(From this point onward, I'll put a + before Damon's mental conversations.)
"Hello, Damon..."
Damon opened his eyes to identify the owner of the feminine voice. A girl with black hair, an oval-shaped face, and gray eyes stood over him, staring at him with a smile.
Her hair cascaded like a waterfall over her shoulders, and she wore a long black dress. However, what seemed stranger and more incomprehensible than the unfamiliar girl was the environment around her.
Everything was completely dark and black, and the ground was soaking wet. Damon quickly got up from the ground with a splash of water and took a few steps away from the mysterious girl.
"Where am I? Who are you? Am I dead?"
The girl chuckled and replied:
"This is your mind-space. My name is Asharaa, and no, we are not dead, Damon..."
Still confused by the bizarre situation and the eerie environment, Damon muttered under his breath:
"We? Not dead?"
For several seconds, a cold wind began to blow fiercely. As the surroundings calmed again, a faint, distant voice echoed around them.
"H—ey, bo—y, are you alr—ight?"
The girl curiously glanced toward the direction of the sound.
"Seems like someone is calling us. You need to return your focus to our body..."
The way the girl spoke was truly strange to Damon, and he couldn't comprehend why she kept referring to both of them as we. And if this was his mind-space, what was she doing here?
Everything was bizarre—from the girl's behavior to the environment around them. And what even was a mind-space?
However, before Damon could respond to the girl's words, his vision blurred, dizziness washed over him, and then everything returned to its original state—dark and black, except for one difference. The strange girl was no longer there.
"I'm talking to you, boy! Are you okay? What happened to you?"
Damon felt someone gently shaking his body. Then, he realized the darkness was simply because his eyes were closed. He took a deep breath in relief.
A sharp pain throbbed at the back of his skull, radiating throughout his head. He opened his eyes and saw a middle-aged man kneeling beside him with a worried expression.
Damon tried to shake off his discomfort and get up from the ground. The man, noticing his intention, placed a hand under his shoulder and helped him up.
"Thank you, sir... Sorry for the trouble."
His head hurt badly, and even forming words felt like a struggle. However, judging by the man's clothing and the Levi-Car parked a little further away, he seemed to be a regular citizen. That was why Damon did his best to remain polite.
The man didn't reply immediately. Instead, he placed his left hand on Damon's head, narrowed his eyes slightly, and a green holographic orb formed above his holo-watch, spinning in the air.
He held his hand in place for a few seconds, then exhaled in relief and said:
"I'm not sure if you know how symbiots and 'Ka' energy work, but I know a thing or two about first aid. I just scanned your head, and aside from a simple bruise, you don't have any major internal injuries. You really got lucky, kid..."
Even though it was the first time Damon saw how symbiots and 'Ka' worked up close—no matter how basic—it no longer fascinated him.
Something that he could never use himself… What was so interesting about that? All it brought him was frustration and despair.
The man continued:
"It takes a special kind of foolishness for someone to try and erase the entire problem instead of solving it... Judging by your age, I'd guess you just got your compatibility results. But dying won't solve anything, kid."
Damon despised these meaningless lectures. Someone born as a temporary citizen, who became permanent after their compatibility was confirmed… Someone who had lived their entire life in comfort, freedom, and security—how could such a person ever understand him or judge his decisions?
These kinds of people only sought self-confidence by exploiting the lack of confidence in others.
However, at the very least, this stranger cared enough to stop his car and check on him. That was why Damon replied politely:
"I'm fine, sir. Thanks for your concern… I don't know what time it is, but I think it's getting late. I should head home. You should also get back to New Thebes quickly. Once it's dark, nothing is guaranteed in the Fringe. Thanks again. Take care."
Before the man could respond or say anything else, Damon walked away. The man hesitated for a moment, shook his head, then got into his Levi-Car and drove off.
Damon raised his hand to check the time on his holo-watch, but before he could—
++"It's 9:11 PM. Don't worry, we won't be late."
Damon froze in place.
So… that strange girl wasn't a hallucination?
Or had the man's scan been incomplete, and his brain was actually damaged?
+"I know this is weird for you, but don't worry. Our brain is perfectly fine. When we merged, that small damaged part of your brain was healed."
This time, Damon spoke aloud, startled:
"What do you mean… we merged?"
+"I mean, I'm your symbiote. My name is Asharaa."
Damon could almost see her smiling in his mind, which made everything even weirder.
He asked again, louder this time:
"But how? I thought my neural system couldn't be compatible with symbiots!"
+"That's true. Your neural system lacks the necessary endurance to handle the signals from those weak, outdated symbiots. But I'm different. I didn't connect to your neural system—I fused with it... I think you understand now why I use we, right? Also, please stop talking out loud. Just think your words, and I'll hear you."
Damon thought to himself: —Think my words?—
He tried focusing on the words he wanted to say. At first, it was a little difficult, but not so much that it required training.
+"You mean, because you fused with my nervous system, we share the same body, which makes us one person, right? I've never heard of a human and a symbiot having this kind of relationship before. I don't even think the word 'symbiot' applies anymore..."
++"Heh-heh-heh, I only used the word 'symbiot' to make it easier for you to understand. There's no proper term to explain our bond. As for real symbiots… I currently don't know much more about them than you do. At least, for now..."
+"What do you mean for now?"
++"Well, I got all my information from your memories and the internet through your holo-watch… But it seems like our connection is only linked to Fringe servers. That's why I can't find any good information..."
+"Wait, are you saying Fringe workers don't even have access to the galactic network? But..."
++"Yeah, it's weird… To learn more, I'd have to hack the main server, but our neural system is too weak for that right now. Let's focus on getting home first. We can think things through once we're there. What do you say?"
Damon thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and then a big grin spread across his face.
At last—one way or another—he had obtained his own symbiot.
There was still a way to chase his dreams.
From Fernandez Bridge to South Fringe, and more precisely, their home, was about a twenty-minute walk. Along the way, Damon asked Asharaa many questions and learned that it was the blood from the wound on his hand that had activated the obelisk-shaped Pendant. He realized Asharaa knew nothing about her creator, and nothing from before merging with Damon was recorded in her memories. Additionally, Asharaa's abilities were entirely dependent on Damon's mental and physical strength, meaning his weak body and neural system limited her capabilities.
Damon arrived home around 9:40 PM and was met by his worried mother.
"Where have you been? Do you know how many messages I've sent you? Your father and sister are out looking for you everywhere… Do you even realize how dangerous it is to stay out after dark in the Fringe? Do you want to come home one night missing a kidney?"
++"Your mom's really upset… hehe."
+"I don't even know how to respond to her… I need to convince her…or she will reap off my head"
++"Our head, already forgetting? Tell her you stayed in the city with your friends to celebrate your compatibility approval. As far as I know, you've told her much bigger lies before. It's practically the truth…or half-truth...hehe"
+"But my compatibility… oh… hehe."
His mother, growing more irritated by his silence, raised her voice.
"Damon Grey, are you ignoring me? Have you grown so big that you've decided to disregard your mother?"
Damon quickly took his mother's hands and smiled.
"No, Mom, don't be mad… I'm sorry, okay? I just stayed in New Thebes with the guys to celebrate my compatibility approval… That's all. I lost track of time just that."