Friday, August 29th, 2042, Parking Lot of the KOIN 6 Building, Downtown Portland, Oregon.

Lucia sat curled in the passenger seat, knees to her chest, arms locked tight. Her breath left faint ghosts on the window despite the late August heat.

The van smelt faintly of coffee grounds, the scent of rushed mornings ground into the carpet and the equipment cases. A soft whir came from the rig in the back, a higher note weaving through the steady, almost hypnotic hum of the AC vents. Somewhere beyond the insulated shell of the van, a bus hissed to a stop, followed by the muffled chatter of early commuters spilling onto the sidewalk.

Lucia traced a fingertip through the thin fog on the glass, drawing half-formed loops before her breath erased them again. Her other hand picked at the skin near her thumb knuckle, an old nervous habit she had broken years ago but which seemed to have returned without asking permission.

Brent and her parents had left for the station's legal wing a few minutes ago. They had asked her if she wanted to come along, but she had refused. Every time she thought of stepping out, of leaving the van, her chest tightened—not because of the heat outside, but because it would mean Kaelyn was alone back here, surrounded only by the cold blink of LEDs and the silent weight of machines.

Megan sat in the driver's seat, seatbelt off, head tipped against the window. Every so often, her eyes flicked toward the still form in the back, deep in full-dive immersion.

Lucia stared at the blurred reflection of her own face, tracking a lone jogger cutting through the morning quiet.

"Hey," Megan said softly, breaking the silence. "You doing okay?"

Lucia hesitated. Ryan's Lo siento from earlier still weighed heavy in her chest.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I'm worried about Ryan—still in the game that changed him so much. But I'm worried about her, too. And what happens when she starts asserting herself more?"

"Yeah." Megan exhaled through her nose. "I think we can let Kaelyn and Ryan figure that part out. I'm more worried about how she'll be treated out here."

Lucia turned. "Afraid of something in particular?"

"Well…" Megan's lips pressed into a thin line. "Obviously the attention she's getting. Sexy catgirl on the news? Ryan's never dealt with that kind of creep-level scrutiny. But more than that—" she paused, "—I'm worried about health professionals. How they'll see something they think needs fixing."

Lucia's brow furrowed. She had to admit, she shared those concerns, too. "Fixed how?"

"Look, I'm pretty sure we're dealing with a plural system here. You agree?"

"Yeah," Lucia said slowly. "That much seems obvious."

"Right. But a lot of mental health pros still equate plurality with DID—dissociative identity disorder. They see it as a pathology, not a valid way to exist. Their 'cure' is to collapse everyone into one. And their idea of who's real?" Megan made air quotes. "The original. Ryan."

Lucia's stomach twisted. She glanced at the back of the van. Ryan—Kaelyn—lay still, the heart monitor's green light pulsing steadily.

"But Kaelyn is real," she whispered. "She has her own voice, her own memories. I've talked with her. She's just a normal girl who doesn't deserve to be erased. Getting rid of her would be like cutting off a perfectly good arm because it's bruised."

"I know," Megan said. "You don't have to convince me. But not everyone's going to see it that way."

The silence thickened.

Lucia tucked her chin onto her knees. "Do you think Ryan knows?"

"That she's real?"

"No. That… if they're forced into one person, it might kill a part of him forever."

Megan did not answer right away. She watched a bird land on a streetlamp. "I don't know. Maybe he's not thinking about it. But he's scared. And fear makes people do stupid things."

"Fight or flight," Lucia murmured.

"Exactly. And if he's afraid Kaelyn will just keep getting stronger—"

"—which she will," Lucia cut in.

"Yeah. Then he might do something desperate to stop her."

Lucia imagined it—a magic pill that erased the split. Would Ryan hesitate? Or swallow it before Kaelyn could speak?

"But she's him, isn't she?"

"They share the same brain, if that's what you mean."

"Do we even know how much overlap there is? What happens if you cut away part of yourself like that? Would he even be the same person?"

"Hard to say," Megan admitted. "But they share memories, so… a lot."

Lucia's chest tightened. Kaelyn had only surfaced recently, but she had clearly always been there. Ryan might never have existed without her. Splitting them apart cleanly? That felt impossible.

She wished she had a way to understand what was happening to her sibling—really understand it.

Then, like a strange bloom forcing its way through a cracked sidewalk, an idea took root.

What if… she made a character too? Followed Ryan's exact steps in creation. Replicated every choice. Would the same thing happen to her?

It was ridiculous. It was reckless. And yet it refused to leave, the way a scrap of melody remains behind hours after hearing it once. She tried to bat it away—told herself it was just the product of too many hours worrying, too little sleep—but it circled back, stubborn as a tide.

The more she thought about it, the more it changed shape. At first it was just a "what if," a hypothetical. Then it became an experiment. And then… it became a possibility she could almost feel in her hands, like the cool, textured surface of a brand-new character slate waiting for its first name.

It was absurd. But the thought of understanding—really understanding—Kaelyn from the inside made her chest ache in a way that was both fear and longing.

Megan must have caught the flicker in her expression. "You're thinking something risky. Out with it."

Busted!

Lucia gave an awkward half-smile. "That obvious?"

"You've got the look of someone about to jump into a river without checking the current."

Lucia hugged her knees tighter. "I don't want to just guess what she's feeling. I want to know. If I can experience it for myself… maybe I can stop being scared of losing Ryan and start figuring out how to support them both."

"You mean," Megan tilted her head, "making an avatar—even knowing what it might do to you?"

"Yes. Maybe. I don't know. Look—it changed Ryan. Awakened someone inside him. If I walk into that world, maybe I'll understand. Maybe I can figure out exactly how it happened, step by step."

Lucia bit her lip. "It's a stupid idea, isn't it?"

"No," Megan said after a pause. "It's brave. Dangerous, sure. But maybe it's the only way to really see her. On her terms."

Lucia's gaze drifted to the still body in the rig. On her terms. She had never truly given Kaelyn that—not fully.

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Her mind spun ahead. What would her own avatar look like? Would it feel like stepping into someone else's skin? Or uncover something she did not know about herself?

"You should research first," Megan said. "Read up on the starting towns. Player testimonies. Different species. Narrow down anything that stands out."

"That sounds like homework." Lucia laughed. "Good thing I'm a straight-A student!"

"Careful with that ego. It's not just your life on the line. Imagine your parents walking in to see you hooked into the other rig. You'll only get one shot at this—don't waste it by rushing."

Lucia nodded, eyes lingering on Kaelyn's peaceful face. The rig's biometric sensors beeped in their slow, steady rhythm.

"I won't rush," she murmured. "But I think I have to try."

Megan fished out her phone from her purse. She gave a slow, reluctant nod. "Then at least let me help you prep."

Lucia grinned. "Assigning me reading?"

"I'll even quiz you," Megan replied, lips curling into the closest thing to a smile all morning.

Lucia dug out her own phone, scrolling until she found the group chat she wanted—the computer science club from uni. She opened the window.

"Let me call the cavalry."

Lucia tapped out a quick message, thumbs hovering a moment before she hit send.

"Lampriday: Hey. Need help researching something about that new VR MMO. Anyone around?"

The replies came faster than she expected—especially on a Friday morning. Even without hearing their voices, she could imagine them clearly. Bren's dry humour. Ink's teasing lilt. Cas's gentle chiding.

"ThundaBirdBren: Hey Glowbug. Whachha need?"

"Inkermitance: is this for a class or is this some secret project again"

"ThundaBirdBren: Sounds secret-projecty to me. Either way, I'm in."

"CastleOwlser: Hey, you never told us those were pictures of your brother, Lamp. We would have been more hush-hush if you'd given us a heads up…"

"Inkermitance: i think that's exactly y she never told us, CasO. what kindda dirt u looking 4?"

They did not even know what she was asking for yet, and already they were signing on.

She hesitated, then typed the truth—well, the truth she could admit to.

"Lampriday: Let's just say it's Kaelyn-adjacent. I need a compilation of the FTUE of every class and species in the game."

"ThundaBirdBren: Sounds simple enough. I can have an AI scrub all the public forums for that data in a few minutes. Whaccha need it for?"

"Lampriday: I want to try to repro what my sibling went through."

Almost instantly, the chat lit up with promises, questions, speculation. They were moving before she had fully explained why.

"Inkermitance: no way, for real?"

"ThundaBirdBren: Okay. That does sound serious."

"Inkermitance: hey all folx from @ConspiracyBoard, you may want to jump in on this juicy thread."

"CastleOwlser: Already going through the different wikis for the game, collecting data now…"

Lucia could not help but laugh. She knew she could count on her geeky friends from the computer club to figure out all the variables.

Megan caught the flurry of notification pings and arched an eyebrow. "That the cavalry?"

"They're already making spreadsheets," Lucia murmured, setting the phone to vibrate.

Megan's smile was small but genuine. "Nerds save lives."

Lucia's gaze drifted to Kaelyn's still form in the back of the van. The sight grounded her resolve.

"Yeah," she whispered. "Maybe this time, they really will."

She sank deeper into her seat, phone in hand, her thumbs flitting across the screen as she opened the shared doc ThundaBirdBren had already linked. Colour-coded pivot tables, multiple sheets. Even had graphs and hyperlinked footnotes.

Of course. Bren had always been the brain of their group.

She scrolled slowly, the smooth glass warm under her fingertips, colours flickering past—greens for species data, blues for class breakdowns, reds for anomalies. Each neat cell felt like it could hold the key to this mystery, if she knew how to read it right.

The graphs curved like rivers, branching and looping, some ending abruptly where the data had dried up. She traced the curves with her eyes, as if one of them might lead straight to her sister.

Lucia caught herself leaning in, breath fogging the corner of the phone, as though proximity alone might coax the hidden patterns to the surface. She felt protective of the file, ridiculous as that was—like if she dropped her phone now, the fragile trail of breadcrumbs would scatter beyond anyone's ability to recover.

When she returned to the chat window, she skimmed over the logs. Some of her friends had chimed in from both their AI research server and their MMO guild.

"CastleOwlser: Okay, so officially, the FTUE changes based on species, class and patron. The interesting thing is, even when people picked the same combo, they don't all have the same experience—but it matches more often than not."

"Inkermitance: i see theories online. folx think what matters is why u play and what u hope to get from the game"

"CastleOwlser: That's what I'm noticing on the wiki's discussion pages, too. There's a lot of tug-of-war edits. Stuff getting changed and reverted. Some people are posting quests or rewards with screenshot proof, but then when moderators check in-game, they don't see the same thing. It's unbelievable, really. The whole thing appears bespoke for each user. Like the game adjusts based on your Bartle-type or something."

"Inkermitance: except the game doesn't ask you if ur an achiever or whatever"

"ThundaBirdBren: It doesn't have to. Not if it can tell. It's hooked to the player's brains. Maybe that what's going on?"

Lucia frowned at that. Was that it? Was intent the key? If she followed Kaelyn's path with deliberate precision, would the game recognise what she was trying to do? Could it give her the same awakening Ryan had found?

She jotted it on a scratchpad:

One—intent probably matters.

She worked through the first sheet—starting cities. Luminara for mages and priests. Kaelyn's home turf. Easy enough to match.

The second sheet covered the different species.

Noble burrovian. Pint burrovian. Sovereign dracan… her eyes moved down the list until she saw it: Half-blood felinae. Origin city Altansuun. Creator god: Aer.

Kaelyn's choice.

The only other species originating from Altansuun was Noble burrovians, created by Cryonix.

Another note:

Two—Half-blood felinae. Burrovian might work—same origin city.

But the differences tugged at her. Gods mattered. Lifespans varied wildly. Five centuries for a Sovereign dracan. Forty-five years for a half-blood felinae. Choosing the wrong option could change… everything.

She asked the group for a comparison between Aer and Cryonix, just to be sure.

The third tab: patrons. Sixteen of them. The first choice you make when creating a character—before anything else. Inkermitance left a particularly interesting comment at the top of the page.

"odd you have to pick your patron before you even pick class/species. maybe becuz dat choice matters more?"

Lucia nodded as she thought about it. It made sense the first step of character creation would be the one that had the largest impact on your experience.

She thought through the possibilities. Which one had Ryan picked? The compassionate Luxoria, for a priestess of light, seemed like an obvious choice. Pyra for passion and allure was a strong possibility too. Aer for kinship with her species. Umber for trickery and manipulation. Thorin for artistry. Gaius for healing. Astralius for light and truth. Zephyra for change.

But her eyes stopped at one. Nocturne. Lady of Discovery. Goddess of Mysteries.

Something about that felt right. Not because she knew Ryan had chosen her—but because she wanted to. If intent truly mattered, then picking a goddess who specialises in uncovering secrets would certainly put her on the right path.

Another note:

Three—Pick Nocturne as patron. I need answers.

She was looking to unlock something—inside Kaelyn, inside Ryan, and maybe inside herself.

Her reflection in the window was faint, almost a ghost.

The ghost stared back with her eyes but not her certainty. Her hair caught the pale morning light in uneven strands, and for a second she imagined a stranger's face superimposed over her own—a stranger she had yet to meet but who was waiting for her in some digital street of Luminara.

It was impossible not to imagine Kaelyn there instead, her confident gaze meeting Lucia's uncertain one through the glass.

She tried a smile at herself, and it looked borrowed, like she was auditioning for an unwritten role. Her mind wandered—would this other self have sharper eyes? Softer hands? Would she stand differently, speak with more surety? She wondered if Ryan had felt this same disconnect before Kaelyn appeared, if he had known on some level she was always there, simply waiting to be seen.

Lucia did not know sure what this all meant for her and her future, but she knew this, right here, right now, would be a pivotal moment in her life.

Another ping—Bren's report on Aer and Cryonix. She skimmed it until her eyes hit one word under Cryonix's domain: stasis. The antithesis of what she was looking for. That settled it. Noble burrovian was out.

The rig behind them her beeped softly. Megan glanced back. "Routine report. Stable vitals."

She hesitated a little, then added, "You'll probably want to jump in one of the other chairs before my dad comes back. You want to prep some ideas? Try narrowing options?"

Lucia nodded, but her mind kept spinning.

"I'm down to mage or priest," she murmured.

"Damage dealer, if you want to catch up to her fast," Megan suggested. "Healers kill slow."

"Hmm."

Lucia admitted that this was a good point. She wondered if it was worth it to pick a different class.

"Lampriday: What are the opinions on mages?"

"ThundaBirdBren: Super useful. Portals are a huge timesaver."

"Inkermitance: mage kills crazy fast. u seen the mage in that party? physics haxx"

"CastleOwlser: Mage complements Kaelyn's priest well if you ever play together. You rarely use two healers in the same group."

Still, her gut hesitated. What if even a small deviation put her too far from Kaelyn's path?

"ThundaBirdBren: If you want to play it safe, roll a priest to start, unlock mage at 15. BoBW."

She recognised the acronym instantly. Best of both worlds.

Bren was probably right, though. Starting with a priest felt like the safer option. Plus, if Kaelyn unlocked the shifter class later, as she had suggested to do, then maybe having a healer to go along the hybrid class would come in handy.

"Lampriday: Thanks, everyone. I'm going in. Keep collecting data."

"Inkermitance: send us friend invites when ur in. play with us l8r."

"CastleOwlser: Yeah. Join CrowdControl! That's the computer club's guild name, btw."

"Lampriday: Will do!"

The chorus of encouragement felt warm. Comforting. A net beneath her.

She slipped out of the seat, moving toward the back. Soon, Kaelyn was going to be surprised to find a little sister who had not existed yesterday.

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