objects in session: 11.0

ctrl + escape.

Sakura's own breath hitched, a ragged, cleansing sound that escaped her lips. The weight of an invisible burden, one she hadn't realized she still carried, seemed to dissolve from her shoulders, leaving her light-headed. "Yes.." she managed, her voice a fragile whisper, "It's over. BBHC, the school, Project Hypnagogia hopefully, all of it… it's finally gone."

Viktorie, observing from a slight distance, fixed Sakura with an astute, analytical gaze. A single, expressive brow arched high, mirroring the sharp intellect in her eyes. "Wait-" she interjected, a keen edge to her tone. "You remember everything, too?"

Sakura's head gave a slow, deliberate nod, as if testing the reality of her own memories against the crisp, cold air. "I believe so. Do… do you all?" Her gaze swept across the familiar faces, searching for confirmation of their shared, unbelievable past.

Calventia, a woman of cool disdain, idly coiled a silken strand of hair around her finger. A slow, knowing smirk played on her lips, a hint of dark amusement in her eyes. "Naturally," she drawled, her voice laced with dismissive confidence. "That entire institution was—" she punctuated the air with a disdainful flick of her wrist, making invisible quotation marks "—insane."

Before the words could fully settle, a high-pitched squeal, bright and sharp as a jingle bell, sliced through the cheerful chatter. "Sakura!" A blur of motion, and then Dulcinea, Calventia’s younger sister, launched herself forward, a tall and lanky whirlwind of pure, unadulterated joy. They tumbled together in a fierce, bone-squeezing embrace, the sound of their combined laughter bright and fragile against the chilly evening air.

"I missed you so much!" Dulcinea's voice was muffled against Sakura's shoulder, edged with the sweet tremor of a shy girl's pure affection.

Sakura squeezed her tighter still, a profound, undeniable warmth spreading through her chest, chasing away the phantom chill of the school that had once held them captive. "And I, you, my sweet..." she whispered back, her eyes misting slightly with emotion, as the weight of the past finally began to lift.

The neon glow of Brrr’n’Cream beckoned, a whimsical beacon in the twilight. Its absurd premise—an ice cream parlor where milkshakes loomed like sugary totems, taller than most patrons—was precisely what their frayed nerves needed. The air inside was a thick, comforting blanket woven from melted chocolate, spun sugar, and the warm, yeasty promise of waffle cones baking. Every surface gleamed with a sugary veneer, and laughter bounced off the cartoonishly oversized fixtures.

Sakura, still carrying a faint tremor in her hands, gravitated towards a mint-green swirl, the peppermint promising a cleansing chill. Calventia, the connoisseur of the arcane (a lie), demanded a ‘Dulce de Leche Fudge’ creation that arrived looking less like a drink and more like a sculpted monument to caramel and cocoa. Viktorie, a whisper of a smile playing on her lips, opted for the reassuring simplicity of a chocolate chip cone, while Lorelei, with a sigh of delicious surrender, chose the seasonal gingerbread crunch, its spice a warm hug. Dulcinea, however, was pure, unadulterated joy in motion, her triple-scoop rainbow cone a vibrant, defiant splash of color against the shop's pastel chaos.

“So… the VR school,” Sakura whispered, the name itself tasting of old fear, the words a lump in her throat finally tumbling free. “I can’t quite believe it’s… gone. For a while, I thought it was a cage I’d never escape.”

Lorelei reached across the table, her fingers gently brushing Sakura’s. “You’re safe now, Sakura. That’s what truly matters.”

Calventia, already halfway through her dairy monstrosity, let out a delighted snort. “Honestly? My main takeaway is that we somehow survived without permanent brain damage. And the glitches, oh, the glitches were gloriously, horrifyingly torturesome.” She punctuated her sentence with a dramatic slurp of her towering milkshake.