“...so...you’re in my head now. Was that your plan? To take over my body?”
“If it was, I would have been stupid to let you go before the procedure was completed, was it?”
“...fair point. So...are you…”
“Am I really there or just the result of some personality split that occurred because your conscious self doesn’t know how to deal with this situation? Weeeeelll...I think the only one who could answer that is you. Oh, and I’ll just bet you regret reading those books on human psychology at this point.”
Begrudgingly, Marcus had to admit that this voice was right. However it also gave him an idea. However before he could even formulate it, the voice responded, “Don’t bother finishing that thought. I can’t tell you anything you couldn’t possibly know. And I can even tell you why.”
Marcus exhaled and asked, slightly frustrated, “And ‘why’ is that?”
“Because you left Ede’s sphere of influence, that’s why. That’s like...putting down the book you’re reading in the middle and then magically expecting to know exactly what’s going on in the second half. There is no way for me to know things you don’t, because I am in your head. Now...regarding this Claire…”
“...what about her?”
“She’s a cutie, isn’t she?”
“What the...stop looking at my memories!”
Ede’s voice cackled slightly, “Go ahead, boy. Make me.”
Enraged, Marcus got up, walked over to his desk and picked up a pair of ancient scissors. However Ede didn’t seem all that impressed, “We both know you’re not going to do that. At least not just to get rid of me. I mean, okay, you’re baseline suicidal to begin with, but...like that? No. Not your style. Besides, Claire would be sad. And you wouldn’t want to make her sad, right? After all she went through to get you back and all that.”
“Don’t tempt me!” Marcus exclaimed, his hand cramping around the scissors handle.
“Alright, alright, cool down already. Listen, I don’t know if I’m some sort of ‘split off consciousness’ Ede placed in your head or the first stage of schizophrenia, but fact of the matter is, I am in your head and we both need to deal with that. And now stop yelling at yourself. You sound like a nutcase. For the sake of the argument, let’s assume I am you for now. At least until we can ask Ede to get me back out...or at least ask him about what I am.”
Marcus took a deep breath and then continued speaking quietly, “...and you think he’d tell me? After...implanting you inside of me without asking me for my consent.”
“Hey, don’t look at me. I didn’t ask to be born either. But please...no need to be hostile towards me. We now share this same body. The same thoughts. For all ends and purposes, I am you.”
“Yeah, until I fall asleep and you take over my body, doing all kinds of things, huh?”
“...dude, you’ve read way too many horror novels. There’s a limit to how many books are a healthy for a single person.”
“Would you please stop lecturing me?”

Just then, the voice opened, and Claire walked in, carrying a tray with food and something to drink.
“Dang, your memory doesn’t do her justice…” Ede commented.
“Would you shut it, already?!” Marcus hissed, causing Claire to put down the tray and ask, “Are you feeling alright, Marcus?”
“Yes, I...I’m fine. Just a little tired, is all.”
For a moment the two of them just looked at each other, unsure what to say. Marcus felt betrayed by Claire for giving him away, but could not help the thought that she had only done it, because she cared about him. It was hard to be angry at her for trying to do the right thing. That, and the constant influx of commentary from Ede made it impossible to focus on being angry.

Claire eventually looks away and stutters, “Um...I...I guess I’ll be leaving then,” breaking the silence.
As she turned towards the door, Marcus asked, “Why’d you do it?”
Claire looked back, apparently nervous and only now Marcus realized, that he was still holding the scissors in an iron grip. He hurriedly put them back on the table and added, “Look, I’m not...okay, I am a little angry. But I want to believe you just tried to do the right thing. So...why?”

Claire turned back around, pushed a wayward strand of he shoulder long hair from her face and replied, “...dumbass,” and then she was already out of the door, before Marcus could get even one more word in.
Ede sighed, “Well, that was glorious.”
“Oh, shut up...I mean, what was I supposed to say?! ‘Hey, thanks for ratting me out to my dad, wanna hang out like we used to?’”
Ede groaned and then stated, “Know what? I’ll leave you to figure that one out for yourself. And don’t give me that bull about ‘not being able to’. As it stands, you and I are the same person. If I can figure it out, so can you.”

And with that, Ede’s presence was gone as if it had never been there in the first place. And it did not return either, regardless of how often Marcus called out to his ‘other self’. And neither did Claire return for the rest of the day. Marcus was alone. And, unlike the many times he had sought the solitude of the library before, he now actually felt lonely. And he hated it.

When the evening drew near, the door opened again, however it was not Claire, but a messenger.
“Oy, Marcus, get up. Your father wants to see you.”
Marcus rose from his light slumber and replied, “...the old man couldn’t bother to come by himself, huh? Go figure…”
“Hey, don’t shoot at the messenger.”
“Tell the old man I’m busy.”
The messenger rolled his eyes and shook his head, grabbed Marcus by his collar much like one would grab a misbehaving kitten and dragged him out of his bed. Unlike a kitten however, Marcus was far too heavy to be carried that way and thus, gravity gave him a grim reminder about its laws.
“Ouch, the hell is wrong with you?!” Marcus complained, rubbing is aching butt.
“I said, ‘Your father wants to see you’. Now, you can either walk by yourself or I’ll tie you up and drag you to the council chamber. Your choice.”
Marcus perked up and asked, “...the council chamber? Why…”
The messenger shrugged his shoulders and replied, “No clue. He just said ‘Get my stupid son here, as quickly as possible.’”

Marcus sighed, got up, dusted off his clothes and replied, “Well, I guess I should get going then.”
“Yes, we should. Cause you’re not going by yourself.”
“I know the way, thank you very much,” Marcus complained, but it was futile. His guard did not leave his side for even one second and when Marcus argued that he needed the toilet, he got a ‘Suck it up’ as an answer.

Upon entering the council chamber, the whole council was assembled. Marcus could not recall ever having seen all of them in once place, usually they were scurrying around taking care of their business. Something big must have happened for all of them to be assembled.

“Ah, there he is now. Thank you Robert, that will be all.”
“You sure you don’t want me to stick around?”
“Yes, I do not think he will be running away again any time soon,” Marcus’ father said. The words ‘If he knows what is good for him’ remained hanging almost palpable in the air.

After Robert had left the room, his father turned to address Marcus and asked, “Any idea, why we called you before the council, Marcus?”
“...I’m going to go out on a leg and assume I’m in trouble?”
Boris, the council member in charge of the hydroponic garden area, also called ‘the gravedigger’ due to his hunched appearance and the rather spooky custom of recycling the bodies of those who had passed as fertilizer for the plants he enforced, said, “In quite a bit of trouble, young man. Yes, yes, quite a bit of trouble.”
The woman to his father’s right added, “You had us worried sick, Marcus. Suddenly disappearing like that to the heavens alone know where! If not for Claire’s insights, why we might have gone off in a completely wrong direction!”
“Marcy, please, stop gushing. You’re not here as his aunt, you’re here as the council member of social affairs. Please behave the part.”
“Like you need to talk, Mark. The instant you realized he was nowhere to be found, you raised all hell to go and find him!”
Marcus’ father cleared his throat and said, “Yes, well...I will admit that my...judgment may have been a bit hasty regarding this matter.”
Marcy put her hand on his and said, “Don’t worry about it. We all have family we want to protect.“
Mark shook his head and said, “Nevertheless, I should not have used my position and endanger everyone on the search party. We just got lucky all of us returned...this time. Now…”
Mark bowed to the front, his chair creaking under the shift of weight and asked, “Marcus...for the your own sake as well as the sake of everyone within these walls and beyond...please tell me you found more than death and decay wherever it was you’ve vanished to.”