Multiples ~ 5 Alters and Counting

Chapter 3 - Research

Jayden looked down at the phone he was holding, "Yeesh. Vivian must really like yellow and orange. I mean look at this..." He suddenly stopped when he looked down.

"I...what did she put on us? Hey, did she bring any extra clothing with her?" Jayden asked, clearly not liking the crop top.

"Yeah! In the bag over there." Kayleigh pointed to the bag, "You can change in my closet!" Kayleigh then gestured toward a second door in her room, leading to a closet.

"A-alright thanks." Jayden said as he walked over to the bag and picked it up. He then walked into the closet and closed the door behind him.

Soon after Jayden walked in, he came back out wearing leggings and a sweater.

"Thanks again, Kayleigh, was it?" Jayden commented as he sat down back on the chair.

"Yep, it's Kayleigh! And no problem! Sooo do you wanna help out with researching for Vivian? I bet she'd appreciate that." Kayleigh replied, still looking at her phone and typing notes.

"Uhhh yeah sure. But I could just explain it better. I know a lot from my three years of experience." Jayden looked around the room as he talked.

"Oooh okay! Could you explain stuff to me? Pretty pleaaaaase?" Kayleigh asked, blinking her eyes quickly.

Jayden sighed, "Sure. I can do that. What do you want to know?"

"Everything, please!" Kayleigh said with enthusiasm.

"Okay then I'll try my best to tell you all I know." Jayden replied closing his eyes and thinking for a moment.

"Can you tell me about the jobs of the alters? I wanna know about that most of all. Then I wanna know how systems work. That's all!" Kayleigh explained.

"Alright. Just give me a second." Jayden replied, with his eyes still closed, "Is...is it okay if I grab somebody who knows more and can better explain than me?"

"Uhm...sure!" Kayleigh replied. Jayden slowly nodded then froze his pose. Doing the same as Vivian had earlier. This lasted about ten to fifteen seconds and then the new fronter popped up again.

"Hiya! You're the girl Jayden was talking about, Kayleigh, right?" The new fronter exclaimed enthusiastically.

"Yeah that would be me. Who would you be?" Kayleigh asked.

"Oh right right. I'm Eva! I'm the gatekeeper here and I know the best about all the system stuff because I manage our system! So what did you want to know again, Kayleigh?" Eva asked, just as enthusiastically as before.

"I want to know about the system people's jobs and then how systems work. That's all though!" Kayleigh replied.

"Alright got it! Let me just get situated and then I can start." Eva said, crossing her legs in the chair and pulling down on the sweater she was wearing a bit.

"So there are lots and lots of roles that alters can have! There is gatekeeper, protecter, avenger, trauma holders, persecuters, and more! There are also hosts. Gatekeepers keep track of the alters and let's people front or keeping them out of fronting." Eva began talking, "I'm the gatekeeper here."

"Got it. That's cool!" Kayleigh commented.

"Protectors protect alters in the system and when something bad happens to anyone fronting, they come out and help the situation. Avengers are like protectors but more complex. They will come out in a bad situation and try to get the system out of there or fight through it." Eva continued.

"Trauma holders hold trauma the host has or anyone in the system has experienced. They also usually hold trauma that made previous alters before them form. Persecuters are misguided protectors or avengers who, instead of protecting the system, push bad experiences and abuse onto other alters inter-system. I have one more. Any questions so far?" Eva asked, pausing.

"No not yet, I don't think." Kayleigh replied, smiling.

"Alright. So last but not least there is the host. The host is the alter that fronts, or controls the body most often or the most. That's all I have for roles. Like I said there are a lot more roles then the ones I touched on!" Eva crossed their legs and smiled.

"Alright I think I got it! The last thing I'll ask of you is, could you explain the whole system thing to me? Like how alters form and how alters form in the first place? Also where do you go when you aren't at this fronting stance?" Kayleigh looked up from her phone where she was taking notes.

Eva grabbed a handful of popcorn, "Yeah sure. Then I have to go. I'm already really dissociated and it's hard to think."

Kayleigh nodded and looked back down at her phone, waiting for Eva to speak.

"So systems form when the core, or the owner of the body experiences trauma from ages 4-9. Cause when you're a child your brain is still tryna figure out the personality thing. And if trauma occurs your brain overloads and gives you more than one. After age 9 alters form the more trauma you experience. Depending on how severe it is to you, alters may or may not form." Eva explained. Kayleigh froze the minute trauma was mentioned.

"Oh...I get it. I know exactly where Vivi got that trauma from. She doesn't deserve this it's so stupid. No offense to you alters by the way...it's not your fault your here either...But why? Why does this have to happen to my Vivi?" Kayleigh frustratedly typed notes on her phone as she talked.

"I'm sorry I don't have the answers to those questions. I'll answer the one about where we go when we aren't fronting. We go to this place in our brain that the brain made up. It's called the headspace. We have homes and cities there. Forests, lakes, everything this world could have. It's interesting. It's like a second home. Vivian has limited access though since she is the core. That's all. Sorry I have to go this headache is getting bad. Please be careful with whoever fronts next. They could have a terrible headache." Eva explained as Kayleigh continued typing. Kayleigh looked up and gave a small, weak smile.

"Alright. It was really nice talking to you and meeting you Eva. I hope we meet again. Bye-bye." Kayleigh waved slightly as Eva started to unfocus their eyes and stare at, seemingly, nothing.

"Bye..." Eva replied, before trailing off further.

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A/N - That's the end of Chapter 3! Feel free to PM or comment on this story with any questions about systems or DID, like we said earlier! Also feel free to PM us with any info you want added to this chapter/story. A note that, next chapter - the alter that switches in uses little talk so next chapter, that character's speech will be written in "little speech". Bye-bye for now! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.