/ A/N: And the first unfinished work I post in Dice Jar is... *unrolls parchment* fragments of a (partially) comedic story about Ai and Bohman talking in what appears to be limbo shortly after Ai dies.
... huh!

This drabble, and the collection it's part of, was previously posted by me on other fic sites, more specifically ao3. For reasons I don't want to get into, I made the decision to move here, as well as possibly either a tumblr or a Google Docs masterlist on twitter (feel free to ask about those!). /

...

"You were serious." Serious about trying to be friendly, serious about wanting to reach out, serious about-

"Yeah. At first, anyway. I didn't actually... hate you until Aqua. You're probably really mad that your big grandiose speech failed."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know everything you said about the Cyberse World was made to piss me off. I mean, you're capable of being nasty, but before what happened with Mirror Link Vrains, that wasn't really your style."

Bohman blinked at that.

"...You thought about it that much?"

"Of course I did. I kept going back, racking my brain for stuff I could have said to make you not go along with all of that." Ai scratched the back of his head lightly.

"Like... 'maybe if I hadn't bit his arm back when we first met' or, 'oh, maybe I should have talked to you more about the stuff with the Lost Incident back when you were thinking you were Yusaku-" There's something suddenly very ill at ease with Bohman for a moment, but it passes by in a millisecond, like a stiff breeze past a pennant.

"-But in the end, when I was all alone and thinking about stuff, I guess it boiled down to... 'I wish I'd known everyone better' . Not just you, but Flame, Aqua... everybody."

"... Man. I was really expecting death to be different, if people like us even got the afterlife. The Sanzu isn't anywhere." Ai was quiet for a moment, the breeze ruffling his hair. "Or... Hey, do you think that's just for humans, or something?"

Bohman eyebrows furrow slightly at that. "Ai... That's not what's going on."

"Oh, so you think maybe we're just stranded because they're not used to picking stuff like us up and they have paperwork to file out?"

"...Ai. You're not dead."

At this point, Ai nearly fell down the hill. "Huh?"

"You're not dead. This is real."

The expressions that flit past Ai -grief, horror-, are quickly replaced by feigned disaffect as he gives a hollow chuckle.

"God, I even failed to die?"

My best guess is that a fragment of my data and a fragment of your data crossed paths. This place..." and he gestured broadly to the wide field and rolling hills, "-probably is a mix of both your memories and mine. Both of our pieces arriving here is why it's not quite a place either of us recognize."

"Huh? Wait, if that's true... wouldn't I be in danger of getting incorporated into your program like everybody else when you wake up because of this?"

"I'm not going to do that."

"Eh? You're not?"

Bohman closed his eyes briefly, tone careful. "... There are gaps in the things I'm seeing."

"Hmm... So really, you're just not planning on it because you don't know if it's the best move."

"No. The best move would be pillaging your data for memories of the exact happenings and then feigning innocence while wearing your face until I'm in the perfect position to take over the network and reestablish the Neuron Link, preferably taking Akira Zaizen directly out of the equation beforehand using one of the SoLTis you mentioned to kill him in his sleep."

"... Oh! H-haha! I... see! You... really thought this one out, huh...? And the reason you're... definitely NOT slowly stealing my data at a rate that I can't notice to wear my face and use it to trap Playmaker in an eternal limbo of simulation is...?"

There is a long pause, and a quiet exhale.

"It'd be nice to see if you could recover from this. I'm rooting for you."

"... 'I'm rooting for you' ?"

Bohman is very quiet.

"... You realize that makes it sound like you're definitely absorbing my data, right? Are you using this conversation to steal my data? Legally, you have to tell me if you are. "

"I'm not."

"... I mean... I'd really rather not, but I was already here to die, so... Man, could at least not kill Akira in his sleep when you wake up if you are? I kind of already put those guys through hell, and I don't think secretly strangling him is an improvement. And... I know this might sound really hard but... maybe... doooon't stow away Yusaku in a simulation for all eternity? He actually actively would hate that. Like, a lot."

"Ai. I'm not." But of course, his face looked pained and guilty by this point.

Ai leaned forward slightly, his hands on his shoes, staring expectantly. After a couple more seconds of silence, Bohman sighed, averting his gaze from Ai's, the slight frown having deepened to 'attending a funeral' levels.

"... I'm not... actively trying to absorb your data."

Almost immediately, Ai put one hand to his face, squinting slightly.

" HMM. 'ACTIVELY' ."

Bohman, for what it's worth, didn't flinch at the sudden lightly accusatory tone Ai had put on, but turned his head away a bit more, shoulders tense.

"...You probably will wake up."

Ai leaned forward a bit more, craning his head in a vain attempt to catch what exactly the expression the other Ignis was making, squinting even more. " HMM. 'PROBABLY'. "

"I will almost definitely have a chunk of your data when... if you do." Bohman looked exhausted, staring out over the field. "It might end up being some of your memories with the other Ignis... or Playmaker." The tension in the other Ignis' shoulders relaxed, and he turned back to Ai, expression defeated. "I'm sorry."

Ai scratched the back of his head. "Man. You're really gloomy about this, huh? What happened to Mr. 'I turned your hometown to dust and I had a blast the entire time'? Gloat a little."

"... The part of my programming that allowed me to check or manage something like that is currently inoperable. Unfortunately."

"... So... You have no clue if your... thingie is happening for sure, and if it is how fast it's happening because you're having a hard time checking up on your systems since the checkup program is busted for you at the moment, then? You can't say for sure I won't disappear?"

"I guess we'll find out if I wake up and you don't wake up at all."

Ai put his hands behind his head and looked away, huffing slightly. "Creepy~"

"... I know that a large portion of the Ignis algorithm from your friends isn't here yet. In particular, the Flame Ignis' data, outside of a couple stray pieces of memory, are entirely absent."

Bohman decided to neglect the fact that wherever it went it took about 30% of his ribs. That felt like something that would be rude to bring up when explaining that he'd misplaced approximately 16.66% of Ai's friends, or what was left of them, anyway. "... I know that's probably... difficult to hear, but-" Bohman trailed off, realizing that Ai at some point during this had gone completely silent, eyes wide.

"... That light in Takeru's duel." Ai mumbled it so low that Bohman thought he was mishearing things for a moment.

"... Hm?"

Ai at this point looked like he was on the verge of tears, his head down and shoulders shaking.

"Ai?" There was no response. "...Ai-"

Whatever Bohman was expecting to happen, it was NOT 'Ai attempting to tackle him like a linebacker'.

"... Thank god... Thank god...!" Ai was sobbing.

... His tears were getting his clothes wet.

"I..." Ai's hands were very warm, even through layers of simulated fabric, and his grip around Bohman was surprisingly firm. "You... you really...!" Ai sounded... touched(?).

He was shaking again. Bohman tentatively put his arms around Ai, returning... whatever the hell this was and-

felt the slightest brush of an alert for about 287+ new files in storage and counting.

Bohman winced.

"You... realize this is a terrible idea considering we've already established that this is a mental representation of our data meeting, and that my passive systems are actively trying to take your data, right." The words felt odd and disconnected, like they didn't fit quite right, and Bohman's line of thought felt like it was in a death grip, but Ai made a choking noise at that and immediately released his grip around Bohman, stumbling away slightly. "A-ah, right...! Right." Ai chuckled in a way that sounded halfway between sheepish and giddy.

"Are you... okay?"

"... Yeah! Yeah!" Ai rolled over on the grass where he'd fallen, staring up at the sky with a small smile on his face and his arms outstretched. "... Sorry about that."

Bohman by this point had managed to get his brain working again from whatever the hell that was, finally catching up to exactly why him saying that would garner such a... reaction... from Ai.

... Thinking about it now, it's obvious.

There are a number of things he could have said. "Whatever you thought, it isn't the case." or "It wasn't deliberate. I wasn't trying to hint at something. I didn't 'release' Flame." or, the option that felt most important, the one he absolutely needed to tell Ai "Even if I'd tried, I doubt he'd be the same as you remembered him, if he was even conscious at all." or, even harsher:

"He's not 'alive' or 'conscious' the way you're hoping. He was essentially converted to an organ. He's not conscious. He wouldn't be conscious. He's 'dead', at least in the way that matters to you and Soulburner and the others."

... But looking at Ai, who finally appeared to be genuinely relieved, smiling and teary-eyed and actually seeming like the Ai that Bohman vaguely remembers in the still-filling holes of his fragmented memory instead of an actor playing out the role, he decides against it.

Instead, what he decided to say is:

"...The missing data also is about eight of my ribs."

Ai, still seeming to be cresting off the hope that his friend, his friends could be alive briefly drops the smile, staring at Bohman with an expression of, if not horror, at the very least surprise. "Oh."

It's quiet, yet again. Ai stares at the ground to his side, obviously scrambling for a response, fidgeting with his hands.

"I... Hope he... gives those back...?"

Bohman closed his eyes and sighed for what felt like the thousandth time since he'd seen Ai again.

"... I hope he gives them back too."

...

He can only hope he's wrong this time.

...

A/N : Even though I think about him A Lot, it takes a lot for me to get Bohman stuff written.
He's an endlessly fascinating character and I feel like people can fall into some really easy pitfalls regarding him.

I don't want to say much more because as I said on Zero Radius, I don't personally think it's good to overexplain stuff in writing in notes, since if these fragments actually convey what I want I shouldn't... have to.

Feel free to ask/comment about aspects if something is unclear though, just keep in mind that this is very much second draft stuff that's incomplete, and one that's deliberately tonally very different from Zero Radius, at that.