I looked back at the blinking chat window with [???] somewhat mortified. A divine fragment…Is this...me? Is this someone else? What the hell?

It had been a minute since [???] sent their last message and I could almost feel the anxiety radiating through the connection over me not having answered yet. Wait, this is weird…Am I projecting or am I actually feeling their anxiety through this? I shook my head, trying not to get too lost in the weeds.

[Silvie: Hey, sorry I was trying to figure out the answer to your second question. No, I'm not in a void, my world is very colorful and full of life and movement. As to your second question, it seems someone put you in my soulscape to fuel some kind of system. But one of my friends recently changed this system so that now you're more free and you and I can communicate. Does that all make sense?]

I looked at the blinking screen, waiting for them to reply.

[???: I'm…in your soulscape??]

[Silvie: Uh…yeah, yeah you are]

[???: B-but…h-how? Aren't I a person? I can't really remember much about who I am, but something in me seems to tell me that this is wrong…]

[???: C-could you…possibly…h-help me? Or your friend? If they seem to know what's going on…]

I frowned, my heart aching a little.

[Silvie: What do you want, little bean?]

[???: Little bean?? Who's little!?]

[Silvie: You are, my little bean ;)]

[???: >:(]

[Silvie: But seriously, what do you want? Do you want to get out of that void? Do you want me to try to help you see what the world is like out here? My friend's even gotten bodies for her friends when they were like this, is that what you want?]

[???: I…I don't really know, Big Sister. I think…Could you do something about this numbness? It feels like half my body's being used for something and I don't really like it.]

[Silvie: I can't make any promises, but I'll talk to my friend, and see what she can do. Hang tight, alright?]

I switched over to my chat with Noe.

[Silvie: Hey, sorry to bother you again. It seems this little soul fragment is just waking up and is rather confused and lonely. Also they say that their body feels numb, like it's being used for something? Is this because of the System?]

I look at the message for a moment wondering if I should say more, but decide to wait for the answer to my question before plying Noe for favors.

[Developer: No worries, Silvie, I'm more than happy to help with this. I just looked over the chat logs with the fragment. It's hard to say for certain without a closer look, but it's possible that the numbness is due to their power being used without their consent or control. I could offer certain elementary access features to start, and see if that helps?]

Tch. 'just looked over the chat logs' my a**, you were definitely just reading them as we went along. No way did you look over all that and type your response in the last 30 seconds.

[Silvie: Sure, seems like it's worth a shot!]

[Developer: Alright, give me a few moments. You might want to tell the fragment what we're about to do.]

I typed in a few words to let [???] know that we were about to try something, and then sat back looking at the screen, waiting for feedback from either side.

Damn, why does this feel like waiting for tech support from my old world? I put my hands behind my head, looking up at the ceiling of the shadow box. Except instead of a crashing computer, I'm dealing with…a trapped soul fragment newly awakening to consciousness? Damn, what a crazy world.

My screen blinged with a chat notification and I quickly returned my focus to the chat windows.

[Administrator has formed a group chat]

[Developer has joined the chat]

[??? has joined the chat]

[Silvie has joined the chat]

[Developer: Hey ??? can you see this? My name is Noe, I'm working with your friend Silvie to help figure out your situation.]

[???: H-hi, um, y-yeah I can see this. Silvie said you're g-going to try something?]

[Developer: Yes, our theory is that the system you are a part of is causing some of this numbness you're describing, so we're going to hand over a bit of control to see if this helps ease the issue.]

[???: O-ok, it sh-shouldn't hurt, right?]

[Developer: I don't believe so, but if it does, please let me know right away, and if the problem persists we can roll back the changes.]

[Silvie: How you feeling, little bean, are you ready?]

[???: A little scared to be honest, b-but a little excited too, I think.]

[Silvie: Good, good :)]

[Developer: Well, shall we begin?]

[Silvie: I'm ready]

[???: S-sure]

The screen in front of me flickered and then disappeared. I blinked. Things didn't go wrong did they? But before I could start panicking another screen popped up.

[Melphinoe's System v1.0]

[Initializing…]

I guess she had to restart it? It might have been nice to let us know…

[Status]

[Magic] o.o?

[Ability Workshop]

[Chat]

[Log]

[Settings]

I was just about to click the chat tab to reopen the conversations, when I froze. Is that…a face? I looked to the side of my magic tab where a little emoticon face was staring back at me. Is this a gli—Ah! It blinked!! What the...

Quickly I opened the chat.

[Group chat]

[Developer: How did that feel '???'? Any changes?]

[???: I CAN SEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!]

[Developer: ? What do you mean, What do you see? Is it the outside world?]

[Silvie:…]

[Developer: Silvie? Wait, what's going on? Come on guys, I need data here] OuO/

[Developer:...]

[Developer: I see…]

[???: Sorry Sister Noe, I was so distracted looking I didn't reply to your questions. I don't know how sight is for you guys, but when I open my eyes all this information flows through my brain and I can feel and manipulate it a little. Plus in all this fog of information I see two looming silhouettes that are inputting the information that makes up the messages you two are sending me. I assume they are you?]

[Developer: Fascinating… I don't think I've ever seen anything like this. ??? if you could—]

My reading was suddenly interrupted by a stream of light piercing through the box of shadows.

"Silvie! You're awake!" Rivi's adorable dark-haired face peeked through the opening.

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