A/N: A little idea that came to me after misreading the game's introduction of Another Day (I thought it said collecting the Secret Reports unlocked it).
It was over.
He'd known it would be over eventually. Once the player reached the final boss fight, it was rare for them to give up completely. His player in particular was extremely stubborn. He'd lost against many enemies, many times, but she wouldn't exit the game, wouldn't escape the fight, wouldn't even change the difficulty. He'd complained about it a lot when she turned off the game, but in truth, he was impressed. He could tell that her future held great things. He wouldn't be there, of course – how many people would keep playing a game after they completed it?
He took the time to relax as the screen was covered by the ending cutscene. It had been a few hours of solid gameplay since the point of no return. He may have been computer data, but he was still exhausted. Normally she'd have small breaks to grab food, but she hadn't moved since the first battle with Megumi.
His mid wandered to the other avatars as the credits rolled. He'd built up quite good friendships with them over the last few weeks, when his player was sleeping or working. Avatars didn't always have the personality of the characters they portrayed, but most of the avatars in this game had been quite similar to the characters, which meant they made friends quite quickly, with who they were supposed to. Neku had heard a few stories about avatars who had disobeyed their code because of their emotions, and had broken their game as a result. He'd avoided it out of a sense of self-preservation at first, but at some point he started to look forward to the game being picked up again.
He gave a start and snapped into his idle sprite position as the game abruptly resumed. It was hard to keep track of the time outside sometimes. He stayed frozen, the sudden darkening of the environment telling him there was a tutorial box on the top screen. He idly wondered what she would choose to do.
He was finally able to move as the shadows lifted, and his player immediately opened the menu, obscuring the screen once again. He raised his eyes to the display himself, still able to understand the buttons despite seeing them from behind. He noticed that the final panel, the one that had been locked through the entire game, was now usable. A picture of a certain silvery-blonde teen who had been controlling the plot the entire time. Joshua's avatar had been notably different to his coded personality when offscreen. He was actually one of the nicest avatars in the game, and as far as Neku could remember, he's never said a bad word about anyone unless on-script, and even then he'd apologised afterwards. Neku wondered where he was. Hopefully at Mr. H's café, or Pork City. All of the other avatars had been transported out of the Room of Reckoning as soon as the final cutscene began, probably to the last places they'd been in-game. Most games acted as if the final boss had never been defeated, after all, why should his be any different?
He quickly straightened as his player made her choice. The menu faded… but there was no face behind the screen to give him a command.
Neku was confused. What had happened? He could tell the game was still turned on, and he was the playable character… Wait, had someone else become the playable character? Is that why the others had been warped out and he'd been left?
He figured that he could move as he wished for now, seeing as his player couldn't see him. He headed back towards the entrance to the Room of Reckoning, planning to check on Beat and Shiki. Maybe he could figure out what had happened if he could talk to them, or at least see where they were if his player was observing that area.
He crossed the warp point, but nothing happened.
Panic was beginning to take hold of him now. Why couldn't he cross the warp? Surely there had to be one? He cast his eyes to the ground, trying to pick up any sign of a warp point: a sudden narrowing, abrupt changes in wall colour, anything. But there was nothing. There was no warp.
He flinched as he code suddenly changed. It was as if he was forming a new memory, from the first day of gameplay, finding a box that he was certain hadn't been there when he was being guided through originally. He clutched his head. None of it made sense. His panic slowly dulled, being replaced with despair.
In the end, he could do nothing but wait.
ooo
Neku had waited for weeks. Weeks of memories changing. Weeks of no contact with the other avatars. Weeks without seeing his player. He thought he'd figured out what had happened, at least. His player had been replaying the game using that new option on the menu. Instead of the coding of the avatars freezing just before the final boss, the game had skipped back in their timeline, to how they had been during the initial playthrough. That would explain why he was still stuck here, and his changing memories.
He'd also figured out that, to ensure the player didn't try to access non-existent code for after the defeat of the final boss, they couldn't leave this area. And the best way to do that was to not put a warp point out of the room. After all, the code had all been scripted dialogue and fights as soon as he'd entered the room. She'd had no chance to guide him back.
He stood and walked a lap of the room, as he did every so often in a vain attempt to take his mind off his situation. He thought over the situation, and came to the conclusion that he had to accept his fate.
He was stranded here, until the save file was deleted, and his very existence along with it. He could only hope for the small mercy of his player restarting completely. He'd miss everyone, but it was better than being stuck here, alone.
ooo
Neku wasn't sure how long it had been. Months, perhaps? Maybe years? He'd lost track long ago.
He figured by now that she'd forgotten the game. He could tell the game hadn't been played in a while. She'd either completed everything, or found a bonus boss she couldn't defeat. She'd long since moved on, leaving him here.
It was a slight shock to him when his coding kicked in again. That meant she'd come back. Did she plan to restart? Would this torture finally end?
He waited several minutes, but he didn't fade from existence as he'd hoped. She'd continued her game, then. He knew he should be mad, but he'd grown too attached to her over the few weeks he'd spent with her, acting as her portal into a world full of inspiration. He couldn't blame her. How could she know he was a sentient being, rather than just a group of pixels?
He felt his memories changing again. This time, it was the final battle. Over the course of his imprisonment, his memories of twenty days had changed. This marked the completion of the twenty-first day being rewritten.
He wondered what would happen now. He could sense that the credits were playing again. Would she finally abandon the game for good?
His code forced him to move to the centre of the area, where he had been standing the last time he saw her. His code hadn't controlled his movements in a long time. Did that mean…?
He felt uneasy as his player appeared above him once again. She'd changed a lot since he'd last seen her. She was definitely a couple of years older than before. The scripted tutorial box appeared again, and he was frozen. He felt his heart sink. This was exactly what happened before.
His player once again opened the menu, once again selected that button with the person whose name he could barely remember beginning with a J. He looked on in fear.
No… Don't leave me here again…
She pressed a button.
Neku wasn't prepared for the sudden appearance in the Scramble Crossing area. His code kicked in immediately, the words coming out of his lips scripted, but he was free.
ooo
After she finally beat the bonus chapter, his player turned off the game. The avatars around him instantly turned to him, expressing their joy at seeing him again. Neku took a few moments to respond, tears of happiness streaming down his face. The others started towards WildKat Café, as they always had before when the game was turned off. Neku held back briefly, eyes turned to the sky that had been her gateway to their world just a few minutes before. He mouthed a few words, before turning and running to catch up with his companions.
Thank you for saving me.