Alex sits at his PC in his bedroom, smiling in satisfaction as he stares at the monitor.

“I’ll be your Queen bee Honey B. Lovely

You’ll be the one and only champion

I’ll be your full-time royal, worship me

Love me again until the end

Oh I’ll be your Queen bee Honey B. Lovely

I’ll be adored by workers near and far

I’ll let you be my little drone honey

So long as you never cross me

Oh Gods, again, I really should have said

Heed me well or you’re as good as dea—”

Suddenly, the door opens, and Alex immediately pushes his body, boosted by SNS and AGI, to the absolute limit by skillfully pressing the space bar, immediately stopping the video. He Alt-tabs in one smooth motion to a browser tab showing the Mass Effect Wikia—currently on the Omni-tools article.

The door closes again.

A familiar purple spider climbs up onto his desk, holding a smartphone with a bright purple cover plastered with hearts and skulls. She stares at him with loving—but slightly concerned—red eyes.

Is Soulmate studying? Soulmate said he wanted to focus… Is Soulmate really making progress?

“Yes, Jewel. I really need to focus. You know this is serious,” Alex replies, giving her his best serious business-like expression.

Then why is Soulmate wasting time on random YouTube videos? Jewel knows how to display recently watched videos. Remember, Soulmate gave Jewel her own smartphone—but she still uses Soulmate’s accounts.

… SHIT!

“Just a few random videos, Jewel! Even I need a break here and there. Also, it’s mostly Mass Effect lore videos!” Alex says defensively.

Princess Jewel would love to believe this… however, let’s take a look at Soulmate’s Youtube history, shall we?

Jewel skillfully weaves and manipulates her web, allowing her to use the smartphone even with her sharp spider legs.

“Bee my Honey” (Honey B. Lovely Theme), apparently a theme from the game called Final Fantasy XIV. It is a fun song about a famous Bee idol. 

What else? “Nod Harvester song” an AI-generated song about a vehicle that gathers Tiberium crystals from the game Command and Conquer. 

These selections are so random, Princess Jewel is more than surprised, as researching these things made her very confused and was very difficult to do. 

Let’s continue. A let’s play from a popular rat VTuber playing Ace Attorney: Justice for All, Jewel notices you have fully watched two parts, as the red bars clearly indicate, totalling 8 hours. Also, why is there no popular Spider VTuber? 

Before that, you watched a bald and overweight guy named Guga talking about steaks. You watched 10 of his videos in a row… 

Should Princess Jewel continue?

“...I might’ve drifted off a tiny bit. You know, we all lose focus,” Alex mumbles, a bead of sweat forming on his cheek.

Jewel climbs onto Alex’s chair, then onto his shoulders. Her voice becomes sweet—too sweet—as she wraps her body gently around his neck.

It’s fine, Soulmate. Jewel will do her best to help her Soulmate focus. She will even give up her favorite spot on his head and stay wrapped around his neck—close enough to help. Her eyes—right next to his—will make sure they both stay focused on what’s important.

Please continue your studying to your heart's content, Soulmate. ❤️

With Jewel’s many eyes inches from his own, Alex can’t help but notice half of them are watching him... and the other half are locked on the screen.

Fuck… This is worse than any teacher during my exams. Let’s do this then…

“Maybe we can just play the games… again…?”

Of course, Soulmate. Let’s do that, then. As long as Soulmate is engaging with the subject, Princess Jewel has no objections. Let’s play as a Sentinel this time.

Also, will Soulmate pick a female Shepard? He will, right? Under no circumstances would he pick a male Shepard, right?

He will also pick Kaidan over Ashley, right?

Princess Jewel is just joking, of course—her Soulmate will do as Jewel suggests.

But the romances will suck that way! I can only pick—

NO ROMANCE ALLOWED! Focus on the lore and plot, Soulmate!

Princess Jewel is delighted that this game allows players to remove certain eyesores. There is no need for a distracting Miranda, waving around her disgusting butt, in Jewel’s special playthroughs! ❤️

Save me… this is hell.

A few hours later, Alex leaves his bedroom, turned gaming room, with Jewel still coiled around his neck, lovingly gazing at him.

The apartment is empty—Tereza away on a mission, Menchi locked in the kitchen as usual. 

The only times she leaves are to trade or sell her dishes at the market. She’s back in her work mode.

Alex notices the dining room table is cluttered with trial meals.

“Let’s see if there’s at least anything decent on there and throw the failures away.”

As he and Jewel are eating the surprisingly tasty, but horribly looking food, unable to even tell what kind of food it is, Alex drifts into his thoughts.

“...I’m worried about Tereza. She’s been away for a few days,” Alex admits, telling Jewel his honest feelings.

Tereza will be fine! Jewel is not worried. She can fly! If danger appears, she can just fly away!

“...Your logic is so stupidly simple, but I can’t argue with it. That’s actually a viable strategy in most cases.”

“We’ve got a week left before our own mission, Jewel. Ready to become a certified space spider?”

Technically, the Rachni already exist within the Mass Effect universe, Soulmate.

Jewel is disgusted that those mindless drones resemble the noble and proud spider race.

Jewel prefers to eradicate them when given the choice! Especially in Mass Effect 3.

Slimy, treacherous, vile imposter spiders!

“...Jewel, they only betray you in Mass Effect 3 if you didn’t spare the Rachni Queen in Mass Effect 1. If you always kill her, the one in 3 will be an indoctrinated clone—that’s why you get betrayed.”

Oh? Really?

Well, too bad then. Princess Jewel refuses to spare those slimy impostor spiders!

“You’re taking this way too seriously. First, you rightfully scold me for slacking off… and now you refuse to properly study and reflect on your own decisions, repeating the same mistakes. Are you entering your rebellious teenage phase, Jewel?”

Princess Jewel is always a sweet princess! ❤️

Alex and Jewel continue to spend their time bickering, constantly replaying all the Mass Effect games, including Andromeda, which causes Alex a huge amount of frustration.

Because of Menchi’s cooking and frequent Realm visits, as well as Tereza’s absence, Alex grows ever closer to his pet.

A few more days pass, and Alex gets violently woken up by a woman jumping on top of him, kissing him.

“HMMH WHAHH YOOU DONNG,” Alex tries to say, but his mouth is blocked as the woman tightly hugs him. Unable to breathe, Alex finally frees himself and gasps for air.

“What are you doing?!” he asks, realizing it’s Tereza. “Oh, you’re back! I’m glad—I was getting a little worried…”

Tereza stays silent and hugs Alex, not saying a thing.

I hope she’s alright…

Finally, after hugging her tightly and cuddling for a few minutes, he asks, “Are you alright? Anything bad happen?”

“No… just a lot of… death. The setting was Fairy Tail, but instead of adventure it was a full-on PvP mission.”

Alex gulps. “You had to fight other players? Again? You always get those missions…”

“Yeah… not like there’s anybody left to tell the tale this time… again. I… I had to get rid of them all. It was my first S+ rank.”

“WHAT?!” Alex exclaims, clearly surprised.

“I guess… you did the right thing… but S+, that’s unexpected,” Alex comments.

“My Devil Fruit is just that strong. Combined with my ability to turn invisible and my wide variety of spells, I didn’t really struggle at all. It was almost… like taking care of a bunch of unsuspecting farm animals.”

“I see… any interesting loot?”

“Not much, mostly bloody chests. A lot of Soul Crystals, FC, and random items. I need to visit the market to turn that into something that’s actually an upgrade for me. I got a [False Legend Merging Token] as a reward for being the only surviving player that allows me to merge two Purple items. I know they’re supposed to be rare, but funnily enough this was my reward,” she explains.

“Do you need help? You only have a day to use it, right?” Alex asks.

“It’s fine! I have a good idea how that thing works, thanks to you. I’ve got two rather interesting but mediocre chest armors—one’s a robe that improves MNA and other spellcasting-related stats, and the other boosts AGI and STR. I feel like the combination could be interesting.”

“If you need help, tell me, okay?” Alex says.

“I’m fine… how about you? You’ll be leaving again soon, right?”

“I… guess I’m also fine. But well… it’s okay, don’t worry about it.”

Jewel is way too clingy, but I can’t really say anything or even complain. I spoiled her, so I guess this shouldn’t surprise me.

With Tereza’s return, Alex spends his last day having fun. He decides to visit his parents with his girlfriends, a fact they still haven’t really grown fully accustomed to.

“You want to come too, Jewel?” Alex asks.

Really? But Jewel would probably scare normal humans… also, is Soulmate allowed to reveal her existence?

“No problem. I can’t talk about the Realm or reveal its existence, but as far as I know, I don’t have to hide my abilities, Supporters, or Pets. Also, my parents aren’t stupid. They already suspect something strange is going on, so we just don’t talk about those details. There’s really no need to worry,” Alex explains.

Along with Tereza, Menchi, and Jewel, Alex visits his parents exactly one day before his mission timer runs out. Since it’ll be a solo mission, Alex expects it to start instantly once the 30 days are over—no need to wait on other players, and the world is seemingly already prepared for him.

His parents are, of course, shocked when Alex introduces Jewel, but after seeing her nervously staring at them, they surprisingly get used to her quickly.

“Never thought you’d be interested in raising exotic pets… also, this spider is at least a few dozen times larger than the largest spider in the world. If you have something to tell us, just tell us,” his father notes.

“I… may I pet her? I don’t know why, but I think that’s a very cute spider, she also seems to like you really much and she looks at me with such respectful eyes, as if she is trying to behave as politely as possible,” his mother says, slightly confused by the situation.

“Sure,” Alex says, watching Jewel slowly approach his mother and carefully sit on her lap, staring at her.

“You know, you’re the type of person who should never raise pets. You’ll spoil them! You can’t teach discipline—you’ve got none yourself. So what are you doing now? Enjoying life? I can’t believe Menchi and Tereza are going along with your foolishness, but I guess Money’s no longer an issue for you, huh? Even we got tired of traveling after you wired us all that money,” his father says.

“I thought you were planning to visit Dubai next week?” Alex asks.

“Well, Dubai is more about luxury than travelling,” his father says in a slightly embarrassed tone.

“Yeah… just do it! We got the money, so enjoy yourselves. I guess I’m also working on a few projects with my friends, so I am actually pretty busy these days,” Alex responds, unable to go into specifics.

“Show up every once in a while, okay? We’re proud, but also very worried,” his mother says, still petting Jewel.

An awkward hour later, they leave again—Alex feeling slightly better.

I guess showing up and smiling is really the only thing I can do to make them less worried. At least they didn’t fear you, Jewel.

Jewel is very satisfied. After all, in the future she will…

Yes…?

Soulmate should focus on his mission!

Back at home, Alex spends his last day with Tereza, Menchi, and Jewel—who refuses to separate.

Jewel is scared… for the first time, she will be separated from her Soulmate for longer than a few days.

Don’t be… Anyway, I don’t know where you’ll end up. Maybe like a Supporter, you’ll enter the mission if I make it to a larger city—or in your case, specifically the Citadel. I don’t even know what point in the timeline I’ll be entering. But since the Citadel was mentioned, it should be a part of the original trilogy, or at least before or between the games.

Finally, Alex goes to sleep for the last time. The next day, he quickly washes up and mentally prepares himself for the mission, while Tereza giggles in front of him.

“You know, it could take another full month. You shouldn’t expect the mission to start this soon,” she says.

[Mission starting in 0 Days 0 Hours 59 Minutes. Please make your way to the Mission Portal in the center of the Realm, or be prepared to pay FC for transportation costs.]

“You were saying? Let’s go, Jewel, Menchi! We prepared quite well—we can do this!” Alex says, entering the Realm.