Broken and Corrupted

Memory.log.2/Return to Normalcy

Instead, they go over to the windowsill, drawing back the curtain and looking down onto the town below. Moonlight illuminated the streets better than any sunlight could for them, each brilliant shade of gray catching their eye every time they looked out.

But the real reason they came over was the flower Four had brought with them. They didn't really know why they had such an emotional attachment to this one gray flower, but Four claimed its blues were striking when the sun caught them just right.

X didn't really get the appeal, it was basically just the same shade of gray as the windowsill surrounding it, but they still cared for it regardless. If Four wanted it watered, they'd do it, no questions needed to be asked.

At least it was growing strong again. Last time they'd watered it, its petals were falling into the dirt, and X hadn't noticed until the curtains started getting covered in dirt speckled petals. They guessed that was at least an improvement.

"Keep your chin up, little buddy." They tilted the flower's petals up toward the sky, letting it soak up the recycled sunlight left reflecting from the moon. "You're my responsibility now that Four's basically unconscious." As they let their finger slip, the flower's head drooped back down to where it was before. X just hoped it would get better.

"Good night, Four," they called over to their body, still unmoving from its corner. They wished, someday soon, they'd get a good night back.

"Good night," they repeated for themselves, imagining sadly that it did come from them. How they wished that could happen so badly. But wishes weren't what they should be looking for. For now, they should be looking for someplace to work in the morning. Their father's inheritance would only get them so far before they had to start paying rent with their own money.

No lights needed to be turned off before they climbed in their bed, at least that was an expense to save on. Even if there were any lights, they'd all be off from the outage.

Oh well. Tomorrow would be another day.

- - -

Tomorrow brought the bright sun cascading in through the windows. They should've gotten blackout curtains instead of the cheapest option, then they wouldn't have to deal with this.

The lamp right next to the bed was always an indicator of whether they were still in an outage. Today, it was on as it glared in X's vision. Quickly clicking it off, they got out of bed, going back over to the CRT as it glowed with the light of its startup screen. Finally. They click back into the final memory they'd had before they had so unceremoniously left this world, humming a little as their old CRT computed the command, taking a bit due to age. It whirred and clicked like it was about to explode, but X knew that was a regular thing that happened.

The folder menu came up, the helpfully unhelpful computerized voice asking them in pop-ups if they wanted to view the next file in the series, the last one before Four's battery had run out a few weeks ago. It was probably only a few minutes or so of footage that X had already been present for, since they'd been together since they'd bought the property together. It was probably best to leave it be and go make a meager breakfast.

They'd only bought necessities when they were at the store last, leaving barely anything today, as this was a day Four was supposed to go out with them and help them feed themselves properly. Today, the only thing was a few spoonfuls of some bland cereal, which was "the healthiest option at the store," according to their little robot friend. Nutritional, their ass, they wanted something flavorful.

But nothing could really be done right now. They had to wait a bit longer, as they fed themselves on meager amounts of food. Their friend would be up to date on memory storage soon enough, and then they could go together to find more food. They weren't going out in the blasting light of day without help, and help was right around the corner, literally.

Hearing the ringing of the computer, they sighed as they tried to shovel the last bits of cereal into their mouth. Everything was done uploading – to X's relief – and all that needed to be done now was powering Four back up.

Going back to the computer room though, it seemed that they didn't even have to do that. "Good morning, X," Four greeted, removing the wires from each place where it was connected to them. "Have you eaten well while I was rebooting?"

(A/N: They're so silly together, I'm so jealous of my own slow burn, ugh :[ Anyways, have fun with the side fluff while I work on *checks notes* ... mental issues, the book. Yikes, the tone shift between these two is like doing a stunt jump over a gorge, without the motorcycle. Anyways, see y'all next time <3)

(Word Count: 2682)