"She has an Illusion wrapped around her. Go on, feel for it. See if it's still there."
The resident in her brain's deep understanding of Mai Mingle surprised Ashley again and again. The more it revealed about Mai Mingle, the more Ashley realized its true target was Mai Mingle alone—but regardless, 'if she dies, I can take her place as a player, right?'
Through the fabric of her clothes, Ashley felt a long, serpentine object coiled around Mai Mingle's suddenly, frighteningly thin body.
"It's still here. There is something," she said. "What kind of Illusion is this?"
The resident in her brain was silent for a few seconds.
"It's an Illusion that can restore her to her peak condition. It expires in nineteen hours. I was thinking that if the Illusion had been removed, it might have meant she wasn't actually hit—that she just took it off to fool us... But since the Illusion is still there, and she's ended up like this, it's most likely not an act."
