A debate of sorts.

Matt sighed with disgust. It was fun taking **** on Penny by dragging her lobotomized body over to watch him get a hummer. Fun, but pointless. He glared at the two women, who continued to chat amicably.

"I'm so sorry you guys are dealing with this," Ruby was saying sympathetically. She sat next Penny, squeezing Matt over, and continued.

"I'm so glad you took the pill, Penny. It's nice to hear that you decided to stop suffering. And I know it can't be unpleasant to see Matt so angry, but you would still love to see him freed of his endless-"

"Goddammit!" Matt pounded his hands onto his knees. "Could you stop with the fucking love-in already?"

"Of course," Penny said with a wink to Ruby. "What's next on your tour of humiliations?"

"You two are ruining it. Fuck you for enjoying everything, Penny! You didn't fucking earn it! You take some magic pill and all of the sudden you're living in heaven? What about people who belong in hell? In fact, you know what? I can't do any damage no matter what I say. Right? You can't be insulted?"

"Not really," Penny said.

Matt turned his torso to face her and took a deep breath. "Penny, my love, I despise you for this. It's not just that you're currently so brain-damaged that you can't tell a blowjob from an ice cream cone. I hate that, but I pity that. You're only half of the woman who betrayed me."

She stared into his eyes with that familiar dull bovine benevolence. His voice broke. "Penny, if you told me you really needed this, I wouldn't have stopped you. I just wanted to talk about it beforehand. I wanted to... wanted to run tests. Psych tests, neurological tests. I hoped and prayed that they'd come back and tell me you're the same. I thought I could test it, thought I could know. I would have even accepted a lot of discrepancies - it would have told me that there's still at least a kernel of Penny still in there."

She put her hands on his cheeks and brought his face to inches from hers. "You know-"

"Let me finish! I could have been happy if I'd just known that you were even just a little Penny. I could handle that. But now, I don't know. I won't ever know, and that's gonna eat at me. Every time I fuck you, there's a chance I could be fucking your corpse. There's a real chance that there's no you in there and I'm just keeping her cadaver around to be my sex doll."

"I should leave," Ruby said mildly. As she shuffled away to the kitchen, Penny replied.

"I'm not your fucking sex doll. You think I don't have any dignity? Dignity's a choice, and I'm choosing it. No, I can't resent you or hate you or even think negatively of you. But I can think positively of myself, and I like me. And I don't think you should be talking about me like that. And if I wasn't Penny anymore, why the hell wouldn't I just tell you?"

Matt's eyes were watery. A tentative smile broke out on his face. Penny continued.

"You know what's occurred to me? Every weird and degrading thing you put me through is a brand new experience for me! So fuck you for trying to take my happiness away!"

She was startled at her own sincerity. Alongside the phantom of betrayal, anger, and sorrow grew a sense of pride and self-worth. It was like trying to smile after a shot of Novocaine, where only half the muscles work.

Matt was crying now. "Penny," he sobbed. "You- it's really you."

"Took you long enough," she said. He let out a small choked chuckle. "Seriously, no more questions about whether it's me. No more calling me a corpse or any of that horseshit. Of course I kind of like it, but I'm choosing dignity because I want to. I could learn to skateboard or become a welder because I feel like it. I can do anything I want, including telling you to show some fucking respect."

He collapsed into her chest, sobbing. His tears ran hot on her exposed breasts and she cradled his head. "Matty, don't you see? I did this for us."

He sniffled. She continued as he nuzzled into her cleavage. "I know there's stuff you want that I never gave you. Emotionally, sexually. This is like the credit card that never runs out. I can do all that stuff you want now and it's not even a sacrifice!" She pushed his face between her breasts and felt him lightly kissing her. This felt really, really good. "So make a fucking withdrawal!"