Crosslink

After unsuccessfully inviting his colleague Julio to the cafe,
Jutse struck out on his own, in search of refreshment and relaxation.
Little did Jutse know, however, that he would come quite close
to losing one of his nine lives on this seemingly innocuous journey.

Jutse walks on a sidewalk, buildings looming in the background, and shadowy figures in faint colors dotting his surroundings.

JUTSE:
How is it that no matter what I try, no matter how hard I try to socialize,
I somehow mess it up each and every time?
It shouldn't be this difficult to make friends. Is it me? Am I the problem?
... Was I meant to be alone? Am I struggling against my own fated outcome?

You self-pitying wreck. He said he'd love to get coffee with you! Will you just relax?

Jutse approaches a stairwell labelled 'Metro' in Mersian script. On the side of the stairwell, there is an advertisement for a hand-held rebreather meant for aquatic sapes. A shark with curly brown hair holds a hand-held pumping ball, with a speech bubble next to her which reads 'Air... In the palm of your hand!*' Below this, in a white box, it reads '*For emergency use only.' In a yellow starburst callout, it reads '2699.00 kredits, Limited offer!' Behind Jutse, there is an elevator entrance with a simple LED screen that reads 'G' and has a lit up-arrow beneath it. There is a rectangle bearing the international symbol for handicap accessibility to the right of the elevator doors.

I'm missing something. That has to be it. At some point, someone or something...
deprived me of a companion I would otherwise have had! That's what's going on!

Wait. Hang on. Are you seriously about to figure it out? Are you finally going to realize I'm here??

Jutse descends the stairway. The view is close-up to his face, and he looks down the stairs with a sullen, contemplative expression.

Who was it? When was it? Was it when I was a child? When I was an adult? Was I already here?
No... No, it was before that. It was before I can clearly remember... But...

Before what? You were alone when I showed up. If it was before that you're, uh... On your own. Sorry.

Animation. Jutse stands upon a subway platform. A sheep sits on a bench behind him, reading a book. Behind her, a deer stands, folding her arms. A board above the platform lists various arrival times for different trains on different routes. The clock next to the board states that the time is 3:37 PM.

Home... It has been so long. So long, since I stood upon the gleaming sands.
So long since I labored and suffered under the unrelenting desert sun...
The epidemic... It took everyone. By the time I left, Hesilen Village was nearly deserted.
I dare not think of it. I can only hope that in my absence, the village survived, somehow.

You drew blood, Jutse... How can you not remember? You swore we would walk the world together.

A black cat wearing a blue shirt and a head wrap opens a door. A bowerbird answers the door. The blue cat holds a pink bundle of blankets with visible ear points, and the bowerbird takes it from him. The bowerbird walks away down the cobblestone path as Jutse holds out his right hand in longing. The camera pans upward towards the shimmering desert sun, which gives way to becoming the headlight of a rapidly approaching subway train. Jutse can be seen falling off of the platform in the train's path for a split second before the screen goes to black.

Something incredibly important... My father gave something to a man...
A bundle wrapped in a pink blanket... Why do I feel such an intense sense of loss?

JUTSE! YOU IDIOT! THERE'S A TRAIN! JUTSE, YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! STOP! STOOOOOPPPP!!!!

Did someone just call my name?

TRAIN:
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
*SCREEEEEECCCHHHHHH*

???:
NO!!!

At the last moment, the sheep realized what Jutse was about to do, dropped her book, and sprinted.
She caught him by the shoulder and wrist and pulled him back moments before the subway train hit him in the head.

Maurine, her face twisted with fear and worry, pulls Jutse back to safety onto the platform. Charlotte looks on from behind them.

Whoa!

HEROIC SHEEP:
Oh god, oh god, are you okay?

My life flashed before my eyes. I was almost sent to turbo-hell. Don't scare me like that!

I'm... I'm okay. Thank you. Thank you! I... my word, you just saved my life!
Please, allow me to repay you somehow.

Umm... No. No thank you, I don't want you to feel indebted.

Maurine hurriedly boards the subway train, following Charlotte who has already entered.

SULLEN DEER:
Doctor Murphy... We need to board. Cut this short, please.

Right! Yes! We have to go!

Ah... I... If you're f... No. Nevermind. See you around.

No. You will never see either of us again. Creep.

Uh... Right! Good bye!
God. God, I'm alive but I wish I could just die right now. I feel like such a moron!

Surely, we're never going to see either of those two again,
so it's not worth bothering over.
Jutse stood on the platform, shaking, trying to forget his embarassing brush with death.
Outside the city... I was dealing with my own embarassing brush with death.

The story so far...