ageric to gagobears

mize and ange

they actually can't leave the other alone. they come as a set.

they used to be a pair of completely unrelated people, picked out of a crowd one dreary evening. they were knocked unconscious and taken to a facility by members of a certain research group. there, they underwent an unusual procedure. their memories were.... merged. they went from being complete strangers to knowing the other as intimately as their own selves.

they were made to spend time in an artificial "school" environment with other experiments. pairs were dubbed "psychics". they were encouraged to train and improve their mind link here through activities and exercises every day. the area was isolated from the rest of the world; there were no windows anywhere. there was instead a blue sky painted on the ceiling, cleverly disguising light fixtures. each psychic shared a room. they were all forbidden from communicating with their other half verbally, and had to practice communicating through the link. to necessitate communication, researchers fed important information (such as mealtimes and the day's activities) to only one half.

for six years, they would continuously undergo these tests and procedures. psychics that failed to perform well were never seen again at the "school", so mize and ange, afraid, did their best to improve. over time, they came to trust one another like nothing else, finding comfort in each other's presence.

they were eventually rescued as the group was destroyed from the inside out. however, they were unable to return to their normal lives now that they were so deeply intertwined.

mize and ange end up living together. they have difficulty talking verbally to others-- actually, other people in general make them uneasy. they are unable to endure physical separation for longer than a few hours and over long distances. they are happiest when they're close to each other. words aren't even necessary.

mize (23)

the more "mature" of the two. responsible and was always the one reminding ange to do their tests back at the facility. this doesn't mean he is any more capable of living independently. when away from ange for long periods of time, he is unable to do anything at all, curling up into a ball and refusing to eat or drink or sleep or talk.

however, he acclimates to other people easier and is better at holding verbal conversations with others. on the surface level, he seems just like any other person and he is good at maintaining this facade so long as ange is by his side. he likes reading, exploring new places, looking at animals. he likes dogs in particular. being inside for too long makes him feel scared that he'll never be outside again.

ange (19)

stubborn, a bit childish, maybe a brat. is used to mize spoiling him, so he has very little sense of responsibility. he has a devil-may-care attitude and does what he likes. he can, however, get serious when instructed to. when separated from mize for long periods of time, he becomes desperate to find mize, often injuring himself and others in the process. it's as if the rest of the world doesn't matter, or exist.

in general, has no interest in other people. he prefers to stay home. he only allows others to talk to mize because it seems to make mize happy. otherwise, he'd be like a territorial dog. he likes creative activities, cooking, christmas, the TV, and the computer. a blank, white screen or wall is one of his biggest fears, having spent so long at that stark white facility. he and mize painted all the house's walls together.

other

they still disagree and have arguments even though they're like. that.

at the facility, they were only referred to by one name, and both were expected to respond to it. the intention was to increase the sense of a "shared existence". they eventually forgot their real names.

when they were finally free, they chose new ones.

"shared existence"... the researchers seemed to want to explore the possibility of "merging two people into one". this included transfusing blood at regular intervals, giving both of them identical clothes and things, addressing them by the same name. over time, they started believing they were two parts of one person. they are only recently learning to be two different people again.

sometimes they forget they're not one person. their minds will sort of meld together (normal among "psychics" with regular training) and their thoughts will more or less be the same/combined. in this state, they speak the same things out loud at the same time, which is creepy to everyone else. it's like, there's only one brain controlling two bodies. they have to practice so they don't meld together like that on accident. it just happens very easily. they both slip into this state when unfocused or distracted

they can be physically apart and be fine for at most four to five hours. distance affects their mind link-- outside of a 1km radius, the link becomes unreliable.