Liv’s eyes flutter open… Atleast, the idea of them does.

  The cold she had felt, the blurring, the ringing: all of it had vanished, replaced by a numbness all too familiar. She looks around to the solid, wafting clouds of color cascading around her like the roiling tides of the ocean.

  “Back here…” She mumbles to herself, looking down to where her body should be. Unlike last time, she had what one could describe as a "body"– even if it looked nothing like her. Most of her limbs ended with stubs, her body formed of the same colors that merge and detonate in the distance. She tries to call out into the void, and finds an almost melodic chirping escape that constitutes her “mouth”. She certainly didn’t have all that before. Still, a thought dominated her mind, one more important than her procurement of a new “body”.

  “Am I dead?”

  The thought was worrying when she was actively experiencing it in the real world, but it just didn’t right now. She felt peaceful, yellowish oranges billowing against her in a soft breeze of emotion. She gives herself the moment to experience it, to bask in it, to live it. Her arms raise, colors rushing around her. Each breath calmed her more and more, an impressive feat given her already mellowed soul.

  After a few moments, a thought clicks into her head. This space… She’d been here before. Her boss had to be around here somewhere. They’d know what was happening, if she was dead or not. She calls out, her bird voiced calls resonating through the cascade of color. Nothing. She lets out an internal sigh. Of course that wouldn’t work. Plan B then.

  Her eyes flicker to the void stretching beyond the colors. It looked darker than before, a swirling coming from deep within its depths. She shivered, green cracks splintering around her as she looked into the darkness.

  She feels it stare back at her.

  Her unease only grows as she looks into it, rolling clouds of red forming above her. She didn’t like it, not one bit. Screw plan B, she was NOT getting anywhere near that. Luckily, she wouldn’t need to as a voice rings through her head.

  “There you are.” Her boss starts, her head whipping around to behold them. They float just above the ground, a hazy humanoid made of colors she can see, though it feels as if there are more she can’t quite see. Deep in their chest lies a red, swirling core, red, hazy veins erupting out like vines crawling across a tree. Looking at them sent throbbing shocks through her head. Still, she didn’t look away as they spoke, its voice calm and collected. “It seems you’ve passed into my realm once more. Based on your gaze, I infer you perceive more of me?”

  “I ‘spose I do.” Liv responds, her nub hands coming to rub her head, attempting to ease the pressure building in her skull.

  Her boss nods, allowing itself to descend to her level. The red within its body pulses, the core at its body a heart beating blood through its strange body. “I’ve let my guard down too much around you. To see you breach my realm once more while beholding a sliver of my form is… Disconcerting. Though, I suppose I brought this upon myself with my frivolous vulnerability toward you.”

  Liv chuckles to herself, trying her hardest to sit. There wasn’t exactly a floor anywhere, but she managed to make it work. “Yer not what I’d call vulnerable.”

  “And you are certainly no expert on emotion.” Her boss shoots back, slowly crossing its legs as it rests beside her.

  “Oi.” Liv responds, a small chuckle in her voice. “I’m gettin’ pretty good, ain’t I?”

  “I suppose you are.” Her boss acquiesces, nodding its head. “To watch you learn so much has been… Eye opening to me.”

  Liv turns her gaze back to her boss, her head tilting. “Ya callin’ me dumb?”

  “I once believed you were,” Her boss starts, sending a flicker of annoyance through Liv, “though I have come to realize it was I who held you back so much. That was… A mistake. I believed you incompetent, lazy, foolish, inept, brute-headed-,”

  “Oi.”

  “...I was not finished.”

  Liv rolls her eyes, a brief flash of red sparking deep within her shape, one that quickly fades to nothing. It wouldn’t be the first time her boss had called her something like that.

  “As I was saying” Her boss starts, “I have come to realize you are far more intelligent than I gave you credit for. In battle, your plans often exceed my own, and I am baffled by your ingenuity. They are traits I find myself… Lacking.” Her boss says, looking down to its hands. “I believe I had held you back when it was still you and I. I was selfish in my gain, in my pursuit of what I sought. I used you, and I now know I treated you as less than an equal. I believed you were silly for your rage against me, that you would simply get over it. I have come to realize that was false. In seeing this, I see only one direction to go. I…” They pause, crossing their arms as they keep their head down, not daring to look at Liv. “I... apologize.”

  Liv sits silently, listening to them speak, soft shades of yellows and blues roiling around them. A smile stretches across her soul, a warmness that blossoms in her heart, taking root in the deepest recesses of her mind. It spreads through her as her nub hand reaches out to give it a pat on the shoulder. She takes a deep, mental breath. She never thought she’d say anything like this, but they felt… Right at the current moment. “I forgive ya.”

  Her boss gives her a sidelong glance before a rare, small chuckle escapes its lips. It’s melodic in a sense, a deep sound akin to a bass thrumming it’s deepest string.

  “You are a strange existence, Liv. I think that’s what I’ll miss most about you.”

  Oh yeah, Liv forgot she was dying for a moment. She looks to the edge once more, the color ebbing away slowly, its strikingness chipping into the deepest reaches of the void. A sign for sure.

  “Really thought I’d go out better than that.” Liv mutters, pulling her knees closer to her chest.

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  “Nobody thinks they’ll go out in such a manner. Life cares little for machinations of man.”

  Liv rolls her eyes, her head coming to rest on her knees. A thought springs to mind, one that seems so… Obvious. “Healin’ off the table? Thought yer ‘sposed to be good at that.”

  “I have my limits.” Her boss responds. “You’ve lost most, if not all your blood. If that wasn’t enough to put you out of commission, half of your spine was obliterated.”

  “And ya can’t heal that…?”

  Her boss gives her a blank stare before shaking their head. “Perhaps my apology was false-.”

  “Oi.”

  Her boss chuckles once more, the colors roiling around them like mist on a night's road. Liv joins after a moment, the melodic sounds that replace her voice merging with theirs to create a symphony of shared joy.

  As their shared chuckles die down, a memory resurfaces, one that seems prudent given her current circumstance.

  “Hey, boss. Since it’s the end ‘n all, ya mind tellin’ me yer name?”

  “Right now? What good would the information be to you?”

  “Peace of mind, I guess.” She says. “Plus, callin’ you ‘boss’ ain’t exactly equal, is it?”

  “Touche.” Her boss responds, a sigh escaping their mouth. They almost seem embarrassed, motes of green and pink flickering around them like small supernovae. Eventually, they speak, their voice low. “I… I do not remember.”

  Liv rolls her eyes once more, a chirping click echoing from her mouth. “If ya don’t wanna say, you don’t gotta.”

  “I truly don’t.” They respond, their voice serious as can be. “I wish I could tell, I truly do. I simply have no recollection of anything related to myself."

  Liv stares at her boss, at the frustration pulsing through its body, the red boiling just beneath its surface. While not the best at reading people, even she could hear the sincerity and self indignation in its voice.

  “How ‘bout I name ya?” She proposes, lifting her head as she speaks. “Ain’t no harm in gettin’ one if we’re already here. Give ya somethin’ to remember me by.”

  Her boss stares at her for a long moment, analyzing her before nodding slowly, its arms crossing neatly over its chest. “It could not hurt to gain a name at this stage. As long as you come up with something adequate.”

  Liv smirks, leaning back as she mulls it over. So many possibilities, so many choices. After a moment, she nods, a name burning in her mind. “How ‘bout ‘Splodey?”

  “...’Splodey?”

  “Mhm.” Liv confirms, her arms crossing with pride. “It’s ‘cause you ‘splode.”

  “I could piece that together.” Her boss says, disappointment heavy in its voice. “You are not naming me that. Choose a new one.”

  Liv continues to spitball names with varied results. It quickly became apparent that anything ending with “y” wouldn’t work, nor would naming it something pertaining to its function. After what felt like ages, she throws a shot in the dark, her mind drifting to a name she saw back in her city.

  “How ‘bout Bruno? Keep the B ‘n O in boss.”

  Her boss stops, considering one of her names for the first time. After a moment's wait, it nods, a genuine spark of acceptance bleeding into its voice. “Bruno is… Quite fine. I suppose you may call me Bruno.”

  Liv feels a smile bleeding onto her avatar’s form, pride bubbling in her chest as a melodic, chirping chuckle escapes her mouth. “Aight Bruno, nice to meet ya.” She extends her hand out as she speaks, the nub awaiting a response.

  Her boss looks down at it before looking back to her, a small pulse of yellow cascading across its incorporeal skin. Eventually, it reaches out, grasping her hand with a quick shake.

  “Greetings to you too, Liv.” Bruno says, giving their own firm grasp.

  Liv smiles wider, yellow clouds drifting around them, spiraling in every direction. Liv looks to the edge, the void’s edge growing closer and closer by the second.

  “Thought I’d be dead by now.” She comments idly, her hand slipping from Bruno’s grasp.

  “I slowed time in my realm.” Bruno admits, their hands coming to clasp in their lap. “I… Wished to spend more time with you before the end.”

  Liv can only nod, watching the roiling colors grow sparser and sparser, her own form wavering further and further as time passes on. Every sense grows duller by the second. In her heart, she knows they’ll soon fade to nothing…

  She’ll fade to nothing.

  “I thought it’d be way scarier.” She mutters, allowing herself to flomp down.

  “I’ve pumped oxytocin into your brain.” Her boss admits, tapping its temple as it speaks. “I believed it best if you were calm when you passed on.”

  “Thought of everythin’.” Liv chuckles, her hands crossing behind her head. One inhale in, then one out. In, then out, then in, then out. Everything continued to grow duller and duller, her form beginning to flake away to colored bits. Her soul, or whatever she was, was fading to whence it came. At least she saved her team. It was... Over.

  "Say..." She murmurs, her voice soft. "I kinda forgot to ask, but what was I diggin' for?"

  "Hm?"

  "Y'know... What was it all for?" Liv questions. "All that time, all that effort... I reckon, if I die, I oughta know."

  Her boss stares at her for a moment, an internal war raging in its mind. Colors mix and explode within it, small sparks cascading off its skin.

  "Well," Her boss starts, an unusual tinge of nerve in its voice, "I, ah... Don't remember."

  "...You what-?"

  Suddenly, her senses sharpen, a surge of bright pink light flooding the area. She feels like she’s in her body once more, each breath sharp, each breath real, each scent strong.

  Liv looks skyward to the source of the pink light. Roiling in the sky amongst the colors sits a long serpent, wings unfurled to their maximum. it's massive, easily engulfing the space with its radiant light, it's eyes locked on Liv and Liv alone.

  “Is that… Pure Synth?” Bruno gawks, its red core pulsing, a wave of matching crimson cascading through the area. The serpent locks eyes with Bruno for a split second before shaking its head, erupting in a torrent of pure energy. Liv tries to scream, but nothing escapes. All that remains is pink, pure and simple. For eternity, or perhaps a single second, she remains in a sea of pink, robbed of every sense.

  Then, all at once, the pink vanishes, replaced by an influx of moonlight washing over her face. A soft wind billows over her skin, the smell of pine filling her nostrils. Grass pricks at her skin, digging into the exposed flesh like thousands of tiny needles, especially near her back; strangely, her head feels cushioned, almost like her pillow back at home. The assault of her senses isn’t aided by the sniffling she hears. She groans, her eyes flickering open.

  Hanging above her, tears leaking from his face, is Anthony. His caduceus stands gripped tightly in his hand, pink cracks cascading across its surface. Just above him is Charlotte and Donovan, both with expressions of panic and worry on their faces.

  “Liv, y-you’re ok-!” Anthony tries to get out, but stops abruptly as Liv shoots up, her head slamming into his face. Blood spurts from his nose, his neck flying back as he flops on the ground, a cry of pain escaping his mouth.

  …She was jumpier than she thought.