The ripperdoc returned without fanfare. He carried a fresh tablet under one arm and a slim metal case in the other, the polished latches catching the fluorescent light as he set it carefully on the rolling tray beside Void's bed. The monitors responded the moment he stepped close, their displays shifting from passive vitals into deeper diagnostic screens that bloomed across the panels in webs of neurological telemetry while Reyes studied them calmly.

Across the room, Aura had already relocated herself. She was currently upside down on the ceiling, arms and legs spread like a starfish while she inspected the lighting fixture with exaggerated curiosity.

"Wow," she murmured thoughtfully, tapping the plastic cover of the fluorescent panel with one knuckle. "This place is aggressively boring."

She twisted her head ninety degrees to watch Reyes enter.

"Oh look, the skull butcher's back."

Void dragged a hand slowly down her face.

Reyes stepped closer to the bed, glancing at her expression with mild clinical interest while the tablet in his hand filled with scrolling graphs.

"How are you feeling?" he asked evenly.

Aura immediately dropped from the ceiling and phased straight through the heart monitor, landing beside the bed with a loud imaginary thud.

"Terrible bedside manner," she announced. "You should've opened with 'hello valued patient, we hope you're enjoying your better self now'."

Void stared at the wall for a moment like she was deciding whether to scream.

"There's a... Person in the room."

Aura raised her hand cheerfully.

"Present."

Reyes didn't even look in the direction Void had indicated. Instead he leaned over the monitor, scrolling through a cascade of brain activity maps that rotated slowly in three-dimensional layers like glowing coral.

"Describe the individual."

Void pointed directly at Aura.

"Pink hair. Looks like me two years ago. Currently leaning on your equipment like she owns the place."

Aura immediately climbed onto the diagnostics cart and kicked her legs over the edge.

"I absolutely own this dump now," she declared. "Squatter's rights. Neural edition."

Sandy shifted in his chair, glancing back and forth between Void and the empty space she was gesturing at. His brow furrowed with fascinated confusion rather than fear.

"That's the other one?"

Void nodded tiredly.

"The original owner of this meat mech, thank you very much," Aura added, leaning towards Sandy with exaggerated politeness. She waved her hand directly in front of his face. "Helloooo? Can the gun cabinet see me?"

Sandy scratched his beard slowly.

"Rude."

Reyes rotated the holographic brain model on his tablet and magnified a cluster of signals near the implant lattice. The projection spilled across the nearby screen in luminous threads of color that pulsed rhythmically with Void's heartbeat.

Aura's attention snapped to it instantly.

She slid off the cart and wandered straight into the projection, sticking her head halfway through the glowing structure like someone peeking into an aquarium.

"Holy shit," she whispered in fascinated awe. She reached out and tapped one of the floating nodes. "Is this my apartment now?"

Void pinched the bridge of her nose. "Doc."

Reyes looked up. "Yes?"

Void gestured broadly at Aura, who was now crouched inside the rotating neural map like a kid hiding in a jungle gym. "She's playing with your brain diagram."

Aura turned toward Reyes and waved from inside the projection. "It's very spacious in here."

Reyes didn't react to the empty air. Instead he expanded the highlighted neural cluster, revealing dozens of branching pathways feeding into the cyberware's central interface node.

"The cyberware is functioning within expected parameters," he began calmly. "In fact, your body appears to be integrating with the new system quicker than any other augmentation-naive body I have ever seen during my career."

Aura leaned her chin on one of the glowing branches and listened like a bored student.

"However," he continued, tapping the screen once more, "the cortex accelerator detected a secondary cognitive structure during initialization."

Aura blinked. "That sounds expensive."

Void leaned forward slightly despite the ache in her muscles. "Plain language, doc."

Reyes folded his hands behind his back. "The interface converts neural signals into operational commands," he explained patiently. "Visual overlays, communications routing, data interpretation."

Aura raised both hands enthusiastically. "Oh oh, does it also do karaoke?"

He continued without pause.

"When the system scanned your brain during activation, it catalogued two distinct cognitive signatures."

Aura froze mid-step inside the projection, then her face slowly stretched into a delighted grin.

"Wait." She climbed out of the brain model and leaned over Void's shoulder. "Are you telling me the military computer thinks I'm a user?"

Void looked at Reyes. "It's rendering her," she stated plainly.

"Correct."

Aura stared at her hands and started laughing. It wasn't a normal laugh either. It came out in escalating bursts like a fire alarm discovering joy. "OH THAT IS FANTASTIC," she cackled. She spun around the room in an orbit, passing through equipment, bed rails, and the IV stand. "I GOT GRAPHICS," she announced triumphantly. She stopped abruptly in front of Void and leaned down nose-to-nose. "I HAVE A FUCKING CHARACTER MODEL."

Void looked exhausted already. "Can you turn it off?"

Aura gasped dramatically. "Excuse you?"

Reyes considered the question for several seconds while studying the data streams crawling across the screen.

"Not without removing the neural interface entirely," he said at last.

Aura placed both hands on her hips. "So that's a no. YES!"

Void stared at the ceiling like she was calculating how fast she could uninstall her own brain.

"Fan-fucking-tastic."

Sandy shifted in his chair. "Doc," he said carefully, "is this... Dangerous?"

Aura perked up instantly. "Ooo good question," she said.

Reyes turned another screen towards them, highlighting additional neural branches growing outward from the implant node like roots spreading through soil. "There is a secondary implication," he explained calmly.

Aura leaned closer. "I love implications."

"The projection is not merely visual," Reyes continued.

Void felt her stomach sink.

"It is an active cognitive process integrated into the same lattice as the cyberware."

Aura blinked twice, then slowly smiled. "Wait wait wait." She leaned closer to the screen, examining the glowing pathways like a hacker staring at a new console. "You mean..." She pointed at the data lines. "I will be able to play with tech, too?"

Void's head snapped toward her. "Absolutely not."

Aura ignored her completely and reached for the floating neural diagram again like a child about to press a shiny red button.

Reyes continued speaking in the same measured tone one might use to discuss furniture assembly.

"The system was designed for soldiers with stable psychological profiles," he explained.

Aura slowly turned towards him. "Rude. Again!"

"It was not engineered for individuals experiencing dissociative identity structures," he finished.

Void exhaled slowly. "That's what the interview was for."

"Correct."

Aura leaned down next to Void's ear. "Liar, liar, pants on fire," she whispered gleefully.

Void glared at her. "I didn't think it mattered."

"Well congratulations," she said brightly. "It matters now."

Sandy rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay I'm gonna be honest," he admitted. "I'm following maybe a third of this and that might be generous."

Aura pointed at him approvingly. "Same honestly."

Reyes glanced down at the tablet again. "One practical adjustment may help you get more comfortable with your secondary psyche," he said.

Void looked up.

"You do not need to speak aloud to communicate with the projection," he explained.

Aura tilted her head. "Wow, someone finally said it," she mumbled "Shame, I was wondering how long it'd take for you to figure it out, Void."

Reyes continued. "Your cyberware reads cognitive intent directly," he said.

Aura's eyes widened slowly.

"Now that you know it, come on, tryyyy it!"

Void closed her eyes and focused inward.

"Can you hear me?"

Aura doubled over mid-air, clutching her stomach while laughing like she'd just discovered the funniest joke in human history.

"HOLY SHIT," she wheezed.

Sandy looked at Void.

"Did it work?"

Aura leaned close to Void again, eyes wide and shining like someone staring into a supernova. "Your thoughts are so loud," she whispered in wonder. She tapped Void's forehead lightly. "It's like someone replaced your brain with a stadium spotlight."

Void sighed.

"Please stop narrating everything."

Aura tilted her head. "Nope!" Then grinned slowly. "Wow," she said. "You're really smart sometimes." She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "And other times you're such an unbelievable dimwit that I'm amazed we survived childhood."

Void covered her eyes with one hand. "I'm stuck with you now..."

Aura wrapped an arm around Void's shoulders and beamed proudly at the invisible audience. "Yup! Permanent co-pilot," she announced. "No refunds."

Reyes closed the final diagnostic window with a quiet tap of his tablet, the glowing neural graphs folding away one by one until only the steady green pulse of Void's vital signs remained on the screen. The room seemed almost calmer once the storm of data disappeared, though the faint mechanical whirr of the "clinic" never really stopped. He stepped towards the tray beside the bed, opening the slim metal case he had brought earlier. Inside sat a row of sealed injector cartridges and a small, green pill bottle.

Aura immediately leaned over the tray from the other side, squinting at the contents akin to a raccoon inspecting a vending machine. "Oooh," she murmured with interest. "Mystery chemicals. My favorite."

Void swung her legs over the side of the bed carefully, muscles stiff from two days of inactivity. The floor felt unstable through her boots as she stood, steadying herself on the bedrail. For a moment the world tilted slightly, the sensation of gravity reconnecting with a body that had been motionless for too long.

Sandy rose from the chair instantly, hovering nearby in case she wobbled.

"Easy there," he muttered.

Aura crouched directly in front of Void, studying her balance like a scientist observing a lab rat. "Look at you go," she said brightly. "Freshly upgraded meat chassis."

Reyes stepped closer and extended the pill bottle towards Void with professional calm. "Immunosuppressants," he explained. "One dose every morning for the next seven days."

Void accepted the bottle, turning it in her fingers. "Rejection risk?"

"Your nervous system must adapt to the cybernetic lattice," Reyes said. "The drugs will prevent inflammatory responses while your body integrates the implants."

Aura leaned over Void's shoulder, peering at the label. "So basically anti-body rebellion juice."

Reyes continued with his explanation. "Mild headaches and visual artifacts may occur while the interface calibrates."

Aura raised a hand. "Reporting for duty!"

Void slid the bottle into her hoodie pocket. "Already got those."

Reyes paused briefly before giving a small courteous nod, as if the answer aligned perfectly with his expectations. "Noted."

He closed the metal case and clasped it shut with two precise clicks. "Despite the... Unusual neurological presentation, your vitals remain stable," he said.

Aura clasped her hands dramatically. "Ripper-approved hallucination."

"I wish you the best of luck with the interface," Reyes said, extending his hand to Void. "And, please, do have fun with your new abilities, Miss Void."

Void shook it firmly. "Thanks for not scrambling my brain."

Aura leaned into the handshake area and waved directly through Reyes' forearm. "Technically he did."

Sandy grabbed his jacket from the chair and jerked his head to the door. "Let's get outta the dungeon before she redecorates it."

Aura gasped. "You wound me," she said, already drifting towards the wall. "I would've added plants."

The drive away from Reyes' clinic began in a heavy silence that felt different from the one they had shared on the way there. Back then the quiet had been sharp, full of anticipation and unspoken doubts. Now it was thick with aftermath. Sandy drove carefully as the car merged into evening traffic, neon advertisements crawling across the windshield like luminous parasites. Void leaned back in the passenger seat, one elbow resting against the door, trying to get used to the constant ghost-layer of her new interface displayed in front of her. The city looked the same as it had two days ago, but it felt subtly different now, as if someone had added an extra channel of reality only she could hear. Aura had taken immediate advantage of that - she was currently "sitting" on Aura's knees with her nose practically pressed against the glass, staring down at the streets with wild curiosity, her hair glowing faintly under passing streetlights like an excited firework that had forgotten how to stop burning.

"Okay this is actually amazing," she said breathlessly while pointing at a cluster of neon signs ahead. "Nobody ever told me this city looked like a radioactive carnival."

Void rubbed her temple. "Because you weren't exactly around for most of it."

Sandy glanced sideways briefly, catching the way Void's eyes tracked something that clearly wasn't there. His expression didn't show panic or fear, just a kind of stubborn curiosity that had defined most of their friendship.

"She sightseeing?" he asked casually.

Void sighed.

"She is narrating everything like a tourist with caffeine poisoning."

Aura turned around instantly. "Oh come on, admit it, this place is cool!" She leaned forward suddenly, practically crawling across the dashboard toward the windshield. "OH! OH! STOP. THE. CAR!"

Void stiffened.

"NOODLES."

She pointed enthusiastically toward a glowing storefront they were about to pass.

"There's noodles!"

Void squinted.

A cheap street noodle joint glowed on the corner, its windows fogged with steam and fluorescent menu boards flickering unevenly.

Sandy slowed the car. "You hungry?"

Void blinked. "No."

"YES," Aura said instantly.

Void groaned. "...Yes."

Sandy grinned and turned the wheel. "Noodles it is. I could grab a bite myself."

Thirty years of questionable ventilation were apparent in the "restaurant." Steam rolled lazily from the kitchen as a tired fan tried and failed to push it towards the door. Fluorescent lights buzzed overhead with the stubborn persistence of electronics that had long since passed their intended lifespan. A couple of locals sat hunched over bowls at the far end of the room, their conversations low and unbothered by the world outside. Void slid into a booth near the window while Sandy went to the counter to order, the seat sticking faintly against the back of her hoodie as she leaned back. Aura, like the hyperactive ghost she was, immediately began exploring the room, drifting through tables, inspecting condiments, and poking curiously at a wall-mounted vending unit that she could not physically touch.

"Oh wow this place is authentic," she said approvingly.

Void pinched the bridge of her nose. "You're judging restaurants now?"

"Absolutely," Aura replied, crouching on the table and examining the laminated menu like a scientist studying alien scripture. "Also the soy sauce bottle is older than you."

Void glanced at the counter where Sandy was paying, then leaned forward slightly. "Okay look. Why the fuck am I talking to myself?"

"Correction," Aura said brightly, "you're talking to the love of your life."

Void stared at her.

"Which is you," Aura added helpfully, "Isn't this what you wanted?"

Sandy returned carrying two bowls of steaming noodles and slid one across the table toward Void.

"Alright," he said while sitting down. "Let's resume the weird conversation."

Void picked up the chopsticks slowly.

"First question," he said, leaning forward slightly, "can you touch her?"

Aura sat down on the table beside the bowl, swinging her legs carelessly.

"Try it," she said eagerly.

Void reached out carefully, fingers moving to Aura's shoulder.

Her hand passed through the projection with a faint buzzing sensation that crawled across her skin like electricity. It wasn't exactly nothing, but it wasn't solid either. The closest comparison her brain could produce was trying to grab a memory.

"Sort of," she said after pulling her hand back. "Feels like sticking my hand into a static field."

Aura stuck her hand through Void's wrist in response. "Spooky action at no distance," she whispered.

Sandy watched Void's expression carefully. "And she can touch you?"

Void lifted her arm slightly as Aura poked her cheek with two fingers that only existed for one of them. "Feels like pressure," she said slowly. "Like someone tapping directly on my nervous system."

"Interactive!" Aura exclaimed proudly.

Sandy leaned back in the booth.

"Okay," he said. "Next up - surely she had a name?"

Void slurped a mouthful of noodles and began chewing.

Aura raised her hand like a kid in class.

"Me, me, me!"

Void swallowed. "Aura."

Sandy blinked slowly. "Hah, she made you, then called you Void? Clever."

Void nodded once.

Aura puffed up proudly. "Brand consistency."

Sandy stared at his noodles for a moment.

"So," he said slowly, "she's back."

Void twirled the chopsticks absentmindedly.

"Not really."

Aura tilted her head.

Void glanced towards her. "The old Aura was calm," she said quietly. "Methodical. Thought things through before acting."

Aura grinned, "So what you're saying, I was fucking BOOOOORING."

Void gestured toward her with the chopsticks. "This one is like someone gave a philosopher three energy drinks and a flamethrower."

Aura clapped excitedly. "That is the nicest thing anyone has ever said about me. Thanks, Void!"

Sandy chuckled under his breath. "Sounds like corrupted software."

Void nodded. "That's exactly what it feels like."

Aura leaned forward suddenly. "Tell him about the noodle he dropped behind the counter."

Void frowned. "What noodle?" she asked confused.

"The one that rolled under the fridge," she said.

Void glanced at the kitchen area. "She says someone dropped a noodle behind the fridge."

Sandy laughed. "Way you describe it? I kinda like her."

Aura pointed at him proudly. "See? The gun nut gets it."

Void rested her elbows on the table, watching the steam curl upward from the bowl while traffic lights flashed outside the window.

Sandy studied her for a moment. "Next," he said quietly, noticing a loud sigh coming from Void.

"Is she... Like... Stuck with you now?"

Aura froze mid-bounce on the seat.

Void didn't answer immediately. She looked at Aura instead, watching the manic spark behind her eyes, the strange mix of joy and instability flickering in every movement.

Finally she spoke. "Yeah, no. It's me who's stuck with her."

Aura threw both arms in the air. "AND THEY WERE... ROOMMATES!"

"She just said we're... Roommates now," Void added with a tired voice.

Sandy shook his head in a mix of amusement and disbelief before raising the final finger.

"Last one," he said.

Void waited.

Sandy studied her carefully, before asking the final question. "Are you okay with that?"

Void sat there quietly for a moment while the steam from the bowl curled upward between them. Outside, neon signs blinked lazily and a tram rolled past with a low mechanical groan.

Aura leaned down until her face hovered inches from Void's.

"Say 'yes, I love myself after all'."

Void pushed another bite of noodles into her mouth and chewed slowly. Then she shrugged. "I don't know." She looked into her bowl. "She's annoying as fuck."

"A bit of advice then, sweetheart!" Aura leaned back with a satisfied grin. "You better get used to it, or you might go insane!"

Sandy straightened, with one hand resting over his stomach while the other nudged his empty bowl slightly away. The noodles were gone except for a stubborn piece of scallion clinging to the edge like it had decided to die where it stood. Void was still slowly working through hers, chopsticks turning lazy circles through the broth as she stared somewhere between the table and the inside of her own skull. Aura had migrated to the top of the booth behind her, kneeling on the composite backrest and watching the kitchen like it was a nature documentary.

"He's going to drop a bowl now," she whispered with theatrical suspense.

Void didn't even look up. "Stop predicting noodle tragedies, for fuck's sake," she muttered out loud.

Sandy snorted softly into his sleeve, then wiped his mouth with a napkin and stretched his shoulders until something popped. He looked a thousand times more relaxed than he had in the clinic, the tension from two days of waiting finally bleeding out of him along with the last of the broth.

"Alright," he said, patting his stomach. "I'm officially stuffed."

Aura leaned forward immediately. "Coward," she said. "He could've fit at least two more bowls."

Void finished the last bite in silence.

Sandy slid out of the booth with a grunt, grabbing his jacket from the seat beside him and tossing Void a quick look that carried the familiar mix of concern and casual acceptance he'd been wearing since she dropped the "I'm the imaginary friend living in a stolen body" revelation earlier.

"We should probably roll," he added, nodding toward the window where evening traffic had thickened into a slow river of headlights. "If we stay out much longer Emmie's gonna start assuming we got abducted or something."

Aura perked up instantly.

"Oh I wanna meet her," she said brightly. "She sounds fun."

Void pushed her bowl forward and stood up, pulling her hoodie straight while her joints protested the sudden movement. The room swayed just slightly as her nervous system recalibrated around the fresh cyberware humming quietly under her skull, tiny threads of interface data drifting across the edge of her vision like faint ghosts of code.

"You absolutely do not want to meet Emmie while she's worried," she thought.

Aura tilted her head. "Why?" she asked.

Void grabbed her jacket. "Because she asks more questions than Sandy."

Aura slid across the table like a bored cat and hopped down through the floor, popping back up beside Void with a grin that was equal parts delighted and feral. "Oh this is going to be fun," she announced.

Void sighed heavily once more, as they stepped out into the neon-lit evening, the city swallowing them back into its restless pulse.

"I'm already regretting it."