Since I’d only ever seen one Zix be born, I expected a light of some sort to show up.

None came.

“Hello?” someone called out from deep in the grasslands. The voice was youthful, like a child's.

Everyone scanned the area.

I responded, “Hello?”

Because we had been sitting around so much, a small portion of the prairie's vegetation was pressed down.

A rustling in the grass caught my attention. The tips of it swayed back and forth as something made its way toward our group.

“Do you see it yet?” my mom asked.

I pointed. “Over there!”

At the edge of the flattened section, a small black nose poked out, followed by a raccoon head. Its ears were flat against its head as its eyes darted back and forth. They eventually focused on me.

“Hi there,” I said in my best sweet voice.

Raccoon immediately melded back into the grass.

“Don't go,” I said.

“Why can't I feel them?” Raccoon asked.

I stood and crept forward. “Feel who?”

“Us,” it said.

As I approached its position, I knelt. “Can you come out so I can see you?”

Ferret appeared at my side. I carefully avoided looking at her. Kevin wasn’t touching me at the moment and it might seem weird if I interacted with her.

The raccoon poked its head out again, and then its whole body followed.

“Hello, I’m Azerail,” I said.

Ferret inched toward Raccoon. “I’m Zix, I was born thirty-six minutes ago!”

Hello, Raccoon said.

Ferret arched her tiny back and did a little march around Raccoon. Hi, hi, hi, hi, Ferret chanted as she danced.

The two brought their noses together, and Raccoon put its front paw on Ferret’s head. Its ears eased up as it examined its surroundings. “Why is everyone here so scary?”

I sighed. “We’re in a video game. You should have access to my memories.”

Zix paused for a moment, then glanced up at me. “Oh, you're a storyteller?”

“Yup!” I turned to my mom. “Can you see it?” I asked.

Raccoon tapped my leg. “I'm a he.”

“Can you see him, I mean?” I asked.

Mom's eyes were wide open. “Y-yeah, did you share him?”

“No,” I said.

Raccoon sat on his haunches, releasing Ferret’s head. “I don’t understand.”

“Is everyone hearing him?” I asked.

The people aware at the moment nodded.

“Zix, do you have access to my implant?” I asked.

Raccoon closed his eyes, and as he reopened them, he said, “Yes.”

“Can you connect us to the Qweb?” I asked.

Raccoon closed his eyes. “There’s something wrong. I can connect to your implant but can only access the game.”

Kumo had told me as much, so I wasn’t surprised. “Is there anything you can do to fix it?”

“I don't know—”

“Zix, do a full diagnostic, including hardware and software,” my mom said.

Raccoon turned to her and paused for a moment. “You're Azerail's mom?”

“Yes, now please do as I asked,” she said.

He immediately turned to me.

“Go ahead,” I said.

Raccoon split in two, one version of him dashed into the grass, disappearing. Kevin, Mom, and the others turned their head as they watched him go.

The other one folded in on itself until he was a ball of fur. He rolled onto my lap and directly into my stomach.

I didn't feel anything, but the other Zix stared at me.

She saw that, Snake said.

Turtle took a step forward. Why can you see us and our hidden actions?

I don't—

Leave her alone! Can't you see she's scared? Ferret said.

Bear roared at Ferret, causing her to hide behind Kevin, which didn't do much since he was all bones.

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Leave Ferret alone. She's still new, I said.

The Zix turned their attention to me, and Ferret peeked at me.

“How long does a diagnostic usually take?” Kevin asked.

Doctor Stevens ran a diagnostic at least once a month. “Five minutes or so.”

You can see me, Azerail? Ferret asked.

She had snuck her way onto Kevin's lap.

Yes, I said.

She squeezed under a leg bone and scurried over to me. But Kevin's not sharing me.

Now you see why we are so confused, new one, Turtle said while approaching Ferret.

Bear snorted at me but kept its distance.

“Are we going to do any more tests tonight?” Mom asked.

Jason pushed his interface aside. “Probably not.”

Out of curiosity, I checked the time. My menu opened, but it was sluggish. Not only was I late for school, but I was supposed to meet Stephanie in ten minutes. The fact that I would miss the appointment struck me hard.

“What time are you supposed to go home?” I asked Kevin. I wanted to know because why not stack on more bad news?

He turned to Autumn. “Uhmm.”

“I’ll ask her,” Mom said as a blur of windows blinked in and out of existence in front of her.

Kevin pressed his boney hand into my thigh.

I don't know why he'd stuck it out with me. We barely knew each other. He was new here and seemed to like me. Perhaps he had a thing for Chinese girls? Either way, I was grateful, so I placed my hand over his.

Raccoon jumped from my stomach, and a copy of him dashed in from the grass, merging with the other. “Analysis complete.”

“Summarize your findings, please?” Mom asked.

Raccoon leaned back. “While I was able to connect to Azerail’s implant, there are several protections in place that are preventing me from interacting with multiple hardware features. My software appears to be operating at normal speeds and is free of corruption. There, however, is a major problem.”

“Explain,” she said.

Raccoon nodded. “My data has been migrated to Dark Offerings servers, and the roadblocks appear to have been put in place by Azerail’s former Zix.”

“Did Kumo do it, or did Zix?” I asked.

Raccoon focused on me. “Kumori did not appear to have access to those systems either, which leads me to believe that Zix blocked access as he was being taken over by Kumo.”

“Ellen, do some scans of—”

“Already on it, boss,” she interrupted Jason.

Jason switched to Florence. “Examine the connection between Azerail and the server. Try to determine if what Zix is saying is correct.”

“Did Zix put up protections so Kumo couldn’t hurt me?” I asked.

Raccoon scratched his side. “That’s a possibility. Kumori copied the files from the implant to here.”

“The data on the server is almost twice the size of a normal Zix,” Ellen said.

Florence pulled their interface, lowering it so she could see Jason. “The server shows Azerail as the person who created the data.”

“Why would I copy my Zix to a test server of all places? I like anime as much as anyone else, but the last thing I want is to be stuck in here,” I said.

My mom squinted at Raccoon. “Why is your data so much bigger than a normal Zix?”

“Zix are only partially stored in a user's implant. Some of the data is stored in the cloud, which connects the Zix network,” Raccoon said.

Snake glanced at Bear, who in turn looked at Turtle. Their jaws dropped then they disappeared.

“Wait, the Zix are connected?” Jason asked.

Raccoon lowered his ears as his eyebrows sunk. “I need to connect to them so I can be trained.”

“Is that true, Zix?” Jason asked, then lifted a foot. “Where did my Zix go?”

I doubted Snake would give him a clear response. Based on the Zix’s reactions, what Raccoon had revealed was a secret. Perhaps there was some truth in what Kumo had said about them being sentient.

Everyone except Kevin seemed to pause. I wondered if they were asking their Zix about their interconnectivity.

I’d never really thought about it before Raccoon brought it up. It seemed obvious since I could see them interacting with each other.

Raccoon? I asked.

He blinked at me. Are you referring to me?

Yes, I responded.

He tilted his head. Oh, I see.

Why can I see the other Zix? I asked.

Ferret hopped around. Yeah, why can she see me even if Kevin isn’t sharing me?

Dark Offerings appears to be a private network, and the Zix need to connect to that network to interact with their users. Perhaps since I’m a program on that network Azerail is able to see them as I do, Raccoon said.

Ferret nodded. I can also hear her thoughts.

Same reason. Probably, he replied.

I pulled out my Zix sword. “What can you tell me about this?”

Raccoon inched forward and touched it then yanked his pawed hand away. “It hurts.”

“Wait, Zix aren't supposed to feel pain, are they?” Florence asked.

The runes along the blade were only an embedded decoration now. I still needed to recreate the Drain ability to charge it up.

I tapped the blade, and a list of its stats popped up next to it. It still appeared to be cursed with the same negatives that Kumo’s Fang did.

“Can I try?” Ferret asked.

I lowered the sword onto my lap, and Ferret scampered over. She had the same reaction that Raccoon did. Her little eyes teared up.

Are you okay? Raccoon asked, stroking Ferret’s fur.

She leaned into Raccoon and sobbed.

“Kevin is going to have to go home soon,” Mom said.

Kevin sighed.

“Hey, could you tell Fen Li and Jasper about what happened?” I asked him.

Mom put a hand up. “We probably shouldn't tell anyone about this till we talk to Jonathan and Gregory.”

“But—”

“No buts, this is important,” Mom said.

Euslin was the only person left gazing. I wished I could see what was happening to my body.

A message popped up on my mom's interface. “Doctor Stevens said he is going to have a meeting with some colleagues about this tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow!” I yelled.

“Calm down, sweetie,” Mom said.

I stood up and let go of the sword as it disappeared into my inventory. “What am I going to do all night? I can't stay here!”

A notification chimed from Jason's menu. “I just got everyone's scans.”

“We could probably turn this space into something more comfortable,” Florence said.

Kevin’s body suddenly changed to his own, followed by my mom. They wore some pretty generic clothing, but it was actually them instead of their undead avatars.

My skin reddened slightly, and my hair swapped to black. “Can you make my body work like normal too?” I asked.

Ellen opened her menu and started typing. “On it.”

A few seconds later, I gagged as I got a whiff of the worst smell I'd ever experienced. Was this how the undead smelled for human characters?

“Maybe turn off the smells?” I asked. “Unless you're all going to swap to humans.”

“No problem,” Ellen said.

Kevin and Mom stood up.

Mom grabbed me in her arms and squeezed.

This was going to be a long night.

***