Prophecy Approved Companion

Qube fought the urge to lick her lips in fear as she stared down the five newcomers. What did “the display part” mean?

“In a few words, tell us about yourselves, what you can do, and what you think you can bring to table,” Major General Coyle, aka Red Ruth, ordered the party.

The party looked at the table. Qube started to reach for her backpack.

“You’re going to want to rephrase that last part,” the Chosen One interjected calmly, stopping Qube with a hand on her shoulder. “They struggle with some slang terms, and idioms in general, although they never need an explanation repeated.”

He sounded so professional! Even more professional than when he’d been talking to Sir Ian! Qube snuck a glance at him, feeling almost shy at the idea of a completely professional Chosen One. He gave her an encouraging smile.

Major General Coyle grunted, and looked back at her slate. “What skills do you think would be of use, and what kind of activities would you prefer to engage in?” she asked. She looked mildly disgusted at the faintly glowing slate she was holding.

“I am a Bard of some renown,” Sencha Bard said, taking the diplomatic lead. “I can compose odes, engage in delightful conversation, and navigate political scenes with ease.” He paused for a second, before adding: “I also have been known to pick locks, from time to time. Only for the greater Good of the kingdom, you understand!”

Major General Coyle rubbed her temples.

“This is pointless,” the blue Warwick, known as Brigadier Kennedy, muttered.

“Hold questions and comments until after the initial stage is completed,” Coyle ordered.

“In terms of what skills I think would be of use, my understanding is that the world you live in is quite different to our own. Therefore, it’s difficult for me to speak to my usefulness with any certainty. Even the activities I enjoy here might be so different in your realm that I would no longer find them pleasing. However, both myself and the other members of our party are dedicated towards doing Good, and none of us is interested in resting on our laurels. We are also well aware of the debt we owe to you and your people for our existence, and are eager to repay you in whatever form is best.” Sencha Bard, having finished his speech, leant back in his chair.

Brigadier Kennedy, on the other hand, had leaned more and more forward during the Bard’s short speech. By the time Sencha Bard finished speaking, the blue Warwick was looking positively smug.

This was possibly because Sencha Bard had used a lot of flowery language to essentially agree with him that this was pointless, but Qube was still glad to see the blue Warwick warming up to them.

“I am a Hunter,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar said, frowning slightly. “I am also heir to the Thorny Throne. While I agree with my dear friend to some extent about not being able to say what I bring to the table, I know what it is I don’t want to do.”

All of the outsiders focused on the arachnid. The blue and colourless Warwicks started tapping on their slates, while the blue Ruth’s eyes had gone extremely wide.

Had it been that dramatic of a statement, to say that there were things the Hunter didn’t want to do? Or was it the fact that she was publicly disagreeing with her fellow party member?

“I don’t want to hurt innocent people,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar continued. “I don’t want to be forced into being someone I’m not, and I don’t want to be tied down in one place. I want to figure out who I am, and how I fit into both worlds.”

The outsiders all looked at the colourless Warwick, who’d introduced himself as Mister Bazzacco. He winced.

“I am a Mage,” Definitely Bad Guy said. Qube realised with a start that she’d have to talk next. She’d been so busy watching how the new people reacted to her friends that she’d completely forgotten to think about how she was going to introduce herself in the best possible way, so that she appeared as both extremely useful, and a person! And, most importantly, as a Good person they could trust to do the right thing!

“I have conducted countless experiments on subjects both living and dead, and am highly skilled in research. I am not squeamish, like my companions, and am more than capable of doing whatever is necessary in order to procure results. I believe I will be of most use in expanding your knowledge bases, especially if there are activities that your people are unable to complete. In some of your literature that I was given I noticed that several aspects of study had been neglected due to the impediment of ethics. I will not have any such problems.”

Qube buried her face in her hands.

It seemed the Mage had been more concerned with appearing useful than he had been about appearing Good. Which, in his defence, wasn’t something that anyone had emphasised to him. But the former Mage Advisor wasn’t done.

“I understand there is a bias amongst the Devs against intelligence. However, our very existence indicates that there is still an interest in discoveries and experimentation.”

None of the outsiders said anything. Their faces, which had been showing hints of their reactions, were now completely blank. It was five blank expressions that now turned towards Qube, silently informing her it was her cue to speak.

Qube dropped her hands, and sat up straight. This was fine! She could turn this around, and convince them that Definitely Bad Guy was actually a really Good person! That they all were!

“I’m a Healer, and I want to help people,” she said brightly. She suddenly remembered Sir Ian playing with her hair, saying what a good assistant she would be. “Not in the sense of being everyone’s assistant,” she hurried to add, “more in the way that I like …”

She trailed off as her brain locked up. What did she want to do in the Devs’ realm? Sencha Bard was right, they didn’t have enough information to definitively say what it was they could do there. But Sexy Screamy Spider Briar was also right; Qube knew she didn’t want to be trapped, or exploited.

She definitely didn’t want to do what Definitely Bad Guy was suggesting, either.

Did she want to help people? Sure, she liked helping people, and being useful, and Good, but was that what she wanted to do forever? If that were the case, she would have wanted to settle down and become a Healer in Cobbletown or something after they defeated all the Temples.

But that hadn’t been her dream. She’d wanted to do her T.I.M.E.S research: explore the Temples, and figure out how they worked, and piece together the puzzles they presented. She wanted to find out how and why her world worked, and go to places she’d never been before.

She wanted to solve the mysteries of her world, then travel to the stars and see what riddles they contained.

She wanted to find the seams of reality, and push against them to see what lay beyond.

She wanted her friends to be happy, and to make sure that people were being treated fairly, yes, but that wasn’t what she wanted to spend her life doing.

“I want to help people,” she continued, drawing in a deep breath, “but I also want to explore. Not just the Devs’ realm, but mine as well, and any others out there. I don’t know how I can make myself useful to you, but I know I’ll find something in the end.”

“Adding to that,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar drawled, sitting back on her haunches a little, “I’d love to know how all you cuties are planning on making yourselves useful to us. What will you be bringing to our table?”

Major General Thompson, the red Warwick, gave a snort of laughter.

“They’ve got you there, Coyle,” he said cheerfully. The fog of tension that had been nearly suffocating everyone suddenly dispersed.

Coyle glared at Thompson as the other three furiously tapped their slates.

“The display portion has not finished,” she snapped. “The Mascot still needs to speak.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, baby, I spoke over you,” Sexy Screamy Spider Briar cooed at Squiggles as the sharktopus wriggled herself importantly.

Squiggles slapped two tentacles onto the table top.

“Family,” she said triumphantly.

“Just a point of clarification, this is the subject that was originally a mindless monster, correct?” the blue Ruth asked Alex.

“The Healer was able to modify her code on the fly,” Alex replied, with just a hint of pride. The blue Ruth resumed her furious slate tapping.

Squiggles, pleased by her introduction, went back to playing with the crowns jammed onto her tentacles.

“Is there anything you’d like to add?” Major General Coyle asked Squiggles in a comparatively gentle tone. Squiggles tilted her head to the side as she contemplated the question.

“Book?” she asked the red Ruth.

“She likes reading children’s books,” the Chosen One explained.

“Anything else you wish to say for yourself?” Major General Coyle clarified, eyeing Squiggles’s green ribbon. Continuing to speak in a gentler tone than she’d used for anyone else, she added: “Anything you like to do? Or want to do?”

Squiggles drummed her tentacles for a second.

“Eat,” she said proudly.

The commander of the outsiders nodded to herself. “Very well,” she said, her voice returning to its normal, authoritative cadence. “The subjects have had a chance to introduce and display themselves. We shall now move on to the main segment of the demonstration, which is the interview section. I shall begin.”

She picked up her slate, and slid her finger over it a few times, her eyes scanning the stone tablet. Qube craned her neck slightly to get a better view: it looked like words were continuously appearing and disappearing on the slate! Not only that, but there were far too many words for anyone to read that quickly!

Coyle stopped at one section, and read out loud:

“You have all spoken of your desire to ‘ascend’ to our world. I see here that you have been informed that your world is a simulation. How has the knowledge that your entire world isn’t real made you feel towards humans, your creators?”

“While I’m glad we exist, I would like the damage done to our world to be repaired,” Qube said immediately. This could be her only chance to get her village back!

“Do you feel resentful due to this damage?” Coyle asked.

“No,” Qube lied, “I understand it was done for a reason, but I still want all the people killed to be restored to life.”

“I agree with our wise Healer,” Sencha Bard said. “None of us resent our existence, and indeed are quite thankful that we were created, but all of us desire what is best for our kingdom, and our fellow people.”

“If you are brought into the world, you will not have the same range of sensations that you have here. This is liable to cause psychological distress. How do you plan on managing that distress?”

“Well, I don’t know, the same way I do any other?” Qube replied, flustered. But that didn’t seem to satisfy the Major General.

“How have you coped with stress before?”

“Well I’ve been able to rely on my friends—”

The Major General cut her off, firing more and more questions at her. She ignored any time other members of the party tried to answer, focusing solely on Qube’s response.

“You’ll be given access to potentially sensitive information. How can we trust you will handle it correctly?”

“I— well I wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt anyone, or make my friends upset.”

“So you plan on befriending people in our world?”

“Is that not—?”

“How do you feel about the fact that you will outlive your human friends?”

“I will?”

“I see that you worship the king and queen. What would you do if they ordered you to hurt your friends?”

Qube’s head was swirling from the interrogation. “I’d never hurt my friends,” she said. “I—”

“What if they ordered you to harm a stranger?”

The red Ruth was ruthless, peppering Qube with questions. The Healer felt like she was trying to dance on shifting sand. She didn’t have time to formulate a pleasing response. She didn’t even have time to think!

“I wouldn’t hurt someone!”

“So you’d disobey a direct order from your king and queen?”

“They’d never order me to do that.”

“What if I, who controls your existence, ordered you to harm a stranger?”

“I’m a Healer; I don’t harm people!”

“Why would we allow someone who doesn’t follow orders to ascend?”

Qube gasped at the unfairness. “You — we were promised we’d ascend!”

The red Ruth grinned as Qube processed the implied betrayal. Coyle leaned forward, a look of malignant glee on her face.

“And what are you going to do if I decide none of you will ever set foot in our world?” she asked, her eyes glittering with satisfaction.

Qube’s mind went blank. She suddenly realised why the other woman had been pushing her so hard.

It was a trap.