Jaynin was an explorer as a kid, and fascinated by his father Tylon's work as archaeologist. Tylon often invited him to show him his work whenever it was safe enough for him to come. He was also an avid reader, getting himself lost in Kalasian literature and history books. And of course Tylon takes him on hikes in the "grand parks", together with his four year younger sister Hayne. He loved these trips, until one fateful day when he was fifteen, they faced an unexpected heavy rain shower on their hike. And stepping on one wet stone, he slipped and made a bad fall from a small cliff, landing on his back, snapping his spine and making him lose consciousness. A medical shuttle came to pick him up and rushed him to the hospital, where they found the bad news...

When Jaynin woke up, he quickly realised something was horribly wrong; he only could see and hear from his lower head and felt nothing above his waist, even though touching with his tailhand, he confirmed that the rest of his body was still there. To his shock, his upper body started to move on its own, and was equally shocked to only feel the upper part of the body, unable to scream in horror or talk at all. Jaynin described that when his spine snapped, his soul was snapped in two as well. Two souls, inhabiting one body, never feeling whole again. The doctors secured his spine back together, but the spinal cord remained severed.

The first few days, they stumble a lot, having to figure out how they coordinate themselves together. Even the idea that someone else was now "possessing" the other half of the body was an idea that was hard to stomach for both. But especially the upper body had a hard time: with no way to talk, he had to find other methods. Doctors gave him a tablet to write down what he wanted to say, but he quickly found this was quite cumbersome. He wanted to learn sign language instead, so he could express himself more freely. However, this first attempt of communication was enough for him to pick his own name: Fenn. He asked his parents to use that name for him, as that makes him feel like they see him as his own person.

His revalidation programme was long, and went as a shock through the whole family. Jaynin would often curse, calling himself "useless", when so much of his daily life had become a struggle. Even the simplest tasks, like tying his shoes, had become a challenge. It was also hard to feel any hunger, as he couldn't feel his stomach (only Fenn could), and he tended to forget to eat as long as Fenn didn't pull his ears to remind him. He tried to escape into his books he loved, only to devastate him even more: he couldn't read them anymore, not the way it was meant to be read with two heads at once. Kalasian literature had become inaccessible to him. He had once aspired to become a writer, a dream now brutally shattered...

Hayne saw her brother had changed a lot, No longer was he the strong and confident boy she knew; he was weak, clumsy, vulnerable and most of all, lost. She felt very sorry for him, and saw him cry a lot during this time. She tried to comfort him the best way she could, but it didn't seem to help. She was unaware of the demons inside of Jaynin and Fenn's minds that started to drive him to something far worse. All careers he once strived for, all of them would require an able-bodied Kalasian with two heads working together, not severed like his. He saw no future for himself anymore, and he seriously considered to put an end to it all. But every time he made an attempt to take the way out he saw images of his younger sister Hayne flash by in his mind, and he just couldn't stomach how much his leaving would hurt her. He couldn't do that as her older brother. He was supposed to protect her, not harm her. But in the state he was in, he couldn't help her, or himself. He admitted to his parents that he was having these disturbing thoughts, and they were shocked to hear he was this unhappy. They found a support group for him with other Kalasians suffering from Severance Syndrome, some born with it, others - like him - who got it in a accident. His peers gave him guidance how to live this split life, especially those who were born with it had a lot of tricks for him to teach.

He'd later find two jobs. Fenn would become a shuttle pilot, while Jaynin would become an archaeologist like his father. Fenn would often fly them to the places Jaynin wants to research. But in their free time, they decided to write a book anyway, despite their challenges. Their work, a detective novel where the main character experiences a mind split like he did. Literary critics would describe the book as one of the most uniquely disorienting stories they had ever read, finally being able to let other Kalasians experience the world he was experiencing every day.

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So I gave Hayne a brother. I love the design I ended up with for him, and having him to deal with a challenge unique to Kalasians makes him quite interesting. I hope to use him more in stories.

Drawn in InkScape