Golden Yaoung, a cultivator who had reached godhood, was fighting in space between galaxies with four other cultivators. "Give up, Yaoung. Your soul is fractured."
Yaoung was ancient. He knew his time had come to an end, but he wished to see home one more time. He would escape and go back to die on his home planet, so far away from the supreme cultivation region at the center of the galaxy. He went to use his Soul Steps technique one last time. He shot outward at a speed none of the other cultivators could match. The fractures in his soul deepened as he tore through the void. More fractures appeared in his god core as he shot faster and faster towards home. He pictured the beautiful blue orb in his mind—the planet where he had risen from a slave to a god. But with those memories still fresh in his mind, his soul tore into countless fragments.
Tim, a 30-year-old man, had moved to teach English in Japan after a particularly brutal divorce. Now he was walking out to grab a soda from a convenience store. He had ended up taking a job in a Japanese mountain town. It was a two-year contract, and he was a temporary English teacher at the local college. Walking down towards the shops, he could see down the mountain to the ocean. It was just barely light enough to still see the beautiful ocean with the last bit of sun skimming off the surface. He walked into the store. It was 5 PM and closing soon, as this little mom-and-pop shop shut early.
"Oh hey, Tim," an older gentleman said behind the counter.
Tim smiled. "Hey, Mr. Kato." Tim grabbed some beer and some snacks before paying Mr. Kato and heading back home. The sky was becoming brighter rather than darker the closer he got to home. He turned around to see if the moon was bright tonight and saw countless shooting stars in the sky. It wasn't a normal meteor shower. These were coming straight at the town. Tim turned and started to run. He needed a fresh start, not to die before he had a chance to truly live. The divorce had emptied his bank accounts but filled his desire to train. He ran like a sports star, sprinting as fast as he could. He went to turn back around to look over his shoulder when a small bright fragment shot into his back. Everything went dark.
The world was dark except for a white blob at his center. The fragment was inside and causing the blob to grow. He had a feeling this white blob was him—his true essence, or for lack of a better term, his soul. The piece of star was causing it to grow much too rapidly. He felt like he would explode, so he tried to separate a huge piece of the growing blob. It felt like splitting into two, and then the blob shot off into the distance. He was now in two places at once—the blob on Earth and the new blob that felt like it had inherited a last bit of will from the meteor. It wanted to go somewhere far away. Tim felt stars whiz by as this blob flew towards a planet. He felt like this blob needed somewhere to stay. It wouldn't survive on its own. He sensed some empty vessels from around the world and flew towards one.
Lia was part of the Flowing Water Sect. She was a rising star in the cultivation world. Reaching the first stage of Foundation Establishment at only 19, she was now battling for her life on a surprisingly routine mission. Some robed figures had been attacking her when she was sent to check some strange reports in some old ruins.
They were different. Their attacks afflicted the soul. She had been hit many times, and while her meridians and body were okay, her soul started to fracture. She had stumbled on a fracture in space. This could hide more ruins or a small world. The countless resources in here would be worth killing someone over. But it was too late—she was outmatched. She turned to run, but a soul-piercing blow came from behind, destroying her soul. Lia fell lifeless as her attackers split up, searching for other victims.
The blob arrived just after Lia had passed. It needed a vessel quickly. It attached itself to the corpse of Lia, and suddenly Tim felt cold. He opened his eyes and saw the ruins around him. He sat up and looked down at his hands. They were thin, delicate fingers—not his own. His breath quickened as he reached up and touched his face. A smooth chin where a beard should be.
"Where... where am I?" Tim muttered, his voice unfamiliar—higher pitched, softer.
He stood shakily, glancing around. The ruins were massive stone structures covered in strange carvings that glowed faintly under an eerie twilight sky. Tim saw the robes were rough with some blood on them. Barely being able to control the new body, he started to stumble in a direction that he thought was safe. In this case, opposite to the sounds of battle. He walked until he found a small cave near a waterfall. Sitting inside, he tried to figure out what had happened.
It was clear he had somehow reincarnated into another body. But how? And why? Was he dead back on Earth? Or was he still alive there too?
Tim—no, Lia now—took deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "Okay... okay. First things first. Figure out where I am."
She searched through her—Lia's—memories. Fragments came flooding back: cultivation techniques, sect politics, missions... but nothing about these robed figures or why they attacked. Only in the cave under the waterfall was Tim/Lia able to see what his new body was like. She was wearing light robes similar to those of the people who killed her, with a red sash indicating she was from some kind of group.
The memories told her it was a sect, but not much else. At least not yet. It would take time. She felt pain all over, like a headache but everywhere. Her soul must have been injured. The fragment that had taken her here was healing it though. Slowly. Exhausted, she closed her eyes. Hidden behind the waterfall in a small cave, she fell asleep.
Tim woke up to beeps from beside him. He opened his eyes to see he was in a hospital bed. He quickly looked down at his hands, and they were his own again. A nurse came rushing in. "Oh, Mr. Jones, you're awake. You collapsed suddenly outside. We couldn't find anything wrong with you. We have done tests, but may think you had been drinking too much and fell. When they brought you to the hospital, you had alcohol in your system."
He felt weak but fine otherwise. He was discharged later that day.
He walked home thinking about the dream when he noticed something strange. His vision changed slightly, as if he could see more details than before. He blinked and shook his head. It didn't go away. He started to see two places simultaneously. He was both here and in the cultivation world at the same time—separate bodies but one soul. He dropped to one knee, puking with vertigo from seeing through two sets of eyes at once. He kept Lia's eyes closed as he focused on Tim's body movements. He instantly noticed how sluggish and slow everything was in his male body. Stumbling and dizzy, he managed to get to his door. Opening it up, he stumbled and collapsed on the couch. Two sets of sounds, smells, and feelings hit him at once. He wanted to vomit again.
"Okay... okay..." Tim muttered, squeezing his eyes shut. "Focus on one."
He willed himself to only perceive through Lia's senses—the cold cave, the distant sound of water, the rough fabric of her robes. Gradually, the overload faded, leaving just her awareness.
Then he switched back to his own body. The nausea lessened, though his head still throbbed. He sat up slowly, gripping the edge of the couch for balance.
"Alright," he whispered. "This is real. I'm... split between two worlds."
A hysterical laugh bubbled up. Divorce? Job stress? None of that mattered now. His soul had been blown into a bubble, split in two, and forced halfway across the universe. "Man up or shut up," he whispered, a phrase his dad always said to him. "Haha," he laughed some more, realizing manning up would only work on one body. "Okay, let's think. What's the most pressing need? My earthly body is okay. The one in the cultivation world—I can't let that die. If it does, will I die on Earth too?" He had no idea about how any of this worked. "I need to get Lia back to her sect."
Shit, he had read some novels about cultivation and had a general idea. Qi Refining was the first level where someone would try to feel qi in the world and condense it into a vapor and start clearing out these channels that carried qi—like veins but part of the qi system. As impurities were cleared out, they would go through qi levels from 1 to 9. These were based off the complete blockages they cleared in this system. Once they cleared the 9th, they could try to condense the qi into a more pure liquid form. This would be called Foundation Establishment. Thinking about Lia's brief, fragmented memories, he saw this should be hard to get to. Maybe only 1 in 100,000 in her world would get there in a lifetime.
She had made it at 19 years old. That was insane talent.
He lay back down, closing his eyes again. "Okay... first things first." He needed to make sure Lia didn't die. Then... figure out how to survive in both worlds. Because right now, he was both of them.
Tim sat up slowly, exhaling. He looked at his hands—his male hands—and flexed them. They felt weak compared to what he remembered of Lia's strength. But right now, Earth-Tim wasn't in danger. Lia was.
He closed his eyes again and focused on shifting his awareness fully to her. The cave materialized around him—her—instantly. The sound of rushing water filled her ears, and the cold stone beneath her legs sent shivers up her spine.
Lia opened her eyes. She was still alive. Still hidden.
"Alright," she whispered, testing her voice. It sounded strange to Tim—foreign yet familiar. "First step: get out of here without dying."
Her stomach growled. Right. Food. Water was taken care of by the waterfall, but she had no supplies.
Carefully, she crept to the edge of the cave, peering through the curtain of falling water. Outside, the ruins stretched under that eerie twilight sky. No sign of the robed figures—for now.
She hesitated. Did she remember where the sect was? Fragments floated up—a mountain range to the east, days of travel. But first, she needed to leave these ruins unseen.
Lia took a deep breath and stepped out from behind the waterfall. This body moved differently—the way the hips swung more, the difference in balance and weight. But the power of cultivation. He could feel qi flowing through him. It was rich, intoxicating power that strengthened every aspect of his new body. "Damn, this power is addictive," he thought as he strode forward towards the trees on the other side of the clearing. Something about the way he was walking felt off though. Then it hit him.
"Oh... right." Lia muttered. "I'm a woman now."
The realization sent a jolt through her—him? Both of them. Tim had never considered gender dysphoria before, but feeling her body move so naturally while his own consciousness recoiled slightly at the foreignness of it...
She shook her head. "Doesn't matter right now. Survive first."
The ruins weren't completely abandoned. Scattered carvings pulsed with faint energy, and the air itself tasted metallic—like blood and lightning. Lia's memories supplied flashes: this was an ancient battlefield, left over from some forgotten war between sects. The space fracture must have been newly formed, or else someone would've looted this place centuries ago.
Shit, he was a day away from the entrance. Why was she so confident? Lia had entered when she found the rift as she wanted to claim the treasures for herself rather than reporting it straight away to the sect. Her greed cost her everything. "I will remember how such a great talent died to greed." He had to keep going deeper to escape the soul eaters. Well, they were people from the Corpse Cleansing Sect—another cultivator group who used dark magic and fed off people's souls. Lovely.
Lia moved cautiously, avoiding open spaces. She still wore the red sash of the Flowing Water Sect, which might make her a target if those robed figures were still around.
Without any choice, she headed deeper in, away from the rift entrance. She could see stars and a shimmering barrier. This must be a shard of a world a great cultivator linked to or created. The further she got into it, the more she saw signs of battle. Swords stuck into the ground. Pieces of armor littered here and there, but never whole sets of armor. Some skeletons were visible too.
"This is bad," Lia muttered. "If this place wasn't fully looted, that means something stopped people from taking everything."
She needed supplies—weapons, food, anything. But touching artifacts in a ruin like this was suicide unless you knew what they did.
Her stomach growled again. Right. Priorities.
A flicker of movement made her freeze. A small creature darted between rocks—some kind of lizard with shimmering scales. Food.
Lia focused, channeling qi into her fingertips. A thin stream of water formed at her command, snaking toward the lizard. In a flash, it wrapped around the creature's neck, snapping it cleanly.
She exhaled. At least basic techniques still worked.
After skinning and cooking the lizard with a spark of fire qi (another basic skill), she ate quickly. Not much meat, but enough to quiet her hunger. "Hmm," thinking about it, the cultivators thought she was dead. She should be able to circle around and get out of here. She absentmindedly rubbed one of her rings, and a space opened in her mind. It was only 5 cubic meters inside, but this must be a spatial ring! Inside were some clothes, herbs, 3 healing pills which would heal most mortal wounds, some dried meats and fruit as well as a small jug of water. "Oh wait, there was also a pouch with coins and spirit stones. Sweet." So she could make it home if she got back now before the Corpse Cleansing Sect left.
She turned around, heading towards the entrance, trying not to think about how different walking felt or how her chest bounced with every step. Now she knew about spatial rings, she scanned every defeated corpse for rings. After several hours, she found two more on corpses that hadn't been looted yet. Most bodies were stripped bare though. She slipped them onto her fingers. One had some robes and tools as well as a sword and a staff. The second one had some books in a language she didn't understand.
Finally, after a day of sneaking, she saw light up ahead. The exit was just past a series of broken pillars. Lia crept forward, keeping low. No sign of the robed figures—maybe they'd already left?
Then she heard screams as the red-robed men ran towards the portal from outside. They weren't leaving. They were being hunted.
A figure stepped into view at the rift's edge. Tall, clad in silver-blue armor, his presence alone made the air tremble. He held a spear crackling with lightning, and behind him stood dozens of other armored cultivators.
The Flowing Water Sect's enforcers.
And they were pissed.
One of the robed figures lunged toward the rift—only for the armored man to flick his spear. A bolt of lightning reduced the robber to ash mid-step.
"Annihilate them," the armored man ordered. "Leave none alive."
"Oh shit." Lia ducked behind a pillar, heart pounding. If she ran now, they might mistake her for one of the enemy. But she knew the man in armor would recognize her sash and outfit. She had to be careful though.
She waited until most of the enforcers charged past, chasing down the last of the robed figures deeper into the ruins. Only then did she step out, raising her hands in surrender.
The armored man's gaze snapped to her. His eyes narrowed.
"Disciple Lia?" he said, voice like grinding stone. "You're supposed to be dead."
Lia swallowed. "I got lucky."
He studied her for a long moment before nodding. "The fracture is unstable. We're sealing it after cleanup. Go. Report to Elder Cho."
She didn't need to be told twice. Lia bolted for the rift, stepping through—and found herself back on the grassy hills outside the ruins. The sky was blue again, the sun warm. Normal.
Safe.
For now.
"Now I can go home," she thought as she started sprinting towards the sect. It was only an hour or so away at full speed. She could make it by nightfall if she rushed.
Tim gasped awake on the couch, drenched in sweat. His head throbbed, but the dual-awareness nausea was fading. He sat up slowly, staring at his shaking hands.
"That... that actually happened."
His phone buzzed. A message from the school: Classes resume tomorrow. See you then.
Right. Earth. Job. Responsibilities.
But how could he focus on teaching English when half his soul was in another world, living as a cultivator?
He exhaled sharply. He had two views. He was sitting on the couch and running at full pace at the same time. His earth body felt so sluggish, like it was moving in honey now. "Urgh, I need to get some anti-nausea medication." He would have to adapt to this. First things first though, he needed to help Lia get back home safely. Tim put on some tea and lay down, closing his eyes, focusing more of himself into Lia than Tim.
Lia was almost back, just making her way up the steps when a voice called out.
"Disciple Lia, where are your manners?" An older woman said in a stern tone. Lia turned and bowed immediately. "Apologies, Elder Cho. I didn't see you there."
She stepped forward, looking at Lia deeply. "You look awful, child. What happened? The fracture was unstable. As soon as we got reports that someone went missing inside, we sent reinforcements. We already found 3 other disciples dead before entering."
"I... I think I was lucky," Lia said softly. She wouldn't mention the Corpse Cleansing Sect for now. It would be reported later through official channels.
Elder Cho nodded. "Go rest. Report to me tomorrow morning."
Lia bowed again and hurried off toward the disciple quarters. Her room was sparse—a bed, a desk, a small altar for meditation. She collapsed onto the bed, exhaustion hitting like a hammer.
Tim, still partially aware through her, marveled at how real it all felt. The roughness of the sheets, the faint smell of incense, even the dull ache in her muscles from running.
And then there was the qi. Even exhausted, he could feel it swirling inside her—like liquid fire threading through invisible channels. It was intoxicating.
Then he felt the need to pee as Lia stood up. "Oh god, not this." He had lived 34 years with one set of genitalia. He wanted to cry knowing he might live another 30+ with different ones. Lia went over behind a screen in her room and squatted down, pulling her robes aside. Tim cringed, feeling everything happening twice—once as himself on earth and once as his new self. His male body was still on the couch trying to process what was going on, but Lia's needs took precedent for now. He had to wipe and feel the horror of just a gap there now. No penis, nothing dangling. Just smooth skin between legs. This was horrifying.
After cleaning herself, she stumbled back to bed, barely making it under covers before passing out from exhaustion.
Tim snapped back fully into his own body, groaning. He rolled off the couch and ran to the bathroom where he vomited violently into the toilet. After flushing, he looked at himself in the mirror. Dark circles under eyes. Pale skin. Yeah, he needed medication to help prop him up for tomorrow's class. He cleaned up and started walking to the only overnight pharmacy. It was in the rich side of town, so he would have to drive.
Getting in his car, he turned on some music to try and stop thinking about how insane this situation was. He arrived 10 minutes later and walked into the store. An older man was at the counter with a younger girl, maybe 20 to 22, who was complaining of nausea and double vision and asking if they had medication to help. She was cute—5'3", short hair dyed blonde, petite frame with an oversized sweater. Probably worked nearby.
Tim waited patiently until she was done buying her meds, then stepped forward. "Hey, do you speak English?"
The pharmacist nodded slightly. "Yes, can I help?"
"Yeah, I have been having motion sickness symptoms after seeing the meteor shower earlier," Tim said, rubbing his head.
The pharmacist handed him something that was similar to Dramamine but a Japanese version and told him when to take it, etc. After paying, Tim left and got back into his car, quickly swallowing two pills dry. Hopefully this would work soon. He noticed the cute girl stopped walking and was leaning against the wall. He decided he would drive by and ask if she was okay. Soon as he lowered his window, she looked and in a loud voice said, "I won't have sex with you, old pervert! Leave me alone!" Then she sprinted off down the street before stumbling, falling, and getting right back up, still running. "Okay, fair enough," Tim thought. He did look like shit. Maybe approaching girls wasn't the best idea tonight. Oh well, home and rest.
He drove back and took a quick shower. The moment the hot water hit his skin, it felt amazing. Like all of him, not just his body, was being cleaned. Even Lia absently shifted in bed, feeling the warmth over her too. Weird how these sensations crossed worlds. After drying off, he crawled into bed, exhausted from the day's events. Finally, both bodies were asleep at the same time.
Lia woke up first after dreams of this body's memories mixing with Tim's. It was confusing but gave some insight into the sect structure. There were 3 elders who acted as teachers for Foundation Establishment students. Elder Cho was one of them. She had reached Golden Core stage but never higher, so was stuck teaching young talents like Lia rather than ascending to the inner sect where true power lay.
She sat up, stretching, noticing how much more flexible her new body was. She sighed. Now was time to check how bad the situation was. She stripped down and stepped in front of a mirror, inspecting herself. Long black hair, almond-shaped eyes that were bright purple themselves. Pale skin unmarked by scars due to cultivation healing any wounds perfectly. Thin waist with wider hips leading down to legs built for endurance, running, and climbing. Breasts weren't huge—C cups maybe. "Fuck, this is most men's wet dream. I would have killed for a girlfriend who looked like this when I was younger. Well, now I'm her." He shook his head, trying not to think about it anymore.
She washed quickly before dressing in clean robes—dark blue with silver trim, standard disciple attire. Her memories were few and very fragmented. Maybe they would come back over time. She did an itemization of her storage ring and the ones she found. So far she has:
1 sword (low-grade spirit weapon) 2 sets of spare robes herbs x5 healing pills x3 dried meat/fruit rations water jug (self-refilling) 12 gold coins 43 spirit stones 2 unknown books (language unclear) 1 staff (unknown material)
Not bad for looting corpses. It might be distasteful, but survival comes first. "Hmm," she noticed 1 more ring on her hand and tried rubbing it. Nothing happened. She then tried injecting a tiny bit of qi into it. Instantly, a holographic window popped up. "WTF, this is like a smartphone." It was at that instant she realized technology existed here and was more advanced. The sect used both modern technology and ancient techniques together. This explained why the robes had pockets. A quick look showed messages from friends asking if she was okay after going missing. One stuck out though.
"Lia, you better show your face soon or I'll break your legs."
Huh? Who sent that? Checking sender name - "your loving brother Jin."
"Oh shit." Lia had a brother. An older one too. That meant family might notice personality changes. She would have to be careful. For now though, Elder Cho needed to see her. Tim/Lia fumbled through the screens and found she had a social media page. 500,000 followers! Lia's heart dropped. "Damn, cultivators were like celebrities in this world, and she was one of the best of the younger generation. Great, not only must I learn cultivation, I also need to learn how to be famous in a foreign society. Life just got way harder."
She quickly checked trending topics, seeing news about the space fracture and how the Flowing Water Sect lost many disciples inside but managed to secure the site before rival sects could claim it. There was some speculation about what treasures were found.
Lia turned off the display and headed out toward Elder Cho's pavilion, mentally preparing for whatever came next.
Tim woke up to his alarm blaring. 6:30 AM. Time to teach. His nausea was gone, thankfully, replaced by a dull headache. He dragged himself out of bed, showered again (feeling both bodies under the water—still weird), and dressed mechanically.
He was operating two bodies at once. It was extremely difficult. Most people found it hard to move their hands in opposite directions at the same time. Fumbling and banging into things, he thought, "I better walk while Lia is awake, or else I will crash." He stared in the mirror, looking himself over. There was a big difference from Lia's body. His was softer, out of shape compared to hers. He sighed, turning away, grabbing his bag and heading to work. Walking to college, he saw the students differently—how 19-year-old girls acted. "Wow, my other body is the same age as some of these students. Well, maybe give or take some depending on the other planet's rotation around its sun. But it looked similar to Earth, so it must be in a similar band." Looking down at his bit of belly, he thought, "Maybe I can start working out here. I wonder if I can cultivate. Lia is 19, but as a Foundation Establishment, she can live to over 200." He had found out while looking at some basic explanations in the other world. Even Qi Refining stage people lived longer than normal humans. That could mean even more time in this split state. "Urgh, I need coffee."
The bell rang, signaling homeroom starting soon. Tim walked into class ready to fake enthusiasm for another day. The students stood, greeting him.
"Hello class, I'm Mr. Jones."
"Good morning, Mr. Jones," they all said together.
Tim smiled slightly, feeling a little better seeing these happy faces. They were just kids trying to learn. So innocent compared to the cutthroat cultivation world that Lia was stuck in. "Okay, today we will be learning about how to talk about past experiences." He started writing on the board when his mind drifted back towards Lia, who was now sitting with Elder Cho, discussing her survival.
"Mr. Jones, you wrote 'I have been killing bandits' instead of 'I have killed bandits,'" one student called out, pointing at the board.
"Oh sorry, let me fix that," Tim said, erasing quickly. "Damn dual awareness distracted him already. Hopefully the pills would help. I fell over after the meteor shower last night," he said. "Just not fully recovered yet."
Some students giggled; others seemed sympathetic. One girl who was usually his best student looked up, disoriented but interested. Riku asked, "Anything else like having weird vision?"
Tim raised an eyebrow. This girl seemed too interested. Was she perhaps experiencing the same thing? "Yes, actually. I feel like my senses are off, almost as if I'm living two lives."
Her eyes widened slightly before she composed herself. She nodded slowly then went back to taking notes without responding further. Interesting. Maybe this meteor shower affected more people than just himself. He would have to approach Riku later. He had a lesson to teach, and Lia needed to get through her meeting with Elder Cho first.
Lia exited her residence and finally got a good view of the sect in morning sun. It was massive, built into the side of a mountain peak with countless buildings dotting the landscape, some suspended by chains or floating on platforms held up by formations. The air shimmered with qi and smelled faintly of ozone from all the active spells being cast. Disciples were everywhere, walking between buildings or practicing techniques in courtyards. Some flew on swords while others rode spirit beasts. Even the lowest-ranked disciples here could beat Earth's strongest warrior. And she was one of the top talents among them.
She walked toward Elder Cho's pavilion—a tiered structure floating above a koi pond. As she approached, two other disciples bowed slightly to her. She recognized them vaguely from memories—senior disciples who had reached Foundation Establishment years ago but never advanced further.
"Junior Sister Lia," one said. "Glad to see you alive." His tone suggested otherwise.
She nodded curtly and kept walking. Politics here were brutal; showing weakness invited predation.
Elder Cho waited inside, seated behind a low table. 60-ish in appearance (though likely centuries old), her sharp features softened slightly when she saw Lia.
"Sit."
Lia knelt opposite her, back straight.
"You entered the fracture alone," Elder Cho said. No accusation—just fact.
"Yes, Elder."
"Why?"
Lia hesitated. The truth? Greed. Ambition. Arrogance. But saying that would earn punishment.
"I sensed strong qi fluctuations," she lied smoothly. "Thought it might be an opportunity for the sect if verified quickly."
A half-truth. Elders loved those.
Cho studied her for a long moment before sighing. "Reckless. Talented, but reckless." She leaned forward. "You're lucky your soul wasn't shredded entirely by those corpse-eaters. Whatever shield or artifact protected you, cherish it."
Shield? Artifact? Lia hadn't used anything... unless the foreign fragment was protecting her. Interesting.
"You will be confined to sect grounds for one month," Cho continued. "No missions. Focus on recovery and stabilizing your foundation. Dismissed."
Lia bowed deeply and retreated. Not terrible. A month to train and figure out this dual-existence situation. This was perfect. It allowed him to adjust to his body while trying to control both bodies at once.
Tim walked toward Riku after class ended. He could see Lia returning to her room, so he focused more on Earth now. "Hey Riku, can I speak with you privately?"
The girl nodded, following him into an empty classroom. Tim locked the door behind them.
"Tell me what happened after the meteor shower," Tim asked softly.
She looked around nervously before speaking in a hushed tone. "I-I saw a light enter my chest. Now I feel like I'm somewhere else too."
Bingo. Another split soul.
"What do you see?" Tim pressed.
"A desert. I'm... someone else there. A man named Varek. I am having to fight wild beasts. I have some fragmented memories of the man. I am a Foundation Establishment level 4. I am not sure what that means, but I can move really fast. And he is much older than myself as Riku." "Hmm," Tim thought. "Okay, can you get somewhere safe as Varek? That way we can talk without distractions."
Riku nodded slightly, then closed her eyes tightly for several minutes before reopening them wide-eyed. "Holy shit, that was crazy. But yes, I found a cave and sealed it temporarily. So you are experiencing the same thing, Mr. Jones?" The student-teacher boundaries breaking down fast here.
"Yes... but maybe we should keep this between us. If others knew, they would dissect us or lock us up."
She agreed easily enough. "We need more information though. Do we tell parents? Friends?"
Tim shook his head. "Not yet. For now, let's just observe. Let your other self live their life naturally while making sure they don't die. You don't know how this works any more than I do."
Riku smiled suddenly, looking less stressed. "This is actually kinda cool though, right?"
"Yeah, except when one body needs to pee while the other is teaching English," Tim muttered, making Riku burst out laughing.
"I've learned more about male anatomy in the last day than 4 years of health studies taught me," Riku replied. Tim chuckled, realizing how awkward it must have been for her too. "Oh, have you tried the rings on your fingers yet?" He explained about storage rings and qi injection activating tech devices, which made Riku perk up. She had noticed some jewelry on Varek's hands. "What? There is social media?" she squealed excitedly.