[ChicletPrime]

Chapter One

• okay, dream time? some sort of birth or rebirth - dark, warm, something dissolving. boundless weightlessness. sunlight filters through blurred vision as consciousness stirs.
  

re-punching my current theory ticket that that the girlfriend is the heart of a star come to life.

• oh. i am amnesia girl again for a hot moment? i dunno where i am, but the place is familiar. nor do i know how i got here, when clearly this is my room in Skyhaven that I stole from Caleb because that's what little sisters do - take their older brother's stuff without asking.
  
• speak of the lovely devil. hello Colonel Xia.
  
• oh, i have a fever do i. is it that kind of fever you need to 'medicate' me for, Caleb? 
  
• oh wow, i really do have a problem. Caleb's called in to the Association for me to take some sick days and i have no idea what he's talking about. "Sunlight streams over the window sill yet the familiar face before me appears as if he's submerged in dark water."  well, technically that's Rafayel, but maybe the veil between parallel worlds is thin right at this moment.
  
• "It's okay. It's okay if you forget."
  

holy shit, i am one minute into this and what the hell is going on. do i... do i forget him often enough that he knows to reassure me about it?!   /dives back in

• jesus h mctaggart on a pogo stick. this is something i do. unless "lucid dream" means i'm hallucinating all of this. but there's no mist indicated flashback or memory, so...
  
• the gentle look on Caleb's face! 
  
• .... between his suspected chip and my apparent whiteouts, its a wonder either of us are functional in any sense of the word
  
• he gently grasps my hand with something close to reverence.  Caleb. oh my Caleb. is this where you get to fulfill all your dreams of taking care of me while i stare at you in desperation, knowing nothing? 
  
• "I'm Caleb. I'll always be...."
  
• and now my brain decides to download Train_Whistle_Symphony.mp3 and i can't hear a thing.
  
• "There's a thread-like, crimson wound on the inside of my arm."  oh no, please don't tell me he's loading us up with the good medication. what am i even saying. this is Caleb. of course he would.
  
• i know i've forgotten something important. no idea what.
  
• okay, now we're 10 days in the past and looks like we're getting off the train into Skyhaven. commentary referencing the shenanigans of Homecoming Wings that was apparently two months ago, and that Caleb and I are learning a new way to get along. "... I still can't help but wonder what secrets lie hidden behind that unfamiliar Colonel's uniform."
  
• a new appendectomy scar? his lucky yu-gi-oh card deck? a mickey of cheap gin in a flask!?
  
• hi, Caleb! come to pick me up, after i surprise-arrove at the station. 
  
• maybe he knew i was coming somehow. maybe he was just speedy on the highway after I texted him out of the blue.  i obviously knew to just stand around and wait for him though, because that's what i do. show up and have complete faith in Caleb to drop everything for me, and once again, my faith is rewarded.
  
• apparently i have a hotel? wow, things have changed for sure. more info - "half a month ago" (what, they can't say two weeks?) the Association gave me a special assignment as the Fleet needed a Hunter to help detect Metaflux on some secret mission they had going on. i took it "for work and to be closer to Caleb".  of course i did. i always want to be closer to Caleb, even when we're half strangers to each other now. 
  
• this is awkwardly worded (again). i think what the game is trying to tell me is that i took this special assignment two weeks ago, this is me arriving out of the blue at the station when Caleb didn't know I was coming and he's quizzing me on why i just suddenly decided to turn up on his doorstep on my day off and I've decided that I'm not going to tell him that I'm actually here for work, because why would i tell him a trivial detail like that? 
  
• "Yeah, I took the day off to see you. You should be teary-eyed since that's the next step in the protocol."
  
• oh girlfriend. this is so going to backfire. he probably has you under 24/7 surveillance from an orbital satellite and knows what you had for breakfast that morning. he probably signed your work permit.
  
• ... hang on, didn't he do exactly that in an Anecdote? or in the main story somewhere? we applied .. nooo, that was Zayne! we tried to apply to be the Hunter escort on something to do with his research team, being all smug about surprising him, and then he just stared at us with those calm, placid eyes and said not only did he know we were assigned to the trip, he was the one to authorize it.   okay, back to THIS story and another parallel congruency moment.
  
• the fact that Caleb has his own personal plane that he just uses like its a motorcycle to get places is something i don't think we talk enough about.
  
• 10 minutes later we're at his place. He half confesses that he knew we were coming because somebody told him and we pout for less than 20 seconds before we start grilling him about the 'secret mission' the Fleet needs a Hunter for.
  

• "We can focus on the work stuff later. Cancel your hotel reservation first."
  
• Caleb, never change, you bossy bossy thing. 
  
• and of course we'll probably do it because he spreads his arms wide so we step up to him to wrap our arms around his neck because of course we want to be closer, and.... "Welcome home." 
  
• "As sunset's light filters in through the windows, our shadows lean closer together on the floor and meld into one."
  
• d'awwww
  
• if we die, he'll crawl into the coffin with us and my dead corpse will be thrilled.