Daniel felt a strange sensation come over himself as well as he placed his fingers on Lily’s head, closed his eyes and concentrated – inhaling sharply as all of a sudden it felt as if the number of conscious minds inside his own head had just doubled. Thoughts and memories from both of the girls flooded into his mind, letting a pained expression cover his face as he struggled to keep track of who was who, and perhaps more importantly, finish his mission without harming Lily. Before long, though, he felt Popoi’s presence start to ebb away as Lily’s grew stronger. Daniel wasn’t sure how he did that, though, or even if it was really him doing it. 

All the while, the entire world around him seemed to fade, all outside voices being reduced to mere whispers as his focused remained completely on the cosplayer in front of him. That is, until the sound of shouting from behind him broke that intense concentration, causing the link between the two of them to snap like a thin twig. Daniel winced as a splitting migraine immediately tore through his brain, his hands pulling away from the girl and instead grabbing his own head in pain, Lily forgotten. 

---

“I… I was in there,” Kate responded choppily as she gestured behind her at the broken-down door, breathing rather heavily. “I was looking for answers about this whole… cosplay… thing, when I got lost, and also really distracted, so I came back out, and then… you guys were here!” she pointed towards the rest of the group. “And I didn’t realize there were more of… us.” She spoke hesitantly. “I mean, that is the case, right? We’re all kind of… [i]changing[/i]?” she asked, not sure how to backtrack the conversation if she turned out to be wrong.