Closure

End

The trek back to the spire was met with apprehension. It took convincing and reassurances, but he made sure he would return alone. He couldn't let there be any distractions, he'd get down to business with V just as he had Uzi before.

Uzi... He could feel himself turning to mush inside after their encounter earlier. What she said, and what he couldn't ate at him. She'd laid herself bare and presented all of her being to him, it was more than he'd ever had anyone do to him before. And he knew how much that scared Uzi to do, the sobbing was proof enough of that. He'd done much the same to her, said what was really on his mind even if it hurt them. That wasn't to say the encounter was bad, far from it, it was ripping a bandaid off and letting a wound air out. It was communication they needed, and communication he had long hoped he'd see with V.

Speaking of his co-worker/friend(?)/ex, there was a growing knot in his stomach at the idea of finally having this talk with her. He really didn't like the idea of putting the blame on her, but his talk with Uzi made him distressingly aware of how much V's influence on him here in the present wasn't great. It was... pretty bad, actually. He was now disturbed by the idea that Uzi would treat him as V had, and he saw how that messed things up between him and Uzi. Did it even stop at Uzi? Was he ever worried that the others in the colony would do those things to him? He sometimes felt like he couldn't open up to Thad, but Thad had proved him wrong, too. Something began to eat at him for trying to hide Uzi's kills from Thad, but in that moment he was scared of Uzi getting hurt. Huh.

...Guess things are more complicated than he thought. Did V really think she was protecting him all this time? Was it worth what she did to him?

The spire was now before him. He'd walked the way over to give himself some time to think about what he'd say. He found his mind blanking as his anxiety rose. Wait, right, check if she's even here first. With sweat drops appearing on his display, he raised a hand to his mouth, "uh, V? Are you here?".

The echoes sounded off for a few moments. No answer. He wasn't sure if he should breathe a sigh of relief. Great, now he'd have to wait until she returned to finally rip the bandaid off with her. Should he sleep it off? No, that would make his thoughts totally blank out when the moment arose.

He entered the pod and sat down in one of the seats. Within moments he was faced with the fact that he didn't do well with waiting. Did he still have paper and crayons here? He hoped so. N pulled out a drawer and spotted a few left and eagerly took them out.

N found a surface to draw on and sat back down in the seat. Now with entertainment, he was faced with the idea of having no idea what to draw. A few experimental lines went down, and his mind went from there. On one side of the page, he used a black crayon to sketch out a drone in a maid outfit. He wasn't sure who it would be, should be. Remembering his sister again brought back memories he wasn't sure how he should feel about. She was nice too... for a while... until she became different and hurt him and the others. His eyes hollowed. No, he couldn't consider that Cyn was also manipulating him. It was too much for right now.

He shook his head free of these thoughts. Of the other manor workers, V was the one who never hurt him. It would be her. A frown appeared on his face as he recalled how she used to be - who she used to be. Shy and timid, she was the one who treated him like an equal. All the fun times they had, the feelings they shared, how it all ended. He drew in her hair and glasses with apprehension.

N stared at his crude drawing of her. Sure, he now remembered their past together, but she just wasn't like this anymore - physically or mentally. He gave her a nice smile, but it didn't make one on his own face. With a shake of his head, he cleared his thoughts. Thinking about her just made him sad and frustrated.