Auden may have lost his body, but Red was grateful to still have his voice. It anchored her in the nightmare unfolding around her, reassuring, encouraging, affectionate. Though she couldn't respond to him, his words enveloped her, the next best things to his arms.
Then the Process took that, too. Whatever that large creature was, it affected Auden inside the Transistor, leaving him a confused mess, pivoting between weak jokes, sappy declarations, and outright resignation seemingly at random. She could feel him slipping away, and, in a desperate moment, she pulled the Transistor close and began to hum to him.
"When you speak, I hear silence," he lisped along. A leaden dread settled in Red's stomach, and she stopped humming and opened her eyes.
"Whassamatter?" he slurred. "I mess up?"
She swallowed hard and nodded, tears threatening to spill over.
"Wrong key?"
Another nod.
"Oh. Sorry. I'll do better next time."
She faked a smile. She didn't have the heart to tell him it was the wrong song. How could he forget "Paper Boats?"
She adjusted her grip on the Transistor and pressed onward, determined to find whatever caused this and break its heart.
Just like it had broken hers.