Chapter Text
Once the ballad died down, it felt as though an oppressive weight had been carried from her back. Leaning back against the chilled stone, a deep exhale out acted as the finishing note, a silence casting over the already tranquil scene.
Similar to how a conductor silences their orchestra, not another sound discerned.
But this newfound reticent opened the door for the previously hushed, nagging voices.
She didn’t entirely know what they were, who they were - perhaps Tessa’s ghost haunting her, or maybe just her own conscience turning on her.
No matter who they were, or who they once belonged to- they were a nuisance nonetheless.
J had tired herself over ignoring them at first. There was simply no way a figure as ‘pristine’ and efficient as her could possibly be going ‘insane’. Refusing to believe it was her own mental state betraying her, her own conscience unravelling with each painstaking day that passed.
But then they got louder. Too noisy to suppress.
And so, she began to respond. But it escalated. Rather than staying in her own inner monologue, those cryptid echos seeped into her sweet dreams, milking them of all their innocence.
They seemed to grow louder the quieter the surrounding atmosphere became. And her current situation certainly wasn’t doing any favors - constant isolation nearly caused her to find solace in the jarring remarks. The idea that something, someone, still cared enough to bother her ignited some sort of sick relief.
Similar to how things had always been.
— — —
The sharp, blinding sting of the howling winds beyond was silenced as a massive metal door groaned to a close, tiny fingers of frost and mist clawing through the remaining gap with a desperate surge, debris and snow floating through the stuffy atmosphere.
As the door finally shut with a metallic clang, the sound reverberated through the space- final and unyielding. For a moment, there was nothing but silence, until you listened closely.
If you listened very carefully, you could hear the furious roar of the storm just beyond the solid metal barrier.
Frost clung to the hinges of the door from where the storm had kissed it, melting subtly and leaving rivulets of water that trickled down its surface.
The chill of early dawn seemed more pointed than usual, the flickering overhead lights emitting a bored shine over the deathly quiet hallway. Every step echoed through the seemingly deserted stronghold- a fool would’ve assumed it’d been deserted already.
But V was no fool, certainly not.
Her shoulders were hunched, threatening to fold in on themselves. Each stride felt heavier than the last, as if her last conversation -the look in her eyes, and her strange, nearly foreign tone- had tied a knot around her neck, pulling tighter as she pulled further away.
To say her plan hadn’t gone the way she intended was a severe understatement. She let too many bottled up feelings out, she probably scared J off with them.
V scoffed as she considered the thought. What was she thinking? What if J had agreed to come back with her? How would she explain the sudden switch up to N, or Uzi?
She brought her hands up to her face and rubbed her digital eyes, tiredness from the events and day prior beginning to weigh her steps down. As she stomped through the seemingly empty bunker, she couldn’t help but think about what J was doing out there.
Clearly, she was doing a horrible job at repairing the ship, not to mention all the tally marks on the wall… V narrowed her eyes as she dropped her hands back to her sides, practically dragging them as well as her feet.
V was conflicted. She wanted so badly, to never forgive J for what she had done- what side she had chosen, and all she had done to her. But then there was that ugly, guilty tang in her heart that never seemed to leave, that told V to forgive and- forget.
To let her go.
She whined softly as she turned a corner, arriving at the very spot she had been in just a night prior, right in front of the apartment she now reluctantly shared with the other two. One of which would definitely make a snarky remark about her change in plans.
The door opened swiftly, the room inside no louder than the area around it. As she stepped through the living space, her thoughts became drowned out at the sound of hushed voices beyond a door at the very end of a dark hallway. She quickened her pace, the rapid tapping of her feet hitting the hard floor echoing as she hurried.
V hesitated as she halted before the final door, hand hovering over the latch- stubbornly shaking. She huffed in annoyance when she heard the voices cease, now she’d have to resort to guessing what the two were talking about. Sighing irritably, she shoved the door open and stormed through, trying her best not to look at the two staring at her with their mouths slightly agape.
She made a beeline for Uzi’s bed, which happened to be directly across from the door, and flopped on her stomach, face buried in the soft plush of the quilt and pillows that decorated it. Her hair, along with the rest of her body, bouncing slightly at the impact.
V groaned as she heard the sound of fabric shifting, followed by footsteps. Then the final straw, the bed creaking beneath another person’s weight.
She looked to the side slightly, before her breath caught as she met eyes with bright purple ovals, immediately returning to her former position.
“Didn’t go your way, huh?”
…
Uzi was… difficult. To say the least, to read her emotions was exceedingly challenging. You could almost never tell when she was being sarcastic or genuine. Truth be told, V did the same, but she’d never admit it.
Trying to guess if she was mocking you versus being genuinely sentimental was even worse.
V paused as she thought about the question, which was clearly delivered more as a statement rather than a question .
Uzi spoke in a quiet, nearly sing-song voice, similar to an ‘I told you so’ type of tone. V could almost hear the sentences unfolding before they happened. But, she found herself unsurprisingly disappointed.
“I had a feeling you weren’t gonna do anything dumb. What’d she have to say?” Uzi mused as she poked V’s head, turning it to face her slightly.
V’s expression was blank, only hinting a bit of sadness in the soft furrow of her narrowed eyes.
“She told me to leave her, so I did.”
…
“And why did she say that?”
V turned at the new voice, to N who was across the room sat in a swivel chair, a worried expression plastered onto his face.
“I…” V mumbled, voice barely breaking a whisper before she cleared it with a subtle cough, “I told her she should come back with me.”
The silence that followed only confirmed her suspicions, everyone was at a loss for words.
Uzi huffed softly, fighting the urge to say something she knows she’ll regret later. So instead, she held her tongue and refocused her gaze towards N, who was looking downcast.
“I don’t know what’s going on with her. She’s…not the same. I want to hate her but…Ugh, what’s wrong with me? She just looked so…dead.”
V’s voice cracked as she spoke. N shifted slightly, before shuffling over and sitting on the edge of the bed, now even closer to the ground with all the added weight. He tilted his head up at the ceiling, thinking carefully. Uzi broke the silence first.
“What do you think she’d want? You clearly care more about her than you want to admit, to us at least…”
V groaned softly.
“Do you think it’d be a bad idea to go and talk to her again?”
Uzi glanced to the side, considering what may happen if V were to bug the lonely girl anymore. She looked back at V, who was staring intently, as if desperately seeking an answer for guidance.
On one hand, the secondary confrontation could just rile her up, but then again she hadn’t exactly been in the best condition to put up any kind of fight. However, it was hard to say, the only interaction Uzi had ever had with J was…killing her.
Not exactly a good idea to give biased advice.
The purple haired girl cleared her throat as she sat up, legs criss crossed. V watched intently, still awaiting any kind of response.
“V…I’m not in any way good at giving advice, but…” She faltered, eyes darting around the room seeking as much of an answer as the conflicted girl beside her, “If it’s really bothering you, do something about it. Don’t just…sit around, waiting for something to happen.”
“Be persistent. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”
Uzi finished, a tiny grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. That was such good advice! N seemed to agree, he nodded his head eagerly when V’s eyes shifted towards him for a brief moment.
…
“Better to be…”
“Safe. And persistent.”
V knew exactly what Uzi had been avoiding saying directly. She knew very well that even though she didn’t want to show it, V still cared about that recluse. And that by not doing anything, by staying in the bunker, she could very well lose something worth more than she’d like to admit.
She muttered the last words Uzi said as she paced around the living space of her shared apartment, repeating them slowly- as if trying to decode them like a detective would.
But there was no hidden message, no secret meaning. They were plain and obvious, practically being yelled through loudspeakers in her mind: She was as good as dead if she didn’t do anything about it, soon.
Going through constant counter arguments in her head, the main one being how she didn’t exactly want to fumble her words again. In fear of saying something wrong- again, or just to not look weak. She didn’t like looking vulnerable.
She huffed loudly as she plopped onto a nearby couch, partially in the way of her manic pacing and ceasing it for the time being.
Why was it such a hard decision? If she cared about her, and didn’t want her to get into any more issues than she already had, then why was she procrastinating so much?
Her eyes flickered over to her internal clock, it was nearly noon- practically midnight for her. She stared at the seconds ticking one by one, before they started over just to begin adding to their count once more.
V’s eyes hovered over the closed chat icon in the very corner of her HUD, the white icon of a message littered with a simple red dot in the corner, indicating a new message-or just a notification she didn’t care to check.
Exhaling sharply, she then held her breath as she clicked on the icon. It was pretty uneventful, but the fact that it had come from N was… slightly worrying to say the least.
The last message she had ever sent to him, or the last one she ever cared to read was back before… everything got messy. She never had the greatest relationship with him, to be frank, his constant chipperness annoyed her for no good reason.
She read the message, eyes scanning over it quickly before they went in again, slower.
Goof (N): I’m worried about her too
…
V reread the message over again. Surely she wasn’t that easy to read?
She hesitated as she replied, what should she say? It must’ve been a while since he sent the message, because as V stared at the words again a new one appeared, startling V slightly.
Goof (N): Can we go talk to her?
V scoffed, of all the people to go with her, N was probably the worst. Followed closely by Uzi.
V: I guess, just don’t be mad when I don’t let you get close.
Goof (N): Better than nothing :D
She rolled her eyes as she closed the window, it had nearly been an hour of doing nothing. Her expression soured as she thought deeper into how she’d left that pariah. Alone on the top of a building was not a good choice. While letting someone go with her might cause issues, having someone was better than no one. Clearly.
Her face grew worried lines as she re opened the window.
V: Meet me at the entrance to the bunker at 5, in 4 hours. Uzi can’t come.
Goof (N): See ya then!
V sighed, N, always the optimistic one.
— — —
N grinned eagerly as awakened from his internal alarm. It was early, earlier than Uzi ever wakes up.
Gingerly, he untangled himself from Uzi, causing a few mumbled and slurred words, but nothing that indicated she was awake.
/sys./ Alarm: 4:45am, ‘Secret mission with V’
It was just enough time to be able to meet V at the entrance to the bunker, he didn’t want to be ditched after all. He couldn’t help but be slightly worried though, V was certainly closer with J, and he considered how he could very well make it worse by appearing beside her. But he didn’t want her to go alone.
…
As the doors to the stronghold came into view, so did the lonesome figure standing rigidly right in front of them.
V turned at the sound of his approaching footsteps, looking him up and down before nodding her head towards the doors.
“Ready to go?”
Her tone was tense, along with the underlying worryness mixed in with a growing smile on her face. N stepped closer before shielding his eyes as the doors creaked open, awakening the forever howling winds and biting cold.
The sky shifted through a palette of colors, the golden hues of the sunset melting into a bold purple and blue as the sun absorbed into the horizon ahead.
He hadn’t felt the snow in a long time, much less flew in a while. Probably not since the end.
That’s how he referred to it, at least. Finally free of his lifelong tormenter, the constant pressure gone from existence. He could be happy, which is why he felt so stronger about coming along.
Despite all, N believed the little hermit deserved some kind of an ending, too. A happy one, not one where she had to fight to wake up.
But as he stepped, he couldn’t help but notice the way V paused rigidly. She had a stoic expression plastered on her face, slightly unreadable. However, it was fairly easy to figure out what had caused it.
The little white box had another tiny notification, a soft ping emanating through his mind.
/sys./Notice: SDJ Forced Shut Down; Oil Reserves Low
V turned abruptly towards N, grabbing his hand and pulling him forwards. She spoke breathlessly, aggressively.
“We need to hurry.”