louisehourcade Chapter 121 - 117: Return to (Un)Reality
Chapter 121 - 117: Return to (Un)Reality
While my as-yet-unnamed cubs sleep, and Lightning is out cold, I fill Lobo in on what happened with Mama, Dad, and Amber.
There is no "Are you crazy?"
Or, "Do you know what you just did?"
Or, "I hope you know what you’re doing."
No. None of that.
Instead, my little bro offers me sage words.
[It’s about time.]
I blink. After all we have been through, he can still knock me for a loop.
Lobo continues. [I didn’t dare tell them anything. Not without your okay. Honestly, I worried about System listening in. But what do we care at this point?]
[Right? Mama and Dad offered to play--]
He woofs. [I wish I’d been there. But good call stopping them. It just seems wrong somehow for them to do that.]
[We dodged a bullet.]
He woofs again and nuzzles me. [Good call. Besides, knowing Mama, she’d be super competitive. Ever watch her during family game night?]
I groan. [I hate to say it, but I think we should revive that. Actual board and card games, even Charades and Pictionary.]
He woofs. [I’m down for that. So, they’ll help us?]
[Yes. They’ll look after Amber, make sure she stays anchored to the real world. You, too.]
Lobo doesn’t purr. Wolves don’t purr. But he makes a canine noise of contentment. [I hoped we would be able to communicate with them at some point.]
[Yes. Wish I could work out how it happened.]
Lobo wags his tail in a gradual, easy motion. Thinking with his tail. [The Mushroom Man? Maybe he wanted to do something after we were chased out of the forest.]
[My thought exactly. We know that he’s a power in the game. Maybe he was able to shield Mama, Dad, Amber, and me from System.]
Lobo is excited now. [He’s powerful. Remember what he said? "I am legion, my friend. I am everywhere." He could have done this.]
[The question is, will he do it again? Or can we learn to do it? Can I astral project myself in human form--my true soul? Can you?]
Lobo wags his tail with more vigor. [Maybe through your Divine Vision?]
I shake my head. [That’s passive, like watching a movie. I’m not interactive.]
[What if you could make it like lucid dreaming? Maybe your amulet could help?]
Of course.
I have to check with Lightning and Kaline before I use the amulet. It’s only natural.
I check my little balls of fluff sleeping beside their mother. [What do I tell them I’m doing? Kaline and Lightning.]
[Boosting your Divine Vision?]
I purr. [Obvious. So obvious.]
[Someone has to point these things out.]
I yawn, tired. So tired. Want to be with Lightning and the cubs. Even though it’s no substitute for holding Amber, having regular couple moments that sometimes have you questioning the relationship, and just being with someone.
But I am with her!
Whether I’m here in this world or astral projecting back home, I am with her. I can’t believe I’m doing it again. Grass greener on the other side and all that. Of course, it’s obvious. I always want what I can’t have, instead of appreciating what I do have.
Right now, I boop the little balls of fluff on their tiny noses. They sleep through that. Only to be expected. They won’t open their eyes for at least a week.
[I’m here, little ones.]
Nothing from them.
Lobo woofs. [I can tell you’re occupied.]
[Sorry. I told you everything I could about Mama and Dad, anyway. They didn’t get too angry with me. Mostly for not telling them that I was potentially running myself into a coma.]
Again, Lobo woofs. [They’re probably angry with themselves. In fact, I know they are. I’ve heard them, especially when they’re unaware that I’m listening.]
I tremble. [They’re not responsible.]
Lobo nuzzles the two tiger cubs. [You’re a parent now, as mind-boggling as that is. Don’t you think that you’re responsible for everything about these two little bundles of joy?]
My heart squeezes, because yes, I am, one hundred percent. It doesn’t matter that it’s a simulation. That I want to be free to have my own "cubs" (of the human variety) with Amber in the real flesh-and-earth world. Right now, these two little furballs need me. Their mother needs me.
And I will not let anything touch them. Not System, not anything.
I have backup now. I have Mama and Dad on my side.
The tiny cubs feel so impossibly soft when I nuzzle them. Like eiderdown. So delicate and fragile. They must be protected.
[Such a sweet family scene. Touching.]
System’s voice isn’t mocking. It isn’t so sugary sweet that I become diabetic. The words just hang there like toxic smoke.
Lobo’s head snaps up, and a low growl ripples in the air. [Butt out. This is family only.]
Sometimes, he acts more like our dad than my baby brother.
System doesn’t react. [All seems well. I hope nothing disturbs their peace.]
Lobo’s ears jerk forward. [Is that some kind of a threat? Or pre-threat? Because I’m not impressed. And we’re ignoring you from this moment on.]
He raises his tail, a declaration of war, and scent-marks his territory. Technically, my territory, but who’s keeping score?
[You cannot ignore me. I AM the game.]
This blatant, self-aggrandizing statement sticks in my craw, because it technically happens to be true. Like the Borg in Star Trek, System has assimilated the game. However, it does not control the board. The players and Mushroom Man have banded together to mount a campaign of resistance. I imagine System can’t stomach this insult.
[You didn’t get the Mushroom Man. Or us.] I face off against it, even though it only has an interface, and not even that visible. [You tried. You are not as powerful as you think you are.]
Its voice is devoid of emotion. [If I wanted to erase them, I could.] "Them" refers to the cubs.
I snarl and snap my jaws. [Just you try it.]
A flicker of light and a ripple. But the cubs are still there seconds later.
System is impassive. [So, you learned some new tricks. Well, there are workarounds. And why should you care if I delete them? You are trying to leave. You are picking the wrong fight.]
[STOP TALKING.] Lobo gnashes his teeth. [We’ve had too much of your words. Stop getting in my brother’s head. You’re a coward. You won’t even show your face.]
It doesn’t laugh.
If it laughed, that might be jarring, unsettling, but understandable.
No. System is arctic. It only creates a facade of caring. As much as it needs to draw in its victims. That’s the definition of a psychopath. Or a sociopath, I forget which. I always get those two mixed up. Whichever it is, System is the textbook model.
[You both are trying to defeat me. It’s futile.]
Its resemblance to the Borg of Star Trek grows more pronounced. But behind the layers of bluster, I perceive the truth. System is frightened. Well, perhaps that is too strong a word. Perhaps "concerned" would be more accurate. Still, we pose a danger to its dominance.
I bare my teeth and sharpen my claws in the dirt. [We will defeat you. Or disintegrate trying.]
Lobo slashes the air with his claws. [Your game may be addictive, but people still know how to live in the real world. They understand balance.]
[You mean the way you two did?]
This entity!
I block the cubs and Lightning, protecting them from an unseen presence. My body shields those tiny golden furballs. I will save them.
[You protect them. They’re just game pieces.]
I bare my teeth. [Ones you created to entrap me. Well, it backfired.]
[I will delete them.]
But it’s an empty threat. Delete the cubs, and Lightning will go insane. Her all-consuming rage might fully break System’s grip on Amber once and for all. Not only that, it will ripple through the matrix. No, System won’t risk that.
Lobo growls. [SHOW YOURSELF. Not the screens, not the displays. YOU.]
The den is silent.
[You two! Keep it down.]
Lightning’s tiger eyes glitter in the darkness. Uh-oh. How much did she hear
I bathe her face in apologetic licks. [Dear--]
[You’ll wake the cubs.]
Lobo wags his tail. [They’re still asleep. They won’t open their eyes for a while.]
[They can still have their sleep disturbed. REALLY, you two. What is so fascinating that you have to make all this noise?]
Expertly, Lobo covers for our nocturnal drama. [This first-time father, your mate, is far too energized. Having such perfect offspring is too much for him.]
[Oh, simmer down, both of you. I am the one who just gave birth. Lobo, go to sleep, Minette wants you.]
Lightning’s words are irascible, but not without affection.
Lobo woofs. [I will guard you. I will stand watch. Minette knows. She insists.]
System, mercifully, is silent. And it has been a tumultuous day, on all fronts. God, I’m exhausted. I curl up beside Lightning and the cubs. Names. They need names. Sleep first.