(tw for slight scab picking [cause I'm projecting again lmao] and past toxic relationships)
~~~~~~~~~~~
_Project: Shimmer_
Entry. 74 ##/##/####
It seems eliminating the emotion emulator entirely was the way to go. Mephone5 has followed every single instruction I have gave it since its creation to the letter. A much appreciated deviance from Mephone4's and Mephone4S's relentless rule breaking.
The disappearance of Mephone4 and Mephone4S is still an issue, however. The Mephone5 is leagues easier to train, mostly due to the fact Mephone4 and Mephone4S are still in possession of the P.S.E chips. Mephone5 will be deployed in the following month to collect them.
Whether Mephone5 has to kill them in its mission to retrieve them is of no importance to me. All that matters is I get those chips back in my possession, and into a new Mephone model as fast as possible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
°
•
•
•
•
•
.
.
.
.
.
.
With the show going on and Mephone's growing paranoia after getting his memory gems back, Mephone forgot how nice to was to simply talk to his brother. Over the course of the hour and a half they spent talking to each other at 3am and the following day they spent doing the exact same thing after waking up at noon. Mephone finally managed to catch Mepad up on everything that has happened over the past week.
The sudden power, the crack, 4S, the memory gem....killing Cobs. All of it. God has it really only been a week? It sure as hell didn't feel like it. So much has happened in such a short amount of time...it was honestly kind of scary how fast it all went. And yet despite all that's happened....the nightmares still persisted.
He didn't tell Mepad about that part, he would have hated making Mepad worry more than he already was, especially so soon after getting back. Despite trusting and finding comfort in Test Tube, he couldn't bring himself to tell her about the night terrors, let alone the spector that followed his every move.
He didn't speak anymore, always hiding in the corners of his gaze or in dark doorways. His dead cold eyes always stared at him no matter what he did, but despite his constant presence he's managed to ignore it for the most part.
He didn't tell Mepad about that part either.
After Mepad learned about everything the normal balance between him and Mephone seemed to shift slightly. Mepad seemed to completely skip the part about Mephone killing Cobs entirely and go straight to the part about 4S. Mephone then came to the realization that Mepad has absolutely no idea who 4S was and Mephone had to go through the uncomfortable explanation once again about his body technically not being his and that 4S was dead but not quite. Mephone was starting to get very tired of explaining things to people.
But he could make an exception for his brother because Mepad is the best listener Mephone has ever known, Test Tube being an extremely close second. Mepad took the whole "Cobs being dead and killed by Mephone." Situation surprisingly well. Most likely because Mepad was lucky enough to never have to meet the man in person and the only things he knows about him is what Mephone has told him himself. Which admittedly isn't a lot.
Mepad just sat there and listened to him throughout the entire thing. Occasionally asking questions and only really ever reacting drastically when it came to the well being of the 4 contestants unfortunate enough to be injured and irreversibility wrapped up in this entire situation. If Mephone could go back he would definitely lay into them about not flying all the way to Meeple and getting themselves possibly killed permanently. But despite his immense guilt over it he couldn't exactly do that.
Of course Mepad had quite a lot of questions regarding 4S himself, to which Mephone had no idea how to respond exactly. All of Mepad's questions were in the past tense, since technically 4S's dead, so "he was the sibling that talked me into actually telling Test Tube about Cobs and probably saved my mental state." Wasn't exactly an answer he could give. But he managed to answer all his questions the best he could.
Mephone practically forced Mepad to bed after that. Once all the questions were put to rest Mephone made him take one of the infirmary beds and made him stay there. Despite wanting to stay awake, Mepad was still recovering after being shut off for so long and he needed his rest. In spite of his complaints and protests Mepad did, indeed, fall into sleep mode soon after. Which Mephone was definitely going to take immense joy in teasing him about when he woke back up.
Everything was surprisingly calm as Mephone left the infirmary, Mepad safely tucked into bed. It was Monday once again, which meant he killed Cobs officially a week ago. He glanced to his left, and Cobs(?) stared back. Mephone grimaced and left the infirmary, his cold eyes following him as he left.
When he entered the main office he expected to see Test Tube at the desk, but she was nowhere in sight. Instead he found Mic staring at his blueprints, a thoughtful expression on her face as she read. "Microphone?" Mic jumped at the sudden voice, looking up from the paper. Her shoulders relaxed as she saw him. "Oh Mephone, it's just you." Mephone fake scoffed. "Oh so I'm a "just you" now huh?"
Mic rolled her eyes, smiling. "Oh hush, you know what I mean." She drifted her thumb over the small drawings of electronic chips, reading the labels over and over again. "Did you finally get Mepad to sleep?" Mephone nodded, hopping into Test Tube's empty chair. "OJ made breakfast earlier, you were still asleep but I asked him to save you a plate, it's in the kitchen if you're hungry."
Mephone smiled. "You know I'm a robot right? I don't really get hungry." That was a bold faced lie, or more a half lie. His body doesn't need food to live, but ever since he started eating regularly it's been difficult to go a whole day without feeling a pang in his chest from the lack of food. Mic smirked. "But that won't stop you from eating it. Besides, Test Tube told me you haven't been eating as much lately. I know you technically won't die without it but you must feel at least a bit uncomfortable without anything in your system."
Mephone sighed, she was right. "I'll grab it later." Mic raised an eyebrow. "I promise, I'll eat it later I swear."
"Pinky swear?" Mic leaned over the table and held out her pinky finger. Mephone groaned, but hooked his pinky around her's regardless. "I pinky swear that I'll eat something today. There, you happy?" Mic unhooked her pinky, laughing to herself. "Yes, very."
Her attention was once again directed back towards the blue prints, flipping back and forth between the two pages. "Where's Test Tube?" Mephone asked and she froze. She seemed to panic internally for a few seconds before coughing awkwardly. "She- uh. She's talking to Knife, Lightbulb, Suitcase and Baseball. Y'know about Mepad and all that." She laughed nervously.
Mephone's suspicion regarding her strange behavior was swiftly forgotten at the mention of his brother's arrival yesterday. Mephone sank in the chair, picking at a stray thread on the seat. Mic looked up confused at the lack of response. "Mephone?"
"Mic can I ask you something?"
She pushed the blue prints away, attention fully on Mephone. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern as Mephone fidgeted uncomfortably. "Of course, is everything alright?" Mephone felt his chest tighten. Out of nowhere just the thought of confronting Mic about last night made his throat dry. He felt frozen, his mouth refusing to move. Why did he feel so scared? It was just Microphone, its not like she was gonna yell at him so why did he all of a sudden feel so terrified?
Mephone barely noticed when the world around him begin to blur and blend together, his eyes vacant and staring at nothing. Anxiety bubbled in his chest as irrational thoughts and scenarios flashed in his brain. When did everything get so cold?
He had no trouble yesterday talking to her, so what was the difference now?
"Mephone!?" He snapped himself out of his spiral. While he was thinking she had walked up beside him and put her hand on the back of Test Tube's chair. She stared down at him in concern, and based off her dumbfounded expression he could only assume she has called his name multiple times before he finally heard her. Only now did he realize his hands were shaking, left hand mindlessly picking at the old scars on his right arm.
He quickly ripped his hand away, thankfully none of his scars started bleeding. "Are you okay? You zoned out..."
"I- yes, yes I'm fine don't worry...." Mic stared at him, unconvinced. Mephone used her stunned silence to his advantage, forcing the words out of his mouth before he could second guess himself.
"Why didn't you tell me about Mepad?"
Mic staggered backwards slightly, caught of guard by his question. She didn't speak for a few seconds and Mephone felt his heart drop in his chest. Mic sighed, leaning against the desk behind her. Mephone made himself speak despite himself, voice shaking. "You knew Taco had him, but you didn't tell me." A look of betrayal crossed his face.
"I don't understand. You cared enough to help me three days ago but you didn't care enough to tell me where my brother was- let alone if he was safe or even alive-" Mic glanced at the door leading to the infirmary where Mepad rested, the guilt over just letting Taco take and use Mepad like that had never truly faded. "I just..." Mephone shrunk in on himself, the bite in his voice fading as fast as it came.
"I just don't understand... why didn't you tell me?" Mephone crossed his arms, sinking into the chair as he looked away from her. "I wanted too..." He glanced at her. "I wanted to tell you. Ever since Taco first took Mepad I've wanted to tell you.." She leaned hard on the desk, like her words somehow weighed her down. "But by the time my coward self actually built up the confidence to leave Taco and the show, it was already too late. The only reason Taco even stuck around anymore was because I was her pawn in the show and since I wasn't that anymore, I had no idea if she was even at the contestant grounds, let alone if she had Mepad with her."
"So that's why you left the show, because you were working with Taco." Mic nodded solemnly. "I left to the contestant grounds last night only on the slim chance she was there, I had no way of knowing if she actually was..... But that still doesn't change what I did on the show." Mic grimaced, as if the very thought pained her. "I could have told you at any time that I was working with Taco and where Mepad was during the challenge. Not only was it cheating I also let Taco hurt Mepad, Test Tube, and Fan....I don't think I'll ever stop feeling guilty over that..."
Mic's voice morphed into a whisper near the end. "So I'm sorry." She picked her voice back up, staring at him sincerely. "I'm sorry for working with Taco and I'm sorry for not telling you when I had the chance..." Mephone nodded. "Why did you work with her anyway?"
Mic groaned, rubbing her eyes. "I was in a weak place during the show...it felt like no matter what I did or no matter how much I wanted to help all I did was cause problems." She fidgeted with her hands, staring at the floor. "Taco took advantage of my weakness, in exchange for half the million when I won she would help me cheat during challenges, make me more "valuable" to my team." Mephone stared at her, wide eyed. She glanced at his face and rolled her eyes. "I know it sounds crazy when I say it out loud but it felt so real at the time."
"I felt like I wasn't a valuable member, Taco said she could fix that and I believed her. Maybe it was desperation that made me accept and go along with all her plans that somehow managed to involve violence in one way or another. I really don't know." She managed a small smile. "Thankfully Knife was kind enough to tell me what she did during season one and give me some advice, and after the last challenge Knife's words finally clicked and I had enough confidence to leave her."
Her smile fell. "The worst part is I think I still kind of miss her sometimes.....even if the person she acted like wasn't her true self it still felt good to feel like someone valued me during the show, y'know?" Her voice almost cracked, making Mephone wince. He had never noticed any of this before, too caught up in his own mind to notice what his contestants felt. A small part of himself wondered if any of the other past and present contestants ever felt something like Mic was describing.
"Was Taco the person you were talking about? When you said you "knew the feeling" three days ago?" Mephone asked hesitantly. Microphone nodded, smiling sadly. They sat in silence for a moment, before Mephone spoke up. "I was talking about Cobs, if that makes you feel any better." Mephone sunk further in Test Tube's seat, half wishing she was beside him to tell him that talking about this was healthy and to ignore the growing knot in his chest.
She stared at him with an unexpected amount of empathy. "Sorry about your father." Mephone shook his head, chuckling bitterly. "That man is definitely not my father.... sorry about Taco." He whispered at the end. Mic giggled at that. "That woman is definitely not my friend."
The creek of a door slightly took Mephone by surprise. Test Tube walked through the door and for a split second he saw her glance to the left of her worriedly before her expression quickly changed to a half faked smile. Despite it he could still see the anxiety in her eyes. She glanced to Mic, the two having some sort of silent conversation through their expressions before Mic stood up.
She turned to him "I gotta go real quick, but I'll bring that plate here in a few minutes for you to eat alright?" Mephone nodded stiffly as Mic exited. The overwhelming worry he felt before confronting Mic returned tenfold as Test Tube sighed. Test Tube opened the door wider. Four familiar objects shuffled in single file.
Despite Test Tube's worried demeanor Knife somehow managed to look casual as he entered the medical office. Lightbulb followed close behind him, fidgeting with the cloth tied over the hole in her glass. Baseball and Suitcase walked in soon after, both looking anxious, Suitcase much more so.
Once they all settled in Test Tube shut the door and stared at Mephone, the final four shifted uncomfortably, not saying a word. Test Tube cleared her throat, making them all turn to her. "Mephone." She addressed him, immediately turning all the attention previously focused on her onto him.
"We found something out we think you'd want to know."
---------------------
2584 words, WOOP this took longer than expected, mostly cause I'm busy as FUUUUCK with school 💀. Sorry about that lol. Definitely didn't finish writing this at school noooo.