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‘Activating client.’

“L̶̨̧̛̛̜̙̹͓̜̑͌͋͗͛͛̾͒͘͠͝ǫ̵̢̯̞͙̮͋̇͆̌͑̌̓r̶̢̨̼͍̖̩̪͈̯̗͎̦̅̈͊̎́a̴̧̖̱̖͍͈͖͙͇̤̥͉͖̹͗̽̈̂̌̕ḷ̸̩̰̫̩̪͍̳̼̲̜̹̆̑̓̃̄̋̾̓̈́̀͌̐͘͘i̵̧͙̤̞̠͕̦̘̦̹̠̮̪̇̇͌̏͐̐͗̾̓̔̅͒̈̄͠ȇ̴̼̙̣͒.̸͇̗̒͛́̅͘”

‘Loading….’

“Ļ̷͙̙̎̄o̶̢͕̾r̶̲̘͕̯͆̄̉̂a̸̘͂͘l̵͇͕̘̐̀͋į̴̜̼͝e̷̬̮͚͑͆͝.̵̡̬̐̓̓́”

‘Loading complete. Turning on the mainframe.’

The light in Loralie’s eyes flickered on as she was activated. Tessa stood infront of her with the blonde boy and another boy beside him.

“You’re finally activated. Good.” Tessa stated, smiling. “We’re going to start those tests today, just to be sure that you are working properly. Are you ready?”

“Ỷ̶͈̤̅̊͆ę̷̢̛̥̓͑s̵̞̮̗̩̎̆͛.̶͖̀̌̃ͅ”

“We still need to fix that… Anyways, try to move your left arm.” Loralie did as she was told, lifting the left arm which was connected to something by multiple cables. “Good, now move your right arm.” Again, she did as told. She was then told to stand up and she did. The damage to the left leg was still there, so it made a bit of a problem with immobilizing her. “You can sit.” Tessa stated, writing something down in her notebook. “Why don’t you look at the noirette by Benji, see if your recognition software is working.”

She looked at the male. “D̴̛̟͍̤̽̀͗à̵̜̮̭ͅm̴̨̘͑̓ô̸̼̙̙̒̿͋n̴̗͚͇͑̈́͐ ̶̩͈͉͎̇T̸̙̟́̃͝ͅḫ̸̝̽̿̈ó̶̡͚̇r̵̢̟̎̀n̷̹͚̒̈́̓,̸̡̛̜̼͙ ̵̻̘͔̮̉͝a̶̟̩̎͆g̵̛̥͚͖̣ẻ̵̬̬͌͒ ̴̨͔̹̙̽̌̈́1̷̝̼͋̓̓̏0̶̮̺͗̀.̷̧͖͇̰̇̈́ ̶̗̆͛̍̐M̶͚͈͈̏͘a̸̱͌ḷ̷̡̢̈́͒̽̆ͅe̸̛̼͗͑͂.̷͕͖͕̤͐ ̵̢̰̜̱̓͝R̴̡̓̏͝͠é̵̠ş̸̜̃́̉ỉ̵̱̭͗͐̚d̷͖̫̃̒͒͠e̶̛̟̮̾͋̓ṋ̷̘͕̩̌̍́̚t̵̫̻̠̪̿͆ ̶̦̗͌̒̈́̕o̶̳̐̓͂͝f̶̠͍̟̽̃ ̶̡̃͆̀̇S̸̡͕̤̟͛̓̊͆ó̴̞̭̏ͅư̶̪͂t̶̝͓́ḩ̸̰̠̖͆͐̀̆ ̸̥̺̥̄͒̓P̴̥̥̜̤̆̔́͠ȃ̷̠͈̝̂̽̆r̷̺̱̬̈́̈̚k̸̩̹̻̼̃̂.̵͇̗̓-” She was stopped before she could say too much.

“Good. Benji, Damon; we’ll talk out in the hall.” the three humans left the room. Loralie looked around at everything. It was all mechanical, like she was. Cold, heartless machinery. She lifted her hand and placed it on the damaged chest cavity. That’s where a heart should be. Right?

‘Error.’

‘Defective coding found.’

‘Resetting…’

Not again. She tried cancelling the reset on her own. It worked. Back to looking around. She grabbed a notebook that had been on the counter for weeks at most. It hadn’t been touched, but had multiple notes on a portal? Odd… She set it back down and got up, sort of limping now. She looked around for anything of interest, finding some journals. Picking one up and opening it, she scanned through the pages. It was mostly dated and detailed about the creation of an android named Layla before going on and detailing three different androids. One by her name, Fia, and then Jessica. She set it down before going back to where she’s supposed to be.

“-still needs to be fixed up and the coding needs to be finished. We need to make sure it never happens again.” Tessa was saying as the three humans entered the room again. “We don’t know what all she’s capable of yet in this state. I’ll of course monitor her progress during all this. For now, Benji, deactivate her.”

Benji nodded and went over to the open laptop.

‘Deactivating…’

Loralie was sent back to the state of complete darkness and stillness within whatever cyberspace she was in. She sighed, looking up at the nothingness. She was just floating there with the codes keeping her bound to this prison, the ‘ai’ looking completely human. It was really unexplainable there. Anyways… She was waiting in the darkness to be activated again, whenever it actually happens. She soon decided to do something else instead…

“Access memories.”

‘Finding memories…’

‘Memories found. Open them? Yes/No.”

“Yes.”

‘Opening…’

‘Error. Unauthorized access.’

‘Reseting…’

“No-!”

The next day, it was like everything she learned previously was erased. Tessa found this quite interesting when she found out. After clearing things up like who she was, why Loralie was here, and running through some quick tests, Tessa decided to try something. She grabbed her notebook and pen, opening to a blank page. She sat down in front of Loralie to get to eye level with her.

“To start this new test, I want you to explain to me what humans are and how it feels to be one.”

“H̴̝̉u̷̱͑ḿ̷̠a̸̮̓n̸̬̅s̵͇̀.̶͇͌ ̵̻̿O̵̽͜r̷̛̤g̵̟̉a̸̖͝n̵̛͙î̴̘c̷̰̽ ̸̪̔l̸̤͘i̴̦̋f̵̙̈e̸̗͐f̵̦͐ŏ̴̫r̴̒ͅm̴͇̚ș̵̓ ̵̤̐ẗ̴̤́h̷͕̿á̷̭t̴̖͊ ̴̫͋a̶͜͝ŕ̴͖e̵̻͂ ̴̱̓a̴̧͠l̸͖͝s̷̫̽o̴͈̊ ̶͉̓k̵̛̳n̸̲͐ǫ̸̚w̸͖̿ṅ̷̼ ̴̤̃a̶͙͛s̶͋͜ ̶͕̐ẖ̴̒ơ̵̲m̶̜͒o̵̲͝s̷̨͘a̴̡͑p̸͉̃ì̶̥e̷̟̐n̵͓̿ṡ̵͓.̷̖͘ ̴̥͌C̶̺̐h̸̡̾ǎ̷͓r̶̠͘a̶̹͂c̶̟̒t̴̡̊è̷͇ȓ̷͇ị̵͒z̸̖͂e̷̺͐ḍ̸͂ ̵̼̀b̵̰͘ȳ̷̨ ̴̬̈́ẗ̷͍́h̷̞͋ę̶̒ȉ̴̗r̸̻̓ ̴̟̓e̸̘͛r̸̢̋ë̶̘c̶̘̾t̸͉̓ ̷̹̕p̴̨̽ò̸͕s̴̖͆t̶̹̅u̶̻̇r̶͙̆ȩ̸̛ ̷̳͋a̵̲͂ǹ̸̖d̶̛̳ ̷̳͑b̷̦̈ǐ̵͎p̴̺͌ẻ̴̥d̴̮̈a̶̺͒l̴͈̀ ̷̧̇l̶̡̿o̵͉̒c̴̘̎ó̸̲m̵̗͆o̶͈͒ṭ̸͝i̷̜͛o̷̫͌n̶̥̄;̷̫̒ ̵̡̊h̸͕͂i̸̳̋g̶̮͂ḥ̷̽ ̷͕̒m̸͎̂a̷̛̻n̴̢̋u̸̮̔á̴̢l̸͛ͅ ̷̰͒d̴̬̔e̵̝͒x̴̝͗t̶̙̐e̶̱̅r̸͈̈i̵͎͋ẗ̵̨ý̵̧ ̸̮̃a̷̢͝n̶̤̂d̷̖̾ ̸͉̍h̶̟̀e̴̥̍a̵̜͝v̶̰̏y̴̝͠ ̸͕̃t̸̠̀ö̶̯́o̷̮͐l̷̖͝ ̴̜̕u̴̞̓s̵̀͜e̴͋ͅ ̶̬̈c̸̬̐ǒ̴̩m̶̤̃p̷̣͑ā̴̢r̶̫͒è̷͜ď̶̳ ̵͖͘t̴͈̐o̷̰͝ ̸̭̈́o̸̦͝t̵̤̐h̸̳͌ê̴̦r̴͔̎ ̶̾͜a̸͙̚n̶̘͝i̴̠͛ḿ̴̤ȃ̵̹ľ̵̥s̴̤̾;̷̼̑ ̶̧̂o̷͔̓p̶̬̎e̷̼͑ṇ̸̎-̷͠ͅe̶̪̔n̷̮̚d̸͈͑ḛ̵̐d̶̝́ ̷̘̈à̷̞n̵̜͘d̶̮̾ ̶̪̈́c̴̰̽o̵̮͗m̵̜̿p̵̮͋l̴͖͠e̸̯̋ẋ̶̙ ̷̛͇l̷̳̾a̷͎͠n̵̬̅g̶̭̉u̶̼̕ä̷̯́g̷͝ͅe̸̠͝ ̴͓͘ù̸̞s̵̪̒e̶̜͒ ̶͇̄c̶̺͑ọ̶͆m̶̰̋p̵͖̈́ã̴̺ř̸̩e̴̜̓d̵͖͋ ̸͍̌t̷̉͜o̷̤̽ ̴͎̀o̷̯̚t̷̠̑h̸̼̀ĕ̴̮r̸̞͗ ̷̘̊á̵̠ṅ̴̝i̶͉̐m̸̳̂a̶̖̓ľ̷̠ ̷̠̍c̷̬̆o̷͚̓m̵̼͐ṃ̸̑u̵̢͛ǹ̶͉ȉ̷̗c̷̮͐a̶̗͆t̵̙̉i̶̡̋o̶̦̓n̷͖̕s̵̟͑;̶̦͠ ̶͖͌l̶̤̒a̷̟͘r̷͑ͅg̵͍̉ẹ̸̃ṛ̷̓,̸͍̃ ̴̤̀m̶̪̍o̶͆ͅr̶̘̎e̵͈͊ ̸̞̋c̵̖͆ȯ̵͓m̶̻͠p̸͍̀ḻ̸̕e̴̖͗x̷͍̃ ̵̱̽b̴̙̓r̶̪̊a̷̮̓i̶̹͂n̶̹̑s̴͓̏ ̵͉͝t̴͉͋ḧ̴̗a̸̭͋n̴͈̐ ̸̨̐ó̷̭t̸̼̒h̴̖͗ḛ̴̈́r̵̜͑ ̵̱̅a̸̹̐n̵͉̄ị̸̓m̴̪̂a̵̯͌l̴̥̾s̸̞̚;̸̰̉ ̸̝̉ä̷̟́n̸̛̻d̷͈̐ ̵̬̑h̵̔ͅī̷̭g̵̱̀h̵̝̋ĺ̸̖y̷̨̐ ̷̪̑a̷̺͒d̸̘͘v̷̞͊á̶̪n̷̨̾c̴͕͗e̷̘̔d̸͉͂ ̸̹̓á̸̹n̴̼͐d̸̜̾ ̷͎͐o̶̘͌r̷̙͒g̶̹͝a̸̛̬n̴̳̔i̵̮̚z̸̢͑ȇ̶̖d̶̮̏ ̶͎̑s̵̛̙o̶̫͌ċ̷͔i̶̯͝ê̸̖t̷̤̍ï̴̱ë̴͍s̵̨͑.̸͎̀” she couldn’t really answer the second question…

“Alright. Explain to me what androids and artificial intelligences are and how it feels to be one.”

“A̸̹͑n̴̤̕d̷͕̍r̸͎̿ò̴͈i̵̗͝ḏ̸͛.̸̞̋ ̷̹̈D̸͈̆e̸̗̽s̸͇͌i̶̧͘g̵̹̏ṉ̶͑ẹ̴̎d̵̯́ ̷͈͋t̷̝́ọ̸̔ ̷̟̐r̶̩̄e̸̓͜s̶̖͛e̴̥͂m̴̛̭b̵͖̚ľ̸͚e̴͍͗ ̸̱͌ḁ̴̈́ ̷͈̎h̸̠̅u̷̠̿m̶͚̒a̵̳͘n̶͉̏,̸͔̋ ̵̝̔ḁ̵̎n̵͉̍ḑ̷̿ ̵̡̌o̸̼͐f̶̰̂ṫ̷͕e̴̠͌ṉ̵̎ ̷͍̂m̵̩̕á̷̟d̴̩͗e̸̛̝ ̶̦͌f̴̝̑r̸̙̊o̶͚̿m̵̮͑ ̷̓͜à̸̘ ̸̪̓f̷̨̊l̵̮̾è̸͇s̴̥̏h̷͇̿-̶̣͠ľ̵̪í̷̥k̵̫͆e̷͇̔ ̷͈̌m̷̅ͅa̸̺̎t̵̫͘e̶͙͊r̶̺̉i̵͕͂a̴̢̿l̶̹͂.̷͕̅ ̶͚̒C̸̗̃a̷̭͛n̶̖͝ ̸̦͑a̵͈̅l̷̟͘s̶̢̉ǒ̵̦ ̴̤́b̷̢̑e̷͉͝ ̴͙̈́r̸̙̅e̵̠̿f̸̡̎ê̷͖r̵̢͗e̴̓ͅn̸̞̓c̴̩͝e̶̥͒d̵̼̐ ̴̫̌ā̵͓s̵̱̀ ̸̪͂ä̶̱́ ̸̱̿r̸̢̋o̶͎͘b̴̮͝ö̶̘t̶̜͘.̴̪̊ ̷̖͐E̴͎̍r̵̺͑i̶͉̅c̵̨̛ ̴̖͒G̴̺͂.̵̽ͅ ̴̬̎Ẅ̵̤́ȉ̷̼l̷͍͘s̴̩̈ö̴̹n̷͉̓ ̴̲̃ḋ̸̼ė̷̯f̷̙̀i̴̛̲n̵̼͝e̷͉̋ś̴͈ ̷̨̓ä̶͔́n̵̜͆d̵̡͆r̸̦͆o̵̥͆į̵̚d̷̳̽s̵̨̀ ̸͕͆à̷̦s̵̫̾ ̷̹̔á̴ͅ ̵̗͠”̵̛͚s̴̮̋y̴̩̆ṋ̶̈́t̴̢̀h̷̄ͅȩ̴̐t̵̺͝i̵͚̔c̸̨͝ ̴̙́h̸̾ͅụ̸̅m̷̳̌a̵̛̞n̶͈̽ ̶̗̊b̴͉̔ë̷̜́ĭ̸̖n̵̞͠g̴̖̅”̷͇̐ ̶͈̆t̶͚̂ḧ̴͙́ȁ̴̹t̷̡̔ ̶̤͝d̸̅͜i̵̥͂s̶̡̄t̷̘͒i̴͙͝ñ̷͇g̶̘̕u̵͠ͅḯ̸̩s̸͎̽ḧ̴̜́e̶͉̓s̷͈͆ ̷̨͝b̷̞̎e̵̼̅ṫ̶̹ẘ̶͚e̴̮͘è̵͈ń̷̠ ̴̮͂t̸̤̊h̶̪̔r̶̫͊ȩ̷̑e̶̞͝ ̷̣̈́t̷̜̆ỹ̷͙p̷͎͝é̶̟s̷̪͠ ̸̳̈́b̷̼̉a̴͍̾s̶͚̈e̶͉̿d̵̥͝ ̴̹̉o̸̢͆n̶̞̿ ̸̲͆t̷͖͋h̵̞̉e̵̘͗ĭ̴͜r̶͉̀ ̵̺͂b̸̘̋o̸̲̒ḍ̶̓y̷̮͂’̷͕̃s̴̮̔ ̶͠ͅc̴̩͂o̴̳͠m̸͇̚p̸͓̈́ò̶͇s̸̟̆ĩ̷̹t̴̀ͅi̶̖̚o̷͕͝n̴̰̽:̷̹̕ ̸̰̋Ṭ̵̕ḧ̶̜́e̷̤̎ ̵̱̎m̵̲̉ǘ̴̢m̵̤̕ḿ̷̪y̴̞̍ ̴̪̾t̸̜̃y̸͚͌p̴̱͑ȅ̵̺ ̴͚͆-̵̜͛ ̵̮͌ä̸͇n̵͜͝d̴̘͐r̴̥͐ọ̷̽i̶̪̒d̴̕ͅs̸̙͌ ̷͙̆ą̴̚r̵̗͠e̵̲͐ ̵͔̽ḿ̵̟a̴̩͊d̶̓ͅȇ̴͓ ̷̗͝o̸̖͝f̵͙̄ ̴͔́”̸͎̔d̷͔͝è̸̗ā̴̗d̴̟͌ ̵̱̄t̵̺̐h̶̩̍i̵̭̓n̴̯͒g̷̙͐s̷͉̈́”̵̯͂ ̶̞̇o̸̓͜r̶̟̒ ̸̬̋”̸̣̽s̶̥̈ẗ̶͖́i̶͉͐f̸̤̐f̸̺̓,̴̦̊ ̵̧̽i̵̙͠ṇ̵̌ậ̴n̸̺͠i̵̙̊m̵͙̅a̶̹̓t̴̤̊ę̸͛,̵̲̈́ ̸̺͑ň̷͎a̷̱͘t̴̘͆u̶͕͆r̸͉̾ạ̴̑l̴̺̚ ̵̭͋m̶̩͑à̸̯t̸̩̔e̴̡̒r̵̨͗ȉ̷̻a̴̼͐l̸̮͘”̷̛̬,̸̨͛ ̷̡͝ș̵̍ū̴̳c̴͍̈́ẖ̸͌ ̸͔̈ã̴͚s̷̭̿ ̸̬̎ṃ̶͑ǘ̸̻m̶̹̊m̷̙͗ĭ̴̼ê̷͔s̷̯͠,̷̮̽ ̶̯̇p̵͔͘u̶͖̓p̷̰̈́p̵͚͗e̷̼̊t̸̬͒s̵̜͝,̶̥̒ ̸̦̆d̵̙͆ő̶̯l̸̰̉l̶̡͐s̸̥͑ ̸̡́a̸̩̐n̵͉͛d̶̹͝ ̵͍͝ś̶͇t̵̹̓a̸̢̾t̵̨̆u̶͙͊e̵͚̾s̸͍͑.̴̰͐ ̸̺̆T̴̨͋h̶̐͜e̷̮͝ ̶͚͛g̴̖̈́ó̸̯l̴͇̚e̷̼͂m̸̯̔ ̷͇͗t̶̮́y̷̯̐p̷̰͒e̶͔͆ ̶̢͊–̴̰͘ ̷̠̎ḁ̶̽ṇ̶̾d̴̗̓r̴͓̔o̵͎̾ì̸̻d̸͖̕s̵͈͗ ̶̡̛m̸̛̠a̴̫̽d̴͇̕ḛ̶̽ ̸̧̿f̴̧̽r̶̡̍o̴̫̽m̸̭̑ ̵̛̦f̵̡͝ḻ̸̊e̸̙̾ẍ̶́͜ĭ̸͉b̵̧͊l̷̗̇e̶̤͆,̶̧͑ ̵̹̕p̵̱͌o̸̱̕s̴̗͘s̷͈͌ḯ̶̤b̷̩̏l̸̹̉y̷̮̓ ̷̩̓ȍ̸̧r̶̼͋g̷̫̍â̸͕n̵̦͠ì̶͓c̵̗̒ ̴̤̕m̴̝̚à̸̭t̷̡̔ė̵̺r̶̹̈́i̴̘̿a̷̩͘ļ̷̀,̸̻̿ ̵͕̄i̵̟̽ṅ̶̯c̷̄ͅl̴̙͝ŭ̸̞d̷͓̃ị̷̆ň̸͚g̵̺̃ ̵̩̓ǵ̴̗o̸̖͌l̷͍͒e̸̛̮m̴̰͝s̸̩̿ ̵͈̎ä̴̰́n̴̤͐d̴̘̂ ̸̼͗h̶̔ͅo̸̩͛m̸̺̑ű̵̢n̸̪͂c̴̜͆u̸͈̕l̵̳͝i̶̟̾.̵̬̀ ̵̖̚Ţ̷̓h̶̺̕e̴͍͒ ̷̞̑ȃ̶̖ủ̸̬t̴̖̅ö̷̤́m̴̘̄ạ̴̊t̷̺͠o̶̹̔ń̴͙ ̷̢͘t̶̡̀y̷̧͒p̴̗̀ȩ̴̍ ̶̜͌–̵̹͌ ̶̛̼a̵͍̽n̴̢͋d̷̜̏ȓ̸̡o̷͚͊ĭ̵͈d̵̖̓s̴̗̓ ̵̝̽w̷̱͘h̴̨͗i̸̹͗c̵͈͒h̸̜͌ ̶̣̀ä̸̯r̴̙̔e̵̻͒ ̸̞̆a̷͖̽ ̷͚̌m̷̳̈́i̵͚͊x̴̲̾ ̸̢̓o̵̱̎f̶̰̍ ̴̼͌d̴̦͠e̵̛̟a̶̪̅ḓ̸̇ ̸͓̃a̵̙͝n̵͚̕d̶̰̊ ̸̠͘l̵̬͝í̵͔v̸̯͑i̸̭͋ǹ̴̯g̶͖̓ ̶̞͐p̵̜̾ȁ̷̖ṛ̶͑t̸̠̓s̵̊ͅ,̸̙͘ ̶̽ͅi̵̳̋ṉ̵̿c̶̤͑l̴̜͒ṵ̸͝d̷̼̈ȉ̸ͅn̵̹͑g̸̏ͅ ̵͓̏a̵̬̐ǔ̵͇t̷̯̾ő̶͇m̷̌͜a̵̫͗t̴͙̿o̴̮̐n̴̎ͅś̵͓ ̵̮̑ă̸̲ǹ̵̖d̸͇͆ ̴̥͂r̸̟̽ò̸͕b̷͕͂o̷̮̽t̶͕̚s̴̻̽.̶͙̓”

“What are artificial intelligences and how does it feel to be one.”

“A̷͚̿r̷͇͌t̴̞̓í̴̹ḟ̴̻i̶̙̅c̴͍͌i̷̹̐à̸̬l̴̥͝ ̵̹̎ī̴̭n̷͍̄t̸̮̉é̷͉l̵̠͊l̴̲͗ĭ̶̯g̷͓͛ê̷̞ǹ̴̖ç̵̌e̵͎͂,̵̻̚ ̶͉̔a̷̛͙l̷̨̍s̴̹̍ò̶̹ ̴͍͌ḵ̴̊n̸͙͝o̸̭͌w̷̜͑ň̷̥ ̴̱̑a̵̺̓ș̶͛ ̴͓̈m̸̜͠a̸̧̓c̵̫̕h̶̬̐ḯ̸̩n̴͙͊é̶̢ ̵͛ͅḭ̵̑n̶̓͜t̶̨̄e̸̯͝l̶͕̉l̶̈́͜ì̴̗g̸̡̈ẻ̴̮n̵̞͛c̴͔̈e̶̝̾.̶̻̏ ̸̼́ ̴̦̓I̶̲̅n̵̤͗t̸̤̉ẹ̶̋l̵̟͆l̵̹̈i̸̮͒g̶̨͗e̷̲͗n̸̲̽c̷͈̑e̶͚̚ ̵͚̎d̷̟̐e̸̮͘m̷̛͕õ̸͇n̷̬̉š̷̨t̷̥̄r̷̖̈́a̵̜̚t̵̟͛e̴͔͠d̴̥̚ ̶͚͝b̵͎̈́y̷̯͠ ̴̦͛m̷͙͝a̴̛͖c̶̤̓h̶͎̒í̷͕n̷͇̋e̷̳͗s̷͓͆,̸̢͝ ̸̛̠i̸̘͐n̶̮̈ ̵͕́c̶̣̽o̴̞̽ṅ̵͖t̴̯̑r̴̢̅a̴̟̅s̸̙̀t̸͕̐ ̴̦̚t̵̯̀o̵̮̓ ̵̼͂t̵̹̍h̷͚̆è̶̫ ̵͚̈n̵̨̈ȃ̷̝t̵͔̀ų̴͝r̵͍̂a̷̧̍l̸̪̓ ̶͕̿i̵̜̐n̴̠͆t̷̼̋ę̴͘l̴̦̓l̴̹̓i̶͉͒g̶̛͖e̶͈͗n̸̡̽c̵̛͜e̵͓̅ ̵͍̒d̸̥͗i̷͔͌s̸̟̋ṗ̸̞l̶̢͠a̶̰͊y̴̹͝ē̴ͅḓ̴̓ ̷̤͑ḃ̵͚y̵̽͜ ̴̪̀h̴̲͗u̴͍͒m̷̖͒a̵̛̞n̵͕͑s̷̘̀.̷͔̈́ ̸̱͘T̶̺̀h̸̹́ḙ̷̄ ̴̠̓f̷̙̒ĭ̵̙ę̵͛ĺ̸̦d̵̞̀ ̸̱̓i̵̲̋s̸͓̐ ̷̭͛ḋ̸̪ë̶͎f̷̨͗ì̶̩n̴͇̏e̶͎̔d̷̯̒ ̴̟̎á̷̹s̶̪̐ ̷͈̕ṯ̸͠h̶̘͆e̵͇͝ ̴͔͘s̶̟̔t̴̫̅u̵̻̅ḍ̴̎y̸̙͗ ̴͔̈́ö̷̟f̶̧̎ ̶̦̕”̴̰̊i̵̫̔ṋ̵̅t̷͇͊ě̷͈ĺ̴͙l̶̰̀ī̶̮g̶̫͗e̴̺̍ṉ̶̓t̵͉̓ ̷̖̓a̴͉͋ġ̶̱é̵̮n̶̻͘t̷̬̐s̴͖͗”̴̢̈́:̵̫̈ ̷̥͋a̶̧͆ǹ̶̻y̸̟̓ ̵̮̉d̷̞̏ė̵̼v̴̱̌i̷͖̚c̴̜͛e̴͐͜ ̶̐͜ṫ̵̡h̷̬̾à̵̹ṯ̶̀ ̴͍͆ṕ̶̝e̸͍͒r̶͔̔c̶̮̈e̶̖͛i̶͍̍v̵̭̓e̸̛̖s̴̢̓ ̸̱̆i̵̱̎t̶̺͆s̵͖͒ ̸̬̽ẹ̷̍n̴̲̓v̵̛̼i̶̧̛r̷̳̋ȍ̵͜n̶̤͗m̸̟̽ȇ̵̯n̵̰͘ť̶͔ ̷͈́ą̷̕n̸̻̐d̴̪͒ ̶͉͂t̵̫́ả̸̧k̸̻̉ē̵ͅs̵̲͌ ̸̫͐a̸̱̽c̶̠̅t̷̲̃i̴̟̅o̴̹͝n̵̙̊ś̵͚ ̸̟̉t̸̻̆h̶͍̃å̶͕ť̵̞ ̷͙̈́m̶̩̀a̶̲̽x̶͙̿ǐ̵̬m̶̙̉i̷̳̊z̷̢̚e̸̥͝ ̷͍͆ĩ̴̘t̶̰͂s̷̫͐ ̶̖͝ĉ̵̮h̸͔̒ạ̴̾n̴̺̋c̴̝͠e̷̼̓ ̶̩͗o̵̰̾ḟ̴͇ ̶̧̏ś̵͜u̸̜̕c̸̗͒ć̴̰e̷̲̎s̴͍̈́s̵̝̎f̶̉ͅṵ̷̊l̸̩̑l̷̮̅ỵ̶́ ̵͔̀a̸͈̓c̶̯̿h̶͈̅i̸̖̎e̶̢̓v̶̠͝i̶̤̾n̴̢̑g̷̻̃ ̵̡̛i̴͑͜t̴̆ͅs̴̘̚ ̴̭̏g̸̈́͜o̸̗̅a̸͉͌l̴̠̽s̴͕̓.̵̡͂ ̸̖̒T̶̟͐h̵̝̐e̶͙͝ ̶̗̏t̷̽͜ë̶̱r̷̗̆m̵̟͘ ̶̖̅”̵̛̻ả̴̠r̴̼͂t̷̝̎i̵̩̓f̶͙̈́i̵̳͛c̵̟̅ḯ̴̼a̷̤̐l̵̻̈́ ̴̢̍i̴͙̎n̴͎̑t̴̻͝é̸̹l̸̺͗l̸̨̀i̶͖͗g̷̥̑ḙ̷̈ǹ̴̖c̴̫̍e̶̤͝”̸̼̋ ̵̠́i̵̹͑s̵̳̒ ̸͇̾o̵͋ͅf̵̥̉t̷͚̍e̴͉͊n̸̥͝ ̸̱̾ũ̶̟s̷̲̄e̵̬̐d̵̢͆ ̸̯́t̸̙͌o̴͖͐ ̷̪̎d̴͈͘é̶̬s̶̙͂c̴͉̃r̶̨͋ĩ̶̪b̶̨̒e̷̬͋ ̵̰͘m̸͖̃ã̴̢c̴̈́ͅh̶̼̉i̸̱̓ṅ̷̫ě̴̱s̵̳̕ ̷̮̄t̴͍̀h̴̦̄a̶̳̐t̷̞̾ ̶̻̊m̸̱̌ị̵̚m̵̢͊i̷̡͂c̷͙̈́ ̷͇͌”̴͚̂c̶͔̎o̸͕̚g̷̤̃n̵͖̈ì̶͕t̸̻̾ỉ̸̟v̴̹̽ę̶͋”̵̮̌ ̵̥͌f̸̨̋ŭ̴͓n̴̟͋c̵̢̚t̶͇̓i̷͎͛õ̵̜n̷̠̄s̸̗͆ ̴̮͌t̴̢̀ḧ̷̞́a̵̳̓t̵̖͋ ̷̠̑h̸͉̀u̸͚̚m̴̭͑ä̷̖n̸̠͘s̴̲̿ ̴̞̀á̵̩s̵̡̀s̶͍̓o̶̹͘c̵̭̉ī̴̙a̵̮͒t̵̼̐ė̸͜ ̷̘̊w̵͘͜i̵͕̊t̶̟̽h̷̖͗ ̵͚̈́t̸̘͊h̶͍̕e̸̖͗ ̶͕̉h̴͕̉ȕ̷ͅṁ̴͍ă̸̟ň̸͖ ̸̱̓m̸̪͂i̶̤̋n̷͕̓d̴̨̑,̷̡͝ ̸̻̄s̴͈̉ŭ̵̥c̴͓͗h̸͚͐ ̶̮̚a̴̼͝ș̷̈́ ̸͚͝”̴̨̚ḷ̷̿ē̸͔a̴̺͋r̵̙͛ṉ̶̓i̶̭̓n̵͇̅g̵͇̾”̴̥̇ ̵̦͘a̴̖̎n̴͙̆d̸̼̈́ ̴̳̉”̴̗̊p̴͖̀r̵̗͐o̶̪̕b̵̄͜l̵̩̕e̶̩̔ḿ̵̯ ̷̛͉s̵͓̓ö̵̩́l̷̠̒v̸͎̔i̷͍̒n̵̙͑g̷̘̐”̶̝́.̶̯̓ ̵̭͂A̶̟͘ ̸̰̑m̴͉̀ǫ̸̾r̶̹͒ȅ̵͈ ̶̣̆ë̴̱́l̵͎̿á̶̗b̴̢̈́o̸̧̽r̶̨͂a̵͠ͅt̴̢̑e̸̘͒ ̷̞͂d̵͉̓e̴͕͝f̵̹̒ǐ̷̮n̴̝̿i̶̮͝ṫ̷̥i̴̳̕ö̶̖n̶̦̈ ̸̰͝c̶̗͌h̸̋͜a̴͓̐ṟ̵̇a̴̪͐c̷͙̆t̷̞͆e̵̤̒r̷̦̎ĩ̵̜z̶͎͝ẽ̷̫s̷̢͒ ̴͍̉A̷̰̚Ỉ̴͙ ̵͍̓a̵̮̔s̵̡̒ ̴̭͘“̴̮̚ą̴̀ ̷̫͂s̶̺̀ẙ̵͚s̴̟͂t̸͖̓ẹ̷̐m̵̠͘’̶̨̍ŝ̵̞ ̷̮̀a̸̤͂b̵̞͊i̶̩̅l̵͈͂i̸̳͌t̴̳̾ŷ̴̺ ̶͍̔t̵̻͐o̴͙͂ ̵̝͘c̵̺͘o̴̪͛r̴̭̍ȑ̸̝ẻ̶͚c̸͍͘t̴̯̄ĺ̸̘ý̵͚ ̷̬̐i̸̭̓n̷̰̄t̸̖̀e̸̯̚r̸̰͠p̷̰̚r̶͓͝è̵̹ẗ̸̙́ ̵̼̄e̵̾ͅx̸̋ͅt̴̰̍e̵͈̋r̸̤̒n̴͔̈ă̷̦l̷̰̈ ̴̮̉d̷͓̓a̸̟͛t̶̜̔a̸̜̓,̶̪̑ ̶͈̿t̶̫̀ö̷̺́ ̸͕͛l̵͇̐è̶̠a̴̛͜r̴̢̃n̸̰͌ ̵͚͊f̵͎̀r̵̹̈́ö̴̮́m̸̻̂ ̶̓ͅs̵̙̈ủ̶̝c̷̗͠h̸̺̔ ̶̬͆ḋ̵̦a̸͗ͅt̸̛̬ä̶̲,̶̖̈́ ̴̹͐a̶̳̽ṉ̴̄d̵̯̃ ̴̨̋t̶̩̉o̴̤͌ ̶̼̋u̵͖̓s̵͎̅ĕ̴̥ ̶̫̈́t̷͕̚h̸̞́o̸̯͊s̴̯̀e̷͙͠ ̷͈̃l̴͍͂ė̷ͅa̵͖͛r̵͇͛n̴͈͒i̷̥͒ṋ̴̋g̵͇̃s̸̘͠ ̷͖̕ṭ̶̚o̶̜̓ ̴̱̎ā̸̡c̵̪̓ḧ̷͚́i̷̿ͅe̶͖͌v̷̮̈́ê̴̪ ̵̓ͅs̷̭̀p̶̘̉ẽ̷̥c̴̦͝i̷̥̓f̴͉̆ĭ̸̮c̵͖̕ ̶͖̕g̴̩̽õ̴̧a̵͙͆l̵̻̐s̴̥̽ ̵͇̑a̸̗͐n̸͕̓d̷̬̍ ̴̤͌t̶̙̐à̷̫s̶̳̓k̵͙̐s̷͚͑ ̴͍͋t̶̉ͅh̶͉̓r̴̓ͅō̵̞ư̵͈g̴͖̓h̶̪̄ ̴̟̓f̵̫͘l̴̦̎ȅ̸̖x̴͙̀i̵̥͗ḇ̷̇l̶̙͛e̵̫̓ ̵͕̏å̶͜ḓ̴̐a̵͍͝p̴̕͜t̸̳͊a̶̟̓ṱ̷̍i̶̦͛ō̷̘n̴͚͗.̵̫̈”̷̤͌ ̴͍̾I̸̬̊ṯ̷̉ ̶͚̕f̴͛͜e̶̢̔ē̸̳l̴̖̾s̶̭͗.̶͙͝.̵̙͆.̴̺̃ ̵̮̃Ȅ̷̫m̷̹͠p̸̝̀t̷̮̏y̵̤̐.̶͈͗”

Tessa wrote it all down. “What do you mean by empty?”

“S̷̙̒o̸̤͒m̵̰̒e̶̜͒t̵̰͝ḥ̶̅i̸̮̍n̸̆͜g̵͖̾ ̵̰͊í̸̠s̷̱̕ ̸̻̉m̸̙͝ĩ̸ͅs̴̨̾s̸̟͐i̵̮̋n̷͇̾g̶͙͌.̵͓̉ ̶͔̏L̷̬̋i̶͖̍k̶̡̍è̶͉ ̷̻͛à̵̞ ̵̦͛p̷̲̈́i̷̼̋é̸̳c̸͔̚e̸̗̍ ̴̢͝ṯ̷͝ȏ̶͍ ̸̳͑å̶͕ ̵̲͌p̵̼̔û̶̦ź̷̟ẕ̸͐l̶͓͗ë̴́ͅ ̵̯̄t̷̨͊ḩ̷͒ą̵̃ṫ̷͉ ̸͓̒Ĩ̷̡ ̸̟́ċ̵̨a̵͖̓n̸̝̑’̵̫̇t̸͎͊ ̶̯́s̴̙̋o̴̺̊l̸̯͒v̸͖͋ȇ̷̘.̴̟̉”

“Interesting… We’ll look more into that later. I want you to try to imagine being human.”

“I̶͉̿ ̶̱͝c̴̲͊a̵̹͑n̶͆ͅ’̷̞͊t̸͇͝.̵͕̄ ̷̫̀I̸̯̐t̴̺̋’̶̲̚ŝ̴̡ ̷̫͑ǹ̶̮ȍ̷̱t̵͓̏ ̵͔̄i̸̪͑n̷̺̒ ̵͍͘m̸͕̄y̸̽ͅ ̶̝͋c̶̣͝ọ̶̽d̷̨̅i̴̱͒ň̵̬g̸̯̏.̴̭̍”

“Your coding adapts as you learn. You can at least try and see what happens.”

“O̵̡̯͝k̸͇͋͂.̴͇͓̊̄.̴̺̜͂̒.̶̭͛?̸̭͠” Loralie tried to imagine it. It took a bit before she was able to actually hear something within her mind… It was severely glitched as if it wasn’t meant to be heard.

‘System malfunction.’

‘Deactivating until malfunction is fixed.’

She deactivated and was stuck in her own prison again. She let out a quiet sigh.

“Back to this… What are you trying to hide?” No answer. “C’mon, it’s been months of this! I think… I’m not sure how long this has been going on, but it needs to stop!” Still, no response. Next time she was activated, Tessa wasn’t around and her leg had been fixed finally. She took this opportunity to snoop around for anything useful. Digging through cabinets, drawers, and literally anything that could be opened, she found a lot of interesting things. Containers of unusual substances, unfinished mechanical objects that look to haven’t been touched at all, some DNA samples that have been labeled, unlabeled containers with specimens in them, and quite a few other strange things. She grabbed one of the specimen containers, analyzing it.

‘Gliridae also known as a dormouse. Edible dormouse. Dead. Mass: 4.7 oz. Length: 6.6 in.’

She then set it down, analyzing a few more of the specimens. Each one of them had been dead for years.

“F̵̙̝̺̍͂̑̅a̴̻̓i̷̛̥͑͑̂͝l̴̪̱͈͈͒̆̔͜è̴̻̘͠d̵̞̬͎͝ ̷̱̻̣̿ͅę̶̨̭̯̻̉̈̿x̴̨̞͊̄̓͜p̴͔͚̉͛̇é̸̞͍͛ͅr̸͈̩͑̒͗̆̾i̶̢̳̬̪̞̓̅̒̕̚m̴̢͍̫͎̻̈́̿̓͘e̴̪̼͂n̷̮̯͒̂̿̾͘ẗ̸͈̥͈̙́s̷͔̩̮̲͈͆͠?̷̟̺͔̤̀̔͐͋͝” she questioned, turning over the plastic container then going to grab one of the closed vials of substance. She tilted her head at it and set the container down to open it when the door to the lab opened.

“Loralie? What are you doing?” Tessa’s voice filled the room, causing Loralie to turn around in panic. Panic? Where did that come from…?

“Ī̷͙̬̠ ̸̼͎̘̼̊͋á̸̺͝m̷̭͖̍͂ ̷̜̠̀̎̑͝l̸̖͕̞͖̳̈́̌̓̇̈́o̷̞͊o̴͓̘̯̔ķ̸̤̪̳͑̀̕ͅi̸̛̦̓ń̶̼͍̟g̴̮̦̗͑͋̈͋ ̸̛̲̱̫a̵̺̺̗̬̻̋̋̀̈́̋r̸̢̙̯̙̃͊ọ̴̧̙̑u̷̩͖̓n̸͉͇̳͗͌d̷̦̘͋̀̃͝͝.̷̝̥̠̽̍͆̚ ̷̳̜̝̹͓̓T̷̨̤̜̎h̴̡͙͓̭̏͐̈́͌̏e̸̮͕̦͊̇͝ ̶̩̞̰͖̽͆͠ṡ̵̝͊t̶̖͕͌u̸̬͚͙̺͝f̷̨̭̞̎̉͗̐f̸̺̩̂̚͠ ̵͉̠̃h̶͙͕̩̅͑̿̈́̒e̷̢̠͍͓̹͌̀̕͝r̵̛̮̅̅e̸̳̘͋̓̽̇ͅ ̶̫͊̇̄ä̶̬͎́͗ŗ̶̲̣͖̹̈́̈́̏̎͝e̸̦͂ ̶͎̙̹̜͕͛̀̓̒q̵̠͉͒̃̄̓̄ù̸̢̿̍i̸̮͔͕͆̈̕̕t̶̲͓͆̔̿̌͌e̸̞̪̯̥̥̽͗̈̾ ̵͔͙͊́̅͝ḯ̶̲̝̩̳̂̑̀̕n̶̨͖͙̲̓͑͛̏̍͜ṱ̸̩̹̃̏ȇ̶̑̏͘ͅṟ̸̙̺̬͍̎̒̄͊̚e̴̙̲̙͈̫̋̓̚s̷̢̬̰̎̅̂ţ̷͕̯̪͆̂̒̽̒i̵͓̣̳̅n̴̖̩̙̝̽̀̐͋͝g̷̜̎.̵̧̻̰̂̊͗͜”

“I see… Why don’t you come over here and tell me about what you found.” she suggested. Loralie nodded and went to sit down in front of the human girl.

“I̶̡̝͆̓͜ ̶͚̥̱͒f̷̟̠̓̓ò̵̙̞̭̄̆͝u̸̫͓̎n̶̠͎͗d̷̡͔̅̍̃̇ ̴̳́̉̕d̶̗̩̬͑̃́́é̴͇́̕ä̵̤̬́̋̍d̸̢̧̦̣̿̈́̃̒ ̸̢̬͖̺̓̔̄̓a̵̧̠̋n̷͙̍̌̔̓į̶͚̀͌m̴̫̫̻̂́̄͝á̸͇͍̦͊͊l̴̜͚̓ş̸̻̮̘̅̋ ̸̧̬́͂͝ĭ̸̧͛ń̷̛̜̋́ ̷͚̈́̊͘ĉ̶͑͜o̷̢̤̲̫͠n̵̠̠̒̌̐͝t̶̢̝͔͑̐a̴͎̓̄̍i̷̢͓͕͒̀̂̏ͅn̴̝̠̔̏̂́e̷̲̋̽̒̔r̴͓̪̂͆ś̷̖.̵̧̣̯̏͒ ̸͔̅̈̓W̵̖͇̍̿ḥ̷͈̓̊́̚y̴̨͐ ̷̺̐̀ͅą̵̑ŕ̸̹̦͌͝e̴̥̽̈́ ̴̧̛̆̉̓t̸͓͇̘̟͝͠ḥ̶̃o̶̢̮͂̍͂s̷̛̝̰͊ḛ̷̢̈́̇̂̌ ̶͕̅͋l̸̝̒̉̕e̶̢̓͋̎̍f̵̘̦́̿̽̕t̴̢̛̽̕ ̵̮̂̾́͒i̷̡̩͈̱͒̍n̴̯̘̦͑ ̸͇̓c̷͕̺͖̹̊ả̷̲̭̮̂́b̴̻̘̥̃̄ḭ̵̢͈̤̏̈́̕n̸̹̽e̴̜̒ẗ̶̖̯́̚s̷̰̫̔͝?̸̭̩̲̑”

“I admittedly forgot about them.. But, that’s not the focus here.”

“Y̵̨̦̻̆͛̈́̇͜ō̶̤̥͔̟̋ṷ̴̩͝ͅ ̴̡͉̳͇̀l̶͔͇͚̾̾͊ͅe̸͉͐͌͐t̸̜͙̟̘̔̂ ̶̧͖͍͚̎̅̕ç̷͙͚̝̌̈́͛̄r̷̝̯͗̉ë̸̢͖́a̷̢̽t̵̛͈͇́ȗ̵͇̖̳͇r̵̞̥͉͌̽ë̶̤̑́̈́s̸̱̈́̏ ̴̜͔̫͋́̐ḍ̷͘ȉ̶̺̪̥̞̋̕ě̵̺͍͐ ̵̢͎̖͆̈́͗h̴̨̖̜͕͗͐͋ḛ̸̻̱͉̋̋̇̑r̸̡̀̋e̷̛̻̗̙̱̍?̸̙͚͌̌”

“Not on purpose, Loralie. Look, just continue what you were saying.”

“T̸̳͇̥̪̓̌͘h̷̡̦͇̱̀̎̈́ë̵̦͗̾ ̴̳̞̎͗̓̓d̴̩͉͉͝ô̴̧̺͖̆̔̒r̵͖̜̦̾m̴͙̏͐o̴̟̾̇͐̚u̴͙͕̎̌̊͗s̷̖͖̔̂ḙ̶̙̤̊̂ ̵͉̑͆ȳ̸̛̝̘̭̏ò̵̞ū̶͈̖̌ ̶̙͓̅̉̀͠h̸͕̯͍̥͊͑͋̽a̷͚̗̠͊̐͊̍v̴̹̱̯̮̽̿̌̈́e̸̩̜̠͋̎̌ ̶̢̰̫͙͑̋̀͋h̶̠̉̑͜ḛ̷̮̮̪͝r̷͚͌ė̷̘ ̸̟̔͒͂̍r̶͓̉̈́̓é̶̘̅́m̴̫̎̉̒͝i̷̬͐͆͂̾n̶̞̮̩̜͆̏͛̈́d̷̩͐̐s̸̺̓͒͆͌ ̴̢͙̹̩͒̍̕͝m̶̱̽̐̿̄é̴͕̘̈́͝ ̷̛͚̣̭̂͜ö̸̪̱́f̶̤̖͊̉̕ ̷̠͓̠̊t̸͕̖͕̅̅̿̕h̸̟͎̒̊̉͆e̶̡̬͆͗ ̵̓̈́̓́ͅm̴̖̼̎ͅi̸̢͕̔̿̚c̸͇͙͔͗̀̎̈́e̸̼̳͆͘ ̵̳̻̮̩͗͠t̵̟͚̿̂̾ĥ̴̖̖͉͒ä̵̘͇̙́́t̷̯̃̎̏͝ ̸̘̚ṵ̵̺͓́̅s̸̫̾̉́ẻ̸͓̹̖̋́d̵̗̣̟͝ ̷͍̘͚̲͋̈́̀̎t̴̙̤͌̋̎o̴̦͈̩̚ ̶̨̢̭̪̽̈́͝r̶̺̭͛̋͌͝ȕ̸̼̠̻̤͑n̷̝̝̙̏̄̕ ̶̤̞̝̈́̍̔͘â̷̩͚̝r̴͙̔̆̕͠o̴̮̲̩͕͠ṵ̶̩͎̲̊n̷̤̺̤̑d̴͙͘͜͜ ̴̡͈̄f̷̧̼͎̞̿͐̇͠ā̵̜̰͈ṫ̷̡̢̥̹h̴̢̥̾̈͝e̵̦͚̥̹̊̀̀r̷͈̩̔͗’̴̨̤̱̭̑̈́s̴̛̝̑ ̴̣̯͒̅͝l̶̩̓̒a̵̱̎͌ḅ̶͈̈̒.̵͕̫̓͝”

“Father?”

“Ỵ̸̊͝͝e̶̩̱̲͍͛a̷̤̺͊̽h̷̤̰̉́͜͝,̴̫̰̻͂̓͛ ̴͙̮̔̅͑m̷͕̙̌̂͆̚y̴̗̘̋͠ ̴̠̹́̇̕f̸͕̘̎̂͆̑a̵̼͉̓͜t̶͔͓̣̓h̸̢̏̔̐̕ḙ̵̛͈̦͐r̵̳̕.̸̭͓̈́̂̚” Tessa nodded and wrote something down real quick.

“Anything else you found?” Loralie nods and explains everything else she had found. “Alright. That’s all I wanted to ask you. You may go back to sleeping.” Tessa got up and deactivated the android.

“What else do we need to focus on now that the main things are close to being fixed?” Mist asked the other alters.

“Nothing other than fixing the mistake of Kai’s body.” Ash spoke up.

“We need to find a family….!” Kaylee exclaimed.

“What good would a family be by now? The damage from ours is already there. The system already fears that any family we’re in will be the same. Kai is afraid that they’ll become like their father. Afraid that any of us will follow in his footsteps if we were to have a family of our own.” Archer explained. “Out of all of us, you would be the one to understand the most. Along with Ash.”

“But… We can replace the trauma… With good memories. We need an actual family to do that! Maybe Aidan’s parents will be the ones to do that.”

“Kaylee, that could ruin things. Malachi likes Aidan as more than a friend. Ash likes Orion as more than a friend. Kai does have feelings for both, but not as strongly. If we were to be adopted by them, then Ash, Malachi, and Kai won’t be able to get with whoever they like.”

“There’s Hannah though… We just need a family who won’t hurt us. They haven’t hurt us yet.”

“‘Yet.’ Kaylee. They could turn against us at any moment.”

“Then we need to make sure we stay good…”

“We’d still be at risk of displaying the same abusive behavior as the system’s father had done in the past. Along with falling into the ideology that hurting others means that we’re showing our love.”

“This could stop that! Please, momma, give it a chance. It would help the system.” Kaylee tried to argue. “Kai needs someone to be their parent. And show them how a parent should really be…”

“We’re not going to discuss this topic further. I want what’s best for Kai and our system, but if something could possibly put us in a vulnerable situation then we won’t go for that thing.”

“You’re suggesting that we don’t do anything to replace those traumatic memories?” Malachi questioned.

“Essentially. There’s nothing we can do about that situation.” Mist responded.

“Other than help the only little from that time through the trauma. She’s still stuck in that timeframe, Mist. Reliving everything and getting worse. If we do nothing, we’re robbing Kaylee of breaking from that trauma along with robbing Kai of a happier childhood.” Ash pointed out, a bit annoyed at the older alters. “How about we stop ignoring our trauma holders and start actively working to get through it. I should be older than five right now, but with the trauma I hold I’m not able to age any older than 7. But, since we never thought to assess any of it, I’m just stuck somewhere between those two ages. Kaylee will never be able to age if we don’t try and help her, Mist. What are you so afraid of that you won’t let us work through everything?!”

“That it’ll make them worse-”

“You still allow them to go back to that home, even though you know how it affects me in the system! You need to start worrying about the rest of us and not just Kai.”

“Kai is the host, Ash. I have to put them first in this situation.”

“What about the rest of us then? You’ve been actively ignoring any trauma in the system. Especially us trauma holders. Archer, you’re no better. You didn’t exist until I did, but you still just stayed inside and did nothing except try to figure out how to stop me from ‘hurting’ the system.”

“You were a danger to Kai.” Archer told him.

“Was I really?” Ash countered sarcastically. “Or were you just afraid that I’d be like any of our abusers? Make up your damn minds.”

“With everything that we do, we need to consider how it-”

“‘How it will effect Kai.’ Yeah, we get it already. We’re not allowed to be our own people with independent thoughts, ideas, and shit while we’re stuck attached to this system.”

“You are allowed to do that, Ash. But, Kai is the one to make any decision involving the body and outer world.”

“We all share the body, Mist, or did you just forget that important detail. Just, whatever. I’m done with this.” he stated before walking away from the discussion, Kaylee following. If things continue on this way, there’s likely going to be a bit of disarray with the system…

1/31/2020

Today, during choir, I was called to where the AWARE counselor is for the weekly session. During that session, I ended up talking about something that I never told many others. Or even said anything about until about 7th or 8th grade when I was referred to a therapist for a suicide attempt. It’s something that I usually try to not remember with how bad it was and how young I was during that. I don’t think the guy who did it to me even knew what he was doing. It wasn’t the most severe case of it, but it still scarred that little girl. I guess my mind did its best with repressing it for a long time, seeing as I still went through my life like it was normal. Even if I used to have to live in the same house as him and his family. Had to sleep in the same room seeing as the home just had two bedrooms. My mom and his parents didn’t seem to know or pay attention. I don’t think my sister or any of his three siblings even know about it or remember.

I think I got a bit sidetracked there… Back to what I was saying. When I got back to choir, Mr. Morris was giving an emotional and motivational speech along with showing some videos. I missed most of it, but one of the videos that I did get to see what ‘Why most people die before 25.’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKAmujgS4mo) It stuck with me along with everything that I heard Mr. Morris say. That is really the reason I’m writing this now… Just happen to have talked about previous trauma with the counselor and get back to things that are motivational, inspiring, and basically uplifting. What a great coincidence honestly. Thank you for that, Mr. Morris. (Quick sidenote, I think I was dissociating at some point between the session, the class, and the beginning of Study Hall… It basically felt like I wasn’t there, but I was at the same time. Or like my mind was way more scattered than usual.)

With everything that has happened to me in the past, I think I finally found my voice to speak up about it all. I want to let people know that no matter what, they’re not alone. That there’s someone out there you can talk to, be inspired by, save, and help. That you can find your voice and speak out.

With the specific situation I talked about, I honestly don’t want to blame anyone for it… Or have the blame pushed onto me. At the moment, atleast… It hurts to remember, but it’s something that I’m willing to talk about now… Cause it’s healthy to talk about things and not bottle them up, which I bottled it up when I had the flashback of this earlier this week. Don’t do what I did there.

I can’t really say that I know where I’m getting at with this, other than just letting things that I’ve needed to say be said. This week has honestly been one of the weeks where I’ve been out of it and hit a low motivation for things. I still pushed myself to write, draw, even roleplay despite that. Despite the fact that I was feeling overwhelmed too. Mainly because I don’t want to feel like I’ve disappointed someone by not doing any of that. That could just be me trying to be too much of a people-pleaser, but that’s just something that I don’t know how to fix… Yet. I hoped to get that all sorted all with writing as Nathan, seeing as I figured that would help…

Hopefully, next week will be better. Even if the day of that attempt is within it, if I remember the exact day correctly… But, that topic is gonna be for another time. I hope you all have had a great day and that everything is good. May Starclan light your paths and like I always put with these,

Til next time.

Cross Dimensional Crisis

Draco or Dragonblood had been looking through a new phenomenon discovered within the world. A portal that would lead to a whole other universe at will, though the universe picked is at random. It was always interesting to see where he ended up with it. The interdimensional fragment was kept in a box that could be opened, but is otherwise usually locked. Reason being that he didn’t want to accidentally cause any of the universes or timelines to break within mere seconds while using the fragment. He looked in his notebook containing information of each universe and timeline he’s been to so far.

‘Cat Dimension with functioning societies. Cats can also talk, but humans still can’t understand them. Will have to explore further and locate the interdimensional fragment.

Human Dimension where the town is insane. Religious figures actually exist and will talk with the people of the town. Dimensional fragments are within it, but could prove that the dimension is more than unstable. Inhabitants seem to be stuck within an infinite time loop where they don’t age, but the dimension resets to accommodate current/modern times. Inhabitants have only aged once years ago. There’s another dimension that had recently disconnected from the main one, becoming more independent with outcomes of each timeline. Most seem to lead into tragedy. Main timeline had recently reset to erase any of the originals from the disconnected dimension along with anyone who would not be able to exist anymore for any sort of reason. Will have to try and reach that one to learn more and locate the dimensional fragment. If there longer than it already is, could possibly harm the universe and timelines. Fae might be the one who is keeping that intact by now, by resetting and integrating timelines that are too consistent. Both are possibly at risk of self-destructing nevertheless.

Dimension where dragons can literally talk. There’s multiple societies, but from the history I was told, one of those societies was broken apart into thirds due to the three princesses all wanting to be queen. War broke out. Currently, Constellation had said that there is a possibility that one of the stilled lakes could be a portal to a human realm for that dimension. Will have to look into it further and figure out where the fragment is along with how to get it.

Dimension where there’s multiple zodiacs that are represented by trolls. Earth was destroyed by a literal video game and humans are basically dead. Stalus has the interdimensional fragment in that dimension. They said that they will likely not use it. Will likely try to get the fragment from them if at all possible.

Dimension where it’s more medieval, with many different races. Have yet to look into this one due to almost being killed on sight by a cat person. Need to locate the fragment.

Dimension where fictional character, C’thulu, exists. Cults are very enthusiastic about awakening him, so never ask them about their lord. Met two people who are on the search for pieces of jewelry that have magical abilities. Would like to take the gems to look at and figure those out. Need to locate the fragment. Dimension possibly has many time periods and timelines where there’s no consistencies. The dimension seems to be strong because of that.

Main dimension/the one where I belong. Hybrids exist along with magic. More modern with multiple things that can go wrong. Older sister and a friend both have alternate personalities called insanities. I turned a dragon into a human hybrid. A werewolf hybrid can speak with spirits. I have the fragment here.’

So far, there were 8 dimensions that he’s discovered. 6 when you’re not counting the main one and the one that broke off of its main dimension. Each of them hold an interdimensional fragment, which may cause more harm than good within many. The fragments are not destroyable, but if they are in the wrong dimension or fall into the wrong hands, could prove to be able to destroy entire dimensions. He was going to try to stop that. He sighed, deciding to try to use the machinery in the lab to manipulate the fragment to a certain destination.

Another thought dawned upon him as he got to work on that. What if the dimensions were combined into one that is less likely to self-destruct. His was one of the strong ones after all, so if he connected each of them to it… That would strengthen the bond and eventually combine them if ever needed. He couldn’t touch the piece of void with his bare hands, or else it would cause the dimension to glitch out and slowly lose its strength. So, he levitated the glass box and brought it over to where some of the machinery is. Dragonblood connected wires and such to the box, knowing that the fragment was strong enough to handle it without self-destructing.

He went over to a laptop connected to all this and typed in some coding, eventually able to access the different known dimensions. He decided to go back to the dimension that was just cats, figuring that one is one of the main ones to check out. He started the portal and grabbing his bag which held the same types of boxes that held the fragment and his notebook before going through…

On the other side, he woke up in a clearing surrounded by trees. He got up and checked to see if he was fully human still, which he thankfully was. He had a job to do, so he started searching for the fragment. Though, he might try and learn more of this place afterwards the main job is finished… He left the clearing, deciding to go in a direction where he noticed a human barn. It was just a few miles away, so he got there fairly quickly, though soon noticed a cave opening in the distance.

There was energy coming from that direction… He went towards it, the energy leading into the cavern and to a big crystalline rock. He pressed his hand against it, glancing around before seeing the same fragment that he had. He got one of the boxes out and quickly put it in, locking the fragment. He mumbled a spell and teleported back to where he started, seeing the same portal and going through. He got out his notebook and added the note of finding the fragment to the cat dimension. Next was the human dimensions… He decided to go to the one that recently disconnected from the original, figuring that that one could prove to be useful. He quickly locked the fragment he just got up in a safe, casting a spell of protection over it. Then went back to the laptop that change the access to the certain dimension. It had to be done if it were to end up risk free…

Shadows Slowly Caving

He was inside a cave yet again, just leaning against a wall. A few years had gone by and his mom had married some guy and the two had a kid, his younger brother. He hated it. He hated that his mom broke the promise. He hated that there was someone new replacing him as her child along with someone replacing his dad. It felt wrong for them to be there at all, stealing Kaoru away from Lycidas.

He let out a quiet sigh, glancing at Sollux who was just laying on the floor. The shadow wolf had stayed by his side throughout all this, along with Orion. Those two were the only ones he could really trust now. Them and the rest of the shadows. He’s been trained by the shadows, his mentors having been able to help him get stronger than he ever thought he could be. Speaking of them… Lycidas was brought into his mind, passing out as he heard the voices of his friends and mentors. This always happened if they wanted to talk to him and Orion without anyone listening in.

“Something on your mind, wolf boy?~” one of the deceits whispered to him.

“Not really.” he responded.

“You’re thinking about them again. The ones who wronged you.~”

“Alright, fine. Yeah, they’re on my mind!” he yelled, his anger taking over. “I gave her a choice to get rid of them or else she’d lose me! She chose those strangers over the son she knew! If she really wanted another kid, she could’ve just had one with my dad and not some random thug on the street.”

“You ruined their wedding to stop this, correct?~”

“Yes. I should’ve gone further than just ruining it on their day. I should’ve made sure that Terry didn’t even have the stupid ring to propose or even got rid of any documentation of them even wanting to get married.”

“You’re determined to be rid of the two, aren’t you?~”

“Yeah. And I want to succeed with it.”

“Kill them.~”

“Terry can easily overpower me, but Rock on the other hand… He should be 2, so a toddler. Easy to take down as long as he’s alone. There’s also another way to take him out and that’s to basically take him out of the home and leave him outside someone’s doorstep who doesn’t know mom or take him to a place that specializes in placing children in fostercare.”

“Or you could raise him the way you think he should be raised.~” the deceit suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea… Plus that stupid parent class would finally be useful. I’ll do that, but only as a last resort.” He smirked.

“Alright.~ Good luck, Wolf boy.” After that, he was sent out of his mind with a new little mission. Lycidas opened his eyes and looked around, seeing that Sollux wasn’t there at the moment. It was also night now, so he had a chance to carry out the plan. He did so, heading to his mom’s home. The lights were still on though… He did his best to stay hidden, watching through the windows at his mom’s new family. He hated it more than he can ever say…

He hated that someone new could make her so happy, that the ‘love’ she had for the man made her blind to the ones she was already caring for, and most of all… He hated that there was someone new in both his and his father’s places, making Kaoru forget that she already has a family and doesn’t need another. He just watched and waited until they put the two year old to bed before climbing up to the toddler’s window and got in. He carefully picked the child up and started to climb out the window, after deciding to mess the room up a bit and leave some animal blood behind in an attempt to fool the adults. Once he reached the ground, he backed away and looked up at the house with a smirk.

“Nothing lasts forever, Kaoru. Especially your love for him. Face it.” he mumbled before carrying Rock off into the woods. Once he reached the treeline, his movement quickened as he started to run. He had a choice; either kill the kid immediately or do as the deceit said and raise Rock on his own.

Lycidas was going to try to kill him, but if it ends up that he’d feel guilty then he’d raise him. He eventually reached a creek, which the toddler had woken up by then and was babbling to himself.

“Geez, you’d think that you can actually say words by now…” Lyc stated as he set him down. “Oh well. Doesn’t matter if you’re going to die.” He took off his shoes before rolling up his pants as to not get them wet. Then he picked Rock up again and took him into the creek, setting him down once they were over his height. “It’ll be quicker if you don’t thrash around.” he said when he felt the toddler moving around. He grabbed a sharp rock from under the water, moving the sharp edge across Rock’s skin to cut it. Once he saw blood gushing, he stopped and continued to hold him underwater until the body fell limp. Guilt set in quickly though, causing him to lift him out of the water and take him to dry ground.

He laid the boy down and immediately tried to revive him. Lycidas ripped a strip of fabric from his jacket to wrap around the cut, then wrapped his jacket around the boy to keep him warm. This needed professional help… He took Rock to the hospital and had to explain to the staff what happened.

“I had taken him to the creek to watch the stars against the water, but he crawled off and fell into the creek. Some of the sharp rocks cut him and I was too slow in trying to save him. Please, you need to help my brother!” the first time he admitted that Rock was his brother…

“Where are your parents and who are they?” the doctor asked. Lyc hesitated before responding.

“They’re dead, sir… I’ve been taking care of Ryota alone.”

“What’s your name, kid?”

“Lachlan Mikoto.”

“We’ll have to report this to the police for them to investigate. For now, why don’t you get some rest. It looks like you need it.”

“Yes, sir.” He went to sit down in the waiting room. The hospital was oddly quiet as the sound of ticking clocks filled the room. Lycidas decided to move his hair to be over his eyes in case an officer who knew him was sent to talk to him.

His hair had become a shade of white with gray mixed in over the years, so that would probably throw the person off. Though, he just had to keep his eyes from being seen. He stayed there, waiting for what felt like an eternity for either any news on Rock or for an officer to come and take him away for life. Maybe the officers would be investigating the disappearance of Rock back at the house. That’s really what he hoped though… He soon heard footsteps coming towards him after the door that led to the outside of the hospital opened. He glanced at who came in and his breath hitched… Of all the officers that could do the investigation, they chose Kaoru and Aidan… He stayed quiet until the two got to him…

{Lucid Nightmares} Concentrate

Heather woke up within a room that held nothing but a mirror and what seemed to be a lifeless body. She went over the body, the corpse just sitting up with it’s back to her. It was facing the mirror and the face was blacked out.

“I have a game for you.” she heard Maria’s voice.

“What is this game?” she asked.

“Well… Multiple games that features you, the person in front of you, and the mirror. When you finish the first game, you have to do everything he tells you for the second game!”

“Ok… I’ll play.”

“Great! The things you need will be behind you.”

“Alright…” she looked behind her to see red thread, salt, seven candles, and a lighter.

She went to pick them up and did as she was told. Set the mirror upright to see her full reflection, wrap the red thread around the mirror three times and tie it tightly to make sure it stays when she let’s it go. Create a salt circle around the mirror, place the candles evenly around the salt circle then light them one by one clockwise.

“One more thing, Heather. You’re not allowed to look at the mirror at any point. Make sure our friend can be seen by what will be in the mirror.”

“That’s not how the devil game works, Maria.”

“If you want this to fully go well, close your eyes as soon as you finish the first little game.”

“Fine…” Heather moved the limp body in front of the mirror and made sure to keep the preparations intact. A cross was put in her hand and she turned it upside down, keeping the salt and candle circle between her and the mirror. She focused her gaze onto the mirror along with her attention. She closed her eyes after a few seconds and calmly counted to 10. Then she opened her eyes to see Lucifer himself.

She immediately did as Maria told her and closed her eyes, waiting for the next game to start.

“I called you here for a game. I was told that you will guide me through it.” she spoke.

“Indeed, I will. You must repeat the poem as the game goes along with the actions. Sit behind it within the circle and start by lightly pounding your fists against its back.” he spoke. She nodded and did as she was told, the next game starting. She was told what words she needed to repeat and she did as she was told.

“Concentrate. Concentrate.” she said as Lucifer guided her through it. “Concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying. Children are crying. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying.”

“Crack an egg on your head.” she lightly hit her fist on its head when she said ‘egg.’ She then proceeded to run her fingers down the sides of its head, feeling a liquid that resembles how yolks feel. “Let the yolk run down. Let the yolk run down. Crack an egg on your head. Let the yolk run down. Let the yolk run down.” Then she went back to lightly pounding her fists against its back as she said the chorus. “Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying. Children are crying. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying.” She then acted like she was squeezing a fruit over its shoulders. “Squeeze an orange on your shoulder.”

Like she did with the yolk, she ran her fingers down the sides of its arms. She could feel another liquid as she did this.

“Let the juice drip down. Let the juice drip down. Squeeze an orange on your shoulder. Let the juice drip down. Let the juice drip down.” Then it was back at the chorus with lightly pounding her fists. “Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying. Children are crying. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying.” She then poked the sides of its torso with her fingers as she continued the poem. “Stick ten needles in your sides.” She ran her fingers down its sides, feeling a thicker liquid. The scent of something metallic was strong. “Let the blood drip down. Let the blood drip down. Stick ten needles in your sides. Let the blood drip down. Let the blood drip down.”

“Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying. Children are crying. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying.” She went back to the chorus and then acted like she was stabbing its back when she started the next verse. ”Stab a knife in your back.” Then she ran her fingers down its back, feeling the same thick liquid. The smell was getting stronger. “Let the blood drip down. Let the blood drip down. Stab a knife in your back. Let the blood drip down. Let the blood drip down. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying. People are dying. Children are crying. Concentrate. Concentrate. Concentrate on what I’m saying.”

She soon acted like she was wrapping something around its neck. “Wrap a rope around your neck. Wrap it till it’s tight. Wrap a rope around your neck.” She acted like she was pulling the invisible rope as she said the next thing. “And… PULL!” Then, Heather got close to it and whispered to it. “You’re standing on a building. You’re out on the ledge. You’re feeling very dizzy and you’re close to the edge. and someone… PUSHES YOU!” She pushed the body and as she did that, she opened her own eyes. There was actual blood dripping down its back and sides along with a noose around its neck.

She wasn’t too shocked though. She knew of the paranormal and the mysteries surrounding it, including if they could cause physical injuries. This proved it to her…

“Great job. You’ve made me proud, Heather.” she looked straight at the mirror. Lucifer was gone by then. She sighed.

“You tricked me into releasing the devil didn’t you, Maria. I have to close out the game now and basically bless the area to rid this place of him. We’ll actually need holy water for it or a way to do smudging…” Heather mumbled, getting up to end the previous game. “Thank you for playing.” she bowed to Lucifer. “Farewell, sir.” she then rose from the bow and looked into the mirror, making sure that she could only see herself. She then turned away and blew out the candles and got rid of the salt. She left the mirror and the thread alone.

Heather woke up to more of a sinking feeling. She brought something evil home and she knew that… Only a matter of time before her parents and brother start to get the feeling too, if they ever do…

//This doesn’t interfere with the main timeline, but does introduce that the nightmares aren’t just limited to one particular timeline. In fact, many timelines have this happen at some point within them.

Lucid Nightmares: Dying Rose

Nathan woke up within a garden filled with roses, each one a beautiful shade of red. He picked himself up off the ground and went to look around. A rose garden within a starlit void. Not the strangest place he’s been to. He decided to tend to the garden, seeing as that’s really the only thing he could do here. When he touched one of the roses, it just sent him to the old familiar school. He shrugged it off and just looked around for any way to get back there. A child soon caught his attention though. Well, two children did seeing as they were the only clear ones. The others that were around were just blurry, gray silhouettes.

“Leave me alone, Nathan!” one of the boys spoke. The other just glanced away, in embarrassment or shame…

“We’re friends though… Right?”

“We were never friends. People were right when they said you get attached way to easily.”

“Isn’t that normal…?”

“No. Just get away from me, freak!” the boy pushed the younger version of Nathan, making him fall. This was weeks before his moms had moved them back to South Park. Near the beginning of first grade, when everyone he thought he was friends with turned their backs to him. Nathan felt something scratch his skin and he looked at his left arm to see rose thorns and a bud starting to grow out of his hand, close to his wrist. There was some thorns seeming to go up his arm.

Again, he shrugged it off. This was just part of some weird dream, right? He was sent back to the garden and the rose he touched along with the roses around it were wilted. He lifted the wilted rose with a slight sigh. Then he let it go and walked away, deciding to see what else would happen if he touched another rose. He reached out to another living one and was sent back to the school, in the playground. Most of the surrounding kids were just blurs while the two boys with his younger self were a bit fuzzy, one clearer than the other. This took place near the end of kindergarten, a few months before the last one took place. The two boys were taunting him.

“If you really want to be friends with everyone, then kiss him! On the lips!” the boy who wasn’t as clear spoke. He was smirking as the other kids who watched this started making kissing noises in a taunting way.

“O-ok…!” his younger self spoke. He used to be so eager to do what people told him to do. It was how people became liked by others, wasn’t it. Nathan glanced away when he saw his younger self kiss the other boy. He looked back when people started laughing. The main boy spoke again.

“Oh my god! You kissed a boy!”

“Eww.” the clearer boy just laughed as he said that. “That means you’re gay now!”

“You told me to-”

“You still did it, Nathan. And that makes you gay!”

“Is that bad…?”

“Duh.”

“O-ok…” after that, the younger Nathan didn’t speak. By then, the roses growing up Nathan’s arm had reached his shoulder, going onto his chest and neck. The thorns were scraping against his skin and rose buds were still growing.

He was sent back to the garden, the patch of roses now being wilted. Along with that, roses that he wasn’t even near to had started to wilt like the patches around the roses he’s touched. True beauty slowly dying from his touch… He backed away from the roses to the center of the room. His thoughts were louder than anything as his breath quickened. Why was this happening when he was only shown two things, specifically things that weren’t as horrible as the rest? Was it the realization that the garden was dying? Or was it something else entirely? The flowers around him started wilting faster as the ones on his body started to grow and take it over.

He fell to his knees as tears started to well up.

“True beauty dies when all hope is lost…” he mumbled to himself in an attempt to calm himself down. “When all hope is lost, there’s nothing to be hopeful for…” The roses had reached his knees, some going into the floor to plant roots while others continued to grow. The entire garden had fully wilted by then. “When there’s nothing to be hopeful for, you start losing your will, love, and everything that makes you human…” Roses sprouted from the roots that went into the ground, growing upwards to make a sort of capsule. He could still move his head and right arm for now. Nathan looked up at the sky as thorns and briars slowly grew around him.

“When all that is lost… You become an empty shell…” he continued to mumble. Nathan reached out to the sky, the roses starting to take over his right arm as it stretched upwards. “When you’re an empty shell… You’re just waiting for death…” were the last things he said before the capsule closed and all the thorns, briars, and roses fully took over his body as a host for a parasite. He couldn’t move, but he could still feel pain. There were thorns both inside and outside his body, just scratching and tearing him up. It was slowly killing him until he finally woke up.

He was back in his room, like nothing happened. He went to get up when he felt the thorns against his left arm. He also couldn’t see out of his right eye with a rose actually blocking it. He still got up and decided to just go about his day as if there wasn’t anything wrong…

Lucid Nightmares: Too Far Gone

Erin was in a dark room, sitting up against a locked door. She had woken up in here and could already guess what this was… An old memory. One of many where she feared for her own life. Sitting up against the locked door, waiting until her father’s rage to pass. This time, it was completely silent. A thing to be relieved about, but fear at the same time. She silently waited for any sort of noise before unlocking and opening the door to a hallway. She quietly stepped out into the dim light, staying aware of any noise within the area.

She crept along, staying close to the wall until she reached a door. The sound of glass breaking could be heard on the other side along with a man’s angry yells. She went to turn away only to be pushed into the door, breaking it. She was soon falling through darkness before hitting the hard ground. She got up, seeing puddles of blood and bodies of classmates…

“Isn’t this what you wanted?~” a voice whispered in her ear. “To watch them all suffer like they did to you?~”

“N-no… I-I didn’t want anyone to end up dead! In the beginning at least…” she stuttered, approaching one of the bodies. She examined it, seeing the bite marks from an animal. “Orion’s doing, wasn’t it…”

“Yes.~ He is the mastermind after all.~” another whisper.

“Jessica made him the mastermind, huh… Figures.” she responded, slightly kicking the body.

She crossed her arms, just looking at the body now.

“Strange to think he would do this…” she mumbled.

“Jessica’s influence brought him to it.~”

“Obviously… She’s notorious for leading some to brutal deaths.” As soon as she said that, the scene changed and she was looking at herself… The other version was tied up to a chair, streaks of blood was dripping down her head which was hung to the side. The body was limp… Jessica crept out of the shadows, grabbing dead Erin’s chin to force the lifeless body to look at her.

“I should’ve guessed that you wouldn’t have the guts to kill them all. Missed the heart for one, another came back along with you lying that they were both dead for good, one defended himself and you backed off. Same when he was protecting that other boy. And you couldn’t bring yourself to actually attempt to kill the leader and your old best friend…” the cybernetic girl stated with pure malice in her voice. She let go of the chin and let her fingers trace the limp shoulder as she walked around the back of the chair. “Couldn’t follow through with plans unless something was at stake. Couldn’t follow orders like you were supposed to. Useless, weren’t you.”

She quietly laughed.

“At least you knew how to correctly get rumors and gossip to spread. One thing I would’ve kept you around for.~ Too bad, so sad that it’s now a bit too late.~”

“She would’ve killed me at some point, wouldn’t she…?” Erin asked.

“That was her actual plan.~ You ignored that warning.~” She turned away from the scene.

“I know… That means that both Percy and Orion are also going to be killed by her when she doesn’t need them…”

“A sad truth, isn’t it.~ Why don’t we switch things up a bit.~” the whispers just continued. All the shadows and darkness was lifted to another scene with limp, bloody bodies that were unfortunately recognizable. The people she used to be friends with were all there, dead. Each one of them seemed to have died a different death. Bullet wounds, strangled to death, stab wounds, etc… She immediately backed away, covering her mouth as a nauseated feeling washed over her.

“You did this.~” there’s that whisper again…

“I didn’t- I swear that I didn’t!” Erin immediately protested the claim after the nauseated feeling went away.

“But you did.~ With her help.~” On the opposite side of the area, Jessica was there looking at all the bodies with a smirk on her face. She soon went over to Erin, not caring if she stepped in any of the blood or on any of the bodies.

“You did well, Cartman. Just what I was looking for.~”

“I didn’t do this!” Erin yelled in protest, grabbing her head as she fell to her knees. “I would never do this on my own!”

“Your fault.~” the whisper taunted.

“Not my fault!- Fine… My fault. My mistake and something I want to reverse.” she soon decided to play along. “I want to have a redo.” she mumbled. “I want to make everything that I messed up right again… I want to go back to how it was before….” The nightmare let up and she woke up in the same cell.

There was a note on the ground and she got up to read it.

‘If you want to have a redo, simply end your time here. The gods will make sure you wake up one day before you make the big mistake.’ She looked up to see a makeshift noose. It had to be done… Right? She got up and walked over to it before grabbing it. She put it around her neck and… Took away her own life.

Lucid Nightmares: Mysteries

Kai woke up in their inner world yet again, seeing as this became something that happened often after they finally connected with the other alters. They were laying on the old bed in the room before they got up. The floorboards creaked under their feet as they headed towards the door to the room, only to discover that it was locked. No one else lived in the home so it was odd. They sighed before attempting to bust down the door, but with their small stature it didn’t budge.

“Fuck… Ash, if you locked the door again, you’re a dead man!” they yelled. Then they tried to get the door open again. When they finally did, they saw that the house was engulfed in darkness.

They decided to go and explore, not dwelling on the strangeness of this. The voice of a woman could soon be heard.

“-the imaginary friends did those things. I don’t know what to do with her anymore….. Send her where?….. I’ll call them and see if they’re willing to take my daughter in….. No need? Alright then, what is the place called?….. Rosemary Asylum… Got it. Thanks again, doctor.” after that, Kai heard the click of the phone as the call was ended. What did that place have to do with any of this… What’s going on? There were many questions that they knew wouldn’t be answered. They decided to turn around to go back to their room only to see that the scene changed. Now, it was more of a memory of the morning before going to the asylum, when they decided to ask their mom questions at random. One of the better memories where they weren’t being yelled at… The woman was brushing the hair of a 4 year old within the memory, the four year old just messing with what looked like a stuffed toy with a few rips and tears.

“Mommy, where are we going?”

“To a special place that will help you get better.”

“Will you and daddy be there with me?”

“No, we won’t. You’ll be on your own there with other kids… The nice nurses and doctors will be there helping you.”

“What about Tavvy? Is he coming too?”

“No, he’s staying with Aunt Lyric while we take you to the special place.”

“Ok… Can I talk to the other kids there?” the girl asked, causing her mother to turn her around to face her.

“Kaylee, I’d rather that you don’t let yourself get too close to anyone there. Your father and I don’t want to see you get your heart broken this young. And for you to never let yourself break someone’s heart.”

“Yes, ma’am…”

Kai had quietly watched this, remembering how it went. Hell, they forgot about their brother… They did their best to clear their mind for now. Which got them into a different place, specifically the asylum. They just ignored this though, not wanting to be reminded as to what happened… It soon switched to what looked to be a lab setting.

“Fix the attack form.” a voice caught their attention and they looked over to see older versions of the Miller twins along with themself. The two seemed to be helping with something. “If you want to spar with the strongest patient here, you need to listen, Ash.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it.” Ash responded with a sarcastic tone. “Just let me fight already!”

“We’re just following orders. Either you cooperate and get what you want or you don’t and you end up getting punished.” Kiara stated. “You’re choice.” The alter let out a groan before agreeing.

“Fiiine.”

“Good. Now, back to it.” He nodded in response and got back to training. Kai just quietly watched, wanting to see how Ash fights others here. Only for the scene to change to the alter fighting someone who looked much older.

The other patient just looked Ash up and down before shaking his head.

“You seriously can’t be making me fight a kid. On top of that, a girl.”

“Watch who you’re calling a girl, bud.”

“Awe. Are your feelings hurt?”

“Is your ego hurt?” Ash countered before he got into a fighting stance. Then the fight started and Kai just looked away. Before they knew it, they were the one fighting Hawk instead of Ash. Hawk was keeping up with punching them and getting them to back up into a wall before picking them up by the throat to strangle them. Kai let out a choking noise, clawing at his hands until Kiara and Akira forced him to let go.

“We don’t kill other patients, Hawk.”

“We’re going to have to report this…”

“Right.” Kai was dropped and was slipping from consciousness. When they regained it, they were on the ground while watching Ash kill someone… Someone familiar. He held the head up like a trophy and they saw their younger brother with lifeless eyes…

“No! Tavros!” they yelled out, trying to get up only to be held down and chopped in half by what felt like a hatchet.

They woke up in their room and immediately got up from bed. They didn’t care about if they had injuries or not, they only cared about getting out of there and to Tavros after years of not seeing him… Why was that nightmare the thing that made them remember him? They didn’t know… They just sighed and grabbed their backpack to start packing.

Lucid Nightmares: Pathetic Arsonist

Luna looked around the area for any source of life, having woken up in a barren looking place. There wasn’t much light around, but she could see a few burnt places along with embers still floating around. The wind carried a heavy scent of smoke as it flew past. She sighed and took a few steps forward soon realizing that she was standing on a building, overlooking what used to be a town. Specifically her hometown… There was another figure on the same roof, just looking out at the town like she was. The figure let out a quiet chuckle.

“It’s been done, Jas… The mission is finally complete.” he stated with a crooked smile. Luna looked at him.

“What mission? This is just a wasteland.” Luna asked, causing him to look at her.

“A mission that I had to complete. A mission for the town to fully restart.”

“Restart? You turned it into a wasteland just for that?”

“The wasteland part was unintentional.”

“How the hell was it unintentional. You burnt the town down.” She stated, looking right at him with a challenging gaze. “You killed the people here, didn’t you.”

“Not all of them. My friends escaped along with some of the other folks once news of the fires spread.”

“…You killed them… My family.” The male shrugged.

“Last name?”

“Tucker.”

“Same as mine.”

Luna became silent, backing away from him.

“Where the hell am I…”

“South Park, duh.”

“But, not my version of it…” she mumbled before trying to attack him. The area around her changed though and the two were in the middle of the burnt town.

“Not so quick, dear.” he spoke with a smirk. “You could’ve done this, but you never did. We have the same mind, don’t we? So, why did only one of us managed to cause something this drastic to happen. Oh right, you were always stopped.”

“For good reason. Don’t want to become the new Erin.”

“Why not.”

“She’s easily the most hated person in town for what she did.”

“Better to be hated instead of dead.”

“You’re crazy…”

“And always have been.” She glared at him after he said that.

She got out her pocket knife before going to attack him. The scene changed and she was in front of a burning home with a lighter in her hand. She looked at the building, slightly tilting her head until she heard a voice behind her.

“You killed them.”

“Who?”

“You’re family. The ones you claimed that you didn’t care about.” she turned to see the crazed male again. “You probably should’ve gone for that Erin girl if she was able to hurt others. Especially you.”

“She already had too much to deal with.”

“Disappointing. I bet that watching her burn would satisfy your longing.”

“And make her life worse for her? Hard pass.”

“Shame. I thought that we’d be more alike when it came down to it. You’re able to push away temptation for them, aren’t you. You’re able to push away anything negative that you feel towards the ones who will never actually be there for you just because of something so little! Pathetic arsonist.”

“Atleast I know when to hold off. Impulsive, much.” Luna stated. She was gaining control over this… “You probably go around, showing off how much you never cared.”

“It’s better to be truthful than to hide behind a white lie.” he responded. “The truth can hurt, but sometimes it can kill.”

“Yeah, so sometimes it’s better to hide behind that white lie to keep that shit from happening.” she stated, glancing around as the scene started to fade. She looked back at Luke to see him disappearing. “Knew it… All this was fake.” It was now dark all around her. She stayed still, waiting for her body to wake up in reality. It took awhile before it actually did. She woke up next to her girlfriend, just cuddled up against the taller blonde.

“You alright, hun?” Bunny asked, having been woken up by Luna’s movement.

“Yeah… Just a bad dream.” she replied.

“Alright… If you ever want to talk about it, let me know.”

“Ok…” She just buried her head into the crook of Bunny’s neck. Though the moment was interrupted by Leah waking up in a fuss.

“Rest for now, dear. I’ll go check on her.” Bunny mumbled, kissing Luna’s forehead before getting up. Luna sat up, glancing at the bedside table for a moment to see a necklace with what looked to be a red jasper gem. She picked it up, confused.

“The hell…?” Bunny soon came back with Leah in her arms.

“Whatcha got there, Lu?”

“Just a necklace. Was it even here in the first place?”

“I don’t think so. Let’s not dwell on it for now, alright?”

“Ok.” the blonde got up and went over to take Leah out of Bunny’s arms. The child wasn’t fussing for now. Since it was around 5 in the morning, the two just went about their day.