There he goes again, looking at me like I am his world. Does my gaze hold the same for him, I wonder? All I can do is try and convey such.

  “What manner of torture have you concocted for us today?” I ask.

  Lucius does one of his adorable evil laughs, sounding not at all evil. I’m certain it’s not on purpose. It’s simply anathema to who he is, no matter how much he tries to deny it.

  “My my, has the lady found herself unprepared for what is to come?” he asks. I get the urge to bite him for some reason. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  “No reason.” Maybe later. “You’ve been setting up a plot twist for the last however many sessions. So, judging by the way you phrased your question back, there’ll be a steep escalation in the threat we’re facing.”

  “Nuh-uh.”

  “From the Shepherds or outside?”

  “Do you really want to know?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Then why are you asking?”

  “Entertainment, mostly.” I give him a smile. “Recreational elicitation.”

  “Hmm.”

  I squint at him, as if concentrating on my imaginary craft. “You’re thinking embarrassing thoughts.”

  Lucius nods. “Indeed. What am I thinking about now?”

  I let out a huff. “Probably multiple things to try and throw me off.” His new expression hints at incredulity beneath. “Delving is obvious.” He’s not impressed. That one was really a given. “Further QS reactor improvements.”

  “Anyone could have guessed that. Point zero, zero, zero three percent... Still can’t believe it.”

  “What a breakthrough.”

  “Hey!” he exclaims. “Scale, Elisa, scale.”

  “Power generation is in so much surplus, actual demands are a rounding error.” He replies to my teasing with a pout. So adorable. “Next is... cuisine intersections between Earth and here. Specifically, the exploitation of fermentation.”

  “Okay, how are you doing that?”

  “Sampling black holes for an experimental new genre of music.”

  “Did you put in a backdoor while I wasn’t looking?”

  “Names for that thing nature magic does to viruses.”

  “You’re starting to scare me.”

  “Random prime numbers. But only ending with one.”

  “Am I in a simulation?”

  “Can’t forget about something silly... Ah, I know. Sanctioning a racing series for vehicles combining enchantments and technology.”

  He raises his voice at the ceiling, “Pull me out, please!”

  “Aw. But what if I’m not there?”

  “Never mind!” he addresses the ceiling again. “I’m fine.”

  “How sweet. Oh, almost forgot. And that barbecue place we went to last week.”

  Lucius pulls away from me. “Now I’m really scared.”

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  I lean in toward him. “You should be. There’s no escaping, dummy.” I illustrate his unfortunate situation with an embrace.

  “Oh no,” he laments as the form of endearment is returned. “What terrible destiny greets me at so pivotal of an hour.”

  “What does the hour have to do with it?”

  “Nay, tormentor. You shan’t pry this measly defiance I’ve left.” Tactical bonk has been deployed. “Dessert will pass optimal state of doneness in seven point nine seconds.”

  I take care of it. “Was that all?”

  “Uhm. Yeah.”

  “Then, shall we see how your ‘terrible destiny’ unfolds?”

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Good.”

  ***

  Lucius greets the other members of the party as they teleport in. I sign some nonsense to Erysis. Lucius flinches and pins me with a glare, aware of what I did without having to actually see it. I’m sure it’s the outclassed means of covert communication that most bugs him.

  Acting as innocent as I can, I greet them too.

  After some idle talk, we get set up, Lucius launching into his intro. When he’s done summarizing the previous session, he makes space to poke at Erysis, finding her themed cloak spectacularly outrageous. Looks soft and comfy. Like a wearable blanket.

  Counteroffensive on my part is utterly successful, forcing him to retreat and lick at his figurative wounds. Which comes out in the form of being terse with description and direction. Not to a detriment, of course. More so changing his narration style to a hostile one.

  I make short work of that by flexing my in-game abilities. He makes a fake grimace at me, bound by his own unbreakable rules to add a flowery twist whenever I tap into this Psi.

  An imagined magic. Redundant description on Earth. Not so much here.

  How would it feel, to be deprived an aspect so intrinsic to our lives? Able to imagine the possibility but never be allowed to have it. Probably not that big of a deal. How would I feel if I lost mine? Who knows. But having perspective shifts a lot of things.

  With my character determining our next destination, we move away from combat and turn to more social activities. Namely, exploring a fictional universe. It is fun—pretending, seeing what nonsensical situations we can entangle ourselves in, spending time with those I care about.

  My apprentice—which is still weird to think—is joyfully poking back. She is also trying to break the game. I told her it was practically hopeless—I checked—but who am I to stifle her ambitions. My job’s the opposite. You know what, let’s do this, Erysis. You and me, we’ll topple this digital tyrant or die trying. Well, our characters.

  Nexen keeps her from going too far. Same as in real life. An... anchor. Strange expression but oddly fitting when you have the context. It is far from a mystery how he and Lucius are so close.

  Khi’s a completely different person when embodying her character. Or, if I were to be presumptuous, like who she was supposed to be. A future that will never come to pass, thanks to the goofball gushing about a glorified space gas station.

  As we encounter a whole new planet, I come back to the world he has built. Built in a laughable amount of time, so much detail and complexity, just for our enjoyment. Considering it for too long makes my head spin. If I was a less secure woman, I might have found doubt in his affection for me, but by not thinking about it too much, I avoid the issue entirely. ...So secure.

  I realize it’s illogical, but feelings often are. At least we both share the doubt. Which is highly comforting, because I have no uncertainty about my love for him. An unconscious smile shows up on my face, thoughts inadvertently bared. Lucius sees it. When he looks at me like that, I regret ever questioning his for me.

  Seems like a big encounter is approaching, so I’ll stop self-reflecting for now. But first, to reward myself for the emotional epiphany, a piece of baklava is stealthily teleported directly into my mouth. Anyone notice? Hah! Fat chance, you fledglings. You are a hundred years too early to match my magical might!

  My chewing does give me away, though. Erysis’ sad eyes nearly cause me to chortle.

  “You can have one,” I say. Her expression brightens. “If you can emulate me.” Her expression darkens, homicidally. “We’ll break for lunch soon. No need to kill your beloved teacher for a snack.” Seeing her sputter a denial so fervently—even knowing that we are both joking—is sweeter than my pre-meal primer.

  Soon enough, the big encounter comes as predicted. What are we working with... An interactive arena, laced with tricks and traps aplenty. Many, many thralled as the buffer between the boss and us. Finally, the gent himself. Properly major encounter coded.

  Two phases, lunch, and three more phases later, we triumph. Though our paltry party is more scabs than skin. Does not inspire much confidence for further encounters, if my prediction does come true. Which it will. Right now.

  Lucius sets the atmosphere. Light avoids the room we are in. So does ambient noise. The head Shepherd’s monologue comes out of our narrator’s mouth. Part disturbing and part impressive. Not like I’d ever tell him the former. It’d crush his fragile little heart. Still, I admit, it does add to the immersion.

  Quite the nice twist. The death cult is actually a cult. A justified cult. Their play to sacrifice much of the galaxy thwarted, we get to witness the consequences we brought upon ourselves. What we theorized was a ritual to obtain more power turns out to be of the dimensional reinforcement variety. Bit on the nose, but I’ll allow it.

  The small glimpse we catch of the quickly regrowing tear brings a lot more questions than answers. Main one being, what does he have in store for us next?