Martin chewed on a questionable liminal cake that tasted exactly like his favorite food, a concerned look etched across his face. He swallowed and turned to Alexa, who was busy examining a plate of what appeared to be constantly shifting, iridescent fruits.

"Alexa," Martin said hesitantly, "I'm still not sure what I am. Am I real? A copy? Some kind of magical construct?"

Alexa looked up from her plate and grinned at her minion. "Oh, Mittens," she said, "don't worry your pretty little head about it. We're connected by brain spiders, remember? It doesn't matter what you are right now."

Martin stared at his friend.

"Meaning what?" He asked.

"Those lovely little Terraforming critters in our heads that let us communicate telepathically. They're also great for data transfer and storage," Alexa said. "Simply push information from your head into my head and my brain spider should remember things, remember your last thought, your last conversation with me. Existence is about continuity, you see."

"Continuity?" Martin repeated.

Alexa reached over and patted Martin on the shoulder. "Look, I promise I'll make sure your continuity as Martin is preserved. Whatever you accomplish here, whatever you learn or experience - I'll save it all and eventually bring it back to the human, Earth-Martin version of you."

"But it won't be me," Martin said.

"I don't see what you're complaining about Mittens," Alexa shrugged. "I'm not the original Alexa either. The original Alexa died long long ago on world 2424. I'm whatever my dad's infernal dimensional-crossing machine brought back. I'm a copy of a copy of a copy of Alexa, extending in a vast as heck chain as Skinwalker meals. Existence is a bitch, deal with it."

Alexa watched as Martin processed her words. She could almost see the gears turning in his head as he grappled with the existential implications of his current state. Part of her felt a twinge of guilt for putting him through this, but she quickly pushed it aside. After all, wasn't this just another adventure for them?

"Look, Mittens," she said, popping one of the liminal cakes into her mouth. It tasted like a mix of strawberry and stardust. "Don't overthink it. You're here, you're you, and that's what matters. Plus, think of all the cool stuff we're going to learn and do! Isn't that exciting?"

Martin nodded hesitantly, still looking unsure. Alexa yawned and then stretched herself across Martin's lap that made him blush and nearly spit out his cake.

"Don't look so surprised," she said. "I need to nap and I don't trust whatever the shit those two are." She cast a weary glance at where Zee Captain was sitting with Sasha One.

"So you trust a copy of me over the other liminal beings?" He asked her.

"I can keep your ass in check via brain spiders," Alexa said tapping her forehead and closing her eyes. "If you attempt to usurp my authority or undermine me in any way Tickles will know."

As Alexa drifted off to sleep in Martin's lap, the doppelganger found himself in an awkward position, both literally and figuratively. He glanced nervously between the slumbering supervillain and the two enigmatic beings sitting across from them.

Zee Captain's mask was as unreadable as ever, but there was a sense of disapproval radiating from the System Wizard. Sasha One, on the other hand, seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the situation.

"So," Martin said hesitantly, trying to break the tension, "either of you want to explain what's really going on here?"

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"What's going on here is that you shouldn't be here, young... man," Zee sighed.

"Where should I be if not by her side?" Martin asked, glancing down at Alexa.

"You should be here," Sasha One stated, starry eyes observing Martin's body from within impossibly vast depths of her cosmic figure. "Because that's your purpose. Your purpose is to protect Alexa from the Rules and their Law-keepers. You're her guard dog, her companion."

"And zhat's precisely the problem," Zee said. "You're not really Martin, you're a construct from a dead world, a parasite designed to fulfill Alexa's desires. Just a few moments ago, you were attempting to full-fill my thoughts. As soon as someone rips you from Alexa, you'll stop existing, become theirs instead."

Martin gulped.

"Life is unhealthy and potentially dangerous," Sasha one stated. "You know what you have to do, if you want to keep on existing, don't you Martin? Don't let go of Alexa. Constantly upload your mind into her brain spider."

As if sensing his inner turmoil, Alexa stirred slightly in her sleep, mumbling something incoherent and drooling. Martin instinctively adjusted his position to make her more comfortable.

"You see?" Sasha purred. "You can't help but care for her. It's in your very nature."

"Even if I am... whatever you say I am, my feelings for Alexa are real," Martin turned to Zee Captain. "Our friendship is real. I remember everything. All our adventures, all our conversations. I remember the first time we met, when I saw her climbing down from her treehouse made from stolen signs. I remember helping her with her schemes, even when I thought they were crazy. How can all of that not be real?"

"Your memories and feelings may seem real to you," Zee said finally, "but they are constructs based on Alexa's perceptions and desires. You are a reflection of her ideal version of Martin, not the Martin she left behind."

"But if I think and feel like Martin, if I have his memories and motivations, doesn't that make me Martin in all the ways that matter?" Martin argued, his voice low to avoid waking Alexa.

"Now you're asking the right questions, little doppelganger," Sasha One said. "What is real? What defines a person? Is it their physical form, their memories, their connections to others?"

"Don't encourage him," Zee snapped at Sasha. "You're just confusing the issue."

"Am I?" Sasha countered. "Or am I helping him understand the true nature of existence? Something you seem reluctant to do, O Wise Wizard. Are you not a copy yourself? The Wizard that created you for this job must have purged all of his or her attachments as not to get too distracted, but a bit of them must have still be in you, enough to affect my lovely dopple, enough to make him look like... a Charles."

Zee Captain's fists opened and closed.

"Attachment, care, love - these are the forces that shape reality far more than any System Wizard's Rules," Sasha added with a smirk.

"You talk about love as if you understand it," Zee hissed. "You do not, you're just using them against humans, manipulating them into doing what you want... and what you want is to tear everything down. Don't think that I don't see what you're doing!"

"If you see what I'm doing, then why don't you stop me?" Sasha rolled a few of her eyes.

"Listen to me Martin," Zee turned to the boy. "You have to give up that ticket. You have to let go of Alexa. If you make it to Manchester, you'll bring her into the city of System Wizards," Zee Captain's gloved finger pointed at Sasha. "Bringing three unauthorized entities into Manchester could have dangerous consequences... for the bearer. By coming with Alexa you're endangering her future... education."

"Ugh, bony legs," Alexa murmured, and Martin's figure ripped with concentric circles, rearranging itself into Cottie now wearing her tight fitting gray long sleeve unitard hexmesh suit.

"I appreciate your concern... Captain," Katherine Lizbeth said, "but I'm not going anywhere. Alexa needs me, and I... need her. Maybe I am just a construct, a reflection of her desires. But those desires, those memories - they're all I have. They're what make me who I am."

Cottie gently stroked Alexa's hair, a small smile playing on her lips. "And you know what? If being by her side means I might cease to exist at any moment, then so be it. I'd rather live one day as Alexa's friend and minion, than an eternity as some hollow shell on some doomed corpse world."

Sasha's starry form flickered with approval, while Zee Captain's posture stiffened.

"As for endangering her future," Cottie continued, her voice taking on a hint of steel, "Alexa's pretty good at doing that all on her own. My job isn't simply to keep her safe - it's to stand by her side, no matter where she goes because that's what I promised her. If that means facing down the System Wizards themselves, then bring it on."

Zee Captain's shoulders slumped in defeat. "I see there's no convincing you," the Wizard sighed. "Very well. But remember my warnings when we reach Manchester."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll remember everything," Cottie replied with a smirk, tapping her temple. "Brain spiders, you know."

"Checkmate," Sasha One whispered at Captain.