Jennifer Edwards reached for one of the boxes before her and paused as Doctor Stevens uttered, “Eat over the tray please.”

“The bots are going to clean up in here anyway,” Jennifer joked.

Doctor Stevens grumbled. “I don't want to walk in burger scraps for the rest of the day.”

They were in an examination room with a steel table between them. On the table were a plain-looking sword and two trays piled with boxes labeled ‘Sal’s’.

Jennifer flinched as the doctor poked at the nub where her left arm used to be.

“I still can't believe that thing did this to you,” Doctor Stevens commented. “Digital entities aren't supposed to be able to affect us on such a scale.”

It certainly wasn't the weirdest thing Jennifer had seen but it didn't change how terrified she was.

She sighed, grabbed a burger, slid the tray under her face, and took a bite.

“Molly, if you're going to spy on us at least have the decency to be quiet while doing so,” Doctor Stevens said.

Jennifer hadn't heard anything.

Molly materialized next to them. “That's a lot of burgers.”

“You're probably going to need more than that to grow it back completely,” Doctor Stevens said.

Jennifer nodded. “This’ll at least restore up to my elbow.”

“Bone is much harder to replace than soft tissue. You should probably take it easy for a while,” Doctor Stevens suggested.

Take it easy? She wouldn't be able to rest with that horror on the loose.

“We were lucky that you were the only one injured,” he continued then turned to Molly. “That was quick thinking Molly, threatening it with that sword.”

Molly shrugged. “It was the only weapon I could find.”

Several things bothered Jennifer about the situation. First was how that creature had tricked her into thinking it was her daughter.

She was convinced that it was a digital replica of Azerail until it changed into a spider and attacked her. It wasn't often that she was wrong about something that important.

Second was why the monster was so terrified of a simple AR sword.

Arackulous can you take over and eat for me? I’m too distracted to do it myself, Jennifer asked.

Without a response, her Zix took control of her body.

Doctor Stevens sighed as he finished examining Jennifer's arm. “Nothing else I can do for you.” He turned to Molly. “Want to rewatch what happened with us?”

The little girl nodded.

“Luckily I was still recording after that thing touched Azerail and flew against the wall,” he said.

There were cameras in the room they could have gotten a point of view from but a lower perspective was much better. That and he wasn't stuck behind Autumn like the rest of them.

***

They were suddenly in Azerail’s room in the comatose ward.

“Are they talking to each other?” Molly asked.

Jennifer nodded. “It did say, “What do I do?” but why would that thing ask Raccoon that.”

Raccoon's little mouth moved as if he were talking.

Molly had spent a lot of time with this Azerail over the past three days and it didn't seem like she was interacting with a monster. She seemed the same as the first day she met her. Molly was skeptical about the whole situation. Something wasn't right.

“Can you have your Zix look at Raccoon's mouth and see if it can decipher what he is saying?” Molly asked Jennifer.

“Reverse to the beginning of the conversation and replay it,” Jennifer said.

The scene repeated itself.

“My Zix said he's stuttering too much to tell,” Jennifer said.

“Mine too,” Doctor Stevens chimed in.

Molly wished she had a Zix. “I guess we should just watch the rest?”

Doctor Stevens and Jennifer nodded.

“Resume,” Jennifer said.

Azerail and Raccoon finished their conversation and Azerail's Fox shaped sword appeared on her hip. She pulled it pulled from her side—

“Pause,” Jennifer commanded.

The scene stilled and then reversed to the moment when she interrupted.

Molly watched as Doctor Stevens walked up to Azerail.

The Doctor kneeled and examined the sword in Azerail's hand. “The sword looks like her Zix. The fox one.”

“You should have seen what it looked like originally,” Molly said.

Jennifer and Doctor Stevens turned to her.

She’d seen what a fully charged Kumo’s Fang looked like. She was there the day Azerail took out Koffer and the Elven sing-swords. “It had sharp fangs on the hilt. It floated around and glowed.”

“Autumn told me about that. She said it stabbed Azerail’s Zix and swapped places with the spider.” Jennifer said.

Molly shrugged. “It’s probably the same sword.”

“I’m betting it is and that spider didn’t want to get trapped in it again,” Jennifer deduced.

Who knew? Not Molly. “W-where's Raccoon though? Shouldn’t he have swapped places with Azerail’s Zix?”

Raccoon had sent Doctor Stevens a new modification to help Molly with her—

“Resume playback,” Jennifer said.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Azerail whispered something and then stabbed Raccoon.

Molly closed her eyes and covered her ears as Raccoon screamed. Virtual tears drizzled down her cheeks. She hated hearing it again, especially with how close she had gotten to him.

She only opened her eyes again when someone put a hand on her shoulder.

It was Doctor Stevens.

“It’s okay, Molly,” he said.

Jennifer stepped forward. “I want to see what happened when that thing showed its true self.”

“Wait!” Molly yelled.

Everyone's eyes were on her.

“What did she say?” Molly asked.

Doctor Stevens removed his hand and stood up. “What do you mean?”

“Azerail said something before she stabbed…” Molly swallowed and pointed at the half-fox and Raccoon amalgamation.

Jennifer squinted and pinched her fingers together. “Reverse again and mute.”

This time Molly rushed up and got as close to Azerail as possible. “Play.”

Molly watched intently as Azerail mouthed the words “Forgive me.”

“Pause,” Jennifer said.

Doctor Stevens grunted and shook his head. “It looks like she said she was sorry.”

“To me too,” Molly agreed.

Jennifer shook her head. “Why would it care if Raccoon was stabbed?”

Something was wrong and Molly had to find out what. “Let's watch the rest.”

“Resume playback, and unmute after the scream,” Doctor Stevens said.

Azerail let go of the sword, stepped back, and watched Raccoon’s transformation into a fox.

When the change was complete the fox Zix said, “Ms Azerail? You're…” and jumped on the bed when she didn't respond.

Then comatose Azerail sat up and her parents screeched and cried with joy.

Molly could only hear them because she was solely focused on the clone Azerail.

“Oh God,” Molly said.

Azerail's expression was that of someone who had just watched a family member die. The pure devastation in her eyes was heart-wrenching.

Flashbacks of a car accident when she was young played back in her head. She remembered shaking her mom on the shoulder trying to get her to wake up. Her father had been flung from the vehicle. Then an explosion sent her flying into the air and she felt mind-wracking pain.

Molly imagined that's how her face looked when she lost her mom.

The scene had paused and Jennifer had closed in on the girl. “She looks…” A tear fell from Jennifer's eye and she wiped it away. “It's good at faking emotions.”

Playback resumed.

“Moms,” Azerail said as she reached for them.

Molly couldn't watch the next part, it was too painful. Azerail had two mom's and seeing them yell like that was too much to bear.

It was only when Azerail fell to the ground grabbing at her skull that she looked back at the scene.

A small hairpin fell from her hands and skittered to the ground. Neither Doctor Stevens or Jennifer seemed to notice.

“Pause,” Molly said and pointed. “Do you guys see that?”

“See what?” Jennifer asked.

Doctor Stevens shook his head. “I don't see anything. Perhaps it's an artifact? These VR videos still haven't been perfected.

“It's a hairpin, with a skull and a…” Molly leaned in closer. “And an insect leg.”

Jennifer looked dubious. “I don't see anything.”

“Resume,” Molly said.

Tears drizzled from Azerail's eyes and she grabbed the hairpin wincing in pain as she did. She then whispered the words, “I love you.” and stabbed herself in the chest with it.

The transformation happened just like with the Zix. Azerail's arms and legs transformed first turning into spindly silver spider legs. Two more legs erupted from her back as her stomach inflated into the fore and aft sections of a spider's body. Her chest and head shrank into it and the hairpin fell to the ground.

Molly exited the VRV and ran out of the examination room. She dashed through the winding halls till she reached the comatose ward. She stopped in front of Azerail's room. They'd made a placard with her name on it.

She walked through the door into the darkness. “Lights.”

The area lit up and a chaotic scene appeared around her. Several of the walls were scarred with rips and tears. Azerail's bed was cut in half.

There was only a surprisingly small amount of Jennifer's blood on the floor.

Her nanobots had acted quickly.

From there, Molly began her search. In a corner furthest away from the carnage she found what she was looking for.

A small hairpin.

It no longer depicted a skull but a young girl's head with a slightly askew crown gracing her brow.

Molly picked it up and stared at it. “She's still alive.”

***

MOMENTS BEFORE AZERAIL'S TRANSFORMATION.

Kevin Smith dashed around a corner and waited for everyone to get to Azerail's room. He had asked Molly if he could use her room to store something of his in it. She’d agreed.

He patted the keys in his pocket nervously and peeked.

Azerail and her mom walked lovingly together down the hall.

“What are you doing?” came a small voice from his feet.

It startled him, causing him to pull back in surprise. His heart beat rapidly.

“What? Now you want to talk?” Kevin asked.

A small white ferret slinked through his legs. “I'd like to reassess our… friendship.”

Friends, as if they'd ever been friends.

“Ouch, that hurts. But it's a fair assessment,” she said.

Kevin kneeled next to Ferret. “I thought you weren't sentient and weren't going to talk to me?”

“Well, things change. If Raccoon can do it, why can't I?” she asked.

“Whatever,” Kevin said as he stood and glanced around the corner.

It was clear so he turned on privacy mode and dashed down the hall being as quiet as he could. He reached the door labeled ‘George Hastings’, opened it, and walked inside.

Molly had warned him about what he might see when he got there but he wasn't prepared for the horror show before him.

A bald, armless, legless torso lay on a bed under a huge machine. It looked as if its skin had melted, destroying any features that made it even look human. Tubes and wires jutted out from every orifice. One side was so exposed he was sure a bit of the person's spine was showing.

“Holy shit,” Kevin said and blinked a few times. He had a job to do and needed to find that hiding spot.

Kevin examined the bed doing his best to ignore the person lying in it.

A loud thump against the wall startled him. “What the heck is going on in there?”

“I know what you're hiding,” Ferret said as she appeared next to him.

He ignored the Zix and searched for the compartment Molly had described.

Kevin pulled out his keys and used his fingernails to slide the marble-sized cube from the ring. He then stashed the keys back in his pocket.

It was the Q.U.B.E. he'd been hiding from everyone.

Molly said that he would have to get under the bed to stash it but he didn't want to get on his knees so he squatted.

She'd said it would be directly under her so he felt around until he found a small cubby hole and smiled.

He moved the Q.U.B.E. to the hand under the bed and tried to find it again. He was at an odd angle and he lost his balance. The device clicked in his hand when he stumbled. It didn’t matter if it was on or off, he could charge it up again later.

It took a few seconds for him to recover but he stuffed the computer into the slot and backed away.

“Doubt they are going to look here for it,” he said and stood.

A loud scream came from the other room and Kevin ran leaving his precious device behind.

When he got to Azerail's room he paused. Azerail had woken up, but there was a second version of her standing across the room.

What the hell is going on? he repeated.

***

Ferret knew the voice connected to that scream. It was Raccoon.

She had passed through the wall in time to see her friend with a sword stuck in his chest. He began to transform into a fox.

Once the Fox had fully formed she asked, Raccoon?

It ignored her and spoke to Azerail.

When she didn’t respond it hopped away. Ferret ran back through the wall into the other room as Kevin shut off the lights and left.

She curled up into a ball crying. Her friend was gone.

Something flashed and caught her attention. A voice spoke into the room. “Transfer complete.”

What was that? she wondered.

She got up and ran toward the light. It was coming from where Kevin had placed the Q.U.B.E.

It took a bit of doing but she found the compartment. A small visual representation of a Raccoon was on the side of the device.

“He's still alive!” she squeaked.

***