Chapter Text
"Now, I need you to follow everything that I say," Gillion instructs Chip, thrusting a finger into his face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, man!" Chip groans and takes a step forward. "You say that every time!"
"That is because I am always right." Gillion shoves the Database to the side and grabs Chip by the collar of his shirt before he can step any farther forward. "That's corrosive. Don't go there."
Chip rolls his eyes, but steps back. "How did you know? M.E.G. nose allow you to smell this shit?"
"The leeches on the floor." Gillion bends down to pick something up off of the floor.
Chip watches with curiosity. As his eyes travel down to where Gillion's hands now are, he recoils.
"Aw, gross, man!" Chip yells, shaking its head and putting out his hands to shield his gaze from... whatever that thing is.
Gillion picks up two black, wriggling, slimy creatures, both of them just about the size of half his forearms. He shoves one near Chip's face, tilting his head to the side and almost laughing at Chip's disgust.
"I thought you handled worms all the time." Gillion cracks a small smile.
"I do, but those- those are fucking disgusting, man!" Chip laughs awkwardly and takes another peek at what Gillion's showing him.
He has two black leeches in his hands, one wriggling to get out of Gillion's grasp, and the other struggling to bite at Chip's face with its three gross jaws. Chip backs away a little further.
"Disgusting."
"Well, you need to carry one," Gillion tells it, resorting to slapping the leech on Chip's arm and letting it suction onto Chip. "It'll keep you safe."
Chip squeals loudly and flails a bit, but then, whimpering, gingerly plucks the leech off of the back of his wrist, then turns it around so he can get a better look at it.
"Gonna name you... Daisy," Chip says, grimacing at the thing. "Because you're just so lovely."
The leech squirms, and Chip shrieks again, almost dropping it.
Gillion looks on with amusement, holding his own leech down at his side.
"What's with these things?" Chip asks, disgust still very clearly on his face as he holds Daisy as far away from his face as he can.
"They're leeches," Gillion says simply, taking a step forward and holding his leech out like a metal detector.
"Yeah, I know that, I can tell by Daisy trying to suck all my blood out," Chip mumbles, trotting to catch up.
"This level has a few… substances ," Gillion starts to explain.
"Yeah, man, I can tell..." Chip spares a glance at the peeling and cracking yellow walls.
It's almost like Level 0, actually almost exactly like Level 0, but only if Level 0 was rotting and wet and... full of leeches. Chip tries not to step on any more of them.
"I'm speaking, let me finish," Gillion commands.
"Yes, sir ," Chip sighs, rolling his eyes and shaking its leech a bit. He feels kind of bad after that. He doesn't want to give it Shaken Leech Syndrome.
"This level has a numerous amount of unidentified substances, and one of these is corrosive. The leeches can detect this, so it's advised that we hold one while travelling."
"Great..." Chip looks down at his leech and smiles. "Then I guess I have to get used to you, huh?"
"Don't get attached. We'll be leaving them behind as soon as we can find an exit."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." Chip sighs and reaches out to pat Daisy's head. Or what he thinks is its head.
They wander for a little bit, Gillion swinging his leech back and forth akin to a metal detector to make sure they don't step in corrosive puddles, and Chip following idly behind and looking down at his new travel companion.
"So... what do we do here?" Chip asks, exasperated.
His feet hurt from travel, and Daisy's sure to be hungry at this point.
"This is just a transition level. From Level 0 to Level 14, then to Level 16, and from there to Level 58. Then, we can rest." Gillion walks a bit faster.
Chip groans. "I'm bored."
"I've given you a pet, and you're still bored?" Gillion giggles, walking a little slower now to match Chip's pace.
Chip rolls its eyes and runs up to Gillion, thrusting Daisy into his face and wiggling it around while Gillion grimaces and leans backwards.
"I'm bored because you won't pay attention to me," Chip whines, grinning.
"Okay, okay, I am paying attention to you now, what do you want?" Gillion asks, exasperated. He drops his leech.
Chip eyes it as it lays on the floor, stunned for a moment, and then begins to crawl away. Chip winces and tucks Daisy into a pocket.
"Um, I don't know, uh..."
Chip stares at Gillion for a moment. He isn't really sure what he wants anymore.
Chip elbows Gillion lightly. "F-For you to quit M.E.G., that's what I want."
Gillion rolls his eyes. "I am not doing that."
"Ah, worth a shot," Chip giggles.
"Give me your leech. I dropped mine."
"Daisy?" Chip steps back, panicked. "No, she's- she's mine."
Gillion rolls his eyes and holds out his hand expectantly. "It's just a leech."
"B- but..." Chip takes Daisy out of its pocket and holds it with cupped hands. The leech latches onto one of his palms, but Chip doesn't mind the small sting. "But she's special!"
"Stop acting like a child, hand it over," Gillion groans.
"...You sound exactly like an M.E.G. Officer right now," Chip mumbles, watching Daisy suckle on his palm.
"That's because I am, Chip, now hand me the leech."
Chip cradles Daisy in his hands and lets his bottom lip tremble.
"There's so many others on the ground, just pick one up from there!" Chip argues.
Chip looks into Gillion's eyes and almost tears up. Gillion used to love animals. Like Pretzel! And Apple! And those Sea Lemurs! Chip looks down at his hands again.
Poor leech... so misunderstood...
"Chip, grow up."
Chip trembles. "Get your own leech, Officer."
"Chip-"
"I thought we were friends! Friends don't..." Chip brings Daisy closer to his chest. "Friends don't hurt each other's pets."
"I was joking about the pet thing-"
"And I'm not, Gillion, get your own fucking leech!" Chip squeals, letting a single tear drip down his cheek and land on his hands, right next to Daisy.
Gillion can't understand Chip's attachment to this small, gross creature. He just rolls his eyes, however, too tired from travel to argue, and picks up another leech from the ground.
Chip watches as Gillion snatches a big one right out of a puddle. The smaller leeches reach out to it as it's gripped by Gillion. Or maybe Chip's just imagining things. It shakes this off. Maybe he really is acting childish, defending a simple leech. Or maybe Gillion just isn’t who he used to be.
The rest of the walk is in silence, with Chip cradling Daisy and petting its back every now and then. Gillion swings this new leech back and forth, not even caring about the old one. Chip sighs. He did say not to get attached, after all.
Chip sniffles and dries the last of its blooming tears, sighing shakily and looking down at Daisy, who no longer feasts on Chip's hand and instead opts for crawling around its arm.
"Good leech... you're a good leech, aren't you?" Chip whispers. "And no one's gonna take you away."
"You're going to have to leave it behind soon," Gillion says. "We're approaching what I think might be the end."
"No," Chip says, stopping dead in his tracks. "I can't leave it,, Gill, please don't make me-"
"It will die pretty quickly outside this level," Gillion states.
"Oh..." Chip sniffles.
"Why are you acting like this thing is a beloved dog?" Gillion sighs. "Just a few moments ago, you hated the thing."
"B-but... I like it now." Chip rubs the back of his neck. "It's, uh... Sorry. Yeah. Shouldn't have gotten attached."
"Mhm."
Gillion breaks through the rotting side of the wall a little bit later. It falls away easily, wet and disintegrating wallpaper peeling and falling onto the damp carpet, splintered plaster creeping with mold folding in on itself. Behind the wall is revealed a hospital, almost perfect in comparison to the dirty level that they currently stand in. Gillion gestures for Chip to step into the new level.
"I... I have to leave Daisy behind?" Chip asks, fresh tears forming at the corners of his eyes.
"Yes." Gillion tosses his own leech aside.
Chip squeezes his eyes shut and tries not to notice as it lands with a splat on the floor.
"Goodbye, Daisy," Chip mumbles, plucking it off his arm and gently reaching it down to the ground.
Daisy reaches out for one spot on the carpet, damper than the others, and Chip moves it over to there instead.
"I'll miss you," Chip whimpers, patting its back gently. "You were a good leech..."
"Chip, hurry up, we are probably breathing in so many bad bacteria."
"R-right." Chip steps through the hole in the wall and feels his stomach churn, the telltale sign of a no-clip.
Gillion doesn't even address Chip's goodbye speech as he steps in along with him. Gillion barely even addresses him, just a simple "This way." and a flick of the tail is all he gets.
And the most disturbing part, is that even as Chip is seething at M.E.G. for making Gillion like this, for completely changing him up and swapping out his morals for being a better soldier, even as Chip is downing half of a bottle of Worm Juice, he can't seem to not forgive Gillion.
Chip grimaces as the sour and stale taste of the Worm Juice hits his tongue, and he thinks, It's not his fault. It's not his fault, it's not his... Huh?
Chip shakes it off, looking at new and unfamiliar surroundings, and shrugging, stuffing the Worm Juice in his backpack and thinking about how the memory he had just lost probably wasn't important, anyway. And then he smiles, slinging his bag over the correct shoulder, and bounds happily after Gillion Tidestrider.