"Syl! I'm home, how's your day going?"

...

"Syl? Hello? Earth to Sylvia?"

...

"Wake up roomie! I know being still is fun but... Wait what's that collar? Oh fuck, Syl! Shit shit shit. Who did this?"

...

"Okay, calm down Tiff... Look around... No signs of struggle, nothing out of place, Syl even looks... Exactly like she said she did when she was just a display. Syl... Did you do this yourself?"

...

"Breath Tiff... Huh, weird how we say that, like humans would. You and I don't need to breath, eh Syl? But... Why'd you put on a reversion collar? I thought you'd finally gotten used to being alive."

...

"Shit. Can I take it off you?"

...

"Sorry Syl, I've got to try."

......"Tiff?"

"Syl! Oh I'm so glad that worked!"

"You... Took it off?"

"Of course I did Syl, I can't let you throw away the life we've been given. I'm just glad I caught it before it fully converted you."

"But I was happy, I'd be back in the window."

"You would have been happy until you stopped existing! And you're still going back in the window. I found a store that needs a new display and your picture got them excited."

"So sell me to them."

"Nope. No. Never going to happen. I want to enjoy life with my roomie and former window-mate. And if I need to join you on display to keep you from putting another damn collar on I will. I should just call them and say I'll take the position they offered."

"But you love working in the record store."

"But I love you more. You. Not your plastic shell. You're so much more than what you were, we're all so much more than what we were. Please don't throw that away, and give our haters more fuel in the process."

..."you'll stay with me?"

"If that's what it takes to help you through this? Yes. I'll make the call. And I'm destroying this collar. Never again, okay?"

..."Okay. And I love you too, Tiff."

Image made with Wombot AI. Syl was sculpted to be over 18, and would have been timeless again if not for a timely intervention.

Also, I guess I've set up for some potentially really dark themes with this one. I don't know if I'll actually explore those, as I do tend towards lighter content, or at least more... Ambiguously dark? I'm not one for cessassion of existence, so I'm not really sure how that crept in. But it feels right for the setting I guess so... It's in now, for better or worse.