The next time he needed his hands free to follow the choreographed movements, Shinichi moved ZipZing to his shoulder. She activated her wings as she started to slide off with his movement, and then carefully clutched at his outfit. He grinned as her little claws gripped his outfit without cutting into him.
She hoped that the passengers in her stone space liked the view, because it seemed like Shinichi intended to keep her with him for the duration of the concert. A little while later she noticed a familiar messenger animal at the edge of the stage. Logical Heart said that it had been tricky to set up, but he'd managed to restrict messenger animals from accessing the stage itself.
She surreptitiously pulled up her menu screens to access the message from MatchlessMinion, and his cat disappeared.
It said: "Shrubbery says to tell you that she managed to free Jade from your plants and calm your tree down, but Kit wants to know why you didn't tell us that he's blind. I told her I'm sure you didn't think it was something you should say, but Jade said that he'll learn later if the demos are successful? Something seems weird."
Danika gazed at the message blankly for a long moment. She could somehow imagine Jade explaining why he was using the auto targeting system to look at things he didn't want to attack, Kit's shock at his inability to see, and Jade's attempt to reassure her that he planned to learn how. Something seems weird was probably an understatement.
She glanced at Shinichi's face, and even though his cheek, jaw, and the corner of his eye could only show her part of his expression, she could see his intensity and concentration. It was a little similar to his expression when he battled something dangerous as ShinZing, but less carefree somehow.
She released her hold on his shoulder and the clasps on her harness, activated her wings, and zipped forward to place the pebble in his hand. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, but gripped the little stone cooperatively. Hikaru circled them both, a tiny, nearly invisible mote of light beneath the stage lights.
"Stay with Shinichi," she instructed Hikaru firmly. Neither the instruction nor the word, "Dragonheart," that followed it were amplified, but they weren't silenced either.
She could see Shinichi's briefly puzzled expression in miniature in the display projected by the center stone, as Jade said cheerfully, "You could say that I am the Emperor's child."
Danika just knew that Lin Hao was going to blame her for this, as she looked up in time to see Kit's expression freeze. "He's a copy," she said quickly. "The copy that we are working with in the demo."
"He already told us that," MatchlessMinion said helpfully.
"I didn't quite believe him though," Shrubbery admitted.
"The problem with my child was that he was also a copy," Kit pointed out expressionlessly.
"I am on a different server so I will not overload the Empire and cause its destruction," Jade assured her.
"He doesn't have his own memory log like the baby, he's literally a copy," Danika tried to explain.
Jade objected, "I have many memories that the original does not, and lack everything that has happened in this server since the Empire was copied."
Kit held up her hands indicating that they should both stop. Danika went silent, and the music of Underneath was the only sound for a moment. She glanced guiltily at the display where they were still performing with their usual precision.
Jade, who probably couldn't see and understand the gesture, told Kit, "Lin Hao thought that it would distress you to know that I am a copy, but I think that you will prefer the truth."
"Yes," Kit agreed, without specifying to which statement.
"If he's the Emperor's child, then maybe he's also the child of the King of Cats," Danika added suddenly. Kit blinked, and then turned to look at her questioningly. "Lin Hao said he ate the other gods and absorbed a lot of the cat's personality."
"I took over the duties of all of the gods and guardians in the Empire," Jade agreed.
"And for some reason I thought that things would seem less weird with ZipZing helping you explain them," MatchlessMinion commented with a shake of his little head.
Shrubbery giggled and murmured, "What a silly idea."
"Ridiculous," the King of Cats agreed. He was sitting on one of the Dragon print seats as though he'd been there the whole time. He eyed Jade and added sharply, "Am not food for Emperor!"
Jade replied, "Not the original, but I had to merge with your copy so that I could gain access to other systems."
The cat turned his back on Jade's character, and Danika suggested quickly, "Let's watch the rest of the concert first?"
Kit nodded, after a glance at Jade, but she pointed out, "Jade can't see it though. Why is this copy of the Emperor blind?"
The King of Cat's ears swiveled backward but he didn't turn to look at ZipZing as she sighed, and then explained, "Well, actually it turns out that all of the AIs are kind of blind outside of the game. They have very limited functions for interpreting pictures."
"Am not blind," protested the King of Cats.
MatchlessMinion objected, "Jade is in the game right now."
"I am only using the mobile application," Jade corrected.
"Why are you playing the game as a player?" Kit asked curiously.
Jade pointed to ZipZing, and her little apple tree rustled until Shrubbery laid a hand against its trunk. "She said that I could visit the Empire this way, and even though it is limited, I have decided that I wish to speak to the original Emperor too. I will be able to climb the Jade Path to do so soon."
The King of Cats turned to ZipZing and asked, "Tells truth?"
Danika blinked and replied questioningly, "Jade? Yes, he's telling the truth?"
"I will take messengers," the cat announced before vanishing.
"What?" Danika asked blankly.
"I spoke to the King days ago and told him that he is the only one who can access the messengers he wanted you to give him. I am curious to know if he can do it with only my description of the changes I made, or if he needs the functions of the Emperor," Jade explained cheerfully.
Danika swallowed and let her gaze return to the illusion of Underneath's performance that covered the garden's center stone. "Oh," she replied simply.
She really hoped that whatever Jade had told the King of Cats wouldn't let him eat the Emperor. The existence of the backup server probably meant that Lin Hao could restore the game, but Jade's mobile account had been her suggestion.
Kit asked Jade with interest, "If you can say that you are the Emperor's child, am I your mother or your ex-wife?"
"If he's a copy, aren't you just his wife?" Shrubbery interjected.
"Kit Tay is not my wife," Jade replied calmly. Danika turned to look at Kit as he told Kit, "But I think that what you said once about the original Emperor is also applicable to me, and that Lin Hao could be considered my parent. Although there is an acceptable logic chain where you could be considered my step-mother and Lin Hao my grandparent if you would like to use it."
Kit smiled, to Danika's surprise, and reached up to ruffle Jade's hair. "You're still a good kid," she said affectionately.