The room felt different now.
Not in any physical way, the walls hadn't shifted, and the console still sat dormant in its pulsing blue hush, but something had settled. The tension that had soaked every surface since I woke in Nullspace was absent here.
And the thing curled in my lap, the kitten, if I could call her that, had almost fully rendered. The glitches were less frequent. Her paws no longer flickered. Her breathing came with small, even pulses. She twitched once, a tiny sound escaping her throat. Not a word this time.
Just a squeak. A questioning one.
I rubbed behind her ear. She tilted into it and let out a warbled purr, louder than before. Still imperfect, but unmistakably affectionate.
Then a line of text appeared, flickering just at the edge of thought:
[TETHERED ENTITY: PATCH]
[FORM STATUS: BIOLOGICAL // STABILITY: 68%]
[VOICE CORE: COMPANION_CHILD]
[MEMORY LINK: ANCHOR VERIFIED]
Patch.
Not a label I gave her. The system had chosen that, or more likely, she had. A name pulled from memory, or association, or instinct.
The moment I saw it, she stirred.
She turned her head just enough to meet my eyes, ears perked, tail curling along my thigh in a lazy arc. She let out a small chirp, bright, feline, and slightly garbled, but it was as good as confirmation.
Patch.
I smiled. Not much. But enough to hurt.
The name fit. Not just for what she was, but for what she meant. A patch. A fix. A temporary file in a world that had deleted everything else I loved.
She bumped her head into my ribs, then settled again, curling tighter.
[SANCTUARY NODE: ACTIVE]
[THREAD: NULLPOINTER]
[TETHER: PATCH]
[SYSTEM RESPONSE: HALTED]
[INTEGRATION ZONE ACCESS: DENIED]
[MONITORING LEVEL: NULL]
[EXPOSURE: 0.00]
That last one made my throat catch.
Zero.
No rising counter. No flickering red prompt. No sense of something crawling just out of sight.
This room, whatever it was, was mine.
And Patch was the key.
The console pulsed again, stronger now, and a new overlay slid into view, half-formed and imperfect. Unlike the debug logs I'd seen before, this one had structure. Columns. Labels. Even a flicker of iconography.
A menu. Or part of one.
[ACCESSING: CHARACTER.SHEET // THREADLESS USER: NULLPOINTER]
[WARNING: CLASS UNDEFINED // ABILITIES UNMAPPED]
[DISPLAY MODE: DEBUG + LEGACY UI]
A shiver ran through me. I leaned forward, eyes locked to the forming panel as the sheet stabilised:
Name: Gareth Hargrove
Alias: NULLPOINTER
Thread: [UNDEFINED]
Status: SURVIVING
Location: SANCTUARY NODE (DEBUG ROOM)
Integration: DENIED
Exposure: 0.00
Health: 63%
Stamina: 38%
Mental Integrity: [STRESSED]
Inventory Slots: 2 (Unlocked)
Class: None
Perks:
[EDGE CASE LOGIC] System blind spot detection increased.
[GLITCH RESISTANCE] Environmental anomalies have reduced physical impact.
It wasn't flashy. It didn't glow.
But it was real.
I finally had context, not full understanding, but breadcrumbs. Something to trace. Something to play with.
Patch stirred again.
A soft mrrp escaped her as the panel beside mine began to load.
A second UI. Smaller. Scaled down.
Companion Designation: PATCH
Form: BIOLOGICAL_001 (Kitten Variant)
Stability: 68%
Tether: Gareth Hargrove [Nullpointer]
Skills Available:
[EMOTIONAL LINK]Stabilises mental integrity while nearby.
[SYNCING PAWPRINT]Passive proximity effect enhances local structure.
[ECHO MEMORY FEED]Grows memory-based personality profile.
Integration Zone Compatibility: PENDING
Debug Context: STABLE
I read it three times. Not because I didn't believe it, but because it felt like seeing her, really seeing her, for the first time.
She yawned.
Her back legs twitched.
And then she climbed up my chest, paws too big for her frame, and gently headbutted my chin before curling into the hollow between my arm and collarbone.
It wasn't a command. It wasn't loyalty.
It was trust.
That damn tightness in my throat returned. I coughed to bury it.