Gravestones are fucking weird. You bury a person once they’re dead and the only thing left to distinguish them from all the other graves is a stone with their name and a picture if you’re lucky.
The one I’m standing in front of doesn’t have an image, but I don’t need it anyway. I still have the guy’s face burned into my mind. And how couldn’t I? I’m one of the last people that saw him alive. I saw him screaming at me, saying that his death would be considered to be my fault.
I know it isn’t, but it still feels like that.
“What. The FUCK. Are you doing here? What, do you want to further spit on everything Chris lived for, Steve!?” There she is. His best (and only) friend.
“Listen, Claire. You fucking saw him die, too. You know just as well as me that I didn’t push him. He fell in order to blame his death on me, but even the cops quickly saw through that.”
“Just because you didn’t directly push him on the train tracks, that doesn’t mean you didn’t kill him. If you had been just a little nicer to him, maybe he’d still be alive.”
I’m getting pissed off. “Why do you two always act like I bullied him!? All I did was make clear that I didn’t want to deal with him!”
“He just wanted a god damn friend! He tried to bond with you over how both of you loved Sonic!”
“Sonic was his whole fucking identity!” I sigh and try to calm down. “Look, I wanted to give him a chance, but he was a ticking time bomb, you’re just the only one willing to look past that. Still, I never bullied him, nor did I intend to. I just avoided him. If you want to blame someone for his death, maybe one of the people that actually did harm him.”
She sighs too, likely realizing that she’s being overemotional. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I thought he was getting somewhere, but then… this happened. I wanted to help him, but it was all for nothing.”
“Don’t worry about it. Shit happens, you can’t control it. You just gotta move on. He wouldn’t want you to suffer because of him.”
“I guess you’re right…” Claire absentmindedly stares at the grave.
Ugh, it’s like she’s begging for sympathy. “You want me to accompany you home?”
“No, no, I just wanna stay close to him for now. But thanks for the offer.”
I shrug. “Your choice.” With those words, I take my leave.
Months pass and Claire and I manage to get over ourselves. Or rather, she gets over herself, but I don’t want to be too mean about it. We hang out at my place, lying on my bed and watching whatever we can on Netflix.
Claire groans. “Ugh, there’s nothing good on there anymore. Everything it used to have is now on HBO or Disney+ or whatever. Christ.”
I decide to bring out the old reliable. “You wanna watch Breaking Bad again?”
“Might as well, since that’s also leaving soon. God, what happened to this service?”
“Corporate politics.” I chuckle. “Now, you gonna keep complaining or should I start the first episode?”
“Just do it. It’ll hopefully get my mind off of it.”
“Alright-” Before I can press the button on my remote, I hear my phone ring. I could swear that I put it on silent.
I take it out, but there’s no contact or number on the screen. As though whoever is calling knows that I’m seeing the screen now, they hang up and send me a message.
Ì̶̞̖͜T̵̠̂̀̈́̊S̸̡̲̠̬̾͘M̵̤̞̐̂E̴͙͍̙̋ - check the basement
I try to check the number the message came from, but it’s just a glitchy mess. How the fuck does that happen? I know it’s probably someone trying to piss me off, but the fucker is succeeding. I know it’s likely nothing, but I have no idea what could possible be going on in my basement.
I get up and decide to make the objectively stupid decision.
“I’ll be back in a second, just gotta check something real quick.”
Claire raises an eye brow. “What, you scared because of a prank call?”
I shrug. “Mock me all you want. If we die today, I’ll be the one making fun of you in the afterlife.”
She snorts. “Sure, whatever, do what you gotta.”
Once I walk towards my basement door and open it, I see a faint light down there. Something is actually happening. Luckily, I’m paranoid enough to have prepared for this, so I have a loose pipe I left next to the door to grab in an emergency. I pick it up with both hands and mentally prepare myself to use it as a weapon. I decide not to turn on the light to possibly get the drop on whoever is down there and slowly go down the staircase.
As I reach the end, I realize that the light isn’t coming from a lamp or something. It’s an old TV with some screensaver, I think. Did I forget to unplug it?
My eyes have by now gotten used to how dark it is, so I try to look for anyone who could be present, but I’m completely alone. There aren’t any windows down here and I immediately came here after seeing that message. Nobody could escape in that time without me noticing. And I likely would’ve heard it before that, too. Was anybody here in the first place?
I turn on my phone’s flashlight and look around. The only thing of interest is my old Xbox 360 apparently being on. Its disc tray is open, at least. I step closer and see that my copy of Sonic Generations is in there, almost feeling displayed like an art piece in a gallery. Did I leave it in there?
But seconds after, the disc tray closes itself. Did I do that without thinking? No, that can’t be. I would’ve noticed the shift of weight once I held the pipe with only one hand.
Before I can think keep thinking about that, the TV screen flickers to life. It skips past the Xbox Home Menu and opens on the Sonic Generations Start Screen. It looks mostly normal, just Modern and Classic Sonic in some floating ring which in turn is in a big void. Except… wait. Why is Modern Sonic’s right arm looking like that of Knuckles? What the fuck?
Without me pressing any buttons on any controller, not that one even seems to be plugged in, the game starts and Modern Sonic jumps out of the massive ring. And… are those Tails’ tails!? Why are those on his body!?
But he doesn’t end up in the normal space where you’d usually select levels. No, he just suddenly stops falling and looks at the screen. Is he looking at me?
The screen glitches out, making me almost jump. Fucking jump scare. I look at the TV again, now Sonic is much closer to the camera now and there’s text on the screen.
“What, did you already forget about me, Steve?”
My eyes are ripped open. What the fuck is wrong with my game?
The text changes. “Oh, are you shocked that I said your name? Or that I spoke in general?”
“What the fuck?” I’m sweating bullets without realizing it. “Who the fuck are you? What are you trying to achieve here?”
“So you really did forget me, huh?” Sonic’s usual smirk is gone. “Asshole. How’s your life with Claire now?”
What. How the fuck does this guy know her?
“You know, I thought I’d just say hello. But now, since you two clearly don’t care about me anymore, I should maybe… take some action. But don’t ‘lose your head’ over it, haha.”
Okay, no, I’m not dealing with a fucking demon today. I take my pipe and swing it right at the TV, immediately breaking it. “Go fuck yourself or I’ll call an exorcist.” But it seems that the TV wasn’t the important part, as my 360 now seems to go haywire. It blinks rapidly, makes the weirdest sounds, everything you can imagine.
Wait a sec, didn’t it have its “Ring of Death” years ago!? I never bothered to repair it, so it shouldn’t be fucking functional! Immediately, I also smash it with the pipe. “Fuck the exorcist, I think I can handle you myself.” For some reason, smashing in the console made it open the disk tray. Whatever demon is possessing this shit, he loves making his weak points known. He must be in the CD by now, so I smash it too, destroying the tray with it.
It’s a shame, I liked that game, but I can just buy a new copy. And it should be backwards compatible for the One, so I won’t need to replace the console, too.
Just to make sure that this demon really is dead, I use my light to find the TV’s and console’s plugs and unplug them.
I finally let go of the pipe and drop it. I look around the room, it’s still equally empty, but now with destroyed technology. Fucking hell, just what was that about?
How could I remember this demon if I never met it before? How could it know me? Or Claire?
Wait. No… It can’t be Chris, right? He’s dead. He’s been dead for months.
Nah, he’s probably in heaven right now. Or hell, I don’t know. Fuck, I’m not sure if there is an afterlife in general. Maybe he is haunting us.
But either way, I guess the supernatural really is real. If that was a demon, I hope I killed it through its host.
Ugh, I need to clear my head. Hopefully watching Breaking Bad with Claire will get my mind off of things.
Fuck, I forgot about Claire!
I check my phone real quick, she send me a message, so I respond to calm her down.
Claire – You’ve been down there a while now
Claire – Everything okay?
Steve – Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, I’ll be up there in a sec
I make sure my phone is in my pocket and run back up to her. I find her scrolling through Social Media. “And? Did you beat up the big bad burglar?”
“Heh. Very funny.” I decide not to tell her about what I just saw. If I really did kill it, she shouldn’t have to worry about it. Especially if it actually was Chris’ spirit, however that’s supposed to be possible. “So, we can now watch Breaking Bad if you’re still interested.”
“You kidding me? Of course I am! Get your ass on the bed and let’s watch it.”
“Alright.” I grin and lie down next to her. The rest of the evening is rather relaxing.
Weeks pass and no similar incident has occurred since. Still, I regularly check my basement, just to be sure.
I don’t know what to think. Was I hallucinating all that? The TV and console are destroyed, so it did happen. But maybe… that text wasn’t actually there?
Maybe his death hit me harder than I thought.
I sigh and start talking to myself. “Maybe I should get myself a psychologist.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that,” my phone suddenly says.
What the fuck? I take it out and check, apparently I set off Google Assistant.
Wow, I’m getting jumpy.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”
What. I didn’t say anything. And my home is dead silent.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get that-”
Okay, no, I’m not fucking dealing with this. I know that I’m not fucking schizophrenic, someone’s fucking with me. “Look, demon, I’m not in the mood for this. What the hell do you want?”
Dead silence. That demon is fucking with me.
“Just fucking tell me, I know you’re there.” Why do I have to deal with this supernatural bullshit.
The Google Assistant is now loading. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get that.”
I’d throw my phone against the wall, but that shit was expensive.
Luckily, I don’t need to, because it’s loading again, this time to actually say something. “Did you tell Claire about me?”
So it can control the Text-to-Speech voice. “I thought I killed you for good and didn’t want to worry her.”
“I see.”
“Yeah, yeah, look. I’m done beating around the bush, just fucking tell me why you don’t want to leave me alone.”
Silence. Again.
“Listen-” I start, but get interrupted.
“I simply wish for you two to still remember me, Steve.”
Oh, Jesus Christ. “So… is it really you, Chris?”
Again, I have to wait for my response. Instead of talking to me, my phone suddenly dials up Claire’s number.
Since it is my phone, she immediately picks up. “Heya, Steve! What’s up?”
Well, time for some damage control. “Nothing, nothing, I tapped the wrong contact, I’m sorry.”
“Oh, alright. Is our binge this weekend still on?”
“Of course, of course. See ya then!”
“Bye bye.” She hangs up.
The entity in my phone doesn’t seem happy about all that. “Why?”
I shrug, trying to fake some confidence. “I can handle you myself. She doesn’t need to worry about this shit.”
“Funny. Want to know what’s funnier? I can maybe not fake your voice for a call, but I definitely can fake your messages. Text sent.”
God fucking dammit. I check my chat with her, only to find a new message I don’t remember sending.
Steve – chris is alive
So it is him. Not sure if I should be relieved or shocked.
Fuck, she saw it. Now she sends a message back.
Claire – Fuck off, man
Claire – You and I both saw his grave, did you already forget that?
I try to send something, but my own messages are not going through. Chris might be blocking them.
Steve – remember when i vanished in my basement that evening
Steve – that was him
Claire – Sure
Claire – Whatever you say
Steve – i can prove it
Steve – but only in person
Steve – could you come over
Claire – Ugh, I’m busy rn
Claire – Show me on the weekend ig
The chat app closes itself and Chris speaks through Google again. “Don’t bother texting or calling her until then. I’ll handle that, buddy.”
Dammit. God fucking dammit. Jesus, why do I have to deal with this!?
Now all I can do is bide my time and think about how to deal with Chris over the next few days.
Fuck you, Chris. I don’t know what you want or if you’re actually the real him, but either way you’ll be going to hell, right where you belong.
God, that was corny.
Over the last few days, Chris seems to have left me alone, weirdly enough.
He’s just mocking me, isn’t he? Making me paranoid.
I’m sad to say that it’s working. I’ve started hiding potential weapons like the pipe around my house, like the wooden plank next to my room’s door or the knife under my pillow.
Any moment, Claire will be here. But what will happen then?
Wait, what can he even do? He was in my Xbox and now he is in my phone, but he can’t seem to exit the technology in my house.
Huh, I think I got a plan to take him out now. But I’ll keep it as a last resort for now.
Soon enough, Claire rings my doorbell. When I go to open the door, she comes in, looking annoyed. Right, I’ve forgotten to lock my door, like always. “So, before we get to watching something, will you prove your little crack theory?”
She comes in and I close the door behind her. “I honestly hoped you wouldn’t come, but I don’t think hiding this is possible anymore.” I say the first part to myself quietly. “Alright. Let’s start with the messages ‘I’ send you.”
She’s confused. “What about them?”
“Just look at them,” I say. “I capitalize my messages. I use commas. I keep myself to one slightly longer message instead of 2 or 3 short ones. The message you got aren’t my fucking style.”
She’s clearly also realizing how weird that is, but not believing that Chris could be back. “And how’d they come from your phone, then? Even if Chris is a poltergeist that’s now haunting you, he can’t type on your phone. Ghosts should be incorporeal.”
“He’s in my fucking phone!” In whisper-yell at her. I point towards said phone, which I laid down on my table just so that Chris could not hear us if we’re quiet. “I don’t know how, but he’s fucking possessing it.”
Claire just stares at me in disbelief. “…Right.”
I sigh. “I know how this sounds, and I’m honestly not even that sure if it really is him, but that might actually be the case! He sent those messages without my fucking input!”
“I just did what you were too afraid to do. Someone had to.” A voice comes out of my fucking PC while its screen is completely black. And it sounds like Sonic the Hedgehog. I hate my life.
Although, the voice sounds a little off. I just can’t put my finger on it.
I groan. “First the console in the basement, then my phone, now my computer. If you want a tour of my home, you can just ask.”
Claire taps my shoulder. “Why the fuck is Sonic the Hedgehog talking to us?”
“That’s Chris. Likely using some text-to-speech program. And of course, he uses Sonic’s voice.”
Weirdly enough, he manages to groan with the voice. “Oh, there you go, mocking me for liking Sonic.”
“How’d you groan- never mind that, ‘mocking you’? I simply wanted to be left alone from you because I thought you weren’t worth the effort! Not everyone’s as patient with you as Claire was! I just wanted to be left alone!”
The voice seems surprised. “…Wait, what-”
“Steve!” Claire shakes me to make me shut up. “Relax.” She turns towards my computer. “Chris, is that… really you?”
Chris takes a second to respond. “…Yes. It’s me. I think.” That last sentence is barely audible.
His friend does her best to hold the tears in. “I… I’m glad to see you again. It’s been a while.”
“…Yeah. It’s been too long.”
“Uh, not to ruin your reunion,” I interrupt, definitely trying to ruin the reunion, “but need I remind you that you’re speaking to a DEAD MAN. Who is currently in my computer. No offense, but I need you outta there ASAP, Chris.”
“Ah, Steve.” The voice is sounding a little less like Sonic now. And even less… text-to-speech-ish. It shouldn’t sound this natural, right? “Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?”
“Hate you- I-” I sigh, pinching my nose bridge. “There you go again with your fucking victim complex. I don’t hate you, dumbass. I just didn’t want to deal with you! You’ve been annoying in high school and refused to grow in college, what did you want me to do!?”
“SHUT UP!” Well, that did shut me up. Also, the screen is now on.
Chris must’ve started my copy of Sonic Forces, because the game is on and it shows its title screen. It’s the same old, rusted Resistance Base. Wait, I finished the game, as sad as that is to admit. The base should be completely white and clean with a flower in it.
In walks… the strange Sonic I saw back on my basement TV. Except now, he also has a leg from Amy and a lab coat? Where’d he get that from?
Sonic’s face is a little obscured by some white glitchy blocks floating in front of it, but you can still see its features rather well. He’s not smiling, his expression is blank.
He turns towards the screen and talks in the same uncanny Sonic voice Chris has been using. “You are the one that turned me into this. You killed me!”
It may be a strange time to note this now, but I have actually realized why the voice is so uncanny. It’s Adventure Sonic’s voice – what was the actor called, Ryan Drummond? – faintly mixed with Chris’ own voice. How the fuck…?
“Why do you keep saying that!?” I’m getting even more annoyed now. “I didn’t fucking push you! You just wanted to blame your fucking death on me! But listen, buddy, the cops found out the truth, so I ain’t going to prison AND don’t have your death on my conscience. So just fuck off already!”
He goes from a blank expression to scowling, although he also looks ever so slightly confused. “I will make you suffer as much as I did. Then you might understand me.”
As much as I hate to admit it, he’s making me nervous. I know he’s only capable of controlling my electronics, but he can still cause some damage with them.
“Chris, no.” Claire shakes her head. “Steve didn’t do anything to you. You need to let your anger go.”
“Let it go? And just ignore what I’ve been through?”
“I didn’t say that. But harming innocent people isn’t gonna do anything to help you.”
“He’s innocent…?” Wait, is that question genuine?
“Yes?” I say, unsure how to react. “I didn’t do shit to you.”
Sonic’s face is now just showing confusion. “Then… why is my memory telling me you did?”
Claire looks at me, then back at the screen. “Chris, is something up with your memory?”
He shakes his head, but is clearly not sure. “No, no! I still remembered my entire life when I woke up here! When I first talked to Steve, I still knew almost everything. But now… Now it’s getting kinda hazy.”
At that, we’re all silent. How does one react to that.
Still, regardless of what’s up with him, he’s threatened us back on the Xbox and he seems to be getting more powerful. Not only is his voice actually coming through and emoting, but his weird form is evolving. And if he’s forgetting himself bit by bit, who knows where this might lead.
I need to take care of this before it can get worse, but I need to be careful. Otherwise, who knows what a Chris with power over technology might do?
“Claire, could you leave the room for a sec?” I ask. “I’d like to talk to Chris alone for a second.”
She’s clearly unsure, but tries to hide it. “…Alright, fine.” She walks out the door and closes it.
Sonic, er, Chris looks down.
I sit down at the desk my computer is on and try to say something, but he’s faster.
“Is she gone?”
I cock an eye brow. “Yes-”
Before I can continue, I feel my throat being grabbed and yanked towards the screen. Chris somehow got his arms out of it and is now choking me. “Listen. I do not care what she says. The code doesn’t lie. Her emotions may force her to protect you, but I know what you did.”
“Jesus… Christ…” I choke out. “What the fuck…?”
“The code is what gives me form, power, and life. As I steal more from a game’s NPCs, they lose theirs to me. One day, I’ll be strong enough to completely get out. And then you’ll pay.”
I grab his arms and try to pull them away as hard as I can. “You can shove… your victim complex… UP YOUR ASS!” He is way too strong for me to yank his arms off my neck, but I at least cause enough commotion for my chair to fall over, making enough noise to reach Claire.
She opens the door and peaks through. “Everything okay- HOLY SHIT!”
Claire’s eyes are ripped open as she sees what’s going on. As if on instinct, she grabs the nearest object, which happens to be the wooden plank I placed next to the door, and smashes it against Chris’ arms.
That startles him enough to loosen his grip a little, which I use to break completely free. Immediately, I do the only thing I can think of. I duck below his arms and unplug the computer screen’s HDMI cable. Immediately, his arms disappear back into the screen as it turns completely black. I also unplug the screen’s and the computer’s power chords. While unplugging it, I see a small bolt of electricity jumping into the socket.
This is not good.
Shortly after, my Playstation makes some weird noises. Before I can register them properly, the disc I currently have in it shoots out at an insane speed directly at my face. I manage to mostly dodge it, but it still cuts my cheek with how fast it’s spinning.
Chris is no longer in my computer. He’s in my house’s electrical grid.
I need to get the fuck out of my room.
Just like Claire did before, I’m starting to act on instinct. I grab her by the wrist and get her out of my room as well.
Time for my backup plan: the house’s power distributor.
As we run through the house, more and more technology is starting to go haywire.
The oven is spitting out fire, the clock hands are spinning like a fan, the lights are fucking flickering and so on.
If that really is Chris, something went terribly wrong with him.
Luckily, we reach that distributor sooner rather than later. Immediately, I flip every single switch and my house goes silent.
“Without electricity, there’s no electronics he can use against us.” I think out loud. “Is it weird that I hope it killed him?”
“I…” Claire shakes her head, trying to collect her thoughts. “I don’t know. I-I guess after such a shock, it’s acceptable?”
I sigh and finally relax. No matter what, we’re still alive. That’s what matters.
“I’m gonna leave the electricity off for now, just in case he’s still hanging on right now.”
“That’s fair,” she says. “You wanna instead watch that show at my place?”
“Sure, let me just get my phone.” As I walk back to my room, I think about what just happened.
A dead guy I never really cared much for decided to come back and try to kill me while taking the form of Sonic the Hedgehog and taking over my fucking electrical grid.
And then I fucking killed him again.
I finally enter my room and the first thing I see is the CD that cut my face before, now broken on the floor. I didn’t notice it then, but it’s my copy of Sonic Unleashed. God dammit, I almost completed that game.
I go to pick the broken disc up, but then something unexpected happens.
My phone, still on the table I left it on, speaks again. “You didn’t really think that could kill me, right?”
The voice may sound more like Chris now, but it feels wrong. Like the emotion or life in it is lacking a little.
“I was hoping so, yeah,” I say.
“Truth be told, I’m not sure how much of Chris is still left in me. But I know that his rage still lives on.”
I sigh. “You were always way too fucking edgy. I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, but I’m done with your bullshit. I’ll just leave you here while I piss off, once my phone dies you’ll have nowhere left to go.”
“I don’t need to go anywhere, Steve. All I need is to kill you.”
“Good luck with that.”
“Yeah, good luck,” Claire says. Shit, I didn’t even notice her standing at the door. “I… I don’t know if you really were Chris before, but I know damn well that you aren’t anymore. He was weird and- and aggressive, but he had his limits! You’re just some… some soulless robot!”
Chris is actually too stunned to speak.
Claire, clearly in disbelief about the situation, just looks at me and quietly says, “Let’s just go.”
And without another word, we leave him behind.
Once outside, we look back at the house, with no lights on despite it already getting dark.
Claire taps my shoulder. “You can sleep at my place for now.”
I nod. “I appreciate it.”
A couple days later, I’m back in front of my house.
I’d prefer to stay away, but I have to deal with it some day or people will wonder why it’s suddenly deserted. Luckily, my phone should be long dead by now, so even if Chris is still in there, he shouldn’t be able to attack me again.
As I step inside, I accidentally hit the light switch as an instinct. Now, since I left the electricity turned off, this shouldn’t do anything. Still, the light turns on.
What the fuck happened while I was gone? Did someone break in and turn the electricity back on for some reason?
I immediately run over to my room and peek inside, looking for my phone. It’s still where I left it. That’s… good, I guess?
Ugh, no, I need to calm down. Realistically, he should-
I just heard something from another room. Are those footsteps?
I focus on the noise and, yeah, those are footsteps. It sounds like metal shoes are stepping on my wooden floor.
Wait. Metal shoes? Doesn’t Sonic wear metal shoes?
Wait, no. No, this can’t be. Did Chris actually get out of the phone? I thought it was arms only!
I swallow. I can’t panic. Not now. This is just what he wants.
Immediately, I look around. The weapons I prepared around the house should still be where I left them. If I’m not mistaken, there should still be a knife under my pillow, as my bed looks untouched. I take the pillow aside and grab said knife.
Alright, let’s do this. I leave my room and listen for the footsteps again. They seem to come from a completely different direction this time, weirdly enough. Maybe he moved to another room? Shit, the light I accidentally left on must’ve alerted him!
Well, then I guess I’ll have to be extra careful with this. I silently approach the source of the footsteps: my living room. But once I am in front of the door, I suddenly hear the footsteps coming from the kitchen. What’s going on here?
This time I just rush over and open the door, ready to stab Chris, but he nowhere to be seen.
I look around the room and check for him, but I see nobody in the room. To calm down, I decide to lean against the wall, but suddenly feel an electric shock hitting me. I check the wall, I seem to have gotten to close to the outlet on it. I can’t tell why, but it seemingly gave me headache, ugh.
“You came back.” I hear Chris’ voice behind me, but something’s wrong. There’s literally no emotion left in it. It’s even worse than last time.
I slowly turn around. “Yeah. Because this is my home. If anything, you should’ve been the one to leave.”
“Unfortunately, I was stuck in your phone at first.” I now completely see him.
His face is fully covered in a white, glitchy mess. I don’t think there’s any facial features behind the glitches anymore, either. Also, his left arm is now that of Shadow and his left leg that of Eggman. He’s just some glitched mashup of Sonic characters at this point.
“What changed?” I ask.
“Well, I did what I already did before, just more aggressively. I took every last bit of code from it in order to strengthen myself.”
He winds up his Knuckles arm to punch me with it, but I managed to dodge out of the way in time. After I managed to save myself, I look back at Chris. He somehow didn’t even put a hole in my wall. Maybe he’s weaker than I thought.
I quickly grab my knife and try to stab him, but before I can reach his chest, my arm suddenly stops. I don’t know why, but I cannot move it any further. The blade isn’t even touching him. What the fuck?
Chris suddenly says, “Did you know that the neurons in your brain use electrical signals to communicate? Electricity is often seen as something only really important to us in the last couple centuries, but it’s actually part of our nature.”
“Thanks for the biology lesson, I guess?”
“I’m just trying to explain what’s happening to you. That little shock from before was me sending my own bit of electricity into your body. Not enough to kill, but enough to effect your brain.”
My eyes widen. “So what, you’re mind controlling me?”
“No. It’s just that I am effecting your perception of your surroundings and the control you have over your body. You are still in your right state of mind.”
I do my best to not freak out. Distracting him with a tangent might give me enough time to think of a solution. “And how are you still controlling me with one simple impulse? It’s not like you’re actively driving electricity into me or whatever, so what gives?”
He thinks for a bit. “I have gained the ability to control electricity, actually. That ‘simple impulse’ is currently running through your many different neurons, carefully controlling you. However, I can control such movement for any and all electricity, for example…” He snaps his Shadow hand and points it in the direction of my stove. Immediately, the plate seems to almost burn. “In fact, I can control multiple sources of electricity, allowing me to do the following.” He snaps again and my body starts moving on its own.
Without wanting to, I drop my knife and walk over to the stove. Dreading what I know will happen, I try to prepare myself, but I fail to. The strange sensation of losing control over my body occupies my mind to much for that. So once my right hand touches the burning stove, I just scream out in pain, unable to handle it. I manage to use my left hand to pull the other off. As I look at my palm, I’m honestly surprised how I don’t feel any pain at the burn, despite how much it darkened. Must be a third degree burn that even destroyed some nerves, but so quickly?
Before I notice it, my face slowly approaches the stove too. Oh god, please, no! I fight back as much as I can, trying to win a battle against my brain. Luckily, I manage to grab something off the side and throw it at my face, changing its course. I then throw myself to the floor and fight to stay that way.
Little did I know, it was my packet of paper towel rolls. They then fall on the stove, catch on fire and start rolling around, but that’s not what I can focus on.
Things are getting seriously out of hand now.
“I now know why you killed me,” Chris says. “When I tore apart the characters in a game, it felt invigorating, even though they were only code. I no longer feel anything, but maybe ending an actual human life will allow me to feel again.”
“Tch, I doubt it.” I grit my teeth. “It’s like Claire said, there’s no bit of Chris left in you. You’re just a soulless robot, no, a program at this point.”
He semi-ignores me. “Well, do you know what this lab coat stands for? I stole it from one of Tails’ labs, I don’t even know which one anymore. Lab coats are often worn by scientists. And scientists experiment.” With just another snap of his fingers, my microwave explodes and shattered glass falls onto the floor. “Let’s test your body’s durability, Steve.” While I still wrestle for control of my body, he walks up to me, puts his hands on my head and lets electricity run through my brain. I don’t feel any pain, but it’s clear that fighting against his electrical impulses might be impossible now.
Immediately, I am forced to get up and walk up to the glass shards. I cannot move any part of my body but my mouth anymore. “This is the same game you played before. You take away my control of things and then control them yourself. First my electronics, now my body.”
“That is true.” Without another word, not even a taunt, he forces me to throw myself face-first into the glass.
It hurts. The bastard turns off my ability to move, but not my pain receptors. Fuck, I think it actually pierced my left eye, I can’t see through it anymore. I start rolling around in the glass, continuously causing more and more cuts in my face.
Weirdly enough, Chris then makes me get up and clean my face of the glass shards. Although, right after, he makes me take of my shirt and roll around on the floor again, only to now cause similar cuts on my torso. He seems to have gotten bored, because he stops moving me around.
“Truth be told, this experiment is interesting. However, my programming dictates to focus on killing you instead. Apologies.”
“‘Programming’? So Claire really was right. Were you ever even the real Chris?”
Chris, no, that demon tries to laugh, but it lacks actual emotion. “I was. Where do you think the programming comes from? But you’re correct about me being but a program now. Still, I will carry on his will.”
I try to process what he’s saying, but the continuous blood loss is making my mind hazy. “And what exactly is his will?”
“Revenge.”
I blink. “On who?”
He pauses. “I… don’t know. All I am sure of is that he hated you, but there were also others. Speaking of, don’t think I forgot about killing you.” He snaps again and I immediately get up. “I’m done experimenting, you mortals are too weak, anyway.”
He takes a swing and lands an uppercut with his knuckles arm. I fly back, crashing against my cupboard. I take a moment to reorient and look around the room.
Wait, when did it catch on fire!?
Ah shit, the burning paper towels! How did they set the whole room ablaze so quickly?
While I’m distracted, Chris approaches me and delivers a powerful kick into my stomach. And again. And again.
Overwhelmed by pain, I try to get a good look at his face, but no dice. It’s still just a massive, white, glitchy void. Even if there was something human behind it, I wouldn’t be able to see it.
Besides, his attacks are too strong. I can already barely breathe, although that might just be the smoke the room is starting to be filled with.
Eventually, Chris stops. “There might be a… compromise. I get to kill you AND have an experiment.”
“What…?”
He ignores my question and just makes me stand up again.
I walk over to my toaster and pick it up. I’m starting to realize where this is going. “Going straight for electrocution?” I can’t judge my voice that well, but I assume I have less energy in it now. If it wasn’t for him controlling me, I might just fall over.
“See it as your final test. We’ll know just how much electricity your body can handle until it dies completely. After all, I do wish to know how much unknown damage my previous impulses caused.”
Well, that’s it, then. I shouldn’t have come back here.
As Chris forces me to walk towards the bathroom with the toaster, I look around the house. More and more rooms are starting to catch on fire.
Meanwhile, he monologues a little. “You know, while you were gone, I did almost die. If I didn’t use every bit of code in your phone, I wouldn’t have been physical enough to turn the electricity back on. Sure, I could move through the grid with it turned off, but it being activated made things easier. And with electricity, I could activate and control everything. Your stove, your computer, your internet, every little electronic device was under my control.”
“Congratulations, I guess.”
“You don’t have to act like that. Your sarcasm will not save you.”
I growl. “Even if I lost the fight against you, that doesn’t mean I’ll just die quietly.”
He ignores me again. “You know, I still think about Claire’s words. ‘Soulless robot’. Chris is gone, so maybe I’ll just take it as a name. Soulless, I mean.”
“Fine, then I’ll be cursing your name too, Soulless.” We finally reached the bath. I put down the Toaster and turn on the faucet, watching the water fill up the tub.
“Feel free to do that. By the way, did you notice your lack of wounds from my kicks?”
That actually took me by surprise. “What?”
“Look at your chest.”
While plugging in the Toaster, I do as told and realize that, aside from the glass cuts, it looks fine. I don’t think even a single rib was broken. “Then why-”
“-did it hurt like that?” Chris, no, Soulless interrupts me. “I simply messed with your neurons, just like before. Some for the pain, others to make your muscles move the way they should… it was just another test of mine. As far as you know, I might not even be here, it could just be an illusion I’m creating in your brain.”
“I heard your footsteps before you ever zapped me, even with that socket. You’re real.” I step into the bathtub with the plugged in Toaster while the water is flowing. “So, that’s it? You’re just showing how much you can play god with me?”
“No, Steve, I’m not ‘playing’ god.” Even though he has no facial feature behind that cursed glitch, I know he’s looking deeply into my eyes. “I called you a mortal for a reason. Compared to you,
I AM A GOD.”
With one quick motion, he makes me drop the toaster and I feel a massive shock from it. This time, the electricity does hurt. It’s no longer just directed through my body directly into the brain, it actually damages everything it can.
Fuck, this hurts so much that I can’t think straight anymore. I feel like, as soon as the pain stops, I will drop dead.
Soulless seems to be satisfied, because he walks up to the Electric socket to unplug the Toaster.
Seconds after he does it, the world goes dark.
Fuck. Fuck! FUCK!
How could I let Steve run off on his own!?
I should’ve known he was planning something stupid after I saw the look in his eyes last night.
Now I’ve run the whole way from my own house to his and what I see terrifies me. It’s completely on fire!
I try to open the door, but it’s not just unlocked, it’s also already open.
Wait, what? Steve always forgets to lock his door, but why is it open?
Ugh, I don’t have time for this! I gather all my courage and go in. Once I see the insides, it’s not any better. Smoke is filling the hallways while there’s at least half an inch of water all over the floor! Did someone leave both the oven AND sink on!?
First things first, I gotta find Steve. Maybe he’s in his room?
I walk up to the door and open it, then take a look inside. The bed is disorderly, but otherwise it seems mostly normal. Actually, no, the computer is on. And… it has my name on the screen?
I quickly check it, thinking I might find something that could clue me in on what happened here.
Right now, some file is getting uploaded to the internet. It’s apparently called “Soulless.exe”. Weird program name.
The more important part is the note I saw my name on.
“Dear Claire,
You’re the only one that cared about him. You’re the only one he trusted.
I have no intention to harm you. Instead, I bring you a message he’d want me to send.
If you’re reading this, leave now. Call the police and tell them to check the bathroom and kitchen.
Steve is dead, but they will never find the murderer.
He will not be the last to die by my hand.
Soulless.”