@psychexch sent: in many ways, i am not even real. i am not even here.
( freshwater by akwaeke emezi ) // not accepting .
“no, you’re not.” not-david smiles sadly. “but if it makes any difference, i’m don’t think i’m here either.”
he digs his hands into the pockets of his suit and he’s pleased to find such useful, mundane things inside of them. some quarters, car keys and a crumpled-up pack of gum. he loves it, he rolls these perfectly normal objects between his fingers. he and elliot are standing in front of a vending machine, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling window panels. not-david can’t remember seeing elliot around this much sunlight, it’s like looking at someone brand new.
he looks good. healthy. like he’s been sleeping well even though there’s a hint of a really scary question behind his huge eyes.
“but i think you’re-- no, i know you’re real, man.” not-david bounces on his heels, sways forward and back. “i’m the one who’s fake. see, i think... i think they tried to introduce me to you, a copy of me-- him-- david, but... you know, his powers... no, you don’t know, you don’t know him, me, yet... he doesn’t know you either.”
not-david throws his head back, snorts. he’s just an echo, he’s not equipped to deal with any of this. it doesn’t matter, he knows he’s a failed experiment already. whoever made this place, this little section of a perfect world, can already sense something is off. someone knows too much and as it happens, that someone is usually david. or not-david.
“i don’t think you’re going to remember any of this.” he presses a number on the vending machine in front of them and tries to ignore the shaking of his hand. the form he was given in this world is already in the process of being neutralized. “it’s not your fault, it’s-- i’m just, self-aware for some reason and... i’m not supposed to.” he pops his lips loudly at the word ‘supposed’. david, the real david, probably doesn’t even know that someone tried to bring a copy of him to this place. doesn’t even know that his powers kicked in to save his reflection from blindly following the routine written out for him. and that it’s exactly why he will soon cease to be.
it seems that not-david got trapped between two good intentions. he can’t be mad.
“it’s a nice world.” he picks up the pack of twizzlers from the vending machine. he offers it to elliot but backs away after a slow shake of his head. “i mean, look at me, the suit? i think the real david would like that. someone is taking good care of you.”
he struggles to open the pack because twizzlers weren’t meant to exist in this maze. they’re not patched in yet but david tends to bend reality around himself. kind of like the opposite of water-- when poured into a container, he twists it to accommodate him perfectly. so, of course, even his copy gets to have twizzlers if it wants them.
“you won’t remember this, but when... if, if you meet david, for real, don’t, uh, expect too much, okay? he’s really bad at first impressions.” not-david grunts out. he can’t seem to rip the pack open but that’s alright because this futile struggle is an excellent distraction from the fact that he will soon cease to be. “and, he’s-- he’s going to be weird, but, you know… give him a chance? i think, i think he’s gonna need it. it’s, he’s a complicated guy. just-- try, okay? please.”
not-david stops fighting. he wants to sigh but that’s not enough. instead, he shakes his head, sniffs hard. he’s not legion, not really, he knows that. but he tried anyway.
elliot opens his mouth to say something, probably to ask for an explanation, but then he realizes there’s no one to talk to. and never was. just his own reflection in a completely empty vending machine.