EVE didn't believe in any kind of afterlife. Why believe in something that has no proof? But as EVE glided through the night on the clouds, she hoped that there was some kind of afterlife. That way, she could be with her beloved. And if an afterlife didn't exist, then she would fall into blissful ignorance of anything and everything. No memories, no emotions, no pain.

But the best thing WALL-E had given her was her ability to love. To feel. Was it truly better to have loved and have lost than to have never loved at all? What if you forgot all your memories and emotions and just feel...nothing...?

EVE was about to find out.

There happened to be a storm that night, and not just like a rainstorm, but like an ocean violently crashing against the cliffsides kind of storm. They didn't often get storms like this, and it was the perfect cover for what EVE was about to do.

She was nervous to say the least. She could feel the "butterflies in your stomach" thing that humans liked to say, and her fingers were shaking and clattering. She felt cold.

She looked over the edge of the cliff. She was very far from home, so far in fact that this area was still barren and brown. No plant life. Just dirt. She had to be very far away to get there, in fact. EVE passed by several signs on her way that said things like, "Welcome to Virginia" and "Welcome to Georgia". By now, she thought she was somewhere in Florida. She wasn't sure, though. One thing she knew for sure is that she saw the last of civilization several state lines ago. Each new city she passed by had less and less agriculture until she found the dirt and sand. She couldn't help but smile as she saw all of it. All of this happened because of WALL-E. Because he saved the plant that got them home.

He had done it for her. It was like his never-ending gift to her.

She shook her head. The sadness was gone. Anticipation crawled through every part of her metal. She would see him soon. That was the thought that kept her going.

After hours of flying, her fingers numb from the cold of the storm, she found a perfect secluded place to commit her crime. She looked out over the rocky cliff, seeing the gray ocean slam against it. It made her dizzy, looking at it. She wobbled on the edge, keeping her balance by just a thread. If she simply threw herself into the ocean, her death would be long and painful. She couldn't have that.

Instead, she'd stashed something away that WALL-E had had in his collection for several years before she met him. Something that would help with the pain and the quickening of her death. She flipped it open. It was an old, rusty butterfly knife. She'd sharpened the edge before flying all the way out here, so much so that it easily made cuts through stacks of paper and cardboard. She'd even tested it on stucco and drywall. Looking at it made her giggle like a crazy little girl.

Her head was pounding as she ran a thumb over the dull edge of the blade, watching it glint in the little sunlight that existed through the storm. The sharpened edge had no rust, so it sparkled like a promise of greater things. She waited for remorse, or guilt, or regret, something that would stop her from doing this. Stop her from joining her love.

There was none.

EVE opened her stasis chamber, pressing the edge of the knife gently to the inside of her chest. She was trying to calculate how quickly she could do this with minimal pain. She managed to locate the inner nerves that detected damage. The blade was in just the right place, angled just so, for optimal painless damage.

Here goes nothing...

She made the first cut, straight up. It hurt like fire for a second, but then it dulled. She'd killed the nerves. Her HUD was flashing red lights at her, warning her that she was in a life-threatening situation and she needed to get out now! The chemical reaction that created worked just like adrenaline, and it felt so good. She wanted more of that feeling, but with the growing fogginess in her head, it was hard to find more of the nerves to kill.

The second cut was more shaky. It went up into another set of nerves. More adrenaline, more pain. The fogginess was even stronger now, blurring her vision. She lifted her hand to her face, seeing a yellowish fluid all over her fingers. It made her panic for a second; she'd already hit her battery casing.

WARNING: SEVERE DAMAGE TO INNER CASING OF STASIS CHAMBER AND INTERNAL SELF-CHARGING BATTERY

Her eyes were sore from staring through the fog and all the flashing lights from her diagnostics. She realized that her body was just trying to protect her, but it annoyed her all the same. Why did her body have to protect her like this?

Each cut after that was very shaky, but full of resolve. The third cut sliced through some more nerves, dulling the pain and heightening the adrenaline. The fourth cut sliced open her battery, making the bleeding come thicker and faster. One last cut, and the battery was nearly empty. The casing was tough, so it took a lot of effort to break through completely, especially in her drunken bleeding-out haze, but she'd done it. Her stasis chamber, arms, and the ground beneath her were completely covered in the yellowish battery acid. Seeing it all and being emptied so fast made her feel sick, like she'd just vomited.

EVE's head swam. The dull aching subsided into a pleasant kind of numbness that radiated through her chest. Her fingers felt heavier than lead as she pulled the knife out and dropped it on the ground. The clanging as it fell was distorted in her fuzzy head that was still flashing every color at her display. Somehow, she couldn't see it anymore.

She giggled. It was time.

Looking over the edge made the dizziness come back, but she put it out of her mind. She couldn't fly into the water, that took too much mental power, so instead, she hovered over the edge and prepared to drop. Soon, the water would short-circuit her entire system, killing her instantly. She loved the relief the adrenaline provided, but the longer she stayed her, the longer she stayed away from WALL-E.

Even through the fog, she managed to mumble with a smile, "D-don't worry...W-Wall-E..." she spread her arms out, feeling the breeze in the stinging and crackling in her battery.

"...I'm coming..."

And she fell.

"EEEVE!"

She stopped falling almost immediately. The jostling caused more pain. She pushed away from whoever was dumb enough to try and save her.

"EVE, ARE YOU CRAZY!?" it was Leah. She forced EVE to lay on her back so the battery acid would stop bleeding from her open battery while also trying to keep the rainwater out. She had to shout over the storm, "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"

"Ugh..." EVE groaned, "S-stop...you're hu-urting m-me!"

"I'M HURTING YOU, HUH!?" Leah shook a can of temporary solidifier, spraying it over the wounds so they'd stop bleeding until they found a robotics center, "YOU DIDN'T THINK ABOUT WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF YOU JUST WENT AND OFFED YOURSELF!? YOU IDIOT!"

EVE was in so much pain. Why did Leah have to jostle her around so much!?

Please stop. EVE thought, Please, please, please...

Let me go...


Leah already knew she wasn't going to give up completely. EVE's outburst was unusual, and she wasn't going to simply leave her while she wallowed in her own misery, so she made a mental note to check on EVE by morning.

She groggily woke up to the sun shining on her visor. She'd been working at her desk into the wee hours of the morning, having fallen asleep in her chair.

She bolted upright. Eve!

Leah flew from the house, just grabbing a repair kit on her way out. She flew right over Willow and V-GR's house straight to the truck.

"Eve!" Leah threw the entire door open. A piece of paper fluttered to the ground with EVE's handwriting hastily scrawled on it. She grabbed it and began to read, feeling digital tears collect behind her screen.

I'm going to find Wall-E. Don't come after me. It's okay, I'll be happy once we're reunited.

-Eve

"Oooh nooooo..." Leah didn't have time to gather any family members. Who knows how long ago this note was made? Instead, Leah commed the Axiom Emergency Center as she flew towards the middle of the city, not knowing what else to do.

"I need help!" Leah exclaimed into the call, "My sister left a suicide note and I have no idea where she is!"

"Calm down, miss. What's your sister's name?"

"Extra-Terrestrial Vegetation Evaluator 'Eve' Probe One!" she practically shouted.

The operator paused, "Your sister is...?"

"Yes! My sister is the famous Eve! Just find her, please!"

"Done, Ma'am." the operator sent a GPS link straight to her internal map, "She's still alive."

"Thank you so much!" she hung up and streaked across the sky, praying she wouldn't be too late. If only she'd had time to gather some real help, but EVE was on the other side of the country!

"Please, Eve..." Leah mumbled as she flew, her words lost as she broke the sound barrier, "Please don't do anything stupid..."

She made it just in time to watch her sister, bleeding and delirious, nearly throw herself off the cliff.

"EEEVE!"