Everything made no sense.

“You know, it’s rude to ignore someone!” The midget monster said, pouting from her side of my table.

“Yes,” was all I could say as I watched food float from my fridge, make a few twirls in the air and somehow become cooked or prepared before plopping down in front of us.

My apartment wasn’t that large, and my fridge reflected that. It only had enough room for a kitchen that flowed into my cramped living room. My bedroom and bathroom were connected by an adjacent door.

However, that mattered little to this purple haired ball of confusion. She would swish a hand in one direction, and the walls would retreat from her as if afraid. Food I didn’t know I had would appear from my somehow inexhaustible fridge, and then cook itself for us.

Instead of further berating me, the small girl shaped monster started to devour the morsels in front of us. In fact, it seemed as if the matter had been put completely behind her.

To be completely honest, I had expected a bit more fire and death than this when I came out of my room after sleeping a bit. As I waited for her to finish, I couldn’t help but be a little anxious.

Did I try to run now? Could I make it? No, the door looks like it’s a mile away; I could never make a break for it before she kills me via anything.

Could I take her? She is fairly close, and physically doesn’t look too strong… I took that thought out back, shot it, shot it several times more and gave it the most dishonest burial that it deserved.

This girl had collapsed an entire building to encase one thing. Albeit, it was something straight out of a nightmare. Still, I don’t know what kind of idiot would think they had a chance after seeing that.

That leaves trying to communicate. So far she has treated me fairly well. As in, she hasn’t tried to invert my internals and externals. The only problem with this option is that I’m fairly sure she’s batshit crazy.

Taking a deep breath and readying myself for pain, I spoke first, “So, uh, my name is Cade. How’re you?”

The monster paused between bites, and suddenly the air around my ears vibrated a little. I didn’t move, unsure what I had done to spurn this monster to go straight for the kill.

At first, I was sure that there were noises being directed into my ears. Then, I began to hear various languages; some that sounded like they couldn’t possibly be formed by a human. They appeared for a second before disappating like smoke.

“Ah, ooh, there we go!” A cheerful tone echoed in my ear. “It took awhile to work around our translation gene. Wow, I’ve never actually done this. I’m really, really excited!”

“Uh, what exactly is going on?” I asked tentatively. Inwardly, I was trying not to tense up at her words.

The air wobbled for a second. “Why I’m inducting a new member of our family! It’s been so long since we found another!”

“Of course,” I started, suddenly feeling that my stomach was tossing and turning. “And who is this lucky new member?”

“What do you mean? It’s obviously you, silly! No flimsy spawn of this Reality could ever have entered my Cube.” There was much to comment on her words. Much that I had no idea where to even begin.

That’s fine. The situation hasn’t devolved into indeterminate screaming yet. Just think of it like talking with a toddler. A toddler with abilities likened to a thermonuclear bomb.

“Okay, so I’m the lucky member… that’s great.” It was definitely not great. “But I already have a family here.”

For the first time since the food appeared, the monster stopped eating. I also just now noticed that her irises had the shapes of two interlocking cubes instead of normal circles. They were dark, foreboding black.

“I mean, I would love to join your family! There’s nothing I wouldn’t love more!” I hurriedly interjected before any chance of this monster doing something irrational.

“Hmmm, don’t worry, little brother. I was just thinking about something. It’s completely fine for us to have many ties to the Realities that we play with.” The air vibrated again, and the monster went back to her never ending feast.

I think I was being corrupted by the crazy as I nodded to her words.

“That’s nice. Could you, um, explain some things, though? I’m slightly confused about… well, everything.”

“Sure!” The bodiless voice chirped.

Alright, this is good. “Okay, so what was that thing that you killed earlier?”

“Oh, that’s a Sinner! Or, err,” the monster frowned. “It’s translated weird here. I’m not the best at explaining it like Doldrum is, but I do know that it ate something that it’s not supposed to. Also it’s still alive!”

“That’s not good…” I paused to grab a particularly adventurous piece of chicken out of the air. The name Doldrum was also marked down in my memory. “... I think. But, what are you going to do about it?”

“Well, I was gonna close off this place till it eventually starved itself by eating this Reality dry, but then I found you!” The monster had finished the food in front of it as its voice slowly took over from the vibrating air.

“Right,” I said in fake cheer. “What exactly does that mean now?”

“We kill it and let you consume its inner Reality obviously! I’m a loving sibling, after all.” She expounded while posing on her side of the table.

What… “I’m sorry?”

“You’re forgiven!”

My brain rebooted from the conversation. “No, I meant what do you mean by ‘consume’? Also what do you mean by ‘we’?”

“Huh, obviously the two of us…” She tilted her head in confusion like it was me who was making the whole thing confusing. “You know of your own Reality, right?”

“I have no clue what you’re talking about.” I stated clearly, and, for the first time, the monstrous girl paused completely. She looked like she was suddenly caught within the headlights of the most improbable of cars.

“What do you mean? You’re joking, right?” She said, lips trembling.

I debated on lying to her because I was honestly terrified about whatever made her terrified. Instead, I found my mouth moving on its own, “I’m not. I have no idea what is going on.”

“G, Give me a sec!” She cried as she popped out of existence. There was a brief sound of displaced air as there was suddenly a lack of everything in the space she had been.

The walls of my apartment folded themselves back into their correct dimensions as if they were never a mile long. Steaming food that had been on the table was now suddenly going cold, and I noticed that there was no one complaining about my extra space.

Well, it was gone now, but I expected some more notice. No wait, she said something about a cube? Did that somehow make it so no one noticed anything? It would explain why I hadn’t seen anyone else as on my way home.

She said we were family or something, right? Did that mean I could do something similar? No, I’m going crazy if I did think that.

Still, I’m a dreamer, after all.

I pictured a cube. Imagined one sitting between my hands, the cold, steel of it as it rested against my palms. I felt the heavy weight of it as it was just a completely steel cube.

Somehow, something didn’t feel quite right. Like I was trying to force a muscle I didn’t know I had, and I was paying for it. However, I felt like I could get there if I began layering the metal cube as if it were muscles. Strings of metallic fiber pulled taunt. That felt not quite right yet, but I decided to think of something instead of cube on pure instinct. A circle came to mind that slowly became a Sphere.

Something clicked in the back of my mind and-

“Quite an interesting lifeform you have there.” The words that rang behind me were enough to knock me from my trance. They were stern, cold and reminded me of ticking cogs in a machine.

I spun around to come face to face with a massive figure. The loomed over me in a height that scraped against my own ceiling. Their body was draped in a fancy suit that reminded me of an over the top butler.

However, it was the figure’s face and exposed hands that drew most of my attention. Clicking brass and molded iron curled around the person’s head, forming the approximation of a face. Some pieces of it were missing though, and I could see some gears turning and twisting within.

Their hands were of similar make. A shining brass outer skin that flowed together with all sorts of metals, and pulled itself over ticking cogs and vibrant machinery.

“I think a congratulations is in order.” The being of clockwork spoke in grandfatherly tones. “It is not everyday that we welcome a new member of our species.”

“B, but, Doldrum, you said he was broken!” A panicked voice rang behind the man of brass and metal. I found the little monster of purple behind the being. “I brought you to fix him. He doesn’t even know about his Reality!”

The now named Doldrum hummed with ticking gears. He leaned towards me inquisitively, clanging spheres for eyes boring into my organic ones. “Then he must have quite an affinity for Breathing. But worry not, Kali, young Cade here is just having problems because of our little Sinner.”

I had no idea what to think of this now. There was suddenly a new being of unknown ability casually within my house as if they owned the place. Though, I don’t think I’ve ever been complimented for breathing.

Maybe I get invest in better locks…

“Um, I’m sorry to interrupt, but could you please explain what is going on?” I entered into their conversation, and felt the two being’s eyes on me.

Kali was the first to react. Pouncing up like a startled cat, and bounding between Doldrum and I. “Do not worry, I have no idea what’s going on, but I won’t abandon family!”

“Thanks.” I blinked, turning my attention to the taller of the two. “Um, Doldrum, sir, what’s going on?”

“And I shall give you understanding, but first, I believe introductions are in order.” He spoke softly while bowing. “My name is Doldrum, but most of our kind calls me The Keeper.” He gestured to Kali who was happily smiling despite everything. “She is the last of the Whispers, and her name cannot feasibly be pronounced by any translating gene our kind possess. Though, we call her Kali.”

“That’s…” How do I respond to this?! Kali is the last of her race for some reason, and this guy is literally a living grandfather clock! “I’m Cade Burningham, uh, nice to meet you two.”

“A pleasure. Now, let’s discuss your condition.” Doldrum said, picking a chair across from me and steepling his metallic fingers with an audible clink. “You are currently experiencing something that will either help you, or kill you. You’re decisions from here on in are a matter of life and death.”

“What?” I blanched, having no clue what was happening, but if I was suddenly diagnosed with an intergalactic illness then I’m not sure I want to know. Did I actually think of that? I shook those thoughts out of my head. “Can I do anything about it?”

“Actually, you have a plethora of options to choose from. Most lead to death, but I can only help so far. To be brief, you have created something that ate your own Reality; it is now killing you slowly as the beast tries to integrate with it. You have, in essence, created a Sinner.” Doldrum clicked and whirred as he spoke, assuming a very rigid form of body control. I mentally noted what he said about Sinners.

“Mine?” I looked around the room for signs of the end. When I found none, I turned back to the living clockwork and expressed my confusion, “What do you mean?”

“It’s rather hard to explain…” Doldrum intoned, pausing to bring up an open palm. I felt like something octagonal was trying to force itself into the air above his palm. “Think of it as every member of our race containing an entire world within themselves. We always know of it whenever another one of race ever brings up. Like a dear memory, you would be able to recall everything about it. Based on the fact that you can somehow still operate your Reality, I think we still have time before it truly integrates with your Reality.”

“Right, um, I’m lost.” I stated clearly.

Doldrum nodded his head scholarly like he had seen the problem before it even happened. “It is hard to explain to one who does not know. Just know that the creature Kali and you saw earlier is killing you ever so slowly until your very existence had been drained dry. And you two need to kill it before then.”

“Wait, what?” I rose from my chair, feeling an odd weight on my legs. “How do you even know I’m whatever you guys are? How do you even know that it ate something? I’m just a seventeen year old high school student, and you guys are… actually, I have no idea. Some kind of god? What can I do against something that she,” I pointed to the silent Kali who had somehow gather another feast. “Had all but blown to bits before I even understood what was happening? Hell, she even used two whole buildings to attack it! You want me to fight that?”

Doldrum pointed to my lap. “I believe that would answer the question to if you are one of us. As for why you must fight it, it has taken something from you. We believe in taking back what is yours.”

I froze before following the finger to my lap. I had been standing up, but there was a constant weight attached to my legs that I hadn’t really paid attention to. Whatever was stuck to me was certainly a cause for concern, however.

It looked like a flattened box, but completely made of dull chrome. Small, spindly legs jutted from the bottom in a mismatch of random claws, and clutched to my legs like a desperate puppy. A small V-shaped indent ran along the side that faces me, splitting into something that looked like a parody of scissors. They snapped happily at my attention.

Oh, hello mysterious monster…

I silently looked up to my company, then looked down to the metallic creature, then back up to the smiling face of Kali and whatever Doldrum did to form amusement. I have no idea how he did it, but I was sure that the man of brass an gears was smirking at me.

“This proves nothing.” I stated firmly, not sure if I was in a weird dream anymore.

“On the contrary,” Doldrum said in a stint of clicks in clanks. “That proves everything. You’re were just starting to get in tune with your Reality, and had accidentally created something that ate your Reality. Now, all you have to do it kill it, and take back what’s yours.”

“We should look for places with lots of bait!” Kali chimed in from her meal. I frowned as I processed what she meant.

“I have already took the time to understand this Reality’s technology. If I’m not mistaken there should be something called a ‘Football’ game tomorrow; from what I see that would be the perfect place.” Doldrum happily clicked.

I was beginning to think that there were still people in those buildings that Kali had twisted into oblivion yesterday. The thought that these two beings were so callous that they treated deaths on the thousands as minor occurrences was not setting the best image.

“And how,” I inserted myself into their crazy. “Do we know that this creature would attack the game?”

Doldrum simply pointed at Kali who was still devouring food. “Everything needs to eat.”

With that, it was decided that Kali and I would fight some man-eating, monstrous creature that had somehow eaten something of mine, and was going to continue to feed till the world as I knew it was drained of all life. All I was armed with was knowledge of the fact that I can somehow create ceatures, and that I was somehow part of a race that was either crazy or had very low moral standards. Wonderful, I just love weekends!

Well, Cole had wanted me to go to his game.