"I certainly did not." On this ZEX felt relatively certain. "It happened here, in this place, five... I think it was five days ago now. I was going to my Captain's room, and this thing attacked me..."

He hardly wanted to think of his inadequacies back then now, as unhappy as he was, and it wasn't like DAX would know if he was fudging the truth just slightly. "It caught me by surprise and bit me, twice, but I warded it off eventually. My Captain assisted me a little, but it happened, I'm sure of it. You can ask..."

Who? The Captain, who was supposedly also insane? The staff, who all denied such things ever took place? He had no reliable witnesses, no proof other than the wound and his word. That should have been enough, and yet somehow it... wasn't.

"You don't believe me, do you?" ZEX gave him a pained look. "I swear, it happened right here, I remember it..." That cursed trap again. Remember. How much did he or didn't he remember, and did it have any bearing on what was actually reality? He knew this was true... it shouldn't have been so difficult to prove. "I..."

That suffocating feeling again. For a moment he thought he had a chance, he had something to convince DAX to be on his side again, and it ended up as impotent a defense as his others. How he loathed being defenseless!

But there was still something else to think about. ZEX blinked at DAX curiously. "'Girlfriend'? What do you mean?"