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Description
CHAPTER ONE
You stared at the computer screen for a good few minutes, but it felt more like a few hours. You were dumbfounded, to say the least. How this happened was beyond you- not to mention how it was even possible.
You blinked, half-hoping that your eyes were only bleary. But no, he was still there along with the text box that read: “Player? Is that you there?” Of course, the text had stayed there from where a voice had spoken just a while ago.
You’d played OFF a few times before, but nothing like this has happened before. You pray to whatever God was there that you didn’t sound stupid when you opened your mouth.

“Y-yes…?” You say, just barely above a whisper.

The text in the box is replaced with different text: “Oh, as I thought…” The voice flows from your speakers again.

After a moment of silence you gather up the courage to utter more than a simple reply, “What are you talking to me for?” You didn’t say it at all in a rude way, you were just… curious.

There was no hesitating in his reply, as it came swiftly onto the screen in the printed words: “You are my puppeteer, and I your puppet. We are working together… I simply assumed that this time, communication would make things more interesting…”

“Oh… Okay…” You murmur, but then you start to wonder, “How’d you do it?”

“Excusez-moi?” His voice follows yours after a few moments, and you cock your head to the side, wondering how to explain the question to the pixelated man in your computer that was totally talking to you. Which isn’t hard.

“I mean… How did you get access to my mic and speakers?” Your elbows rest on your knees as you await his answer.

“It was simple work of the system files. Giving access to the microphone made it to where I could speak as well, letting you hear my voice.” Speaking of voices, his is calm and collected as he speaks- very clear. Very much unlike your scared mumbling.

“Alright…” You nod slowly, and his icon’s lips curl into a smile. You stare at those lips for a moment too long, and he notices.

“Marionnettiste?” He calls, amusement ringing through his voice.

“Sorry!” You immediately reply, your eyes widening when you realize what you’d been doing, and the fact you’d been caught.

“Non,” He chuckles the word, and continues, “It is fine, I assure you,” He follows up the sentence with your name, which you’d put in at the beginning of the game. It sounded completely different coming from him.

“Alright…” You glance to the side, and that’s when you notice your tower is unplugged. Your eyes go back to the screen. “Why is my computer still on?” You question, and Batteur looks at you curiously.

“I… I do not know. I do know that this game is slowly being compressed to be disposed of by your computer, it knows something is wrong. I can feel this world shrinking around me…” He mutters, his voice suddenly so unsure.

“…Is that a bad thing…?” You weren’t sure you wanted to know.

“I do not know. I do know that if it expands too much, I’ll-“ Loud static filled the room, and your screen went black. You stared at the screen for a long time, hoping for any sign of the sport-ish man.

“…Batteur?” You call for him quietly, just barely above a whisper. “Batteur?” You call for him again, but you were simply greeted with the black screen. There was nothing…
Then, out of the blue, there was something. There was a lower, deeper rumbling from the speakers before a hand shot out from your screen- though no cracks formed.
You immediately recognized the pale white skin that was covered in a strange black gunk, and you have no second thoughts on pulling him out of the screen. Black goo oozed from the screen- as if the screen was liquefying and dripping from its solidified form. You knew you would definitely need a new monitor.
You continued to pull him out, not worried one bit about your white sweatpants betting stained, but getting the man out of your computer.
That sounded weird in your head, but you shook away the weirdness and continued to pull. A head broke through the malleable screen, gasping for air, and just as covered in the black substance as the rest of his upper half that was pulled through already.
The two of you locked eyes for a split second, your eyes meeting with his four, deep red ones. You quickly looked away, focusing on the task at hand.
He put his hands on the arms of the swivel chair your were sitting in, and pulled his legs through. Unfortunately for the both of you, the wheels gave out on the chair, sending the two of you backwards. He fell roughly on top of you, and you were surprised by how heavy he was to have such a slender figure. Batteur quickly rolled off of you, kneeling besides you now. His hand was inches from your body, outstretched and awaiting your acceptance.
You take his hand, and get up with him from the floor.
Awkwardly, you brush hair from your face that had fallen from the messy bun in the back of your head. Opening your mouth to speak, you find that there’s almost nothing you can say. You were far too befuddled for words.

“I apologize for falling on you,” He nodded curtly, his eyes focused intently on your own.

“No… It’s uh, it’s fine...” You stammer, and his brow creases slightly.

“Puppeteer… why are you nervous?” He asks, and you’re not sure you want to know at this point how he can tell, whether it was the fidgeting of your hands, or the way your eyes just couldn’t stay still- you didn’t want to know what gave it away.

“It’s just that… you know...” You motion towards his being, “You’re here, and not…” You look towards the computer, black still oozing from the screen, and you mutter, “I’m going to have to replace that...” Putting a hand to your lips, you stare at the screen before you feel a hand grab yours from your face. Your eyes follow your hand as it’s pressed to the others’ chest.

“It’s still me… I’m still the same Batteur you met in the game,” He said, and you could feel as his lungs inflated and deflated; you could feel his heartbeat. “I’m just here now, with you,” He let go of your hand, but you kept it still as he moved forward, closing the gap between the two of you.

“I- I know… and this is just…” You blink, and a confused smile builds up on your face, “...This is just so bizarre...” You take a deep breath in, but it’s difficult when he’s so close to you. You keep your hand stationary on his chest- worried that if you move it from him, he’ll disappear into thin air.
You suddenly realize that he’s far too close, and despite your fear, you move away from him. You needed some fresh air, because that computer was starting to smell.
Or, that’s what you told yourself.
You walk passed him, exhaling deeply. You briskly walk passed the pictures on the wall, and you wondered to yourself why you even had them up in the first place.
Batteur said nothing, but continued to follow you through the hall and into the kitchen.
You immediately went to the balcony, that was cracked open on the other side of the refrigerator.
You open the door and step out, immediately voting on leaning onto the railing instead of siting down in the chair, so you could watch the forest. You had a great view of the forest from where your backdoor was. You heard Batteur’s feet meet the wooden planks on the balcony, and you could feel his presence behind you.

“...Are you alright?” He asks, and you let out sigh.

“Yeah, I’m just…” You shake your head, and your shoulders slump, “I don’t know, really...” You sigh again, your eyes moving to your side as Batteur joins you, leaning his well-built frame against the railing. You felt very small in his presence, mostly because he was so tall he practically towered over you.

“It will be fine, I am sure...” He said, looking straight at you.

“...You don’t have your bat, do you?” You ask, cocking a brow as you turned to the seemingly older man.

“Unfortunately, I do not...” He grumbled, turning his head to face the forest with a deep sigh. “...It’s beautiful here… Not at all like the Zones...”

“Hm… there are parts of it that aren’t too beautiful...” You chuckle, and turn to him, “Humans, for one- we’re the ugliest things put on this planet...”

He eyed you for a moment before a smile grew on his face, “Well, I don’t think that’s the case anymore since I’m here.” He laughed, but you knew you’d feel very wrong if you laughed.
You had always loved Batteur’s true form- you thought it was bold and powerful, like Batteur himself.
Well, it was himself… But, just another him… Or was it the same him? Probably the same him.
You shook the thought from your head, tired of the confusing mess already.

“I-I don’t think you’re bad at all,” You shrug, and his smile falls.

“Oh, well… I do not think you’re that bad either,” Batteur sighed, “I suppose we’ll just think we’re ‘okay’ together.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” You smile, nodding.

Description
CHAPTER ONE
You stared at the computer screen for a good few minutes, but it felt more like a few hours. You were dumbfounded, to say the least. How this happened was beyond you- not to mention how it was even possible.
You blinked, half-hoping that your eyes were only bleary. But no, he was still there along with the text box that read: “Player? Is that you there?” Of course, the text had stayed there from where a voice had spoken just a while ago.
You’d played OFF a few times before, but nothing like this has happened before. You pray to whatever God was there that you didn’t sound stupid when you opened your mouth.

“Y-yes…?” You say, just barely above a whisper.

The text in the box is replaced with different text: “Oh, as I thought…” The voice flows from your speakers again.

After a moment of silence you gather up the courage to utter more than a simple reply, “What are you talking to me for?” You didn’t say it at all in a rude way, you were just… curious.

There was no hesitating in his reply, as it came swiftly onto the screen in the printed words: “You are my puppeteer, and I your puppet. We are working together… I simply assumed that this time, communication would make things more interesting…”

“Oh… Okay…” You murmur, but then you start to wonder, “How’d you do it?”

“Excusez-moi?” His voice follows yours after a few moments, and you cock your head to the side, wondering how to explain the question to the pixelated man in your computer that was totally talking to you. Which isn’t hard.

“I mean… How did you get access to my mic and speakers?” Your elbows rest on your knees as you await his answer.

“It was simple work of the system files. Giving access to the microphone made it to where I could speak as well, letting you hear my voice.” Speaking of voices, his is calm and collected as he speaks- very clear. Very much unlike your scared mumbling.

“Alright…” You nod slowly, and his icon’s lips curl into a smile. You stare at those lips for a moment too long, and he notices.

“Marionnettiste?” He calls, amusement ringing through his voice.

“Sorry!” You immediately reply, your eyes widening when you realize what you’d been doing, and the fact you’d been caught.

“Non,” He chuckles the word, and continues, “It is fine, I assure you,” He follows up the sentence with your name, which you’d put in at the beginning of the game. It sounded completely different coming from him.

“Alright…” You glance to the side, and that’s when you notice your tower is unplugged. Your eyes go back to the screen. “Why is my computer still on?” You question, and Batteur looks at you curiously.

“I… I do not know. I do know that this game is slowly being compressed to be disposed of by your computer, it knows something is wrong. I can feel this world shrinking around me…” He mutters, his voice suddenly so unsure.

“…Is that a bad thing…?” You weren’t sure you wanted to know.

“I do not know. I do know that if it expands too much, I’ll-“ Loud static filled the room, and your screen went black. You stared at the screen for a long time, hoping for any sign of the sport-ish man.

“…Batteur?” You call for him quietly, just barely above a whisper. “Batteur?” You call for him again, but you were simply greeted with the black screen. There was nothing…
Then, out of the blue, there was something. There was a lower, deeper rumbling from the speakers before a hand shot out from your screen- though no cracks formed.
You immediately recognized the pale white skin that was covered in a strange black gunk, and you have no second thoughts on pulling him out of the screen. Black goo oozed from the screen- as if the screen was liquefying and dripping from its solidified form. You knew you would definitely need a new monitor.
You continued to pull him out, not worried one bit about your white sweatpants betting stained, but getting the man out of your computer.
That sounded weird in your head, but you shook away the weirdness and continued to pull. A head broke through the malleable screen, gasping for air, and just as covered in the black substance as the rest of his upper half that was pulled through already.
The two of you locked eyes for a split second, your eyes meeting with his four, deep red ones. You quickly looked away, focusing on the task at hand.
He put his hands on the arms of the swivel chair your were sitting in, and pulled his legs through. Unfortunately for the both of you, the wheels gave out on the chair, sending the two of you backwards. He fell roughly on top of you, and you were surprised by how heavy he was to have such a slender figure. Batteur quickly rolled off of you, kneeling besides you now. His hand was inches from your body, outstretched and awaiting your acceptance.
You take his hand, and get up with him from the floor.
Awkwardly, you brush hair from your face that had fallen from the messy bun in the back of your head. Opening your mouth to speak, you find that there’s almost nothing you can say. You were far too befuddled for words.

“I apologize for falling on you,” He nodded curtly, his eyes focused intently on your own.

“No… It’s uh, it’s fine...” You stammer, and his brow creases slightly.

“Puppeteer… why are you nervous?” He asks, and you’re not sure you want to know at this point how he can tell, whether it was the fidgeting of your hands, or the way your eyes just couldn’t stay still- you didn’t want to know what gave it away.

“It’s just that… you know...” You motion towards his being, “You’re here, and not…” You look towards the computer, black still oozing from the screen, and you mutter, “I’m going to have to replace that...” Putting a hand to your lips, you stare at the screen before you feel a hand grab yours from your face. Your eyes follow your hand as it’s pressed to the others’ chest.

“It’s still me… I’m still the same Batteur you met in the game,” He said, and you could feel as his lungs inflated and deflated; you could feel his heartbeat. “I’m just here now, with you,” He let go of your hand, but you kept it still as he moved forward, closing the gap between the two of you.

“I- I know… and this is just…” You blink, and a confused smile builds up on your face, “...This is just so bizarre...” You take a deep breath in, but it’s difficult when he’s so close to you. You keep your hand stationary on his chest- worried that if you move it from him, he’ll disappear into thin air.
You suddenly realize that he’s far too close, and despite your fear, you move away from him. You needed some fresh air, because that computer was starting to smell.
Or, that’s what you told yourself.
You walk passed him, exhaling deeply. You briskly walk passed the pictures on the wall, and you wondered to yourself why you even had them up in the first place.
Batteur said nothing, but continued to follow you through the hall and into the kitchen.
You immediately went to the balcony, that was cracked open on the other side of the refrigerator.
You open the door and step out, immediately voting on leaning onto the railing instead of siting down in the chair, so you could watch the forest. You had a great view of the forest from where your backdoor was. You heard Batteur’s feet meet the wooden planks on the balcony, and you could feel his presence behind you.

“...Are you alright?” He asks, and you let out sigh.

“Yeah, I’m just…” You shake your head, and your shoulders slump, “I don’t know, really...” You sigh again, your eyes moving to your side as Batteur joins you, leaning his well-built frame against the railing. You felt very small in his presence, mostly because he was so tall he practically towered over you.

“It will be fine, I am sure...” He said, looking straight at you.

“...You don’t have your bat, do you?” You ask, cocking a brow as you turned to the seemingly older man.

“Unfortunately, I do not...” He grumbled, turning his head to face the forest with a deep sigh. “...It’s beautiful here… Not at all like the Zones...”

“Hm… there are parts of it that aren’t too beautiful...” You chuckle, and turn to him, “Humans, for one- we’re the ugliest things put on this planet...”

He eyed you for a moment before a smile grew on his face, “Well, I don’t think that’s the case anymore since I’m here.” He laughed, but you knew you’d feel very wrong if you laughed.
You had always loved Batteur’s true form- you thought it was bold and powerful, like Batteur himself.
Well, it was himself… But, just another him… Or was it the same him? Probably the same him.
You shook the thought from your head, tired of the confusing mess already.

“I-I don’t think you’re bad at all,” You shrug, and his smile falls.

“Oh, well… I do not think you’re that bad either,” Batteur sighed, “I suppose we’ll just think we’re ‘okay’ together.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” You smile, nodding.