CHARACTERS:
-R! & SP! Chicken
-R! & SP! CS
-R! & SP! Nachi

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION:

   In an AU, it's technically an alternate universe based off of one main universe. The characters are somewhat switched around, put into the places of other characters, or just go through a slight lore change. There are millions of possibilities for different AUs, but did anyone ever consider what would happen if the characters from alternate universes met?

   Of course, it's possible- trans-universal travel is theoretically possible with the right technology. And, with a good amount of luck (or planning, depending on how you meet), you'll eventually meet an alternate version of yourself and maybe your friends as well.

   This all sounds nice and dandy until we really think about how well (or unwell) you would react. Think about it- you're out on a daily walk, then another version of yourself introduces themselves and blasts your mind away with completely illogical theories of trans-universal travel... chances are, the first think you'll think of is either calling authorities or resorting to violence. That wouldn't end up too well, would it?

   Well, there's a solution- you're naturally coded to come with a certain "bond" with your alternate versions, meaning that you'll have a natural sense of peace and serenity with them. It stays in your subconsciousness, and it exists purely for that extra layer of safety in the rare scenario that two versions of the same person meet. The bond is the weakest in neurotypical people and strongest in neurodivergent people depending on the mental illness/disorder.

   The closer the universes are, the stronger the bond gets- it makes sense, seeing as they have a higher chance of meeting each other and therefore needs more protection against each other. However- Sanity Pill AU (which we'll call SP! AU) and Regular AU (which we'll call R! AU) are overlapping each other by a third of each universe. And it just so happens that the two worlds both exist in the overlapping area, putting them in an incredulous amount of danger- not just because the chances of them meeting have gone beyond the scale, but also because the safety system has now confused itself. It doesn't know which world belongs to which universe anymore, and can only assume that it's an emergency protocol- meaning that the bonds are so strong the mental and physical states of both R! and SP! versions of the OCs are dependent on each other. Not too much- barely a scratch, but still affecting.

   And as you might predict by now, this can get very dangerous when a certain someone goes insane...

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THE SUMMARY:
   In R! AU, life is just shenanigans on the wiki. Nothing more, nothing less, chaos here and there but everything's pretty peaceful. The place is formatted to be like a society- you either have a roommate, live by yourself, or have some sort of transportation to the dimension/planet you usually live in. You look like your OC, and the wiki is a giant building where separate screens are separate conversations- and it records your response. Month-old threads are no longer visible on the public TVs, though they are still saved to inner hard drives. You are still able to talk to people outside of the building, however- and the rest of the society functions like a suburban town. It's a small place, a floating island, but it's perfectly happy and is more of a central town by itself.

   In SP! AU, the place is much more realistic- it's much closer to the Earth as we know it, and has a well functioning society. However, 95% of the citizens here have a genetically transferred disease- the more enjoyment and fun they experience, the more their sanity will chip away. The stragglers- the remaining 5%- are collected to be officials that control everything and make sure the society is kept in check. They create the sanity pills (or drinkable medicine for kids) so that the citizens can still enjoy themselves while keeping their sanity.

   A side effect of the pills, though, is that serotonin levels will decrease by 50%. Nothing will be as enjoyable as it could be- so the citizens have a bad habit of skipping out on the pills every now and then. There are even a few who completely refuse to take the pills, but as you might be able to guess those people are sent to mental asylums and kept there for the rest of their lives, never to be seen again. Usually, they either commit suicide or their deliriousness gets the better of them- either way, their lifespans get pretty short.

   The story starts off in SP! AU, where SP! CS and SP! Nachi get bored. They're roommates and are pretty close friends, and usually have a lot of time on their hands. Nachi gets the great idea to make an OC together- and they create a simple OC which they dub "Chicken Man" for the vibe. Nachi, who draws often, think's it's nice but doesn't think much of it otherwise- however, CS gets an unusual attachment to the OC. They continue life as normal for about a week, until CS skips on her sanity pill dosage one day.

   Then she starts hallucinating and seeing Chicken around- she does a pretty good job of hiding it from Nachi and knows that it's a hallucination because of her sanity pills. She starts skipping more, though- just to talk to Chicken. Eventually, a month passes and she's gone insane- the mental asylum has picked her up despite Nachi's best efforts to hide it and get her to take her pills again.

   Remember how I said that Chicken was a fictional character in SP! AU? CS's hallucinations aren't just her imagination. Her slow-crescendo insanity wanted to actually talk to Chicken so bad the system confused R! Chicken for being in both AUs, since the universes are overlapping and SP! Chicken is only fiction. R! Chicken's consciousness has been forced to travel between the universes on a weekly to daily basis, and it's taking a great toll on his mental health. He also barely gets time to take care of himself properly (and almost drowned in a shower once) and has started to develop a severe sickness of a mixture between a weakened immune system, lack of self care, stress, and burnout. He calls R! CS about it and CS drags R! Nachi along (because they all need mental support) and they've started taking care of him when he can't take care of himself. He's now conscious about 20 hours a day (15 hours if he's lucky) because of SP! CS.

   The situation, by now, has been going on for two months- the R! Trio knows that Chicken's not going to survive if they don't find an end to this mess, and while SP! CS is enjoying herself perfectly fine, SP! Nachi is trying a bit too hard to keep himself away from what CS is now suffering from. His mental health is starting to really become a negative issue.

   R! Chicken finally tells R! CS and R! Nachi about the situation he's in- while CS is freaking out, Nachi feels somewhat familiar with the situation. She uses an AI called CITRAD.exe to travel between his home planet and the pocket dimension her friends are all in, so he thinks he might be able to think of something. However, nothing useful comes up- until Chicken suggests they ask for help.

   This is where Lotus enters the chat. Nachi knows that Lotus is clever- very clever, and could figure out the situation and might even think of a solution. He goes to get Lotus, who thankfully isn't on one of her (illegal) missions, brings her over, and tells her about everything- she introduces the gang to Lotus as well, and they also put in their own input about the situation.

   Lotus figures it out in about a week- though she doesn't have a solution, she tells the gang about the situation. CS, suddenly gaining inspiration after finally accepting the explanation, says to just tell SP! CS about the situation and let her existentialism solve it for herself. Everyone agrees (including Lotus) and as Chicken's consciousness fades away again, they hope it works.

   I'm going to say it now, R! Chicken in this story is a fucking idiot- he's all stutter-ish and vague and everything, and SP! CS thinks he's just playing. By the time he comes back to R! AU he's too weak to do anything and is basically in emergency condition. Lotus does some cool chemistry stuff- okay, if she can make the world's most victim-personalized poison then she can make some fairly decent medicine. She actually just pulls out an emergency thing she always uses for her own injuries and sick days in case Chicken's condition gets really severe- so, while he's not good at all, he's stable enough to survive. Thankfully since he's not conscious he can't go between AUs, and while CS and Nachi are really worried they at least know it's going to get better.

   In SP! AU, though, SP! Nachi is getting really desperate for SP! CS to come back- his irrational thoughts get her to go and break CS out. R! Nachi's nighttime spy skills rub off on SP! Nachi a little, and he successfully gets CS back, convincing her to take the sanity pills as well (by shoving one down her throat). The government is now aware of Nachi's crime, however, and is hunting him down- Nachi tells, CS everything, knowing that he won't survive, and manages to make her promise to take her sanity pills every day. CS, her sanity pill already taking effect, agrees. But then the government officials show up and decide that Nachi is too powerful for this world (lmao) and they just murder her on the spot, and end up deeming CS sane enough to stay in the society. She's pretty dumbstruck by how fast her life just turned around, though- and the shock managed to snap her back to sanity long enough for her to remember her sanity pills every day. Her own situation is now getting better, and while she does remember Chicken she's starting to consider the vague messages he told her.

   Back in R! AU, Chicken has finally recovered enough to make one final trip back, and the only reason is to explain everything for good. SP! CS happens to forget her daily dose of sanity pills that day, and Chicken manages to explain everything nicely this time for once and for all. They both discover each others' conditions, and manage to piece together the full story- SP! CS is left to deal with her world, and R! Chicken is slowly recovering back to normal.

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AND THE STORY ENDS THERE. Nothing else interesting happens after that, I hope you enjoyed my TED talk, goodbye!