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Please download the PDF for the best formatting!

This might be one of the most difficult chapters that I have ever written. This thing brought me way out of my writing comfort zones, but I think it was a good experience for me.

I put a lot of effort into developing the setting more in this chapter, and I also saw an opportunity to place more emphasis on Keagan's anxiety problems. Some feedback from previous stories made it clear that few people were able to tell that he had any anxiety issues at all.

Thank you Saignus, Nakase, and SomeRoboy for story suggestions and editing!

Btw, I am trying new uploading methods for the stories. Please let me know if this version (pdf + story in description) is better than the previous ones :)

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Shared Identity Chapter 5: Fears

A high-pitched warning echoed through the crafting room. It only took a moment for Keagan to realize what the problem was. “Great, the fabricator is running low on some materials. ”


“It can run out?” Kazu asked from the table that it was laying on. The magitek fursuit used its arms to pull itself closer to the edge of the table so that it could take a closer look at the device. Though it had been becoming more mobile, it still couldn’t do much more than crawl around without someone wearing it.


“Yea, the amount of magic it takes to create more than a bit of dust out of nothing is illegal,” Keagan replied with a sigh as he took out his smartphone and started taking notes on what he needed to buy. He had delayed completing these orders for a bit too long while working on Kazu, and he really needed to get them shipped as soon as possible. That meant he’d have to do something he dreaded: going to a local store instead of ordering online.


The crafting room was filled with freshly printed cosplay gear that Keagan was getting ready for shipping including elf ears, monster gloves of various types, and a large collection of animal tails. While the artistic quality of the items was not particularly impressive, Keagan was one of the few people who sold cosplay prosthetics that were designed to link with their wearer’s nerves in order to move and provide feedback. He probably had one of the few fabricators in the world that was set up to print such items, and because of that Keagan probably could have been making a lot more money off of this enterprise if he devoted more time to it. However, he considered it just a stepping stone towards creating suits like Kazu.


After finishing taking his notes, Keagan put away his phone and patted Kazu on the head. “I’m going to have to go out for supplies. Do you want me to power you down so you can rest for a bit?” Though Kazu didn’t like it, Keagan had convinced the suit to power down every night to rest. Keagan was concerned that Kazu would wear itself out if it stayed active 24 hours a day. On top of that, he was also worried that Kazu would get bored and cause trouble if he was left alone for hours on end.


“You only just woke me up! Can I come with you instead?” Kazu’s three tails wagged as it spoke, “Now that you’ve been showing me videos of what it looks like out there, I want to see it myself!”


“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Keagan began trying to explain as he imagined people staring and pointing at him as he walked around dressed like a fox, “People don’t usually wear... costumes… out in public.” Dealing with people was hard enough for him without attracting extra attention.


“They don’t?” Kazu was disappointed and surprised by this, “Can I watch James play games while you’re gone then? I promise that I won’t let him catch me watching.”


An unconscious cringe formed on Keagan’s face as he thought this over. He had been able to get Kazu to make a game out of keeping his housemate in the dark about its true nature, but that didn’t mean James wasn’t going to find out eventually. On one hand the risk of his housemate somehow finding out about Kazu and jumping to the worst possible conclusions worried him, but on the other hand Keagan was becoming increasingly unhappy about keeping Kazu in the crafting room all the time.


“Keagan, I can just watch videos here if you prefer,” Kazu said sadly as it noticed Keagan’s expression.


“I… I’m sorry,” Keagan stammered while feeling ashamed of himself, “I’ll try to think of some way to make it up to you later.”


The room was awkwardly silent as Keagan hunted down his old tablet computer and powered it up so that Kazu could watch more YouTube videos on it. A knot had formed in Keagan’s stomach as he felt more and more terrible for how he was treating Kazu. At some point he had started thinking of the living suit as a friend even though he had only known Kazu for a few days. However, he didn’t feel like he was treating Kazu like one. The thing was, he wasn’t sure how he could give Kazu more freedom without both driving his anxiety through the roof and risking everything.


“Keagan, can you at least tell me why you’re trying to hide me?” Kazu finally asked, breaking the silence, “I’ve figured out that you tend to worry about things more than me, but I don’t know what it is that you’re worrying about. Is there something wrong with wearing a costume like me?”


“I…” Keagan stopped and tried to gather his thoughts since he wasn’t mentally prepared for Kazu’s question. Answering would mean revealing the truth about several things to Kazu, and he wasn’t sure how it would react. “It is complicated. It isn’t that there is something wrong with wearing you; it is that people would think I’m weird for going around dressed as a fox in public for no good reason. That’s a big deal for me. However, that isn’t the real problem. I’m worried that people will think you’re dangerous if they learn the truth about you.”


The living suit tilted its head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”


After pulling up a chair and sitting down next to Kazu with the tablet, Keagan began trying to explain. “Over the last decade or so since magitek became available our lives have improved a lot, but a lot of problems have happened as well. Bad things have happened because of people who were irresponsible with magic. People have died, and others have been transformed into well… monsters.” As Keagan spoke, he shifted uncomfortably in the chair. His back pain had been flaring up over the last day, and he figured it was because he had been getting so worked up about how to tell Kazu about all this.


“Monsters?” Kazu asked with its ears tilted back.


“Well, once some idiot tried to turn himself into a dinosaur,” Keagan said as he tried to remember, “He almost succeeded, but instead ended up as a ravenous half raptor hybrid that thought people were tasty. Another example involves some medical experiments from a few years ago that supposedly turned someone into an actual vampire. Stuff like that has made people really scared of… aberrant magic. Magic that isn’t behaving the way it should.” He looked away from Kazu as he said this. This was something they had needed to talk about eventually, but he had never been able to work out a good way to do it.


Kazu was uncharacteristically silent for several moments before replying. “You’re saying that I’m one of these… aberrations?”


“Not in the same way,” Keagan said with a cringe before finally looking back at Kazu. “You’re capable of a lot of things that were not in my original design, but you’re not a monster. It is just that you… came to life.”


“Wait, are you saying that you didn’t intend for me to… wake up?” Kazu exclaimed with a surprised look, “I was just supposed to be a costume? I had assumed that you had meant for me to be your companion, and that was why you created me this way.” The suit seemed visibly upset by this realization.


Keagan knew that this was not going the way he would have liked and quickly tried to salvage the situation. “I have no idea what made you become sapient. However, I’m honestly glad that you came out this way. You are… are a great companion like nothing I’ve imagined before. I just haven’t been able to figure out how to reveal you to other people without them jumping to bad conclusions. I’m worried that if someone found out about you and told the police that...”


“I’d get taken away and people would think you were a dangerous person for creating me,” Kazu finished for him with a downcast look.


“That’s putting it mildly,” Keagan added while feeling both relieved that Kazu seemed to understand and worried about the kitsune suit’s expression. “Sure, I’m also worried about people thinking I’m a pervert or something if they see me going around wearing you. However, that pales in comparison to the possibility of you getting destroyed and me losing my magi-technician license at the same time. Not that the license is as important in comparison.”


Kazu was silent for a while as it processed all of this. Considering that it had just learned that its awareness was a complete accident and that its world was more complicated than it had realized, Keagan was glad that it seemed to be taking things calmly. Finally, Kazu nodded as if it had decided on something. “I’m glad that you’re worried about me, but I wish you had told me that I was an accident sooner.”


“I couldn’t really think of a good way to bring up the subject,” Keagan said a little defensively, “Also, I don’t think you should call yourself that…”


One of Kazu’s tails interrupted Keagan by reassuringly laying on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, it isn’t like this is going to give me self-esteem issues or something. I am what I am.”


Keagan stared for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief. “I keep forgetting that you just don’t seem to worry about things the way I do. You’re right, I should have told you sooner. I’m sorry.”


“In any case, I still don’t like being hidden away like this,” Kazu added a bit forcefully while looking Keagan right in the eyes. “I kind of understand why you’re afraid, but… being stuck in here is so boring! Are you sure that you’re not just worrying too much? All I need to do is pretend that I’m a normal costume around other people for now! Then, when we find people we can trust you can introduce them to me.”


Keagan hesitated as he thought this over. Could it be possible that he was blowing the danger out of proportion? Kazu was probably one of the least threatening ‘aberrant magical phenomenon’ that he had heard of. Unfortunately, Keagan still had not been able to think of a way to get past the other issue: how to deal with what people thought of him. “You might be right. Can you just give me some time to think things over? Besides, even if I don’t have to worry about people being afraid of you I still need to figure out where exactly I could wear you. My original plan was to only wear you to like, three or so conventions over the next year.”


“Alright, you did already say that you would try to make it up to me after all,” Kazu said with a smile before turning to look at the tablet, “So, is there anything else you would suggest that I watch?”


Caught off guard by the sudden subject change, Keagan stuttered for a moment before positioning the tablet so that Kazu would be able to see it and interact with the touch screen more easily. “I’m not sure. You’re not interested in history or the news, and you’ve watched stuff involving a lot of the subjects that directly involve you like Japanese legends and magitek.” Kazu had even gotten Keagan to show it videos about fursuiting, and Keagan had been secretly pleased that Kazu seemed a bit disturbed by the more cartoony style most fursuits displayed compared to its realistic style.


“How about foxes?” Kazu suggested while swishing its tails in a manner that suggested some of its usual enthusiasm was returning. “I think Kazumari would be happy if he was able to be a bit more fox-like.”


“Huh, that’s an idea,” Keagan said as he searched for videos while still trying to grapple with the sudden subject change. Either Kazu simply didn’t have any anxiety at all, or had changed the subject to something that it thought would worry Keagan less on purpose. “Assuming Kazumari really is a fusion between the two of us, I wonder which of us made him interested in having a feral side? I guess the idea of making the ‘transformation’ more realistic does appeal to me.”


Kazu gave him a thoughtful look. “Why couldn’t it have come from both of us?”

---

After sitting down inside the driverless rental car that he had called for, Keagan told the vehicle to bring him to the nearest Magitek store. The car’s old electric engine hummed to life, and Keagan found himself alone with his thoughts as it started the trip to town. He felt like he had a weight lifted off his shoulders now that he had told Kazu the truth about itself and what was going on. However, there were still plenty of other things for him to worry about.


Even if he assumed that the government wasn’t going to kick down his front door for accidentally creating a living suit, he couldn’t help but wonder how other people were going to react. After all, if he had created a living thing once did that mean he was going to be able to do it again? Keagan was still quite concerned about the moral implications of creating living suits like Kazu, and couldn’t help but think that people were going decide he was some sort of madman with a god complex.


After taking a deep breath, Keagan tried to push these thoughts out of his mind. The real issue he needed to figure out was how he could get Kazu outside the house without making a fool of himself. He had originally planned for the costume to just be worn to a few conventions to show it off and then make money off his invention. However, the anime and fantasy conventions he had planned to go to only happened a few times a year. Keeping Kazu locked away in between those conventions was cruel, but those were the only situations that he could think of where it would really be socially acceptable to wear a kitsune suit.


Unless… he hung out with furries. Keagan tensed up just at the thought of it. His past experiences dealing with furries had been a bit odd despite how much he had in common with them. Additionally, he was worried about what people would think of him if he started hanging out around that crowd, and he didn’t exactly like the idea of hanging out with a group of people that he didn’t know. Still, for the sake of Kazu he began pondering giving them a chance.


After thinking on things a bit, Keagan found himself wondering what Kazunari would even end up doing if placed in a room with other people. After all, once Keagan and Kazu fused their minds together neither of them seemed to have much say in what Kazunari would do afterwards. Somehow, the thought of becoming that kitsune again was both terrifying and exciting. A part of him didn’t like the implications of that sort of mental transformation, but every moment that Keagan had spent as Kazunari so far had been pure joy for him. It had taken a lot of self-control for him to hold back from wearing Kazu again until he finished running diagnostics and making more modifications.


Keagan’s thoughts were interrupted when his ride came to a halt in front of his local Magitek store. These mid sized stores were run by the same company that had invented ‘Magi Technology’ in the first place, and the store seemed especially busy today. The crowds were still quite intimidating to Keagan and almost made him not want to leave the car. Being around people tended to stress him out since he couldn’t help but obsess over what they were thinking about him. At least at a convention he could hide behind a mask, but he had no such option here. After taking a deep breath, Keagan forced himself to get out of the car and get it over with.


After briskly walking into the building Keagan quickly grabbed a shopping cart and began hunting for his supplies. He tried to work quickly, but had some trouble finding what he needed since he usually tried to order his supplies online. The place was stocked with an incredible variety of items ranging from tools, automated cooking appliances, household golems, and a wide variety of toys and games.


After finally finding new industrial sized cartridges for his fabricator and a backup power magicite for Kazu, he found himself near the store’s selection of household golems. He would have left the store right then, but it crossed Keagan’s mind that he might be able to find something that would help him understand Kazu better among the store’s golem related tools. The problem was, being in a crowded store was wearing down on him. After gritting his teeth to try to ignore the tension pains he was already feeling throughout his body, Keagan continued shopping.


Despite his discomfort, Keagan did find that the store’s selection of golems was fascinating. Their sizes ranged from that of a desktop computer to that of a person, and their forms were even more varied. Most of them were intentionally designed to look robotic in order to avoid an uncanny valley effect, though there were a few models that looked like realistic animals. Humanoid shaped cleaning or cooking golems had been becoming popular, but the newest fad was animal golems. They were perfect for anyone who wanted an exotic pet that would never get sick and never needed to be fed. Keagan idly wondered what it would take to grant one of these golems sapience like Kazu, though he wasn’t entirely sure that he wanted to know.


“Excuse me, can I help you?”


Startled out of his thoughts and feeling his anxiety skyrocket, Keagan turned around to see a female Magitek employee with long dark brown hair. Her name tag said ‘Nira’ on it. “Oh! I...I’m just browsing,” he stammered awkwardly. For a moment he silently willed her to leave him alone, but spoke again when he realized that she might be able to help him get out of the store faster, “Well, actually… do you have any tools on hand that might be useful for diagnosing problems with a golem?”


“Why certainly!” Nira replied with a smile that actually helped him relax a bit, “We have a lot of golem related products here, and I’m sure that I could help you find the one you need. Do you have a certification for using the more advanced tools, or are you looking for one of the basic ones?”


After taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Keagan opened up the app on his phone which displayed his magitek related licenses and certifications and then turned it to show Nira. “Will one of these work?” Due to government regulations, there were actually a number of different certifications that a person needed depending on what sort of magic related work or research he was doing.


“Your general certification should be enough,” Nira replied before gesturing to the back of the store. “I noticed that you have a lot of medical device certifications rather than golem ones. Have you been branching out recently?”


“Something like that,” Keagan replied vaguely, “It is a bit complicated. Are there any specific tools that you would recommend for diagnosing unusual behavior?”


“Unusual behavior?” She repeated with a puzzled look, “Is this from an official Magitek golem?”


“It has a custom body, but with a MGC-84 control magicite,” Keagan replied, specifically avoiding mentioning that Kazu’s crystal had been altered by the suit’s magic. He was hoping that maybe if he had the right tools he could figure out what exactly triggered Kazu’s awakening in the first place.


Nira’s eyes grew wide. “A custom body? That’s really impressive! I’ve been studying to become a golem crafter myself, and I’m hoping to be able to create one of my own some day! I’m assuming that you balanced the power flow properly to prevent surges?”


“There was one surge, but there are no signs that it damaged the control magicite,” Keagan said a bit defensively, “Also, the odd behavior is almost certainly what caused the power surge in the first place.”


“I’m assuming that you are using at least a Class A Magitek Circuit scanner to test and plan your circuits then?”


“Yes,” Keagan replied, then hesitantly added, “Though honestly it has been having some trouble parsing my design properly since I’m using an adaptive alteration spell to grow its sensory pathways.”


Nira gave him a confused look, “I’ve never heard of one of those being used on a golem before. They usually don’t need more than basic sensors.”


“This one is a bit of an experiment…”


They spent another minute or two going over the possible reasons why a golem could behave erratically, and Keagan did his best to answer the questions truthfully without giving away what he had actually created. Somehow, he found himself becoming a bit less tense as he talked; possibly because of Nira’s infectious enthusiasm about golems. Eventually she decided to look up Kazu’s control magicite on a computer to see if there were any complaints or recalls on it, but couldn’t find anything there either.


“I’m running out of ideas,” Nira finally said with a sigh, “It goes without saying, but you’re only using the proper amounts of processed mana in your golem, right?”


“I’ve only used power crystals that I bought from this store, so I’m not sure how it could have been exposed to wild mana or anything,” Keagan replied, but then frowned and scratched his chin as the implications of her question dawned on him. Too much mana was one of the main causes of aberrant magic, but wild ‘unprocessed’ mana was another possibility. Was there any way that Kazu could have been exposed to something like that without him knowing?


“Judging from the look on your face, I think it would still be worth checking,” she said, and then picked up what looked like some sort of scanning device in a clear plastic case. She placed it on the counter between them. “This is the Archmage Portable Magitek Scanner Model 4 that was released just a few weeks ago. It has advanced circuit mapping abilities and is the world’s first handheld mana tester that doesn’t cost a fortune. If you’re worried that something could be corrupting your mana supply this would be the way to check it, and it’ll be able to do a better scan than your current tester.”


After picking up the device and reading some of its packaging, Keagan realized that the tool not only would be able to check Kazu’s mana, but it might also help him figure out exactly how the living suit was functioning in the first place. The price tag was a bit higher than he would have liked to pay when he didn’t have a truly solid income source, but unfortunately this seemed like it was going to be a necessary expense. “Well, it seems like this would be useful even if unpurified magic isn’t the cause of all this. I’ll take it.”


“Great!” Nira said happily, “I can check you out right here. Is there anything else you need?”


“I don’t think so,” Keagan replied before glancing back at the rows of golems behind him. However, one of the boxes in the ‘pet’ section with a picture of a fox unexpectedly caught his eye. An idea suddenly began forming in his mind even as he cringed at the idea of how expensive the golem would be. “Actually, are the control crystals in those golems over there replaceable?”


Nira blinked at him in surprise before replying, “They aren’t meant to be, but there’s nothing stopping someone who knows what they’re doing from switching the crystals out. Are you thinking of putting your MGC-84 in to test it in a different golem?”


“Yea, pretty much,” Keagan said, figuring that it wasn’t stretching the truth too much.


“Well, luckily I’ve already modified a few of those animal golems myself!” Nira didn’t even try to suppress her excitement. “I could give you some pointers...”


“I appreciate it, but I think I’ll be fine. Really.” Even though talking to Nira had been interesting, Keagan could feel his tension building up from being around so many people. It wasn’t like this was enough to cause him an anxiety attack, but he still wanted to leave as soon as he could.


“Oh, alright,” Nira replied with a look a that implied she might have noticed his discomfort. “Well, before you go, do you mind if I ask if you have any social media accounts you post your work to? I’m kind of interested in seeing what you’re coming up with.”


Keagan hesitated as he considered her request. While he did have a social media account for his work, he was always afraid to share it with people he met in person since he was constantly worried about being called a furry. However, Keagan figured that Nira did seem nice and all he needed to do was avoid the store if she reacted badly anyway. “Look me up on Magister. My page is ‘Wearfox Designs’. It is spelled spelled W-E-A-R.” Keagan unconsciously braced himself as he said this.


“Wait, Wearfox?” Nira repeated with a look on her face that almost seemed… starstruck, “You’re the guy that sells the nerve prosthetic tails, right?”


“Wait, you’ve heard of me?” Keagan asked in surprise. Though he had been running Wearfox full time for nearly a year and half, this was the first time someone had recognized him.


“I ordered a tail and some ears from you a few months ago,” she exclaimed, but thankfully seemed to be trying to keep her voice down so people wouldn’t give them weird looks, “It felt so real that it was like a dream come true! I’ll send you a message. I’d love to talk with you more!”


“Sure… that sounds good,” Keagan said awkwardly as he wondered if she was another normal person who was interested in animal stuff like himself or if she was a furry. Either way, he had to admit that running into someone who liked his work felt oddly satisfying. “I’m glad that you liked them. Thanks for the help, and I’ll talk to you later.”

---

“Wow, you bought a lot of stuff!” James exclaimed when he saw just how many boxes Keagan was bringing inside.


“Yea, I ended up buying a lot more than I planned to,” Keagan said as he placed the heavy fabricator cartridges he was carrying on the table. When he brought in the box with the golem he had purchased, James’ eyes grew wide.


“A fox golem?” James walked up to get a closer look at the box. “Did you get a sudden desire for a pet, or are you just getting even more obsessed with foxes?”


“I have my reasons,” Keagan said irritably. It had just been a simple shopping trip, but he was still tense and stressed out from it. He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and decided to give James the partial truth that he had settled upon during the ride home. “The suit I made is run with a golem control crystal, and I have been thinking that training it on how to move like a fox might help it move more realistically.”


James blinked in surprise at this information before replying, “Wait, I know you told me the suit is similar to a golem, but you didn’t tell me it was smart enough to move on its own. Does that mean it could, like, run off with you inside it or something if it went rogue?”


“It isn’t actually strong enough to do something like that,” Keagan answered carefully, “Aside from helping me stand digitigrade, it doesn’t have the strength to properly move on its own. Technically it does link with my nerves, but I also built safeguards in to keep it from trying to control me or do anything that could harm me.” While that was technically true, Keagan wasn’t actually sure if those safeguards still worked. Even so, he doubted that Kazu would ever try to hurt him.


“Well, it sounds like one of those things that could go terribly wrong if you ask me,” James replied while taking a closer look at the box holding the golem, “Aside from that, aren’t these golems expensive? I thought your finances were going to be stretched thin until you started selling those suits of yours. Are you going to be able to pay your half of the rent this month?”


“It will be fine!” Keagan said while barely suppressing his irritation. He really didn’t want to have this conversation right now, and if his housemate ended up suggesting that he go and get a real job Keagan felt like he would probably snap at him. The stress and anxiety he had gotten while working at that medical prosthetic design company had nearly destroyed his health.


James opened his mouth as if to say something, but stopped himself. It appeared that he finally realized that Keagan was in a bad mood. After thinking for a moment, he spoke in a more apologetic tone, “Sorry, do you need any help carrying that stuff?


“I’m fine, but thanks,” Keagan replied while wishing that he actually could ask for his housemate’s help. Unfortunately, he needed to try and keep James away from Kazu until he figured out some way to explain things properly.


After he got into the crafting room and turned on the lights with a snap of his fingers, Keagan saw that Kazu was still happily watching fox videos. The living suit looked up from the tablet and frowned when it saw Keagan’s expression. “Is everything alright?” Kazu asked.


“Everything’s fine,” Keagan lied, but then immediately regretted it, “Well… not really. Dealing with people stresses me out.”


After looking at Kazu, Keagan felt a strong desire to put the costume on. He thought on it for a moment, and then realized that he always felt fairly relaxed whenever he wore Kazu even when they weren’t fully merged. At this point, Keagan was willing to try anything that might help him. “Kazu, if it is alright, could I wear you?”


Kazu immediately perked up. “Of course!”


“Give me a moment” He set the box on the floor, grabbed the neural link suit, then headed back to get the rest of the things he purchased. He had meant to give Kazu a scan with his new tool and do more testing, but that would have to wait.


By the time Keagan finished bringing in the rest of his purchases and putting on the link suit, Kazu was staring intently at the box with the golem. “Keagan, what is this? Is there a fox inside?”


Since his mood was improving now that he was forgetting about the crowded store, Keagan couldn’t help but laugh at Kazu, “No, a fox would suffocate in there. This thing is a magitek golem. It is a present for you.” He opened up the box, reached inside with both hands, and pulled out what looked like a realistic fox. It had natural colors which were similar to Kazu’s and was only slightly smaller than an actual adult red fox. The only signs that it was a golem were its slightly exaggerated eyes, unnaturally precise color pattern, and a few synthetic looking parts. “Alright, I’m going to start putting you on now.”


“What does it do?” Kazu was straining to look at the golem and wagging its tails even as Keagan began slipping his legs inside it. As usual, Kazu was speeding things up by pulling Keagan’s limbs into place.


“Well, normally people buy these things as low maintenance pets,” Keagan continued as he focused on putting the living costume on, “but I think I can use this as an alternate body for you.”


“You mean you want to put me in this?” Kazu tensed up as it spoke. Since Keagan had already gotten both arms into Kazu he found that his movement suddenly became restricted, and he couldn’t help but wonder just how much stronger Kazu had gotten since its creation.


“Well… not permanently,” Keagan said, now feeling worried that Kazu wasn’t going to like his idea, “It isn’t a perfect solution, but I thought it would give you more freedom until I can figure out ways to wear you outside more often. You’d be able to go places with me, and people would think you were just a pet golem. Plus, you’d get to experience a bit of what being a fox would be like.”


After staring at the golem for a few moments Kazu finally started to get excited. “I’ll… get to be a real fox! Well, not real, but still! Thank you so much!” Kazu suddenly squeezed Keagan like it was giving him a full body hug.


“No problem,” Keagan couldn’t help but smile at the suit’s enthusiasm, “It’ll take some work, but I think I can do a lot of the preparation while wearing you.”


“Well, what are you waiting for!” Kazu tugged at Keagan, urging him to put its mask on.


Keagan quickly complied, and pulled the suit’s zipper closed. It only took a moment for Kazu to link up with his nerves this time, and Keagan quickly felt the sensation of wearing a costume disappear only to be replaced with warm fur and three tails. A familiar, friendly presence connected to Keagan’s mind, but they didn’t fully merge to become Kazunari just yet.


Within moments of putting the costume on Keagan felt himself relaxing, and couldn’t help but suspect that it was Kazu’s doing. The suit had been based on medical prosthetics, so it wasn’t far fetched that Kazu could be helping him. Though Keagan had never been disabled, he had used those sorts of medical devices to help with his muscle tension issues in the past. Perhaps Kazu was serving a similar function for him, but on a grander scale since it connected to most of his nervous system?


I’m glad that you seem to be calming down! Kazu suddenly said in Keagan’s mind. Do you want to fully link? I think I can get it to last for an hour this time.


“Of course,” Keagan replied, smiling with his fox mask. He had a lot of stuff to fabricate and a lot of packing to do before getting started on the golem, but he figured that doing his work as a kitsune might be more fun. Like last time, he closed his eyes and began to imagine what fully becoming a kitsune would be like.


Kazunari opened his eyes moments later, and looked at the golem with excitement. “This is going to be a lot of fun.” The kitsune had no intention of doing Keagan’s hard work with the fabricator, but modifying a golem actually sounded very interesting. Especially if it might lead to him becoming more fox-like.