The archway before did not look very inviting. It was an open mouth with a strong suggestion that there was a throat attached, leading to a stomach full of acid.
More accurately, it was a dark alcove in what appeared to be a solid stone wall, but appearances can be deceiving. If you imagine the worst, thats probably what youll find. If you imagine the best, the worst will still be waiting for you, itll just have the added elent of surprise.
Should I go in and have a look? Clearly, I was ant to, which made reluctant.
Would soone set so obvious a trap for ? Id escaped from here before. Even if the regular exits had been boarded up, there was a good chance Id find another way out. So what would be the point? Maybe to delay for a bit was the only thing I could think of.
If Maurice wanted to return here it was probably for a good reason. Despite my annoyance with the whole he doesnt know, dont tell him, hee, hee hee approach hed taken, he was smart enough to be possibly right. That was a lot closer than most people ever got.
The whole ti Id been in this world, the one thing I felt I really could have done with was a top-tier expert who knew the ropes and was looking to pass on that knowledge to a young padawan.
Thats how its ant to work. The older male teaches his acolyte the skills, the expertise, the love for the ga that soone long ago handed down to him. ntor and apprentice as part of a chain, thats the male heritage weve lost. Now we just have online walkthroughs so we can beat the ga without working out anything for ourselves.
Its all very well looking back with rose-tinted glasses, but back then they were also all pederasts, so you really had to want to learn the craft if you took up an apprenticeship. These days you still get buggered but you learn fuck all. They call it being an intern.
Not only had no one in a robe with a beard turned up to offer guidance and the secret to being heroic (I suspected it involved wearing a suede jacket in a bolero cut, but how to be sure?), but a bunch of clueless people had stepped in and tried to force into being their guy on the front line while they chilled back at HQ.
I was the equivalent of the girl who tarted herself up in the hope the guy she liked would notice her, and then got mad at all the other guys leering at her cleavage.
Theres just sothing about seeing soone do the thing you want to do at a master level that makes their advice seem reasonable. You trust them because they can do what they preach. The guy with what everyone considers is a pretty good guess (so many upvotes, how could it not be the correct answer?) doesnt inspire the sa kind of confidence.
Where were these experts? Why had I been left to flounder on my own? Why was there no AMA?
All I had was the book Maurice had left for . A walkthrough where everything would be solved if I pressed the buttons in the right order, no need to understand why.
I suppose I should have been grateful. Even if I had found my senpai, there probably would have been so kind of catch.
Pederasts, dude.
I walked up to the archway. Id have to leave my body here to check out what was waiting for , which would leave vulnerable, but this was the right thing to do.
That didnt an it would turn out well, but the correct play didnt co with a guarantee of success. It was just your best chance.
Knowing it was the right thing to do didnt make it any easier to carry out, though. Why not stay out here and see how things went? Maybe everyone would end up taking each other out in the crossfire without having to do anything.
Peter wasnt around to cause any problems. He was a construct, whatever that was. I probably should have asked. It wasnt surprising Id been fooled. He was so realistic, even he thought he was Peter.
Soone had made a replica that accurate. A doll that believed he was a real live boy.
What if I was one, too?
What if I only believed I was . A poor copy who had been given all of Colins thoughts and mories.
No, that couldnt be right, could it? I also had all my abilities and powers. If you could replicate those, why not just make a new person who wasnt such an uncooperative git (I know what I am) and carry on without ?
You wouldnt create a second if you could possibly avoid it. I certainly wouldnt.
The more I thought about it, the more plausible it seed. I knew it was also part of my subconscious attempt to procrastinate for as long as possible, but still, I felt like the idea had so rit to it.
I died well, Colin died, so they made . Convinced I was Colin, which wouldnt be too hard if I had all his inner workings transferred over, and then went to great lengths to hide what theyd done.
The question was, did that an they were trying to get to take Colins place, or was I just a stand-in until sothing was sorted out for the real Colin? Was he in storage sowhere, waiting for to reach a place where we could swap. in the hole, him out here?
Going through the archway was becoming a less appealing proposition, and it hadnt been in my top ten things to do this sumr to start with.
If I wasnt the real Colin, then it was only fair I give Colin back his life, and his girlfriend.
Wait, did Jenny know? Did she have sex with , knowing I was a carbon copy? Did she cheat on with to get her own back for all the tis I cheated on her with her?
Id seen enough sci-fi to be familiar with this premise. I knew the pathetic loser who finds out he isnt the real deal would lose it when he learns the truth. He cant handle the aningless of his existence. Hes just a thing, a vessel full of soone elses mories. A construct, not a person.
Which is a load of bollocks. For so reason its a common sci-fi trope to suggest a clone has no soul. Which is kind of a stupid thing to wonder when clones actually exist. Theyre called twins, and they have souls. Well, not the ginger ones, obviously theyre the devils creation and should be separated from society and not allowed on public transport. But otherwise, the simple replication of DNA isnt going to affect Gods attempt at sorting us by new and hot.
If I wasnt Colin-A, I was fine with being Colin-B. Although most people would consider us both a C.
What I needed was proof. The truth, as painful as it might be, would at least give a better understanding of what had happened to . Claire had shown Peter he wasnt really Peter easily enough. I could do the sa. I took out the spike Id taken from Claire. Another lesson learned from sci-fi. If I was real, I would bleed. If I was a mannequin, Id just puncture like putty. Either that, or my head would detach, grow legs and crawl across the floor.
I raised the spike and was about to plunge it into my forearm when I reconsidered and decided to prick my finger instead. In the words of Confucius, if you think you can fly, jump off a chair, not the Empire State Building.
Feeling pleased with my arrival at a commonsense approach, I rather overdid the stabbing. Id experienced quite a lot of pain in my ti and a little prick in my fingertip was hardly going to be a big deal, so I really plunged it in so I could be sure I was the real and/or fake . I scread as the spike went in.
I dropped the spike and fell to my knees as quite a lot of blood flowed out of . I was very much not made of Play-Doh. If I was a construct, I was apparently an upgraded version, not the one with the Austrian accent that was deed obligatory in the previous model.
It had really felt like I was close to the truth. Finally, an answer that made sense of everything, but no.
It still smarted a bit after I healed myself, but this was still progress. I had learned nothing new, but I had discovered the benefit of quickly spotting a possible solution, and just as quickly finding a way to refute it.
Behind this wall could be another answer, or nothing. The way to find out was go in and have a look. If there was sothing I could use here, I would add it to my arsenal. If not, Id move on. Sa thing when I got to the island.
The thing was not to dwell on coulda, woulda, shoulda. There was no way to know and no way to prepare. Be a man, face your fears, stay on the balls of your feet so you can run away if you have to.
With my new approach to life, I left my body and floated through the archway into the darkness.
Why are you here? said Wesley. Dont you have things to do?
So this is where you got to. I was surprised to see her, but then again, I wasnt.
I told you he wouldnt be able to stay away, said Richina. She appeared out of the dark and stood next to Wesley. Were they working together? Was one the jailer and the other a prisoner? Were they planning on opening a feminist bookshop and I was their first custor (which would make it the busiest feminist bookshop Id ever seen)? I hadnt watched enough lesbian porn to be able to co up with any more scenarios.
Last ti Id seen them, theyd both been residents of my head. Then they were gone and I was facing the Fairy Queen on my own.
I wish you hadnt co, said Wesley, looking mildly disappointed. I was, of course, used to it.
Why not? I asked. What are you doing here?
Trying to keep you away from this, said Wesley.
She was looking at Richina.
I didnt know what she ant. Richina looked the sa. She might have put on a bit of weight no, I wasnt going to ntion it, except in self-defence but otherwise there seed no big change.
I think I can handle one slightly modded fairy. What did Arthur do to her, exactly? Is she a construct?
From what Id been told (so probably complete garbage), Richina wasnt an actual fairy, she was just based on fairy technology. Like a Chinese version of an overpriced original that keeps saying, Device paired, when it isnt fucking paired.
Id been able to keep her contained so far, so why Wesley felt she was a threat was a mystery to . I had absorbed part of Richina and had bent her to my will, forcing her to obey my commands. So people might consider that to be abuse through my toxic masculinity, to which Id say, Thanks very much, its always nice to have your work recognised.
She was fine before, said Wesley, but now shes fully operational. Arthur put a lot of ti into her, and I thought you would be better off without her interfering.
I still wasnt clear on what the issue was. I would rather have had Wesley around to help with advice and background information, oh, and also to use her ga-destructive sonic wave power, you know, on the off chance it might co in useful to lay waste to my enemies. Removing Richina from the field of play seed a lesser achievent.
When you say fully operational, what does that entail? I asked.
Richina smiled and her body began to release a soft white glow. From behind her, three pairs of tallic wings fanned out one after the other.
Her hands lit up and beams of light extended from them so she appeared to be holding laser beams, moving rapidly and leaving after images, like she had a bunch of swords in each hand.
So what? I said. You got the fairy upgrade package to full battle-angel? A bit pay to win if you ask , but whatever. You couldnt find a way out before I got here, what makes you think things are any different now? Killing wont change anything.
I wouldnt harm you, said Richina. Youve already done far more than we expected. The Fairy Queen is free and the Old Gods roam the land once more. We just have to wait, now.
Wait for what?
Fairy vengeance, said Richina.
Far be it for to cast aspersions, but fairy vengeance just didnt have the bone-chilling ring to it I think it needed to really turn heads.
When the dust clears, there will be no one to stop . She was being a bit presumptuous, I felt. Not even Peter.
Peters dead, I said.
He never dies, said Richina. He only goes into hiding.
Hiding where? I was willing to give him the benefit of my doubt. Where was the fucker now?
Not where, who.
It took a mont for to figure out what she ant. Hes inside soone? A construct, maybe? Peter hiding inside a construct of himself? Just the kind of retarded I deserved, but didnt need.
It could be anyone, said Richina.
Perhaps testing myself wasnt what I should have done, it was testing everyone else. Maybe I was the real , and everyone else was fake. Even Jenny.
Then it occurred to that Peter could be hiding in Jenny. And I
I shuddered. It wasnt worth thinking about. Sotis the truth doesnt set you free, it just sets you on fire.
And what about you? I said to Richina. Why are you suddenly so obsessed with Peter Arthur? Youre Arthur?
If Peter could be inside soone else, it stood to reason that Arthur could, too.
Im sorry, said Wesley. I had hoped to spare you my husbands tampering.
No, its fine, I said. So, youre not trapping him here.
He could leave any ti, said Wesley. He made this place.
I told you, said Arthur (via Richina). This is the best place to be right now. We wait until the fighting is over, and then we go out and sort through the wreckage. Easy peasy.
As a plan, doing nothing did hold quite a lot of appeal.
But look at you, I said. Youre all augnted and pimped out. You could take them all on by yourself.
Arthur spread his chro wings so they ford a massive mirror behind him. This is nothing compared to what the fairies have. Theyre going to turn Fengarad into rubble.
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