Xisuma set down a shulker box, frowning at his newest building in Aque. Struggling to distract himself from the watcher in his dreams, the admin turned to constructing a new shop to take his thoughts off stress and worry, but it wasn't seeming to work.

He knew that the server was protected, that everyone was safe thanks to the admin magic that blocked out any watchers or unwelcome players, but he was struggling to accept it. Xisuma didn't feel safe.

The shop X had made was sloppy and lazily built, mainly due to the admin's wandering thoughts. No matter how hard he tried to keep his mind off the watcher, Xisuma couldn't stop worrying about what could happen if they managed to slip into the server, even with the barrier of magic.

"Hey X!" Scar's voice called with a happy tone, the admin giving a slight wave as he saw the mayor land on the streets of Aque, right in front of the admin's new shop. His back was facing Xisuma as he studied the building.

"This your new shop?" He asked, turning his head and looking at Xisuma, the admin flinching. Scar had one of the black masks that covered his eyes, identical to the ones that brainwashed players wore.

Xisuma stuttered, much too distracted by the watcher mask to formulate a sentence. Was he too late? Did the watcher already find her way into the server?

"I- erm- yes?" X responded, unsure what to do, practically frozen in place with his stomach churning and twisting into tighter knots.

"Oh, uh, it's a very..nice shop." He complimented the admin's work, but Scar wasn't very good at lying.

Xisuma tightly shut his eyes and shook his head, trying to think straight. He looked back at Scar's face, breathing a sigh of relief as he noticed the watcher mask was gone.

"N-not really." Xisuma weakly laughed in response to Scar's comment about his shop. "I'll have to tear it down and try again. Guess I just wasn't thinking right when I was building.."

Scar frowned, looking away from the shop and locking eyes with the admin. He could see the paranoia and fear that rested in Xisuma's eyes.

"Are you alright, X? Normally you're the most focused guy I know, so is something on your mind that's been distracting you?" Scar questioned, his head slightly tilted as he locked eyes with Xisuma's tired stare. The admin nervously chuckled.

"Me? I'm swell!" He insisted with a forced laugh, "I just have a bit of a headache, that's all."

"If you say so."

Scar waved goodbye, opening his elytra and taking to the skies. As he flew out of view, Xisuma's fake smile quickly faded, the admin taking a seat atop a shulker box with a groan of exhaustion.

"You're seeing things, nothing is wrong." The Brit tried to speak to himself in reassurance, but he felt like he was lying. After seeing that vision with Taurtis and the watcher, something had to be wrong.

"All those things that the watcher told me.." he mumbled before standing up, anxious tapping his foot against the ground as he thought to himself. "It doesn't make sense.." He grumbled, "None of it makes sense!"

Xisuma kicked over his shulker box in anger, but he quickly let out his rage with a saddened sigh, his annoyance melting away. The admin got on his knees, scooping the spilled array of materials back into the box. Was he really so paranoid that he was seeing things?

Shutting the box, X sighed anxiously as he briefly scanned the empty streets of Aque town. He was completely alone, but Xisuma couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.

"Stop being such a derp, Xisuma." The admin said, as he was starting to get used to talking to himself. "Nobody is watching you and nothing is wrong.."

Xisuma knew that he was just being paranoid, that everyone was safe in hermitcraft, but it wasn't like he could stop himself from worrying. He barely knew anything about watchers, since hermitcraft was a private server with no watcher of its own.

An idea suddenly popped into the admin's head, a way for him to get more knowledge on the strange watcher that wanted to invade the server.

He quickly pulled out his communicator from his pocket, a circular disk with a screen allowing for him to message players and enter commands. He scrolled down to Grian's name, hitting the message icon before X began to type.

<Xisuma> hey, can I stop by your mansion? I got a few questions for you

<Grian> sure, swing by whenever
<Grian> if it will waste time so I won't have to build the back of my mansion, I'm up for any questions

Xisuma let out a weak chuckle, but his eyes were frozen with seriousness. He pulled out a rocket, opening his elytra to fly and pay Grian a visit.

☼

Grian smiled to himself while setting down a colorful shulkerbox, adding to the large chestmonster in the upper half of his mansion. The builder had quickly repaired a creeper explosion in his fireplace, making the area look better than new.

The faint knock at his front door didn't surprise the hermit, as Xisuma messaged Grian only a few minutes ago. The builder pushed open the massive door, the admin of the server nervously twiddling his thumbs.

X didn't notice when the door opened, seemingly lost in his mess of thoughts, his eyes glued to the ground. He stood there, silently thinking, but Grian's voice tugged him out of his thoughts.

"X? You okay buddy?" Grian asked with a frown, Xisuma snapping back in focus and quickly nodding his head. His eyes were tired and buzzing with worry, something important was definitely on his mind. Grian didn't mention anything, holding the door open as he invited Xisuma inside.

"You wanted to ask me some questions?" Grian asked as he took a seat on one of the stray shulkerboxes that he owned, X taking a seat on another storage box across from the builder.

The admin's eyes were stuck on the flames that lightly crackled in the fireplace, he took a moment to let out a shaking breath before turning back to Grian.

"Yeah. About watchers." Xisuma said, his voice almost a whisper, as if he was paranoid that someone was listening in on his conversation. The topic was a strange one, Grian knew that, but he didn't ask why the admin was suddenly interested in them.

"Well, what do you want to know?"

"Everything you can tell me." X said, Grian nodding as he thought for a moment on where to begin.

"Well, I don't know that much, and it's been a while since I thought about them. The watchers were really mysterious back at Evo.." Grian said as he slightly leaned back in his seat, pausing for a moment to think before he continued.

"-but they would leave stuff for us. It could be structures like an obelisk or a tower, or it could be chests with our names written on it. They would make us complete puzzles and tests to find the update portals, which would normally lead us to the next version of the server we'd play in."

"But, did you ever see one?" Xisuma asked, his eyes pleading for an answer. Grian froze for a moment, stumped at why X would ask that kind of question. The builder shook his head.

"N-no, I haven't. The watchers in Evo never showed themselves, they would just help us get to the update portals and create a structure or two."

"Alright...do you know anything else?" He asked, Xisuma's tone beginning to turn from paranoid to desperate.

"Well, normally one or two watchers look over and protect hundreds of servers. Most like to stay quiet and barely even tell the players that they exist, few to none are like the watchers back at Evo. But we don't have one here because our server is private and guarded from all watchers, right?"

Xisuma shakily nodded. "Y-yeah. Watchers shouldn't be able to observe or enter our server, they shouldn't even know that we exist.....b-but what about Admins?"

"What about them?" The former evolutionist asked, his voice filled with confusion.

"Are they connected to watchers in any way?"

Grian shrugged at the question. "Well, I'm not really sure," the builder said, which caused Xisuma to worry, "I think that watchers would use admins to oversee what was going on in the server, since they normally own so many that they can't watch just one server. But I was an admin back at Evo, and I never did any of that."

"How did you become an admin?"

"The watchers appointed me, they normally take a player that they think would best fit the role and they'd give them admin abilities to watch over the server with. I've heard that watchers can also create admins using their magic, but that's just a rumor."

X nodded, a heavy breath slipping from between his lips. "Thanks Gri," he said with a quiet voice, "I'll be on my way."

"Wait, Xisuma.." Grian stopped the man in armor, standing up and placing his hand on the admin's shoulder with a frown across his face.

"What's this all about? The questions, your tired voice, getting lost in your thoughts, is everything okay?"

"Yep..everything is great." He lied with a hand placed on the side of his helmet, Xisuma's head throbbing with pain as he spoke quietly. He shut his eyes for a moment to try and calm his raging headache, but as he opened them, he almost fell backwards in shock.

A familiar black mask was over Grian's eyes, the silver eye watched him with no emotion. It blinked as the builder tilted his head. He stepped forward, reaching out his hand as he tried to see what was wrong.

"X? You okay?" Grian asked, his voice sounding disoriented, Xisuma could barely make it out from the voices of the watcher that was stuck in his head.

Fear and paranoia was twisting Xisuma's guts, this had to be a warning of some kind. Seeing his friends with those masks on had to be a warning, was he going to fail at protecting hermitcraft? The admin's mind was beginning to swirl with panic and horror, his legs shaking as he tired to make sense of what was happening.

Xisuma was gasping for breath, but it felt like the air wasn't reaching his lungs. He needed to clear his thoughts, get some fresh air, away from everyone else. Grabbing a rocket, Xisuma burst out the front door of the mansion, flying off in a rush.

"Xisuma!" Grian called as he ran out of the mansion, but all signs of the admin were gone. His frown deepened, something about X was very wrong. Knowing Xisuma, he wouldn't admit anything to keep the other hermits blissfully unaware.

Pulling out the circular device from his pocket, Grian raised an eyebrow at the amount of messages he was getting. It was in a new group chat with all the hermits, excluding Xisuma, and they seemed to be talking about the admin's bizarre behavior.

<GoodTimesWithScar> I saw X building a new shop in Aque, and when I went to talk to him, he looked at me like I was some kind of monster.

<joehillssays> Something similar happened to me. I went to check on X yesterday night, but he just kept zoning out. He looked so stressed and worried about something

<Stressmonster101> haven't seen him yet, I'll keep an eye out tho!

"He just stopped by my place," Grian typed on his screen, watching as responses from the hermits began to flow in, asking what X did and if he said anything strange. The blonde-haired Brit began to type his response.

"He asked me about Evo and the watchers, he almost sounded desperate. X was also really worried, he looked like something was on his mind." Grian responded.

<FalseSymmetry> Do you think we should confront him?

<Keralis1> not yet. Shiswami has hidden a lot from us before, but he always comes clean eventually. He'll tell us soon!

<ZombieCleo> I don't know Keralis, he seems really stressed about this. I don't think X wants us to know, and knowing him, he'll try and keep it a secret

Suddenly, an argument broke out between the hermits, the group debating what they should do. Whether they should confront Xisuma or let him admit what was wrong. Grian didn't have an opinion, either option sounded good to him.

The group chat was blowing up with messages, but what caught Grian's eye was the private message that he got from Mumbo only a few moments ago.

<MumboJumbo> how do you feel about all this?

Grian typed his response.

<Grian> I don't really have an opinion, both options sound good to me. What about you?

<MumboJumbo> Same as you
<MumboJumbo> we're gonna find out soon enough, whatever X is hiding, I bet he can't keep it up for long

<Grian> yeah, true. When he stopped by he looked like he could barely keep himself from saying what was wrong

<MumboJumbo> I hope he's alright

<Grian> hopefully he'll tell us whatever's on his mind soon

<MumboJumbo> yea
<MumboJumbo> wanna come over to my base? I feel like it's been a while since we've talked

Grian smiled, the offer sounded nice, something to take his mind off worrying about X.

<Grian> sounds good, I'll be over in a sec

<MumboJumbo> great! See you soon!

☼

Xisuma's helmet rested on the ground next to him, his eyes watching as the sun set over the horizon. He had flown off in a rush, the admin running out of rockets while flying over Doc's base. He decided to take a break, X sitting on the Goat statue's head while his feet hung over the edge.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Xisuma let a shaking sigh slip from between his lips, paranoia clawing at the inside of his stomach. He felt sick, like he was about to throw up.

"Feelin' alright?" Doc asked as he approached the admin, folding his arms while standing on the edge of the goat statue, next to where X was sitting. The Brit's eyes were glossy and soulless as he stared off into the distance, Xisuma clearly not paying attention to the creeper cyborg.

"Xisuma." The hybrid said again, taking a more stern tone of voice.

"Hm? Oh. I didn't see you there, Doc." The admin muttered with an exhausted voice, Xisuma shutting his eyes as the wind brushed through his long chestnut hair.

"Everyone has been talking about you, they're all worried that something is wrong." Doc admitted.

"It's nothing. I'm just under a lot of stress. Being admin an' all." X said, his tired voice beginning to slur from exhaustion.

Doc let out something between an amused scoff and a tired chuckle. "You and I both know that it's more than just a bit of admin work that's been wearing you down."

Xisuma took in a shaky breath, "I-it's really nothing, just been working too hard."

Doc laughed, sitting down next to the admin. "You don't have to tell us if it's really that important. I trust that you're gonna try and do everything you can to keep hermitcraft safe."

"I-"

"You can't lie to me, X." He said, tapping against the metal side of his head. "I can see your body temperature rising, as well as your heartbeat."

"Please, don't tell anyone." Xisuma croaked as he finally locked eyes with Doc, the first time that the cyborg had gotten a good look at X without his helmet on. His eyes were a dull purple, pleading with Doc.

"I- I just need time. To try and clear some things up. Nothing is wrong, b-but I'm just....p-paranoid.."

Doc nodded, placing a hand on Xisuma's shoulder. "It's alright. You can stay here if you'd like to lay low for a while, or if you'd like to stay the night, that's fine too."

X smiled, slowly reaching for his helmet and pulling it over his head. "Thank you," he muttered, the admin's legs shaking as he tried to stand. Doc quickly took Xisuma's arm over his shoulder, helping support the exhausted Brit.

"When was the last time you ate?" Doc growled as he lifted X into his arms, the creeper noticing that the admin was much lighter than he should have been.

"Not sure... 've been working, kinda forgot..." Xisuma groaned as Doc carried him down the mountain and towards his base.

"I think I got some golden carrots in my base. I can get a bed set up so you can rest and I'll bring you some food."

"Th..." Xisuma tried to thank Doc, but he could barely say a word. He'd kept himself awake for too long, trying not to see another nightmare.

Doc chuckled weakly, carrying Xisuma up the stairs and into his bedroom, setting the now-sleeping admin down on his pink bed. He crept out of the bedroom, it was best for X to get some rest, with whatever was happening.

He believed that Xisuma was hiding something important, that it was best not to go digging for something that should be buried below the surface. Doc trusted the admin, he had always kept the server safe, and the creeper knew that he would keep doing so for a long time.

The creeper opened a shulker box, digging around for some spare food that he could give to Xisuma when he woke up.

"I could have sworn I left some golden carrots in one of these shulkers..." Doc growled as he shut the box with a groan, moving to the next storage box and digging his hands through the materials in search of some food.

"What's this?" Doc questioned as he saw something at the bottom of the shulker box, pushing a few blocks out of the way as he pulled out an unfamiliar item from the box.

"A mask? I've never seen anything like this on the server before.." Doc questioned as he studied the strange black eyewear, a silver horizontal line across it.

Doc stepped back in fear, dropping the mask as the line opened, a silver eye staring at him. "W-what..?" He muttered underneath his breath, his robotic arm lifting up the mask off the ground.

'I'll show this to X when he wakes up..' Doc thought while nervously setting down the mask on a shulker box, pulling out a rocket and leaving the half of his house, flying off to the shopping district to buy some food.

His head began to feel woozy, Doc shaking off the feeling of sickness and the headache that began to grow as he flew off towards the shopping district.

Doc just wondered how that mask got in his shulker box.

—

For anyone confused about Grian, he is NOT a Watcher in this. He is aware of their existence from Evo, but he is not one of them. He simply left Evo on his own. I've seen a lot of people get confused over this, so I thought I'd clarify :)