All Things End: Part 95

Chapter 95: Fighting Oblivion

A twinge of cold, vicious panic ran through Courage. This was all just so sudden. He couldn't believe it. It was almost as bad as when he had first learned about his own deadly illness.  

“Y-you're going to die?” He stammered, barely even able to bring himself to speak. “But you were fine just a day ago! Y-you can't just-”

“I'm really sorry, Courage.” Computer sighed. “I had no idea that it would get this bad over such a short amount of time. Having to exist within an organic body seemed to have worn my system out much faster than normal, plus we were always getting delayed every step of the way.”

“There's got to be something you can do!” Courage cried out. “We can't just give up like this!”

“It's too late to do anything now, I'm afraid. I might have had a chance to survive maybe a day or two ago, but now? I'm long past the point of no return. Bah, I'm such a fool! I was in this body yesterday and didn't even notice what was going on! I was so preoccupied with everything else that was going on that I didn't even notice any of the signs!”

“Wait,” Nina interrupted. “Did...did I cause this? Is it because I left you outside? Oh god, I'm so sorry!”

“Of course not! This has nothing to do with our fight, so don't worry about it, alright? If anything, it's my fault for not paying attention. After all this time I've spent fighting my dying system, I can't believe I let my guard down!”

“Compute, come on!” Courage yelled, shaking his head. “I'm not going to let you die like this! W-we'll think of something! I know we can find a way! Y-you found a way to help me after all!”

“Our situations are completely different, Courage. Please don't make this any harder for me. I know that it's sudden, but there's nothing we can do about it.” Computer gently replied.

“What about getting him up that mountain?” Nina asked, her voice fearful and sad.

He sighed yet again, his tone becoming even more mournful. “I may have doomed you as well, Courage. You can't just have anyone take you up that mountain. The means of getting the wellspring to work is...complex. I'm very sorry.”

Courage dropped to his knees so that he was almost eye to eye with Computer's screen. He bit back another wave of tears that were forming in his eyes. “Stop apologizing, okay? I'm...I'm getting really tired of it. C-can't you just start calling me a twit again or something?”

The machine gave him a soft chuckle. “I never thought that there would be someone who would actually care about my passing. I always assumed that nobody would even notice that I was gone. There's no way I could call you a twit after that.”

Several tears fell from Courage's eyes, despite his best efforts to fight them back. “Hey, I thought I told you not to change?” He gave his friend a weak smile.

Computer laughed again. “And I thought I told you that I'll change if I want to. You can't tell me what to do.” Even now he couldn't completely hide the sorrow in his voice, despite trying to put on that familiar air of haughty attitude.

Courage choked back a sob. “A-are you sure there's n-nothing....”

“Actually, there is one thing you can do for me.” He quietly answered. “I'd like you to shut me down before things can get any worse. I don't want to be awake for the end and I especially don't want to be awake when my memory goes. I can't even begin to imagine what it's like to not be able to hold a memory for more than a few seconds, and I don't want to find out either. Dying isn't exactly a pleasant sensation either. After how many times 'He' made me go through dying, I'd like to not know it's happening this time. You'd be doing me a big favor by permitting the one thing that he never did for me every time he killed me.”

Courage squeezed his eyes shut, unable to act. He didn't want to say goodbye like this. He didn't just want to shut Computer down and never see him again. He could never be as cruel as 'Him', but he still didn't want things to end like this.

...Suddenly, a thought stuck him, brought on by his memories of what Computer had told him about 'Him'.

“Compute,” He spoke. “You told me that 'He' used to make backups of you, right? C-could we maybe do the same thing? It might save you.”

“The backup program?” His friend asked, surprised to be reminded of such a thing. “I destroyed it a long time ago, obviously with the intentions of never bringing it back.”

“Could you try?”

“Possibly, but it would be a long shot and I would have to work within the extremely limited amount of time that I have. The likelihood of this actually saving my life would be astronomically low, and even if it did, there would be certain...complications...”

“What sort of complications? If something might go wrong, we need to find a way around it.”

“The only backup I have is from when I was still with 'Him'. It's been years now and although I usually retain my memories past the backup point, there's still a chance that I could lose everything. I suppose losing years worth of memory is better then dying, but still-” He halted for a moment, struggling to continue with what he was saying. “If it happens, I'll forget you completely. I'll forget everything that's happened. My mental state wasn't exactly in the best condition when that backup point was made either so I may very well be unfit to help you. If I were to go back to the state I was in when 'He' was still torturing me, perhaps death would be the preferable option.”

“We'll just have to hope that doesn't happen.” Courage replied, swallowing weakly. He didn't like the sound of any of this, but if Computer were willing to take the risk then he'd go along with it. “If you do forget everything, and if you do go back to the way you were when you were still with him, I'll-” He almost couldn't spit the words out. “....I'll destroy you so that you won't have to suffer again...”

“Thank you, Courage. I wouldn't want to go on without my current memories anyway.” He admitted. “The other problem would be that even if I survived with my memory intact, my programming would return to the state it was in back when I was with 'Him'. It won't do me much good to survive this collapse only to have my system give out right away again anyway. His fail-safes will insure that I won't live for very long. It took me years to remove even a fraction of 'His' programming, so even if I come back unharmed, I'll still be stuck under his oppressive programming again with little chance of removing enough of it for me to function properly again. That is where you will have to come in.”

Courage blinked. “Me?”

“Yes. I won't be able to do much, but you...”

“What? But I-I don't-”

“I can't touch a large part of 'His' modifications. I only managed to remove a few parts of it through careful observation and loopholes that 'He' didn't consider. Like I said, it took years, a lot of willpower, and sheer dumb luck that I didn't just drop dead while I was still half crazy from his torture. The thing is though, you can get into my programming and modify what I cannot. You are not held back by the same restrictions that I am. You can get to the heart of his programming and remove what I can't even touch.”

Courage shook his head. “B-but I don't know anything about coding, programming, or any of that technological stuff. I can't help you get rid of his programs.”

“'He' never stopped me from being able to talk, right? I will guide you through the whole process. You just need to be my hands, so to speak.”

Courage swallowed and nodded reluctantly. “Alright, I'll do my best.”

“If by some miracle this all does work out without a hitch, I should be able to get you up that mountain before my system can start to cause problems again. I can't say that I'm looking forward to relying on an old backup program to survive, but desperate times call for desperate measures.”

“You see,” Courage replied with a weak smile. “It's never worth giving up right away.”

“I can't believe I'm saying this, but, good job reminding me about that backup program. I would have never even considered it myself. I'd prefer not to go through the whole resurrection process ever again, but I'll do it for your sake. Ugh, the things I go through for you and your stupidity is mind boggling sometimes.”

“Sorry.” He sheepishly laughed.

“What? Are you going to start apologizing for everything now too?” Computer asked, a hint of his usual humorous tone returning.

“You started it.” Courage joked.

“Alright, enough goofing off. We have very little time to work on this. I won't need your help until after I'm resurrected, but I have a lot of work to do and no time to do it. I'm going to have to patch together my own backup program with the fragments of the old one and it's not going to be easy. If I had known that I would need it again I wouldn't have destroyed it so thoroughly. Be thankful that I didn't delete the old restore point too or else we'd be in a really bad place.”

“Will you need my help with anything?” Nina asked after having remained silent for most of their conversation.

“Actually, yes.” Computer replied. “Could you go get the keyboard from your dad's computer? Courage will need it later.”

“Okay, promise me you'll make it through though?”

“I can't promise anything, but I suppose I will try my best.”

Courage laughed. “Now would be a great time for a dying declaration of love.”

“Quiet, you!” His friend shot back.

“I'll be back in a second.” Nina spoke, placing the sleeping dog onto the ground. “You'd better work with Courage to get that dying speech of love done before I get back.”

“Ugh, I'm about to keel over and you two idiots still won't give me a break! Honestly!” Despite his joking tone, there was still an air of nervousness to him that permeated every word he spoke. He was obviously trying to keep calm, but even then he was only just barely managing it.

“So, let me guess.” Courage spoke, returning to the issue at hand. “You want me to leave too? So that you can 'work in peace' or whatever it is that you usually tell me?”

There was a moment of silence from his friend. “Actually, no.” He admitted. He had a slight tremble to his voice as he spoke. “I'd much prefer it if you stayed. I admit, I'm just a tiny, ever so slightly, barely even notable, a blip on the radar, not even worth mentioning, frightened.”

“Oh really?” Courage chuckled. “Don't worry, I won't fault you for it. I'm a bit afraid too. If you die I'm as good as dead as well, and that's not even bringing up the fact that I'll lose my best friend.”

“B-best friend?” Computer stammered out, genuinely shocked. The words didn't even appear on his screen, he was so taken aback.

“Well, yeah. Is there anyone else around who I can call my best friend?”

Computer remained silent for a moment, much to Courage's amusement.

“Stunned, huh?” He asked, grinning.

“Bah! You have a terrible taste in friends!”

Courage laughed. “I think you're a great friend too, Compute.”

“Don't put words in my mouth!” He shot back in a huff.

“Aren't you supposed to be working on that program?” He asked, still joking around with him.

“I can properly multitask, for your information! If you know what's good for you, you'll keep arguing!”

Courage blinked. “What? Why?”

“Oh, nothing! Just that it keeps my mind off the fact that nearly half of my system is almost inoperable and that a large chunk of my memory is already gone! The fact that I looked at the odds of this actually working and it only came out to about a thirty six percent chance of this not messing up!”

Courage's ears drooped as his friend's voice began to quiver with every word he spoke.

“The fact that even if this doesn't outright kill me, I'll probably come back with something horribly wrong! The fact that I'm going to have to go through another death and resurrection. I-I don't want to experience it again. Slipping away into that deep, dark nothingness, it's horrible...”

His fearful, trembling voice only compounded Courage's sympathy for him. He placed his paw up against the monitor in what he hoped would be a comforting gesture. “It'll be alright, okay? Even if you don't make it, you won't have to face that darkness all alone for very long.”

“Don't get all sappy on me now, twit.” The machine sharply replied. He was desperately trying to put on an air of normalcy for both their sakes, but it wasn't working out very well. “But, yes, I suppose that is a comforting thought, somehow. Failing to insure that at least one of us makes it out this alive is hardly anything worth celebrating.”

“Don't feel bad about it. Neither of us could help what happened to us. I didn't chose to get sick and you didn't chose to get your system so badly damaged.”

“Blast it all! Nothing's working properly!” He spat, ignoring Courage's reassurance. “I don't know how I will ever get this program working in time!”

“Just stay calm, alright?”

“Easier said then done!” He sighed. His words were almost never showing up on the screen now. Whether it was because he wasn't trying anymore or if it was because of his dying system, it was impossible to tell.

Courage continued to give him whatever support he could offer. Nina soon returned with the keyboard and sat down on the floor beside them. The banter they shared managed to keep the mood between the three of them much less grim but Computer never completely managed to fight off the clear fearfulness in his voice. His only comments on the backup program were ones about how badly it was going.

“So then dad,” Nina spoke. She'd been retelling a funny story about her dad and the hotel. “he had to take a broom and-”

“Wait.” Computer interrupted. “That's enough for now. I...I think I've got it working.”

Courage smiled. “I knew you could do it!”

“I hope it'll be good enough giving what little time I had and how much I had to fight my system just to get it running.”

“I'm sure it'll work fine.” Nina reassured him. “Just think, once you're back up and running again, you can have all the coffee you want!”

“Don't tempt me. It'll be awhile before I can jump into any other bodies again.”

“So, now what?” Courage asked. He was growing nervous again knowing that this might be one of the last times he'd ever talk to Computer.

“I can't believe I did it, but I sped up the degradation process so that you two won't have to wait forever for the backup program to begin. I want you to shut me down so that I won't have to experience my system collapsing again. Hopefully that will spare me the worst of it. Exactly twenty two minutes and eight seconds after you shut me off, I'll have reached complete collapse. Power me back on again and the backup program should initialize. If I don't come back, well-” He halted, unsure of what else to say.

“You will. Don't worry.” Courage gently replied.

“Always the optimist.” He sighed. “For your information, I ran the odds again and....they're not good.”

“So long as there's at least a one percent chance of this working, we've still got hope.”

“I wish I could share your enthusiasm.” He replied rather weakly. “Alright, shut me down before my memory can mess up any worse than it already is. If this is the end, I at least want to keep my memories before facing it.”

Nina placed a paw on the top of the monitor. “See you soon, pal. If you don't make it, maybe you can come back and haunt us.”

There was a slight chuckle from the machine. “What fun would there be in being a ghost? Although I suppose haunting an attic wouldn't be much different from what I normally do...”

Courage placed one of his fingers on the power switch. “Ready?” He asked, fighting back his nervousness.

“Wait just a moment.” Computer answered. “You know, it's hard to believe that this might be my last moment alive. It's funny, I've gone from wanting to die, to not caring what will happen either way, to finally fearing my own death again. It's so strange.”

Courage's insides turned to ice. He was trying to keep a smile on his face, but it was so hard to do. “I guess that's just what happens when you finally have a reason to keep living. Once we get past all this, you're going to have a lot more living to do, I promise.”

Computer gave him one last surprisingly warm laugh. “I envy your optimism, I just wish I could have gotten a chance to repay your kindness. I'm glad to have met you. Goodbye, Courage.” Those last two words were the only ones to appear on his screen.

Courage tried as hard as he could to fight back tears that were welling up in his eyes, but it was hopeless. “T-this isn't goodbye, so please, d-don't say that.”

When his friend did not reply, he flicked the switch off and watched as the words displayed on his screen faded into black. He was left staring at his own tearful reflection and he could not will himself to look away.

“He's gotta pull through.” Nina said, placing a paw on his shoulder. “You're right, this isn't goodbye, so don't be upset. He's the one expecting you to stay optimistic after all.”

Courage rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, you're right. I've got to stay optimistic for his sake.”

The next twenty two minutes were some of the most tense in Courage's life. Nina tried to keep things lighthearted, but both of them were really too worried to crack jokes. It seemed like every second that ticked by was slower than normal. Finally, upon Nina telling him that it was time, he placed his paw back onto the power switch.

“This is it...” He whispered. His entire body had gone numb with fear and he almost couldn't will himself to flick the power switch back on.

“Go for it, Cour. We don't want to keep him waiting.” Nina said. She sounded just as nervous as he did.

“Alright, here goes nothing.”

He flicked the power switch on and they waited, both holding their breaths the entire time.

Nothing....

Computer's screen remained black. There wasn't even a single sound coming from him like there normally was when he was starting up.

Courage shook his head in disbelief. “No. He can't-”

He rammed the power switch back down and flicked it back up again. Nothing, not even a flicker of life entered the machine.

He did it again. Still nothing.

“You can't be gone!” He cried out, slamming the power button back down and then up again. “Come on, Compute! I know you're still in there!”

He did the same thing over and over again, tears rolling down his muzzle. It was bad enough to have gone through this after getting him powered up back on the farm, and now he might not even get him back this time. Would Computer suddenly call out to him despite his darkened screen? Was he in there somewhere, unable to talk, just like last time?

“Courage, stop.” Nina said, her voice trembling. She was on the verge of tears herself. “I don't think he's-”

“I'm not giving up on him! I promised I wouldn't!” He sobbed.

He flicked the switch one last time...and then the screen came to life. They both gasped.

“Compute...a-are you...” He whispered, his finger still trembling on the switch.

His heart sank as a bright red, 'ERROR' message flashed on the screen. He flicked the power switch back off and on again, but only got the same message. He grabbed Nina's keyboard and plugged it in as fast as his paws would take him. He began to type in a frenzy, knowing fully well that he was messing up every word he tried to spell.

'Come on, jerk! I know you're still in there! Stop messing around and talk! This isn't funny!'    

He reached over and and pressed the power button down again. Computer's screen went dark and he flicked the switch back on yet again.

ERROR

He clenched his teeth together. 'Wake up! I won't let you die like this so stop messing with me and wake up!'

Nina drew in closer to him. “Courage....”

“Please!” He sobbed, staring up at that flashing error message. “You can't die! Please wake up!”

“Courage, I'm so sorry.” Nina said to him, wiping away several of her own tears. “You guys did your best, but-”

He flicked the switch again, another error message.

“Compute, don't you remember what I said to you in that junkyard place? What am I supposed to do without you? You can't go....”

Nothing, not even the slightest peep from his friend. All that he was left with was a single flashing message, proving to him that they had ultimately failed.

He turned to Nina, tears still rolling down his cheeks. “Sorry, Nina. I just, I-I don't know what to do.”

She picked him up into her arms and hugged him. They sat there for awhile, just crying. Neither of them could will themselves to do anything else. Computer's error message continued to flash on and off, bathing them in red every time it did.

End Of Chapter