James tried not to stare at the ratlings while they ate their meal. Watching rats eat bugs and toads was one thing, it was an entirely different matter when said rats could speak and had decided you were their parent. At least they had agreed to let him try and cook their prey, except for David of course because why wouldn't that child want to do something weird just to annoy him-

No, remember James, he's not actively trying to be a brat. He's just more cynical and attached to his bestial side than the others.

Cooking had been easier than expected. He had quickly dug an open oven into one of the walls of the lair, including a little chimney that instead of going to the surface did a few loops before going to one of the main tunnels, a little trick that still allowed them to get rid of smoke while hiding their position. None of the sewers' residents had shown the intelligence to track down their position from smoke alone but you could never be too safe.

The oven, which James had designed after old brick bread ovens due to the lack of electricity, was large enough to hold all of the cockroaches and the toad that he, David, and Foudre had hunted down. Of course, an oven without heat was pretty useless, and so a fire had to be made. He quickly infused a broken discarded lighter with his shadows, creating a small device that produced black flames. They worked exactly as regular fire would, except they apparently never ran out and James could affect them too with his shadow manipulation.

A couple of improvised stakes infusion later and, after a short while in the oven, they had gotten roasted cockroaches. The toad had spent some time over the fire too but since David and Lucille were the only ones willing to eat it it was left mostly raw. Hence the present situation, where the two were silently devouring the amphibian while their siblings shared the cockroaches. James was very happy he couldn't eat anymore for once. Or at least he didn't need to, and while he was willing to test out whether or not he could something he didn't want his first meal in this new world to be a toad or a cockroach, especially ones that came from the sewers.

Aaand now he didn't have anything left to do. His meeting with his two newly-hired henchmen was still a little way off and the ratlings were eating and training right away didn't seem like a good idea. So, what could he do to pass the time? Well, there was one thing he used to do...

Surfing the internet.

Now, the question was what could he do... Check out this world's memes? Some more research on the local wildlife? Figure out how was the government of Zalcien handling the treatment of non-humans?

Oh, what about that forum? HardCored, was it?

HardCored - Chatroom

MagicIsTragic: So, Techno. Explosion or implosion? You know my answer already.

TechnoGogo: On the one hand, implosion tends to be more destructive, on the other hand, explosion goes boom.

KillLaKrill: Ah yes, mankind's greatest dilemma: big fiery boom or strong but less impressive boom.

(Mod)Seagullag: Honestly being Draskian may have biased my opinion but explosions aren't that impressive.

The Silence: There is no need for loudness or flashiness. The greatest destruction is on the inside, silent and effective.

Saray: Two explosions and two implosions then.

MagicIsTragic: What about you Saray?

Saray: I prefer there'd be no explosion or implosion at all.

TechnoGogo: Killjoy.

KillLaKrill: Come on, it isn't we're actually planning on blowing up something. Just tell us which one you think is more satisfying.

The Silence: Silence is sweet but can be sadistic.

MagicIsTragic: That means "talk".

(Mod)Seagullag: No peer pressure!

MagicIsTragic: Sorry. Look, it isn't that hard. Do you prefer things to blow outwards or inwards?

Saray: I guess... Implosion? It's more destructive on the target but there's less collateral damage.

(Mod)Seagullag: Well I guess implosion wins then.

55-63-0: Explosion.

MagicIsTragic: Uh, who's this?

(Mod)Seagullag: An old member of the forum, they just don't talk much and I hadn't seen them for a long time. I'm surprised they're still alive actually.

55-63-0: Explosion.

Saray: Are. Are they fine?

55-63-0: Explosion.

(Mod)Seagullag: I think they're a robot? Maybe a cyborg? Not sure but either way this is normal for them, don't worry.

KillLaKrill: Aren't we supposed not to say anything about personal info?

55-63-0: Explosion.

The Silence: It isn't as though they were trying to hide their artificial nature, with their numerical alias and their limited speech pattern.

55-63-0: Explosion.

Saray: Maybe they're a troll?

55-63-0: 01000101 01111000 01110000 01101100 01101111 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110

TechnoGogo: Yeah no, that seems like an old robot to me. Or a defective one, but I don't judge.

MagicIsTragic: Either way they voted for explosion!

55-63-0: EXPLOSION.

TechnoGogo: Drats, still a tie then. Anyone else?

JamesIsInTheDark: Uh, hi?

KillLaKrill: Oooh, the new guy is back!

TechnoGogo: Quick, tell us, explosion or implosion?

JamesIsInTheDark: Well, what's the context?

MagicIsTragic: No context, only kabooms.

JamesIsInTheDark: Well, I'd say it depends. For a movie or a show, explosions are more impressive, but in real life, implosions are more efficient.

(Mod)Seagullag: I assume we all understood the question as in real life, so I'll count that as a vote for implosion.

The Silence: Ah, once more the darkness has claimed victory. Inner destruction cannot be equaled.

MagicIsTragic: Curses!

TechnoGogo: We'll get them next time.

KillLaKrill: Ah ha! You forgot I haven't given my opinion yet!

MagicIsTragic: Go Krill!

TechnoGogo: Explosion! Explosion!

55-63-0: 01000101 01111000 01110000 01101100 01101111 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110

The Silence: Let your inner despair sink in, you know its strength as it crushes your hopes, you know it is absolute.

(Mod)Seagullag: No peer pressure!

KillLaKrill: And my choice is...

Saray: Please, no cliffhangers.

KillLaKrill: Implosion! Sorry guys, marine life makes you numb to things going outwards. Suction on the other hand? That thing's terrifying.

55-63-0: 01010100 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 00100000 01110011 01100001 01100100 00100000 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01100110 01101111 01110010 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100111 01101100 01101111 01110010 01111001 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100101 01111000 01110000 01101100 01101111 01110011 01101001 01101111 01101110 01110011 00101110 00100000 01000010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110010 01100101 01101001 01100111 01101110 00100000 01110011 01110101 01110000 01110010 01100101 01101101 01100101 00101100 00100000 01110011 01101111 01101111 01101110 00101110

MagicIsTragic: I think you broke them, Krill.

(Mod)Seagullag: Techno, are they in danger?

TechnoGogo: No, they're still making sense. They're just a little ominous.

Saray: Thank the Nine. Ominous we can deal with, we're used to Silence.

The Silence: Do not confuse crude showmanship with the simple fact of understanding reality.

KillLaKrill: As Saray said, ominous is fine.

JamesIsInTheDark: Are you sure they're fine? I'm not an expert but when computers start spouting binary, it usually means that something is broken no?

TechnoGogo: Don't worry, this kind of thing happens a lot with old robots and extreme cyborgs. The program they use to translate binary to regular speech gets glitchy when they get emotional and you get situations like these.

Saray: By the way, it's nice to see you again James! Did you go see the doctor about your Core?

JamesIsInTheDark: No, but I'm back to full power. Things calmed down around here and everything's fine now.

KillLaKrill: Are you living alone? It's recommended you always have someone nearby after an Awakening, just in case something goes wrong.

JamesIsInTheDark: No, I'm with some people. I trust them.

(Mod)Seagullag: Good to see you're back.

MagicIsTragic: Sorry for the last time, by the way.

JamesIsInTheDark: It's fine.

MagicIsTragic: No, really, I'm sorry. Judging people for what they are? Not cool.

JamesIsInTheDark: I forgive you. I mean, if everyone took to heart everything people told them on the internet, I'm pretty sure society would collapse.

KillLaKrill: He's got a point.

TechnoGogo: See Magic? Everything's fine.

Saray: Still, thank you for making sure everything was fine! If you're afraid you hurt someone, never hesitate to say sorry!

TechnoGogo: Thank you, Captain Moral Lesson. No offense.

Saray: Hey!

KillLaKrill: She's got a point. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if you turned out to be a Hero.

(Mod)Seagullag: No guessing important personal information!

KillLaKrill: Whoops, sorry.

MagicIsTragic: Aw, we almost got juicy stuff.

TechnoGogo: Doesn't Artifix preach privacy?

MagicIsTragic: Yep, but he also preaches curiosity!

KillLaKrill: By the way, isn't he a god of technology? Why would YOU worship him?

MagicIsTragic: He invented magical rocket launchers.

KillLaKrill: Ah, I see. A compelling argument.

Saray: He's also one of the oldest known gods of creation, tinkering, and innovation. He inspired and designed many of the items we took for granted nowadays.

TechnoGogo: I know that printing machines are important and stuff, but magical rocket launchers man.

MagicIsTragic: He's also not entirely technology-focused, most of his inventions are magical in one way or another.

KillLaKrill: What about you, Techno? Who's your god?

TechnoGogo: None, I'm an atheist, my guy.

JamesIsInTheDark: Might I ask what is your definition of atheist? Where I come from, it's the term used to describe people who don't believe in gods, as in most of them believe there is nothing.

KillLaKrill: Whoa, people who think there are no gods? Weird. I mean, my neighbor is a demigod, hard to deny he exists.

Saray: Not really. Some places don't have any Super or godly presence, so nothing beyond simple mortality.

(Mod)Seagullag: Or there's the Draskian way. We think gods are just really strong Cored and that divinity is just a fancy way of calling the upper end of powers that people created. Hence, divinity is artificial. No "god" as most people in Zalcien think of them.

TechnoGogo: Artificial divinity? Uh, that's an interesting idea. Personally, I just don't worship any god, although I think they exist.

MagicIsTragic: So, who or what do you worship James? Considering you're not from around here, I'm guessing it's something we don't know about.

JamesIsInTheDark: Well, I guess I was what you'd call an agnostic, not enough proof to either confirm deny or confirm the existence of a god so I just, lived my life.

The Silence: Fascinating.

55-63-0: 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100101 01111000 01101001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100100 01101001 01110110 01101001 01101110 01101001 01110100 01111001 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01110101 01101110 01100100 01100101 01101110 01101001 01100001 01100010 01101100 01100101 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110011 01100001 01111001 00100000 01101111 01110100 01101000 01100101 01110010 01110111 01101001 01110011 01100101 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100110 01101111 01101111 01101100 01101001 01110011 01101000 00101110 00100000 01000011 01101000 01101111 01101111 01110011 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100001 01110110 01101111 01101001 01100100 00100000 01101001 01110100 00100000 01101000 01101111 01110111 01100101 01110110 01100101 01110010 00100000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100001 01100100 01101101 01101001 01110010 01100001 01100010 01101100 01100101 00101110 00100000 01001110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100101 01101110 01101111 01110101 01100111 01101000 00101100 00100000 01100010 01110101 01110100 00100000 01110011 01100001 01110100 01101001 01110011 01100110 01100001 01100011 01110100 01101111 01110010 01111001 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01100111 01101111 01100100 01110011 00100000 01100100 01101111 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110000 01110010 01100001 01101001 01110011 01100101 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01100100 01100101 01110011 01100101 01110010 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101110 01101111 01110100 01101000 01101001 01101110 01100111 00101110 00100000 01010100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01100001 01110010 01100101 00100000 01110100 01101001 01110100 01100001 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100011 01100001 01110010 01100100 01100010 01101111 01100001 01110010 01100100 00101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01110010 01100101 01101100 01111001 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01110111 01100101 01100001 01101011 01101110 01100101 01110011 01110011 01100101 01110011 00101100 00100000 01111001 01101111 01110101 01110010 00100000 01100100 01101111 01110101 01100010 01110100 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110011 01110000 01100101 01110010 00101110 00100000 01001111 01101110 01100101 00100000 01100111 01101100 01101111 01110010 01101001 01101111 01110101 01110011 00100000 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01100100 01101001 01110011 01100001 01110000 01110000 01100101 01100001 01110010 00101100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01101001 01110011 00100000 01100100 01100001 01111001 00100000 01110111 01100101 00100000 01110111 01101001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01110011 01110000 01100101 01110010 00101110

TechnoGogo: Nope, not reading that.

MagicIsTragic: Oh come on, you're the only one who knows binary! What did the creepy old robot say?

TechnoGogo: Short sentences? Fine. This? This is an essay. This is absurd.

Saray: Based on the little I know of coding, isn't that actually pretty short?

KillLaKrill: Are you just being lazy Techno?

TechnoGogo: Whoops, gotta go.

MagicIsTragic: Stop right there slothful scum!

KillLaKrill: Don't bother, I'm logging off too.

MagicIsTragic: Aw.

Saray: Me too. I have to go back to work.

MagicIsTragic: Fine, I'm going too. Bye, everyone.

James joined in on the mass leaving - that was a mouthful. Seeing good old internet chatting had done wonders for his mental health, kinda like how watching cartoons with the ratings. It helped bring back some form of normality. He also learned some new stuff, which is always a nice plus. Really, the only odd thing was that 55-63-0 guy. Sapient robots had to be expected in this world, he had even seen some articles about it and one made a brief appearance in Captain Cyan's show. Weird speech, ominous warnings, or even straight-up trolling were also to be expected on the internet, so although surprising seeing someone writing in binary wasn't that odd.

The weird part was that James had perfectly understood what 55-63-0 was writing.