You can tell them anything and they'll believe it. You hold down that childish part of you and decide to joke around.

"O-1." You blurt out although you know it's useless. Your friend has ready said your number and it's written on your shirt. "Fine, that was a lie. You. »·w·«"

"E, shut up and tell the Gods your real name. ~v~" You can feel the annoyance resonate off of your tiny mad scientist that you called a friend.

"Fine, Moody. It's Eli. »·w·«" You told the Gods your actual name. You could've chose anything but no, you chose the name your parents gave you. Mom would be proud.

"Thank you. E-973 was too much of a mouthful." Hermes said as he played with an empty 5-Hour Energy bottle. You pick it up.

"So that's how you never sleep. I thought it was a natural ability or something. »·w·«" In fact, it would explain a lot about Clayton.

"Oh, I have insomnia. I only drink that stuff when I really need to be up, I have fifty-three in that trash can to make sure I finished these guys. ~v~" Clayton laughs and finishes up on fixing Athena.

"Wow, you use the trash can? Considering your house I thought you didn't learn about that yet. »·w·«" You joke about it, and halfway believe it yourself.

"Oh, I forgot there was a house that came with the garage. ~v~" You almost laugh at that until you realize that they're serious.

"How are you normal? Nobody pulls off what you do and most live inside their house. »·w·«"

"I got the impression when I first got Bakeracted. ~v~" They reply nonchalantly. All humor vanishes when you hear that.

"You've been to the Looney-Bin? I thought that you were just a weird kid, not insane. I mean, you seem like it and give off the impression but... You're not that kind of crazy.... »·w·«"

"Dude, there are many types of crazy. One is acceptable in this society, another is put on TV for losers with no life (like the Kardashians), one became the stereotype for insane and looked down upon, and many more are unheard of. I'm my own kind of crazy. And I like it. ~v~" For a few minutes, everyone is silent.

"Well that got deep." Hermes broke the silence.

"Well my point is that there's many shades and types of insanity. There isn't only the screaming at the walls or lobotomy-needing stereotype. There is highly functional insane, like schizophrenia. I don't have that, thank Neo. I'm just a highly functional maniac. ~v~"

"Well, thanks for the enlightenment. »·w·«" You were speechless. It felt kind of awkward to be here now, to be in the presence of someone who knows so much. They let on less than what they truly are.

"Don't treat me any different, Eli. I'm going to stay your friend you know and love forever, no matter how many times they drag me to jail or that asylum. ~v~" Clayton affirms. They will never break this, you can tell.

"Ok. I'm just going to get all this dust off my hands... »·w·«" You leave, uncomfortable with the sudden deep talk. You go to the bathroom and wash your hands. You notice that your nails are still nails. Not claws.

Why are you relived by this?

You take off your mask and look in the mirror. Your face is still human, thank god. You pull off the fake antenna and make sure that you are still human. You didn't want to be a Notail. You wanted to be you. Eli. A human born on Earth with no class, no numbers instead of a name. Just you.

You place your mask over your face again and put the antenna back on. You just wanted to go to bed. You just wanted to sleep. You just wanted a normal life. But you chose to follow this path, and so this path it is. You are not going back.

"Eli? You've been in there for a while. ~v~" Clayton knocks on your door, snapping you out of your thoughts of being human.

"Clayton, do you think you're human? I'm worried that Fortuna may be making us Notails if we keep up this charade. »·w·«" You try to not point towards their insanity.

"Oh sh- open the door I have to see." You open the door and Clayton does what you did. They sight in relief and smile before putting their mask and antennas back on. "Thank goodness. ~v~"

"Wait, let's check our stats. Our species should be there. »·w·«" You both pull up your stats. On your species name, the text spells put human.

"Oh my god, I was scared for a second there. ~v~" Clayton leaves, you look at yourself for a little while longer until you leave also.

"What should we do? »·w·«" To be honest, you're not entirely sure what should happen next.

"Get the Gods to join our crew and get some sleep. For once I'm tired too. ~v~" As if on cue, you both yawn.

"I'll get Helios, you get Athena. Chip Magnet. »·w·«" Calling him crazy seemed too weird for you now. You wanted to give respect.

"Seems fair. Idiot. ~v~" Clayton walks to Athena to convince her to join your crew.

[Athena v1 has joined your crew.] Appears in green text. You walk to Helios.

"Hey, sorry for all of the chaos before. I hope that we can make it up to you. »·w·«" You really wish things had gone a little smoother when Helios first woke up.

"It could all be made up for if I found out the meaning of life." He replies. His mind seems to be on something else, probably the meaning of life.

"Well, since nobody knows about you maybe it would be good if we banded together and made a crew? »·w·«"

"I don't see why not." He seems to be marking out many things he wrote. You pick up so one of the many papers and see that it's a list. The Life Is a Game and scribbled out.

"Wow, we aren't being controlled by some big player in the sky. »·w·«" You place it back.

"I know, and I find is oddly... Comforting. Like all of my actions are finally mine." He draws a slight smile, something you have never seen him do inside of the game. "Not being bound via ones and zeros and countless strings of code is liberating."

"I can only imagine how that feels. »·w·«"

"I'll join your crew. It will be best for us to stick together."

[Helios v1 has joined your crew.]

You smile underneath your mask and sit down in a nearby chair. Clayton stares at you for a few seconds.

"What? »·w·«"

"I sleep there, you can use the cot. ~v~" You get up and Clayton slumps into the chair, going out like a light. You walk to the cot and lay down.

"Goodnight." You mutter out right before you fall asleep.