[chapter two] shelly's epilogue [virtual world dw au]

Instructions

[Chapter Two - Rudie] Rudie sat near the large Christmas tree that marked the center of the floor as he listened to Ginger and Glisten. Well, half-listened, anyway. More like tuning it out. They seemed to be debating whether to talk to the “virtual world trio” or not. Ginger did, and Glisten didn’t. Rudie started to wonder why Glisten was even still here. He was only here because of Bobette, and now she’s… “Rudie, what do you think?” He blinked, confused, since he stopped listening. “Uh- Think what?” He mumbled, rubbing his eye groggily. “Should we go to Vee’s base?” Ginger asked while Glisten was aggressively shaking his head ‘no’ behind her. Rudie ignored it. “Sure, why not.” Glisten let out a defeated sigh. “Fine, but I… I don’t want to talk to Vee…” “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.” Ginger turned to him, a bit of sympathy in her eyes. “No, no, I’ll come…” He laughed nervously, starting to walk to the elevator. “Come on, guys.” Rudie stood up, stretching for a moment, before following the two of them. Ginger had been acting odd lately- well, she had already been acting odd, but even more so now (he shouldn’t be complaining, though, since he’s been very off lately himself). She used to just be really anxious but now she was just cold and distant. ‘She’s grieving too, just… in a different way…’ he thought as they entered the elevator. ‘Maybe Vee could bring Bobette back? Put us in the virtual world too? It couldn’t be that hard to put a few more toons in, could it?’ As the elevator was going up, Glisten was nervously fiddling his hands. What was he so anxious about? Wasn’t he friends with Vee? Glisten seemed to notice him staring. “What?” “Nothing.” “Doesn’t seem like nothing…” Glisten mumbled, so quietly that Rudie almost didn’t hear it. Glisten usually wasn’t one for mumbling. Actually, Glisten was acting the complete opposite of how he did before the whole ‘ichor operation’. ‘Huh. So we’re all acting odd, I guess.’ he thought, glancing towards Ginger, who was looking straight ahead towards the door. The elevator steadily kept going up, almost too smoothly. “So…” He said awkwardly, trying to break the silence that has lasted for about 6 floors up. “What exactly are we going to say to them?” “I don’t know, I just…” Ginger started, before changing it. “Ask them why they left us out, I guess?” “And make them bring Bobette back, right?” Rudie brought up. Glisten and Ginger gave him an awkward look, but before either could respond, the elevator door opened, signaling it with a DING! The first thing Rudie noticed was the eerie silence that filled the whole floor. Sure, every floor was silent, but this was a different kind of silence… ‘What am I thinking? That doesn’t make sense.’ “Let’s just get this over with…” Glisten sighed, stepping out.