Eric stared at Middleborough High's familiar hallways, why was he here of all places!? He heard rather angry yelling and walked to the source...Jeremy.

But it wasn't JUST Jeremy. Beside Jeremy was the very thing that seemed to haunt Eric's nightmares...himself...well more like his old self.

Jeremy was holding a girl's running shoes box, and Eric knew what was inside...Squips. Enough to take over the school.

The Squip had its hand on Jeremy's shoulder and it was singing gently to him.

"You were always quite the loser, Jeremy. Then I invaded, and you upgraded," Eric's breath quickened as he watched the scene fold put in front of him.

Jeremy looked hurt...and Eric wanted to go over and tell him it was okay but he couldn't. He could just watch...

"Well...Jeremy isn't the only loser here. Not anymore." The SQUIP turned around and made its way over to Eric, hands behind its back as it took its stride. "Isn't that right me? Oh wait my mistake, Eric... right?" It mocked and Eric was taken back that it seen him. "Don't be, after all I'm you. But better."

"N-No you aren't! You will never be me! Not again!!" Eric yelled and the SQUIP tapped his cheek violently.

"Yes I am. I've always been here. Seeing what a pathetic failure we turned into, well you really, I'm still doing a good job."

"I am not a failure! Jeremy is happy with himself and his family now. He doesn't need popularity anymore."

"By family you mean the loser and those two annoying little brats then yeah he does have a family."

"Don't you dare talk about my family that way! Especially the kids, they are not brats, they are the sweetest people on this planet!" Eric's eyes were welling with tears.

The landscape had vanished, now just a black void with a small bit of floor that the two were standing on.

"Your family? Ha!! You actually think that they love you like a family!?"

"Yeah because t-they do!!"

"Do they? Or do they just treat you nicely our of pity?" The SQUIP's smile widened as he put a hand on Eric's shoulder. "I doubt they forgive you for junior year. You failed to get Jeremy a girlfriend for more than two days. You failed at breaking his ties with Michael. You failed at getting him popular."

"He did date Christine though...they just had a falling out and it's not my fault he loves Michael. And he has more friends now than he did so I think I did something! As for being forgiven....I would never forgive myself for that..."

"Exactly, so why would they? Why would Jeremy forgive a failure? Why would Michael forgive the thing that took Jeremy away? Why would their kids forgive something that could have destroyed their parents mentally? Tell me Eric....Why would they?"

"I...don't know w-why..." Eric spoke quietly, staring at the ground and watching his tears fall. The SQUIP was right...he was a failure.

"Now you're getting it." Eric didn't reply, he just stood there, his breath getting shakier as he let the SQUIP's words get into his head.

"You're r-right...how could any of them ever love me...knowing what I am, what I was...what I could...become..." Eric was gripping his arms tightly, shaking worse than before.

"See. You're nothing but a disgrace. Nobody loves you and nobody wants you around. You're defective, faulty, and a failure...if anybody kept you for any reason, it's because they pity you, not because they care. Because they don't."

***

Eric's eyes shot open as he stared up at the ceiling. None of that was real? He felt his cheeks, they were tear stained it seemed.

He sat up and got out of bed, making his way downstairs to the kitchen where, to his surprise, Jeremy was down there drinking warm milk.

"Jeremy? Why are you awake?" Eric queried and Jeremy looked up at him with sleepless eyes.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why's that?" Eric sat down next to him, not actually looking at him but he sat there.

"Nightmare...reliving the whole 'everything about me is so terrible' thing. You?"

"Oh...I...I don't really know if I was having a nightmare or if I was just in a mindscape of sorts."

"Whaddya mean?" Jeremy was confused and Eric sighed.

"You know how when you think of back when I was the SQUIP, you think of the Keanu Reeves look a like?" Jeremy simply nodded, sipping on his milk a bit. "Well... I seen that version of me in my dreams...it told me how much of a failure I was...and how nobody in this family loved or forgave me...and that I'm defected and faulty and a disgrace and-" Jeremy tightly wrapped his arms around Eric, taking the man back by surprise.

"Those are all lies Eric. You're a part of this family and I love you as I love my actual brothers. You might've done some bad things but you aren't defective or faulty...you're a human now...and you aren't a failure by any means."

"But I failed to help you with your goal..."

"But you also helped me see that I didn't want Christine anymore. Before I upgraded, you asked me if I was sure it was her I wanted and when you left I thought about it...and you were right. There was somebody else...and that was Michael. You helped me realize I loved Michael." Jeremy was smiling at the thought of when he fell in love for real for the first time.

"What about popularity though?"

"I have an amazing group of friends...I don't need to be cool because thanks to you, we all became friends. If you think about it, you got me love and friends, which was essentially, at the basics, what I wanted." Eric felt a little reassured, only a little though.

"But. How did you forgive me? You wouldn't forgive any other SQUIP I can imagine so...why me?"

"Because you're not just another SQUIP. You're a human. You have a beating heart and you matter. I imagine you were manufactured at the same time as about 1000 other SQUIPs...but you aren't like the rest of them. You're a free human who can feel and see his mistakes...and you do matter. SQUIP or not I don't care. You're my family Eric, and family is always there for each other...no matter what." With that, Jeremy realized Eric was crying and hugging him back.

"You h-have no clue how much that means to me Jeremy...thank you...for everything..." Eric smiled softly and the two sat there in a brotherly embrace the rest of the night.