Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Come on, shows over.” The words echoed in Mephone’s mind as he laid on the cold floor of his room. Inanimate Insanity had been done for a month, Cobs was gone, and he had Mephone 3gs. But some days, he just couldn’t fathom that he created all of them, or that he once was able to even do so. Sometimes, the events of that day echoed in his mind, Mephone X erasing the contestants, Cobs telling him he made them, and forcing Suitcase and Knife to fight to the death, just as he had done with the inaimates. And… Mepad. 

“Hey you good?” Mephone 3gs asked, peeking his head into the desolate room.

“I’m alright.” Mephone sat up, “Just thinking about some stuff.”

“About…” 3gs hesitated, knowing how distraught Mephone still was about that day, “About what happened last month?”

“Yeah I guess so…” Mephone sighed, “I should be over it by now…”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it.” 3gs made his way over to the blue phone, “Everyone processes things differently. This is pretty world shattering, so just take it one step at a time.”

“Alright.” Mephone stood up, “uh- speaking of steps, I’m gonna go take a walk, maybe that will help.”

“Okay, see you in a bit.”

“Yep.”

As Mephone stepped out of the house, the cold wind blew at his face. It was autumn again. The time when he filmed some of his favorite episodes. Mephone shook his body like an etch a sketch to get the thought of Inanimate Insanity out of his mind.

Mephone walked aimlessly through the forest, not sure where he should go this time. Normally when he had days like this, he would go somewhere he missed, but right now he missed Mepad.

“Maybe I should head for the cave…” He muttered to himself, turning around to begin walking there, “But what if Toilet is there again…” He turned around once again to continue wandering, “But then again… I should apologize to him, I was mean to him last I saw him…” He turned around once again, “But why would he even be there in the first place?” He turned around for a final time, and began to think of another place that would maybe remind him of Mepad. 

“Screw it,” Mephone muttered, and began to run to the cave.

This was another thing that he would wind up doing on his bad days. If he moved faster than his thoughts, he wouldn’t have to think them. Sometimes, it works and his walk turns into a run. But most times, it leaves him feeling worse, he would end up sweaty, something he thought would never happen, and something he hated.

But this time, it did nothing. He didn’t feel any better, or any worse, he just felt like he was still laying on his floor thinking about last month.

Mephone looked around the dark cave where he waited for Mepad to boot up, not much had changed since he was last here. It was still full of glowing crystals in shades of blue and purple. With a sigh, Mephone backed up to a wall and slid down, pulling his legs to his chest. 

“I miss you Mepad…” he whispered, “I wish you were still here, still able to play your soothing nature sounds, or to joke around with… remember when we found that sound board website?” He squeezed his legs closer to himself, tears beginning to fall from his eyes and dance through his cracked screen “I’m sorry… I know it’s not my fault… but- but it feels like it was.” Mephone wiped his eyes and sighed, “I hope you can hear me… wherever you are.” Crying and talking had made Mephone feel a little better, and the cave was pretty and cold and just felt nice. He couldn’t decide if he wanted to stay where he was for a bit, take a nap explore the cave, or if he wanted to leave. 

Lost in his thoughts, Mephone couldn’t hear Test tube’s footsteps as she turned the corner.

“Golly, Mephone is that you?” she exclaimed in disbelief, “It’s been so long!”

“AAh TEst tube” Mephone pressed himself against the wall, “Yeah- uh it it has.”

“So how have you been?”

“Uh- f-fine I guess… some days have been have been hard but uh i've been you know uh making my way through them…” Mephone stumbled over his words, “How have things been at the hotel?”

“They’ve been good, well for the most part…” Test tube sighed, “Fan and I got into a little bit of a fight…”

“Oh no,” Mephone gasped, “You two were always so close I never thought this would happen.”

“Yeah well…” Test tube slid down next to Mephone, “I’ve been spending a bit more time in my lab lately, trying to make crustless bread,” Test tube giggled, “But when I told Fan what I was doing he said I was ‘wasting my time’ and ‘the crust is important to the bread’” Test tube made air quotes as she spoke, “I thought he didn’t like the crust! Whenever he makes a peanut butter jelly sandwich he Always cuts it off!” Test tube shook her fists, “And then he said I was spending too much time in my lab for this in a judging tone, and yeah sure I have I admit it, but I thought he would like the reason why.” She sighed, “So yeah I kinda blew him off, stormed out and made my way here.”

“Dang,” Mephone sighed, unable to formulate a response.

“Anyway, enough about that, I wanna hear about what you’ve been up to.” Test tube slid closer to the bright blue phone.

“Oh you know uh just living I guess…” Mephone glanced away, “3gs and I just got a new board game yesterday.”

“You should bring it to the hotel.”

“WHat?” Mephone exclaimed

“Mephone everyone is wondering about you.” Her expression turned serious, “Everyone wants to know that you’re okay.”

“But-but why?”

“Because we care about you. Think about it,” Test tube stood up, “You don’t have to go, but Oj would love to have you at the hotel.”

“Ok,” Mephone said flatly, while squishing himself into the wall, “I’ll uh do that.”

“Alright, well.” She turned away, “I’m gonna go and apologize to Fan. Oh and Mephone,” She took another look back at him, “I really meant what I said. I want to see you again, we all do.”

The cave was eerily silent once Test Tube left, and Mephone was left alone with his thoughts. Now instead of thoughts of the terror last month, his mind was filled with thoughts of the contestants. Why did Test tube seem so adamant about him visiting the hotel?

Once again shaking like an etch a sketch, Mephone stood up and decided to wander around the cave where had once dumped his bad memories of Cobs. As much as he wanted to do that again, 3gs had always strongly advised against it.

“4, you can’t just delete those whenever you have a bad day,” 3gs would scold.

“What’s stopping me from doing it anyway?” Mephone muttered

“If you don’t have the bad memories, you can’t grow and fill those holes with good memories.”

“But they hurt…”

“I know…” 3gs sighed, “But I promise it will feel better eventually.”

And he listened. 

There were days where he came close to wiping his memories, but he thought about what 3gs said, his words echoing in his mind, and he didn’t delete anything. 

Mephone wandered around the cave, the glow of the crystals illuminating the paths. The different shades of blues and purples helped to differentiate the maze of twisting tunnels. Despite being underground, Mephone could hear the faint sound of rain. The cave made it sound like he was in a classroom on a cold Thursday afternoon.

He kept going deeper, knowing he couldn’t leave just yet otherwise he could get hurt. As he wandered, the once brightly glowing crystals started to dim. There were paths where the crystals would go back to doing the illuminating instead of mephone, but his curiosity at what was at the end of this dark pathway had overtaken him and he pressed on. 

He went deeper and deeper into the cave, the rain growing less and less muffled, the crystals becoming dimmer and dimmer. Until the only light was Mephone himself.

Part of him wanted to turn around, go back to the entrance and wait for the rain to stop. But another part of him wanted to keep going. The rain had grown louder, and so had his overwhelming curiosity.

He made his way further into the cave, barely being able to see. Having convinced himself there was something, anything down there, he pressed on. It didn’t take long for him to come across a faint light, and a door. 

“I’ll investigate you on my way back.” Mephone put his hand on the door and kept walking, glad there was something at the end of the darkened tunnel.

It didn’t take too long for Mephone to finally find where the light was coming from. It was another entrance to the cave, but it led to an underground lake. It was a beautiful sight to see, but the curiosity of the random door inside of the cave was still unsatisfied.

Mephone made his way back to the door, almost missing it on his way back. 

He took a deep breath to prepare himself for what was inside, and he opened the door. 

Inside was… a bedroom? The walls were still cave-like, but there was a bed… and a corkboard… with photos of the season one contestants on it.

The bed was messy, almost as if somebody had to leave quickly, or maybe they just hated making it. 

“Weird…” Mephone sat on the bed, only to find something square…”What is this?” He felt around the sheets to find a diary. Opening it to maybe gain some insight on who maybe was here, he read the first page. 

They suspect nothing. They just think of me as weak, they think my whole thing is vomiting lemons… But I can do more. This strategy of appearing unthreatening should get me far…

“Taco?” Mephone whispered, flipping further, maybe the person who lived here stole this from her.

I’ve been found out… I have to hide, they know it was all an act. I should have won, I was so close. That breakfast beverage cheated somehow. I’ll show them all one day, but for now I must stay here.

Mephone skipped further

I’m surprised he hasn’t found me yet. But then again, he’s been focusing on that tablet… He’s ever so close to booting up but alas, avoiding detection is the best course of action right now. I’m not certain what he’s even capable of, I’ll have to observe once he’s awake

“Dang…”Mephone skimmed the next few pages.

I’m now working alone. That Mic threw herself out of the game, and there isn’t anybody with motivation to cheat left… Maybe the suitcase girl, but she’s proven she’s not as impressionable as everyone thought. I know Knife won’t join me either, but whatever I can handle being alone. 

Why didn’t Mepad leave with Mic? Why did he resign… Why did he stick with me- he obviously doesn’t want to do my bidding, he‘s far too kind. Oh well, he’ll be the major key to my plan.

“It was me…” Mephone whispered, answering Taco’s question, before reading more

Too much has happened… Pickle died in front of me… Then Nickle… Then there was that killing spree where Mepad took us to the mansion… And then we were inside of Mephone? I’m not entirely sure what happened, but we had to run this line… Mic almost fell behind, but something pulled me to help her… and in turn she helped me. I don’t know… But this will be the last entry… In this book. I’m leaving it in the cave for somebody to find, and whoever you are just know, you need to communicate. Even if you think you’re good, you’re not.

As she said, the rest of the pages were blank, almost inviting him to continue writing but something told him to leave the room as he found it, and to make his way back to the entrance. 

And so Mephone 4 did just that.

Mepad wasn’t around to play soothing nature sounds, but the rain was just as good.

His mind was filled with the sounds of the rain, which didn’t let up until it was almost dark, and so Mephone stayed, fearful the rain would cause damage.

When Mephone finally made his way home, 3gs was already asleep. And so Mephone decided to do the same. Maybe tomorrow would be better.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Mephone felt like a completely different phone. Thoughts of Inanimate Insanity didn’t swarm his mind, and he felt like yesterday wasn’t even a day. His smile was wider than his screen and his glow felt brighter than normal, even though his brightness wasn’t any higher.

For Mephone 3gs though, he was met with bad news when he checked his battery health. His maximum capacity was 56%, and it was only going to get worse.

“Hey 3gs wanna bake today?!” Mephone 4 barged into his room, excited for the day.

“Yeah why not,” he struggled to keep the tiredness in his voice down, in an attempt to preserve 4’s cherryness “Cookies I presume?”

“Well if you don't wanna make cookies, we could maybe make cupcakes.”

“No, cookies are fine, I just wanted to make sure you didn’t want to like branch out or something.” 3gs stood up and steadied himself, Mephone 4 could not learn about his grim reality. Not right now at least.

“Alright!” Mephone smiled, “When should we though?”

“Whenever’s fine. I mean, I’d like to play another round of that game we just got, but other than that the day’s pretty open.” 3gs made his way to the door, “Just let me wake up first, okay?”

“Alright!” Mephone turned around and headed for the kitchen, presumably to set up their game.

Once 3gs had closed the door and turned on the light, he took a deep breath and began to type. He despised the feeling, the way the letters felt, the way he had to place the inputs, but he put that aside for right now, he needed answers.

Mephone 3gs how to increase battery health

Mephone 3gs replacement battery

Mephone 3gs how to make last longer

His searches yielded disappointing results, there were no replacement batteries for him, the only way for him to live longer was to only be on for short periods of time, and there was no way to increase his battery health.

“I’m going to die…” he whispered, aware of his situation. He knew his model was fifteen, which was insanely old for a piece of technology. It was a miracle he made it this far. But soon Mephone was going to be alone, something he dreaded more than his impending death. With a deep breath, he made his way to the kitchen, to Mephone. He was determined to make the most of his limited battery.

Mephone was waiting for him, his eyes wide, the board spread out, his legs dangling from the chair. “Alright! Wanna play right now?”

“We could…” 3gs gestured to the oven, “ooorr, we could bake right now and have cookies for breakfast.”

Mephone’s eyes lit up, “Ah dude I don’t know, they both sound fun!”

“Let's play first, you set the game up after all.” 3gs sat down to a game of super chutes and ladders. The game for the most part, was the same as normal, roll a dice make your way up to 100. If you land on a slide or a ladder you have to take it, but what makes it super was the landmines. Before playing, a dice is rolled to see how many landmines are placed, then they are just thrown on the board. All the spaces they touch were affected, and if you land on one you have to draw a card.

“Rock paper scissors for who goes first?” Mephone put his hand out, ready to decide the turn order of the game.

3gs responded by putting his hand out, he knew Mephone 4 usually would pick rock, then paper then scissors, so the best way to beat him was to pick paper.

But this time, Mephone 4 put his strategy into motion, he made 3gs believe that he would always pick the same order, no matter what just so he knew what he was going to pick.

“Rock paper scissor shoot.” The two phones said in unison, bobbing their fists up and down. Mephone 4 picked scissors, and Mephone 3gs picked paper.

“Yes!” Mephone 4 made a snipping motion to 3gs’s flattened hand, and rolled the dice. He moved his character 3 spaces, right next to a landmine.

“That would have been something huh,” 3gs commented as he rolled a 5, a space where the landmine touched. He drew a card and read it out loud “Running away from the blast, you move ten spaces forward.” with a smile, he did as the card said and removed the landmine.

“That was a good card.” Mephone moved his piece 4 spaces.

“I love that there's good cards, bad cards, nonsensical cards, and cards that don’t do anything, you know?,” 3gs moved his character two spaces onto a slide, “It makes this game crazy.”

“Bonkers even,” Mephone commented as he rolled a six.

The game went on, Mephone hit almost every slide and ladder, making noises of joy or disappointment depending on what one he landed on, whereas 3gs landed on two of the remaining landmines, one card telling him to move to the nearest ladder but not climb it, and the other told him to eat a piece of cheese.

“Why would you do that after encountering a landmine?” Mephone 4 laughed, “Oh crap! Let me eat a piece of cheese before I die.”

“I told you! Some of the cards make absolutely no sense! I sifted through them the other day, and I remember there was one that said to like fart in front of somebody’s window or something.”

“Can we even fart?” Mephone 4 asked, moving his piece 5 spaces.

“I don’t think so..” 3gs took his turn, “I don’t remember ever farting, but we caan sweat.”

“Ew don’t remind me.”

“Why do you hate sweating so much again?” 3gs asked, “Your turn by the way.”

“It’s not natural!” 4 rolled the dice, “For other objects sweat is supposed to like cool your body down right?”

“Right”

“But for us we have fans to do that. SO WHY DO WE SWEAT?” Mephone yelled.

“Stress sweat is a thing.” 3gs remarked

“That's what I would say it is too, but it happens when we run remember?” 

“Yeah okay, true, but if you don’t think about it, it’s not that weird,” 3gs remarked, “Anyway are you gonna move your piece?”

“Oh yeah whoops.” Mephone slid the small cardboard standee forward three spaces, landing on his first landmine. 

“Aww finally! I thought I was gonna have all the fun with these cards!” 3gs exclaimed, handing mephone 4 the top card from the pile.

“The player who is in the lead and the player who is in last swap places,” Mephone sighed, and swapped the two pieces, “It wasn’t that bad of a swap.”

“Not for me.” 3gs smiled rolling a six, landing onto the base of a ladder, one that led into space 100, and a ladder with a landmine at the bottom, “Please be good, please be good,” he pleaded as he pulled the card, “In an attempt to escape the blast, you climb halfway up the nearest ladder, flip a coin and if heads, you were successful, if tails you go back to the top of the nearest slide.” Holding his breath, 3gs flipped the coin, and in the split second it took to land the air was still. 

“Heads…”

“Heads!” 

3gs slid his piece halfway up the ladder, if he rolled an even number next turn he would win.

Without saying a word, Mephone rolled the die. If he rolled a 5 he would be able to take the ladder and win. As the small cube escaped his hands, the number was clear as day. One. “Aaahhaah so close!”

“You haven’t lost yet,” 3gs pointed out, “There's a fifty fifty chance I win.”

“That's a better chance than I had though.” Mephone 4 handed the dice to 3gs, “Just roll already, the suspense is killing me.”

“Here we go.” 3gs tossed the die to the table, watching intently as it jumped around on the table. With the final clatter, 4 evenly spaced dots faced upward, giving Mephone 3gs the win. 

“Well that was fun, what do you wanna do now?” 4 leaned back in his chair.

“I thought you wanted to bake cookies.” 3gs gestured to the kitchen, “Not gonna lie that sounds fun right now.”

“Oh yeah I forgot,” Mephone chuckled, “Yeah lets do that.”

“Music?”

“Music!” Mephone 4 tapped his screen, opening Youtube, “What playlist?”

“Uhhhh…” 3gs grabbed an egg, “The one with A Party on it.”

“Hamster face or evil smiley face?.” 4 asked as he scrolled through his playlists.

“What's the difference?” 

“They're both like silly, but evil smiley face is like has more instrumentals…” Mephone paused, “You know?”

“Mhm oh yes definitely,” 3gs nodded with sarcasm lacing his voice, “I guess pick the one that fits the vibe.”

“So hamster face then.” 4 tapped his screen, and Carmasansellen began to play from his speakers.

“Can you grab the…” 3gs pointed across the kitchen, “The thing thing.” He made a stirring motion with his arm “...A SPOON”

“Yeah sure.” Mephone 4 made his way over to the drawer, “Anything else?”

“You should probably grab the scoop and a couple baking trays.” 3gs grabbed the chocolate chips from the counter, “Everything else is over here.”

“You got it.” the baking trays clattered in the cabinet as mephone 4 pulled two out.

Right as Mephone was back at the counter next to 3gs who was measuring flour, the song switched and A Party came on. 

“I woke up when it was morning” 3gs sang, making sure to gently level the flour.

“It was a day like any other dayyy” Mephone 4 chimed in, slamming the door to the microwave. 

“I had a bad timee cuz I couldn't rhyme, but I could when I saw her walking down the street” The two sang, the beep of the microwave drowned out by their song. The music swallowing their focus as they screamed the lyrics, smiles covering their screens, “ALL I WANNA DOO IS GO TO A PARTY, A PARTY YEAAHH AND THE PARTY NEVER ENDS AND I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO UNTILL YOU ARE RIGHT BESIDE ME. ANNNND WITH OR WITHOUT YOU, I’D BE DOWN ON MY KNEESS BUT NOT REALLY CAUSEIHAVETROUBLEBENDING YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH” 3gs slowly quieted his screams, feeling tired and remembering his battery. Everything in him told him to stop, to tell Mephone about his grim reality about how he would soon maybe be alone, but seeing him like this, so happy screaming spoiled lemon, without a care in the world- conflicted him. He had his days like yesterday, but he was getting better, he was getting over Inanimate Insanity, and its contestants, and he was getting to live life normally. 

“3gs, you good?” Mephone paused the music, noticing he had stopped singing, and was just staring.

“Oh-” 3gs shook to clear his mind, “Uh yeah I just got into my head for a second, comeon, let's go finish those cookies.”

“Alright,” Mephone unpaused the song.

The rest of the song went by without either of them singing along, and they barely spoke as they baked the cookies.

Mephone four glanced over at 3gs, who was just… staring out the window. 3gs barely “Just got into his head,” that was 4’s job, what was he so worried about? Mephone wanted to go ask him what was wrong, and guide him through it, like 3gs did for him oh so many times before. But he couldn’t. For whatever reason, he couldn't bring himself to go 8 feet over and ask 3gs what was wrong.

So they stood in more silence until the cookies baked. 

And they cleaned the kitchen in silence.

And they watched TV in silence.

And they ate dinner in silence.

Finally, 4 brought himself to ask.

“Hey you good?”

“Yeah Just a little tired,” 3gs responded, “You good?”

“I’m way-thousand times better than yesterday,” Mephone smiled.

This was able to elicit a smile from 3gs, “That's good.”

“Yeah.” Mephone stretched, realizing 3gs probably felt better after like 10 hours had passed.

“Tired?”

“No, my foot just half fell asleep.”

“Ah hate it when that happens.” 3gs stood up, “But I’m kinda tired, so I’m gonna go to sleep.”

“ALright, goodnight.”

“Night.”

3gs’s peaked at his battery before getting into bed, 13%. The silence had probably helped keep it up, but when he thought about the way his brother asked if he was okay, made him realize that he couldn’t do that too often. He knew he couldn’t hide it forever, that one day, sooner rather than later he would have to tell 4 that he was in fact going to die soon. But with him being “way-thousand times better than yesterday,” he didn’t want to mess him up.

“Next week,” He whispered, closing his eyes, “I’ll tell him next week.”

Chapter Text

Next week came, and Mephone 4 was still oblivious to 3gs’s incoming death. He was instead, having a grand time playing games, singing Spoiled Lemon, watching TV, it was almost as if Inanimate Insanity never existed. 

Watching his brother feel so much better made 3gs not want to say anything about his battery health. The amount of days 4 would spend on the floor of his room decreased immensely, and he had started to put small little trinkets and posters up. 3gs longed to keep him from going back to the quiet, self isolating phone he was right after his show ended. 

So it wouldn’t hurt to keep Mephone 4 out of the loop for a little longer…

Right?

“Hey 3gs,” Mephone called out, “I’m going to go get that plushie I ordered, do we need anything?”

“Uhhhh, I don’t think so,” 3gs yelled back.

“Alright be back soon!”

“See You!”

With the latch of the lock, 3gs noticed his battery was at 50%, or more accurately, around 19%.

“Guess I should go take a nap,” 3gs yawned, “I should have enough charge when four gets home.”

Mephone shivered as he walked into the store. He didn’t anticipate the sudden shift in temperatures, or the weather fluctuating between as predicted, and the exact opposite. By this point, the leaves had fallen off of the trees and turned brown and soggy, the reddish hues of the forest gone, its beauty replaced with a grim sight.

But Mephone didn’t see it that way.

Barren trees and soggy leaves meant that soon it would snow. Mephone would try and get 3gs to go outside with him, and they’d build a snowman and go sledding and maybe even have a snowball fight. All the things 4 could never do, all the fun he could never have, he would have with his brother.  

As he walked further into the store, the thoughts of snow were amplified by inflatables and reindeer lining the shelves. The large inflatables drew his eyes to a box underneath them. So out of place it had to be put there by somebody else… right?

Curiosity overwhelming him, Mephone made his way over to the display of inflatables accompanied by a symphony of fans blowing.  The box was light blue, and had a display of people having fun in the snow.

Rotating the box, he saw that inside were snowball molds in various shapes, snow dye, and a hat and gloves.

“How much is this…” he whispered, looking at the box from all angles, until he found the sticker, “it's ten dollars…” he whispered, looking at the contents again. The duck snow mold was enticing, and he was curious about the snow dye. “Ah screw it.” He went to pay for his new toys before picking up his plushie. 

Mephone made his way home with a big smile on his face, and a giant octopus plush in his arms. It was difficult to hug, but it would make an excellent pillow, and its button eyes allured Meohone in their unsettling shiny void.

Wanting to keep his new snow toys a secret, Mephone made his way in through the door to the basement, hiding them inside a larger box, one that was tucked away in the corner. He then went back outside to enter through the front door as though he had just gotten back. 

Unbeknownst to him, this was all unnecessary due to 3gs still taking his nap.

But 4 was too eager to bring his plushie to his room; he didn't realize 3gs was nowhere to be seen.

“I think I'll call you… mr. octopus…” He propped his new plushie up, “No wait- you look more like a Joel…” The plush sat atop his pillow, its glossy eyes reflecting the walls it faced, decorated with only a few posters and a shelf housing just a Hatsune Miku figurine.

4 looked up at her with fondness, although she had just about a million different outfits she would be put in, he liked her classic one the best. Maybe that was why he could never truly get into project sekai. Or maybe it was because he was disgusted by the abysmal amount of storage space it would take up. 

His mind swarmed with thoughts as he looked at his wall that he was slowly filling up with posters and drawings, and how it contrasted his shelf that was barely decorated.

“What if I…” mephone paused as he looked for an easy clay recipe that he could make with 3gs, scrolling through ones that called for plaster or ones that had to sit for a bit, not quite finding what he wanted. Until he found a recipe that only took cornstarch, water and baking soda.

“Hey 3gs! Wanna make clay? I found this recipe that-”

3gs was nowhere to be seen

“3gs?” 4 called as he walked through the house, “Heyyy 3gs?”

He was responded to only by silence, which filled him with fear. Where was he? Did- did he leave him? Was he upset with him and realized it was his chance to go while 4 was out of the house?

In his state of worry, he noticed 3gs’s door was left ajar.

“That’s… odd,” 4 whispered as he gently opened the door, wincing as it creaked.

Inside he saw 3gs laying down on the bed, charging. “W-what… why is he…” Mephone 4’s mind raced with questions only 3gs could answer, and so he decided to wait for him to be able to answer them.

Chapter Text

3gs needed longer to charge than Mephone had expected. Even still, he waited.

And waited

And waited

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of its own, 3gs woke up. He peeked at his battery, seeing that it was at almost full charge.

“That’ll last for the rest of the dAy 4, what the heck are you doing here?” 3gs shot up.

“I’ve been home for a while…” Mephone paused, “3gs… Are you… Are you okay?”

3gs’s eyes widened, “Well…” He sighed, “No, I’m not.”

He shifted to a more comfortable position, “You know how as we age our batteries hold less and less charge right?”

4 nodded.

“Most times, it’s not really an issue, most phones don’t really die because of that, they’ll get dropped into water or dropped from too high,” 3gs paused, “But for me, well sitting in a closet doesn’t really preserve battery Life I guess.”

“But- But I got a new battery,” 4 stumbled, “I’m sure there's 3gs batteries in the retro room!”

“4…” 3gs sighed, “He destroyed it.”

Mephone 4 scooted back in disbelief, “No- but… no. Why?” he stammered, realizing 3gs’s grim future, “I’m sure there's a way… there has to be…”

“4, it’s okay,” 3gs coaxed, “Everything will be alright.”

“But it won’t.” Mephone 4 began to cry, “I just- we’re just- I don’t.” he stumbled, unable to place his thoughts into words, “i need you” he finally whispered.

“I’m sure there's something we can do…” 3gs sighed, “But is it really worth it?”

“YES!” 4’s eyes widened as he had an idea, “T-Test Tube… She can- she can help… I think-”

“It’s worth a shot I guess,” 3gs stood up, “Anyways, why was it you came in here?”

“Oh uh-” 4 pulled up the clay recipe he had found, “I wanted to make this with you, but well I didn’t know where you were and uh yeha.”

“Still wanna make it?”

“Uhh yeah sure why not?” 4 said, standing up, his mind frazzled from this. He wasn’t ready to face everything alone, with 3gs he had someone who could help him, who could distract him, who could make everything okay, even when it wasn’t. 

The two brothers made their way to the kitchen and began to grab the ingredients in silence. After 3gs put the pot on the stove, 4 finally spoke. “Music?” he asked

“We need the recipe.”

“Oh- yeah right…” 4 grabbed out a rubber spatula, “sorry I don’t know why I thought that would be-”

“You’re good.” 3gs interrupted taking the spatula from his hands. “Can you get the water?”

“Yeah.”

As Mephone 4 filled the measuring cup with water, he half zoned out in an attempt to stop thinking about 3gs’s impending death. He watched the water fill the measuring cup, past the 1 ½ cup line, it wasn’t until he had 1 ⅔ cup of water that he finally zoned back in. 

“Here.” He handed the measuring cup to 3gs, “1 ½ cups, right?”

“Nope…” he poured out the water into a cup until he had the right amount. “You were a little over.” 

“Sorry… I like half zoned out.” Mephone stared at the ground, hoping 3gs wouldn’t realize how he was affected by the truth. 

“I get it,” 3gs poured the water over the cornstarch and baking soda, “I’d half zone out too if I was just hit with the information that I was soon going to be alone.”

“Nuh uh.” Mephone 4 looked directly into the eyes of his brother, “Test Tube can fix you… I know she can.”

“Right of course.” 3gs stirred the clay, and the two phones finished making it in a stiff silence.

“Okay so it just needs to cool for like ten minutes, and then we can use it.” 3gs set the rubber spatula into the sink, “What do you wanna make.”

“Uh just some like silly figures… for my room I guess…” Mephone trailed off, still stuck thinking about 3gs’s slow, but incoming death, “do you uh- wanna make anything?”

“Yeah sure why not.” 3gs leaned against the sink, “It sounds like fun.” He smiled at Mephone 4, who was staring blankly at the wall seemingly lost in thought, his eyes half closed, as he leaned against the counter.

And so the brothers waited for the clay to cool.

To Mephone, the ten minutes felt like an hour, to 3gs they felt like five, but finally it was done, and the two could begin to sculpt.

They worked in silence for a while, almost in each of their own worlds.

“Hey dude?” 3gs finally cut the silence.

“Yeha”

“It’s gonna be okay, alright?” He looked up from his project, “I promise.”

Mephone looked up at 3gs, not knowing what to say.

“You’re not alone,” he continued, “I know you don’t think that’s the case… but it’s true, you just have to know it.”

Hearing these words made Mephone 4 start to cry. He tried to think of something to say, but nothing but tears came to him. He rubbed his hands against his cracked screen to wipe them away, but it was no use. Still, he tried to stop himself from crying, or even to cry quieter.

But before he could even start, 3gs wrapped him in a hug.

“Sorry.” He whispered, stroking the back of 4 in an attempt to comfort him.

“It’s- It’s okay.” Mephone hugged 3gs tighter, “I just… I don't want to think about that right now.”

“Oh- okay.”

The two stayed in their embrace, forgetting about everything but each other. Despite everything, in that single moment, they were both okay.

Later that night, Mephone rehearsed what he was going to say when he made his way to the hotel, over and over he repeated the same few words. Building the courage to talk to Test Tube once again.

The night seemed to go on forever as he paced his room, nailing his plea into his mind. But all that seemed to stop when he finally fell asleep. 

“Hey Test Tube, you’re good with robotics, and some of you guys want to see me again, and 3gs is gonna die soon, but I know you can fix him! Look at everything you’ve made… Bot and that bazooka, and time travel! Please Test Tube… you’re my last hope.” Mephone sighed as he opened the door, “I'm ready.”

“Ready for what?” an familiarly unfamiliar voice asked.

Looking up from the doorknob, Mephone saw Test Tube, “What are you doing in my house? What are you doing in my house?” his lips moved but the voice that spoke wasn’t his.

“I want Waffle Fries.” Test Tube stepped closer, as her voice too was replaced with one that Mephone had never heard before. 

Frightened, Mephone backed away from her, slowly speeding up until he crashed into the wall, knocking the single Hatsune Miku figure onto his head. 

The last thing he saw was Test Tube standing over him.

And then he woke up.