The back and forth between his human side, which wanted to believe that Theodor was self-aware, and his Khad side, which refused to entertain the idea that the simulation had such a huge flaw in its execution, continued rampantly, turning more and more fierce.
He was disgusted with his Khad side for trying to abandon his identity as a human, while also feeling repulsed by his human side for not accepting the truths he was born with. Neither side was more correct than the other, the battle continuing in a mental tug of war.
"Could it be that I'm just overthinking Theodor's death? Maybe the simulation expected to accept the situation for what it was. Was I supposed to instead just cherish my life as it was?"
He felt his Khad side taking over. Although his human side did have some explanations to his situation, they were all based on assumptions which had infinitely small chances of happening.
The end of the squabble in Mitch's mind was nigh, and the Khad side would be the dominating personality in the future. That is until he suddenly remembered some of Theodor's weird behaviors, which he had previously forgotten.
"So that is why he felt so disconnected from everyone. He already knew that something wasn't right, and refused to associate with others for longer periods of time. That in turn led to me also isolating myself from everyone else to be together with Theodor."
The void was once again starting to shift, and a mist appeared from the horizon, depicting scenes of Theodor's oddities.
"Now that I think about it, he did have a few manic episodes where he claimed that nothing was real. No matter how many examinations he went through, there was no sign of any abnormalities, leaving us confused. So he wasn't crazy after all, he just knew the truth."
"Finally," he thought, a wide, relieved smile spreading across his face.
"I have finally found some proof that my life on Tellus was not a waste. Although nothing has been confirmed as of yet, at least now there is a crack in the statement that the simulation was fake. Now, I just have to somehow revive Theodor and ask him about it all."
When Mitch came to this conclusion, he started laughing out loud, surprising even himself.
Having spent his entire life chasing a distant dream left much to be desired. A few games were all that separated instances of research.
He could barely even remember any happy memories before succeeding in finding the cure, much less of him laughing.
He had done it, he had found some semblance of truth woven in between the layers upon layers of lies. The primary issue Mitch faced had now been solved. He reached a temporary stalemate between his human and his Khad side.
Although his human side conceded on the fact that the simulation is absolute, his Khad side had to admit that Theodor's behaviour was not conforming to what was expected of the simulation.
Until further proof was presented, both sides seemed to have reached a silent agreement to wait and cooperate. All that remained now was making a plan for his future course of action.
"I'm now thankful that I made the Legio look similar to humans, but that is far from enough! There are three things I need to sort out to have the best chance of reaching Greater Khad."
Mitch raised three fingers and started organizing his thoughts around what he needed to do.
"First, find a way to gather Mynt for my survival. KAT said that most of the mainstream methods involve having followers, so I will have to wait until the world has stabilized before I can actually start with this objective."
He folded his index finger and moved onto his middle finger. "Second, power systems. I assume I have to gather a lot of Mynt to gain access to new power systems. Regardless, I will probably still need some Mynt for one thing or another, which leads back to my first goal."
He once again moved onto the next finger. "That leaves the third target, prepare for whatever I am supposed to do in ten years. I still lack information on this point, so focusing on the other two goals while stockpiling Mynt would be the best course of action for now."
Having made these three objectives and clarifying what information he needs to gather to start on them, Mitch could finally relax. The mental strain from years of research combined with the stress of having to adapt to his new reality had really exhausted Mitch.
"KAT said that the world would require some time to stabilize the ecosystem, so there should be no problems with me sleeping and slouching around for a week or two should be okay, right?"
"Speaking of KAT, what even is she? A figment of my imagination, or is she really some kind of spirit innately bound to me as a helper? I don't detect any malice in the way she speaks to me. Well, except that one time she sassed at me. Leaving her alone for a week should do as punishment."
Having convinced himself through logic and spite for his KAT, he decided to just lay on the ground and sleep. For the first time in a long while he finally had a good night of sleep, unplagued by thoughts of deadlines and research.