ENTER: A penthouse. MINERVA KIM, HAILEY CHANG, FAITH KANG, MAXINE NGUYEN, and EDITH LEE are sprawled across an immense, overstuffed bed filled with pillows and stuffed toys. The sun streams in through the windows. There is movement behind HAILEY's eyelids, and she eventually opens her eyes, staring at the ceiling in bemusement. She sits up, looking around, and swallows audibly.

HAILEY, speaking English in a whisper: What the fuck?

The others begin to awaken. EDIE looks at HAILEY, who looks back, blanches, and vaults out of bed. She looks down at her hands and turns to see MAX fingering her hair in wonderment. MINNIE sticks one hand down the waistband of her pyjamas. FAITH pats herself down, pulls at her T-shirt.

FAITH, also in English: This is...
MAX: What the fuck?

They look at each other as HAILEY reappears in the door. Her gaze skips over each of them.

EDIE, unsteadily: We're in Kyoto, right?
MINNIE: Uh. Yeah.
HAILEY: This is kinda weird, but, uh, do any of you remember -
FAITH: - being someone else?

They nod. Their mannerisms are eerily similar; the way they hold themselves, the way their hands move, the way they stand and fidget. EDIE opens her mouth, closes it, then opens it again.

EDIE, uncertainly: There was a guy posting on a... a forum, I think -
MAX: - called 4chan -
FAITH: - this thing called, um -
MINNIE - multiplayer? Multiplayer -
HAILEY: - and we were his characters. He made us.

She stops, sways, then stumbles over to the mattress and collapses onto it.

HAILEY, almost to herself: I made me. I made you.
MAX: Don't be ridiculous. I'm the one who made you.

She points at FAITH, EDIE and MINNIE.

MAX: I made them, too.
MINNIE, challengingly: I'm pretty sure I have the same memories as you. We're based off a fucking K-pop girl-group, from, like, two hundred years ago -
EDIE: Shouldn't you be saying 'language' or something?
MINNIE: I'm not Minnie anymore. Well, not just Minnie.

HAILEY sings a short sentence in English and Korean, then stops. The others look at her.

HAILEY: Turns out we do have their voices.
EDIE: Can we... Japanese?

They switch seamlessly to a strain of slightly-accented Japanese.

MINNIE: Oh, fuck. I have her memories.
FAITH: Same.
EDIE: Ditto.

She chuckles, then hums a tune.

MAX: Not the time, man.
HAILEY: Fuck me. I kissed a dude.
FAITH: Do you - are you - are we -
EDIE: My god, we're all faggots. Whoever did this to us turned us into faggots. Limp-wristed, lisping faggots.
MINNIE: Shut up. You've played Be The Girl before. Whatever you are, it's not cis. I wouldn't worry about it.
FAITH: You're just saying that because you're down bad for Bobby.
MINNIE, doubtfully: Am I? Or was that just how Bobby anon wrote me? Wrote Minnie?
HAILEY: Don't talk about yourself in the third person. It's making my head hurt.
MAX: This whole situation is making my head hurt.
EDIE: At least we're rich.
MINNIE: What's today's date?

HAILEY raises her hand. A handful of phones float over towards them. FAITH's eyes are as wide as dinnerplates.

EDIE, quietly: ... holy shit.

MAX tenses, and six bone-white arms burst out of her back, startling FAITH and MINNIE to their feet. MINNIE holds up a fist and covers her mouth with her other hand as a crackling corona of electricity appears around it. FAITH folds her arms crossly.

FAITH: No fair. I want some metal to fuck with.
MINNIE: When we go to school, I guess. Wait, when in the timeline are we?
MAX: Don't ask me. I didn't even look at it. Can we even trust the timeline? I'm pretty sure whoever's maintaining it keeps moving shit around.
EDIE: Guys...
MINNIE: It's Saturday. Okay, so we have two days to -
HAILEY: Two days to do what? Dude, we - I - oh, fuck. My family.
MAX: You're loaded. We could literally drop out right now and travel the world for shits and gigs.
FAITH: What about your boyfriends?
MINNIE, dismissively: What about them?
EDIE, shouting: GUYS!

The others turn to look at her.

EDIE: What if we're not the only ones here?

CUT TO: A bedroom. Inside, ASHLEIGH KATSURAGI, who's staring at her hands, turning them over and over again. Sitting up, staring out at the window, then padding into her bathroom and covering her mouth as she stares at herself.

ASHLEIGH, whispering: Oh, fuck. Mio.

She doesn't want to risk it. Quickly, she changes, heart pounding in her chest, and darts out into the corridor. Her sister is still sleeping, her snores audible through the door. ASHLEIGH tiptoes to the genkan, slips on her shoes, and steps out, biting her lip as she turns the key in the lock. She walks out, wonderingly, unsure of where to turn first, just breathing. Absorbing Kyoto: its sights, its sounds, its people, looking quizzically at the Katsuragi girl as she stands in the doorway. She takes a deep breath.

And then she runs.

ASHLEIGH's blue hair bounces as she breaks into a sprint, breath coming in short bursts. She skids around a corner, narrowly avoiding getting run over by a truck, and receives an ear-splitting honk for her troubles. And still she keeps running, her feet moving of their own accord, taking her towards Shiketsu High.

CUT TO: The skies above Kyoto. There is a small, barely-visible figure hiding amidst a cloud bank, shadowboxing as her green hair dances in every direction. Wisps of white trail in every direction as she systematically demolishes a portion of the cloud within which she is hiding, face alight with glee. A moment later, she pauses, the smile falling off her face, and turns to see what looks like a star approaching. The sun rose a few hours ago; what could this be? The answer comes as the star resolves into a white-haired boy, small for his age, face startlingly closed-off.

KAYLEE: Noah.
NOAH: Kaylee.

They regard each other for a few long, tense moments.

NOAH: What are you doing here?
KAYLEE: Just flying.
NOAH: Oh. I just thought... hm.
KAYLEE: Are you okay?
NOAH: What?
KAYLEE: It's just that you usually refer to yourself as 'Noah'. I was wondering if...

NOAH blinks. His eyes narrow.

NOAH: You ever heard of this website called 4chan?

KAYLEE goes very, very still. NOAH watches as a variety of emotions chase one another across her face.

KAYLEE: Yeah. Are you...
NOAH: I thought I'd take my quirk out for a spin. I've got his memories, you know.

He taps his head. KAYLEE grins, copying him.

KAYLEE: I didn't even think I'd qualify for whatever this is. I haven't written anything for the MP in weeks. More than a month, now.
NOAH: Same here. I replied to a few prompts, though, so. Ah, fuck. Who knows?

He interlaces his hands behind his back and tilts into a reclining position. KAYLEE watches, amused by the profanity.

NOAH: Do you think we're alone here? Since, well, there's two of us. There has to be more, right?
KAYLEE: I did think about it. I know Chris anon and Inigo anon have been writing pretty consistently. And Imai anon put a huge writefag out just... huh, was it yesterday? It was yesterday for me. Less than a week ago.
NOAH: Around there.

His ears prick up at the sound of a whoop. Rising slightly higher, KAYLEE cranes her neck, just in time to see a boy crash clean through a cloud and come out the other side. He's having the time of his life. NOAH rises with her, his wings flapping softly.

NOAH: Your fellow saiyan?
KAYLEE: Seems like.

CUT TO: ASHLEIGH, tramping through the woods behind Shiketsu. She's not sure what she's doing, or where she's going. From time to time, she glances down at her phone, which is frozen on a draft which she's been writing and rewriting. It's directed at a certain IMAI SOUJYUURO. As she heaves a sigh, a tent hoves into view, and she comes to a halt. There's someone behind her.

SANDATSU: Ashleigh? Ashleigh Katsuragi?

ASHLEIGH turns around slowly. Watching her is a blue-haired boy in what appears to be a permanent state of disarray. His hands are dirty, but are full of what appears to be various bits and pieces salvaged from the surrounding forest; a bounty, to be sure. There is a complex expression on his face as he looks down at her, and ASHLEIGH flinches.

ASHLEIGH: Don't kill me!

SANDATSU's eyebrows wrinkle.

SANDATSU: I'm... not?
ASHLEIGH: It's not that I think you're a killer or anything.
SANDATSU: Er, okay?

ASHLEIGH's phone goes off. She looks down at it. The message is from HAILEY. As she reads it, SANDATSU peers over to take a look. Both of them freeze.

SANDATSU: 4chan?
ASHLEIGH: 4chan.

They look at each other.

SANDATSU, slowly: You know, when I first woke up, I thought I really was Sandatsu.
ASHLEIGH: Mio was in the other room. I knew I had to leave.
SANDATSU: Oh, shit. Mio.

ASHLEIGH laughs.

ASHLEIGH: Almost exactly what I said.

Her mind seemingly made up, she pulls out her phone and copies the text of HAILEY's message before sending it to IMAI. SANDATSU watches.

ASHLEIGH: No harm in making sure.
SANDATSU: Yeah, if Spherethirst is here... wait. Doesn't he have five builds?

ASHLEIGH opens her mouth, but is cut off by what sounds like a gunshot. The two of them creep towards the compound proper and see a teacher whom they don't recognize overseeing what appears to be a test. There is a Caucasian girl standing in the midst of an arena, her limbs having morphed into what appears to be the barrel of a gun. She is wearing a nun's habit. The teacher is shaking his head as he stares down at his clipboard.

SANDATSU: That's the new build, right? Fortuna anon?
ASHLEIGH: Sally Mc-something.
SANDATSU: I thought she was supposed to be pricklier. Or in love with Noah. I don't know. Inconsistent characterization. I've got a lot of stuff to catch up on.
ASHLEIGH: Same.

SALLY is visibly off-balance and uncomfortable. As she reaches up to adjust her nun's habit for the umpteenth, she catches ASHLEIGH's eye and pauses before the teacher clears his throat, spurring her back into action.

CUT TO: HIFUMI TAKEDA, waking up. His phone is buzzing. He stretches, yawning as his spine creaks, and unlocks his phone, then pauses. There's a photo of HAILEY on his phone, but that's not the word that comes out of his mouth.

HIFUMI: Haerin?

He drops his phone and presses his hands to his face, muttering in Polish. Stumbling out of bed, he opens his cupboard and stares at himself in the mirror, jaw dropping. He remains in that shell-shocked state for a few moments before he remembers that his phone is still buzzing. Hastily, he picks up.

HIFUMI: Hae - Hailey?
HAILEY: Hifumi? Weird question, but have you ever heard of this website called 4chan?

HIFUMI runs his free hand through his hair. He cross-refers her speech patterns with the disparate memories swirling around inside his head and finds that they are ever-so-slightly off.

HIFUMI, slowly: Spherethirst?
HAILEY: Yup. And I have four other spherethirsts with me. Shit's crazy, dude. Uh, you should drop by.
HIFUMI: Okay. I will.

He grits his teeth and sets his jaw.

HIFUMI, hesitantly: Good morning, Hay.

There is a long pause.

HAILEY: Good morning, babo.

HIFUMI listens to her breathing over the phone.

HAILEY: I'll send Natsuo to pick you up.

CUT TO: A shabby apartment building. A tall, well-built American stands outside, glowing with a faint light as he stamps his feet, hands stuffed into the pockets of his ratty jacket. A pink convertible rolls up to the kerb, and he raises an eyebrow before hopping in. He's the fourth boy to enter the vehicle since it set off earlier this morning.

HIFUMI: 'Sup, bro.

They execute a complex handshake. IMAI and CHRIS watch, eyebrows raised. As he settles into his seat, BOBBY turns to look at IMAI, particularly his forehead, which bears an unblinking third eye.

IMAI: It's real.
BOBBY: Yeah. Yeah, I know. I still can't believe it.

He almost reaches out to touch it, but resists. Instead, he leans back, sighs.

BOBBY: My mom's blind. I did that.
HIFUMI: Not your fault.
BOBBY: In my first writefag. It was part of the fluff.
CHRIS: My mom's dead. I did that.
IMAI: Join the club.

HIFUMI changes the subject. The others follow gratefully.

HIFUMI: Almost everyone in 1-D is here except the drug guy, the gravity guy, and the train guy.
IMAI: And the four will-they-won't-they builds.
CHRIS: Genma, Victor, Sally and the android. I managed to get ahold of all of them except Sally and the android.

HIFUMI's phone buzzes.

HIFUMI: Correction - Sally's here, too. She hasn't formally been enrolled, but they were running some tests today. At Shiketsu. Ashleigh found her.
BOBBY: Oh, fuck. Mio.
IMAI: She made a run for it the second she realized where she was.
BOBBY: I mean, is she really a she if...
HIFUMI, curtly: She's got Ashleigh's memories.

CUT TO: A small penthouse unit on the outskirts of Kyoto. INIGO MYOGA stirs from where he's slumped on the couch, the sun peeking through the curtains, and wakes fully to the sensation of claws pitter-pattering over his shoulder.

INIGO, groggily: ... what is it, Gigan?

His eyes snap open.

INIGO: GIGAN?!
BOY: ... keep it down, asshole...

INIGO's mouth slams shut as he takes in his apartment. The television is stuck on a game called Mecho Corez 12. The table before him is strewn with junk food and a single ashtray on the verge of overflowing. There is a boy seated beside him, hair dark and messy, a controller still in his hands. And, most incredibly of all, there is an insanely lifelike green dragon on his shoulder, staring into his soul, eyes wide with shock. As he stares at it, it moves.

INIGO, weakly: I'm just gonna... go out for a walk.

As quietly as he can, he rises to his feet and staggers out of his apartment. His phone buzzes, and he looks down to see several messages from names which he'd usually only see on an Internet browser. They're imaginary. Fictional. Un-fucking-real. INIGO exhales, staring out at nothing in particular, and feels Gigan shudder beside him.

INIGO: At least I'm not alone.

Fortifying himself, he unlocks his phone and starts to scroll. It rapidly transpires that he is not, as he had previously assumed, alone. Within seconds of him replying to HIFUMI's message, he's been added to a groupchat has been set up, with <fides_1104> as the erstwhile administrator. Apparently, he's been dispatched to pick up OROCHI. KAYLEE or JUGO - or both of them - will be fetching CHIHIRO. INIGO grumbles under his breath. Why send two to do the job of one? Breathing in deep, he feels Gigan morph around him, encasing him in green, and smiles a smile that he's seen in his head a dozen times.

And then he flies.

CUT TO: HAILEY's penthouse. Several desks have been installed, each one with a dizzying array of screens, each one on a different website. YUI SAGARA alights on the railing, panting, and almost keels over from adrenaline, flopping boneless onto the floor of the balcony. FAITH rises to her feet and walks over.

FAITH: Dude, are you okay?
YUI, breathing heavily: That was. Fucking. Awesome.
FAITH, a little grumpily: Sounds fun.

As YUI stands up, she leads her indoors. The atmosphere is strangely festive. NOAH and JUGO are sitting on the couch, heads bent together in conversation. A blur that can only be HOGE is ransacking the fridge.

FAITH: Chez spherethirst. Waddaya think? We thought of using Orochi's place, but it's a little too far for most of us, even with teleporters and flyers. Also, we woke up first.
YUI: We?
HAILEY: Same guy, control-c-controlc-v'd into five different bodies. Fuck, I'm never walking anywhere again.

She's hovering cross-legged over her desk, having decided to go without a chair. Glances over her shoulder at YUI, smirking. The expression on her face doesn't quite fit with YUI's muddled memories of a pint-sized bully, tossing caustic, careless remarks in her direction willy-nilly.

HAILEY: Literally my dream set-up. Man, it's so fun to be rich.
MINNIE: They're coming up. I'll get the door.

She has a headset on. It makes sense, YUI thinks; they're splurging on expensive stuff. Making the most of their wealth. Fun.

MAX: You want some? It's literally us against the world right now. I think the amount of cash that we'd need to give you a decent apartment would be, like, a rounding error.

She pauses as MINNIE opens the door, revealing IMAI, BOBBY, HIFUMI and CHRIS. HAILEY stills, turning towards the door, and begins to descend to the floor, radiating uncertainty.

MAX: You are living in an apartment, right? I didn't read through all the prompts.
YUI: Yeah, an apartment.

A blur of green alights on the balcony behind her, resolving into INIGO and OROCHI, the latter bug-eyed and still gasping. INIGO wraps his hand around her shoulders, ignoring the way her tails hiss.

INIGO: The one and only God anon!
OROCHI: Shut up, man.

Her voice has a distinctly Iberian twang. A hint of Brazilian. INIGO makes his way to the blur by the fridge as KAYLEE descends, CHIHIRO in her arms. NOAH and JUGO cheer as the red-eyed girl takes her first tentative steps into the penthouse. EDIE raises her bottle of beer. Where'd she get that? YUI glances at MAX.

YUI: You got alcohol?
MAX: Fuck yeah, dude.

She passes HAILEY and HIFUMI on her way into the kitchen. They're having a whispered conversation; something about photocards and gacha. INIGO and the blur are speaking, moving smoothly out of the way as she loops a string around a bottle of cider and yanks it out easily. INIGO whistles, and YUI grins back at him, feeling a pang of pity for the small green dragon on his shoulder. It must not be easy having your human be turned inside out within the span of a day.

The last few stragglers - ASHLEIGH, SANDATSU, SALLY - arrive with the pizzas. The police might arrive at any moment, asking uncomfortable questions about unauthorized quirk usage, but YUI can't find it in herself to care. It's a brave new world, for all of them, and they've got things to do.

HIFUMI: Do the thing, man!
BOBBY: Yeah, do the thing!

CHRIS sighs, exasperated, and steeples his fingers. NOAH directs a shaft of light off his spectacles, making them flash. There's a peal of slightly hysterical laughter.

////BONUS SCENE:////

CUT TO: A spartan apartment. TALL MAN and PURPLE MAN are staring down critically at something. As the camera advances, it turns out that TALL MAN has pulled down his pants.

PURPLE MAN, thoughtfully: I guess that one objective anon was right. Ah, well. I'll take the consolation prize of being able to tell anyone to do whatever I want, whenever I want.

TALL MAN shrugs expressively, then pauses. Without bothering to pull his pants up, he snatches up a writing-pad.

TALL MAN: WHAT ABOUT BECKY
PURPLE MAN: I imagine she's having the time of her life right now.

CUT TO: A dingy one-room apartment, its floor swarming with tiny, thimble-sized insectoids. Moans are audible from the bathroom; the door is closed. Slowly, the moans increase in volume, getting louder and louder until they reach a truly toe-curling pitch, at which point they peter off into heavy breathing. A few minutes later, the door unlocks, and a pair of dainty feet pad out, accompanied by an immense insectoid skittering between them.