#talking weapon

Chapter 12 

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New Home, New… 

- The Omen -

With Lynn's instructions and my pre-established knowledge of the elevator's location, finding my way to the bar is mostly just a mindless (though not literally) walk in the right direction.

I do my best to catch Riae up on everything during the elevator ride down, communicating through our bond speeds up the process, which is convenient because it's a long story. It's weird, the longer I'm bonded to Riae the more I realize that the link between us isn't just a method of communication or a conduit for her curse, it's like a bit of who each of us are, like two hues bleeding into one, entwined together, with each moment I can almost feel that connection growing deeper. Adding more depth to what we can share… No wonder I felt her absence so starkly. I feel a pulse of mutual affection from the bond at that thought.

In this case, I'm practically just playing back my memories starting the moment she went to out and ending with this one. (Hi, Riae.) Even with my ADHD brain (plus objective nix-data which is just constantly going to be part of my every thought and experience now, I guess) she's pretty thoroughly up to speed by the time we reach our destination.

With a ding, the elevator door opens and I step out onto the second floor, the foyer of which is a large open balcony overlooking the lobby where I stood just hours ago. 

⌜“Okay, so we're planning to make friends with the people who kidnapped you.”⌝

‹<They did also, kind of rescue me.>

⌜“Their boss also cursed you as a baby.”⌝

I wince and give my hair a quick fluff,‹<details, details, if we're going to stay here we're going to be around them. Hating people is exhausting so I'd rather not think about it too hard. Plus,  if I hated everyone who cursed me we wouldn't be friends.> It's hard to explain why I want to befriend Hope and the rest, I'm not sure if I even really know. Maybe because it's the first chance I've ever really had to have friends…

⌜“That’s… fair actually. You did also get a cute dress out of it.”⌝ Riae says walking alongside me for a few steps, her clothes suddenly an exact match for my outfit except burgundy rather than lilac, ⌜“You look adorable by the way.”⌝ she winks, as she begins floating again, keeping the dress to my surprise. Both the sight of it on her and tracking Riae's own eyeline remind me just how low the neckline is.

‹<Yeah yeah yeah, sure. Take it aaaaall in.> I scoff waving her off with an eyeroll.

I ignore the capillaries widening in my cheeks and continue walking.

I pass a few doors which based off of their positioning and decoration probably lead to seating with a nice view of the stage this place is named for. There's also a concession stand which includes a mini bar but seeing as there's no one there I deduce that it's not the bar I'm looking for.

The hall Lynn was referring to is more of a corridor, I think. a direct extension of the room leading deeper into the building, the only thing separating the two areas being the switch from tile to carpet and a sign declaring ‘Staff only beyond this point.’ 

I hesitate on reflex before remembering that I’m probably allowed, I mean the owner of this place pretty directly told me to come here. 

I guess I am a staff.

I pass several more doors on my way down the hall, each much more mundane looking than the rest of the theater, more like what you would find at a nice house. They're also not labeled which might be frustrating if not for my new not-quite hearing ‘sense’ picking up what I imagine is shouting a few doors down from me.

{“Hope! Get down from there!”}

{“Nooou! Thisis where I belong! Above it all! Gazze upon my splendor from below, puny mortals”}

{“None of us are even… Hope! What did my Mum say about the fan?! If your weight shifts and you fall I'm not healing you.”}

“Weeeee!!!” 

That's the moment I open the door to see Hope hanging upside down from a spinning ceiling fan, giggling like the manic I suspect she is.

Mid-rotation our eyes meet, “Oh-... Hiii-... En-... cre-...!” Her frantic waving causes the fan to wobble.

“Hoooope!!!” Acantha groans “wait, Encre?” she turns to face me “Oh, Hello. It seemed you didn't get murdered after all. Ah, the dress looks nice.”

“Thanks, Apparently murder wasn't even an option” I force a smile into place, and step into a spacious lounge complete with plush couches a two flat screen tvs, several gaming consoles and an airhockey table.

“Would have been nice to know that going in.”

“I thougght yoou knew,” Hope slurs slipping free of the ceiling fan though she remains upside down, her ufo-halo-thingy spinning ‘above’ her head the mirror hemisphere reflecting the blue carpet below, “youuu got chopped, gurrrl. I picked up your head. It tried t' bite me.”

Cutting, slicing pain. I push the memory aside. “Sorry? Do I have to apologize for that? I don't know if I have any control over that.”

“Your wightened state became much more cooperative once it realized that we were assisting you, even more so once we promised food.” Cassandra says from behind the fabled bar. As she speaks she mixes a drink, “Here.” She pushes the cup in my vague direction.

After a second where no one else claims it, I blink surprised by the gesture,“uh, thanks. I always have been treat motivated.” and I could really use a drink.

As I cross the room and pick up the offered cup Riae takes over my mouth, “So it's true then? Coming back from the dead is just normal to you guys. Necrom style.”

I take a sip of my, I think it's a cocktail. I don’t know enough to call it anything else. It's fruity, like strawberries and mint. It's also approximately 28% alcohol by volume, which is appreciated.

My delight in the taste seeps across my bond with Riae, I feel envy in response. 

‹<Wanna taste?>› 

I feel a jolt of recollection, then frustration, discomfort and finally, as I sip, delight nearly twice as powerful as my own. It's really cute.

“Eeeeh,” Anna shrugs, bringing my attention back to the outside world. “Normal is a strong word, I personally try not to die …that often, but yes we are all somewhat immortal.”

“But nooot fer long, for loong~” Hope belts before breaking into the rest of the song, she actually has a very nice voice.

Anna’s eyes narrow “Oh-kay, I'm getting the hook.”

Without missing a beat of her song, Hope returns to the ceiling fan, treating the rest of us to what I can only describe as the true essence of surround sound. Her voice is still nice.

“Mmn, it seems that counters the hook.” Cassandra blandly notes over the pleasant caterwauling. Anna shoots her a long suffering look.

“Uhg, Hope, if you vomit on me I'm going to hug you.” Anna threatens(?) “So sorry, about this Encre. You deserve a proper welcome, just, uh, let me quickly deal with this.”

I sip my drink, plans to get Hope to the ground spinning through my mind, along with Riae's tailwag inducing enjoyment of it's refreshing sweetness. 

Seriously, I am going to die of adorableness. Better than the other ways I've gone and I guess.

Her joy allows me to give Anna a real smile, “Call me Ene. Anything I can do to help?”

“Help with getting Hope down? Sure, you could-” Anna pauses “...Why?”

“Well, Lynn asked me to.” I say fidgeting uncomfortably under Acantha's suddenly suspicious stare. “Not sure how she knew to ask since we were up in her office at the time but…”

“She knows most of what happens around here” Cass nods casually.  

Anna frowns.

“She… asked you?” she asks, “she asked you?”

“Yes?” 

Anna's suspicion drops a degree or two, but it doesn't fade all together, her eyes flick to Cassandra who tilts her head and looks back unflinchingly.

“Is something wrong?” I ask, starting to feel a bit concerned.

“No…? As long as you're fine…?” Anna looks me up and down.

“I'm fine.” I lie, “do you want help or not?”

“Well, if you're… offering. Yes, please.”

“Bet, how can I do that? Also, I should probably ask, why is Hope on the ceiling?”

“She had too much to drink so she's currently lighter than air.”

“Ah yes, the common thing that happens.” Riae deadpans through me. Despite the possession I nod in solemn agreement.

“Sorry, I keep forgetting you're new to all this. It's part of her curse. Hope’s a Mareponderis revenanmmn- A grav rev’,”  she says, somehow I feel like I just watched the Middle School teachers try to use ‘dope’ in a sentence,  “uh, grav is short for gravity. Her weight at any given time is kinda random but usually it vaguely-”

“Cuz I'm on top of the world, 'ey!

Im on top of the world, 'ey”

“...corresponds with her mood.”

“Oh? Oh! She's just a happy drunk? Is that all!” I snap in understanding, YouTube taught me how to deal with this, “Let me try something. Hope!”

“Yeah?”

“Do you like animals?”

“Yea!”

“Quick! don't think about dead kittens!”

“Huh? Wha- I'm notstupid”

“Kitten on the road, got hit by a car!”

“ ...T-thats not going to work on me.” 

“Kitten real sick has to be put down!” 

“I-I said-” the disk making up the saucer of Hope's little-ufo clatters to the ground, “Uh oh…” Instantly her composure fucking disintegrates. Fat tears form in the corners of her eyes as she gasps out a mewl, and drops— “AiEEep!” —more like a pillow than a stone. 

Her impact makes little more than a soft— Fwuphf.  She seems unscathed despite crumpling sniffling to a heap on the floor, 

 “Nooo, not the kitties, they're just so… innocent…” she keens

I grandly wave to the proof of my success.

“That was the method I was trying to avoid, since I try not to depress my friends as a rule, but… okay.” Anna gives me the world's most forced thumbs up.

“Oh. BetYeah that is fair, sorry.” I don't even know why I did that. It was the fastest way, I guess.

“You're meeean…” Hope pouts,

“Sorry, ” I repeat. 

…Or maybe because it was funny? Distracting? Because I honestly don't give a shit about anything right now? Because I’m an asshole? Because I gotta be myself, not the pile of shit I feel like at the moment. I smile, albeit awkwardly.

Anna smiles back, walking over to collect the dropped hoop which once hovering over Hopes head,

“It's okay. If she's whining that means she's fine. I don't even think she'll remember much of this tomorrow.” She says, placing the ring back around the spike-topped orb which spins in place as Hope just kind of continues laying on the floor, I sense the ‘grav rev’s aura immediately latch onto the trinket like a puzzle piece snapping into place, but before I can ask  what that was about Anna lets out a sigh, “If you want to make up for it, you could help me get her to her room. I apparently need someone to carry her.” Hope does not respond nor give any indication she plans to move within the next decade.

“I mean, bet, but she's so light, why- Oh right, the touch thing. Is that curse related too?”

“Cor-rect. Now, If you don't mind, pick her up and follow me, we all live in the residential wing so I can show you where you'll be sleeping.”

Might as well, it's a good way to get to know them.

I put down my drink and crouch to lift a willfully limp Hope by the shoulders,

“I don't sleep. I kind of assumed that was a revenant thiniiiing- oh,wooah.”

I nearly fall over as I overcompensate despite my previous experience with Hope’s weight, she's even lighter than before. And quietly giggling. Once I'm steady, it dawns on me that I can easily carry Hope over one shoulder and with a bit of shifting I once again have a hand free to pick up my drink.

Hope doesn't seem to mind, more interested in exuberantly waving at Cass as I follow Anna out of the room.

I detect a shift in air pressure that I think is Cass waving back.  

My assumption and uncertainty are logged, analyzed, and cached along with the input in question into data sets feeding into several background matrices with algorithms devoted to the task of improving the efficacy of this method of data acquisition. Low priority. 

At that same moment I’m listening to Anna speak.

“A revenant thing? I suppose for you it is, but every type of revenant is different and most of us sleep. In fact, I’m so used to not sleeping just being a Mum thing that I truly forgot you'd be the same.”

“I'm not a Mom.” *I'm trapped forever in a body that denies me that, eternally.* I shove back the momentary flash of existential dysphoria. No, I'm not a mom,

I am an idiot though, a fact that I grasp along with Anna's meaning a moment later, “Wait, you mean your mom.” Another logical leap, “Wait wait, Lynn's your mom?!”

“Yep.”"By the way, I uh apologize if the sister comment earlier was weird. Revenant society tends to equate sires with parents, especially for borns. Which means culturally speaking, we're considered sisters. I didn't think about how you wouldn't know all of that.” 

⌜“That also explains all of Lynn's mother talk. Here I thought she was just being creepy.”⌝ Riae huffs

‹<Both is good.>›

My moment of ‘contemplative silence’ seems to fluster Anna, “Obviously, if you're not comfortable with that, you don't have to think of me that way. I just like the idea, and I thought it might make you feel more welcome.” she rushes her hands waving near her face “Oh, and you can call me Anna, by the way.”

“And you can call meee Hope!” Hope chimes in very drunkenly from over my shoulder.

I was already doing both of those things in my head but, “Thanks, I guess. Nice to properly meet you, Anna” I pause before adding, “I don't think you're an ass by the way”

“Wha- oh, you… heard that?”

“No. Anyway, if the no sleep thing isn't universal I assume the constant hunger isn't either.”

“You'd be right, mostly right, as revenants our needs vary a lot but a lot of us have some need, urge or craving or need we have to deal with.”

Hope squirms in my grip, “uh huh, yea for example, I go up when I'm happy, and Anna is in constant incomprehendable pain, and feeds on suffering!”

I crane my neck to stare wide-eyed at my chipper cargo, noticing too late that Anna missed a step, all resulting in me walking face first into the taller woman's back.

My intraception tells me i barely bumped against a soft surface 

But what I feel can only be described as millions of rusty needles covered in salt, hydrofluoric acid and rubbing alcohol piercing each individual nerve, simultaneously scalding hot, stinging cold, and electrified. Accompanied by a ripping ache across every millimeter of skin that so much as brushed Acantha.

I fall backwards with a gurgling choked sound of agony. The pain ends as soon as I lose contact with Anna, but for that brief moment I was sure I was dying, I would still think so if I didn't have a constant stream of eldritch abstraction feeding into my mind telling me that, other than the obvious stress response, my body is completely unaffected.

The echo of my own, Hope's, and, to my surprise, Riae's various anguished cries fade leaving us collapsed in a heap.

“Alsoo, she hurts to touch. Owie.”

The she in question gasps and looks down at us with a guilt-ridden expression, carmine eyes flicking between each of us. Well, Hope and I, she can't see Riae's shell shocked expression.

“Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Are you okay!”

“I'm… I'm fine?” It’s shockingly easy to shake off the pain when I know I'm completely unhurt. “Are YOU okay?! Is what Hope just said… Are you currently in constant incomprehensible pain?”

Anna's head tilts, “I suppose I technically am, but I'm quite alright. I genuinely don't notice it at all."

“How could you not notice feeling like... that!" Riae says though my mouth, "That felt- I think that was the second ever time I've personally felt pain, and I gotta say I'm not a fan."

"The second time ever… Is that so?" Anna asks, oddly hopefully.

"No,” I reply, "I didn't say that, I have felt so much pain recently, and may or may not be a masochist, but the point still stands. You're fine?"

I need to introduce Riae, but it's not like there's a rush. It just has to happen eventually.

“Well, I’m an Algosdyn revenant.”

I know that one, “So you're filled with mana from the Hell of bodily torment? That's not convincing me you're fine.”

“The plane of physical pain is more accurate, though mum would have a go at me for trying to simplify the concept.”

“...and that means you're in constant pain, but don't care?”

"Yes? Uh… please don't worry about me, I really am fine. I was born this way, so..." Anna shrugs, wait am I worried about her? I really don't need another worry to avoid. 

“Well, if you're hell-bent on convincing me, I'll take your word on it, why the hell not. It's not like a little constant torture ever hurt anyone.” 

"I told you, I don't even notice. Honestly, I was more worried about how you would react to the whole um, 'feeds on suffering thing'," her awkward laugh sounds forced. I kinda think she may still be worried about how I react to the whole ‘feeds on suffering’ thing, or maybe that's just my stunted social skills.

I vaguely gesture, first to her, "On one hand, yeah, what the fuck do you mean by that, I guess,” then up and to the direction of the office, “but on the other Lynn heavily implied that she eats people, sooo I'm picking my battles."

"Oh, yeeeah she does that, hehe," Hope giggles.

You mean she eats people, or implies spooky shit? 

You know what I'm not going to ask, that's too closely linked to certain thoughts I'm not thinking about.

*Like the whole 'I'm a cannibal’ thing?* Which I am not thinking about.

I push myself to my feet realizing that I somehow managed to not spill my drink in the fall, “So, what's it like feeding on suffering” I take a sip, “I must be an absolute feast.”

“It’s all well and… are you sure you're alright?” Anna flicks from casual to deeply concerned, clearly taking a moment to register my second comment.

Oops, I didn't mean to say that last part out loud, “It was a joke, come on. I'm curious.”

“It's complicated. I'd really rather not spend the rest of the evening talking about myself, if you don't mind.”

I know the feeling, “Bet. Okay, then what else do you have for entertainment around here? Besides the hobby of kidnapping unwilling young women.”

“Ooh oooh, we could go out and killl some monsters. That would be fun! We could bathe in extra-planer blood!”

Riae's thirst spikes at the mention of blood, along with a wolfish enthusiasm.

⌜Embarrassment. “What? A hunt could be fun. Obviously not right now, but I know for a fact what Lynn said about monster flesh is true for their blood as well.”⌝

The thought of monster flesh makes me salivate which would be weird enough on its own, but the idea of looking at a living thing and deciding to pursue and kill it for the sole purpose of eating it feels a little too predatory for my liking at this time.

Still, my stomach growls, “Lets rain check that plan, we’re still getting to know each other and that feels more like a ‘friends who have regular brunch' kind of outing, besides Isn’t ‘extra-planer blood’ a better descriptor for what revenants have?”

“goood point, yeahhh,” Hope says with a malicious giggle slightly undercut by the way her voice slurs.

“HO-pe, no trying to make the new girl an accomplice! The only thing you're bathing in tonight is bedsheets.”

The weight on my shoulder increases by roughly 10%, “uhhg, yyou're all laaaaaame. Lame-butt fartss. Noo fun atall.” she huffs “Fiiirst it's no killinng the proecy guard, now itsh suddenly bad to kill monsters too?”

“We said no killing the fate guard because humans don't come back!”

“Uhg!” Hope’s weight increases by another 5%

Wow, is she actually upset about not being allowed to go out and murder people, or maybe she's just upset that it's bedtime? She's also drunk so I'm trying not to judge. “Actually I think I've changed my mind, let's give the drunk sociopath a sword and see what happens.”

Hope gasps,  “Waaait, Enneeee are you actually, like, cool?”

“Did you not think I was before?”

“Noope. I didn't think that aat all, you were so whiiiiny in the car… and your hair- ohh, letme fix your hair” grabby hands displace the air as they approach my head, I intercept them with a swat.

“Do not touch my hair.” I reprimand. “I retract my change of mind.”

“Aw, nevermiind, you're lame tooo, uhhhg.” Hope groans, getting heavy enough that carrying her on my shoulder is starting to become a bit uncomfortable.

“Here we are,” Anna says as we arrive at a door absolutely plastered with stickers {“Thank the Planes,”} she mutters under her breath, which I pretend not to not!hear.

The aforementioned stickers range in style from stars, to planets, and glittery swirling patterns that I can only interpret as galaxies, there's also non-space-related stuff, puppies and kittens and swords, smiley faces, inspirational messages like ‘dream big’, ‘shine bright’ and, centered, largest of all, simply ‘Hope!’ There is also, also the fact that the citrine paint which already causes the door to clash with the dark walls around it seems to have had gold glitter mixed in.

‘The room with the pretty door’, huh?

It certainly fits it's tenant.

Anna opens the door and I follow her inside, still carrying a pouting Hope.

The first two things I notice about Hope’s room are that it is big, like bigger than it should physically be, big, and that there's at least two of everything. Not in the 'oh my God look at how fancy I am. I can pick between four different couches on which to lounge’ way– Though that is still kind of the general vibe of the space –but in the sense that the room is mirrored, vertically. What I mean is there's a bed on the ceiling. or hovering upside down as its not actually touching the ceiling, it's floating along with other pieces of furniture and various other items that should be falling. Hope's belongings are seemingly split between the floor, the ceiling, or zero gravity. And yet as I follow Anna in, my weight doesn't change.

A quick scan of my perception, reveals Weave-Script carved into the ceiling, pumped full of Mana that is oddly familiar. There's a pull to it, a weightiness, and yet a lightness. I realize after a second that it feels a lot like Hope's aura, though it's… I don't know if simpler is the right word, but it has less complexity compared to the feel of the woman I'm carrying but it's also just as complex in a different way. Yet, they do still feel similar… why? Unless it's gravity mana? Oh, that's definitely what it is. Planar Mana being used so directly in weave script outside of summoning is rare, this is a really advanced application. Oh, that's so cool.

I don't get too much more time to marvel at the craftsmanship. Hope begins to squirm as I approach the floor bed.

“Fine fine, I don't need to be tucked in letgoofme.” with that she slips free of my grip and blurs into bed faster than I can blink.

Before I can physically react to her movement Hope has already wrapped herself in the sheets with an audible sigh. “ok, I'm in beeed. Night night. You can leave now.”

“Night night, featherlight.” I respond mostly for the fun of the rhyme.

“Okay goodnight. Remember, hydrate.” Anna waves for me to follow as she drifts out of the room, I'm careful not to brush up against her as I pass where she stands just outside the door.

“I'm gunna, frigeff off!” Hope murmbles annoyedly

I wait while Anna closes the door  behind  us, then she waves for me to follow again, so I do though this time not without comment, “So she's definitely gonna sneak out the moment we aren't looking, right?”

“She won't, she may not always act like it but Hope is a grown woman, she knows this is for her own good. She's just a brat about it. Ideally, she'll actually get up and get some water before she falls asleep.”

Huh, gotta admit that doesn't really align with the image I had of Hope. 

⌜“It's as if spending a few hours with someone isn't enough to know every facet of their personality.”⌝ Riae teases.

‹<First off, did you just respond to my internal monologue? Secondly,” I cross my arms, “Sush, it's not my fault I'm poorly socialized.”

Acantha “Who are you talking to?”

Oops.

“My knives,” I say, calling one of Riae’s blades to my hand to demonstrate, Anna blinks as I point it at her, “So, where to next, Achey”

“...Achey?” Acantha says as if she's not a fan of her new nickname.

“That's you, where we goin’?”

“Well, I did say I would show you your room… so we can go there next.” 

“Lead the way, Ache”

“Uh… yeah.” Acantha awkwardly turns  “this way” she says walking ahead, I imagine hearing her mutter under her breath, {“...Ache…?”}

I feel like my nicknaming skills may be lacking, somehow.

⌜“Yeah, the name’s a little… I can't decided if it's ableist or racist, maybe both.”⌝

‹<Aha, so you can just hear my thoughts now?>

⌜“Only sometimes, and it's more like feeling impressions. The longer we're bonded the more little bits slip across,”⌝ she shrugs, ⌜<if it makes you feel better its a two way street, I just don't usually talk in your head since, no one else can hear me.>⌝ she finishes telepathically ⌜“Actually… I should try to get in the habit, at least- for…reasons ”⌝ she trails off.

For very Non-Lynn related reasons, I'm sure. 

A sense of disquiet pulses through my blood.

Wow, she's really bothered about this, is it just the fact that Lynn can hear her?

But then again, why the fuck can Lynn hear Riae? I guess a question like that going unanswered would bother me if I were in Riae's position, yeah. Having your sense of privacy suddenly shattered is a difficult thing to go through, and I speak from experience. That first week post-Riae was rough, always feeling watched was hard to get used to even though my voyeur was polite about it. 

I say as if I'm used to the complete lack of personal privacy. I've known Riae for a little over a week and she knows my naked body better than I do. Actually,  I guess that's not true anymore seeing as I can count my skin cells. We're probably even on that front now. Still she knows my body, my emotions, my recent traumas, how scared I am…

Now every thought I think has the potential to be overheard. How fun… how super cool and awesome, it's fine. These are all worries anyway... No thinky. “Oh, good to know neither of us have any unvoiced grievances that we’re circumnavigating because even just thinking about them is terrifying and addressing them would be acknowledging that they're real…” 

Anna glances over her shoulder at me “Good to know …what?”

Oops, “Talking to my knives again, sorry.”  switching between talking with my mouth and my brain is really throwing off my ability to keep them separate.

Riae floats a lazy circle around Acantha, emanating a feeling of wavering reluctance, I feel the moment it shifts into tentative intent and she turns back to me.

⌜“You know she thinks you're crazy, right?”⌝ she says it in her usual teasing tone but the snark is just a fragile eggshell over desire. There's something she's afraid to ask.

‹<Hm?>

⌜“Just saying. This whole ‘who are you talking to’, ‘my knives’ bit. You definitely sound coo-coo. Not to mention from her perspective you're currentlyalways staring off into the distance at nothing. So… if you'd rather not have our new friend here think you're insane, you're allowed to introduce me… if you want…” longing. Trepidation. Anticipation “I don't mind.”⌝

Don't mind, my ass. This is just as dangerous a topic as the Lynn one,

‹<You already borrow my mouth whenever you want, why don't you just introduce yourself?>

I literally feel as Riae fights off the urge to make a dirty joke. Truly her willpower is beyond that of us more fleshy beings.

⌜“Because I know how you feel about possession, your emotions aren't exactly subtle. Possessing you is as easy as breathing, I do it automatically if I don't stop myself. It's… hard to fight the urge sometimes, especially when there's something I want to say.”⌝ Her ears flatten against her head, as she avoids my gaze, ⌜“because it's also one of my only methods of communication. And if people know about me, like as myself, I'd like to be able to talk to them… but that means taking over more often.”⌝

‹<You can't just project yourself to them like you're doing, right now?>

⌜“I can, to anyone touching my blade, but that means they always need to be in touching distance …and I don't want Anna to touch me for obvious reasons.”⌝

‹<thus, you need me as a mouthpiece.>

⌜“You don't have to if you…”⌝ ⌜It wants it so bad.⌝ What was that? It's like looking at a thought from the outside. One of the impressions she was talking about?  ⌜She knows Ene doesn't.⌝

‹<No, Riae, it's fine.> it's fine it's fine it's fine. I'm okay with it, I'm not thinking about why I wouldn't be, ‹<You deserve to have other friends. If I need to give up a little control for that then, its fine. I trust you.> I already have to. She could just force me if she wanted, what's the point of saying no. Not that I want to say no. Riae deserves to have a voice.

⌜“You're the best!”⌝ and⌜she genuinely means it.⌝ I feel the phantom sensation of a hug as she wraps her arms around me, her tail blurring at an astounding 142.7 wags per minute. ⌜“I'm still going to wait for you to do the introduction though, do it when you're comfortable… but soon, please. I think Anna thinks you're a serial killer.”⌝

Am I a serial killer? How many counts as serial? I'm not allowed to think that thought so I push it aside.

‹<I’m gonna. I plan to.> I have to, ‹<but… there's no reason I need to do it now. Think how much funnier that introduction will be after she thinks I'm a bit nuts for a bit. Then when you do reveal yourself its recontextualize everything, it'll be great.>

⌜“You're willing to ruin your first impression and potentially piss off the girl who can not only torture you with a casual touch, but is-” She straightens glasses as she checks a messy stack of ‘notes’ “-‘the daughter of our terrifying and obviously powerful new ‘boss’,’ for the sake of a mediocre bit?”⌝

When you say it like that it sounds stupid.

‹<I'm willing to risk everything for the bit to which I commit.> Fuck it, new life, New life motto, might as well have fun with eternity, ‹<plus, Lynn knew you were ensouled, who's to say Anna doesn't?>

⌜“The look she's giving you is pretty good evidence.”⌝

I look up and see Anna's baffled glance my way, our eyes meet, I smile and wave. Anna politely waves back looking ever more perplexed.

‹<That look could mean anything.> ⌜Exasperation,⌝  ‹<Come on Riae, you're telling me you can see that expression and yet somehow don't understand why I'm having fun with this. You're always going on about the faces I make when teased.>

⌜“That's different, teasing you is my love language,” Affection “...and preferred method for correcting years of critically low self-esteem. You're still rocking that dress by the way."⌝

“Fuck off.” I sigh, startling Anna.

“S-sorry?” 

“Not you, Knives.”

“O-oh… right…”

⌜“Ene, you're cute and you're gonna believe it, whether you like it or not. That being said, you are right, Anna here does have a pretty teasable face. like a CF9.5 on the ABSTS.”⌝

‹<The Abstits?>

⌜“The Arteriae Blades standard teasalbility scale. It measures how fun someone is to tease with 1 representing someone with little to no reaction and 12 being someone with consistently entertaining, cute or otherwise enjoyable responses, subdivided accordingly"⌝ she manifests an actual graph in my vision, pointing to the 9.5.  In the overlap between two sections labeled cute and funny, ⌜“They really should be teaching you this in school. You somehow rank 13 on the cute index by the way.”⌝

‹<I think that just means your measuring system is broken.> Stupid intraception, I don't want to know I'm blushing.

⌜“Nope, it's working perfectly. Record-shattering scores aside, we've gotten really far off topic. I would like to make it clear that I still think, giving someone a pseudonym based on the fact that they are in constant agony seems, let's just say, impolite.”⌝

I happily grab the lifeline of a topic change. ‹<What? No. First of all it's a pun on her full name Ach-antha. Second, she said she doesn't even notice the constant agony. I'm just ribbing her. I wanna see how she reacts, it's part of getting to know her. If she tells me to stop, I will.>

⌜They can't help but find the logic flimsy, but it doesn't want to nag. A compromise?⌝

⌜“Fine, but just so you know, if you start to say something too mean I will stop you. You said it yourself, if we're going to be staying here I'd rather be friends with these people, and it'll be hard to do that if my wielder ends up making everyone hate her.”⌝

‹<Wow, casually threatening hostile possession now, are we?> in a blatant attempt to distract from the spike of fear the thought brings with it.

⌜“Girl, It's cute that you think that's my only option. Did you forget, I can make you feel anything. And I have a complete map of your nervous system…”⌝ She coos threateningly, literally sending a chill down my spine for effect, ⌜“Random totally unrelated question, do you know where you're most ticklish?”⌝

I do, in fact, seeing as I also have a complete map of my nervous system. Suddenly, I feel deeply aware that there is nothing I could do to protect my ears, shoulder blades, or tailbone from Riae should she pounce.

“Yeah yeah, as always I am at your mercy.” Then I realize I said that out loud, "Knives." I clarify before Anna can ask, while trying not to giggle at the expression of profound bewilderment she’s failing to hide.

⌜“Snrk! Okay, that was a good face.”⌝ Riae laughs for both of us, ⌜“How did I not realize how much of a little hellion you are before now? Why am I exempt from your mischievous tendencies? I'm starting to feel left out.”⌝

‹<Because,> I think back less than a minute, ‹<Usually you're the one messing with me…>

⌜“Oooh, riiiight, the natural order of the world. How could I forget?”⌝

‹<That could always change though…>

⌜“Gasp, suggesting a change to the status quo? blasphemy!”⌝

“I have been told I'm profane.” I say in my most casual voice.

“What…?” Anna starts before pursuing her lips, “No, you don't have to say it. Knives.” Now she's getting it, but before I can congratulate her as she continues talking “Anyway I hate to interrupt your… conversation… but we're almost to your room. Shouldn't you pay attention to how we get there, this place is… big and I wouldn't want you to get lost later.”

“Nah it's fine. I know exactly how many steps I've taken since Lynn's office, how many turns I've taken and where each was, as well as having what can be best explained as an impossibly detailed description of everything I've seen along the way. Basically I have the whole route tabulated.” I say, tapping my temple and scrolling through the oxymoronic set of valves that perfectly represent the path to this exact location in my head. “I…huh… don't think I really can get lost anymore.” There's something almost sad about that thought, but it's also pretty cool, “It's a Nix thing.”

“That explains so much…” Anna absently responds.

“I'm honestly surprised you're surprised, being Lynn's daughter. Actually shouldn't you be Nix, too?”

"I would be but Mum had a ‘workaround’, not that I know what it was…” she sighs, “My mother is a woman of many many many many words. Half of that is cryptic wisdom, and the other half is arbitrary nonsense… She rarely bothers to clarify what's which. The only thing I know for sure about being a Nix revenant is that you eat a lot and don't sleep. And that was mostly picked up through observation.”

“Really? Somehow it's hard to imagine Lynn going… decades? a century? however long you've been doing the whole immortal thing without constantly dropping hints.”

“I'm twenty four, and it's not that she hasn't tried to explain more, but none of it makes sense! It feels like it all..." Anna purses her lip as if trying to find words.

"Contradicts?" I finish for her. Anna nods, I shrug, "If that's the problem, I'm not going to be able to explain it any better than Lynn. I'm new to the Nix club, but I'm pretty sure paradoxes are part of our whole thing. This sentence is false, and all that." And as soon as I say it it feels right.

"Lovely… I suppose the existence of a plane made up of nothing is inherently self-contradictory."

“its an oxymoronic enigma.” That's the throughline of being a Nix revenant so far. It's deeply existentially distressing while also being intuitive, convenient and somehow infinitely more comfortable than having an itchy seal keeping the concept of nothingness out of my brain.

I feel like, for the first time in my life, I can finally think, even though I'm arguably doing less thinking with the void in my mind, my void, constantly churning through most of the objective information my brain would otherwise process. Though that might be part of it, my mind feels less crowded while having so much more information to work with. I can just think a math problem– like… uh… 10 × 25 + 48 × 36 ÷ 300 × 128 +2531 ÷ 4 × 16 - .04 × 7) × 11 × 2579 × -3) + (((7302×((224×5×0.25 − 78963 × 82)÷10)×10+87641.75)÷25×(14356 ÷ 3589)÷8×((136-(3.5+1.5)27+1+1+1+1)×10×4) - 55 - 66 - 77 + 88 - 1010) + 8008569420!!!

–and I know the answer. It's two. And It's not like using a calculator, it's not like something else did the math, I did it, just now. In my head. Only I didn't think about it, and without thought there's no need for time or room for error.

If I wanted to write out a proof or even explain the steps to anyone, I would still need to think through it in my meat brain, but my void even speeds that up by providing an abstract of the data and formula it was working from. My human mind can't replicate the antinomic aperiodic arithmetic, but I'm also the void providing the information so I can effortlessly translate for myself.

Wait, am I a genius now, or am I stupid faster?

Either way it's an upgrade.

“So, is my room going to be all floaty like Hope’s?” I ask Anna as we approach a door that I'm assuming is mine because we're walking directly towards it and it has a banner hung on the frame that says ‘New home, New beginning, new memories. Welcome!’ Also it’s painted mauve.

“Probably not, but who knows? One benefit of living here is our rooms are scripted to suit our needs. You would know what those are better than me, no one's been inside since mum set it up for you, she wanted it to be a…” she sighs, “surprise.”

Well that's ominous, also, “How long have you guys been expecting me?”

“A little over a week, I think. Mum just started prepping for something one night and refused to explain until a day or two ago.”

That's discomforting for different reasons but, "That's not a lot of time for weavescript. I'm still getting a handle on this whole revenant thing, but I don't even know what kind of magic room I would need. I guess Lynn might know better, maybe a buffet, where all you can eat isn't a dirty lie? That'd be nice. Whatever it is I assume it's probably something simple, right.”

Anna doesn't look convinced, “...Only one way to find out,” she stiffly encourages with a smile and a thumbs up.

With that last bit of portentous preamble out of the way, I open the door to my new room.

It looks… normal. Fully furnished. Clean. None of those things change in the time it takes me to glance around through the doorway.

So with little additional hesitation I step inside. Anna and Riae follow behind.

As soon as I cross the threshold my perception stretches and is compressed.

I blink.

My room goes on forever.

Hm, no that doesn't make sense. I rub at my eyes and blink a few more times.

Yeah, looking again it’s still true. My room goes on exfinitely in every direction and yet takes up no space at all. 

It's an endless purple...well, void. Purple in that the walls are lavender, because there are walls they're just always in the distance until I want to see them up close in which case I am next to all of them, simultaneously. Same with all of the furniture and the door. I can walk away from the queen sized bed forever and yet I can always see it. I know I am moving because I am making distance but not getting any further away. You know, like a paradox.

It's very confusing and yet I kind of understand it perfectly, which is weirder.

Thanks, Lynn.

Anna on the other hand does not seem to like my room.

"Oh my God, I think this is giving me a migraine, I can't tell."

"Do you need an ibuprofen? I mean I don't know if I have any but for some reason I'm pretty sure there are some in the drawer over there" I point to a small dresser beside and yet taking up the same space as my new bed.

Anna blinks at me, "No, I- Which direction are you pointing?"

"False."

⌜"Encre, my eyes bleeding." Riae comments, red tears running down her illusionary face. An illusionary face that’s bleeding… another for the how the fuck does Riae work folder.

Also eye bleeding seems generally bad.

⌜“Yeah, it is. Fix it!”⌝

"Oh, sorry. Forgot that most people prefer euclidean space." I would have assumed I was a part of that majority, but apparently I'm amphibious. "Not sure what I can do abo-" Darkness reaches out in recognition. Primary ownership is ceded. It’s mine.

Without a thought I interface with the room’s liminal-core and the concatenated script terminal and begin the process of giving it static dimensions. I do what now? My mind is flooded with foreign nix-data that my void quickly processes and translates into a deluge of prompts and requests. The first of which is a handshake, kinda? Not really, but the idea is close enough. I accept and my now familiar constant stream of information is joined by another flowing concurrently inward and out of my mind. Analogous to a back and forth exchange. 

"Oooh, wha? Huh, I think the weavescript having void mana in it lets me interact with it? I'm pretty sure that's what's happening. It’s weird. I wonder how-" 

⌜“Ene!” Her head pounds. Their mind rings. It just had to be weavescript…⌝

“Thats very interesting Encre but i’d prefer we have this conversation when I can tell which way is down… It's the shade but worse”

“There is no down and I’m trying! Give me a sec. I don't really know what I’m doing here!” I'm basically rawdogging the kernel of an operating system that is based in the same coding language as my brain, but has completely different functions. I wish I had a navigation menu or something...

The emptiness that is me pings the room controller for an operations framework, simultaneously it accepts the incoming packet. I’m an idiot. 

I poke at what isn't. abstract data folds open. An ever shifting interface with no screen. Incurvating command lists nested in themselves. I descend up them slowly putting together an idea of what each represents and the functions available to me. Finally I find what i’m looking for under the inode ‘training wheels,’ for some reason.

There are a bunch of settings and menus in here that more or less let me make the room as big or small as I want, or I can leave it in paradoxical non-space mode. There's also a ‘button’ just labeled ‘Insanity’ which I probably shouldn't ever press. 

Pressing the insanity button would obviously be a stupid idea.

I want to press it so bad…

Moving on… 

But what if I- I said moving on, brain!

Where was I?

⌜Riae didn't know her thoughts could ache.⌝

Right, figuring out how to make the room stop doing psychic damage to the others.

Once I find the right input it's as simple as providing the dimensions I want.

The controls even let me change the layout of the items inside or just store them all away, for now I do the latter. Leaving us standing in the center of an empty 18 square foot room. There's also a window which I don't think makes sense for where we are in the building, but whatever.

Anna immediately collapses to her knees

"Oh thank God, I couldn't understand how far I was seeing or where I was at all."

"That's because there was nothing to understand." I explain because apparently I'm the expert on this shit. "So I'm assuming I don't want to go within 10 ft of a room designed for you, huh, Achy?"

"Just knock first, I turn off the enchantments when people visit, but otherwise... yeah."

I spend a bit of time messing with the controls of my new... room? After some fiddling I find that it's almost like playing one of those cozy decorating games, the kind I always open out of boredom and end up pouring hours into.

I pop my bed back into existence, along with the other furniture I think I'll need. I adjust the layout until it feels comfortable, in the end, the setup is reminiscent of my old bedroom, the now abandoned one in the apartment building conveniently close to the campus of the school I no longer attend, which is completely unintentional. One big difference, is the addition of a miniature kitchenette built out of a stove, counter top, a cupboard and a fridge, labeled 〈'Fully stocked (⌢ ⎵ ⌢)'〉   in the textless list of avaliable furnishings.

I open it and find an array of food ranging from fresh ingredients to premade gourmet looking meals. Faced with this selection, I grab and begin to eat a bag of shredded cheese.

"Uh…S-so," Anna says, finally pushing herself to her feet, "What do you think of your new room?" She wobbles a bit.

I look around, as I finish the last few sips of my cocktail "It would be a lie to say that this isn't super cool." I sigh.

"So… you like it?"

"Yeaaaah," I admit almost unwillingly, arms crossed, "I do."

It's a fully customizable room that can be as big as I want. The amount of furniture options stored away, wherever they are, number in the triple digits and that's just what is currently available, I can add more, and all that came with a completely full fridge. Not to mention, something about it just feels right. Fuck, I really like it. Damn it! Why am I upset? I feel like I lost somehow.

I'm probably imagining that distant echo of melodious laughter.

"That's great to hear! I hope you can really enjoy living here!" "So, um, now that you're officially moved in, well, you asked earlier about stuff to do around here. Is that still... are you looking to do something?"

"I don't know," I'm tired. I kinda just want to lounge on my bed and pretend to sleep, though laying around staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling seems like a great way to land myself in a worry spiral so as much as I want to spend the night laid out doing fuck all, I want to do distract myself more, "What are my options?"

“Geneally, you've already seen the main Rec Room, we have more or less every video game console stored away in there somewhere, and the TV's have cable and most streaming services. There's also a small library in the next room over. It's mostly mum's stuff, by which I mean stuff she wrote but the rest of us have contributed enough to it over the years that you should be able to find something interesting, not that Mum's work isn't interesting… Please don't tell her I said that.”

“No promises, seeing the look on her face sounds hilarious. Also, why are you explaining this now? I asked like 20 minutes ago.”

“Mostly because I didn't want Hope to feel left out when I offered this next part,” Anna hedges, “So, Cheri… uh, who's of the last member of our little ensemble you've yet to meet. Anyway Cheri and I sort of have a monthly movie night, where we pick a franchise or series neither of us have seen, and binge it until… well usually until Cherri gets bored.” Oh right, there is one last person I haven't met, that means I haven't gotten to know everyone yet. Anna fidgets with her hair, “It might go late, so I would understand if you don't want to. You're probably tired and I know that today has to have been rough but…”

“Bet.” a movie sounds like a great way to get to know people and keep my mind off of things. “As long as you don't expect to cuddle.”

“Really? Awesome, splendid! And don't worry, no cuddling necessary. I have my hug pillow for that.”

Riae’s concerned face drifts into view,  “Ene, are you sure you're up for this? She's right that it's been a rough day and you feel exhausted.”

‹<What else am I going to do, sleep? I came down here to get to know people and I'm not going to stop until I've at least met everyone.>

“Are you sure? Usually you're more… reclusive.”

‹<you mean being a pariah? That wasn't really a choice. If I'm going to be surrounded by other cursed freaks, I'm going to at least try to make some friends, damn it. I don't think I've ever been invited to watch a movie before…>

“Oh, that…is really sad actually, I retract my argument. Movie night it is.”