"Though the mind may not remember, the heart will never truly forget."

Suddenly, Virgil awoke. He gasped as he sat up and regained the consciousness he had lost. Shaking in fear, he could vivdly remember the needles going into Thomas's arm right before the anesthesia kicked in. With his arms clutched to his sides, he struggled to stand up and take in his surroundings.

It was a mixture of black and white. He couldn't see anything or anyone else around him. What was outlined were only shadows of what once stood proudly. The mind palace. Virgil Thought. The defined form had vanished and slowly but surely, the shadows in front of him began to fade as well, until the shades mixed together to form an endless, grey void.

This was new. It was change. Virgil of all the sides hated change the most. His eyes grew white with fear as he began to run into the nothingness, calling out the names of those he held dear. "Patton! Logan! Roman!" He quickened his pace after hearing nothing in response. He tried to call again, but was quieted by a strong pair of arms snatching him out of his sprint and resting a hand on his mouth.

Instantly, the darker aspect recognised Roman's embrace and relaxed as much as he could in his hurried state. Virgil shifted his gaze up into the prince's eyes to see the same amount of fear within him staring back intently. Roman cautiously released and the two sides gaze at each other, exchanging a wordless conversation. Neither of them had the correct answer to any questions that could have been asked about the current situation. It was not until another voice was heard off in the distance that their exchange was put on hold.

They bolted without a second thought, running to where they thought the sound was coming from. For hours it seemed they dashed on, the noise getting louder and more defined. It was sobs, coming from the one they all knew to be the most emotional of the group. They found him, curled up on the ground, clutching onto something as tight as a toddler would cuddle a stuffed animal. Standing over him, they had never seen him so heartbroken or torn apart in all of their life.

His cardigan was ripped in half. His hair dishelved. His glasses shattered on the ground. A wet spot accumulating under his face as the tears streamed down from his eyes. They could tell he had not moved since the procedure had begun. Seeing the happy aspect like this ripped both of their hearts in two. Gingerly, they sat down next to him, knowing full well comfort was unatainable It was clear Patton knew something that they didn't.

1 week earlier...

"Mr. Sanders. The results have come back and we are afraid to inform you that your frontal lobe is failing. If we do not act quickly you may die within the month." Gasps were heard all around the room.

"What can we do!?" Thomas's mom was practically in tears as her husband tried to comfort her. Thomas was unable to speak as the news was relayed to him.

"We can attempt to do a partial brain transplant, but he will most likely forget everything he has ever learned." The doctor folded his hands quietly and prepared to be bombarded. And bombarded he was. The room flew into a panic. Facts about cost and life thrown back and forth, friends and family both fighting. Voices escalating. People crying. Logan and Thomas both watched in sheer paralysis as the scene unfolded in front of their eyes.

The human couldn't take all of this chaos. He clocked out and dove straight into the mind palace to collect his thoughts better. In front of him stood Logan who also looked like he had seen a ghost. They stared at each other in complete silence before the logical trait gained the voice to speak.

"Depending on if...your parents have enough money to pay for the surgery, I suggest you take the offer."

"What?" Thomas didn't think his eyes could get any wider.

"It is a proven fact that...life is more valuable than knowledge. I think you should take that fact deep into consideration while making a decision."

Thomas broke eye contact with his logical aspect as he looked at the ground. Slowly he nodded and agreed. "Okay. I think you are right. Even if I do forget everything, I can always make new memories." He picked his head back up and returned Logan's gaze, greeting him with a smile. "I can't stop being positive even through this rough time. Thank you Logan."

Logan nodded, his unchanging eyes withholding his true thoughts about Thomas's decision. "Of course Thomas. I was always here, helping you assess situations and the best ways to deal with them. This just so happens to be...one of the most unexpected decisions we have ever had to make."

Thomas nodded. "It is." An awkward silence ensued, before it was broken by Logan who cleared his throat.

"They have settled down. You might want to go back to the real world and reveal your answer to them."

"Oh. Alright. I will see you later." Thomas turned to leave, but looked back to his logical aspect as the human's lips curled into an immediate frown. "Logan? Please...don't tell them. Don't tell them anything. Nothing about any of this. For everyone's sake."

Nothing on Logan's features changed. "I do not plan to."

Thomas looked back away whilst nodding in agreement and returned to the real world in silence, leaving Logan standing in the midst of an empty room.

"-what do you think Thomas?...thomas?"

"Huh? What?" The human jolted out of his trance only to be met with a dozen of pairs of eyes staring at him, causing his anxiety to rise.

Virgil walked into the mind palace, causing Logan to jump. "Woah what the heck is going on here?" He was casually sipping juice from a Capri-Sun pouch as he strode up to the logical trait, almost finding out the truth.

Absentmindedly, Thomas stomped on his own foot, alerting the anxious aspect to a different part of Thomas's brain. "Ah! What?!" Instantly Virgil removed himself from the room and ran to where he was being called. Logan breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the anxious aspect had not found out the gravity of the situation.

Somehow Thomas managed to bite back his whimpering about the pain coming from his right foot so as to not alert anyone else around him. He began to recall what the company in the room were talking about whilst he was in the mind palace.

"O-oh yes. Um...I believe that life is more important than my memories. I know that I won't be the same, but we can't let that stop us from living. Even if I won't remember you all, my heart will never forget. And who knows? Maybe one day I might regain all my lost memories. I choose not to live in fear." Thomas motioned to all of his loved ones as he spoke, to which they all nodded in solemn agreement.

"Then its settled. We will schedule the brain transplant for one week from today." The doctor reorganized his notes and began to shake hands with the people in the room that had previously argued with him before. Everyone had deeply respected Thomas's decision, to the point where the peace had even affected Thomas.

As Thomas laid down to rest for the night, Logan retired to his room and locked the door behind him. He had immediately collected the information from tonight's hospital visit, so none of the other sides could have access to it. Calmly sitting on his bed, he began to ponder what Thomas's decision entailed. It was obvious both he and the Thomas everyone knew only had a week to 'live' essentially.

He glanced down at the information file in his hands. For once in his life, he had no idea where to put it or what to do with it. Should he transfer it somewhere else? He scowled and arose from his bed, beginning to scour his book shelves for an answer. After a while of searching, Logan picked a book and began to flip through the pages until he found what he was looking for. Grabbing a pen from his nightstand, he clicked the end and began to write in the book...

—-End of Part 1—-