Help Me Find the Words: A Sonia x Gundham Tale

Day 13 - Midnight

He looked, as Chiaki predicted, confused. He rubbed his eyes and slowly took in his surroundings, "Hm. Curious..." until his vision found me. "... S-Sonia?"

"Hello, Gundham," I timidly waved at him, my smile never leaving my face, "It is nice to see you."

His eyes grew wide, but he quickly readjusted his scarf to hide his face, so I could not cipher his current feelings. That is a behavior of the Gundham I remember, so that is a good sign. "Sorry for the confusion," Chiaki chimed back in, "I am technically here with you as well, but I am not physically in the room. I'm here if you have any questions that Sonia can't answer."

"I see," Gundham began to ponder, "She must be communicating from another plane."

I slowly stepped closer to him as I let him know what was going on, making my way to be kneeling at his eye level. "Yes, she is communicating from the digital plane. There are many things you must be informed of. I am not sure which will be the most difficult to hear. This may be it. Chiaki has been dead for some time now," I placed my hands on the edge of the open pod, "This will be unpleasant, but try to remember."

The Devas leaped from my arms into Gundham's. "Oh goodness; I am sorry, I did not give them instructions to come to you so soon—"

"That is alright. You did exceptional work. They simply know who their true master is." They nestled into Gundham's scarf: finally home.

"Many things were revealed to us since you left, Gundham," I continued, "To begin with, you are not actually dead."

"Yes, I did find that quite strange, as this is not the Hell I recall."

I explained to him that the Killing Game we were forced to endure was part of a simulation that was corrupted by the Ultimate Despair herself. No one truly passed away. I let him know he was the last to wake up from being comatose. I reminded him that we witnessed the real Chiaki's horrific death years ago. It was the spark that lit the flame, igniting the world into Despair.

"I see," he replied, "So it appears my commands over this world's wildlife was not part of this 'simulation'."

"Yes," I hung my head, heavy with grief, "All of your friends— including me and you— have done unspeakable things across this planet.'

I picked my head back up and met his eyes, 'But they were not our faults. Do you remember? Our teacher fell victim, in an attempt to save us all. We were deceived and forced into corruption."

His gaze had not left my eyes. I still could not read him. I continued by explaining that it was The Future Foundation that gave us a second, and now third chance. The Chiaki we met on Jabberwock Island was an Artificial Intelligence based on our collective memories of her from school. The Future Foundation kept their eyes on us through her and Usami. "How did everything end?" He asked

So I told him. I told him what happened on Jabberwock Island after he left us. Nagito's paranoia, his unthinkable plot, and how we uncovered the truth behind everything. "So now we are on the real Jabberwock Island. We are actually rehabilitating. We are also in hiding. The world is recovering from its Despair, but we would be killed in an instant if anyone knew such prominent Remnants of Despair were still alive. But, thanks to the rogue members of The Future Foundation, we are alive. It is quite remarkable." A soft smile graced my face.

"I think I am understanding," he averted his gaze and looked down at the Devas, "But I am unsure what I am feeling."

"Everyone has gone through this in different ways," I tried desperately to look him in the eyes again, "Mikan shut herself in for days, but Nekomaru and Ibuki were just happy to be alive and have been acting as if nothing has happened."