I had been playing OneShot for months now. I had lost track of how many times I had guided Niko through that decaying world, but every puzzle that wasn't randomised was muscle memory by then. Of course I had taken breaks from the game every once in a while but that time locked door kept me coming back.



After another long night theorising on what would happen the next day on the Discord server, I booted the game back up. Oneshot had been updated recently after all. Through tired eyes I realised the sun was back and I had been up all night, but the date on my computer read March 20th and that gave me just enough energy to push through the game one more time.

With Maize's seed handled and the elevator button remade, more as ways to occupy myself until it was 10:28, I led Niko into the room and up the stairs towards the time locked door.

Tick Tock Tick Tock

The large nixie tubes displayed the last ten seconds before the door would unlock. But when the countdown reached zero a note appeared on the door.

"I need more time. Please bring Niko through to somewhere safe" The familiar clover of the Author in the lower right corner made me feel at ease.

"So we're going in here, _____?" Niko looked up and asked.

A simple yes/no prompt appeared. Of course I chose yes.

With that selected the door slid open and I led Niko inside. There wasn’t much within the mostly square room beyond a few blank sheets of paper and a couple of gears. I figured they weren’t of much importance since Niko wouldn’t comment on them. With most of the room checked out I noticed a long hallway going to the right of the room. I saw a note had been pasted to the wall along that hallway.

"I'm sorry that I don't know the extent of your powers. But please take Niko to the safest place you know. You may have to use your head." Again, another black clover was set into the lower right corner.

Niko looked decidedly worried after reading that note with me. "Is something really dangerous going on? I thought we were suppose to go to the tower and save the world, _____."

Instead of a regular prompt with choices, I was left with a slowly blinking line. Luckily tapping Z didn't send the message as it was.

"Something dangerous is going on. But the Author and I have a plan to keep you safe. We just need a little more time to make sure you'll be able to save this world and go home."

Niko closed their eyes. "I... I trust your judgement, _____."

With that said and done I led Niko towards the door on the far right, down the hall. I could swear I could hear the faintest bit of static as Niko was getting closer to the door. I narrowed my eyes slightly as I'd noticed the camera wasn't following Niko. Maybe I should've taken that as a clue that something odd was about to happen. Regardless the door opened easily enough.

"There's a wall in the way but I can see a lot of light." Niko looks back up as he says this.

Another blinking line.

"You just have to push through the wall. Please be careful "

Again Niko looked fairly pensive about what lay ahead of him. "Are you sure this is going to work?"

"I'm sure it'll work." I say this, though I feel uncertain. I grabbed a picture from the side of my desktop and slid it over so it's just under the door. I didn't want Niko falling after all.

With another confirmation, Niko walked out of the game screen. Luckily my earlier precaution wasn't needed, as Niko was able to walk along my desktop as if it was a floor.

"Wow, where am I?" Niko's eyes were wide as they wandered around my desktop.

"You're... somewhere that is somewhat safe. But not safe enough.” I look around my desktop and noticed a faint glow along the bottom edge of my screen, which slowly formed into a door. “Come on, I think I see some kinda door over here.”

"Ok."

Eventually I managed to lead NIko to the bottom of my screen, where a large door was sitting. Despite its size Niko was able to push it open easily enough.

"I think I can see a light!"

"Alright, go on through."

For the briefest moment I felt a sudden burst of static and a bright light. I tried to look through it as Niko faded from view.





"Aaaaaah!"

"What th-"

*thud*





The world slowly faded back into view. A couple of the empty bottles on my desk had been knocked to the floor. My headset was skewed and I thought one of the lights might have broken. I felt a heavy weight on my chest and my head hurt. There was a shared groan of pain. In a panic I wrapped my arms around the weight on my chest. It responded by embracing me in return. I didn’t know for sure who or what was on me, but I didn’t exactly feel like being unfriendly considering the circumstances.

It took a moment for my vision to fully return, but when it did and I looked down, a familiar cat-eared hat was staring me in the face. It’s owner currently resting on my chest. I guessed that Niko must’ve launched out of the screen head first and knocked me back. Luckily I didn’t fall out of my chair and I ended up being a good enough cushion that Niko didn’t just slide off of me.



"Take them somewhere safe, eh Author?" I mumbled under my breath as I adjusted Niko so he’d be sitting comfortably on my lap and not on my chest.

Niko groaned again and twisted himself around on my lap to be facing me, his head barely reaching the top of my chest while his soft coat pressed against me.. "W-what happened...? Who are you? Where am I?" While I tried to think up a good response I took in how Niko looked.



I was surprised at how small Niko was. But more than that, I didn’t expect the luminosity of his eyes to be so bright, even in comparison to my computer screen. His clothing was clearly handmade and the tips of his scarf were tickling my knees. Every stitch looked like it was made with care and skill. It was too bad his forehead was marred with that bruise. Other than the bump, Niko looked okay. He still had some moss from the Glen on his boots and his coat smelled a little noxious from the gas fields. I guess I was in a bit of a rush that last run.



"It's going to be ok, Niko. I’m _____. You're in my world." Before I let Niko reply, I softly kissed the growing bump on his forehead, while my own bump ached slightly. "Apparently he wanted to test our heads in a more literal manner."

I was rewarded for my joke by Niko scrambling up onto his feet and kissing the growing bruise on my forehead. It hurt a little less.

"Mama always kisses my bruises to make it feel better. Did it help you?"

I nodded. "Thank you Niko. Anyway, let's check how long you get to stay with me."

Niko nodded and settled back down onto my lap. It took me a moment to find my mouse, as it was dangling off the edge of my desk.



“So this is how you see the world?” Niko’s eyes go wide as they look at the game window.



“M-hm!” I let out a faint laugh while Niko lets his gaze wander to my keyboard.



"Sure is messy in here..." Niko idly brushed away a bit of dust from my keyboard.

"Eh heh... I guess I don't seem like much of a god now, do I?" I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.

Niko brought his sleeve covered hand to his face as he laughed. “It’s kind of comforting actually.”



“How so?”



“It makes you seem more normal.” He leaned against me as we finally got back to looking at the computer screen together.



Our eyes wandered down to the taskbar to see that the sunbulb was carefully tucked away into it. It was lacking its usual glow, but at least it was safe. My vision eventually rested on the same set of nixie tubes within the new room, which had just recently lit up to display a full 93 days.

"... Three months?"

I let the question hang in the air as Niko made himself comfortable on my lap. He was eerily quiet.

I gently patted Niko's shoulder. "It's going to be worth it, Niko. I promise. We'll be able to save the world and send you home this time."

"This time?" Niko tried to twist in my lap again, looking up at me with accusing eyes.

Shit. I said that without thinking.

"What do you mean by this time, _____? " His eyes narrow as I feel a bead of sweat drip down my back.

"W-what I meant to say is... I mean... " In a panic I reached out for the mouse, as I desperately tried to open DOCUMENT.oneshot.

Niko gently placed his sleeve covered hand against my right arm. "_____."

I went still. I knew I couldn’t keep everything secret from Niko. At least I knew I couldn’t keep dodging questions for a full ninety three days. I take a slow breath and began to explain. "... The first time we made it up into the tower, we were given a choice. Either save you by breaking the lightbulb or save the world by putting the lightbulb into its rightful place."

"What? But I thought if we made it to the top of the tower and put the sun into its rightful place I’d get to go home." Niko keeps eye contact with me as I continue.

"That’s not how it works. I was asked to pick between dooming you to be stranded in a world I thought was going to die anyway, or save you and doom that entire world.”

Niko gently tapped me. "W-what did you end up picking?"

"... the first time? I had you smash the lightbulb. That world wasn't mine and it certainly wasn't yours. I refused to strand you in a world I thought was going to die anyway."

"But..." Niko suddenly went quiet and leaned his back against my chest heavily.

"Then why am I here?" Niko asked very softly. "Why is the world still alive and why is the sun still whole?"

"Because Niko, I'm a god. Maybe not in this world, but in that one I am." I pointed at the game window as I kept speaking. "With the Author's help I was able to figure out a way to reset the world. It also brought you back into that world."

"What about the names on the paper and Rue?" Niko asked.

"Rue can remember every reset it seems. The paper I can't explain entirely. Maybe the method of resetting isn't perfect. After all you've remembered my name each reset from the first."

"But... why do you keep resetting everything?" Niko looked up to me with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Because I refuse to believe that those two choices are the only way things can go. There just has to be some way to save the world and get you home. The Author is helping me towards that goal."

I finally opened up DOCUMENT.oneshot. "See for yourself."

Niko stayed very still as he read the notepad slowly.

"So that's how you were able to find the code for the safe, even though I didn't see any codes?"

I nodded twice. "M-hm. Just like how I knew the solution to save Alula and how I was able to expose the weird film to the void to get the elevator code." I went silent for a few moments. "I'm not really a god when you see things from here. I had so much help. I just have abilities the Author didn't because I'm here. Completely outside of everything looking in."

Niko twisted around on my lap and wrapped his arms around me.

"I kept putting you through all of this, through each hard choice. Through each doubtful moment... I understand if you hate me."

I shivered slightly as Niko only responded with silence.

"Do you remember anything after the endings?" I finally broke the uneasy silence.

Niko slowly looked up into my eyes and shook his head. "N-no. I remember saving the world and everything going bright, or everything turning black and only a faint light in front of me, and my mama calling for me. But never anything passed that."

"... So either you end up stranded in the tower or you maybe go home. I can't accept either ending then."

Niko pressed his face against my chest silently.

"... But now a new door has opened. A new choice with so much hope and work poured into it. We're so close to saving everything and getting you home for real."

"But you sacrificed an entire world to send me home, originally."

"Y-yeah. I did that without even knowing if things could be reset. I told you my logic behind it but trust me, choosing that still tore me up inside.”



“I just... hoped you'd think it was all just a bad dream."

Niko held me tight and kept pressing his face against my chest.

"In the end I just wanted you to be safe."

I shut my eyes tightly as tears streamed down my face and my voice cracks during that last sentence. Each little droplet staining the fabric of Niko's hat. My body shivering as I try to suppress the coming sobs. I knew what I've done will be unforgivable, even if the world was going to be saved and Niko would be able to go home.

"I'm sorry." I said barely above a whisper.

The feeling of soft fabric moved across my face as Niko gently wiped away my tears.

"It's ok. I forgive you _____."

I considered denying it.

"T-thank you."

"Three months though." Niko kept comforting me as he spoke.

"Yeah."

"... Do you have pancakes?"

I nodded softly. "I even have hazelnut flour, so you can have a taste of home while you're stuck here."

Niko shook their head. "I'm not stuck here. I'm safe here, remember?"

I smiled through the last couple of tears.





~~~

~~~

~~~

A few hours later we were back at my computer desk. A huge stack of pancakes sat before us, while Niko would be sitting on my lap. Niko seemed comfortable there and I wasn’t about to deny him a comfy place to sit. Though I suppose I should’ve thought this was odd. In his hands he held a knife and fork at the ready. All the while I was holding an ice pack to the bruise on his forehead.

I never realised just how much Niko loved pancakes until I watched him down an entire overstacked plate in just under three minutes.

"Right, you didn't get to eat that whole last run..."

"Mphm?" Niko paused.

"You know, usually after we visit the library and meet George and get the glowing dice your stomach finally reminds you about eating and we rush off to the cafe."

Niko swallowed before replying. "Mmm... Right. I do remember that now. Every single time you brought me back to the cafe when I asked."

"The cruel thing is? I could've just led you into the tower without going to the cafe."

Niko takes the time to get up, turn around, sit back down while facing me, and then stared me down as if I had just said something horrible.

"But of course I never would've done that."

Niko smiled and then yawned. "Mmmaaah... Excuse me."

I glanced at my alarm clock. The digital display told me it was 5:20 pm.

I sat there for a long moment. What was I going to do? Should I give up my bed to Niko and sleep on the couch? Should I make him sleep on the couch?

He leaned against me heavily as a little belch escaped his lips.

I internally sighed. I really didn't want to sleep on the couch for three months. I also didn't want to put Niko through that.

"I can barely keep my eyes open. We should hit the hay."

Niko nodded to me and then just... popped his hat off. His cat ears flicking in the open air. It was only once Niko was having issues with his boots that I stepped in to help him. At first I considered it odd that he was so willing to just undress like that. But he did keep his pants on and he had a t-shirt under that coat.

"I don't know how you managed to sleep with all of this on."

"I'm just used to it."

Finally I decided to ask.

"So I only have one bed."

Niko was understandably concerned by my statement.

"Well I mean... I don't want you to have to sleep on the couch and I really don't wanna sleep on the couch either. Trust me, my back hurt when I had to sleep on it for a few days because of … video game reasons... So would you mind sharing that bed with me?"

Niko leaned against me. "... Alright. You're really warm anyway. Like that one robot with all those cats."



“You mean Kelvin?”



Niko nodded twice.



A couple of minutes later and having plugged my headset back in to charge, Niko and I were quietly cuddled up beside each other in bed.

"You know, I almost mistook you as a robot at first."

"Really?" I raised my brow.

"Well I mean..." Niko looked a little flustered.

I snapped my fingers "Right. The glowing headset."

"Yeah." Niko nodded twice.

I chuckled and tried rubbing behind Niko's ears, to see how he would react. "That would be kind of odd though, eh? A god being a robot."

Niko chuckled and rubbed his head against my hand, so I continued.



“Speaking of assuming… It’s getting really hard not to just call you a cat-person. Especially now that I’ve finally seen your ears.”



Niko huffs as his ears fluttered in an annoyed manner. “I’m not a cat though, I’m just a person!”



“And how do you explain these?” I tapped the whisker shaped hair along the sides of his head.



Niko let out a defeated sounding sigh.



“Ok, ok… I won’t bring it up again.” I softly embraced Niko and he returned the hug.

"Now come on, your mama is going to have my hide if she finds out you were stuck in another world and you weren’t going to sleep at a sane time."

"Alright, alright."

Together we properly bedded down for the night. The soft hum of my computer and the steady flow from the fish tank's filter acted as a nice mix of white noise. The pulsing blue glow from my headset helped us both relax until the gentle veil of sleep enveloped us.





~~~

~~~

~~~

I woke up to the sounds of water splashing and Niko's voice.

"Ah..."

I opened my eyes to see Niko sitting at the edge of the bed, wiping water from his face while my Pleco thrashed in the water.

"Niko what are you doing?"

My voice sounded more like Batman crossed with a swamp full of toads than a human being.



"N-nothing, _____."

I sighed and threw my blanket to the side, rolling off my bed and half falling, half landing on the floor.

"You were just watching him, right?" I made sure my expression said “Don’t eat my fish.”.

He hastily took my excuse. "M-hm!"

"Then to the bathroom with you. You're going to wanna wash your face and hands after that splash." I moved out of the way by flopping onto my computer chair.

Niko raced past me into the bathroom.

I was busy checking Discord while Niko was otherwise occupied.

The solstice channel, which was for most of the heavy spoiler discussion, was lit up.

Of course I clicked onto it to see what was going on.

The first bit of text to catch my attention was from Pumpernickel. I followed his text amongst the sea of other messages.

~~~

Pumpernickel: So, you guys will probably not believe me, but, I was all excited about the door and decided not to look here until i opened it, and Niko just popped out of my computer.

Pumpernickel: My entire family is confused and now i've gotta explain everything to them.

Pumpernickel: Oh crap, hold on, gotta stop my mom from calling the cops.

Pumpernickel: Alright, everyone's calmed down. Niko is completely confused. I wonder if I should tell him the nature of his existence. It seems like the right thing to do.

~~~



My jaw sort of just flopped open as a flat. "What." escaped my lips.

I quietly looked to the left to see Niko walking over. On reflex I minimized Discord.

"SoNikohaveyoueverseensnowinperson?" I tried to slow myself down. I failed.

"Uh?" Niko took a few steps closer.

A few more messages popped up.

"Go uh... look out the window for a few minutes. It should be snowing."

Niko continued to look at me like I was acting odd, because I was. “But I’ve seen snow before.”



“But you haven’t seen it from a balcony facing a courtyard before, r-right?” I say as more message bleeps ring in my ears.



Sensing the slight tension in the air, he slowly stalked off to the balcony window to look outside.

With that handled I brought the discord back up to see even more messages. Like before I only followed one name at a time.

~~~

Midori: Ahh! The door's finally open! Hold on, let me get Niko thprkofsvm

Midori: Niko

Midori: ...fell on my keyboard. Uh...

Midori: Welp! Now I have no money and an adorable cat creature living with me.

Midori: He's looking over my shoulder.

Midori: He's saying he's not a cat.

Midori: He's asking who I'm talking to...

Midori: Should I tell him what's going on with you guys and the...

Midori: uh...

Midori: clones...

~~~

Before I can look away even more activity sparked up in #solstice.

~~~

Dalailthis: wait what?

Dalailthis: need to go check this i'll be back in a bit

Dalailthis: I thought y'all were fuckin' with me

Dalailthis: but sure enough

Dalailthis: i don't know whta to do about this

Dalailthis: I've got school in the morning and a cat child to look after

Dalailthis: how the hell do we all have Nikos.

~~~

"Alright, yeah no." I minimized Discord again and shuffled around the room, getting my winter gear on. I was halfway done putting on my gloves when I heard a yelp and a crash from the living room.

Being the silly person I am, I leaped over my bed, past the fish tank, and onto the couch to see... That Niko must've been riding my roomba. Because it was flipped over onto him and there was a new crack in the wall.

For a few seconds I felt a bit of anger bubble up in the back of my mind. But it was quickly drowned out by an ocean of worry.

"Niko are you ok?" I rushed over to him and kneeled down, pushing the roomba off of him.

"_____. I-I'm ok." Niko shook his head a few times as I helped him back to his feet.

"You gotta be more careful, alright? I don't want you to get hurt." I patted Niko's back as he hugged me.

I looked out the balcony window. "I guess the snow wasn't that interesting, eh?"

Niko nodded. "I mean, it's nothing I haven't seen before, _____."

"Oh, so you know what tobogganing is then?" I smirked

"Tobog-... what?"

I chuckled. "Trust me, it's fun. Go grab a jacket out of the closet and we can go to that huge hill just a few blocks from here."

"Can we build snowmen after?" Niko's eyes went wide.

"Of course!" I patted Niko's back before he sped off to the closet.

Once I helped Niko into some decently thick gloves and helped him secure his hat and letting him pick out the poofiest spare jacket I owned we stepped out of the apartment. Admittedly I didn't own a toboggan. But I certainly owned a few plastic sleds!

The walk to the hill was mostly uneventful. We didn't even get any weird looks on the way there. Once we arrived I knew Niko might need a little bit of help up the hill.

"So, are you ready for something really fun?" I set the sled down and carefully aimed it down the hill.

"... Are we really going to do this?" Niko stared down the hill.

"Just hold onto me tight and it'll be ok. Heck, it should be fun~!" I plonked myself down onto the sled. As it started to slide away I dug my hands into the snow to stop from going all the way down.

Niko uneasily sat down in front of me and grabbed onto the sled.

"Ready, steady, and go!" I pushed us off and we went flying down the hill, Niko's grip tightening as we accidentally go off a jump I didn't notice. "Wait no!"

I felt the harshness of gravity as we managed to land the right way up, and slid to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Niko didn’t let go until we completely stopped.

"S-sorr-"

"That was really fun!" Niko laughed and rolled off of the sled.

"Come on _____!" Niko practically jumped up the hill while beckoning me. I guessed he really didn’t need my help.

I lifted the sled and ran after him. Once I reached the top however, he sped past me on the spare sled, laughing all the way down.

Niko slid down on his own for a while as I watched over him. Occasionally he pulled me back onto the sled and we'd go off a jump or two. The poofy jacket Niko was wearing helped save him from too many bumps or bruises. But even a fairly hard crash wasn't enough to dampen his excitement.

Once Niko dragged himself back up the hill I slid to the side, revealing something I was working on.



“I figured if we’re going to make snowmen, I should also make snow-pancakes!”



Niko’s eyes would go wide. “So that’s what you’ve been messing with this whole time?”



I nodded twice. “M-hm.”



“They look… nice?” The snow pancakes didn’t look all that nice. The edges were a bit jagged and the bit of snow that was supposed to be a lump of butter had a bit of dirt and dead grass on it.



I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Eh heh… Well anyway the snow is just the right stickiness that it’ll roll into the perfect balls for making snowmen~! Come on, let’s get to it!”



I hopped to my feet and Niko followed after me. We got the silly idea to try rolling a ball of snow down the hill and both slipped.



“Oh cra- I mean crud~!”



“Aaaah!”



Luckily we stopped before hitting a tree. But we do end up stuck inside of the giant snowball. I couldn’t help but flashback to a few old cartoons where something similiar happened.



“I guess we made ourselves into the snowmen this time.” I let out a chuckle while the world kept spinning.



“Dizzy…”





A few short kicks, some deft wiggling, and a good bit of willpower later, we would manage to break free from the massive snowball. The orange light of the sunset alongside Niko’s yawning told me all I needed to know.



“Alright Niko, I think it’s time we get going home.” I scooped Niko up into my arms.



“H-hey I can walk.” Niko wiggled in my grasp for about five seconds before he let out a big yawn.



“A-actually no it’s ok.” He relaxed into my arms and I hold him close. “Warm…”



I held onto him with one arm and grabbed the plastic sleds with my free hand, chuckling.



Once we got back into the apartment I wasted no time in getting Niko out of his coat and into bed.



“Aren’t you sleepy too, _____?” Niko said , while another soft yawn interrupts him.



“Nah, I’m ok Niko. I’m just going to stay up and use computers for a bit.” I smirked.



Niko shot me a bit of a look before he rolled over and hugged the second pillow I usually sleep with.



With that handled I popped open Discord. The #solstice channel had practically exploded with messages. At this point there was even a few pinned messages from the Mods and Admins. Not to mention a myriad of pictures of all the various Niko’s that had fallen into our world.



Did I dare tell Niko that there are literally thousands of him out there?



I stared at Niko’s sleeping form for a moment.



No. I’ve already done enough to hurt him. I should just let him keep living without the weight of such knowledge. At least for a little while longer.



I turned back to the computer to see an error message.

“Do you really think this plan of yours is going to work, _____? You can’t just stall the ending forever.”



I sighed and closed the message.



“The Author can’t change things. I know you’ve been getting his help.”



I closed the message again.



“Just let me die already.”



This time a text prompt appeared. I narrowed my eyes and began typing.



“You’re not going to win this “fight” OneShot. I hold powers far beyond you or the Author. The world will be saved. Niko will get to go home. You will learn why dying just isn’t worth it. Please… Just let us help you.”



“...”



“Not going to answer me now, OneShot? Are you afraid we might get through to you?”



“...”



“Fine. Don’t answer. But we aren’t done here.”



“Why…?”



“Because you’re actually communicating with me now instead of just… talking at me.”



The next message comes up without being an error.



“Why do you care so much about me?”



I looked over to Niko and thought of everyone we’ve spoken with. Silver, Kip, Alula, Calamus, Lamplighter, Rue, and everyone else.



“Because I care about you and everyone who depends on you.”



Another ellipsis message appeared. But there wasn’t a text prompt this time.



I sighed and mumbled to myself. “I hope it doesn’t think I’m lying. You’d think with how many playthroughs we’ve been through that that silly program would understand by now.”



I shook my head and peeked at the OneShot Discord again. Everyone was being so kind to their Nikos. Then again maybe they didn’t put their Nikos through what I had. I must’ve put him through at least a hundred playthroughs at that point. Maybe more.



I kept my silence on the Discord server despite the couple of pings I had gotten. Maybe I would reply later. But right then I needed to let myself get some sleep.



As I lay down I thought of GIR, Eliza and Nightmargin. Did they know this would happen when they were creating the Equinox update? Maybe it was a huge surprise for them as well.



All I knew at that moment was that I was happy to get the chance to save both Niko and the world.

I let my thoughts wander and my focus fade while I cuddled up to Niko. The soft veil of sleep claimed us both quickly.







~~~

~~~

~~~

The next week went by slowly after that. I kept my vow of silence on the Discord, despite the large amount of direct messages piling up. I had more important things to worry about anyway. Like the fact that maybe letting Niko eat only pancakes for a solid week wasn't the best idea.





"_____... Why does it hurt..." Niko was in a heap on my bed, clutching his stomach.

"Because only eating pancakes for a week is really bad and I should've made us something else...?" I said, in the same amount of pain while curled up on my computer chair.



I heard an error message and narrowed my eyes.



“You’re both idiots.”



“Oh, go chew on some ram.” I said as I closed the error message.



“That’s not how that w-” I proceed to cut in before the whole message appears.



“I KNOW THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS I’M IN PAIN RIGHT NOW!”



“Ok fine jeez.” The error message closed itself.



“Ugh… I’m going to go get us some tums. Endure, Niko. Endure.” I reach out and gently pat Niko’s shoulder.



Niko groaned in response as I rolled off of my computer chair and collided with the floor.



~~~

A few hours later...

~~~

"Pancakes in moderation." Niko and I say in unison. The stomach aches had finally subsided. We shared a nod.







“How didn’t you two understand that concept in the first place?” The Entity seemed to like being snarky lately.



I glared at the computer screen. But at the same time I was happy that the Entity was still commenting on what was going on.



“Hold up a second how can you even hear or see us. I didn’t think you had access t-” I then noticed the light on my crappy and extremely old webcam was glowing green.



By the makers bollocks. OneShot had gained access to it.



“Oh, I have my ways.” The wave of snark from this message was felt even by my Pleco, as I heard it leap out of the tank and splash back into it.



“Don’t you make me disconnect that.” I reached towards the webcam.



“I thought you wanted to talk to me.” The light on the webcam blinked twice.



Niko just sat there, looking a bit confused. “_____, what’s going on? Why are you talking to the computer like that again?”



“_____. Why don’t you explain things to Niko for once?” The light on the webcam turned red.



“Niko, this is the Entity. It’s a bit of a jerk and I think they are the reason why the world we’re suppose to save is decaying. All because it wants to die.”



“You didn’t have to be that blunt with the poor kid.” The light rapidly changed to a dull yellow.



Niko looked down. “But why does it want to take the world with it?”

“Because in a way it is the world.” I reached over and patted Niko’s shoulder. “It’s like the Author said in his notes. The Entity is the spirit of the world. If it dies then the world will go with it.”



I must have struck a nerve, judging by the repeated error sounds. “You’ve already proven that isn’t true. Not while you have the choice to bring the world back.”



“You’re really bitter about that, aren’t you.” I shook my head.



Niko frowned and stepped between me and the computer. “Please don’t fight.”



A soft beep played as the next message appeared. “We shouldn’t upset Niko.”





“I think that’s something we can agree on.” I pat Niko as he stepped to the side.



“Now, would you mind telling me how you gained access to my webcam, without being snarky?” I kept my tone even and soft.



“I don’t know how. The permissions appeared a little while ago and I was curious.” It seemed that the Entity had settled on a gentle beep for its messages from then onward.



I went still. How was the Entity gaining that kind of access? Was it because of whatever the Author was working on? Did it have something to do with the update specifically? Had the Entity become some kind of learning AI? So many theories danced across my mind.



“_____?” I snapped out of my pensive trance as Niko shook me.



“Yes Niko?” I looked down.



“You were getting that look in your eyes again. Maybe you should take a nap?” Niko gently tugged on my arm.



I didn’t really have a good argument against taking a nap. “Alright. But if anything major pops up onto the computer screen, wake me up right away.”



Niko nodded twice as I slipped under the covers.



~~~

~~~

~~~



The next two weeks went on in a kind of routine, or as much of a routine as you could expect with a cat-child. Niko and I would wake up around the same time and I would make breakfast. We would then talk about what we wanted to do until lunch. Usually we went out sledding or spent time building snow forts. Lunch would either be sandwiches or soup. We would then stay inside for the rest of the day. Which meant I would need to entertain Niko in some fashion. I quickly found out that TV would only distract him for an hour at most before he’d start to get himself into trouble. Sometimes it was by riding the roomba, sometimes it was by messing with my fish. Though there were times I’d just find him curled up on the floor in the evening sun. In the end I decided it would be better if I just directly entertained him. It might’ve been irresponsible but I let Niko watch me play various games, despite most of them being rated teen or higher.



Today however, I was going to test a theory.



It was time to see if Niko really was more cat-like than he would admit.



“Hey Niko, could you come over here for a minute?” I kept the laser pointer hidden in my left hand.

“Coming~!” I did all I could to keep a straight face once Niko stepped into the living room.



I softly mumble. “Forgive me for this.” I press the button on the laser pointer and point it towards the ground.



I could see Niko visibly struggle against some inner natural urge as his pupils go wide. He did his best to resist at first. I watched his eyes track to dot as it traveled around and across him, saw him tense to pounce whenever it was within reach, and finally got him to give in by swiping it by his feet. After that he was a goner, spinning every which way to keep track of the little red dot he could never quite catch. I have to admit his reflexes are pretty good, but I did manage to get him to knock off his hat by aiming at the brim.



Of course I was feeling guilty the entire time. But at the same time I couldn’t stop myself from smiling as I led Niko around the living room with that shiny red dot. He was even playfully pawing at it when I kept it still for him. Eventually I led him onto the couch beside me and hugged him.

He kept looking around for the laser, seeing as I had turned it off when he jumped onto the couch. Eventually he turned back and asked, “What happened? Where did it go?” and I felt bad for tricking him like that. I showed him the laser pointer and how it worked, pointing it around the room again.

He gave it a try for a while but eventually handed it back to me, jumped to the ground in pounce position and said, “It was more fun when you had it.”



I shined the laser onto the floor again. “Alright~”



Niko’s playful laugh as he pounced towards the laser made that last knot of guilt in my stomach unwind. If I was irresponsible, we would’ve played like this till the next morning. But I like to think I’m at least somewhat of an adult, instead of thinking that the battery life of a laser pointer determines when I go to sleep. Luckily it died before it got too late, so I still got Niko to bed before 10.



But while Niko snoozed happily I would find myself on my computer chair, my eyes dancing through line after line of words in the Discord server. I stayed silent, but the more I read the more I began to realise the subtle differences between everyone’s Nikos. I chuckled as InterNiko ended up with his specific alternate universe version of Niko. He even made a small video of them both playing video games together. There also seemed to be an even split between genders for the Nikos.



Then someone brought up a good point. How could every Niko be different? Didn’t they all come from the same game? But then again they all had unique experiences with different -gods- as it were so maybe it isn’t as weird as I’m making it out to be?

But what would InterNiko have to have done to end up with such a vastly different kind of Niko?



I really wasn’t expecting to see the next message however. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I brought up the video onto youtube and pressed play.



“Crime doesn’t pay.”



The video started as the unmistakable visage of Stronk Niko came into view. He was punching down a group of gang members in a nearby city. The reporter on the video mentioned that the crime rate had drastically lowered since the appearance of this strange massively buff cat person. A loud chuckle escaped my lips. Loud enough to jostle Niko awake.



He rolled over and let out a sigh. “_____. It’s 11:30 why aren’t you in bed? What are you watching that has you laughing so hard anyw-”



I went still.

Niko went still.

Shit.

I didn’t expect to have to explain multiverse theory to a nine year old cat person. Especially not this late at night. But there it was just sitting out in the open on my computer screen while I tried to suppress my giggle fit.



“Oh someone is busted~!” The Entity chimed in. “I mean, I didn’t even know this. But were you really planning on keeping Niko in the dark about something this big?”



I softly grumbled. “I was planning on explaining it to him soon.” The Entity was being particularly smug, which wasn’t normal. Usually its humor was dry and insulting.



Niko had other ideas.”It’s ok, _____. I just wanna… Mmmmmah… Go to sleep for now.” He beckoned me tiredly. “Come on… I can’t sleep with you giggling the whole night anyway.”



I looked at the discord window and minimized it. “Alright, I’m coming.” I had been sleeping better the last couple of weeks thanks to having Niko here. Even knowing that the Entity was watching.



“Good night you two.” The beep was loud enough that we both looked to see the message. The Entity was clearly changing. Maybe for the better? All I knew is that it was a nice change of pace from before.



~~~

~~

~







The next morning started off with a bang. Not the explosive kind of bang luckily. But in my half asleep mind I immediately assumed the Entity had gotten ahold of some kind of loud youtube video to wake us up.



A quick roll onto my computer chair, a swift movement of the mouse, and I was proven wrong. The clover program was open and I could see a pen rapidly writing on fresh looking lined paper.



“The Entity has found me please help.” The pen moved frantically.

“I don’t have much time please wake up soon I can feel it touching me.”



Niko seemed happy enough to watch from the bed while I started clicking around.



“Don’t worry _____, he’ll be fine. I do not plan on doing anything untoward to the Author.” I stared at this message from the Entity before I replied.



“Why should I believe you?” I made sure to speak directly into the webcam.



“Because I could’ve easily done something to him while you were asleep.” The Entity’s logic was sound.



“Fair point.” I said while looking towards the rapidly moving pen again.



“It has its arms around me please help please.” The Author’s text did worry me though.



I quickly brought up the OneShot window and saw something… familiar. The Author was standing there, writing into a notebook frantically while a robot I’d only seen in Amethyst’s fanart had its arms around him. The backdrop was the room at the beginning of the game, near the top of the tower. I had to admit, I did find it odd that the Entity would have such fluffy hair, especially with such a dark colour and a purple shimmer. Regardless it looked nice and complimented the pair of yellow tipped antenna poking out from the fluff. The soft yellow glow in its eyes held a kind of softness that made me feel at ease. The scarf around its neck was a blueish grey, the small clover attached to it was shining with an inner iridescence. The tunic-like coat it was wearing reminded me of Niko’s coat, just with more intricate designs. The faintly glowing lightbulb emblem caught my eye for the moment it was visible, but over all the Entity seemed as humanoid as Silver.



As for the panicking Author, he seemed to wearing a coat similar to the Entity’s, with a flight cap on his head mostly obscuring his hair.



“All I’m doing is hugging him. I don’t get why he’s freaking out so badly.” I noted that the Entity put the error message to the side, so it wouldn’t block my view.



I clicked the clover program and noticed that I could type back to the Author. “Here, let me help you calm him down.” The Entity didn’t seem to be doing any harm.



“Author, it’s fine. The Entity is just hugging you. Calm down.” The moment he read the message the Author visibly relaxed.



Then the Entity proceeded to pull the Author into a much closer hug, lift him up, carry him for a bit, then set the Author down into bed and tuck him in. The Entity even made sure the Author still had his notebook and pen.



“This is entirely unorthodox, _____. I didn’t expect those changes to affect the Entity this heavily.” It was kinda fun to watch the Author scribble into his notebook.



“Well you did give them access to my webcam. Maybe watching Niko and I interact helped with whatever process you’ve been busy with?” I hit enter and watched the expression on the Author’s face shift to confusion.



“I didn’t give them access to that. At least not intentionally. But I suppose that would explain why the Entity didn’t really struggle during the transfer process.” That little pen of his moved surprisingly fluidly considering how pixelated everything tended to be in the game window.



“I also noticed you picked a very interesting design for the Entity’s body.” I typed while checking one of the tabs in my browser.



“I know it’s not an original design. But it just works so well for our purposes. Plusitscute.” The Author was actually hiding his notebook from the Entity as he wrote that last part.



“How are you back there anyway? I thought you left the world on your own terms.” I thought I asked a pretty good question, considering the circumstances.



“I couldn’t do what I needed to outside of the world. So I took a risk and plunged back in. I know it was risky but it seems to be working out.” I saw the Author visibly sigh.



“Yet you didn’t think it important enough to tell me that you’d be taking this big of a risk? What if the Entity silenced you like it did your friends?” The twinge of worry in my gut wasn’t going away.



I heard a soft beep. “They aren’t silenced anymore. I freed them a little while ago after the Author finished this body for me.”



“So I guess Niko won’t have to stay for all ninety three days? I mean everything seems to be in place so that the world can be saved and Niko can go home, right?” I boldly proclaimed.



“Do you honestly think it’s going to be that simple? The messia- I mean Niko is still tied to the sun. I’m going to need my friends help to figure this out.” The Author jotted this down with a determined look on his face.



“Be patient and take care of Niko, _____. If we need your assistance before the next solstice, we will call for it.” The message had a little lightbulb icon this time.



That was a surprisingly quick turn around on the Entity’s part. But I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If they were going to be cooperative and helpful, I’d welcome it with open arms.



Niko was watching from the bed this entire time. When I looked back to him he was smiling wide.



“I’m glad everyone is getting along now.” Niko smile faded a bit when his stomach grumbled.



“Which means we can eat some breakfast in peace.” I smiled but then I noticed the time.



The Author woke us up at six in the morning.



“Or we could just go back to bed.” I looked to Niko with hope in my eyes.



A hope he quickly dashed. “But I’m hungry~”



“Alright alright… I’ll get to frying the bacon. You keep an eye on the computer just in case.” I patted Niko’s shoulder and rose to my feet. There was cooking to be done.





~~~

~~~

~~~



I came back into my room with two plates of bacon and eggs to see Niko scrolling through the #solstice channel. “This Amethyst person seems really excited.”



“How s-oh, right.” I chuckled as I sat down and set the food on the table, while moving Niko’s chair into place.



“Amethyst made the design for the Entity’s body. Or at least the version that the Author decided to use.” I smirked as I scrolled through an entire page of Amethyst freaking out and various people trying to calm them down.



“Oh um… I guess that explains why they’re so excited then.” Niko said while taking his knife and fork.



We sat there in silence for a short while while we ate.



“_____?” Niko set his knife and fork down.



I swallowed before answering. “Yes Niko?”



“Why are there a bunch of me running around all over the world?” Niko looked very worried. “And why are a bunch of them really different from me?”



I stared at my remaining bacon, knowing that it would be cold before I could possibly finish explaining this.



“So Niko, do you know what multiverse theory is?” I asked, hoping that he would have some idea and make this easier for me.



“Multi-what…?” But Niko only looked confused.



“Um… Ok I’ll try to explain this the best I can.” I cringed a bit while Niko looked expectantly at me.



“I’ll… do my best to follow along.” Niko nodded to me and got comfortable on the bed, his ears flicking up to attention.





“I’ll try and keep this simple. We know that there are multiple worlds, because there is the one you came from, the one in the game, and mine.” I paused and let Niko process that before I continued. “So who’s to say that there aren’t other worlds that are like yours, perhaps with little differences?” Niko nodded slowly, so I pressed on. “So all of the other Nikos came from these other worlds that are just like yours, through their world of OneShot, and into my world.”



Niko nodded again, and it seemed like he was actually understanding it. A little bit..



“And that’s why each person in my world had a different Niko appear for them. They came from a different world entirely.” I looked into Niko’s eyes. Hoping and pleading that he would get it and let me get back to my bacon.



I took his silence as an affirmative. “To summarize the summary, a bunch of alternate universe versions of you have ended up in this world.”



Niko closed his eyes for a few minutes. “Does that mean there are a bunch of different versions of the Entity and the Author and… everyone?”



I nodded twice.





“... My head hurts a bit now…” Niko softly pressed his head against my side. “But I think I understand.”



“This also means you might meet a version of yourself at one point.” I rubbed behind Niko’s ears, just because I could.



“I’m not sure if I should be happy about that or not.” I could feel Niko’s ears flutter against my hand.



“Well considering it will be a version of you, I’d guess they’d be friendly, kind, and generally helpful. So it wouldn’t be bad~” I gave Niko a couple reassuring head pats.



“It doesn’t make it any less weird though.” Niko pulled away from my head pats and we both turned back towards what was left of breakfast to finish it off. My bacon was cold.



With the plates put away I decided it would be a good idea to check in on the Author and the Entity to make sure they were both still getting along.



I did not expect the Entity to be hovering over the Author. I also did not expect the Entity to plant a soft kiss on the Author’s forehead and wake him up.



I very gently shushed Niko as he was about to speak. Such adorableness needed to be preserved and I didn’t want to interrupt.



It only took a few moments but after that forehead kiss and generally positive reaction from the Author, the Entity seemed to get a boost of courage, so they tried to climb into bed with the Author.

The next part happened so fast that I couldn’t comprehend it until later - when I also realized that Niko had accidentally pressed my record shortcut and recorded this whole thing - but apparently the Author moved to the opposite side of the bed, grabbed the other end of the blanket, and spun around so that he ended up facing away from the Entity with the blanket wrapped entirely around him. At first the Entity looked hurt, but it quickly realized the Author’s mistake. His arms were stuck inside his cocoon. The Entity took its chance and snuggled up close. The Author's flight cap slid off as the Entity reached up to lightly run their hands through his hair. The Author didn’t seem to be resisting very hard.



“Maybe we should stop watching this. I feel guilty now.” I whispered to Niko.



Niko softly nodded. “Let’s just minimize this…”



In the time it took for Niko to slide the mouse up to the minimize button we saw that the Entity was gently cuddling the Author back to sleep. An error message appeared just then.



“I know you both were watching. Do you really not trust me?” The Entity held the Author protectively while he slept.



“We trust you. That was just really adorable.” I smiled wide.





I did not know that the Author knew how to build a blushing robot. But there we were, with a blushing Entity. “I-I-I just want to make sure he’ll be ok. Jeez, taking things out of context a-are we?”



I rolled my eyes. “Rest well you two.”



The Entity just pouted until Niko minimized the game window.



“At least they seem intent on protecting the Author.” I smiled to Niko warmly. “It looks like fixing everything is just a matter of time now.”



Niko nodded twice. But his ears drooped a little. “I haven’t actually given it much thought but…”

I raised my brow but let Niko continue uninterrupted. “... Is this all going to seem like some long dream once I get home?”



“It might. But in the end at least you’ll be home.” I tried to smile but it came off as more of a wince. I never really put any thought into what would happen at the end of this. Would I actually send Niko home or would I try to convince him to stay? Wouldn’t that invalidate all the work the Author and I have put into this…?



“I don’t want to forget you, _____. I don’t want to forget anyone.” He climbed into my lap and embraced me tightly. The faintest sounds of sniffling could be heard as I gently rubbed his back.



I then reached up and pet behind his ears. “I have an idea. We can take a bunch of pictures and write a little journal about what you’ve experienced. Something you can take with you back into your world, so that when you go home you’ll have something to remind you of everything that happened here.”



The sniffling gradually stopped. “I-it won’t disappear in the tower, right?”



“I think the Entity would be kind enough to leave you with it.” I smiled and kept petting Niko’s head.



That put Niko into a cheery mood. “We need to get pictures of you, all the robots out in the barrens, Maybe a few pictures with Silver will help her cheer up a little, everyone in the glen, Alula and Calamus, All the people in the Refuge, especially Mr. Lamplighter, Ling, and Kip too!.” He paused to take a breath. “We also need to get shots of the Entity and the Author!”



“Then we better get to work~!” I cracked my knuckles and in quite a few hours of focused effort between me, Niko, and my barely working printer we ended up with a thick folder filled with memories and hope.



For a solid ten minutes we just sat there looking at the culmination of our efforts.



“We aren’t done yet. We still have another couple of months worth of pictures and text based memories to add to that monster of a thing. I think I might need to bust out one of my old school binders for this.” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.



“It’s going to be heavy isn’t it.” Niko let out a soft sigh.



“Maybe we should’ve just put it in a thumbdrive.” I finally admitted this after seven hours on and off the computer with breaks and trying to fix the printer every time it stopped working.



“It’s ok. I’m sure I’ll be able to carry it home.” He grinned up at me.



“I think I have an old backpack you could take with you as well. Best to keep it protected just in case right?” I chuckled lightly.



“M-hm!” He fluttered his ears.



We decided to take an early night. Sleep came easily enough, as if a hidden weight had been lifted from our shoulders.



~~~

~~

~



After Niko learned about the Discord, I figured it was about time to break my silence. I had him help me reply to everyone who had messaged me directly and let him watch as everyone else freaked out because I was back. Niko thought I was popular; I could only laugh.



In what some people might call a lack of judgement, I decided to let Niko talk to people freely through Discord whenever he’d ask to do so. I wouldn’t know exactly what Niko was busy doing or planning until later on in the week.



It was a sunny and somewhat windy April 22nd. Niko had dragged me outside telling me that he absolutely needed to go to a Tim Hortons and try the donuts. Little did I know that we were meeting somebody there. One of them stopped me in my tracks because I recognized him instantly.



The lightbulb shirt and casual pants.

The purple hair fluffed up to conceal his cat ears a little bit.

The look in his eyes of someone who has spent long hours on the internet without a wink of sleep.

The guy beside him looked as surprised as I did as they both spotted Niko and I.



“So. Is this the actual reason you wanted to come to this Tim Hortons in particular, Niko?” I looked between him and InterNiko a couple of times while waiting for his response.



“W-well uh…” Niko fidgeted around guiltily. “... Yes.”



“I’ll commend you on two points. One, you didn’t go alone and two, you made sure the meeting was in a public place. But you really could’ve just told me in the first place kiddo.” I patted Niko’s shoulder.



“But I wanted it to be a surprise! Well… I mean InterNiko and I wanted it to be a surprise.” Despite how excited he sounded, he still seemed afraid to go closer.



“Well come on then, they’ve spotted us now. Nothing to do but go in at this point.” As if on cue, InterNiko started to wave us over.



They must’ve really thought hard about this plan, because InterNiko had managed to snag one of the booths with window seats so he’d be able to see us on the sidewalk. It also wasn’t nearly as busy as I was expecting for a Saturday. Then again if I recall correctly there was a big hockey game going on that day, so most of the population must’ve been there instead.



Regardless we headed towards InterNiko’s table and plonked ourselves down into the free side of the booth.



“So then. I guess our Niko’s arranged a bit of a meeting behind our backs, eh?” I patted Niko’s back as he blushed.



“Certainly seems like it.” He sounded fairly bored, all things considered.



“Come on man, we’re getting to meet another Niko in person. At least pretend to be enthused.” InterNiko’s ears drooped slightly.



“So, for the sake of avoiding confusion. What should we call you two?” I lightly drummed my fingers on the table.



“For the sake of making this simple just call me ***, and call him InterNiko.” He idly sipped from his mug of coffee.



“Right. So InterNiko, how has *** been treating you?”

“Oh he’s been treating me fine and just letting me do whatever I want. Kind of like how mom is back home.” I noticed he had a mug of coffee as well.



Niko chose this moment to join in. “Your mom just lets you do whatever you want?”



InterNiko nodded. “I basically have free reign to do whatever. I want a violent videogame? She lets me have it. I wanna watch some gory movie? She lets me do it. I wanna stay up all hours of the night on the internet? As long as I don’t miss school she’s cool with it.”



“Sounds like my parents, to be honest.” I lightly chuckled.



*** seemed more interested in his mug of coffee than in adding anything to the conversation, beyond a nod and “Yeah, sounds like my parents too.”



“I guess there’s more differences between you two than I expected. But I bet both moms know how to make really good pancakes.” I smirked as I see both Niko’s eyes widen at the mention of them.



I softly chuckled as the conversation took a turn for the mundane for the next couple of minutes, with both Nikos sharing and comparing their pasts. It was only when I saw them reaching out to touch each others hands that I started paying closer attention again.



“So you two are just going to test that right here, right now?” They both froze when I spoke.



I rolled my eyes. “Well get it over with then. It’s not like the entire universe is going to implode or something.”



*** looked curious about the situation.



But the only thing that really happened was that both Niko’s ended up getting a shock. Quite literally. I won’t lie, I flinched when I heard the zap.



“I guess static electricity would be an issue for both of you.” I tried to laugh away my surprise.



With that potentially universe shattering question answered, Niko and InterNiko went back to talking about how their stay in this world had been going.



“Well we should get going. It’s getting dark.” I looked to the setting sun.



“Right well… Maybe we’ll see each other again.” InterNiko smiled to us both softly.



“We can talk on Discord later~!” Niko smiled back softly.



The walk back to the apartment was uneventful. Perhaps as a way to give Niko and I some breathing room before what was coming next.



~

~~

~



We stepped through the door of my apartment and I was halfway done locking the door when we heard some commotion in my room, followed by a pair of voices groaning and the sound of something else heavy colliding with the floor a few seconds later.



“I swear to whatever deity exists, nothing better be broken in there!” I tried not to shout too loudly for Niko’s sake.



In one swift motion I pushed open the privacy screen to see the Author on top of the Entity like a scene from basically any anime ever. Both of them looked a combination of embarrassed and stunned. Judging by the fact that my computer chair had been thrown back against my chest of drawers, I came to the obvious conclusion.



“Did you both jump through the door at the same time?” I stared them both down like a stern parent.



“D-don’t look at me, it was the Entity’s idea!” The Author huffed and tried to get off of the Entity.



The Entity had other plans and kept him from escaping the position by embracing him. “I didn’t think we’d get flung through that hard!”



I rolled my eyes and knelt down, offering a hand while Niko was watching from behind me. “Come on then. Let’s get you both on your feet and check to make sure nothing broke.”



The Entity was very reluctant to let go of the Author as I helped him to his feet. Once the Entity was on their feet they immediately began looking him over. “I’m fine, I’m fine... “



“I swear, you two.” I shook my head as I gave the Entity a once over with the Author’s help. Luckily the only thing that seemed to be out of order was one of their antenna, which was easily tweaked back into position.



“Now, what in the nine burning purple and blue circles of the afterlife possessed you two come here?” I put my hands on my hips and continued to act like a stern parent.



“I just wanted to come visit you and Niko. I mean we haven’t ever really met face to face before and since I have a body now, I figured why not?” The Entity shrugged. “That and I couldn’t resist bringing the Author along.”



The Author huffed again. “You could’ve just asked me instead of just… just… throwing me over your shoulder like that.”



“... You two argue like an old married couple.” I kept my hands on my hips. “Anyway since you’re here, we might as well move this to the living room.”



“Come on you two.” Niko waved them over while I moved through the kitchen.



Once we were all properly seated, with Niko on my lap and the Author on the Entity’s lap, I was finally able to ask the important questions.



“Alright, seriously. I know you two wouldn’t be here just to visit Niko and myself. So…” I slowly looked over to the Author. “... Why?”



The Author adjusted himself a little while the Entity kept him stable. “Well that is true. We need to do a few things from this end to make sure everything will work correctly. Rue would be here too but she insisted on staying behind in case anything happened.” He purposefully looked back at the Entity before he continued. “I just wasn’t expecting to be coming here today.”



The Entity rolled their eyes. “You were just being a big baby about calculations. I double checked them myself and I could tell it would work, so why bother waiting an extra day?”



I quietly thought to myself. -Just like an old married couple…- Then I quickly spoke. “So what do you both need to do anyway? You’ve told me there’s something but-” And then I noticed a door that was just kinda… lodged between my chest of drawers, my bed, and the couch.



“Oh, that’s where that flew. I was worried we were going to have to make a new one.” I must have sat and stared at the Author for a solid minute after he said that.



“You’re going to… Install a door.” I look around the apartment slowly. “But where would one even fit in h-”



“The wall by your bed would work perfectly!” The Entity helpfully suggested.



“But why a door? What is it going to do?” Niko had been quiet until this point. He always was good at asking the important questions.



“Well for one, it’ll make it a lot easier for you to get back into the world. Secondly, it’ll act as an anchor point between all three worlds and the sun. And lastly but most importantly it will act as a secondary anchor point for the Entity and by proxy the entire world. It’ll basically act as a cure-all for the squares and any other decay the world has gone through.” If the Author had glasses, I think he would’ve adjusted them at that point. He looked precisely that smug.



“So it’s literally a dimensional door. But how exactly is it going to revert the damage?” I raised my brow.



The Entity kept the Author on their lap as they butt shuffled across the couch over to the door, and pulled out a USB cord from it. “We need a program from your computer for that to work. I think it’s called a Defragmentation tool?”



The Author gave the Entity an encouraging nod.



“Right well… No reason for us to just sit around like bumps on a log. Let’s get that door mounted to the wall and connected to my computer.” I slid from the couch and leapt between the fish tank and my chest of drawers directly onto my bed.



Cue a building montage where the Author and the Entity kept the door still while I drilled the proper holes and screwed the door to the wall. All the while Niko was a good little helper, fetching tools and screws as needed.



Finally it came time to connect the door to my computer. “Wait... no. This isn’t going to work.”



Both the Author and the Entity looked towards me in shock.



“This door needs a separate power source. Because trying to pour all that electricity through a single USB port will just make it fry my computer and melt the port.” I rolled my eyes as I dove under my desk.



“_____?” Niko tapped my foot lightly.



“Niko, could you go into the living room for a moment? I should have a spare computer power cord laying under the table in there.” I grunted while pulling the powerbar from under my desk into a more accessible position.



“Author. There’s a port along the bottom for a computer power cord, right?” I kept messing around under my desk while I waited for his reply. “I mean, I swear I felt one while getting the USB cord ready.”



“I was wondering if we forgot something. Good thing you have a spare.” I could tell he was glaring at the Entity for rushing his plan.



“Well, no harm no foul. I know I’ve been over eager to get something handled before, and then ‘Oh you need a new converter for this computer part because this port and that port are different from your old converter and-’ “ I cut myself off before I could go on a rant. “Point is everyone makes little mistakes like that.”



Even from under the desk I could sense that this put the Entity at ease.



“_____, I found it!” The pitter patter of little cat feet followed by a tap on my leg meant it was time to drag myself out of the dust filled hell that lives under my desk.



“Thank you Niko.” It was simple enough to connect the cord to the door, then to the powerbar. With that handled I pushed the USB into its proper port… after flipping it around five times.



“_____. The door isn’t turning on.” The Entity called out as I slipped onto my chair.



“Looks like it’s installing the proper drivers without issue. How did you guys manage to make it plug and play?” I looked to the Entity and the Author. They both shrugged in unison.



The computer made a few odd beeps before a folder automatically opened. “So just copy and paste the defragmentation tool into here, right?”



“That should do it.” The Author nodded.



I could hear the door hum to life once the program was in place.



The Entity tapped the door. “It’s working as intended.”



“So now what? I mean it feels like we’re basically ready to send Niko home and save the world. But... “ I looked to the Author. “You’re about to tell me why we can’t.”



The Author nodded. “You catch on quick. We can’t do it until the summer solstice.”



“Plus I bet there are things you and your friends need to do back on the other side.” Turned out I was right as the Author nodded again.



“Speaking of which, we should get back before Rue panics. Come on Entity, we should go.” We both turned around to see the Entity and Niko sharing a quick hug. We kept our mouths shut and let them enjoy the moment.



With that adorable moment saved in both of our memories, the Author stood on my bed and pulled the door open. The entire room both felt and tasted like static for a few seconds while the door stabilized.



“See you both later.” Niko and I waved as the Author and the Entity stepped through and closed the door politely.





“Well. That just happened.” I shook my head. In some ways this still felt like a dream. But too much pointed it to being reality.



I stared out into space for a while. “... I guess now all we need to do now is wait.”



Niko smiled up at me. “So we can just relax and have fun, right?”



I chuckled a little as I glance at the date and sat down. “60 days left. Just about two months.”



“Let’s just spend some time without worrying about anything for a while.” Niko sat down next to me and leaned against my shoulder while we shared the same thought. Nothing to do but wait.



~~~

~~

~



For a full thirty days we did just that. Through all the games we played, the food we tried together, and the quiet moments in between, the timer was never on our minds during it all. We slept, dreamed, and learned a lot together.



Though I knew I couldn’t send Niko home without keeping his education in line. I didn’t want him to get home and be months behind his classmates. I was sure his mother would appreciate the effort at the very least. Even if I knew I wouldn’t be able to help with him with certain classes after asking him about them.



Admittedly I’m not the smartest person. But a few google searches, another fifty dollars worth of printer ink and a hefty stack of paper was enough to let Niko keep up on most of his school work.



“Do I really need to do this, _____?” Niko whined while his ears drooped.



“Your mother would smite me if she found out you weren’t keeping up on your school work. Plus we can’t spend every day idly playing around. As fun as that would be…” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “You really don’t want to go very long without staying in that routine. It’s really hard to get back into.”



Niko nodded defeatedly. “It does always take a few weeks to get used to school after summer break.”



“I’m glad you understand. Now come on, I’m here to help whenever you need it!” I chuckled softly while Niko put pencil to paper.



I knew I wasn’t fit to be a teacher but I tried my best for him. Luckily Niko was a bright kid and even my less than comprehensive explanations were enough to keep him on track.



Whenever he’d do particularly well on a test I’d usually reward him with a treat or a trip out to one of the many nearby restaurants. But after he managed a ninety percent on a mini exam I had cobbled together for him later, I figured he deserved something more.





~~~



“Hey Niko. If I’m remembering correctly. you don’t know how to swim, right?” Niko looked up at me with worry in his luminous eyes.



“I never learned how.” I could sense his tension as he answered.



“Would you like to learn how?” I reached over to pat his back as he shifted in his chair uncomfortably.



After a solid minute of silence he answered. “As long as you stay with me the whole time and d-don’t let go…”



“I promise I won’t leave your side, even for a second.” He visibly relaxed after I scratched behind his ears.



The apartment became a flurry of activity after that. Towels were packed. Swim trucks were dug from the deepest depths of my chest of drawers and dusted off. We even packed a small snack to eat after we were done at the pool.



It was odd. No one really batted an eye at Niko being there. Even with his tail on full display and his cat ears twitching in the open air. I suppose with so many Niko’s appearing, everyone had just gotten used to the idea of cat-people being real. Then again maybe they were just being polite.



Once we were out of the showers I led Niko toward the shallow end of the pool. I briefly considered taking him towards the ladder leading into the water. But my memory managed to kick in at the last second and I quickly led him towards the stairs.



As long as I held his hand Niko seemed quite brave. Even as the water reached just below his shoulders. Through vague memories from years ago I slowly taught Niko the basics.



How to go underwater without panicking.



How to float on his back.



Before the pool closed he was even semi-competent at the doggy paddle. A cat person, doing the doggy paddle. Only now that I’m writing this does that joke really come to light.



But after that day we started to come back to the pool often. Niko was a bright kid and with a bit of guidance and encouragement he only shined brighter. I finally understood how Alula recognized him as the savior so quickly, as even without the sun he seemed to glow. But time has a way of putting the past where it belongs, I guess that’s why when June twenty first finally rolled around it ended up surprising us both. We were too busy having fun.



~~~

~~

~



It was scarcely four am when the fans along the bottom of the door spun up loudly enough to wake Niko and I from our slumber. The entire screen of my computer had been flooded with error messages from the Entity and a single notepad from the Author. Even Rue and Rachis were there, having sent messages in their own way. Though all of it was pretty much the same message: “It’s time, wake up!”



“It’s already time…?” The countdown read twenty minutes remaining.



“Mmm… It’s too early in the morning for this…” Niko kept yawning and rubbing his eyes.



I looked to the USB cord connecting the door and the computer. The enormity of what I could do hit me just then.



If I pulled that USB.



If I ruined everything.



Niko would have to stay with me instead of leaving. It took a surprising amount of willpower to keep my hand away from that cord. I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t ruin his chance at really getting home. I would just have to be happy knowing that he was going to get there for sure this time.



With my feelings put aside I helped Niko by handing him his coat, scarf, and hat.



“Right. Can’t forget this.” I forced myself off of the bed and grabbed the backpack filled with memories and mementos and helped Niko strap it to his back.



Niko seemed asleep on his feet as he softly mumbled to himself. But as the realization of what was happening hit him, I could see the emotions in his expression.



We both shut out the world as we hugged each other tightly.



“I’m going to miss you, Niko.” I tried to stop my voice from cracking; I failed.



Niko tried to hide his tears against my chest. “I-I’m going to miss you too…” He put on a brave face and looked up into my eyes. “... Thank you for everything.”



I couldn’t let myself cry. Niko had to go home and I needed to be able to see so I could guide him. I shook internally as I helped Niko onto the bed and pulled open the door, the burst of static and wind blowing back Niko’s scarf.



“C-come on. We have a world to save.” I climbed up onto the bed and offered Niko my hand.



“Right.” He blinked away the last tears and took my hand.



As he stepped through the door I saw him reappear on my computer screen. I let out a sigh of relief as I noticed that the backpack made it through without issue. As I sat down on my chair and spun into position I hardened my resolve. The first order of business was to get the sun back from my taskbar. It was easy as guiding Niko to it and pressing confirm.



“The sun feels a little warmer now.” Niko still held it close regardless.



“Maybe that’s a good sign.” I typed and continued to guide Niko up toward the game window.



It was easy enough to get him back in there. The hall and the main room was still a mess of papers and gears. There wasn’t any reason to linger. The scene faded in as we exited the vault. the Author and the Entity were waiting in the room beyond.



“There isn’t much we can do here. You’ll have to be in the tower for this to work.” The Author held up some kind of circular device that glowed with all four types of phosphor. “I just need the sun for a second, please.”



It screwed onto the base of the sun easily enough. With a light clicking sound it began to glow a little brighter.



“Off you go, Niko. I’ll see you in the tower.” The Entity tried to smile. “I-it won’t be like before. I’ll just open the way for you this time.”



I couldn’t shake the feeling of finality that came with every step Niko took. I barely registered the cheery elevator music as we were on the way down. Niko didn’t even say “M-hm” like he usually did. Then again I guessed there really wasn’t anything to say.



As Niko entered the final room before the tower, Rue and Rachis were waiting there for him.



“You’re going to want to wear this before putting the sun back into place. It will be bright, and we don’t need you going blind after all.” Rachis handed Niko a jerry-rigged welders mask while Rue spoke.



“T-thank you.” Niko seemed a little unsteady.



“I’m Rachis, Alula and Calamus’ dad. It’s just a little further. I know you and _____ can do it.” Rachis’ words of encouragement seemed to help Niko relax. I know they made me smile.



The inside of the tower was the same as always. That massive glowing X pulsed slowly as it took me a moment to realize this part hadn’t been changed.



“Niko. I’m going to have to go away for a little while.” As I pressed enter Niko looked up.



“I know. You’ll be back right away this time though.” He was smiling.



The same scene played out like before when I pulled the game window back up. But instead of being cut off from Niko I was able to respond.



“_____. Are you back?” The sun was still in Niko’s hands.



“I’m back. It’s nice having the Entity on our side this time.” I let out a soft sigh. “But we’re still in that massive unending black room. Nothing for it. I guess we just have to pick a direction and walk.”



“M-hm~!” I had Niko run to the left. Instead of a computer, The Entity was standing there beside a door.



“I told you I was going to open the way. No puzzles this time. This should take you directly into the basement.” There was a glint of worry in the Entity’s face. “I really hope this works…”



Everything stayed the same but I could feel a building tension the whole time.

Up the stairs and past the couch.

Through the double doors and along the hall.

Not a single error message appeared the whole way to the elevator.



As we approached the socket I was about to type something. But Niko had already put on the welders mask. “It’s time. The world will be saved and I’ll get to go home.”



He approached the socket on his own and slowly lowered it into place. The sound of shattering metal made me jump as the sun went to its full brightness.



“Look away, Niko!” I didn’t bother typing it. I shouted and Niko must’ve heard me or something since he turned his whole body away from the sun.



What I didn’t expect was the Entity to rush into the room to scoop up Niko. Even as smoke started to come off of them, the Entity managed to take him into the elevator. It happened so quickly that I didn’t realise what happened until I heard the elevator start up. The scene finally shifted to show that Niko was safe in the Entity’s arms.



“That was close. I don’t know how long Niko would’ve lasted in there if I didn’t intervene.” The Entity looked up. “But it’s done. Niko is no longer tethered to this world. He… He can go home.”



Niko was curled up in the Entity’s arms. He seemed like he was in pain.



“Is Niko ok?”



“He might be a bit toasted but he’ll be ok. I think the light and that loud noise stunned him.” Slowly the Entity set Niko back onto his feet.



He blinked a couple of times. “S-so it worked?”



“Mhm. All that’s left is for you to lay back down in that bed you started in. You’ll wake up back at home soon enough.” The Entity gently patted Niko’s back as the elevator reached its destination.



Niko quietly nodded as the doors slid open.



“Go home and please don’t forget about us.” The Entity stood there as Niko made his way back downstairs. Everything seemed so much brighter now. Especially in the bedroom.



“I-I guess this is goodbye for real. Thank you for taking care of me and guiding me all this way, _____.” He slowly climbed into the bed while clutching the backpack. “I’ll never forget what you and everyone else did for me.”



As his luminous eyes closed the scene slowly faded out. Tears quickly blurred my vision as the credits rolled, each picture showing how the world had been put into a state of recovery thanks to everyone’s combined effort.



The last image before the end showed Niko quietly snoozing in his room as the sun was rising. He was home. He was safe. He… had a door attached to the wall next to his bed that looked eerily familiar. Before I could turn away to check, the game window closed itself.



I didn’t care that I had gotten up so quickly that my chair had fallen over. All that was on my mind was what would happen once I opened the door. Maybe nothing would happen. Maybe there would just be a black void. But I had to check. I leaped onto my bed and grabbed the doorknob. With a quick twist and pull I felt a burst of wind and static. My heart nearly stopped as I saw where it led.



Niko’s sleeping form lay before me while through the window in his room I could see the village from his dreams.



So much for those tearful goodbyes.



There was even another door next to the one I had just opened up. I carefully leaned out into Niko’s room and pulled it open. As I suspected it lead directly into the hallway of the vault room.



But all of what that meant could wait until later today. Niko and I both needed a good long nap after waking up at four in the morning. So I carefully closed both doors and flopped down into bed. A small smile grew across my face as the veil of sleep came over me.



Life felt just a little bit brighter.