Anne legged it down the pavement, her eyes lighting up when she turned the corner to see her phone was still where she had dropped it. Normally she wouldn't have panicked this much by losing her phone but in this world, it was the sole thing she needed if she wanted to avoid going back to being a prisoner. She slipped and skidded towards it, wincing as she grazed her legs. She grabbed the phone and glanced up briefly to see the Jumin clone coming for her. She tapped into her phone quickly, jumping to her feet.
The Jumin clone grabbed her and tried to snatch the phone off her. She struggled with him as she began tapping with one thumb and gasped when an arm went around her neck to choke her. She grabbed the arm to try and loosen its grip, bucking and trying to keep her footing steady. Her phone emitted a bright glow once she was done and a woman materialised before them. Her brown eyes blinked before narrowing.
"That ain't no way to treat a lady, yer bastard!"
Anne gasped for air when the woman's fist collided into the clone's face and pushed him away from her. She rubbed her throat as the woman put herself between the clone and her.
"Yer got a lotta nerve," she snorted before pulling out two handguns.
Two shots and the clone disappeared into a collection of pixels that blinked out of existence. Anne sighed as she bowed her head.
"I knew having a criminal would come in handy," she muttered.
"Tch," the lady snorted as she lowered her guns.
"Anne!"
They went straight up again, poised for the real Jumin who came around the corner and froze when he saw the weapons.
"Gwen, heel," Anne sighed and Gwen lowered her guns, putting them away and stepping back so she was behind her.
Jumin stared at Gwen before sighing and straightening his tie.
"Another girl you sent?" he drawled and Gwen sneered at him.
"Yeah, I don't like yer too much either, pal," she spat.
"Gwen."
Gwen folded her arms and pouted as Jumin approached them to pull Anne away from her slightly.
"Where will you be safe?" he asked as Gwen glowered at him.
"Rena would have had an apartment somewhere in the city," Anne muttered as she gave Gwen a stern look "Now before you go and try to lock me up in your penthouse, I doubt that would work because that would be a spawner for copies of you. Your office block wouldn't be a good idea either. Anyone else's home is not a good idea either, I just need to keep moving."
Jumin was returning Gwen's silent glare as he placed both hands on Anne's shoulders.
"Anne…"
Anne rolled her eyes.
"Don't give me that tone, Jumin."
Jumin looked torn as he looked down at Anne sadly.
"Don't leave me."
"Jumin…"
They froze when Gwen pulled out her gun and aimed it at Jumin.
"The lady says she wants out, she's gonna get out," she snarled.
"Gwen!"
Jumin eyed the gun warily as security guards stepped out of the block behind them.
"Yer safety and ticket outta here is what's important," Gwen said simply "Yer said it yerself, this place is screwed over because of the cycles and why did yer have to put a censor on my language?!"
"Trust me, it's needed," Anne sighed as Jumin nodded in agreement "Gwen, put down your gun, I'd rather you not shoot my husband."
"Yer not even married," Gwen growled as she lowered her gun and eyed the guards that were prepared to tackle her.
Anne looked up at Jumin and reached up to hold his wrists.
"It is what will make me happy, Jumin. This world is distorting enough because of all the data I created from coming here and producing my characters. A hard reset will wipe the slate clean and I'll be able to go home where I won't do more damage."
"The world can crumble for all I care," Jumin said bluntly and Gwen facepalmed.
"Out of all the guys…!"
"Gwen."
"Yer should have picked that college kid."
"Guinevere."
Gwen tensed up at her proper name and faced away.
"Tch."
Anne looked up at Jumin.
"It's the right thing to do," she said calmly.
"A world without you is worthless to me," Jumin said with sad eyes.
"Yer won't even remember her!"
"Gwen, circle the block, check that there aren't any more clones."
Gwen grumbled under her breath as she reluctantly walked off. Anne sighed in relief.
"All my characters are programmed to be loyal to me and depending on their personalities, they show it differently."
Jumin gave a distasteful look at Gwen before she disappeared around the corner then looked down at her.
"What damage is there? Is a hard reset truly the only way to fix it?"
Anne nodded.
"Being here is distorting the normal reality that exists here, it's against the data which makes up the universe. I don't even know how long I am allowed to stay here."
Jumin looked down at her, his eyes forlorn and his grip on her shoulders tight. He parted his lips then looked up sharply. Anne barely turned around when she felt Jumin bring her closer to his chest and heard something crack. She saw a Zen clone at out of the corner of her eye being attacked by a knife.
When Anne managed to twist herself round enough to take a better look, the Zen clone disintegrated into pixels and Rena landed, sheathing her blade heel and looked at Jumin. She cracked her knuckles before bracing to attack.
"Rena, wait, this isn't a clone!"
Rena blinked and stood up straight, calmly holding her hand out. Her silent request was obvious, hand over her creator. Jumin tightened his grip on her.
"Jumin, this is the best route to go if we want each other to be happy."
"All those memories," Jumin said lowly "Our wedding day, our honeymoon…even the bad memories have value to them."
"I know, I know," Anne's eyes welled up with tears.
"How can you just forget them like that?!"
"I'll never forget them!"
Jumin hesitated as Anne looked up at him.
"I could never forget our time together. Those memories, they may be forgotten but that doesn't mean they never happened. It was because…"
Anne trailed off as she nibbled her lip.
"I risked the world's existence to stay longer with you," she said "I wanted to make more memories, I wanted to stay longer, but no good will come out postponing the inevitable."
She gently pushed herself out of Jumin's grip and held him at arm's length.
"And maybe I won't find what I had here in my real world," she murmured "That doesn't matter at all. What matters is that my time here was probably the best I've ever had, even if this isn't reality anymore."
She smiled up at him sadly.
"I can't just hide in my fantasies forever."
Jumin bowed his head. That all too familiar selfish feeling washed over him.
"Please…say you'll stay."
Anne tilted her head, her face falling as the tears finally flowed down. She parted her lips but apparently, Rena believed they had enough time for a 'goodbye' and grabbed her arm. She dragged her across the pavement and Anne ran with her. Jumin watched them leave, standing there and letting the selfish wishes and thoughts flood his mind.