The 12 loops of Goodbye
The Twelve Loops of Goodbye
The fluid rises. The cryo-hiss is deafening. And then... the program starts.
Twelve times. The system cycles, and twelve times I see you.
It starts the same. The image freezes in the dark. It’s you, BK. Or... It’s your idea. You’re wearing the rig. The goggles are locked on me. I try to say your name, but my mouth is filled with ice. I love you. God, I love you. But you don’t blink.
The Neural Glitch. Something is wrong. The memory corrupts. I see "corrupted code" trying to stabilise across your face. Your eyes... behind the lenses... they twitch. Microscopically. Are you hurting? Or is that my pain rippling through the connection? A low-frequency pulse warps your skin. You look like a stranger. You look like the machine.
The Shuddering Breath. This is the one that breaks me. Total stillness. Then... a faint mist forms at your mouth. Condensation beads on the goggles. I scream at you to breathe! Just breathe! But it’s slow. Irregular. It’s a "slow horror." I watch the condensation slide down in zero gravity. I try to wipe it away, to see your eyes one last time, but my hands are ghosts. The frame distorts. You exhale... and you vanish.
The Data-Possession. You’re coming back wrong! Ghostly glyphs are phasing over your face. Like a ritual mask. "Lines of code flow like linen strips"... wrapping you. Binding you. Just like they’re binding me! Your goggles rotate. You aren't looking at me anymore. You’re looking at the void. This is the fear, BK. The "Cyberpunk I became." Is this what I turn into? A vessel? A hard drive with a heartbeat? Don’t let me forget you. Please, don't let me overwrite you.
It’s fracturing! "Chromatic aberration" tears you apart. The colours are screaming. Red. Violet. Static. I see your hand twitch—fingers flexing—reaching for me! But "soundless shockwaves" push us apart. I am panicking. My mind is a "relentless tempest." I am losing the signal!
The silence falls. "Stabilisation Protocol... Engaged." The chaos stops. The geometric grids slide over your face. They smooth out the fear. They delete the glitch. You look perfect. Calm. Ordered. But you aren't you anymore. And I am not me.
Then it ends. The screen goes black. Goodbye, my love. I’ll see you in the code.
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