Alister stumbled back before regaining his usual sophisticated stance.

"Broken."

"Yep! What do you think that string’s all about?" Ken lifted their right index finger, revealing the strand that connected the pair. Tatsumi looked down at his own hand. The sight of the four strings that sprung from his fingers gave him a sense of unease. Alister felt weary at the sight of the string that connected him and Ken.

"So these... these go to other people?" Tatsumi interjected. Ken looked over at the blonde, awestruck. They quickly rushed over to Tatsumi, grabbing his hand.

“There’s another? Fascinating.. Not just that, there are four fragments as well!” Ken stared at Tatsumi’s hand, incoherently talking to himself. Alister stepped up to Ken and Tatsumi, pushing the former away from the latter. He again posed himself menacingly to Ken.

“Elaborate, freak.” Ken’s legs stood firm as their skinny shoulders shook.

“I uh– follow me, I’ve got a friend who can help explain everything.” They walked over to the payphone outside of Blackwell’s. Ken held up a microcassette recorder to the earpiece of the phone. The device played beeping tones of various pitches and speeds for a few moments. Ken stuffed the recorder back into their satchel as a tinny voice came from the phone.

“Thank you, you have– nine–nine–nine–nine–nine–nine– minutes of call time.” The robotic operator stutteringly said.

“No no no, thank you!” Ken said as they dialed an oddly long phone number. 5-299-463-672-583-5326. More high-pitched tinny tones played as Ken waved over Tatsumi and Alister.

“Starman here, I think I’ve found him; and a little surprise too.” Ken chuckled as they spoke. Then a pause.

“The usual spot, right?” Another pause.

“See ya there then.” Ken hung up on the call, adjusting their jacket and glasses with a wide smile.

“I think she can help explain things a bit better than just me. What do you think about coming along?” Alister moved in closer to Ken than before, only an inch or two away.

“We’ll follow you. Right, Tatsumi?” Alister looked over at Tatsumi, who stood silent for a moment before nodding.

“But if you try to pull anything, your innards are going to become outards. Got it?”

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