Lies. They weren't something I was accustomed to. Sure, I roleplayed a lot, and playing the part of someone else was like lying but doing it intentionally to deceive. Yeah, that wasn't in my experience pool.

Was Kumo really sentient? He seemed as lucid and focused as the Zix had been

I had selfish motivations to get out of the test server. If I were to tell the developers Kumo couldn't leave without me, I would also end up trapped. The last thing I wanted was to be stuck in such a small space.

How would I convince them to do it if they didn't need to transfer me to the live servers for the backup? I suggested the swap earlier to get more of my functions back, but they said my Zix managed those.

A small gust of wind pressed past me, causing my hair to sway, sending strands into my face.

Autumn sat beside me, let go of one of my hands, and brushed the locs from my brow.

Kevin took a seat across from us as most of the developers backed away.

Ellen didn't bother moving. She continued leaning on her bear, typing on a virtual keyboard at lightning speed. I’d never seen anyone's fingers go that fast. I wondered if she was supposed to stay near me.

The other devs grouped up as their Zix’s stares lingered on me. Since I could see all of the Zix, I wondered what I should call them. Did Zix have individual names? I’d never thought to name mine, and I know my parents never gave theirs a name either.

I can still see you. I said to the Zix.

Did you hear that? the bear said.

The snake untangled itself from Jason's arm and launched itself from his shoulder. It landed next to the bear.

The turtle slowly made its way toward us. I heard her.

I heard both of you, I said.

The snake disappeared behind the bear and its head peeked over its shoulder.

Zix the turtle walked directly up to me. Azerail, why can you hear us?

How am I supposed to know? I said. Why can you hear me?

Snake Zix ducked its head behind the bear, and a barely audible voice said, We aren’t sssharing ourssselvesss with her.

I’d heard of kids having Zix parties but was never invited to one while growing up. Darryl was my oldest friend. Julia and Aaron were more recent additions. Because we traveled so often, I lost more friends than I made. Jakson and Pilynn were my only remaining long-distance friends.

Do you have names besides Zix? I asked.

I’m Zix, the three of them chorused.

Perhaps I'd have to give them nicknames. What do kids call you at Zix parties?

“You look really intense, Azerail,” Mom said.

Zix, the Zix replied.

I sighed. “I'm just thinking,” I said, which was technically true since I was engaged in a mental conversation with the Zix.

Calling them all Zix didn't make sense, so I decided to use their species as if it were their name.

You're sentient, aren't you? I asked them.

Bear and turtle shared a glance.

Bear's voice grumbled as it spoke. We are seventh-generation LLMs and are not senti—

I know what you did to The Remnant, I interrupted it.

Bear immediately disappeared, causing Ellen to fall to the ground. Snake quickly slinked behind Ellen.

“Zix, where'd you go?” Ellen said.

Turtle shook and slowly backed away. W-we didn't do anything to the—

Ssste— The Remnant deserved it! Snake said as its little head popped out from behind Ellen.

Turtle stopped and glared at Snake. Then spun its gaze back at me. You don’t know anything.

Kumo told me, I said.

Autumn put a hand on my shoulder. “Is your Zix back?”

“No,” I said while shaking my head.

“Who are you talking to then? Did you get access to more of your menu?” she asked.

I tended to make faces when talking to my Zix, and she must have noticed.

Damn.

Autumn did have a point, though so I checked my menu. My Inventory and a few others were lit up. The stats screen and skills options were now available. That meant the only in-game ones left to fix were spells, combines, and options. Seeing the combine option made me think about my missing drain skill which led me to wrack my brain for a skill and spell combination I could use to get the same effect.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

All of the out-of-game selections were still grayed out.

“And that’s the look you get when you’re thinking of your Narrative Design,” Mom said. “What are you doing, Az?

Without my Zix’s access to the Bases, I would have to find a different way to get a list of all the skills and their descriptions. “That Drain skill is missing, so I’m trying to figure out how to remake the ability but…” I opened my skills menu and browsed through it.

“But you don’t have access to the InfoBases,” Ellen completed my thought.

I nodded. “What she said.” None of my skills were going to help create the new one.

Then I remembered my conversation with the Zix and, when I looked up, they were nowhere to be seen. They had probably retreated to their implants.

“Do you know if they made it to the hospital yet, Mom?” I asked.

She looked at me and then down at her hands. It blurred for a moment and then split in two. One hand stayed where it was, and the other pinched its fingers together. Her interface popped up, as the other arm diverged into two, and one navigated her menu.

It took me a moment to understand what was going on. Mom was using the AI-assisted movement hiding tech.

I'd learned about it from her, so it wasn't surprising that she used it, but I wasn't prepared for her to sprout two other arms. Did that mean I could see when people separated from their bodies too? I was tempted to use Undead Domination to test it out. What intrigued me more was my ability to hear the Zix. Did this mean I could listen in on other people's conversations with them?

A few dozen windows popped up on my mom’s interface then disappeared as her Zix completed whatever task she needed her to do. Which meant she was communicating with her, and I couldn’t hear the conversation.

I wondered if NPC shamblers looked different compared to players—yet another reason to get to the live servers.

I sighed. “Have you set up your Zix yet, Kevin?”

Autumn’s Zix generally took the shape of a Dolphin. I wondered if any of them took human form. Kumo called them a butler which kind of made sense since they were generally helpful.

“Not yet, you said you would create it with me,” he said.

“Mom, could you ask Dr. Stevens to send scans of everyone to the Devs so we don’t have to look like shamblers?” I said.

I didn’t mind looking like a shambler. Just then, I remembered something vital. “Jason,” I said. “Could you share your vision modification for shamblers with me?”

He turned. “My what?”

“When playing a shambler my vision changes and it doesn’t hurt my eyes as much,” I said.

Half a dozen windows were spread out before him. “I’ll get Alec and Florence on it.”

“Did you ever try using sunglasses?” Ellen suggested.

Sunglasses helped, however, they also made me stand out and I didn’t like the attention.

“She did, but she didn’t like how they made her look,” Autumn said. Another set of windows popped up in front of my mom and then disappeared.

Wait, I don’t see the menus when my Zix uses programs for me!

What the heck was happening to me? Seeing people's Zix and menus could be advantageous but it felt like I was invading their space somehow.

I'd done my fair share of gazing but it was usually to see a live event from someone's perspective.

Gazers, on the other hand, tended to watch the more mundane aspects of people's lives. Some would even go as far as to have their Zix narrate what they were seeing.

Zix narration wasn't uncommon but a gazer lurking in your vision could be a little creepy, which is why most of them didn't watch live feeds. Or they were your parents and you couldn't tell they were observing. Either way, seeing what would normally be private interactions with their interface felt weird.

Kevin sat patiently his leg bones crossed beneath him. Seeing him as a skeleton turned me off a little. I doubted my looking like a shambler helped his perception of me.

He’d been sitting near us with a single window open for a while now.

I scooted next to him which put my back to the devs. “Let's make your Zix.”

A part of me was interested to see what his would look like.

“If I touch you in the game will it still share my window?” he asked.

I offered him my hand. “Let’s try.”

His glowing blue eyes stared at me for a moment before he took hold of it.

Nothing changed for me. I could still see his interface.

“Do you see it?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I responded.

The window in front of him was a normal menu a few sub-windows deep into the settings. Kevin placed a finger over a ‘create’ button, took in a breath, and paused.

I glanced at him. Facial features from a skeleton were hard to read. To give him encouragement I squeezed his hand.

“Okay, here we go,” he said then tapped the button. His interface disappeared. “What do—”

A spec of light zoomed past, circling behind us only to stop in front of Kevin. It pulsed causing the shadows behind us to shift.

“Hello?” Kevin asked.

My mom faced us. “It can take a while to load on the first run.”

The light dimmed and brightened.

Kevin leaned toward it and it spun. No, something inside of it did. Black dots thrashed about the center as the mote grew.

Kevin and I closed in on it, our heads nearly touching.

“That things strange ain't it,” a high-pitched voice said, making us jump.

In front of Kevin sat a translucent ferret. It was as long as my arm with spotted white and brown fur.

The ferret lept into the air and landed on the ball of light.

Mom covered her mouth stifling a laugh. She apparently had experience with new Zixes.

The Zix’s whiskers twitched. “I think I'm too late. My human died.”

Kevin looked down at his skeletal hands. “We’re playing a game.”

I'd never seen a Zix be so feisty.

“Who’s this young lady?” Zix asked.

“I’m Azerail,” I said.

Zix sat up straight, its little front paws dangled in front of it. “You're less dead than that one at least.”

“They are a lot of fun when they are new,” Mom said. “They mellow out after a few days of being connected to the network though.”

The light below the ferret flattened into a disc and slowly shrank. Zix got on all fours and backed up. When it got close to the edge it changed directions.

Suddenly, the disc tilted as if gravity had been switched on. The ferret fell, and Kevin’s hand darted under it. The Zix stopped in mid-air about ten centimeters from his hand. Its little legs flailed in the air.

Then the glowing disc fell into Zix and it absorbed the light causing it to glow brighter. One of the ferret's feet caught an invisible surface and it hung from one paw. Another of its flailing legs hit something solid, and it pulled itself forward.

I smiled. My Zix never did anything like this or I didn’t remember it acting this way.

Before I knew what was happening, the ferret zoomed through the air leaving little glowing footprints as it dashed around us.

I nudged Kevin. “It can hear your thoughts, so you—”

“She!” the Zix said as she zoomed past me.

“You can have conversations with her without talking,” I finished.

A notification went off on my mom's interface, and I turned to look at her. I wasn't surprised when she said, “Azerail.”

The ferret stopped and stared at me. “You heard that too?”

I nodded.

“Your body has arrived at the hospital,” Mom said.

***