Kate- Looks around confused, deep in a disturbingly familiar alley. On one of the walls, a mural of angels praying is lit by electric votive lanterns strewn around. In the street, a lone pair of high heels echoes from some distance.

  "Where, what?"

  Cere- You're near the Asstronaughty's main building. How do you feel?

  Kate- Fukcing raw... how did I get here?

  Shivers, then crosses her arms seeking heat to chase away a creeping dread invading her chest.

  Cere- You walked here in a dissociative state.

  Kate- Fixates on the mural composed of angelic guardian figures, and praying supplicants. All of them have faces she used to know, faces lost to violence. Then, in a corner, she sees a younger version of herself facing Stink, both facing each other in prayer surrounding a brown stain.

  Heart siezes in horror.

  "Where EXACTLY am I?"

  Cere- You already know don't you? This is where it happened.

  Kate- I saw it all like I was there... What happened on the train?

  Cere- You were having a powerful emotional flashback. Dr. Watson judged that having you see it again from a third-person perspective might help you process some things.

  Kate- While on a fucking train? I could have been killed!

  Cere- I had public service compandroids on standby to get you out. Not that you needed them, you came on your own in a disassociative state.

  Kate- Hot flash of anger.

  "And what was supposed to happen out of the train genius? Dropped on the pier for anyone to fuck with?"

  The click of heels on the pavement ends behind her.

  Cherry- "At worse, I would have drawn penises on your face poussin, nothing too sinister, I swear."

  Kate- Spins, gawking, toward the voice. Faces an uncanny, porcelain-like woman, with an immaculate black bob-cut, and a bronze sequin mini dress.

  "Mo...! Cherry?"

  Cherry- "Corbeau moqueur, you wound me!"

  Emotes being shot to the heart by an arrow keeping the dramatic pose uncomfortably long.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  "The slings and arrows of outrageous children... OH! THE SORROW!"

  Kate- Heat rises in her face, sinking gut feeling eating at her.

  Cherry- Releases the pose.

  "Your Cere contacted me."

  Sneers discretely at the mention of the implant.

  "I was right behind you all along."

  Tender but concerned face.

  "Finish your discussion with Cere; I'll wait, this is important!"

  Cere- How do you feel?

  Kate- Still fucking raw. Why show me this? What's the point?

  Cere- Therapy...

  Kate- The HELL it is! You put my brain in a blender and call it a day? Don't know much about that mumbo jumbo voodoo shit but I know this ain't it!

  Cere- You're right! This was context, a recreated memory, so you can have a more objective memory of the events. Have you noticed anything weird?

  Kate- Yeah, a whole part was gone from my memories, after...

  Cere- Right, we'll come back to that. How do you feel, objectively, as an adult and a professional fighter about that situation?

  Kate-... T'was fucked from the start. An ambush with superior numbers, individual strength and armaments with a hostage situation on top.

  Cere- And how did you feel about it before?

  Kate- Takes a second to think it through.

  Like I had fucked up, that I was responsible for Stink's death...

  Realises how absurd a thought it was.

  Fuck me!

  Confused twisting mouth alternating between a frown and a smile.

  Cherry- Discrete knowing smile on the corner of her lips.

  Cere- How do you feel now?

  Kate- Still... processing... still shit but... lighter? Maybe? And fucking tired!

  Cere- Good, that's the first step in unbinding you from all that mess. It's your adult brain catching up to reality, reworking your neuronal patterns and what you learned from those events. This kind of trauma pins parts of your personality to the time of trauma. Your brain keeps bringing you back to that moment so you can reprocess it with a more mature and balanced outlook, but when you keep avoiding those emotions and memories, well...

  Kate- Trauma...

  Cere- Isn't learning. It's simplistic, lingering, and imperfect. Only through confronting your false beliefs about the events can you free yourself.

  Kate- Fuck! That's what you were trying to tell me earlier...

  Cere- Fuck indeed. Now, let's go back to what you did then. From your current perspective, how would you rate the girl's performance in that fight considering the situation?

  Kate- Above and beyond... she nearly killed one of them with her teeth for fuck sake. Would have one v one. Even wounded a few others in the scrap.

  Cere- Anything else? What did she do after everything was said and done?

  Kate- Clic!

  The canister! I... I banged it to get help in time.

  Cere- Yes, right in time too, I have your vitals from Jepetto's opp on you... it was close Kate, real close. A minute more... In the worst possible scenario, against all odds, you survived. How do you feel about that?

  Kate- Hot tears run down her cheeks, sobs while holding Cherry with all her strength like a drowning kitten.

  Not sure... proud... maybe?

  Kate- Calming heat rising through the body, muscles relaxing.

  Cere- And what about Stink?

  Kate- Seizes a second. Thinks, then relaxes her muscles again. Shrugs.

  T'was fucked. Not even sure I could get to him in time today, knowing what I know, with a full fuck you loadout. No way a scrawny teen could have done shit. Just surviving was the only possible good outcome.

  Cere- Again, how do you feel?

  Kate- Water pools, blurring her sight.

  Cherry- Moves toward Kate, holds her in her arms rocking slightly.

  Kate- "I fucked up! I left after... I betrayed them..."

  Cherry- *Shhhht Shhhht shhht!* "None of that. Some day 5% is your 110%. You need to learn to accept that. It's just how things are, asking for more..."

  Kate- *sigh* "You get burned..."

  Cherry- "Exactly."

  Kate- Pushes back Cherry gently.

  "Why am I even on the mural? I didn't die... I shouldn't..."

  Cherry- Presses a finger to Kate's lips, her teasing eyes soft with sadness.

  "But you did die, are you still my little canari that entered this horrible place all those years back?"

  Kate- Frowns, thinking.

  Cherry- "You burned with the flames, you died. What came out of those ambers was a phoenix chick. And now? Now your wings are strong enough to fly, don't you think ma buse? You won't take shit from anybody anymore. You're not a helpless little bird in a cage, destined to die from the smallest fart "

  Kate- Lowers her head.

  "Still, they suffered mo..."

  Cherry- "Debt slavery, self-hatred, guilt... We carry these things in life, the dead don’t. Their souls laid down the burden and flew. They don’t feel the hunger, the cold, the fear. That’s why you shouldn't mourn too much. Would those who loved you wish to add that weight to your shoulders?"

  Take Kate back in her arms.

  Cere- Time to forgive yourself don't you think?

  Kate- Nods.

  Kate- "Mom... I'm home!"

  Cherry- Squeezes harder for a few pregnant minutes.

  Kate- Releases Cherry... who still holds her for a few more awkward seconds.

  Cherry- Smiles like a cannibal facing lunch.

  "Repeat it again!"

  Kate- Raises a confused eyebrow.

  Cherry- "Call me mom again."

  Kate- "OK... mummy! Back to your tomb now."

  Cherry- Her smile melts into a caricature of pain.

  "Why, oh why must you wound me so?"

  Puts dramatically an arm in front of her eyes.