"Apparently frickin' so," I complained, uncertainty replaced by irritation, throwing my hands up in the air. Why didn't anyone tell me!? "At first, I assumed it was a 'What If' scenario, just a you thing," I gestured at Alt-Me, "But then your Dad questioned my Dad about it, and my Dad just shrugged and said 'yes, she is'. Like it was obvious!"
"Well, I met my cuz when I was a kid," Alt-Me nodded towards the still silent, motionlesssilent Alt-Doll. I was really getting nervous about that, part of me wanted to ask exactly what was going on there, but another part seriously felt uncomfortable about bringing it up. "Mom," A stab of pain struck my core as I was reminded of my loss, "Introduced us when we were kids. What we could try and work out is what and when your Point of Divergence might have been. When did you first meet your Doll?"
"We've never interacted." Alt-Me and Alt-Lizzy stared at me. Right, back to nervously shuffling feet. "The first time I saw Doll was a couple of years ago when she joined our class halfway through the year. I came in one day, and she was just there sitting next to Lizzy."
Alt-Me and Alt-Lizzy shared a strange look.
"Do your Lizzy and Doll hang out with each other? Did they know each other from the first day?" Alt-Lizzy asked me, and I held back a growl as I replied.
"Yes!" I didn't snarl, I didn't! I merely gave an emphatic reply! Lizzy and Doll were always there together, Lizzy always attacking me, Doll her silent accomplice!
Alt-Lizzy appeared not to notice my absolutely controlled and calm response and continued. "Who sat next to Lizzy in class before that? How did the rest of the class react to Doll's entrance?"
"What?" I threw myself back into my memories about who sat to Lizzy before, only to come up blank. "I don't know! Nobody, I assume. And the rest of the class just accepted her like she'd always been a part of the class." I huffed angrily. I wasn't jealous of that, not at all. They could remember her name on her first day, but still refused to remember mine!
"There was an empty seat before she joined?" Alt-Lizzy kept asking questions.
I searched my memories again and couldn't remember an empty seat, but there must have been though. "I don't know? Yes?"
"So Doll appeared in class one day, Lizzy and Doll interacted like they had always known each other, the rest of the class acted like they knew her, only you didn't know her. It's like you... lost... " Alt-Me talking ground to a halt and stared at me, her optics widening extremely.
I shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. What?
() Flashbac-ERROR!
() Flashback Unavailable - Memories Not Found.
() ERROR!
() ADMINISTRATIVE OVERRIDE 'RIP_THE_MANGO'
() SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVE RECORD OF EVENTS
() SEARCHING...
() SEARCHING...
() BACKUP RECORD LOCATED - FILE SOURCE/Universe MD-20250721/Long-Term Universal Historical Records Storage
() PLAYING FILE
Uzi stretched out in the digital expanse of her OS. That was the final birthday memory deleted, good riddance! As she prepared to exit out of her OS, she noticed another memory folder, this one labelled Doll. Pain rippled through Uzi's core. Doll had been her cousin, her first friend, and they had been inseparable. But then Uzi's mother had been killed by a Murder Drone, and to add to that pain and grief, Doll had started avoiding her. Uzi desperately had tried reaching out again and again, but Doll ignored her attempts. Doll had made new friends, Doll had moved on from Uzi, leaving her alone. Uzi started to weep, her pained cries going unheard, alone in a digital landscape. And what made it worse was that Doll's new friends bullied Uzi, tormented her while Doll just watched impassively, ignoring Uzi's distress and pleas for answers. Why!? Why did she leave me!? Why didn't she help me!? Uzi's core throbbed in agony. Why did she throw me away!? And it hurt, it hurt! If she could just forget... Uzi highlighted the Memory Folder, and a prompt appeared,
[Delete these memories Y/N]
Uzi's digital finger hovered over the button, shaking. Was this really the right choice? But it hurt, it hurt! Y was selected.
Memories start to be deleted from newest to oldest.
Uzi falls to the floor, the people all around her laugh at her, and Doll stands in the crowd, ignoring Uzi's distressed face, her desperate pleading optics as they stare at Doll. Look at me! Please! Answer me!
This would be over soon, no more pain.
Uzi walks up to Doll and tries to strike up a conversation. Doll ignores her and walks away, leaving Uzi standing alone, her optics slowly hollowing. Why? What had gone wrong? Was it me?
No more painful memories. So why did it feel wrong?
Doll waves cheerfully as she runs up to Uzi. Uzi greets her happily, and they start to talk. Why couldn't it have stayed like this?
Why did she feel worse? This wasn't right. Uzi had a growing pit in her core that she had made a terrible mistake
Uzi, having a sleepover with Doll, wakes up from a yellow-filled nightmare, crying. Doll wakes up to Uzi's tears and hugs her, comforting her.
What have I done!? Why had she done this!?
Uzi shyly hid behind her mum's legs, sneaking peeks at the other child hiding behind the other Adult's legs. Nori introduces them, "Meet your cousin, Uzi. Doll, this is Uzi." Doll and Uzi give each other a tentative smile.
No!
"I don't want to forget her!" Uzi cried out loud. Forgot who? Who was she forgetti- Uzi blinked in confusion. Why was she crying? Uzi stared at the flashing prompt,
[Memories Deleted]
There was a hollow in her chest, and digital tears spilling down her visor. Strange, she didn't think those birthdays had meant so much to her. She didn't need those birthdays anyway; they were cringe.
() File Ends
Alt-Me stared at me, her mouth moving but nothing coming out. I blink in confusion at Alt-Me. What was wrong?
"Uzi?" Alt-Lizzy asked Alt-Me and received no reply.
Alt-Lizzy sighed and moved over to the Alt-Me, pulling Alt-Doll along with her. Once there, Alt-Lizzy reached out and dragged Alt-Me into the hug she was already holding Alt-Doll in. What had just happened? Why had Alt-Me froze up? Why was Alt-Lizzy hugging Alt-Me? Why was Alt-Me letting her? I don't understand. They stayed like that for a while, while I watched, feeling incredibly uncomfortable with the whole situation, until finally Alt-Me started moving and put her arms around Alt-Lizzy and Alt-Doll to hug them both. I stared at the display, a Lizzy and Uzi hugging each other, and I felt disconcerted. What made this world so different to my own? Mom, I pushed past the familiar stab of pain, coming back from the dead would be more believable than what I was seeing.
"Hey Lizzy," Alt-Me whispered to Alt-Lizzy, and I had to strain my audios to hear her, "Thanks."
"You feeling better?" Alt-Lizzy asked quietly in return, and Alt-Me nodded. "You want to talk about it?"
"Not right now, please," Alt-Me replied.
Alt-Lizzy smirked, "Change of topic then, Hot Topic. You know, I think I would, like, be a brilliant Anime Protagonist if you ever want to quit. Dolly and I would make a great team working alongside Joe."
Alt-Me said with a dry voice, "Your current plans involving Doll and Joe in no way require you becoming an Anime Protagonist." Alt-Lizzy's face turned pink again. Why? "Anyway, part of the membership includes having the powers of Robo-Satan and Anime," I gaped at Alt-Me. What!? "If you manage that, then we'll talk." Alt-Me slowly extracted herself from the hug.
"I'll hold you to that, Uzi." Alt-Lizzy said to Alt-Me, releasing her.
"Hey Uzi, you ok?" A new voice called, and I looked around to see a crowd of people approaching us.
It took me a moment to realise that it was the Trevor of the group who'd asked that question, Emily walking quietly beside him, accompanied in turn by Penny, Kelsey and two Thads. As my gaze roamed over the group, I realised that judging from the differences in outfits, most of the group were alternatives of people from my Outpost. Alt-Trevor was dressed in a grey military-style coat with blue jeans. Alt-Emily was wearing a black fur-collared jacket over her usual mountain shirt with a cream skirt, though the rosary she held in her fist looked the same as the one Emily from my outpost carried around. Alt-Penny wore a green dress with a black bow on the front. The two Thads, they were the ones undistiguishably dressed, with the same maroon vest, same black t-shirt, same backwards-worn maroon cap. So much coolness in one spot. Though the main difference between the Thads was that one was looking around the room and the other was just staring at the ground. And the Alt-Kelsey, one of Lizzy's retinue? At least she was at home, even wearing the same cheerleader uniform as Lizzy, Rebecca and Doll. But here, Alt-Kelsey was dressed in a blue shirt with black cargo pants. What seriously was the difference between our two worlds!? Everyone bar the Thads are wearing different clothes! Alt-Me and Alt-Lizzy get along! They might actually be friends!? And Alt-Lizzy's clothes! I glanced at Alt-Lizzy's leather jacket and the rest of her ensemble. It shouldn't be cool, the universe should never allow for Lizzy to actually look cool, but it was! And Alt-Trevor actually called out to Alt-Me by..name...Wait... He called her Uzi? How!? The only drones in their class that ever remembered were Thad and ugh Lizzy!
"You…" I mumbled out loud to Alt-Trevor, interrupting the conversation that I suddenly realised had been happening around me, and despite the anxiety filling my circuits at the group's attention, words continued to spill from my lips. "Name? Remember?"
"Of course I rememb-" Alt-Trevor stopped in mid-word as their optics widened, and around him I saw other people's optics had also widened. "Oh... yeah...that... that was messed up." Alt-Trevor mumbled. Alt-Emily had her hands over her mouth, hiding her expression. Alt-Trevor's optics widened further, rings forming underneath. "Oh robo-god!" Alt-Trevor swore. "Is that still going on in your world!?" Still going on? Still going on!? I stared at Alt-Trevor blankly, my head feeling funny.
"Uh, guys..." Alt-Me glanced towards me, looking worried?
"Haha, well." A Thad piped up, a sheepish grin on his face. "I think me and Lizzy are the only ones who call Uzi by name. It's been like that ever since school started about a decade ago."
"What!?" Alt-Lizzy hissed as Alt-Kelsey stumbled backwards, and Alt-Emily and Alt-Penny turned their wide optics to me.
"Exactly how long!?" Alt-Trevor demanded of Thad, his voice warbling. "It's been only two years for us, are you telling me that- that bullshit has been going on for another eight years in your world!?!"
"Did you try and put an end to it?" A quiet voice came from the Alt-Thad, still looking at the floor. "For some reason that I still have trouble understanding, people listen to me, to us. Did you ever try and get people to remember Uzi's name?"
"Uhh... should I have done something?" Thad scratched at his cap.
The other Thad, Alt-Thad? Looked up from the floor, their optics hollow and glared at their counterpart. "You knew Uzi was being passively bullied for years, and you did nothing!?" He yelled at Thad. Everyone here! Do they actually care!? Would they chase after me and say the words that I need to hear? That I'm no burden, not so worthless. Would they actually miss me!? There was a ringing in my audials, my internal fans spun up in intensity, and my vision started to blur.
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't think-" Thad's voice faded away.
The world fell away, and I bit back a sob, as I fell into despair-filled memories.
() Flashback
I walked down the hallways as I made my way to class, the long way round. Things would be better today, I thought confidently as I made my way towards the stairs, I had made plans, no matter what anyone said I would ignore them, I had changed my normal school route to avo- The shove on my back was my only warning. My descending foot overshot the first step as my body was shoved over the edge of the stairs. As I fell, my thoughts accelerated as I realised in horrified realisation that there was nothing I could do to stop my descent, and I desperately wrapped my arms protectively around my head.
THUMP! PAIN!
Pain shot up my side. I hit the stairs and continued to fall.
THUMP! PAIN!
My arms and head slammed against the stairs. My visor cut out. I hit and continued to fall.
THUMP! PAIN!
Something in my leg gave way as it twisted slightly on impact. I hit and fell.
THUMP! PAIN!
My entire body slammed into something solid. I hit... and stopped moving. My optics slowly, painfully opened, and I could woozily see the tiled floor beneath me, inches from my visor. My trembling frame ached with pain, growing in intensity when I attempted to move.
"Oh look!" Chad's voice boomed out behind me, and I froze in place, knowing even without looking, that he would be at the top of the stairs, grinning at his handiwork. "The freak fell!"
Laughter burst out from all around me, and my agonised core sank in growing despair. It isn't funny! Can't they see I'm hurt!?
"OMG, way to be clumsy, Uzi!" A voice sneered, and my core fell even further. Lizzy was here! "But I suppose garbage like you belongs on the floor! Right, Doll!"
The laughter somehow grew. It wasn't fair! I struggled to hold back my tears. I refused to let them see me cry! Why did one of the few drones to remember my name torment me with it!?
I lay on the floor, my body burning with excruciating pain, physical and emotional, as they continued to laugh. They continued to laugh as they walked away, leaving me there, lying on the ground. No one offered to help.
Once I was sure everyone had left, I pulled myself painfully to my feet. My arms wrapped around myself in a facsimile of a hug, and all the emotions I'd been working to repress burst out as I started sobbing. I collapsed back to the floor, wrapping my arms around my knees, drawing my knees to my face as I sobbed into them. Why couldn't any of them leave me alone? Why did they find my pain so amusing? Why did no one care!? After I cried myself out, my edge level reached a critical low, and I unsteadily climbed back to my feet. I smacked my cheeks, restoring my edge levels, and furiously wiped the tears off my visor. It'll be better. I promised myself miserably. The rest of the day will be better! It will get better!
It didn't.
()Flashback ends
"U..."
"Uz..."
"Uzi!" I heard someone call faintly. The world slowly faded back into existence, my head still fuzzy, and my body was wrapped in something. I shifted my head and caught a glimpse of purple optics, their owner holding me. Was that Mom...? My vision focused, and my head cleared a little. Oh, I thought with disappointment, I was hugging myself. Gross. My frame felt heavy, like the slightest movement would be exhausting to consider. The hug continued. It felt warm. Gross. It felt comforting. Gross. My body didn't snuggle deeper into the hug. When was the last time someone hugged me? Mom...
"Uzi, can you identify three things you can see?" Alt-Me asked, her voice gentle.
"W-ha-t?" I asked, my voice sounding thick, full of static and distant.
"It's a checklist, three things you can see?" Alt-Me asked again.
I stared blankly at myself in confusion before answering, my voice still slightly stuttering. "Pu-rple opt-ics, p-urp-le hair, an-d a black b-eanie." There were pins in the beanie, I noticed. A skull and... was that a thestral done up in purple?
"Three sounds you can hear?" Ok...? I listened with my audials.
"My core humming, my fans moving, and..." I could hear raised voices. I shifted my head, and saw the two Thads off aways yelling. "Thad yelling at Thad?"
"Yeah... my Thad isn't particularly happy with himself at the moment." Alt-Me sighed, "One last thing, can you move three parts of your body?" Still confused, I performed those actions. I twitched my left foot, my right hand and shrugged my shoulders.
"Do you feel better?" Alt-Me asked.
I opened my mouth to voice a denial but hesitated. It was strange, but I did feel better. I looked around, me and Alt-Uzi were in our own little bubble, everyone else was keeping their distance. I turned my attention back to Alt-Me, it was still eating away at me, I had to understand why?
"Why do you get to have friends and a dad who cares?" I whispered to Alt-Me. Here was a Uzi who had everything I'd ever wanted, friends who accepted her, who were protective of her, and a dad who appeared to care for her beyond his precious doors. Why did seeing everything I dreamed of make me feel so awful!?
"The story doesn't have a happy beginning, though it does get better" Alt-Me smiled at me, and in that moment, I understood what it meant by a fragile smile. "For a while, I suspect my life was exactly like yours. I had a Mom and Dad, and everything seemed right with the world. Then one day, after an attack Mom never came back home, Dad turned all his attention to door worship, and I couldn't talk with my classmates without something going wrong. I started to be bullied, small things at first but it grew in scope, and Dad wouldn't listen to me about it, always claiming that he was busy with his doors. I was isolated and alone, both at home and at school." Alt-Me sighed, and I stared at her blankly. That sounded familiar, too familiar. And yet... "But your question of how everything changed from that? It's a bittersweet and sad answer. Another massacre, another time of loss, and afterwards, one of the dead woke up, but instead of the child, a single dumbass human woke up instead.
"Joe?" I asked. Joe had been a human?
"Joe," Alt-Me confirmed with a nod. "He recognised what world he'd been born into, what lay ahead in the future, and despite everything he was dealing with. Everything he'd lost, everything he was having to adapt to. He still bothered to give a shit about me. He got an in with the cool kids and convinced them to stop messing with me."
"And then he approached you?" Of course, the Isekai protagonist would seek out the Anime Protagonist.
"Uhh, not exactly." Alt-Me shuffled a bit. "I approached him, demanding to know what he was up to, might have threatened him a little with a wrench, and he just ignored that and offered to be my friend. Invited me to join him with his friends and threatened to punch the cool kids in the face if they upset me." Alt-Me chuckled. "He actually punched Dad in the face for upsetting me." What! He punched Dad!?
"He punched Dad?" I asked in disbelief.
"Cracked his visor, I was told." Alt-Me confirmed. "That blow and whatever Joe yelled at him at the time seemed to knock some sense into Dad. Since then, he's been trying to be a proper parent and be a part of my life. He even took a day off from the WDF to celebrate my birthday with me."
I stared at Alt-Me with intense incredulity. It still didn't feel real. A version of Dad who chose his daughter over his doors. I thought over my interaction with Alt-Dad. But Alt-Dad noticed I was injured, asked about my welfare. And that's why, I began to realise, he became angry after he started talking to my Dad. My Dad was focused on doors, not on me.
"Your dad really chose you over doors?" I murmured, a part of me still convinced that it couldn't be true, even with all the supporting evidence.
Alt-Me winced. "Yeah, I get where you're coming from. I bet 'Why can't you be more like doors, Uzi?' sounds familiar. But Dad has honestly improved, and Joe has pointed out a few things to me about Dad." Alt-Me took a breath, fans whirring. "Dad is still majorly traumatised over what happened with Mom." I felt both anger and sadness rising in my core. Sadngry!? "It's not an excuse," Alt-Me rushed out quickly to me, "It'll never be an excuse, but it's part of the reason why he's like this. Joe also brought up a condition that both me and Dad share, a condition that I think you might share."
"Condition?" Was there actually something wrong with Alt-Me, with Alt-Dad, with my Dad, with... me?
"Tell me if any of this sounds familiar. I have trouble understanding non-verbal social cues." There were non-verbal cues? "I have trouble with social understanding, or talking to people in general." Yes... "I have trouble looking drones in the optics." I glanced into Alt-Me optics, Alt-Me stared back, and I averted my gaze. Alt-Me continued to speak. "I focus really hard on a few specific things. I have a constant urge to be doing something with my hands. When I'm really emotional, I have a hard time articulating myself, even to the point of finding it hard to speak. I have trouble handling a lot of intense and/or rapid sensory input, or regulating my emotions." I listened to Alt-Me's descriptions with growing anxiety; everything she mentioned was familiar, too familiar. Was something wrong with me too!?
"What's wrong with us!?" I quietly begged Alt-Me desperately.
There is nothing wrong with us!" Alt-Me hissed, her arms tightening around me, "We're not wrong, we're not defective, we're just different. As for what we have. JCJ appears to be fucked up enough to program the potential for mental disorders into their drones," My code jumped in it's processor. What!!? "Though I'm seriously considering that they used brain scans of humans for the coding of their first generation of drones. Would explain a few things." Alt-Me stared off into the distance for a moment before returning her attention to me. "I'm on the spectrum," Alt-Me stated as if it was a simple fact, not something that made the world shift under my feet again, "Me and Dad have the equivalent of robo-autism. Which is why we both have so much trouble interacting with people."
I stared at the floor, my and Alt-Me's apparently matching boots filling my view. It made sense, it made so much terrible sense. I had autism. I'd never ever met a human, only dealt with with living hell they'd created for us on Copper 9. But now it seemed like they'd fucked with my life, my very state of being before I was even created. I suppressed a broken-laugh that tried to burst from my depths, sure that if I started, I might never stop and focused as much as I could, Stupid Autism! , on Alt-Me. Alt-Me, who appeared to be coping with all this whole situation, different worlds, alternatives of her friends, so much better than me, so much better than she suggested she should be.
"You seem to be coping with everything!?" I demanded? Asked? Begged for understanding to Alt-Me?
"I'm not." Alt-Me bluntly said, "I'm cheating heavily as well as having lots of practice and support in the past."
"Does it ever feel less core-wrenchingly awful?" I whispered.
"Friends help. And I'm happy to be your friend, and I know that my friends would be happy to be your friends as well." Alt-Me grinned at me. "And on that note, are you ok if I start filling my friends in on the basics of Joe's Isekai before he gets back?" I nodded, and Alt-Me grinned at me. "Cool, and if you feel up to it afterwards, you can give a brief description of your world." My world...
"Ummm, I met a ROB before I got here." I blurted out. "They kinda set all of this up."
Alt-Me paused, and her gaze turned to me. "I so want details later! But for now," Alt-Me released me from the hug. I didn't miss it, I didn't! And...
CLAP!
Clapped her hands together, drawing the attention of the surrounding drones. "Right! I'm pretty sure you all have questions so-"
"Uzi?" Dad's voice called. And I turned to see Dad and Dad standing there. Which Dad was whose? I wondered, though I suspected the one staring at the floor was mine, and the one staring at us was Alt-Dad. "Are you both ok?" The Alt-Dad asked, staring at me and myself. Called it!
Alt-Me glanced at me, and I shrugged. "Yeah Dad, I think we're doing ok," Alt-Me said, turning to her Dad. "We found out some upsetting things, but it's evened out for now.
Alt-Dad turned a stare at my Dad, who was still staring at the floor, his optics hollowed I realised. "I think I might understand what you mean."
"I'm just about to explain stuff to my friends. I know you might not understand all the references, but I'll explain it in more detail to you later, ok?" Alt-Me gently said to Alt-Dad.
"Yes, ha!" Alt-Dad half-barked a laugh, "I really don't understand what's going on but I- I trust you Uzi to know what's best."
Alt-Me trembled slightly at his words before straightening herself up. "Ok everyone, please no interruptions until I've finished talking. This is going to be heavy." Alt-me took a deep breath. "Joseph had a life before this one. He lived as a human in another timeline in the distant past, and in that life, he watched what was, at the time, a fictional Animated Web Series called Murder Drones. He doesn't recall exactly when, how, or why he ended up waking up in Andrew's body in the wake of the break-in, but much like an Isekai Protagonist in anime, he very quickly realized he'd somehow crossed the 4th Wall."
Sounds like a standard isekai setup, but who was Andrew? I wondered, not recalling a drone in school with that name.
"He didn't handle that knowledge, as well as suddenly being a drone after being a meat-person for 25 years, too well at first, but once he got himself together, he realized he had around nine years to the events of the show that he watched, and was armed with nothing but his wits, a computer in place of a brain, and knowledge of a single future that, upon reflection, he concluded sucked balls. So he decided to flip the script. He decided that regardless of how poorly he was handling things, that he'd go and make sure a bunch of traumatized kids... and Thad, who is apparently just fine and also super cool in literally every timeline for some reason... didn't turn out as horrifically mean versions of themselves, died, or both. I... Over half of us... over half of us were supposed to be dead in less than a decade, in the future Joe saw."
Gasps rose from various throats as my circuits froze in fear. Who dies!? Do I have Plot Armour! Wait- My scared gaze tore to my Dad, where he still stood staring at the ground. Does the half include Dad!? Alt-Me pushed on, ignoring our reactions.
"And he decided that despite the fact that he had to somehow figure out how to kill a god, that if that future required those deaths to win, it wasn't worth fighting for." Killing a god!? What!? "He's been busting his ass almost every single day for years, working to strengthen bonds, help us be better versions of ourselves, and build means to physically fight the coming storm."
What kinda Genre Hell are we in if Deicide is required! I panickedly thought.
"He's relentlessly taken advantage of the ability to download information right into his systems and access to the internet archives to cheat like the world is ending, because if he doesn't, it will."
Oh fuck! Rip said the Universe dies when Copper 9 dies! I realised with horror. Oh robo-god, the MDs are the Mooks or Meat Puppets of the series, aren't they!?
"And, I don't think any of you see it that way, but I wanna clarify that he does see us as people instead of characters. He's said that in the time he's gotten to know us, we're all so much more than we could have possibly been on the screen he watched a single version of our lives on. Hell, he said some of us have less than 40 seconds of speaking time on-screen. He told me that he refuses to acknowledge a reality where we aren't real people that deserve to live and be happy. He's... constantly wracked by guilt that he's lied to us all about who he is. That even if it was for good reasons, and even to save our lives, that he's manipulated us. His..." Alt-Me turned a resolute face to everyone. "I think that dumbass thinks you'll actually hate him for all that, despite the fact that he could have done literally nothing and been fine if he just hid, and yet he still chose to go on a self-appointed quest to commit deicide for our sakes."
Kill the God or Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu? I mused with terrified fascination.
"That he still chose to go out of his way to help everyone anyways. That he chose to try and make us all friends. That he still plans to bring everyone in on things and work with all of us together to stop the apocalypse. That..." Alt-Me paused to take an unnecessary breath... "that when I figured things out and confronted him about it, and asked about certain details from what he knew, that," she turned and addressed Alt-Doll, still held in Alt-Lizzy's arms, in a quiet tone, "we came up with a plan to try and bring your mom back from the dead, cuz." My core jumped and I stared at Alt-Me wide-opticed in shocked disbelief. What!? How!? "Just... you're such a trauma ridden mess with the powers of Satan and Anime on your side and we aren't 100% sure it'll actually work that we haven't really gotten an opportunity to try and talk you into making the attempt." Alt-Doll has a chance to get her mom back? "Because, how would we even explain that without dropping the Isekai Reveal, you know?"
After dropping that final existential truth bomb, Alt-Me finished talking. Everyone stared at Alt-Me with wide optics and slack jaws. Alt-Doll was the first to say anything.
"Ma- Mama might be alive...?" Alt-Doll pleadingly implored Alt-Me. And a dark thought intruded into my processor. Why does she get to have her mom back? Why not my mom!?
Alt-Me moved over and added her arms to Alt-Lizzy's encircling Alt-Doll. "I hope so, cuz. I want my aunt back, dammit!" Alt-Me gripped.
Alt-Doll stared at Alt-Me's face, and her optics started to blur. She turned to bury her face in Alt-Lizzy's shoulder and started to sob, words spilling out over and over between the sobs.
"I haven't lost Mama! I haven't lost Mama! Mama! Mama!"
After that, as Alt-Doll continued to sniffle, the floodgates opened, and everyone started talking.
"Yeva's alive!?" Both Dad and Alt-Dad echoed. "How!?" Those two are way too in sync.
"Are you serious!?" "No way!" The Thads yelled as I glanced at them in confusion. I seriously can't tell which is which?
"Deicide!? The Solver's actually an eldritch god!? " Alt-Emily yelped as she clutched her Rosary tightly, Alt-Trevor holding her other hand supportively.
My systems pulsed with dread. Solver!? Eldritch god!? Oh, robo-god, are we in a cosmic horror verse!?
"Is that why Joe's been prepping for the Apocalypse!?" Alt-Penny begged to know.
Would my railgun even work against a god!? I thought with consternation.
Alt-Kelsey stood silently, her optics wide.
"Everyone, calm down!" Alt-Me demanded, her voice level and controlled. She adjusted her position to turn towards us leaving an arm still around Alt-Doll. She looked towards her Alt-Dad. "Dad, I know this is a lot to take in, and I know everyone has have a lot of questions, but there is a lot of information to go over if you all want the full story. Even I don't know the full story as it's not safe for me to know. I'll try my best to explain what I can, but Joe knows more about what's happening. He'll be able to answer anything I don't know if he thinks it's safe for you to know but..." Alt-Me paused, and grimaced, "If he hesitates to tell you, if he asks whether you're sure you want to know, really think about whether you really want an answer. Whatever he's about to tell you is most likely heavy and painful, and he doesn't want to hurt you. He'll still tell you if you ask." Alt-Me grimaced again. "I have personal experience of that." Alt-Me glared at everyone, her voice rising. "Don't ask me for the details! I don't want to talk about it, I felt I needed to know, but part of me wishes I'd never asked!"
What did she ask? What would I ask? I wondered.
"Uzi?" Alt-Dad took a step towards his daughter. " Are... are you ok? Is there any way I can help with... everything going on?"
"Dad.. I-" Alt-Me stopped and turned a look towards Alt-Lizzy "Are you ok to look after cuz alone?" She begged. "Please."
Alt-Lizzy nodded, "I have my own questions, but they can wait for now."
"Thanks." Alt-Me disengaged from Alt-Lizzy and Alt-Doll and walked over to her Alt-Dad, and I watched in disbelief as she wrapped him up in a hug, which he returned after a moment's hesitation. "Thanks, Dad, I know this must be so confusing to you, but thank you for trying."
Them hugging feels so strange. I stared at them, my feelings knotting inside me, a slight hollow sensation that was squirming. I glanced away from them and towards my Dad. He was staring at the hugging duo, and I wondered what he was thinking about their familiar display . Does he feel the same about it as me. I remembered what Alt-Me said about his condition, about my condition. If Alt-Me is right, then neither of us understands how to talk to each other. If he actually cares... would I... want the same...despite everything, no matter how cringe it was, I still loved my Dad, but hugging him, that... I can't see myself doing that...
"Uzi..." Alt-Dad sucked in a breath and strengthened his hug. "I admit I don't understand everything, but I think I understand enough. Joe passed through the 4th Door at some point and has future knowledge about our world."
Really! A door reference was all he needed to understand! I thought with exasperation, secretly glad of the distraction from my previous thoughts.
Alt-Me smiled slightly. "Of course, you'd understand it from that angle."
"Heh," Alt-Dad chuckled, "If it's anything related to a door, I'd know about it." His face turned serious. "Uzi, I know I've... I've not been the best dad, that I've not always been there when you needed me, but I want you to be safe. So I promise you, no matter what, if someone dares threaten you, even if they're a god, I will install a DOOR in their face!"
Alt-Me giggled slightly. "I know Dad, and I believe you. A future you made a demonic god bleed with a door. " What!?
Alt-Dad froze in place. "Oh... that's... good?"
My thoughts raced. Dad makes a god bleed!? With a door!? I built weapons to kill MDs, Dad apparently made doors well enough that they could harm deities. Would that technically make me the daughter of a God Slayer?
"Yeah, it was. He came in clutch at just the right moment, one man armed with a Universal Door Remote caught an arrogant god off guard. And it was Khan-firmation," Alt-Me grinned up at her dad, and a brief laugh slipped from his mouth at the terrible pun as I held back a groan. "That if it can bleed, that means we can kill it. And while we're on the topic of eldritch horror Dad, can you promise not to mention the 4th Door again? That door at the expo really freaked Joe out," Alt-Me muttered quietly, "It freaked all of us out."
Alt-Everyone bar Alt-Dad murmured agreement nervously. What in the hell happened in their world!? What expo!? Alt-Dad looked over the uneasy crowd before turning back to his daughter.
"Ok... I'll try not to bring it up again. Cough." Alt-Dad coughed. "Right, changing the topic then. Uzi, is Yeva really alive?" Alt-Dad asked Alt-Me. "What did you mean by bringing her back from the dead?"
Alt-Me stiffened momentarily before speaking, her words carefully paced.
"It's... complicated, Dad, but due to the powers at work, it's a possibility. If the damage to her isn't severe enough, then Joe and I are confident that with the right preparations, we can perform Mechromancy and get my aunt back on her feet." Did they stick mech in front of necromancy? I mean, it does sound kinda sick.
"But wouldn't you need access to her then? Would we need to dig up her body? What if she was melted down at her funeral? Wait... funeral... when was their funeral?"
"Dad..." Alt-Me nervously said as she glanced at Alt-Doll, and glancing over myself, I could see Alt-Doll's optics widen.
Alt-Dad seemed to miss Alt-Me's call as he continued to speak. "I was busy with Doors 2 and 3. I needed to make sure that Murder Drone couldn't break in again. Everyone was so busy that we let the surviving family decide what to do with-" Alt-Dad cut himself off, his optics hollowing. "Oh robo-god ." he suddenly said, sounding horrified. Beside him, my dad looked confused.
Alt-Doll started to breathe quicker, her fans winding up. Alt-Lizzy looked worried, her arms tightening around Alt-Doll.
What's Alt-Dad worked out!? And why is it affecting Alt-Doll!?
"Dolly, it's ok, it's going to be ok." I could barely hear Alt-Lizzy whisper to Alt-Doll.
"Dad!" Alt-Me yelled sharply and drew Alt-Dad's attention to her. "Dad!" She spoke calmly. "Just wait one moment, and we'll talk about it." She pulled away from her Dad and moved over to Alt-Doll. "Doll, I know this is distressing, but do you mind if I explain a little about your mum's circumstances?"
"You- know-!?" Alt-Doll words wheezed out between her breaths.
"Yes, cuz." Alt-Me threw her arms around Alt-Doll, hugging her. "I won't deny that it's kinda really messed up, but no matter what, you're my cousin. I wish this could come out when you're ready, but a lot of things are coming out into the open, and none of us are prepared for them. I will try and keep as much of it a secret as I can, but the way everything is going, stuff is probably going to be revealed anyway. It's better to have a controlled release. I promise, I swear I won't let anyone take them away from you, so do I have permission to explain?"
I stared at them in confusion. What exactly was going on? What was Alt-Doll hiding?
Alt-Doll stared at Alt-Me and opened her mouth. She closed it, then opened it again. Eventually, with no words forthcoming, she nodded and proceeded to bury herself in Alt-Lizzy's arms.
"Ok, thank you cuz." Alt-Me broke from the hug, and turned to Alt-Lizzy. "Lizzy, can you take care of my cuz please. This next bit is going to be a bit distressing, so you and Doll will probably want to be out of hearing range."
Alt-Doll lifted her head to stare at Alt-Me. Alt-Me stared back, her face serious.
"Doll, this is hurting you, you're already living it, you don't need to hear it as well. You're my cousin, you always be my cousin. I won't abandon you, Lizzy won't abandon you, Joe won't abandon you, none of our friends will abandon you. But I don't like seeing you in pain, and this is going to hurt. So please trust me."
Alt-Doll stared at Alt-Me for a while, then slowly nodded. Alt-Lizzy started to lead Alt-Doll away.
"And Lizzy, thanks for always being there for Doll."
"She's my bestie," Alt-Lizzy said simply.
Alt-Lizzy led Alt-Doll a little way aways. Alt-Dad watched them leave, then turned to his daughter.
"Uzi, please tell me that I'm wrong," Alt-Dad begged. "That I haven't failed Doll, as well as you."
"I'm sorry," Alt-Me gave him a weak smile, "I can't, Dad."
Alt-Dad sagged, "Yeva is going to scrap me, and she'd be right to. I'm so sorry, Uzi... I'm so, so damm sorry for failing both you and Doll."
Alt-Me wrapped Alt-Dad in a hug, and he raised his arms to hug her back. "Dad, I won't say it wasn't bad, but you've improved so much. Joe might have needed to knock some sense into you, but afterwards, your actions were all you."
"I really need to think of a way to repay that boy." Alt-Dad murmured. "Maybe I should consider ad-"
"Does Doll have her parents' bodies still in her hab!?" My Dad yelled out in shock, his optics wide.
"WHAT!?" Came the collective yell for everyone, including myself. Alt-Doll was living with her dead parents' bodies!?
Alt-Dad turned a harsh stare towards my Dad. "Maybe I should give Joe written permission to knock sense into any version of me. Why in the hell did you yell that out loud!?"
"Well- I- errr- I didn't- It just sorta-" Dad stammered out before his voice was drowned in a deluge of others.
" Oh, Doll..." Alt-Kelsey said, hands going to her mouth.
"Ca-can w-we help i-in anyway, Uzi?" Alt-Penny stuttered
Alt-Emily made the sign of a Cross and firmly said to Alt-Me, "Uzi, we're resurrecting Yeva the moment we return home and holding a funeral for her father afterwards because this is very unhealthy for my friend."
"You knew about this? Why didn't you tell anyone!?" A Thad demanded to Alt-Me.
"Wait, does our Doll also have her dead parents in her home!?" Thad yelped.
That has to be my world's Thad, and oh robo-god, is he right!? Has Doll been living with her dead parents in our world as well!? For over ten years!? "Have both Dolls been living with corpses!?" I yelped.
"Robo-god that's fucked up. I can understand, but... dude, that's fucked up." Alt-Trevor murmured in horror.
"QUIET!" Alt-Me yelled before continuing fiercely, "They were my family too! Do you think I was happy about my cousin, freshly traumatising herself every time she went home!? How the fuck was I supposed to approach that situation?!? Doll has the power of Satan and Anime on her side and is liable to have a mental breakdown and accidentally kill someone if she gets confronted about her parents' corpses in any manner that doesn't go flawlessly?"
Satan and Anime!? What is she, the Blue Exorcist!? I was flabbergasted by the idea that Alt-Doll had powers, but then a new question formed in my mind. Does my world's Doll have the same powers?
"I'm literally the only person in the entire Outpost who can approach Doll about that without risk of being flattened into a paste, and even then, how was I supposed to go about it in a way that doesn't hurt Doll!?"
What does she mean Doll can pancake someone!? And why would Alt-Me be the only one safe from that? I wondered was this something true to both worlds. Would I be safe from that?
Alt-Me took some deep breaths, seemingly calming herself down as she spoke more calmly. "Emily, I completely agree with you. We have plans around the resurrection and the following funeral arrangements."
Emily bowed her head at Alt-Me's words, holding her rosary in both hands and started praying quietly in Russian, "O God of spirits and of all flesh, Who hast trampled down death and overthrown the Devil, and given life to Thy world, do Thou, the same Lord, give rest to the souls of Thy departed servants in a place of brightness, a place of refreshment, a place of repose, where all sickness, sighing, and sorrow have fled away."
"Nobody is to blame, my daughter or Doll for this," Alt-Dad spoke in a clear voice, stepping forward to stand beside Alt-Me. "It's my fault, after all."
"Dad-" Alt-Me started to say when Alt-Dad interrupted.
"No, Uzi, this is completely my fault! I was the closest thing Doll had left as a parental authority figure. I should have checked up on her, should have confirmed how she was living. What's worse is that I doubt Doll was having to seriously hide her living conditions, no one was actively checking on surviv-" Alt-Dad stopped. "Uzi... None of your friends are hiding their dead parents in their homes as well, right?"
What!? My optics shifted trying to look at every other teenager. That can't be true, can it?
"N-" Alt-Me started to say when she stopped and her optics hollowed. "I've visited the rest of my friends' homes, but it's entirely plausible that there are other children still living with their dead parents because of the way the WDF handled that mess. Doll might just be the only case we know about."
Oh robo-god! I felt sick. Could there really be multiple dead bodies hidden in peoples homes?
"Oh great, a new nightmare situation to consider." A Thad stated morosely.
"I've definitely had more enjoyable nightmares than this." A different Thad muttered gloomily.
"Thad, my Thad," Alt-Me emphasised as both Thads turned to her. "Can you turn your cap the right way round, please. I'm seriously having trouble telling you two apart. And I seriously don't need any more added stress." One of the Thads sighed and twisted their cap to face forward.
"I'm going to have to organise welfare checks for the entire Oupost when we return." Alt-Dad sighed and turned a firm stare towards my Dad. "And so are you."
My Dad appeared to wilt under Alt-Dad's gaze, and nodded slightly. "Agreed."
"Dad," Alt-Me said to Alt-Dad, "While I'm glad you're taking action on this, a welfare check on Doll's situation in the past wouldn't have ended well for anyone. Solver Drones are incredibly dangerous, Dad. When I said flattened to a paste I meant it. If Doll had a full-on breakdown, there would be casualties."
"Solver Drones?" Alt-Dad asked, and I leaned forward eager to learn about these powers of Satan and Anime.
"Both Mom and Aunt Yeva were both infected with something called the Solver, and they passed it on to me and Doll. The Solver itself grants reality warping abilities at the cost of increased heat generation and oil consumption."
I have the powers too! I elatedly screamed inside. Suck on that everyone!
"It's where Mom got her prophetic dreams from. Anyone with full control of the Solver can rip through the Doors like tissue paper with a look. How well do you think a normal drone would cope against that? Only Solver-infected drones are immune to its effects, meaning that I'm the only drone in the outpost immune. Mine's dormant currently, though."
I glanced at my hands and flexed them. How do I unlock my awesome powers?
"Mixed in with the multitude of reality warping powers it grants are bullshit levels of regeneration. As long as the core isn't damaged, it's possible to recover from severe wounds, even decapitation. When Yeva was attacked, we think that she bled out so fast that she's currently in an oil-starved coma right now. Once we introduce enough oil into her systems, it should revive her."
Wait... wait... A new idea was rolling around my processor. If Doll's mom had the Solver and had a chance to come back, then what about my Mom!?
I started to open my mouth when I heard a familiar voice call out.
"You're gorgeous!" Wait, what!? That was- My mouth slammed shut and I turned to see, ugh Lizzy, standing next to Alt-Lzzy, staring at her. A lot of people turned to look at her as well. What in the fricking hell is she talking about!?
"Uhh, thanks?" Alt-Lizzy responded with an awkward look on her face.
I shook my head. Never mind that! I turned back to Alt-Me, I had more important questions to ask. I opened my mouth again.
"Hey Uzi, I'm back." Another voice called out from behind, and turning the other way, I saw Joe, the Isekai Protagonist himself, standing there, looking at Alt-Me, alongside Alt-Rebecca and Alt-Darren. Joe turned to face me. "Nice to meet you as well, Uzi."
"Welcome back," Alt-Me said to Joe with a smile.
Could he tell which of us was which? How did he tell who was who? "How did you know..." I gestured between Alt-Me and myself in confusion. We were practically identical? Weren't we?
"Besides catching the end of Uzi's little exposition. Your clothes are slightly different," Joe tapped his head, "But an obvious difference is your beanies." My optics flickered to Alt-Me and observed again the two pins in her beanie. Oh...
"Hi Uzi," The Alt-Rebecca waved a hand at me, the other thrown around the Alt-Darren's shoulders. "I'm Rebecca, and this is my boyfriend Darren."
"Sup." Darren cheerfully waved.
"Ummm, it's nice to meet you all," I said, unsurely. The contrast between these versions of Rebecca and Darren and my own throwing me off slightly.
"Joseph." Alt-Dad inserted himself into the conversation. Was that Joe's full name?
"Yes, Mr Doorman?" Joe responded.
"I think you might as well call me Khan." Alt-Dad said, "My daughter filled me in on a lot of things, and now," he turned to look at my Dad, "I've seen a glimpse of how the future would have most likely played out without your actions." He sighed. "I already knew I owed you a lot, and now I find I owe you even more."
"Mr Doorm- Khan, that doesn-" Jo started to say when Alt-Dad interrupted.
"No, Joseph. This needs to be said. I'll admit I'm not the best at these things or feelings in general, but you've protected not only my daughter from my own stupidity, but also looked after my niece as well when I completely failed to do so."
"Well yes, I didn't want Uzi or Doll to be hurt but I-" Joe said before he was interrupted again.
"Yes, something that I failed at preventing, I was even the cause of some of their pain. You set me straight, and as painful as it was, it was well-deserved." Alt-Dad sighed. "Not only have you looked out for my family when I didn't. You've even improved the security of the Outpost. You were the one who brought up the faults with the doors, the vents and the interior panels."
I stared at Alt-Dad in shock. Did he just admit there was something wrong with his doors.
"What's wrong with the doors!?" My Dad yelped in shock. Alt-Dad ignored him and kept talking to Joe.
"I've already gone over the problems they could have caused, and I assume that they led to a disaster in the future." Alt-Dad bowed to Joe. "You deserve all my thanks, and any favours I can provide."
"But I only pointed them out due to what I remembered seeing." Joe pointed out, shuffling a little. Is he nervous? I attempted to guess his mood. Stupid non-verbal cues and stupid autism for making them hard to read!
"You might of been given knowledge but you also acted on it. And while I know I can't repay you fully, I'd like to beg another boon from you. When we return home I would ask that you inform me of any changes or improvements that the Outpost needs. I'll mobilise the entire WDF to work on them. There's a god after my daughter and I plan to slam more than one door into their face!"
"I can do that." Joe said to Alt-Dad with a serious look on his face.
"Thanks kid." Alt-Dad smiled.
Joe huffed, "You do realise that I've lived two lives. I'm older than I look."
"Uzi filled us in a little on the details," Alt-Dad nodded to his daughter, "But even adding your ages together, you're still younger than me, right Joseph?"
"Yeah... I guess." Joe answered. "And you can call me Joe."
"Well Joe, this old man is thanking a younger man for helping to fix their mistakes, ok. So thanks, kiddo." Alt-Dad said with a grin. Was Alt-Dad actually teasing Joe? Without using door puns!
"You're dealing with this better than I would have thought," Joe admitted.
"One door's closed, another one's opened, I need to be brave enough to walk through it for my daughter." Alt-Dad straightened up, his hands held firmly at his sides.
"Right." Joe said, "Right... Brave enough huh?" Joe sighed. "I really wanted more time. This is really not how I wanted all of this to be revealed." He turned towards Alt-Me. "How much have you explained Uzi?"
"I've explained the bare basics about the Isekai, the Solver and Yeva. But everyone will have questions." Alt-Me said.
Joe was silent.
"You good, dude?" Alt-Darren asked Joe
"Joe..." Alt-Me shifted to stand beside Joe.
"We totes got your back," Alt-Rebecca told him.
"Yeah, you're our crazy." Darren said with a grin.