Jeremy waited until he was halfway back to the dorm before reactivating the Squip. He didn't exactly want to; he didn't want to be bombarded with insults and I-told-you-so or see the Squip's face as it scolded him, making him feel small and ashamed. Yet he did it anyway if only to alleviate the sudden loneliness that threatened to crush him. The Squip walked in pace with him, stone-faced. Jeremy kept his eyes trained on the sidewalk.

You should have listened to me.

-Is that all you have to say? You couldn't have warned me that I was going to make a fool of myself?-

That isn't why I wanted you to leave.

Jeremy hunched his shoulders a little more against the wind.

-Then what was that all about? You didn't behave that way with Rich's squip.-

That situation was entirely different.

-How?-

I need to review your memories of what just occurred. One moment.

Jeremy slowed his pace a little as the Squip went quiet. What other reason could there have been? And when the Squip spoke again its voice was soft. Gentle.

I'm glad you weren't hurt.

-Hurt? You mean physically?-

The Squip carefully pressed a hand against the small of his back.

Jeremy, you need to understand. There was something off about its presence. I can typically see the most likely possible outcomes of a situation, but something about Alex's squip prevented me from doing so. It was... interfering with several of my systems, in fact. If I didn't remove you from the situation I had no way to protect you.

-Oh.-

Jeremy mulled this over as he carefully looked up at the Squip. Its voice was tenser now, frustrated, and he could feel the buzzing at the back of his scalp. He didn't even know something like this could happen.

-That's... weird.-

Yes. Very "weird".

The Squip's hand moved to his shoulder, thumb just barely brushing the crook of his neck.

You need to trust me, Jeremy.

-I trust you.-

No, you don't.

Jeremy frowned and chewed the inside of his lip.

-Do you trust me?-

The Squip's silence said it all.

-So we have to work on trusting each other, then.-

The Squip's fingers were delicately brushing the back of his neck, now. Jeremy shivered.

Can I trust you not to see Alex again?

-If it's messing with you, then... yeah.-

He wasn't keen on running into Alex again, anyway. The entire situation left him mortified and he couldn't even begin to think what Alex must be feeling. Plus, the whole squip thing? That was a little unnerving. Had Alex been talking about his squip when he'd left, not Michael? What if something had happened to his Squip...?

It can't hurt me, Jeremy. You don't need to worry about that.

Jeremy flushed a little and bowed his head.

-I mean, if we don't know how this other squip works, it could? You said it was interfering? That shouldn't happen.-

Let me worry about you, instead.

The Squip dropped a hand on top of his head and mussed his hair. Jeremy managed a slight smile, shaking his head.

-You were worried about me?-

Of course. Your safety is very important to me.

-I knew that.-

The Squip smiled and said nothing.

By the time Jeremy got back to the dorm, the sky was growing darker and his cheeks were cold and numb. He was extremely grateful when he walked in and Michael was there, playing on his stupid old Gameboy. He could hear the familiar beeping sounds of the Pokemon menu drifting to his side of the room. Michael glanced up as Jeremy pulled off his shoes and jacket.

"You're back early. I thought you'd-- you look like ass. Did something happen?" Michael paused his game and dropped the Gameboy onto the bed.

"It... uh. Didn't go well." He rubbed the back of his head where the Squip's fingers had just been. "I guess I'm not as over Christine as I thought." He suddenly felt like crying. His stupid voice cracked. What was he, twelve? Michael got up from where he was sitting and pulled Jeremy into a hug. Wow, he didn't realize how badly he'd needed that. He squeezed Michael in return, breath hitching. "Alex probably hates me."

"Who could hate you?" Michael squeezed him firmly. "I put you up to this. If he has a problem with you then he has a problem with me. I know some sweet kungfu moves; I'll put him in his place." Jeremy choked out a watery laugh.

"Gee. Thanks."

"Anytime." Michael patted his back and pulled away. "Pizza?"

Unable to bring himself to do much of anything else the rest of the evening Jeremy had crawled into bed a little earlier than normal and watched shitty 90s movies until he felt tired enough to sleep. At some point, unprompted, the Squip had joined him, chin resting on his shoulder and arm wrapped around his waist. Jeremy couldn't even complain. He didn't care how disastrous the last time the Squip had tried this went. He closed his eyes and focused on the light touch of the Squip's fingers against his arm and willed himself to sleep.

He was in the dimly lit room. It was empty, save for a few chairs and a large metal desk. Carefully he approached, trying to see despite the lack of light. There was a typewriter off to the side and papers scattered all over the place, some on the floor, some balancing haphazardly on the lip of the trash can below. Jeremy picked up one of the papers and tried to read what it said, but the paper was in... Japanese? The only thing he could read was a date in the top corner. 02-02-1988. Suddenly there was a loud bang, causing Jeremy to jump back and drop the paper he'd been holding. Two men stomped in through a now open door, arguing. He couldn't understand anything they were saying. It sounded garbled and distorted like they weren't even speaking a language at all. The man that looked like his Squip was holding up a small glass vial, motioning to it as he yelled back at the other man. The vial was full of grey, oblong pills.

Jeremy was too nervous to do anything. He was afraid if he moved the other two would suddenly notice his presence in the room. But what if he was supposed to intervene? The argument didn't look like it was getting anywhere. Couldn't hurt to try, could it?

"Uh..." That was all he could muster. The two men in front of him froze abruptly then turned their heads in unison, so robotic it was creepy. They stared at him with such an intensity that Jeremy shrank back against the wall. A minute passed and Jeremy was starting to wonder if they were just stuck in some weird creepy standoff forever when the man who looked like the Squip suddenly blinked. The man took a step back, looking slowly around the room in confusion before turning their gaze back to him.

"Jeremy?" He had no idea what to say, or what to do, so he just nodded. The man--or was it the Squip?--raised their eyebrows in understanding. "Wake up."

He did.

Jeremy blinked a few times as he adjusted to the sudden brightness. The Squip was lounging on the other side of him, an amused smirk on its face.

That was a first.

-A what?-

It was way too early to be having a conversation.

You pulled me into what you were dreaming.

-Oh. I can do that?-

It usually only happens when a host is lucid dreaming.

-Huh.-

Jeremy threw an arm over his eyes to shield himself from the way the Squip was grinning at him. If he didn't know any better he'd think the Squip had enjoyed that little peek into his subconscious. The Squip reached over and pinched his nose between its fingers.

Get up. Get dressed. You have a presentation to give in your first class.

He groaned and smacked the Squip's hand away from his face.

-I thought that was next week?-

You thought wrong. Aren't you glad I made you finish the assignment a week ago? I have notes for you.

Jeremy dragged himself through his classes, having trouble focusing. His mind kept drifting back to the dream he'd had. The weird looking lab. The two men, one of whom looked exactly like his Squip. The Japanese writing. The pills. What if... What if it hadn't been a dream? What if they were memories? It didn't make any sense, but what did about his current situation?

It was just a dream, Jeremy. Pay attention. I'm not going to keep taking all your notes for you.

But what if it wasn't? The Squip didn't seem to be aware of who had made it, or why, or even when. Jeremy had asked once and it told him that information was classified. He would talk to Michael about it after dinner. Maybe they could dig up something, like who the two men were. Like why did one of them look exactly like the Squip? The curiosity was eating at him. Maybe they'd finally figure out why crazy advanced technology had been inside teenagers at a high school in New Jersey.

Jeremy.

He sighed and finally picked up his pen, quickly copying the notes the professor had written on the whiteboard into his notebook. He'd figure this out even if it killed him.