On the screen of Coral's laptop, the game Love Bomb is open. In it, the girls of Hollidae are seen departing their secret meeting. A debug window filled with lines of code is open, overlapping the game window.

Moon-Soo
* hey. jasper. jasper.

Moon-Soo
* jasper!

Coral
* Whuh?
* Oh, right. Jasper. That's what my name is.

Coral looks over Moon-Soo's shoulder at the screen.

Coral
* How's it looking?

Moon-Soo
* i think i've figured out why you can't play anymore.
* the game's trying to load an entity called obj_char_jiro.
* for whatever reason, it can't find it, so it can't place the player entity into the world. without it, there's nothing to receive your input.

Coral
* Ah.

Moon-Soo
* not sure what's going on there. something messed up with your installation?

Coral
* Ahaa, wellllll...
* So, basically, Sunny and I went on an excursion into some kind of ghost dimension, based on the contents of this game...

Moon-Soo
* oh goddammit.
* i thought this was going to be some kind of normal savefile issue, you could have warned me it was haunting related.
* ...wait.
* is this in any way related to why sunny hasn't been responding to my messages.

Coral
* I'm working on it, okay!

Moon-Soo
* christ, jasper.

Coral
* It'll be fiiiiine, she's fiiine. Everything's under control.
* Probably

A voice rings out from the open bedroom door.

Alma
* Hey, kiddos! We're heading out, come say goodbye!

Moon-Soo
* oh yeah.
* isn't that american spaceman from the future staying with you?

Coral
* You refer to Cliff Mason, of course?

Moon-Soo
* yeah.
* that one.



Moon-Soo and Coral descend the stairs. Alma and Cliff are down there, with Allen in Cliff's arms, Cliff greets them with a haggard smile on his face.

Alma
* There you are!

  Cliff Mason
Hey hey, Moon-Soo! Good to see-- meet you, for the first time!

Moon-Soo
* nice to meet you too, future guy cliff.
* how's the year 2023 been treating you?

  Cliff Mason
Hey, never better, ha ha ha ha hhaa!
Been a real nostalgia trip.
The Mundys here have taken me in just until I get back on my feet, which, you know, so thankful here, for that.

Alma
* Oh no, thank you, Mister Mason!
* It's been a big help, having a big strong man around the house again.
* Aha, no offense Jasper!

Coral
* Oh. None taken!

Moon-Soo takes an intellectual interest in Allen. Cliff regards him fondly.

Moon-Soo
* i like your weird space baby.

Hhhhhhh...

  Cliff Mason
Thanks. He's... he's real special.
I'd die for him.

Moon-Soo
* intense but i get it.

  Cliff Mason
I'm headed out to see Alma's work right now, actually...
Could you two look after him? Just until I get back?

Coral
* Ahhh, I'm so so sorry, but I'm busy today!
* Ghost stuff, you understand.
* Gotta go swing by Sitara's and pick up some... vital equipment.

Moon-Soo
* i prefer to admire weird space babies from a distance.

  Cliff Mason
Okay, maybe, uh...

Alma
* It's alright, Cliff. Just bring Allen down to the shop with us.
* Show him around a little, ay?

  Cliff Mason
If it's alright with you... I appreciate it.
I don't like leaving the little guy on his own...

Coral
* Aww, glad that's all sorted out!
* And with that, I shall bid you adieu~

Cliff gently grabs Coral's arm as she's headed out the door.

  Cliff Mason
Wait, uh, Jasper.

Coral
* Hm?

  Cliff Mason
It's just, I've been meaning to ask...

Cliff looks Coral in the eyes a little too intense.

  Cliff Mason
Am I dead?

Coral regards him with concern.

Coral
* Not... to my knowledge?

  Cliff Mason
Okay. Right. Okay.

Coral
* I'm... gonna be going now.

  Cliff Mason
Sure.

Cliff stands swaying at the front door, his hand still half-raised. Alma comes up beside him and gently touches his bicep with the tips of her fingers.

  Cliff Mason
Sure...

Alma
* Hurry up, ya big silly! We're gonna be late!