There was a wall of blue scales in front of John. John could not discern for the life of him for what rhyme and reason the scales were there. But he was certain they were there regardless. John looked up at the scales.
He reached his hand out to touch them.
They feel so warm.
A smile graced John's face. And then his body fell slack. And his mind slipped into unconsciousness.
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Thorns. They pierced into every part of John. From his butt to his eyes. Thorns stabbed every bit of John.
Despite this, John was reaching forward. He was gripping onto the thorns and using them like ropes to pull him along.
I can see it. I CAN SEE IT!
In front of John was a light. It was closer than it was before.
"You know….. There's no evidence that the light is even a good thing."
Floating above John was a young girl. She looked to be no older than twelve. She wore jeans on her legs and a white T-shirt on her torso. She wasn't garbed in her usual dresses.
John looked up at the girl. He knew her. She was sloth.
John opened his mouth. He could speak. But he couldn't stop moving.
"You know. I heard about you recently. Apparently, you've been around for longer than you seem. I always thought you were just a construct of my mind." Said John
Sloth smiled.
"I'm the construct of a mind. Not yours, though." Said Sloth
John looked up at her. The construct of a mind. So she wasn't real. But John wasn't the one who made her.
That... That makes no sense. John thought to himself.
There was no way she could be within his mind and someone else's imagination.
Unless...…
"What is this place?"
And then John woke up.
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The moment John's mind leaped into awareness, his mind imminently moved in the direction of the thorny place. But he just couldn't force any thoughts about it. He could look at it. And he could experience the memory. But he couldn't think. His mind just wouldn't generate the thoughts.
This…. This isn't right. Why is it like this? I should be able to think about __________. But I can't.
"Are you awake?"
"Haaaaaaaa."
John sighed. It wasn't his business then. He might as well wake up.
John opened his eyes.
The first thing he saw was the slightly yellow popcorn ceiling and the light bulb above him. It stabbed his eyes.
Ugh.
John put his hand in front of his eyes to shield them. And as he did so, he sat up.
Standing a few feet across from John was Mechna. She had a scowl on her face.
"Come meet me in the confrence room once you get dressed. We need to talk." Mechna said
John nodded.
"Alright."
There may just be a war afoot.
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John stood in the conference room of the mansion that he found himself stowed in. The conference room was strange. It was in the basement of the mansion and it filled the whole basement. There was a long table that looked to be sculpted from stone that was long enough to seat a thousand people. It wasn't just the table that was made from stone. The whole underground seemed to be constructed from smooth polished marble. There were lanterns lined up on the table in a row. And sitting at the head of a table was a woman that John knew quite well at this point. She had a partially robotic body and one red robotic eye. There was constantly a slight grin on her face. She waved at John.
"HI!" She yelled from the other side of the table.
John waved back but didn't speak. He stomped towards Mechna. Luckily, the ground seemed to be made from pretty strong stone. Because John didn't crack it when he walked. John had already had some experiences of the groundbreaking underneath him from the sheer density of his form. It was a bit annoying. It made it so John couldn't go to some places that he used to be able to.
There was a man sitting next to Mechna. He sat in a wheelchair, and he had quite a corpulent frame. His fat practically swelled out of the wheelchair. He had an oxygen mask in his lap that he would periodically take a huff from.
He raised his hand and gave a slightly awkward wave to John.
"Hi." Said the man
"I'm Greg."
John looked at him. His brows were furrowed.
MONSTERMURDERER! And why are you here, Greg? MONSTERMURDERER!
"Greg's the CTO of the Mechanoid empire. He's here to help brief you about the current situation." Said Mechna.
John nodded.
MONSTER!MURDERER! So it must be technology-related, then. MONSTER!MURDERER!
DING!
Mechna pulled her phone from her pocket.
"And I have to go. So bye." Mechna awkwardly waved and walked away.
Greg nodded.
"Okay."
Greg looked John directly in the eyes. He looked at John with a kind of fire in his eyes that was not often seen.
"Here's the situation. A group of billionaires called the free scalps—"
"The free scalps?"
"They're all bald. Anyways. A group of billionaires called the free scalps have been making a lot of money from the conflict with the trolls. And they don't want the war to end until those profits end. So they've been sending assassins to key figures that have the capability of ending the war. And you were one such people." Said Greg.
John only heard half of what he was saying.
The free scalps. It sounds like a bunch of guys that got their scalps ripped off. Not a group of old, rich, bald dudes.
John looked at Greg.
"Okay. But why are you here? You're the Mechanoid Empire's CTO. I don't think you have much involvement with political affairs of this type." John said
Greg smiled.
"It's to give you this." Greg held up a bracelet to John. One that shined like the finest platinum. And for all intents and purposes, it looked to be a normal bracelet.
"This bracelet is one of the most durable of its kind. And if you break it, then a barrage of ballistic missiles will be sent to your area." Greg said
John raised a brow.
"And what makes you think I can survive a barrage of ballistic missiles?" John asked
"Well, you survived the bombing of East Aroura, didn't you?" Greg asked
"How do you know about that?!?!?!" John snapped
"I read your file. But if you can survive that. You can survive this." Greg placed the bracelet in John's hands.
"If times are ever dire. Then use it." Greg said
John looked down at Greg for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Okay."