Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Goodnight!” Blue whispered, trying to sound cheerful.

“…night.”

“…”

The door shut quietly. Almost sadly, if you read too much into it.

Ghost was a lonely Addison. 

He talked big, but at the end of the day, he was just like everyone else. 

Worse than everyone else.

Pathetic. An Addison who couldn’t sell? His brothers should be ashamed, having to share a spawn date with a freak like that.

Extra code. A pile of scraps. Barely good enough for a backwater email job working from home.

#EFA3C2, better known as Taffy Pink Addison, took it the hardest out of the five brothers. Ever the egotist, he’d stick his nose in the air and agree that his shorter brother was a worthless bundle of code. 

No amount of platitudes behind closed doors would salvage their relationship.

Baby Blue, who more often than not just went by Blue, took all of it to heart. Even as his brothers reassured him time and time again it wasn’t his fault, including Ghost himself, he’d just nod his head in sad agreement. 

He never took their words to heart.

On the other hand, Light Yellow never showed much of anything. Ever mysterious, he always kept his thoughts to himself. Was he disappointed? Disgusted? Did he not even care? Whenever asked, he would expertly shrug it off and guide the conversation somewhere else, sometimes without the other knowing. His brothers always knew, but they also knew there was no point in trying, so they let it go.

Topaz Orange was the most abrasive of the bunch. Questions of any kind made him angry and unapproachable, and after enough violent encounters, people stopped asking. 

At one point, Ghost asked him why he cared so much. 

Topaz got angry then, too.

And now, Ghost was in his room, mindlessly scrolling through the emails he’d sent out today, knowing each and every one was sure to be ignored. 

He can’t even spell right!

For a spammer, he sure can’t make a sale!

A spammer. Or Mr. Spam-a-ton. Both were common nicknames throughout the Addison district, and they were thankfully some of the less hateful ones Ghost encountered.

At least words couldn’t break bones.

He’d toyed with the idea of turning one of his many nicknames into a celebrity name, whenever he got famous.

If he ever got famous.

Ghost paused his musings when he came across a response. A response! Mother of Boards, a response!

Spamton quickly went to read it, hoping that this time the words wouldn’t dance around the page so quickly.

Ah.

A prank.

Spamton sighed as the brightly colored and loud video played on a new tab- he was almost disappointed he didn’t see it coming.

His brothers would be disappointed if they learned he could barely read, much less spell. So he’d just…

What if… What if he used pictures? What if he just… drew what he wanted to sell?

Could… could the point still come across, even without words?

It was worth a shot. Not like he was making much progress with his current strategy anyway.

Putting away the video to pull out a drawing tab, Ghost spent the next hour doing his best to draw a set of designer shoes, with a big red arrow pointing to a map leading to Taffy’s shop. He may or may not have also drawn Taffy with an unattractively short nose, but that was just a bit of fun.

How pathetic indeed.

When Ghost finished his drawing, he gently converted the file into a pdf, and tucked it away for tomorrow. Knowing what Taffy would say about such an idea, he decided to keep it quiet until it produced results.

All throughout the next day, none of Ghost’s brothers noticed how genuine his smile was. Not that they would, but when he sat down at the desk in his room to construct emails for the day, the smile stayed.

Not even bothering with words this time, Ghost quickly packaged as many copies of the drawing as he could, tagging each with a different random email address. Two in particular with rather vibrant profile pictures seemed promising, but it would be hard to tell until a response came. 

He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this excited about an idea. Maybe… maybe Taffy would like it, once he saw results.

All he wanted was for his brothers to be proud of him.

If not that, then he just wanted them to be happy.

They were never happy. 

Not when he was around. 

Even when Ghost tried to cheer them up, it would only make things worse.

Gathering up all the emails to be sent, Ghost pulled out his only talent.

Cloning.

Within an instant, over twenty miniature clones of himself flooded his room, all chirping nonsense. He probably could have gone up to twenty-five, but he wasn’t looking to pass out early today.

“All right everyone!”

The chirping stopped, and all the clones turned to face their master.

“I’ve got about three hundred emails for all of you, so it’s gonna be a busy day today.”

All of the clones groaned. Three even fell to their knees and started sobbing, while another two punched the wall in defeat.

“Now I know that sounds bad, but they’re real easy ones today, I promise. It won’t take up that much storage space.”

The group didn’t seem convinced. Ghost sighed.

“I’ll let you all hang out afterward for an hour if you get done really fast.”

The group looked around at each other before turning back to nod in sync. All of them held excitement in their eyes.

“Great!” Ghost said as he transferred the files. “Now get on out there!”

 All of them saluted (in sync again) before running for the window, all fighting to be first to leave. Ghost sighed and let them have at it. It was worthless trying to get them to get along.

A knock at the door caught his attention. The clones, otherwise known as his Spamlings, as he’d so affectionately named them, froze to look at the door.

“It’s me.” Came Blue's voice from behind the door.

All the clones sighed in relief before returning to their struggle.

“Come in,” Ghost called.

“I see your… ‘troupe’ is at it again.”

“Didn’t take that long to convince them this time.”

Blue was the only family member who knew about Ghost’s odd abilities. Of course, they all had abilities, but they were all related to selling, not… spamming.

“That’s good to hear.”

“Now what can I do for you, Blue?”

“Er… nothing, I just…” Blue shifted uncomfortably. “I just wanted to check on you.”

Ghost’s neutral smile dropped into a frown. “I’m short, not a child. I’m fine, Blue.”

Blue put his hands up in surrender. “I know, I know! I’m not trying to offend, I just…”

Ghost looked away from Blue, who seemed oh-so-close to tears. “I’m sorry for blowing up. I know you didn’t mean it that way.”

“…”

“I… thanks for sticking with me, Blue. It’s nice to know at least one person in this house cares about me.”

Later that night, Ghost yawned as he scrolled through the emails he’d sent, the Spamlings all sleeping around the room. Some were directly on top of Ghost, nearly suffocating him, but it was no use trying to fight it.

Ghost continued to scroll. 

This strategy wasn’t bearing fruit either. 

…

A response. 

A response! By QUEEN’s grace! A…

Ghost’s smile faded.

It was probably another prank. This one also had a file attached. But…

Reading as best he could, Ghost spoke aloud in a whisper. 

“I’m sorry… I kn- I don’t know… try- know what you’re trying to… sell me, but your… wo- art work is very… lovely…” 

Ghost looked away from the page, rubbing his eyes.

“Lovely… here’s something… I made, a long… time ago. Maybe you… use- you can get more use out of it… than… than I can.”

Dang it. When the meaning finally clicked for Ghost, he clenched his fist in shame. This didn’t work either. The meaning didn’t come across. Of course it didn’t.

Stupid. He was stupid.

Looking forlornly at the attachment that had been sent, Ghost shrugged. If they were an artist too, maybe Ghost could get tips from them.

Clicking the pdf link, Ghost patiently waited as the new page loaded. 

And loaded.

And loaded.

And exited out of itself.

…?

Ghost clicked on the file again.

Nothing happened.

The Addison sniffed at his surroundings. The internet was still running… why was the file being so slow? 

Ghost went to click it a third time, pressing a bit harder than before, like that would do anything.

Strangely enough, it did seem to do something, as when Ghost tried to pull his hand back, nothing happened.

“Wha…? I-ack-!“ 

Ghost couldn’t finish the thought before he felt the file reach out to him, its code finding purchase around his own. In his terror, the Spamlings all despawned, and Ghost barely caught a glimpse of their shocked faces before they disappeared.

Ghost used his other hand to try and pry the file off, but nothing he did could combat its hold. As it entered his system, Ghost could tell the file was very old. Possibly older than QUEEN. 

It was powerful. 

Ghost tried closing the tab as the file continued its path, but attempting to close it only gave the file a reason to jump from the page and fully latch onto him.

His circuits were frying. The file was too much- he was going to melt before it finished the transfer.

“Please STOP!” He begged, but the file either couldn’t hear him or didn’t care for Ghost’s plight.

A painful jolt went through his system as errors covered his vision. His own systems claimed to be working at one hundred and twenty percent, and climbing, oddly enough.

Another jolt of pain sent Ghost to the ground, who writhed as the file wrapped itself like thorny vines around his code, taking over like the virus that it likely was.

Ghost was so stupid! ‘Don’t click suspicious links,’ 

as Blue had always said, and now Ghost of all people had fallen for it! 

That kind message had fooled him. Maybe he’d missed a sentence that explained the true nature of the file- that happened sometimes. But he’d been so sure!

Any other potential thoughts were drowned out by the burning of the file, as it took over his mechanical heart and poured what he could only assume was burning acid through his very being.

Agony. Ghost was in agony. He needed to escape his own skin. He had to leave. Out. Get. Now. NOW!

Ghost stumbled his way to the one window in his room, the very same that the Spamlings had flown out of earlier, but he didn’t get very far before he heard something break. 

Not too long after the sound occurred did he start to feel an impossibly great pain in his right leg, one more excruciating than he’d ever experienced before. Ghost clenched his teeth so hard he thought they might crack.

He felt every microsecond in slow motion as different wires and muscles in his body shifted around and changed shape, pulling and snapping to match the bones that were breaking and twisting.

The Addison fully collapsed on the ground as the unnatural transformation made its way up to his arms and torso, and by then all his thoughts had been taken over by the intense desire to die. The agony reached its peak as new bones formed through his back, breaking and extending over and over again like a sick joke.

Parts of his transformation solidified as his back continued to break, and over the ringing in his ear, Ghost thought he could hear the sound of someone pounding on the door, though it was likely a desperate hallucination.

As the pain finally began to subside, Ghost felt a strange instinct take over. Making his way over to the window (it was much smaller now, how strange) Ghost went to pull it up, but to his surprise, a clawed and robotic hand ripped the window right out of its space in the wall. 

Did that belong to him?

Fly you fool!

A strange voice rang through Ghost’s head, wild and unknowable. But fear ruled over Ghost’s inhibitions at the moment, so he forced himself through the hole in the wall quickly and suddenly, he was flying.

Flying. Flying! He was flying! Badly, but wow! 

But as soon as Ghost thought about how he was able to fly in the first place, he panicked and lost control, his straight path up and away turning into a strange zigzag pattern, headed right for the dump on the outskirts of the city.

Chapter Text

Blue woke to the sound of someone screaming something awful. 

It was as if the very core of someone’s being was being ripped from their body; an electricity-stopping wail coming from somewhere nearby. Blue panicked and fumbled with the lamp switch near his bedside, failing once, twice, three times before he finally got it to click on. 

Who was being hurt? Why? Were they getting robbed? 

But who would bother robbing an Addison? In one of the safest parts of the district? 

Didn’t matter. Blue rushed down the hall, almost crashing into Topaz. 

Topaz's expression went from frightened to serious as soon as he saw Blue. 

“You heard?”

“One of them?”

Both, not wanting to waste any more time, ran down the hall and opened the doors to Taffy and Light’s rooms, who were both just as panicked, but only just getting up.

That meant…

The room furthest down the hall.

“Ghost!”

——————

Wake up, darling.

A strange voice whispered through his mind- Ghost mumbled something incoherent.

What if I say pretty please?

Ghost tried his hand at ignoring it.

WAKE UP.

He scrambled awake, only to find… no one around. There was a lot of… garbage, which all smelled awful, but no one who could’ve…

I’m right here, darling.

Ghost whipped around to his left, but nobody came. The voice gave a haughty laugh.

No, no! I’m here. In your head. Inside you. 

Ghost thought briefly about how much help it would be to try and fight something like this.

It wouldn’t get you very far, my dear. After all, I’m a part of you now! How would you go about fighting yourself?

The Addison(?) briefly thought about the implications of another entity hearing his every thought, but that wasn’t the priority now.

“WHO-”

Ghost flinched back at the sound of his own voice, which carried through the mounds of trash. It sounded more metallic than he was used to, but his accent was still present, encompassed by a robotic echo. 

He barely recognized it.

I’m much less of a ‘who’ and more of a ‘what’ kind of person, but you may call me NEO.

“NEO?”

Yes, NEO. And you are… Spamton, no?

“WHAT? NO! MY NAME IS GHOST!” 

That’s strange. Is that what others call you? That’s not what you call yourself.

“…”

No matter. We’re hungry! Let’s find something to eat.

Ghost’s limbs felt very heavy, but now that his eyes had adjusted to the new lighting, he could tell that the clawed hand from last night was indeed his own. As well as a nice white pair of boots, with high heels that would make even QUEEN jealous.

He… he liked them. A lot.

But as Ghost went to stand up, a strange weight from behind pulled him back down. Checking to see if he had gotten caught in anything, (he could turn his head all the way around, it should have felt more unnatural than it did) Ghost found an impressive pair of colorful metal wings.

Like extending an extra limb he didn’t know he had, Ghost merely thought about moving his new appendages, and they did. Like some kind of reverse phantom limb, he couldn’t quite believe they were there, but they made him excited. 

He’d really flown last night.

Speaking of, those guys weren’t going to be happy when he resummoned them…

Probably not.

Ghost scowled. The voice was like a small insect, buzzing around inside his code.

I’m a BIG insect that’s PART of YOUR code.

Ghost scowled even more.

Aww, don’t look so blue, darling! Now let’s go find some good scrap to eat before you collapse again!

The voice sounded so cheerful as they said it, but something in NEO’s biting undertones had Ghost standing up as quickly as he could. 

Only for him to wobble and nearly topple over himself.

Combined with the wings and heels, his entire body felt poorly balanced. Switching to all fours alleviated some of it, but he could still tell it was going to take a while to get used to. Moving closer to a nearby broken sign, Ghost used the reflection to examine his new self.

He was much taller, for one. There wasn’t much to compare to, but the mountains of garbage nearby, along with a dumpster the size of a small ottoman, made things pretty clear.

Well, the dumpster wasn’t the size of an ottoman, but he perceived it to be so. 

How strange.

His hair and skin was still up to par with his namesake, but his eyes had been replaced with lenses, similar to that of a camera. He blinked one eye, and the shutter inside closed. Frightening.

It was only when some of the plates of pink armor on his body twitched that he realized they were a part of him, and to make matters worse, peaking out underneath the plates was a mess of wires and muscle, like some kind of cyborg abomination.

He didn’t quite know how to feel about his new appearance. It was… cool, in his opinion, with the bright colors and sleek armor, but it was clunky and rusted in some parts, and it was strange knowing he was now unfamiliar with his own anatomy.

It’s a good look, no?

It was, but it wouldn’t be to the citizens of Cyber City.

Moving on, something told Ghost that if he concentrated, he could probably shrink a few inches, but he didn’t feel ready to let go of his newfound height just yet. NEO laughed in the background of his mind.

Sniffing the air, Ghost could feel his mechanicanized eyes dilate as a sharp tangy smell hit his nose. Like magnifying lenses, Ghost found that he could zoom and enhance.

Once Ghost spotted the source of the smell, his face fell- it was coming from a rather large sheet of aluminum foil.

That stuff’ll be like candy to you. Not as much nutrients as say… nevermind, but it’ll do you in a pinch.

Ghost felt it as steam rose from somewhere within his system, escaping in small chunks through holes on his neck. What? Did he have pipes in his throat?

Shaking away the thought, Ghost stumbled as he moved toward the piece of metal. He instinctively opened his wings for balance, but even then he had to fight the urge to lock his knees. 

Picking up the sheet, Ghost looked at it dubiously.

Addisons didn’t need to eat as often as other Darkners, but when they did, it was closer to what you’d call ‘people food’, not… was he mentally prepared to eat out of the literal garbage?

YES, now EAT IT! Stop acting spoiled! I- we’re hungry!

Ghost tried to go slow to spite NEO, but the taste was incredible, like eating cotton candy from an amusement park, so he may have sped up a bit. 

Also out of spite, of course.

Sniffing around for something else, Ghost wobbled slightly as he tried to stand up fully. When was the last time he’d worn heels? One of Taffy’s shoe show-offs? Those had barely been platforms, nothing to scoff at.

You’re doing great, darling.

Ghost ignored NEO.

I’m not patronizing you, dear. I mean it. Don’t pretend that wasn’t what you were thinking.

Ghost went to respond but stopped himself.

Instead, he tried to think of a good conversation topic.

“…SO, UH… WHAT DID YOU DO FOR A LIVING BEFORE YOU, ER… ATTACHED YOURSELF TO ME?” Ghost tried. NEO let out a dramatic sigh.

Not much, I’m afraid. This body was MADE for the stage, but I’ve just been rotting down in some downtrodden basement for YEARS now.

“REALLY? SOUNDS AWFUL.”

Yes, but imagine you couldn’t move. I need a host, darling, as the Lightner who created me intended, and I have been without one since the day I was drawn. So I latched on to the first one I could find once I was let out.

“…ME.”

Yes. You.

“A LIGHTNER, HUH… WERE YOU SOME KIND OF… ART PROJECT, IN THE LIGHTNER’S REALM?”

No, let’s not be silly! I was no mere PROJECT, darling. I was a STAR! A representation of all they ever wanted to be! …but…

Ghost sat down against one of the trash zone walls with an iron pipe he had found, almost shocked at how easily his teeth cleaved the metal in two.

“BUT…?”

But… I’m an impossible dream in their world. So they… they threw me away.

Ghost didn’t know what to say.

Well, I guess they didn’t exactly throw me away, like with the others, I just… wasn’t ever looked at again. I think I would’ve been thrown out for real, if it weren’t for…

NEO paused, and Ghost stayed silent.

Oh look at me, just dragging on with some sob story, ha ha! 

Ghost pretended not to notice the sad wobble in NEO’s voice.

Anyway, after you finish with that pipe, you’ll probably be good for another twenty-four hours or so. Well, not if you over exert yourself with a fight or something, but you get what I mean.

“YEAH. I GET YOU.”

Good- then it’ll do until we find something real. I won’t bother you for the rest of the day now. Ta ta!

“HEY WAIT! I-“ like some kind of switch, that buzzing feeling of NEO’s presence disappeared, leaving Ghost alone with his thoughts.

Well, he didn’t believe for a second they were really gone. It was likely they had just retreated to a part of his code farther back, like a subconscious memory.

Ghost huffed. Might as well use this time to learn how to walk before he can even think about anything else.

Like… his family.

What was he supposed to do? Show up looking like some crazy monster who doesn’t look or even sound like their brother? No. It’s better to just… not, right now.

They’d just be scared of him.

They’d get over him in a week anyway. 

He tried to not let the thought sting.

One foot in front of the other, Ghost used his wings to counterbalance any missteps. It was only a couple hours later that he got himself to a steady stroll without too much tripping, but an incoming vehicle caught his ear.

It sounded close by, but as Ghost scrambled to climb the nearest wall, claws digging into the brick, the vehicle, which turned out to be a garbage truck, took much longer to approach than he would have thought. 

You have superior hearing now. I, NEO, am superior in every way to everyone in this city. I could be considered godly in comparison to your QUEEN and her… ‘Swatchlings’.

Ghost went to roll his eyes, but realized he couldn’t. His field of vision was wider than he’d first realized, and it had a strange fisheye effect. It was like he didn’t have any peripherals, like… like a camera.

…not all these traits are mine, dear. Your face, mind, and heart are all yours, darling.

Ghost scowled again, only to realize he wasn’t completing the motion. In fact, his face appeared to be mostly paralyzed. 

Unhooking one clawed hand from the wall, Ghost felt around his face as he tried to make expressions, but his efforts bore no fruit aside from his jaw opening and closing like a simple nutcracker. 

He tried to pull his face into a frown, but nothing happened. He tried to smile, and he felt the corners of his mouth barely move in response.

How unsettling.

Shut up, he thought, careful not to alert the truck.

Oooh hoohoo! So scary! 

Ghost scowled in his mind.

As the garbage truck disappeared around the bend to return to the main road, Ghost examined the haul.

A rather fine sheet of tin was the first thing he pulled out, but there was also a rather fresh CD Bagel for the garbage. Strangely, it smelled completely bland, like he would gain nothing from consuming it.

He really had changed. Inside and out.

I hardly recognize that little… what did you think you were? An ‘Addison’? I hardly recognize any of that in you. Not that you looked like the others in the first place, ha ha.

“REALLY HELPING.”

Mwah, darling.

“GROSS. KISS MY CIRCUITS.”

Is that a threat or an invitation?

“WHAT? EW! YOU’RE A PART OF ME- YOU CAN’T EVEN DO THAT.”

It was a fair question!

“WHO THINKS THAT WAY??”

Whatever, darling. Come back to me when you’re ready to embrace true self-love.

Ghost didn’t know what to think about having to share a body with such a strange individual. 

Lights flickered around him, a warning that business was about to stop for the nightly update cycle. 

He should… he should check on his brothers. Not where they can see him, just… just out of sight. He’d find them while they were going home, just to take a look. Yeah.

Mmhm.

“SHUT UP, NEO.”

Ghost used the same foot holds as the ones he’d created earlier on the wall, jumping the last little bit to pull himself up onto the roof. As the neon lights dimmed, a few pieces of himself started to glow. Namely a yellow triangle, just slightly off from the center of his chest, and the exposed wiring between his joints, which glowed a sickly green.

They made him mildly uncomfortable.

His heart and mind were his own.

His heart and mind were his own.

Your heart and your mind are your own.

“I DON’T NEED YOUR HELP.”

Suit yourself, teehee.

Ghost tried to relax. What happened last time? How does one just… choose to fly?

A little bit of regret for pushing away NEO started to appear.

You callllllled?

Ghost’s wings fell in defeat.

“FINE. TEACH ME HOW TO FLY.”

…

“…PLEASE.”

How exciting! Alright. So, as you might have guessed, our wings are mostly for balance and direction. They probably seem too bulky and jointless to fly, right?

“EHH… YEAH…?”

Well that’s because we’re not a bird! We’re a robot! Find it in our code- the code that tells us to fly.

Ghost went through a quick check on his code, riffling through each file with care. Memories were locked and untampered with, but controls were taking up a lot more space than normal.

Opening the folder, Ghost felt it as NEO guided him to the right file. 

S_NEO folder. FLIGHT file. 

Clicking play on the FLIGHT file must have activated something in his boots, as Ghost felt it when his feet rearranged, opening to reveal four individual engine nozzles. 

Rocket boots. Of course.

Parts of his hands opened up and pushed back as well, two simple nozzles on the palm of each one.

The wings are just for direction and grace. It’s all rocket power, darling. You want to find your brothers? Then let’s go!

Ghost let NEO guide his stance- feet together without locking his knees, hands at his sides, and palms facing the ground. 

FLY, Ghost!

And so he flew.

He put a little too much power in the lift off, almost entirely losing balance once in the sky, but he quickly readjusted without dying. The part of him that was still an Addison told him to flail, but Ghost kept his arms tight against his sides, letting his wings guide his movements. 

Aww, look at him go! This is almost a dream come true! 

“ALMOST?” Ghost called over the artificial wind.

Yes, dear. But for now… this is good. Better than good. I can’t believe I’m here. 

“I DON’T BLAME YOU, YOU KNOW.”

Huh? What for?

“YOU’RE IN MY HEAD, BUT I’M IN YOURS TOO. I CAN FEEL YOUR GUILT, AND I DON’T BLAME YOU FOR JUMPING AT THE  FIRST OPPORTUNITY.”

Ghost spots the block his brothers work on- another flicker of the lights says it’s almost time for their shifts to end.

…why?

“YOU WERE DESPERATE.” Ghost said, as he descended onto a nearby rooftop, only stumbling a little (a lot) on the landing.

“AND I WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING.”

…

Ghost felt it as NEO switched off once again, hiding somewhere in the far reaches of his mind. 

Ghost might have broken something when he landed. Now whether that was the roof or his ankles, Ghost wasn’t sure, but he moved as quietly as he could to crouch at the ledge, a perfect view of his brothers’ usual meet up spot.

There they were, all advertising their individual shops like usual. Lightner avatars, echoes of their true selves projected into the Dark, browsed for just a while longer before QUEEN hit the switch for the night.

They seemed fine without him.

A few moments later, the avatars all completely vanished. As soon as the neon signs went completely out, all that remained to brighten the Dark World were the Addisons, who all glowed in the dark like candles. Now that the Lightners were gone, real expressions started to show. 

Ghost got down lower to hide his own strange glow.

Once all the Addisons met next to Taffy’s shop, Ghost’s newfound hearing caught Blue’s whisper.

“I…” he started, but nothing more came.

All were silent for a time. Taffy was the first to speak up.

“Come on guys! What’s that little punk ever done for us anyway? Why are we getting all upset about it when he’s the one who ran off?”

Before Ghost even had a chance to get upset, Topaz stepped in, shoving Taffy back a couple steps.

“Ran off? RAN OFF? Ghost was KIDNAPPED, you useless pile of data! And who were those emails for, huh? WHO WERE THEY FOR?”

Before Topaz could get violent, Blue pulled them back. 

“Guys, guys! Ghost wouldn’t want us to fight…”

Ghost scoffed. He must have really underestimated just how loud his voice really was, because all four Addisons turned towards the sound.

“Who’s there!?” Topaz called, putting up two fists. The others didn’t say anything, but Topaz had made the group’s intentions clear.

Should… should he say something? Should he call out, let them know their brother was still alive?

Taffy’s words burned in his ears. No. Maybe… Maybe he would give them that week. See if they really did forget. 

“Come on out, unless you’re too scared!” Taffy shouted, in over his head and far too confident, as per usual.

Light had been silent the entire time, but he and Blue both studied his hiding spot curiously. Did his eyes glow too? It was hard to tell, but everything was easy to see despite the lack of light. 

Ghost panicked a little bit. What if they saw him as he left? They didn’t seem to be leaving, despite his stillness.

Are we just going to sit here forever, darling? Or are we gonna get outta here?

Ghost threw caution to the wind, jumping off the roof to fly away as fast as he could.

Chapter Text

Light Yellow didn’t like talking about himself. Which was fine, since most other people liked to do the talking for him.

Except for Ghost.

It was something they sort of connected on, Light hoped. That despite everything that formed such an awful wall between the brothers, that was something the two could cling to. 

Or maybe it was just Light who felt that way. 

It was entirely possible. 

His cousins, well- all Addisons were cousins- but the ones who shared a spawn date with him and his brothers, Canary Yellow and Sky Blue, were the only two in their group. Generally, it was three or four (and for the first time ever, five once Light’s family spawned in), but sometimes it was two. Or even one.

Canary and Light got along pretty well. Nari was a bit quieter than an Addison maybe ought to be, but that was just off the job. Once on, she was all smiles.

Today, as Light hid in his shop’s recharge station, he tried to copy Canary’s bright smile.

She was never happy. But she pretended. How did they pretend? He should ask, next time he sees her. Get some tips, haha.

Ghost was gone.

Completely gone. 

His window had been ripped straight from its spot in the wall, and there were emails all over the floor. Ripped up papers all depicting a lovely painted advertisement for Taffy’s storefront. 

Ghost had always loved to paint, even if it didn’t bring him any luck in his sales.

Someone had kidnapped him.

Who? Why? What could Ghost have done to deserve such a thing? Why couldn’t it have been Light instead?

Why… out of all brothers… out of all the Addisons… 

Light splashed some water on his face, patting it down with a towel after. Looking in the mirror, Light could tell he only looked worse than before. 

Oh well. A strained smile came on his face, as he went back out to deal with the last hour of his work day. 

It was almost over.

It was almost over.

Then he could go home, and…

And sleep, in a room just down the hall from where the Detective-class Ambyu-Lances had come to sleuth out who the perpetrator might’ve been.

They hadn’t bothered with investigating too hard.

Light forced his smile wider. His brothers were doing just fine, so he could do fine too.

He could do fine.

He was going to be fine.

It was going to be fine.

After work, once the final flicker of the lights shut them off completely, Taffy immediately started causing problems.

Why couldn’t he just shut his mouth, for once? Why did he have to twist the knife, and make everyone else more upset than they already were? What did he have to gain?

Any other thoughts were drowned out by a strange clicking sound that came from nearby.

It was… oddly mechanical.

“Who’s there!?” Topaz shouted, after the sound finished its echo through the empty street.

Light glanced at Blue, who glanced back before silently motioning to a pair of twin white lights on a roof not too far from where they were. They almost looked like spotlights, but rather than being a soft yellow, they were both a bright off-white, surely blinding, if they were any closer.

“Come on out, unless you’re too scared!” Taffy called. You almost couldn’t hear the shake in his voice. 

Light nearly went to smack him in the back of the head, but he saw the lights moving out of the corner of his eye before he could start the motion.

It was faster than any Darkner he’d ever seen. For one moment, it was just two small lights hiding on the roof. The next, it was some sort of giant winged creature, glowing gold and green as it leapt off the roof with rockets like Light had never seen, and the last, it was gone. 

The entire sequence lasted less than a second.

The impact of the rockets activating nearly threw Light over, even as he and his brothers just took a step back, watching as the creature shot off into the night.

Once the echo of the rockets finally dissipated, everyone started to thaw out their fear.

“Did… did anybody…?” Taffy started, but he was unable to finish his sentence. For all his bravery from earlier, he didn’t sound too brave now.

But who could blame him?

“I think… I think we should all walk home together from now on, okay?” Topaz suggested, to which all hummed and nodded in agreement, even Taffy.

Light looked toward where the beast had flown.

…it had flown so fast. 

If it wanted to kill them, it easily could have, before it even ended its first turn.

Why was it here? 

Was… was this beast the one that kidnapped Ghost?

A theory to pocket for later. Topaz led the way as the Addisons walked home, and one glance at Blue confirmed that the two were thinking the same thing.

——————

Ghost landed on the tallest tower he could find. 

Once he was sure no one would be able to reach him here, Ghost folded his wings close and began to cry.

Aww, sweet Addison, don’t cry!

“WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ME NOT TO CRY?” Ghost sniffed, before realizing not a single tear had fallen.

His vision had become unfocused and fuzzy, but his face was completely dry.

He could not cry. 

And that just made him more upset.

I… The voice sounded weirdly hesitant. I don’t want you to be sad. When you’re sad, I’m sad, because, well, I’m a part of you, ha ha.

Ghost dragged his claws through his hair, curling even deeper into himself.

I- I’m really bad at this, aren’t I? I’ve never had friends or family before, so I don’t really get it, but- 

“YOU’RE RIGHT! YOU DON’T. GET IT. I CAN’T EVER TALK TO MY BROTHERS AGAIN! AND COME TO FIND OUT, THEY DON’T WANT ME BACK IN THE FIRST PLACE!”

That’s not true. Didn’t you hear what Topaz said? And Blue- 

“STOP USING MY MEMORIES! I NEVER EVEN TOLD YOU THEIR NAMES!”

…you didn’t have to.

Spamton’s anger wore off, leaving only a shell of exhausted sadness.

“WHY COULDN’T YOU HAVE PICKED SOMEBODY ELSE’S LIFE TO RUIN?”

…but earlier, you said…? You said you didn’t blame me for taking hold of you.

“WELL I WAS WRONG! YOU… I… I CAN’T DO THIS RIGHT NOW. JUST GO AWAY, OR WHATEVER YOU DO WHEN YOU’RE NOT TALKING TO ME.”

…

NEO didn’t say anything as their presence faded, but it felt slower this time. Sadder. Ghost tried not to care, but he just mentally kicked himself. 

“MY WHOLE FAMILY HATES ME.”

Ghost took one of his hands out of his scalp and put it on his throat, feeling the bumps of the exhaust pipes and wiring, unnatural and unpleasant. 

“THEY’RE… THEY’RE RIGHT TO.”

Ghost jumped off the tower to fly once again, neglecting to stop until he spotted a data pool. 

A one minute flight would have been a thirty minute walk as an Addison.

Ghost knelt next to the pool, watching as the Data ducks floated calmly on the surface, just out of reach.

Ghost studied his reflection in the ones and zeroes. 

Yikes.

The broken reflection he’d initially used did not do his new face justice. It was like every feature he’d previously had was upscaled and stretched across a different canvas, with a too-long nose and a too-wide smile. Two, indeed, very bright lights took place where his eyes ought to be. He experimentally closed one eye, watching it circle shut like the camera it was.

Artificial.

Running a claw through his hair once more, Ghost smiled sadly. At least one thing had stayed the same… his white hair was slightly tangled and matted from having slept on a pile of garbage, but it was still his. 

Wait.

Before even thinking about it, Ghost summoned several Spamlings. He intended two, but he over shot it and summoned ten. 

It felt… way easier than normal.

As guessed, the Spamlings he summoned were not happy that they had been pulled out early from their hour of free time. All at once, the clones shouted their little chirps at Ghost, but as soon as they laid eyes on their master, they all choked up in alarm.

“H-HEY, EVERY…!” Ghost couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence; of course even the Spamlings wouldn’t recognize him.

But as he turned back toward the pond, all of the Spamlings leapt on top of him. Before, ten of the clones would have been more than enough to knock him over. Now, he just felt very ticklish. 

“GUYS, GUYS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

The one that had crawled up closest to his face chirped an answer. It was meaningless drivel in all reality, but Ghost could understand it all the same.

‘You looked sad, so we’re trying to cheer you up.’

It was pointless. By all metrics, it was a pointless gesture.

And yet, it made Ghost wish to cry once again.

He was careful of his own strength as he scooped up all the clones into a hug- an impossible feat just a day ago. 

“THANK YOU. THANK YOU EVERYONE.”

The clones chirped happily as they hugged him back, sins forgotten.

“SHOULD… SHOULD I BRING THE REST OUT HERE?”

Excited chirps came from the currently summoned clones.

Ghost couldn’t help but laugh his misery away. 

“OKAY!”

Whatever Ghost was expecting when he went for his summoning limit, it wasn’t the forty more that showed up along the shore. Quite a few groaned as they got stuck in the mud, but all of them looked around in wonder at the new additions to the group. 

“ER… HELLO EVERYONE.” 

All the Spamlings who weren’t in his arms turned to Ghost in shock.

“I… I KNOW MY NORMAL LIMIT ON A GOOD DAY IS THIRTY, BUT IT WOULD SEEM TIMES HAVE CHANGED, HUH?”

The Spamlings all chirped in excitement at this strange new version of their master, some climbing to join the ten in his arms, while others got to work making the highest Spamling pyramid possible.

Ghost moved back from his kneeling position to a loose crisscross, letting the clones pile up in his lap like a bunch of kittens.

A small guilt ate at Ghost, so he called it forth.

“NEO, I… I’M SORRY. I’M SORRY THAT I GOT SO UPSET AT YOU EARLIER. I KNOW IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT.”

…it is my fault.

“IT’S NOT. I FEEL THIS WAY BECAUSE I’M AFRAID TO SHOW THIS NEW PART OF ME TO MY BROTHERS. IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT THE HOST YOU GOT SUPER-SUCKS.”

NEO laughed despite themselves.

You don’t super-suck.

“OH YES I DO! I HARDLY LET MY FREAKY CLONE HIVEMIND OUT TO PLAY BECAUSE I’M SCARED THE OTHER ADDISONS WILL MAKE FUN OF ME. ISN’T THAT RIGHT GUYS?”

Fifty chirps equaling a definite ‘yes’ sounded out around the shore of the pond.

“SEE?”

Thanks, Ghost. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. That we’re stuck like this now. That I can’t… ruin someone else’s life, as you put it.

“IT’S… IT’S OKAY. YOU’RE NOT… RUINING MY LIFE. I KINDA…”

Ghost left the last part unsaid.

Ruined it already?

“…YEAH.”

You haven’t ruined it just yet. Remember what I said? I was made to be a STAR! And we can be a star, together! I just know it!

“YOU SOUND PRETTY CONFIDENT.”

I am! I know, if we work as a team, we’re sure to go far!

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT. I’LL TAKE YOUR WORD FOR IT, NEO.”

You better, darling. Cause we’re going to be famous one day!

Ghost didn’t respond, but it was a comfortable silence between the two. The clone that was directing the construction of the pyramid chirped angrily as two fought over the tip of the pyramid, but Ghost laughed as he moved both to hold hands at the top.

It was strange, being able to move them like they were maice now, instead of the tasque kittens they were before, but it was nice. 

Being able to hold them all like this. 

Ghost paused as he saw something on one of the Spamlings playing tag.

“WAIT.”

It wasn’t obvious, but the clone he directed the command at stopped and turned around, pointing to himself with a chirp.

“COME HERE, I THINK YOU’VE GOT SOMETHING IN YOUR HAIR.”

The Spamling obediently climbed up on Ghost’s knee, who in turn carefully inspected the side of his head. 

His hair was glitching.

It was right along the hairline, just barely noticeable, even for Ghost, but it was there.

Inspecting another clone that had been crawling on his shoulder showed the same thing.

Ghost set both of them down as he reached for the same general area on his head. He felt the fuzz of the glitch before he plucked a hair and held it up to the digital moon, watching as it shifted shape and color betwixt his claws.

What… What did it mean?

I don’t know. Whatever this is, it’s coming from your code. 

“WELL… CAN YOU ACCESS IT?”

No… I think only you can. I don’t know what it means.

Ghost searched through his code, but nothing was out of place.

Maybe… maybe it’s just a side effect of your code mixing with mine? The only way to be sure would be a visit to the doctor.

“ER… NO THANKS. IT’S JUST HAIR, I’LL BE FINE.”

You know more about Addison stuff than I do, so I’ll take your word on it.

“HA, HA… YEAH. …AGAIN, I’M SORRY.”

It’s okay, I’m sorry too. We’re in this together. Literally!

Ghost laughed despite himself. “PSSH. OKAY.”

What?

“OF ALL THE JOKES YOU COULD MAKE ABOUT SHARING A BODY, THAT’S THE ONE?”

It got you to laugh, didn’t it?

“FINE. YOU WIN THIS ONE. I’LL COME UP WITH A BETTER JOKE THOUGH, THEN YOU’LL BE SORRY.”

I look forward to it, darling.

Ghost looked up once again toward the digital moon, several Spamlings asleep in his lap.

“I… NEO?”

Yes dear?

“I THINK… I WOULD LIKE IT, IF YOU CALLED ME SPAMTON.”

Okay.

“I- REALLY? JUST LIKE THAT?”

Yeah. Why not?

“I JUST… IT FEELS TOO EASY.”

Okay then. Why do you want to be called that?

“I… MY NAME, I… I DON’T KNOW HOW TO SAY IT.”

I understand. My creator wanted to change their name too- once they were in their ideal body, that is. I forgot what the full thing was, after all this time, but I have half of it still. NEO.

“HUH. I GUESS I WAS… THE SAME WAY. I ALWAYS THOUGHT, WHEN I MADE MY LUCKY BREAK, I’D CHANGE MY NAME TO SOMETHING LIKE SPAMTON. AS A KIND OF… ‘SCREW YOU GUYS’, YOU KNOW?”

I get it. New life, new you, right? You most certainly have a ‘new life’ now.

“WE HAVE A NEW LIFE. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE IT, REALLY? ARE WE TECHNICALLY MARRIED?”

No? I mean, I don’t think so? I’m not in love with you. I’d say it’s more… we’re one person now. Like… conjoined twins or something.

“IF WE’RE REALLY ‘CONJOINED TWINS’ AS YOU PUT IT, THEN WHY DO I HAVE FULL CONTROL OF THE BODY?”

…uh…

“NEO. WHY DO I HAVE CONTROL OVER THE BODY?”

I just thought… you know, I already hadn’t moved for so long, and it’d be weird if I took over, you know?

“MOTHER OF BOARDS, IT’S OUR BODY. AS LONG AS YOU ASK PERMISSION, AND I ASK IN TURN, I DON’T SEE WHY YOU CAN’T USE IT.”

I… I don’t…

“HERE, I GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO PET ONE OF MY SPAMLINGS. YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO. LOOK AT THEIR CUTE LITTLE FACES.”

The clones in Spamton’s lap all made their eyes as wide and vulnerable as possible, all trying to be the one to get pets.

If… if you’re sure, then…

It felt strange, but Spamton didn’t panic as his arm moved on its own. You could hardly tell it wasn’t him- there was no color change, no sudden jerky movement, it was just Spamton… then NEO.

His- THEIR arm, moved carefully, a clawed hand guiding toward a clone that was jumping up and down excitedly. Giving it a gentle pat before moving to scratch under the chin, Spamton felt it as his presence slowly faded into the background. NEO’s thoughts and feelings became more prevalent as he lost control of everything else, like the sensations were replaced by NEO.

He couldn’t deny it was uncomfortable, sitting on a metaphorical bench while his body moved without him, but then, Spamton thought about how NEO did this all the time, even before they were ‘conjoined’, so he sat back and relaxed, as NEO gently cuddled with as many Spamlings as they could.

He could feel NEO’s happiness, as they pet the clones, but he could also feel a heavy sadness and worry, like a webpage peaking out between an advertisement. 

“ARE YOU UNHAPPY?” Spamton would have moved in shock, if he was in control. NEO laughed in their mind.

Like I said darling, your face, your soul, and your heart are all your own. You can still speak, but I never will.

Spamton frowned in his mind. Now how was that fair? NEO simply laughed again.

No. Despite the strange arrangement, I am very happy. More happy than I’ve been in a long time. I guess I’m just… reminiscing on what could have been, had my creator not abandoned me.

“THAT’S… SOMEHOW, I THINK, HAD THINGS WORKED OUT BETTER IN THE REAL WORLD, I DON’T THINK THEY WOULD HAVE LEFT YOU BEHIND.”

Ha. It’s a nice thought.

“…ARE WE… FRIENDS, NEO?”

I’d like to be.

“ME TOO, ACTUALLY. I THINK WE’RE A LOT ALIKE, IF YOU CAN BELIEVE IT.”

NEO brought another Spamling close to nuzzle noses with. 

I think so too.