[Not too long after this, Fiddleford wakes up coiled on the bed in the Arcade in the room the Fourth gave him. For the first few moments of consciousness his lights are dark, and he takes a rattling breath and they flicker to life and begin their soft fluorescent hum. He's alive. He's safe.

But did he succeed? He sits up and his glowing eyes fall on the radio on the bedside table. He needs to know. He reaches over and turns it on to a channel of static.]

Thank you. For bringin' me back.

[For a long moment he searches around for the right words, and then they all tumble out of his mouth at once.]

I did my level best, I swear. I'm tryin' to do right by you and look at me, I still can't bring you Stanford and I couldn't even... even...

She was a little girl. She sounded like a child no matter what she looked like and I thought killin' her would save her and turn her toward you and I need to know if that was Right. [Somehow he manages to make that capital letter audible. Now that he's no longer in the heat of a fight and his snake brain is no longer in charge it's catching up to him exactly what he almost did -- actually did? -- and he's very quickly working himself up to a panic.] If that's what you want -- if that's what will help -- I need to know. Please. Just tell me I did right.

[He doesn't know that Madoka died in the time it took him to revive. He's operating under the assumption that he failed, but perhaps if he's lucky he failed in an act the Fourth God will be proud of him for attempting. That reassurance and validation would really help him right about now, because he feels like he's about to vibrate out of his own scales.]