(sorry for the censor, scratch doesn't like blood. if u wanna see the uncensored sprite press space.) I always thought being the smallest one in the group was annoying. Everyone else could reach the high shelves without asking. Pico would jokingly rest his elbow on my head. Tera would pick me up just to move me out of the way when she was cleaning, claiming I was "underfoot," even though I didn't even have feet in the normal sense. Nano loved to tease me whenever we'd compete over who could optimize code faster. I'd always puff myself up and tell them that being compact made me more efficient. Pico would laugh every single time. Now... I'd have given anything to hear that laugh again. The day everything fell apart, I was in my office at Scratch HQ. I'd been rewriting one of my old projects for what had to be the fifth time that week. Nano had me already in a bet for my dignity, which was putting me in a tutu if you asked, and I wasn't about to loose again. "No..." I muttered at my monitor, deleting another line. "Cmon, I am NOT giving him anymore bragging rights..!" The emergency broadcast blared over the building's speakers before I found it. "THIS IS NOT A TEST. A MASSIVE PARASITE HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED. REMAIN INDOORS. DO NOT OPEN ANY DOORS. DO NOT RESPOND TO LAUGHTER, CRYING, OR ANY VOICE CALLING YOU. THIS IS NOT A TEST." "...What?" I poked my head out into the hallway. "What kind of weird drill is this?" Nobody answered me, as I expected since Scratch had made a new rule to not bother me when I'm working. Instead—there was a scream. And then another. A horrible feeling hit my stomach as I picked up by phone, dialing in the numbers of anyone that even had a phone. Scratch? Business trip.. and he's with Giga. Tera? With Pico, and her phone won't pick up. His just went straight to voicemail. I tried with Nano because I knew he had called in sick for work, but nothing. Silence. A horrible feeling settled into my stomach. I could feel the building shaking.. and then it suddenly stopped. Then came laughter. It.. wasn't normal laughter, no. It was too loud. Too happy. Like someone who physically couldn't stop. I slowly backed into my office and locked the door- well, as best as a three footed blob could. "...Nope." Something slammed against the wall outside. I heard voices.. people I knew. I knew it was them because I had just talked to some down the hall. They sounded... Wrong. "Pffft..." A giggle, then another. "I know you're in there..." That.. couldn't be him, could it? No, he was with Tera. They had to be fine. I felt my heart drop as I heard a glitchy, garbled voice against my office door. "Pico..?" The laughter suddenly stopped, as if only now they realized someone was actually there.. even if they did say they knew I was there. I think they were just bluffing, they didn't think I'd actually answer. I almost unlocked the door. Almost. Then, I remembered the announcement. "Do not respond to any voice calling you." "...Nice try," I whispered, backing away. The scratching on the other side became frantic. "Oh, c'mon..." His voice slurred strangely. "I just wanna... hah... help..." Something hit the door hard enough to splinter the frame. I ran. I don't really remember much after that. Just hiding. Closets, storage rooms, ventilation spaces, anywhere I could fit. Being the shortest member of the team had suddenly become useful. I survived off vending machine snacks. Bottled water. First aid kits. Whatever I could quietly steal from abandoned offices. Every few hours I'd try my phone again. No service. The internet eventually died. Scratch's servers... Gone. Our city... Gone. The silence was somehow worse than the screaming. I don't know how many days passed, time stopped making sense. Maybe three? Maybe five? Maybe longer. I was searching one of the lower supply closets when I heard footsteps. Actual footsteps. They sounded fast, uneven. I could see someone stumbling into the hallway outside. Then— A sob. "...Please..." I froze. "...I just..." "...Please..." That voice. "...Nano?" Everything went quiet. "...Gobo?" I yanked the closet door open, and he practically collapsed into me. "Gobo!" He wrapped his arms around me so tightly I thought he was going to crush me. "I-I-I thought everyone was dead!" His whole body shook. He was crying so hard he could barely breathe. "I couldn't find anyone!" "Hey—hey—" I wrapped my little arms around him as best I could. "It's okay." "It isn't!" His voice cracked. "It isn't okay!" Only then did I really look at him. Scratches covered his arms, most of them recent as far as I could tell. His fur, or hair, whatever you call it, was messy and unkept. And his eye.. oh dear god, his eye. There was a deep cut running from above his eyebrow down across it, already looked infected from what I could tell as blood dribbled down the dried crust. "...Nano." "It hurts..." "I know." "It hurts so much..." "I know."
I guided him into one of the old meeting rooms we'd turned into a hiding place. "Sit." He listened immediately. Still shaking, still crying. It hurt seeing him like this.. someone so optimistic and hopeful. I grabbed the first aid kit. "...This is gonna sting." "I don't care..." One by one, I cleaned the cuts along his arms. His shoulders, his knees, his belly. Every time the disinfectant touched another scrape he'd flinch. "...Sorry," I'd say. "'S okay..." he'd say back to me. Neither of us spoke much. I think we were both scared talking would somehow make everything real. Finally, I got to his face. I gently brushed some dried blood away... I really wished I hadn't. The cut wasn't just beside his eye, it... it had gone through it. My breath caught, a wave of sickness hitting me as I stared at that bloodshot eye that had been split open. "...Gobo?" I couldn't respond, no matter how much I tried. "...Is," his breathing became quicker. "...Is it bad?" I stared for another second, then quietly reached for the bandages. "Gobo? Why.. why aren't you answering me..?" I wrapped the gauze carefully around his head, making sure it covered the injury completely. His remaining eye stared back at me. Even still, I struggled for my words. "...Just..." I swallowed. "...Don't touch it." I don't think he believed me, but he didn't ask again. For a while, neither of us said anything. The room was painfully quiet, the tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. Finally... "...Did you see Pico?" The question slipped out before I could stop it. Nano's shoulders stiffened. "...Nano?" He looked at the floor, his lips trembling. "...It..." His voice cracked. "...It got my brother." I frowned. "...Brother?" He nodded weakly. "I..." Another sob escaped him, this time more pained than before. "I always..." He wiped at his face, smearing grime and blood on his face. "...I always thought..." He couldn't finish. I remembered all the times Pico had introduced Nano as "the little bro I never actually had." The constant teasing, the coding competitions, the shared lunches... The way they'd laugh until everyone else joined in. "..." "...Tera?" I asked quietly, voice trembling. "She was with him." Nothing. "...Nano?" "I don't know!" He suddenly shouted, making me jump. "I DON'T KNOW!" Fresh tears poured down his face, blood and dirt mixing as they fell to the floor. "I couldn't save him!" His breathing became ragged, as if he couldn't live with the thought of seeing those around him loose themselves. "I couldn't save anybody!" He grabbed handfuls of his own fur, doubling over and screaming into the floor. "I just wanted to find everyone!" His voice broke completely. "I just wanted us all to go back to work!" "I want to go home!" "I don't want this anymore!" "I want Scratch!" "I want Giga!" "I want Tera!" "I want Pico!" "I want..." His voice dissolved into crying again, though this time it was more tired then hysterical. He slumped into his chair, covering his head as he struggled to hide his emotions. "..I want my brother back," he said quietly, voice so broken it shocked even me. Seeing the most optimistic, most carefree person besides Pico like this.. it was horrifying. I climbed onto the chair with him, and for the first time since this nightmare began... I didn't know what to say. So, I just sat with him. One tiny hand resting on his shoulder. Because sometimes... When the world had already fallen apart... Being there was all you had left to give.
