(VO) It had been eight hours, thirty minutes, and seventeen seconds since I had seen her die. And it had been three hours, twenty-five minutes, and eleven seconds since I had told the Trager's good night from a long day of revealing my secrets. Well, most of them.
Kyle was lying in his tub, plaid bottoms, white shirt, and his Latnok ring over his neck. The moonlight covered half of his face with lightness. His eyes were closed lightly, and though his body looked at peace, his mind proved otherwise.
Suddenly, and unexpectedly for Kyle, he heard a howl against his window. He opened his eyes to find the window open. Groggily, he walked to his window to shut. He turned around and saw Jessi sitting upright in his tub.
"I didn't lie when I said it was cozy," she smiled.
Kyle's face lit emotion, ranging from shock to happiness to confusion in a matter of two seconds. He halted his desire to run to her. "You're not her" he sighed, but stated it rather as a question than a statement.
"Maybe," she said playfully.
"But you are here, in my mind at least. So my subconscious must want to figure this out."
A beat passes. Unsure of what he should say, he tells her the first thing he could think of. "It has been eight hours, thirty-two minutes, and forty-nine seconds since I saw you jump."
Jessi wrinkles her nose and tries to suppress a smile. "You know what's funny? You and I are always concerned with time. How long this takes, how long has it been, how long will it be. I suppose that is because when you have so few memories, as we do, you want to document every second of everything."
Jessi stands and exits the tub to look out the window. She turns solemnly, "No matter how awful."
Kyle, staring at her the entire time, briefly glances away and then back to her.
"I'm sorry." He pauses. "I didn't save you," he whispers. Kyle is moments from crying, but he manages to speak clearly. "I should have made you stop, helped you more, done something—"
"You tried. Kyle that is all you can do. Try." She clears her throat to speak, but pauses. "But tell me this: what are you feeling?"
"I do not know. I have never felt this before. It's… different."
"You have felt sadness before though. When you had to leave the Trager's to learn about who you really were. And when Adam died. Even though it proved to be untrue, you still thought it was." Jessi sat there, her chin resting on her arms, waiting patiently for his response.
Kyle looked at her intensely. "This is different. I…"
"You are grieving Kyle. You couldn't have known what was to happen to Adam. Yet you knew I would do something drastic after I betrayed you." Jessi straightened up. "But there is something else."
Kyle looked almost guilty as he muttered, "Yes—I am not feeling anything but torn. I am happy that my secrets are no longer hidden from those who I love. I am happy I am with Amanda." Jessi's eyes roll. "And I should be thinking of how I lied and said you ran away instead of killing yourself. On how I am going to take down Madacorp tomorrow. But I am not. I just think of nothing. Except you and how I could have saved you."
A moment of silence.
"You are not just talking about the fall are you?" Jessi said. She smiled sweetly.
"No."
"You mean how I could have been good? How I could have turned to the right side? How you could be the one to make me whole?"
A moment passes "Yes. I didn't just fail to stop you from falling literally. I failed at making you good." Raising his voice, "I risked everything I loved for you and now you're gone. You did that! And I am angry, and sad, and I hurt all over.
"You told me that pain is the only thing that you bring to this world; well I think I can attest to that." Now Kyle is almost yelling and is crying. "You attacked Lori, you infiltrated my life, divided my house, and still I wanted to help. Because you were the only person like me. You can see the world how I can see it; you know how lonely it can be. We could have been ready for the world at hand, together. We had a connection. You broke it," His voice cracked on the last one. "And now I feel num."
A moment of silence passed between the two of them as Kyle took a few moments to catch his breathe.
"I could be alive you know," Jessi said quietly.
"That is impossible. No one could have survived that fall."
"I believe it is you who taught me hope. Why don't you try having some yourself?"
The wind howled again, and again did the window open. When he turned around this time though, she was gone.