I woke up leaning against a wall without remembering when I’d passed out. The fox, Xinyu, was gone, and someone had set my leg with a splint. It still hurt like hell, but it was more of a dull throb now; the narrative importance of my suffering had passed.

  Nobody was around besides Vivi, who was still passed out next to me; she was clutching my side like a vice. I debated waking her up for a moment before deciding against it. I wasn’t even sure how much time had passed, and waking her too early could get me killed.

  “Hey! Where is everyone?” I yelled. Nobody responded, so they must be off working on the rift, wherever it ended up being. I considered messaging them, but decided against it; they’d let me know if they needed me.

  All the wights were dead, and Vivi killed the… was it an asura? That would make sense if this place were pulling from Buddhist mythos. Maybe made of the body that the commander had been inhabiting. Since those threats were gone, we were probably safe here even without Aisling or Makesi watching over us.

  Either that or they’ve been tangled up in something without the two people who’d been knocked out by the fight.

  I still couldn’t stand to go look for them, even if Vivi wasn’t locking me in place with her grip. So I might as well advance my Grade and see what that gives me. The others said what Grades meant to me probably wouldn’t be the same as what it did for them. The way they explained it was that Grades were a measure of how much Dust my body had processed, which caused a shift in my Archetype towards fulfilling whatever it meant to be. Essentially, improving my connection with it.

  It would also integrate the System further into me, allowing a better connection with my Aspect.

  Opening my System Console, I accepted the Grade advancement.

  Please wait. Processing your new Grade…

  Updating System Console with improved integration

  New System Function Unlocked [Dust Aspect Acceleration]

  Details: When burning Dust in the System, you may route it through your Archetype to increase the potency of your Aspect on the world around you.

  Warning: Overusing this function may cause personal reality destabilization.

  System Console v1.1

  Name: Ren

  Archetype: Noememetic Architect (Eunoic)

  Grade: 1 (1357/50000)

  Charisma (Glamour): 2

  Venust: 3

  Noesis: 2

  Entelechy: 3

  Dust: 1393

  Lives: 2

  Weight: 1/10 (Cap)

  That… I was pretty sure Vivi also had the same System function. When I first met her, she was burning Dust to the point her eyes had turned gold, which was how she silently broke through Atlas security. The world aligned itself with her Aspect and allowed her to create outcomes that she desired. She’d regaled me with stories about how hard it had been to track me down and set up the meeting. Atlas hadn’t been blocking my location in any way, so Aisling could detect my existence, but there was so much interference from the other anomalies that she couldn’t pinpoint exactly where I was.

  I would test how that worked later; I was already lower on Dust than I’d like to be, so burning it any time soon now didn’t feel like the right move. Maybe if closing the overlap provided more, I’d be okay with it. Every Dust I burned should provide three points towards the next Grade after all. The amount of points I gained when burning went up when my Grade did, and now I received another incentive to burn.

  Though the amount of Dust I needed to spend to reach the next Grade also went up… by a fuckload. I wasn’t going to reach that any time soon, which meant I needed to be very careful when picking my next Manifest.

  Available Manifests: Noememetic Architect (Eunoic)

  Mask [Locked]

  Narration [Locked]

  Director [Locked]

  Script [Locked]

  Stage [Locked]

  Design [Locked]

  Curtain [Locked]

  Thread [Locked]

  Cast [Locked]

  House [Locked]

  Unlocked

  Showbill

  Description: Memetic Engineering, Emotive Triggers, Cognitive Contagion, Group Resonance

  Unlock Points: 1

  Looking over the potential new Manifests, I could see that my attention landed on the new one that hadn’t been there last time I looked over the List. House… Did that mean like the part of the theatre where the audience sat? That would imply there was a group of people watching my life unfold at all times.

  I looked around, as if expecting to see a crowd of people hiding somewhere, watching my every move.

  That made no sense. How did I even unlock it as an option? Wouldn’t that require interacting with the audience in some fashion? Breaking the fourth wall of… I wasn’t even sure. The fourth wall within the universe?

  I wasn’t even getting paid for the show, like it was some student theatre bullshit.

  Or was it because I put on a Show and failed miserably? Maybe it isn’t all that deep. Either way, I’m not going to pick that one.

  After staring at the options for a good thirty minutes, I realized I had no idea what I wanted to pick.

  Everything felt useful in some way or another. Mask, Stage, Director, Script, Curtain, they all seemed like things I would find useful, and this choice was really important.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  How did I choose last time?...

  Oh, right, Aurin picked for me. I completely forgot to let her out.

  I’m a really good girlfriend, absolutely perfect, you couldn’t find better than me. Accidentally forgetting to let my partner out of their non-existent state, that was supposedly something like sleep for her.

  Burying my face in my hands, I opened her box.

  “We’re here already? Wow, what did I miss? Why are you cuddling with Vivi?” Aurin asked the moment she popped into existence. Then she froze, her mouth open as she gawked at my injury. “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR LEG? ARE YOU OKAY?”

  “I was thrown a few blocks and landed poorly, don’t worry, I’ll get better. It looks worse than it is,” I lied. The bones were shattered, and I wasn’t sure if I was ever going to be able to walk with it again.

  It was fine. In the worst-case scenario, I’d get a new one when I died.

  Aurin dropped down and wrapped herself around me, being careful not to nudge my leg, which I was appreciative of. One of her hands poked Vivi’s ahoge, which was still swishing back and forth like it was alive. It poked her back in return, eliciting a chuckle from me.

  “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. Is there anything I can do to make it better?” Aurin murmured into my shoulder, making me feel bad that I didn’t let her out earlier. I didn’t like having this kind of power over her, but she wouldn’t want me thinking about that fact.

  “Yeah, actually, I’m having trouble picking a new Manifest. If you could just do what you did last time and suggest one for me, that would be great,” I said, and pointed to the window floating in front of me.

  “That’s not really what I meant, but okay. If you’re well enough to do that, then you’re well enough for this.” Her hand found my chin, and she turned my head so she could pull me into a kiss. I leaned into her, letting the world fade away as the warmth of her lips took my mind off the throbbing pain. She didn’t let me go for a while, coming across as unusually desperate for my touch as her hand intertwined with mine.

  She’d been like this ever since I raised my Venust. I wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or not, but as long as she was enjoying herself, that meant it wasn’t a problem. Right?

  Being very careful with my leg, she moved off me, nuzzling her nose against mine before leaning on my shoulder.

  “So, back to your question, what do you feel like you’re lacking right now?” Aurin asked, perfectly segueing from the kiss in a way that definitely wasn’t awkward.

  “Uhhh, I guess I don't really feel like I'm in control of what happens when I haven't prepared conditions to my liking. If we're ambushed by something with a mind that's as immobile as a steel block, I'm basically useless,” I replied, thinking back to Makesi having his head beaten like a steel drum. He probably had multiple head injuries at the moment.

  At the young biological age of fourteen, that couldn't be good for his long-term development.

  “So you want more control over the Stage that you're forced to act on?” Aurin asked, obviously including the name on purpose; I could practically hear the capital letter she used.

  “I don't know. What if Narration fits that better? Allowing me more control over the events that happen in the play?” I asked in return. This was my whole problem; all of the Manifests seemed useful to some degree.

  Except for House, I had no idea what I would even do with that one.

  Taking Curtain might help me by allowing me to move off stage if need be. I wasn't sure what kind of power that would give me, but I knew being able to move around undetected had to be useful in some regard.

  “Do you think you could afford to buy something that altered causality?” Aurin asked in reference to my suggestion that Narration would be a good fit.

  Which was fair, I probably couldn't have just narrated the punches Makesi took to the head out of existence.

  “What do you think Stage even does then?” I asked her, nuzzling my head against hers.

  “There's only one way to find out,” she replied, eliciting a groan out of me.

  “Fine, I'll choose it. See you after my nap,” I said, then pulled her onstage so she could handle things while I was out before putting the point into Stage.

  A warm buzz filled my mind, slowly reducing my thoughts to soup. As I sank into that bath of pleasure, it appeared like the world was reorganizing itself into a Stage. I found myself seated beside Aurin, my weight resting against the set dressing as if it had always been there.

  The lights on me were too bright to see into the house, but movement rippled through the auditorium anyway. Not sound. Not motion. Just the presence of something shifting from one state to another.

  I turned my head toward where the glare thinned, and something there resolved just enough to be wrong. Not a silhouette. Not a body. The idea of a seated shape pressed against my awareness without ever arriving as an image.

  My last thought was trying to decide whether the pattern where its face should have been was a mask.

  The thought did not finish. The world had vanished far before that could happen, and I felt myself slump down against Aurin.

  When my mind finally emerged from the haze of golden ecstasy, I heard voices going back and forth. Was Aurin talking behind my back going to happen every time I picked a Manifest?

  Well, that was nice. She needed more time to interact with people without me involved.

  “...can be hard to grasp sometimes. I know I haven’t fully understood my own. I’ve seen Anchors do things that you wouldn’t even believe, shaping their own reality in ways that would break your mind even trying to perceive if you weren’t already attuned to it. I’m not anywhere near that level yet. My specialization is kinetic tricks, which is useful, of course, but knowing that if I just figured it out, I could teleport or turn into liquid with a mere thought is maddening. I wish I had someone like you to explain it all to me,” Vivi said while clutching my arm tightly, her hand squeezing mine. I considered shoving her away, but decided against it because it felt rude to take that connection away from her if she needed it right now.

  Especially since she was coming down from paying a massive cost during the fight and may not be emotionally stable yet.

  “The thing is, I don’t think I can tell her how her Aspect works. The stage directions whispering in the back of my mind aren’t supposed to be spoken aloud, especially not to someone playing her role,” Aurin explained, her body still curled up against mine.

  Her words perked me up. I hadn’t heard anything about how Aurin experienced being a part of the stage in my mind before. She had always refused to talk about it, and I supposed I knew why now.

  “There’s nothing you can tell her? You are an embodiment of her Aspect; even a hint would probably help her immensely in learning the little details as to how her power works. Because she definitely isn’t using it at its full capacity. I’ve heard Makesi talking about her Archetype’s definition and… well, that’s not important. What’s important is what you can do to help her. I think she’ll need that help soon. We won’t be hiding in this world forever. Eventually, the contract will end, and we’ll be forced to go back to the Nexus,” Vivi said, and squeezed my hand hard enough that I recoiled backward. I froze when I realized what I had done, but it was too late. “Oh, good morning, Ren. You’re back with us?”

  Ah, god damn it.

  “Yeah, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t break my hand. My leg being out of commission is already enough for me,” I replied, and disentangled my fingers from hers before smacking her hand away. “What were you two talking about? I only caught the end there, about the Nexus. What’s that? I think I saw it mentioned in the Contract, but it wasn’t explained,” I lied.

  “Right, uhh, the Nexus is basically the place where we go between Contracts. Time there runs way faster than in other Dimensions because internally it speeds up the flow of Dust from Contractors to the central reserve. That’s why you saw the time requirement in the Contract you signed. People say some immense magic was cast in the past to shift how time worked, back when the REB had that capability. These days, all that means for us is there are always Contracts to send us out on,” Vivi explained, then let out a grumble when I refused to let her catch my hand again. She pressed her face into my shoulder and let out a long moan.

  I wondered if this was just going to be my life now, groups of people fighting to try and snuggle with me so they could enjoy the feeling of my skin and clothes. My clothes had somehow been enhanced by increasing Venust as well, despite that not being part of the Stat’s description.

  That didn’t seem like that bad of an issue. I enjoyed touch after all, and more importantly, refusing an addict their dope would be rude from a utilitarian ethical model. So what right did I have to tell her no?

  “You want to check out your new Manifest Ren? See what it gives you as options?” Aurin helpfully suggested as a way to distract me from Vivi.

  “Sure, let’s do that,” I replied and opened up the screen to see the description I was given.

  Whatever the case, thanks for reading!

  Discord Server if you'd like to chat with other fans of my work!