Route of Chill Circumstance part 1:

**Route of Chill Circumstances**

I feel something tugging away from within me towards my broken phone, towards Vixi's prone position near that phone, mingling with her own spaghettification somehow. I simultaneously feel even closer to death's door, yet energized, safe, protected. Vixi's form elongates, it glows as more bits and bytes swirl around her. It seems as if time has stopped for everyone but the two of us. For some reason, the whole world looks a bit greener, everything is slightly more vibrant for some reason, and overgrown, I could have sworn this path was well-trimmed. Actually, what in all the hells happened to the city? The, the high-rises are in shambles! Have kaijus been rampaging all over the city in the few minutes I've been getting my arse kicked?

Vixi's shouting something, but I can't make it out. It almost sounds like Shinka, then evolve, didge-evolve? Digi volve?

I can't help but blinking and averting my gaze as Vixi's form becomes brighter yet still, blindingly so. As it begins to dim, where once lay Vixi, now stands a bipedal fox woman wearing bracers, or perhaps armguards. I worry that I've lost my new friend, only to now have two creatures ready to slay me. I'd almost be convinced of my doom, but the fox woman's color pattern, her sly grin my way, and her stance of readiness towards Kabuterijerk all scream that this is somehow still Vixi.

Is this what she meant by wanting me to call her Rena by as early as tomorrow? Was she going to go through a literal metamorphosis? Was she some kind of tadpole of her species? I guess in various roleplaying games, sometimes a character gets a powerup with a form-change. Or they're replaced by an entirely different creature, still keeping their spot in your party. Various spirits, demons, devils, mitamas, personas, yokai, x-mons and the like. But we've ruled out me being in some sort of full-dive videogame. There's no UI, no way to log out, and the pain is far too immense to have even made it to a beta stage. No wonder Maple puts all her points into defense though.

Wasn't there an old cartoon, or anime, that had a fairly similar premise? I suppose the various sentai and mahou series, but something more specific. It's so hard to think after having had my skull caved in and having lost so much blood. Now probably isn't the time to be thinking about pop culture. Time begins to unfreeze, and the being that I suspect to be Vixi launches her assault on Kabuterijerk.

The bipedal fox shouts a series of words that I don't understand, or have any context for. Her shouts are something to the effect of, "toe-hock-ken, shoe-da, susan, coke-eyesh-u, co-sen-gecky, co-ren-kyock-u!"

With each shout, she produces either a mystical effect, or series of blows against the oncoming monstrous insect. By the third strike she's ended up dazing it and knocking it aside into Founder's Rock which splits with a loud crack. By the fifth shout, she's pummeling Kabuterijerk into the ancient boulder utilizing a rapid series of attacks faster than my eyes can keep pace with. Now Kabuterijerk is the one surrounded by floating glowing polygons and ones and zeroes. That, that can't be good. If he grows proportionately the way Vixi did, we're freaking doomed.

I summon up the last of my life force, what little strength I have remaining, and limp towards what I hope is my friend Vixi. She seems too absorbed in pummeling Kabuterijerk to notice either me, or the insect's current state. I wrap an arm around her waist and tug with all my remaining might, dragging her away from what I'm sure is about to be her doom. Leaping over the edge of the cliff, I make certain I'm on the bottom, hoping to absorb the fall, so that she can finally flee this conflict.

I whisper, "Thank you, for trying to save me. Sorry I didn't make it."

Gulping down a sob, I prepare for the imminent impact when I hear, "Jaku? We'll get you fixed. It's okay. I've got you now." She wraps one arm around me, and I'd swear our descent slows to a crawl as I hear the sound of incredibly loud scraping as of claws digging into stone. I hear the loud impact of her somehow simultaneously soft yet forceful landing, and she springs right back up to the trail I'd just jumped off of. I'm bewildered and dismayed. I hear a loud shattering noise from atop the cliff's edge, but when we crest the rise, Kabuterijerk is nowhere to be found.

My rescuer stops to scoop my broken phone for some reason, and plays with its blackened screen. Suddenly the vibrance and overgrowth that had washed over everything recedes. The high-rises return from their destroyed, dilapidated states, and even Founder's Rock returns to its un-cracked magnificence. I blink rapidly, too weak to rub my eyes to try to discern what I'm seeing. Did we just travel in time? Twice?

I see glowing digits and polygons flowing between the fingertips of my rescuer, and my ruined phone, and it's almost as if she's operating it, despite the screen being destroyed. I'm sure the mobo on it is relatively intact, as is the battery, but what on Earth is she up to? Suddenly, carrying me under one arm, she springs northwards at an incredible pace. Oddly, on a direct route to Balthazar Clinic, if my mind's eye recalls the gmap of our city correctly.

Did she look up a route to the nearest hospital? She crests rooftops with ease, even whilst carrying me aloft, and dashes across the cityscape in these early twilight hours silently, completely unnoticed. She's honestly like some sort of super powered ninja. Huh, she did. She brought us to the clinic.

She sneaks us around to the motor pool, and points a claw-tip at the latch on an ambulance door. There's a quick glow, and a minor spark. I'm a tad worried at what she might be up to, but the door pops open as she reaches for it, and she drags the relief gurney out of the vehicle to set me upon it.

My savior says, "From now on Jaku, I'll always be with you. Even if you can't see me. Thank you for bringing me here, bringing me home, to you, my partner."

My eyes well with tears, because it sounds like she's saying goodbye. I'm too weak to respond as she sneaks us around to the front, then shoves the gurney swiftly towards the entrance from afar. My rolling comes to a stop just at the edge of the automatic doors, and a night office-attendant spies me from the receptacle. The elderly man tending the desk literally drops his phone upon spying me.

I gaze back for any sign of my savior, but she's nowhere to be found. I don't know if I'll ever see her again, but she did it, somehow. Somehow she saved me. Elder Tanner, the night attendant at the Balthazar Clinic, calls in for emergency assistance as he personally drags the gurney I'm strapped to into the clinic. We both lived. We both lived, but I may never see her again. Although, she did steal my phone. Maybe I could activate its GPS remotely, and try to find her some day. If she manages to keep it charged somehow.

I could swear there was a tiny spark of light from the nearest rooftop, as if someone snapped a picture with camera flash on a phone. Is she up there? Is she really able to operate the phone without the screen? My brain's fog sinks in more heavily. My struggle to maintain consciousness is finally over. I can't keep it up any longer, but I'll likely be fine in a few weeks.

**The Next Day**Rena/P.

Silly Jaku, jumping off a cliff, probably thinking of saving me from Kabuterijerk. I'm so proud of you. I'm so happy I get to see this world, to be with my partner. I won't fail. Not this time. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you. When you were younger. I'm sorry you lost them. You don't even know it was a digimon that took them from you. A corrupted, dark-data digimon that's still out there.

But I won't let him get you too. I'll get stronger. You just heal up. Be safe. I know how scared you are to lose your studio, your job. Don't worry about money. It's all just ones and zeroes after all. I hope you won't be too mad when you find out I tinkered with them. I know you're smart, I know you'll figure out the clues. All you need is a little push. I'm sorry that I'm a thief. I don't know how else to be in the real world. It's just one micro SD card, at least, for now. I hope you forgive me.

There, the card has pictures on it, they should be enough clues. I can see you unconscious still. You're healing fast now though. You have chi, stay zen in the dao. You didn't before, but our data mingled. I made sure to copy some data to you. I hope you don't mind. It's just to keep you safe. Help you recover faster.

Let's see. I know you like chocolate, they probably aren't giving you any. Okay, so it's one micro SD card and one chocolate bar. Alright, and one little card. This, this might become a habit. Maybe I should try to learn illusions, coat myself in data that makes me appear human, then I can buy things without stealing them. After I'm stronger. It'll have to wait.

That nurse is making rounds. She opens every window for a minute while inspecting each room before closing them again. Plenty of time to leave the clue for Jaku. It's so easy to move almost unseen to humans, now that I'm Rena. I'm fast, but more than that, I'm between harmony and discord, dark and light, shadow to shadow, always out of sight. There. You know what to do with an SD card. I'll just leave a tiny bit of extra data to draw your eye when you finally wake up. Just a little glow, only for you.

Thank you for the phone. I can watch over you from anywhere while you're there. At least the outside of your room. Humans are so silly with their data. All the better for us though Jaku, all the better for us. Now I can train, and still know you're safe. Those snow-capped peaks house dark-data digis. I can sense them all the way from down here in the city. That's where I'll start. We'll get better. Together. One day at a time.

**A Week After Kabuterijerk**J/P.

She raps the clipboard again for my attention as she says, "Your vitals are all up, it's remarkable, even your fractures are nearly all set. Still, you seem distant, are you able to hear, to comprehend what I'm saying? We can do another MRI if you-""

I interrupt, "No, no thank you. I'm good. It'll take me years to pay off the first one. Thank you for looking after me. I truly, truly appreciate it. And. And I appreciate, um. Your faith in my words."

She glances at me, then out the window to the rise of Founder's Rock. I didn't lie, I technically did fall off the rise. I also didn't lie by saying I couldn't explain how I ended up here on a gurney. I nervously chuckle with chagrin and avert my gaze, hoping in some way to hide my thoughts from her prying eyes. I don't want to be caught in my falsehood. They'd lock me up if I tried to say that a kaiju showed up, beat the crap out of me, destroyed Founder's Rock, and was driven off by a yellow fox, and somehow Founder's Rock is still okay.

I still can't reconcile what happened. I mean, maybe I should be locked up. Other than my damaged body, there's no proof any of it happened. Well, my phone is missing, and there's this weird glowing SD card. No one else seems to find the SD card odd. I'm not even sure anyone else can see it glow. I guess I can pop it in and check out its contents at home. No one is saying it belongs to anyone other than me, so I'm not stealing it. It was sitting with a chocolate bar, and a card, almost like get-well gifts. Not that there's anyone out there who wishes me well. I mean, other than maybe Vixi, if she really exists. Or, is it Rena?

I need to hurry home. Rent is due tomorrow, and I'm going to need to beg for some kind of leeway. I've been out of commission for a week, so I couldn't make any money, and my last job only paid half before cutting off contact. I guess the company hiring me went under due to mysterious circumstances. I feel bad for them, but I still need to survive too, y'know? I almost feel well-enough to jog. Actually. I do. Huh. I could have sworn I was so damaged that I'd be bedridden for weeks, and need months of physical therapy. They didn't have a radiographer on hand during that first night, nor on the weekend, so it was three days before I was x-rayed and MRI'ed. They were all shocked that my damage wasn't more severe than it appeared on the scans. But even what showed up should have taken a few weeks to fully mend from. It's almost like I got three weeks or more of mending done in those first three days, and another four in the last four days.

Yet here I am, jogging home, almost feeling light and free. Despite the crushing weight of debt looming over me. Oh, right, I don't have my keys or anything. Those all went sailing off to who knows where. I'd better stop by the owner's office and beg for a spare key copy.

I approach the office, blushing with chagrin. Gladys is on duty, she doesn't hate me at least, but none of the owners or their employees are all that fond of me. I open my mouth to speak, but Gladys just coughs and slides a plastic tray towards me. I really hope she isn't expecting me to drop a rent-check in that right now. Wait. My wallet and keys. I raise an eyebrow, and she raises one in return. I gladly accept my belongings, and depart our wordless transaction.

That. That was weird. Right? Like. Like totally weird. Wasn't it? Alright, let's fire up my smaller rig. I'm not in the mood to do any media, so I won't bother turning on my whole graphics station. Plus, it's not like I've got a job, and there's only so much you can put in a portfolio before you just start looking full of yourself. I think. I created ten samples of each of ten types of subject matter in each type of media in each type of setting that I cover. That's ten thousand items in my portfolio. No one even looks through it all.

Alright, I can't remember how much I had in the bank, and I'm going to need a new phone, so let's log into the credit card and the bank, and the online shop. I heave a sigh, knowing I won't be able to afford the new phone, despite it being almost necessary to get work, to network, to apply for work, to accomplish tasks.

Uh. That's. That's. That's a few too many zeroes. At first I thought, maybe that was negative, like maybe the hospital charged my bank directly, and things were even more expensive than I imagined. Something. Glp. Something is really wrong, and I hope I'm not going to get blamed for it. I can't even call the bank to sort this out, ugh. Alright, let me just scribble down all this information. Okay, so, my credit card, I know I was floating a pretty heavy balance, but maybe I can. Wait. What? Paid in full?

I glance around as my pulse races. I momentarily hyperventilate. What's going on? There. There's just no way. I know I didn't have enough to pay it off, because I didn't have enough to pay the outrageous union dues. It's why I can't keep my studio. I'm, I'm going to get in trouble. Somehow, somehow someone's going to think I, I did something. I don't know what, or who, but someone's going to blame me. I have to make this right, and fast.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

I scrawl all the pertinent details, shut everything down, and rush back downstairs to beg Gladys's help with getting some phone calls done.

I gulp as I approach her again, asking, "Gladys, I, I'm really grateful, thank you for finding my, my keys and wallet. For um, giving them to me. I don't have my phone though, from um, the injury, the fall. Broken and lost and stuff. I really have to call the bank and, and a few places and set some things straight. I know you don't normally let people, and I'd understand if you said no, but, but please. I could really, really benefit from using the landline for a bit. I, I just -"

Gladys holds up a finger, interrupting me, and rolls her eyes. Her smoky, aged voice rings clear, "Hush up doll, I heard you were at Balth, roughed up but good. It's fine. It's an exception, this once, but it's fine. Get yourself squared. I'd hate to see you out on the streets."

I gulp at the prospect of being evicted, homeless, again. Last time, it, it was awful. Well, wasn't so much evicted last time as was just too young to do anything about my situation. Too old to really get into the system, too young to make it on my own. Barely scraped by. I. I lost everyone. Come on, suck it up. It's in the past.

I start with the easy calls, credit card company isn't hearing any of it though, they think I'm trying to undo paying off the card to get money back from them, and every time I ask to escalate to someone else, they pass along the same misinformation. Ugh, I'm trying to explain to you idiots that I owe you money. How can it be this hard to, to do the right thing! Money sucks. It's not even a real thing, and these days, it's all just ones and zeroes anyway. Digital non...sense. My eyes widen in a fearful revelation. Could Kabuterijerk be trying to get me evicted, to get me away from people, to finish me off? That, that's way more sophisticated than I imagined any kaiju being. All because I saved a dog from it? Or maybe trying to get me sent to prison, to keep me from interfering with it eating other dogs?

I gulp down a ragged, frightened sob. This is just getting far too weird. Okay, okay, just forget the credit card company for now. I've told them I want the transcripts of this call, so I have proof that I tried to clear things up, for if they eventually catch on that I owe them money. Ugh, it's going to cost me fifteen bucks just to get the transcripts emailed to me, 45 if I want hard copies. Sixty if I want both. I'll just take the email. Fifteen dollars is better than however many thousands of dollars of fines I might be liable for in civil court or something without proof.

Alright, bank time. This one. This one's going to suck. That's enough money to live on for most of the rest of my life. I mean, frugally, but still. I gulp as I inquire about my balance, and how it got to be what it is. As she's explaining, I drop my jaw, as well as the phone, barely reacting in time to catch it. I won a sweepstakes? The taxes on it have already been deducted, and what's left over is, is all really mine. It. It can't be real. I've never entered anything. I mean, maybe I filled out a slip of paper at the end of a grocery store checkout line once in a while for a free pumpkin pie or something dumb, but, but. Do they sell that information? Or like, use it in lotteries or something? The banker is trying to talk to me about opening a CD or some other fiscal something or other. I can't even pay attention right now. I sink to my knees, weeping tears of relief.

I'm not going to be homeless again. It, it's all going to be okay. Somehow. Somehow, despite the last four weeks being the most terrifying, nerve-wracking of my life, knowing the union was switching their policies, knowing I'd be walking a knife's edge on my career path. Despite all that. I, I can just, I can keep existing. I can keep creating. Even if no one ever hires me or buys anything, or lets me do a showing.

Gladys is looking down at me with concern, and perhaps mild annoyance. I'm sure I look a right mess. I'm full on ugly-crying, and I'm, oh heavens I'm still wearing the hospital gown. No one in town thought to mention that? Wow. I, I must have been really out of it. I was a bit shellshocked that I was being released so early, but this is ridiculous.

Gulping I try to excuse myself, "I, I just realized, I didn't even notice. I'm sorry. Thank you so much for the phone. Um, rent, uh, can I sign the ACH thing? The, the automatic payment. I have the money, um, apparently. I, I, I'll get out of your hair after that, I swear. Thank you so much. I'm sorry, for um, being a mess, and a nuisance."

Gladys shrugs as she rolls her desk chair to one side and digs through a filing cabinet for a binder. She pulls out a copy of my lease, and some boilerplate forms, something or other, flips them through the copy machine, hands me a set to keep, and asks me to initial in three spots. It's incredibly easy to let people take your money, since the ACH was still on file, and I still have the same bank account.

I'm about to leave when Gladys actually reaches out a hand and clutches my wrist, terrifying me out of my own skin momentarily as she sweetly orders, "Doll, take some time, get righted. That had to be some awful spill. You're lucky to be alive. No one's going to begrudge you a little time."

Oh, right. Of course, Gladys and Elder Tanner live together in the retirement home. It always struck me a bit odd that his first name is Elder. I mean, he was a kid once. Apparently it's a family tradition though. I nod gratefully to Gladys, and she releases her startlingly strong grip on my wrist. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect she weren't really a little old lady. Crazy thought, right?

I feel like I'm forgetting something. Oh, right, the glowing SD card.

Route of Lugubrious Lachrymosity part 1

Spoiler/Content warning, a description of a fall, and a very short description of a death

Everything seems to be awash in vibrance and life. Everything but the two of us. Vixi just cheered me on, but all I did was accidentally bonk her in the head with a phone as she was about to be impaled. Still, Kabuterijerk seems frozen in place during what was otherwise a viciously quick assault. He was certainly going to run Vixi through at that angle. Time being frozen doesn't change the fact that she's about to be struck a fatal blow, and then I'm next on the menu.

Oddly, everything is far more overgrown than I recall. I was pretty certain this was a well-kept trail. More oddly, the horizon-line of the cityscape is, is, it's a nightmare. It's in ruins, shambles. How long has this fight been going on? How many kaiju are running amok?

During this odd time dilation, how many precious seconds do we yet have left? What do I want my last thoughts to be? Maybe, maybe just, just joy. Joy that at the end, I had a friend. Someone who put it all on the line for me. Tears well slowly at first during the time dilation, then I'm suddenly struck with intense pain, and the tears are drawn forth from my eyes. In fact, all fluids are drawn forth from me in a rapid fashion.

I feel my body being torn apart, every fiber of my being is rent, torn, sucked towards my broken phone, and my battered friend. What remains of our life forces comingle and intertwine as we pass on together. The greenery fades, the verdant overwash recedes, and the cityscape's skyline rights itself. Visuals become harder to process. Sight seems like a faraway concept. I feel eternity reaching out for me, and I have no strength to either shy away, or return its call. Suddenly perspectives shift and warp in rapid fashion. It feels like the whole of me is being pulled through a technicolor hallway of oscillating colored lights, a tunnel of squares stretching into the vast infinite far away and below.

I think I spy Vixi. We're both hurtling through empty space together, yet far apart. She looks like she's trying to swim through the air, but she doesn't have an aerodynamic form that offers her any control over her descent. It almost seems as if she's trying to get to me. I suppose, if I had anything left, any energy at all, I'd make my way to her as well. I wonder if she's real. If she was real. If I was real. She appears to be crying, as water droplets descend more slowly than her own rapid pace hurtling towards the ground. I wish I could wipe those tears away.

Hm, the ground appears to be quickly approaching from below. Perhaps this is just one of those terrifying, life flashing before your eyes, moments. Maybe we were simply bowled off the cliff by Kabuterijerk, and now I'm hallucinating some mystical phenomenon as I approach my death. I can almost feel it in advance of it happening. The excruciating pain of the gruesome crunch, paired with the revolting sound of the squelching thud that heralds my demise. And this is it, the moment that I've died. The unbearable pain lasts only for an instant.

**Ten Seconds Ago**Vixi/P

What? How is Jaku joining the trip? It should be me and Kabuterijerk. I would ditch him and sneak back through the cracks to the real world. I, I just copied some of my code to Jaku, to give them chi, zen in the dao. It was, it was just to help them heal. They looked so hurt. Is this my fault? Jaku's body won't survive a fall from this location in digital space. Our Z Axis is so far above the digital world's parallel dimension's ground mesh. Jaku, Jaku, Jaku, no!

Struggle as I might, between the redigitization effect of traversal, and my own unevolved form, I can't move through the air. I burst into tears, knowing what's coming. I, I thought I could save Jaku. I tried, I tried so hard. I failed again. Just like I failed them when they lost everyone to a dark-data digi so long ago. I don't want to disappear. I don't want Jaku to be hurt.

I almost can't bear to watch, knowing that non-digital lifeforms die a grisly and gruesome death, but it will be their last moments, I want every last nanosecond to count. At least I'll be joining them only moments later. Perhaps. Some of my data will probably go on to be a new digi-egg somewhere, but this piece of me, this dies here with Jaku. None of us knows what happens to non-digis when they die. I hope it's nicer than what they went through while they were alive. My poor Jaku. We both tried so hard.

Oh Sovereigns the sound of their impact, I would be sick if I could. I can already feel it. I'm disappearing already. I only found a hole to the real world a few minutes ago, and only found Jaku a few seconds ago, after all that time alone. -Snf-

Wait, are non-digis' souls supposed to look like that? I'm, I'm, something is happening to my data. I'm not disappearing. Not exactly. Jaku and I, we. We're both mitama? Can, can I, can I stretch my code, just a little bit? Just, just a bit more. Keep Jaku's mitama from disappearing forever. Just, just another nano.

**Now** Jaxi/P

We did it! We? I stopped Jaku's mitama. I stopped my what now? Jaku? Vixi?

There's a sickening pop as air displaces as our body reforms from nothing. The loud Thworp is so powerful that it sends a circular gust out, rustling grass and branches. Our body? I guess so now. I'm sorry Jaku. What are you sorry for?

Vixi tries to separate our consciousnesses, "Jaku, I was just trying to save you. I might have got you killed. Then I was trying to, to, to selfishly not lose you when your soul was leaving. I didn't know where it would go, or if I could follow."

I scratch our head with our tail, wait. Our tail? Gulping, I try to turn to gaze at myself, when I realize that I don't exactly have a body to gaze upon. I'm mostly a face on a head with a tail. The, the juxtaposition with my expectations nearly causes me to faint. It's as if I'm an animated severed head.

Vixi tries to stifle a giggle, "Silly Jaku, we won't always be like this. Um, I think."

I feel hysterical laughter bubbling up in my share of our consciousness. This, this is insane. I, I died? Did, did. Wait. Was Kabuterijerk basically my truck-sama? Everything around me is colorful beyond belief. This sort of vibrance doesn't exist in nature.

Vixi quips, "It does too, at least, here in the digital world."

My portion of our consciousness causes our face to squint its right eye while widening its left in utter confusion. Vixi, you didn't exactly deny my question. Actually, you sort of confirmed it. We're in another world? That's the definition of Isekai!

Vixi's laughter burbles through our consciousness as she giggles, our body rolls around the forest floor in delight. I, I can't help it. She's, she's really happy somehow, for some reason. And it's bleeding over to me. I'm, I'm us? This is so weird.

Vixi snarks, "Tell me about it Jaku. Hehe."

She really is extremely catty. We? Are extremely catty? This is going to take some getting used to. Vixi? Is this, um. Are we okay?

Sadness clouds Vixi's portion of our mind, misting our eyes with tears, "If you can forgive me for failing you so many times Jaku."

Somehow, her mind drifting to memories of what she considers her failures shares them with me, my portion of our consciousness. My, my, my. Every, all of. They. They. They were taken from me!? Glp. By, by D-Dark-data Digis corrupted into full evil? I, I. I hyperventilate with rage. Vixi quails, though the rage isn't directed at her. I'm, I'm enamored of our partnership beyond belief. Despite her feelings of failure, she has been trying for so many years to protect me, to meet me, to help me recover from my loss. She has even been hunting the ones responsible, trying to get strong enough to help get me some semblance of closure, or justice, or revenge. She doesn't care which.

They're so powerful though, and, and they weren't the source of the corruption. So there's something even more powerful behind the scenes pulling the strings. She's feeling something, an agitation, a desire to grow stronger. She's right. We have to get stronger. As impressed as I am with Vixi, her, our memories of the digital world, they show that she's among the weaker digimon, despite her efforts to train, day in and day out for years. Likely within her own tier, she may very well, we may very well, be the most powerful digimon in this stage of evolution, though it is quite low amongst the tiers of evolution available.

Vixi beams with pride. My mind is yours Jaku. We're us now. I'm sorry and confused this happened. But I'm still happy to be with my partner.

We nod in response to ourself. We're right. Our mind is our nows. Vixi and I swirl together, our separate identities becoming almost meaningless. There are two consciousnesses, but we're mingled, fused, and honestly, we wouldn't give it up for anything. Neither of us is going anywhere partner. We've got our backs.