My eyes struggled to adjust to the white light that engulfed the room. "Wha-?" was all I could get out as feelings both foreign and familiar set in.

I was on my back, the surface beneath me hard, unforgiving and cold. I moved my hands, grasping the edges of the surface with my fingers. Table?

My vision finally cleared, revealing the room before me. The walls were white, lit by dozens of brilliant white beacons installed in the reflective metal ceilings. There was nothing in the room save the table I was on and an open door several paces away.

Where the hell am I? I suppose I should have been used to waking up in unfamiliar places, but this weird, sterile room was by far the most unsettling. Something was wrong – I could feel it in my gut – but I couldn't place what it was.

A whirring sounded from just outside the door, making me tense up in fear. I sat up slowly, just in time to see the blue light cast on the doorframe. Something's out there.

I wanted a weapon – a knife, my spear, a gun, something. But aside from the table and the clothes on my back, I had nothing. I reasoned I could use my arm if things got messy, but-

My arm. I knew something felt off as I looked down and let out a quiet gasp. There were no lights. No metal. No scars. No pieces of machinery built by a self-aware machine. It was just…mine.

The furs and hide I wore were gone – replaced by the plaid button-down and torn jeans I wore way too much. But not since…

I shivered as my blood turned to ice. Far Zenith. This wasn't their base. Where the fuck was I?

More whirring, followed by a click. I know that sound. I clenched my fists before hopping off the table and began taking small steps toward the sound. Closer and closer until…

The Watcher's head popped into view from whatever lie outside of the room – its blue light flashing intermittently and alternating between brightness settings.

"BECKS."

I stopped. It can't be. "H-Heph?"

The Watcher tilted its head at me but said nothing.

"Heph, is that you?" Still no reply. I was confused but I know what I heard. Only one machine…AI…thing I've ever met sounded like that.

As though on cue, the Watcher clicked at me and then turned to walk away.

"Wait!" I cried, forgetting all about the fact that I still had no idea where the hell I was. I rushed out of the room to catch up to it, running into a long corridor that was also way too bright and way too white. Whoever decorated this place needs a soul…and some color swatches.

The Watcher…or Heph, or whatever it was stopped at the end of the corridor where it turned to face me with a beckoning click before hopping into another nearby room. I glanced around briefly just to make sure there was no one else here, which there wasn't (for some reason), and followed, my pace quickening after a few steps before breaking in a full run, the lights flashing in my eyes every time my feet hit the ground.

I reached the other room. There was no door – just a doorway. An eerie silence emanated from the inside.

"Heph?" I called, my voice reverberating endlessly down the hallway. With a deep breath, I took a step into the room…and did a double take.

It was dark. No walls. Not even a ceiling. Hell, there was no floor either – and yet somehow, I had ended up in the center of the room and I couldn't remember how I got there. There were grid lines - streaks of glowing holographic wire that framed the room. They reminded me of something, but I couldn't quite place it.

And where was Heph? The Watcher was nowhere in sight and there were no other exits in the room. Just darkness and the wireframes of patterns I recognized from somewhere.

A ripple. It hit me. This isn't real. I was in another simulation, like the one Branwell had trapped me in. Fuck.

That meant something had happened. A rush of thoughts slammed into me and everything I'd forgotten about refreshed in my mind. Sobeck. Far Zenith.

Aloy.

I needed to get out of there. It was a miracle I was even aware of what was happening. The simulation could have been broken or bugged?

The virus! I mean, it was only supposed to bug out the door so that Aloy and the others could get in but it seemed to have affected the simulation as well. But how did I even end up there? When did they capture me?

"Becks?" That voice.

The wireframe and simulation artifacts were gone. I was outside – a perfectly nice, clear – but very cold – winter day, standing on the main path that ran through the park closest to my house. Snow covered the ground and lined the branches of barren trees for as far as I could see, covering the benches and playground a few steps away as well. The lake had frozen over – there were usually a few skaters making their rounds but not today. The park might as well have been a ghost town.

Where is everybody? I turned, spotting the old bridge that overlooked the stream flowing from the lake. It had been there forever – built sometime in the 40s when there was this big effort to repair a bunch of the parks in the city. Jenna and I used to grab lattes after class and hang out on the bridge until it started getting dark and we had to head home for dinner.

A breeze swept through, making me shiver. Why am I always underdressed whenever I'm somewhere that's really, really cold lately? I knew something was off – that this still was a simulation, despite how real it all felt. Still, my brain naturally tried to process the situation before me and come up with a solution.

My house. I didn't even know when the simulation took place, but I did know two things: the Faro Plague hadn't arrived here yet (if it ever would) and my house was still standing. Could probably go there and get some proper clothing. Then I can figure out how to get out of here.

"Becks."

I turned, and like some kind of freaky magic trick, the park was bustling with people. Kids screamed and laughed on the playground while their parents watched them from the benches. On the lake, some guys were trying to get a hockey game started. A girl and her Labrador zoomed past me, the music from her Focus no doubt keeping her oblivious to everything but her route. It was still impossible to tell what day or what year it was as I slowly spun around, trying to take it all in.

I froze when I saw her.

She was nearly unrecognizable at first and it was no wonder as for once she wasn't wearing her Shield Weaver armor. People probably would be freaking out if they saw her in that. Or…assume she was some kind of lost street performer. In a beanie, blue winter coat, jeans, and black boots, she could have been a girl from one of my classes. Even her braids, normally wild and disheveled, were tamer – as though she'd been living here in my suburb her entire life and didn't have to worry about surviving in the wilderness or hunting 31st century death machines.

"Aloy," I breathed. "I-what are you doing here?" I rushed over to her, taking her gloved hands in mine. My feet began to go numb as I was only wearing my old running shoes.

She glanced at the kids on the playground, then up at the sky, and finally back at me. Her eyes, which leaned more towards a vibrant green in the sunlight, were heavy with worry…but I also spotted relief, and maybe even a little awe.

"Becks," she said, not bothering to hide her confusion. "What is this? Where are we?" She looked me over, her eyes studying my outfit in particular. "Why did you leave?"

I cringed, remembering our fight from earlier and the things I said. I gave her hands a squeeze. "Did Talanah give you my message?"

Aloy nodded. "She found me. We got Erend and…" Her eyes went wide. "We need to find them!"

"Wait, so you got inside the facility?" I pulled her down the path with me and started to head in the direction of my house, keeping my voice low just in case.

"We did, but then…then I…" She grimaced, as though she was struggling to retrieve a memory that wasn't there. "I know we did. But I don't…remember how I got here." Looking up at the sky again, she muttered, "Wherever 'here' is."

I inhaled deeply. "This is going to sound crazy, but you're in my city. We're a few blocks away from my house." I paused. "None of this is real, though. It's…some kind of simulation that crazy clone bitch and Branwell made."

Aloy stopped. "Like the one you were trapped in?"

"Yeah," I said. "But something's definitely different. I-," Wait. I touched my Focus. 13:15, January 15th, 2066. "What the hell?" Guess I'm not engaged in this timeline.

"What?" Aloy answered her own question by activating her Focus as well. "Two thousand…that can't be right!"

"It's the simulation," I explained. "It's not real – but…" I looked up. The sky was clear. No signs of atmospheric damage. There's no Faro Plague. "Everyone should be-should be dead."

"The date." Aloy was scanning through her Focus entries. "I know this date, it's…it's the day Enduring Victory fell. And," she flipped through a few more logs – clear that she was looking for a very specific entry, "it's the day Elisabet saved the Alphas when GAIA Prime's door had to be sealed," she finished quietly.

I put my arm around her waist to comfort her, marveling at how calm she was about the entire situation. Then again, I'd already told her about my experience from before, so maybe she just kept that in mind? "Whatever this is, they've changed things so that the Faro robots never malfunctioned. Come on." I tugged on her sleeve and began to lead her down the path again.

The house was still there, and it was nothing like the ancient ruin we had found the last time we went there together. I'd forgotten how big it was, but when Dad got promoted a lot of things changed for my family's finances and Mom wanted a nice big house that they could pass down to Dennis and I someday. We had to pass through a gate where the security guard recognized me and gave us a friendly nod before letting us pass.

"Here we are," I announced, gesturing to the house.

Despite the very, very weird situation we were in, Aloy smirked. Well no shit – it's right there in front of her.

"This is where you live?" she asked, and this time the awe in her voice was unmistakable.

I grinned. "Yeah. Well, where I lived." I turned to face her. "Aloy, remember – this is all an illusion. I don't know why they put us both here completely aware, but just know you're probably going to see and talk to people that look and feel like they're really there but…they're not."

Aloy shuddered as a puff of cold air left her lungs. "I understand, Becks." She leaned in, her lips brushing against mine for only a moment before she pulled away. "Lead the way."

Taking her hand again, I took her up the brick path leading to the front door. The snow had been recently shoveled away and most of the landscaping was hidden under the icy white blanket that covered most of the yard. When we arrived on the porch, I reached out and felt for the activation panel on the door. It beeped at my touch and hummed for a few seconds before giving off a familiar chirp as the light above turned from blue to green. The door opened and Aloy and I stepped into the foyer.

"Mom?" I called as I wiped my feet on the entry mat. Aloy observed me before doing the same, though she really just succeeded at getting melted snow on the floor.

"Sorry."

"It's fine," I said with a shrug. "That happens to me-happened to me all the time."

"Rebecca, is that you? Where were you?" Mom strode into the foyer, her hands covered in flour. She glanced at me with a mix of worry and disapproval as she put her hands on her hips. "I tried calling your Focus twice, but you didn't answer."

I groaned. Why can't they drop me in an imaginary timeline where I'm actually responsible and answer my damn calls? "Sorry, Mom. I must have…been in class."

She sighed. "Well, next time could you check your missed calls at least? Your father and I didn't get you that Focus just so you could talk to Jenna all night and take vintage selfies."

I had to hold back a laugh at this. As creepy as this was, at least the Far Zenith psychos made a pretty accurate simulation of my mom.

I realized Mom was waiting for me to say something about the new (and kind of awkward) redhead in the room. I cleared my throat. "Uh, Mom, this is Aloy. She's my gir-friend. My friend from school."

Mom gave me a suspicious look before turning to Aloy and smiling. "Hi, Aloy, I'm Sarah. Please forgive my daughter's rudeness," she said, not seeing the giant eye roll I gave her. "I'm just working on dinner right now. Rebecca's father and brother should be home in a few hours since we're celebrating tonight! Will you be joining us?"

"What are we celebrating?" I blurted.

"Rebecca, that's hardly funny," Mom scolded. "You know how hard your brother worked to get that design position. I know the two of you don't always get along, but can you please make an effort to be nice, just for tonight?"

I nodded. "Of course, Mom. And uh…" I nodded at Aloy, who was staring up and around at the entrance of the house – a look of wonder crossing her features. "Aloy was going to stay too, and probably for the night if that's okay? We have an exam tomorrow."

"Certainly." Mom beamed at Aloy. "You're of course welcome here, Aloy. Now, I should get back to it," she said, showing us her hands. "Try not to snack too much before dinner, Rebecca."

"I won't, Mom," I said. Once she left, I turned to Aloy. "Sorry," I said in a quiet tone. "They did a pretty convincing job with her."

Aloy glanced in the direction Mom had walked away before looking at me with a curious look. "Was…was that really your mother? How she was?"

"Yeah," I said, the regret in my voice coming out more than I would have liked. "But um…you know, it's not really her."

"You look a bit like her." She looked up again. "This is really where you lived?"

"You've been here before."

"This is different. I've never seen anything like this," she said.

I grinned. We were in a shitty situation, but it could have been way worse. At least we're together. "Come on," I said as I grabbed her hand again and dragged her to my bedroom.

Thanks for reading :) I plan to update again on Tuesday. Would have done more tonight but I had a LOT of writing to do.