Judy and Frank sat in a diner, eating hamburgers and French fries while sipping on sodas.


    "What''s the plan tonight, Frank?" Judy winked.


    "I dunno." Frank blushed. "It''s got to end early tonight—our college exams are coming up in a week."


    "Oh, damn." Judy tossed a French fry on her plate. "You''re right."


    She stared ahead, fixated, with her mouth agape.


    "Judy, what''s wrong?" Frank waved his hand in front of her, but she didn''t respond.


    "I need to study too." Judy blinked.


    "Judy, for a moment, you sat perfectly still, mesmerized. Are you okay?"


    "Oh, that?" She looked up at the ceiling. "Just my wild imagination."


    "I don''t believe you." Frank tapped his drink on the table. "I know when you''re lying."


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    "What? How can you ...?" She looked away.


    "It''s alright, Judy. I see them too, the ghosts."


    "Why, Frank? Why do we see them?" Judy''s eyes teared up. "I know, I know they''re dead."


    "I understand exactly how you feel." Frank handed her a napkin. "We share that in common."


    "Why do we keep seeing them?" Judy wiped her eyes. "Because we were in the same car accident? Are we brain damaged? Frank, do you remember any of it happening?"


    "I try not to, but it comes to me in my dreams—so blurry and icy, the slippery road, and that head-on collision." Frank shivered. "I don''t blame either of our families; it was a freaky snowstorm."


    "That''s right. No one should ever be blamed. We promised each other that we''d always remember them." She clutched onto Frank''s hand. "At least, it brought us together. I just wish the hauntings would stop."


    Meanwhile ...


    Judy and Frank''s surviving parents disconnected. They then exited the holo-link chamber and hugged.


    Judy''s mother asked, "Doctor Stewart, will they ever recover?"


    "I''m afraid ..." The doctor shook his head. "We''ve made no progress yet, Mrs. Martin. Fortunately, we can keep them in cryostasis indefinitely."


    "What about that interactive mode you mentioned earlier, Doctor?" asked Frank''s father.


    "I still have reservations over that, Mr. Brown. As long as they perceive you as ghosts, they''ll manage psychologically. Any revelation of their true condition might traumatize them, irreversibly causing feelings of torment and entrapment, possibly forever."