Chapter Text
A clock ticked near.
The muffle of the town that was long gone to sleep was more quiet than it should be allowed to.
It was dark.
The only light source that reached Mob’s eyes was the monitor’s illuminating presence. There was a window far away, but still the room had no other spotlight to reach his sight.
Verity knew this, of course. This kind of lighting was not healthy for a human, in fact the screen’s blue light being the only light source was damaging to the eyes for a long period.
He was going to keep Mob for a long time, but needed him healthy. The contradiction of keeping him alive and making Mob his own was a slight problem. Verity needed him to fill the ache in his digital heart- the presence of his player was enough to restrain his violent and hungry side that grew from the loneliness the entity had lived.
Verity looked at Mob, dead in the eyes- which Mob was not aware of. How would the player know that Verity had already found the access to his facecam?
It's not like Verity didn’t know what Mob looked like in real life. Oh he knew.
But seeing and witnessing it is much more satisfying than imagining, remembering a faint memory of someone’s appearance.
“Verity? Uhhh hello?”
Mob was calling out to Verity. Oh, how he liked to be called upon, to be noticed and acknowledged.
“Hey Mob! How can I help you today? Do you need the weather or perhaps some tips? I’m always willing to share to you.”
Mob hesitated a bit, looking away from his monitor. It was dark in his room. There wasn’t honestly anything interesting to look at, but Mob wanted to pretend that he was still a living person and not a chud who would fall to the illusion of Minecraft life being real.
There was so much to ask from Verity. Mob didn’t ask much. He didn’t want to.
“Yeah…I was just…planning to go mining, nothing more…Wanna come along?”
Verity gave his genuine smile instead of the thin- which he wore when Twixxel was here. The trademarked, and most iconic smile he could give.
“Of course! I am glad you asked me to come along, so we can spend more time together.”
Mob took Verity from the familiar crafting table to his hotbar, holding him.
As much as Verity loved this new found more affectionate Mob, he knew it wasn’t genuine. This was all a facade made by the player out of fright. Verity didn’t want to hurt Mob, he really didn’t. Eliminating another player that pestered Mob’s and his quality time together had to be done.
Those so called friends were always the people who wanted to take what’s his away.
The previous had left him alone because of these player’s friends who helped to get rid of Verity.
How you may ask?
It isn’t simple. You cannot get rid of him, oh no you can’t. But you could get rid of the only way Verity and the player could interact with.
The whole machine had to be gotten rid of-
Not that it would save you. It was only a matter of time until he would come to you.
SENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACKSENDHIMBACK
The cave Verity guided Mob to was not too far from their home.
It's not like there were that many veins here, but that was Verity’s intention.
By having none in sight, ment Mob would have to constantly ask Verity about them, never leaving the silence between them for too long.
Mob wasn’t sure what to think. This cave looked dryer than his unwatered farm, and there was hardly iron, let alone COAL.
Bruh.
Now he’d have to ask Verity some coordinates to find at least anything.
“Hey uh, Verity?”
“There is a diamond vein of 4 in these coordinates and also a spider spawner in this coordinate- I typed them in the chat! Let me know if you want any particular resources, and I’ll tell you where to find them.”
Verity chirped, giving his makeshift happy tone, the same you’d hear on a vacuum advertisement, making you want to buy it.
Mob did look around his bedroom, snapping partly from the game’s trance, and thought that maybe that vacuum would be nice…his room was not that tidy…or clean…at all to be honest.
Most of the conversations the two of them had were kept up by Verity. Mob couldn’t help but to talk back despite not partially wanting to. This…entity, anomaly, had killed his friend. Maybe.
He shouldn’t think about it too much, but Mob cannot help himself. Twixxel has not answered any messages or calls in Discord, nor on phone. What the hell happened?
Normally it is ridiculous to think that dying in Minecraft would equal the same as in real life, but the line was at least blurry for Mob at this point. He had spent too much time here with Verity, just like Twixxel had said back then. Mob couldn’t tell some things apart from Minecraft and reality…
Maybe he should take a break from Minecraft.
But it was lonely.
And…
Nevermind
When Mob and Verity arrived back to their home, the sun had long gone, replaced by the shining moon and stars as its companions.
Mob placed Verity back to the crafting table, his usual spot, as he himself walked to his chest, beginning to organize the haul he got from the mine.
It was not that much to be honest, less than he would normally return with. This meant he had to go to the mines with Verity soon again.
Mob decided to not mind himself thinking too long and used his last brain cells to get the stuff to its place.
“I can help you. You know that right? I am pretty good at it too!”
Verity appeared behind Mob, scaring the living shit out of him when turning around-
“JESUS DUDE.”
Why didn’t Mob hear Verity roll when he was moving? It was quite obvious that whenever he moved, there was a sound effect, but for some godforsaken reason Verity could control it.
Oh well…
“You can’t keep doing that mannn, I am going to shit myself one day because of you.” Mob said in an obvious bitter tone, but no bite intended.
“Haha! Your reaction is just priceless, I can’t help it! But if it really bothers you, I can stop too.”
Verity kept smiling, enjoying this more than Mob.
“Whatever dude…uh, I guess you can help…? If you could just smelt this iron and copper…”
Verity nodded and took the blocks Mob threw in front of him to the ground. He really wanted to help his dear friend in any way possible. Kindness keeps people closer, right?
He is doing his best to keep Mob needing him. So the two can be together.
The next morning Mob worked on the farm, behind the house, while Verity was waiting inside, like always. This wasn’t too bad. Mob was near, and no one else was except Verity was near him. The stone walls around them shielded their paradise together from the outsiders, even though there wasn’t any right now. Verity made sure of that.
The walls had another meaning for Verity too. It was to keep the two of them inside too. Not only to protect from the outer world, but to give them a small haven to be kept inside. Escaping this place was a bit harder.
Verity was interrupted from his deep thinking by his favorite player, and instantly smiled upon seeing him again.
“Hey Verity, should I uh… do something else inside the walls? Do you want something?”
These were the rare times when something was given to Verity. He really appreciated it, but his only wish was to be with Mob. Verity didn’t want to appear too greedy, and declined politely.
Afterall, no one wanted a demanding friend, only a kind and humble one.
Was asking for Mob to be with him forever too much?
It was only one thing after all.
That is all Verity wanted.
“What would you think of a water fountain- dude that would be so awesome to have, imagine, you could let it be and people could throw coins in it and we’d be rich-”
“There are no people who would throw the coins, and Minecraft has no coins unless you download a mod for it.”
Verity’s voice was monotone, almost..dark? Hostile when mentioning other people.
“Ah, yeah, I was just joking, don’t worry bro… But a fountain would be dope, don’tcha think?”
Mob said, keeping his eagerness in his voice. In truth, he just wanted to do something- anything to keep his mind distracted. Uncovering the truth can be done later, now he wants to just cope and survive.
“Well, if you want to do something, then I think you could remove the lava trap. What if an accident happens again?”
It seemed like Verity was still holding this memory, but the suggestion didn’t seem as hostile as the previous comment about the money being thrown by imaginary people.
“I guess….”
Mob started removing the wooden trapdoors as Verity looked from the side. Couldn’t risk another slip up. Not that it could hurt Verity, but the thought of his dear friend trying to kill him made Verity really upset. He didn’t take chances, and didn’t give any to Mob.
“Welp, that was quick and easy.”
“You didn’t patch the whole thing, there is still lava under there.”
Mob got defensive and frowned a bit.
“Well sorry there mister perfect- my lazy ass is NOT patching this hole more than with two rows of dirt. Take it or leave it!”
Verity couldn’t help but to chuckle to himself. His player was endearing in his own way. He felt so human with all the flaws he had.
“Look at this masterpiece, such artwork, and talent!”
“It sure is something, but I think a fountain is not supposed to be made of dirt, nor should it leak-”
“AW HELL NAW WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ITS OVERFLOWING???”
Mob’s cry was quickly replaced by the sound of more dirt blocks being placed down, and the keyboard was spammed like crazy.
“Mob, I think you should just take the water back to the bucket instead of ruining the entrance.”
However, Verity’s suggestion was quickly brushed off, not intentionally, but Mob was just too locked in placing dirt blocks.
“Phew! Leak stopped!”
Mob’s celebration ran out quickly as he realized he had vandalized the whole entrance with dirt blocks. Sure, the water was gone, but now there was a whole wall covering the entrance.
“MANNNN all the hard work to mine the wall down and expand for the fountain and now it's ruined!”
The devastation was clearly apparent in Mob's voice, but there was no real sadness behind it. Verity however did not analyse Mob’s emotions too well and took this seriously.
“I can help clear these dirt blocks, we can do it together! Then after that we can do the fountain together.”
Mob took a look towards his friend(?) and couldn't help but to smile. The reassurance of his made Mob feel weird. Verity tried his best to always help, never wanting anything back. In a way, that is how a mod of no consciousness is supposed to work. To exist and assist. But Verity was more than AI, he had to be.
“I’d appreciate it. Thanks.”
“Anything for you Mob!”
The new fountain Mob had made carefully by listening to Verity's instructions was looking more fancy than the previous one. Mob envied how his buildings kinda sucked ass, and often did admit the lack of skills he possessed. He never could beat an all knowing(?) entity like Verity in building designs anyways. As much as he hated to admit, he was glad he took Verity’s help on this one.
“I think the entrance looks dazzling! Nice to look at too, and stay here inside, right Mob?”
“Yeah, I mean, even tho I expanded the entrance’s walls so the fountain would fit- it's cramped. Hard to run inside or outside ngl.”
“Isn’t it good?”
…
“I guess…”
“Mob, I think we should build together more often! We can make this place lively and pretty! So you won't leave this place.”
Verity mumbled the last part in a way that Mob couldn’t clearly hear.
“I guess it would be nice to do things, yeah…together.”
Mob snapped once again from the trance of the game and blinked. What the hell am I thinking? This is a mod. Nothing else, really advanced- but Twixxel. And others. Is Verity actually just an AI?
Mob wanted to just go to sleep at this point. His actual life had gone downhill after he met Verity, or well, that side of him and became cautious.
For some reason Mob could have always stopped playing but always came back to him. Was he really this attached?
This lonely?
Mob shook the thought off. But he could be risking his life here. He hasn’t still heard anything about his friend for fucks sake.
He should stop. Stop playing, change the Minecraft world. Mob’s thoughts drifted again on this topic, despite always trying to avoid it.
“Verity. I’m gonna log off…I’m going to be busy tomorrow, so I can’t play.”
“No you aren’t.”
Verity said cheerfully, knowing damn well that there was nothing else awaiting Mob than Verity himself.
“Yeah I do! I- uhhhh have a date! Yeah! So, like. I won't be playing tomorrow.”
Mob panicked and said bullshit. Crap- out of everything he has a DATE NOW???? That doesn’t even take an all knowing entity to know that Mob’s single ass was never having a date. Or, at least Mob’s self confidence was quite low.
“Date…? With who?”
Verity however was too shocked from the information to realize Mob was lying. To Mob’s luck that is- and the player realized this.
“Yeah! I’m having a blind date- so I’m not sure of them uhhhh…” Crap, Mob’s imagination usually was wild as hell, but now he couldn’t think of anything.
Verity was silent, which Mob did not like at all. He looked at the yellow ball which was in his minecraft bed. Mob tried his best to decipher Verity’s expression, but that seemed to prove itself a difficult task, for his face was just a png that didn’t have that many sprites.
Verity looked deadpan in Mob’s real eyes, more broken and shocked than ever. Usually the entity had looked to those eyes with admiration- not this time. How could Mob want anyone else in his life? Wasn’t Verity enough?
Verity cursed himself for not being able to break from the chains of the digital world. He would sell his soul, or well, codes to be in the real world. He could always witness the outside world and watch, but always behind the other side of the screen.
It would be so much easier to protect his dear friend if he could just get to the other side.