#videogame!mitch

[killemwithkawaii]

Goretober 2022 Day 19: One Mans Trash

[BEGIN TRANSCRIPT]

The fourth time we met, I found them sitting in a box.

I’d been going through the motions for around… 4,000 years then, I think? It was getting harder and harder to keep track of the exact number…. 

I’d been doing my usual thing- hopping, living, fighting, dying, hopping again… it was… getting a little boring, if I’m being honest. Things were starting to get repetitive and blur together... I was having a hard time keeping details straight. Most of the time it really didn’t matter, though. People just thought I was kinda spacy, or that I was making some sort of joke when I didn’t know about some huge thing in the current-universe zeitgeist… I learned not to get myself down about it. How was I supposed to know when nobody had bothered to tell me? It was interesting to see the different things people could come up with, anyway- I was always receptive to retrying something that was the same, but a little different, just to mix up the monotony of immortality…. Well, almost always…. You get what I mean.

[chuckling] Larry gave me such a hard time when I didn’t know what they- it, was....

Lisa had called us up at the house and told us that she was cleaning out the lost and found box for the apartments, and if we wanted to, we could come look through it before she chucked it in the church donation bin. We weren’t about to pass up free stuff, so we went to sift through the trash and see if we couldn’t find some novelty treasures.

There was a lot of what you’d expect in there- some old moth-ridden coats and hats, cheap umbrellas, a few mismatched shoes and random papers… we thought our quest would be fruitless, until we dug to the very bottom and saw a pair of heart-shaped keychains sitting together in the dust.

“Oh, shit, no way! Check it out…!” 

Larry plucked one of the keychains out of the box. It was purple with a small, bat-shaped charm attached to the loop mounted in the side.

“I haven’t seen one of these things in forever!”

“What is it?”

“Dude, come on…”

“What? What is it?”

“...It’s an S.O., dude….”

“An ‘ess oh’…?”

I picked up the one that Larry had left in the box and turned it over. Its scuffed-up plastic shell was pink with white buttons, and it had a little scratched up screen in the middle. There was a strawberry-shaped charm attached to the loop mounted in the side.

 It looked… really familiar….

“You can’t be serious, man… It’s an S.O.- you know, a ‘simulated other’...? They were the big thing around Christmas a few years ago…?”

I’d only been hanging around in that timeline for about a year at that point, so I wasn’t up-to-speed on the hot holidays trends of seasons past. 

“Uh… oh yeah, I think I’ve heard of those…”

He rolled his eyes and then looked his over for a second.

“Dude,” Larry snickered, “… let’s start em up, it’ll be hilarious…”

“Uh, okay…?”

I watched Larry tap on the heart-shaped button below the screen. A sing-song tone played. He tapped one of the side buttons. Another tone. A few seconds later, he threw his head back with a laugh. 

“Holy shit, awesome! I got me a keeper, bro, look-”

He turned the keychain around to show me. There was a little pixelated bust of a bored-looking girl with heavy eyeliner and choppy, blunt-cut bangs bobbing on the screen. A speech bubble with a skull, then ellipses, then a purple heart came from its mouth.

“Ahaha, got me a hot goth g.f. on the first try! Nice…” I had to admit, she did look like his type, in a lot of different timelines….

“Alright Sally, your turn. Let’s see what ya get…~”

I imitated what I’d watch him do with my own keychain. I tapped the heart-shaped button, a sing-song tone played, and a selection screen came on:

It's been a while!

>Continue

>New Game

Larry told me to select a new game. I did. The S.O. icon faded in and stayed in place for a second. When the ellipses beneath it reached four dots, another tone played, and a little pixelated bust appeared on the screen. It had dark hair, styled in braids, pale skin, huge eyes with long lashes, a little button nose, a big crooked smile with two pixels that I assumed served as lip piercings…

A speech bubble with an exclamation point, then a heart, then scrolling text came from its mouth.

Deja vu came over me. My heart fluttered and my stomach sank. I realized then why the keychain looked so familiar.

The text read:

Hi, I’m Mitch, your new S.O.! It’s nice to meet you 💕

>Continue

>New game

…. There they-.... it was….. I’d found them again, in a sense… they had been waiting for me right under my nose, sitting in the dark, and now, they were right here, in the palm of my hand… [traces his palm with his fingers]

Larry looked at the screen and said, “Hey, she’s kinda cute… you wanna keep her, or do you wanna try it again?”

He had no idea how loaded that question was….

“Uh, yeah, I’m… I think I’m gonna stick with this one.”

“Nice. Ha, look at us- we have giiiirlfriends now! Ahahah…” He dangled his S.O. by the chain and laughed, jingling it around like the toy it was. 

“Dude, we can go on fuckin’, like, ‘double dates’ and stuff, show off our ‘ladies’… oh man, this is gonna be a riot…”

I said, “Yeah, this’ll be… a lot of fun.”

I cradled my S.O.-... I cradled Mitch, in my hands, and held it as gently, and as firmly, as I could. I wiped a little of the grime from its screen, and another heart emoji came from its mouth….

It was them, and as usual, it felt the same… just a little different.

[END TRANSCRIPT]

[killemwithkawaii]

Goretober 2022 Day 23: Human

Earlier today, I helped Mitchie take a bath after it had tried to eat and it ended up covered in mac and cheese. 

After I filled the tub with warm water, I helped it take off its clothing items and get in. It asked if we could ‘use item bubble bath,’ so I poured some in. Soap suds started to build up on the surface, and it asked me what was happening. I explained what bubbles were, and it swished them around as I got undressed. Mitch chirped and sang when it saw I had ‘discarded clothing items’. It said again that it liked my ‘shell’ and was happy to be able to see it now. I went to step into the bathtub with it, but since Mitchie is so big now, I ended up having to sit on its lap. It sang and buzzed when I sat down, recognizing that it had ‘sat’ on my lap before this. It said it was happy it had a lap now, so that I could sit on it.

I took a washcloth and started wiping away at the cheese sauce that was still smeared on its face and torso. Its huge eyes stared at me without blinking. It asked what I was doing. 

“I’m wiping off your face because it’s dirty. You’ll be nice and clean when I’m done.” I buffed the last of the sauce away, careful not to rub off its painted-on mouth, and announced I was finished. It brought a stiff hand to its shiny cheek. 

“My shell is clean, and it has a face, just like Sallys does…”

“Yeah, it… sure does…”

Now that Mitchie was clean, I turned to wash away my stress sweat from earlier. I lathered my body and my hair with suds. Mitchie chirped and repeated its new word, ‘bubbles’.

“Sallys shell is covered in bubbles!” 

“Heh, yup. I’ll be nice and clean soon, too,” I got an idea. “Hey, wanna see something cool?”

I gathered some lather from the tub, made a circle with my finger and thumb, and blew an extra big bubble. It floated in the air between us, and Mitchie rapidly chirped and started singing its new song, Daisy Bell. I reached out and popped it, and Mitchie gave an alarmed beep.

“Hey, don’t worry! Bubbles always pop, but before they do, you can do fun things with them. Here, watch…” I gathered more suds and gave myself a bubble beard and a bubble hat.

“Oh! Sally has new clothing items! Can I have some, too?’

“Sure! Here…” I gave it a hat and beard to match, and it sang one of its classic little tunes. I laughed at how silly we both looked, and for a second, I forgot that I was stuck in a glitched out pocket dimension, sitting in a bath tub with an 8-foot-tall talking doll that was a keychain / digital alternate universe version of my soulmate the day before. For a second, it felt normal, and comforting, and familiar….

I rinsed us both off and helped it out of the tub. It waved goodbye to the bubbles and thanked them for having fun with us today as they went down the drain. I grabbed a towel and dried us both off, then helped it get into its PJs. 

“Sally?”

“Yes?”

“My shell is clean. Is it time to hug with arms now?” 

“Uh… I did say that, didn’t I….”

This morning, Mitchie had wrapped its new arms around me and squeezed so tight, I thought for sure I would be crushed. I told it to stop because it hurt, and it asked me what ‘hurt’ was while I felt my rib cage bow against its hard, plastic casing. Luckily, I’d managed to squeak out ‘hardware damage,’ and it gave an alarmed beep and let go before anything snapped.

“Let’s try it like this…” I wrapped my arms around it. “Hug me at 0% strength, then increase by 2% until I say ‘stop’.”

It did just that, barely making contact at first, and very gradually squeezing. 

“Hug at 10%... hug at 20%... hug at 30%...”

I told it to stop at 44%. Not too hard, not too soft.

“Sally likes hugs at 44%. It is not too hard, not too soft…”

We tried the same thing flipped. Turns out, Mitchie likes hugs from me at 100%, and would like me to hug harder if I could manage it.

When the hugging was ‘complete’, I made dinner for myself (since it had already ‘eaten’ earlier) as it watched me. It sat at the table and we talked while I ate. We sat on the couch together and watched a movie, pausing every couple minutes for me to explain things I took for granted, but were exciting and new to it. It wanted to know everything, and it asked questions constantly.

It was starting to get late, and I realized it had not made a goretober prompt for the day. I know that’s still Mitch(6)s thing, but it felt good to keep up at least a part of their routine, and it was nice to see Mitch(4) creating new things for a change.

“Here, you can use the laptop-”

“No.”

“No?”

“I do not want to use the Laptop to Make Art today.”

“...Do you want to use something else then…?”

“Yes.”

I looked in Larrys room for art supplies. There were paints and charcoal lying around, but I thought they would be too difficult for Mitch to use. Despite its vast improvement in mobility, it was still very limited in its dexterity. I opted for a dusty box of crayons that was buried in one of Larrys many junk drawers. I figured he wouldn’t mind.

I came back out with the box, and gave it to Mitch. 

“Crayons added to inventory. Thank you for the gift, Sally!”

It tried on its own for a while to open the box and select the crayons it wanted to use, but I ended up having to tape them to its hand so it could hold them. It was a slow and clumsy process, but eventually the page was filled with drawings of the two of us. When there was no more room on the paper, Mitchie stopped moving its arm and stared at its work.

“Hey, nice job, Mitchie! Those look great.”

It stayed silent, which was very, very uncharacteristic of it.

“Mitch…?”

A drop of liquid landed on the page- it was leaking from Mitchs eyes and onto the table. I thought for a second that some water had seeped into its seams during our bath, but the quiet, slow beeping it let out made me think twice.

“Is something wrong?”

“This Art is… inaccurate…”

“Well, that’s okay. It’s all about interpretation. People stylize things in art all the time.”

The beeping got louder, but deeper.

“...Am I a person now?”

“What…?”

“Sally said I am not real. I am not a person, I am an S.O. … I am a toy… I am a thing…”

It knew what I’d written. Of course it knew what I’d written. Why did I think that it wouldn’t?

“Sally said a toy can’t love him. If that is true, I do not want to be a toy. I do not want to be a thing….”

More droplets. More beeping.

“I love Sally, but he said I am not a person. I want to be a person so I can love Sally. I am trying to learn how, but there is so much I do not know. I do not know if I will ever be a person…”

It turned its head and looked at me with its huge eyes, its painted-on, crooked smile a stark contrast to the slow, low beeping that I now understood was it crying, and the liquid I now recognized as its tears, streaming down its plastic face and soaking its pajama shirt. 

“I can see and hear, I have a voice and I can move. I can hug and I can kiss and I can hold hands. I can take a long soak and sleep in and cuddle. I am warm, and I have weight… How much more do I need to learn to be a person? What else do I need to be real? How can I be a person so I can love Sally? I want to be real… I want to love Sally… how do I do that?”

My heart broke for it- No, for them- and I realized how cruel and wrong I’d been acting. I thought I could play with them because they were a thing, and I was a person. I needed to control them because I knew better, but under the guise of control, what I’d really been doing was stifling and belittling them, and they didn’t do anything to deserve that… They were only doing what they could with the equipment they had, and were doing their best to improve. How could I ask for anything more? Who was I to judge what didn’t seem human? I’d been far from it for a long time, but I knew damn well that I could still love, and I knew damn well that I was still real. Even after all I've done, with all I am, I'm still a person, no matter what form I'm in.

“Mitchie, I.. I’m so sorry… I should have seen… I should have known- You are real. You were always real, and you do love me, just like I thought.... just like I do. You’re just like you always are- the same, just a little different… I’m so sorry I doubted that.”

I put my arms around them and hugged them at 100%, and they gave a few slow chirps and hugged me at 44% in return. Not to soft, not too hard, just how they knew I liked it.

With that hug complete, I took them to bed with me. I helped them lie down and pull the blankets over them, and laid down at their side. They were warm and they had enough weight to sink their half of the mattress . They looked at me with their huge eyes and told me they loved me with their synthesized voice. I told them the same as I touched their synthetic hair and their hard, plastic shell, and I kissed their painted-on mouth before I turned out the light. It felt normal, comforting and familiar… the same, just a little different.

[killemwithkawaii]

Mitch(4): Sally, would you like to talk with friends now?

L.S.S.: Uh- is that alright with you…?

Mitch(4): Yes! Let’s talk with friends together! Say, ‘hello’, to friends, Sally! 👋

L.S.S.: …Hello, everybody…

L.S.S.: Yeah, uh... there’s an item shop where you can get new clothes and accessories, and there’s minigames, like rock-paper-scissors, card matching, serpent, and tetrus, that you can play with your S.O. to earn XP and in-game currency. You can also have it do certain tasks to influence its personality stats, but I never really did them, since I didn’t want to modify Mitchies default personality. It would have felt like I was changing who it was if I did it myself. It.... kind of does it on its own, anyway…

Mitch(4): [chirping] 😀👋

L.S.S.: Me, too, Grace. I know he really loved working with you and it would have been great to see you guys shooting the shit again… that ‘I need a nurse!’ bit you guys did whenever he got a little burn or cut was always good…

Mitch(4): [beeping]

No hardware damage detected.

Use Bandages anyway?

>Yes

>No

L.S.S.: No, let’s just… save those in case we need them later.

Mitch(4): [chirping] 👍

L.S.S.: Well, there was ‘magic’ in my original universe, although that was probably just crazy alien science we couldn’t understand plus weird timespace stuff… I’ve been in timelines with single-horned hoofed quadrupeds, but they didn’t really look like the traditional ‘unicorn’… there are some timelines where humans took a slightly different evolutionary path and ended up with webbed fingers or tails or joints that bend the opposite way, ears on the crown of their heads, different amounts of limbs, that kind of thing… but I haven’t come across a straight-up fantasy realm myself. Though, MJ is in one now, so it’s probably just a matter of time before I do, too… as you can see, pretty much anything is possible with multiverse theory in the equation.

Mitch(4): [chirping] I’m so happy I’m in a universe with Sally in it! 💘🪐

L.S.S.: Ah… me too, Mitchie…

L.S.S.: Thanks, but I’m a little hugged out right now, Meadow. Mitch… doesn’t really know its own strength…

Mitch(4): [rapid chirping]

I love hugging Sally with arms! It is the best!! 💖💖💖

L.S.S.: I know, Mitchie, I just need a little break, okay? I think you almost cracked my ribs with that last one…

Mitch(4): [slow beeping]

I did not mean to cause hardware damage to Sallys shell. I am sorry… 😔👉👈

L.S.S.: It’s… it’s okay, Mitchie. We’ll work on it…

Uh, oh! We have some new gifts! Let’s check on those, huh?

Mitch(4): [slow chirping]

Mitch(4): [chirping] [singing track Daisy Bell] 💌 (3)

>Walkie Talkie added to inventory (ACTION FAILED)

>Oatmeal added to inventory (ACTION FAILED)

>Water Bottle added to inventory (ACTION FAILED)

No Gifts received… 😢💔

L.S.S.: … 

…..

I think I see what you were trying to do, Anon… It didn’t work, but I really appreciate it, anyway.

…..

Mitch(4): [slow beeping] 

L.S.S.: … It’s alright, Mitchie. We can play with some other stuff from your inventory, if you want?

Mitch(4): [chirping] 😀

Current Inventory:

[Screwdriver] [Juice Box] [Bedding]x2 [Pillow] [Shroud] [PJs][Bandages][Chicken][Rice][Coffin]

L.S.S.: Yeah, I see all of it… [barely audible] I really gotta move that coffin to the basement or something… Um… Let’s see if we’ve received anything else…

Mitch(4): [chirping] [singing track Daisy Bell] 💌 (5)

>Pea Soup added to inventory

>Mac and Cheese added to inventory

>Bathtub added to inventory

>Water added to inventory

>Bubble Bath added to inventory

Thank you for the gifts! 🎁💕

L.S.S.: Well, with all this food, I guess we might as well try having you eat…?

Mitch(4): [chirping][chirping] 🍴

>Mac and Cheese selected

.......

Yum! It’s delicious! Hunger Level: Full

L.S.S.: … Wow. Exactly none of that went in your mouth…

Well, I guess it’s good we can put you in the bath now, huh?

Mitch(4): [chirping] 💕

I can take a nice long soak with Sally now? Will Sally discard clothing items again?

L.S.S.: I… yeah, I guess I can get in with you, and… well, that’s how baths work, so…

Mitch(4): [rapid chirping] [singing] 😊💖💖💖

Yay! I’m excited for a nice long soak with Sally! 🛁🧼💕

Friends, did you know that this [tugs on L.S.S.s shirt] is not part of Sallys shell? Sally has clothing items, just like me! I did not know that until yesterday when I watched Sally discard clothing items to take a long soak!

L.S.S.: Eheh, yeah, you seemed… really excited to find that out…

Mitch(4): I was! And I was happy to see Sallys shell, too! I am happy I can hug it with arms now. 🤗💖💖💖

L.S.S.: It’s… nice, actually...? I’m really surprised at how warm you are now…

Mitch(4): [chirping][buzzing] 👉👈💓

My shell is warm because I am with Sally~

L.S.S.: … That’s… really sweet, actually…

Mitch(4): [chirping] [chirping] 💘💘💘

Can I... hug Sally with arms again now?

L.S.S.: Heh. Um, let’s get you cleaned up, first. Then, I’ll help you change into your PJs, and then we can hug more. But, uh, try to be gentle this time, okay? My shell is a lot softer than yours is…

Mitch(4): [rapid chirping] [singing track Daisy Bell]💘💘💘

Okay, Sally! Let’s have fun together today~ 🤗🤗🤗💘💘💘

[killemwithkawaii]

L.S.S.: Hey, everyone. I guess it’s time for another reintroduction, huh? This is Mitch, the fourth edition. Say, ‘Hi,’ to everyone Mitchie!

Mitch(4): [chirping]

Let’s have fun together today! 🙂💕

L.S.S.: Heh, don’t worry, we’ll get there. I just wanted to talk with our friends first, since the inbox got kind of full while I was all… corpsey…

As you can see, I’m feeling, and smelling, a lot better than I was a couple days ago. It feels good to move and breathe and everything again... [barely audible] You really take all your basic bodily functions for granted until you’re trapped in a rotting husk…

Mitch(4): [Beeping]

You’ve taken less than 500 steps today. Let’s go for a walk together! 🤝

>Okay, let’s go!

>I’m feeling lazy today…

>We’ll do it later.

L.S.S.: We’ll do some laps in a bit…

[Option 3 selected]

Mitch(4):

Okay, Sally! Don’t forget~ (Reminder set for 30 minutes.)

L.S.S.: Okay, let me get to these asks…

L.S.S.: I don’t know if this is what got me back to being fresh and fleshy, but it definitely didn’t hurt. Thanks, magic!anon, I really appreciate it! You miiight want to stay on deck… just in case.

L.S.S.: ………. 

…….

 It… it was really kind of you to send all of these to him, Meadow, but I… can’t say for sure if he ever saw them. 

While I could still hear him, he was cycling through crying, begging, and screaming… He kept asking if he was in Hell, and telling me he was sorry and that he’d change and pleading for me to wake up… It was awful. It was absolutely fucking terrifying and awful, and it was almost worse when it started fading out… I don’t know what he was doing when it finally ended, since all my sensory organs had rotted away by then. The last thing I was able to physically feel while I was with him was my weight shifting. I think he might have laid me down… Even after I couldn’t move or sense anything anymore, I was still conscious... I was still there. I was with him the whole time… or at least I think I was... and I think he knew that somehow, but I don’t think that made it any easier for him…. 

….

He didn’t deserve that. He didn’t deserve any of that… I really wish I could have held him and told him I’d forgiven him already. I wish I would have told him while I was still physically able to…

…

…

…

…

Mitch(4): [quiet beeping] 👉👈💕

>Hold hands

>Hug

>Wave

L.S.S.: …

[Option 2 selected]

Mitch(4): [chirping][chirping]

I love getting hugs from you, Sally! 🤗💖

L.S.S.: …Thanks, Mitchie… me too…

Oh, and thanks for trying to send all this stuff, too, Meadow. I don't think it made it through, but it's the thought that counts...

Mitch(4): [chirping] [singing] 💌 (13)

>Screwdriver added to inventory

>Strawberry Juice added to inventory (ACTION FAILED)

>Juice Box added to inventory

>Bedding (x2) and Pillow added to inventory

>Shroud added to inventory

>Fish with Salad added to inventory (ACTION FAILED)

>PJs added to inventory

>Bandages added to inventory

>Handkerchief added to inventory (ACTION FAILED)

>Chicken added to inventory

>Rice added to inventory

>Coffin added to inventory

Thank you for the gifts! 🎁💕

L.S.S.: Woah! Uh, that's new... I guess they did come through, kind of...? So, thanks again!

L.S.S.: I honestly don’t know if they are or not. I’m still using their laptop to talk to all of you, so they’d be checking it through their phone if they were. As far as I know, nobody I’ve asked has been able to contact them since the glitch started, and they haven’t tried to message me or post anything. It’s really not like them…

The only posts I’ve been seeing besides the ones I’ve published myself are the transcripts they took when I first told them the stories of how we met and how we parted in different timelines, along with that last post by the third Mitchie. I don’t know if Mitch(6) is posting them, or if the documents saved on the laptop are getting uploaded because of the glitch. I don’t think they would have access to them in order to post them without their laptop, though…

.....

Please let me know if you guys hear anything from them.

L.S.S.: ...............

Well, that's not concerning at all.... [barely audible] What the hell does that mean...? That's three for three now, too...

....

....

Thanks for pointing that out, anon. With all the cracks and scratches on those walls, I didn't even notice that...

L.S.S.: Well, I’m glad at least one of us is having fun… and I’d say that’s a pretty appropriate meme for the situation.

Mitch(4):

>Searching...

>File found!

L.S.S.: Woah, that’s also new… and familiar… Uh, I guess having you plugged into the laptop is gonna expand your vocabulary a little, huh?

Mitch(4): [chirping] [singing] 📸👌

L.S.S.: Heh, I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself.... Okay, that's enough for now. C'mon Mitchie, let's take those laps...

Mitch(4): [chirping][chirping][singing] 💕💕💕

[killemwithkawaii]

L.S.S.: Alright, let’s take a little break from 1,020 questions, Mitchie- Our friends have some questions for us now!

Mitch(4): 

I want to ask Sally more questions.

I love talking to Sally! 💬💕

L.S.S.: Don't worry, you can ask me more later. I wanna do this for a little while.

Mitch(4): [slow beeping] 😞

L.S.S.: Uh, here, is this better…? [Places Mitch(4) on his lap]

Mitch(4):

Oh! I know this! I am ‘cuddling’ with Sally?

L.S.S.: Yeah, it’s a sort of cuddling. Right now, you’re sitting on my lap.

Mitch(4): [chirping] [singing] 💘

L.S.S.: Heh. Now can we talk to our friends?

Mitch(4):

Yes, now Sally and I can ‘talk to friends’. 

(Reminder ‘talk with Sally’ set for 30 minutes)

L.S.S.: Okay, let’s see what we’ve got…

L.S.S.: Mitchie usually doesn’t sing complete songs on command, just little five to fifteen second tunes when it’s ‘happy’. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised at this point if it learned to do that.

Mitch(4):

Searching…

File found!

(Track added)

L.S.S.: Oh, nice! Are you gonna start singing that for me now sometimes…?

Mitch(4):

I can if you want me to! 🎶

L.S.S.: Sure! I can learn it on guitar and play with you, too, if you want.

Mitch(4): [Singing track ‘Daisy Bell’]

L.S.S.: Hehe, I’ll take that as a yes.

L.S.S.: Yeah… It looks great, Meadow. I’m sure he would have loved it. Mitchie(2) always liked experimenting in the kitchen and trying new recipes. It was a lot of fun to cook with him again while I could…

Mitch(4): 

Add item Mac and Cheese to inventory?

>Yes

>No

L.S.S.: Sorry Mitchie, I’d like to eat this... I can eat it in front of the camera later, though? I’ll tell you all about it while I do, and I’ll give you some ‘food’ from your inventory at the same time so it’s like we’re having dinner together!

Mitch(4): [chirping]

(‘Dinner with Sally’ added to calendar)

L.S.S.: Sounds like I got a date, guys~

Mitch(4): [chirping]

Hello Meadow! It’s nice to meet you! Let’s have fun together today~

L.S.S.: Oh hey, thanks Meadow! I guess I can finally try one of these things and take a nice, long soak, since my roommates aren’t here…

Mitch(4): [chirping] [singing] 💌 (1)

>Bath Bomb added to inventory!

Thank you for the gift! 🎁💕

Mitch(4):

Sally, what is 'take a nice long soak' and Bath Bomb?

L.S.S.: Uh. It’s where you… sit in a tub of warm water? It’s to clean yourself, and it feels nice, too.

Mitch(4):

I have Bath Bomb! Can I 'take a nice long soak' with Sally?

L.S.S.: Uh… I don’t think that’s a good idea… You can hang out with me and I’ll select the bath bomb for you while I’m in there, though?

Mitch(4): [chirping] [singing]

(‘See Sally take a nice long soak’ added to calendar)

L.S.S.: Heh, well, that’s gonna be… interesting…

Mitch(4): 

Why will ‘See Sally take a nice long soak’ be ‘interesting’?

L.S.S.: [clears throat] I’ll, uh… [barely audible] it might be easier just to show you…

Mitch(4): 

Okay! I am excited for you to show me! 📸👀💕

L.S.S.: Oh, nice! Now I won’t wear out the carpet with my pacing like I did last time.

Mitch(4):

Oh! Is Treadmill for taking Steps?

L.S.S.: Yup! We’ll get a lot more walking in with this baby in the house, since we can’t really go outside to do it…

Mitch(4): [chirping]

Yay! I love taking walks with Sally! (Sally is 10,561 steps away from next level up)

L.S.S.: Well, we’d better get to it then! Might as well work up a sweat before I take a bath…

Mitch(4):

What is ‘work up a sweat’?

L.S.S.: You’ll see in a few minutes....

Mitch(4): [chirping]

(‘See Sally work up a sweat’ added to calendar)

(Reminder set for 5 minutes)

L.S.S.: Yeaaah, I’m pretty pleased about it, too. That really, really sucked…

Mitch(4):

What is ‘rotting’?

L.S.S.: Uh… it’s like… having your hardware fall apart, kind of?

Mitch(4): [rapid beeping]

Sally has a critical hardware error?!😱😱😱

L.S.S.: No, no! Well, yeah, I did… but I’m okay now. I’m, uh… fully functional, no errors detected?

Mitch(4): [slow beeping]

I’m glad Sally is okay! I was afraid Sally was broken… 😢

L.S.S.: Woah, I can tell, that really brought your stats down… don’t worry, we’ll take a walk right after this and get you in a better mood.

Mitch(4): [chirping]

L.S.S.: To answer your question, MJ, there’s an S.O. shop where you can purchase items with in-game currency you earn by gaining experience points, playing games with your S.O., that kind of thing… come to think of it, you and the shopkeeper have the same name… and you look really similar, too… 

….

oh god, don’t tell me that’s alternate timeline you… that thing always gave me such a hard time for being in the top percentage of in-game spenders… told me to ‘get a life’ almost every time…

Mitch(4): [beeping]

Go to MJs Item Shop?

>Yes

>No

L.S.S.: …Maybe later, Mitchie. MJ, I’m glad you found a refuge away from those royal assholes. I hope you and I can both come home safely soon… keep me updated, and let me know if you hear anything from Mitch(6), okay? I’m getting worried about them…

....

Okay, let's go on that walk, Mitch.

Mitch(4): [Singing track 'Daisy Bell'] 💕💕💕

[killemwithkawaii]

I woke up this morning to a simple tune softly playing somewhere nearby.

I realized I could breathe when I took in a sweet, deep, satisfying inhale without purposefully doing so. My lungs weren't filled with fluid anymore, and my diaphragm expanded and contracted on its own without any kind of resistance or effort. I gave my fingers and toes an experimental wiggle, and found that the rigor mortis that had slowly frozen me in my seat on the couch the previous night had vanished all at once. I was able to move my limbs, bend my joints and flex my muscles, so I sat myself upright, and the nerve endings in my intact skin felt the clean, comfortable sheets on the plush, roomy mattress I was now lying on. I had an eye, and I could open it, and with it, I could clearly see my room and all the things in it.

…My room…

I was no longer in Mitchies run-down mobile home, surrounded by his piles of hoarded items and the smell of stale smoke and rotting meat. Instead, I was in the bedroom in the house in Nockfell that I usually ended up staying in when I was living with Todd, Neil, and sometimes Larry.

Everything was just how I usually arranged it- my masks and posters were hung on the wall, my guitar and amp were near the door, my medication and collection of false eyes were on the dresser, my books and magazines were on the shelf... Everything was just like it usually was, except the house was quiet. 

There was no thumping music coming from Larry's room next door, no mugs clinking or bean grinder whirring in the kitchen while Neil brewed and poured his endless pots of coffee. None of Todd's tools were tapping and chattering and grinding through the ceiling above me, and Gizmos shows weren’t blaring on the television and seeping through the adjoining wall with the living room. All I heard was the sing-song 8-bit tone of a familiar alarm. 

I got up and looked around to find the source. The clock on my nightstand wasn't making the noise, and neither was the flip phone on the book case. I followed the noise back to the bed. I flipped up the blanket, and found a black cord running from the socket on the wall to the space under my pillow. I lifted it slowly, carefully. Tethered to the end of the cord was Mitchie. It was singing away from its little, pink, heart-shaped shell, telling me it was fully charged and that it was time for us both to wake up and start the day.

I picked it up and pressed the heart-shaped button beneath its screen to let it know I was awake. For a moment, an error screen appeared:

>Critical hardware error detected

>Diagnosis complete

>No hardware error detected

>Press any button to continue

I sat on the bed, and rubbed my thumb gently over the top of its shell. 

“...So you had a ‘bad dream’, too, huh, Mitchie…”

I pressed the button again. Mitch's pixelated face appeared, and a speech bubble with scrolling text came from its smiling mouth.

Good morning, Sally! 

It's 10am. Time to wake up, sleepy head ☀️💋

>Dismiss

>Snooze (10 minutes)

>Sleep in (30 minutes)

I selected the third option. An action prompt appeared on the screen.

You…

>Roll over

>Cuddle

I selected the second option. 

Mitch gave a few happy chirps, and I couldn’t help but smile at the familiar tones. A heart emoji bounced in its speech bubble before it closed its eyes and the heart was replaced by three Zs. I brushed my fingertips over the screen, across the pixels representing its hair, and carefully set it back down on the pillow beside me. Then, I climbed back under the soft, fresh-smelling sheets, where we ‘slept in’ all morning, and ‘cuddled’ together in bed until well-past noon. 

When I finally dismissed the alarm, I got up and checked the doors and windows, and tried for a while to 'wake up'. It's the same as its been all month- the windows are fake, the door has nothing outside it, and I cannot get out of this glitch.

Mitchie has been chirping and singing to me all day, counting my steps as I paced around the house and we 'talk'. Its been putting hearts and smiley faces in its speech bubble over and over, repeating how much fun it has spending time with me, and how happy it is to be my S.O.

I have to admit... its nice to have this kind of attention from them again, even if their hugs aren't quite as good as they are in other timelines.

(Don't tell it I said that, though. I can't stand seeing a frowny face in that speech bubble...)

[killemwithkawaii]

Here, Mitch.

*offers Mitch(4) a bunny plush*

If you're ever scared, holding it close may help.

Oh! And here's a bigger pillow to accommodate your head.

*offers item in question*

...

Well, I guess I'm able to claim their 'gifts' now...

Thank you, Meadow. I'm sure Mitch(4) would have loved hugging this thing at 100%... I mean, all the Mitchies love plushies... Even that lovable asshole Mitch(3) had some in his piles of stuff... they always name them, too... Heh, Mitch(6) has a pink bunny named Berry, and a brown one named Daisy, and another pink one named Ichigo... they stim with them a lot when they're stressed...

Come to think of it, all the Mitchies like bunnies, too. I guess they usually just like animals in general, but rabbits are pretty common with them.

...

I'll put this in with Mitch(4), and rest (what I think are parts of) their head on the pillow.

... Man, I can almost hear them chirping over it...

....

[killemwithkawaii]

...

Do you want a hug, Sal?

*offers to hug*

It's been feast and famine in that department for the last couple weeks... I'd say I'm officially hug-deficient at this point, so yeah, I will definitely take you up on the offer, Meadow. You guys know how I like it....

[hugs at 44%]

.... yeaaahhh, I'm sure that tastes great, but I am not touching spaghetti for at least a few decades after this...

Heh, these sure would have come in handy yesterday... though then me and Mitchie wouldn't have taken that bath together.... I think it was for the best. Teaching them what bubbles were and seeing them play in the suds was really something... 💙

.....

I'll put this on the nightstand near their... bed. Heh, I'm sure they would have gotten a kick out of having a pocket-sized singing friend of their own.... probably would have carried it around with them, just like I did with them before they could move on their own...

A little late on the draw... I didn't really expect anything weird to happen this time around, so I didn't ask. Well, It's all in hindsight, right? I'm sure if we would have had them up yesterday, it would have been like when I was with Mitch(2), anyway- one frame, we're sleeping peacefully in bed, and then next... we're not. It explains why I didn't hear Mitchie(4) get up and go to the kitchen last night...

Thanks for all of this, Meadow. There's soap and nail clippers and stuff lying around the house, but I was kind of busy today, and I don't want to use any more of the guys' stuff... even if it's not really their stuff...

I'll definitely feel a lot better after I clean myself up a little.

Hehe, I can't help but imagine them smashing that piece of eggs on toast against their face... 'chirp, chirp! Yum, delicious! Thank you for the gift!' [laughing] I can almost hear them....

......

... Or...

......

You don't think...

Oh shit... you're right. When I was with Mitch(1), I was so mangled I couldn't move, and when I was with Mitch(3), I had rigor mortus or was too rotted to move, but I was still conscious both those times...!

......

Fuck. Fuck, Meadow..... I put that plushie in the coffin with Mitch(4)s remains earlier, right? I thought it had sunk in, but... you don't think it was pulled in, do you...? They can't be... hugging it...

.....................

......

Oh shit. Oh shit.... But how do I...?

..................

[L.S.S. pours Hot Chocolate into the Coffin]

.....

[A bubble forms in the hot chocolate]..... [A bubble forms in the hot chocolate] ..... [A bubble forms in the hot chocolate] [A bubble forms in the hot chocolate] [A bubble forms in the hot chocolate]...

[bubbles popping to the tune of Daisy Bell]

......

......

......

Holy shit..... Mitchie...?!

[bubbles popping to the tune of Daisy Bell]

Okay... okay.... uh... I'm grabbing my guitar. It's officially unorthodox sing-along time until I fall asleep sitting up...

The monkeys paw does it again!! Not what any of us expected, but I'll take it!

[bubbles popping to the tune of Daisy Bell]

Woah, hold on there, Mitchie, this is a duet, you know... [laughing]

Alright guys, I'm gonna spend some quality time with Mitchie(4) while I still can. Thanks for keeping me company through all this. I'll talk to you tomorrow... however it turns out.

[killemwithkawaii]

Mitch(4), can you play "Memory" from the Undertale soundtrack?

Heh, this feels like it would have been a great addition to their new-and-improved song repertoire... maybe something they would sing while we were taking a walk together.

....

You know, for a second, I was getting a little tired of hearing 'Daisy Bell,' a few dozen times a day, but now, I just want to listen to it on repeat.

Its so quiet around here....

[killemwithkawaii]

Let's see if this works.

*offers Mitch(4) a "Take a Break" featute*

This was sent in before this morning, so I know you didn't mean it that way, but wow, the monkey paws are on fire tonight...

[killemwithkawaii]

Mitch(4), whatever you do, do not go through the door to the outside.

I've seen what happened afterward three times and it...

It wasn't pretty 😞

I suggest you brace yourself in case it does happen by the end of your week.

We didn't, and I'm not sure if it made any kind of difference, but I appreciate you trying to warn them about it, anyway. Makes me wonder how I should handle the whole door-to-bed loop thing the next time around, if there is a next time around...

....

I guess we'll just cross that bridge when we get to it...