viiic’s Reviews > In the Lives of Puppets > Status Update

“Last—but certainly not least—to you, the reader. Humanity is awful, angry, and violent. But we are also magical and musical. We dance. We sing. We create. We live and laugh and rage and cry and despair and hope. We are a bundle of contradictions without rhyme or reason. And there is no one like us in all the universe.
Don’t you think we should make the most of it?”

[SPOILERS] “Do you know me?” Vic asked.
Hap said “no” and “yes” and “You are human, you have human blood and human thoughts” and “I dreamed. I dreamed you kissed me in a room of screens and butterfly wings. You’re a ghost in my head. I want to know why. I want to know you.” With a bittersweet ache in his heart, Vic said, “Hap. It’s a good name. I like it. Fits you.”
Though it was faint, Hap smiled.” 🥹

[SPOILERS] “Gio told me I h-have a choice. That I c-could pick my own designation. […] My own n-name.”
[…] Why don’t you tell him what you’ve decided?”
“H-hap,” he said, and Victor felt his heart stutter in his chest. “I a-am H-hap.”
[…] “Why do you want to be Hap?”
Hap said, “In my head. Words. Whispers.”
“And what do they whisper?”
“Victor,” Hap said. “Nurse Ratched. Rambo.” And: “Hysterically Angry Puppet.” OMGG

[SPOILERS] “Dad was Dad. Dad was Gio. The differences were starting to become less noticeable. Hap would be the same, Vic told himself. It might take time, but he would be the same.” If they say that, it’s not going to be true

“How can I exist when I have no one to exist with?”

[SPOILERS] “Rambo said, “Gio, is that you?”
Dad […] smiled at Rambo. “Hello, again. Did it work? I must admit, I don’t feel different than I did—” He seized suddenly […] Eyes bulging, his head snapping side to side, Dad opened his mouth and words fell out, tumbling end over end in a guttural exhalation. “Humanity is a disease that must be eradicated. The world cannot survive while they do.” Oh no

[SPOILERS] “Vic sobbed, once, a great choking sound. His shoulders shook. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I have an idea,” Nurse Ratched said. “One that you will not like, but you must trust me. I believe it will work. All it will take is a little luck and my enormous brain. Come, now. Dry your eyes. All will be well.”
“Promise?”
And though he knew she couldn’t she said, “I promise.” We all need her in our lives

[SPOILERS] “I should not have let that happen. I hurt, Victor. Everything hurts. And it is not because I have sustained damage. I must not be as sociopathic as I believed, because I am filled with sorrow.”
[…] Vic, why didn't you tell me there could be sad garbage? It hurts, even though I'm not very full.” awwww my babies 😭😭

[SPOILERS] “Victor.”
He turned.
Hap stood in front of the computer bank.
In his hand, a silver box with blue wings.
Vic’s eyes widened.
Hap smiled quietly. He said, “You g-gave me life. You gave me friends. You gave me p-purpose. My strings have b-been cut, and it’s because of you.”
Vic screamed for him as he turned.
But Hap didn’t hesitate.” GODDAMMIT I KNEW IT

[SPOILERS] “Nurse Ratched rolled toward the computers, the silver box
raised.
[…] Dad rushed toward her, curling in on himself. His shoulder smashed into her side, denting her casing.
[…] She tried to right herself. She tried to push herself up. She fell back down, one of her tentacles snapping with an electrical snarl, skittering along the floor.”
Oh no
Now it’s going to be Rambo or Hap, but they don’t have a backup