Come to the Wired

Written by Amysteriousgal

Last updated 2012-12-14

Suggested background: Blurry anime screencaps, possibly in black and white/sepia? There's no need for any people to appear in this one. It should be more effective if we don't include other people beyond some chattering in the background noise.

Chisa: 'I'm sorry... I'm sorry...'

I don't know why, but I can never do anything right.

It was only a minor role in our class play. I only had one line. Just one.

...But I couldn't say it. It got to my turn and... I couldn't say anything! At all!

Everyone was staring at me. Everyone was waiting for me. The main character couldn't do anything until I gave him his cue.

I started shaking.

I wanted to cry.

I was so confused.

Why was this happening?

I think they moved on somehow. The play continued. They all left me behind.

...And then, suddenly, I understood it.

They didn't need me.

The world didn't need me.

Everything became so clear as soon as I noticed.

Chisa: 'I...'

Chisa: '...don't need to be here.'

I always had another life, on the Wired.

There, I could connect to people. It's not like the real world, where I mess up such stupid things as one line in a play.

Writing is so much easier than speaking. It doesn't make me freeze in place and shiver and want to cry.

On the Wired, people listen to what I say. I don't have to seal my voice away, like I do in the real world, scared of saying something wrong and being hated.

Stranger: 'You're amazing! Thank you so much!'

Chisa: 'It's nothing, I'm glad I was able to help.'

That's why I always wanted to live on the Wired.

Maybe someday, I'll be able to.

There's this girl in another class called Iwakura Lain.

She's quiet, like me. I think she's lonely, too.

Today, I walked home together with her.

We didn't really talk about anything, but it was nice being beside her.

She felt familiar. Maybe it's because I saw myself in her, but it seems like something else.

Oh, I get it.

Being with her feels like being on the Wired.

I wonder why.

A few girls tried to make friends with me today.

I think they were in Lain's class.

They took me to this nightclub called 'Cyberia'. I'd never been there before, so I was a little scared.

Alice: 'Don't worry. It'll be fun!'

Reika: 'Are you sure? A place like Cyberia doesn't suit her at all.'

Alice: 'It's fine, I'm sure she'll be different once we get her to open up a little.'

In the end, I didn't really do anything there. There were so many people and it was all noisy and crowded... I wanted to run away.

How many of those people do you think were having fun?

Those girls tried to be nice. They tried to make me dance along with them, but I didn't know how. I think they gave up quite quickly.

Are they really friends if they want me to be someone I'm not?

Stranger: 'You shouldn't make friends with people like them.'

Stranger: 'You can just stay on the Wired. You can be yourself here.'

Chisa: 'That's right. Thank you for understanding.'

That's right. I don't belong here, in the real world.

TBC