Might be a while before I can post again because I have book stuff I gotta get done but here's a nice long one for you guys. Story's rated M for a reason, but you knew this. :)

Sorry in advance for typos - I've been up nearly 24 hours and I really wanted to get this out for you.

I let her enter the room first, then followed before shutting the door behind us. I shook my head as I looked around. Same bed (apparently, I made my bed on a consistent basis in this timeline), same desk (it was pretty clean – I always appreciated a neat desk), same stupid ancient print posters of bands I liked that Dennis made fun of me for having.

"Er…this is it!"

Aloy didn't say anything. At first, I thought something was wrong (well, even more wrong – our situation was pretty fucked as it was), but when she turned around it was obvious she was more intrigued than anything.

"This is…where you sleep?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I said and walked past her to sit on my bed. So weird. The bed looked and felt like my bed, right down to the fluffy down comforter and possibly more pillows than was really necessary. At the base of the pillows sat a small stuffed otter. "Actually, I used to spend most of my time in here." I stopped and corrected myself. "Not here."

"Because this isn't real. I know, Becks." She shifted a bit, a slight grimace taking over the curiosity on her face. It didn't take me long to figure out what it was.

"You know, you can take that coat off. We have heating here," I told her. She blinked at me – most likely trying to figure out what I meant by "heating" – before she started to remove the heavy coat. She had some difficulty at first with the zipper and it took me a second before I figured out why. I got up and went over to help her.

"Here." I removed the gloves from her hands before taking one of them in mine and showed her how to pull the zipper down. "Easy, right?" I said as I helped her get her arms out of the coat sleeves.

She gave a nervous laugh, but seemed much more comfortable in the black, long sleeved shirt she was wearing under the coat. "I've never seen anything like that." She turned to walk to one of the walls near the door, where a poster had been taped up. "This is all really, really strange," she murmured and touched the paper. "What about food?"

"Huh?"

"Where do you get your food? Who hunts it? Your mother? And what's a 'design position'?"

I sat down on the bed again. Here we go. It was odd but a little fulfilling to be on the receiving end of the questions this time. Showing Aloy where I was from and how I lived before going into cryo was something I never imagined in my wildest dreams I would get to do. But here we were – even if it was all fake, it was still a pretty accurate representation of how things were before Ted fucked it all up.

"Well," I began, "we don't really have to hunt. I mean, some people do, but they do it for…for sport." Hearing the explanation come out of my own mouth made me pause – the Carja had the Lodge of course, but the machines were an actual threat to humans. I shook the thought away for the time being and continued. "We get most of our food from a market…or delivered."

Aloy's brow furrowed. "But, then where does the market get it?"

I smiled and picked up the otter before leaning back on the pillows. This is kind of fun. "From a farm, just like in Meridian. We have-had a lot more animals that we would use for food, too."

She seemed amused. "Is that," she pointed at the otter in my hands, "one of them? Why do you keep one where you sleep?"

I didn't get what she meant at first until I looked down at Mr. Otter and burst out laughing. "No! I mean…yes, we had animals like this, but we didn't eat them. Or at least I didn't." I held up the stuffed animal. "This is Mr. Otter. He's not real but I've had him forever."

"Why?"

It's like talking to a five-year-old. "Um…because I used to get nightmares when I was younger and my parents got it for me to help, I guess." It felt strange telling her this – only my family and Jenna really knew about that. Speaking of Jenna – where is she?

Aloy's expression softened as I think she realized she had asked a more personal question (not that I minded). "Your mother said she was preparing dinner for a celebration?"

"Yeah," I quickly answered, happy to talk about something other than myself. "So, this actually never happened, but I know my brother, Dennis, had talked about wanting to work for a design firm in the city. He's an artist."

"'Design firm'?"

Oops. Of course she wouldn't know what that was. "It's like a…corporation for artists," I said, trying to use terminology I remembered from the logs on her Focus she had shown me.

"Oh," was all she said as she began to walk around the room again, picking up and studying everything in sight – accessories, books, school supplies, even my drawers. I didn't mind, seeing as how it was Aloy and also that none of it was really mine – even I had to keep reminding myself of this.

I sighed. "To be honest, I don't think Dennis really wanted to apply for the job. He always talked about going into business with his friend Maria. She's a tattoo artist. My parents, well, they've always been…were supportive of us but I think they had their own ideas about how we could be successful." A pang of guilt struck as I realized my choice of tense when talking about my parents. I think Aloy could tell too because she stopped her perusing and joined me on the bed.

"They seem like good people," she said, taking my hand in hers.

"They are-well, they were." My throat tightened, leaving me with the still raw wound of loss that was torn open again the last time I was in the simulation. "Sorry."

She squeezed my hand and kissed my temple. "Don't be."

I did my best to push the feelings away, at least for the time being, so that I could focus on the problem at hand (and the one we actually had a chance of doing something about). "So, the last time I was in one of these simulations, I kept seeing these ripples or something – the whole thing would glitch out a bit whenever I remembered or thought of you."

Warmth spread through me as I watched Aloy smile at that. I felt a bit better. Not much, but enough to keep trying.

"So, we just need to find these ripples?" she asked.

No. I shook my head. "I-I don't think it works that way. Plus, you're here and-," It hit me. Fuck. I should have known.

"There's nothing wrong with this simulation. They put us here, completely aware – on purpose."

"What?" she exclaimed. "How do you know?"

"When I was here last time, there were so many issues. It was like the program was fighting to keep me from remembering you. But that's not happening here. In fact," I said, gesturing around us, "being with you, here of all places feels more real than the simulation without you ever did."

Aloy shook her head. I wasn't sure if she didn't believe me or she was just as confused as I was about the whole thing. "Then how do we leave?"

I didn't have an answer. "I-I don't know, Aloy. Branwell and Sobeck made this so that the people Far Zenith have in cryo would be able to experience their memories and go on with their lives while they cleaned up the planet."

"And by 'cleaned up', you mean-,"

"Destroy. Yeah, basically."

She didn't say anything for a while – just sort of looked down at the floor as we sat in silence. "Do you think," she said, her voice edged with fear, "that Elisabet – the real Elisabet – is alive here?"

I bit my lip, the tears I had been holding back threatening to escape. It made sense that she would ask about Dr. Sobeck, but in my rush to figure out a way out of here I had forgotten about the connection she had with Elisabet. I felt so sorry for her, but I had no clue what I could do or say to help. I went with honesty. "There's a good chance, Aloy, yeah. But it wouldn't really be her. You know that, right?"

She nodded and I could tell she was trying to put on a brave face as she cast her eyes downward. "I…understand."

I offered her Mr. Otter. "Want to hold him?"

Aloy gave me a hesitant glance before staring at Mr. Otter, then back at me. "Um…okay." She gently took him from my hands, her expression switching to surprise as soon as she held him. "He's very soft. What should I do with him?"

I snorted. "You just, you know, hold him. It's supposed to calm you down."

She held him up, giving his black plastic eyes an awkward stare. "Hello, Mr. Otter."

I wasn't sure if the whole "stuffed animal" thing clicked completely for her or if she was just doing her best to understand while making me happy at the same time. Either way, it was both adorable and hilarious and almost made me forget we were stuck in a fake reality that we desperately needed to escape. "We need to get out of here, Aloy. Time passed differently here for me, so who knows how long it's actually been since we got here."

Aloy set the otter back on the bed with a frustrated noise. "There must be a way."

I teetered on the edge of another breaking point. My words from our earlier argument echoed in mind. It was true: I was tired of being scared, tired of having to figure out how to survive, outsmart the enemy, escape, or whatever our particular dire situation entailed. But as I looked at Aloy, I couldn't help but be impressed at how well she was taking this all in. Maybe she's just more adaptable than me. Maybe she's actually trying to be an adult and get to a solution instead of whining about how she wants a normal life.

"Sorry," I said.

She frowned. "What? What are you sorry for?"

I took her hands. "I haven't been the most patient person since I got back and…and I shouldn't have said those things to you. We shouldn't have fought at all. Not over this – over us."

"You were captured, Becks," Aloy pointed out. "And," she said, glancing at my arm before looking me in the eye, "you're right to not want to risk your life again. Not after what happened." I recognized that look. It was the same look she had for months after I got hurt.

"That wasn't your fault, Aloy."

She chuckled. "You've said that before, but it doesn't change the fact that if I'd been up there on that platform with you instead of letting you go on your own I could have…" Her voice grew quiet. "I could have…stopped her."

I gripped her hands. "You don't know that and I wish you'd stop thinking that."

"But-,"

A knock on the door sounded followed by my mom's voice. "Becks? Do you mind helping with the table?"

Giving Aloy an apologetic smile, I called back to Mom, "Yeah, be right there!" not stopping to think that I really had no obligation to do anything for this fake version of her.

"Your mother needs help with a table?" Aloy asked.

"She means put plates and stuff on it so it's ready when we eat."

I could tell she didn't quite get the "why" of it, but she nodded just the same. "All right. Do you-should I help you?"

I grinned. "Why don't you come with me so you can see what I mean?"

"This was awesome, Mom." I watched in mild disgust as Dennis shoveled the remaining food on his plate into his mouth in a rather disgusting display of barbarism that I wasn't surprised at all to see from my brother.

I didn't care if this was fake or not – it was gross. "Did you actually taste it or just swallow it?"

Dennis looked thoughtful before opening his mouth, revealing the last of his dinner. "Still tasting!" he said, his words muffled.

I scoffed. "That's freaking gross, Dennis. And really? In front of Aloy?"

"Rebecca, remember what we talked about?" Mom pleaded.

Dennis smirked. "Yeah, Mom says you gotta be nice to me." He looked at Aloy, who to my dismay, actually seemed entertained by him. "She's funny when she's mad, isn't she?"

I shot him a dirty look. "How old are you?" Then to Aloy. "Don't encourage him."

Aloy looked like she wasn't sure if she should laugh or be afraid, and seemed happy enough to settle for trying to make her fork work out for her – something I had not foreseen to be an issue.

"You two met at school?" Dad asked, gesturing to Aloy and me.

Aloy's eyes widened at the question, but I quickly interjected. "Yeah, Aloy's in my AI class. We have a test tomorrow."

Dad nodded but then directed his attention to Aloy again. "You look so familiar. Are you sure we haven't met before?"

Ah, shit.

"Dad, don't grill her," I said, hoping that he wouldn't figure it out. Then again, if he did, what would happen? It's all fake anyway…right?

"Someone's on edge tonight," Dennis commented. I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

"I was just wondering, sweetheart," Dad said. He smiled at Aloy. "It's good to see Becks making more friends at school, though."

Ugh. I was getting frustrated and defensive at a fake family dinner in a fake reality. Even as Aloy gave me a reassuring smile, I had to wonder if I was getting too attached to this…whatever it was. We're supposed to be working on finding a way out of here, not hanging out.

I sat back and observed in silence as Mom asked Dennis question after question on his new job and Dad volunteered information about FAS to her, even offering her an opportunity to go in and talk to some people about an internship if she wanted. It was surreal and a little heartbreaking.

I guess I'd be lying if I said this wasn't something I really, truly wanted. Being able to bring my girlfriend home to my family – having a stupid, awkward family dinner and fighting with my brother, listening to my mom nag me, and watching my dad strike up business talk with my girlfriend – was something that, when I found out the world, my world, was ending, I never imagined I'd get to do.

But, I admitted to myself now that I was seeing a possible version of it for the very first time, it would have been really nice to.

"I like your family," was Aloy's opening remark when we got back to my room later that evening.

I closed the door and locked it. "Thanks. I'm sorry about my dad…and Dennis."

She removed her boots before sitting on my bed. "I didn't mind. It was a bit odd but also interesting hearing about FAS from someone other than Ted Faro or the Zero Dawn people. And," she added, "your brother was nice. I can tell he cares-," She paused. "Cared about you a great deal." Her voice had grown solemn as she looked up at me with soft eyes filled with guilt. "I'm sorry."

I sat next to her, the bed shifting slightly under our combined weight. "I-I know. It, um, would have been nice…introducing you to them. As my…well, you know."

Aloy reached out, placing her hand on my cheek before leaning in to kiss me. It was a soft, gentle kiss that was meant to comfort more than words really could right then. It'd felt like so long since we did that for some reason and when we pulled away finally, I actually sensed a spark of hope in me that wasn't there before, and something more.

"You could still have that," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"This," she said, indicating the simulation, "it's not real, but you want to believe it and that…" She sighed. "That seems to comfort you. Maybe Branwell and Sobeck put us in here together so that you wouldn't try to fight it."

Fuck that. "No way. None of this is fucking real, Aloy, and I know that. I'm not going to live out some fake life here while people die in the real world just because I'm homesick."

She winced. "Becks, what you said before-,"

But I cut her off before she could finish, "I know what I said. I said it because I was angry and-and scared. But there are a lot of people out there that don't deserve the fate these bastards have planned for them."

Aloy gave a nod of approval. "All right, then. So, we find a way out of here?"

"We can try. I still don't know how," I said, getting more frustrated by the minute. "Fuck!" My voice sounded more like a croak as my efforts to stay hopeful about the situation failed.

"We will, Becks. I know it," Aloy insisted as she moved her hands to my hips.

Once again, I found myself fighting back tears. "I hate this. I hate them. This is why I wanted us to be left alone!" I told her. "Why I wanted to leave."

She pulled me close to her and began stroking my hair. "I don't blame you." She moved us back a bit so that we were propped up against my pillows. "It's been a long day and we're out of ideas. I think we should rest a bit and try to come up with a plan afterwards."

"We can't. Who knows how much time will have passed?" I protested.

But she just shook her head. "If time has passed, Becks, then it has, and there was nothing we could have done to stop it. But you need to rest." She met my gaze, the concern for me in her voice obvious now. "You can't keep this up. Not here and not back in the…real world."

I bit my lip, looking away as she held me. She was right, of course. Even with the short respite we had when I found her in Meridian, I still felt like I was constantly running and surviving. My promise to myself to just live had not only been broken, but I had been doing the exact opposite and trying to escape into something that didn't exist.

I returned my focus to Aloy again. She's real. Our lives weren't perfect and they were never going to be. But it was all we had and it was time I stopped mourning a life that no longer existed and could never be.

"I'm sorry," I whispered before nuzzling her. "You're right – we should sleep on it, at least for a few hours. Maybe something will come to me, or if we're lucky, that they haven't worked out all the bugs in this thing yet and it'll break."

She seemed content with that answer. "All right."

I smiled at her before leaning in and capturing her lips again. We moved slowly against each other for several seconds before I felt her tongue probing the entrance to my mouth. I allowed her entry, shuddering and letting out an involuntary quiet moan as she tightened her grip on my hips and pressed against me.

I'm making out with my girlfriend in my bedroom. I would have laughed if I wasn't so turned on right then.

Almost as though she had read my mind, Aloy pulled back again. "This…isn't really what 'rest' looks like," she said, her voice having gone slightly ragged from panting.

"I know." I used my Focus to turn off the lights before removing it from my ear and placed it on the nightstand. She was right of course, and sure, I wanted to get some rest, but I wanted her more. One night with her wasn't enough to make up for the shitty experience I had gone through already with Far Zenith and getting to Meridian. "Please?"

There was hesitation – even in the dark I could see it. But the light from the streetlamps still entered the room through my windows, and I could see that for as much hesitation as there was in her eyes, there was also desire. We both knew what was going to happen and what the stakes were. After all, we've done this before. Come morning, we would escape the sim and take down Far Zenith…or die trying.

She felt for my shirt with her hands as her lips went for my neck, the temperature contrast and pressure leaving me light-headed as I was pushed down onto the pile of pillows. A few of them were nudged off and fell to the floor, along with the stuffed otter. A low growl rumbled as she climbed on top of me and it took me a moment to realize that the sound had come from her.

I could only whisper her name while she worked on my clothes. I tried to help – tried to grab at her pants to undo the button but she just pushed my hand away and continued removing my clothes, adding even more pressure to my neck with her lips and pushing against it with her tongue so hard that I had to struggle to keep quiet as she sent what felt like a thousand electrical shocks to every nerve ending in my body.

She became frustrated, pushing down on me and all but giving up on my clothes. Her need was obvious, and I grinned when I heard the whine escape her. "Aloy," I said, firmer this time so that she'd slow down enough for me to actually help. "Let me."

She relented, and I took the opportunity to free myself of my shirt and bra. Unfortunately, that was about all I had time for before Aloy ambushed me again – holding me upright in her arms and taking me into her mouth, making me whimper so loud I was pretty sure it would be a miracle if no one heard us. Which, oddly enough, the fact that we were even doing this here made it even more enjoyable. My cheeks went hot immediately at my own thoughts – Aloy being completely oblivious to it all while she focused on attacking every inch of my upper body with her mouth.

The fog in my mind cleared when I realized she was tugging at my pants. I actually giggled. "You're going to…have to give me a second to cooperate with you here," I told her. "And uh…careful – I don't want my parents to come knocking 'cause they heard us."

She actually listened this time and released me, allowing me to (very quickly) remove the rest of my clothes as well as hers. We tossed them on the floor before we sank back on my bed together, her leg between mine and her mouth meeting mine in a deep, desperate kiss as she continued to hold me.

The thought of how predictable we were nearly made me laugh again – the fact that once again, we were doing this in the face of overwhelming odds and certain death. So epic. But that was us and I loved it. I loved her.

I gasped as she began moving against me, her every action purposeful and rough. She tried to muffle the sounds she was making by maintaining our kiss as I struggled to keep up with her. Even with both my arms being my own, and neither of them containing implants, all I managed to do was wrap them around her neck and hold on as I moved closer and closer to the edge of where I wanted her to take me.

I gave another shudder when I felt her hand dragging down my side, over my ribs and where my scar should have been. I broke our kiss. "Aloy, please."

A light kiss on my forehead told me she understood what I wanted, what I needed. Before I could really think about what she was doing – how her hands and fingers were moving – she was inside me.

I kissed her again with everything I had in a vain attempt to keep myself quiet while she repeated to bring me almost to my breaking point before easing off, then again…and again. Frustrated but unable to do much about it except thrash in her hold, I let out a strangled whine that I wasn't even aware I could make. She must have gotten the message – when she did it again, rather than ease off, she put her strength into a final few powerful thrusts that sent me over the brink and left me helpless in her arms while she soothed me with quiet words and soft kisses.

I was exhausted but I didn't want to let her go – didn't want it to be over. Seeing how tired I was, she made that choice for me and set me next to her, where she covered me with the comforter and put her arm around my waist in a protective hold. There were no ripples, no artifacts, no murmurings of voices from another life – she was real, the only thing that was real there. As the darkness enveloped us, my mind calmed and the cogs finally stopped turning with the promise that somehow, we would be able to beat this.