Chapter 18 So Helpless

"Master Francis?" Tec stared at his master, all while he was claimed by a new and horrible type of dread. "Master Francis, what are you doing? Did you figure out how to reprogram Larry already?"

Larry kicked and struggled. Francis put a gag in his mouth right before he had the opportunity to scream. If Tec had a physical body, he would probably be sweating right now. He fully expected Francis to say yes to that question, and if he did…

"Not quite yet. I've found that there are some limitations to the practice program I messed with. I need to do some experiments on Larry himself."

Tec had been feeling relieved until he heard that last sentence. His mind began to race as he looked at Larry, staring at Francis with wide eyes as the lizard held on by the wrists. This sight… oh, never before had Tec wished for a physical body so badly.

"M… Master Francis, if you…"

"I'll give him back!" Francis said. "I'm so close to actually reaching my goal!" He grinned the slimiest smile ever known. "I'm sure I'll fully figure it out. And when I do, I'll give him just one more night as himself." Francis chuckled. "You know, to be nice."

Tec's dread got worse. The concept of "being nice" was more or less alien to Francis; that he was fully aware of. So why would he give Larry one more night? The only logical explanation Tec could think of was that Francis thought he'd get some sort of satisfaction out of doing that.

Never before had Tec realized how sick his master was.

"GRRRMM!" Larry screamed with the gag in his mouth, trying to break out of Francis's grip.

"Oh, shut up!" He went near the corner, to the same place where the ceiling opened up and the floor shot upwards to allow someone to exit the computer room. "Hang in there, Tec; I promise we are REALLY getting somewhere."

"Y… yeah." Tec shook. Even though he was in his computer form, he still shook. He felt all the typical symptoms of fear; shaking, a churning stomach, a spiked heart rate. He experienced all this even though he didn't have the body that allowed him to experience this stuff.

Emotions really defied all logic, didn't they?

Tec kept his camera shutter closed as Larry got dragged upstairs. He had to admit, that once Larry was officially absent, he felt rather alone. He never would've expected an emotion like this, but Larry not being here was nerve-wracking in all the wrong ways. The room felt empty. The walls were bland. The air was so still, still enough to feel thick as corn syrup. Tec tried not to let it bother him. He didn't want this to bother him.

"This can't be happening," he said. "This can't be happening." Perhaps, if he said that enough, he would believe it. He could forget about the robot koopa boy who had been spending time in this room over the last few days. He could sit back, relax, and tell himself that Larry was all alright. Francis wasn't trying to figure out how to reprogram him. He was… throwing him a surprise party! Yeah, that was it! It didn't line up logically, but surely that was what was happening to Larry!

"AAAHH!"

Tec gasped. He actually, legitimately gasped. He had never heard sound reach the computer room from the outside world before. In fact, he probably would've said that it was impossible because of how the walls and the room were fortified. And yet, that shriek… that bloodcurdling, painful shriek from Larry had been heard clear as day.

"Please don't let this be happening," Tec muttered to himself. "Please don't let this be happening…"

"AAHHH!"

No doubt tears were coming out of Larry's eyes when he screamed that last scream. He was probably fighting for his life. He was probably fighting tooth and nail against Francis. A pointless endeavor, as there was no way he could escape from him. Not without his superpowers.

Tec never cringed harder in his life.

The next few minutes… they were probably the worst couple minutes of Tec's entire life. When he wasn't listening to Larry scream his lungs out, he was stuck in the worst silence he had ever experienced. Nothing could compare to how anxiety-inducing this silence was. Sure, one could say that it was a break from listening to Larry, but Tec saw it more like "being in the eye of the storm." If Larry wasn't screaming, he was probably preparing to scream. He would probably scream louder than he had the previous time, in a way that made Tec's heart experience horrible emotions.

Sure enough, that was exactly what happened. Tec… he wished he could cry. In some ways, it felt like he was despite not having eyes. Similar to experiencing the physical symptoms of fear, he also experienced the physical symptoms of sorrow. But he knew logically he wasn't, and he knew logically what the lack of tears truly meant. He had no way to relieve his misery. He had no way to effectively deal with the terror in his mind. His heart felt like it had been punctured, and there was nothing he could do about it. This just made the misery grow and grow. It grew at an alarming rate, like an ivy creeping up and destroying walls.

"PLEASE!" Larry screamed. "PLEASE STOP!"

Tec cringed. Oh God, the misery Larry experienced right at this moment was so much worse than his, wasn't it? As bad as it was being a listener and observer, that couldn't compete with being on the receiving end of these horrific experiments. What was happening to Larry right now? Was Francis slicing his head open to see what hardware and circuitry was on the inside?

Oh, Tec felt physically sick just thinking about that. He wished he could do something. He really wished he had a physical body, because if he did, he would leave this computer room and stop Francis. But he didn't, which meant there was nothing he could do. He was helpless. So helpless.

And he only felt worse when he remembered something. It was one fact that he had more or less forgotten about, that he would've been happy ignoring. But he couldn't. He couldn't do that anymore. He couldn't ignore that all of Larry's suffering, all the horrible stuff happening to the Koopaling…

It was all Tec's fault.

Tec hadn't been the one to suggest to Francis the idea of reprogramming Larry, but he had suggested to Francis that he aim his sights higher and use the metallic superhero for even more evil stuff. On top of that, he could've stepped in and told Francis to not do this. But he didn't. Sure, it probably wouldn't have worked if he actually did try it, but… he could've. He could've fought for Larry's sake, made it so that Francis didn't go through with trying to ruin the life of such a young boy. But he didn't. He never would've, because it wouldn't have been logical.

How… how horrible was existing in a purely logical state? How horrible had Tec been for existing in that state, for not doing what was right? What was right defied logic, but that didn't make it any less right. Protecting a life like Larry's should've been the number one priority.

Because… as weird as this was to admit, Tec felt some emotional attachment to Larry. They hadn't known each other for very long, but Tec… liked him. He liked seeing him. He liked spending time with him, liked letting him into the Matrix. He… he was…

He was a friend.

"AAAHH!"

And right now, Tec's friend was going through hell. The one and only friend Tec had ever had in his life was being tortured in the most inhumane way possible. Which… that was somehow the most painful part of all this. Not the fact that a person was being tortured, but more the fact that Tec knew and appreciated that person. Thinking about Larry's life… thinking about the experiences they shared, both in terms of spending time together and in terms of the memories that Tec had downloaded from Larry's mind…

This pain wasn't going away anytime soon. Was it? Tec would never escape from it because he was partially responsible for it. He was responsible for hurting his friend. Once again, his one and only friend was going through the worst type of hell. His days were numbered, and this was how he was going to spend the last couple of days of his life. Kicking and screaming while experiencing a type of pain much worse than any physical pain he might've felt as an organic being.

Oh, when would all of this end?

…

Two hours. It took two hours for Francis to come back with Larry into the computer room. And Larry… he looked horrible. There was this glassy sheen over his eyes, and he looked as though he was miles away from his body. Tec felt a pang while looking at that. What exactly had Francis done to him? What specific parts of his programming did he tamper with? What parts of Larry's physical body had Francis damaged in his wake?

"Woo!" Francis exclaimed. He tossed Larry to the ground, and the Koopaling didn't even raise himself up when he did. "That sure was productive!" Francis giggled before looking into Tec's camera. "We're making good progress, Tec my boy! We'll have a new robot servant in no time!"

It took all the strength Tec had to answer. "Indeed."

Francis giggled. "Well! All that engineering left me tired." He grinned at Tec, which just made Tec feel sicker than before. "Make sure to turn your power off tonight, okay Tec? I would love to be able to play WoA when this whole thing is over."

Disgust and anger filled Tec, which he tried his best to hide. "Of course, Master." Francis, with one last giggle and a giddy grin, went back upstairs. Once he was gone, and the roof had shifted itself back into place, Tec set his sights on the person who really mattered. "Larry? Are you okay?"

Larry didn't respond. Tec saw his chest rising and falling, so at least he was still alive. But… what good would that do if his mind had been damaged beyond repair?

"Larry." Tec hesitated. "Please say something. Please tell me you're alright." The silence that followed that statement was worse than the silences in between Larry's screams. Larry didn't move for about four minutes, which just made Tec even more worried.

Thankfully, Larry eventually did speak up. "I'm alright, Tec."

Even though he didn't have lungs, Tec let out a breath of relief. The relief was short-lived when his curiosity kicked in though. "What did Francis do to you?"

"I… I'm not sure." Larry turned to face Tec, with Tec's terror rising at his glassy eyes. They looked so… dead. So unlike the lively eyes Tec had gotten used to seeing from the Koopaling. "I know he found a way to get into my brain, but… what functions he messed with, I can't say for sure." He paused. "I do know I feel different though."

Tec didn't even have the strength to ask what Larry meant by different. He turned away, feeling like he wanted to cry some more. "I… I'm so sorry." He whimpered. "So sorry…"

And then, another silence. This one was the worst one yet, as not only was it empty, but it was also… there weren't any words in the English language to describe it. Tec knew the definition of every English word on the planet, and yet, he couldn't adequately describe this feeling. It was something one had to experience, and Tec wouldn't wish the experience of this silence on his worst enemy.

"I'll… uh… I should probably shut down now." Tec started to turn on sleep mode. "Have a good night, Larry."

"You too."

The last thought Tec had before powering down was wincing at how empty those words sounded.