Greyla managed to slip inside and lock her unit before encountering any hostiles along the way. She had just climbed back into bed when she felt it. The presence in her room was warm and familiar, but dissonant at the same time. Then she saw something. A sleek black leopard lay very still upon a ledge over the doorway to her garden.

Nova again. The big cat’s presence startled her. He didn't belong in her room. He belonged to Tajlon. Was this the real Nova or another mutant copy? The leopard had never been apart from Tajlon. Now they were separated, he would no doubt feel lost and perhaps look for a familiar person. That still didn't explain how he got into her personal unit unless the lock wasn't working properly.

Only moments after she spied the leopard, the room went completely dark. Her perception of the room disappeared in dark shadows. Struggling to gain control, Greyla managed to ignite a small spark in the fireplace by sheer force of will. The wood grudgingly began to glow, and the spark became a flame. The weak firelight flickered off the floor and nearby walls, but her bed was still shrouded in darkness.

She heard a loud thump from the direction of the garden door and her mind froze with fear. She felt something jump on the corner of her bed. It landed softly. Too small for a big leopard. The creature came toward her in short, halting steps. It hesitated and stopped, making a soft purring sound.

She could just make out the silhouette of a cat before the faint glow of the fireplace. The feline shadow was so dark that it seemed to absorb all the light into itself. The animal's weight shifted and it edged closer to her body. It came close enough that she could feel its soft breath on her fingers.

Staring back at her in the darkness were two golden orbs. The eyes glowed brighter and she could see the slits of the pupils. A wave of seduction poured through her consciousness, exuded by the creature, tempting her to pet it. She resisted. The cat reached out a furry paw and touched her lightly on one hand. It felt at once both warm with passion, yet icy with intent.

She gasped and withdrew her hand. The creature began to grow larger and heavier. A new fierceness pervaded her senses and an overpowering lust. It was as if she could not resist. Its power over her grew stronger as her emotions intensified, feeding on her fears.

Fear was an emotion Greyla hadn't felt in a very long time since uploading with the others. They had left Beldora to escape the impending nuclear war. Fear was a very human problem which she was happy to have left behind. In the safe virtual world, there was no real danger or fear.

Heart pounding, she watched as the cat grew even larger until it reached the size of an adult leopard. The massive feline pounced upon her, trapping her between two strong paws. She reached deep within her mind for a way out. Greyla tried to control the situation and focused on the fact that she liked cats and tried to recall any good memory she had. She forced herself to reach out with her right hand.

“We’re old friends, Nova. You remember me.”

The cat began to purr again, loudly at first, like a contented growl, then more softly, as its body shrank back in size until it was small once again. Now would likely be her only chance before the cat overpowered her again. This was not the Nova she knew on Beldora. Whatever demon was possessing him, she was no match for it.

In desperation she decided to detach her persona from her virtual body. She severed it, taking as much of herself as she dared, leaving the physical program behind. One by one she severed the bonds of mind to body, leaving behind a behavior sequence in its place. Using images created from her childhood memories of petting a favorite kitty, she created a memory loop to repeat over and again. It might distract the leopard long enough for her to escape.

Greyla left behind her identity signature to appear as though she was still in the bed. How much of her mind would be lost in such haste, she could only guess. The last links were breaking free,

She didn't know how to move, but simply willed herself from the bed and slid down to the cold, stone floor. Moving blind, with only a memory map, she continued across the floor, hoping to avoid notice. Her rational faculties seemed reasonably intact.

Thankfully the cat was focusing on her body, lying on the bed. She flowed across the floor like a stream of water, moving until she came to what must be a wall. Pushing into a far corner of the room she fused her mind with the stone, careful to break any last threads of program that might connect to her physical form.

Before she could erase her memory trail from the bed, the cat began growing again, pulsating up and down in size as though caught in a struggle between pet and predator.

In the last moments, before Greyla managed to break the final threads connecting her mind with her body, the full-grown leopard lunged toward her throat with a murderous growl. Hiding in the corner of the room, her persona had escaped its notice, but her body was being devoured.

What strange twist of fate had brought her to this point she could not imagine. Greyla mourned her own death for a while and re-experienced the terror of that moment many times, afraid she would never be able to regenerate her physical form.

Lodged in a virtual stone wall in a computer program, devoid of a human form and without senses, her separate existence became only a faint memory in a never-ending night. She tried to recall her own name, but she had left it behind with her body. There were gaping holes everywhere in her memory. I must have a name, or I shall lose myself entirely she thought.

Searching fragmented files for a name, something she had read in story perhaps, she seized upon the first she came to before it slipped away. The name was a solace to her shattered self. It felt primal and sacrosanct to say it, to think about it. The name pulsed through her mind and embraced her in the darkness.

Etaine. She clung to her new identity.

"I am Etaine."