Eh. That discussion was going nowhere.

Sure, I would love to talk to her more, but having to prolong this thing was just… painful.

So I decided to stop dancing around the subject.

-Okay Il. I know you don’t like me. I understand. I did say some absurd things… All of us did.

-That’s an understatement.

-But, all of those were true. So I would like to at least finish what I started.

She suddenly backed off, in a defensive stance.

-Ah, no. I meant talking.

-...

I guess silence was as good as I was going to get.

I gazed briefly at her mother, but she only nodded, so I decided to go through with it.

-As a start, I want to say that what I said was absolutely true. My name is Mor, and this is indeed Iloa. And we are your parents. I am certain that you have a lot of doubts about that, but that’s not important right now. There's a bunch of things I want to share with you… or rather to update you about.

-...

-I am sure that you’ve realized that you’ve been under certain influence, right?

-...

-Ah, you don’t need to answer - I assured her. - I am just going to be talking to myself, that’s it.

Still no reply.

Ah well, here goes nothing.

-I assume you thought that influence was your mother. But it wasn’t quite it. Believe me or not, the real mother is right in front of you.

I gestured towards Il.

-What was inside of that crysta was… a copy of her. A piece of her copied soul that… was unstable.

-That project…?

Ah. So she was listening.

-By “project” you mean ILMA? I see you are aware of that one. Yes, that was it. But, as I said, it was a part of it. ILMA wasn’t supposed to have emotions, you see. At least in her first iteration.

-You wanted to make sure she wouldn’t suddenly turn against you.

-Nah, to be honest we weren’t really thinking that far. We didn’t have to. Our reason was pretty simple: we didn’t think she’d be capable of it.

-What?

-As I said, before we tried copying the actual soul, we tried replicating it. And those replicas never had any emotions.

-But you clearly are saying that this one had it. So why?

-Because it’s a copy. Not just a replica.

-What’s the difference?

-There's a bunch of them. But that doesn’t matter any more. What matters is that what you had with you was just a singular emotion that delved in the original soul: anger.

I took a heavy sigh.

-And, unsurprisingly, it was directed towards everything. It probably stemmed from a lot of things, but since it was cut off from the original person, it was no longer targeted.

-...

-You had to been using it for a very long time, so it attuned itself towards you. Your anger became her and vice versa. Funnily enough, both of you knew about him, so the effect was even more effective. And your compatibility was even greater.

-Compatibility…?

-ILMA, as far as we know, wants one thing. To spread herself to as much people as she can. For what reason? That I am not sure. And having someone like you as a pawn would be a great boon.

-My mother wouldn’t do something like this!

-Of course. Especially to you - I agreed. - But, she was no longer your mother. Or rather it never was. It was a completely different creation and a completely different person. Or people, to be precise.

-People?

-You think you were the only target? Nah. You saw it take over Axel… I mean Mike.

-How do you know!?

-I might have had a vision about it.

-Bullshit. Why are you even telling me this? Why does that matter?!

-I am trying to explain why we did what we did.

-And what does that mean?!

-I think that’s enough dancing around the topic.

It was my other self.

He was still well inside her body. He was not in control any more, but at least now I was sure that he was still there.

Her reaction was… expected.

She jumped up and immediately pointed a spell at me.

-What are you doing?! Why are you in my head?!

-That’s what I was trying to explain. And it’s not like we wanted to do that on purpose, you know…

I explained how she now was a host to my own piece of consciousness.

Expectantly, she was not very happy about that.

Understandable.

But, considering all the possible outcomes, her having me was not the worst one. At least from my point of view, to her it probably was the exact opposite.

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-I… I can’t believe it…

Well, at least she was taking it pretty well.

I thought she might be more… resistant, but she was quite calm about it.

-I mean, of course. Something like that had to come from the MIRE.

-I… huh. You are calm about it.

-It’s just logic. I can’t do anything about it, so why try and fight it. You already have me under full control. I can’t retaliate. I don’t have any weapons. Nothing I can do will ever harm you…

Ah. So more than acceptance it was resignation.

-That was easier than expected… - mumbled Kon quietly to himself, but she heard him anyway.

-Of course. I am not stupid. But okay. You got me. I surrender. What happens now?

-Yeah. What now? - asked For.

That was a good question.

I never thought about it…

I never expected that our confrontation would end like that.

Wasn’t the worst outcome, but it was far from the best.

-Well… before we were in chase of Axelrod, but we got a bit sidetracked finding you.

She shrugged and did not say a word.

Despite what she said, it was clear that she was not going to cooperate with us.

Did she think that I was some kind of tyrant or something? Only collecting people? Or something even weirder?

Thanks to Origin Crystal, if I wanted to I’d be able to learn it just from observing her mana, but decided to not pry. It was better to be careful…

I mean, it was already too late for worries about privacy, but I wanted to think that we could try and be better…

I shook my head.

Why was I even thinking that?

It was clear that the better choice was just to inspect her mind thoroughly, without some stupid “consideration”...

No.

Why was I thinking THAT?

My mind was scattered.

I think he also noticed the problem I just now had, because I heard his voice.

-It would be the best for all of us to get a rest. It’s been a rough time for everyone. Especially for you, Il. Get some rest.

-And how the hell am I able to get a rest with something like that speaking inside my own mind?!

-I will be silent. I do have a lot to think about.

-Pff. Right. Like a way to make me a slave.

-I am not going to be that much of a degenerate to force my own child to work there.

She flinched.

I think she forgot about the revelations about her parents for a moment there.

I… I guess that was fair.

I want to say we split and took a well deserved nap, but it was not completely true.

From our party, I think only one sleeping was For.

I guess she really did not care about anything…

But how much was the truth in her statement about me..

Bah.

Not the time, not the place.

I abandoned that thought the moment I realized it came.

Nothing will come from associating people with me…

And yet…

I recently was catching myself being more and more inconsistent.

And I don’t mean just having a hard time sticking to decisions or something arbitrary like that, no. It was more like I was losing my own character.

Okay, one might argue that I never had one to begin with, but…

Well, that only was proving my point.

The truth was, the moment I arrived in this place, this world or whatever else you wanted to call my “exit”, I no longer was myself.

For a long time I was trying to deny it. Thinking that I was just making stuff up. Trying to blame it on the Origin Crystal merging with me.

While it was partially true, the truth was that the “assimilation” was already done.

And right now I was sure of that.

-Mor…?

It was Kon.

Out of all the people I’ve met, and influenced, he was the most resistant.

He was still worried and thinking about this bizarre situation we found ourselves in.

-Hm?

-Are you sure we can just rest like that…? Isn’t she going to try to escape?

-There’s no point in that. Why would she try?

-I don’t know! I just find it suspicious that she suddenly changed her mind like that… I mean, I don’t know her very well… or at all, really, but it does not seem like something she’d do. It’s out of character.

Funny. He’s paraphrasing my own thoughts.

In a bit of a different context, but still.

-She won’t.

-But…

-And even if she tried, she has nowhere to go. She’s stranded. No anchors. No nothing.

-She might be hiding one! Didn’t she teleport here?

-Who knows.

I could feel annoyance from him.

Right. To him I was just being careless and overtly easy-going.

But, I knew that it wasn’t just my gut feeling that was telling me what she’s going to do.

-Don’t worry about it. Get some sleep.

-I don’t need any.

-I know, your body is different, but try resting. I mean, it didn’t stop For. And she’s more of a remnant than you.

-Really? I mean… she is older…

-Don’t let her hear that.

He didn’t reply, so I guess he heard me and decided to comply.

Good.

I probably should also get some rest, but, just as I said, I didn’t really have to sleep any more, so resting like that was a bit… irritating, to say the least.

I already got used to the silence and overall slowness of the time I usually was using for sleeping, but it was still annoying, having to just wait like that.

Wondering how others were doing, I took a glance towards the wooden Il and her daughter.

Unsurprisingly, both were not even close to each other: Il was trying to be as far away from everyone, while her mother was trying to be considerate and not encroach on her space, while still having an eye on her.

-How are you doing? - I asked her, seeing how she was staring towards the edge of the room where the other one was sleeping. Or at least pretending to.

-Ah… well… good. Better than I expected. I think.

-Really?

-Yeah… I thought… I was worried that she was going to be in a far worse shape when she awakens… and yet she’s a picture of health.

-Thank Kon for that.

-Yeah… his powers are amazing… I wonder what else he’d be able to do if he put his mind to it.

-I can think of a couple ideas.

-Knowing you, you better keep those to yourself.

-I know, I know…

-...

-...

The silence was deafening.

-Ehm… - I said, trying to pick up the discussion from falling into the void. - What should we do tomorrow?

-More like “the time they are going to wake up.” Honestly, after getting a grip at their mana signatures, I am uncertain that…

She sighed.

It was a bit weird, hearing that inside your own mind.

-I just hope this cooperation continues after she wakes up.

-It will. We just need to be more careful

-That’s a very general advice, you know. That works for every single scenario.

-I know. But, do you have anything better?

She did not.

I kind of wished she had, but alas, nothing.

Too bad.