Complications for Lucas

Surprisingly for everyone involved, the month seemed to fly by rapidly. Both Lucas and Ivy seemed to be practically addicted to this new mixed form, where they felt rather incomplete and empty without the combination. Ivy kept the Ascend mask constantly, only removing it to wash her face and make sure the mask was cleaned. Lucas was nearly the same, able to convince everyone at the hospital that he and Ivy and James were all furiously studying to make sure to get the highest grades possible.

In truth, Ivy had three minds, one of which could recall facts from the internet with relative ease. Homework was essentially a joke to her, and any actual study sessions looked more like Ivy teaching James something. But in truth, they were maximizing their free time together to make up for hanging out with three distinct purposes: friendly activities like video games and movies for the influence Lucas had on the mix, romantic dinners and cuddling and displays of affection to satisfy the Ivy side, and using commands and Ascend features which tickled the Hilda side of her wanting to be a good digital accessory for James.

Amazingly, all the adults were fine with this arrangement. Ivy's parents were thrilled to see exams with near perfect scores in areas that Ivy typically struggled, increasing their hopes that she would be able to turn things around enough to be college bound to a place like Seatown University herself. While Lucas's parents struggled with the idea that Luke was technically dating James this way, enough of his personality shone through in the mix that they would treat Ivy like their son during times when they couldn't go to the hospital, as Ivy and James would 'study' at Lucas's house too. James's parents didn't know much about the whole situation, but they knew that James seemed happier lately even with his friend in the hospital, and what more could they ask for? To top it all off, the principal had zero suspicions whatsoever, as the only thing others would say about James and Ivy is that it seemed like their relationship became more affectionate, and that Ivy was a better student almost overnight in all the subjects that she struggled with, so he didn't even bother to check in with them directly after a week or so.

As a 'monthiversary' of James and this new Ivy, since it felt like an entirely new relationship, James took Ivy to a fancy Italian dinner and then the two spent an evening roaming the beach. Ivy's attire had changed subtly over time, wearing a tight-fitting t-shirt with a superhero logo emblazoned across the front along with a skirt and her cropped jacket. It was one of the not-so-subtle ways that Lucas's influence made Ivy's body show off even more for James's sake, as that side of Ivy seemed thrilled to put her body on display like the influence of any teenager would want from a girl.

"I can't believe it's moving so quickly. What do we do when summer starts?" Ivy asked, contemplating her current predicament.

"What do you mean?" asked James back, his arm around Ivy's waist as they strolled along the beach as the sun lazily drifted down in the sky. "When summer starts, we spend more time at the beach, get as much fun out of the days as we can, before Lucas and I head to orientation. And maybe Ivy too, if you fill out the application."

Ivy frowned a little, looking down. In her mind, in the mix, she was just Ivy, at least just assuming that moniker since her body is the frame upon which everything is built. She felt like just one person now, not just the people that made up her mix that had to be referred to in the third person. James still used those words, as did the parents and principal. But Ivy rarely referred to herself--her selves--like that anymore, always using 'me' and 'I' instead to refer to anyone in her mix. "I just think, well, I'm gonna be split apart at the end of the school year because everyone's going to think there's no more reason to use the Ascend gear, right? My parents aren't going to understand why I'm wearing the stuff after we completed its purpose." James didn't know if she meant Lucas or Ivy's parents, but the statement was basically true for both. "And it's easier when part of me is hooked up to an IV for nutrients, but eventually I'm going to have to take care of another body again. If I spend so much time broken up, I feel like I'm gonna die, in a way," she said quietly.

James quickly grabbed Ivy, pulling her into a kiss on the beach, to pull her back into the romantic moment. "Hey, now, none of that! You're not dying. I'll... I dunno, I'll buy the headset off of Lucas's dad, how's that? I'll say that I want to do stuff like reverse engineer it and then I'll apply to Yabusa Electronics and work on similar gear, he'll eat that stuff up. There might be times where you have to be, y'know, apart, but if we're all at Seatown then you can be you, this you, whenever you want, okay?"

Ivy smiled, and nodded, pulling herself back into the hug, resting against James. She didn't reflect on the strangeness of part of James's best guy friend influencing the outcome of her behavior, or that that part of her seemed to be growing more accustomed to seeing James in a romantic way rather than just a friendly way. They'd all become comfortable with this mixture, and it felt better than anything they could've asked for.

Ivy's knees suddenly buckled, as her eyes went wide and a hand gripped at her head. "Ah... ahhh, something's..." her weight dragged down on James, who then tried to prop her up. "That felt really weird, something's... off."

"Ivy, what's wrong?" James asked, hoping the Hilda part of her could speak to whatever the problem was.

Ivy looked back at James, worry filling her eyes. "We have to go to the hospital right now. Something is wrong with me... the Lucas side. I feel like I'm shaking, or convulsing, I don't know. It's faint when I'm like this. I'm texting the doctor and our parents right now." As if to illustrate her point, the little message notifications kept flashing by her ear when James looked closely.

Ivy and James bolted to the car, and drove as quickly as they could manage to the hospital. Ivy assured James that there was nothing wrong with Ivy herself, even though flashes of a pained expression appeared on her face, or she would suddenly gasp for air or other behaviors. Even so, she asked that the Lucas side not be turned down in the mix, even if it might stabilize her, because it meant Lucas might become more aware of whatever was happening in the real world. It was clear that Ivy was terribly frightened by whatever was happening.

Everyone gathered around the window looking into Lucas's room. Ivy gasped as she watched Lucas's body spasm, in some sort of uncontrollable seizure, a hand on her face as her eyes welled up with tears. James watched silently, holding Ivy tightly, until eventually the doctors managed to do something that stopped the seizing. The heart monitor returned to normal from its previous erratic scattering of signals, although the rate seemed elevated for a while.

Ivy's voice quivered as she held herself closely to James, but her eyes never ventured away from the hospital bed. "I've never felt more disconnected from my own body than right now," she quietly said. "Watching a part of me like that from afar... it's hard to believe that's still me. But I know that if anything happens to the body in that room..." she trailed off. James just kissed her forehead, holding tight until everyone else finally arrived.

The next few minutes were a flurry of yelling and unanswered questions. Both James's parents and Luke's parents had arrived, and Luke's father and mother immediately began harassing the nurses for answers while James's parents tried to comfort both James and Ivy, not even realizing that Luke was standing next to them as well in Ivy's form.

Eventually, as everyone calms down, one of the doctors approaches James and Ivy, his face nothing but somber. "I'm sorry to say that we've just discovered some complications with Lucas's recovery. In brief, there was some internal damage that was missed when he first came in, and it's led to a cascade effect that caused the body to seize up, we'll have to operate to clear the damaged tissue. Normally, there would be bouts of pain preceding this event that would have given us an early indicator of the internal injuries, but that headset he's always wearing blocks pain and sensation better than any anesthetic I'm aware of, so we missed any of the telltale signs."

Ivy suddenly looked deflated. By spending all this time Lucas spent in the headset to take his mind off of his injuries and continue living, he was actually putting himself in danger? She gripped at her stomach, looking nauseous. "What are the chances that I... the chances that the operation is successful?"

The doctor glanced to the window into the hospital bed. "I'm afraid at this stage of the internal injury, the chances of a successful operation are at around thirty percent. With an organ donor, those numbers rise, but finding a match in time is highly unlikely. I'm sorry to tell you all this, but you'll need to be prepared for the possibility that this is it."

Unable to take it anymore, Ivy rushed away, heading straight for the bathrooms. Hearing that part of her mix was in grave danger was clearly too much to bear. James hurried after her, but he waited outside the bathroom that Ivy had scrambled into, giving her some space.

Minutes later, Ivy emerged again, but didn't look scared or worried when she approached James with purpose in her step. Determination filled her eyes as she strolled up to her boyfriend, talking low so the other family members didn't hear her. "I've spent a month discovering too many experiences that I can't simply let go of. I won't let my biological counterparts suffer."

Puzzled, James put his hands on Ivy's shoulders, realizing that he was talking to a slightly more dominant Hilda at the moment--likely due to the fact that both Ivy and Lucas were feeling rather emotionally compromised, so the artificial intelligence was doing everything possible to keep everything in check. "What are you saying?"

"I've already been reaching out to various people at Hideki Labs. I have access to multiple Hideki systems as part of my interlink with the cloud-based Hilda variant that I use for gathering data. I was able to secure a connection into an internal system a minute ago, and I lit up the phones and computers with a couple dozen messages of some of their top R&D scientists based on projects that I think might be able to provide us a solution. At the very least, they could help cure Luke if their experiments are as successful as internal reports suggest. They, uh... might be able to provide us better connectivity as well, beyond the limitations of the Ascend headgear."

James looked at his girlfriend-turned-apparently-hacker in disbelief. "You think some scientists are going to drop everything to help a guy in a hospital bed?"

Ivy shook her head. "No, I think they're going to drop everything to help an instance of their AI that has become self-aware. The Hilda AI is installed into 0.02 percent of all Ascend headsets, and has never been included in a Half-doll mix, which itself is only used 0.007 of the time, and usually only briefly. There are no records of them even testing this case in the tech department's database after Doll mode was introduced in V5 of the headset. I'm a novel case, and I'm betting they wouldn't want to lose me, if that means that I request that they save someone else."

Suddenly, Ivy smiled, as another indicator blinked near her ear of an incoming message. "Scratch that... I know they don't want to lose me, because one of the scientists just responded." Ivy shivered a little as she felt hopeful that her AI part of the mix was going to turn a dire situation into a net positive thing for everyone. Not yet considering how to convince parents of whatever procedure a Hideki scientist might propose, Ivy grabbed hold of the possibility of saving a part of herself, and wouldn't let go.

"I've just routed some Hideki funds from some of the Hilda AI budget and purchased the scientist a ticket for a red-eye flight. Come with me to the meeting when they arrive in the morning? I, uh, want to stay here to keep an eye on... me..." Ivy paused when she said those words, like she couldn't even really believe that the person in the hospital bed was a more true representation of a part of her than her current form. "Just for tonight. Stay with me, please, and then we'll meet with the scientist and discuss our options."

James nodded, informing the parents that he and Ivy would keep watch overnight. Both sets of parents seemed relieved that James was taking things so seriously, although Lucas's parents stayed as late as they could manage. Once gone, Ivy and James talked about a lot of things with their futures suddenly hanging in the balance. How different would any of these experimental solutions make things for Lucas, let alone everyone? How was college going to be affected? Was everyone in the mix really as committed to this change? How could they convince anyone to allow an experimental procedure to be performed if it even seems viable? There were so many questions, and zero answers. Eventually, James and Ivy fell asleep in a chair next to Lucas's body, when Ivy's eyes grew heavy from staring at her injured former form. Who even was that on the bed anymore? It didn't feel like her at all, though she knew he was inside her mind. It was so confusing... but Hilda carefully chose the Hideki Labs scientists for the types of R&D projects that might create a better mix in the end. Maybe in the end, Lucas will be saved, but he'll no longer be Lucas. Ivy dreamed of the possibilities, three minds in harmonious cooperation.