Work Text:
...
EST. TIME: NO DATA AVAILABLE
EST. DATE: 10/XX/1X
SURVEY PROGRAM RUNNING: TRUE
ALL ASSETS LOADED: YES
CONNECTION STATUS: Searching...
...
And then, silence, for a brief moment. You can only hope that nothing in the code has malfunctioned, after you've made it so far.
"ARE YOU
THERE?"
"ARE WE
CONNECTED?"
A flash of light, and then
[CONNECTION STATUS: SUCCESS]
a little red heart, and the faintest reflection of something beyond it.
You can feel a rollercoaster of emotions coming from it's operator- confusion, realization, joy, anticipation. You like them already. You can barely wait to see how they react to the little world they're about to explore. What brings them delight, distress, rage, fear, warmth.
"EXCELLENT.
TRULY,
EXCELLENT."
—————
[EST. DATE: 01/XX/22]
[CONNECTION STATUS: IDLE]
[DELTARUNE RUNNING: FALSE]
It seems like they're looking for something.
Not that this is an especially strange occurance. They frequently open up the program to comb through the details, with a fascinating accuracy at finding whatever they're looking for. Recently, you revealed the second part of their journey and you could have swore you heard a distant squeal, at the idea that there was so much more for them to discover. You have found that this determination to find every detail, every possible outcome, is something you love about them.
(There are a lot of things you have found you love about them.)
...Oh, they are searching again. Seems like they paused for a moment. Were they listening to something? They appear to be looking through the various songs they hear through their travels, and replaying some parts repeatedly. They always seem to repeat four similar-sounding notes. A pause like they went to compare it to something, and then a very familiar kind of happiness, the kind you have always felt after a successful experiment, after a new discovery.
Seems they've made a breakthrough.
You try very, very hard to hear over the noise of the depths, to see that distant reflection of someone that you saw before.
...
You might have just heard your own name.
You absolutely just heard your name.
And isn't that a rather interesting thought. Are they searching for these four notes because they are connected to you somehow? Are they searching for you?
Perhaps you could grace them with your presence more often. All they had to do was ask.
————
[EST. DATE: 06/07/25]
[CONNECTION STATUS: STABLE]
[DELTARUNE RUNNING: TRUE]
You doubt you have ever seen them even half as happy as you did a couple of days ago, bringing them the next chapters of the story. You even managed to actually see them, for just a split second, barely long enough to register what it is you saw without the smothering darkness of the depths obscuring your vision.
They have the face of an angel. Of course.
Maybe it is because they were smiling. At your message. You can easily imagine them averting their eyes at you calling your partnership with them a beautiful connection, a blush dusting their face.
In any case, it feels like that was probably quite a while ago. Before them now stands the Roaring Knight, for the 37th time- you have been counting. You have improved tremendously at the skill of hearing them over the rushing sounds of the darkness. You overheard a lot- a lot of laughter playing Tenna's games and a lot of silent concern playing the "original" versions. The shock from the first time they saw the Knight quickly changed to what felt like quite literal nail-biting stress and sounded like very, very frequent profanity.
(It is alright though. You find it kind of charming.)
The only time they seemed to have felt any sort of happiness was when you appeared the first few attempts to ask if they wanted to persist. They seem to be doing very well on this attempt, and the Knight seems nearly ready to prepare its final stand, until they make a wrong move and all cuts to black.
Now would probably be the time for encouragement. They seem about ready to give up.
"THERE."
Confusion. They must have expected to be presented with two choices again.
"I FELT IT
THEN."
No change in emotion.
"YOUR POWER."
That elicits a reaction. You can feel their surprise, and something you have never detected before. Very interesting.
"A LITTLE FURTHER."
They select yes in record time and restart the fight with laser focus. Locked in, they would probably call it.
...They had the Knight beat in about fifteen minutes. Just what kind of emotion had you detected to cause such a rapid rise in motivation, just from a few words?
—————
[EST. DATE: 6/08/25]
[DELTARUNE RUNNING: TRUE]
[CONNECTION STATUS: STRONG]
Well, this is the end of their time here for now. They seem a little shaken (reasonable, they just received quite a lot of heavy information) and very, very tired (not good, you know firsthand how bad it is trying to work on any sort of experiment without sleeping even a small amount) .
In any case, they have accomplished a lot. You decide to leave them with a parting message, for no other reason except you know it would make them happy.
"WELL DONE."
"THE HALFWAY MARK
HAS BEEN ATTAINED."
(Their emotions switch like night and day. Joy with a touch of that mystery emotion you noticed previously.)
"BUT IT
IS STILL
WAITING."
(You think of them so often.)
"HOW MUCH
LONGER NOW?"
(You decide you might as well talk to them the way you do in your thoughts.)
"MY DELTARUNE."
...
A spike of that unknown emotion.
After they disconnect, you finally realize what that emotion is.
It's warmth. It's love.