Part 1: The Realisation Uzi POV: I look at Cyn, her core melted away, but her soul still in my hand as she tries to eat it and restore herself. I panic, shoot, what do I do, what do I do? There's no time, where can it go? As she's about to put it in her mouth as I shove it into mine and swallow it, seeing her shocked face before my screen glitches out and I fall to my knees, hand still hovering by my mouth… what have I done… and then it all goes dark. *** I jerk awake, feeling sick. The planet is now restored, but I don't feel well at all. I stumble around, searching for any sign of N. Where on Copper-9 could he be? I look around more, feeling worse and worse with every step, and just as I'm about to give up I see him. He flies over to me, looking relieved to see me alive as he hugs me. I hug him back, glad that he's alive. “We did it, Uzi! We beat Cyn. Now nothing can keep us apart.” He stroked my hair gently and smiled as I hugged him tighter for another moment before V flew over and he pulled away. Upon seeing me V pointed her gun at me and yelled, “N! Get back!!” He saw my face and got a worried look as I pushed V’s gun away before using the reflection of N’s visor to see that I had pure yellow eyes. N looked at me concerned “Uzi… you good?” I take a minute to answer, thinking about what this means “Well, for now I'm not a blood sucking monster trying to eat a planet, weird diet dude, so for now I think I'm good?” *He nods and hugs me again, I smile as he hugs me letting small tears roll down my visor. V slowly lowers her gun, but gives me a slightly sceptical look. *** Life goes back to normal for a few weeks, but I slowly get sicker and sicker, constantly craving oil, having to take some from drones that are unsuspecting. I hate it, but I can't let Cyn take over me. N starts to notice that I'm struggling and one day he comes to talk to me “Hey Uzi… you've been acting… strange lately. Are you okay? Can we talk about it? I nod reluctantly, not wanting to tell him. “N… you know how I defeated Cyn by destroying her heart? Well… after the heart was destroyed her soul was left, and she was about to take it back… by eating it, so the only thing I could do to stop it was… eating it myself.” N looked at me worried and grabbed my hand and looked at it, then me “But… you… you're okay now, right? We did it? Everything is better?” He knew that wasn't the case, but his hope that it was, felt unbearable. “It is for now, but… I'm struggling to keep control. Stupid Cyn making me overheat and crave oil twice as much… you know what she can bite me!” I glared at the floor, unable to meet his gaze. “Don't worry Uzi, we'll fix it together, just like we always have. I promise.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze and I looked into his eyes, seeing the concern he was feeling, but also the optimism he had, it honestly made me feel a lot better… no matter how hopeless this situation felt. *** We went on like that for another week or so, the urges getting stronger and my control slipping. Then one day I lost control for a few minutes and lashed out at V because she called me annoying, not unusual for her. N had to hold me back and keep V away from me and after only a moment I came back to reality knowing this can't go on any longer, I can't let all we did go to waste, and I can't hurt N… *** “N? We… need to talk about what happened earlier…” I avoid his gaze, “Look, I can't keep this control much longer, this stupid program is taking over more and more everyday and I don't think I can go much longer like this. I can't let all we did go to waste.” N looked at me worried, trying to deny the inevitable. “U-Uzi what're you saying… w-we can fix this, there has to be a way!” He grabs my hands in his own and we look at each other, not wanting to say what has to be said. “N… if there were a way we would've figured it out by now… the patch is gone. If this happens again I… I need to have V kill me. I can't hurt you.” N starts to tear up a little as he shakes his head, denying my statement. “No… Uzi we'll fix this, we will find a way, we have to!” His voice is shaky as he's trying to hold back tears. He grips my hands tighter and looks directly into my eyes terrified. “Uzi I'm not going to just lose you after all that, I can't have it be for nothing!” I regretfully looked into his eyes. “N, I wish there was another way, trust me. I'm not even close to done with all the stuff I wanna do in my life, but this… this isn't working. If I lose control again you have to just say goodbye..I already told V and she agreed to do it. I can't hurt you.” N starts to tear up a little as he shakes his head, denying my statement.
“No… Uzi we'll fix this, we will find a way, we have to!” His voice is shaky as he's trying to hold back tears. He grips my hands tighter and looks directly into my eyes terrified. “Uzi I'm not going to just lose you after all that, I can't have it be for nothing!” I regretfully looked into his eyes. “N, I wish there was another way, trust me. I'm not even close to done with all the stuff I wanna do in my life, but this… this isn't working. If I lose control again you have to just say goodbye..I already told V and she agreed to do it. I just thought that you should know.” His terror turned into frustration. “Uzi, if you think I'm gonna just let you sacrifice yourself again to save me then you're wrong. I'm NOT just going to give up on you! I NEED you!” He stands up, tail stuff, and sighs, “Uzi… I'm telling V not to do it. We WILL find another way, okay? Just… give it more time. You're still yourself. Don't throw that away if there's still a chance.” He looks away from me for a second then looks into my eyes again, hurt reflected in his own. “Okay, but we need to find a solution fast.” He nods, and gives my hands a quick squeeze before going off to tell V. *** A few months of this pass, I keep losing control and it keeps getting worse and worse. We don't have any idea on how to stop the solver, reaching dead end after dead end. I finally have enough when one time I lose control and almost kill N. When I realise what I did I look him in the eye and say “N… nothing is working, I'm hardly ever myself anymore and I almost fricking killed you… this can't keep going on. We gave it time, and we tried everything we could think of, but this just isn't working.” He looks at me and a tear appears on his visor. “No no no no no… there HAS to be another way… there has to!!” I look at him regretfully as he looks at me with despair, as we’re both well aware that there isn't another way. I put a hand on his shoulder and say “N… I'm sorry… but we both know that there isn't another solution to this.” I see tears roll down his visor as he hugs me tight and shakes his head and just keeps muttering ‘no please no’ over and over… I don't know what to do, so I just hug him back, trying to savour the moment… one of the last we'll get. N POV: No… nonononononono there MUST be another way, I can’t lose her after everything we went through! After everything we lost! After everything we fought for! After how much I learned I love her… I know deep down that there's no other way… but my heart can't take this… so I hug her tighter and don't plan on letting her go anytime soon, trying to make the moment last forever.
