🎨

“Thought you’d be happy, finally getting rid of me.” His voice breaks through her thoughts. She sees his shoulders slump a bit, it hurts. She can’t peer into his subconscious any more, it’s agony not knowing his every thought. Only here at the edge of the Blackwall are they two separate entities. “Why would you even say that?” her voice comes out small, it’s unnatural. Johnny shrugs, “Was all you talked about to people, remember? ‘I’m dyin’! I gotta find a cure!’” he scoffs and pulls her forward a bit rougher than he meant to. V stumbles a bit and Johnny maneuvers her towards the basin, “Well, princess guess you got your wish.” His ganic hand points towards the singular entryway between the land of the living and purgatory. V peers over the edge of the strange well, nothing but a black sparkling void. The lack of reflection makes her feel incredibly uneasy.

“I’m...I’m not going.” She trips over her words. V watches as Johnny sighs and removes his sunglasses, he rubs his face and inhales deeply. “Like hell you are. We didn’t come all this way for you to change your fuckin mind, V.” He quickly slides his aviators back on his face, “You’re going back, and I’m staying here, that was the plan.” V looks at the basin, then her eyes shift back to Johnny, “No.” She whispers, V takes a step forward, “Johnny, come on-”

“NO! Jesus fucking Christ Veronica! Stop making this hard...” his voice dies a bit at the end. Johnny paces a bit, his psyche summoning a lit cigarette, he takes a drag and V observes the digital swirl of cigarette smoke waft around them. Johnny sits at the edge of the basin, his head in his hands, he looks up and removes his sunglasses, his eyes looking everywhere else but her. “I told you I’d give my life for yours...I made a promise to you V, That I’d do right by you.” He shakes a bit as V steps forward, she stands between his legs.

“Do you really think this is doing right by me?”

She makes sure not to make any sudden movements, like approaching a fawn. Her hands carefully find their way on the sides of his face. She gently lifts his chin a bit, his eyes still looking though her. “Why won’t you look at me?” His gaze is steadfast, “Can’t, hurts too much.”

“Fuck Johnny, answer me, You really think this is doing right by me…or you?” She searches his eyes for a sign of surrender, he simply closes them and places the cigarette back between his lips. “Doesn’t matter, I know it’s right.” he finally relents a bit and gives her a glance, her pleading eyes and look of dread make him want to give in.

But he can’t, and he won’t.

“So...it doesn’t matter, how I feel, how YOU feel. None of that matters.” Her voice quavers, He can tell she’s trying not to lose it. She used to shake something fierce when she’d get angry, her shakes would hurt so fucking much, Johnny could feel it in his non existent muscles, they would ache from the tension. He extinguishes his cigarette and pulls her into him. His grip is so tight he could swear if he held her tighter he’d go right back inside her, he’d live there, her ribs would be prison bars he’d gladly live behind. V immediately presses herself into him further, desperately trying to bring him back. They sit there for a bit in silence, nothing but the faint sound of static can be heard around them. Johnny slowly tangles his ganic fingers through her black hair and moves his lips to hover over her ear.

“I have fucked everything up in my life Ronnie. Everything, everyone.” He whispers. “I refuse to fuck you up anymore.” Warm tears pool at her eyes as Johnny places a kiss on the crown of her head. “I’m already fucked up Johnny, you know that.” V moves her hands through his tangled locks, they feel so real here in cyberspace. “Please don’t leave me alone.” She chokes out a sob and mumbles out a string of ‘I’m sorries.’ Why she’s apologizing, he doesn't know. All he knows is that every minute that passes is one more that’s making it harder to say goodbye. “Baby, please-” Suddenly, the familiar sound of bytes materializing signals Alt’s approach. “Have you both come to an agreement? Who will take the body?” her detached AI persona has no emotional involvement, her tone signified that as much.

V turns and faces Alt. Her red glowing body glitches slightly, her arms raise in that strange way and fall to her sides. “Alt...what would you do?” she naively asks the AI. Alt cocks her head a bit.

“I do not understand.” Johnny sighs, “Come on V.”

V steps closer to the glowing entity, her hand reaches forward a bit and Alt flinches in repulsion.

“I know you’re in there, Alt.”

“She is not here, I only contro-”

“I know. You control her body, like a digital meat puppet...” V swallows, “There’s gotta be a part of her in there. Please. I wanna talk to her.” Johnny stands, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Johnny please! Let me just do this” She pleads. “I promise...one question and I promise I’ll leave...just give me a second.” her voice is on the edge of tears. V’s gaze is resolute on Alt. She walks closer and Alt backs up a bit. “Please, please let me talk to her.” The AI stutters a bit, “I...do not understand why you would want to.”

“Because there’s two people who understand what I’m feeling right now, and I can’t get through to one of them.” Her eyes plead with the AI. The air around her takes on a sudden shift, as if gravity became heavier. Alt disappears and suddenly re-materializes in front of Johnny in a flash of red digital pixelation. She’s silent, staring into him as if she’s trying to find her words. Finally she lowers to his eye level “She would like to speak to V.” Johnny looks taken aback. “She’s...here?” The AI nods, “Yes. She will speak to you in due time, but she would like to speak with V first. Stay here.” Johnny stands there, a wash of anxiety overtake him. V wants to comfort him, but any attempt is interrupted by Alt. “Come, She is ready.” the specter motions towards the pyramid stairs towards the golden column. V makes her way towards the light, only looking back occasionally to Johnny as he sits with his head between his hands.

--

I wrote this a year or so ago, something I'm editing and finishing up, if you want more you can find it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62538037/chapters/160062517