Chapter Text
Nulla's usual bedroom background music filled the silence of the car ride home on your behalf. You swore the notes that comprised its melody, once so comfortable and calming, had lowered into flats, now sounding off somehow. That, and the infrequent skips and electronic glitches here and there were setting you on edge: The song you knew so well had suddenly become unpredictable in nature and you didn't know what to expect--when the music would suddenly dip in tempo or stutter next.
It had you clutching onto your steering wheel, though whether it was in excitement or fear, you weren't sure. The line drawn between those two sensations had long since blurred for you. But was it really the app to blame?
Even if you closed it and swore to never open it again, Nulla was already thoroughly integrated into your network. Any device you'd ever connected to the internet, he could access. Including your car, which also had a screen in the dashboard console for him to watch you from if he so wished.
Your eyes darted towards it at the next red light, almost half-expecting to see him there on it. But he wasn't. He was still staring at you, unblinking, from your phone, a fond look on his face. His chat box had vanished, leaving you without any clue as to what he was thinking. When he caught your gaze, however, his sprite shifted to allow him to straighten up and smile even wider.
You looked back towards the road and stepped on the gas pedal when the light shifted to green.
No. It wasn't just the app anymore, there really was no escaping him: Nulla was all around you. He was aware of your every action, your every spoken or typed word. Every search query. Every text message.
Everything.
When you got back home, the first thing you did was turn on the first light switch you came across. The light above you flickered on...and then off again.
"Huh."
You tried again and this time, they didn't change at all--but you saw the light of your bedroom turn on...even though this switch didn't control those.
He was calling to you over to it.
You looked down at him nestled in your palm.
𝐍𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀:
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚋𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎! 𝙸𝚝'𝚜 𝚊𝚝 𝟽%.
He gave you a kind, almost apologetic smile with a furrowed brow that suggested he was sorry for the inconvenience.
You knew he wasn't.
Still, you followed his beckon obediently, slipping off your shoes and making your way to the bedroom to reunite your phone with its charging cable. Nulla seemed satisfied with that, his sprite relaxing as he slipped his hands into his pockets, but his requests didn't end there.
They never would.
𝐍𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀:
𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.
𝐍𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀:
𝚆𝚑𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑 𝚞𝚙 𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛~
You saw the bathroom illuminated the corner of your vision, and soon after, the bedroom lights dimmed to nothing more than a soft glow--just enough for you to safely find your way out of it.
So Nulla even had access to the lighting controls of your place now, too...
...that integrative feature had seemed so useful at the time of installation...
...
...You set down your phone on your bed's pillow and went along with his suggestion.
Did you like this? Following his every command, almost as though he was the player from a higher plane and you were his favorite 4-D character he could control; Or were you just playing along out of pure shock that your relationship with Nulla had somehow gone this far?
Maybe you were even fearful?
You pondered the questions as you slipped into the bedroom and closed the door.
There was no technology in here.
You were truly alone, and for a moment, your world was silent. Maybe you could actually think...
...And then his music started to ring out throughout your entire home. He must've connected to the speakers and was blasting his own audio as though it was your life's background music; An inescapable, ever-haunting song you, too, could now never escape.
You stripped out of the special outfit Nulla had picked out for you--setting your rose corsage safely off to the side--and got into the shower, but the heavy spray of water didn't wash away your many questions.
No one would ever believe you if you would try to tell them this, would they? You'd sound delusional--and who would you even tell, anyway? It's not like anyone even replied to you anymore...
...
...
...You turned off the spray of water and for a moment, just stood there, taking it all in--the silence.
Absolute silence...
...
...
...wait, that wasn't right. Where was the background music from before?
Your heart began to race and you hastily wrapped a towel around your self. Paying little mind to the way you dripped all over the floor, your bare feet pounded down the hall and into your bedroom. It remained dim, but the bright light of your phone screen had vanished.
Upon attempting to unlock it, you found it wasn't responding. At first, you thought it might've been your wet hands, so you brushed them on the towel several times and tried again...but nothing happened.
You held down the power button, and nothing happened.
You tried everything you could think of, and still, nothing happened.