I waved goodbye and she left, the door sliding shut behind her.
To be honest, I really wanted to go with her and see more of NC; but that hadn't ended up happening. I would see everything eventually, so there was no need to get impatient. And I was tired, illogically so.
I yawned, now all that was left to do was sit around and wait; again.
I strode over to the couch and collapsed on it, hoping for somewhere to relax and unwind but instead recieving a jarring pain in my back as my tailbone made contact with its surface.
'Motherfucker; piece of trash is right, what the hell is this couch made of? Rocks? Thank god Judy's a bleeding heart or I'd have had to sleep on that.'
I jumped back up, disgruntled but also thankful; thankful that my person would NEVER have to go near this couch again.
Prison had better beds than this, seriously.
I paced around, unsatisfied that I was doing 'nothing'; and achieving 'nothing' with this newfound alone time in my posession.
My eyes strayed to the studio's doorway; glimpsing the flickering light of the single monitor Judy had left on through the strings obscuring my vision.
With nothing else to do, and my curiosity piqued; I walked into the room.
The screen seemed to be simulating something; a film of some kind, from a first person perspective. In a small window next to the video, multicolored lines pulsed in tandem, their many wavelengths everchanging as the 'film' continued.
Yeah it was porn. She was a BD editor for Lizzie's after all; it was her job.
What I was more interested in was the timestamp next to the waves.
It read; May 22nd 2076.
As I noticed this, Pride's voice exploded into my head; causing me to wince slightly.
'2076? Judas, think of what we could do with this. Remember David, and that killer sandevistan of his? Remember Rebecca getting pancaked by Adam Smasher? We could warp all of that to our liking.'
'Are you suggesting we steal the sandy before he chips it?' I asked, internally raising an eyebrow at his stupidity.
'Not necessarily,' Said Pride, 'I already have my eye on a particular OS we are going to install.'
'Why mention the sandevistan then.' I replied, completely glazing over the fact Pride had decided on this major implant for the both of us.
'To get you to reply of course, you've got a fixation on getting one of them for some reason.'
I sighed inwardly, why I wanted one was obvious to anyone with half a brain.
I walked out of the studio and back into the main room.
'I'll bite then; what OS are you thinking of? Cyberdeck or Beserk?'
'Neither.' Said Pride, and I felt his trademark smirk grow to unprecedented levels.
This bastard. What did he mean neither? There were only three OS in the game, and I was sure that would carry over to this real version aswell.
'Only three huh? If his royal highness says so it must be true.'
After this latest quip, Pride disappeared from my mind once again; leaving me to wallow in my own thoughts.
I am not devoting time out of my day to play his little game; I already tolerated one today, and it isn't happening again.
Despite that steadfast comment, my thoughts wandered.
'A fourth OS; I wonder what it does. Guess I'll sleep on it. I have nothing else to do, and going out is far too risky.'
I moved into Judy's room, glancing towards to the bed and instantly crossing it off as a resting place. It looked no better than the couch if I was being honest. The soft, fluffy carpet beneath me however, was a different story…
Sleeping on the floor is so pedestrian, but it looked so soft; and I was so tired.
In a last ditch effort to convince myself not to, I thought back to my facade.
'Would it be in character to sleep on the floor over the bed? Surely not, right?'
I mulled over the boy 'Judas' in my head.
What kind of story was I crafting for him so far…
On the outside, a newly orphaned boy who'd witnessed the truest of horrors a human being was capable of at an age far too young.
On the inside, an boy who had grown up too fast in response to abuse; who was always told too keep their head down and never be seen or heard by anyone.
The result of these differing factors, a child who had now tasted real affection for the first time since they could remember; and how they would do anything to never give it up again.
I'm not an author or scriptwriter myself, just an actor; but I would say this isn't a bad character for my first try.
At least Judy fell for it; well actually - maybe I got lucky with that. She seems like the only person who would have fallen for this kind of thing; especially in NC, her heart of gold and all.
It didn't matter if my current circumstance was a byproduct of luck or not, in the end it had worked. I wouldn't be relying on some shoddy improvisation next time though; because now I had a solid grasp on what I was going for with this character, and thus could act it out much better when the time came.
In conclusion; yes I could sleep on the floor and it would still be in character.
Judas wouldn't want to impose on his new caretaker in any way, so he would walk as if treading on glass around them until he got used to their character.
I knelt down on the carpet, tracing it with my fingertips. The bed was looking more and more appealing by the second; but I had just listed exactly why I shouldn't sleep on it. So I toughed up, and lay down quietly.
'See Pride? This is what you get me, I can't backtrack on anything while your're around.'
'Not backtracking once we've decided something is the right call, but I wouldn't have made such a stupid decision as to sleep on the floor would I?'
'Yeah yeah.'
I fell asleep, being so small was tiring.
~~~
I was stirred by someone placing a hand on my shoulder and shaking me awake violently.
'Ugh,' I thought confusedly, 'Who is that?'
"Hey kid, who the fuck are you? And what are you doing in Judy's house?"
My grogginess wasn't enough to keep me from acting, now that I had recognised my setting.
I flinched away from whoever had touched me; unintentionally and unceremoniously slamming the back of my head into the metal bedframe behind me.
My eyes watered involuntairily.
"Owww."
'Fuck, I didn't plan on that. Who is this anyway, it doesn't sound like Judy's voice at all.'
Now I had to act with a splitting headache, great.
"Hey, I asked why the fuck a street rat like you is inside Judy's place. Answer me."
I opened my eyes, low and behold; one Evelyn Parker kneeling in front of me. I'd recognise that bright blue hair anywhere.
Jokes aside though; she didn't look too happy with me being there, judging by the stormy expression she wore.
"S-she said to wait here. I fell asleep." I stuttered out, kneading my watering eyes.
"Bullshit, she didn't say anything about a kid." She grabbed my left arm, yanking me upwards into a standing position. Evelyn then dragged me towards the apartment door, opening it and kicking me out into the hallway.
I stared at her unfeeling face looking down on me with clear distain, before she turned away and the door slid shut behind her.
My thoughts were still jumbled from my nap and I couldn't help but let out a small laugh in utter disbelief.
'Well fuck me, I really did get lucky with Judy didn't I?'
If this was the average NC resident then I'm not going to have to bother acting at all.
…
I'll sit here and wait for Judy to get back, since she isn't here already.
Hopefully she doesn't get too mad at Evelyn's explosive reaction to me; because otherwise this is going to get pretty complicated.
(A/N: I have tallied the votes… In regards to the timeline, Pre-edgerunners has won by a landslide, so that is what it will be. V's OS on the other hand, will be Beserk; it being a close call with 1 more vote than Cyberdeck. V will turn out to be the strongest Beserk user, just like David was with his Sandevistan and Songbird is with her Cyberdeck; so I guess its fitting each MC will have an OS they excel at using.)