I throw Cappy, and take a leap of faith.

"CAPPY!" I scream.

I don't make it.

Falling. Falling. I reach up to try to grab something, nothing but air whistling by.

I hear Cappy's screams.

Pain.

Headaches from the shrieking wind.

Mamma mia, i'm going to die, falling to my death. Oh no, oh no...

The world fades to black.

—

"Hey."

My eyes jump open. As far as I can see, to the end of the land is the solid colour of grey. It's kinda making my eyes hurt.

The feeling of being airborne is calming. No frequencies meet my ears after I heard that call-

"Hello? Who's there?" I yell.

God, is that my voice? Am I dead?

"Look down."

I look down hesitantly, quickly realising I can't see my body, to find my wide eyes looking up at me.

"Heya, M #one-oh-seven! Welcome to the Void!"

After she delivers her cheery welcome, I realise that she wasn't me, and I wasn't really who I thought I was.

"Do you want me to show you around?"

She says, floating upwards to meet my eyes. How do I know they're a she?

Confused, I don't say anything.

I study her clothes, a shade of grey for overalls. Getting darker in hue where her shirt is. I hesitantly reach out to feel her overalls. Instead of a denim texture, it feels shiny, almost plastic smooth. It doesn't make sense. I realise my actions are kinda weird, so I pull back, mumbling an apology.

"So lemme guess. You think you're Mario, right?" She says, cocking her head.

Mario! How did I possibly forget my own name? "Yeah. That's me..." I mumble, still unsure where I am. My mind is still fuzzy, I can't seem to remember anyone in my life. People's names and faces run away from me like a leaf running downstream.

"It's not you. Who are you?"

A pain in my head starts to throb. #107 is the only name I can remember. But that's not a name.

"I'm one-oh-seven?" I say, gripping my shirt sleeve.

She smiles, happy with my progress.

"That's right! My name is M #one-oh-six!I'm your neighbour!" She sticks out her hand. And I return the handshake, completely forgetting my other name.

"Do you have any questions?" #106 asks.

"Where are we?" I say, my voice cracking. I start to realise that I have no clue what's going on. I have just been named, but I remember something else before that. My mind is all jumbled.

"Well, 107, welcome to the Void!" She states. Then, I see something in the greyed distance. A floating person. And then another. And another. One by one, 107 floating people, all donning overalls and employee uniforms, in a horizontal line, with me and her at the far right.

"I hope you enjoy your stay!" she says half-heartedly.

—

"Hey, 10. I got the new guy with me, you gotta explain it to him." #106 says, leading me to another "me."

They turn around, very surprised.

"Great. We've haven't had anyone new in a while," their eyes glazed, and their voice sickly sweet, yet stern.

"My name is ten. I am a supervisor of the Void. And you are...?"

I answered them with my newfound information.

"...107?"

Their eyebrows shot up. "106," they call to the person behind me, "You trained him faster than I thought you would."

#106 scoffs. "Didn't know you had such low hopes for me, 10."

I turn my head from #106, to see #10 smiling with murder in their eyes. They blink.

"107, you are in a place called the Void. We are personified code. You are Mario's 107th body." They stop to take off their cap and point to the embroidered "M."

"Mario is just a mindset we all had. A soul that goes from one host to another. When Mario dies, "Mario" goes from you, to the next body. Body Number one-oh-eight."

I cease to function. The world seems to be crumbling beneath my feet, yet her words build up from the ruins if what I must have originally thought.

"'Mario' is all of Mario's memories. All his humanity. All of his accent, all of his speech patterns, everything Mario is." #10 puts the cap back on, and points to me.

"The only thing similar with you, me and "Mario" is that we all look like him."

#10 smiles. "I hope that clears things up." They turn away, resuming whatever they did before hand.

As #106 and I float away from #10, #106 scoffs.

"Ugh. I just hate 10."

Trying to make small talk, I respond, "What's so bad about them?"

#106 rolls her eyes.

"I donno. I just hate how they think they're such a leader. How they think they have a grip on everyone. Thinks they're all high and mighty because they're one of the original ten." She floats down the line, reaching our little corner. "Thinks they're hot stuff because the Elder likes them best."

"Who's the Elder?" I question. I dig into the air with my foot, a habit from whatever life I had before.

"Oh. Yeah, dummy, I still gotta teach you things." She pulls her legs by her chest, making her sit down on absolutely nothing. She pulls thin, floating white liquid out of thin air.

"Grab some VoidJuice kid, it's gonna be a long story."