#void.arts

Not many prisoners escape the prison on their own time. Either they do the time they’re given, or they rot. This was all Miory, a young malware, had been told by the malware around him. And now, here he was, hauled into the prison by two firewall. He scoffed, “alright, this isn’t funny- let me go! It was just a little bit of thievery, c’mon now-”

          He stopped mid-sentence. A large hardware- or, what seemed like a hardware- with dark metal stepped forward from inside the prison, opening the door for the two firewall. It kept its eye on him as Miory was dragged in. Miory shuddered under its gaze, before the room ran past him as he was tossed into cell #3, the door closing shut behind him.

          Miory scrambled up, slamming his hands on the see-through door. “HEY! LET ME OUT!” He yelled, watching the two firewall leave. The ‘hardware’, on the other hand, returned to its post, glancing at him before looking toward cell #6. Miory groaned, leaning against the door. He was in the middle of trying to think of a way to escape, when he saw the metal one come over. Oh, no.

          The metal hardware looked down at him. “Greetings,” it said in a robotic tone that, while friendly, made Miory shrink back a bit. “Ah, no worries- “ the hardware put their hands up- “I don’t bite, heh. So, did thieving get you in here?” It questioned, Miory only nodding in response. 

          “I see. Well, welcome, then,” the hardware nodded, walking to return to its position. Miory watched, letting out a sigh of relief. Before he could get too comfortable, though, he jumped as a cackling rang out behind him.

          “Oh, hah, bahahah! Oh, lookit ‘is face, bah! S’always fun to see newbie’s reactions to ‘er, haha!”

          Miory snapped around. The cackling belonged to an older virus with grey-pink outlines, several scars, and advanced armor. The virus waved their hand, still chuckling, “ahh, no need t’fear ‘er, mal-boy. 6’s a friend, don’ cha know?”

          “Wh- a friend?! That thing is with the firewall! How could it-”

          “Oh, keep ya voice down,” the virus interrupted, “lotsa bein’s here like ‘er, and y’don’ wan ‘ta make sum en’mies here, am ah right?” The virus cackled once again, as Miory stood there in confusion. 

          “...what? People here actually like someone with the firewall?” Miory stared in bewilderment.

          “Ah, ya get use ‘ta ‘er. An plus, keep this b’tween us pris’ners, but she gets us extra vittles, n’real nice ones, non o’ th’stale ones,” the virus whispered over. Miory blinked in confusion.

          “...what?”

          “She gets us extra food.” Another voice murmured over. Miory blinked, looking toward the voice. In the other corner, a spyware sat, staring at him. “Treats us good, as well,” the spyware hummed. 

          Miory hesitated, “...does it?”

          “Mmhm. Unlike the rest of the firewall and proggies who work here,” the spyware smiled and leaned against the wall, “P-6 over there treats us like we’re on equal level. They don’t act like they’re above us. It’s nice.”

          Miory stared, in a bit of disbelief, now looking over to the hardware who was apparently known as P-6. A bit of orange light glistened against the dark metal of P-6’s side as they leaned toward cell #6, seemingly chatting with the spyware inside. She nearly blended in with the darker wall.

          Though he was still wary of the metal guard- plus the feeling he’d go insane having to deal with the virus in this cell- perhaps this wouldn’t be as bad as initially thought. If the guard was on their side, then perhaps one day, he could get out sooner, rather than later…

          Before he could dwell further into his thoughts, however, the main door to the prison opened. A program in combat armor stepped in, looking at P-6. 

          “Have you been keeping an eye on the prisoners?” The program questioned.

          P-6, who’d gotten back to their spot a few moments before when Miory wasn’t paying attention, nodded, “well, not like I have much else to do, huh?” P-6 chuckled. The program’s brow furrowed.

          “...yes, yes I have been.” P-6 murmured.

          The program huffed, “good, good. Now, do you still have the virus we managed to capture from that raid? It’s needed for interrogation.”

          P-6 made a mechanical hum that sent slight chills up Miory’s spine. “Haven’t you already interrogated them before?”

          “Oh, forget that, P-6, just listen to your orders. Do we still have the virus?”

          P-6 thought for a moment before nodding. Miory watched P-6 guide the program to cell #4, though hesitating to open the cell.

          “...are you sure there’s anymore they can say? I don’t think-”

          “Oh, you’re not paid to think,” the program interrupted, “open the door.”

          P-6 slowly nodded, opening the door. The program pulled a weak-looking virus from the cell, before leaving through the main door. P-6 watched and shook their head, beeping to themself.

          “Poor thing.” The spyware murmured next to Miory. He jumped. He hadn’t noticed the virus and spyware walk to his side to watch the situation unfold. 

          The virus nodded in agreement, “aye, y’said it. I dun ‘magine them progs ‘ill be any nice ta ‘im. tha poor thin’,” they spoke. It took Miory a second to figure out what the older virus had even said. Miory just sat down, the two corruption’s conversation becoming background noise as he stared outside the cell.

          Miory was snapped back to reality after an unknown amount of time as a cry came from outside the cell. The seemingly weak virus was on the floor, far from cell #4. Perhaps they’d tried to escape. A gash was in the side of their head.

          The program from before angerily picked up the virus, putting them back in the cell. They glared at P-6. “keep these damn prisoners obedient,” they grumbled, exiting from the main door. P-6 stared.

          The cells were quiet for a moment. Then, P-6 moved. She opened the door to cell #4.

          Miory watched with surprise as P-6 leaned down, pulling some bandages out of a hatch in their side and gently lifting the head of the virus. P-6 began bandaging the virus’s head, murmuring something Miory couldn’t hear. Once they finished, P-6 lay the virus back down, exiting cell #4 and going back to where she’d been before.

          Miory was honestly surprised P-6 would actually help a virus. Hell, any corruption in general. Sure, the rest could claim P-6 was nice all day, but Miory had honestly just assumed P-6 wasn’t as good as they’d said. That thought now seemed to change. 

          The older virus Miory shared the cell with nudged his side, “Aye, ah told ya 6’s a nice ‘un.”

          Miory glanced over. “Yeah,” he murmured, “I think I get that now.”

          Miory leaned against the wall of the cell. At least he wouldn’t be losing his sanity here. He hummed to himself, might as well get comfortable, in this case. 

          The malware closed his eye. Life went on.

Aaand here we go, writing #2! Technically about P-6, however, in the perspective of some random background character I dragged by the ankles into this story <3 I mostly wanted to get a sort of outside perspective from P-6, and show how different groups view them in away, and yeah this one might have accidentally been themed around perspective. Very glad to have written about my goober, though :) Hope you enjoy this!

"Watch what I can do!"

Lemons And Ebony excitedly hopped on the cluster of long-abandoned boxes they called a stage. Holding three crumpled balls of paper, xe attempted to juggle them. They managed to do so for a bit, before Lemons stumbled, nearly falling off the boxes and dropping the crumbled paper. Xe regained their balance and stood there for a moment, before awkwardly shrugging.

"...Well, I did it for a moment! That's good enough as is, right, guys?" Lemons smiled, looking at their 'audience' that consisted of a half-deflated soccer ball and a bulbless lamp that had a sheet over it, both objects having faces drawn on them. Silence blew through the area.

"......Yeah, it's good enough as is," Lemons finally said after a minute or so, walking forward and sitting on the edge of the stage, "so! How've your days been?" They hummed, glancing between the two objects. The air felt deafening for a moment, the quietness only being broken by the lamp-with-a-sheet-on-it falling over.

"Oh- aw, c'mon, get up, Vive, it's only…" Lemons hesitated, "...11 am!" They joked, picking up the lamp, which xe had affectionately named Vive, and putting it up again, readjusting the sheet so it was in the right spot.

"Well, you're clearly tired, heh! How about you, Arrict?" Lemons looked at the half-deflated soccer ball. Silence. The only sound came from a bit of trash falling from a pile somewhere in the distance, and the vague sound of the waves ebbing. After an indeterminate amount of time later, Lemons inhaled.

"...yeah, you're right. It's hard to tell what time it is around here, heh! Who knows? Maybe it's 4 pm! Maybe it's 1 am! Haha!" Lemons laughed a bit, lying down on the boxes and staring up at the sky. The large, vast sky. The computer's screen could just barely be seen from where Lemons was, nothing more than a bright white sliver over the wall. Lemons stared for a second, before looking down at Arrict and Vive.

"Do y'think if we keep walking, we'll find someone else?" Xe asked the two, sitting up and staring at them. Arrict and Vive, being inanimate objects, did not respond. The sound of the waves gritted in Lemons And Ebony's non-existent ears.

"...You're right! We have to find someone eventually! C'mon, guys, we're going out again!" Lemons called, hopping down. They slung Vive over their shoulder with one hand, and held Arrict in the other. "This doesn't hurt you guys, right?" Lemons asked, a worried expression on xir face. Silence.

After a minute or so of saying nothing, Lemons finally spoke, "well, that's good to know! You guys are my friends, I'd never want to hurt you!" They cheerfully spoke, smiling down at the two objects, "now, let's go!"

Lemons now walked off, walking along the shore of the data-ocean, avoiding stepping on any nearby piles of small trash. The lamp thumped against xir shoulder as they walked, making the only real noise besides the slight sound of the ebbing tide. The landscape was nothing but the same : dull grey, with the only real colors being from any newer trash, dried data, or the occasional chunks of flesh left on abandoned items.

And yet, not a soul lived. There were no sounds of people talking, going about their day, or anything. Just silence. A silence that was pierced by a distant scream from the computer itself.

Lemons looked up, spooked at first, but then shrugged, "ah, they must be having a fun time in there, eh? I wonder if there's any way to get in there…that'd be nice," they sighed, continuing to walk, adjusting their grip on the objects xe called friends. It was all just the same. Ground and trash and more trash and even more trash and nobody else but them. Nobody else but them.

A bit of anxiety gripped Lemons. "S-So, uh…y'guys think we'll see either of those weird ghost-y people? Eh?" They asked, just searching for anything to fill the silence. Vive just continued thumping against their shoulder as they walked. Arrcit slipped a bit from xir grip before Lemons tightened it again.

"Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah! We probably will! Maybe they'll talk this time. Maybe they'll talk and we can have a conversation and I can finally learn their name and find out why they're so familiar- oh, you guys would all probably get along, too! Yeah!" Lemons rambled on, their breath quickening, desperate for anything to fill the silence.

Xir walk turned to a quicker pace as xe continued, "a-and, uh- oh geez, y'don't think that scream meant anything, right? No, no, it didn't, it didn't, haha! We should keep going! See if we can find anyone! That sounds nice, right? Right?"

Lemons now dropped Vive, shaking Arrict, "Right? Right? Right? User's sake, please, something, anything, please, I can't be alone here, I can't take it any longer, I Can't, please, I just want to hear some voice besides mine, I-"

Xe gasped, catching their breath. "I…I'm tired."

Lemons glanced around. Xe looked at Vive, only half-covered by the sheet after xe had dropped them. They looked at Arrict, who they were still firmly grasping. Lemons sighed, glancing around before noticing some abandoned, broken chairs. They picked up Vive and walked over, putting Vive and Arrict on two of the broken chairs.

"...I'm tired." Lemons murmured, sitting down nearby and lying their head on the ground, staring up at the sky. The deep, deep sky. It's unbothered stars- were they stars?- and its deep, dark colors. Xe held their hand up, reaching out, then sighing.

"...do you guys think It'd be nice to be up there?"

Silence.

"...I mean…on one of those…well, I dunno if they're stars or computers, but either way, I bet we'd never be lonely up there. There's probably lots of people, all talking, going about their day, hanging out with their friends…I'd love to be up there."

…Lemons frowned as their rambling was met by silence. Xe continued staring up at the sky and its stars- or computers- until their eyes couldn't keep themselves open, and xe fell asleep to the sound of the waves beginning to crash against the shore.

Lemons And Ebony awoke underwater.

The feeling of the freezing cold liquid had fully hit them. The only thing around them they could see was darkness, clumps of trash slowly sinking. They moved their hands as quickly as they could, swimming up. How far was the surface? How long could they hold xir breath? Xe had no clue. Fear ran through them until they finally felt the relief of pushing through the surface of the sea, their wet skin hit by the air.

Lemons gasped, looking around, panicked. Xe couldn't spot their computer at first, having to focus more on keeping themself above the water. How long had xe been asleep? What had even happened? They had no clue. All they were focusing on was keeping themself alive.

Eventually, they finally spotted it in the distance : the screen of the computer they were (probably) from. The light from it shining, dancing on the surface of the sea looked beautiful. Too bad they're drowning. Lemons shoved their head above the liquid, swimming with all their might to try and reach xir computer. A few waves hit their back, but they pushed on anyway.

They pushed on until a much larger wave crashed over them, shoving xim below the water.

Lemons tried to move, tried to force themself up, but they just…couldn't. They were so tired. Xe felt so weak. Lemons stared up at the surface of the sea, at the wavy brightness in the distance known as the screen, casting light down into the sea. 

Xe sank deeper, the water closing around them as they stared up at the surface, their vision slowly getting blurrier and darker.

They'd always wanted to go to the stars. Maybe this was their chance. Lemons closed their eyes, as the depths of the water surrounded them.

A silent grave. Serene.

…Movement.

Lemons And Ebony opened their eyes. This was not the bottom of the sea.

In fact, somehow, xe were back on the shore. Their lungs hurt a bit, sure, but otherwise, xe felt…fine. Lemons sat up, looking around in confusion. Xe must've been caught off-guard by the high tide : piles of trash that had been near xem before were now smaller or gone. Then, suddenly, xe realized.

"...Arrict? Vive?" Lemons called out, standing and stumbling off, looking around. "No. No, no, no. No, I- I can't be alone, oh, god, no. Arrict? Vive? HellOAGH-" Lemons tripped over some object, landing face-first on the shore. Shaking grime off xemself, xe looked back, gasping.

"Vive! Oh, Vive, thank the user-" Lemons crawled over, picking up Vive and re-adjusting their cloth, "I…I guess it's just you and me, huh? I'm just glad we're not alone. Are you?"

Silence.

"...yeah, I miss Arrict already, too. I…really have no clue how I survived! I mean, I was sinking, y'know, already kinda accepted the fact I was dying, closed my eyes, and then I was just…here! At least we both survived. Here, let's sit and contemplate for a bit," Lemons rambled on, sticking Vive into the sand(?) of the shore and sitting next to them, staring off. The waves crashed into the shore. Lemons stared down at their hands, and thought. And thought, and thought, and thought, and thought.

"...You know, sometimes I feel like you," Lemons murmured. Vive, being an inanimate object, once again said nothing.

"A-And I mean, there's nothing wrong with you! Just…you're a cloth in the shape of a lamp, sure, but…in the end, you're just covering a lamp, right? You aren't…really the lamp." Xe murmured, looking down.

"I feel like that sometimes. Sometimes, I just…feel like a cloth covering someone else," Lemons murmured, looking to the side and sighing. A glint caught their eye. A bit of glass- mirror, glass, whatever it was- was stuck into the shore. 

"...sorry to make this serious, hehe. Hey, I'm gonna go get that thingy over there, alright?" Vive didn't respond. Lemons got up anyway, walking over and picking up the shard, making sure not to cut xeir hand. Xe looked at the glass shine in the slight light of the screen, moving it a bit to look at xeir reflection.

From the glass, a white software stared back at them.

WOOOO #1 of the few things I already have written has been posted!! Also, note that since I will have a bit of art with each writing, it might take me a while to post all of them. But yeah : this one's centered around Lemons And Ebony! Apologies if it feels a bit rushed, especially near the end, I just wanted to get these done. Hope you enjoyed reading this!