Chapter Text
“Why are you so… upset? It was only, uh… a few hours?”
Airy twirled one of the wires, trying to distract himself. The computer didn’t show the time in a way that helped him understand, but he was only out for a short time. Two days at most, if he counted recovering.
He listened closely to what Scenty said. Her voice, quiet underneath the various sounds of wind and rain. He was extra careful when it rained, not wanting it to ever repeat.
Ever.
He remembered to listen to Scenty, but only halfway through her little rant.
“–months! We’ve been here since… since February, right?” She sounded unsure, but still continued. “And you said nothing during that time. It’s been months!”
They're all so small down there.
Airy spoke up after a few seconds, “...Uh, well… it’s… still 2006, so all… all is good?” He knew all wasn't good, but he didn't have any other way to word it. He didn't admit it, but it was hard to word other things sometimes. He also couldn't understand why they were so upset about dying and staying here, when they knew that death wasn't as concrete as it seemed.
He also only assumed it’s been around three years since he came to this place. Maybe it was less, he never was good with time. Or, at least, he only remembers being poor with time. He would return, but he doesn’t have any reason to.
Scenty was quiet, thinking carefully about her response, but he didn’t know why for a while. He didn’t know why, but soon he started to guess the reason why, and all he wanted now was something to confirm it wasn’t true.
Scenty, however, didn’t care about what he wanted to hear.
“It’s… not 2006, Airy,” she said.
“Huh, well… is it 2005? 2007? It couldn’t have been too long, sooo… I think it’s 2006,” Airy said this as confidently as he could, almost like if he believed in it, then it would be real.
“It’s… at the very least 2013.”
They were just lying, now. He never thought of himself as too gullible, so he sighed, speaking into the microphone once more.
“No, it’s not.” Because that would make no sense. He was at least not terrible at understanding the time. He knew it was 2006. He was certain.
But Scenty continued. She continued to say, hesitantly, that it was, indeed, 2013. Maybe late in the year, as well, what with Airy's disappearance.
The stunned silence from him said more than any of his words.
“I’m going to… take a walk outside, okay? I’ll be… back soon.” Sometimes he was happy that he didn’t always express how utterly devastated he was. At least, he thought he kept a good act on, but his voice shook and trembled in a way that the contestants, who have gotten used to his voice by now, found unfamiliar. Then again, they haven't seen him for months.
In short, they simply knew. Airy drew out a long “Byeee…” as he slowly edged away from his seat, walking out into the forest. It was pretty late by now, but he could just use himself as a light source if need be.
He was scared, to be honest, when he saw someone out in the forest, with the light of a small computer illuminating a rudimentary silhouette. He couldn’t figure out who it was in the dark, and when he managed to light himself up, he then saw nothing. No blurry shape, just… nothing.
The knowledge of how long he’s been out here only made his mind wander even more. The thought of himself seeing things in the dark, the thought of himself having lost more than he could ever imagine.
Needless to say, he had no qualms about rushing back to his little cabin and quickly trying to go to sleep. Before he did, however, he glanced at the little carvings he had littering the back of the cabin.
He had no reason to, but he slowly picked up the most unfinished one, or maybe it was the oldest one, or just the crudest one. It was an animal of which he had forgotten to carve a tail on, and he placed it next to where he would face as he rested.
The stress of what he had learned and what he had seen were getting to him, that was all.
In truth, he knew that One would end eventually. He was going to fall again, and it would take too much time for him to find this place again. His mind continued to wander around as he laid on the bed, eye open wide. He didn't get much sleep that night, and his balance wasn't the best when he crawled out of his bed.
It only ended accidentally in his eyes, and he still couldn’t grasp why his contestants were so upset.
He never expected it to end today, as he worked on planning his next challenge, as he sat on his seat, taking in the warm wisps of sunlight.
He never expected it to end like this, as he turned around in his seat, seeing Backpack once again. But this time, in front of him, this time, not as a contestant.
This time, able to hurt him, wanting to hurt him.
He spoke the same as he always did, not able to truly betray what he was feeling. Not able to describe it even in his mind. “Hi…?”
His hand slipped off the button for his microphone as he was pushed. For a second, he almost did think it would end violently. He almost did think it was going to end suddenly, like he thought it did before. He got up quickly, trying to not give himself enough time to think about this at the moment. Something was happening, something that had never happened before.
Backpack, yelling at his face with words he could barely focus on. He knew he was upset, but why? He couldn’t even stop it if he wanted to, since –
“There’s… six more eliminations left…?”
“Are you braindead? Send everyone back–” Backpack punctuated his words by pointing at the Plane– “Right now!”
Eventually, the argument cooled off. Eventually, everything was fine. Eventually, he managed to strike a deal with Backpack, reasoning to him in the reed-filled swamp about when to send every one of the contestants home.
But 'eventually' wouldn't cut it for his deadline.
Tomorrow.
That was his deadline.
Airy could never really follow through on any of his preset deadlines, at least for around as long as he could remember. But, and this was selfish of him, his cassette player was at stake. So he impulsively agreed, even if ONE was his life’s work.
He had to bring the contestants back to their world.
And then… He could always restart it with another group of contestants, right? Maybe with ones that were close to this season’s cast, as they all played really well. Backpack wouldn’t have to know.
Airy sighed, happily. That was the plan. It would all work out in the end. He’d be happy, Backpack would be happy, what’s not to love? He only wanted people to be happy. He continued collecting reeds, humming a song to himself.
Soon he wouldn’t have to try and remember it.
The campfire crackled. It was nice and warm, and illuminated the area better than he ever could. Airy sat on half of a log, hands resting on his button, with Backpack sitting on the other half, as… far away from him as he could get.
Airy continued from where he last left off, trying to stop his words from dragging on, “So, yeah… I hope you all have… fun. On… Earth.”
Backpack paused for a second, “…What about you?”
“Huh?”
“What are you going to do after this?”
“I’m… staying, Backpack.” Airy watched as Backpack shifted in place after hearing his name. Ah.
Backpack gestured, frustrated, “You said it yourself. This place is small, there’s barely anything to do.” He paused a little, trying to emphasise what Airy would do when bored. “You know how that computer works, couldn’t you… engineer a way to come with us?”
“…ONE’s my… life’s work.”
“It’s… look, it's ruined lives more than it saved them, Airy. Come on, don’t you have a family? Or someone that missed you?”
Airy froze, staring directly at Backpack. “It’s…” Airy muttered under his breath, “It’s… getting late. You should… rest.”
Airy stood up from the campfire, and walked away.
He climbed up the stone and gravel, up the natural pathway that winded towards the peak of the waterfall. The further away from the dying fire he went, the darker it became. He started a fire inside of him to illuminate the area, with some embers licking the air around him as they escaped from the hole in his bulb. It was still very, very dark.
No matter what he tried, his eyes could never get accustomed to the dark properly. It didn’t matter, as he was a portable light source, but it still made him anxious whenever he tread along unfamiliar ground. At least by now he knew the route to almost anywhere off by heart.
The rushing of the river grew closer, and looking at what little ground he could see, he could tell he was near the bridge.
A distant voice called out, “Airy?”
Airy slipped after hearing it, stumbling over a little bit. It wasn’t anything dangerous, however. He couldn’t have moved far.
After hearing the voice again, he could confirm it was Backpack, but… Why?
He continued walking, the reeds by the pond were comforting, and a brief visit would be good for his mind. He took a step over what he assumed was the bridge, and his foot landed in the rushing water. If he was treading carefully, he could have recovered from the misstep, but he was walking.
He didn’t even know it was water until his own momentum betrayed him and carried him into the river.
He almost immediately plummeted down the waterfall. It was pitch black, with the water burning his eyes and putting out his fire. He couldn’t tell where he was, but at some point he began to sink slowly .
He kicked and flailed underwater, as the metal weighed him down more and more, filling into his open bulb.
He tried to shout out for help, but that just caused more water to flood him.
Eventually, the disturbances in the water became nothing more than sensations to him. He was so tired, and he couldn’t help but give up trying to fight against the rushing water. He was stuck on the bottom of the basin– or wherever he was, at the dead of night, with no chance of survival.
Airy closed his eye, and he barely felt the water move quickly, suddenly, not like a wave but…
Airy opened his eye, gasping. He was on his side, in a makeshift bed. His makeshift bed. His breaths were shallow, and he kept on coughing with every second breath. He had been drifting in and out of consciousness for a while, and the sun was now shining through the wooden logs.
Airy slowly clambered up, reeds falling off of him. He was still so tired, but… He was alive.
Walking along the grass, he could see no sign of Backpack. Strange… Airy moved the vine curtains of the cave, before he heard something. Stepping inside, he stumbled, kicking a rock, and alerting the figure on the chair to his presence.
Backpack smiled, holding the microphone before he looked at Airy, “Yeah, and I… great.” He frowned after seeing Airy, which hurt. After all he did for him?
Airy coughed, before pointing at the computer, “What are you… doing?”
“Talking to them. Like a normal person does. You should try it someday.”
“You… figured out how to use the computer?”
“Well, not yet , but I still wanted to see my friends, and I need to let them know that you’re going to fix this for us.”
Airy looked off to the side, still confused, still lost.
“You saved me… Why is that? You sounded like you hated me.”
“I… I literally need you in order to get us out of here.” Backpack shivered, his breaths were faster than last time, and Airy saw him brush off some droplets of water obsessively. “I'd do anything for them to be alright again.”
“But… You talked to me.”
Backpack stood up from his chair, facing Airy.
“Airy,” Backpack muttered, “I want you out of here so you don’t ruin anyone else’s lives. There’s a world outside of ONE… Now, please. Take us back.” Backpack's voice was then twinged with the same ferocity as the contestants on the plane, as they tried to pull out the plug every few hours. But… why?
Airy stepped back. Ah. It was selfish to think that Backpack would actually talk to him for any reason. But the truth is…
Airy spoke, softly, careful to not upset Backpack, “I… don’t know how to bring you home.”
He’s lying. He’s never tried it, but he knows it’s possible, at least he knows he could do it. And if he couldn't, he could easily make a way. He just… had no reason to go home.
“Can’t you reverse engineer it? You have an interdimensional machine right there,” Backpack responded, almost immediately. Either he was incredibly determined, or he immediately saw through Airy’s lies.
“Yeaahhh… I’ll… try,” Airy sighed.
Airy sat on the chair, and faced the computer. He hesitated for one– for many seconds, even as Backpack cleared his throat a few times. Eventually, Airy gave in before Backpack could raise his voice.
Every time he entered a line of code, one of the contestants disappeared. Backpack stood there, waiting. By the time they all were gone, Airy… stopped.
Backpack winced, “What are you waiting for?”
“I… don’t know where I need to go.”
“Airy, just pick a spot! What made you think it mattered!?” This confused Airy more. It mattered so much where he ended up! He didn't want to die again, after all! He just needed a safe spot with a computer.…
“I don’t want to leave this, Backpack!” Airy's finger scraped against the edge of the table in that same scratching motion.
“For the last time, Airy,” Backpack stepped close to Airy, too close, pressing his finger on Airy's face, almost tracing the broken glass in a way that shook him to his very core. "My name is not Back—”
Airy pushed Backpack away. Both of his arms and even the edge of his nearest leg were used to push Backpack far enough away that, as the latter stumbled and fell onto the cave's sharp, unstable ground. But Backpack only groaned from the shove, he didn't scream out in pain from fragile glass being shattered. He didn't feel his own mind rend apart and… and…
Even still, Airy felt… guilty of what he just did. Before either of them could do anything else, Airy frantically pasted the command to send Backpack back, even as he raised his voice and shouted at Airy, asking what he was doing.
And then, in an instant, Backpack was gone, sent to the place on Earth he last visited. It was quick and easy, and the computer seemed to treat it like he was simply eliminated again.
Airy sat in thought. He was alone again. That was expected, but…
He could do whatever he wanted now. He could start Season Three immediately.
He could make it better than Season Two ever was.
But he was unsure if they’d be as good as this group was. They were made for one another, it just felt right. Hm.
He had an idea. The worst idea, but an idea nonetheless. And so, he impulsively followed through with it. If it worked for Backpack, it would work for him. And he'd love to visit… He got to work immediately, taking minutes at a time to recognise what some of his old code used to do. He was running out of time, though, because if he got there and Backpack was gone…
He brushed the thought of how he wouldn't survive out there away, and just set everything up. Trial and error, trial and error…
He first registered the loose pebble he found lying around, and it proceeded to disappear in the next command. It probably works now, and Airy slowly unregistered every contestant, so that when he gets back to start the next competition, he doesn't bring those ones in. At least, not accidentally. He was only thinking of the deliberates in his fervent chase for something unique, something different.
His last action was to move his location a bit away from Backpack's, so that if he was standing there still, Airy didn't appear on top of him. A hundredth of a thousandth of whatever unit of measurement this computer used horizontally would be okay, right?
He was ready now, and took a deep breath in before doing something that, ten years ago, he wanted to do more than anything. He didn't want to go back there alone, but if he followed them…
Bryce sighed, “It's over, right?”
Liam looked out into the horizon. He was still out there. He had no way to stop whatever future plans Airy had. Was what he did enough? “Yeah,” Liam finally responded, mind still racing with thoughts of Airy tormenting new people, along with the joy still of finally seeing Bryce. It hadn't even been a day, but knowing that he was forced back into the competition… Liam was a coward, but if he wasn't, he would go up to Bryce right now and say how much he missed him, how much he was torn apart with how Bryce could have been hurt in there just like Liam was.
Bryce never heard any of this, though, and he just spoke up, asking an actually important question. “Do you have Texty?”
Liam checked his main compartment. Sure enough, Texty was in there, if on low battery. They were all ready for the long road ahead. They'd have to pick up a charger on the way again, but at least everyone was, for the first time in a while, all fine. Now it was time to find–
A crash was heard directly above them, but also slightly to the right.
Someone seemingly fell from the sky, onto the roof, and then rolled down onto the floor. They groaned in pain, before the two rushed over to help the figure.
Bryce was confused, but… Liam immediately recognised the figure. When he did, he just stood there, almost wishing that this person got himself hurt in some way. Bryce was instead just apologising for being nearby and not helping sooner, trying to help them up.
Liam shouted first as Bryce stumbled over his words, stepping back and dragging Bryce away, “Airy?!” He was exasperated. Out of any universe, any place he could have thought of, he chose this one?
“That’s what he looked like?” Bryce muttered to himself, shocked by the absurdity. He glanced at Liam a few times, before stepping back again.
Airy got up, to Liam’s dismay, and blinked with his one remaining eye. He smiled at them, like the sadist he was, knowing that what he did was horrendous, and pretending to be a friend.
“Yeaaahhh… Hi, guys…”
Liam pinched the fabric between his eyes, “I told you to go to your home, not follow me!” He almost waved his arms around as he spoke. He was just beyond exasperated.
Airy winced, “Yeahhh… I kind of… forgot… my home. So I thought, uh… why not find out what you guys do on Earth?”
Unbelievable, Liam thought. Airy always had to find a way to worm himself back into their lives.
But he didn't have the computer now, did he?
Liam glanced at Airy once again. He was ever so slightly shorter compared to back on the other world. Either that, or his eyes were deceiving him in the darkness. Maybe, just maybe, it was just him seeing Airy as something smaller, something powerless and pathetic.
Not that he wasn't pathetic before.
Liam nudged Bryce, “Come on, let’s go.”
And the two walked off, hopefully without Airy following. They still could, however, hear faint footsteps trailing behind them at all times, and Airy's lid was clearly visible in his peripheral vision. He caught Bryce also catching a few glances at Airy, although significantly more than Liam did. He would be confused about this situation, too, if he hadn't grasped the absurdity of… Airy's everything.
“So… where are you… going?” Airy asked.
Liam groaned, “Away from you, first of all.”
Airy was unbothered, and continued, almost smiling as Liam spoke to him, “And then…?” He spoke as if he thought of this situation as a game, maybe like one of his very own sick, twisted games. Maybe he was planning on hurting them again.
Liam snapped, “Would you quit it?! You’ve hurt us enough, Airy. Even without whatever power that computer gave you, you’re still a… an omen for us. Leave us alone." He couldn't really hurt him in public, even if he really wanted to, so all he could do was mutter a faint "please".
Airy continued following close behind, with a single, shadowed eye meeting Liam’s whenever he turned around.
He was, to put it lightly, still terrifying, even when he was powerless.