Rolling her eyes, Ti Chi confesses her crime to the class. “I used my digitizing powers to steal cable television. That’s my crime.” Everyone laughs, even though they understand this trivial offense was still wrong. “So, because I knew my brother loved me, I decided on my own not to disappoint him and turned myself in. I learned that, apparently, stealing cable does, indeed, result in jail time. However, it was only a month, and Mikley promised not to fire me, so I just went ahead and did my time. That’s when everything changed. I entered my cage and learned I had a cell mate. It was AB. I was highly confused, but then he told me the story of when he served a life sentence with his Cici, and since my real brother was dead, he didn’t want me to go through this alone. He actually took a month out of his busy schedule to sit with me in jail because I was still a sister to him, even if I was from another universe. Also, he was sitting with me specifically out of love for his Cici, honoring that precious memory between him and his twin from so long ago. Of course, this was crazy, and sentiment aside, he wasn’t my real brother, so you know there were appropriate measures taken so the time spent wouldn’t lend to any questionable moments. Missy sat with us often, as did Cici herself. There were some days, however, it would just be the two of us, and I’d be like, ‘Uh, someone else should be here, cuz you’re not my brother, but you’re the wise one, so whatever.’ But then, days later, he’d suddenly switch back to being all proper and making sure nothing was done that could be misinterpreted, so it was weird seeing him change like that, but he was still godly and respectful, so it was never an issue. But our fun time together had to end, and we gladly waltzed out of jail, planning to return to the resort so I could see what all I had missed over a month’s time.”
Ti Chi can’t say the next part without her face shining in pure joy. “That day, the very second we arrived back at the island, I learned why AB, my brother, would change so drastically every so often while we were in jail together. He would sometimes say to me, ‘I’m sitting with you like I used to sit with my sister,’ but at other times, he would make it more personal, saying, ‘I’m sitting with you because you are my sister.’ I just took for granted he was including me in his family because of my loss. Little did I know until TWO AB’s were standing in front of me…” Ti Chi pauses, wiping tears from her eyes. “My brother, whom I had lost so many years ago as a kid¸ never got the chance to grow into a full-grown man, so how would I know that he would occasionally switch places with AB of XI? My AB, MY brother would occasionally be allowed out of the Drawing Board to sit with me in jail since he never got the chance to do so because of dying early. So, all those times AB wanted to show me the compassion of my brother, he would do so by literally leaving me in the safe, precious care of my real brother. That meant everything to me. And you know what I missed at the resort? Nothing. AB had also fixed it so that I was taken back in time to a few seconds after I had left and let me join the others, having never missed a day of work.
“For confessing my fault and facing the consequences, both my twin brother and my XI brother sat with me, taking my punishment with me, only to give me back everything I lost, so that the only thing I got for confessing my crime was a vacation away from my job with my childhood best friend and hero…times two.”
Doug interrupts to point out, “This event is so important in SG history that Ti Chi’s name was put into a word commonly used in XI Earth’s English. Since the Greek spelling of her name, ironically, would be Ti Xi, this was played upon to create a word commemorating the days when both Ti Chi and XI Cici, respectively, were allowed to leave their guilt behind. Xi Ti becomes Xit…and we just add an e. Yup, exit is a secret reference to one of the sweetest moments in SG history.”
Kammy chuckles, wiping a tear from her cheek. “I get the feeling this word doesn’t have the same Greco Romana type of origin story. I think you just made that up, but it’s really sweet, Mr. Rug.”
Inner Man Theatre 