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He never really needed a mirror to begin with. However, he still used one since he wanted to look the best he could be.
Fandroid had been through a lot, putting it lightly.
All the ‘lore’ surrounding him being a slave to ADHOC, was just a manuscript ██████ wrote in ██ pastime. Yes, the place did exist, but it was pretty much barren apart from the robotic residents, and the frequent visits from ██████, ███ many, including Fandroid, saw as ██████.
However, as too many people do not know, many of the battles that go on around the world are not visual ones.
And although some have humble beginnings, that doesn’t mean that their future is just as pretty.
It was a normal morning so far, well, afternoon actually. Fandroid would normally sleep until noon if left to his own devices, and would get cranky if someone came and woke him up sometime earlier. It was morning to him at least.
As he was checking himself in the mirror in his room, he noticed something was off about his bow tie, prompting him to take it off to get a better look.
He thought it was dirty at first, but upon further inspection, the fabric looked a bit worn out.
How did he not notice that before. He stared at it with a conflicted expression. He got this for his birthday years ago, and it’s basically a good luck charm to him. He didn’t want to acknowledge it much longer, and put it back on quickly.
As he looked back up, something else caught his eye.
He looked nervous as he got closer, almost leaning on the mirror. He stared at himself in confusion and worry.
“Are those eye bags?”
It came out quietly, but the terror in his voice was present.
This made no sense.
“H-How the…?”
They were not coming off when he tried rubbing them.
“No, oh, no no no no…”
Confusion turned into slowly growing panic as he couldn’t comprehend what was happening. He immediately thought something was wrong with him, starting to inspect almost every exterior part of himself, but was somewhat relieved that nothing else unusual was present.
Still, he shouldn’t even have eye bags to begin with. He felt like he shouldn’t even feel nervous, after all, he wasn’t human. According to his thoughts, he shouldn’t be like this at all.
Heck, he didn’t even have lungs, so why did he suddenly feel like he had to breathe?
He started ‘breathing’ heavily, whilst telling himself to calm down.
He eventually did get his bearings again, but he was now feeling, dejected. He blankly stared at the floor as he gathered his thoughts. He wanted nothing more now than to just go back to bed and call it a day.
But, today was a Friday… Nah, he’ll just skip it, tell Fandrew to take his place, and give their viewers an overly dramatic excuse as of why Fandroid was absent.
He unknowingly started distracting himself about any ideas he could give his hyperactive cousin. Maybe Fandrew could say that he shipped him to Alaska, threw him out of a window, or simply told him to go run a very long errand.
A small chuckle came out as he thought about these. It was definitely a lot more fun and therapeutic than actually being honest with his viewers! He considered writing a list of wacky scenarios that he would use as excuses to get out of streaming if he was ever mentally unwell. Suddenly perking up from this, Fandroid decided to dedicate the day to writing that list, and started to head over to his desk—
“They’re gonna find out eventually.”
Fandroid jumped with a yelp as he was startled by the voice behind him. He turned around, only to be met, with his reflection. However, he noticed right away, it wasn’t trying to copy his movements at all. It just stood there in the mirror with its arms crossed, staring at the robot with an expression of shame.
“Wh-What?” Fandroid asked, trying to wrap his head around whatever the heck was happening right now.
“I said, they’re gonna catch on.” The reflection said, sounding slightly annoyed.
He thought he was hallucinating, until a couple knocks on the glass snapped his attention back to the reflection, which let out a groan.
“Dude. You can’t keep hiding like this.”
The reflection then gestured to Fandroid, silently telling him to come closer.
When the latter didn’t move, the reflection only got more frustrated.
“What, you think I’m gonna drag you in here and take your place like a cliche horror movie?”
It sighed.
“I mean, I could, but…”
“You’re not worth the effort.”
“Excuse me?!”
Fandroid instinctively approached the mirror, visibly offended by that remark.
“If anything, I’d rather hang around here than be in your condition.”
“Sure, the void here can get boring, but at least I’m not suffering like you are.”
“So, if you are real, why are you here?” Fandroid asked his apathetic counterpart.
“Because, you’re starting to repeat your old patterns of running away and hiding from your problems.”
“I am?”
“You’re just realizing that? I swear, your repetitive cycle of doing absolutely nothing about your mental state angers me so much, that if I had hair, my scalp would be bleeding profusely from how often I’d rip my hair out.”
The reflection softened a little, but the attitude stayed the same.
“You think that just because you ran away and hid for two years, means that you can do it again.”
“What?! Of course not! You think I have gotten over that? I hate myself for doing that!”
“Ah, see, that’s what I’m talking about, kid.”
The reflection pointed at him.
“Your negative energy is getting the better of you, and it has been for quite a while now, but what have you done about it? Nothing.”
“Negative energy?” He asked.
“Uh, duh? Mirrors absorb negative energy when someone is in front of it. That’s why bad things happens when you break one, all the energy explodes in your face!”
The reflection looked at Fandroid as if he was an idiot.
“So, are you a demon or something then?”
“What—?! No! I’m YOU! I am literally made of your anguish!”
The reflection put both hands on the glass in exaggeration, before bringing them back down. Speaking in an emotionless tone once again.
“I am ashamed to have the appearance of a pathetic fraud, like you.”
Fandroid was taken aback understandably.
“Now that’s just hurtful!” He shouted.
“So? It’s the truth.”
“You don’t know about what I’ve been though!”
“Oh yeah, remember that one January before your silence?”
Fandroid went audibly silent, staring at his reflection with an expression he couldn’t describe.
“That scar on the back of your head, remember what she did to you?”
“Stop.”
“Your night terrors?”
“That’s enough.”
“That other dream you had once?”
“I said stop.”
“How you got devastated when some of your viewers thought you were dead?”
“Keep them out of this!”
“Then why do you hide from them behind your family?”
“That’s none of your business!”
“Really? Says the guy that cries himself to sleep.”
“I don’t do that anymore!”
“Last night?”
Fandroid’s expression hardened.
“You stay in your room for so long that your family worries about you.”
“Enough.”
“You’re just a dirty liar.”
“No, I’m done.”
“Your viewers are gonna feel horrible for even acknowledging you.”
“Be quiet.”
“You abandoned them.”
“Shut up.”
“You abandoned a bunch of children, and you still think that you’re special?!”
“Shut up!”
“You deserve to die alone, especially after you unknowingly helped out that ██████—“
“I SAID SHUT UP!!!”
A loud crack rang out across the room. Fandroid took a second to get his bearings, realizing that he had punched the mirror so hard that it cracked. His reflection looked at the crack and back at him with an expression of disappointment.
“See?”
The reflection gestured to the crack with exaggeration.
“You did this to yourself.”
“It’s all your fault.”
The calmness his reflection had while saying those things infuriated him.
“Clearly, I can’t help you.”
The reflection turned around and started leaving.
“Go find a hole to cry in.”
The reflection faded away into the mirror, leaving Fandroid on his own.
He grabbed the mirror and put it glass first on the floor, before quietly heading over to his bed.
He had enough for today. The worst part was, the reflection was right, about everything.
He hated himself for that. He will never be able to forgive himself.
He lied down on his bed, before grabbing a nearby pillow.
He sighed, before putting it on his face.
The halls of the nearly barren facility were soon greeted by the echos, of a deafening, inhuman scream, of pure agony.