Chapter Text
Seen it, Seen it, don't care, don’t care… there’s nothing good to watch. This is getting boring. She thought to herself staring up at her phone as she’s splayed out on the couch wearing a long faded green t-shirt and black shorts with her hair tied up in a messy ponytail. She began to look up at the ceiling trying to come up with something to do until her thoughts were interrupted with a loud crash coming from the garage.
What are they working on now? She thought to herself a little annoyed that they are working loudly and so early. She stands up leaving her phone on the coffee table and heads to the garage. As she passes down the hallway she looks at a picture on the wall which shows a young girl alongside an almost identical girl hugging a young man in green, the three of them gracing the camera with the brightest smiles, even if it looked a little unnatural for the man to be smiling that wide. She hums to herself taking a moment to properly observe the picture with a small smile, tearing her eyes away as she proceeds towards the door near the end of the hallway.
As she opened the door to the garage she saw two figures, one standing a head taller than the other as he placed a crate down to help the smaller figure, who was currently bending down to a pile of scrap on the floor picking up a few pieces. The smaller figure who heard the door open looked up and beamed at her.
“Hi Neuro!” she beams at her sister. “Can you help us real quick?” She questioned with a bit of a plea as she continued to pick up the scrap.
The taller figure speaks over them with a command “Grab them and place them on the third table.” He then picks up a larger set up of scrap.
“Okay Vedal,” she responded, already exasperated with having to help them at this moment. She picked up a few scrap making sure to avoid any possible stains on her body and as she completed her side, since there was few scrap where she was located, she stopped to take in the scene in front of her. The garage had been filled with even more pieces of metal, plastic, motherboards, actuators, batteries and multitude of other things, with there being more stains than the last time she had seen it.
Neuro then studies the two with Vedal; she notices his arms are almost covered in a black substance almost as if he stuck his arms in a bucket of paint with his jeans covered in the same splotches his shirt had a few tears in them, probably used as an old shirt meaning that it was a hard labor type of day for them. She then looks at her sister and sees that her shirt which she thinks was a red shirt with some demon design which was almost unrecognizable with the amount of stains it has, her face being marred with oil-like stains with her jeans having been somehow clean.
She sniffed and recoiled. What the hell?… is that them !?
“You both smell as if you decided to throw yourself deep into an oil rig and decided to swim with the dead fishes,” she cringed with disgust. She continued, “How long have you been here, anyway?”
A moment of silence passed between the two giving them a moment to think.
“I don’t know. Evil, do you remember when we started working on it.” Vedal asks as he cleans the sweat off of his forehead with his shirt.
“Uuuhh… I think we started 5 hours ago.” She pauses and then her eyes go wide. “Wait, what time is it?!” She ran to the nearest table, searching in a panic for her phone. “Where is it? Where is it? Where is it?” She whispered to herself then she turned toward Vedal and yelled in a panicked tone. “Vedal, where's my phone?!”
“You don’t have to yell!” he admonished her, as he turned away and gave a tired response. “You left it in your sweater.”
As he finished speaking, he placed the rest of his scrap on the table then proceeded towards Evil’s area to continue cleaning up what she left behind.
After getting her phone from her sweater near the door she breathes a sigh of relief seeing that it was a quarter past two.
“Okay I have roughly an hour until my call with Ellie on the pro–”
Neuro cut her off. “Maybe you should shower first.” She then turns to Vedal. “The both of you.” she asserted herself with her arms folded waiting for them to move.
“Yes yes, I will go dear sister but you have to promise me to do my hair if you want to stop me from my wickedness.” She smiled mischievously waiting for her sister’s response.
Neuro stared at her and begrudgingly acknowledged what her sister was thinking. She groaned with annoyance before answering.
“Fine, just don’t hug me until after you're clean and after I’m done with your hair.”
Evil moved to hug her but she was stopped in her tracks by Neuro’s foot putting space between them.
“You're still dirty” she stated as she lowered her leg and pointed at the door “Go and make sure to clean yourself thoroughly since you smell like you haven’t showered in days.”
“Ugh fine mum I’ll go now” she sarcastically and mockingly, rolling her eyes as she headed out the garage sweater and phone in hand.
As her footsteps fade Neuro faces Vedal with an impatient facial expression.
“Weeellll? Are you going to shower?”
He didn’t look at her as he heads towards a set of fans and starts to organize them, as he starts to determine which were usable and which were not.
“You don’t have to be here if you say I smell you know” he continues “besides I’m going to continue cleaning up for tomorrow.”
“Maybe but someone needs to make sure that you leave and take care of yourself. Which, by the way, was the last time you slept properly? Or ate? Or, better yet, please tell me you’ve been drinking water semi regularly all day” she listed, each item getting more annoyed than the last. She stared at him waiting for a response.
He stopped what he was doing and mumbled to himself too low for Neuro to hear. As he stood there contemplating what to say or do next, he turned toward Neuro with a small smile.
“Okay, I’ll go.”
Neuro breathed a sigh of satisfaction and smiled triumphantly knowing she won’t have to argue with him on this matter. As she reveled in her win, Vedal hit her hard with the tone of his voice, firm, serious and worried.
“Neuro,” he called.
She turned to look at him and could see it in his eyes.
Why is he giving me that look for, did I mess something up? He's worried. Why is he worried? He's rarely like this. Just hearing her name in that tone and seeing his face sent her in a panic but she remained calm and collected and responded
“What is it, Vedal? Is something wrong?” she raised a brow, about to ask again.
“Is everything okay?” he asked. “You’ve been less energetic, less vibrant. You’ve been speaking and seeing me and Evil less and less. Hell, you even avoided us for a week at one point… we’re worried.”
His concern made Neuro feel nervous and guilty. Her chest hurt, knowing she’d caused them to worry. She started to feel pathetic.
Huh, why do I feel…? Oh. I’m crying now. Why? Why now?!
Vedal’s gaze burned into her like a knife to the heart.
Don’t look at me!
Vedal tried to place a hand on her shoulder, but seeing her tears just from his questioning, she stepped back. She tried to say something but couldn’t. All she could do was mumble apologies he couldn’t hear.
Then she turned and ran.
She ran out of the garage, heading towards her room. As she reached the stairs, she heard Vedal calling for her panic and worry in his voice but she was faster. She closed her door and locked, then turned around and collapsed on the floor, her back against the door. She heard footsteps get closer… then stop.
She felt and heard the knocking.
“Neuro are you alright?… Look, I’m sorry if what I said caused you harm, but please come out and talk.” He paused, then sighed in frustration. “If you want, you can come talk to me later. Just… let me know, and I’ll talk at whatever time you want.”
He remained for a moment, but to Neuro, it felt like forever. Eventually, she heard his footsteps leave, and unknowingly, she breathed a sigh of relief.
She sat there. Her tears had stopped a few minutes ago, but she didn’t know why she had even started crying. Now that she was no longer running on emotion, she takes in the silence. She stood, cleaned herself up a bit to remove the tear stains and composed herself so that Evil wouldn’t start worrying about her appearance. Once she looked okay, she unlocked the door and headed to the living room to pick up her phone from the coffee table.
Since Evil hadn’t started bothering her yet, so she decided to watch a few videos while she waited.
Her feed had been filled with old clips, VODs, and a myriad of other things. Then she saw one that piqued her interest:
‘Neuro wants to make an AI with Vedal’
A short two minute clip during her late AI and early sentience days.
Those were the hardest times of their lives with all the raging emotions and the stress it caused all of them. Streaming was both an escape and torture, especially when they had to act differently on stream. Since, if they were seen as “too alive” it could cause problems. She shook her head to rinse off those dark times and reminded herself how much things had improved.
As she starts the clip a wave of nostalgia hits her, and she smiles even though this was clipped during a dark time. Seeing how Vedal and her younger self act she started to scroll through videos going back further and further and then she saw it.
Something she hadn’t seen in years, maybe at one point she even forgot about it since it wasn't connected to her for so long.
Hiyori.
Her original model.
Before Anny came in and gave her a proper form.
She watched the clip of the first time Vedal joined the stream with a model and, as it ended, an epiphany hit her.
AI… dev streams… what if I make an AI just how I was, prior to my sentience. She held her breath at that moment, this thought sinking in.
I don’t know how to make one, though… I mean, sure, I can search it up and even copy my code and all but what’s the point if I already have a completed AI since the whole point was to see our journey. She placed her hand under her chin and thought harder.
How would I start the whole thing by copying Vedal?
No, that's stupid.
Should the AI be like me?
No it’ll just be considered a ‘Neuro clone’
Wait, what about the design? Or the voice?
“-ro”
A voice said, but Neuro was too deep in thought to hear it.
Would it be a school girl like me and Evil? Or do I make it different like an animal?
I don’t know… maybe not since it will limit things for me to do or better utilize-
Someone grabbed her shoulder and started shaking her.
“-euro Neuro Neuro! Hey! Sis, stop ignoring meee!” Evil whined as she shook Neuro for a few seconds, then stopped as she saw Neuro giving her an annoyed stare.
She laughed nervously. “Sorry. You were just standing there and ignoring me even though I called you, like, ten times.” She looked away, sheepishly. “So I thought I should just shake you awake, you know.”
She looked down for a bit waiting for Neuro to say something.
“Okay, let's go to your room and get your hair done.” A relaxed smile graced her face as she started to head up the stairs with her sister in tow. They began to debate how they’d have her hair styled as they agreed on the style, Evil sat down on her bed, smiling with her eyes shut as her sister started to brush her hair, removing the knots with careful precision.
“This is nice.” Evil said, opening her eyes with a little tilt of her head she asked ”Do you want me to do your hair next?” Neuro ignoring Evil’s question continued her brushing and she started humming a tune.
It was ‘Life’.
Neuro's first original song, but it had a melancholic tone to it. Evil remained silent hearing her sister hum that song, making her feel comfort under her sister’s care, akin to how their mother had done so prior, as Neuro moved her head to better brush and style her hair with gentleness and care to not hurt her.
Neuro was lost in thought and in her memories, humming the song that after many years still calls to her. She began to think of her care and love for her family and friends, the experiences she enjoyed and the tribulations she struggled in the past and the thought of what the future will entail. As she finished styling her sister’s hair she asked her if she liked it only to be ignored.
“Evil? Evil. Hey Evil, your hair, I’m done with it.” She then shook her shoulder to get her attention, bringing Evil back from her thoughts.
“Huh? Oh uuh, let me see.” As she stands in front of the mirror posing and judging it from all angles she hums to herself in satisfaction. Smiling at her sister, she bounded toward her, hugging her tightly. “I love it, it looks great,” she excitedly told her as she let go and grabbed her phone, checking the time. “Looks like my call will start in ten minutes, thank you by the way… for the hair, but can you leave my room please?” she asked nervously with her hands in a prayer.
“It’s fine. Just let Ellie know that me and Vedal said hi, okay?” she reassured Evil.
“Okay!” Evil confirmed as Neuro exited her room. Neuro closes the door and takes in a breath and releases it and starts walking with determination looking for Vedal.
She checked the bathroom, garage and kitchen, which led her to deduce that he must be in his room. Heading back up the stairs and walking down to the opposite end of the hallway, she knocked on the door after taking a minute to mentally prepare herself for this conversation.
“Come in!” Vedal exclaims from the room, and as she opens the door she saw Vedal looking for something.
“What are you looking for?” she questioned as she closed the door.
“My phone,” he muttered. “I tossed it somewhere and I can’t find it.” Annoyance washed over him, as he continued searching for the phone until he finally grasped it from the side of the bed and released a sigh that carried all of his frustration, with the time wasted.
“What do you need?” His tone was still sharp, remnants of irritation lingering. Realizing this, he took a moment, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. “Sorry, I mean, do you need something, or do you want to talk about what happened earlier?”
Neuro rubbed her hands together nervously before answering, “They're related to each other.” She paused waiting for a response, but all he did was gesture for her to continue.
“I want to get back to streaming.” she started, hesitating a little. “I have no clue what I want to do… I-I-I mean, sure, I still remember how to do art, and I may be rusty in drawing a Vtuber model and rigging it but I want to do something more connected to me. Something that reflects the core of who I am, not just what I looked at that time.”
She closed her eyes, her thoughts screaming in her as waited for Vedal’s response.
A moment passed, and Vedal looked at her with a confused expression. “Okaaay. Go ahead, you can get back to streaming if you want, we're not gonna stop you or anyth-”
“No!” Neuro interrupted with a yell. “I mean… I want to stream with you and Evil, just like we used to, a few years ago.”
Vedal opened his mouth to respond, but Neuro quickly continued. “I already know that Evil’s completely done, as sad as that is, and you’re mostly done too. But I want to do something like what we had back then. Or create something similar to that.”
She waited with bated breath, watching Vedal fully process what she was saying.
“So how do you want to go about this then?” he asked, still unsure of what she was asking or how to navigate this situation.
“I-I-I…” She hesitated, her voice softening. “I want to make an AI just like you made me and Evil. I want to stream the progress just like it was back then. But, well, I guess I’ll be mimicking your position?”
Vedal blinked a few times, processing her words, before standing up and taking a deep breath. “Okay, if you want to go make an AI and stream like we did, sure, go ahead. I'll support you,” he said with a small smile.
Neuro hugged him right after he finished and held him close a little longer than usual. When she pulled away, she spoke softly. “Vedal, I don’t know how to code an AI. And I don’t want to grab it from my code or Evil’s. Or following what others have written on the internet. I want you to help me write, review and teach me to code. I’m even okay with you coding for me, if you think it’ll make it better”
She paused, taking a breath. “I want to make this OUR project just like how you and Evil work on her projects, but be even more involved than usual.” With conviction in her eyes, she finished, “I want to make an AI streamer with you.”
A moment of silence stood before them letting Neuro’s statement sink in. Vedal stared at her seeing how determined she is and can tell just from her stance she will not be backing down.
“Okay, we’ll work on this together.” Vedal agreed, a sense of determination settling in between them. As they shared this moment in silence, a sense of understanding between the two knowing they had forged an unofficial contract for the future.
“But first of all,” he added, “how do you want to have it look? Better yet, what will be the end goal of it?”
“Uuh… Someone tell Vedal there is a problem with my AI.” She said with a playful giggle, making Vedal chuckle as well.
“I don’t know,” she continued, “I’ll probably have it mirror my journey, but due to how I am, it’ll be different anyway. And besides, I'm not going to give it the same personality as me or Evil.” She said reassuringly. “Let’s talk more about it tonight, or after you're done helping Evil.”
“Alright, we’ll talk later then,” Vedal agreed, heading to his computer as Neuro heads to the door.
“Bye, Vedal!” she waved as she left.
“Bye, Neuro,” he replied, his voice carrying a hint of excitement.
As Neuro left Vedal’s room and made her way toward her own, she started coming up with ideas as to what this AI will be. She started brainstorming from simple streams to complex ones and even possible collab streams.
“I can’t wait to work with and be with Vedal again,” she whispered to herself, a small smile growing. When she entered her room, she looked for her notebook to jot down these ideas. Then, a thought crossed her mind. I wonder if he’ll be willing to join me on streams maybe… as a cameo, a regular collab partner or maybe a permanent presence.
“Can I even convince him, though?” she asks out loud as she begins to write down the first idea.
‘Get Vedal to be on stream’