James spent a solid ten minutes reassuring Liliana that he wasn't annoyed with her. She was mortified by how everything had played out and told him that their original intention was to get Khance back in Scourge. Spectre had orchestrated everything and proposed they put Khance into the rig for a test run, with the pre-tense that he'd be giving Spectre a mock-tutorial of Abidden. Apparently, Sarah Dryksell went on the immediate offensive about Khance's use of softeners, and used some choice words about what she thought of substance-abuse. Liliana explained that Khance was already on thin ice with Dayna, but that she hoped he would see the opportunity and change.

Nobody at the table had any sort of appetite after the argument, so Khance, Spectre and James decided that it was time to leave. Liliana offered to reschedule their meeting about the Chessmaster upgrades, insisting that she needed to speak to her mother. James was grateful for the out, as he wanted to make sure that Khance was okay. Spectre didn't seem likely to be the compassionate type, and was cursing Nexus Rigs the entire way out of the building. With a simple hailing of a private cab with his Nox Holdings pin, James had a car arrive on the landing pad first. Rather than having everyone go their separate ways, James gripped Khance by the elbow and insisted that he come back to the apartment. The Paragon offered no resistance and merely followed James into the cab. Before they took off, Spectre leaned his head into the cabin and clutched the door with his left hand. "I'm sorry about this, Alex. I'll fix this. Somehow, just trust me. We'll get Scourge back, I promise."

James just gave him a withering look as he pulled the door closed. "Scourge isn't the problem right now." Spectre had the good grace to step back with a look that could almost have been described as shame. He waved their cab off before making his way toward his own ride.

Khance leaned his head back against the cushions of the cab with a sad smile on his face. "Sorry you had to go through all of that. You can just drop me anywhere and I'll find my way back." James took a few moments before he said anything, calculating his words and making sure he was certain on how he wanted to proceed. Khance interpreted the silence differently and grimaced. "I'll get better, man. I promise. You don't need to worry about me."

Turning in the seat so he could look at the Paragon, James asked him a question bluntly. "Do you trust me?" Khance chuckled at the stupid question as he gestured at everything around them. "I'd be absolutely nothing without the sacrifice you made, man. Of course I trust you... You're one of the good ones. Ha, how can you even ask that?" He looked out the window aimlessly, the smile on his face eventually fading away. A few moments of silence passed in the cab as James wrestled with his own thoughts. Suddenly, Khance spoke as though he had just woken from a dream. "Just... don't tell Varya, please. It'd break her heart if she knew." James nodded quietly as they travelled to the apartment. His plans for E-Class would have to wait a little longer.

"What is it you want, Alex?" James asked finally, not sure what sort of answer he'd get, if any at all. Khance was either pondering the question silently or didn't hear it at all. He continued to stare out the window lazily before turning his head and giving James a thoughtful look. "That's an interesting one. I'm going to channel my inner James Sylvester, and say... I don't know?"

James left the Paragon to it. He didn't want to antagonise him. Much to his surprise, Khance continued in a strained voice. "I can tell you what I don't want, though?" He gestured at his head. "I don't want to be a slave to a drug. But that ship has flown off..." He trailed off with a mutter before continuing. "I don't want to admit to the fact that I'm not as smart as people think I am." He laughed humourlessly as he tapped the side of his skull. "But most of all? What I dread most... I really, really don't want to face the other Alex. He'd be ashamed of what I've done to us."

James took Khance's hand and gripped it firmly, staring at the Paragon as he spoke. "Would you like my help?"

Khance gave James a wide smile before it faltered. "I need to do this myself, man... I just need more time." He closed his eyes and exhaled, as though the conversation had taken a lot out of him. James smiled as he gripped Khance's hand tighter. "You made the mistake of telling me you trusted me, Alex. Just remember that."

Shaking his head with his eyes still closed, Khance protested slightly. "You won't be able to help, James. I've had countless specialists try to offset the medication with others. Cessation therapy... all of it, it doesn't work. I always crawl back to them, and it only gets worse with every attempt."

You have arrived at your destination. Dryksell Tower.

Khance opened his eyes as he looked out to his penthouse apartment. "Heh, thought I was going to see your place first... thanks for the ride, man." James was smiling as he shook his head. "We're only here to pick up some of your stuff. You're moving in with me and Jackal." Khance sat in the cab in a complete daze as he tried to process what was happening, but James didn't relent. "You've tried all of your fancy celebrity methods, but we're going to use the only tried and true method of detox that works. The E-Classer way. Don't worry, it's super cheap."

The Paragon tried to open the door of the cab, only to find that it was locked. Confusion crossed his face, as his interface wouldn't unlock the door. James' beaming face appeared at the window of the cab. "Oh, that? You better get used to being locked in comfortable spaces. That's a big element of the E-Classer method. Sit tight, Alex. I'll be back soon."

Khance tried the door one more time before slumping back against the seat. Clouded thoughts swarmed his mind as he considered James' master plan. His eyes caught sight of James struggling to open the door of the penthouse. With a slight smile, and an admission to himself that he wanted to see where this went, Khance tapped his interface and allowed James entry into the penthouse. Maybe the Wildcard knew something he didn't. A hopeful smile crossed his face for a moment before the mind fog swarmed in and left him with nothing.

----------------------------------------

"Don't be suspicious, it's just coffee." James joked as he slid the cup closer to Khance. They were back at James' apartment, and Khance now sat in the kitchen awkwardly as he took the offered cup and brought it to his lips. The adventure of getting all of Khance's things had been eventful, and James had a lot of questions for the Paragon. He just needed to establish a few things first to know what he was dealing with. Khance's eyes weren't alert, but he wasn't in a stupor either, so James decided to press on with his little fact-finding mission. "How with-it are you on a day to day basis?"

Khance shrugged. "Really depends on who you're comparing me to. If we're talking Don? Then I'm a certified genius throughout the day." A small smile lingered on his lips before he took the question a little more seriously. "Honestly, the twenty percent they quoted earlier is a bit generous. After a dose of softener, I'm roughly down to around ten percent. Basic function, light conversation. Right now, I'm due another dose, so I'm probably closer to forty percent. It's really hard to estimate though, but I've a decent enough read on it at this stage."

James could only stare in shock at the difference a few hours had made. "How long would it take to get you back to full senses?" Khance raised an eyebrow as he looked off to one side and did a silent calculation. "Probably a week or so, but I've never gotten past four days. I'll probably end up flinging shit at the windows by day three, just as a warning." His deadpan tone elicited a chuckle from James who decided it was time for him to meet their other house guest.

"Jackal, this is Alexander Vance. He's going to be staying with us a while." James spoke to the room, and Khance gave him an almost sympathetic look. "Are you pretending to be crazy to make me feel better? It's kinda working."

> Welcome, Khance. I'm Jackal.

Khance placed the cup down on the counter and turned around to where the voice came from. He frowned for a moment before speaking. "Are you a clone of Locke?"

> An unflattering comparison, but yes.

"That's a bit excessive, don't you think?" Khance remarked as he turned back to James. "What do you even need an AI for? Aren't you worried it'll leak your strategies back to Locke?" James however was just smiling at the Paragon. He had been so worried that Khance would be a drone for the next few weeks, but if his was going to be their baseline, then it was likely going to be a lot easier to deal with. Ignoring his question, James pressed on with his own. "So, what can I expect from your withdrawals, other than the shit flinging?"

Khance nodded and raised his hand to demonstrate, each finger signifying a symptom. "I'm going to cry a lot and complain. I'll likely use the most incredible guilt-tripping you've ever seen, but you should be fine because you've had a pretty shit life. Varya and Helena break every time I get to that stage and enable me." Khance took a breath as though deep in thought before continuing. "Next, if that's failed... I lash out at everyone's insecurity and drive them away until they give up and I get my fix. Nervous breakdown, threaten drastic action... fling shit, then resort to begging or bribing? That works usually when I'm in the clinics. I actually had to give a guy free mentoring in-game once, that was a funny one." His laugh was humourless and James was pretty much lost for words. When he did find them, he found himself asking another question. "Why are you telling me all this? Your tactics I mean?"

Draining the cup of coffee, Khance smiled at James and shrugged. "I need it to work this time. So it's better you know everything, so you don't fall for it. Oh!" Khance whirled around in his chair. "Jackal, you likely have some protocol in place to let me out if I threaten to hurt myself. Don't listen to me when that happens, I won't go through with it."

> Noted. I will do my utmost to ignore you.

Khance grinned. "I'm starting to see the appeal of your AI now." Turning back to James he squinted his eyes as though searching for another thought. "I may try to relate to you with my shitty background, ignore that too. It's definitely a ploy to get out and get my fix." With that said, Khance sat up straight and got up from his chair. He made it two or three feet across the room before he stopped himself and turned back to James with a conflicted expression on his face. Before James could say anything, Khance started to root around his pockets. A moment later, two unmarked inhalers were placed on the countertop.

"Where am I sleeping?" Khance asked in a strained voice as he forced himself not to look at the softener dispensers. James quickly took them from the countertop and pocketed them. "You can sleep in my room, I need to go out and get a few things so I'll be leaving you in Jackal's care for a while."

> Is your intent to rid Alexander Vance of his addiction?

James glanced back towards the wall at the question and nodded. "Yes, Jackal. That's the plan."

> Alexander has another of those dispensers concealed in his clothing.

Khance's smile was fixed on his face as he reached down to his sock and removed the final dispenser. "I must have forgotten about that one." A flicker of annoyance crossed his face as he watched James pocket the last remaining inhaler. "I can see that myself and Jackal are going to get along famously."

> Your heart-rate elevated. That was a lie.