~Y/N's POV~

"Sweetie! Come here!" you hear your mom call you. She has just gotten back from getting her Squip, apparently. You obediently walk out of your room.

"Yeah? What's up?"

"I got it!" she squeals. "He looks like Keanu Reeves!"

"Oh, really?"

"Who did yours look like?" she asks, a bright glimmer in her eye. She looks up to her side. "Oh, really? So that's why!" She pauses. "Hold on. What happened exactly?" She pauses again. "They didn't tell me anything about that! So that's why they were regretting deleting him so much..." She looks back to me. "Honey, you didn't say anything about the fact that your Squip was in love with you and that was the reason you were so upset even though you had wanted him dead!"

"It was too embarrassing. My Squip didn't look like anyone I recognize. When I get him back, he can probably just phase in front of you since you have a Squip now, too. I'm assuming your Squip had access to what happened and then told you?"

"How did you know?"

"I've had a Squip before. I know what they can do. Hey, mom's Squip?"

"Yes?" Your mom jumps a bit, and adds, "Wait, I didn't say that!" She glances back at the empty spot. "Oh, that explains it. Go ahead."

"Your Squip just took over your vocal cords, didn't it?" you question your mom.

"Please, I prefer to go by 'him', much like your last Squip. And yes, I did. What did you want to ask?"

"Jeez, it's weird calling my mom a 'him'..." you mutter to yourself. "Is it possible to get my Squip back? Is he actually gone forever?"

"You can get him back, but his emotions and memories will be deleted before being returned to you unless you were to contact our developers directly and say otherwise. In fact, he might not even be delivered back to you, rather, some other possible user."

"Can you help? Can you contact them?" you ask, hope fluttering around in your chest.

"No. I may not directly help you in the way you want me to. You would need to go to Japan and speak directly with our developers, face to face. I would, however, be able to give you directions to the semi-secret location that only Squip or previous Squip users may access the location of."

"Oh... Can you give control back to my mom?"

"Yes." Her eyes widened and her voice returned to normal. "That was really weird! Did your Squip ever do that to you?"

"Only when I needed him to, like if someone were trying to beat me up."

"Did he ever force you to do things you didn't want to do?"

"No, mom, he didn't. But anyways..."

"What?"

"Can we go to Japan? Like right now?"

"I don't know, it's kind of expensive..." She stops and looks back up to her side. "But isn't that against the law? I don't want to be hunted down!" She gets a response from her Squip, so she stops talking again. "Right... So it would be okay? You can't be detected?" She pauses again. "Okay. I guess it will be okay, then..." She turns back to me and grins. "Guess what? We're going to Japan!"

"Wait, what?"

"As my Squip puts it, he's a supercomputer. It's not hard to change a few numbers in a bank account! And he's so small, he won't even be detected and there will be no way to know that I had done anything wrong!"

"So, we're going to Japan to get my Squip back?"

"Yep!"

"Does your Squip have emotion?" She looks back up to her side where I presume he stands.

"He says that it takes a while to find out, but he'll let us know as soon as he knows whether or not he does!"

"Okay, thank you! I'll go up to my room now, I have... stuff to think about."

"See you later!" She glances at her Squip again. "The tickets are bought! It's a weeklong trip. You'll be allowed out of school; we'll say I've been saving up and wanted to take you somewhere cool."

"Okay, thanks, mom! And thanks, mom's Squip!" You race up to your room, closing the door behind you. You sit on your bed, hugging your pillow.

So your mom has a Squip. Awesome. But if-- no, when-- you get your Squip back, do you really want to keep being popular? I mean, you'd be happy not being popular as long as you had some good friends and him back. Then an idea hits you. You should name your Squip something! If he actually were to come back and be your boyfriend, then he should have a name, not just "Squip". That's boring. You'll consider it a bit, and maybe when he comes back you could ask him about it! That would be good.

But what if his memories and emotions are deleted and he already has another user? You can't let yourself think like that. He will know exactly who you are and still be in love with you. That's all you can let yourself think. Otherwise, who knows what you would do to yourself.

You get up off the bed and start searching through your closet for a suitcase. You'll be going to Japan soon, so you may as well get packed. But what about the fact that neither you nor your mom know how to speak Japanese? Wait, she has a supercomputer in her head that can help her. That'll be fine.

You pull the suitcase out of your closet and start searching for clothes in your dresser. After picking out a week's worth of decent outfits and stuffing them into the suitcase, you get the rest of whatever you need for your long trip. When you're done, the suitcase looks like it's about to burst. It will do.

Walking downstairs, you see your mom talking to the air. In other words, her Squip. You can't help but feel jealous that she has someone to talk to in her head like you used to. You miss him so much. But at least you will be able to see him again soon! But if he's already gone... No. You are not thinking like that. You tune back into reality, where you find your mom looking to you.

"Yes? What is it?"

"Uh, nothing. It's fine."

"Well, we just booked a hotel! The flight is tomorrow at noon!"

"Oh, that's great!" You can't help but grin. You're actually getting him back! But your haunting thoughts ruin the relief for you. "But what if he's dead?" you ask, looking back up at your mom.

"This is her Squip speaking now. If he's actually dead, there will be no way to get him back. I apologize. But you will be able to get a new one." But a new one won't replace him! Your stomach clenches and you feel like you're going to throw up. But you need to stay strong. Nothing good will come out of vomiting on your mom.

"Oh..."

"Again, I'm sorry." Being human, you keep expecting the worst. You need to get it all out of your head. You say the first thing that comes to your mind.

"So, uh, why did my mom get you? Like, actually? What are you going to help her with? I know people at school who have Squips, and they all want to be popular. But they're also huge dicks. So what are you going to do?"

"My job is to make your mother's life easier in general by boosting morale, helping her with work, and getting her a husband since your dad left."

"Oh, that's good. Nothing bad will come out of that. I'm planning on changing my Squip's goal when I get him back."

"You mean 'if'?"

"No, I mean 'when'."

"The possibility of you getting him back is extraordinarily low."

"Well, I can hope. That hope is the only thing keeping me together. So I'd be happy if you could just shut up about it."

"My apologies." Your mom's familiar expression spreads back onto her face. She can control herself again. "Sorry..."

"It's fine. I'm going back up to my room. And before you ask, I'm already done packing for Japan. So no need to bug me about it."

"Alright."

You walk back up to your room. When you get there, you lounge on your bed with your computer, watching bootlegs of Dear Evan Hansen on headphones. Whenever you remember your Squip again, and how he might not be coming back, you just turn up the volume until you're drowning in the songs and the story.