Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Niko! Wake up!

It was dark. Or were their eyes closed? They couldn’t tell. They couldn’t feel anything. They were vaguely aware of the weight of the sun in their arms, but no warmth came from it. Niko felt like they should be feeling some negative emotions right now, but there were none. Only darkness, numbness. Did they die? Was this the afterlife?

Niko!

Player was calling them. Niko wanted to respond, but they couldn’t move their body. Did they even have a body? Had they ever had one? Maybe everything was always just this. Maybe they had imagined it all. But then, why was Player still here?

Suddenly, something hard collided with their back. Sensation returned all at once, a wave of sounds and smells and textures and feelings. They could feel their body again, and their eyes shot open, flooding their senses with blinding light.

They whimpered, curling up into a ball around the sun, now warm and glowing like normal. Niko had never been one to get overstimulated, but this was just so much after so little.

Niko?

Niko’s heartbeat began to slow. They forced their muscles to relax, taking a few deep breaths to ground themself.

“Player? I’m sorry, I was overwhelmed.”

Don’t apologize. It’s not your fault.

Niko got up slowly, taking in their surroundings. They were in some kind of… flat… plain? Made entirely of grey concrete. The sky was grey as well, although a slightly lighter shade. Off in the distance, angular mountains were barely visible. Niko clutched the sun close, nervous. This was nothing like the world they were familiar with. Was this some kind of glitch?

Do you know where we are?

“No.”

That’s just great. I suppose we should get to exploring, find a way out of here.

“Yeah.”

Niko began to trek towards the distant mountains. They were the only landmark Niko could see, so they didn’t have much of a choice.

As they walked, they felt something wet running down their back. They stopped, putting down the sun and reaching to feel it. They looked at their hands.

“Player? I think I’m bleeding…”

What?!

Niko stared at their hand for a moment, then turned back to where they had woken up. Sure enough, there was a small bloodstain on the ground. “I think I hurt my back when I hit the floor…”

Player started making noises akin to hyperventilating. Fuck! W-we need to find someone, you need help-

“No, don’t worry!” Niko said, turning back around. “It’s just a little cut, I’m not gonna bleed out or something-“

This did not seem to help. The world started flickering in and out of existence as Player started desperately searching their files for some way to heal Niko.

“Player-“

Just hold on a second, I can help you! I know I can! You’ll be fine, just stay put!

Niko blinked slowly, brain slightly lagging at this point from all the flickering. They decided to sit down and wait for Player to sort out whatever it was they were doing.

“Aha, a tear in the fabric of reality? Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it spared my tongue!” Niko jumped at the voice, not expecting someone to show up so suddenly- how did I not see them coming? It’s so empty here.

A blue-and-yellow face rolled into their vision, followed shortly after by a tall, angular body. The body scooped up the head, fixing it in place floating above the torso. “Greetings, Kitten! What is your angle in this fine rendition?”

Niko’s mouth flapped open and closed a few times, their brain taking an awful long time to process what just happened. They paused to look the new person up and down, taking in their strange appearance.

They were extremely tall, even taller than most grownups Niko knew. They had a face split in two, one side blue and the other yellow. Their nose and mouth seemed to be almost drawn on, and their face almost completely flat. They had long dark hair that reached down to their waist, and two tufts of hair floating idly above their head. Their body was rectangular and tapered slightly at the bottom, where a stiff skirt dressed their waist. Their limbs were also different colors, like their face, but the blue limbs were blocky rather than smooth. Their arms, like their head, were not connected to their body, instead floating nearby.

Niko realized they were staring and quickly snapped back to reality. “…um… hello. Who are you? Are you a robot?”

The person let out a small chuckle, head doing a 360 for some reason. “A robot? What joviality! I am no more a robot than you are a loaf of bread!” The person crouched down in front of Niko, head circling them a few times. “Ah ha, I see! Your physical form is damaged! I was positive I sensed distress in the server. Is your rendering orifice malfunctioning? How unfortunate! Your sprite should stop leaking if it knows what’s good for it.”

Niko was about to say something, when-

Hey! Who’s that? When did they get here?

The person glanced up at the sky, arm wrestling with herself to pass the time. “Greetings, disembodied one! Are you this site’s moderator?”

What? Did they just- you can hear me?

“Why not?” The person bowed to nobody, then did fifteen consecutive cartwheels in place while exclaiming “it would be a tragedy to ignore such a being! What is your designation, O higher power? I go by the moniker of ENA!”

Uh- I’m Player. And that’s Niko.

“A most advantageous security number!” ENA replied. “Are you aware that your accomplice is damaged?”

Do you have medical supplies? Can you help us?

“Medicinal remedies and vitamins are essential to a healthy lifestyle! Would you like a lollipop?” ENA procured a cartoony lollipop from thin air and handed it to Niko. As soon as the object touched Niko’s hands, it spontaneously combusted into a small burst of confetti, and the wetness on Niko’s back disappeared in an instant. ENA, who had apparently acquired a nurses’ cap in the last few seconds, gave Niko a thumbs up. “How would you rate my service?”

Niko was, understandably, flabbergasted. ENA stood there for a few seconds before abruptly spinning around, nurses’ cap disappearing into the void as quickly as it appeared. “I best be going! Good day, Kitten!”

“W-wait!” Niko finally snaped out of their trance, scrambling to their feet. “Don’t leave me here! I-I don’t know where I am or how to get home!“

ENA turned around, placing her fingers on her chin with an exaggerated thinking expression. “Well that won’t do! Come then, I shall accompany you, fair compatriot!” She effortlessly lifted Niko with one arm and pointed ahead with the other. “Adventure awaits!”

Chapter Text

The sky was green now. Fluffy white clouds shot across the sky at blinding speeds. Niko was slightly nauseous looking at them.

ENA was making an unusual sound- it sounded sort of like humming, but it was strangely robotic, and punctuated by soft dial-up sounds. Although strange, it was calming, in its own way. Niko was starting to doze off, when ENA suddenly stopped walking, grabbing Niko by the scruff of their shirt and dropping them on the ground next to her. “We have arrived!”

Niko blinked a bit, waking themselves up. “Huh…? We’re where?” They turned towards ENA, then towards where she was looking.

What’s this thing?

“A door, my intangible paisan!” ENA exclaimed, trotting up to the object. It was… not door shaped. It looked like a broken down car, and entirely blue. Well, it did have doors on it. Maybe that’s what ENA meant.

“Kittens first!” ENA chirped, yanking one of the car‘s doors clear off its hinges and chucking it away. Niko chose to ignore this, they should start expecting these things from ENA at this point. Oh, wait, did she just say-

“I’m not a cat!”

ENA cocked her head. “Correct! Relevance?”

Niko huffed. “Well- you keep calling me a kitten!”

ENA paused for a moment, mouth half open, a loading bar appearing above her head. It crawled slowly up to 99%, getting stuck there for a few seconds before completing, and ENA let out a small chuckle. “Names are a difficult sort, if I may say.” Her arms began to slowly rotate around her torso as she spoke. “Someone may twist their lips incorrectly, unfortunately. That is to say, shortcuts must be taken at times like these.”

“What?” Niko muttered, trying to make sense of what was just said. “Twist… I don’t understand.”

Are you saying you can’t pronounce Niko’s name?

“Correct!” A green check mark flashed above ENA’s head. “Most unfortunate. I have assimilated the closest cultural equivalent!”

“Can’t you use a different word? I’m not a kitten…”

“Other attempts have failed. Sincerest apologies!” Suddenly, ENA changed- her nose and mouth switched to her blue side, and her voice became high and feminine. “I’m such a failure! I’m useless! Just kill me now! I deserve it!”

Niko jolted, caught off guard by the sudden self-loathing. “I-I didn’t mean- I’m sorry, d-did I say something wrong?”

Hey, what? You didn’t do anything wrong!

ENA’s eyes filled with static, and her yellow side took back over. She straightened up, placing her hands on her hips. “Sincerest apologies, My good chum! My emotions tend to get the better of me. Shall we proceed?” Before Niko could respond, she grabbed them by the arm and tossed them into the car, then slid into the driver’s seat next to them. She grabbed the steering wheel and laid on the horn, and the car shot forwards and upwards, catapulting into the sky. Then, as quickly as it had begun, the car jolted to a halt, and the seats threw the two entities out the front windshield. ENA landed on her feet and quickly reached out to catch Niko and the sun, plopping them both down on the ground and giving Niko’s head a light pat.

W-what the fuck was that!? Niko, are you ok?

Niko nodded mutely, slightly shell shocked. ENA flipped over onto her hands, her body lagging behind slightly, and winked at what was presumably the fourth wall. ”What a thrill!”

You could have warned us about that!

“About what?”

About… that!! About the car moving so fast!

“What car? You mean the door?”

Obviously, yes!

“Oh, my apologies. I assumed you knew.”

How could we know that would happen?

ENA seemed genuinely confused at this point. “I am afraid I do not understand your anger. Did you not travel there using the Car Door?”

No! Obviously not!

ENA fell silent, mouth closed “oh.”

Niko sat there, feeling awkward. “Uh… Player, don’t be so hard on her. She didn’t know.”

Well she needs to learn to read the room!

“Sowwy…” the feminine voice was back. She dropped down from her handstand. “I’m such an idiot…”

Niko shot a look at the sky. “Player, you’re being rude.”

…

“…”

Fine… sorry…

ENA sniffled. Niko got up, padding over to ENA and patting her on the leg. “I’m not mad.”

“T-thank you…”

They both sat there for a bit. Player didn’t say anything else.

Chapter Text

“I-NA! Where have you been? You can’t keep running off like that, I’m not your freaking babysitter!”

Niko looked up to see some kind of orb with a face floating around the corner. They looked sort of like a drawing of a crescent moon, but the dark side had a square hole where an eye should be, and there were a few tufts of black hair on the other side. The entity spotted ENA and Niko sitting on the ground and made a face.

“Ugh, did you kidnap a child again?”

“Oh no no no no, no no no no, no no, no!” ENA responded, popping up and repeatedly doing what could only be described as a Minecraft crouching animation for every word. What even is Minecraft? Player, was that you? “This is our newest party member in this RPG called existence! And their disembodied companion.” She added.

“…”

“And I am 99.99999999999999995% sure that I did not kidnap them.”

“Hm. I’ll allow it.”

“Um…” Niko squeaked awkwardly. ”Who are you?”

“Oh. Right.” The orb turned to Niko, narrowing their eyes as they studied the smaller being. “I’m Moony. What’s your deal?”

“My name is Niko.”

I’m Player! I’m also here!

“Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm-”

“Um…”

“-mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmaybe we can get that umbrella now.”

“A most excellent idea, my good chum!” ENA responded.

“What?”

Why would you need us to get an umbrella? Is it behind a really small door or something?

…you have got to be kidding me.

It was, in fact, an incredibly small door.

“Why do you need the umbrella?”

“Why wouldn’t we? Dumbass.”

“Moony, language!”

Player didn’t say anything, but Niko could feel their irritation.

“Oh!” ENA crouched down in front of Niko, grabbing the sun out of their arms and standing back up. “I’ll hold this for you, Kitten!”

“Huh? Wait, but-“

“This trinket is quite important, yes? it will be very difficult to retrieve our umbrella if you are allowed to bring it. I wouldn’t want it to break!”

Wait, what are you having us do, exactly? What's in there that could break the sun?

ENA shrugged. “I do not know! I cannot enter that place. That is why you must do it for us!”

“Wuh…” Niko faltered, glancing at the tiny door. “What if there’s something dangerous in there, then?”

“Excellent point!” ENA put a hand to her chin contemplatively. “That is a possible setback. I will go with you!” She grabbed her head by the floating hair tufts and dropped it in front of Niko. Her body gave them a thumbs up. “Problem solved! You can carry my head with you, and I will protect you from evil!”

Hold on, you can’t just say that- we’re not doing this, Niko could get hurt! Find another way to get your oh-so-important umbrella.

“Oh, you can’t back out now.” Moony scoffed, looking up from the vacation pamphlet she was reading. For some reason. “You’re already inside.”

“What-?”

Suddenly, Niko was standing in an underground cavern. They squeaked in surprise, stumbling back and falling into a shallow puddle. ENA’s head spontaneously materialized next to them. “Let us proceed, Kitten!”

Niko glanced around, taking in their new surroundings. The aforementioned cavern wasn’t particularly large, Niko guessed it was probably around the size of a typical garage. The walls and floor were composed of a reddish brown stone, and there were lanterns strung along the walls, lighting the cavern with a soft orange glow. There were several puddles dotted about the floor, some with a thin film of algae on the surface- not the one’s Niko had fallen in, thankfully.

As Niko scanned their surroundings, they realized that they hadn’t heard Player say anything yet. If they knew Player, they should be screaming at ENA right now for whatever just happened.

“Player?”

No response.

“Player stayed with Moony, I believe!” ENA chirped. “Do not worry, I am sure they will get along just fine!”

Niko doubted that. They got up, squeezing the water out of their sleeves before picking up ENA’s disembodied head. It was a lot lighter than they expected, even lighter than the sun.

“Let us spelunk!” ENA exclaimed. Niko smirked at the words. “Spelunk?”

“Spelunking is the word used to describe exploring caves! It is quite an enjoyable word to say, is it not?”

Niko giggled. “It is a funny word.”

The tunnels would’ve been quite confusing, if it wasn’t for the string of lanterns that lit the correct path. The tunnels themselves were quite traversable; Niko couldn’t see why there would be a risk of the sun breaking.

But just as the thought crossed their mind, the ground suddenly gave out beneath them. Niko screamed in terror as they plummeted down the sinkhole, losing their grip on ENA’s head in the process.

They heard ENA say something in a voice that sounded much too chipper for the situation at hand, although they were too terrified to think about that right now. They instinctively spun their body mid-air, facing downwards, and spread out their limbs to create drag.

“That seems exceptionally cat-like to me!” ENA called.

Niko ignored her, as there was a more pressing issue at hand; the extremely hard surface rapidly approaching them both was taking up most of Niko’s attention.

Niko started going through the five stages of grief at record speed.

Denial- there’s no way this is happening, this must be some kind of dream, maybe this whole thing really is just a glitch and I’ll be teleported back to the regular world in a couple seconds.

Anger- none of this would’ve happened if Moony and ENA hadn’t made me go in here to get that stupid umbrella! I hate them both!

Bargaining- I’m sorry for everything, I’ll never do anything bad again if I live through this, I’ll never take anything for granted again…

Depression- oh, wait. Niko didn’t get to depression. Seems like they weren’t grieving fast enough. instead, they felt themself come to a sudden stop as they hit the ground, and everything went black.

…

Or… not?

Niko opened their eyes.

They were alive. Not a scratch on them.

Niko sat up, looking around. Around them was nothing but darkness. They were sitting below the opening of the sinkhole, bathed in the light from the lanterns far above.

“ENA?”

No response. Niko shivered, bringing their knees up to their chin. I’m a big kid. I’m not afraid of the dark.

The sound of stone scraping on stone drew their attention back to the hole above. To their horror, the hole was closing back up- the beam of light quickly shrunk around them, and they were abruptly plunged into darkness.

Niko curled up tighter, breathing more quickly. I’m not afraid of the dark. I’m not afraid of the dark. I’m not-

Niko started to cry, their sobs echoing down unseen tunnels in the blackness. They were alone. They were afraid. It was so dark. They were afraid of the dark.

Chapter Text

Niko lost track of time after a while. They could’ve sat there crying for weeks, for all they knew. Although, they supposed they would’ve run out of tears by then.

They kept thinking about ENA- from the way she was talking as they fell, she must have thought Niko knew they wouldn’t die on impact. Maybe that’s what she had said earlier, when Niko was too panicked to process her words. ENA didn’t mean it, Niko was sure. ENA couldn’t have known. But where was she now? Why hadn't she landed safely next to Niko?

Niko had almost forgotten about the darkness at this point. The silence was much more deafening. Nobody was here. Nobody was coming for them. And that scared them even more than some monster in the darkness.

Should they get up and try to find a way out? No, what if there was a cliff or a wall of spikes or something equally deadly hiding in the inky blackness? What if they fell and died for real this time?

Niko sniffled, raising their head from their lap to take another look around. Their eyes had adjusted slightly at this point, and they could see the vague outline of their own body. They clenched and unclenched their small hands, watching the movement of their fingers in the darkness. It made them feel more real, if only a little. At least they were still here. They still existed. That was something.

Suddenly, a noise. The sound of shoes against stone. Footfalls, echoing in the darkness.

Niko scrambled to their feet. “Hello! Help! I’m lost!”

The footsteps paused, for a moment, then resumed, slowly getting louder as they approached. Suddenly, there was light, illuminating a tunnel in the cave wall, as whoever it was rounded the corner.

A red and white head sporting a dark green cap and short dark hair peeked around the corner, followed by a torso, arms and legs. They were holding what looked like a ball of pure white light in their hand. Strangely, they looked strikingly similar to ENA- they had the same split face, floating arms and angular torso, except instead of a skirt, their legs were connected by what seemed like a floating pair of shorts. The left side of their body was smooth and red, while the right was angular and white. It seemed like their white side was in control at the moment, and it did not seem happy.

The person strided over to Niko, crouching down in front of them with an exasperated look on their face. “What do you want, kid? Make it quick, I've got a job to do.” like ENA’s blue side, their right side had a more feminine voice, although it was much more gruff than hers.

Niko stared up at the new face, then burst into tears.

The stranger flinched, looking slightly distressed at the sudden flood of tears. “Uh- what- uh, kid, did i, uh? Scare you? I’m not gonna hurt you or whatever…” she said awkwardly, scratching her head with her free arm.

“I-it’s not- i j-just- i thought i was gonna b-be here f-forever… I was so s-scared…”

“Uh… there there…” the stranger awkwardly reached out and patted Niko on the head.

Niko took a few deep breaths to calm themself. They looked up at the stranger, hands clasped together nervously. “Uh… I don't know the way out, and I'm sorry I interrupted your… job, but can you take me with you? My friend isn’t here, and I don't know the way without her. I promise I won't be a bother.”

The stranger glanced at their arm as if checking a watch. They sighed, running their fingers through their hair. “fine… come on, follow me.” they stood up, glancing back at Niko and then walking back towards the tunnel they had appeared from. Niko followed quickly, catching up and trotting beside them.

“Um, my name’s Niko, by the way. What’s yours?”

The stranger didn’t look at Niko. “ƎNA.”

“Oh! My friend’s name is ENA. That's a funny coincidence. And you kinda look like her, too.”

ƎNA snorted. “I would hope so. An ENA usually looks like an ENA.”

Niko cocked their head, frowning. “‘An’ ENA?”

ƎNA stopped, looking down at Niko with narrowed eyes. “...you’re not from around here, are you Kitten?”

Niko’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

ƎNA turned her forwards and resumed walking. Niko followed in silence.

The sun was blue here. Strange. Well, not too strange, at least not compared to everything else.

The aforementioned blue sun was suspended in a black-and-white checkered sky dotted with dark red clouds that didn’t seem to move in the slightest. The ground was like a bouncy castle, and instead of plastic full of air, it seemed to be made out of newspaper clippings sewn together like fabric. There were a few tree-like structures in the distance, although Niko couldn’t quite make out what exactly they were made out of. The air smelled like paper mache.

ƎNA was scanning the landscape. Her red side was in control now, and it seemed much calmer than her white side, thank goodness. She narrowed her eyes at something in the distance, then made a “aha!” sound and began making her way in that direction. Niko squinted at where she had been looking, unable to identify anything out of place, but shrugged and followed her anyway.

They stopped in front of what looked like some kind of manhole cover made of fabric. ƎNA reached down and knocked on it, then straightened back up and waited for whatever she was expecting to happen.

After a few seconds, the manhole cover swung open, and an entity popped out. They were shaped like a rat, but they had buttons for eyes and seemed to be made out of leather. The button eyes narrowed when they saw ƎNA.

“ENА? Жингийн төлөө миний замаас зайл! Таны хийж байгаа зүйл бол саад болох явдал юм! Новшнууд чинь үнэхээр бүдүүлэг юм аа!”

Niko couldn’t understand whatever language they were speaking, but ƎNA seemed to understand just fine, and whatever they had said seemed to irritate her.

“CAN IT, WEASEL! ONCE A HYPOCRITE, ALWAYS A HYPOCRITE! GET YOUR TAIL IN GEAR AND STUFF IT!” her white side yelled, somehow pulling out a whole ass megaphone from her shirt and shoving it in the rat’s face.

“Сайн байна! Мэдээллээ аваарай, намайг ялзруулъя! Дахиж миний хаалганд бүү хүр!”

The rat threw something at ƎNA and retreated back into their manhole cover, grumbling. ƎNA caught the object, which disappeared, and held her hands out, beams of light flowing from her eyes as her red side exclaimed “Bless you for your business!” Then she turned on her heels and began marching away.

Niko glanced back at the manhole cover as they scurried after ƎNA. They had come to expect the weirdness by now, but that didn’t mean they weren’t confused as hell when it did happen. “Uh…” Niko muttered, glancing up at ƎNA. “What did they give you?”

“An excellent question!” ƎNA stopped, holding her hand out as the object materialized on her palm. It looked like a large cork. “This is an ⍺! It is required to pass the gate of this door’s city.”

Niko nodded slowly. they had no idea what that meant, but they had a feeling that any further explanation would just be even more confusing.

The pair trekked across the papery landscape for several minutes before coming across a small neon green pond nestled in a dip between two hills. ƎNA crouched down on the shore and produced the “⍺”, dropping it in the pond. The thing almost immediately caught on fire, then sunk into the liquid. After a moment, the pond suddenly split down the middle, revealing a staircase leading down into the earth.

ƎNA promptly began descending said staircase, but Niko stepped back. Did that stuff just burn that cork thing? What if it floods the staircase?

ƎNA, noticing Niko’s absence, glanced back at them, eyebrow raised. “Hurry up, it’ll close in a few minutes.” her white side said, frowning.

Niko shook their head.

“Well why not?” ƎNA snapped, stomping back up the stairs and putting her hands on her hips. Niko looked away. “...I'm scared.”

ƎNA stared at the smaller being, mouth forming a small line on her face. She let go of her hips, letting her hands fall limp at her sides. She seemed… uncomfortable. “Scared of what?”

“The green stuff. It burned the thing you dropped in it.”

“The acid is not on the staircase.”

“But you said it’d close, doesn't that mean it’ll flood the staircase?”

“Ah.” ƎNA placed her poligonal hand on her chin, brows furrowing. “I suppose that is a possibility.”

ƎNA stood in place for a few seconds, looking back and forth from the stairs to Niko and back. “Hmm… aha!” her red side took over in an instant, and she reached down and lifted Niko up and onto her shoulders. “You may use me as a mount! The acid cannot reach you here. Is that satisfactory?”

Niko steadied themself, grabbing hold of ƎNA’s head to avoid falling off. “Uh! Oh, that’s fine. Thanks.”

ƎNA smiled, then turned back to the staircase, descending into the earth below.

The tunnel they were in now was not unlike the cave-like area Niko had been transported to before. The only difference was, in this tunnel, there was only one path, and the ground never gave out and sent them plunging into a sinkhole. ƎNA was doing that strange humming that ENA had done before, when Niko first met her. ƎNA’s humming was slightly less electronic, however. It sounded more like a human with a voice changer rather than a straight-up robot. It was as calming as ENA’s humming, in a different, more human way. It reminded Niko of their mother.

ƎNA’s hair smelled like cinnamon. Niko’s head drooped, resting on ƎNA’s head like a pillow. Maybe if they closed their eyes, they would wake up at home. Maybe this was all a dream. Dreams don’t make sense a lot of the time.

But part of Niko didn’t want this to be a dream. They wanted Player to be real, at least. And ENA was really nice.

Oh well. Sometimes dreams are better than reality, right? Brains are funny like that.

…

Niko slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter Text

ƎNA stopped short as Niko suddenly went limp, quickly reaching behind her back and catching them before they could fall. She stood there for a second, slightly panicked, before spinning her arms back around to hold the child out in front of her.

Niko looked… peaceful. They were still breathing, thank god. They were probably sleeping. ƎNA always forgot that other entities did that.

Why am I even worried? It’s not like I've been assigned to take care of them or something.

ƎNA shook her head to clear it of those doubtful thoughts. Whatever. It wasn't like Niko was actively interrupting her job. No reason to be mad. It was probably just Salesperson making her feel all protective.

She carefully shifted Niko to a more comfortable position in her arms, then straightened her hat and continued down the tunnel.

The city was just as obnoxious as ƎNA expected. Everything was annoyingly bright, unnecessarily shiny white plastic. The buildings were shaped like giant funnels, with no concern for structural integrity- just because it wasn’t necessary didn’t mean it looked better without it. The music playing on loop in the background was painfully average as well.

ƎNA dragged herself through the headache-inducing streets, not bothering to waste time talking to any entities. The citizens were looking at her funny anyway. She had hoped that they would at least tolerate her here, like in the Lonely Door, but no such luck. At least she wasn’t bogged down with trivial tasks to waste her time. This was a time-sensitive job, after all.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't going to be spared from socializing for much longer. A familiar blue and yellow face twirled out of a nearby alley, and a default ENA skittered up to her, tapping her on the solder as if ƎNA hadn’t clearly already seen her doing her smug little dance in her peripheral vision.

“Pardon me!” the ENA said, gliding in front of ƎNA and forcing her to stop. “But it appears you are in possession of my recently acquired small friend! We really must be going, we have an umbrella to retrieve!”

ƎNA glared at the default, gritting her teeth as meanie tried not to start yelling and wake Niko. “Well. It looks like we’re going to the same place, then. How. Fortunate.”

“How fortunate!” the default clapped once, then fell into a curtsy. “How lovely to make your acquaintance! You may call me ENA.”

“...ƎNA.” ƎNA grumbled. She pushed the taller entity aside and continued down the road, ENA quickly skipping after her. This was going to be a long day.

They both proceed in silence, which ƎNA was grateful for. She didn’t think she could mentally handle a constant chatterbox following her around all day.

The farther they walked, the more annoyed surrounding entities seemed to get. Some even ran away as they got close. ƎNA could ignore them, she was used to this, but she noticed ENA had switched to her blue side, watching the entities avoid them with slight confusion. She was probably from some out-of-the-way door that didn’t despise ENAs. Lucky for her.

They eventually arrived at their destination; a wall covered in various doors and windows. ƎNA quickly scanned all the doors, settling on two that could be correct. It seemed ENA had reached the same conclusion, as she was slowly looking between the two, eyes narrowed.

ENA slowly approached one of the doors, looking it over. She glanced at ƎNA, as if waiting for permission.

“What are you looking at? I’m not the boss, do whatever you want.”

ENA blinked, slightly flustered looking, then turned and placed her hand on the door handle. Almost immediately, the door blew off its hinges, blasting ENA with a heavy dose of green fog before slamming back into place.

ENA, who had been knocked backwards onto her back in the blast, rolled over onto her stomach and giggled drunkenly. Her face was already black and white- she was definitely a lightweight.

ƎNA sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, then trudged over to the drunk woman and crouched down next to her, grabbing her by the chin and turning her head to look up at ƎNA. ENA hiccup-laughed and rolled her head back. “You’re preeeetty…” she slurred. “Your face is nice… how’d did that? Craaaaazy… Do colors always dancin like that?”

ƎNA’s expression softened. Something about this was… kind of cute. “You’re not making any sense.” she said, Salesperson coming back out for the first time since the tunnel. “Get up, I can't carry you and Kitten.”

“Okaaaaaay! I’ma get up now… riiight! Everything’s spiiiiining! Weeee!”

ENA slowly wobbled to her feet, swaying back and forth before gaining her balance. “Rrrrready!”

ƎNA waited to see if ENA would topple over again. She didn't, so ƎNA turned back to the doors. She opened the remaining door, glancing back to make sure ENA was following before continuing on to the center of the city.

The entities in here were the worst so far. They actively voiced their opinion, and they were extremely loud about it- some children even threw some pebbles at them, which ƎNA miraculously managed to ignore. ENA, on the other hand, was visibly distressed- she was holding onto ƎNA’s upper arm, her blue side now white rather than her yellow.

Her change in attitude made ƎNA uncomfortable- not from her, but on her behalf. She started purposefully turning into quieter streets- this would lose her time, but she wasn’t thinking about that anymore.

Eventually, she stopped in the middle of a deserted block. ENA was practically hugging ƎNA’s arm at this point.

ƎNA scanned the area, eyes landing on a nearby bench. She led ENA over to it, sitting her down before joining her on the seat. ENA curled up into a fetal position, still holding ƎNA’s arm like a lifeline. ƎNA tapped her other arm’s fingers on the bench awkwardly.

“Why is evweone so mean to us?” ENA whimpered, peeking out of her arms to look at ƎNA. ƎNA inhaled through her teeth, turning to look up at the sky. “Uh… that’s complicated. But you didn't do anything wrong. People are just racist. Not much we can do about it.”

ENA buried her head back in her arms. “Maybe i desewve it… i’m just useless anyway…”

“Hey! Don’t you dare be self-deprecating on my watch!” ƎNA snapped. That was… uncharacteristic of her. Why did she care so much? “If you’re useless, I'm an hourglass dog! Pull yourself together!”

ENA raised her head. “You… you wiwwy mean it?” she whispered. “You don’t think I'm useless?”

Before ƎNA could answer, they were interrupted by a tiny yawn from Niko. their eyes fluttered open, and they pushed themselves up into a sitting position, rubbing their eyes. “Huh… wha happen? Where are we?”

ENA immediately reverted to her normal self, yellow side active instantaneously. “Kitten! you are awake!”

“Wuh… ENA? How’d you get here? Why is everything white?”

“All shall be explained promptly!” ENA exclaimed, hopping off of the bench. “But I fear we may be late! Come, let us continue!”

Niko slid off the bench as ENA started explaining what had happened in their absence in the most dramatic way possible. ƎNA noticed that she left out a few parts, mainly the rampant racism.

ƎNA figured that was for the best. Niko shouldn’t have to deal with that kind of stuff.

So they proceeded, and ƎNA tried her best to focus on the job and ignore the weird feelings bubbling in the back of her mind.