It took some getting used to, fighting the machine process only led to headaches, the toughest hurdle new employees had to overcome.

Roxie felt the world around her slip away, the colors becoming muted and blurry before fading into a familiar inky darkness. The first thing that came to her was static. She could feel it, burning hot and tingly, yet not quite painful. Sight and sound came next, and she regretted it. Bright colors danced across her vision; cyan, magenta, yellow, green.

There were no memories here, instead they found themselves floating in what looked to be an interface. Something akin to TV static was drumming distantly in her ears, a quick glance at her partner confirmed he was feeling the same thing. His face was all scrunched up, and while she would normally tease him for such a sour expression, there was work to be done.

Navigating such a place turned out to be harder than previously thought. No matter how far they traveled it seemed as though they weren't actually moving. The only indication that they were making ground was the scattered memory fragments. Just as glitched as the surrounding environment; chunks of the office, vines stretched for miles, what appeared to be jellyfish and sharks. Roxie swore she could see stars behind the static.

They traversed in silence, occasionally she would glance at her partner, hoping to make some sort small talk to fill the empty air. But she kept faltering at his expression, distant and faraway, like he wasn't really here. It was understandable, she felt the same. The only thing keeping her anchored was the feeling of his hand in hers, she squeezed his hand and gave him a pained smile. He blinked, his expression softening slightly before becoming determined.

Something could be seen up ahead, cyan and magenta lights clashing, leaving behind strange bright glitches in their wake. The static had risen in intensity to a roar, and if this were her real body Roxie bet her ears would be bleeding, or at the very least she'd have some sort of hearing loss.

Closer inspection revealed two figures at the center of it all. The very thing the tired doctors had been searching for, Neil and Eva, their friends. Roxie felt a moment of relief at having found them, before the reality set in.

They were fighting, Eva's skin was covered in bright cyan lines, and Neil was sporting similar Magenta ones. They were hurling balls of colored energy at each other, a dangerous crackling sound accompanied every attack which made the hair on the back of her neck bristle.

"Don't make me erase that charming face" she heard Eva's garbled voice say.

"The only thing that'll be erased is your pretty face" the glitched Neil retorted, his grin maniacal.

Were they... flirting? It seemed like they hadn't spotted the new arrivals yet, their focus completely tuned on the battle.

Robert looked like he'd rather be anywhere but here.

"...Do we, uh, do we interrupt them?" Roxie turned to her partner, unsure. The air had become extremely tense, and she felt an intense instinct to run, to get away from what ever the hell was happening here, find a nice corner to curl up in and just scream. She shoved the impulse to the back of her mind, Eva and Neil needed her to be strong right now. There wasn't any time for fear-

She felt Robert tense beside her, but before she could react he practically tackled her out of the way with a shout. Something blinding white shot past her, just barely missing coming into contact with the back of her head. Raising a shaky hand, she felt a section of her hair that had been singed, white hot particles of the energy stuck to what was left. Roxie thanked her lucky stars that this was just a simulation, but still, how had it managed to-

Something like a growl, low and deep, came from the man beside her. Robert was still holding her firmly after that scare, but she could feel him shaking again. His eyes were locked on a lone figure, surrounded by a particularly bad area of glitches. She didn't recognize them, all features were obscured by grey static, yet it stood out like a sore thumb. It was the only thing gray in an ocean of neon. She shook her head, trying to get a better look.

It felt like she was on fire. Her surroundings blurred into a stark white, until nothing but the person before them remained. Then they too, faded. The last thing she remembered feeling was Robert, his grip on her shoulders faltering as he collapsed.

Then white, and burning pain. Roxie felt herself falling into nothingness. Like she was everywhere and nowhere all at once, and then, she let go.