A few minutes ter, we arrive at the military headquarters. It quickly becomes apparent that Darius has gone missing several hours ago without a lead to his whereabouts since then. Many employees are frantically running around, discussing matters and organizing whatever they can to locate him - with nothing to show for it.

  With Darius absent, the supposedly sick Therese is currently in charge. Officially that is. She already was directing things through Darius before.

  Finally, Lucia asks, "So, what do we do now? The person we needed to see the most, is not avaible. I don't like it..."

  Ecire replies, "If you want, we could go and search for him as well."

  "No, I don't think we'd make any difference there. A lot of people have been searching everywhere for him for hours and they didn't find him, so why should we? I think we should talk with Therese first. At a minimum, she is supposed to be ill and may suffer from the same ailment as you did, Lucy. If that should be the case, we need to cure her. Or rather, we should do so either way. It is just a matter of time before something strange comes from it, or she takes drastic measures..."

  Lucia nods, "I guess you're right. Let's go then."

  After quickly asking around for Therese's location, we're told she is in her office, so we head there immediately.

  Knock Knock

  I knock on the door, "Therese are you there? It is me, Jared."

  An irritated coughing answers, "Y-yes. Come in."

  Ecire comments, "That doesn't sound very good."

  We enter the room and in front of us sits Therese, coughing like a madwoman and buried in papers. Certainly not what the doctor ordered.

  "Hey, Therese, I heard you annoyed Darius so much he buggered off."

  She coughs, "Very funny. And no, we have no lead on him, Karen should've told you as much."

  Lucia chimes in, "No, not really, she only told us about you being sick but didn't know anything about Darius."

  Therese facepalms, "Great, she didn't listen again. Gotta talk with her about that ter. Again."

  "We heard Darius told no one about his pns for leaving and it seems to have left no note or anything. Is that really true or is it for some reason kept secret?"

  She coughs, "It is exactly like that, he just up and vanished. No one has seen him leave either. And unless you've given him one of your strange Hybrid csses that grant flight or something simir, I can't see how he'd slip by us. It is just like the earth swallowed him."

  So it is unlikely that he is outside, someone would've seen him. But what about inside?

  "Have you checked down in the basement where the Glitch Zone resides?"

  Maybe I should have a proper look at it either way. Yesterday when I left, I didn't really pay attention to the Glitch Area, and who is to say that it is unchanged? Too much else has changed. This would just be another check on the disaster bingo.

  Therese shakes her head, "No, he doesn't know about the whole thing, least of all how to get there."

  Are you really sure about that? Not everyone here is a master of keeping secrets. It would just need one single mistake of anyone to tip him off, and you've been at this for years. He isn't dumb, he should suspect that something else is going on when he is supposedly the commander of the whole military but Therese does the actual organizing, not him. Plus the whole faster aging thing which should be impossible to miss.

  One moment of curiosity, one little coincidence. It doesn't really take much when you consider how loud certain people are...

  Or simply, a moment of pity. He's obviously aging fast, someone might just want to let him know what his life is sacrificed for, that it had meaning...

  There are way too many possibilities for how he could find out. You'd be a fool to dismiss the notion that easily.

  Ecire seems to think the same, "We should check anyway."

  "Yeah, I agree. For example, he might've caught hints of it from Cra, she seemed to ck a sense of secrecy, of seriousness about the whole thing. I don't put it past him to find out about the whole thing through a slip-up of hers."

  Therese gets defensive, "Keep Cra out of it, she has... her own problems. I trust her to keep Darius in the dark about it."

  I tease her a bit, "What, defending your girlfriend now? What else are you hiding?"

  She answers with a furious mix of shouting and coughing, "Knock it off!"

  Lucia admonishes us, "That's enough, you two. I don't think we have time for these kinds of jokes. So, I think I'll have a look and you two can take care of Therese."

  Ecire disagrees, "No, I'll come with you. He might've caught a serious case of glitch infection and gone mad, and I doubt you could defend yourself from him alone. Together we could take him down if worst comes to worst."

  She happily replies, "Yeah, that's reassuring."

  Therese shakes her head, "You're wasting your time..."

  "I don't think so. You failed to find him anywhere else, why not give it a shot? Please go and look for him, Lucia, Ecire."

  Ecire waves goodbye, "Yeah. see you ter."

  With that, my two wives leave the run in a hurry.

  We wait a moment without saying anything until I've finally had enough, "Therese, don't you want to say something to me? Because... you know what you have. And it is clouding your judgment, isn't it? Simply discounting the possibility that Darius could've found out by now doesn't seem to be up your alley."

  She scoffs, "I know. What else would I have? The [Sleepless] skill you have given me already takes care of lesser illnesses through its health regeneration effect."

  "So?"

  She raises her hand, "I refuse. I'd rather die as myself than live and see how I turn into a mockery of who I am."

  Stuck up bitch! Do you HAVE to make me say it, admit!?

  Urgh!!!

  "You're aware that you are already my familiar, right? As such, you have the [Ageless] skill, you shouldn't be able to die a natural death anymore. Your only way out-"

  She interrupts me, "I, I know..."

  I continue before she derails me any further, "And I do not grant you that end. I can't. As much as it pains me to admit it, you know too much about the situation in this fortress and in general, stuff I don't know about. Losing you would be a massive disaster. As such, I can not abide your wish. I can only give you two options: you get to decide what direction your Hybrid css goes or we leave it up to chance. What shall it be?"

  "Neither. I'll find my end as a normal human the way nature intended."

  Dying by glitch infection certainly isn't natural, you idiot!

  "Wrong answer", I step over, grab her by the colr, and threaten her, "Therese, both of us know that we can't stand each other. But I'm trying here, I'm really trying to help you because it is for the better. No, forget about me. Think of everyone else who wants you to stick around. ...I mean, I can't think of anyone right now but they are certainly out there. Do you want to make them sad? I don't allow it."

  Therese tries and fails to break free from my grip, "You don't... make any sense... Let go of me!"

  So the infection has already become that bad.

  Overlooking simple possibilities for Darius' disappearance, not understanding that people want to help her, that her passing would make others sad...

  I expected better from you, Therese. A lot better.

  I sigh, "I see that we were too te. Sorry, Therese. I... I should've acted sooner. I shouldn't have let go of either of you two yesterday."

  So she's in no state of mind to decide between the two Hybrid options.

  I could make the decision without her consent, take her skills from her, and create something worthwhile anyway. But... it wouldn't feel right.

  So random it is.

  Oh, there's the fourteenth level in my broken divine css.

  Suddenly, something feels a bit wet on my arm.

  Sizzle

  You've taken no damage from Therese's Acid Skin.A blueish-beige liquid is leaking from her skin and trying to eat through my robe's sleeve like a low-grade acid.

  I let Therese go and she falls back into her chair with a pained expression on her face.

  "Feeling better now?", I wipe off the rest of her acid from my mantle. It left no visible marks on either my hand or the robe. Seems like it is luckily way too weak with her stats for that.

  "I... think so, thank you", she answers while rubbing her head as if suffering from a headache. A moment ter a pair of sinister horns grow from her head. They look to be made of solidified, blue pudding and for some reason remind me of the slime monster I encountered first when I entered this world. No clue where that leap of logic came from, it was green, not blue.

  Wait, did she just fucking smile at me?

  No, must be my imagination. She'd never do that.

  Before I can check the new Hybrid css's data, its level in Therese's stat screen climbs rapidly. I wonder how much the System's admin would cry when they saw how many csses and levels we gain without tributing the appropriate amount of exp. Well, their problem, not mine.

  So, what exactly did she get?

  HybridS?l?i?m?e?b?u?l?l? extra cssGrowth Rates39 HP, 0 MP, 15 SP, 7 STR, 1 DEX, 1.5 VIT, 6 MAG, 0 FTH, 1 WIL, 0.5 CHA Acid SkinPassiveContact inflicts 25% magic damage each second. Horn Attack185 SPTry to impale an enemy on your horns to inflict 230% STR physical damage. Fire WeaknessGot it, stay away from the horns, or end up as a meat skewer. And send some pity to whoever wants to hug her. Well, even more than before.

  Though given her personality, I kinda expected her to gain some dragon-like features. Might just be me though.

  Finally, her status changes stop.

  NameThereseStatusnoneAgealmost 37 - but don’t say it if you value your life (frozen)CssesBrawler 20, Bruiser 19, Pugilist 18, Secretary 16, Monk 18RaceHighnder 18ExtraHybrid 8HP5005/6097MP1444/1444SP5920/6361STR1018+120DEX865VIT924+84MAG495FTH330WIL665CHA512EquipmentnoneSkills - WeaponHorn Attack 8, Stun Fist 20+3, Unarmed Fighting 57+3, Vacuum Fist 18+3Skills - MagicnoneSkills - StatusnoneSkills - SpecialIron Fist 19+3, Meditation 18+3, Opportunity Attack 18+3, Reckless Attack 18+3Skills - PassiveAcid Skin 8, Ageless 1, Enlightenment 18, Familiar 1, Hard Worker 18+3, Sleepless 1, Stamina Boost 18+3, Tracking 18+3, Unarmored Defense 39+3WeaknessFire, PoisonWhy is her age no longer hidden? I mean she did tell me that she was a few days away from her "retirement" - by which the people here mean death - but... It still feels weird how she could hide it in the first pce and now it is so pinly visible to me.

  Suddenly, Therese asks me, "What are you thinking about?"

  "Nothing important. So, do you now feel able to properly organize the search for Darius?"

  She looks like she's holding back tears, "Ah, that. I'm sorry. I know that it doesn't change anything but please be assured that I regret it. I don't know why I didn't even consider that Darius might've found out, or refused to accept your help."

  Therese's voice sounds way softer than before. Almost pitiful. Is that also a side-effect of the Hybrid css? Or did I never notice because we only argued and shouted at each other?

  "No, it is fine. I know that glitches can mess with you in nasty ways. And the 'cure' might've had some side-effects as well... Like those horns, I hope they won't get in the way too much."

  She leans her head to the side, "What are you talking about? I've always had them."

  "Did you... hide them?"

  I certainly saw no hints in her status that she should have them. Her race said pinly she was a human, no other extras that should add horns either.

  "Hmm? No, they were always in pin sight. How could you miss them?"

  This is really testing my patience, "You are a human, Therese. Humans don't have horns."

  She looks to be fighting with herself, with her own thoughts, "A human? No that can't be right... but it also feels like it should be right... Sorry, I don't know why I thought that. My head still seems to be a mess..."

  I was warned about this. I was told some people lose their sense of self when they receive a Hybrid css or have their memories messed with; they believe they've always been Hybrids, or what the Hybrid css made of them. And it seems Therese belongs to the tter group as well.

  "Do you still remember how we met?"

  "I... don't know. I think I remember something, but it seems... wrong. A part of me remembers that I was human, another shows me clearly that I was already... this. I see a mirror and they show my horns, the liquid dripping down from them... How rude I treated you..."

  "I see. But that should tell you that not all hope is lost, right? If you think logically about it, you should be able to tell the truth and the fake apart."

  Any memory where you were human and hostile to me is more likely to be correct, after all. Not complicated.

  She pys with her horns while smiling, "I guess you're right."

  Her smile gives me the creeps. It looks kinda cute but it is wildly out of character from what I know of her.

  "You know, I suggest you take a break. You look like you need some rest from the transformation and time to order your thoughts."

  "Yeah, I think you're right. Thank you!"

  Eh, what? Why does she thank me? Did I miss something? Ah, whatever, I want to get away from here, this version of Therese creeps me out.

  "Well, I wanted to talk to you about getting another Css Core, but I understand that it'll have to wait until you're fit again and the Darius crisis is resolved. So, yeah, see you around. And, uh, rest well, Therese."

  Admittedly, I wanted to abuse my station to get her to hand the item over. She is my familiar, and as such the System gives me many options to mistreat her. We had deactivated all of them but who knows how much that is really worth when glitches are involved.

  I know that there are lines that should not be crossed, but I still had this disgusting urge to bully her, use the authority I hold over her to get her to do my bidding.

  I wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine.

  In the past, she forced me to do things I didn't want because she was in a position of power compared to me. I wanted to pay her back for that, many times over if possible.

  But seeing Therese like this, I just can't... I feel a bit guilty for what happened to her. A few physical changes are one thing, but having one's memories or personality drastically changed is too much.

  The core can wait until both of us feel better, I guess. We're stuck here anyway.

  I turn around to leave but suddenly something tucks on my sleeve. Therese has gotten up and held on to me.

  She stammers, "P-please wait, Jared."

  Before I can process what is happening, she forcefully puts a blue Css Core into my hand.

  This... is not Therese anymore. She was very outspoken about how I could not be trusted and should not receive the Css Core, ever. As much as I disliked it, I could understand why she opposed me. But now...

  The change is way beyond a simple corruption of memories. Her entire personality is just different. Too meek, friendly, cooperative, maybe even cheerful. Basically the opposite of what she used to be.

  I hate it...

  I do my best to hide my disgust at what I've done to her, "That is unexpected. Th-thank you, Therese. But why did you have it with you?"

  She again forces a smile, "I'm honestly not sure, I don't know which memory is true. In one, I wanted to keep it away from you, in the other I wanted to deliver it to you personally the first chance I get. I... sorry, I feel confused about this."

  Think, just think, Therese! You should know what the Hybrid css does, that you shouldn't have had certain properties before, and that we hate each other!

  "We both know which of the two is true, right? Sorry, but I have work to do and you really need some rest. Don't worry, you'll soon be back to your old self. And... thank you."

  If it is a lie, it is more meant for me than for her. I hate the idea that anyone who has received a Hybrid css is just a fake who pretends to be the original. Lucia, Ecire, ... me. What even is true anymore...

  "Right, thank you, too."

  Waving goodbye, I finally leave the room.

  I look at the Css Core Therese has given me, but instead of joy over achieving that goal, I only feel frustration with what has happened to her.

  3QGN73