Jisha exited VMA as fast as she could and accepted the invitation to the Concord VR chat room.

Dozens of different colors of flashing lights blinded her the instant she set foot inside.

"What the-"

She reflexively shielded her eyes, but unfortunately didn't have enough hands to muffle her hearing...

"Loud" was the understatement of the year.

The entire room shook as if it were in the midst of an earthquake. There was so much bass that it wasn't even music anymore.

*Should have expected this...*

Sensory overload was nothing new when dealing with her. Fortunately, it was a VR space and not a physical one, so no real damage could be caused.

She slowly brought her arms down and opened her eyes, bracing herself for the onslaught of laser beams and disco lights.

The first thing she saw was...

"Wha-?"

A face close enough to give her a scare.

A face much younger than she remembered, but a face she'd recognize anywhere...

"JISHAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaa-!"

Syny tackled her to the ground and embraced her as tightly as she could.

Jisha, being the smaller of the two, would have undoubtedly been choked out in the physical world at this point. However, it'd been years since the two had made any meaningful conversation. Did it hurt to remain like this a moment longer?

Perhaps she could return the embrace and hope for a nice, long hug?

Syny dragged her to her feet, nearly giving her whiplash.

*I suppose not.*

"WHY ARE YOU NOT FREAKING OUT?"

"Uh... Can you change the volume..."

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"

Syny put both hands on Jisha's shoulders and rattled her back and forth.

"I- How- HOW ARE YOU DOING?"

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SAYING, HOW AM I DOING? HOW ARE *YOU* DOING, IDIOT?"

*I'm gonna pass out.*

*>Fae Sol: What do you mean? I'm doing fine.*

"'I'M DOING FINE'? DID YOU FORGET WHAT YESTERDAY WAS????"

"..."

What could have possibly happened yesterday that warranted such alarm? Jisha had definitely checked up on the latest news, and there was nothing of note.

"IT WAS BARRY'S 2ND BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"......................."

How was she supposed to know this? Barry was a pet barracuda. Syny had so many pets that it was impossible to keep up with all of them.

"ALSO IT WAS EV-ON HAM-LET, HOW COULD YOU FORGET SUCH A THIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!!!!!!!!"

*>Fae Sol: Can I come over in person?*

The music abruptly stopped.

"Say that again?"

"Can I come over in person?"

Syny looked like she'd seen an alien.

"Hmmmmm.............."

With exaggerated movements, she leaned in closer to Jisha's avatar and closely inspected its face.

"Poke, poke-"

"Hey!"

Jisha slapped away a rogue hand trying to inspect her.

"Pffffft... That's more like you!" Syny doubled over laughing. "I got it! You're feeling bad about forgetting Billy Barry's birthday... Yes, yes, it's all coming together..." she continued, nodding like she'd cracked the case of the century.

*I kinda feel like she's misinterpreting something.*

"In that case! I'll see you soon! Don't forget!"

The room disappeared.

"... I was kicked out?"

*Her energy is exhausting to keep up with... Is it because I'm old?*

Jisha grumbled as she removed the Vbian-02 helmet and sat up in her ostentatious bed.

"Welcome back, Princess," Eia said. "You've limited your game time on your own this morning, and you've consumed all necessary nutrients thus far. It's a miracle."

"Thanks?"

"It's definitely an improvement, but there are still other unaddressed issues. For example, your kingdom is collapsing."

Shock briefly ran through Jisha's heart, but Eia was only referring to her virtual simulated kingdom.

"... I'll get on it. I'm visiting Cyta today, though. I'll be back later."

Eia looked at her quizzically.

*This is happening way too much.*

"Roger that, Princess," she said with a smile. "Have fun."

Thanks to Eia, she was already dressed appropriately to visit a foreign nation. Her contact computer/smartwatch combo was all she needed to take with her, and since Cyta was an allied nation of the highest degree, security was not necessary.

Before she entered her pod, though, she took a quick look at her Epicuria food fabricator. It wasn't going to be a long trip, but a little snack on the way wouldn't hurt, right?

*Let's see, what did I eat back then?*

Her top 5 favorite foods to order were...

1. Rainbow Sand
2. Multicolored Sand Bowl w/ Yak Milk (Random)
3. Pink Sand
4. Blue Sand
5. Chocolate Ice Cream

"....."

"Unhealthy" didn't begin to describe it! The top four options, "Sand", were basically just sugar with food coloring.

*No wonder Father was so impressed with me eating "healthy" at breakfast.*

By her future self's standards, those breakfast foods weren't nearly nutrient-dense enough to eat. However, in the current time with her current body, nutrient density wasn't as big of a concern.

*It's important to eat healthy, but... I've forgotten what this Sand tastes like.*

"Rainbow Sand it is, then. Frozen on a stick, of course."

Food-colored sugar was quite a simple dish. Within 10 seconds, the Epicuria spit out a cold-steaming rainbow ice-cream-like entity on a tray.

She turned around to bid Eia farewell only to be met with a disapproving glare.

"Ah. Um. Bye, Eia."

Before Eia could reprimand her for eating pure sugar, Jisha slipped into the pod whose doors closed with a hiss.

"Whew, safe."

After selecting a destination, the pod gradually accelerated through the tunnel. On her AR contacts, the pod displayed all relevant travel details.

 

*>Departure: "sand castle (Home)" (10:22)*

*>Destination: "Synysssss!!!˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗" (10:39) (1,432 km) (17 min)*

*>Advanced Details:*

*>Type: Hypersonic (Accel/Decel: 2m 55s)*

*>Speed (m/s) / Accel (m/s^2) / Jerk (m/s^3): 20/10/0 (Accel: 0:02/2:55)*

*>Direction: NNW (Vector 350)*

*>Map: ...*

 

"Hm..."

Jisha inspected the still-steaming popsicle(?) stick. It did *contain* the colors of the rainbow, but it was rather messy, as if they'd just been tossed in a blender.

After a curious lick, it was obvious that the colors were just eye candy. The entire thing tasted like plain sugar.

*I really had terrible taste. We had an Epicuria and all I got was this??*

Nonetheless, one taste of the Rainbow Sand unlocked hidden memories...

*How much of my art was inspired by this plain sand?*

She nibbled at the Rainbow Sand with a nostalgic feeling.

With her free hand, she opened her virtual kingdom on her AR contacts.

What greeted her was…

*Wow.*

Her Ancient Middle Ages kingdom wasn't literally on fire, but it was close.

 

*>Prosperity: 16%*

 

*What the heck is going on here?*

The only goal of this game was to keep the citizens' happiness level above 50% for as long as possible. The fact it had gotten this bad was a testament to her neglect.

The silver lining was that it wasn't a policy issue, but rather that they were getting invaded...

Naturally, as a battle junkie, commanding troops was favorable to implementing policy. With a couple of quick strategy adjustments and some tactics advice for the commanders, she exited the simulation.

The virtual kingdom wasn't important in the long run, but it was important for her parents to feel like their daughter wasn't a complete dunce.

 

*>Destination: "Synysssss!!!˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗" (10:39) (1,281 km) (14 min)*

 

*Now what?*

There were still 14 minutes to kill.

*Eh, let's play some chess. Not my strong suit, but it's something to do.*

AR chess was like a combination of traditional online and over-the-board - the opponent's face and body language weren't in play, but the feelings of looking at a board and moving the pieces were. The board appeared in the space in front of her, and the smartwatch applied realistic haptic feedback upon touching the pieces.

After a few hyper-bullet games to stave off boredom, the pod slowed to a stop and the cabin depressurized with a hiss.

*Here's the moment we've been waiting for...*

When Jisha recalled the bubbly face and black-and-silver hair that’d suddenly appeared in the VR room, she couldn't help being reminded of the time they first met.

 

—

 

"Jin, what do you think of her?"

Nisha was rather concerned about their daughter's health. As parents, they'd somewhat wished for their child to be a prodigy at something, but they didn't realize the consequences of such a desire.

Child prodigies always had an uncanny fascination for a particular subject - a fascination that crossed well past obsession and into addiction. Only, this addiction was seen as "healthy" by the populace as they were addicted to something "worthwhile".

At age 6, Jin and Nisha realized their daughter's obsession with visual arts was beyond saving.

This mental problem also gave way to physical ones. Jisha preferred tactile art tools such as pen and pencil, and her excessive practice was starting to cause bone deformity in her hands and wrists. Another problem was the nature of her sedentary lifestyle. It was impossible to get her to exercise...

This also caused her social skills to fall behind since most kids her age were busy with physical and social clubs and activities. No matter how much they tried to get her to socialize, Jisha wouldn't speak to any kids at these events.

"Should we activate *her*?" Jin asked.

Though every country had one, not all of them were active. The artificial super-intelligent, or ASI, bots from the Mirage Age (a/n - "Truth Casualty Age" renamed to "Mirage Age") were highly taboo, and as per the Oasis Treaty, turning them on or off would alert all world powers.

"No, it's not that dire," Nisha replied, rolling her eyes.

As much as she loved her daughter, even Nisha understood activating Eia was overkill. The ASI agents were prohibited from any major international actions and were only used in extreme cases. There were other ways to solve this problem.

"Jisha, let's go see the doctor."

At her age, she was still supervised by palace staff and her parents. Despite being right next to her parents, she did not respond to her mother's order. Rather, she continued to draw on pen-and-paper with both hands.

"Jisha..."

Nisha forcefully removed her daughter from the workstation.

"Mnnnnnnmmffffffffffff-"

The young Jisha made some strange noises in complaint, but Nisha comforted her as best as she could.

"Shh... Shh... It's alright."

"I'm not sick!"

"No, you're not sick. Daddy is just worried about you. We're just checking, okay?" Jin said.

"Checking? I'm not sick!!!!!"

Jisha struggled to break free of her mother's arms, but a weak child had no chance matching a military-trained adult.

Eventually, she fell asleep.

"*Sigh*, she was up all night again, wasn't she?"

"Why does she keep doing that to herself?" Jin said, shaking his head. "Staffer, clear our schedules for today."

The robot secretary immediately applied the changes to the calendar over Etherless, and the two headed outside on their family's communal pod.

Jisha's only memory of this particular event was the sheer distress of being pulled out of her own world.

 

—

 

"Swirly swirly swirly swirly..."

The young Jisha continued throwing colors at AR canvases during the pod trip, and it didn't stop once they reached the doctor's office.

This clinic was reserved for upper-class citizens and royalty only.

Jeanne Mereot was the only doctor in this clinic, and usually people only visited her if there was a severe problem. Medicines beyond the Mirage Age solved most previously difficult problems effortlessly. Usually, the cases she dealt with were mental disorders or severe physical injury. Due to the nature of her clientele and severity of abnormalities she treated, she only received one or two visits a day. However, today, two royal families arrived one after another.

Szycza Cytem was the first to arrive with her daughter. Shortly after, Jin and Nisha Slyker entered the office with theirs.

Everyone knew Dr. Mereot's clinic was first-come-first-serve no matter the class, so Jin and Nisha could only wait impatiently.

Meanwhile, Jisha had found another virtual canvas in the waiting room.

After half an hour, Cytem's visit was done.

Szycza's daughter, who was as impatient as ever, begged to visit the other kid her age. As Szycza could stay and chat with Nisha for a bit, she agreed.

 

—

 

"Splat splat splat splat..."

"BOO!"

"AAAAAAAAAH!"

Jisha had been so absorbed in her work that this scare was world-shattering. She promptly stumbled backwards and fell on her behind.

Who the heck was this person? Why had she come to ruin her day? Just to make her feel sad and mad?

"Wwwwww- *sniff*-"

"Wha-? Wawawawawa don't cry!!!"

The other girl tried to cheer her up, but it was too late.

Jisha burst into tears.

"Eh? Eh? What- It's okay! Don't cry, see! Watch this!"

The girl with black and silver hair spun around and splattered more colors on the wall.

Confusion briefly swept away Jisha’s sadness.

What were these new colors on the wall? Did they have meaning?

After one look, the answer was obvious. No! In fact, her masterpiece was ruined!

"WAAAAAAAAA-"

"N-n-no, wait, it's okay! We can fix it!"

The black-and-silver-haired girl fumbled around on the screen trying to find something that could remedy the problem. Maybe there was an eraser nearby? An undo button? Unfortunately, Jisha's second wave of tears prevented the girl from thinking straight. The only thing she accomplished was adding more splattered colors to the screen.

"Wait!" Jisha blurted as she suddenly stopped crying.

Silence fell upon the two as they both stared at this "art". The girl bit her lower lip and fidgeted anxiously.

"I... I didn't mean to... I... Um..." she stuttered, scratching the back of her head awkwardly.

Jisha stared at her, and then back at the screen.

Then, she stared at the girl again.

Then back at the screen.

Then-

"Okay," the girl interjected, "what are you doing?"

Jisha stared at the girl's silver hair with wide eyes.

"..."

"..."

...

"You're so smart!" Jisha shouted.

"Huh?"

"Look at that! The splat hit the swirly eats the poofy throwing the stringy!"

"???????????????"

"How did you know that? Huh? Huh?"

A starry-eyed Jisha closed in on the black-and-silver-haired girl.

Now, it was *her* turn to be overwhelmed! What did she even do?

More importantly...

"Eep, what's wrong with your hands?"

As Jisha nearly jumped to give her a hug, the girl noticed Jisha's fingers and wrists were set at slightly odd angles.

"Did you get sick? Did you break your hands?"

Obviously, since the two were at a doctor's clinic, there had to be *some* reason they were there. Perhaps this was it for Jisha?

"Sick???? I'm not sick!!!!!" Jisha shouted, offended.

"Your hands are broken, though. Look at my hands," the girl said, showing off her smooth arms and hands.

"What! Nuh-uh! You're not body sick? Why are you at Doctor's, then? Are you head sick????"

"Head sick????"

Now, it was the girl's turn to be offended.

"Yep, Father said you can be head sick or body sick," Jisha said, crossing her arms with a "hmph".

A singular tear dropped from the silver-haired girl's eye.

... And it was Jisha's turn to be flustered.

The girl in front of her cried silently, and with her lack of social skills, she could only blubber around like a fool.

Jisha comforted her the only way she knew how - with a big hug.

The girl took umbrage not because Jisha's comments were unfounded, but rather that they hit too close to home. She *had* come to Dr. Mereot's office for a mental illness diagnosis and treatment.

Words of her mother berating her invaded her mind, until...

"Sorry, old lady..."

"What?"

This comment was so out of the blue that all the girl's intrusive thoughts vanished at once.

"You have white hair. You're a grandma?"

"I'm not a grandma! I'm six!"

"..."

"..."

"Then I'm a grandma too?" Jisha asked.

"NO!"

...

Before long, the two girls were chatting with each other nonstop. It was something Jisha had never experienced before - friendship with someone the same age.

Her *first* friend.

The two eventually realized they didn't even know each other's names.

"My name is Jisha."

"Oh, that's pretty. What does it mean?"

"Mean?" Jisha tilted her head, confused. "It means me. I am Jisha."

"Well my name is Syny."

"Syny? That's a name?"

"Of course," Syny proudly said. "It means 'Unity' in Frost 6, don't you know? It *is* a big word."

"What's a Frost 6?"

"Well you see, 'unity' means- Wait, huh?"

As someone who was well-versed in languages from a young age, the thought that someone didn't even know the name of a language was a completely alien concept.

Syny spent the rest of their time together trying to explain the concept of languages to a Jisha whose ears were emitting smoke.

 

—

 

*Unity...*

Syny had called her name pretty, but to her, "unity" had a far more significant meaning.

The end of unity signaled the end of many, many things.

The end of meaningful friendships and alliances. The end of progress with the inability to collaborate. The end of family.

And the end of her first life.

This time, she would do everything to preserve that unity!