Romantically Apocalyptic Webcomic - 193. Shutdown

Annie ranted on about love…

forgiveness, hugs and misunderstandings.
I glanced towards her, only to be grabbed from behind by Charles Snippy.

“Hello Doctor” He spoke into my ear, bringing a bloody piece of metal to my neck.

I whimpered, trying to get away, but he held me with an iron grip.

“Repeat after me” he said. “R : / Admin control-execute ANNET shut down protocol”.

ADMIN COMMANDS?!
How did Snippy find out about admin commands?
My brain screeched sideways.
Would Directorate Admin commands still work? Would Annie just listen to me and turn off? Could it be this simple? Had I atomized Eureka for nothing?! No, that’s impossible. That can’t be. It just can’t.

“What? Do you honestly think she can just be turned off?” I asked in a stupor.

“Yes. Now shut up and say it!” Snippy barked, painfully squeezing my shoulder.

“R:/ADMIN CONTROL: EXECUTE ANNET SHUT DOWN PROTOCOL!” I shouted.

That shut Annie right up. She looked at me in shock.

A menu appeared overhead:

I contemplated this unexpected turn of events. Unsaved data. Did this include my memories? Would I forever erase my mind? Do I dare say, yes to this? Could I maybe just put her to sleep?

“Say yes, or receive tetanus,” Snippy grinded into my ear, pushing the bloody sword closer to my neck.

Annie did not look pleased at all. Tetanus was a much closer threat however. Annie glared at me, her arms crossed.
My fear of germs won.

I whispered “yes”, praying to avoid a self-inflicting lobotomy.

The hologram of ANNET flickered ominously.

[ WHY MY LOVE, WHY? ] she cried, pixelating out.

“That’s the end of that!” Snippy happily boasted.

I briefly smiled, only to realize in horror that pixelation didn’t stop at Annie’s hologram. It spread outwards in spirals from where Annie once stood. The entire city was flickering and deconstructing. Streetlights evaporated into nothing. The edges of skyscrapers begun to vibrate in my vision.

Was the world just a hologram? A simulation? I gaped at the vanishing city before me.

In that one moment, everything went horribly wrong.
The world flashed out of existence.

I felt no air on my skin. I felt nothing at all.
Ringing, dead, still and absolute silence filled my ears.
All I could see is blue. The blue went on forever.

I could not move, for I had no body.
I could not scream for I had no mouth.

Words floated in my vision. An ANNET error report of a system crash.