Arriving at school, Joshua waited until everyone else had cleared off the bus, before finally gathering up his bookbag and climbing off the bus. Much to his surprise, Olivia was hovering around the school entrance and came casually strolling over to his side as soon as she saw him. “Good morning,” she said, sounding cheerful and smiling brightly. “Can you come with me, for a bit? I really need to talk to you.”

“Umm… We… Uhh… We don’t have long before the bells,” Joshua stammered, already starting to feel guilty. ‘Oh shit,’ he thought to himself, ‘she already knows about the Eternal Companion thing. She’s going to murder me! Going to drag me off somewhere alone and MDK me. Murder, Death, Kill!” Trying to act normal and casual, Joshua tried to ease around her and head to his classroom.

“It won’t take but a few moments,” Olivia promised, grabbing his arm and tugging him along with her, as she strolled confidently into the school.

“So… Where? Where we going?” Joshua felt like a small child expecting to soon be punished by his mother, as he was being dragged unceremoniously along beside Oliva.

“This way,” Olivia answered him, cryptically. Dressed in the rich and elegant clothes that was her normal style, it just highlighted the impression that Joshua, in his old, worn-out, quickly tossed on outfit, was being whisked off for some form of punishment to everyone watching.

First, they went into the school, from the main entrance near where the buses unload the students. Then, Olivia dragged him down the left hallway, all the way down to the far side of the building, just to drag him back outside. Turning right, they walked in silence along the side of the building, to the backside of it, until they were almost back up to the doors leading out of the girl’s changing rooms.

Pulling a small key from her pocket, Olivia quickly unlocked an old, rusty door, and pulled it open. “In here,” she motioned quickly, while glancing left and right as if she was making certain no one had followed them.

Gulping audibly, Joshua eased into the darkened room, expecting anything. “What… What is this place?” He asked, nervously.

“The laundry room,” Olivia assured him, quickly stepping in and shutting the door behind her. Feeling around the left side of the entrance, she fumbled for a few moments before clicking on the lights. “We’re not supposed to be in here right now,” she told him, as a few dim fluorescent lights slowly flickered on, illuminating a small room with only a few washers and dryers in it.

“I… I never even knew the school had a laundry room,” Josh muttered, glancing around nervously, as he slowly moved to put some space between himself and Olivia. “So, why’d you bring me in here this morning,” he asked, trying not to sweat.

Taking a deep breath, Olivia said nothing for several moments, only fidgeting. Now, she was the one who was looking and acting nervous. Finally, exhaling deeply, she winced visibly while asking in a rush, “What do you know about this WRP?”

Almost as soon as she got the words out, Olivia blinked a few times, stupidly, and then she literally bounced on the spot with excitement. “What do you know about WRP?” She asked again, excitedly. “Oh my gosh! I can actually say it! WRP! WRP! WRP!”

“Are… Are you okay?” Completely bewildered, Joshua couldn’t figure out what the hell was wrong with Olivia.

“You… You don’t understand!” Laughing gaily, Olivia was beaming brightly. “I thought I was going crazy earlier. Ever since I woke up this morning, I've had this strange WRP sitting in the corner of my eye. It's been driving me crazy. And anytime I try to tell someone about it, I can't say a word. I tried to tell my mother, and all I got was a headache for my trouble. When I tried to tell my nanny, it was the same thing. You're the first person that I've managed to say anything to about this! I honestly thought I was crazy.”

“So what the heck made you decide to tell me,” ask Joshua. “It's not like you really know me, or I know you, so what the hell made you pick me out and ask about this? “

“Because I know you had something to do with it,” exclaimed Olivia. “Your name is literally written across the bottom of it!”

“My name,” exclaimed Joshua! “What do you mean my name?!”

“Your name is literally written across the bottom of my eye! There’re little chains around the WRP with your name attached to the bottom of them. And since you’re not asking what the heck WRP is,” Olivia exclaimed, “I can only assume that you know something! Please, tell me how to get rid of this… This… This whatever it is that’s hovering by my eye!”

“I… I know all about it,” Joshua told her, trying to deny everything. There wasn’t any way in the world that he was going to admit to being involved with anything, until he had more time to sort things out!

“Then tell me!” Olivia quickly dashed forward, grabbed Joshua by the hand, and stared pleadingly into his eyes.

“But I’m trying to hide it from you,” exclaimed Joshua, as his face wrinkled up in confusion. What the hell was he saying? He was wanting to deny everything, and yet he was blabbing his ass off!”

“Why?” Looking like she was about ready to cry, Olivia let go of Joshua’s hand and slowly turned to pace around the cramped space of the small laundry room. “It’s obvious that you know something about whatever’s going on with my vision and this stupid watermark, or whatever it is! Tell me how to get rid of it!”

“That…” Sighing deeply, Joshua slowly ran his fingers through his hair, before moving to sit on top of one of the nearby washing machines. “To be honest,” he admitted, still frowning over his sudden tendency to spout out things completely opposite to what he wanted. “To be honest,” he repeated, “I’m not certain if I actually know anything. There’s some weird shit that’s happened in the last day, or so, and I’m still trying to put it all together and sort out what the hell is happening.”

“Well at least tell me something!” Turning back around to face him again, Olivia’s face was stained with streaks from her makeup as several large tears trickled down her cheeks. “I’m scared,” she admitted, wrapping her arms around herself. “This… whatever it is… just suddenly appeared and sits at the corner of my vision, as if it’s an afterimage burnt onto my cornea with a laser.” Speaking softly, Olivia half trembled, obviously upset.

“And even worse,” Olivia half whispered, “is the fact that I can’t even mention it to anybody. Every time I do, I get a sudden sharp pain in my head, like someone just stuck a needle in my brain. It’s like the worst case of brain freeze that you could ever experience times ten!”

“Please, just tell me what the hell is wrong with me,” Olivia pleaded, staring directly into Joshua’s face, her large blue eyes moist with tears and opened wide in distress.

“Fine.” Slumping his shoulders in defeat, Joshua lowered his head and stared down at the ground, rather than having to look over at Olivia. “You won’t believe me anyway,” he muttered, miserably. “Hell, I don’t even believe it, so I don’t know how the hell I’m supposed to be expected to make anyone else believe it.”

“Believe what?” Closing the short distance between them, Olivia once more reached out and took Joshua by the hands, squeezing them firmly for support.

Slowly looking back up, Joshua didn’t say anything for several long moments, as he struggled to get his thoughts in order. Never would he have imagined that one of the school’s top beauties – the head cheerleader of all people!! – would be standing just inches away from him and holding his hands.

Biting his lip slightly, Joshua slowly looked Olivia up and down, before asking, “You are wearing a bra today, aren’t you?”

Reflexively, Olivia pulled back and took several steps back away, before slowly answering, “I… I am. I wear one every day,” she assured him, looking first puzzled, and then shocked by the words that were coming out of her mouth.

Nodding slightly to himself, as if he had just confirmed something, Joshua took a deep breath and tried to calm himself back down. Deliberately taking a moment to look Olivia up and down, he wasn’t surprised to see that even now, while she was in her distressed state, she was dressed almost as if she was ready to be a model and walk down the red carpet.

A warm orange sweater clung firmly over Olivia’s top, only helping to highlight the fullness and roundness of her ample cleavage. Everyone agreed that Olivia probably had the largest breasts in their class, and her clothes today – like most days – tended to help emphasize, rather than conceal, their stature.

Even though it was in the midst of winter, Olivia was wearing a long, flowing, ivory skirt, which flared out wide down at her ankles. Joshua wasn’t exactly certain what material it was made out of – something shiny and silky looking; perhaps a silk or satin – but it was obviously something much too expensive for anyone in his family to ever afford to wear!

Honestly, if it weren’t for the simple, cream-colored leather boots which she was wearing, Joshua would almost think that the outfit she had on now was a new one that she’d probably never worn before and had just put on for the first time to come to school. Shaking his head slowly from side to side, he couldn’t help but think about how the two of them were from completely different worlds once again.

“Take off your sweater,” Joshua slowly told her, being careful to deliberately speak each word. Pointing over to the dryer nearby, Joshua frowned slightly while ordering her to, “Put it over there, and fold it up neatly, and then turn around here and let me have a good look at you. Don’t try and hide from me, at all.”

‘Oh Gods, let her laugh at me, or slap me, or cuss me, or tell me to go to hell, or…’ Joshua’s thoughts were racing feverously as Olivia’s face twisted and wrinkled in first shock, and then bewilderment. Slowly and stiffly – acting almost like a rusted-up robot – Olivia gingerly pulled the sweater up over her head and walked over to fold it up and place it atop the dryer, where he’d pointed. Turning back around, she slowly moved back to stand a few feet in front of him, before assuming an almost “at attention” military stance.

“Oh… Shit,” was all Joshua could manage to get out as he stared the lacy white bra which struggled so valiantly to keep Olivia’s large mounds up and in place. “I… I honestly didn’t think that was going to work,” Joshua admitted, staring unblinkingly at Olivia, in shock.

“What… What’s going on?” Tears were trickling down Olivia’s cheeks once again, as she stood with her arms at her sides and trembled like a leaf in a hurricane.

“I… I’m sorry!” Blushing brightly, Joshua hurriedly hopped up off the washing machine he was sitting on and quickly turned his back. “I was really just testing something out. I apologize! You can get dressed again.”

There was a brief sound of rustling from behind him, as Olivia quickly grabbed up her sweater and pulled it back over her shoulders. “I… I still don’t know anything about what’s going on,” Olivia lamented softly once she was dressed again. Honestly, at this point, she just wanted to wake up and find out that this whole morning had been nothing more than a nightmare.

“Honestly,” Joshua admitted, once again, “I really don’t know what’s going on either. All I can do is take a guess, and if we go with the assumption that this is all real and we’re not actually going insane and lost in some sort of psychological break from reality – which I’m still not so certain that we aren’t – then I’m afraid this is probably the start of the end of the world. Or, at least the end of the world as we know it,” Joshua explained, shaking his head slowly from side to side.

“You… You’re not making any sense!” Bundling her hands up into tiny little fists, Olivia trembled with frustration. Reaching over, she grabbed Joshua by the top of his shoulder and tugged him back around to face her directly. “I don’t understand anything,” she cried out, frustrated, and confused. “Start at the beginning and tell me what you know!”

“There’s no time,” Joshua reminded her, as the warning bell for classes went off and echoed throughout the school. Honestly, he was grateful to hear it’s long, piercing chimes, as all he wanted at this moment was time to get away and think. How could he explain what was going on, when he didn’t even know himself what was happening?

“Who cares about the time!” Frustrated almost beyond belief, Olivia kicked the side of the washer nearest to her. “Who cares about school at all,” she muttered, wiping tears at the corner of her eyes again. “I just want to know what’s going on. What’s happening to me, and what the heck is this WRP, and how can I make it go away.”

“Look,” Joshua sighed, deeply, then slowly reached out to embrace her in a deep hug. Rather than pushing away like he’d suspected she might, Olivia turned and leaned her head on his shoulder and began sobbing uncontrollably, while squeezing him back tightly.

“Look,” Joshua repeated, “here’s what we’ll do. We’re get out of here, and then we’ll head to class. Try to act like everything is normal now, or just play it off as if you’ve got a headache, or the flu, or something, if you don’t want to deal with people. Just keep what’s going on to yourself, and we can meet back up here at lunchtime – assuming, of course, that you can somehow get away from that whole babble of idiots who flock all around you during that time.”

“I… I can get away,” Olivia nodded into his shoulder in agreement. “And then you’re going to tell me what you know about all this?” As she was glancing up to stare directly into his eyes, Joshua was once again struck by how beautiful her sky-blue eyes were. The moisture from her tears in them only made them reflect the light better, highlighting their sparkle, while also making her seem even more vulnerable and feminine than usual. At this moment, with her leaned up and hugged tight against him, all Joshua wanted was to just hold her close and help protect her.

“I will,” he promised, gently stroking her hair to try and comfort and calm her. “Though,” he warned her, “I don’t think you’re going to like what all I’ll have to tell you then. Truth is,” he sighed deeply, “you’ll probably end up hating me forever.”

‘Not that it’ll do any good for you,’ he thought to himself, feeling completely like the twirly-mustached villain in an old western. ‘I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck as my Eternal Companion for the rest of your days – even if you might not be a Loyal one.’

“But… But anyway…” Shaking his head, Joshua tried to dismiss his dark and gloomy thoughts from his head. He really didn’t have time for them. The warning bell was there to let students know they only had five minutes left before the start of class, and it’d already finished chiming a few minutes ago.

“For now,” Joshua told her, “simply try and stare at that little icon in the bottom left corner of your vision and think directly to it. Think ‘WRP hide’. Over and over, think ‘WRP hide’. That should made it disappear for now and make it easier for you to try and ignore until then.”

“Are… Are you sure?” Biting her lip almost poutingly, Olivia stared off into space for several moments before suddenly pushing back away from him. “That didn’t work, you jerk! Now there’s two of them,” she half-yelled, looking almost like she was going to collapse from frustration at any moment.

“Two of them?” Blinking confusedly, Joshua tried to think of what might have happened. What exactly was she seeing? Was it a notification pop-up of some sort, like the deep blue error messages he’d seen a few times yesterday? “What’s it say,” he asked, worriedly. “Does it say anything all at?”

“Yeah,” Olivia pouted, looking like she was going to cry again. “It says, ‘Warning – User does not have access to this functionality. Access rights require approval from Eternal Lord.’ Not that I have a darn clue what the heck that means! All I know is I now have two blobs blurring up my vision!”

“Approval?” Joshua stupidly blinked several times, trying to sort out what she was talking about. “You have my permission to access the World Reclamation Project anytime. You don’t need my…”

“OH!” Olivia half jumped, looking completely startled. “Now I’m hearing things as well! It just dinged in my ears!”

“And what’s it say now,” Joshua asked, patiently?

“Nothing,” Olivia replied happily. “The second blob’s gone now. Oh! The chains, and your name, aren’t around that WRP anymore either,” she added, just noticing.

“Good.” Sighing deeply, Joshua hoped that it was actually good, at least. At this point, he wasn’t certain of anything. “Now,” he told her, “try and think ‘WRT hide’, like you did before, when that notification popped up on you.”

“Sure,” Olivia agreed readily. “Just give me a moment…”

“BRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!” The bell signaling the start of classes echoed remorselessly through the hallways, completely unconcerned over the drama which had been unfolding in the laundry room.

‘Great,’ Joshua thought. ‘Another tardy for class, and probably another hour’s detention after school again.’ He couldn’t help thinking, ‘My life sucks,’ but he didn’t say a word — he was too polite to do anything to interfere with Olivia’s concentration.

“OH! It’s gone!” Laughing delightedly, Olivia’s face lit up in a smile as she half bounced excitedly.

‘Good lord,’ Joshua groaned, inwardly. ‘Has she always been this mercurial? Or is it just the stress and uncertainty of the situation? From crying to clinging to laughing to pushing away…. All in the space of ten minutes!’

Clearing his throat, however, Joshua made certain not to let his inner thoughts out as he asked, “Have you always been so fickle? Can I go to class now, and continue this at lunch?”

“Fickle?” Olivia’s face quickly changed again, as she frowned over his words.

‘God damn it! Why the hell did I say that?’ Once again, Joshua’s mouth had betrayed what his brain had wanted it to do.

Not daring himself to answer, Joshua quickly grabbed up his bag and pushed past Olivia. As soon as he was out of the cramped laundry room, he ran with his might to get away and to the safety of his classroom.