Void woke up to sunlight bleeding through the curtains like a wound that refused to clot. It painted the room in soft, golden smears - too gentle for how she felt. The bed beneath her felt all wrong. Too soft, like it was trying to comfort her for no good reason. The pillow was still warm, like it had cradled someone else before her and hadn't cooled down yet.

This wasn't her bed.

This wasn't her life.

She laid still, blinking at the ceiling. Listening. There was nothing. No cars. No sirens. Just the hum of static somewhere behind her eyes...

Void woke up with a massive headache.

Not the usual tension bullshit or "screamed into a pillow for an hour" aftermath - but a deep, bone-crawling ache behind her eyes. Her limbs felt like they were moving through wet cement. Her mood? Think black hole wrapped in barbed wire.

She'd been lying on the couch for two hours staring at a crumb on the ceiling.

And it wasn't just the fatigue - it was the rage. Like everything was too loud, too much and she was going to break the next thing that dared exist near her. Which, unfortunately, was the fridge. She opened it. Stared inside. Forgot why she opened it. Slammed it shut. Stared at her hands like they weren't hers.

"This body sucks," she growled. "What the fuck is wrong with it."...

Void stepped into the supermarket, akin to a vampire accidentally invited into a sunlit cathedral.

It was bright. Too bright. Fluorescent lights overhead, colors screaming from every box and can on the shelves, every smiling logo silently deriding her.

Aura used to like this place. She had a route. She had a list. She hummed quietly under her breath and picked produce like it was a love language...

Void opened her eyes at 12:43 PM. Technically morning by software engineer standards. A hoodie several days past its laundry deadline clung to her like grief's security blanket. She blinked at the daylight stabbing through the blinds.

"Still here," she whispered. "Fuck."

Aura's apartment hadn't imploded overnight, which felt like a missed opportunity. The desk still had those dumb Post-Its. She tried ignoring them. Failed, obviously.

"Don't forget to drink water 💜"
"You matter, even when it hurts."
"Deploy by Friday or I will haunt you."

Void smirked. "Yeah, well. Joke's on you, bestie. You already are."...

Her body hurt in ways Void didn't have names for.

It wasn't pain like data corruption or logic failure - no, it was raw. Like her muscles were confused who was in charge, like the nerves missed Aura already and wanted her back. The skin felt too thin, the breath too heavy. And worst of all?

She could feel the tears forming before she even realized she was crying.

"This is bullshit," she muttered, standing in front of the mirror, holding onto the sink with white-knuckled desperation. "Who the fuck made bodies this fragile?"

The reflection blinked back - her reflection now, wasn't it? But the eyes still looked like Aura's. Bruised from lack of sleep, rimmed in salt and black eyeliner. The lip ring caught the morning light just enough to flicker. Aura had loved that flicker.

Void didn't. It felt like a lie...