(A/N) This chapter is a bit on the shorter side, but considering the events of the previous chapters I think it's warranted.
Disclaimer - This story was written with AI Dungeon just for fun, meaning that some stuff was written by me and others were written by the AI. This results in OOC moments, especially in James' case, and chaotic energy in general. It's also why my writing style is different since this is mostly AI generated.
I also do not own these franchises or their characters. Silent Hill belongs to KONAMI, Resident Evil belongs to CAPCOM, and Final Fantasy IX and NieR:Automata belong to SQUARE ENIX.
Chapter 18: Comatose
Two weeks later...
James woke up on his couch in the living room. It was quiet.
He sat up and rubbed his eyes, staring blankly at his TV. He was still processing what had happened all those weeks ago.
Heather was still unconscious and was in James' bed, since she needed somewhere to sleep. There was no telling when she'd wake up 'all vamped out,' as Zidane had eloquently put it. Piers was in the process of going over 9S' notes to create the vaccine, but he was struggling. Ideally, 9S would be making it and having it administered in just a few days, however, he still hadn't resumed functioning since the incident.
Piers had looked him over and, with his limited knowledge, was able to gather that his system was going through an anti-virus scan, self repair, and reboot, which seemed to be taking a while. He theorised that the shock Simmons inflicted must have muddled with his systems, or something.
It didn't stop James worrying, though.
Zidane, on the other hand, left two days ago to see if he could track down Simmons, Shrek, and Wesker. He said he'd call once he found them.
James sighed and leaned back into the couch. He had a lot to do, and he still had no idea what was going on or even who he was.
He stood and left the room. He wanted to check in on Heather, and see how she was doing.
He found her in his bed, sleeping peacefully.
James shook her gently on the shoulder. She didn't move.
He smiled. Relieved that Piers still had some time to make the cure.
He backed out of the room and closed the door.
James sighed. He wanted to check on 9S next just to see if he had woken up, or not.
He found his way to 9S' room and paused at the door. He was nervous, even afraid, to go in.
After a moment, he opened the door.
As expected, the room was dark and quiet.
He stepped in.
"Hello?" he whispered softly as he shut the door behind him.
He slowly made his way to the bed and sat down.
"Hello?" he whispered.
He gently shook 9S.
"Hello? Anyone there?"
He waited a moment and tried again.
"Nines?"
The boy still didn't respond.
James stood and looked around the room. There was no sound from the rest of the floor.
He sat back down.
"Nines? Are you there?"
No response.
James sat there for a moment, trying to understand what he was seeing. Was 9S really gone?
He took his hand into his own and gave it a squeeze. He found that he was crying.
"I hope you can hear me," he said softly. "I know you're not really gone, but I miss you."
He began sobbing.
He wasn't sure how long he sat there, crying on the side of 9S' bed. Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
He looked up. It was Piers.
"I don't know the intricacies of his systems," Piers said. "And I don't know when he'll wake up, but I know he's not gone. Not yet."
James wiped the tears from his eyes and shook his head.
"I know," he said softly, still unsure of what to do. "We need to keep trying to talk to him."
Piers nodded.
"I'm going to head out to get my hands on another sample," he said. "I messed up the concoction that many times I've run out."
"Good idea," James said.
"I'll give you a shout when I'm ready to go," Piers said.
James nodded.
"Take your time," Piers added.
"I'm going to stay here with 9S..."
Piers sighed. "James..."
"I want to be here when he wakes up..."
Piers nodded. "I'll see you soon, James."
"I know," he said softly.
Piers left the room, closing the door behind him.
James sat on the side of 9S' bed and cried some more.
Eventually, he grew quiet.
That's it for the bulk update! I don't know where the heck this is going, but I'll find a direction again in the future update hopefully. Until then.
Improvements are appreciated, please tell me what I did right, wrong and how I can improve. If you would like, you could also favourite and follow this fic, as well as suggest areas of improvement, which I guess is the same as the first sentence. R&R and thanks for reading!
