ll take care of that for us.”
“Okay, implants first.”
“Next, we have to get materials. I can’t have you traveling with Rick’s portal gun for too long. He’ll notice at some point and he can check previous coordinates. You’ll have to collect materials on adventures with Rick when you can, and we’ll get the missing ones with this portal gun by ourselves.”
“Okay.”
“Once we have everything, I’ll guide you through making your own portal gun and fluid, so that Rick won’t be able to trace us. After that, you’re free. Pretty simple right?”
“You really think I can do all this?”
“What have I said before, kiddo?”
“That I'm your grandson. And that means I’m the strongest, bravest, most able Morty?”
“That’s right! You’re my grandson, aren’t you?”
“I am.”
“And I’m your grandpa, aren’t I?”
“Yeah. You’re my grandpa.”
“Then that’s it. You can do it. Grandpa has his plan all thought out and he knows his grandson can do it. No more if’s or but’s.”
Morty smiled, this trust in his ability and praise made a warmth spread through his chest.
‘I can do this.’
“So when do we get the implants out?”
Prime chuckled and stood up, leaning over to stare at Morty.
“You’ve got a lot of stuff we need to take out, so we’re gonna need a large chunk of time. We can’t have Rick wondering where you are so he needs to be wasted.”
“Then let’s do it tonight! Rick’s already halfway to wasted anyways.”
“Are you sure, peanut? I think you’ve went through plenty today.”
“Yeah, the faster we get through the plan, the sooner we can leave.”
“Okay. If you’re ready, then we can do it tonight. You know what you gotta do now right?”
“Yeah.”
Morty made his way downstairs and into the living room, he pulled a series of book spines from the book shelf and revealed a hidden cabinet for Rick’s liquor. He grabbed 2 of the strongest bottles of alien liquor in there and entered the garage to see Rick with a few open bottles around him already.
“Hey, Rick. Umm, mom found your stash in the bookshelf, I told her it was a bunch of poison so she wouldn’t drink it. I thought I should bring it to you so you could hide it.”
He sets the bottles right by Rick’s head and receives a few incoherent mumbles. He could make out his excitement for more alcohol though.
“Yeah, Rick, liquor.”
He left Rick to drink, and went to watch interdimension cable, waiting for him to be drunk enough to leave. A few hours have passed, it’s dark out now, and everyone else in the house has already gone to sleep. Morty popped his head into the garage, Rick was laying on the floor, mumbling to himself and still drinking.
“It’s really pathetic how all these inferior Rick’s turn to alcohol. Couldn’t cope with their genius, unlike the original, and had to find comfort in drinks. What do you say, kiddo? Let’s get outta here.”
Morty nodded and went upstairs to his room, pulling the portal gun out from under his bed. Prime gave him the dimension coordinates and Morty was stepping through a portal. On the other side, he sees a giant fortress, like an evil wizard’s castle out of a fantasy book.
“This is the place?”
“Yep, and this place is laced with traps so you have to be careful, kiddo. I’ll guide you through.”
Morty moved through the halls of the fortress cautiously with Prime’s instructions.
“False floor, stay to the side of the wall for a few feet.”
“Only step where I’m stepping for this section.”
“You gotta crawl across to the door at the end to avoid activating the trap here.”
Halfway down the third corridor, Morty looked back to ask Prime a question.
“You seem to know this pla-“
Then in an instant everything went black, and he opened his eyes to find himself, on the ground, coughing up fluid onto the cold metal floor of the sub-basement. He pulled off the electrodes stuck to his head and body. It took a second to remember what happened.
‘Fuck, I wasn’t paying attention, I died, a trap killed me. I lost the portal gun.’
He stumbled as he stood up, looking around the room filled with large tanks that held copies of him and Rick, Operation Phoenix. He walked over to the closet with spare clothes for them and got dressed.
“What do we do now?”
After waiting for an answer that didn’t come, he realized the lack of Prime’s presence since he’d awoken. Panic starts to sink into his chest.
‘Did Operation Phoenix cause him to disappear. He said it was a chip in my brain, so did dying mean that the chip was gone? Did it mean that Rick, his grandpa, was gone? Forever?’
He fell to the floor, knees slamming into the cold metal floor.
‘No, no, no, no, no, please, no. I can’t do this without him. I just got him, and now he’s gone.’
His eyes stung with tears, and he tried to blink them away, unsuccessfully, and they streamed down his face and fell onto the floor.
“What about our plans?”
“What about them, peanut?”
Morty whipped his head up to see Prime crouched in front of him. He reached out, only for his hand to phase through his knee and that light buzz spread across his hand.
“I thought you disappeared! I thought I lost you forever!”
He fully sobbed now, relief washing over him as he sat up.
“I hate you, what took you so long to appear!’
“Hey, kiddo, c’mon, I can’t control how fast I manifested over here. Don’t hate grandpa, okay? He didn’t mean to scare you. Don’t cry, you’re making grandpa feel like a piece of shit. Grandpa’s really sorry, peanut.”
Morty had rubbed his eyes red while crying, his nose was running and he couldn’t stop sniffling. He was a mess.
“So you’re not gonna disappear?”
“No, of course not, buddy. I couldn’t leave you trapped in this shit hole with that knock off me.”
Morty wiped his face on his shirt.
“I lost the portal gun.”
“I could build another portal gun, kiddo, I can’t build another you.”
“I messed up. I ruined the plan.”
“You’re a kid, kids mess up, and nothing’s ruined, we just have to change the plan a little.”
“You’re not gonna blame me?”
“I should’ve warned you earlier. You didn’t know what traps were there. How could it be your fault?”
“How can you be the same person as Rick and be so different?”
“Because I’m your grandpa.”
Morty wipes his eyes and smiles brightly at Prime.
“Yeah, you’re my grandpa.”
He stands up and looks around the room.
“Well, what do we do now, gramps?”
“Well, kiddo, the plan has changed a bit. We’re not heading back to that dimension, cause now we don’t really have to. Since you got rerouted and put into this fresh new body, it doesn’t have as many implants, mostly childproofing which is fine to keep. We only have to worry about the tracker in your arm and leg. Other than that, the rest of the plan is the same.”
“Okay. Then what about the trackers?”
“We gotta remove them ourselves, it’s the easiest way.”
“Okay.”
Prime was shocked at how fast he responded. He didn’t think he would agree so quickly to essentially performing surgery on himself. He was fully trusting of Prime at this point, completely committed to the plan.
“I’ll help you get stuff for it, but first, since we’re already down here, we might as well knock out 2 birds with one stone.”
He turned towards the tanks of Morty clones.
“If you shut them off, you’ll never have to worry about coming back here if you die. We’ll be more careful and set up contingencies for you once you’re free.”
Morty walked over to the control panels for his tanks and with Prime’s guidance, he deactivated all his clone tanks. They would die in a couple hours and become nothing more than wet specimens in a day.
Prime watched with glee as Morty willingly shut off all his clones. Morty just keeps surprising him with his unwavering trust and loyalty. This was so much easier than he ever thought it would be. All he had to do was to keep saying the right words and Morty would just keep sinking into the honey pot that was Prime’s lies.
Morty turned back around and smiled at Prime.
“Did I do good, gramps?”
“You did amazing, peanut. Now let’s go steal from that shitty old man.”
Morty swiped another portal gun, a healing salve, a laser scalpel, pain killers, and disinfectant. After a very quick surgery on himself with guidance from Prime, the 2 trackers were out. The pain killers made him numb to any pain, and the salve he applied helped to leave behind no scars. After cleaning up and showering, he laid in bed, tired from everything that happened. Prime sat on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed.
“Step 1 of the plan is done. How long do you think it’ll take for step 2?”
“Like I said before, it’s not a one night mission. Depending on how often Rick takes you on adventures, if the dimension you’re in has the materials we need, and if we have to make solo trips to get some. We’re looking at anywhere from a few weeks to a month or 2.”
“Hmmmmm-”
“I know you want to leave as soon as possible, kiddo, but leaving unprepared isn’t smart.”
“Hmmmm, I know.”
“Do you want your grandma’s melody to help you sleep?”
“Yes.”
Morty immediately pulls the covers around himself and gets comfortable.
“You’re too old for lullabies, you know that?”
“It’s not a lullaby, this is pretty much the same as white noise!”
“Are you comparing me to background noise, you little rascal?”
Morty whined and flashed his wide eyes and pouting lips.
“Please~?”
“That doesn't work on me, kiddo, but nice try, very cute.”
“But I’ve been through so much today, can’t I have something nice?”
Prime scoffed and turned around to look at him.
“Wooow, emotional manipulation, you really are my grandson. Fine, but I want to be called something other than gramps, I mean it’s fine, it fits, but it makes me sound old. I didn’t make myself look perpetually 30 for no reason.”
Prime thought about it for a minute.
“Pops, I’ll occasionally allow pop-pop.”
Morty stifled his laughter with his blanket.
“And what are you laughing about, huh?”
“How does that make you sound any younger?”
“I don’t hear you giving any ideas, Mr.Giggles."
“I think I’ll stick with gramps.”
Prime turned back around and laid his head back against the bed with a defeated sigh.
“You’re lucky you went through a lot today, you little menace. Now close your eyes and go to sleep.”
Morty didn’t argue further, closing his eyes as the familiar melody filled the room.
—-
A month flew by, Morty getting dragged along on adventures by Rick as usual, but now he’s more attentive, looking around and taking the time to search for what he needs. Sometimes he’s lucky and it’s just a mineral lying around, other times he has to swipe it off a stand because he can’t have Rick finding out.
He’s gotten way better at shoplifting now, distracting the shop owner and skillfully tucking it away into his clothes. Prime praises him every time he successfully gets away with it, which has caused him to shoplift on earth. This new kleptomaniac side of him is definitely Prime’s fault, but it’s helped with the pace of gathering materials.
Morty stares out the window of the ship as Rick flies it back to earth. His mind drifts, listing off all the material he’s collected in his head. He absentmindedly starts to hum his grandma’s melody. Rick’s body goes rigid when he hears Morty humming, recognizing a melody he hasn’t heard in a long time.
“Morty.”
Morty is pulled from his thoughts and looks over at Rick.
“Yeah, Rick?”
“Where did you hear that song? How do you know it?”
Prime, who was hovering right over Morty’s shoulder, was delighted as he watched Rick’s face. A mix of grief, anger, sadness, and delicious pain. Dead for months and he was still mentally torturing Rick. He had to hold back a laugh as he watched him stare down Morty.
‘Wow, he’s this worked up over a song, imagine if he knew I was living in his grandson’s head and turning Morty against him.’
“I just heard it from somewhere, I’m not sure.”
Morty held back from fidgeting with his hands, he didn’t want to show he was nervous, it’d be suspicious. Rick didn’t look like he was playing around and Morty didn’t feel like dealing with his outbursts right now.
“I’ll stop if you don’t like it.”
“You didn’t JUST hear it. That’s not JUST any song, Morty!”
Morty backed up against the car door, watching Rick carefully.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Rick! It’s just a song!”
Rick stopped the ship, earth was visible, but instead they floated through space.
“Don’t lie to me, Morty! Where did you hear that song!”
Morty got angry at this point, he was backed into a corner and he couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Why does it matter! You’re getting angry over a-a few notes! Grow up!”
Rick stared at him, eyes wide, and maybe he realized how crazy he seemed, getting that angry with no context. He turned the ship back on and they soon landed back in the garage. Before he could say anything to Morty, he pushed the door open and ran into the house. As he watched the door to the kitchen slam behind him, his chest swirled with anger and regret, and he only knew one way to deal with it. He pulled out his flask and took a long swig from it before exiting the ship.
Morty slammed the door to his room and flopped onto his bed, prime sat beside him.
“Why was he so worked up about grandma’s melody? You said it was her favorite song, right?”
“Yeah, that and she composed it. It was something she made for Beth when she was a baby, to help her fall asleep. It was usually just random humming until she noticed Beth would fall asleep quicker to certain melodies and she just went from there, and then she had her own melody.”
“So Rick got angry because it was something from Diane?”
Morty rolled over onto his back and laughed.
“Fucking typical. Still hung up on his dead wife after 30 years, even after killing you. Taking it out on everybody else.”
Prime thought he’d feel bad for Rick, but this, this was beyond what he expected. He knew he was great at mind games, but Morty’s completely sick of Rick now.
‘And it’s all because of me.’
He hid his smile as Morty stood up and pulled out a box from under his bed. It had all the materials he’s been collecting over the past month and a check list. He grabbed the list, looking it over and checking everything was there.
“One more item. Let’s get it tonight. Rick’s probably drinking right now and he’ll continue to drink til he can’t feel anything. I’ve waited long enough.”
—-
“Hey, kid! You can’t be back here!”
Before the alien could take a step forward a massive hole was blasted through his head.
“Good shot, peanut! You remember the plan?”
“Infiltrate the auction house, get to the storage room that has tonight’s items, grab the crystals, kill anyone on the way.”
“Smart boy. Let’s go get them.”
Morty made his way through the halls of the sketchy building. It was dimly lit, which he used to his advantage, moving from shadow to shadow. Prime peeked around corners for Morty, to look for guards before they continued down that path.
They finally made it to the storage room, Morty stuck a device onto the keypad and in a few seconds the door swung open. Soon enough he found the crate of crystals, he filled his backpack with them while Prime kept an eye on the doors.
As soon as he was done, he slung the bag over his shoulder and planted a few bombs around the room. It was a corrupt underground auction house, so it’s justified. He set their fuses and portaled back to his room. Kicking the bag of crystals under her bed and falling onto his mattress.
“We’re done, right? That’s everything we need.”
“Thats right, kiddo, all done.”
“Now what?”
“Now, we build our escape. Remember, we can’t keep using Rick’s portal gun, or his weapons. They’ll be traceable. Everything you’ve gathered will be used to make your very own portal gun, weapons, and tools.”
“Are you serious?”
“I told you, you can’t go out unprepared.”
Over the next few hours, Morty sorted all the tools, materials, and gadgets he’s collected over the past month onto the floor, taking apart and repurposing wires and circuit boards, making new inventions. With Prime’s meticulous instructions, he built his own portal gun, a pair of plasma guns, a portable force field, a few handheld bombs, along with a bunch of tools for fixing and tinkering.
He holstered a plasma gun on his leg, his new portal gun tucked into his back pocket, and placed the rest into a backpack, along with some spare clothes, food, and the extra vials of portal fluid. He changed into black pants and boots, and a dark red hoodie, not wanting to be recognized. Morty grabbed his bag and paused by the door of his room.
“Little late for cold feet, kiddo.”
Morty dropped the bag onto his bed and looked at Prime, determination in his eyes.
“No, I’m never coming back, and I need to make sure Rick never comes looking.”
Morty could hear Rick in his room, snoring away, he stood at the door watching for a moment. He slid a letter onto his desk and turned around, heading into the garage and down into the sub-basement.
He stared at himself floating in a giant tank, the liquid inside preserved his body perfectly, but his vitals were all flat. He felt both envious and relieved that this clone never lived.
‘He’s never had to live through this, doesn't have any memories of the abuse and lies. But if he did, I’m sure he’d understand why I’m doing this.”
Morty opened the tank and the liquid came flooding out, draining through the holes in the room. Morty picked up the lifeless clone of him and brought him to the closet where he dried him off and clothed him.
He dragged the clone all the way back up to his room and laid him onto his bed. He placed a knife from Rick’s garage in the clone’s hand and wrapped his fingers around it, then guided it over his throat, and sliced his throat open. He watched as the blood poured out and soaked the sheets. He left the knife in the clone’s hands, this should be enough to look like a suicide.
Prime was thoroughly impressed and entertained by this. It was completely unprompted by him, all of this had been Morty’s idea. This was too coordinated to be a last minute plan. How long has he been thinking about this?
Morty picked his bag back up and walked through the house one last time, sliding letters underneath Summer’s and his parent’s door as well.
He stepped into the garage, looking around one last time. He walked to the end of the street, hands in his pockets, it felt as if his chest was getting lighter with each step, but instead of turning around this time, he pulled out his portal gun and never looked back.
—-
Morty stepped out of the portal, and found himself in what looked like a warehouse.
“Hey, gramps, are we in the right place? The coordinates you gave me were correct, right?”
Prime put his hands on his hips and looked around proudly.
“This, my grandson, is one of my secret bases. I’ve spent the most time here so it’s got a lot more resources stockpiled, and most importantly, it has a contingency plan set in place for if I ever died and Operation Phoenix failed.”
Prime guided Morty through his base until they got to a room sealed behind a giant vault door.
“Pretty dramatic. If it’s important, wouldn’t youwant it to be a bit more inconspicuous?”
“In most cases yes, but this is too important to just have in any room.”
Prime showed him how to get through the multiple keypads and riddles. When the last code was finally put in, the door opened with a hiss and began swinging out slowly.
“Very cinematic, gramps.”
“Shut it, I thought it was a nice touch.”
Morty stepped into the room, the lights flickered on as he did, he looked around to see a lab. It had a large workbench with tools scattered around, vials and test tubes filled with mysterious substances, petri dishes and things like that. There was a giant tank to the side and wires ran along the floor. A door on the other side of the room opened to reveal a small living space. It had a bed, an office desk and chair, a closet with spare outfits, and an attached bathroom.
“So this was like your evil scientist room? Where you did all your crazy experiments?”
“I’m not dignifying that with a response. Now get some sleep, you’ve been up all night and I won’t have you reviving me on zero hours sleep.”
“Wait, I thought you had the contingency plan? It’s not like, automated or something?”
“If it was, then it’d be connected with my web of backups, which were fried by the way, so a disconnected manual process is the last resort in case everything goes to shit.”
“Huh, that makes sense.”
“Yes, now sleep. You’re getting bags under your eyes.”
Morty set his bag down by the foot of the bed and collapsed onto the bed. It felt nice to finally relax, free of all responsibilities to his family, to Rick.
“Is this real?”
“As real as it gets, kiddo.”
“No, I mean this, you, us. I’ve been thinking about this for a while. You’re real, but only in my head, which is weird. You’ve been so great to me, which I’m not gonna complain about, but have you just been saying the things I want to hear? I knew you had an ulterior motive when you first showed up, nobody’s gonna believe ‘I wanted to get to know my grandson’ from a sociopath with no emotional attachments, but I played along cause it felt nice to be appreciated. You got me away from Rick, which I’m grateful for, but am I here because you want me here? Or because I’m just another part of the contingency plan?”
Prime stared at Morty, he was too close now for Morty to screw him over because of emotions. Morty’s changed considerably from when they first met, his response now could save him or screw him over forever.
“Morty, you kn-”
“I don’t want an answer, I’d rather live with the kind version of my grandpa in my head. I just wanted to get that out, didn’t want to keep it bottled up anymore. I’m sure you’ll get rid of me once you’re back, but I really did enjoy the time we had, even if it was just pretend.”
Morty smiled up at Prime, innocent and sweet, despite everything he’s been through, despite knowing that he might not make it next week. He still smiled brightly and it made Prime sick.
“I’ll revive you tomorrow, could you…could you sing me grandma’s melody? One last time?”
Morty rolled over to face the wall and Prime sat on the floor, leaning against the bed, humming a soft melody that filled the room. Morty forced himself to stay up a little longer than usual that night, listening to the melody, soaking it in, for maybe the last time.
—-
The next morning was different, the air around them had changed. Prime still acted the same, but that’s because he’s been acting this whole time. Morty was more quiet, like he was already mourning the loss of the version of his grandpa he never had.
“Grandpa will guide you through the whole process.”
“Okay.”
“I know you’ll do fine, so don’t worry, kiddo”
“Mhmm.”
Prime walked him through the entire process. He took a preserved sample of Prime’s DNA, and from that, he grew a clone of Prime in the tank. While they waited for the clone to grow, Prime showed him the steps for transfer.
He had to get his consciousness out of Morty and into the clone, but just transferring that amount of information and memory would fry the clone. Instead, he would upload it to a storage drive with more than enough room for him. That drive would then slowly be uploaded into the clone over the span of a few hours.
Morty stared at the compact device in his hand, it resembled a flash drive that you’d plug into a computer. He looked around and called out, but he really was out of his head now. He stared at the drive and felt empty, sad, a little grief, but surprisingly, no anger or hate. He was the reason he escaped and he was the only one who showed him what it felt to be loved and appreciated.
‘Was this really how it ended?’
He stared into the tank where Prime’s clone was growing and felt a pang of longing. For family, for attention, for comfort, for a safe place. He stared down at the drive clutched in his hands.
‘Maybe. Maybe there’s still a way to keep this. To make it real.”
Morty plugged the drive into the console and watched as the code for Prime flashed across the screen. It contained his memories, his ways of thinking, his programming. This is what made him Prime.
“If there’s code, you can make changes, right?”
Morty read through his code, searching frantically for what he was looking for, catching onto the keywords, then he saw it.
“Emotional attachments, emotional capacity, not found, not available, null.”
He mumbled to himself, reading it over and over. So he really was just acting, all that time, he never had even held a bit of affection for Morty. He knew to expect this but he was really hoping to be wrong, that maybe, just maybe he could’ve held a small place in Prime’s heart.
‘That’s if the bastard even had a heart to begin with.’
He shook off those thoughts and focused back on the screens in front of him, immediately getting to work changing the code. He’s worked too hard to give up now. He refused to be thrown away or left behind, never again.
With the amount of times he’s had to fix Rick’s drunken shoddy coding for his gadgets, he could teach his own class on coding at a local college. At least he had one thing to be thankful for during his time with Rick.
He reread the finished code about a dozen times, making sure it was perfect. This has to work. The clone was done growing by then, a large red bottom with the word’s ‘UPLOAD’ flashed on the screen.
Morty read over the code one last time.
‘This will work.’
He started the upload and a progress bar took up the entire screen. Now, all that’s left to do is wait. Morty pulled out the office chair and blanket from the bedroom and got comfortable by the console.
He sang to himself, but the melody didn’t feel the same.
‘Let me hear it one more time, please.’
—-
A few hours later, the tank opens up, liquid floods out onto the floor and drains through the metal floors. Morty wakes up to the sound of someone coughing up water. He rubs his eyes and once he realizes what’s happened, he jumps out of his chair, rushing to Prime’s side with a towel to cover him.
“Morty?”
He held his breath, waiting to see if his fixes to the coding worked.
“Yeah, gramps, it’s Morty. Are you… how do you feel?”
Prime stood up, wrapping the towel around his waist and feeling his body before grabbing Morty by the shoulders and planting a kiss against his forehead.
“I’m back, baby! I knew I could count on you, peanut! You’re the smartest little boy, Morty, you’re grandpa’s savior!”
Prime pulled him into a hug, Morty felt his eyes start to sting, and he hugged him back with all his strength. He cried onto Prime’s shoulder, his shoulders shook, and hand frantically tried to wipe his tears away. He felt embarrassed, all this over a hug, what if prime called him pathetic?
Instead Prime hugged him closer.
“Woah, hey, hey, what’s wrong, peanut? Tell grandpa what’s wrong. Tell me what you want, Morty, grandpa will find a way to make it happen. Don’t cry, please, you’re breaking grandpa’s heart.”
“You’re- you’re not gonna leave me? Or kill me? Or throw me away?”
“No, no, no, I would never do that to my sweet little grandson. Why would you think that, buddy?”
“You were only nice to me cause you just needed someone to bring you back! I know, I’m not stupid!”
Morty slammed his fists against Prime’s back but he didn’t push Morty away. All his bottled up feelings came pouring out, even if he wanted to enjoy this moment. His coding had worked, but he couldn’t help but take out his anger on Prime at the moment.
“I hate you, you used me, and I let you! You were so nice and said all the right things and-and I hate you!”
Prime picked Morty up and held him close. He looked genuinely hurt as he held him, rubbing his back, and shushing him.
“I’m sorry, grandpa’s a piece of shit, grandpa’s sorry, peanut. I’ll be better, so don’t cry, okay? Don’t hate grandpa, okay?”
Prime desperately tried to calm Morty down, trying hard to figure out how to stop his crying. Then he suddenly got it, he sat down in the office chair, cradling Morty, who was still crying on his shoulder, and wrapped the blanket over him.
He started to hum that slow familiar melody, rubbing Morty’s back over the blanket as his breathing grew less shaky and his tears slowly dried. The melody sounded clearer, the vibration from Prime’s chest, the sound of a heartbeat, the weight of the blanket over him, all of it worked together to calm Morty down.
Once only light sniffles were heard, Prime looked down at Morty, who was curled up in the blankets. His heart clenched, a new foreign feeling, as he saw his puffy red eyes, and he reached up to soothe them with his cold hands.
“I’m sorry, boopah, grandpa’s never gonna abandon his little buddy, okay? So don’t worry about silly things like that.”
“Mhmm.”
“Good.”
Prime stood up and laid Morty back down in the office chair, he went into the bedroom and got dressed. He came back out in his usual outfit and ruffled Morty’s hair.
“What do you say about some food huh? With all the crying you did, you must’ve worked up an appetite, peanut.”
Morty untangled himself from the blanket and followed Prime as they walked through the base.
“Then after some food, we’ll get you settled in your new room! You excited?”
Before Morty could respond, Prime poked at his sides, making him laugh.
“Yeah, you are!”
—-
A few months later, Morty sat outside a warehouse, playing on his phone. His hair was a little more grown out now and he sported an outfit similar to Prime’s, with a small change of yellow stripes instead of red.
“You lost, kid?”
Morty looks up to see a rugged looking alien staring down at him.
“Nope, just waiting for my gramps.”
“I don’t think you understand where you're at, this ain’t no playground.”
“I never said it was.”
The guy got pissed at Morty’s nonchalant attitude and reached out to grab him. Morty watched as his hand disintegrated up to his forearm before the guy and let out a sound like a roar and pulled back.
“Yeah, I wouldn’t try that. My gramps did a lot of childproofing.”
“The fucks that even mean?! You’re so dead for this, freak.”
“Ugh, you’re so boring. You thugs have like 5 phrases, and they’re not even funny.”
Morty pulled out a plasma blaster from his holster and shot him in the shoulder and legs. He watched as the guy crumpled to the floor.
“Wow, purple blood, weird.”
“You’re sick!”
Prime walked out of the warehouse and tucked something away into his jacket.
“Let’s go, peanut! Grandpa’s done here.”
He glances at the alien bleeding out beside Morty.
“What’s up with that guy?”
“I dunno, I think he was trying to rob me or something.”
“Ew. You’re all good, though?”
“Yep, didn’t even touch me.”
“Good, grandpa’s proud of you.”
He kissed Morty’s forehead and ruffled his hair.
“Gramps! I spent like 20 minutes doing my hair this morning.”
“You’ll live. That guy probably won’t though.”
“Snrkk, probably not, haha.”
Prime pulled out his portal gun and shot a portal.
“What do you think about some pancakes, peanut? I am starving.”
“Shoney’s?”
“Exactly what I was thinking. You’re becoming just like your grandpa!”
“Okay, old man, don’t get sentimental, I don’t need tears in my pancakes.”
Prime shoved Morty playfully towards the portal.
“Hey! Who are you calling old man?! I don’t look a day over 30, you little rascal!”
Morty stuck his tongue out at him before running through the portal and Prime laughed as he stepped through.