#chapter i

Picture Perfect

"I just don't get it!"

"Mal, for the last time, you just have to-- ugh why don't you listen to me?!"

Carlos closed his eyes and leaned his head back. Ben and Mal had come over to his and Jay's apartment in Charmington for a nice Sunday picnic...

They had packed half a basket, Evie was already about to snap, Doug had straight up walked out and Jay was busy trying to call a mystery date on his phone.

And Carlos loved Mal and Ben, he really did... But god, do they need counselling. Carlos felt like he was going to be sick. Yelling, yelling, yelling, just like-- No, he would never compare them to her. And besides, this was their marriage, it wasn't his place to intervene to complain about the pain in his chest...

"-los.... Carlos!" Mal's worried voice rang out from the kitchen. "Hey, you good?"

Carlos nodded, clearing his throat. He had completely zoned out, and Dude was worriedly muttering reassurances against his chest.

"You sure, man?" Ah, that was Ben. "You kinda just..." He made a powering down sound.

"Yeah, yeah... Uhm... Heatstroke or... Something like that... Uhm... Leather and all..." Carlos mumbled. "Uh... Where's Evie?"

"Back garden, getting the blankets."

"Thanks Mal. Be right back!"

He forced a smile and patted Ben on the back. He then made his way to the back garden where Evie was muttering about what kind of pattern would fit best with their clothes.

"Pinstripes? No, not pinstripes, no one here even wears pinstripes, Evie! Oh, Carlos... what happened?"

Evie tilted her head, her long blue braid slipping from her shoulder. She was trying to hide it, but Carlos could tell that she was as affected as him by all the fighting.

"Evie, can I call girl-talk please?"

"Oh! Doug, shoo, shoo! You're not one of the girls!" Doug let himself be pushed away, wondering how Carlos could be one of the girls, or if Evie had outed Carlos right there and then.

"So.... What happened."

Carlos sighed, feeling mentally exhausted.

"Mal and Ben are at it again, courses are kicking my ass, there are several people who still think I want to murder dogs, my hair's a mess and Dude is sick. What do you want to tackle first."

Evie sighed somehow louder than Carlos.

"Uuuuuhhhhh.... Dude. How is he, is he getting better?"

Carlos nodded and grabbed Evie's hand. "He is, but he's still all sleepy and that scares me a bit." Words kept flowing out of his mouth and by the time he noticed the tears flowing down his cheeks, Ben and Mal had come out of the apartment. He hurriedly wiped his cheeks and mumbled a miserable excuse of "looking for Jay" just to avoid looking at Ben.

Yes, Ben. Because Mal has seen him at his worst. He trusts her with his life. But it still feels embarassing when Ben is involved. Chalk it up to growing in the Isle, but letting anyone else close, especially a man, felt... Wrong. Either way, he made his way to Jay's room and threw a shoe at him.

"Get up loverboy, we're leaving!"

Jay flipped him off and got out of bed.

"Yeah, yeah, comin'... Hold on!" Jay, observant as he was, roughly wiped Carlos' cheek. "Did you have girl talk? Why didn't you call me over?"

"Hah, and ruining your discourse with your mystery princeps?"

"Oh shut up, Your Crybabyness."

"Fuck off!"

"You fuck off!"

"You--"

"Ahhhem!"

Evie broke up their fight with a clearing of her throat.

"We're ready, boys. Let's go."

About the countdown..i realized it's taking longer than a regular countdown. -Im not saying im impatient though! (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠)

But more like i noticed that after you announced the countdown counter at 05 or V, the next posts were mostly recordings and transmission logs...then we also got more info about how the AU was built! .....so it made me wonder...

If after countdown 05 we got recordings and transmissions and info about the true AU...then what happens when the counter reaches 04 or IV?

....

SORRY FOR THE RAMBLES GAHH IDK IF THIS MADE ANY SENSE EITHER HUEHUEHUE (⁠•⁠ ⁠▽⁠ ⁠•⁠;⁠)

Well well isnt your timing perfect lol XD and yess your analysis is actually correct.

The countdown also represents a phase in my storytelling. I had to introduce first the structure of the World and how it was built along with other early clues + references so you all would at least get an idea how the flow of the story could be.

I actually still have much more info about the World to add but I decided it would be best to input it after the comic finally starts as to not 'spoil' too much (—yall know how Piper is about 'spoilers' shsvshvs "some are best to be discovered on your own~")

...and now that, Phase V —Introduction to Project Genesis is finally complete.

Now let us move onto Phase IV —Chapter I: Tale of The First IV