carl@fire

Becca watched the upper reaches of the room she was in. Did he just leave me here? Alone? And…in another world?

She expected that she should be panicking at the realization, but instead she felt like she was more comfortable here than on Earth. Where is here, anyway? Oh, right, I'm on Eden.

She blinked at the unexpected realization, fear exploding inside her and then disappearing just as quickly.

The last however long since she'd arrived had been disorienting and terrifying for the parts she could recall, but her fear had always drained away immediately, with her mind managing to dredge up information that filled in most of the gaps in her knowledge, unraveling those fears of the unknown before they could take root.

What the fuck is going on? I should definitely tell him. I should…not tell him. I should—No, but if I tell him, then maybe he'd leave me here? The latest thought, which had interrupted her growing desire to alert Carl that something was deeply wrong, brought with it a fear that was less quick to fade. Oh fuck. What would I even do if I got stuck here? Nobody would ever find me? He wouldn't do that though, right? We're family. Sort of?

She scrubbed her hands over her face. What's wrong with me? Obviously I should say something.

And she'd tried to say something a few times once she'd last come out of a daze and found herself in the hallway just before this elevator-thing that she'd immediately known needed magic to be operated without knowing how she knew any of that. She'd very nearly brought up the fact that she couldn't log out, and then she'd very nearly started gibbering when she'd realized that she wasn't in New Era from a combination of feeling herself sweat and some deeper, more certain knowledge.

But she hadn't.

She hadn't, and she didn't know why.

Because you don't want to change anything, idiot. You're fine with everything as it is. Being on another world. Without your sister to interrupt you as you take what should be yours.

Becca pressed a hand to her forehead. Nope. Teenage-me, you're being awfully hyper today, but I didn't go to years of therapy to not be able to recognize this shit for what it is. I'm going to get back to Earth, I'm going to say thanks for having me, and I'm going to…

She frowned. She wanted to leave and get away from this stupid, unhealthy fixation forever, but Annie was her only sister. The sister she'd looked up to her whole life. Was she really willing to give that up?

Fuck, it's like I'm trying to outwit myself. She knocked softly on her head a couple times with her fist. Wake the fuck up, Becca. You're just making yourself miserable.

A strong sense of exasperation flooded through her mind, though she wasn't feeling particularly exasperated at that moment.

"Alright, I figured it out," Carl's voice called from the hallway, causing her to jump.

Her stomach fluttered in a way that she hadn't felt for the past ten years, and she scowled at the ground at her body's rebelliousness. "Yeah?" She looked back up at him after a moment.

Carl stood a couple steps away with a smug grin crossing his lips. "Yup. Figured out how we're gonna get up there."

A vivid scene flooded her mind at that moment, starting with him reaching down and picking her up, cradling her gently in his powerful arms, and then she angrily clawed the images from her mind, fighting back the heat that was rising in her face as the rational part of her battled both her body and imagination.

"I'm just gonna use the dev console," he said in a near-whisper. "Don't know why I didn't think of it before. So easy."

Dev console? Becca frowned, but her whole being seemed unified in her confusion at that moment. Like something from work? I thought he just worked in IT? She felt a little lightheaded as she tried to remember, but she came upon another hole in her memory, as though the time she was trying to recall had not happened to her. Fuck, what's going on?

She flexed her left hand out of habit as she felt the same sense of panic rising up inside her that she'd felt so many times since she'd come here, but then she remembered that Carl had used his dev console earlier to bring them to Ocexius Tower, and she was worrying over nothing.

There was no reason to worry.

Everything was fine.

Great, even.

Becca smiled up at Carl. "Oh, that's great. Wish I'd thought of it."

He gave her a suspicious look. "Feeling better?" he said after a moment.

"Huh? Oh. Um, yeah," she said, having been disoriented by the shifting of her thoughts. "Sorry if I worried you," she added, making that extra effort even though it felt embarrassing.

"You really should log out if you're not feeling good," Carl said with a some concern in his voice. "I think there's some kinda diagnostics that warn you if you're…" His face twitched like he was trying really hard to remember something. "I mean, I'm not an expert or anything, but I remember reading a little when Bobby started playing and Annie sent me an article about it."

And there she was again. Annie this, Annie that, always getting between them. She was—

What the fuck is wrong with me today? It hasn't been that long since I've gotten laid. He's her husband for fuck's sake. There is no "us" for her to get between. Do I need… Is this like, a medication thing? Schizophrenia? Or is it because I'm on another world? Some kind of weird jet-lag?

And how the fuck am I not more worried about being on this Eden planet?! Carl's treating it like it's… She thought back briefly, rec—

"Rebecca?" Carl prompted.

"It's Becca," she snapped automatically, giving him an annoyed look that was just as reflexive.

"Right," he said like usual.

"I mean, I'm fine," she said more quietly. Fuck, I just can't break out of the routine.

"Developer console activated," said a voice she didn't recognize.

"Gimme your hand for a sec," Carl said, reaching out with one of his.

"Um…" Becca hesitated before she cautiously extended her free hand, which was quickly clasped in his much larger one. A brief fantasy of their fingers interlocking flashed through her mind before she quashed it.

Stop fighting me, stupid girl. I'm trying to give both of us what we want.

Becca's eyes widened. Who's us? What the f—

"Console, set location: sixty eighth floor of Ocexius Tower," Carl said.

She squeezed his hand for reassurance, feeling cold sweat dripping down her back and, when he frowned down at her in response to her gesture, another small dagger lodging itself into her heart, which was just so stupid if she was trying to pretend like she didn't want to spread her legs and rut like—

What the fuck are you doing to me? She screamed the words in her mind as her panic mounted. What are you, some fucking parasite I got from coming here? Some—

A cacophonous jumble of wailing, screeching, and keening ripped through her mind, and her knees buckled as she groaned, clamping both hands to her head.

"Whoa, you okay?" Carl said.

Rebecca rose swiftly to her feet, a companionable smile on her face, and let her hands drop normally to her sides. "Yes, feeling great," she said in a very normal tone. "Just a little disorienting when you use your dev console like that."

"Ah, yeah, I can imagine," he said with a nod. "So…" He looked back and forth, taking in the garish hallway with its gaudy display of so-called precious jewels, silver, and gold everywhere, with the knob for each door cut from a different type of gemstone. "Uh, I guess let's check out the rooms?"

"Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking," she said, moving to stand a little closer to him while she unfolded the paper she'd been clasping. Then she sidled even nearer, intending to get him more used to having her in closer proximity. "Looking at these keys, they're magical," she observed as the pair of keys came into view from within the paper. "Probably they lead you to your room if you hold them and walk in a given direction." It was a crude design that she was offended to have to look at, let alone use.

"Huh. Kinda…" Carl grimaced. "Why don't they just have the rooms numbered like normal? Always gotta be reinventing the wheel."

"That's a more sophisticated idea, at the least," Rebecca agreed. She set off along the hallway, having already located the first room. "One of them lies this way." She felt for the second one. "Actually, they're both this way."

"Convenient," Carl said. "Not that I'm gonna be here long, so, uh, if that money-making spell was expensive to cast or something, then—"

"No, it was as easy as breathing," Rebecca said, flashing him a smile over her shoulder, this one toned down to match her current level of knowledge. "This is one," she said, pointing to a door that had a glowing green knob matching the green glow of one key. "And this is the other." She pointed to a second door with a blue-glowing knob which was a short ways down the hall.

"Huh. Not as annoying as I expected," he mused.

She handed over the blue key. "I'm going to…rest for a short while. We'll meet here in the hall again in ten minutes?"

He shrugged. "Okay." His fingers plucked the key from her hand, and he started down the hall. "I'll come get you sooner if Vol shows up," he called.

Rebecca paused. Vol? What a strange name. No matter. She flicked her fingers, and the door next to her opened. She walked in and shut the door firmly behind herself, then glanced down at the remaining key in her palm. It flared brighter for a moment before vanishing.

Next, she destroyed the coarse, uncomfortable clothes she wore, replacing them with a gown spun from light and a pair of shoes to match. After a moment's thought, she decided to make the dress a bit more modest, judging the new style more likely to suit her plans. She cast her senses about the room, taking in the uncomfortable-looking bed—large enough for her purposes, she imagined—and a trio of cloth-covered chairs, along with various other items she imagined mortals might have a use for.

Rebecca sat on the edge of the bed. A bed was… No, perhaps not. The confines of a chair might prove more productive.

She rose and strode to the nearest chair, sitting back into it with a grimace as she felt its disgusting texture.

Then she relinquished her grasp.