Iris could, quite literally, go anywhere she wanted. Distances in the physical world meant little to her, as she spent much of her time in the void where reality ceased to exist. Time was another factor that meant very little to her. Her essence stretched across everywhere that ever had been and ever would be, and with a mere thought she could jump into different points of the universe. She did not live in the same world as everyone else, and she could see everything that could have been, even dragging such ideas into reality itself.
Yet despite all this, she spent most of her time in the physical realm in this one specific house. Or rather, she spent it in a quantum location that suited her needs, and this location happened to have a house built on top of it. This specific point in spacetime was comfortable, easy to slip into and calming towards Iris's tumultuous mind. She stayed here because its position in the universe managed to reach a perfect balance and harmony for every one of her senses.
However, something was threatening that balance. Something that the culprit should have known better for. Iris did her best to suppress her anger as she folded the universe and punctured a hole in her destination, allowing her to warp directly towards the intrusion. She had to stop the only balance of perfection that ever had existed or ever would from being toppled and shattered by the ignorant, like a child knocking over a beautiful castle made of sand.
Somebody was messing with the air conditioning.
"Kassandra. You are currently tampering with the temperature regulation unit. You have been specifically asked multiple times not to do this."
Kassandra was kneeling down next to the air conditioner, using a couple of April's tools to unscrew the front and examine the wiring. April was standing just behind her, watching the scene unfold.
Thankfully, Kassandra ceased her work at once. "Yeah, I'm sorry," she said with a sigh. "I was just curious to see if I could manage to fix the AC with human tools. I needed the distraction, and it just popped into my mind."
Iris was always confused by her housemates referring to the unit as 'broken.' It functioned precisely the way it needed to, and if it worked in the manner that it had been intended to, the house would be too cold.
"Please cease with this immediately. If you need to spend your time in another fashion, perhaps I can assist you."
Iris glanced up towards April, who was being uncharacteristically quiet.
"Isn't April the one who typically puts an end to your chaotic whims?"
"Well, that's part of the problem," Kassandra responded. "I was just messing around with April, and then something went wrong. Now she's acting all weird and I don't know what's wrong with her or how to fix it. So I'm doing something else to procrastinate."
That was a sentiment Iris understood. She couldn't help but feel some pity for Kassandra - while April treated all three of them like they were equal, Iris was by far the most powerful. She was painfully aware of this, and she knew that Melonie and Kassandra were aware of it as well, even if they pretended otherwise.
"Very well then. I shall attempt to help you with this. Tell me, what exactly went wrong with April?"
>
Kassandra put her tools down and looked over at April. "Okay, so this time I actually mean it when I say it wasn't my fault. So there's this thing called the Flickerlight, right? It's supposed to be for calming wild animals. It doesn't work on sentient beings. But when I showed it to April for a joke, she went all silent like that! Now she just responds when spoken to. Right April?"
April remained perfectly still as she spoke. "This one is currently awaiting orders."
"See what I mean? If she was like this all the time we wouldn't get yelled at nearly as often."
Kassandra had a good point. However, Iris had an idea for a solution.
"Some points in time are less fixed than others. Allow me to view the branching paths, to see if there was a more favourable outcome."
She slipped out of existence, taking a moment to examine all the various paths reality could have taken.
There was one where Kassandra hadn't used the Flickerlight, but that would only delay the problem and have her do the exact same thing in the future. She saw another reality where Kassandra actually knew how her device worked and why it was affecting April, but that ironically led to April trying to fix the AC unit later on down the line. Finally, there was a timeline where April had enough self-confidence and backbone to break free of the Flickerlight on her own. However, if Iris pulled that reality into existence, April wouldn't blush and start sputtering the same way when Iris offered to peg her with a strapon.
Iris's form solidified back into the material plane.
"I have examined countless timelines and realities to examine all the things that could have been. This was a predetermined event, a cosmic inevitability. There was nothing that could have prevented it."
There was a slow nod from Kassandra. "So what you're saying is that literally none of this is my fault. That's a relief." She wiped a bead of sweat from her brow. "Well, there's still the problem that I broke April. Or rather, I technically didn't because it was predetermined or whatever."
April continued staring with a blank expression on her face, unresponsive. Iris had often been told that her own eyes looked vacant when she appeared as a human, but she had never understood the meaning. Looking at April, however, she began to have an idea.
Once again, Iris phased out of her physical form. But this time she kept her gaze on April. She slipped forward, letting her ethereal body overlap with April's physical one. The result was instant. Iris felt herself merging together with her housemate, the two becoming one, as her essence filled up the empty shell that was April.
Iris opened her eyes once again. Only it wasn't "her" eyes that opened, it was April's. She looked around, slowly moving her hands, getting a feel for her new body. Although she had experience living in a shell of meat and electricity thanks to her "human" form, it always felt a little strange at first.
"April? You, uh, you in there?" Kassandra's question was fairly innocent, but there was an eagerness behind her voice. Iris looked at her, through April's eyes, and tilted her head to the side as she spoke.
"Yes. She is in here. I can feel her, and I can hear her. April, you are able to hear me as well, correct?" Iris could feel her housemate inside of her. In a different way than usual this time. April's presence was there within her, locked away somewhere, unable to get free. But now that they were inhabiting the same body, April should be able to speak with her. The two could work as one in harmonious unity to solve the conundrum and free her mind.
"WHAT THE FUCK IRIS? YOU CAN'T JUST HIJACK MY BODY LIKE THAT! TELL KASSANDRA TO GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE RIGHT NOW!"
"April says hello." Iris found it strangely calming to be on the other side of her usual role. Normally she was the one speaking directly into the minds of others, but now April was speaking to her, and she was the only one who could translate. "She claims she is trapped somewhere, and is unable to free herself without our help."
Kassandra nodded. A holographic display opened up in front of her, and various alien symbols began flashing at a rapid pace. "Right, so according to what I can find, there might be a way to fix her again. But the thing is, she's not going to like it. You'll both just have to trust me that I'm telling the truth." She took a deep breath before continuing. "Basically, the Flickerlight can accidentally cause some more serious trances. And apparently the best way to get free is, um, through sexual stimulation."
This was a strange solution to Iris. She found it unlikely that sexual release was the missing puzzle piece. But at the same time, she saw no harm in at least attempting it. April had asked for their help after all.