Once the wheels were set in motion, it didn't take long for the cleaning crew to get everything settled. A few minutes after Andrew had called his mom, a swarm of vehicles descended on the mall, cordoning off the area of the fight. Any suspicious fragments were cleaned up, the machine's body was retrieved from where Andrew had hid it, and an explanation was quickly formed. The story was that someone had come in with a bomb, trying to blow up the mall. Thankfully, the device was a dud, only causing some minor property damage. Thanks to some brave bystanders, the criminal was quickly apprehended and the mall was saved from further damage.

An agent met Andrew at the coffee shop, pulling him aside to explain the situation and asking if there were any witnesses that needed to be taken care of. Andrew quickly assured him that there weren't, and the man returned to his team to finish the clean up. He debated whether to tell the clean up crew about Cathryn, but considering the weirdness of the situation, he figured he should discuss the problem with an Elder or possibly his grandfather, rather than some random cleaner.

After the cleaners left, Jack looked between the two of them, as if considering whether to say something, before shaking his head. "I should go deal with Kevin and the others." He sighed. "I sort of ran off with not a lot of explanation… ugh, that's going to be a pain." He muttered to himself, walking off to find the others.

Cathryn watched him go, before turning back to Andrew. She leaned forward, whispering. "Are you a vampire?"

Andrew snorted as he suppressed a laugh at the ridiculous question. "No, I'm not a vampire." He shook his head, before pausing. "Though those legends could be based on us…" He frowned. A species of ageless immortals? Maybe a Dragon with a particularly weird mutation? He could see it. Maybe the question wasn't that ridiculous…

"Then what are you?!?" Cathryn hissed. "What is all this?!? What- what was that thing?!? Why did it try to take me!?! What did it want to do with me?!?" She froze. "What- what are you going to do to me?!?"

"Nothing." Andrew assured her, before pausing. "Well, not nothing… I'm going to take you to see some people and hopefully figure out whatever this is, or at least make it stop. Then we'll wipe your memory, put you in a hospital or something and you'll wake up in blissful ignorance, going back to your normal life with little to no side effects."

"You're going to wipe my memory?!?" Cathryn asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah." Andrew shrugged. "I mean, I guess you could keep them, but then you'd have to enter the Support Staff. We don't let mortals run around knowing about us without supervision. They tend to get weird ideas and start either hunting us or worshiping us."

Cathryn blinked a few times at that, before shaking her head. "Okay, that's- what's the Support Staff?" She asked, pinching the bridge of her nose as she felt a headache build. There was too much… stuff in all this, and she needed to understand it.

"The Support Staff are the mortals who do all the stuff we'd really rather not. Paperwork and whatnot, maintaining businesses, running governments, stuff like that." Andrew waved his hand dismissively.

Cathryn frowned. "That's a big range…" She muttered. It sounded like it could be anything from being a janitor to a politician or CEO! She thought about it for a moment, before shaking her head. She couldn't make any decisions without actually knowing anything! Who were these people she might be working for? Demons? Angels? Eldritch monstrosities that defied human comprehension?

Andrew laughed, shaking his head. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you about us. Whatever you're coming up with is just weird." He commented, before falling into thought as he considered where to start. "Okay… let's start from the basics. Earth, well, the entire universe really, is only a small pocket of reality. Beyond this is a place we call the Outside, which, unlike Earth, is a giant plane, no planets, no stars, no sun, just a giant expanse of land and water extending infinitely, at least theoretically. Unlike Earth, the Outside is populated with creatures we call Beasts, powerful, immortal beings that grow stronger through endless conflict and death. We are humans who have Beasts inside us, called the Bonded. We keep Earth safe from the Beasts in the Outside, or whatever that machine was that tried to capture you."

Cathryn blinked a few times as she tried to process Andrew's explanation. She knew he wasn't lying. One of the side effects of whatever had happened to them was that she had an instinctive knowledge of when he was being honest, like she couldn't even consider the idea that he was lying. That meant she had only two options: to believe that what he said was the truth, or to believe that he was completely delusional. Considering she'd just seen him punch through metal and could now literally read his mind, the signs were pointing towards him telling the truth.

"Why- why do you hide? Why don't you just tell everyone the truth?" Cathryn asked.

Andrew shrugged. "Greece."

Cathryn frowned. "Greece?"

"Yup. See, way back when, we did tell people. And then they began worshiping us as gods. Anything that went wrong, we got blamed for. If we didn't help, they'd complain. If we did help, they'd just want more. Some did turn into tyrants, forcing people to serve them, which worked, but… well, a lot of people found that to be immoral. So, around the time of Ancient Greece, we began to hide, fading into myth and legend, and what happened? Philosophy. Science. Empires grew, people came together, and the world connected, humans all advancing further and further. Without the knowledge of these powerful beings they had no hope of matching, their potential exploded." Andrew explained.

"Huh… that- don't you think it'd be better now? People are proud of science. I think they'd still advance it, even if they knew." Cathryn offered.

Andrew shrugged. "Maybe? But why push it? Knowing about us doesn't benefit them in any way. It'd just be something extra to worry about, something they'd have no control over. Better to just keep it a secret, don't you think?"

Cathryn frowned, but couldn't think of a counter argument, so she just sighed and shook her head. "Then, what was that- that thing that tried to grab me? What was it doing here?"

"That I don't know. About any of it." Andrew replied with a frown. "I don't know where that machine came from, why it tried to grab you, why we have this strange connection now… it's all new and strange, something I've never seen or heard of before. I'll need to talk to an Elder, see if he knows anything."

"E-Elder?" Cathryn asked, confused.

"Yeah, the way the Bonded work is, we have twelve Clans based on the types of Beasts we're bonded with. Uh, it actually inspired the Chinese zodiac. You know, Tiger, Monkey, Dog, etc. Each Clan has a few Elders who deal with internal organization and administration, in addition to giving guidance. Even if they can't answer your question, they'll know who to ask." Andrew explained.

Cathryn nodded. "So, which Beast do you have? Which Clan do you belong to?"

"Uh… well, I'm a little weird… see, I don't actually have a Beast, but I can transform into two different ones… or, I suppose three now… uh, but anyways, I'm technically both a Tiger and a Monkey. Aaand a furry, lizard thing which is a whole other issue." Andrew answered with a light cough.

Cathryn's eyes widened. "You can transform!?!"

Andrew sighed. "It's not as nice as you might think. See most Bonded have two bodies, a human and a Beast, and the human part is just normal, like any other human, except for the ability. I, on the other hand, have to deal with all that Beast power in a human body, and if I don't control it… well… you know what happened." Andrew grumbled in a low, depressed tone.

Cathryn's eyes widened even further. "That's what happened!?! You-" Cathryn froze, groaning as she rubbed her temples. "I don't- I can't- this- this is just too much…" She sat there quietly, rubbing her temples as she processed everything Andrew had said, trying to organize each world changing fact in a way that made sense to her, trying to fit it into the way she currently understood the world, and utterly failing. Everything in her wanted to reject Andrew as a crazy person, but whatever connection they had formed wouldn't let her just dismiss him.

Cathryn let out another groan, before looking at Andrew with an almost desperate expression. "I-I just need to know how it all works. Just a little clue as to how everything fits. Physics- physics is real, right? S-so what are we missing that makes Beasts and- and transformation possible?"

Andrew paused. "Uh… I honestly have no idea." He frowned. "It might have something to do with aura? I recently learned that if I retract mine, it makes me weaker. I don't know if that explains my transformations though… honestly, it might not even be something that's observable in this universe. I mean, obviously things are different between here and the Outside. Just look at gravity! Here it's based on mass, but Outside? It's a plane. Infinite mass. If gravity worked the same, everything would just be crushed. Life would be impossible. So, physics is real, yes, but it's real here, not necessarily there."

Cathryn nodded along slowly. "Okay, that… I guess that makes sense… still physics, just… different physics." She muttered, taking deep breaths. "So… what do we do now? I- if I do join this Support Staff, what does that mean for me? I mean, my family, my- my- my job!" Cathryn exclaimed, jumping to her feet, remembering that she'd just been on break and she was way past the time she was supposed to get back to work. "Shit, shit, shit! I'm going to get fired! They'll never give me a good reference, I won't get into a good college, and I'll live the rest of my life penniless and alone!" She rambled, pacing back and forth in a panic.

"Well, unless we figure out a way to resolve this whole connection thing, will you ever really be alone?" Andrew commented with a grin.

Cathryn stopped pacing to glare at him. "That is not funny."

Andrew shook his head. "Do you remember where that whole thing took place? It was literally right behind where you work. The place is probably closed anyways. Just give your boss a call tomorrow and say you got caught up talking to authorities and you couldn't make it back. You'll be fine."

"Y-you think?" Cathryn asked tentatively, still sounding worried.

Andrew nodded. "Should be. Even if he thinks it's an excuse, as long as you've been a good employee before this, he shouldn't particularly care. I mean, it's just a minimum wage job." Andrew paused. "Hell, even if you do get fired, I'm sure Elder Barry can pull some strings to get you a good job somewhere. One that would be much better for your résumé. If you don't join the Support Staff that is. Then all this hardly matters."

Cathryn bit her lip nervously, before sitting back down with a groan. "I hate this day." She complained.

Andrew chuckled slightly, looking the miserable girl over as he wondered just what he was going to do about all this. What exactly had happened between them? Mental connections weren't anything new in the Beast world. Dogs could create them, and the Bonded had a deep mental connection between the human and Beast side. However, he'd never heard of something like this happening for seemingly no reason. He'd gone over what had happened in his mind, and all he could think was that something had happened when she grabbed his wrist, though he had no idea what. Andrew shook his head, sighing slightly. He needed to see someone with more experience in this. He didn't have the answers and trying to figure it out on his own would lead him nowhere.

He looked over at Cathryn. "Hey, how did you get here?"

Cathryn looked up, confused. "The bus? Why?"

Andrew clicked his tongue. "Damn. I was hoping you'd have a car… should I call my parents to pick us up?" He muttered to himself. Given the current state of things, it was obvious he needed to bring Cathryn along with him, and explaining why he'd suddenly picked up a random girl to Jack's friends would be a pain. Besides, he didn't want to wait another hour to start figuring all this out. Taking the bus could be an option, but… well, a confined space full of annoyed, grouchy people would give him a major headache. "Let me make a call." Andrew muttered as he pulled out his phone, before pausing, staring down at the broken mess. "Scratch that. Let's go buy me a new phone. Then I'll make a call." He climbed to his feet, heading into the mall to find a phone store, Cathryn scrambling after him. A few minutes later he was buying the latest model of his favorite phone brand, switching over the sim and syncing his data as the attendant finished up with all the minor details.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"I can't believe you're just buying a phone, like it's nothing." Cathryn shook her head in disbelief.

Andrew looked up with a frown. "What do you mean? Mine was broken. Why wouldn't I buy a new one?"

"Because it's a thousand dollar phone! I thought you were just going to buy one of those burners or something!" She gestured towards the cheap phones in the corner of the store. "At least an older, cheaper model! Not literally the most expensive phone in the store!"

Andrew blinked a few times. "It's not the most expensive…" He muttered defensively.

"It's close enough!" Cathryn retorted. "I mean, look at this one. It's just last year's model, practically the same phone, and it's half the price! Why not buy this one?"

Andrew looked down at his new phone, then at the phone she was pointing to. "This one's newer?" He answered tentatively. "It's only a couple hundred bucks difference either way, right? Why not go for the newer one?"

Cathryn gave him a look like he'd suddenly started speaking latin. "Only a couple hundred- I don't- how do you live?!?" She asked incredulously.

Andrew shrugged. "Comfortably."

Once his phone was all set up, Andrew shot Jack a text letting him know he'd be leaving early, before calling his mom, who told him she'd have Arose head over to pick him up. He and Cathryn headed to the entrance, waiting on a nearby bench, Andrew spending most of the time fiddling with his new phone, getting it set up just right, until a fancy sports car pulled up and Arose stepped out. "Andrew!" Arose exclaimed, walking over to them. "I hear you need a ride."

Andrew nodded, standing up. "Yeah, thank you. I really appreciate it." Andrew thanked him sincerely. "I also need to get a hold of Elder Barry, soon. Something… weird has happened."

"Oh?" Arose replied, raising an eyebrow, looking between Andrew and Cathryn, who stood up with him, clearly intending to follow. "Does it have something to do with the lovely young lady accompanying you?"

Andrew nodded again. "Yeah, she- we- for some reason, we developed this… connection. I don't know what happened, but we can read each other's minds now."

Arose's eyebrows shot up. "Is that so? Is there a Dog around here playing a prank?" He muttered, frowning slightly.

"I'd be able to tell if that was the case." Andrew replied. "They wouldn't be able to hide from my aura sensing."

"Right, right…" Arose nodded, glancing at Cathryn again, before shaking his head. "Come, let's get you back to the house first. You can tell me the details on the way there."

Andrew nodded and the three of them headed towards the car. "Is he your uncle?" Cathryn leaned in to ask as they walked.

"Huh? No, he's my grandpa." Andrew replied, shooting her a weird look.

Cathryn froze, tripping mid stride as she failed to process his reply. "G-grandpa?!? He- he can't be older than thirty!" She protested.

"I'll have you know I'm a proud six thousand, one hundred and nine, thank you very much." Arose interjected with a mischievous grin.

Cathryn's eyes widened. "Six thou- thou- thousand?!?"

Andrew shook his head. "Didn't I tell you? Beasts are immortal." He commented, before slipping into the car.

*

During the car ride, as Cathryn sat in the back, struggling to make sense of the concept of a six thousand year old man, Andrew explained what had happened to Arose, starting with when he sensed the machine's aura. Arose simply listened with a serious expression, nodding occasionally as Andrew mentioned a particularly important point. Once Andrew finished, he fell into thought, considering his explanation for the rest of the drive, until they arrived back at the house.

Before they headed inside, Arose took Andrew aside to talk. "Before we contact Elder Barry, there's something I need to know. What are your intentions with this girl?" Arose asked in a serious tone.

Andrew frowned. "What do you mean?"

Arose sighed. "You've obviously been very open with this girl. No, I'm not saying you're wrong to do so, but I'm not saying you're right either. Knowing about all this… it's hard for mortals. Even as Support Staff, things can get complicated. Particularly when they're introduced to some of the more… eccentric aspects of our culture. If you plan on keeping her around for yourself, I can support that, but if you're just dumping all this on her and expecting her to deal with it on her own…"

Andrew paused. "I- I hadn't really thought about it. I was just trying to calm her down, before she went into a panic attack over things that weren't even true." He thought about it for a moment. "Can I let her decide? I mean, ideally, we'll get this connection cut, and she'll go back to her normal life with no memory of this ever happening, but… well, if she wants to join the Support Staff instead, I'm not going to stop her. I'm also not going to force her to work for me, though I wouldn't reject her if she wanted to."

Arose frowned slightly, before sighing. "Right, well, let's see if we can do anything about this mental connection first. Before we resolve that, all this is a bit premature."

Andrew nodded, following Arose into the house, waving Cathryn after them. Arose explained that he knew a Dog who was an expert in mental connections that they should consult first. He brought them down to the tunnels below the house, taking them to the portal station, and into the City. Cathryn's eyes practically popped out of her skull as she walked from an underground platform and into an open air courtyard.

"This- this- this-" She began to stammer as she looked around, looking at the sunless sky, the weird mix of architecture, the few unleashed Beasts walking around with the humans. Any hint of doubt she'd been holding onto was blown out the window.

"You okay?" Andrew asked.

"I- I- I-" Cathryn began, before pausing and taking a deep breath. "I-I'll be fine. Just… just give me a second." Andrew nodded, and they waited for a bit while Cathryn collected herself. A moment later, she took another deep breath and nodded, indicating that she was ready to continue.

Arose led them out of the courtyard, winding a complex passage through the streets, before reaching a small house by the edge of the City with a very nice lawn full of various plants that bloomed beautifully. Arose knocked on the front door, grinning widely as a beautiful woman opened the door. "Ertemis! It's so- oof!" He began, before the woman slapped him in the face, hard.

"Arose!" The woman, Ertemis, growled through clenched teeth. "What did I say about setting your perverted feet on my property!"

Arose coughed as he rubbed his cheek. "I have a good reason! Look, I brought our grandson!"

Ertemis paused, turning to look at Andrew. "Oh, Andrew! It is you! How good to see you, come on in!" She waved him and Cathryn inside cheerfully. Arose moved to follow, before Ertemis turned back, fixing him with a hard glare. "You stay out here!" She growled, before slamming the door.

Ertemis led Andrew and Cathryn into a small sitting room with a wall full of portraits, a mix of over fifty paintings and modern pictures all jumbled together, all showing faces of different people, including one of Andrew from his last school picture. "My descendants." Ertemis commented proudly, gesturing for them to take a seat. "So, what brings you by? It must have been pretty important for the old ape to risk coming here."

Andrew nodded slightly, before explaining what had happened. "So, Grandpa thought you'd be able to figure out what was going on, since it's a mental connection issue. Though, he didn't say he'd be bringing us to see you… he just said he knew an expert." Andrew finished.

Ertemis snorted. "Of course he did. That incorrigible Monkey is always trying to pull some sort of prank." She grumbled, before sighing and waving the two closer. "Come on then, let me see what's going on between you two. While the ape may be deserving of a few swift strikes to the kidney, he doesn't lie. You'd be hard pressed to find a better expert on mental connections than I."

Ertemis placed her hands on both of their foreheads, closing her eyes as she focused on sensing the connection between them, examining it. Slowly, she began to frown, and as time passed, her frown grew deeper and deeper, until she pulled back, looking between Andrew and Cathryn with a strange look. "You… what's the relationship between the two of you?"

Andrew frowned. "Uh, nothing? I mean, we just go to the same school, so we kind of know each other-"

"You don't even know each other?!?" Arose exclaimed, popping out from behind a small bookshelf.

"How dare you-" Ertemis began, before pausing and collecting herself. "I'll deal with you later." She growled, giving Arose a glare that made him gulp nervously, before turning back to Andrew. "You're saying the two of you had absolutely no connection before this, yes? You were just two people who vaguely knew of each other's existence?"

"Essentially? Why?" Andrew nodded.

"Well, it isn't unheard of for two people to develop a bond in stressful situations, particularly with the addition of strong emotions, but… for a bond like this to form between two people who've barely interacted with each other…" Ertemis muttered as she looked them over again.

"What's so special about this bond?" Andrew asked curiously, looking over at Cathryn with a frown. As far as he could tell, they just shared some thoughts, and only when they concentrated. It didn't seem to be anything special.

"This bond… no, it's more of a binding. You two aren't just connected mentally, but emotionally, spiritually, physically… At every level possible, you are connected. Most of all, your lives are connected. If one of you dies, so does the other. Conversely, if one of you lives, the other will live as well. It's so deep that even attempting to cut it could endanger both of your lives. It's strange… it's actually very similar to the bond shared by the Bonded." Ertemis explained with a strange look between the two.

"Bonded?" Andrew asked curiously. "Like, Beast Bonded?" Andrew looked over at Cathryn again, then back to Ertemis, raising an eyebrow. "Like, she's my Beast now?"

Ertemis coughed slightly. "If it is a bond like that, it's more likely to be the other way around."

Andrew's eyes widened. "I'm her Beast?!? How? She- she isn't even- where would it- just- just how?!?"

Ertemis shook her head. "I don't know. These spontaneous bonds are mysterious even when they are superficial, let alone one this deep. I could almost explain it if you two had been dating or shared a similarly deep relationship… maybe she's somehow managed to awaken a part of Long's power? Or tapped into the ancient ritual that created us to spontaneously form a Bond with a new Beast? She is descended from us just as much as you are. It wouldn't be that surprising. If you think about it, you share more with a Beast than a Bonded. For a human to encounter an unbound Beast, that wouldn't immediately kill them… maybe there are more humans like her out there, and we just never know, because the conditions for their activation are so unlikely, it never happens." Ertemis muttered, practically rambling as she thought through the possible scenarios. Ertemis paused, looking over at Cathryn, who'd been spending most of this conversation looking nervous and confused. "My dear, if you could, would you try calling Andrew?"

Cathryn looked startled at her sudden question. "Uh, I don't-" She turned to Andrew. "What did she just ask me?"

Andrew paused, his eyes widening. Right, they were speaking in Outerwords. Cathryn hadn't understood any of this. "Uh… shit, I forgot you don't actually- Grandma, can you speak English?" He asked, turning to her with a frown.

"No, but that shouldn't be an issue." She commented, waving her hand. "Can you understand me now?" Cathryn nodded. "Good. Now, could you try calling Andrew?"

"C-call?" She stammered, looking over at Andrew. "B-but he's right there…"

Ertemis smiled, shaking her head. "Not like that. Bonded can call Beasts into themselves, keeping them in a sort of pocket dimension where they can rest and heal. It'd be the best way to confirm the nature of this bond."

"I could attempt it." Andrew interjected. "I at least know the theory."

"Not everything is about you, Andrew. What if this child runs into danger? She needs to be able to call you at a moment's notice, not wait for you to figure out something is wrong on your own. Her life is connected to yours now. If she dies, so do you." Ertemis explained.

Andrew's eyes widened. "You should try calling me." He commented, turning to Cathryn.

"H-how?" Cathryn asked nervously, still not quite sure what was going on. She'd been kind of following the conversation through her connection with Andrew, but she only got the gist of it. She knew there was something up with the connection, that it was deeper than they'd thought and it would be dangerous to cut it, but not much else.

Andrew paused. "It's hard to explain… Basically, it's like pulling in a limb you don't have, supposedly. You kinda just have to feel around for it."

Cathryn frowned, before taking a deep breath, trying to feel for this so-called 'extra limb'. Nothing happened for a few minutes, until suddenly Andrew felt a tentative tugging sensation, something that pulled at the core of his very being. He frowned, actually sensing his aura. It was literally tugging at the core of his being! Tugging at his cores! A tiny, practically invisible thread, that Andrew would never have noticed if it wasn't literally pulling at him.

Suddenly the tug became more insistent and Andrew turned to smoke, flowing into Cathryn's body, leaving a pile of clothes on the floor. He entered into a space of nothingness, disconnected from everything. He sensed he could leave the space at any time, emerging back into the world next to Cathryn, but he didn't focus on that. Instead, he focused on Cathryn, and the weird state he shared with her. Currently, it was like he was riding in her head as a passenger, seeing everything she saw, hearing what she heard, and even listening to her thoughts as she thought them.

Cathryn's thoughts were currently a jumbled mess as she tried to process Andrew's disappearing act. What- what just happened?!? Why had Andrew disappeared!?! Where had he gone?!?

*I'm right here.* Andrew announced.

Cathryn let out a panicked shriek, looking around. "Wh-where are you?!? Stop hiding!"

*I'm literally inside you- uh, that didn't sound as dirty in my head… well, your head, technically. Wait, no, hold on… yeah, I still have my head. My head is just in your head. Not important. Wait… what was I trying to say again? Right! I'm in your head. That's it.* Andrew's voice rambled along inside her mind, his awkward, stumbling thought process strangely calming her down.

*It's okay, it's okay, he's just in my head…* Cathryn trailed off, eyes widening.

*Yeah, that doesn't sound all that okay to me either.* Andrew sighed. *Uh, I should get out, but… well, as you can see, I didn't exactly bring my clothes in here, so… I'll be naked. How you want to deal with that is up to you.*

"Well… it seems you are indeed Bonded with my grandson…" Ertemis commented thoughtfully, looking Cathryn up and down.

"Y-yeah…" Cathryn's face flushed as she looked around for a private place for him to come out. "Is- is there a bathroom I can use?" She asked Ertemis.

Ertemis cocked her head in confusion, before gesturing to a room down the hall. "Second door on the right." She replied. Cathryn nodded, her flush deepening as she gathered up Andrew's clothes. "Oh ho! Is my grandson shy?" Ertemis commented with a grin as she realized why Cathryn had asked for a bathroom.

Cathryn froze, not sure how to respond. *Hey, this is all you. I'm perfectly comfortable with my natural form.* Andrew commented from inside her head.

Ertemis snickered. "Go along, don't mind me. I'm sure you two have much to discuss." She waved Cathryn down the hall. She watched her skitter away with a grin, before turning towards where Arose had been standing, her gaze hardening. "Now, what to d-" She trailed off as she found the area empty. "You damn Monkey!" She yelled, searching through the room for the man she knew was hiding somewhere.