Hey Kat? said Alyssa in her mind, which of course Kat could hear as well. There's something I'm wondering.

What's that?

You know how you can become just part of something if you want?

Yeah, what about it?

What's that like when it's another person? asked Alyssa. Like what can you do?

You mean like this? asked Kat.

Immediately, Alyssa no longer felt Kat's presence in her mind. Paying no regard to the odd sensation in her hand, she looked around, thinking maybe she had de-imprinted (was that a word?) and become something else, like the couch. No sign of her though.

Until Alyssa heard Kat's voice coming from her hand, saying "Hey Lyss!" At first she felt as if she was holding something that was making sound, like her phone, except it sounded just as clear as someone actually in the room with her.

And in a sense, she was "holding" something that was making sound, which became obvious as soon as she looked at her hand, and saw Kat's face staring back at her from her palm.

"Aaaahh!" shrieked Alyssa. She was used to seeing human faces in unnatural places by now, but seeing someone else's face on a different part of her own body was a whole different kind of freaky.

"It's me, Kat! Also known as your left hand," she snickered. "Oh, sorry, did I scare you?" she said, noticing Alyssa's reaction.

"...No, it's fine," Alyssa replied. "Just wasn't expecting it."

"Well you're the one who suggested I try imprinting on a part of you," said Kat, somewhat confused. "What else would you expect?"

"I guess I should have been more specific," laughed Alyssa. "Actually, weren't you in my head when I said that? How could you misunderstand me?"

"Eh, sometimes I'm just paying attention to the words," said Kat.

Just then, Alyssa's left hand turned on its own and moved to her side, as Kat emerged from her palm, putting one hand on her hip. "So what was it you meant?" she said, leaning against the arm of the couch.

"Well, remember when I imprinted on my TV? Oh, and the video game at the store?"

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't really a part of it, like a physical part, but more...you know what I mean right?"

"Oh, that's right—yeah, there's definitely some cool stuff there. Wanna see?"

"Of course, go ahead!" said Alyssa excitedly, holding out her hand, the one that was previously Kat.

Kat placed her hand in Alyssa's and entered her body once more.

To Alyssa, feeling that closeness she had gotten used to once more was comparable to stepping back into a hot bath after being out of it for a minute, the return of a wonderful feeling that had been gone briefly, but was still very welcome. "Mmmmm...I love you," she said, smiling contently as she relaxed on the couch.

Awww, replied Kat. I love you too. Tell you what, I'll keep part of myself inside you for a while, want me to?

Yeah, I'd love that! said Alyssa. That means we can talk to each other like this no matter where we are, right?

Yup, said Kat. How did you know, just guessed?

No, you told me in the car, remember?

Right, now I remember. It was what had started Alyssa's interest in interpersonal imprinting in the first place.

So what's the plan? asked Alyssa.

You'll see in a sec!

Alyssa no longer felt like she was sharing a body, but still felt Kat's warm presence in her mind as she expected. On a whim, she looked to her side, and was confused to see Kat reappear next to her.

"Wait, what are you doing?" asked Alyssa. "I thought you were going to--"

"I'm not where you think I am," said Kat with a smile, as she held out her hand. "Here, grab my hand."

Alyssa sat up and reached over for Kat's hand, but was surprised to feel her hand pass right through Kat's.

"You're a...a hologram?"

"Sort of, I guess," said Kat. "Only you can see me though. I'm more of a hallucination."

"That's...really weird," said Alyssa. "But cool."

"Oh, that's nothing," said Kat. "Wanna see something really weird?"

"Umm...okay, sure," Alyssa responded reluctantly. "Nothing scary right?"

"Not at all," Kat reassured her. "When I disappear, count to ten," was all she said before she faded away.

Alyssa started counting, as Kat instructed. "One...two...three..." She wondered what would happen when she reached ten. She hoped Kat was right and it wouldn't scare her. After all, she had to be ready for anything. What had previously seemed like normal rules for what's possible no longer applied.

She continued counting. "Four...five...six...Hi Alyssa......wait, what comes after...whaaa?" As soon as she got to six, she had suddenly felt Kat's presence again, but it almost felt synonymous with the number six, in a way. Like she was there all along, but thinking of the number six was what brought her presence to attention...as if Kat was the number six, she was what came after five, and she was called "six", though she was also known as Kat. Thinking about it now it felt very surreal, but it felt so natural that as it happened, she didn't notice it as anything out of the ordinary. It was so natural and obvious to Alyssa that she didn't even give it any thought: the concept she called "three" naturally led her to four, which led her to five, which led her to six (Kat), which led her to "Hi Alyssa!", which led her to...well, she didn't know, and that was the first thing that made her realize something was amiss. Her confusion brought about a more attentive state of mind in Alyssa, and it wasn't until then that she realized, to her surprise, that she was trying to count from something that wasn't a number. And when she retraced her steps to figure out what had led her to that non-numerical thought, she went from simply knowing that the number six was also Kat, as she would if it was normal and it had always been her, to actually realizing it, and thinking about just how strange and amazing that was.

"Wait, no way, are you..." Alyssa said in disbelief.

Alyssa felt Kat's presence re-enter her entire body like before, at which point she heard her voice in her head. A number? Yep, I became your concept of the number six.

Weeeeird... thought Alyssa to Kat, lying back down. That was...interesting. What was it like for you? Was it weird being a number...of all things? Just asking that question felt weird, she realized, even if she wasn't asking it out loud. Not long ago the idea of a person being a number would have seemed absolutely nonsensical, but there was no denying it had just happened.

Not as weird as it was for you, she answered. Again, I'm used to stuff like that. With a smirk (on Alyssa's face, of course) she added, I was pretty scared though. Felt like my neighbor wanted to eat me.

Your neighbor wanted to...what?? Alyssa was confused.

Yeah, seven. I've heard what it's capable of.

But how would...oh. Alyssa groaned. Did you choose the number six just so you could make that dumb joke?

Maybe.

Very funny. Alyssa said sarcastically. You know what is funny, to me this is the most amazing thing ever, but for you the first thing that comes to mind is making stupid jokes about it.

Yeah, about that, since I met you I always wondered what it would be like to see something like that for the first time, thinking it was impossible. Now I know.

Wait, how? What did you see?

No, I'm remembering your memory of what you saw.

Awww... There was something that felt real nice about that, real cozy in a way, having someone else she loved and knew so closely go through her memories like that. Her memories, such an inner part of her that she never even thought it would be possible for someone else to access, and yet Kat was so close she was basically inside her mind.

If it was someone she didn't know, of course, it would be a terrible intrusion, but with someone like Kat, it was quite the opposite. Actually, did people in Kat's dimension ever have to deal with that kind of intrusion? Before she could even ask, Alyssa already remembered the answer from Kat's memories: it almost never happened because they'd generally feel the same intrusion themselves having the other person in their mind. But on the rare occasions when it did, it was a pretty big deal. Specifically, imprinting on any part of a person's body or mind without their permission was treated as a particularly serious crime. There was no law against it in Alyssa's dimension for obvious reasons, but that would certainly change if it became an issue.

Hey, you know what? Alyssa thought to Kat. Let's look at each other's thoughts and memories some more, see what life is really like in each other's dimensions.

I've already been thinking about that, admitted Kat. Feel free to look around.

Alyssa started going through Kat's memories of life in her dimension. She was confused at first, because there wasn't much that really seemed at all different besides the things she had already been told. Then she realized she was remembering many more differences than that, but she wasn't remembering them as differences, as Kat hadn't yet noticed that those things were different. Interesting. Spotting differences wouldn't be as easy as Alyssa thought.

Huh, that's neat, thought Alyssa. Lots of people with unnatural hair colors where you're from. I guess that makes sense considering how easy it is to change it.

Unnatural? Kat wasn't at all offended, just confused.

You know, anything other than black, brown...actually yeah, I guess where you're from, "natural" just means whatever color they want. Here it's just what you're born with, and there aren't too many colors that can be.

Alyssa thought some more, looking for more things that are different. One thing she noticed (though it took her a while) was that there were these small cylindrical devices at the corners of many rooms. Kat's knowledge told her that those were the things she mentioned that created the "wall" to stop people from imprinting on certain things. But in many of those rooms, she didn't see anything where allowing people to imprint would be a problem.

Hey, why don't they want people imprinting here? she asked Kat, mentally showing her what she was talking about.

Looks like here the only thing is the room itself.

What do you mean? asked Alyssa. What's wrong with people imprinting on the room?

You know, cause...oh wow, I hadn't thought of that here. Kat smiled, again on Alyssa's face. Well think about this. Let's say a room is locked, and you want to get in. How can imprinting help you do that?

Alyssa thought for a moment. You could imprint on something and slip through a crack, like you did at that store?

But what if there isn't a crack?

Alyssa thought some more. Could you imprint on the door and unlock it like that?

Huh, I guess you could. But there's an easier way. And what if there isn't a door?

...Why wouldn't there be a door?

Where I'm from there isn't always. They aren't as important, for this very reason. She smiled again.

Alyssa kept thinking of what else could be imprinted upon that was relevant. ...If you imprint on a wall, would you be able to form a hole to let someone else in?

...You might be able to. But wouldn't it be easier to just come out of the wall on the other side?

Oh wow, yeah! Alyssa realized what this meant. ...Oh my god, that means I can go through walls now too! She reached for the wall behind her to try it, but thought against it briefly. It's safe to imprint while we're sharing a body, right?

Yep, then we'll both be the wall.

Alyssa touched the wall and imprinted on it. It changed just like it had the last time she became the wall, but this time she immediately left the wall, and did so from the other side. The next thing she knew, she was sitting in the grass outside her house. Whoa, that's amazing! She touched the side of her house and did the same thing again, landing back on her couch. That's gonna be pretty useful.

At the same time, Kat had been thinking herself of differences between their worlds...and she had just found one she thought was rather shocking. ...People spend HOW MUCH time in this "school" thing...and they don't even have a choice??? I get parents don't know how to just share their knowledge instantly, but that's terrible!

What? What's wrong with that? asked Alyssa, never having thought about it in that way before. They need an education if they want to...

By having almost half their childhood...stolen from them??

What's so bad about it? Alyssa thought for a moment about how Kat would see it, and she didn't have to guess because she could literally see it her way if she wanted to. And when she applied that new perspective to her understanding of how things work in her world...wow, actually yeah...the end doesn't justify the means. We do need something better. Funnily enough, Alyssa didn't think of the obvious new solution that was practically staring her right in the face.

Oh! I know! said Kat. What if there was something that lets you directly share your understanding of something with someone else...nah, that'll never happen, right? She laughed.

Oh my god, yeah! That's right! Alyssa laughed too, feeling stupid for not thinking of that. Wow, yeah. That was easy! You're the genius this world needs! After a pause, she smiled again. Actually, yeah, "this world," it's a real distinction. One more for the list of reasons why they really ought to find a way to share this, as soon as they could. It would definitely be up there among all the most important discoveries ever made...maybe even the most important!

But right now she had other things (and another person) on her mind. Hey, what other amazing things can you do like that?

Hmm, let's see...oh, you'll love this.

Alyssa felt Kat's presence fade away from inside her...and at the same time, felt her presence all around her.

"What in the world?" she said as she stood up and started walking around her house. "I'm...inside you? What??" To Alyssa, there was no denying that she was literally inside of Kat. Except she clearly wasn't inside a human body. Good thing too; that would be gross. She could see that she was still in her own house, which was still on Earth, which she could only assume was still in the Milky Way where it always was. Everything still looked entirely the same. But despite all this, Alyssa still couldn't help but think of everything around her as being an inherent part of Kat. After all, Kat was the world where Alyssa lived.

Wait, did that mean Kat had imprinted on...the entire universe? Could any human use imprinting to literally become God? Alyssa had seen more than her fair share of surprising things in the past couple days, but now that she knew herself what imprinting felt like, she couldn't imagine that imprinting on something that unimaginably big would be possible. There was no way that was what happened.

Suddenly, Alyssa heard Kat's voice echoing all around her, coming from no particular direction. "Wow, this world feels a lot different from any other place I've been...no, I don't mean 'been to,' I literally mean 'been.'" She laughed.

"No way, you aren't really...did you actually imprint on the whole universe??"

"Ha, no. I wish. That would be awesome, wouldn't it?"

"Then...where...what...are you?"

"I'm not the universe, but I'm the world you live in."

"You mean you're not the multiverse? The universe is just this world I live in."

"Huh, yeah, I guess that's kind of unclear. What I mean is I'm the world you experience. I'm your sense of the world, which is what the world is to you. Make sense?"

Alyssa thought for a minute, until she realized what Kat meant. "Oh, I get it! That's neat! What can you do?"

"Well, speaking of the multiverse, let me change real quick..." Just as Kat said that, the entire world shifted around Alyssa as she watched, amazed. When it stopped, Alyssa found herself in a different place. It was an expensive-looking apartment, with black walls and sleek, modern-looking black furniture, with hot pink accents and mood lighting spread throughout. The way the place was decorated looked as if Kat was imprinted on the house...which she was in a sense, but not in the way that would change it like that. And it looked familiar in a way, as if Alyssa had many distant memories of being there.

Alyssa looked around. "...Where am I?"

"This is my place," said Kat, who appeared in human form sitting at a table. "You're not in my real home, of course; it's still me." She gestured around her, gesturing at herself, not at the human body she created, but at her surroundings, which were also her.

Immediately, Alyssa ran to the window and looked outside. Now that Alyssa was seeing Kat's dimension fully in the context of what she herself was familiar with, she was amazed at what she saw. It was night in what looked like a futuristic city filled with colored lights and glowing signs. Below her there were many cars on the street, though most of them (except the ones that were parked) had bright colors and patterns almost never seen on cars in Alyssa's world. Other than that many of the cars looked like what Alyssa was used to cars looking like, but many of the smaller ones didn't seem to have any seats, and didn't even look big enough to hold a person. Then again, in this world, people didn't drive in human bodies, so they didn't need to be big enough for that unless they needed to carry passengers.

There weren't quite as many cars as one would expect to see in such a big city, though. Instead, the sky was filled with tiny flying objects with blinking lights and what looked like propellers. Alyssa figured these were probably like the device Kat had showed her the day before; thanks to imprinting, it could be used as a convenient personal aircraft you can carry in your pocket, certainly more convenient than any car for short trips.

And Alyssa knew there was much more to be seen. She was in another world—it may just be an illusion created by Kat, but it was a convincing one, and Kat was intimately familiar with this world, so it might as well be real.

"Shall I show you around?" asked Kat.