A few days later:
Outside their house sits a terminal recently connected to a video call, Nyr excitedly positioned in frame.
Nyr - "Heyy!"
Toad - "Eyy it's good to finally get to see you again!"
Nyr - "You too, guys!"
Bear - "Though you're looking a lot more colorful than the last time we saw you.."
Nyr - "Eheh.. Yeahh well, y'know, the benefits of your existence being virtual I guess.."
Bear - "Oh I didn't mean to-"
Zero - "Well I think you look stunning as always."
Nyr - "Ahah, thanks..!"
Zero - "Or at least, the approximately ninety-five point four-two percent that's left of you looks stunning anyway.."
Everyone on the call gives a chuckle at the strangely specific joke.
Nyr - "Hahah..!"
Zero - "What happened to you anyway? Shouldn't you just fix that?"
Nyr - "What? This?"
She dawns a smug mug as she lifts her stump towards the camera.
Nyr - "Lost it to an epic dragon~"
Toad - "And you're proud of that..?"
Nyr - "How many people do you know that can say they lost an arm fighting a DRAGON?!?"
Nyr - "Still won that fight by the way~"
Toad - "Fair point.."
Nyr - "Just you wait until I get my new prosthetic..!"
Bear - "I think she looks cool and tough now..!"
Nyr - "THANKS!"
Zero - "Aha.. Well, how's the house anyways?"
Nyr - "Oh- It's alright, luckily it didn't get damaged in all the chaos. A lot of places weren't so lucky.. As expected there wasn't any way to roll back the server."
Toad - "Sheeesh."
Nyr - "But it's alright, everyone's bonding over the repair efforts..!"
Nyr - "Oh wait! Check this!"
She spins the floating camera around to show off the incredible view from their house, making sure to get the river and mountains all in the shot.
Bear - "Woahh!"
Toad - "Show off.."
Nyr - "Heheheh.."
Giggling, the image smears as she flips it back around.
Zero - "Have you settled in there yet?"
Nyr - "Ah, technically we'd already been living here for a while before everything, so it's been strangely familiar and comforting.."
Bear - "Well that's nice!"
Toad - "Have you.. tried to contact your parents yet..?"
Nyr - "Oh.. N-Not yet.."
Toad - "You know you have to at some point right.. Preferably before they find out you're missing."
Nyr - "I knowww but what the heck am I supposed to tell them?! 'Sorry mom and dad but I did some weird stuff and got sucked into a virtual world so I'm never coming home again! P.S. Sorry about not finishing university..!'"
Zero - "Yeah that'll do it."
Nyr - "Bahh! They won't understand any of this!"
Toad - "Well ya gotta try. Ease 'em into it. Maybe you can eventually get 'em into VR so you can see each other again."
Nyr - "Hahh.. Maybe.."
Zero - "Then what about the whole situation with Sci/O?"
Nyr - "Idunno.. I obfuscated our accounts so they can't track us anymore without physically finding us. It still feels a little weird that we basically exist on some server somewhere inside their building.. But I mean the only person who was crazy enough to really care should be behind bars by now, right?"
Zero - "Oh, you didn't see?"
Nyr - "Huh..?"
Zero - "That professor guy went missing too.."
Nyr - "W-Wah? No way..!"
Nyr - "Damn it.."
Toad - "At least with that news the company seems to be in more of a maintenance mode, what with the loss of both the project leads. So nobody should be actively after you for now."
Nyr - "That's good.."
Zero - "We'll keep up the pressure from the outside. I don't think they'll do anything for fear of retaliation. They seem to have other test subjects lined up anyway so other than monitoring your networks to make sure things are normal, you shouldn't have anything to worry about."
Nyr - "It still feels pretty creepy.."
Bear - "Just think of it like a check up at the doctor!"
Nyr - "It's not really the same is it.."
Nyr - "How's the botnet doing?"
Toad - "As you would expect it's been slowly dwindling and a little unstable, but it's large enough it doesn't really matter. It should be good for a long while, by the time it matters I'm sure they'll have their own server shit figured out."
Nyr - "Whew.."
Toad - "Woah.. Now I see why you went after her.."
Nyr - "H-Huh..?"
Zero - "Is this the girl we've heard so little about?"
Bear - "She's pretty!"
Syr - "How's it going out here?"
Nyr - "A-Ahh..!"
Toad - "How did you even-"
Nyr - "I-I'll talk to you guys later!"
She closes the call abruptly.
Syr - "Huh, what was that?"
Nyr - "I was just on a call with some friends.."
Syr - "And you just close it as soon as I come out here?! Are you that embarrassed by me?"
Nyr - "N-No! Not at all! It's the opposite..!"
Nyr - "They were being embarrassing.. I didn't want you to see that!"
Syr - "Right.."
Nyr - "I'll introduce you sometime later when we're all prepared for it okay..?"
Syr - "Hmph.."
Nyr - "What's up anyway? Why'd you come out, and why are you all geared up like you're going out?"
Syr - "Well.. I've been thinking.. Since I made it to this world relatively okay, what if my brother also made it here somehow..?"
Nyr - "O-Oh.. But-"
Syr - "I-I know they said he was gone after the experiment went wrong.. But.. What if they were wrong..? How am I safe if he wasn't!!"
Nyr - "S-Syr.."
Syr - "So.. I-I'm going out to look for him..! And I want you to come with me.."
Nyr - "I-I don't think this is a good idea...."
Syr - "W-What..? Why not..?!"
Nyr - "W-We just got back..! It could be dangerous for us to go out right now.."
Syr - "..It's been days.. Are we really supposed to just hole up here forever??"
Nyr - "No.. J-Just-"
Syr - "If you're not coming with me, I'll just go without you."
Nyr - "W-Wait..!"
Syr - "What."
Nyr - "P-Please don't do this.. You won't find anything.."
Syr - "How would you know?!"
Nyr - "W-Well.."
Syr - "What?!"
Nyr - "R-Remember when I told you.. about how the reason they didn't fix the issues themselves was because of some data they didn't want to lose..?"
Syr - "Yeah...."
Nyr - "W-Well.. that data.. w-was...."
Syr - "W-What are you trying to say..??"
Nyr - "I-I-It was your brother!!!"
Syr - "H-Huh..?"
Syr - "Pfff..! W-What do you mean, t-that's-?!"
Nyr - "Think about it! We're just data on a special server somewhere..! And your brother-!"
Nyr - "Y-Your brother.. didn't make it...."
Syr - "..."
Nyr - "I-I'm so sorry.... I couldn't bring myself to tell you before...."
Syr - "N-No.... No that can't be right! Then that would mean you.. y-you...."
Nyr - "I-I didn't have any other choice..!"
Syr - "What gave you the right!?! You LIED to me..!!!"
Nyr - "H-He was already gone, Syr.. Anto just refused to accept it, and if I hadn't done anything you would've been gone too..!! What good would that have been?!"
Syr - "..A-And what do you know?! You're all messing with stuff way out of your league!! He could still be out there somehow!"
Nyr - "..Syr.. P-Please.."
Syr - "I don't need you! I'm going out there and I'll find him myself!!!"
Nyr - "Syr, C'mon.. Don't do this..! Please..!"
Syr - "I need some time away from you anyway. You know why."
Nyr - "W-Wha.."
Syr - "Bye."
Nyr - "W-When will I see you again..?!"
Syr - "I don't know. Don't follow me."
She had already turned around and set off, her silhouette gradually shrinking in perspective.
Nyr - "A-Ahh.. Hahh.."
Nyr ~ My breathing.. I-I need to calm down..
Nyr ~ I want to go after her but.. M-My legs won't move..!
Nyr ~ S-She doesn't want to see me anymore anyway..
Nyr ~ I really blew it this time..
Nyr - "..."
Nyr - "But.. What else was I supposed to do..?"
Nyr - "This whole situation is so unfair...."
Nyr - "..."
Nyr - "Syr.."
Nyr - "Please come back...."
Syr ~ Ughh..! I can't believe her..!
Syr ~ What makes her so sure she knows everything?!
Syr - "..."
Syr ~ Even if she was right.. How am I supposed to face her after she made that choice....? And after lying to me about it..?!
Syr ~ I have to at least try to find him.. What if he's out there alone or lost his memory like I did..?
Syr ~ Is it so wrong to hold on to the little hope I have left..?
She stops momentarily for a tense exhale.
Syr - "Ayron.."
Syr - "I'll find you, no matter where you are.."
Syr - "No matter what anyone says!"
Syr - "I promise..!"
-End-