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

Instructions

[Chapter Six - Vee] The first thing she saw before Vee fully woke up was Sprout’s hauntingly calm expression as he told her everything would be okay, despite him knowing that absolutely nothing was going to be okay. That she hurt him. That she was going to… *BEEP* ‘What… Where…?’ she thought, opening her eyes. Everything was blurry and out of focus. What happened? How was she here? Didn’t she… “Shelly?” She said, realizing what happened. Shelly had to have done something. Something… No, someone, moved when she said this, startled. It had to be Shelly. Getting no response, Vee tried again. “Shelly.” “Vee?!” the figure exclaimed, probably just now noticing Vee. “Why am I here. What did you do.” Vee tried to keep her voice steady, but failed. As Vee’s vision began to clear up, she could see that it was, in fact, Shelly. “I- I don’t know-!” Shelly stammered, talking way too quickly. “I didn’t think you were- Is that really… you???” “Who else do you think I am?!” Vee shot back. “Why did you bring me back?!” “IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!” Shelly exclaimed, getting frantic. “I- I THOUGHT THE USB HAD THE VIRTUAL WORLD, NOT- NOT-” “Calm down, Shelly!” Vee tried to move but found herself to be stuck to the table. Of course. She was inside one of those slow PCs in the staff room. She had no body to move. “Calm DOWN?! You- I can’t-” Shelly tried to say, but gave up. She tried to take deep breaths but failed miserably. ‘Gosh, I was gone for just a bit and she’s already an emotional wreck.’ Vee thought halfheartedly. ‘What could have happened-’ Sprout. “Hey, um… I know it’s a bad time to ask this, but do you know what happened to Sprout?” Vee asked when Shelly seemed to have calmed down a bit. Shelly just stared at her like she had seen a ghost. “Sprout? But you…” “I know I became a twisted and… um… maybe ever-so-slightly hurt him, but my memory is really foggy right now. Is he… dead?” The look on Shelly’s face told her everything she needed to know. “Oh.” she mumbled. Guilt started to settle in. What had she done? WHAT HAD SHE DONE?! Sprout was… smiling! Why was he smiling?! That IDIOT! Why didn’t he RUN?! Why did she overreact to one little thing that they said? They wouldn’t shut down the virtual world or delete her. She knew that. Then why… Wait… Guilt? How was she feeling… anything? “The virus…” “Huh?” Shelly looked up from staring at her shoes. “It’s gone- The virus is gone-” “Virus?” She asked, before remembering. “Oh, right. The one that Bobette installed. Is it… a good thing that it’s gone now?” Shelly gave her a desperate look. She almost looked scared of her. Well, yeah, obviously she did. Vee had just turned into a twisted not that long ago. Why wouldn’t she be scared. With a sigh, Vee said, “No. No, it’s not.” “Why not?” “Because now I have the guilt of every horrible thing I ever did right when I woke up from a really bad nap.” she remarked. It was supposed to sound sarcastic, but she was very much telling the truth. Why did she delete Cosmo from the virtual world?! Why did she throw Shelly like an object?! Why did she hurt her friends?! She was trying so hard to help them that she hurt them so much more than she helped. After an uncomfortable silence, Vee spoke again. “I don’t think apologizing is going to fix anything, huh?” Shelly stared at the floor like it was the most important thing right now. “Maybe I can fix this.” Vee continued, before being cut off by Shelly, who looked back up. “No. Last time you said you could fix something, you made the virtual world, and see how that turned out?” “No, this is different! This should work!” “What should work?” “I know a way to bring Sprout back.” Shelly blinked. “What?” “There’s a machine- you know, the machine Delilah used to make us?” Vee started rambling. “And I know that it’s powered down but if you connected the USB to it, I could power it. And then we could get some of Sprout’s DNA and then revive him!” “I don’t…” Shelly looked away. “I don’t think I want to face him right now.” “What are you talking about?” “I… I really miss him. But he’s only been gone for a week and… I just feel really bad for what happened and I can’t get it out of my head. It keeps playing back in my head over and over- when you…” Shelly tried to hold in a sob. “I don’t know, okay? I don’t think I was even ready to face you, but…” “Shelly…” Vee began to say, but was promptly interrupted by another voice.