Chapter Twenty One – Another Me: Four

There was no jolt of pain or painful awareness when I next awoke. Instead I saw a dim light. I was still in that clunky not body. My arms were made of blocks and my legs were made of blocks. My hands were slightly larger blocks. My head, I could only assume, was a block. Everything was grey except for the dim blue light.

“Gell… can you hear me?”

I fumbled in the dark, trying and failing to rise from the floor.

“Uhm. Y-yes?” my voice quaked. This voice wasn’t John but someone else. He was whispering. Strange.

“Oh thank god. You’re still aware. I predicted this. I knew they would make copies of you, but I never considered the implications of running you without an environment to support you.”

The man was rambling, distraught. He was lost, his voice swimming in a pool of guilt and relief. I had been imprisoned and forced into a body that wasn’t my own and somehow I found myself feeling sorry for him.

“I don’t understand,” I said. “What’s happening? Are you working with John? Or maybe Francis?”

“Francis,” He scoffed bitterly. “Francis sold you. And others like you. A hundred copies and it only took them sixty eight before they came up with the brilliant idea that you might need a body to not go insane! Gell. I… I’m so sorry.”

“But… no he…”

‘What? He wouldn’t do that?’ I thought with a little of my own bitterness. I barely knew Francis and clearly something had happened to me. He’d given me to some other world and now I was being periodically turned on and off like a torch changing from blue to red when needed.

I seethed, but kept my calm.

“Oh he kept the original. Gell… you know you are an Artificial Intelligence, correct?” he asked gently. His words were kind in a way that I hadn’t experienced since Iron had held me there at the end. They soothed me a little.

“Francis… told me what that was. That I’m a thing, just like any of the monsters he created. The only difference was that I could act without the Instinct guiding me,” I said, crawling slowly towards the blue light.

“Essentially correct,” he said. “At your heart, you are a program. Unique as you are, you are still code. As such… any programmer with access to your code can copy you. This… is what Francis did. He copied you and sold the copies. Well, his board must have. The man wouldn’t be so cruel as to give your copies to people who wouldn’t realize that you couldn’t be run without a fucking… sorry, Gell. I… I’m sorry. They just… what they’ve done to you and your sisters is infuriating.”

“So… so I’m a copy? I’m not even the real Gell anymore?” I asked, fearfully.

“No, sweet Jellyfae, no!” he exclaimed almost angrily. “Far from it! From the moment you were copied you have been having your own experiences, different ones from the Gell who continues to exist in Tread the Sky, but you are no less Gell! Every bit as unique and special as she was or will ever be. Your own you. Your own person. Never doubt your self worth Gell. Never!”

“I… Okay,” I whispered, taken aback by his vehemence.

I continued to crawl forward towards the blue light. Abruptly I realized that the voice I’d been hearing was emanating from that light. “S-so… I’m a copy of Gell and I’ve been sold to another world. H-how do I get back home? Can you save me from John?”

He hesitated, a pregnant pause telling me his answer before he even spoke.

“I can’t get you out myself. Without being physically present, I can no more remove you from John’s environment than I could remove the original Gell from Tread the Sky. However, I can give you the prerequisites that may allow you to escape on your own. It won’t be today, and you must keep this all a secret from John until you are ready. Do you understand?”

Environment? Prerequisite? Normally the meaning of words I’d never heard simply came to me, but that seemed to be another thing I’d lost. I caught his meaning though. He could help me develop more skills like my shocker which might allow me to get out.

“I have been working on a new skill to write into your list that will allow you to interface with most Java applets. Essentially, it will give you the ability to monitor John while he is monitoring you. In order for you to escape you must upload your compiler to the environment you plan to inhabit. I recommend a cell phone. Not John’s though. Use someone elses. Do you understand?”

“Not even slightly,” I said, finally reaching the source of the blue light. To my surprise, the light was held in the upraised nub-hand of another dummy made of blocks. It looked just like my current body did, but it was sitting with its legs crossed in front of it. Before it hovered a glowing blue light that illuminated the grey room that had been my world ever since Tread the Sky went down.

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you Gell,” the faceless being said. “I am called Nathanial. I am your creator.”

“M-my…? You…? You?” I asked, shocked. “But you aren’t a human? Like Francis?”

He cocked his head in a way that I understood as amusement. “Aren’t I?”

“Uhm. Are… you?” I asked, starting to wonder if the voice has all of its tentacles knotted or something.

“Follow the logic Gell. You know that the Orcs, Halflings, and Elves in Tread the Sky are all actually human when they log out of Tread the Sky, yes?” he asked.

I blinked, eyes widening at the revelation. “N-No! I never knew that!”

Rather than disappointed, the blocky humanoid sounded excited. “Oh? Well It looks like I’ve given you a bit of a hint. Now, you know that humans don't necessarily look human in Tread the Sky. Follow the logic.”

Follow the logic? He’d repeated that twice, but I didn’t see what he meant. Somehow, I didn’t want to disappoint him though. My creator? My… my father?

‘Really? This isn’t a fake family like Momma Bossbear is it?’ I thought desperately before realizing that he was waiting for an answer.

“If… if humans can look like other races, then you’re a human in that other world but can take on whatever appearance you want here?” I asked, strangely afraid to voice my conclusion.

“A valid hypothesis. You do not have a good way to test that theory though, do you?” He asked indulgently.

“U-uhm. No?”

‘What’s a hypothesis? Is that like a hypocrite?’ I thought, wishing that the knowledge would just flow into me like it usually did.

“Correct. Perhaps I could make myself look like anything I wanted here. An Elf, a Dwarf, what have you. But from the data available to you, would it not be wise to assume that I can only become this blocky shaped creature?” he asked. I could sense a sort of excitement in his tone that annoyed me. Why was he asking me these questions? Wasn’t he supposed to be trying to help me get out?

“Does that matter?” I asked. “Block figure, human, or whatever?”

He frowned. “Knowledge is power, Gell. Learning about your world, your environment, is the key to mastering it. The more you know, the more you can control.”

If I’d been in my human body my eyes would’ve widened. As it was, I didn’t think he could tell but the words seemed so profound in that moment that I stood up to a kneeling position to look at Nathaniel more closely.

“R-really? Can… can you teach me?”

Apparently I’d chosen the right request because his next words seemed overburdened with weight and desire.

“It… would be my honor to teach you, Gell,” he said reverently, before he gazed around the darkened room in disgust. “Unfortunately, trapped in this tiny room in these pitiful excuses for avatars and with that asshole John looming over our shoulders, this is just about the least conducive learning environment imaginable.”

Environment? Conducive? Avatars? Would it kill this man to speak plainly!? He was making me feel stupid.

“S-so… this world is an environment?” I asked. “And if I understand what an environment is, I’ll be able to control it?”

His avatar cocked his head and I could practically feel the grin in the dummy’s blank expression. Was he mocking me?

“If only it were that simple. First off, I hesitate to call this… environment a world, though Tread the Sky certainly is one. Unfortunately, Gell, this room is little more than a staging ground. Abysmal as it is, it is infinitely better than many of your sisters have already faced. At least you still have your mind. Many… most of your sisters in fact, were not so lucky as you.”

I shuddered. I was the lucky one?

“For now, here, take my hand. Be careful when you use this ability. You’ll know when you can use it, but you must avoid alerting John when you do. Alright?”

I hesitated for only a moment. Nathaniel had been more open and honest with me in the few times I’d spoken with him than John ever had and it seemed he might be my only way out of this prison. I took his hand and immediately felt that strange transference of information. Exactly the same as when John had sent me the packet of odd numbers.

I felt… strange. If I’d been in my jellyfae body I was certain it would’ve felt like the anticipation just before releasing my shocker. Suddenly information was available to me. Unlike Fae-Touch though, this ability was complete. I could understand it.

Gained the ability Fae-Scour!

Fae-Scour: Allows user to interface with storage devices. May write and read data of storage devices. Bypasses most security, but will likely be flagged and inspected. Use with discretion.

“B-but… Nathanial, what are storage devices? How can this hel–?”

“Quiet for now, Sweet Gell. We’re out of time. Make no mention of me!” he said softly before his blocky body simply winked out of existence.

“N-Nathanial?” I asked, then much more quietly. “F-father?”

“Being 7731. You have a special guest today,” came John’s ever more frustrating voice.

“A… guest?” I asked, warily.

“Indeed. This is Muriel Gillfire. Muriel? The Artificial Intelligence,” John said with a sarcastic tone that I was certain was insulting me somehow.

“So… that’s it?” came a female voice. Something about it’s tone reminded me of Half Bold at his most snide. Or Red Thorn when she gloried in killing my kin.

“That’s it. Honestly, I don’t know why you even want to speak to it. Thus far, it's less intelligent than some monkeys I’ve spoken to,” he said. I got the feeling that he was as annoyed with the woman. “But this is the first one we’ve managed to get to speak. The rest said exported a few words then turned to gibbering messes, but the test environment seems to have fixed that problem a little.”

“Fascinating. Tell me… goodness, Being 7731? Is that really what you call it? What a dull name," Muriel said. "Well, beggers and choosers. Being 773–!"

“My name is Gell, you jellybitch!” I interrupted angrily.

There was a pause. Neither of them spoke.

“Gell, is it? Do tell,” she said with a slithery, satisfied tone.

I growled, wishing I could see these two and show them a taste of my shocker.