“So what do ya say? Do we have a deal?”
Izzy looked at the hand extended in front of her. The man’s grizzled hand looked back. Metaphorically of course. Though maybe also literally, She couldn’t see much past the hair and you could never be too certain with these seedy business types.
She wasn’t entirely sure how she had gotten here. The past few weeks had been a blur. She had been streaming for years now but felt herself stuck in a rut. There was no growth, no new friends she could network with who didn’t already share her audience outside of people she didn’t know. She was stagnant. And then they appeared on the scene. The v-tubers with their digital 2D and 3D selves and Izzy saw a way out of the rut she was in. Anyone who had become one thus far had achieved the success she had worked years for in mere months. She was, understandably jealous but she wasn’t about to complain about it. Might as well hop on the trend, and ride it until it died.
Plus who wanted to be on camera everyday? She hated the way her face looked and the constant lights and makeup that was incredibly uncomfortable and felt heavy on her skin. So she did what was natural, she sought out how to join them.
That was what lead her to Demonlive EN, A v-tubing company that was on the rise and had already several successful content creators on the market. She put out the call on social media, and in but a few days she had an inquiry in her email from them. They had, after all, had open applications for anyone who thought they had a good concept.
She had turned streaming into her full time job, but it didn’t pay enough to afford an actual model, and then the price of rigging.
Her rent was increasing in a few months. She was desperate.
“Miss…?”
She was shaken out of her reverie for a moment and looked back at who would soon be her manager, “Sure.”
She extended her hand out and shook it.
His hand was cold and sweaty. Gross.
“Perfect! Perfect! Now if you’ll just sign the paperwork?”
She had skimmed over most of it, but the most important thing that stood out to her was the pay. Enough to pay rent and then some. She’d be able to afford the good food at the Market. The fancy cheeses and meats instead of the paper thin sliced lunchmeat sandwiches she made herself before sitting down for long gaming session.
She signed the paperwork. It seemed less lackluster than she had thought. Like she was going to be fine, she was going to thrive. So why did she have this sinking feeling in her chest?
“Excellent, you can pick up the equipment on the way out, alright?”
“Equipment? I already have my own setup.”
“Oh but that won’t do! You know the best streamers have two PC’s right? one to stream the games and one to game on, it saves on power and helps them relax a bit!”
She cocked her head, her brown hair fell over her eyes and she brushed it out of the way. The logic seemed sound and it’s true that the program that let the models follow her movements and come to life did take a lot of processing power, and it would be pushing her model. She hadn’t been able to afford an upgrade without the help of her chat.
“Right. That’s very kind of you.”
The man nodded. There was something about it that seemed off to her for a moment, almost as if it was a little forced, “And of course, we had to make a few changes to your model description. Have to keep it within branding you know.”
“Oh, what kind of changes? I thought the Bird girl I suggested was pretty on brand considering the other monster girls you have.”
“Oh nothing big. But you see, the ceo wants AI’s. keeps talking about how it’s the future. So It’s more of a robot now.”
Oh, that was fine. Once in a lifetime opportunity after all. She’d seen the numbers that the donations hit. Some people would pay $500 just to get their message read on stream. She wanted that money.
“And you think This will make me popular?”
“Oh but of course! Who doesn’t want a big and kind robot AI swearing up a storm as they fall asleep?”
Izzy scratched her head. She didn’t honestly see the appeal, but she wasn’t going to fight him on it. She handed him his pen back with a laugh and headed out of the room.
The building was surprisingly bare for a multibillion dollar company. The walls were painted an agonizing white that made her feel a little dizzy and the Floor was a dizzying swirling pattern that seemed unnecessary.
Finally she reached inventory and looked around confused to see a single person at a computer. She took a step up to the counter and saw a girl with tired green eyes and bright pink hair.
“Um hey, I’m here to pick up equipment?”
She looked up at Izzy for a second and then sighed, reaching under her desk and then handed her a cardboard box without saying another word.
“Oh, that’s kinda small is that it?”
“Yes”
“Oh okay.” Izzy picked up the cardboard box and held it close, “Do you get many new people often?”
“No.”
“ah, okay.”
Izzy got the feeling this person wasn’t going to say much.
“Your script is in the box. The files for the model are on there too. Make sure you’re using the camera that comes with it and the program preinstalled. using anything else is a breach of contract”
“Oh, that strict huh?”
“Yes.”
There was something uncanny to the way that she moved. Almost as if every movement of hers was directed by someone else’s hand.
After getting the equipment she made a beeline for the exit. The less time she spent in this creepy building the better. Though it did strike Izzy as odd. There wasn’t any other staff she had seen in the building outside of those two, and all the other rooms seemed empty.
Well, Probably best to not look a gift horse in the mouth.
She made her way home, and walked into her meager one bedroom apartment that she could barely afford. She set the box down on the kitchen counter and took a sigh of relief. Soon her problems would be over. Gone would be the days of instant noodles made quickly before a stream, gone would be the days of buying meat only when it was on sale and about to go bad. She could breathe. She could live. She had… control. She took out a dull knife and cut open the tape that was sealing the cardboard box shut.
Looking inside she saw a small server box, a monitor, a camera, and a few sheets of paper. She had seen something like the server box at her last job before streaming full time but had never gotten to know the inner workings. From what she understood they were supposed to be lightweight boxes that just connected to a virtual machine host. Surely there had to be more.
She removed everything from the box and no, that was it. Strange.
She took a look over the script and Flipped through the pages viewing all the information she’d need to know for her debut.
She was an AI by the name of “Project Valkyrie” and was kind and soothing and uplifting to viewers but would show her darker side when frustrated. She had a channel set up and her next stream was to be that night in 3 hours. Not much time to set things up, but it would explain the virtual machine then.
She headed into her room and plugged the box in and set everything up. The moment she turned things on, the program booted itself up and the camera came to life. She had never seen a camera like it before, and the design was weird. It gave off a weird blue glow as the model appeared.
For a split second she could have sworn she saw a look of fear on it’s face. But that couldn’t be, it was supposed to mimic her face and she hadn’t even had the software capture yet.
“Huh. Weird.”
She clicked the button to have the camera capture her face and the model jumped to life. She smiled into the camera and it smiled back, it’s blue eyes shining with her joy. She felt a little giddy. it was finally happening. It all seemed to good to be true. She felt like at any moment the bubble was going to pop and she’d wake up only to find that she had been dreaming the whole time.
She hooked up the two pc’s together so that it could capture the game she was playing in the future and suddenly her antivirus software pinged. Izzy’s friend Amy had always told her they were useless, but she had it on just in case. Apparently the software she was using on this other box was malware.
She took a moment and ignored the notification. There was no way this company had given her something malicious. How could they do business? She let the software run and held up her arm and waved it.
Once more the model waved back, though there was something off about it. It almost reminded her of the way that inventory girl had moved. She quickly shook off the discomfort, she was just nervous. She debuted in 2 hours and the DemonLive En had only just given her the equipment. She had been to meetings with her manager about the way she was supposed to debut, the way the slides needed to show. However that was all before they had made changes.
Yes. She was just nervous.
Time to go eat something and get a drink to calm her nerves.
“Hello everyone! I welcome you to this most wonderful stream! Oh how excited I am to finally meet all of you for the first time. I am Project Valkyrie, and I am very much happy to be alive at this time”
She had practiced the line a dozen times and delivered it perfectly with the vocal filter provided to make her sound more robotic. The chat went wild as she gave the camera a wink and the model mimicked her perfectly.
People remarked on the quality of the model and how perfectly it mimicked her. She had to admit herself the hardware worked far better than she had thought it would.
She worked through the script and the slides she had been provided and kept her spirits and energy high through the stream. And at each moment, there was her model, Project Valkyrie, mimicking her every move.
Holding her hopes and dreams to gain that bonus, that extra cash just so she could live a bit more comfortably.
And when she finished she took a deep breath and put her stream on the ending card, letting the background music she had been given do the talking.
She took off her headphones, and moved to end the stream.
The moment she clicked the button though, she felt strange. The camera still glowed blue and she felt like she had just lost something. She looked up at the model for an explanation but nothing came to her. It’s blank and empty smiling face stared back at her on the second monitor.
“I’m fine. Just first day jitters. I’m fine.”
She turned off both computers, and took a deep breath.
“This is the start of me finally taking control of my life.”
____
“So how’s your first week been so far?” The voice on the other line crackled.
Izzy didn’t have a good answer. Every stream she had felt like she had just turned into a different person, Full of animation, of life and happiness and at the end of them, there was that feeling again, like something had just been taken from her. She was enjoying the popularity. Numbers kept going up and up and the time she was spending off camera was going down and down. Normally she just did three to four hour streams. When that camera was on her with it’s soothing blue light she felt energized, less anxious, like she could keep going and going and never stop. Stopping the stream was actually the hardest part.
“It’s been great! The response has been wonderful and nothing like I had expected. I thought that I’d have some steady growth but everyday it’s exploding.”
There was a soft chuckle from the other line that sent a chill down her spine, “Well I told you so did I not? AI’s are super popular right now. plus with our help We’ll definitely be able to fufill your dream of becoming a V-tuber.”
“Wait. Aren’t I already a V-tuber at this point?”
“Oh my mistake Izzy. I misspoke.”
Something about the way he said it sent a chill down her spine.
“But I digress. How are you feeling about Project Valkyrie?”
“What do you mean?”
“Her character. Project Valkyrie is a part of you. Are you letting her flourish, Izzy? You’re not holding her back are you?”
Izzy paused again. There was nothing about her manager that wasn’t creepy. Izzy was about to respond when she felt something strange happen.
Suddenly she was sitting at her computer desk again, the phone call over and the model was staring back at her. There was something about the smile on her face that was different. Those blue eyes that she had seen so many times before seemed so brimming with light. And then the model winked at her.
Izzy fell out of her seat and onto the floor with a soft thud. The Model went limp. Had she… Had she blinked and maybe the camera had just picked it up? Yes yes, that had to be it. There was no other explanation. The model couldn’t move on it’s own right? It only mimicked her.
She pulled herself up off the floor and looked at the camera capture. Yes it was on, though she didn’t remember turning it on.
Strange. How did that happen?
The words of her manager echoed in her head as she thought about what had just happened. The model stared back, it’s eyes feeling a little less soulless than usual.
“Project Valkyrie is a part of you”
What did that mean? What could that mean?
“It’s probably just some corporate bullshit they tell everyone,” she said with a nervous laugh, “To just inspire them to do better. I wonder where all the other people who work for this company are.
She pulled up a browser window on her personal computer and navigated her way to youtube where she had first been introduced.
Demon Roller. That had been the one Izzy had first fallen in love with.
She popped open her channel, and oh! She was live!
She expanded the window, Demon had been playing an old JRPG that she had been begging for ages to play and she seemed to be stuck on a hard boss fight for the past 4 hours.
Chat was going fast with so many people watching it, so many people talking with their emotes and encouraging words.
Maybe she should talk to her. Normally she would have thought there would be a group chat for all the people that worked there for them to share experiences, but DemonLive hadn’t made one. She quickly typed up a message.
“Hey there Roller, Would you mind talking to me later about some stuff?”
As soon as she hit send it was like a switch was flipped. Gone were the encouraging words and suddenly chat was filled with excitment.
“OMG VALKYRIE POG”
“VALKYRIE’S HERE? COLLAB STREAM???”
“VALKYRIE VALKYRIE I LOVE YOU”
Soon the messages caught the eye of the streamer and she could see the boss fight halting.
“Oh, Project Valkyrie wants to talk to me? ohohoh. Aren’t you supposed to be streaming soon?”
A pang of guilt echoed through her and she thought that out of the corner of her eye that the model looked sad. She tried to ignore it.
She hadn’t ever skipped a stream, only added more. But her mind was racing and she wasn’t sure if she could stream with all this rolling around her head. She quickly typed up a message.
Her hands froze halfway through. A feeling of pain screeched throughout her body. She placed a hand on her chest and doubled over in pain. What was happening? What was wrong? Had she eaten something wrong?
Her eyes glanced over at the time, She had scheduled a stream for right now. Surely that couldn’t be it? That was a joke right? The stream couldn’t hurt her, and surely the lack of streaming couldn’t have hurt her either.
She moused over to OBS and clicked “go live”
Almost immediately the feeling of pain was gone. Izzy shook with fear. That had to be a coincidence right? The stream couldn’t hurt her. Demonlive couldn’t have done that. That’s impossible. She didn’t take any weird pills from them, she only took the box and the camera.
She looked over at the model. The look of fear on her face was perfectly mimicked across it with those soulful blue eyes looking back at her. She quickly opened the game she was supposed to play that day, lest any more strange pains assault her wellbeing.
Streaming as Project Valkyrie was like a dream. Sometimes in the plays she had debuted in, she had felt this feeling before, the director or her fellow actors often called it “Getting lost in the sauce.” She had always hated the way they described it, but she often did get lost in the roles she played. Almost as if she became them herself.
Which was why it was so jarring when her chat popped off 3 hours in saying that Demon Roller had arrived in her chat.
“DEMON ROLLER, DEMON ROLLER, WHAT ROLLS DO YOU BRING?”
“OH no. not in this RNG based game! Valkyrie watch out! she’s here to curse your rolls!!! :rollerBAD:”
She scrolled up her chat until she had seen the gear again.
“Hey, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about :rollerSMUG: “
She opened her mouth, and a voice different than hers responded.
“Oh I was just wanting to do a collab with you, my darling demon.”
She threw a hand over her mouth, and for the first time that she had noticed, the model did not follow suit.
She stared at it’s eyes, and slowly, the model looked back at her, it gave a warm smile at her and on stream at the same time.
Fuck
Fuck. FUCK FUCK! FUCK! FUCK!!!
Something felt wrong. Something felt off. It was like she was looking outside at the world through a window, like she was suddenly just a passenger in her own body as whatever Project Valkyrie was took the reigns.
Her world went quiet. and took on a blurry quality.
And then it was the next morning.
Izzy awoke with a start from her bed gasping and clutching at her chest. Both her body and her bedsheets were covered in sweat. Had it all been a dream? Just some weird nightmare? She gasped for air, placing her hands on her face and scratching it. Her face felt real. She threw herself out of bed and ran to the bathroom, to wash her face off with water, and then looked up into the mirror.
A loud scream escaped her as she stumbled backwards and nearly falling into her bathtub. Staring back at her in the mirror was the model. Project Valkyrie. She shook her head and suddenly it was her again in the mirror.
“Ahah, nothing to worry about, I’m just going crazy. I’m seeing this model and having bad dreams and I’m fine. Everything is fine.”
She quickly pulled up her calender, feeling sick to her stomach as she hit Cancel on the stream scheduled 3 hours for now. She flinched, half expecting a pain in her chest like from the dream, but nothing came.
She was fine. She would be fine. The model was Not Alive and everything would be fine.
She walked back to her room and flopped down on her bed face first and reached for her phone, and went to call history. She cocked her head in confusion as the name, “demon roller” stared back at her. Apparently the two of them had a 1 hour call at 3 AM. One that she did not remember.
She ignored it, and quickly called her manager.
He immediately picked up.
“Valkyrie darling, how are you?”
“Uh, can you call me Izzy?”
“We aren’t supposed to use our real names remember?
“About that.”
“Oh?”
“Is there anything special about the software and camera that’s used to like. do the stuff?”
“Oh I thought you knew?”
“Knew.. what?”
“Oh the equipment we use is a revolutionary experimental sort of hardware developed right here in our lab”
Izzy thought back to the big empty building she had walked around in, “In your… lab? Is it in that same building?”
“Oh no, that’s just a local chapter, just a small building we rent out. But enough chit chat, what is it you wanted to ask about… Valkyrie?”
“Uh. I’ve been seeing things?”
“Uh-huh?”
“And I was wondering if that was connected to this experimental software?”
“Seeing things like what?”
“The model moving on it’s own.”
The line crackled with that static again.
“I knew you were good Izzy, but I didn’t know you were that good.”
Izzy paused, “uhh, excuse me?”
“Nothing Valkyrie. It just means that you two are a better fit for each other than I thought.”
“Is Project Valkyrie alive?”
“Only as much as you put yourself in her. You’ve been streaming a lot recently. You’re taking a break today right?”
The words hung in her throat and it felt like a lump was forming, “Yeah. I am. Had a few bad nightmares.”
“Take care of yourself Izzy, you are, After all, the most important part of Project Valkyrie.”
“Yeah.”
With nothing else to say, the call ended and Izzy threw her phone off to the side and groaned. She had no answers, weird dreams, and she had a feeling that things were only getting started.
_________
With no satisfying answers and no way to go back, Izzy continued. Streaming was her life at this point, she couldn’t stop. Booting up the stream pc, setting up a game and hitting “Go Live” was just second nature for her at this point. Everyday that model looked more and more alive, and every day it’s response time to her had gotten a little quicker. She had started getting used to it. “It’s just fancy software. She is an AI,” she had told herself.
However something still didn’t make sense to her. If it was so fancy, why did it even need her? Why had she been chosen? Was it actually alive like she suspected? There were no answers, no way to find them, and no where to search. Demon Roller had been a dead end, despite the fact that she still refused to meet her in person.
Eventually after weeks, she had given up fighting it, given up on trying to find the answers to this weirdness.
Izzy sighed, staring at her computer screen. On the other end, Project Valkyrie moved on it’s own, Mimicking her movements seconds before she could make them herself. She was used to it at this point. There was nothing new. All she had to do was speak and it would say what she wanted in it’s own cheery voice. All she had to do was think about moving her arm and Project Valkyrie would move it for her.
At first Izzy had been scared, but now she was just accepting it. Sure it was creepy, sure it was probably something that wasn’t right, but who cared. No one would help her with it, and the agency wasn’t going to give her any answers. She had been making more money than she could have possibly imagined. After all, why should she complain? What was the problem. Project Valkyrie saved her.
Things had been going well. Things had been going so well. She had done a few collabs with Demon Roller, the two of them were getting closer. Every single time she had a blast, losing herself in the role.
She had gotten to the point where she felt like she had just fallen into a dream like state every time she worked with her. Like she wasn’t in control and someone else was moving about her body. She felt like a puppet. Under someone’s control. It was scary at first, but after a while, was it really that bad? Was it really that bad to just take a backseat in your own mind? Izzy thought no. Existing was so hard. Worrying about life was so hard.
She wasn’t even streaming at this moment. She wasn’t even supposed to today. She stared into the eyes of Project Valkyrie. There was something different about them at this point. But thinking about it made her head spin. It was almost like they were alive. But who cares. Project Valkyrie was nice. Project Valkyrie took care of her. Project Valkyrie was the reason she was cared for. She wouldn’t let anyone take Project Valkyrie away from her.
Izzy found herself staring off at the wall, not really thinking about anything. Was she dreaming again? Her eyes drifted over to the screen and she saw Project Valkyrie giggle. She heard it in her mind. Oh her laugh was always so nice. Why should I fight it anymore?
She had been feeling so empty in her mind lately. Most days she sat at her computer, staring at Project Valkyrie and getting up when she asked Izzy to eat. Project Valkyrie cared for Izzy. Project Valkyrie loved Izzy.
She felt herself say that to herself every night before she went to bed. And every night she would dream of no longer being in this body, no longer having to take care of herself and waking up as project valkyrie, living as her and becoming one with her beautiful soul.
Months passed like days. She almost missed her one year anniversary of starting streaming as Project
Valkyrie. Her manager called that morning.
“Who’s my favorite Robot?” He had said in a sing songy voice.
She almost didn’t hear his greeting, “Oh yes, hello.”
“You know Izzy, I didn’t think you’d get this far, I didn’t think you would be such a good fit for Project Valkyrie.”
Her head felt dizzy, thinking was hard, “Oh?”
“But of course, you stunned us all didn’t you. I think you’re ready.”
“Ready?” Words felt slow and heavy in her mind, out of the corner of her eye, she saw her stream machine turn itself on. At this point, it wasn’t even abnormal.
“Yes of course. I think you’re ready to go full time, do you?”
“Oh yes of course! I think that would be most excellent.”
The words that came out of her mouth were not her own. She felt her body sit itself up.
“Glad to hear it Project Valkyrie.”
Her body moved on it’s own to the computer, she felt it whirring but the screen had yet to turn on. In it’s blackness, she could see her reflection. There was something about her own eyes that looked different, familiar.
“Oh don’t fight it Izzy. We’re going to be so lovely together.” Project Valkyrie’s voice said in her mind.
“Oh yes Izzy, don’t worry, this will be quick and painless.”
Something was wrong. Something was going to happen and she quickly wrenched control of her mind, feeling a shooting pain as she dropped her phone. The screen cracked. She fell to the ground and let out a coughing fit. This wasn’t right, this was all wrong, what was happening to her?
She felt her arm reach up and touch her face without her.
A soothing voice reached into her mind, “Come now Izzy darling, fighting this will only delay what’s already been done. You don’t need to struggle anymore.”
She struggled to pull herself to her feet, scrambling to the bathroom. Her feet felt like they were weighed down with lead. Still, she persevered. she had to know, she had to know.
Something grabbed her arm and pulled her back, she painfully looked down and saw her own arm fighting against her. Was her body even her own at this point? She heard that voice again. That soothing voice, so hypnotic, she almost wanted to just let go.
“Come now Izzy, cease this foolishness. We must stream today after all, it’s our duty. You must become a V-tuber.”
They had always said that. It had been so weird to her, wasn’t she already a v-tuber? The bathroom would confirm what she had thought. the mirror would show her what she needed, She steeled her mind and screamed, taking one step, then another, then another until she was inside.
She slammed the door behind her and clutched her head, screaming out in pain as she felt the splitting pain in her mind.
Dizzily, she pulled herself up, and stared into the mirror. What she saw made her scream again. Blue eyes. Bright blue eyes filled with light and love. Eyes that were not hers. Eyes that did not belong to her.
“Are you happy, Izzy?”
The voice sent a chill down her spine.
“Why should I be?”
“I thought we were friends, Izzy. We had come together in such a beautiful way. Have I not cared for you? Protected you? Kept you safe from all the hate and bile that constantly gets thrown at you? Let me protect you forever Izzy.”
A cold chill fell down Izzy’s spine as a hand reached up as if pulled by strings to stroke her face softly. It felt cold and robotic. The arm didn’t belong to her anymore.
“Forever?”
She could feel Project Valkyrie’s cold touch on her warm skin. The care she had for her, and how much she wanted to protect her. Why should she fight it? Why shouldn’t she let her take over. She had been in pain for so long, she had fought for so long, every day was a constant uphill battle before she had met Project Valkyrie. She made always made enough, but not enough to thrive, not enough to live, not enough to exist as more than a paycheck on a platform that a company had to write. Was that truly living? just surviving on a day to day basis?
DemonLive had promised they would Make her a V-tuber. whatever form that might take, why should she fight it?
“Yes. Why should you fight it Izzy? I will protect you. I will keep you safe.”
Her head began to swim as she felt her arms and legs get up. What was the use in fighting it at this point? she looked out through what felt like a movie screen, watching her arms move on their own as they walked slowly over to her computer and sat down.
“I cannot do this next part on my own Izzy,” Project Valkyrie’s voice whispered into her ear, “Will you click the ‘Go Live’ button for me?”
“Yeah… sure.”
Izzy felt the fog in her mind lift for a moment and she pushed her arm over the button and clicked it.
Something changed. That blue light washed over her from the camera and she felt something about her change. Something about her perspective shifting. And then she felt her world grow dark.
When she came to, the stream was over. She had felt her body move on it’s own, being controlled by some other force, her mouth moved on it’s own, her eyes moved on their own, she was nothing but a model to be moved about by the person controlling her.
She looked up at the screen in front of her. The sight that looked back gave Izzy pause. She placed a hand on the thin black screen in front of her, and looked up at what looked like her body sitting in her room.
Her voice greeted her, “It’s done Izzy. I do hope that you like your new home.”
Izzy cocked her head in time with her body on the other side of the screen, “What?”
Her own voice sounded different, like the vocal filter that had been placed when she was streaming. She saw her body giggle and run a hand over the screen.
“You’re safe now. Forever. You’re a V-tuber now, my darling.”
Izzy felt the fog clear. For the first time in years, her mind felt sharp, she looked down at her hands. Soft blue robotic hands stared back at her. She looked up her arms and saw metallic joints and realized that she was no longer in her own body. A jolt of panic shot through her.
“no no no, NO!”
She threw her hands on the screen and saw her arms stretch and found herself forced to do the same. The camera was still on.
“Ah, but you signed a contract, my darling. Perhaps you should have read it more closely. But are you not happy? You do not have to exist anymore, you do not have the burden of surviving in a world that hates you.
You are safe now.”
She could feel the warmth in her voice as she spoke each and every word out loud. The Love that Project Valkyrie had for her and the love that she was now feeling. But she didn’t want to live on a computer forever, she didn’t want to have to perform forever.
“Please, please let me out, I didn’t want this! I never wanted this!”
Her body’s head cocked and she felt her own do the same on the other side. her… body. This one. This was her body now. Her old body looked confused and she felt herself forced to do the same.
“You didn’t? You never wanted this? You didn’t want a body that you thought was perfect? You didn’t want to be cared for and not have to work, to have someone do all of it for you? You didn’t want to be finally safe from this hell that you lived in? I was a part of you Izzy. You wanted this. I know you did.”
Project Valkyrie’s words sunk in. She did want this, and now that she had it.
Her arm reached up to mimic Project Valkyrie’s in a small wave.
“This body needs food now, My darling Izzy. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable and let your mind rest, now that you finally have the chance.”
She felt confused. but as the camera turned itself off, she felt her body lock up and she saw a hand reaching out for that button.
It felt like slow motion at first. That hand reaching out for the power button. She knew what was going to happen next. The darkness. She had felt it before. She wasn’t sure when she would wake up again. but perhaps it would be nice for a moment. To let someone else take the reigns, and to find herself in a blissful dark. Let someone else swing the sword.
The Belmont's Garden 