"You . . . wanna talk to me?" Mimic repeats dumbly.
"Correct," her lookalike replies, inclining its head slightly. "We could not contact you before this, so we took advantage of the rift between realities to temporarily . . . snatch you, so to speak."
Mimic stares. It sounds like her lookalike is just using that phrase because it doesn't have any better way to describe it. This is . . . this is quite possibly the weirdest thing that's ever happened to her so far.
"I'm sorry, but . . . who are you?" Chaud asks warily.
"I told you," not-Mimic says. "I am a Watcher."
"Forgive us if we're suspicious," Arcadia begins, "but we're usually not kidnapped by people who want to help us or anything. And adding onto that . . ." He narrows his eyes at the so-called Watcher. "Why can't I sense your thoughts?"
"You cannot sense that which created you."
" . . . What?" Arcadia blinks, now looking thoroughly confused.
"You're gonna have to start explaining, and fast," Chaud says, almost growling. "What is going on? And what do you want with my sister?"
"I am to answer a question which has taken over your lives for almost two years," the Watcher replies.
Mimic draws a blank on that, wondering what question could possibly have 'taken over' their lives for almost two years. She can feel Chaud's mind working to figure it out as well, and ProtoMan and Arcadia exchange a puzzled glance.
"You do not yet understand?" the Watcher tilts its head. "Have you not spent every day of your life in your new reality wondering why you are there?"
What the fuck-
"How do you know about that?" ProtoMan gasps, looking just as shocked as Mimic and Chaud feel.
"I am a Watcher," the Watcher replies. "We watch."
"You're not really making any sense . . ." Arcadia says, still confused.
"Then allow me to explain my purpose," the Watcher offers.
"That might be best," Chaud mutters under his breath, but the Watcher nods to him, apparently having the same sensitive hearing that Mimic and Chaud have.
"Yes, it might." The Watcher looks at all four of them, seemingly considering its words, and then evidently makes a decision. "There are countless realities. Within these realities are what we Watchers refer to as 'branches'. Many possible variations of a single reality. It is the duty of each Watcher to oversee - to watch - a single reality and its branches. I am the Watcher whose duty it is to oversee that which you refer to as the 'EXE' reality, and its branches."
"Okay . . . and what does that 'duty' include?" Arcadia questions.
"Watching events unfold within each reality, but not interfering," the Watcher replies. "We do not - cannot - interfere in a reality's events, no matter what is happening."
The Watcher looks at Mimic.
"And we oversee that which you would refer to as 'reincarnation'," it adds.
"Rein . . ." Mimic trails off.
"Allow me to explain," the Watcher offers again. "Each being in a reality has a soul, regardless of species, race, or how it was created within that reality. When this being, this soul, dies, the Watcher whose duty it is to oversee its reality will remove it, and erase its memory before sending it into another, separate reality so it can be reborn. Some souls linger in their realities as what you call 'ghosts' and 'spirits', though this is not a common occurrence. Most souls are reincarnated into a reality with little or no relation to their previous life."
"And . . . why is that?" Chaud asks warily. There's something like an idea forming in his mind, but Mimic is too intent on listening to the Watcher to take much notice.
"The minds of souls that are reincarnated into realities too similar to their previous life typically do not survive the stress," the Watcher explains. "They see phantoms of their previous life everywhere, despite having their memories erased. Thus, reincarnating souls into realities that are different to their previous life is better, as it ensures a much more stable existence in their new life. However . . ."
"However?" Arcadia prompts, looking faintly worried.
"Sometimes, we are unable to fully erase the memories of some souls," the Watcher says. "A mistake during the process that we do not catch in time, or a reincarnation that went wrong, somehow . . . there are many possible reasons for why this happens, and it is impossible to discern what these reasons could be for each individual soul once they are in their new reality. At such a time, it is possible for a soul to be reincarnated with most, if not all, memories of its previous life."
Mimic can't ignore Chaud's thoughts anymore. Not when she's starting to think along the same lines. And judging by the growing horror on ProtoMan and Arcadia's expressions, they're probably realising the same thing.
"These souls become . . . a paradox of sorts," the Watcher continues. "They are both alive and dead at the same time. Allow me to show you." It raises its hand palm-up, and something like a ball of white fire flows into existence above it. There's a solid, glowing sphere clearly visible through the flames in the middle of it, though. "Souls have two layers. The outer shell, which protects the soul - and the core, which contains the very essence of a being. Normal souls look like this. However . . ."
The soul changes, shell flickering, and the sphere - the core - inside it grows dimmer and dimmer until it's just a dull, dead orb. Arcadia makes a small, startled noise upon seeing it.
"The core of a soul that did not have its memories fully erased will . . . die, so to speak," the Watcher tells them. "Its shell will continue to burn brightly, protecting that which no longer survives. We are uncertain as to why the core dies, but we believe it has something to do with the process of reincarnation - the souls who are placed into a separate reality but still retain their memories are traumatised by the process, and thus they die. We refer to these souls as 'dead souls'."
" . . . Oh," Mimic says softly. She's aware of Chaud's hand on her arm, Arcadia's faint touch on her back, and ProtoMan giving her a worried nudge, but she doesn't . . . register it, exactly. It's like everything's kinda muted all of a sudden.
The Watcher banishes the 'dead soul', lowering its hand. "The reincarnation process normally includes putting a soul into a new body at the moment of its creation. However, a dead soul cannot be put into a new body, because it does not live - and thus would be incapable of surviving on its own. In this case, a dead soul which is reincarnated into a new reality becomes untethered, and will seek out a new host with an already-living soul to latch onto."
Mimic . . . feels cold. She doesn't know why. There's no air in this nothingness, there's no breeze or sky or anything. But she's still cold.
"In these circumstances, the dead soul will take over the body of the host. The previous soul who inhabited the body will still be living in it, but will be reduced to something of a half-life, almost death, a 'spirit' of sorts. Over time, the two souls will bleed into one another, thus creating a connection. Occasionally, events will occur that give these two connected souls their own bodies, though this connection will remain. Both souls become dependent on the other to survive."
"That's me," Mimic says numbly. "You're . . . you're talking about me. Aren't you?"
Chaud presses close to her, and she feels his concern and shock, but she can't react to it. Not when she's feeling so numb herself.
The Watched looks at her for a moment. "Yes," it eventually replies. "You, Mimic Hikari, are one of these dead souls. You died in the reality you once called home, and were reincarnated into a new reality."
"But something went wrong." Anger suddenly flashes through Mimic and she glares at the Watcher, baring her teeth. "You fucked up and I ended up like this!"
"We do not know the exact-"
"Shut the fuck up!" Mimic snaps. "It's supposed to be your damn job to do this shit, and this is what happens? I thought-" She stops suddenly, because there's tears in her eyes and now she feels hot instead of cold, but it's an unpleasant, angry kind of hot. "I thought . . . I thought there would be some other reason . . . but it's just a mistake . . ."
Mimic . . . Chaud whispers.
She shakes her head and forces herself to look at the Watcher's ring-eyes. "So what about my memories? The anime I remember? All this shit about the future? What about that, huh? Is that just some stupid mistake, too?"
"It is not," the Watcher replies. Mimic snorts. "The reality in which you previously lived is what we refer to as a 'hub world'. Realities in which countless other realities also exist, but as fictional stories and ideas. Souls who previously lived in hub world realities are especially prone to becoming dead souls. We believe it may have something to do with the fact that the soul comes from a reality in which many other realities are already known, thus making it volatile and difficult to reincarnate into a truly separate reality."
"If this is all because of a mistake during reincarnation," Chaud begins, "why are Mimic's memories of the anime - of our reality's future - sealed off? I can see her memories of her old reality, but not those."
"That is a safeguard that we Watchers are able to implement only under extreme circumstances," the Watcher explains. "A soul who knows the future because of their previous life is already unstable. If more souls can access this knowledge, the entire reality in which they live is at risk of unravelling. Thus, we seal memories of the 'future' for dead souls who lived in hub world realities."
"Access denied," Mimic murmurs, rage subsiding back down to a cold kind of numbness once again.
"That is indeed an apt phrase." The Watcher looks at them all, and then its ring-eyed gaze rests on Arcadia, much to his surprise. "Sometimes, we will create new souls to act as 'guides' or 'guardians' to these dead souls. It depends on the reality in which the dead soul is reincarnated into. We can place this guardian soul into the same reality, though we have no control over when or how it will meet the dead soul it was created for, only that it will."
Arcadia's mouth drops open. "I . . . I'm a guardian soul? Is that- is that what you're saying? That's why- I . . ." ProtoMan pulls him into a concerned hug, and he slumps against him, shocked. Dark Shadow presses against him on his other side.
"Correct," the Watcher says. "You were given the ability to sense emotions as a way to assist the dead soul you were created for, in this case Mimic Hikari. That manifested in the form of what you now refer to as the 'Empath Program'."
"What about my ultimate program ability?" Arcadia asks, voice shaking. "Did- did you give me that, too?"
"I did not. That ability is a result of combined factors in the reality you now live in. Regardless of whether you were born as a human, animal, or NetNavi, you would have had your empath ability. The fact that you were given an ultimate program had nothing to do with us."
"Oh," Arcadia says. "That . . . okay . . . well . . . that . . . explains what you said earlier . . ." About him being unable to sense that which created him. Mimic briefly wonders why the fact that these Watchers created Arcadia - or at least his soul - matters for that, and then decides it's too complicated to try and understand.
The Watchers look at all four of them quietly for a moment. It has no expression aside from those dents on its ring-eyes making it look somewhat sad, so Mimic can't tell what it's thinking.
"I am aware that this is not the answer you were searching for," it says. "You believed your presence in the reality you now call home to be something more important. I apologise for this, and any distress the truth may have caused."
"May have caused?" Mimic hisses. "You try finding out your entire existence is a fucking mistake!"
"I still wanna know something," Chaud speaks up before the Watcher can respond. "You said dead souls like Mimic end up keeping most or all of their memories. From what I can tell, Mimic has kept all of hers."
"That is correct," the Watcher agrees, inclining its head.
"So why didn't she know she died?"
Mimic pauses at that. She glances at her twin brother, blinking. She . . . she hadn't thought of that. She'd been too focused on the idea that- that she's just a mistake, a mistake made by some god of reincarnation or whatever the fuck the Watchers are supposed to be.
"The memory of death is something traumatic to any and all souls who remember their previous lives, including 'ghosts'," the Watcher says. "There are some examples of souls who retain their memories of death, but most will forget. Mimic Hikari is one such soul who forgot. In the case of dead souls, it will simply appear as though they woke up in a reality that is not their own."
"Do you know how I died?" Mimic asks suddenly. She feels a flash of surprise - and worry - from Chaud, and sees the concerned looks ProtoMan and Arcadia give her.
" . . . I do not," the Watcher replies. Mimic deflates a little. "The Watcher whose duty it is to oversee your previous life's reality cannot interact with you, and cannot inform me of such things, as that would be considered interfering - and interfering with another Watcher's assigned reality is taboo. However . . ."
Mimic perks up. She can feel Chaud's concern for why she suddenly wants to know how she died, but she's too focused on what the Watcher is gonna say to take much notice.
"I can give you back the memory of your death," the Watcher tells her. "Similar to the safeguard I put in place, this is something only done under extreme circumstances. This would count as an extreme circumstance - I snatched you from the rift between realities so I could tell you the truth you have been seeking, and how you died is a part of that truth."
"Mimic . . ." Chaud tugs on her sleeve, and she glances at him. "I'm not sure this is a good idea. I know this has shaken you - hell, it's practically earth-shattering - but you're letting your need for answers cloud your judgement. It's enough that you know you died. Please, just leave it as it is, okay?"
"I wanna know," Mimic says. "I have to know."
"No, you don't!" Chaud exclaims desperately. The emotions she's feeling from him are almost enough to make her change her mind, but her desire to know the full truth is too great for her to ignore it. "Mimic, please! Curiosity killed the cat, remember?"
"But satisfaction brought it back," she retorts.
"I don't think you'll get much satisfaction from finding out how you died," ProtoMan says quietly. Arcadia and Dark Shadow nod their agreement.
"I still wanna know," Mimic stubbornly insists.
"Are you truly certain about this?" the Watcher asks her. "Once I have given you this memory, I cannot take it back. After this, you will never be able to come here again."
"Look, I've spent fuck-knows-how-long trying to work out how to get back to my old reality, and you've just told me I can't go back at all because I fucking died!" Mimic snaps. "You owe me this much, at least!"
The Watcher looks at her silently for several moments. Even Chaud, ProtoMan, and Arcadia are quiet - they're waiting to find out how the Watcher will respond.
" . . . Very well, then," it eventually says.
Mimic feels something like triumph at getting her way, though it's cut through with Chaud's sharp worry and sad acceptance.
"If the memory of your death causes you any further distress," the Watcher goes on, stepping forward and raising a hand, "then I apologise. But please remember - you wanted to know."
"Yeah, I know," Mimic mutters, as the Watcher reaches out and touches the tips of its fingers to her forehead.
"Mimic! Chaud!" Lan shouts frantically. He and the rest of the Cross Fusion members have been searching through the half-ruined street for what feels like forever. In reality it's probably only been a few minutes, but . . .
But there's still been no response from either of Lan's younger siblings, not even from their PETs. MegaMan keeps trying to contact them, but all he gets is a consistent 'no signal found' in response, and Bass has already gone into the cyberworld to see if they somehow got dumped into a dead zone. Lan finds it highly unlikely, given that he and the rest of the Beyondard group got dropped in the same spot, but you never know.
And he just wants to hold out some kinda hope that Mimic and Chaud are home as well, not still trapped in Beyondard. Oh, god, he hopes they're just somewhere else instead of in an entirely different reality . . .
"Guys, please, answer me!" Lan cries. "Mimic! Chaud! Please!"
"Lan!"
Lan jumps and almost automatically goes to grab his PET, but MegaMan's Navi-hologram appears in front of him anyway.
"I just got a signal from their PETs!" MegaMan exclaims. He points. "That way, hurry!"
Lan doesn't question him. He just starts running.
He barely even registers where he's going, only following MegaMan's frantic directions. He practically skids around a corner, and stumbles to a halt when he finally spots Mimic and Chaud.
They're back. Oh, thank god . . .
Lan takes a step forward, relieved beyond words, but then he notices something odd.
Mimic seems to be in shock or something. She's just slumped on the ground, staring blankly at the cracked concrete, and she didn't even look up when Lan comes around the corner, even though he knows she should've been able to hear him. Chaud only just barely seems better off than she is, but he looks almost terrified, and he's holding her as close as he can but he's not doing anything to snap her out of whatever's wrong.
ProtoMan and Arcadia are similarly concerned, of course. Arcadia is whispering frantically to ProtoMan, whose hair and new tail are startling to bristle in what Lan can clearly tell is horror, and Dark Shadow is flickering uneasily. That . . . does not bode well.
Lan swallows and takes another, more hesitant, step forward. That slight movement makes Chaud glance up, and Lan freezes upon seeing the look in his eyes. Something terrible must've happened. But what?
"Guys?" he whispers. "What's wrong?"
Chaud opens his mouth, hesitates, and then shakes his head and buries his face in Mimic's hair. She doesn't react.
"SciLab," Arcadia says, looking up at Lan. "Take us to SciLab. We'll . . . we'll explain there."
All Lan can do is nod.
Mom and Dad meet them at SciLab. They're both frantic and terrified and all they want to do is go home with their kids - but as soon as they see the state Mimic is in, they back off, worried. Even more so than before.
Dad leads them to a room out of the way, where no one can overhear any of this. Chaud is grateful for that - most of the people in SciLab are at least aware of Mimic's knowledge at this point, but she wouldn't want the full truth to be overheard and spread around like some malicious rumour. Bad enough that finding out the truth for herself has shocked her this badly.
And Chaud still has the memory ringing in his own mind. Mostly because Mimic is playing it on repeat, along with a sense of cold shock and regret, and even though Chaud was right and he knew she shouldn't have asked and he knew she'd end up regretting it, he can't bring himself to say it. He just wishes he could take it back, but they can't. The Watcher said so.
It falls to him to explain what happened. Arcadia and ProtoMan keep quiet, and MegaMan and Bass stand on either side of them, listening in shocked silence - the same as Lan, Mom, and Dad. No one interrupts, no one asks questions, no one says a word while he's talking, and all the while, Chaud keeps part of his attention on Mimic, even though she barely reacted to anything when they got back or even when they arrived at SciLab.
And when he finally finishes explaining, he falls silent too, and simply watches his family - human and otherwise - for a reaction. The only sound in the room is Ragdoll's loud purring from Mimic's lap, since Mom brought him with her. He's been missing his Cat-Persons.
"So . . . Mimic died." Dad is the first one to break the silence. He sounds just as shocked as he looks, and the concern in his eyes as he glances at Mimic, still more or less unresponsive, grows. "And . . . that's how she ended up in our reality? In your body?"
Chaud nods.
"B-but that means . . ." Lan begins. He stops, swallows, and tries again. "That means she didn't need to do anything to get back to her old reality. There was . . . there was no point."
Something like dull anger flashes through Chaud's connection with Mimic, and he sees her fingers tightening in Ragdoll's fur.
"There wasn't," Chaud quietly agrees, trying to send back reassurance and comfort. It doesn't work, not the way he hoped it would, but it's better than leaving her to fester. "Mimic taking my body was part of why I thought - why we thought - that she had some kind of purpose here. But it was just . . . random chance. At least, according to what the Watcher told us."
"And Arcadia - or his soul, at least - was created by this Watcher?" Dad checks. "To be Mimic's guardian?"
Chaud nods.
Dad sits back, looking awed and somewhat lost - an odd expression on someone so intelligent. "Astonishing . . ."
"How do you two feel?" Mom speaks up. She's looking between Chaud and Mimic like she wants to hug them and never let go, but she's obviously hesitant to startle them or make things worse.
"We're . . . shocked, obviously," Chaud replies. How is he supposed to put this into words? How can he describe how he feels about finding out that his twin sister died? How is he supposed to describe how Mimic herself feels about this?
Mom doesn't look any less concerned as he gives his short answer. He doesn't know how to assure her that everything's fine, because it's not. Nothing is fine.
"I'm . . . sorry to ask you this," Dad begins, leaning forward again. Chaud glances at him, a silent invitation to go ahead, and Dad nods back gratefully. "Did the Watcher explain why Mimic couldn't remember her old name? You said it told you she retained all memories of her previous life, but . . ."
"It didn't explain that, but I think I can guess," Chaud says. "Maybe it's kinda like how Mimic forgot how she died. Her name isn't traumatic like that, but . . . maybe the reincarnation process took that name away from her. Or there are things she forgot, but she retained the majority of her memories anyway, and her name just happens to be one of the things she forgot. The former is more likely, I think."
Dad hums quietly, agreeing with that. He shoots another concerned glance at Mimic, who just keeps staring blankly at Ragdoll's fur, completely silent even in her thoughts - aside from constantly replaying her memory, of course.
"How . . . how did she die?" Lan asks hesitantly.
Chaud stares at him, wide-eyed, and Mom and Dad give him startled looks.
"Lan!" Mom hisses.
Lan winces. "S-sorry . . . I didn't mean to sound rude o-or insensitive or anything, but-"
"I was murdered."
They stop.
Mimic doesn't look up as she continues. "I was asleep in my apartment. Some guy broke in and tried to rob me. I woke up. He stabbed me to death."
Hearing that short, clipped, almost detached tone worries Chaud far more than if she'd broken down crying. Judging by the horrified looks on their family's faces, they feel the same way.
"Y . . . your apartment? What-" Dad begins, but Chaud silences him with a look. Now is not the time to explain the adult thing.
"Oh, Mimic . . ." Mom whispers, hands over her mouth. "Sweetheart . . ."
"Doesn't matter anymore," Mimic says, in that same tone. "I died, that Watcher fucked up, now I'm here. And I can't leave. So much for a higher purpose," she adds, bitterness creeping into her voice.
There's anger and resentment flowing from her, but underneath that, Chaud can feel some kind of desperate brokenness. Maybe she would've been able to take the truth better if she hadn't asked to be given the memory of how she died along with it - but it's too late for that now, no matter how much Chaud wishes he could go back and change it.
Curiosity did indeed kill the cat. But there was no satisfaction to bring it back.
Mimic finally looks up, a quick glance that's almost a glare - and it's directed at Chaud, because of course she knows what he's thinking.
Before anyone can say a word, Mimic makes to get up. Ragdoll slides off her lap and winds around her legs as she stands, and then follows her when she heads out of the room. ProtoMan - who's currently Mimic's NetNavi - makes a small noise, but when he tries to move, Arcadia stops him and shakes his head.
Mom lets out a worried sound and starts to get up as well, obviously intending to follow Mimic.
"Don't," Chaud quietly begs, and Mom stops, looking at him with such a heartbroken expression that he has to drop his gaze. "Please. Going after her now would just push her away. Let her come back on her own."
"That's how she's always been," Dad agrees in a murmur, pulling Mom toward him for a hug. She slumps against him, taking in a shuddering breath.
Lan gets up. Chaud is about to repeat himself, but then stops when, rather than going after Mimic, his big brother comes over to him instead, and sits down beside him. Lan wraps an arm around Chaud's shoulders and presses their heads together.
"We'll look after her," he murmurs. "It's what we always do. Right?"
Chaud can only nod, and he closes his eyes.
Continued in Mimic: Beast+
