It was so quiet. Fletcher had never known this sort of stillness. No wind stirred, no birds chirped, the stream and fountains were frozen over. He reclined in the highest branches that could support his weight in the old apple tree he'd planted as a kid. There was no snow yet, but not for a lack of cold. Fletcher had been out so long that the condensation on his metal had turned to a solid frost. He was starting to come to his senses, the effect of the many relaxants he'd taken starting to wear off. He could hardly believe it when the bare branches above him darkened in contrast to the lightening sky.
"Morning?" he whispered, the frost cracking on his cheeks. He pulled up a corner of the blanket wrapped around his shoulders to scrape slowly at his face, freeing his mouth for movement. Everything was gray, though the branches closest to him reflected the purple glow of his eyeforms. He blinked and reached up to trace a finger along the brittle twigs of his dormant tree.
"...I think I've been fighting something for a very long time. I'm not sure what... or," he scratched the frost from the branch, "why."
He closed his eyeforms and rolled his right shoulder, shrugging the blanket from a portion of his chest and projecting a grid of blue light over the branches above him. Three white dots lit in succession across his chest, followed by a large green circle and a gentle chime. He'd checked so many times over the night, but something about it soothed him. To Fletcher, his old tree's dormant readings were as soothing as his parents' electrical signatures. He opened his eyeforms again, pulling the blanket back up.
"I've never been one to give things up lightly. If something's worth fighting for, I don't feel like it's a loss to give it everything I have. Maybe that was the problem. I believe... I'm giving up. I'm letting go of something, and it's making me feel... lighter. I'm ready to not be in control of whatever happens next. I've never been trapped with anyone or anything before ‒ you know how I feel about being free. But... I've never felt freedom like this before. I finally understand that there's nothing I can do to control what happens, and I'm ready to be passive here. I mean... passive? Yeah, even if I'm the one making this decision, it's not up to me what happens next. I've been fighting it for such a long time, and now that I'm done..."
All his components felt heavy, utterly relaxed for the first time in years, but something in his chest, his whole heart and soul, were lighter than air.
"I'm so scared, but there's something about how powerless I am that's kind of comforting. I'm exhausted. I've been holding myself under some really intense pressure, and now... I could float.
"No matter what, everything is going to be different after this. I need to make sure I do it right. Even if I can't control this, I'll give it the best chance I can. We deserve that much. Tonight, I'll call in the big guns. I can't do this alone, and thinking otherwise has been my biggest mistake."
Fletcher trembled from head to toe, hugging his chest and beaming.
"No matter what, I've never been happier to be hopeless."