Welcome to Gaia! ::

James continued to wander the hospital grounds, feeling more and more lost and out of touch. He was also disconcertingly and uncharacteristically angry. It bubbled just under the surface of his skin, itching and burning as if he were going to shed, to shed himself and become something new. And yet, even as the irritability, the rage built up, fed by fear and paranoia, some part of him resisted. He didn't LIKE feeling this way, unable to find the bright side; to find the light...

Suddenly, he spotted something familiar in the distance.



"Oh, thank goodness, Susan," he managed weakly. The cartoonish cat figure sat happily in the fog, playing with a ball of yarn. For some reason, this felt perfectly logical to James.

JAMES, the diminutive feline purred in a surprisingly authoritative voice, YOU LEFT YOUR PHONE OUT HERE. HOW ARE YOU GOING TO FEED ME?

His hands habitually flew to his pockets, and he realized the cat was right. "H-how silly of me," he mumbled.

JAMES, LETS GO GET IT. ITS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE YOU WATCHED ME PLAY. DON'T YOU MISS US?



There were more of them now. This seemed right, he remembered fuzzily. All of them playing together. Yes. This was ok. "Of course," he murmured. "Yes, that's it. I just need to pop back to my dorm and get my phone, a-and, everything will be-"

EVERYTHING WILL BE JUST FINE, JAMES.

"Oh, hello Kammy," James replied, and his voice had a dreamy quality to it. He didn't actually look at her, but instead continued to stare out into the fog. "I'm glad you're not dead. I saw you dead, back there."

He paused, as if listening to something.



COME, JAMES. I WILL GIVE YOU GOLD SARDINES.

"Your eyes had melted out. Did you know, eyes melt?" he added distractedly. He hadn't, and wouldn't soon forget, but right now - right NOW, he really needed to go get his phone.

"Party, huh. Pyramids. That's very interesting, and I would love to help, but I really should go back. You know, to the university, I think it's this way. I just found my cat, you see, and she knows the way back. I need my phone."

The dreamlike quality with which he spoke escalated with each syllable, and he began dazedly to walk toward the fog.

"Can't you see her?" He responded, sounding quite sure of himself for someone who had been wandering around aimlessly for hours. "It's got to be the way back, Kammy. Besides, she said she brought sardines."

There were more of them now.



"Come on," he added, and grabbed her hand. "Maybe everyone else is already there."

JAMES. JAMES, THERE ARE NEW ITEMS IN THE ITEM SHOP. I BET YOU COULD BUY ONE FOR US BY NOW.

"Kammy, listen," he continued, almost as if he didn't even notice her insistent tugs in the opposite direction, "it's really fine. I won't let your eyeballs melt. I won't let you die. The cats are here to help us."

Under his breath, he started humming the game's background theme.

"What? Kammy, listen to yourself," he continued reasonably, still dragging her along. "You're not well. We need to go back."

James laughed. "That old derelict thing? That's crazy. It's probably filled with undying. At the university, we have food, and dorm rooms and cats, and sardines, and the item shop has new items now. That's really important, it doesn't happen often - I can't believe they pushed a version update this soon, you know -"

He was still dragging her along, and the fog was thicker now, the hospital slowly fading out of view.

"This one is Susan," he said, ignoring her and pointing into the now completely opaque mist.

"And there's Cadence, and Gladys, and Aurora, and Sylvia, and oh, Irene is out there too, you know, and..."