[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.

“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.”