Page 78 of Pandion

It’s all right. Don’t worry about it. You can check.

“Huh?”

Don’t worry.

“But…”

“What is it, what do you hear?” Satoru was alarmed enough to yet again open his eyes despite the discomfort.

“I’m not sure if it’s actually responding to me, but it seems like it is.” Please stop sounding like Satoru.That was the worst part.

What does that mean?it responded, still with the same familiar tone and cadence.

Even better: please stop talking altogether.Maybe it would heed this request if it was truly trying to help.

Why? This seems like a useful function.

“Oh, no. No…” It was only getting worse.

Was this what it felt like to lose one’s mind? Was he actually having a conversation with it, or were these fragments and remnants of something he’d thought or experienced, now resurfacing because the organism was taking over his brain? Would it eat him up the way it had done to the other organism? How long until this would replace what was left of him?

Don’t worry. That’s not what I’m here for.

“Kagesawa? R-RED. What’s happening? Talk to me.”

Satoru seemed to be trying to push through the migraine, wanting to help, but what could he do? This thing was inside of Kagesawa’s head. It was doing something to suppress the worst of his panic, but some of it was spilling through, triggering the fight-or-flight response. His stomach felt like it flipped upside down, and he gasped for deep breaths, trying to calm himself. Another panic attack.

Panic attack?

“What do I do? Help? I need to go get help?” Satoru sat up, clearly in pain having to move his head. He was about to get upand leave, and not wanting to be left alone, Kagesawa tried to grab a hold of him.

“Don’t,” he managed to say, still gasping for breaths, hyperventilating.For the love of all things holy, don’t leave me!He’d not meant to yell it, but the way Satoru winced, he’d definitely heard it with no little volume.

It’s all right, don’t worry.

“Uhh, was that me? I must be misfiring somehow.”

Evidently, Satoru had also heard the thing project. It wasn’t just his imagination then? Or was he doing it himself?

Oh, you mean I shouldn’t do it the same way as him? I shouldn’t copy? What should I do then? You?It morphed into something like Kagesawa’s inner dialogue, a slightly flavourless version of himself.

“In any case, you need to stop panicking. Breathe slower. Breathe against your sleeve.” Satoru guided him to lift his arm over his mouth, and that touch was already grounding enough to help Kagesawa snap out of it.

It’s all right. Don’t worry.

Yes, sure, but how could he be sure the thing was trustworthy?

I’m stuck in here. I don’t want to hurt you. Why would I want to hurt you?

“I don’t know. I don’t… I’m not…” He wasn’t very useful to have around. It made sense for him to give way to something better if that was possible.

Calm down. I’m not capable of something like that, yet. By the time it comes to that, we’ll have worked it out.That didn’t sound at all reassuring. It was still aiming to gain control at some point. When?

Not for a long time. I’m not even close to done evolving. You are fascinating but very difficult to evolve in, and moreover, my mentor is giving me really primitive instructions. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to be doing.

The jump from a few repeated projections to this level of speech seemed drastic.

As soon as Kagesawa had finished the thought, the thing continued.I’ve been building up to it for a while now, but it’s better to have a good grasp of grammar and vocabulary before starting to communicate, or it breeds all sorts of trouble and misunderstandings.

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