What?

"So you are telling me that you've been having weird dreams?"

"Yeah, every night recently I've been having dreams of this place called the "United States" or something. Everyone around was a Sapient."

"Are you sure this is what you saw in the dream?"

"Yeah, it was super weird, it was like magic never existed."

Are his memories of before the Shift coming back? If this is happening to him, is anyone else regaining their memories? Maybe an outside force is causing this...

"I get that this was a weird dream, but why are you telling me about this?"

"Because the dream felt so weird, like something from the past. It almost felt real."

Hmm... maybe influence from me is bringing his memories back? Will he ever actually regain them, or is this just the remnants of what's left?

"Um... listen, by any chance was there anything else that was weird about that dream?"

"Well, when it ended, there was this tidal wave of nothingness. There was no color, and I couldn't see anything, not even black."

So the dream ended with the Shift? Huh, well this is strange. The most likely scenario is that his memories are gone, but remnants of them still remain, broken shards of them still linger in the back of his head, and somehow something brought them to the forefront in the form of dreams.

This means he doesn't "remember" anything from before the Shift exactly though... well I guess this is good though. Baby steps.

It is probably not the best time to tell him about the Shift. To him, these remnant memories were just a dream. He would probably think I'm crazy if I told him about how the world changed overnight.

"Maybe you were just dreaming of a movie you once saw or something?"

"Yeah, maybe..."

As William walks away he seems to be thinking about something, I wonder what's on his mind.

===

William's POV:

There is no way I can tell her. The weirdest part of my dream was not the society of purely Sapients. The weirdest part of all of that is that Jess was a man...

===

Jess' POV:

Great, now I have more things to worry about. Before I go to my next class, I decide to go to the restroom, but as I'm walking through I see that rude kid who bumped into me a while back. I've always sucked at remembering faces, so it is a little weird I can remember him, but that jerk is so annoying!

Is it just me or his he glowing? Right now he looks almost like crystal... strange. I decide to follow him. HEY! I know what you are going to say, and no, I am not a stalker! This guy is just suspicious, okay?

I'm trying to think about what he could be. I mean the crystal look makes me think he might be a Golem, however, normally those guys can't look like a Sapient. Shifter maybe? I mean that could explain the crystal and Sapient look.

"Hey, you can stop following me."

Wait, he saw me?!? "S-sorry, you are just kinda suspicious."

"I'm not the one following people around without their permission."

Well, he got me there. I mean, how can I argue with that?

"Sorry..."

"Ugh... you wanna know what I am, right? I'm a Tsukumogami."

"You mean those items that gain sapience?"

"Yeah, I believe I was a crystal necklace before."

That is so cool! So Tsukumogami exist too! Well, I guess by now I shouldn't be surprised by stuff like that.

Hmm... but why did he treat me so bad in the hallway that one time, while he does seem grumpy, he doesn't seem like the one to shout at someone in the hallway just because they bumped into them.

I would ask him, but I'm a wimp, so that is probably not a good idea.

"What is your name by the way?"

"My name? I'm Aoi Ketsushou"

Blue crystal? Seriously? His name means blue crystal? Man, I remember reading about Tsukumogami before the Shift. They were said to be items that gain a soul after serving their owner for a hundred years, but whoever his owner was picked a lazy name.

Seriously, that is like if I named an Elf Pointy Ears. That is so stupid!

Well, something obviously happened the day he bumped into me to cause him to act the way he did, that is for sure now. He's not a bad person... or object, maybe item?

"I said my name, what's yours?"

"Oh, I'm Jess Heart."

"Got it, I've got somewhere to go, so bye."

===

Ketsushou's POV:

"Why do I have to do this? Why is the world like this? I don't wanna hurt anyone please leave me alone... please..."

"You know the deal, we'll release your owner, you just have to do exactly as we say."

"Grandpa never did anything! Why can't you just let him go! I did what you asked! I let the Magic Liberators into the school, I made sure the doors were unlocked! I even blocked the security systems until the last second so they could get in without being detected! Let him go!"

"The deal is still not over, unless you want this innocent old man to die?"

"Fine, what do you want me to do?!?"

"It's easy, just make sure this person is alone."

"Are you sure? You'll let grandpa go after this?"

"We promise."

"Fine, I'll do it."