I am here.

I reach the base of a large tree towering so far above, situated in the centre of a clearing right in the heart of the forest and let out a sigh of relief. Key wasn’t joking when she said – or, at least, she implied – that it’s hard to get here. I feel like all the strength has been sucked right out of me and all I want to do is sleep.

I glance around, looking for the others. However, that isn’t very effective as the enormous roots of the tree block my most of my view. Using every ounce of energy I have left, I circle the tree, hoping that I am not the first one here. Unfortunately – or fortunately, however you look at it – I am.

I sit down, my legs so numb that I nearly collapse to the ground. My head comes in contact with the soft grass and my eyes close almost immediately, wanting to get some rest before the rest arrive, if they ever arrive. What am I talking about? They will. Just… Time. They need time.

“Miri, wake up.”

My eyelids flutter open and I stifle a yawn. I didn’t even realise that I fell asleep. “What?” I mutter groggily.

“Get up. We’re all here already.”

I groan, complying to the request anyway. I take a step forward, stumbling due to the weak feeling in my knees. Wil manages to catch me before I fall.

“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m just really tired. I’m not sure why.” I stifle yet another yawn.

My eyes wander to Wil’s face and he gives me a sad smile, not saying anything in reply. Grimness, sorrow and tension settle in the air. I’m surprised it hasn’t already.

“As you’ve probably guessed, we have to scale this tree,” Key informs us, resting her hand on the trunk of the tree, examining it.

Aries stands next to Key, more so accompanying her than anything else, his hands in his pockets. Key turns around and says something to Aries and he nods. She steps on his open palms and he pushes Key to the top of the root. She manages to grab hold onto the root and hoists herself up. Key offers her hand to Aries and helps him up.

“Why are you still standing there? The tree won’t climb itself!” Aries exclaims, trying to lighten the mood.

I didn’t even bother faking a smile.

We head towards where Aries and Key are, or at least, at the foot of it. They assist us up before walking towards the trunk of the tree. Each step I take is agonising for more than one reason. It’s so hard to balance that I nearly fall with every step I take. The fact that my muscles are screaming with protest doesn’t help.

“What’s this?” I ask, confused, pointing towards an opening in the trunk.

“I don’t know. There’s only one way to find out,” Aries replies nonchalantly. If anything, he sounds excited.

I wonder how he can be excited at a time like this.

Key and her brother pass through the door-like structure and are engulfed by the darkness. Wil and I wait on the other side for some kind of sign or signal from the siblings.

“Just come in guys,” Aries calls out to us.

I glance at Wil and he nods at me. “Together?” I ask.

“Together.”

We make a beeline towards the entrance and together, we walk through the door.

“A stairway. How convenient,” I comment the moment my eyes adjust the dim light, wherever that is coming from. Probably the opening, now that I think about it.

The four of us ascend the stairs to wherever it may lead us, mostly because it’s much easier than having to climb the tree. I wonder what it’s doing here though. A flight of stairs in the middle of a tree. I guess there’s more to the Tree than what we know.

What am I talking about? Of course there is. The Tree is one of the greatest mysteries of this world. Though, I’ve got to admit that I’m still rather surprised all of managed to cross the forest. I wonder how that’s possible.

We reach the top of the stairs and we enter a room. My eyes sweep around the space, drinking in my surroundings. When I say that this is a small room, I mean that this is really small. There’s barely enough space for all four of us.

A complicated-looking panel with buttons, a screen and a keyboard is situated at the far end of the round room. Key, being the one who seems to know just about everything, goes straight to it, leaving the three of us standing awkwardly in the middle of the room.

Aside from the pane, there is nothing else in the room. The ceiling is so low that all of us can barely stand. The sound of Key typing on the keyboard fills the room.

Which makes me wonder. Why is there a computer in the middle of what looks like a normal tree? But then again, nothing that has happened to me has been normal. But I guess having one here makes sense, if you think about it. After all, the Data Tree is supposed to be the ‘mastermind’. In a way, it controls all of us.

“Do you think it will work?” I ask, addressing Aries.

He shrugs. “I can’t say. No one has ever tried this before. We can only hope. But Key is a genius when it comes to computer systems so I’d say we have quite a high chance.”

I sure hope so.

I’ve been hoping too much. I’ve got to stop. All ‘hope’ does is raise your spirits only to crush them when it doesn’t come true. I don’t want that to happen. I have always lived by the quote ‘hope for the best, expect the worse’. However, this time around, I don’t think I am expecting the worse.

*

I woke up, my eyelids fluttering open, feeling disoriented, not knowing what was happening. My bare back was pressed against a hard, cold metal. Table, perhaps. My heart was racing in my chest as I try to think. My mind was blank.

All I could see above me was a blindingly white ceiling. I try to move my arms but something was holding me down. Restraints. Why was I tied down? Where was I? I didn’t even remember anything. It was almost like all my memories were erased.

Did I even have any of them in the first place?

“Experiment 782.”

My eyes wandered to the owner of the voice. It was a middle-aged woman in a white lab coat stands beside me. She was carrying a clipboard in one hand and a pen in another. She looked at me with an intense look in her eyes. There wasn’t even an ounce of care or kindness in those eyes. A shiver went down my spine.

“Experiment 782.”

I wonder what she was talking about. What was ‘Experiment 782’? Forget that. I didn’t even know anything.

What was happening?

“Experiment 782.” She paused. “You are Experiment 782.”

My eyebrows knitted in confusion. What did she meant by I was an ‘experiment’?

“Can you speak?” she asked slowly, as if I couldn’t understand what she was talking about.

I opened my mouth to answer but nothing came out. I tried again, but wielded the same result.

“Her vocal chords are not functioning yet,” she announced.

I wonder who else were in the room aside from the both of us. After all, I didn’t think she would be announcing to herself. That wouldn’t make any sense at whatsoever.

She unstrapped my arms and legs. “Stand,” she commanded.

I obeyed, not knowing what else I should do. The moment my feet came in contact with the tiled ground, my whole being started shaking. My knees became weak and gave in and I fell to the ground. I tried standing up again. Nothing happened. It was almost as if my limbs refused to cooperate with me.

“Nervous system is not functioning,” the woman stated simply.

What did she meant by that?

“Get her back up.”

Two men came and carried me back onto the table, strapping me back down.

“Do it.”

I watched as a needle was pushed into my skin, though I didn’t feel anything. In fact, I couldn’t feel anything at all. My whole body was numb. The only thing I could feel was my heartbeat that kept accelerating with each passing second.

The syringe was filled with some sort of clear liquid. The piston was pushed down and the liquid entered my bloodstream. Almost immediately, I could feel sleepiness slowly but surely washing over me.

My heart was still racing when I finally fell into a seemingly endless slumber.

*

Key lets out a frustrated sigh before heading towards where the three of us are. I look up at her with a hopeful expression on my face. We have waited for nearly an hour for her. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous, because I was. I still am, actually.

Key, please have some good news for us.

“I’ve successfully managed to disconnect Miri from the Data Tree.”

We wait for her to say more, especially about Wil. But she doesn’t.

“What about me?” Wil asks, sounding unsure of himself, almost as if he doesn’t want to know.

Key chews her bottom lip, something I have never seen her do before. I wonder if that is a good sign or not. Probably not.

I wonder what she’s about to say. I’m confident it isn’t something too bad. Key’s skills with computers are incredible. There’s almost nothing she can’t do with computers. I guess, in that sense, we’re lucky to have her.

“I’m really sorry,” she says, bringing me out of my thoughts. “But, Wil, I can’t disconnect you.”

The whole room becomes pin-dropping silent. Not like it’s noisy in the first place.

“Wh-What do you mean you can’t disconnect her?” I stammer, not knowing how to react to the news.

“I mean exactly what I mean. Is it so hard to understand?” she snaps.

“I… Umm…” I trail off, not knowing how to reply.

“I’m sorry,” Key apologises.

I shake my head. “I understand.” Stress does that to people. But I don’t say that out loud.

“So, does that mean-“ Wil gets cut off by Key.

“Yes. You can still be tracked.”

My heart skips a beat. We can still be tracked. Or, at least, Wil can. But that doesn’t exactly make a difference as we will be together, after all. I am not going to leave him just because of this. We’ve gone through too much together to split.

“Why?” I ask, curious.

“I don’t really know. It might be a glitch or an anomaly in Wil’s anatomy. He was, after all, created before you, Miri. I don’t know. I’ve tried my best. I’m sorry.”

I nod grimly, once again, not knowing how to react to it.

“I mean, there is another option…”

“What’s the other option?” Wil asks immediately, clearly keen on finding a way to keep from being brought back to the facility yet another time.

“It’s not a good idea. You shouldn’t even consider it.”

“I want to know, Key. Don’t withhold that information from me. I deserve the right to choose what I want to do with myself,” Wil says firmly.

I swear there’s a flash of anger in Wil’s eyes but I might be wrong. It is gone so quickly that it could just be a trick of the mind. It seems unlikely, though.

Key sighs, exhausted. “The only other option is to delete you.”

My heart stops. Delete Wil? There’s no way he will agree to it, right?

I advert my attention to him, wanting to make eye contact with him, to tell him to not consider it at all. I want to tell him that there are other ways, there definitely is. I want to tell him that we will work it out eventually.

“Wil, look at me,” I whisper when he doesn’t.

He still doesn’t.

It’s almost like he is purposely avoiding me. Maybe he is. I think he is.

The next few words that come out of Wil’s mouth feels like a stab in the heart. “Delete me."


Guys! I know this isn't the best chapter I could've written and I'm terribly sorry for that. :( For the flashback, though, the reason the sentences are so choppy and everything is because Miri is feeling really disoriented and she doesn't know what is going on so yeah. :)

For the rest of it, well, I couldn't form a coherent thought when I was typing (mainly because I was watching YouTube videos while typing I'm sorry about that too hehe) but I hope whatever I want to convey reaches you. Don't worry, this chapter will be one of the few that will be heavily edited. 

Also, since we're on the topic of disconnecting Miri and Wil from the Tree (don't ask me how Key does it. Key is Key, forever mysterious), I thought it would be cool if you guys listened to Disconnected by 5 Seconds of Summer. I know that song is not exactly related, aside from the name, but it's a nice song. :) The song is at the side. Go hear it. It's one of my favourites at the moment.

Sorry for all my rambling. I hope you enjoyed this chapter though. Thank you for all your support. We're almost done :)

PS If I wrote a fanfic (or maybe a couple idk yet) and post it on here, would you guys read it?