Rating: T+
Pairings: Nezumi x Shion (eventually)
Warnings: OOCness, OCs, rantings from a mad author, inconsistent updates, implying sexual content, grammatical errors, no beta.
Disclaimer: Whims of Anime does not own No. 6, only the plot and the OCs. They belong to their rightful owners. Please support the official release.
Dedication: To nezushijustwantstobefree, who supported this idea.
Anime: I arrive a month late with the next chapter of Program Nezumi. Sorry I took so long, guys. As heavily motivated I am with it, school is a priority. Can't wait for the summer where I can have all the time to write without worrying over homework. Ah, I can't wait for that. Well, enough about the boringness of my life. To the chapter!
~~~ProgramNezumi~~~
2: ASTER . exe
A hand covered Nezumi's mouth and he screamed into it, eyes wide and his legs and arms flailing wildly. The person that was hidden inside his covers crawled out and straddled him, immobilizing Nezumi's wild limbs. Since his room was dark, Nezumi wasn't able to distinguish who this person was, although he could see the boy's green eyes since the boy was close to his face.
"Don't scream." The voice was soft, sounding like a young teenager rather than an older man. Nezumi didn't feel secure with that fact, though, so he continued his muffled screaming. The teen above him groaned, his other hand that was currently holding down Nezumi's hands tightening, "If you don't shut up, I'll, uh, rape you."
That was not a threat Nezumi expected so he immediately shut up. The boy on top of him hummed, "That was easy. All I had to do was threaten your virginity, huh? Wait, are you still a virgin because I've heard you're popular. Why am I asking this when I know you can't answer? Sorry. I have been told that I do these kinds of things a lot and that I should stop." The person chuckled before reaching out for something. Nezumi heard the lamp on his bedside switch on and he was finally able to see his captor.
The teenager looked to be around his age or younger but he had a small build, almost delicate and feminine. He was by no means malnourished but the boy looked very thin yet powerful. He had white hair that was as beautiful as the snow that was falling now and his green eyes seemed to glow more in the light than in the darkness. His skin was pale, almost like his hair, and he had no visible blemishes in his face which was a miracle. He was dressed in skin-tight black clothes that left nothing to the imagination so seeing this person on top of him made Nezumi blush.
The white-haired boy snickered, his smirk making Nezumi feel annoyed for some reason. The urge to punch the teen grew even more as he continued to speak, "Guess you are. What, never seen someone like me before in your boring world?" He got off Nezumi and sat down at the edges of his bed, "I suppose not. I am rather handsome, don't you think?"
And arrogant, Nezumi thought with irritation. Was he really being hostage by such a person? He couldn't help but think of himself as weak for that reason.
"Who are you?"
The boy's green eyes glowed and Nezumi disregarded it as a trick performed by the light that shone from his lamp, "Finally asking the right questions! I am the artificial intelligence program designed by the brilliant Dr. Haou named Assisting and Saving The Enslaved Rebel dot exe. My objective is to save you, obviously."
"Assisting and Saving The Enslaved Rebel dot exe? That's your name?" Nezumi asked, frowning at the AI - seriously? An AI? - with confusion. The AI nodded before Nezumi sighed, "Do you have another name I could call you by?"
"Well, there's my binary code name: 01000001-."
"A simpler name!" Nezumi said, running a hand through his hair because hearing all those numbers was just goin to confuse him in the end, "Maybe an acronym of your huge name?"
The AI thought about it for a while before nodding, "ASTER. That's my shortened name, if you remove the 'and' part and 'dot exe'. My father used to call me that so it's an honor for you to call me as such. In binary code, my acronym name is 01000001 01010011 01010100 01000101 01010010."
Nezumi felt a headache come in while Aster had recited his name in binary code and rubbed his temples when he finally finished, "Aster, huh? That's a nice name. It's the name of a flower, isn't it? The flower aster-."
A person was standing next to him and the two were overlooking a city. The person turned to look at him-.
"Agh!" Nezumi held his head, eyes wide, "What did I just see?"
"I guess I came in at the right time. The elimination of your memories wasn't completed." Aster nodded before sighing happily, looking up at the ceiling with a happy look, "I'm so glad. Coming here wasn't a big waste."
He was suddenly invading Nezumi's personal space and it made Nezumi blush for some odd reason. Nezumi wanted to kick himself because this was the second time Aster had made him blush. No one had ever made him blush in all of his years of being alive. Not even Ayame had been able to make the blood rush to his face. So why did he react with Aster?
Aster blinked before looking away, allowing Nezumi to stop blushing. Luckily, Aster didn't seem to notice his blushing problem, "You've forgotten most of that person, haven't you?"
"That person?"
Aster nodded but didn't say anything else for a while. He closed his eyes before opening them, his expressive eyes showing a deep sorrow that made Nezumi feel upset as well, "You must have forgotten. Otherwise, you'd be willing to believe me that none of this is real."
Nezumi didn't know how to react when those words passed through Aster's mouth. None of this was real? That was ridiculous. His family was real, his friends were real, he was real. Aster must be crazy. Yeah, that was it. This guy most have escaped from the mental hospital.
"You're insane."
Aster sighed, running a hand through his hair, "You think so?" He stared at Nezumi with those piercing green eyes of his and, suddenly, Nezumi wondered why those eyes weren't red instead. It would've matched the image of an albino. It would've matched the image of-.
"Was that a goodbye kiss?"
Nezumi flinched again and Aster looked around. This place was rather nice so he understood why Nezumi would prefer this over his reality. Keeping Nezumi in here was the purpose of this simulation. Still, there were people that were waiting for Nezumi. He was waiting for Nezumi. Like his father had said, waiting for someone for two years could be quite stressful and no one would wait forever, right?
"You seem to be remembering so why is it that you keep pushing those memories away?" Aster asked, grabbing Nezumi's hand and squeezing it. His hands were cold, Nezumi thought, nothing like someone that was alive. That person's hands were warm.
Who am I thinking about?
"I. . ."
Aster sighed again - that person didn't sigh that much, right - before leaning so close, Nezumi could feel his breathing and his heart - why do I keep reacting? - began to pound loudly. Aster grinned, "For the record, you're not my type. This was just my perverted father's way of helping you."
"Wha-."
Cool lips connected with his own and Nezumi tried to push him away immediately. This was wrong - a violation to who? - yet Nezumi couldn't seem to succeed in pushing Aster off. Just before he was ready to bite the insane boy's lip, he began to see-.
-it was a stormy night and he was running. He could feel pain on one of his arms and he felt so out of breath. He felt like he was going to die if he stopped running. The wind whipped his hair around slightly, the rain was cold and he was freezing. His heart was pounding was so loud, he almost mistook it for the pounding rain. He stopped, wanting a break, then heard someone screaming in the middle of this storm. He looked up to see-.
"What was that?" Nezumi asked, Aster wiping his mouth in what looked like disgust. For some reason, that just annoyed Nezumi since it had been Aster that had kissed him.
"A memory. I have important pieces of your memory that were almost deleted by the system. Since you have 3% of your memory left of your true life, I have 97% and just gave you 1% of your memory back." Aster answered before laying down, "The only way for you to retrieve your memory is for me to pass some of my own data into you, which is what that kiss was. Just transferrence of data."
"You have to be crazy."
Aster smiled up at him and he felt so familiar that it caused Nezumi's heart to ache, "Then, alas, you are too because you are starting to believe me."
Nezumi didn't reply. Instead, he tried to think about ways to prove that this world was real. Just as he opened his mouth, Aster interrupted him, his gaze completely serious, "What is Inukashi's last name?"
"Huh?" Nezumi blinked.
"What are Kadan and Kiyoshi's parents like? Why have you not seen Safu's parents, grandparents and siblings all the times that you've been to her house? How come you never leave this place despite having the money to travel. Why is Harada University the only prestigious university you know of? How come Eve never brings friends over? What does your father work as? Where are the farms that harvest the fruits you eat? How come there are bees around in the winter? Why do you have such good luck?"
Aster smiled cruelly when he saw Nezumi didn't answer, "Once you give me an answer to that, then you're allowed to call me crazy or whatever else you want to call me. If you can't, then that just proves my point of this being a world that isn't real."
Nezumi had no idea what to say. Aster's words made him tremble. He looked at his room, "How is this not real?"
"This is all inside a simulation of sorts." Aster replied and touched the bed, Nezumi doing the same. Nezumi's eyes widened when his bed glowed green like some kind of hologram. Aster's hand had turned blue and he saw a sequence of numbers in binary code. Aster pulled away from it and the bed and his hand returned to normal.
"You've been in here for two years where your memories have been stolen by all types of drugs that researchers have developed to keep you here. They created seven stages inside this simulation so you will never wake up. This world, the seven stage, is a simulation of a perfect world that you would never want to leave. The people here are limited to people you met before so were recreated from your memories or AI's like myself that were programmed to play a role in your life."
"My parents, Eve, Kadan, Kiyoshi, Ayame, Safu, Inukashi, they're not real?" Nezumi muttered and stared at his own hand as if expecting it to glow and binary numbers to appear. He frowned, "How am I sure that I'm not a simulation and this isn't a joke?"
Aster rolled his eyes and grabbed Nezumi's hand. Aster's hand glowed blue again, showing his binary code. Nezumi expected binary numbers to appear in place of his hands but was surprised when his hand did not change. Aster smiled up at him, "You're real. You're alive. You're made up of flesh, bone and blood. You're not made up of codes like everyone else here. You're lucky in that regard. I envy you, Nezumi."
"What now, then?" Nezumi asked, pulling his hand away from Aster's cold - why were they so cold when that person's were so warm? - hand.
Aster shrugged, "Well, you believe me now, hopefully. You do believe me, right?"
After everything he'd seen, of course he did. Unless he was being pranked by his friends but not even his insane and creative friends would come up with such a detailed prank like this one. Besides, the kiss - data transference - did make him remember things and Aster had brought up interesting things when he had asked him questions. He must be crazy for believing him, Nezumi thought before nodding.
Aster smiled - why did he feel so happy seeing it? - softly before clapping his hands together, "Now, my mission to getting you out begins. I am programmed with the layout of this simulation and how to get out of it. So, I'm your proud guide!"
Nezumi sighed, "Yeah, yeah. How do I get out of this thing?"
"In order to awaken in the real world, you're going to have to clear the seven stages of this simulation. Each stage will present a different challenge so I hope you're ready for that." Aster said, completely serious. Again, he grabbed Nezumi's hand - cool hands that should be warm - and squeezed it, "That person you're struggling to remember is out there waiting for you."
Yes, that person that he had begun to remember thanks to Aster. The person that meant a lot to him. That person must be important because they - who was they? - had tried so hard to delete his memory of that person. They had nearly succeeded, too.
Nezumi couldn't remember that person's gender, face, voice, body, presence or name. Yet the emotions he felt for that person stayed. He could feel how much he missed that person. He wanted to see that person again after so long. That person, a person that he never wanted to lose, was waiting for him.
"What do I have to do to get out?"
~~~ProgramNezumi~~~
"Chairman," A young scientist said as he entered the lab and greeted the powerful old man. The man was quiet, staring at the unmoving corpse of Dr. Haou, the pride of No. 6. The scientist was silent as he knew how much Haou had been valued during this project. Haou had created the program that kept the boy asleep and had designed all the stages. The reason why Nezumi was still in here was because of Haou and now the brilliant doctor was dead.
"What is it that you want?" The Chairman asked, holding the limp, pale and cold hand of the corpse, "I am grieving over the death of such a brilliant mind."
The scientist nodded, "I am aware but I have to inform you that there is a virus within the program that the antiviruses cannot seem to find or delete. We managed to detect it but we can't seem to get rid of it."
"What?" The Chairman frowned, "Have you traced its source?"
"Yes, sir. It was from a laptop in Dr. Haou's lab. He created the virus ASTER."
"Did he?" The Chairman asked, placing a hand on the deceased scientist's face, "Is that why you look so calm, despite death being so close to you?" He smiled down at him before looking back at the scientist, "Whatever it takes, destroy that virus. Don't let the subject escape, no matter what."
It was time for that game to start.
~~~ProgramNezumi~~~
Somewhere else, far away from Nezumi and Aster that planned the escape of the young renegade, far away from the lab that kept Nezumi asleep, someone dropped their cup of water. The water poured all over the floor and the pieces of the glass had gone practically everywhere. The two other occupants of the room jolted.
"Hey, are you alright?" Inukashi, the real Inukashi and not the simulation that trapped Nezumi, asked before a woman entered began to clean the mess. They were all silent as she cleaned and, when the woman left, Inukashi finally took a good look at Shion. She frowned over what she saw, "You seem unbalanced. Is everything okay, Shion?"
The white haired boy had an unreadable look, his eyes were unfocused as he looked out the windows to view the outside. Shion looked dazed and it was odd for Inukashi to see him like this. These moments where Shion zoned out only occured when he was remembering that damn Nezumi but he hadn't thought about Nezumi for almost two years since the fall of the wall that seperated No. 6 and West Block.
Shion couldn't be thinking about Nezumi now, right? They had all decided that it was most likely that he had died and that was the reason why he hadn't returned to Shion's side. No matter how much they hoped that Nezumi was alive, they were all realists.
"I'm not sure," Shion admitted, standing up to stand closer to the window and the beautiful view of the outside.
Rikigia, the real Rikigia, stared at Shion with a worried look before speaking to the young man, "Are you sure? Is the job too much? If you want, we can get you an off-day for you to spend with your mom and Shuichi. Overworking yourself can lead to problems in your health and if you die, there will be a power vaccum and-."
Shion gave off a weak chuckle, "No, it's fine. Thanks for worrying after me, Inukashi, Rikigia. I just. . ." He paused, his bright red eyes still looking towards the horizon in wonder. He smiled, placing a hand over his heart. The gesture made the two former occupants of West Block share a glance in worry over the leader of their new world after No. 6 and the utopias like it fell.
"Just what?" Inukashi asked.
Shion closed his eyes, his smile making both of them feel at ease, "I feel that Nezumi will finally come back to me."
~~~ProgramNezumi~~~
Anime: Not a true AU after all. This is like a continuation of No. 6 so this is what happened to Nezumi after the events of the last episode. Will our favorite renegade be able to escape? Also, this story may have hints of Nezumi x Aster/Aster x Nezumi but I don't ship it. It's necessary for the plot. I ship Nezumi x Shion, everyone. Nezumi only reacts to Aster because Aster a) gets too close and makes him have normal bodily reactions b) initiates something intimate and c) looks like Shion except for his eyes. Nezumi isn't falling for Aster. Well, enough about that, see you guys in chapter three. I'll try to upload it as soon as I can.
Incorrect quotes for No. 6:
Nezumi: I've got an idea.
Shion: We're not going to murder anyone.
Nezumi: I have no ideas.
Stage 1 Part 2 END
