After their long adventure, the three friends went to their leader to explain almost everything that happened, Since Sepide still kept quiet about her encounter with the anomaly. The leader seemed more than happy, even despite her mask everyone could see it.

"Congratulations, you did everything and even found Kairo. So, where is he?"

The three looked at each other, unsure about how to say what happened to him. Noticing the silence, Neige decided to speak up.

"He changed a lot, he's pursuing a God or something I think? And he decided that the best way to do that was to destroy the world. It's really surprising how much he changed."

"Not surprising for me." Said Silva "He always said weird philosophical stuff. Talking about his place in the universe is not that much weirder than searching God."

The leader kept a very neutral behavior, her mask and her voice both did their best to conceal her feelings.

"We'll try finding Kairo. We don't want him to cause problems. You can go now, and Neige, don't forget to bring me the game."

The screen turned off, leaving the three friends alone in the room. The exhaustion of their adventure caught up to them, leaving them standing there for a moment.

"If I didn't have to bring this stupid game I'd go to sleep right now." Neige complained a bit more and left the room. Silva did some stretches in the hope of losing her fatigue and then turned toward Sepide with a smile.

"I need to go to the doc, you want to come?"

"No, I already have things to do." Sepide looked at her friend, she tried to find out what problems she could be having, but Silva seemed like her usual self, just slightly more tired "Why are you going to the doctor?"

"Just some routine check or something, nothing important. Good luck with your stuff."

Silva left right after while Sepide stayed a bit longer, losing herself in her thoughts before going too.

Neige went toward his leader's room. He stood in front of the door and looked around to make sure he wasn't followed, only to find Sepide peeking from behind a box lying there.

"Sepide? What are you doing here?"

The girl stayed silent, hoping that Neige didn't see her. But when she saw that Neige was looking at her for a few minutes, she realized that she was indeed caught.

"How did you know I was here?" Sepide seemed disappointed and surprised at the same time, while Neige just looked at her exhausted.

"You're as discreet as an elephant."

"A what?" Sepide tilted her head, a bit confused.

"It's not important, what do you want?"

"I need to see the leader, personal matter."

Neige looked at the door leading to the leader's room and knocked on it.

"Polyetta, you have someone coming for you."

Neige and Sepide waited for a moment until a shy voice made itself heard from behind the door.

"Tell her I'm busy..."

Neige looked at Sepide and tried imitating his leader's voice the best he could.

"I'm busy."

"Stop being sarcastic and tell her to go."

Sepide wasn't planning to leave, she had to tell what happened. She would have preferred if Neige wasn't there, but it was probably the only chance she'd get to be listened to.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

"I'm the anomaly!"

Everyone stayed silent after this revelation. Sepide still had trouble accepting it, and while the leader stayed silent, Neige couldn't help but feel extremely confused. He was about to ask for details, but Sepide continued by herself.

"I saw the anomaly, and when she touched me, it was like both of our bodies rejected each other. It has to mean that I'm her other self!"

As she said those words, she was shaking. She didn't know how to feel, was it a good thing? A bad thing? Maybe she could stop everything, but it could also mean that she could be a danger someday. Seeing the internal turmoil she was having, Neige approached her and caressed her long black hair.

"Come on, you look nothing alike. She had blonde hair."

"That's not a lot of differences."

"Well, she's also tall and has big boobs. I don't think you have either of that."

"Why were you paying attention to her chest?" Sepide's worry turned genuine curiosity for a moment, amusing Neige a bit.

From the other side of the door, the leader tried talking to Sepide and Neige with a confident voice, but she still kept her shyness despite her efforts.

"You're not the anomaly... She doesn't follow the rules of this world. That's why we need to get rid of her... She's a danger, and you're not."

Sepide looked at Neige, a bit unsure. He smiled at her and nodded his head to reassure her. It didn't make her completely peaceful, but she was certainly feeling better.

"We're all tired after our last mission. You should rest and we'll talk more about it after."

Sepide wasn't convinced but ultimately agreed. Without a word, she left to go back to her room. Neige was a bit worried, but he always could go to her later. He turned toward the door once he made sure that Sepide was gone.

"She's gone Polyetta."

The door opened, Neige made his way inside and closed the door behind him. The room was still messy, just like when he left last time, maybe even more messy actually. He sat on the bed, and before anything could happen, he quickly asked his friend

"You told a lie, right?"

The woman froze for a moment but quickly took back her composure and tried acting like nothing happened.

"A lie? Not at all. What made you say that?"

"I've known you for long enough to know when you lie, but it's okay, I won't tell her."

"... I'm not lying because it's fun. I don't know how the anomaly works, but if I don't say anything, Sepide could overthink. It's for her own good."

"Maybe. But is she the anomaly's other self?"

Polyetta stayed silent, thinking carefully about her answer. But she knew that Neige wouldn't wait too long for an answer without getting suspicious.

"It's complicated, let's just say that even I don't understand it fully. But don't worry, I'm sure she'll be a great member!"

"I don't doubt it... Where is she from? Gwyn didn't seem to know either, and I doubt any of the others went on a mission without telling me."

"I'm the one who found her... I'll tell you more someday..."

Neige nodded and looked around the room for a bit. It was a small room, especially considering that his friend almost never left it. Dust was everywhere, and there wasn't a single thing that was in order here. The only thing that seemed like it was taken care of was her desk, probably because it's what the members of the ship see on the screen of her office, and also maybe because that was where the video games were stored.

"You know, people won't kill you if you leave your room."

"I like my room, I have all I need there."

When he looked at the desk, Neige saw a picture of the ship's crew together, where seven persons were standing and smiling on it. They took it a month ago to celebrate the sixth anniversary of the ship. The only people missing were Sepide, since she wasn't here when the picture was taken, and Polyetta, since she never left her room.

"Everything, except human contact."

"I don't need human contact."

Neige couldn't help but think about everyone on the ship. Everyone came from different worlds, worlds that were no more. And it was no different for Polyetta and himself.

"Do you still remember our old world, Polyetta?"

"Of course, it was beautiful. I still miss my friends from there..."

Neige stayed silent for a moment before asking the question he meant to ask since the beginning.

"Why can't I remember anything?"

The woman stayed silent despite the words of her friend hanging in the air.

"Is that why you don't want to leave your room? Is that why you're hiding behind a mask?"

"Neige..." Said the woman with a weak voice "Ignorance is bliss sometimes. I'll tell you when the time will come."

"I'll wait then."

Neige took the game, handed it to her friend, and looked at her with a tender smile.

"Don't you want to play together for a bit?"

Sepide was still feeling a bit weird, but she was feeling lighter in her chest. Maybe it wasn't her after, the anomaly really was strange. Still, there wasn't much she could do for now, and Silva was probably busy now. The ship was pretty big and she could easily get lost there. She decided it was better to take a cup of coffee and take a break to think before returning to her room.

On the way to her room, she saw Silva. She was visibly not happy and she looked like she fell in a bathtub full of caramel. She even left a trail of the sticky liquid behind her.

"Silva? What happened?"

The girl with red hair looked at Sepide and was even more annoyed now for some reason.

"To be honest, I thought I could get a shower without being seen."

"You probably should take a shower, it seems uncomfortable."

Silva let out a sigh, it was the first time Sepide had seen her that exhausted before.

"I'll explain what happened on the way, come on."