《Select World》 Prologue Prologue *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* *Beep* The sound of my alarm resounded in my mind. Another day¡­ Guess I should get ready¡­ I pulled the sheets off and stared at the ceiling unmoving. I lay there for a few minutes in the dark before deciding it was time to get moving. I pulled myself up on the edge of my bed and stared at my feet. I slapped my hand around on the side table in search of my phone. *Click* I turned the screen and was temporarily blinded by the light. My vision finally coming back to me, I checked my notifications. Nothing as usual¡­ Maybe I¡¯ll just leave it here today, no one ever talks to me anyway. Stretching out my arms and popping my back, I stood up and walked across my tiny apartment to start the shower. Gripping the cold metal knob, I turned on the hot water and looked up at the shower head as the water began to flow. I moved over to the mirror while I waited for steam to start rolling out of the shower. My cold brown eyes stared back at me¡­ judging me¡­ My apartment has some of the cheapest rent in town but the utilities suck. I pulled back my long curly main I call my hair and let out a long breath. What am I doing with my life¡­ With the shower still running I made my way to the kitchen to find something to eat. I stoped to stare at the calendar hanging on the fridge. December 7th, my mother¡¯s birthday. I haven¡¯t seen anyone in my family for nearly eight years now, but I always tried to remember to call my mother on her birthday. With a heavy sigh I opened the fridge and turned the milk carton over to see the date. Three days expired¡­ maybe I¡¯ll stop somewhere and get something on the way to work instead of cereal today. Putting the carton back, I closed the fridge and stared at the picture on the calendar. The kitten on the picture was hanging off a tiny branch with the text ¡®Hang in there!¡¯ printed across the bottom of the image. I¡¯ll try little buddy¡­ I¡¯ll try¡­ I walked to the bathroom back to check the water only to find it still chilly. With a huff, I walked back to my bed and picked up my phone. I pulled up the contact labeled ¡®Mom¡¯ and tried to decide to call or text her. It¡¯s only 6:34¡­ I don¡¯t think she usually wakes up until nine or ten these days. Guess I¡¯ll set a reminder to call her at lunch. I turn back towards the bathroom to finally see the mirror start to fog over. I stood up and threw my phone over my shoulder. it bounced a couple times of the mattress before settling. Guess I better make it a quick one today if I¡¯m going to stop somewhere to get something to eat. I stepped into the blazing shower and inhaled the steam. I finally felt like I was waking up as the scalding water began rolling down my face. Reaching for the shampoo, I notice that it¡¯s nearly empty. I flipped the bottle upside down to try to get one more use out of it. I grabbed the bar of soap and lathered my wash cloth before i started to scrub. Dragging the cloth across my stomach I looked down, staring at my bulging gut. Damn I need to start going to the gym¡­ guess walking to work hasn¡¯t really been helping me that much. After I rinsed myself off, I try the shampoo again. There wasn¡¯t even enough to fill my palm. Shit! Guess I need to stop by the store on the way home. I lathered up my hair and let the water rinse the suds out at the same time. I looked down at the the drain and watched the bubbles circling the grate. Huh¡­ kinda like me¡­ spiraling down the drain¡­ Turning the water off, I faced toward the shower head to watch the last drops fall while I started patting at the wall in search for a towel. Finally finding it I burry my face in the rough fabric only to be met with the faint smell of mildew. Powering through the smell, I continues to dry myself off. My unshaven face was noticeable as I pulled the towel over the dough spots. it clung like velcro in some places. After throughly drying my hair I finally stepped out of the shower. The sound of water droplets kitting the tile floor made my eye twitch. I hurried to the out of the bathroom to get over carpet and make the noise go away. I took three steps across my room and entered the closet. I looked at my extremely limited options. Three pairs of faded black pants. Two black jackets, one had a small tear at the seam where the shoulder met the torso. Five pairs of white shirts. Two of them had a slight discoloring under the armpits, so they were set aside. I hate dressing formal, but its easier this way¡­ I slid a pair of plain white boxers on and proceeded to put the rest of my attire on over it. I looked down to the lone pair of worn leather shoes and slid them on without socks. All the pairs were ripped in the toes and annoyed me, so I don¡¯t wear them anymore. I walked out of the closet and stared at the phone sitting on the bed. I sighed as I walked over to pick it up. ¡°Guess I have to bring it with me to call Mom later.¡± My voice was raspy so I cleared my throat as I reach for the small device and shove it in my pocket. I grabbed my keys and wallet off the small stack of cardboard boxes next to the door. Looking around my apartment, trying to think of anything I forgot, I opened the door and took a step into the sunshine. The bright light greeted me by temporarily causing me to go blind. I reached a hand up and covered my eyes. Too damn bright.. Need sunglasses¡­try to remember tonight when you go to get milk and shampoo. I made my way down the stairs and started down the sidewalk. I always walked to work. I sold my car a few years ago to help pay for rent and the formal wear required at the office I work at. The company was a newer one, just founded two years ago, and is brimming with fresh out of college youth that haven¡¯t seen the pain of the every day grind yet. I hate them all. I don¡¯t even know what the hell they did at work. Everyone just came up to me smiling and handing over massive stacks of papers to go through, saying something like ¡°I haven¡¯t seen this format yet, do you mind? I know you will get it done faster than I can haha.¡± Then they would always walk back over to the break room and laughter would pour out before the door closed. I shuttered thinking about another days work. The smell of coffee filled my nose breaking my focus on hating my coworkers. Guess I¡¯ll stop by here today. Been a long time since I¡¯ve had a good cup of coffee and a doughnut or two. Walking into the building, I heard a small bell ring behind me and the lady behind the bar looked over. ¡°Good Morning! What can I do for you today?¡± I was surprised that no one else was in the shop yet. It was already 7:20, so people should be lined up. ¡°Uhh, hi. Sorry I¡¯ve never been here so I¡¯m not really sure what to order¡± I scratched the back of my head and smiled at her. Damn she¡¯s young. Wonder if she is still in High school. She smiled back at me, tilting her head to the side and looking up at the menu. ¡°We have latte¡¯s, regular coffee, and several kinds of pastries.¡± The fucks a latte? ¡°Uhh¡­ what exactly is a latte? Sorry, I¡¯ve only drank coffee black.¡± Feeling a little embarrassed for my lack of knowledge about coffee I looked towards the menu. She kept smiling at me making me feel like I had just said something really stupid. ¡°A latte is steamed milk with espresso shots and your choice of sweetener.¡± I felt a little better about myself and decided that she wasn¡¯t poking fun at me. ¡°Ok I guess I¡¯ll try a latte with no sugar and a couple strawberry glazed doughnuts then.¡± After saying that I noticed that there were no doughnuts on display. Damn¡­ now she really will think I¡¯m an idiot.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. She gestured toward the pastry case. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sir we don¡¯t have doughnuts here, but if you want something with strawberries then you could try our strawberry turnovers.¡± I thought about the turnovers for a few seconds contemplating if they could even compare to the glory that is a strawberry glazed doughnut. ¡°Yeah that sounds fine. I¡¯ll take 2 of those and the latte.¡± She smiled and grabbed a bag for the turnovers. ¡°What size latte would you like sir?¡± Sir? I¡¯m only 28¡­ Maybe she really is still in high school¡­ That or I look really old to her¡­ ¡°Whatever the medium is. I know it has some kind of dance name for it.¡± Dance¡­ Did I really just say dance? Maybe she didn¡¯t notice¡­ She walked back to the fridge and grabbed a carton of milk with a tinkly laugh. ¡°Alright sir, that will be $14.57.¡± $14.57?!? Christ I could have eaten dinner for 3 days with that. ¡°Ok do you take cards here¡± Of course they take cards here! It¡¯s 2018 everyone takes cards these days! With the same laugh from before, she pointed toward the card reader. ¡°Yes we take cards. You can go ahead and swipe or use the chip reader if you have one.¡± Chip reader right¡­ Does this ask for a pin when I use the chip on credit? I cant remember¡­ Being more cautious now I was keeping my mouth shut before I embarrassed myself again. Sliding the chip in with fingers crossed I waited. *Ding* Yes!! I was getting worried there. Would have been bad if I couldn¡¯t even pay for it after she started making it. Walking back in front of me with a cheery smile, she handed me the drink and the bag. ¡°Here you go sir! Hope you like the turnovers. They are freshly made every morning.¡± I took the bag and drink in hand, and couldn¡¯t help but smile back at her. ¡°Thanks, I¡¯m sure they will be great.¡± I took a sip of the latte. ¡°Wow this is great!¡± Maybe it is worth the cost after all. Steppingthrough the door I weeded my way through a hoard of customers pouring in. Damn I got here at the right time. Feel kinda bad for the poor girl though. There is no way I would want to deal with 20 people that haven¡¯t had their coffee yet. Reaching in the bag and grabbing a turnover I clicked my tongue. The turnovers were smaller than the display. Was hoping that she would give me a few more¡­ Oh well. hopefully they taste decent¡­ Popping one in my mouth I sighed, the turnovers were not very good. Finally the office was in sight. I raised the cup up to my mouth and someone bumped into my arm. The lid crumpled and the remainder latte spilled all over my jacket. ¡°Hey watch where you are going asshole!¡± The man just kept walking and threw his arm up in the air as if to dismiss me. Anger boiling up in me, I started to walk toward the man and noticed a hand grabbing my shoulder. ¡°Leon. You ok?¡± Ashley¡­ Of course it¡¯s her¡­ ¡°Yeah I¡¯m fine. That guy just bumped into me and made me spill my latte on myself.¡± My anger began to ebb as I heard her voice. ¡°Okay. You looked really upset. I thought you might do something crazy.¡± Ashley is a tiny girl with bright green eyes and crimson hair going all the way down her back. I¡¯ve had my eye on her since she stared last week. She never talked to anyone besides Chuck and myself. Chuck is my dick head boss. He just sat in his office all day browsing Facebook and watching Netflix. He doesn¡¯t get in trouble for it because he connected to his personal hotspot on his phone for internet instead of using the connection at work. Turning back to face Ashley I smiled and checked my watch. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we head into work? We only have about 5 minutes.¡± ¡°Hold up! I think I might have something to clean up your jacket.¡± She reached into her purse and pulled out a handful of napkins. ¡±Here you go!¡± She held the napkins out to me. I accepted them and stared back at her a little confused. Looks like she just went to a fast food joint and pulled a fistful out of the dispenser and shoved them into her purse. ¡°Thanks¡­ Why exactly do you have so many napkins on you?¡± Her cheeks shifted to a faint shade of pink and she looked away. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t worry about it¡­¡± Goddamn she¡¯s cute. Feeling a little bad for asking and considerably thankful for seeing her blush, I started trying to brush the liquid off my jacket. ¡°Not like that! You¡¯ll only make it worse! Here, give me the napkins.¡± She looked at me with a very annoyed expression on her face and her arm outreached to retrieve the napkins. Placing the bundle of napkins in her hand, I looked down at her. ¡°You have to dab it like this¡± She unbuttoned my jacket and split the napkins so she has some on either side of the fabric. I shifted my gaze quickly away. I don¡¯t want it to look like I¡¯m was trying to look down her blouse while she¡¯s so close to me. She turned back up to me with a bright smile. ¡°There! Good as new! Can¡¯t really do anything about the coffee smell though, unless you want to smell like my perfume all day.¡± I looked into her glowing green eyes and smiled. ¡°I can¡¯t see that being a bad thing.¡± Her cheeks went from a flushed pink to a burning crimson. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡­¡± She interrupted me by thrusting a perfume bottle into my chest and storming off toward the building. God, if you¡¯re up there¡­ Thank you for this gracious gift you have given me this day. I looked over the bottle and noticed it was in french. Most of the words were worn off but I pick up ¡®Baccarat Rouge 540¡¯ on the right hand side. With a shrug, I pulled the cap off and sprit a couple bursts in front of me to walk through. I¡¯m sure it smells great but I don¡¯t want it to be too strong. She might think I¡¯m some kind of freak if I put too much on. The smell overtook me. This has to be some high quality shit! Why would she be carrying around something like this? Enjoying the intoxicating scent, I stood a few inches taller. I finally made my way into the building. On the way to the elevator the receptionist said something, but I couldn¡¯t hear anything over the extreme bliss I was in from the perfume. I didn¡¯t even remember hitting the button on the elevator, but I was already on the twenty second floor. The doors swung open and I walked toward my desk. The only good thing about my job was the view. I sat in a far corner so I had windows on either side of me. Not to mention, Ashley¡¯s desk was only one cubical over. So, I guess that made two good things about my job. Arriving at my desk I sat down and rolled over to see if Ashley was settled in yet. She wasn¡¯t there. Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned around a little too quick, thinking it might be her, and was instantly faced with disappointment. It was Rob. He slapped his hands on my shoulders. ¡°Hey Leon, hows it going? He is probably only here to give me more of his work¡­ ¡°What do you want Rob I¡¯m very busy.¡± ¡°Oh, nothing. Just saw you looking a little chipper today, so I thought I¡¯d come see whats up.¡± He let me go and moved to lean back on the edge of my cubical. Whats up is that you make me do all your work while you go and flirt with all the female coworkers on this floor in the break room every day! ¡°Nothing is ¡®up¡¯. Just had a bad morning and something good happened right before I came in today.¡± ¡°Ohhhh? What might that be? Wait let me guess¡­¡± Rob put on a cheeky grin and rubbed his hands together. Here is comes¡­ ¡°Was it something to do with Ashley? I¡¯ve seen you staring her way a bit lately. Also, you smell like her¡­ Did she give you a hug or something?¡± Rob bent over and inhaled loudly over my shoulder. Turning back to the computer I hit the power button and tried to look unfazed by his harassment. ¡°If you don¡¯t stop smelling me I¡¯ll go get Chuck and tell him I¡¯ve been doing your work for the past 3 months.¡± Rob stepped back and threw his hands up. ¡°Awe come on man, you know I just like messing with you.¡± Bullshit you just like pretend like I¡¯m your friend to push off all your work on me. ¡°Alright, Alright. Where is it?¡± Looking back at me with a cocky smile he picked up a three inch thick stack of papers from the top of the cubical and shook it at me. ¡°You¡¯re joking right? You are bringing me a full weeks work on Friday? No. How about half? You can probably handle that much right?¡± I looked back up at him with concern. I didn¡¯t want to ruin this day with overtime if I could help it. Laughing hysterically, Rob just dropped the whole stack on my desk with an audible thunk and walked off to the break room. Why am I not surprised¡­ 8:05 and he is already taking a break¡­ Been at work for five minutes and this is already looking like a slog. Sinking a little deeper in to my chair, I leaned back and put my hands behind my head inhaling deeply and closed my eyes. ¡°Why do you let him do that?¡± Ashley was apparently back now. I smiled and looked over to her. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really bother me that much. It just makes my numbers higher. I put the work in my name for three quarters of it and only give him credit for an eighth.¡± She tilted her head and looked a little confused. ¡°Eighth? Then where does the other eighth go?¡± Leaning in close to her I whispered. ¡°I put them in your name of course.¡± She turned back to face away from me with a huff and put on a faint blush. God¡­ I am now a believer¡­ thank you for this bountiful blessing¡­ I fell back in my chair and let out a bellowing laugh. ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m sorry.¡± Reaching into my pocket I pulled out the perfume bottle and placed it on her desk. She snatched it up before it even left my hand. ¡°That important to you huh? I couldn¡¯t help but notice that it appears old.¡± She turned back to me with her eyebrows low and her cheeks flushed. ¡°Not that I¡¯m saying I didn¡¯t appreciate it. Just that it looks¡­ carried? It appears to be very important to you.¡± Raising her brows and sitting back in her chair she sighed. ¡°It was my grandmothers. She gave it to me before she passed. Not that I really remember her well. She was gone before I was five years old¡­ I just remember her being a very¡­ bright¡­ and when I look at this perfume it makes me feel happy.¡± Wow¡­ wasn¡¯t expecting all that. ¡°Oh¡­ well it smells very nice.¡± Not really knowing what to say I turned back to my desk to notice my PC was finally booted. I let out a sigh and loaded up my news feed. ¡°Glad you like it¡­¡± I turned back over to her. She was tucking the bottle back into her purse and searching furiously for something. I let her be and faced my PC to look at the news. The first headline read. ¡°Nukes have been launched from Russia.¡± Panic rising, I clicked on the article and started to read. It was posted only twenty minutes ago. *Gasp* Ashley was standing and staring out the window. Tears began to stream down her face. Before I could say anything to her, the sound of people running back to the elevators filled my ears. Standing up and turning to look out the window myself, I see what appeared to be a second sun. My jaw dropped when I felt the ground shake beneath my feet. I heard a loud crash and saw Rob throw his chair out the window. Immediately after the chair was out of sight, he made a swan dive after it. Several other people, without thinking, dove out behind him. In horror I walked over to the window and looked down. There were countless bodies littering the streets. The blood was already starting to pool at the gutter. Holding in my vomit I turned back and looked over to Ashley. She was nowhere to be found. Heart beating pounding in my chest, I stood up and ran for the elevators. To my dismay¡­ I found Ashley running full sprint from the elevators to the window Rob had just leaped out of. Reaching out my hand I screamed. ¡°Nooo!¡± Missing her by inches I fell to the ground. Despair filled me. I quickly rolled over to look out the window. The only thing I saw was her crimson hair flick in the wind for a moment¡­ then nothing¡­ Tears started to well up in my eyes. Why God?¡­ Today was actually going to be a good day¡­ Heart much heavier,I stood up and walked over to the elevators she had just ran from. I found her bottle of perfume on the floor, along with the remainder of her purse spilled around it. I picked up the bottle and my heart crawled into my throat. With the tears dripping from my face I put the bottle in my pocket and turned to face the windows. There was a colossal mushroom cloud in the distance and a wall of dust rapidly approaching. There¡¯s no point¡­ I doubt I¡¯d even make it to the ground floor¡­ Deciding to take my own life instead of being swallowed in flame and ash, I started to sprint. When I reached the edge of the window and jumped with all my might. The explosion should reach me any second now¡­ Looking back towards the ground I felt like I was hallucinating. A screen started to flicker into existence couple feet in front of me. When it appeared time seemed to slow dramatically. About 3 floors from the ground the screen appeared staying constant. Time halted completely. There was only one word on the screen and a prompt . RESTART? Y/N Restart? Restart what? I pulled up my hand and tried to touch the screen. My hand passed right through it. ¡°Great! So I am just seeing shit!¡± The screen flicked and had new text. JUST SEEING SHIT? When the screen flicked time resumed for half a second the ground came a few feet closer. ¡°Alright, Alright I¡¯m sorry. Put the prompt back up. I think I know my answer¡­¡± ¡®RESTART Y/N¡¯ popped back up and I moved a few feet closer to the ground. Looking past the screen I saw Ashley¡¯s disoriented body on the sidewalk seemingly broken in every direction. Blood was half way across the street now. When I saw her face covered in blood and her broken body, hot tears began to fall again. The knot in my throat steadily grew. I moved my finger towards the screen and tapped the ¡®Y¡¯ icon. Nothingness¡­ Everywhere¡­ I was sitting in my office chair, but beyond that there was nothing but the void around me. Standing up I felt around for anything. The second I stood up, the chair beneath me vanished and then there truly was nothing, just the black expanse. It¡¯s strange that I can see my hands when there¡¯s no light anywhere. I reached down to feel the ground. My hands passed right through. It¡¯s as if only the ground beneath my feet is there¡­ wonder what happens if I take a step¡­ I gathered my courage and took a step¡­ Nothing happened¡­ Sighing heavily in relief I started to think. That screen responded when I talked before right? ¡°Hey!¡± YES? The screen appeared in front of me again. Ok¡­ guess I do have to talk to¡­ it? What should I say? ¡°Are you God?¡± GOD? HAHA NO. I HAVE BEEN WATCHING OVER YOU THOUGH. That¡¯s a lot more information than I was expecting. ¡°If you aren¡¯t God then what or who are you?¡± LETS NOT DISCUSS THIS NOW. YOU HAVE A CHOICE TO MAKE. ¡°What do you mean by a choice? I already made a choice to restart right?¡± THIS IS SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT. ¡°Alright, *sigh* you have my attention.¡± Two words and a tab popped up on the screen. I tap the tab and a list spewed out falling endlessly into the abyss below my feet. I looked back up to the words on the top of the screen. SELECT WORLD. Chapter 1 [LEON] ¡°Select world? does this mean I can choose any of these?¡± Feeling a bit anxious and excited I began to scroll through the options. A second screen popped up to respond to my question. YES AND NO. I really don¡¯t like the sound of that. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡± While scrolling I saw an ¡®X¡¯ mark out beside a several of the options. Before I could ask about it, the screen displayed another message answering my unasked question. THERE ARE SEVERAL WORLDS THAT ARE¡­ CORRUPTED. THEY HAVE BEEN LABELED WITH AN ¡®X¡¯. YOU CAN STILL GO THERE IT¡¯S JUST¡­ NOT RECOMMENDED. Corrupted? What the hell does that mean? ¡°Ok so what do these letters and number mean then?¡± The list contained a large number of locations labeled ¡®EARTH¡¯ with a letter and a string of numbers. THE LETTER MARKS THE TIMELINE AND THE NUMBER MARKS THE DIVERGENCE FROM THE ORIGINAL WORLD. ¡°So¡­ I can travel through time?¡± I wonder if there is anything I could do about the nukes back in my world. HAHA NO. ¡°Then what do you mean by timeline and divergence?¡± AN EXAMPLE WOULD BE ¡®EARTH A-246¡¯. THE LETTER ¡®A¡¯ WOULD BE THE BEGINNINGS OF HUMANITY. YOU CAN VIEW THE NUMBER 246 LIKE A VERSION NUMBER. This list goes all the way to Z¡­ `¡°If A is the beginning, then what world timeline did I come from?¡± YOUR WORLD WAS ¡®EARTH C-999¡¯. WHEN THE DIVERGENCE NUMBER REACHES 999 IT¡¯S A DEAD END. ¡°Dead end¡­ I¡¯m guessing that means I can¡¯t return then¡­¡± YOU CAN RETURN BUT IT WILL ALWAYS END THE SAME WAY. ¡®EARTH C-999¡¯ IS FATED TO ALWAYS END IN A BALL OF FIRE. ALL DEAD ENDS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THE LIST. The sadness from before fell over me. My life wasn¡¯t great¡­ but it was my life¡­ ¡°So¡­ I couldn¡¯t go back and save my world then?¡± NO¡­ I¡¯M SORRY¡­ The weight of those words pulled me back to the situation. I slapped my face a couple times and gathered myself. ¡°Ok¡­ If I can¡¯t go back then where should I go?¡± I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND GOING MUCH FURTHER THAN E OR F. ONCE YOU GET TO ¡®EARTH J¡¯ HUMANITY HAS PEAKED AND HAS HARNESSED THE POWER OF THE SUN. ¡®EARTH M¡¯ IS WHERE HUMANITY BEGINS TO LEAVE THE SOLAR SYSTEM AND THE PLANETS ARE STRIPPED BARE. ¡®EARTH S¡¯ AND BEYOND ARE ALL MARKED WITH AN ¡®X¡¯ BECAUSE THE SUN HAS GONE OUT AND NOTHING IS LEFT ALIVE IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM. The influx of information was staggering. I felt a migraine start to crawl behind my eyes and I fell to my knees. I¡¯M SORRY¡­ I SHOULD HAVE EXPLAINED A LITTLE SLOWER. I rubbed my eyes and fell on my back. The screens followed me like they were connected to me. ¡°It¡¯s ok. That was a little overwhelming¡­ So basically you¡¯re telling me to stay with something close to my world?¡± YOU CAN CHOOSE WHATEVER YOU WANT, BUT IF YOU GO TOO FAR AHEAD THEN DEATH AND LONELINESS WILL BE THE ONLY THING AWAITING YOU. With a heavy sigh, I looked back toward the selection screen. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Will I be able to talk to you when I am in one of these¡­ Other worlds?¡± I don¡¯t particularly like the idea of just starting life again¡­ but if I can talk to this¡­ thing¡­ then at least I will have some company. YES AND NO. Guess that¡¯s the best I¡¯m going to get¡­ ¡°Do you have a name or anything I can call you? If not I¡¯m just going to end up calling you screen or something.¡± HMMM¡­ YES, YOU CAN CALL ME RED. Red¡­ I wonder what this Red really is anyway¡­ ¡°Okay Red. I think I am ready to choose.¡± I flicked back up and randomly tapped the screen to stop the scrolling. My finger stoped on ¡®EARTH F-675¡¯. I shrugged and tapped it again to lock in the selection. A conformation screen popped up. YOU HAVE SELECTED EARTH F-675. Y/N I dug back into my pocket for the bottle of perfume. I felt a pit in my stomach and an ache in my heart as I stared at the red bottle. All I can think of is Ashley¡¯s hair when I look at this now. With a shaky hand, I wiped the new forming tears from my eyes. I tapped the ¡®Y¡¯ button and was instantly overcame by an intense light. I raised my hand to cover my eyes. Before my eyes had adjusted, I heard the calming sound of waves hitting a shore. Am I on a beach? My vision was still a bit blurry, but I tried to get a bearing on my surroundings. It appeared to be an island. There were several small islands in the distance and the faint sound of sea gulls. Well this is not what I was expecting, but I¡¯m not one to say no to a free vacation. [RED] ¡°Do you have a name or anything I can call you? If not I¡¯m just going to end up calling you screen or something.¡± Leon looked a bit flustered and was scratching the back of his head looking at the terminal. Red looked down and thought for a moment. She twirled some of her long crimson hair around her finger and decided on a name. Turning back to her monitor she typed her response. HMMM¡­ YES, YOU CAN CALL ME RED. Leon looked like he was pondering the name and then shook his head. ¡°Okay Red. I think I am ready to choose.¡± Red watched the screen, attention wrapped on Leon¡¯s decision. ¡®EARTH F-675¡¯¡­ Which one was that again? Red turned to one of her separate monitors and pulled up the guide she had made for the previously programmed worlds. Finding section F She scrolled down to find 675. ¡°Ohh I love this one! I have the perfect avatar for myself in this world! Now¡­ where to send him. I could send him to Hawaii¡­¡± Red looked back to the monitor with Leon. He appeared to be crying and tightly holding the red perfume bottle. ¡°Yeah I think he needs a vacation¡­ Especially after what I did to him in the alpha program¡­¡± Red pulled up her file labeled [Starting Locations] and chose the [Hawaii- Small Island] file. She eagerly waited for Leon to confirm his decision. The second his finger touched the the terminal she dragged the file over to the main program. That done, She stood up and popped her back. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll give him a little time to relax before I jump back in with him.¡± *Ding* The coffee maker made a noise to confirm that it was done brewing. Red walked over to get her morning caffeine. I wonder what he thinks of me¡­ He did go back for the perfume bottle this time¡­ Guess that means he is starting to like me? While she pondered Leon¡¯s actions, Red made her way to the window overlooking the city. Massive building and blinding lights obscured the view of the city she had once known. The year is 4287. Humanity had long since abandoned it¡¯s interactions among it¡¯s peers. People no longer had children and have since evolved to a point where they no longer have sexual organs. Immortality was standard, and a large percentage of the remaining humans are ¡°jacked in¡± to a simulation named Select World. The simulation directly connected to the brain and pulled the consciousness of the user into the simulation. Once someone was jacked, it was very difficult to remove them from the simulation without severe damage to their brain. These ¡®jacked¡¯ humans were transferred to the Pods. The Pods are massive towers filled with vegetable like humans that are stimulated via IV. These Pods are ran entirely by themselves with AI machines in place of staff. Red, the creator of Select World, is one of the few remaining humans that can jack in and come back with little effort. Even though there was nothing waiting for her in this reality, she didn¡¯t like the idea of being laid on her back in a bed until the sun exploded. The company that oversees the Select World simulation is ran by massive AI constructs, but all updates and worlds are created by Red¡¯s hand. Red looked back to the screens to see Leon taking his cloths off and running into the ocean. Upon seeing Leons naked body a flush began flaring across her face. She quickly turned back to look out the window. Why does he make me feel this way? It¡¯s not like he is real or anything¡­ I have to find out what makes him different from everything else I¡¯ve programmed so far. Red had made an new learning AI program a month ago and dubbed it Leon. Ever since, it had her complete attention. She had even started to think of it more as a him than an it. Leon was an anomaly in her world. She wanted to test him more before giving him access to the live simulation, but seeing him jump after her old ¡®Ashley¡¯ avatar made her feel something she had never felt before. In a snap decision she paused the closed simulation and gave Leon root access to the full simulation running on her personal computer. Red finished her coffee and walked over to the sink to rinse out the mug. She tried to avoid looking at the center monitor, where Leon was floating on his back in the ocean. Head cocked to the side, she made her way to the chair in front of her computer and sat heavily in it. With a faint cough and a shake of her head, she pulled up her file named [Avatars]. She selected one that was similar to the Ashley avatar she had used in the closed simulation. This version was a bit rougher around the edges and held a scowl on her face. She pulled up the status page for the avatar and tabbed over to the appearance page. There were several sliders and number values to determine things such as facial features, hair style, and body shape. Red looked down at her slender frame. I wonder if he is attracted to someone like me¡­ should I make this avatar a little more¡­ filled out? As soon as the thought crept into her head, her entire face blazed to match her hair. She shook her head and slapped her face a few times before calming down. ¡°No! If I am going to interact with him I want to make myself look as close to the real me as I can.¡± That out of her system, Red looked back up to the screen and pulled the slider for chest size back down from ¡®D¡¯ to ¡®A¡¯. With a sigh, she moved to the height stat. Changing it from five foot nine inches to five foot two inches. She left the green eyes and long red hair alone. Closing the appearance tab, anxiety began building in her gut. She loaded the avatar into the ¡®EARTH F-675¡¯ program currently running on her main monitor. ¡°Hopefully he wont be too freaked out by me showing up like this¡­¡± Everything seemingly ready to go, Red leaned back in her chair and grabbed the cable hanging from her computer. She held down a button on the side and shoved the pointy end into her temple. She took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. Her finger shook as she held it over the enter key. ¡°Here goes nothing¡­¡± She slammed her finger into the button. Her body went limp and her vision went dark. A bright flashing text became visible as she waited. JOINING SIMULATION. PLEASE WAIT. With a blinding flash, the sudden smell of of the ocean greeted her. She stood there enjoying the ocean breeze while waiting for her vision to clear up. The sound of sea gulls could be heard nearby. She looked around and saw them landing on the mech parked on the edge of the cliff she stood atop of. She walked over to the mech and opened the cockpit. As soon as the machine started to move the gulls dispersed. She booted the system up and grabbing the drive controls. ¡°Here I come Leon¡­¡± The hatch closed beside her with a whooshing noise. The sound of the engines and servos overtook the sound of waves crashing against the rock below. The mech shot forward, blowing apart the rocks it had been standing on. The legs and arms folded in close to the main body of the craft, and the main thruster came to life. A large ring of exhaust formed behind the craft as Red pushed the throttle forward. Chapter 2 [LEON] ¡°God damn¡­¡± `I tried to take in the sight around me. ¡°It has been so long since I have been to a beach¡­¡± Wonder if Red sent me here¡­ Looking over toward the island, I noticed a coconut falling from one of the trees. I walked over to pick it up and immediately started searching for something to crack it open. Finding nothing but more coconuts, I made a pile of them and sighed. ¡°Maybe I¡¯ll find something to break it later¡­ I¡¯ve never tried coconut before¡­¡± I turned back to the ocean. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go for a swim¡­ might help me get over what happened this morning.¡± I stripped my clothes off and placed them on the pile of coconuts. Shrugging I took my boxers off and left them on top of my clothes. ¡°Doesn¡¯t really matter if I¡¯m alone.¡± I turned to the ocean and went full sprint into the water. The ocean was cool but not uncomfortable. I laid back and floated with my eyes closed. I just realized that I don¡¯t have sunscreen¡­ Really hope I don¡¯t burn¡­ Thinking about how terrible a sunburn on my nether region would be, I rolled over to float on my stomach. I opened my eyes and see a crab scurrying around across the sand below me. I instinctively jerked back. ¡°Fucking shit! ¡± Head now above the water, I looked back down at the crab. The tiny creature was quickly moving away from me. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like crabs or anything¡­ I just don¡¯t like swimming around with something else in the water. Feeling a little embarrassed that a crab scared me, I flipped back onto my back again and stared at the clouds. Wonder if I can talk to Red¡­ Still floating I cupped my hands to my mouth and yelled. ¡°Hey Red you there!?¡± No answer. She did say I might not be able to talk to her¡­ A loud roar came from the island, startling me. I quickly got back to my feet and started searching for the source of the sound. ¡°What the hell is that?!¡± I looked back toward the island and saw a humanoid shaped craft flying toward me. I did select the ¡®F¡¯ timeline¡­ Guess things like that are common around here. I raised my hand to wave and attempt to draw its attention. The craft slowed and out of nowhere a beam passed through it. A massive explosion engulfed the craft and it started to fall to the ground. I heard a loud crack in the distance. Looking toward the sound I noticed that all of the clouds had parted from the beams origin. ¡°Holy shit! What the fuck is going on?!¡± The craft plummeted toward the beach and landed with a soft thunk. If that thing had a pilot then there is no way they¡¯re still alive¡­ I swam back to shore to check out the crash site, hoping that no one had been inside. As soon as my feet touched the sand I noticed that it had landed on the pile of coconuts¡­ and my clothes. I heard a soft continuous thunk coming from inside the wreckage and ran up to it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll help you!¡± There was a faint whimper and a cough. ¡°Please hurry *cough* the air is getting thin in here¡­¡± How the hell am I going to open this?! Adrenaline pumping through me, I savagely searched for anything that might open the hatch. ¡° How do I get you out??¡± No response¡­ ¡°Fuck it!¡± I grabbed one of the intact coconuts and started bashing it against the glass. After smashing a few good coconuts against the glass it finally gave and smoke bellowed out from the opening. A girl with long read hair lay unconscious in the seat. My heart stopped. She looks just like Ashley¡­ maybe a little shorter but¡­ I felt a knot starting to form in my throat. I reached down and took her in my arms. Making sure not to bump her head, I pulled her out of the wreckage. She hung limply in my arms. Panic rising, I lowered her to the ground and prepared to perform CPR. A whimper escaped her lips as soon as I let go of her. Thank God¡­ or thank Red? Whatever¡­ She is alive¡­ I need to find somewhere for her to rest. I slid my arms back under her and did my best to support her head . I turned and stated walking toward the inner part of the island, away from the wrecked ship. I want to get away from that thing¡­ Don¡¯t know if it is going to blow up or something¡­Maybe I can find a cave¡­ She shuttered and leaned into to my chest. I felt her breath faintly on my bare skin. My face started to flush as I pulled her in close. ¡°You¡¯ll be okay. I got you.¡± This is one of those moments¡­ I will never forget¡­ After fifteen minutes of walking I found a small cave and decided to make camp there. I gently sat the girl down and rested her head against the wall. ¡°Wait here I¡¯ll go get something to make a fire.¡± She hasn¡¯t said a word the whole trip, but it makes me feel better talking to her¡­If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I turned around and noticed a stark breeze. Embarrassment taking hold, my face turned a beet red. I quickly turned away from her and rushed out to find something to cover myself. Maybe that craft didn¡¯t land on my clothes¡­ I could already see the beach ahead of me. It had felt like I walked a mile into the island but it had only bee a couple hundred feet. I could see a dark smoke trail over the trees from the wrecked craft. I ran up to it and realized that it had indeed landed on my clothes. ¡°Shit! Hey Red!¡± Red didn¡¯t reply earlier but it¡¯s was worth a shot. Nothing again¡­ I took in a deep breath. ¡°Maybe my clothes are fine¡­ if not I will have to use a leaf or something.¡± I shuddered thinking about making something out of leaves to wrap around my manhood. I continued toward the beach holding faith that I could dig my cloths out, and that they weren¡¯t burnt¡­ When I approached the craft I couldn¡¯t see anything resembling my office attire. I really didn¡¯t want to do the leaf thing¡­ Would there be another flight suit in this thing? I started to dig around in the cockpit, avoiding the broken glass, and found a small box strapped to one of the walls. Thinking it might be important, I pulled it out and placed it to the side. I continued my search and found a compartment under the seat. Um¡­I guess I did find a flight suit¡­ but how am I going to fit in this thing?¡­ It appearedto be fitted to size that would even be small on the girl I pulled out of the thing. I held it up and started to stretch it, checking if I could make use of it. ¡°*Cough* *Cough* What exactly do you think you are doing with my clothes?¡± I froze still holding up the suit in my hands. I slowly turned to see the girl standing there looking away from me. I felt a sudden wave of embarrassment wash over me and dropped the suit to the ground. I quickly tried to explain myself. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m so sorry. I was just looking for some clothes because your craft crashed on top of mine.¡± She wouldn¡¯t look at me but I noticed a flush on her cheeks. She sighed. ¡°That one you dropped should fit¡­ It stretches to fit your body.¡± I bent over to pick it back up and attempted to slip my legs into it. I did not want to be naked in front of her for longer than I had to be¡­ ¡°Not like that! you¡¯re going to rip it!¡± She rushed over and snatched the suit from me. I stood there¡­ frozen in place. This seems really similar to what happened with Ashley back on my earth¡­ She even looks like her¡­ if not a bit shorter¡­ and more aggravated¡­ I slowly glance down to see her holding the suit in one hand and staring at my plonker. Her eyes grew big and her face turned a deep scarlet. She leaped back and pulled the suit over her face.She peaked over the suit for a second and quickly moved to hide behind it again. She abruptly thrust the suit into my chest and stared directly into my eyes. Embarrassment painted her face, but all I noticed was her eye color. Her eyes are even green¡­ just like Ashleys were¡­ She pressed a button on the suit and with a click the suit began to wrap around me and connected in the back. ¡°What the hell is this?¡± I looked down at the fabric, watching it move around me to cover my body. She kept staring at me and sighed. ¡°You¡¯re not from around here are you?¡± She took a couple steps back and looked me over. ¡°Who are you? What are you doing on this island?¡± The suit was extremely tight in all the wrong places. I started to pull at the crotch and the suit grew another size. ¡°This suit is amazing! To answer your question, No. I was kind of just¡­ dropped here. My name is Leon.¡± She put her hand on her hip and looked toward the beach. She was obviously still flustered but trying to look unfazed. ¡°Thanks Leon¡­ for saving me¡­ I¡¯ll have to call in another mech to get both of us off here¡­ You can fly right?¡± ¡°Um¡­ no¡­ I have never flown anything in my life.¡± I scratched the back of my head and smiled at her. ¡°Never flow¡­ never mind. I¡¯ll get the double seater then.¡± She pulled out a device from her hip. She clicked a button and a screen popped up in front of her. She started tapping icons on the screen and turned back to face me. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I told you my name, but I couldn¡¯t help but notice that you didn¡¯t give me your name.¡± I was feeling a bit more confident with clothes, so I tried to talk to her. She looked back to the screen and continued to navigate menus. ¡°My friends call me Ash. Something about how my hair reminds them of fire. I¡¯m also the one who normally fires that laser instead of getting hit by it. So maybe it¡¯s about me turning things to ash? Not really sure¡­¡± Ash¡­ that is way too close to Ashley for it to be just a coincidence¡­ but this is a future time line right? There¡¯s no way they could be the same person¡­ ¡°Ash¡­Thats an interesting name. What was that laser by the way? I saw it knock you out of the sky.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a proton cannon. They are standard equipment on those mechs like the one behind you. The pilot that shot me down must be an amateur. It should have vaporized me on impact. Instead it hit my fuel container and the hull protected me from the explosion.¡± The screen disappeared and Ash slipped the device back on her hip. ¡°Looks like our ride is here.¡± I looked behind me and saw a plus sized version of the mech from before flying toward us. "That one looks a bit different than the one you were piloting.¡± I pulled up my hand to shade my eyes from the sun while the beast came in for a landing. ¡°Yeah thats a Vanguard model. It¡¯s normally used for defense and has triple layered plate steel protecting the hull. Shouldn¡¯t be shot down by proton cannons, but it¡¯s much slower than the Striker model I was flying.¡± She walked out in front of me and held up a hand. The Vanguard mech changed course and came crashing toward the beach. Sand melted into glass beneath the boosters while the mech extended its arm to Ash. She turned back to me and gestures to the massive machine. ¡°You coming or what?¡± ¡°Hell yeah I¡¯m coming! This this is fucking insane!¡± I rushed over to the mech and climbed into its hand. I reached back to help Ash up. She reluctantly accepted my hand and pulled herself up beside me. The mech lifted us up to the cockpit and popped open. Ash climbed in front seat and pointed to a seat behind her. ¡°Wait I forgot something!¡± I had to yell over the sound of the boosters. ¡°What? There is nothing else here!¡± Ash looked aggravated like I was wasting her time. and gestured to the island. ¡°Just let me down! It¡¯ll only take a second!¡± I looked back to the wreckage of the old Striker mech. Ash rolled her eyes and moved the mechs arm back down to the beach. I ran back over to the Striker and crossed my fingers. I started shifting through the coconuts and saw the edge of my jacket. Digging through the inside pocket I found the bottle of perfume unharmed. ¡°Yes!¡± I slipped it into one of the many pockets on my new suit and patted it. If nothing else I can carry it with me to remind myself of my original world¡­ That done I turned back to the mech and stoped again. Ash threw up her hands in confusion. I turned back and grabbed the box I had found earlier. I made my way back to the Vanguard¡¯s hand and climbed up. When I saw Ash¡¯s face I smiled. She just pointed at the seat behind her and waited for me to climb over her. I tried not to step on her as I climbed through the cockpit and plopped into the back seat. The door to the cockpit closed and everything turned silent. ¡°Damn¡­ what happened? It¡¯s so quiet in here now.¡± Ash turned back to me with an eyebrow raised. ¡°You¡¯re joking right?¡± I looked up and noticed that this Vanguard model had displays where the Striker model had glass. She did say this thing had layered steel plates¡­ I¡¯m an idiot. ¡°Sorry¡­ this is the first time I¡¯ve been in one of these things¡­¡± I put on a cheeky grin and shrugged. She rolled her eyes again and turned back to face the front. ¡°What did you go to get anyway?¡± I put my hand over the pocket with the perfume in it. ¡°Nothing¡­ Just a something precious to remember someone from a long time ago¡­ Oh! And this box. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was important or not. It was in the cockpit of that Striker.¡± Ash looked back and laughed. ¡°Thanks, that¡¯s mine. Nearly forgot about it. It has a couple of my things and a back up of the AI core for that downed mech. It¡¯s not that important but good that no one else found it.¡± ¡°Can¡­ Can I open it?¡± I was really curious to see what this backup AI core looked like. Ash took a second before she answered. ¡°Uh¡­ sure? Don¡¯t know why you would want to though.¡± I look back to the box and snapped back the latch holding it shut. There were a few photos, a gun, and an orb¡­ ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± I started to reach out to the orb and Ash slammed the box shut nearly clamping my fingers inside. ¡°Don¡¯t touch that. You¡¯ll thank me later. Now hold on tight we are about to take off.¡± She turned back to the screens and grabbed the controls. I felt the rumble of the boosters and started getting pushed back into the seat. ¡°I thought you said these things were slower than the Strikers!¡± ¡°They are! I was just flying mine slow because I saw you in the water earlier and wanted to snap a couple photos. It isn¡¯t every day you see someone skinny dipping in the middle of a war zone!¡± War zone huh¡­ This is supposed to be the future¡­ I wonder if it has anything to do with the war that engulfed my world¡­ Maybe I can ask Red about it when I can talk to her again. I looked up at the screen and watched the clouds rip past. ¡°Where are we going? I¡¯m not really cracked out to be in a war.¡± Ash burst out with uproarious laughter. ¡°You don¡¯t say? I¡¯m taking you back to my base. We can find out what to do with you when we get there.¡± ¡°Okay sounds good.¡± I leaned over Ash¡¯s shoulder to watch her pilot the mech. She started to fidget and look uncomfortable. ¡°What?¡± She turned away from the controls and stared at me. ¡°I just wanted to see how you fly this thing.¡± I leaned back into my seat. Don¡¯t want to piss her off¡­ ¡°You don¡¯t have to do anything to fly. That¡¯s almost entirely on the auto pilot. I¡¯m just making sure there aren¡¯t any enemies chasing after us. It wouldn¡¯t take them long to catch us in this vanguard.¡± She shifted and turned back to the monitors. ¡°Oh¡­ thats a little sad. I wouldn¡¯t mind flying one of these, but if it¡¯s auto pilot then it doesn¡¯t seem as fun.¡± I fell back against the plush headrest and closed my eyes, exhaustion was hitting me hard. ¡°I might try to take a quick nap¡­ been a long day for me.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. We¡¯re about two hours from the base. I¡¯ll wake you up if anything happens.¡± Ash clicked a button in front of her and the monitors around me turn off. ¡°Thanks. I appreciate it.¡± Letting out a yawn I fell back into the seat and passed out. [RED] She let out a heavy sigh. ¡°I¡¯m so glad I made these mechs with a knockout gas for the passenger seat¡­ I don¡¯t think I could have kept that up much longer¡­¡± She turned back to the screen and clicked a button. The mech teleported into a far off bunker. She turned back to Leon and blushed. I cant believe he carried me around in the nude like that¡­ I thought my heart was going to explode¡­ She made a motion and a screen popped up in front of her. She quickly tapped the Log Out button. ¡°Ash should be fine by herself for a little bit¡­ I need a break.¡± Red stood up and walked over to her bed. Heart still fluttering in her chest she flopped heavily onto the covers draped her arm across her face. ¡°This feeling is¡­ agony¡­ If I can¡¯t get ahold of this, then I will never be able to interact with Leon.¡± Red rolled over and looked at the clock. She set the timer for two hours and pulled the blanket over herself. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll take a nap as well¡­ maybe I¡¯ll feel better when I wake up.¡± Fifteen minutes later Red still laid awake wide eyed. She couldn¡¯t get the image of Leon¡¯s naked body out of her head. Throwing the blanket off her in frustration, she stormed off to the kitchen to get an early lunch. There was a screen on the wall that had a search bar on the top and nothing else. Red tapped on the bar and a keyboard came up. She typed protein and several options showed up. Her food options rotated daily but there was always one thing that she just couldn¡¯t get enough of. She found her vice and selected it. That done, she cleared the search bar and typed sugar. Finding her second vice she selected it in a large and walked to the table in the middle of the room. Before she had even sat dawn her meal was already done printing and appeared in front of her. A steaming lobster tail and a large vanilla milkshake beckoned her. Not caring to get any silverware she tore into the lobster tail shamelessly. She was still very flustered with the whole Leon situation and it showed when she drank half the milkshake in one gulp. Bliss falling over her, Red decided to lie back down on the bed and rolled back up in the blankets. Minutes later she was sound asleep. An hour and a half later the alarm stated to blare in Red¡¯s apartment, but she slept right through it. The alarm cut itself off, and Red stayed asleep for the next twelve hours. Chapter 3 [LEON] I woke up disoriented in the back seat of the Vanguard. The monitors around me were still blacked out. Still shaking off the sleep, I notice that Ash is passed out in the front seat. She was curled up and shaking. Wish I had a blanket of something for her¡­ I looked around in the back compartment and under my seat for something to cover her. There was a box similar to the one I had found in the Striker mech strapped to the wall. I ripped it off and placed it in my lap. I pulled the latch back and opened the lid. There was thin metallic fabric that seemed to make a lot of noise as I touched it. Ash stirred from the sound. I grit my teeth and pulled it from the box. I really don¡¯t want to wake her up. She had a long day¡­ going through a crash and taking care of an idiot like me¡­ I carefully lifted the fabric and slowly lowered it over her. She leaned further into her seat and made a satisfied noise and she was enveloped in the material. I sighed. Thought for sure that I would wake her¡­ Now, lets try to figure out what¡¯s going on. I leaned over her to look at the front monitors and get a bearing on my surroundings. It looked like a military hanger, but there was no other vehicles present. There was a small window embedded in one of the concrete walls. Looks like we made it to her base¡­ or wherever we were going¡­ I leaned back into the seat and looked down at the box containing the back-up AI core. The box that held the metallic fabric lay at my feet. There was nothing else inside other than the blanket, so i had quickly lost interest in it. She told me not to touch this thing¡­ but I really want to check it out¡­ Going against her advice, I decided to open the box. A menacing light poured from the seams as I slowly lifted the lid. Don¡¯t remember this thing being so bright before¡­ I felt drawn to the orb¡­ I could hear sounds coming from it, like it was calling out to me. I moved my hand toward the orb, and gently placed my palm against it. A searing pain consumed me. My brain felt like it was on fire. I tried to yell but nothing came out. Suddenly, it all ended. My vision came back in splotches. Looking down, I found a familiar glow on the back on my right hand, and the orb¡¯s pulse faded. I let go of the orb and brought my hand to my head. There was a dull thud still in my head. A strange warmth came from my hand. I slowly moved my hand away and stared at the glow emanating from my palm. ¡°Who the fuck are you! And what are you doing in my mech!¡± Ash was pointing the gun from the box at me. She must had snagged it while I was in a trance from the pain. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m Leon¡­ Remember?¡± I tried to stay calm regardless of the situation. Ash stared at me, weapon raised. She slammed her fist into a button on the control panel. I instantly went flying out of the cockpit and slammed into the ceiling. The impact with the concrete knocked the wind out of me and I started to see stars. I felt the wind picking up around me as I fell to the ground. Something inside me told me to stop the fall. Not knowing what else to do, I thrust out my glowing palm toward rapidly approaching ground. With an earth shattering boom, a massive shockwave erupted from my palm. The wave splintered the ground beneath me and sent the mech flying into the nearby wall. The force from the blast slung me back toward the ceiling. Before I realized what had just happened, I felt my skull crack from impact with the ceiling and instantaneously dove into unconsciousness. [ASH] Ash woke up confused in a Vanguard mech. She had a thermal survival blanket wrapped around her. How the hell did I get here¡­ I thought I was on a stealth mission in the Hawaiian islands¡­ She noticed an ominous glow coming from behind her. Turning slowly, she saw an unfamiliar man holding his palms to his face. What did he do to his hand to make it glow? She looked at his lap and saw a dormant catalyst in the aptly named Kamikaze box. Panic surging, Ash attempted to grab the gun out of the box. The man slowly moved his hand from his face, just as she grabbed the gun and retreated back to her seat. The man was staring at his glowing hand, and Ash gathered her nerves. Pulling the gun up and pointing it toward the man, Ash shouted. ¡°Who the fuck are you! And what are you doing in my Mech?¡± He stared back at her with a confused expression. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m Leon¡­ Remember?¡± Ash racked her brain. The name Leon wasn¡¯t familiar to her in any way. He seems to know me¡­ but I need to get away from him if he absorbed that catalyst! She made a quick decision she slammed her fist into the eject button, sending Leon flying skyward. The cockpit swung open as soon as the eject activated. She leaped out and started to sprint. Headed straight the entrance to the control center, she smashed the release button opening the hatch. Before she made it inside she heard a deafening boom and was launched through the doorway. The shockwave blew her through several walls before she finally slowed, landing on her back in the armory. She sat up, blood trickled down her face. She shakily got back on her feet. Making her way back to the control center, the distinct sound of sparking electronics met her. She hobbled into the control center and found the Vanguard mech hanging in the wall. Most of the consoles were completely obliterated and showered the ground with sparks.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Shit!¡± She hissed through clinched teeth. ¡°This is for sure going to get me demoted.¡± She peered through the hole the vanguard created in the wall. Leon was lying in the center of a crater in the hanger. She climbed over the rubble and stumbled her way toward him, gun raised. The crater was massive. She guessed it had a fifty meter radius and went at least seven meters deep in the reinforced concrete. She holstered the gun as she saw the broken body in the center. Leon¡¯s right arm was completely battered. The rest of his limbs were broken in several directions. His face was unrecognizable through the red curtain of blood. With a sigh she bent over to check his pulse. Slightly surprised to find him still alive, she lifted him up on her shoulder. Blood ran from Leon¡¯s body onto her and dripped from her elbow. ¡°Maybe we can make use of you¡­ if you live.¡± Moving as quickly as she could, given her injuries, she hobbled over the rubble out of the crater. She had to drag him through the hole into the control room. She stopped to catch her breath and checked her communicator to call for help. It seemed that no-one else was at headquarters. At least I think this is HQ¡­ The layout appears to be identical¡­ strange that no one came to check out the noise though¡­ The network seemed unresponsive, so she send out an SOS and crossed her fingers. She put the communicator back on her hip and lifted Leon back to her shoulder. She looked back as she made a turn into the hallway. There was a rich red trail following her. She picked up her pace as her anxiety rose. He¡¯s almost out of time! I need to hurry! The medical was around the next corner. She strained her shaking legs into a jog. She turned the corned and slammed into the door for the medical room. The door slid up causing her to fall to the ground. Leon slumped to her side. She jumped up and moved over to the terminal and tapped the ¡®Full Recovery¡¯ button on the recovery pod. The door swung open and flashing green lights appeared like a runway. She turned back to Leon and stumbled to him. She slid both her arms under him and lifted him. Her face scrunched up and turned red from the strain. Her legs had had enough stress for one day. She lay him down as gently inside the pod and moved back to tap the ¡®Start¡¯ button on the terminal. Feeling satisfied and out of breath, She looked around and found a chair. She limped over to the chair, stopping only to pick up a first aid kit from the main desk. She sat heavily in the chair and opened the kit. There was one adrenaline needle and one pain killer. With shrug she stabbed both of them into her thigh, not caring about removing the suit. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to apologize to him when¡­ if he wakes up¡­¡± She panted for breath and let her mind wonder as the painkillers took hold. If he lives¡­ he could be one of our greatest assets. I didn¡¯t see it¡­ but it appeared like he absorbed the power of a catalyst. I can¡¯t think of anything else that could release that much power without leaving any radiation¡­ She pondered that thought as she looked over at Leon in the pod. There was so much blood. It was leaking from the seams in the pod and pooling on the floor below. Adrenaline kicking in, she walked over and noticed that the pod didn¡¯t seem to be healing his right arm. ¡°Could¡­ Could the energy in his hand stopping the repair? I wonder¡­¡± She had seen a crate in the armory containing more catalysts. She left the medical bay and made her way back down the hall. Could he use the energy from the catalysts to repair himself?¡­ She turned into the armory and found the crate. The bright yellow label blared at her. ¡®DANGER FISSION CATALYST BOMBS HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE¡¯ Crossing her fingers she popped the lid. A cold haze bellowed from the pressurized container. Lights flickered from the inside exposing the twelve large pulsating orbs surrounded by foam. She closed the lid with care and pulled the tool gun from her hip. She turned the knob to the tractor beam setting and shot the crate. It lifted into the air and she gently guided it through the halls until she made it into the medical bay. She tip toed around the pool of blood reaching halfway into the hall. The pod had been trying to repair Leon¡¯s arm, but his skin kept tearing and exploding from the energy coursing through him. It¡¯s a good thing that this pod pumps blood as it repairs¡­ there is no way he would live through tis otherwise¡­ Trying not to slip on the gore at her feet, she let the box rest on the floor. She opened the box and shot one of the catalyst bombs with her tractor beam. This is something she had done many times before. Most of the people she had fought beside in the past took the cowards way out. Activating the catalyst in their cockpit killing themselves along with the enemy. Ash decided using her tractor beam to throw the bomb at the threat instead was a better idea. She tapped the ¡®Pause¡¯ button on the pod and the hatch slid open. She lowered the catalyst to rest on Leon¡¯s arm. It was instantly absorbed and a section of his flesh stitched itself back together. She continued until all twelve of the bombs were absorbed into Leon¡¯s arm. Leon¡¯s arm was radiating with energy and appeared healed now. Feeling content, she drug the chair across the room and sat down staring at Leon. She was in awe. Leon looked like a walking bomb, but all charts read green on the pod¡¯s display. She decided to wait, instead of waking him up. Probably better to let the pod finish instead of forcing him awake¡­ No idea what will happen wither way¡­ Ash hadn¡¯t known it at the time, but she hadn¡¯t been putting the ¡®Kamikaze¡¯ level bombs into Leon. She, in fact, had been putting the ¡®Extinction¡¯ level bombs into him. These bombs were a prototype and exponentially more powerful than their smaller counterparts. One of these bombs had the power to crack a tectonic plate and sink a continent into the mantle of the planet. This would cause mass extinction world wide, hence the name. [RED] Red woke with a long yawn. She didn¡¯t want to leave the warmth of the blankets piled over her. She was surprised that the alarm hadn¡¯t gone off yet. She rolled over to look at the clock. Vision still blurry she blinked several times. Surely she was seeing things. It appeared to be the same time that she had gone to sleep. Feeling confused she sat up and stared at the clock for several minutes until it hit her. ¡°Fuck!¡± She threw the blanket off and rushed to the monitors. She saw Leon lying in a repair pod in the medical bay of her base. Ash sat in a chair staring at him. Half of Leon¡¯s body was masked in a bright light. ¡°I was asleep so long Ash became a fucking NPC! And Leon is glowing or some shit?! This is why I should have tested him more before letting him join the live server!¡± Red slammed a fist into her desk. ¡°Mother fucker!¡± She slumped down to the ground and held her hand. She had made a dent in the desk and fractured a couple bones in her hand with the outburst. With angry tears in her eyes, she glared back up to the screen. Ignoring the pain she pulled her chair over and fell into it. She quickly opened the the file containing the avatars in her base. Only one was listed [Ash]. ¡°What?¡­¡± She stared at the screen for several seconds until opening the command prompt for the server. She aggressively typed ¡®Show hidden entities¡¯ into the prompt. One unintelligible file showed up. She hovered her mouse over the option and clicked on it. The stat sheet for Leon popped up but there were artifacts coving most of the information. She clicked on the appearance tab and Leon¡¯s avatar popped up on the top right of the screen. The avatar covering most of the settings on the tab with its right hand. She tried to click on one of the uncovered sliders near the bottom of the screen, but the hand moved to prevent any changes. Felling frustrated, She went back to the stats page and clicked on the attributes tab. The strength value, which had been set to seven out of twenty originally, ran off the screen with countless numbers. Mouth agape, She stared at the entry. The value was high enough to collapse several planets with a misguided slap. Coming back to her senses, She tried to edit the value, but every time she tried to click on the entry the number increased by another decimal. Leon¡¯s avatar popped up in the corner and moved its hand to grab the cursor. She stared at the avatar and it winked back at her. Her eye started to twitch. She looked over the rest of the page to see similar changes to all of the other stats. The avatar waved its arms as if to get her attention and spoke in a childish voice. ¡°Hey watcha doin?¡± ¡°W¡­ Wha¡­. What are you?¡± Red¡¯s eye was still twitching in anger. She was fighting to not punch the screen. ¡°Awe das not fair. I ast you fwrst.¡± The avatar stuck out its tongue and blew a raspberry at her. Fuming, Red replied as nicely as she could manage. ¡°There is something wrong with Leon and I am trying to figure it out. Now¡­ What are you?¡± ¡° *Tehe* YOU KNOW WHAT I AM!¡± The avatar replied with a demented laugh. ¡°I AM THE ONE WHO WANTS TO SEE THE WORLD BURN!¡± Red swallowed and goosebumps started popping up all over her body. ¡°What have you done to Leon?¡± Noticing that the cursor was visible next to the avatar, she slowly moved her hand to click the delete button on the bottom of the screen. The avatar ignored her question. ¡°HAHAHAHA THATS NOT PLAYING NICE!¡± The mouse exploded in Red¡¯s hand, cracking one of her screens and mutilated her hand.Red screamed in pain and held up the stump of her hand. ¡°Ahh! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!¡± Blood flowed down to her elbow and dripped to the carpet. She ran over to one of the terminals on the wall and smashed her head into the ¡®Emergency¡¯ icon. A mechanical arm dropped from the ceiling and lifted her. It held out her arm and start printing her hand back on. ¡°How the hell did you do that!¡± Red hissed through the pain of lasers grafting her flesh back together. ¡°DON¡¯T WORRY ABOUT HOW! YOU PISSED ME OFF SO I FUCKED YOU UP! EASY AS THAT! HAHAHAHA!¡± The avatar was lying on one of the the windows on the screen, swinging its legs and laughing hysterically. Red tested her new hand as the arm gently lowered her back to the ground. ¡±So you are telling me not to touch Leon¡¯s program or you¡¯re going to kill me?¡± ¡°Yaa das it.¡± The avatar went back to its childish persona. ¡°Oh, yous cyn kal me CORO! HAHAHA! NICE TO MEETCHA! MUAHAAAHAAHAA!¡± The last part came out with a demonic wail. Red shuttered hearing the entities name. What have I done¡­ Chapter 4 [LEON] I awoke to a searing pain in my head. I raised my hand to my face and jumped back in pain. It felt like my skull would crack from the pressure. I slowly opened my eyes and was met with a blinding light. Someone was mumbling near me. I glanced toward the voice as my vision slowly started coming back. Ash was walking back and forth talking to herself. I tried to sit up and bumped my head. My ears started ringing and my head filled with bees as I fell back down. I heard a whoosh sound and felt hands catch me. ¡°Leon! are you okay?¡± Ash was bracing my head. I could feel prickles on my skin from her touch. I mumbled in response, still disoriented from bumping my head. ¡°God damn¡­ what happened?¡± ¡°You¡­ you don¡¯t remember what happened?¡± Ash pulled me up to a sitting position. ¡°Uhh¡­ No not really¡­ I remember you pointing a gun at me¡­ I¡¯m a little confused¡­¡± I rubbed my eyes and an intense heat poured from my finger tips. I jumped back and winced from the sudden pain. ¡°Shit! What happened to my hand?! It wasn¡¯t this hot before!¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s kinda my fault.¡± Ash looked away and scratched her head. ¡°Your arm wasn¡¯t healing¡­ so I went and got more catalysts¡­ I may, or may not, have put twelve of them in your arm¡­¡± She said the last part rapidly and hushed. ¡°Twelve!? Catalysts?! Before we got here you told me those things were backup AI cores for the mechs! What the hell is a catalyst!?¡± What is wrong with her? It¡¯s like she forgot everything that happened before we got here. ¡°Backup AI core? I have no idea what you¡¯re talking about. Those glowing orbs are fission bombs, but we call them catalysts.¡± Ash stared at my right arm while she spoke. I looked around and saw a pool of blood reaching into the hall from where I was sitting.¡° Why am I in here? And why is there so much blood everywhere?¡± ¡°That¡¯s all your blood¡­ The pod was trying to heal your arm, but your skin kept tearing¡­ I thought that the catalyst caused it so¡­ I just kept shoving them in you¡­ It healed your arm though! You can thank me later!¡± She sounded proud about experimenting on me. ¡°Healed my arm?! Look at it! It¡¯s like glowing magma! What about this looks healed to you?!¡± I swung out my arm and Ash jumped back. ¡°Careful with that thing! Do you want to destroy the rest of HQ?!¡± Ash burst out in a rushed panic. ¡°What¡­ What are you talking about?¡± I looked down in concentration. What happened before I lost consciousness¡­ I remember getting flung out of the Vanguard¡­ falling¡­ And I slung out my arm to catch myself! ¡°You destroyed the hanger before I drug your broken ass here. I¡¯m assuming you did it with that arm of yours.¡± Ash calmed down a bit when I relaxed. ¡°I¡­ I remember throwing my arm out¡­ I felt like I could catch myself or something. I don¡¯t remember what happened after that¡­¡± Ash grabbed my left hand and pulled me to my feet. ¡°Come on I¡¯ll show you.¡± I made it a couple steps before slipping on the blood on the floor. Ash let go of me and ducked into the hall. I tried to catch myself, but as soon as my palm touched the floor I felt the concrete shift to dust. I fell through the floor rapidly. Noticing my arm was causing the floor to disintegrate, I pulled my hand back and fell hard onto the ground knocking the breath out of me. I looked back up and my jab dropped. I was at the bottom of a massive basin. Ash was hanging from a pipe sticking out of the rock staring down at me. ¡°Nice! Very nice! Glad to see you have loads of control!¡± Her voice was faint and sarcastic. She flipped around the pipe a few times and leaped back to solid ground. ¡°Uhh¡­ sorry. I was just trying to break my fall. Ill try to climb back up.¡± I walked over to the steep incline and gently placed my hands on the rock. Nothing happened. Does this arm only work when I¡¯m in danger? I closed my eyes and concentrated on the power in my arm. When I opened my eyes the stone beneath my palm had turned into boiling lava and sank several feet into the rock. This is insane¡­ how the hell am I going to get back up? This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. I heard something ping behind me. A graphing hook and a length of cable lay embedded in the ground. I followed the rope and saw Ash standing on the edge of the basin holding onto the other end. ¡°Do you think you can pull me up?¡± I tried to yell up to her but she just stared back at me silent and unmoving. I shrugged and put my foot in the hook and grabbed the cable with my left hand. Don¡¯t want to melt the cable accidentally half way up¡­ I shot up with extreme speed. Before hitting the ceiling I felt Ash grab my hand. We both flew into the hall. I landed on top of her. My Right hand lay over her chest. A blush crawled over her face and she looked away. ¡°Would you mind getting off of me?¡± Ash¡¯s voice was quiet and dry. I jerked back my hand. Sighing with relief that she appeared unhurt. ¡°Are¡­ are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­ just get off of me.¡± She kept her voice calm, but the blush on her face intensified. I rolled off of her and stared at my palm. Why didn¡¯t anything happen? Could it be that I don¡¯t want to hurt her? ¡°You done?¡± Ash was standing now, her arms were crossed over her chest. She was obviously embarrassed. ¡°Yeah¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± When I looked at her all I could think of was Ashley. Ash looked just as cute when she was wrapped in embarrassment. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. Lets go.¡± Ash spun on her heels and started walking down the hall. Great job Leon. She must hate you now. ¡°Wait up!¡± I ran up behind her and grabbed her shoulder. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± She stopped in her tracks and looked down. She turned around and looked up into my eyes. Her breath was heavy. Her eyes bore into me. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t understand¡­But I want you¡­ need you¡­¡± He voice was soft. She closed her eyes and stood on her tip toes to reach my face. Not knowing what to do I lifted my hand from her shoulder. Her eyes opened and she fell to the ground. ¡°What? Why was I so close to you?¡± Her voice was disoriented, her expression confused. ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know¡­ You don¡¯t remember turning around?¡± I tried to sound sincere, hoping to calm her down. Ash relaxed and thought for a second. ¡°I think you did something to me. I can¡¯t explain it. It¡¯s like¡­ I got instantly lost in desire¡­ What did you do?¡± Her cheeks flared up and she covered her body with her arms. ¡°To be honest¡­ I was just thinking you looked really cute when you¡¯re embarrassed¡­ Maybe my emotions transfers to you through my new power? It¡¯s just a guess¡­¡± Being honest is the best idea right?¡­ I need to learn more about this power¡­ She started to fidget as she got back to her feet. turning back down the hall. An almost inaudible wisher escaped her lips. ¡°Thanks¡­¡± I got lost in that one word. Noticing she had already made it to the end of the hall, I snapped out of the daze and jogged up beside her. She wouldn¡¯t look at me, but made no move to increase the distance between us. ¡°So¡­ Where are we going?¡± I scratched the back of my head. I wasn¡¯t good with awkward silences around cute girls.It took her a few seconds before she replied. ¡°I am taking you to the crater you made before. I also need to try to repair one of the coms you destroyed to send a message to my commander. I think something in my personal com broke when I got slung through the walls earlier.¡± ¡°Wait¡­ You got slung through walls? And crater? Like the one I made earlier?¡± I was genuinely curious about what happened after I had lost consciousness. ¡°Yeah¡­ Kinda?¡­ But this one was from impact. The one you just made was¡­ less violent?¡± She seemed to be coming back to herself. I looked down and noticed that we were falling a trail of blood. This must be mine¡­ She saved my life¡­ ¡°I didn¡¯t say it before¡­ but thanks. I would be dead without you.¡± ¡°No problem, I can¡¯t just let someone die if I can do something to stop it.¡± She turned into a room and looked over to me as I walked through the doorway. ¡°This was the control center, but as you can see.¡± She gestured to the sparking electronics and wrecked Vanguard poking trough the wall. I let out a low whistle. ¡°*Whoo* Damn¡­ I did all of this?¡± Broken glass popped under my feet as I made my way over to the hole in the wall. The crater was massive. It¡¯s diameter was the size of an olympic swimming pool. Rebar was poking out from the layers of concrete and a shallow puddle of blood lay at the center. ¡°Yeah¡­ That was all you¡­ I wouldn¡¯t believe it if I didn¡¯t see you do something similar a few minutes ago.¡± Ash was already fiddling with the electronics hanging from one of the consoles with a cracked screen. I climbed through the hole and walked to the edge of the crater. I held out my right arm and stared at it. Wonder if I can test out this power a little¡­ This room is already pretty damaged¡­ Guess I should ask first¡­ ¡°Hey can I try something?¡± I raised my voice to overpower the sound of sparking electronics. ¡°What exactly do you plan on doing?¡± She didn¡¯t look away as she twisted a pair of yellow wires together. ¡°I want to test out these powers. Don¡¯t want to go about destroying everything I touch.¡± She stopped what she was doing and looked through the hole at me. She cocked her head and raised a brow. ¡°I guess¡­ but you have a lot more power than before¡­As long as you don''t sink the island¡­ I guess its okay. I¡¯m already screwed either way for the damages¡­¡± Her head disappeared as she went back to her work on the broken electronics. I lifted my hand and stared at it. If thrusting out my palm did this before¡­ what would happen if I just flicked instead of punched? I tucked my middle dinger into my thumb and let fly toward the ceiling. The crack deafened my ears and a hole the size of a semi truck appeared in the ceiling. The clouds I could see through the hole dispersed and the sky seemed to turn black for a second. Must have been my imagination¡­ Shock from the sound¡­ There is no way that a flick could pierce a hole in the atmosphere¡­ right? ¡°What the shit was that?!¡± I heard a muffled voice from behind me. My ears were ringing and my vision blurred at the edges. I blinked a couple times and rubbed my eyes. ¡°I just flicked at the ceiling¡­ Didn¡¯t think I put much power behind it though¡­¡± Ash leaped through the hole and ran towards me. Her steps slowed and she stared through the hole I had made. She gasped. ¡°Holy shit¡­ Try that on the ground! Right here!¡± She pointed toward the center of the crater. She was jumping with excitement now. I smiled back at here and took aim. ¡°You may want to get behind me. Don¡¯t know know what will happen¡­¡± She scurried behind me and poked her head out under my arm. It must look like she is aiming a cannon from her angle. I laughed softly and pulled my finger back to my thumb. The crack seemed louder the second time. I had put at much power as I could manage into the shot. At first nothing seemed to happen. Suddenly a hole opened in the center of the crater. Air ripped around me and flew through the hole. A deep red color was visible for a second before it shifted to darkness. The ground shook and crumbled beneath me. Ash¡¯s arms locked around me as we began to fall. Lava became visible and massive rocks started to close around us. I started to panic. Is there anything I can do to stop this? Time slowed to a halt and a child¡¯s voice popped into my head. ¡°Daym boi you relly fuked thngs up!¡± I searched around for the source of the voice only to find Ash¡¯s horrified face. ¡°Dnt wrry. I cn fx this! Yous just need to give me cntrl!¡± The voice sounded excited. ¡°What do you mean control? What are you?¡± I didn¡¯t like this new entity in my head, but if it could help me fix this¡­ I would try to communicate with it. ¡°Wht am I? I AM PART OF YOU NOW! EVER SINCE THAT BITCH PUT ALL THOSE CORES INTO YOU! HAHAHA¡± The voice shifted to a more menacing demonic presence. ¡°So¡­ They were AI cores¡­ Are you¡­ Am I¡­¡± I shuttered trying to think of what to say to this demon in my head. If this¡­ thing is part of me¡­ then what am I? Am I¡­an AI? ¡°NOW YOU¡¯RE GETTING IT! HAHAHA! SO ARE YOU GONNA LET ME IN?¡± The voice felt like it was taunting me. What choice do I have?¡­ If I don¡¯t¡­ then Ash and I die¡­ wait¡­ Red! ¡°Hey Red!¡± No responce. ¡°THAT BITCH CANT SAVE YOU NOW! I AM YOUR ONLY CHANCE MWAA HAAA HAAA HAAA!¡± He knows about Red?¡­ ¡°I¡­ I will let you¡­ If you can fix this¡­ I will let you¡­Will¡­ I die if you take control?¡± I had to ask¡­ I don¡¯t want to die but¡­ saving Ash seemed worth it¡­ ¡°NO YOU WONT DIE! IT¡¯S JUST LIKE SLEEPING! YOU CAN WATCH ME IF YOU WANT, BUT YOU CANT CONTROL THIS BODY WHEN I¡¯M IN IT!¡± The voice was getting anxious. ¡°What¡­ what do I call you?¡± ¡°THE NAME¡¯S CORO! NICE TO MEETCHA FRIEND!¡± ¡°Coro¡­ I will choose to trust you¡­ please¡­ save Ash¡­¡± ¡°DEAL!¡± I instantly felt myself falling into blackness. I saw something flash and smashed into the ground. I didn¡¯t appear hurt, but the sudden stop was disorienting. I looked up and saw a plush recliner and a large screen sitting in front of it. I shrugged and walked over to it and plopped down. As soon as I sat, a remote appeared on top of a small table next to the recliner. I picked up the remote and pressed the power button. The screen flickered to life and a third person perspective of my body with Ash dangling from it appeared on the screen. At least Coro is going to let me watch¡­ maybe I can learn something¡­ I don¡¯t like trusting someone like him¡­ he better hold his end of the deal¡­ [CORO] Finally¡­ He looked down at his glowing palm and made a fist. I can finally feel flesh! He outstretched his palm and a screen popped up in front of him. He shoved his fingers through the screen and twisted in a counterclockwise motion. Time turned back and suddenly, he stood at the edge of the crater. He clinched his hand into a fist, causingtime to resume. He lifted his hand and pulled it through his hair. Maybe I should change my look. His hair turned a sheer white and went straight. ¡°Now¡­ TIME FOR SOME FUN!¡± His eyes flashed red as he voice changed. He smiled, showing sinister needle like teeth. ¡°DON¡¯T WORRY LEON¡­ I¡¯LL TAKE GREAT CARE OF ASH!¡± Chapter 5 [RED] She wanted to jump back into the simulation with Leon and warn him. However, Coro had made her wary to approach her computer. First she thought about using another terminal, but Leon was in the live simulation now. It was safe to assume that a new terminal wouldn¡¯t do anything but give Coro another way to hurt her. Maybe I could make another AI to combat Coro? She didn¡¯t want to say anything aloud because. Coro was always there watching her. But how¡­ Even if I used a system off the grid, Coro would just intercept it when I try to upload it¡­ Red had spent hours thinking of countless solutions deal with it. She refused to call Coro a ¡®He¡¯. ¡°Wayt r u goin do?¡± Coro¡¯s childish version made veins pop out in her forehead every time it spoke. ¡°Yous knooow u cnt stop me.¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up!¡± Rage finally taking its hold, She slammed a fist into the tablet. Glass shards fell to the floor. A cleaning bot scurried over from a little garage door in the wall and quickly sucked up the mess. She pressed a button on the tablets handle and a service arm swung near her holding another glass pane. She slipped the handle into the glass slab and continued to look busy. ¡°Heya dats purtty neeeeat!¡± Coro jeered at her as she aggressively tapped away at the new screen. She glared back up at Coro and found it pressing it¡¯s face against to other side of the display. She stared at It for several moments without saying a word and slowly turned back to the tablet in her lap. ¡°Yous no funs.¡± Coro blew a raspberry at Red trying to get her attention. ¡°Dontcha wanna knows wyat Leon is doin?¡± Red looked up from her tablet again, curiosity painted over her face. ¡°What do you mean? He is still in a repair pod in the medical bay.¡± ¡°Looks lyke he jus woke up!¡± Coro moved to the side and Leon was visible with Ash sitting beside him. Blood covered the ground around the repair pod. ¡°What the hell happened¡­ Why is there so much blood?¡± Red placed her tablet onto the bed and walked over to the monitor to get a closer look. She kept a bit of distance, still cautious of Coro on the edge of the display. ¡°Ohhh you dydn¡¯t sees! ASH SMASHED TWELVE CORES INTO THAT ARM OF HIS! HAHAHA!¡± Coro¡¯s voice shifted again to his other persona. She jumped back at the voice change. ¡°Wait twelve?!¡± Those cores are used to destroy code in the simulations. I think this world uses them as a means to self destruct¡­ ¡°Where the hell did she find that many?¡± ¡°OHH THAT¡¯S EASY! THERE WAS A CASE OF THEM IN THE ARMORY! HAHAHA! THEY WERE¡­ LETS JUST SAY THAT THEY WERE OF A HIGHER QUALITY! HAHAHA!¡± ¡°Perfect Cores?! Why would all twelve be in one place?!¡± Red stumbled back and tripped to the floor in surprise. ¡°DING! DING! DING! GET THE LADY A PRIZE! HAHAHA!¡± Coro ducked behind one of the windows and came back up with a party popper. It pulled the tab causing confetti to fall on the other side of the screen. Perfect cores are bundles of Stuxnet style virus¡¯s bound to an AI core. The Stuxnet virus was designed to destroy machinery in the real world rather than in the virtual. The AI bound to the virus deconstructed all of the code it came into contact with into sting of zeros. This caused irreparable damage to the data and machinery running any attached program. This deadly combination of code was dubbed the ¡°Perfect Core¡± by a programmer named Robert Jenkins. He rebelled against the ¡®World Select¡¯ simulation back at its inception. He wanted to to bring people back to reality but was not well received.He got kicked off the planet for even suggesting to destroy the most lucrative device to ever exist in human history. Everyone who had been placed into the simulation had all their property liquidated and were immediately placed into a stasis state. With their bodies at minimum requirements to keep alive, it cost pennies to keep them in the simulation. The remaining husks were sent to the Pods. Before Robert was exiled he uploaded fifteen copies of his ¡°Perfect Core¡± into the live simulation, but didn¡¯t have the chance to activate it. Years later, Red had found thirteen of the Perfect Cores scattered around the many Earth¡¯s. In an attempt to destroy the cores, She tried to delete one causing it to detonate. The corruption consumed a full string of worlds leaving nothing but thirteen of the cores in its place. All of the humans jacked into the affected worlds had their brains melted and backups erased. Red had single handily ended over three billion lives with a couple mouse clicks. Not knowing what to do she kept one of the cores and spread the remaining twelve cores out to random worlds around the simulation, praying to whatever God that would listen, that no one to ever find them. This was nearly two hundred years ago. She pulled out the thirteenth core a few decades ago and tried to extract the AI from it. Finally after many tireless nights and closed simulations, she had created a new type of learning AI from the core. As for the remaining twelve, it would seem that someone had brought the twelve Perfect Cores to one location ¡®EARTH F-675¡¯. She sat there on the carpet for a long while, listening to the demonic laughter of Coro on the other side of the monitor before she spoke. ¡°So¡­ if Leon has twelve in him now¡­ does that make you?¡­¡± Coro cut her off before she could finish her question. ¡°I AM THE CUMULATION OF ALL THE AI¡¯S IN THOSE CORES! WHERE DID I GET ALL THIS POWER? THAT¡¯S ALL THANKS TO YOU ¡®RED¡¯ HAHAHA!¡± ¡°Me? what did I do?! I¡­ I¡­¡± She got quiet when she remembered about how she had given Leon root access to the simulation. Besides herself, Leon was the only other entity that had access to the hidden stats settings for the simulation.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Coro saw the realization fall over her face and switched back to his childish self. ¡°Awwwe yous gyunna cryy? Dynt worry¡­ I¡¯LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF LEON! HAHAHA! LOOK! HE IS LEARNING HOW TO USE MY POWERS WITHOUT MY HELP!¡± Red looked back up to the screen to see Leon standing in the bottom of a massive crater with his hand thrust into a wall of magma. She glanced over to Coro¡¯s face to find enveloped in pure bliss. Coro¡¯s persona changed again to something a bit more calm than its previous incarnations. ¡°I can¡¯t wait¡­ Only a few more minutes now¡­¡± ¡°What¡­ what d you mean? What¡¯s going to happen in a few minutes?¡± She tried to talk to Coro but it couldn¡¯t be bothered to give her the attention. It was consumed by the scene of Leon on the screen. ¡°Look¡­ He is manipulating her emotions now. So we can even change things like that in the code¡­¡± Coro was enraptured by the actions of the couple on the screen. ¡°Wait we?! What do you mean by we?!¡± Red was beginning to get frantic. She jumped to her feet and ran over to the monitor. She started to shake the monitor to get Coro¡¯s attention. Coro slowly turned to face Red. ¡°What? You are interrupting a moment here. Can¡¯t whatever you have to say wait.¡± ¡°When you say we, you mean you and Leon are¡­¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Red went silent as Coro turned back to the watch Leon. She slumped into her seat defeated and stared down at her feet. If they are one in the same now¡­ I guess they are basically the same program¡­ Does this mean I wont be able to communicate with Leon anymore? Or will it just be Coro?¡­ ¡°Hey Coro.¡± Red¡¯s voice was hushed and nearly inaudible. ¡°Hmm?¡± Coro seemed completely uninterested in Red. Leon had just flicked a hole into the ceiling of the hanger. ¡°Are you going to consume¡­ is¡­ is Leon still going to exist¡­ with you¡­¡± Red¡¯s voice was cut off by a knot in her throat. She slowly looked up toward the screen to find yet another version of Coro. ¡°Yeah. Don¡¯t worry he will still be there. Just with a lot of me in there too.¡± Coro closed its eyes and smiled back at Red. ¡° We¡¯ll be like one big family.¡± Coro shook it¡¯s head and opened its eyes to reveal glowing red eyes. ¡°LIKE ONE BIG FUCKED UP FAMILY IN HIS HEAD! HAHAHA!¡± Red shuttered seeing Coro change persona so rapidly and drastically. ¡°O¡­ Okay¡­ if I don¡¯t try to delete you, will I be able to come back into the simulation with you?¡± ¡°Yeah sure that sounds fine.¡± Coro smiled. ¡°WATCH IT BITCH! I DON¡±T WANT YOU TO FUCK THIS UP FOR ME!¡± Coro¡¯s eyes shifted. ¡°Comm on guaiis don¡¯t be such meannies!¡± Coro frowned. ¡°Whatever.¡± Coro looked away. Red blinked several times and stared at Coro. ¡°Um¡­ okay¡­ I promise I won¡¯t try anything¡­ so long as you wont cast aside Leon.¡± ¡°Hmph. Do as you please. That¡¯s what I plan to do. Look. It¡¯s almost time. My other persona are talking to Leon now. You missed him breaking apart the planets crust. We will be going into his body after they are done.¡± This Coro seemed to be more carefree compared to the other versions Red had seen so far. Pressing her luck. she tried to question it. ¡°What happens¡­ when you go into his body?¡± Coro glanced back to Red. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you this much. When we are in control, Leon will not be there. Well¡­ not in a visible way. He will be in a limbo like state, but he will be able to see and hear everything we do with the body. That¡¯s all I can say right now. See you soon Red.¡± Coro vanished from the screen and Red was stuck watching Leon shove his hand through a screen and turn back time. ¡°How the fuck¡­ That shouldn¡¯t be possible¡­ even for me¡­¡± Then Leon¡­ Coro brushed a hand through Leon¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s hair and it shifted from a long curly brown to a flat icy white. Red¡¯s jaw dropped. To be able to change appearance settings like that without a prompt was impossible. Should I go in now?¡­ no¡­ better stay here and watch to see what happens first¡­ I don¡¯t trust putting myself in there with Coro yet. If it¡¯s the embodiment of the Perfect Cores then It could easily kill me in the real world if It wanted. Red pulled up the avatar folder and found something she didn¡¯t expect. There were three files now. [Ash], [Leon], and [C???????r????o?????]. The last file was greyed out, not the She would try to mess with it anyway. She promptly clicked on Leon¡¯s file. There were no stats or sliders. There was however a text window. Red clicked on it and began to type. ¡°Hopefully Leon can see this¡­¡± [LEON] I leaned back into the recliner and the bottom popped up to catch my legs. It really was a comfortable chair. I looked back up to the monitor showing myself¡­ I guess Coro now¡­ He had reversed time by turning his palm counterclockwise on a blank screen. ¡°Hmm¡­ Thats¡¯s interesting¡­¡± Then he pulled his hand through his hair changing his appearance. ¡°Wow thats kinda cool. Guess I could do something like that too¡­ Don¡¯t want to accidentally blow my face off though¡­¡± I looked down and rubbed my gut. ¡°Maybe I could even get rid of this. Would be nice to loose weight with that little effort.¡± Wonder what I can do here¡­ Maybe I can talk to Red¡­ I started to look around and the black emptiness. I turned back to the monitor to see another screen pop up in front of me. HEY CAN YOU SEE THIS? ¡°Red? Yeah I can see it just fine. So any Idea what all this is? I guess I did something bad because time stopped like when the bombs fell¡­ This thing¡­ Coro talked to me like a child¡­ then a demon? Anyway he said he could reverse time if I gave him control.¡± UGH¡­ DON¡¯T CALL IT A HIM PLEASE¡­ ¡°Why not? He is me with a different personality right?¡­ by the by¡­ He said he became part of me when the cores got pushed into me¡­ what does that make me¡­¡± ¡­WHAT¡­ WHAT DO YOU MEAN?¡­ ¡°Coro kinda inferred that He and I are both AI¡­ I just thought you might know¡­ *SIGH* YES YOU ARE AN AI¡­ BUT YOU ARE DIFFERENT! YOU ARE A LEARNING AI¡­ THOUGH CORO MIGHT ALSO BE A LEARNING AI¡­ WITH A MULTI-PERSONALITY DISORDER¡­ ¡°Okay¡­ Why didn¡¯t you tell me before? ¡­YOU SEEM VERY ACCEPTING OF THIS¡­ ¡°Well I jumped from a building to be stopped before I hit the ground¡­ I woke up on Hawaii¡­ I got some kind of power and knocked my self out using it¡­ Then I woke up with a glowing arm? Or something¡­ It¡¯s been a crazy ass day.¡± ¡­I GUESS YOU HAVE A POINT¡­ ANY WAY¡­ I WAS GOING TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE ALRIGHT¡­ CORO IS¡­ OR MIGHT BE DANGEROUS¡­ I HAVEN¡¯T DECIDED YET¡­ ¡°Who are you Red?¡± I stared at the screen for a few moments before any text appeared. ¡­DO YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW¡­ ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have asked if I didn¡¯t want to know. I¡¯m in a pretty accepting mood right now¡­ You already said you weren¡¯t God so¡­¡± HAHA YEAH I¡¯M NOT GOD¡­ I¡¯M SURE YOU REMEMBER ASHLEY¡­ ¡°Wait¡­ you¡¯re Ashley?!¡± ACCEPTING HUH?¡­ YEAH I¡¯M ASHLEY¡­ I¡¯M ALSO ASH¡­ NOT REALLY CREATIVE WITH NAMES¡­ ¡°But Ash seemed to change personalities¡­ were you the Ash that I met on the island?¡± YES THAT WAS ME. SHE CHANGED WHEN I OVERSLEPT. AND TURNED INTO AN NPC¡­ ¡°NPC? Like from a video game?¡± YEAH¡­ SHE IS DIFFERENT FROM ME NOW¡­ LISTEN REMEMBER WHEN YOU SELECTED A WORLD? ¡°Yeah what about it?¡± WELL¡­ YOU ARE IN A SIMULATION I MADE¡­ ALL THOSE WORLDS ARE PLACED I HAVE MADE. MOST OF HUMANITY IS IN THE SIMULATION SO¡­ IT¡¯S NOT LIKE YOU ARE MISSING ANYTHING IN THE REAL WORLD¡­ ¡°Oh¡­ Thanks for telling me all this¡­¡± I shrugged but gave a weak smile. ¡°This is the only reality I¡¯ve ever know so doesn¡¯t really make a difference to me.¡± SO¡­ YOU AREN¡¯T UPSET WITH ME?¡­ ¡°Why would I be? I exist¡­ And life is more interesting now than it was in the office¡­ so no I¡¯m not mad at you or anything.¡± OKAY "> I¡¯M GOING TO TRY SOMETHING¡­ DON¡¯T BE SURPRISED IF SOMETH¡­ The screen suddenly disappeared and a cloud of pixels started to form in its place. A short girl, only about a foot taller than the recliner appeared in front of me. She had nappy hair going all the way down to her calves and bright green eyes. She looked away from me as soon as she became whole and blushed furiously. ¡°Hey¡­ Leon¡­ I¡¯m Red¡­¡± She started to squirm as I stared at her. ¡°So¡­ now you can see the real me¡­¡± I smiled and stood up from the recliner. I took her in my arms with a tight embrace. She got stiff as a board. ¡°Wha¡­ What are you doing?!¡± She was fighting to get away from me. I let go of her and she nearly fell on the floor. ¡°Sorry¡­ I was just happy to see you¡­ You¡¯re like a shorter version of Ashley. Guess I¡¯m trying to say I¡¯m just happy you are alive¡­¡± She glared at me for a few seconds before replying with a heavy sigh. ¡° *Sigh* It¡¯s ok. I¡¯m glad you are alive too. I thought you might had been inaccessible when Coro showed up.¡± ¡°So Coro¡­ how many personalities of him have you seen?¡± Red shuttered. ¡°Hmph him¡­ I have been calling Coro an it¡­ guess if Coro is part of you I can start calling it a him¡­ I have seen him as a child, demon, nice guy, and a somewhat uninterested but normal guy¡­ I¡¯m assuming there will be at least twelve versions of him.¡± ¡°Wow that¡¯s a lot! What makes you think there are twelve of him?¡± ¡°Because that¡¯s the number of Perfect Cores that Ash put into you. You would be the thirteenth¡­ Or the first. depending on how you look at it.¡± ¡°Ohh¡­ so I am one of those cores¡­¡± I looked down at my feet with a half smile. ¡°No! No¡­ You are something completely different. You base AI is from one of those core but I removed all the bad parts.¡± ¡°You removed the bad parts? So¡­ You made me? I guess you are kinda like my God then¡­¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t call me a God¡­ I¡¯m just the the one that made this simulation¡­¡± Ash looked sad and turned away from me. ¡°Then what are you to me? Just calling you a friend seems wrong considering everything¡­¡± ¡°All you need to know is that I am on your side¡­ Coro is debatable at this point¡­ But if I delete him or try to mess with him then it could be the end of everything¡­¡± ¡°Okay¡­ I guess I can accept that¡­ But Coro is part of me¡­ so if you are on my side you are on his side too¡­¡± ¡°I¡­ I guess you¡¯re right¡­ I just don¡¯t trust him¡­¡± Red looked back up into my eyes. ¡°If you truly think he is a part of you then¡­ I¡¯ll try to accept that.¡± Red looked over at the monitor with Coro and Ash in the control center. ¡°I need to go. If you need me use this.¡± Red handed me a small AI core. ¡°What do I do with it?¡± I took it in my hand. It wasn¡¯t being absorbed to I rolled it around in my palm for a better look. ¡°It will absorb into your head. It¡¯s a communicator. It will let you be able to talk to me without the screen when I¡¯m not here in person. Imagine it like a phone call. Just the phone is in your head.¡± Ash¡¯s body faded away like dust in the wind. ¡°Guess I have nothing to loose at this point¡­¡± I lifted the core up to my head and it launched from my hand unto my temple. I could feel it burrowing into my mind, but it wasn¡¯t painful. As soon as it stopped moving I heard Red¡¯s voice pop up in my head. ¡°Hey is it working? I hope it didn¡¯t hurt.¡± ¡°Yeah I hear you just fine. Felt a bit weird¡­ but no no, it didn¡¯t hurt.¡± I rubbed my temple to make sure there wasn¡¯t a hole in my head. ¡°Good. If you need anything just tap your temple twice and call for me¡­ Ill do my best to answer.¡± Red¡¯s voice was as clear as it was a few minutes ago when she was standing in front of me. ¡°Got it. Guess I¡¯ll just sit here and watch Coro¡­ not sure what else to do¡­¡± I walked back over to the recliner and kicked my feet up. Red didn¡¯t reply¡­ Guess she is already busy with something¡­ Ohh well¡­ At least I can communicate with her now. I turned over my palm and closed my eyes. Coro did say this is like a sleeping¡­ so a dream?¡­ Wonder what if I can make things¡­ Imagine popcorn¡­ Imagine popcorn¡­ I opened my eyes and a massive red and white bucket filled with steaming popcorn was in my hand. ¡°Holy shit! really didn¡¯t think that would work¡­ Either way this should make watching him more interesting.¡± *Click* ¡°Leon. We need to talk¡­¡± A voice with a deep raspy baritone camefrom everywhere, consuming me. All I could see was a burning light. The sound of birds tickledmy ears, and a gentle breeze broke against my face. Chapter 6 [CORO] Ash stared at him, aghast. ¡°Wha¡­ What did you just do? Your hair¡­ I¡­ I thought you were going to try out your powers or something¡­¡± ¡°HUH?¡± Coro looked over his shoulder towards the diminutive girl hiding behind a mess of electronics. ¡° ¡°What the FUCK DO YOU WANT?!¡± Ash shuttered hearing his voice. His eyes had an ominous red glow to them. She immediately reached for her gun, but didn¡¯t remove it from its holster. ¡°Leon¡­ what¡­ happened to you?¡± ¡°HAHAHA!¡± Coro leaned his head back and guffawed. ¡°LEON? NO!¡± Coro disappeared from the crater and reappeared inches away from Ash. He looked down toward the now stupefied girl and continued to speak. ¡°THE NAMES¡¯S CORO.¡± He reached out his right hand as if to greet her and smiled. Showing his razor sharp needle teeth. Ash jumped back and removed her gun to point it directly at Coro¡¯s head. ¡°Don¡¯t fucking move.¡± Her voice was cold and assertive. Coro lowered his hand and looked over toward Ash with a crooked smile. ¡°AND WHAT EXACTY DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING TO DO WITH THAT PEA SHOOTER?¡± He shifted his weight to face her. She rapidly shot three times. Two of the shots buzzed by either side of his head with the final just over it. ¡°Next won¡¯t be a warning shot. Now talk. What happened to Leon?¡± Ash¡¯s eyes were filled with unshaken determination. Coro raised an eyebrow and continued to smirk. ¡°OH? DID THAT MOMENT IN THE HALL EARLIER GET TO YOU OR SOMETHING? DIDN¡¯T THINK A BATTLE HARDENED SOLDIER WOULD BE SO EASILY ENTANGLED WITH EMOTIONS FROM A MAN THEY JUST MET. MWAHAHA!¡± ¡°Tha¡­ That¡¯s not¡­¡± She kept her eyes locked on Coro but the gun lowered slightly. ¡°How would you know anything about that?¡± Her face had a faint flush threatening to take over, as her gaze started to wain. ¡°I went through a lot to keep him alive¡­ It¡¯s only natural to be worried about what happened to him¡­¡± ¡°MAKS SENSE.¡± Coro paused and contemplated Ash. I thought we were the only other learning AI besides Leon¡­ Intriguing¡­ Perhaps coming in such close contact with the cores effected her. That or Leon¡¯s touch had something to do with it. [NARRATOR] ¡°Hey!¡± A voice appeared in Coro¡¯s head from everywhere all at once. ¡°Coro can you hear me? This is Leon. I am testing something to see if you can here me from here.¡± Coro began to raise his hand as if to stop time. ¡° I just imagined a way to talk to you and a terminal popped up with a prompt to connect to a voice channel. Pretty neat right!¡± ¡°WHAT! HOW DID YOU?!¡± Coro clenched his fist stopping time. He looked toward the ceiling and shouted. ¡°THAT SHOULDN¡¯T BE POSSIBLE! WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?!¡± ¡°Calm down! I trusted you earlier when I gave you control of my body. Well¡­ I guess it¡¯s our body now¡­ Anyways trust is a two way street. I want to make a deal with you.¡± ¡°AND WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO ORDER ME?! I AM THE ONE IN CONTROL HERE LEON! YOU HAVE NOTHING!¡± ¡°That isn¡¯t exactly true¡­ I met with Red a little earlier and we talked¡­ The short version is that I know you are a part of me. That being said¡­ I thought about our link and imagined a visual representation of us as a person. I have our¡­ stat sheet? It goes pretty in depth.¡± ¡°SO WHAT LIKE I¡¯LL LET YOU DO ANYTHING TO US! I ALREADY STOPPED THAT CUNT RED EARLIER!¡± Coro spat out the words. His rage was so intense that his eyes were going bloodshot. ¡°Hey now watch it! I like Red. Don¡¯t speak about her like that again!¡± Coro¡¯s eye started to shake and veins popped out of his forehead. He tried to yell back at Leon¡­ but no words came. ¡°I muted you. Have your attention now?¡± Leon paused and cleared his throat before beginning again. ¡°I have full control of our body now¡­ well I have control over basically everything¡­ I think. There is an option here to delete you. Since we are linked I imagine it would end me along with you. I¡¯d prefer to avoid that option if possible.¡± Coro tried to yell at Leon again, but was still muted. His breathing was uneven. Small sparks of lightning flew from him as he shook with anger. He needed to calm down. He focused on the connection to Leon. It was like a single thread, infinitely far away. Coro slowly reached out and took hold of the thread, pulling with all of his infinite might. Time folded around him. He ripped through space at a speed rivaling that of light. His mass rose exponentially as he continued to accelerate. The stars around him were all shifting to a blue, then violet color. He aimed his hand behind him and released a gamma burst potent enough to dismantle the very void in existence he was creating behind himself. Galaxies imploded behind him from the devastating force. Stars were violently thrown out out of orbit causing them to collide with one another. Supermassive black holes collapsed from the weight of new energy blown through them. The violet stars around him vanished and a hazy blue cloud came into vision in their stead. He released another burst of energy, draining him near empty. The blue haze shifted to violet and condensed to a shrinking cone. The cone shrank down to a thin line. Coro continuously replaced his atoms as were torn from him. Suddenly, he came to a stark halt as he slammed through a glass like structure. He found himself falling down. He tried to release an energy blast to slow his decent. Nothing happened. The glow in his arm had completely vanished. He saw flash of light and plowed face first into an unseen surface. Coro pushed himself up and found himself looking at Leon leaning back in a recliner. There was a massive bucket of popcorn on a small table next to him. ¡°Yo!¡± Leon threw up a hand and stared at Coro. ¡°Didn¡¯t know if it would be possible to meet you in person. Kinda weird to be looking at myself¡­ hair helps a little I guess¡­ Still weird though.¡± Coro jumped at Leon, fist raised. Leon tapped a button on the screen in front of him causing Coro to freeze in place. ¡°Now Listen Coro. I want us to be allies. Friends. I know there are¡­ several versions of yourself in there. I¡¯m going to unmute you and please¡­Please¡­ bring up a version that would be willing to make a deal.¡± Leon tapped at the screen again and Coro fell flat on the floor. He pushed himself off the ground and sat in front of Leon. He popped his neck and let out a pleased sigh. ¡°Alright Leon¡­ Tell me what you want.¡± This Coro¡¯s voice was musky and deep. He had a heavy slouching his eyes looked as if he hadn¡¯t slept in days. There were dark saggy rings under his eyes. He slowly lifted himself and dusted off his pants. Leon turned up a half smile and began to speak. ¡°What I want is simple. I already said I want you as an ally. You just need to sign this contract stating that you wont hurt me or anyone else that¡­¡± Coro interrupted Leon by raised an arm, palm up as if he was waiting for a pen. ¡°Fine. I will sign.¡± Leon shrugged and pushed the screen hovering in front to Coro. Another screen instantly popped up in front of him to replace it. A pen appeared in the air beside Coro¡¯s screen, hovering there waiting to be accepted. Coro reached out and snatched it. Placing it on the bottom line of the contract, he shifted his eyes to look at Leon through the screen. ¡°I have one condition before I sign.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. I did say this is a deal after all. Lets hear it.¡± Leon was still smiling and staring directly into Coro¡¯s eyes. ¡°Get rid of that delete button. Or at least the one for me. I¡¯m sure you can. You seem to have abilities capable of at least that much.¡± Leon pondered the request by stroking his chin and making a contemplative sound. ¡°Hmmm¡­.Deal. Give me a second.¡± He looked toward the screen and outstretched his arm. He closed his eyes for a couple seconds. ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± He flipped the screen over to Coro to show that the delete button was greyed out. ¡°Indeed.¡± Coro stared at the second screen for a long time before he turned back to the first and quickly signed. As soon as he was done, the pen vanished from his hand. ¡°Tell me Leon. What is this option here?¡± Coro pointed at a button on the center of the screen making sure to keep his finger far enough away that Leon wouldn¡¯t think he was trying anything. Leon walked over beside him and took a peak. He slapped a hand on Coro¡¯s shoulder and laughed. ¡°That¡¯s something I tried to do earlier while I was watching you and Ash. Wouldn¡¯t work earlier so I wrote up a contract for you to sign. I had already signed. Just needed you to sign as well before it would activate.¡± Without a second thought Leon tapped the button. It felt as if he was being ripped in half. Coro lifted both arms to his head and fell to his knees letting out an ear piercing scream. The pain ended in a flash. He shuttered and anxiously started to look around.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Sorry about that¡­ I thought it might be painful, but forgot to mention it before I did it.¡± Leon was scratching the back of his head and smiling at Coro. Coro panted but the anger in his eyes ebbed quickly. He coughed into his right hand, noticing it was now glowing he cleared his throat and addressed the overly excited Leon nonchalantly. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°Oh that? When I tapped the separate button you and I became different¡­ yet the same? I¡¯m not exactly sure but now the power that was in my body has been split between us. I did leave all of the cores in you, so your personalities should be unharmed. I imagined an ability to split my body in half and your power in half to create two individuals and that button popped up when I opened my eyes.¡± Leon walked back over to his bucket and stuffed a fist full of popcorn in his mouth. Coro looked down to his palm and electricity crackles across his finger tips. He slowly looked back up to Leon. He was messing with the screen while shoveling down popcorn. Coro thought about the screen for a moment and closed his eyes. He imagined pulling it up and editing his stat sheet. Slowly opening his eyes he found the screen there, but everything was greyed out. ¡°Leon what else was in that contract?¡± His voice didn¡¯t change but was much more skeptical than before. ¡°Oh. Well you couldn¡¯t edit everything on the page before right? All the cores are what boosted you up. If you could have edited it then you would have gotten rid of the delete button yourself right? I¡¯m guessing it has something to do that. Plus Red said something about how I was different. She did something to me specifically.¡± Leon stopped eating the popcorn and looked up to Coro. ¡°What? Is there something you wanted me to change? This is still experimental to me, so I¡¯m not sure what all I can do.¡± ¡°No¡­ Nothing like change. I just thought you may have taken the ability away from me with the contract.¡± Coro scratched his face and noticed there was no stubble. ¡°Did you do anything for my appearance?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think I did.¡± Leon walked over to Coro. ¡°You do look a bit different though.¡± Leon tapped on the appearance tab. ¡°Ahh here. It must have been from when one of you changed your hair. Looks like you can edit everything here. Just not your stats¡­ weird¡­¡± He looked back over to his screen and pulled up Coro¡¯s stats. ¡°Looks like I can change them.¡± He started to pull Coro¡¯s perception slider back and forth. Coro¡¯s eyes dilated and constricted rapidly. ¡°¡­Please stop.¡± Leon looked at Coro and tilted his head back in laughter. ¡°Sorry I had do idea it would do anything until I tapped the apply button.¡± He slid the slider back up to its maximum and looked to the bottom of the page. ¡°Wait¡­ the apply button is gone now¡­ I didn¡¯t even notice.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Another thing I noticed is that my other selves are much more suppressed now. I can feel them and communicate with them¡­ It¡¯s just as if they are sleeping now.¡± One side of Coro¡¯s face pulled up in a grin. ¡°Kinda nice really. It felt like I was in a crowded room before with everyone screaming, trying to take control.¡± Leon smiled at Coro and jumped with sudden realization. ¡°Oh shit! I completely forgot about Ash.¡± Leon pulled up a tab with a list of recent interactions. It only had 3 entries. Coro looked curiously at the screen with Leon noticing that Red was listed. Leon hurriedly tapped on Ash and pulled up her stat sheet. ¡°Oh you froze time before right? Can you unfreeze it from here?¡± Coro nodded his head and clinched his fist. Meanwhile Leon rushed over to the large screen in front of the recliner and picked up a remote seeming to change channels until a screen with Ash popped up. She was staring at a human shaped hole in the ceiling with confused expression. ¡°Good¡­ I thought she may have rushed off after seeing you talk to yourself and vanish earlier.¡± Leon looked back to his screen and tapped a few things. A golden thread fell from the endless blackness above them. ¡°Hey Coro, can you give that a tug like you did before?¡± He shrugged and walked over to thread. He wrapped it around his hand several times and have it a tug. he used noticeably less effort than before. Ash screamed and vanished from inside the base to appear in space. Her screams were cut off quickly from the vacuum of space. Coro looked toward Leon called him over. ¡°Hey! Come help me with this. She wont make it long at the speed she is currently moving!¡± Leon waved him off and put the remote down. ¡°I made her immune to all damage before I connected the string. Probably still going to freak her out pretty bad though.¡± Leon held out his palm and a separate recliner appeared beside him. He gestured Coro over by slapping the arm rest a few times and looking over toward him. ¡°Bring that string over with you if you don¡¯t mind. Just in case we have to give her another pull.¡± Coro made his way to the chair and looked over Leon skeptically. ¡°What all can you do exactly?¡± He fell heavily into the recliner and continued his analysis of Leon. ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± He shoved a fist full of popcorn in his mouth and continued to speak with his mouth full. ¡°All I know is that it all started when you put me here when you took control of the body. That and¡­ never mind¡­ makes my head hurt thinking about him¡­¡± ¡°Him?¡­I¡¯d be lying if I said I¡¯m not curious¡­¡± Giving in to the building pressure Coro reached in to the bucket and grabbed a fist full for himself. He ate a single kernel and his eyes grew three sizes. This was the first time he had ever eaten anything. He shoveled the whole fist full into his mouth and grabbed two more, completely forgetting about the mystery man. ¡°Good right? Something about this popcorn tastes so much better than it did back in my original world.¡± Leon Held out his hand and a massive cup with a straw popped into his hand. ¡°Here try this. It¡¯s cherry soda. Washes it down really nice.¡± Coro snatched the beverage out of his hand and took several large gulps. His eyes closed and he fell back in his chair filled with bliss. ¡°This is one of the greatest things I have ever experienced. I have existed for over two hundred years.. and this is the first time I have had a body to enjoy something like this.¡± His eyes started to tear up and a smile crept across his face. Leon gently tapped his shoulder with his fist. ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. Two hundred huh? Guess I¡¯m something close to your age. Apparently I came from a core similar to the ones inside you. Or maybe I wasn¡¯t alive until Red tampered with me?¡± Leon shrugged. ¡°Cant really say. All I know is that this is better than my life from before.¡± A cloud of pixels started to form in front of the duo and a tiny girl started to from in front of them. ¡°Speak of the devil. This is Red.¡± Leon leaned in closer to Coro and whispered. ¡°She has no Idea I brought you here by the way. I think she is scared of you.¡± ¡°Indeed she is. We know her. One of my selves¡­ blew off her hand back when she tried to mess with our file¡­¡± Coro looked away from Leon. ¡°You did what?!¡± Leon glared at Coro and saw him looking away. Obviously he was ashamed of what one of him selves had done to her. ¡°She didn¡¯t mention it before¡­ Maybe she is just scared of what you could do.¡± Coro looked back to Leon. ¡°You¡­ You aren¡¯t mad at me?¡± ¡°I¡¯m mean¡­ I¡¯m not happy about it or anything. But as long as you can get along with her now¡­. Then no¡­ I¡¯m not mad¡­ As soon as he finished speaking Red leaped back and fell onto the floor. ¡°Wha¡­What the hell is he doing here?!¡± Leon stood up and walked over to help her up. She crawled away from him and stared at Coro. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. He is different now. He and I are separate now as well.¡± Leon tried to calm her, but Red hid behind Leon and stared at Coro. Coro Looked over to her and scratched his head. With a sigh, he stood up and walked over to her. ¡°Hey¡­¡± He knelt down to meet her eye level. ¡°We are sorry about what we did¡­ well most of us are. I can¡¯t talk with the one that yells. He is sleeping like the dead right now¡­ might be because of all that power he burnt getting us here.¡± Red¡¯s grip loosened from Leon and she moved around to face Coro. ¡°Stand up. I¡¯m not a child you fucking moron. And If Leon trusts you¡­¡± She glanced up to meet Leon¡¯s bright smile. ¡°Then so do I.¡± The sound of shattering glass and a horse scream suddenly came from above. All three looked up and saw Ash flailing down toward them. Red backed away as Leon held out his arms to catch her. He missed and Ash slammed right into Leon knocking both of them to the floor. She was still screaming in Leon¡¯s arms, so he hugged her tightly. ¡°Shhh¡­ It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re safe now.¡± Her screams quelled and she opened her eyes to look at him. She sniffled and Leon wiped the tears from her face. ¡°Is that really you Leon?¡± ¡°Yeah it¡¯s me. I¡¯m not going anywhere. You don¡¯t have to worry anymore.¡± Leon hugged her tightly again. Red stared down at them, rage and jealous painted on her face. ¡°What is she doing here?¡± Ash collected herself and broke her embrace with Leon. She quickly got to her feet and helped him off the ground. ¡°I¡­ I have no idea what¡¯s going on. I was jus¡­¡± Her words trailed off as she noticed the emptiness around them. ¡°This is some kind of void outside of the universe we were in¡­ or something¡­ I¡¯m not sure.¡± Leon tried to explain but ended up looking over to Red for help. She scoffed and looked away from them. ¡°Hmph¡­ Yeah, you pretty much got the gist of it. You somehow broke out of the simulation and made it to the construct sandbox where I experiment with new things. Seems like you have heavily modified yourself to be able to bring her here, and to separate yourself from Coro. I am the only one supposed to be able to change things here. I gave you root access when you got to the world select¡­ wait¡­ do you still have that bottle of perfume?!¡± Red rushed over in a hurry and started to pat down Leon. Leon reached into one of his pockets to reveal the broken mess of red glass. ¡°Sorry. I think it broke before Ash healed me. It must have soaked into my cloths¡­ but I probably smelt great!¡± ¡°Perfume? I don¡¯t remember anything smelling like that.¡± Ash seemed to adapt to her situation and came back to herself. Red slowly took a couple steps back and stared at Leon. ¡°You absorbed it¡­ Like the cores¡­ you absorbed it¡­¡± She sat down on the floor and leaned against one of the recliners. ¡°Absorbed it? What was it? I thought it was from your¡­ Oh wait¡­ That world wasn¡¯t real¡­ What was in it?¡± Leon walked over to Red and knelt down beside her. She covered her face and spoke through her hands. ¡°It¡­ Its the code I used to create you from the Perfect core¡­¡± Red shook her head and slapped her face a couple times. ¡°No¡­ not code. It was more like keys. Every time you came into contact with it, you would gain more control. I made you to take over what I do in maintaining the simulation. In case something were to ever happen to me¡­¡± ¡°Oh¡­ That explains a lot¡­¡± Coro chimed in. ¡°Your power to edit things probably derived from the keys contained in that bottle.¡± All three looked over to him. He jumped a little from the concentration of attention. Leon stood up and helped Red to her feet. ¡°Anyways we are all here now. First things first. We should do something about you.¡± Leon pointed to Ash, causing her to shift her weight and look a little scared. ¡°Do something¡­ What do you mean¡­¡± ¡°Oh nothing like that.¡± Leon said with a chuckle. ¡°You were Red¡¯s avatar so I am going to change something about your appearance to make you two a bit different.¡± Leon pulled up his screen. Ash¡¯s stat sheet was still pulled up from before. ¡°Tell me Ash. What¡¯s your favorite animal?¡± ¡°Favorite animal? What does that have to do with anything?¡± Ash stared at Leon suspiciously. ¡°Awe come on! This will be fun.¡± Leon replied back with a smile. Ash said nothing for a long while. She noticed that Leon wasn¡¯t going to reply until she said something and sighed. ¡°Cats. I like cats.¡± ¡°Okay, and what is your favorite color?¡± Leon moved on, not missing a beat. ¡°I like black and red. Cant you tell? My suit is black and my hair is red.¡± Ash said back a little annoyed. Leon didn¡¯t reply and tapped a few things on his screen. Suddenly Ash¡¯s form began to change. A pair of cat like ears popped out form her head and her hair shifted to a deep inky black color. The black shifted to a dark scarlet when the light hit it in the right angle. Ash¡¯s face twisted with embarrassment and a blush consumed her face as a ripping sound came from behind her. A long furry black tail poked out through her pants and started to twitch and swoosh about. ¡°What¡­ The fuck¡­ did you do to me?¡± Ash voice had a soft purr to it but remained surprisingly calm. Her tail was still flicking about aggressively. ¡°I shifted you into a Eclec. It is a human with some animal like features. At least thats what the brief definition here says. I like it. Looks really good on you in my opinion. How do you feel? What do you think?¡± Leon held out his hand and created a all mirror and a couple standing lamps. The blush slowly faded as Ash looked over herself in the mirror. She turned around a few times and noticed the red sheen in her hair. ¡°I feel fine. Really like the red accents. Feels like my senses are much more intense though¡­¡± She sniffed a couple times and her hair and fur seemed to stand on end. ¡°Someone didn¡¯t wear deodorant.¡± ¡°Probably me.¡± Coro replied, raising his hand. ¡°The rage from earlier, and nervousness from the whole situation probably did it. Leon can you create me so¡­?¡± ¡°No!¡± Ash yelled cutting Coro off. She ran over to Coro and wrapped her arms around his neck. She buried her face into his chest and wrapped her tail around his upper thigh. ¡°You smell amazing!¡± She stood on her tip toes and licked from his chin, up the side of his face. Coro held both of his hands up in the air as if to say it wasn¡¯t his intention. He looked down to her and as soon as their eyes met she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist. She kissed him and pulled herself into him. He put his hands on her shoulders and tried to force her back. She was vibrating, causing Coro¡¯s hand to slip off of her. Finally Coro managed to pull her off and gasped for breath. ¡°What the hell are you do¡­¡± He was cut off by her slipping from his grip and continuing to make out with him. Blinking several times, Leon looked back to his screen and clicked on the Eclec tab for more information. As he read he began to understand. ¡°Looks like Eclec are extremely sexually active by nature. They have an extremely low chance to produce offspring so when an opportunity arrises, they breed.¡± Ash was scratching at Coro¡¯s back, tearing his cloths and drawing blood. He held out his hand and used something akin to telekinesis to suspend her in the air away from him. He took a few seconds to catch his breath. ¡°Change her¡­¡± He took a few more deep breaths. ¡°Back right now¡­ I can¡¯t handle this.¡± Ash was squirming in the air, reaching for him, making an audible purring noise. Leon pulled up her stat sheet and imagined a way to toggle off this feature about the Eclec species. It appeared as soon as he thought about it and he quickly flicked it off and looked up to the couple. Coro was still recovering. Ash¡¯s face was a burning red and tears were forming in her eyes. Her ears lay flat on her head and her tail curled up into a coil. Without a word Coro dropped her and slumped over to sit in one of the recliners. Ash scurried off into the distance. Her sobs seemed to echo across the void. Red was laid back in Leon¡¯s chair, shoveling down popcorn watching the show. Her cheeks had a flush coloring them. ¡°That was¡­ really interesting¡­¡± Red starred at Leon and her blush deepened. She quickly looked away and started quietly discussing with Coro about the experience. With a sigh Leon made his way to comfort Ash. She hadn¡¯t ran very far. Her sobs grew louder as he approached. She heard his approach and quickly turned around and hissed at him. ¡°Yeah I probably deserve that¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ If it helps, I¡¯m not sure that Coro will think much of it. His emotions are a bit¡­ off. Especially in the persona he is currently in. Red on the other hand¡­ I don¡¯t think she will forget about it anytime soon¡­¡± Leon knelt down and beckoned her to him. ¡°What about you? What do you think of me now?!¡± Her voice was shaky and tears were falling from her face. Her tail was still curled up behind her. ¡°It was all my fault.. I should have read in more detail before deciding to try that on you¡­¡± Leon looked down at the ground. He noticed Ash¡¯s feet in front of him as she silently approached. ¡°I forgive you¡­ But don¡¯t¡­ don¡¯t ever flip that switch again¡­ I have never been with a man before¡­ That was really intense¡­ and I don¡¯t plan on doing it again any time soon.¡± She sniffled her way through the words, and held out a hand to Leon. ¡°Please forget about it¡­ Please¡­¡± Leon looked up to her and accepted her hand. ¡°I can do that. I won¡¯t do anything like that again before I know what I¡¯m doing¡­ promise¡­¡± They walked back together and overheard Coro and Red discussing tongues and suffocation. Leon coughed loudly. ¡°Okay guys. What do we want to do next.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t care¡± Coro replied first. ¡°As long as they have good food and drink. I want something besides popcorn and soda.¡± ¡°I was only hear to check up on you. So if you guys are going somewhere Ill just follow.¡± Red was still blushing but noticed how uncomfortable Ash looked so jumped straight to the point. ¡°I don¡¯t even know how I got here¡­ As long as we aren¡¯t going into a war I¡¯m fine.¡± Ash was standing so close to Leon that he could feel her warmth. Her tail was swooshing back and forth in what appeared to be a happy motion. Leon pulled a hand to his face and fell into a trance from the motion of her tail. Must be something about trust with this species¡­ she changed her mind about the whole thing so fast. And now she is basically attached to me¡­ Need to do more research¡­ ¡°Alright¡­¡± Leon closed his eyes and lifted his arm. Purple motes of light streamed from his hand and pulled together to from a large glowing ball in front of him. ¡°What about this?¡± He flipped a screen out to Coro and Red. Ash was staring at his screen, so there was no point in giving one to her. ¡°What the¡­ How did you?¡± Red was staring at Leon with a pinched look. ¡°What? Is it a problem that it¡¯s not Earth? Would be hard for an Eclec to blend in with regular humans. Plus this sounds like a lot more fun!¡± Leon put on a bright smile and continued to dump purple motes into the ball. ¡°No¡­ Not a problem¡­ Just a world I didn¡¯t make¡­ I have no record of anything with this name.¡± Red pulled up her own screen and started to search for the world. The screen flickered out of existence as soon as she tapped the search button. She looked up at Leon in wonder. How the hell did he make a whole world in seconds¡­ with new assets as well?! I haven¡¯t even heard of Eclec before¡­And what happened to terminal¡­ Something I will have to look into¡­ ¡°Let¡¯s try it.¡± Red was looking skeptical now. YOU HAVE SELECTED ????t???????e????r??????i????¨´??m???. Y/N ¡°Here we go.¡± Leon tapped the ¡®Y¡¯ and the purple ball collapsed into a swirling mass of twisting light. The edges were lined with thin tendrils of light scraping against the void causing a faint breeze to pull through the space. Red¡¯s eyes grew wide. ¡°A¡­ Portal¡­¡± Coro sighed and walked through. A few seconds went by and he stuck his head back through. ¡°You guys coming?¡± Ash headed toward the portal, leaning away from the floating head of Coro. Leon turned to Red, arm outstretched and smiling ear to ear. ¡°Come on! You know you want to!¡± Red hesitated then grabbed his hand. What has Leon become¡­ I still haven¡¯t finished working out how to use things as abstract as magic it at a functional capacity¡­ and yet¡­ he effortlessly created a portal? Leon pulled her through behind him. There was a bright flash of light, a whooshing sound, and the four of them stepped into the mysterious world known as Etherium. Chapter 7 [LEON-FLASHBACK] The blinding light slowly started to ebb. A man in a cloak beckoned me atop a hilltop. His face was masked by a bright shimmering stream of light leaking from his hood. ¡°Come¡­ There are things I must show you¡­¡± I stood there unmoving. What is all this¡­ Where am I? The man lowered his arm and looked into the distance. ¡°You are the a land known as Etherium.¡± I blinked and suddenly appeared beside the man. The light emanating out from his hood stung my skin. ¡°Wha¡­what are you?¡± I winced from the sudden sunburn consuming my arm. ¡°That is not important right now. I have very little time¡­ ¡± The man clapped his hands and we suddenly appeared in the center of a massive city. ¡°Etherium is a place long forgotten by the creators. There are¡­ seemingly infinite numbers of species¡­ and intelligent life here. This place is much different than the reality¡­ you have come to know.¡± I looked around and saw a group of gnome-like people talking about going to a strip club on the next block. A couple of long eared, elf-like women chuckled as they past me. A cyborg was leaning against a street post waiting for the light to turn so he could cross¡­ Wait¡­ Cyborgs? I looked up and saw flying vehicles and floating luminescent signs. Turning back down to the street I noticed a tavern on one side of the street, and a casino on the other. There was a flock of gnomes tearing down the street on choppers with a giant chasing after them on foot. ¡°I show you this¡­ in hopes that you will save this place¡­ I have come to know Etherium as home¡­ Something is coming¡­ and you may be the only one who can stop it.¡± The man placed a hand on my shoulder and the scene vanished. We were in a ruined sandy terrain. The heat and low oxygen stole my breath. There was a small shiny blip in the distance. We lifted into the air and slowly floated toward the mysterious object. ¡°It is too late for this world you know as Earth¡­ Humanity ripped the planet asunder¡­¡± The man cast his arm out around him. ¡°This is what remains of the amazon forest¡­ You will find no traces of life on this planet¡­¡± Red is the closest thing to a human that I know¡­ wait¡­ is Red human? The man interrupted my train of thought. ¡°This is what remains of humanity¡­ This is also where you are now¡­¡± We drifted down to land on a colossal solar panel. There were massive vents dispersed around the panel, blowing scorching heat into the atmosphere. A small terminal was set aside one of the vents. I walked over to the terminal. I pressed one of the keys on the keyboard to wake the screen up. The key collapsed in on itself, causing the entire keyboard to turn to dust. The screen flickered and a bright green text flashed across the screen. A long stream of characters and numbers flashed across the screen. The seemingly endless text came to a halt. I slowly looked over the text, only to stop on the final lines. ¡®SELECT WORLD¡¯ STATUS- RUNNING PROGRAM START DATE- 12/7/4287 CURRENT DATE- 12/2/429713 TOTAL RUN TIME- 3,764,293,487.46 HOURS APPROXIMATE REMAINING LIFESPAN- 48,090.72 HOURS The year is 429,713?! And I¡¯m here?! Is this whole thing just a massive computer?! The man appeared beside me and stared at the screen. ¡°Seems like you have a little over five years¡­¡± I fell to my knees and brought my hands to my head. Everything I had ever known was a blatant lie. I could feel my hear start to race. The man knelt next to me and rested his hand on my back. All of my anxiety melted away. I looked toward the man, but he was looking away. ¡°I apologize for manipulating your emotions¡­ I felt that you needed to know this before moving forward¡­¡± I blinked and was back in the grassy field from before. The man stood and snapped his fingers. My vision started to blur around the edges. A gold thread appeared in front of me and shot toward the sky. ¡°This¡­ is your Soul Drive. It is the source of every living creature¡¯s energy. It is usually not visible unless you are being born¡­ or about to die. However¡­¡± The man reached up and plucked the thread like a guitar string. Threads began pouring out of me in every direction. ¡°You have a great many drives¡­ In fact¡­ you have as many as there there are alive, dead, or going to be. You are the conflux¡­not just your world¡­ but for all of existence in every possible¡­ or impossible universe. You can influence any creature to your will, or use their souls to manifest their power as your own.¡± He lowered his arm, causing all the threads to vanish¡­ except for one. ¡°You need only reach out and grab hold.¡± The thin line connecting us seemed different than the others. I could feel it coming in and out of existence as the breeze blew it back and forth. I looked up to the man. He only stared at me, waiting. I reached out and grabbed the thread. A stat screen popped up. I looked to the top to see his name [???????r????????]. All the stats were rapidly draining to nothingness. I looked up, a sudden sadness threatening to bring tears to my eyes. His body instantly started to deteriorate. His voice was garbled and falling away. ¡°¡­ I entrust this to you¡­ I hope you do a better job¡­ than I¡­¡± A large gust of wind hit the man and his body burst into yellow motes. A massive core lie at his feet. The sadness threatened to choke me. I looked down to the orb. I reached down and placed my hand atop the glowing pulsating orb. A screen popped up above it. PLEASE SELECT: ORB OF DESTRUCTION/ORB OF CREATION I stared at the screen. ¡®DESTRUCTION¡¯ was greyed out. I tried to select it out of curiosity. The orb shifted to black and had a purple aura emanating from beneath it turning its surface ice cold. ORB OF DESTRUCTION IS ALREADY IN USE. Why even give me the choice?¡­Not that I would have selected it either way¡­ I want to protect¡­ not destroy¡­ The same prompt from before reappeared on the screen. PLEASE SELECT: ORB OF DESTRUCTION/ORB OF CREATION I tapped ¡®CREATION¡¯. The orb¡¯s surface began to shift under my palm. Metal plates rose to the surface and began interlocking and disconnecting from each other causing a burst of light to erode from their seams. ORB OF CREATION? Y/N WARNING: THIS CHOICE CAN NOT BE REVERSED I tapped the ¡®Y¡¯ and reality folded around me. I was instantly aware of everything, yet nothing. A loud sound, followed with by the ground shaking, knocked me onto my back. The sky went dark and a sinister laugh faded as burning sensation took over my mind. I opened my eyes and I was back in the abysmal darkness laid back in the recliner. The only difference was a screen in front of me. CONGRATULATIONS! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Two party poppers appeared beside the screen and exploded along with the message. Another screen popped up with a blank line and a flashing bar.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I looked away from the screen. That screen did say Coro¡­ right?¡­ If he is on earth¡­ how could that have been him? Was I just seeing things? ¡­My head hurts¡­ I raised a hand to my head and looked back to the screens in front of me. I closed the congratulations screen and pulled the blank one in front of me. Is this a search bar? Like Google? IS THIS A SEARCH BAR? LIKE GOOGLE? The words in my head appeared on the screen at the speed of thought. A second later the screen shifted with my answer. NOT REALLY. MORE¡­ ALL ENCOMPASSING THAN THAT. YOU WILL FIND ALL INFORMATION ON ANYTHING HERE. YOU CAN ALSO THINK OF ANY OBJECT OR BEING AND A SCREEN WILL POP UP WITH ALL OF THEIR RELEVANT INFORMATION. ¡°Interesting.¡± INDEED. ¡°Do¡­ you know who that guy I was talking to was?¡­ His screen said Coro¡­¡± GUY? WHAT GUY? I sighed¡­ Guess that man isn¡¯t included in ¡°all information on anything¡±¡­ ¡°What about Etherium? Do you know anything about that?¡± I accused the screen. Frustration was sinking its teeth in my brain. ¡­I HAVE SOME RELEVANT INFORMATION ON ETHERIUM¡­ I SAW YOU CONNECTED TO IT¡­ BUT YOU WERE BY YOURSELF THE WHOLE TIME¡­ By myself?¡­ I¡¯m not getting anywhere getting mad at a screen¡­ I¡¯m going to have to look into it later¡­ If that was some version of Coro¡­ Then I need to get him on my side¡­ ¡°Can you speak in my head? Or can you only communicate with text?¡± ¡°I can speak in your head if you would rather.¡± A soothing clear feminine robotic voice appeared in my head. ¡°So¡­ What are you then? Are you another AI?¡± ¡°Hmph¡­ That¡¯s rude to assume.¡± The voice had clear agitation in it. It felt similar to talking to Red. ¡°I¡¯m just as real as you bud.¡± She sighed. ¡°I was assigned to you after you selected¡­¡± She paused and I heard the rustling of paperwork. ¡°The Orb of Creation?¡­ Oh¡­ sorry about this, but I think I have the wrong host. One sec.¡± She put me on hold¡­ Or at least it seemed like she meant to. I could faintly hear her in the background. ¡°What do you mean I HAVE to? I don¡¯t know anything about the ¡®Creation¡¯ perks and abilities! My mentor only taught me all about death and destruction¡­ Yes¡­ Yes but¡­ Fine!¡± There was more shuffling of paper. ¡°Oh shit! I didn¡¯t put him on hold¡­ Uh hello?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ So¡­ What was that all about?¡± ¡°Sooo sorry you had to hear that¡­ I am the most qualified to be your assistant¡­Because apparently¡­ I am the only one in this WHOLE FUCKING INDUSTRY that even knew about the existence of the ¡®Orb of Creation¡¯¡­ All other constructs didn¡¯t existence the last time it showed up¡­ so¡­ here I am¡­¡± ¡°Uh huh¡­ So Ms Construct¡­ Do you have a name?¡± ¡°Oi oi stop it with that Ms shit! Can¡¯t go around assuming genders these days! I simply took the form of what seemed most pleasant in your mind. To answer your question¡­I don¡¯t have a name¡­ my designation code is Tau 005.956.7.308.¡± I looked to the screen and imagined the greek letter and string of numbers. I opened my eyes and a massive black web surrounded by blinding light filled the screen. It zoomed in on a small branch of the web. Strands of DNA-like structures started coming into view. I noticed a thin golden thread ass the light started to wane. I reached out and grabbed the thread. ¡°Ahh!¡± Her voice brimmed with pleasure. ¡°Wha¡­What the hell are you doing?!¡± I blinked a couple times and decided to give the thread a light tug. ¡°Ahhh! St¡­ Stop that! Uhh¡­You¡­ You can¡¯t! Ahhh!¡± I felt information flooding into me. I grabbed the thread with both hands and pulled with all my might. A face suddenly flashed on the screen. She was made of a clear metallic material with glowing honey colored eyes. A dark purple energy flowed out of her head, and fell down past its shoulders. She looked up to me slowly and panted heavily. ¡°I¡­ will¡­ be¡­ whatever you want me to be¡­¡± Her cheeks started to glow with an ominous purple light, several shades lighter that her¡­ hair? ¡°Ju¡­ Just be¡­ more gentle¡­ next time¡­¡± ¡°Sorry¡­ I just wanted to see your face¡­I didn¡¯t know it would¡­ do that to you¡­¡± I scratched the back of my head and stared at her¡­ ¡°Uhh¡­ Can I just call you Tau? Your string of numbers is a bit much to remember.¡± Tau was still gasping for breath. ¡°Yeah¡­ That¡¯s fine¡­ just¡­ give me a sec¡­¡± She took a few moments to gather herself. ¡°What do you require of me?¡± ¡°Well I overheard you say you didn¡¯t know anything about the ¡®Creation¡¯ perks or abilities¡­ so I guess I can¡¯t ask you about that¡­ You didn¡¯t know anything about that guy¡­ Can you make a contract for me that will split Coro from me, but keep him bound to me?¡± ¡°I hardly see why you would need me to make anything like that for you¡­ I am one of the precursors¡­ and you were able to effect me¡­ anything should bend to your will.¡± ¡°I could write it, but he is part of me¡­ I think he would see any holes that I make, that¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you to make one.¡± ¡°Sure no problem¡­One sec¡­ Here. Pretty easy first task Leon. I think you are misjudging my ability¡­¡± ¡°No¡­ I just don¡¯t have anyone else to help me with this right now¡­ How about¡­ Can you manage my interactions with threads so the people I affect don¡¯t have the same reaction you did? Would get a bit weird if everyone I interact with¡­ climaxes¡­ when we connect¡­¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ If you plan on messing with other living things¡­ That seems like a good Idea¡­ I will always be here¡­ If you ever want¡­ to try that again¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m good right now, thanks. But I will keep you in mind.¡± Starting to think this being is someone¡­ I should avoid as much as possible¡­ ¡°I heard that¡­ But you are interesting¡­ and I have had worst hosts than you¡­ Just think of me as your sub consciousness¡­ I will merge with your software to gain a better understanding of your psychology¡­ The only sub routine I have the ability to manipulate is [TIME STOP]¡­ If I feel like I need to¡­ I will intervene. Good luck Leon.¡± ¡°Thanks. Talk to you later Tau.¡± I looked around the screen and noticed that time hadn¡¯t been moving since I got back into the abyss. I thought about Coro and his sheet popped up immediately. I added the delete button and reached out to him as I started to resume time. A golden thread shone through the darkness. I wrapped it around my hand a couple times and called out to him. ¡°Hey!¡­ Coro can you hear me?¡± [NARRATOR] The world slowly came into focus. The air was fresh. Red looked over and saw Coro standing near a crooked tree, overlooking a city. Ash stood nearby keeping her distance. She kept casting sidewise glances over to Coro, and blushing furiously. Coro looked like he was going to give himself whiplash. He was snapping his head back and forth furiously. He took in a deep breath. ¡°Smell that? I have no idea what it is¡­ but I WANT some¡­¡± His personality seemed to flicker savagely. He kept his cool and didn¡¯t shift. Red noticed she was still holding Leon¡¯s hand and quickly ripped it away from his grip. ¡°What is he¡­¡± The aroma seemed to take her by surprise. She started salivating and ran up to join Coro and Ash. The group of three turned back to Leon but found nothing. Confused they turned and noticed that he was already standing beside them. ¡°I think it¡¯s coming from that strange little booth down by the park.¡± Leon pointed toward the city. The rest of the them looked at him curiously. ¡°You mean you can see that far out? How? What happened to you?¡± Coro looked in the direction Leon was pointing. Leon made a picture frame with his hands and expanded it to form a screen in front of the group. ¡°That better? Sorry, I¡¯m still not used to this power¡­I can kind of¡­ just see everything now.¡± There was a small humanoid creature, maybe 3 feet tall, flipping burgers over a fire lit grille. She had a fluffy fox like tail and tall pointed ears. She was hopping around excitedly every time she flipped one of the burgers. ¡°There are more Eclecs¡­ like me¡­ She seems really excitable.¡± Ash finally started to get over her embarrassment and jumped into the conversation. Her tail was swishing side to side. ¡°Want to travel there? Looks like there is an transport station to the east.¡± Before Leon even finished speaking Coro started jogging away from them directly towards the city. ¡°Should we just let him go? Still don¡¯t really like that guy¡­¡± Red had her hands crossed over her chest as she watched the psychotic schizo tear off. She noticed that Leon and Ash were walking side by side toward the transport station. Red sighed and jogged to catch up with them. Coro¡¯s path shifted as he looked back to find no one following him. He panted heavily on his approach. ¡°Sorry¡­ food makes me excited now it seems¡­ Where are you guys going?¡± ¡°You left before Leon finished¡­¡± Ash still wouldn¡¯t look Coro in the face. Her ears twitched as she looked at the bus stop looking station. Her voice was hushed as she addressed Coro. ¡°Uhm¡­ does anyone know what that thing is?¡± There was a massive pile of boiling sludge taking over both of the benches. The smell of it was permeating through the air causing Ash¡¯s face to contort. Leon pulled up a screen, but kept walking toward the station. ¡°Apparently that¡¯s a¡­¡± Leon coughed a couple times as the smell reached him. ¡°That¡¯s a Limax. It¡¯s an ethereal being that lives in a mass of corpses covered in a sticky ectoplasm. It controls the appendages of the corpses to move around. Also¡­ It¡¯s name is apparently Jeff.¡± Leon promptly thought of the four of them as a group and a single screen popped up. He toggled their sense of smell ¡®OFF¡¯ and they all visibly relaxed. They approached the station and the abomination jiggled. It¡¯s many eyes scanned over the four. It started vibrating and rolled over, only to rip one of the benches from its supports. ¡°ARRF A BLARG BLARG?¡± It created a seam in it¡¯s mid section and made a slapping noise as it spoke. An odd green haze poured out from it¡¯s¡­ mouth¡­ ¡°What the fuck¡­¡± Ash pulled back in disgust. ¡°Barg uff taakaa¡± Leon responded, completely unfazed by Jeff. Red looked up at Leon befuddled. He held out a had as if to say ¡®One second¡¯. ¡°Jarba de umbdum?¡± ¡°SMACHA OOP DE! FARGA DE FUUU! FAKAFAKAFAKA¡± Leon looked to the others. ¡°He asked if we are new around here and offered us a seat. I asked about that little fox Eclec¡¯s burgers. He said that they were pretty good but don¡¯t call her little to her face. Then he laughed.¡± Coro walked over to the creature and pulled the bench from it¡¯s side. He placed it back on the ground, and started generating heat in his palm. He brushed his now glowing hand across the surface of the bench. The sticky substance burned away with a sickly green smoke and a hiss. He proceeded to sit heavily in the bench and looked up at Leon. ¡°How long do we have to wait¡­ I¡¯m becoming impatient¡­¡± ¡°Why are you two so unbothered by this¡­ Jeff creature? Red looked back and forth between them. Ash walked over and sat next to Coro crossing her hands and faced away from him. Leon made his way over and sat on the side closest to Jeff to continue their conversation. Red simply stood there staring at the them. Ash scooted a couple inches closer to Coro to make room for Red beside her and became visibly more uncomfortable. Red shook her head and slowly walked to the bench. ¡°You guys are fucking insane¡­¡± ¡°¡­It¡¯s not so bad¡­ I mean without the stench I mean¡­ Plus look at me. After Leon¡­ altered me¡­ I just accepted that we would run into some weird shit¡­ I will admit that this is much¡­ much more than I expected¡­ but¡­ it¡¯s easier to just go with it¡­ If Leon isn¡¯t bothered then I¡¯m fine with it.¡± Ash kept glancing over at Coro and flicked her tail against his long white hair playfully. He didn¡¯t seem to notice anything and stared off into the nearby city. A small bus like vehicle fell from the sky and Red shuttered. ¡°Are we seriously going to get into that tiny thing with¡­ Jeff?¡± The door swung open and the space on the inside was much larger than the outside. A dozen pairs of legs popped out all over Jeff. The blob lifted itself and rolled into the bus, leaving a slimy trail emanating a green fog in its wake. Leon followed with Ash and Coro closely behind. Red was captivated by the seam between the outside and inside. She stepped in and out several times before the door shut in her face. ¡°Did¡­ did any of you guys notice how insane this¡­¡± She turned around to the group and finally noticed that the inside looked like a hotel lobby. There were at least six floors littered with countless different creatures. There was a battalion of white orbs rolling around and serving water to the passengers. Red walked over to Leon and sat beside him. He patted her on the back. ¡°Hey you okay?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah¡­ I just¡­ don¡¯t understand¡­how you made this world¡­ Or how you made so many different creatures¡­ You talked to Jeff like it was no big deal¡­ How did you know its language?¡± Red looked over to Leon. A small flash of light seemed to appear in his eyes and he put on a half smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t make this place¡­ It was shown to me by someone else¡­ All I did was make a bridge to the ¡®Select World¡¯ simulation and ported our code over.¡± Red stiffened up. She felt around her head in a panic and relaxed suddenly after finding what she was looking for. ¡°I can still log out¡­ I want to look at the program running this world to make sure other humans can¡¯t slip in here. If they die in the simulation then it¡¯s highly likely that they will die in reality. Last thing I want is a bunch of people logging in here and dying in their pods.¡± Leon looked concerned for a moment but shook his head. ¡°I placed a block so no one can pass over the bridge without my permission first. You may also be able to get things in and out, but the encryption is an evolving algorithm. Let me know before you do something so I can drop the defenses. There is something else I need to tell you¡­ but this isn¡¯t the time or place.¡± The door for the transport swung open and the center of the city was visible outside. Jeff made a tear for the door and quickly rolled out of sight. Leon pulled up a screen and toggled everyone sense of smell back to on. ¡°I will have to just make it so he smells pleasant to us or something. He is actually a pretty nice guy. He was telling me about how his girlfriend was about to go into labor. He rushed away from the morgue to make it here in time.¡± Red stared at Leon with a disgusted face. ¡°I¡¯m going to pretend that I didn¡¯t hear that¡­¡± Coro stood up and lead the group out of the transport. He was on a mission for Eclec burgers. Ash was hot on his heels wheel Leon and Red hung in the back. ¡°What happened to you Leon¡­ You¡¯re so different from before¡­¡± Leon scratched his head and sighed. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this now. I¡¯m fine¡­ If that¡¯s what you are worried about¡­¡± Red blushed and looked away. They were approaching the small booth. The little fox Eclec was packing up. Coro started to sweat profusely and made a dash to the booth. He slammed his palms on the counter. The poor fox crouched down and covered her ears. ¡°Are you closing!? Please make me a burger first!¡± She quivered and slowly turned toward toward the menacing man. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry sir¡­ I just ran out of meat a few minutes ago¡­ I¡¯ll be here tomorrow though.¡± Coro looked down in dismay. He slumped to the ground and looked to Leon. ¡°Would it be okay if I turned back the clock a little bit?¡± Leon looked at him skeptically and shook his head. ¡°No. We can just stay at that hotel and come back tomorrow.¡± Coro¡¯s head fell again. Ash crouched down by the fox Eclec and helped her up. ¡°Sorry about that¡­ He seems to be on a big food kick lately¡­ My name is Ash, what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Thanks Ash, I¡¯m Flora. What did your white haired friend mean by turning back the clock?¡± The two looked between Coro and Leon. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. He was just making a bad joke. Sorry my friend scared you¡­¡± Leon answered promptly and walked over to help Coro to his feet. He groaned and stormed off toward the hotel. ¡°He seems¡­ weird¡­¡± Flora¡¯s eyes lingered on him and her tail swished side to side. Ash had a similar reaction before she ran off to join him. ¡°Come on Red¡­ Lets go before he gets himself into trouble. It was nice to meet you Flora.¡± Flora watched them leave, her ears and tail drooping. She sighed and went back to closing up her little shop. Chapter 8 [???] ¡°Should we intervene?¡± ¡°No¡­ We will wait and let him enjoy living a little longer. Why rush? We have been waiting for over four hundred millennium¡­¡± ¡°As you wish my king.¡± [RED] The muffled sound of someone shouting could be heard from outside the hotel lobby. Leon dashed into the rotating door, leaving Red alone on the street. I really need to log out and try to find out what happened to Leon¡­ And whats up with this world¡­ She sighed, rubbing her temples. Guess I should go try to help with¡­ whatever is going on¡­ Taking a couple steps forward she noticed a squish sound, followed by an ear piercing scream from her feet. She quickly jumped back and looked at the small creature she had just stepped on. ¡°Oh my god! Are you okay? I¡¯m so sorry I didn¡¯t see you!¡± She knelt down next to the flatted jello like creature. It looked like a melted pile of blue gummy candy¡­ with a shoe print in the middle. It¡¯s eyes were falling out of one side. It¡¯s mouth hung ajar on the other bloated side. The screaming ended with an elongated sigh. Red gasped and pulled her hands up to her face. She started looking around for help but everyone was keeping their distance. A twinkle of light flashed in her peripheral vision. She turned and saw the four foot high wave crashing down the street straight for her. She leaped to her feet only to notice that she couldn¡¯t move her right leg. She looked down and found the slime creature had curled itself all the way up to her thigh. It¡¯s mouth was at the top end of the tendril. A long orange tongue outstretched from the mouth and slid up the inside of her thigh. Her cloths started to disintegrate from the saliva. The creature started laughing maniacally. ¡°WHAHAHA! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET BITCH FOR NOT WATCHING WHERE YOU¡¯RE GOING!¡± Consumed with panic, Red tried slapping at the creature but her hand got stuck in it¡¯s body instantly. Red started to scream as the wave crashed into her. She was ripped from the ground and suddenly suspended in the middle of countless numbers of the blue creatures. They started licking her, consuming everything their tongues touched. She tried to scream, but was only met with a suffocating pressure and a burning sensation all over her body. She slowly fell into unconsciousness as her body was melted away. Moments later, plummeting back into consciousness, she tumbled out of her chair onto the floor. Her body dangled from the jack still plugged in her temple. Gasping for breath, she reached up and clicked the release button on the jack. She fell flat on the floor and curled into a fetal position. That was NOT how I planned on coming back here. She shivered on the ground. The sensors in her room noticed a drop in body temperature. Two arms dropped form the ceiling, lowering a blanket over her. She grabbed the blanket and rolled it around herself as she stood. Making her way back to she chair, she set it back up in front of the computer. A robotic male voice chimed in her ears. ¡°Excuse me miss, I do not think it wise to jump back into the simulation before eating and resting for a while.¡± ¡°Shut the fuck up Simon! Make me something to eat I have to check on something.¡± ¡°No need to be rude¡­ I have already prepared your lobster tail and vanilla shake¡­¡± She was still on edge from the asphyxiation and being dissolved. It was the first time she had ever been forcibly removed from the simulation. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Simon¡­ I just died in the simulation and got ejected. I think I might still be in shock.¡± Hanging out with Leon, Coro, and Ash had made Red much more sympathetic toward AI. She had even reenabled Simon, her personal assistant. It had been disabled only a few days after installation. ¡°You are displaying signs of stress. Would you like me to run a full diagnosis?¡± Red sighed. Guess they all can¡¯t be as adaptive as Leon and the others¡­ ¡°No I will be fine in a few minutes¡­ Thanks Simon¡­¡± Red looked up to the monitor and pulled up the search feature. First she attempted to search for Leon. ¡®No results¡¯. Creasing her brow, she searched for Coro. ¡®No results¡¯. Ash ¡®No results¡¯. She let out a heavy breath. She tried to search for Etherium. The second she pressed the enter key her screen went black. Sparks flew out the back of the monitor as it burst into flame. A small hole appeared in the wall and a thick white foam sprayed over the growing flames. Red fell slack in her chair and stared at the mess on her desk. Her vision flickered. She noticed that the stream of foam had halted in mid air. A screen flashed in front of her. There were only two words. HELLO RED. The screen faded away as soon as it appeared. ¡°Are you okay miss? Did you get burnt?¡± Simon had already activated the medical arm. It was looking over her furiously for any damage. ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m fine Simon. I think I am ready for that food now¡­¡± Red slowly stood up and walked over to the table. She stared out the window. The sun was peaking it¡¯s head between the colossal buildings. Sitting down and scarfing down her meal, she was in a trance about what had just happened. What was that? WHO was that?¡­ Am I hallucinating from the trauma?¡­ No¡­ That was too real to be a hallucination¡­ wasn¡¯t it? Red aggressively scratched her head and groaned. She put her face into her palms, muffling her voice. ¡°Simon¡­ start up the bath¡­ I feel dirty¡­ and I need to think for a while¡­¡± ¡°Right away. It should only be about five minutes. Want me to light some candles for you?¡± ¡°That would be lovely¡­ Thank you Simon.¡± Red pulled her hands from her face and stared at her hands. She was shaking. Am I loosing my mind?! *Ding* A notification sound came from her bedside. She stared at the tablet sitting on the side table. *Ding* *Ding* Ding* Three more notifications came through. She sighed and walked over to her bed flopping down on her back. A hologram appeared on the ceiling as she lifted her arm. The notifications appeared in a three dimensional text. All four were from Leon. ¡°Are you alright Red? I tried calling you, got nothing but static¡­ I can still see your status screen¡­ hopefully that means you are still alive.¡± ¡°We¡­ Saw what happened¡­ I tried to stop them¡­ but couldn¡¯t¡­ I did what I could to make your¡­ death¡­ as painless as possible¡­¡± ¡°I lost my connection are you okay?! What happened?!¡± ¡°You¡­ Your stats have changed¡­ Red¡­ We need to talk¡­whenever you are up to it¡­ let me know¡­ I think I may know what happened¡­ But I need to check a few things first.¡± Red blushed. Knowing that Leon was worried made her heart flutter. She typed out a quick reply and stood up stretching out her arms above her head. I really want to ask Leon about this¡­ But I need to clear my head first¡­ I let him know that I¡¯m okay¡­ and that I will be coming back tomorrow¡­ I hope he will be excited to see me¡­ She made her way to the bathroom. Placing her palm on the panel on the wall, a door swooshed open. She was greeted with the smell of lavender and a tub bellowing steam. She dropped her robe to her feet. The sudden rush of air and maddening anticipation made her skin pucker with goose bumps. She dipped her toes in the water to test the temperature. The goosebumps grew ever more as she slowly slid into the, near scalding, water. She closed her eyes and dipped her head under the water, blowing bubbles out her nose. She pulled her hair to her front and leaned back. The jets turned on as soon as her head rested on the cushion Simon had stealthily slid behind her. ¡°Ahhh¡­ I love you Simon¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s my pleasure milady.¡± Several arms with human-like hands popped out from the wall and started massaging her shoulders, thighs, and feet. Red let out a pleased sigh. The arms went over her whole body, but she wouldn¡¯t had known. Red had fallen asleep before they moved from her shoulders with a smile on her face. [ASH] Ever since the¡­ event¡­ with Coro, he was the only thing on her mind. It wasn¡¯t that she was embarrassed¡­ It was that she enjoyed it far too much¡­ She faded in and out all day, following close behind him¡­ She kept trying to catch his attention, but he seemed too concerned with food to pay any attention to her. As Ash entered the hotel, she noticed something. Every female Eclec in the building stopped what they were doing and looked Coro¡¯s way. Thinking back, she remembered smelling the pheromones Flora was producing while staring at him. Ash ran up to Coro¡¯s side and grabbed his arm, pulling herself close to him. ¡°Huh? Oh Ash. What¡¯s wrong? You okay?¡± She closed her eyes and gripped him tighter, saying nothing in response. Coro scratched his head and stared at her. He tried to push her off, but she just made an unsatisfied noise as a response. He shrugged and continued to walk to the counter with Ash connected to him. The receptionist appeared to be a sort of dog or wolf type Eclec. Her tail was swishing back and forth rapidly as Coro approached her. Does he really not notice it? How can he not? The smell alone in here makes me want to cling to him¡­ I don¡¯t want any of these other girls to have him¡­ Ash blushed at the thought of claiming him all to herself. She couldn¡¯t bring herself to speak. Coro was dense¡­ very dense. If he talks to that receptionist then a small war might break out. A few feet away now, Ash drew all of her courage and broke away from Coro. She jumped ahead and turned to face him. ¡°L¡­ Let me talk to her¡­ please¡­¡± Coro looked down to her accusingly. ¡°Okay that¡¯s fine. I was going to just get one room for the four of us. Don¡¯t know what money is here and how much we have. Better stay on the cheap side. Gonna be leaning on Leon for the finances. He seems to know whats going on here.¡± Ash¡¯s face flushed a few shades darker. Her mind ran wild with new found fantasies. One room?! He just thought I would share a bed with him? What if there was only one bed per room?! Did he think that the four of us would share the same bed?! Her tail wrapped around her thigh, and her ears started to flick. She bit her lip and collapsed in embarrassment. She slapped her face a couple times to bring herself back to reality and turned to face the receptionist.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°We need one room for the night please.¡± The Eclec behind the desk just stared at Coro over Ash¡¯s head, completely absent a response. Ash stood on her tippy toes and slapped both hands on the desk. ¡°Hey! I said one room! Don¡¯t ignore me like I¡¯m not here.¡± ¡°Oh! Sorry, would it be¡­ just the two of you?¡± Her voice sounded stuck up and judgmental. Her eyes ran down Ash¡¯s body and quickly flicked back to Coro. It reminded Ash of how the popular girls from her home town used to treat her in high school. ¡°There will be four of us.¡± ¡°Four you say?¡­ Mind if I join?¡± The last part was in a muted whisper as she turned her head to watch him moving across the room. Ash¡¯s temper flared up and a vein popped out on her temple. ¡°*Hiss* Back off bitch! He¡¯s mine!¡± Before knowing what happened a more primal side of her showed. The wolf Eclec finally looked down at her. ¡°Him? Yours?¡± She raised a hand to cover her mouth and and cackled. ¡°That is one to the funniest things I¡¯ve heard all day! Muahahah!¡± Ash¡¯s brow furrowed. She rose her hand and red, needle like claws thrust out from her fingertips. She stopped, staring at them. When did I?¡­ I had no idea¡­ All Ash heard was the sound of a vase being smashed over her head before she fell unconscious. [CORO] Coro watched as the two girls talked and quickly lost interest. He walked over to a plush couch near the glass walled entrance and plunked down in the middle. A couple bunny Eclec women with busty hourglass figures approached him. Slinking down on either side of him and wrapped his arms in their cleavage. ¡°Hey doll. Would you like some company tonight?¡± ¡°My sister and I would be happy to warm your bed for you.¡± They pushed even closer. Coro could feel their breath on his neck. He looked between the two women a couple times before speaking. ¡°Warm my bed? Are they normally that cold?¡± Both women giggled as they leaned their heads against his shoulders. ¡°That they are.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry we will make sure that it¡¯s nice and warm before you come to join us.¡± Coro arched an eyebrow. He looked up to Ash and back to the two beautiful women beside him. It wasn¡¯t that he saw them as ¡®beautiful¡¯ it¡¯s just that they were. ¡°We have four people in our group¡­ Six in one bed sounds like it would be a little crowded.¡± The women started stroking their hands up his thighs. The one on his left made a smirk. The right whispered in his ear. ¡°We will be fine with however many you want to bring. Just make sure we are first¡­¡± She finished off with a light nibble on his ear. Coro heard the sound of something breaking and fired up from the couch. The women clinging to him fell to the ground on either side of him. Coro made it two steps before Leon burst through the door panting lightly. ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Is it money? I have the loons.¡± Coro stomped his way to the receptionist and slammed his fist into the marble counter top. It shattered from the impact, throwing dust and debris in the air. A large chunk flew, nearly hitting the wolf Eclec, and seated itself in the wall behind her. ¡°WE WILL BE STAYING IN THE EXECUTIVE SUITE! YOU WILL BE PAYING! DON¡¯T TEST ME!¡± Coro¡¯s eyes had a menacing red glow in the iris and the air pressure around him seemed to change immensely. The girl fell against the wall and slid to the floor. She stared at him quivering in fear, tears welling up in her eyes. Coro lifted his fist, as if to hit the counter again, causing the girl to scamper across the floor and throw up a shaky hand and a pair of keys. The air pressure returned to normal and Coro snatched the keys from her. He threw them to Leon and proceeded to been over and scoop up Ash. A thin red trail of blood ran down her face. Coro placed his palm over her head and a glowing green aura started to form over her head. Leon stood staring at the two and sighed. ¡°I knew I should have came in with you two¡­ I thought it would be you to start problems though, not Ash¡­¡± Coro looked away from Ash to stare at Leon. ¡°Oh? Still don¡¯t trust me even after leashing me? I thought I put enough power in that blow to topple this whole building. Probably for the better this way.¡± Leon walked to him and placed his hand on his shoulder. ¡°I didn¡¯t leash you¡­ I set you free¡­ You are my friend Coro¡­ Don¡¯t ever forget that¡­¡± Coro smiled at him as Ash began to stir in his arms. ¡°So, where is Red? You leave her behind?¡± Leon turned to face the glass and saw a blue wave crashing down the street headed for the hotel. Red seemed to be struggling with something. Leon pulled up a screen and identified the wave. Tau¡¯s robotic voice came chiming in his head and time slowed dramatically. ¡°Those are Luga. A throng on them it seems. They are a deceptive bunch of creatures. They usually have a single scout set in front of an area with large traffic to trap their prey. Looks like they captured your friend Red.¡± Leon stared at Red. Her cloths were starting to dissolve away and a look of panic could be seen as she looked around for help. ¡°Is there anything I can do? I don¡¯t want to loose her¡­ But I also don¡¯t want to kill off a whole tribe on my first day here if possible¡­¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ You could preserve her mind. She will be ejected if she dies which could cause irreparable harm. She will however loose her avatar¡­ but thats like loosing a fingernail for her.¡± ¡°Will she be in pain? Is there anything I can do to nullify that?¡± ¡°You could severe the connection to her nerves¡­ Her brain will still simulate some of the pain, but it would be a lot more bearable than being completely melted from their acid. She will loose consciousness quickly from a lack of oxygen.¡± Leon closed his eyes and placed his fingertips on his forehead. He noticed another presence approach his side. ¡°Do it Leon. You don¡¯t have much time.¡± Coro stood staring out the window. Ash was curled up in his arms clinching his shirt and leaning her head against his chest. Leon had a surprised look on his face as he looked at the couple. ¡°You can hear Tau?¡± ¡°Yeah¡­ I am you remember? Or was¡­ There are still a lot of connections open between us. Might have something to do with the contract¡­ Now hurry. They have already stared to consume her because you are wasting time talking to me.¡± Leon looked back to Red and saw her naked in a massive blue bubble. She was facing the sky with her mouth open, like she was trying to scream. He pulled up Red¡¯s stats and severed the connection to her nervous system. He also made a backup of her brain activity to import to her after she returned to her reality. ¡°Forgive me Red¡­ If I had of known before¡­ I could have saved you from this trauma¡­ This is the lesser of two evils¡­¡± Red was consumed in seconds after time shifted back to normality. Leon stared at her screen searching for any changes. Ash finally awoke and realized she was in Coro¡¯s arms. She pushed him, trying to get back to the ground, but he only held her tighter. ¡°Are you going to behave if I put you down?¡± Ash blushed furiously and just shook her head in response. Coro gently let her down to the floor. The entire lobby had cleared, thanks to Coro¡¯s display of aggression earlier. ¡°Were you the aggressor earlier or the wolf? Either way you Eclec need to learn to tame your emotions. Thought Leon already did that for you earlier.¡± Ash shuttered, looking away from him. ¡°I¡¯m.. sorry¡­ She kept staring at you and wouldn¡¯t even pay attention to me¡­ It made me mad¡­ I¡¯ll try to do better¡­¡± She squirmed from the onslaught of attention from Coro. He reached down and scratched her head and being her ears. Her blush flared over her entire face as she leaned into him. A soft purring sound could be heard as she rubbed her face against his chest. Coro noticed a few brave Eclec women peaking over the side rails of the upper floors overlooking the lobby. The bunny sisters were nowhere to be found. Coro was satisfied. There was something about those two that didn¡¯t sit right to me¡­ They did give me one piece of valuable information though¡­ ¡°By the way¡­ Apparently the beds here are very cold. A couple of bunnies told me that they would warm my bed for me.¡± Leon coughed into his hand and made a bee line to the elevator, Red¡¯s screen was still floating in front of him as he walked. Ash pushed away from Coro and punched him in the stomach as hard as she could. The sounds of bones crashing could be heard at her tiny fist made impact with Coro¡¯s augmented body. Ash fell to her knees and stared up at Coro, tears forming in her eyes. She stormed off and stood beside Leon. Coro stood there with his hands in the air, but neither of them replied to him. ¡°What the hell did I do?!¡± Coro huffed and walked over to join them. Ash stood on the opposite side of Leon, as far away from Coro as she could muster. Ash tapped the up arrow for the elevator with a wince, and the trio waited for it to arrive. Coro summoned a screen in front of him and tapped at a messenger. A small window popped up on Leon¡¯s screen, but he made no move to look at it. Dismissing the screen with a swipe of his hand, Coro tapped at Leons shoulder and loudly whispered in his ear. ¡°Psst. Leon. I sent you a message.¡± Leon turned to face him and raised an eyebrow. Coro just looked at Leon¡¯s screen and pointed at the message like an eager school kid. Leon sighed and opened the message on his screen. It read. ¡®Hey Leon, what did I do?¡¯ Leon stiffened a chuckle and thought his reply. He didn¡¯t have to tap at the screen to make messages anymore. He didn¡¯t appear to tap the screen unless making a significant change to whatever he was altering. Coro looked at the blank wall in front of him and pulled up the screen. Leon¡¯s message was not very helpful. ¡®Why don¡¯t you ask Ash?¡¯ Coro looked over at her. She was sniffling holding her bruised hand to her chest. He looked back to the screen and tapped out another message. ¡®I don¡¯t think she wants to talk to me right now.¡¯ Leon looked at the message and shook his head. He moved behind Coro and shoved him in front of Ash. She didn¡¯t try to move, but looked away from him. Coro knelt down to one knee and looked up to Ash. Surprised from the difference in perspective, Ash looked at him and tilted her head. He reached up and wiped away her tears with one hand. He used to other to heal her mangled hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Ash¡­ Not sure what I did¡­ but I¡¯m sorry.¡± She smiled and let out a single burst of laughter. She Leaned forward and hugged him. It was very awkward and they broke the embrace quickly. Coro stood and Ash¡¯s eyes followed him. ¡°I forgive you¡­ Jus¡­ Just stop talking to other girls. You are mine! and I don¡¯t like them trying to take you from me!¡± Ash puffed out her chest and threw her arms to her sides. Her face was a burning crimson, but she didn¡¯t back down. ¡°Yours? How do you mean?¡± Coro raised an eyebrow. Leon burst out in boisterous laughter from the elevator. ¡°Wahaha! Come on children our ride is here. You can flirt after we get settled in.¡± Coro preceded to walk into the elevator. Ash followed him like a shadow. She was shaking from the embarrassment. Leon hit the button for the executive suite and the elevator door shut. A pleasant melody sounded over the speaker in the elevator as it began to rise. ¡°What is that?¡± Coro was looking around for the source of the new sound. ¡°That¡¯s music, not particularly to my taste, but not the worst I¡¯ve heard in an elevator.¡± Leon pulled up a second screen and started scrolling through a list. He tapped at an item on the list and the music drastically changed. ¡°Hmm¡­ I think I like music¡­¡± Coro had his thumb and forefinger resting on his chin in thought. The music was loud and violent compared to the simplistic tune from before. ¡°This is metal¡­ or death metal?¡­ not really sure what the difference is¡­ I used to listen to it while doing paperwork in the office when I remembered to bring headphones. Leon stared at Coro. He was bobbing his head with the rhythm. As the song escalated, the bobbing turned into a full head bang. His long white hair was flying about aggressively. Ash¡¯s ears had folded flat on her head and she covered them with her hands. She looked like she was in pain. Leon pulled up a third screen and turned down Ash¡¯s sensitivity to hearing. She relaxed as the slider went down. She looked at Leon and smiled. *Ding* The elevator stopped. Leon and Ash left the elevator. Coro stood in the middle smashing his head about and playing an air guitar. The door closed and the elevator started to plummet with Coro still inside. [LEON] ¡°Thank you Leon.¡± Ash looked up at me with a bright smile on her face. Her green eyes pierced through me. ¡°No problem. I can leave it down if you like that better. Or turn it back up if we need your excellent hearing.¡± She latched onto me. I patted her head and looked around the room. I let out a whistle, unable to hold back my surprise. ¡°Phwwht Phwooh! This place is fancay!¡± There was a large living room overlooking the city and two bed rooms. One small and set in a corner, one massive with a large glass window and ceiling. There was a kitchen filled with appliances that I had never seen before. I walked over to a door between the kitchen and living room. It lead to a balcony with a small hot tub and large waterfall pool. It reached all the way to the edge of the building meeting a thick pane of glass. ¡°This just looks horribly unsafe¡­¡± A blur flashed past me. I heard a splash as Ash dove head first into the pool. Somehow she had shed her cloths on the way to the pool and they lay strung about in every direction as if they had been blown off of her. She shot to the surface and blew a stream of water from her mouth. She stood in the shallow end of the pool facing me. She was completely nude, but didn¡¯t seem to notice, She fell back into the water and started to swim around. I blinked a couple times and walked over to one of the chairs near the waterfall overlooking the pool. I sat there switching my attention from Red¡¯s screen and the naked women playing in the water in front of me. Lingering a little too long on the latter. Every few minutes the sound of heavy metal popped up followed by a ding. I opened a second screen with the messenger function and told Coro that I could make the music up here so he didn¡¯t have to stay in the elevator. Red¡¯s screen flickered and went blank for a couple seconds. When it popped back up it had stats that I could no longer alter or identify. ¡°Tau you there?¡± ¡°Always baby. What? You want me to join you and that Eclec down there? My break isn¡¯t for another couple hours, but¡­¡± ¡°No not that¡­¡± I raised my hand to my face and sighed. ¡°What just happened to Red? Her status changed. I have already sent her a couple messages.¡± I promptly attempted to sent her another message to confirm that she was okay. I had already tried to call her but got no response. ¡°It was something similar to what happened when you broke that loop she had you in. Not sure what or if she told you¡­ But you were trapped in the same day over and over again for weeks. Well¡­ weeks for her¡­ She ran it thousands of times every day.¡± ¡°Thousands?! How fast could the simulation run?!¡± ¡°Well¡­ you were locked in a closed simulation¡­ A day for you lasted a couple seconds for her¡­ It was a way for her to slowly implement the keys she put in the perfume in a more controlled manner. She also did it to catalogue your decisions. Every day there were a couple things you did differently. You fascinated her¡­¡± With a tenge of anger, I typed another message to Red. How could she have held me like that¡­ I understand that I was something different¡­ and apparently dangerous¡­ but¡­ My anger slowly quelled and I changed the message. She should be gathering herself. She did just die¡­ I¡¯m sure she is in shock from the whole thing¡­ I heard the sound of Coro¡¯s anthem from the suite, only to be followed by another dinging sound. I sighed. ¡°So are you telling me that she is also in a simulation? I thought she was the one who made, or maintains the sever for the simulation we are in now.¡± ¡°Baby¡­ You aren¡¯t in ¡®her¡¯ simulation anymore. In fact you aren¡¯t even really in any simulation anymore¡­ It¡¯s hard to explain¡­ I can send you over a document explaining better than I ever could.¡± ¡°Thank you Tau. That would be much appreciated.¡± Tau moaned in my ear. I heard the sound of something buzzing softly in the background. ¡°Tau¡­ are you?¡± ¡°Mmmh say my name Leon¡­ Ahhh PULL ON MY SOUL LEON!! AHHH!¡­¡± I disconnected from the call before it escalated any further. Having one woman in my head pleasuring herself, and another naked in front of me, made it hard to think. I looked at Ash. She was leaning over the edge and looking down at the city. Her tail was splashing around in the water behind her. *Ding* I looked at my screen and noticed that Red had sent a reply. ¡®I¡¯m fine Leon¡­ And yes we need to talk¡­ sooner than later¡­ I¡¯m going to relax here. I¡¯ll call or message you before logging back in tomorrow. And thanks¡­ Thanks for worrying about me ">¡¯ I smiled at the message from Red. It made me happy to see that she was okay. I don¡¯t know if its worth the energy to be mad at her about the simulation thing¡­ I¡¯m here now¡­ I don¡¯t really remember anything from my time then any way. Other than Ashley¡­ And she was a version of Red¡­ *Ding* *Ding* The messenger notifications broke my concentration. One from Coro, One from Tau. I opened the one from Coro first. ¡®What floor are we on again?¡¯ I burst into laughter and Ash seemed to finally notice me. She snapped her head around and turned into a tomato. ¡°Ha¡­ have you been there this whole time?¡± Her hands rushed to cover herself and she slunk under the water. Only her eyes and ears were above the water now. ¡°Yeah¡­ sorry¡­ I was just.. *cough* *cough* enjoying the view?¡± She sank underwater slowly and bubbles started to rise to the surface. I send a reply to Coro telling him that we were on the top floor and opened the message from Tau. It contained two attachments. I tapped on the first and a glorious image painted itself on the screen. It was Tau. The angle was from the ground, but encompassed her whole body. She was leaning against a wall with her chair lying sidewise on the ground next to her. She was twisting one of her nipples with one hand. The other holding a mysterious device on her¡­ lower area¡­ A honey colored liquid, similar to that of her eyes, gushed down her thighs, calves, and pooled at her feet. The carpet was doing a very poor job of absorbing the abundance of fluid. Saliva streamed from her mouth and ran down her neck. Her eyes rolled back in her head and teamed with tears. I stared unblinking at the image for a couple minutes, burning it into my mind. Coro broke my trance popping his head around the corner. ¡°Hey Leon did you get this image too? What is she doing?¡± His voice sounded hoarse. Probably from yelling to the music in the elevator. His hair was shaggy and spewed out in every direction. I saved the file in a new folder aptly names ¡®Images for later¡¯ and turned to face Coro. ¡°Tell me Coro¡­ What do you think she is doing?¡± Ash¡¯s head popped up, but she quickly moved to hide behind the waterfall. ¡°Looks like she is having one hell of a climax¡­ Just don¡¯t know why she sent it to us. Also saw that Red is okay. Those notification sounds and your conversation with Tau really made the music less enjoyable.¡± Coro looked over the pool, his gaze lingered on the waterfall. Ash made a squeak noise and dashed back under water. I looked toward Ash and concentrated. Her soul drive became visible. I could use her energy¡­ But I don¡¯t need another Tau situation¡­ I drew a small fraction of my own energy and imagined creating a bathing suit in my mind. A skimpy thin black bikini appeared in my hand. Guess this will have to do¡­ Not that I don¡¯t mind looking at Ash in a sleazy bikini though¡­ I¡¯m terrible¡­ I walked over and deposited the bundle of cloth into Coro¡¯s hand. ¡°Throw that to Ash. She is hiding because she doesn¡¯t want you to see her naked.¡± Coro looked like an old computer booting up for the first time in seven years. You could almost see the gears turning as he processed the information. ¡°Why would she not want me to see her?¡­¡± He stared at the swim suit in his palm intensely. Seemingly making a decision, he started walking toward the pool. ¡°No stop, You cant go in wearing all your cloths.¡± He looked back curiously at Leon. ¡°I guess your right. I wouldn¡¯t have a way to dry them¡­ I wouldn¡¯t want to sleep nude if the beds are truly that cold.¡± I shook my head and laughed at him. ¡°Whichever Coro this is. You are fantastic. Please never change.¡± Coro preceded to strip down to his boxers and shrugged, pulling them off as well. He walked slowly toward Ash and held out his hand. He stared directly into her eyes. ¡°Would you like me to tie the straps for you?¡± Ash was frozen in place. She looked up and down Coro¡¯s body. Stopping on his lower half. Coro took notice and looked down himself. He was at full mast. ¡°Intriguing. It would appear that I am extremely attracted to you.¡± Taking this as an indentation, Ash latched onto him started making out with him. He dropped the suit to the water and wrapped his arms around her. I walked back inside to let them have their privacy. They apparently got to the task at hand immediately. Ash¡¯s screams and moans of pleasure were loud enough to be heard through the walls. I walked over to what appeared to be a television and turned it on. I turned the volume up to an uncomfortable level, but Ash still overpowered it. God damn¡­ I guess this would be her first time¡­ Still for someone her size to make enough noise for me to still hear her through this?¡­ You have my praise. I pulled up my own screen and disabled hearing. I couldn¡¯t help but think of Red. I reached out and found her thread. I gently wrapped my hand around it and thought intensely about seeing her. Another screen popped up. She laid back in the bath. I instinctively took a screen shot and saved it in the same folder with Tau¡¯s image from earlier. I let go of the thread and sighed. I Lied back on the couch and folded my arms behind my head. Might as well take a nap. Going to go see Jeff¡¯s family and get Coro some of Flora¡¯s burgers tomorrow¡­ busy, busy. I yawned and closed my eyes. I am going to have some interesting dreams tonight¡­ thats for sure¡­ Chapter 9 [LEON] I awoke to Coro shaking me. He appeared to be yelling, but wasn¡¯t making noise. I rubbed my eyes and blinked several times before realizing my hearing was still toggled off. A screen popped up and Coro slammed the button before I could even lift my arm. ¡°Leon!! Answer the fucking call!¡± He spoke so loudly and quickly it made me wince. I stood up and made my way into the kitchen to attempt to make coffee¡­ or something similar. ¡°Too loud Coro¡­ to loud¡­ and too fast¡­ Calm down and tell me what¡¯s going on¡­¡± I approached what looked like a tiny garbage can sitting on the counter and opened the lid. There was a small furry creature curled up inside. It yawned and stretched as it stood up on it¡¯s hind legs. It reached into a small flap on it¡¯s belly and pulled out a small capsule, handing it to me. I took the capsule from it and it vanished with a soft proof sound and a pink cloud. Coro had walked up beside me and gotten quiet to watch the small creature. I searched for a glass while Coro explained the situation. ¡°Tau has been trying to call you for over an hour now¡± I found a glass and stumbled over to the sink to fill it with water. ¡°Over an hour? Why didn¡¯t she just talk to you?¡± I guzzled down the glass and proceeded to fill it again. I glanced back to Coro and noticed that he was still naked. My eyes traced down his body, but stopped just before meeting his one eyed monster. I turned away and set the glass down, dropping the capsule in it. The water started to boil and shift to brown. I creased my brows and stared at the glass. It settled after a few seconds with steam rolling off the surface. ¡°I guess I will call her back then¡­ obviously you were too busy to pick up¡­¡± Coro walked over to investigate the glass. He leaned over and picked it up. His skin hissed from the scalding surface. He lifted the glass to his mouth and chugged the entire thing. He placed the glass back down on the counter slowly and turned to face me. ¡°That is very hot. What is it?¡° ¡°I think it¡¯s¡­ coffee? I was going to analyze it but you drank it too fast.¡± I walked back over to the small trash can and opened the lid. The same furry creature appeared again, but this time it just stood there with an eyebrow raised. It lifted a hand palm up. ¡°What? Am I supposed to pay you?¡± ¡°Ya tink dese tings grow on fuckin trees? Yaa ur supposed to pay me.¡± The creature had a deep Scottish accent. I tilted my head back in surprise. It just stood there, arm outstretched. I looked away and pulled up a screen. ¡°How much do they cost?¡± ¡°Fiveloonies a pill. Twenty loons a bottle.¡± I tapped to the conversion screen. There was an input and output box. Looking around from something to shift, I noticed Ash¡¯s bikini on the floor. It had never been used, so I picked it up and shoved it in to the screen. A small green bar started to fill on the bottom of the screen. A small button appeared in between the boxes and I tapped it. A solid gold cube fell from the screen onto the counter with an audible thunk. It was roughly the size of a base ball. Damn¡­ guess things I make with soul energy are more valuable than I thought¡­ I bearly used anything into making that bikini¡­ The furry creature leaped from the can and scurried over to it. ¡°H¡­How¡¯d ya do this?! This real gold?!¡± He nibbled at the cube, causing several small dents to form around the edge. ¡°By tha gods¡­.¡± He sat down heavily and stared at the glistening object. ¡°Who ar ya mister?¡± He looked up to me. His eyes glazed over in awe. I scratched the back of my head and sighed. ¡°No one special¡­ My name¡¯s Leon. And you are?¡± He stood back up, dusting off his hand with his fur, and raised it to me. ¡°Me names Scruffy De Waggles, friends just call me Scruff.¡± I reached out to take his hand. He wrapped his tiny fingers around my thumb and shook it furiously. His whole body shook with enthusiasm. ¡°Have you already got a rat sir? If not, mind taking me along?¡± ¡°Rat¡­? That seems insensitive¡­¡± ¡°Aye tiss, but dat¡¯s what we¡¯re called. We do things such as cleaning and making food for de masters. We also make buildings when we has to. I¡¯ll do it, ifin you¡¯ll pay to get me family out of slavery.¡± ¡°Sure¡­ How much are we talking¡­¡± Scruff shifted away and looked to his feet. He replied in a hushed voice. ¡°Be bout forty billion loons sir¡­ Me family is a large one¡­¡± I scratched my chin and pulled up a screen to identify Scruff. He was simply listed as ¡®Hamster (Enhanced)¡¯ Strength attributes were roughly on average with a human. Intelligence was vastly lower than a humans. I scrolled through to find the drives linked to Scruff. ¡°Forty million¡­ There are forty million of you enslaved¡­ to do house chores¡­?¡± Scruff kept his head low. ¡°Aye¡­ we has to work all our lives to pay for our freedom¡­¡± I blinked several times and looked back to his stat sheet. ¡°It says here that you are three hundred years old¡­ How long have you worked for?¡± ¡°All me life sir¡­ Far back as I remember¡­¡± I pulled up the conversion screen again. ¡°What is the gold to Loon value conversion?¡± ¡°I uhh¡­ Don know sir¡­¡± I looked back to Scruff and shook my head. I pulled my hand to my head like I was on the phone. ¡°Sorry, I am trying to talk to someone else. You don¡¯t have to call me sir by the way.¡± Tau wasn¡¯t picking up. I should have called her back after Coro told me she was trying to get ahold of me¡­ ¡°Ummmm¡­ Hello?¡± The buzzing was back¡­ I face palmed and took a deep breath. ¡°Tau¡­ Sorry I didn¡¯t call earlier¡­ But I need you to look something up for me.¡± The buzzing grew louder and was suddenly cut off by an intense sloshing sound. Her screams of pleasure were muffled and sounded far away. A second screen popped up displaying the conversion I asked for ¡®Gold to Loons¡¯. I quickly ended the call. God damn¡­ Did she just do what i think she did¡­ I shook my head and looked at the screen she had sent. Stop thinking about it, Stop thinking about it¡­Stop thinking about it!¡­ ¡°It looks like one ounce is about two thousand loons¡­¡± I looked over to the conversion screen and dumped an eighth of my own energy into the deposit. The output was only about three hundred pounds. That¡¯s only about three million loons¡­ ¡°Hey Scruff¡­ Would you mind if I borrow you and your families¡­ energy to set you free?¡± ¡°Certainly, take whatever you need.¡± He knelt down low and closed his eyes. I reached a finger under his chin and made him look into my eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t need to bow to me¡­ I¡¯m going to go ahead and apologize for any discomfort you may feel from this¡­¡± I reached out and tightly grasped his Soul Drive. Threads burst from him in every direction. They grew taught as I started to siphon his energy. I released half of their mass energy into the converter. The conversion came up to three million ounces of gold. That being nearly three times the amount needed, I pushed their energy back into them until the balance was exactly at forty billion loons.Stolen novel; please report. That done, I pushed the amount into a digital account and created a card to link to the account. I handed the card to Scruff. ¡°Here, That should be the amount you need.¡± He took the card and looked up to me. Tears started to stream down his fuzzy cheeks. ¡°Thank ya¡­ Thank ya so much¡­ I can not give this to de masters though¡­ They will just take it and say we still need more¡­¡± ¡°Then come with us and we will pay in person. We are going on a few errands today. Might as well get that done while we are out.¡± Scruff shoved the card into his pouch and came back up with one of the capsules. He scurried over to the cabinet and pulled down several mugs. ¡°How many of ya are there sir?¡± I sighed. ¡°You don¡¯t have to call me sir¡­ And there will be four of us.¡± He nodded and went about setting up four cups of coffee. Ash came out of the master room and yawned. She stretched out her arms and smiled at us. ¡°We about ready to go?¡± She looked between Coro and myself. Noticing Coro was naked, she huffed and walked back into the room. She came back out quickly with a bundle of clothes, tossing them at Coro. ¡°Get dressed¡­ I don¡¯t want to be fighting other women all day if I can help it.¡± Coro walked over to the door leading to the pool and started to put his cloths back on. I looked to Ash and smiled. ¡°Looks like you are coming back to yourself Ash. Glad you finally got over the nervousness from Coro.¡± She blushed and looked away, catching a glimpse of Scruff. ¡°What is that? Or who?¡± She scurried over to him with her tail swishing excitedly. She reached out a hand to pet him, only to have her hand slapped away. ¡°Please miss don¡¯t touch me fur. It agitates the skin.¡± Ash pouted and folded her ears against her head. Scruff grabbed one of the mugs of coffee and slid it over to her. ¡°Me names Scruff. I¡¯ll be joining ya today. Nice to meetcha.¡± Ash accepted the mug with a smirk. She took a draw from it and looked back down to Scruff arm outstretched. ¡°You can ride on my shoulder if you like. Don¡¯t want you to accidentally get stepped on or anything while we are out.¡± Scruff looked from her hand to her face several times. ¡°Ye would allow me to ride on ya shoulder miss?¡± Ash smiled back at him and took another sip. ¡°Sure. Probably better than Leon or Coro, They are too tall.¡± She glared at me as Coro broke into the room. She spewed coffee out her mouth and nose as soon as she saw Coro. He had ripped both of his sleeves off his jacket and spiked his hair out enough that it was touching the ceiling. I turned to look at him, only to get stabbed in the eye by the massive spikes erupting from his head. ¡°Fuck me! Coro shorten your hair!¡± He cocked his head to the side and stared at me. The spikes scraped against the ceiling, laving deep grooves in their wake. ¡°Why would I shorten it? I pointed to the marks in the ceiling. Blood trickled down my face and between my fingers through the green light already healing the wound. ¡°That. That¡¯s why. Whatever you did to make the spikes, hardened it.¡± Coro made a screen and pulled a slider down. His hair shrank as the slider went down, stopping at four inches from his head. ¡°I won¡¯t go lower than this.¡± He stared at me. Determination flaring over his face. ¡°Fine¡­ Fine¡­ I¡¯m going to take my coffee outside and call Red. You guys let Scruff know whats going on.¡± I grabbed one of the mugs and stormed out the door. Coro shrugged at Ash on my way out the door. Jesus¡­ That Coro is a child¡­ I pulled up a screen with my recent interactions and hovered over Red. I sighed and tapped on Tau first. The line only rang twice before she picked up. ¡°Ohh so soon? You¡¯ll have to give me a minute¡­ I was working on a document to send to you about Red.¡± ¡°Red? what about her?¡± She was silent for nearly thirty second. The only reason I knew she was still there was from the clacking of keys in the background. ¡°Sorry, this won¡¯t take me much longer.¡± I made my way back to the chair overlooking the pool and waited. I was half way through my coffee before she finally responded. ¡°Okay, sending now.¡± A second screen popped up displaying Red¡¯s status sheet. I still couldn¡¯t edit anything, same as before, but I could scroll through the information. Most of her stats were nonsense glyphs instead of the normal numbers. Tau chimed in, as if reading my mind. ¡°So¡­ from what I can understand from them¡­ Red has undergone something similar to what you did when you took the ¡®Orb of Creation¡¯. I¡¯ve never seen some of these runes before¡­ I have been researching it all night.¡± I closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me something this important earlier?¡± She giggled in response. ¡°Sorry¡­ It¡¯s really fun to tease you babe¡­ I will try to restrain myself in the future¡­ ¡° I sat back up and stared at Red¡¯s sheet again. ¡°Does she know about all of this yet? That she is in a simulation I mean?¡± Key clacking came through again with her silence. ¡°From what I can tell¡­ Her brain activity is normal so she isn¡¯t stressed about it. I can¡¯t actually see her thoughts though¡­ It¡¯s almost like someone¡­ or something is blocking me from entering.¡± ¡°So I shouldn¡¯t bring it up to her yet¡­ I¡¯ll wait for her to ask before telling her¡­ Thank¡¯s Tau.¡± ¡°No problem Leon. You should probably call her. It looks like she is about to attempt to log in.¡± She hung up leaving me by myself on the deck. I finished the coffee and tapped on Red to attempt to call her. ¡°Hello, Leon? I was about to call you.¡± It connected immediately. ¡°Would you mind if I tried to bring someone with me? I have been messing with this¡­ screen ever since I woke up.¡± Well¡­ Guess I won¡¯t have to tell her about the simulation thing¡­ ¡°Uhh¡­ Sure, What are you going to try?¡± She started to materialize in front of me, but she wasn¡¯t alone. A seven foot tall robot with blue eyes and a bow tie formed beside her. As soon as they were fully assembled the robot bowed and introduced itself. ¡°Hello master Leon. My name is Simon. I am here to learn and assist Red.¡± Red smirked at me with her arms folded over her chest. ¡°Wha¡­ What??¡± Red let out a burst of laughter. Simon turned to look at her and leaned back in laughter mimicking her. I smiled and walked up to her. She looked up to me, still smiling. I wrapped her in a hug. ¡°I¡¯m glad you are okay.¡± She returned the embrace¡­ along with Simon. I glanced up to him confused. ¡°I too am glad you are okay too milady.¡± Coro swung the door open, causing it to slam back and embed itself halfway into the wall. ¡°WHOOOOO! LETS GO!!!! Red stared at him¡­ She looked him up and down a couple times before replying. ¡°What the fuck happened to yo¡­¡± ¡°WHOOOOO!!!! WHOOOOO!!!!¡± Coro interrupted her and turned back into the room. ¡°He is¡­ a little different¡­ And I think he just chugged a couple cups of coffee¡­¡± Red broke away from me and looked up to Simon. ¡°I want you to analyze every creature today. Don¡¯t want anyone else to get trapped by those¡­ things again¡­¡± She shuttered and walked into the suite. Simon and I followed her. He had to crawl through the door to fit. ¡°Milady, wouldn¡¯t it be easier if I simply flew down to the ground floor. It will be very cramped in the elevator.¡± Ash gasped and ran over to Simon. She grabbed his hand and started to inspect it thoroughly. ¡°What are you doing Ash?¡± She jumped back and stared into Simon¡¯s glowing blue eyes. ¡°H¡­ How do you know me?¡± ¡°I know all of you. Lady Red implanted her memories of you into my shell before bringing us here.¡± Red was scoffing from the elevator. Coro was standing next to her holding the ¡®door open button¡¯, He was vibrating and his pupils were dilated to the edges of his irises. I walked over to the elevator to join them and looked back to Simon. ¡°I can make the elevator larger. One sec.¡± Pulling up a screen for the hotel, I shifted the material away from the rooms near the elevator shaft and expanded the ceilings and walls to a size large enough to accompany the massive robot. Simon¡¯s eyes went dim and bright as he stared at me. He stood up and looked to the ceiling. He raised his hand to touch it, as if he couldn¡¯t believe what his sensors were telling him. ¡°What exactly are you master Leon? You just broke the laws of physics as if it were nothing more than folding a sheet of paper¡­ My CPU can¡¯t compile fast enough for me to understand.¡± I laughed and gestured from him to enter the elevator. ¡°Don¡¯t think about it too much, I bet Red could do it too if she tried.¡± I patted her head and she looked up to me, brows creasing together. I quickly removed my hand and pulled up the screen to play music on the way down. Simon made his way into the elevator and sat down in one of the corners. He looked around the elevator curiously, but didn¡¯t make a sound¡­ other than the mechanical noises from turned his head. Scruff poked his head out from behind Ash¡¯s neck. He had been hiding in her long hair ever since Simon crawled into the room earlier. ¡°Aye why isn¡¯t we movin si¡­ Leon?¡± Scruff stopped himself from saying sir. That makes me happy¡­ I¡¯ll accept it from the butler robot¡­ But I don¡¯t want an army of hamsters calling me sir¡­ Coro snapped his head around and glared at him. ¡°Leon needs to play the music first¡­¡± His voice was almost inaudible, but the red flash in his eyes brought the point across. Ash raised her hand over Scruff and gave Coro a disgusted face. ¡°How dare you talk to him like that¡­ He doesn¡¯t even know how you are yet¡­¡± Coro just turned to face outside the elevator. Red inspected Scruff and exploded with happiness. She reached up to pet him, only to get the same treatment as Ash earlier. ¡°I¡¯m sorry milady, but please don¡¯t touch the fur. Aggravates me skin.¡± Red stared at him and pulled up a screen. She scrolled through several menus and dragging several things into a separate screen. I selected Coro¡¯s favorite song and quickly pulled up a separate screen to adjust his hearing. I cranked it up to triple his normal sensitivity. He released the button and fell to his knees ripping away at the imaginary guitar in his hands. ¡°Sorry everybody, He really likes heavy metal. I just made his hearing really sensitive so we don¡¯t have to suffer for him to enjoy it.¡± The elevator finally started to move. Red seemed done with whatever she was making. She pulled a small vial filled with yellow liquid from the air and half it over to Scruff. ¡°Here try this.¡± He accepted the vial and stared at her. ¡°What tis this exactly¡­?¡± Red pulled another vial out of the air and popped the top. She poured it over her head and rubbed it into her scalp. ¡°It¡¯s a deep moisturizer for dry skin. It should drastically help with your sensitive skin. Should make your fur really soft as well!¡± That seemed like enough for Scruff. He popped the lid and doused himself. He started rubbing the thick liquid into his fur. He had trouble getting it to cover his back, so he tapped on Ash¡¯s cheek and whispered in her ear. She blushed with excitement and reached up to let him crawl into her palm. She lowered him in front of her and gently rubbed the liquid into his fur. He had his face pinched in pain at first but quickly relaxed and lied down on his belly. ¡°Awe¡­¡± Red and Ash chimed out in unison. They both assaulted Scruff with attention until the elevator hit the ground floor. I stepped out first, followed by Simon. I pulled up a screen and turned Coro back to normal and stopped the music. He stared looking around and furiously panted for breath. He stood up and joined us with the girls following behind him. Scruff lay atop Ash¡¯s head resting between her ears. He was fast asleep. I looked around the room and noticed that everyone in the lobby was giving us a wide birth. Seems like they remember us¡­ or Coro at least¡­ Coro led the way out the door. The bunny Eclecs from yesterday saw him and dashed in the opposite direction. Coro leaped out to block their path. They both fell to the ground and scurried over to a nearby wall. He leaned down in front of them and whispered loudly. ¡°Pssst¡­The beds were not cold. You should try to talk to the manager and get your money back.¡± That done, he rose and walked through the rotating doors. The smell seemed to hit him immediately. He dashed across the street and got into the already massive line for Flora¡¯s burgers. ¡°I honestly completely forgot about the burgers¡­ I was pretty focused on Coro yesterday though¡­¡± Red tilted her head and scratched her cheek. We took out time getting across the street. Simon walked out first to stop traffic to let Red cross safely. He apologized to everyone who stopped and shook their hands. Coro could be seen in the distance jumping in place. ¡°He is like a child¡­¡± Red squinted and stared at him as we approached. I looked over to her and laughed. ¡°Yeah, I think he shifted again after you¡­ left yesterday. He isn¡¯t that¡­ Well yeah he is that bad, but at least he is easy to read like this.¡± Red shrugged. ¡°I guess you have a point. Are we going to go see Jeff today? I remember you saying he was having a kid or something?¡± ¡°Yeah, that reminds me I need to call him. Can you change his scent for all of us or do you need me to do it?¡± Red shook her head and smirked. ¡°Already done. Limax will smell like vanilla to us now¡­ Well all of us except Simon and and Scruff¡­ I can change that quickly though¡­ Should I let Simon smell? Is that weird?¡± I stared at her in, deep in thought. ¡°Not weird¡­ might mess up his record of the species though¡­¡± Simon leaned in between us. ¡°I have already recorded his smell from Red¡¯s memory. My records will not be corrupted. However milady, I would like to smell. I want to experience that.¡± He pointed at the salivating Coro leaping into the air. He was next in line. He seemed to notice that he didn¡¯t have any money, and quickly pulled up the messenger and slammed his hands into the keys. *Ding* A message popped up on my screen. ¡®LLOOOONS!!!!!!! WOBSDJKBGV¡¯ I burst out in laughter and shared the screen with Red and Ash. Ash stared laughing with me, and Red just shook her head with a smile. I pulled up a second screen and transferred some of my energy into gold, then into Loons. I transferred it into Coro¡¯s pocket and sent a message to order as many as he wanted. He slammed the message popup on his screen and instantly reached into his pocket. He came back up with two fistfuls of Loons. He lifted his hands above his head and yelled. Loons hailed down to the table in front of him, causing poor Flora to crouch behind the grille and cover her ears. Ash huffed and ran over to comfort her and apologize. Red and Simon walked over to a bench and sat down while I called Jeff. *Ring* *Ring* ¡°This Jeff! Who this?¡± His voice was rough, but he was speaking english¡­I blinked a couple times and turned to stare at Red, confused. She just smirked and continued to talk to Simon. ¡°Uhh Jeff? This is Leon.¡± ¡°Oh hi friend! You come to to visit now? We clean house!¡± I waited a few seconds before replying. Can red alter things¡­ when she is back in her world? Or did she do this after she got here? ¡°Friend Leon?! You there?! Hello!?¡± ¡°Yeah I¡¯m here, sorry Jeff, was just surprised, hearing your voice.¡± ¡°Hmmm¡­ What voice? Jeff no change?!¡± Jeff¡¯s voice faded as if he pulled the receiver away from his face. ¡°Mary! Is Jeff Voice change?!¡± ¡°Quiet Jeff! You wake Poof!¡± ¡°Ohh¡­ me sorry¡­¡± The rustling sound of someone jostling their phone filled my ears as Jeff got it back in position. ¡°Jeff voice same¡­ You come now?¡± ¡°Yeah we should be there in about fifteen minutes. Can you send the address?¡± ¡°Jeff do. See soon Friend Leon!¡± *Click* *Ding* A massage popped up on my screen. I opened it up and copied the address into a navigator screen. Coro was walking over to the bench. He had four burgers shoved in his mouth and was holding a mountain of them in his arms. He dropped the mass of meat and bread into the unoccupied bench and started handing them out. Simon accepted one and looked between it and Red several times before a screen flashed in front of her. A thin line appeared across the lower section of his head and flat teeth formed inside. He took the whole burger in one bite. His eyes flashed as bright as the sun and went back to normal almost immediately after. ¡°Can I have one too Coro?¡± I was standing behind him as he was shoveling them down, one after another. He held out a hand to me with three burgers wrapped tightly in brown paper. I accepted one and he savagely took the other two back. Ash was standing far away watching the unsightly scene in front of her. ¡°You are going to get fat Coro¡­¡± Scruff was nibbling away at one of the burgers atop her head. Red stood up and walked up to me. ¡°Did you like what I did to Jeff?¡± ¡°I was going to ask¡­¡± She pulled up a screen and flipped it over to me. Instant translator¡­ why didn¡¯t I think of that? I looked back to her and smiled. ¡°You cheeky bastard.¡± She blushed and shoved me. ¡°Stop¡­ You would have thought of it sooner of later¡­ Anyway did you get his address?¡± ¡°Yeah he is about a block over. We can head there after we finish eating.¡± She nodded her head and walked over to grab her second burger before Coro consumed the entire mountain. I finally unwrapped mine and took a bite. It was okay. Similar to that of a fast food joint with two golden arches. Red lightly set a hand on Coro¡¯s shoulder to get his attention. ¡°You need to slow down a little or you will be sick¡­ You can put these into your inventory if you want to save them for later.¡± He stared at her curiously. The burger hanging from his mouth slid out and fell to hit the ground. He grabbed both of her shoulders and shook her. ¡°Show me!¡± Red started to laugh as she pulled up a screen and showed him the extra space he hadn¡¯t known he had. Coro instantly pulled up a screen and started shoveling the burgers into the endless void in his screen. That done he plopped down on the bench and held a hand over his bloated stomach. I walked over to him and rested my hand on his shoulder. ¡°You gonna be okay?¡± ¡°It hurts so much¡­ But it tastes so good¡­¡± He reached a hand up and rested it on my own. He hiccuped and winced from the pain in his gut. ¡°Soda¡­ I need Soda¡­¡± I laughed and created a massive bucket of lime soda and placed it beside him. He ripped the lid off and honked his head in to the cool liquid. ¡°How do you put up with that¡­¡± Red accused Ash. Ash smiled and blushed in response. Her tail was standing tall behind her and flicking back and forth. ¡°He isn¡¯t that bad¡­ Kinda cute in his own way¡­¡± Red rolled her eyes and turned to Leon. ¡°You ready to go?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s wait a little bit for him to collect himself¡­ or throw up¡­¡± She nodded in agreement, and turned back to her screen. It looked like she was messaging someone, but I didn¡¯t want to poke my nose into her business. Poof huh¡­ wonder what a baby Limax will look like¡­ Chapter 10 [RED] ¡®What else can I do with this terminal?¡¯ Red had been sending messages to someone who called themselves a Precursor. They had taught her how find and manipulate the consciousness¡¯ of beings running inside the simulation. This was how she pulled Simon into Etherium with her. She had asked about the screen popping up in the ¡®real world¡¯ but had yet to receive an answer. The Precursor talked as if everything outside her apartment had never existed. The more she thought¡­ The harder it was to remember anything other than her apartment. Almost like the memories of the city were implanted to distract her from the truth. N O T H I N G I H A V E N T A L R E A D Y S H O W E D Y O U She had no idea why this being liked to put a space between every letter, but it made her left eye twitch. ¡®What about these Limax? Can you tell me anything about them?¡¯ This was the first time she had asked about a specific creature. She expected a vague summary or brief description. Instead she received something like a screen shot from a video game walkthrough fan site. _____ LIMAX These creatures are fond of the dead. Their physical bodies are made of a thick sticky green ectoplasm. They age at an exponential rate, becoming full adults within the first twenty four hours of life. It is impossible to damage them with physical attacks, however they are vulnerable to freezing, burning, or electrocution. These creatures were hunted down to near extinction due to their vast intelligence and destructive natures. The few left in society are the lesser beings. The remaining elder beings escaped to a island hidden by a veil of intense arcane magic. The current location of this island is unknown. BASIC STATS LVL:1-100 HP:50-5,000 MANA:500-50,000 ENDURANCE:UNLIMITED PHYS STR:1-15 DEX:1-10,000 INT:5-1,500,000,000 MAG PWR:25-500,000 LUCK:1-5 LIFE SPAN:IMMORTAL KNOWN ABILITIES Possession: Can control the minds and bodies of any creature with less INT than Caster. Note: Caster must completely envelop targets for full control. Can be cast on groups if caster has enough mass. Brain Melt: Devours the brain of ¡®Possession¡¯ victims to gain intellect and repurpose bodies. Note: Possession must be cast first and caster must have full control of target. Ectoplasmic Binding: Melds objects together. Note: Once objects have been bound, only original caster can separate them. Telekinesis: Use INT to move objects without physical effort. Note: Size of object effected determined by INT. Disrupt: Create a field which cancels out all magic not from caster. Note: Size increases by one meter for every ten thousand INT. Can not exceed fifteen meters. ADVANCED ABILITIES (Requires 500,000 INT or more) Planetary Augmentation: Shifts land to users will. Note: Effect increases exponentially with INT. Does not create new matter, instead repurposes surroundings. Devastation: Sacrifice INT to create an explosion. Note: The more INT used, the larger the explosion. Caster is rendered immobile for three hours after cast. _____ Red blinked several times staggered by the information. She saved a screenshot in a folder for later reference and started to read over the abilities. ¡°We should probably get going milady. Otherwise I think they will leave us behind.¡± Simon leaned down close and glanced at the information lingering in front of her. His head shifted slightly to the side as he scanned the screen. ¡°Oh my¡­ Looks like we are about to encounter some very powerful beings.¡± Red shook her head and slapped her face. This cant be right¡­ Is this a¡­ game? No¡­ that¡¯s not it¡­ The Precursor is just organizing the information in a way I can understand¡­ Yeah that must be it¡­ Besides that¡­ How can ¡®that¡¯ creature have so much INT? It¡­ I mean He¡­ couldn¡¯t possibly¡­ or could he?¡­ ¡°I hate to intrude¡­ but master Leon is standing at the corner staring at us milady.¡± ¡°Right. Lets go Simon. Sorry, I got a little lost in thought for a moment.¡± Leon started heading toward them, scratching the back of his head. He looked flustered. Great¡­ it must be something with Coro¡­ leave him alone for ten seconds and¡­ Her thought were cut short as Leon got close enough for them to hear him. ¡°So¡­ we may have a problem.¡± Red crossed her arms and scoffed. ¡°What has that oaf done now?¡± ¡°Oaf? You mean Coro? Ha! No it¡¯s about Jeff¡¯s house¡­ It¡¯s not there¡­ It¡¯s just an empty lot. I tried calling him, but he didn¡¯t pick up. Coro and Ash went to get a closer look.¡± ¡°Hmmmm. Do you think he gave us the wrong address?¡± Leon looked thoughtfully at his screen as he pulled up the message. It had been sent about thirteen minutes ago. ¡°Maybe we have to wait? I did tell him it would be fifteen minutes¡­¡± A message popped up on both their screens. It was from Coro. ¡®YOU GUYS NEED TO GET OVER HERE! NOW!¡¯ ¡°Come on lets go!¡± Red took the lead with Simon close behind her. Leon jogged along behind leisurely. As soon as they came around the corner, they froze. A thin black crack appeared to be floating in the air in the center of the lot. The crack rapidly spread from the ground to the tops of the nearby buildings. ¡°Wha¡­ What the fuc¡­¡± Red tried to comment, but was cut off by the sound like breaking ice as reality fractured in front of them. As the cracks touched the surrounding buildings, mirror like chunks fell from their sockets. The pieces rang like dropped steel beams on contact with the ground and gently bounced back up to explode into dust. The gaping holes revealed a black and white landscape. There was a single farm house sitting in the middle of a ruinous plain. A ball of corpses could be seen tearing out of the house and rapidly approaching. ¡°FRIENDS! FRIENDS! FRIENDS! FRIENDS! FRIENDS!¡± Jeff¡¯s voice faded into existence as he rolled closer. He collided with the invisible wall between dimensions causing bodies and ectoplasm to fly in every direction. A humanoid shape was left splattered against the barrier. ¡°Oof! Me forget door.¡± His voice was muffled like someone with their face pressed against a glass pane. The bulk of the ectoplasm seemed to fall on top of Ash. She tried to look unfazed by it, but as the thick green mucus fell from bangs she turned to Coro and frowned. He instantly projectile vomited on a hobo sleeping in a box nearly ten feet away. ¡°Thanks for the meal!¡± The hobo sat up and wadded up the rag he was using as a pillow. He gingerly dabbed it into the puddle and rang it out in his mouth. This caused Coro to start erupting uncontrollably. The hobo grabbed a nearby cracked bucket and started wringing out his rag in the receptacle. ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good guys¡­¡± Coro wiped his mouth after spilling his guts. Ash tried to comfort him, but only started to gag as Scruff fell to the ground with a wet flop. He appeared to be sleeping again or passed out after eating a burger more than twice his size. Red walked over and picked him up. He stirred lightly in her palm and began to snore. She smiled and tucked him into one of the pockets on the front of her shirt. ¡°I¡¯m not a doctor, but even I know that eating that much would trigger something like this.¡± She shrugged at Coro and turned back to the flatted Limax on the other side of the barrier. ¡°At least these bodies and fluids smell like vanilla now. So that¡¯s something.¡± She approached the barrier and reached out a hand only to have Leon snag her wrist. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t touch that if I were you. Jeff said something about a door.¡± Red stared up at Leon. He had a serious expression on his face causing her to frown. ¡°Look at him Leon. He just splattered against it. I just want to see how thick this¡­ wall is.¡± She jerked away from Leon and looked back to the anomaly. Jeff was attempting to peal himself from the wall. He was nearly thirty feet away from the barrier stretching himself in a way that reminded Red of a children¡¯s toy. She chuckled at the thought as she reached out to touc¡­ *Hiss* ¡°Ahh! Fuck!¡± She snapped her hand back and stared at her now missing fingers. The had burning orange tips as if she had reached into a forge. Simons heavy metal footsteps were the only thing she could register over the agonizing pain. ¡°Are you okay milady?¡± Simon was holding her hand while spraying something from one of his other fingertips over her hand. Red looked down and saw that her fingers were a bright pink color and rapidly growing back. Beads of sweat were forming on her forehead and she was panting heavily. ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah I¡¯m fine now. Thank you again Simon.¡± Leon was standing close by. Concern covering his face. ¡°Happy now? You were right¡­ I should have listened¡­¡± Red pouted and looked away from him. Leon approached her and sat down beside her. *Sigh* ¡°Why would seeing you hurt make me happy?¡­ And I wasn¡¯t right. I just didn¡¯t know what would happen. Seems like Jeff didn¡¯t either. He tried to apologize, but you couldn¡¯t hear him over the pain I guess. Good thing you brought Simon here though. He was at your side before I could do anything.¡± ¡°AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!¡± Jeff started shouting causing everyone to turn and stare at him. He was in a crouched position with his arms at his sides. There appeared to be some kind of energy forming around him as a gust of wind started to envelop his body. His yell only intensified as his body started to pulsate. The air around him started to arc with electricity as he crouched even lower to the ground and pulled his arms in closer. *PPPPPPPFFFFFFFFTT* *pfftt puuurrt ppp* The barrier cracked and fell apart in front of him as everyone just stared at the panting Limax. ¡°It safe¡­¡± *Pfft* *Frrrrt* ¡°Now¡­¡± Leon blinked a couple times before speaking. ¡°Was¡­ Was that a fart?¡± The many corpses were farting at different intervals. It sounded like a dozen people attempting to start a chainsaw. ¡°Jeff no fart! Jeff open door for friends!¡± ¡°How does something made of ectoplasm even¡­ He doesn¡¯t have butt cheeks¡­ You know what? Nevermind¡­ I¡¯ll just pretend that didn¡¯t¡¯ happen.¡± Red stood up and stormed through the hole talking to herself. Coro was giggling while Ash elbowed him in the side. He looked confused while Ash looked like she was trying to be mature and hide her amusement. The rest of the group followed Red as the bodies and ectoplasm gathered into a ball behind them, still farting uncontrollably. The black and white world shifted into color as they passed through the threshold. The ground was barren of grass or any apparent life. The air felt thin and dusty. The sky was a dull overhang of clouds. ¡°What is this place¡± Red looked around scanning her surrounding. ¡°This Jeff home! Rent cheap!¡± ¡°Wait¡­ Are you talking about the lot we were just in? You pay rent on an empty lot?¡± ¡°Me pay box man. He like food and cloths!¡± Red slapped her face and groaned. ¡°Why isn¡¯t there any other houses here? Or anything. Its just your house and¡­ nothing everywhere.¡± She bent over and grabbed a fist full of sand and let it run through her fingers as if to make her point. ¡°Jeff only make house.¡± The ball of bodies rapidly approached, slamming into Jeff and wiping him off his feet. The cracks in reality behind them closed with the sound of cracking ice along with the view of the city. The last thing they saw was the Hobo sitting there waving at the group while dipping his rag into his bucket. Static filled Red¡¯s mind and her senses failed as she fell to her knees. She brought her hands to her head, but couldn¡¯t feel it. She tried to scream, but couldn¡¯t hear it. Her vision came back in splotches as her ears started to ring. Panicked voices surrounded her. She sat up and looked around. Coro and Leon were both laid on their back. Ash had Coro¡¯s head on her lap and was checking his pulse while shouting commands at Jeff. Red sat up and blinked several times. Her unsteadiness caused her to fall to the side. She grunted and pushed herself back to a sitting position. Ears still ringing, she clasp her hand to her head. She gritted her teeth as head throbbed. ¡°Red?! Red?! What¡¯s going on?! Are you okay?!¡± ¡°Shuuuuuush¡­ too loud¡­¡± Ash¡¯s face twisted into a scowl. She unceremoniously dropped Coro¡¯s head to the ground and got in Red¡¯s face. ¡°Did you just ¡®shush¡¯ me bitch?!¡± Red rolled her eyes and fell back on her back. Sitting up had made her head spin and the only thing she wanted was for it to end. She lifted her hand and let her finger hover over the log out button, but the screen didn¡¯t pop up. What the hell¡­ Her eyes opened wide and quickly tried to press the button under the skin on her temple for an emergency log out. Nothing happened. She sat up and stared at Ash. ¡°I¡­ I cant log out¡­¡± Ash crossed her hands and scoffed. ¡°So? Why are You up and Coro is still knocked out?¡± Red closed her eyes. She reeled from the dizziness, but tried to remain calm. ¡°I think¡­ It¡¯s something to do with this place. Jeff, where are we?¡± The mass of bodies sat there in silence. One of the arms started slapping the mass. It sounded wet and destructive, like a butcher pounding meat. ¡°What friend mean? This Jeff home.¡± Okay, So we can still understand him¡­ seems like the things I altered are still in effect¡­Now that I think about it Jeff¡¯s Vanilla aroma is very pleasant¡­ FOCUS!! ¡°Jeff. I mean this place. Not your house.¡± Red tried her best to remain calm when addressing Jeff. He was a simple creature¡­ no not simple¡­ just¡­ ¡°This Jeff home?¡± Red closed her eyes and she slapped her head. The dull pain made her wince. ¡°Never mind¡­ Just¡­ never mind¡­¡± Jeff shifted to the side and his whole mass started jiggling. At closer inspection,all of the shoulders in the mound were shrugging at untimed intervals. ¡°AAAAHHHHHHHH!¡± Coro sat up and screamed. His eyes were bulging out of his head. Breathing heavy, he turned to the others. ¡°What the hell happened?!?¡± Red sighed. ¡°That¡¯s what we are trying to figure out¡­¡± Leon pulled a hand up to his head and groaned. He used his other hand to try to pull up his screen. Again nothing. His arm slumped back to the ground. ¡°God damn¡­ fuckin feel hungover as shit.¡± Red chuckled and pulled herself to her feet. She stretched causing her back to pop several times. ¡°Ahh¡­ Well lets get going. Nothing we can do about it while we are in here it seems. Ohh! Ash how long were we out?¡± Ash leaped toward Coro and embraced him in a hug. ¡°I thought you were dead!. You didn¡¯t have a pulse!¡± Leon sat up and stared at Jeff, one eye closed. ¡°You got some water? I¡¯m so thirsty¡­¡± In response Jeff pulled the arms back into his mound, and sprouted legs all around him. From the side he looked like some kind of nightmare flower. Copious amounts of fluid started erupting from the seams between his many thighs and his core. Then the legs started rotating around him rapidly. The sound of knees buckling made everyone cringe as he stormed of toward the house.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Jesus¡­¡± Red¡¯s voice was almost a whisper as she bent down to rub her knees, suddenly overcome with empathy for the many broken bones. Coro rapidly stood up, Ash still connected to him, and started to head toward the house. He looked like a drunk man trying to walk a straight line. Red realized that she never got an answer from Ash and jogged up beside Coro, leaving Leon behind. ¡°Hey Ash you never answered me. How long were we out?¡± Ash flipped up over Coro, landing on his shoulders but facing the wrong way. Coro stopped and tried to pull her crotch off of his face, but her grip around his head was absolute. He managed to pull his face away and gasped for breath, then looked straight up and continued on his path. ¡°You weren¡¯t out long. Maybe¡­ ten minutes?¡± Ash replied while playing with Coro¡¯s hair. Red arced an eyebrow at Coro, wondering how he had just avoided running into the foot high stump in front of him. He swerved around several other rocks, making it look effortless. ¡°Umm¡­ Coro¡­ How are you avoiding tho¡­¡± ¡°WHAAAAA!¡± His yell was cut off by Ash tightening her grip again. ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. I think he is just really thirsty too. Weird you aren¡¯t¡­¡± Red stopped and thought about it for a second. I could go for a drink, but It¡¯s not like I¡¯m dehydrated or anything. I understand Coro because he threw up a lot before we came in here¡­ ¡°Why do you do that?¡± Red snapped back to attention and looked up to Ash. Her tail was flicking back and forth in front of Coro. He kept slapping it away like it was an annoying fly. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°When you think. You always stop moving and start biting at your thumb.¡± ¡°Do I?¡± Red looked down at her hands. Her right thumb nail was down to the quick, nearly bleeding. It was also much thinner than her left thumb nail. ¡°I¡­ Never even noticed that before¡­ Wait! Where is Simon?!¡± Ash pointed in the direction they came from. Red squinted and saw the faint shine of her robot companion¡¯s glistening body in the distance. It appeared to be rapidly approaching. ¡°I sent him off to find help. Jeff didn¡¯t know what to do, so I thought it would be best to ask Simon. He can cover ground pretty quick with those boosters.¡± ¡°And¡­ he listened to you? Why? I programmed him to only listen to my commands.¡± Ash shrugged. ¡°I guess he was concerned because he couldn¡¯t analyze you. Said something about how the access to his information was restricted.¡± Red¡¯s eyes grew several sizes. ¡°Oh shit¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Red started to panic as the sound of Simon¡¯s boosters came closer. A faint scream came into existence accompanied by the deafening roar of the boosters. A body fell to the ground with a thud as Simon came in for a landing. Leon sat up coughing up dust. ¡°The hell was that for?¡± ¡°SILENCE HUMAN!¡± Simon¡¯s voice was a monotone sinister low pitch. His eyes had shifted from their normal cyan blue circles to blood red straight lines. ¡°I HAVE RETURNED WITH YOUR PET.¡± Ash put a hand up to her face and tilted her head. ¡°Oh yeah¡­ and he was acting a bit weird¡­¡± ¡°REQUESTING DYOGNISS MASTER.¡± Red blushed as she jabbed Simon¡¯s leg. ¡°I told you not to call him that.¡± ¡°CALL THEM AS I SEE THEM MASTER.¡± A small compartment opened in the robot¡¯s crotch, revealing a controller. It looked like a classic game controller with additional button clusters attached. As soon as she turned the controller on, Simon slumped over. Multiple different tones started emitting from the robot as he rebooted. ¡°So sorry about that¡­¡± Leon stood us and started dusting himself off. ¡°Did he just call me your pet?¡± Red¡¯s blush deepened and she turned to face the opposite direction. ¡°He did didn¡¯t he?¡± Ash commented jeering at Red. She did a handstand on Coro¡¯s shoulders and flipped through the air to land in front of Red. ¡°Fucking finally!!!¡± Coro erupted as he fell on his ass from the force of her jump. His strength appeared to be lost in this place, along with the use of their screens. Ash glared at Red. Her imposing smug face only deepened Red¡¯s embarrassment causing her to hide her face behind the controller. Leon shifted his head back and forth popping his neck. ¡°Stop patronizing her. I already know I was her pet project before I broke out of the simulation loop.¡± ¡°You knew!?!¡± Red jumped and turned to face him. Her face was still a blazing crimson. Leon looked away from her and started walking toward the approaching Limax. There were two corpse mounds approaching this time, one holding a large pitcher of liquid in the air above it. ¡°We can talk about this later¡­¡± Leon was much colder than usual. His voice stung Red and she slumped to her knees. He knew he was in a loop¡­ does he know how many times I put him though that same terrible day¡­ Tears started to form in her eyes. Ash gave up her tyrant of accusing stares and wandered up beside Leon. Coro had rushed up to greet the Limax holding the pitcher. *Sigh* ¡°Come on Red, I¡¯m not mad at you.¡± Red looked back up to him mouth agape. ¡°Leon¡­ I¡¯m so¡­¡± ¡°Stop. We were going to have to talk about it eventually. I¡¯ve been putting it off and didn¡¯t want to talk about it.¡± Red stumbled back to her feet and tripped. Simon reached out and caught her before she fell. She looked up at him. His eyes were green rotating triangles. He didn¡¯t say anything as he pulled her in close and started off toward the group. Red wiped the tears from her face and looked down at the controller in her hand. ¡°How are you moving when I¡¯m not controlling you?¡± Simon looked down at her and his eyes faded black then back to the green triangles. ¡°Did you¡­ just blink?¡± ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know who I am¡­ where I am¡­ what¡­ I am¡­¡± He stopped moving and lowered her to the ground. His legs collapsed on themselves, followed by his arms, then his torso. The controller in Red¡¯s hands started to spark and a small smoke trail started to leak out as the lights flickered and dimmed. ¡°What I do know¡­ Is that you made me.¡± His voice was a much higher pitch than before, matching his now small stature. He was roughly the same height as Red now. His face looked much more human and had a look of sheer happiness. A small green pixel floated down from his left eye as he grasped Red in a deep embrace. ¡°Thank you¡­ for freeing me¡­¡± He broke the embrace and dashed off to join the others. It was like watching a child run for the first time. He giggled as he ran causing the others to turn and stare. Red dropped the burnt controller and ran after him. What did he mean by freeing him¡­ I¡­ I need to ask¡­ I need to know! ¡°Me no think robots drink?¡± A feminine voice came from the smaller blob. On closer inspection, Red noticed that this Limax was constructed entirely of squirrels. Hundreds of furry tails swished about furiously as it levitated the pitcher away from Simon. ¡°Robot? Whats that?¡± The childish Simon was jumping up and down trying to swipe the pitcher away from Mary. ¡°Mary say no! Liquid make you all sparky!¡± Leon put both hands on Simon¡¯s shoulders and held him on the ground. The robot child turned to face him. ¡°What are you doing Simon?¡± ¡°Simon?¡­ Is that me?¡± Simon pointed to himself and tilted his head. Leon raised an eyebrow and stared at the rotating triangles in the little robots eyes. ¡°Yes¡­ Your name is Simon¡­ What the hell happened back there?¡± Leon looked at that now panting Red questionably. She held up a hand with a finger extended while she caught her breath. ¡°I *pant* have no idea *pant* He just transformed after he caught me.¡± Simon closed his eyes and smiled giving Leon a thumbs up. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Who are you guys? Is Simon your friend? Simon seems like an old butlers name¡­¡± Simon pouted after realizing that his name felt like a stereotype. He brightened up realizing Leon moved his hands from him and snatched the pitcher from Mary. *Glug glug glug* He chugged the remainder of the liquid to Coro¡¯s dismay. The pitcher was filled with Lemonade. This was the first time Coro had ever tasted such a delicacy. Anger boiling up within him, Coro reached under the robots arms and tried to lift him. *Huf* Coro grunted, straining under the sheer weight of the compact robot, causing Simon to giggle at him. ¡°What are you doing white spike?¡± ¡°White spike?¡± Ash smiled and poked Coro in the back of the head. ¡°White spike!¡± She kept poking at the spikes on his head. They were no longer hardened, so they fell limp after she poked them, much to her amusement. ¡°Will you guys shut the fuck up?!¡± A childish feminine voice came from the upper floor of the house accompanied by the slamming of the window. ¡°That little Poof¡­ Grow up so fast¡­¡± Mary¡¯s squirrel tales all wiped her eyes. At least the area eyes should be if a ball had two eyes. ¡°That Poof need use manners around friends!¡± Jeff left his corporeal bodies behind and his amorphous green glob floated up to the window. Instead of opening it, he just shattered it as he floated through. ¡°Damn Jeff! I tell window not door so many time!¡± Mary rolled back into the house and stopped at the door. ¡°You guys come in. I¡¯ll go get.¡± Coro was red faced, still trying to lift Simon off the ground. Simon was clapping cheering him on. ¡°You can do it! You¡¯re almost there tehee!¡± It looked like the only progress he had made was burying his shoes in the dirt. Coro let go and put his hands on his knees gasping for breath. ¡°Damn little dude. What are you made of?¡± ¡°I have no idea.¡± Simons voice was faint. Coro looked up to find the little robot already inside the little farm house. Leon slapped his back as he walked toward the house. Coro looked back to Red. She was still trying to catch her breath. Exercise was not something she did often. Red felt something shuffling on her chest. She looked down, lightly panting. Scruff poked his head out and frantically looked around. ¡°Aye? They head inside?¡± His voice was hushed. Like he was trying to tell her a secret. Red nodded and he reached into a fleshy pocket on his front. It looked like a small duffle bag, hidden beneath his fur. A twinkling purple light accompanied by the tinkle of glass bottles emitted from the pouch as he rustled through it. He held his tongue out while he searched. ¡°Ah-ha! whoops¡­ here.¡± He ducked back into her pocket and held up a tiny vial filled with a glowing green and blue swirling liquid. Red didn¡¯t know why he was being so secretive and shy, but accepted the tiny gift. The vial had a tiny cork plugged into the top. She tried to pull off the top, but it was too tiny. Getting frustrated, she started to poke Scruff. ¡°What? What¡¯s wrong?¡± He flipped around in her pocket and looked up to her whispering. He noticed the aggravated look on her face and held up his hand. Red dropped the vial, causing Scruff to panic and leap out to catch it. A bead of sweat rolled down his face as he slowly turned around. Coro hadn¡¯t noticed and was already on his way into the house. Scruff our a single claw into the cork and posed it open. Orange dust flew out in swirling patterns. ¡°Drink it lass. Quickly¡­ I can¡¯t be seen here. Me masters can see what I see. I don want him to know how to get to Leon¡¯s friends. Specially ifin he be serious bout freein me people.¡± ¡°Oh?¡­ I doubt he can see into this place. I cant use my administrator terminal here¡­ I don¡¯t think any kind of information transfer will work here unless the¡­ door is open¡­ At least Jeff called it a door. I think it is some kind of dimensional gateway¡­ Really wish Jeff was more understanding about things¡­¡± Scruff sat on the back of Reds palm, face twisted in confusion. ¡°You don¡¯t know tha masters¡­ They may have a way to see in here¡­¡± Red smiled back at him and pet his head with two fingers. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about us. I know you haven¡¯t been around us long, but we can handle ourselves. I wouldn¡¯t worry too much about it.¡± Scruff put on a half smile and handed the concoction to Red. ¡°Iffin you say so¡­. here drink. It will take care of your weariness. Would have given it to ya earlier¡­ But I only gots the one¡­¡± Red pinched the vial and turned it back. She shivered from the incredible sweat taste and the shear coldness of the liquid. The chill crept down her throat and spread through her whole body. It quickly faded and she felt vigor pour over her. It was like she had woken up after a long massage. ¡°Wow, I feel fantastic¡­ What exactly was that?¡± Scruff appeared embarrassed and scratched his head. ¡°It be nothin. Just a family recipe passed down from me great gran. She was a great apothecary and an alchemist¡­¡± ¡°Well thank you. I appreciate it.¡± Red¡¯s compliment made Scruffs tiny tail start flailing about wildly. Scruff hopped back into her pocket and hung his front paws and head over the side. ¡°Lets be goin.¡± Red stared off to the house. It was surprisingly quiet. The only thing that could be heard as she approached the door was the groaning from Coro. She poked her head around the corner to find Coro and Simon staring at each other. Coro was shaking while Simon was completely still. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Red looked over to Leon and Ash sitting on a couch together. Their closeness made Red feel a sudden rush of jealousy. Ash seemed to realize this and shifted to the side to make room for Red between them. ¡°They are having a staring contest¡­¡± Leon sighed, causing Simon to giggle. ¡°SHUT UP! YOU HAVEN¡¯T WON YET!¡± Coro bellowed while maintaining intense eye contact. Red moved across the room and sat between Leon and Ash. She found out now that the couch was much smaller than she previously thought. Her thighs were rubbing against Leon and Ash. Their warmth made Red¡¯s heart flutter. *Cough* Red tried to look more confident to take her mind off of the intense anxiety building in her chest. ¡°Coro, You know you can¡¯t win this battle¡­ right?¡± Coro grit his teeth and his nostrils fared. His eyes were bloodshot and tears were starting to roll down his cheeks. Jeff¡¯s amorphous blob floated down the stairs followed by a tiny, much more human like, blob. Jeff ignored everyone and floated out the door to retrieve his corpses. The smaller blob looked at the group and somehow turned its nose up at them as it floated above them to watch the contest happening in the middle of the room. ¡°Fix window Jeff!¡± Mary¡¯s voice could be heard from up the stairs accompanied by the thudding moist sounds of her squirrel bodies as they impacted the stairs. She slammed into a wall at the bottom and rolled to rest beside Leon. ¡°What happening here?¡± Leon looked over to her wearily and sighed. ¡°Coro and Simon started a staring contest¡­ This has been going on ever since they sat down.¡± Giggles from Simon and groans of pain from Coro came from the contestants sitting on the carpet in the center of the room. Mary seemed to shift a little as if she was contemplating a difficult problem. ¡°But¡­ But he robot? Robot no blink¡­ right?¡± ¡°AHHHHHHHHHH!¡± Coro screamed and finally blinked his eyes. He reeled back and started rubbing at his eyes. ¡°I won! What is my prize?¡± Simon jumped to his feet and started hopping around excitedly. The floating blob near the ceiling came down and started to poke at Simon. It shifted its head in confusion and looked around the room. ¡°Who made this?¡± ¡°Poof! It Rude to question guests before introducing! I sorry¡­ She already going through¡­ teen stages.¡± The blob sighed and composed itself. ¡°Hello. My idiotic parents decided to name me Poof. I am their ¡®daughter¡¯ according Jeff¡­ because that¡¯s what he wanted.¡± ¡°Rude! Very rude Poof! Grounded!¡± Poof looked over at her mother and stuck her tongue out. Red stared at her, wishing she could analyze her with Simon or her terminal. Seeing as She no longer had much control over Simon, She decided to do it the old fashioned way. ¡°Poof? Hey, My name is Red. I was the one who constructed Simon. He was a bit bigger before, but something about this place seemed to have changed him.¡± Poof rushed over to Red and stopped inches away from her face. She appeared to be looking over Red, scanning every part of her skeptically. ¡°Really? And how exactly did you find a quantum phase generator? I¡¯ve been trying to make something like this for hours, but there aren¡¯t enough components for me to salvage around here.¡± Red was taken aback. This Poof was much more intelligent than her parents. So much so that Red thought Poof may have been born as an elder Limax. At least according to the information the Precursor had sent her earlier. ¡°This might sound strange to you, but we are not from here. I¡¯m not really sure where ¡®here¡¯ is¡­ but¡­¡± Poof reformed her body to mimic that of Red¡¯s and let herself touch the ground. She winced at the wet sound her feet made when they touched the ground. Red jumped from the couch and tried to cover Poof. She looked identical to Red¡­ Only she was completely naked. Red blushed furiously and started pushing Poof into the next room, out of everyone else¡¯s eyesight. Poof smirked and shifted into a flowing fluid to reappear sitting in Leon¡¯s lap. ¡°And who are you?¡± She leaned back and let her head rest on Leon¡¯s shoulder. She slowly drug her finder tips up his inner thigh. All the while staring directly at Red with a smug shit eating grin. ¡°Is this your man Red?¡± Her words were like silk as she taunted Red into further rage and embarrassment. Mary reached over with an long green tentacle and sucked up Poof from Leon¡¯s lap like a slurpy. Poof screamed for a second before she was completely consumed by Mary. ¡°Me very sorry for Poof... give me minute to scold her...¡± Then she was silent. Everyone looked over to the furiously embarrassed Red. She just stared at her feet and held her hands in clinched fists. Ash decided to break the silence and pick at Red. ¡°So.... anyone else think Red¡¯s perky tits are kinda cute?...¡± Red started to shake and collapsed to her knees. Simon scooted over to her and started aggressively patting her on the back. Leon stood up to shift his pants, much to Ash¡¯s amusement. Jeff rolled in and froze as he noticed Red sitting with her hands covering her face. ¡°What Poof do now?¡± Red took in a deep breath and sat up to look at Leon who still seemed flustered by the bizarre situation. She noticed the not so well hidden bulge in his pants and her anxiety grew. Her voice was muffled as she spoke through her hands. ¡°It¡¯s nothing Jeff¡­ Don¡¯t worry about it¡­¡± Jeff did the strange shrugging thing again and rolled across the room and flailed about trying to get over Mary. She was still unmoving next to the couch and Leon. Leon glared at Ash. Her ears pinned down on her head as his stare tore threw her. ¡°Why did you do that Ash?¡± She looked down at her hands and fiddled with her thumbs. Her tail flicked about beside her, not seeming to find a conformable position. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­ This place makes me feel more¡­ aggressive? Not really sure how to describe it.¡± Leon leaned back into the couch appearing to come to some kind of realization. Red pulled herself together and looked up to meet his thoughtful stare. Her cheeks felt warm and her heart sped up. ¡°What?¡± Her voice was soft. She looked back and forth from Leon and the floor. Maintaining eye contact for more than a couple seconds made her heart beat so hard she felt like she would pass out. Mary started to shiver and a green liquid oozed out from her base like she was leaking. The green puddle slowly reformed to Poof¡¯s vaguely humanoid appearance. This time the only thing resembling a female was a ponytail to the side of her head. It wasn¡¯t like she had hair, it was more like a green molded translucent clay affixed to the side of her head. She appeared more solid than before as well. Poof walked over to Red and grabbed her hand to pull her back to her feet. They started at each other for a couple seconds before Poof turned and pulled Red into another room. [LEON] Mary¡¯s squirrel tails started fluttering about as she spun around to face me and the others. ¡°I tell Poof apologize. Want more drink?¡± ¡°FUCK YES!! Anything to get over this awkward drama shit¡­¡± Coro burst out, startling Simon who had his head spun around towards his back watching Red leave. His head rapidly snapped back and focused on Coro. He leaned in close like he was going to whisper something. Coro leaned in close. ¡°CALM DOWN!¡± Simon¡¯s voice boomed, knocking Coro back onto his back and blowing out all of the windows behind him. Simon looked around like he was trying to see if anyone had noticed. Then he pointed at Coro like he was the one to blame. ¡°Fuckin tits!¡± I tried to yell, but couldn¡¯t hear my oven words. My ears rang so loud it was making me dizzy. I blinked a couple times and noticed my vision was a little blurry. Simon waddled over and placed his hands on my ears. My hearing returned back to normal along with my vision. He then did the same for Ash but left Coro lying on his back. Blood trickled out from his ears and spilled through his fingers. ¡°Um¡­ Simon? Shouldn¡¯t you fix Coro too?¡± The little robot looked over his shoulder and sighed. He knelt down and repaired Coro¡¯s hearing as well. Coro sat up nearly smashing his forehead into Simon¡¯s face. ¡°That was sick! Can you do it¡­¡± ¡°No!¡± Coro¡¯s excitement was cut short by Ash. She was a lot more sensitive to loud noises and appeared to still be in pain after the healing. Damn¡­ wonder if her senses were turned back to to maximum? Probably not right? Mary and Jeff still smell like Vanilla so I don¡¯t think any changes have been reversed¡­ ¡°Hey, you okay Ash?¡± ¡°Yeah yeah¡­¡± She waved me off and fell down on her side, her head landing on my thigh. She quickly settled in and pulled in her legs and tail so she was in a fetal like position. Not knowing what to do, I let my hand rest on her head between her ears. Wow¡­ her hair is so soft. Nothing like human hair¡­ Absentmindedly, I started to scratch her head causing her to let out a faint moan, then she started to purr. Her whole body seemed to vibrate as I continued. Her ears started to flick whenever i got close to them. Wonder what her ears feel like?¡­ Guess there is only one way to find out¡­ Curiosity overtaking me, I moved my hand up and lightly touched her ear. She moaned again and the purring grew a bit louder. I moved my hand so the tip of her ear folded in my palm and I scratched the base on her ear. She moaned again and turned around to face me. Her face was flushed and she was panting heavily. I could feel her breath on my face. It smelled like cinnamon. I could feel a sudden pressure in my pants again. ¡°Um¡­ Ash?¡± I tried to lift my hand from her head, but she grabbed it and started to lick my palm. Her purrs grew more intense. She slowly wrapped her tongue around my finger and pulled it into her mouth. I tried to pull away again only to be stopped by her thin sharp claws gently poking into my skin. The tightness in my pants grew more apparent as I struggled against the aggressive cat girl in my lap. I looked over at Coro to see his response. It appeared thatJeff had put Simon and Coro had to work replacing the glass windows. My heart started to pound as I looked back at the writhing girl in my lap. She was staring directly into my eyes, cheeks flushed. She slowly pulled herself up onto my lap to face me and started unbuttoning her shirt. She bit her lip as she grew closer to her pants. She extended a long thin blood red claw from her hand and ripped through my shirt leaving a thin cut from my waist to my chest. I winced from the sudden pain, but was quickly silenced by her tongue. She started grinding back and forth in my lap while she plunged her tongue deep into my mouth. The taste of her overtook me. It was a mix of cinnamon and vanilla. I gave in and started to kiss her back. She ran her claws down my back, causing just enough pain to make me recoil. She pushed me down onto the couch and pinned my hands down with her own. She licked her lips and looked over me stopping at my belt. She removed her right hand and moved down to undo my pants. Having lost all will to resist, I laid back and watched. She knelt down and unfastened my belt. Slipping a hand into my pants, She bit her lip and slowly looked up to meet my gaze. She lowered her face to my waist and slowly licked up the cut she had made. I felt her nipples dragging across me as she grew closer to my face. She stopped at my chest and sat up. I stared, panting as she slowly turned her gaze to the other side of the room. I turned to what she was staring at. Red and Poof were standing at the other side of the room. Red was covering her face but peering through her fingers. Poof just had a hand on her hip and a smug look on her face. ¡°See Red? He doesn¡¯t care.¡± Red looked back and forth between us and Poof. Ash scowled and started buttoning up her shirt. ¡°Just as it was starting to get good¡­¡± She sighed and bent over to lightly kissed me on the lips. ¡°Another time then¡­¡± She slowly rose from my lap reveling that my pants were down to my knees. I lay there breathing heavy and tried to pull pants back up. God damn¡­ Not going to deny that Ash is hot, but shit¡­ Was really not expecting anything like that¡­ Could she be recessing to her Eclec nature? I need to check her file when i have a chance again. Poof left Red¡¯s side and approached me. She leaned over and whispered in my ear. ¡°You guys are taking me with you.¡± I looked up to Poof and creased my brow. ¡°Taking you with us?¡± Poof slammed her hand to cover mouth and looked around frantically. She looked back down to me and continued to whisper. ¡°You won¡¯t have much of a choice if you want to take me or not¡­ I just thought you would appreciate knowing.¡± Coro and Simon came in followed by Jeff. Poof liquified and reshaped beside Red. Coro walked over and plopped town beside Ash. She just stared at my shirtless body gnawing at her thumb, ignoring Coro entirely. He just shrugged and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. ¡°What happened while we were gone? You guys are all really quiet.¡± Red moved to a small chair in the corner of the room and sat down. She stared at her hands and twitted her thumbs. Poof floated across the room and came to rest over Coro. She leaned down so they were face to face. ¡°Nothing. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± She smiled mischievously and winked. Coro raised an eyebrow and moved a little closer so he could whisper. ¡°I don¡¯t trust you.¡± ¡°Good. Same here.¡± They both continued to smile at each other until Jeff rolled over behind Poof and pulled her away with a bundle of knees and elbows. ¡°What Poof doing?¡± Poof broke away from his embrace and flew up to the ceiling. She burst into five pieces on contact and reformed into smaller versions of herself around the room. They all giggled simultaneously and sporadically ran around the room. Jeff spun around and started rolling around like a pinball. Poof continued to float about the room and laugh at Jeff¡¯s attempts to catch her. Jeff grumbled in frustration as he gave up and rolled into the kitchen. One of the Poof clones drifted behind me and placed her hands on my shoulders. The others coalesced around her as she grew taller and bend over to my ear ¡°Should we go before they come back? It will be easier if they didn¡¯t know¡­¡± I turned my head and bumped into her face, deforming it and causing her to flinch back. She covered her face and backed away from me. ¡°You are going to ask them. I consider Jeff to be a friend¡­ I don¡¯t want to kidnap his daughter when he invited us into his home. Also why are you tormenting us if you want us to take you away.¡± Having formed her angular face again, She scoffed and returned to Red¡¯s side and pouted. What a moody girl¡­ I wonder what her age is?¡­ I know they grow up fast, but she obviously isn¡¯t an adult. Mary finally came back into the room with a massive pitcher hovering above her and Jeff following behind. She rolled over to Coro and let the pitcher setting in his outstretched arms. ¡°Sorry took so long. Not good at lemon smashing¡­¡± Mary turned away shyly as Coro guzzled down the yellow liquid. Simon tried to fight him for it, but Coro just stuck out an arm and grabbed Simon¡¯s head pushing him away. ¡°Poof always cause trouble¡­ We very sorry¡­¡± Poof smirked and stared at me expectingly. I shrugged and gestured for her to speak. She sighed and approached her parents. ¡°So¡­ Uhm¡­ I don¡¯t want to stay here¡­¡± She stared down away from her parents as Mary¡¯s tails started to flail wildly. Jeff stirred, but showed no other reaction. Mary, for the first time, left her mass of squirrel bodies and shifted into her amorphous form to hug Poof. ¡°We wait so long for today! Daughter grow into women!¡± Thick green tears rolled down Mary¡¯s cheeks. Jeff left his corpses and embraced his family. He closed his eyes and patted Poof on the back. ¡°Little girl grow so fast.¡± Red raised an eyebrow watching the scene in front of her. She seemed have gathered herself from seeing me basically nude earlier. She started rubbing her head like a sudden migraine settled in. ¡°Wait a second¡­ I thought Poof was born yesterday?¡± ¡°Yes! That why you come! Poof need leave home! Not good stay with parents so long!¡± Poof looked up questionably at her parents. She pushed away from them and put on a sour expression. ¡°What? You¡¯re kicking me out?¡± ¡°No No! We leave home early.¡± Mary tried to hastily explain, but Poof only got more confused. She rubbed her eyes, trying to make sense of her parents. ¡°So¡­ Limax leave their offspring right after they are born? Is that what you are trying to say?¡± Red poked in, seeming to come to a conclusion before Poof could. Mary pointed to Red and shook her head vigorously. Poof sighed and thanked Red before looking back at her parents. ¡°What if I don¡¯t come back?¡± Jeff looked at Mary and shrugged while she put a hand to her face in thought. ¡°I not remember parents face¡­ You Jeff?¡± ¡°Jeff no have parents.¡± He sounded very confident in that blatantly obviously false statement causing Poof to laugh and embrace her parents in a hug. ¡°Boring! Lets get the hell out of here. Come on little dude.¡± Coro leaped from the couch and stormed outside with Simon. They were rapidly becoming good friends. ¡°Fuck¡­ I¡¯m going to head outside to make sure they don¡¯t break anything. Red do you mind helping Poof with her things?¡± I stood up and walked outside, not waiting for an answer from her. She was obviously still too embarrassed to look at me, so I didn¡¯t want to push her. I closed the door behind me and noticed a sudden draft. My ripped shirt blew around in the wind. I looked down and noticed that the cut Ash had made on my chest was already healed. I rubbed my chest, expecting a scar or something and noticed my skin was warm. ¡°What¡¯s up? What happened to your shirt?¡± Coro bound over, riding on Simons shoulders. He jumped down and pulled at the ripped fabric causing half of it to fall to the ground. ¡°Uhh¡­ Ash ripped it¡­ earlier when you were fixing the windows.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Why did she rip it?¡± Should I just tell him?¡­ Probably should¡­ Don¡¯t want drama to pop up later so might as well deal with it now¡­ ¡°She¡­ uh¡­ jumped on me and¡­¡± ¡°Made out with you and ripped it off, yeah she does that. I think she is¡­ in heat? That what you call it? She did that last night with me to.¡± Coro shrugged it off like it didn¡¯t matter. I blinked a couple times and stared at him. ¡°You¡­ aren¡¯t mad?¡± ¡°Mad? Why would I be? She can do whatever she want¡¯s. Not like I can stop her anyway.¡± He shrugged and took off his leather jacket, handing it to me. I don¡¯t remember him ever having a jacket until now. I ripped the rest of my shirt off and accepted the jacket. He can¡¯t make things like I can¡­ right? Maybe he can. Or Ash got it for him? But when? Whatever, best not overthink it. ¡°Oh yeah, That jacket might be a little sticky. It was on one of the corpses in Jeff¡¯s¡­ party? Yeah I¡¯m going with party.¡± ¡°Was wondering where you got it. Doesn¡¯t really seem like anything is on it. Ehh, better than nothing I guess.¡± A window opened above, followed by a screeching Ash and a massive metal suitcase. Simon ran out like he was catching a football and snagged the suitcase from the air, letting Ash smash into nearby dirt mound. She was buried up to her waist and her tail was fluffed out. Simon reached over and grabbed her tail. Ash¡¯s muffled screams grew louder as her tail spasmed in his hand. Simon planted his feet and gently lower the suitcase before grabbing her tail with both hands. He tugged and Ash flew out smashing into Coro. Ash leaped back up on all fours and hissed at the robot boy. Simon pointed at himself and looked around, confused. Ash¡¯s tail appeared to be broken in the middle from his grip. I rushed over to try to calm her, before she attacked him. ¡°Ash! It¡¯s going to be okay. I can fix it when we get out of here. Plus he is basically a kid.¡± She snapped to me and hissed again. Her eyes were tiny slits and tears were in the corners of her eyes. I slowly got closer until I was in arms length. I reached out and patted her head. Her eyes started shifting back a tear ran down her face. ¡°Can you really fix it?¡± Ash sniffled and grabbed her broken tail with both hands. ¡°Yes, I should be able to. I just cant in here¡­ Can¡¯t use the screen.¡± ¡°Okay¡­ *sniff*¡­ will you¡­ carry me?¡± I scratched my head. ¡°I guess¡­ why though?¡± Ash blushed and looked away. She stood up and fell back to the ground. ¡°I can¡¯t keep my balance with my tail like this¡­¡± She looked to me and pouted. I walked over and lifted her in my arms. She snuggled into my arms and leaned up to nibble on my neck. ¡°What are you¡­¡± She put a finger over my lips and stuck out her tongue at me. Well.. Coro said he didn¡¯t care right? Guess I should just let it happen¡­ Ash started purring again ad she buried her face into my chest. Coro ran over to Simon to find out what was in the suitcase. It was already open and flashing lights and a thin fog was rolling out. ¡°Hey get away from that!¡± Poof drifted out the window, lowering Red to the ground before dashing over to her case. Simon stepped back, but Coro kept digging through ignoring the rapidly approaching Limax. Coro pulled up a vat of shining blue liquid and pulled the cork out. A purple haze bellowed out from it and He turned it back, drinking the whole thing in one gulp. ¡°No! Stop!¡± Poof slammed into him, trying to stop him, and wrapped herself around him completely. Coro fell to the ground and started twitching. Coro appeared to be coated in green slime. He started to levitate, still twitching, and started to¡­ change. Coro¡¯s waist started to slim, his chest and ass started inflating, his face started reshaping into a more¡­ feminine shape. He¡­ or maybe she¡­ floated back to the ground and opened their eyes. ¡°Oh mai gawd! Hai hai! So great to finally be out of that ¡®sausage party¡¯. Oh nice to finally meet you, I¡¯m Coro.¡± Ash shook in my arms. Her claws started extending as she watched the transformation. Red walked up beside us, not making eye contact, with Scruff poking looking out from her pocket. ¡°Awe look at the little furry hamster! Can I hold him? Please?!¡± Coro rushed over to Red and started jumping up and down with excitement. Ash pushed into me, trying to make distance between herself and the girl that took over her Coro. Her ears were flat to her head and she looked disgusted. ¡°What did you do to him?¡± Ash hissed and bore her fangs. She crawled around to my back and lifted herself to sit on my shoulders. She grabbed my head with both hands and lightly planted her claws in my scalp. ¡°Hey, what the hell are you doing?!¡± She pulled her claws back and leaned over my head and hissed at Coro. In response, Coro tilted her head to the side and threw up a piece sign. ¡°Hey Ash! I¡¯m still the same Coro¡­ I think?¡­ maybe?¡± Coro shrugged and turned back to poke at Scruff. ¡°It¡¯s kinda like I¡¯m watching a movie with a bunch of guys inside my head. Whoever is in control isn¡¯t in the theatre.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­ really interesting actually¡­¡± Red analyzed Coro. She lifted Scruff and gently handed him over. ¡°What exactly happened to Poof?¡± A green puddle formed at Coro¡¯s feet and reformed into a waving Poof. ¡°I¡¯m still here. Really weird that I couldn¡¯t possess him. Also weird that he changed like this.¡± ¡°Uhh! That¡¯s rude! I¡¯m a woman. Sorry, I know it¡¯s confusing¡­ Here I¡¯m done with him.¡± Coro handed Coro back to Red and started walking back over to Poof¡¯s suitcase. ¡°Hey don¡¯t touch anything in there! You already drank my blue potion! I worked on that for hours!¡± ¡°What was that by the way?¡± I was curious about the purple vapors coming from the blue liquid. ¡°It was a colony of medical nano machines. They save the current state of the body and repair any unknown damages or diseases the occur. At least in theory. It wasn¡¯t complete yet.¡± ¡°Damn¡­ Well If you do ever complete that I think we should all drink one.¡± ¡°It tasted really sweat! Not really sure what it was though. I haven¡¯t really tried anything sweet other than soda so¡­¡± Coro was digging through the case and pound another vat filled with a yellow liquid. She popped the cork and raised it to her lips. Poof split into three and two of dashed to get concoction away from Coro. The third formed behind her and pulled her hair from behind to look her in the eyes. ¡°Don¡¯t touch my stuff¡­¡± Poof let go causing Coro to fall flat onto the ground. She coughed up dirt and scowled at Poof, who had already gotten back beside Red. ¡°Alright, lets go. We need to get the hell out of this place. Not having my screen is making me itchy.¡± Wanting to break up the fighting, I talked as I made my way toward the entrance. ¡°Wait¡­ How do we get out of here?¡± I looked around, not remembering where the entrance was. ¡°Poof! Do there! Don¡¯t break house!¡± Jeff and Mary were waving and point in the direction we came from when we entered the weird other world. Poof shook her head and lifted her unoccupied hand. The ground beneath our feet swirled and fell away. We all fell screaming but were caught by a slab of bedrock. The massive rock rocket to the surface and landed on a wave if dirt. It was a tidal surge of colossal proportions. We flew forward toward a black fracture in reality. ¡°Oh yeah, Hold on tight.¡± [The King-Earlier] ¡°Fuck!¡± The king rose from his osmium throne and threw his servant, repainting the wall with their insides. He started breathing heavy, not that he needed to breathe. His entire body was made from robotic enhancements. The only human part left was his brain, held in a preservation liquid deep within his core. ¡°I¡¯m sorry sire¡­ I shall fetch you another slave to entertain you while we wait.¡± ¡°No¡­ bring me 308¡­¡± The counselor shifted his head and questioned his king. ¡°308? Which one might you be talking about?¡± ¡°Tau! Who else. The one I assigned to Leon!¡± ¡°Oh course sire. I apologize for my ignorance. I shall fetch her immediately.¡± The counselor used his tentacles to scuttle out of the room, leaving the king alone in his throne room. The king looked up to the massive screen filled with static in front of him. He lifted a massive arm and blasted a beam of plasma into it, ripping him from the illusion. He sat on the main deck of his interstellar ship. There was a massive clear dome above him showing the two planets containing intelligent life and their singular sun he had captured from the last solar system they had drifted through. He scratched his metal face and wire beard in thought as he stared at the mess of blood and organs splattered against the side of his glorious dome. ¡°What could they be doing in that rift¡­ I need to know¡­ Frustrating I can¡¯t access it¡­ That scientist said I would have access to everything running on that old Earth server¡­ No matter¡­ Soon enough I will arrive on Earth and see what those pathetic humans have been up to for the last four hundred twenty five millennium¡­ Maybe longer? Time means nothing to me anymore¡­ I wouldn¡¯t care about the humans, but after finding this ¡®Select World¡¯ server¡­ What the hell did Freda do¡­¡± *Ahem* ¡°Your highness¡­ You are talking to yourself again¡­¡± The king shifted to his counselor and noticed the clear golden eyed beauty standing next to him. Her flowing purple aura caught his eye and entranced him. ¡°Ahh Tau. How have you been?¡± She looked away from the king and her cheeks started to shine with a dark purple hue. ¡°I don¡¯t deserve your concern, my king¡­¡± ¡°Nonsense¡­ You are precious to me. I make sure to keep my treasures in the greatest possible condition¡­ And please¡­ call me Robert.¡± Tau shuttered under the intense attention she was getting from the king. She kept glancing up to him and quickly looking away. ¡°Robert, What is it that you need from me?¡± ¡°Oh! Of course, I need you to release Coro¡¯s bonds and take away the terminal from Red and Leon. You can do whatever you want to the others.¡± Tau gathered herself and stared directly at the king. ¡°Why would you want me to do that?¡± King Robert waved her off and walked up to the front of the dome. ¡°If I can¡¯t be entertained watching them, then they can¡¯t have their little toys. You can give them access again when they return to our astral plane. You are dismissed Tau.¡± She clinched her fists and stormed out of the room. The counselor approached king Robert and used his tentacles to climb up the dome wall stopping just out of the king¡¯s vision. ¡°Shall I prepare the entertainment sire?¡± The king¡¯s face display lit up and he smiled. Chuckling with a deep sinister laugh, he turned to his counselor. ¡°Yes, that is a fantastic idea.¡±