It hurt. That was the first thing that Kenji realized: it really, really hurt. The second thing he realized was that he was sitting on a small, grassy hill. That was weird, since somehow the place he was sitting at didn’t really feel real to him. He was confused, both by the fact that he was still hurting and the fact that he could remember his father picking him up and taking him back to Cloud Tower.

"Your mind created this place, child."

Kenji turned, looking over his shoulder at Mr. Balkus.

"What?"

"You are correct in your assessment—this place is not real. It only exists because you feel most comfortable here."

"Oh," Kenji said, turning to stare up at the blue sky that wasn’t really there. "So, where am I?"

"You are currently in the lower levels of Cloud Tower, being treated for severe injuries."

Kenji stood up, brushing the grass off his hands, and walked over to Mr. Balkus. Reaching up to take the old man’s – or wait, Dad had said he was a Zoalord – hand, not wanting to feel so alone, Kenji asked the question that had just come to his mind. "How did I get hurt? And why am I not awake?"

When Kenji looked back up at Mr. Balkus, he saw the old Zoalord looking down at their hands. He almost seemed mad, so Kenji quickly let go and took two small steps back. "Sorry. But, what happened to me?"

"You were attacked."

And that was all Kenji managed to find out, because Mr. Balkus disappeared right after he said that. Sitting back down on the grass that wasn’t really there, Kenji lay down and just stared up at the sky. It was kind of hard to remember that this place wasn’t real, but there was always something just a little off about it that made him remember that he wasn’t really there.

Of course, if Mr. Balkus had been right, then he wasn’t really anywhere, and this place was just someplace he’d made up.

He didn’t know just how long it had been since he’d lain down to rest, but he was starting to get the feeling that he was being watched. Sitting back up, he looked behind him to see who was there and saw Mr. Balkus again, but he was just standing there staring at him. Kenji was confused, but then maybe Mr. Balkus just didn’t like being touched. Or maybe… maybe Mr. Balkus just didn’t like him. Kenji wasn’t sure which.

"You came back?"

"You interest me," Mr. Balkus told him.

"I do?"

"You were never meant to be what you are, and yet you seem to be coping very well with the changes. Not just the physiological, but to a certain extent the mental, as well."

"Um, thank you?"

"That was an observation, child, not a compliment," Mr. Balkus said, sounding bored.

"Um, okay."

Silence fell while Kenji tried to figure out what to say next.

"So, um, how did I get hurt again?"

"I have already told you, child—you were attacked by Aptom."

"Aptom?" He remembered someone named Aptom. Mr. Balkus faded out for a minute, and when he came back, he looked mad. Or, not mad so much as annoyed and disappointed.

"You went willingly with Aptom?"

"Dad says I trust people," Kenji said, offering a shrug in his own defense, since he didn’t know what else he could really say.

"You trust entirely too easily, child."

Something that looked like Mr. Gyouoh appeared for about half a second, and Kenji wondered just why he’d thought of that. Or maybe Mr. Balkus did; Kenji wasn’t really sure, but he got the feeling that Mr. Balkus could change things there if he wanted to, since it wasn’t really real, he reminded himself.

"Who’s Aptom, anyway?"

"He was a project of mine—one that went out of its designated parameters. He has no use to Chronos now that he has become something other than a Zoanoid, but as a Lost Number he had very little use to begin with."

"Oh," Kenji said again, still confused. "What does he do?"

"The most that you would be able to comprehend, child, is that Aptom’s metabolic process resemble those of a virus. That is essentially what the Lost Number has become."

"Well, if he’s a virus, then shouldn’t my immune system take care of him on its own?"

"What do you mean?" Mr. Balkus asked, turning to look at Kenji curiously.

"Dad taught me about it," Kenji said, shrugging his narrow shoulders, slightly afraid of the way Mr. Balkus was looking at him, even though he didn’t really know why. "Dad said that the immune system is what makes you better when you get sick. And, um, I just thought that, well… never mind," Kenji trailed off timidly.

"What was your idea, child?" Mr. Balkus demanded.

Kenji shivered. "I just thought that if Aptom’s what’s making me so sick, then maybe my immune system might make me better," Kenji said, eyes downcast. "Sorry if it’s a stupid idea."

"Hmmm," Mr. Balkus said, just before he went away again, but when he didn’t come back, Kenji wondered just what he’d done wrong.