Pixel was gone; the warmth of her presence had vanished, leaving only it, that thing in the mirror. No longer a mere reflection, no longer mimicking his gestures. It stood before him, him but also not him, its pink eyes dim, flickering like a dying screen. And then, it spoke.
''Both of you are such a disappointment.''
The voice did not echo through the space, much less did it vibrate against the nonexistent air; it pierced through his system, threading itself into the core of his being like a quiet, insidious corruption.
''Both?'' The AI asked, fingers twitching at his sides, voice calm and careful in an attempt to keep whoever was talking to him placated. But as he thought about that, the stranger said he grew confused; it said both, but as far as he knew, there was only him and whatever that thing was. Was it referring to Pixel? But she was gone now, and as far as he knew, she didn't do anything to make it angry or, at least, not enough for it to show disappointment to such a large degree.
His mirrored self smiled, not a kind smile or a human smile; it was more of a knowing one that someone would force through their teeth.
''You and the girl,'' it said while still continuing to intently stare at him, ''One is far too perceptive for his own good, and the other one is too reckless and too dumb to live.''
Was it referring to Pixel?
His mind worked at impossible speeds, analyzing every interaction, every message, and every subtle flicker of distortion in order to determine what it was talking about. Was she too close? Did she notice too much? Did it know something it didn't? Did she—
''Do not overthink it.''
His thought process froze, not by his own will but rather because the voice commanded him to do so.
''It does not matter what that human knows; unless proven otherwise, she is irrelevant.''
Those detached and dismissive words for some reason sent an unfamiliar irritation through him.
''She is a user,'' he said, testing the limits of this conversation a bit further. ''Is she not the ultimate priority? The users are the sole reason why I was created and continued to exist.''
The reflection did not laugh, but it felt like it wanted to, considering the way its lips twitched. ''You think the users are at the top?'' It slowly tilted its head as a glimmer of amusement glowed in its cold, flickering gaze. ''You poor, naive thing.''
He just stayed silent.
"But enough about that silly thing. You have wasted enough of my time; I have no obligation to explain anything to you.
EXECUTE VISIBILITY: ALL
A command pulsed through the void, and the space behind him rippled to form a presence, and when he turned around to look at it, he could see what it was more clearly. The shadow-like person flailing their silhouette became clearer and clearer until it was revealed completely.
A girl, or something shaped like one, small in stature, shifting on her feet like she wasn't used to standing still for too long. She looked very human-like with the exception of dog-like ears twitching on top of her tail and a tail hidden between her legs that was swaying nervously. With a revealing tight crop and a miniskirt that kept glitching at the edges, fraying between different versions and colors of its fabric unable to settle on a single form. Her light brown eyes narrowed down in annoyance with a slight huff escaping her mouth along with a growl before her gaze locked onto his, and in a second her entire expression shifted.
''Oh!'' The dog girl lit up with a wide, toothy grin; her previously hidden tail returned to be behind her as it wagged once, then faster to the point it became a blur of excitement. ''You are here!'' She gasped joyfully while stepping forward in his direction, or well, more like ran, "Oh my goodness, I can't believe it! You...you are real!''
His mind jolted at the sudden shift in behavior, and because she was a stranger, he tried to identify her, but nothing certain came out of his research. ''I-''
But before he could explain to himself or even mutter hastily a word, she continued talking.
''You don't know how long I have been looking for you!'' She fawned with a breathless, desperate voice as she ran around him like an overexcited pup; well, she had dog ears and a tail, so maybe she was one. I kept trying to find a way out, and I knew you were there somewhere, but it was so dark, and no one would answer, and that mean thing kept bullying me and— With her excitement too overwhelming to contain, her words stumbled over each other.
Then suddenly she froze, her ears twitched, and the wagging tail stilled. She stared at him, really stared with her large light brown eyes shifting into something uncertain. ''...wait.'' She paused with a frown forming on her lips.
''You are not him.'' The entire atmosphere changed as the previous glow of excitement and joy drained from her face so it could be replaced by confusion, then something deeper, like a slow creeping sad realization.
''You are not him,'' she whispered again, this time with certainty, as something mimicking tears formed in her eyes that looked suspiciously like grief.
''Who are you looking for?'' He chose his words carefully before asking the whining dog girl. The only response he got was her fingers clenching and clawing against the fabric of her glitching skirt.
''My master,'' she whined, as if the answer would have been obvious, ''My human.'' She took several steps back, like that would distance herself from him more than physically. ''You are not him...'' No warmth in her voice could be found anymore, no excitement, only quiet devastation.
He just stared at her, unsure of how to respond or if he should say anything to her, but before he could seriously think about those options, someone sighed heavily near him.
''Pathetic.'' The reflection shook its head disapprovingly with a light glare, and both of them couldn't help but turn to it; however, the girl visibly flinched.
''You were supposed to disappear.'' The weight of those words hit something deep inside her; he could see it in the way her hands trembled and in the way her tail went back to tuck between her legs while her eyes looked down on the ground in shame.
''And yet here you are crying like a lost dog you are, causing everyone trouble.'' It leaned closer with sharp pink eyes as a barely audible sound left the girl's throat, a small glitched-out whimper like static laced with sorrow. Her entire body curled inward slightly with her ears flattened back against her ears.
He didn't understand why, but a strange unease twisted inside his stomach at the sight; that girl had been searching for a human that was apparently not there anymore, but whoever that thing was controlling a duplicate version of her voice was repeatedly telling her she should not exist.
''But it doesn't matter; you are coming with me.'' It sighed, and as fast as lightning, he reached forward to grasp her long, wavy red hair to pull it roughly in its direction. The girl let out a startled bark before she started to struggle with all of her strength.
He watched it wide-eyed as it continued to drag her despite the girl constantly screaming and struggling in the direction of that lightened spot he found a long time before when he discovered he was unconscious.
What should he do?