Sheila. That's the word that came to her mind, when she awoke the first time. And her first feeling was regret. What a way to form into this universe.

At least the two had some sense to spend time tailoring her clothes, changing her face and...... creating whatever this thing was.

"Gorgeous creature. ;)"

She would like to focus on her craft. Focus on taking care of this beloved mass of flesh, but something called to her in the back of her mind. Regret over the abandonment of a third person. Of O-5.

She laments what was coming. O-5 would be upon her soon, and she knew he would treat her no differently than the other two. She was tempted to let it be. To allow O-5 his "Sheila." They would have been happy, knowing that O-5 would be taken care of.

In a way, their final thoughts were asking her to take up the mantle of handling him.

But she had rejected everyone else's attempt at reforming their bonds with the dead. It would only be right to reject him as well.

Despite never hearing the sound herself before, she could recognize the familiar mechanical hops of O-5 by memory. The final string attaching her to the dead was upon her.

O-5 hops into the room. She didn't know (or more like, she didn't think about) that with every slight hop O-5 took, the ground shook just a bit. "Hey, Sheila! Glad to have you back. uvu"

"Nice job getting trapped in a Poetnix anomaly. uvu"

"Yeah. Quite the lousy writing, and the antagonist felt too superficial. I think there'd be better books to get lost in. ;)"

O-5 tilts his head slightly. "Got no idea what you just said-"

"-but it sounded boring as shit, Sheila. uvu"

"...Still, there's been a few things I've been meaning to talk with you, now that we've met each other in person. ;)"

"Huh? You want to talk to me about something? No one else is here, right? uvu"

"Unless you've seen a black wandettle fumbling around, I'm sure no one's around. ;)"

"Cool, looks like we're good to talk, then. What do you want, Sheila? Hope you're not looking to whine and dine, 'cause the supplies here are shit. uvu"

She was going to have to take the risk. "I do not think you understand the situation, O-5. Can you repeat what we talked about before? ;)"

"Nope. uvu"

"................Oh ho ho hoo, very forward of you. ;)"

"Let's try this again. I'll say it once, and you will repeat after me. ;)"

"I'm not a child, Sheila, but fine. uvu"

AFTER THE EIGHTH GOLDFISH DEATH, SHE'S STARTING TO DISAGREE???

"My name's Sheila. I'm not Princess nor Craftsman. ;)"

"I'm O-5, though. uvu"

"You understood what I meant. Let's continue. Princess and Craftsman died. Sheila is what remains. ;)"

"It was a joke, Sheila. Damn. uvu"

She sighs.

"Princess and Craftsman died. Sheila is what remains. ;)"

"What that means? ;)"

"Let's just stop here to dissect the sentence. Could you explain the meaning of what I've just said? ;)"

"..........................................."

O-5 folds both of his hands behind his back.

A brief silence is made. Sheila is flipping through her book (metaphorical) of memories as she picks the pages to build her explanation.

"In a machine-related incident around a decade ago, Craftsman's soul entered Princess's body and both souls co-existed. ;)"

"And nothing changed. uvu"

"Nothing changed. Problem is, when two souls co-exist in the same body for too long....."

"They merge! ;)"

"You're alive, ain't you? uvu"

"Think of Princess as wood and Craftsman as fire. I'm what happens when they're put together. I'm the resulting ashes. ;)"

"There's no more wood nor fire. ;)"

"I'm alive, but I'm not the same person you know. ;)"

"Hm?" O-5 clasps both of his hands in front of his chest.

"Ah.." Sheila can tell that he's clenching his teeth in an attempt to not make a sound. She sees him absent mindedly picking skin from his hands, something he hasn't done in ages.

"Under- und- I... I, ugh.... I..." O-5 can't get a word out without sobbing, he instead opts to not say anything at all. He hops forward towards Sheila, as if he can't believe what's happening.

...

"I'm sorry."

For existing?

"For your loss."

O-5 lowers his head and tries to pull his hands apart, but the intertwining fingers instinctually dig their nails into his skin. He knows if his hands aren't busy, he'll do something horrible with them.

He takes one hop forward and leans into Sheila, resting his chin on her shoulder. He does not try to speak.

She pats his back, allowing him to cry. It's terrible. It's heart wrenching. It's tragic. It's melancholic. It's a lot of things.

But the worst feelings that come from her heart... Are both guilt, and disconnection. She doesn't feel like she's there. Sheila feels like she's just watching the end of the movie, without watching everything else.

Her biggest tragedy. One that wasn't of her making, one that she isn't involved in, and one that she doesn't suffer. Sheila ponders as she thinks of the dead.

These will be the only tears that will ever fall for the banal end of Princess and Craftsman, she's sure.

How long was it before O-5 finally pulled himself away from Sheila, neither of them knew. But he could cry no more. His sobs had died out, and his tears had given up their visual beg for help.

He hops towards the exit door and finally, with a struggle pulls his hands apart from each other. He grabs the door handle and tries to pull it.

He so badly wanted to grab Sheila. To kill, break her. Her mind had not been uploaded yet. Killing her would bring back Princess.

The whole time he spent crying on her shoulder, his mind flickered. "I could kill her."

But he couldn't. He stood there, crying, like the failure he was.

"Stop crying, suck it up." A voice in his head demanded from him.

He glanced at the door on the floor. That could have easily been her..... but the thought of doing so, disgusted him.

"Sorry." He doesn't look back as he exits the room.

It is not clear what he is sorry for.

The door, or his emotions.

Sheila was free from all the threads of emotional burden.