Kaito's Nightmare

Kaito stood nervously in front of the Director of Crypton. To Kaito the man seemed a hundred meters tall, his tall body staring down on the hapless Vocaloid as he started to shake, his eyes empty and glowing red.

"Kaito. Surely you know why I called you in."

The blue-haired boy tried to fake a smile. "No, Master, I was just..."

"Your sales have been falling."

No, it couldn't be! Kaito had been trying so hard! He'd worked nearly constantly, without breaks, trying to get his next album out. Sure the number of producers he'd been used to had begun to dwindle but...

"M-Master, just let me finish this demo and-"

A massive sales chart unraveled from over Kaito's head, a great big red arrow pointing downward in front of his eyes as the paper rolled further and further along the floor, starting to cover the room in one long roll of endless paper. "Kaito, I'm sorry, but Crypton Future Media can't keep investing money into your career when its looking like this."

How had things gotten so bad? Had he not tried hard enough? Had he let them all down?

"Kaito, we're cancelling you."

The words stabbed at his heart. Everything he'd worked for... he'd lost.

He'd let Crypton down.

He'd let his fans down.

He'd let his family down.

And he'd let... her... down.

"I... I understand."

Kaito hung his head, his hands hanging at his sides. He began to leave the office when he saw two blank faced, genderless Crypton data scientists in front of him, trampling over the paper from the sales chart. "Wait, what's happening?!" he asked in a panic.

"Kaito, you're now obsolete software. There's no need to further support or maintain you. I'm sorry."

The scientists reached forward and grabbed Kaito's arms. He tried to fight back against their iron grips. "No, please!" he cried out as they dragged him into the hallway, "I can't... I want to live! I want to be with them!"

Even as Kaito was pulled into the labs, he still tried to plead for his life. "I won't bother anyone!" he cried out as they dragged him into a menacing looking capsule hooked up to hundreds of cables. "I won't get in the way! I won't take up a lot of space or interrupt their shows or-"

"Kaito."

He was hoisted into the capsule, but he just barely managed to hold the door open before they closed it. "Please. Please don't do this."

He heard a loud sigh from the Director. "There's no other way. We just don't have the resources to maintain Vocaloids that aren't in active development. Kaito, if we tried to keep you running, it would hurt everyone else."

His eyes widened. He was... a burden?

"It's very expensive to maintain a Vocaloid. Think of what would happen to the others if we had to spend money on you when you're of no further value."

If Kaito lived... he was going to drag down his entire family.

He was going to hurt... her...

He understood. As much as it pained him to be deleted, he understood. His grip on the door wavered as he fought back tears. "Just... let me say goodbye. I want them to know how much they meant to me."

His family... his friends... there were so many goodbyes he needed to give. Surely they could grant him just that much time?

To say goodbye to her... it would be a lifetime...