Ignis' First Firesday of Harvestfall, 1442, Cumulus Fields, Whispering Wilds.

A cool breeze carried the scent of cotton and damp earth as it whispered through the Cumulus Fields—a sea of pale green punctuated by fluffy white cotton plants. The night air hung heavy, undisturbed but for the gentle swaying of white tufts, ripe for harvest. The silence was broken only by the chirr of crickets.

Leoric, hunched on his knees amid the cotton plants, tugged a bundle of fluffy white cotton free, the soft fibres clinging to his calloused fingers. Lean, sweat-covered arms, strong from exertion, shone beneath his rolled-up shirt under the moonlight of Ignis' carmine moon. The fields stretched into the night, bathed in ethereal red light. Only the soft rustle of harvesting cotton punctuated the calm.

Here, surrounded by the simplicity of nature's bounty, it was easy to forget the roar of combat. Leoric could relax, no longer having to push himself beyond his limits, yet, even in the tranquil moment, his mind wandered back to his team—no, his companions.

… Elyssia's such a drill sergeant.

Leoric smirked faintly, brushing a strand of hair from his face as he dropped a freshly harvested cotton boll into the burlap sack at his feet.

That's four stacks down. Maybe I should get one more?

After every other member of the group had logged off, Leoric had travelled back to the Whispering Wilds to do some gathering; Vaelith would need a sizeable amount of material for her cloth-crafting profession. She could upgrade the gear for most of their party—three of the four wore cloth armour.

When she had offered to handle their upgrades before the next run, Elyssia had obviously approved, pragmatic as ever. Kaelyn had agreed with the idea, too. However, she had but one request: "… It better look stylish, cariño!"

Leoric crouched down, spun a cotton plant by the stem, the gesture deliberate, methodical. He inspected the result of his hard work, but his mind drifted back to the earlier conversation with the burrovian guild mistress.

Interdependence.

The thought lingered as he worked, each motion grounding him in the task's simplicity.

I have to get better at relying on others—I'm not really used to it.

His upbringing pushed him to shoulder every burden alone, to carry the weight of every expectation, every failure. It was how her parents had raised Sophie. To stand as a silent, unwavering pillar of support, offering strength and stability without outward display.

In this game, in this party, he had joined as a damage-dealer. The role which most depended on his companions. Without Elyssia taking hits for them and Kaelyn keeping them alive, he doubted they could have cleared the dungeon once, let alone twice. Even Vaelith's contribution was critical to their success.

In the past, he would have seen this as weakness—leaning on others, relying on their strengths. His fixed image of an ideal man allowed no space for anyone else, except perhaps devoted followers.

He vaguely recalled how, when he had built his character, he had chosen the ranger class because of how independent it would be.

I didn't really look at it with the right mindset. Strength isn't about standing alone—everyone contributes to the success of a group.

The words felt foreign but true, as if they had taken root in the soil of Cumulus Fields themselves.

He straightened himself, another stack of cotton harvested.

He glanced up, towards the night sky; the wind carrying the faint scent of wildflowers. He was not just gathering cotton—there was meaning here, a reminder.

The strongest threads are formed of countless fibres spun together.

Sophie's parents had always expected her to give up everything for the sake of others. To let others depend on her.

But he wondered now if Sophie had always misunderstood what her parents were asking. Could it be that the lesson was about balanced support, not complete self-sacrifice?

And had this been what Daniel had wanted all along? After all, he had often said he would take care of everything financially. Like it was a favour.

But now, with a clarity that surprised him, Leoric saw the issue. Daniel had never actually counted on her to reciprocate, to offer anything in return. He had wanted to provide for her, yes. But what he had offered was a prize, kept inside a golden cage. They had not been in a relationship where they would have supported each other, because he had never seen her as an equal he could depend on. And therein lay the crux of the problem.

Not like her party had done today.

Leoric stood up, picking up the last burlap sack filled with cotton. He let out a long sigh and started walking, following the trail that would take him all the way back to Luminara.

As he walked under the red moon, his mind wandered, and he reviewed the events of the day. Two encounters stood out from the rest. His brief reunion with Miska, and his fleeting encounter with Hana. A smile crept on the corner of his lips.

Looks like I might have a thing for pretty girls serving hot drinks?

He shook his head, chuckling at the notion. The chances of an actual relationship with either of them seemed slim at best. One had mistaken Sophie for someone else entirely—a person named Lee. There could be no future in a relationship built on false premises.

The other of them was a character in a video game. And her feelings towards him—as a non-playable character, it was dubious if she had feelings to begin with—were most likely the result of the game's machinations.

Miska had memories of a past involving him, the same way Leoric had memories of a past involving her. But this made no sense, seeing Leoric was barely forty hours old. Miska and he shared a constructed past—one that had never truly happened.

Regardless of whether those events were real or imagined, their impact on their minds was undeniable. Leoric admitted to himself how difficult it was to distinguish implanted memories from the real ones.

And this revelation scared him. The game's ability to tamper with players' memories—maybe even their minds... It felt like the developers were left completely unchecked, as if they had carte blanche within his head. Leoric, thankfully, had perceived no malicious activities so far.

I'll have to keep my eyes peeled; can't just blindly trust developers like that. And not just for my sake, but for my party, too.

Leoric wondered if any of them had noticed the game meddling with their minds like he had. He dismissed the idea quickly when it came to Kaelyn or Elyssia. The sylvani did not interface with the lore and the world, not in the way Leoric had. She cared about the gameplay aspects. The mastery of her character skills.

As for Kaelyn, she had seemed more interested in interacting with other players, and probably had not really dealt with her character's backstory at all. If she even had one.

Does the game assign a backstory only if you care about it, or does everyone have one, and they are simply free to ignore it?

He worried far more about Vaelith. Her interactions with the world, on the other hand, were unlike any other; she deeply engaged all its senses, absorbing sights, sounds, and the very feel of her surroundings. Her avatar, with its radiant beauty and sacred presence, seemed destined for greatness, hinting at a significant role in a larger game.

Don't worry, Vaelith. You can count on me. I've got your back.

As he reached a main throughway, a virtualChat notification appeared in the corner of his view. He raised an eyebrow and opened the window.

The call was from Mel, Sophie's sister.

This late? It's almost midnight. I wonder what she wants?

He quickly tapped a button to let her know he needed a minute before picking up the call.

Leoric assessed the area for threats. He found a quiet nook and kneeled down. Pulling up the hood of his ghillie cloak, he activated his camouflage skill, turning nearly undetectable.

This should keep me safe while I step away to pick Mel's call.

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Leoric sent his consciousness back to his virtual hub, leaving the game behind. He immediately headed to Sophie's office. His sterile and grey hub was not the most welcoming place for a friendly chat.

As he reached for the doorknob, he noticed the sleeves of his Thorne & Co. business suit on his avatar's body.

Should I step into something more casual?

He quickly opened his inventory and slipped into a comfortable purple and blue hoodie with a pair of black jeans, silently thanking the creators of the VR space, who made sure clothes would simply adjust themselves to his avatar's proportions. He was glad he could avoid buying an entirely new virtual wardrobe.

He plopped down in his comfortable office chair and accepted the call.

Melanie's avatar materialised on the other side of his desk, wearing a colourful but fashionable jumpsuit covered with a midnight-blue woollen dressing gown. Sophie's older sister always looked stylish, no matter the hour.

"Hey Soph, have you heard the—" Melanie stop mid-sentence, looking Leoric up and down, surprise clear on her face.

Leoric chuckled. "What's the matter, Mel? Bunny caught your tongue?"

"Huh? Well, I was about to ask if you played the remake. But I guess that answers that," she said, gesturing at him with both hands.

He smiled. "Honestly, I'm surprised to see you still look like yourself. I figured you would have jumped at the chance to return to your Photo-mode addiction. You practically made a living off that feature alone."

"Well, I thought about it…" Melanie grinned. "But you're talking of a time back when I still had free time."

"Well, I just needed to step away from life for a while. It was getting stuffy in here," Leoric said, tapping at his brow with one finger.

Sophie's sister clapped both hands and pulled one of the guest chairs closer to Leoric's desk. "Speaking of… This is exactly what I came here to talk about. I was worried about you..."

Great. Is she worried about how I'm handling things since my break-up? I'm so done with people trying to make me rethink this.

"Not you too…" Leoric rolled his eyes. "Who asked you to talk to me? Is it Appa? Eomma? You know I won't change my mind."

Melanie frowned and then shook her head. "No, no. It's not what you think. I'm not here to talk about that."

"Of course not," he said, voice devoid of any inflection as he uttered the words, a flat expression on his face.

But his sister's earnest expression held firm.

So he relented, and asked, "Alright. What's there to talk about, then, if not that?"

Melanie swallowed, and then asked a simple question. "Have you heard the news? The late-evening special bulletin?"

Leoric raised an eyebrow. "Is this about the glitch? The only thing every news outlet talks about today, isn't it?"

"It was! But it's old news, now. Around nine PM, some station from Portland dropped this bomb on everyone…"

He tilted his head slightly, his long burrovian ears bending in response. "Portland? The same area where those reporters were hoping to interview the catgirl, right?"

Melanie noted Leoric's ear movements, a smirk briefly gracing her lips before her focus shifted back to his eyes. "Yeah, the same. They actually interviewed her in VR. But that's not the important part—"

"—Not the glitch, not the interview?" he interrupted. "Okay, I'll bite. What did they show then?"

Her sister hesitated for one instant, but then spoke up. "They showed us her player—"

Well, they'd already doxxed her address to the world—going even further shouldn't surprise me at this point.

Leoric frowned. "—Okay, that seems rather excessive, but I can't see how this makes the news?"

"Oh, I'm getting there. They showed him. And how he's transforming into her."

Leoric heard the words, but his brain first latched on the wrong half of the sentence.

Him? Kaelyn's player is male?

The thought flickered through his mind, but quickly faded. What did it change about her—or him? Nothing. Not to Leoric.

But then the other half of Melanie's words finally hit home. And it hit him like a freight train. "Wait, what did you say? What's this about him transforming?"

His sister nodded grimly. "It's all over the news. They showed us a before/after picture. That catgirl's player, he doesn't look like his old self anymore. He's somewhere in-between the two. One day in, and roughly a quarter of the way, according to math whizzes."

Looks like he won't stay male much longer—maybe not even human, for that matter.

Leoric scratched at the back of his head. "Okay. And you're telling me this, because?"

"Huh? Well, look at you. Are you not worried at all, Soph?" Melanie looked him up and down, raising an eyebrow. "He's not the only one, you know," she said. "Of course, the net's filled with people claiming it's fake news. There are plenty of gamers who are posting pictures of themselves showing they haven't changed. But there are other cases of people claiming they're changing too."

Oh. So it's not an isolated case, then?

Leoric wondered how the prospect of turning into his character made him feel. He had made him by carefully picking all the options that had appealed to Sophie the most. Leoric had been aspirational.

Escaping in his body, his world, had felt good. But would that hold true, if it were permanently the case? He flexed his avatar's fingers, imagining what it would feel like if they truly belonged to him—outside this space.

A shiver ran down his spine—a strange cocktail of anticipation and unease. He swallowed hard. "Ah. It did not even occur to me—"

Leoric interrupted himself as memories came flooding back. The day's earlier events, filled with hundreds of unusual signals and strange happenings, replayed themselves in his mind, a kaleidoscope of perplexing images and sensations. Sophie's sudden athletic excellence. The androgynous reflection she saw in the window. How her clothes had hung on her body. The way people had looked at her. How Hana had looked at her, and the name she had called him.

Leoric blinked twice, slowly and deliberately, unsure how much he should share with his sister.

Melanie shifted in her chair, her colourful jumpsuit creasing as she crossed and uncrossed her legs. Her voice wavered, betraying a fear she could not hide. "Soph, this isn't just some bug. If it's real… if it's real. If it's actually happening to others…"

He felt a cold sweat break out on his skin as the blood drained from his face. His voice caught in his throat. "I, huh, need to disconnect and check something. Call me IRL."

Without waiting for a reply, Leoric shut down the VR simulation, and moments later, Sophie opened her eyes, surrounded by the darkness of her studio apartment. She reached out behind her neck and freed herself from the neural connector. She waited restlessly as the chair finished adjusting itself back to an upright configuration.

Sophie immediately stood up and flicked on the apartment lights. Her phone buzzed in her pockets, and she answered, putting it on speakerphone and activating the camera. "Hey again, Mel."

"Okay… I'm freaking out, Soph. Don't tell me you logged out because you think…"

"I don't think—" Sophie shook her head, holding the phone in front of her as she walked towards the bathroom. "—I have to check."

She flicked the lights on in the bathroom and stood in front of the mirror. She stepped closer, her reflection almost foreign. Her shoulders looked broader, her limbs longer, and even her posture seemed unfamiliar. Her chest rose and fell in shallow breaths, her thoughts spiralling around what certainly could not be real.

Maybe she was just seeing things. But she knew a surefire way to tell if something had changed. "Mirror, display measuring tools."

A semi-translucent information panel appeared, floating ahead of the mirror. Sophie pressed the button to measure height.

As a ruler appeared in front of her, a synthetic voice spoke. "Please keep your back straight and look directly ahead."

Sophie followed the instructions, straightened her spine and raised her chin, looking eye to eye at her reflection. Seconds later, the mirror reported its findings.

One hundred seventy-four centimetres. Or five feet, eight and a half inches.

She stared at the numbers, her pulse quickening.

Two and a half inches taller. That's… impossible.

A chill ran down her spine as her mind scrambled for explanations.

Am I okay with this?

As she stared at the readings, Melanie spoke up. "…Sophie?"

"People don't normally have sudden growth spurts at twenty-nine, do they?"

"Huh? No, not that I know of…"

Sophie knew the answer, but she had to ask. Because it made no sense at all. "How else can I be two and a half inches taller than I was yesterday?"

Melanie hesitated before asking. "How tall did you make him? You character in-game?"

And she replied without even thinking. "Six foot four."

Ten inches taller than she was. According to Melanie, Kaelyn's player was now a quarter of the way to becoming her. And two and a half inches was a quarter of ten.

Neither spoke for a moment, but Sophie was sure both she and her sister were thinking the same thing.

"Soph? Are you okay?"

Am I? I'm alright, I think?

The day had started wonderfully. She could not remember the last time she had felt as good as after the morning jog in her new and improved body.

Of course, not everything today had been perfect; Adelina's disapproval still pained her, for instance.

If tomorrow takes me another quarter of the way there... If I become something between my two selves, how will I handle this? Even more importantly, how will everyone else react?

Trying to predict her parents' reactions, she laughed. "Well, maybe this'll get the parents to stop badgering me about getting back with Daniel."

Her light-hearted joke was met with a long silence.

Then Melanie asked, "That's… all? That's the only thing you can think of?"

Sophie smirked. "No, Mel. I'm a bit overwhelmed, if I'm honest. But…"

"But?"

Sophie was not sure what she could say.

"Speak to me, sis…"

Her mind was a whirlwind of contradiction—racing thoughts and hollow silence colliding in her chest. "I don't know, Mel. I think I might be okay with this?"

"What do you mean? If it stays like this, or if it goes further?"

Why not both?

Sophie chuckled. "Yes?"

Mel groaned. "Not the time for jokes, so cut the crap out, will you?"

But Sophie had been honest. "Not joking, Mel. I think I'm okay either way. I don't think I hated who I was, but it's not like I dislike being Leoric."

"What? Are you, have you been… Are you trans? Have I always had a little brother…?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Or maybe it's something else. What about being non-bunnary?"

The sound of a face palm accompanied more groaning. "Should we tell the parents? You know, before they hear the news, or learn it from someone else?"

Sophie thought about it for a moment, closed the measuring tools, turned off the light, and walked out of the bathroom. "I'll have to, at some point. Maybe not today at midnight, though."

"Want me to come pick you up? We can have a sleepover at my place. That way, you'll have someone around to check on you come morning, just in case?"

Melanie sounded more freaked out than she was. The drive and sleepover might do more for her peace of mind than Sophie's.

For a brief moment, she wondered if the game's ability to manipulate memories could be responsible for how unphased she felt about this news of impending transformation.

Is this really me? Or is the game nudging me toward acceptance?

She knew she should be more panicked. Worried, at the very least.

I'm sure others in my shoes would totally freak out?

Like if this had happened to Daniel? If he was transforming into his character, like Kaelyn's player was?

He would surely flip his shit.

But Sophie? Somehow, she could just... shrug it off. Like none of this was strange at all. So her mind went to more immediate concerns. She looked down at her shirt and frowned, tugging at the elastic hem hugging her hips.

Just great. It's a good thing Melanie lives near a shopping mall—I might need new clothes by morning.

Weighing the advantages of staying home and letting her sister pick her up, Sophie gave in. "Sure. I'll pack some things. I'll be ready by the time you get here."

"Right. Be there shortly, sib. We'll sort this out. Love you!"

The call ended, and Sophie sat in the stillness, a smile tugging at her lips.

Sib, huh?

She rolled the word around in her mind.

Yeah... I actually kinda liked the sound of that.

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