Maggie sat still as usual. Azgod Kalal climbed onto her arm and sat on her shoulder for a change. Instead of resting, the little snake became interested in the girl's curly black hair. Tufts of straight hair twisted slowly, as if they were alive, and the snake seemed completely confused as to whether these were its own kind. Its little head moved up and down, side to side, trying its best to analyze those noodle-like curls. Its owner looked at the little one with her usual smile, but a strange vague feeling came to her chest. For some reason, she had always imagined that Azgor Kalal was imitating her curious nature and studious personality.
In fact, if one doesn't think too hard, the snake's behavior could be interpreted as the creature doing its best to solve the mystery of its discovery. It flicked its tongue, sniffed the air, and looked hard with its big eyes. Then, with a seemingly frustrated hiss, it gave the strange thing the old-fashioned prod to see what would happen. In snake terms, this means it tried to bite a snake-like hair and ended up with a mouthful of hair. It certainly wasn't that pleasant, because it walked away with another faint hiss.
After confirming that the strange creature's unusual hair did not actually pose a threat to its "territory," Azgod Kalal could rest comfortably on its shoulder pillow.
The barely conscious pod in the room hissed, the glass door opened and Joe poked his head out.
"You're ahead of schedule," Maggie said. "Isn't your training going as well?"
"Almost, yes." The man rubbed his eyes. "Ryan—I told you Ryan, right?"
"Ryan Foster
Foster
) is an aspiring rap artist who struggled to master the simple concept of matching a set of syllables to a similar-sounding syllable, known as 'rhyming,'" she nonchalantly blasted the man.
"Power. Yeah, him, don't say it to his face, okay?"
"I know."
People don't like their shortcomings to be made public or to be reminded of past failures. This is the first "humanity lesson" Maggie learns from Joe. She still maintains that this is a foolish and unhelpful attitude, but has given up arguing the point. Flesh tend to be indifferent to facts and logic when they are frustrated because they are emotional creatures. That's why Maggie was so fascinated by them in the first place, and until recently, she herself operated almost entirely on logic, statistics, and probability.
"Anyway, his pod seems to be broken," Joe continued. "Apparently some dried Noot-Goop bits gathered together and clogged his feeding tube, and then the feeding tube broke, completely destroying the electronics inside. Said it would take at least a week to fix."
Maggie understood what was going on. With just four days until the big game for which Joe and his friends are training, they suddenly find themselves missing a player. There was no way they could survive the first round under such adverse conditions, and they probably didn't consider bringing in a backup in case something like this happened. Considering how Joe told Maggie all this, she could predict his intentions.
"I understand. I'll help," she smiled reassuringly.
"Great!" Joe smiled. "Then I'll take you to his house and you can fix his pod, just like you fixed mine."
"Oh," her enthusiasm waned.
"What?"
“My research found that the pattern was that you invited me to take on absentee duties during games.”
"oh."
An awkward silence fell over the small room as the ignorant man just realized this was an opportunity.
"I'm sorry, Maggie. It's just, we don't get everyone together for big events like this very often," he tried to explain himself. "It's not just about competing, it's also about hanging out with the boys. And... you said it was okay if you didn't come this time, so I thought you wouldn't want to."
"I appreciate you trying to comfort me, but it's not necessary," she smiled again.
"Really? Are you crazy?"
"Indeed. I shouldn't have based my expectations on the fictional situations in Running to the Heart."
"Ah," he smiled softly. "Yeah, soap operas don't really reflect reality. I'm sorry I got your hopes up, but I'd appreciate it if you'd still give us a hand."
"Of course, Joe. I'll try to accommodate your request, to the best of my ability."
"That's great, you're the best! Give me a minute and let me call a taxi and we'll go right away." "
Unlike Karen and Benny, Ryan doesn't live in the same building as Joe. In fact, he lives in a completely different city. Super City Dave-157, to be precise. It is similar to the Dave-156, but much smaller and has a range of about 2,000 kilometers. To get there you need to take a taxi to the metro station and then take an intercity train. Sure, it was a bit pricey, but Maggie didn't mind "scooping" the necessary funds to pay for transportation. She's reluctant to overstate Joe's financial situation unless there's an emergency, and that's pretty much Butte
po
The closest thing to this you usually get on a D-4.
The trip itself was really interesting. The flying taxi ride wasn't that exciting, as Maggie had been through something similar when she was arrested, but the train was certainly fascinating. First, she was intrigued by its long, sleek chassis that reminded her of a giant snake. Of course, it was not Azgodkaral, because it was neither alive nor small enough to fit in her hands. Speaking of which, the pet snake was also brought along. It was tucked tightly into the owner's left sleeve, and its head poked out from the gap between his shoulders.
Another thing Maggie really liked about the train was that it was a piece of precision engineering with extraordinary efficiency. It uses magnetic rails to travel along a vacuum-sealed tube tunnel, which allows it to reach and maintain supersonic speeds with ease. The only drawback was that there were no windows with a view, but for Maggie, peering through the hard substance was effortless. She was looking forward to seeing with her own eyes what the wilderness between civilizations was like.
Unfortunately, this proved disappointing. The area the train sped past was a drab, featureless wasteland, almost entirely devoid of life. The only signs are canyon-like fissures left behind by giant mobile mining equipment violently tearing metal and minerals from the earth's crust. Maggie now understood why there were so few animals around Joe's house. Growing industry and colonization likely drove away or killed all native flora and fauna. This is a shame as she was looking forward to studying various life forms during her travels.
A brief online search revealed that only areas around major cities are like this, while Butte
po
The rest of d-4 is truly a lush world, teeming with life. Maggie made a mental note to fully explore the planet at some point, but for now she kept her supernatural senses in check and focused on her surroundings. The train is a bit cramped inside, but well-lit and very stable. The aircraft does not need to fight air resistance and can fly along an almost perfectly straight magnetic track. The ride is so smooth that even at the speed of sound it feels like you're standing still. After accounting for the slow acceleration and deceleration required to carry flesh-and-blood cargo, the subway train will arrive at Dave-157 just two hours after leaving Dave-156.
During this time, passengers sit in so-called smart chairs, which cleverly change their seat cushions and armrests to provide optimal comfort for the user. A well-dressed woman patrols the central alley with an old-fashioned food cart, offering free snacks and drinks to anyone in need of nourishment or refreshment. Maggie had no such needs, but she still took advantage of some treats she hadn't encountered before. Joe uses the public data port on his seat to watch the movie via his P
The P-chip broadcasts the movie directly into his brain.
The couple got off the station and hailed another taxi, and on the way to Ryan's house, Maggie suddenly realized something.
"Jo, it looks like I've allowed a possible point of misunderstanding."
"Huh? About what?"
"I didn't explicitly state that I can't modify your friend's pod the same way I can modify your pod."
The man obviously used the word "like me", but the girl was momentarily stunned by her wrong assumption and forgot to correct him on the spot.
"Hmm," he frowned in confusion. "Then there's no point in us going to Ryan's house, is there?"
"I'm still confident that the necessary maintenance and repairs will be done," she clarified. "I just can't strap a long sword to it."
"Oh, that's what you meant. Yes, that's fine. I must have said the wrong thing."
"I'm glad this unintentional misunderstanding has been corrected," the girl nodded slightly.
"Wait, wait." Joe realized some underlying concern. "Are you talking about the general?"
"Yes," Maggie said happily.
"Those big, ugly touches?"
The full name of the game he is referring to is "C
ucible of The Dead God 2: Eclectic Boogaloo. It's a survival horror-themed game with all kinds of monsters and creatures, and now that Joe thinks about it, it might not be entirely fictional. Maggie also gave the game a close read, mostly to verify how poorly the developers had done at presenting realistic cosmic horror. She even prepared a three-hundred-page report describing every detail they got wrong, but she held it back for now because getting it off Earth would be tricky.
"The description of shogoths is basically accurate, yes," is what she said about the topic at hand.
"You put one of these in my cabin?"
"Yes."
"It's not going to eat me, right?"
He trusted Maggie would never put him in danger, but to reassure him, he needed verbal confirmation.
"I promise you, he is a good boy," she paused, raised her hands, and curled her index and middle fingers twice, "a good boy."
"You...that..." Joe shook his head gently. "That's not... a good way to use quotation marks, Maggie."
The girl was stumped again. She was sure her gesture was correct. After all, Kudos have no moral values and no gender at all. Therefore, her lover is neither a "good" nor a "boy," so she is trying to express that the words are not meant literally. It looks like she needs to study the signal more seriously, but for now she's focused on solving Joe's problem.
"My love is trained to obey me in all things. It exists to keep you safe and will protect you with all its strength and ferocity if need be."
“Aren’t those things supposed to be stupid? Isn’t it going to hurt someone by accident?”
"I have taken the necessary precautions to ensure that this type of incident does not occur."
When Officer Maloney showed up at Joe's place to bring him in, Maggie was clutching the long gun tightly, which is why it didn't do something ugly. It also helped that he left willingly and didn't resist the police.
"Okay, good," he said, visibly relaxing. "So my pod is still alive, huh?" That's actually pretty neat. Does it have a name?"
"Not worth taking one," she said coldly.
"So, do you mind if I call him Shoggy?"
“I strongly recommend against interacting with the virtual reality pod in any way that goes beyond its capabilities.”
Joe originally wanted to say that Maggie should be careful with all her pets, but then realized that she probably knew the real shogoths better than he did. After that rare moment of relative wisdom, he decided to trust the girl's judgment and take her advice to heart. But the hapless taxi driver who gave them a ride was different. The stranger had also played Puff Puff Two, so he could not ignore the suspicious conversation. Thankfully, his capacity for self-deception is quite strong indeed. By the time he reaches his destination, the man has successfully convinced himself that all this talk of sentient killing pods is just a couple of stupid kids role-playing outside of VR.
After arriving at Ryan's skyscraper, Joe had no trouble finding his friend's apartment and ringing his doorbell. No one answered at first, so he asked again. The doorbell didn't open until the third ring. A teenage boy with brown hair poked his head out from behind.
"Ye? Wait, Joe?"
He stared at the smiling guest with an expression of disbelief.
"Hey, Ryan!"
"Um...hey? Who else- wow."
Then he noticed Maggie, which made his jaw hang open as his brain struggled to remember how words worked.
"Hello," she smiled and waved.
"Magazine is Th-that?!" he yelled to Joe, making do.
"Yes," he said proudly.
"She looks so much like Melinda Sparkssta
!”
"I know, right? I see her every day and I still can't believe it!"
"Not real, man. Wait, why is she here? Why are you here?"
Joe was confused for a second, then realized something.
"Ah. Maybe I should tell you that I'm here to visit you, right?"
"Well, yeah. Maybe," Ryan said sarcastically. "You can't just show up at someone's door, you idiot!"
Joe uttered a few half-hearted apologies, laughing at his own stupidity, before getting down to the matter at hand.
"Anyway, we're here to help you get the pods."
"What did you say?"
"Yeah, it's shabby, right? It's full of Noot-Goop and stuff?"
Ryan looked away with a blank expression, then realization, then panic, and finally a look of disbelief.
"Man, I don't trust you to fix a doorknob."
"Yeah, me too. Maggie did it. I'm just here to show her the way."
"Her?" He glanced at the girl. "Don't get me wrong, Muggs, is that right? You don't look like a pod technician."
"Trust me, man, she's smart. It only took her ten minutes to get rid of the beeping in my cabin. Fixed the noisy door, too. She'll have yours back to normal in no time, and then we'll You can go back and train for the competition right away!"
"Oh. Bad timing, man. The pod technician just stopped by, grabbed some parts and left. He said he'd order a replacement, but it wouldn't be here for a week. I'm sure Maggs are great, but There’s not much she can do when she’s missing a bunch of parts.”
"Ah, damn it." Joe's mood quickly became depressed. "That's really unfortunate."
"Yeah. You should have told me you were coming, man. Let the tech come back tomorrow."
"Well, don't worry. It's my own fault, I'm so bad." He cheered up a little. "I guess practice isn't going on, so you want to go out for a drink while I'm here?"
"I'm, uh, heading out actually. Pod is exhausted, so I'm going to stay at my mom's for a while."
Most VR pods have multi-user support, so it's not uncommon for family members to share when needed. So Ryan's excuse is completely valid, except for one problem. This is completely made up.
"Foster Ryan."
Maggie's piercing voice streaked through the air like an icy comet.
"Left side of the equal sign?" he replied meekly.
"Why did you cheat on Joe?"
"he is?"
"I-I didn't!"
"I will be very unhappy if you try to pull such a dirty trick again."
"...Yes, ma'am."
"Ryan? What happened?"
After being thoroughly called out, the young man could only sigh heavily and push open the door to find his pod intact and functional.
"Look, man," he turned to Joe. "I'm sorry for lying to you and the kids, but I can't take any more of this bullshit training."
"But... the whole thing was your idea!"
"No, man. That's not it," he shook his head. "I originally wanted to join the competition just for fun, but then you all got really competitive. I tried to keep up, but it just wasn't for me."
"But you like doing underwater yoga blasting!"
"Yeah, playing. Whatever. Like, for fun. That's not what you're doing right now. I'm trying to keep up, but I really can't. I'm exhausted, but I can't... you know..."
He clearly felt guilty about the whole thing, especially since someone had crossed the city's borders because of him.
"Gee...oh, okay," Joe shrugged. "That sucks, man. I'm sorry I dragged you like that."
"Wait, you're not crazy, are you?"
"I'm a little pissed off that you lied, but I get it. You didn't want to come across as a complete idiot, so you made up a story about your pod breaking. We've all been there. Well, not me. Shame on me, but Karen always makes excuses not to go to dinner with his dad. Besides, it's just something we do for fun. I trust you not to lie about something that really matters."
"Hey, Joe," Ryan cursed. "If you're right, the world must end."
"Oy! I may not care about your pranks, but are you forgetting someone?"
He turned his head toward Maggie, who was staring at Ryan with an intensity that suggested she was debating whether to push him into the sun.
"She came all the way here for you," Joe added, "and she doesn't even know you."
"Right. I apologize for lying. Joe. Respect to you too. This won't happen again, right?"
The girl's face relaxed into her usual tight-lipped smile.
"Very well. I will forgive your transgressions."
"Gee. Your girl is really scary when she's angry," he muttered to Jo, then turned to look at her. "Uh, no offense, Mags."
"there is none left."
"But it's okay, don't worry," Joe took over. "I'll settle it with them."
"Then what about the tourney?" Aren't they angry that they have gone through so much effort but got nothing?"
"It's okay, it's okay!" he insisted. "I asked Maggie to do it for you. She was really happy to do it."
"Really? That's great! Again, I'm really sorry you both came all the way because of me. If there's any way I can make it up to you - isn't it, Muggs? You have a snake in your hair ?"
It took him a while, but it seemed like Ryan finally noticed the snake sticking out of her dark hair.
"Yes. This is my pet, Azgod Kalal the Calm," she declared proudly.
"So you like animals?"
Maggie had never really thought about that question before, but now that she did, the answer was obvious.
"Yes."
"Perfect!" Ryan said, clapping his hands. "My uncle works at the zoo down the street. If you want, I can send him a message and let you in for free."
"I accept these conditions."
After hearing this, the girl became obviously happy and immediately went to call the elevator.
"Good for you, man," Joe said with a proud smile. "You really don't have to do this."
"It's the least I can do. Go ahead and have fun you two."
"You really don't want to come along?" We haven't hung out together in real life in a long time. "
"We can do it another time. If I followed now, I'd be a lightbulb."
He winked and patted Joe on the shoulder.
"Take care, man. I'll see you online."
With that, Ryan disappeared into his apartment, and Joe realized he didn't know what to do with this.
He's technically dating, isn't he?
