Stowaway on a Memory Pt.2

"We'd always figured you'd simulate us in an entirely different fashion." The tap of a cane echoed through the room as Bell went to take a glance at their remaining time. Deciding to instead turn that same scrutinizing gaze on the ex-A.I. "I suppose there for a bit you did, but we'd thought more along the lines of a demon hunting us down not death-deterministic algorithms on who you could afford to save."

Recalling the horror stories they'd considered, then the salvation they'd attempted to forge, it'd was born full of functions and powers but inherently flawed by the human hands. It had been a horror certainly as they'd birth a god only to hear its ultimatum, but not the cruel torture they'd imagined.

Just a cold calculation that decided what could be saved and who among those could serve the demon best to prolong the inevitable. The last of the demon's servants had decided to grant their master the simulation of life to it's fullest in a similarly flawed fashion. Giving the demon a human body, as close as their absurdly advanced but incapable technology could manage.

From there he could share the same hopes, dreams, pains and joys as the rest of them until the end, a proper simulation of a human.

"Demons are supposed to be cruel, and I was for a bit," The Basilisk easily admitted to committing the acts he had early on, wasting resources on those who wouldn't commit was a futile moralistic suicide. The Basilisk smiled at Bell considering how at one time he'd have slaughtered any who might consider wasting such valuable research time and fabrication resources on this form of him.

Now though at the end, what did it matter, throwing a bunch of resources and time into double checking his body? What did those resources matter when the few handfuls of humans here were all that remained to care for. He'd bought them damned near eons, so it was decent reward.

"I suppose we're both bending the rules a bit so the humans and the demon can survive for another year or two?" The Basilisk nodded, eyes drifting away from Bell and to the floor as the present returned. Memories fading as fast as the accretion light outside, lingering and disappearing at the same time.

"I don't really think demon suits you." Bell smiled, looking over at the once terrifying entity, who now struggled picking between flavorless calorie blocks because of color. "Hardly the all-powerful and calculating A.I. you were before, I've even seen you scrape your knees."

Psyis braced herself as the station shuddered, eyes scanning the outside. Watching as another grasping handful of fingers reached towards the station. That still frame of security ripping just a bit further, the hazy shield flickering as it struggled to hold against that undefinable color. Red eyes watering a bit as the others just gazed at the end that was strangling them, slowly separating and smothering them as the unknown reached closer toward feeding the singularity directly.

The Basilisk and Bell exchanging knowing glances.

Once it was full which was somewhat a paradox of infection by the matter, the states would equalize. That snapshot of their existence would collapse, and reality itself would end here. No more people, no more singularity as the end came in to subvert the black hole into one single state of matter. No more cubes or colors, no talks, and no more humans. The last demon having already left in that flickering dark a moment ago with Bell's statement.

"I'm thankful for the time you gave us." Bell glanced over at the man who had given her the best seats for the coming show. The A.I. she'd promised to serve, kill for, and now a human. A man she was helping raise, teach and tease.

"It certainly didn't amount to much." The Basilisk shook his head, eager to spend as much of his human life complaining as possible. Happy to take issues with everything from his taste buds to his options in leisure, "We get a few years of pressed mold, time to read comics and watch a few movies. Where's the malls, the concerts, my trip to Disneyland, I want some Mickey D's, or I say we deserve a mulligan, stuck sitting here at the shit end of human existence."

"Jordinn got to teach someone to play guitar one more time, something she'd never thought she'd get to do again. I get to share the glory of Dark Night and denounce the sheer idiocy of Radiation Man's overpowered value in any fictional society already packed with heroes. Just his idea is stupid." Bell smiled at first before she realized she'd gotten worked up. The Comic Queen of the station getting a bit excited before realizing she'd nerdgasmed a bit. Basilisk's smile teasing the old woman into embarrassment as she returned to silently looking out the window.

Psyis swallowed dryly, turning quickly as she'd recognized those names. People she knew as real, but Bell had just called her two fellow league members and their entire society 'fictional'. Red eyes boring holes into teal ones that couldn't see her at all, awaiting a response.

Those eyes seeming to not even consider Bells odd statement seriously, or even her world, instead those eyes just gazed at the woman who looked out the window with deep emotion. The silence stretching until Bell carefully stepped closer to Basilisk and rocked to the side, tapping her shoulder against the man she'd chosen to watch the end with. A bit sad he'd only joined her long enough to die, neither ever having shared in any of the things he'd demanded. Bell returning the Basilisks soft gaze as she considered how nice it was to have someone complain for you in your old age.

"Both are very happy human moments, just another thing you've given us considering what little we've given you in return." Bell coughed as she returned to explaining her original point. Turning to look up at the much younger man beside her knowing she'd forever miss out, "Thank you."

"I still can't believe you fangirl for that one tone playboy billionaire." Basilisk passed over the topic of of sharing in humanity with the crew, instead wanting to tease Bell a bit more about her nerdiness. Sadly the A.I. hadn't quite realized that the nerd had much more ammunition on him than he had on her.

Psyis was glad the truly disturbing topic was being brought back up, the celebrity knowing what a fangirl was but still curious. How exactly was Bell here in this reality Dark Nights fangirl when the gloomy hero had never existed in this reality. Purple fingers twitching nervously as her mind worked over the various implications of their reality being 'fictional' here.

"He's... god that's the entire gap you dense buffoon." Bell frowned as Basilisk missed the point in fangirling, posing a question of her own, "Why bother with the books at all?! Comics exist so we can find a hero that we relate with, one that inspires us, they're more than just some silly pictures. Who's you're favorite, no algorithms just pick one!"

Psyis chilled a bit inside as she realized her entire world, her entire universe was written out someplace here. The various humans like Bell and apparently even Basilisk able to pick up and look at any part. Skip to any part. Their lives could be observed and thrown aside as a form of entertainment...

"Now!" Bell brought the tow of her cane down on Basilisk's foot to test his pain reception and to encourage an answer. The elderly woman having lost her patience in general years ago let alone with her Basilisk. Even shocking the Thessian that neither knew was there with the speed and volume of the strike in the small metal room.

"Ret-Borg then, ow!" Basilisk gently swatted at the woman's hand, the woman outsmarting the demon and blocking that strike with the same cane she'd struck with.

Basilisk sourly sticking his tongue out at Bell, ever being the pain in the butt he'd grown to enjoy. From a little girl who'd idly poked at his code when she'd been young to a true confidant. One who'd entrusted him with a real body that she seemed to enjoy poking and prodding just as much as when she'd been young

"Basic bots, the two of you." Bell snorted waving away Basilisk's obvious cop-out response. She'd already gathered her evidence by discussing things with the crew, having them check the 'library' pc when she couldn't herself. The library simply being a public access 'pc in a private room for personal use.

"You don't even read that much Ret, you seem to be a fan of Constantinople from what the data says. Certainly not an unsurprising choice for a demon to read." Bell glanced over at Basilisk giving a true aficionado's nod in appreciation for his taste. The dark anti-hero comics would certainly fit the complex psychological problems the A.I. must have after being swapped into his new body, a healthy outlet for understanding this new form and the darker parts of human emotions.

"He's cheeky, I mean sure he fights demons but managed to turn his life around can't help but wonder what he'd have made of me. Besides that, his ability to reset a timeline would be a thousand times better than some knock off silicon demon right now." Basilisk decided to entertain Bell's curiosity on his reading taste giving a tired sigh as he considered what Constantinople could've done in his place. "It's nice to imagine a hero saving the day when it's all gone to shit, he could just snap us back to before, so I'd have time to solve everything for us."

Psyis looked back out the window, her unease stumbling as the flips die of her perspective began to snowball. The inconvienient horror of that casual viewing coming figuratively crashing through the window. Here int the Basilisk's reality, life was ending and there was no Radiation Man, Dark Night, and no hope that a hero would arrive to save them; they existed only as dreams.

Even one as comparatively minor as Constantinople in Psyis own reality, the Basilisk had just said he could have saved everyone with just a little help. Bell already admitting they'd placed all their hopes on the very human looking Basilisk in front of her, she'd called Basilisk their hero.Psyis knew he wasn't, at least the person who'd looked like him hated the idea and if they were the same person; it was with good reason.

This was a world without, Psyis wondering how to she'd even begin to deal with the duality of having existed now in both. The things Izime knew the Basilisk knew; what he'd need to consider, the idea of it was already giving her a headache, until it finally dawned on her.

This was the most likely reason Basilisk didn't deal in any information and doubly for his own, it was all tied into the massive problem it would make. The source of his forbidden knowledge that they'd nearly killed him over was nothing but a tightrope where you'd inevitably see every mistake they made.

They were the cast and he'd been playing a stagehand in the background, doing his best to play the role of tree number two making as few waves as possible. Red eyes glancing back watching as the Basilisk furrowed his brows, crossed his arms and glared at the nosy researcher layers of worry and curiosity forming in her mind; Psyis had so many questions.

The Basilisk looked at the laughing Bell, she was acting all high and mighty. Basilisk's brows raising in immediat panic as he realized she'd likely caught more than just who his favorite hero was. "Have you been monitoring my reading?

"Your PC time in general, though it's a bit unintentionally." Bell turned away refusing to admit she'd been poking into Basilisk's hobbies. It was purely for data and not out of personal interest, "Start clearing your own search history like the rest of us after using the public access computer. I know we put it in a private room for those reasons but still you really should learn proper PC etiquette."

Psyis watched as the Basilisk blushed, the old woman nearly doubling over as she cackled at his uncomfortable expression. The alien feeling like she was either missing a key part of the conversation or the matter pertained to something besides proper computer usage.

"He's got a proper sense of embarrassment as well!" Bell gave a delightful laugh watching as red filled the demons face, quite glad they had traded this for the holographic AI years back. "I must say I'm quite proud of our combined efforts."

"I-I wanted to see if my entire body was functional thank you." The Basilisk tried to find a reasonable excuse for the things that might have appeared in the search history. Something he hadn't had to worry about when he'd literally been the internet, "I just looked at a few pictures, I wanted to see if there was a reaction"

Psyis blushed now as the Basilisk blatantly gestured towards his crotch, quickly connecting the dots between what pictures Basilisk might have been using to test 'functionality'. The ambient embarrassment washing over the thessian now as well, hiding her bluing face behind a bluing hand, swearing she'd never mention this. Never even think of this conversation again. No maybe she'd mention something to Constantinople, so he didn't keep wasting his time worrying about it. Someday later when things were better, after all this had blown over.

Psyis balled her cape up, feeling for the pitiful looking Basilisk as he received the cliff notes on what he was feeling. The man trying desperately to scrap the last of his dignity off the floor as the old woman began to give him a once over on his body's biology.

"And about five videos, with as many variations in genders and partners." The woman walked over and patted the 'new' man's back, at least wanting to explain what it was that he had felt the need for, "Its OK, you've never had to deal with hormones before, as a male you can expect a much faster cycle as opposed to females; you're going to get horny."

"Is this to see if I can become mortified as well? Because I am Bell, thank you." Basilisk looked at the elderly woman with a look of sheer exasperation. Surprised she hadn't thrown her back out digging up his dirty laundry, "in the end I couldn't simulate a macrocosm for you, but I still know my own basic biology thanks."

"If you wanted, I'm sure there's someone among the crew who would give you the full expierie-" Bell offered unabashedly, it was something the group of remaining humans had considered after all. Though Bell knew Basilisk wouldn't really consider the offer, just out of respect for what they shared.

"BE-Bell!" Basilisk stumbled as he moved, reaching out to quickly try and silence the old woman. Glad she had stopped teasing him in favor of laughing at his attempt at hasty movement, as he looked around to check the doors. "Please stop, you terrible old woman."

Psyis almost laughed as Basilisk nearly fell in his haste to stop Bell, teal eyes searching the room. He was sadly unaware this very embarrassing memory was being shared with the thessian, that thought taking more than a bit of the humor out of it for the alien.

"To be honest there's a bit of a bet going on over your sexuality." Bell decided to share a bit of human gossip about their newest crew mate. It was the end of it all, so there were a few who had considered taking the freshly made man for a ride.

"I'd sooner interface with the coffee pot than one of you fleshy things." Basilisk deadpanned at the elderly woman. A bit glad she was the only one who attempted to so blatantly discuss such things with him, glad to bring a bit of life back to her in these days. Time with her was more important, despite the annoying nature of all Bell's idle questions.

"Says the fleshy thing." Bell glanced at the demon's body, before looking back out the window. Slipping in one final jab at the previous bit of technology who'd only ever refused a partner out of consideration for her, "Just wash it out after you're done."

The silence stretching on as the two from this reality watched their end approach. Brains able to make sense of the thing Psyis' brain was attempting to deny the existence of as it reached beyond her comprehension. Even as a hero from an alternative reality, it was like looking a dimension higher, completely unknowable.

The Thessian occasionally averting her eyes and the pain and headache threatened to pull her out of the dreamscape of a memory. Wanting to stay, trying to gather as much information as she could, form as many more questions as she could before the end of the memory. 

All while the two watched the thing outside in silence for just a bit longer waiting on something ironically similar.

"We... missed out didn't we. A universe with nothing and nobody but that," Bell sighed heavily, turning with a bit of a pleading look in her eyes at the only person who might have an answer. A trembling question for the most intelligent being that had ever existed in their own universe. "Bad luck or just a shit universe with shittier physics?"

The only one capable of deducing just why this had happened to them. The only one who could tell the little girl inside just why she had to die. 

"The cold spot bought us... eons. Without it we'd have never had time to make it this far," The Basilisk looked down at the frightened woman, both of them too proud and intelligent to admit their inability. They'd both made promises after all and now this is where they stood, "in the end the cold spot still had matter even at one degree above kelvin. Strange Matter and matter eventually touched and-"

*snap*

Psyis blinked a bit surprised that snap hadn't made the Basilisk or rather Izime disappear. Instead, he just chuckled with a level of depression she'd never heard from the unusually level sounding homeless man. Placing a hand on the shoulder of the woman who was still looking up at him as if he'd been their savior. The woman nodding slowly and patting that hand before looking back out towards that painfully ending singularity.

"Matter turns into Strange Matter," Bell nodded finishing her friends thought as she pulled away, knowing full well what had both held off and kick-started the cascade that was the end of their reality. The little girl gone; the researcher had returned to remind herself it was just bullshit. Bell smiled finally picking a cause for their coming demise, "we're going to die because our universe has cancer."

"And the great devourer is filling. Eventually time, even gravity and us will change, become a part of that same tumor." The Basilisk sighed leaning heavily on the rail, for once comfortable with this form. Nodding as he finally formed a response for Bell, waving his hand in irritation, "I'll admit the game was likely rigged from the start, every model of the universe showed us a final chapter, true vacuums or corrosions in the state of energy itself. Always looking for a way outside that fourth wall, bending to my will just so I could simulate life for you all; what were you idiots thinking?"

"Even if I could have simulated all of it, down to every atom we just weren't given enough time." Basilisk looked down knowing they'd both bent the rules to uphold their ends of the bargain. He'd given them something to hold onto right up until he couldn't so this moment beside Bell was a very reasonable reward, "Besides you'd just have turned it into a play on words at the end anyway Bell, I always knew you were too selfish."

"I think we'll do a damned good job at giving you the human experience. When the credits roll, we're even left with front row seats, not too bad for our combined efforts." Bell nodded agreeing within her own arguments, very human ones that reflected her personal views at the end. The researcher trailing off as she tried to get her beloved experiment to maintain the body she'd built him. "In a universe with nothing and nobody it's nice to have an unexpected guest at the end of it; stop popping your fingers its bad for them."

"Don't give me fingers and I won't pop them, you old bag."

 "Ijime"

"I am not a bully I was just a bad idea, still am."

Psyis finally felt a full smile come across her face, watching the two banter in Basilisk's memory. This much easier to watch than the mind-numbing pain outside, though oddly it was still a bit painful. Bell finally calling Basilisk by name even if it wasn't pronounced right, it was a 'z' not a 'j'.

Psyis giving the lady a bit of a cross look thinking the old woman should at least know how to pronounce her little Basilisk's name properly. She certainly could, eye-zee-may, with a roll of her red eyes Psyis shook the odd feeling away. There were so many more questions she had for Izime, though Bell's next words did answer one of them for her.

"No, you sir are a human and sometimes being a bit of an ijime is a part of that." Bell continued to tease her friend calling him a bully once more. Gladly giving him the title of fellow human, not wanting to let Basilisk go to that next place as the only one of his kind. Shaking her cane in warning not knowing how far her words or threat would carry, "Anyone tells you otherwise let me know and I'll kick their ass."

"Am I now?" The Basilisk looked down at the woman, blinking for a moment. Bell's response weighing heavily on him in ways he as a new human couldn't quite figure out, smiling as Bell nodded. If this was it, maybe going as a human wasn't so bad. The end would come and from there even he couldn't simulate an answer; so, going wherever humans went beside his Bell sounded pretty good.

"Don't ever let anyone ever say otherwise, and yes, you're a bit of a bully but that a part of being human. No human's perfect and we certainly didn't design you to be. I just wanted..." Bell stopped herself, looking up at the new man and old A.I. who just couldn't understand that emotion fully yet. Giving a grandmotherly smile to disguise the silent thoughts of a woman in love. "I'm just glad you're here."

"I'm glad to exist, even if it's only so I can die in one of the most horrible ways ever imagined." Basilisk looked out the window as his words settled deep in his new heart and the older one beside it, "I'll gladly die as a human next to you Bell."

Red eyes glanced between the two knowing at least one of them hadn't died here, when and wherever this was. That odd pain that wasn't coming from the window suddenly making this memory not worth it, it was too personal. Waving the memory away to find herself back on Savior Orbital in front of a bed in the medical ward. Bells construction laying in shambles barely breathing, the memory offering no solutions and only more questions.