Chapter Text
sunny (adj.) /ˈsʌn.i/
bright because of light from the sun.
[…something feels deeply wrong.]
[Niko is not safe in their own world.]
[I cannot find out if I had sent something to their world, but… I can feel a presence there. It is aware of my presence too.]
[Whatever it may be, I…]
[…I have to do something about it.]
The first sound that Sunny heard was a bothersome notification sound from her computer.
With bleary eyes, she groaned and got up from her bed, slightly annoyed. Her two hands pushed a thick, brown hair away from her eyes, while her watered eyes adjusted to the bright light that flashed across the room.
Sunny briefly glanced at the clock.
Whatever it is, this better be good for me to be woken up at two in the morning.
After charging her body some more, Sunny got out of the bed, letting the gravity settle her bones. At the distance, a computer stayed awake, a large yellow light that nearly covered up half of the dorm room. The background of Sunny's desktop was a familiar field of gold, the rye's vibrant colors blearing out. Sunny perked her head nearby the computer, forming a shadow of darkness amidst the light. A stark silhouette covered by the sun.
On the contrast, the computer was warm, overwhelmingly bright. It took a while for Sunny's eyes to adjust to the screen, before reading the contents.
It appeared to be a pop-up.
[Sunny?]
Oh, shoot.
Her mind promptly woke up fully, having the realization electrocute her with a sense of unease. Wait, was this a part of the game? Why were they contacting Sunny out of the blue, in the middle of the night? She sat down, gripping the mouse and keyboard with a laser-focused intent. Opening up Notepad, Sunny quickly typed a reply:
hello?
…no response. Sunny blinked in confusion, before her tired mind strangled her being for a moment, forcing her to close her eyes and yawn. When she opened her eyes however, there was another pop-up in front of the Notepad window.
[I cannot detect your presence. Can you activate something for me to tune in?]
[A microphone would do.]
The edges of Sunny's skin coiled in unnerve. Why would The World Machine need to hear my voice? Her hand slowly moved towards the microphone's handle, thumb idly circling on the power button. It took slight courage for Sunny to activate her microphone — worst case scenario, if this was a malware, it'd only get a couple seconds of a voice clip — but she eventually relented. Her shoulders loosened up. Her thumb pressed the power button.
"Hello…?" A slightly tired, groggy voice blurbed from her mouth.
Another notification popped out immediately after, a confirmation.
[Excellent. I can hear you now.]
Without waiting for a reply from Sunny, more and more pop-ups began to fill the screen.
[I know this may seem confusing to you. I can't blame you.]
[However, I urge you to listen to me. Niko is currently unsafe.]
[Something has been lurking inside their world, and it does not appear to have a friendly motive.]
Sunny sat up straight, her back arching forward, her eyes looking at the screen until the edge of her vision was nothing but The World Machine's call for help.
Her heart slowly wilted at the thought of Niko being in danger. A light tremble from her lips failed her next sentence, stammering. "Wh-what's happening?"
[I cannot be certain, but…]
[I feel a connection to your world. The same connection I felt when Niko entered my world.]
[Something has entered your world.]
The wilted heart has completely shed itself, a heavy feeling stirred down within Sunny. Cold colors of the screen blended with the icy wind, now pricking at her skin.
[I know this is much to ask of you, but I need your assistance.]
[I have done everything I can to accommodate things easier for you, but I need you to keep Niko safe.]
[Check your windowsill. Then, bring it towards the nearest body of water at your area. There will be a rift nearby.]
"Wait— what??" Sunny sputtered, the fear in her blood morphed into an overwhelming feeling, something that swallowed her whole like quicksand.
[Do these instructions exactly, and you will meet Niko.]
[…I know how distressing this sounds to you, Sunny. This story was never meant to include you as part of the stage.]
[But please, have faith.]
"I…" Her eyes slowly turn over to another bed on the opposite side of the room, eyeing another person, sleeping soundly in spite of it all.
Her voice had been quiet the whole time, but with how loud her heart pounded, and how quiet the rest of the world is, it felt like a miracle Lily hadn't woken up.
Her mind raced. Was this… real? If this was just a hoax, then this could be the final time Sunny get to say good morning to her. Just like the waters she will go to, she'd be swept away.
But… this did not feel fake. A part of her genuinely wanted to believe this, to believe that Niko was there. Real, not just pixels on her screen that she believed was real, no— they are real.
Her tired mind might've been clawing at any excuse to sate this curiosity, but… Sunny wants to see Niko.
Sunny looked back to the computer, grabbing the microphone close to her lips. The words crawled ever slowly out of her, a worried tone laced unto wonder. "…I'll be safe, right?"
[Of course. I do not how to completely reassure you, but if you see anybody else, you may run away.]
[I wish I can accompany you during the trip, but our connection is restrained to here.]
The girl huffed. It didn't exactly quell the worry in herself, but the suffocating quicksand did give away a little. She could see the light peeking out, something to look out to. There was a long pause between The World Machine's next response.
[…here. Something for you, to give faith in you.]
Suddenly, another light shined within the room. At the windowsill was a soft glow, belonging to a large, heart-shaped lightbulb. Sunny looked taken aback at first, a slight tug pulling her backwards. She rubbed her eyes again. The bulb was still there. She pinched herself. The bulb was still there.
If she wasn't convinced earlier, now she knew this was no dream. No ordinary dream, at least.
She briefly stood up from her desk, only realizing now that her body had been so sore from her bad posture being maintained for so long. The lightbulb's soft ember light grew brighter, before illuminating to a full bright when Sunny has a hold of it. Immediately, the warmth began to root its way through the girl's arteries, enveloping her in a sense of… tranquilness.
It felt as though something washed away.
Sitting back down, Sunny cradled the warm light with both her arms, letting it rest on her lap. Her body nearly thrummed in tandem with the hue and the hum of the sun.
[This light is the culmination of your being, and your part of the story.]
[Please take care of it.]
Sunny dared not to press even an inch harder on the fragile skin of the bulb, not even to give it a smudge. Frail as her heart, having the weight of the sun with her pushed Sunny to be more careful.
"I will, no worries." She spoke with confidence to The World Machine.
[…thank you.]
[Remember, you only have one shot.]
[Stay safe, Sunny.]
Just like that, every notification from the computer disappeared. Sunny slumped on her chair, closing her eyes for a moment whilst her palm gently caressed the lightbulb with great tender.
A part of the story now, huh…
Slowly tilting her head back to the windowsill, the far view of the shores could be seen, below the night sky. Things were getting real now.
A voice caught Sunny by surprise, nearly jolting her from the seat. She looked behind, to see a figure enclosed perfectly within Sunny's own shadows. Hidden from the yellow light, her piercing eyes could not be seen.
"Hun, isn't it late for you…?" Lily's voice was still muddled like gravel from the tiredness, but carried a lusher tone compared to Sunny's. "Please turn off the computer…"
Sunny swallowed an instinctive apology down her throat, keeping her body still to hide the lightbulb from Lily. Instead, she tried to get Lily to go back to sleep. "Of course, darling. Just… go back to bed and I'll turn it off, okay."
That was step one, but step two was figuring out how to hide a glowing lightbulb away from a light sleeper.
"Mmmm, fiiiine…" Lily reluctantly dragged her body back to bed, tossing herself on her stomach to bury her face in a pillow.
Sure, that works. Sunny turned off the computer, and quickly booked it to the door, clutching the sun with one arm. She had to do a little shimmy to position her body such that the light would not blare on Lily and foil everything.
The door opened, and Sunny managed to sneak out.
Click. The door closed.
Outside, the night wind blew something fierce. Sunny scraped her face against the icy zephyr, letting her hair flow like rivers along the wind. Every step was a march towards uncertainty, no matter what the lightbulb told her. Lily was asleep, with no tell on where Sunny was going. Nobody else did, for the matter.
The only guide was the light, illuminating the path forward. In the middle of her vision was a grassy field with trees and benches, leading into an empty beach, leading into the bay. A vast lake humming a crashing lullaby.
Sunny stepped forward, until her feet were gently swayed by the waves, tempting to invite her deeper into the depths.
Deep breath. Out.
Clutching the lightbulb tightly, it changed to a brief flashing green light. Then, Sunny threw it out into the sea, where the light went dimmer. And just as quickly, it was swallowed by the dark waters.
…and nothing happened.
"Well," Sunny muttered to herself, "Guess that was it—"
Turning around, Sunny saw the lightbulb return to the surface, as well as a new bearer.
"NIKO??!" Sunny clutched her head, pointing an accusatory finger.
The child immediately recoiled in shock, taking a step back and yelping.
"I… wh…" For the third time, Sunny rubbed her eyes. This would be a crazy dream if this really was one.
"…what happened?" They looked down to see the lightbulb gently held in their hands like second nature. Only now did they realize that the lightbulb is within their clutch, promptly giving Niko a great deal of shock. Their eyes widened.
She stammered, "Niko, I— I—"
"I was at my village with mama, and— now I'm here… I'm…" Niko winced.
"Oh no, Niko, I'm…" She bit her lips for a moment, trying to compose herself. With a resigned sigh, Sunny went languid and her head hung down low. "I'm sorry."
"…sorry?" Niko stepped forward. "What are you sorry for?"
"For uh, bringing you back." Her eyes looked up to meet Niko's yellow gaze. "For separating you away from your mother again."
"Again…?" The child closed their eyes, and suddenly something clicked; the lines forming between stars to draw a constellation. Her voice sounded familiar. "…Sunny? Is that you?"
She couldn't reply. Her voice was caught and no words were able to come out. The world around her was faintly blurry, with Niko's face — an innocent face brought to an unfortunate happenstance — in the center of Sunny's vision.
Sunny wanted to reach out and say that she's sorry for bringing them here. Say that she's so happy to see them. Say that she doesn't know what's happening. Say that she's relieved Niko was safe.
"…Niko, I—"
From the moonlit reflection of the water, the rays extended forward until it pierced through the sky, a cascading tear splitting their vision in half. From the lake to the moon, a large gash tore out from the fabrics, like ripping paper, and in the middle of it was the unexplainable void. The color of nothing.
Festering from the wound, dark purple squares of varying sizes and lengths came trickling out like a furious cancer, each one having a multitude of small faces on it. Overlapping voices came from the wind itself, shouting loud and whispering close to Sunny and Niko.
WORK IN PROGRESS
WORK IN PROGRESS
UNFINISHED
LEFT
ABANDONED
WE CAN SEE YOU
WE CAN WE CAN WE CAN
SEE IT
FEEL IT
TOUCH IT
KILL IT
P H O S P H O R
WE DON'T THINK
THERE FORE WE ARE NOT !
WE ARE NOTHING
THE NOTHING
THE #################
THE CENSORS! THE CENSORS! TH E
WE CONSUME
AND CO N SUME
A N D
The faces all focused on Sunny.
M ES SI A H
YOU
YOU YOU YOU YOU YOU
:3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3
:3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3
:3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3
:3 :3 :3 :3
:3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3 :3
:3 :3
:3
EQUINOX
WE AR E
E Q U I N O X
It felt like there was something pounding deep inside Sunny's skull, something rattling inside, blood boiling until it would come bursting out like a faucet. She grasped her head and looked at Niko, her watered eyes filled with fear.
" ! Niko, !!" The words that came out of my mouth couldn't even be heard from my hearing.
Then, out of nowhere, it felt like something deep exploded inside my mind. Everything went dark for a moment.
And, just faintly…
Euphemism beckoning something tarnishing,
there was a light in the middle of the abyss.