"By now, it's no secret that when a Phaser joins the fray the conflict can only end one way. At least, that's how it appears to the others. They've no idea how narrow the margin is, and how much it is shrinking by the day. How nice it must be to be naive like them." Lian thinks to herself, cutting down another foe as another takes its place. "Just last week we were pushed to the breaking point, but they can only see the future we've created. They don't know how we struggled with the attacks they never had the chance to use." a second voice hums across her skin. "Who knows when our last light will smolder out. The companies seem to recognize our potential and their determination to 'recruit' us only becomes more passionate the more we resist… I'd like to see just how passionate this can get." His thoughts vibrate through me, turning my face pink. It's not just words I feel, but the image of exactly what he means. There can be no misinterpretation between us, and he means to tease me.

"Unlike you, Mr. Rixi, I don't revel in the situation we've found ourselves in this time." I try to protest and wrest back my thoughts from this devil I know far too well. He knows I don't mean it though. The sound of my sword reverberates as it collides against a metal body. Damn, not a weak spot here either. They're quick at improving these models. "I know you want the challenge, but couldn't we have found a different hobby?" I shout at him in my mind, and even before the reply comes I can feel it building.

Fine, I admit my defeat. I know his reasons better than anyone. How could I not? His thirst for the thrill has been carved into my bones, and that part of me is the reason simply running away as the other Phasers have isn't an option for us. We need this. I need this. I anticipate his next thought, and time slows to a stop just to hear it with me. "I'm just addicted to you, is that so bad?" The way the thought pierces me deeper than my blade cuts into the hull of the beast before me. As sparks fly from my blade, so too do these butterflies. "The. Absolute. Worst." I try to think back… but I'm sure what he heard was "I. Love. You." – I couldn't hide if I wanted, we've done this dance a hundred times and it never gets old. We could never feel closer than when we're in peril. It's just how our abilities work. This danger is our candle lit dinner, the rose petal trail to a private room, a get away meant only for us two.

A hulk-like figure rises from the ground and fires those annoying missiles above us again. They've caught on to how our powers work after raiding GenTech's facility. Why they still had documents on us, I'll never know. I thought Origin and Coda erased everything when GenTech was brought to its knees. Long story short, they've started using time bombs to distort the surroundings. They've only sent mechanical beasts after us lately as those things can ignore the time dilation of the time bombs with only a little rust to show for it. They don't honestly have much effect on us either, as we're immune to the rapid aging effects they have on others. Turns out, our temporal durability is unmatched. They're still annoying because they prevent us from using slips in the area until they wear off and they have such a wide area of impact it's just impossible to avoid. 

"They brought the WMDs again. Imagine how frustrated they must be using their sure-kill population evaporating missiles just to nerf us." I chuckle to myself as the sky lights up blue as the shockwaves spread out toward us. Rixi says it feels unfair. "Are you gonna go pout again? You were so cute last time." I ask, trying to tease him. "Absolutely! I'm just trying to get some time with my girl, and they have the nerve to serve it shaken, not stirred!" Time around us begins to slow as I look into his eyes. A sight I've long burned into my heart, but I just want to keep drinking it in. It feels different when we're slipping, like I'm in a place no one but he can touch. Yet, when the wake of the bombs arrive, even our bubble is washed away by the waves rippling past us. Our slip abilities were never important. I can still feel him right here with me, through my whole being, in my thoughts and on my heart. Right where we want to be.

As the hulking figure in the distance collapses and rots away rapidly, the beasts shake from the dilation effects thrust on them by the bombs. They're experiencing thousands of years of aging in a single moment. They must be truly well built to survive it, and yet… It always takes them time to recover, but not us. This is the sacrifice the enemy has prepared for us, a dinner they're serving for our special evening together. In the next few moments beasts fall one by one at the rhythm of our heart. He holds me tightly as we dance in the center of the ballroom as they all watch with envy. Our every breath, with whispered banter, and our flawless choreography has them falling apart. Even if we do this for ourselves, our enemies should know what it means to come for us. The others went into hiding, hunting opportunities to shake this world to its core from the shadows. Until that happens, this is our fight. This is our home. This is where we set the stage and make an example of any who would dare chase our kin.

The sound of a circuit overloading takes my thoughts away from the fantasy in my mind. What was a marvelous evening ball fades into a wasteland littered with writhing machines… But what doesn't fade is my partner. Offering a hand for another dance.

And that was the last time I saw him.

Maybe it was one too many time bombs, maybe it was something experimental our foes had prepared, maybe it was us. Something tore a crack in reality so violently that the world ripped in two. My world, at least. A rift formed faster than either of us could react, he was pulled through. I could feel what he felt, my only solace is knowing that he is not lost forever. If he were gone, I would be too. I looked out over the wasteland, now alone. And yet… I couldn't be sad. I couldn't panic. I could only feel a wave of calm wash over me. Damn.

For as long as I am here, it means he is safe. I know this. I know he'll come back to me if he can. He knows I'll find him if he doesn't. – and as if on cue, I could feel him again "You're damn right. I'd never leave you alone, even if I had to fight the gods themselves." In spite of the time bombs effect, the world around me began to warp as time came to a crawl. A blessing with this curse. Where he is now, the bombs had no effect. And his time is my time. No space could come between us, even if he is lost in another world. We need only stay at the edge to find each other there. A place only he can touch. A place no one can take away.

The sound of scraping metal and engine roars bellowed from a distance. "Love, it seems our date isn't over yet." She said to the empty wasteland, but knew she was heard. Now alone, she fought fiercer than ever before and nothing they tried could prevent her from slipping. Their only hope extinguished. Fighting for her life was no longer one of the ways she could connect with her other half, but the only way she could. And she would. If the companies knew what they had set in motion, they would never have tried to separate them. Now it didn't matter if they came for her, she would come for them so she could be with the one she loved. So too, the other world would know no peace after today. And what more, Lian found how truly linked she and Rixi must be when she awoke with powers completely foreign to her world.