It was quite evident that Ashlyn wasn't impressed; perhaps she was suppressing her excitement, but I highly doubted it. She looked pretty stone-faced, shades still down, with her mind elsewhere. On the contrary, Eliza appeared genuinely impressed. She shared laughter with me when Larisa playfully tossed Mr. Wee-o-lot into the water fountain for a refreshing touch, and she found it hilarious when Larisa mimicked people's voices. Just moments ago, she was laughing while whispering crude words in people's ears as they zipped by.
And now, my ghostly companion and I were in need of some much-needed validation, I said enthusiastically. "Eliza, are you not impressed by Larisa's ghostly speed travel and how quickly we arrived here?"
It took a while for Eliza to ponder, and she squished her face before speaking, "I mean, I've seen her pull off better party tricks before, with the voice thing and all. She did this zipping-speed travel trick with Mr. Pee Pants, and this trick as a whole is just subpar, okay?"
I understood now: Eliza had merely been putting on an act of indifference, mimicking Ashlyn's demeanour to avoid deviating from the way she was behaving. Initially, when Ashlyn wasn't around, she had been genuinely amused, laughing and enjoying Larisa's tricks. Conversely, she seemed to have shifted gears, opting to feign disinterest and play the role of a lapdog, all to maintain a semblance of alignment with Ashlyn's disposition.
Ashlyn inquired with a touch of sophistication, "Why take us to the train station for a tedious train journey to our destination? Why not, perchance, convey us directly to our intended locale and forgo the mundane train voyage, you two bunch of aimless starrs, lost and stumbling through the cosmic chaos?"
I'd rather stay quiet and respond with a nonchalant, "Humph!"
"Want to see something actually impressive? Look at my followers! I got the two followers I lost back, so you can no longer say anything about me losing them. So, bleh!"
Larisa blurted out the story of how this happened, not knowing Eliza didn't want her to spill the jellybeans. "We went to a centre called 'Pixel Boo Boo Haven,' where you put your phone in a little machine that heals all your lost and hurt followers, helping to recover them."
"So, this is where you two disappeared to? Duct-taping dismembered legs to rejoin the digital parade? Were they even people, or just sad, lonely spam bots in the algorithmic limbo?" I couldn't help but burst into laughter. "So it's like a Pokémon Centre for your eBunnee followers? I've never heard anything so..."
Eliza rudely interrupted, her tone venomously mocking, "Lillian, what's that red muck on your forehead? And seriously, sort out your hair, okay? Joining a tribe, are you?"
"What? Red stuff? Am I bleeding?" I thought to myself. I started feeling uneasy, imagining vampires lurking, ready to pounce. Ghosts were real. Based on my highly scientific calculations, there was a 50.4% chance, plus 0.5 for vampires, which skyrocketed the overall probability. I glanced at my reflection in the black mirror and noticed a smudge of red lipstick. "Well, I had a happy accident putting it on and ended up kinda liking it, so I thought, why not keep it that way?" I stumbled over my words and then switched to, "I guess I just wanted to try something new, you know?"
"Right..." Eliza asserted, "You wanted a new style, and it was an accident? Make up your mind, Lilly-kins. There's bad aim, and then there's 'THIS'! You might believe you have lips at the top of your head, but I PROMISE you, you absolutely do not."
I tried to wipe off the lipstick with my hand, making it even worse. Eliza wouldn't stop commenting. "That's quite an accident. A 'happy accident' you shouldn't be happy about. You should do a challenge called, 'Can Lillian apply lipstick without getting it all over her face...challenge?'" she said, trailing off with a smirk, "...challenge."
I interrupted her, "That's enough,"—it's not like she uttered offensive words. It was like her using the word 'grub' in the past. 'Grub' is a little worm-like maggot thing! Food should never share a word with a nasty worm. I finished what I wanted to say, "After you eat one piece of food without making a spongy, sucking sound, then I'll consider it. You also snort when you eat. That's some accident on your part."
Eliza's eyes met mine, her glare sharp as knives. Larisa hovered by her side—head in the clouds as usual—while Ashlyn focused on getting a signal. Finally, after much effort, she heard the AI's voice asking, "Did you have an accident?"
We all stopped talking, and nobody spoke until Eliza announced with joy, "Yay! Your connection is back." The AI speaker went on, "Turns mishap into a silly ado. Want money? Yes, you do! Report the accident to me and let me see what I can do! Mooooo!"
"Wait... what the heck is that? It's cute, but, ummm, kinda annoying-kins."
The AI bot let out another, even louder, "MOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Argh!! My ears! I will sue you for harming my ears!" Lillian cried out.
"Don't be so rude! It's the best piece of tech ever. Just say no, and the app will quiet down. Show some respect and don't dismiss the poor moo moo cow," Ashlyn advised. "No!" she shouted. "See? Now it shuts down. Quite simple."
"So much for being the 'best piece of tech ever,'" Lillian thought to herself.
"Now, let me get on with my tasks now that my connection is restored," Ashlyn said. Then, her phone assistant made itself known again. "Moo moo moo! Experiencing connection issues? Purchase a new phone today, and with it, receive the new e(w)Phone Galactic Luminary Hyper-Tech Ultra Max 33 Version 2.0 Extravaganza Edition! Yes or no?"
"I thought I told you to shut down!"
"You wanted to be seen by people, that's why we came out here. Yet, we don't seem to be doing much of that. So, what's the deal, Ashlyn?" Lillian asked.
"You don't understand at all. I wanted to be noticed and seen in the company of people. I actually had no desire to... meet any of these... umm," she said, looking down at the floor as she finished off with "unique individuals."
Not too thrilled about keeping the chat going, Ashlyn casually asked, "So, how do we book this train thing? It does know we're here, right? Do we just press a button or something to book it?"
Eliza looked puzzled as well.
The way Ashlyn was observing the platform's number and staring at the pillars, she seemed to think we had to jump through them to get to Platform 9¾ or something.
Larisa, still floating around like the ghost she was, idly floated through all the platforms—and she had been doing so for the last 10 minutes. Only then did Ashlyn take notice of her, and she shouted excitedly, "I knew it!"
Eliza said, "You do?! I mean, of course, you know... you know everything!"
As Ashlyn prepared to jump through the wall with Eliza by her side, she declared, "Okay, off we go. Look at this graffiti saying 'bunny hop to your dreams' with a cute bunny underneath the wall. It's a sign; we need to do it." The painted bunny seemed to beckon them towards a realm of possibilities.
Eliza and Ashlyn stood very close to the pillar bearing graffiti of the bunny.
Lillian was unsure what they were doing, but she needed to warn them: "I wouldn't get too close to that pillar; many people use it as a public bathroom on Saturday nights."
In an instant, the realisation struck Ashlyn that Larisa was a ghost and could effortlessly pass through walls. Ashlyn exclaimed, "Lily-paddy! Why, oh why, did you just nearly make me jump into that wall?"
"What?! I didn't know what you were even doing! How was I meant to know?"
"You were fully aware of our intentions, Starrling! You expressed a fervent desire to witness the ethereal feline furball!"
Eliza had seen the ghost cat yesterday. I watched the footage of her visit with Kai. Yet, just a moment ago, alongside Ashlyn, she was poised to leap into a pillar of solid concrete. There was simply no plausible way she could have forgotten the route to the ghost cat's haunted location.
Perhaps the ditzy girl saw this as a shortcut, but we could have simply asked Larisa once more to guide us to the location. She was practically our spectral Uber with her wild hair-in-the-air style for free—all we had to do was ask, I was sure. Knowing Eliza's proactive nature, she didn't hesitate to take charge alongside Ashlyn in her own way, diving into action without much thought.
"What about her stupid cow assistant bot? Or her Bunnee Guardian? I was sure she had one of those too," I thought to myself. "I know I ignore my Bunnee Guardian, and so do most of us. Ashlyn said on her eBunnee page that she has this 'bedside companion' that she talks to every night, and it gave her gifts—gifts she had to pay for, which I was sure she didn't want. If that assistant was worth anything—if it was worth its weight in hay—it should also have a navigation tool, guiding her to any location she desires. But, let's be real, the cow couldn't do anything. It couldn't even touch or eat grass; all it could do was throw out an occasional moo and some advertisements. From what I gathered, the app's knowledge extended to only one location: its user's whereabouts."
"You just saw a ghost cat yesterday."
"Like, duh! Yesterday is, like, so yesterday and totally not a thing anymore."
"Do you not remember how you got there?"
"Yes, I remember. Wait, Lilly-kins, what was your question again?"
"Do you remember the location where you saw the ghost cat?"
Eliza took her time to respond. "Well, okay, I confess... you got me."
"What? This wasn't a trick question to catch you off guard!"
Her wary gaze suggested I was interrogating or attempting to antagonise her, or something. I simply wanted to know how she got there so we could, like, get there! And witness the blooming moggy!
"We did go and see the ghost kitty... I get what you're implying. I was just exploring a VR version of the ghost cat in 'The Mask That Only Smiles' because Kai and I were tired, but we needed content for our eBunnee page."
"Oh, so you have VR at home as well?" Ashlyn asked, her tone reeking of smugness and proud possession.
"No! What?! This VR gear is C R A Z Y expensive! How could I ever afford this?!" Eliza realised she was talking to a mega-rich girl and shifted gears. "I am still saving up for one; Kai and I should have one by next... year or something. Maybe..."
Lillian inquired, "Ashlyn has her own 'Mask That Only Smiles' setup at home? I have never seen her there on Mask, socially, or participating in any battles or games."
"Jeez, Lillian! The VR headset would do mega damage to her hair! Use your head and think before you talk!" Eliza retorted.
Lillian quickly checked herself in the mirror and was pleased to see that her sticking-up hair, as well as Eliza's, settled back to normal.
"So, Eliza," Lillian inquired, "you went to the Raven Arena to experience The Mask VR tech and see the ghost cat?" A digital representation of a 'real-life' ghost cat? Considering the scepticism around the 'real-life' ghost cat's existence and authenticity, she was using a pseudo version of an already fake cat, where the VR added a transparent hue to it. Who made this was anybody's guess. People were always creating and sharing pointless and useless junk for VR that had less use than a chocolate teapot. The majority of views on Eliza's videos were from people raving about its overwhelming cuteness. "What a cute catto! It's melting my heart! I want to marry it!!" and "Such a little bundle of purrfection!!" were the comments you'd commonly find.
Eliza responded, "Yes!... well, actually, no. We checked out 'Dorky Dissociate,' delving into the social dimensions of VR. In this unique space, participants wore glasses in a room that blocked all noise. It let you socialise with digital avatars, free from distractions and, dare I say, smelly people. And we interacted with the ghost cat there."
"Smelly people?" I mused. I could now understand why Ashlyn appreciated her. Their shared thought processes were becoming increasingly apparent.
"But that place is more than 40 miles away."
"Lillian, you're quite smart," Eliza sarcastically clapped.
"But the journey to see the actual ghost cat is just one train ride away."
Eliza admitted, "Yes..." Before continuing, she realised she had mentioned being too tired earlier, so she added, "I was tired, meaning I didn't want to carry a heavy camera around with me."
All four of them were aware that she recorded everything on her tiny phone, something she hadn't put down that day for longer than five minutes.
For the first time all day, Eliza slid her phone into her pocket, her mitts no longer clutching it, as if she had just declared her independence from it, like a bad ex-boyfriend she wanted to ghost out of her life... temporarily, anyway, at least.
Ashlyn declared, "Starrlings, I am afraid our journey must end because none of us knows where the elusive ghost cat is, and no one here knows the art to board a train."
Larisa stopped hovering around, breathed down Ashlyn's neck, only hearing the odd word she said and not really listening—too busy exploring the area. She said, "No need to be afraid! Teeheehe~"
"Argh!!" Ashlyn yelped, leaping out of her heels in surprise.
"The art of boarding a train"? I mused sarcastically. These girls... I swear... I knew exactly where it was we needed to be! You simply caught the blue train, moving rhythmically as it gracefully prowled along the tracks. And then, go; a few hops down a few streets, and you were there. It didn't take a genius to figure it out! It was the house with smoke so thick, it was like a ghostly dry ice machine had gone into overdrive. And with all the dark rooms, it was like the lights were off.
Larisa, with a poised demeanour, prepared to address the gathering. "As the ghostly guardian of the Heart-ling Forest, I once guided numerous disciples, including the illustrious Miss Famous Bunny Girl, the dynamic duo Eliza-kins and Kai, and the inimitable Ashlyn. Each of these extraordinary ladies amassed a legion of followers on eBunnee, weaving tales and spreading joy like digital fairy godmothers. Today, we shall sea-shall we may, the amazing ghost cat, and become eBunnee goddesses... goddesses together."
That was quite a speech, leaving all the girls to contemplate their life choices.
Ashlyn ran her finger beneath her shades. Without needing to see her eyes, I could discern that the speech had brought tears to them.
Eliza looked at Ashlyn and smiled, nodding as if they were communicating something telepathically. Eliza spoke up, "How do we..." She was about to say something, but something made her lose her train of thought. It was surely a thought about how to board the train, which she lost. Now I see what distracted her, and it wasn't a vision of a parallel universe where trains were sentient and gave passengers life advice.
"The naked towel people!" Larisa screamed excitedly.
I thought Ashlyn had sent them off to Swamps at Heart-Ling Forest—well, most of them. Some of them hadn't gotten the memo and were here, and they looked like they were after us. Apparently, some of them had a bad Wi-Fi signal and hadn't received her latest status update, one must assume.
A group of them approached, attempting to take photos, with the ringleader of the towel brigade giving out all the orders. "Ashlyn, just pose a little for us! We just want a few photos of you! And some of your DNA so I can clone you and make some personal Dinglebarries of you for us all to enjoy."
Ashlyn hurried ahead and said, "Come along, Starrlings, this is the train we need," urging everyone to board the first train they saw.
The doors sealed shut; the fox-girl towel worn by the ringleader got caught, tearing the towel from his body as the train gained momentum. Unfazed by his sudden exposure, he nonchalantly continued, ignoring the mishap. "Ashlyn! Just one more photo for us!" he persistently called, seemingly not caring that he was exposed to the world.
A group of workmen emerged from the back rooms, hoisting up a big hosepipe. One of them exclaimed, "You dirty bugger! Do we know what we do to dirty buggers like you who expose themselves at our train station?!?"
He didn't acknowledge them; instead, his laser focus was on Ashlyn as she sped off in an ongoing train car, saying, "Ashlyn!! I'm your biggest fan! I am the cool breeze that never quits, always there from above, just making sure you stay forever chill."
They proceeded to spray the exposed man with the hosepipe, making him drop the camera. Responding with urgency, the other members of the towel-clad brigade sprinted to the scene, forming a concerted shield over the camera by jumping on it and creating a pile, then declaring, "We must protect these photos at any cost!"
The train retreated into the distance, leaving the four girls with a sense of relief as they escaped the unfolding chaos, no longer in sight of the madness.
Eliza sighed and asked, "Do you regret making Lillian and this fox-girl towel famous on eBunnee now?"
She simply said, "Hush!"
Finally, we were going somewhere.