hello i only uploaded this right now because it's an hour from midnight and i don't want to miss my (one per month) fic streak. but anyways! this is still a work in progress and jumbled up because i wrote it within a few hours, so take that in mind if you decide to proceed.
i'm going to revamp the entire thing in a few hours so just expect some major changes? I'll be adding in (+ more rinku, more gumirin, gumiku) from the vagueness I've implied right now due to haste, and of course an increase in the lenrin sex because..um. i don't really have the capability to cram in everything i want to say within such a short amount of time, sorr
UPDATE 2/10: it's revamped and ready to read!
Chapter Warning: many tws, good luck. (+ implied teenage domestic abuse and suicide)
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30/9/18
"reboot"
summary: If she truly loves him, then she must find the courage to shut him down.
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Crrrrk... crk... Who is... my.. family?
"You have no family. "
What is... crk... my name?
"You have no name."
Who.. crk... am... crrk... I?
"You are mine."
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Two floors underground in a two-hundred feet building, lying right in the heart of the city, the chief of Emscope Corporations's only daughter (or Emcorp, for short) sat in her laboratory, observing the state of her newest creation. Years after years of research have finally bore fruit in the form of a young body lightly asleep in a tube, synthetic amniotic fluids keeping him afloat.
Her hands touched the glass.
She imagined reaching through, roaming her fingers across the chest that hadn't yet seen daylight and dressing her lips above those that she hasn't felt in a long time.
Her mouth pressed against the surface.
She closed her eyes, imagining how proud he would be if he could see where she was standing today.
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Her parents were simply aghast to see her sitting on a chair at their dining table, voluntarily, after the vacancy that's been acknowledged for years. They had simply stopped persisting on her presence as time went by yet here she was, donning a petticoat and rosy Mary Janes as her fork dived into a bite of medium-rare steak.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
Rin looked horribly amused. "Not at all, Mother. Why do you ask?"
"Merely allowing my curiosity to get ahead of me."
Their family exchanged polite laughter.
Silence held regime for the evening, save for a few clinking of silverware and tap of the wine bottles everytime they pour for another glass.
Rin watches the red liquid, a likely mix of bourbon and cherry, narrowly avoid the fate of spilling across the white dining linen. She can't help but think about how his blood smells just as sweet.
"Rin, how is that project of yours coming along? The herb revivals?" Her father reached over the table to hold her hand. "Any progress?"
This man dug deep into the alibi his daughter created years back at the start of her foundation.
It didn't necessarily have to be considered a lie.
Her project did have to do with revivals: one that rivals against the force of nature. Except instead of figuring a way to maintain spring flowers into bloom all the way throughout the other seasons, separate from spring, the work she'd done touched on a deeper subject. She was bringing a man back to life.. while hardly anybody knew about it.
Eight years of research all came down to this.
She was squirming in her seat, giddily, thinking about all the hard work and days she's spent staying up without ever seeing the morning sunrise.
It's finally come to an end.
"Almost finished. I just have to give the serum a few test runs and we'll see how it goes."
"We appreciate your contribution to the company, Rin. Truly."
Her incisors grew. She didn't have to force herself into the sweetest smile, not when it came so naturally until she no longer knew who she was meant to be. Rin squeezed the man's hand in return, soon after stretching out her free arm to take her mother's grasp in her own.
There was no difficulty maintaining the role of an obedient little girl they've always needed her to play. "Of course, Father."
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Pale blue eyes opened for the first time. As she looked into them, she felt she was seeing firelights.
At twenty-three years old, Rin Kagamine reached an achievement that others could only hope to dream of.
She brought a memory back to life.
No, she rebuilt him.
From the ashes of nothing, with scrap paper and bolts and the images of his original smiles lining her walls. She turned on the flashlight, promptly ordering this boy to follow her hand movements. Rin took a deep breath as he activated without failure. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as she charged the cable through his body, sending a surge of energy for a haste system update.
She turned him off. Unplugged the cable, and draped his bare body in a thin blanket, kissing his forehead with the promise to soon return him to his state of perfection.
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"Hello, Len. How are you feeling?"
"He ー he ー hell ーhello, mo ー mo ーmother.."
The young scientist clicked her tongue.
She shook her head a few times, cupping his chin with a thumb running down the smooth skin beneath his jaw. It seemed the update she installed the previous night didn't prevent any bug fixes. She'd been hoping nothing would intervene with his performance today.
Oh, well, there was always trial and error. Or else they wouldn't be able get this far.
She was only happy she managed to recover him.
Even with his broken mind, with no recollection of memories and heart that was ripped in half. Even with all those parts she had to add to research with newly founded technology that she developed on her own because his previous state was broken of disrepair... she was more than satisfied.
"I'll look for a fix, my pet. Don't worry." She cooed. "For now, let's see what a reboot can do."
She pressed a button on his head for the machine to stop. For his body to freeze, where only his lips worked to speak. "Rebooting Len Kagamine."
His eyes turned red.
The sound of turnt gears echoed through the clustered room.
Vials, tissue, books after books after books stacked atop tables and shelves. The entire room was crowded due to this one project. Almost a decade of her life. She wasn't about to let it go so easily, especially not when she's come this far.
Suddenly, those blue eyes were blinking back at her. Dull, not at all like those bright skies that once reached deep into her soul.
But it's alright.
She'll just find a way to recreate those too.
"Hello, Len." Rin repeated, her smile reaching her ears. "How are you feeling?"
He looked back at her. Stony. Cold. Yet she couldn't have been any prouder.
His voice spoke, that lovely melody and the deep tenor she would never forget. "Hello, Mother. I feel.. fine."
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Miku eyed the finished product in distaste. His gaze followed her everywhere she went, every word she spoke, every slightest move she made from the smack of her lips to the blink of her eyes. She tried not to look too pleading for him to stop. At least, not with the excited glimmer in her partner's eyes.
They could never share their views on the world in similar concern, even though both women claimed to love each other very much. Yet that seemed to be the least of her worries as of the moment. So she laughed patiently, offering a congratulations.
The younger woman spread a smile over a glass of champagne and grilled salmon.
That was fine. That was dinner.
However, the end of the night came with a different problem. They went back to their apartment, twenty-five stories up in the sky, where Miku could feel the comforting reminder of Rin Kagamine's arm wrapped loosely around her waist. Their bodies were soon found entangled together on the bed. Sinking in the mattress, just like always. Like it was supposed to be. Normal.
She hoped. Even if it wasn't.
Miku saw blue eyes staring at her.
Those eyes weren't Rin's.
She let out a deep breath. "Did you have to bring it along?"
"It?" Her girlfriend asked sleepily.
"Your robot."
The young lady suddenly sat up, blonde curls surrounding her like a cascade of golden waterfalls as her features turned sharp.
The blanket draped across the floor from impact, no longer covering her shoulders from the cold as the moonlight illuminated her brimming anger, a silhouette of a halo resembling a deity preparing punishment to bestow upon another lowly dog.
Miku tried not to cower. Tried to sit up, as well, with her back straight and chin held high.
But Rin's confidence mountained by a land storm. "He's not a robot."
"Yes, yes, I get it, he's newly researched technology with advanced biogenesis and the usage of true human tissue, modified genetics ー "
"He's Len." Rin interrupted. "And I don't appreciate you talking down on him when he's in the very same room as us. As if he's nonexistent."
That was where the night went down. When the memory of their beloved monthly anniversary date was replaced from wine glasses and toothy grins, into nothing more than blonde hair and fiery eyes glaring into the night.
Miku refused to back down. She sat up, as well, leaving no blanket to protect her decency from shame. Her bare torso was exposed but the woman thought to do nothing more than to cross her arms and huff.
"Rin, he's not real! He doesn't have emotions!"
"Don't you dare speak about him that way." Rin stood, slamming her hips against wood. The emerald earrings she left on the night desk falling as the result of her anger. "He's my hard work. He's the only reason I'm breathing here, next to you, today. Len, are you there?"
Blue eyes flickered once again, then stiffened, almost as if they didn't belong to a machine.
She saw a list of numerals running down his scleras as if he were bleeding equations.
Miku wanted to point out how out of place that was. She wanted to prove a point. But he responded fast, natural, as if a single thing hadn't happened.
"Yes, Mother."
Bile rose up the older woman's throat.
"So you're having him address you as 'Mother' now? Is that it?" She released a bitter laugh. "What are you doing? Mourning all the future children you'll never have with him?"
"He is my creation."
In the end he is just a false imitation, and the one thing impossible to mock was reality.
"This.. this monster you created might be." She shook her head from one side to another, teal braids following each movement with a show of unconventional distaste. "But Len isn't. Len will never be. You can give this thing his name, you can make it look as close a replica as you need, but these bits of scrap paper and bolts and human tissue that together will never be Len."
"This is Len."
"Len is dead! When will you get that?!"
That sentence was all it took for something to short circuit in Rin's head.
The woman froze numbly, considering those words to heart. Then like a switch being pushed down, she let out an audible scream. Rin threw the pillows against the ground, earrings deeper beneath the bed, and it took all she had not to pick up a glass empty of water on the table, halfway across the room until it broke against the patterned wall.
Then she screamed.
She screamed and screamed and screamed, even as Miku reached out a hand, trying to calm her lover down.
Beyond the hot tears and warm gaze, when the older woman looked up, she swore she saw a smile reaching the machine's face.
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You ever reach a point of numbness where you've experienced so much pain that a moment of joy gives you more confusion rather than ease?
That was the first line she read on a book during Sunday afternoon.
Rin dressed from head to toe in winter fashion, crawling through the bedroom closet to dig for Miku's ready assortment of outfits. Her girlfriend had never minded too much whenever she wanted to borrow clothes. Of course the key word was too much, indicating that there was still trouble surrounding it. Particularly when she refused to wash a garment after wearing it at least five times.
Lack of sleep combined with the winter season only meant she was too tired to get her priorities in order.
That meant laundry.
Even if she always despised doing laundry, even if the sun was out and shining. House chores were never her thing. She always had someone else to help her with that.
Somebody with a toothy grin, warm hands, and blinding blue eyes...
She's always loved the scent of his clothes more.
Rin looked down, towards the coffeeshop carpet, blinking at how her snow-covered boots stood out against the dark black of that wool.
"How is your progress doing?"
"Difficultly, with Miku's unhelpful input. As if I'm going to stop work on something I've already spent plentiful of time on."
"I meant how well he looks."
"Oh, just the same as ever. Handsome, if that's what you're asking." A dreamy sigh. "Still, he was a sixteen year old boy, so I kept him as a sixteen year old boy." She nudged her boot-clad toes together beneath the table. "There's nothing I can do about that, it's not as if I could predict how well he'd look as a twenty-four year old."
"Can't you?"
"Alright... maybe from handsome to excruciatingly handsome."
Her friend chuckled into her own sip of tea. "I'd expect nothing less from our best friend.. no? He had a lot of good things to live up to.. its too bad about what's happened."
"Yes, Gumi." Rin's eyes flickered. She forced her own smile. "It is too bad, isn't it?"
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The older man took a seat at the large dining table, observing multiple miniature tubes of putrid liquid that seemed thicker than glue. "For the serum.. it only needs to days to bring any plant back to life, correct?"
Identical blue eyes glared at her over the rim of his glasses.
"Yes, Father. A few drips into the soil, close to the roots."
"Have you wondered what would happen if you applied it to anything other than the usual flora? A living being, perhaps, an animal for instance?"
Her breath hitched.
She cast her gaze off to the side. "That.. that wouldn't work."
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"He's not real, Gumi, yet she parades him around our apartment like he's a god, she never keeps her eyes off him for even a second. She chooses to sleep next to him now.. bought him a bed, cleared out the guestroom, began filling it up with new furniture, polaroids and all those things. This fantasy of hers is disrespectful to Len, he would be sickened if he ever knew this was happening."
"She's in love with him. I can't blame her."
"You can't be in love with a creature without a heart!"
"If I didn't know any better, Miku, I'd say you were jealous."
Miku widened her eyes, teal and azure shades clashing together to make the most vigorous shade of displayed atrocity. She swam in disbelief, crossing her arms and leaning against the wall as her friend leant back and tossed the ball into a suave motion across the platform.
It hit half of the pins down.
"So I might be. What of it?"
"Now you know what Len's felt all those years you'd taken her from him."
"That was different!" She nearly couldn't believe her ears. "Gumi, that was a pity party between three teenagers. None of us ever knew what we were doing. This, on the other hand, is about the person I'm planning to spend the rest of my life with, an adult woman.. falling in love with a doll! It's disgusting."
Of course she understood the lack of sympathy. Len had always been Gumi's friend.
Before Rin started her project, before she became so invested in studies and research and every single thing Miku deemed took humanity away from a person. Before that night on the ferris wheel, before the weeks Len Kagamine went missing, before anything ever drove into the hell it was today.
Life always seems perfect with simpler, simpler days.
Nine years ago, today, the four of them with another member of their friend group would be lined up at this same bowling alley.
Len would sit by the side, offering more commentary than the entertainment of his own poor talent at work, while Rin would latch onto his arm, insisting she wouldn't let go until he learnt how to shut up.
It took a while before Gumi mustered enough energy to speak once again.
The girl took another ball into her grasp. "Last I heard of it, I found out she harvested brain tissue from a corpse."
Miku scowled. "That's disgusting."
"Len's corpse. Before his family took him away. I believe she's been storing it for quite some while." Gumi continued, uncaring. "I think she hopes on the possibility it could restore his memories."
Her fury doubled in the matter of seconds. "She's not restoring any memories! Len is dead!"
Gumi let out a sound laugh. It sounded just slightly bitter. "But she won't believe that."
Miku was exhausted. "That's why I'm trying to make her see reason.".
The humidity of the atrium did little to calm any nerves.
This time, all the pins were knocked down and Gumi wiped the sweat off her forehead with the back of her wrist.
"If that's happening, she's going to have to do it herself. Miku, she feels guilt over his death. This isn't about you, it's about her, and this is about Len. I think all she wants to do is replicate that night on the Wheel and tell him all the things she never got to say."
"That isn't right."
Creating a puppet, spending years and years and bending everyone down to her will until she got what she thought she deserved.
It was manipulation at it's finest, and each and every single one of that girl's friends got their hands and feet stuck across her finely-spun spiderweb as she thread more lies through their fingertips.
How cruel.
The young woman looked up hopefully, biting back tears.
All she got in return was a sigh.
Gumi shook her head. "It might not be, but if this is the only thing that can set her mind at peace, then so be it. Could you pass me another ball?"
Miku uncrossed her arms and moved off the wall to be of help.
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Rin sat on the edge of the windowsill, feet hitting the wall while an open laptop lay on the cushions, open tabs waiting to be explored. But those were the least of her worries, especially she had time to dally later. Right now the only thing that mattered was those blue eyes staring back at her.
They weren't like the old ones. They weren't. They didn't have that expectant look, those cheeks didn't heat as red, and he sure as hell didn't look like he wanted to bend down and taste her lips.
Rin cupped his cheeks. "Len."
A monotone voice responded from those pale cherry lips. "Yes, Mother?"
Her partner's words flashed in her mind, that feminine voice scratching at the memory in her ears, leaving a foul taste across her tongue.
It seemed she should've programmed it in his code to address her differently than relying vocal intelligence on basic voice tracks. "I don't want you to call me Mother."
"What would you like to be called?"
"Rin." She brought his ear up to her cheeks, holding the weight of his head in her arms. "With emotion. Speak like you always would, Len. Say my name like you're in love with me. Say my name like how you would when you hold me, promising to never let me go."
A crystal tear rolled down her cheeks before she could stop herself. And then another, another, another.
The monotone voice replied, not at all with a change of tone, "Yes, Rin."
Not even with that familiar, odd tilt of his head in confusion, or the cheeky grin on his lips whenever the boy knows he was caught in the wrong.
So she cried.
As quietly as she could.
Hiding her tears into the hem of his shirt as she begged to god that she would one day find a way to make those arms she created find their way to hug her in return. To embrace her, like he used to, like how he should.
As if she finally moved eight years back in the past, and never did any thing but to stop, breathe, and admire the last time she would see moonlight dance in his living eyes.
"Say it again. Rin." She coaxed, whispering as her lips moved against the lobe of his ear. "Gently, Len."
But he had no emotion. "Rin."
"Try again. Lower your voice and repeat after me; Rin."
"Rin."
Her biggest fear was that he never would.
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"Hey, Rin, I brought your favourite back for dinner.." Miku rapped on the bedroom door before turning the knob.
She expected the other woman to be curdled up in bed with her invention, sending pleasant gratefulness to the heavens, or at the very least just staring into those cold blue eyes with all the warmth she could gather in the world.
It wasn't too similar.
Rin Kagamine was sitting on the bed, an open laptop in her lap while threads of cables and scattered paper sheets lay across the carpet.
And sprawled in the midst of it was her lifeless, inanimate doll. "His voice tracks are corrupted," She explained frantically. "I tried to change the pitch frequency whenever he says certain words to add in an emotion factor, but he started heating up."
"What do you think caused it?"
"Too much growl ー but I won't know for sure until I reboot him. I'm sorry, I can't have dinner with you tomorrow night."
Miku smiled bitterly.
She mocked a sweet tone beneath her breath. "It's alright. I knew you wouldn't bother to, even if you could."
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Gumi wasn't too surprised to find the familiar sight of a woman sprawled across her living room couch, idly watching the television streaming yet another rerun of an old film while snacking on chocolate-coated chips and berries.
Those snacks were by no doubt stolen from her fridge.
She decidedly took off her own sweatshirt, cranked up the heater and flopped down onto a cushion. "Winter isn't being kind this year."
"It isn't." Miku laughed in agreement. Her thick sock-clad legs dangled off the air. "Yet neither is Rin."
The other girl quirked a brow. "Did she kick you out of your bedroom again?"
"No, but she's already allowing that stupid robot to sleep in our bed and I'd rather not deal with any short-circuits when there's a good way to prevent it."
Gumi kicked the carpet further beneath her feet.
The water tumbler in her lap condensed hurriedly, leaving wet trails across matured skin. "I would've thought you had dinner plans with her today? You did mention your anniversary."
"Cancelled. I had enough to compete with when Len was here. Except at least that was worth fighting for.. now he's gone, and she's disrespecting his name by creating something against humanity."
"This was her life project ー at sixteen years old I was worrying over my final exams, and she was already working on something as large as this. As her partner I would've thought you'd be more supportive."
"It's disgusting."
"Miku, I can't understand the reason why you're so against it.. unless," Olive eyes flickered. "You don't consider him a doll. You're afraid. You think by every passing day, she's getting closer and closer to bringing him back. And where would that leave you?"
"Shut up." She growled into a pillow. "I bet you're happy.. I'm finally on the losing side of the war."
"Don't get me wrong. I am happy. It was always just the three of us.. Me, Len and Rin. We were a trio, you know? Until you came along.."
"It wasn't my fault Rin chose me."
"But it is your fault that Len's gone." Gumi took a sip of water. "Even you can't deny that."
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The ocean is lilac, whiles skies ombre brown and crimson.
Those thick, blonde lashes bat against her fingers as he wakes up. "Rin," He coos, sweetly, her name being the first thing he says. Her heart threatens to leap out of her chest. "Rin."
"Perfect." She says in response, holding his cheeks in her hands. "Len Kagamine ー off."
"Len Kagamine," The machine inside him whirls. He repeats his name after her. The tenderness in his voice fades, like a fallen lily to crisp grass, to leaving behind the faded text in a paper cutout. "Systems shutting down."
She pulls the cable out from his chest, then shuts down the device in her lap before cradling herself against his unbeating chest.
The bedroom door opens.
Miku Hatsune slips in, a foul taste dancing on her neither of them hardly blink once as she pulls her luggage across the carpet and over to the little wardrobe on the left, where she can begin pulling out her coats and dresses off the hangers one by one.
Her lover observes with widened eyes. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere you'll chase me to."
Rin waves the sentence off dismissively as if another play in her gaze. She was more excited to discuss what improvements she made.
Even if Miku wanted to hear none of it.
Even if the fall of the woman's shoulders spoke everything she wanted to say.
Her voice was bright as she chirped, "I changed the values in his eyes, they should be able to follow his emotions now."
"Unless you've put a drop of that serum you made for his heart into his brain, he will never be able to feel anything."
Miku scoffed as the younger girl stiffened. Wrinkled her nose as her smile fell. "Don't you dare say that."
"It's true, isn't it? Your father's company invested three hundred million in your serum when all it took to develop such a miracle surprisingly took only a quarter of the funds. You spent the rest of the money on research for your doll."
"I delivered, and that's all that matters."
"You think I don't know the real reason you developed the serum? You think I don't know how you want to dig his entire body up from the grave and start fresh? This doll of yours is only a prototype. You never considered a saviour from famine. You started this all because of your own selfishness and you won't stop until the end."
"Not a word, Miku."
"You just wanted to bring back your dead little boyfriend."
"GET OUT."
Miku slung the strap of the bag over her shoulder. The wheels hit against her hips, but she didn't do so little as wince.
Her lips parted, cherry red, like the final breath leaving Len Kagamine's lips. "Anything for you."
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Heart and brain systems in check. The empty vial sits beside the lady's lap in the dark, red liquid dripping off the tip. She'd finished connecting all his possible nerves overnight. The empty spot beside her in the bed was filled by him, by his warmth, by his blue eyes when she flicks on his switch.
She vaguely wonders whether this was a dream.
And if it is, she wasn't sure whether she ever wanted it to end.
"Len," She whispers beneath the night. "How much do you love me?"
He closes his eyes. Calculates a response.
And finally, finally decides on a track to copy; "More than life can ever imagine."
A drip of tear rolls down the sheets beneath them. It sounds so real, so much like him, from the little quake at every pitch and the drop that shadows a silhouette of light.
Rin edges closer until their shoulders touch.
She takes a deep breath as her body trembles. "Will you make love to me?"
"I... I..." His eyes flicker, up, down. Light flashes within them. She swallows the bile down her throat as he parts his mouth to speak once again. "Error computing request. Please try again."
The serum needed more time to activate.
No, no, she was being a bit too rash. She might as well upload more external sources for his speech tracks in the mean time. Rin shook her head. Surely, there was a brighter side of the sky.
All she had to do was search for it.
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"How's he going?"
"Good. I'm letting him rest for now, his core was heating up so I'm preparing to upgrade the cooler inside of him."
"Have you heard from Miku?"
"No, Gumi." Rin adjusted her washcloth, massaging some polish onto the flesh of the machine's shoulder. "And I wouldn't want to. I've had enough of her. All she does is weigh me down with questions. When are you going to introduce me to your parents, when are you going to finish work on your project, when are you this, when are you that... as if I don't have better things to do."
Her friend tried to hide a frown behind the fringe of her green hair.
She bent on her knees, staring at the project coming to life before her very eyes.
"I thought you loved her."
"Of course I do. I still do. It's just.. right now, my priority is Len." She flickered her gaze. "Just because I love her doesn't mean I can't love him too." Those pretty blue eyes blinked at them, registering their faces in mock confusion. "Remember.. don't tell anyone about this. Only you, me, and Miku know. I'm just praying she knows how to keep her mouth shut."
"Until when?"
"Until the New Years fair." She kisses Len's cold cheek, once, then another time on the other side. "Everything will soon be perfect."
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It worked.
The serum worked.
After years and years of storing that brain in ice, just one drop of that serum brought it back to life. His back was attached to a simulator and Rin sat infront of the boy, hands in her lap as she observed him. His eyes were clouded and she knew even if she sat on his lap and stared right into his gaze, he wouldn't be able to look back.
He was reliving a memory.
She chose the one with the highest frequency, first, to test his maximum capability, but then he started jittering so she opted for the second memory on the list.
She scanned the previous one for any corruptions while the machine analysed the loading data before running it through a program.
It finished soon enough.
His body moved frantically even as his chest was strapped to the seat. Whatever he was experiencing, the emotions were vastly strong. Enough to get him carried away.
Reliving a memory was the best way for the program to make the machine duplicate Len's behaviour.
She wondered what only one session could do for his mind. His eyes were no longer a blinding blue, instead pure white. Rin dared herself to step forwards to tug at the strap on his wrists, releasing his body from the confinements when she saw how he struggled against the bonds.
His touch immediately flew to his crotch.
The young woman bit the inside of her cheek a few times, attempting to figure it out until the realisation flashed past her mind, she froze up, then finally understood. Her cheeks dusted gold and rose, hands pushing against the masculine nails that aggressively scratched the material of his jeans. Her own dainty fingers dared to tug down his zipper.
Five inches of his length stood, half-erected. Rin sat by as he grasped his member in a hand almost too gratefully.
She moved her mouth against his thigh as a congratulations.
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Family dinners were progressively getting colder, with a lack of comforting hold that tossed her further away rather than lured her in.
Miku had asked to come over the previous week, when they were still on speaking terms. Rin couldn't help but wonder how much horrible the night would be if she had to introduce her girlfriend to a family such as this.
She rubbed her cheek, subconsciously, as if feeling the warmth of violet-glossed lipstick over her skin.
There was nothing there. But for a minute she could close her eyes and imagine; ombre teal locks that was pitch black at the roots tangling with her own straw blonde. A slightly larger, gentle hand, entwined with her own, not pushing her forwards but instead reassuring that she'd have someone to catch her it she fell back.
Rin would rather cry alone than to drag somebody else in. Or at least, not her.
The sound of her father's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "If you could just give me a few more samples, behind the company's eye ー "
The young woman clicked her tongue. "It's far too dangerous. You could cause disruption on earth, maybe even something against humanity. Whatever it is, Father, I'd want no part of it."
"All it is is a Herbal Serum, Rin, I hardly think it's anything worth fretting about. Don't forget who gave you such capabilities to develop this product in the first place. You might as well consider yourself indebted to me."
Rin poked at the stray mushroom swimming in her soup.
The grandfather clock chimed as her mother cleared her throat, suggesting they pour out another round of wine.
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Miku curled inwards on the mattress. A feathered pillow cuddled to her chest while strands of green hair tickled her nose. Both women stared at each other in the dark, reeling in nothing more than the comfort of their silence. The blanket was hardly enough to cover two of their bodies but they found a way to manage.
Gumi scoffed, almost wanting to look away. "If you're going to thank me for the hundredth time tonight..."
"No, I wasn't going to.. I promise." Even if her gratitude went beyond bounds.
The one person who would always be willing to take someone in need beneath their roof, even on their very own bed, because while her tongue dropped in venom, she still harboured the heart of a mountain.
Miku kissed the girl's cheek.
A cricket chirped outside the window, and out came a quiet giggle. "Gumi, I apologise about everything I've said about Len.."
"Don't be. He was an asshole, anyways."
"Was he?"
"The sweetest asshole I'd ever met." Gumi laughed softly in return. There were stars in her eyes. "I was proud to call him my partner in crime.. while it lasted."
The other woman stressed her brows. "While it lasted?"
"When he left, he took away my heart.. all the while ripping Rin's along with it. For that, I will never forgive." She looked off, shyly, no doubt wanting to change their conversation in that of a lighter one. But it seemed the topic she had in mind was anything but light. "So... about Rin."
The cover over their bodies suddenly felt much too hot.
Miku crawled a few inches away, quirking a brow. She held up one dainty, pink-polished finger against the older girl's lips. "Whatever you're going to say, I don't want to hear it."
"Nooo... well, I mean. When I talked to Len about it, he always answered everything I wanted to ask."
"You're going to ask me about sex, aren't you?"
Bingo.
"Wasn't it obvious enough?" Her grin was blinding. Miku huffed her cheeks and craned her head to the side, causing her friend to issue another cry. "Come on! I'm the only one out of the three of us that hasn't had sex with Rin. I've gotten over her by now, but that had always been my longest standing high-school fantasy, alright?"
This time, the woman was aghast. "Len's had sex with Rin?"
"You're rather slow on the uptake, aren't you?"
"When?"
"I don't know.. about a few months before you transferred into our school? They had a good relationship around then." She counted her fingers physically. They stretched out in the air, as if to grasp the ceiling. "You're one year older than us, aren't you? So.. about fifteen?"
"I lost my virginity at twenty. How unfair."
"I haven't lost mine at all." The responsive giggle following the sentence made her growl childishly. "Don't mock me."
"Sorry, it's just... you.. well, um," Miku snapped her teeth onto her bottom lip. "Maybe.. do you want to lose it right now?"
Gumi choked on air.
She had to sit up, her chest heaving as her friend pounded her back with a fist. Both of the women flushed, the older one with regret shown over her red cheeks and the younger with a look of either worry or indescribable hesitation.
"To who? You?"
"I was just... I didn't mean it. I was just asking."
"Right. Right." The younger woman looked away.
They let the winter breeze drift through the open window, brushing the stiff air away.
"Goodnight, Gumi."
Gumi let out a soft sigh before responding. "Goodnight, Miku."
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"Rin, I love you."
She didn't have to teach him how to say that.
She didn't have to look through any old files, implement any videos, give him knowledge from an external source. No, she knew the work spent on his mind was finally working, and Len Kagamine was speaking entirely from his memories. Some light flickered across his teeth, blinding white resembling electricity.
Rin was too busy staring into his eyes to notice.
"Len, I love you too."
And in typical fashion, the machine smiled, that irresistible Len smile, "But Len loves Rin more."
"Yes Len does," Her voice was a coo, "As he always should."
She brushed a golden strand of hair behind her ears before bending down, her tongue swirling the tip of his pink head in a sloppy kiss.
Her fingers massaged the foreskin back, she didn't take her views off him, taking in every little sight of the calculation spinning through his eyes and the little hiss he issues in return.
"Ahn," He says. A little too tonelessly. Rin's way of retaliation is to take his member all the way down to the base, where the point of his sharpness reaches the back of her throat.
She moans around him.
The machine releases a more reassuring sound in return.
Rin moves away, pushing herself up to press her nose against his cheek. Her hand continues it's assault on his dignity, massaging his scrotum with vigor. "Do you know how to cum, Len?"
She takes in his smell. Of fake sweat that she creates of lavender and berries and of that Len Smell she could never exactly replicate.
He nods his head.
"Cum, Len." She husks beneath his ear.
Her hand is a mess of white only one second later.
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A whisper of her own name sounds in Miku's ear. The crickets chirped louder, and the summer wind outside was the coldest night of the season. The woman pulled the sheets closer towards her body, groaning in frustration.
She could hear an audible sigh from beside her, sharing the same pillow.
But that wasn't where the sound of her name was coming from. Not Gumi. Only because Gumi was still asleep, and it'd take nothing short of an actual minestorm to get this woman to awaken before five in the morning, especially when the wall clock only said they were a few minutes past midnight. "Miku!"
She felt her brows stress.
The hairs on her arms sat still as she left the bed, her feet swimming across the ragged carpet and she saw a white face staring back at her through the window.
The younger woman tapped on the window, causing her to almost scream. "Rin, what are you doing here?!"
"I came to bring you home." Rin responded, blue eyes bright and glowing against the moon. She didn't seem too affected by the hiss she'd gotten for response.
"No.. no you aren't," She retorted, taking a step back from the glass. "What's the real reason you're here?"
"To bring you home." Her partner persisted. "Come. I'll alert Gumi in the morning."
"You told me to leave. I left. I'm not coming back."
"Can you stop being stubborn? I'm finished with the project! It's all ready, and Len's completely ー "
"Stay with him then." Miku reached for the glass slider to draw the windows close. "And don't look for me again."
The look in those blue, gentle eyes, as her shoulders broke beneath the tresses of gold easily broke the older woman's heart.
She tightened the scarf around her neck, keeping refuge from the winter cold and the snow piling on the top of her head.
Miku turned away, refusing to let herself melt and fall back in the position of Rin Kagamine's pawn. But at the end of the day, she found she had no heart to do that, especially not to the woman she loved the most. So she turned around, went to reopen the window, only to discover that the blonde had already gone.
And not without leaving her chest quaking with a sense of lost.
She padded back to the bed, taking her halve of the blanket and staring at the ceiling.
The warmth of Gumi's breath on her neck was no longer reassuring to Miku Hatsune. It likely never had been.
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.
The machine whirls, teeth grinding togethe, blue eyes lighting to pink, then green, before turning to face her.
Rin stared back with red cheeks. She decides to voice out another one of her repeated questions. "Will you make love to me?"
And in the end, he gives her nothing more than what she already has. "Error computing request. Please try again."
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As a larger body encased her in warmth, so did a hot breath caress her ear. Mingling, like a gentle whisper, lap replacing the pillow she'd drenched hours in tears. Rin blinked away the fog in her eyes like a machete cutting through smoke.
Her tongue fell limp and dry in her mouth.
It tasted like acid.
There Miku Hatsune was, no doubt knowing she caught the young woman's heart in one hand. "You came back." Rin laughed dryly. "Why?"
"You're looking miserable." Miku opted not to answer the question. She looked down, towards the mess ot cables over their bedroom floor and the acclaimed doll with steam coming out his ankles. "Did he overheat or did you turn him off on purpose?"
"He's broken."
"Broken because he won't work anymore, or because he won't work the way you want him to?"
Rin wiped away the wet marks on her cheeks. "The latter.. but that's the only reason he's created for, isn't it? That's the reason why he's here. He has to work exactly the way I made him to be, or else there's no point for his existence.. or mine, for that matter."
"Then make him work." A click of the tongue. "Try over and over again without giving up. If you fail, do it again.. because Len and I fell in love with you for a reason, so don't you dare for a second let that reason fade away."
The gentle kiss on her cheek was all it took to bring the blonde back to life.
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With the help of a particular olive-haired woman that had surprisingly not reached her limits after being reduced as a comfort pillow, a roof to spend the night beneath, and continuously being used by both girls as a punching bag (for words) with hardly any discrepancy towards her own views or emotions.. alongside Miku, who had long promised to stay by Rin's side through thick and thin before recently renewing that oath under the balcony moonlight.
It didn't take long to load the machine inside a bag then wheel him into that dark burrow of the blonde's laboratory beneath unseeing eyes, then strap him up to the needed equipment.
"His memory files are corrupted, you say?" Gumi darted a tongue out to wet her lips.
She was eyeing the machine closely, finding each and every little similarity for true resemblance with her old friend.
Rin shook her head. "Only the first one.. but I managed to clean it up before we got down here."
"We should try it, then."
"That.. that isn't necessary."
"Why? What was the last memory you've got him to stimulate about?"
Rin felt her cheeks heat. She hoped nobody would notice her stammer.
"Nothing at all. Yes, alright, I agree, we should.. test him.." Nothing should go wrong. Hopefully this memory was more vague rather than being explicit enough to moan out her name in the midst of his daydreams. She doesn't know how to redeem her own self worth if her companions witnesses that. " Miku, could you turn off the light? It disrupts his focus."
The room was encased in darkness just one minute later. Yhe blonde reattached the cable to her laptop and did one final run over the file size before tapping it twice.
"Rin... R-Rin.."
Len Kagamine jolted.
The wires restrained his arms as he let out a scream, then a hurried pant ー along with everything that sounded far too humane. Rin was about to take a step forwards to check him when a dainty hand held her back. Miku shook her head solemnly, signaling that they needed to wait.
"Miku, let go! He's in pain!"
"It's just a memory, Rin, it's not real!"
"No, let go of me! LET GO! Gumi, shut it down! Shut the computer down!"
Another whirl of gears. Electricity flew out of the knick between his collar, as Len Kagamine released another whimper and a soundless scream. "Rin... love.. you... I a-aaah... crrrr ー crrr ーlooove. .. I love..."
Recognition coloured the young woman's gaze as she tugged at her own restraints. "GUMI! SHUT IT DOWN!"
"... why don't.... you. .. why won't ー crr ー love me..."
"I LOVE YOU! LEN, I LOVE YOU! LISTEN TO ME! LEN!"
"I'll... crrrr ー fa.. fall. .. I.. . fall for... you.. for.. . you.. "
Another scream, another whimper, and his gears whirled one last time. The sound of a fuse explosion crackled inside his body, and Gumi regained enough of herself to muster enough energy and pull out the cables before any damage went beyond repair.
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"That was the New Years night, wasn't it?" Gumi was the first to break their silence. "The memory we just saw."
All three women huddled up in bed. Rin laid in the middle, staring up at the ceiling, dreaming of falling stars because by hell would they come to land in her hands. Not when the world has sunk this low. Not when she drowns in an ocean with no bottom, no sand.
Rin felt Miku caress the back of her head.
She couldn't sleep alone.
And the look on her face made it impossible for any of them to.
It felt like she was five again, soon being nine, then twelve, all with that hand being just slightly warmer and larger, holding her own. It felt like Len was sitting right next to her in bed, holding her again, and when she blinks her eyes she knows it's nothing more than another daydream in the night. "He never said any of that... well, most... most of it"
"What do you mean?"
"The.. serum can only look for the nearest resemblance. It invigorates only the roots.. not the soil." She took a deep breath. "His memory displays his emotions. His inner feelings. Everything he felt in that moment, in that time, but not exactly in the way he portrayed them."
"Like extracting a filter and throwing away what was cleansed?"
".. Yes."
Because he hadn't told her how he felt. She never heard any screams, or any breathless cries. He just held her held once, gave a kiss goodbye, and jumped.
The next thing she knew, so did her heart.
"The serum.. it isn't just used for his brain, is it?" The eldest of three wondered later that night.
A few feet behind them, Miku was fast asleep on a couch pillow. They were still resting in Gumi's house, Rin Kagamine sitting up at a computer desk in the small living room, the inanimate body of the machine sitting atop the surface with the charred remains of skin tissue dangling off his neck.
Rin was trying to sow it back on.
The needle poked her finger, but she didn't care as long as there was enough thread to get things finished.
The dry streaks on her cheeks needn't be wiped, and she needed no more rest until he was at the state he needed to be.
"Correct. His blood. All of him.. otherwise this body I created wouldn't have been able to handle half of the things he's already suffered."
"But his memory and behaviour doesn't come from Len, does it? It's like when you want to say no to somebody, no matter how hard you try, you end up saying yes, even if your former intentions are the complete opposite ー the machine inside him can't register that."
"Correct. If he thinks in affirmative but he speaks out a negative.. the stimulation can only force him to speak out the affirmative. It doesn't remember a person's personality, it only remembers... their thoughts. And if someone is honest, that's fine... but we both know how often Len actually speaks out his mind."
They looked down glumly. It's surprising how Rin can still speak as steadily as as she can now.
Running on lack of sleep and a heartache, but she won't stop until she gets what she's hoping to achieve.
Gumi cleared her throat. "How did you make him look so..."
Accurate, down to every little freckle and the dimples on his cheeks.
She didn't have to finish her sentence to be understood.
Blue eyes opened, ones that aren't hers, and Rin lazily reached for the button beneath his ear.
His teeth grinded, soon coming to a stop. "Len Kagamine rebooting."
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One last try. She was standing by her bedroom windowsill on Sunday morning, Gumi had went to her daily life, and Miku to work then weekly grocery shopping. She insisted they go and not to be worried about being left alone.
Her hand traced a photograph on the wall. Of a boy with the blinding smile that reached both ends of his ears and careful hands one feet behind her, making sure he'd have the opportunity to catch if she ever fell.
This time she'd change places, she'd let him take the lead, with her arms stretching out towards him.
Rin took on a sip of her coffee when the sound of glass broke behind her.
A hand covered her mouth.
Miku, the name muffled through her lips. But when she spun around, it wasn't Miku.
Instead she saw red. Red lips, red eyes, in place of what should have been blue. "Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin ー "
Another hand fell beneath her reach. He binded her arms with his own, pressed her against the wall until it hurt to breathe.
"Why did you let me leave, Rin? Why did you let me leave? Do I not mean anything to you, Rin?"
"Mm... mm...h!"
She wrestled against his binds, tried to reach the button beneath his ear and scream for a saviour.
His warm hand grasped her breast and she could do little more than issue a breathless cry. His hand moved from her mouth, and he thrust his tongue into her lips ー but no matter how many times she attempted to resist or push him out, he succeeded, leaving her to take it. His hands were too hot, and his mouth cold. She felt no comfort being in his hold.
"Len ー Len Kagamine," Her chin tilted to the side. "Off! Reboot!"
"Unregistered command," The robotic voice mocked her. "Please try again."
She fell backwards against the carpet. Slender fingers wrapped themselves around her neck, yet, just before she saw white, a harsh hand slapped against the button beneath the machine's ear, and she felt the heavy weight falling onto her own.
Miku was standing there, breathless, tears in her eyes.
"Len Kagamine... shut down."
"M ーMiku.." The younger woman choked out, arms reaching from an embrace.
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Rin sat on the bed, hot chocolate with marshmallows in hand.
A blanket wrapped her entirety.
"Were you stimulating another memory?" Miku questioned gently. When the blonde shook her head, she took another breath followed by a frustrated hum. "He's dangerous, Rin. I already warned you about creating something that goes against humanity. Who knows what would've happened to you if I hadn't come back early?"
"Don't talk about him like that..."
"Are you still being delusional? You have to destroy him, Rin, there's no working way around that!"
"HE'S MINE!" She yelled out. Froze, then turned away, with her heart threatening to beat out of her chest. "No, no, I'm sorry.. just, please, don't take him away from me. Not.. not again. Not now. Not when I'm not ready."
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She waited outside the University campus. Ten minutes after Gumi's last class, and exactly two hours before her shift at the library.
The snow beated on her shoulders and Miku draped her scarf tighter around her bodice, hoping for more refuge against the cold.
She didn't hold back on her words the moment she caught sight of the woman she was searching for, however. Gumi barely had a second to react before she was pulled into the nearest alleyway, her back against the brick wall and white frost on her shoes.
Her hiss came out in a puff of steam. "Tell me what you and Rin are hiding about Len Kagamine."
"What?" Her friend looked aghast. "Miku, what do you think you're doing?"
She tried to wrench her hand out of the strong grasp, but Miku's hold was far too strong. "He tried to suffocate my girlfriend. I think I deserve an explanation."
"Strangled..? The systems must've malfunctioned."
"Don't give me that face. I'm not an idiot and I'm not letting you go until you explain it down to every last drop." She crossed her arms. "I overheard you and Rin talking a few nights ago.. about the 'replicating emotions rather than actions' nonsense, but if either of you have said was right, that means Len Kagamine really has wanted to inflict harm upon Rin and I can't stand to tolerate this mess."
"Look," Gumi brushed the imaginary dirt off her jacket, even in the gaps where the snow didn't reach. "You've met Len before. You've talked to him, you know him, and if you had any common sense you'd know that he's the gentlest human being to grace this planet."
"Gentle human beings don't jump to their deaths in front of a helpless fifteen year old girl!"
"He was just as much of a child as she was!" The younger woman hissed, a fire lighting in her eyes. "He didn't know any better!"
He didn't.
But he did what he thought was best for Rin, and that was plenty more than the two of them could ever do.
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Dinner plans on Christmas Eve had been cancelled for another research week underground in her laboratory, where the blonde smacked on junk food and dried celery where her partner has to come down every now and then to deliver nutrients from the groceries that would actually keep her alive.
She'd finished up writing a letter to send to her father on matters about the serum; usage on anything separate from botanical research or growth was strictly forbidden, specified on written form with her own name.
Rin stared through the dark glass to eye the machine. A roomy box compartment kept him safe and within her range of sight at all times.
"I'm going to freshen him up with a lighter memory.. then I'll try to relive another one without him going through a stimulation. I just need you to stand by and keep watch in case anything goes wrong. Like last time."
"How will I know?"
"Trust me, you'll know."
"So you just want me to ー what, sit back and watch him pamper you?"
Rin shot her lover a pleading gaze. She didn't reply as she pushed the box'a door open and took a step inaide. There was a sound turn of the lock clicking behind her.
Four walls of dark glass surrounded them. They couldn't see outside, but she knew it was possible to look inside.
Miku was watching her.
She was safe.. she was safe, and Len would definitely never harm her. Even as he jolted back to life.
She took off the glasses on his eyes and the cables attached to his spine. The young woman was pleasantly surprised to find those eyes a deep blue instead of the frightening red, stepping forwards to run her hands through his hair and lure the machine forwards for a sweet kiss.
His teeth slammed together, and hands moved against the restraints until she stepped forward to undo it.
"Len," She called out, catching his line of vision. "What is my name?"
"... Rin." He responded, sweet like melted honey. "Rin Kagamine. Rin. Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin, Rin..."
Blue eyes suddenly flashed to red, and Rin hastily pressed her mouth onto his own to see it return to blue.
He needed her constant willing touch to keep himself from going inasane. She couldn't deny her thrill towards the power she held over him. Her heart beat rapidly against her chest. "Who am I to you?"
The machine sighed. "The person I.. . love most."
"What do you want to do to the person you love most?" Her thighs draped forwards, spreading her knees over his lap as she propped up on leverage. Her nose was level with his own, this time, she wasn't sure whether this was a dream. "Have you ever wanted to show me? Tell me."
She heard a tap beyond the glass. But that was the least of her worries when Len latched his lips on the side of her neck and began his trail down, as she, in response, released her breathless cries.
She didn't beg for a pause until the very end.
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"The three of us.. we don't come from good families." The way Gumi spoke about something so personal without any sort of pressure stood out at first, but Miku decided she shouldn't make too much of a fuss about it on a sleepy Saturday morning.
The skies were gloomy and grey, and they took refuge in a coffee shop watching some pigeons flock in the air as the blanketed snow began to melt ever so slightly to welcome the end of winter.
Back to the subject.
Miku brought her hot tea to her lips, signaling the other woman to carry on as her ears were open.
"The only thing we had close to a real supporting family was each other. Rin has the typical you have to be the best at everything parents. I'm the one with divorced parents that think switching me from one school to another every year isn't detrimental to a child's health at all." Gumi poked her marshmallow with a fork. "Len.. somehow got the two-in-one package."
"What? High expectations, broken family?"
A bitter laugh.
As the woman sipped her hot chocolate, the creamy froth of milk and melted marshmallow decorated the top of her lips. She wiped it away dismissively with a sleeve. "Yes. He scored the real deal. And if it wasn't bad enough, he ended up as the fourth child.. growing under the expectations of three older brothers. And all who will achieve far more than he has, and ever will."
"But he's smart, isn't he? I remember Rin always harassing him for school notes until I offered her to take all of my past year textbooks as reference." Miku looked back at the memory fondly. "I felt bad about him having to share the biology notes he'd written for himself."
Apparently her opinion stood alone.
The doorbell tinkled, and a young family walked in with red noses and excited squeals to get away from the cold. Of two toddlers that clung to each side of their mother's leg, and a father that held onto their coats, escorting them to a seat.
Both women stared for a moment, then soon looked away, paying it little more mind than an average everyday scene.
Or it was to Miku. To Gumi, it was almost alien.. and she had no doubt that Rin and Len were the only people that could understand.
"He hated you for that. The papers." She looked down. "Len made an entire big show of being grateful that you'd snapped him out of his misery, constantly having to be Rin's personal homework slave.. but in reality, in his eyes, you were taking away his worth from the only person that thought he mattered."
"He never said anything about that."
"Of course he never. He's Len."
Being Len meant putting every single person in front of yourself, until there's nothing left in the world to force you into standing for.
Gumi shook her head once more. "At least Rin kept his legacy, even if not in name."
"The doll?"
"Not the doll. The serum; Len Kagamine's finest invention."
"Len's ー ?"
"You didn't think Rin could think up something like that all on herself, did you?" Her chin rested on her knitted fingers. "No, she stumbled across some scrap papers on the prototype in his belongings.. the night after his fall." She looked outside, at the dry trees without any hint of flowers or bloom. "Len has always adored springtime over any other season."
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Rin fell asleep with a smile that night after what could've been days. Perhaps even weeks.
Gumi eyed her friend tiredly, sipping on her cup of coffee while Miku laid back to stare at the sky through the open window.
"New year's eve is tomorrow." The younger woman mentioned, green hair and green eyes looking almost pale, no longer in their usual vigor. "You mentioned how she's preparing to shut him down."
".. Yes."
And they'll go back to their normal, normal lives.
The taste is suddenly more bitter than sweet on their tongues.
"I don't think she'll be able to handle it. Not with how happy she is now ー the experiment was a success. He.. he recognises her now, he remembers his speech patterns and what he feels whenever he sees her, whenever he's near her. It's almost like the machine is the real thing."
Gumi tucked a strand of her own locks behind her ear. "But that's not Len, is it?"
"Not.. Len?"
"Like I've said. Being Len is not to follow his mind, but to follow his heart. No matter what he desires, he will always think of Rin's happiness first.. even if that means the disappearance of his." Her eyes moved to the side, towards the sleeping girl. "The one thing you, Len and I have in common is our love for Rin Kagamine. But the person who loves Rin most iswithout a doubt, Len."
"I'm in love with Rin ー " Miku was interrupted before she could finish.
"Yes you are. I am. But not as much as he was." A fine finger drummed against the wooden table. "Miku, you were right from the start;. Rin is so drunk on his love because he's never shown it so truly towards her before. Because the machine refuses to filter his mind. Now it feels as if she refuses to see reason even if it stands right before her feet."
"Gumi, that's not..."
"But we don't have to worry."
"... Don't we?"
"Yes. Because Rin has always loved you most, out of the three of us." Her lips looked sickly as she smiled. "That's a fact. She tolerates me, she adores Len, but she has and will always love you until the end."
Until each wish becomes her command.
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Flowers lit up the sky in an array of colours, fuchsia and crimson, brightening her eyes. She looked around the glass enclosing them, to the ground twenty feet below, the familiar gentle grin, the dimples reaching his cheeks
"Isn't it beautiful, Len?"
"Not as.. . crrr.. beautiful as... you. .. "
Her fingers reached out to massage his throat.
"Shhh, you're alright." She brought his lips down to her own. "You don't have to worry anymore. I love you, Len."
Rin touched the spot beneath his ear.
"Look around you and tell me what you've always wanted to say."
He responded, eyes closing, all before they turned white. "I love yo... you... Rin."
The young woman smiled, allowing his words to slip to her mind and mean more than just a careless whisper. Dream of younger days, where he would encase her in his larger arms and keep her feeling safe. The image of teal braids and a cherry kiss on her cheeks interrupted the moment.
She shook her head, waiting for the last minutes of serenity. The last minutes she had before she had to give him up.
Because in the end, she loved Len too much. Enough that a carbon copy of his reminiscences will never be enough.
She clicked the button for the last time.
"Len Kagamine, delete."
It started here, and so it had to end here, too.
"Deletion of Len Kagamine.. complete."
ughhh this is a mess
anyways, here was my take on the (robot & mad scientist) prompt. this was sitting in my documents for three months, honestly, but it was a bit scary to approach so i filled the previous chapters with lighter things. but now I think we've Finally caught up on the requests