Coarse sand brushed 94's feet. He stared at the beach. He was still in the dreamzone. 94's emerald green eyes dazzled in the sun. He gripped the sand, and watch it disperse as he opened his fingers. The wind brushed his head. He missed his locks of hair. He wasn't allowed to keep those anymore.
The beach sparkled in the midday sun. 94 felt a bead of sweat trickle down his forehead, and then he changed the time to night. The buzzing of fireflies illuminated the moonlit waters. He smiled. Atleast he was allowed to do that.
From under him, a strange worm emerged. It wiggled out of the sand, and transformed into it's human form. 94 saw 87 infront of him. "At the beach again?" 87 asked, his voice with a clear mexican accent. 94 wondered if he had had it in his real form. "I haven't been here in a while." 87 smiled. "Only 8 days." 94 shrugged. "You go everywhere in 8 days. Whadda 'bout you?"
"Been spending christmas with family. I like to be a kid again, and an adult." 94 shivered. "The first week I was here thats what I tried to do. But it was different. They weren't the same. Y'know what I mean, right?" 87 stared at him. Silence. "Don't you ever say that again." Suddenly, 94 realized his lips were shut. He brought them back, opening them up again. "Hey." He sighed. "I don't remember my son's name anymore. It's worse than losing your own name. He was someone I loved. Now, he's just a photo in my head." 87 nodded. "Maybe we can go exploring for a few days?" 94 smiled. "Friends for life." 94 got up, and turned into a dragon.
He let his wings free and stretch out. The fire burst out of his mouth, and his scales gleamed under the moon. 87 turned into a bird, and flew up into the atmosphere with him. They flew around the planet several times, exploring all they could. They saw other people, too. The sights, the smells. They even saw a few testers as well. Finally, they stopped in a grassy field.
94 scratched himself and looked around, his wide beak cutting through the air. "Did that make you feel any better?" 87 asked. 94 sighed. "Honestly, no." 87 made the winds pick up. "What's the matter, then?"
"I feel trapped. This whole world obviously isn't real, but sometimes I forget...it's like I'm trapped in my own forgetfulness. And I'm trapped in the whole falseness of it all. It's only in my image. This whole world is only in my image. I choose everything, but I'm not forced to do anything. What's the purpose, besides exploring? I don't have a meaning." 87 looked at 94, hearing the most profound things he had ever heard. It was the truth, but 87 was too scared to admit it.
"Don't say that. You don't want the sheriff after us. We can't get sent back. I got sent back-I" 87 started to have a panic attack. The world shifted into darkness, and the ground pulsed violently. A tsunami was approaching from the distance. 94 made the earth stand still, and he made the tsunami dissapear. He made flickering lights destroy the darkness. 87 was breathing normally again.
Behind them, the sheriff emerged. He was in the form of a giant tarantula with a star next to one of his eyes. The sheriff controlled what people in the simulation were saying. No one could control him, and he had the ability to send people back to reality. Nobody wanted to go back. "Excuse me?" The sheriff asked. 87 gulped, and turned around.
"I hope nobody was talkin' about wanting to go back to the real world. You can, if you want. But nobody can't never talk about Tirashi badly. Otherwise, you'll be sent back." The sheriff grew a human head out of the spider one, and smiled. "Enjoy paradise while you still can." He still had all the spider eyes, which blinked wildly.
"Who even are you?" 94 shouted bitterly. "Are you from the real world? Are you real?" Sheriff went quiet for a moment. "I'm the sheriff. I control these parts. That's all you need to know." So you're some kind of robot? 94 wanted to shout. "No. I'm not a robot."
Suddenly, 87 started to scream visciously. The tsunami came back from the distance. All around, a choir singing could be heard. "I hate Tirashi, I want him to die. He doesn't deserve a glimpse of my fate. I made a mistake when I met Tirashi. I made a mistake when I went inside. Now I'm stuck in my own mind in a dreamzone he designed." The chorus was painful, yet oddly satirical and lighthearted. It was like nothing 94 had ever heard before.
Then, sheriff summoned a gun. 87 started to walk forward to the sheriff. But his pupils were gone. 87 got the gun, and pointed it at 94. "Hey!" 94 shouted. "What's going on? Why is he pointing a gun at me? W-what's happening?"
"There is only one way to get back to the real world. You must kill your partner." 94's eyes widened. "But I'm real! I have a family! I'm real!" Sheriff grinned. He lifted one of his tarantula legs and pointed it at 94. 94 cringed as he heard the bones break of the tarantula's leg. "What family?"
94 blinked. He heard the word family. He had a family. But where was it? Why couldn't he remember anything? Was he a son, a father, a cousin? His only real family felt like 87 at the moment, who was pointing a gun at him. "You never were real. This is a prison for you. You could never escaped it." 94 blinked the tears out of his eyes. He couldn't move his arms and legs anymore.
"87! Remember who you are! They control your name, they control you!" 94 yelled in desperation. 87 started to shake. No trigger was pulled. "87. I might not be real, but you are. Make this choice. Sheriff can't control you. We're friends forever. I hate Tirashi too. You don't want to see him again, right?" Silence. Sheriff watched thoughtfully. Pull the trigger, why don't you! 94 thought in agony. Sheriff smiled in amusement, but no trigger was pulled.
"87." 94 croaked. "You wouldn't kill me, right?" 94's eyes widened in the silence. He spoke the only words he could desperately find in his mouth: "Would you kill me?"
87 continued to shake. Tears came out of his devoid eyes. His voice spoke in painful monotone: "Of course."
ns 15.158.61.51da2
