Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

How, in the ever-loving fuck, did this happen. Mephone4 never thought he’d see that day he’d be faced with a version of Cobs he WASN’t afraid of. In fact, the most he felt right now was, pity? The cobs looked at him patiently, slowly furrowing his brow as he waited for the phone to speak, unsure if the phone could actually speak in the first place.

Cobs snapped his fingers in front of Mephones face, snapping him out of his thoughts, “Um, You ok? All I asked was your name…”. Mephone4 was still in shock, was this a joke? He had to be joking, there was no way that Steve Cobs, his own creator, the man that's been trying to kill him for a good while now, didn’t know who Mephone was. He was almost offended at this, stuttering over his words as he tried to find what to say.

“W, I… Are you fucking kidding?!” Mephone4 spoke louder than he meant to, Cobsflincing in response, widening his eyes slightly in response, which only confused Mephone more, which soon grew to an odd concern as he realized, that flinch away was a bit too genuine to be a trick, the confusion in cobs voice was a bit too genuine as well, Cobs was scared of him for once, Cobs didn’t even know who Mephone was anymore.

“I mean um…. Can I at least learn who you are first?” Mephone4 said,  letting out a heavy sigh. He wanted to see where this would go, and if Cobs was tricking him, how long he’d be willing to keep up the act. But no matter how much Mephone wanted to think it was a trick, something about this felt too genuine.

The cob of corn thought for a moment, adjusting his glasses as tried to find an answer to the question. He was trying to figure out what his name was… that definitely was not right in any way. “Uuuuuh, do you-” “Hold on hold on, I got this, I totally remember my name, its uuuuuuh-” Cobs attempted to look around for maybe an answer, nervously, fidgeting with his hands as the silence grew between them.

“My name is um… Y-Yelllow- no, no wait it's, Cooornnn-no, no, no wait, hold on it’s um… Kernel, maybe, sort of?... yeah Kernel sounds, right I guess?” Kernel… he’s not even close, the closest he got was corn, and even then, he didn’t sound sure. Mephone4 stared in astonishment as he slowly realized that Cobs, or Kernel, as he was calling himself now, might not be faking this. “Soooo, can you tell me your name now?”, Oh right, ‘Kernel’ still didn’t know who Mephone was.

“W-wait, so you… really, don’t remember me?” Mephone4 asked, Kernel shaking his head sadly, holding one of his wrists. Mephone4 felt sudden rage fill him, not cause his creator couldn’t remember him, but because he still couldn’t believe this wasn’t some sort of trick, he wanted to prove it was a trick, he needed to prove it was a trick.

“Yaknow what, no, I’m not falling for this, Cobs, how can you not even remember me slightly? I’m Mephone4, You literally built me for crying out loud! You’ve been actively trying to have me destroyed for god knows how long, and, and-” He felt a hand be placed on his shoulder, causing him to flinch away and look back at ‘Kernel’, who seemed, although still confused by Mephones explanation of him, determined in a way, determined to understand why Mephone was so upset.

“Listen, You seem pretty upset, and, if I am this ‘Cobs’ guy you mentioned, and if I did build you, then…” Kernel seemed to quiet down slightly, averting his eyes to the ground as thought about everything Mephone said, Mephone doing the same. This really didn’t seem like a Cobs thing to do at all, he was too egotistical and self-centered for this, maybe Cobs really didn’t remember him or himself. “I’m sorry, for, whatever I might’ve done to upset you… even though I don’t know who you are,” Ok, this is definitely not an act.

“I…” Mephone4 looked at Kernel calmly, letting out a loud sigh as he attempted to think of what might have caused this sudden amnesia, and most importantly, what would happen if Cobs suddenly got his memories back. “Come on… I know someone that might be able to help? They’re a scientist but, surely they know about things like this” Kernel perked up slightly, becoming intrigued at the thought of meeting someone new.

Kernel smiled slightly, clapping his hands together as he let out a small laugh “Alright, lead the way my rectangular, um… acquaintance?” Mephone4 stared at Kernel for a moment, raising an eyebrow as the Corn cob smiled nervously, before quickly changing it to a frown “Listen you just seem pretty mad at me, so I’m not sure if I can like, call you  friend or…” Kernel said tiredly, causing Mephone to roll his eyes, before turning around and talking off, Kernel following closely behind.

“Soooo, I, built you?”

Mephone4 sighed “Yep, at least according to my memories you did, sense yours don’t work right now…”

“Oh…” Kernel stayed silent for a moment “So if I built you, does that mean I’m your dad?”

Mephone4 quickly stopped in his tracks and turned around, Kernel nearly bumping into him, “W-what did you just say?”

“You know, 'cause I created you, and if you create something living, that usually means you’re their parent!” Kernel explained, beaming brightly at Mephone4, who just became more confused with every word that Kernel just said.

“I... We’ll… We’ll talk about it later…” Mephone4 said, turning back around and continuing his walk. He hoped to find Test Tube soon, surely she’d have an explanation for this, and as much as he hated to think, maybe she’d have a way to fix this? As nice as it was, it was weird to see Cobs not be an ass for once.

Chapter Text

The walk was… Longer than Mephone4 wanted it to be, and the awkward silence between them didn’t help either. Occasionally Cob- er, Kernel would try to start up a conversation, to get Mephone4 to maybe open up a bit, tell him more about how they knew eachother. But no matter what Kernel said, Mephone4 shot down his attempts, leaving them both to walk in silence. Kernel couldn’t understand why Mephone4 didn’t like him, he wasn’t sure what he could’ve done to someone he didn’t remember meeting.

Eventually, they did find Test Tube, heading off to her secret lab and needless to say, Test Tube was just as confused as Mephone4 was about the whole situation. “S-So, wait, he really doesn’t remember anything?” Test Tube asked, glancing at the man right next to Mephone4, who was just staring at Test Tube in what could be shock, or at least that’s what Test Tube hoped it was. Kernel was just staring at her, he looked almost, nervous in a way.

“Yeah, I mean, we probably wouldn’t even be having the conversation if he could…” Mephone4 said, glancing over at Kernel for a moment, still somewhat unsure, but at this point, this all seemed too pointless for Cobs to do. Test Tube thought for a moment before sighing slightly, waving for the two to follow her.

“Come on, we’ll continue talking about this in my lab, I’ve got some-” “Woah, you have a Lab?!” Kernel blurted out, startling Test Tub slightly as he interrupted her mid-sentence. Kernel’s face almost immediately flushed a bright red as he rubbed the back of his head, chuckling slightly. “Woops, did I say that out loud?”. Mephone4 let out another sigh, almost frustrated with having to deal with this situation.

Test Tube simply just rolled her eyes, scoffing slightly as she lead them to her lab. “Yeah, I have a lab, it's supposed to be secret but… almost everyone knows about it now,” Test Tube explained, Kernel nodding slightly as she talked. He would’ve continued asking questions, but they had actually made it to the entrance Test Tubes lab pretty quickly, or where it was supposed to be anyways.

At first, it looked like a regular soda machine, much to Kernel's disappointment, “A soda machine, hm… ya know I was actually kinda expecting something a lot more… cooler? A-and less, ya know, out in the open?” Test Tube rubbed her face as she looked back at Kernel, as she started pressing the buttons to open the entrance.

“Yeah, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that, but regardless, brace yourselves, it can be quite the shock the first time around…” As Test Tube said that, a Tube sprung out of the side of the soda machine, and in almost the blink of an eye, all three of the objects were inside Test Tube’s secret lab. Mephone4 rubbed his head as he stood up, quickly trying to steady himself as he looked around. “Ok, now that you’re here, please keep in mind the lab rules and follow- oh… Are you ok?”

Mephone4 looked over at Test Tube that over to where she was looking, almost immediately spotting Kernel, still laying on the ground. He looked almost dazed or out of breath, before sitting up, letting out a hiss as he rubbed his head and squeezed his eyes shut. “Yeah, Yeah…. Just, headache is all, I guess from the shock…” Kernel’s voice sounded strained as he tried to stand up, almost toppling over again as he did, but luckily catching himself before he did.

“Hm, alright, well then, just follow me, and I can try to figure out what’s going on with your head,” Test Tube said, waving for them to follow her again as she lead them to another part of the lab, having Kernel sit down while she grabbed anything she needed for, whatever she planned to do.

Mephone4 glanced over at Kernel, who intently watched Test Tube as he wanted as well. Mephone4 still felt like this was just some sort of weird dream, or a nightmare to be more accurate. This didn’t even seem like Steve Cobs anymore, it seemed like someone entirely different at this point. “So…” Mephone4 was snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at Kernel, who was now looking at him, “Can we talk about the father thing I brought up earlier?”

Mephone4 rolled his eyes and sighed in frustration, letting out another sigh to try and calm his nerves before giving Kernel a stern look. “We’ll talk about it after we figure out what the hell happened to you.” Kernel frowned slightly, almost disappointed in Mephone4’s response. Mephone4 wasn’t sure why though, it wasn’t even that important of a topic, at least not to him it wasn’t.

“Alright! Let's get started, I'll just start with a simple eye test," Test Tube said cheerfully, Kernel nodding as he took off his glasses, squinting slightly as he tensed up, his face scrunching up slightly. He quickly shook his head and forced another smile, still squinting at Test Tube, who chuckled slightly. “You didn’t really have to take off your glasses, but I guess it shouldn’t change anything.” Test Tube held up a sheet with letters on them, a decent distance away from Kernel.

“Alright, now could you cover your right eye and read the lowest line you can?” Kernel nodded and did as told, and by god was his eyesight terrible, he could barely ready the 3rd line down, it would almost be comical if it wasn’t so… sad? That's the best word Mephone4 could find to describe it, as well as Test Tube, who only glanced over at Mephone4, who could only nod, as if to say ‘it's always been that bad, trust me…’

“Alright, now if you could dot the same, for the other eye, that’d be nice,” Test Tube looked back at Kernel, who nodded and covered his left eye. Almost immediately, his left eye shut a bit, and he stiffened up in his seat, chuckling slightly. Test Tube and Mephone almost immediately noticed this change in behavior, slightly watching him take his hand away from his eye, before covering again, curling his free hand into a fist.

“I… I think I may be blind in my right eye…” Kernel stuttered out, almost shocked at this discovery himself, taking his hand away from his eye as he frowned, Test Tube writing something down on her clipboard. Kernel fumbled with his glasses as he rubbed his supposedly blind eye, hoping that would fix the issue, but it didn’t. “That definitely isn’t right. I may not remember much, But I don’t remember being blind in my right eye, or how I ended up becoming blind in my right eye, and I-”

“Kernel, please calm down, It’s not exactly the worst thing in the world. Heck, it might be related to what caused your sudden amnesia!” Mephone4 exclaimed, patting Kernel on the shoulder slightly. Kernel seemed to calm down slightly as Test Tube agreed, nodding her head as he put the sheet away, looking back at Kernel, clearing her throat before speaking, “Yeah, besides, your speech and hearing seem to be perfectly fine, and I assume you haven’t experienced any numbness?”

“Oh, heavens no, if I did, I probably wouldn’t have such a headache,” Kernel let out a slight chuckle, catching both Test Tube and Mephone4’s attention. Kernel still has a headache? He shouldn’t have hit his head that hard on the way down, and even if he did, the pain should’ve subsided by now, right?

“Hey, Kernel… You mind if I take a look at your head? Yaknow, for any injuries you may have?” Test Tube asked, a worried tone in her voice.

“Oh of course Ms. Tube, I assumed you would anyways!” Kernel said, slightly nervous at the sudden quietness, Test Tube walked around to look at the back of Kernel's head and nearly gasped, dropping the clipboard as she ran off to grab what Mephone4 assumed to be medical supplies. “W-wait, what is it, is it bad?” Kernel asked, slightly panicked. Mephone4 Walked around to see what Test Tube saw and nearly jumped back in shock, putting a hand to his mouth.

“Uh… Hey Kernel, buddy, don’t freak out, but… You have the biggest fucking bruise I've ever seen on the back of your head…”

“whAt?!”

“Hey, I specifically said not to freak out!”

Chapter Text

“God, how did I not notice it before?”

“Please shut up…”

“God I think I can only see an indent,”

“YOU’RE NOT HELPING ME CALM DOWN!”

Mephone4 stood behind Kernel as he stared at the giant bruise on the back of his head, almost unable to take his eyes off of it. He really wasn’t sure how he hadn’t noticed it before, but now that he had noticed it, it was hard to forget about. Mephone4 glanced towards Test Tube as she hurried back with bandages and an ice pack.

“Mephone, quit gawking at the injury on the back of Kernel's head and hold the ice pack in place,” She said quickly, Mephone rushing over to do so. Kernel shivered slightly and hissed at the coldness, stiffening up slightly. Test Tube quickly but carefully wrapped the bandages around Kernel’s head, almost nearly covering the entire top of his head. “Hey um, you don’t mind if the bandages go over your right eye, right?”

Kernel waved his hand dismissively, rolling his eyes as he chuckled again, “Not like I’m using it anyways…” he responded, hugging himself and Test Tube nodded and continued back to her work with the bandages, securing them with a safety pin on the back of his head. Testube stood back and sighed, it wasn’t perfect, you could still see bits of the bruise sticking out from under the bandages, and thanks to the icepack, there was now a large lump on the back left side of his head.

“That… should be could for now…” Test Tube smiled nervously, glancing over at Mephone4, he seemed just as worried as her. “How long have you had this headache, Kernel?”

“The past few hours I guess? Ever sense I woke up, I’ve had a real bad headache.” Kernel rubbed his head, squeezing his one good eye shut as 

“Was it worse when you first woke up?”

“Oh definitely, granted, everything was a bit blurry, but the pain was unimaginable,” Kernel laughed slightly, rubbing his arm as he tried to stand up, stumbling slightly as he tried to balance with the new weight on the back of his head, “It was like I was beaten over the head with a metal pipe… Which, would explain the bruise actually.”

“And the sudden loss of memory,” Mephone4 said, fiddling with his finger, letting out a heavy breath he didn’t know he was holding, “By the way, how much, do you remember? Like, from before you woke up today?” Mephone4 asked, Kernel turning towards his slowly, averting his gaze as he thought.

“I, remember, going to school and stuff, and… I think I own a company? It starts with an M, I think… Oh, and I lied about my name being Kernel, I actually don’t remember my name all too well, I just know it had a K sound in it! Oh, and-” Kernel continued to ramble on about small things he seemed to remember, nothing being considered important though, just, vague generalizations that anyone could assume about him.

“I’ve, never seen amnesia this intense…” Test Tube mutter, walking closer to Kernel, a small smile appearing on her face, “it’s almost fascinating!” Test Tube exclaimed, catching both Mephone4 and Kernel off guard. Kernel’s tinted a bright pink in response, putting his hands behind his back as he looked away nervously, trying to find his words.

“You’re fascinated by me? I mean, like, I mean your fascinated by, by what’s wrong with me-” Mephone4 couldn’t help but let out a wheeze as he watched Kernel struggle to communicate, the amnesiac completely unsure of how to respond to Test Tube. Test Tube walked away slightly to pick up the clipboard again, picking up her pen as well.

“Kernel, you mind if I run some more tests? Like, on your brain? I wanna see if we’ve discovered a new form of amnesia!” Test Tube said excitedly, the cob unable to think of a response before Mephone4 grabbed him by the arm and dragged him off towards the exit of the lab.

“I’m sorry Test Tube, but let’s wait until the giant wound on the back of his head heals first, or at least until his headache goes away completely.” Mephone4 said, quickly forcing Kernel’s glasses back onto his face, Test Tube pouting slightly, before sighing and nodding, crossing her arms.

“You’re right, well then, I guess I’ll see you both, tomorrow?” Test Tube waved them both goodbye as they left, Kernel waving back happily. Kernel wasn’t sure as to why Mephone4 was in such a hurry to leave, was it really so important? Maybe he wanted to finally talk about the dad thing? Kernel honestly didn’t know, but one thing’s for sure, he couldn’t stop thinking about what test Tube said to him, how she said his condition Fascinated her.

When they got back to ground level, Mephone4 let out a sigh and Looked at Kernel, who was still lost in thought as looked at the ground, completely zoned out for the time being. “So, now that we’ve gotten you bandaged up, let’s get you a place to sleep, I know someone who runs a hotel!” Mephone4 said, Kernel not responding as he continued thinking to himself, Mephone4 just shrugging and walking off, Kernel following closely behind.

“... Sh-she said I was fascinating…” Kernel let out a giggle as the most stupid smile appeared on his face, Mephone4 letting out an annoyed, almost disgusted groan.

“No, she was fascinated by your amnesia, not by you…” the phone replied, Kernel still smiling as he rubbed his cheek.

“My amnesia is a part of me, so ya know… it still counts. She still likes a part of me at least…” Kernel responded, only giggling more and Mephone4 scowled, trying to figure out why Kernel was acting so weird all of a sudden, stopping in place as he turned to look at Kernel. He would’ve been disgusted if he wasn’t still unsure.

“Do, do you have a crush on…” Kernel’s face immediately flushed at Mephone4’s words, waving his hands dismissively, more or less in panic as his eyes looked on Mephone4, once again struggling to find his words.

“Pfft, no no, I just, think she’s really nice, and cool… and smart… and pretty… and smart… and…” Kernel started giggling again as he covered his face, smiling happily at his own thoughts “She called me fascinating~…”. Mephone4 stared at the mess of a man in front of him, almost acting like a child with a crush over someone calling him fascinating, it was, awkward to say the least.

“Kernel I… Dude you literally just met her… Chill out…” Mephone4 said, placing his hands on Kernel’s shoulders to try and snap him out of it, Kernel looked at Mephone4, frowning slightly as he thought about it, now feeling more embarrassed than flustered. It’s not like he’d even have a chance with someone like Test Tube, she seemed too occupied with her own stuff, plus, Kernel barely knew anything about him. Regardless, whenever he thought about test Tube, his heart fluttered slightly, his cheeks tinting a slight pink.

They eventually made it to Hotel OJ, and luckily, Kernel was welcomed to stay there, despite some confusion from OJ as Mephone4 explained the situation. “Mhmm, so lemme get this straight, this guy tried to kill you, a lot, but now he’s not trying to kill you, but only cause he’s hit his head so hard he can’t remember his own name?” OJ repeated back to Mephone4, glancing over the Kernel, he was looking around the lobby of the hotel calmly. Mephone4 simply nodded, rubbing his face slightly as he glanced back at Kernel, looking back at OJ calmly.

“Yeah, He’s, fine I guess? He’s blind in his right eye, and has an icepack strapped to his head to help with his headache and bruising, but other than that, no real problems with him,” Oj nodded as he grabbed a room key, handing it to Mephone4.

“Well, I guess it could be worse, I’m sure he’ll get well acquainted with at least a few people,” Mephone4 smiled at Oj before walking over to Kernel, dragging him off to his room.

“So, just remember to follow the hotel rules, there's a good few other people here, so I’m sure you’ll make good acquaintance with some of them, Just um…” Mephone4 look at Kernel as they stood in front of his room door, handing him the key, “... try not to weird them out…” Kernel took the keys and nodded, smiling, opening his room door entering the room, looking back at Mephone4. “Well, goodnight, Kernel,” Mephone4 said, walking away as Kernel closed the door.

“Goodnight champ! See you tomorrow!” champ, chAMP, C H A M P?! Mephone4 nearly crashed when he heard Kernel call him that, still shocked that Kernel had the weird thought of being his father. Mephone4 truly hoped he wouldn’t have to see Kernel tomorrow, cause that’s a conversation he knew he couldn’t avoid forever, so he’d just avoid it for as long as he could.

Meanwhile, Kernel flopped onto his bed, another stupid smile creeping on his face as he let out more giggles. He knew it wasn’t important, and he knew he’d never have a chance with her, but he thought he should at least indulge in his crush when in private, at least then no one will have to see him act this weird in public, that is something no one wanted. “Hm… I should get some sleep, I’m clearly out of my mind if I’m acting like this, as an adult nonetheless” He took off his glasses and turned out the light, pulling the covers over him as he tried to get comfortable.

And let's just say getting comfortable is not easy when you have a giant icepack on the back of your head.

Chapter Text

The morning was, rather dull in the hotel, Kernel had yet to leave his room after waking up due to the fact that his headache was back, the icepack had helped him a bit last night, but now that it was thawed, his head was basically throbbing with pain. “Come on Kernel, I’m sure you can ask that OJ guy for a new icepack… or some pain killers…” Kernel slowly stood up and almost immediately fell over, the room spinning around him as he tried to gain his balance, “Or maybe I’ll just… stay here until someone comes to check on me.” 

No, No, that wasn’t an option, his headache probably wouldn’t get better that way, it’d probably go away quicker if he tried to ignore it and went on with his day. Kernel waited for the room to stop spinning before leaving his room, the bright light from the hallway hurting his eye slightly. He looked out into the hallway to see if anybody was nearby, no one was in sight as far as he could see.

Kernel let out a sigh and slowly trudged down the hallway, still holding his head as he tried to steady his breath, the pain was finally subsiding, maybe it was the now warm icepack pressed to his bruise that was causing such an intense headache, most of the pain was coming from that area anyway, so it just made sense that the unnecessary pressure was causing his bruise to worsen.

Kernel entered the empty hotel lobby, not even a person out by the reception desk, which was unfortunate. He didn’t exactly know his way around this place, so he didn’t know who was here, why they were here, or what they could be doing, so he definitely didn’t know where he should go exactly besides back to his room. But before he could even have a second thought about it, he felt someone tap his side, almost causing him to jump out of his own husk as he turned to look at them.

There stood what appeared to be two cherries, Conjoined at the top of their stem, they seemed somewhat startled by Kernel's reaction, looking up at him nervously. “Um, are you looking for someone?” The left cherry asked, the right cherry fidgeting with their hands nervously. Kernel gave the cherries a small smile, rubbing the back of his head slightly.

“Um, kinda, I was just hoping to find someone who could help me replace my icepack…” He said calmly, turning slightly as to point at the clear lump underneath his bandages. The Cherries seemed to calm down at his response, smiling up at him as they nodded in sync.

“Oooh, alright!” The left one said, before the right one continued their sentence, almost as if already knowing what the left cherry was going to say, “We’ll help you out! Follow us!” The left cherry seemed to pantomime what the right cherry was saying, somewhat catching Kernel off guard. They seemed so in sync, almost as if they were the same person in two bodies. Kernel followed after the two quickly, looking around the hotel as he did.

“So, what’re your names?” Kernel asked, trying to make acquaintance with the twins the lead him down the hallway. Kernel wasn’t sure how they were able to move at the same pace as eachother, though granted, they probably grew up having to live life at the same pace, so they’re probably used to it.

“Cherries!” The left one said happily, before nodding as the right one continued “Plain and simple!”. Cherries, they were both named ‘Cherries’. Kernel wasn’t exactly sure if that made things easier or harder when it came to talking to them, but seeing as they seemed to act as appeared to act as one, he was gonna go with the former.

“Cherries, hmm? I’m Kernel, nice to meet you!” He followed the two into what looked like a kitchen, startling the person at the sink cleaning the dishes. OJ turned to look at them, waving at them calmly. Kernel waved back and smiled, “Oh, You’re OJ, right? Hello there!” Kernel said, closing the kitchen door behind him quickly.

“Hi! Mephone told me your name is Kernel?” OJ said, turning back towards the sink as Cherries approached the fridge, opening the top part of it. “Do you know how long you’ll be staying?” OJ continued, Kernel shaking his head in response as he looked into the fridge.

“Uh, no not really, Mephone just said this could be a good place for me to stay, at least until my head gets better,” Kernel reached into the fridge and pulled out a blue ice pack, holding it up slightly, “Hey OJ, you don’t mind if you use this, right?” Kernel asked, OJ only dismissively waving his hand in response, which Kernel assumed meant it was alright.

“Do you really still need a new icepack though? You seem fine!” Oj said, turning to look at Kernel calmly as he closed the freezer door. “Well… I could barely get out of bed this morning due to my headache-” “Woah, wait, is it really that bad?” OJ asked, almost surprised. Yeah, OJ knew Kernel had apparently hit his head hard, but he didn’t think it would be that bad, “Have you considered trying a painkiller, I’m sure it would work better than an icepack.”

“Um… I’d probably have to ask Test Tube about it…” Kernel said, rubbing the back of his head as he averted his eyes to the ground. “Oh, um, Cherries, mind helping me with this? I can’t really do it myself,” Kernel said, noticing that Cherries was still there next to him listening to the conversation. Cherries quickly nodded, gesturing for Kernel to stand near the counter so they could stand on it to reach his head. “Oh wait, do you guys even know who Test Tube is?”

“Oh, yeah, everyone basically knows everyone here, well, maybe only a few people know about you, but there's always time to socialize,” OJ smiled calmly as he walked over to the coffee pot, setting it up to brew. Kernel thought it was odd that ‘everyone knows everyone’, surely there could’ve been more people than that. “I mean not everyone gets along too well, but that's just something to be expected,” OJ continued, Kernel nodding before feeling Cherries hit him on the back of the head.

“Stop moving,” The left Cherry said, putting waving his hands slightly as the other began speaking, “Yeah, It’s hard to do this when your moving!” Kernel scoffed slightly in amusement, Kernels thought it was funny how Cherries seem to act as if they were one person, he thought that maybe it was a weird twin thing, that’s the most that made sense to him.

“Oh, sorry… But uh, anyways… Do any of you know where Test Tube might be?” To be honest, he probably would’ve still asked if OJ hadn’t suggested he take painkillers, at least now he has an excuse to see her.

As Cherries lifted the last of the bandages off of Kernel's head and removed the ice pack, they froze in shock as they stared at the bruise. They were expecting the bruise to be bad, but they didn’t expect it to take up a majority of the back of his head. They worked hastily on getting the icepack attached to his head, Kernel nearly flinching away and the sudden cold.

“Well, knowing her, she’s probably in her lab, if not then she’s most likely hanging out around here somewhere” Thanks OJ, that was totally helpful. Kernel thought for a moment as he reached for the bandage, helping Cherries slightly with getting it around his head. His headache definitely was as bad now, but the cold sensation was not comfortable at all. “You want some coffee? It's fresh!”.

OJ held out a cup of coffee for Kernel to grab, Kernel smiling happily, “Oh, thanks, I haven’t had coffee in a while!” Kernel Quickly took the mug of coffee out of OJ’s hands, holding it with both of his.

“You remember the last time you had coffee?”

“Well, yeah obviously, It's not like all my memories are- OH SHIT-” As Kernel tried to gesture with his left hand, the mug slipped out of his right hand almost too easily, the mug shattering on the floor with coffee spilling everywhere. Kernel jumped back in shock, nearly knocking Cherries over in the process.

The kitchen was silent for a few moments, Kernel feeling a wave of fear and guilt washing over him as he looked at the mess, stepping away from it slightly as he wrung his hands nervously. “I’m… I’m so sorry OJ, I-I swear I thought I had a better grip on that, I can help clean it up if you-” “Woah Woah, calm down, it's alright,” OJ interrupted Kernel's nervous rambling as he sighed crossing his arms, “I can clean it up just fine myself, it's just a bit of Coffee… And pieces of shattered ceramic…”

Kernel nodded slightly, still unsure as he looked at his right hand, curling it into a fist to see his he could spot anything wrong, and he definitely noticed what was wrong with it, while he should have clenched his fist, his hand seemed to barely clench fully. He’d definitely need to take that up with Test Tube. “Well, I’ll get going then,”

“Alright, have a good day Kernel!”

“You too OJ, and Cherries” Kernel almost seemed lost in his own thoughts as he left the kitchen, still staring at his right hand as he continued to clench and unclench his right hand. Maybe his head injury had damaged more than they thought.

Chapter Text

As of now, Kernel was fucking lost. Yes, he had found the drink machine, it was the only drink machine out in the middle of literally nowhere, but he could not remember how to get into the lab for the life of him, and he didn’t want to shout or anything to see if she was even down there, cause honestly to anyone from afar it would honestly just look like a man shouting at a drink machine to let him in. It didn’t help that the sun seemed much brighter than usual, was it always this bright?

“Are you just going to stand there? Or–” Kernel spun around to look at whoever was talking to him, being met if a rather small… thing? It didn’t look like any object he’s seen, it was black and white, with each eye seeming to show a different emotion. Kernel now felt embarrassed, he hadn’t even realized how weird it might be just to see someone staring confused at a drink machine.

“Oh, um, sorry, I’m just trying to find Test Tube’s lab… this is the right vending machine, right?”

“Yes, it is! Why do you need to know?!” Kernel jumped as the small orb's voice seemed to change in an instant, almost spawning an argument within the small creature.

“Oh, shut up and be nice for once! No, you shut up! I don’t need to be nice! But he hasn’t even done anything! It doesn’t matter, I-”

“Woah, hey calm down, I just need to see Test Tube for a moment! About my head injury.” Kernel said, quickly pointing at his bandaged head. He wasn’t sure why he needed to clarify himself, but he just, did. The ball raised an eyebrow, or at least, that's what Kernel thought was happening, each eye seemed to display an emotion of his own so he wasn’t sure.

“Isn’t that something you see a doctor for?”

“Well yeah, but, we are kinda in the middle of nowhere if you think about it, where would I even find a doctor?!” The sphere was silent for a moment, murmuring to themself.

“Yeah fair point… Anyways, you just kinda gotta interval between the Water and Dr. Fizz buttons a bit,” Kernel stayed silent for a moment, staring at them in silence before snapping back to reality, glancing at the machine.

“Wait that's all? Like, just, these two buttons?” 

“Well duh! That’s what we said!”

“And… it was supposed to be a secret lab?”

“Yup!” The sphere shrugged, stepping away slightly. Kernel glanced between the vending machine, hesitantly putting in the code. There was a moment of silence before, the tube sprung out of the side of the machine, Kernel letting out a shriek as he was dragged down to Test Tubes lab, the sphere just missing the tubes pull.

“Hey, did guy seem… familiar? No, I mean, why should he? I don’t know, he just had like, a certain vibe, I guess.”

Kernel hit the ground of the lab with a thud, letting out a groan as he felt a wave of nausea, laying there for a moment as he tried to gain his bearings. He was never gonna get used to that, at least not until his head got better. “Kernel? What are you doing here?” Kernel sat up as he heard Test Tube approach him, looking at him in slight confusion.

“Oh yeah! Uh, Hi, Test Tube, I Um, well, I was just, hoping you’d have something else to help with my headache?” Kernel asked, letting out a nervous chuckle, before holding his head.

“Oh, Um, yeah sure, I think I may have something? I don’t know why you came to me about it though…” Test Tube said, waving for Kernel to follow her. Kernel slowly sat up and stumbled as he tried to gain his balance, following Test Tube as he glanced around her lab.

“Well I mean, we still don’t know what’s going on with my head, besides the fact that most my memories are just, gone… And if it is something new and undocumented, you seemed awfully excited to be the one to ‘discover’ it,” Kernel explained, wringing out his hands as he spoke, Test Tube seemed to stop in her tracks, thinking for a moment.

“Wait… I, I don’t think we ever finished that testing… Stay right here, I’ve gotta go check something,” Test Tube quickly ran off to another part of the lab, leaving Kernel alone without giving him time to respond. Kernel stayed silent, still still trying to recover from the trip down.

Kernel glanced around the lab, looking at the different things that could be found laying around. Test Tubes lab was much cleaner than he expected, though to be fair, he wasn’t sure what he expected, and he couldn’t remember much of it yesterday. Most of the walls and floor were a monochrome gray and white, and there were a lot of storage spaces around. Test Tube must’ve spent alot of time down here

“Yeah, yeah no we never finished that test yesterday. I guess I kinda got distracted by your head injury, woops hehe…” Test tube quickly returned to Kernel with a clipboard, only glancing up from it for a moment, “But don’t worry, we can finish that up today!”

“What’s the test even for?”

“Oh, it’s just to check what type of Brain damage you have,”

“B.. Brain damage?”

“Well yeah, You hit your head so hard your brain hit your skull, which is most likely what caused your sudden intense amnesia, as well as the sudden blindness, and probably a few other things we haven’t checked it,” Test Tube rambled a bit, clicking her pen a few times.

“Oh, so like, is that what also messed up my hand?” Kernel raised his right hand while he pointed at it with his left, Test Tube watching him as he did. Almost out of instinct, he tried to close his hand into a fist, only for it to close slightly. “See, I can’t really, grab at things that well, or move it that well in general”

“Actually, that's probably why! Certain types of brain damage can cause motor skills to deteriorate!” Kernel nodded as Test Tube spoke, smiling as he did. He seemed to like that the most about Test Tube, how smart she was.

“It’s just my hand though, my arm seems to work just fine.” Kernel said, swinging his arm around slightly, only to let out a hiss as he felt a shock of pain in his shoulders. “Gah, ow, what the hell, how did I not notice that sooner?” He said, rubbing his shoulder as Test Tube ran over, grabbing Kernel's arm and holding it still to look at it.

“I guess it is your whole arm? Did it like, just start hurting?” Test Tube said, furrowing her brow, Kernel shrugging gently, afraid any more sudden movements would make his shoulder hurt more.

“Yeah, I guess? I think it started hurting when I moved my arm like-” Kernel let out a yelp as he swung his arm backward slightly, another sharp pain stabbing into his shoulder. How did he not notice it before? Maybe it was only when he swung his arm backward.

“Hm, Maybe you dislocated your shoulder joint? Wait, no you can still move it,” Test Tube said, walking over and holding Kernel's arm slightly, pressing a hand into his shoulder, Kernel let out another yelp as she did, “Oh sorry! Did that hurt?”

“Yeah, a little, but I’m sure it's fine, I uh, probably just like, injured it somehow,” Kernel said, tugging his arm away as he looked at it, feeling his heart flutter slightly, only just realizing that Test Tube had been touching his arm beforehand. No, focus Kernel, you can’t freak out about it right in front of her that’d be super weird.

“How though? Like, did you injure it on the way down here?”

“Well, uh, I mean, I did like, kinda wake up in a pile of broken glass yesterday, so like, I wouldn’t be surprised if uh, that had something to do with it,” Kernel said, rubbing the back of his head letting out another chuckle. Test Tube just looked at him baffled, having to process what he said for a moment. “I mean, it's not like it was bad, I didn’t have alot of glass in me, I don’t even have any noticeable cuts!”

Test Tube put a hand to her face and sighed, trying to think of what to say, “I think our main concern should be how in the actual fuck did you end up in a pile of broken glass? Without getting seriously hurt nonetheless!”

“Hm, I don’t know, I didn’t exactly think about it until now, but it is kinda weird.”

“Do you remember where you woke up?”

“Umn, no, unfortunately, I don't…”

“So you just, randomly woke up in a pile of glass with no memory of how you got there,”

“Yep,”

“And you just, didn’t question it? Not even a little?”

“Yeah, basically!”

Test Tube held back a laugh as she held her hand to her face, sighing slightly. “Come on, let's just, finish checking you for any other things your head injury might’ve caused.”

Chapter Text

So basically Kernel was just all sorts of fucked. Sensory Issues, Motor Skill Issues, near-total Amnesia, sight loss in his right eye, frequent headaches, nearly anything his concussion could cause, he seemed to have got it. Based on how intense the effects of the head injury were, he’s lucky he’s not just braindead.

“Did you get into a barfight or something?! Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything this intense that didn’t like, ruin the person's life entirely!” Test Tube explained, pacing around slightly as she looked at the data collected.

“No, if it was a barfight I probably would’ve woken up in a hospital, and not in a pile of glass,” Kerner said, adjusting his glasses slightly, letting out a chuckle as he did. “But, maybe it was a fight? Is there anyone who would’ve wanted to fight me? Or well… the me from before I got amnesia?”

Test Tube stopped in her tracks, gaining an almost distressed look on her face as she looked over at Kernel, causing him to feel a sense of dread. “So, Mephone didn’t exactly tell you?”. Kernel thought for a moment, furrowing his brow as he put a hand to his face. Mephone4 did kinda seem to hate him for no discernable reason, and Mephone4 did say Kernel, or ‘Cobs’, had tried to kill him multiple times, but he hadn’t believed it to actually be him to do that..

“I mean, he kinda did mention something about me trying to like, destroy him or whatever, but aren’t I like, his dad? Why would I do something like that?” Kernel said, his voice falling slightly as he did, he didn’t like the idea of hurting his own son, even if he barely knew anything about him, and its almost like Test Tube could tell, judging by the sympathetic look on her face.

“Hey, listen, we don’t have to talk about it!” Test Tube waved her hands reassuringly, rubbing the back of her head “Besides, You are alot different than who you used to be! It’s almost like your an entirely different person!” She said, trying to reassure Kernel, who seemed ot perk up at her words.

“Well, if I am so different than him, why don’t we, Yaknow, talk about him as if he’s a completely different person,” Kernel suggested, Test tube coking an eyebrow slightly.

“What do you means?”

“Yaknow, talk about him in third person, like I’m doing right now! Instead of saying ‘I’ or ‘me’ when talking about him, I’m using ‘he’ or ‘him’. Amost as if me and him are two entirely separate people.” Kernel continued to explain, gesturing his hands around as test tube and she listened, unsure.

“Is thast really a good idea? I feel like pretending you weren’t ever him could do more harm than good.” Test Tube questioned, Kernel freezing slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. 

“Well, I just… I know it’s probably not ok just to ignore any past actions i may have done, but at the same time, I could never imagine myself doing anything like that, so being told I did that stuff feels a bit, unreal to me.” Kernel held his chest as he let out a shaky sigh. It did feel completely unbelievable, the idea of him hurting someone, it almost made hom feel not real it made him feel sick to his stomach, light headed even.

Test Tube could tell that Kernel was getting upset about the topic, so waved her hand dismissivly as she spoke “Well, we probably shouldn’t talk about it anyway, theres still a risk of you gaining back all your memories!” Kernel seemed to freeze up more at her words, becoming slightly panicked.

“Wait, are you saying theres a chance I might become a terrible person again?!”

“Well, kinda? You’re amnesia is pretty intense, so for all we know, your memory might be completely gone! But uh… better safe than sorry,” This didn’t seem to relieve any of kernels worries, infact, he just seemed to space out as he thought to himself, snapping back to reality only for a moment to nod at her.

“Oh, uh, y-yeah… yeah I guess thats, true… Do, do you like robots?” Kernel said, trying to abruptly change the topic so he could get his mind off of it. Test Tube didn’t bother questioning it and smiled, nodding slightly.

“Yeah, I guess so. I kinda like all fields of science, robotics being one of them” Kernel immediately perked up at this, smiling slightly as he did.

“Neat! I like robotics too! Can I see some of the things you’ve built?!”

“Yeah sure, why not?”