Elinsys woke up in her bed, her head ringing out with pain, the bright light scorching her eyes and making her turn over onto her stomach. Her stomach was knifing in pain, but lessened slightly with her body's weight on it. After a few minutes she started to feel better, that is until she heard that damned chime of the intercom. “Good morning everyone, I hope you are doing well after that fray yesterday. I wish to update you all on the current state of the Frontier. While it did take a few blows from the pirate vessel, no damage was done that our engineers couldn’t fix and can’t bump out. I would like you to treat our new guests with all the respect they deserve. I am aware that tension is high, but we must keep our dignity and not fall to their level. So from now on, all except the few permitted personnel are banned from entering the brig. This includes cleaning and upkeep services, if a need arises, you will be escorted. Thank you all, and have a pleasant day.” Another chime signaled the end of the transmission. “Fray? Guests? What are you going on about, Melora?” Elinsys asked herself, while trying to get out of the bed. She almost tripped on her clothing which littered the floor, but there also was a shirt which wasn’t hers. “Oh, that is not mine.” She said out loud, as if asking the air around her for an answer. What shocked her was that it actually answered back. “Yeah, it’s mine, silly. Could you split them off into mine and yours, Eli? Thanks.” The woman sounded familiar, too familiar to Elinsys. Her cheerful voice, her teasing nature, the… “Nilni?” Elinsys turned around, slowly looking at the naked woman next to her. The woman turned around and revealed herself to be Nilni. “Yes, Eli?” She put her head onto her hands and smiled at Elinsys. It was a devilish smile, yes it was. “I am sure Melora will forgive you if you take a bit longer today, why not sleep in a bit?” She let her tongue touch her lips. Elinsys looked at her for a second, then turned away and looked around. She was in her room, but it was different, the fake paintings on the walls were not to her taste. She used to pick pictures showing nature landscapes, but now they were much more sexual. The whole room was in chaos, with items thrown about haphazardly, unlike her usual meticulousness. There was food on her table, days old and cold to the touch. She looked up and saw a bar hanging from the ceiling. “When was that installed?” Nilni looked up at the bar and laughed. “Like five days ago? Maybe it was four. I was quite surprised, so was Rixva when you requested it, and the other items.” She gestured around the room. Elinsys looked around, she couldn’t believe this was her room. It was cold and dark, Nilni was covering herself with the blankets to ward off the chill. Elinsys just noticed it now, goosebumps dotting her exposed flesh. “Come on, back under the covers, it is freezing in here. The AC must be broken, huh?” Nilni patted at the spot on the bed next to her. The bed was made for one person, not two, so they would have to... Elinsys then realized she was naked too, and quickly tried to cover herself up. She picked her clothes up and entered the bathroom, it was also redecorated. Quite terribly, she might add.. By the Empress it was dark and somehow even colder. She looked in the mirror cabinet for her pills, there were none there, with only one small note. “Get more from that ass of a doctor when we get back.” She closed the cabinet in disbelief, she only took a few yesterday… “Am I hallucinating, dreaming, a nightmare?” She asked herself, but then she saw her reflection. Elinsys looked almost nothing like Elinsys, her hair was longer and let loose. She usually kept it tied so she could easily suit up in case of an emergency. Like this, it would probably end up in her mouth at the first sign of action. She put her hand onto the mirror to give herself support, she felt sick and like she was about to collapse onto the cold floor… except now there was a black carpet on the floor. Her attention returned to her hand; black painted nails which were much longer than yesterday. Was it yesterday when she took the pills? “What day is it?” She screamed. “Uh, I think it's... ” Nilni responded, now standing at the bathroom door wearing underwear and a tank top. “I honestly lost track of days.” Elinsys looked at her, she felt sick looking at her, something was making her eyes twitch and the hairs on the back of her neck rise. “When were you released?” Elinsys asked coldly, reality crashing down around her. “I thought you would… forget that. Oh well, you can’t blame me for trying. I did give it my all. adly, my all is not enough for you.” Nilni sighed before looking towards Elinsys, her golden eyes now a dark green. “Do not call me lazy, creating a reality perfect, just for you was so much harder than usual. Usually I just pull one's childhood and let nostalgia do the rest, the first truly passionate love and what could have been if you remained as such.” Nilni was drinking tea now. “Oh, do come on, we have much to hash out over tea.” Nilni walked away from the door, Elinsys slowly following her into what was now no longer her bedroom, but a parlour. A very fancy, old fashioned parlour. Nilni sat down in a most regal chair, a chair one could almost mistake for a throne. Opposite it sat a smaller chair, a sofa actually, much more comfortable than the would-be throne, but looking shabby next to the throne's opulence. As if Nilni was making fun of her. “Before I sit down and we have this little chat, who are you?” Elinsys leaned on the sofa, waiting for Not-Nilni to answer her question. “I propose a bargain, a truth for a truth, a lie for a lie. Let me offer the first truth as a show of good will. I am… the translation is rather perplexing, I must say myself. How does one translate it to a name, how does one translate a meaning into a word, a title?” Elinsys gazed at the Not-Nilni with fire in her eyes. A title for a name? What was this pretentious brat? Elinsys felt a shiver up her spine, but she decided to ignore her natural instinct to run. She would fight if she had to, anything to spite this… thing. “You are stalling, answer me right now or...” Elinsys smashed the tea cup onto the sofa arm and raised the piece of the broken cup towards Not-Nilni. The Not-Nilni looked at Elinsys, before smiling. “Dear, that won’t do anything. This is a dream. Now I could always turn it into a nightmare. We would prefer not to do that, wouldn’t we?” She started to laugh to herself slightly. Elinsys put the broken shard to her neck. The Not-Nilni froze in place, not the motionlessness of a living person, but the absolute stillness of the dead. “That won’t kill you, dear. You can’t die in a dream... maybe of a heart attack, but you can’t cause that by yourself. Only I can.” “This will wake me up, or someone else will find me. I am an officer of the Shil’vati Imperium and I have so many duties to do on this ship. At some point someone, most likely Melora herself, will come to my room and shake me awake.” Elinsys drank tea from her cup, which had now reformed itself in her hands. “That is a nice trick. Lucid dreaming is so interesting, isn’t it?” Elinsys smiled with such smugness, before chuckling quietly to herself, just enough for the Not-Nilni to hear her. Then she had another sip of her tea, it was a bit too sour now, the thing before her must have changed it as a way to slight Elinsys. Pathetic. The Not-Nilni was now frowning, almost like an angry child who had had her toy taken away. “I am the The All Consuming Word, my words are law, my will shapes futures and my...” She was interrupted by Elinsys slurping her tea quite loudly. “I am sorry, you said something? I think Wordy is such a fitting name. You are rather tedious with your villain monologues. Has anybody ever told you that? I am sure one of your ‘darlings’ has.” Elinsys felt her brow twitch. Her fist was clenched tightly. Only the sheer lust to punch this impostor ran through her mind. Now deeper down she was trembling, everything here made her want to scream, her mind was barely able to focus. Luckily, rage is an excellent way to sharpen the mind. The Not-Nilni sighed. “I do not have a name like you… dear. I received my title for my great deeds, which will live on in history for...” She raised her arms towards the many, many famous Shil’vati paintings which now appeared around them. “There you go again, shouting and screaming. Constantly. Maybe Screamy is a good nickname, you clearly like nicknames.” Elinsys took another sip, it would appear her cup was a bottomless source of tea, just as the Not-Nalini's throat is an infinite source of words. “You may call me The All Consuming Word, it really rolls off the tongue, if you ask me.” The Not-Nilni raised her shoulders a bit, and gave Elinsys a cocky smile. “Nah, I’m calling you Bitch-face. Take it or leave it.” Elinsys put her tea cup down and looked for an exit. “You want a bargain, but you won’t even let me know your name. You know my name, my face, my history. Tell me yours and we can continue, otherwise...” Elinsys was the one with a cocky smile now. “Fine, fine.” The Not-Nilni sounded defeated. “Call me Jrafell. Yes, I find that name suitable.” Jrafell was touching her chin and smiling. Elinsys sighed. “I am not calling you after the goddess of joy. You have brought me nothing but agony.” Elinsys was tired of this dance. Jrafell put her hands up and tried to calm Elinsys down. “Fine, fine. Touchy subject. How about… Lefaria, Lefar, Leferia?” She continued to list names, seemingly forever, until she stopped. “Elinsys... are you listening to me?” She asked, now no longer in her chair, but inches away from Elinsys herself. “You should pick it, I do not care much.” She laid down on the sofa. “You were the one complaining about your name?” Elinsys asked, looking at the woman on the sofa. She was taking up all of it. “No, I wasn’t.” Was all she said, now grabbing a cup of tea next to her. “Yes you did!” Elinsys pointed at her accusatively. “No. I did not.” She started to slurp her tea loudly. “Yes you… what are you trying to pull with this?” “With what?” Leferia asked, now putting on some clothes. Elinsys was still weirded out by her looking like Nilni, but slowly she got used to it. “Why are you pretending to dress up?” Elinsys looked the woman up and down and her brow curled. “Is that my uniform?” Leferia was indeed putting on Elinsys’ uniform, when she was done, she turned around. She did not look like Nilni anymore, but Elinsys. “Yes it is, we have to get ready for our job, you lazyass.” She poked Elinsys in the face, earning herself a quick slap on the hand. Elinsys dropped her tea, Leferia looked exactly as she did, except the hair, which still looked like Nilni’s. It looked good on her. Leferia noticed her staring and pulled her hair back, it changed to fit more with Elinsys’ style, but different in the details. Longer and not braided, more dirty somehow. “That's better. I think looking like my host gives me more insight into their lives. Who they are, what they do...” “Please don’t do that, it creeps me out.” Leferia looked at Elinsys for a while, then decided to oblige her. “As you wish.” She walked over to the big screen on the wall, which had just materialized, and turned it on. “While I change into something more comfortable, you enjoy the morning routine.” She opened a black wood door which had risen before her. “And do try not to scream.” Leferia smiled and then closed the door. Elinsys sat down on her sofa and looked at the screen. It was her bathroom mirror. She was looking at herself, moving around, preparing for the day before her. “What, by the Sea of Souls!?!” Elinsys on the screen smiled. “You see, after that stunt with the pills you pulled, I took partial control over us. You dealt with that evidence yesterday when you deleted the camera footage.” Leferia’s voice told her this, coming from behind the black door. Elinsys wanted to say something, but her throat hurt. “Now, I do have to thank you for that. I did get carried away a little bit, just a tiny bit, an itty bitty bit. It had been so long since I had a body of my own. I do think we are even, though. I deleted that log about you wanting to rat out Mel to Henera, she would be so mad.” She chuckled to herself. “Maybe I should have left it alone?” Leferia returned to the room, looking more like herself, if that was her true appearance. Leferia had decided to keep certain features of a Shil’vati. The general shape of the body was the same, with certain notable exceptions. Gone were the two tusks Elinsys had, as was the purple colour of the skin, now some shade of black, as if she was made out of the void around them. The golden eyes were turned green and there was an extra pair above the usual ones. Her hair was darkened with what appeared to be tiny white dots through it, almost like gazing upon a night sky. Her nails were long, almost claw-like, but the most worrying feature was the pair of wings on her back, which Leferia was now using as a sort of blanket? A cocoon might describe it better, to hide herself. The wings were not feathered, but rather made out of skin. They, too, were covered in tiny dots all across them, but also somehow… more. If Leferia’s hair was a night sky, her wings were more of what a galaxy might look like, colourful and soft to the touch. “Your body?” Elinsys wanted to laugh, but Leferia was not joking. “It’s my fucking body and you can’t have it.” The Elinsys on the screen frowned, just as the real one did. “I never said ‘mine.’ It is our body now, comrade. I wish to take good care of it, for both of us.” Leferia created two eyeglasses, one for each of her two pairs of eyes. Then she pulled out a list behind her wings. “If I may...” She took a long breath. “Falling off a roof, resolution being a broken leg. Joining the military, this encompases all the attendent scruffs, bruises and pulled muscles that comes with this vocation as standard. Then the invasion of Earth, shattered legs, months in the hospital, PTSD is included, of course. Rebellion, shot, stabbed, broken bones, falls, bad back, food poisoning, normal poisoning, alcohol abuse, shrapnel...” She put the list down. “And so on and so forth.” Leferia took off her two eyeglasses. “We must take better care of our body.” “My body.” Elinsys repeated herself, her blood boiling. “Is that really all you got from my list? Maybe I should add hearing loss.” Leferia looked her list up and down again. “Oh, wait, here it is.” Elinsys jumped at her, trying to strangle her. Leferia kept Elinsys back with her wings. “Short temper? Yes... possibly from survivors' guilt? Or your failures during the rebellion? Having to kill your own kind?” Elinsys pushed by the wings and reached Leferia’s throat, she grabbed her and pressed as hard as she could. “What are you doing? Are you… trying to kill me?” Leferia chuckled, an expression of amusement on her face rather than of someone being actively murdered. “Yes, perhaps you need your eyeglasses.” Elinsys pressed harder around Leferia’s neck, trying to extinguish Leferia’s existence. “Darling, I must say, you have a great grip! Now I like this, it is like a massage to me, but perhaps… you should stop?” Leferia looked at Elinsys and then nodded at the screen. Elinsys glanced at the screen, too. In the real world, she was on the floor grasping for her neck, choking to death, slowly, very slowly. Leferia smiled when Elinsys looked back at her, very distraught. “If you were to kill me, you would die too. We are one entity now, together forever, like a marriage of a sort. Nowadays marriage is a bit more removable, but this is more like… before lasers.” She continued to smile, Elinsys relented and let Leferia’s throat go. Leferia didn’t take a deep breath... or any, for that matter. Her chest was not moving. “Fuck you. Like seriously, fuck you.” Elinsys turned back at the screen, she got back up, touching her throat in symmetry just as Leferia did. Elinsys sat down next to Leferia on the sofa. “So, what do we do now?” Leferia looked extremely happy to Elinsys. “Well, it is quite simple. We share control. As the passenger, I will be taking the backseat complaining while you drive. If you steer off course, or the ride gets too bumpy, I will take over. I would prefer not to, but sometimes it is necessary.” Leferia turned up the audio with a remote. Real Elinsys was now leaving her room and walking down towards her office. It felt weird to watch herself move around normally. Like she was not forced to share her body with… what was Leferia even? “Major, how are you today?” Elinsys was startled, then she looked at the screen. On it were Rixva and Gelln talking in the hallway. Gelln greeted her first, but Rixva soon after. “Cutie, twelve o’clock! May we go and speak to them?” Leferia had a devilish grin on her face. Real Elinsys made her way towards them. The conversation was nothing out of the ordinary, only now Elinsys truly noticed how boring it was. Having to listen to it, rather than to participate. She felt a slither of joy when Leferia finally moved on. “Don’t like the cutie much? Or just not the right type?” Leferia asked, meanwhile real life Elinsys was sitting in her office filling out reports. “Do you prefer short hair or long hair? Tall, short? Muscles? I’ve always liked muscles, so now we like them, too.” Elinsys puffed. “I will think about love when I get rid of you. Having someone… there while I am… it is just unnerving. And how am I supposed to enjoy it from inside of here? I can’t feel anything.” As Leferia looked at her, the real life Elinsys also stopped writing. “You won’t be here forever, I can’t keep this up.” She actually looked sad. Good at acting isn’t she? Leferia turned away. “Tomorrow, maybe even sooner, I won’t be the one in charge anymore. You will have full control. Me? I will be nothing but a small whisper in the back of your mind.” Elinsys didn’t trust a word out of her mouth. “Good, then I might be rid of you?” Leferia almost let out a tear. “Why do you despise me so? I have never hurt you or done you any evil.” Elinsys was repulsed. “How dare you!?! Your previous plaything almost killed Nilni and I, you started a riot and who knows how many souls died before that!” Leferia looked around, trying to escape Elinsys’ gaze. “Now, now… I have the right to defend myself! I didn’t want there to be a riot, especially not one that big. What do I gain by making myself an enemy of the largest Empire in the galaxy? Nothing! I gain absolutely nothing! It was that crazy noble captain to blame! I wished for us to work together, just like I want us to cooperate.” She intermingled her hands together. “I wanted to just reach civilization and see what has changed, not kill the crew and then start a riot. If I am discovered, I would be experimented upon. All I want is to survive, to live a long and free happy life.” She smiled at Elinsys, her eyes filled with hope. Elinsys’ eyes on the other hand, were filled with pure anger and hate towards this thing. “You drove her mad, that is why she killed her crew. That is why she started a riot, but you? You hunted me down in nightmares, attacked Nilni, and now she is stuck in the hospital!” Elinsys shouted, now standing over Leferia. Looking down at her Elinsys felt powerful, like she was in control again, if just for a second. “No! I have done no such thing. I did not wish my host to go mad. She was a psychopath and power hungry, a noble brat raised to think she is superior to other Shil’vati due to her bloodline. Raised to think she and every other Shil’vati is better than any other species. If anything, I slowed her rampage down, kept her megalomania back. She wanted to blow up the station! I had to make up a story about me requiring her to spread the dust to continue my 'path to greatness.’ When in truth I simply wanted to escape her evil grasp.” Leferia shielded herself behind her wings, trying to keep Elinsys at a distance. Elinsys looked at her, there was pity in her eyes. Leferia is trying to crack my shield. Turn me mad. Focus Elinsys, focus! “What is this dust?” Elinsys asked calmly, trying to dehumanize Leferia as much as possible in her mind. She was a parasite Elinsys had to remove, nothing more. Leferia looked at Elinsys, then began wringing her hands. At that moment, she really did remind Elinsys of a little girl, who had been caught doing something naughty. “Me. Well, my blood, you could say. Crystallized for easier transport. Rather dreadful if you ask me. Waste of majesty, I must say, to be snorted up like some drug you would buy in an alleyway. Now, I think that is enough questions for now.” “No, I have more.” Elinsys interrupted, she was getting her answers even if she had to tear them one by one out of Leferia. She was ready to rip and tear this brat apart. Leferia looked at her, then at the screen. “But it's almost lunch break time and I want some flesh.” She licked her lips with her tongue, which was longer than even one of a Shil’vati. Elinsys looked at the screen, she was now on her way to the mess. “How… what? It was morning a few seconds ago. How did you...?” Leferia laughed. “Autopilot, my dear. It is a beautiful thing, also I control what you see when I am in control. After the last time I took over, did you remember anything? No. Because I made sure you didn’t.” Elinsys paused. This revelation made her heart skip a beat, she must not let this thing control her any longer than required. “Does this go both ways?” “Yes.” Leferia was now eating some steak, meanwhile the real Elinsys was eating it, too. “This is good, really good.” She was shoving it down her throat, but Elinsys on the screen was acting right and proper. “This is my mind, yes?” Elinsys asked. Leferia stopped eating, meanwhile real Elinsys did not. “Oh, yes this is your mind. This is where I will reside during your time. If I feel like it, maybe I will walk around myself, but if you ever want to talk or just go on autopilot, I am right here.” Elinsys was not even considering that proposition, but she had another question. “The nightmares, are they finished?” Leferia took a moment to compose herself. “I will not damage your psyche any further, my goal is to have our body be in the tip-top condition it could possibly be, your mind included. During the night you can come here to escape them. I sadly can't stop those which I don’t cause. Now, I can create sweet dreams for you, but those are taxing on me and I don’t want to tire myself out. Things get rough when I use too much of my power.” Elinsys wanted to dig deeper, but Leferia looked rather tired. Elinsys turned back at the screen; they were walking down a hallway again. “Where are we going?” “Fera’s quarters, we have a gift for her.” Leferia was trimming her nails with a pair of scissors she had manifested. “Gift? What are you scheming, you...” Before Elinsys could finish her sentence, Fera opened the door. “Elinsys, this is a surprise! I didn’t expect to see you again after our last chat. Is something the matter?” Elinsys immediately turned to Leferia. “Don’t you dare.” Leferia looked up from her nails and smiled “I wouldn’t.” Elinsys turned back towards the screen, she was giving Fera something. Fera took the package. “A gift? Huh, come on in, if you want.” Real Elinsys entered the room. Meanwhile Leferia spoke up. “Getting this room right was so hard, I put in so many details.” Fera sat down and opened the box, only to pull out a bottle of… perfume? “Thank you, Major? I do not understand why...” “It should help with sleeping. It is easier to sleep when your room smells nice, or so I heard.” Leferia said to Fera by way of Elinsys’ body. “I used it to help me when I couldn’t take more pills. I suggest a very small dose for you though, being a Rakiri and all.” Fera sprayed the room with the liquid and sniffed at the air. “That is nice, thank you. Any other reason why you are here?” Elinsys turned to Leferia who was grinning from ear to ear at her. “Now, while I would love to say… something... I do not want this partnership to end so quickly.” Elinsys glared at her, but looked back at the screen. Once again they were walking down the hall. “Heading off to sleep?” “Sadly yes.” Leferia sighed. “Once again trapped in the dark. Come and visit?” She smiled a bit now. “Preferably no. Does it change who is in control everytime we go to sleep?” Elinsys asked, meanwhile in the real world she was getting ready for bed. “No, I wish it was so, but no. Unless you force my hand, I will not take over. Only when you wish to do so and for as long as you wish. I wish to create a symbiotic relationship, not a parasitic one.” Leferia blew a kiss towards Elinsys, one Elinsys did not reciprocate. “Good night, then. And do not make us go sleepwalking.” Elinsys headed through the door, closing it behind her. Before she fully left her mind, and what a weird feeling thinking that was. She considered that word parasitic. Did somehow Leferia read my mind? She is inside of it, but can she read my inner thoughts even here? After blinking, she was in her bed, the lights were off. Elinsys looked around, before whispering to herself. “You there?” From the back of her mind, she heard an answer. “Yes. Sleep well.” Before sleep took her, Elinsys realized that she was no longer terrified. Not of oncoming dreams, and, just maybe, not of Leferia.